Exercises for Insight Meditation

　　These are techniques for giving rise to knowledge and insight, via the mind, into the natural workings of physical and mental phenomena, as expressed in terms of the five aggregates, seeing them as naturally occurring conditions — inherently inconstant, stressful, and not-self — these three characteristics being the focal point of insight meditation.

　　If we”ve come to the topic of insight, why are we referring again to the five aggregates, inconstancy, stress, not-selfness, etc.

　　 Weren”t these already covered under tranquillity meditation

　　The answer is that although insight meditation deals with the same raw material as tranquillity meditation — i.e., form and formless objects, or in other words, physical and mental phenomena — it gives rise to a more refined level of knowledge and understanding. The treatment of the five aggregates and the three characteristics on the level of tranquillity meditation is very crude, simply enough to make the mind settle down to the point where it is ready for the practice of insight meditation. Once we reach the level of insight, though, our understanding and perception into the five aggregates and the characteristics of inconstancy, stress, and not-selfness become clearer and more distinct. We can make the following comparison: The understanding gained on the level of tranquillity meditation is like cutting down the trees in a forest but not yet setting them on fire. The understanding gained on the level of insight meditation is like taking the trees and burning them up. The forest in the second case is much more open and clear — even though it”s the same forest. This is how the levels of knowledge gained in tranquillity and insight meditation differ.

　　To develop insight, you first have to distinguish the five aggregates: physical phenomena, feelings, mental labels, mental fashionings, and consciousness. Once you have them distinguished, start out by focusing on and considering all physical phenomena, whether past — those that have occurred beginning with your conception as an embryo in your mother”s womb; present; or future — those that will continue to occur until the day you die; internal — the phenomena of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body, together with the visions that appear through the power of the mind; or external — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations: All of these are inherently inconstant, stressful and not-self. They arise momentarily and then pass away, never satisfying the desires of those who want them, never offering anything of any substance or worth. This holds true equally for any and all things composed of the physical properties.

　　This is the exercise dealing with physical phenomena.

　　As for feelings, start out by distinguishing two sorts: external and internal. External feelings arise when the eye comes into contact with a visible object, the ear comes into contact with a sound, the nose comes into contact with an aroma, the tongue comes into contact with a flavor, or when tactile sensations — heat, cold, etc. — come into contact with the body. All five of these categories are classed as external feelings. If the mind is displeased, a bad mood is experienced; if the mind is neither pleased nor displeased, a mood of indifference is experienced: For the mind to experience any of these moods is classed as internal feeling. Both internal and external feelings — past, present, or future — should be focused on at a single point: the fact that they are all inconstant, stressful, and not-self. By nature they arise only to pass away.

　　This is the second exercise.

　　As for mental labels, there are two sorts, external and internal. External labeling refers to the act of identifying visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, tacti…

《The Craft of the Heart - Exercises for Insight Meditation》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…