..續本文上一頁fall under the old saying: Keeping a sword outside the scabbard -- having a way with words and theories, but no center for the mind; laying an egg outside the nest -- looking for goodness only outside, without training the mind to be centered; resting a foundation on the sand -- trying to find security in things of no substance. All of this is bound to bring disappointment. Such people have yet to find a worthwhile refuge.

　　So we should lay the groundwork and put the causes into good working order, because all the attainments we hope for come springing from causes.

　　attana codayattanam

　　patimanse tamattana

　　Rouse yourself. Train your own heart.

　　Start judging your own in-and-out breath.

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　　Jhana

　　Now we will summarize the methods of breath meditation under the headings of jhana.

　　Jhana means to be absorbed or focused in a single object or preoccupation, as when we deal with the breath.

　　1. The first jhana has five factors. (a) Directed thought (vitakka): Think of the breath until you can keep it in mind without getting distracted. (b) Singleness of preoccupation (ekaggatarammana): Keep the mind with the breath. Don”t let it stray after other concepts or preoccupations. Watch over your thoughts so that they deal only with the breath to the point where the breath becomes comfortable. (The mind becomes one, at rest with the breath.) (c) Evaluation (vicara): Gain a sense of how to let this comfortable breath sensation spread and connect with the other breath sensations in the body. Let these breath sensations spread until they”re interconnected all over the body. Once the body has been soothed by the breath, feelings of pain will grow calm. The body will be filled with good breath energy. (The mind is focused exclusively on issues connected with the breath.)

　　These three qualities must be brought together to bear on the same stream of breathing for the first jhana to arise. This stream of breathing can then take you all the way to the fourth jhana.

　　Directed thought, singleness of preoccupation, and evaluation act as the causes. When the causes are fully ripe, results will appear -- (d) rapture (piti), a compelling sense of fullness and refreshment for body and mind, going straight to the heart, independent of all else; (e) pleasure (sukha), physical ease arising from the body”s being still and unperturbed (kaya-passaddhi); mental contentment arising from the mind”s being at ease on its own, undistracted, unperturbed, serene, and exultant (citta-passaddhi).

　　Rapture and pleasure are the results. The factors of the first jhana thus come down simply to two sorts: causes and results.

　　As rapture and pleasure grow stronger, the breath becomes more subtle. The longer you stay focused and absorbed, the more powerful the results become. This enables you to set directed thought and evaluation (the preliminary ground-clearing) aside, and -- relying completely on a single factor, singleness of preoccupation -- you enter the second jhana (magga-citta, phala-citta).

　　2. The second jhana has three factors: rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation (magga-citta). This refers to the state of mind that has tasted the results coming from the first jhana. Once you have entered the second level, rapture and pleasure become stronger because they rely on a single cause, singleness of preoccupation, which looks after the work from here on in: focusing on the breath so that it becomes more and more refined, keeping steady and still with a sense of refreshment and ease for both body and mind. The mind is even more stable and intent than before. As you continue focusing, rapture and pleasure grow stronger and begin to expand and contract. Continue focusin…

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