..續本文上一頁ndard way, in which we take all four and turn them into one. The standard way is when we practice directed thought and evaluation. But when we take all four and turn them into one, we take only one part of the body, as they say in the Great Frames of Reference Discourse: we focus on the body in and of itself as an object of tranquillity meditation. In other words, we take all four parts and gather them into the body: the properties of earth, water, fire, and wind. That”s the body. When we see that it has many parts and many aspects, preventing the mind from growing still, making it distracted, we choose only one of the parts. For example, we put aside the properties of earth, water, and fire, and stay still only with the property of wind. We focus down on the wind property as the object we keep in mind: this is called the body in and of itself.

　　The wind property here means the in-and-out breath. When we keep the breath in mind and watch constantly over it, that”s called developing the body in and of itself. When the breath comes in, we watch it. When it goes out, we watch it. We keep surveying it constantly. Sometimes it”s coarse, sometimes it”s refined, sometimes it”s cool, sometimes it”s warm. No matter what it”s like, we keep watching it. Sometimes, just as we”re about to reach something good in the meditation, we get discouraged. It”s like boiling water in our distillery. Normally, two sorts of things can happen. If the fire is too strong, the water starts boiling so fast that it all turns into steam, overflows the vat, and puts out the fire. If the fire is too weak, the water doesn”t boil and so it produces no steam at all. Sometimes the fire is just right -- not too strong, not too weak -- just right in between. The middle way. The fire is just enough to give rise to steam -- not so much that it overflows the vat, but enough for steam to come out of the vat, enough for the steam to become drops of fresh water.

　　This is why we”re taught to be observant. When the desire to succeed in the meditation is really strong, it can keep the mind from growing still. The breath gets stirred up and can”t grow subtle. This is called desire getting in the way. Sometimes the desire is too weak. You sit there, the mind still, the breath refined, light -- and you drift right to sleep. The water never comes to a boil. You have to put things together in the right proportions, just right, with mindfulness and alertness monitoring things at all times. When the mind is staying with coarse breathing, you know. When it”s staying with refined breathing, you know. When your mindfulness and alertness are constant in this way, the result is rapture: the body is light, cool, comfortable, and at ease. The mind has a sense of fullness, blooming and bright in its concentration. This is where fresh water is beginning to gather in your distillery. The salt water begins to disappear. In other words, the salt water of sensual desire, ill will, sloth & drowsiness, restlessness & anxiety, and uncertainty -- letting the mind run to the past, run to the future, not clearly seeing the present -- begins to disappear. When the mind is really still and refined, it gives rise to concentration, with a sense of ease and fullness, so that you can sit for many hours.

　　This is the same as taking a single jar of fresh water with us in our boat. If we have the intelligence to distill fresh water out of salt water, our one jar of water will become an amazing jar, providing us with enough water to drink all the way around the world. In the same way, when we develop concentration by using directed thought to lift the mind to its object as the first step in the first jhana, and evaluation to keep contemplating the object of our meditation to make it subtle and refined -…

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