..續本文上一頁st, to the point where you can”t eat or drink.
— The ten kasina, after you”ve stared at them a long while, can give rise to visions that tend to pull you out of your sense of the body, as you become enthralled by their color and features, to the point where you may become completely carried away.
— As for the resolution into elements, when you become more and more engrossed in contemplating the elements, everything in the world becomes nothing more than elements, which are everywhere the same. You come to believe that you no longer have to make distinctions: You”re nothing more than elements, members of the opposite sex are nothing more than elements, food is nothing more than elements, and so you can end up overstepping the bounds of morality and the monastic discipline.
— As for the perception of the filthiness of food, as you become more and more caught up in it, everything becomes repulsive. You can”t eat or sleep, your mind becomes restless and disturbed, and you inflict suffering on yourself.
— As for the four sublime abodes, if you don”t have jhana as a dwelling for the mind, feelings of good will, compassion, and appreciation can all cause you to suffer. Only if you have jhana can these qualities truly become sublime abodes, that is, restful places for the heart to stay (vihara dhamma).
Thus only one of these themes — anapanassati, keeping the breath in mind — is truly safe. This is the supreme meditation theme. You don”t have to send your awareness out to fix it on any outside objects at all. Even if you may go foraging through such objects, don”t go living in them, because after a while they can waver and shift, just as when we cross the sea in a boat: When we first get into the boat we may feel all right, but as soon as the boat heads out into the open bay and we”re buffeted by wind and waves, we can start feeling seasick. To practice keeping the breath in mind, though, is like sitting in an open shelter at dockside: We won”t feel queasy or sick; we can see boats as they pass by on the water, and people as they pass by on land. Thus, keeping the breath in mind is classed:
— as an exercise agreeable to people of any and every temperament;
— as "anagocara," an exercise in which you focus exclusively on the breath while you sit in meditation, without having to compound things by sending your awareness out to grab this or get hold of that;
— and as "dhamma-thiti," i.e., all you have to do is keep your mind established firm and in place.
The beginning stage is to think buddho — "bud-" with the in-breath, and "dho" with the out. Fixing your attention on just this much is enough to start seeing results. There”s only one aim, and that”s:
that you really do it.
If there is anything you”re unsure of, or if you encounter any problems, then consult the following pages.
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Introduction
This handbook on keeping the breath in mind has had a number of readers who have put it into practice and seen results appearing within themselves in accordance with the strength of their practice. Many people have come to me to discuss the results they”ve gained from practicing the principles in this book, but now it”s out of print. For this reason I”ve decided to enlarge it and have it printed again as an aid for those who are interested in the practice.
Now, if you”re not acquainted with this topic, have never attempted it, or aren”t yet skilled — if you don”t know the techniques of the practice — it”s bound to be hard to understand, because the currents of the mind, when they”re written down as a book, simply won”t be a book. The issues involved in dealing with the mind are more than many. If your knowledge of them isn”t truly comprehensive, you may misu…
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