2.
KAYANUPASSANA – THE OBSERVING OF BODY
MINDFULNESS ON BREATHING – ANAPANASATHI
(Anapanapabbam)
Developing the awareness of
breathing:
An excerpt from a meditation guide, ”Wisdom
Develops Samadhi” written By Ven. Acarriya Maha Boowa
Nanasampanno- Who became the Abbot of Baan Taad Forest Monastery, of Thailand,
after the passing away of Venerable Acariya Mun (Bhuridatta
Thero). He practiced under the guidance of Acharya Mun for nine years and later
practiced on his own on the hills and forests of Thailand. – (Translated by -
Ven. Acharya Pannavaddho Thero, 2005).
Anapanasati bhavana (developing the awareness of the breathing)
uses the breath as the objective support of the heart and consists in knowing
and mindfulness (sati) of in and out breathing. In becoming aware of breathing,
one should at first fix attention on the feeling of the breath at the nose or
the palate (roof of the mouth),as it suits one, because this is where the
breath initially makes contact, and one may use this as a marker point
for holding one’s attention. Having done this until one has become skilled, and
the in and out breathing becomes finer and finer, one will progressively come
to know and understand the nature of the contact of in and out breathing, until
it seems that the breathing is located either in the middle of the chest or the
solar plexus. (place located at the bottom of the breastbone, but also said
that if one understood them to be two separate places, either of which could be
the location for the awareness of breathing, one would not be wrong).
After this, one must just fix
one’s attention on breathing at that place and one must no longer be concerned
about fixing attention on the breathing at the tip of the nose or the palate,
or about following it in and out with awareness. .
In particular, it is important to
have mindfulness established. One must establish mindfulness to control the
heart so that one feels the breath at every moment while it is entering or
leaving, whether short or long, until one knows clearly that the breathing is
becoming progressively finer with every breath- and until finally it becomes
apparent that the finest and most subtle breath and the heart have converged
and become one. In other words, it seems as if the citta is
the breathing, and as if the breathing is the citta.
When one has attained the most
subtle level of breathing, the citta will be bright, cool, calm,
happy and just knowing the heart-and there will be no connection with any
disturbing influence. Even if finally at that time, the breath gives up its
relationship with oneself, there will be no anxiety because the citta
will have let go of the burden and will just have knowledge of the heart alone.
In other words, it will be non-dual (akaggatarammana). This is
the result that comes from developing the practice of Anapanasati
Kammatthana. But it should also be understood that whichever
kammatthana is practiced, and whoever practices it, this is the kind of result
that should be attained. When this state is attained, the person who is doing
the practice will know that which is wondrous in one’s heart, the like of which
one has never encountered before. This is a deeply felt state of happiness,
more so than anything which one has previously experienced.
It is also possible that while
practicing a given type of kamatthana, the characteristics of
that form of kammatthana may appear to some people. For example, hair of the
head, or hair of the body, or nails, teeth skin flesh, bones, etc., any of
which may appear and be seen clearly until it becomes fixed in one’s heart, and
longer one can pay attention to it, retain it in this way and fix it in one’s
heart, the better.
When the above object has been
intimately fixed in one’s, one must appreciate it in the right way by attending
to the unpleasant and loathsome aspects of it, for this is the nature of all
the parts of the body, both internally. Then divide the body into parts of the
body, or into groups of parts depending on their nature. One may take such
groups as hair of the head, hair of the body, flesh, bones and so on: and one
may contemplate them as rotting and decayed, as being burnt, as being eaten by
vultures, crows and dogs, and seen them breaking down into their basic elements
–earth, water, fire, air.
Whether one has much or little
skill, doing the practice in this way will be of great value when it is done
for the purpose of making the heart skilled in seeing the body, for the purpose
of seeing truly what is in the body, and for the purpose of reducing and
eliminating delusion in regard to the nature of the body, (this delusion being
what gives rise to sexual craving) raga tanha – which is one aspect of the
“outgoing exuberance” of the heart. One’s heart will then become progressively
more calm and subtle.
It is important when parts of the
body appear, that one should not ignore them and pass them by without interest,
nor must one be afraid of them, but one should fix them right in front of one
then and there.When a person who practices
meditation has seen his body until it has truly become fixed in his heart, he
will feel wearied of himself and will feel the sorrow and misery of himself so
that he is horrified and shocked. In addition, the heart of a person to whom
the body appears, and who faces up to it while practicing meditation will be
able to attain samadi very quickly, and the practice of seeing
the body will make his/her wisdom clear at the same time as one’s heart becomes
calm.
A person who does not see the
parts of the body should understand that all preparatory meditation is for the
purpose of leading the citta to a state of both calm and
happiness, so one should not feel doubtful about any of those methods that they
will not lead the citta to a state of calm, and later on
to see the danger with wisdom. One must be determined in whichever meditation
one is practicing, and repeat whichever preparatory repetition suits one,
without becoming disheartened nor feeling like giving up.
It should be realised that whichever
method of meditation is practiced, it leads to the same goal as all the other
methods, and it should also be realised that all these methods of Dhamma
will lead the heart to peace and happiness- in other words, to Nibbana-
which is the final goal of all types of meditation development. Therefore one
must do one’s own meditation practice and not be concerned about other types of
meditation, otherwise one will be in a state of doubt and uncertainty, and
unable to decide which of them is the right way, which would be a constant
obstacle to one’s citta, thus preventing one from carrying out
one’s original resolve.
It has been said by the Buddha: “ mindfulness of breathing,
developed and repeatedly practiced, is of great fruit, of great advantage, for
it fulfils the four foundations of mindfulness; the four foundations of
mindfulness developed and repeatedly practiced, fulfil the seven enlightenment factors:
the seven enlightenment factors, developed and repeatedly practised, fulfil
clear- vision and deliverance.” Clear vision and deliverance, or direct
knowledge and the bliss of liberation, are the highest fruit of the application
of mindfulness.
No comments:
Post a Comment