Offerings to the Sangha SanghikaDana
The Buddha then explained to the Venerable Ananda 'There are seven kinds of offerings made to the Sangha, Ananda. - One makes an offering to a Sangha of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunIs headed by the Buddha this is the first kind of offering made to the Sangha. - One makes an offering to a Sangha of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunIs after the Buddha has attained Parinib-bana this is the second kind of offering made to the Sangha. - One makes an offering to a Sangha of bhikkhus this is the third kind of...
Questions Answers 6
Question 6.1 How should a meditator who practises mindfulness-of-breathing anapanasati but cannot see a nimitta check himself physically and mentally, so that he can improve and enter jhana In other words, what are the conditions needed to have a nimitta Answer 6.1 Constant practice is necessary in all types of meditation. In mindfulness-of-breathing you should be mindful of the breath in every bodily posture, and be so with respect. Walking, standing or sitting, take no objects apart from the...
RecollectionofDeath Marananussati
According to the Mahasatipatthana Sutta Greater Discourse on Foundations of Mindfulness and the Visuddhimagga Commentary, the recollection-of-death can also be developed using a corpse you remember seeing. Therefore, you should re-establish the first jhana with the repulsiveness of a corpse, and with that external corpse as object, reflect 'This body of mine too is of a nature to die. Indeed, it will become dead just like this one. It cannot avoid becoming like this.' By keeping the mind...
namarupaparicchedanana
4. The Purification by Overcoming Doubt kankha-vita-rana-visuddhi . This is the Knowledge of Discerning Cause and Condition paccaya-pariggaha-nana , in other words, to see dependent-origination paticcasamup-pada . 5. The Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is and What Is Not the Path maggamagganana-dassana-visuddhi . This is the Knowledge of Comprehension sammasana-nana and Knowledge of Arising and Passing-Away udayabbaya-nana , which is the beginning of Vipassan . So before Vipassan...
Questions Answers 2
Question 2.1 How should beginners balance the faculties of concentration and wisdom How should they practise wisdom in mindfulness-of-breathing anapanasati Answer 2.1 We already talked about balancing the five controlling faculties in my very first talk, but I can summarize. It is not that important for beginners to balance concentration and wisdom. This is because they are only beginners, and their five controlling faculties are not yet developed. In the beginning of meditation, there is...
Questions Answers 7
Question 7.1 What is the difference between perception sanna and the perception-aggregate sanna-khandha , and between feeling vedana and the feeling-aggregate vedana-khandha Answer 7.1 The eleven types of perception sanna together are called the perception-aggregate sanna-khandha . The eleven types of feeling vedana together are called the feeling-aggregate vedana-khandha . What are the eleven Past, present, future, internal, external, gross, subtle, inferior, superior, near, and far. All five...
How You Discern Jhana ThoughtProcesses
If you have attained jhana with, for example, mindfulness-of-breathing, then the best place to start to discern mentality is the consciousness and mental-concomitants of that jhana. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that when developing jhana, you discerned the five jhana factors, which means you have some experience in discerning those mental-concomitants. The second reason is that the jhana impulsion-consciousnesses jhana-javana-citta occur many times in succession, and are...
Lovingkindness Towards A Person You Like Respect
If you have attained the fourth jhana on mindfulness-of-breathing, or the white kasina, you should re-establish it until the light is bright, brilliant, and radiant. It is, with the light of particularly the white kasina fourth jhana, really very easy to develop lovingkindness-meditation. The reason is that with the concentration of the fourth jhana the mind is purified of greed, anger, delusion, and other defilements. After having emerged from the fourth jhana, the mind is pliant, workable,...
Questions Answers 1
Question 1.1 How do we, in the four stages of mind-fulness-of-breathing anapanasati , decide when to go from one stage to another Answer 1.1 The Buddha taught mindfulness-of-breathing step by step long breath, short breath, whole breath and subtle breath, only for easy understanding. At the time of actual practice, all four stages may occur at the same time. For example, when the breath is long, we should try to know the whole breath when the breath is short, we should try to know the whole...
The Ten Kasinas The Colour Kasina
There are four colours used for kasina meditation blue, yellow, red, and white. 'Blue' nila can also be translated as 'black', or 'brown'. All four kasinas can be developed up to the fourth jhana by using as object the colours of different parts of the body. According to the Abhidhamma commentary, the head hairs, body hairs, and the irises of the eyes can be used for the blue, brown, or black kasina up to the fourth jhana fat and urine can be used for the yellow kasina blood, and flesh can be...
Itipi so bhagava araham sammasambuddho vijjacaranasampanno sugato lokavidu
This can be explained as This Blessed One, having destroyed all defilements, is a worthy one araham he has attained perfect enlightenment by himself sammasambuddho he is perfect in knowledge and moral conduct vijjacaranasampanno he speaks only what is beneficial and true sugato he knows the worlds lokavidu he is the unsurpassable tamer of men fit to be tamed anuttaro purisadammasarathi he is the teacher of devas and men sattha devamanussanam he is an Enlightened One buddho he is the most...
How You Attain Jhana
When the five controlling faculties, faith, effort, mind-fulness, concentration, and understanding are sufficiently developed, concentration will go beyond access, up to absorption concentration. When you reach jhana, your mind will know the patibhaga-nimitta without interruption. This can continue for several hours, even all night, or for a whole day. When your mind stays continuously concentrated on the patibhaga-nimitta for one or two hours, you should try to discern the area in the heart...