The Obstructions and Aids to Concentration
A meditator intent on developing serenity concentration must first make an effort to sever the impediments to meditation. For meditative monks, the Visuddhimagga enumerates ten impediments (palibodha):
A dwelling, family and gain, A class, and building too, as fifth And travel, kin, affliction, books, And supernormal powers: ten.3
1. A dwelling can be an impediment to one who has many belongings stored there or whose mind is caught up by some business connected with it.
2. A family consisting of relatives or supporters becomes an impediment for one living in close association with its members.
3. Gains, in the sense of the four requisites of a monk's life (robes, food, lodgings and medicines), oblige him to become involved in association with laymen.
4. A class of students is an impediment when it binds the meditator with duties of teaching and instruction.
5. New building work is always an impediment to a meditating monk as it is a responsibility which distracts him.
6. A journey becomes a source of distracting thoughts both in the planning and in the actual travel.
7. Kin or relatives, when they fall sick, sometimes have to be cared for by a monk, a responsibility which again takes him away from meditation.
8. One's own illness or affliction which calls for treatment is yet another impediment.
9. Books, in the sense of responsibility for the scriptures, can be a hindrance to some meditators.
10. Even the supernormal powers, which are hard to maintain, may be an impediment for one who seeks insight.
It will be useful to a meditating monk to understand beforehand the way of tackling the impediments.4 Six impediments — dwelling, family, gain, class, kin and fame — can be overcome by giving up attachment to them. Three impediments — building, travel and books — are done away with by not undertaking the activities they imply. Affliction is an impediment to be overcome by proper medical treatment with regard to curable diseases. There are some diseases which are of the chronic type. However, whether one's disease turns out to be chronic or even incurable, one should go on meditating in spite of it. Diseases like catarrh, which are rather tolerable, must be subdued with perseverance in meditation. An earnest meditator must not allow illness to get the better of him. In countless births in samsara one must have been the helpless victim of diseases. So at least now one should make a sincere effort to treat the diseases of the mind even while taking medicines for the diseases of the body. In this way one will succeed in overcoming the
4. A lay-meditator will, of course, not be able to avoid the impediments as fully as a monk, but he should try to emulate the monk to the best of his ability (Ed.).
impediments so that one can go on with one's meditation.
Besides knowing how to cut off the impediments, a meditator should understand the six obstacles (paripantha) and the six cleansings (■vodana). The obstacles are those conditions which mar or retard progress in concentration, the cleansings those which help bring concentration to maturity. The six obstacles are:
1. the mind hankering after the past, overcome by distraction;
2. the mind yearning for the future, overcome by hopes and longings;
3. the inert mind, overcome by lethargy;
4. the over-anxious mind, overcome by restlessness;
5. the over-inclined mind, overcome by lust;
6. the disinclined mind, overcome by ill will. (Ps.I,165)
Understanding that these six conditions are detrimental to concentration, one should constantly protect the mind from falling under their influence, for through carelessness, one can lose whatever concentration one has already developed.
Now, let us see how these six states occur. When the meditator applies himself to his subject of meditation, thoughts relating to that subject keep on arising in his mind. And as this train of thought continues to run along the track of the meditation subject, now and then it runs into memories of certain past events in some way related to that subject. Before the meditator is aware of what is happening, the train of thought jumps off the track of meditation and adheres to those past events. It may take some time, even a long time, for the meditator to realize that his mind is no longer on the meditation subject. This tendency for the mind to deviate from the meditation subject greatly impairs the power of concentration, causing distraction. Thus this tendency is a hindrance even to the maintenance of one's concentration, let alone its maturing.
The second obstacle cited above is the tendency of the mind to run toward the future. Very often this tendency takes the form of wishes and aspirations. When desire takes hold of the mind for a long while, it creates a certain mental tremor, and this too undermines concentration.
The third obstacle is mental inertia, which makes the mind lethargic.
The fourth obstacle is the over-anxious mind. At times the meditator becomes so enthusiastic and strenuous in his efforts that he begins to meditate with excessive zeal. But neither his body nor his mind can stand this overstrung effort. Physically he feels exhausted and some times has headaches; mentally he becomes very confused, leading to the decline of his concentration.
The fifth obstacle is the over-inclined state of mind. This state is brought about by lust and results from allowing the mind to stray among various extraneous thought-objects.
And the sixth obstacle is the disinclined state of the mind which results from allowing the mind to pursue extraneous thought-objects under the influence of ill will.
To protect the mind from lapsing into these six obstacles, one should prevent the mind from pursuing extraneous thought-objects. It is by keeping one's mind aloof from these six obstacles that the six occasions for the cleansing of concentration are obtained. In other words, in the very attempt to overcome the six obstacles, one fulfils the six conditions necessary for the cleansing of concentration. The six cleansings are thus the cleansing of the mind from hankering after the past, from yearning for the future, from lethargy, from restlessness, from lust and from ill will.
A certain degree of purification of the mind is brought about by these six ways of cleansing concentration. However, four more auxiliary conditions are necessary to complete this purification:
1. The two spiritual faculties, faith and wisdom, must be kept in balance.
2. All five spiritual faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom) must function with a unity of purpose.
3. The right amount of effort must be applied.
4. Constant and repeated practice must be maintained.
Ps.I,168
Faith, in this context, means the absence of doubts in regard to one's subject of meditation. It is confidence in one's ability to succeed in practice. Wisdom implies the understanding of the purpose of one's meditation. The purpose should be the arousing of the knowledge of mind-and-matter (nama-rupa). The "right amount of effort" is moderate effort. Generally, in the case of serenity meditation (e.g. mindfulness of breathing), three sittings of three hours duration each would be sufficient practice for a day, whereas in insight meditation, one has to go on meditating in all postures throughout the day. By "repeated practice" is meant the arousing of a special ability or a specific tendency by repeatedly dwelling on some wholesome thought.
To develop concentration, all one's actions — large or small — must be done with mindfulness. One should make a special resolve to do everything with the right amount of mindfulness. When each and every act of a meditator is done mindfully, all his actions will begin to maintain a certain level of uniformity. And as this uniformity in mindfulness develops, the behaviour of the meditator's mind will also reach a certain level of progress. Owing to this power, all postures of a meditator will be uniformly smooth and even. His deportment, the inner wealth of his virtues, will be of an inspiring nature.
At the outset, the task of developing mindfulness and concentration might appear as something difficult or even unnecessary. One might even become discouraged by it. Understanding this possibility beforehand, one should make a firm determination to persist in one's practice. The progress of a meditator is nothing other than his progress in mindfulness and concentration. When, at the very start, one enthusiastically sets about developing mindfulness, when one makes an earnest effort to apply mindful-ness, one will begin to see how the mind becomes receptive to mindfulness — almost unwittingly. And once one becomes used to it, one will be able to practise mindfulness without any difficulty. One will then come to feel that mindfulness is an activity quite in harmony with the nature of the mind. And ultimately, the meditator can reach a level at which he can practise mindfulness effortlessly. Not only that, but he will also discover how mindfulness, when developed, overflows into concentration. As mindfulness develops, concentration naturally develops along with it. But an unbroken effort is necessary, and if one is to maintain unbroken mindfulness, one must pay attention to the intervals which occur at the change of postures.
There are four postures: sitting, standing, walking and lying down. In sitting meditation, the mind becomes calm. But when the meditators rise up from their seats, some lose that calmness. Their mindfulness and concentration disappear. Having gotten up, when they start walking or pacing up and down, they lose even the little calmness they had when standing. Their mindfulness and concentration dissipate still more. Because of this tardy procedure, this lack of unbroken continuous mindfulness, one goes on meditating every day, but makes no worthwhile progress; one stagnates.
If one is to avoid this serious drawback, one should direct one's attention to every posture-junction. Take, for example, the walking posture. This is a posture which offers an excellent opportunity to arouse the power of concentra tion. Many meditators find it easy to develop concentration in this posture. Suppose one has aroused some degree of mindfulness and concentration while walking. Now, when one intends to sit down, one should see to it that one does not lose what one has already gained. With concentration, one should make a mental note of the intention of sitting: 'intending to sit, intending to sit.' Then, in sitting down also make a mental note: 'sitting, sitting.' In this manner one should maintain unbroken whatever mindful-ness and concentration one has already built up, and continue one's meditation in the sitting posture. This practice of making a mental note of both the intention and the act at the posture-junctions enables one to maintain mindfulness and concentration without any lapses.
In trying to maintain unbroken mindfulness, one should consider well the dangers of neglecting that practice and the benefits of developing it. To develop mindfulness is to develop heedful-ness, which is helpful to all wholesome mental states. To neglect mindfulness is to grow in heed-lessness, the path leading to all unwholesome states, to downfall. With these considerations, one should make a firm determination and really try to develop mindfulness. When mindfulness develops, concentration, too, develops. Note that it is the development of mindfulness and concen tration that is called "progress in meditation." Always bear in mind the Buddha's words:
He who has mindfulness is always well;
The mindful one grows in happiness.
A meditator has to pay attention to the application of mindfulness at all times and under all circumstances. What needs special emphasis here is that the application of mindfulness should be so oriented as to lead one onward to the realization of Nibbàna. Mindfulness has to be taken up in a way and in a spirit that will effectively arouse the knowledge of the supramundane paths. It is only then that mindfulness can rightfully be called "the enlightenment-factor of mindfulness" (satisambojjhanga). Such mindful-ness, well attuned to the path, leads to the goal of Nibbàna.
Meditation is a battle with the mind. It is a battle with the enemies within — the mental defilements. First of all, one has to recognize that these enemies, while battling among themselves, are at war with the good thoughts, too. "Love" is fighting with "anger." "Jealousy" is in complicity with "anger." "Greed" steps in as an ally to "conceit" and "views." "Views" and "conceit" are mutually opposed, though they both owe their origin to "greed."
The meditator should understand the nature of these defilements. Mental defilements are a gang of crafty enemies. They create deceptions in the meditator's mind even when meditation shows signs of progress. The meditator becomes happy. But this is a case of subtle deception. Because of his complacency, meditation tends to decline. This is an instance of an enemy masquerading as a friend.
Self-deceptions can occur even when the meditator is engaged in making a mental note. For instance, in mentally noting a painful feeling, if he has the intention of putting an end to that pain, hate will find an opportunity to step in. Similarly, in mentally noting a desirable object, the meditator is rather tardy in doing so. This lapse leaves room for greed to creep in. In fact, he deliberately delays the mental noting in order to give an opportunity to his desire. He does this when the object of which he has a mental image happens to be a pleasant one. Sometimes, in such situations, he totally neglects the mental noting. The loss the meditator incurs by this neglect is indescribably great.
Failure to make a mental note of an object as such becomes a serious drawback in the development of one's meditative attention. As soon as one sees a pleasant object, one should make a mental note of it and summarily dismiss it.
Otherwise one will only be courting disaster. Sometimes the meditator will get a mental image of a woman coming so close as to make physical contact with him. On such occasions the meditator has to be alert and heedful in making a mental note. There are two ways of mental noting:
(1) While meditating, one hears a sound. If it is a sound which continues for a long while, one should mentally note it twice or thrice ('hearing'... 'hearing').
(2) While meditating, one hears a sound. If
it is possible to continue meditation in spite of that sound, after the initial mental noting, one need not repeatedly make a mental note of it.
In meditation, one should make a mental note of everything encountered. One should get into the habit of mentally noting whatever comes along — be it big or small, good or bad. To make a mental note of painful feelings with dislike leaves room for hate, thus one should always exercise equanimity in mentally noting these feelings. One should not note them with the idea of getting rid of them. The aim should be to comprehend the nature of phenomena by understanding pain as pain. The same principle applies to a pleasant object giving rise to a pleasant feeling. With
Nibbana as the sole aim, one should learn to make mental notes of everything with equanimity.
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