How can I develop the Buddhist path?

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, Pa Auk methold based on Ven. Thanissaro advice, Wisdom Quarterly

I would rather be MEDITATING in ecstasy, but I need easy entertainment like alt rock!

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Breath Meditation Basic Instructions

In and out breathing meditation is one technique of many. It's available to everyone. Of all the meditation topics that exist, it may be the most beneficial for the body. For when dealing with the breath, it's air and "invisible life force energy" (prana) that courses throughout the body and animates it.

If we can learn to become aware of it and let it flow smoothly and unobstructed, we can help the body function better. This can give the mind a handle for dealing with physical pain.

We can "meditate" (develop singlepointed absorption for purity and calm or develop a contemplation for insight and liberation) in any of the four positions: lying down, sitting, standing, or moving. If we lie down too soon, we'll fall asleep. If we move too soon, we'll become distracted. Let's start with sitting and stand if we become sore then sit again.

Position

Sit comfortably and erect, in a balanced position. Allow the body to be neither stiff nor slack. Ramrod straight like a soldier is a mistake. Slack like a hippie is a mistake. Wake up. Relax. Avoid leaning forward or back, to the left or right.

Affirmation

Close the eyes and affirm, "May I be truly happy and free from suffering (dukkha)." It may sound strange, even selfish, to start meditating in this way, but there are good reasons for it. For one thing, if we can't wish ourselves happiness (sukha), there will be no way to honestly wish for the happiness of others.

Many of us need to remind ourselves constantly that we deserve happiness. We all deserve it, but if we don't believe it, we'll constantly find ways to punish ourselves. And we'll end up punishing others in subtle and/or blatant ways as well.

For another thing, it's important to reflect on what true happiness is and where it can be found. A moment's reflection shows that it's not found in the past or future. The past is gone, and our memory of it is undependable. The future is an uncertainty. The only place to find happiness is in the present.

But even here in the present moment we have to know where to look. If we attempt to base our happiness on things that change — sights, sounds, sensations in general, people, external things — we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. We're building a house on a cliff where there are many landslides. True happiness has to be searched for within.

Treasure hunt

Meditation is like a treasure hunt: To find what's of solid and unchanging value in the heart/mind, something that even death cannot touch, we have to look within.

And to find this treasure, we need tools. The first tool is doing what we're doing right now: We must develop goodwill (metta) towards ourselves. The second tool is to spread that goodwill to other living beings as well. Let's tell ourselves, "All living beings, no matter who they are, no matter what they have done to us in the past — may they all find true happiness, too."

If we don't cultivate this thought and instead carry grudges into our meditation, that's all we'll be able to see when we look inside.

The concept of the breath

Only when we have cleared the mind/heart in this way, having set others matters aside, are we ready to focus on the breath. Bring attention to the breathing. Breathe in a long breath and let it go a couple of times, focusing just under the nose. The breathing is easy to notice here. The mind feels comfortable focusing.

Stay with this spot, noticing how breath moves in and out as the body breathes. There's no need to breathe because the body will breathe all by itself automatically when left alone to do its business. Don't force it, don't fix it, don't make it more obvious. Don't soften it, don't smooth it out, don't hold it.

Allow

There's no need to bear down too heavily with the focus either. Let the breath flow naturally. Simply keep track of it. Take an interest in it, and watch that keen interest grow. If the mind wanders off, and it will, simply bring it back -- without criticism, frustration, or judgment.

There's no need to get discouraged. If it wanders off 100 times, bring it back 100 times. As many times as it drifts off, bring it back the moment it is realized that it has gone elsewhere. Start again. And again. Show it persistence, and it will eventually listen.

Rather than controlling or adjusting the breath, leave that to the body. The play of the meditator is to observe and be the watcher-consciousness that merely knows and is aware in real time. There's no need to reflect because the breath to be aware of is this one and only this one. Doing this keeps a meditator in real time, in the present moment, rather than wandering off.

Where is it?

Once the breath learns on its own to stay on that point of concentration right under the nose, or anywhere in that region below the nostrils (which may change a little, sometimes clearer here than there), the mind will see a counterpart sign (nimitta). Stay with the breath.

The sign is not the object of meditation; the breath is. By staying with the breath, the sign will come there and merge. If one makes the mistake of moving attention to the sign, it will go away and be lost. It is a precious thing, so ignore it until it merges with the breath. It is a creation of the mind because of the breath.

Let go, let go

If there is any tension or tightness in doing this, let it go and relax. We are not building tension. We are allowing serenity. If there's tension, adjust slowly so it can dissipate. If it continues, allow it to be. Often it is resistance that makes it uncomfortable. If craving for comfort develops, it will become a hindrance. So let it be as it is, just as it is, and notice it with dispassion and letting go (nonattachment).

Ever mindful just of the breath

If meditating at home or on a retreat, stay with the breath even when getting up. This is mindfulness of the breath meditation, so stay mindful of it. Avoid changing objects as one might in open-mindfulness. This is a matter of building momentum on this one object.

The longer we sit, the more momentum we generate. It will all be dissipated if we switch to mindfulness of walking or other distractions. Even in getting up and walking, we stay with the breath. The breath becomes the most important thing, the thing that sustains us and gives us life (prana) energy.

Build mindfulness of breathing rather than letting it dissipate by attention to anything else. This mindfulness culminates in absorption (jhana), which is the original meaning of "meditation" (dhyana, zen, seon, chan, one's kammatthana or "field of endeavor," bhavana, the second part of the Path of Purification, the first being harmless virtue that leaves the mind at peace and free of remorse and the third being insight-wisdom).

There are, of course, other types of meditation, contemplations, meditative practices, but this is the basic one, the foundation of all the others. Get good at this one, and there will be none one cannot do. We may find ourselves in the neighborhood of concentration, with access to concentration. That is good. It is not yet absorption, but it is good and may be enough.

Five Factors

When the Five Hindrances (sensual craving, ill will or anger, restlessness, sleepiness or boredom, doubt and uncertainty) come up, meditation will go down. When the Five Factors of Absorption (applied attention, sustained attention...

• "The first absorption is free of five things (the Five Hindrances or nīvarana). And five things are present (the Five Factors of Absorption or jhānanga). Whenever the meditator enters the first absorption, there have vanished sensual craving, ill will, sleepiness and tiredness, restlessness and worries, doubt and uncertainty.
• "And there are present applied attention (vitakka), sustained attention (vicāra), blissful rapture (pīti), happiness (sukha), and unification of mind (samādhi).
• "In the second absorption there are present blissful rapture, happiness, and unification of mind. In the third, happiness and unification of mind. In the fourth, equanimity (upekkhā) and unification" (The Path of Purification, Vis.M. IV).

Keep awareness focused on the breath until the breath (now the nimitta) sucks in or absorbs consciousness. There is nothing to do but allow. The tendency will be to concentration, focus, shrink to a single spot.

And according to Ajahn Brahm, the other absorptions are right at the center of the previous one. Allow awareness to simply stay where it is, full of bliss. Eventually, as one passes through the first few absorptions, this effervescent feeling of bliss or piti is replaced by the much more comfortable and sustainable sense of calm and serenity. 

There's nowhere to go, nowhere to be, no time to do it, and nothing one has to do or think about. Enjoy the silence, and feel the bliss permeate every part of the body with a supersensual pleasure that saturates every cell like soap powder mixed with water until it is sudsy. Repeatedly practicing in this way, protecting the nimitta or sign from distractions, one learns to enter these states at will.

Now one is ready to take up insight meditation or vipassana in a very productive way. If only neighborhood or access concentration has been developed, it is still possible to begin systematic contemplation in line with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness sutra.

Now the fuel is in the rocket for progress to be made, such that with the practice of Dependent Origination, a breakthrough in insight comes. And one enters upon the stages of enlightenment.