[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
brief synopsis.
The Buddha begins his exposition of the body with contemplation of the mindfulness of
breathing (anapanasati). Though not required as a starting point for meditation, in
actual practice mindfulness of breathing usually serves as the "root meditation subject"
(mulakammatthana), the foundation for the entire course of contemplation. It would be
a mistake, however, to consider this subject merely an exercise for neophytes. By itself
mindfulness of breathing can lead to all the stages of the path culminating in full
42 von 68 25.07.2009 10:38
The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html
awakening. In fact it was this meditation subject that the Buddha used on the night of
his own enlightenment. He also reverted to it throughout the years during his solitary
retreats, and constantly recommended it to the monks, praising it as "peaceful and
sublime, an unadulterated blissful abiding, which banishes at once and stills evil
unwholesome thoughts as soon as they arise" (MN 118).
Mindfulness of breathing can function so effectively as a subject of meditation because it
works with a process that is always available to us, the process of respiration. What it
does to turn this process into a basis for meditation is simply to bring it into the range of
awareness by making the breath an object of observation. The meditation requires no
special intellectual sophistication, only awareness of the breath. One merely breathes
naturally through the nostrils keeping the breath in mind at the contact point around the
nostrils or upper lip, where the sensation of breath can be felt as the air moves in and
out. There should be no attempt to control the breath or to force it into predetermined
rhythms, only a mindful contemplation of the natural process of breathing in and out.
The awareness of breath cuts through the complexities of discursive thinking, rescues us
from pointless wandering in the labyrinth of vain imaginings, and grounds us solidly in
the present. For whenever we become aware of breathing, really aware of it, we can be
aware of it only in the present, never in the past or the future.
The Buddha's exposition of mindfulness of breathing involves four basic steps. The first
two (which are not necessarily sequential) require that a long inhalation or exhalation be
noted as it occurs, and that a short inhalation or exhalation be noted as it occurs. One
simply observes the breath moving in and out, observing it as closely as possible, noting
whether the breath is long or short. As mindfulness grows sharper, the breath can be
followed through the entire course of its movement, from the beginning of an inhalation
through its intermediary stages to its end, then from the beginning of an exhalation
through its intermediary stages to its end. This third step is called "clearly perceiving the
entire (breath) body." The fourth step, "calming the bodily function," involves a
progressive quieting down of the breath and its associated bodily functions until they
become extremely fine and subtle. Beyond these four basic steps lie more advanced
practices which direct mindfulness of breathing towards deep concentration and
insight. [54]
Another practice in the contemplation of the body, which extends meditation outwards
from the confines of a single fixed position, is mindfulness of the postures. The body can
assume four basic postures walking, standing, sitting, and lying down and a variety
of other positions marking the change from one posture to another. Mindfulness of the
postures focuses full attention on the body in whatever position it assumes: when
walking one is aware of walking, when standing one is aware of standing, when sitting
one is aware of sitting, when lying down one is aware of lying down, when changing
postures one is aware of changing postures. The contemplation of the postures
illuminates the impersonal nature of the body. It reveals that the body is not a self or
the belonging of a self, but merely a configuration of living matter subject to the
directing influence of volition. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
brief synopsis.
The Buddha begins his exposition of the body with contemplation of the mindfulness of
breathing (anapanasati). Though not required as a starting point for meditation, in
actual practice mindfulness of breathing usually serves as the "root meditation subject"
(mulakammatthana), the foundation for the entire course of contemplation. It would be
a mistake, however, to consider this subject merely an exercise for neophytes. By itself
mindfulness of breathing can lead to all the stages of the path culminating in full
42 von 68 25.07.2009 10:38
The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html
awakening. In fact it was this meditation subject that the Buddha used on the night of
his own enlightenment. He also reverted to it throughout the years during his solitary
retreats, and constantly recommended it to the monks, praising it as "peaceful and
sublime, an unadulterated blissful abiding, which banishes at once and stills evil
unwholesome thoughts as soon as they arise" (MN 118).
Mindfulness of breathing can function so effectively as a subject of meditation because it
works with a process that is always available to us, the process of respiration. What it
does to turn this process into a basis for meditation is simply to bring it into the range of
awareness by making the breath an object of observation. The meditation requires no
special intellectual sophistication, only awareness of the breath. One merely breathes
naturally through the nostrils keeping the breath in mind at the contact point around the
nostrils or upper lip, where the sensation of breath can be felt as the air moves in and
out. There should be no attempt to control the breath or to force it into predetermined
rhythms, only a mindful contemplation of the natural process of breathing in and out.
The awareness of breath cuts through the complexities of discursive thinking, rescues us
from pointless wandering in the labyrinth of vain imaginings, and grounds us solidly in
the present. For whenever we become aware of breathing, really aware of it, we can be
aware of it only in the present, never in the past or the future.
The Buddha's exposition of mindfulness of breathing involves four basic steps. The first
two (which are not necessarily sequential) require that a long inhalation or exhalation be
noted as it occurs, and that a short inhalation or exhalation be noted as it occurs. One
simply observes the breath moving in and out, observing it as closely as possible, noting
whether the breath is long or short. As mindfulness grows sharper, the breath can be
followed through the entire course of its movement, from the beginning of an inhalation
through its intermediary stages to its end, then from the beginning of an exhalation
through its intermediary stages to its end. This third step is called "clearly perceiving the
entire (breath) body." The fourth step, "calming the bodily function," involves a
progressive quieting down of the breath and its associated bodily functions until they
become extremely fine and subtle. Beyond these four basic steps lie more advanced
practices which direct mindfulness of breathing towards deep concentration and
insight. [54]
Another practice in the contemplation of the body, which extends meditation outwards
from the confines of a single fixed position, is mindfulness of the postures. The body can
assume four basic postures walking, standing, sitting, and lying down and a variety
of other positions marking the change from one posture to another. Mindfulness of the
postures focuses full attention on the body in whatever position it assumes: when
walking one is aware of walking, when standing one is aware of standing, when sitting
one is aware of sitting, when lying down one is aware of lying down, when changing
postures one is aware of changing postures. The contemplation of the postures
illuminates the impersonal nature of the body. It reveals that the body is not a self or
the belonging of a self, but merely a configuration of living matter subject to the
directing influence of volition. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]