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jhana-sentences

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The mind, the Chitta begins to blossom.

And the Buddha likened it to someone getting out of jail.

Oh, a traveler walking across the desert, slogging across this desert, and they see a lake.

Oh, you say its like this.

Theres a lifting in the Chitta because the burden has dropped off or dropping off.

And so then quite a lot of energy can happen.

Sometimes people get so much Piddi that it becomes too much.

You know, just fizzing with it.

They start crying and just so its over, over brimming over with it.

But ideally the thing is that that moves into whats called sukkha, which is ease.

So imagine the person crossing the desert, sees the lake, gets the lake, drinks the water.

Do they feel good You bet.

And the idea is that because this Piddi makes the mind a little bit unsteady, its like it wakes up, but its suddenly, and then you want to calm it.

So this is where if youre doing Anapanasati, you soothe and spread the energy through your body.

You try to feel the entire body, the energy in the body.

So the energy in the body helps to ground it a bit.

You know, your breathing out helps to ground it a little bit.

And if its a persistent problem, because theres a certain emotional elation with Piddi, you see the Piddi tends to come in waves, like waves of it, like any other emotion.

They move in terms of waves.

And you focus on the wave arises, you focus on the wave going down.

The next one comes up going down.

You know, you focus on the subsiding aspect of the wave.

Piddi is called a sankara, is an activity.

The difference is that the Piddi activates and the sukkha just spreads, suffuses.

Now, when that result of that tempering, that blending, realizing a hindrance isnt present, feeling what it feels like to have got out of jail, then you got out of jail, now you go home.

If you got out of jail, you feel excited, you go home, you sit down, oh, back home again.

Well, this is very nice, you know, its like that.

And when you get home, you just want to sit there for a while and take it in.

Theres a one-pointedness, theres a one place, your mind doesnt want to go outside.

It doesnt want to run around.

And it means the mind is now absorbed into the theme.

And its a home with it, its settled in it.

It doesnt want to go out.

And so this is called ekaggata, one-pointedness.

Now, again, this question about sensations, you can also get not just mental hindrances, but strange paranormal experiences, lights, sounds, itchy feelings.

And you just got to, these also can happen.

Essentially, you respond to them, breathing, soothing, calming, turning your attention away with drawing, calming, steadying, depending on whats necessary.

You may feel, your body may feel imbalanced, you may feel like your one side is heavy, other side is light, all kinds of strange things happen because when youre shifting your energy from this ongoing drive, first of all, its a bit like having vertigo.

little bit like that, you feel, well, you know, it has to find a place to settle.

So sometimes you feel a bit imbalanced, then keep your eyes open, keep it simple, go into the sensations of the body and simple physical sensations.

So thats, thats, you know, a brief pocket map, you could say.

But like any other map, like any map, the map is good, but the, you do the walking, its, its not like walking across a paper, paper, youre going to walk the territory of your, your body, mind and all its inheritance and not get lost in it.

Why these are picked up, because its so either the mind has got so much, so many shapes and colors and things it can go out to, its almost infinite.

So you can just drift around in that landscape forever and just focusing, focusing, steady focusing and it will work, because this is a fun, a suitable meditation theme and a suitable mode of practice that works for you.

And thats worth checking out, because you can just getting through that landscape.

This is why we spend lifetimes in Sangsara, because were drifting through this landscape and it never ends.

This is the way through, shortcut.

And if it takes years, its still short.

You know, you get an idea, the long view of the, the Buddhas practice, like, you know, thousands of, under the lifetime, years is just the finger snap.

And you can take that, you can take that before you, before your mind enters Jhana, enters it.

But, you know, every time that your mind is not wandering, then definitely that pays off.

Every time your mind is not picking up your will, that pays off.

Jhana can seem very far off or satiric, but its the probably one of the most common words the Buddha used when he described meditation.

You know, this is what Im teaching for.

His realization was, began apparently in the discourses with, you know, practicing a lot of determined or stya practices and suppressing his breath and suppressing his mind and then thinking, oh, wait a minute, this isnt, just step back.

And then remembering time when he was a little boy sitting under a tree and feeling quite peaceful sitting under a tree.

His father was in plowing, so he probably felt safe, his father was out there, cool in the shade.

And he said, at that time, my mind entered this jhana.

mean, he was only a little boy, probably didnt think of it like that, but this is what the Buddha called it, called it absorb.

His mind absorbed, it became steady, and it was withdrawn from sense, passions, unskillful thoughts.

And thats the good thing to remember, you know, theres something innocent about it, light.

So just imagine sitting on a tree and not wondering what kind of tree it is or how long you should sit there, what people think of you for sitting under a tree, when its time for dinner, whether your aunts going to bite you, you know, whether you look silly sitting there, just sit under your tree.

And he said, well, picked up this quality and entered into that, my breathing in and out, felt comfortable.

Its a pleasure thats not born of detachment, withdrawal, not born of gratification, blameless.

And so thats a little picture of the Buddhas liberation process.

Its not to, you know, dismiss this heritage of many different systems that we that we can draw upon, but to not remember, dont get lost in the trees, pick up whats helpful for you.

Im one teacher, there are other teachers who come through, check it out what seems to work for you.

But reference has to be to, to this, these, these Buddhas teachings.

And you dont get far without entering to the topic of Jhana and Samadhi.

And fundamentally, you know, it doesnt take long to enter the five hindrances, absolutely not.

So if you want to get through them, whatever you want to call it, getting through the five hindrances is definitely good to me, a desirable thing.

Okay, so when doing walking meditation, what we place our attention onto, well, its up to you.

Whats suitable Again, the Buddha said one walking up and down, one walks up and down, dispelling unprofitable states.

So, you know, thats, its not, its quite a quite wide open dispelling unprofitable states.

Now, think what Im trying to encourage is something quite natural.

And know it can feel a little bit uncertain when you dont have a system.

What should be doing But Im encouraging you to almost stop meditating.

And just get right back to what, if you werent meditating, youre sitting there, how would you know youre breathing Similarly, if youre not meditating and youre just walking slowly with no where specific to go, how would you know youre walking What would tell you youre walking Youd probably experience a sense of movement, feet plodding away.

Now, what helps the steadier mind is the regularity of that movement.

And its clear enough for your mind to enter it, to hold it, and just keep dispelling the sense of should try to, you know, what am supposed to be doing Youre doing it.

Now, if you really, you can focus on the movement of your legs, or the movement of a leg and a sensation of the foot hitting the ground, next leg, that swing movement, plop, pause, plop, you know, that youve got a rhythm there, repeated.

So, you know, one sense of the mind is just too loose and inactive, and its drifting and dreaming and wandering.

The other sense, which has to be mentioned is your mind can get so rigid about doing the right system that it kind of seizes up and theres no joy in it.

Dont, dont, dont, dont, dont, youre always intense.

And do you get the quality of piti, sukkha Do you feel comfortable or easy with that

Or youre just doing that because you have this sense of if its meditation, its got to be serious.

If its meditation, it must be something systematic that you do.

And youve got to get right to the right thing.

And these are kind of assumptions that we have.

Why didnt the Buddha tell us if it was a subtle technique Maybe its a bit easier than that.

But sometimes its difficult for us to let go of this doingness in meditation.

Because we tend to value doing so much, being an expert, getting things done.

And were always frightened of getting it wrong, nervous about getting it wrong.

And that, that hobble, that, that, that, that ties your mind into a straight jacket.

Essentially, we withdraw from unskilled states and unskilled states will arise.

Its like youre washing a shirt.

The dirt has to come out.

If youre frightened of dirt, dont wash your shirt.

You just keep washing away and throw the water away and start again.

And my personal recommendation is just to try to be as natural as possible without getting it wrong.