Hello Adam. Welcome to the DhO.
Adam Frisoli:
I am a little unsure how to proceed with my practice. Noting practice gives me powerful results, but I would also like to focus on samatha practice by following the breath at the nose.
Nothing wrong with that in general. But, could you fill us in a bit on the background of your knowledge base of the Dhamma. What teachings do you have a bead on to focus toward realization? For example: the five aggregates, dependent arising, the three characteristics of existence, following the noble eightfold path,
sila (virtue),
samadhi (concentration),
panna (wisdom/insight), or
sati (mindfulness)? I ask this because it can be difficult to make suggestions without knowing what your knowledge base is and whether or not there are any holes in it.
Adam Frisoli:
One thing that I have noticed is that beginning a meditation with noting practice and ending it with samatha meditation tends to give me a good experience of both. Would you guys recommend doing two different practices in one sitting, granted that it seems to work well for me? I'm very curious. I'm thinking of doing two hour sits, on in the morning and one at night. The first hour would be noting practice, and the second breath-following at the nose.
That sounds like a doable game plan, Adam. Especially the "doing two hour sits" a day. If you are sincere about dedicating yourself to this practice, it can help you to make tremendous strides in your practice.
Actually, in reference to your statement "Would you guys recommend doing two different practices in one sitting," calming practice (
samatha) and insight practice (noting or
vipassana) are meant to go together naturally. I know, even I had a tendency to view these two as different practices in the beginning, because it was difficult to perform the latter without being able to calm the mind down enough to begin noticing (discerning) the insight that might arise. It helps, though, to realize that they go together and can be practiced together within the same sitting. This is how the Buddha originally taught it.
Adam Frisoli:
I know that stream-entry is possible without focusing specifically on samatha and working up through the samatha jhanas.
However, it is my understanding that the jhanas and samatha practice in general are useful in and of themselves as agents for "purifying" the mind. Could anyone elaborate on this theory? If it is a sound theory I will definitely spend some time purifying my mind in this way, because it's absolutely filthy ;).
First, what is your understanding about what stream entry is? Who's tradition are you relying upon for this information and definition?
Second, yes, absorption attainment (the jhanas) within the context of
samatha practice can be of tremendous help. But only in that they help to provide for setting up the right condition for insight to take place. Meaning that there is still work to be done
after one is able to take advantage of the increase in concentration power provided by practicing absorption.
Third, this is not a theorem. (I know, semantics. You're attempting to communicate an idea. No problem.) It is an absolute fact, as thousands — if not more — of people who have followed this path can attest to. As a matter of fact, this how the Buddha originally taught his path to awakening, was through building on the practice of absorption in order to still and calm the mind long enough for it to begin seeing (via insight) the defilements it contained so that they could be removed via awareness of their presence (the loss of ignorance about their presence). The whole process of purifying the mind (despite what some here may believe) makes up the greater part of the final three path factors on the way toward awakening. This is what
satipatthana practice is all about. The practice of the four
satipatthanas (or the four establishment of mindfulness) is known as the "direct path to realization."
You would do well to read the two satipatthana suttas, one of which is in the
Majjhima Nikaya and the other of which is in the
Digha Nikaya. (Actually, I recommend getting hold of the
Wisdom Publications editions of these two Nikaya translations in order to benefit from the footnoted material contained therein. You won't regret having done so.)
In peace,
Ian