Hey all,

I've heard a lot of people here talk about 'momentum', particularly in reference to Equanimity to Stream entry. While I have a vague understanding of what this entails (practice all the time!), I still have some questions.

Do concentration practices lower my momentum? Kasina or breath?

How do people practicing 2 or 3 hours a day accomplish what takes people on retreats 10+ hours a day? Is mindfulness between sitting really that important?

Tell me what you know about generating momentum. It seems important.

hi daniel,

welcome (back) to the dho.

in direct response to your questions:

- concentration practices can, but do not necessarily, lower your momentum; depending on the conditions, they may add to it.

- given a choice between a kasina and the breath as the primary object in equanimity stage, i would go with the breath.

- people practising 2 or 3 hours a day are able to accomplish what takes people on retreat 10+ hours a day because insight into the three characteristics - and thus the three doors - can be occur during any second of experience. repeat the moment-to-moment investigation into those characteristics enough times with total commitment and one or more of the characteristics will apply sufficiently deeply to evince path-moment.

- yes, mindfulness (whether while sitting or between sits) is really that important... particularly mindfulness with an eye towards / an appreciation of the three characteristics.

essentially what you want is to get the 'five mental faculties' (mindfulness, energy, tranquility, confidence, understanding) in balance, which may call for different approaches depending on the conditions. see the aggi sutta (sn 46.53) for a detailed discussion ... and note that mindfulness is stated therein to be always useful.

while generating momentum is important, in equanimity regarding formations maintaining momentum is more important. for this, continuity and consistency is key. you've obviously been doing something right to get into equanimity territory in the first place; the task is now to apply that to anything you might experience without distinction or differentiation, and to do it in such a way as becomes easy and effortless, practically happening on its own. my tip to you from a year and four months ago still applies: stick to the three characteristics, then, when applicable, sit back slightly and lightly. however, in case the way i put it then wasn't clear, let me re-phrase (and re-emphasise) it slightly:

sit back slightly and lightly, while still sticking to the three characteristics.

tarin

Thank you for the clear and helpful answer to my questions Tarin.


What does sit back slightly and lightly mean? I hear that and think, sit and use my attention 'gently' which makes sense to me...

What are the circumstances when it might lower momentum? What conditions add to it? And why do you recommend breath? I find that kasina really hardens my concentration and makes my insight practice more productive but breath really promotes the tranquility.

Particularly on retreat heavy noting tends to make me really agitated and there comes a point where I feel as though I need to take my foot off the gas. Just being with the breath promoting tranquility helps take the edge off and doing this for twenty minutes here or there on retreat helps reduce anxiety a good deal. However so steeped am I in the idea of momentum and diligent effort, I end up generating some worry that I'm losing momentum.