September samatha jhanas 1-4 - Discussion
Hello,
I will be setting up a "your-own-sincere-practice-is-generally-the-best-teacher-and-it can-help-to-sit-with-others" retreat online in September. There are no teachers for this, but one's own anapanasati, cultivating the rupa jhanas 1-4.
Starting evening, Monday, September 2nd, ending evening, Sunday, September 29th.
The purpose of the jhana practice is to train the mind in temporarily abating mental difficulties in order to develop an ability to know phenomena more directly with a relaxed, stable concentration as a result of gently tempering five identified mental movements that can hinder relaxed, stable concentration of the mind.
These five hindering movements of mind are said to be: sensory desire, ill-will, sloth-turpor, restlessness-worry, and doubt.
From the perspective of priorities, this is not an easy month-long home practice. But it's your practice so you can jump in as much as possible.
If you feel your practice is not really the best teacher, then maybe this would support your practice under a teacher's guidance, or maybe this is not for you and that's just fine. This kind of thing is available anywhere, freely. : )
Note: there is not a vipassana component to this month. There is no particular reason for this, except that Gotama spoke of anapanasati as being what carried him.
Since I am setting it up and will be responsible for hosting, I do want to say a few things:
1. Each person agrees they are responsible for their own practice, including...
2. ...kindness and non-harm for self and others, including if you know samatha practice is too stressful at anytime, stop. The entire point of 2nd and 3rd jhanas are to abate mental stress with the antidotes of piti and sukha. If stress is peaking, then something needs to be lightened. Perhaps rest, exercise, go for some form of care for yourself. This is not a race
3. ...having a regular/daily cardiovascular and physical practice (such as swimming, jogging, yoga, walking at a pace that is hard to talk during, rowing). Here is McMaster's University seven-minute scientific workout: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_r=0Many people are drawn to meditate due to depression and anxiety and the mind is hardly ready to deal with the full brunt of depression and anxiety on its own in the beginning and nor should the brain be asked to do all that work when the body and its chemistry on exercise helps so very much, so wholesomely and counteracts nicely the dominance of thinking by giving the body a chance to direct things via adrenoline and breathing and heart rate changes..
4. ...abiding one's normal drug regimen, if any, and not increasing regular caffeine intake, if any. Psychotic breaks in meditation are reported sometimes and I think the monk Yuttadhammo mentioned he has seen one or two that were associated with lots of caffeine/stimulant intake in the practitioner's hope of causing wakefulness in the wee hours and with the excessive and hasty desire to achieve "enlightenment", impatient escape from own mental suffering. It's very okay if you spent the entire time wrestling tipping over with "sloth"; that, I find, is very much part of the training It actually does help the mind to practice staying upright in the face of an onslaught of natural fatigue
5. ...getting proper sleep.
6. If you are using a video chat to log in, please point the camera to something neutral in your practice space, like towards whatever dim light/pool of light you may be using at the time.
Practice times:
Eastern standard time hours: 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., 8p.m. to 10 p.m.
Anyone can jump in during those times and practice to the extent they feel ready. I will have a bell ringing every 30 minutes. When the period closes, there will be an alarm, "Thanks to all those who inspire us wholesomely" and 'll close the online window.
My own practice tips:
What I do during more intense practice periods:
a) eat before/by noon a low sugar diet with a small snack or protein-ish drink (like hot almond milk) in the evening.
b) go to bed by 9-10 p.m.
c) have a cardiovascular or restorative yoga practice & bike on rollers/jogging/swimming practice before sitting (e.g., 3 a.m., 7 p.m.)Again, here is McMaster's University seven-minute scientific workout: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_r=0
Maybe the DhO google hangout is the place for this? Otherwise, I can set it up on my gmail at kathryn and then the last name you see here.
I will try to make Ven. Ananda Maitreya's booklet available on anapanasati available on the DhO over the coming weeks. I believe it is permitted for free distribution.
Thoughts?
We can have a chat at the end of the month, Sunday, September 29th if anyone wants. And of course, people can chat here/elsewhere as they want.
With thanks to friends who inspire this and to each person's effort to train themselves sincerely and well, without comparison, to look closely for oneself,
Katy
[edits: about 10 of them? Because it's me with words... =]
I will be setting up a "your-own-sincere-practice-is-generally-the-best-teacher-and-it can-help-to-sit-with-others" retreat online in September. There are no teachers for this, but one's own anapanasati, cultivating the rupa jhanas 1-4.
Starting evening, Monday, September 2nd, ending evening, Sunday, September 29th.
The purpose of the jhana practice is to train the mind in temporarily abating mental difficulties in order to develop an ability to know phenomena more directly with a relaxed, stable concentration as a result of gently tempering five identified mental movements that can hinder relaxed, stable concentration of the mind.
These five hindering movements of mind are said to be: sensory desire, ill-will, sloth-turpor, restlessness-worry, and doubt.
From the perspective of priorities, this is not an easy month-long home practice. But it's your practice so you can jump in as much as possible.
If you feel your practice is not really the best teacher, then maybe this would support your practice under a teacher's guidance, or maybe this is not for you and that's just fine. This kind of thing is available anywhere, freely. : )
Note: there is not a vipassana component to this month. There is no particular reason for this, except that Gotama spoke of anapanasati as being what carried him.
Since I am setting it up and will be responsible for hosting, I do want to say a few things:
1. Each person agrees they are responsible for their own practice, including...
2. ...kindness and non-harm for self and others, including if you know samatha practice is too stressful at anytime, stop. The entire point of 2nd and 3rd jhanas are to abate mental stress with the antidotes of piti and sukha. If stress is peaking, then something needs to be lightened. Perhaps rest, exercise, go for some form of care for yourself. This is not a race
3. ...having a regular/daily cardiovascular and physical practice (such as swimming, jogging, yoga, walking at a pace that is hard to talk during, rowing). Here is McMaster's University seven-minute scientific workout: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_r=0Many people are drawn to meditate due to depression and anxiety and the mind is hardly ready to deal with the full brunt of depression and anxiety on its own in the beginning and nor should the brain be asked to do all that work when the body and its chemistry on exercise helps so very much, so wholesomely and counteracts nicely the dominance of thinking by giving the body a chance to direct things via adrenoline and breathing and heart rate changes..
4. ...abiding one's normal drug regimen, if any, and not increasing regular caffeine intake, if any. Psychotic breaks in meditation are reported sometimes and I think the monk Yuttadhammo mentioned he has seen one or two that were associated with lots of caffeine/stimulant intake in the practitioner's hope of causing wakefulness in the wee hours and with the excessive and hasty desire to achieve "enlightenment", impatient escape from own mental suffering. It's very okay if you spent the entire time wrestling tipping over with "sloth"; that, I find, is very much part of the training
It actually does help the mind to practice staying upright in the face of an onslaught of natural fatigue5. ...getting proper sleep.
6. If you are using a video chat to log in, please point the camera to something neutral in your practice space, like towards whatever dim light/pool of light you may be using at the time.
Practice times:
Eastern standard time hours: 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., 8p.m. to 10 p.m.
Anyone can jump in during those times and practice to the extent they feel ready. I will have a bell ringing every 30 minutes. When the period closes, there will be an alarm, "Thanks to all those who inspire us wholesomely" and 'll close the online window.
My own practice tips:
What I do during more intense practice periods:
a) eat before/by noon a low sugar diet with a small snack or protein-ish drink (like hot almond milk) in the evening.
b) go to bed by 9-10 p.m.
c) have a cardiovascular or restorative yoga practice & bike on rollers/jogging/swimming practice before sitting (e.g., 3 a.m., 7 p.m.)Again, here is McMaster's University seven-minute scientific workout: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/?_r=0
Maybe the DhO google hangout is the place for this? Otherwise, I can set it up on my gmail at kathryn and then the last name you see here.
I will try to make Ven. Ananda Maitreya's booklet available on anapanasati available on the DhO over the coming weeks. I believe it is permitted for free distribution.
Thoughts?
We can have a chat at the end of the month, Sunday, September 29th if anyone wants. And of course, people can chat here/elsewhere as they want.
With thanks to friends who inspire this and to each person's effort to train themselves sincerely and well, without comparison, to look closely for oneself,
Katy
[edits: about 10 of them? Because it's me with words... =]
Hi Ya'll
Yes it is but I need to start tomorrow morning and my internet connection could be weak until tomorrow night.
In the meantime, lacking a guiding teacher for this home retreat, I'd like to open the floor to thanking our teachers nows here and as we go into the month. It ain't easy teaching and sometimes they may wonder why they do.
So with gratitude, I'd like to especially thank the following teachers as we head into a practice month and I am including teachers I've seen mentioned with gratitude on the DhO several times (and which list is certainly not comprehensive):
Bhikku Bodhi
HHDLama
Karmapa
Thanissaro
Thich Naht Hahn
Sister Khema
CYM
my folks
Daniel Ingram
Tom Dorrance (horseman and his students)
DhO members
Shinzen+Culadassa
Anchorage Zen Community
The trouble with this list is I don't know where to stop. Anyway, without teachers and their patience and own learning I'd be up the creek.
Feel free to add and see you bright and early
Yes it is but I need to start tomorrow morning and my internet connection could be weak until tomorrow night.
In the meantime, lacking a guiding teacher for this home retreat, I'd like to open the floor to thanking our teachers nows here and as we go into the month. It ain't easy teaching and sometimes they may wonder why they do.
So with gratitude, I'd like to especially thank the following teachers as we head into a practice month and I am including teachers I've seen mentioned with gratitude on the DhO several times (and which list is certainly not comprehensive):
Bhikku Bodhi
HHDLama
Karmapa
Thanissaro
Thich Naht Hahn
Sister Khema
CYM
my folks
Daniel Ingram
Tom Dorrance (horseman and his students)
DhO members
Shinzen+Culadassa
Anchorage Zen Community
The trouble with this list is I don't know where to stop. Anyway, without teachers and their patience and own learning I'd be up the creek.
Feel free to add and see you bright and early
Okay, I got confused over timezones and UTC and CEST...
Sooo here are the practice times daily so far (feel free to host another time/ timezone, folks):
04:00 - 06:00 EST (UTC: 08:00 - 10:00) Hosting at Katy's google hangout
16:00 - 18:00 EST (UTC 20:00 - 22:00) Hosting at Mario's google hangout
20:00 - 22:00 EST (UTC 00:00 - 02:00) Hosting at Katy's google hang-out
Thanks.
It's been great to have company. I set up a kind of hard challenge for myself this month and I am hugely grateful for the company and effort.
Sooo here are the practice times daily so far (feel free to host another time/ timezone, folks
):04:00 - 06:00 EST (UTC: 08:00 - 10:00) Hosting at Katy's google hangout
16:00 - 18:00 EST (UTC 20:00 - 22:00) Hosting at Mario's google hangout
20:00 - 22:00 EST (UTC 00:00 - 02:00) Hosting at Katy's google hang-out
Thanks.It's been great to have company. I set up a kind of hard challenge for myself this month and I am hugely grateful for the company and effort.
Thank you, Mario. Your hosting time was so nice for me; I fought waaaay less drowiness
This week I'm focusing on the first concentrated state: applied (vitakka) and sustained (vicara) focus and just now during your sitting session a comparison came to mind: that using anapanasati as object the first jhana is similar to a rolling pin rolling out bread dough, as the breath pulls back and pushes forth and the mind rolls on it evenly with just-right weight.
This week I'm focusing on the first concentrated state: applied (vitakka) and sustained (vicara) focus and just now during your sitting session a comparison came to mind: that using anapanasati as object the first jhana is similar to a rolling pin rolling out bread dough, as the breath pulls back and pushes forth and the mind rolls on it evenly with just-right weight.
Not hosting tonight... I was walking around and I got a gust of wind from someone smoking a joint, and I'm quite responsive to these things,so now I'm totally stoned and in no condition to meditate... and yet tonight is gonna be fun
Bye!
Bye!
So tomorrow is back to normal on my side and I think Mario's side (and he's on the DhO hangout now if anyone wants to join him in meditation): https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/a8939895a304485c0a0fb6e02db6022aa4591bf4?authuser=0
04:00 - 06:00 EST (UTC: 08:00 - 10:00) Hosting at Katy's google hangout
16:00 - 18:00 EST (UTC 20:00 - 22:00) Hosting at Mario's google hangout
20:00 - 22:00 EST (UTC 00:00 - 02:00) Hosting at Katy's google hang-out
and tonight will continue as usual on my side.
Also, Mario just reminded me of Thich Nhat Hahn's anapanasati guidance:
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
04:00 - 06:00 EST (UTC: 08:00 - 10:00) Hosting at Katy's google hangout
16:00 - 18:00 EST (UTC 20:00 - 22:00) Hosting at Mario's google hangout
20:00 - 22:00 EST (UTC 00:00 - 02:00) Hosting at Katy's google hang-out
and tonight will continue as usual on my side.
Also, Mario just reminded me of Thich Nhat Hahn's anapanasati guidance:
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
