The Anapanasati Sutta A Practical Guide to Mindfullness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation

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object:The Anapanasati Sutta A Practical Guide to Mindfullness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation
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The Anapanasati Sutta:
Sutta:
A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing
and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation
by the Venerable U Vimalaramsi

Copyright 1995 by the author
Second Edition 2006
This book may be passed on to others in any format.
Please do not change it in any way!

Index
Introduction
An Open Invitation
Of Rose-apples, Bodhis and the Way to Nibbana
The Courage to Investigate
Prelude to Tranquil Wisdom
(Samadhi) Meditation

The Anapanasati Sutta
Introduction Section
4 Right Kinds of Striving
4 Bases of Spiritual Power
5 Faculties
5 Powers
Mindfulness of Breathing

Meditation Instruction
Fulfillment of The Four
Foundations of Mindfulness
Fulfillment of the 7
Enlightenment Factors
Fulfillment of True
Knowledge and Deliverance
Sharing of Merit
Footnotes
Glossary
Author's Background
Information about
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Ctr.

Introduction
The most exciting day of my life was the day I knew
for certain that the Buddha-Dhamma was REAL! The
Dhamma has changed my life in many ways. It could
change yours, too. Each day is a day of thanks for the
Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha and for the privilege
of being born within the period of this Buddha
Dispensation. What a wonderful opportunity and adventure
this continues to be!
The first edition of this little book was printed in
1995. Today it continues to spread worldwide. Hundreds of
thousands of copies have been issued in six languages. It's
even been used in universities abroad. Most amazing is that
the book has spread on its own!
The author, Venerable Maha Thera Sayadaw Gyi U
Vimalaramsi, (Bhante Vimala), is a thirty plus year
meditator who spent over twenty years following the
commentarial explanations of how to meditate before
looking in the suttas. Having seen for himself the results he
found in meditation by following the suttas, that the results
did not match commentarial descriptions, Bhante put aside
the commentary as he was advised to do by some elder
monks. Instead, he followed the Buddha's words as nearly
as possible for instructions.
For over ten years, he has dedicated himself to
further investigations. He has been teaching anyone who
would dare to ask the following questions directly: Did the
Buddha actually find a way out of suffering in this life that
was different from other meditation traditions of his time? If
he did, how did he do it? Did he leave us precise

instructions? Can it be done again in this day and time? Can
this practice be taken into our daily lives? If so, what
difference can it make?
Remember: Meditation is life! Life is meditation!
Following his enlightenment and full awakening, the
Buddha Gotama taught the Dhamma for a remarkable fortyfive years! This book is about the instructions he taught that
have survived in the suttas, the discourses in the Pali canon
that were taught by the Buddha to his followers. It
examines "The Anapanasati Sutta" from the Majjhima
Nikaya: the Middle Length Sayings.
This sutta teaches us Mindfulness of Breathing
through Quiet Wisdom Meditation. The instructions are
repeated several times throughout the Pali Canon using the
same identical words. Their importance warrants the
repetition. Sometimes phrases in a sutta indicate the
instructions over again.
It is said that there are more than forty objects of
meditation that the Buddha taught. However, all these forms
dealt with one core teaching in particular, reaching a clear
understanding of the impersonal process of Dependent
Origination and the Four Noble Truths. This book is about
using the breath as the object of the meditation to do just
that. The result of this practice is seeing for oneself the true
nature of things. Students who have put forth a sincere
effort to follow these instructions precisely have made
remarkable strides in their meditation progress.
Bhante Vimalaramsi brings these teachings to life
using simple clear wording. To study with Bhante Vimala is
a refreshing rediscovery of our inherent altruistic joy and an
introduction to what, according to the Buddha, a guiding

teacher should actually be. The Buddha indicates that a
guiding teacher should embolden his students to listen
carefully, investigate fully, observe accurately, ask frequent
questions and learning by personal experience.
What the Buddha did is not mythical, strictly
religious or philosophical. It's real! I've been investigating
it for over six years now. It's a methodical scientific
experiment which uncovers how mind's attention moves
and leads to the discovery of the true nature of this
experience we call life. It piques one's curiosity and alters
perspective. It becomes all too clear why this particular
practice changed the world in the Buddha's time.
Buddhist Meditation is the compassionate
groundbreaking discovery of a doorway that can open the
pathway for transcendence to peace. To make peace a
reality, mankind only needs to activate this practice. The
doorway is available just as it was in the time of the
Buddha! We have to go through it.
Bhante has been bold in his approach to the practice
and continues to reach into the heart of the Buddha's
teaching when he trains his students. He knows this is a
journey you must take for yourself to reach a full
understanding of the Dhamma. He sets the wheel in motion
as you begin your journey and challenges you to make the
effort to find the answers for yourself.
If you work with Bhante as your guiding teacher,
you will discover the true nature of how everything works -how one suffers, what suffering actually is and how one can
find great relief in this life. He offers you the next step each
time you interview with him. Your progress will be directly
proportional to how well you follow the instructions, your

accurate investigation through the meditation, and your
willingness to ask questions.
After 2500 years, the Buddha-Dhamma has become
a bit diluted. This is to be expected with any teaching this
old. It is important that we consider a slight realignment to
get across to people today that Meditation is Life and Life is
Meditation. If we follow the Buddha's last wishes and go to
the suttas instead of recreating the teachings on our own, we
will find that there are the same thirty-seven requisites that,
when clearly understood and fully experienced, can set us
free. These requisites are like the threads set upon a loom,
ready to be woven into a balanced cloth. If these teachings
are taught as separate spools of yarn sitting in a basket, the
student may never realize that, when set upon the loom and
woven together, a bright tapestry can be born with a pattern
of perfect symmetry and beauty! When these "spools of
yarn" are studied apart from the loom, we have great
difficulty realizing any finished product or understanding
how this can help us today. But upon the loom, in balance
together, they give us the answers we seek: the true nature
of how things actually are.
This practice is like a fine recipe. Don't leave out
ANY ingredients! Don't change the instructions! Just do it.
Find out for yourself the relief promised by the Buddha.
Come and see! Let this book be a guide to your deeper
understanding of the Dhamma. Use it well and often. Pass
it along to others.
Sister Khema
Chairperson - United International Buddha Dhamma
Society, Inc.
Jeta's Grove and Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center.
www.dhammasukha.org

An Open Invitation:
- Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhasa Many people are now on a spiritual search for a path that
leads their mind to peace and openness. They discovered
that the norms of the world which emphasize material
happiness, do not actually bring real peace and security.
Instead, it leads to more pain and dissatisfaction. To these
people, the Lord Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path exemplifies
a simple and contented life. A life that is open and free. He
taught the methods to free our minds of lust, hatred and
delusion and started by showing his disciples how to have
an open mind that expands beyond its present limitations so
that one can examine with understanding. In the Kalama
Sutta, the Lord Buddha explicitly stated that one should
always examine and investigate and not follow any beliefs
blindly. All of these admonishments were for the purpose of
opening and expanding one's experience so that they will
not be attached to any particular doctrine without thorough
investigation.
This kind of honest inquiry into any particular doctrine
opens one's minds and expands their consciousness. Then,
they can see what leads to a close or tight mind and what
leads to a mind which is open and clear. One of the many
lessons which the Lord Buddha taught is to first, expand our
consciousness by the practice of generosity (dana). When a
person is miserly, they have a tendency to have a tight and
limited mind. Their mind holds on to material things and
easily becomes attached to them. Attachment of any form
makes mind uncomfortable and tensed. This tension is the
cause of immeasurable pain and suffering (dukkha). Thus,
by encouraging the practice of generosity, it teaches one

how to have a joyful, open and clear mind, which is never
closed or tight. Another form of generosity is the giving of
time and energy to help those who are having problems, i.e.
to become real friends. This includes helping others to be
happy! When one says or performs actions which cause
people to smile, it opens one's mind and then joy arises, not
only to the other person but in their own mind as well. This
type of practice helps one to expand their mind and let go of
the tension.
The Lord Buddha also emphasized the importance of
keeping one's moral disciplines (sila). There are five moral
precepts which release mind from remorse, anxiety and
guilty feelings, when they are continually kept and
observed. These precepts are abstaining from killing living
beings, abstaining from taking what is not given, abstaining
from wrong sexual activities, abstaining from telling lies,
and abstaining from taking drugs and alcohol. One's mind
will be tension-free when they keep these simple rules of
conduct continually.
Subsequently, the Lord Buddha taught the methods of
meditation (bhavana) or mental development to free mind
from tension. The essence of meditation is to open and calm
one's mind and accept whatever that arises without any
tightening at all. And thus, this book of instructions is
written for those who are on this noble quest. To a beginner,
these instructions may appear confusing and difficult to
understand but, one will gradually discover the many
benefits when these instructions are followed closely.
In actual fact, meditation, as taught by the Lord Buddha,
is never broken into different types, as is commonly
practiced today. It is never deep concentration in any of its
forms, that is, fixed or absorption concentration (appana
samadhi), access or neighborhood concentration (upacara

samadhi) or moment-to-moment concentration (khanika
samadhi) --which actually brings tightness to mind and
suppresses the hindrances. The 'concentration' meditation is
a form of suppression, a kind of cutting off at one's
experience which causes a kind of resistance to arise in
one's mind. As a result, there is a conflict with reality. On
the other hand, "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" opens one's
mind and is continually expanding it, which does not ever
exclude or resist anything. A 'concentrated' mind does not
meditate in the Buddhist way. It doesn't matter whether one
is talking about full or fixed absorption concentration, or
access concentration. It is still the same.
The important rule of the meditation is, no matter what
distracts one's mind away from the breath and tranquilizing
one's mind, they simply open, expand, let it go without
thinking about the distraction, relax mind and tightness in
the head, feel mind open and relax away the tension, and
softly redirect one's attention back to the object of
meditation i.e., the breath and relaxing. The act of calming
mind and relaxing the tightness in the head before coming
back to the breath makes a huge difference between
"Concentration Meditation" and "Tranquil Wisdom
Meditation". A meditator who practices "Concentration
Meditation" over-focuses on the object of meditation and
thus, they have the tendency to close or tighten mind until
there are no more distractions. This practice leads to deep
absorption of mind where hindrances are blocked. On the
other hand, "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" has the tendency
to open one's mind and to allow mind to become calm
naturally. One does not suppress or force their mind to stay
focused on the object of meditation. Instead, mind is always
aware of what it is doing in the present moment. Whenever
any distraction arises, one lets go, opens, expands and
relaxes the tightness in the head before coming back to the
breath and calming mind. Thus, as described in the sutta,

"Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" leads to wisdom, full
awareness, and sharp mindfulness and eventually to the
highest goal of attaining nibbana.
The in-breath, the out-breath, the relaxing of the
tightness in the head and the opening and expanding of one's
mind, is one's home base. This means that whenever mind
goes away from home, they first let go, relax the tightness
again, feel mind expand and become calm, then redirect the
attention back to the breath and calming mind. One "Always
Comes Back Home" regardless whether it is a wandering
thought an emotional pain, a physical sensation or any other
distraction. They are all treated in the same way! This is by
far the easiest meditation instructions that the Lord Buddha
ever gave. Simply let go, relax the tightness in the head, feel
mind expand and become tranquil, redirect the attention
back to the breath, on the in-breath relax the tightness in the
head and calm mind, on the out-breath relax the tightness in
the head and calm mind. Easy! Do not try to control the
breath. Just brea the normally and naturally. That's it in a
nutshell. The rest of the book describes these instructions,
but with more precise explanations. As one examines and
explores the meanings in this book, they will begin to
understand and gradually apply this technique in their
meditation sittings as well as during their daily activities. At
the same time, one will marvel at the beauty and simplicity
of the Lord Buddha's "Mindfulness of Breathing"
(Anapanasati).
May all who read this book find it helpful and may they
reach the highest goal.

Of Rose-apples, Bodhis and the Way to
Nibbana
In recent years, there have been many expositions of the
Lord Buddha's teachings in English and other languages.
However, a great number of them lack au thenticity and do
not accurately represent the Buddha's words. Many are
written in such a free-lance way that it is difficult to even
recognize these writings as Buddha-Dhamma. Thus, the
purpose of these pages is to draw attention to the far
reaching significance of the Lord Buddha's Dhamma, which
includes the meditation instructions,[1] and the initial
guidance to an understanding of his teachings and their
practical applications. This book attempts to give an
accurate description of meditation based on the Anapanasati
Sutta (which instructions are exactly the same, letter for
letter and word for word, as the Satipatthana Sutta and the
Maharahulavada Sutta, sutta number 62. Both are from the
Majjhima Nikaya.), with only limited use of standard
commentaries. It is selected from the Middle Length
Sayings translated from Pali by the Venerable Nanamoli and
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi.
We will first start with redefining some words which are
regularly misunderstood (or badly used to suit some
commentaries), misused and are causing a lot of confusion
to the practice of the Lord Buddha's method of meditation.
Firstly, let us look at the word jhana. In Pali, jhana has
many types of meanings. It can mean meditation stages or
illumination. However, when the common translation of the
word jhana as being merely "concentration" is used,
misunderstanding takes place. Thus, the author will explain
its meaning whenever it occurs in this book. The author also
observed that the word jhana was never defined as "fixed

concentration, access concentration or momentary
concentration" in the suttas. These definitions are only
mentioned in some commentaries.
The Lord Buddha invariably includes the word jhanas
(meaning 'meditation stages', not fixed absorption of mind)
in the full gradual training. According to the suttas, these
meditation stages are not mystical or magical experiences.
They are simply stages to be recognized by the meditator.
These meditation stages (jhanas) contri bute to the build-in
perfection of the path which emphasizes deep tranquility,
wisdom, stillness and opening of mind. These qualities
provide a solid base for the realization of both calmness of
mind and the development of wisdom. While they are still
mundane, the jhanas (meditation stages) are the very
'footsteps of the Tathagata' that forms the gradual training
which leads to nibbana.
Next is the Pali word samatha. The more accurate
meanings of samatha are peacefulness, calmness,
tranquility, serenity or stillness and not as the commonly
translated terms like absorption or fixed concentration.
Thus, the author prefers to use the word tranquility.
The Pali word samadhi is equally important too, as it has
many different meanings such as calmness, unified mind,
tranquility, peacefulness, stillness, composure of mind, quiet
mind, serenity, and one of the lesser meanings,
"concentration". Thus, the true meaning is not merely fixed
absorption concentration or access concentration, but
calmness or stillness in different degrees. Interestingly,
Rhys Davids found through his studies, that the word
samadhi was never used before the time of the Buddha.[2]
Even though as a Bodhisatta, he practiced 'concentration
meditation', this word has a different meaning other than
concentration. The Lord Buddha "popularized" the word

samadhi to express calm wisdom, tranquility, openness,
awareness, along with developing a mind which has clarity
and wisdom in it. Later, the Hindus changed the meaning to
'concentration'. Hence, the author will use either stillness, or
composure of mind, or unified mind. According to the PaliEnglish dictionary written by Buddhadatta, the prefix sama
means "calmness or tranquility" and dhi means "wisdom".
When these two meanings are added together, the word
samadhi can actually mean "tranquil wisdom". If one
chooses to use the word concentration', they must know that
it means stillness of mind or composure of mind, or a
unified mind and not absorption, fixed (appana), or access
(upacara) concentration or even momentary (Khanika)
concentration.
This book is written with a deep conviction that the
systematic cultivation of 'Tranquil Wisdom Meditation'
brings both insight into the seeing of the true nature of this
psycho/physical (mind/body) process and serenity of mind
at the same time! Furthermore, there is the seeing and
realizing the cause and effect relationships of all dependent
conditions. This means seeing dependent origination which
is the development of penetrative wisdom that leads to
dispassion, emancipation and enlightenment. As a matter of
fact, the Lord Buddha discovered that 'concentration
practices' of any kind did not lead him to Nibbana.
After becoming a homeless one, the Bodhisatta went to
two different teachers of "concentration meditation". His
first teacher was Alara Kalama. After learning the Dhamma
and discipline, he practiced until he attained a very high and
distinguished stage of meditation called the "realm of
nothingness". The Bodhisatta then went to his teacher and
asked whether he could proceed any further with that
meditation. Alara Kalama replied that it was the highest
stage anyone could attained. The Bodhisatta was dissatisfied

and went to another teacher by the name of Uddaka
Ramaputta. He learned the Dhamma and discipline, then
practiced it and attained the "realm of neither-perception nor
non-perception". The Bodhisatta again went to his teacher
and asked a similar question about there being more to
attain. Again, the Bodhisatta was told that this was
absolutely the highest attainment anyone could achieve. The
future Buddha was disappointed because he saw that there
were still many more things to let go of. He observed that
these "concentration techniques", which focused intensely
on the object of meditation, caused tightening in mind. He
reasoned that there was still attachment whenever there was
tension in mind. He also noticed that if any part of the
experiences were suppressed or not allowed to arise, (This
occurs with every form of 'concentration'--that is, fixed
absorption concentration, or access concentration.) there
was still some kind of holding on or attachment to an ego
belief. Thus, after six long years of trying all of the various
spiritual and ascetic practices from body mortifications like
starving the body, to holding the breath, he realized that
these practices did not lead him to a calm and open mind
which was free from attachment and suffering.
On the night of the Bodhisatta's realization of the
supreme nibbana, he recalled an incident at a ploughing
festival while he was just a young boy of one or two years
old. When his attendants left him alone under a rose-apple
tree, he sat in "tranquil wisdom meditation" and experienced
a mind that was expanded and opened! He saw that this
form of meditation would lead him to the experience of
"tranquility jhanas" (as opposed to 'concentration
jhanas').[3] As a result of the "tranquil wisdom meditation",
his mind was filled with joy; his body became light and
happy. When the joy faded away, he then experienced
strong calmness and peacefulness. His mind and body
became very comfortable. His mind was very still,

composed, with sharp mindfulness and full awareness of
what was happening around him i.e., he could still hear
sounds and feel sensations with his body, etc., at that time.
When the Bodhisatta sat under the Bodhi tree to meditate
on the full moon night of May and made his great effort to
attain the supreme nibbana, he recalled that not all forms of
pleasure are unwholesome. He realized that there could be
pleasurable feelings arising in mind and body although there
was not any attachment to anything. That very night, the
Bodhisatta practiced "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation"
through the method of opening and expanding mind. In
short, he practiced the "Anapanasati" or "Mindfulness of
Breathing". And as we all know, he became the Buddha or
the supremely enlightened one.
The Anapanasati Sutta taught by the Lord Buddha 2500
years ago still provides the most simple, direct, thorough,
and effective method for training and developing mind for
its daily tasks and problems as well as for its highest aim-mind's own unshakable deliverance from greed, hatred and
delusion. The method described here is taken directly from
the sutta itself and its results can be seen clearly and easily
when one practices according to the instructions on the
sutta. The author would like to emphasize that the
instructions in this book are not his "own opinion", but is
actually the Lord Buddha's own instruction given in a clear
and precise way. It can be called the "Undiluted Dhamma",
because it comes directly from the suttas themselves,
without a lot of additions or free-lance ideas.
The Anapanasati Sutta gives the most profound
meditation instructions available today. It includes the "Four
Foundations of Mindfulness" and the "Seven Enlightenment
Factors" and shows how they are fulfilled through the
practice of "Mindfulness of Breathing". This is done by

attaining all of the meditation stages (jhanas).[4] This sutta
shows the direct way to practice "Tranquil Wisdom
Meditation" and does not categorize meditation practices.
Strangely, the current separation into various types of
meditation like "fixed absorption concentration, or access
concentration" and "momentary concentration" meditation
seems to occur only in the commentaries but never in the
suttas. Thus, one must notice this and compare them with
the suttas for their accuracy.
From the attainment of the fourth jhana, three alternative
lines of further development become possible. This sutta
deals with only one of those, namely the attainment of all
the material and immaterial jhanas (meditation stages),
followed by the experience of the cessation of perception
and feeling (nirodha samapatti in Pali) and finally the
experience of Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppada).
In these attainments, the Lord Buddha mentions four
meditative stages that continue the mental unification
established by the jhanas (meditation states). These states
described as "the liberation that are peaceful and
immaterial", are still mundane states. Distinguished from
the material jhanas (meditation stages) by their deepening of
the subtle mental observations, they are named after their
own exalted stages: "the base of infinite space, the base of
infinite consciousness, the base of nothingness, the base of
neither-perception nor non-perception." These states of
consciousness are very attainable if one ardently and
continually keeps their daily meditation practice going. As
this is a gradual training, one first must learn to walk before
they learn how to run. Thus, the beginning of the meditation
practice is the basis for further development.
This is a straight and direct path towards liberation and
the supramundane nibbana. It does, however, require
sustained meditative effort, applied to a simple object of

meditation to watch, i.e., the breath, followed by the
relaxation and expansion of mind which allows mind to
become calm and clear without distractions.
When one practices the Anapanasati Sutta as a "Tranquil
Wisdom Meditation", they find that their creativity and
intuition increase as their practice develops. This forms the
timeless and universal appeal of a true 'Doctrine of
Enlightenment' (realizing Dependent Origination and the
Four Noble Truths) which has the depth and breadth, the
simplicity and intelligence for providing the foundation and
the framework of a living Dhamma For All. One will sense
the urgency of the fundamental "non-materialistic"
problems and search for solutions that neither science nor
the "religions of faith" can provide.
More important is the final realization which comes
through the method of "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" that
invokes experiencing the various meditation stages (jhanas)
and seeing through direct knowledge, all of the twelve links
of "Dependent Arising". This means seeing and realizing
directly the second and third Noble Truths. And when these
two Noble Truths have been seen and realized directly, this
implies that the First Noble Truth and the Fourth Noble
Truth are seen and practiced. This is because one can't see
the "Origin of Suffering" without first seeing the "Suffering"
itself and suffering would not cease without practicing the
way leading to the cessation of suffering. Thus, seeing and
realizing Dependent Origination, means that one sees and
realizes all of the Four Noble Truths, which is actually the
true essence of Buddhist meditation.
The true aim of the Anapanasati Sutta is nothing less
than final liberation from suffering which is the highest goal
of the Lord Buddha's Teachings--Nibbana. The practice of
the Buddhist Path evolves in two distinct stages, a mundane

(lokiya) or preparatory stage and a supramundane
(lokuttara) or accomplished stage. The mundane path is
developed when the disciples undertake the gradual training
in developing their virtues (continually keeping the
precepts), tranquility or deep composure of mind, and
developing wisdom. This reaches its peak in the practice of
"Tranquil Wisdom Meditation", which deepens direct
experience, and at the same time, shows one the three
characteristics of all existence, as well as, all of the Noble
Truths.
In short, there are two kinds of nibbana, one is the
worldly or mundane type of nibbana and the other is the
supramundane or unworldly type of nibbana. The mundane
or worldly type of nibbana is attained every time the
meditator lets go of an attachment or hindrance and relief
arises along with a kind of happiness. This type of nibbana
will occur many times when one is seriously practicing
"Tranquil Wisdom Meditation'. The supramundane type of
nibbana only occurs after the meditator sees and realizes
'Dependent Origination' (Paticcasamuppada) both forwards
and backwards. (This means realizing the Four Noble
Truths.) This supramundane nibbana takes time and effort to
achieve. However, that does not mean that it is impossible
for laymen and laywomen to attain it. With persistent daily
practice and by taking an occasional meditation retreat with
a competent teacher who understands how the "Tranquil
Wisdom Meditation" works, even those who live active
lives in the world can still achieve the highest goal of the
Supramundane Nibbana. It was mentioned in the
Parinibbana Sutta, that during the time of the Lord Buddha,
many more laymen and laywomen became saints than the
Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis when they practiced on a regular
basis. The common belief that one must be a 'Bhikkhu' or
'Nun' in order to reach this goal is just not true. The
exhortation of the Lord Buddha was for all people who were

interested in the correct path to 'Ehipassiko' (a Pali word
meaning 'come and see'). This is very good advice because
it helps those who are interested, to get out of the
judgmental, critical mind and honestly practice to see if this
is, in fact, the right way.
Dependent Origination is the teaching which makes the
Lord Buddha's path unique among all other types of
meditation. During his period of struggle for enlightenment,
Dependent Origination came as a marvelous and eyeopening discovery that ended his pursuit in the darkness:
"Arising, arising--thus, Bhikkhus, in regard to things
unheard before there arose in me vision, knowledge,
wisdom, understanding and light". (Samyutta Nikaya X11.
65/ii.105). Once enlightened, the mission of the Tathagata is
to proclaim Dependent Origination (This means the Four
Noble Truths.) to the world (Samyutta Nikaya X11.25-6).
The Lord Buddha taught this in discourse after discourse, so
much so, that the Dependent Origination soon becomes the
most essential and important teaching of all. When the
Arahat Assaji was asked to state the Master's message as
precisely and as briefly as possible, he gave the doctrine of
arising and ceasing of phenomena. With a single sentence,
the Lord Buddha dispels doubt about the correctness of this
summary: "He who sees Dependent Origination sees the
Dhamma, he who sees the Dhamma sees Dependent
Origination." (Taken from the Middle Length Sayings
[Majjhima Nikaya] Sutta 28 section 38). This means seeing
and realizing all of the Noble Truths. This is the only way!
When one's faculties have gained a degree of maturity
and they see the twelve links of 'Dependent Origination'
clearly, the mundane path rises to the supramundane path
because it leads directly and surely out of 'Suffering'. One
then realizes 'The Origin of Suffering', 'The Cessation of

Suffering', and 'The Path Leading the Way Out of
Suffering'.
There is another interesting sutta about seeing of the Four
Noble Truths, found in the Digha Nikaya Sutta number 16,
section 5.27. From this section of the sutta, one concludes
that the way to attain enlightenment is by following the
Eightfold Path and realizing the Noble Truths. It says:

5.27] "In whatever Dhamma and Discipline the Noble
Eightfold Path is not found, no ascetic is found of the first
grade (meaning a sotapanna), second grade (meaning
sakadagami), third grade (meaning anagami), or fourth
grade (meaning an arahat). But such ascetics can be
found, of the first, second, third, and fourth grade in a
Dhamma and Discipline where the Noble Eightfold Path is
found. Now, Subhadda, in this Dhamma and Discipline
the Noble Eightfold Path is found, and in it are to be
found ascetics of the first, second, third and fourth grade.
Those other schools are devoid of [true] ascetics; but if in
this one the Bhikkhus were to live to perfection, the world
would not lack for Arahats.

Mind opens when it sees and realizes these twelve links
of Dependent Origination directly. As a result, mind
becomes dispassionate and free. This is as true now in
present times, as it was 2500 years ago. Any teaching that
doesn't highlight the necessity of the Dependent Origination
as its realization and final goal or destination, isn't teaching
the true path. Currently, many people say that seeing
impermanence, suffering, and not-self is realizing nibbana.
However, one must note that although these characteristics
do lead the way to realizing nibbana and are very important

to develop, they don't directly allow one to see the
supramundane state of Nibbana.
The meditator can see, one or all of the three
characteristics of existence, i.e., impermanence, suffering
and not-self, without directly seeing Dependent
Origination, but, when one sees Dependent Origination
directly he will always see all of the three characteristics.
According to the first sutta in the Maha Vagga of the
Vinaya, it cannot work any other way.

The Courage to Investigate
Currently, there seems to be some disputes regarding the
kinds of meditation the Lord Buddha taught. One school of
thought says -- "One must begin by practicing 'Jhana [fixed]
concentration meditation' and then proceed to the fourth
jhana [5] before switching over to the practice of 'vipassana
meditation' or momentary concentration [khanika samadhi].
Other schools of thought say that one can attain Nibbana
without going through the jhanas,[6] but only practice
"vipassana
meditation"[7]
or
developing
access
concentration [upacara samadhi] right from the beginning of
their meditation practice.
Interestingly, the word "vipassana' or 'vidassana' (which
has the same meaning) is only mentioned very few times in
the suttas, whereas the word Jhana (here meaning tranquil
wisdom meditation stages, not fixed concentration) is
mentioned many thousands of times. Moreover, the
Anapanasati Sutta shows that the Lord Buddha taught only
one kind of meditation, that is, by simultaneously
developing both the jhanas and wisdom. (Here, the word
jhana means meditation stages or illumination of mind, not
deep absorption or fixed concentration (appana samadhi),
access concentration (upacara samadhi) or even momentary
concentration (Khanika samadhi).) This sutta actually shows
the method of how to tranquilize mind and develop wisdom
at the same time by seeing the true nature of existence. This
means observing anicca [impermanence], dukkha
[suffering], anatta [not-self], along with seeing and realizing
the cause and effect relationships of Dependent Origination.
At the same time, it also fulfills the "Four Foundations of
Mindfulness and the Seven Enlightenment Factors". Hence,
the way leading to the realization of Supramundane Nibbana
is clearly and precisely taught in this wonderful sutta.

The commentaries and sub-commentaries have divided
"concentration" and "vipassana" into different forms of
meditation. This kind of "separation" does not appear in the
suttas. Although it is mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya
that the first part of the practice is samatha and the second
part is vidassana (developing wisdom), it is not saying that
they are two different types of practices or meditations. The
practice is the same! It is only that different things are seen
at different times, as in the case of Sutta 111 'One By One as
they Occurred' from the Majjhima Nikaya. This sutta gives
an explanation of Venerable Sariputta's meditation
development and experience of all the jhanas (meditation
stages) before he attained arahatship.
When one starts to differentiate and categorize
meditation practices, the situation becomes very confusing.
This is also evident in the popular commentaries like the
Visuddhi Magga and its sub-commentaries. One begins to
see inconsistencies when they make a comparison with the
suttas. Nowadays, most scholars use just a line or parts of a
sutta to ensure that the commentaries agree with the sutta.
However, if one were to read the sutta as a whole, the sutta
has an entirely different meaning. This is not to say that
scholars are intentionally making wrong statements, but
sometimes they are caught in looking at such tiny details or
parts of the Dhamma with a unilateral view that they tend to
lose view of the larger picture of things. The description of
the jhanas (here again meaning absorption or fixed on or
into the object of meditation, where concentration
suppresses the hindrances) in the Visuddhi Magga, doesn't
exactly match the description given in the suttas and in most
cases, these descriptions are very different!
For example, the Visuddhi Magga talks about having a
sign (nimitta in Pali, this can be a light or other visualized
mind-made pictures) arise in mind at certain times when one

is practicing jhana meditation (absorption concentration
[appana samadhi] or when one gets into access
concentration [upacara samadhi] or even in momentary
concentration [khanika samadhi]. With each type of
'concentration' a nimitta of some kind arises. When this
happens one is practicing a 'concentration' type of
meditation practice which the Bodhisatta rejected as being
the way to Nibbana! However, if one were to check the
suttas, the description of nimittas arising in mind has never
been mentioned. And, if it were very important, it would be
mentioned many times. The Lord Buddha never taught
concentration techniques, having nimittas (signs) arising, or
the chanting of mantras. These are forms of Hindu practices
that have sneaked into Buddhism for a few hundred years.
Their influences can be seen in the 'concentration practices'
and in the Tibetan Buddhist styles of meditation, as well as,
in other popular commentaries like the Visuddhi Magga.
Thus, the current ways of practicing "concentration", do not
conform to the descriptions given in the suttas.
One must always honestly and openly investigate what is
being said and then check it against the suttas. It is best that
one does this not with just part of the sutta but the whole
sutta itself, because taking out one or two lines from various
sections can cause confusion. When one honestly questions
what the Lord Buddha's Teachings really are, they will
observe that open investigation helps one to see more
clearly and thus, questions can be answered rationally. One
must always remember that the commentaries and subcommentaries are the authors' interpretation of what the
suttas say and mean. Many times good intentioned monks
look for ways to expand their understanding and attempt to
help themselves and others with their comments. Then as
time goes by, more scholar monks will expound on a certain
comment, explaining the different and subtle meanings of
some tiny phrases and individual comments. This "dilutes"

the true teachings and thus, has the tendency to take one
further away from the true meaning and understanding of
the suttas. As a result, many puzzling questions arise.
For example: "In the practice of momentary
concentration, where does Dependent Origination fit into
the scheme of things?" This practice doesn't seem to go
hand in hand with the teaching of Dependent Origination.
Another question is: "According to the suttas, Right Effort
means bringing up zeal, or joyful interest, or enthusiasm
(chanda) in mind. However, some meditation teachers say
Right Effort only means "noting". Other puzzling questions
that one might asked are, "Which suttas mentioned the terms
momentary [Khanika Samadhi], access [Upacara Samadhi],
and absorption or fixed concentration [Appana Samadhi]?"
and "Which sutta describes 'Insight Knowledges'?" or
"Which sutta says that there is no mindfulness while in the
jhana meditation stage?" Please note that in the Parinibbana
Sutta, the Lord Buddha had requested his disciples to
always check against the suttas and not any other texts.
There must come a time when one must stop repeating
the words of others, and stop practicing ways of
questionable methods, without doing some open and honest
investigation of the original teachings of the Lord Buddha.
One must not depend on hearsay, or blind belief in what a
teacher says, simply because he is the authority. In the
Kalama Sutta, the Lord Buddha gives some very wise
advice:
It is unwise to simply believe what
one hears because it has been said over and
over again for a long time.

It is unwise to follow tradition blindly
just because it has been practiced in that way
for a long time.

It is unwise to listen to and spread
rumors and gossip.

It is unwise to take anything as being
the absolute truth just because it agrees with
one's scriptures (this especially means
commentaries and sub-commentaries).

It is unwise to foolishly make
assumptions, without investigation.

It is unwise to abruptly draw a
conclusion by what one sees and hears
without further investigation.

It is unwise to go by mere outward
appearances or to hold too tightly to any
view or idea simply because one is
comfortable with it.

It is unwise to be convinced of
anything out of respect and deference to one
spiritual
teacher
(without
honest
investigation into what is being taught).

We must go beyond opinions, beliefs and dogmatic
thinking. In this way, we can rightly reject anything which
when accepted, practiced and perfected, leads to more
anger, criticism, conceit, pride, greed and delusion. These
unwholesome states of mind are universally condemned and
are certainly not beneficial to ourselves or to others. They
are to be avoided whenever possible.

On the other hand, we can rightly accept anything which
when practiced and perfected, leads to unconditional love,
contentment and gentle wisdom. These things allow us to
develop a happy, tranquil, and peaceful mind. Thus, the

wise praise all kinds of unconditional love (loving
acceptance of the present moment), tranquility, contentment
and gentle wisdom and encourages everyone to practice
these good qualities as much as possible.

In the Parinibbana Sutta, the Lord Buddha's advice to the
Bhikkhus is very plain and precise. One is to practice
according to the scriptural texts and observe whether the
practice is done correctly. Only after close examination and
practice, along with experience, can one be sure that the
scriptures are correct. Thus, the Lord Buddha's advice to the
Bhikkhus is not only to use the suttas, but also to check
whether the suttas are correct according to the Dhamma and
the Discipline. This is how one makes sure that the
information is true and can then be practiced correctly. This
is taken from Sutta number 16, section 4.7 to 4.11 of the
Digha Nikaya translated from the book "Thus Have I
Heard" by Maurice Walsh. It says:
4.7] At Bhogangagara the Lord stayed at the Ananda
Shrine. And here he said to the monks: "Bhikkhus, I will
teach you four criteria. Listen, pay close attention, and I
Will speak.' 'Yes, Lord,' replied the Bhikkhus.
4.8] "Suppose a Bhikkhu were to say: 'Friends, I heard
and received this from the Lord's own lips: this is the
Dhamma, this is the Discipline, this is the Master's
teaching', then Bhikkhus, you should neither approve nor
disapprove his words. Then, without approving or
disapproving his words and expressions should be
carefully noted and compared with the Suttas and
reviewed in the light of the Discipline. If they, on such
comparison and review, are found not to conform to the
Suttas and the Discipline, the conclusion must be:

"Assuredly this is not the word of the Lord Buddha, it has
been wrongly understood by this monk; and the matter is
to be rejected. But inhere on such comparison and review
they are found to conform to the Suttas and the Discipline,
the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is the word of the
Lord Buddha, it has been rightly understood by this
Bhikkhu." This is the first criterion.
4.9] "Suppose a Bhikkhu were to say: "In such and
such a place there is a community with elders and
distinguished teachers. I have heard and received this
from that community'; then, monks you should neither
approve nor disapprove his words. Then, without
approving or disapproving, his words and expressions
should be carefully noted and compared with the Suttas
and reviewed in the light of the Discipline. If they, on such
comparison and review, are found not to conform to the
Suttas and Discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly
this is not the word of the Lord Buddha, it has been
wrongly understood by this monk'; and the matter is to be
rejected. But where on such comparison and review they
are found to conform to the Suttas and the Discipline, the
conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is the word of the
Lord Buddha, it has been rightly understood by this
monk." That is the second criterion.
4.10] "Suppose a monk were to say: "In such and such
a place there are many elders who are learned, bearers of
the tradition, who know the Dhamma, the Discipline, the
code of rules: I have heard and received this from those
Bhikkhus, . . . this is the Dhamma, this is the Discipline,
this is the Master's teaching", then, Bhikkhus, you should
neither approve nor disapprove his words. Then, without
approving or disapproving, his words and expressions
should be carefully noted and compared with the Suttas
and reviewed in the light of the Discipline. If they, on such

comparison and review, are found not to conform to the
Suttas and the Discipline, the conclusion must be: and the
matter is to be rejected. But where such comparison and
review they are found to conform to the Suttas and the
Discipline, the conclusion must be: "Assuredly this is the
word of the Lord Buddha; it has been rightly understood
by the monk." This is the third criterion.
4.11] "Suppose a Bhikkhu were to say: "In such and
such a place there is one elder who is learned . . . I have
heard and received this from that elder . . . this is the
Dhamma, this is the Discipline, this is the Master's
teaching, then, Bhikkhus, you should neither approve nor
disapprove his words. Then, without approving or
disapproving his words and expressions should be
carefully noted and compared with the Suttas and be
reviewed in the light of the Discipline. If they, on such
comparison and review, are found not to conform to the
Suttas and the Discipline, the conclusion must be:
"Assuredly this is not the word of the Lord Buddha, it has
been wrongly understood by this Bhikkhu; and the matter
is to be rejected. But where such comparison and review
they are found to conform to the Suttas and the Discipline,
the conclusion must be. "Assuredly this is the word of the
Lord Buddha; it has been rightly understood by the
Bhikkhu." This is the fourth criterion.

The spirit of open investigation and exploration into the
ways and means of the Lord Buddha's Middle Path is open
to all who have an inquiring mind. This means a mind
which is not stuck in looking at things through pride and
attachment at what they "think" is right without first
checking with the suttas.[8] Occasionally, some meditators
become much attached to their opinions and teachers such
that they think their method is the "only way", without

checking the true teachings from the suttas. As this book is
taken directly from the sutta, one can observe how things
can be confused and misrepresented by some commentaries
and sub-commentaries. If one has the courage to investigate
and practice, they will be pleasantly surprised at the
simplicity and clarity of the Lord Buddha's teaching,
especially when commentaries like the Visuddhi Magga are
left alone. Although the suttas appear dry and repetitive,
they are quite illuminating and can be fun to read, especially
when one practices the meditation and gains intellectual
knowledge at the same time.

Prelude to Tranquil Wisdom (Samadhi)
Meditation

Before one starts with their meditation, it is very
important to build a strong foundation of morality (sila). If
the meditator doesn't even practice the five precepts, they
will lose interest and finally stop meditating, because they
think that the technique is incorrect. Actually the Lord
Buddha's technique works very well. The meditator is just
not doing the complete practice nor is one doing it in the
correct way. Keeping the precepts is essential to the
development and purity of mind. If one breaks any of these
precepts, they will experience a lot of restlessness, remorse,
and anxiety due to their guilty feelings. This causes mind to
be tight and clouds one's thoughts.
These precepts are absolutely necessary for any spiritual
attainments. They provide mind with general mindfulness
and awareness which helps one to have a peaceful mind that
is clear from any remorse due to wrong doing. A peaceful
and calm mind, is a mind that is tension-free and clear.
Thus, it is a very good idea to take these precepts everyday,
not as some form of rite or ritual, but as a reminder for one's
practice. Taking the precepts everyday helps to keep one's
mind, speech and actions uplifted. There are people who
recite these precepts in the Pali language. However, it can
turn into an empty exercise if the meditator doesn't
completely understand Pali. For the earnest meditator it is
best to recite these precepts daily in a language that one
understands so that the meanings are clear without a doubt.
These precepts are:
1. I undertake to keep the precept to abstain from killing
living beings.

This precept includes non-killing of beings like ants,
mosquitoes, and cockroaches.
2. I undertake to keep the precept to abstain from taking
what is not given.
This covers any forms of stealing which even includes
taking a pencil from work without permission or using
equipment like copy machines for personal use.
3. I undertake to keep the precept to abstain from wrong
sexual activity.
Basically, it means not having any sexual activity with
and another person's partner, or having sexual activity with
someone that is still under the care of a family member. It
also means that one must follow the sexual laws of the land.
Any sexual activity that causes undue pain to another being
will cause one to have remorse and guilty feelings to arise.
4. I undertake to keep the precept to abstain from telling
lies, using harsh speech, slandering others, and speaking
gossip or nonsense talk.
This means abstinence from any type of speech which is
not true or helpful to others. It also includes abstinence from
telling white lies.
5. I undertake to keep the precept to abstain from taking
drugs and alcohol which dulls mind.
Many people think that drinking one glass of beer or one
social glass of wine would not affect their mind. But this is
not true! If one is practicing meditation, they become very
sensitive and will notice the effects of even taking
something as harmless as aspirin. It can dull one's mind for

a whole day. How much more with alcohol and other drugs!
However, when one is sick and the doctor says that they
must take a certain drug as medicine, then please take the
medicine. This precept refers to taking drugs or alcohol in
order to relax and escape from the stress of the day.
As soon as one realizes that they have broken a precept,
one should first forgive themselves and acknowledge that
they are not perfect. This helps one to free their mind a
little. One then retakes the precepts as soon as possible and
makes a determination not to break the precepts again.
Taking the precepts again will help to re-purify mind. Over
a period of time, one will become more aware and naturally
abstain from breaking them due to realization of its harmful
effects.
Please practice only one meditation technique at a time
because mind will become confused if one tries to mix and
match various meditations. Mixing and matching only stops
one's progress.
How does one find a good teacher? The best way is to
pick only one teacher who truly understands the meditation.
The way to select a good teacher is by observing if their
students are kind, pleasant, friendly and supportive. Then,
stay with that teacher for a period of time and see for
oneself whether their mind becomes more happy and
peaceful all of the time; not just while meditating, but in
daily life as well. This is ultimately the best way to choose.
Does one's awareness of mind states become clearer and
easier to recognize, then let go of them, during one's daily
activities as well as during the sitting practice? If not, check
with the teacher and the suttas to see if what is being taught
agrees with them. As one's practice deepens and the
meditation becomes better, the suttas become clearer and

easier to understand. This always happens when the teacher
is using the suttas as his guide.
Lastly, it is very important for the meditator to recognize
whenever the five hindrances arise. They are lust or greed,
hatred or aversion, sloth and torpor or sleepiness and
dullness, restlessness or remorse, anxiety or scatteredness
and doubt. A hindrance is an obstacle or a distraction
because it completely blocks one from practicing meditation
either while sitting or in their daily activities or seeing
things in the present moment clearly. It also causes one to
take an impersonal process, personally. Whenever these
hindrances arise, one identifies with them very strongly and
takes them personally i.e., "I am sleepy, I am restless, I like
and I want, I dislike and I hate, I have doubt". These
hindrances completely cloud one's mind and stops them
from seeing clearly whatever happens in the present
moment due to the ego involvement of "I am that".
When one is practicing "fixed concentration' the
meditator lets go of any distraction and then redirects their
mind back to the meditation object again. On the other hand,
when one is practicing "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation", one
lets go of the distraction (this part is exactly the same as the
'fixed concentration'), relaxes the tightness in the head and
feels mind become open, expanded and calm. Only then
does one redirect their attention back to the object of
meditation.
Over the past ten years, the author has developed a
training pattern to assist the student in practicing this
technique which is in line with the suttas and which
improves one's mindfulness very much. This is called "The
6R's". The small difference of relaxing mind and feeling it
open and calm, changes the whole meditation from a 'fixed
concentration' to a more flowing, mindful and calm kind of

awareness, that doesn't go as deep as the absorption types of
meditation. As a result, the meditator becomes more in tune
with the teachings in the suttas.
In Buddhist meditation, have the questions ever come
up, "What is mindfulness (Sati), really?"... "Exactly how
does one practice being mindful?"... "Can mindfulness
really lighten up one's perspective and help bring joy,
happiness and balance into every aspect of life?"
If mindfulness is recollecting how to proceed step-bystep when a distraction arises and pulls mind's attention
away from whatever one is doing during their daily
activities or during their sitting meditation practice, then by
doing this practice life becomes easier and more stress free,
at that point it seems that it would be a useful tool to
develop. Don't you agree?
To clearly understand this connection, one first has to
start with a precise definition of Meditation (Bhavana) and
Mindfulness (Sati). Seeing this will help one gain a new
harmonious perspective (Samma Ditthi) of exactly how
mind works and teaches the meditator 'HOW" to change old
painful habits that cause great suffering into a new way of
having a contented, balanced mind. This is the point of all of
the Buddha's teachings, isn't it?

Meditation (Bhavana) is "observing how mind's
attention moves moment-to-moment in order to see
clearly and precisely 'HOW' the impersonal (anatta)
process of Dependent Origination (Paticca Samupada)
occurs."
Seeing and understanding 'HOW' mind's
attention moves from one thing to another is what the main
thrust is in Buddhist Meditation! This is why Dependent
Origination is so important to see and understand. It
develops an impersonal perspective with all arising

phenomena and leads the meditator to see for themselves the
true nature of all existence.
Why is this important? Because concerning awakening, it
has been said by the Blessed One: "One who sees
dependent origination sees the Dhamma; one who sees
the Dhamma sees dependent origination." [MN-28:28]
Mindfulness is "remembering HOW to observe
mind's attention as it moves moment-to-moment and
remembering what to do with any arising phenomena!"
Successful meditation needs a highly developed skill of
Mindfulness. The "6R's" training taught at Dhamma Sukha
Meditation Center is a reclaimed ancient guidance system
which develops this skill. The first R is to RECOGNIZE but
before we do it, the meditator must RECOLLECT or use
their observation power [mindfulness] for the meditation
cycle to start running. Mindfulness is the fuel. It's just like
gas for an engine. Without Mindfulness, everything stops!
Being persistent with this practice it will relieve suffering of
all kinds. To begin this cycle "smoothly" one must start the
engine and have lots of gas (mindfulness) in the tank!
Meditation (Bhavana) helps one let go of such difficult
delusional states in life as fear, anger, tension, stress,
anxiety, depression, sadness, sorrow, fatigue, condemnation,
feelings of helplessness or whatever the catch (attachment)
of the day happens to be. (Delusional here means taking
things that arise personally and identifying with them to be
"I", "Me", "Mine" or atta in Pali). These states are the
suffering that we cause to ourselves. This suffering comes
from a lack of understanding how things actually occur.
The "6R's" are steps which evolve into one fluid
motion becoming a new wholesome habitual tendency that
relieves any dis-ease in mind and body. This cycle begins

when MINDFULNESS recollects the "6R's" which are:
RECOGNIZE
RELEASE
RELAX
RE-SMILE
RETURN
REPEAT
Development of mindfulness (one's observation
power) recollects each step of the practice cycle. Once one
understands what the purpose of mindfulness is, keeping it
going all the time is no longer problematic and makes the
meditation easier to understand, plus it is much more fun to
practice. It becomes a part of happy living and this brings up
a smile. Remembering and recollection leads to having a
wholesome up-lifted mind.
This recollection (mindfulness) is very important.
Before practicing the '6R's" one has to REMEMBER to
start the cycle! That's the trick! Remembering to gas-up the
engine, so it can run smoothly! Then we begin to:
RECOGNIZE: Mindfulness recollects how the meditator
can recognize and observe any movement of mind's
attention from one thing to another. This observation notices
any movement of mind's attention away from an object of
meditation, such as the breath, sending out of Metta or,
doing a task in daily life. One can notice a slight tightness or
tension sensation as mind's attention barely begins to move
toward any arising phenomena. Pleasant or painful feeling
can occur at any one of the six sense doors. Any sight,
sound, odor, taste, touch, or thought can cause this pulling
sensation to begin. With careful non-judgmental
observation, the meditator will notice a slight tightening
sensation. RECOGNIZING early movement is vital to
successful meditation. One then continues on to;

RELEASE: When a feeling or thought arises, the
meditator RELEASES it, let's it be there without giving
anymore attention to it. The content of the distraction is not
important at all, but the mechanics of HOW it arose are
important! Just let go of any tightness around it; let it be
there without placing attention on it. Without attention, the
tightness passes away. Mindfulness then reminds the
meditator to;
RELAX: After releasing the feeling or sensation, and
allowing it to be without trying to control it, there is a
subtle, barely noticeable tension within mind/body. This is
why a RELAX [TRANQUILIZATION] step is being
pointed out by the Buddha in his meditation instructions.
PLEASE, DON'T SKIP THIS STEP! It would be like not
putting oil in a car so the motor can run smoothly. The
important Pali word here is 'pas'sambaya'. The word
specifically means 'to tranquilize' and appears as 'an action
to be performed' as described in the suttas and is not 'a
general kind of relaxed or tranquilized feeling' that can arise
with other kinds of meditations. This point is sometimes
mis-understood in translation which then changes the end
result! Without performing this step of relaxation every time
in the cycle of meditation, the meditator will not experience
a close-up view of the ceasing (cessation) of the tension
caused by craving or feel that relief as the tightness is
relaxed. Note that craving always first manifests as a
tightness or tension in both one's mind and body. One has a
momentary opportunity to see and experience the true
nature and relief of cessation (of tightness and suffering)
while
performing
the
RELEASE/RELAX
steps.
Mindfulness moves on with a recollection the meditator
should then;

RE-SMILE: If you have listened to the Dhamma talks
at www.dhammasukha.org you might remember hearing
about how smiling is an important aspect for the meditation.
Learning to smile with mind and raising slightly the corners
of the mouth helps mind to be observant, alert and agile.
Getting serious, tensing up or frowning causes mind to
become heavy and one's mindfulness becomes dull and
slow. One's insights become more difficult to see, thus
slowing down one's understanding of Dhamma. Imagine,
for a moment, the young Bodhisatta resting under the Rose
Apple Tree as a young boy. He was not serious and tense
when he attained a pleasant abiding [jhana] and had deep
insights with a light mind. Want to see clearly? It's easy!
Just lighten up, have fun exploring and smile! Smiling leads
us to a happier more interesting practice. If the meditator
forgets to Release/Relax, rather than punishing or criticizing
oneself, be kind, re-smile and start again. Keeping up one's
humor, sense of fun exploration and recycling is important.
After re-smiling, mindfulness recalls the next step.
RETURN or RE-DIRECT: Gently re-direct mind's
attention back to the object of meditation (that is the breath
and relaxing, or metta and relaxing) continuing with a gentle
collected mind to use that object as a "home base". In daily
life, having been pulled off task, this is where one returns
their attention back to releasing, relaxing, and re-smiling
into the task. Sometimes people say this practice cycle is
simpler than expected! In history simple things can become
a mystery through small changes and omissions!
Reclaiming this practice develops more effective focus on
daily tasks with less tension and tightness. Mind becomes
more naturally balanced and happy. The meditator becomes
more efficient at whatever they do in life and, actually, they
have more fun doing all of the things that used to be a
drudgery. Nearing the end of the cycle, Mindfulness helps
with a final recollection to;

REPEAT: REPEAT this entire practice cycle to attain
the results the Buddha said could be reached in this lifetime!
Repeating the "6R's cycle" over and over again eventually
replaces old habitual suffering as we see and experience for
ourselves what suffering actually is; notice the cause which
is becoming involved with the tension and tightness in any
way; experience how to reach the cessation by releasing and
relaxing; and discover how to exercise the direct path to that
cessation of suffering that we cause ourselves. This happens
each time one Releases an arising feeling, Relaxes and Resmiles. Notice the Relief.
Sharpening the skill of mindfulness is the key
to simple and smooth meditation.
In summary, Mindfulness is very relevant to Buddhist
meditation and daily life. The process of recollection keeps
the 6 steps of the practice moving. Practicing this meditation
as close to the description (found in the suttas) as possible
will lighten all of life's experiences. A very similar practice
was most likely taught to people in the time of the Buddha.
The remarkable results of doing the meditation in this way
are "immediately effective" for anyone who diligently and
ardently embraces these instructions. When one has an
attachment arise this practice will eventually dissolve the
hindrance, but it does take persistent and constant use of the
"6R's" to have this happen.
When one practices in this way, because it is found to
be so relevant in daily life, it changes one's perspective and
leads us to a more successful, happy, and peaceful
experience. Developing mindfulness, knowledge and
wisdom grow naturally as one sees HOW things work by
witnessing the impersonal process of dependent origination.
This leads to a form of happiness the Buddha called
"Contentment". Contentment is the by-product of living the

Buddhist practice. This meditation leads to equanimity,
balance and dissolution of fear and other dis-eases. With
less fear and dread one finds new confidence. Then Loving
Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity grow in our
lives.
The practitioner's degree of success is directly
proportional to how well they understand mindfulness,
follow the precise instructions, and use the "6R" practice in
both the sitting practice and in one's daily life. This is the
way to the end of suffering. It's interesting and fun to
practice this way and certainly it helps one smile while
changing the world around them in a positive way.
When one is practicing "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation",
they do not suppress anything. Suppression means to push
down or to push away or not allow certain types of
experience i.e., it stops the hindrances from arising. Instead,
when a hindrance arises, one must work to open their mind
by seeing it clearly as anicca (impermanence, it wasn't there
and now it is), dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness, one
sees that when these distractions arise they are painful), and
anatta (not taking it personally, seeing the hindrances in the
true way as being an impersonal process that one has no
control over and not taking these hindrances as "I am that").
One then lets go of this obstruction, relaxes the tightness in
the head, calms mind and finally, redirects the attention
back to the practice of 'Mindfulness of Breathing'.
As a result, one begins to see clearly how mind works
and this leads to the development of wisdom. When one
allows and does not identify with these hindrances, they will
naturally fade away, and mind becomes more clear and
bright. Every time one lets go of the ego attachment of "I
am that", mind naturally becomes more expanded, alert and
mindful.

Thus, one of the main reasons of this book is to show that
whenever one suppresses anything, they are not purifying
mind, or experiencing things as they truly are. At the time of
suppression, one is pushing away or not allowing part of
their experience and thus, this contracts mind instead of
expanding and opening mind. As a result, it is not purifying
mind of ignorance. One is actually stopping the process of
purification of mind!
It is impossible to experience the unconditioned state of
the Supramundane Nibbana when one does not let go of
everything that arises, and in that way, purify mind of the
ego belief of "I am that". The Lord Buddha had never taught
suppression of any experience nor did he teach a meditation
that causes mind to fix or to absorb into the meditation
object. Remember, he rejected every form of 'concentration
meditation' as not being the correct way. Actually, any kinds
of pain or emotional upset or physical discomforts and even
of death must be accepted with equanimity, full awareness
or strong attention and not identifying with it or taking that
pain personally.
Real personality change occurs when one opens and
expands their mind and lets go any kinds of hindrances,
pain, suffering and tension even in their daily lives. This
means that one opens and expands their awareness so that
they observe everything with a silent mind which is free
from tightness and all ego-attachment. One gradually leads a
happy and calm life without a lot of mind chatter, especially
during their daily activities.
When one practices "concentration meditation", one will
feel very comfortable and happy while in the deep
meditation but when they get out of these exalted stages,
their personality remains the same. This means that the
hindrances attack them but they do not recognize and open

their mind. Thus, they contract their mind and become even
more attached! They might even tend to be prideful and
critical! This is because whenever a hindrance arises during
the meditation, the meditator lets it go and immediately goes
back to the object of meditation again. They do this without
calming and relaxing the tightness caused by the distraction.
Their mind tends to close or contract and tighten around that
experience (while in sitting meditation) until mind becomes
more deeply 'concentrated'.
As a result, this suppresses the hindrance. Thus, they
have not completely let go of the ego-attachment to that
distraction. Their mind is also tight and tense because they
are not seeing clearly that they are not opening and
allowing, but closing and fighting with that distraction. This
explains why nowadays meditators complain that they have
huge amounts of tension in their head. Actually, when one
truly lets go of any distraction, there will not ever be any
tension in the head. As a result of this suppression, there is
no real purifying of mind and thus, personality change does
not occur.
Now, we are almost ready for the Anapanasati Sutta. But,
before we go into that, let's look at some words which have
been changed so that their meanings in the texts become
clearer. For instance, the word 'rapture' is replaced by 'joy';
the word 'pleasure' is changed to 'happiness'. In addition, the
word
'concentration'
is
replaced
by 'stillness',
'collectedness', or 'unified mind'. When one practices
according to the Lord Buddha's instructions as described
here, they will be able to confirm their experiences by
reading the suttas. As a result, there is better understanding
of these profound texts.
One last note: In these few opening chapters, the author
has touched on some controversial views about the practices

of absorption or fixed concentration (appana samadhi),
access concentration (upacara samadhi) and momentary
concentration (khanika samadhi). Thus, the author
appreciates very much if the reader finds any mistake; they
would indicate the suttas which mentioned these various
concentration practices.
When one practice "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" there
is only opening, expanding of mind and allowing, then
relaxing the tightness caused by the hindrance or distraction,
before going back to the object of meditation again. This
opening and allowing helps one to be more aware and alert
to the things which causes pain and suffering so that they
can open up and expand even further. With this kind of
awareness, there is personality change and only then can
one fulfill the Lord Buddha's admonition of "We are the
Happy Ones".

The Anapanasati Sutta
Introductory Section
1] Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One
was living at Savatthi in the Eastern Park, in the Palace of
Migara's Mother, together with many very well-known
elder disciples -- the Venerable Sariputta, the Venerable
Maha-Moggallana, the Venerable Maha Kassapa, the
Venerable Maha Kaccana, the Venerable Maha Kotthita,
the Venerable Maha Kappina, the Venerable Cunda, the
Venerable Anaruddha, the Venerable Revata, the
Venerable Ananda, and other very well known elder
disciples.
2] Now on that occasion elder Bhikkhus had been
teaching and instructing new Bhikkhus; some elder
Bhikkhus had been teaching and instructing ten new
Bhikkhus, some elder Bhikkhus had been teaching and
instructing twenty. . . thirty. . . forty new Bhikkhus. And
the new Bhikkhus, taught and instructed by the elder
Bhikkhus, had achieved successive stages of high
distinction.

3] On that occasion -- the Uposatha day of the fifteenth,
on the full-moon night of the Pavarana ceremony, [9] The
Blessed One was seated in the open surrounded by the
Sangha of Bhikkhus. Then, surveying the silent Sangha of
Bhikkhus, he addressed them thus:
4] "Bhikkhus, I am content with this progress. My mind
is content with this progress. So arouse still more energy to
attain the unattained, to achieve the unachieved, to realize
the unrealized. I shall wait here at Savatthi for the Komudi
full moon of the fourth month."
The Bhikkhus can still practice their meditation or make
new robes and prepare to go out wandering or teaching the
Dhamma to other monks and layperson during this extra
month. The Kathina Ceremony is also held during this
month. This is the time for laymen and laywomen to make
extra merit by practicing their generosity by giving robes
and other requisites to the Sangha members.
5] The Bhikkhus of the countryside heard: "The
Blessed One will wait there at Savatthi for the Komudi full
moon of the fourth month." And the Bhikkhus of the
countryside left in due course for Savatthi to see the
Blessed One.
6] And the elder Bhikkhus still more intensively taught
and instructed new Bhikkhus; some elder Bhikkhus taught
and instructed ten new Bhikkhus, some elder Bhikkhus
taught and instructed twenty. . . thirty. . . forty new
Bhikkhus. And the new Bhikkhus, taught and instructed
by the elder Bhikkhus, achieved successive stages of high
distinction.
7] On that occasion -- the Uposatha day of the fifteenth,
the full-moon night of the Komudi full moon of the fourth

month -- the Blessed One was seated in the open
surrounded by the Sangha of Bhikkhus. Then, surveying
the silent Sangha of Bhikkhus, he addressed them thus:
8] "Bhikkhus, this assembly is free from prattle; this
assembly is free from chatter.[10] It consists purely of
heartwood. Such is this Sangha of Bhikkhus, such is this
assembly. Such an assembly as is worthy of gifts, worthy of
hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential
salutation, an incomparable field of merit for the world -Such is this assembly. Such an assembly that a small gift
given to it becomes great and a great gift becomes greater - such is this Sangha of Bhikkhus, such is this assembly.
Such an assembly as is rare for the world to see -- such is
this Sangha of Bhikkhus, such is this assembly. Such an
assembly as would be worthy journeying many leagues
with a travel-bag to see -- such is this Sangha of Bhikkhus,
such is this assembly.
9] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus, there are Bhikkhus
who are arahats with taints destroyed, who have lived the
holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden,
reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and
are completely liberated through final knowledge -- such
Bhikkhus are there in this Sangha of Bhikkhus.
This is the stage where all of the fetters are destroyed
such that they will not even arise anymore. The ten fetters
are: 1. Belief in permanent self or soul, 2. doubt in the
correct path, 3. Belief that chanting, or rites and rituals lead
one to Nibbana, 4. lust or greed, 5. hatred or aversion, 6.
greed for fine-material existence or immaterial existence, 7.
conceit or pride, 8. sloth and torpor or sleepiness or dullness
of mind, 9. restlessness or agitation of mind, 10. ignorance.
(In Pa Ii, they are 1. Sakkayaditthi, 2.Vicikiccha,
3.Silabbataparamasa, 4. Kanasmaraga, 5. Patigha, 6.

Ruparaga, Aruparaga, 7. Mana, 8. Middha, 9. Uddhacca, 10.
Avijja.) The final stage of Arahata is described as follows:
"They are the ones who have lived the Holy Life, laid down
the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of
being, and are completely liberated through final
knowledge, they have done their work with diligence; they
are no longer capable of being negligent" (Taken from the
Majjhima Nikaya sutta number 70 section 12.)
10] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus
who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, are due
to reappear spontaneously (in the pure abodes) and there
attain final Nibbana, without ever returning from that
world -- such Bhikkhus are there in this Sangha of
Bhikkhus.
This stage of sainthood is called Anagami where lust and
hate no longer even arise in one's mind. The five lower
fetters have been destroyed but there is still work to be
done.
11] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus
who, with the destruction of three fetters and with the
attenuation of lust, hate and delusion, are once-returners,
returning once to this world to make an end of suffering -such Bhikkhus are there in this Sangha of Bhikkhus.
This stage of sainthood is called being a Sakadagami or
once-returner. They have given up the belief in a permanent
self, belief that one can attain enlightenment by chanting
and practicing rites and rituals, and they have given up
doubt in the path. Also, the person who has attained this
stage has tremendously weakened lust and hatred, together
with all of the other fetters.

12] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus
who, with the destruction of the three fetters, are streamenterers, no longer subject to perdition, bound [for
deliverance], headed for enlightenment -- such Bhikkhus
are there in this sangha of Bhikkhus.
The person who has attained this stage of enlightenment
is called a Sotapanna or stream-enterer. They have given up
the three lower fetters mentioned above; they are never
going to be reborn in a low existence again. Their lowest
rebirth will be as a human being, and the most lives that
they will experience before attaining final Nibbana, is
seven.
13] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus
who abide devoted to the development of the four
foundations of mindfulness [11] -- such Bhikkhus are
there in this Sangha of Bhikkhus. In this Sangha of
Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus who abide devoted to the
four right kinds of strivings (efforts). . . of the four bases
for spiritual power. . . of the five faculties. . . of the five
powers. . . of the seven enlightenment factors. . . of the
Noble Eightfold Path -- such Bhikkhus are there in this
Sangha of Bhikkhus
The four right kinds of strivings, the four bases for
spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven
enlightenment factors and the Noble Eightfold Path are
described in Mahasakuludayi Sutta, Sutta Number 77,
Section 16 of the Majjhima Nikaya as ways to develop
wholesome states. (This sutta describes the qualities of Lord
Buddha which his disciples honour, respect, revere and
venerate him and live in dependence on him.) We will now
look into the meanings of these terms. The four Foundations
of Mindfulness, the Seven Enlightenment Factors and the
Noble Eightfold Path will be discussed later in the sutta.

The Four Right Kinds of Striving
"Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples
the way to develop the four right kinds of striving. A
Bhikkhu awakens zeal, for the non-arising of
unarisen evil unwholesome states, and he makes
effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives."
Besides zeal, the Pali word chanda also means joyful
interest or enthusiasm. A mind which points towards a
wholesome object like joy has this quality of joyful interest.
Thus, the first right kind of striving is to cultivate a mind
that has joyful interest and enthusiasm so that mind
becomes clear and free from unwholesome states. Joy grows
when mind is smiling and happy during our daily life as
well as during meditation. As a result, mind will be uplifted
and wholesome at that time. Nowadays, these four kinds of
striving are usually called the four right efforts. Some
meditation teachers request the meditator to put out
strenuous effort to note what is happening in the present
moment. But the sutta here clearly shows that this is not that
kind of mindfulness.
Mindfulness of joyful interest and enthusiasm, i.e.,
having a smiling mind leads to a mind which is light, open,
accepting and without any tension. This is the proper
definition of right effort and according to the sutta, it
actually has nothing to do with noting phenomena until it
goes away.
"He awakens zeal for the abandoning of arisen
evil unwholesome states, and he makes effort,
arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives."
The second right kind of strivings teaches one to abandon
heavy emotional states like anger, sadness, jealousy,

anxiety, stress, depression, fear, etc., and replace them with
a smiling mind which relaxes away even the subtlest
tension. This is the wholesome state of joyful interest and
enthusiasm. By cultivating such a smiling mind, one
overcomes the ego-identification with these states as being
"Mine". A good sense of humor about oneself is a skillful
tool to develop when trodding the spiritual path.
"He awakens zeal for the arising of unarisen
wholesome states, and he makes effort, arouses
energy, exerts his mind, and strives."
This means seeing that mind brings up joyful interest and
enthusiasm when these wholesome states are not in mind. In
other words, the cultivation of mindfulness means
cultivating joy and a smiling mind. Even when there is a
neutral mind that is merely thinking this and that, this is the
time to practice smiling in mind and experiencing joyful
interest and enthusiasm.
"He awakens zeal for the continuous, nondisappearance, streng thening, increase, and
fulfillment by development of arisen wholesome
states, and he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts
his mind, and strives. And thereby many disciples of
mine abide having reached the consummation and
perfection of direct knowledge."
The fourth right kind of striving refers to a continuous
practice, not only during the formal practice of meditation
but also during the daily activities. At one time the author
was approached by some students asking: "How can one
attain Nibbana by practicing smiling and having joyful
interest?" They thought that they have made a very
profound statement because they thought Nibbana is
attained by looking at pain and suffering all of the time.

These students are not practicing how to be light and happy
as taught by the Lord Buddha. The author replied them by
asking some cross questions: "How can you get to Nibbana
without smiling and having joyful interest in your mind?
Isn't joy one of the enlightenment factors? Didn't the Lord
Buddha say 'We are the Happy Ones.'?
Here one can see the importance of developing a mind
that smiles and has joyful interest. There arises a true
change of perspective in one's mind when they have joyful
interest and a smile. One is not so heavy and grumpy when
things become difficult. This is because there is not so much
ego-attachment and the meditator can see a situation clearly.
When mind does not smile and has no joyful interest,
everything becomes heavy and all mental states and
thoughts become depressing. Mind becomes over serious
and takes everything negatively.
For example, let's say that you are very happy and I come
along and give you a rose. You might take that rose and
admire the color, the shape and the fragrance. You think,
"What a beautiful flower! Just seeing it makes me even
happier". But, if you are in a depressing or angry mood and
I come along and give you that same rose, your mind would
see the thorns instead. You might even think, "Ugh! This
rose is so ugly. I hate it!" At that time, all that is seen is the
thorns. But, in actual fact, the rose is the same. The only
difference is your mood. Joyful interest and smiling helps to
make the world around you a better place to live. This,
however, is not to say that we won't go through trials and
tribulations. We will! However, the perspective of having
joy in mind changes a big problem into a small one.

The Four Bases for Spiritual Power
"Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my
disciples the way to develop the four bases for
spiritual power. Here a Bhikkhu develops the basis
for spiritual power consisting in composure of mind,
due to joy and determined striving."
The first spiritual power refers to joy. It is as explained
above.
"He develops the basis for spiritual power
consisting of concentration (here meaning stillness)
due to energy and determined striving."
This is the second spiritual power energy. One cannot
slack or becomes lazy when they are on the Lord Buddha's
Path. It takes a lot of energy to stay on the path especially
when one realizes that this is a lifetime practice! This is
talking about the energy that it takes to recognize when
one's mind is tight and tense, followed by the energy to let
go of the thinking and relax the tightness in the head and
mind, before coming back to the breath.
"He develops the basis for spiritual power
consisting of concentration (here meaning
tranquility) due to [purity of] mind and determined
striving."
The third spiritual power refers to the purity of mind
which is developed when one stays on the object of
meditation as much as possible. Whenever a hindrance
arises and knocks one out of the meditation, then they
simply allow the hindrance to be, without getting involved

with the thinking mind, relax the tightness in the head
caused by the hindrance, then gently redirect their attention
back to the meditation object i.e., the breath and
tranquilizing and expanding mind. It doesn't matter how
many times mind goes back to that distraction or hindrance.
One simply repeats allowing, relaxing and coming back to
the breath. This is the method to purify mind of all
defilements and hindrances. Remember, meditation is not
about thinking, but expanding one's mind and awareness
into the present moment and then going beyond that, to the
true expression of loving acceptance. Meditation is the
silence when thoughts -- with all its images and words has
entirely ceased. But meditation is not 'concentration'.
'Concentration' contracts mind and is a form of exclusion, a
type of cutting off, a suppression of hindrances, a resistance.
It is also a kind of conflict. A meditative mind can be very
still and composed, and yet, not have exclusion or
suppression, or resistance in it. A concentrated mind cannot
meditate according to the Buddhist practice.
"He develops the basis for spiritual power
consisting in concentration (here meaning
composure of mind) due to investigation and
determined striving."
The habit of investigating one's experience is a very
important aspect of one's spiritual growth. When one is
caught by a hindrance, or pain, or any distraction, they must
he able to see how mind reacts to that particular situation.
For example, sleepiness arises while one is meditating. The
way to overcome sleepiness is by staying more attentively,
with joyful interest, on the object of meditation. One must
try to see directly how their mind slips back to the
sleepiness. In other words, one must put more effort and
energy into the practice. When one notices how mind first
starts to be caught by the hindrance, they will let go of it

more quickly and not be caught for too long a time.
However, when one is totally caught by the sleepiness, it
may take a while to overcome this hindrance, because this is
the last thing mind wants to do! Thus, mind may 'ping pong'
back and forth from the meditation object back to the
sleepiness. The more light and joyful interest towards how
mind works, the more quickly one will let go of the
hindrance and begin to meditate again.
Similarly, when pain arises, one does not direct mind into
the pain. One can see how mind has resistance to that
sensation only when their attention is pulled to the pain. If
one starts to think about the pain, it will get bigger and more
intense. Thus, one first lets go of the thinking mind, which
verbalizes about these distraction (pain, hindrance, heavy
emotion etc.). Next, relaxes mind and releases the tight
mental knot around the sensation, relaxes the tightness in
the head, calms mind and then, redirect one's attention back
to the object of meditation. This is done continually until the
pain doesn't pull mind to it again.
This is decidedly different from some other meditation's
instructions where the meditators put their attention into the
middle of the pain and note it as 'pain. . . pain. . . pain'. All
the while, they are trying to see its true nature and watch its
changes. But pain by nature, is repulsive and thus, the
meditators have the tendency to tighten and harden mind so
that they can continue watching the pain. The hardening of
mind is never noted by the meditators, nor is it ever seen
clearly whenever it arises. The meditators will eventually
develop enough concentration (fixed attention) to be able to
overcome the pain. However, this is achieved by repressing
and tightening mind.
One can clearly observe that the spiritual base of
investigation of one's experience is to purify mind by

allowing everything that happens in the present moment to
be there without trying to fight, control, or even disturb it in
any way. Loving-acceptance and patience (which is defined
in the English dictionary as meaning non-aversion) of the
present moment is the way to attain Nibbana. It is not
attained by concentration, tightness, suppression and
repression.

The Five Faculties
"Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples
the way to develop the five spiritual faculties. Here a
Bhikkhu develops the faculty of faith which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment."
The faculty of faith is also called the faculty of
confidence. As one becomes interested in letting go of the
pain of living, one's curiosity becomes stronger. And thus,
they begin to look for a meditation teacher. If one is
fortunate enough to learn from a competent teacher, they
will begin to see some slight changes in the way they
perceive the world. As one begins to see this through direct
practice, their confidence begins to grow. As a result, their
enthusiasm towards the practice increases such that one
would want to practice more!
"He develops the faculty of energy, which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment."
When one's confidence grows, they will naturally put
more energy into their practice. One begins to sit a little
longer and mind becomes a little clearer. For the beginner it
is recommended to sit not less than 45 minutes at a time.
But when a sitting is good, please stay with that sitting for
as long as it lasts. A good sitting might last for one hour or
one hour-ten minutes, or longer. It is good to sit for

progressively longer periods of time and not worry about
becoming attached to the sitting. The only way one becomes
attached is by the thinking about and not doing the
meditation in the correct manner. There is nothing wrong in
sitting for long periods of time as long as one does not hurt
themselves physically and they have enough exercise.
Sitting for one or two or three hours is fine only when one is
ready to sit comfortably for such long hours. If one sits in a
same way which causes pain to arise every time, then they
are causing themselves unnecessary physical discomfort.
This is not a wise thing to do, because the sitting posture
should be comfortable. It is alright if the meditator uses a
stool or chair, as long as they do not lean on anything.
Leaning is good for sleeping and dullness, not meditating!
And thus, the more confidence one has, the more energy
they put into their practice. One's enthusiasm will naturally
increase too.
"He develops the faculty of mindfulness which
leads to peace, leads to enlightenment."
As one's energy improves, their awareness and
mindfulness will naturally become stronger. This is a very
natural "non-forced" process. Let's take a look at mind of an
ordinary person, a person like you or me. What one finds is
a grasshopper mind, a butterfly mind, or one could also say,
a mad monkey mind. It is ever-moving, ever-jumping
around. It changes its fantasies and impulses every moment.
Mind is a prey of stimuli and its own emotional reaction to
them. This is actually a reaction that is mostly re-acting to
conditions the way one always acts when a certain stimuli
arises. It is a chain of linked associations, hopes, fears,
memories, fantasies, regrets, streaming constantly through
mind, triggered by memories of the outside world. Mind is
blindly, never-stopping, never-satisfied in its search for

pleasure and satisfaction. It is no wonder that mind becomes
so crazy and filled with unsatisfactoriness and was
described as a restless mad monkey swinging from branch
to branch in the quest for satisfying fruit through the endless
jungle of conditional events.
Thus, when one first begins to meditate, mind naturally
runs all over the place and stays away from the object of
meditation for a long time. Sometimes it even takes two or
three minutes before one is able to recognize, they then
gently let it go, relax the tension in the head, calm mind and
re-direct the attention back to the breath. This is only
natural, because mind is used to running wherever it likes.
But as one's practice develops and they are able to recognize
and let go more quickly, their mindfulness gradually
becomes sharper. Mind might only stay away from the
breath for one minute, before recognizing that it is not on
the breath. It then lets go, relaxes mind, and comes back to
the breath. At this time mind begins to stay on the breath for
longer periods of time, perhaps, as long as thirty seconds,
before it goes off again. However, one is now becoming
better at seeing when mind goes away. Their mindfulness
becomes sharper and they are able to recognize what mind
is doing. Thus, when one's confidence becomes better, their
energy improves and as a result, the alertness of mind
naturally develops.
"He develops the faculty of tranquility or
stillness, which leads to peace, leads to
enlightenment."
When one's mindfulness of the present moment
improves, mind will naturally stay on the object of
meditation for much longer periods of time. Most people
would describe this as 'concentration' but this is not an
accurate description. Mind is not absorbed into or fixed onto

the object of meditation. Instead, it is very still, relaxed,
composed and stays on the breath very well. At this time a
strong feeling of joy arises and the body becomes very light
and feels like floating. When the joy fades away, a powerful
feeling of tranquility, equanimity and comfortableness
arises. Due to one's sharp awareness, they do not become
involved with these feelings. But if one begins to think or
internally verbalize about how nice this state is and how
much they like it, they will lose that state and sleepiness
very often comes into mind. This is because one is caught
by the attachment to those feelings and slip off without
coming back to the breath. Mindfulness fades away when
one starts to think or internally verbalize about things and
becomes involved in wanting to control these things and
thoughts. This also happens when one craves for the
experience of joy and tranquility to arise. This desire makes
mind to try too hard and as a result restlessness and
dissatisfaction arise These combination of hindrances will
stop all spiritual practice from occurring because the
wanting for things to be in a particular way makes all the
spiritual development fade away. Therefore, one must be
more mindful of the thoughts about these pleasant abiding.
And thus, as confidence increases, one's energy grows. This
improves our mindfulness which enables the composure and
stillness of mind to become stronger and lasts longer.
"A Bhikkhu develops the faculty of wisdom (or
understanding), which leads to peace, leads to
enlightenment. And thereby many disciples of mine
abide having reached the consummation and
perfection of direct knowledge."
As one's mind becomes more calm and still, they are able
to see the true nature of things. This development of
wisdom or intelligence is gained by seeing things arise and
pass away by themselves. Even while one is sitting in a

jhana [a meditation stage] they see how, for instance, joy
arises. It is there for a while then fades away. They see how
tranquility and happiness arise. They are there for a while
and then they fade away. One is able to see the true nature
of impermanence, even in the beginning of their practice, by
observing thoughts arising and passing away. One observes
feelings and emotions arising and passing away. They also
notice that these things that arise and pass away are
unsatisfactory and these feelings and emotions are a form of
suffering, especially when they don't behave in the way one
wants them to. When one sees how truly unsatisfactory this
process is, they clearly see that it is an impersonal process.
There is no one who can control the appearance and
disappearance of these things. Even while in jhana [a
meditation stage] one has no real control over the joy arising
because joy arises when the conditions are right for it to
come up. At the same time, one simply cannot force joy to
stay because it will fade away when the conditions are right.
And this causes more unsatisfactoriness to arise, because joy
is such a nice feeling! Thus, one is able to see the
characteristics of existence very clearly, i.e. anicca
(impermanence), dukkha (suffering), and not-self (anatta).
This is the way to develop wisdom which gradually leads
one to the seeing of Dependent Origination both forwards
and backwards (that is, seeing and realizing The Four Noble
Truths). An interesting observation is that one can see the
three characteristics of existence without ever seeing
Dependent Origination, but they can never see Dependent
Origination without seeing the three characteristics of
existence (i.e., impermanence, suffering and not-self nature)
at the same time. We will discuss this in more detail at a
later time.

The Five Powers
"Again Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples
the way to develop the Five Spiritual Powers. Here a
Bhikkhu develops the Power of Faith, which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment."
He develops the Power of Energy, which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment.
He develops the Power of Mindfulness, which leads
to peace, leads to enlightenment.
He develops the Power of Stillness, which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment.
He develops the Power of Wisdom, which leads to
peace, leads to enlightenment.
And thereby many disciples of mine abide having
reached the consummation and perfection of direct
knowledge.

These are the same as the five faculties mentioned
above. They are called powers because of their
ability to purify mind and make it wholesome and
clean.
We will now continue with the Anapanasati. Sutta.
14] "In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are Bhikkhus
who abide devoted to the development of loving-kindness. .
. of compassion. . . of appreciative joy. . . of equanimity. . .
of the meditation of foulness. . . of the perception of
impermanence - - such Bhikkhus are there in this Sangha
of Bhikkhus. In this Sangha of Bhikkhus there are
Bhikkhus who abide devoted to the development of
mindfulness of breathing.

Loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and
equanimity are known as the Four "Brahma Viharas" or the
Four Boundless states of mind, or the Limitless states of
mind. This is because there is no boundary or limitations to
one's mind when they are in these meditative states.
The meditation of foulness is suitable for those who have
a strong affinity for lust arising in their minds. It is practiced
by reflecting on the element and the disgusting nature of
one's body parts. For example, when one looks at a beautiful
person and thoughts of lust arise, they can imagine how
desirable that person would be are if all of their body parts
where to be turned inside-out! Will one's mind think, "Oh!
what a lovely intestine or liver !" or "Wow! What beautiful
bile, pus and phlegm that person has!" How much lust is
there in mind at that time? Thus, this meditation helps
people with lustful personality to be more in balance.
The perception of impermanence does not actually refer
to sitting down and thinking about how everything changes.
(Remember, "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" is about seeing
with a silent and spacious mind.) It is referring to the
meditation states of infinite space and infinite consciousness
where mind sees just how fleeting these mental and physical
phenomenons truly are.
We will now proceed to the next section of the sutta
which speaks about mindfulness of Breathing.

Mindfulness of Breathing
15] "Bhikkhus, when mindfulness of breathing is
developed and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great
benefit. When Mindfulness of Breathing is developed and
cultivated, it fulfills the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
When the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are developed

and cultivated, they fulfill the Seven Enlightenment
Factors. When the Seven Enlightenment Factors are
developed and cultivated, they fulfill true knowledge and
deliverance.
One observes that the Four Foundations of Mindfulness
is in this sutta and they are fulfilled through the practice of
jhana or tranquil and wise meditative states of mind. This is
decidedly different from the current theory that one can't
attain the Four Foundations of Mindfulness while
experiencing jhanas [meditative stages]. The Lord Buddha
only taught one kind of meditation and that is samatha or
tranquility or one can say he taught samadhi -- tranquil
'wisdom meditation.
16] And how, Bhikkhus, is mindfulness of breathing
developed and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and
great benefit?
17] "Here a Bhikkhu, gone to the forest or to the root
of a tree or an empty hut, sits down; having folded his legs
crosswise, set his body erect, and established mindfulness
in front of him, ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he
breathes out.
The phrase "gone to the forest or to the root of a tree or
an empty hut" means that one goes to a reasonably quiet
place where there will be few distractions. A suitable
location will be one that is away from road noises, loud and
persistent music or sounds, people as well as animals.
During the time of the Lord Buddha most people sat on
floors. Hence, the phrase "sits down; having folded his legs
crosswise, set his body erect" But today, sitting on the floor
can be a very trying and painful experience as people mostly
sit on chairs, stools, or couches. If one wants to sit on floors,

it may help if they sit on cushions. In actual fact, it is far
more important to observe what is happening in mind than
to sit with uncomfortable or painful sensations. Remember
that there is no magic in sitting on the floor. The magic
comes from a clear, calm mind that is at ease, as much as
possible. Thus, if sitting on the floor is a very painful
experience, then it is alright to sit on a stool or a chair.
There is however, an extremely important factor if the
meditator sits on a chair. They must sit without leaning
against the chair. Leaning is good for sleeping but not for
meditation! "Set his body erect" means sit with a nicely
straight back which is not rigid and uncomfortable. A nicely
straight back has all of the vertebrae stacked one upon
another. This is to ensure that energy can flow up and down
the back without any blockages. Leaning stops the energy
flow and causes sleepiness to arise. Thus, please do not lean
against anything. When one first start out, their backs are
not used to being straight and some of the muscles can rebel
and complain. However, with patience and perseverance,
these unused muscles will gradually adjust and streng then.
There is another important aspect to sitting meditation.
One must sit without moving the body for any reason.
Please do not wriggle the toes or fingers or move the hands
to rub or scratch or change the posture in any way until after
the sitting is over. Any movement breaks the continuity of
the practice and this causes the meditator to start all over
again. Some meditation teachers tell their students that it is
quite alright to move as long as they are "mindful". But if
the students are truly mindful, they would be able to watch
mind and its dislike of the sensations and then, relax mind
around them. Thus, there would be no reason to move!
Mindfulness means to lovingly-accept what is happening in
the present moment, without trying to control, resist or
change it. To be truly mindful means to open up and allow
whatever to present itself in the present moment. Moving

while sitting means that the meditator is not being mindful
at all. The meditator is giving in to the desire to move, and
is identifying with that desire. Thus, when one is ready and
begins to meditate, they must remain still and keep
tranquilizing mind whenever there is a distraction. To sit as
still as a Buddha image is the best! Actually the only
allowable movement during meditation is to straighten the
back when it starts to curve or slump, as long as it is not
done too often.
The phrase "establishing mindfulness in front of him"
means that one puts aside all other worldly affairs and
involvement with sensual pleasures. One softly closes the
eyes and whenever there is a distracting sound, smell, taste
or sensation, or thought, they are aware of that and simply
let it go. One then relaxes the tightness in the head and
redirects the attention back to the object of meditation.
"Ever mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out"
tells us the way to practice mindfulness of breathing. Being
aware of the breath means to know when one is
experiencing the in-breath and to know when one is
experiencing the out-breath. It simply means to open up
one's awareness and to be attentive to the breath as much as
possible and at the same time, relax the tightness in the head
(this will be explained more thoroughly in a little while).

Meditation Instructions

18] "Breathing in long, he understands: 'I brea the in
long'; or breathing out long, he understands: 'I breathe
out long.' Breathing in short, he understands: 'I breathe
in short'; or breathing out short he understands 'I breathe
out short'.

The words "he understands" are emphasized to show
that one does not focus with strong attention on the breath to
the exclusion of everything else. One merely understands
what the breath is doing in the present moment. That's all
there is to this! One simply knows when they brea the in
long or short! There is no controlling of the breath at any
time. Instead, there is only understanding of what one is
doing in the present moment. If one tries to "over-focus" or
"concentrate" on the breath to the exclusion of anything
else, they will develop a headache due to the "wrong
concentration". Whenever a meditator holds tightly onto the
meditation object and tries to force mind to "concentrate" or
bumps any distractions away, the head will develop a very
tight and painful tension. This tightness or tension on the
head also occurs when the meditator attempts to control the
sitting by throwing down any distracting thoughts and
feelings and quickly rush back to the meditation object. This
happens with 'momentary concentration' as well as any other
kind of 'concentration' technique.
Many meditation teachers tell their students to put their
attention right in the middle of the sensation and see its true
nature. This will cause a few different things to occur.
Firstly, the students will develop a stronger pain and this
becomes a distraction instead. It is because these meditation
teachers tell their students to stay with that pain until it goes
away. Unfortunately, this can take an unbelievably long
time. In addition, the students need to tighten and toughen
mind in order to observe the tension. Actually, this
tightening and toughening of mind is not being mindful. The
students begin to develop a mind that hardens itself when
pain arises. It is only natural that this happens as it takes a
lot of courage and fortitude to watch pain in this way. A
type of aversion is naturally developed at that time, and this
hardening of mind is not being noticed as anicca, dukkha,
anatta. Consequently, even when one is not meditating, this

suppression can cause personality hardening, and that
causes true problems to arise. Mind has a tendency to
become critical and judgmental and the personality
development of the meditator becomes hard. Many people
say they need to do a loving-kindness retreat after doing
other types of meditation because they discovered that they
do and say things which are not so nice to other people.
When this happens, there appears a question, "Is this really a
type of meditation technique which leads to my happiness
and to the happiness of others? If the answer is yes, then
why do I need to practice another form of meditation to
balance my thinking?"
Eventually one is able to suppress this aversion by
practicing 'concentration', which is taught to be the "correct
method" by most meditation teachers. But the method
taught by the Lord Buddha was to never suppress anything.
His method was to open and expand mind and to allow
everything that arises in the present moment. Thus,
whenever a pain arises in the body, one first recognizes that
mind has gone to that sensation, lets go of any thoughts
about that sensation, opens mind and lets go of the tight
mental fist that is wrapped around the sensation, or by
letting the sensation be there by itself without any mental
resistance or aversion to it. This is done by telling
themselves, "Never mind it is alright for this pain to be
there." Next, relax the tightness which is in the head ..... feel
mind expand and become calm ..... then re-direct the
attention back to the object of meditation i.e. the breath.
If one gets caught in the thinking about the sensation or
pain, the sensation will get bigger and become more intense.
Eventually, they can't stand it any more and feel that they
have to move. This thinking or internally verbalizing about
the sensation and wishing it would go away, is the 'ego
identification' with the painful sensation. This getting

involved with, ..... trying to control, ..... fighting with the
sensation, ..... resisting the sensation etc., is only fighting
with the Dhamma (Truth of the Present Moment). Whenever
anyone fights and tries to control or hardens mind to the
Dhamma of the present moment, they cause themselves
undue suffering and pain. Another way of fighting the
Dhamma is by taking the sensation personally. This worsens
the pain and as a result, it hurts even more. Thus, one must
learn to open and lovingly-accept the present moment
without that 'ego-identification' and the thinking or
internally verbalization about, or taking it as "I am that".
This is how one gains calmness and composure of mind, as
well as, equanimity, full awareness, and mindfulness.
The Lord Buddha taught us three kinds of actions while
meditating or during our daily activities. They are, "Love
Where We Are At, Love What We Are Doing in the
Present Moment, and Love Who We Are With". These
simple explanations allow one to be completely accepting of
the present moment. "To Love where We Are At" means
to accept the fact that when one is sitting in meditation,
things are not always like they want them to be. "To Love
What We Are Doing" means to open up mind and allow
whatever arises in the present moment, to present itself
without our getting attached to it. A good acronym for this
is "DROPS" which means "Don't Resist Or Push. Soften".
Whatever arises, one does not resist or push. Just soften into
it, open mind and accept it. In other words to "Love What
We Are Doing". "To Love Who We Are With", means to
love oneself enough so that they see and let go of all kinds
of attachments which cause pain to arise in their body and
mind. The recognition that one causes their own suffering is
a major realization. When one truly loves themselves, they
will see the pain and sorrow and lovingly let it go. This is
done by letting go of the thinking about. Thus, they let go of
the attachment and the ego identification with it.

He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing the
whole body]'; he trains thus 'I shall brea the out
experiencing the whole body'';
This part of the sutta means that the meditator knows
when the breath is starting and stopping on the in-breath.
One also knows when the breath is starting and stopping on
the out-breath. The meditator doesn't have to over-focus
mind or 'concentrate' on the breath, or take this breathing as
the object of extreme concentration'. One simply knows
what the breath is doing in the present moment. Their
mindfulness is sharp enough to know what the breath is
doing at all times, without controlling the breath in any way.
Just let the breath and the awareness be a natural process.
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in tranquilizing the
bodily formation'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
tranquilizing the bodily formation'.
This simple statement is the most important part of the
meditation instructions. It instructs one to notice the
tightness which arises in the head with every arising of a
consciousness, and let that tightness go, while on the inbreath and out-breath. Then one feels their mind open up,
expand, relax and become tranquil. Every time they see that
mind is distracted away from the breath, they simply let go
of the distraction, relax the tightness in the head by letting
go of the tightness, feel mind become open, expanded,
relaxed, calm and clear. Next, one softly re-directs mind
back to the breath, on the in-breath relaxes, expands and
calms the tightness in the head and mind ..... on the outbreath relaxes, expands and calms the tension in the head
and mind. For example, when a thought arises, just let the
thought go. Don't continue thinking, even if one is in midsentence. Just softly let the thought go. If the distraction is a
sensation, firstly open mind and let go of the aversion to the

sensation, then open and expand mind before re-directing
one's attention back to the breath.
This opening up, expanding and letting go of the
tightness in the head is actually letting go of the subtle 'ego
identification' which attaches itself to everything as it arises.
Thus, when one lets go of this tension, they are actually
letting go of all ignorance which causes rebirth.
When the meditation instructions here are followed
closely, there will be no 'sign or nimitta' arising in mind
(i.e., no lights or other kinds of mind-made objects, which
arise in mind when one is practicing 'concentration
meditation'). Mind naturally becomes calm and tranquil.
One need not try to force mind to stay on the object of
meditation through strong concentration' which causes
tension and pain in the head. One begins to realize the true
nature of all phenomenon as being impermanent (anicca),
unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anatta).
Thus, when one practices "Tranquil Wisdom
Meditation", they are aware of the in-breath and at the same
time, the relaxation of the tightness in the head and mind.
They are also aware of the out-breath and again, at the same
time, the relaxation of the tightness in the head and mind. It
is alright if one happens to miss one in-breath or one outbreath at first. They should not put unnecessary pressure on
themselves which might cause them to think how difficult
this practice is. This is actually an incredibly easy practice
and a simple way to develop mind. Thus, if one occasionally
misses the in-breath or out-breath, just let it go and catch the
next in-breath or out-breath. Simple and easy, isn't it? At
first, the breath may seem to be very fast and difficult to
notice. However, as one continues with their practice, the
meditation becomes easier and they will not miss the inbreath or out-breath that much. After all, this is a gradual

training. There is no need to put undue pressure on oneself.
Simply relax into the meditation.
When one practices "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation", the
breath does not become subtle and difficult to observe. If
this happens, then the meditator is 'concentrating' too much
on the breath. Also, the tightness in the head is not relaxed
enough. If the breath seems to disappear again, the
meditator is focusing their 'concentration' and not
tranquilizing mind enough. The jhanas (meditation stages)
will appear by themselves as mind becomes calm and
peaceful. The meditator does not have to push, force or
'concentrate with a fixed mind'. Actually, the Lord Buddha
taught a most natural form of meditation that works for
every type of personality or individual.
19] "He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing
joy'; He trains thus: 'I shall brea the out experiencing joy'.
This refers to the attainment of the first two jhanas
(meditation stages). The description of these stages is a set
formula that is repeated many times in the suttas.[12] We
will now look into the description of these first two jhanas:
Here quite secluded from sensual pleasures, . . .
When one starts their meditation session, they first close
their eyes. This is being secluded from the sensual pleasure
of seeing. When a sound distracts mind, the instructions are
to let the sound be there by itself, without thinking about
whether one likes the sound or not. Simply let the sound go.
. . let go of the mental fist around the sound. . . relax the
tightness in the head, feel mind become calm and at ease. . .
redirect the attention back to the object of meditation, i.e.,
the breath. Relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open
up, expand and become tranquil on the in-breath, relax the

tightness in the head on the out-breath, feel mind become
open, peaceful and calm. One stays with the breath and
relaxes the tension and mind until the next distraction
appears by itself.
One does this with smelling, tasting, bodily sensations,
and thoughts or any kind of sensual pleasure which distracts
mind away from the breath. Whenever there is a distraction
of the sense-doors one must let it go, relax that mental fist
around the distraction . . . loosen the tightness in the head,
open and expand mind,. . . redirect the attention back to the
breath again. It doesn't matter how many times the sensual
pleasure arises. One has to allow it to be there every time it
arises. Just remember to let it go. . . loosen the tightness in
the head, feel mind expand and come back to the breath.
. . . secluded from unwholesome states. . .
When mind is distracted from the breath and begins to
think about feelings that arise, there is a tendency for mind
to like or dislike that feeling. This thinking about and trying
to control feelings by thinking about them, causes the
feeling to get bigger and more intense. Thus, more pain
arises. This mind/body process is made up of five different
aggregates which are affected by clinging. The meditator
has a physical body, feelings (both mental and physical),
perception (recognition}, volition or thoughts or free will
and consciousness. By seeing this, one can clearly observe
that feelings are one thing and thoughts are another.
Unfortunately, all of us have developed the habit of trying to
think our feelings away. This only makes the feelings bigger
and more intense. As a result, more pain and suffering arise.
When one practices the Lord Buddha's meditation
method, they must understand and let go this old habit of
thinking. Thus, when a feeling arises, no matter whether it is

physical or emotional, first, let go of that tight mental fist
around the feeling. . . now relax the tightness in the head. . .
feel mind expand, then become calm and tranquil. . . next
redirect the attention back to the breath. When one does this,
they are seeing the true nature of that feeling: It wasn't there.
. . now it arose by itself, i.e. change or impermanence. One
certainly does not request for this incredibly painful
sensation to arise, nor do they ask at that time to feel angry,
sad, fearful, depressed, doubtful or whatever the catch of the
day happens to be. These feelings arise by themselves,
without one's desire for them to arise. They last as long as
they last. The more one tries to control, fight, or push away
these feelings, the more they stay and become very much
bigger and extra intense. This is because whenever one
wants to control the feeling, they are identifying with that
sensation or emotion as being theirs personally. One tends
to think about -- how much it hurts, where did it come from,
why does it have to bother them now, "Oh! I hate that
feeling and want it to go away".
Every thought about the feeling is the ego-identification
with that feeling. Every time one tries to resist what is
happening in the present moment, they are fighting with the
Dhamma of the Present Moment. When a painful or even a
pleasant feeling arises, the Truth is -- it is there. Any
resistance, trying to control, wishing it away with thoughts,
or fighting that feeling in any way, only causes more
suffering to arise. Actually whenever a feeling arises, one
opens mind . . . lets go of the want to control . . . lovinglyaccepts the fact that this feeling is there, and allows it to be
there by itself. Don't Resist Or Push. Soften..... This
DROPS is the key to having an accepting and open mind
which leads to the development of equanimity. Any
slightest resistance or tightness means that there is some
ego-identification still attached to it.

Let's say that a friend came up and scolded you in the
early morning after you went to work. What happened to
your mind? If you were like most people you scolded them
back because you were angry and fighting. When the friend
went away, what did you think about? What you said. . .
what your friend said. . . what you should have said. . . I'm
right for feeling the way I do and for what I said. . . they are
wrong for what they said and did. . . And so it went. This
feeling of anger is strong and there are thoughts which are
attached to that feeling.
After a little while you distract yourself with some other
activities. But the anger is still there and if someone comes
to talk to you, chances are good that you will complain
about your other friend who scolded you. Thus, at that time
you are giving your dissatisfaction and anger to someone
else and that affects them in a negative way. At different
times during the day, these feelings and the thoughts that
you are attached to them, arise. As a matter of fact, these
thoughts are just like they were recorded on a cassette tape.
They come back in the same order and with exactly the
same words. After the end of the day you would have
distracted yourself such that this feeling doesn't come up so
often. Then comes the time to sit in meditation and purify
mind. But what arises? This feeling of anger, and the
associate thoughts! Thus, here we go again. But this time, as
you let go of getting involved with those feelings and
thoughts, you begin to let them go. Seeing that these
thoughts cause the feeling to grow, the meditator begins to
soften mind. Never mind, it just isn't that important". . .
Soften. . . "Let it be". . . open mind and let go of that tight
mental knot around these thoughts. . . let go of the aversion
to the feeling. . . feel mind begin to expand then relax. . .
now loosen the tightness in the head. . . feel mind become
calm, what relief! Now gently go back to the breath. . . on
the in-breath loosen the tightness in the head. . . on the out-

breath relax the tightness in the head. . . always feeling mind
open up, expand, and become tranquil.
Then the anger comes up again, and so, again you do the
same thing. . . let it be there by itself without getting
involved with the thinking about it. . . open and relax the
mental hold of it. . . loosen the tightness in the head. . .
softly redirect the attention back to the breath again. It
doesn't matter how many times mind goes back to that
feeling of anger. It is treated in the same way every time.
One is not taking that feeling personally when they let the
feeling be there by itself. Thus, there is no ego-identification
with that feeling. This is seeing the true nature of that
feeling, isn't it? The feeling wasn't there before, but now it
is. This is seeing impermanence. When that feeling arises, it
takes away the tranquility and peace. That is definitely
painful, a true form of suffering. When one allows the
feeling to be there by itself without getting involved or
thinking about it, open their mind and relax the tightness
away, they are experiencing the not-self nature at that time.
Thus, when one practices "Tranquil Wisdom Meditation",
they do experience the three characteristics of existence:
impermanence, suffering, and not-self.
As one continues to loosen mind and let go of any
distraction, the attachment becomes smaller and weaker.
Finally it doesn't have enough strength to arise any more.
When this happens, mind becomes filled with relief and joy.
This letting go of attachment is being secluded from
unwholesome states. When one lets go and the joy arises, it
lasts for a period of time. As a result, mind becomes very
tranquil and peaceful. The meditator experiences a mind
which stays on the object of meditation very easily. When
this is done repeatedly, mind will naturally become calm
and composed by itself. At that time, one begins to develop
some equanimity and balance of mind.

. . .The Bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the
first Jhana (meditation stage), which is accompanied
by applied and sustained thought, with joy and
pleasure born of seclusion.
All of these different factors make up what is commonly
called the first jhana (meditation stage). At that time there
can still exists some very little wandering thoughts. If mind
wanders away from the breath and the meditator relaxes
mind, the wandering thoughts are noticed very quickly.
Simply let go. . . relax the tightness before coming back to
the breath. Some meditation teachers call this access
concentration. But actually they are looking at things from
the viewpoint of "concentration meditation" and not
"Tranquil Wisdom Meditation".
Applied and Sustained Thought are descriptions of the
thinking mind and discursive thinking (wandering thought).
Some translations call initial and sustained thought as
thinking and pondering. There can still be directed thoughts
in each one of the different jhanas (meditation stages). The
difference between directed thought and wandering thoughts
is: With wandering thoughts, one thinks about what
happened in the past or what will happen in the future, or
daydream about what they would like to see. Directed
thought is about what is happening in the present moment.
These are observation thoughts i.e., mind feels very happy
right now, or mind is very calm, or body feels very still and
peaceful right now, etc. There is also another way of
looking at Applied and Sustained Thought. Applied
Thought is mind that notices when mind is distracted and
brings the attention back to the breath. Sustained Thought is
mind that stays on the breath without slipping away again.
When mind begins to stay on the object of meditation for
longer and longer periods of time, the relief and joy will

become quite strong. One will naturally feel like smiling
because the joy is such a pleasurable feeling in both mind
and body. At that time, the body and mind feels very light
until it is almost like floating. This is quite a nice and
pleasant experience. Some meditation teachers tell their
students that when joy arises, "Don't Be Attached!" Thus,
these students become fearful of that joy and try to push it
away so that they won't possibly have the chance to become
attached. However, this is not the correct thing to do
because it doesn't matter what kind of feeling that arises,
either pleasurable or unpleasurable or neutral, their job is to
see that mind stays on the breath and opening then relaxing
their mind.
If mind is pulled away by a feeling, simply let it be there
by itself and relax the tightness in the head, feel mind open
and expand, then go back to the breath. Attachment or
craving comes from getting involved with liking or disliking
what arises in the present moment whereas clinging is the
thinking about it. One will not become attached when they
allow whatever arises to be there by itself, then come back
to the object of meditation. After the joy fades away, mind
will become very calm, peaceful and comfortable. It is this
comfortable and tranquil feeling that is called happiness
born of seclusion. At first, one can sit in this stage of
meditation for ten or fifteen minutes and longer with
practice. This is the first jhana (meditation stage) and it will
arise when one has let go of sensual pleasure for a period of
time, and have also let go of unwholesome habits or states
of mind which stops the meditator from having a mind
without distractions in it.
When one has experienced this state of calm, they begin
to realize the reasons that they are meditating. At that time,
mind, is nicely composed and happy with very few
distractions. There is more peace of mind than has ever been

experienced before. Thus, after that experience, one
becomes enthusiastic and wants it to happen every time they
sit. BUT, that very desire to have those calm states of mind
is the very thing which stops them from arising! They then
try even harder and put in more effort. Unfortunately, mind
only becomes more and more restless and unsettled. This is
due to the desire for something to happen in a particular
way. When it doesn't happen that way, one pushes harder
and tries to force things to be calm and tranquil.
As a result, one can't experience this calm stage of
meditation due to the attachment of wanting things to occur
as they want. This desire causes one to lean out of the
present moment and to try to make the next present moment
the way they want it to be. When that present moment isn't
right, they try even harder. However, this calm state of mind
will occur when it occurs. Just relax and let go of that strong
desire, calm down and stop expecting things to work
according to one's own desires and attachments. After the
first experience of jhana (a meditation stage), mind may
become quite active the next lime one sits in meditation.
But, their mindfulness is sharp and is able to recognize
when mind goes away quickly. Then they let it go, open
mind up, and return the attention back to the breath.
Calming and opening on the in-breath, calming and
loosening mind on the out-breath. . . Before long, mind will
settle down again and the joy will arise again. When it fades
away, one will again experience that comfortable happy
feeling, as well as a mind that is still and at ease.
At this time, one still has the experience of all the five
aggregates affected by clinging. They can still hear things,
or have feelings arise in the body. For example, they would
know when a mosquito lands on them. One may have some
thoughts about that mosquito, but they quickly recognize

that this is a distraction and let it go. . . loosen the tension in
the head and mind, then softly come back to the breath.
As one continues to open and calm mind on the in and
out breath, eventually they will arrive at a stage where there
are no more wandering thoughts. The joy is a little stronger,
and lasts a little longer. When it fades away, the comfortable
feeling of happiness is stronger and the calm mind goes
deeper into the breath. This state is described as:
Again with the stilling of applied and sustained
thought, the Bhikkhu, enters and abides in the
second jhana (meaning a meditation stage), which
has self-confidence and singleness of mind without
applied and sustained thought, with joy and
happiness born of stillness of mind.
The stilling of applied and sustained thought means that
at that time, mind becomes very still and stays on the object
of meditation quite nicely. There is no discursive thinking
about the past or future. However, there can still be
observation thoughts. Remember that true meditation is
silent, open observation. There is still feeling in the body as
all of the sense doors are working. But, for example, if a
sound arises, it doesn't make mind shake of move. One
knows where they are and what they are doing. The selfconfidence mentioned in the sutta, comes from the
confidence one gains when they see clearly for themselves
how well the meditation works. The self-confidence not
only arises when one is sitting in meditation but, also during
the daily activities too. The singleness of mind means that
mind is very calm and doesn't run around. It is contented to
stay on the breath and keep opening and loosening on the in
and out breaths. These are the description of the first two
jhanas (meditation stages).

We now return to the Anapanasati Sutta.
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing
Happiness'; He trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
experiencing happiness.'
As one continues onwards with their practice and keep
calming and opening mind, eventually they reach a stage
where the feeling of joy becomes too coarse and it naturally
won't arise any more. This is always a rather comical time
for the teacher because the meditator comes to the teacher
and says:
Student: 'There's something wrong with my meditation!'
Teacher: 'Why do you say that?'
Student: 'I don't feel anymore joy',
Teacher: 'Is that bad?'
Student: 'No, of course not, but still I don't feel anymore
joy, why?'
Teacher: 'Do you feel comfortable and more calm than ever
before, does your mind have a strong sense of balance in it,
do you feel very much at ease?'
Student: 'Yes, I feel all of that, but I don't feel anymore joy!'
Teacher: 'Good, continue. Everything is going along just
fine. Relax and stop demanding that joy arises when you
want it to.'
The joy fades away by itself, and a very strong sense of
balance and calm becomes quite apparent. One can still hear
sounds, and even though the body seems to disappear, at
times one would know if someone were to touch them
during their sitting meditation. However, mind does not get
distracted by it. This is what it means when the sutta says
the meditator has full awareness. It is described as:

"Again, with the fading away as well of joy, a
Bhikkhu abides in equanimity, and mindful and fully
aware, still feeling happiness ( or pleasure) with the
body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana
(meditation stage), on account of which noble one's
announce: 'He has a pleasant abiding who has
equanimity and is mindful'.
With the description above, one can plainly see that
being in the third jhana (meditation stage); mind is very
clear, alert and balanced. They are aware of what is
happening around them, but mind stays on the object of
meditation easily and comfortably. Being alert (being
mindful) and having equanimity in mind is an unusual thing
to experience because this state of meditation is the highest
and best feeling that they have ever experienced in their
whole life. Furthermore, one is not attached to it due to the
strong equanimity.
At the same time, the body and mind is exceptionally
relaxed and at ease. what a nice state to be in! This is why
this state is praised by noble ones. Besides this easing of the
tightness in the head, the body looses tension and the feeling
of sensations begins to disappear. This is because the
tightness in mind causes tension in the body. But now, mind
is so comfortable and tension free that the tension in the
sensation of the body goes away too. When this happens,
the body becomes so soft and comfortable that there is
nothing to feel. However, one is aware if anyone were to
touch them. This is the meaning of being mindful and fully
aware. Mind knows what is happening around it but it just
does not shake or becomes disturbed.
This is what one calls experiencing happiness on the in
and out breath. Some "Fixed Concentration Meditation"
teachers say that when one is in this state of jhana, the

meditator can no longer experience the body or any of the
sense doors. They claim that the meditator will not know if
someone were to hit them with a stick or someone were to
change their positions of their hands and feet. This is
because their mind is so deeply absorbed into the object that
they can't be fully aware. This is clearly not true if one were
to read the suttas or when practicing "Tranquil Wisdom
Meditation".
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing the
mental formation'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
experiencing the mental formation'; He trains thus: 'I
shall brea the in tranquilizing the mental formation.' He
trains thus: 'I shall brea the out tranquilizing the mental
formation.'
As one continues calming, expanding and relaxing mind,
it naturally begins to go deeper. Finally the feeling of
pleasure in the body/mind becomes too coarse and mind
experiences exceptional equanimity and balance of mind. It
is described thus in the suttas:
Here with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and
with the previous disappearance of joy and grief a
Bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana
(meditation stage), which has neither pain or pleasure and
purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.'
When mind becomes very calm and still, one experiences
deep tranquility and equanimity of mind. They can still hear
sounds and feel sensations with the body, but these things
do not shake or move mind at all. Another description of
this stage of meditation (jhana) is:

"My composed mind was purified, bright,
unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy,
steady and attained to imperturbability."
This gives the serious meditator an idea of what to expect
when one attains this stage. Mind is exceptionally clear,
bright and alert. Mind can even see when a distraction
begins to arise, then let it go and open up, expand and calm
down again before coming back to the breath. The
abandoning of pain and pleasure does not mean that
occasionally pain or pleasure won't arise. They will arise,
but mind is in such a state of balance that it won't shake or
become involved with the distractions. At that time mind is
very aware when pain or pleasure arises but the equanimity
and mindfulness is so strong that it does not become
concerned with it.
With the previous disappearance of joy and grief means
one's mind has let go of the lower emotional states of liking
and disliking. All of the stages of the lower jhanas
(meditation states) involves letting go of emotional states of
mind. At first, when one begins to learn about meditation,
they let go of very low coarse states which frequently moves
mind. After they begin to learn how to calm mind, they can
sit for longer periods of time without any distractions
arising. One then experiences the initial and sustained
applications of mind and the other jhana factors. When mind
settles deeper, the initial and sustain application of mind
disappears. The joy becomes stronger for a while but
gradually it becomes too coarse and mind has too much
movement in it. Thus, mind will naturally go even deeper
into the object of meditation and the joy fades away by
itself. At this time there is equanimity, happiness,
mindfulness and full awareness in mind. All these states of
mind are very pleasant experiences. But eventually, the
happiness is too coarse a feeling and so, mind goes deeper

into the breath and at the same time, continues opening,
expanding and relaxing. At this point the breath and the
relaxing of mind begin to arise together. Then the happiness
fades away and all that remains in mind is strong
equanimity, exceptional mindfulness, and composure of
mind. This is how one experiences and tranquilizes the
mental formations. As Krishnamurti describes the true
meditative state, "A meditative mind is silent. It is not the
silence which thoughts can conceive of; it is not the silence
of a still evening; it is the silence when thoughts, with all its
images, its words and perceptions have entirely ceased. This
meditative mind is the religious mind -- the religion that is
not touched by the church, the temples or by chants."
20] "He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing
mind'; he trains thus 'I shall brea the out experiencing
mind.'
At this time, one's mind becomes very calm and any
slightest disturbance is noticed and is let go quickly and
easily. First, mind lets go of tightness. . . now it goes back to
the breath. . . opening, expanding and calming on the inbreath. . . loosening, stretching out and relaxing mind on the
out-breath.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in gladdening mind';
he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out gladdening mind.'
When one reach this stage of meditation, they begin to
experience a finer and more exalted type of joy, which is
described as the Joy (Pharana Piti) Enlightenment Factor.
Mind becomes very peacefully happy and at ease like never
before. This is called gladdening mind because it is such a
pleasurable state to be in. At that time, mind is exceptionally
uplifted, very clear and mindfulness is sharper than ever

before. The equanimity is even more balanced and
composed.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in stilling mind'; he
trains thus: 'I shall brea the out stilling mind.'
At this time, mind becomes more subtle and calm, with
very few distractions. When they do arise, they are quickly
noticed, let go of, calm mind and return back to the breath.
Naturally, the breath and the calming of mind becomes
easier and more serene. They happen together naturally at
the same time.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in liberating mind'; he
trains thus: '1 shall brea the out liberating mind.'
Liberating mind means that one stays on the breath with
enough joyful interest such that when mind begins to move
or go away from the breath, they are aware and let the
distractions go without any identifying. One then relaxes
mind before coming back to the breath. When a hindrance
arises, one sees it quickly and let it go without hesitation. At
this point sloth and torpor, or restlessness and anxiety, are
the biggest obstacles to one's practice. Whenever a
hindrance arises, it will knock one out of the jhana and can
cause all kinds of disturbances. The phrase liberating mind
also means to let go of the lower jhanas (meditation stages)
and all of the jhana factors by not being attached (thinking
about and identifying with) them in any way.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating
impermanence'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
contemplating impermanence.'
As one continues with their practice of meditation on the
breath, plus calming and expanding mind, eventually mind

becomes very deep and then they begin to notice that mind
is expanding and getting bigger. Silence and spaciousness of
mind go together. The immensity of silence is the
immensity of mind in which a center does not exist; actually
speaking at this time, there is no center and there is no outer
edge. It continually grows and expands. One begins to see
that there are no boundaries, and space and mind are
infinite. The Anupada Sutta, Sutta Number 111 in Majjhima
Nikaya, described this as;
Again, by passing beyond perceptions of form,
with the disappearance of all sense of resistance and
by non-attraction to the perceptions of change,
aware that space is infinite, the Bhikkhu enters into
and abides in the base of infinite space. And the
states in the base of infinite space -- the perception
of the base of infinite space and the unification of
mind. One still has the five aggregates affected by
clinging, the form, feelings, perception, volition
(observation thoughts) and mind.
Passing beyond perceptions of form, means that even
though one knows that they have a body at that time, this
awareness would not readily pull our mind towards it. In
this state of jhana (meditation stage), they are very aware of
mind and what it is doing. The disappearance of all sense
resistance and non-attraction to the perceptions of change
means even though a pain arises in the body, one knows it
but does not get involved with that sensation. They feel
mind growing, changing and expanding but, they are not
distracted from the breath or the relaxing of mind. The
meditator's mind is continually moving and expanding but
their mind accepts this as it truly is. Seeing impermanence
and how one's mind changes and expands, one realizes that
this phenomena is part of an impersonal process which they
have no control.

As one continues on with the practice of opening and
calming mind on the in-breath and the out-breath, they will
eventually start to see consciousness arising and passing
away. It is continually coming up and going away, arising
and passing away, without a break! The consciousness
keeps coming into being, then vanishing in all the sense
doors. This is described in the Anupada Sutta as:
Again, by completely surmounting the base of
infinite space, aware that consciousness is infinite, a
Bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the realm of
infinite consciousness. And the states in the base of
infinite consciousness -- the perception of the base of
infinite consciousness and the unification of mind.
One still has the five aggregates affected by
clinging, the bodily form, the feeling, perception,
volition (observation thoughts) and mind.
When one is in this state of infinite consciousness, there
can still arise some hindrances like torpor or dullness of
mind, or restlessness. These hindrances arise because the
energy that they put into their practice isn't quite correct.
When there is too little energy, one experiences dullness
(rarely does the meditator have sleepiness at this time). On
the other hand, if they try too hard or put too much energy
into the practice, restlessness will arise. Both of these
hindrances will knock one out of the jhana while they are
present in mind. When one is in this state, they see change
happen so rapidly and continually, that it becomes very
tiresome. They begin to see just how much
unsatisfactoriness arises with each consciousness.
Thus, one sees from first hand, impermanence, suffering,
and they know that they have no control over these events.
They happen by themselves. As a result, one sees the notself nature of this psycho-physical process. This is how one

contemplates impermanence. It is not done by thinking
about it, but by realizing it through their own personal
experience.
We return to the Anapanasati Sutta.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating
fading away'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
contemplating fading away.'
As one continues on with their practice on the in-breath,
letting go and calming mind, and on the out-breath, letting
go and calming mind. Now mind naturally lets go of all
consciousness which were so readily seen before. Mind then
gets into the realm of 'nothingness'. This is when there is no
external thing for mind to see. There is mind looking at
nothing outside of itself. The Anupada Sutta says this:
"Again, by completely surmounting the base of
infinite consciousness, aware that there is 'nothing';
the Bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the base of
nothingness. And the states in the base of
'nothingness' -- the perception of the base of
nothingness and the unification of mind, again there
are still the five aggregates affected by clinging, the
bodily
form,
feeling,
perception,
volition
(observation thoughts), and mind.
As odd as this may sound, it is an exceptionally
interesting state to be in. There are still many things to
watch and observe although there is nothing to see outside
of mind and mental factors. One still has the five aggregates
affected by clinging, and some of the hindrances can still
pop-up whenever one becomes either too lax or too
energetic. It is here that the Seven Enlightenment Factors
become very important. They can be seen one by one as

they occur. When torpor arises, one must put mind back into
balance by arousing the enlightenment factor of
mindfulness, investigation of one's experience, energy, and
joy. If restlessness arises, one must arouse the
enlightenment factors of mindfulness, tranquility, stillness,
and equanimity. (More will be discussed later.) At this time,
mind becomes very subtle and tricky. It becomes very
interesting to see the subtle ways it distracts one from
meditation. However, one s mindfulness is quite strong and
these tricks can be seen very easily.
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating
cessation'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
contemplating cessation.'
One still continues on calming mind on the in and out
breath. At this time, mind begins to get smaller and it seems
to shrink. Mind becomes very subtle and still. This is
described in the Anupada Sutta as:
"Again, by completely surmounting the base of
nothingness, the Bhikkhu enters upon and abides in
the base of 'neither-perception nor non-perception.
Mind becomes so small and has such little movement,
that it is sometimes difficult to know whether there is a
mind or not. It is also difficult to know if there is perception
of a mind. This extremely fine state of mind is not easy to
attain, yet it is attainable if one continues on with their
practice of calming and expanding mind when they know
that mind is present. At this time, one cannot see the breath
any longer, but there are still some feelings which arise.
This is when one begins to sit for long periods of time. At
this time, the meditation is the total tranquilizing and
releasing of all energy. Also one must be innocent of time;
the longer one sits the better. One begins to sit for three,

four or five hours and this can be extended during retreats or
at home with one's daily practice. This is because it is such
an interesting state to be in! At this time, they can still
experience an occasional feeling in the body. As one
continues on with their practice and keep opening,
expanding and calming their mind, the subtly becomes very
fine and mind does not move at all. Eventually one
experiences the state called 'Nirodha Samapatti' or the
cessation of both perception and feeling.
"He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating
relinquishment'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
contemplating relinquishment.'
This state of meditation is not the experience of the
Supramundane Nibbana yet, but it is very close at that time.
One experiences the Supramundane Nibbana when the
meditator sees all of the twelve links of Dependent
Origination (Paticcasamuppada) both forwards and
backwards. This happens after the perception and feeling
comes back and is noticed. With the seeing of the final
ignorance, there is a change in mind. It becomes
dispassionate, and completely lets go of the belief in a
permanent unchanging self or soul. This is the only way one
can experience the supramundane state of nibbana, that is,
by seeing directly all of the links of Dependent Origination.
This is why it is called the 'Doctrine of Awakening'. The
Anupada Sutta description is as follows:
"Again, by completely surmounting the base of
neither-perception nor non-perception, the Bhikkhu
enters upon and abides in the cessation of
perception and feeling. And his taints are destroyed
by his seeing with wisdom.

When one is in the state of the cessation of perception
and feeling, they will not know that they are in it. Why? It is
because they do not have any perception or feeling at all! It
is like all the lights were turned off on a very dark night. At
that time one can not see anything at all, not even if they
were to put their hands in front of their faces. This state is
similar as there is no perception or feeling at all. One may
sit in this state for a period of time. When the perception and
feeling comes back, and if their mindfulness is sharp
enough, they will see directly the Second Noble Truth or the
cause of suffering (i.e., the cause and effect relationship of
dependent origination). When one has seen all of them then,
they will see directly the Third Noble Truth or the cessation
of suffering (i.e., how all of these links cease to be and how
letting go of one leads directly to the letting go of another).
This is automatically seen by the meditator. It does not
matter whether they have studied dependent origination or
not. This is direct knowledge, not memorized or studied
knowledge. The statement: 'And his taints are destroyed by
his seeing with wisdom' means seeing and realizing all of
the Noble Truths directly. It was said, "if one sees
dependent origination, they see the Second and Third Noble
Truth." But in order to see the origin of suffering one has to
know what suffering is! Thus, if one sees the ceasing of the
suffering i.e., the Third Noble Truth, they naturally see the
Fourth Noble Truth. One must practice the way leading to
the cessation of the suffering in order to see the other three
Noble Truths. And this is the Fourth Noble Truth. Thus,
seeing Dependent Origination directly, means that one sees
and realizes all of the Noble Truths. This is how one
contemplates relinquishment.
22] "Bhikkhus, that is how mindfulness of breathing is
developed and cultivated, so that it is of great fruit and
great benefit"

Fulfillment of
Mindfulness

the

Four

Foundations

of

23] "And how, Bhikkhus, does mindfulness of
breathing, developed and cultivated, fulfill the Four
Foundations of Mindfulness?
24] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu,
breathing in long, understands: 'I brea the in long,' or
breathing out long understands: 'I brea the out long';
Breathing in short, understands: '1 brea the in short,' or
breathing out short, understands: 'I brea the out short':
The 'on whatever occasion', is very interesting and has
far reaching implications. 'On whatever occasion' does not
mean only while sitting in meditation, but, all of the time.
During one's daily activities, when mind becomes heavy and
full of thoughts, one notices it, simply lets go of the
thoughts, calms and loosens the tightness in mind, feels
mind expand and becomes tranquil then goes back to the
breath for one or two breaths. This will help greatly in
calming mind and to improve our mindfulness during one's
daily activities. This is definitely a practical way to practice
one's daily activities and improve their awareness of states
of consciousness. Every time one does this during their
daily activities, it brings a kind of awareness and
perspective into their lives. It becomes easier to see the three
characteristics of existence, impermanence, suffering, and
not-self nature, even while working or playing.
The statement, 'On whatever occasion', extends into one's
walking meditation as well. Instead of putting the attention
on one's feet, (as some meditation teachers recommend),
they can still keep their attention on mind, relaxing on the in

and out breath, while walking. This is mindfulness of body
(the breath body) and can even extend into other activities.
Mindfulness of mind objects is a very important aspect to be
aware of and is much easier to watch than the physical
body. It is easy to tell when mind is tight and tense. At that
time one can relax, loosen the tightness in the head then
come back to the breath for one or two breaths, if they do
not have time to do more right then. Remember that the first
and second verses in the Dhammapada, "Mind is the
forerunner of all (good and bad) states. Mind is chief; mindmade are they." Everything follows mind, be it happiness or
suffering. By trying to follow all the movements of the
body, one cannot see mind clearly enough to realize the
tightness caused by that movement and consciousness.
Thus, directly being aware of mind and all of its movements
and tendencies to tighten was what the Lord Buddha
intended, when he said "On any occasion".
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing the
whole body'; He trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
experiencing the whole body: trains thus: 'I shall breathe
in tranquilizing the bodily formation'; He trains thus: 'I
shall brea the out tranquilizing the bodily formation' -- On
that occasion a Bhikkhu abides contemplating the body as
a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away
covetousness and grief for the world. I say that this is a
certain body among the bodies, namely, in-breathing and
out-breathing. That is why on that occasion a Bhikkhu
abides contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully
aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and
grief for the world.
The statements about experiencing the whole body, and
the tranquilizing of the bodily formations have already been
discussed. Thus, we won't repeat that section here.
Contemplating the body as a body is self explanatory about

the breath. Being ardent means working hard, or being ever
alert. Fully aware and mindful, is pertaining to the alertness
of mind when it is in the jhanas (meditation stages) as well
as during the daily activities. When one is in the
"Tranquility jhanas", they are very aware of what is
happening around them and their mindfulness is sharp and
clear. One is able to observe all of mind states, feelings,
sensation, or distraction as well as the jhana factors when
they arise in mind, i.e., the joy, happiness, equanimity,
stillness of mind, the calm composure of mind etc.
Having put away covetousness and grief for the world,
means mind has gone beyond the simple liking and disliking
of distractions, emotions, painful feelings, pleasant feelings,
happy feelings, and the thinking about them. It means to let
go of attachment to things which cause suffering to arise.
The rest of the paragraph is just repeating that the breath
meditation is part of mindfulness of breathing, and that it
conforms with the First Foundation of Mindfulness of the
Body.
25] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion, a Bhikkhu trains
thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing joy'; he trains thus:
'I shall brea the out experiencing joy'; He trains thus "I
shall brea the in experiencing happiness'; He trains thus:
'I shall brea the out experiencing happiness'; He trains
thus: '1 shall brea the in experiencing the mental
formation'; he trains thus: 'I shall brea the out
experiencing the mental formation'; He trains thus: 'I
shall brea the in tranquilizing the mental formation'; He
trains thus: 'I shall brea the out tranquilizing the mental
formation' This is again a repetition of the previous statement, and
thus, we will continue without further delay.

On that occasion a Bhikkhu abides contemplating
feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and mindful,
having put away covetousness and grief for the world. I
say that this is a certain feeling among feelings, namely,
giving close attention to the in-breathing and outbreathing. That is why on that occasion a Bhikkhu abides
contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the
world.
This describes all kinds of feelings which occur when
one is in the meditation stages of the first four jhanas
(meditation stages). It also says that the most important
feeling among these feelings is the in and out breath. This is
because one gets to experience the different stages of
meditation. If they stop being attentive to the feeling of the
breath, their meditation progress stops as well. The
importance of staying with the feeling of the breath cannot
be understated. And this is how the Second Foundation of
Mindfulness of the Feeling is fulfilled.
26] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu trains
thus: 'I shall brea the in experiencing mind'; He trains
thus: 'I shall brea the out experiencing mind'; He trains
thus: 'I shall brea the in gladdening mind'; He trains thus:
'I shall brea the out gladdening mind'; He trains thus: 'I
shall brea the in stilling mind'; He trains thus: 'I shall
brea the out stilling mind'; He trains thus: 'I shall breathe
in liberating mind'; He trains -thus: 'I shall brea the out
liberating mind'. This is again a repetitive material. Please refer back to
the other section for explanation.
On that occasion a Bhikkhu abides contemplating mind
as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put

away covetousness and grief for the world. I do not say
that there is development of mindfulness of breathing for
one who is forgetful, who is not fully aware. That is why
on that occasion a Bhikkhu abides contemplating mind as
mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away
covetousness and grief for the world.
The statement, "I do not say there is development of
mindfulness of breathing for one who is forgetful, who is
not fully aware" is one of the strongest statements made in
this sutta. The function of mindfulness is to remember .To
remember what? To remember to stay with the meditation
object with joyful interest, and clear comprehension. When
one is in the "Tranquility jhanas" (meditation stages) their
mind becomes extraordinarily clear, bright, and alert. As
one goes higher and higher along the path, more profound
states of mind present themselves. Mindfulness and full
awareness becomes so refined that even the slightest
movement of mind can be observed and let go of. Mind
becomes looser, more expanded and spacious, free from
tension and the breath becomes clearer and easier to watch.
One's attention begins to be unwavering and mind develops
more composure than ever before. This is how the Third
Foundation Of Mindfulness of Consciousness is fulfilled.
27] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu trains
thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating impermanence';
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the out contemplating
impermanence'; He trains thus: 'I shall brea the in
contemplating fading away'; He trains thus: 'I shall
brea the out contemplating fading away'; He trains thus: 'I
shall brea the in contemplating cessation'; He trains thus:
'I shall brea the out contemplating cessation'; He trains
thus: 'I shall brea the in contemplating relinquishment';
He trains thus: 'I shall brea the out contemplating
relinquishment' -

This, again is referring to the immaterial jhanas (arupa
jhanas, or meditation stages) and how one experiences the
attainment of the Supramundane Nibbana. This sutta teaches
one how to reach all of the meditation stages and to attain
the highest bliss through the seeing of all of the Four Noble
Truths and through the fulfillment of the Four Foundations
of Mindfulness and the Seven Enlightenment Factors.
On that occasion a Bhikkhu abides contemplating
mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the
world. Having seen with wisdom the abandoning of
covetousness and grief, he closely looks on with
equanimity. That is why on that occasion a Bhikkhu
abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects,
ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away
covetousness and grief for the world.
When one experiences the higher jhanas (meditation
stages), their mind develops a finer and finer balance in it.
One then experiences the 'abandoning of covetousness and
grief, he closely looks on with equanimity'. One sees clearly
how tricky mind truly is, and they keep a sense of
equanimity in it, even though some unpleasant things may
arise. The true balance of meditation is learnt when one goes
into the immaterial realms of mind. This is when there is a
real letting go of mental concepts and attachments. Mind
develops such a beautiful equanimity that even when the
most unpleasant feelings arise, mind will accept it without
being disturbed. This is how the Fourth Foundation of
Mindfulness of Mind-Objects is fulfilled.
28] "Bhikkhus, that is how Mindfulness of Breathing,
developed and cultivated, fulfills the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness.

Fulfillment
Factors

of

the

Seven

Enlightenment

29] "And how, Bhikkhus, do the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness, developed and cultivated, fulfill the Seven
Enlightenment Factors?
30] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu abides
contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the
world -- on that occasion unremitting mindfulness is
established in him. On whatever occasion unremitting
mindfulness is established in a Bhikkhu -- on that
occasion mindfulness Enlightenment Factor is aroused in
him, and he develops it, and by development, it comes to
fulfillment in him.
Let us use a description from the Satipatthana Sutta for
more clarification. It says:
"Here, there being mindfulness enlightenment
factor in him, a Bhikkhu understands: 'There is
mindfulness enlightenment factor in me'; or there
being no mindfulness enlightenment factor in him, he
understands: 'There is no mindfulness enlightenment
factor in me'; and he also understands how there
comes to be the arising of the unarisen mindfulness
enlightenment factor and how the arisen mindfulness
enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by
development.
This is rather straight forward. It simply says that one
knows when their mind is silent, sharp, clear and joyfully
interested in the breath and the other things which arise. One
also knows when mindfulness is dull, not sharp, and mind
tends to be a little bored or disinterested. When that

happens, one knows that they must pick-up their interest and
see how everything that arises is truly different. One then
sees how every breath is different, never exactly the same.
This is how mindfulness enlightenment factor comes to
fulfillment by development.
31] Abiding thus mindful, he investigates and examines
that state with wisdom and embarks upon a full inquiry
into it. On whatever occasion, abiding thus mindful, a
Bhikkhu investigates and examines that state with wisdom
and embarks upon a full inquiry into it -- on that occasion
the investigation-of-states enlightenment factor is aroused
in him, and he develops it, and by development it comes to
fulfillment in him.
It is a very important to be familiar with the factor of
investigation of one's experience. This means whatever
arises, whether it is any of the five hindrances, or an
emotional state, or a physical feeling, they impersonally
examine it with interest. This is done by not getting
involved with thinking about that phenomenon, but only
observing it, allowing it to be there, then letting it go
mentally -- by opening up that tight mental fist which
hardily grabs it, relax, expand and allow that distraction to
be there by itself without thinking about it . . . loosening the
tightness in mind/head . . . then redirecting the attention
back to the breath. Every time mind is pulled, one tries to
see the different aspects about that distraction. Then let it
go, relax mind and come back to the breath. In this way,
they can become more familiar with the distraction and able
to recognize it more quickly. This type of investigation is
described in the Satipatthana Sutta as:
"Here, there being the investigation-ofexperience enlightenment factor in him, a Bhikkhu
understands: 'There is the investigation-of-

experience enlightenment factor in me'; or there
being no investigation-of-experience enlightenment
factor in him, he understands: 'There is no
investigation-of-experience enlightenment factor in
me'; and he also understands how there comes to be
the arising of the unarisen investigation-ofexperience enlightenment factor; and how the arisen
investigation-of-experience enlightenment factor
comes to fulfillment by development.
To enable to bring forth the enlightenment factor of
investigation-of-experience, one has to take a strong interest
in how everything works. The more one examines their
experiences, the easier it is to recognize all of the different
and unusual aspects about the hindrances and distractions
due to pain or emotional upset. When one sees these things
clearly, it is much easier to let go of them. It is also
important to develop the perspective that this is an
impersonal process which is unsatisfactory and is always
changing. This perspective enables one's practice to
progress without periods of unclarity.
32] "In one who investigates and examines that state
with wisdom and embarks upon a full inquiry into it,
tireless energy is aroused. On whatever occasion tireless
energy is aroused in a Bhikkhu who investigates and
examines that state with wisdom and embarks upon a full
inquiry into it -- on that occasion the energy
enlightenment factor is aroused in him, and he develops it,
and by development it comes to fulfillment in him.
It takes a lot of energy and effort when one takes sincere
interest into what is happening in the present moment and
examines it with care. As they use their energy and have a
strong joyful interest, this causes even more energy to arise.
This is described in the Satipatthana Suttas as:

"Here, there being the energy enlightenment
factor in him, a Bhikkhu understands: 'There is the
energy enlightenment factor in me'; or there being
no energy enlightenment factor in him, he
understands: 'There is no energy enlightenment
factor in me'; and he also understands how there
comes to be the arising of the unarisen energy
enlightenment factor and how the arisen energy
enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by
development.
33] "In one who has aroused energy, unworldly joy
arises (Unworldly joy (Ubbega Piti) refers to joy that is
experienced while in one of the first two jhanas [meditation
stages]. There is also the finer and higher type of joy which
is called the all-pervading joy (Pharana Piti) which can be
felt in all of the higher jhanas [meditation stages]. These are
called unworldly because it has nothing at all to do with any
sense pleasures (that is, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body).)
On whatever occasion unworldly joy arises in a Bhikkhu
who has aroused energy -- on that occasion the joy
enlightenment factor is aroused in him, and he develops it,
and by development it comes to fulfillment in him.
As one has more energy in staying on the breath, their
mindfulness becomes sharper and their energy increases
little by little. When this happens, mind becomes quite
happy and delights in staying on the breath and expanding
mind. This happy feeling has some excitement and is called
uplifting joy (Ubbega Piti). There is another type of joy
which arises in the higher meditation states and this is called
the all-pervading joy (Pharana Piti). It doesn't have so much
excitement and is very nice and cooling to mind. These
states of mind are not to be feared or pushed away. It is a
natural process when one develops and progresses along
with their practice of meditation. If they stay on the breath

and open their minds with interest and do not get involved
in enjoying the joy, no problems will arise. But, if one does
happen to get involved with the joy, it will go away very
quickly. As a result, they will most likely experience
sleepiness or sloth and torpor The Satipatthana Sutta says:
"Here, there being the joy enlightenment factor a
Bhikkhu understands: 'There is the joy
enlightenment factor in me; or there being no joy
enlightenment factor in him, he understands: 'There
is no joy enlightenment factor in me'; and he also
understands how there comes to be the arising of the
unarisen joy enlightenment factor, and how the
arisen mindfulness enlightenment factor comes to
fulfillment by development.
These first four enlightenment factors are very important
when one experiences sloth and torpor. Sloth means
sleepiness and torpor means dullness of mind. When one
gets into the fourth jhana and above, the two main
hindrances which arise are restlessness and torpor.
However, when one brings up the investigation factor of
enlightenment and examines this torpor, they have to use
more energy and this helps to overcome this dullness. When
one gets into the higher jhanas they must learn to fine tune
their practice little by little. By being familiar with these
enlightenment factors, one will learn how to eventually
balance all of the factors. This directly leads to the
supramundane state of Nibbana.
The most important key for success in meditation is the
first enlightenment factor of mindfulness. Without
mindfulness, one cannot possibly reach any of these
meditation stages. Mindfulness is the main key to overcome
both sloth and torpor, and restlessness. Remember these
hindrances can come at any time and knock the meditator

right out of any of the meditation stages, even up to the
realm of neither-perception nor non-perception. Thus, one
must be very careful to recognize these enlightenment
factors and skillful in learning how to use them when it is
appropriate. The next three enlightenment factors are
important to overcome restlessness.
34] "In one who is joyful, the body and mind become
tranquil. On whatever occasion the body and mind become
tranquil in a Bhikkhu who is joyful -- on that occasion the
tranquility enlightenment factor is aroused in him, and he
develops it, and by development it comes to fulfillment in
him.
When joy arises in mind, one feels very pleasant feelings
in the body and mind. This is true, even in the higher stages
of meditation, like the immaterial states of jhana (meditation
stages). After a while, the joy fades a little and one's mind
becomes exceptionally calm and peaceful. This state is
called the enlightenment factor of tranquility. At that time,
one's body and mind become extraordinarily peaceful and
calm. The Satipatthana Sutta describes it thus:
"Here, there being the tranquility enlightenment
factor in him, a Bhikkhu understands: 'There is the
tranquility enlightenment factor in me'; or there
being no tranquility enlightenment factor in him, he
understands, 'There is no tranquility enlightenment
factor in me'; and he also understands how there
comes to be the arising of the unarisen tranquility
enlightenment factor and how the arisen tranquility
enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by
development.
Actually, the strongest part of the tranquility
enlightenment factor is the bodily feeling. It is very nice,

calm and with a feeling of strong peace. This is especially
noticed when one is experiencing the first three immaterial
jhanas (meditation stages) which are the realm of infinite
space, the realm of infinite consciousness and the realm of
nothingness.
35] "In one whose body is tranquil and who feels
pleasure, mind becomes still and composed. On whatever
occasion mind becomes still and composed in a Bhikkhu
whose body is tranquil and who feels pleasure -- on that
occasion the stillness enlightenment factor (This is
frequently called the concentration enlightenment factor, but
this term is too misunderstood. So the author prefers to use
stillness enlightenment factor) is aroused in him, and he
develops it, and by development it comes to fulfillment in
him.
As one's mind and body become more tranquil and at
ease, mind stays on the breath and the expanding mind more
naturally, without any distractions. It is much easier to open
and relax mind with each in and out breath. Mind is
definitely composed and unruffled by any external or
internal distractions. There comes a time when mind prefers
to stay still on the meditation object, without undue force or
trying to concentrate. It stays on the breath for very long
periods of time. Of course, at this time, there is very sharp
mindfulness and full awareness. One still has full awareness
even when they reach the realm of nothingness. Mind does
not waver or move away from the breath even though one
hears sounds or knows that a mosquito has landed on them.
Mindfulness of breathing and stillness are very clear and
sharp to observe. When one is in the realm of nothingness,
they can explore and watch many different aspects of mind.
Their mind is also very clear, even though one is in the
lower meditation stages. Since one's mind is still, they can
observe things quite clearly, too. This can be called the

action of silence. When mind is absolutely silent, it is the
blessing that everyone is seeking. In this silence, every
quality of silence is perfection of the present moment. The
Satipatthana Sutta describes this as:
"Here, there being the stillness enlightenment factor in
him,
a Bhikkhu understands:
'There is the stillness
enlightenment factor in me'; or there being no stillness
enlightenment factor in him, he understands: 'There is no
stillness enlightenment factor in me'; and he also
understands how there comes to be the arising of the
unarisen stillness enlightenment factor and how the arisen
enlightenment factor comes to fulfillment by development.
36] "He closely looks on with equanimity at mind thus
stilled and composed. On whatever occasion a Bhikkhu
closely looks on with equanimity at mind thus stilled and
composed -- on that occasion the equanimity
enlightenment factor is aroused in him, and he develops it,
and by development it comes to fulfillment in him.
The equanimity enlightenment factor is again, a very
important factor to develop. It balances mind when it
becomes unsettled. The equanimity enlightenment factor is
the only factor which allows mind to lovingly-accept
whatever arises in the present moment. For example, if there
arise any kinds of pain (physical or emotional), it doesn't
distract the meditator. The equanimity enlightenment factor
is the factor which helps one to see things impersonally and
without the ego-identification of getting involved with
distractions. It is the seeing of what arises in the moment,
then going beyond it with balance. The seeing of anatta
(not-self) is the very thing which allows one to progress
rapidly along the Lord Buddha's Path. But one must be
somewhat careful with equanimity because it is often
mistaken to be indifference. Indifference has some

dissatisfaction and aversion in it, but not equanimity.
Equanimity has only openness and complete acceptance of
everything that arises in the present moment. Equanimity
opens mind totally. Indifference closes it, and tries to ignore
what is happening in the moment. The Satipatthana Sutta
describes it thus:
"Here, there being the equanimity enlightenment
factor in him, a Bhikkhu understands: 'There is the
equanimity enlightenment factor in me'; or there
being no equanimity enlightenment factor in him, he
understands: 'There is no equanimity enlightenment
factor in me'; and he also understands how there
comes to be the unarisen equanimity enlightenment
factor and how the arisen equanimity enlightenment
factor comes to fulfillment by development.
These last three enlightenment factors, tranquility,
stillness, and equanimity factors, will greatly assist one
when restlessness arises in mind. Restlessness makes mind
think many thoughts and causes lots of unpleasant feelings
to arise in the body. As a result, one feels like breaking their
meditation and distracting themselves in one way or
another. To say the least, it is a very hard mind that causes
suffering to he more noticeable. The only way to overcome
restlessness is by developing stillness of mind and
tranquility of body. When mind has restlessness in it, there
is no balance of mind at all. Instead, there is a lot of egoidentification with that terrible feeling. Thus, to overcome
this hindrance, one has to allow it to be there by itself and
still mind. By bringing forth the stillness, tranquility, and
equanimity enlightenment factors and focusing mind on
these different factors, they will overcome the restlessness.
The two major hindrances that always seem to trouble
meditators are torpor, or dullness of mind, and restlessness

or over activity of mind. One had better become friends with
these two hindrances, because they will stay around until
one becomes an arahat. Thus, the sooner we drop all
resistance to these states when they arise and begin to
explore them with joyful interest, the faster we will be able
to recognize them. As a result, we will be able to let them go
faster and return into the jhana (meditation stage).
37] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu abides
contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware,
and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for
the world. . . (this whole formula repeats itself again
starting at section 30 and continuing on until section
number 36) the equanimity enlightenment factor is arouse
in him, and he develops it, and by development it comes to
fulfillment in him.
One must realize that they must use these enlightenment
factors, whenever any hindrance or distraction arises. It does
not matter if the hindrance arises during one's sitting
meditation or during their daily activities. These factors put
mind in balance whenever it gets bumped by a distraction.
And so, this goes on through all of the Four Foundations
of Mindfulness. It shows one how to use the seven
enlightenment factors at all times while practicing
mindfulness of Breathing meditation. These enlightenment
factors do arise one by one as they occur and not all at the
same time. Also, it shows the importance of jhanas
(meditation stages) to the development of mind and how
there is great fruit and great benefit to be enjoyed when we
follow these simple instructions.
38] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu
contemplates mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the

world. . . (Again, this repeats from section 30 to section 36)
the equanimity enlightenment factor is aroused in him,
and he develops it, and by development it comes to
fulfillment in him.
39] "Bhikkhus, on whatever occasion a Bhikkhu abides
contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully
aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and
grief f6r the world. . . (repeat section 30 to 36) the
equanimity enlightenment factor is aroused in him, and he
develops it, and by development it comes to fulfillment in
him.
40] "Bhikkhus, that is how the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness, developed and cultivated, fulfill the Seven
Enlightenment Factors.
When the seven enlightenment factors are in perfect
balance, the possibility of attaining the Supramundane
Nibbana occurs. As one goes higher and higher in the jhanas
(meditation stages), the balance of the enlightenment factors
becomes finer and much more subtle. This fine tuning of
mind becomes so interesting that one wants to naturally sit
for much longer periods of time. This meditation is by far
the best show in town!
Some meditators get up very early in the morning so that
they have enough time to watch and learn the balance of
mind and still go to work. This meditation turns out to be
the most gratifying and fun exploration that anyone can ever
experience, during any of one's activities.

Fulfillment of True Knowledge and
Deliverance
41] "And how, Bhikkhus, do the Seven Enlightenment
Factors, developed and cultivated, fulfill true knowledge
and deliverance?
42] "Here, Bhikkhus, a Bhikkhu develops mindfulness
enlightenment factor, which is supported by seclusion,
dispassion, and cessation, and ripens in relinquishment.
The term "supported by seclusion" means that one must
gain the lowest jhana (meditation stage). As was stated
above, the description of the first jhana starts with "to be
secluded from sensual pleasure, then to be secluded from
unwholesome states". At that time, mind is alert and stays
on the object of meditation with clarity, i.e. no distractions.
If a distraction begins to arise, mindfulness recognizes that
and lets it go. Next, the description says the happiness
experienced comes about by being born of seclusion. This is
how one's mindfulness enlightenment factor is supported by
seclusion.
Dispassion means mind is free from attachments and
clinging, i.e., not thinking or analyzing. Gaining to the
fourth jhana (meditation stage) means to reach a stage of
having an imperturbable mind, or a mind that has such
strong equanimity that it becomes dispassionate. This is
how one's mindfulness enlightenment factor is supported by
dispassion.
Cessation here means the ceasing of defilements and
ego-identification with what arises.
Being mindful is a term that always had a kind of
slippery meaning and it is not what most people think. Its

meaning is very simple and precise when it is seen as
observing mind, or attention, or alertness of attention. Being
truly mindful means to see what mind is doing at all times,
then let go of the things that cause tension to arise in the
head, relax and tranquilize both body and mind. It includes
observing how this whole process works and allows it to be,
without getting involved in the drama of things. Not getting
involved with the drama of things means, to not identify
with, or take personally this impersonal process or try to
control the present moment.
'Being mindful' means 'to lovingly open one's mind and
let go of all identification with that distraction, then relax
the tension in the head and in mind', so that one can see
things clearly and calmly. Whenever one tries to resist or
control what is happening in the present moment, they are at
that time, fighting with the 'Dhamma' or 'Truth of the
Present Moment.'
This fighting with the reality of the moment causes so
much unsatisfactoriness and suffering to arise. However,
when one is mindful and see clearly that this is just a
phenomena arising and passing away, they can open up and
accept it, without hardening their mind or resisting in any
way. At this time, joyful interest is very important because
when mind has some joy in it there is no anger, jealousy,
aversion, fear, or anxiety, etc. Joyful interest helps the
meditator to have the proper perspective of seeing what
happens in the moment impersonally. When mind is
uplifted, one sees that whatever arises is just part of a
continuing process which they can learn from. Joy causes
mind to be uplifted, which is why it is an enlightenment
factor and very important to one's practice. Also, when joy
is in one's mind, they are pleasant to be around. Remember,
the acronym that is very helpful to use is DROPS. It stands
for Don't Resist Or Push, SMILE and Soften mind and

accept everything when it occurs, because that is the
"Dhamma of the Moment".
When one continues on with their practice, their mind
will eventually attain to the higher and more subtle stages of
meditations (arupa jhanas). At that time, one's mind
experiences the realm of 'nothingness'. This is what is called
cessation. It is called this because there is nothing more to
watch outside of mind. When one experiences the realm of
'nothingness', their mind is watching nothing. But mind is
still there and the different enlightenment factors can arise
along with the five aggregates which are affected by
clinging. Also, some hindrances can still arise and knock
one out of that exalted state. Thus, there is nothing for mind
to watch outside of itself, and yet, there is still lots to see.
This is how one's mindfulness enlightenment factor is
supported by cessation.
When one experiences the realm of neither-perception
nor non-perception, and keeps opening and relaxing mind,
eventually they will experience the cessation of perception
and feeling (Nirodha-Samapatti). During this occurrence,
one will not know this turning off of consciousness because
they have no perception or feeling at all! This is the only
stage of meditation where this phenomenon occurs. This
meditation state is still mundane; it is not the Supramundane
Nibbana yet. How can one know what is happening without
perception or feeling? It is only when the perception and
feeling come back, and if mindfulness is sharp enough, will
one sees directly, each and every link of dependent
origination forwards, one by one as they occur. Even this is
not the Supramundane State of Nibbana. The links are:
When ignorance arises then formations arise, when
formations arise then consciousness arises, when
consciousness arises mentality-materiality arises, when

mentality-materiality arises then the six-fold sense base
arises, when the six-fold sense base arises contact arises,
when contact arises feeling arises, when feeling arises
craving arises, when craving arises then clinging arises,
when clinging arises then being arises, when being arises
birth arises, when birth arises then old age, death arises.
After this arising phenomenon ends, then one will
experience the cessation of the dependent origination, which
goes:
When old age and death cease then birth ceases,
when birth ceases then being ceases, when being
ceases clinging ceases, when clinging ceases then
craving ceases, when craving ceases feeling ceases,
when feeling ceases then contact ceases, when
contact ceases the six-fold sense base ceases, when
the six-fold sense base ceases then mentalitymateriality ceases, when mentality-materiality
ceases
then
consciousness
ceases,
when
consciousness ceases then formations cease, when
formations cease then ignorance ceases.
The seeing of dependent origination both forwards and
backwards leads mind to the attainment of the
'Supramundane Nibbana'. This is where there is a major
change in one's outlook. One's mind at that time becomes
dispassionate about the belief in a permanent everlasting
ego or self. They see from first hand experiential
knowledge, that this is just an impersonal process and there
is no one controlling the way phenomena arise. These arise
because conditions are right for them to arise. In Buddhist
terms, this is called 'anatta' or not self nature of existence.
One also realizes that no one can possibly attain sainthood
by the practice of mere chanting words or phrases or suttas,
or the practice of having rites and rituals done for them by

someone else or by themselves. One has no more doubt
about what is the correct path that leads to the higher stages
of purity of mind towards arahatship. This is how one
becomes a sotapanna and attains the true path of
purification. There is no other way to attain these exalted
stages of being. It is only through the realization of the
Noble Truths by seeing Dependent Origination. Merely
seeing the three characteristics will not now, nor ever be the
experience which leads to the 'Supramundane Nibbana'.
This is why all of the Buddha's appear in the world, to show
the way to realizing the Noble Truths.
He develops the investigation of
experience
enlightenment factor ..... the energy enlightenment
factor..... the joy enlightenment factor..... the tranquility
enlightenment factor..... the stillness enlightenment
factor..... the equanimity enlightenment factor, which is
supported by seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, which
ripens in relinquishment.
43] "Bhikkhus, that is how the Seven Enlightenment
Factors, developed and cultivated, fulfill true knowledge
and deliverance.
Since this sutta describes the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness and the Seven Enlightenment Factors, the
author will conclude with the last part of the Satipatthana
Sutta. This is taken from the Majjhima Nikaya Sutta number
10, sections 46 to 47. It says:
46) "Bhikkhus, if anyone should develop these
Four Foundations of Mindfulness in such a way for
seven years, one of two fruits could be expected for
him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there
is a trace of clinging left, non-return.

This means attaining to the state of being an anagami or
non-returner
"Let alone seven years, Bhikkhus. If anyone
should develop these four foundations of mindfulness
in such a way for six years..... for five years..... for
four years..... for three years..... for two years..... for
one year, one of two fruits could be expected for
him: either final knowledge here and now, or if there
is a trace of clinging left, non-return.
"Let alone one year, Bhikkhus. If anyone should
develop these Four Foundations of Mindfulness in
such a way for seven months..... for six months.....
for five months..... for four months..... for three
months..... for two months..... for one month..... for a
half month ....., one of two fruits could be expected
for him: either final knowledge here and now, or if
there is a trace of clinging left, non-return.
"Let alone half a month, Bhikkhus. If anyone
should develop these Four Foundations of
Mindfulness in such a way for seven days, one of two
fruits could be expected for him: either final
knowledge here and now, or if there is a trace of
clinging left, non-return.
47) "So, it was with reference to this that it was
said: 'Bhikkhus, this is a 'direct path' (some
translations say 'This is the only way', but that
doesn't say it in the correct way a direct path or
way, says this much more clearly and with less
confusion) for the purification of beings, for the
surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the
disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment

of the true way, for the realization of Nibbana -namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The Bhikkhus
were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.
This is a pretty big claim which is not made up by the
author. He is only reporting what is in the suttas. When one
is serious about the practice of developing their mind
through the 'Tranquility' of the 'Mindfulness of Breathing',
they can reach the final goal. When one reaches the first
pleasant abiding (the first jhana) and if they continue on
with their practice, they have the potential to attain either
the stage of 'anagami' or 'arahat'. This is what the Lord
Buddha said. If one is ardent, and continues without
changing or stopping in their practice, then surely they will
reach the goal which is described.
Again, remember that the only way to attain the
Supramundane Nibbana is by realizing Dependent
Origination both forwards and backwards. There is no other
way because this is the seeing and realizing of the Four
Noble Truths which forms the main teaching of the Lord
Buddha. Great fruits and benefits befall on those who
practiced according to the instructions prescribed by the
Lord Buddha.
SADHU. . . . . SADHU. . . . . SADHU. . . . .

If there are any mistakes in this book, the author takes
full responsibility and requests that these mistakes be
pointed out to him. The sincere wish of the author is that all

who practice meditation, will continue on with their efforts
until they reach the highest and best state possible, that is,
the attainment of Final Liberation, the Supramundane
Nibbana. May all those who are sincere, know and
understand the Four Noble Truths, through direct
knowledge, attain the highest goal. May all practitioners of
the Lord Buddha's path, realize all of the links of Dependent
Origination quickly, and easily; so that their suffering will
soon be overcome.
******

The author would like to share the merit accrued by the
writing of this book with his parents, relatives, helpers and
all beings so that they can eventually attain the highest Bliss
and be free from all suffering

SHARING OF MERIT
May suffering
suffering ones be suffering free
And the fear struck fearless be
May the grieving shed all grief
And may all beings find relief.
May all beings share in this merit
That we have thus acquired
For the acquisition of
all kind of happiness.
May beings inhabiting
inhabiting space and earth
Devas and Nagas of mighty power
Share in this merit of ours.
May they long protect
the Buddha's Dispensation.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Footnotes
[1] The author refers to the Anapanasati Sutta, which
includes the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, as well as
the Seven Enlightenment Factors.
[2] See Thus Have I Heard. The Long Discourses of the
Buddha, translated by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom
Publications (1987), p.556.
[3] See Mahasaccaka Sutta, sutta number 36 of Majjhima
Nikaya.
[4] This means all nine of them! They are the four
material jhanas, the four immaterial jhanas and the cessation
of perception and feelings.
[5] Here, the word 'jhana' carries the meaning of
absorption concentration (appana samadhi), or access
concentration (upacara samadhi) - This is the stage right
before mind becomes absorbed into the object of meditation.
These are the standard definitions as given teachers.
[6] In this context, it only means absorption (appana
sarnidhi) and not access concentration (upacara samadhi).
[7] Some meditation teachers call this momentary
concentration or moment-to-moment concentration (khanika
samadhi)
[8] Notice the plural form of the word sutta -- this means
seeing the agreement many times.
[9] This ceremony marks the end of the rains retreat
where the Bhikkhus gathered together to confess any slight
wrong doing which they many have committed.

[10] This refers to talking and idle gossip. The Bhikkhus
waited patiently, and quietly doing their own meditation
practices of expanding the silent mind and having clear
mindfulness while waiting for the Buddha to speak.
[11] This refers to mindfulness of the body, mindfulness
of feelings, mindfulness of consciousness, and mindfulness
of mind objects.
[12] For example, see Mahasakuludayi Sutta, Sutta
Number 77 and Anupada Sutta, Sutta Number 111. Both of
these suttas are found in the Majjhima Nikaya.

Glossary:
A working terminology for the Tranquil
Wisdom Meditation practice as described in the
suttas.
Buddhist Meditation shows us how mind's movements
actually work. It reveals the true nature of things by
uncovering the impersonal moment-to-moment process of
Dependent Origination and the 4 Noble Truths. The Buddha
Dhamma specifically shows us where we get caught by
suffering, how this manifests first, the exact cause of it and
the way out. The journey can sometimes be difficult but it
also can be magical and fun as the changes become apparent
in your life and people begin to notice the change for the
good in you.
As we study this, we need to understand clearly some
working definitions of certain training terminology. From
the beginning of our training one learns to do this practice
ALL THE TIME. So the precise definitions of terminology
are very important if we are going to use this practice as our
key to opening this doorway to Peace and these definitions
may be slightly different from what you have heard in other
places. Before you begin to read further in this book,
making sure the author and you are on the same page with
key words for the training is pretty important.
This chapter has been put in the back of the book to
assist the beginner and for solving any mix-up in
understanding for the experienced practitioner. The
Definitions for terminology used in this book for training
appear more or less in the order that you will have to deal
with them as you learn the practice of Meditation.

Meditation - (bhavana) observing the movements
of mind's attention moment-to-moment, object-to-object for
the purpose of seeing clearly the impersonal process of
Dependent Origination and the Four Noble Truths.

Mindfulness (sati) - 'Remembering' to observe the
movements of mind's attention.

Awareness (sampajana) - Understanding what
mind is doing; meaning whether it releasing what is arising,
or getting involved with it? Is it Recognizing the
movements of mind's attention, or is it moving into craving
and clinging? Is it Releasing, Relaxing, Re-smiling and then
Returning to the object of meditation to continue
mindfulness?
Object of Meditation - Any object of meditation we
choose is to become the home-base for centering during our
meditation. The information we seek will not be found in
the object of meditation we observe but rather it is our
recognition of the impersonal Process of Dependent
Origination that leads to our knowledge and vision. This
occurs around the object of meditation.

Hindrances (nivarana) - unwholesome tendencies
that begin with an arising feeling that is the same as any
other feelings and should be treated in the same way during
the meditation by Releasing them and not placing mind's
attention on them in any way. By denying them mind's
attention they will become weak and fade away.

Jhana- The definition here of 'Jhana' in Buddhist
terms is a "stage of meditation through understanding (the
interconnectedness of the '4 Noble Truths and Dependent

Origination') and seeing how mind actually works". Level
of understanding; stage of the meditation path

Craving (tanha) - the weak link in the process of
Dependent Origination which manifests as tension and
tightness in mind and body as it is first appearing.
The common definition for the word Craving is 'to want
or desire', but there is much more to this word. According to
the Buddha there is a definite pattern with everything that
arises. For instance, in order "to see" there is a set way
things happen. First, there must be a functioning sense door
such as the eye. Next there must be color and form. When
the eye hits color and form then eye-consciousness arises.
The meeting of these three things is called eye-contact. With
eye-contact as condition eye-feeling arises (Feeling
[Vedana] is pleasant, painful or neither painful nor pleasant
and this is either physical or mental feeling.) With eyefeeling as condition, then eye-craving arises.
Now 'Craving' (Tanha) in all of its many different forms
(seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, bodily sensations, and
thoughts) always arises as being a tensions and tightness in
both mind and body. 'Craving' (Tanha) always manifests
as the "I like it or I don't like it" mind and can be recognized
as tension or tightness in both one's mind and body. This is
where we come to understand the importance of the
Buddha's instructions about consciously tranquilizing
one's mind and body. When the meditator has any kind of
distraction arising, that pulls their attention away from their
object of meditation, then a feeling immediately arises, and
next, right after that the "I like it.... I don't like it"
[craving-Tanha] mind arises. This is seen sometimes as a
big gross tightness and sometimes as a very subtle tightness

or tension in mind and body.
As 'Craving' (Tanha) is the cause of suffering (the
Second Noble Truth) what the meditator must do is softly
let go of that tension or tightness (i.e. relax, and this must
consciously be don. It doesn't happen automatically as it is
shown in the meditation instruction given to us by the
Buddha) then gently redirect mind's attention back to the
object of meditation (this step is the Third Noble Truth or
the cessation of craving or suffering). In practical terms this
relaxing is the most important and major step that the
Buddha discovered, this and the Fourth Noble Truth- that is
'the way' leading to the Cessation of Suffering.
The Buddha saw that when 'Craving' (Tanha) was let go
of; mind became clear, open, and very observant. He saw
that the thinking mind did not arise. The thinking mind in
Buddhism is called 'Clinging' (Upadana). So, when a
teacher says something like "Cling to Nothing" they are
actually saying to 'stop thinking about things and just
observe'. which is good advice as far as it goes. Actually it
would be better to say "Crave Nothing" but that would be
misunderstood because how are we supposed to do that?
"Crave Nothing" means 'to notice and let go of the
tightness or tension in one's mind and body before it arises'.
How does one do this? When one sees a 'Feeling' arise, if
they relax at that very moment, then the 'Craving' (Tanha)
won't arise. 'Craving' (Tanha) is the weak link in the cycle
or process of Dependent Origination. It CAN be recognized
and let go of, and when it is released then the 'Clinging'
(Upadana) won't arise.
One thing that has become popular today is the putting
together of these two words, 'Craving/Clinging' and I
think it helps to cause even more confusion. 'Craving' is the

"I like it ... I don't like it" mind and 'Clinging' is all of the
thoughts, ideas, opinions, and concepts why mind likes or
dislikes a feeling when it arises. They are two very different
and separate parts to the process of how things work. So
putting them together just makes one's understanding of this
process, even cloudier. Some teachers today are trying to
say the 'Craving and Clinging' can be best defined as
'Grasping'. And as I just explained that moves away from
the more precise definitions that the Buddha shows us
within his teaching.

No-self (anatta) - Impersonal Nature; Impersonal
perspective. An absence of taking anything personally
which occurs during life. Seeing things purely as they are.
To do this in life, you don't have to stop using the pronouns
in your language! And you don't have to try to disappear.
Promise.
Delusion (moha) - In some Buddhist traditions the
word "delusion" (Moha) is linked up with two other words
which are 'Lust' (lobha) and 'Hatred' (dosa). Together
these three words are sometimes called "the three poisons".
This actually is a reasonable way to look at them. But there
is some confusion about what "delusion" (Moha) actually
means. The Buddha meant something a little bit different
every time he used this word.
According to the suttas the word 'delusion' (Moha)
means to see whatever arises as being a personal self (atta).
Or we can say that 'Delusion' (Moha) is seeing things
through the false (deluded) idea of a self (atta). In other
words, one takes all feelings or sensations to be a part of the
"I", "Me", "My","Mine" (atta) identification, that is
delusion.

Serenity (samatha) - Here again is another word to
look at. In Pali the word is 'Samatha'. The meaning of
'Samatha' is tranquility, serenity, peacefulness, or stillness.
Often the common popular definition is a strongly onepointed type of concentration, absorption concentration, or
ecstatic concentration. This specific definition of serenity or
tranquility certainly implies a different type of
"collectedness" than the deeper types of absorption or
ecstatic 'concentration'. The goal of absorption or ecstatic
concentration is to have mind stay on only one thing as if it
were glued to it (to the exclusion of anything else), the
'Samatha Collectedness' implies to have a mind that is still,
serene, and calm, but alert to whatever shifting or moving
mind
does
moment-to-moment.
Of
course
Samatha/Vipassana (which is the standard way it is
described in the suttas where they are always linked
together) leads to the total liberation of mind by seeing and
recognizing how the 4 Noble Truths interact with
Dependent Origination. As the Bodhisatta found out
firsthand, Samatha/Vipassana leads directly to the end-result
of Nibbana and absorption or ecstatic concentration does
not.

Insight (vipassana) - This word has a surface
meaning which is 'seeing things as they truly are'.
According to the Buddha's the definition goes much deeper
than that. 'Insight' or understanding into what? Realizing
the impersonal nature and deep understanding of the Four
Noble Truths and 'HOW' Dependent Origination actually
occurs with everything that arises and passes away (anicca)
in one's mind and body. In other words, one gains a deeper
and deeper understanding (in each stage of Jhana) of the

impersonal process of 'HOW' mind and body arises through
truly seeing and understanding (knowledge and vision) of
the Four Noble Truths interconnection with the ongoing
processes of Dependent Origination.
When one can see clearly these processes in all of
existence, they will experience an unshakable knowledge
that this is the right path to follow. Mind begins to see
clearly that whatever arises and passes away (anicca), is a
part of a definite process and this leads to a deep
understanding that everything going on is a part of an
impersonal pattern (anatta). These 'Insights' can occur at
anytime whether one is sitting in meditation or doing their
daily activities. They are quite profound when they occur.
'Insights' are like finding a lost part to a puzzle and this is
where the true "aha!" experiences happen..

Wisdom (panna) - there are many phrases within the
suttas using the word 'wisdom' and they usually turn out to
be concerning in some context 'the impersonal process of
Dependent Origination'.
Anytime the words 'Wise
Attention' or 'Wisdom' is seen in the suttas they are
referring to the understanding of the Four Noble Truths and
the process of Dependent Origination. Other such phrases
appear as: "He sees with Wisdom", "Seeing with
Wisdom", "...And his taints were destroyed by his
seeing with Wisdom...","Wisdom", or "He is Wise."
If we can remember these instances are referring to
understanding the four Noble Truths and the process of D.O.
as we read the various suttas, then our minds will open up to
a new understanding of how this process and the Four Noble
Truths are at the core of the teaching of the Buddha .

Concentration (samadhi) - The pali word actually
means the unification or bringing together of mind. The
word 'Collectedness' appears to be more functional for
success in the meditation rather than the word
'Concentration'. Here in the West people take the word
'Concentration' to mean a kind of deep one-pointedness of
mind or an absorbed mind and this is not what the Buddha
was trying to get across. Before the time of the Buddha
there were many words that described deep absorption or
one-pointedness of mind. But the Buddha made up a new
word "Samadhi" to describe a completely different way of
seeing and experiencing the Jhana. After the Buddha's
paranibbana, because this word was very popular, the
Brahmins of that time changed the definition of 'samadhi'
back to mean - 'strong one-pointedness'. But, the Buddha
was showing that there is a difference between a 'Collected
Mind' and a strongly absorbed or 'Concentrated Mind'.
The words 'Collected Mind'' (Samadhi) gives us the idea
of a mind that is composed, calm, still, and very alert. This
kind of mind observes whenever mind's attention shifts
from one thing to another. A 'Concentrated' mind, on the
other hand, means that mind is stuck on one thing to the
exclusion of anything else that may try to arise. So a
'Concentrated' Mind' by this definition loses full awareness
and mindfulness (Sati) of what is happening in the present
moment because it is only seeing the one thing it is pointing
at. This statement also refers to "access or neighborhood
concentration" (Upacara Samadhi) and "moment-to-moment
concentration" (Khanika Samadhi). Why? The simple
answer is, there is no tranquilizing of mind and body before
the meditator brings their attention back to the object of
meditation. Because of this, there is no seeing of how the
Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination actually work

and how craving (tightness and tension) is brought back to
the meditation object.
This is why when the teachers of straight 'Vipassana'
tell their students that 'Absorption Concentration' won't
ever lead to Nibbana, they are 100% correct. Any kind of
practice which divides 'Samatha Meditation' and
'Vipassana Meditation' into two different practices, can't
possibly lead one to Nibbana. Why? Because mind has the
need to be calm, composed, and clear, while it is in a jhana,
in order to see clearly the interconnectedness of the 4 Noble
Truths and Dependent Origination. This is why the practice
of straight vipassana has led to so much disappointment
after so many years of hard work for some students. The
Buddha taught us to practice 'Samatha/ Vipassana'
together and this is the difference between commentary
based meditation practices and the Sutta approach to
meditation.
The results of these two practices are different. Onepointed 'Concentration' is not the same kind of mental
development that the Buddha shows us. The Buddha taught
us to tranquilize our mind and body every time mind's
attention shifts from one thing to another. The 'Collected
Mind'' is not so deeply one-pointed that the force of one's
'Concentration' causes mind to stay on one object of
meditation, even if that attention 'Concentrates' on
something momentarily. The 'Collected Mind' is able to
observe how mind's attention goes from one thing to
another, very precisely. There is much more full awareness
of both mind and body here than with a deeply
'Concentrated' one-pointed mind or absorbed mind'. This is
why I choose to use the word 'Collected' rather than
'Concentrated'' mind. By using the word "Collected" there
is less confusion about the kind of meditation that the

Buddha is referring to and it is easier to understand the
descriptions given in the suttas.
These words are a good start for you to work with this
approach to the meditation.

Bhante Vimalaramsi's Background

Bhante Vimalaramsi became a Buddhist monk in 1986
because of his keen interest in meditation. He went to
Burma in 1988 to practice intensive mediation at the famous
meditation center, Mahasi Yeiktha in Rangoon. There he
practiced meditation for 20 to 22 hours a day for almost a
year, then because of some social unrest, all foreigners were
asked to leave the country, so Bhante went to Malaysia and
practiced intensive Loving-kindness meditation for 6
months.
In 1990, Bhante went back to Burma for more intensive
"Vipassana" meditation, for 16 hours a day, at Chanmyay
Yeiktha in Rangoon. He practiced for 2 years, sometimes
sitting in meditation for as long as 7 to 8 hours a sitting.
After two years of intensive meditation and experiencing
what they said was the final result, he became very
disillusioned with the Vipassana method and left Burma to
continue his search. He went back to Malaysia and began
teaching loving-kindness meditation.

In 1996, Bhante was invited to live and teach at the
largest Theravadan monastery in Malaysia. This Sri Lankan
monastery offered public talks every Friday evening and
Sunday morning where 300 to 500 people would attend.
Bhante gave talks every other Friday and on every Sunday.
While staying there he had the opportunity to meet many
learned monks, and Bhante questioned them at length about
the Buddha's teachings. He found out that the Vipassana
method of meditation is taken from a commentary written a
thousand years after the Buddha's death. This commentary
is not very accurate when compared with the original
teachings.
Bhante Vimalaramsi then began to study the original
texts and practice meditation according to these texts. After
a three month self-retreat, he came back to Malaysia and
wrote a book on mindfulness of Breathing called "The
Anapanasati Sutta-A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of
Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom meditation." There are now
over 300,000 copies distributed worldwide in seven
languages. This book is currently used as a practical study
guide by some schools of religion, meditation teachers and
their students. Bhante Vimalaramsi came back to the U.S. in
1998 and has been teaching meditation throughout the
country since then.
At this time he is building a Forest Retreat Center in
Annapolis, MO which in time will become the first
American Buddhist Forest Tradition study center on
American Soil where all teaching and work is done using
English as the primary language. International monks may
come there to improve their English and study more deeply
the meditation and Sutta studies. An active ordination
program is available for both men and women. (November
2006)

The address of Jeta's Grove and the meditation center is:

Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
RR1 Box 100
Annapolis, MO 63620
USA
Website
URL: www.dhammasukha.org
Telephone: (573) 546-1214
Email:
bhantev4u@yahoo.com
sisterkhema@dhammasukha.org

Support for the project may be sent to:
United International Buddha Dhamma Society Inc.
UIBDS
c/o Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
RR1 Box 100, Annapolis, MO 63620
USA

The Gift of Dhamma is the highest and best gift.

Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
Jeta's Grove/Anathapindika's Park
RR1 Box 100
Annapolis,
Annapolis, MO 63620
URL: www.dhammasukha.org

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