Hello and welcome everyone.
This meditation will be a little different from our standard guided meditations.
This practice is designed to help us develop our discernment and familiarity within the jhanas,
Especially as they are experienced and taught within Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation in the lineage of Bhante Vimalaramsi.
During this meditation,
I will be reading through the entire Anupada Sutta,
Majjhima Nikaya 111,
The discourse where the Buddha describes how Venerable Sariputta clearly understood each meditative state one by one as it arose,
Remained,
And passed away.
As we move through the sutta together,
I will pause at each jhana and at each stage of refinement to offer a few additional instructions.
These are some of the familiar words that Bhante often used in his retreats and teachings.
The purpose is not merely to think about the jhanas intellectually,
But to help deepen our own recognition with these states.
So we will explore the gradual refinement of the mind through the Brahmaviharas,
Letting go of the hindrances,
Deepening our tranquility,
And the progressive letting go that naturally unfolds when we are using the six R's.
This meditation may be especially meaningful for more advanced meditators who are already familiar with the jhanas,
Have already experienced these jhanas within tranquil insight meditation.
But even if you are new to the practice,
This can still be beneficial to you.
You don't need to force yourself into any particular experience.
Just listen,
Relax,
And allow the mind to become familiar with the qualities and characteristics of the states.
Even if we don't understand it now.
In the future,
Hearing these words of the suttas can plant the seeds for your future practice,
Your future understanding.
And remember that in TWIM,
Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation,
We're not trying to force absorption or push away experience.
We're learning how to recognize and release craving again and again using relaxation,
Softening,
Smiling,
And coming back to the object with a light mind.
The jhanas will unfold naturally when we let go of tension and craving.
So this will be an exploration together,
Just a gradual journey inward.
We could also think of it as a preparation for doing determination work.
So now gently begin to allow the body to settle.
And as you begin First start with coming into a comfortable posture.
Allow yourself to feel stable and upright and in a posture that you can hold for about an hour.
And then let's begin relaxing the body.
You can imagine that You're feeling a wave of relaxation washing over you,
Starting at the top of your head.
Which then comes down over your face,
Your eyes,
Your mouth,
Your cheeks.
The back of the head.
Washing down over the shoulders,
Just a sense of lightness.
Relaxing the chest,
The abdomen.
The hips,
The legs and the feet.
And you can take a deep breath in and let it out.
And one more time,
Deep breath in and letting it out.
Now let's begin to bring up a smile on the lips.
So this is a little.
Turning up of the lips.
Where you can start to feel the smile in your cheeks.
And then the smile moves into the eyes.
And notice how this smile uplifts the mind.
Pante said that smiling improved our mindfulness.
It helped us to remember.
That we're meditating.
Bringing us back to the moment.
Now bring this smile into the mind.
Keep it there on your lips for a few moments.
This is bringing the enlightenment factor of joy into the practice.
There's some energy here,
Some mindfulness.
A great way to start.
Now let's take this smile Bring it into our hearts.
For a moment.
Just smiling with gratitude with the whole body,
The heart,
The mind,
The lips,
The eyes.
And just smiling with a softness and relaxation.
And now let's share some loving-kindness with ourselves.
So think of a time that you were happy and smiling.
See yourself,
Remember yourself in your mind's eye.
And then put this image of yourself into your heart.
And use a phrase like just as I was happy then may I be happy now and feel that warm,
Soft,
Radiation of loving-kindness around you in your heart area.
Allow yourself to be suffused with the intention of lovingkindness.
You deserve to be happy.
Feel this wish.
And stay with this feeling as long as you can.
When the feeling fades,
You can bring up another wish for yourself.
May I be peaceful.
May I be healthy.
May I have joy.
Whatever the wish is to send that intention into your heart.
And shine that feeling to yourself Stay with it as long as you can.
Now,
Let's bring to mind a spiritual friend.
Someone who easily makes you smile,
Somebody maybe who's helped you or mentored you a teacher in your life It shouldn't be someone who you're perhaps too intimate with or close to because sometimes that can bring up some complications.
That just somebody who brings a smile to your mind.
And you love sharing with them.
Now let's see them in your mind's eye.
See them happy and smiling.
And bring this image of your friend into your heart.
With your loving-kindness already present here.
Look them in the eye.
And say,
May you be happy.
May you have joy!
And radiate this warm,
Soft,
Glowing feeling of loving-kindness to them.
And then softly remain with this feeling.
As long as you can.
Let the feeling be there.
Emanating in your heart.
This feeling of loving kindness is your object of meditation.
And if you're feeling,
If the feeling starts to fade,
You just bring up another phrase to bring it back up again.
Now,
If the mind gets completely distracted Then,
We use the six R's to bring the mind back.
And what that means is we recognize that We've been lost in thought.
We were completely off the object.
So we recognize that We release that distraction.
That means we let it be there by itself,
Without keeping our attention on it.
And then we relax.
We relax the tension in the head and body.
The craving in the head and body that came up from that distraction.
And then we smile.
We just relax right into a little smile on the lips.
And then we return to the feeling of loving kindness.
And this happens very quickly.
Recognize,
Release,
Relax,
Re-smile,
Return,
And repeat whenever necessary.
And continue to use the six R's throughout the practice.
When the mind gets distracted.
But there's no need to use the 6Rs.
If the mind is still with the object.
So as we go into the sutta You'll be listening to this sutta.
Your attention will be on the sutta.
You wanna shh?
Keep your mind relaxed.
Also with this loving kindness as we go through this Pull through this reading.
So this is the ānupāda sutta,
One-one-one,
One-by-one,
As they occurred.
Thus have I heard,
On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sabati,
In Jetha's Grove,
Anathapindika's Park.
There he addressed the Bhikkhus thus,
Bhikkhus,
Venerable sir,
They replied,
The blessed one said this,
Because Sariputta is wise,
Sariputta has great wisdom,
Sariputta has wide wisdom,
Sariputta has joyous wisdom,
Sariputta has quick wisdom,
Sariputta has keen wisdom,
Sariputta has penetrative wisdom.
During half a month bhikkhus,
Sariputta gained insight into states one by one as they occurred.
Now Sariputta's insight into states one by one as they occurred was this.
Here Bhikkhus,
Quite secluded from sensual pleasures,
Secluded from unwholesome states,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the first jhana,
Which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought,
With rapture and pleasure,
Or joy and happiness born of seclusion.
And the states in the first jhana,
The applied thought,
The sustained thought.
The joy,
The happiness,
And the unification of mind.
The contact,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And mind.
The zeal,
Decision,
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So now we are looking at the first jhana.
And this is the jhana where we have joy born of seclusion,
Which means seclusion from the hindrances.
So as you're continuing to stay with your spiritual friend,
Gently using the six R's,
The mind gradually begins to settle down.
You're not forcing anything to happen.
You're simply staying with the feeling of loving-kindness,
Relaxing when the mind gets pulled away.
And little by little the hindrances lose their strength.
So you will be free of desire,
Aversion,
Restlessness.
Out.
Sloth and torpor Then joy begins to arise.
Sometimes softly and sometimes very strong.
But this is happiness born from letting go.
It's an otherworldly kind of happiness.
There is still thinking and examining of thought in this jhana.
Could be the thinking and examining of the phrases and the wishes.
So the thinking and examining thought are related to the meditation instead of related to distractions.
There may be warmth,
Waves of energy,
Lightness,
Expansion.
Just allow any of these feelings or qualities.
To be there as you gently stay with the feeling of loving-kindness with a smile and as we're preparing for determination practice if you notice mind wants to move on just lightly determined to go ahead and,
For now,
Just notice the first jhana And we'll stay here a few moments.
And we'll continue the sutta Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
So indeed these states,
Not having been,
Come into being,
Having been,
They vanish.
Regarding those states he abided unattracted,
Unrepelled,
Independent,
Detached,
Free,
Dissociated,
With a mind rid of barriers.
He understood there is an escape beyond,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is.
Again bhikkhus with the stilling of applied and sustained thought Sariputta entered and abided in the second jhana which has self-confidence and singleness of mind,
Without applied and sustained thought,
With joy and happiness born of collectedness.
And the states in the second jhana.
The self-confidence,
The joy,
The happiness,
And the unification of mind.
The contact,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And mind.
The zeal decision.
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So now we're in the second jhana.
Which Banthe called Noble Silence.
So as the mind settles down more deeply,
The verbal part of the meditation begins to fade away naturally.
And this is where Pante tells us stop using the phrases and just stay with the feeling.
You won't actually need the phrases anymore and they can actually cause tension.
So we just drop them and we find that we can easily bring up the feeling with a smile and with the attention of loving-kindness.
So remaining with this feeling of loving kindness.
The mind becomes quieter,
More steady and more composed.
Some people use the analogy that in this jhana it's like An appliance has been humming and all of a sudden that humming stops.
So confidence begins to arise naturally because you can see for yourself that the practice works.
The joy may deepen.
Sometimes it comes in waves through the body.
And sometimes the body can feel very light,
Almost like floating.
When that joy begins to settle down,
A deep tranquility follows it The mind is more naturally collected.
Comfortable.
So take a few moments to notice the second jhana,
Noble silence,
Confidence a quiet feeling,
Perhaps the light feeling.
And let's continue on.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment,
He confirmed that there is.
Again Bhikkhus,
With a fading away as well of joy,
Sariputta abided in equanimity and mindful and fully aware.
Still feeling pleasure with body,
He entered upon and abided in the third jhana,
On account of which noble ones announce,
He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.
And the states in the third jhana,
The equanimity,
The pleasure or happiness,
The mindfulness,
The full awareness,
And the unification of mind,
The contact feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And mind.
The zeal,
Decision,
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So now we are in the third jhana.
This is a quiet happiness and a real balance.
As the meditation deepens,
Even the excitement of joy starts to feel too coarse,
So you don't need that anymore.
The mind begins preferring peace over excitement,
So the energetic joy settles down and a much deeper balance begins arising.
Sounds may still happen around you,
But the mind no longer runs after them.
You hear things,
But the mind stays still.
So as you stay with your spiritual friend and notice any distractions,
You may really start understanding the tension and the suffering directly.
And noticing that every time tension is relaxed,
The mind becomes lighter,
And different parts of the body may start disappearing from the awareness.
Maybe the feeling of the hands disappear or the legs or the shoulders.
And eventually the loving kindness will move up to the head.
We just let the experience unfold naturally without trying to control it.
And if you are You're working with determinations,
Just lightly determined to stay in the third jhana.
You're familiarizing yourself with the third jhana.
Can actually use the six R's if the mind wants to go further.
So,
In the third jhana,
There can be a lot of comfort in the body.
And again,
We just remember this phrase from the Sutta here on the third Jhana,
On account of which the Noble Ones announce,
He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity and is mindful.
So notice that for a few moments.
And let's continue.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is.
Again bhikkhus,
With the abandoning of pleasure and pain,
And with the previous disappearance of joy and grief,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the fourth jhana,
Which has neither pain nor pleasure,
And purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.
And the states in the fourth jhana,
The equanimity,
The neither painful nor pleasant feeling,
The mental unconcern due to tranquility.
The purity of mindfulness and the unification of mind,
The contact,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And mind,
The zeal,
Decision,
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So,
In the fourth jhana,
The feeling of loving-kindness has moved up into the head.
This is the jhana of strong equanimity.
So this is where we change our meditation.
We begin to radiate loving-kindness to all beings and we're going to move right into that.
Of radiating to all beings in all directions.
And we're radiating this feeling from the area of the head.
Most people are not aware of the body anymore at this point.
So,
We begin by radiating love and kindness.
Now,
There's no pushing or forcing anything at all.
But it's like you have a light of loving-kindness.
Maybe just above your head and you're letting that radiance from that light move out,
Your mind lightly staying with it as this love and kindness.
Radiates or shines outwards and touches all living beings in front of you So all human beings,
Beings you may know who are maybe in the next room.
The next house.
And smile as you're radiating.
You might sometimes notice beings smiling back.
Just as far as the mind naturally wants to go.
Relaxing any tension.
Distractions.
Just let this radiating be light and soft and let's not think only of human beings but all living beings animal beings,
Insects the little microscopic beings that are everywhere in the air,
The water.
The earth.
Now let's radiate to all beings behind us.
Feel the intention,
That good wholesome intention that all beings be safe and happy.
Sometimes people notice that it feels like a light is going out.
And now it's ready to all beings to the right to all beings without any distinctions.
There's no measuring,
No comparing anyone.
Everyone gets to have this loving-kindness Now let's radiate to all beings to the left of us.
Imagine every being that you've ever met or seen at a distance every being And we being that you just you know they're there,
But you've never seen them now let's radiate to all beings below us all beings who are in the earth.
Imagine we're sitting on this great big earth and there are many beings in the earth many little insects and creatures Smile as you notice all those creatures.
In the earth and the water.
And even on the earth you can imagine that the loving kindness is just washing down to the whole globe.
All these beings doing their little things.
Looking for substance and you can now radiate loving-kindness to all beings above us in the sky.
Into the heavens,
Into the universe.
Other planets.
Solar systems So we've now created this vast bubble of loving-kindness around us.
We're developing our hearts and minds into this beautiful harmlessness which is what will happen when we are completely awake world will be a friend to every living being.
So just continue now to radiate this feeling of loving-kindness around you.
Imagine you're just you're in a circle or sphere of loving-kindness And we're in the fourth jhana here.
Now even happiness is too much,
And so equanimity becomes dominant.
This isn't indifference,
It's just a deep peaceful balance.
Bhante used to say that equanimity is the highest feeling you'll ever experience.
Now the body is almost completely gone from awareness.
Some meditators only feel the head.
And from now on the meditation is mostly mental instead of physical.
If pain comes up,
In some cases it's not actually physical pain,
It's mental pain.
So we can use the six R's if that comes up You can also walk around with this metta all around you.
This jhana also is where The mind is so stable.
We can do some other practices.
We won't do them today,
But This is where we can go into looking at past lives This is a great place to go into contemplating the aggregates and many other types of contemplations from the suttas Just take a moment noticing now fourth jhana And now we'll continue.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is,
Again bhikkhus,
With the complete surmounting of perceptions of form,
With the disappearance of perceptions of sensory impact,
With non-attention to perceptions of diversity,
Aware that space is infinite,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the base of infinite space.
And the states in the base of infinite space,
The perception of the base of infinite space,
Space and the unification of mind,
The contact,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And mind,
The zeal,
Decision,
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So now we are in infinite space with compassion As the mind has been radiating this loving-kindness Into all directions all around us Naturally it will change into compassion karuna And what happens is that the awareness begins to expand outward endlessly in all directions.
The feeling of metta becomes more soft like cotton and expansive.
Bhante's phrase was,
Your mind keeps going out and out and out.
There's no longer any sense of being confined in the body.
The awareness feels huge,
Spacious,
Boundless.
For some people,
This expansion can be very strong.
For others,
It's wide and open.
It's a natural wish for all beings to be free of suffering.
So just stay here with this feeling,
Allow it to continue naturally.
In our usual practice,
We always just let the mind naturally go on through the jhanas.
We don't ever tell it to stay,
But when we're doing determinations We're now learning to have a little bit of control over what the mind is doing.
It's the next stage in practice.
So just make a determination,
Light determination for yourself to stay here for a few moments In.
Infinite space with compassion.
Where awareness is No longer.
In the body.
And now we'll continue.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is.
Again bhikkhus,
By completely surmounting the base of infinite space,
Aware that consciousness is infinite,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the base 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,
The contact,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition and mind.
The zeal,
Decision,
Energy,
Mindfulness,
Equanimity,
And attention.
These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So now we are in infinite consciousness and the feeling of compassion has changed to sympathetic joy,
Mudita.
So now we take this feeling Allow that to be our object joy to be our object of meditation.
That were radiating in all directions.
And you might feel this as a quiet,
Joyful clarity.
You might notice that the feeling of joy is just flowing out,
Bright,
Expansive.
This is the joy when you see other beings having wholesome success.
And you smile with them.
And after a few moments,
That intensity can settle down.
It starts to feel like the mind is coming back from that expansion.
And you start to see more clearly what is in the mind.
It's almost like some faint parts of the fog are moving away,
So you can see clearly what is here in the mind.
The attention is shifting away from space and towards consciousness.
So this is where Meditator may notice the flickering of consciousness itself It's almost like frames in a movie film,
A film that is slowed down.
And this can happen at any sense door.
You might mentally see something in your mind like those frames for example or little bubbles arising and passing away you might hear like a sound is off on off on off on or an odor or you might feel like little sensations somewhere in the body that you may notice in some way,
Experience appearing moment after moment,
Arising and passing away very quickly You may start seeing that everything is impermanent and impersonal.
Ponte would at this stage explain that here we have birth,
Death,
Birth,
Death,
Birth,
Death of each little consciousness quickly arising,
Passing away.
Sometimes there's lights,
Flickering patterns.
We don't get fascinated by them.
And back to the joy.
And again.
This jhana can quickly move to the next jhana.
So you may want to make a light determination just to stay in this space before we move on to the next one.
And we'll continue.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment,
He confirmed that there is.
Again Bhikkhus,
By completely surmounting the base of infinite consciousness,
Aware that there is nothing,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the base of nothingness.
The states in the base of nothingness the perception of the base of nothingness and the unification of mind the contact feeling perception volition and mind the zeal decision energy mindfulness equanimity and attention These states were defined by him one by one as they occurred.
So this is the state of nothingness.
What happens here is that from infinite consciousness.
We start to notice more and more the quiet places the playing places between the arising and passing away,
The mind starts inclining towards What is quiet?
It gets tired of watching the arising and passing away.
It starts to feel too coarse,
Too much.
So now we're paying attention to what's not happening and the feeling of joy changes to equanimity.
The little gaps.
Are more peaceful and attractive,
And the perception in the mind might arise that there is nothing.
Thoughts are gone now.
The body has completely disappeared from awareness.
Everything is very quiet and still or fully in a mental realm.
Now we just let that feeling of equanimity radiate around us.
This is where we are really refining our balance in the meditation.
To know how much effort we need to put into the meditation.
You're fine tuning.
If you put in too much effort You might lose it.
If it's too little,
Lose it.
So just write.
Just a light,
Light amount of attention.
On the equanimity.
On the base of nothingness.
The mind.
Continues to be bright,
Clear,
Stable,
Very peaceful.
And we'll continue Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is.
Again bhikkhus,
By completely surmounting the base of nothingness,
Sariputta entered upon and abided in the base of neither perception nor non-perception.
Now as things become more and more quiet We move into the eighth jhana,
Neither perception nor non-perception Which we also call quiet mind What will happen is there will come a moment when you won't want to radiate equanimity anymore.
So then you can now let that go.
And this means that This is as far as the Brahma Haras will take you.
Now,
Even the perception of nothingness fades away.
At times,
It may feel like you're in a dream-like state.
Awareness is barely there,
Yet you know you're awake.
There may be some odd shapes or symbols or objects.
It will be as if they appear in the mind before there is time to conceptualize them.
Six are anything that pulls you.
These little symbols may be formations or seeds in the mind That's okay.
You just let them be.
And what can happen is that you may dip in and out of that dreamlike stage.
There are stages of this quiet mind.
When you come out of a dreamlike stage.
Mind will be very alert.
Very energetic,
Very mindful.
To just continue the meditation,
Continue relaxing.
You don't usually have to do the six R's if anything comes up.
If you notice a little tiny movement,
You can just relax.
And here the mind may suddenly even step down into a deeper level of quietness.
We just let it and any little vibration or movement,
We just gently back away from it.
Mental activity here is almost completely still We'll continue.
Known to him those states arose,
Known they were present,
Known they disappeared.
He understood thus,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is.
He emerged mindful from that attainment.
Having done so,
He contemplated the states that had passed,
Ceased,
And changed thus.
So indeed these states,
Not having been,
Come into being.
Having been,
They vanish.
Regarding those states,
He abided unattracted,
Unrepelled,
Independent,
Detached,
Free,
Dissociated,
With a mind rid of barriers.
He understood there is an escape beyond and with the cultivation of that attainment.
He confirmed that there is Again because by completely surmounting the base of neither perception nor non-perception Sariputta entered upon and abided in the cessation of perception and feeling And his taints were destroyed by his seeing with wisdom So this is cessation where everything stops.
So finally,
After remaining with quiet mind long enough,
The whole process suddenly stops.
Perception stops,
Feeling stops.
Sometimes it feels like the lights simply went out and came back on.
When you merge You may see something.
Some little dots or dashes or you may see Understand something about the pen and origination And then there's a very deep feeling of relief as though a huge burden has fallen away.
This is followed by very strong joy arises through the whole mind and body.
This is the experience of Nibbana.
For a moment,
All conditioned activity stops completely.
There's no craving,
No movement,
And the mind truly understanding that there is freedom beyond craving.
So we'll continue the Sutta barriers,
He understood there is no escape beyond,
And with the cultivation of that attainment he confirmed that there is not a Because rightly speaking were it to be said of anyone he has attained mastery and perfection in noble virtue attained mastery and perfection in noble concentration attained mastery and perfection in noble wisdom attained mastery and perfection in noble deliverance it is of Sariputta indeed that rightly speaking this should be said of Bhikkhus,
Rightly speaking,
Were it to be said of anyone,
He is the son of the Blessed One,
Born of his breast,
Born of his mouth,
Born of the Dhamma,
Created by the Dhamma,
An heir in the Dhamma,
Not an heir in material things.
It is of Sariputta,
Indeed,
That rightly speaking this should be said.
Because the matchless wheel of Dhamma set rolling by the Tathagata is kept rolling rightly by Sariputta.
That is what the Blessed One said.
The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.
