Imagination As An Aid To Practice 1

So we are making our way slowly through the 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing and these are really16 methods of breathing in and breathing out can be divided into 4 groups. So we have arrived in the third group of four exercises that have to do with our mind and the activities of our mind. So as a way of entering the territory of the mind we'll look at the use of imagination and creativity and see how it contributes to the unification of the mind.

Transcript

We've been making our way slowly through the 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing.

These are really 16 methods of breathing in and out that can be divided into four groups called Tetrad's.

And within these groups there are four more methods.

So just to recap a little bit,

The first group uses the body as the object of full awareness.

And the second uses feelings,

Pleasant or unpleasant,

Neutral feelings.

The third group uses the mind and the fourth the objects of the mind,

The conditioning,

The habit patterns.

And so we've arrived in the third group of these four exercises that have to do with our mind and the activities of the mind.

And the exercises,

The practices are designed to help us deal with whatever mental formations are present as well as cultivating mental formations that are beneficial and being in touch with the transforming mental formations that are not beneficial to kind of actually see them,

To recognize them as Sharon was introducing you to on Tuesday.

So as a way of entering the territory of the mind,

I just want to point out that there has been I think a strong tendency in the West,

In our culture here,

To present these teachings,

These Buddhist teachings as pretty rational.

It's about seeing things as they are in a direct way and in doing so sometimes what's left behind is if you're just looking at the direct experience,

What we don't experience or what's been left behind in the Buddhist teachings is the use of the imagination,

The use of creativity and images and stories and ideas that really support the teachings.

And so in the early teachings the Buddha uses a lot of similes and poetry,

Stories that touch into other dimensions of our inner life rather than the rational cognitive understanding.

It touches in an emotional way and sometimes in a motivational way.

The way in which we can be inspired and the way in which the mind is sort of gladdened.

There's happiness and oftentimes these teachings they tie into our memory and our associations.

So in this way all of our different faculties are touched and brought into the field of our awareness,

The field of our Dharma practice.

So this use of imagination and creativity it supports and contributes to the unification of the mind and the Pali word is Samadhi,

Unification sometimes translated as concentration.

So your unifying is to bring together all the faculties,

So the body,

The feelings,

The mind,

To bring them together so that they're really in harmony.

So cultivating and developing Samadhi is a really important part of this practice.

The Buddha said to see things as they are,

Cultivate Samadhi.

It's like okay,

Cultivate unification.

So using the imagination is a means to actually evoking the harmony and support of our practice.

But it needs to be done in a kind of a careful way because let's face it,

You know,

We use our imagination for all kinds of things that are not healthy and beneficial.

We can spend a lot of time in fantasy.

I recall one time on retreat becoming kind of bored with the practice and I just let my mind wander back to this novel that I had read and I imagined that I was one of the characters in this 14th century world and I really got lost in the pleasure of my imagination.

You know,

We do that.

There are all kinds of things that take us away from this practice.

So we have to get a feel for the imagination that kind of connects us to practice.

You know,

Breathing in I feel joyful.

Breathing out I feel calm.

Breathing in I feel happy.

Breathing out I feel happy.

And what if you don't?

What if you breathe out and you don't feel happy?

So do those phrases help us to be more settled and present for our experience?

It's using the imagination to eventually go beyond it,

Go beyond the imagination.

So it's kind of a stepping stone.

I imagine breathing out and feeling happy.

So the images that the Buddha seems to use are not really stories.

They tend to be more like the image of the body like a mountain or the earth.

Breathing is like flowing water,

Thoughts like clouds.

So not stories but rather images like the image of a like an underwater stream that's spreading goodness through the body.

It's not a story but it's a dynamic image of what's happening in the body as calmness starts to move through us.

And this can be really helpful.

You know we don't use the imagination in practice to avoid or deny what's going on,

To run away from life as it actually is.

But we use it with care so it helps support us to stay present.

And if it doesn't help us to be present then there's just no need to use it.

So in steps nine and ten it says breathing in I am aware of my mind.

Breathing out I am aware of my mind.

And breathing in I make my mind happy.

Breathing out I make my mind happy.

So it's on you right?

I make my mind happy.

So one of the ways that the Buddha talks about developing gladness,

Making the mind happy in meditation,

The gladness that leads to joy,

That leads to relaxation and tranquility,

That leads to happiness and that happiness that kind of leads to concentration,

Samadhi,

Is actually to appreciate what's absent when we sit and we meditate.

And the way this is described,

The most common absence that the Buddha emphasizes is the absence of the hindrances.

So as practitioners we're often confronted with these five hindrances,

Desire,

Aversion,

Sleepiness,

Restlessness and doubt.

And sometimes they can come in all at once.

And they can be very strong and compelling hooks.

They're hooks in the mind and we can get caught up in thinking about them.

They can get lost in our desire and our aversion,

In our fantasies,

Caught in our regrets and our worries.

Or sometimes we just fall asleep.

So as we settle down in meditation,

Getting more focused and relaxed and start to let go of the forces of our preoccupation,

The bait kind of of our thoughts that take us away from the present moment,

We're able to sit a little more in the present.

And then there's a time when the hindrances are not so strong anymore.

And it becomes easier to stay here.

And so the Buddha talks about having gladness because we're no longer caught or enslaved by the mind that pulls us towards desire,

Aversion,

Restlessness,

Sleepiness and doubt.

And it's interesting because again,

The story,

The imagination,

The Buddha gave five similes for being free of the hindrances,

To be really here with the absence of the hindrances.

And he says,

A person in debt,

Who becomes free of debt.

A person who was terribly sick,

Who is no longer sick.

A person who was in prison,

Who is freed from prison.

A person who was enslaved and who's become freed of slavery.

A person who has wandered into a dangerous desert for a long time,

Who comes out the other side and is no longer lost.

So these five similes are a reference point for us of being free from the hindrances.

And the reason for these similes is to give us a reference point for something to actually celebrate,

To be happy and joyful.

You know what?

I'm not in debt.

I'm out of prison.

I'm no longer sick.

If we don't remember that we're free of these things,

Then what happens is we go on to the next preoccupation,

The next worry,

The next concern.

So it's important to take time,

Not only to kind of go back to the breathing,

But to really appreciate the goodness and wellbeing that comes from being free of the hindrances.

And again,

This is where the imagination kind of comes in.

You know,

You can have a lot of irrational minds as well.

You know,

I am not lost in the desert or I have never been in prison.

We have different forms of enslavement.

I'm sure you've noticed that in your thinking,

Right?

So to really appreciate the goodness and wellbeing that comes with being free of these hindrances,

You know,

Not desiring in the moment when you're just sitting here.

The absence of restlessness,

So lovely to experience that.

The absence of worry,

The goodness of that,

Like spreading through the body.

So that's part of this unification process.

As we allow space for gladness and joy,

We're not like pumping it up artificially.

Hopefully it's like a natural joy and gladness,

Which is available when we take time to feel the goodness of what is happening in our meditation.

So the reason I bring this is the use of imagination is a stepping stone for going deeper into these 16 steps,

These methods of practice,

Particularly as we start to delve more deeply into the mind.

So thank you.

Thank you for your kind attention this morning.