安那般那數息禪修

I. Practicing Loving-and-Kindness

Whoever wants to practice mindfulness of in-and-out breath (ānāpānasati), I encourage you to practice loving and kindness toward to yourself for a while. There are two purposes to practice loving–and-kindness toward to yourself. First one is to make your mind be calm and peaceful. Secondly is to lead your mind to be close to the body so the mind will not wander other places. You can start to concentrate on your body, and send the wishes of loving-and-kindness to yourself according to the following four steps:

(1) May I be free from danger.

(2) May I be free from mental suffering.

(3) May I be free from physical suffering.

(4) May I be well and happy.

You reflect one step again and again until the body and mind is calm and relaxed, then go to practice the following step of loving-and-kindness.

After your mind is peaceful, then you start to practice ānāpānasati. Many people can attain absorption (jhāna) by practicing ānāpānasati. For successfully practicing ānāpānasati you need to systematically know the method of how to practice ānāpānasati. The object of ānāpānasati is in-breath and out-breath. For clearly noting the object of ānāpānasati, you need to pay attention to in-and-out breath around the area of upper lip and nasal place, where is also called “touching area.” The “touching area” is not your main object of ānāpānasati, the main object is the in-and-out breath, which is the air passing across the “touching area.”

While the breathing air is passing across your skin, you may have sensation feeling, which is not the object of ānāpānasati. Someone may pay attention to the sensation feelings, such as pushing, coolness, hotness, or tense, while the breathing air is touching our skin. These sensation feelings do not belong to the object of ānāpānasati, the object is the in-and-out air of our breathing. Therefore, you should ignore any sensation feeling arising from the air while it is rubbing with the skin.

Keep your mind at the nasal area, and do not follow the air into your body. If your mind is following into the body, such as lung or the abdomen, you will feel tense and uncomfortable. The way of avoiding your mind following the air entering the body is to guard the mind to stay at the nasal area, the tip of nose or the upper lip, where the breathing air is passing across.

II. Developing the Power of Concentration

In the process of practicing ānāpānasati, mindfulness is important. If the power of mindfulness is not strong enough, wandering thoughts will easily arise; you will not get any benefit from meditation. Therefore, you apply mindfulness at every in-and-out breath; let the mind only pay attention to the breath. What is the meaning of “mindfulness?” Mindfulness is “remember something.” What shall you remember? Your mind needs to keep at remembering in-and-out breath wherever and whenever you are.

You may have such experience: you intend to concentrate, but the mind quickly runs off from the object, like a monkey jumping from one tree to another one. You, therefore, need to train your mind. Through training your mind, you can control the mind. So, how do you train the monkey mind, which jump here and there? You tie it by a string. Likewise you can control your mind by a string. What is the string? The mindfulness is the string. Through mindfulness, you can tie your mind and fix it at one point.

You can use two strings to tie the mind: one is to tie the monkey-like mind; the other is to concentrate your mind on in-and-out breath. These two shall not keep too far away from each other. Continually you bring your mind back to the in-and-out breath, and then your mind will stay at the in-and-out breath. When the mind was continually brought back by the mindfulness again and again, later on the mind will feel tired of wandering out of the breath and rest at the breathing. So, keep bringing your mind back to the in-and-out breath. Being staying at the breath for a while, you will feel joyful.

In meditation retreat, open your mind to the only one object that is the in-and-out breath, and close to other objects. If the mind does not pay attention to the in-and-out breath, the defilement in the mind will arise. In this way, you will not get the benefit of meditation. Therefore, remember to open your mind only to the in-and-out breath. The mind is very difficult to be controlled. Keep opening the mind to one door is not easy since it will run away from the in-and-out breath. When you are aware of that the mind is wondering, you should stop it, and lead the mind back to the in-and-out breath. Continually bring the mind back to the object. If you continually keep your mind back to the in-and-out breath, for a while you will feel peaceful and happy from your mind.

III. Touching Point

What is “touching point?” It is the place where the in-and-out breaths pass through. The purpose of paying attention at one area around the nasal area aims to avoid the mind following the breath into the body or outside of body. While your mind is following the breath entering lung, stomach, or following the breath out of body, you will easily feel the wind element. The meditative method of feeling the wind elements of the Four Elements is different from the method of being aware of the in-and-out breath of ānāpānasati, even though both methods are all based on the air. For one practicing the Four Elements, he/she can follow the breath enter the body in order to feel the movement of the air in the body. In this way, he/she can observe the wind element. For you to practice ānāpānasati, the touching point is not the object of ānāpānasati, the breath crossing through the upper lip or the tip of the nose is the main object of ānāpānasati. If you pay attention to the sensation feelings of vibration, coolness or hotness of the breath, then you are practicing the Four Element, not the ānāpānasati.

The way of practicing ānāpānasati is to pay attention to the air in-and-out at the touching point, and clearly be aware of every in-and-out breath. Let the mind focus at the upper lip; pay fully attention to the in-breath and the out-breath. While the breath is passing fast, you know it is short, while the breath is passing slowly, then you know it is long. Do not follow the breath in the body or outside of body. Sometime, while the breath is fast, it is easy to connect with the heart. You may feel tense or tight at you chest. At this kind of circumstance, you need to relax, slow down you breath, and then the mind will calm down. Do not pay attention to the heart, or the beating of the heart. Relax your mind, keep your concentration on the breath, and clearly be aware of your object.

IV. Counting

If you have lots of wondering thoughts, then you can try to count in this way: “in-out breath One,” “in-out breath Two,” “in-out breath Three” … up to Eight, then count from one to eight again. If you can concentrate on the breath smoothly, then you can stop counting method. Just purely pay attention to the in-and-out breath.

When you become more familiar with breath than before, you may feel boring. Then you can try to be aware of long breath and short breath, which means the breathing time is long and shorter.

V. Overcoming the Five Hindrances

Content

Phenomena

Antidote

Sensual desire

Desire has two kinds of objects: material and immaterial object, desire to enjoy something, desire to have good food, or good music, which will lead one to have sensual pleasure, or attach to relatives, which will cause one to be unable to concentrate.

Guard the five sensual doors, practice the impurity, impermanence through strong mindfulness and continually lead the mind back to the breath.

Ill-will

Feel uncomfortable or angry to persons, events or things.

Reflect on kamma, cause and effect. Reflect on that everyone carries his/her own kamma. Practice loving-and-kindness, or equanimity, or color kasiṇas (blues, yellow, red and white.), through strong and powerful mindfulness you can bring the mind back to the breath (or meditative object).

Restless and remorse

Mind is not stable, up-and-down, going off the object, feels sorrow and regret.

Be aware of the unstableness of the mind and bring the mind back to the breath (or meditative object).

Sloth and torpor

Mind is dark without clearness, douse, the mind cannot pay attention to the object.

Keep straight up the body, pull the bottom of the ears, stimulate the fingers, or take deep breath.

Practice the recollection of death, contemplate lightness, bring the mind back to breath through strong and powerful mindfulness.

Skeptical

Doubt

Doubt yourself do not have enough capacity; feel yourself are not good enough, without confidence to yourself, sometimes doubt the Buddha, the Dharma or the teachings of the teacher.

Let go doubt, make effort to learn and try to experience dhamma from practice.

VI. Be Aware of the Subtle Breath

When the breath become subtle, you should be careful. Many yogis enter wrong track at this level. There are two possible situations will happen.

1. One will feel bodily comfort, and pays attention to the bodily comfort, in this way he/she forgets the breath, then his/her concentration drops.

2 At the level of being aware of subtle breath, one feels the mind is calm and quiet, then the mind stops keeping aware of the object, does not want back to breath, in which one will easily drop to bhavaṅga.

At the bhavaṅga level, the mind does not have function, no object, nothingness, sometimes some yogi will think that he/she attain jhāna or nibbāna. In fact, jhāna does mean not nothingness. Jhāna also has object, at which one still continually pays attention to nimitta. Through continually pay attention to nimitta, one can attain jhāna. One should be very careful at this point. When the breath becomes subtle, keeps awareness of the breath for 10-15 minutes, then for a while, in font of you eye, you will see the first level of nimitta, which may be some color, such as smoke, cloud or light.

When the breath becomes very subtle, some yogi may not feel the breath. While the yogi is waiting for the breath to appear, wondering thoughts may arise during that short period of time. At that moment, you should pay attention to the nasal place, gently take breath, then the nature breath will appear. Just gently or slowly take breath, do not take strong breath, which will make the breath become rougher, or faster than before, you will not feel comfortable in your mind or tense at your chest

VII. Nimitta (Sign of Concentration)

There are three levels of nimitta as follows:

(1) The first level of nimitta: after you continually pay attention to breath for a while, you will feel in font of your eyes there are some colors or smoke or cloud and so on. The colors are diverse based on individual perceptions. Someone has yellow color, some has white color; no matter what kinds of color, one shall ignore and not pay attention to it. Also, do not doubt about this phenomena, such as: What is this? Is this produced from my body or from outside light? Do I improve? Then you become curious and want to open your eye or pay your attention to the first level of nimitta. Keep your eye close and do not pay attention or focus at nimitta. If you pay attention to it, it will disappear. Be relaxed and let it be whatever it is, keep paying your attention to the breath.

(2) The second level of nimitta: you continually pay attention to breath, following the increasing of concentration, nimitta will change to be white light, it may shine, change, just do not care about it. If you pay attention to nimitta at this stage, the nimitta will disappear, or it will spread out and expand to all of your body. In this case, your concentration will drop.

(3) The third level of nimitta: you keep continually pay attention to the breath. When your concentration develops, the nimitta will become transparent, clear, like crystal, glass or morning star. Waiting for the nimitta closing to the tip of nose, or combining with the in-and-out breath to five to ten minutes, then change your attention from breath to nimitta, let go breath. From this stage, you will start to practice absorption (jhāna) by only paying attention to the nimitta.

VIII. Absorption ( Attainting Concentration)

(1) Practicing absorption in the transparent nimitta is as same as paying attention at subtle breath, in terms of not making too much effort, being relaxed and keeping happy with transparent nimitta. Do not be too tense or make too much effort in holding the nimitta. If you make too much effort, the transparent nimitta will disappear. If the transparent nimitta disappear, do not wait for the nimitta appear, just return back to in-and-out breath, the nimitta will appear again. While you are paying attention to transparent nimitta, do not care too much of the changing of nimitta, if the nimitta is not disappear, keep being aware of nimitta. The way of paying attention to the transparent nimitta is just as you pay attention in font of a beautiful scene or a picture with happiness and relaxed. Let it be. Peacefully watch the transparent nimitta. Keep being aware of the transparent nimitta and for a while, late on you will feel joyful and peaceful.

At the beginning of absorption, slowly close your mind to the transparent nimitta, and then the mind will eventually stick at the nimitta, like the magnet sticking to it. It is also all right if the mind imbeds or enters into transparent nimitta a little bit. Do not push the mind too fast, too much effort, which will cause the transparent nimitta disappear. The mind unites with the transparent nimitta at least one hour to two hours.

(2) Sometimes when the mind sticks to the transparent nimitta, you may stop the mind at transparent nimitta, and you will not know whether transparent nimitta is gone or not. This is real error since the mind drops into bhavaṅga. To be aware of this error is a very crucial point. Absorption (jhāna) does not mean that the mind stops function and knows nothing. In absorption, one still keeps being aware of transparent nimitta. In this moment, the mind clearly knows the object of transparent nimitta is clear and transparent, which is the function of applied thought (vittaka). Keeping continually being aware of transparent nimitta is the function of investigating thought (vicāra). The mind also arise two feelings during absorption: the mind feels rapture (pīti), and happy (sukkha).

(3) During absorption you will not arise wondering thoughts; your mind will only be rapture, happy and peaceful without other feelings. You should try to keep absorption for one hour, two hours, or three hours. When you are in absorption, you shall not have any wondering thought, and also not feel hands, feet, and your body. What you have in absorption is continually being aware of transparent nimitta with rapture, happiness and tranquility.

IX. Checking Five Factors of Jhāna

After you emerge from jhāna, you need to check the five factors of jhāna. First step is to pay attention to the bhavaṅga citta, which locates at the bottom of the heart, then check whether the sign of transparent nimitta appears at the bhavaṅga citta or not. After you quickly check the first step, then the mind immediately comes back to the transparent nimitta. Do not spend too long time at checking. All the mental activities come from the bottom of heart base, which is located at the bottom of the heart.

The following step is to check the five factors of jhāna. How to check those factors? First of all, you need to know the meaning of five factors, then you can check them at the bhavaṅga citta to make sure whether there are those factors or not. The way of checking is by reflecting those factors between the transparent nimitta and the mind either one by one or five factors at one time. The meaning of the five factors of jhāna and the ways of checking those factors are as follows:

(1) Applied thought (vitakka) means that the mind is being knows the nimitta is the object of ānāpānasati. After you understand the meaning of vitakka, then check at the heart base of vitakka by feeling it, then you pay attention to nimitta again.

(2) Sustained thought (vicāra) means that the mind is continually being knowing the nimitta. After you understand the meaning of vicāra, you check it at heart base and try to feel it, and then pay attention to nimitta again.

(3) Rapture (pīti) means the mind likes nimitta. Checking rapture at heart base then pay attention to nimitta again.

(4) Happiness (sukkha) means the mind is feeling happiness while you are experiencing the nimitta. Check the feeling of sukkha at heart base then pay attention to nimitta again.

(5) One-pointedness (ekaggatā) means the mind unites with nimitta in one, fully concentrate on nimitta and the mind feels quiet. Check one-pointedenss at heart base then pay attention to nimitta again.

In addition, it is important to know the difference between rapture and happiness. Rapture and happiness are basically similar, but rapture arises before happiness if they all arise serially. For example, a traveler was walking in the dessert for a long time and felt thirsty and tired. While he found that there were trees besides a pond on the road ahead, definitely he became very rapture (pīti). He walked fast near the pond to happily drink the water of pond, and then took a rest under the tree, he felt happy (sukkha). These are the difference between rapture and happiness. According to different levels of jhāna, you will have different feelings of these five factors of jhāna, which you will know clearly in practicing jhāna. At second jhāna, rapture is obvious; at third jhāna happiness is more obvious than in the second jhāna.

IX. Checking Five Mastering of Jhāna

After you check the factors of jhāna, you can practice Five Masteries of Jhāna.

The five masteries are as follows:

(1) Mastery of adverting to the jhāna factors: you can emerge from jhāna to check the factors of jhāna at the heart base.

(2) Mastery of reviewing the jhāna factors: you can review the factors of jhāna.

(3) Mastery of entering jhāna whenever you desired: you can enter jhāna as you desire, for example in ten minutes, and then you can be absorbed in nimitta.

(4) Mastery of resolution of staying in jhāna: you can stay in jhāna as you determined, such as one hour, you can continue stay at jhāna for one hour.

(5) Mastery of emerging from jhāna: you can emerge from jhāna as the determined time.

X. Practicing Second, Third and Forth Jhāna

After you are familiar with the five masteries of the first jhāna, then you can practice the second jhāna. When you emerge from the first jhāna, you review the jhāna factors. By reflecting the faults and disadvantages of the first jhāna, which is near five hindrances and vitakka and vicāra are gross. Then you decide to abandon the vitakka and vicāra, which are gross, and desires to attain the second jhāna, which is more tranquil since there are only pīti, sukka, and one-pointed mind.

In the second jhāna, pīti is strong. After you reflect the difference between first and second jhāna, then you continues to absorb in transparent nimitta, by this way you enters second jhāna. After you are successful in attaining the second jhāna, then you can practice the five masteries of second jhāna.

After you are satisfied your practice of the five masteries of second jhāna, then you can try to progress to the third jhāna. When you emerge from the second jhāna, you first review the three factors of the second jhāna. Continually you reflect the faults and disadvantages of the second jhāna, in which there is rapture, which is gross, less calm than happiness and one-pointed mind in the third jhāna. For attaining the third jhāna, you again concentrate on the transparent nimitta. After you attain the third jhāna, you can practice the five masteries of the third jhāna.

When you feel satisfied at the five masteries of the third jhāna, you can progress to the forth jhāna. When you emerge from the third jhāna, you review the jhāna factors of the third jhāna, then you reflect the faults and disadvantages of the third jhāna, that is: the third jhāna has the gross jhāna factors of happiness, which makes it less calm than the forth jhāna. For attaining the forth jhāna, you again decide to abandon gross the jhāna factors of happiness, and concentrate on the transparent nimitta again, by this way you enter the forth jhāna, in which there are two jhāna factors: equanimity and one-pointedness. After you attain the third jhāna, you continually practice five masteries of the third jhāna.

【編按】本文原載於菩提學會yahoo blog，12/19/2006