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-by-step 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 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 in the
sutta as ‘an action to be performed’ 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 our involvement
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 Re-smiles. 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.
May you reach Nibbana quickly and easily in this very life time!
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