Doing Other Practices?

Question: How do you integrate what you know from your other practices into TWIM?

You Don't!

Don't do it! Give up everything you know, just for this retreat, and set aside everything else you know about meditation practice. Do not add or subtract.

This is a specific recipe that can't have any ingredients left out or added. The unification of mind that leads to jhana will not happen unless all of the right factors are there. Don't mix breath and metta. Don't strive or push. Don't do one practice and then another in the same sitting--that's your mind distracting itself. Stay with your Friend -don't switch or wander. Don't use Noting.

Unlike Concentration practice you want to hold your meditation object lightly- don't bore down on it. Just Know its there.

When you 6R, let go completely of your object and look at the hindrance by itself. Don't hang onto both of them at once.

 

Let go of everything that you know and bring your Beginner's Mind!

The Background
Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM) is a unique practice. It is not what is being referred to as "Mindfulness" today. Mindfulness, in this context, refers to focusing on an object with concentrated attention. This includes any sort of absorption practice using candle flames, kasinas, round discs, and even the breath in a concentrated way, whether at the nose-tip or belly. We are using the suttas as our guide and not practices that came before or after the Buddha.

Bhante Vimalaramsi defined Mindfulness as watching the mind's attention move from one object to another. The aim is to understand the craving force in the mind with the goal of letting it go.

Mindfulness, as used elsewhere, is about one-pointed attention to an object to develop a focused mind. It is about dispelling the 5 hindrances through suppression by sheer force of concentration. Instead of the 6R process with a relax step, the meditator forces the mind onto the object, and even if it isn't forced, there is no relax step added to quell the wandering mind.

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TWIM is based on the Buddha's teaching of Mindfulness and Collectedness (Vipassana and Samatha) yoked together.  That is the 6R's  watching the movement of the mind (propelled by craving) and tranquilizing the mind.  There is no other practice that does this. So, truly, coming to stillness with an open mind without any suppression, one has to purify the mind of hindrances and taints with awareness and release.  Remember the Sutta talking about the stained cloth.  We cannot put new bright dye (new thought patterns) on a mind that still has stains in it because they have not been released through awareness and release/relax (a lot of scrubbing of that cloth).

There are two types of Jhāna: the first is concentration jhāna and the second is Tranquil Aware Jhāna. Concentration jhāna is one-pointed and suppresses hindrances, while the second style recognizes hindrances, lets them be there, and gives no further attention. Gradually, the mind unifies onto the object without the need to be held there.

If the 6Rs are not present you will not get the same result. Stick to one practice for the sitting to get the result you wanted. If things don't work out you can always change -but after you give it a fair try.

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What about any of the 1000’s of different styles that have a little bit from every other practice?

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 The Cake won’t rise! 

 

Choose Beginners mind! Meditators in TWIM who make the most progress are people who know nothing about meditation at all and just follow the instructions for the period of time they are on retreat. They don’t experiment, add or subtract. They just do what is told -and it works!