638 lines
33 KiB
Plaintext
638 lines
33 KiB
Plaintext
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MEDITATION
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Meditation is the complement to prayer. While prayer directs the
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heart to Ultimate Reality as a transcendent object, meditation cleanses
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the heart of all finite objects which obscure Reality so that its ultimate
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point may be found within. Meditation takes several forms, and the scrip-
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tures teach several meditative techniques.
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Hindu, Jain, Taoist, and Buddhist scriptures describe meditation as
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sitting in a quiet spot, restricting all sense stimuli, controlling the
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mind's wandering thoughts and feelings, and finally attaining a stillness
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that reveals the true self-nature within. This self-nature may be the
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original Nothingness, or a union with the creative Spirit that flows
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through all things. In Confucian meditation this tranquillity is to make
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the mind clear and receptive to the impartial evaluation of knowledge.
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Meditative spiritual practices are also widespread in Christianity,
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Judaism, and Islam. Most of these practices were developed by mystics and
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monastics long after the scriptures had been compiled, and regrettably
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they are under represented in an anthology which is limited to scripture.
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Some are meditations on scripture: For example in Roman Catholicism the
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Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola and The Dark Night of the Soul
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by St. John of the Cross instruct one to meditate on events in Jesus'
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life and passion and identify one's own spiritual journey with them.
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Muslim Sufis often base their meditation on one or several of the Qur'an's
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Ninety-nine Most Beautiful Names of God.1 Jewish mystics may meditate on
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a verse of Torah to uncover its hidden meaning. Many Jews and Christians
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employ silent meditation as a valuable preparation for prayer; it is a
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time of quiet when the mind is calmed and clarified before communing with
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God.
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The distinctive Theravada Buddhist discipline of the Four Arousings of
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Mindfulness aims at achieving awareness of all movements, sensations,
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feelings, thoughts, and ideas as they come and go in the body and mind.
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The Buddha taught in the Satipatthana Sutta that one should become mindful
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at every moment on the ever-changing phenomena of body, senses, and
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thought. Through this meditation, a person realizes that everything in
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his body and all the phenomena of his mind are transitory and unreal, and
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he thus realizes the truth of Dependent Origination. A Mahayana Buddhist
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meditation is to construct a mental image: for example an image of Buddha,
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a bodhisattva, or the Pure Land.
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Finally, there is shamanistic meditation, where the goal is to receive
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a vision from the spiritual plane. After a communal initiation, assisted
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by songs, fasting, and invoking the spirits, the person on a vision quest
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goes to a lonely spot free of distraction. There he remains, meditating,
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until the moment when he breaks through beyond ordinary consciousness to
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receive a supernatural vision that gives purpose to his life and endows
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him with spiritual powers.
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- - - - - - - - -
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1See Qur'an 59.22-24, p. 836.
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- - - - - - - - -
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Verily, from meditation arises wisdom. Without meditation wisdom wanes.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 282
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Concentration is unafflicted one-pointedness.
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Buddhism. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 437
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- - - - - - - -
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Precious Garland 437: The same definition is given in Bhagavad Gita 6.12,
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pp. 843f.
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- - - - - - - -
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The Master said, "Hui is capable of occupying his whole mind for three
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months on end with no thought but that of Goodness. The others can do so,
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some for a day, some even for a month, but that is all."
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Confucianism. Analects 6.5
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Within the lotus of the heart he dwells, where the nerves meet like the
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spokes of a wheel at its hub. Meditate on him as OM. Easily may you
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cross the sea of darkness.
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Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.6
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In the cool, dew-drenched night are shining the stars:
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At this hour are awake the devotees, lovers of God,
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meditating each day on the Name--
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Their hearts meditating on the lotus feet of God,
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whom they forsake not for an instant.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa Chhant, M.5, p. 459
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Let the words of my mouth
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and the meditation of my heart
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be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
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my rock and my redeemer.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 19.14
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One must not stand up and say the Tefillah except in a serious frame of
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mind. The pious men of old used to wait an hour, and then say the prayer,
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in order to direct their hearts to their Father in heaven.
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Judaism. Mishnah, Berakot 5.1
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Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be silent.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 4.4
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Calm is his mind, calm is his speech, calm is his action, who, rightly
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knowing, is wholly freed, perfectly peaceful and equipoised.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 96
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Analects 6.5: Cf. Mencius II.A.2, p. 740. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.6: Cf.
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Mandukya Upanishad, p. 834; Bhagavad Gita 8.12-13, p. 344. Berakot 5.1:
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The 'Tefillah' refers to the Amidah, the Eighteen Benedictions, one of the
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chief Jewish prayers. Cf. Berakot 30b, p. 829; Chuang Tzu 23, p. 735.
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- - - - - - - - -
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When all the senses are stilled, when the mind is at rest, when the intel-
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lect wavers not--then, say the wise, is reached the highest state.
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This calm of the senses and the mind has been defined as yoga. He who
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attains it is freed from delusion.
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Hinduism. Katha Upanishad 2.6.10-11
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Block the passages,
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Shut the doors,
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Let all sharpness be blunted,
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All tangles untied,
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All glare tempered,
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All dust smoothed.
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This is called mysterious levelling.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 56
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Attain utmost vacuity;
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Hold fast to quietude.
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While the myriad things are stirring together,
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I see only their return.
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For luxuriantly as they grow,
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Each of them will return to its root.
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To return to the root is called quietude,
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Which is also said to be reversion to one's destiny.
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This reversion belongs with the eternal:
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To know the eternal is enlightenment.
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 16
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Can you keep the unquiet physical soul from straying, hold fast to the
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Unity, and never quit it?
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Can you, when concentrating your breath, make it soft like that of a
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little child?
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Can you wipe and cleanse your vision of the Mystery till all is without
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blur?
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Taoism. Tao Te Ching 10
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The wise man should surrender his words to his mind;
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and this he should surrender to the Knowing Self;
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and the Knowing Self he should surrender to the Great Self;
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and that he should surrender to the Peaceful Self.
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Hinduism. Katha Upanishad 3.13
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Yoga is a process of absorption into Brahman. Sense activities and out-
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ward expression (words) should be stopped and attention drawn into the
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mind. Then the mind should be Bodhisattvas should leave behind all pheno-
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menal distinctions and awaken the thought of the Consummation of Incompar-
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able Enlightenment by not allowing the mind to depend upon notions evoked
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by the sensible world--by not allowing the mind to depend upon notions
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evoked by sounds, odors, flavors, touch-contacts, or any qualities. The
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mind should be kept independent of any thoughts which arise within it. If
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the mind depends upon anything it has no sure haven.
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Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 14
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Arouse your entire body with its three hundred and sixty bones and joints
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and its eighty-four thousand pores of skin; summon up a spirit of great
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doubt and concentrate on the word "mu" (nothingness). Carry it continual-
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ly day and night. Do not form a nihilistic conception of vacancy, or a
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relative conception of "has" or "has not." It will be just as if you
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swallowed a red-hot iron ball, which you cannot spit out even if you try.
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All the illusory ideas and delusive thoughts accumulated up to the present
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will be exterminated, and when the time comes, internal and external will
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be spontaneously united. You will know this, but for yourself only, like
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a dumb man who has had a dream. Then all of a sudden an explosive conver-
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sion will occur, and you will astonish the heavens and shake the earth.
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Buddhism. Mumonkan 1
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Pure spirit reaches in the four directions, flows now this way, now that--
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there is no place it does not extend to. Above, it brushes heaven; below,
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it coils on the earth. It transforms and nurses the ten thousand things,
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but no one can make out its form. Its name is called One-with-Heaven.
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The way to purity and whiteness is to guard the spirit, this alone; guard
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it and never lose it, and you will become one with spirit, one with its
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pure essence, which communicates and mingles with the Heavenly Order.
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Taoism. Chuang Tzu 15
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Katha Upanishad 2.6.10-11: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 5.24, p. 533; Katha Upanishad
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4.1-2, p. 675. Tao Te Ching 56: Cf. Chuang Tzu 5, p. 553; 23, p. 928.
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Tao Te Ching 16: Cf. Chuang Tzu 12, p. 589. Tao Te Ching 10: Cf. Chuang
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Tzu 6, p. 584; on the figure of the little child, see Tao Te Ching 55,
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p. 231; 20, p. 608; Atharva Veda 6.121.4, p. 531. Katha Upanishad 3.13:
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concentrated on the buddhi, or the highest spiritual faculty of the soul,
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the individualized Atman. This too should be submerged into the Great
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Self or Cosmic Mind, thereby losing all notions of separate individuality.
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Finally, this Great Self, which still knows itself, is to dissolve into
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the Absolute, the Peaceful Self which is devoid of any distinction or dif-
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ference whatsoever. Compare the four states of the soul in Mandukya
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Upanishad, p. 834, the four or five levels of being in Katha Upanishad
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2.3.7-8, p. 93, the four nets in Maitri Upanishad 6.28, p. 1054, and the
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four meditations in the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, p. 170. Diamond
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Sutra 14: Cf. Sutta Nipata 1072-76, p. 532; Sutra of Hui Neng 6, p. 399;
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Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 12.3, p. 402; Seng Ts'an, pp.
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221f. Mumonkan 1: Zen (Ch'an) stresses the immediacy of the experience of
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enlightenment, which is not dependent upon logical progression or reflec-
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tion. It can only be realized through intense meditation. This passage
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describes what must be done to understand the koan, "Has a dog the Buddha
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Nature?" see p. 800. Chuang Tzu 15: Ch'i (Qi) is the spiritual energy
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pervading all things. Taoist meditation called Chi Gong and martial arts
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such as T'ai-chi, employ physical exercises in order to cultivate the ch'i,
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unite with its flow, and harness its power, resulting in inner tranquil-
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lity and spiritual vigor. Cf. Mencius II.A.2, p. 740; also Chuang Tzu 6,
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p. 584; 12, p. 589.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - -
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The Way of learning to be great consists in manifesting the clear charac-
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ter, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good.
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Only after knowing what to abide in can one be calm. Only after having
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been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquillity
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can one have peaceful repose. Only after having peaceful repose can one
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begin to deliberate. Only after deliberation can the end be attained.
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Things have their roots and their branches. Affairs have their beginnings
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and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near
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the Way.
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Confucianism. Great Learning
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On one occasion a certain monk was seated not far from the Buddha in
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cross-legged posture, holding his body upright, enduring pain that was the
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fruit born of former action, pain racking, sharp, and bitter; but he was
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mindful, composed, and uncomplaining. Seeing the monk so seated and so
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employed, the Buddha gave this utterance:
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For the monk who has left behind all karma,
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And shaken off the dust aforetime gathered,
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Who stands fast without thought of "I" or "mine"--
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For such there is no need to talk to people.
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Buddhism. Udana 20, Nandasutta
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Holding the body steady, with the three upper parts erect,
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And causing the senses with the mind to enter into the heart,
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A wise man with the Brahma-boat should cross over
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All the fear-bringing streams.
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Having repressed his breathings here in the body, and having his movements
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checked,
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One should breathe through his nostrils with diminished breath.
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Like that chariot yoked with vicious horses,
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His mind the wise man should restrain undistractedly.
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In a clean, level spot, free from pebbles, fire, and gravel,
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By the sound of water and other propinquities
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Favorable to thought, not offensive to the eye,
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In a hidden retreat protected from the wind, one should practice yoga.
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Fog, smoke, sun, fire, wind,
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Fireflies, lightning, a crystal, a moon--
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These are the preliminary appearances,
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Which produce the manifestation of Brahman in yoga.
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When the fivefold quality of yoga has been produced,
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Arising from earth, water, fire, air, and space,
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No sickness, old age, no death has he
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Who has obtained a body made out of the fire of yoga.
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Lightness, healthiness, steadiness,
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Clearness of countenance and pleasantness of voice,
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Sweetness of odor, and scanty excretions--
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These, they say, are the first stage in the progress of yoga.
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Even as a mirror stained by dust
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Shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed,
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So the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Soul,
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Becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed.
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When with the nature of the self, as with a lamp,
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A practicer of yoga beholds here the nature of Brahman,
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Unborn, steadfast, from every nature free--
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By knowing God, one is released from all fetters!
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Hinduism. Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.8-15
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- - - - - - - -
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Great Learning: Confucian meditation, called Quiet Sitting, has as its
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aim neither to find the Self nor to empty the mind, but rather to make the
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mind level and receptive to knowledge. According to the school of Wang-
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yang Ming, investigation of outward reality should begin with the investi-
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gation of one's own mind. Cf. Doctrine of the Mean 1.4-5, pp. 228f.;
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Great Learning 7, p. 928; Chuang Tzu 5, p. 553; 23, p. 928.
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- - - - - - - -
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Those who aspire to the state of self-discipline should seek the Self in
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inner solitude through meditation, controlling body and mind, free from
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expectations and attachment to material possessions.
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Select a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firm-
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ly on a cloth, a deerskin, and kusha grass. Then, once seated, strive to
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still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your
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heart will be purified. Hold your body, head, and neck firmly in a
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straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering. With all fears dissolv-
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ed in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to God, controlling
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the mind and fixing it on Me, sit in meditation with Me as your only goal.
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With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with
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the Self within, an aspirant attains Nirvana, the state of abiding joy and
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peace in Me.
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Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or
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sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temp-
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erate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of
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sorrow through meditation. Through constant effort they learn to withdraw
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the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the Self. Thus they at-
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tain the state of union.
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When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a
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lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation,
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the eternal Self reveals itself. Beholding the Self by means of the Self,
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an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfilment. Having at-
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tained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in the stilled mind,
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he never swerves from the central truth. He desires nothing else, and
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cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.
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The practice of meditation frees one from all affliction. This is the
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path of yoga. Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm. Re-
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nouncing wholeheartedly all selfish desires and expectations, use your
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will to control the senses. Little by little, through patience and
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repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.
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Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satis-
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faction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. Abiding
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joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint
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of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with God.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 6.10-27
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As long as I am seated in this meditation, I shall patiently suffer all
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calamities that might befall me, be they caused by an animal, a human
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being or a god.
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I renounce, for the duration [of this meditation], my body, all food, and
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all passions. Attachment, aversion, fear, sorrow, joy, anxiety, self-
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pity... all these I abandon with body, mind, and speech. I further re-
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nounce all delight and all repulsion of a sexual nature.
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Whether it is life or death, whether gain or loss, whether defeat or vic-
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tory, whether meeting or separation, whether friend or enemy, whether
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pleasure or pain, I have equanimity towards all.
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In [attaining] knowledge, insight, and proper conduct, [the cause] is
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invariably nothing but my own soul. Similarly, my soul [is cause] for
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both the influx of karmas and the stopping of that influx.
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One and eternal is my soul, characterized by intuition and knowledge; all
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other states that I undergo are external to me, for they are formed by
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associations. Because of these associations my soul has suffered the
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chains of misery; therefore I renounce with body, mind, and speech, all
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relationships based on such associations.
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Thus have I attained to equanimity and to my own self-nature.
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May this state of equanimity be with me until I attain salvation.
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Jainism. Samayika Patha
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- - - - - - - - -
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Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.8-15: The unity realized by the adept in medita-
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tion is described in Atharva Veda 19.51.1, p. 228. On the self-control
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required in meditation, see Bhagavad Gita 5.21-23, p. 199; 6.35-36, p.
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733; Dhammapada 33-37, p. 733. Bhagavad Gita 6.10-27: See the previous
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note. Samayika Patha: This is one of many recitations, samayika patha,
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inwardly repeated during the layperson's meditation, the samayika. Usual-
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ly performed at dusk, when the day's activities have come to an end, the
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layperson sits in a yoga posture, asks forgiveness of all beings, puts his
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mind in a state of calm, and begins his meditation. This Jain practice
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allows laypeople a taste of the ascetic life.
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- - - - - - - - -
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There is this one way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the
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overcoming of sorrow and misery, for the destruction of pain and grief,
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for winning the right path, for the attainment of Nibb-ana, namely the
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Four Arousings of Mindfulness. What are these four?
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Here a monk lives contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly
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conscious and mindful, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and
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dejection; he lives contemplating feelings in feelings, ardent, clearly
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conscious and mindful, having overcome, in this world, covetousness and
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dejection; he lives contemplating consciousness in consciousness, ardent,
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clearly conscious and mindful, having overcome, in this world, covetous-
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ness and dejection; he lives contemplating mental objects in mental ob-
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jects, ardent, clearly conscious and mindful, having overcome in this
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world, covetousness and dejection.
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And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating body in the body? Here
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a monk, having gone to the forest, sits down cross-legged keeping his body
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erect and setting up mindfulness in front of him. Mindful he breathes in,
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mindful he breathes out. Breathing in long, he knows, "I breathe in long."
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Breathing out long, he knows, "I breathe out long." Breathing in short,
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he knows, "I breathe in short." Breathing out short, he knows, "I breathe
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out short." "Experiencing the whole body I shall breathe out," thus he
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trains himself....
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And further, a monk knows when he is going, "I am going"; he knows
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when he is standing, "I am standing"; he knows when he is sitting, "I am
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sitting"; he knows when he is lying down, "I am lying down"; or just as
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the body is disposed so he knows it....
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And further, a monk reflects on this very body enveloped by the skin
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and full of manifold impurity from the soles up and from the crown of the
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head down, thinking, "There are in this body: hair of the head, hair of
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the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidney, heart,
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liver, membranes, spleen, lungs, bowels, intestines, mesentery, feces,
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bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, saliva, mucus, synovic fluid,
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|
urine."...
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|
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And further, if a monk sees a body dead for one day, or two or three,
|
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swollen, discolored, decomposing, thrown aside in the cemetery, he app-
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lies this perception to his own body, "Truly, this body of mine, too, is
|
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of the same nature, it will become like that and will not escape it."...
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|
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And how, monks, does a monk live contemplating feelings in feelings?
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Here a monk when experiencing a pleasant feeling knows, "I experience
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a pleasant feeling"; when experiencing a painful feeling knows, "I exper-
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|
ience a painful feeling"; when experiencing a feeling that is neither
|
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pleasant nor painful knows, "I experience a neither pleasant nor painful
|
|
feeling."...
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|
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|
And how does a monk live contemplating consciousness in consciousness?
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|
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|
Here, monks, a monk knows the consciousness with craving as with crav-
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|
ing; the consciousness without craving as without craving; the conscious-
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|
ness with anger as with anger; the consciousness without anger as without
|
|
anger; the consciousness with ignorance as with ignorance; the conscious-
|
|
ness without ignorance as without ignorance... the freed state of con-
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|
sciousness as the freed state; the unfreed state of consciousness as the
|
|
unfreed....
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|
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|
And how does a monk live contemplating mental objects in mental ob-
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|
jects?
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|
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|
Here, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental
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|
objects of the five hindrances. When sense desire is present, a monk
|
|
knows, "There is sense desire in me", or when sense desire is not present
|
|
he knows, "There is no sense desire in me." He knows how the arising of
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|
the non-arisen sense desire comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of
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|
the arisen sense-desire comes to be; he knows how the non-arising in the
|
|
future of the abandoned sense desire comes to be. When anger is present,
|
|
he knows... when sloth and torpor is present, he knows... when restless-
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|
ness and worry are present, he knows... when doubt is present, he knows...
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|
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|
Truly, monks, whoever practices these Four Settings up of Mindfulness
|
|
for seven years, then one of two results may be expected by him: highest
|
|
knowledge here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present,
|
|
the state of non-returning.
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|
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|
Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya i.55-63, Satipatthana Sutta
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|
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|
Buddha then replied to Vaidehi, "You and all other beings besides
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|
ought to make it their only aim, with concentrated thought, to get a
|
|
perception of the Western Quarter. You will ask how that perception is to
|
|
be formed. I will explain it now. All beings, if not blind from birth,
|
|
are uniformly possessed of sight, and they all see the setting sun. You
|
|
should sit down properly, looking in the western direction, and prepare
|
|
your thought for a close meditation on the sun; cause your mind to be
|
|
firmly fixed on it so as to have an unwavering perception by the exclusive
|
|
application of your thought, and gaze upon it when it is about to set and
|
|
looks like a suspended drum.
|
|
|
|
"After you have thus seen the sun, let that image remain clear and
|
|
fixed, whether your eyes be shut or open--such is the perception of the
|
|
sun, which is the First Meditation.
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|
|
|
"Next you should form the perception of water; gaze on the water clear
|
|
and pure, and let [this image] also remain clear and fixed; never allow
|
|
your thought to be scattered or lost.
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|
|
|
"When you have thus seen the water you should form the perception of
|
|
ice. As you see the ice shining and transparent, you should imagine the
|
|
appearance of lapis lazuli.
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|
|
|
"After that has been done, you will see the ground consisting of lapis
|
|
lazuli, transparent and shining both within and without. Beneath this
|
|
ground of lapis lazuli there will be seen a golden banner with the seven
|
|
jewels, diamonds and the rest, supporting the ground. It extends to the
|
|
eight points of the compass, and thus the eight corners [of the ground]
|
|
are perfectly filled up. Every side of the eight quarters consists of a
|
|
hundred jewels, every jewel has a thousand rays, and every ray has eighty-
|
|
four thousand colors which, when reflected in the ground of lapis lazuli,
|
|
look like one hundred thousand million suns, and it is difficult to see
|
|
them all one by one. Over the surface of that ground of lapis lazuli
|
|
there are stretched golden ropes intertwined crosswise; divisions are made
|
|
by means of [strings of] seven jewels with every part clear and distinct.
|
|
|
|
"Each jewel has rays of five hundred colors which look like flowers or
|
|
like the moon and stars. Lodged high up in the open sky these rays form a
|
|
tower of rays, whose stories and galleries are ten millions in number and
|
|
built of a hundred jewels. Both sides of the tower have each ten thousand
|
|
million flowery banners furnished and decked with innumerable musical
|
|
instruments. Eight kinds of cool breezes proceed from the brilliant rays.
|
|
When those musical instruments are played, they emit the sounds 'suffer-
|
|
ing,' 'non-existence,' 'impermenance,' and 'non-self'--such is the percep-
|
|
tion of the water, which is the Second Meditation.
|
|
|
|
"When this perception has been formed, you should meditate on its
|
|
constituents one by one and make the images as clear as possible, so that
|
|
they may never be scattered or lost, whether your eyes be shut or open.
|
|
Except only during the time of your sleep, you should always keep this in
|
|
your mind. One who has reached this stage of perception is said to have
|
|
dimly seen the Land of Highest Happiness (Sukhavati).
|
|
|
|
"One who has obtained samadhi is able to see the Land clearly and
|
|
distinctly: this state is too much to be explained fully--such is the
|
|
perception of the Land, and it is the Third Meditation."
|
|
|
|
Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 9-11
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - -
|
|
Majjhima Nikaya i.55-63: This sutta teaches the distinctively Buddhist
|
|
technique of meditation called the Four Arousings of Mindfulness. Cf.
|
|
Digha Nikaya ii.99-100, p. 679, Anguttara Nikaya v.66, pp. 724f. Medita-
|
|
tion on Buddha Amitayus 9-11: Meditating upon the Pure Land of Amitabha in
|
|
the Western direction through contemplating the setting sun was a popular
|
|
practice in ancient Japan. The Western gate of Shi-tenno-ji in Osaka was
|
|
believed to be the gate to the Pure Land, and it is said that many fol-
|
|
lowers gathered there at the spring and autumn equinoxes when the sun set
|
|
directly through the gate. The meditation itself continues through six-
|
|
teen stages, dwelling in turn upon the exquisite beauty of the Pure Land,
|
|
the glory of the Buddha and the great Bodhisattvas, and the destinies of
|
|
beings of various grades of character. In this passage we have mention of
|
|
the Four Noble Truths. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 17, p. 646, is a
|
|
meditation on the Tathagata himself. Cf. the description of the Pure Land
|
|
in Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra 15-18, pp. 358f.
|
|
- - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
Before I could go on my vision quest, I had to purify myself in the
|
|
oinikaga tipi, the inipi, the sweat lodge.... With the buffalo-horn
|
|
ladle, Good Lance poured ice-cold water over the red-glowing stones.
|
|
There was a tremendous hiss as we were instantly enveloped in a cloud of
|
|
searing white steam. It was so hot, it came like a shock wave upon me...
|
|
I dared not breathe; I thought that if I did I would burn my lungs into
|
|
charcoal. But I did not cry out. I just stuck my head between my knees.
|
|
Good Lance prayed. He used ancient words, "This steam is the holy breath
|
|
of the universe. Hokshila, boy, you are in your mother's womb again. You
|
|
are going to be reborn." They all sang two songs, very ancient songs,
|
|
going way back to the days when we Sioux roamed the prairie. Suddenly I
|
|
felt wise with the wisdom of generations. These men, my relatives, sang
|
|
loud and vigorously.... The little hut was shaken as if in the grip of a
|
|
giant hand. It was trembling as a leaf trembles in the wind. Beneath us
|
|
the earth seemed to move. "Grandfather is here," said Good Lance. "The
|
|
spirits are here; the Eagle's wisdom is here." We believed it; we knew
|
|
it. The pipe was passed.... Four times we smoked. After the last time,
|
|
Good Lance told me, "Hokshila, you have been purified; you are no longer a
|
|
child; you are ready now and made strong to go up there and cry for a
|
|
dream."...
|
|
|
|
Our vision pit was an L-shaped hole dug into the ground, first
|
|
straight down and then a short horizontal passage deep under the roots of
|
|
the trees. You sit at the end of that passage and do your fasting. A
|
|
grown-up man fasts anywhere from one to four days... in my case, it was
|
|
decided that I should stay up there alone without food or water for two
|
|
days and two nights.
|
|
|
|
[After some preparations] it was time for me to strip and go down into
|
|
the hole. My father and uncle wrapped me in a star quilt and tied me up
|
|
in it with a deer hide thong.... They patted me on the back, mumbled some
|
|
encouragements, and left me there.
|
|
|
|
The first hours were the hardest. It was pitch dark and deathly
|
|
still. I sat there without moving. My arms and legs went asleep. I
|
|
could neither hear nor see nor feel. I became almost disembodied, a thing
|
|
with a heart and wild thoughts but no flesh or bones. Would I ever be
|
|
able to see and hear again?... I don't know how long I sat there. All
|
|
sense of time had left me long ago. I didn't know whether it was day or
|
|
night, had not even a way to find out. I prayed and prayed, tears stream-
|
|
ing down my cheeks. I wanted water but kept praying. Toward evening of
|
|
the second day--and this time is only a wild guess--I saw wheels before my
|
|
eyes forming up into one fiery hoop and then separating again into bright,
|
|
many-colored circles, dancing before my eyes and again contracting into
|
|
one big circle, a circle with a mouth and two eyes.
|
|
|
|
Suddenly, I heard a voice. It seemed to come from within the bundle
|
|
that was me, a voice from the dark. It was hard to tell exactly where it
|
|
came from. It was not a human voice; it sounded like a bird speaking like
|
|
a man. My hackles rose... "Remember the hoop" said the voice, "this night
|
|
we will teach you." And I heard many feet walking around in my small
|
|
vision pit. Suddenly I was out of my hole, in another world, standing in
|
|
front of a sweat bath on a prairie covered with wildflowers, covered with
|
|
herds of elk and buffalo.
|
|
|
|
I saw a man coming toward me; he seemed to have no feet; he just
|
|
floated toward me out of a mist, holding two rattles in his hand. He
|
|
said, "Boy, whatever you tell your people, do not exaggerate; always do
|
|
what your vision tells you. Never pretend." The man was wearing an old-
|
|
fashioned buckskin outfit decorated with quillwork. I stretched out my
|
|
hands to touch him, when suddenly I was back inside my star quilt, clutch-
|
|
ing my medicine bundle of stones and tobacco ties. I still heard the
|
|
voice, "Remember the hoop; remember the pipe; be its spokesman." I was no
|
|
longer afraid; whoever was talking to me meant no harm.
|
|
|
|
Suddenly before me stretched a coal-black cloud with lightning coming
|
|
out of it. The cloud spread and spread; it grew wings; it became an
|
|
eagle. The eagle talked to me: "I give you a power, not to use for your-
|
|
self, but for your people. It does not belong to you; it belongs to the
|
|
common folks." I saw a rider on a gray horse coming toward me, he held in
|
|
his one hand a hoop made of sage. He held it high... and again everything
|
|
dissolved into blackness. Again out of the mist came a strange creature
|
|
floating up, covered with hair, pale, formless. He wanted to take my med-
|
|
icine away from me, but I wrestled with him, defended it. He did not get
|
|
my medicine. He, too, disappeared.
|
|
|
|
Suddenly somebody shook me by the shoulder. "Wake up, boy." My father
|
|
and my uncle had come for me. The two days and two nights were over.
|
|
|
|
Native American Religions. Leonard Crow Dog, Sioux
|
|
Vision Quest
|
|
- - - - - - -
|
|
Sioux Vision Quest: The vision quest began with an invocation to the
|
|
spirits in the sweat lodge; cf. the Winnebago Invocation at the Sweat
|
|
Lodge, p. 373.
|
|
- - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
|