MA 39 Peace Energy Paves The Way To Transcendental Progress

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40:00

MA 39 Peace Energy Paves The Way To Transcendental Progress

by Phra Nicholas Thanissaro

Rated

5

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Beginners

Plays

281

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track explains how the power of peace energy, instead of being an alternative to the path of insight, actually paves the way toward it

Meet your Teacher

Phra Nicholas Thanissaro

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Meet your Teacher

Phra Nicholas Thanissaro

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Transcript

So you might just settle yourself now for some meditation and make sure you're comfortable enough to be able to sit for a long long time without having to move around too much. Close your eyes very gently as softly as you can and as usual we can take a few good deep breaths to ourselves slowly and smoothly. We breathe intentionally deep with the intention to relax the mind as well as the body and we breathe not only for relaxation but also to bring the awareness gently back to our body allowing our breath to become softer as we relax so we adopt a comfortable position for ourselves but still with our back fairly straight and our neck upright. Sometimes we assume our body is relaxed but when we come to check we find there are still places where tension seems to linger on. So we take a few moments to examine every single part of our body to make sure there's no remaining tension that's going to encroach on our little bubble of relaxation. We relax our shoulders from there we continue by relaxing our arms down to our hands and our fingers. We relax our torso and legs all the way down to our feet and our toes and we'll find that if we can manage to get the body to loosen up then our mind will loosen up as well. And as we turn to the relaxation of the mind we have to accept that there are many signs that we need meditation and most of them are to do with calming the mind. It may be because you're anxious about the past or because you worry about the future. You may feel guilty when you're not busy or you may still be trying to multitask in spite of all the mistakes you're making. You might be worried about good experiences coming to an end or you might simply want to live life more mindfully. But whatever your motivation is for practicing meditation from here on in we are going to let go of anything still on our mind no matter how noble the intention. So we let go of absolutely everything we can imagining our mind is slowing down becoming softer even if it is not yet quite still and with awareness within the body putting aside any worries or concerns in the mind while conjuring up a sense of happiness and joy to set the scene for the meditation ahead. And at this point we can imagine that inside our body is just an empty space and within the space of the body in our mind's eye we might conjure up a picture of the sun shining. In order to come to our center we just reach with our awareness with our awareness nuzzling and nestling up against the feeling inside the body center. So we allow our awareness to gravitate down towards the abdomen not rushing but just reaching with the awareness toward the center of the body which is like a point of reference or an anchor for the mind that from now on will help to prevent the mind from wandering as much. So the imagined sun at our center might be shining bright like a spotlight or a bright sphere or it might be vaguer than that. At first the imaginary sun might be more of a feeling of a feeling of bright light. We may feel the bright ball of light rather than seeing it but whatever form the object takes we stay with it graciously accepting any form it may take. And in the meantime our awareness continues to nuzzle and nestle up against the center of the sun and in practice we observe the object as if we were inside the object rather than looking down from on top of it. We accept it as it is while bearing in mind the success factors that tell us how best to observe sometimes known for short as the four C's, Concentration concentration and comfort in balance, Consistency and checking afterwards to confirm we are on the right track. We remain with this bright inner light that we have uncritically for now we can suspend judgment allowing the awareness to remain unperturbed at our center. The longer the mind has an unbroken connection with the center the more we can connect with a profound state of peace. If our mind slips outside the bright center then that sense of peace will diminish. But in the meantime we keep bringing our awareness back whenever it is distracted allowing the mind to merge closer and closer with that inner illumination. If the mind wanders we check in again with where the mind is bringing it back again to the center or to the middle of the bright light if necessary. And in the meantime we keep the mind neutral and free of questions or commentary. If any new experience arises we notice it and no more. We just accept the experience as it is. We maintain an observant mind that just accepts what the experience is without any need to find an explanation for everything. We just observe and accept and if we have thoughts arising in the mind we do our best to ignore them or at least not to elaborate on them unless you're one of those people who has so many thoughts that it's impossible to avoid getting entangled in them. In which case you may need to make use of the traditional mantra hearing the sound of the words Samma Arahang Samma Arahang Samma Arahang repeated over and over in the mind so the actual source of the words is down there also at the center of the body along with the inner object. Samma Arahang Samma Arahang Samma Arahang lightly gently and continuously and with a special lightness of touch maintaining our inner object whether it's something we see or something we feel or is at the center of whatever is there even if it's darkness we can be at the center of it but the important thing is the lightness of touch so in this way we continue to maintain our attention on track at the center of the body each to our own practice for a few more moments now in silence until we come to the appropriate time. We continue to keep our mind in stillness at the center of the body as our mind settles more and more we start to notice a lighter feeling inside us feeling light is an indicator that a special sort of energy in the mind is continuing to accumulate more and more and this peaceful energy unlike solid matter has no weight at all the more of such energy we can manage to accumulate in the mind the more transparent and weightless our bodies will start to feel so as we meditate more little by little even without intending it we begin to feel as if we're becoming lighter as if that energy lightens up our being leaving us with a sense of transparency that extends throughout our body connecting even beyond the limits of our body and expanding outwards but in spite of the novelty of the experience we continue to maintain our mind free of any questions or commentary we don't encourage a skittish mind because the mind that jumps from one thing to another will be unable to connect fully with that peaceful energy but instead we remain at the soft nucleus of that inner experience as we continue our meditation for a few more moments in silence we continue to connect with the positive feeling inside the mind as it gradually slows down to touch the center space as time goes on it will become increasingly natural for the mind to remain motionless at the center immersed in the peace energy that is found there as the mind slows down it'll become easier for us to get in touch with that peace energy and each time our awareness touches gently at the center it's as if that peace energy will start to flow pervading us with a tide of clarity and peace that continues to feed into our meditation of course these subtle changes in the mind are not yet awakening or enlightenment but yet the way the peace energy is gradually accumulated will pave the way for us towards transcendental attainment without such energy it's very hard for us to go any deeper or further in our meditation that's why we need to remain present in the moment allowing ourselves to be filled to the brim with this peace energy and in the meantime we bide our time as the mind gradually fills up a process that may require our patience in the meantime we rest the mind motionlessly in order to connect with that stream of inner energy of course we know that this special energy in the mind has several transformative effects the way it cleanses the mind of the impurities the way it raises the quality of the mind the way it attracts happiness the way it stabilizes the mind while making the mind more flexible and radiant the way it increases the potential of the mind allowing us to take better decisions the way it allows us to have more insight more insightful analysis and helps our thinking to become more thorough and comprehensive for all of these benefits we need to allow the peace energy to kick in first of all we try to get ahead of ourselves when we don't have enough of that peace energy then we won't get too far so we remain at the center for a moment absorbing the peace energy with the mind at a standstill before long that sense of lightness will gradually arise within us there are some people who might dismiss that peace energy as a sort of mental distraction but at the beginning stages of our meditation it's something that should never be underestimated whether it be the groundwork of finding the center within ourselves balancing body and mind realizing the limitations of our physical existence sparking joy in life or sharing that joy with others all these stages of the practice apart from being a pleasure in and of themselves are also paving the way through the accumulation of peace energy towards the higher transcendental attainments so without losing or abandoning that sense of comfort and well-being that we've already built up for ourselves in meditation we continue to maintain our peace energy as continuously as we can for as long as we can it's one of the many paradoxes that surrounds the art of meditation like the gateless gate or non-duality or zen koans like that of the one hand clapping and no less confusing is the concept of benefiting from peace energy without it being something that we can own it's also a paradox to gain benefit when the benefit is no longer personal or egotistical because from its roots in the feel-good peace energy meditation will start to leave a permanent transformation in the way you see the world and even as that peace energy keeps on running and even as that peace energy keeps on running through the mind it allows us to see through the delusions especially concerning those of our self or our ego giving us a greater potential to be in the present and leaving us with more inspiration to do the greater things in our lives the more peace energy that we have built up for ourself the greater will be the scope that we have for compassion love creativity lightness harmony and joy rather than being stuck in a web of delusion so with peace energy in our meditation that we gradually accumulate more and more greater more subtle qualities of mind will become more accessible to us fully realizing now how this peace energy can pave the way towards higher attainments in our meditation we continue to focus our mind lightly and gently in this way just for a few more moments now in silence until we come to the appropriate time