Awareness in Buddhist Meditation

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134 not ‘mine’, but which is all-pervading just because there is no ‘self’. And so, this all-pervading sympathy leads on to a perfect harmony which is the final and most pure abode in mental development, the peace of equilibrium, even-mindedness, poise, equanimity (upekkhā). Equanimity The peace of even-mindedness (tatra-majjhattatā) is the goal of all concentration (samādhi), culminating in tranquillity (samatha). In the constant experience of conflict (dukkha) there is but one aim: the experience of no-more-conflict (dukkha-nirodha). It is the third noble truth, leading directly to the path of deliverance, the noble eightfold path (ariya-aṭṭhaṅgika-magga). It is the perfect bliss (parama sukha) which is the cessation of all becoming (bhava-nirodha), the end of all desire, Nibbāna. Equanimity as a lofty mental factor (sobhana-cetasikā) is an ingredient to all skilful thought. It makes the concomitant factors proceed equally and smoothly, checking both deficiency and excess. It is the balancing power in thought, the neutral middle of equilibrium, and hence, even-mindedness. Not being balanced in favour of one or another, it leads to one-pointedness (ekaggatā) which is necessary for tranquil concentration (samatha bhāvanā, samādhi). This equanimity is the culmination of ecstatic concentration (jhāna) when all hindrances (nīvaraṇa) are inhibited and put to sleep. It is also the culmination of the ten perfections (pāramitā) of a bodhisatta, the final virtue which qualifies him for enlightenment, if he so wishes. It is the last and most glorious aspect of the seven facets of insight, the seven factors of enlightenment (satta sambojjhaṅga), forming an essential part of the 37 limbs of wisdom (bodhipakkiya dhamma). Thus, it is notable among the four sublime states (brahma-vihāra), as the most divine of all. Intellectual among the emotions, detached among the virtues, one-pointed in absorption, it calms down the passions of aversion and of fawning;
135 it realises the sameness of all beings and asks for neither preference nor acknowledgement. Yet, equanimity is not just a state holding the balance in the middle; for, that would for ever remain a most precarious position, liable to be upset by the slightest unbalance on either side. Such may be the suspended awe in ecstasy where the obstacles are made inoperative for the moment. Such mental attitude could be the outcome of mind-control; but in control and discipline there is the effort to maintain stability; there is self-restraint and desire for a well-balanced condition. This condition is, however, still an ideal for which the mind and the will strive in developing, in the hope of attainment of the ideal concept of equanimity. But, as long as equanimity remains an object as an ideal virtue, there is no even mindedness, but only striving to become, escaping from the turmoil of conflict, searching for a peace in which the ‘self can continue undisturbed. Once again, therefore, one has to tum away the view from the objective goal which is the goal of subjective striving, as all this effort is only an escape from conflict into the image of tranquillity. What is the object of this striving for mental peace? It is the ‘I’ who is being disturbed and hence seeks peace. And what is this disturbance? In the non-acceptance of what is there is the building up of an ideal image from which all disturbances may be excluded. And what is there to disturb the ‘I’? What is the ‘I’ to be disturbed? While writing or concentrating on my studies, I am distracted by external noises. But those noises are not external; they are the reactions of thought to the reception in the senses. That means that I am that reaction; and that I am the disturbance. It is the reaction of rejection which is the disturbance. Merely to force thought to concentrate more on my books and study will not reduce the disturbance; for, my increased objection and rejection can only increase the opposition which has been made by the isolation of ‘self’. Now, the entire process is reversed, as it were. Instead of concentrating on a suppression of a disturbance
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Copyright Notice This work is licen
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4 Awareness of Perceptions . . . .
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From the publisher Henry Van Zeyst,
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10 the ‘ego’, for the maintenan
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12 insubstantiality (anatta). The l
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Awareness, the Beginning of Enlight
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3 more important than the understan
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5 continuance in impermanence, conf
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7 Awareness is not Consciousness Aw
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9 When there is no Awareness We are
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11 not come through exertion, does
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Mindfulness as Recollection However
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15 the Buddha is seen as the perfec
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17 with good conduct, for they are
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19 understanding of the degree of d
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21 as change in evolution. And to s
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23 our craving for continuity, this
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25 observation leads to a feeling o
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27 of the eye, the flexibility of t
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29 awareness. When consciousness ce
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31 thing to be talked about as an a
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33 an escape is only more conflict.
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Applications of Awareness Awareness
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37 Here is a sensation which is con
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39 as a soul to carry and to carry-
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41 (saññā) ideations or mental f
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43 an entity, free from the opposit
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45 Attachment to rules and rites (s
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47 is thus made an object for striv
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49 mind, such as the five hindrance
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51 cur, a revelation not through di
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53 of achieving, but just melts awa
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55 which prevent the mind to be at
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57 bare attention, not with the int
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59 of a search for happiness contai
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61 ery experience is fresh, in whic
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that craves for continuance, of all
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66 Originally, in the early suttas,
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68 the conflict, and conflict is mi
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70 mind again. ‘What is felt is p
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72 counter-balance to delusion (moh
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74 be able to get rid of the deprav
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Awareness in Reaction Methods How c
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79 of, will be there. But that is n
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81 past. Clinging to the past has f
Page 99 and 100: 83 denial or to a spiritual ideal,
Page 101 and 102: 85 When the mind is totally open an
Page 103 and 104: 87 happens to a watcher who is foun
Page 105 and 106: 89 now projected into the future as
Page 107 and 108: 91 property, who set fire to my hou
Page 109 and 110: 93 experience. When no answer is so
Page 111 and 112: 95 there is freedom to see, to unde
Page 113 and 114: 97 what it is, and not where it com
Page 115 and 116: Awareness in Meditation Stillness o
Page 117 and 118: 101 future, based on a dead memory.
Page 119 and 120: 103 neither the ‘self’, nor the
Page 121 and 122: 105 truth; becoming as ‘self’,
Page 123: 107 to become perfect. Awareness do
Page 126 and 127: 110 is the wide vista for all to se
Page 128 and 129: 112 truth in spheres where sense-pl
Page 130 and 131: 114 has no entity, no conflict can
Page 132 and 133: 116 all know what is right; and yet
Page 134 and 135: 118 true relationship, as all conta
Page 136 and 137: 120 is in loving, the thought of lo
Page 138 and 139: 122 loving; and that moment is alwa
Page 140 and 141: 124 Compassion is frequently seen a
Page 142 and 143: 126 should not be a barrier of dist
Page 144 and 145: 128 is the food on which the ‘I
Page 146 and 147: 130 Sympathy Sympathetic joy (mudit
Page 148 and 149: 132 no preoccupation, no pettiness,
Page 152 and 153: 136 through mind-control or substit
Page 154 and 155: 138 am that projection, that ideal,
Page 157: About the Author Henri van Zeyst wa
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Awareness in Buddhist Meditation

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