Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

At ease and relaxed but attentive, awake and aware with the attitude of the knower, the observer, just witness the feelings, emotions, thoughts, memories and sensations that come and go; just observe the breathing, the experience of the body sitting, and maybe the ‘sound of silence’ (the background to the sounds of the traffic). This attitude of being here and now in the present is what we call ‘cultivation’ (bhavana), which is reminding oneself that there is only the present. The body is present now ― it is ‘like this’; the breathing is now ― it is ‘like this’; the ‘sound of silence’ is ‘like this’. Be aware of your mental state, your mood ― right now. Is it happy, sad, confused, peaceful, anxious or worried? The quality of your mental state is not the issue here because you are not being the judge or owner of what is present but only the witness. Many experiences don’t really have a clear-cut quality to them, do they? You might feel confused, uncertain, anxious, a lack of clarity and a general feeling of unease, sadness or loneliness, but reflecting that ‘it is like this’ or ‘this is the way it is’ is using the thinking process not to define or judge but to point to ― ‘My mood at this moment is like this.’ By just thinking these words, you become aware of your mental state, while at the same time being aware of the body and the breath. So this is discerning rather than discriminating. It isn’t a judgemental process but an observing, a witnessing without judging anything as right, wrong, good or bad.

It takes determination to trust this kind of awareness, ­however, because one’s conditioning tends always to go towards being judgemental and to think in terms of, ‘I shouldn’t feel like this! I don’t know what to do! How should I meditate?’ Whatever you are feeling, however, even if you feel confused about everything, just recognize it ― ‘Confusion is like this’. Be the one that is aware, not the one that is always trying to figure things out and know everything about everything. As a human being in this position I can’t know everything about everything ― yet I can know ‘this’. Know what you can know! Recognize that knowing is ‘this’!

bodom wrote:...

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:The quality of your mental state is not the issue here...

SN 45.8 trans. Ven. Thanissaro wrote:"And what, monks, is right effort? (i) There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (ii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen. (iii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (iv) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen: This, monks, is called right effort.

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:So this is discerning rather than discriminating. It isn’t a judgemental process but an observing, a witnessing without judging anything as right, wrong, good or bad.

the dictionary wrote:
discern
[dih-surn, -zurn]
verb (used with object)
1.
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend:
They discerned a sail on the horizon.
2.
to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate:
He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.
verb (used without object)
3.
to distinguish or discriminate.
Origin Expand
1300-50; Middle English (< Old French) < Latin discernere to separate, equivalent to dis- dis-1+ cernere to separate

Cormac Brown wrote:

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:The quality of your mental state is not the issue here...

Hmmm...

SN 45.8 trans. Ven. Thanissaro wrote:"And what, monks, is right effort? (i) There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (ii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen. (iii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (iv) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen: This, monks, is called right effort.

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:So this is discerning rather than discriminating. It isn’t a judgemental process but an observing, a witnessing without judging anything as right, wrong, good or bad.

Hmmm?

the dictionary wrote:
discern
[dih-surn, -zurn]
verb (used with object)
1.
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend:
They discerned a sail on the horizon.
2.
to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate:
He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.
verb (used without object)
3.
to distinguish or discriminate.
Origin Expand
1300-50; Middle English (< Old French) < Latin discernere to separate, equivalent to dis- dis-1+ cernere to separate

Bad Dhamma makes me sad.

Cormac Brown wrote:I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to.

Sea Turtle wrote:

Cormac Brown wrote:I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to.

That comes across as quite arrogant.

Cormac Brown wrote:I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to.

Cormac Brown wrote:I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to.

Cormac Brown wrote:

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:The quality of your mental state is not the issue here...

Hmmm...

SN 45.8 trans. Ven. Thanissaro wrote:"And what, monks, is right effort? (i) There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (ii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen. (iii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen. (iv) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds & exerts his intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen: This, monks, is called right effort.

The quality of your mental state is not the issue here because you are not being the judge or owner of what is present but only the witness.

Ajahn Sumedho wrote:So this is discerning rather than discriminating. It isn’t a judgemental process but an observing, a witnessing without judging anything as right, wrong, good or bad.

Hmmm?

the dictionary wrote:
discern
[dih-surn, -zurn]
verb (used with object)
1.
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend:
They discerned a sail on the horizon.
2.
to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate:
He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.
verb (used without object)
3.
to distinguish or discriminate.
Origin Expand
1300-50; Middle English (< Old French) < Latin discernere to separate, equivalent to dis- dis-1+ cernere to separate

Bad Dhamma makes me sad.

daverupa wrote:

Cormac Brown wrote:I'll try to correct anything that I think contradicts the Buddha's teachings and that masquerades as wisdom wherever it rears its head, not where you tell me to.

It's no contradiction; effort is one thing, mindfulness another. This mindfulness is only observation, while it's the goal of effort to adjust action based on un/wholesomeness.

You are getting mindfulness & effort confused. (Hasty thinking is a thing that makes me sad, alas...)

A close examination of the instructions in the Satipaììhãna Sutta reveals that the meditator is never instructed to interfere actively with what happens in the mind. If a mental hindrance arises, for example, the task of satipaììhãna contemplation is to know that the
hindrance is present, to know what has led to its arising, and to know what will lead to its disappearance. A more active interven- tion is no longer the domain of satipaììhãna, but belongs rather to the province of right effort (sammã vãyãma).