Has anyone practiced Contemplation of Virtue? (Silanussati)

[thang]

Has anyone practiced Sila anussati (Contemplation of virtue)?
It was hard to find a one.

[JamesTheGiant]

Has anyone practiced Sila anussati (Contemplation of virtue)?
It was hard to find a one.

Yes I used to do that, but only for perhaps a minute at the beginning of a meditation session, to arouse gladness and positive feeling.
I found that "gladdening the mind" before starting breath meditation made the meditation session very much more powerful and deep.

[thang]

"Ragassa bhikkhave parinnaya cha dhamma bhavetabba.|| ||
Katame cha?|| ||
Buddhanussati,||
dhammanussati,||
sanghanussati,||
silanussati,||
caganussati,||
devatanussati.|| ||
Ragassa bhikkhave parinnaya ime cha dhamma bhavetabba" ti.|| || [Anguttara Nikaya Chakkanipata XII.]

Ariyakantehi sīlehi samannāgato hoti akhaṇḍehi acchiddehi asabalehi akammāsehi bhujissehi viññup­pasat­thehi aparāmaṭṭhehi samā­dhi­saṃ­vatta­ni­kehi. [ SN 55.1, Cakka­vatti­rāja ­Sutta]

[url]Silanussati: Reflect on your own conduct to see if you've overstepped any of your precepts, and — if you have — immediately purify your behavior through your own intention. [Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo][/url]

What is here intended to contemplate out of following points?
1.The joy about the precepts which have been successfully observed.
2.The unsatisfied feeling about the current level of sila.
3.The importance of the sila.
I'll be grateful if anyone could say as you have understood.

[SarathW]

I'll be grateful if anyone could say as you have understood.

I think it is pretty straight forward to me.
For instance:
- I contemplate that I have not consumed alcohol for a longer period of time.
- I contemplate that I have a tendency to kill ants etc. in my kitchen when I wash dishes etc.
- I understand that it is important to refrain from even the slightest falt even killing an insect.

[Akashad]

Yes I do.it's a big part of my practice even though I always break some and am not pure in my actions.

Basically I bought a thick book.And wrote down:
1.The benefits of keeping sila.Like becoming confident,having a high rebirth,having a good reputation,having a protective quality,purify the mind,assist in meditation,no remorse etc.This motivates to keep the precepts.

2.I write down the five precepts.

3.I make these boxes like challenges 1 day challenge for each precepts, if then I'm succesful then 3 day then 5,10,15,30 up to 365 days.This really builds up the habit.

I also review my sila twice a day before I meditate.It helps gather the mind.Even when you break them you have momentum you've build up and keeping the sila becomes your new normal or habitual.

This is just how I go about practicing silanusati.

If a particular Sila is hard to break then I trace back what caused it,what's supporting it,like a chain reaction where did it arise from,then instead of worrying about that sila I just remove the factors that caused it.if you can pin down the cause things won't seem so vague and random.

Hope this helps.

[Srilankaputra]

Gihi Sutta

“And which four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now does he obtain at will, without difficulty, without hardship?

“There is the case where the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence in the Awakened One: ‘Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, blessed.’ This is the first pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean.

“Furthermore, he is endowed with verified confidence in the Dhamma: ‘The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the wise for themselves.’ This is the second pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean.

“Furthermore, he is endowed with verified confidence in the Sangha: ‘The Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples who have practiced well… who have practiced straight-forwardly… who have practiced methodically… who have practiced masterfully—in other words, the four pairs, the eight individuals —they are the Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.’ This is the third pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean.

“Furthermore, he is endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration. This is the fourth pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean.

“These are the four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now that he obtains at will, without difficulty, without hardship.

https://suttacentral.net/an5.179/en/thanissaro

[Assaji]

Basically I bought a thick book.And wrote down:
1.The benefits of keeping sila.Like becoming confident,having a high rebirth,having a good reputation,having a protective quality,purify the mind,assist in meditation,no remorse etc.This motivates to keep the precepts.

2.I write down the five precepts.

3.I make these boxes like challenges 1 day challenge for each precepts, if then I'm succesful then 3 day then 5,10,15,30 up to 365 days.This really builds up the habit.

I also review my sila twice a day before I meditate.It helps gather the mind.Even when you break them you have momentum you've build up and keeping the sila becomes your new normal or habitual.

This is just how I go about practicing silanusati.

If a particular Sila is hard to break then I trace back what caused it,what's supporting it,like a chain reaction where did it arise from,then instead of worrying about that sila I just remove the factors that caused it.if you can pin down the cause things won't seem so vague and random.

Hope this helps.

Thank you!

[Eko Care]

Dear world,
You can distinguish the good people here in this thread!

[Srilankaputra]

I don't know if this is the correct way but last night after watching some international news this sort of reflection occurred in my mind. 'So many types of crazy, harmful actions that are possible in this world that I am not doing. So many terrible consequences I must be free of'. My sila is not perfect but this really uplifted my mind.

[sentinel]

Guarding the sense base is sila in action , that produce the pure samadhi .

[Bhikkhu Ariyananda]

Let me share my experience

After years of practicing Meditation

An Insight arose while Meditating ...That I need to make "peace" with my Kamma

Kamma not just of this life but of many lives but mainly i was reflecting on the "Kamma" done in this Life!

But I made peace with those by knowing myself that I have done more good than bad

For the Bad an example would be if I have done something unknowingly as a child say for example it could be like the below scenario

Take an example of a scenario as explained by Ajahn Suchart what do you feel when you see a Man fishing and catches a fish...now if you are with the normal conventional reality you would see the act as cruel of the man to kill the fish

Now to flip the mind into seeing more than what you are seeing or are you seeing the effect of what the fish did to that man in a previous life..where the fish was the man and the man the fish?

So The above helped me to make peace with the Kamma that i have done and when i reflected this in meditation where i knew i have done more Virtuous things it went deeper into Samadhi and the calmness lasted for a long time with the awareness of sensations and making peace with them too (being aware and equanimous)

Hope this helps!

Regards
Kiranraj

[TLCD96]

There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from taking life. In doing so, he gives freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers of beings. In giving freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers of beings, he gains a share in limitless freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, and freedom from oppression. This is the first gift, the first great gift — original, long-standing, traditional, ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from the beginning — that is not open to suspicion, will never be open to suspicion, and is unfaulted by knowledgeable contemplatives & brahmans.

Likewise for the rest of the precepts.

Recollecting this has been helpful to me. I've got a lot of anxiety (maybe as much as everybody else actually), and I notice that it's easy to relax once I recognize that not only does my keeping of precepts keep me safe (and that my current state is due in part to my keeping of precepts, given that I'm not in jail or in a troubled relationship etc), but also, observing that others are not breaking any precepts naturally gives a space a sense of peace. Even a rather hectic school environment can be peaceful because nobody's stealing or killing, etc. These two reflections combined help me to feel at ease.

And as for a person who is impure in his verbal behavior, but pure in his bodily behavior, how should one subdue hatred for him? Just as when there is a pool overgrown with slime & water plants, and a person comes along, burning with heat, covered with sweat, exhausted, trembling, & thirsty. He would jump into the pool, part the slime & water plants with both hands, and then, cupping his hands, drink the water and go on his way. In the same way, when the individual is impure in his verbal behavior but pure in his bodily behavior, one should at that time pay no attention to the impurity of his verbal behavior, and instead pay attention to the purity of his bodily behavior. Thus the hatred for him should be subdued.

I'm also grateful for Ven. Analayo's interpretation of the lesser discourse on emptiness. He suggests that each successive perception of emptiness is an abandonment of stress; one state of perception is empty of the stress that was present in the prior perception. In this sense, attending to the peace that comes from not breaking any precepts can mean discerning the non-suffering of keeping the precepts.

[Cittasanto]

Hi,
We should reflect before during and after an action.
This would include meditation, and in day-to-day life.
In truth
Cittasanto

[TLCD96]

From Abhayagiri's Beginning Our Day:

Recollecting Our Goodness • Ajahn Amaro • December 2008 • When we’re engaged in a lot of activity, we can become so focused on the details of what we’re doing that we forget there’s an element of generosity and goodness in our actions. When Ajahn Sumedho was a young monk, Luang Por Chah recommended that he recollect his good qualities. Ajahn Sumedho couldn’t understand what Luang Por was talking about because his mind was quite busy and filled up with negative thoughts and emotional habits. He thought of himself as basically a selfish, nasty, horrible person, and an embarrassment to the robes.

Luang Por Chah told him, “If you’re such a bad person and really evil, you wouldn’t want to live with Buddhist monks. We would be the last people you would want to spend time with. If you’re so off the mark and if your mind is so given to unwholesomeness, you wouldn’t want to be around people who are honest, refrain from stealing, refrain from consuming intoxicants, people who don’t behave in unruly ways. The last thing you’d want to do is be around virtuous people.” When Luang Por said this to him, he was quite startled by it. He thought to himself, You know that’s true. I can easily forget that I’m living in a Buddhist monastery with Buddhist monks. There must be some reason why I’m doing this.

We can become quite focused on our faults, wrongdoings, and the things we said that were less than generous, friendly, helpful, or patient. Even after someone has asked us for advice, what we think about later is how much better it would have been to have said this or that. Oh, I really didn’t get that right. The attention goes to all our shortcomings, failures, and weaknesses, and we obsess on those qualities.

That’s how it was for Ajahn Sumedho. So when Luang Por Chah suggested, “Why don’t you recollect all of your good qualities?” there was no pigeonhole for him to put them in. At that time any good quality he had, he saw as inflated, egotistical, proud, or conceited. But Luang Por said, “No. This is cāgānussati, recollecting your goodness, recollecting your own generosity. It’s a completely normal concept.” Now, since we’ve had the good fortune to hear Laung Por Chah’s advice to Ajahn Sumedho, it would behoove us to put that advice into practice for ourselves.

One way for us to do that is to recollect all the good effort we’re making in looking after the kitchen, providing food, looking after the construction projects, the kuṭis, the buildings, or the micro-hydro project we’re setting up. These are acts of generosity and kindness, of putting forth effort and putting forth our time to help other people. Many people have helped with the construction of the kuṭi down by the Bhikkhu Commons. Of those people, how many are actually going to live in it? Probably a very small proportion. The effort that we make is not simply in the single task we do, but also in the wholesomeness and goodness it supports—the kusala kamma it supports. By providing this dwelling, this food, these Dhamma talks, we bring enormous blessings into our lives.

Take Tan Ṭhitapañño, for instance. He’s wrestling with the intricacies of the Expression Engine software and the obstructive passwords that won’t let him use the program. When doing such hard work, it can be easy to forget about the fact that there are people all over the planet who delight in what this work accomplishes, Oh look, a new Dhamma talk on the Abhayagiri website. How marvelous! This is fantastic! This isn’t simply about trying to cheer ourselves up or look on the bright side. This really is the bright side. Earlier in the year a fellow came to Abhayagiri from Liverpool, England. He was so happy to be here. He didn’t even stay for a full day. He happened to be in the country on holiday and took a chance to visit us. He said, “We have this little meditation group in Liverpool, and we listen to Abhayagiri talks all the time. It’s so great to be here.” He was bubbling with happiness. We can forget that our lives are connected with little groups of people like that all over the planet. In our small efforts to keep the bodies fed, to keep the shelters workable, to provide Dhamma talks on the website, to offer publications, to pay the bills—every little piece is bringing goodness into the world. That’s kusala kamma, wholesome action.

It’s not indulgence, egotism, or pride to be reflecting on that goodness. The Buddha himself encourages cāgānussati, recollecting our generosity, because that brightens and brings joy to the mind. We can take some time to recollect all the efforts that we’re making on the practical front as well as with the formal meditation practice. The word anumodanā means rejoicing in the goodness that has been done. The cynical mind says, Yeah, well, that’s one thing. But I’ve really got some serious problems. Basically I’m just a defiled mess. I really am! We need to listen to that voice with compassion, but at the same time, we don’t want to let it run our lives. So we listen and then gently park it to one side. We can reflect, Even if I’m filled with utterly ghastly defilements, still there are things I’ve done that have helped people.

[salayatananirodha]

i have