brought to Buddhahood requires something more than breathing, namely, it requires nutrition. This need is supplied by the organism going forth in search of food which the mouth proceeds to masticate and salivate, the stomach to digest, the intestines to assimilate the wholesome into the blood and to reject the waste. But this process of transmuting food into nutritious blood is not the self, neither is it anything that a self can accomplish by volition or effort. It is a spontaneous activity that goes on best as we rest quietly, restraining all rising thoughts, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism and all its activities is only a skillful device, and efficient means, which Buddhahood employs in fulfillment of its nature to emancipate and enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is a manifestation of Buddhahood’s love and wisdom; it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of the mind to clear away so that the brightness within may shine forth, illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, that mind essence is everything. Sitting quietly realizing the mind’s pure essence. Realizing its all-embracing wholeness, its inconceivable purity and unity, its boundless potentiality for radiation and integration; radiation going forth in chemical reactions among the atoms, manifesting themselves as molecules and physical substances, and by the phenomena of dynamics, gravitation and inertia; integration drawing everything inward to unity and purity; the going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence. Sitting quietly with empty and tranquil mind realizing the universal emptiness and eternal silence; realizing its unbomness, its imagelessness, its egolessness; realizing it, but yielding to its radiating potency, continually being reborn in this Saha-world of suffering.
* * * Sitting quietly, breathing gently, deliberately, evenly, slowly; realizing that the organism, if it is to become enlightened and brought to Buddhahood, requires something more than nutrition, namely, it requires vital energy. To satisfy this need the muscles and glands and ganglia of the lower abdomen receive the nutritious blood and transmutes it into vital energy by reason of which the material blood becomes living tissue. But this process is not a self neither is it anything that a self can accomplish by volition or effort; it is a spontaneous activity that goes on best as we rest quietly restraining all rising thoughts, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism and all its activities is only a skillful devicej an efficient means, which Buddhahood employs in the fulfillment of its nature to emancipate and enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is a manifestation of Buddhahood’s love and wisdom; it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of the mind to clear away so that the pure brightness within may shine forth, illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, that mind essence is everything. Sitting quietly realizing the mind’s pure essence; realizing its all-embracing wholeness, its inconceivable purity and unity, its boundless potentiality for radiation and integration; radiation going forth into more and more complex forms of life — protoplasm, bacteria, cellular life and organic — manifesting itself in the phenomena of birth, growth, reproduction, decay and death. Integration drawing everything into unity and purity; the going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence. Sitting quietly with empty and tranquil mind, realizing the universal emptiness and eternal silence; realizing its unbomness, its imagelessness, its egolessness; realizing it, but yielding to its radiating potency, continually being reborn in this Saha-world of suffering.
* # * * # * Sitting quietly, breathing gently, deliberately, evenly, slowly; realizing that the organism, if it is to become enlightened and brought to Buddhahood requires something more than vital energy, namely, it requires awareness. This need is supplied by the dual system of nerves and their ganglia which receive the current of vital energy and transmute it into instinctive awareness. By this process the organism becomes aware of its needs PRACTISING THE SEVENTH STAGE and how to supply them, and of its dangers and how to protect itself. But this process transmuting energy into awareness is not the self, neither is it anything that a self can accomplish by volition and effort; it is a spontaneous activity that goes on best as we rest quietly, restraining all rising thoughts, keep ing the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism and all its activities is only a skillful device, an efficient means, that Buddhahood employs in fulfillment of its nature to emancipate and enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is a manifestation of Buddhahood’s love and wisdom; it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of the mind to clear away, so that the pure brightness within may shine forth illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, that essence of mind is everything. Sitting quietly realizing the mind’s pure essence. Realizing its allembracing wholeness, its inconceivable purity and unity, its boundless potentiality for radiation and integration; radiation going forth in instinctive will-to-live, to-enjoy, to-propagate; becoming manifest in instinctive acts of greed, lust and selfassertion; and in the phenomena of natural selection, variation, conflict, suffering and survival. Integration drawing everything inward to unity and purity; the going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence. Sitting quietly realizing the universal emptiness and eternal silence. Realizing its unbomness, its imagelessness, its egolessness; realizing it, but yielding to its radiating potency continually being reborn in this Sahaworld of suffering.
# # * # # * Sitting quietly, breathing gently, deliberately, evenly, slowly; realizing that the organism, if it is to become enlightened and brought to Buddhahood requires something more than instinctive awareness, namely, it requires consciousness and discrimination. This need is supplied by the system of sense organs and the lower mind, which in contact with their appropriate fields receive the current of nervous energy and awareness and transmute it into sensations and perceptions, which the lower mind proceeds to unite, to name and to discriminate, from which arises consciousness and the ideas of self and not-self. But this process of transmuting nervous energy into consciousness and the idea of self is not the self, neither is it anything which a self can accomplish by volition or effort. It is a spontaneous activity which goes on best as we rest quietly, restraining every rising thought, ignoring every risen thought, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism and all its activities is only a skillful device, an efficient means, which Buddhahood employs in fulfillment of its nature to emancipate and enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is a manifestation of Buddhahood’s love and wisdom; it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind, as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of the mind to clear away so that the pure brightness within may shine forth, illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, that mind-essence is everything. Realizing the mind’s pure essence. Realizing its all-embracing wholeness, its inconceivable purity and unity, its boundless potentiality for radiation and integration; radiation going forth in discrimination of thoughts relating to self and not self, that awaken likes and dislikes; and the phenomena of desire, grasping, acts of greed, lust, hatred, to be accumulated in memory, habits and karma. Integration drawing everything inward to unity and purity; the going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence. Sitting quietly realizing the universal emptiness, the eternal silence; realizing its unbornness, its imagel'essness, its egolessness; realizing it, but yielding to its radiating potency being continually reborn in this Saha-world of Suffering.
Sitting quietly, breathing gently, deliberately, evenly, slowly; realizing that the organism, if it is to become enlightened and brought to Buddhahood, requires something more than conscious discriminations, namely, it requires intellection and knowledge. This need is supplied by the upper mind, the cerebrum, which receives the stream of conscious discriminations and transmutes them into intellectual knowledge. By this the PRACTISING THE SEVENTH STAGE 639 mind becomes aware that the myriad, myriad things which the senses perceive and the conscious mind discriminates and thinks about are empty and transient — dreams that have been caused by its own greed, anger and infatuation, as conditioned by karma and the mind’s defilements, and as expressed by body, lips and mind; it becomes aware that the only reality is the mind’s pure essence, the dharma of whose self-nature is the ultimate principle. It becomes aware that as ultimate principle, mind is irradiant, going forth in discriminations of thought that manifest themselves in activities and appearances of form and phenomena. It becomes aware that mind as ultimate principle is also integrant drawing all these differentiations into more and more harmonious relations and into final identity with itself. It becomes aware that mind, whether as essence, as principle, as activity and manifestation, is of one undivided sameness.
But this process of transmuting discriminated thoughts into intellection and knowledge is not the self, neither is it anything that a self can accomplish by volition or effort; it is a spontaneous activity that goes on best as we rest quietly, restraining all rising thoughts, ignoring all risen thoughts, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism and all its activities is only a skillful device, an efficient means, that Buddhahood employs in fulfillment of its nature to enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is Buddhahood’s love and wisdom becoming manifest; it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind, as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of the mind to clear away so that the pure brightness within may shine forth illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, that mind-essence is everything. Sitting quietly realizing the mind’s pure essence. Realizing its allembracing wholeness, its inconceivable purity and unity, its boundless potentiality for radiation and integration; radiation going forth as pragmatic thoughts concerning social relations, ethics, industry, economics, politics; going forth as scientific research as to the origin, the nature and the laws of physical things; going forth in philosophical speculations as to the nature of the soul, life after death, eternal life, a personal God, Universal Self; all of which tend toward multiplicity, complexity, confusion, unrest of mind and pride of egoism; to karma and rebirth in the Saha world. Integration drawing everything toward unity and purity and peacefulness; the going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence. Sitting quietly realizing this universal emptiness and eternal silence. Realizing its un~ bornness, its imagelessness, its egolessness; realizing it, but yielding to its radiating potency, continually being reborn in this Saha-world of suffering.
# * # # * # Sitting quietly, breathing gently, deliberately, evenly, slowly; realizing that the organism, if it is to become enlightened and brought to Buddhahood, requires something more than intellectual knowledge, namely, it requires wisdom. Knowledge about Truth is not Truth itself; if one is to attain wisdom, he must realize Truth itself, and that requires another process than intellection, namely, it requires intuition. By intuition the mind becomes identified with Truth and attains wisdom by itself becoming Truth. But this process transmuting intellection into intuition, and knowledge into wisdom, is not the self, neither are all the processes of the body and mind working together harmoniously a self; they are after all only an aggregation and concatenation of fortuitous causes and conditions and are not a self, nor are they anything that a self can accomplish by volition or effort. It is only a spontaneous activity that goes on best as we rest quietly, restraining all rising thoughts, ignoring all risen thoughts, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence, realizing that the organism with all its activities, is only a skillful device, an efficient means, which Buddhahood employs in fulfillment of its nature to emancipate and enlighten all sentient beings and bring them to Buddhahood. As such it is a manifestation of Buddhahood’s love and wisdom;, it is Buddhahood taking form within one’s own mind as a coming Buddha.
Sitting quietly with humble and patient mind, with earnest and disciplined mind, waiting for the clouds of karma and the defilements of mind to clear away so that the pure brightness within may shine forth, illumining the mind, revealing that self is nothing, mind-essence is everything. Sitting quietly realizing PRACTISING THE SEVENTH S,TAGE 641 the mind’s pure essence! Realizing that the mind’s pure essence is the Universal Essence that is prior to everything, that embraces everything, that is everything; and realizing that what is mind is Buddhahood. Sitting quietly realizing that this life of birth and death with all its greed, anger and infatuation is the pure essence of mind and the Bliss-body of Buddhahood; that all the outer things of manifestation and form and phenomena are unreal and imaginary; that all the inner things of desire and aversion, of fear and anger, of infatuation and pride of egoism are unreal and imaginary; that all the activities of the mind discriminating this and that, big and little, good and bad, self and not-self, are unreal and imaginary; that all the states of the mind, its judgments and feelings and emotions, are unreal and imaginary; that only the mind’s pure essence is real and abiding, and that is Buddhahood abiding in blissful Peace.
Sitting quietly realizing that all the changes and processes of the body and mind that are going on with no volition or effort on our part are bringing the organism into perfect Oneness with Buddhahood. Sitting quietly realizing this perfect Oneness: — realizing its all-embracing wholeness, its inconceivable unity and purity, its boundless potentiality for Wisdom and Compassion; Wisdom going forth in individuations of Ignorance and discriminations of knowledge that eventuate in multiplicities of thought, desires, activities, karma, rebirth in the Saha World of suffering. Compassion drawing everything together eventuating in the patient endurance of suffering, the awakening of faith, mind-control, clearing insight, maturing of karma, birth in the Pure Land, attainment of Buddhahood. The going forth and the drawing in being so perfectly balanced that all abides in the original emptiness and silence.
Sitting quietly, realizing the basic emptiness and eternal silence; realizing its unbomness, its imagelessness, its egolessness. Realizing that in its perfect purity and unity there is neither self nor not-self, neither Ignorance nor Enlightenment, neither a Saha World of Suffering nor a Pure Land of Bliss, but, potentially, all are present in fullness. Realizing that in its perfect unity this Saha World of Suffering is the Pure Land of Bliss; realizing that what is radiation is integration, that what is Wisdom is Compassion. Wisdom-Compassion urging one to yield to its radiating potency that it may go forth for the enlightenment of all sentient beings; Compassion-Wisdom supporting one as he advances along the Bodhisattva Stages, submitting to its integrating potency, for the sake of Buddhahood. In the long last, having yielded to Compassion and submitted to Wisdom, attaining Buddhahood — its highest perfect Wisdom, its unceasing Compassion, its blissful Peace; becoming Pure Essence — its emptiness, its silence.
ALL HAIL! THE BLISS-BODY OF BUDDHAHOOD!
Namo Sambhogakaya Buddhaya.
(To be memorized and repeated daily ) SUMMARY OF BUDDHA’S DHARMA Introduction T HE Buddha’s Dharma ought not to be considered as a system of philosophic or intellectual thought, much less as a system of ethical idealism. Strictly speaking, even less is it a religion based upon authority. It is simply a way of life which Buddha called the Eightfold Noble Path and the Middle Way, and which he said would lead him who followed it to emancipation of body, to enlightenment of mind, to tranquillity of spirit, to highest Samadhi. That is, it is a system of mindcontrol leading to highest perfect cognition. He did not make it up — it is the record of his own experience under the Bodhitree, when he himself attained Enlightenment.
The summary is introduced by what is known as the Twelve Nirdanas, or the Chain of Simultaneous Dependent Originations (paticca-samutpada). Then he taught the Four Noble Truths upon which he based the Eightfold Noble Path. These are all briefly summarized.
The Twelve Nirdanas i. Because of Ignorance (avidya) the principle of individuation as discriminated from Enlightenment which is the principle of unity and sameness the primal unity becomes divided into thinking, thinker and discriminated thoughts by reason of which there appear the “formations” of karma.
2. Because of these “forms” (samsara), the principle of consciousness emerges.
3. Because of the principle of consciousness ( vijnana ), mentality and body emerge.
4. Because of mentality and body (nama-rupa), the six, sense minds and organs appear.
5. Because of the six sense minds and organs (shadayatana), sensations and perceptions arise.
6. Because of sensations and perceptions ( spasha ), feelings and discriminations arise.
fit ■>:!?: 7. Because of feelings and sensations ( vedana ), thirst and craving arise.
8. Because of thirst and craving (trishna), grasping and clinging appear.
9. Because of grasping and clinging ( upadana ), conception takes place.
10. Because of conception ( bhava ), the continuing process of existence goes on.
xi. Because of the continuing process of existence (jeti), growth, sickness, old age, decay and death take place.
12. Because of sickness, old age and death (jana-marana ), “sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair arise. Thus arises the whole mass of suffering.” In all this “No doer of the deeds is found.
No one who ever reaps their fruit.
Empty phenomena are there.
Thus does the world roll on.
No god, no Brahma, can be found.
No maker of this wheel of life.
Empty phenomena are there, Dependent upon conditions all.”
The Four Noble Truths 1. The universality of suffering.
2. The cause of suffering rooted in desire.
3. By ending desire, suffering comes to an end.
4. The way to end desire and hence to end suffering, is to follow the Eightfold Noble Path.
The Eightfold Noble Path 1. RIGHT IDEAS: the Twelve Nirdanas and the Four Noble Truths. Not only should one understand them but he should make them the basis of all his thinking and understanding of life, he should make them the basis for a life of patient and humble acceptance and submission.
2. RIGHT RESOLUTION: He should make it the purpose of his life to follow the Noble Path. In loyalty to this purpose he should be willing to give up anything that is contrary to it, or which hinders his progress. He should be willing to pay any cost of comfort, or self denial, or effort, in order to attain its goal. He should not do this for any selfish motive but that he might devote the merit of its attainment to all animate life. And finally he should make his great Vow (Pranadana) not to enter Nirvana until all others may enter with him.
3. RIGHT SPEECH: Speech is the connecting link between thought and action; words often obscure the Truth within one’s own mind, and often give a false impression to those that hear them. It is important therefore, that one should restrain his speech. It should always be characterized by wisdom and kindness. Undue loudness, over emphasis, and excitement should be avoided. Speech should not be prompted by prejudice, fear, anger, nor infatuation, nor self interest. Careless, idle and flippant words should be avoided. All invidious distinctions, and discriminations, and dogmatic assertions and negations, should be avoided. Words that are liable to cause hard feelings, such as repeating scandal, mean or angry words, words that deceive or cause misunderstandings, or that tend to arouse passion and lust, should never be uttered. In general speech should be limited to asking and answering necessary questions, and because speech is so easily conditioned by crowd psychology, all formal speech before groups, audiences and crowds should be avoided.
4. RIGHT BEHAVIOR. Besides behaving according to the general rules of propriety, one should be especially careful to keep the Five Precepts: — Not to kill but to practice kindness and harmlessness toward all animate life. Not to steal or covet what does not belong to one, but to practice charity and going without things oneself. Not to commit adultery but to practice purity of mind and sexual self-control. Not to lie but to practice honesty and sincerity in thought, word and deed. Not to partake of alcoholic drinks or drugs, or anything that weakens one’s mind-control, but to practice abstinence and selfcontrol.
The reason that Buddha made keeping the Precepts so important was not so much for ethical reasons as for its bearing on mind development and its goal of the attainment of highest cognition and enlightenment. One can not progress toward this high goal if he is living a wicked or self-indulgent life. Even the keeping of the Precepts is only a beginning, for as disciples advance on the Path and undertake the homeless life, there are other five Precepts that must also be observed, namely, Not to use ointments or condiments and not to eat between meals. Not to wear jewelry or expensive clothes, but to practice humility. Not to sleep on soft beds but to resist all tendency to sloth and sleepiness. Not to attend entertainments, dances, concerts or to take part in games of chance; keeping the mind at all times under strict control. Not to have anything to do with money or precious things, but to practice poverty.
5. RIGHT VOCATION. One must not engage in any business or profession that involves cruelty or injustice to either men or animals. His life must be free from acquisitiveness, deceit or dishonesty. He must have nothing to do with war, gambling, prostitution. It must be a life of service rather than a life of profit and indulgence. For those who wish to devote their entire attention to attaining enlightenment it must be a Homeless Life, free from all dependence or responsibility for property, family life or society.
The ideal life, therefore, for one who has resolved to follow the Noble Path is the Homeless Life. But before one is willing and able to do this, he should come as near to It as possible while living the ordinary life of a householder. Being engaged in the family, social and economical life of the world, he will often find it difficult to do much more than keep the Precepts, but as he advances on the Path he can at least in part observe the other precepts, and as fast as it becomes possible, he can separate from his family and business, and undertake to live more simply and abstemiously and devote more time to his devotional practices. If there is any personal or family property it should gradually be disposed of, so that being free from family and property responsibilities, he may more exclusively undertake the Homeless Life.
In cutting himself off from all relations and responsibilities with the household and worldly life, the Homeless Brother does so with the single purpose of devoting himself to the attainment of enlightenment and Buddhahood, not for selfish reasons but that he may share his attainment and merit with whoever may need his instruction or help. In making his decision to follow the Homeless Life he does so in perfect faith that the Lay Brothers and other Homeless Brothers will take good care of him.
Some may think that this homeless, mendicant life might have been possible and rewarding under the primitive and simple conditions of patriarchal life, but that it would be impossible and foolish and futile under the more complex conditions of our modem, acquisitive, comfort seeking, excitement-loving conditions, founded as they are upon scientific materialism and enforced by conventions, laws, courts and police. If we count one’s comfort and convenience important, it probably is. But are they of first importance? Is not enlightenment, the ending of suffering, the attainment of peace, of far more importance? If they are then any discipline, any deprivation, any inconvenience, any suffering even, is fully warranted. It would be different if there was any easier method known, but Buddha, who was perfectly enlightened, presented it as the only possible Path. Is it not for us who are seeking enlightenment and peace of mind, and who are following Buddha, to have faith in his Noble Path and give it a fair trial? It is noticeable, however, that doubt as to its reasonableness and possibility is not voiced by those who have tried it but by those whose habits and comforts would be curtailed and interfered with.
The Buddha’s Dharma is too deep and inclusive to be translated into writing and even less to be completely understood and fully realized by the study of the Scriptures alone. It must be carried out into practice, systematically, earnestly, persistently. The source of all truth is within one’s own mind and heart, by the practice of Dhyana, it issues forth in unutterable treasures of compassion and wisdom.
But more significant than that, it is by means of dhyana practised by free minds in undisturbed solitude that the deeper realizations of Truth issue forth spontaneously in unseen spiritual ways to implant intimations and seeds of faith and hope in the minds of others. Thus one, who in the midst of the world’s unrest, craving and suffering, has found wisdom and peace, radiates from his being a serenity and compassion and wisdom that emancipates and enlightens others. He is already a Buddha. Being one,with Buddha in the blissful peace of Samadhi, he will be radiating compassion and wisdom toward this Saha world of suffering and drawing in to his peace the world’s woe. He has learned the secret of the Dharma breathing — going forth, drawing in — in eternal rhythm.
'. ■ ■ » ■ 6. RIGHT EFFORT. As one advances along the Path, he needs something more than ethical Precepts to guide and activate his progress, namely, he needs spiritual ideals. To meet this need, the Dharma presents Six Paramitas: (1) Dana Paramita. One should cherish a spirit of unselfish charity and good will that will prompt him to the giving of material gifts for the relief of need and suffering, being especially thoughtful of the needs of the Homeless Brothers, and always remembering that the greatest gift is the gift of the Dharma. (2) Sila Paramita. This same spirit of good-will towards others, the clearing sense of his oneness with all sentient beings, will first prompt him to greater sincerity and fidelity in keeping the Precepts himself for their sakes. Next it will lead him to ignore and forget his own comfort and convenience in offering wherever needed the more intangible gifts of compassion and sympathy and personal service. (3) Kshanti Paramita. This Paramita of humility and patience will help him to bear without complaint, the acts of others without fear or malice or anger. It will help him to bear the common ills of life, the difficulties of the Path and the burden of his karma. It will keep him free from both elation or discouragement as he meets the extremes of success or failure, and will help him to always maintain an equitable spirit of serenity and peacefulness. (4) Virya Paramita. This Paramita of zeal and perseverance will keep one from becoming indolent, careless and changeable. This Paramita is not intended so much to prompt one to outward acts of charity and propaganda as it is wholly concerned with these inner states of mind that affect one’s control of mind and attainment of highest cognition and unceasing compassion. The results of behavior are not all outward and apparent; they also affect one’s inner habits and dispositions and are surely registered in one’s karma. One does not truly attain until he becomes earnest and faithful in both outward behavior and inner states of mind. Therefore, one should be earnest and persevering and faithful in cherishing right ideas, right purposes, right effort, right devotional practices, right vows. (5) Dhyana Paramita. This Paramita of tranquillity prompts one to practice one-pointedness of mind. One should always keep his mind concentrated on the task in hand, undistracted by thoughts of policy, or its relation to one’s selfish advantage or comfort. It will often prompt one to a course far different from the old competitive, acquisitive, exciting habits of the worldly life. One must often disregard personal comfort and advantage in an effort to be truly sympathetic and charitable. But so long as one acts from motives of sympathy and kindness the mind will be undisturbed by consequences, and so long as one has no desires, he will be undisturbed by conditions. So long as the mind is free from greed, anger, fear and egoism, it rests in peace. The mind should be trained, therefore, to be concentrated on spiritual ends. (6) Prajna Paramita. This Paramita prompts one to be yielding to the suggestions of wisdom. Thus far we have been considering aspects of spiritual behavior that are more or less under the control of one’s own mind, but now in this Wisdom Paramita, we should cease from all self-direction of will and effort and, remaining tranquil in spirit, should yield ourselves in effortless ways, a free channel for the flow of mingled wisdom and compassion.
7. RIGHT MINDFULNESS. This stage of the Noble Path is the culmination of the intellective process and the connecting link with the intuitive process. The goal to be reached is the establishment of a habit of looking at things truthfully, at their meaning and significance rather than at their discriminated appearances, and relations. This is quite different and an advance from the instinctive reactions of the will-to-live, to enjoy, to propagate. It is also quite different and a further advance beyond the habit of considering things by their differences and relations. The senses can give one sensations and perceptions which the lower mind unites and names and discriminates, but they have little value in truth. Things seem real but they are not, they seem good and bad, big and little, right and wrong, but they are not. They often seem necessary but they are not. This consciously discriminated stream of appearances is only food for the higher intellectual mind to digest and assimilate, which by doing enables one to cognize more truthfully the realness or falsity of these first impressions. But the conclusions of the intellectual mind are not final for it can only arrive at a knowledge of relations among things which we think are true. If one is to gain an immediate awareness of Truth, he must transcend the intellectual mind, also. To make the highest and best use of the intellectual mind, however, it is necessary to first practice “recollective 6g2 SELECTIPNS FROM MODERN SOURCES mindfulness,” which is the Seventh Stage of the Noble Path.
The Seventh Stage is usually translated, Mindfulness. It consists in recollecting and meditating upon the conclusions of the intellectual mind, seeking to understand their true meaning and significance.
8. RIGHT DHYANA. The Eighth Stage of the Noble Path is called in Sanskrit, Dhyana. It is a difficult word to translate into English because of its unfamiliar content of meaning. The nearest term is “concentration of mind” although in Pali this stage is named, “rapture.” There are, thus, two aspects to it: the first is its active aspect of concentration, the second is a passive aspect of realization, or rapture. Having tranquillized the mind by the practice of the Seventh Stage of Mindfulness, to practice the Eighth Stage of Dhyana, one should sit quietly with empty and tranquil mind, but with attentive and concentrated mind, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence. If attention wavers and vagrant thoughts arise, one should humbly and patiently regulate the mind anew, again and again, stopping all thinking, realizing Truth itself.
In doing this breathing plays an important part. Right breathing consists in breathing gently, deliberately, evenly. Think of it as filling the whole body to the top of the head, then gently pressing it downward to the abdomen, let it quietly pass away. Ordinarily we think of its course as being in a straight line, up and down, but it is better to think of it as a circle or loop always moving in one direction — upward to the head, downward to the abdomen, upward to the head and so on. Then forgetting the breathing, think of this circle moving more and more slowly and growing smaller and smaller until it comes to rest at a point between the eyes, the “wisdom eye” of the ancients, between the pineal and pituitary glands of the modems. Hold the attention there, realizing its perfect balance and emptiness and silence.
At first it may be advisable to hold some simple thought conception in mind, such as counting the out-going breaths, or repeating Buddha’s name, or some “koan” puzzle that can only be solved intuitively. But avoid thinking about them, keeping the mind fixed on its pure essence. In the primitive days of Buddhism, masters encouraged their disciples to keep in mind the abhorrent and painful aspects of the body, and the empty and transitory nature of all component things; but