Only mindfulness, produces Enlightenment

05-08-2001, 08:11 AM

Only mindfulness, produces Enlightenment

More excerpts from "Mindfulness in Plain English"

"The purpose of meditation is not to concentrate on the breath, without
interruption, forever. That by itself would be a useless goal. The purpose
of meditation is not to achieve a perfectly still and serene mind. Although
a lovely state, it doesn't lead to liberation by itself. The purpose of
meditation is to achieve uninterrupted mindfulness. Mindfulness, and only
mindfulness, produces Enlightenment."

"Mindfulness is the most important aspect of meditation. It is the primary
thing that you are trying to cultivate. So there is really no need at all
to struggle against distractions. The crucial thing is to be mindful of
what is occurring, not to control what is occurring. Remember,
concentration is a tool. It is secondary to bare attention. From the point
of view of mindfulness, there is really no such thing as a distraction.
Whatever arises in the mind is viewed as just one more opportunity to
cultivate mindfulness. Breath, remember, is an arbitrary focus, and it is
used as our primary object of attention. Distractions are used as secondary
objects of attention. They are certainly as much a part of reality as
breath. It actually makes rather little difference what the object of
mindfulness is. You can be mindful of the breath, or you can be mindful of
the distraction. You can be mindful of the fact that you mind is still, and
your concentration is strong, or you can be mindful of the fact that your
concentration is in ribbons and your mind is in an absolute shambles. It's
all mindfulness. Just maintain that mindfulness and concentration
eventually will follow."

"Don't strain or struggle. It's a waste. Every bit of energy that you apply
to that resistance goes into the thought complex and makes it all the
stronger. So don't try to force such thoughts out of your mind. It's a
battle you can never win. Just observe the distraction mindfully and, it
will eventually go away. It's very strange, but the more bare attention you
pay to such disturbances, the weaker they get. Observe them long enough,
and often enough, with bare attention, and they fade away forever. Fight
with them and they gain in strength. Watch them with detachment and they
wither."

[Mindfulness in Plain English by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana.]
is downloadable free here:
http://www.realization.org/home.htm
http://www.realization.org/page/name...ipe/mipe_0.htm

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Love makes the heart laugh.
I wish you Love.
CyberDervish
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