hi Tilt, im not sure I disagree with you, I asked you how to practice in the way you mention as this seem to be vague in terms of practice.
""let a unwholesome thoughts in the mind" Do you have a choice? An unwholesome thought arises dependent upon conditions. The is, then what do you do with it? I take the Satipaṭṭhānā Sutta seriously:"
once a unwholesome thoughts have arisen, you have to go back to mindfulness of thoughts, one of the four foundations of mindfulness.
Here are Ayya Khema words about how to deal with unwholesome thoughts:
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Then we can become aware of the content of our thoughts, which means knowing whether it is wholesome or not. We can learn to drop any negative thinking and replace it. This is where our meditation training comes in, which is not divorced from outer activities. When we pay attention to the breath in meditation and a thought intervenes, we learn to let go of the thought and come back to the breath.
The same procedure is used in daily life to let go of unwholesome thoughts. We substitute at that time with a wholesome thought, just as we substitute with the breath in meditation.
Mindfulness of the thinking process is what the Buddha Named the "four supreme efforts."[1] They constitute the heart of the purification process. The spiritual path is the path of purification and hinges on mindfulness. "There's only one way for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of dukkha, for the final elimination of pain, grief and lamentation, for entering the noble path, for realizing Nibbana, that's mindfulness." (Words of the Buddha). To practice the purification process is necessary not only for one's own peace of mind, for adding to the peace in the world, but also in order to be able to meditate.
The hope that one might sit down on a pillow, watch the breath and become concentrated, is a myth. One has to have the mind in proper shape for it. Therefore, we must practice these four supreme efforts not only while we are meditating, but in every-day life. We will gain inner peace which everybody is looking for and very few people ever find.
The first effort is not to let an unwholesome thought arise which has not yet arisen. The requires sharp mindfulness. A thought which has not yet arisen creates waves ahead of it. To realize that these waves are boding no good, needs much attention and practice.
The second effort, not to continue an unwholesome thought which has already arisen, can be done by anyone of good will, if it is understood that there is nobody else to blame. Unwholesome thinking is not due to outer triggers, but results strictly from our own defilements.
The third step is to make a wholesome thought arise which has not yet arisen. This means that we continually watch over our mind and encourage positive, wholesome thoughts where none are present even under the most trying circumstances.
Finally, to make a wholesome thought, which has already arisen, continue. In the meditation practice, this concerns our meditation subject. But in daily life it means our mind's reaction. If we have some sensitivity towards ourselves, we can feel that there is a disturbance within when unwholesome thinking arises, a feeling of resistance. Unwholesome thoughts have been thought of so often for so many years, that they have become part and parcel of our thinking process. It takes mindfulness and determination to let go."
http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/khe ... _aware.php
This is how one must deal with unwholesome thoughts.
I feel Paul davy already covered and answered very well in this thread.
Paul Davy wrote:Greetings Tilt,
tiltbillings wrote:How is it reconciled in the Satipaṭṭhānā Sutta?
As explained previously... by putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world.
But lest that be accused of being a glib response, I'll put it another way. I will endeavour here to highlight how it experientially occurs by way of my understanding, since there seems to be some uncertainty expressed as to how "putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world" could be enacted outside the extreme responses of [passive] "observation" and [active] "destruction"...
When sense-desire arises, it arises due to Wrong View.
If one were viewing with Right View at the time, sense-desire would not arise - there would be no basis for its arising.
MN 105 wrote:"In the same way, there's the possible case where a certain monk thinks, 'Craving is said by the Contemplative to be an arrow. The poison of ignorance spreads its toxin through desire, passion, & ill will. I have abandoned the arrow. I have expelled the poison of ignorance. I am rightly intent on Unbinding.' Because he is rightly intent on Unbinding, he wouldn't pursue those things that are unsuitable for a person rightly intent on Unbinding. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable forms & sights with the eye. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable sounds with the ear... unsuitable aromas with the nose... unsuitable flavors with the tongue... unsuitable tactile sensations with the body. He wouldn't pursue unsuitable ideas with the intellect. When he doesn't pursue unsuitable forms & sights with the eye... doesn't pursue unsuitable ideas with the intellect, lust doesn't invade the mind. With his mind not invaded by lust, he doesn't incur death or death-like suffering.
...
"Now, when a monk — maintaining restraint over the six spheres of contact, knowing that 'Acquisition is the root of stress' — is free from acquisition, released in the total ending of acquisition, it's not possible that, with regard to acquisition, he would stir his body or arouse his mind.
"Suppose there were a beverage in a bronze cup — consummate in its color, smell, & flavor — but mixed with poison. And suppose a man were to come along, wanting to live, not wanting to die, desiring pleasure, & abhorring pain. What do you think, Sunakkhatta — would he drink the beverage in the bronze cup knowing that 'Having drunk this, I will incur death or death-like suffering'?"
"No, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk — maintaining restraint over the six spheres of contact, knowing that 'Acquisition is the root of stress' — is free from acquisition, released in the total ending of acquisition, it's not possible that, with regard to acquisition, he would stir his body or arouse his mind.
"Suppose there were a deadly poisonous viper, and a man were to come along, wanting to live, not wanting to die, desiring pleasure, & abhorring pain. What do you think, Sunakkhatta — would he give his hand or finger to the snake knowing that 'Having been bitten by this, I will incur death or death-like suffering'?"
"No, lord."
"In the same way, when a monk — maintaining restraint over the six spheres of contact, knowing that 'Acquisition is the root of stress' — is free from acquisition, released in the total ending of acquisition, it's not possible that, with regard to acquisition, he would stir his body or arouse his mind."
So when sense-desire arises, we can know it has arisen due to the presence of Wrong View and we can then apply Right Effort to re-establish ourselves in Right View. The dynamic is explained here...
MN 19 wrote:"And as I remained thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, thinking imbued with sensuality arose in me. I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with sensuality has arisen in me; and that leads to my own affliction or to the affliction of others or to the affliction of both. It obstructs discernment, promotes vexation, & does not lead to Unbinding.'
"As I noticed that it leads to my own affliction, it subsided. As I noticed that it leads to the affliction of others... to the affliction of both... it obstructs discernment, promotes vexation, & does not lead to Unbinding, it subsided. Whenever thinking imbued with sensuality had arisen, I simply abandoned it, dispelled it, wiped it out of existence.
Seeing the power of Right View...
MN 117 wrote:"One makes an effort for the abandoning of wrong view & for entering into right view: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong view & to enter & remain in right view: This is one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right view.
Once Right View is restored, sense-desire is absent.
It is through that process that...
MN 10 wrote:Herein, monks, when sense-desire is present, a monk knows, "There is sense-desire in me," or when sense-desire is not present, he knows, "There is no sense-desire in me." He knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-desire comes to be; he knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-desire comes to be; and he knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-desire comes to be.
It is my perspective, which you're welcome to share or reject as you see fit, that the re-establishment of Right View is the most natural, effective and regularly promoted process through which the abandoning of unwholesome states can be made to occur. If the unwholesome state prevails, it is not a particularly valuable, useful or insightful experience, but a failure in re-establishing Right View in a timely manner. The consequences of this failure are as follows...
MN 19 wrote:"Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking & pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with sensuality, abandoning thinking imbued with renunciation, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with sensuality. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with non-ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with ill will. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmfulness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmlessness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmfulness.
You often ask how much Right View is really needed in order to practice. By the approach reckoned above, the extent to which there is Right View is the extent to which dukkha is transcended.
Metta,
Retro.