The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
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EricJ
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by EricJ »

Ben wrote:No problem Eric
Something that has been of enormous benefit to me has been the section on the anapana in the Visuddhimagga. The Vism isn't everyone's cup of tea because the language is very formalistic and the amount of detail captured in it is incredibly dense. If you have access to a copy, even if you get one via inter-library loan via your municipal library, I would recommend that you have a read through and just concentrate on those pages which are relevant to the tetrad you are working with.
I would also reiterate my earlier advice, recommending Satipatthana: the direct route to realization. While Analayo's work deals mostly with satipatthana, there is valuable material in it on anapana-sati.
The instructions I utilise when doing anapana, and I practice the samatha variant, is to maintain awareness of the touch of the breath - for longer and longer periods. When you notice awareness has slipped away, gently bring it back.
kind regards

Ben
I would actually love a copy of the Visuddhimagga, but I usually don't have a lot of pocket money and the library in my area doesn't have much in the way of Buddhist studies. Luckily, I will be moving to a much larger city for college where I will have access to a very nice university library, as well as surplus credit from my financial aid award. :woohoo:

I will look in to that other book. I am interested in satipatthana anyway. I've written a nice outline of part of Ven. Thanissaro's "Wings of Awakening" that I read online, which discusses satipatthana. I eventually plan to move on to vipassana practice once I have attained a workable degree of concentration. Is samatha anapanasati considered a part of satipatthana practice? I thought it was, since it involves mindfulness of the body (I also try to stay mindful, ardent, and alert throughout the day, although I still have a ways to go in this realm) Or is satipatthana specifically used to refer to insight practices?

I'm also looking in to some of those organizations that offer free Dhamma books.


Regards,
Eric
I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.- Gandhi

With persistence aroused for the highest goal's attainment, with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action, firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Not neglecting seclusion, absorption, constantly living the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma, comprehending the danger in states of becoming, wander alone like a rhinoceros.
- Snp. 1.3
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Ben
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Ben »

Hi Eric

Go to your local library and ask about an "inter-library loan" (ILL). I would be very surprised if your local library does not offer ILL to their members. An ILL means you can borrow an item from another library (academic or state/national reference library) via your own library. Finding a copy of the Vism in another library should be fairly simple as many state and academic libraries are online and the friendly reference librarian in your local library will probably locate the nearest Vism copy for you anyway. Expect to pay for ILL, but it will be cheaper than the cost of the book and shipping. Check out the Library of Congress' online catalogue. http://www.loc.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Depends who you are getting instruction from, but according to my own tradition, the samatha variant of anapana is a stepping stone to vipassana practice. As one's awareness becomes more and more concentrated it then becomes a tool to observe the changing nature of (whatever the object of attention is in the particular vipassana practice) and in my case its vedana (sensation). The reason I referred you to Ven Analayo's work is that he does, later in his book, look at the similarities, and overlapping of the material within the satipatthana sutta and the anapana sutta.
kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

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EricJ
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by EricJ »

Friends,

I observed uposatha for the first time, today. I didn't even realize it was an uposatha day until noon. Luckily, I had finished my cereal before noon. I didn't take the eight precepts today (partially due to the fact that uposatha caught me off guard, but moreso to my own internal hindrances and excuse making), but I did delve in to renunciation. I went twelve hours without food (between noon and midnight), which was new to me, because I normally have small amounts of food throughout the day and cook for myself at night. It made me realize how attached to the sensual pleasure of food I really am. Additionally, I went without a few forms of entertainment (radio, music, television), although I did use my computer and read books today. But, most importantly, I really upped my meditation today. I meditated five times in total, a session in the morning, two sessions in the afternoon, and two sessions this evening. I kept feeling a desire to practice and exert effort, a sense of urgency. Two of my meditation sessions were particularly rewarding as far as development of concentration goes. I feel the Dhamma increasing in my life with each passing day. :buddha1:

Today, I learned I have been accepted for a job at a bookstore. I was somewhat reluctant to take it, as I fear it might take away from my practice time. I guess I will just have to be a bit more skilled in now that I actually have to manage my time.

Question: Is it common to feel as if you are falling backwards whenever your breath and concentration is becoming refined in a session?

Regards,
Eric
I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.- Gandhi

With persistence aroused for the highest goal's attainment, with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action, firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Not neglecting seclusion, absorption, constantly living the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma, comprehending the danger in states of becoming, wander alone like a rhinoceros.
- Snp. 1.3
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Ben
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Ben »

EricJ wrote:Question: Is it common to feel as if you are falling backwards whenever your breath and concentration is becoming refined in a session?
I assume you mean (physically) falling backwards rather than feeling like you are going backwards in your practice. So, I'll address that point.
When we begin to practice anapana-sati which is an observation of a natural process, as our minds become more subtle, still and concentrated, we begin to become more sensitized to other phenomena that we were previously oblivious to. Just note it, and continue to maintain awareness of the breath. Its nothing to be alarmed about.
Kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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EricJ
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by EricJ »

Hello everyone.

Today, I had my wisdom teeth extracted. Needless to say, I'm going to have some pain for the next few days, and I've been prescribed opiate painkillers. I am going to try to sit a session this evening. Is this advisable? Also, will the effectiveness of my meditation and my ability to concentrate be affected for a long time after I have healed?

Regards,
Eric
I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.- Gandhi

With persistence aroused for the highest goal's attainment, with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action, firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Not neglecting seclusion, absorption, constantly living the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma, comprehending the danger in states of becoming, wander alone like a rhinoceros.
- Snp. 1.3
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bodom
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by bodom »

EricJ wrote: I am going to try to sit a session this evening.
If you get drowsy do walking meditation.

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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EricJ
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by EricJ »

bodom wrote:If you get drowsy do walking meditation.

:anjali:
I don't have extensive practice in walking meditation, and I'm not exactly sure about the method.
I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.- Gandhi

With persistence aroused for the highest goal's attainment, with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action, firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Not neglecting seclusion, absorption, constantly living the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma, comprehending the danger in states of becoming, wander alone like a rhinoceros.
- Snp. 1.3
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bodom
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by bodom »

EricJ wrote:
bodom wrote:If you get drowsy do walking meditation.

:anjali:
I don't have extensive practice in walking meditation, and I'm not exactly sure about the method.
Instructions for Walking Meditation by Gil Fronsdal,

http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/ ... editation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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Sekha
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Sekha »

I am in Bodhgaya and the challenge is to spend this full moon night under the bodhi tree.
Where knowledge ends, religion begins. - B. Disraeli

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cooran
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by cooran »

I wish you well Dukkhanirodha!

I'd advise plenty of mosquito repellent, and ear plugs to block out the snoring coming from some of the single sitting tents and the howling/fighting of the scores of dogs! :tongue:

I spent an allnighter there last March - found walking meditation the best practice for me in the wee hours of the morning, on the mid-level Path. But my sitting cushion had been taken over by one of the mangy dogs when I returned. :o

Looking forward to hearing how it went.

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Spiny O'Norman
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Spiny O'Norman »

thereductor wrote: Spiders come through my apartment by the truck load, the main avenue for them is the space between my front door and the ground. I take a towel, roll it up, and jam it in between the door and the ground. That keeps out most of them.
I've learned to live with my spiders. Mostly they seem to like watching TV. Occasionally they appear to be doing an erratic form of walking meditation, but so far they haven't joined me in the shrine room. :lol:

Spiny
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Sekha
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by Sekha »

actually I fell asleep. I was not in very good condition, to be fair. I had had a headache all day. But I'll try it again some time later, certainly towards the end of the winter, when the nights will be warmer again.
Where knowledge ends, religion begins. - B. Disraeli

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jd84
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by jd84 »

Hi all,

For the next week I am going to try to sit for 2 hours a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. (Thats 55 mins of vipassana and 5 mins of metta per session). I have been sitting for 45 minutes in the morning and not often getting round to it in the evening!

Would anyone care to join me? :smile:

JD :namaste:
jd84
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by jd84 »

I had to get up at 5 this morning to fit in an hour before work. That wasn't too much of a challenge, but motivating myself to sit for an hour once I'd got back from work was a different matter - but I'm glad I did it in the end. I feel a lot lighter after just 2 days and also feel like my interactions with others have improved. Smiling more, laughing more.

:anjali:
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effort
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Re: The Dhamma Wheel Meditation Challenge

Post by effort »

hi!
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