[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Similarly, in order that we can play an effective role in relation to our fellow beings, we must first guard our mind.Suppose you have a fine car.You will be careful to park the car in such a place so that it will not be hit by another motorist.Even at work or at home, you will occasionally look out of the window to make sure the car is all right.You will be sure to take it to the mechanic regularly.You will be sure to wash it regularly.In the same way all of us possess one thing which is far more valuable than any other possession.That one thing is our mind.Recognizing the value of our mind, we ought to guard it.This is being mindful.This is an aspect of mental development which we can practise at any time and in any place.Sometimes I find people saying to me that it is extremely difficult to practise meditation, and often people are also somewhat afraid to practise meditation.By and large, they are thinking of concentration meditation or sitting meditation.But even if one is not prepared to practise concentration meditation, certainly Right Effort and Right Mindfulness can be practised without any fear of any adverse consequences.It simply entails being aware and attentive, watching your mind, seeing where it is going, seeing what it is doing.Just as when I am talking to you now, with one corner of my mind I can watch my mind, keep an eye on my mind.What am I thinking of? Is my mind on what I am saying to you, or am I thinking about what happened this morning, or last week, or what I will be doing tomorrow.I once heard a teacher saying that if you are making a cup of tea, Buddhism means making a cup of tea well, focussing, concentrating the mind on what one 65is doing.This is true no matter what one is doing —cleaning the house, going to school, or cooking.No matter what one is doing, one can practise mindfulness, the practice of watching the mind, of keeping an eye on the mind.The practice of mindfulness traditionally has played an important role in Buddhism.At one place, the Buddha has called the practice of mindfulness the one way to achieve the end of suffering.Specifically, the practice of mindfulness has been developed to include four particular applications.These are application of mindfulness with regard to body - awareness of the positions of one’s limbs and so forth; mindfulness with regard to feelings pleasant, unpleasant or neutral; mindfulness with regard to moments of consciousness; and lastly mindfulness with regard to objects.These four stations of mindfulness have continued to play an important role in the practice of Buddhist meditation.Let us go on to consider the third step, and that is concentration, or it is sometimes called meditation, or tranquility.You will recall that we traced the origin of meditation all the way back to the Indus Valley Civilization.Concentration has nothing to do with frenzy, or torpor, or semi-consciousness.Concentration is the practice of focussing the mind single-pointedly on a single object.The object may be physical or mental.When total single-pointedness of the mind upon a single object is achieved through concentration, the mind is totally absorbed in the object to the exclusion of all thoughts, distractions, wavering, agitation, or drowsi-ness.This is the object of the practice of Right Concen-66tration, to focus the mind single-pointedly upon one object.Most of us have had intimations of this kind of state.Occasionally something approaching single-pointedness of mind occurs spontaneously when listening to a favourite piece of music, or watching the sea or sky.One may have experienced the moment when the mind rests single-pointedly, undistractedly upon that object, that sound or that form.Concentration may be practised in a number of ways.The object of concentration may be a sight such as a flame, an image, or a flower, or it may be an idea, an immaterial thing such as space, such as loving-kindness.When one practises concentration, one repeatedly focuses the mind on the object.This eventually, gradually leads to the ability to rest the mind upon the object without distraction.When this can be achieved for a protracted period, then one has achieved single-pointedness
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
