Dealing with Excitement
We are now at the point of recognizing our thoughts, feelings, and sensations as waves on the ocean. We now identify more and more with the ocean and less and less with the waves. Instead of being like a boat on top of the waves being tossed around, we are now like a submarine coasting along under the storm with our periscope looking up at what's happening on the surface. We recognize that the waves are just what happens to the ocean when the ocean currents and wind mix together in other words, our thoughts and feelings are just what happens when our mind and the world around us are inter-reacting.
Through the mindfulness of our body, feelings, mind, and outside phenomena that we develop in meditation , our awareness inside and outside of meditation becomes more complete and continuous. Our Rabbit and Monkey are now constantly on a leash in meditation, and even sometimes outside of meditation.
We gradually become aware of mind-states that are harmful and beneficial and we become more aware of what we do that is skillful and unskillful. From this we begin to gain direct knowledge of our actual momentary states of body and mind as they are happening instead of just what we think these states are or what we notice about them once they have past.
At this point, we start to abandon clinging to unhealthy mind-states and begin to renounce unskillful patterns of thought, speech, and action. The energy that we used in attachment to these states is now freed which gives us an increased sense of energy.
This increased energy that is now at our disposal gives us a sense of well-being. We also sense the beginnings of recognition of our interconnection with the outside world and the interdependence of our thought, speech, and action with outside influences. This leads to a sense of joy.
As this joy develops and strengthens, it leads to more and more tranquility of body and mind. We feel less of a need to struggle with the world inside us and then with the world outside of us. This results in a state of peace.
Through this peace comes a feeling of physical and mental control. Once we realize that we have this control, we begin to intensify our concentration and focus.
Then, through the process of familiarity with these feelings and mind-states, we begin to develop a balance between joy, peace, and concentration. We feel and experience them completely without attachment and without clinging.
This is the gradual experience that we go through in the process of perfecting Shamata Meditation.
With the 6th level of Shamata meditation, we begin to experience that sense of well-being and joy that comes from regaining some of the wasted energy that was used up in clinging to or fighting against our own body and minds and the "outside" world.
This leads to excitement as we recognize the potential for even greater well-being. Now we try to grasp at this feeling and stop it from disappearing or try to reach out towards and hold on to that greater sense of fulfillment.
We need to be alert to notice this happening and we have to continuously let go of the feeling of joy and let go of the fear that the joy will not return. We need to allow the feelings of well-being to arise naturally and allow ourselves to experience the organic quality of the balance between joy, peace, and concentration. We need to allow ourselves to feel the ebb and flow of this joyfulness, energy and completeness, allowing it to arise and letting it disappear without trying to force it one way or the other.
If we cling to a certain level of well-being, then the joy that we experience cannot deepen, because we have already settled on a certain level of wellness. Also, because we are holding on to a sensation that has already passed, we aren't really experiencing the wellness again, we are merely experiencing a memory of our past feeling of well-being. That is why grasping at the feelings of joy or bliss becomes self-defeating. The feeling of joy actually contains feelings of completeness, energy, and Peacefulness, but we can only recognize this if we allow ourselves to experience it completely. Any grasping, or clinging keeps us away from the complete experience.
This work of not grasping or obsessing on our sense of well-being and allowing it to find its own natural level is the main work in the 6th stage.
The 6th Stage - The Pacified Mind
Subtle Agitation is now the main obstacle here because the beginnings of physical & mental bliss are being experienced and this is distracting at first. We become distracted and fascinated by these new feelings. Instead of focussing on our breathing and watching these feelings arise and pass away, we begin to look for them, or try to generate them.
Even though most of our focus in on the breathing, we are still playing with our feelings of well-being. We need to catch this tendency to be fascinated by these feelings and instead develop a feeling of equanimity towards them.
If we maintain the attitude that these feelings of well-being are "special" or "unusual" than they won't be able to become ordinary and usual. Making them special and unusual keeps them separate from our minds and so prevents the feelings of well-being from becoming a part of us.
When our mind is continuously happy in our meditation session and alertness is constant & fully developed then we have reached completion of this stage.
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