3 The path to a still mind
3 The path to a still mind
3.1 Illusion and ignorance are washed away through detachment from stimuli.
3.2 Preparing for advanced meditative practices.
3.3 Moving on from the beginner’s meditation.
3.4 The way to transcend the thought process.
3.5 First exercise: inhibiting thoughts.
3.6 Second exercise: detachment from the flow of thoughts.
3.7 Third exercise: tensing and relaxing the mind.
3.8.1 Fourth exercise: transcending the thought process:
3.8.2 become aware of your inherent power source
3.8.3 maintain undistracted alertness through unwavering determination
3.8.4 be aware of what is happening now
3.8.5 boredom in samadhi
3.8.6 adjust to living with undistracted awareness.
3.9 Fifth exercise: maintaining samadhi in the midst of conditions.
3.10 Sixth exercise: becoming indifferent to the thought process.
3.11 The second stage of enlightenment.
3 The path to a still mind
3.0 Mind in its unconditioned state is devoid of form or qualities – that is pure being, witnessing this as it unfolds. That in its conditioned state, individualized and absorbed in this, is engaged in ceaseless activity as a result of endless stimuli. Release from the bondage of conditioned existence comes through gaining detachment from stimuli.
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There may be a tendency in this chapter, to attend solely to the part of the chapter that one is working with. In particular, it may be helpful to read and reread the entire chapter as one works through the various meditations.
This will help to maintain a perspective on this part of the journey, and especially to reaffirm the end-points of each particular stage.
The end-points of each stage can get forgotten easily, as the initiate here is working with thought and thus memory.
The end-points of each meditation are NOT a perfection of the particular meditation.
For example, the first meditation is the practice of cutting of each thought at the root while maintaining awareness of your chosen stimulus (qv para 3.5) – the end point is NOT to perfect this practice, but to become able to observe the flow of thoughts with a tranquil detachment, even for the briefest of moments.