I want to comment for now that this was educational for me because it is quite different from the Zen instruction I recieved - not inferior or superior, just different.
A little later when I can compose my thoughts and comments, I want to share and discuss some points where I think the so-called immediate aim is the same (the long-term aim, of course being exactly the same across all "Buddhisms").
Thanks for taking the extra time to organize these posts, Dude.
<laughing> Wow. Just pleased someone is reading. Thought I was done, since there seemed no interest.
Thanks Writch.
You've got another interested reader here...
Thanks 17000...interest from others seemed to wan, so stopped posting on this topic, but will start up again.
I'm sure you're aware, but there were previous posts regarding this topic...starting with "CBM"...and I was a rocket scientist at one point and used the number "3" twice.
Will post regarding the second stage soon
Loved your Yeats quote on your profile by the way.
And actually, the very first article didn't have "CBM" in the title...it was spelled out, "Chess, Buddhism and Meditation."
I feel there is important distinction to make. Not all traditions claim you need a teacher. Quoted from Tibetan Book of the Dead:
"Hermit Buddha rang-rgyal, Skt. pratyekabuddha
The practitioners of the Lesser Vehicle (hinayana) include both pious attendants (sravaka) and hermit buddhas. Among these, the hermit buddhas are those who pursue the path to liberation without relying on a teacher, following a natural predisposition. According to Maitreya's Ornament of Emergent Realisation, the accomplishment of the hermit buddhas is considered to surpass that of the pious attendants in the sense that they realise the emptiness of external phenomena, composed of atomic particles, in addition to realising the emptiness of the indididual personality (pudgala). However, unlike bodhisattvas they are said not to realise the internal phenomena of consciousness too are without inherent existence. The realisation of a hermit buddha relies not only on the renunciation or monastic discipline, which is also undertaken by pious attendants, but on their comprehension of the twelve links of dependent origination and ability to reverse these through the power of meditation."
The TBD also says very clearly that it is a mis-perception to see the sacred teachings as any different then if spoken out of the Buddha's mouth; so semantically just having the TBD, one could not qualify as a hermit buddha.
This is the case because a 'hermit buddha' with the TBD (and primarily meditation of course) can fully realize the two aspects of selflessness, with respect to dissonant mental states and the nature of all phenomena. Thus transcending hermit buddha and becoming a bodhisattva, which is of the highest level of achievement, well beyond maintaining buddhahood. Another way of saying this is a hermit buddha comes to the conclusion that he is seeking freedom from suffering only for himself, as realizing that to not intentionally rebirth into the desire realms for the sake of others and to merely escape suffering for yourself is at it it's root, selfish. To do so he/she must eventually coming to the conclusion that the higher realms of form, formless and many of the other misc. pure realms of the sky-farers are inherently empty also.
Feel like we've gone over preliminaries enough. At least for this venue. But, let me restate, if you expect to meditate, and meditate well, you need a teacher. You can read a thousand books, but unless you have a teacher with extensive experience, who gets to know you as a person, you may as well be writing on the surface of a lake.
People will pay someone $50-$100 an hour for chess lessons, but for some reason, when it comes to meditation, pride kicks in. "I'll just figure it out myself!" Sorry. May as well try climbing Mt. Everest without an experienced guide.
Everyone's mind is different, and having a compassionate, experienced and skilled teacher is fundamental. My teacher told one student to stop trying to memorize things, and get more cushion time. Yet, he gave me a forty page memorization assignment before he'd go in depth with me on meditation!
Up until this point, have briefly touched upon preliminaries. Essentially, your mind is a field, and the best way to ensure seeds grow is to remove stones, debris, etc. And how does one do that in life? Be as compassionate, loving and ethical as possible. You will not succeed in meditation if mental afflictions such as anger, greed, pride, etc. are in control of your mind.
Now, there is much talk of "mindfulness." "You must be mindful! Are you mindful when you eat? Dropped that plate? You weren't being mindful! etc. etc. etc."
The thing is, everything one ever learns on the Buddhist path is geared towards one crucial thing: meditation. The only way you'll achieve the highest goals is if you can meditate. And to meditate well, one needs an experienced teacher, and to know what the goals are, and what the obstacles are, and what the necessary tools are.
Mindfulness itself is simply a tool.
Meditation is usually described as having two modes: During the session (on the cushion) and in between sessions (the rest of the day.) Mindfulness is a tool used while on the cushion, but only one of many, and we'll get to that later. Mindfulness is also used throughout the day, to remember key things (love, compassion, equanimity, joy, seeing what the mind itself is doing, etc.) but the primary purpose of being mindful throughout the day is to keep the mind in training for actual cushion time. Kind of like if you're planning on entering a 5K run, you'll take the stairs at work instead of using the elevator.
Several years back, when I was living in and managing a meditation retreat facility, I realized I had an opportunity to have an extended retreat. But what to do with that retreat? Spent months trying to decide on a goal. So, I consulted with one of the purest teachers I knew, and he confirmed what I had concluded was the optimal thing to strive for: calm abiding (shamatha Skt, shi-nay Tib)
And why was that?
Many like to say,"I'm doing such and such high esoteric practices" or "My whole practice is simply breathing" etc. But, without calm abiding, none of those things are worth much. At best, planting seeds in your mind. At worst, wasting your time. Doing "meditations" on sadhanas with extensive visualisations without shamatha/shinay may actually harm you. And I've met people who've spent literally decades on just "clearing the mind and focusing on the breath," with no other purposes in mind. So, after twenty years, they could clear their mind and focus for a while, but they still had minds mired in countless mental afflictions when not on the cushion! Seems they missed something.
Will stop there. Could write pages, but should avoid negativity.
So, spent an entire year completely focused on just preparing for this retreat by reading as much as I could on meditation, and getting as many teachings on it as I could. Kept a notebook, that ran a couple hundred pages. Then, broke that down into the essence of meditation, which is the basis for what I'm writing now.
There are so many translations, different terms used, different teachers focusing on different aspects, and I searched for commonality throughout them all. That way, when I thought of the first stage of meditation, I could clearly say, "THIS is it."
Let me now list the traditional "Nine Stages of Meditation." You'll see them with different names in different sources in different translations.
1) Placement
2) Continual Placement
3) Patch-like Placement
4) Close Placement
5) Taming
6) Pacifying
7) Fully Pacifying
8) Single Channeling
9) Balanced Placement
Now, each of these stages has obstacles, antidotes to those obstacles, forces that you use to support the stage, and different derivatives/types of attention.
Created an entire flow chart linking everything. Obviously, it gets complex, so for now, will just give explanations on the stages themselves, one at a time, starting with placement. If anyone has any questions, just let me know, and I'll give more detail.
Now, as for Stage One, Placement, will just quote the masters.
And one last thing to keep in mind, this is essentially straight up cognitive restructuring, nothing mystical, nothing religious. Anyone can follow this practice, and they will eventually have a mind that they're in control of, instead of being controlled by their own mind!
Stage One - Placement
"Just setting your mind on the object...can't keep your mind on the object continually for any length of time...like a bee landing on a flower, just alighting, then leaving, then alighting, then leaving." - Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin (my teacher)
"The first stage involves placing the mind on it's object of concentration. This stage is called placement. At this stage you have difficulty remaining concentrated for more than a brief moment and feel that your mental distractions have increased. You often drift away from the object, sometimes forgetting it completely. You spend more time on other thoughts and have to devote a great effort to bringing your mind back to the object." - His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, "An Open Heart"
"Accomplishing the first stage means that you can find your object. You find it, the teachings say, by hearing about it: you hear what you are supposed to do, and then you do it...If you can see the image in your mind's eye, you have accomplished the first stage.
Knowing the progression of the stages is helpful, but not because you should be marking your progress, competing against a standard, even against your own personal best. It is helpful because the problems that arise in each stage are distinct and require different remedies." - B. Alan Wallace, "The Four Immeasurables," page 59