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The pericope for mindfulness practice has a simple form:
We discussed what it means to be ardent, alert, and mindful, and the four fields of objects which might be chosen for mindfulness practice. Now, the third part: "having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world".
The basic, underlying tension that generates dukkha is simply want. Wanting something, wanting things to be different. Attraction and repulsion. These fundamental forces push us from experience to experience, and if the ancient Indians are to be believed, lifetime to lifetime. These fundamental forces never allow us to really rest for more than a few moments. Liberation from dukkha means liberation from them. This is what is meant by "having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world". For just a moment, achieving freedom from those forces of attraction and aversion that constantly push around our minds and prevent us from settling here and now.
And it is this that brings us to samādhi, the word typically translated as "concentration".
( What, then, is samādhi? )
Ardent, alert, and mindful, they abide watching X in X, having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world.
We discussed what it means to be ardent, alert, and mindful, and the four fields of objects which might be chosen for mindfulness practice. Now, the third part: "having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world".
The basic, underlying tension that generates dukkha is simply want. Wanting something, wanting things to be different. Attraction and repulsion. These fundamental forces push us from experience to experience, and if the ancient Indians are to be believed, lifetime to lifetime. These fundamental forces never allow us to really rest for more than a few moments. Liberation from dukkha means liberation from them. This is what is meant by "having put away covetousness and sorrow for the world". For just a moment, achieving freedom from those forces of attraction and aversion that constantly push around our minds and prevent us from settling here and now.
And it is this that brings us to samādhi, the word typically translated as "concentration".
( What, then, is samādhi? )