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Introduction

This handbook on keeping the breath in mind has had a number of readers who have put it into practice and seen results appearing within themselves in accordance with the strength of their practice. Many people have come to me to discuss the results they’ve gained from practicing the principles in this book, but now it’s out of print. For this reason I’ve decided to enlarge it and have it printed again as an aid for those who are interested in the practice.

Now, if you’re not acquainted with this topic, have never attempted it, or aren’t yet skilled – if you don’t know the techniques of the practice – it’s bound to be hard to understand, because the currents of the mind, when they’re written down as a book, simply won’t be a book. The issues involved in dealing with the mind are more than many. If your knowledge of them isn’t truly comprehensive, you may misunderstand what you come to see and know, and this in turn can be destructive in many ways. (1) You may lose whatever respect you had for the practice, deciding that there’s no truth to it. (2) You may gain only a partial grasp of things, leading you to decide that other people can’t practice or are practicing wrongly, and in the end you’re left with no way to practice yourself. So you decide to ‘let go’ simply through conjecture and speculation. But the truth is that this simply won’t work. True and complete letting go can come only from the principles well-taught by the Buddha: virtue, concentration, and discernment, which are a synopsis of the eightfold path he taught in his first sermon.

So in our practice we should consider how virtue, concentration, discernment, and release can be brought into being. Virtue forms the basis for concentration; concentration, the basis for discernment (liberating insight or cognitive skill); and discernment, the basis for release from ignorance, craving, and attachment. Thus in this book, which is a guide to developing Right Concentration, I would like to recommend to other meditators a method that, in my experience, has proven safe and productive, so that they can test it for themselves by putting it into practice until they start seeing results.

The main concern of this book is with the way to mental peace. Now, the word ‘peace’ has many levels. A mind infused with virtue has one level of peace and happiness. A mind stilled through concentration has another level of peace and happiness. A mind at peace through the power of discernment has still another level of happiness. And the peace of a mind released is yet another level, with a happiness completely apart from the rest.

In these matters, though, meditators tend to prefer the results to the causes. They aren’t as interested in abandoning their own defilements through the principles of the practice as they are in standing out among society at large. They appropriate the ideas and observations of other people as being their own, but by and large their wisdom is composed of bāhira paññā – remembered ‘outsights,’ not true insight.

So when you want the reality of the principles taught by the Buddha, you should first lift your mind to this principle – Right Concentration – because it’s an excellent gathering of the energies of your mind. All energy in the world comes from stopping and resting. Motion is something that destroys itself – as when our thinking goes all out of bounds. Take walking for instance: When we walk, energy comes from the foot at rest. Or when we speak, energy comes from stopping between phrases. If we were to talk without stopping, without resting between phrases, not only would it waste energy, but the language we’d speak wouldn’t even be human. So it is with practicing the Dhamma: Release comes from concentration and discernment acting together. Release through the power of the mind (ceto-vimutti) requires more concentration and less discernment; release through discernment (paññā-vimutti), more discernment and less concentration – but there is no way that release can be attained without the stillness of concentration.

Thus, resting the mind provides the strength needed to support all the qualities developed in the practice, which is why it’s such an essential part of Right Concentration. It forms a wellspring and a storage place for all knowledge, whether of the world or of the Dhamma. If you aren’t acquainted with this basic principle, skilled awareness won’t arise. And if you don’t have skilled awareness, how will you be able to let go? You’ll have to go groping around in unskilled awareness. As long as the mind is in the grips of unskilled awareness, it’s bound to be deluded by its fabrications.

Unskilled awareness is a brine in which the mind lies soaking; a mind soaked in its juices is like wet, sappy wood that, when burned, gives off smoke as its signal, but no flame. As the smoke rises into the air, you imagine it to be something high and exalted. It’s high, all right, but only like smoke or overcast clouds. If there’s a lot of it, it can obscure your vision and that of others, so that you can’t see the light of the sun and moon. This is why such people are said to be ‘groping.’ Those who train their own hearts, though, will give rise to skilled awareness. When skilled awareness penetrates the heart, you’ll come to realize the harmful potency of mental fabrications. The arising of skilled awareness in the heart is like the burning of dry, sapless wood that gives off flame and light. Even though there may be some smoke, you don’t pay it any mind, because the firelight is more outstanding.

The flame of skilled awareness gives rise to five sorts of results:

All of these things arise through the power of the mind. The nature of the mind is that it already has a certain amount of instinctive intuition – the times when it knows on its own, as when you happen to think of a particular person, and then he or she actually shows up. All good qualities, from the mundane to the transcendent, are always present in each of us. These qualities – the Dhamma – aren’t the exclusive possession of any particular group or person. We all have the right to develop them and put them into practice.

For these qualities to yield results, we have to develop them in conjunction with the following four principles –

These four principles form the foundation for success in all areas, whether in matters of the world or of the Dhamma. Once they’re actualized within us and focused together on a single goal, we’re bound to succeed in line with our aspirations. The results they yield, in short, are of two sorts –

Thus, I would like to invite all Buddhists – all who hope for peace and well-being – to reflect on the principles of practice dealing with Right Concentration presented here as a guide for those who are interested. If you have any questions dealing with this book, or any problems arising from the practice of training the mind, I will be glad to give whatever advice I can.

May you prosper and be well.

Whoever feels that this book is of use and would like to print it again for free distribution, may go ahead and do so without having to ask permission. Some parts may not be correct in terms of the Pali, so wherever there may be any mistakes, I ask your forgiveness.

Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo

– Rama IV, ‘Mokkhupāya Gāthā’