                       KEEPING THE BREATH IN MIND
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                          
                                          
                                          
                              Introduction
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
      This book is a guide to the practice of centering the mind. There 
  are two sections: The first deals almost exclusively with the mind. 
  But since the well-being of the mind depends to some extent on the 
  body, I have included a second section, which shows how to use the 
  body to benefit the mind.
      
      From what I've observed in my own practice, there is only one path 
  that is short, easy, effective and pleasant, and at the same time has 
  hardly anything to lead you astray: the path of keeping the breath in 
  mind, the same path the Lord Buddha himself used with such good 
  results. I hope that you won't make things difficult for yourself by 
  being hesitant or uncertain, by taking this or that teaching from here 
  or there; and that, instead, you'll earnestly set your mind on getting 
  in touch with your own breath and following it as far as it can take 
  you. From there, you'll enter the stage of liberating insight, leading 
  to the mind itself. Ultimately, pure knowing -- buddha -- will 
  standout on its own. That's when you'll reach an attainment 
  trustworthy and sure. In other words, if you let the breath follow its 
  own nature, and the mind its own nature, the results of your practice 
  will without a doubt be all that you hope for.
      
      Ordinarily, the nature of the heart, if it isn't trained and put 
  into order, is to fall in with preoccupations that are stressful and 
  bad. This is why we have to search for a principle - a Dhamma -- with 
  which to train ourselves if we hope for happiness that's stable and 
  secure. If our hearts have no inner principle, no center in which to 
  dwell, we're like a person without a home. Homeless people have 
  nothing but hardship. The sun, wind, rain and dirt are bound to leave 
  them constantly soiled because they have nothing to act as shelter. To 
  practice centering the mind is to build a home for yourself: Momentary 
  concentration (khanika samadhi) is like a house roofed with thatch; 
  threshold concentration (upacara samadhi), a house roofed with tile; 
  and fixed penetration (appana samadhi), a house built out of brick. 
  Once you have a home, you'll have a safe place to keep your valuables. 
  You won't have to put up with the hardships of watching over them, the 
  way a person who has no place to keep his valuables has to go sleeping 
  in the open, exposed to the sun and rain, to guard those valuables -- 
  and even then his valuables aren't really safe.
      
      So it is with the uncentered mind: It goes searching for good from 
  other areas, letting its thoughts wander around in all kinds of 
  concepts and preoccupations. Even if those thoughts are good, we still 
  can't say that we're safe. We're like a woman with plenty of jewelry: 
  If she dresses up in her jewels and goes wandering around, she's not 
  safe at all. Her wealth might even lead to her own death. In the same 
  way, if our hearts aren't trained through meditation to gain inner 
  stillness, even the virtues we've been able to develop will 
  deteriorate easily, because they aren't yet securely stashed away in 
  the heart. To train the mind to attain stillness and peace, though, is 
  like keeping your valuables in a strongbox.
      
      This is why most of us don't get any good from the good that we 
  do: We let the mind fall under the sway of its various preoccupations. 
  These preoccupations are your enemies, because there are times when 
  they can cause the virtues you've already developed to wither away. 
  The mind is like a blooming flower: If wind and insects disturb the 
  flower, it may never have a chance to give fruit. The flower here 
  stands for the stillness of the mind on the path; and the fruit, for 
  the happiness of the path's fruition. If our stillness of mind and 
  happiness are constant, we have a chance to attain the ultimate good 
  we all hope for.
      
      The ultimate good is like the heartwood of a tree. Other `goods' 
  are like the buds, branches and leaves. If we haven't trained our 
  hearts and minds, we'll meet with things that are good only on the 
  external level. But if our hearts are pure and good within, everything 
  external will follow in becoming good as a result. Just as our hand, 
  if it's clean, won't soil what it touches, but if it's dirty, will 
  spoil even the cleanest cloth; in the same way, if the heart is 
  defiled, everything is defiled. Even the good we do will be defiled, 
  because the highest power in the world -- the sole power giving rise 
  to all good and evil, pleasure and pain -- is the heart. The heart is 
  like a god. Good, evil, pleasure and pain come entirely from the 
  heart. We could even call the heart a creator of the world, because 
  the peace and continued well-being of the world depend on the heart. 
  If the world is to be destroyed, it will be because of the heart. So 
  we should train this most important part of the world to be centered 
  as a foundation for its wealth and well-being.
      
      Centering the mind is a way of gathering together all its 
  worthwhile potentials. When these potentials are gathered in the right 
  proportions, they'll give you the strength you need to destroy your 
  enemies: all your defilements and unwise mental states. You have 
  discernment that you've trained and made wise in the ways of good and 
  evil, of the world and the Dhamma. Your discernment is like gunpowder. 
  But if you keep your gunpowder for long without putting it into 
  bullets -- a centered mind -- it'll go damp and moldy. Or if you're 
  careless and let the fires of greed, anger or delusion overcome you, 
  your gunpowder may flame up in your hands. So don't delay: Put your 
  gunpowder into bullets so that whenever your enemies -- your 
  defilements -- make an attack, you'll be able to shoot them right 
  down.
      
      Whoever trains the mind to be centered gains a refuge. A centered 
  mind is like a fortress. Discernment is like a weapon. To practice 
  centering the mind is to secure yourself in a fortress, and so is 
  something very worthwhile and important.
      
      Virtue, the first part of the Path; and discernment, the last, 
  aren't especially difficult. But keeping the mind centered, which is 
  the middle part, takes some effort because it's a matter of forcing 
  the mind into shape. Admittedly, centering the mind, like placing 
  bridge pilings in the middle of a river, is something difficult to do. 
  But once the mind is firmly in place, it can be very useful in 
  developing virtue and discernment. Virtue is like placing pilings on 
  the near shore of the river; discernment, like placing them on the far 
  shore. But if the middle pilings -- a centered mind -- aren't firmly 
  in place, how will you ever be able to bridge the flood of suffering?
      
      There is only one way we can properly reach the qualities of the 
  Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, and that's through the practice of mental 
  development (bhavana). When we develop the mind to be centered and 
  still, discernment can arise. Discernment here refers not to ordinary 
  discernment, but to the insight that comes solely from dealing 
  directly with the mind. For example, the ability to remember past 
  lives, to know where living beings are reborn after death, and to 
  cleanse the heart of the effluents(asava) of defilement: These three 
  forms of intuition -- termed nana-cakkhu, the eye of the mind -- can 
  arise for people who train themselves in the area of the heart and 
  mind. But if we go around searching for knowledge from sights, sounds, 
  smells, tastes and tactile sensations mixed together with concepts, 
  it's as if we were studying with the Six Masters, just as the Buddha, 
  while he was studying with the Six Masters, wasn't able to gain 
  Awakening. He then turned his attention to his own heart and mind, and 
  went off to practice on his own, keeping track of his breath as his 
  first step, and going all the way to the ultimate goal. As long as 
  you're still searching for knowledge from your six senses, you're 
  studying with the Six Masters.  But when you focus your attention on 
  the breath -- which exists in each of us -to the point where the mind 
  settles down and is centered, you'll have the chance to meet with the 
  real thing: buddha, pure knowing.
      
      Some people believe that they don't have to practice centering the 
  mind, that they can attain release through discernment (panna-vimutti) 
  by working at discernment alone. This simply isn't true. Both release 
  through discernment and release through stillness of mind 
  (ceto-vimutti) are based on centering the mind. They differ only in 
  degree. Like walking: Ordinarily, a person doesn't walk on one leg 
  alone. Whichever leg is heavier is simply a matter of personal habits 
  and traits.
      
      Release through discernment begins by pondering various events and 
  aspects of the world until the mind slowly comes to rest and, once 
  it's still, gives rise intuitively to liberating insight 
  (vipassana-nana) clear and true understanding in terms of the four 
  Noble Truths (ariya sacca). In release through stillness of mind, 
  though, there's not much pondering involved. The mind is simply forced 
  to be quiet until it attains the stage of fixed penetration. That's 
  where intuitive insight will arise, enabling it to see things for what 
  they are. This is release through stillness of mind: Concentration 
  comes first, discernment later.
      
      A person with a wide-ranging knowledge of the texts -- well-versed 
  in their letter and meaning, capable of clearly and correctly 
  explaining various points of doctrine, but with no inner center for 
  the mind -- is like a pilot flying about in an airplane with a clear 
  view of the clouds and stars but no sense of where the landing strip 
  is. He's headed for trouble. If he flies higher, he'll run out of air. 
  All he can do is keep flying around until he runs out of fuel and 
  comes crashing down in the savage wilds.
      
      Some people, even though they are highly educated, are no better 
  than savages in their behavior. This is because they've gotten carried 
  away, up in the clouds. Some people -- taken with what they feel to be 
  the high level of their own learning, ideas and opinions -- won't 
  practice centering the mind because they feel it beneath them. They 
  think they deserve to go straight to release through discernment 
  instead. Actually, they're heading straight to disaster, like the 
  airplane pilot who has lost sight of the landing strip.
      
      To practice centering the mind is to build a landing strip for 
  yourself. Then, when discernment comes, you'll be able to attain 
  release safely.
      
      This is why we have to develop all three parts of the path -- 
  virtue, concentration and discernment -- if we want to be complete in 
  our practice of the religion. Otherwise, how can we say that we know 
  the four Noble Truths? -- because the path, to qualify as the Noble 
  Path, has to be composed of virtue, concentration and discernment. If 
  we don't develop it within ourselves, how can we know it? If we don't 
  know, how can we let go?
      
      Most of us, by and large, like getting results but don't like 
  laying the groundwork. We may want nothing but goodness and purity, 
  but if we haven't completed the groundwork, we'll have to keep on 
  being poor. Like people who are fond of money but not of work: How can 
  they be good, solid citizens? When they feel the pinch of poverty, 
  they'll turn to corruption and crime. In the same way, if we aim at 
  results in the field of the religion but don't like doing the work, 
  we'll have to continue being poor. And as long as our hearts are poor, 
  we're bound to go searching for goodness in other areas -- greed, 
  gain, status, pleasure and praise, the baits of the world -- even 
  though we know better. This is because we don't truly know -- which 
  means simply that we aren't true in what we do.
      
      The truth of the path is always true: Virtue is something true, 
  concentration is true, discernment is true, release is true. But if we 
  aren't true, we won't meet with anything true. If we aren't true in 
  practicing virtue, concentration and discernment, we'll end up only 
  with things that are fake and imitation. And when we make use of 
  things fake and imitation, we're headed for trouble. So we have to be 
  true in our hearts. When our hearts are true, we'll come to savor the 
  taste of the Dhamma, a taste surpassing all the tastes of the world.   
  This is why I have put together the following two guides for keeping 
  the breath in mind.
      
                              Peace.
                              
                              Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
      
      
      Wat Boromnivas
      Bangkok, 1953
      
      
      
      
      
      
                             Preliminaries
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      
      Now I will explain how to go about the practice of centering the 
  mind. Before starting out, kneel down with your hands palm-to-palm in 
  front of your heart, and sincerely pay respect to the Triple Gem, 
  saying as follows:
      
            Araham samma-sambuddho bhagava:
            Buddham bhagavantam abhivademi. (bow down)
            Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo:
            Dhammam namassami. (bow down)
            Supatipanno bhagavato savaka-sangho:
            Sangham namami. (bow down)
      
      Then, showing respect with your thoughts, words and deeds, pay 
  homage to the Buddha:
      
            Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhasa. 
            (three times)
      
      And take refuge in the Triple Gem:
      
            Buddham saranam gacchami.
            Dhammam saranam gacchami.
            Sangham saranam gacchami.
            Dutiyampi buddham saranam gacchami.
            Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami.
            Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami.
            Tatiyampi buddham saranam gacchami.
            Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami.
            Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami.
      
      Then make the following resolution: `I take refuge in the Buddha 
  -- the Pure One, completely free from defilement; and in his Dhamma -- 
  doctrine, practice and attainment; and in the Sangha - the four levels 
  of his Noble Disciples -- from now to the end of my life.'
      
            Buddham jivitam yava nibbanam saranam gacchami.
            Dhammam jivitam yava nibbanam saranam gacchami.
            Sangham jivitam yava nibbanam saranam gacchami.
      
      Then formulate the intention to observe the five, eight, ten or 
  227 precepts -- according to how many you are normally able to observe 
  -- expressing them in a single vow:
      
            Imani panca sikkhapadani samadiyami. (three times)
      
      (This is for the observing the five precepts, and means, `I 
  undertake the five training rules: to refrain from taking life, from 
  stealing, from sexual misconduct, from lying and from taking 
  intoxicants.')
      
            Imani attha sikkhapadani samadiyami. (three times)
      
      (This is for those observing the eight precepts, and means, `I 
  undertake the eight training rules: to refrain from taking life, from 
  stealing, from sexual intercourse, from lying, from taking 
  intoxicants, from eating food after noon and before dawn, from 
  watching shows and from adorning the body for the purpose of 
  beautifying it, and from using high and luxurious beds and seats.')
      
            Imani dasa sikkhapadani samadiyami. (three times)
      
      (This is for those observing the ten precepts, and means,`I 
  undertake the ten training rules: to refrain from taking life, from 
  stealing, from sexual intercourse, from lying, from taking 
  intoxicants, from eating food after noon and before dawn, from 
  watching shows, from adorning the body for the purpose of beautifying 
  it, from using high and luxurious beds and seats, and from receiving 
  money.')
      
            Parisuddho aham bhante. Parisuddhoti mam buddho 
            dhammo sangho dharetu.
      
      (This is for those observing the 227 precepts.)
      
      Now that you have professed the purity of your thoughts, words and 
  deeds toward the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, bow down 
  three times. Sit down, place your hands palm-to-palm in front of your 
  heart, steady your thoughts, and develop the four Divine Attitudes: 
  good will, compassion, appreciation and equanimity.  To spread these 
  thoughts to all living beings without exception is called the 
  immeasurable Divine Attitude.  A short Pali formula for those who have 
  trouble memorizing is:
      
         "Metta"  (benevolence and love, hoping for your own welfare 
              and that of all other living beings.)
         
         "Karuna"  (compassion for yourself and others.)
         
         "Mudita"  (appreciation, taking delight in your own goodness 
              and that of others.)
         
         "Upekkha"  (equanimity in the face of those things which 
              should be let be.)
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
                                Method 1
                                ~~~~~~~~
      
      Sit in a half-lotus position, right leg on top of the left leg, 
  your hands placed palm-up on your lap, right hand on top of the left.  
  Keep your body straight, and your mind on the task before you.  Raise 
  your hands in respect, palm-to-palm in front of the heart, and think 
  of the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha:  "Buddho me natho 
  -- The Buddha is my mainstay.  Dhammo me natho -- The Dhamma is my 
  mainstay.  Sangho me natho -- The Sangha is my mainstay."   Then 
  repeat in your mind, buddho, buddho; dhammo, dhammo; sangho, sangho.  
  Return your hands to your lap, and repeat one word, buddho, three 
  times in your mind.
      
      Then think of the in-and-out breath, counting the breaths in 
  pairs.  First think bud- with the in-breath, dho with the out, ten 
  times.  Then begin again, thinking buddho with the in-breath, buddho 
  with the out, seven times.  Then begin again: As the breath goes in 
  and out once, think buddho once, five times. Then begin again:  As the 
  breath goes in and out once, think buddho three times.  Do this for 
  three in-and-out breaths.
      
      Now you can stop counting the breaths, and simply think bud- with 
  the in-breath and dho with the out.  Let the breath be relaxed and 
  natural.   Keep your mind perfectly still, focused on the breath as it 
  comes in and out of the nostrils.  When the breath goes out, don't 
  send the mind out after it.  When the breath comes in, don't let the 
  mind follow it in.  Let your awareness be broad and open.  Don't force 
  the mind too much. Relax.  Pretend that you're breathing out in the 
  wide open air. Keep the mind still, like a post at the edge of the 
  sea.  When the water rises, the post doesn't rise with it; when the 
  water ebbs, the post doesn't sink.
      
      When you've reached this level of stillness, you can stop thinking 
  buddho.  Simply be aware of the feeling of the breath.
      
      Then slowly bring your attention inward, focusing it on the 
  various aspects of the breath -- the important aspects that can give 
  rise to intuitive powers of various kinds: clairvoyance, 
  clairaudience, the ability to know the minds of others, the ability to 
  remember previous lives, the ability to know where different people 
  and animals are reborn after death, and knowledge of the various 
  elements or potentials that are connected with, and can be of use to, 
  the body. These elements come from the bases of the breath. The First 
  Base:  Center the mind on the tip of the nose, and then slowly move it 
  to the middle of the forehead, The Second Base.  Keep your awareness 
  broad.  Let the mind rest for a moment at the forehead, and then bring 
  it back to the nose.  Keep moving it back and forth between the nose 
  and the forehead -- like a person climbing up and down a mountain -- 
  seven times.  Then let it settle at the forehead.  Don't let it go 
  back to the nose.
      
      From here, let it move to The Third Base, the middle of the top of 
  the head, and let it settle there for a moment.  Keep your awareness 
  broad.  Inhale the breath at that spot, let it spread throughout the 
  head for a moment, and then return the mind to the middle of the 
  forehead.  Move the mind back and forth between the forehead and the 
  top of the head seven times, finally letting it rest on the top of the 
  head.
      
      Then bring it into The Fourth Base, the middle of the brain. Let 
  it be still for a moment, and then bring it back out to the top of the 
  head.  Keep moving it back and forth between these two spots, finally 
  letting it settle in the middle of the brain.  Keep your awareness 
  broad.  Let the refined breath in the brain spread to the lower parts 
  of the body.
      
      When you reach this point you may find that the breath starts 
  giving rise to various signs (nimitta), such as seeing or feeling hot, 
  cold or tingling sensations in the head.  You may see a pale, murky 
  vapor, or your own skull.  Even so, don't let yourself be affected by 
  whatever appears.  If you don't want the nimitta to appear, breathe 
  deep and long, down into the heart, and it will immediately go away.
      
      When you see that a nimitta has appeared, mindfully focus your 
  awareness on it -- but be sure to focus on only one at a time, 
  choosing whichever one is most comfortable.  Once you've got hold of 
  it, expand it so that it's as large as your head.  The bright white 
  nimitta is useful to the body and mind:  It's a pure breath that can 
  cleanse the blood in the body, reducing or eliminating feelings of 
  pain.
      
      When you have this white light as large as the head, bring it down 
  to The Fifth Base, the center of the chest.  Once it's firmly settled, 
  let it spread out to fill the chest.  Make this breath as white and as 
  bright as possible, and then let both the breath and the light spread 
  throughout the body, out to every pore, until different parts of the 
  body appear on their own as pictures.  If you don't want the pictures, 
  take two or three long breaths, and they'll disappear.  Keep your 
  awareness still and expansive.  Don't let it latch onto or be affected 
  by any nimitta that may happen to pass into the brightness of the 
  breath.  Keep careful watch over the mind.  Keep it one.  Keep it 
  intent on a single preoccupation, the refined breath, letting this 
  refined breath suffuse the entire body.
      
      When you've reached this point, knowledge will gradually begin to 
  unfold. The body will be light, like fluff.  The mind will be rested 
  and refreshed -- supple, solitary and self-contained.  There will be 
  an extreme sense of physical pleasure and mental ease.
      
      If you want to acquire knowledge and skill, practice these steps 
  until you're adept at entering, leaving and staying in place.  When 
  you've mastered them, you'll be able to give rise to the nimitta of 
  the breath -- the brilliantly white ball or lump of light -- whenever 
  you want.  When you want knowledge, simply make the mind still and let 
  go of all preoccupations, leaving just the brightness.  Think one or 
  two times of whatever you want to know - of things inside or outside, 
  concerning yourself or others -- and the knowledge will arise, or a 
  mental picture will appear.  To become thoroughly expert you should, 
  if possible, study directly with someone who has practiced and is 
  skilled in these matters, because knowledge of this sort can come only 
  from the practice of centering the mind.  
      
      The knowledge that comes from centering the mind falls into two 
  classes: mundane (lokiya) and transcendent (lokuttara).  With mundane 
  knowledge, you're attached to your knowledge and views on the one 
  hand, and to the things that appear and give rise to your knowledge on 
  the other.  Your knowledge and the things that give you knowledge 
  through the power of your skill are composed of true and false mixed 
  together -- but the 'true' here is true simply on the level of mental 
  fashioning, and anything fashioned is by nature changeable, unstable 
  and inconstant.
      
      So when you want to go on to the transcendent level, gather all 
  the things you know and see into a single point -- ekaggatarammana, 
  the singleness of mental absorption -- and see that they are all of 
  the same nature.  Take all  your knowledge and awareness and gather it 
  into the same point, until you can clearly see the truth:  that all of 
  these things, by their nature, simply arise and fall away.  Don't try 
  to latch onto the things you know -- your preoccupations -- as yours.  
  Don't try to latch onto the knowledge that has come from within you as 
  your own.  Let these things be, in line with their own inherent 
  nature.  If you latch onto your preoccupations, you're latching onto 
  stress and pain.  If you hold onto your knowledge, it will turn into 
  the cause of stress.
      
      So:  A mind centered and still gives rise to knowledge.  This 
  knowledge is the path.  All of the things that come passing by for you 
  to know are stress.  Don't let the mind fasten onto its knowledge.  
  Don't let it fasten onto the preoccupations that appear for you to 
  know.  Let them be, in line with their nature. Put your mind at ease.  
  Don't fasten onto the mind, or suppose it to be this or that.  As long 
  as you suppose yourself, you're suffering from obscured awareness 
  (avijja).  When you can truly know this, the transcendent will arise 
  within you -- the noblest good, the most exalted happiness a human 
  being can know.
      
      To summarize, the basic steps to practice are as follows: 1. 
  Eliminate all bad preoccupations from the mind. 2. Make the mind dwell 
  on good preoccupations. 3. Gather all good preoccupations into one -- 
  the singleness of meditative absorption (jhana).4. Consider this one 
  preoccupation until you see how it is aniccam, inconstant; dukkham, 
  stressful; and anatta, not yourself or anyone else -- empty and void. 
  5. Let all good and bad preoccupations follow their own nature -- 
  because good and bad dwell together, and are equal by nature.  Let the 
  mind follow its own nature.  Let knowing follow its own nature.  
  Knowing doesn't arise, and it doesn't fall away. This is santi-dhamma 
  -- the reality of peace.  It knows goodness, but the knowing isn't 
  goodness, and goodness isn't the knowing.  It knows evil, but the 
  knowing isn't evil, and evil isn't the knowing.  In other words, 
  knowing isn't attached to knowledge or to the things known.  Its 
  nature is truly elemental -- flawless and pure, like a drop of water 
  on a lotus leaf.  This is why it's called asankhata-dhatu: the 
  unfashioned property, a true element.
      
      When you can follow these five steps, you'll find marvels 
  appearing in your heart, the results of having practiced tranquility 
  and insight meditation.  These results fall into the two classes 
  already mentioned:  mundane, providing for your own physical 
  well-being and that of others throughout the world; and transcendent, 
  providing for the well-being of your heart, bringing happiness that is 
  calm, cool and blooming, leading all the way to Liberation (nibbana) 
  -- free from birth, ageing, illness and death.  
      
      This has been a brief explanation of the main principles of breath 
  meditation.  If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties 
  in putting these principles into practice, and you wish to study 
  directly with someone who teaches along these lines, I will be happy 
  to help you to the best of my ability so that we can all attain the 
  peace and well-being taught by the religion.
      
      Most people will find that Method 2, which follows, is easier and 
  more relaxing than Method 1, outlined above.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
                                Method 2
                                ~~~~~~~~
      
      
      There are seven basic steps:
      
      1. Start out with three or seven long in-and-out breaths, thinking 
  bud- with the in-breath, and dho with the out.  Keep the meditation 
  syllable as long as the breath.
      
      2. Be clearly aware of each in-and-out breath.
      
      3. Observe the breath as it goes in and out, noticing whether it's 
  comfortable or uncomfortable, broad or narrow, obstructed or 
  free-flowing, fast or slow, short or long, warm or cool.  If the 
  breath doesn't feel comfortable, change it until it does.  For 
  instance, if breathing in long and out long is uncomfortable, try 
  breathing in short and out short.  As soon as you find that your 
  breathing feels comfortable, let this comfortable breath sensation 
  spread to the different parts of the body.
      
      To begin with, inhale the breath sensation at the base of the 
  skull, and let it flow all the way down the spine.  Then, if you are 
  male, let it spread down your right leg to the sole of your foot, to 
  the ends of your toes, and out into the air.  Inhale the breath 
  sensation at the base of the skull again and let it spread down your 
  spine, down your left leg to the ends of your toes and out into the 
  air.  (If you are female, begin with the left side first, because the 
  male and female nervous systems are different.)
      
      Then let the breath from the base of the skull spread down over 
  both shoulders, past your elbows and wrists, to the tips of your 
  fingers and out into the air.
      
      Let the breath at the base of the throat spread down the central 
  nerve at the front of the body, past the lungs and liver, all the way 
  down to the bladder and colon.
      
      Inhale the breath right at the middle of the chest and let it go 
  all the way down to your intestines.
      
      Let all these breath sensations spread so that they connect and 
  flow together, and you'll feel a greatly improved sense of well-being.
      
      4. Learn four ways of adjusting the breath:
      
         a. in long and out long,
         b. in short and out short,
         c. in short and out long,
         d. in short and out short.
      
      Breathe whichever way is most comfortable for you.  Or, better 
  yet, learn to breathe comfortably all four ways, because your physical 
  condition and your breath are always changing.
      
      5. Become acquainted with the bases or focal points for the mind 
  -- the resting spots of the breath -- and center your awareness on 
  whichever one seems most comfortable.  A few of these bases are:
      
         a. the tip of the nose,
         b. the middle of the head,
         c. the palate,
         d. the base of the throat,
         e. the breastbone (the tip of the sternum),
         f. the navel (or a point just above it).
      
      If you suffer from frequent headaches or nervous problems, don't 
  focus on any spot above the base of the throat.  And don't try to 
  force the breath or put yourself into a trance.  Breathe freely and 
  naturally.  Let the mind be at ease with the breath -- but not to the 
  point where it slips away.
      
      6. Spread your awareness -- your sense of conscious feeling -- 
  throughout the entire body.
      
      7. Unite the breath sensations throughout the body, letting them 
  flow together comfortably, keeping your awareness as broad as 
  possible.  Once you are fully aware of the aspects of the breath you 
  already know in your body, you'll come to know all sorts of other 
  aspects as well.  The breath, by its nature, has many facets:  breath 
  sensations flowing in the nerves, those flowing around and about the 
  nerves, those spreading from the nerves to every pore.  Beneficial 
  breath sensations and harmful ones are mixed together by their very 
  nature.
      
      To summarize: (a) for the sake of improving the energy already 
  existing in every part of your body, so that you can contend with such 
  things as disease and pain; and (b) for the sake of clarifying the 
  knowledge already within you, so that it can become a basis for the 
  skills leading to release and purity of heart -- you should always 
  bear these seven steps in mind, because they are absolutely basic to 
  every aspect of breath meditation.  When you've mastered them, you 
  will have cut a main road. As for the side roads -- the incidentals of 
  breath meditation -- there are plenty of them, but they aren't really 
  important.  You'll be perfectly safe if you stick to these seven steps 
  and practice them as much as possible.
      
      Once you've learned to put your breath in order, it's as if you 
  have everyone in your home in order.  The incidentals of breath 
  meditation are like people outside your home -- in other words, 
  guests.  Once the people in your home are well-behaved, your guests 
  will have to fall in line.
      
      The `guests' here are the signs (nimitta) and vagrant breaths that 
  will tend to pass within the range of the breath you are dealing with:  
  the various signs that arise from the breath and may appear as images 
  -- bright lights, people, animals, yourself, others; or as sounds -- 
  the voices of people, some you recognize and others you don't.  In 
  some cases the signs appear as smells -- either fragrant, or else foul 
  like a corpse. Sometimes the in-breath can make you feel so full 
  throughout the body that you have no sense of hunger or thirst.  
  Sometimes the breath can send warm, hot, cold or tingling sensations 
  through the body.  Sometimes it can cause things that never occurred 
  to you before to spring suddenly to mind.
      
      All of these things are classed as guests.  Before you go 
  receiving guests, you should put your breath and mind into good order, 
  making them stable and secure.  In receiving these guests, you first 
  have to bring them under your control.  If you can't control them, 
  don't have anything to do with them:  They might lead you astray.  But 
  if you can put them through their paces, they can be of use to you 
  later on.
      
      To put them through their paces means to change them at will, 
  through the power of thought (patibhaga nimitta) -- making them small, 
  large, sending them far away, bringing them up close, making them 
  appear and disappear, sending them outside, bringing them in.  Only 
  then will you be able to use them in training the mind.
      
      Once you've mastered these signs, they'll give rise to heightened 
  sensory powers:  the ability to see without opening your eyes; the 
  ability to hear far-distant sounds or smell far-distant aromas; the 
  ability to taste the various elements that exist in the air and can be 
  of use to the body in overcoming feelings of hunger and desire; the 
  ability to give rise to certain feelings at will -- to feel cool when 
  you want to feel cool, hot when you want to feel hot, warm when you 
  want to feel warm, strong when you need strength -- because the 
  various elements in the world that can be physically useful to you 
  will come and appear in your body.
      
      The mind, too, will be heightened, and will have the power to 
  develop the eye of intuition (nana-cakkhu):  the ability to remember 
  previous lives, the ability to know where living beings are reborn 
  after they die, and the ability to cleanse the heart of the effluents 
  of defilement.  If you have your wits about you, you can receive these 
  guests and put them to work in your home.
      
      These are a few of the incidentals of breath meditation.  If you 
  come across them in your practice, examine them thoroughly. Don't be 
  pleased by what appears.  Don't get upset or try to deny what appears.  
  Keep your mind on an even keel.  Stay neutral.  Be circumspect.  
  Consider carefully whatever appears, to see whether it's trustworthy 
  or not.  Otherwise, it might lead you to mistaken assumptions.  Good 
  and evil, right and wrong, high and low:  All depend on whether your 
  heart is shrewd or dull, and on how resourceful you are.  If you're 
  dull-witted, even high things can become low, and good things evil.
      
      Once you know the various aspects of the breath and its 
  incidentals, you can gain knowledge of the four Noble Truths.  In 
  addition, you can relieve physical pains as they arise in your body.  
  Mindfulness is the active ingredient in the medicine; the in-and-out 
  breath is the solvent.  Mindfulness can cleanse and purify the breath.  
  A pure breath can cleanse the blood through-out the body, and when the 
  blood is cleansed, it can relieve many of the body's diseases and 
  pains.  If you suffer from nervous disorders, for example, they'll 
  completely disappear.  What's more, you'll be able to strengthen the 
  body so that you feel a greater sense of health and well-being.
      
      When the body feels well, the mind can settle down and rest. And 
  once the mind is rested, you gain strength:  the ability to relieve 
  all feelings of pain while sitting in meditation, so that you can go 
  on sitting for hours.  When the body is free from pain, the mind is 
  free from Hindrances (nivarana).  Body and mind are both strong.  This 
  is called samadhi balam -- the strength of concentration.
      
      When your concentration is strong like this, it can give rise to 
  discernment:  the ability to see stress, its cause, its disbanding and 
  the path to its disbanding, all clearly within the breath.  This can 
  be explained as follows:  The in-and-out breath is stress -- the 
  in-breath, the stress of arising; the out- breath, the stress of 
  passing away.  Not being aware of the breath as it goes in and out, 
  not knowing the characteristics of the breath, is the cause of stress.  
  Knowing when the breath is coming in, knowing when it's going out, 
  knowing its characteristics clearly -- i.e., keeping your views in 
  line with the truth of the breath -- is Right View, part of the Noble 
  Path. Knowing which ways of breathing are uncomfortable, knowing how 
  to vary the breath; knowing, `That way of breathing is uncomfortable; 
  I'll have to breathe like this in order to feel at ease:'  This is 
  Right Attitude.  The mental factors that think about and correctly 
  evaluate all aspects of the breath are Right Speech.  Knowing various 
  ways of improving the breath; breathing, for example, in long and out 
  long, in short and out short, in short and out long, in long and out 
  short, until you come across the breath most comfortable for you:  
  This is Right Action. Knowing how to use the breath to purify the 
  blood, how to let this purified blood nourish the heart muscles, how 
  to adjust the breath so that it eases the body and soothes the mind, 
  how to breathe so that you feel full and refreshed in body and mind: 
  This is Right Livelihood.  Trying to adjust the breath until it 
  soothes the body and mind, and to keep trying as long as you aren't 
  fully at ease, is Right Effort.  Being mindful of the in-and-out 
  breath at all times, knowing the various aspects of the breath -- the 
  up-flowing breath, the down-flowing breath, the breath in the stomach, 
  the breath in the intestines, the breath flowing along the muscles and 
  out to every pore -- keeping track of these things with every 
  in-and-out breath:  This is Right Mindfulness.  A mind intent only on 
  issues related to the breath, not pulling any other objects in to 
  interfere, until the breath is refined, giving rise to fixed 
  absorption and then liberating insight:  This is Right Concentration.
      
      To think of the breath is termed vitakka, directed thought. To 
  adjust the breath and let it spread is called vicara,  evaluation.  
  When all aspects of the breath flow freely throughout the body, you 
  feel full and refreshed in body and mind:  This is piti, rapture.  
  When body and mind are both at rest, you feel serene and at ease:  
  This is sukha, pleasure.  And once you feel pleasure, the mind is 
  bound to hold fast to a single preoccupation, and not go straying 
  after any others:  This is ekaggatarammana, singleness of object.  
  These five factors form the beginning stage of Right Concentration.
      
      When all these parts of the Noble Path -- virtue, concentration 
  and discernment -- are brought together fully mature in the heart, you 
  gain insight into all aspects of the breath, knowing that `Breathing 
  this way gives rise to good mental states.  Breathing that way gives 
  rise to bad mental states.'  You aren't caught up with the factors --  
  the breath in all its aspects -- that fashion the body, the factors 
  that fashion speech, the factors that fashion the mind, whether for 
  good or for ill.  You let them be, in line with their inherent nature: 
  This is the disbanding of stress.
      
      Another, even briefer way to express the four Noble Truths is 
  this:  The in-and-out breath is the truth of stress.  Not being aware 
  of the in-breath, not being aware of the out- breath: This is the 
  cause of stress -- obscured, deluded awareness. Seeing into all 
  aspects of the breath so clearly that you can let them go with no 
  sense of attachment is the disbanding of stress. Being constantly 
  mindful and aware of all aspects of the breath is the path to the 
  disbanding of stress.
      
      When you can do this, you can say that you're correctly following 
  the path of breath meditation.  Your awareness is unobscured.  You 
  have the skill to know all four Truths clearly. You can attain 
  release.  Release is a mind that doesn't cling to low causes and low 
  effects -- i.e., stress and its cause; or to high causes and high 
  effects -- the disbanding of stress and the path to its disbanding.  
  It's a mind unattached to the things that cause it to know, unattached 
  to knowledge, unattached to knowing.  When you can separate these 
  things, you've mastered the skill of release -- in other words, when 
  you know what forms the beginning, what forms the end and what lies in 
  between, letting them be as they are on their own, in line with the 
  phrase,
      
      
            sabbe dhamma anatta:
            
            All phenomena are not-self.
            
      
      To be attached to the things that cause us to know -- the 
  elements, khandhas, the senses and their objects -- is termed clinging 
  to sensuality (kamupadana).  To be attached to knowledge is termed 
  clinging to views (ditthupadana).  To be unacquainted with pure 
  knowing in and of itself (buddha) is termed clinging to precepts and 
  procedures (silabbatupadana).And when we cling in this way, we are 
  bound to be deluded by the factors that fashion the body, speech and 
  the mind, all of which arise from obscured awareness.
      
      The Buddha was a complete master of both cause and effect, without 
  being attached either to low causes and low effects, or to high causes 
  and high effects.  He was above cause and beyond effect.  Stress and 
  ease were both at his disposal, but he was attached to neither of 
  them.  He fully knew both good and evil, was fully equipped with both 
  self and not-self, but wasn't attached to any of these things.  He had 
  at his disposal the objects that can act as the basis for the cause of 
  stress, but wasn't attached to them.  The Path -- discernment -- was 
  also at his disposal:  He knew how to appear either ignorant or 
  shrewd, and how to use both ignorance and shrewdness in his work of 
  spreading the religion.  And as for the disbanding of stress, he had 
  it at his disposal, but didn't cling to it, wasn't attached to it, 
  which is why we can truly say that his mastery was complete.
      
      Before the Buddha was able to let go of these things in this way, 
  he first had to work at giving rise to them in full measure. Only then 
  could he put them aside.  He let go from abundance, unlike ordinary 
  people who `let go' out of poverty.  Even though he let these things 
  go, they were still at his disposal.  He never dismissed the virtue, 
  concentration and discernment he had worked at perfecting up to the 
  day of his Awakening.  He continued using every aspect of virtue, 
  concentration and discernment to the day he entered total Liberation 
  (parinibbana).Even the moment he was about to `nibbana', he was 
  practicing his full command of concentration -- in other words, his 
  total Liberation occurred when he was between the physical and 
  non-physical levels of jhana.
      
      So we shouldn't dismiss virtue, concentration and discernment. 
  Some people won't observe the precepts because they're afraid of 
  getting tied to them.  Some people won't practice concentration 
  because they're afraid of becoming ignorant or going insane.  The 
  truth of the matter is that normally we're already ignorant, already 
  insane, and that to practice centering the mind is what will end our 
  ignorance and cure our insanity.  Once we've trained ourselves 
  properly, we'll give rise to pure discernment, like a cut jewel that 
  gives off light by its very nature.  This is what qualifies as true 
  discernment.  It arises for us individually, and is termed paccattam:  
  We can give rise to it, and know it, only for ourselves.
      
      Most of us, though, tend to misunderstand the nature of 
  discernment.  We take imitation discernment, adulterated with 
  concepts, and use it to smother the real thing, like a man who coats a 
  piece of glass with mercury so that he can see his reflection and that 
  of others, thinking he's found an ingenious way of looking at the 
  truth. Actually, he's nothing more than a monkey looking in a mirror: 
  One monkey becomes two, and will keep playing with its reflection 
  until the mercury wears off, at which point it becomes crestfallen, 
  not knowing what the reflection came from in the first place.  So it 
  is when we gain imitation discernment, unwittingly, by thinking and 
  conjecturing in line with the things we think we've perceived:  We're 
  headed for sorrow when death meets us face-to-face.
      
      The crucial factor in natural discernment comes solely from 
  training the mind to be like a diamond that gives off its own light -- 
  surrounded by radiance whether in dark places or bright. A mirror is 
  useful only in places already well-lit.  If you take it into the dark, 
  you can't use it to see your reflection at all. But a cut jewel that 
  gives off its own light is brilliant everywhere.  This is what the 
  Buddha meant when he taught that there are no closed or secret places 
  in the world where discernment can't penetrate.  This jewel of 
  discernment is what will enable us to destroy craving, attachment and 
  obscured awareness, and to attain the highest excellence:  Liberation 
  -- free from pain, death, annihilation and extinction -- existing 
  naturally through the reality of deathlessness (amatadhamma).
      
      By and large, we tend to be interested only in discernment and 
  release:  At the drop of a hat, we want to start right in with the 
  teachings on stress, inconstancy and not-self -- and when this is the 
  case, we'll never get anywhere.  Before the Buddha taught that things 
  are inconstant, he had worked at knowing them until they revealed 
  their constancy.  Before teaching that things are stressful, he had 
  turned that stress into pleasure and ease. And before teaching that 
  things are not-self, he had turned what is not-self into a self, and 
  so was able to see what is constant and true, lying hidden in what is 
  inconstant, stressful and not-self. He then gathered all of these 
  qualities into one. He gathered all that is inconstant, stressful and 
  not-self into one and the same thing:  fashionings (sankhara) viewed 
  in terms of the world -- a single class, equal everywhere throughout 
  the world.  As for what's constant, pleasant and self, this was 
  another class:  fashionings viewed in terms of the Dhamma.  And then 
  he let go of both classes, without getting caught up on `constant' or 
  `inconstant', `stress' or 'ease', `self' or 'not-self'.  This is why 
  we can say he attained release, purity and Liberation, for he had no 
  need to latch onto fashionings -- whether of the world or of the 
  Dhamma -- in any way at all.
      
      This was the nature of the Lord Buddha's practice.  But as for our 
  own practice, most of us act as if we have everything figured out 
  beforehand, and have succeeded even before we start. In other words, 
  we want simply to let go and attain peace and release.  But if we 
  haven't laid the full groundwork, our letting-go is bound to be 
  lacking:  Our peace is bound to be piece-meal, our release is bound to 
  be wrong.  Those of us who sincerely mean well and want only the 
  highest good should ask ourselves:  Have we laid the proper 
  foundation?  If we don't lay the proper foundation for release and 
  letting go, how will we ever be free?
      
      The Buddha taught that virtue can overcome common defilements, the 
  gross faults in our words and deeds; that concentration can overcome 
  such intermediate defilements as sensual desires, ill will, torpor, 
  restlessness and uncertainty; and that discernment can overcome such 
  subtle defilements as craving, attachment and obscured awareness.  Yet 
  some people whose discernment is sharp, who can clearly explain subtle 
  points of doctrine, can't seem to shake off the more common 
  defilements that even virtue can overcome.  This shows that something 
  must be lacking in their virtue, concentration and discernment.  Their 
  virtues are probably all on the surface, their concentration splotchy 
  and stained, their discernment a smeared-on gloss -- like the glass 
  coated with mercury -- which is why they can't attain the goal.  Their 
  actions fall under the old saying:  Keeping a sword outside the 
  scabbard --  having a way with words and theories, but no center for 
  the mind; laying an egg outside the nest -- looking for goodness only 
  outside, without training the mind to be centered; resting a 
  foundation on the sand -- trying to find security in things of no 
  substance.  All of this is bound to bring disappointment.  Such people 
  have yet to find a worthwhile refuge.
      
      So we should lay the groundwork and put the causes into good 
  working order, because all the attainments we hope for come springing 
  from causes.
      
            attana codayattanam
            patimanse tamattana
            
            Rouse yourself.
            Train your own heart.
            Start judging your own in-and-out breath.
      
                _________
      
      
      Now we will summarize the methods of breath meditation under the 
  headings of jhana.
      
      Jhana means to be absorbed or focused in a single object or 
  preoccupation, as when we deal with the breath.
      
      1. The first level of jhana has five factors:  (a) Directed 
  thought (vitakka):  Think of the breath until you can recognize it 
  clearly without getting distracted.  (b) Singleness of object 
  (ekaggatarammana):  Keep the mind with the breath.  Don't let it stray 
  after other objects.  Watch over your thoughts so that they deal only 
  with the breath to the point where the breath becomes comfortable. 
  (The mind becomes one, at rest with the breath.)(c) Evaluation 
  (vicara):  Gain a sense of how to let this comfortable breath 
  sensation spread and co-ordinate with the other breath sensations in 
  the body.  Let these breath sensations spread until they all merge.  
  Once the body has been soothed by the breath, feelings of pain will 
  grow calm.  The body will be filled with good breath energy. (The mind 
  is focused exclusively on issues connected with the breath.)
      
      These three qualities must be brought together to bear on the same 
  stream of breathing for the first level of jhana to arise.  This 
  stream of breathing can then take you all the way to the fourth level 
  of jhana.
      
      Directed thought, singleness of object and evaluation act as the 
  causes.  When the causes are fully ripe, results will appear -- (d) 
  rapture (piti): a compelling sense of fullness and refreshment for 
  body and mind, going straight to the heart, independent of all else.  
  (e) Pleasure (sukha): physical ease arising from the body's being 
  still and unperturbed (kaya-passaddhi); mental contentment arising 
  from the mind's being at ease on its own, unperturbed, serene and 
  exultant (citta-passaddhi).
      
      Rapture and pleasure are the results.  The factors of the first 
  level of jhana thus come down simply to two sorts: causes and results.
      
      As rapture and pleasure grow stronger, the breath becomes more 
  subtle.  The longer you stay focused and absorbed, the more powerful 
  the results become.  This enables you to set directed thought and 
  evaluation (the preliminary ground-clearing) aside, and -- relying 
  completely on a single factor, singleness of object -- you enter the 
  second level of jhana (magga-citta, phala-citta).
      
      2.  The second level of jhana has three factors:  rapture, 
  pleasure and singleness of object (magga-citta).  This refers to the 
  state of mind that has tasted the results coming from the first level 
  of jhana.  Once you have entered the second level, rapture and 
  pleasure become stronger because they rely on a single cause, 
  singleness of object, which looks after the work from here on in: 
  focusing on the breath so that it becomes more and more refined, 
  keeping steady and still with a sense of refreshment and ease for both 
  body and mind.  The mind is even more stable and intent than before.  
  As you continue focusing, rapture and pleasure become stronger and 
  begin to expand and contract.  Continue focusing on the breath, moving 
  the mind deeper to a more subtle level to escape the motions of 
  rapture and pleasure, and you enter the third level of jhana.
      
      3.  The third level of jhana has two factors:  pleasure and 
  singleness of object.  The body is quiet, motionless and solitary.  No 
  feelings of pain arise to disturb it.  The mind is solitary and still.  
  The breath is refined, free-flowing and broad.  A radiance -- white 
  like cotton wool -- pervades the entire body, stilling all feelings of 
  physical and mental discomfort.  Keep focused on looking after nothing 
  but the broad, refined breath. The mind is free:  No thoughts of past 
  or future disturb it.  The mind stands out on its own.  The four 
  properties -- earth, water, fire and wind -- are in harmony throughout 
  the body.  You could almost say that they're pure throughout the 
  entire body, because the breath has the strength to control and take 
  good care of the other properties, keeping them harmonious and 
  coordinated.  Mindfulness is coupled with singleness of object, which 
  acts as the cause.  The breath fills the body.  Mindfulness fills the 
  body.
      
      Focus on in:  The mind is bright and powerful, the body is light.  
  Feelings of pleasure are still.  Your sense of the body feels steady 
  and even, with no slips or gaps in your awareness, so you can let go 
  of your sense of pleasure.  The manifestations of pleasure grow still, 
  because the four properties are balanced and free from motion.  
  Singleness of object, the cause, has the strength to focus more 
  heavily down, taking you to the fourth level of jhana.
      
      4.  The fourth level of jhana has two factors:  equanimity 
  (upekkha) and singleness of object, or mindfulness.  Equanimity and 
  singleness of object on the fourth level of jhana are powerfully 
  focused -- solid, stable and sure.  The breath element is absolutely 
  quiet, free from ripples and gaps.  The mind, neutral and still, lets 
  go of all preoccupations with past and future.  The breath, which 
  forms the present, is still, like the ocean or air when they are free 
  from currents or waves.  You can know distant sights, and sounds, 
  because the breath is even and unwavering, and so acts like a movie 
  screen, giving a clear reflection of whatever is projected onto it.  
  Knowledge arises in the mind: You know but stay neutral and still.  
  The mind is neutral and still; the breath, neutral and still; past, 
  present and future are all neutral and still.  This is true singleness 
  of object, focused on the unperturbed stillness of the breath. All 
  parts of the breath in the body connect so that you can breathe 
  through every pore.  You don't have to breathe through the nostrils, 
  because the in-and-out breath and the other aspects of the breath in 
  the body form a single, unified whole.  All aspects of the breath 
  energy are even and full.  The four properties all have the same 
  characteristics.  The mind is completely still.
      
            The focus is strong; the light, aglow.
            This is to know the great frame of reference.
            The mind is beaming and bright --
            like the light of the sun,
            which un-obstructed by clouds or haze,
            illumines the earth with its rays.
      
      The mind sheds light in all directions.  The breath is radiant, 
  the mind fully radiant, due to the focusing of mindfulness.
      
            The focus is strong; the light, aglow....
      
      The mind has power and authority.  All four of the frames of 
  reference are gathered into one.  There is no sense that, `That's the 
  body...That's a feeling...That's the mind...That's a mental quality.'  
  There's no sense that they're four, This is thus called the great 
  frame of reference, because none of the four are in any way separate.
      
            The mind is firmly intent,
            centered and true,
            due to the strength of its focus.
      
      Mindfulness and self-awareness converge into one:  This is what is 
  meant by the one path (ekayana-magga) -- the concord among the 
  properties and frames of reference, four in one, giving rise to great 
  energy and wakefulness, the purifying inner fire (tapas) that can 
  thoroughly dispel all obscuring darkness.
      
      As you focus more strongly on the radiance of the mind, the power 
  that comes from letting go of all preoccupations enables the mind to 
  stand alone.  You're like a person who has climbed to the top of a 
  mountain and has the right to see in all directions. The mind's 
  dwelling -- the breath, which supports the mind's freedom -- is in a 
  heightened state, so the mind is able to see all things fashioned 
  (sankhara) clearly in terms of the Dhamma: as elements, khandhas, and 
  sense media (ayatana).  Just as a person who has taken a camera up in 
  an airplane can take pictures of practically everything below, so a 
  person who has reached this stage (lokavidu) can see the world and the 
  Dhamma as they truly are.
      
      In addition, awareness of another sort, in the area of the mind -- 
  called liberating insight, or the skill of release -- also appears.  
  The elements or properties of the body acquire potency(kaya-siddhi); 
  the mind, resilient power.  When you want knowledge of the world or 
  the Dhamma, focus the mind heavily and forcefully on the breath.  As 
  the concentrated power of the mind strikes the pure element, intuitive 
  knowledge will spring up in that element, just as the needle of a 
  record player, as it strikes a record, will give rise to sounds.  Once 
  your mindfulness is focused on a pure object, then if you want images, 
  images will appear; if sounds, sounds will arise, whether near or far, 
  matters of the world or the Dhamma, concerning yourself or others, 
  past, present or future -- whatever you want to know.  As you focus 
  down, think of what you want to know, and it will appear.  This is 
  nana -- intuitive sensitivity capable of knowing past, present and 
  future -- an important level of awareness that you can know only for 
  yourself.  The elements are like radio waves going through the air.  
  If your mind and mindfulness are strong, and your skills highly 
  developed, you can use those elements to put yourself in touch with 
  the entire world, so that knowledge can arise within you.
      
      When you have mastered the fourth level of jhana, it can act as 
  the basis for eight skills
      
      1. Vipassana-nana:  clear intuitive insight into mental and 
  physical phenomena as they arise, remain and disband. This is a 
  special sort of insight, coming solely from training the mind.  It can 
  occur in two ways:  (a) knowing without ever having thought of the 
  matter; and (b) knowing from having thought of the matter -- but not 
  after a great deal of thought, as in the case of ordinary knowledge.  
  Think for an instant and it immediately becomes clear -- just as a 
  piece of cotton wool soaked in gasoline, when you hold a match to it, 
  bursts immediately into flame.  The intuition and insight here are 
  that fast, and so differ from ordinary discernment.
      
      2. Manomayiddhi: the ability to use the mind to influence events.
      
      3.  Iddhividhi: the ability to display supra-normal powers, e.g. 
  creating images in certain instances that certain groups of people 
  will be able to see.
      
      4. Dibbasota: the ability to hear distant sounds.
      
      5. Cetopariya-nana: the ability to know the level -- good or evil, 
  high or low -- of other people's minds.
      
      6. Pubbenivasanussati-nana: the ability to remember previous 
  lifetimes.  (If you attain this skill, you'll no longer have to wonder 
  as to whether death is followed by annihilation or rebirth.)
      
      7. Dibbacakkhu: the ability to see gross and subtle images, both 
  near and far.
      
      8. Asavakkhaya-nana: the ability to reduce and eliminate the 
  effluents of defilement in the heart.
      
      These eight skills come exclusively from the centering the mind, 
  which is why I have written this condensed guide to concentration and 
  jhana, based on the technique of keeping the breath in mind.  If you 
  aspire to the good that can come from these things, you should turn 
  your attention to training your own heart and mind.
