What Is The Right Attitude For Meditation

[Brucenkhamen]

I thought this might be of interest, I like the approach, from the Sayadaw U Tejaniya web site http://sayadawutejaniya.org/

What is the Right Attitude for Meditation?

1. Meditating is acknowledging and observing whatever happens

—whether pleasant or unpleasant—in a relaxed way.

2. Meditating is watching and waiting patiently with awareness and

understanding. Meditation is NOT trying to experience something

you have read or heard about.

3. Just pay attention to the present moment.

Don’t get lost in thoughts about the past.

Don’t get carried away by thoughts about the future.

4. When meditating, both the mind and the body should be

comfortable.

5. If the mind and the body are getting tired,

something is wrong with the way you are practising, and

it is time to check the way you are meditating.

6. Why do you focus so hard when you meditate?

Do you want something?

Do you want something to happen?

Do you want something to stop happening?

Check to see if one of these attitudes is present.

7. The meditating mind should be relaxed and at peace.

You cannot practise when the mind is tense.

8. Don’t focus too hard, don’t control.

Neither force nor restrict yourself.

9. Don’t try to create anything,

and don’t reject what is happening.

Just be aware.

10. Trying to create something is greed.

Rejecting what is happening is aversion.

Not knowing if something is happening or has stopped

happening is delusion.

11. Only to the extent that the observing mind has no greed, aversion

or anxiety are you truly meditating.

12. Don’t have any expectations,

don’t want anything,

don’t be anxious, because

if these attitudes are in your mind,

it becomes difficult to meditate. 2

13. You are not trying to make things turn out the way you want them

to happen.

You are trying to know what is happening as it is.

14. What is the mind doing?

Thinking? Being aware?

15. Where is the mind now?

Inside? Outside?

16. Is the watching or observing mind properly aware

or only superficially aware?

17. Don’t practise with a mind that wants something or wants

something to happen. The result will only be that you tire yourself

out.

18. You have to accept and watch both good and bad experiences.

You want only good experiences?

You don’t want even the tiniest unpleasant experience?

Is that reasonable?

Is this the way of the Dhamma!

19. You have to double check to see what attitude you are meditating

with.

A light and free mind enables you to meditate well.

Do you have the right attitude?

20. Don’t feel disturbed by the thinking mind.

You are not practising to prevent thinking;

but rather to recognize and acknowledge thinking whenever it

arises.

21. Don’t reject any object that comes to your attention.

Get to know the defilements that arise in relation to the object and

keep examining the defilements.

22. The object of attention is not really important; the observing mind

that is working in the background to be aware is of real importance.

If the observing is done with the right attitude, any object is the

right object.

23. Only when there is faith or confidence (saddhā), effort will arise.

Only when there is effort (viriya), mindfulness will become

continuous.

Only when mindfulness (sati) is continuous, stability of mind will

become established.

Only when stability of mind is established (samādhi), you will start

understanding things as they are.

When you start understanding things as they are (paññā), faith will

grow stronger.

[eek]

Simply put and a good reminder. Thank you.

[ff978472]

Excellence!

It's what Vippasana practice shold be.

And when you have "sati" to observe what going on in Citta, there is one thing left, that is the "Observer" itself.

[rockyysdt]

Great reference Bruce.

I've saved this for future reference and sharing with others.