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Samyak samadhi - right meditation Recap: vision (perfect vision - initial insight into ultimate reality) / transformation (transformation of aspects of one's being in accordance with the insight - the other 7 stages) The more advanced the stage of spiritual life, the less there is to say about it. E.g. v little in the pali cannon about nirvana. Same in the 8fold path - not much to say about perfect samadhi - a mark of its importance.   What is perfect samadhi?  Samadhi = same in sanskrit & pali = state of being firmly fixed or established - can mean fixation of the mind on an object, or concentration. fixation or establishment of the whole being in a certain mode of awareness or consciousness, i.e. enlightenment or ultimate reality. In the pali cannon, usually the first sense is meant. In mahayana texts, usually the second sense, with concentration usually known as samata. Usually this stage of the 8fold path is rendered as right concentration - which then appears to ...

As a religion, Buddhism exists at the popular level + the philosophical / metaphysical level. Popular level: going on pilgrimage, e.g. to places connected with the Buddha. These talks are a sort of pilgrimage - harder than any geographical one - are we falling by the wayside? Many still with us... Today the beginning of the end - levels of awareness - right mindfulness. Progress in the Higher Evolution is a progress in awareness, and is shown by successively higher levels - hence levels of awareness. Right mindfulness = samyak smriti / sati = mindfulness / awareness but literal meaning is 'memory / recollection'. Will approach the shades of meaning indirectly, via an example of unmindfulness in daily life: writing an urgent letter - telephone rings - long chat - forget about the letter - thirsty - put on the radio - listen - knock on the door - chat - find you are too late for the post.    Unmindfulness covers: forgetfulness, due to being easily distracted, due to weak concent...

Samyak Vyama - Perfect Effort Context: stages 2,3,4 deal with the individual, 5 society as a whole, this 6 with the individual - specifically will / volition - against a background of the whole range of sentient existence. Culmination of the whole path of evolution. Perfect effort - vyama = exercise / gymnastics in present day. => spiritual life is active! Not necessarily physical, but mentally/spiritually/aesthetically active. "Spiritual athleticism" - a prominent feature of Buddhism. Effort needed at all stages of the path. Consists of a set of exercises - 4fold: preventing, eradicating, developing, maintaining: unskillful / skillful thoughts / mental states (first 2 are wrt unskillful, last 3 wrt skillful). Primarily psychological: unremitting work on one's own mind. Dire warning against slackening off, against letting inertia set in. e.g. putting effort into getting up early in the morning vs staying in bed Requires self-knowledge Which requires honesty with oursel...

Everybody dreams - asleep at night, also everybody daydreams - often a sort of wish-fulfillment - because we find our everyday existence dull drab uninteresting etc - so we try to create a world of our own outside ordinary existence, dream up an ideal world where the miseries of this society don't exist - where everybody is happy.  sometimes unproductive, but sometimes blueprints for a new society Plato dreams his dream of the ideal society in The Republic. The dream or vision of the Book of Revelations with a vision of the New Jerusalem with mythical or archetypal existence Thomas More, Francis Bacon etc even HJ Wells Buddhism too has its day dreams. Its concept of the ideal society is in the vision of the Pure Land from Mahayana especially from Japanese Shin Buddhism - a place where there is no suffering, conflict, death, misunderstanding... where there is no distinction of sex, no toil... nothing to do other than sit on one's lotus at the feet of the Buddha and study Buddhis...

 The Noble 8fold Path: Perfect Action 1. What makes something an ethical issue (as opposed to a matter of personal preference)?  In every moment we might be more open / creative / full of +ve emotions or more tight / reactive / full of -ve emotions, so in a way everything is an ethical issue. 2. “If you do something and it makes you feel good, then that thing is right, at least for you.” What is the problem with this view? Do you fall into this view in particular situations?  Sometimes this is true: sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves and others is to look after ourselves and do things that make us feel happier / more relaxed etc.  But if by giving  in to our craving we are harming our mental states, ourselves or others, then that is a problem.  I used to spend so much of my time doing what I thought others needed from me (family / work etc) that there wasn't any room for me. It's been good in the last few years seeking out things to watch or l...

More on Perfect Vision and Perfect Emotion (right understanding / right resolve). Perfect Vision is a vision of reality - may come in a flash / momentary / evanescent. Can communicate it in images and concepts. Vision: wheel of life - mandala of the 5 Buddhas - path from one to the other. Vision needs to descend into every aspect of our lives & transform every aspect. Perfect emotion is this descent into our emotion life - sublimation of crude unrefined emotional energies into something more delicate, free from attachment, hatred, cruelty and full of positive emotions such as generosity, love, compassion, happiness, faith & devotion.  Sammadhi - mantra - mudra: a realisation expressed in sound / expressed in gesture.  Samyak Vaca - Perfect Speech Significant that it has a whole limb to itself. Also related to the fourth of the five precepts. We have no choice but to speak so needs a place. Buddhist 3-fold classification into body, speech and mind. Speech has the same i...

Recap: Perfect Vision studying the noble 8-fold path or way - leading from ignorance to enlightenment, form darkness to light, is central to Buddhist philosophy, and one of the most important formulations of this last week: 1st aspect - right understanding / perfect vision. Not just intellectual or theoretical but the initial spiritual insight or experience that sends us off and impels us to tread the path. Object is the true nature of existence - which can be expressed in terms of images or concepts. Other 7 stages represent the vision permeating through all aspects of our life. They are the path of transformation. Reason versus Emotion Right resolve / right resolution - brings us to one of the most important problems in the whole of the spiritual life - reason & emotion. It is comparatively easy to understand a religious or philosophical teaching - but putting it into practice is a whole other story! Much harder. Story about a Chinese emperor who was very keen on discussion with ...