Again, it's a Train

On Page Sixty-Two, Sayadaw concludes the breaking down of compactness by noting that it will help us to see that consciousness is only a rapid arising and passing away.

A new question from the audience is "Where does the nimitta come from?"
The answer is that it comes from breathing.

Back to consciousness, that is so cool. If I saw all that, what am I seeing it with?.  It's all so close, so very close to reality, its right in here, right now.  The answer is, I haven't been seeing much at all.

Breakin it Down

On Page Sixty-One, Sayadaw breaks it down:

To shatter the illusion of materiality, discern the small particles and the eight different types of ultimate materiality (earth, water, fire, air, color, smell, taste, nutriment).

To shatter the illusion of mentality, breakdown the compactness of continuity, the compactness of group, compactness of function, and compactness of object.  All awareness of cognitive processes.

Because Really You Are

On Page Sixty,  the question is odd, it's "Some say that while practicing mindfulness of breathing the soul goes out of the body."

Sayadaw gives a two part answer;

First, because of the nature of the mind, almost anything can happen.
Second, if you realize the nature on mentality/materiality, you can solve the soul problem, the idea of a soul arises because of the perception of compactness.

About an Hour

On Page Fifty-Nine, Sayadaw begins to take questions (I believe from retreatants).  The first one is "How do we, in mindfulness of breathing, decide when to go from one stage to another?"

I'm so glad to see this.  I need more breath training before I go about focusing on  a spot of paint.

He suggests (inspiringly) that if a yogi can concentrate on the whole breath for about an hour, the breath will automatically become subtle.  If not he suggests that we give concentrated attention to the breath, deciding that it should become calm.  This is a good view to have in the mind.  While on retreat, I could feel myself talking to my mind, which was restless like a child. Reluctantly, the mind or should I say the stream of thought in it, became calm.  The breath became somewhat calm, but I'm quite sure I was concentrating on the breathing for about five to ten minutes maximum.  I love having the goal to work on.

Further Foci

On Page Fifty-Eight, Sayadaw concludes on the jhanas (at least the material ones) by noting that with the attainment of the fourth jhana 'the breath stops completely'.   At this point, he says, the yogi can develop Vipassana or continue to develop Samatha.   He will continue with Samatha meditation on the 32 parts of the body, the skeleton, the ten kasinas, etc.

I'm holding my breath

Less and Less Gross

On Page Fifty-Seven, Sayadaw goes through each jhana, reflecting on their qualities.  To summarize:

First jhana: Has the calmness of applied thought and sustained thought but is close to the five hindrances.

Second jhana: Is posessed only of joy, bliss and one-pointedness

Third jhana:  Is beyond the 'gross' factor of joy

Fouth jhana: Is beyond the 'gross' factor of bliss and has only equanimity and one-pointedness. 

Ice Cream

On Page Fifty-Six Sayadaw goes further to discuss not only Jhana but the mastery of Jhana.  There are, he says five masteries:

1. To enter jhana whenever desired. 
2. To resolve to stay in jhana for a determined duration
3. To emerge from jhana at a determined time
4. To advert to the jhana factors
5. To review the jhana factors

He also discusses mastery of the stages of jhana, and reflection on the dissatisfaction of each a one progresses.

It makes sense to me, the way concentration leads to such a peaceful place, and yet retains the qualities of the three marks in some subtle way.  And to master coming out of jhana, must be exactly like letting go of the taste of something sweet. 

Jhana

How You Attain Jhana is the provocative title of the section beginning on Page Fifty-Five.  BUT, he does not so much explain HOW as much as 'what comes about based on the development of factors'.  He says that keeping the mind on the nimitta, one can then discern the heart-base (also here referred to as the mind-door, bhavanga-consciousness, and heart materiality).

He then says that also, the meditator who is quite absorbed can discern the five factors of Jhana, which are applied thought, sustained thought, joy, bliss, happiness, and one-pointedness. 

Discernment through mindfulness seems to be the calm and reasonable guide through the quivering field of release.

Seven Factors of Enlightenment

On Page Fifty-Four, Sayadaw begins discussing the seven factors of enlightenment.  These include four of the five 'controlling factors' of mindfulness, concentration, effort, and wisdom (here 'investigation of phenomena'), with the addition of equanimity, tranquility and joy.

For more on the seven factors, go here.   And here is an excerpt from that article on effort:
"Just," says the Vitakka Santhana Suttanta of the Majjhima Nikaya (No. 20), "as a competent carpenter or carpenter's apprentice with a slender pin will knock out, remove and dispose of a thicker one, so also, when through dwelling on some idea that has come to him, evil, unsalutary considerations connected with desire, hate, and delusion arise in the monk, then he should engender in his mind an idea other than that former idea and connected with salutary things, whereupon the evil unsalutary considerations will disappear, and with their disappearing his mind will become settled, subdued, unified, concentrated."[14]

 

Cats

Sayadaw says on Page Fifty-Three that concentration and wisdom are necessary for Jhana, and that mindfulness is necessary under all circumstances.  He feels that it balances everything.  I have certainly found that to be true, and it is a hallmark of Vipassana practice, throughout investigation and concentration.

If mindfulness and concentration were cats in my mind, mindfulness is just a friendly garden cat which walks around checking things out, while concentration is a bobcat that appears when conditions are just so.

Overdosing

Sayadaw further explains faith as a balance to wisdom, and effort a balance to concentration. 
He notes that strong faith without wisdom and people will believe in anything.  Wisdom without faith and one can "become quite crafty. . . passing judgements. This is as difficult to cure as a disease caused by an overdose of medication." 

Concentration without effort and one gets stuck in a mind state, and effort without concentration equals agitation.

Walkin Blues

More on balancing the five faculties on Page Fifty-One.  Here, Sayadaw explains that excessive faith brings excessive joy and excitement and blots out the remaining faculties,  too much effort prevents calm concentration.   He illustrates with the story of Sona, who in walking meditation developed painful sores on his feet.  Later the Buddha illustrated excessive effort with the simile of stringing a lute, must be neither too tight or too loose.

I never think I have enough effort.  Of these five I honestly can't pick one that I feel real strong in. I can use faith, however, at times a good Dharma talk and I am filled with joy and faith toward practice.  My feet are lilly-white but strong from running.

Only Five

To avoid dropping back into the usual stream of things, Sayadaw suggests on page Fifty that one cultivate five 'controlling faculties'.  These are:

1. Faith
2. Effort
3. Mindfulness
4. Concentration and 
5. Understanding
   
   
   He also advises that all five must be in balance, that no one controlling faculty should be stronger than another.
   
   He then discusses faith, faith in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, faith in the teachings of the Buddha.  The yogi should think, 'Yes, Jhana can be obtained, yes a nimitta like fine cotton wool can be found.'
   
   I'm more down than ever for it.

Closer and Closer

Page Forty-Nine

Sayadaw adds, When the nimitta appears, do not move your mind from the breath to the nimitta.  If your nimitta appears far away in front of you, ignore it, as it will probably disappear.  If you ignore it and simply concentrate on the breath at the place where the breath touches, the nimitta will come and stay there.   He says also that if it is stable, ok to move the mind to the nimitta and it will become purer and purer.

Also, when concentrating well, he points out that can fall into bhavangas that still occur.  Here's a bit on the usual cognitive processes