Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
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energy is not the same as pushing oneself to practice<br />
beyond one’s limits or forcing the mind to stay with a single<br />
object; it is a natural result of seeing things as they are and<br />
cultivating one’s vision to a greater and greater degree of<br />
clarity, which in turn frees the mind of the weights and<br />
chains of defilements.<br />
It must be understood, however, that simply removing the<br />
defilements of greed, anger and even delusion from the mind<br />
is not enough; as long as there is still ignorance, the<br />
defilements may still arise again in full force if we let down<br />
our guard. For this reason, we must cultivate this process as<br />
a habit, carving out a familiarity with objective observation in<br />
the mind until we can truly internalize what we are<br />
observing.<br />
Once our minds become accustomed to observing in this<br />
way, there will arise the fourth factor of enlightenment,<br />
called “pīti” or rapture. Rapture is a phenomenon<br />
well-known in religious circles, though they may have other<br />
names for it. It refers to any mental state that catches one<br />
up, holding one in its grasp, making it difficult to break away.<br />
Ordinary rapture is found in the rocking back and forth that<br />
can be seen to occur in meditators and religious devotees of<br />
many religious traditions. They may believe that it is a god<br />
or spirit that has taken possession of them; in actual fact, it<br />
is simply a product of one’s own habitual cultivation of a<br />
focused mind state, leading one to become stuck in the<br />
experience like a broken record.<br />
<strong>In</strong> the context of the factors of enlightenment, rapture refers<br />
to the getting caught up by one’s introspection, something<br />
akin to an airplane taking off. During its taxi on the runway,<br />
the airplane’s travel is neither smooth nor steady. Once it<br />
reaches a critical velocity, however, it is lifted into the air<br />
and is able to travel smoothly without any obstacles.<br />
Once one’s practice becomes habitual through intensive<br />
dedication, usually over many days or weeks of intensive<br />
practice, one will begin to feel as though little or no<br />
conscious effort is required to maintain the objective<br />
awareness. Some meditators may actually become<br />
negligent as a result, failing to continue their efforts to<br />
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