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Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

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can be done without any distortion if breathing is<br />

considered as a mindfulness in conjunction with all the<br />

other four. Thus in this meditation, we breathe out,<br />

focusing our attention upon one of the thirty-six objects,<br />

<strong>and</strong> then breathe in regarding its specially repulsive<br />

character: breathing out, consider the hair on the head;<br />

breathing in, its greasiness, bad smell, dirtiness, etc. In<br />

this way we proceed through all the thirty-six objects<br />

one by one, breath by breath.<br />

b. Every Feeling is Painful<br />

i. This meditation is continuous in content from the<br />

merciful mind <strong>and</strong> having pity on others. Therefore in<br />

the first stage of this meditation, one should think only<br />

of the feeling of pain as mentioned in the Four Noble<br />

Truths.<br />

ii. In addition to the above stage, the meditator should<br />

think: there are three kinds of feelings (pleasant, painful,<br />

<strong>and</strong> neither pleasant nor painful) but if all these are<br />

perceived as painful, then we shall recognize thoroughly<br />

that worldly pleasure ends with pain, <strong>and</strong> that the<br />

feeling of neither is a kind of ignorance. As a result we<br />

make progress <strong>and</strong> enter sunyata.<br />

iii. Therefore, by taking others' painful feelings upon<br />

ourselves, we develop the Bodhi-heart. When we<br />

meditate on every feeling as sunyata, then spiritual <strong>and</strong><br />

unchanging pleasure, the real feelings of the Buddhas,<br />

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