The Practice Which leads to Nibbana - A Buddhist Library

w 2of mind and matter (NŒma rèpa) and the causal relationships thatproduce and maintain them through the rounds of rebirth.If a meditator begins with Mindfulness of Breathing then he beginsby being aware of the breath as it passes in and out of the nostrils.In the beginning the meditator is simply aware through thesense of touch of what the breath feels like as it enters the nose. Ashe continually develops his mindfulness of the breath in this way hisconcentration develops and he begins to actually perceive the breathas if it is a small light resting against his face. He continues to develophis concentration further until this light grows white and thenbecomes bright and clear like a bright star. Then as he continues tobe mindful of this bright light, which is called a "nimitta" or sign ofconcentration, he eventually is able to attain fixed concentration tosuch an extent that his mind does not wander, but remains continuouslyaware of the nimitta.When the mind of the meditator is able to remain concentrated onthis nimitta for one, two, or three hours then certain qualities of mindbecome prominent. At first there are five prominent qualities: initialapplication of the mind, sustained application of the mind, joy, happiness,and onepointedness of mind. When these five factors aredeveloped to a sufficient extent then this stage of development ofconcentration is called the "first jhŒna"Having attained the first jhŒna the meditator could if he so wishedgo on to develop the various stages of understanding of mind andmatter and the causal relationships that produce them which makeup the practise of insight meditation. But it is better to at first develophigher levels of concentration so that when later the meditatordirects his mind to the development of insight the momentum of hisconcentration assists in his insight practise and makes it easier todiscern mind and matter, causes and effects, and produces insightknowledge which is sharper and clearer due to the strength of thelight of wisdom that occurs based upon the jhŒna concentration.