Mark Foote

Gautama’s teaching revolved around action, around one specific kind of action: …I say that determinate thought is action. When one determines, one acts by deed, word, or thought. (AN III 415, Pali Text Society Vol III p 294) “When one determines”—when a person exercises volition, or choice, action of “deed, word, or thought” follows. Gautama also spoke of “the activities”. The activities are the actions that take place as a consequence of the exercise of volition: And what are the activities? These are the three activities:–those of deed, speech and mind. These are activities. (SN II 3, Pali Text Society vol II p 4) Gautama claimed that a ceasing of “action” is possible: And what… is the ceasing of action? That ceasing of action by body, speech, and mind, by which one contacts freedom,–that is called ‘the ceasing of action’. (SN IV 145, Pali Text Society Vol IV p 85) He spoke in detail about how “the activities” come to cease: …I have seen that the ceasing of the activities is gradual. When one has attained the first trance, speech has ceased. When one has attained the second trance, thought initial and sustained has ceased. When one has attained the third trance, zest has ceased. When one has attained the fourth trance, inbreathing and outbreathing have ceased… Both perception and feeling have ceased when one has attained the cessation of perception and feeling. (SN IV 217, Pali Text Society vol IV p 146) (A Way of Living)

Say, Daniel--here's a thought for you. Maybe it's about a chaining of consciousnesses, more than physical rebirth. Note the second and third elements in the chain below--the persistence of consciousness, the stationing of consciousness: That which we will…, and that which we intend to do and that wherewithal we are occupied:–this becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being there, there comes to be a station of consciousness. Consciousness being stationed and growing, rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and here from birth, decay, and death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, and despair come to pass. Such is the uprising of this mass of ill. Even if we do not will, or intend to do, and yet are occupied with something, this too becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness… whence birth… takes place. But if we neither will, nor intend to do, nor are occupied about something, there is no becoming of an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being absent, there comes to be no station of consciousness. Consciousness not being stationed and growing, no rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and herefrom birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow and despair cease. Such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill. (SN II 65, Pali Text Society SN Vol II pg 45) The definition of suffering (dukkha, anguish, ill): “Birth is anguish, old age and decay, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, woe, lamentation, and despair are anguish. Not to get what one desires is anguish. In short, the five groups based on grasping are anguish.” (AN I 176, Vol I pg 160; Pali “dukkha”: “anguish” in MN, “Ill” in AN original above, emphasis added) The five groups (note the benefit of detachment, losing conceits about action in the body): Whatever … is material shape, past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mean or excellent, or whatever is far or near, [a person], thinking of all this material shape as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. Whatever is feeling … perception… the habitual tendencies… whatever is consciousness, past, future or present… [that person], thinking of all this consciousness as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. [For one] knowing thus, seeing thus, there are no latent conceits that ‘I am the doer, mine is the doer’ in regard to this consciousness-informed body.” (MN III 18-19, Vol III pg 68) The exercise of will, of intent, or even just continued deliberation with the mind, results in a persistence of consciousness. Persistence leads to a stationing. The opposite of "a stationing": There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence. (Common Ground) When necessity places attention, and a presence of mind is retained as the placement shifts and moves, then in Gautama’s words, “[one] lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness”: Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein. (SN v 198, Pali Text Society vol V p 174; parenthetical material paraphrases original; “directed” also rendered as “initial” MN III p 78 and as “applied” PTS AN III p 18-19) (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages)

Maybe they're mindful until they hit the terrible two's, where a certain grasping after self occurs.

Who could imagine, three-year retreats in beautiful Nova Scotia: https://gampoabbey.org/sopa-choling-three-year-retreat-center/ Or sunny New Mexico! https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/sex-and-death-on-the-road-to-nirvana-86995/

Believe there are Buddhists out there, maybe in Tibet and New Mexico, who feel that three years in a cave is a right of passage. I'm surprised Apech didn't jump in on this, they definitely do long retreats in caves in Tibet. “And what has been explained by me… ? ‘This is anguish’ has been explained by me. ‘This is the arising of anguish’ has been explained by me… ‘This is the stopping of anguish’ has been explained by me. ‘This is the course leading to the stopping of anguish’ has been explained by me. And why… has this been explained by me? It is because it is connected with the goal, is fundamental to the [holy-]faring, and conduces to turning away from, to dispassion, stopping, calming, super-knowledge, awakening, and nibbana. Therefore it has been explained by me.” (MN I 431, Vol II pg 101) “Birth is anguish, old age and decay, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, woe, lamentation, and despair are anguish. Not to get what one desires is anguish. In short, the five groups based on grasping are anguish.” (AN I 176, Vol I pg 160; Pali “dukkha”: “anguish” in MN, “Ill” in AN original above) When suffering exists, the rest of the truths also have significance. To enjoy our life-- complicated life, difficult life-- without ignoring it, and without being caught by it. Without suffer from it. That is actually what will happen to us after you practice zazen. (“To Actually Practice Selflessness”, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco; “fell” corrected to “fall”; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) That brings us back to the difficulty most of us have in sitting cross-legged on the floor for any great length of time. Most of my life, I have sat in one bent-knee posture or another 40 minutes, in the morning and at night before bed. Now I'm down to 25 most of the time, and perish the thought of even a one day sesshin. I feel pretty good about the 25's, though, and about my really-not-that-complicated and really-not-that-difficult (at the moment) life. Zazen has been and continues to be the most important thing I do, for my sense of well-being.

As I've said before, I take the four truths to be prescription, not philosophy. If suffering exists, then there is a cause of suffering, with the cessation of that cause there is an end of suffering, and there is a path leading to that end of suffering. If I'm not experiencing suffering, I don't need the prescription. Here's the founding teacher of the S. F. Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki, talking about the practice of zazen: To enjoy our life-- complicated life, difficult life-- without ignoring it, and without being caught by it. Without suffer from it. That is actually what will happen to us after you practice zazen. (“To Actually Practice Selflessness”, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco; “fell” corrected to “fall”; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) So of course, he's putting forward the possibility that life doesn't have to be suffering. As to the eightfold path. It's complicated. First up, here's a definition of right concentration, which Gautama gave in terms of the other seven elements of the path: “Right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right mode of livelihood, right endeavor, right mindfulness. Whatever one-pointedness of mind… is accompanied by these seven components, this is called the [noble] right concentration with the causal associations and the accompaniments.” (MN III 71, Vol III p 114; SN V 17, Vol V p 19; emphasis added) How to find "one-pointedness of mind"? Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein. (SN v 198, Pali Text Society vol V p 174; parenthetical material paraphrases original; “directed” also rendered as “initial” MN III p 78 and as “applied” PTS AN III p 18-19) From my latest post, on my own site: When necessity places attention, and a presence of mind is retained as the placement shifts and moves, then in Gautama’s words, “[one] lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness”... As I’ve written previously, there’s an opportunity to make self-surrender the object of thought and to lay hold of “one-pointedness” just before falling asleep: … Just before I fall asleep, my awareness can move very readily, and my sense of where I am tends to move with it. This is also true when I am waking up, although it can be harder to recognize (I tend to live through my eyes in the daytime, and associate my sense of place with them). … when I realize my physical sense of location in space, and realize it as it occurs from one moment to the next, then I wake up or fall asleep as appropriate. (Waking Up and Falling Asleep) When a presence of mind is retained as the placement of attention shifts, then the natural tendency toward the free placement of attention can draw out thought initial and sustained, and bring on the stages of concentration: … there is no need to depend on teaching. But the most important thing is to practice and realize our true nature… [laughs]. This is, you know, Zen. (Shunryu Suzuki, Tassajara 68-07-24 transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) If you really want to get into the eight-fold path, then be aware: The definition of right view depends in part on the definition of wrong view; the definition of wrong view was given as follows: “There is no (result of) gift … no (result of) offering … no (result of) sacrifice; there is no fruit or ripening of deeds well done or ill done; there is not this world, there is not a world beyond; there is no (benefit from serving) mother and father; there are no beings of spontaneous uprising; there are not in the world recluses and brahmans… who are faring rightly, proceeding rightly, and who proclaim this world and the world beyond having realized them by their own super-knowledge.” (MN III 71-78, Vol III pg 113-121) “Beings of spontaneous uprising” appears to be a reference to fairy-like beings that spring into existence without parents (several classes of fairy-like beings were believed to exist in Vedic folklore; see notes, SN III 249, Vol III pg 197). Right view, said Gautama, is twofold. First, there is the right view which is exactly the opposite of wrong view; this, however, is the view “that has cankers, that is on the side of merit, that ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)”. The right view which is “[noble], supermundane, cankerless and a component of the way” is: “Whatever … is wisdom, the cardinal faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the component of enlightenment which is investigation into things, the right view that is a component of the Way in one who, by developing the [noble] Way, is of [noble] thought, conversant with the [noble] Way–this… is a right view that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way.” (Ibid) (Making Sense of the Pali Canon: the Wheel of the Sayings) Alternatively: (Anyone)…knowing and seeing eye as it really is, knowing and seeing material shapes… visual consciousness… impact on the eye as it really is, and knowing, seeing as it really is the experience, whether pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye, is not attached to the eye nor to material shapes nor to visual consciousness nor to impact on the eye; and that experience, whether pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye—neither to that is (such a one) attached. …(Such a one’s) physical anxieties decrease, and mental anxieties decrease, and bodily torments… and mental torments… and bodily fevers decrease, and mental fevers decrease. (Such a one) experiences happiness of body and happiness of mind. (repeated for ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind). Whatever is the view of what really is, that for (such a one) is right view; whatever is aspiration for what really is, that for (such a one) is right aspiration; whatever is endeavour for what really is, that is for (such a one) right endeavour; whatever is mindfulness of what really is, that is for (such a one) right mindfulness; whatever is concentration on what really is, that is for (such a one) right concentration. And (such a one’s) past acts of body, acts of speech, and mode of livelihood have been well purified. (Majjhima-Nikaya, Pali Text Society vol III p 337-338) Find the seat and put on the robe, and afterward see for yourself. ("Zen Letters, Teachings of Yuanwu", tr J.C. Cleary &Thomas Cleary p 65)

I feel so sorry for that guy! Then there's:

vanishing shadows the chariot at zenith on a summer's day on a summer's day particularly welcome the breeze by the lake the breeze by the lake like a howling gale today the ducks take to shore

Sorry to hear that!

To enjoy our life-- complicated life, difficult life-- without ignoring it, and without being caught by it. Without suffer from it. That is actually what will happen to us after you practice zazen. (“To Actually Practice Selflessness”, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco; “fell” corrected to “fall”; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) Promises, promises!

Somewhere on Dao Bums, I copied in some of the cemetery contemplations from Sattipathana Sutta. I won't repeat them here, but suffice it to say, Gautama sat in graveyards and observed the stages of decay of the corpses that had been left there. Particularly interesting to me were his observation of "sinews" of the body, holding the bones together after the flesh had rotted. I think the translation should have been "ligaments" instead of "sinews", as technically sinews connect muscle to bone--it's the ligaments that connect bone to bone. That's of interest to me because the ligaments can be involved in the regulation of the activity of muscle groups. Some research has been done, in India: This study (research by Indahl, A., et al.) established that the ligamento-muscular reflex existed between the sacroiliac joint and muscles that attach to the bones that make up the sacroiliac joint. (The study’s authors) suggested that the sacroiliac joint was a regulator of pelvic and paraspinal muscles and, thereby, influences posture and lumbar segmental stability. (Serola Biomechanics website summary of Indahl, A., et al., Sacroiliac joint involvement in activation of the porcine spinal and gluteal musculature. Journal of Spinal Disorders, 1999. 12(4): p. 325-30; https://europepmc.org/article/med/10451049) For the most part, Gautama stuck to phenomena connected to "one-pointedness" of mind. Like you, I am interested in how those phenomena affect systems in the body, and how the coordination of systems in the body affect those phenomena. I've described "one-pointedness" as the placement of attention out of necessity in the movement of breath, and I've described how that experience can be observed right before falling asleep. I would contend that the same experience is a part of waking up, but retaining a presence of mind as the point of attention shifts is a bit of a trick. Gautama described four initial concentrations. Bearing in mind that he equated concentration with "one-pointedness", we have: … just as a handy bathman or attendant might strew bath-powder in some copper basin and, gradually sprinkling water, knead it together so that the bath-ball gathered up the moisture, became enveloped in moisture and saturated both in and out, but did not ooze moisture; even so, (a person) steeps, drenches, fills, and suffuses this body with zest and ease, born of solitude, so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease. … imagine a pool with a spring, but no water-inlet on the east side or the west side or on the north or on the south, and suppose the (rain-) deva supply not proper rains from time to time–cool waters would still well up from that pool, and that pool would be steeped, drenched, filled and suffused with the cold water so that not a drop but would be pervaded by the cold water; in just the same way… (one) steeps (their) body with zest and ease… … free from the fervor of zest, (one) enters and abides in the third musing; (one) steeps and drenches and fills and suffuses this body with a zestless ease so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this zestless ease. … just as in a pond of blue, white, and red water-lillies, the plants are born in water, grow in water, come not out of the water, but, sunk in the depths, find nourishment, and from tip to root are steeped, drenched, filled and suffused with cold water so that not a part of them is not pervaded by cold water; even so, (one) steeps (one’s) body in zestless ease. Again, a (person), putting away ease… enters and abides in the fourth musing; seated, (one) suffuses (one’s) body with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind. … just as a (person) might sit with (their) head swathed in a clean cloth; even so (one) sits suffusing (their) body with purity… (AN III 25-28, Pali Text Society Vol. III p 18-19, see also MN III 92-93, PTS p 132-134) My take on the physiological correlates of the states, if you're interested, is here.

Udana belongs to the fifth Nikaya. Historian A. K. Warder described the fifth Nikaya thusly: ... Ksudraka Agama [Nikaya] (outside the first four agamas there remained a number of texts regarded by all the schools as of inferior importance, either because they were compositions of followers of the Buddha and not the words of the Master himself, or because they were of doubtful authenticity, these were collected in this 'Minor Tradition'). ... It has been suggested that some schools did not have a Minor Tradition at all, though they still had some of the minor texts, incorporated in their Vinayas, hence the 'Four Agamas' are sometimes spoken of as representing the Sutra. ("Buddhist India", A. K. Warder, p 202-203; Motilal Banarsidass, 2nd ed) The usual context for the "not-born", or "unborn", is more like: And what... is the (noble) quest? As to this... someone, being liable to birth because of self, having known the peril in what is likewise liable to birth, seeks the unborn, the uttermost security from the bonds--nibbana; being liable to aging... decay... dying... sorrow... stain, being liable to stain because of self, having known the peril in what is likewise liable to stain, seeks the stainless, the uttermost security from the bonds--nibbana. This... is the (noble) quest. (MN I 162-163 "Ariyapariyesana Sutta: The (Noble) Quest", Pali Text Society I p 206-207, tr I. B. Horner, parentheticals paraphrase original) "The unborn", not as a stand-alone entity, but in a class of "un-somethings" representing one singular escape from the bonds, nibbana (literally "blown out").

Yes. Chocolate cake, I think, but you got the idea. Buddhism, a big piece of cloying cake, but the "perfect wisdom" to wash it down, not so easy to come by.

I blame the cat, who ever seeks my attention. Writing in response to S:C on the "interpretational inconsistencies" thread (Buddhist Discussion), I put together something that I think is relevant here: That which we will…, and that which we intend to do and that wherewithal we are occupied:–this becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being there, there comes to be a station of consciousness. Consciousness being stationed and growing, rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and here from birth, decay, and death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, and despair come to pass. Such is the uprising of this mass of ill. Even if we do not will, or intend to do, and yet are occupied with something, this too becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness… whence birth… takes place. But if we neither will, nor intend to do, nor are occupied about something, there is no becoming of an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being absent, there comes to be no station of consciousness. Consciousness not being stationed and growing, no rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and herefrom birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow and despair cease. Such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill. (SN II 65, Pali Text Society SN Vol II pg 45, emphasis added) “Birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow and despair”—in some of his lectures, Gautama summarized “this entire mass of ill” by saying “in short, the five groups of grasping”. Grasping after a sense of self in connection with phenomena of form, feeling, mind, habitual tendency, or mental state is identically suffering, according to Gautama. (Response to "Not the Wind, Not the Flag") Not many will have the "lack of desire" necessary to attain the cessation of "doing something" in feeling and perceiving, the cessation that gave rise to Gautama's insight into the chain of causation (as above). Somewhat more likely is the lack of desire necessary to attain the cessation of "doing something" in the body, the experience of activity by virtue of the free placement of attention in the movement of breath --"just sitting". There's the mundane right view “that has cankers, that is on the side of merit, that ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)”. That one is stained with intention. Then there's the right view which is “[noble], supermundane, cankerless and a component of the way”. That one is seeing things as they really are. The lens of intention is dual: the view colored by intention, or will, or deliberation, has cankers, is on the side of merit or demerit (good & evil), and ripens unto cleaving. Seeing things as they really are is nondual. Awareness, yes, but awareness sans "determinate thought" in feeling and perceiving.

Let me try what I hope is a more useful explanation. A central theme of Gautama’s teaching was the cessation of “determinate thought” (AN III 414) in action, meaning the cessation of the exercise of will or volition in action. A cessation of the exercise of will could be attained, said Gautama, through the induction of various successive states of concentration. (Response to "Not the Wind, Not the Flag") In one of his lectures, Shunryu Suzuki spoke about the difference between “preparatory practice” and “shikantaza”, or “just sitting”: But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. (“The Background of Shikantaza”; Shunryu Suzuki, Sunday, February 22, 1970, San Francisco; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) Suzuki said that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of “doing something”, and that “doing something” makes such practice only preparatory. Although attention can be directed to the movement of breath, necessity in the movement of breath can also direct attention, as I wrote previously: There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence. (Common Ground) There’s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the movement of breath can place the point of awareness in such a fashion as to engage a mechanism of support for the spine, often in stages (see A Way of Living). ... When necessity places attention, and a presence of mind is retained as the placement shifts and moves, then in Gautama’s words, “[one] lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness”: Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein. (SN v 198, Pali Text Society vol V p 174; parenthetical material paraphrases original; “directed” also rendered as “initial” MN III p 78 and as “applied” PTS AN III p 18-19) The difficulty is that most people will lose consciousness before they cede activity to the location of attention–they lose the presence of mind with the placement of attention, because they can’t believe that action in the body is possible without “doing something”. (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages) That which we will…, and that which we intend to do and that wherewithal we are occupied:–this becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being there, there comes to be a station of consciousness. Consciousness being stationed and growing, rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and here from birth, decay, and death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, and despair come to pass. Such is the uprising of this mass of ill. Even if we do not will, or intend to do, and yet are occupied with something, this too becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness… whence birth… takes place. But if we neither will, nor intend to do, nor are occupied about something, there is no becoming of an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being absent, there comes to be no station of consciousness. Consciousness not being stationed and growing, no rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and herefrom birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow and despair cease. Such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill. (SN II 65, Pali Text Society SN Vol II pg 45, emphasis added) “Birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow and despair”—in some of his lectures, Gautama summarized “this entire mass of ill” by saying “in short, the five groups of grasping”. Grasping after a sense of self in connection with phenomena of form, feeling, mind, habitual tendency, or mental state is identically suffering, according to Gautama. (Response to "Not the Wind, Not the Flag") Not many will have the "lack of desire" necessary to attain the cessation of "doing something" in feeling and perceiving, the cessation that gave rise to Gautama's insight into the chain of causation (as above). Somewhat more likely is the lack of desire necessary to attain the cessation of "doing something" in the body, the experience of activity by virtue of the free placement of attention in the movement of breath --"just sitting". There's the mundane right view “that has cankers, that is on the side of merit, that ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)”. That one is stained with intention. Then there's the right view which is “[noble], supermundane, cankerless and a component of the way”. That one is seeing things as they really are.

More than familiarity, "right view that is… a component of the Way" requires "perfect wisdom": Whatever… is material shape, past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mean or excellent, or whatever is far or near, (a person), thinking of all this material shape as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. Whatever is feeling… perception… the habitual tendencies… whatever is consciousness, past, future, or present (that person), thinking of all this consciousness as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. (For one) knowing thus, seeing thus, there are no latent conceits that ‘I am the doer, mine is the doer’ in regard to this consciousness-informed body.” (MN III 18-19, Pali Text Society Vol. III pg 68) Got "perfect wisdom"? how can a person acquire "perfect wisdom", without "right view that is ... a component of the Way"? How can a person have "right view that is ... a component of the Way" without "perfect wisdom"? You drive what I'm seeing at?

“[Gautama] spoke thus to the monk Sati, a fisherman’s son, as he was sitting down at a respectful distance: ‘Is it true, as is said, that a pernicious view like this has accrued to you, Sati: “In so far as I understand [the truth] taught by [Gautama], it is that this consciousness itself runs on, fares on, not another”?’ ‘Even so do I… understand [the teaching] ….’ ‘What is this consciousness, Sati?’ ‘It is this… that speaks, that feels, that experiences now here, now there, the fruition of deeds that are lovely and that are depraved.’ [Gautama rebukes Sati for his misrepresentation of Gautama’s teaching, and continues:] It is because… an appropriate condition arises that consciousness is known by this or that name: if consciousness arises because of eye and material shapes, it is known as visual consciousness; if consciousness arises because of ear and sounds, it is known as auditory consciousness; [so for the nose/smells/olfactory consciousness, tongue/tastes/gustatory consciousness, body/touches/tactile consciousness, mind/mental objects/mental consciousness]. …As a fire burns because of this or that appropriate condition, by that it is known: if a fire burns because of sticks, it is known as a stick-fire; and if a fire burns because of chips, it is known as a chip-fire; … and so with regard to grass, cow-dung, chaff, and rubbish.” (MN I 258-259, Pali Text Society I p 313-315) In freedom is the knowledge that [one] is freed and [one] comprehends: “Destroyed is birth, brought to a close the (holy)-faring, done is what was to be done, there is no more of being such or so’. [They] comprehend thus: “The disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of sense-pleasures do not exist here; the disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of becoming do not exist here; the disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of ignorance do not exist here. And there is only this degree of disturbance, that is to say the six sensory fields that, conditioned by life, are grounded on this body itself.” (MN III 108-109, Pali Text Society III p 151-152) (Anyone)…knowing and seeing eye as it really is, knowing and seeing material shapes… visual consciousness… impact on the eye as it really is, and knowing, seeing as it really is the experience, whether pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye, is not attached to the eye nor to material shapes nor to visual consciousness nor to impact on the eye; and that experience, whether pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant, that arises conditioned by impact on the eye—neither to that is (such a one) attached. …(Such a one’s) physical anxieties decrease, and mental anxieties decrease, and bodily torments… and mental torments… and bodily fevers decrease, and mental fevers decrease. (Such a one) experiences happiness of body and happiness of mind. (repeated for ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind). Whatever is the view of what really is, that for (such a one) is right view; whatever is aspiration for what really is, that for (such a one) is right aspiration; whatever is endeavour for what really is, that is for (such a one) right endeavour; whatever is mindfulness of what really is, that is for (such a one) right mindfulness; whatever is concentration on what really is, that is for (such a one) right concentration. And (such a one’s) past acts of body, acts of speech, and mode of livelihood have been well purified. (MN III, Pali Text Society III p 337-338) Can I swallow enough entheogens to see things that way? I think not. Neither am I going to experience what Gautama's two teachers failed to experience, despite their long practice, Gautama's cessation of "doing something" in feeling and perceiving ("there is only this degree of disturbance, that is to say the six sensory fields that, conditioned by life, are grounded on this body itself."). But I believe him, and fortunately his way of living didn't require the cessation of "doing something" in feeling and perceiving, only the cessation of "doing something" in inhalation and exhalation and the overview of the body taken in that cessation.

No next move, and also no extinction of it.

In order to practice "the right speech that is… a component of the Way", a person must be "one who, by developing the [noble] Way is of [noble] thought, of cankerless thought, and is conversant with the Way". If you're not conversant with the Way, you can't get to "the right speech that is… a component of the Way" by simply avoiding "lying, slanderous speech, harsh speech, and gossiping". That's just "the right speech that… ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)", not "the right speech that is… a component of the Way". If you not already familiar with "the Way", then you can't practice the right speech that is a component of the way. If you can't practice the right speech that is a component of "the Way", then how will will you ever become "one who, by developing the [noble] Way is of [noble] thought, of cankerless thought, and is conversant with the Way"? You can't get there from here.

Gautama's way of living was a mindfulness that included thought with regard to the state of mind, thought both initiated and sustained: Contemplating impermanence I shall breathe in. Contemplating impermanence I shall breathe out. Contemplating dispassion I shall breathe in. Contemplating dispassion I shall breathe out. Contemplating cessation I shall breathe in. Contemplating cessation I shall breathe out. Contemplating renunciation I shall breathe in. Contemplating renunciation I shall breathe out. (SN V 312, Pali Text Society Vol V pg 275-276; tr. F. L. Woodward; masculine pronouns replaced, re-paragraphed) The contemplation of impermanence was generally along the lines of: Whatever… is material shape, past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, mean or excellent, or whatever is far or near, (a person), thinking of all this material shape as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. Whatever is feeling… perception… the habitual tendencies… whatever is consciousness, past, future, or present (that person), thinking of all this consciousness as ‘This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my self’, sees it thus as it really is by means of perfect wisdom. (For one) knowing thus, seeing thus, there are no latent conceits that ‘I am the doer, mine is the doer’ in regard to this consciousness-informed body.” (MN III 18-19, Pali Text Society Vol. III pg 68) As Maddie said, the five aggregates, empty of abiding self. The catch being, the necessity to draw from "perfect wisdom" to see it thus, as it really is. I think the picture is clearer when the next thought is considered, contemplating dispassion. If I recognize the impermanency of my body in particular, then I can more readily find equanimity with regard to the pleasant, painful, and neither-pleasant-nor-painful with regard to the body. The equanimity with regard to sensation is an essential part of allowing necessity in the movement of breath to place attention freely. That ties in with the third thought initiated and sustained, of cessation, primarily the cessation of habitual or volitive activity in inhalation and exhalation. The difficulty is that most people will lose consciousness before they cede activity to the location of attention–they lose the presence of mind with the placement of attention, because they can’t believe that action in the body is possible without “doing something”. (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages) Experience activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation generated by the singular placement of attention that moves, and contemplation of renunciation of "latent conceits that ‘I am the doer, mine is the doer’ in regard to this consciousness-informed body" comes naturally. Renunciation follows cessation. Lately I look to freedom in the singular placement of awareness in connection with necessity in the movement of breath, a lot. Would appear that was Gautama's way of living "most of the time", "especially in the rainy season", but I'm a long way from that. When a presence of mind is retained as the placement of attention shifts, then the natural tendency toward the free placement of attention can draw out thought initial and sustained, and bring on the stages of concentration: … there is no need to depend on teaching. But the most important thing is to practice and realize our true nature… [laughs]. This is, you know, Zen. (Shunryu Suzuki, Tassajara 68-07-24 transcript from shunryusuzuki.com) (ibid)

You know I like to tease you, stirling: If you are not disturbed by the sound of the bluejay when you are reading something, the bluejay will come right into your heart, and you will be a bluejay, and the bluejay will be reading something. (from the video, Shunryu Suzuki Discusses the Sandokai: Sound and Noise)

Of course, the money was just another worldly illusion, an illusory thing (but you kept it).

I was reading quickly, and I thought you said "I do try to just feel the puke feeling divorced of narrative." No, wait...

As to this… right view comes first. And how… does right view come first? If one comprehends that wrong speech is wrong speech and comprehends that right speech is right speech, that is… right view. And what… is wrong speech? Lying, slanderous speech, harsh speech, and gossiping. This… is wrong speech. And what… is right speech? Now I… say that right speech is twofold. There is… the right speech that… ripens unto cleaving (to new birth). There is… the right speech that is… a component of the Way. And what… is the right speech that… ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)? Abstaining from lying, abstaining from slanderous speech… harsh speech… gossiping. This… is the right speech that… ripens unto cleaving (to new birth). And what… is the right speech that is… a component of the Way? Whatever… is abstention from, refraining from, avoidance of, restraint from the four ways of bad speech in one who, by developing the [noble] Way is of [noble] thought, of cankerless thought, and is conversant with the Way–this… is right speech that is… a component of the Way. ((MN III 71-78, Vol III pg 113-121) Similarly for some of the other "right" aspects of the eight-fold way, which becomes ten-fold for the adept, with the addition of "right knowledge" and "right freedom". You can't get there from here.

I've picked up SN V, looked in the index under "concentration", and found: And what... is right concentration?... By the calming down of thought directed and sustained, (one)enters on that inward calm, that one-pointedness of mind, apart from thought directed and sustained, that is born of mental balance, zestful and easeful, that is the second trance. (SN V 9, Pali Text Society V p 9, parenthetical paraphrases original) And what... is the (noble) right concentration which is associated and equipped? It is (associated with) right view, right aim, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Now... the one-pointedness of mind which is equipped with these seven limbs is called "the (noble) right concentration on which is assoicated, likewise which is equipped. (SN V 17, Pali Text Society V p 19, parentheticals paraphrases original) Come ye, friends, do ye abide in body contemplating body [as transient], ardent, composed and one-pointed, of tranquil mind, calmed down, of concentrated mind, for insight into body as it really is. (similarly for feelings, mind, and mental states; SN V 144, PTS p 123, bracketed material in original) If he should desire: By the calming down of thought directed and sustained, entering on that inward calm, that one--pointedness of mind apart from thought directed and sustained, that is born of mental balance, zestful and easeful, which is the second trance, may I abide therein--he must do likewise (give strict attention to the intent concentration on inbreathing and outbreathing). (SN V 317, PTS p 281, parenthetical paraphrases original) Very interesting, that here twice one-pointedness is associated with the second trance, rather than the first. And yet, it's also associated with concentration, implying the first and all subsequent states of concentration (which is how I interpret it). Now let's turn to MN III, another of my favorite volumes. Here, I had to look at "meditation", "the four" in the index to find the references: ... by allaying initial thought and discursive thought, (one's) mind subjectively tranquillised and fixed on one point, enters and abides in the second meditation... (MN II 226, PTS III 226 p 13; also at MN III 4 PTS III p 55, MN III 93 PTS III p 133, MN III 136 PTS p 182; parenthetical paraphrases original) And those things which belong to the first meditation, initial thought and sustained thought and rapture and joy and one-pointedness of mind, impingement, feeling, perception, will, thought, desire, determination, energy, mindfulness, equanimity, attention, are uninterruptedly set up by him... (MN III 25, PTS III p 78) (One) attends to an inward [concept of] emptiness. ... (One) attends to an external [concept of] emptiness. (One) attends to an inward and to an external [concept of] emptiness. (One) attends to imperturbability.... (One) should steady, calm, make one-pointed and concentrate (their) mind precisely on what is inward in that earlier sign of concentration itself.... (MN III 112, PTS III p 156; bracketed material in original; parenthetical paraphrases original) Interesting. I do agree with you that "mind subjectively tranquillised and fixed on one point" is a misrepresentation, unless it's understood that the one point can move. Even then, I think the description is misleading, as the experience is more one of awareness as one point, mind as one point, rather than a glorified navel-gazing with the mind.