Blinks, pro and con...

Sister K. wrote:

Please don't BLINK. This would be DOING something
rather than observing without judgement, wouldn't it? This
would be trying to MAKE tsomething happen, which was not
in the instructions. Stick with the cycle no matter what your
mind tells you to do...( AND it will try to trick you and keep
you from following the instructions for sure if it can..)

My only instructions come from the Buddha who said (paraphrasing)
"Don't take anyone else's word for it, including mine. Find out for
yourself." Which is what I feel I am doing.

As for the blink being 'DOING something,' we blink all the time and thus
naturally experience a micro-second outside of the thought-stream. Why
not just increase this naturally occurring event to our conscious advantage?

I would also say the same for another exercise I use, which is the
self-arising 'sounding breath' from our sleep cycle. I find that ten rounds
of resonating the trachea, septum and soft palate creates an intense
relaxation very similar to that experienced in sleep. Since both the blink
and the 'sounding sleep breath' (call it a snore or a purr if you preferrrr)
are self-arising, I see nothing 'wrong' in using either of them.

As I said, what we have experienced through following
the Buddha's instructions is that
1. He "did not fixate or concentrate on the object of
meditation" The discovery is not there.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'discovery.' Also, I'm curious as to where
you find in the Buddha's teachings a differentiation between 'absorption
jhanas' and 'aware jhanas' I do understand that this whole jhanas
business seems to be up for serious interpretations that vary a lot.
Reading Bhante Vimalaramsi's "Anapanasati Sutta: A Practical Guide To
Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation," I begin to
see how the Tranquil Wisdom approach differs from the fixation
(absorption) in his explanation.
I don't see why we should practice one to the exclusion of the other.
Let's keep in mind that the Buddha's own path included many years
of concentration practice before he developed the 'Middle Path.'
Using a muscle as an example, often before we can truly relax
the muscle we first must apply our will to tense it. THEN we can achieve
a total relaxation. I think it's the same in mediation. To achieve a
total relaxation of that buzzy buzzy brain we must first focus it with
intention on a particular object, such as the breath. Once we have
achieved the ability to fix our awareness to the breath as object,
then we can relax.

Rather, his instructions and the many drills he practiced
with the monks and nuns in training make it clear that the
object of meditation does not lead us to where we are
attempting to go nor reveal this knowledge and vision of how
things actually are.

The teaching on kasina I suggest can be viewed as a teaching example
of 'fixation/concentration' on an 'object of meditation'. Admittedly
it's one of the least-taught methods, but it does seem to include an
application of the will. For those unfamiliar with the kasina meditation,
here's a quote from the dictionary Yellow Robe - The Original Buddha's
Teaching to Liberation

kasina: (perhaps related to Sanskrit krtsna, 'all,
complete, whole'), is the name for a purely external
device to produce and develop concentration of mind and
attain the 4 absorptions (jhána q.v.). It consists in
concentrating one's full and undivided attention on one
visible object as preparatory image (parikamma-nimitta),
e.g. a colored spot or disc, or a piece of earth, or a
pond at some distance, etc., until at last one perceives,
even with the eyes closed, a mental reflex, the acquired
image (uggaha-nimitta). Now, while continuing to direct
one's attention to this image, there may arise the spotless
and immovable counter-image (patibhága-nimitta), and
together with it the neighbourhood-concentration (upacára-
samádhi) will have been reached. While still persevering
in the concentration on the object, one finally will reach
a state of mind where all sense-activity is suspended,
where there is no more seeing and hearing, no more
perception of bodily impression and feeling, i.e. the
state of the 1st mental absorption (jhána, q.v.).

COMMENT: From further reading into the jhanas, I do not agree with the
statement above that 'all sense-activity is suspended... in 'the 1st
mental absorption' etc. I understand that Bhante Vimalaramsi
differentiates between two types of jhanas - and I would be
interested in knowing just where this occurs in the suttas,
by the way.

What's wrong with absorption anyway? Are we afraid of 'bliss
bunnyhood'? I find it very pleasurable to, for instance, walk with
my terrier while keeping my awareness fixed in the solar plexus
via occasional blinks. Thoughts occur 'somewhere' but, like
clouds, they just float across the sky. I'm aware of my surroundings,
but not attached.

Fixation, or concentration any object leads into a deep
state of "absorption" which then in turn takes away clear
awareness of the states one can move through which are
supposed to match the experience of Sariputta found in MN-111.
(Check out the dhamma talk on MN-111 at the website at www.dhammasukha.org .)

I must tell you that the sound quality on this talk is quite poor,
to the point where it's really quite difficult to hear what's
being said. However I did find a text version of MN-111 translated
from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. First jhana, according to Sutta 111, includes "directed
thought, evaluation, singleness of mind." Now if 'singleness of mind'
is not another term for concentration, or one-pointedness, what is?
"Directed thought and evaluation having disappeared," Sariputa then
enters second jhana. However "singleness of mind" still remains, so
I would assume concentration still is being applied. Singleness of mind
also remains in all further jhana descriptions up to the final arupa
jhana of 'neither perception nor non-perception.'
Finally, upon Satiputa's cessation in Nirvana, the Buddha comoments,
"If a person, rightly saying it of anyone, were to say, 'He has attained
mastery & perfection in noble virtue... noble concentration... noble
discernment... noble release,' he would be rightly saying it of
Sariputta if he were to say: 'He has attained mastery & perfection
in noble virtue... noble concentration... noble discernment...
noble release.'
I would point out that 'noble concentration' occurs in the Buddha's
description. My feeling is that until the seeker has achieved a certain
ability to remain 'fixed' on the object, then "relaxation while still
fixed" does not come into play, and 'just relaxing' puts the cart
before the horse. I am not suggesting that BV's approach is not very
helpful. It is. But I think before one can hitch up the 'cart,' –
i.e. relaxing into loving kindness for all beings everywhere (including
oneself) – one must harness the horse and train him to respond to a
gentle 'giddy-up!'
However, instead of the 'fierce gaze' and locking the eyes in the
forehead of some yoga concentration practices (tratakam), I think
easier and gentler methods to achieve singleness exist, and it is
here that I personally find the blink very helpful.
To follow in the Buddha's footsteps I think one must look at his
whole life experience as well as those of his followers. And mostly
when we look, we find people who have ALREADY PRACTICED
concentration/fixation meditations for years, so for them the
'letting go' was the dropping of the other shoe.
I think the same goes for Dzogchen/Mahamudra in Tibetan Buddhism.
These very elegant 'let-go's' only make sense in the context of having
already mastered the ability to hold onto the meditation object..

If one really wants to do what the Buddha did in his
meditation, one must therefore remember, and not get tricked
into believing there is something important about staying on
the object like GLUE.
This is not it. He did this for about 6 years and then he ditched
this and he followed what is being explained here.

I tend to see the Buddha's path as including his previous experiences,
and then view his final teaching in the context of what he had already
achieved. So we're then looking at the totality of his achievement.
He may have turned away from the extreme approach of these earlier years,
but he must have during that time evolved certain abilities that allowed
the teaching to have the impact it did. Only in my layman's opinion,
of course.
Wishing our illusory self-refreshing pristine awareness embodiments/
emanations a festive absorption into the light while still planetside,