Session 038: How To See Rapid Progress In Meditation
How To See Rapid Progress In Meditation
Dhamma Talk + Guided Meditation Session 038: Sep 23rd, 2020, by Sophia Ojha Ensslin and Cristof Ensslin
Banner Photo by Daniel Beilinson - Thank you!
Note: The content of this article heavily relies on the article, powerpoint presentation and the two videos that we have listed in the footnotes/resources section. Even where we have put it in our words, it’s rephrasing or paraphrasing our sources. None of this is our finding or our teaching. This is what we have learnt from Bhante Vimalaramsi’s talks on YouTube, and reading the articles on DhammaSukkha.org. Please verify and double check the original source materials as, unfortunately, we are prone to errors and misunderstanding of what is being taught.
Dhamma Talk (Sophia & Cristof) and Guided Meditation (Sophia) :
Handout
This week we have prepared a multi-page handout for you. It is posted left/below as blog content. Plus, you can download it as PDF by clicking on the following button:
Introduction
A few weeks ago, we introduced a new aspect of the meditation practice that we learnt from Bhante Vimalaramsi - the 6Rs. We are so delighted that many of you have found the 6Rs to be a breakthrough in your practice. But there were also some questions that arose about the 6Rs. Because this practice is so beneficial and as Bhante V says that even long time meditators have found immense speed of progress when they implemented the 6Rs in their meditation, we thought that we might go a bit deeper into the topic, explaining to the best of our understanding what the 6 Rs are.
The Six Rs
The six Rs represent the six steps that we do in rapid succession in a matter of seconds or less in our meditation. They are:
Recognize
Release
Relax
Re-smile
Return
Repeat
Let’s explore each one in more detail so that we know exactly what we are doing in meditation. The strength of our mindfulness will be key at each point.
1. Recognize
We begin with an object of meditation. It could be breath, our sending loving-kindness. With our mindfulness, we notice the movement of mind’s attention away from an object of meditation. It could be either a pleasant feeling or a painful feeling.
We will notice a sensation that’s a slight tightness. What’s pulling our mind’s attention away from the object of meditation? It could be caused by any of the six sense doors - sight, sound, smell, taste, touch or thought. Without judging it as good or bad, we notice the tension. Then we move on to the next step.
Key: Recognizing that your mind has become distracted. Observing the tightening sensation.
2. Release
Now after noticing that the feeling or thought has arisen, we release it. How? By letting it be there without paying attention to it. “We let go of the tightness around it, let it be there without paying attention to it. Without attention, the tightness passes away.” (quoted from “What is Mindfulness? What are the 6 Rs?” https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs.html) The content of the distraction is not important but the mechanics of “how” it arose.
Key: Release the distraction by letting go of your attention on it. Simple as that. Instead, you immediately move on the next step, relaxing any tightness in your head and mind.
3. Relax:
There will be a subtle noticeable tension within the mind and body after you recognize the distraction and release it. This is when we relax. In Pali, the word used means “to tranquilize”. We are actively relaxing or tranquilizing. When we relax, this is when we notice the “cessation of the tension caused by craving or the feeling of relief as the tightness is relaxed. Craving always first manifests as a tightness or tension in both one’s mind and body.” This is where we see the second and the third noble truths - that our craving and desires (small or large) are the source of suffering and that when we release them and relax, we experience the end to our suffering.
Four Noble Truths in summary:
1st = there is suffering
2nd = there is a cause of suffering, namely craving/clinging
3rd = there is an end to suffering (nirvana)
4th = the Noble eightfold path is the path to the end of suffering.
Key: Relax the tightness and tension which has manifested itself in your body and mind. As for the body, especially, pay attention to the head (brain, eyes, neck, shoulders). The tightness is a manifestation of one’s craving, clinging, wanting.
4. Re-Smile:
Now our mindfulness moves us to the next step: Smiling. We are basically doing an active choice of a wholesome action - smiling. This quote says it so well, “Learning to smile with mind and raising slightly the corners of the mouth helps mind to be observant, alert, and agile. Getting serious, tensing up, or frowning causes mind to become heavy and your mindfulness becomes dull and slow. Your insights become more difficult to see, thus slowing down your understanding of Dhamma.” (from “What is Mindfulness? What are the 6 Rs?” https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs.html)
Key: Smiling intensifies the relaxation, lets joy arise and increases mindfulness. The smile may be on your face, but it doesn’t have to be. We need to smile with our mind or our heart or our eyes. We are stepping back from the distraction with a light mind and are effectively replacing the unwholesome distraction with something wholesome.
5. Return
This step is about redirecting the mind’s attention back to the object of meditation whether it is the breath or metta (loving-kindness). The object of meditation is your home-base or anchor. This is the same thing we do in our daily life when our attention has moved away from what we are currently doing, we recognize that and then return back to releasing, relaxing, re-smiling back into the task. This is how our mind becomes more balanced and happy, and we have more fun even.
Key: Return to your object of meditation.
6. Repeat
This essentially is about repeating the process so that you can go back to your meditation object and stay there as long as you can.
Key: Repeat - 1) staying with your object of meditation and 2) 6R-process as often as necessary.
Keep Making Right Effort
For as long as you are applying the 6 Rs, you are in fact meditating. Only when you “give up” releasing-relaxing-re-smiling-returning and rather follow the distractions you are not putting in the effort that meditation actually is. All of this is a process that can happen within a second. One has to do it, really go through the steps, not just think about them or verbalize them one after another. It’s a flow. It will turn into a very skillful habit.
The 6 Rs is Right Effort. Right Effort is the first of the three parts of meditation practice the way that the Buddha taught it. The other two are Right Mindfulness and Right Stillness, meaning deep meditative absorption. Mindfulness is awareness of what is happening right here and now, along with knowing what needs to be done in this moment. It is observing how the mind moves. It is supported by the 6 Rs, especially as smiling sharpens the mind. Deep meditative states will happen in the process as the mind stops moving all the time, given enough time and practice and good guidance from an experienced teacher.
Bhante says that by using the 6 Rs, “you’ll be absolutely amazed about how clear your mind becomes.” (from Bhante Vimalaramsi’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJ2LaFaDCY)
When we do the 6R’s we “see and experience for ourselves what suffering actually is; notice the cause, which is becoming involved with the tension and tightness in any way; experience how to reach the cessation by releasing and relaxing; discover how to exercise the direct path to that cessation of suffering that we cause ourselves.” (Quoted from Simple, Easy To Understand Mindfulness https://www.dhammasukha.org/uploads/1/2/8/6/12865490/mindfulness.pdf)
Further Progress
We’ll need the 6 Rs as Right Effort for as long as our mind hasn’t completely settled down and is like the surface of a quiet pond. How to make progress towards the state of mind where you can start observing the still mind?
“You can't just sit and observe out of the gate, so the Buddha came up with a way to slow things down first, which is a Samatha practice. Collectedness / Samadhi... Bringing up a pleasant object like lovingkindness and just staying with it. It is a happy practice - one that feels good, and the mind can stay with it easily. It is a wholesome object that brings in energy and tranquility into the mind.” (Quoted from Smile Your Way To Nibbana https://www.dhammasukha.org/blog-path-to-nibbana)
There are four mind states, attitudes if you will, which help us step by step. They are called Brahmaviharas, which translates literally to something like God-like dwellings, or figuratively to sublime attitudes. Metta, loving kindness, is the first one of them.
“...It is just because our mind is so busy that we have to use this Brahmavihara practice to calm down to the point where we can have some quiet peaceful moments to really observe just what is there. You bring up loving kindness (Metta) and this then automatically turns to compassion (Karuna) and then to joy (Mudita) and then to a deep feeling of Equanimity (Upekkha). You stay with this and train the mind to be with it. As the sutta says you pervade it to all beings in all directions. (Just a 'spiritual' friend at first).” (Quoted from Smile Your Way To Nibbana https://www.dhammasukha.org/blog-path-to-nibbana)
So let’s practice just that and meditate together now.
Resources
Slide Presentation: Simple, Easy To Understand Mindfulness https://www.dhammasukha.org/uploads/1/2/8/6/12865490/mindfulness.pdf
Article: What is Mindfulness? What are the 6 Rs? https://www.dhammasukha.org/the-6rs.html
Article: Smile Your Way To Nibbana https://www.dhammasukha.org/blog-path-to-nibbana
4 min video: Bhante Vimalaramsi -The 6r's - 5th World Buddhist Summit Japan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJ2LaFaDCY
24 min video: Instructions for Metta Meditation and the 6Rs by Bhante Vimalaramsi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u1JtRBJzqg