Copyright © 2023 Tomás Morales Duran. All rights reserved
As we have seen, the key to the jhānas is the directing of the mind on the forms in movement, which releases pleasure, happiness and joy, as well as excitement and, finally, absorption.
The procedure is very elegant since it is always a question of directing the mind on a certain form in movement, where by changing the form we change the neurotransmitter, achieving its synthesis and release.
We are talking about shapes in motion. They are not static, and even if we represent them on paper, we must understand that they are trajectories in a way that moves.
Directing the mind on those forms means placing the mind and keeping it connected to the form, thus experiencing movement while looking ahead. Putting a simile, it is as if we got on the front car of a roller coaster and experience the ups and downs while keeping our eyes focused on the rails that appear successively in front of us.
In some cases it is essential to maintain the authentic smile, the Duchenne smile, which we will shape using movement while it grows independently. This is a sign that the exercise is beginning to be done well.
We will make the shapes using our breath and we will be able to support ourselves with slight movements of the head or with our hands.
Breathing should be very subtle so that you can feel both the entry and exit of the air. And we will concentrate in order to be able to amplify those sensations and get inside them.
When the shape rises, we will inspire following the rise. When the form descends, we will expire following the descent. At the highs and lows, we won't breathe.
The intensity will be given by the derivative of the function that defines the curve of the trajectory. In other words, if the upward slope is slight, we will inhale slightly, if the upward slope is strong, we will inhale more strongly. Similarly, if the downward slope is slight, we will expire slightly, if the downward slope is strong, we will expire more strongly.
Something very important is to point out that the pleasant sensations will begin to be experienced, but that it is essential not to lose concentration because there is a risk of losing what has been advanced. To fixate on the effect is to begin to lose it. When enough has been released you can stop and experience and enjoy those effects.
Another important point is to ignore signals or signs that may appear, which are the result of the parallel residual release of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) which is a hallucinogen and, for what we want to do, only distracting.
The objective is to be able to release a sufficient amount of neurotransmitters in the shortest possible time because, as we will see, it will be necessary to have a cocktail of three of them generated sequentially, to be able to start with the fourth. Since they recapture quite quickly, if we spend too much time doing the second or third one, we will lose the first one. In other words, speed and quality prevail over quantity.
In the texts we have several passages that indicate that the breath can be used to fulfill the instructions of the practice, such as the complete Saṁyutta 54 or this sutta from the Majjhima Nikaya.
MN 118. Instructions for breathing practice
—Bhikkhus, when the four instructions of the breathing practice are developed and cultivated, they bring great fruits and benefits. When the instructions of the breathing practice are developed and cultivated, the four fundamentals of the practice are fulfilled.
When the four fundamentals of breathing practice are developed and cultivated, the seven factors of enlightenment are fulfilled. When the seven factors of enlightenment are developed and cultivated, they satisfy true knowledge and liberation.
—And how are the instructions of the breathing practice developed and cultivated so that they are very fruitful and beneficial?
“It is when a bhikkhu goes to the jungle, to the root of a tree or to an empty hut. He sits cross-legged and upright, bringing the memory of the instructions before him.
He consciously inhales. Consciously exhale.
When he inhales deeply, he perceives: "I am inhaling deeply." When he breathes out deeply, he perceives: "I am breathing out deeply." When he inhales slightly, he perceives: "I am inhaling slightly." When he exhales slightly, he perceives, "I am exhaling slightly."
He practices like this: "I will breathe in appreciating the conditional situation of the body." He practices like this: "I will breathe out appreciating the conditional situation of the body." Practice like this: "I will breathe in calming the conditional situation of the body." He practices like this: "I will expire by calming the situation with conditional of the body.
He practices like this: "I will breathe in experiencing pleasure." He practices like this: "I will expire experiencing pleasure." Practice like this: "I will breathe in experiencing happiness." Practice like this: "I will expire experiencing happiness."
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