#jhana

[yama-bito]

— Zoro, One Piece Alabasta Arc (one pace manga recut), written by Eiichiro Oda

[mofumanju]

[brchyura]

the school au on ggz probably is the funniest thing ever

[h1mmel]

kiameihnar short

self indulgent kiana/jyahnar/mei domestic sillies

--

“E mi et le… escontina~”

Jyahnar’s voice was soft, and their gentle tone never wavered as they sang the same soothing song they'd sung to their lover a thousand times. It never tired to Kiana’s ears, who listened to their voice with closed eyes and a sleepy smile. She was loathe to admit that Jyahnar’s voice was a bit too soothing, and she was starting to nod off in the other’s arms.

Kiana hadn’t realized they'd stopped singing until Jyahnar spoke to her.

“Kiana?”

The white-haired girl blinked a couple of times in order to clear the sleep from her eyes. “Mmfh… yeah?”

A soft laugh came from her partner. “You’ve grown weary, love. Please get some rest.”

“I’mma sleep-” Kiana plopped down in Jyahnar’s lap without hesitation, head landing against their thighs with the intent to use them as a pilow. “...right here! Nighty~”

The former Herrscher had no objections, and a gentle smile rose to their face as they watched Kiama begin to drift off again. Jyahnar’s hands softly played with their partner’s hair, sending silver curls spilling through their fingers. The only sounds were that of the waves crashing against the shore in the distance, and Kiana’s soft breaths. They were quite loud; as Kiana had a tendency to snore, but Jyahnar didn’t mind- it was proof that she was alive.

Of course, Jyahnar was breathing too, but it wasn’t the same. Their body was only a mimicry of what it meant to be fully human, a false puppet filled with a fake life breathed into it by Jyahnar’s true form, a beast powerful enough to wipe humanity’s existance out in an instant if they so desired it.

Perhaps, Jyahnar wondered, if it was the flaws in their mimicry of a human’s life that themselves were part of the human experience. Every human they'd met so far was flawed in all sorts of ways. At first, they'd hated that she couldn't become human, to be with Kiana as only a mortal lover could, but it eventually came to be that being with Kiana made them feel more alive than anything else possibly could, human or otherwise.

Meanwhile, Kiana was dozing off amidst much less serious worries. She wondered which girlfriend would be the one to cook dinner tonight, and while no offense to Jyahnar - she loved a good squid stew! - Kiana was really craving for Mei’s ramen noodles right about now and really hoped that was what they’d be having. She was also worried about falling asleep too quickly and not being awake to get a good night kiss from BOTH girlfriends. Kiana also had more important worries, like how she was going to keep secret the kitten she’d bought Mei for her upcoming birthday and was currently keeping smuggled in their apartment, or how she’d accidentally drank the last of the milk without telling anyone and put the empty container back in the fridge to hide the evidence. She was bound to get a scolding for both of those if Mei found out. Hopefully she hadn't noticed the dead mouse under Kiana’s bed yet either, definitely not a fault of the smuggled kitten.

Kiana’s worries eventually turned to a hazy dream as she slept in Jyahnar’s lap. She dreamed of a giant eagle ray flying far above the sea, with wings so large they stretched to fill the horizon in each direction. Kiana herself rode on the beast’s back, listening to the gentle song that it sung to her in Jyahnar’s voice as they sailed through the clouds.

“The mountain's edge, the moon is full Take in a breath, this forest of yours Bask and sleep in the summer grass Your precious face in profile”

The ray spoke in Jyahnar’s voice again after the song had completed.

“I love you, Kiana.”

And that was the last thing Kiana remembered before her sleep became a dreamless rest.

[yoga-onion]

The Quest for Buddhism (119)

Buddhist cosmology

Samatha and Vipassana meditations - the relationship

Gautama Buddha said to have identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome meditative practice are samatha (stillness: Ref) and vippasana (insight: Ref2).

It is the work of the still mind (samatha) that becomes wisdom (vipassana). Thus, it is to observe things correctly in accordance with the truth.

Thus, "stopping (samatha)" refers to meditation (jhana: Ref3), and "seeing (vipassana)" refers to wisdom (panna). Buddha realised that the root cause of human suffering is lack of clarity, and he allegedly attained enlightenment through contemplation of the twelve causal factors (Ref4) in order and in reverse order.

In the Pali canon, the Buddha never mentions independent samatha and vipassana meditation practices; instead, samatha and vipassana are two "qualities of mind" to be developed through meditation (jhana). When the Pali suttas depict the Buddha telling his disciples to go meditate, they never quote him as saying 'go do vipassana,' but always 'go do jhana.' And they never equate the word "vipassana" with any mindfulness techniques.

[How to]

Practice begins with the preparatory stage, the practice of sila, morality, giving up worldly thoughts and desires. Morality is a quintessential element of Buddhist practice, and is also emphasised by the first generation of post-war western teachers. Yet, it is noted that in the contemporary mindfulness movement, morality as an element of practice has been mostly discarded, 'mystifying' the origins of mindfulness.

The practitioner then engages in anapanasati (Ref5), mindfulness of breathing, which is described in the Satipatthana Sutta as going into the forest and sitting beneath a tree and then to simply watch the breath. If the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short.

The practitioner also becomes aware of the perpetual changes involved in breathing, and the arising and passing away of mindfulness. This noticing is accompanied by reflections on causation and other Buddhist teachings, leading to insight into suffering (dukkha), non-self (anatta), and impermanence (anicca). When the three characteristics have been comprehended, reflection subdues, and the process of noticing accelerates, noting phenomena in general, without necessarily naming them.

Some sects point out that the practice of both samatha and vipassana together allows one to achieve various mental powers and higher knowledge (Skt: abhijna, Ref6), including the attainment of Nirvana, whereas the practice of vipassana alone allows for the achievement of Nirvana, but no other mental powers or knowledges.

仏教の探求 (119)

仏教の宇宙論

サマタ瞑想とヴィパッサナー瞑想 〜 その関係性

ゴータマ・ブッダは、健全な瞑想の実践から生まれる最も重要な心の資質として、サマタ (静止: 参照) とヴィッパサナー (洞察力: 参照2) の2つを特定したと言われている。

それは、不動の心(ｻﾏﾀ)が、智慧(ｳﾞｨﾊﾟｯｻﾅ-)のはたらきとなって、事物を真理に即して正しく観察することである。

このように、サマタ(止)とは禅定 (ﾃﾞｨﾔｰﾅ: 参照3) に当たり、ヴィパッサナー(観)とは智慧に相当している。ブッダはサマタ(止)により、人間の苦の根本原因が無明であることを自覚し、十二因縁（参照4）を順逆に観想するヴィパッサナー(観)によって無明を脱したとされる。

パーリ仏典では、ブッダは独立したサマタとヴィパッサナー瞑想の修行について言及せず、代わりにサマタとヴィパッサナーは瞑想を通して開発すべき二つの「心の資質」であると述べている。ブッダが弟子たちに瞑想をするように言うときには、「ヴィパッサナーをしなさい」とは言わず、常に「ジャーナをしなさい」と言っていた。また、「ヴィパッサナー」という言葉をマインドフルネスのテクニックと同一視することはない。

[修行方法]

修行は、まず準備段階として、世俗的な考えや欲望を捨て、シーラ (道徳) を実践することから始まる。道徳は仏教の修行の真髄をなす要素であり、それは戦後の西洋の第一世代の教師たちによっても強調されている。しかし、現代のマインドフルネス運動では、修行の要素としての道徳はほとんど捨て去られ、マインドフルネスの起源を「神秘化」していると指摘されている。

実践者は次に安那般那念 (あんなはんなねん、巴:ｱｰﾅｰﾊﾟｰﾅ･ｻﾃｨ、梵:ｱｰﾅｰﾊﾟｰﾅ･ｽﾑﾘﾃｨ 参照5)、呼吸のマインドフルネスに取り組み、森に行き、木の下に座り、そして単に呼吸を見ることとして念処経 (ねんじょきょう、巴:ｻﾃｨﾊﾟｯﾀｰﾅ･ｽｯﾀ)で記述されている。呼吸が長ければ長いと感じ、短ければ短いと感じる。

修行者はまた、呼吸に伴う絶え間ない変化、そしてマインドフルネスの発生と消滅に気づくようになる。この気づきは、因果関係や他の仏教の教えについての考察を伴い、苦 (梵･巴: ﾄﾞｩｯｶ)、無我 (むが、巴: ｱﾅｯﾀｰ、梵: ｱﾅｰﾄﾏﾝ)、無常 (むじょう、巴: ｱﾆｯﾁｬ、梵: ｱﾆﾄﾔ) を洞察することにつながる。この3つの性質が理解できたとき、反省は収まり、気づきのプロセスが加速され、必ずしも特定せずとも全般的な現象に注目するようになる。

宗派によっては、サマタとヴィパッサナーを一緒に修行すると、涅槃 (ねはん、梵: ﾆﾙｳﾞｧｰﾅ) の達成を含むさまざまな精神力と智慧 (巴:アビニャー 参照6) が得られるが、ヴィパッサナーのみの修行では、涅槃の達成はできるが他の精神力と知識は得られないと指摘されている。

[lilbluntworld]

“Upon hearing this, I was enlightened.”

[starsdaily]

sebastian stan at the hugo boss singapore store unveiling on may 28th, 2018

[dailytolkien]