Feeding the Tranquillity Link to Awakening!
The Blessed Buddha once said:
Bhikkhus, just as this body, is sustained by feeding, exists in dependence
on feeding and cannot survive without food, exactly & even so are these 7
Links to Awakening also sustained by feeding, they can also only exist in
dependence on feeding
and they cannot survive without feeding...
And what, Bhikkhus, is the feeding the
emergence of any yet unarisen
Tranquillity Link to Awakening & also feeding of already arisen & present
Tranquillity? Just this very notion: There are 2 kinds of Calm:
There is
Tranquillity of the Body (kāya-passaddhi)
and there is
Tranquillity
of the Mind (citta-passaddhi)! Frequently giving
careful & rational attention
to them both, is feeding the arising of any unarisen tranquillity and
indeed
also feeding of the gradual fulfillment of any already arisen tranquillity...
And what, Bhikkhus, is the starving that obstructs all emergence of any yet
unarisen tranquillity and which also hinders any already arisen tranquillity
in reaching fulfillment by development?
There are these 2 kinds of composed calm, which should be differentiated:
Tranquillity
of the Body and
Tranquillity
of the Mind! Not giving frequent
careful and rational attention to them; not considering them much
& often;
is the starving that prevents an unarisen
tranquillity from arising and also
blocks any already arisen tranquillity from reaching complete fulfillment
by mental training and progressive development by meditation...
Comments from the classical commentaries: Peace is
the characteristic of
the Tranquillity Link to Awakening
(Passaddhi-sambojjhanga).
Stilling of all
bodily activity, feeling, perception, mental construction and consciousness
is the purpose of
tranquillity. Settled, serene and solidified calm (samatha)
is the excessively pleasant manifestation of tranquillity. A smiling mountain!
When the mirror moves & vibrates, then one cannot see anything clearly in it.
So also with the mind:
When stressed and agitated, then mind cannot figure
out what is
good and what is bad on the long term. But when imperturbably
stilled, then
mind can cut right through any distraction
and attain absolute
certainty and understanding both spontaneously and instantaneously...
Further conditions helpful for the emergence
of the Tranquillity are:
1: Eating good and fine food...
2: Living
in a pleasant climate...
3: Maintaining a comfortable posture without pain or distress...
4: Staying
evenly ballanced in all situations and regarding all aspects...
5: Avoidance of restless, anxious, agitated,
worried and stressed people...
6: Friendship with bodily and mentally calm people, who meditates much!
7: Commitment to calm down the mind by cultivating
quiet and tranquillity!
There is Tranquillity
of the Body and there is Tranquillity
of the Mind!
These mutually depend upon and enhance each other into deeper calmness.
More on
Tranquillity (Passaddhi)
and
Calm
(Samatha) :
Tranquillity_Passaddhi,
High_and_Alert,
Calmed,
The_Tranquil_One,
Forest Bliss,
Calm_and_Insight,
Calm_Power,
Calm,
Forest_Bliss2
Breathing_Calm_and_Insight,
Silenced.
Sources (edited extracts):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V:
65-6+102-8] 46: Links. 2+51: Group & Nutriments....
