The second jhana is an improvement over the first in that significantly less effort is required to keep the attention on the meditation object, and clarity is increased. The descriptive phrase in the tradition is, “with the dropping of applied and sustained thought or effort, one abides in the second jhana,” but it does take […]
10 – The 2cd 3rd and 4th Jhanas Read More »
While our practice generally has some aspects of insight and concentration mixed together, in this section I will mostly talk more about what practice may look like when we try to stay towards the concentration side of things, that of the smooth, flowing, pleasant, more apparently stable states that concentration practice can produce. ~~~ Regardless
11 – THE CONCENTRATION STATES (SHAMATHA JHANAS) Read More »
The second shamatha jhana is like the first, a seemingly solidified mind state. With the dropping of almost all applied and sustained effort, the rapture and happiness/joy factors created by concentration can really predominate. Thus, whereas the first jhana requires you to make effort to pay attention to maintain it, the second jhana has much
12 – THE SECOND SHAMATHA JHANA Read More »
If the meditator decides to go on to the third shamatha jhana, this can be achieved by just cultivating the second jhana more deeply and eventually noticing that the rapture or emotional “wow factor” of that state eventually becomes annoying, distasteful, agitating, or even boring. and what is left is a more cool “bodily” bliss
13 – THE THIRD SHAMATHA JHANA Read More »
If practitioners wish to go on to the fourth shamatha jhana, they cultivate the third jhana and begin to pay attention to the fact that even the cool bodily bliss is somewhat irritating or noisy, and that the mind is still not as spacious and evenly balanced across the field of experience as it could
14 – THE FOURTH SHAMATHA JHANA Read More »
The fifth through eighth jhanas (j5–j8) are called “the formless realms” or “formless jhanas”, or, for you Paliglots, the arupa jhanas. To distinguish the first four jhanas from the latter four, the first four are thus sometimes referred to as “the formed jhanas” (rupa jhanas). The formless realms can also be mistaken as much more
15 – THE FORMLESS REALMS starting with THE FIFTH JHANA Read More »
If the meditator wishes to attain the next formless realm, the seventh jhana known as Nothingness, they can simply cultivate the jhana of Boundless Consciousness, and divest themselves of any form of fixation on or fascination with the vastness and luminosity of that state, that is, allow disenchantment (j6.j3) to naturally and organically arise in
16 – THE SEVENTH JHANA, NOTHINGNESS Read More »
If meditators wish to attain the eighth jhana, they can simply hang out in Nothingness until they get bored with perception entirely and understand that even the profoundly subtle perception that is Nothingness is subtly disconcerting or dissatisfying. Thus, the mind will eventually shift on its own to the state with the perplexing but thoroughly
17 – THE EIGHTH JHANA, NEITHER PERCEPTION NOR NON-PERCEPTION Read More »
This is a set of stages that diligent meditators pass through on the path of insight. Some of the “content-based” or psychological insights into ourselves can be interesting and helpful, but when I say “insight”, these stages with their specific perceptual shifts and upgrades are what I am talking about. These are formally known as
18 – THE PROGRESS OF INSIGHT – The Deeper Version Read More »
1 – Mind and Body There is a sudden shift; many mental phenomena, particularly the main narrative thought stream, shift out away from the illusory sense of “the watcher” and are just out there along with the sensations of the other five sense doors. This is an important insight, as it shows us clearly and
19 – Mind and Body, 1st stage Progress of Insight Read More »
Maui Marrying Man – Making Dreams Come True on Maui’s Romantic Beaches.
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Our business was doing great, but we still couldn’t afford to buy a house or a condo. Renting in Maui for another 30 years was not an option we wanted to take. Then, Bobbie Jo suggested we buy a sailboat that is comfortable to cruise and live in. By the end of January, we started looking for our new home.
After a long search, we found our dream boat in Mazatlan, Mexico. COVID-19 was not yet a concern when our boat hunt began, but masks were starting to appear at airports by the time we flew to Mazatlan. Originally, we had planned to get the boat ready as fast as possible to cover a full calendar for the busy wedding season. However, it was apparent our business was going to tank amid the pandemic, and the struggle went on until the end of the year.
Luckily, we scored an awesome condo for only $19 a day at Mazatlan. On the 10th day of our stay, we received the news that all harbors will be closed the next Monday morning. We thought we’d be stuck in Mexico longer, but another sailor advised us to leave before sunrise.
We felt the adrenalin of escaping the Mexican harbor master just before the sun rose that faithful day. The seas were rough as waves were building up in the tight channel that led us to the open ocean. We ended up anchored off an adorable little isle just a mile offshore. We enjoyed cruising to many spectacular anchorages and cute villages on our way to Puerto Vallarta, where we would depart for Maui on May 7. On May 30, 2020, we completed our 24-day passage from Mexico to Maui.
