Condensation of page on The Nine Stages of the Mind:
"The elephant is the example of the mind for: If an elephant is wild, it is very dangerous to all other animals. Likewise, if the mind is not tamed it harms others. All suffering is caused by the untamed mind.An elephant once tamed obeys its master better than any other animal; even if the master were to say pick up a very large hot ball with it's trunk, the elephant will do so. Therefore, the mind when tamed, can perform any action, no matter how difficult.
The footprint of the elephant is larger than any other animal’s. Likewise, if our mind is tamed and comes into the realm of the Dharma, it serves its master better than any other and its capacity and scope is unlimited. If our mind is very peaceful and well tamed, there will no longer be any enemies of that person anywhere. If our mind is peaceful, we make all others around us peaceful. All the results of our mind-whether good or bad-increase, for body and speech of a person are only servants of the mind.
The monkey’s dark color symbolizes scattering of attention; its presence symbolizes distraction and scattering of focus from both inner turbulence and outer attraction. Thus the monkey leads the elephant everywhere, always to different objects. (Just as scattering distracts the mind to sense objects).
The rope held by the monk symbolizes recollectedness; and the hook symbolizes watchfulness or alertness not only to the instruction about the practice of Calm-Abiding but also to the enlarging of the undistracted field of Awareness: what is occurring and what one is doing.
The fire is the energy and zest for meditation. The progressively diminishing flame, along the path, is lessening of effort needed to cultivate understanding and recollected concentration...
... Prasrabdhi is when the mind seems to enter naturally into the “flow.” When, after trying to concentrate, there comes a sense of naturally being able to do so. This arises with time. If one can get to a level where concentration continues with relative ease, then this will combat our tendency to laziness.
When one forgets to keep the attention on the “object” (i.e., the rise and fall of the breath), then it is important to apply the antidote of remembrance. Just as one “remembers” in one’s head the list of items in a shopping list, so one has to keep remembering the object.There is a part of the mind which is always recording, always taking everything down in memory. Resort to that part of the mind, and keep focused on the object. Remember to concentrate upon the object. Remain “mindful” or “well-recollected” of the practice that one is trying to do.
Very quickly, the meditator begins to find that, while concentrating upon the rise and fall of the breath, one enters into one of two mental states. Either the meditator gets very dreamy and “spaced-out”, in a daze, or the opposite, she or he gets lots of thoughts and images. If one is getting dreamy and spaced-out, even though not losing count of the breath, we say that there is a state of passivity. If, on the other hand, all sorts of thoughts and images start arising, we call this a state of excitation. Every meditator swings back from one state to the other....
...the meditator, chases after the elephant, the wildly untamed mind. In the first stage our mind is completely under the sway and allure of the five sense objects and mental-emotional events. The rope and the hook carried by the monk are hardly any help at this point. When the object is not steady, disturbances are plentiful. The “elephant” is not even looking toward the rope and hook and the monkey runs wildly, leading the elephant. At this first stage, the flame of the fire of effort must be very strong....
[several tedious "stages" and tons of effort later]
...Through immersion in power of watchfulness, distraction and fogginess are almost completely gone and the monkey is now behind the elephant; now the mind is not under the leadership of scattering distractions....
...Gone also are the other distractions of the inner emotional and mental events. An energetic concentration arises, shown as no hook and rope needed, though ever at the ready. The monk is not even looking at the elephant.
Concentration without any disturbance is possible for at least one hour. The monk hooks the elephant with his goad; the mind is stopped from wandering by clear understanding....
...After long persevering practice, the meditator reaches complete pacification of the mind. The monk is behind the elephant and allows the mind to ‘rest’ naturally. It concentrates on its own. The hare, which represents the subtle aspects of the mental factor of sinking (lethargy), disappears and, because no energy is (dispersed or) needed; concentration comes immediately. But still, the monk observes! There still remains subtle weakness and distraction, but there is no disturbance at all. Concentration is possible for about four hours....
...We see that the monkey leaves the elephant and now squats behind the monk in complete obeisance. However there are still slight traces of black; this shows that even the subtlest sinking and scattering may continue to arise. Should they begin to arise they can be eliminated with slight effort.
Spontaneous concentration is now present until the meditator wishes to stop it. As the concentration progresses, so does the clarity of the object concentrated upon.
The monk doesn’t even need to look at the elephant; the elephant just comes and obeys. Concentration for one or two days without a break is possible. In the drawing the monkey disappears (losing the human form?) and the elephant becomes completely white. The mind can now remain continually in absorption on the object of concentration.
After the 9th Stage of Calm-Abiding is attained, many new and extraordinary experiences come, which have never been experienced before. When these experiences come, this is the sign that Calm-Abiding has been attained. From the heart of the meditating monk emanates a rainbow. The monk is shown flying alone; this is bodily bliss....
Having achieved this goal, the meditator gains all other supernatural powers such as reading minds, disappearing, and transferring his consciousness into other beings. Like someone who has “sharpened the axe to cut all things,” he is capable of doing (virtually) any other meditative (or non-meditative) practice.
After sharpening an axe, so a person must use it. We must ourselves become Buddha! ...One has to free one’s mind from the trap of delusion (that there is anything outside of, or not conditioned by, the mind)."
9 Comments
Is there an illustration of this, you could include as the post photo?
Someone intended to teach others with this. They "conceived" this.
Must be an artist who drew it up.
Edit: wait, I see it. The link has the illustrations.
Too many pics to post.
The source webpage I linked has multiple enlargeable images. Users can't insert images like that on the mobile app. It requires a desktop/laptop.
Single image posts with no text, or text posts with no images.
Yea, I get complaints about mobile usage.
Someone asks me a question, I point them to a post in her, and they have a hard time actually reading it.
I find it notable that in their analogy the elephant starts off dimmed & dark and winds up shining & white (nobody make any racist insinuations please!). Analogous to the regrowing of the luminous outer glow of our energetic cocoon.
Up from the toes! As you have mentioned Carlos stated emphatically.
I was drooling over reading this last night, but I'm still a bit reluctant.
Someone with REAL knowledge, "conceived" this.
The assemblage point is a conceived thing.
We don't know if it actually would have existed, without being conceived.
Carlos never said.
By reading this, you'll pick up some of it's intent.
Digging a little further, it's Tibetan in origin. Of course! Aka "The Elephant Path," "Taming The Elephant," & "The Nine Stages of Mahamudra (Abiding)." This system can be dated as being in use since the 4th century A.D.
Here's a slightly better quality image than that in the source article, of the whole mural.
https://pin.it/44ufhA7
And in this (even higher-res) interpretation, the elephant is amber and not white! Just like our actual nascent energetic color!:
https://pin.it/1rUkoS3
And the simplest and clearest
Modern Illustration
Those are all so cool that I want to buy one, and hang it on my wall.
Unfortunately, it might be like tearing out a page from Armando's book, perhaps "The 4 Agreements", and putting it onto your wall.
It would seriously damage your chances to ever learn sorcery.
It's a different intent!
In the case of the Tibetan intent, it's really nice. Almost worth it.
A day or so before your comment I printed off two small copies of two of them, intending to paste them into my moleskine journal.
I wasn't more than 50% sure though, and wound-up shredding them after your comment.
I'll still keep the digital files and text though, because I always do.
Tell them to download the Reddit Mobile App (Andoid/iOS). It's absolutely terrible on mobile browser, in my opinion.
The app is surprisingly good! Though it hasn't integrated the Wiki into the design yet. Something they have promised to do, but it's last on their list.
Had to do that myself.