Breathing Mindfulness Meditation Well Established, Annoying Thoughts and Impulses Don’t Exist

Remain focused, Monks, on foulness in the body. Have mindfulness of in-and-out breathing well-established in front of you. Remain focused on the inconsistency of all untruths.

For one who remains focused on the foulness of the body, the obsession with passion for the property of beauty is abandoned.

For one who has mindfulness of in-and-out breathing well-established in front of oneself, annoying thoughts and impulses don't exist.

For one who remains focused on the inconsistency of all untruths, ignorance (unknowing of true reality) is abandoned, clear wisdom arises.

Focusing on foulness in the body, mindful of in-and-out breathing, seeing the stilling of all untruths - dedicated always: he is a Monk who’s seen clearly.

From that he is there liberated. A master of direct knowledge (experience), at peace, he is a wise one gone beyond bondage.

(Reference: ITI 85)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares detailed Teachings of how to further train the mind towards Enlightenment through cultivating certain wholesome qualities of one’s mind in order to eliminate certain unwholesome qualities of the mind.

For one who remains focused on the foulness of the body, the obsession with passion for the property of beauty is abandoned: The Buddha is providing guidance to develop the perception of unattractiveness of the physical body remaining focused on the “foulness of the body”. Through developing the perception of “foulness of the body”, a Practitioner can reduce and then eliminate the fetter of “personal existence view” as one eliminates the obsession for beauty. This will also assist a Practitioner to eliminate the fetter of “sensual desire” related to a craving for sexual contact.

When there is a strong amount of “personal existence view” in the mind, there will be a craving for projecting a self image through physical beauty. Eliminating this from the mind can allow a Practitioner to reside peaceful and unaffected by what others may or may not say regarding one’s physical appearance. If one is obsessed with their physical appearance chasing pleasant feelings through remarks related to one’s appearance, this can even arise the fetter of conceit (i.e. arrogance, pride, etc.) causing one to not be able to experience Enlightenment due to continued discontentedness.

If a Practitioner is chasing pleasant feelings related to the beauty of the physical body, this is an impermanent condition that will, at some point, no longer exist. Therefore, through chasing the pleasant feeling of beauty, you would be inviting in painful feelings when the condition of physical beauty no longer exists. If someone comments about your appearance in a negative way, the mind will experience painful feelings. As the body ages, you will be uncomfortable with this and may decide to pursue costly medical procedures to maintain the youthful appearance causing significant stress to acquire the financial ability to have surgery or other expensive treatments.

Instead, a Practitioner can train the mind to understand The Universal Truth of Impermanence that the youthful appearance will fade and that the physical body cannot remain permanently youthful. One can eliminate the fetter of “personal existence view”, “sensual desire”, and “conceit” training the mind to reside completely peaceful not identifying with the physical body as “who you are”.

One can reflect on the foulness of the body through considering the forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and physical objects of the body that are not pleasing. Contemplate the foulness of the fluids and odors of the body such as those associated with pus, blood, saliva, urine, stool, mucus, vomit, etc. The body produces all types of foulness that when reflected upon, can help you to eradicate any mental attraction or obsession to the body helping the mind to “let go” of any craving/desire/attachment to the physical body so that one can eliminate the fetters mentioned.

There is a meditation technique that one can use to eliminate sexual cravings found in Chapter 11 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

For one who has mindfulness of in-and-out breathing well-established in front of oneself, annoying thoughts and impulses don't exist: The Buddha is describing how by training the mind through Breathing Mindfulness Meditation a Practitioner can eliminate “annoying thoughts and impulses”.

It is craving/desire/attachment that causes “annoying thoughts and impulses” and through training the mind in Breathing Mindfulness Meditation and practicing generosity, a Practitioner is able to eliminate craving/desire/attachment, therefore, eliminating “annoying thoughts and impulses”.

For one who remains focused on the inconsistency of all untruths, ignorance (unknowing of true reality) is abandoned, clear wisdom arises: The primary problem hindering the mind keeping it trapped in the unEnlightened state is the fetter of “ignorance (unknowing of true reality)”. It is only through eliminating ignorance (unknowing of true reality) that one will be able to experience Enlightenment. The way to eliminate the fetter of ignorance (unknowing of true reality) is to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings of The Buddha with guidance from a Teacher to independently discover the truth to acquire wisdom. In doing so, one will be able to eliminate ignorance (unknowing of true reality) awakening the mind to Enlightenment through training the mind.

A Practitioner will need to develop the ability to learn these Teachings then reflect on them through objective reasoning. One will need to contemplate and consider whether these Teachings are truly wholesome or not, one Teaching at a time. Then, move The Teachings into one’s life practice in order to practice The Teaching to determine if it produces wholesome results or not.

As a Practitioner does this one Teaching at a time, you will gradually observe how these Teachings are moving the mind to acquire increased amounts of wisdom to eradicate ignorance (unknowing of true reality) awakening the mind to be able to “see clearly” the truth of The Natural Laws of Existence training the mind to reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.

Focusing on foulness in the body, mindful of in-and-out breathing, seeing the stilling of all untruths - dedicated always: he is a Monk who's seen clearly: The Buddha is sharing that one who focuses on the foulness of the mind, practices Breathing Mindfulness Meditation, and applies effort to eliminate all untruths through a dedicated life practice will be able to “see clearly” what is true reality and awaken to Enlightenment.

From that he is there liberated. A master of direct knowledge (experience), at peace, he is a wise one gone beyond bondage: A Practitioner who practices in the way described in this Teaching and others will experience liberation of mind (i.e. freedom from strong feelings), will be a master at gaining the direct experience to determine the truth, and will possess deep wisdom having gone “beyond bondage”.

“Beyond bondage” is that the mind will be well liberated no longer trapped, defiled, polluted, through experiencing constant discontentedness. The mind will be completely free and at peace.