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Out of the 40 meditation subjects the Buddha taught and encouraged, Kasina meditations take up 10 of them. These are known simply as earth, water, fire, wind, blue, yellow, red, white, space and light.
In practice, these meditations have limited insight value, so are mostly taught as a means to develop concentration to be then used as an investigative tool. It is because there is no one size fits all meditation, some practitioners are more inclined and naturally adept at certain types than others. The large range of 40 gives a more user-specific option.
In one of the best source books on the subject, known as the Visuddhi Magga, it gives examples how a person knows for themselves if it's the right type for them. An example was someone gazing at a display of flowers noticed that a certain colour stood out vastly more apparent than the others, even when they closed their eyes. For some, it was simply gazing at a candle or into space and noticed that it suddenly became visually different.
In modern times, qualified meditation instructors who know which meditation is suitable for each person are rare so meditations such as Kasina types are often left for the more experimental practitioners interested in finding out what place they fit into the range of meditations.
Therefore this article looks at how to start a kasina practice and how to develop it.
Steps
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Position your disc in a place you can sit and see it comfortably without developing any discomfort in the neck, shoulders etc. You can use a chair and many work better with the use of one, however the height is important, as is how far away the Kasina is. This is relative, but choose a chair that is fairly low and will not strain the neck and the kasina should be close enough to be able to focus firmly on it, so neither too close nor too far.
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Observe the characteristic of your disc, such as repeating mentally "water, water" or "space, space" etc. You can use any word that appeals or feels relevant, but English only has limited words for things like light, the colours, water etc.
- Repeating its characteristic helps focus solely on the subject rather than getting distracted with thoughts.
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Gaze gently at the disc and relax into it, as strong, rigid focus can create strain which can be a hindrance. Problematically for many is that the image most often appears when we aren't paying it too much attention, such as when in day to day life we're gazing into space a shadow image just happens. People who have been good at hidden picture puzzles or other optical puzzles have a head start as they are already familiar with persistent focus.
- Eventually an image will arise from it, it might appear floating in front of the disc, or be the reverse image of it. It might move, or it might be still. This can take some time so it is best not to practice this style of meditation if you cannot dedicate some real time to it. Common history tells the story of a man who spent 40 days in the desert and developed the earth kasina and some monks spend many months on the subject. It might not happen immediately or quickly, so giving fair time is important to find out and to develop what does arise.
- Refrain from forcing it to do something, or trying to change it as that becomes the new focus of attention, not the kasina you've been studying. They arise easier if you don't try to make it happen but just relax into it. This is why they happen on their own sometimes in day to day life.
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Find yourself a quiet place with minimal disturbances if where you are is no longer suitable. Select a comfortable posture and the Do Mindful Meditation page has a look at the four styles to help you select one, although sitting, standing or reclining are the best types. Observe the counterpart image once it is visible (sometimes you will need the eyes shut, sometimes you don't). It depends how well you focused on the original to how well it stays. Sometimes the image might last a few seconds, or a minute, or a fair while. If it fades away, go back and focus on the original again until the symbol appears again.When the image arises, avoid speaking to other people, or using words mentally as that's the easiest way to make the image go away. Its recommended you protect the image as something most precious and to observe it silently with word-less awareness.
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Keep observing the new image and noting the characteristic. Develop it, enrich it, make it your total focus of attention which does require gentle but consistent and persistent concentration. Some images you can enlarge, some won't - it depends on the type and the person.
- Let everything fade away so there is just the image and relax into it. Eventually the mind becomes fully absorbed into the image, which you can then use to develop insight .
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Tips
- A casual observer will note the similarity of hypnosis to this. Actually the two are really very similar. Hypnosis is the focus on an object until you reach absorption and both mental and physical deep relaxation. Meditation uses this as a means to an end - the way to develop insight and mental development.Thanks
- Should you be able to develop absorption, keep practicing it, rather than let it lapse or treat it trivially because it might not come back - ever. The Buddhist analogies explain that the ones who attained absorption in incredible speeds practiced kasina types.Thanks
- The mind also needs to be developed and calmed. It is sometimes 3 or 4 days or more of almost nothing but meditation practice such as breath meditation , loving kindness etc) before the mind lets go of its hindrances and can be turned towards developing these.Thanks
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Warnings
- It is, according to the Buddhist analogies, the way to develop superhuman powers or "miracles". Earth Kasina for example is said to develop Modification, Extension and Solidification. This is able to turn one substance into another, to extend a product (the Visuddhimagga tells the story of a husband and wife who fed a huge crowd out of a cup of pancake batter by extending it) and finally solidification - the ability to turn liquids into solids such as walking on water. You shouldn't practice these with this aim as you are missing the real goal and can cause far more obstacles towards developing understanding.Thanks
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Reader Success Stories
- "I am starting out on the water kasina, which I had practiced on a retreat some years back for a short while, so I was looking for instruction on how to practice the water kasina and found this helpful, especially in terms of how long it may take." ..." more
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"I am starting out on the water kasina, which I had practiced on a retreat some years back for a short while, so I was looking for instruction on how to practice the water kasina and found this helpful, especially in terms of how long it may take."
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"Being new to kasina meditation, I wondered why there is no info on making a kasina-disk on a computer screen. I did this for myself, and was astounded by the results."
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"I had heard of using a Kasina in concentration meditation, but hadn't had such a clear and concise description and steps to try the technique."
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