Questions and Answers on the Contemplation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Part 10

Question: How to remedy the feeling of boredom and meaninglessness during seated contemplation? 

Answer: If during seated contemplation you feel bored and find it meaningless, this is the manifestation of the habitual tendencies of the manas (mental faculty). The manas is attached to worldly phenomena; it enjoys the dynamic activities of the five aggregates, delights in worldly matters, prefers liveliness, craves gain, dislikes solitary inaction, and resists being restrained. At this point, one should contemplate the benefits of the four foundations of mindfulness, reflect on the purpose of spiritual practice, and consider the results of practice described at the end of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. Doing so will alleviate some negative emotions. The habitual tendencies of the manas are difficult to subdue; one should treat it like a child, combining kindness and strictness. Ordinarily, one should frequently contemplate the impermanence and suffering of the world, repent for karmic obstacles and afflictions accumulated since beginningless kalpas, generate great resolve, long-term determination, and the mind of renunciation, and rely on the guiding power of vows to continuously advance on the path. 

What are the benefits of mindfulness of breathing? Its worldly benefits include promoting physical health, purifying the mind, prolonging lifespan, bringing comfort and ease to body and mind, fostering joy and happiness, softening the mind, subduing afflictions, improving moral conduct and virtue, enhancing thinking capacity, refining mental discernment, and increasing wisdom. Human life exists only between breaths; with inhalation and exhalation, there is life. Without inhalation or exhalation, life ceases abruptly. Breathing represents life. Contemplating the breath allows one to perceive how fragile, unreliable, impermanent, and full of suffering every life is. Could this body and mind, the five aggregates dependent on breathing, truly be the self? By contemplating in this way, the view of self becomes subtle, self-attachment weakens, afflictions diminish, and it becomes possible to sever the view of self and partially realize the fruits of liberation.