Twenty-five preparatory exercises
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twenty-five preparatory exercises
二十五方便 (Jpn nijugo-hoben )
Practices undertaken in preparation for entering meditation on the truth of life. They are set forth in T'ient'ai's works Great Concentration and Insight, The Essentials of Concentration and Insight, and The Teaching of the Practice of Meditation. There are five groups of five practices.
The first group is
(1) observing precepts and purifying one's life,
(2) securing appropriate food and clothing,
(3) maintaining quiet surroundings,
(4) freeing oneself from miscellaneous concerns or distractions, and
(5) acquiring a good teacher. The second group involves restraining the five desires, which are the desires for
(6) things seen,
(7) things heard,
(8) things smelled,
(9) things tasted, and (
10) things touched (restraining each desire constitutes one exercise).
The third group comprises exercises to overcome the five obstacles of
(11) greed,
(12) anger,
(13) drowsiness and languor,
(14) excitement and depression, and
(15) doubt. The fourth group includes practices to regulate
(16) eating,
(17) sleeping,
(18) posture,
(19) breathing, and
(20) mental state; and the fifth group consists of exercises to develop the qualities of
(21) aspiration for enlightenment,
(22) assiduousness,
(23) concentration) skillful use of wisdom, and
(25) single-mindedness.