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[Alexandr Korol]

and strives. He generates the desire for the arising of unarisen wholesome mental states. He applies effort, arouses energy, directs his mind toward it, and strives. He generates the desire for the maintenance of arisen wholesome mental states, for their non-decline, increase, expansion, and full development through cultivation. He applies effort, arouses energy, directs his mind toward it, and strives. This is called Right Effort.”

“Right Mindfulness

Right Mindfulness (smṛti in Sanskrit) involves “awareness of one’s own body, sensations, mind, and mental objects” with the aim of attaining “unbroken mindfulness.” The primary methods used are śamatha (calming the mind and removing afflictions) and vipaśyanā (insight meditation aimed at strengthening positive and eliminating negative mental states).

Professor Robert Lester noted that the practice of smṛti or sati consisted in the fact that the Buddha did not try to suppress various images, thoughts, and sensations, but “simply sat, observing his feelings and thoughts, how they arose and formed into random patterns.” As a result, he gradually saw himself as a dynamic “cluster of physical and mental states,” impermanent and interdependent; he saw that the cause of the physical condition was the action of desire, and that desire was the superficial layer of the “ego,” which is the “concept of a personal ‘self’.” Upon further examining the “ego,” the Buddha saw it as a consequence of karma, which is the action of the “resultant energy” of the past. Observing the stream of karma flowing from the past, the Buddha realized that “one stream of life gives rise to another, and so on endlessly.” Seeing the entire chain of causes through the practice of smṛti, the Buddha finally realized that suffering and agitation are the result of desire and the associated “ego,” and that they can be ended by destroying the illusion of the “ego.”

Right Concentration
Right Concentration involves deep meditation or jhāna, as well as the development of focus, and leads to the attainment of profound contemplative absorption or samādhi, and eventually to liberation (nibbāna).
This stage served as the foundation upon which the Zen school was later established.”