5 Elements as Meditation Factors

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K
1	Elements	Mental Faculties	Neurotransmitter	Balanced State	Too Yin	Too Yang	Jhana factors	Hindrances	Dependent Arising	Dependent Arising (perception)	TMI
2	Wood (hun)	mindfulness / insight / ego vs awareness perspective		mindful / spacious	dullness	overeffort	vitakka	sloth-torpor	dukkha	consciousness	mindfulness (balancing attention and awareness), "let come/let be/let go", mindful review
3	Fire (shen)	energy / joy	Serotonin	balanced energy	low energy	high energy / agitated	sukha	restlessness-worry	craving (tanha)	name and form (namarupa)	increasing energy, look for the joy
4	Earth (yi)	faith / compassion (absorption / unification)	GABA	calm / absorbed	apathy / overreliance	indulgence	ekaggata	sense desire	clinging	vedana	unification
5	Metal/Air (po)	motivation / interest / intuition	Dopamine	in flow / interested	aversion / boredom	impulsivity / overthinking	piti	ill-will	becoming	contact (arising)	piti
6	Water (zhi)	stability / sustained attention	Norepinephrine / Acetylcholine	stable	depression	fear	vicara	doubt	birth	contact (passing)	stability of intention
7						note: Water and Earth are Yin so being "low" in these elements causes "high" states in the other elements, and vice versa.
8	Productive Cycle	Interpretation (Balanced)	Interpretation (Too Yin)		Interpretation (Too Yang)
9	Wood feeds Fire	directing attention with mindfulness balances energy, creating joy	dullness causes low energy due to lack of stimulation		overeffort causes agitation / craving (tanha)			Contraction (yin) / Expansion (yang) Spiral
10	Fire nourishes Earth	balanced energy / joy allows unification / absorption / one pointedness	low energy causes apathy		craving causes indulgence			Expansion / contraction between yin and yang as one goes around cycle is felt as inward / outward expansion/contraction of qi from spine to extremities and back to the spine.
11	Earth produces Metal	absorption / one pointedness / metta leads to instictive interest / piti	apathy causes aversion (boredom)		indulgence of thought or action creates impulsivity thoughts or actions			Decreasing amplitude of swing between yin and yang in the cycle smooths out the cycle and manifests as samadhi and meditative joy.
12	Metal generates Water	piti fuels stability of sustained attention	aversion causes depression		impulsive thoughts or actions create fear
13	Water feeds the Wood	stability of mind allows mindfulness / insight	depression causes dullness		fear contracts the ego, leading to overeffort			Going around the cycle of elements is felt in the body as upward / downward movement of qi.
14								Speed of this cycle is increased by letting in sensation more quickly (close following, vipassana noting).
15	Controlling Cycle	Interpretation (Balanced)	Interpretation (Too Yin)		Interpretation (Too Yang)			Higher speed of the cycle allows more insight as the 3 characteristics become more evident.
16	Wood takes from Earth	mindfulness of apathy and indulgence cause them to self correct, seeing no self leads to compassion	dullness causes apathy		overeffort causes indulgence in thought
17	Fire melts the Metal	applying energy counters boredom, lowering energy reduces overthinking	low energy causes boredom / aversion		high energy causes impulsive thought			Generally speaking to maintain stability one should increase speed until disturbances are detected,
18	Earth blocks Water	faith/absorption into body counters fear, metta counters depression	apathy causes depression		indulgence in thought creates fear			then balance the elements of those disturbances until they are smoothed out and the energy is freed into awareness.
19	Metal chops Wood	interest counters dullness, following intuition of body counters egoic overcontrol	boredom causes dullness		impulsive thought perpetuates ego perspective
20	Water extinguishes Fire	stability of sustained intention balances energy	depression causes low energy		fear reinforces the ego
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29	Inquiry
30	Wood : Am I mindful? Who am I?
31	Fire : Is my effort level appropriate? What is the vedana?
32	Earth : Can I let myself absorb into the object?
33	Metal/Air : Can I see the pleasure inherent in the object knowing itself?
34	Water : Can I see the passings of sensations?
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40	Meditation cycle
41	Wood	Apply attention to object (vitakka), while maintaining awareness	vs dullness: follow closer / note faster	vs overeffort: observe passively
42	Fire	Find the pleasurable sensation produced by balanced effort	vs low energy: look for joy	vs agitation: observe passings, movement of energy
43	Earth	Let yourself absorb into the pleasurable sensation	vs apathy: reset intention	vs indulgence: self inquiry
44	Metal	Notice piti in body, let body's intuition take over for egoic effort	vs aversion/boredom: apply energy	vs overthinking: lower energy
45	Water	Mind stabilizes around the intention, providing clarity / more mindfulness	vs depression: metta	vs fear: absorb into body
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