Today meditation was just agitation - 13 Dec, then there came flashes from Buddhadasa - Nibbana is cooling and Quenching Dukkha. Google's improved search (it is their "AI" Gemini) gave this:-
 Gemini AP
(zandtao has not maintained the online formatting).
"For Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, quenching dukkha (unsatisfactoriness/suffering) means extinguishing the "fires" of greed, hatred, and delusion, leading to Nibbana, a state of cool, peaceful cessation of craving realized through mindfulness and wisdom, often experienced as a natural cooling or "quenching" of internal heat and agitation by letting go of self (ego) and clinging, achievable in this life through practices like anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing).
Core Concepts of Buddhadasa's View
Dukkha as Heat/Fire: Dukkha isn't just pain but the agitated, "hot" state of mind fueled by craving (tanha), the "self" (atta), and attachments.
Nibbana as Quenching: Nibbana means "blowing out" or "quenching" these fires (greed, hatred, delusion), bringing coolness, peace, and freedom from rebirth (samsara).
Quenching the "Self": The ultimate quenching involves finishing the concept of "self" (atta), which is the source of heat and clinging.
Natural & Immediate: Buddhadasa emphasized that Nibbana isn't a distant place but a reality that can be experienced now by the mind when it's free from defilements (greed, hatred, delusion).
How to Achieve It
Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati): This practice directly brings about coolness and quenches the fires of kilesas (defilements).
Letting Go: Consciously abandoning the desire for anything "worth having" or "being" in the world, recognizing that everything creates friction and heat.
Cultivating "Coolness": Choosing wholesome actions and developing a mind that is inherently cool, rather than hot and agitated.
Understanding Impermanence: Seeing that defilements arise and pass away naturally, allowing Nibbana to become apparent.
In essence, Buddhadasa taught that quenching dukkha is a practical, immediate process of cooling the mind by extinguishing the fires of craving and self through diligent mindfulness and letting go, revealing the innate peace of Nibbana within. "
[Note: Buddhadasa discusses quenching dukkha as part of a series of retreat talks on the Ariya Sacca - 4 Noble Truths. The talks and some transcribing can be found here.]
Applying AP
This AP is surprisingly clear so zandtao has quoted all of it - perhaps the search was so good because he was so specific "Buddhadasa quenching dukkha" (his search results have changed now - shame). This "heat" feeling is exactly what zandtao felt today in meditation, and it prevented today's writing of "Guardians"; that means he has to do something - this enquiry. When he became clearer about dukkha and agitation after the acupuncture advice, he did not take the new understanding as far as quenching. He continues with his acceptance of warts'n'all - some kilesa, and he can feel the heat now.
Change 1st tetrad
This means changing the first tetrad of Zeer practice:-
Calming kaya is not enough. His meditation eventually reached the calming but it was not enough. As it stands this 1st tetrad is concerned with coping - look at the 1st three stages, they are just coping with his old age. WELLNESS - aaaaggggh! The path is more than wellness - he has let his ageing health suck him into wellness.
Here are the changes:-
zandtao is still accepting warts'n'all because he has learnt that heavy disciplined withdrawal of kilesa attempting perfection doesn't work. So what is the new process of his practice?
Calming - Today he felt there was something there and he couldn't get rid of it. He felt resistance but couldn't identify it. He tried calming and that helped, but it was not enough. Letting go of attachment doesn't cut this one.
Letting go of heat - even as he writes he can feel heat. (My tokay just gave me an 8-shout before s/he came out on my window -  ). So let go of heat through cooling.
Nibbana-dhatu as cooling - zandtao has occasionally felt the deep cooling of nibbana-dhatu when he had looked for it in his practice - time to look again?
At the moment meditation is not good because it is irregular; because it takes a lot of time that lack of regularity is understandable. Especially with his concentration going with the weak heart. But this zeersight is good progress - learning. It can't be daily morning sittings because of health and length of time, but more practice is needed.
Adding Cocoon
Adding gabiK's cocoon - zandtao has occasionally worked in this as Zeer Practice following the completion of zeer-consciousness. Added to stage 15 of zeer practice.
Contemplation of Mindfulness Love and Wisdom
Gemini AP "quenching dukkha (unsatisfactoriness/suffering) means extinguishing the "fires" of greed, hatred, and delusion, leading to Nibbana, a state of cool, peaceful cessation of craving realized through mindfulness and wisdom".
The Gemini AP speaks of realising through mindfulness and wisdom, that sounds true to Buddhadasa. Does love produce fire? It is clearly not kilesa, but are vedana fires? Does zandtao's controlling of vedana by love (as opposed to Buddhadasa's calm) - love as vedana-conditioner - increase the fires to be quenched? That does not mean love as vedana-conditioner is wrong, it just means different work - increased work?
Have changed stage 7 - "calming feelings and letting go of feelings heat".
Overnight Development
Yesterday a fuller understanding was pushing its way through but didn't get all the way there. Overnight consciousness sorted it out, and clarity came this morning - lying in bed contemplating.
The need to quench dukkha is an effect not a cause - the dukkha is not cause but warning, the suffering - dukkha - is the effect of a cause. Yesterday zandtao did not understand why the dukkha in tetrad 1 was a problem, after all it was advising about my body; now he knows kaya was not the problem. But then the final contemplation began to get at the source - cause, but didn't go far enough.
Yesterday "He felt resistance but couldn't identify it." and "Letting go of heat - even as he writes he can feel heat.", but zandtao didn't listen to his tukay enough:-
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