With just a blink, we are already looking at the end of February. So, how have you improved yourself, my fellow practitioners of Buddihism?
Some of my friends recently took part in a three-day retreat, practicing the Metta meditation. All of the them learned a lot. Yet, some linguistic problem troubles them.
The Pali word 'Metta' is commonly translated in English as 'loving-kindness.' That can be very misleading. In the English language, the term "love" really indicates "attachment" which is exactly what the Metta meditation tries to eradicate, or help the practitioners to eradicate for themselves.
Though it refers to many seemingly disparate ideas, Metta is in fact a very specific form of love -- a caring for another independent of all self-interest -- and thus is likened to one's love for one's child or parent. Understandably, this energy is often difficult to describe with words; however, in the practice of Metta meditation, one recites specific words and phrases in order to evoke this "boundless warm-hearted feeling." The strength of this feeling is not limited to or by family, religion, or social class. Indeed, Metta is a tool that permits one's generosity and kindness to be applied to all beings and, as a consequence, one finds true happiness in another person's happiness, no matter who the individual is.
Well, if you have followed what I just explained, keep these things in mind:
1. May I be safe and protected.
2. May I be peaceful and happy.
3. May I be healthy and strong.
4. May I have ease of well being (and accept all the conditions of the world)
then extend these phrases to a beneficiary. (details of how this is practiced can be found on the internet. but I would encourage you to seek for formal instructions) Oftentimes when you experienced obstacles in doing meditation, it was because your lack of metta. Make a try. You might be benefited.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Year, new everything?
Well, here we are in 2009, with all those negative and horrible predictions about human future lingering around. Does it make us even happier? Does it help us achieving happiness, to think in an alternative way? Or, rather, does it matter at all in our pursuit of happiness?
I feel obliged to choose the last scenario. And I don't feel alone in making that choice.
Recently, I have come across a forwarded e-mail message originally posted by a guy named Franz. He had a similar viewpoint and had it well put as follows:
From Franz:
Last Sunday we discussed the contributing factors of success, drawing
ideas from two new books.
[1] Geoff Colvin's "Talent is Overrated"
Here's what most readers got from his book: (I have not read the book yet)
· Talent is overrated if it is perceived to be the most important factor. It isn't. Talent does not exist unless and until it is developed...and the only way to develop it is Deliberate Practice.
· Deliberate Practice contains the following components:
q It is designed specifically to improve performance
q Requires building up abilities through countless repetitions regardless of how you feel about doing it at any given time.
q It is highly demanding mentally - requires the ability to focus on the practice and practice correctly.
q Requires tenacity. Keep it up for extremely long periods of time.
q Ten years of consistent deliberate effort is required to be outstanding in your field. Researchers have refined their estimate with a figure of 10,000 hours.
q Deliberate Practice is hard and not particularly enjoyable because it means you are focusing on improving areas that are not satisfactory. Examine your weakness. Face your own demons.
q The necessity of constructive feedback and support system, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation/validation, and the multiplier effect (small success encourages you to work for still more success, makes the work of digging deeper enjoyable).
· "Where does the passion for such practice come from?"
· What do you really want? And what do you really believe?
· What you really really want is fundamental because Deliberate
Practice is a heavy investment. Great achievement has a high price, a price most people are not willing to pay.
· The effect of Deliberate Practice is cumulative.
· Starting at an early age will lead to an advantage over someone who started later.
· There are lots of people who practice all the time. And they never get very good. Why? Because they are not practicing properly.
Try to figure out what it would take to excel at it. Get expert advice.
[2] Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers"
Malcolm Gladwell covered many ideas in his book, but here are some key
points: (Again I have only read excerpts.)
10,000 hour rule - It takes a lot of time to become really proficient in anything. Studies have shown that there is a 10 year and/or 10,000 hour rule to reach this stage.
IQ is just a threshold - High IQs are not necessarily a good predictor of success. You only need to be 'smart enough' to be able to succeed.
Meaningful work (as defined by having some autonomous control, challenges and a clear idea of effort-reward) is critical to success.
"Luck" matter - external circumstances, people, time & place, plays a key role
Social heritance - Cultural legacies and traditions are powerful forces
Two recent examples of successful people illustrate different aspects of success:
[A] Michael Phelps is the best Olympic Swimmer in history.
Numerous articles and TV interviews have discussed Michael Phelps'
grueling training regime. For example:
http://munfitnessblog.com/how-michael-phelps-managed-to-break-so-many-swimming-world-records-one-after-another/
http://ezinearticles.com/?So-How-Long-Has-Michael-Phelps-Been-Training-to-Be-a-Champion?&id=1460157
His success is much more than just the gold medals. Here is where I
think he truly shines:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18725-2004Aug20.html
[B] The second example is how a 15-year old boy was able to shut down the communication systems of technology giants such as Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, CNN and other major corporations.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2001/09/46791
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=854375
Mafiaboy illustrates that passion-driven excellence can be destructive if it is not based on strong ethics!
To Buddhists, here are my reflections:
Success to Buddhists means Perfect Happiness - "total cessation of suffering". This means Nirvana. Don't forget it. This is the motivator.
Happiness for Buddhists comes from within, not from outside. Pleasure of sensory experiences come and go, always carries potential downside risks such as addictions, withdrawals, loss and grief. Unfortunately this is human being's normal perception of happiness. Our life-energy is restless, pushing and pulling, vacillating, always out of balance and out of control. These are the source of unhappiness.
Aim for stillness in mind and body, true happiness resides in serenity. Meditation is the only training that can get you there. Start early means don't wait for retirement or getting wealthy to start practice.
No such thing as a bad meditation session since the effect of practice is cumulative, learn and improve from each session. Important to get superior teachers and learn to practice correctly - improper practices get you nowhere fast.
Always pay attention to the Golden Rule: do not cause harm or hurt to yourself or other people. Dedicated practice without strong ethics will make you the Mafiaboy! Therefore no pain no gain is nonsense. The practice might need effort, but unlike what Colvin said, it need not be painful. In fact, correct Buddhist meditation must be accompanied by increasing joy, rapture and happiness.
To put in 10,000 hours means CUT OUT unimportant time-wasters. At first it can be unpleasant - watch out for withdrawal symptoms. Do the math; how many hours of meditation can you put in? Some meditation teacher advise one hour in the morning, another hour in the evening, plus a long intensive retreat once a year. Let say we take no vacation at all: (355 x 2) + (10 x 9 ) hours per year = (710 + 90)
hours per year = 800 hours per year; 10,000 / 800 = 12.5 years. Count on putting in 13 years of serious steady practice to reach proficiency.
Start early: take Dalai Lama for example - he started as a child. Each day he gets up at 3:30 am, meditate for 4-5 hours. Let's say 4 hours per day. (10000 / (4 x 365)) = 6.85 years. This means the diligent monks could master the skill in 7 years.
No wonder the Buddha made this proclamation in the Satipatthana Sutta - (isn't it interesting!):
§ At the conclusion of the sutta, the Buddha proclaimed:
"Now, if anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for seven years, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return "Let alone seven years. If anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for six years... five... four... three... two years... one year... seven months... six months... five... four...three... two months... one month... half a month, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there
be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return.
"Let alone half a month. If anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for seven days, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return.
"'This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding - in other words, the four frames of reference.' Thus was it said, and in reference to this was it said."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html
Our talent is from our past karma. We all have a beginning-less history to answer to. The cumulative effect from past lives are considerable, so don't discount the effect of born talent. If you have practiced diligently in many past lives, you might be able to have "faster" results. Remember the practices are cumulative (if done properly). If you had bad practice habits, you might need more time to correct them! However, the past is done and nothing can change it.
More important is to practice NOW. ~~ end of quotation...
I would like to share that with you practitioners. Thank you, Franz!
With Metta, Franz
I feel obliged to choose the last scenario. And I don't feel alone in making that choice.
Recently, I have come across a forwarded e-mail message originally posted by a guy named Franz. He had a similar viewpoint and had it well put as follows:
From Franz:
Last Sunday we discussed the contributing factors of success, drawing
ideas from two new books.
[1] Geoff Colvin's "Talent is Overrated"
Here's what most readers got from his book: (I have not read the book yet)
· Talent is overrated if it is perceived to be the most important factor. It isn't. Talent does not exist unless and until it is developed...and the only way to develop it is Deliberate Practice.
· Deliberate Practice contains the following components:
q It is designed specifically to improve performance
q Requires building up abilities through countless repetitions regardless of how you feel about doing it at any given time.
q It is highly demanding mentally - requires the ability to focus on the practice and practice correctly.
q Requires tenacity. Keep it up for extremely long periods of time.
q Ten years of consistent deliberate effort is required to be outstanding in your field. Researchers have refined their estimate with a figure of 10,000 hours.
q Deliberate Practice is hard and not particularly enjoyable because it means you are focusing on improving areas that are not satisfactory. Examine your weakness. Face your own demons.
q The necessity of constructive feedback and support system, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation/validation, and the multiplier effect (small success encourages you to work for still more success, makes the work of digging deeper enjoyable).
· "Where does the passion for such practice come from?"
· What do you really want? And what do you really believe?
· What you really really want is fundamental because Deliberate
Practice is a heavy investment. Great achievement has a high price, a price most people are not willing to pay.
· The effect of Deliberate Practice is cumulative.
· Starting at an early age will lead to an advantage over someone who started later.
· There are lots of people who practice all the time. And they never get very good. Why? Because they are not practicing properly.
Try to figure out what it would take to excel at it. Get expert advice.
[2] Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers"
Malcolm Gladwell covered many ideas in his book, but here are some key
points: (Again I have only read excerpts.)
10,000 hour rule - It takes a lot of time to become really proficient in anything. Studies have shown that there is a 10 year and/or 10,000 hour rule to reach this stage.
IQ is just a threshold - High IQs are not necessarily a good predictor of success. You only need to be 'smart enough' to be able to succeed.
Meaningful work (as defined by having some autonomous control, challenges and a clear idea of effort-reward) is critical to success.
"Luck" matter - external circumstances, people, time & place, plays a key role
Social heritance - Cultural legacies and traditions are powerful forces
Two recent examples of successful people illustrate different aspects of success:
[A] Michael Phelps is the best Olympic Swimmer in history.
Numerous articles and TV interviews have discussed Michael Phelps'
grueling training regime. For example:
http://munfitnessblog.com/how-michael-phelps-managed-to-break-so-many-swimming-world-records-one-after-another/
http://ezinearticles.com/?So-How-Long-Has-Michael-Phelps-Been-Training-to-Be-a-Champion?&id=1460157
His success is much more than just the gold medals. Here is where I
think he truly shines:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18725-2004Aug20.html
[B] The second example is how a 15-year old boy was able to shut down the communication systems of technology giants such as Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, CNN and other major corporations.
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2001/09/46791
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=854375
Mafiaboy illustrates that passion-driven excellence can be destructive if it is not based on strong ethics!
To Buddhists, here are my reflections:
Success to Buddhists means Perfect Happiness - "total cessation of suffering". This means Nirvana. Don't forget it. This is the motivator.
Happiness for Buddhists comes from within, not from outside. Pleasure of sensory experiences come and go, always carries potential downside risks such as addictions, withdrawals, loss and grief. Unfortunately this is human being's normal perception of happiness. Our life-energy is restless, pushing and pulling, vacillating, always out of balance and out of control. These are the source of unhappiness.
Aim for stillness in mind and body, true happiness resides in serenity. Meditation is the only training that can get you there. Start early means don't wait for retirement or getting wealthy to start practice.
No such thing as a bad meditation session since the effect of practice is cumulative, learn and improve from each session. Important to get superior teachers and learn to practice correctly - improper practices get you nowhere fast.
Always pay attention to the Golden Rule: do not cause harm or hurt to yourself or other people. Dedicated practice without strong ethics will make you the Mafiaboy! Therefore no pain no gain is nonsense. The practice might need effort, but unlike what Colvin said, it need not be painful. In fact, correct Buddhist meditation must be accompanied by increasing joy, rapture and happiness.
To put in 10,000 hours means CUT OUT unimportant time-wasters. At first it can be unpleasant - watch out for withdrawal symptoms. Do the math; how many hours of meditation can you put in? Some meditation teacher advise one hour in the morning, another hour in the evening, plus a long intensive retreat once a year. Let say we take no vacation at all: (355 x 2) + (10 x 9 ) hours per year = (710 + 90)
hours per year = 800 hours per year; 10,000 / 800 = 12.5 years. Count on putting in 13 years of serious steady practice to reach proficiency.
Start early: take Dalai Lama for example - he started as a child. Each day he gets up at 3:30 am, meditate for 4-5 hours. Let's say 4 hours per day. (10000 / (4 x 365)) = 6.85 years. This means the diligent monks could master the skill in 7 years.
No wonder the Buddha made this proclamation in the Satipatthana Sutta - (isn't it interesting!):
§ At the conclusion of the sutta, the Buddha proclaimed:
"Now, if anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for seven years, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return "Let alone seven years. If anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for six years... five... four... three... two years... one year... seven months... six months... five... four...three... two months... one month... half a month, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there
be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return.
"Let alone half a month. If anyone would develop these four frames of reference in this way for seven days, one of two fruits can be expected for him: either gnosis right here & now, or - if there be any remnant of clinging/sustenance - non-return.
"'This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding - in other words, the four frames of reference.' Thus was it said, and in reference to this was it said."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.than.html
Our talent is from our past karma. We all have a beginning-less history to answer to. The cumulative effect from past lives are considerable, so don't discount the effect of born talent. If you have practiced diligently in many past lives, you might be able to have "faster" results. Remember the practices are cumulative (if done properly). If you had bad practice habits, you might need more time to correct them! However, the past is done and nothing can change it.
More important is to practice NOW. ~~ end of quotation...
I would like to share that with you practitioners. Thank you, Franz!
With Metta, Franz
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Basic method of meditation, Part 2
PART 2
"Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking."
In Part 1, I outlined the goal of this meditation, which is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind, pregnant with the most profound of insights. Then I pointed out the underlying theme which runs like an unbroken thread throughout all meditation, that is the letting go of material and mental burdens. Lastly, in part one, I described at length the practice which leads to what I call the first stage of this meditation, and that first stage is attained when the meditator comfortably abides in the present moment for long, unbroken periods of time. I made the point that "The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. Reaching here you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden which stops deep meditation." But having achieved so much, one should go further into the even more beautiful and truthful silence of the mind.
It is helpful, here, to clarify the difference between silent awareness of the present moment and thinking about it. The simile of watching a tennis match on T.V. is informative. When watching such a match, you may notice that, in fact, there are two matches occurring simultaneously -- there is the match that you see on the screen, and there is the match that you hear described by the commentator. Indeed, if an Australian is playing a New Zealander, then the commentary from the Australian or New Zealand presenter is likely to be much different from what actually occurred! Commentary is often biased. In this simile, watching the screen with no commentary stands for silent awareness in meditation, paying attention to the commentary stands for thinking about it. You should realize that you are much closer to Truth when you observe without commentary, when you experience just the silent awareness of the present moment.
Sometimes it is through the inner commentary that we think we know the world. Actually, that inner speech does not know the world at all! It is the inner speech that weaves the delusions that cause suffering. It is the inner speech that causes us to be angry with those we make our enemies, and to have dangerous attachments to those we make our loved ones. Inner speech causes all of life's problems. It constructs fear and guilt. It creates anxiety and depression. It builds these illusions as surely as the skilful commentator on T.V. can manipulate an audience to create anger or tears. So if you seek for Truth, you should value silent awareness, considering it more important, when meditating, than any thought whatsoever.
It is the high value that one gives to one's thoughts that is the major obstacle to silent awareness. Carefully removing the importance one gives to one's thinking and realizing the value and truthfulness of silent awareness, is the insight that makes this second stage -- silent awareness of the present moment -- possible.
One of the beautiful ways of overcoming the inner commentary is to develop such refined present moment awareness, that you are watching every moment so closely that you simply do not have the time to comment about what has just happened. A thought is often an opinion on what has just happened, e.g. "That was good", "That was gross", "What was that?" All of these comments are about an experience that has just passed by. When you are noting, making a comment about an experience that has just passed, then you are not paying attention to the experience that has just arrived. You are dealing with old visitors and neglecting the new visitors coming now!
You may imagine your mind to be a host at a party, meeting the guests as they come in the door. If one guest comes in and you meet them and start talking to them about this that or the other, then you are not doing your duty of paying attention to the next guest that comes in the door. Since a guest comes in the door every moment, all you can do is to greet one and then immediately go on to greet the next one. You cannot afford to engage in even the shortest conversation with any guest, since this would mean you would miss the one coming in next. In meditation, all experiences come through the door of our senses into the mind one by one in succession. If you greet one experience with mindfulness and then get into conversation with your guest, then you will miss the next experience following right behind.
When you are perfectly in the moment with every experience, with every guest that comes in your mind, then you just do not have the space for inner speech. You cannot chatter to yourself because you are completely taken up with mindfully greeting everything just as it arrives in your mind. This is refined present moment awareness to the level that it becomes silent awareness of the present in every moment.
You discover, on developing that degree of inner silence, that this is like giving up another great burden. It is as if you have been carrying a big heavy rucksack on your back for forty or fifty years continuously, and during that time you have wearily trudged through many, many miles. Now you have had the courage and found the wisdom to take that rucksack off and put it on the ground for a while. One feels so immensely relieved, so light, and so free, because one is now not burdened with that heavy rucksack of inner chatter.
Another useful method of developing silent awareness is to recognize the space between thoughts, between periods of inner chatter. Please attend closely with sharp mindfulness when one thought ends and before another thought begins -- There! That is silent awareness! It may be only momentary at first, but as you recognize that fleeting silence you become accustomed to it, and as you become accustomed to it then the silence lasts longer. You begin to enjoy the silence, once you have found it at last, and that is why it grows. But remember silence is shy. If silence hears you talking about her, she vanishes immediately!
It would be marvellous for each one of us if we could abandon the inner speech and abide in silent awareness of the present moment long enough to realize how delightful it is. Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking. When you realize how much more enjoyable and valuable it is to be silent within, then silence becomes more attractive and important to you. The Inner Silence becomes what the mind inclines towards. The mind seeks out silence constantly, to the point where it only thinks if it really has to, only if there is some point to it. Since, at this stage, you have realized that most of our thinking is really pointless anyway, that it gets you nowhere, only giving you many headaches, you gladly and easily spend much time in inner quiet.
The second stage of this meditation, then, is `silent awareness of the present moment'. You may spend the majority of your time just developing these two stages because if you can get this far then you have gone a long way indeed in your meditation. In that silent awareness of `Just Now' you will experience much peace, joy and consequent wisdom.
If you want to go further, then instead of being silently aware of whatever comes into the mind, you choose silent present moment awareness of just ONE THING. That ONE THING can be the experience of breathing, the idea of loving kindness (Metta), a coloured circle visualised in the mind (Kasina) or several other, less common, focal points for awareness. Here we will describe the silent present moment awareness of the breath, the third stage of the meditation.
Choosing to fix one's attention on one thing is letting go of diversity and moving to its opposite, unity. As the mind begins to unify, sustaining attention on just one thing, the experience of peace, bliss and power increases significantly. You discover here that the diversity of consciousness, attending to six different senses -- like having six telephones on one's desk ringing at the same time -- is such a burden. Letting go of this diversity -- only permitting one telephone, a private line at that, on one's desk -- is such a relief it generates bliss. The understanding that diversity is a burden is crucial to being able to settle on the breath.
If you have developed silent awareness of the present moment carefully for long periods of time, then you will find it quite easy to turn that awareness on to the breath and follow that breath from moment to moment without interruption. This is because the two major obstacles to breath meditation have already been subdued. The first of these two obstacles is the mind's tendency to go off into the past or future, and the second obstacle is the inner speech. This is why I teach the two preliminary stages of present moment awareness and silent awareness of the present moment as a solid preparation for deeper meditation on the breath.
It often happens that meditators start breath meditation when their mind is still jumping around between past and future, and when awareness is being drowned by the inner commentary. With no preparation they find breath meditation so difficult, even impossible, and give up in frustration. They give up because they did not start at the right place. They did not perform the preparatory work before taking up the breath as a focus of their attention. However, if your mind has been well prepared by completing these first two stages then you will find when you turn to the breath, you can sustain your attention on it with ease. If you find it difficult to keep attention on your breath then this is a sign that you rushed the first two stages. Go back to the preliminary exercises! Careful patience is the fastest way.
When you focus on the breath, you focus on the experience of the breath happening now. You experience `that which tells you what the breath is doing', whether it is going in or out or in between. Some teachers say to watch the breath at the tip of the nose, some say to watch it at the abdomen and some say to move it here and then move it there. I have found through experience that it does not matter where you watch the breath. In fact it is best not to locate the breath anywhere! If you locate the breath at the tip of your nose then it becomes nose awareness, not breath awareness, and if you locate it at your abdomen then it becomes abdomen awareness. Just ask yourself the question right now, "Am I breathing in or am I breathing out?" How do you know? There! That experience which tells you what the breath is doing, that is what you focus on in breath meditation. Let go of concern about where this experience is located; just focus on the experience itself.
A common problem at this stage is the tendency to control the breathing, and this makes the breathing uncomfortable. To overcome this problem, imagine that you are just a passenger in a car looking through the window at your breath. You are not the driver, nor a `back seat driver', so stop giving orders, let go and enjoy the ride. Let the breath do the breathing while you simply watch without interfering.
When you know the breath going in and the breath going out, for say one hundred breaths in a row, not missing one, then you have achieved what I call the third stage of this meditation, `sustained attention on the breath'. This again is more peaceful and joyful than the previous stage. To go deeper, you now aim for full sustained attention on the breath.
This fourth stage, or `full sustained attention on the breath', occurs when one's attention expands to take in every single moment of the breath. You know the in-breath at the very first moment, when the first sensation of in-breathing arises. Then you observe those sensations develop gradually through the whole course of one in-breath, not missing even a moment of the in-breath. When that in-breath finishes, you know that moment, you see in your mind that last movement of the in-breath. You then see the next moment as a pause between breaths, and then many more pauses until the out-breath begins. You see the first moment of the out-breath and each subsequent sensation as the out-breath evolves, until the out-breath disappears when its function is complete. All this is done in silence and just in the present moment.
You experience every part of each in-breath and out-breath, continuously for many hundred breaths in a row. This is why this stage is called `FULL sustained attention on the breath'. You cannot reach this stage through force, through holding or gripping. You can only attain this degree of stillness by letting go of everything in the entire universe, except for this momentary experience of breath happening silently now. `You' don't reach this stage; the mind reaches this stage. The mind does the work itself. The mind recognizes this stage to be a very peaceful and pleasant abiding, just being alone with the breath. This is where the `doer', the major part of one's ego, starts to disappear.
You will find that progress happens effortlessly at this stage of the meditation. You just have to get out of the way, let go, and watch it all happen. The mind will automatically incline, if you only let it, towards this very simple, peaceful and delicious unity of being alone with one thing, just being with the breath in each and every moment. This is the unity of mind, the unity in the moment, the unity in stillness.
The fourth stage is what I call the `springboard' of meditation, because from here one can dive into the blissful states. When you simply maintain this unity of consciousness, by not interfering, the breath will begin to disappear. The breath appears to fade away as the mind focuses instead on what is at the centre of the experience of breath, which is the awesome peace, freedom and bliss.
At this stage I use the term `the beautiful breath'. Here the mind recognizes that this peaceful breath is extraordinarily beautiful. You are aware of this beautiful breath continuously, moment after moment, with no break in the chain of experience. You are aware only of the beautiful breath, without effort, and for a very long time.
Now you let the breath disappear and all that is left is `the beautiful'. Disembodied beauty becomes the sole object of the mind. The mind is now the mind as its own object. You are now not aware at all of breath, body, thought sound or the world outside. All that you are aware of is beauty, peace, bliss, light or whatever your perception will later call it. You are experiencing only beauty, with nothing being beautiful, continuously, effortlessly. You have long ago let go of chatter, let go of descriptions and assessments. Here, the mind is so still that you can not say anything.
You are just experiencing the first flowering of bliss in the mind. That bliss will develop, grow, become very firm and strong. Thus you enter into those states of meditation called Jhana. But that is for Part 3 of this booklet!
"Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking."
In Part 1, I outlined the goal of this meditation, which is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind, pregnant with the most profound of insights. Then I pointed out the underlying theme which runs like an unbroken thread throughout all meditation, that is the letting go of material and mental burdens. Lastly, in part one, I described at length the practice which leads to what I call the first stage of this meditation, and that first stage is attained when the meditator comfortably abides in the present moment for long, unbroken periods of time. I made the point that "The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. Reaching here you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden which stops deep meditation." But having achieved so much, one should go further into the even more beautiful and truthful silence of the mind.
It is helpful, here, to clarify the difference between silent awareness of the present moment and thinking about it. The simile of watching a tennis match on T.V. is informative. When watching such a match, you may notice that, in fact, there are two matches occurring simultaneously -- there is the match that you see on the screen, and there is the match that you hear described by the commentator. Indeed, if an Australian is playing a New Zealander, then the commentary from the Australian or New Zealand presenter is likely to be much different from what actually occurred! Commentary is often biased. In this simile, watching the screen with no commentary stands for silent awareness in meditation, paying attention to the commentary stands for thinking about it. You should realize that you are much closer to Truth when you observe without commentary, when you experience just the silent awareness of the present moment.
Sometimes it is through the inner commentary that we think we know the world. Actually, that inner speech does not know the world at all! It is the inner speech that weaves the delusions that cause suffering. It is the inner speech that causes us to be angry with those we make our enemies, and to have dangerous attachments to those we make our loved ones. Inner speech causes all of life's problems. It constructs fear and guilt. It creates anxiety and depression. It builds these illusions as surely as the skilful commentator on T.V. can manipulate an audience to create anger or tears. So if you seek for Truth, you should value silent awareness, considering it more important, when meditating, than any thought whatsoever.
It is the high value that one gives to one's thoughts that is the major obstacle to silent awareness. Carefully removing the importance one gives to one's thinking and realizing the value and truthfulness of silent awareness, is the insight that makes this second stage -- silent awareness of the present moment -- possible.
One of the beautiful ways of overcoming the inner commentary is to develop such refined present moment awareness, that you are watching every moment so closely that you simply do not have the time to comment about what has just happened. A thought is often an opinion on what has just happened, e.g. "That was good", "That was gross", "What was that?" All of these comments are about an experience that has just passed by. When you are noting, making a comment about an experience that has just passed, then you are not paying attention to the experience that has just arrived. You are dealing with old visitors and neglecting the new visitors coming now!
You may imagine your mind to be a host at a party, meeting the guests as they come in the door. If one guest comes in and you meet them and start talking to them about this that or the other, then you are not doing your duty of paying attention to the next guest that comes in the door. Since a guest comes in the door every moment, all you can do is to greet one and then immediately go on to greet the next one. You cannot afford to engage in even the shortest conversation with any guest, since this would mean you would miss the one coming in next. In meditation, all experiences come through the door of our senses into the mind one by one in succession. If you greet one experience with mindfulness and then get into conversation with your guest, then you will miss the next experience following right behind.
When you are perfectly in the moment with every experience, with every guest that comes in your mind, then you just do not have the space for inner speech. You cannot chatter to yourself because you are completely taken up with mindfully greeting everything just as it arrives in your mind. This is refined present moment awareness to the level that it becomes silent awareness of the present in every moment.
You discover, on developing that degree of inner silence, that this is like giving up another great burden. It is as if you have been carrying a big heavy rucksack on your back for forty or fifty years continuously, and during that time you have wearily trudged through many, many miles. Now you have had the courage and found the wisdom to take that rucksack off and put it on the ground for a while. One feels so immensely relieved, so light, and so free, because one is now not burdened with that heavy rucksack of inner chatter.
Another useful method of developing silent awareness is to recognize the space between thoughts, between periods of inner chatter. Please attend closely with sharp mindfulness when one thought ends and before another thought begins -- There! That is silent awareness! It may be only momentary at first, but as you recognize that fleeting silence you become accustomed to it, and as you become accustomed to it then the silence lasts longer. You begin to enjoy the silence, once you have found it at last, and that is why it grows. But remember silence is shy. If silence hears you talking about her, she vanishes immediately!
It would be marvellous for each one of us if we could abandon the inner speech and abide in silent awareness of the present moment long enough to realize how delightful it is. Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking. When you realize how much more enjoyable and valuable it is to be silent within, then silence becomes more attractive and important to you. The Inner Silence becomes what the mind inclines towards. The mind seeks out silence constantly, to the point where it only thinks if it really has to, only if there is some point to it. Since, at this stage, you have realized that most of our thinking is really pointless anyway, that it gets you nowhere, only giving you many headaches, you gladly and easily spend much time in inner quiet.
The second stage of this meditation, then, is `silent awareness of the present moment'. You may spend the majority of your time just developing these two stages because if you can get this far then you have gone a long way indeed in your meditation. In that silent awareness of `Just Now' you will experience much peace, joy and consequent wisdom.
If you want to go further, then instead of being silently aware of whatever comes into the mind, you choose silent present moment awareness of just ONE THING. That ONE THING can be the experience of breathing, the idea of loving kindness (Metta), a coloured circle visualised in the mind (Kasina) or several other, less common, focal points for awareness. Here we will describe the silent present moment awareness of the breath, the third stage of the meditation.
Choosing to fix one's attention on one thing is letting go of diversity and moving to its opposite, unity. As the mind begins to unify, sustaining attention on just one thing, the experience of peace, bliss and power increases significantly. You discover here that the diversity of consciousness, attending to six different senses -- like having six telephones on one's desk ringing at the same time -- is such a burden. Letting go of this diversity -- only permitting one telephone, a private line at that, on one's desk -- is such a relief it generates bliss. The understanding that diversity is a burden is crucial to being able to settle on the breath.
If you have developed silent awareness of the present moment carefully for long periods of time, then you will find it quite easy to turn that awareness on to the breath and follow that breath from moment to moment without interruption. This is because the two major obstacles to breath meditation have already been subdued. The first of these two obstacles is the mind's tendency to go off into the past or future, and the second obstacle is the inner speech. This is why I teach the two preliminary stages of present moment awareness and silent awareness of the present moment as a solid preparation for deeper meditation on the breath.
It often happens that meditators start breath meditation when their mind is still jumping around between past and future, and when awareness is being drowned by the inner commentary. With no preparation they find breath meditation so difficult, even impossible, and give up in frustration. They give up because they did not start at the right place. They did not perform the preparatory work before taking up the breath as a focus of their attention. However, if your mind has been well prepared by completing these first two stages then you will find when you turn to the breath, you can sustain your attention on it with ease. If you find it difficult to keep attention on your breath then this is a sign that you rushed the first two stages. Go back to the preliminary exercises! Careful patience is the fastest way.
When you focus on the breath, you focus on the experience of the breath happening now. You experience `that which tells you what the breath is doing', whether it is going in or out or in between. Some teachers say to watch the breath at the tip of the nose, some say to watch it at the abdomen and some say to move it here and then move it there. I have found through experience that it does not matter where you watch the breath. In fact it is best not to locate the breath anywhere! If you locate the breath at the tip of your nose then it becomes nose awareness, not breath awareness, and if you locate it at your abdomen then it becomes abdomen awareness. Just ask yourself the question right now, "Am I breathing in or am I breathing out?" How do you know? There! That experience which tells you what the breath is doing, that is what you focus on in breath meditation. Let go of concern about where this experience is located; just focus on the experience itself.
A common problem at this stage is the tendency to control the breathing, and this makes the breathing uncomfortable. To overcome this problem, imagine that you are just a passenger in a car looking through the window at your breath. You are not the driver, nor a `back seat driver', so stop giving orders, let go and enjoy the ride. Let the breath do the breathing while you simply watch without interfering.
When you know the breath going in and the breath going out, for say one hundred breaths in a row, not missing one, then you have achieved what I call the third stage of this meditation, `sustained attention on the breath'. This again is more peaceful and joyful than the previous stage. To go deeper, you now aim for full sustained attention on the breath.
This fourth stage, or `full sustained attention on the breath', occurs when one's attention expands to take in every single moment of the breath. You know the in-breath at the very first moment, when the first sensation of in-breathing arises. Then you observe those sensations develop gradually through the whole course of one in-breath, not missing even a moment of the in-breath. When that in-breath finishes, you know that moment, you see in your mind that last movement of the in-breath. You then see the next moment as a pause between breaths, and then many more pauses until the out-breath begins. You see the first moment of the out-breath and each subsequent sensation as the out-breath evolves, until the out-breath disappears when its function is complete. All this is done in silence and just in the present moment.
You experience every part of each in-breath and out-breath, continuously for many hundred breaths in a row. This is why this stage is called `FULL sustained attention on the breath'. You cannot reach this stage through force, through holding or gripping. You can only attain this degree of stillness by letting go of everything in the entire universe, except for this momentary experience of breath happening silently now. `You' don't reach this stage; the mind reaches this stage. The mind does the work itself. The mind recognizes this stage to be a very peaceful and pleasant abiding, just being alone with the breath. This is where the `doer', the major part of one's ego, starts to disappear.
You will find that progress happens effortlessly at this stage of the meditation. You just have to get out of the way, let go, and watch it all happen. The mind will automatically incline, if you only let it, towards this very simple, peaceful and delicious unity of being alone with one thing, just being with the breath in each and every moment. This is the unity of mind, the unity in the moment, the unity in stillness.
The fourth stage is what I call the `springboard' of meditation, because from here one can dive into the blissful states. When you simply maintain this unity of consciousness, by not interfering, the breath will begin to disappear. The breath appears to fade away as the mind focuses instead on what is at the centre of the experience of breath, which is the awesome peace, freedom and bliss.
At this stage I use the term `the beautiful breath'. Here the mind recognizes that this peaceful breath is extraordinarily beautiful. You are aware of this beautiful breath continuously, moment after moment, with no break in the chain of experience. You are aware only of the beautiful breath, without effort, and for a very long time.
Now you let the breath disappear and all that is left is `the beautiful'. Disembodied beauty becomes the sole object of the mind. The mind is now the mind as its own object. You are now not aware at all of breath, body, thought sound or the world outside. All that you are aware of is beauty, peace, bliss, light or whatever your perception will later call it. You are experiencing only beauty, with nothing being beautiful, continuously, effortlessly. You have long ago let go of chatter, let go of descriptions and assessments. Here, the mind is so still that you can not say anything.
You are just experiencing the first flowering of bliss in the mind. That bliss will develop, grow, become very firm and strong. Thus you enter into those states of meditation called Jhana. But that is for Part 3 of this booklet!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Meditation
Over the years, I have been asked numerous times about how to meditate. Although I know quite a lot of guidance offered in the Chinese language, guidance in the English language that are accurate and reliable, unfortunately, had not been too many.
The following is part one of Ajan Brahmavamso's 2003 publication "Basic Method of Meditation," which I believe recommendations:
PART 1
"The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind."
Meditation is the way to achieve letting go. In meditation one lets go of the complex world outside in order to reach the serene world inside. In all types of mysticism and in many traditions, this is known as the path to the pure and powerful mind. The experience of this pure mind, released from the world, is very wonderful and blissful.
Often with meditation there will be some hard work at the beginning, but be willing to bear that hard work knowing that it will lead you to experience some very beautiful and meaningful states. They will be well worth the effort! It is a law of nature that without effort one does not make progress. Whether one is a layperson or a monk, without effort one gets nowhere, in meditation or in anything.
Effort alone, though, is not sufficient. The effort needs to be skilful. This means directing your energy just at the right places and sustaining it there until its task is completed. Skilful effort neither hinders nor disturbs you, instead it produces the beautiful peace of deep meditation.
In order to know where your effort should be directed, you must have a clear understanding of the goal of meditation. The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind. If you can understand that goal then the place to apply your effort, the means to achieve the goal becomes very clear.
The effort is directed to letting go, to developing a mind that inclines to abandoning. One of the many simple but profound statements of the Lord Buddha is that "a meditator whose mind inclines to abandoning, easily achieves Samadhi". Such a meditator gains these states of inner bliss almost automatically. What the Lord Buddha is saying is that the major cause for attaining deep meditation, for reaching these powerful states is the willingness to abandon, to let go and to renounce.
During meditation, we should not develop a mind which accumulates and holds on to things, but instead we develop a mind which is willing to let go of things, to let go of burdens. Outside of meditation we have to carry the burden of our many duties, like so many heavy suitcases, but within the period of meditation so much baggage is unnecessary. So, in meditation see how much baggage you can unload. Think of these things as burdens, heavy weights pressing upon you. Then you have the right attitude for letting go of these things, abandoning them freely without looking back. This effort, this attitude, this movement of mind that inclines to giving up, is what will lead you into deep meditation. Even during the beginning stages of this meditation, see if you can generate the energy of renunciation, the willingness to give things away, and little by little the letting go will occur. As you give things away in your mind you will feel much lighter, unburdened and free. In the way of meditation, this abandoning of things occurs in stages, step by step.
You may go through the initial stages quickly if you wish, but be very careful if you so do. Sometimes, when you pass through the initial steps too quickly, you find the preparatory work has not been completed. It is like trying to build a town house on a very weak and rushed foundation. The structure goes up very quickly, but it comes down very quickly as well! So you are wise to spend a lot of time on the foundations, and on the `first storeys' as well, making the groundwork well done, strong and firm. Then when you proceed to the higher storey, the bliss states of meditation, they too are stable and firm.
In the way that I teach meditation, I like to begin at the very simple stage of giving up the baggage of past and future. Sometimes you may think that this is such an easy thing to do, that it is too basic. However, if you give it your full effort, not running ahead to the higher stages of meditation until you have properly reached the first goal of sustained attention on the present moment, then you will find later on that you have established a very strong foundation on which to build the higher stages.
Abandoning the past means not even thinking about your work, your family, your commitments, your responsibilities, your history, the good or bad times you had as a child..., you abandon all past experiences by showing no interest in them at all. You become someone who has no history during the time that you meditate. You do not even think about where you are from, where you were born, who your parents were or what your upbringing was like. All of that history is renounced in meditation. In this way, everyone here on the retreat becomes equal, just a meditator. It becomes unimportant how many years you have been meditating, whether you are an old hand or a beginner. If you abandon all that history then we are all equal and free. We are freeing ourselves of some of these concerns, perceptions and thoughts that limit us and which stop us from developing the peace born of letting go. So every 'part' of your history you finally let go of, even the history of what has happened to you so far in this retreat, even the memory of what happened to you just a moment ago! In this way, you carry no burden from the past into the present. Whatever has just happened, you are no longer interested in it and you let it go. You do not allow the past to reverberate in your mind.
I describe this as developing your mind like a padded cell! When any experience, perception or thought hits the wall of the 'padded cell', it does not bounce back again. It just sinks into the padding and stops right there. Thus we do not allow the past to echo in our consciousness, certainly not the past of yesterday and all that time before, because we are developing the mind inclined to letting go, giving away and unburdening.
Some people have the view that if they take up the past for contemplation they can somehow learn from it and solve the problems of the past. However, you should understand that when you gaze at the past, you invariably look through distorted lenses. Whatever you think it was like, in truth it was not quite like that! This is why people have arguments about what actually happened, even a few moments ago. It is well known to police who investigate traffic accidents that even though the accident may have happened only half an hour ago, two different eyewitnesses, both completely honest, will give different accounts. Our memory is untrustworthy. If you consider just how unreliable memory is, then you do not put value on thinking about the past. Then you can let it go. You can bury it, just as you bury a person who has died. You place them in a coffin then bury it, or cremate it, and it is done with, finished. Do not linger on the past. Do not continue to carry the coffins of dead moments on your head! If you do, then you are weighing yourself down with heavy burdens which do not really belong to you. Let all of the past go and you have the ability to be free in the present moment.
As for the future, the anticipations, fears, plans, and expectations
• let all of that go too. The Lord Buddha once said about the future, "Whatever you think it will be, it will always be something different"! This future is known to the wise as uncertain, unknown and so unpredictable. It is often complete stupidity to anticipate the future, and always a great waste of your time to think of the future in meditation.
When you work with your mind, you find that the mind is so strange. It can do some wonderful and unexpected things. It is very common for meditators who are having a difficult time, who are not getting very peaceful, to sit there thinking, "Here we go again, another hour of frustration". Even though they begin thinking like that, anticipating failure, something strange happens and they get into a very peaceful meditation.
Recently I heard of one man on his first ten-day retreat. After the first day his body was hurting so much he asked to go home. The teacher said, "Stay one more day and the pain will disappear, I promise". So he stayed another day, the pain got worse so he wanted to go home again. The teacher repeated, "Just one more day, the pain will go". He stayed for a third day and the pain was even worse. For each of nine days, in the evening he would go to the teacher and, in great pain, ask to go home and the teacher would say, "Just one more day and the pain will disappear". It was completely beyond his expectations, that on the final day when he started the first sit of the morning, the pain did disappear! It did not come back. He could sit for long periods with no pain at all! He was amazed at how wonderful is this mind and how it can produce such unexpected results. So, you don't know about the future. It can be so strange, even weird, completely beyond whatever you expect. Experiences like this give you the wisdom and courage to abandon all thoughts about the future and all expectation as well.
When you're meditating and thinking, "How many more minutes are there to go? How much longer have I to endure all of this?", then that is just wandering off into the future again. The pain could just disappear in a moment. The next moment might be the free one. You just cannot anticipate what is going to happen.
When on retreat, after you have been meditating for many sessions, you may sometimes think that none of those meditations have been any good. In the next meditation session you sit down and everything becomes so peaceful and easy. You think "Wow! Now I can meditate!", but the next meditation is again awful. What's going on here?
The first meditation teacher I had told me something that then sounded quite strange. He said that there is no such thing as a bad meditation! He was right. All those meditations which you call bad, frustrating and not meeting your expectations, all those meditations are where you do the hard work for your `pay cheque'...
It is like a person who goes to work all day Monday and gets no money at the end of the day. "What am I doing this for?", he thinks. He works all day Tuesday and still gets nothing. Another bad day. All day Wednesday, all day Thursday, and still nothing to show for all the hard work. That's four bad days in a row. Then along comes Friday, he does exactly the same work as before and at the end of the day the boss gives him a pay cheque. "Wow! Why can't every day be a pay day?!"
Why can't every meditation be `pay day'? Now, do you understand the simile? It is in the difficult meditations that you build up your credit, where you build up the causes for success. While working for peace in the hard meditations, you build up your strength, the momentum for peace. Then when there's enough credit of good qualities, the mind goes into a good meditation and it feels like `pay-day'. It is in the bad meditations that you do most of the work.
At a recent retreat that I gave in Sydney, during interview time, a lady told me that she had been angry with me all day, but for two different reasons. In her early meditations she was having a difficult time and was angry with me for not ringing the bell to end the meditation early enough. In the later meditations she got into a beautiful peaceful state and was angry with me for ringing the bell too soon. The sessions were all the same length, exactly one hour. You just can't win as a teacher, ringing the bell!
This is what happens when you go anticipating the future, thinking, "How many more minutes until the bell goes?" That is where you torture yourself, where you pick up a heavy burden that is none of your business. So be very careful not to pick up the heavy suitcase of "How many more minutes are there to go?" or "What should I do next?" If that is what you are thinking, then you are not paying attention to what is happening now. You are not doing the meditation. You have lost the plot and are asking for trouble.
In this stage of the meditation keep your attention right in the present moment, to the point where you don't even know what day it is or what time it is -- morning? afternoon? -- don't know! All you know is what moment it is -- right now! In this way you arrive at this beautiful monastic time scale where you are just meditating in the moment, not aware of how many minutes have gone or how many remain, not even remembering what day it is.
Once, as a young monk in Thailand, I had actually forgotten what year it was! It is marvellous living in that realm that is timeless, a realm so much more free than the time driven world we usually have to live in. In the timeless realm, you experience this moment, just as all wise beings have been experiencing this same moment for thousands of years. It has always been just like this, no different. You have come into the reality of now.
The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. When you have abandoned all past and all future, it is as if you have come alive. You are here, you are mindful. This is the first stage of the meditation, just this mindfulness sustained only in the present. Reaching here, you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden, which stops deep meditation. So put forth a lot of effort to reach this first stage until it is strong, firm and well established. Next we will refine the present moment awareness into the second stage of meditation -- silent awareness of the present moment.
The following is part one of Ajan Brahmavamso's 2003 publication "Basic Method of Meditation," which I believe recommendations:
PART 1
"The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind."
Meditation is the way to achieve letting go. In meditation one lets go of the complex world outside in order to reach the serene world inside. In all types of mysticism and in many traditions, this is known as the path to the pure and powerful mind. The experience of this pure mind, released from the world, is very wonderful and blissful.
Often with meditation there will be some hard work at the beginning, but be willing to bear that hard work knowing that it will lead you to experience some very beautiful and meaningful states. They will be well worth the effort! It is a law of nature that without effort one does not make progress. Whether one is a layperson or a monk, without effort one gets nowhere, in meditation or in anything.
Effort alone, though, is not sufficient. The effort needs to be skilful. This means directing your energy just at the right places and sustaining it there until its task is completed. Skilful effort neither hinders nor disturbs you, instead it produces the beautiful peace of deep meditation.
In order to know where your effort should be directed, you must have a clear understanding of the goal of meditation. The goal of this meditation is the beautiful silence, stillness and clarity of mind. If you can understand that goal then the place to apply your effort, the means to achieve the goal becomes very clear.
The effort is directed to letting go, to developing a mind that inclines to abandoning. One of the many simple but profound statements of the Lord Buddha is that "a meditator whose mind inclines to abandoning, easily achieves Samadhi". Such a meditator gains these states of inner bliss almost automatically. What the Lord Buddha is saying is that the major cause for attaining deep meditation, for reaching these powerful states is the willingness to abandon, to let go and to renounce.
During meditation, we should not develop a mind which accumulates and holds on to things, but instead we develop a mind which is willing to let go of things, to let go of burdens. Outside of meditation we have to carry the burden of our many duties, like so many heavy suitcases, but within the period of meditation so much baggage is unnecessary. So, in meditation see how much baggage you can unload. Think of these things as burdens, heavy weights pressing upon you. Then you have the right attitude for letting go of these things, abandoning them freely without looking back. This effort, this attitude, this movement of mind that inclines to giving up, is what will lead you into deep meditation. Even during the beginning stages of this meditation, see if you can generate the energy of renunciation, the willingness to give things away, and little by little the letting go will occur. As you give things away in your mind you will feel much lighter, unburdened and free. In the way of meditation, this abandoning of things occurs in stages, step by step.
You may go through the initial stages quickly if you wish, but be very careful if you so do. Sometimes, when you pass through the initial steps too quickly, you find the preparatory work has not been completed. It is like trying to build a town house on a very weak and rushed foundation. The structure goes up very quickly, but it comes down very quickly as well! So you are wise to spend a lot of time on the foundations, and on the `first storeys' as well, making the groundwork well done, strong and firm. Then when you proceed to the higher storey, the bliss states of meditation, they too are stable and firm.
In the way that I teach meditation, I like to begin at the very simple stage of giving up the baggage of past and future. Sometimes you may think that this is such an easy thing to do, that it is too basic. However, if you give it your full effort, not running ahead to the higher stages of meditation until you have properly reached the first goal of sustained attention on the present moment, then you will find later on that you have established a very strong foundation on which to build the higher stages.
Abandoning the past means not even thinking about your work, your family, your commitments, your responsibilities, your history, the good or bad times you had as a child..., you abandon all past experiences by showing no interest in them at all. You become someone who has no history during the time that you meditate. You do not even think about where you are from, where you were born, who your parents were or what your upbringing was like. All of that history is renounced in meditation. In this way, everyone here on the retreat becomes equal, just a meditator. It becomes unimportant how many years you have been meditating, whether you are an old hand or a beginner. If you abandon all that history then we are all equal and free. We are freeing ourselves of some of these concerns, perceptions and thoughts that limit us and which stop us from developing the peace born of letting go. So every 'part' of your history you finally let go of, even the history of what has happened to you so far in this retreat, even the memory of what happened to you just a moment ago! In this way, you carry no burden from the past into the present. Whatever has just happened, you are no longer interested in it and you let it go. You do not allow the past to reverberate in your mind.
I describe this as developing your mind like a padded cell! When any experience, perception or thought hits the wall of the 'padded cell', it does not bounce back again. It just sinks into the padding and stops right there. Thus we do not allow the past to echo in our consciousness, certainly not the past of yesterday and all that time before, because we are developing the mind inclined to letting go, giving away and unburdening.
Some people have the view that if they take up the past for contemplation they can somehow learn from it and solve the problems of the past. However, you should understand that when you gaze at the past, you invariably look through distorted lenses. Whatever you think it was like, in truth it was not quite like that! This is why people have arguments about what actually happened, even a few moments ago. It is well known to police who investigate traffic accidents that even though the accident may have happened only half an hour ago, two different eyewitnesses, both completely honest, will give different accounts. Our memory is untrustworthy. If you consider just how unreliable memory is, then you do not put value on thinking about the past. Then you can let it go. You can bury it, just as you bury a person who has died. You place them in a coffin then bury it, or cremate it, and it is done with, finished. Do not linger on the past. Do not continue to carry the coffins of dead moments on your head! If you do, then you are weighing yourself down with heavy burdens which do not really belong to you. Let all of the past go and you have the ability to be free in the present moment.
As for the future, the anticipations, fears, plans, and expectations
• let all of that go too. The Lord Buddha once said about the future, "Whatever you think it will be, it will always be something different"! This future is known to the wise as uncertain, unknown and so unpredictable. It is often complete stupidity to anticipate the future, and always a great waste of your time to think of the future in meditation.
When you work with your mind, you find that the mind is so strange. It can do some wonderful and unexpected things. It is very common for meditators who are having a difficult time, who are not getting very peaceful, to sit there thinking, "Here we go again, another hour of frustration". Even though they begin thinking like that, anticipating failure, something strange happens and they get into a very peaceful meditation.
Recently I heard of one man on his first ten-day retreat. After the first day his body was hurting so much he asked to go home. The teacher said, "Stay one more day and the pain will disappear, I promise". So he stayed another day, the pain got worse so he wanted to go home again. The teacher repeated, "Just one more day, the pain will go". He stayed for a third day and the pain was even worse. For each of nine days, in the evening he would go to the teacher and, in great pain, ask to go home and the teacher would say, "Just one more day and the pain will disappear". It was completely beyond his expectations, that on the final day when he started the first sit of the morning, the pain did disappear! It did not come back. He could sit for long periods with no pain at all! He was amazed at how wonderful is this mind and how it can produce such unexpected results. So, you don't know about the future. It can be so strange, even weird, completely beyond whatever you expect. Experiences like this give you the wisdom and courage to abandon all thoughts about the future and all expectation as well.
When you're meditating and thinking, "How many more minutes are there to go? How much longer have I to endure all of this?", then that is just wandering off into the future again. The pain could just disappear in a moment. The next moment might be the free one. You just cannot anticipate what is going to happen.
When on retreat, after you have been meditating for many sessions, you may sometimes think that none of those meditations have been any good. In the next meditation session you sit down and everything becomes so peaceful and easy. You think "Wow! Now I can meditate!", but the next meditation is again awful. What's going on here?
The first meditation teacher I had told me something that then sounded quite strange. He said that there is no such thing as a bad meditation! He was right. All those meditations which you call bad, frustrating and not meeting your expectations, all those meditations are where you do the hard work for your `pay cheque'...
It is like a person who goes to work all day Monday and gets no money at the end of the day. "What am I doing this for?", he thinks. He works all day Tuesday and still gets nothing. Another bad day. All day Wednesday, all day Thursday, and still nothing to show for all the hard work. That's four bad days in a row. Then along comes Friday, he does exactly the same work as before and at the end of the day the boss gives him a pay cheque. "Wow! Why can't every day be a pay day?!"
Why can't every meditation be `pay day'? Now, do you understand the simile? It is in the difficult meditations that you build up your credit, where you build up the causes for success. While working for peace in the hard meditations, you build up your strength, the momentum for peace. Then when there's enough credit of good qualities, the mind goes into a good meditation and it feels like `pay-day'. It is in the bad meditations that you do most of the work.
At a recent retreat that I gave in Sydney, during interview time, a lady told me that she had been angry with me all day, but for two different reasons. In her early meditations she was having a difficult time and was angry with me for not ringing the bell to end the meditation early enough. In the later meditations she got into a beautiful peaceful state and was angry with me for ringing the bell too soon. The sessions were all the same length, exactly one hour. You just can't win as a teacher, ringing the bell!
This is what happens when you go anticipating the future, thinking, "How many more minutes until the bell goes?" That is where you torture yourself, where you pick up a heavy burden that is none of your business. So be very careful not to pick up the heavy suitcase of "How many more minutes are there to go?" or "What should I do next?" If that is what you are thinking, then you are not paying attention to what is happening now. You are not doing the meditation. You have lost the plot and are asking for trouble.
In this stage of the meditation keep your attention right in the present moment, to the point where you don't even know what day it is or what time it is -- morning? afternoon? -- don't know! All you know is what moment it is -- right now! In this way you arrive at this beautiful monastic time scale where you are just meditating in the moment, not aware of how many minutes have gone or how many remain, not even remembering what day it is.
Once, as a young monk in Thailand, I had actually forgotten what year it was! It is marvellous living in that realm that is timeless, a realm so much more free than the time driven world we usually have to live in. In the timeless realm, you experience this moment, just as all wise beings have been experiencing this same moment for thousands of years. It has always been just like this, no different. You have come into the reality of now.
The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. When you have abandoned all past and all future, it is as if you have come alive. You are here, you are mindful. This is the first stage of the meditation, just this mindfulness sustained only in the present. Reaching here, you have done a great deal. You have let go of the first burden, which stops deep meditation. So put forth a lot of effort to reach this first stage until it is strong, firm and well established. Next we will refine the present moment awareness into the second stage of meditation -- silent awareness of the present moment.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
止觀禪修之現實應用四
略具雛形的身念住紓壓解鬱法
他山之石，可以攻玉，智中自從三年前在美國接觸MBSR 後，就想將這套 方法運用於憂鬱症的治療當中。不過在初開始治療憂鬱症患者時，也曾執理廢 事，以為只要參考MBSR 修身念住就好，而忽略了患者不同的根機及病因、 病緣。三年來不斷的嘗試與修正當中，終於歸納整理出契理契機的「身念住紓 壓解鬱法」，與MBSR 異同處略述如下：
(1) 紓壓工作坊的設立
根據《瑜伽師地論》中二道資糧「無障」的「遠離障」，即使是身心正常 的止觀行者，在初開始修學時都要「身遠離」，到一個障礙、染汙都少的阿蘭若處。如同重症患者應該住進「加護病房」，一方面能與病菌隔離，一方面得到最好的看護及醫療，來改善他的健康情況，心身病患也是一樣，必須與他的壓力源（stressor）隔離，因為通常壓力源就在患者的身邊，例如學校，家庭，工作等等。這有點類似於森田正馬的『絕對臥床期』，如此患者才能在良好的環境中避開干擾，進行下述的醫療，來提升他的心智；並讓他培養面對壓力情緒時的正確因應之道，以及重建良好的生活習慣。智中在美國的矽谷及臺灣新竹工業園區演講時，曾建議企業建立所謂的「紓壓室」，有不錯的成效。紓壓工作坊的設立，是整個治療中重要的一環，其實最好的紓壓坊應該是禪修中心！
(2) 以傳統中醫療法取代抗憂鬱症藥物
雖然心病需要心藥醫，但是在生理疾病嚴重時，患者是無法提起心力的，所以配合生理的醫療還是必須的，但是西方抗憂鬱症藥物並不是最好的選擇。其實多數的患者都有服食抗憂鬱症藥物造成的問題，所以智中鼓勵患者戒除抗憂鬱症藥物而採用傳統中醫療法來治療。憂鬱症多由情志不舒，氣機鬱滯而致病，而「氣血沖和則萬病不生」，所以治療的原則是理氣開鬱，兼顧脾胃。另外，必須開導思想，解除心中鬱結。中醫有許多的方法可以達到疏肝理氣和開鬱健腦的效果，但是須依患者的狀況來辨證。智中經由配合中醫醫師臨床治療，多數患者的病情都有極顯著的改善。如果一時找不到合適的中醫，也可以透過按摩心經、膽經、肝經，以及經絡運動，達到紓解的效用。
(3) 順應天時，規律的生活
由於心理疾病並非單純的心理問題，它往往以不合理的生活習慣為基礎，和生理不適相伴而生。患者生活習慣和環境的改善往往會改變相應的心理狀況，促進心理疾病的治癒。《內經‧上古天真論》曰︰「上古之人，法於陰陽，和於術數保生之法，食飲有節，起居有時，不勞妄作，故能形與神具，而盡終其天年，度百歲乃去。今時之人不然也，以酒為漿，以逆於生樂，起居無節，故半百而衰也。」
人的生理時鐘是有規律的，古人生活作息定時而規律，所以即使古代醫學不發達，但卻鮮少生病。現代人長期超過負荷量的工作，違背了人體自然的節奏，飲食不規律，人體所需營養就不能及時供給，消化系統的工作常被打亂，久了自然出問題；加上經常熬夜、晨昏顛倒，沒有規律，或減少睡眠時間，使身體各臟腑得不到及時調整和休息，所以反而身心疾病愈來愈多。中醫哲學主張人的生活習慣應該符合自然規律，因此將十二地支作為每日節律的指稱。日節律是指人體一晝夜中陰陽消長、盛衰的情況，每日的十二個時辰是對應人體十二條經脈，環環相扣，十分有序，稱為子午流注。依於子午流注，將良好的生活方式與規律作息結合，制定了十二時辰養生法。「病是三分治七分養」，如何順應天時，過規律的生活，這是調養身心疾病的必要條件，
也是「上醫治未病」，預防身心疾病的方法。
(4)禪坐方面
與MBSR 一樣，用的也是馬哈希禪師觀腹部起伏的方法，但部分患者在治療初期，可以先進行練習類似的腹式呼吸法。腹式呼吸具體的方法是，在初開始時，帶一點強迫性地深深吸一口氣至下
丹田，小腹要鼓起，腰要略為向前挺，憋氣1 秒，同時提肛、嚥口水。再吐氣收回肚子至吐盡為止。等到練習久了，心比較專注穩定時，可以不必太強迫用力，而只要觀照腹部的起伏即可。久而久之呼吸的時間變長，速度變長，身心都會改善，長久練習會發現在面對壓力時，身體不再那麼不舒服。不過初學者要視個人情況少量多次（一次15 分鐘上下即可），慢慢再增加時間。
(5)身體掃描
智中以為，氣隨意導，放鬆的方法應該是從頭至腳，因此與MBSR 相反，以傳統中醫的「三線放鬆功」取代之，既可以達到身體掃描的目的，也可以借此調和氣血。
(6)念住瑜伽
將MBSR 之「念住瑜伽」分成下述兩個部分：其一，依照《瑜伽師地論》二道資糧之「正知而住」，結合了，光明想及正向思維，應用於四威儀之中。這是智中特別以傳統中醫氣脈經絡理論發展出來的方法，以類似「行禪」（walking meditation）的「華佗步」（參考智者大師的「常止心足下」）及類似「動中禪」的「大小周天」為主。其二，經絡養生套路，包括經絡拳及九大關節活動。在此無法一一說明，請參考慈氏學苑網站 http://mbi.sun.net.tw/main.htm「遠離壓力與過勞──放鬆的一天」影音資料中的實際演練。
(7) 操作者（心靈導師）本身的修為及攝受力的提升
雖然明白了上述的「念住紓壓解鬱法」，但是治療成功的關鍵在於操作者本身的攝受力以及修為。在心理治療中，取得患者信任，達成良好的治療關係，這是治療成功的關鍵點，這完全有賴於操作者悲智雙運的攝受力，個人以為出家法師是比較容易具備這樣的條件。其實操作者也就是所謂的「心靈導師」，本身一定要經常的修學四念住，如此才能保持正知正念來觀照、察覺患者的情緒以及身心狀況，而予以輔導。尤其要修習慈悲觀以培養「自他互益」的大悲心，同理心，才能有付諸行動的「大悲行」，也就是「布施、愛語、利行、同事」的「四攝法」。
(8) 生命教育
一個人，最不能令他安心的就是對於死亡的恐懼和對於生命的無知，但是我們現行的教育過分地專注在如何求生存的「生存教育」，而忽略了探討生命的「生命教育」。其實每一個人都嚮往一個沒有煩惱，沒有災難，離苦得樂的生命終極目標。只有佛法才能明白的開顯「生從何來，死往何去」以及生命的意義，教導我們如何達成自己生命的目標，這可以說是佛教式的「意義治療」
了。
美國緣起生命教育學會，ELEAD（Education for Life Empowerment, Awakening and Development）自成立以來，即以「如何依於佛法緣起法的真理，去活化（empower）我們的生命」，做為教育宗旨。整個生命教育包括了生命的覺醒（awakening），生命的意義探討，人生觀、生命目標的建立及規劃開展（development）。其中分為三個階段：「The three stages of life education are：stabilizing the life，disciplining the life and empowering the life。」其中第一，教導人們如何有個平穩的生活（stabilize your life），目前已經完成大部分的教材，也就是紓壓安心之道，但是需要更多的學術機構參與、研發以及人才的培訓。第二，紀律的生活（discipline your life）也有待傳統中醫從業人員及佛教信徒的配合參與。至於第三（以佛法來）活化的生活，（empower your life）已發表緣起生命教育的論文，有賴於佛教及教育界精英參與教材的設計。
他山之石，可以攻玉，智中自從三年前在美國接觸MBSR 後，就想將這套 方法運用於憂鬱症的治療當中。不過在初開始治療憂鬱症患者時，也曾執理廢 事，以為只要參考MBSR 修身念住就好，而忽略了患者不同的根機及病因、 病緣。三年來不斷的嘗試與修正當中，終於歸納整理出契理契機的「身念住紓 壓解鬱法」，與MBSR 異同處略述如下：
(1) 紓壓工作坊的設立
根據《瑜伽師地論》中二道資糧「無障」的「遠離障」，即使是身心正常 的止觀行者，在初開始修學時都要「身遠離」，到一個障礙、染汙都少的阿蘭若處。如同重症患者應該住進「加護病房」，一方面能與病菌隔離，一方面得到最好的看護及醫療，來改善他的健康情況，心身病患也是一樣，必須與他的壓力源（stressor）隔離，因為通常壓力源就在患者的身邊，例如學校，家庭，工作等等。這有點類似於森田正馬的『絕對臥床期』，如此患者才能在良好的環境中避開干擾，進行下述的醫療，來提升他的心智；並讓他培養面對壓力情緒時的正確因應之道，以及重建良好的生活習慣。智中在美國的矽谷及臺灣新竹工業園區演講時，曾建議企業建立所謂的「紓壓室」，有不錯的成效。紓壓工作坊的設立，是整個治療中重要的一環，其實最好的紓壓坊應該是禪修中心！
(2) 以傳統中醫療法取代抗憂鬱症藥物
雖然心病需要心藥醫，但是在生理疾病嚴重時，患者是無法提起心力的，所以配合生理的醫療還是必須的，但是西方抗憂鬱症藥物並不是最好的選擇。其實多數的患者都有服食抗憂鬱症藥物造成的問題，所以智中鼓勵患者戒除抗憂鬱症藥物而採用傳統中醫療法來治療。憂鬱症多由情志不舒，氣機鬱滯而致病，而「氣血沖和則萬病不生」，所以治療的原則是理氣開鬱，兼顧脾胃。另外，必須開導思想，解除心中鬱結。中醫有許多的方法可以達到疏肝理氣和開鬱健腦的效果，但是須依患者的狀況來辨證。智中經由配合中醫醫師臨床治療，多數患者的病情都有極顯著的改善。如果一時找不到合適的中醫，也可以透過按摩心經、膽經、肝經，以及經絡運動，達到紓解的效用。
(3) 順應天時，規律的生活
由於心理疾病並非單純的心理問題，它往往以不合理的生活習慣為基礎，和生理不適相伴而生。患者生活習慣和環境的改善往往會改變相應的心理狀況，促進心理疾病的治癒。《內經‧上古天真論》曰︰「上古之人，法於陰陽，和於術數保生之法，食飲有節，起居有時，不勞妄作，故能形與神具，而盡終其天年，度百歲乃去。今時之人不然也，以酒為漿，以逆於生樂，起居無節，故半百而衰也。」
人的生理時鐘是有規律的，古人生活作息定時而規律，所以即使古代醫學不發達，但卻鮮少生病。現代人長期超過負荷量的工作，違背了人體自然的節奏，飲食不規律，人體所需營養就不能及時供給，消化系統的工作常被打亂，久了自然出問題；加上經常熬夜、晨昏顛倒，沒有規律，或減少睡眠時間，使身體各臟腑得不到及時調整和休息，所以反而身心疾病愈來愈多。中醫哲學主張人的生活習慣應該符合自然規律，因此將十二地支作為每日節律的指稱。日節律是指人體一晝夜中陰陽消長、盛衰的情況，每日的十二個時辰是對應人體十二條經脈，環環相扣，十分有序，稱為子午流注。依於子午流注，將良好的生活方式與規律作息結合，制定了十二時辰養生法。「病是三分治七分養」，如何順應天時，過規律的生活，這是調養身心疾病的必要條件，
也是「上醫治未病」，預防身心疾病的方法。
(4)禪坐方面
與MBSR 一樣，用的也是馬哈希禪師觀腹部起伏的方法，但部分患者在治療初期，可以先進行練習類似的腹式呼吸法。腹式呼吸具體的方法是，在初開始時，帶一點強迫性地深深吸一口氣至下
丹田，小腹要鼓起，腰要略為向前挺，憋氣1 秒，同時提肛、嚥口水。再吐氣收回肚子至吐盡為止。等到練習久了，心比較專注穩定時，可以不必太強迫用力，而只要觀照腹部的起伏即可。久而久之呼吸的時間變長，速度變長，身心都會改善，長久練習會發現在面對壓力時，身體不再那麼不舒服。不過初學者要視個人情況少量多次（一次15 分鐘上下即可），慢慢再增加時間。
(5)身體掃描
智中以為，氣隨意導，放鬆的方法應該是從頭至腳，因此與MBSR 相反，以傳統中醫的「三線放鬆功」取代之，既可以達到身體掃描的目的，也可以借此調和氣血。
(6)念住瑜伽
將MBSR 之「念住瑜伽」分成下述兩個部分：其一，依照《瑜伽師地論》二道資糧之「正知而住」，結合了，光明想及正向思維，應用於四威儀之中。這是智中特別以傳統中醫氣脈經絡理論發展出來的方法，以類似「行禪」（walking meditation）的「華佗步」（參考智者大師的「常止心足下」）及類似「動中禪」的「大小周天」為主。其二，經絡養生套路，包括經絡拳及九大關節活動。在此無法一一說明，請參考慈氏學苑網站 http://mbi.sun.net.tw/main.htm「遠離壓力與過勞──放鬆的一天」影音資料中的實際演練。
(7) 操作者（心靈導師）本身的修為及攝受力的提升
雖然明白了上述的「念住紓壓解鬱法」，但是治療成功的關鍵在於操作者本身的攝受力以及修為。在心理治療中，取得患者信任，達成良好的治療關係，這是治療成功的關鍵點，這完全有賴於操作者悲智雙運的攝受力，個人以為出家法師是比較容易具備這樣的條件。其實操作者也就是所謂的「心靈導師」，本身一定要經常的修學四念住，如此才能保持正知正念來觀照、察覺患者的情緒以及身心狀況，而予以輔導。尤其要修習慈悲觀以培養「自他互益」的大悲心，同理心，才能有付諸行動的「大悲行」，也就是「布施、愛語、利行、同事」的「四攝法」。
(8) 生命教育
一個人，最不能令他安心的就是對於死亡的恐懼和對於生命的無知，但是我們現行的教育過分地專注在如何求生存的「生存教育」，而忽略了探討生命的「生命教育」。其實每一個人都嚮往一個沒有煩惱，沒有災難，離苦得樂的生命終極目標。只有佛法才能明白的開顯「生從何來，死往何去」以及生命的意義，教導我們如何達成自己生命的目標，這可以說是佛教式的「意義治療」
了。
美國緣起生命教育學會，ELEAD（Education for Life Empowerment, Awakening and Development）自成立以來，即以「如何依於佛法緣起法的真理，去活化（empower）我們的生命」，做為教育宗旨。整個生命教育包括了生命的覺醒（awakening），生命的意義探討，人生觀、生命目標的建立及規劃開展（development）。其中分為三個階段：「The three stages of life education are：stabilizing the life，disciplining the life and empowering the life。」其中第一，教導人們如何有個平穩的生活（stabilize your life），目前已經完成大部分的教材，也就是紓壓安心之道，但是需要更多的學術機構參與、研發以及人才的培訓。第二，紀律的生活（discipline your life）也有待傳統中醫從業人員及佛教信徒的配合參與。至於第三（以佛法來）活化的生活，（empower your life）已發表緣起生命教育的論文，有賴於佛教及教育界精英參與教材的設計。
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Lessons drawn from life
I was just thrilled by this latest news report. If you haven't read it yet, follow the link to read the complete article.
Lessons drawn from life
by VANNIYA SRIANGURA, The Bangkok Post, Sept 12, 2008
A growing number of parents, not all of them Buddhist, are realising the benefits of a mind-centred, Buddhist-approach to education
Bangkok, Thailand -- In a society where success is measured in material terms, most parents hope that the educational system will set their children on the path to a prosperous future.
A school's academic reputation, the variety of languages it offers and the intensity of its English lessons are crucial factors that the present generation of Thai parents consider when choosing a school for their kids.
But that's about to change. Lately, a large number of people are taking the view that developing children's minds is more important than just providing them with academic knowledge. As a result, alternative schools, particularly rongrien withi pud, or Buddhist-approach schools, are among the hottest subjects with new parents.
Today, Buddhist-approach schools that follow an educational system which is somehow regarded as out-of-date are seeing their waiting lists grow. Flowers Bloom, a dhamma-related hymn by a Buddhist nun, Mae Chee Sansanee Sthirasuta, commonly sung in rongrien withi pud has become a popular song among kindergarten-age kids nationwide. While vowing to keep the five moral precepts, sitting meditation and phae metta - extending kindness to all lives in the world - are some of the routine rituals an increasing number of schoolchildren perform every morning.
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