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The Venerable
Ananda, the Buddha's personal attendant, spent twenty-
five years with the Buddha serving him. The Buddha asked
him several times to strive hard and attain
enlightenment. He had known all the Dhamma and theories
of meditation. However, as he enjoyed serving the Buddha
and other fellow bhikkhus, he neglected his own
attainment of enlightenment until finally a great
pressure came from the 499 Arahants assembled to hold
the first Buddhist council. They insisted that he should
attain enlightenment before the designated date for the
council planned for the third month after the Buddha's
passing away.
Buddha had
already said: "Monks, meditate. Don't be heedless. Don't
let your mind be filled with defilements. Don't weep and
wail saying: "This life is full of trouble, full of
misery, full of pain, full of agony." The mind not
developed through the practice of mindfulness meditation
creates tension, anxiety and worry. Don't keep crying
and repeating the same mistakes. You cannot run away
from reality. Life is not rosy. It has ups-and-downs and
bumps all over. These are facts we face every day.
The practice
of mindfulness meditation is similar to a the shock
absorbers in a car. If the shock absorbers are not good,
you will see how difficult it will be when you drive.
This vehicle of ours - the body and mind, this
combination - is full of such difficult moments. There
is no place to run away from them. Even if you go to the
moon (not an impossibility these days), still you will
go with your body and mind filled with all kinds of
impediments still existing in the mind. You cannot leave
them here and go over there. They follow persistently
and doggedly wherever you go, and they keep bothering
you, day and night. Most people experiment with three
solutions.
They perceive
the problem is "over there, in the world." Therefore,
they think that by correcting the world, trying to solve
society's ills, they can solve their problems. They wish
to make the environment "proper, beautiful" and free
from problems. Only then can they live happily. So they
get engrossed and, sometimes, even obsessed, in trying
to straighten out society. Of course, the desire to
improve society's ills, itself, is commendable. They see
suffering and become compassionate and then act. They
may keep themselves fully occupied trying to correct the
society's ills. They might think that they keep
themselves out of trouble without realizing that they
actually are forgetting their own nagging problems. They
continue to have their own pains and suffering
unattended primarily because they do not have time for
themselves. These people are very compassionate,
understanding, ready to render their service to the
society selflessly or without any reward from the
society. We read many wonderful accounts of many such
noble persons who at the expense of their own attainment
of enlightenment dedicate their lives to the society.
External activities might hinder solving one's own
problems.
Although we
live in society with people, each one of us has a little
world of our own, views about the world, our own
perception and understanding of the world. Each follows
his or her perceptions, and views of the world. We may
sometimes think that all the problems we experience are
generated from the outer world. Therefore, we turn our
energies to the world believing involvement in doing
something to correct society will solve our problems.
The second
line of thinking which people pursue to solve their
problems is to think that there is no problem at all.
They believe that everything is imaginary. They think:
"I exist by myself, I am most important, and I am all
alone, and nothing else matters to me." The third way to
solve personal problems is to run away from our
problems.
We may
receive temporary solace, temporary comfort thinking
either the problem exists over there in the external
world or it does not exist, or diverting our attention
to something, ignoring that there is a problem, or
running away from the problem.
The real
solution lies in none of these methods. The real
solution, according to the Buddha's teaching, is to
discover a way to purify the instrument, the agent,
which makes the world happy or unhappy, peaceful or
miserable, pleasant or painful. That which creates
problems and suffering for everybody. This instrument is
our mind. Purification of this mind is one of the
purposes of mindfulness meditation.
As we all
know, all our thoughts, words and deeds originate in the
mind. Mind is the forerunner. All conditions which we
experience are mind-made. They are created in the mind,
directed and led by the mind. Mind puts them into
action. "All actions are all led by the mind: mind is
their master, mind is their maker. Act or speak with a
defiled state of mind, then suffering follows like the
cart-wheel that follows the foot of the ox. All actions
are all led by the mind; mind is their master, mind is
their maker. Act or speak with a pure state of mind,
then happiness follows like a shadow that remains behind
without departing." (Dhammapada 1-2)
The analogy
of the ox pulling the cart is most appropriate to
illustrate our problems. The ox pulling the cart does
not enjoy pulling the cart. He is not happy with this
burden; it is not a pleasure. This poor bull pulling the
cart has a terrible time. The whole burden of the cart
is on his shoulders, and he will be in pain. The bull
would have done better if he had not been born a bull.
The condition of the bull is compared to the condition
of ignorance, and stupidity - not seeing the truth as
is. An unenlightened life is full of ignorance and given
to defilements of all kinds. Therefore, an unenlightened
person committing thoughts, words, and deeds with impure
minds suffers very much like the bull who always suffers
by pulling this heavy cart. On the other hand, when we
speak or do something with a pure mind we feel happy,
and have no regrets, no pain, no suffering following us.
Our purpose
in life is to improve ourselves everyday and become
happy. We do many things to gain happiness. However,
most of the things we do to gain happiness may generate
unhappiness, pain, suffering and trouble because our
minds are not pure. It is the pure mind that can
generate happiness, not the impure mind. Therefore, the
first purpose of practicing meditation is to purify our
mind; that generates peace and happiness.
The second
purpose of meditation is to overcome sorrow and
lamentation. When a meditator begins to see the truth he
or she can bear and conquer sorrow and lamentation
caused by impermanence.
The third
purpose is to overcome suffering and disappointment
caused by greed and hatred.
The fourth
purpose of meditation is to tread the wise path, the
correct path which leads to liberation from grief,
sorrow, disappointment, pain and lamentation. This is
the path of mindfulness - the only path that liberate us
from suffering.
The fifth
purpose of meditation is to liberate ourselves
completely and totally from mental pain and defilements
and to free our minds from greed, hatred and delusion.
These five
purposes are very noble purposes. All other purposes of
meditation may be overlooked because none of them is
capable of generating these results making us really
peaceful and happy by eliminating our problems. We don't
try to ignore or avoid them but mindfully we face and
tackle them as they arise in our minds.
Certain
people simply want to meditate without having any
background knowledge of meditation. They think knowledge
of the theory of meditation is an impediment. This
attitude can be compared to the attitude of a traveler
who wishes to go to a definite destination - let us say
Washington DC. The traveler has great confidence in his
ability and believes his confidence alone is sufficient
to get him there. This person may have a vehicle - a
car. Then, getting into the car, sitting behind the
steering wheel, he starts to drive. However, there has
been no preparation for the journey. There is no
knowledge of the roads or the conditions of the roads or
of the weather. He hasn't even consulted a map. All he
has is a car and confidence and some experience in
driving. The car may carry a sufficient quantity of gas,
oil, and other items, so, the traveler gets into the car
and starts driving. He may be on the road for a long
time spending a good deal of money on gas, time and
energy. Indeed, driving will lead him somewhere, but not
necessarily to his destination. A wise driver, on the
other hand, studies the map in detail, determines the
detours, and may ask others who are more experienced.
If the driver
wishes to go to Washington DC and if there is a place
called Washington DC, the driver will find it.
Similarly, we need to have a goal in meditation. We want
to reach this goal and realize our purpose. And we do
need some guidelines. We do not necessarily need a great
deal of philosophical and speculative theory. The
guidelines are road signs to follow so that we will know
(not guess) if we are heading in the right direction.
Certainly confidence is necessary, but in itself, is not
sufficient. In addition, we need understanding and
knowledge of the theory.
Then what is
meditation? How do we reach this goal of purifying the
mind, overcoming grief and lamentation, overcoming pain
and disappointment, treading the path leading to
liberation from pain, suffering and samsara - this world
of birth and death?
There is a
way to attain it. When we refer to "the Way" it may turn
many people off. They might think the speaker is trying
to sell something and trying to deprecate everything in
the world, and say "If this is the only way, we are not
prepared to buy it." Now, when you wish to go to
Washington DC, there are a number of ways to get there.
Flying is the quickest way these days, of course. In
other times, we would use a car or boat, or only our two
feet. Whatever the means of transportation, we have to
cover a specific distance to arrive in Washington DC.
What is essential is that we get there - whether by slow
or fast means. Therefore, "the Way" means "The Way of
Mindfulness" that transverses a certain distance or area
to realize our destination.
This way of
Mindfulness does not, however, lie in a geographical
area or in space. It is in our own mind. We have to do
certain things. That doing is also "the Way" -- the way
to cultivate our minds to accomplish this journey.
Cultivating the mind means practicing mindfulness. When
no mindfulness is present, when we are unmindful all the
time, we are entrapped by "red herrings." We are caught
in all kinds of confusion. We don't understand things as
they really are. To enable us to get to our destination,
we need a clear understanding of where we are. Clear
understanding is born from mindfulness. No matter what
else we do or other practices we engage in they have
their own purposes and goals. We learn that they do not
purify the mind.
The very word
meditation means cultivation. We know what we mean when
we say, "We cultivate a land." We know that there has to
be a land and some means of cultivating it. We have to
do certain things, such as cutting down the trees to
clear the land, remove weeds and other things, and till
it over and over and fertilize it. Then we can plant
seeds and nourish it and grow certain crops. Similarly
in the practice of meditation, we need to mentally
cultivate the mind. We do not need to sit in one place
just waiting for something to happen. We may wait
indefinitely, or for a very long time, without anything
happening. We might say that we have spent so much time
in meditation. Sitting in one place doing nothing is not
meditation. And also simply watching our breath all the
time is inadequate and insufficient. Of course,
mindfulness of breath is an important part of
meditation. Simply watching the breath without any
mindfulness may be called the practice of tranquillity
meditation, however, it is not Right Concentration
without mindfulness. We begin, however, with watching
our breath. This meditation which is totally distinct to
Buddhism is called Vipassana meditation or Insight
meditation. There are guidelines for the practice of
Insight or Vipassana meditation. These guidelines are
given in the Sutta called the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness.
These Four
Foundations of Mindfulness are: Mindfulness of the Body,
Mindfulness of Feeling, Mindfulness of the mind and
Mindfulness of Mental Objects. We will explain them in
turn.
Let me take
the first part - Mindfulness of the Body. Mindfulness of
the body is divided into six sections. The first of them
is Mindfulness of breathing. Now, why is the breath
included in the mindfulness of the body? The breath is a
part of our body. This body, as we know it, is made up
of four basic elements: the element of extension (solid
parts), the element of cohesion (the liquid part), the
element of heat (radiation) and the element of air
(oscillation or movement). Therefore, when we try to
practice mindfulness of the body we begin with the
mindfulness of the breath which is the element of air.
In this
meditation, we do not dwell upon some imaginative fairy
land. We are not trying to induce self hypnosis. We are
not trying to discover the hidden, mystical elements of
the universe. We are not trying to become absorbed in
the whole universe. We are not trying to become "One"
with the whole universe. All these are interesting
words. We are trying to use this personality of ours:
our own body and mind. We watch mindfully this body and
mind and their activities, we investigate them because
they are what we carry with us wherever we go. This body
and mind is our laboratory. All we have to work with is
there -- the raw material, chemical substance, gases,
heat, air, water, extension -- all are there. It is in
this body, in this personality that we find all this. My
laboratory is my body and mind. I always try to watch
them within me. I cannot work in your laboratory. You
have to work in your own laboratory. Most of us forget
our own laboratories and try to get into somebody else's
laboratory. We try to see what so-and-so is eating, what
so-and-so is doing, whom so-and-so is associating with,
where so-and-so is going, what so-and-so is reading, how
much money so-and-so has, etc. We always forget our own
laboratories. We may never know what is in this
laboratory within ourselves. We, in this practice of
Insight meditation, become introspective, mindful and
careful to watch what is happening here in this mind and
body in the present moment. That is what Vipassana
meditation is all about; methodical investigation in the
laboratory within ourselves.
©2000 Bhante
Henepola Gunaratana
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