Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanasatta (DN 22)
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| There are four meditation postures -- walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Because the goal is calm-wakefulness, sitting is best in the long run (Sue90ca/flickr.com). |
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| The Buddha's mudra (Nilantha Hettige) |
As the new year is about to begin (judging from the more accurate and ancient lunar calendar), it's time to commit. Nothing is so useful, so sane-making, so beneficial as intensive practice.
The Dharma is just a set of ideal ideas, a beautiful view of the universe, which explains everything important. But it is never real until we make it our own insight, our own realization. "Buddhism" is not a system of belief; it is a system of practices (a systematic set of practices, a path). The Truth is there for all to see -- yet the only ones who'll see it are the practitioners.
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| How to (jhanasadvice.com) |
What is there to practice? The historical Buddha Shakyamuni said three things are crucial.
- First, there's restraint, the Five Precepts. These make us human. They are VIRTUE (sila).
- Second, there's CALM-collectedness (samadhi), the beginnings of the first four absorptions (jhānas, dhyana) or enough focus, togetherness, unification of mind, enough appeasement of the heart to be serene and stable.
- Third, there's WISDOM (paññā, prajna). By adding four specific kinds of mindfulness practices, four "foundations" or pillars, to the serenity-practice, liberating-insight arises.
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| Meditation means more than intensive sitting. |
If the ultimate aim of the Path is nirvana then the way there is enlightenment. Enlightenment needs insight, and insight arises on a foundation of calm-"concentratedness."*
A serene, tranquil, purified (i.e., a heart/mind temporarily released from the oppression of the defilements and fetters) is possible with basic virtue aided by a focus that excludes all other stimuli. (If meditating on breath, stay with the breath all of the time in all postures, moving slowly, remaining silent). The time to build this focus are periods of intensive meditation, which build momentum until one breaks through to complete freedom.
Compassion accompanies virtue and increases with the purification that results from tranquil-concentratedness.* Its consummation is arrived at with wisdom. There is no wisdom without compassion.
*"Concentratedness" is odd wording, of course, but we use it to emphasize the effortlessness involved in getting there, getting to that "zen," that dhyana, that jhana. The route is the opposite of "trying," "struggling," and "efforting" -- as if one were trying to get, grasp, or cling to a goal. The way to "strive" is to let go, to practice the yogic art of sthirasukha, "effort-ease": Sit up, sit still, sit silent. (This is the effort arrived at by letting go of "doing"). But then just sit sinking into a very pleasant wakeful-ease (arrived at by letting go of "struggling").
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| Knowing and seeing (Sukhothai-tourism) |
This is the diligence, the general-mindfulness, the vigilance that leads to success. The specific mindfulness practices that follow are outlined in the Maha Satipatthana Sutra; they are detailed under a qualified meditation instructor, one who has succeeded on the Path. As Americans, we say we'll do it ourselves, but we won't do it ourselves. Even the Buddha could not have done it himself, if we read his story carefully.
Teaching members of the Noble Sangha (Community) are not easy to find, but they exist. Contact us and we will point them out. Many of them are not monastics. People say they do not exist nowadays, but they do. When they cease to exist in the world, there will be no more Buddhism. The Path will go unknown until it is rediscovered aeons later.
“There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience.”
- Macliesh
The wandering ascetic Siddhartha found out the hard way that struggling, trying, stressing, and straining is the way to FAILURE, frustration, fraud, and finally giving up. Most educated people have heard the story of how Siddhartha became the Buddha. Note that it was not by severe austerity, energy (virile effort, viriya), and determination. It was by not giving up yet dropping the struggle. He realized that he had been avoiding the jhanas (absorptions), that he had been afraid of pleasure. But jhana is a blameless pleasure; it is supersensual.
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| Happiness awaits. Enlightenment guaranteed! |
Craving, indulging, and delighting in sense pleasure does not lead to the fruit of enlightenment. But the absorptions alone do not lead to enlightenment either! It is only when they are used in the service of establishing a base for the setting up of the Four Foundations (Pillars) of Mindfulness. Then the absorptions catalyze the process. If mindfulness is the nitro, then absorption is the sweet glycerine. Insight is almost immediate, like an explosive chemical reaction with the right balance of ingredients. What are the ingredients? Just these three: virtue, calm-concentratedness, and wisdom.
How long will it take?
By the way, how long will this take? That's easy. Practice in this way and enlightenment will take seven days, or at most seven years. Enlightenment is guaranteed. Read the sutra. Near the end it says:
Sutra: Enlightenment guaranteed
"Fourfold Setting Up of Mindfulness," Maha Satipatthana Sutta (DN 22, MN 10)  |
| The shift: meditation changes our perspective (PeterFroehlich/flickr.com). |
..."Verily, meditators, whosoever practices these Four Foundations of Mindfulness in this manner for seven years, then one of two fruits may be expected -- highest knowledge (full enlightenment) here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present, the stage of non-returner.
"O meditators, let alone seven years! Should any person practice these Four Foundations of Mindfulness in this manner for six years... five years... four years... three years... two years... one year, then one of two fruits may be expected -- highest knowledge here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present, the stage of non-returner.
"O meditators, let alone a year! Should any person practice these Four Foundations of Mindfulness in this manner for seven months... six months... five months... four months... three months... two months... a month... half a month, then one of two fruits may be expected -- highest knowledge here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present, the stage of non-returner.
"O meditators, let alone half a month! Should any person practice these Four Foundations of Mindfulness in this manner for seven days [a week], then one of these two fruits may be expected -- highest knowledge here and now or, if some remainder of clinging is yet present, the stage of non-returner.
"Because of this it was said: 'Meditators, this is the direct way that leads to enlightenment, to the purification of beings, to the overcoming of all sorrow and misery, to the destruction of disappointment and grief, to reaching the right path, for the attainment of nirvana, namely the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.'"
