With pleasure, misery, and escape (sutra)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Frank Lee Woodward, Pali Tex Society, Book of the Kindred Sayings or Samyutta Nikaya PART IV (SN 4.17-22)

CHAPTER II, SECTIONS 17-22

In search of enlightenment

{17} Meditators, if there were not pleasure that comes from the eye, beings would not lust after (grasp for and cling to) the eye. 

But inasmuch as there is pleasure in the eye, beings lust after it.

Medtitators, if there were not misery that comes from the eye, beings would not be repelled by the eye.

But inasmuch as there is misery that comes from the eye, being are repelled by it.

If there were no escape from the eye, beings could not [become free] from it.

But inasmuch as there is a way of escape from the eye, beings do escape from it.

Likewise with regard to the pleasure, the misery, and the way of escape from the 

• ear,
• nose,
• tongue,
• body, and
• mind.... 

But inasmuch as there is a way of escape from the [ear, nose, tongue, body, and] mind, beings do escape from it.

The Buddha towering in Theravada Thailand

Meditators, so long as being have not understood as they truly are the pleasure as it is, the misery as it is, and the way of escape as it relates to this sixfold personal sphere of sense then, meditators, so long have beings not remained aloof, detached, and separated with the hindrances of the mind/heart done away with -- nor has the world with its shining ones (devas), killers (maras), divinities (brahmas), nor its legions of wandering ascetics (shramans) and temple priests (Brahmins), shining ones and human beings.

 

But, meditators, just as soon as beings thoroughly understand as they truly are the pleasure as it is, the misery as it is, and the way of escape as it relates to this sixfold personal sphere of sense -- then, meditators, beings and the world, with its light beings... do [finally*] remain aloof, detached, separated, with the hindrances of heart/mind done away with.

• *[NOTE: This letting go is accomplished by insight, not by an act of willpower or effort. Knowing-and-seeing, or insight into the true nature of things, is in itself liberating. There is no need to struggle and make the Truth true. Truth sets one free.]

[{18} The same is true of all other psycho-physical phenomena in addition to the eye, visible objects (sights), and the consciousness arising from seeing; ear, sounds, and the consciousness arising from hearing....]

DELIGHT

Silent stillness and vipassana to know-and-see

{19} Meditators, whoever takes delight in the eye takes delight in disappointment. And I declare, whoever takes delight in disappointment is not released from disappointment.

Whoever takes delight in the tongue... in the mind takes delight in disappointment, I declare. And I declare, whoever delights in disappointment is not released from disappointment.

 

But whoever does not take delight in the eye, the tongue... the mind -- that person does not delight in disappointment. And I declare, one who does not delight in disappointment is released from disappointment.

[{20} The same is true for visible objects (forms), sounds, fragrances, tastes, tangibles, and mind-states.]

 

{21} Meditators, that which is the arising, persisting, the rebirth, the manifestation of objects -- that is the arising of disappointment, the persisting of diseases, the manifestation of decay and death.

So also with regard to sounds, fragrances, tastes, and tangibles....

That which is the arising, the persisting, the rebirth, the manifestation of mind-states -- that is the arising of disappointment, the persisting of diseases, the manifestation of decay and death. 

But, meditators, that which is the ceasing, the quelling, the going out of objects -- that is the ceasing of disappointment, the quelling of diseases, the going out of decay and death.

So also with regard to sounds, fragrances, tastes, and tangibles...

 

That which is the ceasing, the quelling, the going out of mind-states -- that is the ceasing of disappointment, the quelling of diseases, the going out of decay and death.

[{22} The same is true for visible objects, sounds... mind-states -- for all psycho-physical phenomena.]

• Seeing things as they truly are (vipassana)
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Macklemore, Ryan Lewis on Buddhism (video)

Seven and Boo, Wisdom Quarterly; Macklemore featuring Ryan Lewis; RapGenius.com

Fans of Macklemore show the artists love (soundonthesound.com)

Macklemore strikes a meditation pose in his Batman PJs (blog.designedgood.com)

Neo-hippies (elelphantjournal.com)

Vipassana is a Buddhist term. It means "insight" and implies insight meditation. It has been further popularized by S.N. Goenka, an Indian-American teacher from Burma. He and his Burmese teacher, U Ba Khin, conceived of free 10-day retreats to teach Westerners and others a powerful Buddhist practice -- available to all regardless of faith, tradition, or belief system. People are so moved by the experience that they often begin to quote the Buddha, Theravada texts, and Goenka talks (all taped for students) as they suddenly experience more calm and life-transformations than they ever imagined. 

Mrs. and Mr. S.N. Goenka (Dhamma.org)

Curt Cobain was so interested in Buddhism and "the end of all suffering," translated from Sanskrit as nirvana, that he named his band after the goal. The path to enlightenment often strikes artists. Apparently, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were similarly moved by their experience of the first blush of insight that ultimately leads to nirvana. In 2009 they released the song Vipassana or "Insight." They would later become famous for such hits as "Thrift Shop," "Same Love," and their second-best song ever, "Can't Hold Us," their very best song being:

  

Vipassana
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis

[Tape recording of Goenka:] "Vipassana is science of mind and matter: how the mind is influencing the body and later how the body is influencing the mind, the mind, the mind..."

Business insight? (executive.dhamma.org)

Yesterday? Forget it. Tomorrow is? Nada. The present is? Right here, through the breath. Watch it. Atheist Jesus peace, hangin' on a cross. We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs about how we got here: What it is, what it isn't, sh-t. Fate versus faith, scrimmaging with coincidence. Leave out the marketing; hold up on the business end. Focus on the genuine. With everything else, you can shed the skin. I was a couple moves away from being dead -- in that ER overdosing, eyes bleeding red. I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz, lost it all, sobered up, and guess what?

Macklemore surfs the crowd as Ryan Lewis works the stage (flickr com)

 

Now we meet again. And I'm back, finally just laughing. Expectations are resentments waiting to happen. Studying the Dharma, karma of vipassana [meditation] practice, Bah'u'llah, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop, and I'm traveling, learning, yes, reflecting on what matters: People, impermanence, lack of attachments. It's space and time, a couple man-made distractions, the measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture. Church, ha, this booth is my Vatican. I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it. Student of the breath, break beats, and balancing. Desire versus Truth until I finally find happiness [the ultimate, the highest happiness, being nirvana].

Prof. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

CHORUS: I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. Passing through space and time, passing through space and time, oh, passing through space and time, space and time, space and time...

I was put here to do something before I'm lying in that casket. I'd be lying on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is. The world's a stage, and we play a character. I found him. It took me 20 something years and a bunch of sh-tty sound checks. I'm not going to be content until I find gratitude regardless of my sales or the record deals that they're handing you. If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you, we'll have a bunch of MP3s and misled kids to pass them to.

 

I use my veins to create the color I paint from. Delve into something till my heart becomes my paint brush. I told my mama, "I'm not stopping till my name's up." Thinking those comments on that blog is gonna save us. Searching for everything but Gods and validation. Get insecure and then we start blaming the haters. Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant. Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation. 

 

So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle. Take all ugly sh-t inside and try to make it beautiful. Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical so the people can relate to where I've been, where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard. From the guts, f-ck the glory, just a person on a porch putting it all into recording. Many in my past and many that came before me. I just keep walking my path and blessed to share my story.

• PHOTOS: Flashback to "Dawson's Creek"
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More on insight (vipassana) in the Art of Living (Dhamma.org)

Insight Meditation Society (East Coast)

Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, Insight Meditation Society (Dharma.org); BCBSdharma.org

Insight Meditation Society (IMS) is a Buddhist meditation center (open to all people of all traditions).

 

On Valentines Day in 1976 a small group of young Buddhist meditation teachers (including Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield (West Coast), and Sharon Salzberg, all friends back from Asia) and dedicated staff opened a retreat center outside of Boston.

They found an ideal place in an old, stately mansion in idyllic Barre, Massachusetts. Armed with few resources and imperfect operational knowledge, but passionate about the Buddha’s teachings, they set about creating an environment where the Dharma could flourish and take root in the West. 

Teachers at IMS like Myoshin Kelly, Sharon Salzberg, and Leigh Brasington (Dharma.org)

 

And so began IMS, now a large and successful short-term Retreat Center with a Forest Refuge center for instensives.

Over its history, IMS has become a spiritual home to thousands of practitioners. It is now regarded as one of the Western world’s most respected centers for learning and deepening meditation practice.

 

The organization operates two meditation retreat facilities and also promotes a growing school, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Two are set on about 200 secluded acres in the quiet woods of central Massachusetts, and the third is right next door. More

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body

Wisdom Quarterly, new Dharma book by Sayalay Susila edited by Dhr. Seven

The Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven set out the Buddha's "Higher Teaching"

  

(Aidan McRae Thomson)

Wisdom Quarterly is overjoyed to announce that Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma, the much awaited new book by the accomplished Buddhist monastic Sayalay Susila and Wisdom Quarterly editor Yogi Seven, is now available on Amazon.

We are pleased to see our efforts come to fruition and have the opportunity to share this work of Dharma, the culmination of Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's accessible teachings on this delicate and complex topic.

 

All proceeds from the book go to support the establishment of Appamada Vihari, Sayalay Susila's new meditation center, offering an opportunity for all to accumulate supportive merit to advance on the Buddhist path toward enlightenment in this very life.

Why would anyone go on a meditation retreat?

 
ABOUT

Ven. Sayalay Susila, Grand Canyon

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma was originally derived from a series of PowerPoint presentations and talks on the Abhidharma (Buddhism's "Higher" or "Ultimate Teachings"). 

It is based directly on instructions by famed Burmese Buddhist Meditation Master Pa Auk Sayadaw -- presented by the Chinese-Malaysian nun Ven. Sayalay Susila on her trips around the U.S. and Canada in 2002.

How much longer will the liberating Dharma survive in the world? (Mikecogh/flickr.com)

 
Repeatedly told how helpful these were, Sayalay developed them into a startlingly clear visual presentation and eventually a book, now in its second completely re-edited edition.
 
At first glance the Abhidharma can appear so complicated as to be impenetrable. It may, therefore, seem dull and irrelevant, a mere commentary to the sutras rather than a systematic treatment of what is needed to attain enlightenment -- the details, the explanations, the factors explained in extreme detail.
 

The Buddha among devas explaining the Abhidharma leading to final liberation

 
That it has been largely overlooked outside of Burma comes as no surprise. But the Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven have made Abhidharma accessible by employing direct and concrete language, clear analogies, and simple anecdotes primarily based on the experiences of real meditators in Asia, America, and Europe over many years. 

The essence of Abhidharma is drawn out from its vast and complex matrix. Doing so makes it utterly practical, relating to everyday life in a way practitioners find meaningful for ordinary living. The way to realization is through concentration-and-insight meditation instruction to tie together theory and practice.

First edition (holybooks.com)

In this way analytical knowledge is made available for direct personal realization in meditation (bhavana, cultivation and development of various kinds). By providing clarity, this book helps practitioners come to a knowing-and-seeing, or knowledge and vision, of Abhidharma as a path revealed by the historical Buddha. It shows that its application, not its theoretical grasping, leads to happiness, mundane and supramundane. 
 

May all beings -- humans, devas, and others -- share in the blessings of this offering of liberating wisdom.

Who sees the Dharma (Dependent Origination) sees the Buddha (MN 28; Mikecogh)