(2) The Method of the Buddha’s Practice of meditation The sermon in the Buddha’s own words Buddho
so bhagavæ bodhæya dhammaµ deseti After practising and realizing the true Dhamma, the Buddha preached it to the people so that they may like himself practise and realize the Dhamma as much as they can. The Buddha’s Dhamma is not mere speculation or theoretical. He practised it himself and on realizing it to be the Truth them preached it. So every being who is capable of thinking should practise it devotedly and seriously. How did the Buddha practise and teach it? Before his attainment to full Enlightenment, the Bodhisatta (Buddha to be) by his sublime knowledge came to know that all beings including himself were reborn again and again due to commission of deeds with attachment. The Bodhisatta by his divine eye saw that beings after death were reborn in accordance with their deeds. Every time one sees, hears, touches and cognizes there arises desire and attachment on the physical and mental phenomena, On account of this desire and attachment there is rebirth and due to rebirth one has to undergo the suffering of old age, disease, death etc. again and again. Whenever one sees, hears, touches and cognizes, if one can take notice of their nature of arising and passing away, no desire and attachment will arise and consequently there will be no rebirth, old age, disease, death etc. Thus there is the extinction of this whole mass of suffering. The Bodhisatta, on having realized thus, continuously meditated on the nature of the arising and passing away of the five groups of grasping. How he finally gained full Enlightenment is described as follows. The correct method of Insight Meditation (Vipassanæ) Bodhisatto aparena samayena pañcasu upædænak-khandhesu udayabbaya nupassi vihasi .... tassa pañcasu upædænakkhandhesu udayabbaya nupassino viharato na cirasseva anupædæya æsavehi cittaµ vimucci. (Døgha-Nikæya Mahævagga 30) The Boddhisatta, after reflecting on how the suffering arose and ceased, meditated on the arising and passing away of physical and mental phenomena.+ While thus meditating before long his mind became completely detached and he gained deliverance from all defilements (attained Arahatta Path and Fruition Knowledge and became a Buddha.) This extract from the Pæ¹i Text shows how Buddha from Buddha Vipassi to Buddha Gotama practised to become a Buddha. All Buddhas prior to Buddha Vipassi also practised the same method and became Buddhas. In this practice one has to take notice of the true nature of the arising and passing away of physical and mental phenomena taking place in one’s own body at the time of their occurrence. If no noticing is made at the time of their occurrence, one is likely to mistake them as permanent, happiness and ego-entity. Because no noting was made at the moment of seeing, hearing, smelling and touching and thinking, they were not correctly seen and were mistaken to be happiness and ego and thus clinging to them arose. This clinging in Pæ¹i is called Upædæna. The physical and mental phenomena which are subject to clinging are called Upædænakkhandhæs in Pæ¹i. Because no proper noticing was made of these physical and mental phenomena at the moment of their occurrence, clinging arises and deeds bad and good are committed. In every existence at the time of the approaching death, the deed (Kamma), and symbol of the deed (Kamma-nimitta) or an indication of one’s next birth (Gati-nimitta) becomes an object of his consciousness which influences his next birth. On account of rebirth one has to suffer old age, disease, death, etc. On proper reflection one will find them to be very frightening indeed. So for the extinction of attachment and clinging, for the cessation of the five groups of grasping (Upædænakkhandhæs) and thus to escape from all suffering the Bodhisatta meditated on the arising and passing away of physical and mental phenomena at the time of their occurrence. While thus meditating extraordinary insight knowledge developed in him and after attaining the Arahatta Path and Fruition Knowledge he became a fully Enlightened One (Buddha). After becoming a fully Enlightened One, the Buddha preached the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta (The first sermon) so that beings may practise meditation on the arising and passing away of the Five Groups of Grasping (Upædænakkhandhæs) and after developing the extraordinary Insight knowledge realize Nibbæna through the Path and Fruition Knowledge and thus gain deliverance from all suffering, like himself. In the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta, it is mentioned that the Middle Way found out by the Buddha causes the Eye of Wisdom and Knowledge to arise. Here the Eye of Wisdom and Knowledge means Insight Knowledge, and Path and Fruition Knowledge. It also clarifies that the Middle Way means the Eightfold Noble Path. The correct awareness of seeing, hearing etc. is also the Eightfold Nobel Path. The development of the Eightfold Noble path If the development of the Eightfold Noble Path is to be explained in brief, the effort to take notice of seeing, hearing etc. is Right Effort (Sammæ Væyæma). The awareness of seeing, hearing etc. is Right Mindfulness (Sammæ Sati). The continuous keeping of mind on the object of meditation if Right Concentration (Sammæ Samædhi). These three belong to the section ‘Concentration’ and are called Samædhi Magga³gas. As and when this concentration becomes stronger Insight Knowledge develops as follows. As mentioned in the Satipa¥¥hæna sutta whenever one is mindful of walking, standing, sitting, lying, moving, touching, rising, falling, etc. one can discriminate movement etc., as physical phenomena and awareness of them as mental phenomena, thus distinguishing between mind and matter. This is the knowledge distinguishing between Mind and Matter (Næmarþpa pariccheda Ñæ¼a). This knowledge arises at the beginning of good concentration. Then one comes to know that because of intention to move, movement arises; because of intention to sit, sitting arises; because of in-breath, there is the rising of the abdomen; because of out breath, there is the falling of the abdomen; because there is object to touch, touching sensation arises; because there is something to take notice of, noting arises; because there is the will to take notice, noticing takes place. This is understanding the relationship between cause and effect. It is the second Insight knowledge called ‘The knowledge distinguishing between Cause and Effect’ (Paccaya Pariggaha Ñæ¼a.) When concentration becomes stronger in every act of noting, instantaneous arising and passing away of both the object noticed and the awareness of it becomes evident. One seeing thus by direct knowledge there arises the reflection, ‘Things are neither permanent nor pleasurable but suffering. Life is simply phenomena and there is no ego or personal entity.’ This reflection arises from personal experiences. It is the knowledge of comprehension’ (Sammæsana Ñæ¼a). It is also Vipassanæ Sammædi¥¥¬i Magga³ga (Mundane Right Understanding). After that there arises the knowledge in which instantaneous arising and passing away of whatever object noticed is evident in every act of noting. It is The Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away (Udayabbaya Ñæ¼a). When this knowledge arises bright, lights are seen even in the darkness. The body seems to be very light and both the body and mind are at ease. Noticing becomes good and pleasant feeling arises. This is also Vipassanæ Sammædi¥¥¬i Magga³ga. Then there arises a knowledge in which only instantaneous dissolution of objects noticed is evident, in every act of noting. It is the extraordinary insight knowledge known as ‘The Knowledge of Dissolution’ (Bha³ga Ñæ¼a). This also is Vipassanæ Sammædi¥¥¬i Magga³ga. Then there follow the knowledge’s in which in every act of noting, the objects noticed are seen as fearful, miserable and disgusting. They are the Knowledge of Fearfulness (Bhaya Ñæ¼a) the Knowledge of Misery (Ædønava Ñæ¼a) and the Knowledge of Disgust (Nibbidæ Ñæ¼a). They are also Vipassanæ Sammædi¥¥¬i Magga³gas. Then a distinctive knowledge arises where bodily and mental processes (Sa³khæra) are perceived without much effort and with equanimity. It is the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations (Sa³khærupekkhæ Ñæ¼a). This also is Vipassanæ Sammædi¥¥¬i Magga³ga. From the Knowledge of distinguishing between Mind and Matter up to the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations the will, which inclined the mind onto the object of meditation so as to develop (mundane) right understanding is mundane Right Thought (Vipassanæ Sammæsa³kappa Magga³ga) which arises in every act of noting. The mundane Right Understanding and Right Thought belong to the section ‘Wisdom’ (Paññæ Magga³ga). The development of the insight knowledge’s up to the Sa³khærupekkhæ Ñæ¼a are based on the three Samædhi Magga³gas and two Paññæ Magga³gas. This is in conformity with the preaching in the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta which says that the Middle Way causes the Eye of Wisdom to arise. Right Speech (Sammæ Væcæ), Right Action (Sammæ Kammanta) and Right Livelihood (Sammæ Æjøva). belong to the section ‘Morality’ (Søla Magga³ga). By practising meditation these Søla Magga³gas are accomplished. The three Samædhi Magga³gas two Paññæ Magga³gas and three Søla Magga³gas in other words are called The Middle way (Eightfold Magga³ga). Continuous noting on every act of seeing, hearing, touching, thinking develops new Eightfold Magga³ga. This development of new Eightfold Magga³ga beginning from the Knowledge of distinguishing between Mind and Matter up to the Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations, amounts to the arising of the Eye of wisdom. When this Eye of Wisdom (mundane) is matured, Nibbæna is realized through supramundeane Path and Fruition Knowledge’s (Ariyan Magga and Phala Ñæ¼a). The Bodhisatta by practising the Middle Way (Eightfold Noble Path) developed the insight knowledge and after attaining the Arahatta Path and Fruition Knowledge became a fully Enlightened One. After becoming a Buddha he preached the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta so that others may, like himself, realize Nibbæna through the Ariyan Magga and Phala Ñæ¼a by meditating on the arising and passing away of physical and mental phenomena. In the Satipa¥¥¬æna sutta the method how to practise Insight Meditation is explained in detail. It is divided into four main divisions namely (1) Contemplation of Body, i.e. mindfulness of bodily activities such as walking, standing, sitting etc. (2) Contemplation of Feelings, i.e. mindfulness of feelings such as pleasant, unpleasant, neutral etc. (3) Contemplation of Mind, i.e. mindfulness of thoughts such as thinking, reflecting etc. and (4) Contemplation of Mind-objects i.e. mindfulness of seeing, hearing, touching, etc. The Buddha said that the Fourfold Fundamental of Mindfulness is the Only Way (Ekæyano) to attain the Path Knowledge and to realize Nibbæna (Ñæyassa adhigamæya nibbænassa sacchikiriyæya). Since the Buddha had claimed that this is the Only Way, it must be remembered that no other way can lead to the attainment of Magga, Phala and Nibbæna. So as to escape from all suffering and to attain the Magga, Phala and Nibbæna one must practise this Mindfulness Meditation to the best of his ability. To be able to practise this meditation I will explain it in brief. Meditating Vipassanæ for about five minutes Please sit with your legs crossed or in any suitable manner. As looking is not necessary please close your eyes. Focus the mind on the object of meditation. In the beginning it is difficult to take notice of all the arising, hearing etc, and so begin with the noticing of the rising and falling movement of the abdomen. Put your mind on the abdomen and when it rises note as rising and when it falls note as falling. Noting must not be done verbally, just note mentally. Do not think of rising and falling as words but note only the actual process of the movement of the abdomen. Try to follow the rising movement from the beginning to the end and the same with falling movement. The awareness of this movement by mindful noting amounts to knowing of the element of motion in its ultimate reality. According to the Satip楥¬æna sutta, this is Contemplation of Body. While thus noting the abdominal movement, if thought or reflection arises, take notice of it. This is contemplation of mind. Then continue the noting of the abdominal movement. If pain or ache arises, take notice of it. This is Contemplation of feelings. After noting it two three times go back to the noting of the rising and falling movement of the abdomen. If hearing arises, take notice of it two three times and go back to the noting of the abdominal movement. If seeing arises, take notice of it two three times. This is contemplation of Mind-objects. Then resume noting of the abdominal movement. Now let us practise for about five minutes. Conclusion Now five minutes are over. In one minute there can be 50 to 60 nothings. For five minutes there will be not less than 250. This is developing good deed of insight meditation in accordance with the teaching of the Buddha. While thus noting, with the improvement of concentration, knowledge distinguishing between Mind and Matter, knowledge of Cause and Effect, knowledge of Arising and Passing away, knowledge of Impermanency Suffering; and Egolessness may arise and Nibbbæna realized through Path and fruition knowledge. By practising this Mindfulness Meditation by the method explained above, to the best of your ability, may you all realize Nibbæna in the very near future.
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