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General
Buddhism |
To Do or Not To Do !
Is that a question?
MEDITATION
CONTENTSSome words from Sogyal Rinpoche's book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying to Westerners:
"We are so addicted to looking outside ourself, that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what to find. We may even think that if we meditate, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of the ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature. So, we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. ... In a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us."
Please realise that these pages just deal with Buddhist meditation. The Tibetan word for meditation, "gom" can actually be translated as familiarising, habituating. In short, it means to familiarise with a positive state of mind. This familiarisation means actually training the mind. Meditation here is much more than just relaxing, it is trying to develop a highly concentrated and clear state of mind, which is blissful to be in. This state is called "Shamatha" in Sanskrit (see below). Once we have reached this very advanced state of mind, we can learn everything we want very quickly, including transforming our mind. Not only our conscious thoughts can be brought under control, also our emotions and unconsciousness, as they are all based on concepts, which can be changed.
In meditation, we try to develop wisdom, learn to observe our own mind, decrease
negative mind states and develop positive mind states. To develop wisdom and
insight, we need a calm, clear and concentrated mind. To observe our own mind,
we need to develop a kind of inner "spy" - a part of our attention that checks
our state of mind. To decrease negative mind states we need to understand where
they come from and transform them into positive energy with the wisdom developed
from observing our own mind. To develop positive mind states, we need to focus
away from selfishness and again develop wisdom by observing our own mind.
As you may realise from the above, we should actually become our own psychologist,
or like the title of a booklet by Lama Yeshe which is called: "Becoming
Your Own Therapist".
We will need concentration instead of being scattered, and clarity of mind
instead of dullness. We need to observe our own thoughts and mind states instead
of getting lost in emotions or becoming prejudiced. We need to be honest towards
ourselves instead of fooling ourselves and walk away from unpleasant problems.
Furthermore, we need to be patient (one does not become a meditation master
over night), generate self-acceptance, confidence and enthusiasm to make the
mind peaceful.
All these factors need to be in balance: we need to be somewhat relaxed as well
as concentrated, we need to avoid both sleepiness and excitement.
A quote from the late Lama Yeshe:
"Many meditators emphasise too much on concentration: if you are squeezing, then there is no control of anger if someone disturbs you. The beauty of real meditation is, that even if you are disturbed, you can allow space and time for this."
Another misunderstanding about meditation is that we should stop thinking. I assume this comes from the emphasis in many Zen schools to "stop thinking" - which I understand to mean that one cannot realise or experience emptiness when being only caught up in conceptual thoughts about it. That would be similar to trying to experience a beautiful sunset while discussing with yourself, "Is it the colour of the clouds that make it beautiful, or is it the quietness; why does the sun turn red etc."
As Allan Wallace writes in Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up:
"The point of Buddhist meditation is not to stop thinking, for ... cultivation of insight clearly requires intelligent use of thought and discrimination. What needs to be stopped is conceptualisation that is compulsive, mechanical and unintelligent, that is, activity that is always fatiguing, usually pointless, and at times seriously harmful.
The definition of shamatha is: the ability to hold our minds on the object
of meditation with clarity and stability for as long as we wish, conjoined with
mental and physical pliancy. It is also called single pointed concentration.
With shamatha, the mind becomes extremely flexible and drastically reduces the
power of disturbing attitudes, gross anger, attachment, jealousy etc. do not
arise.
Prerequisites for calm abiding:
1. Agreeable place: easy to obtain food without wrong livelihood, powerful place (blessed by holy persons) and quiet, not disease-ridden, proper companions and one should have heard and studied the teachings.
2. Have few desires in terms of food, clothes etc.
3. Knowing satisfaction: acceptance of what you haven and who you are.
4. Pure ethics: try to prevent any negative actions.
5. Forsaking commotion/excitement: few purposes outside meditation, reduce any other activities
6. Abandoning thoughts of desire and lust: contemplating faults of desire and impermanence.
As you may understand from the above, the achievement of shamatha is not a small task. It is said that if one is completely focused on the practice, some people can achieve it in 6 months. There are not many people around who can claim to have mastered shamatha. To seriously engage in this practice, the advice of a teacher should be sought, and several good books have appeared on the subject.
Vipashyana is defined as: the correct discernment of the object of meditation,
coupled with single-pointed concentration: a combination of analytical meditation
and calm abiding. To develop it, we need to learn to analyse the meditation
object. But not only conceptual; it is a more fully understanding the object.
Our conceptual understanding will eventually turn into direct, non-conceptual
experience.
As the Buddha said: "like fire arises from two pieces of wood rubbed together,
so does analytical wisdom arise from the conceptual state. And just like the
fire increases and burns away all the wood, analytical wisdom increases and
burns away all conceptual states."
2 Types of analytical meditation are distinguished:
1. To transform our attitude. Understanding the problems and misunderstanding
of anger, we can eliminate anger.
2. Analysis of the meditation object to understand and perceive it directly.
When doing analytical meditation, never take the first answer you give to a question for granted, when you ask "why, how and when" a couple of times more, you may discover the "real" answers. Also, the answers should not only come just from the intellect, also check your feelings and emotions.
An example: in death meditation you can think of death. When you ask, "Will
I die?" the immediate answer will be "Yes", and it seems you are finished. But
take some time to check with yourself if you live your life consciously in the
realisation that you can die any minute.
"How would it feel to die right now?" will get you into another level of the
mind.
Then ask "Why dying?" again, and you may answer, "Negative karma", but rather
than giving just the textbook answers, check how these things feel: "How does
negative karma feel?", "Do I really believe in karma, and do I act that way?".
Analytical meditation is not just about giving the quick logical answers from
the books, but verifying what your OWN answers are. For me personally, often
the real stuff appears to be stowed away in emotions and is hiding behind the
logical straightforward answers.
After doing the analysis, one should single-pointedly focus on the conclusion
you made, without analysis, just "look at it".
This really works to let your conclusions "sink in".
As example using above meditation, you may conclude that you are really not so sure whether you believe in karma. The conclusion may well be something like: "I have to check about karma more" or "I need to check why I often don't act as if I believe in karma". Personally, this is the kind of stuff that makes me more sensitive and aware about my state of mind, and it stimulates to meditate more on the subjects of lamrim.
I would strongly advise everyone to start with a serious course in meditation in a centre, preferably at least with a few days in silence. This will give you a genuine feeling of the effect that meditation can have on the mind. Many people try to teach themselves meditation by reading books etc., But I think I have never met an enthusiastic self-taught meditator. So a proper course with a qualified teacher is invaluable. Furthermore, one should realise that meditation once a week is not considered very helpful: better five minutes a day, every day, than two hours once a week.
Before starting meditation, we need to take care of a few things:
- a quiet place (using music is nicely relaxing, but not really meditation),
switching off the telephone may help.
- make sure you are not too tired, early morning is generally said to be the
best time.
- sit comfortable; most people like a cushion under their behind, the room not
too warm or cold
- wear loose, comfortable clothing, .
- try to create continuity in time and place to become habituated to the circumstances
of meditation.
The body:
- keeping the back straight, in whichever posture you meditate is most essential.
- try to be comfortable and physically relaxed.
- keep the head straight, slightly bent forward, keep the teeth slightly apart,
the tip of the tongue against the upper pallet.
- the eyes are best kept half-open (without really looking), but many beginners
find that too distracting and close them.
- the shoulders should be relaxed and the hands can be put in one's lap
- the legs can be in the full lotus (which not may Westerners manage), but also
simply crossed. In fact, other positions like sitting on one's knees or on a
bench are good as well. If these are too difficult, you can also use a chair.
When using a chair, try to use only the front half of the seat, not leaning
against the back rest to avoid a bent back, and keep the feet flat on the floor.
Keeping the knees warm may help to avoid numbness of the legs.
- try belly-breathing; not breathing with the chest, but from the navel.
- always remember that the posture should enhance meditation, not be an obstacle!
The mind:
- be relaxed but at the same time awake and attentive: find your balance!
- be a careful observer of your own mind and thoughts
The session:
1. Try and set yourself a minimum time that you want to meditate and try to
stick to that as a minimum.
2. Motivation - to know what you are doing, most Buddhists will start
with a refuge prayer, generating bodhicitta (for example using the prayer
of the four immeasurables) and the seven-limb prayer (this contains the aspects
of respectfulness towards the teachers, making (mental) offerings, admitting
one's past mistakes, rejoicing in positive actions, asking the teachers to remain,
requesting them to teach and dedicating the practice to full enlightenment).
3a. Calming and clearing the mind - often using a simple (but hard-to-do) breathing
meditation - see below.
3b. Optional for an analytical meditation: take specific object or technique
and stay with that - avoid excuses to change subject.
4. Conclusion and dedication - to make impression on the mind
In short: meditation is a method to transform ourselves into the person we would like to be; don't forget what you want to be like, therefore we need to set the motivation which gives perseverance in the practice. Keep relaxed, don't push yourself and don't expect great experiences. A dedication at the end directs positive energy towards results.
The Tibetans advise the '6 Preparatory Practices' prior to the first
traditional meditation session of the day:
1. Sweep and clean the room and arrange the altar.
2. Make offerings on the altar, e.g. light, food, incense, water bowls, etc..
3. Sit in a comfortable position and examine your mind. If there is much distraction,
do some breathing meditation to calm your mind. Then establish a good motivation.
After that, take refuge and generate the altruistic intention by reciting the
appropriate prayers.
4. Visualize the merit field with the Gurus, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, etc. If
this is too difficult, visualize Shakyamuni Buddha alone and consider him the
embodiment of all Buddhas, Dharma and Sangha.
5. Offer the seven limb prayer (sent previously) and the mandala, by reciting
those prayers.
6. Make requests to the lineage gurus for inspiration by reciting the requesting
prayers. It is also good to review the entire graduated path to enlightenment
by reciting for example, "Foundation of All Good Qualities".
This helps you to understand the purpose of the particular meditation that you
will do in the overall scheme of training the mind in the gradual path. It also
plants the seed for you to obtain each realization of the path.
A breathing meditation session could be like this:
Give yourself a minimum time, like 15 or 30 minutes for the session, put a
clock in front of yourself.
Take a couple of deep breaths to relax, check if your body is relaxed and reasonably
comfortable.
Set the motivation: for example recite the refuge prayer:
I go for refuge to the Buddha,Setting the mind towards enlightenment (a prayer from the Mahayana tradition):
I go for refuge to the Dharma,
I go for refuge to the Sangha. (3x)
By virtue of giving and so forth,My personal favourite: the four immeasurables:
may I become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings. (3x)
May all sentient beings have equanimity, free from attachment, aggression and prejudice.The seven-limbed prayer may be a good idea:
May they be happy, and have the causes for happiness.
May they be free from suffering and causes for suffering.
May they never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering. (3x)
Respectfully I prostrate with body, speech and mind;Next, concentrate on the tip of your nose, and feel the breath going in and out.
I present clouds of every type of offerings, actual and imagined;
I declare all my negative actions done since beginningless time,
and rejoice in the merit of all Aryas and ordinary beings.
Please, remain until cyclic existence ends
and turn the wheel of Dharma for all sentient beings.
I dedicate the virtues of myself and others to the great Enlightenment.
By this virtue may I soon
reach a Guru-Buddha-state,
and lead each and every being
to that state of Buddhahood.May the precious Bodhicitta
not yet born, arise and grow
may that born have no decline
but increase forever more.
Pain
Physical pain is a common experience, especially when you are not yet used to
the position. Instead of immediately moving at the first note of discomfort,
remain seated, do not move and study yourself and the pain. How does pain really
feel? Give yourself time to discover and explore the feeling. You can visualise
your body as completely empty, or feel remote from the body, as if you are observing
yourself from outside. When the pain is very strong and comes every session
again, check your posture; experiment if you like to sit on a higher cushion
or without, try different positions etc. Also yoga exercises can help a lot.
Take a physical brief break by standing up, but try to keep in the meditative
state of mind.
Sensual desire, attachment
A common disturbance is being drawn to someone or something; it is often not
easy to forget about your lover or a piece of chocolate once the thought has
come up. But you can try some of the following: realising that these things
are so brief and come with problems attached. Fulfilling one desires is never
enough, the next one will come. Looking at the reality of the object: a body
is really not much more than a bag of skin filled with bones, meat, blood etc.
Distraction, restlessness, worry
The best way is not to give it attention, notice it and don't get involved.
If it persists, usually it helps to do a short period of breathing meditation
as described above. Check with yourself if you are maybe pushing too hard, if
so, relax a bit. You can remember that past and future don't exist, there is
only the here and now. Restlessness from the past and worry for the future are
illusions. Sometimes it helps to get the energy down from the head and to remember
belly-breathing. You can also focus on an imagined black spot between the eyebrows.
Persistent matters can be given a very short attention and the promise to deal
with it later. It may even help to have a pen and paper at hand to make a very
short note. However, make sure you don't start to write an essay - then it just
becomes an escape from meditation. If everything else fails, try an analytical
meditation on the problem or situation that distracts.
Lethargy, drowsiness, sleepiness
Remember that death is certain, and this chance for meditation should not be
missed. There is only the here and now, past and future are imaginations. Check
your motivation for meditating. You can concentrate on a visualised white light
between the eyebrows. Take a couple of deep breaths. If you are really tired,
take a rest and continue later.
With all these problems, do not let yourself get discouraged to easily; meditation is about habituation, so it takes quite a while to get used to. Don't condemn yourself when a session did not go well, try to find the cause and avoid it next time. Remember that we cannot avoid problems, but we can change our reaction to them. Be kind to yourself!
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Last updated: March 6, 2001
