Everyone
seeks peace and harmony, because this is what we lack in our lives.
From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, disharmony.
And when we suffer from these miseries, we don't keep them to ourselves;
we often distribute them to others as well. Unhappiness permeates the
atmosphere around someone who is miserable, and those who come in
contact with such a person also become affected. Certainly this is not a
skillful way to live.
We ought to live at peace with ourselves, and at peace with
others. After all, human beings are social beings, having to live in
society and deal with each other. But how are we to live peacefully? How
are we to remain harmonious within, and maintain peace and harmony
around us, so that others can also live peacefully and harmoniously?
In order to be relieved of our misery, we have to know the
basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering. If we investigate the
problem, it becomes clear that whenever we start generating any
negativity or impurity in the mind, we are bound to become unhappy. A
negativity in the mind, a mental defilement or impurity, cannot coexist
with peace and harmony.
How do we start generating negativity? Again, by investigation,
it becomes clear. We become unhappy when we find someone behaving in a
way that we don't like, or when we find something happening which we
don't like. Unwanted things happen and we create tension within. Wanted
things do not happen, some obstacle comes in the way, and again we
create tension within; we start tying knots within. And throughout life,
unwanted things keep on happening, wanted things may or may not happen,
and this process of reaction, of tying knots—Gordian knots—makes the
entire mental and physical structure so tense, so full of negativity,
that life becomes miserable.
Now, one way to solve this problem is to arrange that nothing
unwanted happens in life, that everything keeps on happening exactly as
we desire. Either we must develop the power, or somebody else who will
come to our aid must have the power, to see that unwanted things do not
happen and that everything we want happens. But this is impossible.
There is no one in the world whose desires are always fulfilled, in
whose life everything happens according to his or her wishes, without
anything unwanted happening. Things constantly occur that are contrary
to our desires and wishes. So the question arises: how can we stop
reacting blindly when confronted with things that we don't like? How can
we stop creating tension and remain peaceful and harmonious?
In India, as well as in other countries, wise saintly persons
of the past studied this problem—the problem of
human suffering—and
found a solution: if something unwanted happens and you start to react
by generating anger, fear or any negativity, then, as soon as possible,
you should divert your attention to something else. For example, get up,
take a glass of water, start drinking—your anger won't multiply; on the
other hand, it'll begin to subside. Or start counting: one, two, three,
four. Or start repeating a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, perhaps
the name of a god or saintly person towards whom you have devotion; the
mind is diverted, and to some extent you'll be free of the negativity,
free of the anger.
This solution was helpful; it worked. It still works.
Responding like this, the mind feels free from agitation. However, the
solution works only at the conscious level. In fact, by diverting the
attention you push the negativity deep into the unconscious, and there
you continue to generate and multiply the same defilement. On the
surface there is a layer of peace and harmony, but in the depths of the
mind there is a sleeping volcano of suppressed negativity which sooner
or later may erupt in a violent explosion.
Other explorers of inner truth went still further in their
search and, by experiencing the reality of mind and matter within
themselves, recognized that diverting the attention is only running away
from the problem. Escape is no solution; you have to face the problem.
Whenever negativity arises in the mind, just observe it, face it. As
soon as you start to observe a mental impurity, it begins to lose its
strength and slowly withers away.
A good solution; it avoids both extremes—suppression and
expression. Burying the negativity in the unconscious will not eradicate
it, and allowing it to manifest as unwholesome physical or vocal
actions will only create more problems. But if you just observe, then
the defilement passes away and you are free of it.
This sounds wonderful, but is it really practical? It's not
easy to face one's own impurities. When anger arises, it so quickly
overwhelms us that we don't even notice. Then, overpowered by anger, we
perform physical or vocal actions which harm ourselves and others.
Later, when the anger has passed, we start crying and repenting, begging
pardon from this or that person or from God: “Oh, I made a mistake,
please excuse me!” But the next time we are in a similar situation, we
again react in the same way. This continual repenting doesn't help at
all.
The difficulty is that we are not aware when negativity starts.
It begins deep in the unconscious mind, and by the time it reaches the
conscious level it has gained so much strength that it overwhelms us,
and we cannot observe it.
Suppose that I employ a private secretary, so that whenever
anger arises he says to me, “Look, anger is starting!” Since I cannot
know when this anger will start, I'll need to hire three private
secretaries for three shifts, around the clock! Let's say I can afford
it, and anger begins to arise. At once my secretary tells me, “Oh
look—anger has started!” The first thing I'll do is rebuke him: “You
fool! You think you're paid to teach me?” I'm so overpowered by anger
that good advice won't help.
Suppose wisdom does prevail and I don't scold him. Instead, I
say, “Thank you very much. Now I must sit down and observe my anger.”
Yet, is it possible? As soon as I close my eyes and try to observe
anger, the object of the anger immediately comes into my mind—the person
or incident which initiated the anger. Then I'm not observing the anger
itself; I'm merely observing the external stimulus of that emotion.
This will only serve to multiply the anger, and is therefore no
solution. It is very difficult to observe any abstract negativity,
abstract emotion, divorced from the external object which originally
caused it to arise.
However, someone who reached the ultimate truth found a real
solution. He discovered that whenever any impurity arises in the mind,
physically two things start happening simultaneously. One is that the
breath loses its normal rhythm. We start breathing harder whenever
negativity comes into the mind. This is easy to observe. At a subtler
level, a biochemical reaction starts in the body, resulting in some
sensation. Every impurity will generate some sensation or the other
within the body.
This presents a practical solution. An ordinary person cannot
observe abstract defilements of the mind—abstract fear, anger or
passion. But with proper training and practice it is very easy to
observe respiration and body sensations, both of which are directly
related to mental defilements.
Respiration and sensations will help in two ways. First, they
will be like private secretaries. As soon as a negativity arises in the
mind, the breath will lose its normality; it will start shouting, “Look,
something has gone wrong!” And we cannot scold the breath; we have to
accept the warning. Similarly, the sensations will tell us that
something has gone wrong. Then, having been warned, we can start
observing the respiration, start observing the sensations, and very
quickly we find that the negativity passes away.
This mental-physical phenomenon is like a coin with two sides.
On one side are the thoughts and emotions arising in the mind, on the
other side are the respiration and sensations in the body. Any thoughts
or emotions, any mental impurities that arise manifest themselves in the
breath and the sensations of that moment. Thus, by observing the
respiration or the sensations, we are in fact observing mental
impurities. Instead of running away from the problem, we are facing
reality as it is. As a result, we discover that these impurities lose
their strength; they no longer overpower us as they did in the past. If
we persist, they eventually disappear altogether and we begin to live a
peaceful and happy life, a life increasingly free of negativities.
In this way the technique of self-observation shows us reality
in its two aspects, inner and outer. Previously we only looked outward,
missing the inner truth. We always looked outside for the cause of our
unhappiness; we always blamed and tried to change the reality outside.
Being ignorant of the inner reality, we never understood that the cause
of suffering lies within, in our own blind reactions toward pleasant and
unpleasant sensations.
Now, with training, we can see the other side of the coin. We
can be aware of our breathing and also of what is happening inside.
Whatever it is, breath or sensation, we learn just to observe it without
losing our mental balance. We stop reacting and multiplying our misery.
Instead, we allow the defilements to manifest and pass away.
The more one practices this technique, the more quickly
negativities will dissolve. Gradually the mind becomes free of
defilements, becomes pure. A pure mind is always full of love—selfless
love for all others, full of compassion for the failings and sufferings
of others, full of joy at their success and happiness, full of
equanimity in the face of any situation.
When one reaches this stage, the entire pattern of one's life
changes. It is no longer possible to do anything vocally or physically
which will disturb the peace and happiness of others. Instead, a
balanced mind not only becomes peaceful, but the surrounding atmosphere
also becomes permeated with peace and harmony, and this will start
affecting others, helping others too.
By learning to remain balanced in the face of everything
experienced inside, one develops detachment towards all that one
encounters in external situations as well. However, this detachment is
not escapism or indifference to the problems of the world. Those who
regularly practice Vipassana become more sensitive to the sufferings of
others, and do their utmost to relieve suffering in whatever way they
can—not with any agitation, but with a mind full of love, compassion and
equanimity. They learn holy indifference—how to be fully committed,
fully involved in helping others, while at the same time maintaining
balance of mind. In this way they remain peaceful and happy, while
working for the peace and happiness of others.
This is what the Buddha taught: an art of living. He never
established or taught any religion, any “ism”. He never instructed those
who came to him to practice any rites or rituals, any empty
formalities. Instead, he taught them just to observe nature as it is, by
observing the reality inside. Out of ignorance we keep reacting in ways
which harm ourselves and others. But when wisdom arises—the wisdom of
observing reality as it is—this habit of reacting falls away. When we
cease to react blindly, then we are capable of real action—action
proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and understands the
truth. Such action can only be positive, creative, helpful to ourselves
and to others.
What is necessary, then, is to “know thyself”—advice which
every wise person has given. We must know ourselves, not just
intellectually in the realm of ideas and theories, and not just
emotionally or devotionally, simply accepting blindly what we have heard
or read. Such knowledge is not enough. Rather, we must know reality
experientially. We must experience directly the reality of this
mental-physical phenomenon. This alone is what will help us be free of
our suffering.
This direct experience of our own inner reality, this technique
of self-observation, is what is called Vipassana meditation. In the
language of India in the time of the Buddha, passana meant seeing in the
ordinary way, with one's eyes open; but vipassana is observing things
as they actually are, not just as they appear to be. Apparent truth has
to be penetrated, until we reach the ultimate truth of the entire
psycho-physical structure. When we experience this truth, then we learn
to stop reacting blindly, to stop creating negativities—and naturally
the old ones are gradually eradicated. We become liberated from misery
and experience true happiness.
There are three steps to the training given in a meditation
course. First, one must abstain from any action, physical or vocal,
which disturbs the peace and harmony of others. One cannot work to
liberate oneself from impurities of the mind while at the same time
continuing to perform deeds of body and speech which only multiply them.
Therefore, a code of morality is the essential first step of the
practice. One undertakes not to kill, not to steal, not to commit sexual
misconduct, not to tell lies, and not to use intoxicants. By abstaining
from such actions, one allows the mind to quiet down sufficiently in
order to proceed further.
The next step is to develop some mastery over this wild mind by
training it to remain fixed on a single object, the breath. One tries
to keep one's attention on the respiration for as long as possible. This
is not a breathing exercise; one does not regulate the breath. Instead,
one observes natural respiration as it is, as it comes in, as it goes
out. In this way one further calms the mind so that it is no longer
overpowered by intense negativities. At the same time, one is
concentrating the mind, making it sharp and penetrating, capable of the
work of insight.
These first two steps, living a moral life, and controlling the
mind, are very necessary and beneficial in themselves, but they will
lead to suppression of negativities unless one takes the third step:
purifying the mind of defilements by developing insight into one's own
nature. This is Vipassana: experiencing one's own reality by the
systematic and dispassionate observation within oneself of the
ever-changing mind-matter phenomenon manifesting itself as sensations.
This is the culmination of the teaching of the Buddha: self-purification
by self-observation.
It can be practiced by one and all. Everyone faces the problem
of suffering. It is a universal malady which requires a universal
remedy, not a sectarian one. When one suffers from anger, it's not
Buddhist anger, Hindu anger, or Christian anger. Anger is anger. When
one becomes agitated as a result of this anger, this agitation is not
Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim. The malady is universal. The remedy
must also be universal.
Vipassana is such a remedy. No one will object to a code of
living which respects the peace and harmony of others. No one will
object to developing control over the mind. No one will object to
developing insight into one's own nature, by which it is possible to
free the mind of negativities. Vipassana is a universal path.
Observing reality as it is by observing the truth inside—this
is knowing oneself directly and experientially. As one practices, one
keeps freeing oneself from the misery of mental impurities. From the
gross, external, apparent truth, one penetrates to the ultimate truth of
mind and matter. Then one transcends that, and experiences a truth
which is beyond mind and matter, beyond time and space, beyond the
conditioned field of relativity: the truth of total liberation from all
defilements, all impurities, all suffering. Whatever name one gives this
ultimate truth is irrelevant; it is the final goal of everyone.
May you all experience this ultimate truth. May all people be
free from misery. May they enjoy real peace, real harmony, real
happiness.
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY
Source:-Vipassana Meditation
No comments:
Post a Comment