Bhavana – The Mind Development.
Bhavana in Pali Language means, the practice meant for 'the development of the Mind', which is translated to English as Meditation, which is wrong, hence I would be using only the word Bhavana.
The Mind is not Brain, and the mind is not a physical organ. There is a specific meaning to the word 'Mind', in Buddhism, which is not important to the practitioner of Bhavana, to the practitioner of the Buddhist Mind Development.
There are four areas of Bhavana, the development of the mind, in the Buddhist Bhavana.
This Bhavana practice is known as Development of
Wisdom. The practice of which does not start at any
particular point with other Bhavana. When one studies
from Buddhist books and Nikayas (Lord Buddha's
teaching in the Thripitaka) about the Three Signs of
Existence, that is, Impermanence, Suffering and
Essence-less-ness, one start to develop Wisdom, as an
understanding in relation to the world. But with the
practice of Samatha and Vipassana Bhavana, Wisdom
would be further developed to the nature of the mind.
There are Buddhist Bhavana practitioners, so they call themselves as such, who practice the Vipassana Bhavana they say, that is Insight Mediation, thus trying to Penetrate the Mind, without getting established in Sati. That is they have not practised Samatha Bhavana. So without having Sati, they cannot get their 'Sati' established in the four states of mind and body to penetrate (Vipassa) the mind, so they never have insight, to see the depth of the mind, but they only see the surface level of the mind, that is they see thoughts, emotions and feelings only.
If one is unable to develop Sati and get established in it, by Samatha Bhavana, then until such time he has to forget about developing the Penetration (Vipassa), using Vipassana Bhavana, Insight Mediation.
Therefore it should be clear that one cannot start with Vipassana Bhavana, that is Insight Mediation, before developing Sati and getting established in the Sati, by Samatha Bhavana, to start the Bhavana practice of Vipassana Bhavana, which is next.
Pre-requisites to Samatha Bhavana practice.
No let us see how the Samatha Bhavana is practiced, to develop the Sati and get established in Sati.
Practicing Aanapana Sati. (Samatha Bhavana).
There are some prerequisites to start Samatha Bhavana, which is called as Tranquil Meditation or as Concentration Meditation as well.
When one's mind get concentrated, the mind gets a rest from all activities. That is mind gets calmed down or does not think. Thinking is the mind's usual activity. When mind rests from its usual activity of 'thinking', the body gets tranquillized or become restful. That is the reason why this Meditation is called as Samatha, meaning 'Resting' or 'Tranquil'. This 'resting' or 'tranquil' state happens both in the mind and body, because, both mind and the body relates to each other, corresponds to each other. If the body is 'sick' or has an aliment, then mind won't become restful. Hence, one cannot make the mind to rest from its activities of thinking, without making body to rest as well.
Therefore, if one has an ailment or a sickness or an injury, he has to cure himself fully, before starting Samatha Bhavana.
He/She should be younger in age.
When one become older one's power of concentration as well as energy to involve oneself in a new learning activity goes down.
Must be Intelligent.
Some fail to understand the meditation instruction to apply them in the practice. While practicing one has to 'observe' himself of his mind activity and to come to correct conclusions about the practice to move forward. Meditation instruction are a guide. But mostly the practitioner himself has to guide himself, using his observation and intelligence.
Bhavana practice, Schedule.
The beginner of the Bhavan practice may start his practice for a duration of 5 to 15 minutes in the early morning and in the evening, daily. This is only a guide. One can discover his own time limitations gradually.
Who may start with 5 minutes only?
One has to calm both the mind and the body to come to the Samadi state of one pointedness. Thoughts and thinking give rise to emotions. For instance, if there is an angry thought or thinking, it will make one emotionally angry. The emotions may be not apparent and visible to others usually, but one can detect it in himself easily. Then if the thinking has more power, and maintain itself by repeating, the power of thinking gathers more momentum, hence emotions will increase, giving rise to 'Feelings'. Once, feelings of anger engulfs the mind, it engulfs the body as well. When anger covers the body as a 'feeling', it will be visible to outsiders as well.
Similarly, thoughts and thinking in terms of Desire and Ego, if they have more 'force' in them, they will get translated into 'feelings of Desire' and 'feelings of Ego' thus becoming apparent to others as well.
When these feelings engulfs oneself, due to the 'force' created by thinking, heart start to beat fast, and breathing become quicker and uneven. A person who continuously have such a situation, due to different problems in life, in the household life as well as in the work place, is having an aliment known as 'hypertension'. Such a person, when trying to meditate, the tensions may sometime increase, if he tries to the practice more than 5 minutes. What he will really be doing at those 5 minutes to understand his present state of mind and to gradually calm down the 'feelings', which give rise to the tension.
Overcoming The Hypertension.
If one cannot practice Bhavana for more than 5 minutes, it means that one is suffering from Hypertension. But this practice of Bhavana is one of the tools to overcome Hypertension.
For that first one must understand the Bhavana technique and methods and its implications.
Applying 'attention' on the breathing.
When one practices Bhavana, this is what one is supposed to do. But the problem is whether one will be able to do this successfully is the question. If one has hypertension, he will definitely will not be able to do this. Even without hypertension, it may be difficult. But trying to do this practice of maintaining the 'attention' on breathing one will be able to discover the problems, which are the hindrances to the practice.
A person with hypertension will be able to detect, that there are thinking, that he is indulging in due to problems in life, such as conflicts in the work place, at home, etc. At work place there may be higher work demand or there my be conflicts with seniors or with colleagues. These thoughts may give rise to anger, fear, insecurity, etc. Or it may be issues at home. The partner may be thinking of getting a divorce, or one may contemplating a divorce on the partner. These issues cannot be overcome or solved by Bhavana, that is by paying attention to the Breathing. But when these thoughts and emotions rise up, one should clearly identify them and contemplate those issues, and try to find or imagine a solution for them, by taking a rest from trying to pay attention to breathing, while in the seated position of Bhavana .
Contemplation (Meditation).
The solution one come across may be to abandon the job and find a new one. Let the partner get a divorce. etc. What happens when one contemplates, while practising Bhavana, on the distracted thoughts and emotions, is contemplation, is Meditation. So meditation is the beginning part of the Bhavana. This meditation or contemplation will help to understand one's problems without, and to find a suitable solutions.
There may be issues and problems, which needs an answer. For instance, one may be contemplating, 'Why this happens to me?' or just 'Why this happens?', a question on some work problem or even in study problems. What one has to do here is to pose the problem to the mind, and feed all the data of the problem, to the mind, and without expecting an answer from the mind, one should continue on the practice. As a flash of understanding, the answer would come unexpectedly.
Most of these solutions which are arrived at by contemplation would involve, giving up the Desire or Anger for certain situation or a person. So a practitioner of Bhavana starts to give up many things, outside things, which are causing problems and sufferings. Some say, 'Let go', of the things which causes sufferings. But in this contemplations there is no such thing as 'Let go'. By contemplation one looks at the issues and understands himself the reasons for the problems and decides intelligently to abandon those 'reasons' which cause suffering.
Without understanding the 'reasons' by oneself, if one decides to do a thing like, 'let go', or on the advice of someone, it won't be a permanent solution, where one may come back to the same problems again.
This is the first step in the spirituality. abandoning the things outside, which causes suffering.
Then by the same contemplation one would discover there has to be some form of 'Abstinence' on many activities one does outside the Bhavana, which causes the Development in the Bhavana gained to go down. For instance, if anger goes down in the Bhavana, or desire goes down, then indulging in the same anger and desire outside, would reduce the gain achieved. Hence, one would find that 'Abstaining' from those activities of anger and desire, one can maintain and improve the development, in each session of Bhavana.
This 'Abstinence', which one discovers and adheres himself will be more than the 'Abstinence' expected. What is the expected minimum 'Abstinence' or 'Sila' for a practitioner of Bhavana?
If hypertension has already caused bodily changes and formations, these bodily formations would be a cause of hypertension, even if one understand the mental causes of the same, by Contemplation. Therefore one has to do physical exercises, balanced food, etc. apart from the 'Abstinence' (Sila) one discovers and the Contemplative Bhavana one does. It may be a little longer process in time to get oneself cured from these body formations of the ailment, hypertension.
Sitting Positions and Postures And Beginning The Practice of Bhavana.
For the beginner the best position or the posture to sit, is to sit on a chair or at the end of the bed, keeping the legs down on the floor. In this way one can concentrate on the practice, rather than dealing with the pains, which would arise otherwise, if one to tries some Yoga or Bhavana postures, which may be difficult in sitting for a longer duration.
When sitting thus, the hight of the chair or the bed should be high enough to keep the thighs straight on the bed or chair. It should not be too high, where legs cannot be positioned straight on the floor.
The next most important thing in siting for Bhavana, is to keep the body straight and relaxed.
During the day one can practice these postures of sitting, while not practicing Bhavana, but in other activities, such as sitting for the meals or even watching evening sunset. etc.
What is the next step in the practice?
It is to understand the aim or the goals of the practice of Bhavana. Here one starts the practice of Samatha Bhavana and it has the following aim or goals, one should achieve.
A. The Development of 'Sati', by establishing the 'Sati' on the Breathing. The 'Sati' is a mind attribute of subconscious. But the beginner is in the conscious state, when he starts the practice. Therefore, a beginner does not have Sati to begin with. But he has something similar, which constitutes the conscious state of the mind. That is 'Attention'. Since, the 'Attention' is a conscious mind state, it is not firm and does not fall into the category of a mental skill, as all conscious state of mind attributes are not metal skills, where one can have a control over, and therefore be able to manipulate them.
While practicing the 'Attention' on breathing, and by keeping this wavering, unstable attention fixed on the breathing, the partitioner of the Bhavana would transform the 'Attention' to that of an 'Obsessive Attention', which is more of a skill, where one would be keeping the 'Attention' obsessively on the breathing.
When does this 'Obsessive Attention' starts to take place? At the beginning in the practice, there would arise a dislike to keep the 'Attention' on the breathing, as thinking on something else would be much more delightful. But with the determination when one practices to reach the goals of Bhavana, cultivating more interest in Bhavana, and as also more and more results are gained, and when one experiences an uninterrupted 'Attention' on breathing, he would experience, Happiness and Joy. This will generate more interest in the practice, which would result in the 'Obsessive Attention' plus a desire to practice Bhavana more of the time.
Then will come the time, where this 'obsessive Attention' becomes a 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' on breathing. Here the 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' on breathing, is Fixed, not wavering. This 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' is known as 'Sati' and it belongs to the subconscious, meaning, now the practitioner, is no more a practitioner, but he is in Samadi, in the subconscious state of the mind, having the Skill to maintain 'Sati' on breathing .
Thus getting established in 'Sati' on the breathing is the main aim of the Samatha Bhavana practice.
What are the other aims of the Samatha Bhavana?
B. Getting established in Adistana, the Skill In The Resolution.
If all the condition to get, one to pay 'Attention' on breathing, are there in oneself, then without much effort and practice one can come to Samadi state of 'Sati'. This happens to young healthy people, whose mind is not corrupted by desires, anger, ideas, opinions and ego, and also still not got addicted to thinking. But many who comes to this Samadi state of 'Sati', fail to maintain the same, and also fail to get into the Samadi, when and where they want. It is because they have not developed the Mind attribute of Adistana, which is the Skill of Resolution, and it is a Skill one has to develop through Bhavana, as one develops the 'Sati'.
How does one practice Bhavana, in order to develop Adistana, the Skill of Resolution?
One has to make Adistana (resolutions) before beginning the Bhavana, but after siting for the same, with some comfortable posture, having body relaxed and erect. Then one says to oneself, what he hopes to do. For instance he can say,
X. Will do the practice of Bhavana for 15 minutes. (about 5 to 7 times). This should be done in one's own language, then it will be much more meaningful.
Y. Will be paying 'Attention' to the breathing, without getting distracted.
Z. Etc. (about 5 resolutions.)
More will be explained in the next post.
Bhavana in Pali Language means, the practice meant for 'the development of the Mind', which is translated to English as Meditation, which is wrong, hence I would be using only the word Bhavana.
The Mind is not Brain, and the mind is not a physical organ. There is a specific meaning to the word 'Mind', in Buddhism, which is not important to the practitioner of Bhavana, to the practitioner of the Buddhist Mind Development.
There are four areas of Bhavana, the development of the mind, in the Buddhist Bhavana.
- Maithree Bhavana. Here one practices the development of the mind status of 'Non-anger' which is called Maithree. Since in the next Bhavana practice, the state of 'Non-anger' is developed and achieved, it would not be discussed here as to how to practice it.
- Samatha Bhavana. This Buddhist Bhavana is translated as Tranquil Mediation or Concentration Mediation. The object of concentration is, in and out breathing. But both the English translation does not give the meaning of what is practiced and what is achieved. In Pali Language the practice of Samatha Bhavana is known as the practice of “Aanapala Sati”, meaning the practice of Sati (continuous UN-interruptible attention) on Breathing. Hence, at the successful end of the practice, one would have achieved (developed) the 'Sati' (continuous UN-interruptible attention) on the breathing. Since the word Awareness does not give the real meaning of 'Sati', it would not be used here, and it would be explained in much detail later.
- Vipassana Bhavana. This Buddhist mediation practice is translated as Insight Mediation into English. Based on the Sati, once one get developed and get established in the Samatha Bhavana above, one gets the 'Sati' to be established in four states of mind and Body. Which helps to one to penetrate the mind to see what is inside the mind, hence 'insight'. This four states of mind and body are Body, Sensations, Mind and Mental states. But this practice does not end in the 'insight' itself. Here, one develops the Wisdom (Panna) using the 'insight-ed' things of the mind, which would be discussed later.
This Bhavana practice is known as Development of
Wisdom. The practice of which does not start at any
particular point with other Bhavana. When one studies
from Buddhist books and Nikayas (Lord Buddha's
teaching in the Thripitaka) about the Three Signs of
Existence, that is, Impermanence, Suffering and
Essence-less-ness, one start to develop Wisdom, as an
understanding in relation to the world. But with the
practice of Samatha and Vipassana Bhavana, Wisdom
would be further developed to the nature of the mind.
There are Buddhist Bhavana practitioners, so they call themselves as such, who practice the Vipassana Bhavana they say, that is Insight Mediation, thus trying to Penetrate the Mind, without getting established in Sati. That is they have not practised Samatha Bhavana. So without having Sati, they cannot get their 'Sati' established in the four states of mind and body to penetrate (Vipassa) the mind, so they never have insight, to see the depth of the mind, but they only see the surface level of the mind, that is they see thoughts, emotions and feelings only.
If one is unable to develop Sati and get established in it, by Samatha Bhavana, then until such time he has to forget about developing the Penetration (Vipassa), using Vipassana Bhavana, Insight Mediation.
Therefore it should be clear that one cannot start with Vipassana Bhavana, that is Insight Mediation, before developing Sati and getting established in the Sati, by Samatha Bhavana, to start the Bhavana practice of Vipassana Bhavana, which is next.
Pre-requisites to Samatha Bhavana practice.
No let us see how the Samatha Bhavana is practiced, to develop the Sati and get established in Sati.
Practicing Aanapana Sati. (Samatha Bhavana).
There are some prerequisites to start Samatha Bhavana, which is called as Tranquil Meditation or as Concentration Meditation as well.
- One must be healthy.
- He/She is 35 years or younger in age.
- Must be intelligent enough to understand instructions.
When one's mind get concentrated, the mind gets a rest from all activities. That is mind gets calmed down or does not think. Thinking is the mind's usual activity. When mind rests from its usual activity of 'thinking', the body gets tranquillized or become restful. That is the reason why this Meditation is called as Samatha, meaning 'Resting' or 'Tranquil'. This 'resting' or 'tranquil' state happens both in the mind and body, because, both mind and the body relates to each other, corresponds to each other. If the body is 'sick' or has an aliment, then mind won't become restful. Hence, one cannot make the mind to rest from its activities of thinking, without making body to rest as well.
Therefore, if one has an ailment or a sickness or an injury, he has to cure himself fully, before starting Samatha Bhavana.
He/She should be younger in age.
When one become older one's power of concentration as well as energy to involve oneself in a new learning activity goes down.
Must be Intelligent.
Some fail to understand the meditation instruction to apply them in the practice. While practicing one has to 'observe' himself of his mind activity and to come to correct conclusions about the practice to move forward. Meditation instruction are a guide. But mostly the practitioner himself has to guide himself, using his observation and intelligence.
Bhavana practice, Schedule.
The beginner of the Bhavan practice may start his practice for a duration of 5 to 15 minutes in the early morning and in the evening, daily. This is only a guide. One can discover his own time limitations gradually.
Who may start with 5 minutes only?
One has to calm both the mind and the body to come to the Samadi state of one pointedness. Thoughts and thinking give rise to emotions. For instance, if there is an angry thought or thinking, it will make one emotionally angry. The emotions may be not apparent and visible to others usually, but one can detect it in himself easily. Then if the thinking has more power, and maintain itself by repeating, the power of thinking gathers more momentum, hence emotions will increase, giving rise to 'Feelings'. Once, feelings of anger engulfs the mind, it engulfs the body as well. When anger covers the body as a 'feeling', it will be visible to outsiders as well.
Similarly, thoughts and thinking in terms of Desire and Ego, if they have more 'force' in them, they will get translated into 'feelings of Desire' and 'feelings of Ego' thus becoming apparent to others as well.
When these feelings engulfs oneself, due to the 'force' created by thinking, heart start to beat fast, and breathing become quicker and uneven. A person who continuously have such a situation, due to different problems in life, in the household life as well as in the work place, is having an aliment known as 'hypertension'. Such a person, when trying to meditate, the tensions may sometime increase, if he tries to the practice more than 5 minutes. What he will really be doing at those 5 minutes to understand his present state of mind and to gradually calm down the 'feelings', which give rise to the tension.
Overcoming The Hypertension.
If one cannot practice Bhavana for more than 5 minutes, it means that one is suffering from Hypertension. But this practice of Bhavana is one of the tools to overcome Hypertension.
For that first one must understand the Bhavana technique and methods and its implications.
Applying 'attention' on the breathing.
When one practices Bhavana, this is what one is supposed to do. But the problem is whether one will be able to do this successfully is the question. If one has hypertension, he will definitely will not be able to do this. Even without hypertension, it may be difficult. But trying to do this practice of maintaining the 'attention' on breathing one will be able to discover the problems, which are the hindrances to the practice.
A person with hypertension will be able to detect, that there are thinking, that he is indulging in due to problems in life, such as conflicts in the work place, at home, etc. At work place there may be higher work demand or there my be conflicts with seniors or with colleagues. These thoughts may give rise to anger, fear, insecurity, etc. Or it may be issues at home. The partner may be thinking of getting a divorce, or one may contemplating a divorce on the partner. These issues cannot be overcome or solved by Bhavana, that is by paying attention to the Breathing. But when these thoughts and emotions rise up, one should clearly identify them and contemplate those issues, and try to find or imagine a solution for them, by taking a rest from trying to pay attention to breathing, while in the seated position of Bhavana .
Contemplation (Meditation).
The solution one come across may be to abandon the job and find a new one. Let the partner get a divorce. etc. What happens when one contemplates, while practising Bhavana, on the distracted thoughts and emotions, is contemplation, is Meditation. So meditation is the beginning part of the Bhavana. This meditation or contemplation will help to understand one's problems without, and to find a suitable solutions.
There may be issues and problems, which needs an answer. For instance, one may be contemplating, 'Why this happens to me?' or just 'Why this happens?', a question on some work problem or even in study problems. What one has to do here is to pose the problem to the mind, and feed all the data of the problem, to the mind, and without expecting an answer from the mind, one should continue on the practice. As a flash of understanding, the answer would come unexpectedly.
Most of these solutions which are arrived at by contemplation would involve, giving up the Desire or Anger for certain situation or a person. So a practitioner of Bhavana starts to give up many things, outside things, which are causing problems and sufferings. Some say, 'Let go', of the things which causes sufferings. But in this contemplations there is no such thing as 'Let go'. By contemplation one looks at the issues and understands himself the reasons for the problems and decides intelligently to abandon those 'reasons' which cause suffering.
Without understanding the 'reasons' by oneself, if one decides to do a thing like, 'let go', or on the advice of someone, it won't be a permanent solution, where one may come back to the same problems again.
This is the first step in the spirituality. abandoning the things outside, which causes suffering.
Then by the same contemplation one would discover there has to be some form of 'Abstinence' on many activities one does outside the Bhavana, which causes the Development in the Bhavana gained to go down. For instance, if anger goes down in the Bhavana, or desire goes down, then indulging in the same anger and desire outside, would reduce the gain achieved. Hence, one would find that 'Abstaining' from those activities of anger and desire, one can maintain and improve the development, in each session of Bhavana.
This 'Abstinence', which one discovers and adheres himself will be more than the 'Abstinence' expected. What is the expected minimum 'Abstinence' or 'Sila' for a practitioner of Bhavana?
If hypertension has already caused bodily changes and formations, these bodily formations would be a cause of hypertension, even if one understand the mental causes of the same, by Contemplation. Therefore one has to do physical exercises, balanced food, etc. apart from the 'Abstinence' (Sila) one discovers and the Contemplative Bhavana one does. It may be a little longer process in time to get oneself cured from these body formations of the ailment, hypertension.
Sitting Positions and Postures And Beginning The Practice of Bhavana.
For the beginner the best position or the posture to sit, is to sit on a chair or at the end of the bed, keeping the legs down on the floor. In this way one can concentrate on the practice, rather than dealing with the pains, which would arise otherwise, if one to tries some Yoga or Bhavana postures, which may be difficult in sitting for a longer duration.
When sitting thus, the hight of the chair or the bed should be high enough to keep the thighs straight on the bed or chair. It should not be too high, where legs cannot be positioned straight on the floor.
The next most important thing in siting for Bhavana, is to keep the body straight and relaxed.
During the day one can practice these postures of sitting, while not practicing Bhavana, but in other activities, such as sitting for the meals or even watching evening sunset. etc.
What is the next step in the practice?
It is to understand the aim or the goals of the practice of Bhavana. Here one starts the practice of Samatha Bhavana and it has the following aim or goals, one should achieve.
A. The Development of 'Sati', by establishing the 'Sati' on the Breathing. The 'Sati' is a mind attribute of subconscious. But the beginner is in the conscious state, when he starts the practice. Therefore, a beginner does not have Sati to begin with. But he has something similar, which constitutes the conscious state of the mind. That is 'Attention'. Since, the 'Attention' is a conscious mind state, it is not firm and does not fall into the category of a mental skill, as all conscious state of mind attributes are not metal skills, where one can have a control over, and therefore be able to manipulate them.
While practicing the 'Attention' on breathing, and by keeping this wavering, unstable attention fixed on the breathing, the partitioner of the Bhavana would transform the 'Attention' to that of an 'Obsessive Attention', which is more of a skill, where one would be keeping the 'Attention' obsessively on the breathing.
When does this 'Obsessive Attention' starts to take place? At the beginning in the practice, there would arise a dislike to keep the 'Attention' on the breathing, as thinking on something else would be much more delightful. But with the determination when one practices to reach the goals of Bhavana, cultivating more interest in Bhavana, and as also more and more results are gained, and when one experiences an uninterrupted 'Attention' on breathing, he would experience, Happiness and Joy. This will generate more interest in the practice, which would result in the 'Obsessive Attention' plus a desire to practice Bhavana more of the time.
Then will come the time, where this 'obsessive Attention' becomes a 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' on breathing. Here the 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' on breathing, is Fixed, not wavering. This 'Continuous Un-interruptiable Attention' is known as 'Sati' and it belongs to the subconscious, meaning, now the practitioner, is no more a practitioner, but he is in Samadi, in the subconscious state of the mind, having the Skill to maintain 'Sati' on breathing .
Thus getting established in 'Sati' on the breathing is the main aim of the Samatha Bhavana practice.
What are the other aims of the Samatha Bhavana?
B. Getting established in Adistana, the Skill In The Resolution.
If all the condition to get, one to pay 'Attention' on breathing, are there in oneself, then without much effort and practice one can come to Samadi state of 'Sati'. This happens to young healthy people, whose mind is not corrupted by desires, anger, ideas, opinions and ego, and also still not got addicted to thinking. But many who comes to this Samadi state of 'Sati', fail to maintain the same, and also fail to get into the Samadi, when and where they want. It is because they have not developed the Mind attribute of Adistana, which is the Skill of Resolution, and it is a Skill one has to develop through Bhavana, as one develops the 'Sati'.
How does one practice Bhavana, in order to develop Adistana, the Skill of Resolution?
One has to make Adistana (resolutions) before beginning the Bhavana, but after siting for the same, with some comfortable posture, having body relaxed and erect. Then one says to oneself, what he hopes to do. For instance he can say,
X. Will do the practice of Bhavana for 15 minutes. (about 5 to 7 times). This should be done in one's own language, then it will be much more meaningful.
Y. Will be paying 'Attention' to the breathing, without getting distracted.
Z. Etc. (about 5 resolutions.)
More will be explained in the next post.
Adistana,
The Skill of Resolution is The steering wheel of Samadi.
I
have already said in the previous post at the conclusion of it:
“One
has to make Adistana (resolutions) before beginning the Bhavana, but
after siting for the same, with some comfortable posture, having body
relaxed and erect. Then one says to oneself, what he hopes to do. For
instance he can say,
X.
Will do the practice of Bhavana for 15 minutes. (about 5 to 7 times).
This should be done in one's own language, then it will be much more
meaningful.
Y.
Will be paying 'Attention' to the breathing, without getting
distracted.
Z.
Etc. (about 5 resolutions.)”.
To
continue the same,
By
making Adistana (Resolutions) in the Bhavana, one develops the
ability or the Skill of the Adistana. Once the Adistana is made, one
has to totally forget about the Adistana, and should continue with
the practice of Bhavana, without even expecting those things to take
place, and should not have any desire, as if one has not made any
Adistana. Therefore, while practicing Bhavana, one should not think
about them, otherwise those thoughts itself will be a distraction to
the practice.
Then
in the process of practicing Bhavana, there would be distractions for
which, one may have not made any Adistana at the beginning of the
practice. Then when one detects such a thing. and after acknowledging
the distractions, one can make an Adistana while in the practice
itself.
When
one advances in his practice of Bhavana and becomes more skillful and
developed in his mind attributes, this mind attribute of Adistana
also will develop and will be more skillful in it. What does that
mean? That is one does not have to make the same Adistana many number
of times as earlier, as in the beginning, such as 5 to 7 times. Even
in a single Adistana, things will take place. That is the time when
one would feel that he 'has the control' of the mind, meaning that
the mind behaves as he wants, rather than he is getting carried away
by the mind.
This
is just like the steering a car, who is well skillful in driving,
having the full control of the vehicle.
This
is very important, when one comes to the Samadi, where he has to
manipulate the Samadi, to go to higher levels in the Samadi, where
one has to make just one single Adistana, to go to the next step. The
moment one makes the Adistana, he would be in the next step or he
would have changed something he want to change or he would have
transcended something which he want to transcend, just by a single
Adistana.
If
one does not practice Adistana, then he is not practicing according
to the Lord Buddha's advice. And it is surprising, that almost all
mediation teachers don't practice Adistana, themselves, hence it is
evident, that they don't teach the same. Since they do not know how
to do it, how can they teach it?
Lord
Buddha once asked from a monk named Arittha, that how does he
practice Bhavana. He answered as anyone of the modern Bhavana teacher
would have instructed , be it a monk or a lay person, of who teach
Bhavana in almost all Bhavana Centers.
Then
Lord Buddha corrected that monk as follows:-
SN
54.6 Arittha Sutta: To Arittha
(On
Mindfulness of Breathing)
translated
from the Pali by
Thanissaro
Bhikkhu
At
Savatthi. There the Blessed One said, "Monks, do you develop
mindfulness of in-&-out breathing?"
When
this was said, Ven. Arittha replied to the Blessed One, "I
develop mindfulness of in-&-out breathing, lord."
Lord
Buddha - "But how do you develop mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing, Arittha?"
Ven.
Arittha -"Having abandoned sensual desire for past sensual
pleasures, lord, having done away with sensual desire for future
sensual pleasures, and having thoroughly subdued perceptions of
irritation with regard to internal & external events, I breathe
in mindfully and breathe out mindfully."
Lord
Buddha - "There is that mindfulness of in-&-out breathing,
Arittha. I don't say that there isn't. But as to how mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing is brought in detail to its culmination,
listen and pay close attention. I will speak."
"As
you say, lord," Ven. Arittha responded to the Blessed One.
The
Blessed One said, "And how, Arittha, is mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing brought in detail to its culmination? There is the case
where a monk, having gone to the wilderness, to the shade of a tree,
or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise,
holding his body erect, and setting mindfulness to the fore.[2]
Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
"Breathing
in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out
long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short,
he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he
discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will
breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will
breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will
breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will
breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'
"
He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.' He
trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.' He trains
himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication.' He
trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to mental fabrication.'
He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming mental fabrication.' He
trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming mental fabrication.'
To
continue reading the full Sutta click Below:-
The
Contemplation, The Meditation Stage Of the Bhavana.
In
the practice of Bhavana, after siting for the practice, and after
making suitable Adistana (Determinations, Resolutions), then
forgetting about those Adistana, and even without any expectation or
desire, that they should happen, one must start to practice the skill
of maintaining the 'Attention' on breathing, clearly understanding
that one is developing a 'skill' by repeating the same action. For
instance, when one wants to develop the skill of typing or playing
guitar, he has to repeatedly do a certain exercise, until one becomes
skilful, where one can do it automatically without any effort,
continuously, uninterrupted by any distractions.
So
it is the main aim of Practicing Bhavana, where one tries to achieve,
continuous, uninterrupted 'Attention' on breathing, by repeating this
'attention' on breathing as an exercise. Though, there is less
distractions in the practice of typing and in the practice of playing
guitar, but in the practice of Bhavana, there are more distractions
and the main distractions are within, that is 'Thinking'.
Forgetting
the practice and dropping the 'Attention' on breathing, one would
start to think on many different things. Then the ability to stop
this thinking is also a skill one has to develop, while developing
the Attention on breathing.
How
to stop thinking?
Luckily,
the thinking is an action of oneself similar to the other two actions
one can perform. That other two action one can do are speech and
deeds. If one has not become addicted to speech or any deed, such as
gossiping, smoking, drinking, etc., then he can easily stop the
speech and any other deed as he is not addicted.
But
most of us are addicted to thinking, hence we cannot stop the
thinking as and when we want. It needs restrain as the first part of
the practice, to overcome the 'Thinking', which are addictive, within
and without.
For
that first we have to identify those 'Thinking's which are addictive
and to see the uselessness of them or even harmful nature of them.
How do we do this? It is by Contemplation, which can be named as
meditation. And this is the beginning part of the Bhavana practice,
when one starts to practice the 'Attention' on breathing, and when he
get distracted by 'Thinking'.
So,
how does one Contemplate? Meditate?
Whenever
one discovers the 'Attention on the breathing' is distracted by
'thinking', one should identify the 'thinking' and its subject
matter. To facilitate the identification of such distractive
thinking, one can make an Adistana, at the beginning of the Bhavana,
sating, "I will detect the 'thinking', which would disrupt the
practice of paying attention, when it happens, immediately",
several times. This Adistana would make the detecting of the
'attention' going astray, because of thinking taking place. And also
one can make Adistana, while practicing Bhavana, to enhance the
Adistana, saying the Adistana, when one finds, something like this,
which needs to be done, thereby practicing the Adistana as well. Even
when one makes such an Adistana while in the practice, he must be
careful to forget the Adistana immediately and to embark on the
practice, even without any expectation or desire that the Adistana
should materialize.
Once
the distractive 'thinking' is detected, one must stop the practice of
paying attention to breathing, and start to analyze the 'thinking'
which has taken place. One may be thinking about one of the
unresolved problem one has, it may be a problem of life, work, study
or even a conflict. By contemplating the problem from different
angles one will be able to get answers to them. We don't get answers
to many situations, because we don't contemplate on them calmly and
deeply. To get a solution for many problems or questions, one can
forward the question to one's own mind after analyzing the situation
thoroughly. If most of the data available is presented to the mind,
it would
give
an answer, as a 'splash'.
To
a complicate situation of doubt, about any ideas and opinions, one
should factually analyze, whether there are any factual basis for
such ideas and opinions.
For
instance, let us take a such a situation, which would be more helpful
in the practice of Bhavana. Some express the idea that practice of
Bhavana, cannot make one to have Samadi. If this idea had an impact
on oneself, while practicing Bhavana, as distractive thinking, it
would come up.
So
if someone has said the same to you, you could have asked him,
whether he practiced Bhavana and if so how did he decided that one
cannot get at the Samadi. But contemplating on this issue, one would
contemplate as, "May be he did not know how to practice Bhavana
or he may be expressing the same idea, which was put forward by
someone else. Or he may be a weak person, or does not have the
capacity to practice Bhavana. Even Lord Buddha said, that everyone do
not have the capacity to do the practice. Then one can decide, "OK,
I will practice, but will not be influenced by others, as this is a
practice, where one has to discover things on one's own." This
is the way of contemplation, mediation on the issue.
As
an another example, one may get distracted, by 'thinking' about
someone, with a dislike, in his work place. The he can contemplate
this and look at the different thoughts which come about regarding
that person. Then one will find out there is a dislike for that
person in his thinking of him. But if he could not understand, why is
that he is thinking in an angry way, he can pose the question to the
mind. Then with a splash, the answer would come, may be after a
while, where one would get the answer. The answer may be something
like, that someone else have given the idea that he as a bad
character, and that has influenced to think about in hate.
I
this way when one contemplates, meditates, on the thoughts which
distracts, one from attention, the effect and the incidence of
'thinking' will get reduced and they may not appear more and one
would be free to practice the 'Attention on Breathing', with less
distractions.
Though
one can free oneself from such thoughts which distracts, one from
attention, after understanding them, there are other thoughts, even
if one understand those thoughts, by contemplations, by meditations,
they will come again and again, distracting the practice.
What
are those thinking? How one can deal with them? These I would discuss
in the next post.
Warning:
This contemplation, this meditation is only a small part of the
Bhavana Practice and it has its end, and should not get involved in
it much, and should do it only to understand the 'thinking' to
certain extent only, and after that understanding, to come back to
the practice of paying 'Attention on Breathing'. Here 'thinking
process' itself is not analysed, as one would understand the
'thinking process', once he has stooped the 'thinking' only, and
would understand the mind attributes which were behind the
'thinking'. When one has stopped the 'thinking', he will find the
causes of thinking, i.e. the reason for thinking, or mind attributes
behind the thinking, which would become apparent, or reveal itself,
as they are covered by the thinking itself, or hidden behind the
thinking.
Dealing
With The 'Thinking' in Anger, Desire and Ego Plus Ignorance.
In
the previous post, the final question was, before the conclusion:-
What
are those thinking? How can one deal with them?
In
contemplative mediation of the 'Thinking', we may be able to find the
reasons for such thinking and with that understating, the intensity
of those 'thinking' will get reduced as well as the incidence of them
as well. Even if they are to come occasionally after understanding
them, they can be easily dispelled, by just turning one's attention
to the 'Attention on the Breathing', after acknowledging such
thoughts, once one detects them.
How
does one acknowledge a 'thought'?
Before
answering the above question, let us examine the earlier question, of
'thinkings' which would arise, even if one understands them well, by
contemplative meditation'.
When
one detects 'thinking', and postpones the practice of Bhavana, i.e.
the 'Attention on Breathing', for a few minutes, in order to
Contemplate on such 'thinking' detected, to meditate on such
'thinking', he would find there are 'thinking' based on Anger,
Desire, Lust, Ego and Ignorance (= Ideas and opinions). For instance,
one may think about someone because he has hatred towards him. By
contemplation, by meditation, he has to first recognize the Anger as
a 'emotions and a feeling' caused by the angry thinking. When he
acknowledges this 'Emotions and feelings', by paying attention to
them, instead of paying attention to breathing, he would find out
that these 'emotions and feelings' are causing, heart beat to
increase and the breathing to be uneven, thus causing one to be
unhappy and un-joyful, which is suffering. When he understand this,
he would drop the 'emotions and feelings', making himself calm, thus
avoiding harm to one's body as well as one's health of the mind. But
the total absence of the 'thinking' in hate and anger would not
happen, until one finds the reasons for such thinking, by
contemplation. Here one may find it is 'justifiable', to 'think in
anger', towards to a prticualr person, as he had done harm to
himself. It may be true, but one should contemplate, though it is
justifiable, the 'Angry thinking' and thus creating 'emotions and
feelings' of anger, only harms oneself, and therefore one should
abandon, the activity of thinking in anger. The next reason, he
should, understand by meditation, is that the damage done, cannot be
rectified by attacking that parson physically, and but not certainly
by 'thinking in anger', which only harms oneself.
Thus,
after understanding a 'particular anger' towards a 'particular
person', there would be a much relief brought about that, reducing
the sufferings, as well as, one being more able to focus on the
'Attention of Breathing'.
But
still this Anger which is well understood, and though the effects
were reduced, would come up in much reduced way, while one practices
Bhavana, paying 'attention on breathing', thus taking away the
'attention' from it. Then, what one has to do?
Once,
one have fully understood, a particular distraction to Bhavana, one
should give it a label to it. In this instance, he can give a label
such as "Anger to Mr.A". Then, whenever he detects the same
anger, as a 'thinking' he must Acknowledge it, as an anger
already recognized, and already one has decided to put away, and then
to label it as 'Anger to Mr.A', and revert back to the practice of
Bhavana, that is paying 'Attention to the Breathing'.
Earlier
there was a Question as to, "How does one acknowledge a
'thought'?”, and here one can acknowledge, 'thoughts about
Mr.A'. Or he can even use the label of "Anger to Mr.A", as
an acknowledgement of the 'thinking'.
Why
anger comes again again even after fully understanding them? When one
becomes angry, each time the body formations changes. With the
changed body formations, the formations itself would be a trigger,
causing thoughts of Anger, emotions and feelings. Thus it would,
further increase such formations.
One
may have noticed, such body formations, specially due to Anger, in
people, such as rashes in the skin, ulcers in the face and the body,
and having faces, which depicts angry dispositions, even though the
person seems not to be angry, but actually be happy over something
and laughing.
Therefore,
to get rid of the Anger in oneself, one has to restrain himself,
without giving into anger not only in Bhavana, not only in
'Thinking', but even in speech and deeds, without. This self restrain
is known as Abstinence or Sila in Buddhist practice of Bhavana, which
is put forward as prior requisite of the practice. Even if one does
not recognize the Abstinence or Sila as a prior requisite to the
practice of Bhavana, he will have to recognize the same while in the
practice, at least, when he wants to do away with such defilements
from the body and from the mind altogether. Otherwise, he would
practice only for a 'concentrated' mind, which would not achieve
Jhanic Samadi devoid of defilements, having happiness and Joy,
without sufferings, and the understanding the reasons for the
sufferings, but only a mere concentration, which may only help to do
worldly activities with more accuracy. But in Jhanic Samadi, one
would have the concentration plus understanding, and it is a skill,
where one would be able to have a control over his mind, rather than
mind and thinking controlling oneself.
If
one have body formations either due to Anger or any other
defilements, such as Desire, Ego, etc., one has to wait for some
duration, for the formations to be cured, by the Abstinence (Sila),
without, and also by not giving into such thinking, emotions,
feelings, while in the practice of Bhavana.
Hence,
by contemplation, by meditation, on distractions, one would be able
to easily acknowledge any distractions of thinking, once one has
recognized such situations, as a result of contemplation on them
beforehand, and would be able to 'Label' them, and then to come back
to the Practice of Bhavana.
The
same method of contemplation, the same method of meditation, is
applied when there are thoughts of Desire, Lust, Ego and Ignorance,
to understand them fully, first, and the to 'Label' them after
acknowledging them, whenever they arise, while practicing, and also
to abstain (Sila) from them, without, as to cure the body formations
which were formed by them, and also to stop new formations in the
body.
In
the contemplation, in the meditation, on the recurring thinking, and
understanding them and labelling them, one reduces the effect of such
thinking in generating emotionless and feelings of Anger, Desire,
lust, Ego and ignorance. And this labelling would make a distance of
such thinking from oneself, where one would not feel that “I am
thinking” or as 'My Thoughts', though in actuality that they are as
such. This distancing would help to do away with the 'thinking',
easily.
Finally
one would be able to drop many of the Labels, that he has developed
to identify 'thinking' and to reduce such the labels only to major
categorises of thinking, such as Anger, Desire, Lust, Ego, ideas and
opinions. So this main categories of Labels, once one has developed,
and when he using them, labels the thinking, the amount of work get
reduced plus the understanding and distancing of the thinking would
increase, making the getting rid of thinking much easier, meaningful
and quicker.
Next,
let us deal with the Abstinence (Sila), in the next post.
Discovering
and Developing Abstinence - Sila. - Part 1.
There
are 10 great sins one has to avoid, stop doing them, in order to have
a better worldly life as well as to practice Bhavana.
But
many of the practitioners of Bhavana, may not agree to some of the
'Great Sins' needed to be avoided, as a pre-condition to the practice
of Bhavana. But then, another partitioner would find this
'Abstinence' from the 'Sins' is not enough in themselves, to develop
one's mind in the Bhavana. The Practitioner of the Bhavana would find
more things to be avoided, more things to be 'Abstained' from, as he
develops himself in the practice.
First
let us examine, the Great Sins, and to how to avoid or abstain from
them, when practicing. Then, let s look, how one himself finding that
more things have to be avoided or abstained from, in order to develop
one's mind.
Quote:
Now
what is unskillful? (1). Taking life is unskillful, (2).
taking what is not given is unskillful, (3). sexual misconduct is
unskillful, (4). lying is unskillful, (5). abusive speech is
unskillful, (6). divisive tale-bearing is unskillful, (7).
idle chatter is unskillful. (8). Covetousness is unskillful, (9). ill will is unskillful, (10). wrong views are
unskillful. These things are termed unskillful.
And
what are the roots of what is unskillful? Greed is a root of what is
unskillful, aversion is a root of what is unskillful, delusion is a
root of what is unskillful. These are termed the roots of what is
unskillful.
And
what is skillful? Abstaining from taking life is skillful, abstaining
from taking what is not given... from sexual misconduct... from
lying... from abusive speech... from divisive tale-bearing...
abstaining from idle chatter is skillful. Lack of covetousness...
lack of ill will... right views are skillful. These things are termed
skillful.
And
what are the roots of what is skillful? Lack of greed is a root of
what is skillful, lack of aversion is a root of what is skillful,
lack of delusion is a root of what is skillful. These are termed the
roots of what is skillful.
Translated
from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
The
End Of The Quote.
When
we come the these sins, i.e. (1). Taking life is unskillful,
(2). taking what is not given is unskillful, (4). lying is
unskillful, there is no question, that one has to abstain from
them.
Then what is meant by, (3). sexual misconduct is unskillful
?
If one is having legal sex, then it is not considered as a sin, as
in having sex with one's wife.
Though,
Legal sex is not considered, as an obstacle to one's worldly
activities as a lay person, and not termed as a sin, but when it
comes to the practice of Bhavana, one has to abstain from all the
activities of Sex, including legal sex, and even including the mere thinking of the same.
Hence, when a lay person goes to practice of Bhavana in a Buddhist
temple, on a full moon day (Uposatha Day), he has to take the Eight
Precept (Sila), of 'Abstaining', thus avoiding sex in full, instead
of the Five Precepts a lay parson would follow, in his normal worldly
life, as one has to Practice Bhavana on that day. If we compare the
relevant precepts regarding the sex, in both instances, it would
become much clearer:-
In
the Five Precepts, it is the third Precept:
3.
Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I
undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.
In
the Eight Precepts, it is the third Precept:
3.
Abrahmacariya veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
I
undertake the precept to refrain from sexual activity.
So,
one must understand that, **refraining from sexual misconduct.** is
very different from, refraining from sexual activity.
Even
if one has mere thinking on sex, then he would not be practicing
Bhavana, hence, he has to refrain from all the activities of sex, in
order to practice. This one has to find himself, in the Bhavana
practice itself.
In
The Eight Precept a lay person would take on such an occasion, this
3rd precept of abrahmacariya is explained as follows:-
Quote:
3.
"Bhikkhus. Ariyan disciples in this Religion reflect thus:
"'All
arahants, for as long as life lasts, have given up that which is an
obstacle to the Brahma-faring (abrahma-cariya). Their practice is
like that of a Brahma. They are far from sexual intercourse, which is
a practice of lay people.'
"All
of you have given up that which is an obstacle to the Brahma-faring
and behave like a Brahma. Your behavior is far from sexual
intercourse. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will
be known as having followed the arahants, and the Uposatha will have
been observed by you. This is the third factor of the Uposatha."
translated
from the Pali by Ñanavara Thera and Bhikkhu Kantasilo.
End
Of The Quote.
This
situation one has to find out for himself, as many practitioners, try
to justify having sex, as not an obstacle to the practice of
Bhavana, which I thinking is driven by the sexual urge itself, where
one's mind deceiving oneself, otherwise, one would end up as a
continuous practitioner, instead of become an attainer of Samadi.
No
Suppressions And No 'Letting go', in Bhavana.
Though,
I have to continue with the discussion of the 'Abstinence', as part-2
of it, a comment came up about the same, hence let us examine that
first.
When
one is led by 'guilt', because of a certain thing, such as
Anger as bad or sex as bad, by parents, teachers, society, etc., that
he/she would develop a 'guilt' and a 'disgust', towards such things
in their minds. Hence, such a one would, 'unconsciously',
without exploring and analyzing any of them, would hide those
feelings. And this hiding, since it it done unconsciously, one
would not know, what that one has suppressed.
(Note:
Developing a 'disgust' towards Anger, Desire, Lust, Ego and Ignorance
as a defilements of the mind having bad outcomes, harmful outcomes,
by understanding them as such, is not a bad thing, but a positive
thing, which would help in putting away those things from the mind,
which is not suppression).
But
in Bhavana, one does not suppress any of the 'thinking', feelings or
emotions. In the contemplative or meditative stage in the practice of
Bhavana, one would 'Discover', all his 'thinking's feelings and
emotions, as it is, except any 'thoughts' , emotions and feelings
suppressed. The word used here is 'Discovering', as though one has
not suppressed, he was not aware of the any of his 'thinking's,
emotions and feeling, until he pays Attention to breathing. This
paying attention to breathing, and when it is distracted by these,
one would automatically become aware of those, and automatically pay
attention to such distractions, such as 'thinking's, emotions and
feelings, thus 'Discovering' the state of one's own self, as it at
present.
Science
started initially, not with the experimentation, But with
'Discoveries', and still the discoveries continues in many fields of
science. In the same way the practice of Bhavana starts, not with the
hidden things in the mind, but with the manifest things in the mind,
one usually fails to notice, fails to discover.
So
this 'Discovery' of oneself as it is, at present, gives an
opportunity change, in oneself to a better self, by putting away
unnecessary defilements of the mind, when one practices, as to
develop the 'Sati'.
Like
in the science, after these discoveries, one would come to the next
step, which is experimentation. Here one experiments with the
'thinking's, emotions and feeling, so as to identify their effects
and outcomes, by himself. Then he would identify that they are
creating suffering in him, but when he puts them away, temporarily
even for a few minutes, that the sufferings disappear. He would also
by contemplation on these things, about their outcomes, in the
outside world, would understand, that they are leading to harm of
oneself, suffering of oneself, as well as they are creating harm and
suffering to others as well.
With
these greater understanding of the 'thinking's, emotions and
feelings, after discovering them, and after understanding their
outcomes as harmful by oneself, and when one decides to put them
away, by making the necessary 'Adistana' (Determination, Resolution),
then it is not Suppressing things with a guilt, with
non-understanding, unconsciously, without knowing what one is doing.
Then
some meditation teachers, who themselves, apparently not have done
these things in their Bhavana, and therefore have not attained to
Samadi, advice the practitioners, to 'Let go' of things, as a
psychoanalyst or a counselor would ask one to do. Hence it would
amount to a self suggestion by the practitioner, if he tries to 'let
go', and it would be without any understanding of the nature of those
'thinking's, emotions and feelings, which he would try to 'let go'.
Then there is a possibility that it would lead to the 'Suppression',
without understanding.
In
the previous post of 'Abstinence' (Sila), it was discussed as a
bigging of the topic proper, and only the 'Abstinence' of sex was
discussed to some extent. So let us examine the same, in relation to
'Suppressing', Guilt, putting it away and 'Letting go' of it.
In
the earlier post, it was noted that 'sex' is not termed as a sin or a
merit. Here sin means that it has a bad Karmic effect, rather than
one getting punished or rewarded by a god, for one's actions
(Karmas).
But
illegal sex is a Bad Karma. what are illegal sex, which are bad
karma, according to Buddhism?
If
sex is done with a party, who is unwilling, it is bad Karma.
If sex is done with a minor, even if that minor is a free parson, it is Bad Karma, illegal.
If sex is done with an animal, it is Bad Karma.
Over indulgence in sex is Bad Karma.
Sex done with a major, who is bound, who is under the protection of parents, etc., and therefore not a free person, even with the consent of the parson, then it is Bad Karma, illegal.
If sex is done with a minor, even if that minor is a free parson, it is Bad Karma, illegal.
If sex is done with an animal, it is Bad Karma.
Over indulgence in sex is Bad Karma.
Sex done with a major, who is bound, who is under the protection of parents, etc., and therefore not a free person, even with the consent of the parson, then it is Bad Karma, illegal.
The contraries of the above situations, they are legal and not Bad Karma.
These
situations are not relevant for the practice of Bhavana, in the
sense, they are not defilements of the mind, distracting one's
practice. But they would distract, once, when he has done a bad
karma, as the Karmic effect would take place in the thinking, as
well. By understanding these one has to completely avoid and abstain
from such bad Karmic actions, is unquestionable. But all the
abstinence should come with an understanding, why should one abstain
from.
Then
why one has to abstain from the 'thinking' in sex? It is only to
people who undertake the practice of Bhavana, since any 'thinking'
of anything is a distraction to the practice, and this 'thinking' in
sex, is addictive and more powerful than any other 'thinking' and one
has to put away this 'indulgence' completely, if one aspires to
experience the 'thoughtless' state of Samadi. But if one want to
indulge in such a thinking in sex, it is OK, and even it cannot be
considered as a sin or Bad Karma, then one has to forget about
practicing Bhavana, and forget about achieving Samadi, the
Thoughtless state.
But
in their desire and urge to indulge in sex, there are practitioners
of Bhavana, I have met, where they have many ways of justifying the
sex, and continue the practice of Bhavana, as well. I am sure that
they will continue the practice, but never would come to the Samadi,
which can be achieved, within maximum of three months, if the
practice is right, but within three weeks if the things are right, at
the beginning of the practice itself.
In
the contemplation of 'thinking', when one is 'thinking' about sex,
and it is discovered and meditated upon the same, and once one has
understood the need to totally put away such thinking in sex, the
mind would present oneself with counter arguments, as not to put away
the thinking in sex, as well as 'abstaining' from sex physically.
These 'thinking's which comes as counter arguments are known as
'Deceptive Thoughts', and they try to deceive oneself from one's own
understanding, of the 'sexual thinkings' as harmful, and as a major
distraction to the practice.
These
'Deceptive thoughts' not only try to deceive oneself, in not to
abandon or put away the thinking in sex, but the 'Deceptive thoughts'
would arise to defend the thinking, in terms of Anger, Desire, Ego
and Ignorance, as well.
Deceptive
thinking is driven by the 'urge' to maintain the thinking in terms of
Anger, Desire, Lust, Ego and Ignorance, and when if one is lucky to
detect this 'Urge', by putting away that Urge one can easily do away
with the 'thinking' of the same. But is is doubtful, whether one
would be able to discover this 'Urge', as at the beginning stage of
the practice. Since, even without discovering the 'urge', one can
discover the 'Deceptive thinking', and should put away those
thinking, as well as indulgence in thinking.
Therefore
this putting
away of
distraction in the Bhavana, as 'thinking', as emotions, as feelings,
are neither a suppression nor a 'Letting go', as it is done with
understanding and with Adistana (Determination, Resolution).
No comments:
Post a Comment