Through what conditions do feelings come to be? The meditation and inquiry on dependent arising, on causes and conditions, carries the intimation of liberation. Seeing of dependent arising is not the goal, nor separate from the goal. Dependent arising can neither arise nor can it stop, nor become extinct, as the following questions illustrate. If dependent arising could arise then from what could it arise? Dependent arising cannot come. From where could it come? If dependent arising was one thing, then how could it show such differences?
If it was different things, how could it be called one thing, namely dependent arising. If it was permanent, how could it keep changing? If it was always changing, how could dependent arising become permanent?. Master of precision, Nagarjuna made it ruthlessly and unambiguously clear what the Buddha is saying.
Nagarjuna made sure that the goal is never far away and is accessible to all those deeply interested in truth. The goal of liberation reveals itself, as he pointed out, through understanding specific conditionality. In the opening verse on causality, he wrote:. Not from itself, not from another, not from both itself and another, and not without a cause.
Every verse is a meditation, a reflection, an inquiry or a dialogue with others to break out of any habitual views and standpoints explored in the 27 chapters. Why can something not arise from itself? It would mean something could exist without any need for anything else; this is impossible. It would also mean that if something arose from itself, then it would never need to stop as there would be nothing else to affect it. It would be an eternal arising out of itself. A candle flame would come only from itself and never go out.
Although it is very, very difficult to comprehend conditionality and the emptiness of view, it is truly worthwhile reflecting upon. It is certainly worthwhile to be patient until, through meditation and reflection, understanding of contingency begins to emerge. These are questions that emerge in meditation, in times of deep reflection. Such questions cannot be resolved with the rational mind but through the emergence of insights.
If something arose from both something else and itself, then what would that something be that is in the other and in itself? Would that something in something else be the same or different? If something neither arose from itself, nor other, nor both, then from what did it arise? If so, then life would consist of things and situations independently arising. Nothing would have any relationship to anything else. If everything that happens is due to God, chance, fate, destiny, karma, evolution, DNA, past lives, then our lives are like corks in a stormy ocean.
If we claim that there are none of these influences, then we have free will and free choice for anything we want. If we claim powerful influences shape our lives then what percentage of these major influences shape our lives? What percentage does not shape our lives? If we say, we have free will, independent of these forces, then what would be an expression of a free will independent of such historical influences of causes and conditions?
As we go deeper into the Dharma, we go deeper into finding the wisdom about the way things have come to arise. A meditative concentration constitutes an important feature for going deeper to find wisdom. The exploration of the goal of a liberating wisdom matters as much as the exploration of the path to the goal. Generally speaking, Vipassana meditation teachers rarely speak of the goal; they speak far more about meditation and techniques and give strong encouragement to practice.
From time to time, the Vipassana meditator may have a profound experience that he or she, or the teacher, may interpret as a major breakthrough, a deep realization and this can happen during a meditation, listening to a talk, or cutting the carrots during the morning work period. The insights from the deep experience may stay long after the experience has faded away.
A teacher has the responsibility to inquire into a liberating experience of the yogi as it ranks at the top of the list of priorities. The task of a mature and skilful teacher is not only to point out the path and the goal but to offer real counsel and wise understanding equally of path and goal. A teacher who does not know the goal directly may have to rely on faith in the Triple Gem and the words of the Buddha in order to support practitioners to see and know the end of the path.
In my time in the Wat Chai Na Vipassana monastery from to , local villagers and townspeople brought corpses to the monastery. They would place a body on a pile of wood in the open air in the centre of the monastery. The monks watched the faces of the deceased melt with the heat of the fire, the brains boil and the eyes disappear from the head.
The very young, the middle-aged and the old died from sickness, accidents, abortions, hospital misdiagnosis, crime, terrorism, military raids, old age, suicide, murder, drowning, fire, poison and so on. The various conditions for death gave us much to reflect on.
Would that something in something else be the same or different? I find it helps in all of this to keep a semi-smile on my face such as that of the Buddha. November Learn how and when to remove this template message. He told me to do my best, whatever that was. At age seventy-eight she had traveled half-way around the world to see me. Has the current attitude towards insight meditation become a habit?
Villagers in the province told us the army would throw suspected communist terrorists out of a helicopter above a village as a warning to the villagers as to what would happen if they harboured terrorists, while suspected terrorists would come to the monastery for refuge. The frequent acts of mindfulness and meditation on death, alongside the actual witnessing of corpses, brought life and death firmly together as a whole rather than in a state of conflict with each other. The language of the goal varies according to background, tradition and tendencies.
In the inquiry into the depth of experience, the teacher must be well equipped to point out emancipation through truth in a language the practitioner understands. Otherwise, the yogi will experience a real difficulty in exploring the nature of Nirvana while the teacher will feel more comfortably reverting to talking about the path. The whole purpose of the path is to reach the end of it as quickly as possible as shown beautifully in this discourse: Teachers need to take real notice of this dialogue with Vaccha. For the fire to arise, it depends on certain specific conditions, for example, such as wood and friction to generate a spark, dry leaves and air.
When there is no friction, then the fire disappears. This is the extinguishing of the fire. Nirvana is the cessation of the conditions that make us burn up and suffer. Nirvana, the happiness of liberation, includes non-grasping onto views for the grasping gives the views a selfhood. Belief in selfhood obscures liberation.
There is no inherent truth in Being, God, Oneness, Evolution, Essence, Dharma, Enlightenment and so on, even if they start with a capital letter.
Non-reification is a feature of the goal. Ultimately, the path and goal language only serves as a useful metaphor. Some practitioners hesitate to employ such words like Nirvana, even if the fire of burning up inside has been extinguished. If Nirvana were non-existent then there would be no point in practicing to realize the goal of Nirvana. If there is such a thing or state as Nirvana, then we have to assume that it is neither existent, as just explained, nor is it non-existent. The meditator cannot find an existing inside experience, nor outside.
The Buddha made it clear using the analogy of the fire. Where is the fire when it has gone out? It is not to be found — here, there or in between. There is a knowing of the Cool, the Sublime and the Unconstructed — some of the concepts the Buddha employed to describe liberation. We have the capacity to question our activities, including our commitment to the path and goal. For there is nothing to be taken for granted in the way we take up a viewpoint. The practitioner may claim that he or she walks the path to awakening. If our actions always remained until they came to fruition, then these acts would never go away.
We would have to live with them moment to moment. If these acts faded away, then they would have no power to bring us to full awakening. Practices would have no purpose since they could not bring the practitioner to any fulfillment. If the practitioner was a real self, then the practitioner would never go away, nor would the practice. Both would be forever locked in together. The practitioner and the practice function in an inter-dependent way. The practitioner cannot be before the practice.
If the practitioner or the practice were truly separate from each other it would mean that there could be a practitioner without any practice and a practice without any practitioner. A non-existent practitioner cannot engage in a real practice. One can see it in one's mind's eye. It restores the mind's wandering back to the present. The second purpose is symbolic: And finally, it makes for a pleasant, lovely atmosphere.
Incense, flowers, Buddha sculpture are nice but really not necessary. One can, in truth, meditate anywhere , any quiet place where there can be no interruption. Wherever you meditate, if it is at home and you have a telephone, it is wise to remove the receiver to avoid incoming calls.
Bear in mind that the place of meditation is not of key importance, but it is wise to return to the same place at the same time daily so that the habit of meditating becomes established. The Buddha meditated under a Bodhi tree where he achieved enlightenment. An advanced meditator can choose almost any place and it will serve his purpose -- a crowded market place, a burial ground, a cave, a park or a refuse dump. In his inward turning he becomes totally oblivious of his surroundings; or, contrariwise, makes the very surroundings, as he advances deeper and deeper into meditating, the subject of his thoughts.
The important thing to remember is that these thoughts must be schooled and channeled. They must be kept "on center. But you, now, are still in your beginning stages. Untoward thoughts will persist in entering your mind. This is only natural. You will be amazed at how many and how trivial these intrusions can be. You must learn, however, to treat these intruders with courtesy. Do not shove them away in anger. Label each one -- past -- present -- future? Your very act of branding them will assist in their cessation.
As they begin to disappear, your mind will gently return to your nostrils, your breathing. It will grow quieter and quieter. Other hindrances will obtrude themselves. Noises will penetrate your consciousness -- children playing and shouting, buses or airplanes passing.
Label them as you do other passing thoughts. Keep centering on the breathing, the slowing inflow, outflow. In time the noises, too, will vanish. Whenever you find yourself "out there," bring yourself gently back to "here" and to "right now. I find it helps in all of this to keep a semi-smile on my face such as that of the Buddha. It aids in brightening the mind, makes it happier. At this point in your beginning meditation, if you have been at it a half hour or longer, you may terminate it if you wish or continue as before.
Or you can go on to extend metta or loving-kindness. This meditation subject is good because it eliminates hatred, envy, anger and self-pity. It accomplishes love for all, destruction of self, sympathetic joy, and a good feeling for every being or non-being that lives or has left this life. Your extension of loving-kindness should reach out to encompass the earth, the universe.
You will find it difficult in time, to snuff out the life of even the smallest insect. In extending loving-kindness it is of great importance that you first love yourself. In the right way, of course. You accomplish this by ridding your thoughts of all "impurities. I will make my mind clear, fresh and pure.
Like a transparent window is my mind. Then with my stain-free mind, I pour out thoughts of loving-kindness, of love and of kindness. Try to get a mental image of each one you are extending this loving-kindness to. Get into that person. Feel his or her personality enter your own being and direct your feeling straight into the mind and heart of that individual. You will find in time, that there is a sort of mental telepathy emerging. You will feel the warmth of response. Do not dwell on this. Go on to the next person and the next and next.
Bring forth all the warmth and kindness of your spirit and instill this into the being or non-being it is directed toward. If you do this once or twice daily, your horizon will widen. You will find yourself directing these vibrations to all beings and non-beings who have entered your consciousness, without exceptions. This will include brand-new acquaintances you hardly know. People you do not even know but see pass by regularly or irregularly down the street.
All who have died. All animals, insects, trees. Everything organic and inorganic. And in this outflowing there will ride your self , vanishing into the all -inclusive. The Mogok vipassana Method focuses on meditation of Feeling Vedanannupassana and meditation on Mind states Cittanupassana. The method of Pa Auk Sayadaw is closely based on the Visuddhimagga , a classic Theravada meditation manual. Pa Auk promotes the extensive development of the four jhanas , states of meditative absorption and focus. The insight element is based on surveying the body by observing the four elements earth, water, fire and wind by using the sensations of hardness, heaviness, warmth and motion.
Comparable developments took place within Thai Theravada Buddhism, yet with somewhat different textual, doctrinal and practical stances. Mun Bhuridatta , the founder of the Thai Forest tradition, also sought to re-introduce the practice of meditation. While not a lay movement, the Thai Forest Tradition has been influential in the development of the lay meditation movements.
Practitioners inhabit remote wilderness and forest dwellings as spiritual practice training grounds. It is widely known among Thai people for its orthodoxy, conservatism, and strict adherence to monastic rules vinaya. Perhaps its most widely known representative was Ajahn Chah ; Jack Kornfield , one of the main western teachers of Insight meditation, trained as a monk under Ajahn Chah.
Ajahn Sumedho is the senior Western representative of the Thai forest tradition, he was the abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Western representatives of the Thai forest tradition are known to teach lay practitioners at the monasteries and to visit lay meditation centers to teach. Another influential scholar-monk was Buddhadasa , who gave his own original interpretation of key teachings, rejecting the classical rebirth-doctrine, and emphasizing liberation from dukkha in this life.
Since the early s, insight meditation has gained a growing popularity in the western world, [26] and saw a synthesis of various practices and backgrounds, with the growing insight in its roots and doctrinal background, and the introduction of other modern traditions. A major developments is the popularisation of mindfulness as a technique of its own. Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein taught a series of classes at Naropa University in , and began teaching a series of retreats together for the next two years.
The retreats were modeled on and day Goenka retreats, but the technique taught was mainly based on Mahasi Sayadaw's practice with the inclusion of Metta meditation. Kornfield, and related teachers, tend to de-emphasize the religious elements of Buddhism such as "rituals, chanting, devotional and merit-making activities, and doctrinal studies" and focus on meditative practice. According to Jack Kornfield,. We wanted to offer the powerful practices of insight meditation, as many of our teachers did, as simply as possible without the complications of rituals, robes, chanting and the whole religious tradition.
Some teachers adhere to a strict 'Burmese approach', in which meditation is equated with kasina concentration meditation, and vipassana is the main aim. Others, like Bhikkhu Thannissaro, who trained in Thailand, criticise the Burmese orthodoxy, and propagate an integrative approach, in which samatha and vipassana are developed in tandem. Kornfield, who trained in both Burma and Thailand, also propagates an integrative approach. A main criticism of the Burmese method is it's reliance on the commentatorial literature, in which vipassana is separated from samatha, and jhana is equated with concentration meditation.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu stresses the fact that the kasina-method is marginally treated in the suttas, in which the emphasis is predominantly on jhana. In the suttas, samatha and vipassana are qualities of the mind which are developed together. This point is also reiterated by Shankman, arguing that samatha and vipassana cannot be separated. Groundbreaking research on early Buddhist meditation has been conducted by Bronkhorst, [29] Vetter, [30] Gethin, [31] [32] Gombrich, [note 4] and Wynne [34] arguing that jhana may have been the core practice of early Buddhism, and noting that this practice was not a form of concentration-meditation, but a cumulative practice resulting in mindful awareness of objects while being indifferent to it.
The modern Bangladeshi teacher Dipa Ma , a student of Anagarika Munindra , was one of the first female Asian masters to be invited to teach in America.
Her message to women and men was you don't have to leave your family to reach high states of spiritual understanding, and she taught a radical inclusiveness. She once said to Joseph Goldstein that "Women have an advantage over men because they have more supple minds It may be difficult for men to understand this, because they are men. So there is hope for you. It involves five stages, the first of which was the mastery of self-compassion in mind and heart, then continuing to the other stages.
The prayer of the first stage, given in English is as follows:. Let me be free of dangers Let me be free of mental anxieties Let me pass my time with good body and happy mind. Indian teacher Ilaichidevi Goenka , was a wife of the Burmese-trained S. A ten-day retreat involved officials and inmates alike was then tried in India's largest prison Tihar Jail near New Delhi.