NOVEMBER 2017 PAHANA - Mid Issue26

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Observations in Samatha and Vipassana MeditationYears of distorted Buddhist teaching

and guidance, thanks to our Sinhala

Buddhist priests, who possess wide

knowledge on Thripitaker, yet with

meager 'Understanding' of Buddha's

doctrine, have led our society to engage

in devotional practices as Hindus such

as poojas, prayers, besieging divine

intervention.

Buddha denied such practices, which

might accumulate merit to qualify for a

heavenly birth, rather than leading up to

'Nibbana here & now'.

The present Sri Lankan society is

immensely corrupt even the presence of a

Samma Sambuddha, will fail to guide the

so called labelled Buddhists to salvation,

who indulge themselves in rampant

consumption of liquor, idle chatter,

watching corrupt programs on TV, wild

partying etc. etc. instead of devoting

few minutes a day on meditation, the

crux of Buddha's doctrine. The lame

excuse being ' we hardly have time for

meditation'.

When I practiced meditation under

the Bodhi tree in Buddha Gaya for

an extended period, I observed many

Thai Buddhist monks and lay persons

in meditation and no Sinhala Buddhist

monks practicing bhavanaa were seen

in the vicinity. Our monks' main theme

was Amisa pooja and delivering talks at

times emulating our politicians, using

mega and grama phones, disturbing the

tranquility and peace, in a noble place.

I do not pretend to be an expert on

meditation nor on Buddha Damma

yet I sincerely wish the content of this

article will serve as an 'eye opener' for

those, took refuge in the triple gem and

who abuse the fi ve precepts and label

themselves Buddhists.

The word meditation has been loosely

used for Samadi or Jhana or Samatha

Bhavana. Even before someone begins

concentration which is a mechanical

process, even non-Buddhist can do, one

must practice Mindfulness or Sati, which

means to be aware or conscious of all

movements and phenomena in day to day

activities, indeed a diffi cult practice for a

beginner, as explained in the Mahaa sathi

paththaaner sutra.

The word samadhi has been translated in

Buddhist text in English as concentration

probably from the beginning óf time. but

does it refl ect the true meaning? sammaa

Samadhi refers to 4 jhanas which means

the 4 absorptions (states) of the mind, and

thus a consequence, rather than a process.

In fact it’s the eff ect NOT the cause,

hence Samadhi should mean absorption

and not concentration. Concentration is a

process at arriving at 'one pointedness' but

Samadhi is a state or damma of the mind.

Let us now see why people Meditate.

Nowadays meditation has become

more of a vogue than a disciplined

exercise especially in the west. On

the other hand easterners however are

more inclined to perform rituals to gain

merit rather than engaging themselves

in meditation, thanks to the guidance

of ignorant Buddhist monks. Some do

meditation without knowing why they

practice it. Buddha clearly explains in

Vijja-bhaagiya Sutta why one needs to

meditate. He calls it qualities of clear

knowing. Which in other words is seeing

things as they really are.

First quality is Tranquility or perfect

calmness of body and mind. Some

practice mindfulness of breathing without

actually knowing what it intended

for. In the fi rst tetrad, as explained

in anaapaaner sutra, the 4th stage is

calming the body. While you sit in a

comfortable position and keep your body

still, without movement, virtually the

body is fully relaxed and calm. However

the movement of air in and out of the

body seem to be in a state of disturbance,

relatively to the rest of the body, which

is still. So the aim in Aaanaapaaner Sathi

is to relax this in breath and out breath

to reach a state of perfect stillness,

where one doesn’t feel the extent of the

breath anymore. When Meditator's body

is calm, the mind becomes happy and

happiness is a condition for the mind to

enter Jhana or Absorption. (primararily 4

in all - however here we will not discuss

Jhanas)

Now Buddha poses the question in the

Suttra what purpose does it serve to

tranquilise the ‘breath body’ and go

on to state to develop the Mind. This

clearly indicates that mind needs to be

developed from the state of ‘monkey

mind’ of the ordinary human being,

puthajjaner or run-of-mill mind, to reach

a higher consciousness level. When the

mind is developed, what purpose does

it serve? Just as what purpose it serves

to practice tranquility Buddha poses the

second question. When people see things

at the bottom in a crystal clear water

pond, the Passion for things gradually

disappears, and fi nally is abandoned. So

we can safely arrive at the conclusion

that the Purpose of Practicing Tranquility

or Samatha Bhaavanaa is to abandon

Passion. Now if someone asks you why

you practice meditation the one simple

answer is to abandon passion.

Just by abandoning passion do we

reached a state where we do see things as

clearly as they are? The answer is No. We

abandoned passion but we have a whole

lot of work to do to reach the ultimate

target of Clear Knowing. So we begin the

practice of Insight or Vipassanaa Bhavana

and what purpose does that serve?

Discernment is developed. In the English

Dictionary the meaning of discernment is

given as ‘The act or process of exhibiting

keen insight and good judgment’. In

Buddhist terms the defi nition goes much

further into metaphysics where ‘one’

sees a ‘being’ as a mere aggregate of

5 things, namely Feeling, Perception,

Mental action, Consciousness consisting

of the mind, and the last aggregate, the

physical body. It does not stop there. It

goes on to fi nd the characteristics of

the fi ve aggregates in the bhava of a so

called being, a non-entity. The subject of

the 5 aggregates to Anichcha, Dhukka,

and Anattataa, loosely translated as for

convenience Impermanence, Suff ering

and Not Self. Now Buddha asks , ‘And

when discernment is developed, what

purpose does it serve?’ Ignorance is

abandoned, the root cause of all this

suff ering in Sansaara.

Readers now know why we meditate

which has a dual purpose of abandoning

Passion and abandoning Ignorance.

Samatha Bhavana which again our

mislead Sinhala Buddhist monks, with

a few exceptions, discourage laypersons

to practice, which however Buddha

recommended highly, mentioned in

many Suttras, such as Brahmajaala sutra,

Saamannapala Sutra. The observation of

ignorant monks and lay people, is that

concentration is the domain of Hindu

Rishis, as the end product of Jhanas

lead to gaining powers such as walking

on water or fl ying through air etc. etc.

Buddha clearly advised to refrain indulge

in powers and clinging on to them,

rather to utilize concentration to reach

higher consciousness levels, to engage in

insight, through a better understanding,

to gain more ground on enter the path to

Nibbana.

A good Trainer in bhavanaa or a book

is mandatory for beginners, and my

source was Vissudhimagga, which our

pedantic pundits criticise, instead of

‘understanding’ the absolute brilliant

exposition of Buddhist principles on

Bhavana, to elevate consciousness from

Sensual sphere, Kamavacchara Citta,

to Fine material sphere, Rupavacchara

Citta, and beyond. To gain a superior

understanding of Mind and Matter is one

of the greatest challenge for an ordinary

worldling, concentrating on forty

Kammathanas or objects, the dhammer

recommends.

The object of concentration when

rightly grasped with much practice will

produce a SIGN, an image or Nimittha..

At this stage in Samatha Bhavana, a

meditator reaches Access Concentration,

however not yet Jhana or Absorption

and the concentrator will quickly fall

back from Fine Material consciousness

which he/she reached, to Sensual

Sphere consciousness. Some objects of

concentration, kammathaaners, such as

Buddha's qualities or a dead body will

only lead up to Access Concentration. To

strive for higher levels one should select

a Kasina or practice Anapaana Sati. The

image created by the mind comes in

various shapes and sizes as one reaches

Absorption or Jhana Consciousness.

The common sign is a bright light, a

conceptual image created by mind.

Anaapaaner Sathi practice, the readily

available object for concentration,

should begin with counting In breath

and Out breath ‘one…one’, ‘two…two’

up to fi ve. With profi ciency, one might

drop counting and feel Ana and Pana at

the base of nostril or some point in the

breath body. Once mastered one can

practice the fi rst four bases, out of the

16 bases, as explained in the Anaapaaner

Suttra. This practice is the domain of

Buddhas and diffi cult, however one can

reach Nibbaaner, going through four

Jhana, stepping on abhinnaa (6th power)

utilizing Anapana Sati Bhavana.

Mind by default wonders and attempts to

keep it focused often fails. The meditator

should not be frustrated and should make

every endeavour to re-focus on the object

of concentration. One of the easiest times

for beginners to practice Bhavana is

before going to bed, while in the supine

position. If one awakes he/she should do

resume Anapana Sati, until he/she falls

back to sleep. Noise is one of the thorns

for meditation and it is advisable to avoid

such places. In fact Bhavanaa according

Buddhism is a 24/7 practice, uitilsing

clear comprehension and mindfulness

Jhanas numerically are one to eight,

and the fi rst set of four Jhanas, which

is confi ned to Fine Material sphere or

consciousness, is quite adequate to

contemplate on Mind and Matter (Citta

and Rupa kaya) gaining insight to liberate

one from Samsara, reaching the ultimate

goal Nibbana.

At the Absorption or Jhana stage a person

is at the fi fth Impulsion of the seven

Impulsions in the cognitive series, Citta

Vitthi (one need to read about Cognitive

Series in a separate Buddhist text) . The

fi rst four impulsions belong to Access

Concentration, mentioned above, and the

fi fth, Absorption consciousness, which

is a steady, stable stage. Both Moral

and Immoral Vipaaker are created at a

future date, through Actions or Kamma,

during the seven Impulsion stage.

Briefl y, a single consciousness, consists

of seventeen ‘Thought Moments’ and

Impulsions occupy numbers from nine to

fi fteen, seven in all.

A contemplator should at all times, keep

the mind relaxed and should never begin a

session ‘expecting’ something to happen

or ‘aiming’ at going after the Sign. The

Sign will appear spontaneously at the most

unexpected situation. Nowadays some

practice 'factory' Bhavana, the current

vogue, especially in the west. However

Buddha recommended meditation in

solitary retreat in a Kuti or room or under

a tree or open space etc. etc. One need

to lead a moral existence to obtain higher

consciousness and disappointments are

many yet a person should strive hard as

the fruits of concentration will eventually

materialize with patience as the key for

success.

Under Absorption of Jhana meditator

will experience happiness, bliss and

eventually equanimity and unifi cation

of mind. One need to COME OUT of

Absorption, to review the Jhana achieved

and it's shortcomings or move on to the

next stage of contemplating on mind and

matter, applying the three characteristics

of existence Impermanence, Suff ering

and Anatta on fi ve aggregates. This will

lead to ponder on Dependant Origination

or Patichcha Samupaadaayer, detailed in

Mahanidhaaner Suttra. Understanding

Dependant Origination, Buddha has

proclaimed is the key to EXIT Samsara