Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center

Buddhist studies and meditation practice is very important for the people in all parts of the world especially for Westerners in the 21st century. The people are running with materialism and following their desire making them and fight with time and labor, which creates a corruption, problems and resulting suffering to human society. Science and technology is not the end of life, this human creation is now influencing the human mind. It becomes a master of human beings instead of slavery. People today have no time to look back to themselves, how they are, and who they are? What they are doing and for whom? To be born as a human being is rare, people are not aware of this, they are running and running never slowing down to stop and rest.

Since I came to Vipassanã Meditation Center in Chicago, known as Wat Dhammaram, Thai Buddhist Temple of Chicago in 1986, I have been working with English speaking friends in the area. Whenever I went out to give meditation instruction to my American friends they asked me for a hand book of meditation practice that I did not have at that time. I wrote an article on Meditation Instruction and practice both in Thai and in English, after that I found it is helpful for them to understand the simple way of meditation. In 1996-1997, I moved to Warren, Michigan to establish a meditation and community center in that area and I got it printed in the booklet form. Since then it has been reprinted many times by Wat Thai Washington, D.C., and Wat Pa Santitham, Virginia.

The Midwest Buddhist Meditation Center reprinted it three times and this is the sixth printing. This book has not only been reprinted for The Parliament of World Religions 2004, which was held in Barcelona, Spain, July 7-13, 2004, but also for the using of our friends who are interested in Meditation practice in general. I would like to thank all my friends who help in many ways in the printing of this book.
My sincere thanks is due to Mrs. Bangorn Kesmanee, her family and friends for their sponsorship of this edition, type-setting and shipping from Thailand to Los Angeles, California, USA.

Thank you to Ven. Pimol Kamkrueng and Ven. Oros Chinoraso for their additional artwork in this edition. I thank Mrs. Sheila Duke leader and sponsor of meditation group of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, for her neat editing throughout this handbook. Finally I owe thank to Ven. Dr. Thanat Inthisan who has done all final typseting and artwork of this edition and arranging sponsorship for this publication.

Dr. Chuen Phangcham (1942-2008)
MBMC
Written on July 3, 2004
Edited on July 6, 2007

Offering the flowers, incenses, and candle light.

Imina Sakkarena Tang Buddhang Abhipujayama
Imina Sakkarena Tang Buddhang Abhipujayama
Imina Sakkarena Tang Buddhang Abhipujayama

May we offer fragrance of these flowers, incenses, and candle light to the Buddha, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha.

ALL TOGETHER:

TO THE BUDDHA

ARAHAM SAMMÃSAMBUDDHO BHAGAVÃ
BUDDHAM BHAGAVANTAM ABHIVÃDEMI

The Exalted One, far from mental defilement, the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, the Awakened One, I bow down before the Blessed One.

TO THE DHAMMA

SVAKKHÃTO BHAGAVATÃ DHAMMO
DHAMMAM NAMASSÃMI.

The Dhamma, the Law of Nature, the Noble Doctrines, well-expounded by the Blessed One, I bow down before the Dhamma.

TO THE SANGHA

SUPATIPANNO BHAGAVATO SÃVAKASANGHO
SANGHAM NAMÃMI.

The Sangha, the Noble Disciples of the Blessed One, who have practiced well, I bow down before the Sangha.

LEADER:
HANTAMAYAM BUDDHASSA BHAGAVATO
PUBBABHÃ GANAMAKÃRAM KARO MASE.

Let us chant the preliminary passage revering the Buddha,
the Blessed One.

NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMÃSAMBUDDHASSA.
Homage to the Blessed One,
far from mental defilement,
the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One,
the Awakened One.

NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMÃ SAMBUDDHASSA.
Homage to the Blessed One,
far from mental defilement,
the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One,
the Awakened One.

NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMÃ SAMBUDDHASSA.
Homage to the Blessed One,
far from mental defilement,
the Perfectly Self-Enlightened One,
the Awakened One.

Leader: YOSO-
All together: TATHÃGATO ARAHAM SAMMÃ
SAMBUDDHO, VIJJÃCARANASAMPANNO
SUGATOLOKAVIDHU, ANUTTARO
PURISADHAMMASSÃRADHI, SATTHÃ
DEVAMANUSSÃNAM BUDDHO BHAGAVÃ,
YO IMAM LOKAM SADEVAKAM SAMÃRAKAM
SABHARMAKAM, SASSAMANABHARMANIM
PAJAMSADEVAMANUSSAM SAYAM ABHINNÃ
SACCHIKATVÃ PAVEDESI,
YO DHAMMAM DESESI ÃDIKALYÃNAM
MAJJEKALYÃNAM PARIYOSÃNA KALYÃNAM,
SÃTTHANGSAPYANJANAM
KEVALAPARIPUNNAM PARISUTTHAM
BHARMACARIYAM PAKÃSESI, TAMAHAM
BHAGAVANTAM ABHIPUJAYÃMI,
TAMAHAM BHAGAVANTAM SIRASÃNAMÃMI.
(One prostration)

Leader: YOSO
All together: SVAKKHÃTO BHAGAVATÃ
DHAMMO, SANDITTHIGO AKÃLIGO
EHIPASSIKO, OPANAYIGO PACCATTAM
VEDITABBHO VINNUHITI,
TAMAHAM DHAMMAM ABHIPUJAYÃMI,
TAMAHAM DHAMMAM SIRASÃNAMÃMI.
(One prostration)

Leader: YOSO
All together: SUPATIPANNO BHAGAVATO SÃVAGASANGHO,

UJUPATIPANNO BHAGAVATO SÃVAKASANGHO,

NÃYAPATIPANNO BHAGAVATO SÃVAKASANGHO,

SÃMITIPATIPANNO BHAGAVATO SÃVAKASANGHO,

YADIDAM CATTÃRI PURISAYUGÃNI ATTHA
PURISAPUGGALÃ, ESA BHAGAVATO
SÃVAKASANGHO, ÃHUNEYYO PÃHUNEYYO
DAKKHINEYYO ANJALIKALANIYO,
ANUTTARAM PUNNAKKHETTAM LOKASSA.

TAMAHAM SANGHAM ABHIPUJAYÃMI,
TAMAHAM SANGHAM SIRASÃNAMÃMI.
(One prostration)

The Exalted One, far from mental defilement, the
Perfectly Self-Enlightened One, the Awakened One, I bow down before the Blessed One. (one prostration)

The Dhamma, the Law of Nature, the Noble
Doctrines, well-expounded by the Blessed One,

I bow down before the Dhamma. (one prostration)

The Sangha, the Noble Disciples of the Blessed One,
who have practiced well, I bow down before the Sangha. (one prostration)

What is Meditation?

In Buddhism the word “Meditation” is translated from the Pali language. The Pali word is “Bhãvnã” which means to develop, to improve, to cultivate mindfulness and awareness, so the mind becomes healthy and strong. Meditation is the way to cultivate the mind so it becomes calm, clear, peaceful, stable, bright, light, and pure.

A concentrated mind can focus clearly on a particular object. Such a mind is developed and purified, when defiling mental obstructions such as hatred, greed, craving, delusion unwholesome thoughts, ignorance, is retired, is released from tension, worry and stress.
Meditation is the way to psychologically train the mind to develop the tool of insight, or Vipassanã enabling meditation practitioners to realize Enlightenment, the highest wisdom for ordinary persons to become complete human beings so that human being can become “noble ones” or ariyapuggala (Pali).

The oldest form of Vipassanã (insight) meditation is taught in the Theravãda tradition of South-East Asia. The development of mindfulness and awareness is the heart of Buddhist meditation. The four Foundations of Mindfulness (The Satipatthana Sutta) were emphasized by the historical Buddha, as follows: “There is one way, O monks, for the purification of human beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of suffering, grief and pain, for the winning of the noble Path, for realizing Enlightenment, Nibbana, that is to say, the Four Foundations of mindfulness” (Details will be given later in chapters regarding meditation objects.

Meditation is the way to experience peace in one’s own mind, a way to experience real happiness. When our mind is peaceful we are free from worries and mental discomfort, and we experience true happiness.

If our mind is not peaceful, then even the most pleasant external conditions will not produce a happy mind. However, if we train our mind to become peaceful we shall be happy at any time, even under the most adverse conditions. Therefore, it is important to train our mind through meditation.”

Meditation can be practiced in many ways to develop the mind and to have the mind relax and become calm. We see in the Western world today many people who practiced meditation by themselves through reading books, without supervisors, teachers, guides or experienced friends to help them.
However, it is beneficial to have a trained meditation teacher to guide you in the correct way of practice. There are forty methods or techniques for tranquility in Buddhist meditation which we do not need to mention in this small booklet. Please read “Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice” by P. Vajirmana Mahathera, 1995.

Meditation can be applied for different purposes. Some apply meditation in the wrong way and for negative purposes, such as mundane magical power, and so on. In short, meditation is the way to purify the mind from hatred,(Pali: Dosa) greed, (Pali:lobha) and ignorance, (Pali : moha) so we can cultivate mindfulness and awareness to see things as they really are. The way things are imperment (Pali :aniccam) hard to maintain or suffering (Pali: dukkham) and out of control, non-self or selflessness (Pali: anatta)

It is very useful and wonderful to learn, study and practise meditation because living without meditation is very dangerous it is like driving a car without a road map and with no direction. Living with meditation is just the opposite, providing all the tools you need to get to your destination.

Why should we train our mind?

The mind is of primary importance, the most important element in human life. All deeds, wholesome or unwholesome, are the result of a mental process. In the DHAMMAPADA the Buddha said, “Mind is the fore runner of all action, mind is chief; mind made are they. If one speak or acts with an evil mind, suffering follows him/her, even as the wheel of the cart” “Mind is the fore runner of all actions, mind is chief, mind made are they. If one speaks or acts with a wholesome mind happiness follows him/her, even as his (her) own shadow.”

(Pali: Manopubbam gama dhamma, manosettha manomaya, manasa ce padtuthena bhasati va karoti va.tato nam dukkhamanaveti, cakkam va vahato padam “..manasa ce pasannaena pasati va karoti va tato nam sukkhamanveti chayava anupayini.)

Why should we meditate?

Mind is by nature originally pure. Great extensive spiritual power is all complete within the mind. You may ask yourself what you want to have in your life. The answer would likely be peace and real happiness because what the mind wants is peace and real happiness.
How can we reach that stage where we will have a peaceful mind and happiness? The answer is through the practice of meditation. This is the tool that helps us train our mind to be peaceful and pure. With a peaceful and pure mind we will be able to experience real happiness and the highest wisdom in life.

Meditation is a spiritual training in all the world’s religions. Many people talk about peace and happiness in their daily gatherings and meetings. In other words, an individual with a deluded mind cannot find the right way to experience real happiness and peace for himself/herself and others except by cultivating a clear and pure mind. To experience that stage, each person must train their own mind to develop in the proper way. Meditation plays a key role in this matter.

Meditation helps in training and refining the mind, it helps the person who engages in meditation practice to concentrate and to be mindful in daily activities. Everyone benefits from this training. For example, the student needs concentration while doing homework assignments. Administrators need concentration and a clear mind while running their offices. Parents need concentration and a clear mind while doing their work at home, conducting family life in a calm and peaceful way.

Meditation helps everyone at all times to live and work effectively and successfully. Everyone wants to be happy in life. The way to lead oneself to real happiness and have a peaceful life may be different, but without a peaceful, calm and clear mind, real happiness cannot be realized. Meditation can help in this regard. The Exalted One, the Buddha said “The peaceful mind excels all other happiness.”(Pali: natthi santi param sukkham)

What would happen if one worked without right mindfulness and right concentration?

The answer is simple. If one worked without right mindfulness and concentration, work would be ineffective. For example, if one studies without mindfulness and full attention, one cannot remember the subject being studied. Consequently, a poor performance would result. As you can see, there is a role to be played by concentration and mindfulness during study. In the same way, right understanding and insight, as worldly tools, need to be applied before starting any work.

Working without mindfulness and concentration is resulting in more harm than good. The way to apply these tools is to learn how to be aware, moment by moment in our daily activities, that is, to know what we are doing, what we are saying and what we are thinking. Without mindfulness and concentration there is no life. We are on “automatic pilot.”
Meditation can be practiced correctly or incorrectly. When practicing meditation in the proper manner, it will be a benefit to meditation practitioner as follow:

- Meditation gives us a clear mind and clear comprehension to carry out duties in daily life in a peaceful way, without conflict in the family, at school or in the work place. Meditation helps us to maintain physical health and mental clarity with equanimity, a balance.

- Meditation enables us to face all kinds of problems and difficulties in our daily life with confidence. Meditation teaches us to adjust ourselves to bear with the numerous obstacles encountered in life and in the changing modern world.

- Meditation helps to conquer mental defilement which pollutes the mind. If you practice meditation, you will learn to behave like a true human being even though you are upset or disturbed by others.

- Meditation helps us to concentrate by sharpening our mental faculties. It frees our mind from all kind of stress, worries, tension, and anxieties.

- Meditation offers direct mental hygiene to the practitioner. It improves our mental and physical health; it helps develop a sound mind in a sound body.

- Meditation helps us cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, inner peace, sympathetic joy and equanimity. It prevents us from attaching to hatred, greed, craving, selfishness, jealousy and all unwholesome or negative thoughts as well as moderating extreme positive mental states.

- Meditation, as we teach it, is based on the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Right Concentration, one of the tenets of the Path, can help practitioners realize the law of nature, Enlightenment and the truth. It helps us to go beyond happiness and unhappiness, good and bad, beyond love and hatred. This is absolute freedom and absolute independence.

- Meditation helps us to go beyond mundane knowledge. As said by Egerton C. Baptist in his book “Supreme Science of the Buddha” Science can give no assurance herein, but Buddhism can meet the Atomic Challenge because the supra mundane knowledge of Buddhism begins where science leaves off. This is clear enough to anyone who has made a study of Buddhism. For through Buddhist Meditation, the atomic constituents making up matter have been seen and felt, and the sorrow or dissatisfaction of their “arising and passing away” has made itself known with what we call a soul or atma, the illusion of sakkayaditthi (egoism) as it is called in the Buddha’s teaching..”

- Meditation strengthens the mind enabling it to control human emotion when it is disturbed by negative thoughts and feelings such as jealousy, anger, pride and envy.

How many techniques of meditation are there in the Buddhist tradition?

There are two kinds of meditation (Pali: Bhãvanã) namely: Tranquillity Meditation (Pali: Samatha Bhãvnã) and Insight Meditation (Pali: Vipassanã Bhãvanã)

Tranquillity Meditation or concentration Meditation (Pali: Samadha Bhãvanã) is the way to develop tranquility and serenity in mind. It is a synonym of Samatha (concentration) , that is one-pointed-ness and non-distraction of mind. Tranquillity meditation is the way of developing temporary serenity in the mind. Concentration meditation will help the mind become rested, relaxed and quiet so it may gradually ascend to higher states of concentration or mental bliss. Some meditation practitioners may also apply this technique as a base to insight meditation (Vipassanã Bhãvanã) to understand the real nature of phenomena and to “see things as they really are.”

One person may also develop concentration to reach a higher level of mental bliss enlightenment while another may apply this technique as the base for insight meditation.

Insight Meditation, or Vipassanã Bhãvnã as it is called in the Buddhist tradition, aims to free the mind from the distraction of self-centeredness, negativity, and confusion. Seeing life as a constantly changing process, one begins to accept pleasure and pain, fear and joy, and all aspects of life with increasing balance and equanimity. This balanced awareness, grounded in the present moment, leads to stillness and a growing understanding of the nature of life. Out of this seeing, emerges wisdom and compassion.

Insight meditation is available spiritual technique for those who are searching for peace of mind and self-understanding. It is a meditation technique introduced to the world by the Awakened One, Gotama Buddha. This Theravãda Buddhist meditation technique of insight meditation is becoming better known in the Western world. It is the way to develop mindfulness so we will be aware of who we are and what we are doing, moment to moment.
Only in the present moment can one’s awakening mind have insight to eliminate the causes of suffering and frustration in daily life.

Meditation Instruction

Here I would like to share with you the meditation technique I practiced at Wat Norng Pah Pong or Wat Pah Pongh, Ubolrachathani, Thailand.

Ajahn Chah gave this instruction and encouragement to his students to practice in a very simple way. He said, “Sit down. Sit straight and keep your mind alert. See your mind. See your thoughts. See your mind and See your thoughts. When you breathe in say “Bud” When you breathe out say “Dho” See your mind and See your thoughts. See your mind and See your thoughts and let them go.”

When I became more mature meditation practitioner one by one, I realized that the technique I had learned from Ajahn Chah helped me to be mindful in daily living in sitting, in standing, in working, in sweeping, in cleaning, in eating, and so on. Ajahn Chah said, “This is Dhamma practice.”
I apply this technique in my own practice here in the United States, as well as teach it to those who want to practice meditation with me. The following passage is adapted from the Four Foundations of mindfulness (Pali: Satipatthana Sutta). Be sitting. Be mindful of standing. Be mindful of working. Be mindful of sitting. Be mindful of resting or reclining. Be mindful of eating. Be mindful of drinking. Be mindful of doing or working. Be mindful of speaking. Be mindful of thinking”

I give these suggestions to my friends who come for meditation instruction and guidance at the Vipassanã Meditation Center in Chicago, Illinois and the Midwest Buddhist Center in Warren, Michigan. The technique is to be mindful in our own being, here and now, to live our life in the present moment. Whatever we do, we are to be aware and mindful of that moment.

We can say that mindfulness in daily life practice is the heart of Buddhist meditation, Dhamma Patipatti. For forty-five years the Buddha spent his time teaching this way of life to people. Before he passed away from the eyes of people he said, in The Maha Parinibbana Suta, “My years are now full ripe; the life span left is short. I will soon have to leave you. You must be earnest. O monks, be mindful and of pure virtue. Whoever untiringly pursues the Teaching will go beyond the cycle of birth and death, and will make an end of suffering. Work diligently. Component things are impermanent.
(Appamadena Sampadetha Vaya Dhammã Sankhãrã”)

To start, find a fairly quiet place. Sit down on a chair, the floor, a bench, or a cushion. If you sit on a chair, sit with your back straight and try not to lean on the back of the chair, if you sit on a cushion, cross legged, American-Indian style. Though it is not necessary to assume the full lotus position, some people may be able to assume this posture or one of its variations. Sit straight; relax your shoulders and head. Relax and straighten your neck. Gaze in front of you, looking toward the floor.

Now place your palms together in a step-by-step manner, mindfully and slowly. Place your palms face down on your knees. With mindfulness, slowly turn your right hand on its side. Move your right hand up a bit and move your hand to the center of your chest and note stopping. Mindfully turn your left palm up on its side. Move your left hand up a bit and move your hand to the center of your chest, noting stopping. Place your palms together. Please pay respect to your parents or guardians, for without them we would not be here. Also pay respect to the great teachers and those enlightened ones, the founders of the great world religions, who brought peace and harmony to society in the past, present and future.

Then move your hand back mindfully and slowly, move the right hand down to the right knee, move the left hand to the left knee slowly. Sit straight. Move the right hand to the abdomen and left hand to the right hand, slowly and mindfully. Hold them together and put them down, palms up on your lap. Feel your body clearly. Then close your eyes softly. Observe deep in-breaths and long out-breaths for four rounds. At this moment you may follow the in-and-out breath as it arises and passes away. You can feel your lungs filling up with the in -breath. When you breathe out you will feel the lungs becoming empty. At this time you will find that you are clearly and mindfully aware of what you are doing. It can be said that “This is the moment of mindfulness”.

The Meditation Object

Your mind is now becoming one with the object; it has one- pointed-ness of mind, it is the awakening mind. After four rounds of deep in-breaths and out-breaths, bring your mind back to normal breathing by keeping mindfulness and awareness on the inner side of the nostril, where the air is passing in and passing out. You should feel and be aware of it easily. You may observe this point for about 10 to 15 minutes. You may also move your mind slowly down to your abdomen to a point about two inches above the navel.

At this point, when you breathe in, you can feel your abdomen moving out; when you breathe out, it moves in. When it move out, you may gently make a mental note, “rising” When it moves in, you may gently make a mental note, “falling”.

These two points (rising and falling) of moment to-moment attention are the objects of meditation because they are related to each other. They are the “anchor” objects. Because of the in-breath, the abdomen rises, the abdomen falls down caused by out-breath or contracts. You should, however, observe only one object at a time, either the air passing in-and out at the nostril or abdominal movement. The mind can work clearly when it works with only one object at a time.

During sitting meditation, if any sound comes from any direction through the ears and the mind hears the sound, you may mentally say to yourself “hearing, hearing, hearing”. Then you become aware (have mindfulness) that the sound has gone as hearing arises and falls. Then bring your mind back to the “anchor” object at the nostril or abdominal movement.

Ajahn Chah (1918-1992) a famous and loved meditation master in Northeastern Thailand, taught, “The Buddha said that when we experience sights, sounds, tastes, odor, bodily feeling or mental states (thinking), we should release them. When the ears hear the sound, let them go. When the nose smells an odor, let it go. Just leave it at the nose. When bodily feeling arises, let go of the like or dislike that follows. Let them go back to their own birth-place”.

“The same goes for mental states. All these things just let them go their way. This is knowing. Whether it is happiness or unhappiness, it’s all the same. This is called meditation.” Ajahn Chah further explained that “…meditation means to make the mind peaceful in order to let wisdom arise.” (A Taste of Freedom, by Ajahn Chah).

The following four Foundations of Mindfulness are quoted from The Mahasatipatthana Sutta, teachings of the Buddha:

1. Mindfulness of the body (breath. Moment or postures)

2. Mindfulness of feeling (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensations) Prathat Phanom, Nakhonphanom, Thailand where the relics of the Buddha was stored

3. Mindfulness of states of consciousness (mind with or without greed, hatred or delusion);

4. Mindfulness of mental contents (joy, worry, calm, doubt, restlessness etc.)
 

These may be kept in mind during or walking, standing or reclining meditation, from moment to moment.

Mindfulness of the body (Kãyãnupassanã Satipatthãna)

Mindfulness of the body begins with mindfulness or awareness of breathing. The “Satipatthana Sutta” opens with succinct description of the practice: “Herein, a monk [or meditation practitioner] having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty place, sits down cross-legged, keeping his body erect and establishing mindfulness in front of him. Ever mindful he breathes in and mindful he breathes out. Breathing in long he understands: “I breathe in long” or breathing out long.

He understands “breathing out long” breathing in short, he understands, “I breathe in short” or breathing out short, he understands “I breathe out short” He trains thus: “I shall breathe in experiencing the whole body (of breathing)”: He trains thus: I shall breathe out experiencing the whole body (of breathing): He trains thus “I shall breathe in tranquilizing the bodily formation; he trains thus “I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily formation, just as when a skilled potter makes along turn, he understands: I make short turn”; so too, breathing in long, a Bhikkhu understands: “I breathe in long” ..he trains thus: “I shall breathe out tranquilizing the bodily formation..”

Mindfulness of feelings (Vedanãnupassanã Satipatthãna)

Before you move your hands you must observe and concentrate on the feeling you experience at that moment. You are then observing mindfulness of feeling.
“And how, Bhikkus (monks), do a Bhikhu abide contemplating feeling as feeling? Here, when feeling a pleasant feeling, a Bhikhu understands “I feel (experiencing) a peasant feeling”. When he feels (experiencing) a painful feeling, he understands: “I feel painful feeling”; when he feels (experiencing) neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands; “I feel a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling”.
When he feels (experiencing) a worldly pleasant feeling, he understands “I feels a worldly pleasant feeling”. When he feels (experiencing) an unworldly pleasant feeling, he understands; “I feels an unworldly pleasant feeling”; when he feels (experiencing) a worldly painful feeling, he understands: “I feel a worldly painful feeling”; when he feels(experiencing) an unworldly feeling: he understands; “I feel an unworldly painful feeling”; when he feels (experiencing) a worldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands: “I feel a worldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling”; when he feels (experiencing) an unworldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he understands: “I feel an unworldly neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling”.
“In this way he abides contemplating feelings as feelings internally, or he abides contemplating feeling as feeling externally, or he abides contemplating feelings as feelings both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating their vanishing factors, or he abides contemplating both their arising and vanishing factors. Or else mindfulness that ‘There is feeling’ simply establishes in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a Bhikkhu abides contemplating feelings as feeling. Then insight exists in his mind. This is the state of insight meditation.”

When you need to move your body, such as changing your posture, you may move with mindfulness. Be aware of the body moving by moving your mind from the object you have been contemplating to your hands or legs. Never move with mental defilement. When you complete moving, adjust yourself in the same manner that you did before the start of meditation practice by mindfully observing in breathe and out breathe. During the period of moving your body, you may keep your eyes opened or closed.

Mindfulness of States of Consciousness: Cittãnupassanã Satipatthãna)

“And how, Bhikkhus, does a Bhikkhu abide contemplating mind as mind? Not mine, not self but just a phenomena? Here in this teaching a Bhikkhu understands know in the present moment as [mind rising and falling] mind affected by lust (greed), craving, attach to sense pleasure, either weak or strong, which can produce only unwholesome actions. He understands the mind unaffected by greed. He understands mind affected by hate [also: anger, aversion, fear, sadness, frustration, ill-will]. He understands the mind unaffected by hate or unwholesome thought [mind having loving-kindness friendliness, and good will].

“He understands mind unaffected by delusion [inability to discern right and wrong action, inability to perceive characteristics of impermanence, dissatisfaction, and no self, inability to perceive the Four Noble Truths]. Delusion is associated with doubt, uncertainty, mental restlessness, distraction and confusion.

He understands contracted mind [shrunken, indolent mind lacking interest in anything] as contracted. He understands the developed mind [a type of mind experienced in rarefied states of mental bliss resulting from concentration practice]. When it arises, he understands, when an unwholesome mind [mind generally found in the sensuous world] arises, he understands when a superior mind [very high states of mental bliss resulting from concentration practices] arises.

He understands when concentrated mind [known only by meditation practitioners who practice a concentration technique] arises. He understands when an unconcentrated [mind without above knowledge] arises. He understands when the mind is temporarily free from defilement [of greed, anger, delusion, conceit, shame and lack of moral dread]. He knows when the mind is not free from defilement.

“In this way he abides contemplating mind as mind internally in oneself, or he abides contemplating mind as mind externally in others, or he abides contemplating mind as just contemplating both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating its vanishing factors, or he abides contemplating its arising and vanishing factors, the existence or non-existence of ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, “there is mind’ not a soul, self or I is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world”. There is feeling that is simply established, a Bhikkhu abides contemplating mind as mind. This is state of insight meditation.

Mindfulness of Mental Contents: (Dhammãnupassanã Satipatthãna)

“And how Bhikkhus, does a Bhikkhu abide contemplating mind-objects? Here a Bhikkhu abides contemplating mind-objects as mind object in the presence of the five hindrances not mine, not I, not self, but just a phenomena. And how does he do so? Here, monks, if sensual desire is present in himself he understands that it is present in me (anyone). If sensual desire is absent in me, and he knows how latent sensual desire comes to arise and he knows how the abandonment of arisen senal desire comes about, and he knows how the non-arising of the abandoned desire will come about in the future, due to wise attention to releasing craving or sensual gratification.

“If ill-will is present in him, he understands that it is present in me [anyone]. And he knows how the non-arising of the abandoned ill-will [due to the development of loving-kindness] in the future will come about. If sloth and torpor are [present in himself, he understands that they are present in me. And he understands how the non-arising of the abandoned sloth and torpor [of mental dullness is released when energy and exertion is developed] in the future will come about. And he knows when distraction [agitated, restless and unconcentrated] and worry [past actions that one has or has not done] are present in him due to unwise attention to the thing causing distraction and worry. He knows when distraction and worry are not present in himself.

He knows how distraction and worry which has not yet arisen comes to arise. He knows how the arisen distraction and worry come to be abandoned.

He knows how the abandoned distraction and worry will not arise in the future due to development of calmness of mind. And he knows when doubt or worrying of mind is present in himself. (Such as, is the Buddha really fully enlightened? Does this practice really lead to the cessation of dissatisfaction? Was there a past life? Is there a future life? And so on.)

He knows when doubt or worrying of mind is not present in himself. He knows the wise attention to the perception of impermanence, dissatisfaction, non-self, or to investing the Dhamma teaching is present].

The long Discourses of the Buddha. Digha Nikaya Suttanta Pitaka; Maurice Walshe; pp 335-350; 1995. Also Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Majjhima Nikaya; Translated by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikku Boddhi; pp 145-155. 1995)

Change positions when physically tired, but not as soon as you feel an impulse to change. First, know why you want to change – is it physical fatigue, mental restlessness, or laziness? Notice the suffering or unpleasant feeling of the body. Learn to watch openly and mindfully both comfortable and uncomfortable feeling. This is mindfulness of feelling, sensation (Pali: Vedananupassana) both comfortable and uncomfortable.

“Effort in practice is a matter of the mind, not the body. It means constantly being aware what goes on in the mind without following like and dislike as they arise.” (A still Forest pool: The insight Meditation of Ajahn Chah compiled and edited by Jack Kornfield and Paul Breiter, 1991).

If you need to stand up, you may do so with mindfulness and awareness by keeping your mind with your body as you move from sitting to standing. When you complete the standing posture, you may stand for two or three minutes, or more, by observing the body both standing and touching, standing and touching, standing and touching. The body is standing and the body is touching the floor. The mind knows “You are standing”. Note the feeling of the body from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, from the top of your head down to the bottom of your feet, and feel your whole body is standing.

You also can observe standing meditation for a longer period of time by just moving your legs, one by one, a little bit and observe the feeling at the moment as you move.

Whenever you need to move from standing to walking, to turning left or right. Say to yourself “Intending to turn,” then “turning, turning, turning.” When you complete turning, keep standing for a moment, repeating three times. “Standing, Standing, Standing”. Then say to yourself; “Intending to walk,” and observe walking meditation for the required time.

In general practice, walking meditation is powerful and everyone can do it at any time, outdoors, at home, in the forest, or even on the sidewalk. It is an effective exercise. You may start walking slowly, naturally and mindfully by keeping your mind with your body, moving for one or two or 15 to 25 paces, depending upon the space available. Relax your neck and shoulders. Keep your mind on the moving of your feet as you step from right to left or from left to right. Walk naturally. Focus your eyes down without strain, at a comfortable angle about two or three yards in front of you. You may lightly clasp your hands in front or in the back, mindfully changing hand position when tired.

You may observe walking for fifteen to twenty-five minutes. Whenever you need to stop walking, say to yourself “Stopping, Stopping, Stopping.” Then stop and walk slowly and mindfully to your seat or cushion. Observe standing for one or two minutes, and then sit down slowly step by step. In formal walking, when you stand, repeat three times to yourself: “Standing, Standing, Standing.” Say one “Intending to walk.” When you are walking and need to stop say “Intending to stop” one, “Stopping.” one, “Standing” three times.” “Intending to turn” one, “Turning” four times. “Standing” three times. “Intending to walk” one time, walk slowly and mindfully for the required time.

Here is what Ajahn Chah said to his students during meditation practice: “Walk at a normal pace from one end of the path to the other, knowing yourself all the way. Stop and return. If the mind wanders, stand still and bring it back. If the mind still wanders, fix attention on the breath. Keep coming back. Mindfulness thus developed is useful at all times.

“As you walk from one predetermined point to another, fix the eyes about two yards in front of you on the ground, and fix the attention on the actual feeling of the body, or repeat the mantra “Buddho” or “standing” “standing” or whatever arises in consciousness.”
Do not fear things that arise in the mind; question them, know them. The truth is more than thoughts and feeling, so do not believe them and get caught by them. See the whole process of the arising and ceasing.
This understanding gives rise to wisdom. Ultimately when consciousness arises, we should have awareness of it instantly, like a light bulb and its light. If you are not alert, the hindrances will catch hold of the mind. Only concentration can cut through. Just as the presence of a thief prevents negligence with our possessions, so the reminder of the hindrances should prevent negligence in our concentration.

Before you stop meditation, mentally spread loving-kindness to yourself, your family members, your friends and all living beings in all directions. If this procedure is now clear in your mind, you may start meditation by yourself.

Note:
To meditate is to see things as they really are, and to see the nature of things. Things are impermanent, hard to maintain, out of control and always have the potentiality of stress and dissatisfaction.

To meditate is to let the mind be free from clinging to both happy and unhappy feeling, liking, and disliking. Let the mind be free from them, separate from them. Let the mind go back to the nature of mind; free mind, independent mind, balanced mind. This is the mind of the Enlightened Ones, The Buddha or Anu-Buddhas. We all have to cease suffering. Suffering and frustration arise from attachment and clinging; we must learn wholesome detachment and non-clinging so we may have the virtues of loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity and grow in wisdom.

Suffering arises from ignorance but ignorance can be eliminated by making the mind clear, calm and peaceful so wisdom can arise. When wisdom arises, ignorance disappears. When ignorance disappears, the mind no longer clings to criticism, loss, gain, praise, blame, etc. The Buddha is named “Lokavidhu,” or the one who knows the truth of the world. When we know the truth of the world, the mind becomes free, light, bright, pure and enlightened.

After the Meditation Practice:  Spread Loving-kindness to all living beings as follow;

Aham avero homi. May I be free from enmity.
Aham abyãpaccho homi. May I be free from ill treatment
Aham anigho homi. May I be free from troubles.
Aham nitukkho homi. May I be free from suffering.
Aham sukhi attãnam pariharãmi.
May I protect my own happiness.
Aham sukhito homi. May I be happy.
Sabbe sattã averã hontu. May all living beings be free from enmity.
Sabbe sattã abyãpacchã hontu. May all living beings be free from ill treatment.
Sabbe sattã anigã hontu. May all living beings be free from troubles.
Sabbe sattã dukkgã pamucantu. May all living beings be free from suffering.
Sabbe sattã sukhi attãnam pariharantu. May all living beings protect their own happiness.
Sabbe sattã sukhitã hontu. May all living beings be happy.

 

Then recollect the virtues of our parents and our ancestors, and those that have generated peace, and happiness to the world of human beings in the past and present and do three times prostration. Then chant the following passage;

DUKKHAPPATTÃ CA NIDDUKKHÃ BHAYAPPATTÃ CA
NIBHAYÃ SOKAPPATTÃ CA NISSOKÃ HONTU SABBEPI PÃNINO ETÃVATÃ CA AMHEHI SAMPADAM
PUNYASAMPADAM SABBE DEVÃ ANUMODANTU SABBASAMPATTI SITTIYÃ DÃNAM DADANTU SADDHÃYA SILAM RAKKHANTU SABBADÃ
BHÃVANÃ BILATÃ HONTU GACCHANTU DEVATÃ GATÃ.

May all living beings: Who are in suffering be free from suffering,
Who are in fear be free from fear,
Who are in sorrow be free from sorrow,
For the sake of all attainment and success
May all heaven rejoice in the extent to which we
have gathered a consummation of merit.
May they offer offering with conviction,
May they always maintain the virtues,
May they delight in meditation, may they go to a heavenly destination.

SABBE BUDDHÃ BHALAPPATÃ PACCEKÃ NANCA YANG BALANG ARAHANTÃ NANCA TEJENA RAKKHANG BANDHÃMI SABBASO.

From the strength attained by the Buddhas,
The strength of the individual Buddhas,
By the power of the arahants,
I abind this protection in all directions.
Aware of moving from the seat, if you need to move your cushion do it mindfully.

Note: Aham - Pronounce = Ahang; Attãnam - pronounce = Attãnang

 

Why are we born?
We are not born merely to pass each day searching for happiness. We are not born to merely seek pleasure and enjoyment, nor are we born for the taste of good food, for lust, or for honor.
We are not born to be slaves to this life. Neither are we born for education, occupation, home or family. We are not born only to grow old, get sick, and die.

If we were born for these things, it would mean that we are born merely to repeat the cycle of birth, sickness, old age and die, to be food for worms. Money and wealth can not save us from this aimless wandering.

But we are born to release ourselves from the chains which bind us. We are born to release ourselves from the bondage of desire.
We are born effect spiritual improvement, to purify our minds as much as we can, and to pass through the darkness of life’s delusion.
We are born to stop birth, end suffering, and reach Nibbana, the Enlightenment, free mind, absolute freedom, the perfect peace.

Meditation has the power to solve all the problems of the world. Meditation has the power to bring personal happiness to the individual, and to achieve World Peace. The human race is facing tremendous challenges unprecedented in the history of the world. People live in terribly distressful, brutalizing and dehumanizing conditions. Despite “progress” in material wellbeing in modern times, suffering seems to increase.

This short essay does not give a step-by-step teaching on meditation practice, but describes the benefits that practice, both for the individual and the society.

What are we facing?
It is a time of cataclysms: Environmental devastation and global warming; Extinction of species; Population explosion; Clash of civilizations with wars and genocides; Globalization of militant-materialism and nihilistic hedonism; Out-of-control Technology; Atomic weapons; Fundamentalisms; Human trafficking and slavery. The list could go on.

Young people face the future with anxiety or dread. Many just go numb in denial, or self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, or other intoxications such as shopping.

We now live in the “Post-Modern” age, they say, the “New World Order.” It is the end of the world as we know it. Something new is coming. But what kind of world will the future bring? What will be the character of the “New World Order?” Will it be the expansion and intensification of the present world order of greed, anger and hatred, and ignorance? Or will it be a time of peace, security, wellbeing and sustainability? The choice is in our hands. If we keep going on the path we’re on, we’re going to end up where we’re headed. If we want to end up in a different place, then we have to go a different direction.

In meditation, we can have an inward transformation, an awakening, that will help us see new directions, an alternative future to the one we’re now facing. Meditators can help show the world a way to meet the challenges bearing down upon us with increasing urgency.
When the Buddha attained awakening under the Bodhi tree, he said he had a shattering realization that greed, hatred, and ignorance is the cause of all the suffering in the world, both personal and collective.

The Buddha said all the suffering of the world arises out of ignorance - not understanding the nature of reality - not seeing clearly. In our ignorance, we cultivate passions of greed and hatred. When greed and hatred are expressed in the organized social realm, greed is manifest as materialist-consumer culture. Hatred becomes manifest as militarism and war. The more desire we have, the faster we will destroy the earth.

Today the world is full of greed, hatred, and ignorance. A “consumer culture” is based on greed, the ever increasing consumption of products. The modern civilizations defines us as “consumers.” I looked the word “to consume” up on the dictionary, and discovered that it means “to utterly destroy” and “to completely annihilate.” Are we destroyers? Is our greed - our consumption - destroying the earth? Is our greed and consumption leading us into angry and violent conflicts with other cultures and nations?

Globalization means the rapid and aggressive expansion and intensification of this militaristic consumer culture to every region of the globe. This process has been underway for a long time – the expansion of the “free market” of materialistic consumer culture.

Mahatma Gandhi, almost seventy years ago, pointed out the disaster that would ensue when heartless “modern civilization” was fully realized. “This civilization takes note of neither morality or religion…I have come to the conclusion that immorality is often taught in the name of morality. Civilization seeks to increase bodily comforts and it fails miserably even in doing this. This civilization is irreligion, and it has taken such a hold on the people of [the West] that those who are in it appear to be half mad. They keep up their energy by intoxication. They can hardly be happy in solitude. “There is no end to the victims destroyed in the fire of civilization. Its deadly effect is that people come under its scorching flames believing it to be all good. They become utterly irreligious and, in reality, derive little advantage from [civilization]…When its full effect is realized, we shall see that religious superstition is harmless compared to that of modern civilization….”

We are living in the last days of modern materialism. But what will come next?
I heard a physicist on National Public Radio discussing Werner Heisenberg and quantum theory, and he said the real meaning of quantum theory is that “the age of materialism is over.” The old scientific understanding of the world as a machine, or dead matter of natural resources available for our exploitation and consumption is no longer workable. The earth, the universe, is alive and mysterious, and mind pervades the universe. There are many dimensions beyond what we can perceive with the senses.

The second lesson of quantum theory, he said, is that the human person is part of the universe; the human person is not a detached observer of the material universe. Consciousness and mind are interactive with the material phenomenal universe.

As the Buddha discovered a long time ago, “everything arises from an ocean of mind. All that we are arises from the mind. With the mind we create the world. If we think and act with unskillful mind – full of greed, hatred and ignorance – then suffering will arise in the world. If we thin and act with skillful mind – generosity, compassion and understanding – then happiness will arise in the world.”

What kind of world will the future bring? It is up to us to create that world, and meditators can show the way.

What is meditation?
Meditation is mind-culture, the development of the mind. Meditation is the “technology of the mind” – the science of the mind; how to transform the mind from ignorance to wisdom, from suffering to happiness. The Buddhist teaching is about the understanding the nature of the mind and reality. Enlightenment is attainment of wisdom and compassion. Buddhism is the teaching about Awakening of Enlightenment. The aim of Buddhist practice is liberation, happiness, and peace.

At the present time, many Americans, especially young people, have developed a keen interest in the meditation teachings and practices of Buddhism. I am often asked to speak about Buddhism to comparative religion classes at Seattle University or the University of Washington, and the students always have a lot of questions about meditation.

The consumer culture and materialism of the west is not enough to make people happy, as evidenced by the epidemics of drug abuse, mental illness, random violence, gang wars, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and suicide. Indeed, the countries with the highest standard of living also have the highest suicide rates.

People in the west have become disillusioned with our materialistic consumer lifestyles. Material wellbeing is not enough to bring us happiness. Indeed, our high-tech materialistic-consumer culture has brought us atomic bombs, genocides, terrorism, and environmental devastation. Many people are looking for a way of finding peace of mind.

For the past two millennium, Buddhist Pandits and scholars have been of great eastern intellectuals were “looking inward” to understand the nature of the inner-world of the mind, and they have developed a great understanding of the mind-culture. We western people can learn a lot from their experience and teaching.

In deep meditation practice (jhana or zen) we concentrate the mind, and “stop” the mind in stillness, and see deeply into the nature of reality. We see that everything is “empty of self” – as quantum theory shows, that the person is interactive with the flow of conditions of the universe. We see that everything is “impermanent,” transient, changing faster than lightening. We see that all things are incomplete and that we must not crave, and “consume” them. This “seeing” is like “waking from a dream,” the Buddha said.

We are no longer hypnotized and intoxicated by the universe as it appears to the senses. We are liberated from desire and craving, and great joy and compassion fills the heart.

Meditation practice
Meditation practice is the technology of how to purify the mind from kilesa (defilements) that cloud, intoxicate, and defile the mind – mind states such as greed and craving, anger and aversion, restlessness and anxiety, boredom and lethargy, doubts, conceit, opinions, shamelessness.
The natural state of the mind is radiant and joyful. The Buddha said, “The true nature of the mind is clear awareness, but it is defiled by visiting defilements.” When the defilements are removed and cleared from the mind, the radiant, clear, joyful nature of the mind shines forth.

In meditation practice, we learn to hold the mind still and allow the defilements to dissolve and settle, like dirt settling in disturbed water. When the defilements are removed from the water, the clear and radiant nature of the water becomes apparent. This process is called jhana (concentrated mind or zen) in Buddhism. The mind becomes progressively more and more unified, clear, and purified as the negative mind states are neutralized and removed from the mind. This process of awakening is very liberating to the mind and heart. The meditator feels great joy as he recognizes the mind being liberated from the harassing and painful mind-states of anger, craving, restlessness, and so on.

The new level of clarity and wisdom also carries over into daily life. The mind is more alert and clam and creative, and the person responds to life with more presence and attention and insightful creativity.

Meditation and Personal Happiness
Meditation has the power to bring us personal happiness. Happiness comes from internal conditions, from within, and not from external conditions outside ourselves. A person can be rich, famous and powerful, and still be very unhappy because happiness does not come from these sources.
Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, once said, “If we cannot be happy even during difficulties, what good is spiritual practice?” In order to be happy in life, we must find a basis of deep internal happiness that will endure even during times of great difficulty and pain, because, indeed, life will bring us difficulties and pain.

What is happiness? What is the source of happiness? Happiness is a mind which is full of living-kindness, compassion, joy and peace. Happiness is in the mind.

The heart of spiritual practice is the “cherish living beings” – to love and care for and protect and cultivate living beings – human beings and other living things, such as animals, birds, forests and the entire web of life.

Happiness is a heart filled with love and compassion. There is no other happiness. When the heart and mind is filled with love and compassion, there is no place left for pain and unhappy, miserable mind states such as fear and anxiety, hatred and anger, frustration and resentment, envy and jealousy and so on.

Love and hate are like fire and water. Happiness and unhappiness are like fire and water. They cannot exist in the same place at the same time. The joyful cool waters of love and compassion will extinguish the painful fires of anger and other painful mind states.

Meditation practice gives us the tools for developing enlightened mind states of love and compassion and understanding.
We attain happiness and fulfillment because, when we respond to the world with love and compassion, because we are fulfilling the meaning of life. “You exist for the benefit of every living thing,” the Dalai Lama said.

When we benefit others, we experience happiness. This is a surprising discovery in a consumer culture, when we have been conditioned to believe that happiness comes from attaining the objects of desire. We have been conditioned to believe that the purposed of life is to “make lots of money,” to be successful, famous, and powerful. We have been conditioned to think that happiness comes from enjoying ourselves with sex, pop music, food, vacations and other luxuries and status symbols.

But this is a mistake. This is not the purpose of life, and therefore pursuing these ends will not bring happiness.The purpose of life is to benefit living beings, to cherish living beings, to nurture and care for and protect life. The more we invest our time, energy, resources into caring for people and other living things, the more meaningful and fulfilling our lives become. We become progressively more and more satisfied, content, and happy.
The external, material conditions of our lives are largely irrelevant to the attainment of happiness.

When it comes time to die, your entire life will pass before you. In a single flash, you will see everything you have ever done or thought. At that time, you will feel remorse for all the time, energy, money and resources that you have spent on your “self” because you will see that the self is now passing away. Your precious life will seem to have been wasted. But every thing you have done for others will be a source of great happiness and joy for you, because you will see that your life was not wasted. Your life was a source of great joy and benefit for living beings, and the benefit will go on forever.
Meditation can help us see what is really important in life, today, and how to respond to life with understanding, day by day.

Meditation and Consumer Culture
We live in a “consumer culture” as I described above. Consumer culture is the realization and actualization of out-of-control greed. All of our lives, we have been conditioned – through the media, entertainment industry, commercials and advertising, the educational system – that we can buy happiness; that if we attain the object of desire, we will be satisfied and happy and content.

But according to Buddhist psychology, the more we feed desire, the stronger it grows and the deeper desire and craving sinks its roots into the heart and mind. Therefore, the more we attain the objects of desire, the more we indulge and gratify the self, the more we actually increase our capacity for suffering. Even a mountain of gold cannot satisfy desire.

But the opposite is also true. The more we neutralize and uproot desire and craving through restraint, self-discipline, and simple living, the more we actually increase our capacity for enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction, contentment, and happiness.

Consumer culture leads us astray in the wrong direction, because it leads us “out of our minds” into the world of senses and material objects. We become intoxicated, drunken, with hallucinatory dreams of pleasure. Consumer culture conditions us to believe that we can “be somebody” by buying and consuming certain products. Our identity and ego, our “self” can be purchased by consuming Prada sunglasses and shoes, Jaguar or BMW and Mercedes cars, Nike, Louis Viton, Chanel, Calvin Klein, on and on. If we don’t consume these products, we are “nobody.”

Consumer culture makes us more and more selfish, self-indulgent, self-centered, self-absorbed. And over time, the self becomes imprisoned in a masquerade, a hallucinatory hall of mirrors and images. The social fabric is destroyed, with all of these selfish egos walking around bumping into each others insatiable appetites. People become alienated from one another and lose the sense of connection and belonging to others in the family and community and the world.

The young people suffering most in this loveless consumer culture, and they often rebel against the heartlessness of the culture in self-destructive or violent ways.

Meditation practice can help the individual cut through the illusions and deceptive messages and heartless conditioning of the culture, and find a deeper realization and meaning.

In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha taught young people not to believe in anything with blind faith; not to accept the messages and conditioning of the culture around us, even if it seems that everyone else in the world believes a certain doctrine – such as consumerism - to be true. Don’t believe what the mass media presents as truth. Don’t believe the scholars and pundits and talking-heads and television preachers. But learn how to quiet the mind and look into your own heart, the Buddha said, and your own heart will tell you what is true and good. Your own heart will tell you to “walk this way.”

You will know “in your guts” what leads to happiness and benefit, and what does not.
Meditation practice can help us awaken from the ignorant nightmarish illusions of consumer culture, to a more authentic, awakened realization of the true nature of reality.

Meditation and World Peace
The Buddha said that all the suffering in the world arises out of greed, hatred, and ignorance. War is the manifestation of hatred. War is fear, anger and hatred, fully developed. To end war and achieve world peace, we must remove the cause of war – fear, resentment, anger, and hatred in the mind. Meditation practice can help with this.

War is the realization and manifestation of anger and hatred - the unwholesome mind states that the Buddha warned us about. Nuclear weapons, the arms race, and wars don’t just happen accidentally, or inevitably by some predestined forces of nature. Nuclear bombs and other weapons, arose out of the meditations of men’s hearts as they sat in rooms watering the seeds of fear and hatred, until the visions of weapons and war appeared in their minds, and then eventually became fully realized.

Likewise, world peace will arise out of the visions of men and women, sitting in quiet rooms, watering the seeds of understanding, compassion and courage, until fear, anger and hatred are dispelled and neutralized. We will see that we cannot kill, bomb and torture our way to peace.
The Buddha said, “In this world, hatred has never been overcome by hatred. Only love can hatred over come. This is the law of the universe, ancient an inexhaustible.”

The Buddha taught many methods of relieving the hatred and fear within the mind. The most important of these meditations is Metta (loving-kindness) meditation. In Metta meditation, we learn how to loosen the knots of fear, anger, and resentments, until they eventually dissolve. Then we can see that our enemy or opponent is only a human being, exactly the same as us–individuals who only want to be happy and who don’t want to suffer.

With the eyes of loving-kindness and compassion, we see the humanity of the so-called enemy. We see their darling little children, their beloved grandmothers and grandfathers, their handsome young sons and graceful daughters. We see them working in their fields and gardens and orchards. We hear them making music and arts and worshiping in their temples. And when we see that they are human beings just like us, we can no longer wish harm against them.

In meditation we find the inner composure and awareness to listen deeply to our enemies, and hear their fears, and grievances. With the understanding gained from insight, we can begin to understand the conditions that have produced the conflict, and see ways to calm the fear, neutralize the angers and resentments, and address the grievances, and thereby change the conditions that have produced the aggression and war. This is wisdom and compassion in action.

Meditation practice also produces deep insight into the Buddhist philosophy of Conditioned Origination, the conditions that produce phenomenon. We see that everything that happens in the world, is produced by conditions and causes. We learn to pay more attention to the conditions and causes than the simple effects, because if we want to change something, we must change the conditions that produce it. This is what Buddhists mean by the words “wisdom” and “understanding.”

If we apply Conditioned Origination to the problems of war, we see that we can look deeply and understand the conditions that produced conflict and war, we can change those conditions and war will not appear. We remove or transform the conditions that produced fear, anger, and hatred in the minds of our enemies. If there is no anger, fear and hatred in their minds, they will have no desire to go to war with us. In fact, they will no longer be our enemies; they will be our friends.

This is the meaning of non-violence that Ghandhi was talking about.
In meditation practice we also gain the insight of “inter-being” that everything is connected. Everything is inter-related. Everything is dependent on everything else. Therefore, other people–even our supposed enemies–are not really separate from us, but are somehow deeply connected to us in a very deep and real way.

It is very important for people in the United States to learn about meditation–how to calm the mind and develop evolved consciousness–Enlightenment. America is the only remaining “Super power” and this country has a huge impact on the entire world. We have a lot of power–economic power, technological power, military power. But as a materialist-consumer culture, we do not have much “wisdom.” We do not know how to use this super-power with wisdom, understanding and compassion–to generate happiness and peace in the world, and relieve the suffering of the world.
If we use this super-power motivated by consumer greed and militaristic aggression, we will only create suffering in the world, for our own citizens and for others. If we use this super-power with understanding altruism and compassion, we can create happiness and world peace. Meditation practice can help American policy makers reduce desire and calm the mind. And the world will be a happier and more peaceful place as a result.
Meditation and the Environment

Perhaps the greatest of all problems now facing the human race is the crisis of the environment, global warming, and climate change.
The Buddha was deeply concerned with nature. “Know the grasses and the trees,” the Buddha said. “Know the worms and moths and different sort of ants. Know also the four footed animals small and great. Know the fish which range in the water… the birds that are born along on wing and move through the air.”

A cataclysmic crisis is facing the human race, unprecedented in the history of the world, almost beyond anything that can be imagined, if the warning from the worlds leading scientists are true. The younger generation will require great courage and confidence, and profound understanding, compassion and joy to respond to the looming and growing challenge that they are inheriting.

The human race is definitely going to have to go in new directions. Civilized, conventional living has so brutalized the human person that we lost touch with our true nature. In the process of socialization, we do violence to our inner selves in order to adapt to the consumer lifestyle, and survive in the materialist, aggressive, competitive milieu of collective living.

Consumer culture has devastated the natural world, the wilderness, the web-of-life. The human person is debased by consumer culture, and forgets his true nature. In meditation we return to the wilderness to resist to reconnect with the natural world, and refuse the debasement of this artificially constructed reality of conventional living. In our breathing we discover and awaken to our liberating connection to nature. We break free.

In our own times, many people are trying to break free: anarchists, poets, artists, drag queens, homeless vagrants and bums, environmentalist tree-sitters. They are “outsiders” who are searching for a new way to live in the world. Because consumer culture has condemned the wilderness and nature, and has elevated artifice, money, and materialism to the level of a religion. Consumer culture is morally debased .We’re on the wrong path. Consumer culture is obsolete. We need to go in a different direction because this one doesn’t work, in fact, it appears to be lethal and terminal.
This materialist/consumer culture–and increasingly the new global economy–is based on the need of a growing economy, endlessly expanding markets, maximum profit. It is damn near lethal. It has uprooted everything in its path: traditional cultures, the environment, religion. Everything must surrender before this insatiable enterprise of moneymaking. But “progress” is destruction. “Development” is destruction.

Meditation is an invitation to an alternative reality in which the inner truth of experience which arises from nature, is more important and satisfying than the outward artificially constructed reality of social convention.

In meditation we have gone out there into “the no-man’s land” into the “wilderness.” And we may cultivate some insights to offer to the folks in our civilization who are searching for new directions, and new ways to live in harmony and balance with the web of life.
The Buddha said, “In the discipline of living alone it is the silence of solitude that is wisdom. When the solitude becomes a source of pleasure, then it shines in every direction. This is the sound of meditation of wisdom, of those who let the sense pleasures of materialism go.”

“Listen to the sound of the water. Listen to the water running through the chasms and rocks. It is the minor streams that make the loud noise; the great waters flow silently. The hollow resounds and the full is still. We can explain many things with understanding and precision. We can describe the way things are.”

In meditation practice, the Buddha taught the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta) in which he said the four fields of meditation are body, feeling, mind, and dhamma. He explained that all meditation begins with the body, which he defined as earth-element, water-element, wind-element, and fire-element–solid, liquid, vapor, and heat.

In mediation practice, we awaken to the reality that the inner-earth and the earth element are not different. The inner liquidity of the body is not different drom the water-element. And also the wind and fire elements. When these elements of fire, water, earth, wind, and mind come together, that is life. Nature is inside of us. We are rooted in nature and are not separate or independent or “above” nature. We are part of the web of life, the community of living beings.

Our wrong view, our ignorance, has harmed nature and is presently resulting in environmental crisis. Meditation can give us a correct understanding, an inward awakening that we are rooted in nature, and the wisdom and joy and compassion that comes with that awakening. Then we will know how to live lives in harmony and balance with the natural world, with forests and all the community of living beings of animals, fish, birds, insects.
Out of the evolved consciousness will arise new technologies of sustainable living. And perhaps we will discover that it is not yet too late to repair some of the damage unenlightened consumer culture has done to the earth.

Note: Good intention, proper concentration, mindfulness, patience, and proper effort are the keys to fulfill in our meditation practice. If these virtues were applied together in harmony the Buddha Dhamma would be remained in this planet peaceful society or paradise would be seen here and now not after death because the Buddha teaches the way to live life here and now.

People who practice meditation preserve and cultivate a holisitic world view that values balance, harmony, interbeing, and integration with the natural world. They see through the illusory world of conventional living in the artificially constructed environment of commerce and consumption and productivity, and discover a more authentic and natural way of living, in harmony with nature.

Often they spend time “meditating in the forest – at the roots of trees” or cliffs and caves, in the wilderness, from the city to solitude in the forest, where they listen to the inner voice of the heart alone.

People who practice meditation develop a more evolved consciousness, and enlightened awareness in which we can see through the illusions of materialistic-capitalist-culture that is rooted in selfishness, greed, competition and violence, and see an alternative way of being in the world.
We see how narrow and circumscribed our so-called civilized life is, how much we pay for the security and luxury. They see that “this is not the way things should be.”

In meditation, perhaps, we may cultivate some insights, prophetic visions, regarding this materialist consumer culture, and these insights might have something to offer to the folks in our civilization who are searching for a more satisfying mode of human existence.

We invite our fellow travelers to an alternative reality in which the inner truth of experience which arises from nature, is more important than the outward artificially constructed reality of social convention. We remind people that this competitive, authoritarian, exploitative, dominance-submission world is obsolete. The human race needs to go in a different direction because this one doesn’t work. We can help the world find new possibilities and new directions.

In meditation, we cultivate the mind and heart, and mine the rich depths of the psyche, to access the rich treasures of the heart, and hopefully bring forth some valuable treasures of understanding and compassion to benefit the world.

The true happiness of life comes from the development of inwardness, much more than from wealth and fame and power. The life of tranquility and material simplicity is more rewarding and fulfilling than the life blindly obsessed with impoverished materialist values.

Note: The basic notion of a toxin as an impure element causing Illness or imbalance is well summarized in the verse 239 in Dhammapada Malavagga as follow;

Gradually, little by little, moment by moment,
The wise person should flush toxins from himself,
As a metal smith cleanses dross from silver.

Drop loving kindness and compassion in your heart from Moment to moment in your life