Mindfulness

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How to live without suffering

Nobody  wants to suffer in the world but a person who knows the technique how to live without suffering is very rare so people in all over the world commit suicide one person per (40) seconds. If they are happy and enjoy their life, they never do it. The Buddha who was very kind taught us how to live without suffering in Maha satipatthana sutta therefore we should be grateful to Him. When Mindfulness meditation is practiced really, but not only studied, seven benefits are surely obtained:

1.    Purification from any kinds of defilements.

2.    Overwhelming sorrow and worry.

3.    Overwhelming lamentation.

4.    Cessation of all kind of physical suffering.

5.    Cessation of every kind of mental suffering.

6.    Attainment of enlightenment (Ariyahood)

7.    Attainment of Nibbana.

The suffering means as the above here. Although cancer is suffered, one can be alive longer than patients who do not  practice the mindfulness meditation. One can live happily without a lot of money. The main origin of suffering is attachment and craving (Tanha). The more ones have the more ones want. There is no the boundary of what ones want. If you know what you need and what you want in your life, you can reduce your suffering immediately. 

Mindfulness

Introduction

It means forming a complete system of meditative practice for development of insight, three characteristics by basically mindfulness. In another words it means mindfulness or heedfulness which is firmly established.. The Omniscient Buddha taught us to observe mental and physical phenomena in various way but they can   be summarized as follows:

1.Mindfulness of bodily process (kayanupassana satipatthana)

2. Mindfulness of feeling or sesation (Vedananupassana)

3. Mindfulness of consciousness (Cittanupassana)

4. Mindfulness of mind-objects (Dhammanupassana)

MEDITATION ON BREATHING  (Anapanasati bhavana)

Anapanasati mindfulness in regard to breathing which is expounded in the scripture and detailed in thecommentaries is first and foremost in the field of mind training in Buddhism. The Buddha himself in guiding it as a perfect methods for attaining nirvana, praises it as the noble living (ariya-vihara), the divine living(brahma-vihara) and the Buddha living (tathagata-vihara) (S.V 326). In this connection it is recorded in theMahasaccaka sutta that the Bodhisattva (would be Buddha) Gotama reached and abode in the state of the first absorption (jhana) while yet in his infancy, an attainment which is said to have been the result of the practice of this meditation (M. A. P 102, Ja. 58). This is evidence that anapanasati was the Buddha’s meditation, and according to the commentary upon the path to his supreme Enlightenment under the bodhi-tree (M.A. 467). Both the Visuddhimagga and the Yogavacara’s manual describe anapanasati as mula kammathana or the chief or original exercise of absorption (jhana). It has proved, the greatest help not only the Buddha Gotama, but also all Buddhas that preceded Him in the winning of supreme Enlightenment and in securing them happiness in their lifetime. Anapanasati may therefore be regarded as the original subject of kammathana meditation recorded in Pali literature.

How is meditation on breathing (anapanasati) practised?

In practicing meditation, having gone to the forest, the foot of a tree or an empty house, sit down cross legged, keeping your body upright and setting mindfulness in front (at the nose tip), you must keep your breaths mindfully and clearly, comprehending, that is, you must be energetic, put forward effort to be mindful. Without effort you can not keep your mind on the object, you can not meditate. So a certain amount of energy is needed to maintain the concentration or to keep your mind on the object.  When you meditate, you must forever be mindful. You must be mindful of your breaths, the different deportments and the small activities of your body and your emotoin. When you have mindfulness, combined with energy or effort, your mind stays with the objects for some time, the mind goes to the object and when it is helped by energy (viriya) and mindfulness it stays with the object (of meditation). That staying of the mind with the object is called concentration (Samadhi). Only when you have developed concentration, you will have wisdom (panna) and the understanding or clear comprehension of the nature of things (or mind and body). In other words, five things are needed so that your meditation is good.  

1. You have to have plenty of confidence in the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha and the training (Sikkha). 2. You have to ardently make effort.

3.You have to practice mindfulness.

4. You have to develop concentration.

5. You have to understand and comprehend the nature of things.

When you meditate, you keep your mind on the breath. You breath in and out mindfully. Indeed, you put your mind at the entrance of your nostrils and observe the breath as “in – out”. Your mind must stay at the tip of your nose; it must not follow the breath-in and breath-out of your body. You must try to see the breathing-in and out as two separate things. During the course of observing their breaths when mediators sometimes happen to breathe long breaths they must know thoroughly that they are breathing long breaths, and when they sometimes happens to breath shorts they have to know that they are breathing shorts. Here, it must be understood that you should not deliberately make your breaths long or short. When you watch your breaths you must try to see all the breaths clearly. Moreover mediators should not breathe rigorously just to see their breaths more clearly. When they do so they will be tire themselves in a short period of time. So, breathing should be normal, and while they must try to put forth effort and gain knowledge in order to see all in-breaths and our-breaths clearly. To see the breaths clearly, you need effort mindfulness concentration and understanding.

There are four ways of breathing meditation.

1. When you are breathing in with long breath, note it well.

2. When you are breathing out with a long breath, note it well.

3. When you are breathing in with a short breath note it well and

4. When you are breathing out with a short breath, note it well. Breathing meditation can be practice as ‘samatha’ or vipasana meditation.                              

1. When you practice samatha calm meditation on breath, keep your mind on your breath, and keep yourself aware of the incoming breath and outgoing breath.

1.1. You can count the breath, one to fine,( one to ten or one to three hundred and fifty etc,) and then you practise what we call connection or collection the mind and the breath without counting.

1.2. Connection (anubandhana): having given attention to it in this way by counting, you should

now do so by connection. Connection is the uninterrupted following of the incoming breaths with mindfulness after counting has been given up and that is not by following after the breath middle and end of the breathing.

1.3. When you gives your attention to it by connection you should do so not by the beginning, middle and end, but rather by touching and fixing. The navel is the beginning of the wind issuing out, the heart is its middle and the the nose-tip is its end.The nose is the beginning of the wind entering in, , the heart is its middle and the navel is its end. You just keep your awareness on the breath and it will come more and more subtle. When you reach certain level of concentration, you may see signs of visions, appearing like stars or a cluster of gems or pearls, or the disk of the moon or the sun etc. You will then enter the jhana, while intering the fourth jhana, your breaths will stop and end as long as you desire to do it, and from the jhana can shift to vipassana insight meditation.

2. When you practice breathing as vipassana meditation, you do not count, and do not take connecting, touching  and fixing .

2.1. You just keep your mindfulness on the breath. You contemplate and observe the

three characteristic marks such as the breaths-impermanent, suffering and selflessness.

2.2. You watch the breaths that turn away.

2.3. you purify or experience the fruit.

2.4. you look back or reflect on these. In other words, when you keep your mind, you will come to see arising and disappearing  like the flame of a flamp or the stream of a river every moment, not to be attached to. When you reach the higher stage of mindfulness by virtue of mindfulness and concentration, you will see the arising and vanishing of not only the breaths but also everything (mental or physical) that come to you through the six sense doors at the present moment, and then you will progress more and more, until you reach nibbana - a peaceful and eternal bliss. Only in this present life, you will possess and experience a good memory, a good idea, a successful life, good health and so on. So you should practice this meditation at least twenty minutes everyday.  Mindfulness on breathing is one of Mindfulness on the body.

References:

1. A Study of Abhidhamma, Science of Mind Matter, First edition – 1999, Mandalay, Burma,  U Myint Swe B.A. (Hons), M.A. (London)

2.Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice, Paravahera Vajiranana Mahathera, third Edition- 1987, Java, Malaysia.

3. The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga,  Bahikkhu Nanamoli,fifth edition- 1991, Kandy, Sri- Lanka.

4.Anguttara Nikaya, Rangon, Myanmar

5.Abhidhammatta,Sangaha, Rangon, Myanmar

The four postures 

The Buddha taught us emphatically in the four main postures of the body: standing, sitting, lying down and walking (DN 22, MN 10). He encouraged us to focus all these postures mindfully and clearly.

When a meditator develops these four postures, he should always observe his small activities of his or her body namely going forward, returning, looking a head, looking  way, flexing and extending his or her limbs, wearing his robe or her clothes, carrying his out robe and bowl, eating, drinking, consuming food ,and tasting, defecating or urinating, walking, standing, falling asleep, walking up, keeping silent, etc. When he or she abides thus diligent, ardent and mindful, his or her memories and intentions based on the household life are given up or abandoned. That is how a bikkhu develops his mindfulness of the body.

Of them, I shall stress developing mindfulness on walking meditation.  At the time of the Buddha, there were a lot of monks and nuns who obtained the stages of enlightenment while on walking meditation named cankama in Pali. When a meditator develops concentration and wisdom by sitting posture too long, he or she may feel dull, tense and sleepy.  He or she cannot focus and concentrate his or her mind well but is easily distracted.

In such situations, do something anew and try standing and walking meditation. If a meditator walks very mindfully and carefully, focusing the six parts of the step:

1.      Lifting of the foot,

2.      Raising of the toes,

3.      Pushing the foot forward,

4.      Dropping it down,

5.      Touching it,

6.      And pressing it.

At this stage, he can go on to develop his concentration stronger and stronger. Then he will meditate on the form, the foot, and the bodily form. When he reaches this kind of the concentration, he will observe the movements of the body. What he knows and realizes is just the movements of the foot and the bodily form. As a result, he feels lightness of the whole body, as if walking the air, and as if being lifted off into the sky. He is discovering and experiencing the excellent meditation experiences at this circumstance. He will like it, feel satisfied, even get attached to these experiences that he may consider that this sensation is Nibbana (the cessation of  suffering). Actually those are not Nibbana but the defilements of meditation. If he continue to contemplate realizing they are always changeable (Udayabhaya nana) and they are disgusting (Bibbida nana) and enlighten (Magga nana). He gains the real Nibbana. To gain it, he should follow the the guideline as the Buddha said in Bhaddekaratta Sutta;

‘The past should not be followed and the future should be not sought. What is the past is gone, and the future has not come. But whosoever sees clearly the present movement of the HERE and NOW, knows that which is unshakable, will live is a still, unmoving state of mind.’

If he realizes the wisdom of the vipassan, the Buddha admired him in Dhammapad as the following:

"Better a single day of life seeing the reality of arising and passing away than a hundred years of the existence remaining blind to it."

Now I want to reveal the five benefits of walking meditation (AN111, 29);

1. Developing endurance for walking distances:

It brings about the benefit of walking distances. At the time of the Buddha, most people used to travel by foot. The Buddha himself would regularly proceed wandering from a location to another one to walk up to sixteen kilometers a day. He taught us that walking meditation that can provide us to result the physical fitness and developing for walking distances.

Good for striving

2. The second benefit of walking meditation is generation of striving especially to defeat drowsiness. While practicing sitting meditation, one may feel the tranquil states but is a bit too tranquil without awareness. Then one starts nodding and snoring. When developing walking meditation, one finds the method that can counter and overpower the tendencies of sloth and torpor.

Good for health

The Buddha said that walking meditation brought about good health as the third benefit. It is important for everyone to reach one’s goal. The following factors are needed by meditators:

1.      Confidence in the Triple Gems: Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.

2.      Good health.

3.      Straight mind.

4.      Perseverance for contemplation.

5.      Realize the arising and passing reality.

According to these guidelines,   good health includes as the second important factor to gain Ariyahood (the level of saint hood). Walking meditation is good for a physical and mental health. When we walk every time, we should be aware of the process of walking, sitting, etc., instead of just walking , sitting, sleeping, and so on . We should not let our mind wander off thinking of other things.

Good for digestion

The fourth benefit of walking meditation leads to the digestion. It is particularly important a monk who takes one meal a day. A heavy meal brings about drowsiness, because right after partaking of a meal, blood circulates toward the stomach and away from the brain. So every meditator should do a few hours of walking meditation to get rid of sleepiness and help the digestion.

Good for sustaining concentration

The fifth prioritized benefit of walking meditation is the concentration.  The concentration that is developed through walking meditation sustains itself for a long time. Maintaining this kind of concentration becomes less difficult and relevant especially during this modern age of materialism. Unlike sitting meditation, when we practice this form of meditation, there is a lot of sensory activities, such as our eyes has to kept to open in order to walk mindfully on the way.

Conclusion

When we practice meditation through sitting, standing, and lying down, we can cultivate our concentration easily because there are not as many objects as there are during walking meditation. Whereas if we have developed the concentration only in sitting posture, it is not harder to maintain that state of  concentration because we have never developed in another postures such as the movement of the body etc. Therefore, walking meditation can provide to develop strength, clarity of mind and other active meditations.

Actually walking meditation also includes mindfulness on the body that it is suitable for ones who are the lustful in nature.

Mindfulness of feeling

Vedananupassana means a complete method of meditative practice, which contemplates the feeling for development of insight and mindfulness. Generally when practicing at the beginning of sitting meditation, the meditator feels the unpleasant physical sensations as well as mental sensations. The two types of sensation that we should know here:

1.Kayika- vedana

2.Cetasika- vedana

The feeling which arises depend on physical processes are called kayika vedana. The feeling that arises based on mental processes is named cetasika- vedana. Indeed, every feeling or sensation is not physical feeling but mental feeling. Nevertheless sometimes feeling or sensation is generated depending on the physical process, such as unpleasant feeling, which is felt by a meditator when he or she experiences a discomfort in his or her body. He feels it that unpleasant feeling is Kayika- vedana because it arises depending on physical processes. In the beginning of the practice, a meditator usually experiences unpleasant mental and physical sensations.  But whatever sensation he may experience, he must observe it so attentively, energetically, and precisely so that he can realize the real nature of that feeling. The specific and the general sign of the feeling must be thoroughly realized so that he will not be attached to it. It is Vedananupassana satipattha- mindfulness of feeling or sensation. Whenever a feeling occurs, it must be contemplated and noted as it really arises. It is natural for a meditator that he is afraid of unpleasant physical feelings, which he suffers in his meditation practice. But painful sensation which is very clear or subtle to focus is a process that should be feared of. If it is contemplated well, the unpleasant feeling is replaced as the pleasant feeling by focusing it for a long time. But the non-different or equal sensation (upekkha-vedana) which is neither pleasant nor unpleasant is difficult to observe without a good concentration. Then he can realize its true nature – the specific and general nature of feeling. The penetrating wisdom into the nature of that pain sensation will lead the meditator to the higher stage of insight. 

The way of focusing mindfully

A meditator should note attentively and precisely. Superficial contemplation may distract his mind from the meditation objects. Therefore, a meditator should observe the present object and live in the present moment. In doing so, he can remove his worries and live happily with present.

Sitting Meditation

When practicing sitting meditation, the body should be balanced. If one sits leaning against a wall or another support one will feel sleepy. Furthermore, one should not sit on very soft and raised cushions because one's body will bend forward and feel sleepy. The cushions were not used by Sariputta and Moggalana. A meditator should apply his mindfulness to observe and contemplate the objects of meditation:

1)      Breathing in (inhaling)

2)      Breathing out (exhaling)

Let breathing in and breathing out flow as if one is a house owner and this is because one can always contemplate them. Observe the six external sense bases such as visible object (Ruparammana), sound, smell, taste, tangible object, and mental object, whenever they arise. Let the six external senses to arise and watch at them as impermanent external guests because they occur sometimes. Also, contemplate the unwholesome root, internal objects, namely greed (Lobha), hatred (Dosa), and delusion (Hoha), and the wholesome roots, internal objects, such as non-greed (Alobha), non-hatred (Adosa), non-delusion (Amoha). One should at the least observe one of them forever.

A spider lives hidden but so vigilantly at the corner of its web to trap insects and the moment an insect is trapped in its web, it moves so fast to prey on it. Similarly, one must focus on the breathing, and the sensations, in order to realize that mind and matters are changeable, painful and selfless.

Conclusion

Mindfulness meditation is the meditation that brings about the benefits well and quickly in this present life. Hence, we should develop the four types of mindfulness:

1.      Mindfulness of the body

2.      Mindfulness of the feelings

3.      Mindfulness of the consciousness

4.      Mindfulness of the mental objects

Whenever we do outsight meditation (samatha) and insight meditation(Vissana), we should apply mindfulness. It helps to gain both the meditations  easily.

A meditator develops four important aspects as he meditates. They are the recollection of the Enlightened One, the Buddha; the development of loving-kindness; the recollection of the repulsiveness of the body; and the recollection of the death that which protects against internal and external enemies. A meditator should recollect the Buddha in order to free from fear and to flourish the faith (saddha), etc. In Metta Sutta story, the monks who lived in the forest did not develop loving-kindness were bothered by evil demons, who displayed them unseemly sight, horrible sounds, and so on. When the monks developed loving-kindness, they overcame them successfully. To reduce one's lust, craving, and attachment, a meditator should develop recollection on the repulsiveness of the body that opposes the craving, the origin of suffering. He should also recollect the death in order to be aware, mindful, and unforgetful of the good deeds, such as: this is charity (dana), morality (sila) and wisdom (panna). When one performs every good deed by practicing mindfulness meditation, one will obtain the rewards excellently.

Referances:

1. Vipassana Meditation, Saradaw

    U Janakabhivamsa,Yongon,Burma

2. Majjhimanikaya,Yongon, Burma

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