Dhamma Diary

,

The Five Spiritual Faculties, Part 2

.

.

.

Let’s get back to the Five Spiritual Faculties! A few weeks ago we looked at the need to balance the first pair of faculties: confidence and wisdom. This time we’ll look at the importance of balancing energy or exertion with samadhi. Samadhi here describes the element of calm in meditation. Here we are essentially focusing on the need to exert the correct amount of energy in our meditation. Once again King Mindfulness watches over these two subjects and tries to ensure that they complement each other, without one becoming dominant.

.

Sona and the Lute

There’s a story in the scriptures that concerns a young monk named Venerable Sona. He was staying in the Cool Wood near Rajagaya. One evening he was meditating in seclusion after having done walking meditation until the soles of his feet were cracked and bleeding.

While seated he thought to himself: “Of all the Blessed One’s disciples, I am one of those who tries the hardest, and yet my mind is still not free from the defilements. Suppose I return to the lay-life, enjoy wealth and make merit.”

Now the Buddha, who was staying close by on the Vulture Peak Rock, became aware of the Venerable Sona’s thoughts and soon after appeared before him.

“Sona, just now while you were meditating, did not the following thought appear in your mind: ‘Of all the Blessed One’s disciples, I am one of those who tries the hardest, and yet my mind is still not free from the defilements. Suppose I return to the lay-life, enjoy wealth and make merit’?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Now what do you think, Sona, when you were a lay-man, were you skilled at playing the lute?”

“I was, Lord.”

“And what do you think: when the strings on your lute were too loose, was your instrument well tuned and was the music beautiful?”

“No, Lord.”

“And what do you think: when the strings on your lute were too taut, was your instrument well tuned and was the music beautiful?”

“No, Lord.”

“But Sona, what about when the strings on your lute were neither too loose, nor too taut, but perfectly tuned, was your instrument well tuned and was the music beautiful then?”

“Lord, when the strings were neither too loose, nor too taut, but just right, my lute was well tuned and the music was indeed beautiful.”

“So it is with your meditation, Sona. Over-exertion leads to restlessness, and under-exertion leads to laziness. Thus you should determine the right pitch for your persistence, balance the five faculties, and there pick up your theme.”

Sona applied this advice from the Buddha and in no long time he became an enlightened one.

.

Trouble on the Toilet

The correct application of energy is one of the areas of our meditation practice that needs the constant attention of King Mindfulness. Sometimes when I’m leading a meditation group I look around the room and examine people’s faces. You can often get a good idea of whether they’re trying too hard or too little. Some people sit with this immense frown on their face. They look like someone who’s having a bit of trouble on the toilet! Other people sort of lean back a bit, jaw dropped, maybe trying to still their mind a bit but they really should be exerting themselves more as their minds are more than likely running around willy-nilly. We can easily swing in either of these directions, but the way to attain results in our meditation is to find that fine line that goes straight down the middle.

Meditation is a real art, especially in terms of how much effort to apply. When you look at an advanced meditator they look as though they are making no effort at all. Indeed, concentration should be effortless.

But to get to this stage of effortlessness, when mindfulness flows with its object all by itself, we need to apply effort. Ajahn Chah said that it’s like training yourself to use a treadle sewing machine. At first your foot movements are quite jerky, but gradually you develop the correct technique and after a time the action becomes almost effortless; you just apply a little pressure here and there to keep the treadle tipping backwards and forwards.

So with this action of the treadle, we start off by applying effort, and our actions may at times be stiff and clumsy, but as we refine that effort and get a feel for the machine, the treadle builds up its own momentum and we consequently reduce our effort. It then reaches a stage where we seem to be applying hardly any any effort at all: the treadle moves largely under its own momentum. If, however, we stop moving our feet completely, and get out of rhythm with the treadle, then it will gradually lose its momentum and come to a stop.

So when we first sit down to meditate we may need to make quite an effort to focus our minds. We need to be resolute and disciplined, keeping a close eye on the mind and bringing it back frequently. Like the untrained dog of my last post, the mind keeps wandering off. But we keep on applying the effort by bringing it back. This ‘bringing back’ the mind then gradually becomes a habit of the mind. When it becomes a habit it begins to be more inclined to come back. After a time it wanders very little.

Now as we go through this process of bringing the mind back, of perpetually gathering its energies, we will need to adjust our effort accordingly. It’s like when you’re training that naughty dog. He bounds off into the distance after that sheep. “GET HERE YOU!!!” You shout. You really have to make an effort! You might even need to leg it after him and possibly even make a spectacular dive to stop him from getting the poor sheep. But as you progress in your training of him, the effort you need to apply to train him becomes less and less. After progressing, a gentle “heel” is all that is needed to ensure he stays by your side. When the dog is truly well trained then you do not have to say anything to him. You walk at your leisure and he stays faithfully with you.

Our training in meditation is exactly the same. After training the mind well, a simple ‘heel’ is all that is needed, whereas at the beginning we’d be chasing it all over the place.

Now we can look at this progression in two ways. Firstly, in the context of a single sitting; and secondly, in the context of our entire practice.

In the case of a single sitting we need to know that at the beginning of our sitting we may need to apply more effort, but then as we move through that period it may be appropriate for us to ‘take our foot off the accelerator’ and reduce the effort. Though having reduced the effort we may veer towards dullness and so we must again increase our energy, and so on.

During the course of our entire practice we should find that meditation becomes less difficult, and as a result our application of effort goes to a different and more refined level. Of course these minds are very inconsistent. During one sitting we may close our eyes and the mind ‘leaps’ towards stillness and the energies of the mind come together nicely and we don’t seem to need to do much. If this happens then we need to be gentle with the mind. Too much effort to concentrate will spoil the meditation.

At other times we close our eyes and our mind is, well, you know how it is. It certainly ain’t in the present moment!

.

Tuning In

We can also understand this principle of applying the correct amount of effort by bringing to mind the action of tuning into a radio station.

Let’s say we’re trying to tune into Classic fm (certainly not Radio One, and definitely not the channel with the Archers!). We know there is some sweet music to be listened to, we just need to find the correct frequency. We put our fingers on the knob and we gradually turn it to try and find the desired channel. At first there’s a lot of crackling - ‘kurrrsschhh kurrrsschhh….’ That’s not what we want. So we gradually turn the knob. As we get closer to Classic fm the crackling and the raw sounds soften. At this point we know we are nearer to the sweet music and so we turn the knob more slowly. We are becoming sensitive to the amount of effort needed to find our desired radio station. Then after a little while the occasional sound of a violin or a piano momentarily appears and then disappears. We’re close, so we reduce the effort. We are now very careful when turning the knob, as we know that turning it too much will mean we’ll go too far. Then, after a time, we find that glorious music and we sit back and enjoy it.

Meditation is the same. Mindfulness is the hand that turns the knob; the ‘kurrrsschhh’ on one side of the music is over-exertion; the ‘kurrrsschhh’ on the other side is under-exertion; the glorious music is a concentrated mind.

Sometimes when we are trying to find that radio station, though, we may hit the right frequency for a moment, but the momentum that carried us into that frequency was too strong, and so we go too far the other way and we’re then back into ‘kurrrsschhh kurrrsschhh….’ So it is with our meditation: we may hit that ‘frequency’ we’re after – the refined state of meditation, but our effort was not refined enough and so we go past it and become dull.

You could also think of it like when you are driving along in the car looking for a turning. If you’re going too fast you’ll miss it. Oops. So you slow down and go back.

Once when I was taking one of my daily walks I paid a visit to the river. I had been paying a lot of attention to this principle of balancing effort during my meditation. During the walk I stopped in the middle of a field in order to practise mindfulness of breathing. I remember standing there for quite some time, trying to focus on my breath but feeling I wasn’t getting anywhere. My concentration certainly wasn’t refined to begin with. But I kept this teaching of the need to balance energy with calm at the forefront of my mind. I used my mindfulness to alter the amount of effort that was needed. My mind moved from one side of the ‘music’ to the other, without ‘hearing’ it, so I didn’t feel I was getting anywhere. But then, all of a sudden, I found a good meditation frequency and my mind temporarily went into a quite concentrated state. But owing to my inexperience my deluded mind rushed to the scene of the good meditation and said “Woah! What happened there?!” And I lost the frequency. Damn!

So, balance your effort. And know that the correct frequency may not be far away! Keep trying. It’s a fine line between the ‘kurrrsschhh kurrrsschhh….’ on either side of the effortless, peaceful, bright and wisdom-inducing state of concentration.

.

DHAMMA DIARY AUDIO.

I’ve started to store some Dhamma talks online. Go to the Audio page (link permanently under title picture) and you can listen to them. The ones there at the moment are from last week’s eight day retreat at Bhavana Dhamma. I covered the Ten Paramis - the Ten Perfections.

.

The next teaching will be on:

The Full Moon Day, being Visakha Puja - the celebration of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing, Monday, 19th May.

.

.

I’ve just created a new page where I’ll be posting recorded Dhamma Talks.

I’ll let you know when new ones appear.

Click HERE to go there, or click on the link under the main picture.

Also, see the new WARWICK page too.

,

I’m teaching a retreat at Bhavana Dhamma at the moment so there won’t be a new teaching until next Monday (12th).

.

Training the Mind

With our meditation and mindfulness practice we are training to develop a mind that remains firmly in the present moment. It is in this present moment that the work is done and it is in this present moment that we will emerge victorious over our suffering.

The results of this practice creep up on you. One of the small ways in which I notice this in myself is when people who have been staying here at the Hermitage leave. Sometimes they may have been here for two days, sometimes for two years. But no matter how long they have been staying for, as soon as that person has gone it is as though they were never here. (Ultimately speaking of course, they never were.) This reduction in attachment has become more noticeable over time.

Now you may put this down to a terrible memory, or you may put it down to the training. When we are continually establishing our mind in the present then the past and future lose their weight. Training in mindfulness and concentration also means that we do not give meaning to our our experiences; we begin to see them as they are: void and insubstantial, “just as a mirage”, in the words of the Buddha. By living in this way non-attachment naturally becomes established in the mind.

With our concentration we must be trying to continually rein the mind in. With our mindfulness in every day activity we must also be continually reining the mind in. By doing this we’re are developing a crucial foundation stone on which we can begin to really start doing the work of the Dhamma.

When we meditate it’s like we are training to walk a stray dog. When you walk a dog you use the command: “HEEL”. This indicates that the dog should stay by your side as you walk - by your heel. Say you are walking the unruly dog in a field and he is by your side. Soon he starts to creep forward and before you know it he’s run off and he’s chasing a rabbit. “HEEEEL!” you shout. The dog looks around and returns to your side. Then you continue to walk saying: “Heel, heel…” and the dog remains by your side. But then he starts to creep forward and again he’s off! This time charging after a deer! “HEEEEL!!!”. Ooops, he really got away that time. But eventually he hears your yelling and returns. “Good boy” you say.

And so this process continues. He runs off, you shout. Sometimes he disappears for hours on end and returns just at the end of the walk! But soon enough, after being persistent in training him, each time he returns to you he stays by your side for a little longer than the previous time. Your training is having an effect. He also doesn’t run off so far when he does go. Eventually he becomes a truly obedient dog and rarely even creeps forwards. If he does then you just gently say “heel”. But what’s really special is that when a deer or a rabbit appears in front of him now, he stays fixed to your side and dispassionately observes the wild animal pass in front of him.

Our minds are just like this dog. When we begin to meditate the mind may run off and chase a thought or a memory. As with the dog it may run off for most of the sitting! But we keep training it; we keep patiently and persistently reining it in and re-focussing it on the breath, or whatever our meditation object is. “Heel” we say to the mind. And just as with the dog it sooner or later begins to run off less and less. And when it does run off it doesn’t go very far. When it becomes exceptionally trained, the mind, as with the dog and the wild animals, dispassionately observes the thoughts and the feelings that previously would have taken its attention.

Our everyday practice of mindfulness is the same. We must establish the vehicle of mindfulness that will carry us through our activities. This is usually the body. Train your mind to keep coming back to your body. Just as with the dog your mind will run off, possibly for long periods. You’re doing the washing up and you realise your mind has legged it after a memory or some thought. As soon as you realise, shout at it: “GET HERE YOU!” “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN YOU NAUGHTY MIND!” When a dog runs off it sometimes goes and rolls in horse muck and comes back stinking! So when the mind has run off it may go and roll in some negative thoughts and emotions and come back stinking of suffering. Don’t let it do that! You keep a careful eye on the mind, making sure it doesn’t run off. You keep your attention on the simple process of washing up. You are aware as you stretch, as you bend, as you turn, and so on. You develop this unbroken awareness of the body’s activity; mindfulness flowing from one action to another. The mind connects with each and every action. If the mind starts wandering again you say “HEEL!”, and it comes back. And so it goes on.

Now doing all of this takes patience; but it is very important that we do it. It will mean an awful lot later on. Remember that this is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It’s true that conducting ourselves in this way transforms our experience of life beyond recognition, but it is where it will eventually take us that is the most important thing.

The mind that is firmly established in the present is capable of developing wisdom. The present moment is where we will solve every single problem that we have. The mind that is on this point will not have any problems. Remember what happened when the well trained dog saw the deer and the rabbit? It was unmoved and it simply watched them go by. This is what happens in our minds when they are well trained. The mind stays firmly and obediently in the present and remains undisturbed as thoughts and feelings arise. It simply watches them come into being and pass away; it observes the rise and fall of all phenomena in the mind.

We must resolutely develop this present moment awareness! Don’t look anywhere else! Every problem and every experience of suffering arises in the mind. When we are established in the present then we are right there when that state arises. We then have a chance to stop the suffering.

When you firmly and unwaveringly establish mindfulness in the present moment then nothing else can gain a footing in the mind. A bad mood arises and ‘bop’ - mindfulness hits it on the head. A worry about the future arises and immediately - ‘bop’ - mindfulness knocks it down. You are there when happiness arises and you are there when suffering arises, right at the point where they come up. You know them and you don’t allow the mind to be swept away by them.

By developing in this way we will come to clearly know every state, whether good or bad, that arises in the mind. Eventually we will come to see the rise and fall of these things and the mind will remain in its natural and sublimely peaceful state. Now this type of awareness may not be far away, we just need to train our present moment awareness - our mindfulness.

Sometimes we cannot help but get caught in a really bad mood though. But don’t despair. Don’t get angry. Just get to know that mood. Don’t be afraid of it. Look at it and examine it. Keep looking at everything that arises in the mind: good, bad and indifferent. If it’s a blurry, slurry, hazy state of mind – know it as a blurry, slurry, hazy state of mind. Get to know every movement of your mind. If you find that you can’t sometimes, don’t worry, just keep trying. You will be developing your awareness without realising it.

And so by degrees we develop this present moment knowing. Without the practice we just suffer and we have no perspective on our minds. As we develop, the suffering reduces as we become progressively more aware of the things that arise in the mind. As we become more aware we begin to see the rise and fall of these phenomena. We keep developing the knowing and the razor sharp present moment awareness and we get closer and closer to the point where those states arise. With this razor sharp mindfulness we stay at that point and simply observe everything arising and passing away right there.

By diligently practising in this way, with the mind rooted in virtue and concentration, we will eventually come to observe the rise and fall of all conditioned things and the mind will experience the bliss of Nibbana.

So, keep training the mind to be in the present. There’s nothing else to do!

—-

Note: This is just as much a teaching to myself as it is to you.

.

The next teaching in Dhamma Diary will be on:

The New-Moon Day, Sunday, 4th May

.

I walked twenty miles yesterday and my knees are knackered so I’ve only got a little offering for you today.

—

The following is my version of a story found in the Buddhist scriptures. In the original, the various teachings that the enquiring monk received weren’t quite as I have recorded them as I couldn’t find the text, but you’ll see that that aspect isn’t important.

The story relates how a monk went in search of a teacher who would be able to expound the Dhamma in a way that he could easily grasp and put into practice. He went from one eminent monk to another, seeking a practice that would suit him.

The first monk told him to watch the rise and fall of the thirty-two parts of the body. “Hmmmm…” Thought the new monk. “That seems like rather a lot of things to observe. Let’s see if another monk can teach me something a little less complicated.”

So off he went to another monk. “Venerable sir, could you please teach me the Dhamma in a way that is easy to grasp and put into practice?”

“Certainly, friend.” Replied the monk. “You should watch the rise and fall of the twelve links of dependent origination.“

“That’s a lot less things to watch.” Thought the new monk. “But I would rather it wasn’t quite as many as that.”

So off he trotted to yet another very senior and wise disciple of the Buddha, and he questioned the monk as he had the previous two.

“You must watch the rise and fall of the seven factors of enlightenment.” Said the wise monk. “By doing so you will undoubtedly find that which you seek.” 

“Seven things to observe. It’s getting better. But I wonder if those monks sitting over there can teach me a method that is easier to grasp than that?”

“You should watch the rise and fall of the six senses.”

“Hmmm…” 

“You should watch the rise and fall of the five khandhas.”

“Hmmm…”

“You should watch the rise and fall of the four noble truths.”

“Hmmm…”

“You should watch the rise and fall of the three characteristics.”

“Hmmm…”

Not content with the various replies he received he at last went to see what the Buddha had to say.

“Lord, I went in search of a teacher who could instruct me in such a way that I would be able to easily understand the Dhamma and put it into practice. The first monk told me to watch the rise and fall of this, but there were too many things to watch so I went to another teacher and he told me to watch the rise and fall of that, but still there were many things to watch. Lord, would you please give me a teaching that I can easily understand and put into practice, so that I can achieve the results that I desire?”

“Foolish man!” Replied the Buddha. “Don’t you understand what these monks are telling you?  —  WATCH THE RISE AND FALL.”

.

The next teaching will be on:

The Half Moon Day, Monday, 28th April

.

,

The Five Spiritual Faculties, Part 1

.

Here we go again - another Part One!

,

‘;

This is going to be a brief piece on one of my favourite sets of teachings: The Five Spiritual Faculties (Indriya).

“There are five spiritual faculties that, when maintained in being and developed, merge in the deathless, reach to the deathless and end in the deathless. What five? They are the faculties of confidence, energy, mindfulness, samadhi and wisdom.”

S.48:57 *1.

As well as this list showing us five qualities that are essential to our progression on the path, it is laid out in such a way so that we can understand how they must be developed in harmony, with each balancing one another. For now I’m going to focus on this principle of balance.

Our deluded minds easily swing from one extreme to the other: from straining too much to gain concentration, to slumping back and allowing our mind to have a free run; from being launched into the clouds with inspiration, to being buried in the ground with despair. Faith or confidence must be balanced with wisdom, and energy or vigour must be balanced with samadhi. And where does our good friend mindfulness fit into this equation? Mindfulness, like a king on his throne, sits in the middle and watches over his four subjects, ensuring that balance is maintained.

To help us understand this balancing act we can picture two sets of scales in our minds. On the first set we have confidence or faith on one side and wisdom on the other, with mindfulness as the pivot.. On the second set we have energy on one side and samadhi on the other, with mindfulness again as the pivot. These scales show us where we need to apply the principle of balance. Notice how mindfulness is the pivotal point for both pairs. Mindfulness is the king of the practice; it watches over us, keeps things in order, applies effort when it is needed and reduces it when it is not. It notices when a quality is lacking and when one is in excess.

.

Wisdom Must Balance Confidence.

It seems that real wisdom is in no danger of being developed to excess as wisdom is wisdom. You can’t have too much of that! But confidence can outweigh wisdom sometimes when it starts to mutate into dogmatic views and blind belief. Wisdom is then flung off the scales altogether and is nowhere to be seen!

.

Confidence / Faith

Confidence in this context primarily means confidence in the Buddha and his Teachings, and in one’s ability to follow the Eightfold path successfully. It is an indispensable part of this path for many reasons, not least because we are aiming for that state which is entirely outside of this conditioned and unsatisfactory experience of ours – that is – Nibbana: the unconditioned, the further shore, the deathless.

As Buddhists we triumphantly hold above our heads as a footballer the World Cup Trophy the fact that the Buddha warned against blind belief. We are so proud that he encouraged us to investigate, to probe and to examine what he was saying. There’s this amazing story in the scriptures which runs as follows:

There was a famous millionaire layman called Upali. He was a follower of another religion and he was sent to meet the Buddha in order to argue with him and convert him. But after talking with the Buddha he was so impressed that he decided to become a Buddhist. But the Buddha said:

“Make a proper investigation first, proper investigation is good for a well-known person like yourself.”

“Now I am even more pleased and satisfied when the Lord says to me ‘Make a proper investigation first.’ For if members of another religion had secured me as a disciple they would have paraded a banner all around the town saying ‘Upali has joined our religion.’ But the Lord says to me: ‘Make a proper investigation first, proper investigation is good for a well-known person like yourself.’

MII 379 *2

We come to Buddhism and we find the Buddha saying: “Don’t just believe what I say.” And what does that do? It give us tremendous confidence! When we hear the religious dogma spewed out by some people we shudder. They tell us not to question, not to probe, not to investigate. And what does that do? It makes us question, it makes us probe, it makes us investigate! And what happens when we do that? The brittle facade which depends on blind belief cracks and crumbles and comes tumbling down. But the Buddha knew that if we probed his teachings we would find nothing wrong with them.

And so on encountering Buddhism our confidence is immediately aroused. We then begin to follow the instructions and meditate and consequently we experience results; our confidence is beginning to be verified, and on being verified it grows. And so we continue to apply effort; having gained results already it seems logical that if we pursue the training the results will keep coming. So the confidence we are talking about here is firmly rooted in wisdom – we begin to ‘know for ourselves’ and confidence in the Dhamma arises. This confidence propels us forwards. We need this confidence. It fuels us as we traverse the periods of difficulty that we inevitably go through. If we don’t have that confidence then we will stop when things don’t go our way. But if we persist with our practice then wisdom eventually deepens, and once again, with the deepening of wisdom our confidence in the path and its effectiveness gains strength.

And so this reciprocal process rolls on: wisdom giving rise to confidence and confidence giving rise to wisdom. They become like a pair of rocket-powered bulldozers that blast through all obstructions. They are a powerful combination! When these factors are of a certain potency (and this goes for all the faculties) it is said they transform into the Five Bala, the Five Powers. When this level is reached we no longer have to strive to develop them; that stage has passed. They now flow by themselves. The five faculties and the mind become one and the same and they soon merge with the deathless.

Once one passes through the first gate of Enlightenment - the stage of Sotapanna, or Stream Entry - then wisdom makes its first substantial triumph by liberating the mind from the first three of the ten fetters: personality view, doubt, and blind attachment to rules and rituals. So we see that with the perfection of a level of wisdom, doubt, the opposite of confidence, is eliminated. And so at the level of Sotapanna our wisdom, and our confidence in the Dhamma and the path leading to it, are unshakeable.

Back to where we’re at! We have a degree of confidence and a degree of wisdom. Now, it is our duty to both develop and maintain balance between the two.

.

The Pitfalls of Faith

To have confidence in the Buddha and his teachings is a wonderful thing; if you have it you are very fortunate! But if king mindfulness takes his eyes off this subject for too long then it can get a little out of hand and send us off target. And so we must keep a close eye on it and bring the mind that flies too high with confidence and faith back down to earth with wisdom.

I once knew a monk who was a faith type. His eyes would sparkle with faith whenever he saw a senior monk. He let that outweigh his wisdom though and unfortunately it was a part of his downfall. When faith outbalances wisdom we can forget ourselves. We can become dependent on outside things as sources of confidence and inspiration. We read books and look at pictures and listen to talks and meet great teachers and we are inspired; but this source of confidence is not always reliable and we must be careful to keep it in moderation. If we become dependent on these things then we are liable to crash if one day those things fail to inspire us. We must look within, study within, probe and investigate within; then we will gradually gain the vision of the Dhamma which cannot be taken away from us and which will serve as a powerful and constant source of inspiration. We will then not need outside stimulus.

Anyway, back to that monk. Early on in his monastic life he had the privilege of spending a few days with a quite senior monk. Now this monk, at first glance, was very impressive. He had presence and an unshakeable quality to him. He was inspiring.

A year or so later it became clear that the young monk had invested too much confidence in this monk, and that he had relied on him as a source of inspiration. Because, on hearing the news that the very impressive monk had disrobed, the young monk’s world shook. His faith had been ‘out there’; it had been dependent on unreliable sources. And so when this source ceased to deliver he was deeply shaken, and doubt and uncertainty invaded his mind.

Wisdom comprehends the unreliable nature of all things in this world and enables us to avoid the pitfalls of faith.

So we must not become dependent on external sources for inspiration. Begin to see the Dhamma in your own mind and you won’t go wrong. Our confidence will be verified as we make the Dhamma our own. Even if we were the only person on the planet following this path we could not be diverted.

—

JUST DO IT

Confidence is neglected when our questioning and thinking goes beyond its reasonable boundaries and we consequently fail to actually get on with the task at hand. Like the man who was shot by an arrow but refused to have it removed until he knew: who shot it; from what the bow was made; what type of feathers were on the arrow - were they duck, goose, or swan feathers?; from what the bow’s string was made etc, etc. Now, before the man had his questions answered he’d be dead! The Buddha said that the wise man pulls the arrow out. In the same way we each must remove the arrow that is lodged in our minds; the arrow of craving. Any questions?

I used to question deeply, and read philosophical things, and think a lot, and thanks to that I eventually arrived at the golden gates of Buddhism. But on reaching those gates I put the questions, the books and the thoughts down. They had served their purpose and now it was time for me to enter the gates and get on with it. It is so important that we go beyond the theory and the thinking and, having confidence in the Dhamma, as it says in that well known advert – JUST DO IT.

‘

—–

.

So that’s just a sketch of two of the Five Indriya. I’ll write about balancing energy and samadhi sometime soon….

*1. From ‘The Life of the Buddha’, Bhikkhu Nanamoli.

*2. From ‘Good Question, Good Answer’, Ven. S. Dhammika.

.

The next teaching will be on:

The Full Moon Day, Sunday, 20th April

.

SEE NEXT POST FOR THE LATEST DHAMMA DIARY

.

What we woke up to on Sunday morning.

My walking path.

.

.

,

Anicca

.

.

Our family used to spend many a holiday in Cornwall. The particular trip that is the subject of this story coincided with one of my birthdays, possibly my ninth or tenth.

On one of the days we went to visit a favourite beach of ours called Crantock. I remember us standing on the sand near to the dunes as the sea whispered in the distance. I was clutching my shiny new birthday present - a polystyrene surfboard. I was very happy with it.

So there we were, with the sand at our feet and the sun smiling down from the blue dome above, when my little brother asked if he could have a go. He must have been about eight at the time. And he really was very charming - you’d have been melted by his rosy cheeks and squeaky voice. You’d have said yes in a instant. You’d like me to say that I said yes, wouldn’t you? I’d love to say that I said yes as well. But I can’t. Because I didn’t. I said No.

And I recall how as soon as I had said that word it was like a giant steel door slammed shut and everyone present jolted. It is a word that’s of such power and which says so much, yet it’s only two letters long. No. I said no.

I think back now and remember how in that instant the glorious weather, the golden beach and the dreamy sky were suddenly sucked empty. Our happiness was now eclipsed by the dark cloud of my selfishness. My brother started crying; my mother could not believe it. How could I say no? Why didn’t I just let him have a go on the stupid thing. I think they tried to persuade me but I wasn’t going to listen. “How could I have said that?!” I think now.

This memory has not faded over the years. And why is that? Because the stain of selfishness is a stubborn one to remove. I cast my mind back to that time and I feel a little twinge of remorse. Why didn’t I just say yes? It would have been so much for the benefit of us all. We’d have all been smiling and playing on the beach had it not been for that one word.

I say one word, but isn’t there volumes lying concealed behind that. When we say no to someone in this way that heavy door that was open suddenly thunders shut. We say no and we close ourselves off to so much. We say no to the friendship and the generosity of others. If people think of us as a person that doesn’t give a damn about anyone else they will not like us. We stay confined to the dark, dank, cold steel cell of selfishness.

But if we haul that weighty door up and keep it open then the light and warmth of generosity breaks into our little cold cell and we are transformed.

I’m glad that I have this memory of the occasion on the beach. When thinking of it my mind recoils from selfishness as a hair from a flame, and it yearns to be generous. Whenever there is anything I can do to help somebody I usually don’t hesitate to do it. If there is something I can give to someone I relish the chance to give it, no matter how small the thing. As a child the steel door of my cell was closed too often, but now I make an effort to keep it open. It feels wonderful to have the light of generosity shining in.

The Buddha praised and praised and praised again the magnificent virtues of generosity. In a quote that is a personal favourite he said that generosity ‘adorns the mind’. In the world people are so concerned about adorning their bodies, but they rarely consider the need to adorn their minds. They don’t even know how to adorn the mind, or even that it needs adorning. We cast our eyes over the glossy magazines and see those who can afford it displaying their diamond necklaces and Rolex watches. But what is a useless diamond or a Rolex compared to generosity? Nothing. The jewel of giving is infinitely more brilliant and precious. Generous people’s minds shine. Think of a very generous person that you know. Don’t they shine? Aren’t they wonderful people?!

One of the treasured attributes of people from traditional Buddhist countries is their generosity. It is ingrained in their national psyche, and it is almost certainly rooted in the Dhamma. When we heard the news of the tsunami several years ago, we were also treated to the accounts of Thai people who owned so little and yet were prepared to give what they had to help those strangers who were in terrible suffering. I’m sure the people of Burma and Sri Lanka were the same but I didn’t hear of them. Stories like this are very moving.

There used to be a man staying at the monastery who was your archetypal scrooge. I’ve got a fund of stories about him which are bound to pop up from time to time. Anyway, one day he walked into the kitchen here and saw another man who was staying here (carefully avoiding names) unpacking some gifts of food that were generously given by some Thai people. And he frowned and asked the man rustling through the packets why the Thais had given it. “What are they going to get out of it?” he said! (or something like that). He just couldn’t get it. His little steel cell of a mind could not fathom how people could give without any material reward.

The reward is in the giving itself. It makes you feel good for a start. I can clearly remember how I felt on that day on the beach. It was a grim feeling, a heavy and dark feeling that persisted for a long time. Yet I think back to times when I have been generous and joy flows from an inner spring and a smile blossoms on my face. Giving is wonderful, plain and simple!

Generosity is a bridge that spans all differences in views, gender, race and religion. We do not need to justify giving; it doesn’t need explaining. One plus one equals two; generosity equals happiness, that’s what I tell the children at the schools. Allow generosity to flow and you will cast the spell of giving on others and they will begin to give too.

Going back to the story of the surfboard. I got what I deserved you may be glad to hear. Because as I had been such a mean little boy by not letting my lovely brother have a go, my mother went and bought him a new surfboard! And it wasn’t even his birthday! What is the world coming to….

.

The next teaching will be on:

The Half Moon Day, Sunday, 13th March.

.

The Golden Cord

,
Let us for a moment suppose you’re ill. You decide to go to the doctor’s in order to find out what exactly is wrong with you, what the cause is, and most importantly, how to get better. You sit in front of him and he pulls out his little torch, asks you to say “aaahhhh” and sees that your throat is inflamed and as red as a beetroot - it’s an infection. That is the problem. He then does some more tests and identifies the bacteria that are causing the illness. Then he prescribes a suitable antibiotic and gives you precise instructions regarding the amount to be taken and how often to take it. You then go home and start to take the medicine as directed. After completing the course you recover.

Now, it would be a very foolish person who would tamper with those antibiotics, thinking: “If I just take this ingredient out, and put this one in; and maybe take it on these days, but not on those….” That would not be wise. I know I wouldn’t tamper with the antibiotics because I don’t know the first thing about them! But I do know that many people take them exactly as prescribed and in doing so they are cured. That is all I need to know. I take them and I’m cured.

Unfortunately people are not so wary of tampering with the Buddha’s medicine, that is, his teachings. Our illness is suffering (The First Noble Truth), the cause is craving (The Second Noble Truth), and the medicine is the Noble Eightfold Path - the path of morality, meditation and wisdom (The Fourth Noble Truth). The Buddha’s teachings are the fruits of a perfected mind; a mind that was not tainted by greed, hatred and delusion - and so setting out to improve them would be like trying to ‘gild refined gold’ (to quote Shakespeare), and to alter them to suit our desires like melting down the gold and mixing it with excrement. Yet some people think: “If I just take this teaching out, and put this one in; and maybe take this precept out, and change the meaning of such and such….” The wise person leaves the Dhamma in its original state as found in the Buddhist Canon as he or she knows that through the millennia countless people have followed these teachings exactly as prescribed and have thus been cured of their suffering.

Say if you were on your way to the doctor’s with your poorly throat and just as you turned the corner you saw a little grubby old homeless man sitting hunched on a creaking stool outside the doctor’s gate. You try to creep past him hoping he won’t see you, but he does, and he smiles a toothless grin at you and starts muttering. You now find out he stinks. Then you look to his right and there’s a little sign which says: ‘SALE! Homemade Antibiotics! Tasty and Work Quick!!!!’ You frown and look back at the old man who’s excited because you’ve read his sign. Now, would you think: ‘Great! What a bargain! - I’ll take ten bottles!’ Or would you think: “You’ve got to be joking!” and go straight to the doctor? Of course there is no way you would buy those antibiotics for obvious reasons, after all, who is this man to be - in the first place - making his own antibiotics, and - in the second place - to be selling them?! He is in no position to do such thing! Luckily we know of the real doctor who can be trusted in these matters. Unfortunately there are many people who take hold of the Buddha’s medicine, tamper with it, and then sell it off as Buddhism. In many cases the resulting product will have hardly any resemblance to the Buddha’s original medicine, and may even make you sick!

We can think of many aspects of authentic Buddhism that have been altered and distorted or even scrapped altogether.

I used to have a friend who, when he was very young, had to take a course of medicine. And this medicine was absolutely delicious, I think it was banana flavour. Anyway, he took the course of medicine and, what do you know, IT ROTTED HIS TEETH. Luckily they were his first set, so he only looked like the old man of the above scenario for a little while. So the medicine tasted wonderful but it rotted his teeth. Some people like the flavour of Buddhism without the precepts. But it’s going to be more than their teeth that rot if they carry on taking that!

Virtue is the lifeblood of Buddhism. To disregard it is perhaps the most damaging alteration that can be made to the Buddha’s medicine. To take Buddhism without concern for the precepts is to take it from that little old smelly man instead of from the Buddha!

Ajahn Chah was once sat in front of a group of monks and he held his hands up about a foot apart, palms facing each other, fingertips upwards. Then he bent one hand towards the other and said: “You must bend yourself to suit the Dhamma” - then he switched hands - “don’t bend the Dhamma to suit you.”

If we compromise the precepts we compromise our ability to reach enlightenment. I remember speaking to a senior monk prior to my novice ordination and he said that the precepts “do a lot of the work for you”. They help us in so many ways. They bring joy; they bring mindfulness; they bring concentration; and they bring wisdom. They are there at the beginning, the middle and the end of the path. If we tinker with the precepts they lose their efficacy: we weaken or even destroy those barriers that guide us to happy destinations and stop us from going down dangerous paths. It is so crucial that we leave the precepts as they are and allow them to work on us in the way the Buddha intended.

One of the fundamental reasons for observing the precepts is to enable us to understand the workings of our minds. We go to the doctor to find the cause of our illness so that a cure can be administered. We come to Buddhism and we find that the cause of all our problems is within us; it is craving, which is rooted in ignorance. If we don’t come to know this cause we will never be cured. The precepts help us to dig down and find the cause of our suffering. They expose our craving, our ignorance and all the other unwholesome forces at work. We wish to take a drink of alcohol but we CAN’T. Then what happens? We are confronted with the desire that was driving those thoughts of wanting a drink. That desire smashes into the crash barrier of the precepts allowing us to CLEARLY SEE that defilement. Because that desire has not been satisfied there will be a moment of suffering, and here we see the link between craving and suffering. This is one of the ways they teach us.

As monks we keep a large number of precepts. This is one of the advantages of being a renunciate. I remember on the day when I ordained as a bhikkhu feeling like a giant safety net had been placed beneath me. I felt safe. The precepts would now protect me. Any monk serious about the training will NOT break those precepts. What’s the point in becoming a monk if you’re going to carry money and watch TV? (even when the World Cup is on!). It’s a slippery slope once you start weaving your way around the precepts and finding excuses to use money etc. I read of a monk who said that he needed to catch the bus so therefore he would have to use money. HOLD ON A MINUTE! That should be the other way round: ‘I cannot handle money so how will I travel?’ Once you start saying “Well this precept doesn’t really matter” where do you stop? If a monk starts going down this route before he knows it he’ll have a wife and two kids!

So the more precepts you keep the better. As part of our monastic discipline we observe the 75 Sekhiya rules. These govern how we present ourselves in public, as well providing us with detailed instructions concerning how we should go about eating. In addition to these, as Forest Monks, we undertake some of the ‘Dhutangas’ – the 13 ascetic practices. One of these is to eat ALL of your food from the same bowl. Now, the strict interpretation of this is that you must put all of the food you are about to eat in the bowl BEFORE you start to eat. Now, it’s Christmas time and I’m tucking into a delicious meal when I get half way through and find that, much to my horror, I forgot to put my mince pie in my bowl! It’s still in my bowl’s lid! AARRRGHHH! Now I can’t have it because I didn’t put it in my bowl before I started eating! So what do I do. Well I could follow my defilements and infringe the rule (it isn’t a compulsory one) and satisfy my desire but gain no wisdom; or, I can uphold the rule and observe my mind thrashing about wishing I had put the mince pie in the bowl, and see the clear connection between craving and suffering, thereby developing restraint, awareness and most importantly – wisdom! So of course I held to the rule and exercised mindfulness and full awareness and watched those thoughts and feelings come into being and pass away; hence wisdom was developed. One point to wisdom, none to craving.

The precepts help us to dig down and pull out the weeds from the depths our our minds and bring them into the open where we can see them. We can then see those forces in the mind that drive is to suffer. This is of such fundamental importance and it is something that only the precepts can do.

Combine this weeding out with clear mindfulness and concentration and you begin to see the impermanent, unsatisfactory and selfless nature of these mental events and the mind subsequently releases itself from them. Such is the way to develop wisdom and happiness!

So, if the precepts are to fulfil their role as weed removers and as the barriers against which our defilements crash, they need to be reliable and solid; we need to establish a dedication to morality.

The Buddha once gave a particularly important teaching where he likened the teachings of past Buddha’s to flowers and the monk’s discipline - the Patimokkha - to a cord. He then listed those Buddhas who did not lay down the Patimokkha and those that did. He said that just as flowers when unconnected by a cord soon disperse, so too, where a former Buddha had not laid down the Patimokkha his teachings were soon scattered and lost as the winds of time blew. But then he said that just as when flowers that are connected by a cord stay together and remain, so too, where the Patimokkha had been laid down the teachings lasted for a long time. Gotama Buddha thankfully did lay down the Patimokkha, hence the existence of Buddhism today.

Now, of course the Patimokkha is for monks, but it is the principle that is important here. Whatever precepts you have, whether they are the five, the eight, the ten, or the two hundred and twenty-seven, they are a part of the golden cord that holds Buddhism together. We must each remain steadfast in our precepts and ensure that the cord of morality remains strong so that the precious Dhamma flowers are not lost.

.

The next teaching will be on:

The New Moon Day, Saturday the 5th of April

b

I realise some of you were looking forward to the posts on meditation that I’d planned…. sorry about that. I haven’t abandoned that series completely, I just didn’t want to be pinned down. I will ensure a meditation post pops up from time to time. This is one of them.,

m

,

DETERMINATION

,

“Even if my flesh and blood dry up… I will not leave this seat until I have attained Full Enlightenment.”

The Buddha-to-be, prior to his enlightenment.

,

Here we look at determination - one of the Ten Perfections - both in general terms and in relation to our meditation.

DETERMINE!

I recall a time on personal retreat when I was struggling somewhat. I was sat cross-legged in my kuti feeling particularly down - I had little enthusiasm to do anything and this negative state of mind felt like a sumo wrestler sitting on top of me. In Thai they have an expression meaning he or she is ‘in hell‘; that summed up my state of mind. Never-the-less, when it was time to go outside to do walking meditation I peeled myself up off the floor and dragged myself to my path.

I got to the beginning of my path and my mind started whining: “I REALLY don’t want to walk!” Anyway, I forced myself to walk, but all the time my mind was haranguing me to do something else. I knew I’d be depressed no matter what I did though, so I resisted and kept on walking. But the mood just kept getting bigger and uglier, and my mind was becoming more and more pathetic: “Oh please, do something else, anything but walking meditation.” After a while of this something had to give - either me or the mood…. This time, it wasn’t going to be me.

“FOR GOODNESS SAKE – LISTEN TO YOU!!” I thought. I’d had enough of being pushed around by this mind; and of listening to its whinging; and of being bullied by this big, fat, ugly mood! And I realised that if I didn’t stand up to it, it was going to overwhelm me. So I said to it: “RIGHT YOU! I’m not leaving this path until you’re GONE!”

And do you know, it didn’t know what to do. It was stunned. And as I walked that big, bully of a mood, shrunk and shrunk until it was as big and as threatening as a ladybird, and my mind shut up. And this was all because of my firm DETERMINATION to get through this little puddle of tar that we sometimes get stuck in. When we hit hard times we DETERMINE to get through them, no matter how long it will take. And as that little story shows, once you actually make that determination, that’s half the battle done. As soon as I stood up to my difficult mind, and especially to that mood, it realised that I meant business and it immediately weakened as it realised I wasn’t going to leave the path until it was gone. It was a revelation for me, because now, whenever I’m stuck in a negative state, I know I can do this.

And so, full of energy, I continued walking, just daring my mind to test me. As I walked though, that little ladybird would keep on trying to grow into that big, ugly monster again; but as soon as I spotted him I would immediately mentally shout at it and tell him: “JUST YOU TRY!”, and then he gulped and hid. And after a time, feeling quite proud of myself, my mind started saying: “It’s gone now, you can go into your kuti…. Well done…” — “Mmmmm… that smells like Mara* to me!”, I thought, and I looked carefully and saw that little ladybird hadn’t quite disappeared, and he was ready to start mutating into a quite large and ugly mood given half a chance. So I said “NO! - I’ll keep on walking, thank you very much!” And the ladybird knew the game was over and he gave up and eventually vanished. Job done, all thanks to that firm determination at the beginning.

So, whenever you have difficulty with your meditation, or your mind is misbehaving, or you’re lacking motivation, or you’re ‘in hell’ – DETERMINE! Make that iron willed resolution. This will do half the job for you. Once you have made that determination it will carry you through the hard times, and upon making that determination, you might even find that you practically solve the problem on the spot, as with what happened to me.

*MARA: the Buddhist personification of greed, hatred, delusion and all unwholesome states.

Sharpen the knife of meditation

It isn’t often that I ask for help with my meditation; in the Forest Tradition it is a central tenet that we rely on our own cunning. But on one particular occasion I felt I really needed some advice from an experienced meditator as I believed my personal barrel of solutions had been well and truly scraped. I imagine that it was clear what the problem was when I described it to Luangpor not so much from what I said, but from the way I said it. He responded with one word: “Determination”. That was enough; I knew why he had said it. I had been lacking that clear and incisive resolve and my meditation was wobbling. I didn’t see this though, as it had been developing for some time. I had been losing that incisive and definite edge. When we meditate we need to be definite about what we are doing.

The goal needs to be clear (here regarding the breath):

1. DETERMINE to be loyal to your subject of meditation, and to persist with it, without flitting between techniques.

2. DETERMINE to sustain your attention on the breath for as long as possible without interruption. (Samadhi means ‘the fixing of the mind on a single object’.)

3. DETERMINE to gradually refine your awareness of the breath and experience it in more and more detail.

4. DETERMINE to go beyond the five hindrances of sensuality; ill-will; sloth and torpor; restlessness and worry; and doubt, so that your mind will be clear to see the Dhamma

We can remind ourselves of these determinations each time we sit.

We can also set ourselves other little goals. So if we are focusing on the breath we can determine to focus on ten breaths without interruption, or five breaths, or one breath. I will sometimes determine, or resolve, at the beginning of each breath to know that breath completely and fully. Then the next breath begins and I make the same resolve. And as we carry on like this the little individual resolves become one big resolve and our mind engages with the breath.

Think of meditation as a knife and determination as a sharpening stone. If your meditation has lost its edge, sharpen it with enthusiastic determination.

There is no substitute for determination. If you have been struggling against a particular obstacle for some time and you feel all hope is lost, take heed of these words from Winston Churchill, a man of great determination:

“When you feel you cannot continue in your position for another

moment, and all that is in human power has been done, that is the

moment when the enemy is most exhausted, and when one step

forward will give you the fruits of the struggle you have borne.”

Perfect. Substitute ‘enemy’ as you please.

We all need to develop determination. Our minds would much rather do things the easy way. But the easy way is often not the best way. DETERMINE to sit every day, even for ten minutes. DETERMINE to sit half-lotus for ten minutes, twenty minutes… If you really have aversion towards sitting, DETERMINE to sit for half an hour and watch and wait as your mind throws a tantrum until it wears itself out - “Give me all you’ve got!” you can say to it. It’s great fun! And you’ll learn a lot. Doing this will make you feel better because you are in control. As Ajahn Chah said: “Don’t be afraid of your defilements, make your defilements afraid of you!”

The little lawyer within

I’ll tell you a story. It’s a little embarrassing, but I’ll tell it anyway, just to show how our minds can be like little lawyers that try to find loopholes in our determinations. This was before the time of the story I began this piece with.

It was the beginning of my third Rains Retreat. This annual retreat is a three month period when monks will often undertake special practices in order to develop themselves. Some monks will determine to not lie down for the three month retreat period; some will decide to eat only the food they receive in the villages; some will determine to read a particular portion of the Tipitika. But I was going to do something else; something of phenomenal difficulty that would test me to the core. I decided that I would - cue drum roll - only drink

ONE

CUP

OF

TEA

A DAY.

It’s true. As you can imagine a nice, hot, sweet cup of tea (with the consistency of syrup once you put all the honey and sugar in) occupies a special place in a young monk’s heart. As cruel as it may have been, one cup a day it was to be. (Note: In my determination ‘tea’ was a blanket term that covered all hot, sweet drinks, though I wasn’t utterly clear to myself on this crucial point….) And so I made my solemn determination and it seemed, for a moment, that the birds outside stopped their chirping, and a cloud temporarily blocked the sun. But then they started chirping again and wondered what all the fuss was about.

And it went quite well for a few weeks. But then the little lawyer in my mind started drumming his fingers on his desk and rubbing his chin, plotting how a loophole in this determination might be found. “Aha!” he thought and a little light bulb appeared over his head. Then in the most charming voice he said to me: “Now what exactly did you mean by tea?” Now, not being experienced with the ways of the mind, I was caught off guard and innocently thought: “He has a point. What did I mean by tea?” And before I knew it, as pathetic as it was, I had stepped onto the slippery slope and was drinking everything but tea, and then eventually, yes - tea. Half way through the Retreat the little lawyer in my mind had completely undermined my determination, and I was left utterly helpless with a cup of tea in either hand (figuratively speaking). Such are the ways of a good lawyer, and a mischievous mind.

One final point

Determination must be tempered with wisdom and patience. Wisdom, so that we recognise what is within our capabilities; and patience, as determination wrongly executed can bring impatience. Skillful determination should have an effortless element to it as well. We inscribe our determination on the rock-face of our mind and that mental resolve carries us through. When I determined to walk until my bad mood had gone, I made that initial resolve but then I backed off and it carried me through.

So, don’t take any rubbish from that lawyer! Develop your determination. Resolve to get through the difficulties and half the work will be done. And use it to get a good, sharp edge on your meditation.,

,

THE NEXT TEACHING WILL BE ON

THE HALF-MOON DAY, SATURDAY, 29TH MARCH

,