Mindfulness Meditation Made Easy

by Dhammasami | 1999 | 39,117 words

FERVENT WISHES May this Gift of Dhamma help us in deepening our understanding of the Good Dhamma and our practice of meditation. May we grow in love, kindness and wisdom. May our heart dwell in the spirit of the Dhamma. May we find everlasting Peace. May we be well and happy, always....

Preface

ABOUT THE TALKS

THIS BOOK CONTAINS a collection of Dhamma talks given to a group of Burmese doctors and their family resident in the U.K, during a six day retreat held from 26-31 August 1998, at the resident of Dr. Kyaw Thinn and Sao Phong Keau Thinn in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The themes of the retreat are based on the conventions of the Theravada Buddhism. The talks are arranged in a syllabus format that covers not only various presentations of mindfulness (sati) but also four other kinds of reflective meditation.

Although I have been teaching vipassana meditation here and there since early 1990s, I have never conducted a retreat of this nature before. I have, however, always thought of introducing a different way to traditional meditation retreat to serve as a course of study where one learns how to become a regular meditator while pursuing a normal working life. I regard this retreat as first step in that direction.

DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN

Strict intensive meditation retreat is invaluable in many aspects. Yet, people find it enormously difficult to keep momentum going on once they returned to a working life. Concentration and under standing seem to be gradually fading away before they put them in use in daily life.

People in full time job have a good reason to offer excuse of having a busy routine that they have no time for one hour meditation. Even monks and nuns can easily come out with such an excuse. However, there is a way to overcome this problem without necessarily having to defend oneself or feel bad about being unable to include meditation in ones daily routine.

A MODEST START

One should start with a modest timetable of, maybe, 10 minutes a day and two days a week and increase it gradually to one hour every day. This may take months until one becomes a regular meditator. Nevertheless, it is worth trying. One has to begin somewhere to get things started.

Mindfulness has to be given priority as opposed to concentration, which is the main format of traditional retreat especially in Burma. The duration must not bring pressure to the already pressurised life. Experiencing the daily world in every detail through mindfulness as taught in vipassana can make one feel the duration longer than it really is. If it is so, the duration is obviously bringing pressure on oneself.

The timetable of Birmingham retreat was organised to convince the participants that they could sit for 45 minutes without feeling much pressure. It has to be said that that was an achievement arrived at within a matter of six days but in a more or less intensive way. It will certainly take longer if this format was not used in an intensive retreat. Nevertheless, I hope what is contained in this book can still form a basis of different formats of training oneself to become a regular meditator.

Moreover, instant access to teacher and discussion are very important features of this retreat. As the retreat was relatively short, I felt the need to give more time for interview to clear their doubts and to give them opportunity to confirm their understanding and to explain what they experience. However, all the inter views were not included here as they could make this book unnecessarily too big in volume and have little relevance a part from the person it was intended for.

THE ESSENCE OF THIS TEACHING

The main approach of the retreat was mindfulness. The very important discourse on vipassana meditation, Satipatthana Sutta convinces us that mindfulness is not only the foundation of vipassana practice but also chief factor all the way. Mindfulness enables us to develop other qualities of mind and sustain them throughout.

Four traditional supportive meditations have been given for practice with some easy explanation. The time allocated for them should not be taken as standard because they naturally require a considerable amount of time to develop, which was not possible during a short retreat. Technically, they are part of Samatha meditation practice.

Mindfulness, also called awareness is what can help us live a happy and energetic life. It detects disturbing thoughts in our minds and removes them. Mindfulness also helps us see whole some thoughts in our minds and gives us a chance to develop them. It is the foundation of all self dependent spiritual practices.

MINDFULNESS MADE EASY

Mindfulness practice is indeed a complicated and unattractive one for many people because in its principles it involves a comprehensive study of oneself and self dependency. It calls for many factors to be made balanced. This goes straightaway into conflict with our dominant desire that looks for a quick fix.

Mindfulness practice rules out a mantra style approach in life. No miracle or any superstitious belief. Simply, it is a self cultured programme. The practice requires us to put in our own efforts and discover the truth through our own experience. The teacher is only to guide but not to see the truth for us.

I started reading the Satipatthana Sutta, the main discourse on mindfulness meditation since my late teens. However, there was little I could relate to people through my reading of this Sutta until six or seven years later as I understood very little of it. The words and phrases look so simple that they become too hard for me to grasp what they mean. It is a discourse and a practice I do not take it for granted up to this day. The Discourse requires some practice to see its points. Reflecting on the difficulty I have with the Sutta and the practice, I wish to make it accessible to many who other wise would feel put off due to inability to comprehend this particular Discourse. I have tried my best to present it in an easily comprehensible manner.

In this book, the non judgemental nature and the usefulness of mindfulness in every days life have been given more attention than other aspects of the practice. Because it is a judgmental mind that tends to interpret what we experience and creates a conflict out of it. It is the starting point where ego, which is not real, is born. Non judgmental nature does not necessarily mean that Buddhist meditation accepts no moral distinctions whatsoever. Instead, it should be understood as no value judgement for factual reason. The chief principle at work is observation. Through observation by paying bare attention, one comes to see the wholesome and unwholesome character of thoughts, words and actions naturally. This is a realisation achieved through scientific exploration. The Buddha has discovered the Way, and all are welcome to test it through personal effort.

MEDITATION IN THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

I have made it clear that meditation in Buddhism has to be viewed in the right context, which is that of the noble Eightfold path. It is a path that leaves out the two opposing extremes and finds a dialectical position that no longer clashes with either of the two usually logical assumptions. However, unless all the eight factors of the Path are present in meditation or in any spiritual practice, there cannot be liberation from suffering. The eight factors in brief contain some form of restraining our speech and action (sila), meditation (samadhi) and the right attitude (panna). These three make the fundamentals of happiness in daily life. They come as ONE PATH that is necessarily means a package. One does not pick and chose only the part that one likes most since that will not make the Path any more.

In other words, meditation without the right attitude and some control of words and actions does not constitute the path leading to the end of suffering. Nor precepts and meditation that are not guided by the right attitude lead to the cessation of bewilderment in life. Mindfulness helps us discover not only the right attitude but also sustain the precepts we decide to undertake.

A FAMILY RETREAT

The participants determined the duration of this retreat. It is a family retreat by nature. They have made use of one weekend and bank holidays; some even had to take leaves, to make this retreat possible. Some of them are new to vipassana meditation while quite a few have been to different retreats both in Burma and in the U.K. Therefore, the participants have various background of training in meditation such as Sunlun, Mahasi and Goenkaji.

As all the participants, including three high school children who understand it better in English, are of Burmese Buddhist origin, the Dhamma talks were first aimed at bridging or rather increasing their understanding of the Dhamma with occasional reference to their culture, from which they first learn about Buddhism. In this book, I have tied my best to forego some cultural conditionings understandably necessary for the participants of the original retreat but may have little relevance to a wide range of readers. Nevertheless, some inevitable parts meant primarily for them can still be found here and I hope the readers can make the message relevant for themselves from such instances.

APPRECIATION

It is now left for me to say a few words of thanks. All these talks were recorded and transcribed by Dr. Kyaw Thin, Psychiatric Consultant who organised the retreat. He even translated two talks given in Burmese into English. He has always voluntarily done the same whenever I had to give a talk in Burmese at his residence. He and his wife Sao Phong Keau have been incredibly supportive to my Dhamma mission in the U.K. As usual, Dr. K. Thinn reads and makes some suggestions to the original manuscripts. I will ever owe him and his family for their generous support.

Gordon Waite, Head teacher, Keble Primary School, Winch- more, London, deserves my special thanks for going through all the talks many times and the worthwhile suggestions he has made to polish the language and simplify the presentation. He spent hours with me to have a final go on each topic. Barbara Jones, Kingsbury High School, North west London is beholden for fresh ideas and immense support she has given to me along the way.

Jo and Ms. Thomas (Head of the Dept.), Dept. of Religious Education, Claremont High School, Harrow are so kind to go through some of the talks and make a few suggestions. Gloria Blake, Don Hettiaratchi and Mark Carder from my regular meditation session, too, deserve a special acknowledgment for their patient readings of some of these talks.

Dr. Doreen Perera, a senior clinical scientist from the University College of London helps me clarify some medical explanation of the parts of the body. She and her husband, Mr. Nihal Perera have taken much trouble to see to my needs while editing this book. I am sincerely thankful to them.

This book, of course, will never be in the hands of the readers without constant encouragement and generous support from Mary Ng C.L., Visco Enterprises, Real Estate Agency, Singapore who has been my principal devotee since November 1994. As people in London started asking for the unedited copy of these talks, I began to feel the need to get them published. However, I could never mention it to anybody, knowing it would involve substantial cost. Without me saying it, she suggested it to me in January 1999 when I visit Singapore that I publish these talks so that many can benefit. She immediately undertakes responsibility for publication. I have received, too, some advice of no less value from her regarding edition and format of this book.

I should as well take an opportunity to make a mention here that she has taken a lot of her times to have "The Dhamma Made Easy," a collection of my talks published in January 1999 in Penang, Malaysia. Not only organising for the sponsorship she also has taken a lot of trouble for shifting them to all over the world. I would like to acknowledge here of my deep appreciation for all her dedication, generosity ad the unqualified support she has offered me.

Mr. Sunanda H.E Lim, has helped me in many ways. His cover design is eye catching and reflective at the same time. As always, I thank him and the Inward Journey Publisher, Penang, Malaysia for their hard work in printing this book.

The sponsors play a very important role, too, in bringing out this book. Many of them have become so keen to have the teaching on the mindfulness meditation shared with as many people as possible after they have practised it themselves. It is a willingness to share with others that is primarily based on their personal experience and understanding. I honestly hope that this shared dedication will remain a unifying force in brining mindfulness meditation practice into many peoples every day life.

May all being be well and happy!

Venerable Dhammasami
London
Wednesday, 20 October 1999

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