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have talked of Buddhism before. In a past sermon I told you much of the
Buddha’s life. How he was born into a powerful, wealthy family as
Siddharta, a prince of India, in an area near the Himalayas that is now
Nepal. How the story, whether fact or teaching story we do not know for
sure, unfolds that Siddharta felt unfulfilled despite all his riches and
power. Even when he married at age 17 and fathered a child at 28, he was
not happy. Up to that time he had been kept inside his parent’s castle
grounds. They wanted to protect him from the suffering of life. He was
greatly overprotected. One day, at age 29, he ordered his servant to
take him in his chariot out beyond the walls of the compound to life as
it was outside. As he went through a near by village he observed four
things which greatly affected him. First he saw a very old woman. Then
he saw a very ill man who was obviously in great pain. Then he saw the
body of one who had just died. And finally, he saw a holy man holding a
begging bowl. He came to the conclusion that life is suffering. That no
matter what you do, how well you prepare, one must grow old, be sick,
and die. But that there was hope, in the form of growing a different
relationship to the suffering.
He immediately left his former life, including his wife and infant son,
and set off to discover the truth about suffering and the nature of
life. For 6 years he wandered, eating only what he could beg, meditating
constantly. At one point he realized that living in this way was not the
answer. He was skin and bones and had little energy left to meditate. He
abandoned this way of life and, after recovering his health, went into a
deep meditation under a bodhi tree. It was then that he received
enlightenment and entered nirvana. For the rest of his life, over forty
years, he taught what he had learned.
The ideas of enlightenment and nirvana are somewhat foreign concepts in
our culture. Let me give you some background on what the Buddha taught
and find the connecting points to our own lives. He taught in the form
of the Four Noble Truths.
Four Noble Truths
In the first noble truth,
the Buddha explained that existence is suffering, that this suffering
takes various forms and that even material happiness, health and good
fortune carry within them the seeds of suffering. Such happiness cannot
be maintained as sickness, old age and death are inevitable. But where
does this suffering come from?
The second noble truth
offers an explanation. According to the Buddha, suffering comes from
craving or tanha. This is sometimes translated as 'desire'. Such craving
is deep-seated but if we are to reach nirvana it needs to be uprooted.
Destroy craving and you bring an end to suffering - it's as simple as
that. In theory at least. Of course, getting rid of craving, or desire,
is no easy matter. If you can spend a little time observing your
thoughts you will soon realize how much on a day to day level craving is
present; indeed, how often it is the force behind what we do or say.
Craving can take many forms, from something fairly trivial such as 'I
must have that chocolate bar!' to more addictive patterns of behavior
that can be seen in alcohol and drug dependency. More generally, tanha
equates to sensuous desire, our constant compulsion to gratify our
senses with things that are pleasant - attractive sights, sounds, tastes
and smells; things nice to the touch. At an instinctual level, it also
includes sexual desire which is one of the reasons why Buddhist monks
and nuns take a vow of celibacy.
But how do we get rid of something so deep rooted in our psychological
make-up? In Buddhism, there are various ways of tackling the problem of
craving. One is generosity or dana. In giving - providing there are no
ulterior motives - we are acting in the opposite direction to craving.
We are moving away from acting egocentrically to operating
altruistically. Similarly, with loving-kindness or metta we are thinking
of others, wishing them happiness without discrimination.
The THIRD NOBLE TRUTH is that there is a state beyond suffering, which
is called nirvana. Nirvana could be attained, in turn, by following the
Eightfold Path, which constitutes the
fourth noble truth.
The Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path (are you with me still) can be summarized in three
sections.
“To reach Nirvana one must cultivate the highest virtue and practice
meditation with great diligence. The path isn't always an easy one. It
requires constant practice, steely determination and great courage!
Perhaps the best thing to do is not to think about nirvana too much and
concentrate on practicing in the right way. As the Dalai Lama advises:
'I myself
feel, and also tell other Buddhists that the question of Nirvana
will come later. There is not much hurry. If in day to day life you
lead a good life, honesty, with love, with compassion, with less
selfishness, then automatically it will lead to Nirvana.'”
The eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path (often symbolized by a
wheel consisting of eight spokes) can be grouped into three strands -
wisdom, morality and concentration.
Wisdom
Wisdom consists of two factors, Right Understanding and Right Thought.
Right Understanding - has to do with developing an understanding of the
Buddha's principal teachings, including the four noble truths, the law
of kamma (good deeds lead to happy states, bad deeds to miserable ones)
and the three marks of existence (suffering, impermanence and not-self).
Right Thought is thought free from ill-will, cruelty and lust.
Morality
Like all other religions, Buddhism encourages its followers to adhere to
a strong moral code. In the Noble Eightfold Path, this is represented by
Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
Right Speech – a Buddhist endeavors to abstain from lying, harsh or
malicious speech, gossip and tale-bearing.
Right Action, a Buddhist abstains from killing (including animals),
stealing and unlawful sexual intercourse. The last of these would
include rape, cheating on your partner and visiting prostitutes.
Right Livelihood would preclude any occupations that would involve the
breaking of the five precepts. Consequently, jobs which involve killing
(a butcher, for example) or drinking (a publican) would be seen as
unwholesome.
Concentration
The final three factors, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right
Concentration can be classed under the umbrella term 'Concentration'.
Right Effort involves avoiding or overcoming unwholesome states and
developing and maintaining wholesome states. For example, you decide to
avoid losing your temper and instead develop and maintain a sense of
equanimity.
Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration relate to two approaches to
meditation that are seen as vital to one's spiritual development.
Without meditation, nirvana can't be won - morality and understanding on
their own are not enough. In fact, all three strands, all eight factors
are necessary.
Buddhism is unique among the major religions in the emphasis is gives to
meditation. There are two major forms of meditation in Buddhism.
The first is samatha which literally means 'tranquility' or 'calm'. The
initial stages of samatha meditation are to do with concentrating the
mind, one-pointedness. Traditionally, there are forty subjects to choose
from. These include, amongst others, the ten kasinas (for example, discs
of various color, light such as a candle flame, water), and various
kinds of bodily decay (for example, a festering corpse!). One of the
more widely practiced techniques is mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati),
where both mind and body are calmed by concentrating on the breath. Of
course, samatha meditation is not just about concentration. When the
mind is totally focused and the five hindrances (ill-will, sensual
desire, anxiety, sloth and doubt) have been eradicated - if only
temporarily - from the mind, the meditator gains access to 'absorptions'
known as jhanas. These are states of great happiness and rapture but
fall short of nibbana. Samatha meditation therefore doesn't take one all
the way to enlightenment.
Vipassana or 'insight' meditation offers quite a different approach. The
emphasis here is on seeing things as they really are, unclouded by
attraction or aversion. The basic practice is to note everything you are
doing as you are doing it. When you are walking, know that you are
walking. When you are drying the dishes, note that you are drying the
dishes. Be aware of the sensation in one's foot as it touches the
ground, and the different sensations as it rises again. In a sense, this
is the first stage of vipassana meditation: bare awareness. Alongside
this bare attention is the insight into the three marks of existence
that underlie all phenomena: suffering (dukkha); not-self (anatta) and
impermanence (anicca). As in samatha, breathing meditation is often
practiced but with the idea of developing awareness of the breath as it
enters the nostrils rather than on necessarily calming the mental and
physical processes. Unlike samatha, vipassana is a meditation method
that can take one all the way to Nibbana.
Combining the Two
Different teachers will emphasize different approaches. It is quite
usual, however, for both practices to be combined. Often a beginning
will start off with samatha meditation, moving on to vipassana when some
mastery over concentration has been achieved.
Loving Kindness Meditation
Once you are familiar with Mindfulness of Breathing and are practicing
it regularly you can start practicing Loving Kindness Meditation. It
should be done two or three times each week after you have done
Mindfulness of Breathing. First, you turn your attention to yourself and
say to yourself words like "May I be well and happy. May I be peaceful
and calm. May I be protected from dangers. May my mind be free from
hatred. May my heart be filled with love. May I be well and happy." Then
one by one you think of a loved person, a neutral person, that is,
someone you neither like nor dislike, and finally a disliked person,
wishing each of them well as you do so.
If you do Loving Kindness Meditation regularly and with the right
attitude, you will find very positive changes taking place within
yourself. You will find that you are able to be more accepting and
forgiving towards yourself. You will find that the feelings you have
towards your loved ones will increase. You will find yourself making
friends with people you used to be indifferent and uncaring towards, and
you will find the ill-will or resentment you have towards some people
will lessen and eventually be dissolved. Sometimes if you know of
someone who is sick, unhappy or encountering difficulties you can
include them in your meditation and very often you will find their
situation improving.
PRACTICE
Begin with concentrating on the breath. Then focus on awareness of where
you are, your body on the seat, your presence in the sanctuary. Then,
loving kindness.
First for self, then a loved person, then a neutral person, then one you
dislike.
“May I be
well and happy. May I be peaceful and calm. May I be protected from
dangers. May my mind be free from hatred. May my heart be filled
with love. May I be well and happy.” Change the wording to “may
she/he be well and happy,” etc when you meditate on another’s well
being.
Meditation from any tradition gives us the gift of calm, of peace, and
happiness. Buddhism promises their version of heaven, a good
reincarnation, the transformation to nirvana, if you will practice it
seriously. They have much to teach us of silence. Of inner quiet.
During this busy holiday season, may you find that calm and peace
despite the chaos.
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