Dhamma lesson ( 20 )

thinking (inner conversation)

inner converstion  

Thinking is often harder work than using body. Thinking is also known as inner conversation.

The body and mind are always doing something. Although the body may not be moving much, the mind will usually be active.  The body stops moving, but the mind keeps on moving. Without having knowledge of vipassana meditation, our mind gets dragged into the past and pushed into the future. We get caught up in anger, craving , worry  and delusion.

The mind is the most important thing to understand, but the mind operates so quickly that it is difficult to catch hold of or see. For this reason, the Buddha taught us to approach it through the breath/body.You can use the breathing / body as the gateway or threshold to directly perceive our thoughts, ideas or intentions.

Thinking experience

For the arising of the thinking consciousness process- four conditions must be present.

1- Mind- door or mind consciousness. It is inner aspect of mind which knows. It is like a screen.

2- Mind objects- there are something being known before or whatever you have known before. They are like images reflect on the mind-door screen.

3- Heart base ( Hadaya-VItthu in Pali)

4- Attention.

Together with thinking Conciousness aggregate,Feeling aggregate ,Perception aggregate ,the volitional formations aggregate are involved.

Calm down

Simply learning to slow down, being mindful at the present moment to calm the mind.

Cast out all habitual thinking about events concerning the past, present or future.

Abandon all anger and ill will which are festering inside.

Quiet the " monkey-mind" to some extent by setting it free from the day's activities and the emotions which may be boilng inside.

Sit Straight, relax and alert for Awareness

For beginner, it is helpful to find a place to sit where it is fairly quiet and comfortable.

Sit with the back and head straight but relaxed, not rigid. Keep the whole body soft, head balanced and shoulders loose.

Place the hands comfortably in the middle, one on the another, facing the palm upwards.

Gently close the eyes and relaxed, breathe normally with its natural rhythm.

Stay in the state of  " restful alertness " with no holding anywhere.

Bring the awareness to the in-breathing and out- breathing  or to the movements of expansion and contraction of the abdomen/ chest area.

Can not stop thinking- - -be mindful

It is very hard for many people to sit down, not to move the body, to close their eyes and not to go to sleep, to be mindful about your thoughts at the present time. They can become bored, agitated or anxious , restless , want to do something or create activity within a few minutes.  Their mind are not accustomed to non-activity and silence and wander a lot unless they know how to calm down by meditation Vipassana.

When the mind is active, it will be moving between the past and the future, just like a pendulum of the clock that is constantly moving back and forth . In other words, the mind is always busy with thinking about past, present and future for lay people. However for Noble persons and serious meditators, they are trying to focus their mind at the present time and can experience the impermanence, suffering and non-self.

If you have body aches and pain, they are bothering you.You start thinking as you don't want them but you cannot stop the pain as well as thinking . Let them come and go. Your craving of dislike the pain makes you suffer.

After being mindfulness of them,many of the body's aches and pains or suffering in the mind will be less intense and you will gradually experience a sense of ease and calm.

Craving is the cause of suffering

The Buddha taught us that the source of suffering is craving or desire.

Craving is our enemy number one and is the sole reason of our birth after birth . There are 3 types of cravings- craving for sensuality, craving for existence and  becoming (desire for continuing to exist for ever) and craving for non-existence or non-becoming.

How does the craving arise? Cravings arise through six sense doors- craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odors, craving for flavors, craving for tangibles, craving for mind-objects/ideas.

Cravings arise  through the fivefold bases (The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body ), we cognize the sense objects, the external world and through the mind door as the sixth sense, we entertain thoughts and ideas .When forms, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily contacts and ideas / thoughts are pleasurable and delightful , then there craving arises and takes root.

Craving is always insatiable. Craving is suffering.Therefore the more we crave, the more we suffer.

We must strive to get rid of this evil to emancipate ourselves from the cycle of birth and death as did Budda and his followers.

By Vipassana meditaion , we don't push out the pain of the world , we don't build up a resistance, (resistance is the suffering) we open up and allow the pain of the world to pass through our body and mind without causing or turning into suffering.

Happiness is  inside---No Wanting

Happiness come from inside. Not from outside such as having a new car, having a new house or having enough money to get and do what you want when you want. Some think that happiness means having family and friends who act the way you want them to act or not having any sickness.

Each person's definition of happiness depends on how their mind defines it. But it is not a real or secure sense of happiness when you depend on things that are changing. It will end up with dissatisfaction and conflick and keep on wanting more.

The Buddha taught us as real happiness is always inside and happiness of NOT WANTING. If you don't want anything, then there is nothing to lose, then there is no insecurity or unhappiness.

All you have to do is to remove the cause of suffering craving or desire. Happiness will already be there. It is nothing that you can search for or bring into yourself.

WHAT TO DO

If you simply sit and being at the present moment minute by minute or simply aware of daily activities day by day , try not needing anythng from the outside, your mind will be slowly calm and clear. We have to train ourselves to slow down and learn to stop and take inventory of what we are doing every day in this hectic life.

Normally, we do things unconsciously, so the memory does not register things properly. So we become forgetful, tend to make mistakes, misplacing things and become angry with ourselves.

Uninvited senses---let go

All the stimulus are constantly knocking at the sense-doors one after another. ( seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,touching) while you are awake.

Note these each external visiting consciousness as it arrives and goes uninvited. Immediately after vanishing of one external visiting consciousness, knowing conciousness arises. It is fading again and so forth.

Be aware of the mind's comings and goings , thoughts, ideas, planing, scheming, daydreaming, restlessness, worrying, boresome, tiredness, sleepiness, doubt.... etc.

They will not last long, soon they arise and they vanish. When you notice them, they are in the past.

Note these with bare attention, knowing that they are merely transient, empty, conditioned habit activities of mind. Do not get involved with them. See them as crumbling away at credible speed.

Although they are not invited, different sensations and different consciousness will be felt in the body and the mind arising and passing away through the six sense doors. They come and go.Try to feel their changing , rising and falling .

Do your best

Practice mindfulness and  meditation over and over again, as long as you can, as much as you can, at least once or twice a day. In this way, over time, you will be able to develop the concentration ,the awareness and bring it in to the activites of your daily life. 

Don't get uptight if the mind wanders a lot or thinking into thunder, this can happen. Just to do your best to keep a detached distance and non-personal identification to the thought.

Let it arise with awareness but also let it go as best as you can. You don't have to try and make them go away.  Just to observe these signs with detachment, knowing what they are and let them take their natural course. They will fade away on their own while you resume your normal contemplation of breathing in- out or rising and falling movements of abdomen.

You should

You should simply be aware of whatever the body and the mind doing in the present moment, as it happens, knowing it all to be not-self.

Sitting meditation or  maintaining the awareness in daily activities will mutually help to strengthen each other.

You should be mindful of whatever you are doing, wheather you are sitting, standing, walking, lying down, eating, washing, going to the toilet, talking or thinking. That kind of mindfulness will strengthen the periods of sitting meditation and help you to cultivate concentration and manifest wisdom faster.

With only clear and calm mind,  you can see the silent or knowing mind which will be explained in next lesson.

Keep Noting vanishing

Keep only the unstained awareness of the sequential moments of sense experience " arising/  vanishing" grounded on this body with its sense organs as the base for the whole experience.

When this comtemplation becomes strong,  you can experience the moments of seeing , hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking as " vanishing" , " vanishing" " vanishing" in the mind.

View as shooting stars

Once your concentration become strong, you can view all of the sense experiences as happening in the sky or in space, as not having a body involved at all.

You can view all the moments of hearing, seeing, touching, thinking, smelling and tasting like shooting stars vanishing into the void of space.

Develop the insight knowledge as nothing to hold onto or claim as " I " " me" " mine" , impermanence and all are sufferings. That is practicing Vipassana.

Dhamma lesson (19)

Touching

In the experience of touching

If there is no body sense organ - you cannot feel the touch.

If there is no tangible object - you cannot feel the touch.

If there is no earth (including fire and air) element - you cannot feel the touch.

If there is no attention- you cannot feel the touch.

Only when 4 conditions are present- touching conciousness arises.

body sense organ    touch           earth element    attention

The body sense organ itself has no conciousness. When 2 matters ( body sense organ and tangible objects) are conditioned with presence of earth element and attention, we are aware of the touch. Conciousness aggregate, Feeling aggregate,Perception aggregate and the volitional formations aggregate are involved. Feeling may be  pleasurable or not pleasurable or neutral feeling. All five aggregates ( nama and rupa in Pali) are involved in the touch.

There are many touch sensations in the body, they can be detected by paying close attention to what is happening at the present moment.

A touch includes the feeling of heat and when you feel cold, that is a touch too. When we are aware of the rising and falling movement of the abdomen, those movements are touches. And if pressure is felt there, that also is a touch. In touching something, the 5 aggregates can be experienced in that touch.

When we are making notes of rising and falling of the abdomen, you are actually noting the air element, because its function is movement, which is included in the sense of touch. So when you are aware of the movements of the abdomen’s rising and falling, you are experiencing a kind of touch which is air element movement.

Anapanasati (Mindfulness of breathing)

Anapanasati is Conciousness of Touch in Samahta Bhavana.

Mindfulness of breathing can be done by noticing the every act of breath in and breath out or noticing the rising and falling of abdomen.

In sitting practice (sitting cross legs,keeping head and back straight, closing your eyes, keeping both hands on top of each other facing the palm up in the middle), although the body is stationary, the mind is actually watching and mindful of the body or the mind.

Noting on Breathing

Keep the concentration of your mind on in -breathing and out- breathing, fixing your mind on the tip of the nostril, being fully aware of the incoming or outgoing air touching through the nose.

Noting on the movement of the abdomen

When you are sitting quietly,with every act of breath, you can also note the movement of the abdomen. You can find the abdomen rising when you breathe in and falling when you breathe out. Keep breathing steadily as usual and mentally note the rising and falling of the abdomen as they occur.

When you go on noting of what is happening in your mind at the present moment, you will be able to note more and more of these happenings. In the beginning, your mind will wander here and there and you may miss noting many things. But you should not be disheartened.

Every beginner in meditation encounters the same difficulty, but as you become more practised, you become aware of every act of mind- wandering until eventually the mind does not wander any more. The mind is then riveted on the object of its attention, the act of mindfulness becoming almost silmultaneous with the object at its attention such as the rising and falling of the abdomen.

In the practice of meditation, when the mind can be fixed on one object constantly for a long time, people say "Samadi "( concentration) is attained or Samadhi has become strong. When the mind is being still and concentrated on an object repeatedly and for a long time like the stillness of the flame of a candle lit in still air. That state of mind is called "Ekag-gata in Pali " or one pointedness of mind.

When someone achieves some degree of concentration by samadhi meditation, he attains calmness and steadiness in thought, word and deed. He becomes upright, free of erratic behaviour, in social dealings also. However, he can become too engrossed in or obsessed with one particular object.

One-pointedness of the mind (Ekag-gata) is no doubt necessory up to a certain stage in building up Samadhi (concentraion) for Vipassana Meditation.

In vipassana meditation, one should cultivate the samadhi concentration and should look into his own mind and body as it is without feeling of likes or dislikes and practice to see all 3 general characteristics (impermanence, suffering, non-self).

The meditator with his penetrative insight realises first that the phenomenon of arising and vanishing is nothing but suffering and then there arises the knowledge that the conditioned phenomena are repugnant, disgustful and utterly undersirable.

Mindfulness in Vipassana meditation should be continual and unremitting without any resting interval .

The meditative process is like that of producing fire by energetically and unremittingly rubbing two sticks of wood together so as to attain the necessary intensity of heat ( when the flame arises).

Dhamma lesson (18)

smelling

In the experience of smelling

If there is no nose- you cannot smell.

If there is no smelling object - you cannot smell.

If there is no air- you cannot smell.

If there is no attention- you cannot smell.

note-(there are so many smell near or around you, but if you don't pay attention, you will not notice them).

Only when 4 conditions are present- smelling conciousness arises.

nose               smell              air                     attention

The nose itself has no conciousness. When 2 matters ( nose and smell object) are conditioned with presence of air and attention, we are aware of smelling things.That means the smelling conciousness arises.

All five aggregates ( nama and rupa in Pali) are involved in smelling.

Feeling aggregate is involved. Feeling may be  pleasurable or not pleasurable or neutral feeling

Perception aggregate is also involved as mind makes a mental mark of that smelling object to be recognized when you experienced it later.

The volitional formations aggregate will be noticed when you really watch your mind although it is very subtle as a kind of mental activity or exertion in the mind to make some effort to smell and to bring this smelling complete.

What to do

No judgement to like or dislike the object. Just to be mindful what comes up at the present moment.

You try to see it as it is. Just the act of smelling and smelling conciousness arises and disappear with no control over it.

tasting

In the experience of tasting

If there is no tongue- you cannot taste.

If there is no tasting object - you cannot taste.

If there is no tongue juice- you cannot taste.

If there is no attention- you cannot taste.

Only when 4 conditions are present- tasting conciousness arises.

tongue     taste          tongue juice ( water element)      attention

The tongue itself has no conciousness. When 2 matters ( tongue and tasting object) are conditioned with presence of tongue juice and attention, we are aware of the taste.Conciousness aggregate,Feeling aggregate,Perception aggregate and the volitional formations aggregate are involved. Feeling may be  pleasurable or not pleasurable or neutral feeling. All five aggregates ( nama and rupa in Pali) are involved in tasting.

What to do

When you chew the food, you should note as " chewing, chewing" When you know the taste of the food, you should be mindful of it. Try to find it as it is.sweet taste, bitter taste, salty taste or note as the taste - etc: .

When your concentration is so intense and develope wisdom, you can be aware of all the different tastes as feeling of the taste.

Do not put your judgement to like or dislike the taste. By being mindful like that, you will not cling to the five aggregates in every present moment.

When you feel the food goes down your throat, you should keep note of all these happenings.

Wisdom- to cultivate wisdom and see the nature

Each moment of consciousness is discrete with nothing flowing from one moment to the next.

Contemplating consciousness is seeing it as a series of discrete, isolated events with nothing going from one moment to the next,

If you see mind- conciousness as your self, you undermines the illusion or you  beleive wrongly as I am the one who knows,  I am the "knower" or " doer", I am always there to receive the experience of the world.

In reality, one conciousness  has vanished and  another conciousness is occuring constantly.  This is Citta. It is just a natural phenomenon, subject to ceasing. It cannot be me, mine or self.  That citta is finally understood as impermanence, suffering and non self. (Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta).

Dhamma lesson (17)

Hearing

All 5 aggregates ( Nama and Rupa in Pali )are involved in hearing.

In the experience of hearing

If there is no ear- you cannot hear.

If there is no hearing object (sound)- you cannot hear.

If there is no space- you cannot hear.

If there is no attention- you cannot hear.

note-(there are so many sound near or around you, but if you don't pay attention, you cannot hear them).

Only when 4 conditions are present- hearing conciousness arises.

ear           sound                     space             attention

The ear itself has no conciousness. When 2 matters ( ear and hearing object) are conditioned with presence of space and attention, we are aware of hearing the sound.That means the hearing conciousness arises.

Once hearing conciousness arises, feeling aggregate is involved. Feeling may be  pleasurable or not pleasurable or neutral feeling.

-

For example, when you hear the noisy construction work next door which annoys you and you want the noise to stop or you desire a peaceful circumstance,  aversion in your mind will flare up into overt anger, hatred or even violence.

anger form noises

Because of your desire, you blame on someone or something else. The issue is not the noise.It is your reaction to the noise. Anger developes due to the lack of awareness  of annoyance in your mind. Before you hear the noise, there is no anger. When there are 4 conditions (ear,sound,space,attention), hearing conciousness develops. Due to the wrong view or lack of mindfulness on the sound , you become angry. When you are mindful and clearly comprehend as these objects are impermanent, just material and mental phenomena, you are not to be attached to them or hate them.

There are many situations in our life that we will not be able to eliminate  or control most of the external factors. But we can do something about ourself. Be mindful, be aware of what is happening in your mind. That will prevent mental defilements getting into your mind. And you can overcome them.

As soon as you look into your mind, your anger or dislike of the noise and your irritation ceases. You should accept as just hearing the noise as it is or regard the sound as it is. At every moment, you should realize as different hearing conciousness rise and fall.

Mindfulness of one's own mind at any moment is the practice of vipassana meditation.

happy to hear music

Likewise,when you hear the music that you like, pleasurable feeling developes. You desire to hear it again and again due to the lack of awareness  of greed in your mind.Once you become mindful what is happening in your mind, the greed disappears. Another like or dislike or neutral feeling will arise again and disappear again and so on.

When there are four conditions, hearing conciousness arises and disappears. You should understand that they are impermanent, they are suffering and they have no self or no soul.

- perception to recognize the sound later

Perception aggregate is also involved as mind makes a mental mark of that hearing object to be recognized when you experienced it later.

The volitional formations aggregate will be noticed when you really watch your mind although it is very subtle as a kind of mental activity or exertion in the mind to make some effort to hear and to bring this hearing complete.

Once you are mindful of the hearing conciousness, it is no longer there. It has disappeared. Once you notice of hearing conciousness, it has already become the past. Because mind can take only one object at a time.

In reality, every moment, both the mind and matter are different, arising and disappearing (impermanence) , constantly oppressed by arising and disappearing ( suffering) and no core, no control ( no soul).

what to do -----Cultivate your wisdom

As a practitioner of Vipassana, you have to take what is there at the present moment.

don't

Do not try to find out whether it is the conciousness aggregate or feeling aggregate or perception aggregate or the volitional formations aggregate.

Do not try to find out which one you are doing.

do

When you apply mindfulness to whatever experince you are having at the present moment, you will not cling to them. So you will not cling to the 5 aggregates of clinging.That is our goal of vipassana meditation.

What you should do is keep mindfulness always- mindfulness here and there.

Sometimes you may miss being mindful and then that missing also becomes the object of meditation. You have to make note of yourself as " missing, missing" and try to be mindful any object whatever comes at the present moment.

When you hear the sound, you should keep note as "hearing hearing".

When your concentration becomes mature or very strong, you will notice as ----words of the sound are seperate.

For example, someone say " How are you?"

Because of your mindfulness is so intense that you will notice them as  word by word .

You hear " How" and aware as it has disappeared.

Then you hear " are" and notice as it has disappeared.

And then " you" and observe as it has disappeared.

Sometime you will notice a lot of sound near you but you will be aware of disappearance of those sound. You can notice  sounds even though it is very soft volume.

When the sound touches the sensitive part of the ear

All conditioned phenomena.

If you can keep your mindfulness intense, then you will make rapid progress and you will begin to see the true nature of things. That is , you will begin to notice the arising and disappearing of all 5 aggregates. you will see they are impermanent, you will also see their suffering nature and also see the non-soul nature with having no control over these.  The arising and disappearing has its own free will.

When your mindfulness practice becomes mature enough, you can see the three general characteristics of all conditioned phenomena. This is the essence of Vipassana.

The reason of seeing all conditioned phenomena is your mind becomes clear after vipassana mindfulness for certain period of time. When your mind becomes clear or mental defilments are suppressed by meditation, you can see the true nature .

little by little

It takes time to be able to see clearly or comprehend clearly of impermenance, suffering, and non-self.

Right at the beginning, you may not even see all 3 general characteristics . They are mixed together and very vague.

Little by little, with the growth of your concentration and practice, you will see the objects more and more clearly and then also their arising and disappearing and so on.

The mental defilements are settled downed or suppressed little by little by making true effort, being ardent, being mindful, being thoroughly aware of the object and having concentration and clear comprehension.

As a person practices Vipassana meditation, progress may be from one stage to another , to higher and higher stages . A time will come when a type of conciousness , along with its mental concomitants, is so powerful that will eradicate mental defilements and takes Nibbana as object. That consciousness is called " Path Conciousness" and immediately followed by " Fruition Conciousness".

Overall, Mindfulness should not be superficial. It must be deep into the object. It is usually saying as " full awareness of the object".