Tonight was our 99th group meditation event

Dear Friends,

Tonight was our 99th group meditation practice session. What a blessing it is to have friends to practice with! Buddha said to have such friends is the highest blessing and it's so true. We mutually inspire each other to not only continue the practice but to deepen it, to make it really bear fruit. What better friends can one have than this? This is what is meant by "sangha", the community or fellowship of Buddhist practitioners that produces the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The focus of these first sessions in the new year is establishing a practice or reinvigorating our already established daily practice. Toward this end we are exploring the samatha practice of full awareness of breathing and how this form of meditation provides a foundation for the practice of Vipassana meditation and the Chan or Zen practice of Silent Illumination.

Last week, we used a the technique of being mindful of the beginning, middle and end of each inhalation and each exhalation. As the breathing begins to refine, we also become aware of the gap between the inhalation and exhalation, which can trigger much deeper levels of experience. In the Theravada tradition, these levels are referred to as Jhanas. As a practitioner settles into the first Jhana, there can be an experience of light. Shifting the focus of meditation to this light of pure awareness can lead to a rapturous experience as the mind becomes absorbed in the pure awareness. After a time, the rapturous quality fades and one is left with a pervasive feeling of joy, happiness and contentment. Again, after a time this experience fades and one is left with the a deep sense of serenity or equanimity.

This week as we practiced following the breath, we used another technique that can improve the ability to stay with the method. On each inhalation, we recognize that this breath is life giving and we swell with gratitude for this gift of life. On each exhalation, as if breathing a sigh of relief, we let go of all our tension, worries, burdens, pains, and troubles. We let go of everything. This alteration of breathing in life and breathing out letting go of everything has a very soothing effect on the mind and can help one settle very quickly into quieter, more contented levels of meditation.

Chan Master Sheng-yen taught this practice of following the breath to almost all of his beginner students because it is so foundational. It helps people greatly improve the ability to focus attention, which is instrumental in the unfolding of insight that leads to awakening. In the book Hoofprint of the Ox, and often in his lectures and retreats, Master Sheng-yen described the levels of following the breath meditation in terms of the refinement of breathing and the corresponding experience of fewer and fewer thoughts until the mind is completely unified with the breath and there is no further inclination for the mind to attach to any thoughts or sensations that arise. Thoughts become fewer and far between and those that do arise have no power over the mind. Master Sheng-yen called this level of meditation "Unified Mind" and said that it is the foundation from which one can begin the practice of Silent Illumination.

As the group becomes more settled, we may shift the focus of meditation from following the breath to an overall, bright, clear awareness of the entire body "just sitting", our transition and entry into the profound practice of Silent Illumination.

Tonight we also focused on "transitions". As we ended the first session of sitting meditation, we used that same bright, sharp, clear awareness to be aware of folding the towels we cover our legs with in a neat square to place on top of the cushion and stand up for walking meditation. We practiced the Theravada slow walking meditation practice that makes use of "noting" or "labeling" the movements of the feet, as I was taught by Ven. Master Chanmyay Sayadaw. This form of meditation can be practiced in a place of limited space and is very beneficial as an entry into the practice of Vipassana (Insight) meditation or Silent Illumination. Traditionally, the phases of taking a single step are labeled "lifting, raising, pushing, dropping, touching, pressing". But, to simplify when we are first starting, we label "lifting, pushing, dropping" as in lifting the heel and the foot, pushing it forward through space, and dropping or lowering it down. This is done very slowly until the mind becomes unified with the movement. To help this, we focus on the movement itself and let bright, clear, open awareness rest on the finest increments of movement until these minute increments become suffused with silence. At that point, the mind becomes completely at ease and content with staying with the movement and we no longer need to "label". The mind and movement are one -- unified mind in walking meditation.

We also focused on the transition from walking meditation back to sitting by taking a few seconds to collect ourselves, to be fully present before beginning to walk back to our cushions. Taking this few seconds before we take up a new task can make tremendous difference in the quality of life. Yet how often do we take this few seconds? We constantly dart from one activity to another as one impulse after another fires. We typically have no awareness of the impulses and move through our day as mere puppets of these unnoticed impulses. The first step is to become aware of transitions -- we were sitting and now we are going to stand, for example. Having become aware of such transitions, the next step is to take a couple seconds to rest right where we are and be present, then acknowledge what we are going to do. Then, we do it. In just taking this couple seconds, we have gone from being slaves to our own impulses to being fully present and therefore in a position to really choose what we do, perhaps for the first time in our lives. This is the beginning of cultivating mindfulness practice and mindfulness practice is one of the things that separates human existence from the lower realms. For example, Buddha called the animal realm one of the "woeful" realms precisely because animals are driven by their impulses and do not have the ability to practice mindfulness. In learning to cultivate mindfulness, we become fully human and begin to be on the path to experiencing our full potential as sentient beings. According to Buddhist cosmology, even heavenly beings are destined to return to human existence because it is only here that we can practice. To have a human life is a rare and precious gift and in practicing mindfulness we become fully human and most able to make use of this gift.

As we sat the second time, when we realized the mind was moving with a thought, we gently bring the mind back to the method, but this time with the specific intention of coming back to the method with our brightest, clearest, most settled awareness. Sometimes, just having the intention to come back to the method in this way actually makes it a reality and we very quickly become one with the method.

As homework for this week, for those that have not yet established a regular practice, we agreed to sit for 5 minutes each morning following the breath before beginning to engage the mind in thoughts and plans for the day. For example, being mindful of each movement, we get up, shower, dress, brush our teeth, and then sit for 5 minutes before thinking of anything else.

In the next few sessions, we will be focused on the 4 Noble Truths, Buddha's first sermon. The first noble truth is the truth of "dukkha", which is commonly translated as "suffering". But, the word has a much broader meaning than suffering in Pali. It means the full range of dissatisfaction from discontent to suffering. So, the second homework assignment is to try to note each time we become aware of dissatisfaction and what causes it. We are going to do this for an entire week and then report back to the group what we found.

The last homework assignment is to be aware of transitions. When we are sitting and are going to stand, take a couple seconds to acknowledge the transition, be present in the moment, and then consciously transition from sitting to standing. Get up, but be aware you are getting up. If you are going to sit, take a breath, be aware you are going to sit, then sit.

These are the three homework assignments. For those of you that couldn't make it to the last couple meetings, please try these homework assignments out and join us next week! Hope you enjoy them!

Enjoy your week and see you next Sunday.

With Metta,

Barry
http://ChanCenter-Sacramento.org