Who has not heard of Easter Island and the legendary Moai there? Because of the extreme isolation of the island, travel there is not easy. I have been lucky enough to have visited the island four times since 2003 and made friends with some of the Rapa Nui families.
The Japanese are very fascinated with Rapa Nui and their government has been active in the restoration of the Moai.
I was lucky enough to stay at the home of the guide and his rap nui wife Fatima and we set out in his van to see feel and learn the history of the island (me, he knew it by heart).
The platforms on which the Moai stand are called AHU and you are not supposed to step on them.
I saw a young japanese girl with a day pack on her back, wandering around the AHU. I hurried up to her and said, in English: Please those platforms are sacred and please dont climb on them.
She was embarrassed and she quickly climbed down and said to me, if you want you can speak Spanish to me.
I was amazed that this young woman with no knowledge of English, rudimentary spanish communication, wandering around the world. She said she was heading to Europe and then on to India.
One of the things she wanted to do in India was Vipassana Meditation. I heard people mention about it in Myanmar and in Cambodia.
My interest in Vipassana meditation was spiked by my interest in the works of Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli public Intellectual who talked highly of Vipassana who did the meditation at the request of a friend and found it so useful to him in terms of clearing his mind and his thinking. He became an ardent follower and goes to India every year and practices Vipassana daily.
Yuval was lucky in that he was introduced to Vipassana meditation by that master, S N Goenka a Burmese of Indian descent who learned from a Burmese Monk.
Whenever I get a chance I like to listen to SN Goenka's introduction to Anapana which takes only 10 minutes.
Just yesterday I came across a book
The Art of Living
Vipassana meditation as taught by SN Goenka. It is available as pdf on line
I was lucky to listen to it on BLINKIST and in the following paragraphs there are lots of sentences from the summary provided by BLINKIST.
No amount of study can replace practical experience. When it comes to Buddhism, the same is true. Buddhism will only have a positive effect on your life if you apply its lessons on a daily basis. But on the other hand if you are doing actions such as Yoga without understanding the philosophy, it is just like doing stretching exercises. Like Yogic Philosophy does not refer to a religion such as Hinduism, the words of Buddha are universal, does not pertain to a religion
There is no doubt about the saying from Yogic Philosophy: (a lot of things in common with Buddhist philosophy as they were contemporaries in the beginning, Patanjali and Buddha lived among the same ambiance , perhaps not at the same time or place. Buddha 5th century BCE and Patanjali 2nd Century BCE
The key message here is: You can only benefit from Buddhism through practical application.
Practical and here and now.. Mindful of what is happening now . Think of the Buddhist Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh.
It is often seen, many a times in USA, people going to church on Sunday and saying that they are spiritual, and the rest of the week they do not follow anything written in their scriptures.
If you have a faith, you have to live the faith. Don’t count your money but think of being kind to others.
I am never impressed with people who quote Bible when they are talking, such as many of the pastors with their own private planes. I have not read any of the scriptures whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu.
Mr Ahmed, a Qatari friend of mine reminded me: Don’t be impressed with superficial things like Money, titles or degrees but be impressed by Kindness, Empathy, Generosity, Humility, Integrity
You are always told: Free yourself of suffering. But what are the origins of Individual suffering, the society , the culture , the country.
When I was a junior doctor in Melbourne, I thought about freeing myself of all the attachments and wrote down the order in which I have to free myself: Country and Nationality, many a times the significance of passport as a nationality came down to the colour of the passport. Next is your profession, I am a Doctor many identify themselves like that, that is what you do, and not what you are. Then you have to free yourself of your skin, your body, your gender and your looks. In the last few years, there has been so much division in societies east and west based on caste, creed and colour. I look the way I do, and I ask for no privileges. When you give up these things, you also give up the attachment and the other side of the coin, aversion. Once I heard a Bosnian migrant say, I love America and I felt a deep pity for him. Be a good person whether you live in Argentina or Yemen and if you want to migrate to Australia or Canada ,go if you can. Many people might find freeing their attachment to the family difficult. In my case, it was made easier by their giving upon me and sending me off to Australia which possibly was the best thing that happened in my life, allowing me to become my own person in my thoughts. Be in love but not in attachment. I am truly grateful for Australia
Later when I read Buddhist and Yoga literature I recognized the universal nature they had predicted in their thoughts 2500 years ago trailblazers for other philosophers.
Individuals aren’t stable entities – they’re things in flux. Buddha had said this long before the western physicists had come to that conclusion. I fully subscribe to this. Individuals are in flux and thus to attribute, written on stone, characteristics to people may not be correct.
“On his quest for enlightenment, the Buddha sought to know himself as deeply as possible. But what did he find as he searched his mind and body?
His most powerful revelation was something that particle scientists would only discover many centuries later. He found that, rather than being a permanently fixed being, he was actually an entity that kept changing from moment to moment.
Individuals aren’t stable entities – they are things in flux.
Look at the way our bodies are composed. After meditating deeply and looking into himself, the Buddha came to the conclusion that the entire material universe was composed of particles called kalāpas. These are indivisible units that combine to form matter. He believed that these kalāpas were continuously coming into existence – and then passing away. So our bodies, rather than being permanent structures, are actually in flux.
His philosophy roughly corresponds to what scientists discovered for themselves. The body, which appears solid to us, is actually composed of subatomic particles and empty space. These particles, just as the Buddha proposed, have no actual solidity – they appear and then disappear within a trillionth of a second.” SNGOENKA
Buddha discovered that MIND had FOUR PROCESSES.
CONSCIOUSNESS
PERCEPTION
SENSATION
REACTION
Yesterday an older lady said something to me and I felt it in my skin and I resisted reacting to that sensation which would have been worse and not resolved the problem.
Your capacity for perception will translate into Sensation in your skin and body. We all have felt the overwhelming joy at looking at something beautiful in the nature or the thought of a beautiful friendship and at the same time a negative feeling would evoke a nasty sensation in your skin. You hear people feeling confusion, nausea at the words or behaviour of others. It is the sensation. I feel that a person who is not grounded, who is not calm would react to the sensation with a REACTION which does not solve the problem, not does it address the origin of the word, the insult or action. Needless to say the person whose words cause that sensation is least grounded and without happiness in their hearts
Most of us are not even aware of it . I feel that Vipassana intercedes the level of PERCEPTION and the sensation is isolated and does not cause suffering and of course there is no need to REACT .
“Most of us believe that the “I” is fixed – that our bodies and personalities endure from one moment to the next. But the Buddha believed that this attachment to ourselves and the world around us is the cause of our suffering.
The key message here is: To alleviate suffering, become less attached to yourself and the world.” SNGOENKA
A little known aspect of the intellectual history of India is the question: India is the birthplace of Buddhism but it is almost cleansed out of India, how did it happen.
I wholeheartedly recommend the following book for a fascinating read .
An End of Suffering by Pankaj Mishra.
2500 years ago Buddhism and Yogic philosophy may not have been competitors but existed side by side. It is well known that Buddhism became extremely popular in India (threatening the Brahmins whose livelihood depended upon rituals of Hinduism). Tanjur Thanjavoor in
South India became a centre of Buddhist learning and monks from Sri Lanka, Burma and other parts of South East Asia came to learn and return to their countries. (the fact that Burmese Mon Lao Thai Khmer Balinese scripts resemble TAMIL the language of Tanjur Thanjavoor may not be a coincidence.)
I FOUND THE CONCEPTS OF KLEISHAS OR STRUCTURAL DEFECTS OF THE MIND TO BE EXTEMELY USEFUL
IGNORANCE
EGO
ATTACHMENT AND ITS REVERSE ,AVERSION
FEAR OF CHANGE
Attachment is the root of all suffering. IGNORANCE IS AT THE ROOT OF ALL STRUCTURAL DEFECTS OF YOUR MIND
Practicing SILA OR MORALITY, is a kind of common sense; it’s intended to protect yourself and others. Like the four things my friend Ahmed Qatar wrote to me about: Be impressed with these things.
Practicing bhāvanā, or meditation, will lead you to a state of equanimity.
By acting, speaking, and working in a way that doesn’t bring harm to ourselves or others, we stop the spread of suffering in the world.
IT IS EASY TO TALK ABOUT BRINGING THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD WHEN YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS SUFFERING THE MOST
However, our problems often begin as trouble in the mind. We can try and control our actions and speech all we like – but if our minds are still full of anxieties and cravings, then it’ll all be in vain. At some point, this imbalance will reveal itself. So, to bring equanimity to the mind and harness its powers, the Buddha proposed bhāvanā, or meditation.
: Practicing bhāvanā, or meditation, will lead you to a state of equanimity. (mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.
“How do you practice bhāvanā properly? Just like with the practice of sīla MORALITY, there are some concrete rules. You’ll need to train yourself in right effort, right awareness, and right concentration.
Let’s first look at right effort. To meditate, you’ll need to sit down in a comfortable position and close your eyes. At first, it’s likely that you’ll have a distracted mind – an obstacle you’ll encounter when looking deeply into yourself.
What you should do, then, is focus only on your breathing. This will be difficult; your mind will stray to other thoughts. Maybe you’ll start thinking about what you did yesterday, or the cramp in your leg. To practice right effort, gently draw your consciousness back to your breathing – again and again.
Next is right awareness. One of the main causes of suffering comes from an inability to connect with the present moment and the reality of our lives. We lose ourselves in reveries about the past or future, in fantasies and illusions. Practicing right awareness means bringing ourselves back to our present. Again, this can be done by focusing only on the breath.
And when you do this, you’ll learn to read your mental state by the nature of your breathing. If your mind is troubled or anxious, your breathing will be fast and rough; if it’s calm, the breath will be soft and natural. This will help you connect yourself to the present.
Last, there is right concentration. While deep concentration is one of the aims of meditation, there are other types of concentration that aren’t helpful. For instance, focusing on sensual pleasure or phobias isn’t right concentration. Right concentration means a focus only on the breath, with a mind free of desires, fears, or other thoughts. It means connecting with the here and now in which you exist.”SN GOENKA
Cultivate paññā, or wisdom, to attain peace and freedom from suffering.
Cultivating morality and practicing meditation are key to attaining a peaceful state of mind. But without training the mind in wisdom, or paññā, this state of mind will remain elusive.
Wisdom might seem like a difficult thing to learn – often, we consider people naturally wise or not. But the Buddha believed that wisdom can be cultivated. To do that, he suggested right thought and right understanding.
The key message here is: Cultivate paññā, or wisdom, to attain peace and freedom from suffering.
Let’s begin with the idea of right thought. Quite simply, this means a calmer, more objective frame of mind, free from craving and aversion. This is the first step on the path of wisdom.
While you need to prepare yourself with right thought, true wisdom comes through right understanding. This is the kind of wisdom that can only be found through experience – not just speculation.
There are three types of wisdom: received wisdom, intellectual wisdom, and experiential wisdom. Received wisdom is what you’ve heard from others. Intellectual wisdom is found in books and teachings; it’s not your own insight, but an intellectualized version of received wisdom. Experiential wisdom is that which is discovered in the experience of life itself.
But, when it comes to walking the same path as the Buddha, developing experiential wisdom is essential.
This can be cultivated through Vipassanā-bhāvanā, which translates to “insight meditation.” It entails focusing on physical sensation during meditation – objectively and without passing judgment. Why sensation? Because it is through sensation that we encounter reality, and the truth of everything that is. Ultimately, there is nothing other than sensation.
We notice how our sensations, whether pleasant or unpleasant, arise and disappear. By maintaining our focus, we learn, really learn, how ephemeral we are. As sensations come and go, we understand that there is nothing permanent in this world. There is certainly no “I,” or anything that can be called “ours.”
The kernel of wisdom that Vipassanā-bhāvanā imparts is that suffering can be avoided if you let go. Let go of the ego, the “I,” and everything it clings to, and you will attain real peace and happiness.
And here’s some more actionable advice:
When sitting still in meditation, learn to accept your aches.
A large part of Vipassanā meditation is about achieving equanimity. The next time you feel discomfort when in a meditating pose, learn to accept any aches with calmness. Register them as just another sensation that will pass with time – like everything else in this world!
SNGOENKA
I hope this hybrid essay is of some use to people who may wish to begin Meditation. Always remember, it is only when you are ready that a teacher appears. I was very lucky that my later best friend in Asia appeared at the airport in Siem Reap in 2008 and by 2010, we had already invited a Yoga Teacher (including Philosophy) Vandana Yadav from Bombay to teach us in KL at the home of that erudite Indian expatriate, Brijesh and his lovely wife Aparna.
I wrote this piece tonight thinking of MCA of Brasil. Hope this is useful for her.
Grateful to MCY of Kuala Lumpur, my best friend in Asia and her consort, Fernando.
and of course there are other players in my magical world
Maqroll. La petite poete de côte sauvage, Sr. Carlos with his linen suit and Ray Ban glasses.
