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Anapanasati Sutta(partial) translated by Ajahn Brahm

Posted in Teachings to remember on 19/10/2022| Leave a Comment »

Ānāpānasati Sutta -Majjhmima Nikaya No 118

When mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great benefit. When mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it completes the four focuses of mindfulness. When the four focuses of mindfulness are developed and cultivated, they complete the seven enlightenment factors. When the seven enlightenment factors are developed and cultivated, they complete true knowledge and deliverance (Awakening).

Mindfulness of Breathing Completes the Four Focuses of Mindfulness
And how does mindfulness of breathing, developed and cultivated,complete the four focuses of mindfulness?

The Four Focuses of Mindfulness lead in one direction only, to the purification of beings, to going beyond sadness and crying, to the disappearance of physical and mental suffering, for the attainment of the true way, for the realisation of Nibbāna. What are the four?

  1. Having restrained the five hindrances, you abide aware of the body, energised, knowing the purpose of what you are doing, and mindful.
  2. Having restrained the five hindrances, you abide aware of experience (vedanā), energised, knowing the purpose of what you are doing, and mindful.
  3. Having restrained the five hindrances, you abide aware of the mind (citta),
    energised, knowing the purpose of what you are doing, and mindful.
  4. Having restrained the five hindrances, you abide aware of mind-objects, energised, knowing the purpose of what you are doing, and mindful.

(1) When the in-breath and out breath are long and you are aware that they are long;
When the in-breath and out breath are short and you are aware that they are short;
When you learn to experience the whole of the breath as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to calm the breath (passambhayam kāya sankhāram) as you breathe in and out;
-on those occasions you are mindful of the body, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful. In and out breathing is regarded by the Buddha as a body in the category “bodies”. That is why on the occasion a meditator abides mindful of the body, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful.
(Experiencing the whole body – sabba kāya patisamvedī – thus refers to experiencing the whole breath)

(2) When you learn to experience joy(pīti) as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to experience pleasure(sukha) as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to experience the mental formation (of pīti-sukha) as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to calm (passambhayam citta sankhāram) this mental formation (of pīti-sukha) as you breathe in and out; -on those occasions you are mindful of experience, having restrained the five hindrances, energised,fully aware of the purpose, and mindful. For being mindful of the pleasure associated with this stage of breath meditation is being mindful of experience(vedanā).That is why on that occasion a meditator abides mindful of experience, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful,

(3) When you learn to experience the citta (nimitta) as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to brighten the nimitta (bring joy to the citta) as you breathe in and out;
When you learn to settle the nimitta (still the citta) as you breathe in and out;When you learn to enter jhāna (liberate the citta) as you breathe in and out;-on those occasions you are mindful of the citta, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful. I do not say that there is the development of mindfulness of breathing for one who is dull, who is not FULLY aware (reaching a jhāna with the hindrances gone). That is why onthat occasion a meditator abides mindful of the mind (citta), having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful.

(4) When you learn to explore impermanence in breath meditation;When you learn to explore things fading away in breath meditation;When you learn to explore things ceasing in breath meditation;When you learn to explore relinquishing things in breath meditation;-on these occasions you are mindful of mind-objects (the Dhamma), having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, andmindful. Having seen with wisdom the impermanence, fading away, cessation and relinquishment, of the five hindrances, you are mindful with equanimity.That is why on that occasion you are mindful of mind-objects, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful. That ishow mindfulness of breathing, developed and cultivated, completes the four focuses of mindfulness.

Four Focuses of Mindfulness Complete the Seven Enlightenment Factors
How do the four focuses of mindfulness, developed and cultivated, complete the seven enlightenment factors?

(1) When you are mindful of the body, having restrained the five hindrances, energised, fully aware of the purpose, and mindful-on that occasion steady mindfulness is established in you. On whatever occasion steady mindfulness is established in you-on that occasion the mindfulness enlightenment factor is aroused in you. You develop it and, by development, it comes to fulfilment in you.

(2) When you are thus mindful, you explore Dhamma with wisdom. On whatever occasion, abiding thus mindful, you explore Dhamma with wisdom-on that occasion the exploration-of-Dhamma enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

(3) When you explore Dhamma with wisdom, and embark upon a full inquiry into it, unflagging energy is aroused. On whatever occasion unflagging energy is aroused as you explore Dhamma with wisdom-on that occasion the energy enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

(4) When you have aroused energy, spiritual joy(pīti) arises. On whatever occasion spiritual joy arises-on that occasion the joy enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

(5) When you experience spiritual joy, your body and mind become tranquil. On whatever occasion the body and the mind become tranquil and you experience joy-on that occasion the tranquillity enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

(6) When your body is tranquil and you feel pleasure in the mind, the mind becomes still. On whatever occasion the mind becomes still and joyful-on that occasion the stillness enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

(7) You observe such a still mind with equanimity. On whatever occasion you observe with equanimity the still mind-on that occasion the equanimity enlightenment factor is aroused in you, and you develop it, and by development it comes to fulfilment in you.

That is how the four focuses of mindfulness, developed and cultivated, complete the seven enlightenment factors.

Here,you develop the mindfulness enlightenment factor, which is supported by seclusion (physical and mental), fading away and cessation, and ripens in relinquishment.
You develop the exploration-of-Dhamma enlightenment factor…
the energy enlightenment factor …
the joy enlightenment factor …
the tranquillity enlightenment factor …
the stillness enlightenment factor …
the equanimity enlightenment factor, which is supported by seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripens in relinquishment.
That is how the seven enlightenment factors, developed and cultivated, complete true knowledge and deliverance (full Awakening).

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Change by Venerable Wuling

Posted in Teachings to remember on 10/08/2022| Leave a Comment »

Everything in samsara exists in a constant state of flux,  ever-changing, continuously moving. 

In our comfort with the known and our worries over the unknown, we often wish things, even though far from ideal, would just stay the way they are. But life has no pause button. We cannot stop things from changing.

For example, take in a deep breath and hold it. Do not let it out, do not exhale. How do you feel? In a matter of seconds, holding our breath becomes alarmingly uncomfortable. At some point, we need to exhale and take our next breath.

Just as we cannot stop our breathing, there is no stopping change.

Change is as natural as our inhaling and exhaling. It might be helpful here to remind ourselves that Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Also, change can be for the better. We can stop our usual harmful reactions and replace them with good ones. Thus, change can be positive.

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The Cow That Cried

Posted in Teachings to remember, tagged , , , , , , , , on 30/06/2022| Leave a Comment »

The Cow that cried, from the book Opening the Door of Your Heart by Ajahn Brahm

I arrived early to lead my meditation class in a low-security prison. A crim who I had never seen before was waiting to speak with me. He was a giant of a man with bushy hair and beard and tattooed arms; the scars on his face told me he’d been in many a violent fight. He looked so fearsome that I wondered why he was coming to learn meditation. He wasn’t the type. I was wrong of course.

He told me that something had happened a few days before that had spooked the hell out of him. As he started speaking, I picked up his thick Ulster accent. To give me some background, he told me that he had grown up in the violent streets of Belfast. His first stabbing was when he was seven years old. The school bully had demanded the money he had for his lunch. He said no. The older boy took out a knife and asked for the money a second time. He thought the bully was bluffing. He said no again. The bully never asked a third time, he just plunged the knife into the seven-year-old’s arm, drew it out and walked away.

He told me that he ran in shock from the schoolyard, with blood streaming down his arm, to his father’s house close by. His unemployed father took one look at the wound and led his son into their kitchen, but not to dress the wound. The father opened a drawer, took out a big kitchen knife, gave it to the son, and ordered him to go back to school and stab the boy back.

That was how he had been brought up. If he hadn’t grown so big and strong, he would have been long dead.

The jail was a prison farm where short-term prisoners, or long-term prisoners close to release, could be prepared for life outside, some by learning a trade in the farming industry. Furthermore, the produce from the prison farm would supply all the prisons around Perth with inexpensive food, thus keeping down costs. Australian farms grow cows, sheep and pigs, not just wheat and vegetables; so did the prison farm. But unlike other farms, the prison farm had its own slaughterhouse, on-site.

Every prisoner had to have a job in the prison farm. I was informed by many of the inmates that the most sought-after jobs were in the slaughterhouse. These jobs were especially popular with violent offenders. And the most sought-after job of all, which you had to fight for, was the job of the slaughterer himself. That giant and fearsome Irishman was the slaughterer.

He described the slaughterhouse to me. Super-strong stainless steel railings, wide at the opening, narrowed down to a single channel inside the building, just wide enough for one animal to pass through at a time. Next to the narrow channel, raised on a platform, he would stand with the electric gun. Cows, pigs or sheep would be forced into the stainless steel funnel using dogs and cattle prods. He said they would always scream, each in its own way, and try to escape. They could smell death, hear death, feel death. When an animal was alongside his platform, it would be writhing and wriggling and moaning in full voice. Even though his gun could kill a large bull with a single high-voltage charge, the animal would never stand still long enough for him to aim properly. So it was one shot to stun, next shot to kill. One shot to stun, next shot to kill. Animal after animal. Day after day.

The Irishman started to become excited as he moved to the occurrence, only a few days before, that had unsettled him so much. He started to swear. In what followed, he kept repeating, ‘This is God’s f….ing truth!’ He was afraid I wouldn’t believe him.

That day they needed beef for the prisons around Perth. They were slaughtering cows. One shot to stun, next shot to kill. He was well into normal day’s killing when a cow came up like he had never seen before. This cow was silent. There wasn’t even a whimper. Its head was down as it walked purposely, voluntarily, slowly into position next to the platform. It did not writhe or wriggle or try to escape.

Once in position, the cow lifted her head and stared at her executioner, absolutely still.

The Irishman hadn’t seen anything even close to this before. His mind went numb with confusion. He couldn’t lift his gun; nor could he take his eyes away from the eyes of the cow. The cow was looking right inside him.

He slipped into timeless spaces. He couldn’t tell me how long it took, but as the cow held him in eye contact, he noticed something that shook him even more. Cows have very big eyes. He saw in the left eye of the cow, above the lower eyelid, water begin to gather. The amount of water grew and grew, until it was too much for the eyelid to hold. It began to trickle slowly all the way down her cheek, forming a glistening line of tears. Long-closed doors were opening slowly to his heart. As he looked in disbelief, he saw in the right eye of the cow, above the lower eyelid, more water gathering, growing by the moment, until it too, was more than the eyelid could contain. A second stream of water trickled slowly down her face. And the man broke down. The cow was crying.

He told me that he threw down his gun, swore to the full extent of his considerable capacity to the prison officers, that they could do whatever they liked to him, “BUT THAT COW AIN’T DYING!’

He ended by telling me he was a vegetarian now.

That story was true. Other inmates of the prison farm confirmed it for me. The cow that cried taught one of the most violent man what it means to care.

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Giving… by Venerable Wuling

Posted in Teachings to remember on 20/06/2022| Leave a Comment »

When you see someone having a tough time, do what you can to ease their suffering. 

Giving, one of the paramitas, comprises three basic categories. The third category—fearlessness—is relieving others’ fearful feelings, which can range from a vague sense of unease to outright terror.

Rarely will we find ourselves in a position to alleviate terror, but all around us anxieties abound.

From the overweight mailman who struggles to deliver a package to an upstairs flat to the mother trying to calm her crying child in a clinic’s packed waiting room to the struggling freshman who just failed her exam. No, we can’t change their situations. It’s their karmic consequence. But rarely are they expecting us to.

What we can do is raise our heads out of our own tiring, frustrating, heart-wrenching traumas and see that we’ve got a lot of company.

Having lugged heavy boxes up the stairs and failed our share of exams, we can sincerely appreciate what they’re going through. And we can forget our own concerns and spend a few minutes letting them know that we care about theirs.

http://www.abuddhistperspective.org/

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Reflections on Karma, Part 2 by Venerable Wuling

Posted in Teachings to remember on 14/03/2022| Leave a Comment »

Others did not create the obstacles in our lives.

So, before speaking or acting, we need to ask. “Can I live wih the consequences?”

Who we are is not determined by what we have.

It is determined by what we think and do.

A karmic consequence is not punishment. It is simply a natural result.

To solve problems we need to work on the cause, not the result.

Comparing ourselves to others is pointless… because we all have different combinations of karmic causes and consequences.

If a thought arises of, “Had I only known, I could have helped,” remember three things:

Such thinking will surely bring sorrow, the person’s life unfolded as their karma destined, and you can still help.

Chant “Amituofo” and dedicate the merits to all who suffer.

When about to complain, remember, “That’s my karma!”

When bad things come, don’t shoot the messenger.

He’s merely delivering what we sent.

To know what you did in the past, look at your life today.

To know what your future will be, look at what you are doing today.

Ven. Wuling

https://fb.watch/bKRaYcb2TY/

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