Wisdom Wide and Deep: Jhana and Insight

Shaila Catherine (imsb.org), Wisdom Quarterly

Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana
Wisdom Wide and Deep is an extended introduction to an in-depth training. It emphasizes the application of concentrated attention to profound and liberating insight.

With calm, tranquility, and composure -- established through a practical experience of deep concentration (jhana) -- meditators are able to halt the seemingly endless battle against meditation hindrances, eliminate distraction, and facilitate a penetrative insight into the subtle nature of matter and mind.

It was for this reason that the Buddha frequently exhorted his students, "Develop concentration, for one who is concentrated understands things as they really are."

Wisdom Wide and Deep follows and amplifies the teachings in Shaila Catherine’s first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity.

Readers learn to develop this profound stability, sustain an in-depth examination of the nuances of mind and matter, and ultimately unravel deeply conditioned patterns that perpetuate suffering.

This is a practical guide, a fully detailed manual for dealing with the mind. It is sure to become a trusted companion for inner-explorers.

• Wisdom Quarterly can say without reservation that Shaila Catherine is an extraordinary teacher of the highest order, a consummate practitioner of the Buddha's instructions, and a rare treasure in the world. Her two books set right teachings that had long been upset. She has benefited tremendously by practicing under one of the world's greatest living Buddhist scholar-practitioners, the most venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw. We are not alone in our praise:
  

Praise from Buddhist authors and teachers

This is a handbook that respects both the ancient tradition and the needs of contemporary lay practitioners, without compromising either. Shaila Catherine presents the Buddha's teaching by blending scriptural references, personal examples, and timeless stories with detailed meditation instructions. More

—Pa Auk Sayadaw, author of The Workings of Kamma

In Wisdom Wide and Deep, Shaila Catherine has laid out a path of practice from the simplest beginnings to profound and subtle insights. Her writing is beautifully lucid, making accessible the inner depths of the Buddha's teachings. This book is a powerful inspiration both for those who would like a glimpse of..." More

—Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism

Shaila’s new book converts theory to practice, ideas to application, knowledge about meditation to direct experience. She has written a manual in clear, practical language. It is an excellent follow up to her previous book, Focused and Fearless. The strength of Shaila’s new book is... More

—Christopher Titmuss, author of Light on Enlightenment and An Awakened Life

Shaila's book, Wisdom Wide and Deep is far more than just a handbook -- it is an in-depth, piece-by-piece examination of many of the specific teachings of jhana and insight. It is book that you will study, as opposed to sit down and read through. It is reference book that you will... More

—Phillip Moffitt, author of Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering.

Shaila Catherine has managed a difficult feat -- to be simultaneously encyclopedic and charming. Her extraordinary clarity and step-by-step approach will embolden some readers to attain jhanic absorption, while others may simply gain... More

—Kate Lila Wheeler, Dharma teacher and author of When Mountains Walked, editor of In This Very Life and The State of Mind Called Beautiful.

The whole spiritual path concerns attitudes and perspectives that we have on things. From there, actions spring up and life unfolds. Shaila Catherine leads us to a completely different way of seeing things by skillfully guiding us through an array of traditional Suttanta and Abhidhamma methods. The precision with which she... More

—Ven. U Jagara

Wisdom Wide and Deep is a clear and comprehensive account of a path of meditation leading to profound levels of concentration and insight. Based primarily on the teachings of the Burmese master Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, it also includes a helpful collection of references from classical Theravadan sources. Shaila Catherine has clearly... More

—Guy Armstrong, insight meditation teacher

All of us in our lives need to find the ways to cultivate a mind which is a friend -- calm, clear, insightful and pervaded with kindness. In this book Shaila Catherine has outlined an ancient way to train the mind in stillness and wise attention. More

—Christina Feldman, author of Compassion: Listening to the Cries of the World

Metta: Universal Loving-Kindness (video)

Notable events in the life of the Buddha; original Pali language "lyrics" below (Atanatiya)

Discourse on Loving-Kindness
Karaniya Metta Sutra, based on Ven. Nanamoli translation
What should be done by one skillful in good
So as to gain the state of peace is this:

Let one be able, upright, and straight,
Easy to speak to, gentle, and not conceited,
Contented too, easily supported,
With few tasks, and living lightly;

One's faculties serene, prudent, and modest,
Unswayed by the affections of supportive families;
And let one never do the slightest thing
That the wise might hold as blameworthy.

(But let one think:) "In safety and in bliss
May creatures all be of a blissful heart.
Whatever breathing beings there may be
No matter whether they are frail or firm,
With none excepted, be they long or big
Or middle-sized, be they short or small
Or thick, as well as those seen or unseen,
Or whether they are dwelling far or near,
Existing or yet seeking to exist,
May creatures all be of a blissful heart.
Let no one work another one's undoing
Or even slight another at all anywhere:
And never let one wish another ill
Through provocation or resentful thought."

Just as a mother might with her life
Protect a son that was her only child,
So let one then for every living thing
Maintain unbounded loving-kindness in being;

Let one with similar love for all the world
Maintain unbounded loving-kindness in being
Above, below, and all round in between,
Untroubled, without enemy or foe.

And while one stands or walks or while one sits
Or while one lies down, free from drowsiness,
Let one resolve upon this mindful awareness:

This is Divine Abiding here and now, they say.
But when one is not a trafficker of views,
Is virtuous, and has perfected seeing,
And purges greed for sensual desires,
One surely comes no more to the womb.
Other translations

The original Pali chant

Karaṇīyamatthakusalena, yanta santaṃ padaṃ abhisamecca;
Sakko ujū ca suhujū [sūjū (sī.)] ca, sūvaco cassa mudu anatimānī.
Santussako ca subharo ca, appakicco ca sallahukavutti;
Santindriyo ca nipako ca, appagabbho kulesvananugiddho.
Na ca khuddamācare kiñci, yena viññū pare upavadeyyuṃ;
Sukhino va khemino hontu, sabbasattā [sabbe sattā (sī. syā.)] bhavantu sukhitattā.
Ye keci pāṇabhūtatthi, tasā vā thāvarā vanavasesā;
Dīghā vā ye va mahantā [mahanta (?)], majjhimā rassakā aṇukathūlā.
Diṭṭhā vā ye va adiṭṭhā [adiṭṭha (?)], ye va [ye ca (sī. syā. kaṃ. pī.)] dūre vasanti avidūre;
Bhūtā va sambhavesī va [bhūtā vā sambhavesī vā (syā. kaṃ. pī. ka.)], sabbasattā bhavantu sukhitattā.
Na paro paraṃ nikubbetha, nātimaññetha katthaci na kañci [naṃ kañci (sī. pī.), naṃ kiñci (syā.), na kiñci (ka.)];
Byārosanā paṭighasaññā, nāññamaññassa dukkhamiccheyya.
Mātā yathā niyaṃ puttamāyusā ekaputtamanurakkhe;
Evampi sabbabhūtesu, mānasaṃ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṃ.
Mettañca sabbalokasmi, mānasaṃ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṃ;
Uddhaṃ adho ca tiriyañca, asambādhaṃ averamasapattaṃ.
Tiṭṭhaṃ caraṃ nisinno va [vā (sī. syā. kaṃ. pī.)], sayāno yāvatāssa vitamiddho [vigatamiddo (bahūsu)];
Etaṃ satiṃ adhiṭṭheyya, brahmametaṃ vihāramidhamāhu.
Diṭṭhiñca anupaggamma, sīlavā dassanena sampanno;
Kāmesu vinaya [vineyya (sī. syā. pī.)] gedhaṃ, na hi jātuggabbhaseyya punaretīti.

Krisiloff Anti-Inflammatory Diet Revolution

Women with "manly" health problems from treatment

Many go without treatment when their medical problems involve stigmatized body parts, such as the bowels; journalist Katie Couric's on-air colon cancer screening in 2000 was an effort to combat that stigma surrounding the disease that killed her husband. But when symptoms are traditionally associated with "manliness," the shame is often rooted in a fear of being unfeminine or undesirable. [5 Reasons Being a Woman is Good For Your Health]

Milton Krisiloff, M.D. (Scribd.com)
The Prevention for Urinary Problems. Heartburn, Arthritis, & Potentially Prostate Cancer
For the last 30 years, Dr. Krisiloff has personally cared for and cured more than 10,000 patients -- men and women -- who suffer from chronic urological problems.

With a simple holistic approach that has no risk, he has seen cures in close to 90% of his patients who suffer from these problems.

Literally 90 million men and women in the United States experience these urinary problems at one time or another. Estimates are that one quarter of all visits to urologists annually are from these complaints.

Yet until now, university scientists and physicians will readily admit they have no known explanation for these problems, nor do they know how to effectively treat these problems.

With the Krisiloff Diet, a [natural and easy] cure is now possible for the problems of prostatitis, epididymitis, falsely elevated PSA blood tests, bed wetting in children, urgency incontinence in women, urethral syndrome (in Dr. Krisiloff’s opinion this is falsely diagnosed as interstitional cystitis), increased urination at night (which greatly disturbs sleep), and frequent urination in the day (greatly affecting quality of life). Unnecessary prostate surgery for men can be avoided and unnecessary surgery for women for urine incontinence can also be avoided.

• What causes these symptoms? Alcohol, soda/coffee (caffeine), hot spices.

All of this can be accomplished at absolutely zero cost, with absolutely zero harm to the patient. And the results can be seen in as little as four to eight weeks.

With its simple holistic approach, the Krisiloff Diet could supplant all the expensive [allopathic] methods now used. It could become the standard initial treatment for so many common medical problems, often circumventing costly and ineffective traditional methods.

The savings for healthcare would be enormous -- close to $40 billion dollars by some estimates -- once it is realized [and admitted by doctors happy to use the most costly and therefore profitable therapies] that expensive medications and surgeries are not necessary.

Dr. Krisiloff has empitically discovered the “holy grail” explanation for inflammation in the body. The discovery is that caffeine, alcohol, and hot spices are responsible for causing chronic inflammation in the body.

They specifically lead to chronic urinary problems as well as other common medical condition such as gastroesophigeal reflux disease (GERD), arthritis, sinusitis, and headaches. There is even reason to believe that they are responsible for some cases of prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and colon and breast cancers. More

Buddhism turns 2,600 years old

Dharmachari Seven (Wisdom Quarterly)

"Moon of the Buddha" by Albert Falzon (English overdubbed in Spanish)

May's full moon day (May 17, 2011) will officially mark the twenty-sixth century of Buddhism.

Two-thousand six-hundred years ago, Siddhartha Gautama culminated six years of renunciation, moral-restraint, meditation, and keen investigation of mental phenomena with a startling realization:

"Everything that is of a nature to arise is of a nature to cease." Having purified and balanced his mind by successive practice of the eight meditative absorptions (jhanas), he emerged and began to contemplate Dependent Origination.

The Path to Complete Freedom

This is a formula or technique that leads to insight into the true nature of things -- revealing their radical impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and impersonal nature. A glimpse of the Truth causes the mind/heart to pull back and away from the corruptions (lust, anger, delusion) like a feather dropped in fire. The mind thus freed perceives nirvana, touches it, enters the first stage of enlightenment.

This momentous step -- after an inconceivably long course of "wandering on" through birth and death (innumerable past lives and states of becoming) -- begins the process of full liberation from suffering.

Under the Bodhi Tree

We are often swept up with the misleading story of the Buddha's heroic effort, fighting temptation and fear: Siddhartha sat down, gritted his teeth, vowed not to stand until he attained his goal of enlightenment even if his blood and skin should shrivel up and turn to dust, in spite of Mara's fearsome attacks and his own self-doubt.

This is exactly the wrong notion that prevented enlightenment. It was not Siddhartha's fierce determination that ultimately allowed his heart/mind to find the Truth. Too much "efforting" fills the heart with yearning, strains the mind, and wearies the body. The breath ("spirit") is then anything but calm, subtle, soothing, or serene.

The Middle Way

In this way, no realization is possible. The Bodhisattva (the buddha-to-be) had for years failed in his efforts exactly because of this sort of strenuous striving and fierce determination. The "Middle Path" avoids extremes of striving/laziness, austerity/luxury, rigidity/limpness, or views. It invites balance and direct-knowledge.

In our world so filled with lust, greed, and lassitude, we need to hear the message of strong determination. But in a world of annoyance, hate, and drive, we need to hear the other side of the story -- the letting go, the letting be, the mindful (or non-thinking, non-striving, non-preference, non-judgmental) attention.

The meditative absorptions allowed Siddhartha to maintain equanimity in the face of keen investigation. He was observing, not "doing." He was practicing mindfulness (bare attention), not discursive thinking.

The purity of heart/mind cleansed by deep concentration/collectedness (samadhi) allowed his insight-practices (vipassana) to succeed. Indeed, two of the most important arms of the ennobling Eightfold Path are "right concentration" and "right mindfulness." "Right" simply means balanced, optimal, effective, not strenuous, dogmatic, or driven.

That First Vesak Day
For a long time (innumerable aeons) we have wandered on this weary trail of rebirth, lusting here, lusting there, ever in search of satisfaction, meaning, and peace. We do not find them for very long. Good states and situations pass away. When the mind is brightened by absorption and brought to bear on insight-practices -- nirvana. That's it! There it is! And finding it Siddhartha, now the Buddha, is reputed to have exclaimed:

"I who wept with all my brothers' tears, laugh and am glad, for there is liberty!"

What was it? What eternal truth did he rediscover? Nirvana, nirvana, what is this "nirvana"?

• Nirvana. nir-va, to blow out. According to ancient lore, complete freedom; according to Buddhist lore, liberation. The goal of Buddhism is the condition of [enlightened individual,] one who has achieved nirvana: a condition where there is neither earth nor water nor fire nor air; neither infinite space nor infinite consciousness; nor the sphere of void, nor the sphere of perception or non-perception. It is the end of woe. (Yoga Illustrated Dictionary, Kaye & Ward).

"Sugar: The Bitter Truth" (video)

UCSF Mini Med School for the Public [7/2009] [Health & Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]

We have an "epidemic" of obesity. It can't be that our genetics have changed in three decades to account for it. It can't be that we're suddenly lazy, for there is now an epidemic of obese six-month olds. We exercise more, and yet we're fat. We eat in moderation, and yet we're fat. Why? It's what we eat. The food industry has changed it, and the government has gone along. For instance, they have filled soda with salt. But we do not taste that salt. They cover it with sugar (14 teaspoons worth). The average American is now secretly being fed 141 pounds of sugar, which has been denatured and made into a toxin on purpose. Our leptin (the satiety hormone) systems have been disrupted. We have been deprived of good fats (unadulterated, raw, and unprocessed) and been stuffed with carbohydrates, in liquid form and as fluffy starch. It all adds up to a compelling talk: "Sugar: The Bitter Truth."

(UC Television) Robert H. Lustig, MD, University of California San Francisco Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.

• Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill (Udo Erasmus)
  
• Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It (Gary Taubes)
• Normal regulation of blood glucose (insulin vs. glucagon)
  
• UprisingRadio.org (May 11, 2011)
  
• Ian Masters (May 10, 2011)
  
• UC Television (uctv.tv)