My Path to Freedom (sutra)

Michael Olds (translator) "A Little Spell of Emptiness"; edited by Wisdom Quarterly
(Don Gissel/Flickr)

I, Ananda, live
In the fullness of freedom
Free of empty habits
Not an empty Abiding

The Path to Freedom

I hear tell: Once upon a time, the Lucky Man [Tathagata, the Buddha], in Savatthi-town, East Park, in the House of Migara’s Mother came visiting.

At this time, Ananda, just emerging from his afternoon’s sit down practice, went to the Teacher, greeted him, and sat down to one side. There he said:

Sir, at one time, the Lucky Man was residing among the Sakyans [the Buddha's extended family clan] in the market town of Nagaraka. And I also was there. In that place I recall having heard, learned, studied, grasped, face-to-face with the Lucky Man, this statement made by him:

"At this time, Ananda, I reside in the fullness of emptiness." Did I hear this correctly?

Yes, Ananda, you heard, learned, studied, and grasped this correctly. Previously, as well as now, I reside in the fullness of freedom.

In the same way, Ananda, as this House of Migara’s Mother is free of the disturbances of the city: free of elephants, cows, horses, donkeys; free of dealings with gold and silver; free of groups of men and women, and there is only this that remains to disturb the peace, that is, the vibration emanating off the recluses here.

In the same way, a recluse, paying no attention to the disturbances of the city, paying no attention to human beings, pays attention only to the vibration emanating off the forest. One takes to paying attention only to perception of the forest. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind.

One understands, "This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of the city. This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of human beings. This way there is only that disturbance which emanates off perception of the forest."

Thus, "This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of the city. This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of human beings. This way there is only this that disturbs the peace, that is, the vibration which emanates off perception of the forest."

In this way one regards that which is present as free of that which is not present. And with regard to what remains, one understands, "That being; this is."

Thus, Ananda, there is in this case a sitting-down-to-clear-out that results in surpassing purity.

And again, Ananda, deeper than that, paying no attention to human beings, paying no attention to the forest, one takes to paying attention only to perception of earth, and cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind.

In the same way as one would regard a bull’s hide, stretched out to cure, held down by a hundred pegs, its life gone, when one pays attention to Earth, one does not think about anything on Earth such as dry land or rivers or swamps or marshes with plants with branches and thorns or mountains or plains. One only pays attention to the vibration which emanates off perception of Earth.

One takes to paying attention only to perception of Earth. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind....

In this way one regards that which is present as free of that which is not present. And with regard to what remains, one understands, "That being, this is."...

And again, Ananda, deeper than that, paying no attention to the forest, paying no attention to Earth, one takes to paying attention only to perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Space. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind.

One understands, "This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of the forest. This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of Earth."

Thus, "This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of the forest. This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of Earth. This way there is only this that disturbs the peace, that is, the vibration which emanates off perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Space."

In this way one regards that which is present as free of that which is not present. And with regard to what remains, one understands, "That being, this is."

Thus, Ananda, there is in this case, a sitting-down-to-clear-out that results in surpassing purity.

And again, Ananda, deeper than that, paying no attention to Earth, paying no attention to the Sphere of Unlimited Space, takes to paying attention only to perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Consciousness. And one cleans out, tidies, up and liberates the mind.

One understands, "This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of Earth. This way there is no disturbance emanating from perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Space."

Thus, "This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of Earth. This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Space. This way there is only this that disturbs the peace, that is, the vibration which emanates off perception of the Sphere of Unlimited Consciousness."

...[O]ne takes to paying attention only to perception of the Sphere Where No Thing is There. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind....

And again, Ananda, deeper than that, paying no attention to the Sphere of Unlimited Consciousness, paying no attention to the Sphere Where No Thing is There, one takes to paying attention only to perception of the Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non Perception. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind....

And again, Ananda, deeper than that, paying no attention to the Sphere Where No Thing is There, paying no attention to the Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non Perception, one takes to paying attention only to the mental High-Getting that is Sign-less. And one cleans out, tidies up, and liberates the mind....

This way is free of disturbance emanating from perception of the Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non Perception. This way there is only this that disturbs the peace, that is, the six sense-realms bound to this body reacting to life."

In this way one regards that which is present as free of that which is not present. And with regard to what remains, one understands, "That being, this is."

One understands, "This Mental High-Getting that is Sign-less is something that has been constructed, thought out. Whatever has been constructed and thought out is subject to change and coming to an end."

Knowing and seeing this, one's heart is free from the grip of sense pleasures. One's heart is freed from the grip of illusory existence. One's mind is free from the grip of blindness. In Freedom comes the knowledge of Freedom, and one knows:

"Left behind is Rebirth, lived is the Best of Lives, done is Duty’s Doing, crossed over am I; there is no more of this [suffering in rebirth] for me!"

One understands, "This way there is no disturbance emanating from the grip of sense pleasures. This way there is no disturbance emanating from the grip of illusory existence. This way there is no disturbance emanating from the grip of blindness."

Thus, "This way is free of the disturbance emanating from the grip of sense pleasures. This way is free of the disturbance emanating from the grip of illusory existence. This way is free of the disturbance emanating from the grip of blindness. This way there is only this that disturbs the peace, that is, the six sense-realms bound to this body reacting to life."

In this way one regards that which is present as free of that which is not present. And with regard to what remains, one understands, "That being, this is."

Thus, Ananda, there is in this case, a sitting-down-to-clear-out that results in surpassing purity.

And, Ananda, all those shamans [shramana, Buddhist monastics, wandering ascetics] or brahmins [brahmana, temple-bound priests] of the long distant past who attained [are attained or will attain] the highest surpassing purity of freedom and made it an abode, all of them did so by attaining this same highest surpassing purity of freedom and making it an abode....

Wherefore, Ananda, train yourself this way: "I will attain the highest surpassing purity of freedom and make an abode of that."

Why we fear "doom"

Wisdom Quarterly

Doom is the end of the world. Doom is death and destruction. Doom, we can't get enough of it. Why are we obsessed? It may be fear of death the forces us to pay attention. It may be relief -- we need another "failed" prediction to bolster our sense that no one will ever predict anything. No one has seen anything. No one knows anything. We're safe.

We are safe. But as we sleep in safety, are we ignoring the doom all around us? The Buddha's final words as he exited this samsara (the round of death followed incessantly by rebirth) were:

All conditioned phenomena are hurtling toward destruction;
work out your liberation with diligence.

Translators may tweak the tone or sentiment of these words. Yet the message is incontrovertible. Things fall apart. They are always falling apart. That is the nature of "things" (all that arises supported by causes and conditions, which is everything with the sole exception of nirvana). Release from this, freedom from this, liberation from this is knowing and seeing nirvana.

Mahayana Buddhism popularizes a confusing notion, "samsara is nirvana," a dangerous witticism on par with "If you meet a buddha on the road, kill him." These are odd ways to say simple things. This is not nirvana. It can be. Nirvana is not elsewhere. But we have not realized that liberation. The belief that we have does not bring us closer to it.

And if a paradoxical Zen instruction says reject authority because we have that in us, great. But to "kill" (utterly disregard, denounce, silence) a guide who points out the way? That is like rejecting a prison door labelled EXIT and deciding, "I'll just keep looking for myself."

Buddhas point the way.

There is precious little time for us on this plane, so fortunate to hear the path to freedom from all suffering. We go from here onto other states, only very rarely coming back. It is not likely that we will hear this message again for a long time. We ourselves are conditioned phenomena, and everything (material form, sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness) in us that we regard as us is hurtling toward destruction.

The Buddha (teacher) is a guide. The Dharma (teaching) is a guide. The Sangha (those who have successfully followed the path) collectively is a guide. The path does not simply lead to nirvana, final emancipation. It leads to all good states along the way. If one should wish to be reborn in one of the many heavens (states superior to the human in terms of longevity, beauty, pleasure, radiance, etc.) that is available by the path of serenity and insight, concentration and mindfulness, stilling and seeing.

The importance of "Jhanas" in Buddhism

Stephanie Nash (mindfulnessarts.org) interviews Leigh Brasington, respected jhana meditation teacher about the "meditative absorptions." This is the beginning of a longer interview about the what, why, and how of jhanas as part of a meditation practice. Filmed in August 2009 at Cloud Mountain Retreat Center, Washington.



The Jhanas in Ancient Buddhism

Ven. Henepola Gunaratana ("Bhante G")

The various subjects and methods of meditation divide into two inter-related systems. One is called the development of serenity (samatha), the other the development of insight (vipassana).



The former also goes under the name of development of concentration (samadhi), the latter the development of wisdom (pañña). The practice of serenity meditation aims at developing a calm, concentrated, unified mind as a means of experiencing inner peace and as a basis for wisdom.



The practice of insight meditation aims at gaining a direct understanding of the real nature of phenomena.



Of the two, the development of insight is regarded by Buddhism as the essential key to liberation, the direct antidote to the ignorance underlying bondage and suffering.



Whereas serenity meditation is recognized as common to both Buddhist and non-Buddhist contemplative disciplines, insight meditation is held to be the unique discovery of the Buddha and an unparalleled feature of his path.



However, because the growth of insight presupposes a certain degree of concentration, and serenity meditation helps to achieve this, the development of serenity also claims an incontestable place in the Buddhist meditative process.



Jon Kabat Zinn narrates a guided meditation that corresponds to the first two stages of Ajahn Brahm's jhana meditation technique: (1) Letting go of past and future, placing attention on the body, (2) letting go of inner chatter, placing attention on sounds, (3) letting go of diversity, placing attention only on the breath.



Together the two types of meditation work to make the mind a fit instrument for enlightenment. With his mind unified by means of the development of serenity, made sharp and bright by the development of insight, the meditator can proceed unobstructed to reach the end of suffering, nirvana.

Pivotal to both systems of meditation, though belonging inherently to the side of serenity, is a set of meditative attainments called the jhanas. Though translators have offered various renderings of this word, ranging from the feeble "musing" to the misleading "trance" and the ambiguous "meditation," we prefer to leave the word untranslated and to let its meaning emerge from its contextual usages.

From these it is clear that the jhanas are states of deep mental unification that result from the centering of the mind upon a single object with such power of attention that a total immersion in the object takes place.

The early sutras speak of four absorptions, named simply after their numerical position in the series: the first jhana, the second jhana, the third jhana, and the forth jhana. In the sutras the four repeatedly appear each described by a standard formula, which we will examine later in detail.

The importance of the jhanas in the Buddhist path can readily be gauged from the frequency with which they are mentioned throughout the discourses. They figure prominently both in the Buddha's own experience and in his exhortation to disciples.

In his childhood, while attending an annual plowing festival, the future Buddha spontaneously entered the first jhana. It was the memory of this childhood incident, many years later [during his six year quest for enlightenment] after his futile pursuit of austerities, that revealed to him the way to enlightenment during his period of deepest despondency (M.i, 246-247).

After taking his seat beneath the Bodhi tree, [Siddhartha] entered the four jhanas immediately before direction his mind to the threefold knowledge that issued in his enlightenment (M.i.247-249).

Throughout his active career the four jhanas remained "his heavenly dwelling" (D.iii.220) to which he resorted in order to live happily here and now.

His understanding of the corruption, purification, and emergence in the jhanas and other meditative attainments is one of the Ten Powers [of a Buddha or Tathagata] which enable him to turn the matchless wheel of the Dharma (M.i.70).

Just before his passing away the Buddha entered the jhanas in direct and reverse order, and the passing away itself took place directly from the fourth jhana (D.ii.156).

The Buddha is constantly seen in the suttas encouraging his disciples to develop jhana. The four jhanas are invariably included in the complete course of training laid down for disciples ("Fruits of Recluseship" discourse (DN 2; MN 27).

They figure in the training as the discipline of the Noble Eightfold Path... More

Seeking a Path: Dependent Origination

P.A. Payutto (trans. from Thai by Bruce Evans), intro. edited by Wisdom Quarterly Himalayan path along Phoksundo Lake (lasochres.se)

The Buddhist Law of Conditionality
The teaching of causal interdependence is the most important of Buddhist principles.

It describes a law of nature that exists as the natural course of things. The Buddha was not an emissary of heavenly "commandments." He was a discoverer of this liberating-principle of the natural order, and he proclaimed its truth to the world.

The progression of causes and conditions is the reality that applies to all things: from the natural environment, which is an external and physical condition, to the events of human society, ethics, life events, and the happiness and suffering that manifest in our minds.

Causal relationships are part of one natural truth. Our happiness within this natural system depends on having some knowledge of how it works and practicing correctly within it. With knowledge we are able to address problems on personal, social, and environmental levels.

Given that all things are interconnected, all affecting one another, success in dealing with the world lies in creating harmony within it.

(Kevin-McGuiness/Flickr.com)

The sciences, which have evolved with human civilization and are influencing our lives so profoundly, are said to be based on reason and rationality. Their storehouse of knowledge has been amassed through interacting with these natural laws of conditionality. ...

But the human search for knowledge in modern scientific fields has three notable features...

• Underneath it all, we tend to interpret concepts like happiness, freedom, human rights, liberty, and peace in ways that preserve the interests of some and encroach on others. Even when controlling other people comes to be seen as a blameworthy act, this aggressive tendency is then turned in other directions, such as the natural environment. Now that we are beginning to realize that it is impossible to really control other people or other things, the only meaning left in life is to preserve self interests and protect territorial rights. Living as we do with this faulty knowledge and these mistaken beliefs, the natural environment is thrown out of skew, society is in turmoil, and human life, both physically and mentally, is disoriented. The world seems to be full of conflict and suffering.

All facets of the natural order -- the physical world and the human world, the world of conditions (dharma) and the world of actions (karma), the material world and the mental world -- are connected and interrelated; they cannot be separated. Disorder and aberration in one sector will affect other sectors. If we want to live in peace, we must learn how to live in harmony with all spheres of the natural environment, both the internal and the external, the individual and the social, the physical and the mental, the material and the immaterial.

...This is why, of all the systems of causal relationship based on the following law "Because there is this, that arises; when this ceases, that ceases," the teachings of Buddhism begin with, and stress throughout, the factors involved in the creation of suffering in individual awareness.

"Because there is ignorance, there are volitional formations..." is the first link of the Dependent Origination formula. Once this system is understood on the inner level, liberating us from suffering, we are then in a position to see the connections between inner factors and the causal relationships in the external environment. This is the approach adopted in this book. More

1. An Overview of Dependent Origination
Types of Dependent Origination found in the texts
1. The general principle
2. The principle in effect

2. Interpreting Dependent Origination
The essential meaning

3. Man and Nature

4. The Standard Format
The main factors
1. Ignorance and craving-clinging
2. Volitional impulses and becoming
3. Consciousness to feeling, and birth, aging and death

5. Other Interpretations
Preliminary definition
How the links connect
Examples
An example of Dependent Origination in everyday life

6. The Nature of Defilements

7. Dependent Origination in Society

8. The Middle Teaching

9. Breaking the Cycle

Appendix
A note on interpreting the principle of Dependent Origination
Birth and death in the present moment
Dependent Origination in the Abhidhamma
A problem with the word "nirodha"