The Blissful Way to Meditate

Wisdom Quarterly

(Philiproeland/Flickr)



It was only when Siddhartha stopped being afraid of pleasure dissociated from sensuality that he entered upon the path to enlightenment. For it is not by austerity but by happiness that one finds nirvana: "There is no way to happiness; happiness ["pleasure" (sukha) as a factor of absorption] is the way!"



(More happy panda pictures at Kjdrill/Flickr)

Meditative bliss (piti in jhana or zen, dhyana, ch'an) is given shortshrift in this age of insight (vipassana). But profound concentration serves as the best foundation for the work of penetrative wisdom.



It purifies the mind-heart and stabilizes mindfulness. It intensifies the mind making it manifest what it is capable of, things we ourselves would not believe of it.



For example, when coming out of a meditative absorption it is very useful to review the factors of absorption associated with it. In this way one ensures where in the practice one is. This is done by turning attention toward the "mind door" which is located in the area of the physical heart. Without absorption (or at least access concentration), one sees nothing.



But with it one notices something that has always been there: a greenish mirror reflecting whatever is in the mind. One can then check the factors. (Only do this under a teacher skilled in the absorptions for, as the Gavi Sutra or "Cow Discourse" points out, one foolishly loses even the absorption one has already gained to say nothing of going no higher).

Change is the only Constant (video)

Wisdom Quarterly

The phenomenal world -- consisting exclusively of composite "things" -- is in constant flux. This transiency is, paradoxically, its only steady characteristic.



There is a beyond, which is utterly different and incomprehensible to a mind that has only known and taken this flux to be real. This "beyond" goes even beyond beyond and is called nirvana. It is peaceful and blissful. The shore we are on is called the "continued wandering on" (samsara). It is restless, painful, and impersonal.



It used to be that western minds, given to philosophizing about ideas rather than direct mystical experience, called the distinction phenomenal and noumenal. But this carries many connotations and assumptions that do not apply.



Words will never suffice. The words themselves have no meaning. And although we understand today, it is not because of the words that mark it. Those same words mean nothing to the person who does not understand it. Understanding transcends words.



Kwan Yin beheld from on high and saw that all conditional things are empty (impersonal). By "things" she meant those things closest to us -- our bodies, feeling, perceptions, volitions, and consciousness. Seeing them as they really are -- passing, unpleasant, and impersonal -- her heart was utterly freed by non-clinging (am P H O T O/flickr).



Why would we ever want to leave this pleasurable transient, unsatisfactory, impersonal world? There's pleasure here. It's true. There is. There's a greater peace, a greater bliss there, but we would have to renounce the lower for the higher, and few of us are will to lose a bird in the hand for more in the bush.



We want them both. It's the nature of experience here, marred as it is with greediness for what we like, aversion to what we do not, and confusion about neutral things we see neither value nor harm in.



Wise reflection on this impermanent aspect of the illusion here is liberating. But it may be unpleasant if we take it personally. If we view it mindfully, there is no pain and nothing personal about it. Viewing it in this way is liberating. "Not having been, they [things] come into being. But once having been, they cease." Why would we ever become attached if we directly knew that?



Passing, passing, passing. Nothing to grasp. Falling away, falling away, falling away, their dissolution is bliss because their coming together is unsatisfactory. We want it to be one way over an other. Far better it is to escape to reality.

Finding happiness from Buddhist point of view

Jerome Ryan (mountainsoftravelphotos.com) and Wisdom Quarterly
Dieter Glogowski is a contemporary Tibet and Nepal photographer. His photos are excellent, and the quotes he chooses to accompany them are short and thought-provoking (mountainsoftravelphotos.com).

The root teachings of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths, which state that there is disappointment and we can rise above it by a path of practice that reduces our attachment and clinging to things, people, and states. There are Buddhist resources to assist in increasing joy.

At war with China? Ever notice how much the most famous Buddhist, the 14th Dalai Lama, laughs? He laughs in spite of all difficulties. If we can learn to do that, it will serve the world well. Smile, and the whole world smiles.

Wisdom (the 14th Dalai Lama): It is important to know that there are three kinds of wisdom: / Wisdom resulting from listening, / wisdom resulting from reflection, and / wisdom resulting from meditation.

Consciousness (Dhammapada): We are what we think / All we are arises from our thoughts / With our thoughts we create the world.

Compassion (Mother Teresa): Always try to act in a way that people are happy to have met you.

Equanimity (Sutta Nipata): We exchange the breath of air with the rain forests. We drink the very water that flows into the ocean. Water and air are integral parts of our lives. And we are part of the whole world. We realize that we depend on each other, that we are related to each other. Then we will deal with all of nature carefully, we are part of it.

Love (Phil Bosmans): A flower needs sun to become a flower. / A human being needs love to become a human being.

Impermanence (14th Dalai Lama): It is my firm conviction that the power of the gun barrel is of limited time. / But the power of truth will increase more and more with time.

Mindfulness (Thich Nhat Hanh): Real life is experienced here and now. The past has already gone; the future has not yet come. Only in the present moment can we truly live life.

Meditation (Sogyal Rinpoche): The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life. For it is only through meditation that you can undertake the journey to discover your true nature, and so find the stability and confidence you will need to live, and die, well; meditation is the road to enlightenment.

(Geshe Yongdong) Path to Happiness Teaching, October 13, 2009, Part 1A

• The Discourse Collection (Sutta Nipata)
• Illustrated Treasury of Truth (Dhammapada)
• Buddha-path and other photos (AJE44/Flickr)
• PHOTOS: Thru the Lens (Adrian-Evans.com)
• Euphoria Yoga of Woodstock, NY
  

"The Politics of Ecstasy" (video)

The oxymoronic "Politics of Ecstasy" (one not having anything to do with the other) might be about meditative bliss (piti and sukha). It might be about the dance club drug "E" (which is a groovy love potion and a terrible health menace because it contains the brain-depleting toxic chemical amphetamine "Meth"). Or it might be about having fun in an oppressive Judeo-Christian society with Puritanical (Sharia Law) leanings.

America is great, but it can be just a little hypocritical. We all try as best we can to enjoy ourselves, while being made to feel guilty about it. This shaming does us more harm than good. And in the long run, we are co-opted: We are lied to as kids and go on to lie to our kids in the naive beliefs that this keeps them "innocent."

It leads to disillusionment. We have fun and enjoy having fun, and there's no reason for fun other than fun. There's plenty of time to suffer and discover that most things are unsatisfying. All of these issues are called "politics" only when our hippie parents sit around and talk about it academically:

Buddhism at minute 22:22

• AUDIO: Deep Buddhist meditation explained in English
  
• North Korea's Global Happiness Index: China is the world's happiest place!
• Most global polls rate Scandinavian and west European nations as being among the world's happiest and most liveable. Not so says a North Korean survey, which ranked China as "the happiest place on earth." As Shanghaiist is reporting, a new global happiness index awarded China 100 out of 100 possible points.
• Be happy anywhere: the Beautiful Buddhist Nuns of Burma
  
• Listen to KPFK live with any media player

Shell Oil US President Marvin Odum talks about both history and the future.... witness cutting-edge college and high school student vehicles, many getting over 1,000 miles-per-gallon. Eco reporter Cary Harrison is covering the 2010 Shell Oil Eco-marathon, bonding with the brilliant minds who have gathered in the oil capitol to demonstrate what the future could look like.

• Radio and online webstream: Go Harrison!

"Rapture" in Buddhism

Wisdom Quarterly

The "Christ in a the clouds UFO-invasion" theory promulgated by fundamentalist Christians may be a too literal interpretation of an internal experience.

There is a lifting up, an effervescence, a pleasurable floating sensation -- called piti in Buddhism -- as if one were held in soft, nurturing hands. Five things oppose it, and five things enable it. It all occurs on a seat, a cushion, or the root of a tree, fully clothed.

Rapture (Pali, pīti, pronounced "pee-tee," Sanskrit prīti) is variously translated as joy, bliss, supersensual happiness, enthusiasm, or keen or joyful interest in an object of Buddhist meditation. It is certainly not limited to Buddhist experience; it is, rather, a universally accessible and naturally occurring process of the cultivated mind.

It is a serene quality of absorption (intense collectedness or concentration into a single object, Pali, jhana, Sanskrit, dhyana). While rapture is uplifting, it eventually wears thin as the mind longs for greater peace. This happiness is happiness-in-the-body, but it is not a physical sensation. Rapture is precariously close to Earth and one senses it would not take much to draw one back to erratic and distressing worldly affairs.

Eventually, as the absorptions deepen (there are eight progressively subtle and pleasurable states, four material and four immaterial), gross happiness becomes equanimous. Excited bliss becomes calm impartiality. Buoyancy goes from a healthy, happy body to a tranquil, contented mind (sukha or "gladness").

What opposes entrance into this natural state? The Five Hindrances:

1. Sensual desire: craving for sense pleasures.
2. Ill-will, anger, or wrath: malice directed at others.
3. Sloth-torpor: boredom or lassitude of body and mind.
4. Restlessness-worry: worry, regret, scattered energy.
5. Doubt: lack of confidence, conviction, faith, or trust.

What enables entrance? The Five Factors of Absorption:

1. Moving the mind onto the object (applied attention)
2. Retaining the mind on the object (sustained attention)
3. Rapture (joyful interest in the object)
4. Happiness (the opposite of suffering or distress)
5. Equanimity (impartiality, serenity, tranquility)

All of these states are accompanied, to a lesser or greater degree, by one-pointedness of mind, something we often lack in our attention-deficit-disordered daily lives. When does serenity ever occur? Now. Only now.