The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html Exercise 13-16: Perceptions (13-14): Impermanence & Craving Exercise 13-16 are the exercises for attaining full enlightenment and require very deep observation. What we must understand before these exercises is that this world is our mind itself because this world is the object of our mind, or the projection of our mind. In other words, the projection of our mind is this world. The object of mind is the object of perception, the object of perception is the perception (series of notions in the head), so the perception is this world. In other words, the perceived is the perceiver.David Bohm, Quantum physicist, said, "The way we see depends on the way we think." And his statement is consistent with the Buddha's above findings. In Exercise 13, you deeply observe the impermanent nature (nature of 'emptiness' in terms of time) of all dharmas (object of mind). Because everything is changing, you can observe the impermanent nature of all objects of your mind. And you observe the impermanent nature of all perceptions because all objects of your mind are the projection of your mind (perceptions). Therefore, this world which is the object of your mind is your perception itself, and it has the impermanent nature. In Exercise 14, you deeply observe the disappearance of craving (negative desire). And you deeply observe the disappearance of idea (thought). Therefore, your craving is just an idea and will disappear after a certain time. (15-16): No-self & Nirvana In Exercise 15, you deeply observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena. No-birth and no-death means that nothing can be born and nothing can die. Everything (all human beings, animals, plants, minerals) just continues (keeps living) by changing its forms. So, they can not be born because they have never died, and they can not die because they have never been born. And you deeply observe that everything is made of everything else. In other words, everything else is in everything. Therefore, everything is everything else. You are observing the nature of no-self(nature of 'emptiness' in terms of space) which means that everything is empty of separate existence (separate self). This is the ultimate truth. In Exercise 16, you deeply observe letting go of all notions (everything). The extinction of all notions is Nirvana. Because you are convinced that all notions are made up by human ego(separate self, fake self) and all notions are wrong, it is easy for you to throw away all notions. If all notions are extinct, there is no object to think about. So, you will be non-thinking completely and be able to attain insight 24 hours a day as awareness (non-separate self, true self). Attaining insight means that without making any efforts (without thinking), your calm mind reflects the outside reality like still water (mirror), and your clear mind sees through the inside reality. This is the full enlightenment, so you are fully awake. (end) (Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04
The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html Exercise 9-12: Mental formations & Consciousness (11-12): Concentration and Liberation Exercise 11-12 are the Exercise to look deeply the mental formation, attain insight and understand the root cause, generate compassion and transform the mental formation by the energy of compassion. We generate the energy of concentration by looking deeply, we attain the insight (understanding) of the root cause by the energy of concentration, we generate compassion by the energy of insight, and we transform the mental formation such as fear and anxiety by the energy of compassion.Transforming our mental formations is liberating our mind. In other words, the insight (understanding) of the root cause which we attain in Exercise 11 corresponds to the second truth (cause of suffering) of the Four Noble Truths. And the transformation of mental formations which we attain in Exercise 12 corresponds to the third truth (secession of suffering) of the Four Noble Truths. Afflictions such as fear and anxiety are the cause of suffering. Therefore, as long as you have fear or anxiety, you can not accept yourself unconditionally. Sometimes you may have self-hatred. If you always think too much and if your mind wanders in the past, you suffer from regrets and sorrow, and if your mind wanders in the future, you suffer from fear and anxiety. This vicious circle can not be cut off unless you understand the root cause of suffering through insight. If it can not be cut off, even if you can temporarily stop thinking and become mindful by conscious breathing, you will resume thinking by some chance and return to the state of forgetfulness. Therefore, in order to stop thinking stably and keep the mindful state for a long time, it is absolutely essential to understand the root cause of suffering through insight. Of course, because the extinction of all notions is not attained yet, thoughts will revive once in a while. That's why real practitioners meditate everyday (Thich Nhat Hanh says that he is meditating 24 hours a day) and never neglect the practice to maintain the mindful state. In order to completely stop thinking 24 hours a day (to be always mindful), attaining full enlightenment through the extinction of all notions is the only way. (to be continued) (Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LA87R7A
The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html Exercise 9-12: Mental formations & Consciousness (9-10):Selective watering The objects of Exercise 9-12 are mental formations and consciousness. It may not be easy to understand the difference from the object of Exercise 5-8 (Feelings). In fact, feelings and perceptions(series of notions in the head) belong to 51 mental formations but they are spun off from mental formations because their impact is outstanding. So, there are 49 kinds of mental formations in Exercise 9-12. Meanwhile, there are 8 kinds of consciousness in Buddhism and they are the source of the body, feelings, perceptions and mental formations. 8 kinds of consciousness are the Sense consciousness (five senses), Mind consciousness (conscious mind), Manas (ego) and Store consciousness (Alaya consciousness, subconscious mind). Feelings in Exercise 5-8 are limited to feelings manifested in Mind consciousness (conscious mind), but mental formations and consciousness in Exercise 9-12 include the seeds of mental formations which are stored in Store consciousness (Alaya consciousness, subconscious mind). So, the realm of Exercise 9-12 is much deeper than the realm of Exercise 5-8. And we take care of both of them (mental formations and the seeds). Briefly, if we water the wholesome seed, the wholesome mental formation will manifest, and if we water the unwholesome seed, the unwholesome mental formation will manifest. Therefore, the selective watering will be as follows: 1) Water the wholesome seeds. 2) Do not water the unwholesome seeds. 3) Maintain the wholesome mental formation if it is manifesting. 4) Transform the unwholesome mental formation (to the wholesome mental formation) if it is manifesting. 5) Water the unwholesome seed intentionally to let the unwholesome mental formation manifest and to transform it to the wholesome mental formation and return it to Store consciousness as the wholesome seed. (Note) 5) has a high risk unless you are an advanced practitioner, so is not recommendable for beginners. If you are mindful, you can recognize what is going on inside and around yourself. So, if you practice the selective watering as soon as you recognize what's going on, you can control your mind as you wish. And it will be wise also that you request people around you to practice the selective watering to you as well as you do it by yourself. This selective watering means the "Right Diligence" of the Noble Eightfold Path. (to be continued) (Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04
The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html Exercise 5-8: Feelings (5-6):Joy and Happiness Exercise 5-6 (generating joy and happiness) occurs automatically at the same time when we establish ourselves in mindfulness in Exercise 1-2. So, in time series, Exercise 5-6 should be placed as Exercise 3-4 rather than Exercise 5-6. However, joy and happiness belongs to the category of feelings, so I guess that these exercises was placed as Exercise 5-6. Anyway, if mindful breathing is attained in Exercise 1-2, that is a proof that we have returned to awareness (non-separate self, true self). So, we can touch the wonders of life, and joy and happiness can be automatically generated. The expressions of our realization of joy and happiness may be "just blooming like a flower without thinking". If a flower is replaced with a human being, it may be "just smiling without thinking". Even if you try to concentrate on your breathing, if you have fear and anxiety and can't stop thinking (if you are wandering in the past or the future and can't return to the present moment), unfortunately you are still ego (separate self, fake self) and can't generate joy and happiness. Therefore, those who can't generate joy and happiness by Exercise 1-2, will have no chance to recognize, embrace, relieve the pain and suffering even if they go ahead, because they have no energy of mindfulness. So, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that we should keep conscious breathing or walking without going ahead until we return to awareness (non-separate self, true self), or until we can practice mindful breathing and walking. In this sense, we can say that Exercise 5-6 is a mean to check whether or not we are practicing Right Mindfulness by ourselves. (7-8): Painful feelings Exercise 5-6 are exercises to recognize and keep positive feelings, while Exercise 7-8 are exercises to recognize and calm negative feelings (painful feelings). If the whole body in Exercise 3-4 is replaced with painful feelings, what we are supposed to do in Exercise 5-6 is exactly the same as Exercise 3-4. By the energy of mindfulness, we recognize our painful feeling, embrace it and calm it by releasing the tension in the feelings. When we recognize our feelings, we are witnessing or observing our feelings. Therefore, we are not the feelings. Our true self is awareness (awakened consciousness) who is witnessing our feelings. So, we don't have to be overwhelmed even by our strong emotions like despair. If we just keep observing it, it will disappear in time. Feelings are impermanent (always changing) and are like a temporary storm, so should not panic and react right away. (to be continued)
The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html Exercise 1-4: Body (1-2):Breathing These first two exercises (conscious breathing) are very important. That's because we are supposed to stop thinking, or perception, and establish ourselves in mindfulness through this initial conscious breathing. In other words, we are supposed to transform ourselves from ego (separate self, fake self) to awareness (non-separate self, true self, Dharma body) through this initial conscious breathing. If we can stop thinking, this transformation automatically occurs in a moment. However, if a person has strong fear or anxiety, that person can not stop thinking because s/he keeps thinking even though s/he tries to concentrate on breathing. We need to keep in mind that if we do not establish ourselves in mindfulness at this initial stage, we will not be able to expect the effects of the third exercise and after.Thich Nhat Hanh says that one in-breath (a few seconds) is enough to return to our true self. And I understand that what he means by this statement is this initial conscious breathing. (3-4): The whole body When we have established ourselves in mindfulness through the first two exercises (conscious breathing), awareness (awakened consciousness) will be able to automatically recognize what is going on inside and around us by the energy of mindfulness. In fact, we will be able to recognize everything at once (we attain various insights at the same time), but in the 16 exercises on mindful breathing we will be aware of them step by step in order. The objects we recognize are 5 aggregates (the five Skandhas) which constitute a human being, namely body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. Concretely speaking, we will recognize and calm them in the following order; Exercise 3-4: body, 7-8: feelings, 9-12: mental formations and consciousness, 13-16: perceptions. First of all, in Exercise 3-4 we will recognize the pain in the whole body and release the tension of the painful part. Since the body and the mind are closely interacting with each other, we can not concentrate and establish ourselves in mindfulness if the physical pain is intense. Therefore, first of all, we start with checking the health of the whole body with a ray of mindfulness like X-ray, and caring the unhealthy part well by embracing them. As mentioned above, the energy of mindfulness has the function to recognize, to embrace, to ease and relieve the pain and suffering. In addition, as soon as we establish ourselves in mindfulness, there will be the effect of stopping, resting, calming and healing at once. (to be continued)
Watch deeply the following video of Thay's Dharma talk on Diamond Sutra from 45:34.
The followings are excerpts from the video.
Quote: If there is no suffering, there is no way that your child can learn how to understand and to love. We can not grow up as the good human beings. Only when you are in touch with suffering, that you can cultivate understanding. When you understand someone, you don't hate, you don't get angry at him anymore. And love is based on understanding.If you can not understand, you can not love. If you don't understand thesuffering and difficultyof your partner, you can not love him, love her and make him or her happy. That's very plain. That is why love is made of understanding. And understanding is first of all, understanding of suffering. And you have to understand your own suffering first before you understand his suffering or her suffering. Understanding suffering gives birth to compassion that has a power to heal and to transform. And that is the kind of energy that we need the most in the world. We have to produce understanding and compassion because these two items can not be found in the supermarket. They don't sell that. They sell only the things that can help us cover up the suffering. :Unquote (My commentary) Thay said, "Only when you are in touch with suffering, that you can cultivate understanding." Understandingmeansinsight, and mindfulnessandconcentrationare essential in order to attain insight. In this sense, Thay's words may mean that if we are in touch with suffering (if we understand the root cause of suffering), we can stop thinking and be mindful. If so, it is the same as my experience. Thay often teaches us that conscious breathing or walking enables us to be mindful (to stop thinking and return to true self). But I feel that this instruction is supplementary and the true method of being mindful is by understanding the root cause of our own suffering through insight. So, suffering isvery precious.Suffering is the foundation of understanding which generates love. That's why we should not run away from suffering. We have to face the suffering. In order to understand the root cause of our own suffering, we need to be fed up with it and strongly want to change ourselves. This intention and determination gives birth to insight. In the process of looking deeply into the suffering, we can be automatically mindful and concentrated.
Please refer to my following post to Thay's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/thichnhathanh/posts/10154349910279635?comment_id=10154350854029635¬if_t=like¬if_id=1480597439075147 Recently I feel that there is a contradiction in Thay's teaching. My question is "How can those who have fear and anxiety return to true self?" I want to ask this question because my understanding of Thay's teaching is based on the following flow (1) and my experience is based on the following flow (2). (1) mindfulness = stop thinking ⇒ concentration = deep looking ⇒ insight = understanding the root cause ⇒ generate love and compassion ⇒ transformation (2) understanding the root cause = insight ⇒ unconditional self-acceptance = unconditional self-love ⇒ no fear and insecurity ⇒ non-thinking ⇒ mindfulness To summarize the above two flows, (1) Mindfulness (to stop thinking) is essential to understand the root cause of our suffering. (2) Understanding the root cause is essential to stop thinking (mindfulness). The following is my post. Quote: How can those who have fear and anxiety return to true self? They can't stop thinking even though they try conscious breathing or walking unless they understand the root cause of their fear and anxiety. To recognize suffering, embrace it, relieve it and look deeply into it, we need to stop thinking first. Who observes the thoughts (brain)? I understand that's awareness (awakened consciousness). Only if we can stop thinking (stop using our brain), awareness revives. Awareness has just been covered up by ego (separate self). This is my experience. So, I am convinced that brain (maybe left cerebral hemisphere) can stop thinking. In other words, human beings can just bloom like a flower without thinking. Without thinking, awareness always attains insight. My answer to my above question is as follows: We need to be fed up with our suffering and strongly want to change ourselves. Then we will have more chance to attain insight of the root cause of suffering. Once we attain the insight, we can accept ourselves unconditionally and stop thinking because we have no fear and insecurity anymore. So, conscious breathing or walking doesn't work for those who have fear and insecurity to stop thinking and to be mindful. Unconditional self-acceptance is the key. For that, we need to understand the root cause of our suffering through insight. And for the insight, we need to be mindful and concentrated. However, those who have fear and insecurity can't stop thinking through conscious breathing and walking to be mindful. And the truth is that most people think, which is a proof of having fear and insecurity. In this sense, it can be said that mindfulness can't be attained through conscious breathing and walking only. I hope that Thay will answer to my important question. This is not for myself because I understood the root cause of my suffering through insight before starting to learn and practice Thay's teaching. Thay's answer will benefit a lot of Thay's followers and practitioners. We, as humans on this planet, can exist without thoughtifwe revive awareness (non-separate self, true self).I (awareness) am experiencing it 24 hours a day. In other words, I am stopping and meditating 24 hours a day. I am sure that fully enlightened people like Thay must be also experiencing the same thing. And you may not believe it but you revive awareness during your deep sleep state because you can't think. Furthermore, all animals, plants and minerals are always awareness because they don't think. That "if" is a big IF because it means self-transformation from separate self to non-separate self. The extinction of all notions is essential for the full enlightenment. For that, we need to understand that all notions (thoughts) are wrong through the ultimate truth of emptiness (interbeing, non-separation, non-discrimination, non-duality, wholeness). Simply speaking, you may think too much.Who thinks? It is not true self. It is ego (fake self) who was made up by your wounded inner child (true self in babyhood) for self protection from your parents. So, you need to find out what happened in your babyhood. That is the root cause of your fear and insecurity. Through insight, I saw everything in a flash and understood the root cause. "No wonder!" was my first impression. :Unquote (My commentary) My answer to my above question is as follows: ① Intention: being fed up with our suffering and strongly want to change ourselves ② Determination: self-transformation ③ Insight: understanding the root cause of our suffering ④ Unconditional self-acceptance = Unconditional self-love ⑤ No afflictions: no fear and insecurity ⑥ Non-thinking: stopping thinking ⑦ Mindfulness, Concentration, Insight Unconditional self-acceptance is the foundation for mindfulness. Without unconditional self-acceptance, mindfulness is not possible because we can't stop thinking. No unconditional self-acceptance, no mindfulness. For unconditional self-acceptance, we need to understand the root cause of our suffering through insight. Once we attain insight of the root cause of our suffering, we can stop thinking because we have no fear and insecurity anymore. So, the fruit of understanding the root cause of our suffering is mindfulness. Mindfulness can't be attained through conscious breathing or walking only. For understanding the root cause of our suffering, we need to be fed up with our suffering and strongly want to change ourselves.
Quote: We see the mind like a house, so if your house is on fire, you need to take care of the fire, not to go look for the person that made the fire. Take care of those emotions first; it’s the priority. Because anything that comes from a place of fear and anxiety and anger will only make the fire worse. Come back and find a place of calm and peace to cool the flame of emotion down. As a collective energy, fear and anger can be very destructive. We make the wrong decisions if we base it on fear, anger, and wrong perception. Those emotions cloud our mind. So the first thing in the practice that we learn from the Buddhist tradition is to come back and take care of our emotion. We use the mindfulness to recognize it. People are so convinced that anger and all this energy will produce change. But in fact it’s very destructive, because you’re opposing. Opposition wastes energy. It’s not healing. In a way, we Buddhists look more at energy than personality. That helps us be wiser. Compassion is not sitting in your room; it’s actually very active and engaging. We produced Trump, so we are co-responsible. Our culture, our society, made him. ... We have to see him inside of us. You cannot end discrimination by calling the other names. All the people who voted for him are not bigots and racists and women haters. We are all judgmental, sometimes even a bit racist. Our society is very vulnerable to being very polarized and that’s what the media is taking advantage of. We have to be really careful. ... I’m not fooled by the media anymore. I was child in Vietnam. I lived with this stuff, a divided system like this. They divided us, they called us north and south. All we wanted was independence and to determine our own livelihood. We think democracy is the highest thing; it is not democracy, come on. We impose it on others and create division. Go take refuge in nature, and find a cause where your heart doesn’t feel inactive and in despair. This is the medicine. Don’t allow hate and anger to take over your world. You can only be there to offer them that kindnessif you are stable.You cannot help themif you are filled with hate and fear. What people need is your non-fear, your stability, solidity, clarity. This is what we can offer. Our minds and hearts need food. And meditation is a kind of food. So we feed ourselves like that. You need to eat, and your peace, kindness, clarity need to eat as well. Meditation is not just praying; no, you’re cultivating this so you can offer it to others. When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm. If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful. Meditation is not an esoteric practice; it’s not something you do only in a meditation hall or Buddhist retreat center. It can happen right in whatever activity you’re doing — while walking, in the office. It means you are there, present with calm and peace. With a breath, you can bring calm, clarity and rest your thinking. When we engage with worldly politics, we try not to take sides. It’s easy to choose a side, but as Buddhist practitioners we try to have more inclusiveness to intervene. With meditation we learn to touch our own deep suffering. Stopping is a requirement before deep listening. When there is discrimination, you can use the opportunity to increase understanding. ... You have to find also the good qualities in them. Don’t focus on wrong views because that makes you angry. Only when you can be a good listener and be nonjudgmental, is a dialogue possible. I heard that he took his left hand; he went like this (opens palm). You can interpret that all you want. (I understand that Thay's message is "Just bloom like a lotus flower without thinking".) ... He is totally aware of it, but his mind is in trying to recover and heal and be present with his community than with political things. The future is built with the present moment and how we take care of it. If you are fearful, the future will be fearful. If you are uncooperative, the future will be divisive. This is very important.
The future is not something that will come to us; the future is built by us, by how we speak and what we do in the present moment. :Unquote (My commentary) If you blame Trump, you are Trump. That's because the way you see depends on the way you think. You are actually seeing yourself through Trump as a mirror. What you see is the object of your mind, namely your mind. So, you are actually blaming yourself. You have to reflect on yourself a lot. If you accept yourself unconditionally, you don't need to criticize others. Instead, you can accept all unconditionally.Non-separation, non-discrimination, non-duality, or the wholeness is the ultimate truth.
Quote: What does it mean?, “I take refuge in the Buddha.” Buddha is the one who is mindful, awake, enlightened. Taking refuge is not believing in a God or deity. We all have a seed of mindfulness, understanding, and love. We can become a person who is fully awake, enlightened, just like the Buddha.Taking refuge is confirming the fact that you can be enlightened. You are a Buddha. This is not a declarationof faith, but a commitment to practice. In every breath we are taking refuge. In every mindful step we are taking refuge. The way in is also the way out. Our spiritual life should be established in that vision – being truly ourselves. Practicing to bring a spiritual dimension into your life. Through drinking our tea, preparing our breakfast, or brushing our teeth. These are spiritual acts. Not being caught by the future or the past. This is being a Buddha. Going home to ourselves. How is this act accomplished? Practicing in a community like Plum Village, everyone is supported by the sangha. This is taking refuge in the sangha. We have faith in the community. Helping to build this refuge for others. Story of when the Buddha was about 80-years old and how he offered the teaching on taking refuge in the island of yourself. Here we can encounter the foundation of ourselves – the island includes the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. This is the practice of Plum Village also. How do we respond when we are lonely, not feeling like ourselves? Our feelings of fear? Do we know how to practice going home to ourselves? Walking meditation is a method. Can we walk like a Buddha? Enjoying every step. This is a miracle. The Buddha-nature is within you and through mindfulness, concentration, and insight it is you that is performing a miracle. It is a practice of enjoyment. :Unquote (My commentary) In other words, I may say that "I (ego = separate self) accept myself (the Buddha = non-separate self = true self = awareness) unconditionally." Relying on the Buddha. Resting in God. Relying on the Dharma body, the cosmic body, or the whole cosmos. Relying on non-separate self, or awareness. I understand all above are the same as "I take refuge in the Buddha." (Cf.)http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LA87R7A http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/3-versions-of-oneself http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/taking-refuge/
