MEDITATION, THE WAY TO SPIRITUAL FULFILMENT
Meditation, the Essential Path to Enlightenment
Many people have the mistaken impression that meditation is necessarily sitting cross-legged with eyes close. While this is the most common form of meditation, there are other forms as well. Meditation may be performed while standing, sitting upright on a seat, lying down, or moving above as in practising Chi Kung or Taijiquan. Chanting a Buddha's name with a one-pointed mind is a form of meditation. Immersed in prayers or absorbed in one's work is another form of meditation. Whatever form meditation may take, it always involves a state of mind different from that of ordinary consciousness.
In the mundane dimension, meditation enables us to produce better result whatever we set out to perform. This seemingly extravagant claim will become acceptable when we realize that meditation trains the mind. In the supramundane dimension, meditation leads us to the greatest achievement any being can ever attain, i.e. the actualization of cosmic reality. Readers who are puzzled by this statement will find its explanation as well as techniques for its attainment in the wisdom of the Heart Sutra detailed in this book.
Buddhism is exceeding rich in meditation techniques and philosophy. This is understandable as meditation is the single most important factor in Buddhism. All the astonishing discoveries made by Buddhist masters concerning reality, ranging from the infinitesimal sub-atomic particles to the infinite galaxies and which are now confirmed by discoveries in the latest sciences, are achieved during deep levels of meditation. All attainment of enlightenment in all schools of Buddhism as well as the highest spiritual attainment of the greatest masters of the world's great religions, are accomplished in meditation. The whole business of Buddhism is in fact to attain Siddharta Guatama Sakyamuni's meditation experience. The Heart Sutra is a record and report of this attainment by Avalokitesvara.
The Universality of All Religions
It is heart-warming to know that both the techniques and the final attainment of the greatest masters of all the world's great religions are similar, although ordinary followers, because of their inadequate understanding and because of superficial variance in environment, rituals and vocabulary, may think their religions different from one another. A simple experiment can verify this great truth. Below are the techniques taught by the greatest masters of different religions to attain their highest spiritual accomplishment. Connotative terms that reveal the particular religion in question, are replaced by the neutral term "Supreme Reality". Can you tell the religious background of these masters?
Technique 1:
Having emptied the mind of all distractions, introversion can begin. Introversion concentrates the mind on its own deepest part in what is seen as the final step before the soul finds the Supreme Reality.
Technique 2:
The aspirant should meditate on the Supreme Reality. Once he is in meditation, he unites his mind with his breath, and eliminates all emotions and all cares, and just focuses on the Supreme Reality.
Technique 3:
The seeker should think that the Supreme Reality is always with him and that separation from the Supreme Reality is impossible. This is how this contemplation is to be done: the seeker closes his eyes and rivetting his attention on his heart, thinks that the Supreme Reality is with him. He should be so engrossed in this thought that everything that is not the Supreme Reality is naughted and he is no longer conscious of his own self.
Technique 4:
If the mind is concentrated, we do not hear anything, we do not see anything -- all our senses are in abeyance. External sounds, external vision, all external perception can be overcome by concentration. Intensity of concentration leads to meditation. But meditation is not easy. It means feeling the presence of the Supreme Reality within. The highest form of meditation is to fix the mind on the Real, the Unchangeable.
Not only it is difficult to tell the individual religion of the above masters because all the four methods mentioned above are similar, but also all the four meditation techniques the masters used can easily be mistaken to be Buddhist. The principal idea in all the above quotations is that realization of the supreme spiritual fulfillment is through meditation on the Supreme Reality.
The first technique is by the Christian saint St Augustine; in the original passage, "God" replaces the term "the Supreme Reality". The second technique is by the great Taoist master of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Chong Xu; the term "Supreme Reality" is to be replaced by "void" in the original. The third technique is described by Mir Valiuddin, a modern Muslim master; in the original passage, "the Supreme Reality" is to be replaced by "God". The fourth meditation technique is by Swami Paramananda, a modern Hindu master; "the Supreme Reality" is to be replaced by "God".
Spiritual Fulfillment in Various Religions
Let us now examine what the greatest masters say about their supreme spiritual experience. Can you tell the religion of these masters from their quotations below? Again, connotative terms are replaced by the neutral term "Supreme Reality".
Experience 1:
What is to know of the Unity of the Supreme Reality?
It is to extinguish oneself in the presence of the One.
Shouldst thou desire to be as bright as day,
Burn out thy separate existence like the candle of night,
Since separate existence brings in violent inebriation.
Reason forsakes the mind, shame, the heart;
He who loses his separate existence,
The result of what he does is always full of bliss.
Experience 2:
He saw a light which banished away the darkness of the night -- upon this sight a marvelous strange thing followed. The whole world gathered -- as it were -- under one beam of the sun, was presented before his eyes. For by that supernatural light, the capacity of the inward soul was enlarged. But albeit the world was gathered before his eyes, yet were not the heaven and earth drawn into any lesser form than they be of themselves, but the soul or the beholder was more enlarged.
Experience 3:
Thence come cessation of ignorance, the cause of suffering, and freedom from the power of life and death. Then the whole universe, with all its objects of sense-knowledge, becomes as nothing in comparison to that infinite knowledge which is free from all obstructions and impurities.
Experience 4:
The Real Mind does not think; does not ponder; there is no thought. When there is no thinking, no thought, life and death cease. As I cultivate my mind, there is emptiness, devoid of all phenomena. Whatever phenomena there are, are due to principle. This is the primordial principle, the principle of the Supreme Reality. Before me is the spread of emptiness; all consciousness is unseparated and infinite. As I return to my real, permanent, original self, there is void and tranquility, an undifferentiated spread of bright¬ness, attaining the great cosmic spontaneity.
The first quotation records the experience of Mawlana Jalalad Din Rumi; the term "Supreme Reality" is to be replaced by "God" in the original passage. This Muslim master teaches that in the moment of supreme spiritual fulfillment, the aspirant and God is one; there is nothing besides God. He also teaches that the mind must be emptied of thoughts, and the heart emptied of shame if anyone is to attain this highest fulfill¬ment. If we substitute the term "God" with "the Tathagata" -- both of which are respectively Muslim and Buddhist terms for the Supreme Reality -- the above poem can easily be taken as a Buddhist gatha.
The second quotation records the ecstatic spiri¬tual experience of Saint Benedict. It is similar to an enlightenment experience of a Buddhist master, in which he perceives the whole world in celestial light, and directly experiences that he expands to become the universe.
In the third quotation, Patanjali, the father of yoga, describes the highest accomplishment of a yogi when his atman attains union with Brahman, the Hindu term for the Supreme Reality. This quotation reads exactly like a Buddhist text, especially when "life and death" in the quotation above is replaced by "karma" as in the original. When the aspirant attains his highest spiritual fulfillment, he realizes that all the objects that he earlier perceived with his senses, are actually nothing, because ultimate reality is unobstructed and pure. This is exactly the same as saying, in Buddhist vocabulary, the enlightened being realizes that pheno¬mena are illusory because ultimate reality is undifferentiated and tranquil.
The fourth quotation is taken from a Taoist classic, The True Teaching on Cosmic Nature, by Ji Yi Zi. The expressions "life and death cease" and "the Supreme Reality" in the above quotation are replaced by "the cycle of rebirth ceases" and "Tao" respectively in the original. The Real Mind means the Universal Mind. The Taoist master explains that in the Universal Mind, or ultimate reality, there is no thought; when thought ceases, the cycle of rebirth ceases; in his highest spiritual attainment, he experiences that ultimate reality is emptiness, devoid of all phenomena; phenomena appear to us in our ordinary consciousness because of the primordial principle, which in Buddhism is described as the principle of dependent origination (to be explained in a later chapter). He mentions a great cosmic truth that is often emphasized in Zen Buddhism, i.e. when he attains the highest spiritual fulfillment, it is returning to his original self. In Zen vocabulary, it is expressed as when one attains enlightenment, it is actualizing his original Buddha nature. Both statements mean the same thing: when we are Enlightened, we realize that our individual bodies and individual souls are an illusion; in reality we are the universe!
It is understandable that many readers may be puzzled by what is described in the above paragraphs. What is meant by saying, for example, that phenomena are illusion, and ultimate reality is undifferentiated? You will have a good understanding of all these important questions concerning cosmic reality in the course of reading this book.
Meditation, therefore, is the essential path to enlightenment, or by whatever name the highest spiri¬tual fulfillment is called in various religions. It is indeed comforting to note that the greatest masters of all the world's great religions not only employ similar methods in their search for the highest truth, but the highest spiritual attainment they achieve are also similar. There is, however, one significant difference: apart from Buddhism (except in the Vajrayana tradition which will be explained later), in all the other world's religions, such wisdom is reserved only for the highest adepts; an ordinary follower, because of his inadequate knowledge, may mistakenly consider such teaching heretical! In Buddhism, such wisdom is taught to all, and for those who are not ready to understand it, Buddhist masters employ various expedient means to help them develop at their respective intellectual or spiritual levels.
Because of different abilities, needs and other factors of the different aspirants, Buddhist masters have taught many kinds of meditation. All these different kinds may, for convenience, be classified into three main catego¬ries, namely meditation to attain a one-pointed mind, medi¬tation on the void, and employing visualization in meditation. Generally, although there may be many exceptions, meditation to attain a one-pointed mind is principally practised in Theravada Buddhism, meditation on the void in Mahayana Buddhism, and the use of visualization in Vajrayana Buddhism.
There are numerous types of meditation in each category, and in each meditation type there are numerous techniques. Indeed, there is some truth in the saying that there are as many meditation techniques as there are meditators. In the category of meditation to attain a one-pointed mind, for example, there are different types like using the breath, objects, mantras, etc to help the meditator to attain a one-pointed mind. In the meditation type of using the breath, for example, there are different techniques in counting the breath, following the flow of the breath, and so on.
The three main categories of meditation are described below, with an example each of the meditation technique taught by a famous master. All the meditation techniques described below, like almost all the meditation techniques for the highest spiritual fulfillment, are practised in the lotus position with eyes gently close or half close. It must be emphasized that the meditation techniques described here and elsewhere in this book are meant for information, and not for self practice. Anyone who wishes to practise meditation should seek a qualified instructor; uninformed practice may bring very little benefit even after training for a long time, and faulty practice may result in serious harmful effect.
Attaining a One-Pointed Mind
The following technique, known as anapanasati or "mindfulness on in-and-out breathing", is described by the modern well known Theravada master, Walpola Rahula, in his book, What the Buddha Taught:
You breathe in and out all day and night, but you are never mindful of it, you never for a second concentrate your mind on it. Now you are going to do just this. Breathe in and out as usual, without any effort or strain. Now, bring your mind to concentrate on your breathing-in and breathing-out; let your mind watch and observe your breathing in and out; let your mind be aware and vigilant of your breathing in and out. When you breathe, you sometimes take deep breaths, sometimes not. This does not matter at all. Breathe normally and naturally. The only thing is that when you take deep breaths, you should be aware that they are deep breaths, and so on. In other words, your mind should be so fully concentrated on your breathing that you are aware of its movements and changes. Forget all other things, your surroundings, your environment; do not raise your eyes to look at anything. Try to do this for five or ten minutes.
At the beginning you will find it extremely difficult to bring your mind to concentrate on your breathing. You will be astonished how your mind runs away. It does not stay. You begin to think of various things. You hear sounds outside. Your mind is disturbed and distracted. You may be dismayed and disappointed. But if you continue to practise this exercise twice daily, morning and evening, for about five or ten minutes at a time, you will gradually, by and by, begin to concentrate your mind on your breathing. After a certain period, you will experience just that split second when your mind is fully concentrated on your breathing, when you will not hear even sounds nearby, when no external world exists for you. This slight moment is such a tremendous experience for you, full of joy, happiness and tranquility, that you would like to continue. But still you cannot. Yet if you go on practising this regularly, you may repeat the experience again and again for longer and longer periods. That is the moment when you lose yourself completely in your mindfulness of breathing. As long as you are conscious of yourself you can never concentrate on anything.
This exercise of mindfulness of breathing, which is one of the simplest and easiest practices, is meant to develop concentration leading to very high mystic attainments (dhyana). Besides, the power of concentration is essential for any kind of deep understanding, penetration, insight into the nature of things, including the realization of Nirvana.
Apart from all this, this exercise on breathing gives you immediate results. It is good for your physical health, for relaxation, sound sleep, and for efficiency in your daily work. It makes you calm and tranquil. Even at moments when you are nervous and excited, if you practise this for a couple of minutes, you will see for yourself that you become immediately calm and at peace. You feel as if you have awakened after a good rest.
This meditation technique is as simple as the effects are marvelous. Many people have to try it out themselves, with the help of a qualified instructor, to believe its claim. This type of meditation, which results in a tranquil one-pointed mind, is known as tranquility meditation or samatha meditation. When the mind is one-pointed, it is employed to investigate into the nature of reality, in another type of meditation known as insight meditation or vispassana meditation.
Meditation of No-Mind
The next kind of meditation, Meditation of No-Mind, is taught by the great 7th century Zen master, Hui Neng the Sixth Patriarch, in his famous Platform Sutra, which many people regarded as the most important scripture in Zen Buddhism. Because this teaching was written in classical Chinese which is a very concise language, and also because the concepts in the teaching are profound, some readers may not understand it in its initial reading. Much of its difficulty is explained in my commentary following the quotation.
The fundamental purpose of sitting meditation is neither looking at the mind nor at the void; nor do we say there is no activity. If we say we look at the mind, the mind is originally deluded; delusion is like illusion, so there is nothing worthwhile to see. If we say we look at the void, man's nature is basically the void; it is because of delusion that the void of the Supreme Reality is obstructed. Liberated from deluded thought, basic nature is the void. If we do not see the void of our basic nature, but allow thoughts to arise so as to see the void, what we see is a deluded void. Delusion has no real existence, thus we know that what we see is illusory. The void has no physical forms or characteristics. But ordinary people create physical forms and characteristics and say this is the purpose of meditation.
Hence, in our teaching, what is meant by zuo chan or sitting meditation? In our teaching, when there is no obstruction whatsoever -- externally to all entities and space, internally no thoughts arise in the mind -- that is zuo, or sitting. Perceiving the original nature without any perturbation is chan, or meditation. What is chan ding (dhyana-samadhi, or cosmic stillness)? Externally being free from all characteristics is chan (dhyana), and internally being unperturbed is ding (samadhi).
These two crucial passages describe a characteristic type of meditation in Zen Buddhism, which is quite different from the types of meditation usually practised in other schools of Buddhism. In Theravada Buddhism, as mentioned above, the main form of meditation is attaining a one-pointed mind, using real or imaginary objects as tools, such as breathing, a Buddha statue or a point in the meditator's body. In Vajrayana Buddhism, visualization is usually employed in meditation. In Mahayana Buddhism the meditator often focuses on the void.
But the Zen meditation taught here by Hui Neng is different even from the meditation types generally practised in other Mahayana schools, because instead of focusing on the void, Hui Neng advocates letting the mind be natural and spontaneous. The meditator's mind is therefore in the midst of the phenomenal world, yet not affected by phenomena; in the midst of thoughts, yet not abided by thoughts. As soon as he tries to focus his mind on the void, or on any object, or to visualize, thoughts arise. Hence, this great master advises that the best way to prevent thoughts from arising so as to attain a state of no-thought or no-mind is to let the mind be spontaneous, since the mind is actually and originally no different from ultimate reality.
While in the first passage above Hui Neng explains what the Zen meditator should not do, in the second passage he explains what he should do. The master teaches that during sitting meditation, externally the meditator should be free from the interference of countless phenomena, and internally he should be free from thoughts. Only then, he achieves the objective of sitting quietly. When he meditates, he should perceive ultimate reality as tranquil and undifferentiated. Only then, he achieves the objective of meditation. Thus, attaining chan ding, (dhyana-samadhi or cosmic stillness), i.e. the ultimate reality, is being free from all characteristics of the phenomenal world and being unperturbed by thoughts.
Therefore, an enlightened person exists in the phenomenal world but is not affected by the phenomenal world; thoughts may arise in his mind which is actually the Universal Mind when he is enlightened, but these thoughts do not abide, thus failing to limit him to an illusory portion of space and time. In simpler words, when an Enlightened person looks at his own body, he does not see his personal body; when he searches for his mind, he does not find his personal mind. This is because, during his Enlightenment, his personal body has become the same as the Cosmic Body, and his personal mind has become the same as the Universal Mind. Yet onlookers seeing him sitting in meditation in the very moment of his Enlightenment, clearly see his physical body, and assume he has his personal mind. All this will become more comprehensible when we study Avalokitesvara's experience of emptiness in the next chapter.
Using Visualization in Meditation
Another way of classifying the numerous methods of Buddhist cultivation, besides the more popular way of classifying into the traditions of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, is to divide them into the Exoteric or Open Teaching, and the Esoteric or Secret Teaching. The Exoteric Teaching is so-called because it is made accessible to all who wish to follow it, whereas the Esoteric Teaching is reserved exclusively to initiated disciples. All the teachings in the Theravada and the Mahayana traditions are exoteric or open: the highest Theravada and Mahayana teachings leading to the highest enlightenment are public property; Theravada and Mahayana monks regard it as their duty to clarify any doubt any followers may have. Much of the teachings in Vajrayana Buddhism is esoteric or secret: amongst many Vajrayana sects, it is still considered a cardinal sin to reveal important techniques to outsiders; all followers must be initiated by Vajrayana masters and are given a secret mantra each which they must never disclose to another person unless they themselves have become enlightened.
Many people believe that the Exoteric Teaching was a later development, much influenced by Indian Tantrism, because it is just unthinkable that the great compassionate Buddha would have condoned holding back any information that could help another being to be enlightened. On the other hand, Vajrayanists believe that the higher teachings of Buddhism, which can develop incrediable psychic powers, might be abused if taught to wrong people, and also that pious people would have no use of such higher teachings if they are not spiritually ready. Moreover, although this is not officially mentioned, it would be difficult to make public the sex rituals some Vajrayanist sects believe would help the aspirants to attain Enlightenment, whereas virtually all Theravadins and Mahayanists have always regarded such rituals with suspect. Indeed, according to both Theravada and Mahayana teaching, having sex with any follower, especially under the pretext of injecting power, is a very grave sin.
Hence, the following meditation technique from the Secret Mantra Vajra Vehicle of Buddhism, provided by the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is necessarily brief. While devotees using other Buddhist cultivation methods may take many lifetimes to attain Enlightenment, the Dalai Lama explains that using this Mantra Vehicle "a person of superior faculties can become fully Enlightened in one lifetime or even in several years. ... However, it is not suitable that they (the four basic sets of tantras in this Mantra Vehicle) be proclaimed in the marketplace."
A person who has experienced the wish to leave cyclic existence as well as the altruistic intention to become Enlightened or who, in the absence of such, has previously experienced these to some degree first receives initiation in a mandala of the appropriate tantra-set from a fully qualified lama. Then the practitioner keeps the pledges and vows in the proper way and, with this as his or her basis, one-pointedly imagines the cycle of a deity, this constituting the class of appearances. Through that practice, the Form Body of a Buddha is achieved.
Also, through becoming skilled in the techniques of putting concentrative emphasis on internal winds [or energies] (rlung, prana), channels (rtsa, nadi), essential constituents (khams, dhatu), and so forth, the mind enters into the sphere of the Great Seal (phyag rgya chen po, mahamudra) of clear light devoid of [dualistic] elaborations. Through being absorbed in this yoga, the resultant Wisdom Truth Body of a Buddha is achieved.
In the above quotation, "to leave cyclic exist¬ence" means "to be liberated from the cycle of birth and rebirth". The intention to become enlightened is altruistic because the Vajrayanist, like a Mahayanist, can then help others in their salvation. This wish may occur in the present life or in a past life. This aspirant then receives initiation from a Vajrayana master, who will provide the aspirant with a mandala accord¬ing to the latter's faculties or mental abilities. A mandala is a mystic represenatation in geometric designs of the cosmos with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
After having kept his pledges and vows, like pledging to abandon the ten non-virtues and vowing for self and others' liberation, the aspirant in his meditation visualizes with a one-pointed mind his chosen deity of his mandala, who is usually a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. This deity is not real: not only the deity in his meditation is a creation of his individual mind, the actual deity appearing in the reward or divine body is also a creation of the collective mind. In ultimate reality, there are no deities, no aspir¬ants and no phenomena whatsoever; there is only undifferentiated universal consciousness. In this way he achieves emancipation from the attachment to phenomena.
Meanwhile the aspirant also improves his other meditation skills, such as visualizing vital energy flowing in the meridians of his body, and visualizing the elemental ingredients that make up his physical body. As he deepens his cultivation, he realizes that all these are illusion; in reality there are no meridians, no elemental ingredients, indeed there is no self. There is no duality, everything is undifferentiated. In this way he attains emancipation from the attachment to self. With liberation from the illusion of phenomena, and from the illusion of self, the aspirant attains the Wisdom Truth Body of a Buddha, which means the Supreme Reality. In other words, he attains Enlightenment, directly experiencing the greatest cosmic truth that he actually is the whole cosmos!
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