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The lost knowledge of how
to exit from the Samsara
This I wrote for my son But later thought to give this as my Birthday Gift to all of you Originally written in April 2016 and last edited in Sept. 2021
A short Summery in Sinhalese language
අර මස් වැදැල්ලට කව්ද පන දෙන්නේ... ? විඥානය
පන දෙන්නේ
නිවන් මග කෙටියෙන් බෞව්ද්ධයෙක් වෙලා ඉපදිලා .. ඉහලම බෞවුද්ධ පාසලක ඉගෙන ගෙනත් රටේ තොටේ ප්රසිද්ධ අපවත් වූ ගරු සෝම හිමි වැනි හිමි වරුන් ඉතා ලගින් වසර ගණනක් ඇසුරු කරලත් .. හරි බුද්ධ ධර්මය මොකක්දැයි හොයා ගන්න මේ ලියන මටත් වසර 60 වන තුරු බැරි වුනේ අහම්බෙන්ද ? නැහැ .. හේතුව බුද්ධාගම තිබුනත් නියම බුද්ධදේශනාව හෙවත් බුද්ධ ධර්මය මෙතෙක් යටපත්ව තිබුන නිසයි .. ඒ නිසයි කොපමණ උත්සහ කලත් භාවනා කරමින් කොපමණ හුලං ඇද්දත් කිසිම කෙනෙකුට නිවන කෙසේ වෙතත් මගපල වත් ලබා ගනිඉමට එතෙක් බැරි උනේ .. නමුත් දැන් නිවන්දොර ඇරි ඇත යටපත්ව තිබුන නියම බුද්ධදේශනාව හෙවත් බුද්ධ ධර්මය නැවත මතුවීම තුලින් ඥානවන්තයන්ට නිවන් දොර විවුර්තව ඇත ඒ ප්රධාන වශයෙන් අපවත්වී වදාළ වහරක හිමියන්ටත් ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiNzmtea6KbsaPrgEKIHqyg ) මීවනපලානේ හිමියන්ටත් ( https://www.youtube.com/c/ParamaNibbanaDharmayathanaya/videos ) වලස්මුල්ලේ අබය හිමියන්ටත් ( https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nirapekshathwaye+maga+season+8+episode+1+ ) බෝපිටියේ සුමංගල හිමි ටත් ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECxFbMfVCRX-Pt2ReOaxrg/featured ) ස්තුති වන්නටය ලින්ක් දුන්නේ ඒවා අසන්නටය මෙතෙක් අපට උගන්නා තිබුනේ නියම බුද්ධ දර්මය නොවන බව ඉහත දේශනා අසන විට මනාව පැහැදිලිවේ .. එවිට ඒවා මෙතෙක් අපෙන් සගවා තිබීම හේතුවෙන් දහම නොදැනම මියගිය අපේ දෙමවුපියන් හා නෑදෑ යින්ට සිදුවූ අපරාදය ගැන මහා දුකක් කණගාටුවක් ඇතිවේ .. දැනුත් .. බුද්ධ සූර්යආලෝකය මෙතරම් පැහැදිලිව උදාවෙලා තියෙද්දිත් .. බලන්න මේ හාමුදුරුවරු දැනුත් අදුරේ අතපත ගාන හැටි .. ගිහි අපිට තේරෙන දෙයක් වත් පැවිදි මේ යට තේරුම් ගන්න බැරි හැටි .. ඇයි හේතුව පොතේ තියෙන පරණ හනමිටියම ගිරවු වගේ කියනවා මිසක් .. ධර්මය හොයන්නේ නැහැ .. හරි ධර්මය ලැබුනත් පිළිගන්නේ නැහැ .. මොකද ඒ යට සිව්පසය පාඩු වෙන නිසා .. මොකද බුදු හාමුදුරුවෝ කියල තියෙනවනේ නිවන් දකින්න නම් .. පුණ්ය පාප පහීනස්ස... කියල .. මිනිස්සු පුණ්ය පහීනස්ස කලොත් කියල ඒ අය බයයි පාඩු වෙයි කියල . මොකද ඒ අය බොහොමයක්... ලාබ පර්යේෂණය මිස අරිය පර්යේෂණය.... කරන අය නොවෙන නිසා .. මට බනී නමුත් ඇත්ත ඕකයි මම මගේ වටිනා කාලය ගතකර මේක ලියන්නේ ඉතාම දයාවෙන් කරුණාවෙන් ... මක් නිසාද යම් කෙනෙක් පැවිදි වීමට අදහස් කිරීමට ප්රථම හරි නිවන් මග සොයාගැනීම වැදගත් නිසායි හරි මග සොයා ගත් විට හා ටිකකලක් ඒ මග අනුගමනය කර ආපසු හැරී බලනවිට තමන්ටම යමක් පැහැදිලිව පෙනේ.. එනම් .. මගේ ලග පෙර තිබු තරහ යන ගතිය (ද්වේශය ) දැන් අඩුවෙලා නේ .. මගේ ලග පෙර තිබු මම මට ඕනෑ දෙය අනුන්ට මොනවා උනත් කමක් නැහැ හොදින් නරකින් හෝ කපටි කමින් හෝ කොහොම හරි දිනා ගෙන ඉහලට යන්න ඕනෑ කියන බලවත් උවමනාව (රාගය)දැන් එහෙම ලොකුවට නැහැ .. නේ .. රාගයත් ද්වේෂයත් එනම් ඇලීමුත් ගැටීමුත් අතර මැන බලමින් පෙර කල සමහර දේවලට දුන් වටිනාකම් නොවටිනාකම් සුන්දර අසුන්දර කම් (මෝහය)දැන් ටිකින් ටික වැඩක් නැති බොරු දේවල් හා භයානක මර උගුල් වගේ පෙනෙනවා නේ.. අන්න එහෙම පෙනන කොට.. වෙන කාගෙන්වත් නොඇහැවුවට තමන්ටම තේරෙනවා .. ආ ඒ කියන්නේ මේ ක්රමය අනුගමනය කරන විට මගේ රාග ද්වේශ මෝහ අඩුවෙනවා .. එහෙනම් රාග ක්ෂයෝ ...නිබබානං ...ද්වේශ ක්ෂයෝ ...නිබබානං මෝහ ක්ෂයෝ ...නිබබානං.. ලෙස අප බුදුන් වහන්සේ කල නිවනේ අර්ථ දක්වීම හෙවත් සමීකරණයට අනුව යන පාර හරි .. එහෙනං මට නියම ශ්රී සද් ධර්මය හමුවී ඇත .. නිවන් මග අදත් දේශනා කරන සත්පුරුෂ මහසග උතුමෝ අදත් අප අතර වැඩසිටී .. කියන අදහස තමන්ටම ඇතිවෙනවා.. වෙනත් වචන වලින් කිව්වොත් " මග්ගා අමග්ග ඥාන දර්ශනය" කියන්නේ ඔන්න ඕකට නිවන් දකින්නට පෙර අපට කියා ඇති ලෙස මෛත්රී බුදුන් එනතුරු කල්පයක් ඉන්න ඕනෑ නැත කරන්න තියෙන්නේ ඉතාම සරල දෙයකි .. එය කරන්න කැලේ යන්න වත් ගස් යට ඉන්න වත් හුලං භාවනා කරන්න වන්ට් අවශ්ය නැත.... එනම් කොයි මොහොතේ කොතැනකදී හෝ රාගයක් එනවිට එය සිහියෙන් දැනගෙන අසුබය සිහිකිරීම .. රාගය පහවන විට ඇයි මට මෙහෙම රාගයක් ඇතිවුනේ කියා සොයා බලා එහි ඇති අනිච්ච දුක්ඛ හා අසාර ස්වභාවය ( මරණානුස්මෘතිය ) වැඩීම .. ද්වේශයක් එනවිට එය සිහියෙන් දැනගෙන මයිත්රී වැඩීම.. ද්වේශය පහවන විට ඇයි මට මෙහෙම ද්වේශය ක් ඇතිවුනේ කියා සොයා බලා එහි ඇති අනිච්ච දුක්ඛ හා අසාර ස්වභාවය ( මරණානුස්මෘතිය ) වැඩීම .. මේ අසාර ලෝකේ දුක්විදන සත්වයෙන්ට මම මොනවට තරහ ගන්නද කියා පළිගැනීමේ හෝ එකට එක කිරීමේ අදහස් දුරලීම (බුධ්ධා නුස්සතිය ) හෙවත් උපාදානයන් ඇති නොවීමට ප්රවේසම් වීම තුලින් අනාගත භවය පහල විඉමේ හේතුව උදුරා ඉවත් කිරීම .. මෝහයක් එනවිට එය සිහියෙන් දැනගෙනඇයි මට මෙහෙම මෝහයක් යක් ඇතිවුනේ කියා සොයා බලා එහි ඇති අනිච්ච දුක්ඛ හා අසාර ස්වභාවය ( මරණානුස්මෘතිය ) වැඩීම මේ අසාර ලෝකේ මම මොනව අල්ලන්නද කියා තරග කාරී අදහස් දුරලීම (බුධ්ධා නුස්සතිය ) හෙවත් උපාදානයන් ඇති නොවීමට ප්රවේසම් වීම තුලින් අනාගත භවය පහල විඉමේ හේතුව උදුරා ඉවත් කිරීම හා හිත පිරිසිදු කිරීම . කොටින්ම කීවොත් කල යුත්තේ රාග ද්වේශ මෝහ ගිනි ඇතිවන ඇතිවන ඒ ඒ මොහොතෙම දක්ෂ ගිනි නිවන භටයෙකු සේ ඒ ගිනි නිවීමයි ගිනි ඇතිවීමට හේතුවද ඒ මොහෙතේම සොයා බලා හේතුව ගලවා උදුරා දැමීමයි එතුලින් විරාගයේ නිරෝධයේ මිදීමේ නිවීමේ ශාන්තිය පෙනීමට පටන්ගනී .. එවිට(විරාගෝ .. නිරෝධෝ .. පටි නිස්සග්ග්ගෝ .. මුක්ති අනාලයෝ ) කිවේ ඒ කට බව වැටහේ නිවන් මග ඔච්චරයි .. මේ නිර්මල බුද්ධ දේශනාවයි ..බුද්ධ සූර්ය ආලෝකයයි ... හරිම සරලයි ..සරකානි ශාක්යයා, තම්බදාස අලුගෝසුවා, අංගුලිමාල, කුක්කුට මිත්ත වැද්දාගේ බිරිඳ පටාචාරාව හා සෝපාක ට කියා දුන්නේ කියන්නට විනාඩියක් වත් ගත නොවන මේ ටිකයි.. මේ තුල සතර සති පට්ටනය පවතී . මේ තුල චතුරාර්ය සත්ය පවතී ... , ත්රි ලක්ෂණය පවතී .. දස සංඥා පවතී .. එකක් වඩන විට සියල්ල වැඩීම පවතී .. ධර්මයො විසින් දර්මයෝ පිරවීම පවතී .. පටිසොථගාමි මාර්ගය පවතී .තර්ක වාද කරමින් සොයන්නට වෙනත් දෙයක් නැත... කිසිම දවසක සිල් නොගත් භාවනා නොකළ බේබද් දෙකු වූ සරකානි ශාක්යයාට , තම්බදාස අලුගෝසුවාට , අංගුලිමාලට , කුක්කුට මිත්ත වැද්දාගේ බිරිඳට පටාචාරාව හා සෝපාක ට නිවන් අවබෝධ කර ගැනීමට පුළුවන් උනානම් ඔබටද එය බැරිවන්නට හේතුවක් නොපෙනේ .. උවමනා නිවැරදි දහම දැනගැනීමයි ... එකම අවශ්ය තාවය මේ භයානක සසරෙන් ගැලවෙන හරිම මග කෝක දැයි සොයාගෙන ජීවිතයේ ඉතිරි කාලයේවත් ඒ මග අනුගමනය කිරීමයි.. අද මේ ටික මිනිසුන්ට කියා දෙන්නේ බික්ෂුන් වහසේලගෙන් කිඉයෙන් කී දෙනාද ? එවිට අද බික්ෂුන් වහන්සේලා වැටී සිටින මුලාව හා තත්වය තේරුම් යයි සබ්බ පාපස්ස අකරණං .. කුසලස්ස උපසම්පදා .. සචිත්ත පරියෝ දපනං .. එතං බුධා අනු සාසනං ... සියලු පාපයන්ගෙන් වැලකීම .. කුසල් සිත් ඇතිකර ගැනීම .. සිත දමනය කර ගැනීම සියලු බුදුන්ගේ අනුශාසනයයි සියලු ලෝක සියලු සත්වයෝ සංසර දුකින් මිදෙත් වා ...! නිවනම නාතයි නිවනම වෙත්වා .. !! ………………….. End of the Sinhala Summary
The lost knowledge of how to exit
from the Samsara …“The law of cause and effect”
Introduction I thought of writing this for the benefit of children who
were not born or never lived in Sri Lanka like my son.
Buddhism is a view of life based on the “law of cause and
effect” and it is not a religion. Any one who has this view or the vision of
cause and effect called “Patichcha Samuppada” in ancient Pali Language is a
Buddhist. No matter what religion he or she was born in to. What is the benefit of knowing this Law of cause and effect … ?
The immediate benefit is
that, you will never ever have emotional break downs or mental depressions in
the current life. Imagine for a moment that you are playing a computer game.The game is so absorbing you get addicted in to the character or the “Avathar” you choose to play. You got mesmerized so much, you think you are nothing else but the “Avathar”. You began to think that the game world is real and it is not an illusion. Our world is meant to be a “choice machine”. The role of this world is that, when you are born into it, it constantly presents you with a vast array of choices. You are invited to believe that this or that thing is important to you, that this cause is worth fighting for, that thing will make you safe, this person knows the truth, that person is trustworthy, this story is the gospel truth, that story is an abject lie, this group is my group and that group is the enemy... and so on and so on. This world presents you with a non-stop selection of choices for you to believe in. And the instant you do – the very second you take even one of the choices the world is presenting to you, and believe in it as if it were true – you attach yourself to the illusion. That is when you begin to give your energy to the world. You begin to do this job, vote for that political party, follow this sports team, associate with that group of people, fight for this cause, invest your money in that scheme. And so on and so on. What has happened is that you have taken something true – your original pure blissful consciousness of Nirvaanic nature of the mind or the "Prabhaswara Chithaa"– and attached it to something transient and fictitious – the illusions of this world and pollute it with Lust, Anger and Dilution (Raaga, Dwasha, Mooha). These attachments does lead to great pain. As you start to play one of these 3 roles. You are either a victim or else a villain (a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot) or else a rescuer. And that pain generated by attachments causes you to fight and struggle. Which in turn causes you to attach even more as it causes you to generate more and more of Lust, Anger and Dilution. And so you spiral down, deeper and deeper into the illusory world of separation. The thing to understand is that each of you on planet Earth are playing out the roles you have chosen for yourselves. You play massive, long-running games that span many lifetimes so that you can experience yourself as an individual. As separate from each other. As "not-ONE". And that is what life on Earth is like. (See also "The Ascension Papers" by Zingdad A very enlightening book giving western view of same point you can download it here for free http://zingdad.com/images/downloads/the_ascension_papers_book_1_-_zingdad.pdf )
Photo: Assada. අස්සාද (ආශ්වාද ) is what keeps you bound to this cruel game of life and death called Samsara are also attractions offered to please your five senses as well as the mind. That means visions to please your eyes, sounds to please your ears, smells, tastes, sensory pleasers through your skin. Because of the desire for those attractions ( Those attractions are called in one word as Kaama's කාම ), like those ants attached to sweet spot, people get attached to the game of samsara. For that never ending wish we call the “Trushna” or the
“Desire” and we say that, person is lost in Samsara due to the Trushna (Desire)
. ( the person is “Bhawa Gaami” or the worldly bound). This never ending wish
keeps you bound and imprisoned to this vicious circle of birth and death.
Where is Nirvana ..? What is nirvana ?
Lord Buddha’s definition of Nirvana is : Raaga kshyo Nibbanam ...Cessation of Lust is Nirvana. Dwesha kshyo Nibbanam ..Cessation of Anger and extreme dislike or disgust is Nirvana Mooha kshyo Nibbanam ..Cessation of wrongful assessment of the ego is Nirvana Nirvana is not a place as many think. Nirvana is loosing your ego tainted choice driven identity of self by purifying the mind of all defilements and thus having no desires to wish for a rebirth ever again and merging with all knowing all penetrating existence that is deathless, birth less, formless, shapeless, omnipresent, attribute less, and quality less, ever present, pure loving blissful beyond all perceptions manifestation of universe. When a tiny drop of water merges with the ocean what happens ? It becomes the whole ocean or the other way round the tiny drop becomes as big as the mighty ocean. Since it is the knowledge that liberates you. There is no
need to pray to any god for the salvation. While Buddhism does not dispute the
existence of the higher godly realms and even talks about godly beings, what
Buddhism teach us is that your salvation should be made by yourself through your
intellect without waiting for the help from any other force. You can not talk about the “Law of Cause and effect” (Patichcha samuppada) without talking about the Four Noble Truths called (Chathurarya Sathya). Because these two are inseparable. If you know “Chathurarya Sathysa" or the Four Noble Truths you know Patichcha samuppada and If you know Patichcha Samuppada you know Chathurarya Sathya.
Hence before learning how to exit, you need to be armed with a little bit of know how. Specially how a being or a person is lured to get trapped in this never ending wish that keeps a person bound , imprisoned and slaved to this vicious circle of birth and death called Samsara. It is just like some Casinos use various attractions like food, drinks and other entertainments to keep you inside. Similarly, what keeps you bound to this cruel game of life and death called Samsara are also attractions offered to please your five senses. That means visions to please your eyes, sounds to please your ears, smells, tastes, sensory pleasers through your skin. All these are dangled in front of your nose and come nicely wrapped in the form of love, romance, parties, properties, cars, wealth, family and friends , beautiful bodies, health and wealth. Etc… Etc…
You get sucked in to this trap of lures and you start feasting in these pleasures with never ending “Desire” and spending your time and energy to gain more and more of these pleasures by any means possible or being selfish and by hook or crook thus, creating bad Karmas or the minus Game points in the process of it. All these are so irresistible, you get lured like a fly in to a honey trap. Once you indulge in it, there comes the Delusion, called “Avidya” or not having the ability see things as they really are. Not being able to understand that these nice things are the cause of your suffering. Blinded by delusion. You begin to think all these things belongs to you. Your love, your romantic partner, your properties ,your wealth, your status, your body and health, your friends and family. In that way your world is formed or created around you and you get attached to those perks. ( Note...Definition of Avidya "Avidya or අවිද්යා " written also as avijjā" means thinking that "Kaamas" (Choices of Attractions offered) are of value, pleasurable, good, enjoyable, and stays as you like.. and not realizing that Kaamas lead you to sufferings and makes you bound to Samsara ... Hence an another name for Kaama is Dukkha (Suffering) (අවිද්යාව යනු වස්තු හා ක්ලේශ කාමයෝ සුබයි සාරයි සැපයි හා තම වසගයේ සදාකල් පවතියි වරදවා වටහා ගැනීමයි දුක යනු කාමයට තවත් නමකි ) Definition of Kaama (Kaama = Kaa + Ama = කා + ඇම = Eating the Lure) is the one word which used to describe cool things such as visions to please your eyes, sounds to please your ears, smells, tastes, sensory pleasers through your skin, valuable processions ect. All these are dangled in front of your nose and come nicely wrapped in the form of love, romance, parties, sexy things properties, cars, wealth, family and friends , beautiful bodies, health and wealth. Etc Avidya leads to Sankars { Actually the correct term is Abhi_Sankara or powerful Sankara but usually for the ease called as Sankara ) Sankara is a single word for excessive and attach forming mental, physical and verbal actions: Which means the following 3 kinds of actions over a subject matter:
1.Mental thoughts
or actions called Mano Abhi _Sankaras or Mano Sankaras {මනෝ
සංකාර also called as
Chathanas චේතනා }, Sankaras are mainly divided in to two categories Akusala (Sin අකුසල) and Kusala (Meritorius, කුසල) Akusala Sankaras අකුසල සංකාර or Sinuous actions happen when these actions are powered either by Raagas (රාග Greed), Dweshas (ද්වේශ Hatred) or Moohas (මෝහ Ignorance) or all three together and leads to Bad Karmas and hence bad returns. කුසල සංකාර Kusala Sankara or Meritorious actions happen when those actions are powered by Alobha අලෝභ , Adwesha අද්වේශ and Amoha අමෝහ Meaning, Generous, loving and Sympathetic actions which leads to Good Karmas and good returns. However it is necessary to keep in mind that Both good as well as bad Karmas are result in returns and thus prolonging the duration of Samsara ) Now you should be able to understand the true meaning of the below words of Lord Buddha. සබ්බේ සංඛාරා
දුක්ඛාති .Sabbe Sankara Dukkathi...
All types of
Abhi
Sankars ultimately leads to sufferings..
As I said above Avidya leads to Sankara Sankara is a single word for mental, physical and verbal actions. For an example, Mental thoughts or actions{මනෝ සංකාර also called as Chathanas චේතනා } are the ruminating thought process, which is thinking round and round on something (Roodha රෝධ or having endless mind chatter over something through lust, hatred or ignorance (Raaga, Dwasha, Moha), you create Karmic seeds called "Anushaya" අනුෂය (Defilements). (And stop thinking like that is called Niroodha නිරෝධ once you stop this mind chatter, the stillness and concentration comes over the mind, which is similar to the silence and stillness which comes after a heavy rain is over. Thus stopping the endless rain of mind chatter is the way to the purification of the mind ) Therefore
refraining from overly indulging in
Kaamas is the way to the purification of mind, that means stopping the
ruminating thought process or stopping the thinking of round and round on
something leads to attaining the stillness of mind and that is the path for the
purification of the mind and also gaining the Dhyanas
ධ්යාන (We will be
discussing about ධ්යාන
Dhyanas below). Hence it is the path to liberation or the Nirvana. 1. The First Noble Truth - The Truth about the Suffering
(Kaamas = Choices of Attractions offered) Because of the delusion “Avidya” , you fail to see
the reality. That all these lures or the "Kaamas" are temporary manifestations and they are the
cause of your “Suffering”. (Remember that another name for Kaama is Dukkha
(Suffering))
For an example, your love to some one is your joy as
well as the cause of inevitable suffering. Your beautiful body is the cause of
your joy as well as inevitable suffering when you get old. Your properties could
be your joy as well as sorrow when they break down or get lost. How to become the coolest head around the block when your sweet heart leaves you… You may think it is crazy to say that all these goodies
such as your love, your romantic partner, your properties, your wealth, your
status, your body and health, your friends and family are identified as causes
of suffering. Don’t you..? That is the secret, that is why it is hard to find.
What is not OK is getting the wrong ideas. That those are
yours and you have the control over those. That is the point you have to be
enlightened. So enjoy it but not get overly attached. Not physically throw
things away you still have it and enjoy those but mentally, give up everything
and be free. So if you loose those physically, you have nothing to be sad,
because you had long ago, given those up in your mind.
This desire or the “Trushna” is generated no where but in your mind. When this desire is not fulfilled due to changes beyond your control such as old age or sickness or love break ups or fluctuations of wealth etc. you suffer. So the reason for your suffering is your desire or the attachment to these ever changing world around you or the “Bhava” . Realization of this simple truth is so important it is regarded as the 2nd Noble Truth or the “Samudaya Sathya” in Buddhism. That is : Reason for suffering is Desire or the Attachment in your own mind. Or the suffering are generated through Desire and attachment. Word “Samudaya” means Generate and “Sathya” means truth. So it is “The truth about the generation of attachments” Now you gained another unique wisdom which others do not easily find. That is “Dukka Samudaye Gnanam” The wisdom of knowing where the sufferings occur. That is, it happens not some where out side or by the fault of some one else like the girl friend or the boy friend who broke up with you. But within in your own self. Inside your mind due to the desires and the attachments you created by yourself you suffer. 3. The Third Noble Truth - “The truth about the stopping of the Suffering” Then you get an answer. If you can find a way to change your mind and not generate “Trushna” or the “Desire” in your mind” you can stop all sorts of sufferings as well as disconnect the attachments and exit from this vicious game of life and gain unshakable tranquility and peace even within what is left to live in this life. Understanding that is the 3rd Noble Truth called “Nirodha Sathya” Nirodha means disconnect or Disable.. So it is the truth about disconnection of bonds. 4. The Second Noble Truth -“The truth about the Path you must follow to stop the Suffering” Until you learn how to change your mind and disconnect the attachment you will be subject to birth and death and in between all these sufferings associated with the birth such as loss of loved ones, loss of freedom, sickness, old age and so on again and again and again with no end as you keep jumping from one life to another enduring endless amount of births and deaths possessing various bodies some desirable some undesirable due to plus or minus Karmic points you acquired during the course of it. Stop Playing the Game… As same as in a computer game, this Plus or the good merits points means in the next jump in to a new body, you will be able to get bonus extras like comfortable easy life beautiful body rich family and good parents. Minus or bad Karmas mean in next life you may born in to a poor family, bad parents, cruel spouse or physical disability or even in some cases a life as an animal. PS ( This is an another view point on the same principal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS6GdaSvgHk see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlyupEBdeE&t=572s I think these two are important alternative unconnected views of the same principle which does not conflict) P.S. Almost same thing in different way in different view by Mr. Rich West but very much worth listening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lqy-wYpX98 which I too mostly agree
What path you must follow to stop the suffering ? Now it comes to the question What is the method or the path you need to follow in order to change and disconnect the attachment from your mind.. ? . The shortest answer is. “Think in the opposite direction. Not the way you are sheepishly directed to think by the matrix or the worldly way of thinking but the way opposite to the other people think. Thus you stop participating in the game of the generation of extreme emotions and desires. Neutralize the flow of the wave of high and low extremes of emotions and settle in a flat line. This is called taking the Middle path or the “Madyama Prathipadawa” . The Path: What is the path to follow? It is so easy that you do not have to leave your family, work and everything in life behind and go to the forest to look for trees to sit under in order to meditate on your breathing. You can practice anytime, anywhere, in any posture, while working, relaxing, travelling, shopping, watching TV or going to sleep in bed. The only requirement is that you should be watchful about the thoughts that are coming to your mind. The Method: What is the method to practice? The only requirement is that you should be watchful about what thoughts are coming to your mind. 1. To remove Dwasha or anger from the mind the method is : At anytime, anywhere, when a thought of hatred or fire of anger (Dwasha) comes to your mind, you should be observant and recognise that a train of angry and fiery thoughts are forming in your mind. Once you detect that, like a skilful firefighter, you should stop forming those thoughts by utilising thoughts of Loving Kindness (Mettha_nussathi). Practicing loving kindness involves thoughts such as: A: Samatha Bhavana part: This part is called Samatha Meditation part, (Samatha Means Calming) as it is meant to calm the mind May peace be upon this world ! May all beings be happy and well! May all beings that are infinite and boundless beings of pure light, be filled with love, compassion and kindness for all other beings, with even the slightest thought of harming another being never occurring! May all beings attain Nibbana and be free from the sufferings of Samsara. Once this anger is subdued, once again, like the skilful firefighter who removes hazards which may cause potential future fires such as brushwood and flammable material from the area, you also need to find the cause of the anger in your mind and remove it with the thoughts of Anichcha Dukka and Anattha (Marana_anussathi). That means thinking: B: Vidarshana Bhavana part: This part is called Vpassana Meditation part, (Vipassana Means Analysing , called also as Vidarshana) Anichcha or the universal truth in this world is, that things or people do not stay or behave as you like them to be. The expectation in my mind that material things or other people will always stay or behave as I like them to be is the root cause for all sorts of suffering in the world (Dukka). Therefore, having those high expectations about others or things in my mind is nothing of substance and useless, a futile pursuit. ( Annattha or Asara අසාර) Finally, you should sweep your mind clean of any remaining residue of anger or the ashes of the fire with (Buddhaa _nussathi) by thinking: Why should I get angry with those people who are subjected to all sorts of sufferings in the Samsara due to their dilution and ignorance? They get angry because they think that everything should be according to their wish and will, which never happens. I am not that kind of an ignorant fool to get angry at them. 2. To remove Raaga or Lust from the mind the method is : At anytime, anywhere, when a thought of craving or fire of lust comes to your mind you should be watchful to identify that a train of attachment and fiery thoughts of lust are forming in your mind. For an example, driving down the road and seeing someone with a very attractive appearance which causes you to have feelings of desire in your mind. Once you detect that, like a skilful fire fighter, you should subdue and stop forming those thoughts with the thoughts of undesirability (Asuba_nussathi), which means thinking: A: Samatha Bhavana part: This part is called Samatha Meditation part, This body is made out of an erected skeleton bound by blood soaked veins and filled with pieces of meat and covered by skin. This body itself is no different from a cadaver (dead carcass). This carcass is made alive by the consciousness which came to possess it due to the desire for the attractions offered to lure it in to the trap of never ending circle of life and death known as Samsara. Because of the current ignorance (Avidya), I will again be attracted to those lures aimed to please my five senses and the resulting Karmas, Trushna (Desire), Bhawa (what you think your own or world around) and Upadana (attachment) I will again be subjected to the emotions of intermittent joys as well as a great deal of unavoidable sufferings such as illness , old age and death. Attachments will also lead to generating another body to go through the same suffering again and again. This body of others, as well as mine, has nothing to be desired. Once the consciousness leaves the body, it is nothing but a cadaver, food for worms. In 2-3 days time after death, it will start to smell bad, attracting flies and insects, the body will dissolve and will decay to the earth. Once the lust is subdued, again like the skilful firefighter who removes the cause of future fires such as brushwood and flammable material from the area, you also need to find the cause of the lust in your mind and remove it with the thoughts of Anichcha Dukka and Anattha (Marana_anussathi). That means thinking that: B: Vidarshana Bhavana part: This part is called Vipassana Meditation part, This body is (As well as everything else I believe as mine or should be mine) are subject to Anichcha nature (Does not stay or behave as I wish). Hence, it is the reason for Dukkha (Sufferings) and it is the cause for all sorts of disastrous outcomes (Anartha). Because of that, it is not a thing to get attached to. Finally, you should sweep your mind clean of any remaining residue of lust or the ashes of the fire with (Buddhaa _nussathi). This can be achieved by thinking, why should I crave for those bodies of people who are subjected to all sorts of sufferings in Samsara including aging, sickness and death? I see their bodies as attractive due to the dilution and ignorance still left in my mind. If I do not remove it, then I will also be lost in the illusions of this fearful Samsara. Hence, I should do my best to see the reality of this world and completely remove those delusional thoughts. 3. To remove Mooha or ego from the mind the method is : At anytime, anywhere, when a thought of wrongful assessment of the ego (Mooha) comes to your mind, you should be watchful to identify that a train of wrongful assessment and fiery thoughts of ego are forming in your mind. For an example, you saw that your neighbour has bought a beautiful, expensive car. A thought occurs in your mind that you should not to be outdone by the neighbour, you should also purchase a better and more expensive car. Once you detect that, like a skilful firefighter, who remove the cause of the future fires, you also need to find the cause of the ego in your mind and remove it with the thoughts of Anichcha Dukka and Anattha (Marana_anussathi).That means thinking: every thing I believe as mine or should be mine including properties such as car are subject to Anichcha nature (Does not stay or behave as I wish). Hence it is the reason for Dukkha. (Sufferings) and it is the cause for all sorts of disastrous outcomes (Anartha). Because of that it is not a thing to be get attached. Finally, you should sweep clean your mind of any left over residue of lust or the ashes of the fire with (Buddhaa _nussathi). That is thinking, Why should I get craving for those things or get in to the rat race of getting material things with other deluded people who are subjected to all sorts of sufferings in the samsara including aging, all sorts of sickness and death. I see their processions as attractive due to the dilution and ignorance still left in my mind, if I do not remove it then I will also be lost in the illusions of this fearful samsara. Hence I should do my best to see the reality of this world and completely remove those unnecessarily competitive delusional thoughts. Using the simple but profound techniques mentioned above, you will be able to live a vary satisfying, contempt and fulfilling happy life without sufferings and at the same time not generating desires, attachments and associated good and bad karmas. That means you stopped playing the game by stopping the creation of the bonds. You had broken free from the mundane world just by changing the way you think. But the beauty is that to the outside world and the family, you look perfectly normal. In fact, you become a person much better than before as you will notice your gradual changes, like you become more tolerant, more patient, more kinder, more gentler, more happier, less greedy and a well balanced stable person who is not emotionally impacted by any good or bad things life throws at your way. Therefore if you really understood what is told here you will never ever have emotional break downs or mental depressions as no true Buddhist will ever get those as he/she knows from deep within the real nature of things in the world their changing nature or the impermanence which goes hand in hand with the associated sufferings. When some one asked what is Nirvana .. ? Lord Buddha mentioned following “Raga hshayo, dwashah shayo, mohah shyo Nibbanam” that means Not generating overly attachments or craving (Raga = passion/lust), not generating dislikes, Intense animosity or hatred (Dwesha = dissension) and Removal of the ignorance/dilution/ misconception of not seeing and knowing the real nature of the world around you (Mooha) and gaining the wisdom of seeing and understanding the nature of things as they truly are is the Nirvana. Hence Nirvana is a condition of mind you gain when you are neutral to outside world and have the ability to see things in true perspective. You have stopped the game to look at a world where others are running like mad chasing insatiable desires. This path or the method you need to follow to gain this ever lasting mental peace and tranquility is called the 4th noble truth or the “Maarga Sathya” “ Maarga” means path. “Maarga Sathya” means true path to follow.
The Lost Connection ……
When you talk about “Maarga Sathya” or the True path to
follow we also need to talk about the “Aaarya Asthangika Marga” or the “Eight fold
path which Aaryans follow” which include correct Vision (Which you already got
by knowing 4 noble truths) Correct thought (You already have it that is why you
read this in order to find out how to get rid of Desires).. The Aaaryashtangika Margaya is also two fold one is Lokoothara Aaaryashtangika Margaya ලෝකෝත්තර ආර්යාශ්ටාන්ගික මාර්ගය (Path followed by those who seek Nirvana) and the other is Lovkiaka Aaaryashtangika Maargaya ලෞකික ආර්යාශ්ටාන්ගික මාර්ගය (Path followed by those who want to go to heavenly Levels) I am not going to talk about it any more as it makes this writing too long. If interested, you can do a web search and read. You can find so many articles on the matter as an individual topic .(Unfortunatly many articles will about the topic of Lovkiaka Aaaryashtangika Maargaya ලෞකික ආර්යාශ්ටාන්ගික මාර්ගය (Path followed by those who want to go to heavenly Levels) What you do not
easily find is: How The “Chathurarya Sathya”, Patichcha samuppada and Lokoothara
Aaaryashtangika Margaya ලෝකෝත්තර ආර්යාශ්ටාන්ගික
මාර්ගය (Path followed by those who seek Nirvana) are interconnected. In simplest, what you need to do is two types of simple Meditation. Elaborated in the scripture called “Sathi Pattana Suthra “ (Mind settling scripture) The two types of Meditation are Samatha and Vipassana which also I had touched briefly earlier . In that scripture lord Buddha Said the following: “I promise you this, if some one practices this method given here that person depending on his intellectual ability , either minimum within 7 hours , or medium within 7 days or 7 months or else maximum within 7 years will be able to change his mind and attain the realization of Nirvana “ So is the power of these techniques. That is all you need to do.. and need to know… Keep thinking in the above way at any time you can find a
moment to spare. Not only while you sit and meditate which usually happen very
rare in a practical busy world. But do it when you sit in a train or bus, when
you drive to work, when go to sleep or when you eat. Now you will understand that, Why..Buddhism teach us that your salvation should be made by yourself through your intellect without waiting for the help from any other force.. Because no one can change your mind except yourself !!!. You will be free of all worldly bonds. Not even attached to
your body. Of course you care about your body better than before in order to
maintain, but not to be attached to it, by wrongly thinking this is me and mine.
As you clearly begin to see the difference between the me-consciousness (Vingnana
or Naama) and the body (Ruupa). Finally I suggest, you to do a web search and read more
about Sathi Pattana Suthra, Paticchcha Samuppada and Aarya ashtangika Maraga. As
I talked and introduced all those Buddhist concepts very simply in a manner a
child could understand it within the context of this writing which, 99% of
Buddhist never grasped due to the heavy weight way it is presented to them.
Buddhism is not heavy weight words. It is a practical way of living in this
world. And again I will remind you that Buddha Said the following: “I promise you this, if some one practices this method given here that person depending on his intellectual ability , either minimum within 7 hours , or medium within 7 days or 7 months or else maximum within 7 years will be able to change his mind and attain the realization of Nirvana “ So is the power of these techniques. May peace be upon this world
!
Getting a bit more deeper in to theory ... What is Samatha Meditation and what is Vidarshana Meditation .. ? Why two types.. ?.
The reason is when you want to change your mind what you have to do.. ? First thing is you need to learn to focus your mind in order to concentrate on some subject . For that you need to learn how to calm the mind. To achieve the calming and concentration ability you start with Samatha Meditation or in other words “Breathing meditation”. Once your mind is calm and settled you slowly move in to the other type of meditation called “Vidarshana” Meaning of the word “Vidarshana” is Analysis. You contemplate on the subject and start thinking in order to realize and convince your self the real Nature of the things. Before learning breathing meditation to calm your mind you need to know a little bit about the nature the mind specially because this is the reason why people find it is hard to keep attention on one thing more than a minute before unknowingly the thoughts wander in to thinking various things than what you wanted to think. The reason is, the two parts of the process. The focus part and the attention part. When you begin the berating meditation you first have to sit in a comfortable position in a chair or on the floor or under a tree etc. and focus on your breathing . The focus point should be the tip of your nose or the upper lip where the air of your breath is touching. You do not follow the breath up or down . You only focus your attention on the movement of air which passes your focus point which is either the tip of the nose or upper lip, where ever you find easy to focus. In that focus point, your awareness is such you know when you breath long breaths , short breath or heavy ones or light ones. Easy, piecy isn’t it.. ? Yes in the beginning it is easy but, after a minute or so you will find that instead of concentrating and watching on the sensation of the movement of upward and downward air touching your tip of lip or nose, your attention has drifted away. Why ?. The reason is, when you begin the meditation the focus part
of mind direct your attention to the breathing so you are able to focus the
attention on it, and the attention is there now. The nature of focus part of the
mind is such that, once the attention is there, the focus goes away and fish
out some thing else and brings it back to the attention, thus focus jumps from
one to another and like a puppy dog bringing sticks, it picks up and brings
various thoughts in to attention one after another, that is why you loose
concentration. What is the remedy.. ? The remedy is simple. Every time you breath , think it is the first time you begin. Then the focus part of the mind will bring the breath in to your attention. Next breath also think it as the very first. Thus. Focus – Attention, focus attention to the touch of the air. Thus the mind will not drift away and your attention span will drastically improve. You only need to think every breath is you first breath and you began meditation just now. Added on 3 January 2021 Another extremely effective method is : When you Inhale, be aware of your inhaling and at the same time think "Sankara Parama Dhkka සංකාරා පරමා දුක්ඛා "and when you exhale , also be aware of your exhale and think "Nibbanam Parmam Sukam නිබ්බාණං පරමං සුඛං" that will keep the mind busy. *Sankara = activities of mental, physical or verbal nature = චේතනා උදාහරණ රාග චේතනා , ද්වේශ චේතනා , මෝහ චේතනා { Actually the correct term is Abhi_Sankara or powerful Sankara but usually for the ease called as Sankara ) "Sankara Parama Dhkka සංකාරා පරමා දුක්ඛා "-
Means that Sankaras will ultimately lead to
suffering. This is called developing "Anuloma KShantiya and Attaining
"Samyaktha Niyamaya" through "Anna Pana Sathi"
Buddhist Dhayana Meditation and Breathing Meditation (These are very complex knowledge hidden in Buddhist Thripitaka scriptures, in the past no one even the most scholarly priests had no idea of because they never bothered to read those large volumes. Up to now it was hidden from us therefore I even came to know these recently, I am greatly blessed and so lucky even to hear it, I am very grateful to Priests Ven. Waraka Abhayarathanalankara Thero and his disciple Ven. Walasmulle Abhaya Thero who brought up these knowledge to light. That is why I thought of adding this and I will try my best to explain these as simply as possible. Breathing meditation is not everything as we thought in the past The reason is that the main aim of Buddhist meditation is not the improvement of your focus and attention by concentration on your breath. But cleaning your mind from Defilements of Raaga, Dwasha and Mooha (lust, enmity, dilution) through the improvement of focus of your attention. If you do not know this simple truth you may waste months or years of your life time going for meditational retreats to practice breathing technique, but at the end your concentration may improve yet your mind will be still dirty as you will still be an angry, greedy and diluted person once you come out of meditative posture. Therefore the following is an extremely very important point: The real aim of meditation should be to gain the ability to retain the pure consciousness in the mind called "Prabhaswara Chiththaya" (Pure light thoughts) by not tainting it with defilements. The reason is when you first encounter with something through your senses (Eyes, ears etc) the first thoughts occur in your mind are the recognition up to this recognition part the thoughts are pure. Then you attach defilements to it. Learning not to attach defilements and keeping thoughts pure is the way to not create Karmas or not to play the game and keep your mind clean. It is the way to enlightenment. For an example. You see a car. What first come to mind ? it is a car ! is it tainted with any thing ? No it is not tainted. It is just the result of having an eye to see (You got an eye to see due to previous causes such as previous Karmas or the wishes) up to that point it is pure recognition or awareness happened due to previous causes. Thus it is not tainted it is recognition or awareness and it is a pure thought, not tainted by any thing. Even at the highest level of attainment such as Arhath or the Buddha still has this. Every one else who is not attained that level, what happens is, you automatically create and apply attachments to those awareness's. Polluting the pure awareness (Prabhaswara Chitth) Attachments such as: "It is My beautiful red expensive car " Now what happened ? Now you attached Lust to it (Raaga). "It is my enemy's car. He hit and dented my car last week" Now what happened ? Now you attached Anger to it (Dwasha). "My beautiful car should always be like this and should be mine for ever " Now what happened ? Now you attached Dilution to it (Mooha or the wrong understanding to it as nothing lasts for ever in this world). How to keep the Pure Mind (Prabahswara Chitthaya or the pure light thoughts) unpolluted. Before learning the technique you need to understand few things. The reality is that, for millions of years, going through countless births, you had acquired a hard to remove habit of tainting your pure thoughts with lust, enmity, or dilution as soon as those thoughts appears in your mind. Therefore it is not easy to suddenly remove those defilements or impure thoughts. Because of that, it should happen in three stages. Called 1. Thadhanga prahana 2. Vishkambana prahana 3 Samuchcheda prahana. How to explain it simply ? Ok , For an example you want to eradicate a well grown bush in your Garden. First you try to Flatten the bush by pushing it downwards with force (Thadhanga) then you take a knife and cut the bush (Vishkambana) from top. Even if you cut it, still it can grow back so you need to remove the roots of the tree as well so it will never come back again (Samuchcheda). Same is the removal of defilements in the mind: When you do breathing meditation and concentrating the mind on your breathing, you push back karma creating thoughts (Thadhanga prahana) or the creation of those above said attachments to pure awareness thoughts, but once you stop meditation the thoughts with attachments can come back again like the tree springs back to same position once you remove the force kept it down. So you are not changed. But this meditation is good for improving your concentration, before you start the real cleaning process of the mind . Therefore this is still a good meditation for Normal Lay people who just want a kind of a meditation for temporary relief. For those look for ever lasting relief. There is another type of Buddhist Meditation called "Dhayanas" Meaning of word Dhayana is Burning of defilements and those meditations were hidden from us up to last 10 years. While the breathing meditation can be done by any one even a none Buddhist person and achieve high level of concentration. The requirement for starting Buddhist Dhyanas is that you should have very good understanding of concept of Anichcha , Dukka and Anattha (Things in this world does not stay or behave as you like, it is the root cause of your suffering, hence it is useless to expect that and removing all expectations and leaving behind is the way to liberation) and Asswada*** , Addenawa and Nissarana Indulgence/gratification( Ashwaada), Consequences of that indulgence/gratification( Aadeenawa) and by seeing the adverse consequences of that indulgence , the relinquishment (Nissarana) or the give up or abandonment (Read below for more explanation of this) . Once you understand these concepts thoroughly you are in the first stage of the process of changing your mind and this first step is called "SOTHAPANNA" (Stream entrent - person who has entered the upstream movement of the process of liberation, also called as a person who became an Aaryan, also said as a person who has 7 more life times left to achieve liberation) (*** Aaswada (Assada අස්සාද (ආශ්වාද )), there is no direct single English word for this Aaa..swada (Pronounsed as :Aaa..h..Swada feeling of AaaH or Wow an extreme feeling of pain or pleasure) it is sometimes pronounced as Assada, the meaning of that is a mixture of words:: fulfillment of need, choice, indulgence, happiness, pleasure and satisfaction, gratification there is no single word in English. Here is an Example. The day is a hot day and you are sweating profusely (suffering from heat). Then you switch on a fan and you enjoy the cool breeze. What you felt or enjoyed is: Ashwada. You wrongfully think that fans give you that feeling of Ashwada or the satisfaction that is your Avidya (Misconception). Because in a cold day you will not get that by being near a fan . In a cold day when suffering from cold, being near a heater gives you an Ashwada. So the truth or the reality is that, neither fan nor the heater gives you an Ashwada. The truth is in order to feel Ashwada the first requirement is that you need first to be suffering. Ashwada arises when you get relief from what ever it is the need that you are suffering from. If you have not created that need which brings suffering to you in the first place then you will not be creating and experiencing that Assada. That principle is used very cleverly in TV commercials to create a need for some object in the mind of the viewers . Example,... Oh what a feeling.. Toyota !! or ‘I bought a Jeep’ Ad campaigns. අස්සාද (ආශ්වාද ) Is what keeps you bound to this cruel game of life and death called Samsara are also attractions offered to please your five senses. That means visions to please your eyes, sounds to please your ears, smells, tastes, sensory pleasers through your skin.) There are four levels in the process of changing the mind from a normal lay person to a fully liberated person or Arhath Lay person ->Learning Anichcha ,dukka , Annathha from a friend (other words by Listening to Dhamma), realizing that is true and correct and this is the correct path to liberation and escape from the trap of Samsara, and with the understanding of that much, some rough defilements are already completely get removed including the roots of those defilements (Samuchcheda prahana) The defilements completly gone at that point are the defilements such as the wrong views of that, this world is desirable and it is a good place to come back again and again is gone, suspicion that this path can be wrong is gone, and the wrong view such as taking penance and vows may be the correct path will be gone ect, (Those 3 defilements are called Sathkaya drushti, Vichikicha, Seelabbatha pararmrasa) those 3 defilements will be completely gone - > Thus having complete confidence of the truth of what he learned about the way world is and the path he has to take to leave it, he becomes Sothapanna Aryan (First step, up to that no meditation necessary, only need to understand the concept well and having firm conviction to follow it up, at this stage you have7 life times left to complete the path ) Once you come to that stage, in order to quicken the process and have less births you need to practice Dhayanas (Burning of defilements) by practicing Dhayanas you achieve next levels of the mind changing process. That is, reducing some more of hard to remove defilements such as lust anger to certain level (Vishkambana Prahana) you become SAKURDAAGAAMI meaning twice returning person that he has two birth left until full liberation. By this level you have achieved considerable peace of mind and usually wish to continue further and keep practicing Dhayanas or in simple words keep thinking about Anichcha , Dukka and Anattha (Things in this world does not stay or behave as you like, it is the root cause of your suffering, hence it is useless to expect that and removing all expectations and leaving behind is the way to liberation) and in a deep meditative thought, remember that this kind of deep meditative thoughts can be carried out while in any position or way, either sitting in one place or walking, standing, while doing some routine work, like travelling in a train or bus as you already achieved high concentration ability by this time and lot of mundane worries has vanished and you are beginning to feel peace of mind and tranquility. This feeling of peace and happiness makes you to go more and more deeper in to the practice which leads to next level of mind changing process. This level is called ANAGAAMI meaning not returner as he has only one birth left and that birth is not in this world it is in Shuddhavaasa Brahma loka or in the Pure Lands with vast life spans (Creator Gods according to western and also the Hindu terminology) by this level very few root defilements are left to remove but he still can live as a normal house holder person. If he still keeps practicing vigorously then he can gain the next and final level of complete removal of impure thoughts which is ARHATH. or full liberation. No causes for a rebirth left as there are no impure thoughts, all causes for wishing more births removed thus a fully liberated living breathing person who does not play this vicious game of samsara. By this level you can not live in a normal household way of life as you are beyond that so you relinquish that life to become a monk or else you will die in 7 days as you have no desire left for having this kind of existence. Arya Dhayanas (Meditation for the people in the level of SOTHAPANNA and above). There are 4 levels of dhayanas about which I came to know about recently and first level I can easily achieve, second level I got once. Because of that I can testify up to second level, third and fourth I do not know, but the two levels what I experienced is what exactly thought by Ven.Monk Walasmulle Abhaya Thero and since the parts what I experienced is correct as described, I believe that the rest should be correct too. Which I have yet to experience, as we know, not every body is equal. According to Ven Monks explanation, there are 3 categories of people due to their previous karmas . Those are, Heena, Madhyama, and Praneetha, for some people Dhayans are slow to come and little evident (Heena) others Medium felt, and for the third group it is throughly and quickly experienced. Before explaining dhayanas you need to learn the meanings of few technical words in regard to mind and thought process. Called 5 components of Dhyana or the 5 Dhayana Angas Vithakka Vichara - Meaning, thoughts or questions (Vithakka) which suddenly appear in mind and the scanning for answers (Vichara) or else Passive thoughts Savithakaa Savichara - Meaning, thoughts or questions which you create with some purpose (Savithakka) in mind and the looking for answers (Savchara ) or Active thoughts Preethi - Feeling happy Sukha - Feeling of comfort , well being and at ease. Aekagratha - Intense concentration of mind on the subject of focus. Now I am asking you to do a two minute long experiment. Sit some ware comfortably and close your eyes for two minutes. Think that you put a watcher or an observer over your mind to watch what thoughts come to mind. Once you close your eyes you will see the for the first minute or so your mind is relatively still and it does not drift away, you hear dogs barking in the distance, wind blowing, or birds singing, also you feel leg pain or back pain, or hunger ect Note that those are not considered as thoughts those are awareness, a result of having a body and having five senses due to previous wishes or karmas. They are not thoughts and perfectly normal to have so ignore those. Then after some times thoughts start to appear such as did I switch off the Kettle or whether husband or son has eaten or what is going to cook for dinner tonight ect . Then you start to resolve those thoughts by inputting some mental EFFORT, such as I remember there are some potatoes in the kitchen cupboard I will cook it tonight, then question comes should I fry it or boil it ? for that you make another mental EFFORT to answer it, thus the process goes round and round. These are called Vithakka Vichara (Passive Thought) the way to stop Vithakka Vichara is to refrain from putting the mental EFFORT. What you have to do is that , when you observe a passive thought came to mind acknowledge the awareness of a thought appearing but do not react to it by putting EFFORT to feed and run with the thought further along. Without fuel to run further the thoughts will subdues. By practicing it for some time, you can stay longer and longer without having passive thoughts appearing. To stop active thoughts Savithakaa Savichara technique is the same. This is the easiest technique of quickly gaining mental tranquility than the breathing technique. Also you need to know the difference between Dhyana and Dhyana Samadi Dhayana and Dhyana Samadi are two different things Dhyana means climbing to a certain level of Defilement burn like climbing to a certain height or floor of a building, when practiced well you can be in a dhyana even while you are doing some other thing such as walking or doing some day to day work. Samadhi is relaxing in the achieved level of tranquility like you climbed to a certain floor of a building and decided to stay and enjoy the view for a while. During Samadhi you loose your awareness you are so much in to it gradually you get disconnected from sensory perceptions. Therefore you can not do any other activity except sitting in meditative posture. Prathama Dhayana -First level - You can achieve the first level using the above said process very quickly you will experience all the above said 5 components of Dhyana Vithakka Vichara, Savithakaa Savichara, Preethi, Sukha, Aekagratha . The Aim is to reduce Vithakka Vichara and have more Savithakaa Savichara or active thoughts in mind about the Anichcha, Dukka, Anartha, as well as and Asswada , Addenawa and Nissarana concepts. Use your active thoughts to analyze your life experiences and test these concepts against it, checking whether these concepts are true or not according to your life experiences or others known to you like parents or friends experiences . More you analyze more you will start to see the truth of those, the more you see the truth of it, more you understand the reality and more you will begin to see the happiness of relinquishment of attachments such as Lust , Anger and Delution (Raaga, Dwasha, Mooha) by doing that, more you cultivate unpoluted pure thoughts or the Prabhasvara Chiththa . Which will bring out abundance of Preethi, Sukha, and Aekagratha (Happiness , comfort and concentration) and start to feel glowing, a kind of goose bumpy feeling, with tears filling the eyes, you will begin to get tiny glimpses of the great peace and happiness in Nirvana and feel need for seepeedy liberation. As an aid for gaining active thoughts or Savithakaa Savichara you can use Karmasthana (Karma Displacements) I have translated two of those to English and use it in way that you understand and think of the meaning of it. This is also called as practicing Vidarshana. Daily Contemplating on the meaning of the following 2 Karma Displacement thought lines called "Karmasthanas" (Which I had translated in to English) as well as other Karmasthanas (there are many more to choose from. Karmasrhanas are THE SHORT SUMMARIES of the understanding of dharma you need to think more thoroughly like why it is so, is it correct or wrong, can it be applicable to my life and my experiences etc, as just reciting Karmasthanas like a parrot will not do) given in the following web site will be helpful in speedy release from the bonds of lust, enmity and ignorance in the mind which keeps you bound in to the world. Now, once the attention is improved, start the Vidarshana part of the Meditation. That is analysis. Dwithiya Dhyana - Second Level You will achieve this level once all your Passive thoughts are gone they stopped appearing as a result of no feed is given by you to run those. That itself is a big relief. What is now left is Savithakaa Savichara, Preethi, Sukha, and Aekagratha You are feeling so much at ease, at one point you will think having active thoughts are also a burden and give up that too. That is the beginning of third level. (From now on this is not my own experience, this is what I learned and could be true.) Threethiya Dhayana - Third Level During third level, you give up active thoughts as a burden in order to experience Preethi, Sukha, and Aekagratha(Happiness , comfort and concentration) by this time feeling of your inner glowing is so intense you will begin to see your light body. Some people who had experienced the light complained in a discussion recently that light came once and and was not able to gain it in later attempts. The answer priest gave was the persons focus had changed from Mukha Nimittha to the light he saw. The purpose of Dhyana is to further improve the experience of the tranquility and peace of Nirvana you glimpsed in the previous two steps ( hence Mukya Nimithha is Nirvana ) Once you change your focus from that or the Main Aim (Mukha Nimittha) to watching lights the main focus is lost, with that, light also lost. So you need to ignore these lights and keep your mind in the experiencing peace of Nirvana. Chathurtha Dhayana - Fourth and final Level You enter in to this level by giving up Preethi, Sukha, (Happiness and Comfort) you experienced as also a hindrance to the concentration. Thus what is now left is concentration. During this level of concentration you can feel intense peace. While in this level if you want you can develop super human abilities such as seeing past lives, reading other peoples minds, seeing future, seeing other peoples lives, astral travel and seeing other planes of existences' ect. The technique of that the monk was very reluctant to reveal in public. Telling only that if you want to see your past life, while in Chathurtha Dhayana first focus on the furthest point in your childhood you can remember and from that point will and determine in your mind that you want to see beyond that and work further and further to the past. End
of Up Date (Jan 2019)
Analysis of what.. ? What is the most irresistible force this word… ? What makes
the continuation of animal and plant life possible in the world.. which makes
flowers bloom, Bees ..Humm.. birds sing and people fall in love ? Thus the Vidarshana is all about the contemplation and analysis of, mainly the own body as well as the body of others. This is what you have to think and keep thinking with the
now improved attention of the mind. This is called “Kaayanupassana”
There are
several ways to think. There are a number of different "Kaayas" or the
bodies a person can contemplate on. Any one way or all the ways are ok depending on what is
easy for you. Own physical body is only a one type of Kaaya and the easiest one
to grasp.
What you
have to think and convince to your self is this:
This body of mine is the present result of previous life’s ignorance (Avidya) of not being able to seeing things as they really are (Avidya - not being able to see and analyse in the line of Indulgence(Ashwaada), Consequences of that indulgence( Aadeenawa) and by seeing the adverse consequences of that indulgence , the relinquishment (Nissarana) or the give up or abandonment ) and because of that Avidya ( or not seeing the consequences of indulgences and not being able to relinquish) I created desires (Trushna), which resulted in intense sense of ownership and attachments (Upadana) and karmas (Good and bad points or merits) while living in the imaginary world of reality I built around me (Bhawa) as a result of these previous causes, I could not see the reality of the things in the light of Anichcha (Anichcha = Un + Ichcha = Does not stay or behave as desired = constantly changing or dynamic) or the impermanence *** of the things I thought which are mine and even at my moment of death I could not leave those behind.
These are very important sermons currently available with English subtitles explaining: What is the ideal way to achieve Nibbāna without delay, while attending to the day-to-day activities of lay life? Question: Since we have no idea as to when this human life will be over, we need to make progress on the Noble path in this life as quickly as possible. But we are lay people with other responsibilities too. Venerable Bhante, will you be kind enough to tell us the way? Episode 01 නිවන් දකින හරිමග කුමක්ද ? What is the correct way to attain nibbana ? | With English Subtitles https://youtu.be/cIbUtTVZg3U Episode 02 දුක්ඛ - දුක්ඛ , සංකාර දුක්ඛ, විපරිණාම දුක්ඛ Explanation of the three kinds of suffering | With English Subtitles https://youtu.be/J5gOSX4WMhE In case links are not working here is the transcript in pdf format How to attain Nibbāna as a Buddhist layman - Part 1 Late Ven. Waharaka Abhayarathanalankara Thero Waharaka-Thero-Discourse-The-Way-to-Nibbana.pdf
9 "Ascension papers" ...A very enlightening book giving western view of same point you can download it here for freehttp://zingdad.com/images/downloads/the_ascension_papers_book_1_-_zingdad.pdf
Acknoledgement And Thanks
This write up is a result of 6 months of my listening to Various sermons from Dec, 2015 to May 2016 Since all those sermons are in Sinhala Language. I felt sorry and compassion for people like my son who being born and bread in Australia are not fortunate enough to know the Sinhala Language as proficiently as I do in order to grasp the subtle points and meanings in profound theories and concepts given above. During 2017 I came across the discourses of Ven. Walasmullee Abhaya Thero and listened to his all 90 hours of season 8 discourse. Then I found his teacher Most Ven. Wharaka Abayarathanalankara Thero and listened to the most of the 106 CD's of his discourses in the following site. Currently in 2021 I am listening to the discourses of Ven. Arahath Meewanapalane Siri Dhammalankara Thero whom I find as the most correct teacher of Buddha Dhamma. Thus with an open mind and more
knowledge I kept updating the relevant parts of this page
to reflect the gained and up to date knowledge.
Therefore now this is not a one Buddhist teachers discourse in English this is
mostly what I came to understand during the last 6 years period of time
passed in my search of real teachings of Lord Buddha (Not the
Buddhist Religion But the Buddha Dhamma) and believe this is the correct path a normal person can easily
understand and follow. |
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