A guide to mindfulness and Vipassana meditation as taught by Luangpu Pramote
Today there are many attendants from Canada. To study Buddhism, one must first understand the concept. Buddhism answers only one question: how to be free from suffering. That’s the only thing Buddhism has an answer to. Buddhism is not just about sitting meditation to calm the mind, not to learn about the past, not to …
Keep practicing throughout your lives. Never surrender. Sometimes you might feel bored, just being aware that you are bored. Then continue to practice. Sometimes you may feel lazy, just being aware that you are lazy. Then continue to practice. The mind may become bored or lazy; you cannot forbid it. Boredom and laziness are parts of hindrances. Therefore, don’t overlook them. We do not progress due to these hindrances. In the worldly sense, there are many distractions that obstruct worldly progress. In the spiritual sense, those hindrances obstruct the path, hindering spiritual progress. So, observe your own mind. Don’t let hindrances dominate your mind.
Be mindful. Your mind has wandered outside. If you want to make quick progress, you must be able to identify phenomena. Don’t leave your practice unguided. Like, when you hear that people practice by breathing, you follow them. Or you hear that people practice by reciting “Buddho,” you follow them. You see that people practice …
These are easy things to talk about but hard to practice. Seeing the mind arise and fall so quickly sequentially. Asking, “The eye went to see, do you see that?” At that point so many mind moments have already passed. So let’s keep it simple. The Buddha taught cittanupassana. This is the practice for those who are not skilled in jhana, or deep concentration. Once we become quite skilled in observing the mind more and more and our mindfulness is sharp and with quality concentration, we will see the mind arising and falling at the senses. As we become an expert we will see clearly that all types of mind arise and fall. There aren’t any minds that arise and don’t fall. Seeing that the mind arises and falls we will gradually wash away wrong view of eternalism.
Keep practising and training. One day, we’ll see the truth, that these five aggregates are suffering. We’ll see this stage by stage. When we see it, we will release, and be liberated from suffering. In that moment, the mind will encounter true shanti, true peace, true happiness.
The term “natural phenomena” consists of only two departments, namely, the form and formless phenomena. Although there is another kind of phenomenon, which is called nirvāṇa or nibbāna, it is not accessible to a worldly person — thus, we should ignore this for now. We should continue observing the form and formless phenomena until we realize the Three Marks of Existence. We must observe them until the truth of the Three Marks of Existence is revealed. Therefore, what is critical in our observance lies in perceiving the underlying Three Marks of Existence within the form and formless phenomena.
Only when there’s the knower mind can we truly cultivate wisdom. Without a stable mind, we can’t really develop wisdom, because the mind is too scattered. I’ve been teaching about “don’t wander off and don’t overfocus” since I was still at Suan Poh. It sounds funny, doesn’t it? What kind of meditation is this “don’t wander off and don’t overfocus?” Essentially, it’s how to re-establish the concentration foundation. Without concentration, our mind wanders all over the place. With wrong concentration, we overfocus and suppress. A scattered mind prohibits us from being mindful of our body and mind. Even though we may be able to see our mind or the body while overfocusing, it’s impossible to see their truth.
Have mindfulness observing what’s behind your thoughts, speech, and actions. If you can do this, existing unwholesomeness will cease. New unwholesomeness won’t arise. New wholesomeness will arise. Existing wholesomeness will develop.
When our practice is truly refined, we’ll see that other than suffering, nothing arises. Other than suffering, nothing sustains. Other than suffering, nothing falls away. It’s all just suffering that arises and falls.
Even the Buddha himself asked us not to believe him just because he said something. Even the Buddha himself, said not to believe him. We have to prove things in our own experience. So let’s not be at the ready to believe others. That isn’t being smart or a true Buddhist.So the true tools we require are mindfulness and clear comprehension. Mindfulness is what knows what has arisen in the body and mind. That isn’t ordinary mindfulness. It’s the foundations of mindfulness. Clear comprehension is a type of wisdom that knows what makes sense, what’s suitable for us. Samatha and vipassana, those make sense. What is suitable for me? Mindfulness of the in and out breath for samatha is appropriate. Practising vipassana, I’d watch the mind. Watching continuously, I was then able to observe all phenomena. We start with one of the foundations first. We have to see for ourselves.