::How To Meditate I - What is Meditation ::

"People enter this world of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought... and then they can't get out."

Master Sheng Yen

 

Meditation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://palungjit.org/threads/meditation.62278/

 

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Buddhist Meditation Music Garden: Zen Music for Balance and Relaxation, Holistic Massage Therapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEOYDXtJ8Co

 

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432 hz DNA Healing/Chakra Cleansing Meditation/Relaxation Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVX75VIpqg

Published on Sep 4, 2014

Peace! 4.5 hours of blissful and relaxing music to meditate, study, sleep or work to. Many comments I've read are questioning the effects of music as healing on our DNA and Chakras. There is much information on the 432hz frequency (and the Solfeggio Scale) on the interwebs. Below are a few links for some that I like, for those that are interested in the wonders of sound for healing!
Much Love & Blessings to you all!

Ancient Knowledge part 6/1 on 432hz frequency
https://youtu.be/ZG4dRUOWwtg?t=1319

Out of the Silence mini Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UP8x...

 

The Five Precepts --
by Kusala Bhikshu
from a talk given at Benedict's Dharma 2

Today I am going to speak on the five precepts.

The five precepts are the foundation of Buddhist practice. Some of the five precepts are found in the Noble Eightfold Path under the category of personal discipline. In that category we find, right speech, right action and right livelihood.

If the launching pad is askew, the rocket takes off and misses the mark. The foundation is very important to the rest of the sturcture. The five precepts are the foundation of Buddhist practice.

What is right speech? The Buddha said there are four kinds of unskillful speech. They are false, malicious, harsh, and gossip or iddle chatter. Those four kinds of speech always increase suffering.

When I was a volunteer at a state prison for men, I realized these men already understood the importance of right speech. If they said the wrong thing at the wrong time, they could be killed. Talk about a great incentive to speak skillfully.

If they made you feel uncomfortable, they would say, "Excuse me." If they needed something, they would say, "Please." If you gave it to them, they would say, "Thank you." Skillful speech reduces suffering, and you don't need to be a great yogi to do it.

There are three kinds of action that always increase suffering: Killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. The Buddha said killing causes much suffering, all creatures have a desire to live.

I was surprised that a cockroach might enjoy and cherish his life, but you try to kill one, and they'll run away. And those ants in your kitchen, they want to go on living as well.

It's a cruel joke, if you truly want to hold this precept, you are doomed to failure. Because everything we eat, was at one time alive. Killing is a part of living.

A vegetarian might say, "You know, I don't kill anything." I would say to him, "That's because you can't hear the screams of the broccoli."

We are all faced with the same dilemma, which is not should I kill, but what do I need to kill to stay alive. Vegetarians choose to kill the lowest life form they can, while meat eaters just aren't as picky. But let me say here, I am not aware of anyone achieving enlightenment because of what they ate. The Buddha ate meat, he ate what was offered.

Being a police chaplain puts me in an interesting place, especially with the first precept, not to kill. I have received e-mails from police officers asking, "It's sometimes necessary for me to use lethal force, from a Buddhist perspective what should I do?

I reply in this way, "Never kill out of hatred and anger. Only service and duty. The consequence of your actions will be greatly reduced if your intention is one of service and duty to the community."

There is a zen story I'd like to share with you about a samurai warrior.

There was a great battle, and a shogun was killed. It became the Zen samurai warrior's duty to revenge the death of the shogun, and it took him an entire year to find the culprit.

One morning at 4:00 am, he went to this small house in an outlying village. He knocked on the door and it swung open. There, standing in the doorway was the man he had been looking for an entire year. He could now revenge the death of his shogun and go home. He pulled his sword to slay the man, but just as quickly put it back in the sheath and left.

The reason was, as he pulled his sword he was filled with a great anger and hatred. He would have to come back another day to fulfill his duty in the proper way. He had made it personal.

Beside the problem of taking life, it is really hard to be born. In the Buddhist tradition, we feel that life begins when a sperm, an egg, and karmic energy come together in the womb. The karmic energy necessary for life is called gandhabba, in the early Buddhist language of Pali. In Buddhism karmic energy is what transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime, not the soul.

Think of being reborn as a human and the chances of that occuring, like this.

There is a giant ocean, and at the bottom of that giant ocean is a one-eyed turtle. Every hundred years this one-eyed turtle comes to the surface for a breath of air.

Floating in the great ocean is a wooden yoke, having fallen from the neck of an ox. The chances of that one-eyed turtle surfacing through the center of that wooden yoke, are the same chances we face being reborn as a human being.

Now, there are times when I might have to kill.

When I have to kill something like a bug, I try to be as conscious as I can. I don't just react. I think about the consequence's of my actions, and my accountability.

If there is any way not to kill -- Well for instance, if there is a spider in the corner of the zendo. I could go and fetch a jar and chase the spider down, and then take him outside. It may take five or ten minutes, but in those five or ten minutes I can reflect on the value of life, his life and mine.

Now, I know it's only a matter of time until that spider comes back, and I'll have to do it again. But that's okay, it's good practice and in the end, my practice benefits the spider and me.

When people ask me, "How I feel about war?

I share with them my sadness over the loss of life. Governments come and go. Nations are here today, and gone tomorrow. The lines drawn on this earth by politicians, have been redrawn many times. Ending the lives of humans, animals, and insects because of certain views or agendas is really stupid. It's very unskillful karma and it causes a lot of suffering.

So, Killing is always a big deal, no matter what's being killed, an ant or a human. Though human life turns out to have a bit more value, because a human can achieve nirvana, an ant can't, until it's been reborn as a man or woman.

Okay, on to something else. Stealing, what's wrong with stealing? We all own or at least think we do, and are attached to stuff.

In Sr. Meg's case, she uses stuff, but doesn't own it, because of her vow of poverty. Most folks think they own the stuff they use, and that's where the problem comes in. And some people have so much stuff, they rent storage lockers to store the excess.

Now, if somebody comes and takes the stuff you think you own, you're going to be really bummed out. A lot of the young people in juvenile hall are there because they didn't understand this concept, they took the stuff people thought they owned.

In order for us to live in community we need to respect each other's stuff, even if ownership is just an illusion. Okay, enough said on owning and stealing.

Now, we come to sexual misconduct. In Los Angeles where I come from, it's okay to do or be anything you want. When I was a young man growing up in Phoenix, Arizona. I could only do half the stuff they do today, and I felt guilty about that.

Today you can be, bisexual, homosexual, tri-sexual, trans-sexual, non-sexual, a-sexual, always sexual, etc. It's so confusing! The idea of finding the right combination, or your true sexual identity, is very seductive.

Buddhism says, ultimate satisfaction is never going to happen. The activity of sex will never ultimately satisfy your desire for sex.

Now, is that a bummer or what? I mean you can have sex a thousand times and want it a thousand one. When you seek satisfaction through sexual activity, your desire only gets stronger.

I'm thinking it's a lot like hunger, and to be honest with you I'm getting tired of being hungry.

I've been hungry every day of my life. I'm hungry in the morning, and I have breakfast. I'm hungry in the afternoon, and I have lunch. I'm hungry in the evening, I have dinner. Sometimes I'm hungry after dinner, and I'll have a snack.

I'm thinking if I could end my hunger forever, I'd have a lot of extra time and money. So tomorrow morning I'm going to get up real early, and I'm going to eat as much as I want, as often as I want. I'm going to be so full that I'll never want to eat again.

If I could somehow do that, it would only take a day of two to be hungry again. That is essentially how sexual desire works. It's the same deal.

What did the Buddha say specifically to lay people about sex? He said four things.

He said, do not have sex with people who are married. Do not have sex with people who are engaged. Do not have sex with people who are being supported by their parents -- children. And do not have sex with people against their will.

That's all he said. He didn't say anything else. I'm assuming he felt every community, every city, every state, every nation would initiate their own laws, their own way of moderating sexual activity.

He did say a lot to monks and nuns about not having sex... Let me say there is nothing wrong with sex. Sex is wonderful... It's the desire for sex that keeps getting in the way of our ultimate satisfaction.

Celibacy offers a monk or nun greater flexibility in how they live their life.

I don't look at not having sex as a penalty. I look at it as an opportunity. When I stopped having sexual relationships, I started to see myself in a totally different way. Not having sex became part of my inner exploration, part of my practice.

Now, does not having sex end suffering? No, it just means you suffer in a different way. Desire in not ended by not having sex, desire only ends with Nirvana.

Okay, now we come to right livelihood. The Buddha said there are certain kinds of livelihood that increase suffering, and certain kinds of livelihood that decrease suffering. For instance, it's not skillful to be a butcher, or sell drugs and alcohol. It's not skillful to sell human beings... slavery, or to make poison. Certain livelihoods aren't conducive to Buddhist practice because the create more suffering, not less.

One time I was teaching a meditation class, and I was talking about right livelihood. A woman in the class was a bartender, and she never came back after my little talk. I see now, I should have been more skillful. So, if you find yourself involved in a livelihood that seems to increase suffering, just don't quit your job. It's really hard to find work, and there may be people dependent on your pay check. Retrain yourself, and then seek other employment.

I was giving a talk at USC to a group of business majors. One of the guys came from a Buddhist family and asked if it was okay for a Buddhist to make a lot of money. I said, "Oh, yes, think how much more money you can give away."

There is one precept I haven't talked about yet, and I'm a bit hesitant because it's the hardest one for some folks. So, let me go over the five precepts, and then I'll talk about the fifth precept.

The first precept is, and it's said this way -- the wording is very important -- "I accept the training precept not to kill."

The second precept... I accept the training precept not to steal, not to take what is not given.

A story comes to mind about the second precept that was played out in real life for me at a Buddhist conference.

There was this monk, he was eating lunch and he had this beautiful red apple sitting on the table in front of him. One of the other monks -- not from his tradition -- was taken aback by how beautiful it was, and picked it up and said, "What beautiful apple, I bet you're going to enjoy eating this one," and he set it back on the table.

Now, the first monk who was going to eat the apple, couldn't touch it until it was reoffered to him. Because, as soon as that second monk touched the apple, ownership transfered to him. So, please, don't touch a monk's food.

Okay the five are... I accept the training precept not to kill. I accept the training precept not to steal. I accept the training precept not to indulge in sexual misconduct. I accept the training precept not to lie. I accept the training precept not to consume intoxicants.

The fifth precept... Not to consume intoxicants.

A lot of people want to become Buddhists, but enjoy a beer or two once in awhile. So, at the IBMC where I live, we changed the fifth precept for lay people to read... Not to consume intoxicants to the point of intoxication.

Now let me say here, there anything wrong with wine or beer?

In fact, they have some medicinal qualities. The problem with consuming any alcoholic beverage is... Sooner or later it will steal your wisdom. If enough of your wisdom is stolen, you might break the other four precepts and not even know it.

How hard won is wisdom?

Buddhists sit quietly for hours at a time, go on long retreats, read Buddhist texts, listen to their teachers, and try to be mindful of everything they do. All it takes is a few beers, and it's all out the window. When you start to see how much time you've invested in your wisdom, not drinking makes perfect sense.

Eventually it becomes clear: Why, not killing, not stealing, not indulging in sexual misconduct, not lying, not consuming intoxicants is the path to freedom, and leads to end of suffering.

Following the five precepts is a way to live in the world and not cause more suffering.

http://www.urbandharma.org/kusala/revkus/5precepts.html]The Five Precepts

 

Intense meditation practices help to achieve a harmony between body and mind

Meditation and Its Regulatory Role on Sleep
Intense meditation practices help to achieve a harmony between body and mind. Meditation practices influence brain functions, induce various intrinsic neural plasticity events, modulate autonomic, metabolic, endocrine, and immune functions and thus mediate global regulatory changes in various behavioral states including sleep. This brief review focuses on the effect of meditation as a self regulatory phenomenon on sleep.

Meditation practices have been a life style practiced in India thousands of years ago. Proficient meditative practices help to integrate the brain functions, regulate various physiological mechanisms resulting in a state of mental and physical well being. Studies of long term transcendental meditation (TM) practitioners have shown that TM helped to achieve a state of “restful alertness” a state of deep physiological rest which was associated with periods of respiratory suspension without compensatory hyperventilation, decreased heart rate, heightened galvanic skin response along with enhanced wakefulness (Wallace, 1970). This restful alertness and hypometabolic state were believed to be the outcome of physiological and biochemical changes brought about by meditation practices (Young and Taylor, 1998).

The effect of meditation on sleep was first reported by Mason et al. (1997) in practitioners of TM. The main objective was to evaluate the neurophysiological correlates of the higher states of consciousness during sleep. The study reported that the senior meditators spent more time in the slow wave sleep (SWS) with higher theta–alpha power with background delta activity, together with reduced electromyogram (EMG). The rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was also found to be enhanced. The distinct theta–alpha pattern observed during sleep was considered as an electrophysiological correlate of a stabilized state of higher consciousness in sleep. Further, the study opened up new avenues to explore the influence of meditation on sleep.
Studies by Sulekha et al. (2006) and Ravindra et al. (2010) demonstrated the differences in sleep architecture in practitioners of Vipassana meditation (mindfulness meditation). The sleep architecture of senior practitioners of Vipassana meditation was endowed with enhanced states of SWS and REM sleep compared to that of non-meditating control group. Vipassana meditators showed 17.95, 11.3, and 10.63% of SWS among younger (30–39 years), middle (40–49 years), and older (50–60 years) age groups respectively. On the other hand, the corresponding non-meditating controls showed a significant reduction of SWS with increasing age, i.e., 11.29, 6.65, and 3.94%. Vipassana meditators from all age groups showed more number of sleep cycles, indicating quality sleep. The study suggested that the older meditators could retain the sleep pattern of younger non-meditating controls. Aging is known to reduce the activity of the slow wave resonating mechanism either by actual loss of neurons or reduced activation of thalamo-cortical pathways (Feinberg et al., 1967; Mourtazaev et al., 1995) and also by reduced spindle generation during NREM sleep stage 2 (Nicolas et al., 2001). Vipassana meditation appears to preserve the SWS, suggesting that meditation could prevent the age associated changes in the slow wave generating mechanisms. Vipassana meditation also enhanced the REM sleep states. Meditation practices are reported to enhance the amplitude of gamma synchrony, strengthen the thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical interactions (Lutz et al., 2004). These mechanisms brought about stronger network synchronization and altered the neural structure and functions (Lazar et al., 2005; Pagnoni and Cekic, 2007). Based on the above observations, the changes in sleep architecture in the Vipassana meditation practitioners could be attributed to the neural plasticity events associated with meditation.
Meditation, Autonomic Activity, and Sleep
Changes in autonomic activity had been reported with respect to specific sleep states with predominant parasympathetic activity in SWS and sympathetic activity during REM sleep (Pivik et al., 1996; Otzenberger et al., 1997; Trinder et al., 2001; Pedemonte et al., 2005). Such sleep state dependent autonomic changes maintain the homeostasis during sleep. Aging alters autonomic flexibility leading to an overall increase in sympathetic activity along with reduced parasympathetic activity, thereby bringing about autonomic arousal and decrease in sleep quality. Reduced parasympathetic activity along with inefficient baroreflex mechanisms during REM sleep have been reported to cause unfavorable cardiac events (Somers et al., 1993; Ramaekers et al., 1999; Jones et al., 2003). Meditation practices help to bring about sympatho-vagal balance with parasympathetic predominance among experienced meditators and also in novice meditators with less practice (Wu and Lo, 2008; Zeidan et al., 2010). Vipassana meditation practices help to retain the flexibility of autonomic activity during different stages of sleep. Further, heart rate variability evaluation during REM sleep showed higher sympathetic activity in meditators than in controls. This higher sympathetic activity in meditators was effectively buffered by parasympathetic activity unlike the non-meditating controls (unpublished data). These studies have demonstrated a greater insight into the modulatory effect of meditation practices on autonomic functions during sleep. Meditation practices are associated with enhanced frontal midline theta activity (Aftanas and Golocheikine, 2001; Travis and Shear, 2010). The frontal midline theta activity originates from the anterior cingulate cortex and controls the parasympathetic activity (Tang et al., 2009). Vipassana meditation practices would have activated the anterior cingulate cortex and hence modulated the parasympathetic activity during sleep. These reports are suggestive of a positive modulatory role of meditation in sleep through autonomic functions.
(cont.next page)

 

Meditation, Melatonin, and Sleep

Meditation practices were reported to regulate the hypothalamo pituitary adrenal (HPA) Axis and thereby the cortisol and catecholamine levels (Jevning et al., 1978a; Infante et al., 2001). Further, meditation techniques were also known to increase dehydroepiandrosterone (Glaser et al., 1992), anterior Pituitary hormones like growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), prolactin (Jevning et al., 1978b; Werner et al., 1986; MacLean et al., 1997), and melatonin levels (Massion et al., 1995; Tooley et al., 2000).

Melatonin plays a vital role in the physiological regulation of sleep in both blind and normal individuals (Pandi-Perumal et al., 2006). Melatonin rhythm follows a raising and falling phase with corresponding alterations in sleep propensity (Dijk and Cajochen, 1997; Dijk et al., 1997). Melatonin exerts its hypnotic effect by acute inhibition of suprachiasmatic nucleus (von Gall et al., 2002) and also by facilitating hypothermic response through peripheral vasodilatation (Krauchi et al., 1997). Melatonin is widely used in the management of sleep rhythm disorders due to jetlag, shiftwork, and insomnia (Martinez and Lenz, 2010). In addition to its role in sleep, melatonin acts as an antioxidant and immunomodulator (Maestroni, 2001), oncostatic, antiaging agent, and helps in bringing sense of wellbeing (Armstrong and Redman, 1991; Reiter, 1995; Maestroni, 2001; Guerrero and Reiter, 2002; Pandi-Perumal et al., 2006). Aging attenuates the melatonin secretion (Sack et al., 1986) and hence affect the sleep quality in aged population.

Meditation practices are reported to enhance the melatonin levels (Tooley et al., 2000), the precursors of melatonin especially the serotonin (Bujatti and Riederer, 1976) and noradrenalin (Lang et al., 1979). Meditation increases melatonin concentration by slowing its hepatic metabolism or augmenting the synthesis in the pineal gland (Massion et al., 1995). Diurnal melatonin levels were found to be significantly high in Vipassana meditators (approximately 300 pg ml) than non-meditating controls (65 pg ml; unpublished data). By considering the role of melatonin in sleep maintenance, it might be concluded that meditation practices enhance melatonin levels and hence quality of sleep.

Sleep as an Autoregulatory, Global Phenomenon

Sleep is reported to be associated with reduced heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and rhythm, oxygen consumption, anxiety or arousal, and an overall decrease in basal metabolic levels leading to a hypometabolic state. This phenomenon of sleep induced hypometabolic state is a natural and spontaneous outcome necessary for biological survival (Young and Taylor, 1998). Imaging studies have shown that during NREM sleep the blood flow to areas associated with executive functions such as frontal and parietal cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum has been reduced and bringing about the feeling of hypnogogic effect during sleep (Kajimura et al., 1999; Kjaer et al., 2002).

Meditation also brings a sustained hypometabolic state termed as relaxation response by Herbert Benson and helps in sleep initiation (Wallace et al., 1971). Similarly, meditation techniques help to regulate the blood flow to the executive regions of the brain during sleep (Lou et al., 1999). Meditation practices down regulate HPA axis reducing the stress, prolactin, TSH levels (Jevning et al., 1978a); bring about alterations in the intermediary metabolism favoring an anabolic state. Thus, meditation helps to maintain a wakeful hypometabolic state with parasympathetic predominance (Young and Taylor, 1998). Both the state and trait characteristics of meditation practices provide an advantage that it continually resets the metabolic functioning despite varying levels of stress. This internal metabolic resetting form the baseline trait characteristics necessary for all potential changes brought about by meditation practices. Further, meditative practices beneficially influence the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects. Thus meditation is shown to have a greater potential to influence many physiological and behavioral states including sleep (Carlson et al., 2007; Ong et al., 2008; Sibinga et al., 2011).
It has been hypothesized that meditation practices activate prefrontal cortex, fronto-limbic, fronto-parietal neural networks and limbic and paralimbic cortices associated with sympathetic arousal. Meditation practices activate structures like insula, anterior cingulate, and hypothalamus and bring about autonomic and humoral changes (Newberg and Iversen, 2003). Meditation thus produces a continuum of global regulatory changes at various behavioral levels favoring quality sleep.

Conclusion

It is evident from the literature cited that practice of meditation brings about global changes. Many of these alterations in physiological functions have great similarities to the changes that are happening during sleep. It has been proposed that sleep is an autoregulatory global phenomenon (Kumar, 2010). It is also true that meditation influences sleep and its functions. It appears that various components of sleep generating mechanisms can be altered with meditation. Meditation, with its global effects on body and brain functions helps to establish a body and mind harmony. Thus meditation practices as an autoregulatory integrated global phenomenon, opens a wider scope for understanding the unique aspects of human sleep and consciousness.

Ravindra P. Nagendra,1 Nirmala Maruthai,1 and Bindu M. Kutty1*

1Department of Neurophysiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India
Edited by: V. Mohan Kumar, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, India
Reviewed by: Sunao Uchida, Waseda University, Japan; V. Mohan Kumar, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, India
*Correspondence: Bindu M. Kutty, Department of Neurophysiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore 560029, India. e-mail: bindu.nimhans@gmail.com


Sincerely appreciated
L.A. Dharma hosts non-sectarian Buddhist meditation groups, classes, talks, study groups and retreats.

 

Precept5
1. Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
...I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.
2. Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
...I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given.
3. Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
...I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
...I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech
5. Suramerayamajja pamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
...I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness.
*********************

 

Instead of Attachment | by Ajahn Brahm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L50xVM7wwss&list=PL607DF610C4953798&index=19

 

Lessons from Buddhism

Delivered at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
by Jennie Sykes Knight


When I studied Zen Buddhism briefly in college, one of our text books was called Zen mind, Beginner’s mind. The idea is that the goal is to cultivate the mind of a beginner, or, as my karate teacher used to say, “come with an empty cup.”

The world of Buddhism is vast, diverse and complex. I have only just begun to study about Buddhism this past month. I will be visiting different Buddhist temples throughout Southern California during this fall. I have visited one temple so far. I have much more to learn, but today I will share with you the basic truths about Buddhism that I have gleaned from my beginnings.

When I visited the International Buddhist Meditation Center, which is around the corner from this church on New Hampshire, I had just begun my readings about Buddhism. I sat down to talk with Rev. Kusala, a Buddhist monk at the center who some of you may remember from the talks he has given here.

Rev. Kusala’s first question for me was: Do Buddhists believe in God?

My response was: That’s not the point. The point of Buddhism is the end of suffering. As Rev. Kusala explained to me, a person who is content with her or his life may have no use for Buddhism. Buddhist practice is a labor-intensive process that is like a medicine from a doctor. It is for relief from suffering.

The Buddha told his followers that he had seen and understood an entire cosmology during his Awakening, but that was not the most important thing for him to teach. He taught how a person can attain Awakening and freedom from suffering. That is the most important teaching. Once they reach Awakening, they will learn the rest for themselves.

The Point of Buddhism is that we are responsible for achieving our own
Awakening and for freeing ourselves from suffering. Of course, we can help each other through guidance and kindness, but the ultimate responsibility lies with each person to free her or himself.

When Siddhartha Gautama sat down under a tree at sunset 2500 years ago, he did so at a particular moment in his life and in a cultural context. The story of the Buddha’s life was written in a mythic form, filling in the gaps from the earlier scriptures. The legend describes Siddhartha Gautama as a wealthy young man who had everything a person would need to be happy in life. As he reached maturity, however, he began to recognize that he was subject to aging and death.

During his life, great social and intellectual changes in the plain of the Ganges River in India took place. Sensitive people began to question traditional values and to be open to radically new ideas. People called “sramanas”, or “strivers,” began to separate from society and to live as ascetics and beggars in order to search for truth through meditation and reason.

Gautama became one of these people. After he began to question the meaning of life in the face of suffering, he left his family and all of his wealth at the age of 29 to strive for “the unaging, unailing, deathless, sorrow less, undefiled, unexcelled security from bondage, Nirvana”.

With several teachers, Gautama reached the same level of awareness as his teachers but recognized that their practice did not lead to nirvana. He then tried to attain enlightenment by himself, through mortification of his body. He held his breath even when it caused violent headaches, and he fasted until he was totally emaciated. He did this until the 6th year after his renunciation. Realizing that total mortification was not leading him to liberation, he tried to think of a better way.

He remembered a boyhood experience of absorption in the inner sense of his body. He was too weak to try this, so he allowed himself to be fed. This was the first step in his Middle Way to Awakening. He realized that liberation could not be reached through abstracted meditation or through total escape from the body through mortification. He recognized that “a healthy body is necessary for the development of discernment in order to understand the relationship between the body and the mind.”

Gautama then sat under a tree at sunset, facing east. The tree is called the “Bodhi Tree,” meaning “Tree of Awakening.” He resolved not to get up again until he had reached his goal.

The journey that he took that night led to his achievement of nirvana, or Enlightenment. What he learned through this journey was what he went on to teach to others so that they might also find release from suffering.

The first step on the journey was that Mara, the personification of death, delusion, and temptation, became alarmed that Gautama was so close to achieving his goal. He first planted doubts in Gautama’s mind and then attacked him with his ten armies: sensuality, discontent, hunger and thirst, craving, sloth and torpor, fear, doubt, hypocrisy, self-exaltation, and the desire for fame. The Bodhisattva (which means being who is about to be awakened) recognized the attacks for what they were and sent them away in defeat.

As the full moon rose, Gautama focused on his in-and-out breathing and ascended the four stages of meditative absorption. The fourth serves as a foundation for the six superknowledges: psychic powers (e.g. walking on water, levitation,) psychic hearing, knowledge of other’s minds, memory of one’s former lives, psychic vision, and the ending of the pollutants of the mind. The pollutants of the mind (or asravas) are: sensual desire, states of being, views, and ignorance.

It is these pollutants that lead to suffering through attachment.

Gautama’s progress through the night went like this:

* from dusk till ten p.m.: he acquired the fourth superknowledge, and knew his many thousands of previous lifetimes, seeing them one by one.

* from ten p.m. till 2 a.m., he acquired the fifth superknowledge, psychic vision. He saw the decease and rebirth of living beings everywhere. He saw that good karma leads to a happy rebirth, and evil karma to a miserable one.

* from 2 a.m. till dawn, he acquired the sixth superknowledge. He reached the ending of the asravas, the pollutants of the mind. He saw the pattern of how ignorance gives rise to personal suffering and to the experience of rebirth as a whole.

Gautama became the Buddha or “Awakened One” on that night.

Awakened to the cycles of birth and death that are caused by karma, he escaped from those cycles, He had 45 years of life left, though, because of karma he had earned in other lives. He did not create any more karma. Out of compassion for other beings, he decided to teach others the path to Enlightenment during his remaining 45 years.

So, what is Karma? I have heard about it but never understood exactly what it meant. Karma is defined as an intentional act, performed by body, speech, mind, which---in line with the intention it embodies- will result in happiness or suffering in this or a future rebirth. There is a bumper sticker that is a favorite of mine that may help you to understand this. It says, “ My karma ran over my dogma.”

Karma works within a complex cosmological system. There are six major destinies for rebirth. They are: hell, the level of hungry ghosts (those who wander around on earth and are never satisfied,) common animals, human beings, spirits, and Brahmas (gods). To be reborn in hell, as a hungry ghost or an animal, is the result of evil karma. To reborn as a human being, a spirit, or a god, is the result of good karma.

So, Buddhists do believe in gods, but even the status of a god is temporary.

Even the good karma that gets you into heaven runs out eventually. The bad karma that causes a rebirth in hell is also burned up in hell eventually. The human realm is the realm in which karma is worked out, for good or for bad. The radical change that the Buddha brought about was that of removing ethics from ritual practice. Intention in the mind is the place where ethics are worked out.

I spoke to Rev. Kusala about rebirth. I asked how there can be rebirth if Buddhist’s do not believe in a traditional understanding of soul. He explained that what is reborn is called gandhabbha. A term used for the rebirth-linking consciousness. The gandhabbha is made up of one’s intentions, speech and action, in other words karmic energy. It is a recognition that we are made up of processes. We are not static selves. It is the process that is reborn. It goes through the painful process of birth and death again and again. It is not a static self that is reincarnated, or reembodied.

When the Buddha achieved Enlightenment, he escaped from the cycle of rebirth. What does this mean? Buddhism is often perceived as nihilistic or depressing. The idea of nirvana and a lack of soul or self is seen as negative.

Nirvana literally means: the extinguishing of a fire, in the Pali language. It is not as nihilistic as it sounds to us, however. In the physics of the Buddha’s time, a fire was understood to be in a state of agitation, dependency, and entrapment, when it was burning. It was seen to grow calm, independent and released when it went out. When a fire was put out, it was “freed.”

The Buddha used ancient Verdic notions of fire, that said that a fire did not go out of existence when extinguished, but simply went into an indeterminate state.

This is the case with Nirvana. It defies all dualism of existent/ not-existent.
It can not be described by language, which is limited by conditions. It involves complete freedom from all attachments and all limitations.

Buddha called the Path to Nirvana the Noble Eightfold Path. It was his middle way. The eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path are: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Knowledge of the path factors comes from the Four Noble Truths that the Buddha recognized in his

Enlightenment and preached in his first sermon. They are:

* First, the truth of suffering. Suffering is involved in every aspect of conditioned existence.

* Second, the truth of the origination of suffering. Suffering is caused by our craving and striving for sensuality, for becoming and for holding on to what is.

* Third, the truth of the ending of suffering. Suffering ends through dispassion, renunciation, and nondependence.

* Fourth, the truth of the path leading to the end of suffering, the Noble
Eightfold Path.

So what do the Buddha’s experience and teachings have to say to those of us who are beginners? For myself, the basic awareness that all thing are impermanent leads to an understanding that I cause myself and others suffering when I try to clutch at something and control it to stop it from changing. It seems to be a pretty basic human trait to fear change, and yet, the Buddha teaches that change is a fundamental truth of all existence. If we can accept things as they come, appreciate them in the moment, and then let them pass by, we will cause a lot less suffering.

Buddhism teaches awareness and acceptance of change. Change is a fundamental reality of our conditioned existence.

The concept of not-self also has a profound lessons for all of us. Our Western understandings of self often keep us from living in right relationship with each other and with our environment. When we understand ourselves to be distinct, static selves, we keep ourselves from the awareness of how radically interconnected we are. We literally constitute each other. Our intentions, and not just our actions, have an impact upon everyone and everything around us. It is our responsibility to change them through a difficult process of change.

There is a difference between being interconnected and taking other into one’s own ego. With strong ego, and a sense of ourselves as separate, we tend to relate to other people as if we are taking them into are own ego.

We perceive them through our own preconceptions and we are not able to perceive them as they are. An awareness of interconnectedness leads to unconditional love and compassion, rather than a conditional love born out of the needs of a ravenous ego.

Buddhism teaches compassion, we are to love all sentient beings as if they were our own children, unconditionally. When we give, we need to give with right intention, not with a desire for the promotion of self. We promote separation and we cause suffering if we don not give out of an intention of compassion.

There are obviously many lessons in Buddhism for all of us. The doctor has prescribed medicine to end our suffering, and we can choose whether or not, or how, we will take it in.


The End

Lessons from Buddhism

In America - Urban Dharma

 

The Wind and the Moon
[Friendship]

Once upon a time, there were two very good friends who lived together in the shade of a rock. Strange as it may seem, one was a lion and one was a tiger. They had met when they were too young to know the difference between lions and tigers. So they did not think their friendship was at all unusual. Besides, it was a peaceful part of the mountains, possibly due to the influence of a gentle forest monk who lived nearby. He was a hermit, one who lives far away from other people.

For some unknown reason, one day the two friends got into a silly argument. The tiger said, "Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon wanes from full to new!" The lion said, "Where did you hear such nonsense? Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon waxes from new to full!"

The argument got stronger and stronger. Neither could convince the other. They could not reach any conclusion to resolve the growing dispute. They even started calling each other names! Fearing for their friendship, they decided to go ask the learned forest monk, who would surely know about such things.

Visiting the peaceful hermit, the lion and tiger bowed respectfully and put their question to him. The friendly monk thought for a while and then gave his answer. "It can be cold in any phase of the moon, from new to full and back to new again. It is the wind that brings the cold, whether from west or north or east. Therefore, in a way, you are both right! And neither of you is defeated by the other. The most important thing is to live without conflict, to remain united. Unity is best by all means."

The lion and tiger thanked the wise hermit. They were happy to still be friends.

The moral is: Weather comes and weather goes, but friendship remains.

Buddhist Tales: The Wind and the Moon

 

Ajahn Brahm - Final Question and Answer October 18, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFfcgxM4sw

Published on Nov 11, 2014

Recording from Ajahn Brahm’s One-Day Meditation Retreat on the 18th of October 2014 at the at Halton Peel Buddhist Society, Mississauga, Ontario Canada.
WEBTMC - West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre

 

An Overview of Loving-kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation can be brought in to support the practice of 'bare attention' to help keep the mind open and sweet. It provides the essential balance to support your insight meditation practice.

It is a fact of life that many people are troubled by difficult emotional states in the pressured societies we live in, but do little in terms of developing skills to deal with them. Yet even when the mind goes sour it is within most people's capacity to arouse positive feelings to sweeten it. Loving-kindness is a meditation practice taught by the Buddha to develop the mental habit of selfless or altruistic love. In the Dhammapada can be found the saying: "Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving-kindness."

Loving-kindness is a meditation practice, which brings about positive attitudinal changes as it systematically develops the quality of 'loving-acceptance'. It acts, as it were, as a form of self-psychotherapy, a way of healing the troubled mind to free it from its pain and confusion. Of all Buddhist meditations, loving-kindness has the immediate benefit of sweetening and changing old habituated negative patterns of mind.

To put it into its context, Loving-kindness is the first of a series of meditations that produce four qualities of love: Friendliness (metta), Compassion (karuna), Appreciative Joy (mudita) and Equanimity (upekkha). The quality of 'friendliness' is expressed as warmth that reaches out and embraces others. When loving-kindness practice matures it naturally overflows into compassion, as one empathises with other people's difficulties; on the other hand one needs to be wary of pity, as its near enemy, as it merely mimics the quality of concern without empathy. The positive expression of empathy is an appreciation of other people's good qualities or good fortune, or appreciative joy, rather than feelings of jealousy towards them. This series of meditations comes to maturity as 'on-looking equanimity'. This 'engaged equanimity' must be cultivated within the context of this series of meditations, or there is a risk of it manifesting as its near enemy, indifference or aloofness. So, ultimately you remain kindly disposed and caring toward everybody with an equal spread of loving feelings and acceptance in all situations and relationships.

How to do it . . .

The practice always begins with developing a loving acceptance of yourself. If resistance is experienced then it indicates that feelings of unworthiness are present. No matter, this means there is work to be done, as the practice itself is designed to overcome any feelings of self-doubt or negativity. Then you are ready to systematically develop loving-kindness towards others.

Four Types of Persons to develop loving-kindness towards:

• a respected, beloved person - such as a spiritual teacher;
• a dearly beloved - which could be a close family member or friend;
• a neutral person - somebody you know, but have no special feelings towards, e.g.: a person who serves you in a shop;
• a hostile person - someone you are currently having difficulty with.

Starting with yourself, then systematically sending loving-kindness from person to person in the above order will have the effect of breaking down the barriers between the four types of people and yourself. This will have the effect of breaking down the divisions within your own mind, the source of much of the conflict we experience. Just a word of caution if you are practicing intensively. It is best if you choose a member of the same sex or, if you have a sexual bias to your own sex, a person of the opposite sex. This is because of the risk that the near enemy of loving-kindness, lust, can be aroused. Try different people to practice on, as some people do not easily fit into the above categories, but do try to keep to the prescribed order.

Ways of arousing feelings of loving-kindness:

1. Visualisation - Bring up a mental picture. See yourself or the person the feeling is directed at smiling back at you or just being joyous.

2. By reflection - Reflect on the positive qualities of a person and the acts of kindness they have done. And to yourself, making an affirmation, a positive statement about yourself, using your own words.

3. Auditory - This is the simplest way but probably the most effective. Repeat an internalized mantra or phrase such as 'loving-kindness'.

The visualisations, reflections and the repetition of loving-kindness are devices to help you arouse positive feelings of loving-kindness. You can use all of them or one that works best for you. When the positive feeling arise, switch from the devices to the feeling, as it is the feeling that is the primary focus. Keep the mind fixed on the feeling, if it strays bring it back to the device, or if the feelings weaken or are lost then return to the device, i.e. use the visualisation to bring back or strengthen the feeling.

The second stage is Directional Pervasion where you systematically project the aroused feeling of loving-kindness to all points of the compass: north, south, east and west, up and down, and all around. This directional pervasion will be enhanced by bringing to mind loving friends and like-minded communities you know in the cities, towns and countries around the world.

Non-specific Pervasion tends to spontaneously happen as the practice matures. It is not discriminating. It has no specific object and involves just naturally radiating feelings of universal love. When it arises the practice has then come to maturity in that it has changed particular, preferential love, which is an attached love, to an all-embracing unconditional love!

Loving-kindness is a heart meditation and should not to be seen as just a formal sitting practice removed from everyday life. So take your good vibes outside into the streets, at home, at work and into your relationships. Applying the practice to daily life is a matter of directing a friendly attitude and having openness toward everybody you relate to, without discrimination.

There are as many different ways of doing it as there are levels of intensity in the practice. This introduction is intended to help you familiarize yourself with the basic technique, so that you can become established in the practice before going on, if you wish, to the deeper, systematic practice - to the level of meditative absorption.



Venerable Sujiva's clear and comprehensive presentation in BuddhaNet of Metta Bhavana (which is the Pali term for the cultivation of loving-kindness) is a step-by-step explanation of the systematic practice. This section, based on the Visuddhimagga, The Path of Purification, is for meditators who are prepared to develop loving-kindness meditation to its fullest and thereby experience the deeper aspects of the practice.

A benefit of developing the five absorption factors of concentration through the systematic practice is that it will counteract the Five Mental Hindrances of the meditator: Sensuality; that is, all forms of Ill Will, Mental inertia; Restlessness and Skeptical Doubt. When the meditator achieves full concentration, five absorption factors are present: the first two are casual factors: Applied thought and Sustained thought, followed by three effects: Rapture, Ease-of-mind and One-pointedness or unification of mind. The five absorption factors have a one-to-one correspondence to the five mental hindrances, or obstacles, to the meditator: Applied thought, by arousing energy and effort, overcomes the hindrance of sloth and torpor; Sustained thought, by steadying the mind, overcomes skeptical doubt which has the characteristic of wavering; Rapture with its uplifting effervescence, prevails over feelings of ill-will; Ease-of-mind, by relieving accumulated stress, counteracts restlessness or agitation of mind; while One-pointedness restrains the mind's wanderings in the sense-fields to inhibit sensuality. The benefit of achieving deep concentration with this positive mind set is that it will tend to imprint the new positive conditioning while overriding the old negative patterns. In this way, old negative habits are changed, thereby freeing one to form new, positive ways of relating.

We also have, in BuddhaNet's Loving-Kindness Meditation section, inspiring instructions by Gregory Kramer of the Metta Foundation on teaching loving-kindness to children within the family context. Gregory gives practical advice to parents on how to bring the practice of loving-kindness within the home. In this way, we can hope that loving-kindness meditation will become a natural part of the Buddhist family's daily practice, and that one day it will be adopted universally as a practice to uplift human hearts.

May you be happy hearted!


Overview of Loving-kindness Meditation


Audio Loving-kindness Meditation in RealAudio and Audio CD

 

The Mindfulness of Breathing
As its name implies, the ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ uses the breath as an object of concentration. By focusing on the breath you become aware of the mind’s tendency to jump from one thing to another. The simple discipline of concentration brings us back to the present moment and all the richness of experience that it contains. It is a way to develop mindfulness, the faculty of alert and sensitive awareness. And it is an excellent method for cultivating the states of intense meditative absorption known as dhyana. As well as this, the mindfulness of breathing is a good antidote to restlessness and anxiety, and a good way to relax: concentration on the breath has a positive effect on your entire physical and mental state.

The meditation has four progressive stages leading to a highly enjoyable level of concentration. To start with five minutes per stage is a good period of practice.

1. In the first stage you use counting to stay focused on the breath. After the out-breath you count one, then you breathe in and out and count two, and so on up to ten, and then you start again at one.

2.In the second stage you subtly shift where you breathe, counting before the in-breath, anticipating the breath that is coming, but still counting from one to ten, and then starting again at one.

3.In the third stage you drop the counting and just watch the breath as it comes in and goes out.

4.In the final stage the focus of concentration narrows and sharpens, so you pay attention to the subtle sensation on the tip of the nose where the breath first enters and last leaves the body.

Listen to or download full guided introductions to the Mindfulness of Breathing.
https://thebuddhistcentre.com/text/mindfulness-breathing

 

How Mindfulness Creates Understanding
https://youtu.be/QFqdlfeq7wE
Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu

 

Words of wisdom
น โมเนน มุนิ โหติ
มูฬฺหรูโป อวิทฺทสุ
โย จ ตุลํว ปคฺคยฺห
วรมาทาย ปณฺฑิโต

ปาปานิ ปรวชฺเชติ
ส มุนิ เตน โส มุนิ
โย มุนาติ อุโภ โลเก
มุนิ เตน ปวุจฺจติ

คนโง่เขลา ไม่รู้อะไร
นั่งนิ่งดุจคนใบ้ ไม่นับเป็นมุนี
ส่วนคนมีปัญญาทำตนเหมือนถือคันชั่ง
เลือกชั่งเอาแต่ความดี ละทิ้งความชั่วช้า
ด้วยปฏิปทาดังกล่าวเขานับว่าเป็นมุนี
อนึ่งผู้ที่รู้ทั้งโลกนี้และโลกหน้า
จึงควรแก่สมญาว่า มุนี

Not by silence does one become a sage
If one be both ignorant and dull.
But the wise who, as if holding a pair of scales,
Embraces the best and shuns evil-
He is indeed, for that reason, a sage.
He that understands both worlds is called a sage.
**********
Aṅguttara Nikāya 4.67

May all creatures, all living things,
all beings one and all,
experience good fortune only.
May they not fall into harm.

Dhammapada 1.13
Just as rain breaks through
an ill-thatched house,
so passion penetrates
an undeveloped mind.

Dhammapada 1.6
There are those who do not realize
that one day we all must die.
But those who do realize this
settle their quarrels.

Dhammapada 6.81
Just as a solid rock
is not shaken by the storm,
even so the wise
are not affected by praise or blame.

Dhammapada 17.223
Overcome the angry by non-anger;
overcome the wicked by goodness;
overcome the miser by generosity;
overcome the liar by truth.

Dhammapada 18.240
Just as rust arising from iron
eats away the base from which it arises,
even so, their own deeds
lead transgressors to states of woe.

Dhammapada 19.258
One is not wise
because one speaks much.
One who is peaceable, friendly and fearless
is called "wise".

Dhammapada 21.291
Entangled by the bonds of hate,
one who seeks one's own happiness
by inflicting pain on others,
is never delivered from hatred.

Dhammapada 23.327
Delight in heedfulness!
Guard well your thoughts!
Draw yourself out of this bog of evil,
even as an elephant draws itself out of the mud.

Dīgha Nikāya 2.165
Make an island of yourself,
make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge.
Make Dhamma your island,
make Dhamma your refuge; there is no other refuge.

Itivuttaka 3.88
Hate brings great misfortune
hate churns up and harms the mind;
this fearful danger deep within
most people do not understand.

Jātaka 20
Generosity, kind words,
doing a good turn for others,
and treating all people alike:
these bonds of sympathy
are to the world
what the linchpin is to the chariot wheel.


Inspiration | Madison Insight Meditation Group.

 

The Life Of The Buddha Full BBC Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEe8hI6G0GY


National Buddhist Authority Srilanka
Uploaded on Dec 11, 2011


Seven wonders of the buddhist world BBC Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0jBiz34upQ

The Best Documentaries
Published on Jan 24, 2015
Click here to enjoy more videos: Watch Documentary HD | Just another googleusd.com sites site Documentary - Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World (Part 1) please subscribe for latest video buddha pictures buddhis.

May you have happy breathing.
Seven wonders of the buddhist world BBC Documentary Seven Wonders : Documentary on the Seven Wonders of the World . 2013 2014 This documentary as well as all.

In this fascinating BBC documentary, historian Bettany Hughes travels to the seven wonders of the Buddhist world and offers a unique insight .

 

Realizations on the Path (The Buddhist TV)

By Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZqh29Chrpo

 

Practical Application of the Eightfold Noble Path
By Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbcQFIUs-jE

 

. .
Ajahn Jayasaro (Shaun Michael Chiverton)
Ajahn Jayasaro (Shaun Michael Chiverton) was born on the Isle of Wight, England in 1958.He joined Ajahn Sumedho’s community for the Rains Retreat as an anagarika in 1978.In 1978 he became a disciple of Ajahn Cha, one of Thailand’s most renowned Buddhist monks and meditation masters, at Wat Pa Pong in Northeast Thailand. He took full ordination, with Ajahn Chah as his preceptor, in 1980. After his initial five year monastic training, Ajahn Jayasaro went on extended solitary retreat before taking on teaching and administrative duties. Over the next several years he alternated between periods of retreat and service to his monastic lineage.During this period he was entrusted by the elders of his order with writing the official biography of his teacher, Ajahn Chah. In 1997 he assumed the position of abbot of Wat Pa Nanachat, the international monastery of Ajahn Chah’s lineage, where he remained until the end of 2002.

Since early 2003 Ajahn Jayasaro has been living alone in a hermitage at the foot of Khao Yai Mountain national park. The Dhamma teachings and meditation retreats he gives at regular intervals at a nearby retreat centre offer inspiration to both lay Buddhists and monastics. He is also a key figure in the movement to integrate Buddhist developmental principles in the Thai education system. Many of his Dhamma talks are broadcast on radio and television.

Ajahn Jayasaro has written many books on Buddhist themes in the Thai language, a number of which have been translated into other languages, including Chinese, French, Italian and Portuguese. His latest English work, "without and within" is a general introduction to the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

Ajahn Jayasaro spends a month a year out of Thailand. His most recent teaching engagements have been in Qatar, China and Bhutan. In 2011 Ajahn Jayasaro was granted an honorary doctorate in Buddhist Pedagogy by Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya University.

sila = morality samadhi = concentration panna = wisdom

Introduction to Meditation by Ajahn Jayasaro # 1/2 Oct 27, 2013 Published on Feb 20, 2014

Meditation and Dhamma Talk by The Venerable Jayasaro Bhikkhu (Ajahn Jayasaro) on October 27, 2013 at The University of The West, Rosemead, California, U.S.A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTuBCCPJDWE


Index of /dhamma_talks...