| | Just a note.
No one says anything about the 'dura matter' of the brain during any dhamma talks being given by Bhante Vimalaramsi. Someone went off track with this by some kind of whispering down the line like children. I have hear all of the Dhamma talks since 2003 and there are none saying that. Let's correct this part. .
There is a sac that surrounds the brain called the Meninges. Whenever personal opinion arises within craving and clinging, a tension arises and this sac feels tighter around the brain. There are two hemispheres of the brain and in between is where the pineal gland is located. The pineal gland is historically involved with mystical experiences and meditation for many centuries. You can look this up for yourselves. If you train to relax the head, mind, brain area, gradually, you will be able to feel the separation of the two hemispheres and also when there is tension and they are pressing together. What is happening by u sing the relax step is a slight separation and THEN the pineal gland can begin to move into action and this is a new and different opening of mind, a different kind of feeling that you will experience.
At this point I have practiced, then studied, and then eventurally taught over 12 years and followed this teaching approach carefully. I have witnesses many students who can feel the tightening, release , and expansion clearly. This is really logical and it works.
In my travels into Asia I have had the opportunity to talk with many higher monks about the Dhamma and have opprtunities to ask questions about many things. One question I had is like this. Is it out of step to question the Vissudhimagga when it comes to instructions for meditation?
The answer to me, and especially within University settings is , "certainly not! The Vissudhimagga has been contested sicne the day it came out!!!!!! Each generation should continue to ask questions concerning it in reference to the meditation" Anything the commentary does not match the suttas concerning instructions, practice, development, Modes of Progress, or results; then it should be examined very closely beside the texts. When the texts do not agree, then, as instructed by the Buddha, we should close the commentary and retreat into the texts to re-evaluate our practice from there and start again. Each generation of monastics are responsible to "smoke out the sheds" when they find the teachings have fallen off the mark."
This is NOT a popular thing to do! It is NOT easy. But when you know that this teaching WAS in fact real and practical and you see how it can actually help people tremendously change their live to the end results the Buddha talked about, then you see it is a very good thing to question ALL commentaries... always....
All the teachers in existence today, all of us are creating commentary too. EVERY one of us. That's a good thing to think about.
When you go to a retreat, you only go to investigate and see what happens. YOu are NOT expected to believe anything you hear unless you sit and investigate it and see it for yourself. That is why I like how Bhante V. teaches.. it is because of that challenge.... to always see for ourselves.
In all of this about commentary and texts, we should not stick with what the commentary says if it does not match the texts. Today we have seen the texts rewritten about how long the practice takes to learn and have results in life, we have seen the redesign the 4 noble truths and how they are no longer the same, and have heard about changing the length of time it takes to reach certain levels of attainment. REquirements for attainment levels have changed as well today... There is a lot of mix up.
Instead of buying into much of this, we should instead consderre-evaluating the texts meditation instructions and practice until the Buddha's results are achieved. Wouldn't that be novel! This is the whole issue, cut and dry.
Once you are told to watch for this difference in how your mind open up, if you stay absolutely calm, you CAN notice when a thought arises, if you personally move your attention towards it, then, you can feel a change in the tension level as it goes up in your head. by the way, the Buddha said that the Head IS part of the Body.... interesting. A lot of people don't see that in the same way. Many of us thought the body went up to the next, and then, there is the head.
The whole issue about this tension is so interesting and yet its a hoot to see how people will reject it without event esting it. In n fact, if they were releasing attention on what came up and then adding the additional relax step' as pointed out in the meditation instructions in the Anapanasati sutta and other places, i.e.
if using the breath
...He trains thus, he tranquilizes the bodily formation on the in-breath and he tranquilizes the bodily formation on the out-breath.... and then just after that
..... he tranquilizes the mental formation on the in-breat, and he tranquilzes the mental formation of the out-breath.....
If you are practicing this systematically, and lowering the tension little by little in the meditaition, then when the RELAX step happens, you will drop down a little bit deeper each time...... You learn very quickly this is how you can experience the jhanas ( levels of understanding), more smoothly.
But if you are
1. not performing both steps of the instructions, (RELASE and RELAX) then you are not using all ingredients for the results implied by the Buddha in other places.
2. if you are practicing a meditation where you have been instructed to 'move your attention over to whatever is arising and stay with it until it is passing away....then the fact is, you are NOT doing only one meditation continually. Instead, you are breaking one meditation to move over and investigate what came up in a second meditation... then ..... you are not continual enough to notice the step down each time when it happens. You are not fluent yet in one meditation.
At least that has been my own experience with students.finding out what happens in interviews.......
the student MUST follow the instructions and ONLY the instructions and not put other things into it or take away some of the ingredients to expect the results Bhnate Vimalaramsi is talking about. Otherwise, no big difference. You cannot know it if you do not experience it.
That is why he most often asks in retreat that students try to use the instructions using METTA for practice to begin with. Otherwise you will continue to react as you always have from the instructions you have followed for years. A new practice has no habits yet to start with. That is the theory and it seems to work very well.
In a nutshell, no one has ever been asked to ONLY do this meditation forever by anyone at DSMC where Bhante Vimalaramsi's meditation center is located.!
For heavens sake, this is an experiment that IMHO is thoroughly worth your time to try for about one week before making any accusations about anything taught by him, don't you think?
This STEVE person did take a retreat with him WAAAAAYYYYY back when he first came out of Burma. did it every occur to him that maybe after all that purely unnecessary lack of sleep perhaps he should be sleeping more for a few weeks? Geese!
I have met many monks who knew him when he was over there. He just revisited the center in Burma this past December to see old teachers that were still left there.
Anyway, that retreat happened when he was just first beginning to share what he found and begin to teach... He has developed as a teacher much more now for many, many years and refined the way he teaches so the material becomes easier and easier to understand and certainly is immeditatly effective.. A student now can know within 4 full days of practice time whether there is something worthwhile to investigate in this approach or not.
If you feel there isn't, then it is fine and dandy to go your own way and continue your work wherever you want.
Bhante's only job is to be a conduit for what is in the suttas and he has chosen not to just write without the suttas involved. That is he job of Buddhist monks. He chooses to take you step by step through the texts when you study with him, and expound on what each part means so that you can then test it for yourself and gain solid knowledge to work with. You would discuss what you found with him each day through a long or short interview.
The texts instruct the monks that when they understand the teaching clearly and are making definitive progress as described then, once they understand this, as monastics, they are supposed to preserve and share that information with others. What do you think that means? Let's look a moment at some texts. Ananda taught the other monks what should be done when a teaching is well-learned. WE find this in MN-32:4.
MN-32 [4]
[ Sariputta asked… “What kind of monk friend Ananda, could illuminate the Gosinga Sala-tree Wood?”
[Ananda Replys],
“Here, friend Sariputta, when a monk has learned much, remembers what he has learned, and consolidates what he has learned. Such teachings as are good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing—such teachings as these he has learned much of, remembered, mastered verbally, investigated with the mind, and penetrated well by view, then, he teaches the Dhamma to assemblies with well-rounded and coherent statements and phrases for the eradication of the underlying tendencies. That kind of monk could illuminate the Gosinga Salla-tree wood.”
Ananda
So, here is the deal. Does it make sense to you if a monk has figured out something that truly can help a LOT of people whether they are Buddhist, monastics, or laypeople, do you think that monk should go put his head in a cave and just sit by himself? Of course not.
If the practice has been followed correctly, and the mind had become retrained, then tha tmonk should be leaning now in the direction of compassion; i.e. compassionate service for those who help to support this teaching... So what result should come about if one followed the practice correctly?
Look at this.....
MN-21- Kakacupama Sutta- The Simile of the Saw.
HOW SHOULD WE TRAIN?
When others talk to us their speech may be
Timely or untimely;
True or false;
Gentle or harsh;
Connected with good or connected with harm;
Filled with loving-kindness or inner hatred. We need to train ourselves this way:
“My mind will remain unaffected
and I will say no words that are evil or untrue.
I shall be compassionate for others welfare.
I shall keep my mind filled with loving-kindness
without ever entertaining thoughts of anger or hatred.
I shall radiate loving-kindness to everyone all of the time;
to all beings as to myself.
I shall radiate and pervade all beings
with a mind that is abundant, exalted, immeasurable,
without anger or hostility.
‘That is what we need to practice!’
in other words, he or she should work very hard to share this information as openly as possible and with as many as possible around the world and wherever his home center is. That is what should be done.
If persons having no experience with this teacher for even one weeks time, wish to foul what he is doing, that is very sad fro them and for others still searching for what was easy to understand and immediately effective. When they utter such nonsense without coming directly to him to talk about what is said, then itt does not speak ill of Ven. Vimalaramsi as much as it speaks of their own poor karma in this lifetime as they create unfounded gossip and slander. It is to be pitied and much compassion should be given for that kind of thing.
Ven. Sister Khema
PS
There are so many parts to this teaching and each one is part of the weaving of the Dhamma cloth. you cannot reweave this cloth and its symmetrical perfect pattern without all the pieces and with full understanding. If the pieces are presented apart from each other, then we shall never see the weaving. If we do not question commentaries that change the pattern, then the teaching will be lost for the future....... All meditation helps us to calm down so we can do this kind of research and investigation.... <grin> |
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