Vipassana.com Newsletter
from the Vipassana Fellowship

October 2003 Edition

"Badly done is the deed
  that causes regret;
  whose fruit one reaps
  with tears streaming.

Well done is the deed
  without cause for regret;
  whose fruit one reaps
  with delight and joy. "

- The Dhammapada

January course available

Registration for the Vipassana Fellowship's January 2004 course is now open. The course takes the form of a multimedia program with online support and lasts for 90 days. Suitable for both new and experienced meditators, the course introduces techniques from the calm and insight traditions of Buddhist Meditation. We begin with Mindfulness of Breathing and follow this with Lovingkindness and other 'sublime abode' practices before introducing vipassana or insight meditation. Each of the techniques is clearly outlined and placed in context. The course also provides an introduction to the teachings of the Theravada tradition. It will be led and supported by Andrew Quernmore, an experienced meditation teacher, who has been leading online courses since 1997.

See http://course.vipassana.com for details and registration.

Praise and Blame

One cannot please everybody - This is a saying of olden times.

Atula was one of the Buddha's devotees at Savatthi and had a following of five hundred. One day he took his disciples and went to the lodging of the Brethren to hear the preaching of the Dhamma from the lips of the Elder Revata, and being eager to hear the Dhamma he bowed to the Elder Revata and sat down at one side. Now this reverend Elder delighted in reflection, living alone like a lion : so he spake not a single word to him.

Thereat the man was angry and said: "This Elder says not a word." So he rose up and went away to the Elder Sariputta and there stood at one side. When the Elder asked "Why are you come here ?" he replied : " Sir, I took these disciples of mine and approached the Elder Revata to hear him preach the Dhamma. But he said never a word to me. So I grew angry with him and am come here. Talk to me of the Dhamma."

Then the Elder Sariputta said to him: "Sit down, my son," and so gave him a long talk about the Transcendental Doctrine.

Then said the devotee: "A discourse on the Transcendental Doctrine is exceedingly abstruse. The Elder has given us much talk about the Transcendental. What is the use of that to us?" So he grew angry, took his disciples and went away to the Elder Ananda.

So the Elder Ananda asked him: " Well, what is it, my son? " and he made reply: " Sir, we approached the Elder Revata to hear a discourse on the Dhamma, but we did not get a single word from him; so in anger we went to the Elder Sariputta, and he gave us a long abstruse sermon on the Transcendental. So we said : 'What's the use of this to us,' and came away in disgust. So we are come here. Sir, give us a talk about the Dhamma."

"Sit you down, then," said the Elder Ananda, "and listen to me." Then he told them things they ought to know, but very little of the Dhamma. So they got angry with the Elder Ananda also and went away to the Buddha, bowed to Him and sat down at one side.

" Well, my sons," said the Buddha, "why are you come here ?"

"Lord, we came to hear the Dhamma."

" Well, and have you heard the Dhamma?"

"Lord, first of all we approached the Elder Revata, but he said not a word to us. Angry with him, we went away to the Elder Sariputta, who told us much about the Transcendental. But as we could not understand that, we grew angry and went away to the Elder Ananda. But he told us very little about the Dhamma. So in disgust with him, we are now come here.

When the Buddha heard this tale, He said "Atula, it is a custom established from very ancient times that men speak harshly both of the silent man, the long-tongued man, and the short-spoken man. No man may be wholly praised or wholly blamed. Even kings are some of them blamed, while some are praised. There are men who blame even the mighty earth, the moon and sun, and even the Good Dhamma. A slight thing, truly, is the praise or blame of fools. But he who is blamed by the wise and learned man is blamed indeed, and he who is praised by such is praised indeed."

"This is an ancient practice, O Atula,
not only of today:
they criticize those who are silent,
they criticize those who speak much,
they criticize those who speak little.

There is no one on earth left uncriticized.

There never was, there never will be,
nor exists there now,
a person who is wholly criticized,
or wholly praised.

Day after day,
the wise examine and praise
those flawless in character,
wisdom, knowledge and virtue.

Who would blame one
pure, as refined gold?
The gods, and even
Brahma, praise him."

Whereupon, when this sermon was done, those five hundred devotees were established in the Fruits of Stream-winning.

(- Adapted from The Dhammapada commentary on v 227-230.)

Thinking about Breathing

A course participant writes:

Is being with the breath different that thinking about the breath. One of my teachers suggested you should notice the qualities of the breath and would come up with quite an array of adjectives. To me this seems like you are "thinking" about the breath.

Andrew replies:

This is a very common problem. We tend to stand back from the breath and "admire the view" rather than experience inhalation and exhalation as it happens. I find it helpful to work with the notion of feeling the breath rather than observing it. It somehow brings us closer to the reality of what is going on and provides less space for 'thinking about breathing'. (There's no problem with discursive thought ordinarily, of course, but the meditation session is not the right time and place.)

Your teacher was probably moving away from Mindfulness of Breathing as a samatha technique (concentration upon a single object) and towards it being used as a launchpad for vipassana (insight into reality) practice. This is a valid way of practising. Even so, there is a danger with well-educated meditators, particularly, that too much time is spent labelling an experience rather than experiencing it. Again, the idea of feeling what is happening can come in useful. Lots of Western meditators get very caught up in analysis and description - so that there is a constant dialogue running in the mind that hinders them from 'knowing' the object. This is why it is not always helpful to follow modern meditation instructions that were designed for people with lives very different to our own: a rural boy monk, with little education, for example may find the practice of "noting, noting, noting" (as often recommended in Myanmar) a little less intrusive and distancing than a metropolitan sophisticate with an extensive vocabulary. Any noting that does take place in vipassana practice should be kept as simple and as near to the phenomenon that is experienced as possible.

With metta

Andrew

Recommended Book

The Buddha and the Sahibs (US title: The Search for the Buddha)

- The men who discovered India's lost religion

by Charles Allen

A fascinating book recounting the rediscovery of Buddhism in India by an enthusiastic band of Orientalist amateurs. Their historical and archeological explorations unwittingly helped lay the foundations for the revival of Buddhism in parts of Asia in the nineteenth century and its spread West in the twentieth century.

UK publisher: John Murray

US publisher: Carroll and Graff

The Vipassana.com Newsletter is published about 10 times each year and is sent only on request and to previous participants of our courses.Vipassana.com is the web site of the Vipassana Fellowship - an organisation dedicated to the dissemination of accurate and useful information on Buddhist meditation practices as found in the Theravada tradition. Our next mailing will be in November.