Vipassana Fellowship Newsletter

from Vipassana.com

November 2004 Edition

Registration open for January course

Vipassana Fellowship's online meditation courses have been offered since 1997 and have proven helpful to meditators in many countries around the world. Registration is now available for the January course.  The main text is based on a tried and tested format and serves as a practical introduction to samatha (tranquility) and vipassana (insight) techniques from the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. Intended primarily for beginners, the 90 day course is also suitable for experienced meditators who wish to explore different aspects of the tradition. The emphasis is on building a sustainable and balanced meditation practice that is compatible with lay life. The course has been significantly revised for 2005: the course software and the support site have been redesigned to improve user-friendliness. The CD version includes newly recorded guided meditations. The course is led by Andrew Quernmore, an experienced meditation teacher based in England.

Registration details are available at:

http://vipassana.com/course/

Appreciative Joy

A course participant writes:

I find it very difficult to engage with mudita (appreciative or empathic joy). Whilst I can share others joy spontaneously I find it difficult to fill a meditation session with it. Do I create situations of joy in others or do I recall specific incidences, if any? I feel I am constructing fictional moments of joy in others in order to share the emotion. That can't be right. Can it?

There should not be any attempt to create situations of joy in others during this type of meditation. The process is about appreciating the joy that is already present in their lives. Just like when we talk of dukkha - suffering - that can include a whole range of things from traumatic experiences to a dull unsatisfactoriness, mudita - joy with others - encompasses everything that is pleasurable, wholesome and welcome in the other being's life. This can range from the ecstatic happiness of momentous occasions (perhaps, for some, the birth of a first child) to the warm contentment of being a friend. We are noticing, and rejoicing in, any form of emotional happiness that another sentient being feels. Our method is to seek out the joy, in all its various forms, and to empathise with the being who experiences it. Rather than working in the normal worldly way of judging them, we accept that any form of joy - real happiness from the smallest to the greatest magnitude - is deserved. It can only have occurred because the conditions were right for it to arise.

When we begin this practice, it can be useful to consider the 'symptoms' of happiness. What do people look like when they are joyful? How do they express themselves? Try to work like this with the individuals you have chosen for your meditation. See them at their most joyous. For some beings, this will only be a fleeting moment that can be recalled in memory. Others' lives may apparently be overwhelmingly happy i.e. there seems to be some stability to the joyous state. However it manifests, be thankful for this positive experience. Be pleased that in those moments these sentient beings are seemingly less afflicted by the tribulations that the World can hold.

It can be difficult with all of these brahmavihara practices, at first, to successfully populate a 30 minute session and to remain engaged with the subjects we have chosen. This will get easier. Whenever the attention strays, try to bring it back to focus on the face of the person experiencing happiness. Watch the change in expression on his or her face as they acknowledge the joy that has arisen. In order to find these examples we are, of course, using memory. This is the same kind of training resource as the mental phrases we were using in the earlier Lovingkindness Meditation. It is an initial way to tap into the emotions that others feel. As our heart opens further, there will come a time when recognition of joy is spontaneous and universal - for it does exist in all sentient lives and we can come to appreciate it fully.

With metta

Andrew

Feelings, Ending

A course participant writes:

I found myself getting discouraged in practice today with how very difficult it is to discipline my focus.  When the feelings came up, I did my best to acknowledge them and return to the breath, but just now at the end of the practice I feel so overwhelmed by sadness . . . am I making a false connection between the discouragement and the sadness?

Second, I wondered if there is a "proper" way to end practice?

Andrew replies:

Even meditators who have been practising for a long time will get occasional sessions that seem difficult and unfocused. Gradually, over the weeks and months, you should see a general trend towards longer periods of contact with the meditation object and greater precision of focus. It does take time, so please don't feel discouraged. You did exactly the right thing in bringing the attention back to the object whenever sadness arose. As one starts out with any new technique - rather like attending a meditation retreat - there will always be some mental turbulence caused by the novelty of what one is doing and the habitual patterns that need to change to accommodate the disciplines of the practice. The response to a frustrating session can show itself in many ways, including sadness or anger. One skilled way to deal with this is to acknowledge that such a feeling has arisen and to spend a few moments contemplating it after your formal meditation session. Don't try to get to the bottom of why any particular feeling has arisen (i.e. look for a specific cause) because that will result in fruitless speculation and, perhaps, unnecessary blame - but reflect on what the feeling seems to be and observe its characteristics. Your contemplative 'conversation' may perhaps share some of these observations: this feeling has arisen, it represents an emotional change, it arose..., possibly from many unknown causes, it will change... perhaps that can be observed happening now, and in time it will cease. The feeling seems unwelcome to me; it is unsatisfactory and has the quality of suffering about it. Although the sadness arose, as a phenomenon I didn't choose to bring it into being. Is it part of me ("MY sadness"), or does the phenomenon seem independent ("sadness")? This kind of contemplative exercise is related to work we shall do later in the course.

There are traditional ways to end a meditation session. Like many Buddhists I top and tail my meditation sittings with a small ceremony before I begin and another expressing homage and gratitude at the end. My feeling (for our private practice) is that it is best to construct our own meaningful rituals rather than to adopt something merely for form's sake. The course CD includes some of the traditional chants that I have found beneficial and use on a regular basis. These have the bonus of reinforcing some of the values and doctrine that are valuable to my practice and spiritual development. One needn't use ancient languages or import the cultural paraphernalia of Asian Buddhism, unless that is conducive to one's practice. Some people find it helpful; others see it as too alien and therefore a barrier. It is perfectly possible to work in our own languages and express respect, commitment, aspiration, and gratitude in ways that are consistent with our cultures. Most meditators find that it is helpful to make a clean break between mundane activity and the meditation sitting. This creates a defined space for formal practice and it is usually conducive to good work. We can make the break from the mundane in many ways: chanting is one traditional method, as is bowing to a Buddha image; but one can also read from the suttas (in translation) or do a formal contemplation exercise on an aspect of the Buddhist path.

I begin my sittings by reading from the Pali Canon. Reading a little each day is a wonderful way to inspire one's practice and to become familiar with the Buddha and his teachings. Knowing something of these earliest texts is a wonderful protection against being led astray, and creates a relationship between us and a tradition that goes back to the Buddha. I then pay respects to the 'three jewels' - the Buddha, the teaching, and the community - and recommit myself to observing the ethical precepts that will aid my practice. I end my meditation sittings with this traditional chant, bowing after each phrase, and then sit for a few minutes before rising to attend to the calls of the day:

To the Buddha:
Araham sammasambuddho bhagava
(The Lord the Perfectly Enlightened and Blessed One)
Buddham bhagavantam abhivademi
(I render homage to the Buddha, the Blessed One)

To the Dhamma:
Svakkhato bhagavata dhammo
(The Teaching so completely explained by him)
Dhammam namassami
(I bow to the Dhamma)

To the Sangha:
Supatipanno bhagavato savakasangho
(The Blessed One's disciples who have practised well)
Sangham namami
(I bow to the Sangha)

With metta

Andrew

The Vipassana Fellowship Newsletter is published about 10 times each year and is sent only on request and to previous participants of our courses. Vipassana Fellowship is 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 December. Our site can be accessed via the vipassana.com and vipassana.org domains.

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