The Buddha s Revolution

The Buddha s Revolution Siddhartha Gotama was born in 560BCE, a member of the Sakyan clan, a ruling family in what is now Northcentral India, near the Nepal border. His story, which has become mythologized, frames the central issue of his teaching, and how he enunciated a yoga that broke from the current Brahmanic/Upaniṣadic tradition in several important ways. At Siddhartha s birth, a seer predicted that he would become either a great king or a great spiritual teacher. His father, who preferred the king idea, considered in line with the teachings of his time - that since it was dissatisfaction with worldly life and the inevitable suffering of loss, sickness and death that inspired people to take up the spiritual search, Siddhartha could be prevented from taking that path by being sheltered from suffering. So the young Buddha grew up with every luxury available at the time, and never was allowed outside the walls of the palace compound. At 26, trained as a warrior, married, and with an infant child, his curiosity became strong, and he persuaded his driver to take him outside the gates into the town. While outside, he was shocked to see first an old person, then a sick person, and finally a corpse on its way to the cemetery. He had never seen any of these before, and was struck deeply by the inevitable suffering in life. Finally he saw a wandering monastic, and when he found out that this was someone who had given up the comforts of home life in order to search for the highest Truth, he vowed to do the same. Leaving his family, he snuck out of the palace and entered the forest to join the wandering ascetics who practiced tapas and yoga. He studied with two of the best teachers around, and quickly mastered their yoga, which was concentration-based: pratyāhāra (sense-restraint) leading to dhāranā (concentration), culminating in dhyāna and samadhi. He achieved the highest states of integration (samadhi) that each of his teachers taught, and they each invited him to teach. He declined, having noticed that although his mind was very pure and blissful while he was in meditation, his subtle dissatisfaction (dukkha) returned when he emerged from it. After rejecting the path of concentration as he was taught it, he joined a group of tapasvin, forest-dwelling ascetics practicing extreme mortification of the body. For 6 years he did many painful practices, exploring the popular idea that one could burn off one s karma through denying the body its desires. He excelled at these practices as well, and nearly died of starvation, until he realized that this path also did not lead to peace. He left the ascetic band, accepted a food offering, and began to again nourish his body. Reflecting, he remembered a state he had experienced as a child one of deep ease, pleasure, and clarity of mind, and he intuited that this balanced state was the one that would lead to realization. When his strength was restored, he sat in meditation under a tree, and began to meditate in the way that he remembered stumbling into as a child. First, he progressed through the classic yogic concentrations (dhyāna, or jhana in Pali), emerging from them with his mind bright and malleable. He then directed his mind toward three levels of inquiry into suffering and its cause: first, he saw his own past lives, tracing and unfolding the source of his own suffering; then he saw how karma, the process of cause and effect, unfolded predictably for everyone, each person experiencing the results of their actions; and finally, he directed his attention to the letting go of the causes of suffering and the destruction of the taints. At the rise of the morning star he arose from meditation knowing that he had completed the ancient Path of Yoga, and arrived at final, unshakeable liberation. When Siddhartha Gotama, now called Buddha (meaning One Who is Awake ) began to teach, he formulated his understanding as a list of four Noble Truths, and they form the basic structure of the whole Path: 1. There is stress (suffering, dissatisfaction, called dukkha). 2. Grasping is the cause of stress. 3. It is possible to be completely free of stress. 4. The Path to the end of stress has eight limbs: Wise View and Intention, known as pañña (wisdom) Wise Speech, Action, and Livelihood, known as sila (ethics) Wise Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration, known as samadhi (unification of mind) sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 8

The Buddha s Eight Limbs The Noble 8-fold Path (ariya atthangika [Skt: aṣtanga] magga) right view/understanding (samma-ditthi) recognizing dukkha the existence of stress/suffering abandoning tanha thirst/craving, the source of stress, along with avijja (ignorance) realizing nirodha the cessation of stress, which leads to nibbana cultivating magga the path leading to this cessation and freedom right intention/aspiration (samma-sankappa) intention toward renunciation (or letting go: freedom from grasping/craving) intention toward freedom from ill will intention toward non-harming (ahimsa) right speech (samma-vacha) abstaining from lying (commitment to truth, or satya) abstaining from divisive speech abstaining from abusive speech abstaining from idle chatter right action (samma-kammanta) abstaining from taking life (ahimsa) abstaining from stealing (asteya) abstaining from sexual misconduct (brahmacharya) right livelihood (samma-ajiva) abandoning dishonest livelihood & pursuing honest livelihood right effort (samma-vayama) preventing unarisen unwholesome qualities from arising abandoning arisen unwholesome qualities encouraging the arising of unarisen wholesome qualities maintaining/increasing arisen wholesome qualities right mindfulness (samma-sati) awareness of body (rupa) breath, postures, activities, anatomical parts, elements, corpse in decay awareness of feeling tone (vedana) ie: pleasant, unpleasant & neither awareness of the mind/heart (citta) mind-states, emotions, & ideas awareness of mental qualities (dhamma): hindrances, aggregates, sense-spheres, factors, noble truths. right concentration/absorbtion (samma-samadhi) 4 absorptions (jhana) 1 st jhana rapture/pleasure based in [sense] seclusion, with aiming (vitaka) & sustaining (vicara) thought 2 nd jhana rapture/pleasure (piti) based in concentration, without aiming & sustaining thought 3 rd jhana pleasure and equanimity (upekkha), with a deep, subtle happiness (sukha), without rapture 4 th jhana perfection of mindfulness & equanimity. (signs: clear, still mind, in & out breath stops) 4 immaterial attainments (samapatti) absorption in the base of infinite space absorption in the base of infinite consciousness absorption in the base of nothingness absorption in the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception Cultivating the Path gives rise to Insight (vipassana) into the nature of all conditioned things: that they are impermanent (anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anatta). It culminates in an experience of cessation (nirodha), leading to nibbana/nirvana the unbound, or unconditioned, which liberates consciousness from the round of birth & death, and is the end of suffering. A fully awakened person is called an arahant. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 9

Is Buddhist Meditation Yoga? There are several obvious parallels between the Buddha s map of inner cultivation and the practices called yoga developed before him in the early Upaniṣads, as well as with the map that Patañjali would soon codify in the Yoga Sutra, which would become Classical, or Raja Yoga. The parallels are visible in both the outer limbs, dealing with ethical action in the world, and the inner limbs of meditation, focusing on a path of concentration rooted in sense-restraint and unification of mind. Many texts of the time included moral or ethical prescriptions as part of the yoga Path, and both the Buddha and Patañjali do as well. The portion of the Eightfold Path devoted to ethical action, or sila, closely approximates Patañjali s yama, and in both the ethical practice is a purification of mind and intention as well as a first step in the process of turning karma, or cause and effect, toward positive ends. Compare the Buddha s steps of Right Intention, Speech, and Action with Patañjali s yama: four out of the five are identical, and the fifth, aparigraha (non-grasping) appears both as the intention toward renunciation, and is the prescription for action connected with the second Noble Truth: abandoning the cause of suffering. Compare also the inner limbs, relating to meditation. The Buddha breaks it down into three main steps: Right Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration. The limb that links the Buddha s Path most closely with that of the rest of the Indian meditation lineage is the limb of Concentration, or Samadhi. Samadhi is hard to translate, and concentration is misleading because in English it implies a contraction or rigidity that is not present in samadhi, which is characterized by deep relaxation of mind. Unification of Mind is pretty good. In every tradition, samadhi refers to a process and experience where the mind (citta) is quieted to a state of extreme steadiness and tranquility. The Buddha equates samadhi with the practice of the four jhanas and the samapattis the absorptions and immaterial attainments. These states, in their classical descriptions, closely mirror the stages of samadhi described in the earlier Upaniṣadic texts, as well as in Patañjali. There are, however, differences in how the Buddha and the earlier and later sages used the word samadhi. For the Buddha, samadhi is a state, deeply useful in bringing the mind to the steadiness necessary to see experience clearly and turn the mind toward Liberation, but not indicative of Liberation itself. The turning of the mind toward wisdom, by seeing clearly and unbinding the causes of suffering, is necessary for Liberation. For many Upaniṣadic sages, and possibly for Patañjali 1, Samadhi IS Liberation an experience of Union or deep stilling that itself indicates the yogi s transcendence of the small self and dissolution into the Great Self. In the Buddha s vision, it is not necessary to appeal to, or even propose the existence of a Higher Power either in the form of the early gods, like the Creator (Brahma), or in the form of an ideal, perfect awareness separate from material form (Puruṣa), or in the form of a Great Self (Atman). Freedom from suffering is the goal, and it is achieved by undoing the illusion of a separate, permanent self (atta/atman) through purification of mind and rigorous investigation, and letting go of the causes of suffering. This teaching, anatta that there is nothing that can be identified as self is a central teaching of the Buddha, and a source of doctrinal difference and fierce debate between Buddhist and Hindu yogis and scholars for 2500 years (and still going on). The most important innovation of the Buddha s Path is the central importance he gives to Mindfulness, or sati. The word appears as a description of a mind state in other texts, including the later Yoga Sutra, as smṛti, or memory, but for the Buddha it takes on a huge new meaning. Sati is a quality of Present Moment Awareness that is indispensable for Clear Seeing (vipassana). It consists of knowing what s happening moment to moment, and includes knowing when the mind has lost the chosen object of meditation, and remembering the object (like the breath). The Buddha proposes that Mindfulness is the direct path to Liberation, and though it both supports concentration and is supported by concentration, is itself the factor that specifically leads to Liberative Insight. Mindfulness is cultivated by bringing awareness to increasingly subtle aspects of our immediate experience, starting with several ways of attending to the body, and proceeding to feelings, mind states, and finally to specific qualities of mind that are important on the unfolding of the Path. This process is described in the sutta called The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Majjhima Nikaya 10). 1 There are differing ideas about Samadhi on Patañjali s Path whether it s a useful state that leads to liberation or Liberation itself. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 10

Four Foundations of Mindfulness (an overview of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta) The text offers a full and complex list of aspects of our experience to attend to. It begins each section with a description of the basic qualities of mind & attitude that support the yogi through the entire Path: (verse #) 3. The meditator should practice contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. [repeated for feelings, mind & mind objects.] ardent passionate engagement with the practice: investigation, perseverance, energy, effort fully aware/clear comprehension/alertness knowing what s happening as it s happening mindfulness remembering the object, intention, returning to present-time awareness letting go of grasping & aversion in relation to sense objects and relationships ( the world ) mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati) I. mindfulness of body (kāyā) 4. go to the forest sit down set the body erect establish mindfulness 1. mindful of breathing in & out 2. mindful of breathing in long & out long, in short & out short 3. training: breathing in & out experiencing the whole body 4. training: breathing in & out tranquillizing the bodily formation [ie: calming the breath] 5. contemplating the body internally, externally, or both its arising factors, vanishing factors, or both Or else there is a body is simply established to the extent necessary for bare knowledge & mindfulness. And [the practitioner] abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. [This is the process for gaining insight. This refrain repeats after each subsequent practice.] 4 postures 6. walking standing sitting lying down or however [the] body is disposed full awareness in all activities 8. when going looking flexing & extending limbs wearing carrying eating, drinking, consuming, tasting defecating, urinating walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, & keeping silent. 32 parts of the body 10. head-hairs, body-hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone-marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, contents of the stomach, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, grease, spittle, snot, oil of the joints, & urine. 4 elements 12. earth [quality of hard/soft] water [fluidity/cohesiveness] fire [heat/coolness] air [movement]. 9 charnel ground contemplations 14-30. contemplating a corpse in the various stages of decay: freshly dead, bloated, livid, and oozing being devoured by animals & worms a skeleton with flesh & blood a fleshless skeleton smeared with blood a skeleton without flesh & blood disconnected bones scattered bones bleached shell white old bones heaped up bones rotted & crumbled to dust, reflecting, this body too is of the same nature, it will be like that, it is not exempt from that fate. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 11

II. mindfulness of feeling (vedanā) 32. contemplating feelings as feelings. Vedanā, often called feeling tone, refers simply to the nature of every sense experience as being pleasant unpleasant or neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant, not to emotion, which is classified as a mind state. (Grasping to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant is one of the causes of suffering we see in many early texts, including the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, and is clearly integral to the Buddha s Path as well, as he gives it its own whole section in the text.) III. mindfulness of mind (citta) 34. contemplating mind as mind. Being aware when the heart/mind (citta) is: affected by lust/unaffected affected by hate/unaffected affected by delusion/unaffected contracted/distracted exalted/unexalted surpassed/unsurpassed concentrated/unconcentrated liberated/unliberated. 5 hindrances IV. mindfulness of mind-objects (dhammā) 36. sensual desire ill will sloth & torpor restlessness & remorse doubt With each: mindful of its presence or absence, how it arises, how it is abandoned, how it is prevented. 5 aggregates (khandha/skandha) 38. form (matter/energy) feeling (vedanā) perception (recognition/naming/memory) mental formations (thoughts/emotions/moods/states) consciousness (the quality of knowing). With each: mindful when [it is] affected by clinging, and mindful of its origin & disappearance. 6 sense bases 40. eye/forms ear/sounds nose/smells tongue/flavors body/sensations mind/mind-objects. With each: understanding the fetter dependent on it, how it arises, how abandoned, how prevented. 7 enlightenment factors 42. mindfulness (sati) investigation (dhamma-vicaya) energy (viriya) rapture (piti) calm (pasaddhi) concentration (samadhi) equanimity (upekkha). With each: mindful of its presence or absence, how it arises, how it is developed & comes to fulfillment. 4 noble truths 44. Understanding as it actually is, suffering (dukkha) the origin of suffering (tanha: thirst/grasping) the cessation of suffering (nibbana) and the way leading to the cessation of suffering (ariya athangika magga), the Noble 8-fold Path, consisting of right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness & concentration). The sutta ends with a promise that if pursued as laid out, the practice of Mindfulness would lead to either Full Liberation or the state ( non-returner ) where a practitioner is so close to Liberation that s/he will only be born one more time. (The promise is that this can happen in as few as 7 days of continuous practice!) 2 Mindfulness is also one of the most accessible, and therefore useful tools of meditation practice. While concentration (dhyāna) is quite difficult and takes long retreat for most people to develop, mindfulness can be cultivated in daily life because we can attend to any activity we find ourselves in to immediate benefit. 2 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10) from The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, trans. Ñanamoli & Bodhi, Wisdom Pub., Boston, 1995 sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 12

Practice: Foundations of Mindfulness In these meditations, we ll bring our attention to some of the main objects of our experience, in increasing subtlety. At any point, you can stay with an object longer, making it a primary focus of the meditation. body breath Settle into any comfortable meditation posture. Let go of thoughts of past and future, and set aside any concerns that have been occupying you. Bring your attention to the breath. Feel the in-breath and the outbreath. Notice that some breaths are long and some short. Feel the beginning, middle, and end of each breath. Feel the breath moving through the whole body. Now adjust the breath in any way necessary to make it comfortable, easeful and calm. body elements Relax your whole body, and feel the sensation of the body touching the floor or cushion. Feel the hardness or softness in your seat, which is the quality of the Earth element. Feel your whole body all at once, noticing its boundaries, and the sense of your body holding together. The sense of being one thing, or cohesion, is the quality of the Water element. Feel the warmth or coolness of your body, experiencing temperature inside and out, the quality of the Fire element. Feel your breath moving, heart beating, energy and vibration in the body, and movement of all kinds inside and around your body. Movement is the quality of the Wind element. feeling tone Feeling your whole body, notice one sensation that is prominent maybe the breath, or a sensation arising in the posture. Notice whether the sensation is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. As the meditation progresses, physical discomfort will eventually arise. When it does, before you change position, feel the unpleasant sensation, and let your attention focus there. Notice how the sensation is tightly linked with a desire to move. And feel the desire its texture, where it lives in your body, its urgency. As much as possible, relax, feeling the unpleasant sensation, noticing how it constantly changes. At the right time, mindfully change positions. mind Return your awareness to the breath for a while, settling and re-grounding in this primary object. Now become aware of your state of mind. Notice if you want anything to happen, or for a pleasant experience to continue. Notice if you want anything to stop happening. Survey your inner landscape. Is the mind clear, quiet, concentrated, at ease? Is the mind foggy, busy, distracted, anxious? Notice any positive or negative judgment that arises, and simply include it in the awareness of mind states. It doesn t matter whether you find pleasant or unpleasant mind states. It is only important to feel and know them, being simply present with what s here. mind objects hindrances Settle into being present, feeling your whole body. Bring attention to the breath, and stay with it for a few minutes. As you attempt to stay with the breath, notice how you lose it. If thoughts of wanting arise, label them softly in the mind, wanting, or grasping. If thoughts of not-liking something arise, note softly aversion, or not-liking. If you feel tired or dull, feel the low energy, and note sleepy. (If you are sleepy, open your eyes and breathe deeper.) If you feel restless or nervous, note restless. No matter what s happening, stay in the meditation, simply being present with what s here. If thoughts arise that doubt the practice, the teacher, your own ability, or any aspect of the experience, note doubt. Doubt is very sticky. Don t believe everything your mind says! It has no shame. Fortunately, it is not you. Keep watching. mind objects awakening factors As always, begin by grounding attention in the body. Feel the quality of knowing what s happening. This bare knowing is mindfulness. Notice the presence of any of the arousing factors: investigation your curiosity about what s happening, energy determination or inner strength, or rapture pleasurable vibration. Feel how your energy lifts when those factors are active. Notice the presence of any of the calming factors: calm ease in mind and body, concentration the mind focused and clear, or equanimity stability of presence whether our experience is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Feel how your energy settles when those factors are active. Any time in your practice, notice when these beautiful qualities are present, which will begin to cultivate them. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 13

Meditation posture One of the first questions many yoga students ask about meditation is about posture. As Hatha Yogis, we are very posture-oriented, and the precise details of the meditation postures are very interesting to us. Although anatomically precise posture guidelines in yoga texts are relatively recent, it is clear that there have always been postures that are recognized as being more affective for stability, ease, and the cultivation of awareness. The most basic posture for meditation (in the Indian tradition) has always been sitting cross-legged on the ground. The wide triangle of support between knees and pelvis is wonderfully stable, and with practice can be maintained for very long periods of time without significant pain. For many Westerners, however, these postures take a lot of practice and tolerance before they become easy. Yoga students will find pain in the lower back, hips, shoulder girdle, knees, and ankles, and should be taught proper adjustments and prop use to support their sitting meditation practice. Students who are unable to sit on the floor can also sit in a chair, and have a very satisfying meditation practice in this posture. (The Buddha of the future, Maitreya, is always shown sitting in a chair, Western style!) In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the Buddha says that mindfulness should be maintained through each of the four postures of sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. If we generalize these four postures, and especially if we take walking as a stand-in for movement of all kinds which is how the Buddha took it, the instruction is clear. Meditation doesn t happen only sitting, but can and should continue through all the activities of the day. This is a wonderful practice instruction, and is particularly good for us busy city folks. Mindfulness of everything just as it s happening is what will most transform your life much more than asana or meditation on the mat! Concentration, however, is different. The deep stillness of mind that IS the classical definition of yoga is only available to most people in postures of physical stillness and stability. The need to be able to focus on a single object like the breath, to the exclusion of all else, implies a physical posture that takes minimal effort to maintain. Standing doesn t work for that, at least until the mind is very well trained. Lying down can be excellent, but again, until the mind is trained, can too easily lead to sleepiness and dullness. Sitting turns out to balance the necessary qualities of ease (sukham) and alertness/stability (sthiram) in a way that perfectly supports clarity of mind for most yogis. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (1350 CE) lists these meditation postures, (among the 18 asanas described): svastikasana sitting with ankles crossed. virasana and vajrasana kneeling postures. siddhasana sitting with legs crossed, but each ankle on the ground, one in front of the other. padmasana lotus pose, each ankle resting on the opposite thigh. and says, just as moderate diet is the most important yama, & non-harming the most important niyama, so is siddhasana the most important asana. It takes time to become comfortable in sitting meditation poses. One of the main traditional reasons for practicing Hatha Yoga is to prepare the body for meditation, both to be able to sit without pain, and to clarify the flow of energy in the body, which is equally important in the process. Students should be encouraged to use props for sitting as long as necessary. Ambitious students will want to sit without props, and force themselves into the more challenging poses, like padmasana. Such pushing is sometimes skillful in asana class (Hatha does mean forceful ), but will not generally lead to a quiet mind and an easeful body. Once matured, padmasana and siddhasana can become the most delicious poses ever: stable, calm, contained, and immediately drawing the attention inward, emphasizing the central column of the body, and invoking the state of meditation. Patient, careful, and determined practice of these poses will serve every yogi well. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 14

Important alignment points to look for: Alignment in sitting meditation - Both knees touching the floor. The knees provide stability in the pose, so that the spinal erectors don t make effort to balance. If the knees don t touch down, put a folded blanket or sandbag under each one. (An exception to this is sukhasana, easy pose, where each shin rests on the opposite foot. That support is often enough for stability, though sukhasana doesn t tend to be a good pose for longer sittings because the low back works too hard to maintain its length.) - Pelvis level or tipping forward. The yogi should feel the sit bones, and feel their weight either right on them, or on the front edge of them. This maintains the natural lumbar curve, and allows the belly to soften. Most yogis will benefit from sitting on the front edge of a folded blanket, bolster, or round sitting cushion (zafu), which will naturally tip the pelvis forward, as well as bringing the knees closer to the ground. - Shoulders neutral or rolling back slightly. Shoulders should be comfortable and relaxed and this takes constant reminding! Breath wants to move freely, and the yogi should feel for the expansion and contraction of the ribcage on all sides. The shadow side of the heart can feel breath as well as the front, and broad, neutral shoulders helps this. Those with a tendency to slump can lift the sternum, but not to the point of neutralizing the thoracic curve. Strivers will lift the chest high, and can be encouraged to relax back and down. - Central column long and clear. When the upper body is vertically aligned, a plumb line dropped from the crown of the head (sahasrara chakra) would pass through the centers of the head (ajña chakra), throat (viṣuddhi), heart (anahata), solar plexus/belly (manipura), and pelvis (svadisthana), exiting the body at the perineum/base of the pelvis (muladhara). The spinal curves are maintained, and there is a sense of a clear flow or potential for flow of energy in all directions through the body, especially in the vertical plane. - Neck soft and gaze neutral or down. Another postural indicator of striving is the head tipped back slightly, as if the yogi is looking up into the sky. This can happen without the meditator knowing, especially as energy starts to flow and the practice feels blissful. Gently reminding the yogi to drop the chin toward the chest enough to bring the gaze (even if eyes closed) level or down will relieve strain in the occiput and emphasize the drawing inward of attention and the senses. - What to do for knee pain. Pain in the back or hips is usually no problem (in terms of injury), and the yogi can be encouraged to stay sitting and be mindful of the sensation. Sharp pain in the knees can injure, and more care is needed. Support under the knees can help, as can sitting higher up, which decreases the torque on the knees. Sukhasana and siddhasana are much gentler on the knees than full or half padmasana. Hand gestures (mudra) - Cosmic mudra : hands in the lap, one on top of the other (whichever feels right to you), thumbs touching. - Jñana mudra : hands on knees, facing down, thumb and index fingers touching. Chin mudra : same, facing up. - Earth-witness mudra : the Buddha s gesture of calling on the Earth Goddess to affirm his right to awaken fully. Right hand reaches down to touch the ground in front of the right knee. sean feit, 2010. nadalila.org. 15