Part 1 THE BASICS: Sila, Samadhi, & Prajna The Buddha taught a path that leads away from suffering and toward freedom; he did not teach Buddhism as a religion. Using his own experience and suggesting others do the same, He offered a map AND a Program of Training for ANY human being of general mental well-being to follow for waking up, for the flowering of wisdom and compassion, for clear seeing and clear resonance of feeling. As we see more clearly, we can attend more wisely. We train to SEE, to FEEL, to KNOW, to UNDERSTAND, to RESPOND SKILLFULLY. --EACH-- OF THESE SKILLS needs attention, mindful attention. For lay followers, in the Candala Sutta (AN 5.175), thus spoke the Buddha: A lay-follower (upasaka) who has five qualities is a jewel of a lay-follower, is like a lily, like a lotus. What are these five qualities? He has conviction [faith]; is virtuous; he is not superstitious; he believes in action (kamma) and not in luck or omen; he does not seek outside (of the Order) for those worthy of support and gives offerings here first. The Sigalovada Sutta is the Layperson s Code of Discipline (DN 31). It gives guidelines for how to relate to others and what to give wise or mindful attention to. It suggests giving wise attention so as not say or do the nasty, unskillful, careless, harmful reactive thing that might be running though the mind. The Basics of Practice: Sila, Samadhi, Prajna 1
As laypersons we must consider and appreciate the context in which we live. We are not living in a community of dedicated practitioners where distractions are minimized and there is a shared value in cultivating useful ways of beings. We have chosen to practice amidst the fire hose of sensory stimulation. We marinate here, in this stimulating, intoxicating environment. Here speedy, greedy and needy are in a dead heat and autopilot and distraction are welcome breaks from the onslaught of information. Such conditions are ripe for unskillfulness. It is wise to consider how the context in which we are living wears on the bodyheartmind and to SEE that it isn t easy to practice, to find-feel balance and stabilize the caring attention of mindfulness. Appreciating these circumstances, Set Realistic Expectations. Practice will wobble; Expect wobbles. Patience.Patience is a kind-wise response to our attempts at stability and skillfulness. Cultivate patience. RETREAT is a highly specialized kind of environment. With limited sensory input, no worldly commitments, in an expanse of silence, there is time to adjust the view, to feel into and practice stabilizing a posture of practice in the presence of whatever arises. The outer holding environment is more conducive to inner exploration. It is relieved of its burdens. In daily life, the outer environment is conducive to greed, hatred and delusion. The conditions are ripe for reactivity, aggression and causing harm. If we wish to wake up, to be freer from the sufferings of living, than we begin to practice harmlessness, kindness, mindfully attending so we can make wise choices. For monastics and laypersons, mindfulness practice and all Buddhist meditation practices are built on sila, samadhi, and prajna. It can be helpful to understand how these principles are woven into the fabric of the teachings and within the framework of the Four Noble Truths. These guiding principles correspond with path factors of the Eight-Fold Path, in the Fourth Noble Truth. The Fourth Truth outlines the path, the Eight-Fold Path that leads away from suffering and toward (greater) freedom. These corresponding path factors are enclosed in brackets. The Basics of Practice: Sila, Samadhi, Prajna 2
Sila (right speech, right action, right livelihood) is the containing or restraining of harmful impulses AND the cultivation of kindness, caring, and connection. These are held, cared for, monitored so as to shape the heartmind toward the skillful. Much of the work of practice is spent here, managing the unskillful, holding the uncomfortable, feeling into skill ways and means, not because we SHOULD, but because we notice how it feels to be skillful AND how it feels to be unskillful. As this gets clearer, we start to make little course corrections that lead toward less harm, less suffering, and more of a sense of ease and well-being, more comfortable in my skin. Sila humanizes us to ourselves and each other. It elevates our understanding that others are just like me and offers the safety of non-harm. It rests on the understanding to others as to myself to my self as to others. Sila is a living practice. Samadhi (right concentration, right mindfulness). In this context samadhi refers to enterprise of meditation; the cultivation of the heartmind, the cultivation of the ability to focus on and discern what is happening. This is done mainly through practicing meditation on the cushion. With less moving parts, less stimulation for the senses, attentional skills can more easily be trained. When more moving parts are present, stabilize as best as possible a posture of practice and notice what is being known. Samadhi is a living practice. Prajna (right view, right resolve) is seeing reality as it is. SEEING and FEELING CLEARLY begins to uproot greed, hatred and delusion. Stabilizing the view of mindfulness (SEEING) takes time. We train attention to SEE. Naturally there are things inside that we don t want to see and things that we don t even know are there to be seen. Observe REPEATEDLY to learn the mind s habits and to stabilize the looking. Then, stabilize SEEING AND FEELING, feeling more fully, refining feeling to sense how it is living inside. I may know that worry is my thing, but knowing that isn t enough. I need to see worry many times, feel the activation many times, The Basics of Practice: Sila, Samadhi, Prajna 3
and experiment with how to stay in contact with it without getting overwhelmed by it. That is wise! Prajna is a living practice. Learning to live from a BodyHeartMind that is informed by the wish to offer safety to the world--to self and to other, is a great gift to this world on fire. *To those who use the Buddha s teachings, this is the governing principle for living life:...*having made the Dhamma his governing principle, [he] abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is unblameworthy, and looks after [himself] in a pure way. This is called the Dhamma as a governing principle. Adhipateyya Sutta: Governing Principles (AN 3.40) d Over these next 6 months we will specifically look at the core instructions for mindfulness found in the Satipatthana Sutta. These instructions lead down a path of uncovering, discovering, and unbinding from unhelpful patterns. They are not just about relaxing or calming or soothing, though these skills are important and necessary for practicing safely. Rather they invite investigation through direct experience and open us to insights that can be used to refine the behavior of the body speech and mind. These practices are intended to develop stability, balance, & harmony through direct experience the felt sense of things. We learn to stay steady AND to stay connected to what is being SEEN AND The Basics of Practice: Sila, Samadhi, Prajna 4
FEEL the unpleasant-pleasant mix of the moment. As this practice develops we can, with time, discern how best to hold the moment and the self that is experiencing the moment. As this is being learned, we entrain various mental qualities that, in concert with mindfulness, are needed for practice to unfold. START WHERE YOU ARE. Our starting points are different. Some aspects of the practice will come easy to you, others not. These meditation practices are intended to work with the very ground on which the self is erected. They loosen, undermine, uproot that which obstructs compassion and clear seeing; they encourage, develop, strengthen that which supports these abilities. As practitioners we are paying attention to HOW things affect the sense of well-being. We have to SEE AND FEEL something before we can do anything about it. It can t be appropriately soothed, comforted, fully known or released without these first two steps of seeing and feeling. SEEING is not the casual noticing of ordinary attention. It is seeing enough to note, oh, THIS is anxiety. FEELING is distinct from SEEING; it refers to the DIRECT EXPEREINCE, the Felt-Experience; THIS these thoughts, emotions & sensations (pulsing, vibrating, agitating, swirling thoughts, and images) is what anxiety FEELS like. This is the kind of exploration that leads toward insight. This is an uncovering practice. You never know what will come up. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. Be safe. Modulate, titrate, Don t overwhelm. Feel for just enough challenge/just enough ease. The Basics of Practice: Sila, Samadhi, Prajna 5