- Which place is best for meditation?
The Buddha suggested that either a
forest place under a tree or any other very quiet place is best for meditation.
- How should the meditator sit?
He said the meditator should sit
quietly and peacefully with legs crossed.
- How should those with back trouble sit?
If sitting with crossed legs proves to
be too difficulty, other sitting postures may be used. For those with back trouble a chair
is quite acceptable. In any case, sit with your back erect, at a right angle to the
ground, but not too stiff.
- Yogi, why should you sit straight?
The reason for sitting straight is not
difficult to see. An arched or crooked back will soon bring pain. Furthermore, the
physical effort to remain upright without additional support energizes the meditation
practice.
- Why is it important to choose a position?
It is true that to achieve peace of
mind, we must make sure our body is at peace. So it is important to choose a position that
will be comfortable for a long period of time.
- After sitting down, what should you do?
Close your eyes. Now place your
attention at the belly, at the abdomen. Breathe normally, not forcing your breathing,
neither slowing it down nor hastening it, just a natural breath.
- What will you become aware of as you breathe in and breathe
out?
You will become aware of certain
sensations as you breathe in and the abdomen rises, as you breathe out and the abdomen
falls.
- How should you sharpen your aim?
Sharpen your aim by making sure that
the mind is attentive to the entirety of each process. Be aware from the very beginning of
all sensations involved in the rising. Maintain a steady attention through the middle and
the end of the rising. Then be aware of the sensations of the falling movement of the
abdomen from the beginning, through the middle, and to the very end of the falling.
Although we describe the rising and
falling as having a beginning, a middle, and an end, this is only in order to show that
your awareness should be continuous and thorough. We do not intend you to break these
processes into three segments. You should try to be aware of each of these movements from
beginning to end as one complete process, as a whole. Do not peer at the sensations with
an over focused mind, specifically looking to discover how the abdominal movement begins
or ends.
- Why is it important in this meditation to have both effort
and precise aim?
It is very important to have both
effort and precise aim so that the mind meets the sensation directly and powerfully.
- What is one way to aid precision and accuracy?
One helpful aid to precision and
accuracy is to make a soft mental note of the object of awareness, naming the sensation by
saying the word gently and silently in the mind, like "rising, rising…falling,
falling."
- When the mind wanders off and you start to think of
something, what should you do?
At this time, watch the mind! Be aware
that you are thinking.
- How can you clarify your awareness of thinking?
Note the thought silently with the
verbal label "thinking, thinking," and come back to the rising and falling.
- Is it possible to remain perfectly focused on the riding
and falling of the abdomen all the time?
Despite making an effort to do so, no
one can remain perfectly focused on the rising and falling of the abdomen forever. Other
objects inevitably arise and become predominant. Thus, the sphere of mediation encompasses
all of our experiences: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations in the body, and mental
objects such as visions in the imagination or emotions. When any of these objects arise
you should focus direct awareness on them, and use a gentle verbal "spoken" in
the mind.
- During the sitting meditation, what is the basic principle
to follow? If another object impinges on the awareness and draws it away from the rising
and falling, what should you do?
During a sitting meditation, if
another object impinges strongly on the awareness so as to draw it away from the rising
and falling of the abdomen, this object must be clearly noted. For example, if a loud
sound arises during your meditation, consciously direct your attention towards that sound
as soon as it arises. Be aware of the sound as a direct experience, and also identify it
succinctly with the soft, internal verbal label "hearing, hearing." When the
sound fades and is no longer predominant, come back to the rising and falling. This is the
basic principle to follow in sitting mediation.
- What is the best way to make the verbal label?
There is no need for complex language.
One simple work\d is best. For the eye, ear, and tongue doors we simply say "seeing,
seeing…|Hearing, hearing…Tasting, tasting."
- What are some ways to note sensations in the body?
For sensations in the body we may
choose a slightly more descriptive term like warmth, pressure, hardness, or motion.
- How may we note mental objects?
Mental objects appear to present a
bewildering diversity, but actually they fall into just a few clear categories such as
thinking, imagining, remembering, planning, and visualizing.
- What is the purpose of labelling?
In using the labelling technique, your
goal is not to gain verbal skills. Labelling helps us to perceive clearly the actual
qualities of our experience, without getting immersed in the content. It develops mental
power and focus.
- What kind of awareness do we seek in meditation, and why?
We seek a deep, clear, precise
awareness of the mind and body. This direct awareness shows us the truth about our lives,
the actual nature of mental and physical processes.
- After one hour of sitting, does our meditation come to an
end?
Meditation need not come to an end
after an hour of sitting. It can be carried out continuously through the day.
- How should the yogi get up from sitting meditation?
When you get up from sitting, you must
note carefully – beginning with the intention to open the eyes. "Intending,
intending… Opening, opening." Experience the mental event of intending, and feel
the sensations of opening the eyes. Continue to note carefully and precisely, with full
observing power, through the whole transition of posture until the moment you have stood
up, and when you begin to walk.
- Besides sitting and walking, what else should the yogi be
aware of throughout the day?
Throughout the day you should also be
aware of, and mentally note, all other activities, such as stretching, bending your arm,
taking a spoon, putting on clothes, brushing your teeth, closing your eyelids, eating, and
so forth. All of these activities should be noted with careful awareness ad a soft mental
label.
- Is there any time during the day in when the yogi may relax
his or her mindfulness?
Apart from the hours of sound sleep,
you should try to maintain continuous mindfulness throughout your waking hours.
- It seems like a heavy task to maintain continuous
mindfulness throughout the day.
Actually this is not a heavy task; it
is just sitting and walking and simply observing whatever occurs.
- What is the usual schedule during a retreat?
During a retreat it is usual to
alternate periods of sitting meditation with periods of formal walking mediation of about
the duration, one after another throughout the day.
- How long should one walking period be?
One hour is a standard period, but
forty-five minutes can also be used.
- How long a pathway do retreatants choose for formal
walking?
For formal walking, retreatants choose
a lane of about twenty steps in length and walk slowly back and forth along it.
- Is walking meditation helpful in daily life?
Yes. A short period say ten minutes of
formal walking meditation before sitting serves to focus the mind.
Beyond this advantage, the awareness
developed in walking meditation is useful to all of us as we move our bodies from place to
place in the course of a normal day.
- What mental qualities does walking meditation develop?
Walking meditation develops balance
and accuracy of awareness as well as durability of concentration.
- Can one observe profound aspects of the Dharma while
walking?
One can observe very profound aspects
of the Dharma while walking, and even get enlightened!
- If a yogi does not do walking meditation before sitting, is
there any disadvantage?
A yogi who does not do walking
meditation before sitting is like a car with a rundown battery. He or she will have a
difficult tome starting the engine of mindfulness when sitting.
- During walking meditation, to what process do we give our
attention?
Walking meditation consists of paying
attention to the walking process.
- When walking rapidly, what should we note? Where should we
place our awareness?
If you are moving fairly rapidly, make
a mental note of movement of the legs, "Left, right, left, right" and use your
awareness to follow the actual sensations throughout the leg area.
- When moving more slowly, what should we note?
If you are moving more slowly, note
the lifting, moving and placing of each foot.
- Whether walking slowly or rapidly, where should you try to
keep your mind?
In each you must try to keep your mind
on just the sensations of walking.
- When you stop at the end of the walking lane, what should
you do?
Notice what processes occur when you
stop at the end of the lane, when you stand still, when you turn and start to begin
walking again.
- Should you watch your feet?
Do not watch your feet unless this
becomes necessary due to some obstacle on the ground; it is unhelpful to hold the image of
a foot in your mind while you are trying to be aware of sensations. You want to focus on
the sensations themselves, and these are not visual.
- What can people discover when they focus on the sensations
of walking?
For many people it is a fascinating
discovery when they are able to have a pure, bare perception of physical objects such as
lightness, tingling, cold, and warmth.
- How is walking usually noted?
Usually we divide walking into three
distinct movements: lifting, moving and placing the foot.
- How can we make our awareness precise?
To support a precise awareness, we
separate the movements clearly, making a soft mental label at the beginning of each
movement and making sure that our awareness follows it clearly and powerfully until it
ends.
One major but important point is to begin
noting the placing movement at the instant that the foot begins to move downward.
- Is our knowledge of conventional concepts important in
meditation?
Let us consider lifting. We know its
conventional name, but in meditation it is important to penetrate behind that conventional
concept and to understand the true nature of the whole process of lifting, beginning with
the intention to lift and continuing through the actual process, which involves many
sensations.
- What happens if our effort to be aware of lifting is too
strong, or alternatively, too weak?
If our efforts to be aware of lifting
the foot is too strong it will overshoot the sensation. If our effort is too weak it will
fall short of this target.
- What happens when effort is balanced?
Precise and accurate mental aim helps
balance our effort. When our effort is balanced and our aim is precise, mindfulness will
firmly establish itself on the object of awareness.
- What mental factors must be present for concentration to
develop?
It is only in the presence of three
factors: effort, accuracy and mindfulness, that concentration develops.
- What is concentration?
Concentration is collectedness of
mind, one-pointedness. Its characteristic is to keep consciousness from becoming diffuse
or dispersed.
- What will we see as we get closer and closer to the lifting
process?
As we get closer and closer to this
lifting process, we will see that it is like a line of ant crawling across the road. From
afar the linemay appear to be static, but from closer up it begins to shimmer and vibrate.
- As we get even closer, what will we see?
From even closer the line breaks up
into individual ants, and we see that our notion of a line was just an illusion. We now
accurately perceive the line of ants as one ant after another ant, after another ant.
- What is insight?
"Insight" is a mental
factor. When we look accurately, for example, at the lifting process from beginning to
end, the mental factor or quality of consciousness called "insight" comes nearer
to the object of observation. The nearer insight comes, the clearer the true nature of the
lifting process can be seen.
- What is the progress of insight?
It is an amazing fact about the human
mind that when insight arises and deepens through vipassana, or insight, meditation
practice, particular aspects of the truth about existence tend to be revealed in a
definite order. This order is known as the progress of insight.
- What is the first insight that meditators commonly
experience?
The first insight which meditators
commonly experience is to begin to comprehend, not intellectually or by reasoning, but
quite intuitively, that a process such as lifting is composed of distinct mental and
material phenomena occurring together, as a pair. The physical sensations, which are
material, are linked with, but different from, the awareness, which is mental.
- What is the second insight in the classical progress of
insight?
We begin to see a whole succession of
mental events and physical sensations, and to appreciate the conditionality that relates
mind and matter. We see with the greatest freshness and immediacy that mind causes matter
as when our intention to lift the foot initiates the physical sensations of movement, and
we see that matter causes mind as when a physical sensation of strong heat generates a
wish to move our walking mediation into a shady spot. The insight into cause and effect
can take a great variety of forms; but when it arises, our life seems far more simple to
us than ever before. Our life is no more than a chain of mental and physical causes and
effects. This is the second insight in the classical progress of insight.
- What is the next level of insight?