The fourth cause for developing the
controlling faculties is to make sure that suitable conditions are met for
insights to unfold. Proper, suitable and appropriate activities can bring about
insight knowledge. Seven types of suitability should be met in order to create
an environment that is supportive of meditation practice.
The first suitability is that of place. A
meditative environment should be well-furnished, well-supported, a place where
it is possible to gain insight.
Second is what is known as suitability of
resort. This refers to the ancient practice of daily alms rounds. A monk's
place of meditation should be far enough from a village to avoid distraction,
but near enough so that he can depend on the villagers for daily alms food. For
lay yogis, food must be easily and consistently available, yet perhaps not
distractingly so. Under this heading, one should avoid places which ruin one's
concentration. This means busy, active places where the mind is likely to be
distracted from its meditation object. In short, a certain amount of quiet is
important, but one must not go so far from the noises of civilization that one
cannot obtain what one needs to survive.
The third suitability is that of speech.
During a retreat, suitable speech is of a very limited kind and quantity. The
commentaries define it as listening to Dhamma talks. We can add participating
in Dhamma discussions with the teacher — that is, interviews. It is
essential at times to engage in discussions of the practice, especially when
one is confused or unsure about how to proceed.
But remember that anything in excess is
harmful. I once taught in a place where there was a potted plant which my
attendant was overzealous in watering. All its leaves fell off. A similar thing
could happen to your samadhi if you get involved in too many Dhamma
discussions. And one should carefully evaluate even the discourses of one's
teacher. The general rule is to exercise discretion as to whether what one is
hearing will develop the concentration that has already arisen, or cause to
arise concentration that has not yet arisen. If the answer is negative, one
should avoid the situation, perhaps even choosing not to attend the teacher's
discourses or not requesting extra interviews.
Yogis on intensive retreat should of course
avoid any kind of conversation as much as possible, especially chatting about
worldly affairs. Even serious discussion of the Dhamma is not always
appropriate during intensive practice. One should avoid debating points of
dogma with fellow yogis on retreat. Thoroughly unsuitable during retreats are
conversations about food, place, business, the economy, politics and so forth;
these are called "animal speech."
The purpose of having this kind of
prohibition is to prevent distractions from arising in the yogi's mind. Lord
Buddha, out of deep compassion for meditating yogis, said, "For an ardent
meditator, speech should not be indulged. If indeed speech is resorted to
frequently, it will cause much distraction."
Of course it may become really necessary to
talk during a retreat. If so, you should be careful not to exceed what is
absolutely necessary to communicate. You should also be mindful of the process
of speaking. First there will be a desire to speak. Thoughts will arise in the
mind as to what to say and how to say it. You should note and carefully label
all such thoughts, the mental preparation for speaking; and then the actual act
of speaking itself, the physical movements involved. The movements of your lips
and face, and any accompanying gestures, should be made the objects of
mindfulness.
Some years ago in Burma there was a
high-ranking government official who had just retired. He was a very ardent
Buddhist. He had read a lot of Buddhist scriptures and literature in the fine
translations available in Burmese and had also spent some time meditating. His
practice was not strong, but he had a lot of general knowledge and he wanted to
teach, so he became a teacher.
One day he came to the center in Rangoon to
meditate. When I give instructions to yogis, usually I explain the practice and
then compare my instructions to the scriptural texts, trying to reconcile any
apparent differences. This gentleman immediately began to ask me, "From
where did this quotation come and what is its reference?" I advised him
politely to forget about this concern and to continue his meditation, but he
could not. For three days in a row, he did the same thing at each interview.
Finally I asked him, "Why are you here?
Did you come here to be my student, or to try to teach me?" It seemed to
me he had only come to show off his general knowledge, not because he wished to
meditate.
The man said airily, "Oh, I'm the
student and you're the teacher."
I said, "I've been trying to let you
know this in a subtle way for three days, but I must now be more direct with
you. You are like the minister whose job it was to marry off brides and
bridegrooms. On the day it was his turn to get married, instead of standing
where the bridegroom should stand, he went up to the altar and conducted the
ceremony. The congregation was very surprised." Well, the gentleman got
the point; he admitted his error and there after became an obedient student.
Yogis who truly want to understand the Dhamma
will not seek to imitate this gentleman. In fact it is said in the texts that
no matter how learned or experienced one may be, during a period of meditation
one should behave like a person who is incapable of doing things out of his or
her own initiative, but is also very meek and obedient. In this regard, I'd
like to share with you an attitude I developed in my youth. When I am not
skilled, competent or experienced in a particular field, I do not intrude in a
situation. Even if I am skilled, competent and experienced in a field, I do not
intrude unless someone asks for my advice.
The fourth suitability is that of person,
which chiefly relates to the meditation teacher. If the instruction given by
one's teacher helps one to progress, developing concentration that has already
arisen, or bringing about concentration that has not yet arisen, then one can
say that this teacher is suitable.
Two more aspects of suitability of person
have to do with the community that supports one's practice, and one's own
relationship with the community of other people. In an intensive retreat, yogis
require a great deal of support. In order to develop their mindfulness and
concentration, they abandon worldly activities. Thus, they need friends who can
perform certain tasks that would be distracting for a yogi in intensive
practice, such as shopping for and preparing food, repairing the shelter, and
so on. For those engaged in group practice, it is important to consider one's
own effect on the community. Delicate consideration for other yogis is quite
helpful. Abrupt or noisy movements can be very disruptive to others. Bearing
this in mind, one can become a suitable person with respect to other yogis.
The fifth area of suitability, of food, means
that the diet one finds personally appropriate is also supportive to progress
in meditation. However, one must bear in mind that it is not always possible to
fill one's every preference. Group retreats can be quite large, and meals are
cooked for every one at once. At such times, it is best to adopt an attitude of
accepting whatever is served. If one's meditation is disturbed by feelings of
lack or distaste, it is all right to try to rectify this if convenient.
The Story
of Matikamata
Once sixty monks were meditating in the
forest. They had a laywoman supporter named Matikamata, who was very devout.
She tried to figure out what they might like, and every day she cooked enough
food for all of them. One day Matikamata approached the monks and asked whether
a lay person could meditate as they did. "Of course," she was told,
and they gave her instructions. Happily she went back and began to practice.
She kept up her meditation even while she was cooking for the monks and
carrying out her household chores. Eventually she reached the third stage of
enlightenment, anagami or nonreturner; and be cause of the great merit
she had accumulated in the past, she also had psychic powers such as the deva
eye and deva ear — i.e. the abilities to see and hear distant things
— and the ability to read people's minds.
Filled with joy and gratitude, Matikamata
said to herself, "The Dhamma I've realized is very special. I'm such a
busy person, though, looking after my household chores as well as feeding the
monks every day, I'm sure those monks have progressed much further than
I." With her psychic powers she investigated the meditation progress of
the sixty monks, and saw to her shock that none of them had had even the
vaguest ghost of a vipassana insight.
"What's wrong here?" Matikamata
wondered. Psychically, she looked into the monks' situation to determine where
the unsuitability lay. It was not in the place they were meditating. It was not
because they weren't getting along — but it was that they were not
getting the right food! Some of the monks liked sour tastes, others preferred
the salty. Some liked hot peppers and others liked cakes, and still others
preferred vegetables. Out of great gratitude for the meditation instructions
she had received from them, which had led her to profound enlightenment,
Matikamata began to cater to each monk's preference. As a result, all of the
monks soon became arahants, fully enlightened ones.
This woman's rapid and deep attainments, as
well as her intelligence and dedication, provide a good model for people like
parents and other caretakers, who serve the needs of others, but who do not
need to relinquish aspirations for deep insights.
While on this subject I would like to talk
about vegetarianism. Some hold the view that it is moral to eat only
vegetables. In Theravada Buddhism there is no notion that this practice leads
to an exceptional perception of the truth.
The Buddha did not totally prohibit the
eating of meat. He only lay down certain conditions for it. For example, an
animal must not be killed expressly for one's personal consumption. The monk
Devadatta asked him to lay down a rule expressly forbidding the eating of meat,
but the Buddha, after thorough consideration, refused to do so.
In those days as now, the majority of people
ate a mixture of animal and vegetable food. Only Brahmins, or the upper caste,
were vegetarian. When monks went begging for their livelihood, they had to take
whatever was offered by donors of any caste. To distinguish between vegetarian
and carnivorous donors would have affected the spirit of this activity.
Furthermore, both Brabmins and members of other castes were able to join the
order of monks and nuns. The Buddha took this fact into consideration as welt
with all of its implications.
Thus, one needn't restrict oneself to
vegetarianism to practice the Dhamma. Of course, it is healthy to eat a
balanced vegetarian diet, and if your motivation for not eating meat is
compassion, this impulse is certainly whole some. If, on the other hand, your
metabolism is adjusted to eating meat, or if for some other reason of health it
is necessary for you to eat meat this should not be considered sinful or in any
way detrimental to the practice. A law that cannot be obeyed by the majority is
ineffective.
The sixth type of suitability is that of
weather. Human beings have a fantastic ability to adapt to weather. No matter
how hot or cold it may be, we devise methods of making ourselves comfortable.
When these methods are limited or unavailable, one's practice can be disrupted.
At such times it may be better to practice in a temperate climate, if possible.
The seventh and last kind of suitability is
that of posture. Posture here refers to the traditional four postures: sitting,
standing, walking and lying down. Sitting is best for samatha or
tranquillity meditation. In the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw, vipassana practice
is based on sitting and walking. For any type of meditation, once momentum
builds, posture does not really matter; any of the four is suitable.
Beginning yogis should avoid the lying and
the standing postures. The standing posture can bring about pain in a short
while: tightness and pressure in the legs, which can disrupt the practice. The
lying posture is problematic be cause it brings on drowsiness. In it there is
not much effort being made to maintain the posture, and there is too much
comfort.
Investigate your own situation to find out
whether the seven types of suitability are present. If they are not, perhaps
you should take steps to ensure they are fulfilled, so that your practice can
develop. If this is done with the aim of making progress in your practice, it
will not be self-centered.
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