Saturday, June 19, 2010

Dhamma - Teachings of Buddha !!

Love/Hatred is part n parcel of our life, and we get engulfed & entangle ourselves with these, thro' out our life. We are happy when we get what we need and we become sad when things go in the opposite direction from what we desired for, which causes lot of distress to self n people close to us !! Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was experiencing the same in his life until he learnt many meditation techniques and finally settled in the technique he found - "Vipassana Meditation" which involves one step further from other meditation technique i.e to "Purify the Mind at the Root Level" by focusing the mind to "Observe the Subtlest Activity" & by remaining Equanimous he had cut down the misery caused due to Craving/Aversion and finally attained the "Enlightenment" at the age of 35 !!

History says he started to spread this technique thru' his 5 friends who together with Siddhartha practiced a diff meditation technique but left him until he mastered this technique and the word has spread to many people and even to one of the greatest Indian emperor - Ashoka The Great. Ashoka was calling himself "Cruel Ashoka" as he was conquering the world thru' his aggressive "Kill Any One & Capture" strategy, until he learnt the technique from Siddhartha and he helped spread this technique all over the world. Unfortunately the technique was lost in India after 5 centuries and as per the belief this technique would be maintaind in the pristine purity in "Suvarnabhoomi - Golden Land" and it will come back to India after 2500 yrs through a person.


It happened so, a second generation business family from India who were settled in Myanmar ( Golden Land) were forced to move out of Mynmar during a riot in 19th century. SN Goenka part of that business family was a student then and was a school topper in Myanmar when he came to India. He started business in South India. Once the riot settled in Myanmar he moved back to establish business and he became a well known industrialist and also headed the Hindu Society in Myanmar, preaching the vedas, upanishads in his late twenties !! He got a migraine problem and he approached the best doctors around the world, but with no cure to his problem. Then his friend - A senior defense person recommended him to take up this 10 day Vipassana course from a local teacher. With much of contemplation(cos he being a staunch Hindu and from an orthodox family, how can he learn something from Buddhism) he approached the teacher and the teacher clarified - You can be a Hindu but practice this technique with utmost sincerity. After 3 months he convinced himself to take up the course. He joined the course but was about to give up in the second day, but a persuasive lecturer asked him to continue for few more days of practice. He found the bliss the next day, which even "The Money nor The Hindu Religion", could buy and he was working on this technique under the same Guru for 14 years . His mother fell ill and he needed to return to India for teaching the technique to her mother, as this was almost the similar problem he faced. Coincidentally it was 2500 years since Buddha taught "Dhamma" in India. Following many requests SN Goenka started teaching "Vipassana" in India and it has spreads his wing across the world now.
I was fortunate to attend the course in Chennai in the month of May(19 - 31) 2010. Ten day course is very pragmatic(for they ask you to believe in this technique only when you experience the results yourself) and I highly recommended this for all, as it helps to understand our mind and how much clutter we carry and how to get rid of all those at the root level using this technique !! We will be also be able to get a feeling how "Wavelets" are the only things that is existing in this Universe but the scientific explanation they shower and the self experience will help us to believe in this technique more so than others. I got to feel it for the first time in my life on the fourth day !! It was the best ever experience in my life with a strong vibration spread across head to toe, as my whole body transformed to single packet of wavelets vibrating and I experienced the "Bliss". Next day I even got very strong vibration and was swinging back n forth and I felt it every time I meditated and felt really good, then my Guru made me realize that day that swinging sensation I experienced was a pleasant sensation and asked me not react to it and be equanimous towards both pleasant and gross sensations - which upset me but realized later in the course that he taught the right thing to me.


" Dhamma - Teachings of Gautma Buddha "


a) "Shila/Morality"

Vipassana meditation Technique started with taking 5 precepts, and they are as follows,

"No Lying, No Stealing, No Killing, No Sexual Misconduct, No Liquor".

b) "Shamadi - Mastery Over Mind"

Shamadi is practiced and achieved in the first 3 days, thru' step by step approach which started of with "Aaana Paana Breathing Technique" - It is observing the "Normal Breathing", and then slowly decreasing the area of concentration to a triangle portion (Nose until up to the upper lip of our mouth) and then further decreasing the area of the concentration(just the "Nostril") to tune the mind to note the "Subtle Sensation*" in the body. *Sensation - Can be heat, perspiration, sweating, vibrations, pain etc.
c) "Panya - Purification of Mind"

Guru's taught the Vipassana technique on the fourth day, "Observe the Sensation in the Body Objectively (Don't React) and Be Equanimous towards Sensation". We were asked to take an important oath on that day i.e. "Not to move from the place for One hour during Meditation" and it resulted in experiencing the Gross as well Pleasant Sensation across the body. When we react to either pleasant/gross sensation we create a "Sankara". For Ex : When the gross pain is heavy in one part of the body the mind will have a abstract thought running about any bad event/fight/quarrel and when you observe the sensation around the nostril area we might have a heat sensations in the nostril area and the gross sensation will keep increasing but the technique will teach us "The Law of Impermanence" which is the magic mantra that will help to treat both gross and pleasant sensation with Equanimity !! If we practice it well, we will see the gross pain getting dissolved and pleasant sensation and if we still maintain the equanimity then we can even observe Subtler sensation (after years of practice) and when we are equanimous towards all sensation even to the subtlest we will attain the Nirvana @ this point of time - "Love Compassion & Goodwill", will prevail over SELF !!