How to deal with "unwanted" thoughts during meditation?

During dharma talks given by various teachers, one of the most common questions is on arising of thoughts during mediation and people complain that they are not able to control them. They want to know what can be done about these extraneous thoughts. And the replies we get from the teachers are various. One teacher said that we should not regard these thoughts as enemies. Just watch them “come and go” as they are fleeting. 

I want to bring your attention to the advice provided by the Buddha on how to not just deal with these so-called “thoughts” but also other hindrances that may arise during our meditation. We should pay particular attention to these 5 hindrances mentioned by the Buddha. It is mentioned in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta. You can refer to my previous notes posted earlier. That is why those posts I made are important. But so far, nobody requested for the last 2 parts. If they are unimportant to you, so be it. 

I quote from a teaching by the Mahasi Sayadaw. The various arising thoughts and our state of mind during meditation can be categorised into these 5: - 

Sense desires – the mind may think of desirable or agreeable objects according to its own inclination. (Kamacchanda nivarana) 

Resentment or ill-will – the mind may also dwell on thoughts of despair and anger. (Vyapada nivarana)

Sloth and torpor – the mind may slack during meditation and becomes dull and foggy. (Thina-middha nivarana)

Remorse (or, restlessness) and worry – the mind may become unstable and fleeting /restless. Then recollections of past misdeeds that you may have committed in speech or actions may cause you to worry. (Uddhacca-kukkucca nivarana)

Sceptical doubt – Doubts may arise in your mind as to whether you are doing your meditation correctly or not, whether it will bring beneficial results or not, etc. (Vicikiccha nivarana)

The advice by Mahasi Sayadaw is that these 5 hindrances need to be discarded and rejected as they occur. Bring the mind back to its object of meditation. Again and again you have to exert effort to make your meditation right. Also, the Buddha adviced us in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta to be able to detect the presence of obstacles, the absence of it, how it arises, and know how to discard it. Further we should prevent it from arising in future. 

Let’s take a few examples, say, sense desires or sensual images keep arising in your thoughts. Firstly, I think you have to ask yourself, why these keep arising. Are you taking some “food” or “medicine” that may cause physical reactions by stimulating your hormones? Or, have you been missing your spouse lately? So, you got to investigate and try to eliminate or reduce these factors. The reason why in Mahayana Buddhism, particularly the members of Sangha are advised not to eat garlic, onion, leeks (i.e. the 5 so-called pungent food) is because eating them is said to cause some physical bodily reaction that may be detrimental to your practice. 

Another example, say restlessness or reminders of “something” you have done. Try to find the cause that is troubling you lately. Or, are you having some bad habits? Try to find out what is that “something” and fix it. 

All these are actions you can take to reduce your false thinking during meditation. It cannot be just watching them and hoping they will go away eventually. It may, but it could take a very long time, especially those that are due to some underlying cause.  

So, in this post, I try to bring your attention to the importance of knowing these hindrances and how to eliminate them, or at least reduce them. The Buddha had given us many guidance and teachings but most often we do not refer to them when we face with problems. That is when the Buddhist scriptures become very handy. They should become our sources of reference. Then you won’t go around asking teachers questions when in actual fact, you already have the answers there more than 2500 years ago. You should read and study these scriptures and if you have any further doubts, then you may go ask the teachers. Not before any effort to find out the answers yourself, you go straight ask the dharma teachers. 

#meditation #fivehindrance #mahasisayadaw #mahasatipatthana 

If you like this post, read this one   https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2010/12/healing-by-meditation.html

Do Buddhists believe in God?

I know how Buddhists feel whenever they are asked this question by non-Buddhists. In order to be harmonious to other religions, often we try to rationalise what we as Buddhists believe in. In this post, I try to dig into this subject. After this post, I hope we are more clear on the concept of God and that we don't have to try too hard to harmonise with others by compromising on our Buddhist Dharma. We harmonise but we still stick to our Dharma. 

I know some Buddhist teachers pointed out that when the ancient followers of the Buddha asked him about how the universe came from and all that cosmology questions, the historical Buddha remained silent. Hence some people take it that he was also silent on the issue of God. But, is that true? Upon closer examination, I don’t think so. The truth is the Buddha was very direct on this. He pointed this out when he taught the doctrine of Anatta (or, non-self). Anatta negates the existence of not just the self of a person or phenomena, but that of also GOD – i.e., the enduring, permanent, almighty, omniscient, eternal GOD. 

If we understand the concept of Anatta properly, whereby the common belief of a “soul” is non-existent, and everything else is Anicca (i.e. impermanent), how can there ever be an enduring external self-existing entity called “God”? Impossible, right? It is contradictory to these fundamental teachings of the Buddha. At least, not “God” in this sense of the meaning. However, if “God” is interpreted as “Tathata” (“Suchness”), or “Dharmakaya” (“body of Truth”), then yes, Buddhists do believe in this concept of “God”.  In a way, by the concept of emptiness, everything is manifest from Suchness, and Suchness is by nature empty/ ungraspable. So, reinterpreting the way the world comes about, is that everything in existence comes from God (as Suchness). Otherwise, no external entity could ever create all these by himself. He has to be something that transcends all these. In other words, God in Buddhism is NOT an external entity somewhere in heaven. In this case, Buddhists do believe in existence of heaven and hell. Heaven is part of the six planes of existence, referred to as “Samsara” in Buddhism. Yes, Indra or Sakka devaraja is an external entity God. While he could be the “Creator God” referred to in other religions, but I am referring more to the general idea of an Omniscient and Omnipotent God. 

To answer the question – do Buddhists believe in God? The answer is, Yes and No. It depends on what is meant by “God”. At least, this is how I understand it. If “God” is Suchness, then yes, definitely. But not if it is a self-abiding external entity. 

With this in mind, Buddhists need not feel out of place whenever they are asked, "do you believe in God?" If any other Buddhists (or, anyone else) have a differing opinion, please share. But remember, I am only trying to lay out the facts for what I think is taught in the Buddha Dharma.     

If you like this post, try explore others, such as this - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-love-buddhism-but.html

#God #religions #Suchness 

Happy Birthday to the Jade Emperor

Today is the birthday of the Jade Emperor, whom the Chinese regards as the overlord of heaven, at least in the Chinese cultural contexts. In Buddhism, two names are used to refer to him. One being Indra and the other Sakra (Sanskrit) or Sakka (Pali). In Chinese culture, his birthday falls on the 9th day of the first lunar month. It is celebrated within the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebrations. However, not every Chinese celebrates his birthday today. His birthday today is mostly celebrated by the Chinese of Hokkien descent (i.e. those whose ancestry originated from the Fukien province of China). The peak celebration is usually on the night of the 8th day. Even before the clock strikes 12 midnight, many households will start praying already and they will lit the atmosphere by firecrackers of all sorts. An example is as the video attached here. I usually make small offerings to him at my home altar. I do regard him as part of the Buddhist pantheon of deities and protectors. Except for last year whereby there was a strict control of travel movements, and I could not travel back home for prayers, at least this year, I can make some offerings to him. Typical offerings consists of sugar cane, local cakes called "angku" (tortoise shaped cakes - not those birthday cake type of cake made from flour and green beans. I leave you with a link for its recipe here.

 

https://rasamalaysia.com/angku-kuih-red-tortoise-cake/ 

Usually for the prayers for the Jade Emperor, I would buy the long shaped ones, the round shaped ones and the tortoise shaped ones. In Penang, the angku kuihs are usually red in colour, but there are also other colours with other fillings in it (like sweet coconut fillings, red bean paste, etc). But it is not that common in Penang. In Kuala Lumpur, other colours/ fillings are more common. For the sugar cane, worshippers would usually buy a few stalks of sugar cane as offerings. For me, since I am only making small offerings, I would buy just one stick of sugar cane and cut it into a few pieces. Another "must have" offering is full-boiled egg that has been coloured red on its shell. Chinese also offer pineapples and sweet glutinous rice with red dates on it. Another type of local cake called "huat kuih" are also offerred. The Penang huat kuih is pink in colour and it is soft and looks a little like small muffins. The KL and Singapore, they have their own version of "huat kuihs". The KL ones are flat and looks like the earlier "angku" kuihs. In Singapore, their "huat kuihs" are bigger and looks like big sized muffins. Other offerings include a gourd (or, bottle gourd, in wikipedia, it is called Calabash) and some "meesuah", a type of vermicelli - I think it is wheat vermicelli. You can google search these items. 

One of the photos show the main entrance of a temple dedicated to the Jade Emperor. The temple is called Thnee Kong Thnuah. In the Hokkien dialect, it means the Jade Emperor temple. It is located in Air Itam, Penang. If you visit Penang, Malaysia, do not forget to come to this temple. And the other photo shows the main statue in the temple, i.e. the Jade Emperor with other deities on the lower left and right of the main statue, and the standing guardian deities standing to his left and right (partially seen only in the photo above). 

I think in the past, I have posted something on this celebration. But this post is for 2022 celebration. You may check out this post here. https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2012/02/offerings-for-jade-emperor.html

#JadeEmperor #angkukuih #Hokkien #ThneeKongThuah #Penang