Don't behave like an animal!

 Look at this news article from NextShark dated 29 July, 2023 about a Japanese man who wears a dog costume and goes around behaving like a dog. This is very lamentable. He has the good fortune to be reborn as a human being, but yet he likes being a dog. For me, this is a clear indirect evident that there is rebirth. Why else can you explain that he likes and behaves perfectly well as a dog? He must have been a dog in his previous life and in his next life, due to his extreme attachment to the life as a dog, he will be reborn as a dog in his next rebirth. In the Buddha's teachings, it is said that once you are reborn as an animal or any of the lower realms, chances are you will be reborn there for multiple times. This is due to your own karma. You have created that strong karma for lower rebirths. Talk about ignorance/delusion in Buddhism. He does not even realise it is not good to behave like an animal. 

Click on this link below for the story. 

https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/japanese-man-spent-16k-become-211110478.html

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.... humans, please behave as humans! Not animals! 

#animalbehaviour #humanrebirth 

Please read previous posts on animals here https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2009/06/reborn-as-happy-animal-or-sick-human_13.html

The Mahasi Meditation: How is it different?

Sorry for not posting for the last 2 weeks. I went for another meditation retreat. If the first one was to lay the foundation, this second one is to build on the foundation already laid. Since the first retreat, I have had more understanding of the Mahasi meditation system. And really, we must not get confused with other methods. 

The Mahasi abdomen method is often compared with the breathing using the nose. Well, actually the Mahasi method is more than just anapanasati. It’s the whole Satipatanna. Abdomen is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s the beginning journey for aspiring meditators. We start with meditating on the abdomen movement, instead of jumping straight into noting everything that arises in the six senses. That would be an impossibility for beginners. In actual fact, the entire training is to get one to contemplate everything that “hits” the six senses. Eventually that is what we need to accomplish. It’s actually not that easy if you know what it is like to note every sensation, every object we see, hear, touch and think. Even doing their walking meditation is already difficult. 

In other groups, their walking meditation consists of a stroll in the park with singing along the way in huge groups. The eyes looking here and there, with no mindfulness of the body movement. Is that even walking meditation? During their mealtimes, all mindfulness is also rested. Gone. Lots of chatter during mealtimes. In Mahasi retreats, it is not like that. The expectation of the Mahasi lineage teachers is actually high. Unfortunately, it is we ourselves who are not able to do as much as the teachers would like us to. For one, I confess my lack of effort to fully do the mindfulness outside of the sitting and walking meditations. Even my walking meditation is much to be desired, but it has improved since the beginning. I will try. 

Let me share with you one difference between this Mahasi method and the usual anapanasati / breathing method. The meditators using the former method focuses on the movement of the abdomen, whereas the latter focuses on the breathing in and out, usually on the nostrils. Some teachers of the latter taught focusing on the tip of the nostrils, whereas others focus on the sensation as a result of the breathing in and out in the nostrils. It is well documented that after some prolonged period, the breath will become more subtle and less easy to detect. It may even seem to disappear altogether. And according to the teachers, they have their own guidance on how to deal with this issue. However, if you think the mvement in the abdomen will also have similar experience, then you are wrong. The movement of the abdomen is NOT supposed to become less apparent and disappear. Instead, it is supposed to move all the time, as long as you are alive! In this Vipassana technique, the clearer and closer you are in focusing and without a break in analysing the movement of rising and falling, the better! The Venerable Sayadaw sdvises that meditators should mentally and physically be energetic in focusing each rising and falling. So, in the meditation on the abdomen avoids the issue altogether that comes with focusing on the breathing itself. You also do not experience any nimitta that may arise from the nostrils breathing method. Nimittas are visual images that arise in the mind as your level of concentration increases. Usually it arises from samatha concentrations. Okay, that's all I my post for now. Do keep up your own meditation. 

If you wish to read other posts, this is one previous post you may like: https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2016/01/mind-and-methods.html

Yes, as stated above, the Mahasi method ultimately is a meditation on the mind too. You contemplate and look into the nature of whatever arises within the mind.

#satipatthana #Mahasi #meditation 

How to overcome sensual desires, temper, etc?

 This is the Buddha's way for overcoming defilements or hindrances. It is not overcome by superficially sidestepping such emotions. These defilements are actually still inside you. They just have not arisen. The method is part of the Satipatthana meditation (i.e. four foundations of mindfulness), under Dhammanupassana. 

The way to do it is to first practice the Body contemplation (kayanupassana) until you have gained some level of concentration. Without concentration, you will not be able to catch any arising emotions on time. You will be acting at the spur of the moment, for example, getting angry suddenly when someone says something you don't like. So, there must be some level of concentration first. You must be able to note every arising consciousness that hits any of your six senses. Watch the arising and passing away of each consciousness and emotion. Then you can practice Feeling contemplation (vedananupassana). Watch the impact of every consciousness on how you feel. Good, bad or neutral. Pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Once you have gained some skill in both of these contemplations, you can go to Mind contemplation (cittanupassana) and finally Mental Objects contemplation (Dhammanupassana). It is the fourth contemplation that I want to detail here. 

Sometimes it is referred to as Mind-object contemplation and consists of the 5 forms of clinging (form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness groups), the 6 sense bases (eye, ear, etc), the 7 factors of enlightenment, and 4 Noble Truths. The contemplations of mind-objects consists of 5 groups:

- the obstacles/hindrances

- group of clinging

- the sense-bases

- the factors of enlightenment

- the Four Noble Truths

There are 5 hindrances : sensous desires, ill-will (or anger/hatred), sloth & torpor, restlessness & scruples, sceptical doubt. Whenever these hindrances are present, you are to contemplation using the 5 methods below (for most people, we usually start with the first two):-

- if the hindrance is present within, we must be aware that it is present within us

- if it is not present within, we must be aware that it is not present within us. 

- if the hindrance that was not present earlier, but occurs now, we must become aware that it is present now. 

- if the hindrance that was present has not disappeared, we become aware that the hindrance has now disappeared.

- if the hindrance that has disappeared, does not occur again in our mind, we become aware and acknowledge that. In this step, we constantly watch over our mind that the defilements/ hindrances does not occur again. 

Therefore, meditation is necessary to uproot all defilements. 

If you like this post, please read earlier posts, such as this one - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2022/01/maha-satipatthana-sutta-part-1.html

#dhammanupassana #satipatthana #mindfulness