..續本文上一頁orld” is the world they believe in, the world that they are committed to or the world that they know and are familiar with. But that world is a condition of mind. Meditation is actually confronting the real world, recognizing and acknowledging it as it really is, rather than believing in it or justifying it or trying to mentally annihilate it.

　　Now the real world operates on the same pattern of arising and passing as the breath. We”re not theorizing about the nature of things, taking philosophical ideas from others and trying to rationalize with them, but by watching our breath we”re actually observing the way nature is. When we”re watching our breath we”re actually watching nature; through understanding the nature of the breath, we can understand the nature of all conditioned phenomena. If we tried to understand all conditioned phenomena in their infinite variety, quality, different time span and so on, it would be too complex, our minds wouldn”t be able to handle it. We have to learn from simplicity.

　　So with a tranquil mind we become aware of the cyclical pattern, we see that all that arises passes away. That cycle is what is called samsara, the wheel of birth and death. We observe the samsaric cycle of the breath. We inhale and then we exhale: we can”t have only inhalations or only exhalations, the one conditions the other. It would be absurd to think: “I only want to inhale. I don”t want to exhale. I”m giving up exhalation. My life will be just one constant inhalation” — that would be absolutely ridiculous. If I said that to you, you”d think I was crazy; but that is what most people do.

　　How foolish people are when they want only to attach to excitement, pleasure, youth, beauty and vigour. “I only want beautiful things and I”m not going to have anything to do with the ugly. I want pleasure and delight and creativity but I don”t want any boredom or depression.” It is the same kind of madness as if you were to hear me saying, “I can”t stand inhalations. I”m not going to have them any more.” When we observe that attachment to beauty, sensual pleasures and love will always lead to despair, then our attitude is one of detachment. That doesn”t mean annihilation or any desire to destroy, but simply letting go, non-attachment. We don”t seek perfection in any part of the cycle, but see that perfection lies in the whole cycle: it includes old age, sickness and death. What arises in the uncreated reaches its peak and then returns to the uncreated, and that is perfection.

　　As we start to see that all sankharas have this pattern of arising and passing away, we begin to go inwards to the unconditioned, the peace of the mind, its silence. We begin to experience su¤¤ata or emptiness, which is not oblivion or nothingness, but is a clear and vibrant stillness. We can actually turn to the emptiness rather than to the conditions of the breath and mind. Then we have a perspective on the conditions and don”t just blindly react to them any more.

　　There is the conditioned, the unconditioned and the knowing. What is the knowing

　　 Is it memory

　　 Is it consciousness

　　 Is it “me”

　　 I”ve never been able to find out, but I can be aware. In Buddhist meditation we stay with the knowing: being aware, being awake, being Buddha in the present, knowing that whatever arises passes away and is not-self.

　　We apply this knowing to everything, both the conditioned and the unconditioned. It is transcending — being awake rather than trying to escape — and it is all in the ordinary. We have the four normal postures of sitting, standing, walking and lying down — we don”t have to stand on our heads or do back-flips or anything. We use four normal postures and the ordinary breathing, because we are moving towards that which is most ordinary, the unconditioned. Conditions are…

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