..续本文上一页lax with our breath, finding it pleasant and comfortable, clearly aware of each inhalation and exhalation, then we”re getting the hang of it. If we”re not doing it properly we will lose the breath. If this happens then it”s better to stop for a moment and refocus the mindfulness.
If while meditating you get the urge to experience psychic phenomena or the mind becomes luminous and radiant or you have visions of celestial palaces, etc., there”s no need to fear. Simply be aware of whatever you”re experiencing, and continue on meditating. Occasionally, after some time, the breath may appear to slow to a halt. The sensation of the breath seems to vanish and you become alarmed. Don”t worry, there”s nothing to be afraid of. You only think your breathing has stopped. Actually the breath is still there, but it”s functioning on a much more subtle level than usual. With time the breath will return to normal by itself.
In the beginning, just concentrate on making the mind calm and peaceful. Whether sitting in a chair, riding in a car, taking a boat ride, or wherever you happen to be, you should be proficient enough in your meditation that you can enter a state of peace at will. When you get on a train and sit down, quickly bring your mind to a state of peace. Wherever you are, you can always sit. This level of proficiency indicates that you”re becoming familiar with the Path. You then investigate. Utilize the power of this peaceful mind to investigate what you experience. At times it”s what you see; at times what you hear, smell, taste, feel with your body, or think and feel in your heart. Whatever sensory experience presents itself - like it or not - take that up for contemplation. Simply know what you are experiencing. Don”t project meaning or interpretations onto those objects of sense awareness. If it”s good, just know that it”s good. If it”s bad, just know that it”s bad. This is conventional reality. Good or evil, it”s all impermanent, unsatisfying and not-self. It”s all undependable. None of it is worthy of being grasped or clung to. If you can maintain this practice of peace and inquiry, wisdom will automatically be generated. Everything sensed and experienced then falls into these three pits of impermanence, un-satisfactoriness, and not-self. This is vipassana meditation. The mind is already peaceful, and whenever impure states of mind surface, throw them away into one of these three rubbish pits. This is the essence of vipassana: discarding everything down into impermanence, un-satisfactoriness, and not-self. Good, bad, horrible, or whatever, toss it down. In a short time, understanding and insight will blossom forth in the midst of the three universal characteristics - feeble insight, that is. At this beginning stage the wisdom is still weak and feeble, but try to maintain this practice with consistency. It”s difficult to put into words, but it”s like if somebody wanted to get to know me, they”d have to come and live here. Eventually with daily contact we would get to know each other.
RESPECT THE TRADITION
It”s high time we started to meditate. Meditate to understand, to abandon, to relinquish, and to be at peace.
I used to be a wandering monk. I”d travel by foot to visit teachers and seek solitude. I didn”t go around giving Dhamma talks. I went to listen to the Dhamma talks of the great Buddhist masters of the time. I didn”t go to teach them. I listened to whatever advice they had to offer. Even when young or junior monks tried to tell me what the Dhamma was, I listened patiently. However, I rarely got into discussions about the Dhamma. I couldn”t see the point in getting involved in lengthy discussions. Whatever teachings I accepted I took on board straight away, directly where they pointed to renunciation and letting go. W…
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