Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because these are what we
lack in our lives. From time to time we all experience agitation,
irritation, disharmony, suffering; and when one suffers from
agitation, one does not keep this misery limited to oneself. One keeps
distributing it to others as well. The agitation permeates the
atmosphere around the miserable person. Everyone who comes into
contact with him also becomes irritated, agitated. Certainly this is
not the proper way to live.
One ought to live at peace with oneself, and at peace with all others.
After all ,a human being is a social being. He has to live in
society--to live and deal with others. How are we to live peacefully?
How are we to remain harmonious with ourselves, and to maintain peace
and harmony around us, so that others can also live peacefully and
harmoniously?
One is agitated. To come out of the agitation, one has to know the
basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering. If one investigates
the problem, it will become clear that whenever one starts generating
any negativity or defilement in the mind, one is bound to become
agitated. A negativity in the mind, a mental defilement or impurity,
cannot exist with peace and harmony.
How does one start generating negativity? Again, by investigating, it
becomes clear. I become very unhappy when I find someone behaving in a
way which I don't like, when I find something happening which I don't
like. Unwanted things happen and I create tension within myself.
Wanted things do not happen, some obstacles come in the way, and again
I create tension within myself; I start tying knots within myself. And
throughout life, unwanted things keep on happening, wanted things may
or may not happen, and this process or reaction, of tying
knots--Gordian knots--makes the entire mental and physical structure
so tense, so full of negativity, that life becomes miserable.
Now one way to solve the problem is to arrange that nothing unwanted
happens in my life and that everything keeps on happening exactly as I
desire. i must develop such power, or somebody else must have the
power and must come to my aid when I request him, that unwanted things
do not happen and that everything I want happens. But this is not
possible. There is no one in the world whose desires are always
fulfilled, in whose life everything happens according to his wishes
without anything unwanted happening. Things keep on occurring that are
contrary to our desires and wishes. So the question arises, how am I
not to react blindly in the face of these things which I don't like?
How not to create tension? How to remain peaceful and harmonious?
In India as well as in other countries, wise saintly persons of the
past studied this problem--the problem of human suffering--and found a
solution: if something unwanted happens and one starts to react by
generating anger, fear or any negativity, then as soon as possible one
should divert one's attention to something else. For example, get up,
take a glass of water, start drinking--your anger will not multiply
and you'll be coming out of anger. Or start counting: one, two, three,
four. Or start repeating a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, perhaps
the name of a deity or saintly person in whom you have devotion; the
mind is diverted, and to some extent, you'll be out of the negativity,
out of anger.
This solution was helpful: it worked. It still works. Practicing this,
the mind feels free from agitation. In fact, however, the solution
works only at the conscious level. Actually, by diverting the
attention, one pushes the negativity deep into the unconscious, and on
this level one continues to generate and multiply the same
defilements. At the surface level there is a layer of peace and
harmony, but in the depths of the mind there is a sleeping volcano of
suppressed negativity which sooner or later will explode in violent
eruption.
Other explorers of inner truth went still further in their search; and
by experiencing the reality of mind and matter within themselves they
recognized that diverting the attention is only running away from the
problem. Escape is no solution: one must face the problem. Whenever a
negativity arises in the mind, just observe it, face it. As soon as
one starts observe any mental defilement, it bings to lose
strength. Slowly it withers away and is uprooted.
A good solution: it avoids both extremes--suppression and free
license. Keeping the negativity in the unconscious will not eradicate
it; and allowing it to manifest in physical or vocal action will only
create more problems. But if one just observes, then the defilement
passes away, and one has eradicated that negativity, one is freed from
the defilement.
This sounds wonderful, but is it really practical? For an average
person, is it easy to face the defilement? When anger arises, it
overpowers us so quickly that we don't even notice. Then overpowered
by anger, we commit certain actions physically or vocally which are
harmful to us and to others. Later, when the anger has passed, we
start crying and repenting, begging pardon from this or that person or
from God: 'Oh, I made a mistake, please excuse me!' But the next time
we are in a similar situation, we again react in the same way. All
that repenting does not help at all.
The difficulty is that I am not aware when a defilement starts. It
begins deep in the unconscious level of the mind, and by the time it
reaches the conscious level, it has gained so much strength that it
overwhelms me, and I cannot observe it.
Then I must keep a private secretary with me, so that whenever anger
starts, he says, 'Look master, anger is starting!' Since I cannot know
when this anger will start, I must have three private secretaries for
three shifts, around the clock! Suppose I can afford that, and the
anger starts to arise. At once my secretary tells me, 'Oh, master,
look--anger has started!' The first thing I will do is slap and abuse
him: 'You fool! Do you think you are paid to teach me?' I am so
overpowered by anger that no good advise will help.
Even supposing wisdom prevails and I do not slap him. Instead I say,
'Thank you very much. Now I must sit down and observe my anger.' Yet
it is possible? As soon as I close my eyes and try to observe the
anger, immediately the object of anger come into my mind--the person
or incident because of which I become angry. Then I am not observing
the anger itself. I am merely observing the external stimulus of the
emotion. This will only serve to multiply the anger; this is no
solution. It is very difficult to observe any abstract negativity,
abstract emotion, divorced from the external object which aroused it.
However, one who reached the ultimate truth found a real solution. He
discovered that whenever any defilement arises in the mind,
simultaneously two things start happening at the physical level. One
is that the breath loses its normal rhythm. We start breathing hard
whenever a negativity comes into the mind. This is easy to observe. At
subtler level, some kind of biochemical reaction starts within the
body--some sensation. Every defilement will generate one sensation or
another in side, in one part of the body or another.
This is a practical solution. An ordinary person cannot observe
abstract defilements of the mind--abstract fear, anger, or passion.
But with proper training and practice, it is very easy to observe
respiration and bodily sensations--both of which are directly related
to the mental defilements.
Respiration and sensation will help me in two ways. Firstly, they will
be like my private secretaries. As soon as a defilement starts in my
mind, my breath will lose its normality; it will start shouting,
'Look, something has gone wrong!' I cannot slap my breath; I have to
accept the warning. Similarly the sensations tell me that something
has gone wrong. Then having been warned, I start observing my
respiration, my sensation, and I find very quickly that the defilement
passes away.
This mental-physical phenomenon is like a coin with two sides. On the
one side are whatever thoughts or emotions are arising in the mind.
One the other side are the respiration and sensations in the body. Any
thought or emotion, any mental defilement, manifests itself in the
breath an the sensation of that moment. Thus, by observing the
respiration or the sensation, I am in fact observing the mental
defilement. Instead of running away from the problem, I am facing
reality as it is. Then I shall find that the defilement loses its
strength: it can no longer overpower me as it did in the past. If I
persist, the defilement eventually disappears altogether, and I remain peaceful and happy.
In this way, the techniques of self-observation shows us reality in
its two aspects, inner and outer. Previously, one always looked with
open eyes, missing the inner truth. I always looked outside for the
cause of my unhappiness; I always blamed and tried to change the
reality outside. Being ignorant of the inner reality, I never
understood that the cause of suffering lies within, in my own blindreactions toward pleasant and
unpleasant sensations.
Now, with training, I can see the other side of the coin. I can be
aware of my breathing and also of what is happen side.
Whatever it so, ba o ens, I learn just to observe it,
without losing the balance of the mind. I stop reacting, stop
multiplying my misery. Instead, I allow the defilement to manifest and
pass away.
The more one practices this technique, the more quickly one will find
one will come out of negativity. Gradually the mind becomes freed of
the defilements; it becomes pure. A pure mind is always full of
love--selfless love for all others; full of compassion for the
failings and sufferings of others; full of joy at their success and
happiness; full of equanimity in the face of any situation.
When one reaches this stage, the entire pattern of one's life starts
changing. It is no longer possible to do anything vocally or
physically which will disturb the peace and happiness of others.
Instead, the balanced mind not only becomes peaceful itself, but it
helps others also to become peaceful. The atmosphere surrounding such
a person will become permeated with peace and harmony, and this will
start affecting others too.
By learning to remain balanced in the face of everything one
experiences inside, one develops detachment towards all that one
encounters in external situations as well. However, this detachment is
not escapism or indifference to the problems of the world. A Vipassana
mediator becomes more sensitive to the sufferings of others, and does
his utmost to relieve their suffering in whatever way he can--not with
any agitation but with a mind full of love, compassion and equanimity.
He learns holy indifference--how to be fully committed, fully involved
in helping others, while at the same time maintaining the balance of
his mind. In this way he remains peaceful and happy, while working for
the peace and happiness of others.
This is what the Buddha taught; an art of living. He never established
or taught any religion, any 'ism'. He never instructed his followers
to practice any rites or rituals, any blind or empty formalities.
Instead, he taught just to observe nature as it is, by observing
reality inside. Out of ignorance, one keeps reacting in a way which is
harmful to oneself and to others. But when wisdom arises--the wisdom
of observing the reality as it is--one come out of this habit of
reaction. When one cases to react blindly, then one is capable of real
action--action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and
understands the truth. Such action can only be positive, creative,
helpful to one self and to others.
What is necessary, then, is to 'know thyself'--advice which every wise
person has given. One must know oneself not just at the intellectual
level, the level of ideas and theories. Nor does this mean to know
just at the emotional or devotional level, simply accepting blindly
what one has heard or read. Such knowledge is not enough. Rather one
must know realty at the actual level. One must experience directly the
reality of this mental-physical phenomenon. This alone is what will help us to come out of
defilements, out of suffering.
This direct experience of one's own reality, this techniques of
self-observation, is what is called 'Vipassana' meditation. In the
language of India in theimef the Buddha, passana meant seeing with
open eyes, in the ordinary way; but Vipassana is observing things as
they really are, not just as they seem to be. Apparent truth has to be
penetrated, until one reaches the ultimate truth of the entire mental
and physical structure. When one experiences this truth, then one
learns to stop reacting blindly, to stop creating defilements--and
naturally the old defilements gradually are eradicated. One come out of all the misery and
experiences happiness.
There are three steps to the training which is given in a Vipassana
meditation course Firstly, one must abstain from any action, physical
or vocal, which disturbs the peace and harmony of others. One cannot
work to liberate oneself from defilements in the mind while at the
same time one continues to perform deeds of body and speech which only
multiply those defilements. Therefore, a code of morality is the
essential first step of the practice. One undertakes not to kill, not
to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, not to tell lies, and not
to use intoxicants. By abstaining from such action, one allows the
mind to quiet down sufficiently so that it can proceed with the task
at hand.
The next step is to develop some mastery over this wild mind, by
training it to remain fixed on a single object: the breath. One tries
to keep one's attention for as long as possible on the respiration.
This is not a breathing exercise: one does not regulate the breath.
Instead one observes natural respiration as it is, as it comes in, as
it goes out. In this way one further calms the mind so that it is no
longer overpowered by violent negativities. At the same time, one is
concentrating the mind, making it sharp and penetrating, capable of
the work of in sight.
These first two steps of living a moral life and controlling the mind
are very necessary and beneficial in themselves; but they will lead to
self-repression, unless one takes the third step - purifying the mind
of defilements by developing insight into one's own nature. This is
Vipassana: experiencing one's own reality, by the systematic and
dispassionate observation of the ever-changing mind-matter phenomenon
manifesting itself as sensation within oneself. This is the
culmination of the teaching of the Buddha: self-purification by self-observation.
This can be practiced by one and all. Everyone faces the problem of
suffering. it is a universal disease which requires a universal
remedy--not a sectarian one. When one suffers from anger, it is not a
Buddhist anger, Hindu anger, or Christian anger. Anger is anger. When
one become agitated as a result of this anger, this agitation is not
Christian, or Hindu, or Buddhist. The malady is universal. The remedy
must also be universal.
Vipassana is such a remedy. No one will object to a code of living
which respects the peace and harmony of others. No one will object to
developing control over the mind. No one will object to developing
insight into one's own reality, by which it is possible to free the
mind of negativities. Vipassana is a universal path.
Observing reality as it is by observing the truth inside--this is
knowing oneself at the actual, experiential level. As one practices,
one keeps coming out of the misery of defilements. From the gross,
external, apparent truth, one penetrates to the ultimate truth of mind
and matter. Then one transcends that, and experiences a truth which is
beyond mind and matter, beyond time and space, beyond the conditioned
field of relativity: the truth of total liberation from all
defilements, all impurities, all suffering. Whatever name one gives
this ultimate truth, is irrelevant; it is the final goal of everyone.
May you all experience this ultimate truth. May all people come out of
their defilements, their misery. May they enjoy real happiness, real peace, real harmony.
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY
The above text is based upon a talk given by Mr. S.N. Goenka in Berne,
Switzerland.