Be Yourself

Just be yourself – Don't we often get this advice from others? It is perhaps one of the most popular self-help catchphrases of all times. And it is not a bad idea actually. It is better than betraying ourselves by changing ourselves into somebody we are not, and probably not comfortable with, just to please others, to win their approval, admiration, or favor, or simply to fit in. We should all have more self-respect than that.

But while being oneself is all good and nice we certainly need to exercise some discretion as to which part of ourselves we want to be. There are some who take the idea of being oneself as a license to set loose all their defilements. “Aren't they (i.e. the defilements) part of me?” they might justify. It does not take much to figure out that this isn't exactly what being oneself really means. It is in fact an abuse of a very wonderful idea, and moreover, for Buddhist, it is not in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma.

Dhamma Work and Politics

Politics, and by that we mean that social affair that takes place when people in an organization vie for authority and control even to the extent of employing crafty machination and maneuvering to achieve their aims, exists everywhere in our human society. It exists at the office (the infamous office politics), in social clubs, association, and cliques, in schools (among students and educators alike), even at home. Wherever there is a group of humans present, right there is a possibility for dirty politics to surface. Politics finds its way even into spiritual organizations like temples, monasteries, ashrams, churches, mosques, etc. As uninspiring as this may sound, we all know too well that it happens.

Yes, not even the sacred sanctity of our spiritual institutions, Buddhist ones not exempted, is spared from this poison of politics. While it may be true that all Buddhist organizations (we hope) started off with the noblest of intention, many soon find themselves, to a larger or lesser extent, embroiled in some kind of politics.

Right Concentration

In the suttas, whenever the Noble Eightfold Path is analyzed, right concentration is usually defined as the four jhānas. For example in Vibhaṅga Sutta in Magga Saṃyutta (Saṃyutta-Nikāya, Maggasaṃyutta, Sutta 8):

“And what, bhikkhus, is right concentration? Here, bhikkhus, (1) completely secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which has initial-application, and sustained-application, with joy and bliss that are born of seclusion; (2) With the subsiding of initial-application and sustained-application, he enters and dwells in the second jhāna which has inner clarity and unification of mind, which is without initial-application and sustained-application, which has joy and bliss born of concentration; (3) With the fading away as well of joy he dwells equanimous, mindful and clearly comprehending, and he experiences bliss with the body; he enters and dwells in the third jhāna of which the Noble Ones declare ‘He is equanimous, mindful, one who dwells in bliss;’ (4) With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of happiness and unhappiness, he enters and dwells in the fourth jhāna which is without pain and pleasure, a [state of] purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. This, bhikkhus, is called right concentration.”

From this and similar passages (e.g. Dīgha-Nikāya Sutta 22, Majjhima-Nikāya Sutta 141, Vibhaṅga Saccavibhaṅga) it seems that right concentration of the Noble Eightfold Path must necessarily consists of the four jhānas. But is this always the case? Can right concentration be some concentration other than these samatha jhānas?

Is Satipatthana the Only Way?

There is a difference in opinion among teachers, scholars, and translators of Buddhist texts on whether Satipaṭṭhāna is the only way for the realization of Nibbāna. This difference revolves around the interpretation of the word ekāyana used by the Buddha in the Suttas to describe Satipaṭṭhāna. In the opening passage of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta for example the Buddha said:

“Bhikkhus, this path is the ekāyana for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching the Noble Path, for the realization of Nibbāna, namely, the four Satipaṭṭhāna.”

~ Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta 10

Ekāyana has mostly been rendered as “the only way” (or something along that line) by traditional, orthodox teachers. According to them then, Satipaṭṭhāna is the only way for the realization of Nibbāna. There has, however, been some argument over whether ekāyana should be rendered as “the only way”. Some prefer to translate it literally as “The one way” while there are some who are of the opinion that it should be interpreted as “The direct way”. So is Satipaṭṭhāna the only way for realizing Nibbāna or is it not?

Satipatthana - Directing Towards Insight

In the last post we discussed about the basics of the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna meditation. To recap sati or mindfulness is not a superficial kind of awareness but is a deep and thorough awareness that arises out of firm and continuous perception of the object, an awareness that confronts the object squarely, keeps a close watch over it, not allowing it to go out of sight, that descends and plunges into the object and spreads over it, and that guards the mind from any intrusion by the mental defilements.

Satipaṭṭhāna means the practice for the firm establishment of mindfulness. In the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna one can contemplate the body, feeling, consciousness, or dhammas as object. The work of contemplation is driven by ardent intense energetic effort to arouse mindfulness and direct it precisely and continuously onto the object of contemplation. Through continuous and precise application of mindfulness on the object concentration develops which in turn leads to clear comprehension of the nature of the object contemplated. But as we mentioned at the end of the previous post this is still not the complete description of the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna yet. It is enough, though, for one to begin the practice and even to bring it all the way to completion. But there is more to be said about the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna.

Satipatthana - The Basics

At the heart of Buddhist meditation practice is a method which the Buddha called Satipaṭṭhāna. And the Buddha had called Satipaṭṭhāna the only way (ekāyano) for the realization of Nibbāna, the ultimate goal of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. Therefore it is not surprising that sammā-sati (right-mindfulness), one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, is also defined as the practice of Satipaṭṭhāna (Saṃyutta Nikāya, Maggasaṃyutta, Sutta 8). In fact, so integral is Satipaṭṭhāna to the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path that if one is to practice Buddhist meditation effectively one must have a good understanding of what Satipaṭṭhāna is.

So what exactly is Satipaṭṭhāna?

The Place of Vipassana Among the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path

In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya, Mahāvagga, Saccasaṃyutta, Sutta 11), the Buddha declared for the first time the basic foundation of his teaching: the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths.

The first noble truth is the noble truth of suffering (dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta the Buddha gave a list of things which are suffering: birth, ageing, sickness, death, meeting with people and things that are displeasing, separation from people and things that are pleasing, and not to have one’s wish fulfilled. We can also add to this list sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. But at the end of the list in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta the Buddha said: “In short the five-aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”

So the truth of suffering is, in short, these five-aggregates subject to clinging: the aggregate of materiality, feeling, perception, mental-formations, and consciousness, subject to clinging. If we simplify them we can say that they are mundane mental and physical phenomena (nāma-rūpa). They are the truth of suffering because they have the nature of being subjected to suffering.

The second noble truth is the noble truth of the cause of suffering (dukkha-samudayaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). The Buddha traced the cause of suffering to craving that leads to renewed existence or rebirth, that is accompanied by delight and lust, that finds delight here and there in one existence or another. It is this craving that compels and propels beings, at the time of death, to seek rebirth and so be embroiled into yet another cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, another cycle of suffering. And as long as craving is present the cycle of suffering will go on and on from one birth to another, each birth marking the beginning of another cycle of suffering.

The third noble truth is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ). Here the Buddha gave us hope. Even though there is suffering in the world there can also be an end to it. Suffering ceases, according to the Buddha, when there is the complete fading away and cessation of its cause i.e. craving.

Not only did the Buddha said that suffering can cease, he even gave us the way of practice, the method to bring suffering to an end. This is the fourth noble truth, the noble truth of the way that leads to the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha-gāminī paṭipadā ariyasaccaṃ). This is the Noble Eightfold Path consisting of right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

The Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths, these are the basic foundation of the Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha taught in ancient Northern India for forty five years and all the discourses that he delivered during this time were, one way or another, based on the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. But given that these are the basic foundation of the Buddha’s teaching, where does vipassanā comes in? Where can we place vipassanā in the scheme of the Noble Eightfold Path and Four Noble Truths?