The inspirational Global Pagoda in Mumbai, India, serves to not only share the immense benefits of Vipassana, but to also re-awaken the learning and understanding of the Pali language in which the Buddha taught.
Pali is one of the world's oldest and accurate of languages. In deep detail, it describes very subtle realities of nature, universal realities pertaining to the impermanent, constantly changing mind-matter phenomenon that we call 'I'.
Residential Pali language courses are now offered in Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri (near Mumbai), India, for Vipassana students.
The Vipassana Research Institute also offers an Advanced Pali language course to serious Vipassana students - those who have completed a basic Pali language course, as well as having completed five ten-day courses and a seven-day Satipatthana Sutta course.
Below is a Pali language-related article the Vipassana Research Institute published, a beneficial example of how invaluable is the understanding of Pali for a deeper, practical understanding of Vipassana:
Significance of the Pali term 'Dhuna' in the practice of Vipassana
In
the Pali language, there are several words which appear to be quite
insignificant, but yet have very deep meaning and relevance in the practice of
Vipassana. One such word, occuring in the Tipitaka,
is the word dhuna(1) which means combing out, shaking off, doing away
with. This word is derived from the root 'dhu', which means to 'comb out'.
Regarding patipatti (the actual practice), the question arises: what to
comb out, and how?
The
Buddha replied to these queries in the following udana (exclamation of
joy):
Sabbakammajahassa bhikkhuno,
Dhunamanassa pure katam rajam.
Amamassa thitassa tadino.
Attho natthi janam lapetave. (2)
One who does not make new kamma
And combs out old defilements as they
arise
Has reached that meditative state
where there remains no 'I' or 'mine'.
For him mere babbling makes no sense.
Engrossed in silent practice, he is
bent.
The
occasion for this joyous utterance of the Buddha was the sight of a monk
sitting near the Compassionate One, cross-legged, erect and determined.
Undergoing the fruition of his past actions, he was wracked by intense,
piercing, gross sensations but due to his constant distinct awareness of
impermanence, he did not lose his calm or balance of mind.
Indeed, the above few brief lines of udana set out the complete
technique of Vipassana meditation, the actual way to reach liberation.
Let us understand what the Buddha actually meant, in more detail. The Pali word
'Vipassana' means to see things as they really are - not just as they appear to
be. This is a state of pure observation without the cloud of imagination,
preconception and illusion. That is why the Buddha described the state of
Vipassana as yatha-bhuta nana-dassanam (3) (as it is, so is it observed
and understood). To put this into practice is to realize reality by direct
experience and proper understanding.
Ego-centricity is the greatest and most dangerous of all the illusions. We can
accept the doctrine of 'Non-Self' doctrine of 'non-self' or anatta on an
emotional or intellectual basis simply because of blind faith or
intellectualisation.
But
what use is this intellectual acceptance alone, if at the practical level in
our daily life we continue living an ego-centered life? This illusory ego keeps
its hold over us simply because at the actual level we are continually
submerged in it.
Even to be totally convinced intellectually about the dangers of this illusion
is simply not enough. In reality we are rolling in suffering because there is
no direct realisation of these dangers, or the means to come out of it.
It is because the intellect is not capable of totally dispelling this illusion
that the Buddha perfected this wonderful technique of Vipassana - the Fourfold Establishing
of Awareness (Satipatthana) (4) which he called ekayano maggo,
the one and only way for liberation. How could anyone become liberated while
rolling in complete illusion about one's own reality? The removal of illusion
by truth-realisation, by self-realisation, is liberation.
The direct experience of our own reality prevents new mental conditioning,
while at the same time eradicating bondages of the old accumulated kammas-
Khinam puranam, navam natthi sambhavam. (5)
The past has been destroyed, there is no new becoming.
How
does Vipassana help us to stop tying new knots and to open up the old ones,
eradicating all the accumulations of the past? The text says that first, a
meditator should sit correctly nisinno hoti pallankam abhujitva ujum kayam
panidhaya (6) cross-legged and erect.
Then he sits with adhitthana (determination), no movement of the body of
any kind. Now at the grossest physical level, all the bodily and vocal actions
are suspended so there can be no new physical kamma (kayika-kamma) or
vocal kamma (vacika-kamma).
Now one is in a position to try to stop mental kamma formations (mano-kamma).
For this, one has to become very alert, very attentive, fully awake and aware,
all the time maintaining true understanding, true wisdom. Aware of what? Anicca
vata sankhara, uppadavaya-dhammino-the truth of impermanence; the arising
and passing of every compounded phenomenon (7) within the framework of one's
physical structure.
A Vipassana meditator soon realizes the difference between apparent and actual
truth. By simply observing objectively and equanimously feeling the sensations
in one's own body in a proper way, one can easily reach a stage where even the
most solid parts of the body are experienced as they really are - nothing but
oscillations and vibrations of subatomic particles (kalapas). What
appears solid, hard and impenetrable at the gross level is actually nothing but
wavelets at the subtlest, ultimate level.
With this awareness, one can observe and realize that the entire pancakkhandha
(the five aggregates of mind and matter), are nothing but vibrations,
arising and passing away. The entire phenomenon of mind and matter has this
continuously ephemeral nature. This is the ultimate truth (paramattha saccaparamattha
sacca) of mind and matter-permanently impermanent; nothing but a mass of
tiny bubbles or ripples, disintegrating as soon as they arise (sabbo loko
pakampito sabbo loko pakampito).(8)
This
realization of the basic characteristic of all phenomena as anicca
(impermanent) leads one to the realization of the characteristic of anatta
(no 'I', no 'me', no 'mine', no 'my soul'). The various sensations keep arising
in the body whether one likes it or not. There is no control over them, no
possession of them. They do not obey our wishes. This in turn makes one realize
the nature of dukkha (suffering). Through experience, one understands
that identifying oneself with these changing impersonal phenomena is nothing
but suffering.
The more one is established at this level of ultimate truth, the more strongly
and more steadfastly one will become established in real wisdom. In contrast to
this, anyone entangled in ignorance will crave for pleasant sensations to
continue and crave for unpleasant sensations to end. This blind reaction based
on craving and aversion is the strongest bondage.
Initially, the meditator fights a tug-of-war between the new wisdom of
understanding all phenomena as impermanent and transitory, and the old
ignorance to attachment to the flow of sankhara (reactions). With
patient, persistent practice, one learns how to appreciate the difference
between reality and what is illusory. For longer and longer periods, continuity
of awareness of this truth will predominate. Each sensation felt is recognised
as impermanent; hence the perception that accompanies each cognition is free
from the self-consciousness of 'I' and 'mine'.
With continuous practice, the truth that the sensation immediately passes away
begins to predominate, instead of the old tanha (craving) for it to
continue, or the tanha for it to pass away. It is meaningless to like or
dislike sensations that pass away on their own, as they arise. It is this
liking and disliking which turns into very strong attachments that condition
the mind and produce the bhava-sankhara, the bhava-kamma (actions
which are responsible to give a new birth), driving individuals in the cycle of
becoming and suffering for countless lives.
A non-reacting mind produces no new conditioning to create any new suffering.
The law of nature is such that the old accumulation of conditioning in the flow
of the consciousness (bhavanga-santati) will automatically rise to the
surface to be eradicated when no new sankhara is given as input. This
comes about by remaining equanimous with the direct understanding of the wisdom
of anicca-vijja-nana.
Here again, it is the practice of Vipassana which enables the meditator to
silently and attentively observe these old bondages of the past, as they arise,
in their true impermanent nature. With heightened equanimity, based on the
constant thorough experience of impermanence (sampajanna) at the level
of bodily sensations, craving and aversion lose their grip on us. In a non-reacting
mind, the latent conditions cannot multiply - rather they are progressively
eradicated.
At times, however, the fruition of the old kamma is so intense that an
inexperienced or careless meditator loses all balance of mind. Wisdom fades
away and the old habit pattern of blind reaction returns. The impersonal
attitude towards painful or pleasurable sensations is lost, and one begins to
identify with the sensations. One may try intellectually to come out of
reactions, but actually one begins generating aversion to the pain as if it
will never end. The cycle of suffering continues.
To break this cycle of suffering from moment to moment, one realizes the
impermanent nature of all phenomena and to break the apparent solidity of
perceptions. For this, a Vipassana meditator must objectively experience the
stage of uppadavaya-dhammino (the instantaneous arising and passing away
of the vibrations or wavelets) of nama-rupa (mind and matter) at the
level of bodily sensations, from moment to moment.
This stage can be reached only by proper practice of Vipassana meditation, the
sure, proven way to break these bondages. In fact, Vipassana meditation is for
the purpose of 'dhunamanassa pure katam rajam' - combing out all old
defilements from the deepest part of the mind.
With this persistent, patient process of pure observation of impermanent bodily
sensations - observation without any 'I' evaluating and reacting - old knots
automatically open up. Old defilements are washed away from the deepest parts
of the mind. A Vipassana meditator objectively working on physical sensations
quite distinctly experiences this mind purification process.
This 'combing' process is not complete while even the smallest knot remains
unopened. In the same way, the practice of Vipassana must continue until all
impressions of solidity anywhere in the framework of the physical and mental
structure have been removed. How can this stage be achieved? As the text says-
Puranakammavipakajam dukkham tibbam
kharam katukam vedanam adhivasento.
(9)
The meditator dwells enduring
equanimously the fruition of his or her past actions, no matter how painful,
severe, sharp and terrible they are.
How
is this possible? Not enduring (that is, becoming agitated or crying because of
the old habit patterns of the mind) would be completely opposite to the process
of purification. One can only endure such intense sensations by developing
awareness (the thorough experience of impermanence at the level of bodily
sensations (sampajanna) and equanimity to the sensations (upekkha).
This awareness and equanmity have to be simultaneous and together.
It is by knowing perfectly the true nature (anicca) of the phenomenon of
mind-matter arising and passing away as sensations, at this present moment and
from moment to moment, that one is able to bear these fruits of the past
without any reaction. The meditator becomes an impartial observer of the
suffering, rather than the sufferer. This enlightened detachment allows old
bondages to get eradicated.
With this detached process of non-identification with sensations, one
experiences how there is no observer, but only observation. There is no more
sufferer, only suffering.
From time to time, slight agitation or identification with the sensation may
reappear and trigger fresh craving and aversion. But with patient, persistent,
continuous practice, a vigilant meditator reaches the stage of amamassa
thitassa, or the stage where the illusion of 'I' and 'mine' is
eradicated.
When this stage of detachment is reached, he or she can bear anything, even the
most severe sensations, in the state of avihannamano, or a mind free
from agitation. As a result comes sabba kammajahassa - the cessation of
all kinds of new kamma formations.
Now the meditator is fully engrossed in dhunamanassa pure katam rajam,
or continual purification, because he or she has stopped making new sankharas,
that is, new cetana (volition) or new kamma. In this way, the old sankharas
naturally get eradicated little by little (thokam thokam) so that the
state of visankhara gatam cittam (10) or total purification of mind, is
reached.
A meditator engaged in such a task needs to spend all his or her time in
actual Vipassana practice - for one's own benefit as well for sharing of such
gained benefits with all suffering beings.
Where is the time for useless talk? Every moment is precious, not to be wasted.
The only ones who waste time in talking are those who do not realize the
seriousness of the task, and who do not work properly. The noble practice of
truth-realization is degraded to mere intellectual chatter. Liberation can only
be gained by practice, never by discussion.
That is why the Buddha burst forth in praise of the monk who was so resolutely
practicing the sure path of liberation. 'Cross-legged, erect and determined,
undergoing the fruition of his past actions, wracked by intense, piercing,
gross bodily sensations, with sharpened awareness and the constant thorough
understanding of impermanence (sati-sampajanna), making no new kammas,
combing out old defilements as they arise, with nothing remaining of
"I" and "mine".
Notes: (All references VRI edition)
(1) In the entire Tipitaka, the word occurs nineteen times; (2) Udana 21; (3)
Patisambhidamagga 1.18; (4) Digha Nikaya 2.373; (5) Khuddaka-Patha 6.1,
Suttanipata 238; (6) Udana 21; (7) Digha Nikaya 2.221; (8) Samyutta Nikaya
1.1.168; (9) Udana 21; (10) Dhammapada 154
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