Aug 12, 2020

Living life each moment, these difficult times



From an article in The Statesman newspaper, 12 August edition


These difficult pandemic months may seem like days “dragging slowly” - a perception of time. Days pass neither slower nor faster. Time, life’s primary factor, needs better understanding for a better life.

We know time’s value, it being “more precious than gold”. Our daily lives get defined by time, of deadlines and appointments to keep. We make plans for years. But what do we really know of time?

Time is the mind this moment. Conventional science knows much about the physical organ called the brain, but knows little about the entity called the mind.

A better quality of life depends on how well we use the mind, and how well we use time. Stress lessens when the mind is with reality of the present moment. No pining for the past, no anxieties of the future.

The ancient practice of Vipassana trains the mind to be in the present moment – an extraordinary difficulty. My first 10-day Vipassana course in Dhamma Thali, Jaipur, was when I realized for the first time how much the mind wanders wildly to past or future - but rarely stays in reality of this present moment.

"The ultimate truth is the truth of this moment, not of moments that have passed, nor of moments that are yet to come,” explained Principal Teacher of Vipassana Sayagyi U Goenka (1924 – 2013). “The moments that have passed can only be remembered; the moments that are yet to come can only be imagined or desired. Only the present moment can be experienced, not past nor moments of the future.”

All that is past and future is condensed in this present moment of time. What is the present moment?

Our mundane world functions with the base unit of time as a second. The International System of Units defines the second as about 9 billion oscillations of the caesium atom. In a second, the caesium-133 atom arises and passes nine billion times. So much activity at the subatomic level within a second - of time understood externally through science.

Life changes at deeper level with experiential understanding – of experiencing realities of nature within, through using one’s mind-body as laboratory.

These inner scientists can be Himalayan ascetics and householder meditators achieving high levels of purity of the mind, where life becomes this moment.

The fully enlightened super-scientist called the Buddha declared 2,500 years ago of all matter being made of indivisible subatomic particles called ‘kalapas’. Kalapas arise and pass trillions of times within a second, he said. Life is a sum-total of such moments, of this present moment.

In Rangoon of 1951, Myanmar’s incorruptible Accountant General and Vipassana teacher Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899 – 1971) gave a lecture on the Buddha’s enlightened realizations to a study group of officials from the Special Technical and Economic Division of the U.S. Government.

“By introspective meditation of the realities of nature within his own self, it came vividly to him that there is no substantiality, as there seems to be, in the human body,” U Ba Khin said, “and that it is the sum total of innumerable millions of kalapas (subatomic particles), each about 1/46,656th part of a particle of dust from the wheel of a chariot in summer”.

Each kalapa is in a continuous state of change. The Buddha experienced the subtler reality that quantum physicists search in their hunt for the ‘god particle’ such as the Higgs boson.

This ‘I’ to which we develop so much attachment is merely mind-matter phenomenon of subatomic particles arising and passing each moment. Being with this reality of impermanence decreases the ego – the biggest hindrance to meaningful success and peace of mind.

Being with the present moment improves quality of work and life. A concentrated mind suffers no distractions from task at hand. That is why successful people get immersed in the moment. Top athletes excel in “the zone”, a bubble of impenetrable concentration focussed on the present moment.

Far greater benefits are reaped in the supra mundane life, when being in the present moment becomes core of successful meditation practice. By being in the present moment, we master the mind instead of being its slave.

Not that the past is erased from memory and the future disappears. We access the storage of past experiences and make plans for the future from a conscious decision to do so, not from wild wanderings of the mind like a driver losing control of the car.

Mastery of the mind can be gained with practice of Anapana being taught online these pandemic times. Anapana, the preparatory exercise for Vipassana, focuses on awareness of the natural respiration – the in-coming, outgoing breath, as it is, this moment. No artificial regulation of the breath as in pranayama.

“We have to experience the ocean of infinite waves surging within, the river of inner sensations flowing within, countless vibrations within every atom of the body,” wrote Sayagyi U Goenka. “We have to witness our continuously changing nature - all happening at an extremely subtle level. To reach this state, we have to start observing the flow of respiration.”

Being in the present moment strengthens the mind. Stronger mind leads to better life. A strong, concentrated mind never postpones. It focuses on work this moment – the essential to success.

The life of the cosmos, celestial and human beings have the inescapable basis of impermanence, from moment to moment. How well we live depends on how well we use this moment.

(from an article in The Statesman published from Kolkata, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Siliguri, India.)
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Vipassana Centres worldwide

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Aug 5, 2020

Be alert and vigilant



by Sayagyi U Goenka

(excerpts from an article in the Vipassana Research Institute newsletter)

Mara’s sole intention is to keep beings trapped in the field of mind and matter, his domain of craving, aversion and delusion. He does not like people meditating to liberate themselves. So he uses all types of cunning and tricks – arousing impurities in one’s mind - to disturb or stop meditation. Mara wants beings to continue in his realm of the cycle of birth and death. [Mara - a very deluded celestial being / personification of impurities in one's mind].

Vipassana meditators should remain constantly vigilant of Mara – that is, the arising of defilements in one’s mind. To conquer Mara, just be aware of sensations arising and passing away, from moment to moment.

As soon as you become vigilant, Mara runs away. His army of impurities disappear. As soon as the owner of the house wakes up, the thief runs away.

Be vigilant of any impure thought when it starts arising in the mind. Be alert. The enemy has entered.

Be aware, “Oh, passion (lust) has arisen in the mind”. That puts a brake on impure thoughts gathering momentum in the mind. If your mind is overcome with intense passion, be aware of this truth of the state of the mind: "my mind is filled with passion". Just objectively be aware - and be alert to observe sensations anywhere in the body. If the disturbance is too severe, observe the breath.

Observe and understand this arising and passing away for a few moments, with equanimity. Passion disappears like a thief who has been seen, “O Mara, I have seen you.” The same goes for anger, ego, jealousy and other impurities in the mind.

As soon as impure thoughts arise, be alert to immediately observe the bodily sensations that arise with these thoughts. The defilement loses strength and gradually passes away.

But do you do that? You are not alert. Instead, as soon as impurities arise in the mind, you start multiplying them by rolling in those defiled thoughts. There is no trace of awareness. By rolling in impure thoughts, you get overwhelmed with the impurity and repeat some unwholesome action.

After some time, you become aware and repent this foolishness of again falling in the net of Mara. But how does that help? Only your awareness is instrumental in overcoming Mara if you catch him approaching with his cunning tricks. To repent afterwards is futile. Better to be alert and vigilant every moment.

Be liberated from the tricks of Mara by removing impurities through Vipassana practice - through awareness and equanimity to arising, passing sensations.

Reap the benefits with the practice of observing sensations with equanimity from moment to moment. This is for the welfare of all beings.

Be alert and vigilant.

May all beings be liberated.
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