by Sayagyi U Goenka
A synopsis
of the landmark discourse of Principal Teacher of Vipassana Sayagyi U S.N. Goenka (1924 – 2013) at
Kaivalyadham Yoga Academy, Mumbai, April 30, 1990
Saint
Kaivalyananda, instrumental in the spread of yoga worldwide, expressed a wish that
India’s ancient spiritual wealth should again benefit the country and the
world. During tours to different countries teaching Vipassana, I interacted
with thousands of yoga practitioners and yoga teachers. I feel very happy that
so many are benefiting from yoga practice that originated in India.
Yoga is
universal, beneficial to anyone practicing it, and not confined to any
particular sect or religion. But Sage Kaivalyanand had a more comprehensive beneficial vision of yoga.
Is his original, true, holistic version of yoga being taught in the modern world?
Yoga offers more than
physical exercises (asanas,
pranayama, etc). In modern times, yoga is used to improve one’s physical
well-being, to cure ailments. But just as good physical health is essential, we
must not forget the health of the mind.
A purer mind free
from harmful habit patterns leads to a wholesome, happy life. These greater
benefits have to be included in modern-day teaching and practice of yoga - in
accordance with sages who practiced and taught yoga in its entirety.
Reclaiming India's treasures of practical wisdom
In the past 2,000 years, India’s
vast spiritual wealth has often been devalued. Original spiritual teachings have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, sometimes deliberately distorted by vested
interests for selfish personal gains. What we have left is often a partially
correct, incomplete, or incorrect version of the original spiritual teaching.
It happened to
Vipassana. Some misguided people distorted, devalued this invaluable practice and sold it as
therapies for physical ailments.
I personally feel a
similar distortion has happened with yoga. Dedicated, true students of yoga and
well-wishers must ensure this no longer happens.
We have to study the
original teachings of yoga. The spiritual side of yoga has to be also
highlighted. Otherwise, this most unfortunate situation continues where a partial
version of yoga is taught in the name of the great sage Patanjali.
The present situation
is acceptable if yoga was spread only on basis of ‘Hatha Yoga Pradipika’
or ‘Gheranda
Samhita’. These
two books emphasize the therapeutic benefits of yoga. But spreading an incomplete,
partial yoga in the name of Patanjali is incorrect.
From original Patanjali texts, we see how he gave very little importance to asanas (postures)
and pranayama (breathing
exercise). He refers to asanas and pranayama in
barely five sentences in his treatise Patanjali Yoga Sutra! But the rest of his
treatise has been forgotten! Dedicated students of yoga must take careful note
of this fact.
Patanjali
has defined asana
by one phrase: the posture in which one can comfortably sit for a long time (for meditation).
But this single statement of Patanjali on asana has been
elaborated up to 84 types of complicated postures. And all of them are now
taught in his
name.
From being a teacher
of a highly beneficial spiritual knowledge, Patanjali has been limited to being
a physical exercise instructor. This is injustice to Patanjali.
Breathing exercises
and physical exercises are beneficial for good physical health and give a
certain level of well-being of mind. But such exercises cannot eradicate
impurities of the mind, the deep-rooted defilements that cause us so much
suffering.
We have
in fact lost our ancient spiritual treasure contained in Patanjali Yoga Sutra,
by treating it as a mere compendium of asanas (postures)
and pranayama (breathing
exercise).
Not giving the
complete picture of Yoga is a great misfortune and loss for the country and the
world.
How did
this happen? Unfortunately, commentators ignorant about the deeper spiritual
dimensions of yoga gave arbitrary misinterpretations of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra refers to personal experience
of the truth, to realizing rational truths i.e.
‘rt’. People have forgotten the actual meaning of ‘rt’. Rt means universal
truth or omnipresent reality. It is the law of nature that always exists, a
universal law not limited only to people calling themselves Hindus, Jains, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, etc.
For
example, the intrinsic nature of fire is to burn. This is a natural law,
timeless and universal, irrespective of religions.
In
ancient India, universal truths were called ‘Dharma’, ‘Dhamma’, or ‘rt’.
Universal truths apply to all.
Likewise, Patanjali treatise
contains universal truths realized through experiential wisdom (paññā) i.e.
wisdom gained from one’s own experience.
Wisdom gained
from direct experience of the truth
Patanjali
shared the wisdom (prajna) based on his own experience, not knowledge acquired through scriptures,
sermons, philosophical discussions, or from speculative theories. Such
second-hand wisdom will not give real benefits.
Only
wisdom gained from direct experience of the truth will free us from suffering because it eradicates impurities in the mind. With a cause, a particular result
appears. This universal law of cause and effect realized through one’s own
experience was termed rt.
It is
very unfortunate that India had lost the invaluable practice of gaining experiential wisdom –
rather than merely hearing someone’s
description of the truth.
For centuries, India
suffered the misfortune of losing the Buddha’s teaching of Vipassana.
Instead, the Buddha
has been wrongly seen as the founder of a religion.
This is injustice to
a fully enlightened being – this infinitely compassionate universal teacher, a
super scientist who re-discovered the actual practice
to experience universal truths, be liberated from all suffering, and experience true happiness.
Fortunately, a
neighboring country Burma (Myanmar) preserved in purity both the words and
practice of the Buddha. Now India and the world again immensely benefit from
Vipassana – the path of experiential wisdom.
In his
original treatise, Patanjali echoes the Vipassana teachings
of the Buddha who lived a few centuries earlier. He declared that
nothing of true, permanent happiness exists in this world.
Anyone practicing
Vipassana too realizes the deeper truth of suffering – not merely the obvious
reality of suffering.
Daily
realities of deeper suffering
Suffering is an obvious reality. Sickness, unwanted things happening, the
wanted not happening – all this makes us miserable. But we also find that
people having much money, fame, luxuries, adulation, power are also unhappy.
One may
accumulate all wealth and power, but something disagreeable happens, and becomes
unhappy, discontented, or insecure about losing one’s wealth and possessions.
While the “have-nots” suffer from craving for what they do
not have, the “haves” too less obviously suffer from great attachment to what
they have – and everything we have is impermanent, continuously changing.
Without an inner experience of the truth, we do not understand how objects of
attachment cause suffering.
We think: ‘today we are happy with our attachment to the good things we have;
suffering will arise when we will be deprived of that. So what? We will enjoy
now, and suffer if we have to later. But there is a deeper reality. Vipassana practice enables us to realize how suffering
follows attachment in the same moment
that attachment arises in the mind.
[Attachment refers to attachment one's own ego, the intense attachment to 'I and 'my'. Vipassana does not lead to indifference to responsibilities and being aloof from others. Vipassana practice reduces selfishness, and related suffering]
By
generating attachment, the so-called subconscious mind constantly suffers
tension that the conscious surface level of the mind is not aware. Only the surface
level of the mind gets satisfied for some time with the gratification of sensual
desires.
We try to
suppress the deeper inner feeling of dissatisfaction by diverting the surface
level of the mind
- indulgences in entertainment, pleasures etc. Or we use spiritual diversions
like listening to sermons or reading some sacred text. We get relief for some time. But very soon the knots of
tension accumulated in the deeper, subtler levels of the mind again raise
their head and that temporary relief goes away. Patanjali described this universal truth of suffering.
Vipassana
practice enables us to become more quickly aware of this subtler, deeper level
of suffering,
and to develop equanimity, the strength of mind, to deal with it.
Patanjali
explains similar universal truths in his treatise, such as the rtambhara prajna
(wisdom based on rt, that is wisdom acquired through one's own experience) -
identical to experiences of a Vipassana practitioner.
A
Vipassana meditator experiences the universal truth of impermanence by
objectively observing impermanent bodily sensations within.
Now you may accept these truths through
lectures or literature, but after practicing Vipassana you will experience them
yourself.
Eradicating the root
cause of suffering
“There is suffering” - this is a timeless truth. The Buddha went further. He
went to the root cause of suffering. Experience this truth at a deeper level,
and you will know its deeper cause. What is impermanent, continuously changing,
is a source of suffering.
As misery
exists, the cause for it also exists. Just as one fully cures a physical
disease by removing its root cause, and not merely the symptoms, so too
suffering is removed by removing its root cause – not merely the apparent causes.
This process is
symbolically termed in Yoga as heya, i.e. suffering, hetu, i.e.
craving and hana, i.e. the way to eliminate the root cause. So if the
cause is eradicated the disease is eradicated.
Similarly, if suffering is there and its cause i.e. craving is there,
definitely the remedy to remove the habit of craving must also be in existence.
That universal remedy is Vipassana - the practice of gaining wisdom through direct experience.
The wisdom filled with experiential wisdom i.e., rtambhara prajna and Vipassana are synonyms to each other.
Vipassana
means to experience the truth in its ultimate reality. Step by step, from
gross to subtler realities, one experiences the ultimate truth. Truth in its
apparent, gross form creates an illusion. When the apparent truth is analyzed,
disintegrated into its subtlest form, the seer experiences the ultimate truth.
So
Vipassana can be defined as "Vivekena pasyatiti
vipasyana". That means to see the truth with a rational outlook. In
this context’ ‘rational’ means to see the reality or rather to experience the reality,
beyond apparent realities. This is Vipassana.
But we
have never tried
to peer inside the depth of our mind, what to talk of analyzing the reality
coming out of it? It is because we have lost the technique to do so, the
universal practice of Vipassana taught by Buddha about 2,500 years ago.
As long as Vipassana
existed in its pure form in India, it gave much benefit to practitioners.
Millions of people in India, particularly in northern parts of the country,
benefited for about 500 years after the passing away of the Buddha.
After attaining full
enlightenment, Buddha described the different stages he crossed. Unfortunately, that literature no more exists in any of
the modern Indian languages. That is why several myths and distorted
forms of meditation prevail now in our country. Burma preserved both the theory
and practice of Vipassana in its pristine purity, but unfortunately, this was
limited to a chain of little-known teachers, with a limited number of
practitioners.
Attaining Full Enlightenment by one's own efforts
From this tradition,
we have accounts of the crown prince turned ascetic Gotama's pursuit for the truth, to be liberated from suffering.
He had wandered searching, exploring various spiritual traditions prevalent in
India of those times. He learned from various teachers and their meditation
techniques. He understood by this time that real happiness does not come from
anything in this impermanent world, where all things are subject to change,
decay, death. He knew he had to go beyond impermanence, to find something that
is not subject to arising, passing away.
He had
already acquired knowledge of all the philosophical traditions of the time while he was a
prince. In India, philosophy is termed ‘darsana’ meaning
"revelation of truth." But the true meaning has been lost, and philosophy
now is more of intellectual perceptions and speculations of the truth, rather
than the actual experience of the truth. The ascetic Gotama was looking for a
practical path.
He next mastered
the highest forms of meditation known in those times. He learned the seven jhanas (very
highly concentrated states of the mind) from Alar Kalam, and the rarer eighth jhana from Uddaka
Ramputta.
But the
Buddha still found impurities dormant in deeper levels of the mind. The
roots of suffering remained. The Buddha called these ‘anusaya kilesas’,
impurities buried so deep that the jhanas cannot
take them out. These impurities will periodically erupt in the mind, causing
nothing but suffering, again and again.
To remove
these anusaya
impurities at its roots, the Buddha rediscovered the practice of
Vipassana. i.e. sampajañña.
Going beyond the eight jhanas
Before we move further, let us overview eight levels of meditations (jhanas) referred to above.
The first level of meditation is with
1) vitakka (focusing the mind on the object of meditation through the respective sense organ);
2) vicara (sustained concentration of the mind on the object of meditation);
3) piti (rapture);
4) sukha (bliss or tranquility)
5) ekagatta (one-pointed concentration of mind).
In this context, we have to consider these words with reference to the meanings ascribed to them in India of over 2000 years ago. For instance, ‘vitakka’ today means discussion or arguments. But in spiritual terminology of that time, it meant focusing the mind on an object through the respective sense organ. Let us consider these terms through this illustration:
A honey bee flies towards a beautiful lotus flower. With contact between the visual object ‘flower’ and sense organ ‘eye’ of the bee, it flies in the direction of the flower in search of honey. So the flying of the bee towards the beautiful flower is like ‘vitakka’.
Next, the bee reaches the flower, hovers with a humming sound over it to search for honey. This is just like vicara. The bee very soon finds the center of honey in the flower which generates a pleasurable feeling in it. This is piti (rapture). A step further, the bee penetrates its nozzle into the center of the flower and has the first taste of honey drop. Thus it experiences the real pleasure of tasting the honey. This is like sukha (bliss).
Then the bee becomes so absorbed in enjoying the taste of honey that all its activities like humming sound etc. are stopped. It becomes totally unaware of all other surroundings so much so that if the flower closes its petals at sunset, the bee does not take notice of that and remains confined within the flower the whole night. Such a state of the bee's mind can be compared with the state of ekagatta (one-pointed concentration).
These different stages of meditation (jhanas) are attained gradually with progressive practice. The mind reaches a high state of absorption (very deep concentration) at the stage of the fourth jhana. The meditator feels a unique feeling of rapture not known to him before. Deeper concentration takes the mind to a feeling of deep tranquility, bliss. But this is not the ultimate stage to stop.
With equanimity, the meditator has to proceed ahead because one is still in the field of mind and matter, the realm of impermanence, the world of suffering. From the first to the fourth jhana, the practitioner experiences gradual progress through vitakka, vicara, piti, and sukha as mentioned above. Now at the fourth jhana stage, the mind is active but the sense organs have stopped their respective functions.
A Vipassana practitioner experiences high meditation stages merely as passing milestones in the journey to total purification of the mind.
For instance, the feeling of ‘sukha’ is experienced. About 2500 years ago the language was quite different from that today. The meanings of words have changed. These changes in meaning have caused confusion. Over 2000 years ago, the term sukha meant bliss or tranquility in a very highly concentrated state of mind during meditation. In modern terminology, ‘sukha’ means happiness of the kind experienced through mundane happenings. The supra-mundane ‘sukha’ experienced through meditation is beyond compare to the current ‘sukha’ meaning in the mundane world.
As has been said: "Kemi haso kim anando nicce pajalita sati." That is, a meditator experiences the whole of one’s physical-mental structure burning with the hell-fire of craving, where one is pursuing desires either related to craving or aversion. Thus, beings in the mundane world are not at all in the state of ‘sukha’, but always suffering to fulfill one desire after another.
After the fourth jhana, the meditator focuses his mind on the infinity of space. In the fifth jhana, all material objects in the universe appear only as mere vibrations. The meditator tries to feel who perceives this infinity of space. In terminology over 2,000 years ago, the part of the mind that perceived this infinity was termed as ‘vinnana’. This term approximately corresponds with the modern English term ‘consciousness’. Although the Hindi term ‘vigyana’ is now translated as 'science', it is actually the part of the mind that cognizes the sense objects.
Thus the cognizing part of the mind experiences a state that takes the meditator into the sixth jhana. This is a deeper state of consciousness, a ‘super consciousness’ where even the feeling of vibrations is eliminated. In the seventh jhana, the mind only experiences ‘nothingness’, a state of void.
Then the meditator comes to the conclusion as to which part of the mind is realizing this state of voidness. The part which realizes this state was termed ‘vedana’ in those days. The word ‘vedana’ corresponds with the word 'sensation', which means just feeling. In the languages of India, the modern usage of the term vedana is used to mean 'pain', the unpleasant feeling. Thus the terminology Patanjali used at that time was completely distorted by modern commentators. They applied the modern meaning to those old concepts which had different meanings when Patanjali used them in his treatise.
We find that at the stage of the seventh jhana there exists not only vedana but saññā (sangya) or perception, which distinguishes objects of the mind at different levels of absorption - like infinite space, infinite consciousness, voidness, etc. In this process, the meditator finds that the same part of the mind is functioning as saññā and vedana. It means, on one hand, it is feeling the object in the form of vedana, i.e. sensation, and on the other hand, it is evaluating the object as good or bad, agreeable or disagreeable in the form of perception i.e. saññā.
Going into deeper absorption or concentration, the practitioner experiences a realm where the perception exists one moment and does not exist the next moment.
Such a state of absorption is technically called in the old language "Neva saññā na saññā yatana." That is, in this level of absorption (deep concentration) the perception has become so subtle that sometimes it is cognized, sometimes it is not. This is the eighth jhana, the very rare and highest level of meditation known in those days.
The ascetic Gotama practiced these eight states of meditation (jhanas), in his search for the true practice to fully purify the mind. His mind reached a high state of purity, but he knew he had to work further to remove the subtler defilements at the root level of the mind.
Having mastered the eighth jhana within a few days, the ascetic Gotama found no teacher who knew a higher meditation practice. Instead, they were surprised to know he was not satisfied at having mastered the eighth jhana, a very rare accomplishment.
Then he tried the path of extreme penances, with the prevailing false notion that putting the body to torture will take out all defilements in the mind. When the true practice to purify the mind is lost, true understanding is also lost. And then false practices, blind beliefs, rites and rituals become prevalent. One such notion is that merely washing the body in a holy river will wash out one’s sins. [It is at best symbolism of cleaning the mind]. But deep-rooted defilements in the mind cannot obviously be washed out with water. As the seed is, so the fruit will be. The kamma, or Law of Cause and Effect, cannot be washed away by river water, or by starving the body.
Seeing that the roots of defilements still remained, the ascetic Gotama gave up the path of extreme penances. He took up the middle path, and found the way to total purification of the mind with the practice of Vipassana i.e. Sampajañña.
Practice
of Vipassana to fully purify the mind
The
English language has no corresponding word to ‘sampajañña’. It’s
has been inaccurately translated as mere ‘comprehension’. The true meaning of ‘sampajañña’ that
the Buddha taught is to experience impermanence - by observing, with
equanimity, the changing flow of bodily sensations within. This is the practice
of Vipassana.
[ note: 'bodily sensations' means any tangible feeling in the body - like heat, heaviness, pain, tingling, itching, cold, tickling - anything felt at the physical level. For whatever reason the bodily sensations have arisen, the Vipassana meditator uses these sensations to develop equanimity, and change the earlier habit pattern of blindly reacting to these sensations with craving or aversion]
To make
the mind sharp and subtle enough to experience bodily sensations, the Vipassana
practitioner starts with observing the flow of natural breath (Anapana
meditation that is taught as a preparatory exercise, during the first three days of
a 10-day Vipassana course). One observes the natural incoming and outgoing
breath, as it comes in, as it goes out. No regulation of the breath. Only bare
observation of the natural breath – as it is.
Patanjali
also refers to the same practice of observing one's natural breath. After persistent efforts through struggle, the mind
becomes concentrated, peaceful. It is noteworthy in this context that the
interval between the inhaling and exhaling of natural breath is termed kumbhaka, i.e.
retention of breath, in Patanjali Yoga Sutra. By observing the natural breath,
the retention of breath takes place automatically without any effort whatsoever.
But
nowadays people try to reach this stage by a forceful effort to retain their
breath. This is the distorted version of kumbhaka practice, from that which Patanjali actually taught. Those who think they have reached the thought-free state
of mind with this incorrect form of kumbhaka become
confused because the mind reverts back to the distracted state when the
artificial retention of breath is stopped.
But if kumbhaka is
achieved as Patanjali originally taught – by objectively observing the natural
breathing, without regulating it - the period of kumbhaka will
automatically be much longer.
Respiration is not merely
a bodily process, the need for oxygen for the lungs. Respiration is also closely
associated with the mind. Respiration is both voluntary and involuntary. By
closely observing our natural respiration in Anapana meditation, we find that the flow of respiration is directly associated
with the type of mental thoughts flowing in one's mind. If anger or craving
arises in the mind, we find respiration has become hard, irregular. But if the
mind is calm and peaceful, respiration too is subtler and stable.
The
subtler mind then experiences the subtler reality of bodily sensations.
Vipassana practice is observing, with equanimity, the impermanence of bodily
sensations (sampajañña)
– objectively being aware of the changing reality within.
With sampajañña, the practitioner
understands the truth of one’s mind-matter interaction, how matter influences
the mind, and how mind influences matter - and how by blind reaction with
craving or aversion to sensations, we generate suffering. This whole process
becomes clear through sampajañña.
Patanjali
gave much importance to the direct realization of universal truths through direct
experience -
rtambhara prajna
as the ultimate goal of the practitioner, in the same way as Vipassana meditation
involves gaining paññā
from one's own experience.
Beginning
a new life with a 10-day Vipassana course
In
ten-day Vipassana courses, people begin to experience subtler truths by
objectively observing the impermanent flow of bodily sensations.
Progressing,
the Vipassana practitioner experiences how the gross solidity of the body is
nothing but wavelets, vibrations, a mass of sub-atomic particles continuously
arising and passing away. The Buddha called these impermanent sub-atomic
particles ‘kalapas’
– the basic, indivisible particle of matter that is so small
that trillions of such particles can be collected at the point of a needle.
Modern
scientists have reached the state of understanding that
matter is not solid at the sub-atomic level. India’s spiritual scientists too
had long before discovered this impermanent nature of all phenomena. They used
their own mind and body to experience the subtlest truth, not laboratory
apparatus. Only this inner wisdom leads to liberation from suffering.
2,500 years ago, the Buddha said "sabbo pajalito loko,
sabbo loko pakampito", everything in the universe is in a state of
vibration, combustion. By correctly practicing Vipassana, we directly experience this universal truth - within one’s own body-mind structure.
One who
practices Vipassana, as the Buddha taught, experiences universal truths through observing the interaction of one’s own mind-matter phenomenon: how the mind influences the
material body and how body influences mind.
How do
the mind and body continuously interact?
An object
comes in contact with the eye sense door, the eye-consciousness arises. The
part of the mind cognizing the mind-body contact is called ‘viññana’ or perception. It
leads to arising of the evaluation part of the mind called ‘saññā ’.
Next, based on the ‘pleasant’, ‘unpleasant’ evaluation given on
the bias of past experiences, a pleasant or unpleasant flow of sensations (vedana) permeates the body. The apparent truth is that we
react to outside objects, people, and events. The actual truth is that we
blindly react to these sensations with craving or aversion. This habit
pattern of blind reaction creates conditioning of the mind called ‘sankara’.
Deep-rooted sankaras
are called ‘anusaya
kilesas’ – latent impurities that are the constant source of all our
suffering.
The
Vipassana practitioner experiences how this entire process of suffering is
broken at the level of sensations. Instead of the earlier habit pattern of blindly reacting to sensations, one observes the
impermanent sensations with equanimity.
The
objects of sense doors are impermanent; the consciousness arising from sensory
contact is impermanent, the bodily sensations are impermanent. Why react and
generate suffering to something that is changing, impermanent, no longer there?
With this wisdom of impermanence, there is no more
blind reaction of craving or aversion to sensations. The habit pattern of
generating new sankaras
of suffering is broken. The old sankaras arise to
the surface as sensations and pass away. The mind is getting purified. One is
coming out of misery.
Such a process
leading to pure happiness was polluted in India. Instead of practicing meditation, people started debating, giving sermons or lectures about the above truths. But
with no experience of the actual truth, they began distorting the real meaning.
Gradually only conflicting philosophies remained and the actual practice was
lost, the benefits lost.
It does not help to
be merely proud of our wise ancestors and call them as teachers to the world (vishwa guru).
Merely reading, praising, giving or hearing sermons about the joyous spiritual feast of our
ancestors is not going to cure our hunger. We have to make efforts to directly
experience the feast of the truth. Only then we are making the best use of the high
spiritual wisdom attained by the true, pure sages of India.
Actual practice is
the only means to benefit from this invaluable spiritual heritage. Rtambhara prajna
of Patanjali's Yoga means the realization of the truth from one's own
experience.
I request
you to
benefit from gaining rtambhara prajna -
experiential wisdom. Taking a 10-day Vipassana course is a beginning. The more
you walk on the path, the more benefits you gain from the self-realized wisdom of
vivekakhyati or sampajañña.
Vipassana is a path
of self-dependence, self-realization, directly experiencing the truth.
It frees us from all impurities in the mind - and we experience true peace
and happiness.
