Thailand Meditation Retreat News

Concurrently with other activities at Karuna Meditation Center, a three-year retreat is being held for a small group of practitioners who have dedicated this period of their lives to the study and practice of Buddhist meditation.  Special regular teachings are given to this group.  Recently, a teaching was given on “The Four Efforts”.

The Four Efforts were discussed by Geshe Chekawa, a 12th-century Tibetan master, who commented on four things as being of great importance to each meditator in each session.  These are:

1.  Does the intention of the practice align with the motivation for practice?

2.  Understanding and having confidence in the method.

3.  Knowing and recognizing the variety of effects that practice can produce.

4.  Accepting the results of your practice.

The teaching that was given explains these four points in detail and discusses how they relate to meditation and to life.  To download a .pdf file of the transcript of this talk, click Four Efforts (PDF).

On posture:

When the body posture is well refined, it has a great effect on the mind.  Conversely, when the body is not elevated and not refined, when the body is slouched over, the effect on the mind is great.  We’ve discussed at length what the conditioning effect on the breath is, when the body is in those slumped-over positions.  When the body is slumped over, the breath becomes shallow.  The shallow breath then conditions the mind and the emotions to produce states of agitation, anxiety, it could even be depression.  But mostly, short, shallow breaths are associated with the mental affliction of irritation.

Seven Factors of Awakening:

The Buddha actually gave these instructions about the Seven Factors of Awakening a few months before he died.  He realized he would be dying soon, so he gathered his closest disciples around and this was part of the last instructions that he delivered.  They were based on his own deep experiences.  He said, ‘Let me give you some instructions about what it is that you’re going to need in order to stop suffering.  You’ll need these seven things.’  You notice that these instructions are all about the best way to practice meditation.  He didn’t give a philosophical lecture.  That’s what I want you to hear more than anything else in this narrative, that what the Buddha offered as his most precious advice, given when on the point of his death, was seven experienceable qualities that are most important for realization, not a deep philosophical treatise, as you might expect.  It’s those Seven Factors of Awakening that we’re practicing here.

Awareness of breath in Anapanasati:

Now as you progress more and more subtly in this practice of Anapanasati, you become aware of how the breath is conditioning the body, conditioning the feelings.  That’s the first point.  You begin to notice how the different types of breath condition the body and the feelings in different ways.  With the long breath, the body will be very relaxed and at peace.  With the short breath, there will be a lot of emotions – it’s the type of breath that you have when you’re angry or when you have anxiety or depression.  So you learn to take long breaths because this type of breath condition the body, condition the feelings, in a soothing, relaxed manner.

Tonglen:

Tonglen, or taking and sending practice, is done to work on our own minds, our own concepts of suffering, our own concepts of compassion, our own concepts of loving kindness.  It works on our understandings of karmic projections.  It works on our understanding of emptiness.  It works on our pride and other mental afflictions.  Truly, when it is understood, it is a full and complete practice of Buddhism.  Really, it represents everything.

On why to do the contemplations:

“It is a matter of training the mind.  The whole process of these contemplations is a mind training in and of itself.  You’re training the mind to think positively.  And the reason why you do that is because the whole point of Buddhism is to extinguish suffering, to extinguish dukkha.  And that can only be done through the mind.”

On contemplating the precious human birth:

“The practice is what changes your view and your outlook.  It’s very difficult to maintain any kind of negative feeling if you’re doing this practice of the Precious Human Birth, because you’re constantly celebrating the simple fact of your own existence and the existence of others.  This also carries over into your relationships with others, and it becomes very, very difficult to have negative feelings about anything or anyone, no matter what you’ve been through.  It’s a simple practice, but very powerful in its effects.”