Why does Sayalay stress so much on nimitta and jhana achievements?

Why does Sayalay stress so much on nimitta and jhana achievements?

Nimitta to Enter Jhana

Before this, we explain that it is very difficult to concentrate on one object if there is no nimitta. You might want to concentrate on breath. But when breath becomes smooth, breath becomes vanished. Then how can you enter jhana? Some people teach that we can enter jhana by concentrating on breath. This is not easy. Did you know?

Object jhana needs to be very clear and very stable. He can't even move or vanish.

Breath as an object can change at any moment. Sometimes it can be very smooth, sometimes it can vanish. 

When it disappears, the breath object disappears and you easily fall into bhavanga - a half conscious or unconscious state - you fall asleep! So we don't know whether sleeping or in jhana. These two are different! 

Without an object, it is very difficult to enter jhana.

For anapanasati practice, we need clear shine to enter jhana.

For meditation on the framework, the image of the framework needs to be clear on our mind. In our mind, if we can remember and imagine the image of a skeleton, it is called nimitta meditation on a framework.

We have ten kasina objects. For kasina meditation, color objects need to be clear on our minds. Without an object, we cannot practice jhana. 

Where can we focus? Without an object of focus, we cannot enter jhana.

That's why if we practice kasina meditation, the colors on our minds are nimitta. Without nimitta, it's very difficult to focus and be stable on an object for an hour.

Therefore, without a nimitta, it is not easy to enter jhana. When we enter jhana, from first to fourth jhana, concentrated minds become stronger and stronger.

Basic of the Eight-Based Noble Road

Jhana is what we call 'samadhi' or concentration. Jhana is also a true concentration.

Earlier, we talked about the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Spacious Noble Road.

They are all mentioned in the Buddha's first Dhamma lecture, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. 

When you pronounce this Sutta, you'll know this includes ' samm samadhi ' and also ' samma vayama ' and so on, as part of the Eight-Gracious Noble Road. I won't explain further at this time, as it will take longer to do so.

On this Eight Glory Road, samadhi (correct concentration) is also one of its components. This is very important! For those who expect to realize Nibbana, practice until Nibbana, it is very difficult to gain vipassana knowledge without first having concentration as stepping stones. Can you understand this?

For example, we know that vipassana is a study of what is inside our body. 

And what's inside? It's easy to feel sensation. Is that true? We have many objects. We also call this body 'figure', but just knowing this is not enough. 

We still need to penetrate to the inside.

Four elements are also one of a kind, and so are thirty-two parts of the body. Thirty-two parts are including all organs. They are one of a kind. 

Then there are more things that also come inside. So, there are many ways how we need to analyze into our bodies.

Concentrate with Vipassana

The easier way is thirty-two body parts. Can you see it now? Close your eyes; look! Can you see it or not? Can or can not? Can or can not? Answer please! Can you see them or not? Why can't you see it? This is due to lack of concentration!

If you have a concentrated mind, no matter what you want to see on your mind, you can see it. Just look inside your body. You'll be able to see a picture of what you expect to see, clearly whether in front of you or inside the body. This is why we really need to have concentration.

Some people don't need to develop concentration, because in the past they have collected very good parami (perfection). They've been training for several lives. So for people like Her Majesty Sariputta and Her Majesty Moggallana, it's very easy for them. 

Only by listening, they can penetrate names and looks very easily. For ordinary people, even after listening many times, we still don't really know about names and looks, we can't really look inside. I say this is not to blame anyone. This is just what we observe. We need concentration. 

Without concentration, it is very difficult to practice vipassana. So thats why we stress jhana so much.

Sayalay Dipankara

Venerable Sayalay Dipankara shares her spiritual experiences

Venerable Sayalay Dipankara shares her spiritual experiences

Someone asked me to share my spiritual experiences and how I overcame suffering in my life.

Since I was invited to speak on this topic, I will share my practice with you today.

When I was young, I liked to meditate and practice Buddhism. However, it was not easy. My parents were not interested in meditation, hence it was quite a challenge for me. 

When I was seven or eight years old, I often paid respects to the Buddha (Buddhanusati).

I practiced by myself. No teacher taught me to sit in front of the Buddha. I didn’t know what to do. I just felt very happy sitting like this. I felt that the Buddha would protect me.

Later, someone told me that I could recite the Buddhanusati with prayer beads, "itipi so bhagava...".  I just recited like this for two hours per day.

This generated happiness, peacefulness, and calmness in me. I liked that feeling.

Then, one day I had a dream, a very clear dream. I saw that there were many sentient beings in a tower. I couldn't count how many sentient beings there were. All these sentient beings only revealed their faces. 

Their heads were big but their bodies were small. I didn't know what kind of sentient beings they were.

I heard them wailing in my dream, "We are burning, we are burning, it's very hot and painful, please help us! " But in the dream I replied, "I really want to help you, but I don't know how! "

They replied, "You only need to continue your daily practice (Buddhanusati), and then spread metta (loving kindness) and share your merits with us", they taught me when I was dreaming.  I did this every day. I rushed to meditate after school. 

As I didn't want to keep all the merits to myself, I have been sharing all my merits with everyone all these years. 

After two weeks of doing so, I dreamt that these sentient beings had been liberated from their suffering. Since then, it has generated much happiness in my heart. They were now free from pain and suffering, and I knew how much pain they have endured in their lives. After I dreamt that they informed me they were free from suffering, I felt peacefulness arise in my heart, and since then I truly generated the wish to help others.

But as I didn't know how to help others, I just practiced every day like this, and continued to practice this way for 15 years. I am just sharing my own experiences, you can also practice in this way. 

Many sentient beings suffer a lot, but most people don’t want to interact with ghosts, however I feel very comfortable with them. Every time I meditate, I share my merits with them. 

Everywhere I go, I feel the sentient beings there. Oh! I am so happy that I can help them. 

Immediately, I spread loving kindness to them, hence I get along with them very well.

Sometimes during retreats, such as those conducted at some Chinese temples in Singapore, we can see ghosts interfering with meditators.

Immediately, the meditator's behavior and disposition  changes, and we can see that their characteristics resemble that of ghosts. 

Others are not sure what to do, hence they want to send these meditators to the hospital. I told them that they don’t need to be sent to the hospital. We know that beings are interfering with them.

What should we do? We don’t need to beat them or scold them. We just need to spread loving kindness: "Oh, please don’t interfere. Please listen to me. Please leave, you will get good merit", we will give them the merit.  They are very happy, and immediately they leave. So it is good if you can become friends with sentient beings who are ghosts, and slowly they will listen to you.

After changing their external appearances, these beings no longer look like human beings.

You know, because they are hungry ghosts and they want to eat, so they come over, and I ask my students to give them water from a cup. They don’t want to drink from a human's cup. So I took the cup and asked them to drink, and they started to drink, like a dog, not like a person. 

Having become ghosts and having changed their appearances, they licked the water with their tongues like dogs, this is what we can see. It is not imagination, this is what really happens in actuality in our society. You can see how much sentient beings suffer, regardless of how much we try to help, although we are all working hard to help them.

I don’t just help the beings in lower realms, I also help the Devas. Since I was seven, I have also been dedicating my merits to the devas. After I reached the age of ten, I couldn't sleep at midnight.  Every time I slept, someone would nudge me in the back, so I had to get up. As I stayed on the upper floor, I would have to go downstairs to the courtyard, where I would recite the Dhamma Chakrawattana Sutta every night, which was the first scripture taught in Varanasi. I didn't understand the meaning. 

Hence, I just opened the book and recited it while looking at the sky. I could see that many Devas were listening. I chanted it in Pali. I kept chanting, every night, for 15 years. 

I have always liked being alone since young. I didn't have many friends. I only had very few friends, regardless of whether I was in high school or university. 

I liked to stay in the room with the Devas and with the ghosts too, but I was afraid of people. I did not know why.

After I ordained, I realised human beings were very important. It is easy for human beings to understand the Dharma. No matter how much I help, ghosts cannot become arahants or attain Sottapana because their wisdom is very low and they cannot understand the Dhamma.

Therefore, I feel it's a waste of time. It might be better if I share the Dhamma with human beings. After learning, human beings can gain concentration (samadhi) ,  develop insight knowledge (vipasanna), and possibly benefit the next generation.

From then on, my thinking has changed. I stopped being fixated on helping other beings. Now, I only devote my energy to teaching humans.

Afterwards, I tried slowly to teach more human beings the Dharma. Since then, over ten years have passed. I have traveled to many countries and interacted with many people. 

Although I am very young, I wish to go to more countries and meet various people of different religions.

It is very difficult for us females to spread the Dharma in general, let alone travel to spread the Dharma. I believe that there are many Devas who are protecting me. I don’t know what kind of karma has caused me to travel to so many different places. 

Everywhere I go, people are very friendly. They take care of me. I also spread loving kindness to everyone in every country equally. I regard them as my relatives, Dharma brothers and sisters, hence I do not have any animosity towards anyone at all.

I like to practice loving-kindness very much. I spread loving-kindness to many people every day, and I don’t like to think about the faults of others. I understand the nature of human beings.

Sometimes people do bad things and criticize me.

Sometimes in my own life, I have encountered many problems, but I try to overcome them and try to forgive others. 

If you regard such as human nature, then you can forgive.

I love everyone and every sentient being, so I am always at ease. I have never accused anyone of offending me. I see everyone as equally adorable and cute. Sometimes some people want to criticize me, sometimes others want to voice their complains to me.

Regardless, from my perspective, they are all adorable and cute, in my heart I always treat them like children. 

But my practice is not perfect yet. I try to do my best every day, so it is easy for me to get along with humans without causing any problems. It's the same for all of you. One day, you will also be like mothers to the sentient beings of children, and you will also have many students in the future. You will need to teach people from different countries. Hence, this requires you to have a pure mind. If you have a pure mind, anything you see will be beautiful, there will be no negative emotions. If your mind is not pure, everything you see will be negative, this is the law of kamma at work.

--Excerpt from the Dhamma Talk at Xiangguang Temple on 05.11.13, translated by Ted.

The Happiness of a Beautiful Mind 喜滿禪心- 幸福來自美麗的心 燃燈禪師 (Sayalay Dīpaṅkara)

The Happiness of a Beautiful Mind喜滿禪心- 幸福來自美麗的心燃燈禪師(Sayalay Dīpaṅkara)

Here, Sayalay emphasized the importance of the practice of loving-kindness, both to oneself and others, as a crucial support for the practice of sīla, samādhi and paññā. She gave examples of how loving- kindness supports oneself to practise peacefully in a meditation retreat, and how it can be used as a basis for samatha and vipassanā. She also explained the importance of balancing loving-kindness with equanimity, especially in our daily lives.

Loving-kindness

Today I would like to explain what is mettā or loving-kindness. Many have heard this talk before but we have new meditators today. It is also good to practise again and again.
Loving-kindness meditation is very important. The Buddha taught many different kinds of meditation objects for concentration.

sīla, samādhi and paññā

In the Buddhasāsana the practice of sīla, samādhi and paññā are very important. bhikkhu, bhikkhuṇī and sayalay continue to this day and they have their own precepts to keep by the teachings of The Buddha.

Keeping precepts is also very important for lay people. We keep eight precepts here. Keeping the eight precepts is very important. However, if you have any physical or medical problem you can take the five precepts instead of the eight precepts. At the least, as meditators we need to keep five precepts.

Knowing the meaning of the precepts is very important. The first precept which we must try to keep, is to abstain from killing, even insects and all living beings.

The second precept is to abstain from stealing. The third precept is to abstain from sexual misconduct and the fourth precept is to abstain from telling lies. The fifth precept is to abstain from drinking alcohol which is an intoxicant.

In this meditation retreat smoking is also disallowed. These five precepts are very important.

The sixth precept is to abstain from solid food, fruits included, after the noon hour. We can drink fruit juice or certain kinds of herbal drinks, milk is not used in the making of drinks like milo or coffee These are made daily and in accordance with the method as laid down by The Buddha. Dinner is also not served. Sorry about that but I want you to keep this precept. If you are ill or unwell you may drink milk or take food as medicine.

The seventh precept is to abstain from listening to music and singing. Do not follow the loud music coming in from the village. And if you are unable to concentrate do not start to sing in your head, because it is not good for your precepts. We also need to abstain from adorning the body.

The eighth precept is to abstain from sleeping on high and luxurious beds. Beds for sleeping should not be more than twenty-seven inches high; in The Buddha’s time a cotton mattress is considered too comfortable and too soft. Here at the vihāra we use a simple mattress.

The practice of mettā or loving-kindness is the ninth precept.

Everyday when you practise loving-kindness meditation, when you send mettā to yourself or to all beings you are practising the ninth precept.

mettā before samatha and vipassanā

The Buddha taught loving-kindness meditation for the practice of concentration and also for the practice of vipassanā, all these practices are in the framework of sīla, samādhi and paññā.
It is not easy to keep the five precepts without mettā and compassion to all beings. Without mettā to yourself, it is also very difficult to keep the precepts.

When you are kind to yourself and know how to take care and love yourself, you will also take care of your kamma.

If you love yourself, then you want to practise, you want to train your mind to be good. It is simple, very simple yet complicated. As it is important to practise sīla, mettā is also very important.

You may already know that there are forty meditation objects in the practice for concentration or samādhi.

The practice of the four brahma vihāra refers to the practice of mettā, karuṇā, muditā and upekkhā, i.e. loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity.

In the practice of loving-kindness, The Buddha taught us, as a first step to send mettā to the four types of persons. The first type of person we send mettā to is ourselves. We need to practise until peaceful feeling arises, until we get mettā feeling in our heart, from our mind, from our intention.

This is very important. This is the reason why we need to take care of ourselves.

The second type of person we send mettā to at the beginning, is to someone of the same gender whom we respect. We think of the person- and then send mettā to the person. This second type of person can also refer to a few persons or a group of people we really respect.

The third type of person is the neutral person. These are persons that are neither our friends nor our enemies. The fourth type of person is the enemy. Or we may call them unfriendly persons.

So, beginning the practice with ourselves, we send mettā to ourselves as a protection. It is very important, as we need to have a peaceful mind and a healthy body.

How then do we give ourselves this peaceful mind, free from mental suffering, free from danger?

We need to understand the meaning of the words and the intention, not just ‘going through the ritual’ of chanting, “May I be free from danger...may I be free from danger...” Repeating the words alone will not give you the feeling of peace, the freedom from mental suffering or from danger. You need a contemplative mind, to be able to feel the peace and freedom from mental suffering.


Happy or Unhappy

From the time we are delivered from our mother’s womb, life is either happy or unhappy. We call the unhappy time ‘suffering’, do we call the happy time ‘suffering’? Do we think we are suffering when we are happy? Do we think this way? When life is good and comfortable, we forget about suffering.
But The Buddha taught otherwise. Rebirth means either human birth, or existence in some other realm. With life comes rebirth, ageing and death. This we call life. We go from one lifetime to another.

Rebirth, ageing and death- all are suffering. Being happy or not happy is later. Suffering is when you have body and mind.

Sometimes you feel happy, other times unhappy. When you are unhappy, you contemplate there is so much pain in your body and mind. When you feel life is suffering, you want to be free from suffering. When times are good, you are happy, you will forget about yourself and about your life, and think that ‘everything is ok’
.
That is why The Buddha taught that even when there is happiness, you need to practise vipassanā. You need to contemplate that happiness is also impermanent, that it cannot last.

Happiness after a while will also disappear. Happiness forever is very difficult to find. So, whether happy or unhappy, but mostly during time of suffering, we want to be free from suffering.

We do not want a difficult suffering body or a suffering mind. We want to be free from mental and physical suffering. We want to be happy, to have a good life, to be free from danger. This is the reason we need to take care of our mind. With understanding and intention, we want to protect ourselves.

The intention to take care, to want to be free from danger, we call that the sending of mettā. The intention to send mettā, it is done not only when you are sitting, not only during meditation, and not only in the hall. Where else do you go to practise? The answer is everywhere. Everywhere- in the room, in the meditation hall, the walking paths, inside and outside the compound, dining hall- you practise mettā. Everywhere you go it is better to have a contemplating mind.

Except if you are contemplating on the breath, otherwise try to do mettā. If you know how to contemplate, you can also join the practice of mettā and breathing together.

Is it not good and safe if you can do that? Isn’t it good to be free from danger and mental suffering? But it is important that we have pure intention.