Stages of Meditation Read online

  As an outcome of these practices, the awakening mind of bodhichitta is generated. Thus, the training to accumulate merit and wisdom is done in relation to sentient beings and we are enormously benefited. Therefore, we depend on the kindness of sentient beings to achieve the final unsurpassed goal. It is from this perspective that the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by Shantideva explains that sentient beings and Buddhas are equal in terms of their helping individuals attain the state of Buddhahood. Sentient beings are of immense value and help, regardless of their intentions. On a mundane conventional level, enemies are those who cause us harm, and we are hostile to them for doing so. But, viewed in another light, we can gain great experience and training from our relationships with our enemies. It is in relation to enemies that we can primarily practice patience and tolerance and thus reduce the burden of anger and hatred. We should take maximum advantage of this opportunity to enrich and enhance our practice of patience. It is for reasons like these that some treatises describe our enemies as our best teachers. In short, all sentient beings, including our enemies, give us great help in various ways and directly or indirectly render us much-needed service.

  After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.

  To illustrate the way to generate benevolence and compassion, Kamalashila draws an analogy with the cultivation of crops. Just as a seed will grow if you plant it in ground moistened with water, you can cultivate compassion when you have prepared the mind with thoughts of loving-kindness as the basis. Having cultivated equanimity toward all sentient beings, we should see all sentient beings as similar in having been our close friends and relatives in many lives, and as similar to us in desiring happiness and disliking suffering. Having trained your mind in this way, you will feel very close to all beings and develop great empathy for them. The more an individual finds sentient beings attractive and dear to his or her heart, the more he or she will be concerned about their misery and pain. Therefore, having meditated on equanimity, we should meditate on loving-kindness. Having moistened our mind with the water of loving-kindness, if we plant the seed of compassion in it, its growth will be swift and smooth.

  5. IDENTIFYING THE NATURE OF SUFFERING

  The compassionate mind has the nature of wishing all suffering beings to be free from suffering. Meditate on compassion for all sentient beings, because the beings in the three realms of existence are intensely tortured by the three types of sufferings in various forms. The Buddha has said that heat and other types of pain constantly torture beings in the hells for a very long time. He has also said that hungry ghosts are scorched by hunger and thirst and experience immense physical suffering. We can also see animals suffering in many miserable ways: they eat each other, become angry, and are hurt and killed. We can see that human beings, too, experience various acute kinds of pain. Not able to find what they want, they are resentful and harm each other. They suffer the pain of losing the beautiful things they want and confronting the ugly things they do not want, as well as the pain of poverty.

  After establishing the process of training by which we learn to see suffering sentient beings as lovable and attractive, Kamalashila deals with the various types of miseries that torture them. The three types of misery are the misery of suffering, the misery of change, and pervasive misery. There is not one sentient being who is not tortured by each of them. Sentient beings in the three higher realms in the cycle of existence may enjoy temporary contaminated happiness or some neutral feelings, but in the final analysis, they are under the influence of pervasive misery. And as such, they are worthy of compassion. Kamalashila has also briefly referred to the sufferings of the beings in the hells, the hungry ghosts, animals, and human beings. He further points out some of the unique causes that make human beings miserable:

  There are those whose minds are bound by various fetters of disturbing emotions like craving desire. Others are in turmoil with different types of wrong views. These are all causes of misery; therefore they are always painful, like being on a precipice.

  Gods too have different miseries:

  Gods suffer the misery of change. For example, signs of impending death and their fall to unfortunate states constantly oppress the minds of gods of the desire realm. How can they live in peace?

  The text now defines pervasive misery:

  Pervasive misery is what arises under the power of causes characterized by actions and disturbing emotions. It has the nature and characteristics of momentary disintegration and pervades all wandering beings.

  The misery of suffering refers to what we usually recognize as suffering, physical pain, sickness, and mental anxiety. What we usually recognize as happiness (that is, contaminated or impure happiness) is characterized as the misery of change. Contaminated happiness is not perfect happiness, but rather the mere absence of the grosser kinds of suffering. Since contaminated happiness does not last, but is brought to an end by unpleasantness, it is characterized as the misery of change. Pervasive misery refers to sentient beings’ collection of mental and physical constituents, known as the contaminated aggregates, which result from past karma and disturbing emotions, and act as an agent to generate further karma and disturbing emotions. There may be occasions when we are disturbed by neither the misery of suffering nor the misery of change. But as long as we are not separated from our contaminated mental and physical aggregates, they will continue to provide the basis for various kinds of misery. And when they come into contact with the appropriate factors and conditions, suffering is bound to arise. Therefore, it is essential to think about these three types of misery.

  The next step in this process of mental training concerns the will to be free from such misery. It is crucial that we identify the true nature of these sufferings in order to generate a desire to be free of them. Even animals understand the misery of suffering as unbearable and wish to be free from it. Both Buddhists and non-Buddhists who seek the qualities of higher realms, like those of the higher levels of concentration and the formless world, understand the misery of change as unpleasant. They are able to free themselves temporarily from the misery of suffering. When they reach such higher realms, like those below the fourth level of concentration, where there is only the feeling of neutrality, they are temporarily free from the misery of change. Those in the fourth meditative stage and in the formless realms are temporarily free from the first two types of miseries. Recognizing pervasive misery is the catalyst that stimulates individuals to seek the state of liberation. When they apprehend its true identity, they generate a sense of disgust. They become aware of the disadvantages of disturbing emotions and their instability. Understanding the flaws of the disturbing emotions must precede understanding the flaws of the contaminated mental and physical aggregates. Seeing the flaws, or drawbacks, of the disturbing emotions provokes us to try to part from them. When we eliminate our disturbing emotions, we gain what is known as nirvana, or liberation. Proper identification of pervasive suffering and a strong dislike for it are the determining factors in the process of developing true renunciation, or the will to gain liberation.

  The text has mentioned the momentary nature of pervasive suffering. This concept can be interpreted in two ways, which can be illustrated by an example. First, anything impermanent disintegrates and changes every moment. For instance, an omniscient mind is impermanent, and it too shares the same nature of disintegrating moment by moment. Second, an impermanent phenomenon has no independent identity and is under the influence of other factors like its causes and conditions. As such, pervasive suffering does not remain constant even for a moment but is in a steady process of disintegration and change.

 
Therefore, see all wandering beings as immersed in a great fire of misery. Think that they are all like you in not desiring misery at all: “Alas! All my beloved sentient beings are in such pain. What can I do to set them free?” and make their sufferings your own. Whether you are engaged in one-pointed meditation or pursuing your ordinary activities, meditate on compassion at all times, focusing on all sentient beings and wishing that they all be free from suffering.

  Begin by meditating on your friends and relatives. Recognize how they experience the various sufferings that have been explained.

  In the preceding lines, the author outlines the steps of meditation on compassion. Compassion is the wish that all sentient beings be free from suffering and its causes. In order to train the mind to be compassionate, you must maintain a practice that includes both formal meditation sessions and awareness during the period that follows. That is, not only should a practitioner train to generate a compassionate mind during formal meditation, but also during activities like walking, sleeping, sitting, working, and so forth. If you can maintain such a program, you will be able to make good use of the different experiences you have during the post-meditation period, which will enhance your development of a compassionate mind. On the other hand, if you do not cultivate awareness and mindfulness during the post-meditation periods and you let your mind wander, the progress of your meditation will be slowed. This is definitely a fault to be corrected. You must try to retain the flavor, or essence, of your meditation as you go about your other activities. This will greatly aid the progress of your realizations during the session, and those realizations in turn will contribute to your spiritual development during the post-meditation period. This is how you can enjoy a stream of meritorious energy.

  Then having seen all sentient beings as equal, with no difference between them, you should meditate on sentient beings to whom you are indifferent. When the compassion you feel toward them is the same as the compassion you feel toward your friends and relatives, meditate on compassion for all sentient beings throughout the ten directions of the universe.

  When you are meditating on compassion, if you specifically focus on a sentient being who is experiencing suffering, as we did during our meditation on equanimity, your meditation on compassion will be more effective. Initially, you can visualize the intense suffering of beings in the unfortunate realms. You can also meditate on compassion for those who are indulging in forceful negative actions, which possess the three factors of intention, action, and completion. Although they may not presently be experiencing great misery, they are accumulating powerful causes to experience it later. If you meditate along these lines, it will greatly help you train your mind to become compassionate toward each and every sentient being in the cycle of existence—all of them are under the sway of disturbing emotions, slaves to the ignorance that is a misconception of true existence and self-centeredness.

  Kamalashila speaks of all sentient beings as being equal. This can be interpreted in two ways: ultimately and conventionally. The equality of beings on an ultimate level does not obviate the existence of friends and foes on the conventional level. However, when your meditation focuses on the unfindability of objects on an ultimate level, it counteracts attachment and hatred by countering the misconception of true existence.

  These are some of the many techniques by which we train to develop an even-minded attitude. It is important to maintain this kind of meditational procedure and accumulate the positive potential of merit. Eventually our ordinary compassion toward miserable beings can be enhanced and transformed into a more purified state. The compassion we feel at present is usually mixed with attachment. But the presence of this compassion also indicates that we have the basis for true compassion. Occasionally we also generate spontaneous compassion toward strangers in great pain, wondering what we can do to alleviate their suffering. This is an expression of our innate compassion. It is crucial that we recognize this fact, cherish this compassionate thought, and then promote and enhance it. If you do not possess this innate compassion, try to cultivate it and make every effort to develop it. In due course, such compassion, however insignificant it may seem to be at present, can expand infinitely.

  The text now explains the measure of having cultivated such compassion.

  Just as a mother responds to her small, beloved, and suffering child, when you develop a spontaneous and equal sense of compassion toward all sentient beings, you have perfected the practice of compassion. And this is known as great compassion.

  In the depths of your heart you have great care and concern for your beloved child whatever you are doing, whether you are walking, sitting, or talking. If you are able to cultivate such a mind toward all infinite sentient beings, thinking how good it would be if they were free from suffering, and if such a mind arises automatically, without your needing to rely on special reasons, that is an indication that you have cultivated genuine great compassion.

  Whatever realizations you want to cultivate, you must first know what the object of your attention is and what causes and conditions you need to cultivate to be able to generate such a realization. You need to do some preparation. Having gained familiarity and some experience in such a process of practice, you may not need to cultivate any additional understanding. But using analysis and investigation, you should cultivate a strong feeling within that really moves your mind. That is called actual experience and it is of two kinds: contrived experience and uncontrived experience. Contrived experience refers to those feelings that arise within your mind as a result of using subtle reasons and depending on quotations from the scriptures. When you do not engage in analysis and investigation, you do not get such experience. After having cultivated such a contrived experience, if you continue the process of strengthening and developing it, a time will come when you encounter a particular situation such that, without having to rely on a quotation or a reason, a strong feeling automatically arises within your mind. That is called uncontrived experience. When you achieve such an uncontrived experience of compassion, that is an indication of having cultivated a genuine great compassion.

  Then the text discusses the process of meditation on loving-kindness. The measure of having cultivated loving-kindness is similar to the measure of having cultivated great compassion. Compassion is a mind wishing that sentient beings be free from suffering, and loving-kindness is a mind wishing that they meet with happiness. Loving-kindness induces compassion, and compassion induces the special attitude. The special attitude here means that you not only mentally think how good it would be if sentient beings were free from suffering, but you voluntarily take responsibility for actually engaging in the work of delivering sentient beings to the state of liberation and helping them remove their sufferings. And this induces the awakening mind of bodhichitta.

  Meditation on loving-kindness begins with friends and people you are fond of. It has the nature of wishing that they meet with happiness. Gradually extend the meditation to include strangers and even your enemies. Habituating yourself to compassion, you will gradually generate a spontaneous wish to liberate all sentient beings. Therefore, having familiarized yourself with compassion as the basis, meditate on the awakening mind of bodhichitta.

  Bodhichitta is of two types: conventional and ultimate. Conventional bodhichitta is the cultivation of the initial thought that aspires to attain unsurpassable and perfectly consummated Buddhahood in order to benefit all wandering sentient beings, after having taken the vow out of compassion to release all of them from suffering. That conventional bodhichitta should be cultivated in a process similar to that described in the chapter on moral ethics in the Bodhisattvabhumi, generating this mind by taking the Bodhisattva vow before a master who abides by the Bodhisattva precepts.

  The measure of your cultivation of the awakening mind of bodhichitta is similar to the cultivation of compassion. First you cultivate bodhichitta as a contrived experience, then you cultivate the awakening mind of bodhichitta
as an uncontrived experience, which is the state of the genuine awakening mind of bodhichitta.

  The great Indian master Shantideva has said that all the sufferings we see in the world arise because we are so self-centered, because we wish only for our own personal happiness. All the happiness we see in this world arises because of our taking care of the welfare of other sentient beings. He says that there is no need to elaborate further on this point. If you examine the difference between the state of the Buddha and an ordinary being, it will be easily understood. The Buddha worked for the benefit of other sentient beings, achieved omniscience, and now has the capacity to benefit all sentient beings, whereas we ordinary sentient beings, even though we have tried our best to fulfill our personal well-being, because of our self-centered attitude not only have not achieved omniscience, but we are still in the cycle of existence. Even in the case of the achievement of nirvana, if we pursue it mainly out of self-interest, it will be just solitary liberation or liberation without omniscience. This is also due to the self-centered attitude. Even on a day-to-day basis, all good qualities within this world such as feeling mentally at ease, having many trusted friends and relatives, and living in a place where you are not deceived by others, are the result of concern for others’ welfare. And ultimately the possibility of achieving enlightenment is also due to this mind.

  In other words, if we compare ourselves with the Buddha and calculate how many faults we have and how many perfect qualities a Buddha has, we will be able to discover the drawbacks of self-centeredness and the advantages of concern for the welfare of other sentient beings. Because of the practice of cherishing the welfare of other sentient beings, the Buddha achieved omniscience and is now the embodiment of wonderful qualities, whereas we ordinary sentient beings are in a way the embodiment of faults because of our self-centered attitude.