Living Dhamma Introduction

August 5, 2016; Revised August 26, 2016 (This replaces the deleted post, "Introduction to a New Approach to Meditation").

1. This series started as a subsection in the "Bhavana (Meditation)" section. But I think it can be the "step-by-step" by process of "learning and living" Dhamma starting from a very fundamental level.  One does not need to be bothered about too many Pāli words or deeper concepts at the beginning.

• From many comments that I get, it is clear that many people have "road blocks" at concepts like "kamma vipāka" and "rebirth". When we start at a fundamental level, one does not need to worry about them. One's own change in experience -- as we proceed -- will hopefully help clarify those concepts as we proceed.
• All other sections at the website can be used to investigate and learn different aspects from different angles. Buddha Dhamma is a self-consistent theory of nature. There are no contradictions.

2. About a month ago, I started thinking about this approach based on emails from a few people about their experiences. Many people feel the positive effect of meditation, but seem to be “stuck” without being able to go past a certain point.

• I must hasten to add that this “new approach” is fully consistent with Buddha Dhamma and not an invention of mine. It is just another way and — hopefully a refreshing way — to look at how to practice Buddha Dhamma (Buddhism) with a clear understanding.

3. What got me started thinking was the following email from a person (X) who has been doing mostly anariya meditation, including conventional metta bhavana (I am withholding the name for obvious reasons); highlights are mine. Anariya meditation basically means doing meditation without comprehending anicca nature, so most people start that way:

“..The other issue I wanted to ask you about was that I sometimes start wondering if meditation is just dulling my mind, making me less sensitive to what others are doing around me, like a sedative almost. Am I getting addicted to meditation that I need a constant dose, and when I stop I feel I am missing something. for example when I was meditating regularly I no longer felt like reading books or listening to music which I loved earlier so I felt like it was changing my core personality.

• Whether it is Ariya or anariya meditation (including even breath meditation), the tranquility of mind (peace of mind) that comes during a meditation session is due to the suppression of the five hindrances (pancanivarana); see, “Key to Calming the Mind – The Five Hindrances“.
• In simple terms, the five hindrances are:  sense cravings, tendency to be angry, sleepy or dull mind, scattered mind, and the inability to decide the right action. They are always in the background, “covering the mind” and constantly making the mind “agitated and anxious” as X described above.
• What happens during a meditation session (or even if one a fully focused on some task that does not involve sense pleasures), is that the mind is taken off of all such hindrances temporarily. This is actually the first stage where one could experience the “cooling down” or “nivana” or “niveema“. It can be called a mundane version of Nibbāna. This is also called “niramisa sukha“; see, "Three Kinds of Happiness – What is Niramisa Sukha?".
• When one is on a regular meditation program (or in a meditation retreat), that “cooling down” can last during that whole time — days or weeks — outside the meditation sessions.

• Niramisa sukha is not experienced by a specific citta. Rather, niramisa sukha APPEARS when cittā BECOME free of defilements, i.e., when the mind becomes (at least temporarily) free of hindrances; see, “Key to Calming the Mind – The Five Hindrances“. We will go into details in upcoming posts, but this is a CRITICAL point.
• More examples: Water becomes clear and pleasant when all the dirt is removed. One feels good when a headache goes away; that relief was not gained by adding something, but by removing the headache.
• Similarly, niramisa sukha is felt when hindrances and defilements are SUPPRESSED temporarily. When those are removed PERMANENTLY in four stages, one feels more permanent happiness of Nibbāna. At the Sotāpanna stage, a big junk of stresses associated with defilements are PERMANENTLY removed. At the Arahant stage, ALL defilements are PERMANENTLY removed, and the “cooling down” is complete.
• Thus it is going to be a gradual process. It is a mistake to try to go all the way all at once. Don’t even think about the Arahant stage (let alone the Anāgāmi stage where one has removed kāma rāga or attachment to sense pleasures), but concentrate on attaining the Sotāpanna stage.
• For many, even before that one needs to experience the niramisa sukha. That is what we focus on initially.
• It is when kāmachanda and other nivarana are suppressed that one is able to experience the niramisa sukha, grasp the anicca nature, and become a Sotāpanna. This is easier when one abstain from dasa akusala too.
• Thus, in order to grasp the anicca nature (i.e., to suppress the nivarana), the mind needs to be purified to some extent. Person X above is almost there, but you can see how hard for X to be not be tempted by sense pleasures.

• They are definitely “pleasurable”, i.e., the sense experience is palpable and enjoyable. The Buddha himself said that beings will not be trapped in this suffering-filled rebirth process unless they are seduced by these pleasurable sense contacts.
• The price we pay for that “happy feeling” is that the mind gets excited and restless. Furthermore, that pleasurable feeling cannot be maintained for long times; we get tired of it no matter what it is. Think about anything (food, sex, watching movies, etc), and you will realize that soon we would have had enough of it and we just move onto some other pleasurable activity or “just take a rest”.
• But that experience is addictive. The urge to do it again comes back very strong at later times. If we cannot experience it at that time, we at least tend to recall the past experience and try to enjoy that. This is due to the fact that we have a reservoir of mental impurities (kilesa) in our minds, as we discuss in an upcoming post.
• Until one can realize the dangers in at least excessive sense pleasures (anicca, dukkha, anatta nature), one’s mind is easily tempted by those sense pleasures; one is afraid that one will “miss out” on the sense pleasures. This is what X was trying to convey above.

• Niramisa sukha BECOMES addictive (i.e., preferable over sense pleasures) only AFTER getting to the Sotāpanna stage (at which time it can be called beginning of the “Nibbāna sukha” or “nivan suva“). At that time, even though one may still be tempted by sense pleasures until the Anāgāmi stage, one will ALWAYS go back to meditation for relief. Until then it is always a battle that is so eloquently expressed by X in #3 above.
• Furthermore, at that stage one will have voluntarily given up some of more excessive sense pleasures. This is something that just happens. One needs to forcefully give up only those things that are directly harmful to oneself or to others. For example, sexual MISCONDUCT needs to be forcefully given up, but not sex (We recall that one of the main upäsikä of the Buddha, lady Visaka, attained the Sotāpannastage at age 7, but got married and had 22 children). The urge for sexual pleasure will AUTOMATICALLY go away only at the Anāgāmi stage.
• Of course, one could start discarding some “conventionally pleasurable” but not directly harmful things like watching TV or going to concerts etc. (as X stated in #3 above). I also experienced the same kind of things in early practice.  I would rather learn Dhamma than watch TV even in the early days. “pleasure of Dhamma” is different.
• However, I still get pulled into a limited number of sense pleasures occasionally, so I know how hard it is to resist especially those activities that one has gotten used to. Getting rid of all kāma rāga (i.e., reaching the Anāgāmi stage) is the hardest. But once the anicca nature is comprehended to some extent, it becomes easy to discard most things as a waste of time.

• As one’s mind gets more and more cleansed, the “joy of Dhamma” WILL increase. One WILL BE able to grasp deeper and deeper meanings even from the same discourse or a post.
• The time to contemplate on anicca (and Tilakkhana in general) is when one starts “liking Dhamma”, with the pancanivarana temporarily lifted. If one starts forcing the mind to accept the anicca nature, that may not be successful, and one may get discouraged. Of course, each person is different and some may be able to do it.

• It is easier to solve a problem when one figures out what the problem is, and the root causes that lead to the problem.
• Our problem here is the defiled mind. The root causes are the mental impurities (or kilesa, keles, or kilesa in Pāli, Sinhala, and Sanskrit respectively) that have accumulated in our minds over the beginning-less rebirth process. These are ultimately responsible for the five hindrances (pancanivarana) that cover our minds.
• We will discuss these kilesa in future posts. They provide a simple way to identify and quantify mental impurities, and how they are to be discarded step-by-step.