The Sunlun Way (1)

8/14/2019 The Sunlun Way (1)

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bySLINLLIN SHN VINAJA


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THE YOGI &VIPASSANA(BUDDHIST MEDITATIoN:THr SUNt-un wnv )

bySUNLUN SHIN VINAVA

KABA AYE ST]N LTTN MEDITHTION CENTRE7th Mil", Thanlar-waddyRoad; U LunMau{ig SteetMayangone P.O ; Yangon, MYANMARTel/Fax:-951-660860.=e- E-mail:[email protected]


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SUNLUN GUKYAUN G SAYADAW(Picture taken in the year fi$)


4/74SU,IIIUT'J SH'AJ VINAYA


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PREFACEGautama Buddha pointed out and cleared the way of liberationfrom the rounds of birth. He taught the techniques of mental develop-ment to attain tliat libertation Samatha eiiminates distractedness,

establishes onegointed and concentrated mind and leads to tranquility.Vipassana offers insight into the true characteristics of phenomenaand the attainment of liberating knowledge.

ln Burma many meditation centres offer vario.rs methods ofmntal developrnent employing t}re techniques set forth in the Maha-Satipatthana Sutta. On account of its proven efficacy and appropriate-ness to modern man, there is now growing interest in a technique whichhad been practised by the late Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw, the Abbotof the Cave Monastery of Sunlun. This technique was wrought bythe Abbot in actual struggle to win the final fruitsof vipassana practice.It was found to be in conformity with the principles which are at thecore of Buddhist vipassana practice.

Two characteristiss of Sunlun are its employrfent of sensationas the object of meditation and the intensiry of practice. The adoptionof sensation was never the result of a deliberate intellectual choice.It arose naturally as an organic part of the actual practice. But nowit is possible to understand why sensation contributes towards tie effi-ciency of the method. Sensation lies at the intersection of mind andmatter. As such it is the best object of meditation to help the yogiestablish mindfulness of the body, of sensation and of consciousness,namely kayanupassana, vedananupassana, and cittanupassana. lt doesso because it is at the root of all these stations. lt is the non-mnemicelement in perception and does not depend upon habit, memory andpast experience. Therefore it is closest to the requirement of vipassanawhich avoids the concepts which are the basis of habit, memory andmnemic perception.

Sunlun calls'for intensity of practice. lt asks the mediutor togenerate the necessary zeal, ardour, energy and effort to break the


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bonds of attachment to the illusive sense of an "1". lt shot ld beclearly understood that the four foundations of mindfulness cannotbe establistred in a leisurely manner. This age, perhaps morc thanany other, demands unflinching effort on the part of the yogi wttoworld wish to make significant progrss in the gractkre of vipassana.

This book contains four pieces on the fundarncntal aspects ofthe Sunlun way of mindfulness. The first constitutss a sermon deliveredin Rangoon by Sunlun Shin Vinaya. The next two are by U Win Pe, andthe last one by Dr. Ba Le; both are disciples of Sunlun Shin Vinaya andthe pieces were written under his guidance.


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THE YOGI AND VIPASSANAThis famous hall ha! heard many learned speakers present the

subject of vipassana in many ways' lt has heard the doctrinal approachto the subiect. Vipassana is insight, the inoitive knowledge whichrealises the truth of the impermanency' misery and impersonality ofall corporeal 'and mental phenomena of existence' The way to thisintuitive knowledge is the way of the seven stages of purity-the purityof morality, the purity of mind, the purity of understanding' the purityof escape frbm all doub! the purity by knowledge and vision of whatis Path and Not-Path, the purity by knowledge and vision of thePath progress, and the purity of knowledge and vision' This hall hasalso heard a psycholotical approach to the sublect' There have beenreferences to consciousness, mind-functionings' depth psychology'space-time and other such concepts' lt has even heard' I believe' amathematical presentation of vipassana employing the technique ofmodern algebra'and topology' Since I am no doctrinalist and stillless of a trained psychologist or mathematician but only a practicianoi tn" vipassana method of Lord Buddha it would be improper ofme to overstep the bourrds into those fields' I believe that my bestcontribution to the subiect can be only in the field of practice'

Thus I propose to take a practical approach to the subiect beforeyou this evening. I shall consider the matter from the point of viewof the yogi, his propensities and inclinations, his encounters with theproblems ind difficulties of execution, his small concerns and clingings,and his subtle self'deceptions' While doing this I shall attempt toweave in the teachings of the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw on the practiceof vipassana to illustrate my points'

The first essential equipment of the yogi is a concentrated mind'For only a concentrated mind is a cleansed mind' And only the mindwhichiscleansedofthefiveelementsofsensuallust'ill-will'torpor'"Jofion and durbt can function properly to realise vipassana insight'For the initiation of the cleansing process the normal' everyday


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(2\mind requires an object to grasp. These objects can be of two types:external to the corporeal-mental system of the yogi or belonging to it.Those obiects which are external to the yogi belong to the environment,such as kasina discs, corpses, or the food which he eats daily. Thoseobjects which belong to the corporeal-mental organisation of theyogi are his body and his fhoughts. Any of these can be taken asan object of meditation to establish concentration.

For example, kasina discs can be employed. The yogi takes, lerus say, a coloured disc or spot and places it at an appropriate distance,about the length of a plough-pole. He sits down with legs crossedunder him, faces the disc and holding the body erect he gazes on thedisc with eyes opened neither too wide nor too narrow. He lets hismind dwell with earnestness on the disc in order togain fixity of mind.He does this until at last, even with closed eyes he perceives a mentalreflex of the disc. This is the acquired image, uggaha-nimitta. As hecontinues to direct attention to this image there may arise the spcitlesscounter-image, patibhaga nimitta. Th is counter-image appears togetherwith the mind. lf he wills to see it far, he sees it far. lf he wills toseeit near, to the left, to the right, within, without, above and below,he sees it accordingly. After acquiring the counter image, the yogrprotects it rvith reverence through constant endeavour. Thereby heacquires facility in the practice, and after due practice he gainsneighbourhood concentration. Fixed meditation, ihan4 fol lows neigh-bourhood concentration. The kasina exercises produce the four stagesof fixed meditation.

Likewise he can practise the earth kasina, the water kasina, thefire kasina and so on. one of the benefits acquired through the ardentpractice of t}'e earth kasina is that a man, acquiring supernormalpower, is able to walk on water just as on earth. lf he gains super_normal power through the practice of the water kasina he can bringdown rain or cause water to gush from his body. lf he gains super-


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(3)normal power through the practice of the fire kasina he is able toproduce smoke and flame. But somehow it is not possible easily toacquire these powers in our day- Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw oncesaid that the times were no more opportune. One might be able togain attainment concentration through the practice of the kasina butthe supernormal benefits of the practice can hardly be acquired. Letus say that one practises the earth kasina exercise' He gains masteryof the signs, the nimitta. Let us say he goes to a pond and seatinghimself near it he arouses in himself the elements of the earth kasina.Then looking upon the waters of the pond he endeavours to turn theminto earth so that he may walk upon them. He will find at the mostthat the water thickens to a slushy earth which cannot uphold his feetwhen he attempts to walk upon it. Perhaps yogi in other countrieshave done better but I believe it may be taken.as a general rule thatthe acquisition of the total benefits of the kasina exercise are difficultto achieve in our time.

Another set of obiects of meditation can be the loathsome ones,the corpses, or death, marana-nusgti. These exercises are not withouttheir risk as may be recounted in an anecdote of the Sunlun-gukyaungSayadaw and a monk. The monk was in the habit of crossing the creekwhich separated. the monastery from the burial grounds to meditateon corpses. One morning the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw met himas he was setting out to meditate for the day. The Sunlun-gukyaungSayadaw smiled at ttim'and said: i'Th. .nrprna breathing exercise isfree of dangers." 'The monk did not act on the suggestion, butcontinued in the practice of gazing on corpses. One evening he returnedto his cell. As he opened the door and looked inside he gave a yellof terror. He had seen a corpse lying on the threshold. Actually thatcorpse was only the acquired image of his obiect of meditation' Whenthe Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw heard the story he smiled and said:"Anipana is free of dangers."


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(,4 )Meditation may be practised through the analysis of the four

elements. The essence of earth is the nature of hardrless, strength,thickness, immobility, security and supporting. The essence of wateris the nature of oozing, humidity, fluidity, tricklin& permeation,increasing, leaping cohesion. The essence of fire is the nature of heatingwarmth, evaporation, maturing consuming gasping. The essence ofair is the nature of supporting, coldness, ingress and egress, easy movement reaching low and grasping. The yogi grasps the elements brieflyand in detail through consideration and reflection. But as will benoticed through a recounting of the essential natures of the fourelements, they are difficult to distinguish within the body, they arehard to grasp directly; they have to be approached through indirection,through repitition by word of mouth of the essential characteristicsand a forcing of understanding of their natures. This understandingnormally takes place first in the realm of concepts. And a yogi whoai'rives at such an understanding is often led too much to believe forhimself that this is the peak requirement of the practice. This is,nottrue, of course. The understanding that is required is not of theelements as it is made for us but of the elements as they are in theiressentiality, as they are in themselves. And this, their nature, is beyondthe realm of concept and logical thought.

The postures of the body can be good subjects leading to theproper establishment of concentration. The yogi attempts to bemindful of going, standing, sitting, lying bending, stretching, eatingdrinking, chewing, savouring defacating and urinating. The posturesare dynamic, the going-on of the process is unmistakable, and whenthe postures are really grasped for what they are the mind can beconsidered to be pretty well cleansed. However, the yogi shouldconsider whether the postures serve better as the primary objectof meditation or as a secondary one to be taken up in those momentsof comparitive relaxation when the primary obiect is being set aside fora while.


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(5)All of these are proper oblects of meditation' They aie all

contained either in the list of forty subiects of kammathanl:t in 'h:,Maha Satipatthana Sutta, most of them in both' They all leld the yogitowards the establishment of concentration' some more' some less'The yogi may legitimately employ them. to gain the concentration heneeds. But perhaps it would be a wise approach for the yogi io seekto employ and practise that exercise which will lead him all the way;; ;; final goal he seeks- That goal is liberating vipassana insightknowledge.

Now, there are two forms of the practice of mental culture'bhavana; samatha leads to calm and tranquility and vipassana leadsto intuitive knowledge of the true nature of phenomena andconsequent liberation. Samatha is concerned with the universe as it isfor, us; vipassana is concerned with the universe as it is in itself' Sincethe realm of samatha is the universe as it is for us the obiects of medita-tion which lead to samatha are accordingly those obiects which wehave made for ourselves. The kasina disc is something we have madefor ourselYes. The thought of the loathsomeness is something we havebrought up in ourselves. The stability of earth' the cohesion of water'the maturing of fire, the interception of air are qualities of the fourelements which have been conceptualised by us to help us ir; graspingthem. Even the thought of walking in the factof walking' the thoughtof bending in the fact of bending, the thought of touching in the factof touching are ideas which we have created in our minds so that wecan better 8et at the actualities, the postures as they are' we hope'But whatev;r makes the universe for us leads to samatha; whateverartifact we construct, whatever idea, image, thought or concept wecreate leads to samatha. There is nothing wrong in samatha in itself'The practice of samatha is legitimate; there are many reasons:lt ''should even be recommended. Only samatha is not vipassana' There-fore he who would gather the fruits of samatha may practice samathabut he who desires to Sather the fruits of vipassana will have to practlce


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(6)vipassana. This he wirr have to do sooner or rater, either after thepractice of samatha or directry by serecting an exercise which setshim up at once on the high road to vipassana. whether he wishesto practice samatha now or to switch to vipassana later or alternativelyto take up the practice of vipassana immediately is a matter of personarchoice. And I as a practician of vipassana shourd not be too eagerto prompt him on that choice. Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw once said:"Man does what he likes to do, and the doing of what he likes doesnot bother him."

Questions arise: if we normaily conceptuarise the four erementsto grasp them, if we commonly make thoughts about walking, bendingand touching to help us get at them better, if our minds are ever soprone to create images and ideas c;rn we possibly attempt to get atprocesses as they are in themselves? ls it not necessary thaL we handlethe processes with the gloves of concepts and ideas? This is ihe answer:lf it were true that it is necessary to handre the processes with thegloves of concepts and thoughts, that processes can never be got atdirectly, then there can be no path to freedom and no riberating know-ledge. But because it is possible to get at processes directly as theyare in themserves there is vipassana and the winning of intuitiveliberating knowledge.Let us take an exerci:e, in-breathing and out-breathing, anapana.It is said to be a suitabre exercise for ail types of personarities, rf aman practises mindfulness of respiration he attains to the peacefurlife. He causes evil and demeritorious states to be overcome."His bodyand mind do not tremble. He fulfils the four foundations ofmindfulness, the seven enrightenment factors and realises wisdomand freedom. Anapana has been practised by the Blessed One, LordBuddha. Furthermorg anapana is said to be unadurterated, notrequiring addition to make it complete.

This eiercise may be practised in the samatha way or performed


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(7 )so as to realise vipassana. Breathe in and out. As the breath goes in andout it will touch the nostril tip or upper lip or some other place withinthat region. Fixing the mind on that point of touch,cotrnt the in-goingand out-going breaths. This is one method. Breathe in and out again.Fix the mind on the point of touch of breath. Thus fixing the mind,know a short breath to be short and a long breath to be long. This isthe second method. Breathe in and out again. Fixing the mind on thepoint of touch of breath follow the breath in and out. ln doing this thebreath should not be followed into the pit of the stomach'or out intothe beyond.The breath body should be experiencd going in artd out.It is like a saw. The teeth of the saw are always at one point of contactwith the wood;that point of wood experiences the whole length of thesaw because the whole length of the saw passes across that point. Thisis the third method. Notice that in all three methods the yogi looks forthe in-breaths and out-breaths nowhere else than at the point oftouch.This is true also for the fourth method. Breathe in and out. Fix themind on the point of touch of breath. Be aware of the touch. Do notcount, do not know the degree'' of length, do not follow the breathin and out.

Of these four methods of anapana the first three are samathatype exercises while the fourth is a vipassana exercise. ln the firstmethod there is counting. Numbers are concepts. ln the second methodthe form of the breath is noted. Form is an image. ln the third methodthe going in and out of the breath is noted. This is acheived through thecreation of an idea. Concepts, images and ideas belong to the universeas it is for us and therefore are concerned with samatha. Only thefourth method where the touch alone is taken in its bareness performsthe vipassana practice. Yet even this practice can be adulterated withramatha. lf instead of being aware of the touch in its bare actuality,if instead of guarding this awareness with mindfulness the yogi makesa mental note of it; then for that moment he has slipped into the oldhabit of forming a concept or an idea and therefore he practisessamatha instead of the intended vipassana.


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(8)Mental noting tends to take place at a much slower pace thanthe actual processes of phenomena. Thus ins,tead of being able totake,these processes as they are it tends to keep slipping intoa pastwhere the processes are reconstructed by an intervening reasoningmind. To be able to keep up with the natural processes the yogi needonly be mindful. This is not difficult to perform. The inirialrequirement is awareness. Be aware of the touch orsensation or mentalphenomenon. Then ward and watch this awareness with mindfulness.

When the awareness is guarded with mindfulness thoughts are lockedout, they cannot intrude. No opportunity is offered for the formationof concepts, images or ideas. Thereby the processes are got at directlyin the.very moment of occurrence, as they are in themselves withoutthe distortion of thought. This is true practice.

Thoughts always tend to intrude. ldeas and images stand justbeyond the threshold, ready to enter at the least weakening of mindful-ness. The only way to keep up with the processes, to be mindful ofthem, is to exercise vigilance through a rigour of effort. That is whyin a motto the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw said: "Be rigorously mindfulof the aWareness of touch." May I introduce here a brief biographyof the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw.

The Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw was so named because he camefrom the cave monasteries of Sunlun Village near Myingyan in middleBurma. He was born in '1878 and was named Maung Kyarv Din. He wassent to a monastery school but he did not learn much there. lt is saidthat he did not get even to the last verse of the Maha Mangala Suttawhich was taught in the lowest form at school. At the age of 15 heentered employment as an office boy in the districticommissioner'soffice at Myingyan. He married Ma Shwe Yi of the same village. At theage of thirty he resigned from his post and returned to this nativevillage to become a farmer. He found that I'bis fields prospered whileother fields failed. ln 191 9 there was an epidemic. U Kyaw Din's


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(e)fields were still prospering. There is a belief among Burmese villagepeople that if one's worldly possessions rose rapidly then one woulddie soon. Anxious because of his rising prooperity U Kyaw Dinconsulted an astrologer. He was told that a two-legged being wouldsoon leave his house. This was tantamount to sayinS that he woulddie. ln great fear U Kyaw Din decided to accomplish one great actof charity. He erected a pavilion in front of his house and invitedpeople to meals for three days. On the third day a mill clerk namedUBaSanturnedupuninvitedatthefeast.Hebegantoconverseaboutthe practice of vipassana. On hearing these words U Kyaw Din becamegreatly affected. He cotrld not sleep that night' He felt that he wantedto undertake the practice but was afraid to mention his wish becauseof his lack of knowledge of scriptural texts' The next day he askedU Ba San whether a man ignorant of the texts could undertake thepractice. U Ba San replied that the practice of vipassana did not iequiredoctrinal knowledge but only deep interest and assiduity' He told UKyaw Din to practice in-breathing and out-breathing' So from'Jhat day'whenever he could find the time U Kyaw Din would breathe in andbreathe out. One day he met a friend, U Shwe Loke, who told himthat breathing in and out alone was not sufficient; he also had to beaware of the touch of breath on nostril tip'U Kyaw Din practised awareness of the touch of breath' Thenas his practice became more intense he tried to be aware not onlyof the touch of breath but also of the touch of his hand on the' handleof the knife as he chopped corn cobs, the touch of rope on the handas he drew water, the touch of his feet on the ground as he walked'He tried to be aware of touch in everything he did' As he tendedhis cattle he would sit under a tree and practice mindfulness ofbreathing. During the practice he .began to see coloured lighs andgeometrical patterns. He did not know what they were but felt that,h.y *.r" the fruitsof practice' This greatly encouraged him and hebegan to practice more assiduously' With more intensive prictice'


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(10)sensations were sometimes intensely unpleasant. But they did not deterhim. He b'elieved that they were the fruit of the practice and that if hedesired to win greater fruit he wourd have to overcome and get beyondthem. Therefore he generated more energy and deveroped a morerigorous mindfulness untir he overcame the upreasant sensations andpassed beyond to the higher stages of the practice.

Endeavouring in this zealous manner U Kyaw Din attained thestage of sotapanna in mid-1920- The next month he won the secondstage of sakadagami. tn the third month he won the third stage ofanagami, the Non-Returner. Weary of motley wear he asked permissionof his wife to let him become a monk. After much resistance the wifeagreed. But even then she asked him to sow a final crop of peasbefore he left. U Kyaw Din set out for the fields. But even as he wasbroadcasting the seeds he felt the great urge to renounce the worrd.So setting his cattle free he put the yoke up against a treeand going to the village monastery he begged the monk there to accepthim as a novice in the order. He next betook himserf ro rhe cavesnearby and practised diligently until in october, 1920, heattained thefinal stage of the arahat. His achievement became known among themonks and many came to test him. Though he was a barery riterareman his answers satisfied even the most rearned monks. Very oftenthey disagreed with his repries but when his answers were checkedagainst the books they found many important passages in the canonto support his statements. Many learned monks from various partsof the country went to practice mindfulness under him, .and onevery learned monk, the Nyaunglun Sayadaw, also became an arahatafter in tense ilractice.

When Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw,s achievement became knownmany disting,ished persons visited and worshipped him. The VenerabreU Lokanatha, visited him and later declared: , I have visited Myingyanin Middle Burma and worshipped the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw. His


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. til,teachings and his replies to my many questions, his disposition anddeportment leave me with no doubt that he is truly what he is knownto be, that is, an arahat."

Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw performed the act of pananibbana in1952. His remains did not decompose but remained intact and exudeda most pleasant odour. To this day they may be seen and worshippedin Myingyan Town.

Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw was an intrinsically honest man,laconic and precise in speech, and possessed of great strength anddetermination. Photographs show him to be a sturdily built man.They reveal his steady gaze, clear eyes and firmly set jaws. Above all,one can see in these photographs that he possessed great daring, aquality which is a concomitant attribute of the true arahat.

"Be rigorously mindful," Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw said. Heemphasised rigorousness as an essential element because he understoodthe yogi. The yogi is much inclined to sit loosely and to meditate ina relaxed, leisurely way. He tends to be reflective and considerate.Reflective is in the sense of reflectingand thinking about the task to bedone rather than doing it. Considerate is in the sense of sympathisingwith himself, taking treat care to see that he is neither exerted norhurt. The yogi has a great love for hiinself and therefore prefers to lethis thoughts run away with him, to drift rather than to pull himselftogether. To pull himself together needs exertion and that is anathemato the yogi. That is why when he is told to breathe harder he is readyto quote chapter and verse to prove that he does not need to exerthimself. Perhaps he takes a few lines from the Vimuttimagga and says:"The yogi should not essay too strenously. lf he essays too strenuouslyhe will become restless."

This statement is true. The yogi who essays too strenuously wilibecome restless. But why does he become restless? lt is becauseinstead of being mindful of touch or sensation the yogi has his mindon the effort he is making, The effort should not be allowed to drawthe attention away from the object of meditation. To keep theattention on the obiect and yetio generate etfort thc yogi should first


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-(12l,instead of being mindful of touch or sensation the yogi has his minddn the effort he is making, The effort should not be allowed to drawthe attention away from the obiect of meditation. To keep theattention on the obiect and yet to generate effort the yogi should firstmake sure that the attention is fixed on the obiect. When the obiecthas been grasped with full awareness and this awareness guarded withmindfulness the yogi should step up the effort. When he proceedsin this manner he will find that the generated effort sprves to fix theattention more on the obiect- instead of distracting it away onto theeffort itself. Furthermore, a greater intentness of the mind has beendeveloped by the increased effort. I

The full text of the above quotation from the Vimuttimagga infact reads thus: "He, the yogi, should be mindful and should not letthe mind be distracted. He should not essay too strenuously nor toolaxly. lf he essays too laxly he will fall into rigidity and torpor. lfhe essays too strenuously he qill Qecome restless." This means thenthat the effort should be just dnougtr for the purpose of mindfulnessand knowledge. But how much is enough? I think it was WilliamBlake wlo said this: "One never knows what is enough until oneknows what is more than enough." And a measure of what is enoughmay perhaps be supplied by the words of Lord Buddha when he spokeon how a monk should endeavour. "Monks, if his turban or hair wereon fire he would make an intense desire, effort, endeavour, exertion,struggle, mindfulness and attentiveness to extinguish the fire. Evenso, an intense desirg effort, endeavour, exertion, struggle, mindfulnessand attentiveness is to be made by him so as to give up every eviland wrong state." Because he knew how much effort was required,because he wa5 familiar with the propensity to slackness on the partof the yogi the Sunlun-g.rkyaung Sayadaw instructed: "Be rigorouslymindfuTl' To be mindful rigorously is to mobilise all of one's resourcesand to grasp the processes as they are without thinking or reflecting.Rigourousness calls forth the element of viriya. lt is samma vayamo'right effort.


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(14)ln like manner, after a period of practice, when the yogi has

cleansed his mind somewhat, he will begin to experience a measureof calm and tranquility. Since he has never before experienced suchpeace of mind he thinks that this is the best fruit of the'practice.Because of this appreciation of the experience and because the calmand tranquility attained is attractive in itself the yogi begins to dwellin it, to savour the calmness to the full. He likes to sink in the senseof peace and hates to put forth the necessary effort to get back againonto the right path. Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw illustrated this witha local simile. Myingyan river beacir is a stretch of sand a mile wide.A traveller to the river finds the sand exceedingly hot beneath his feetunder the raging noonday sun. On the way he come5 to a tree. Hedecides to rest in its shade for a moment. But when that momenthas passed he finds that he cannot urge himself to get up to moveout of that cool shade into the heat which rages above and beneathhim. So he continues to dwell in the shade. But will this ever hetphim to reach the riverside? The destination can be reached only ifhe steps out again into the heat and urges his body forward. Thatis why the meditation masters wam the vipassana yogi not to lethimself be drawn by the minor calm and tranquility he finds alongthe way. There was once a yogi who habitually drifted into this areaof tranquility and would not budge out of it, The Sunlun-gukyaungSayadaw said of him: "This man keeps lifting up the tail and pattingthe behind of the little iguana he has caught.'r I hope the distinguishedyogis will not be satisfied with a mere iguana-

With a further increase in the clarity and purity of the mind theyogi sometimes becomes more perceptive to extrasensual things" lt isnot the true divine sight and divine hearing that he attains but it isa power somewhat similar to these. Because of this power the yogican see what others cannot see, he can hear what others cannot hear.People come to consult him and his predictions come true. He becomesa sort of shaman. Thus he has degenerated from a vipassana yogi


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(ls )to a shaman. But after some time, as the distractions of the newvocation grow more varied and the practice of meditation becomes lessintense the answers turn out to be less and less accurate' and graduallythe clients go away never to return. The yogi is left with an interruptedpractice.

Many are the occasions in which the yogi indulges in selfdecep-tion. Though he should practise intensively he deceives himself thatthe goal of liberation can be won in a leisurely manner' Though heshould sit still he deceives himself that a slight shift or movement cando no harm. Perhaps he is right for the initial crude moments of thepractice but for the peak in each phase of practice the smallest waveringof mindfulness can bring down the structure of meditation and theedifice will need to be set up again. since he can deceive hims.elf inthese matters of the body how much more can he do it in the subtlemental matters. A strong inclination for the yogi is to take the firstsigns of progress on the patlr to be signs indicating the higher stages'For instance unpleasant sensation can snap abruptly. For one momentthere is the intense unpleasantne;s of the sensation;the next moment ithas gone, snuffed out' and in its place there is a deep sense of calmand quiet. The yogi often likes to beiieve that this is maggaphala' thepost mental functioning of the enlightenment knowledge' And henotches for himself one stage of the four ariya stages'

This wrong assignment of the phases of practice can be mide alsobecause the meditation master himself is not thoroughly versed in suchmatters or because his instructions and the teachings in the books arenot understood well. However it is, the yogi likes to classify himselfas having attained at least one or lwo of the ariya stages' And withthis thought in mind he goes about seeking confirmation of his belief'And woe be the meditation master who, however gently and indirectly,rnakes his failings known to him' Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw wouldnevbr pass iudgement on anyone, whether or not that yogi had realty


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(16 )attained the said phase or stage. His only remark would be: "lf itis so,. it is so." ln any case, a true attainment would need noconfirmation from another source. The yogi would know it himself.Likewise a wrong sense of attainment would not need debunking; theyogi would realise it for himself.

The main. danger of this form of self-deception is the wrongsense of achievement that it would give to the yogi. Satisfied with whathe thinks has been his progress he might lay off the practice and thusbe stranded on the path without having gained any progress of realvalue.

There is one pet hate of the yogi, and that is unpleasantsensation. Let him face slight feelings,.of cramp, heat or musculartension and he will try to be mindful of it for some time. But give himthe pain within the marrow of the bone, the burning sensation, thesharp excruciating pain along the limbs and he will abandon them ina few minutes. As usual he is ready with his excusei and the quotationof chapter and verse. Who says one must employ unpleasant sensationas an object of meditation, he wants to know. Cannot a yogi attainwhatever is to be attained by working on pleasant sensation? Whosays one should suffer so much? ls this not self-mortification?

The answer is that if a yogi is so well blessed with parami to bea sukha-patipada, one who treads the pleasant path, one who cangain ariya knowledge without undergoing pain, then he can work onpleasant sensation. But for the overwhelming maiority of us, as maybe obsenred, there is no choice but to tread the path of unpleasantsensation, for we are dukkha-patipada.

Actually there should be no cause for regret. Unpleasantsensation is an efficacious oblect of meditation which takes the yogisteadily up the path to the attainment of the final goal. The very tactthat the yogi does not normally like unpleaiant sensation can be


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( tz 1employed by him to establish a deeper and more intense mindfulness-Made to work with an obiect he does not like, he will remember toarouse the necessary zeal to overcome the unpleasant sensation' lt isdifferent with pleasant sensation. Because he likes it he will tend tosink in it, to suffuse himself with its pleasantness without trying to bemindful of it. When he does that the greed and lust that is latent inpleasant sensation will overwhelm him. The yogi will not be able tohold on to sensation as sensation but sensation will carry him forwardto oriSinate the next link of desire'tanh4 in the chain leading tofurther births.

It is as though a swimmer in a strongcurrent were asked to graspthe bunch of flowers at the winning post. lf he is swimming with thecurrent and stretches out his hand to grasp the flowers and he misses,he witt be carried beyond the point by the force of the current. lfhe is swimming against the current and misses when stretching out hishand to grasp the flowers he will still be below them and will thushave an opportunity to try again consciously and deliberately. Theswimmer with the current is like the yogi who employs pleasant sensa-tion. lf he is unable to be mindful of pleasant sensation he will becarried beyond it into lobha(desire).The swimmer against the currentis like the yogi who employs unpleasant senation. lf he is unable to bemindful of unpleasant sensation as it is in itself he will still beconscious of it and will be able to summon up the energy andmindfulness to accomplish his mission.

Pleasant sensation is like a hidden enemy; it catches the yogiunawares- Unpleasant sensation is like a conspicuous foe; the yogican recognise it and take corrective action so that anger which islatent in unpleasant sensation does not get an opportunity to rise-Between natural dislike of unpleasant sensation and a zealous effortto establish mindfulness the yogi will neither immerse himself in itnor flinch from it. He will be able to detach himself completely from


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(18 )the unpleasant sensation, dwelling within the sensation, watching thesensation, withoqt thinking any thought connected with the sensation.Unpleasant sensation serves ;rs a firm hitch-post for the mind whichinclines to wander. An unpleasant sensation will never deceive theyogi about the true nature ofphenomena - unpleasantness (dukkha).

Also, there should be no cause for fear of unpleasant sensation.There are techniques to arouse a sufficient depth and intensity of mind-fulness to overcome the infliction and hurt of unpleasant sensation.This infliction is due to the identification of the yogi with the areaof pain and the effect of unpleasant sensation. But when mindfulnesshas been established sufficiently to penetrate the sensation andeliminate the identification with the notion of a personality, an '1",which can be hurt, tien unpleasant sensation becomes only anunpleasant sensation and no more a source of pain-

The ultimate purpose of meditation is to eliminate the illusivenotion of "l ". A yogi has to chip at the notion of "l " again and againin these struggles with unpleasant sensation. Let us say the unpleasantsensation rises. The yogi keeps mindful of it until the unpleasantsensation is consumed. Thereby, the cause is killed in the effect. He doesit again and again until with perfect proficiency he finally manages tokill the cause in the cause, to end the cause in the cause, anuppada-nirodha, so that it can never again give rise to an effect which will onlyturn out to be another cause in the endless chain. This killing of thecause in the cause is magga. And it is because of this quality of efficacyin eliminationg the false notion of "1", Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadawstated: "The uncomforuble truly is the norm; the comfortable wiliset you all adrift on the currents of samsara." Unpleasant sensation isthe yogi's internal enemy. Once the internal enemy can be overcomethe external sources of dukkha cannot touch him any more.

After a period of ardent practice there comes a moment whenthe true liberating knowledge is offered to the yogi. These moments


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(20)unwilling to sow the gbod seed; it is we who wish to gather the returnsbut who do not wish to lay down the investment. We wish to talkourselves to a goal which can only be reached by high endeavour;we wish to deceive ourselves into a situation which will permit theentry of only the perfectly truthful.

Does this mean then that the goal will forever be beyond ourreach? That is not so. Where Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw has troddenwe too can tread. we need only to follow his instructions faithfully.Sunlun-gu kyau ng Sayadaw instructed us:

"Be rigorously mindful of the awareness of touch.',We should be rigorously, ardently, intensively mindful."Do not rbst when tired, scratch when itched, nor shift whencramped."We should keep our bodies and minds absolutely still and strivetill the end."The uncomfortable truly is the norm: the confortable will setus all adrift on the currents of samsara.',We should penetrate unpleasant sensation; only he who haspenetrated sensation will see processes as they are.We should generate a willing suspension of disbelief,.exetr thatextra ounce of effort, and be rigorously mindful. Have saddha, ririr.rand sati to purify ourselves, to overcome pain and grief, to reach rheright path, to win Nibbana.


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CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF A RIGHTMETHOD OF MEDITATION"This is the only way for the purification of beings, for the over-

coming of sorrow and misery, for the destruction of pain and grieffor reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana." GautamaBuddha was referring in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta to the way tomindfulness-mindfulness of body, sensation, consciousness, and mentalelements. Ir4indfulness is the high road but access to it is claimed bymany by-ways. Various methods are offered as means to the successfulestablishment of mindfulness. The Maha Satipatthana Sutta itself con-tains many methods and exercises. For the establishment of mindful-ness of body there are exercises in mindfulness of breathing, thepostures of the body, the material elements, and cemetery contempla-tions. For mindfulness of sensation there are pleasant sensation'unpleasant sensation and neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant sensation.For mindfulness of consciousness there are enumerated sixteen types ofconsciousness. The five hindrances, the five aggregates of clinging, thesix internal and six external sense-bases, the seven factors of enlighten-ment and the four noble truths are the mental elements on which mind-fulness can be develoPed.

Presently in this courrtr.v Sunlun, Thathanayeiktha, Hanthawaddy,Mingun, Mohnyin, Nyanasagi, and other schools of mecjitation offermany modes of practice. Nlindfulness is to be established throughrigorous awareness of touch and sensation, or by mental noting of themovemenI of the abdomen on respiration, or movement of the limbsand body in various postures, or watching whatever phenomenonarises within the body, or seeing in the seen only what is seen, andby various other means. There arises this question: how can theprospecitive meditator faced with this bewildering choice of methodsselect the right one? 'Right' is used here to mean the undoubted power,proved in practice, which enables the meditator to attain here andnow the results set out in the preamble to the Maha SatipatthanaSutta. This article will propose a set of criteria to help the meditatorselect that right method.


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{22)ln general the criteria are only two: the method must be

appropriate to the age and timq and must also be suitable to the manliving now. This age is not comparable to that which flowered twothousand and five hundred years ago. That was an age which bloomsbut once in a myriad years. Gautama Buddha was alive then and many aman was rewarded with the opportunity to meet in person withGautama Buddha or one of the chief disciples. And as a result of suchconfrontation, that man could easily and quickly gain knowledge andinsight leading to Nibbana. That was an age of high endeavour andimmediate liberation. That was an age of such men and women asShin Sariputra, Maha Moggalana, Maha Kassap4 Bahiya Daruciriy4Santati and Dhammadinna, great prsons who possessed quickunderstanding. That was an age when a man could pass unhinderedthrough a wall or mountain, could plunge into the earth and shoot upagain, could walk upon the water without parting it, or could travelthrough the air like bird upon the wing. A technique suitable to thatage may not be suitable to this age; a method suitable to those menmay not be appropriate to the men of these times. Thus, the criteriafor the method should be that it ought to be appropriate to this age andto man living now. This set of criteria is too general, however, and forit to be operationally useful it should be more specific. To arriveat the specific, consideration should first be given to the requirementswhich they should meet. This will entail a study of the e(aracteristicsof the age and man.

This is an age of symbols, concepts and forms, of abstractionand intellectualisation. Every age is one of symbols and forms; thisis because the mundane world is lived amidst symbols and forms.Symbols, verbal and non-verbal, are used for communication; formsare all around in the shape and pattern of things and in their imageswhich are retained in men's minds. But the exigencies of this agerequire a more deliberate and deeper use of them. The necessity ofbringing together an expanding world, the need to understand each


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(23\other more, and the increasing facilities provided for communicationhave made symbols impress themselves deeper in man's minds. Grow-ing art-forms, and techniques and apparatus of mass media have placedforms and shapes more and more before men today. There is theincreasing volume of exercises in conceptualisation, abstraction andintellectualisation brought about by the growth of both the physicaland social sciences, increased literacy, and a taste for sophistication inintellectual matters. The need for regulating and administering acomplex society has also increased the call on abstraction and theworkings of the intellect. The peasant and worker too have grownfond of the exercise of intellectualisation. Previous ages too havq hadlheir share of abstraction and intellectualisation but never before hasthis habit spread so far and deep into all sections of society.

This age is against any repression of physical urges or mentalimpulses. lt is for their full use and expression because it fears thatany control of these might lead to traumas and other psychologicalimbalances. lt goes further even to the extent of stimulating thesedrives through advertising and hidden persuasion. And it claims thatit can provide the material objects and the wherewithal for thegratification of any sense desires that it may have stimulated. This isa sensual age which delights in its sensuality and its pride is its abilityto satisfo in an increasing degree the demands of the senses. All this iscalled good living with a peculiar connotation attributed to the word'good'. This heightened sensuality is more extensive than at any othertime in history.

The pace of living is fast and a man is under pressure to runincreasingly faster even if only to keep from falling behind the times-He is subjected to great strain and kept under heavy stress whether atwork or at play, in the office or at home. Physical wear and tear isexcessive, the load on the mind is sometimes unbearable leading tomental disturbances. This is the age of the psychopath and theneu rotic.


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(24 \The noise is appalling. The sound of engines for transport or

manufacture, instruments for shaping and fashioning, apparatus foramplifying the voice or music, penetrate into almost every nook,and the urge to use these noisy instruments seems to have spread toall hours of the day and night. lt is probably very difficult now togetany distance away from the maddening crowd. And the most disturbingof all these noises is the sound of man's own mental chatter, thecom-motion sreated in the mind of man by his agitated thoughts, unsatisfieddesires, unappeased anger and unresolved doubts.

The man of this age wishes to escape from these artifacts of hismaking and from these aspects of himself. But the escape he seeksis not true liberation. He is too much attached to his things and tohimself to really want that. He desires escape only into a cocoon fromwhich he can emerge again to enioy, although always unsatisfactorily,the material or intellectual objects of his fashioning and the idea and*-;i[':t;,

roo. He does nor wish to exert himserr. He wantstheobiectsof his desire to arrive before him by the push of a button.He demands faciliry and speeci. All his endeavours are directed towarcisthis end-to get what he wants in a capsule. This is a pillswallowingworld. And since he is lazy he dislikes mental discipline. As EdwardConze has pointed out, modern individualism, the pretences ofdemocracy, and the current methods of education have combined toproduce a deep-rooted dislike of mental discipline. This shows itselfin an aversion to m'emorise the salient points of theory which arerequired by various rneditations, not to mention the numerical listswhich often are the very backbone of some of the training.

Modern man does not care too much for the total retiremcnt ofa monastic life in which the meditative exercises can be pursuedregularly without intermission. He has many worldly duties toperform and thus would prefer a method which would enable him to


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,(2s)carry it out in coniunction with those otherr duties. Also, the call ofthose duties does not leave him with much time for the practice ofmeditation. He has too much to do and is unable to get away often forlong spells of leave from his profession. Each day he can provideperhaps only an hour at the most. Modern man is chronically shortof time.

His chief characteristic is hio lack of a quick intuition' ShinSariputra and Bahiya Daruciriya were men of quick intuition whoattained insight on hearing the utterance of a verse of dhamma'Modern man, on the other hand, has to cultivate again and again,many many times, his mental powers before he can reach that stagewhen he is ready for the flash of insight. Modern man is of sluggishintuition.

These are the charactersitics of the age and the man' Any methodof meditation should be able to accommodate these characteristicsif it is to be appropriate to the age and to lead modern man to mindful-ness and insight. lt should enable him to overcome his weaknesses,strengthen his purposes, sublimate his wrong urges, and develop andmobilise his inherent resources for the winning of magga-nana. onlysuch a method may be called right, for only such a method will putman on the right path and finally convey him to complete liberation.since this is so, what should be the specific characteristics of thisright method?

lnsight (vipassana) is the elimination of concePts (pannati) topenetrate to the real (pararnattha) for the winning of knowledge(panna). Therefore the characteristic of the right chief methodshould be its power to gain immediate and direct access to the real'Without thir power of immediate penetration to the real a man mightend in wandering about the surface.realm of form, piling concept uponconcept, while ostensibly pointing to the real' For instance, whentouch arises he should be able to grasp the bare fact of touch without


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(26],any need for formulating the concept, "touch, touch.,,He should beaware of the precise moment of the occurrence of touch-sensationand his mindfulness should be contemporaneous with it. These threeevents should happen simultaneously-touch, awareness, mindfulness.Reality is to be grasped in the actual moment of occurrence. tfmindfulness cannot be awakened to take place simultaneously withthe moment of occurrence because of any intereference whatsoeverthan reality would have.died away, subsided in the interim and anycplsciousness of that past event would be only the result of a glancingback at it,ian ,after thought. lf the bare fact of touch is not graspedmindfully in th6 precise moment of happening because the concep!"!ouch, touch;', has to be formed, however ,riifrly, then during thatmoment of conceptualisation the touch-event would have occurred andended and whatever else is grasped later can be only a memory, amentally created image of the touch, a replica of the real. The firstrequired characteristic of the method then would be its power to graspbare reality as it is, in the precisd present, moment, without disturbingit, without conceptualising it.

The method should be able to overcome wholly the attraction ofthe sensual oblects and the force of the urge for sense gratification.This is necessary if it is to draw the attention of the meditator com-pletely away from the sensijal objects and fix it on the object ofmindfulness; this is also to cleanse the mind thorougly of any lingeringsensuality.

, A.ny.division of the direction of attention between a sensualgbject and the obiect of mindfulness would resulr in rhe creation of adisturbance, the passing of the present moment, and consequent loss ofpower to penetrate to the real. A mind with even the least tinge ofsensuality would find that the sensuality keeps coming in between itand the real. like a glove between the hand and a i-ose petal. The real cannever be grasped unless there is a full commitment to it. Since the


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{27 \force of attraction and the power of the sensual urge are great, themethod calls for a powerful thrust- Thisrmay be compared to thethrust of a.boosrer engine which carries a rocket beyond the pointof escape from the gravitational pull of the earth. ln other words,it should be an intense method.

It should not impose a nervous strain upon the meditator' Duringthe course of practice psychological turbulerices may occur' 'Themethod should be able to quieten, curb, eliminate them, or if they areto be worked out and consumed, the working out should take placeduring the period of meditation without undue adverse effect uponthe process and without any bodiiy or mental harm to the meditator.It should bc a method which does not disqualify the sick, the feebleand the maimed. lt should enable them to practise it as comPletelyand perfectly as it is practised by the well, the stron& and the able-bodied. The right merhod should lead to mental and physical health,not neurosis and illness; it should lead to clear knowledge, notimbalance. lt should be able to accomplish this because of the perfectestablishment of curative mindfulness and.complete penetration to thehealth giving real.

The method should be able to raise high the threshold whichnoise must pass over to distract the meditator. ltshould enable him topractise in the normal noise of the home, or even while a sound truckgoes blaring down the street. He effects this not by the practice ofa method which creates a sound noisier than the original distractivesound. True, it is possible for a method which reguires strong, hardrespiration to protecthim in an envelope of sound of his own breathingbut its efficacy could be limited by sounds which are louder than thenoise of breathing. Moreover, this protection by a wall of sound shouldnot be rhe purpose though it might well be an incidental gffect. strongrespiration should be called forth primarily to awaken energetic andintensive application of mindfulness. The obiect of meditation should


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(28)be capable of fully absorbing the attention of the tneditator so that nonoise can distract him, and thi method should quickly develop theconcentrative power of the mind. Only in this manner can noise beovercome.

To overcome the laziness of modem man a right method ofmeditation should be self-energising. The very pnrcticeshould generateearnestness in whoever begins to undertake it so that ardour isdeveloped continually and increasingly till the moment comes whenoriginal laziness is eliminated. lt should produce rapid and definiteprogress so that his interest is aroused and he feels a keen desire topersevere in the practice. lt should be so absorbing and generative ofzeal that the taking of the first few steps will create the momentum tocarry him through to the end.

A right method should nlt .equire the prior memorising of aseries of formulae or a numerical list of items or the mastery of anelaborate theory. lt should not qall for book learning and academicqualification. Discursive knowledge of scriptual texts and philosophiesmay well aid the meditator after the event of meditation when hewishes to conceptualise the knowledge of the real he has won in thecourse of meditation, but, coming before the event, such theoreticalstudies tend to get in the way of the meditator who has to throw asideconcepts and discursive, conventional knowledge to get through to thereal. He should not be required to perform intellectual callisthenics.lf modern man were asked to meet these theological and academicgualificalions, few, except scholastics and theoreticians would be quali-fied to meditate. Modern man is educated in his profession but notin these subiects.

Between a method which is intensive and productive of quickresults and another which is relaxed and slow to bear fruit, the fomerwill be more suited to modern man who has not much time to spare formeditation. A man may be able to spare a week or a month perhaps


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(2e)away lrom his profession, lf ardour is not stirred up quickly, normindfulness developed, and the real not penetrated, he might wellfind atthe end of his given period that irrevocable progress has not been madeand tlte momentum produced by him would be lost while he attends tohis worldly duties. The next time he can spare another week or monthhe might have to generate the required powers afresh with these to belost again without real transformation of the man. But if he striveseamestly because the method is intensive then he can win withinthat period that which he has set out to win, or can at a minimumestablish a way of approach'so that in the next period his progressis facilitated and the transformation takes place.

The method should be one which could ordinarily be pract'ised inconjunction with the performance of other duties. But this shouldbe made clear. ln a sense, no method of meditation leading to insightis compatible with the worldly life. The purpose of the practice isto seek liberation from the rounds of rebirth and to loosen the holdupon life. Any act which strengthens that grasp is detrimental to thepractice. lf a man seeks to continue to perform his worldly dutiesas well as to be liberated there will be conflict of purposes and theacts directed towards the realisation of one goal will stultify thoseacts directed towards the winning of the other goal. But this doesnot mean that a man should not, could no! or would not continue toperform those worldly duties, and perform them well, until he isliberated. He is a worldling trying to enter the 'stteam': he will continueto be in the lay world, living the life of a worldling until he becomesa 'stream-winner'. Even the life and practice leading to the state ofsakadagami are compatible with the performance of worldly duties.It is only when he has attained the third state, the anagami, doe: heabandon the common world. Thus a method which employs the senseof touch could be practised along with other duties' At no momentof the day or night will a man's body not be in touch with an obiect.lf he is sitting his body will touch the chair. lf he is lying his head


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(30)will touch the-pillow. lf he is working his hands will touch the tool.lf he can be mindful of touch of body against chair, of head againstpillow'or of tool against hand he will be guarding his mind anddeveloping somewhat his power to penetrat into the real. This relaxedpractice however can only be a supplement to the more intensiveprimary practice which he undertakes in order to break through thebonds of rebirth.

Modern man with this sluggish intuition requires initially a crudeobject of meditation. Of the four obiects, body, sensation, cpnscious-nesi,..and mental elements the former two-body and sensation-arecrude while the latter two are refined and subtle. A man with sluggishintuition should attempt to develop his concentrative power and mind-fulness on those two crude ob.iects. Later and consequentially as hismind becomes cleansed, firm and srviceable he will be able to graspconsciousness and mental elements as they arise in accord with theirown nature during the course of meditation. Still, every time hewishes to practise mindfulness of consciousness and mental elementshe will have to pass through the stations of touch and sensation tillhis mind is thoroughly cleansed, made firm and serviceable. Onlyas an anagami perhaps he may not need to do this.

A right method of meditation should not be in confusionbetween means and ends, or between cause and effect. For instance,in order to see in the seen only what is seen a man should not be askedjust to gaze upon the obfect and force or persuade himself to see in itbnly the seen; this is the way of autosuggestion. Heshould be asked topefform that causative ait which will give effect to seeing in the seenonly what is seen. He should be made to work from cause to effecLlf he should work upon the effect the result will be a shifting awayfrom the effect desired to another effect of which the desired effect isthe related cause. This is slipping away from the present to anunwanted, unprofitable future and the further turning of the wheel ofrebirth.


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{31 )Finally, a right method of meditation should lead to trueliberation and not just escape. There are many ways of gainingpsychological escape, ways which may be therapeutic or neurotic;

these take place on the common level of living without any develop-ment of the powers of the mind. There are also the ways of escapeoffered by methods which:result in tranquility; these are the ways ofjhana. The dross of sensuality is removed, anger is pacified, agitation isstilled, the mind quietened, and ioy and bliss realised. There isdevelopment of the mind but the results are temporal and temporary.They take blace within the thirty-one worlds and the reward isconsumed when the force of the original causative act is spent. Trueliberation is won only thiough knowledge of the real attained in tltemoment of supramundane insighl Only true liberation is bothtranscendental and permanenl

Summing up, a right method of meditation should possess thefol I owin g characteristics :(1) Penerating immediately and directly to the real;(2) Overcoming the urge for sense gratification;(3) Promoting bodily and mental health;(4) Raising the.threstrold for noise;(5) Self-energising;(6) Not requiring discunive knowledge;(7) Productive of quick rezults;{8) Capable of being practised in conjunction with other duties;{9) Suitable for thc sluggish intuition;(tO) Oistinguishing between ineans and ends; and.

(11) Leading to true liberation.


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THE SUNLUN WAY OF MINDFULNESSln this age, the obiects of desire and aversion impinge upon the

senses with increasing force and growing variety. There is a greaterurge and opportunity for the gratification of the senses. Theaccelerating pace of living and the increasing pressure creates stresssleading to, anxiety and neurosis. City life is becoming noisier andnoise is a thorn in the flesh of jhana. At the same time the peopledo not have enough leisure for a long and sustained practice of anyway of mindfulness. The result is an increasing diversion of theattention and diffusion of mental powers with less and less time evenfor minimum corrective action. To cap it all, people who are bom inthese latter days of the Euddha dispensation are of sluggish intuitionrather than of quick intuition. Therefore there is an urgent need for away of mindfulness which takes into account the growing urges andcommodities for sense-gratification, increasing noise and distraction,lack of time and the meditator's own sluggish intuition.

Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw's way of mindfulness provides atechnique to quickly overcome sloth and desires of the senses. lt raisesthe threshold over which noise and distraction must pass to divert theattention of the meditator. For the man of sluggish intuition it providesan amazingly sure and rapid method for the complete and perfectestablishment of the four foundations of mindfulness. lt is not amethod fashioned out of the elements available in the books. lt is amethod forged in the struggle against self-love and ignorance. Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw was a barely literate man and was thus blessedby not being sicklied with the pale cast of thought. With earnestnesScourage and perseverance he became an arahat in 1920. SunlunshinU Vinaya has made the technique available to the city man who iswithout the overwhelming courage and perseverance of the Sunlun-gukyaung Sayadaw. What follows is a very brief sketch of the method.Posture

Assume a meditative posture wlrich can be maintained for some


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(33)time without change. Do not lie in bed nor recline in a chair. Theposture should be one which Will permit the gathering together andassumption of all of one's resources. The posture should be onedesigned for hard work and not relaxation. A suitable posture is to sitwith legs crossed. The back should be siraight. The arms should beheld close against the side of the bod|. The right fist should be held inthe left hand. This is to facilitate the clenching of the fist as themeditator summons his strength to combat unpleasant sensation whichmay arise later. Do not mesh the fingers of the hands nor hold themlightly with each thumb against the other. Let the head be slightlybowed. Do not sit loosely. Assume a tiSht posture where the bodyprovides a firm base, its circuit is closed and the meditator is alert.

Select a spot where the meditation session can be concludedwithout disturbance. lt is better to selecl a quiet place out of the windbut that is not essential. Meditation may be done individually or in agroup. No elaborate preparation of the place is required nor shouldit be made a ritual.There are no set periods for meditation. Time should be arrangedto suit the meditator's convenience. But he should take care that themeditation hour or two is not sacrificed to some other purpose.

Western books suggest that the beginner should start with a sessionof two or three minutes a day, the period to be gradually extended.Sunlun's experience is that an intensive initial session of an hour orso produces more beneficial results. A normal session should not beless than an hour or two. Those practising intensively sit through thewhole day or night.

After the posture has been selected and assumed it should not bechanged or altered in any way. lt will have to !e kept up till the endof the session. Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw has said: "lf cramped don'tmove, if itchy don't scratch, if fatigued don't resL"


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(3s)inhalation and exhalation. When these two are balanced then thetouch will be contihuous like the touch of saw against wood whichsimile is mentioned in the Pali Texts. when they are balanced themeditator will have reached the stage of smooth, effortless, self'compel led rhythmic breathing.

Breathe without shaking the head and body. This will obtainconcentration quickly. lf the meditator practises this exercise not somuch for its vipassana rewards but for health, then he may breathewith a shaking motion of the head and body.

Fatigue may set in at the early stages of strong, hard, rapidbreathing but he strould neither stop nor reduce the strength andrapidity of breathing. "Don't rest when fatigued," said theSunlungukyaung Sayadaw. The fatigue is probably due to eitherinsufficient strength of inhalation or to excessive blowing onexhalation. The remedy is to increase the strength of inhalation' Wheninhalation and exhalation strengths are balanced at a high level thefatigue will disappear. He will then have broken out of the zone ofdifficult breathing into the zone of smooth, effortless, self-compelledrhythmic breathing. Attention can than be addressed wholly tomindfulness of touch of breath. There are three levels ofbreathing-high (very stronS, hard, rapid, breathing); medium (strong,hard, rapid); low (weak, soft, slow breathing; the common way ofbreathing). Since man is not a machine he will flag and falter sometime. lt is necessary to reach the high level early so that later whenthe pace falls the meditator will reach the balanced medium levelof respiration and be able to maintain it.

Do not alter the posture when tired, nor scratch an itch' Theremedy here again is stronger, firmer, more rapid inhalation andbalanced exhalation.

Be mindful of touch of breath upon nostril tip or upper lip' Donot follow the breath-body nor keep the mind on the top of the head,

nose, the movement of the abdomen or the solar plexus'


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(36)'t:, , Do not present the time for breathing. On .firm, rapid breathing,unpleasant ,'sensations' will rise withiri oneself- These unpleasantsensations may assume the forms of pain, cramp, ache, numbness, heator cord or some other sensation. continue the breathing until there is asufficient magnitude of unpreasant sensation for the next stage of theprryjice of m.indfulness. rt sometimes happens that about a third of-thJunpleasant sensation subsides *trn rn" ir"u;;;;;;;;;;;.';;thgu.ld be taken inro accounr. when the meditator r.".t, ;ilil;"';;arisen sufficient sensation he may stbp the strong respiration. Here,sensation is the clock to time the period of respiration. Alternatively,he may preset the time for breathing, say thraiquarters of an houior an hour and have an arrangement for: intimation of the cornpletionof that period. But this is not as proper as the first method.

When it is about time to stop strong respiration, fifty or ahundred srrokes of breath should be made, this time with all thestrength at his command. Meanwhile, mindfuiness of touch of breathshould be relentress- Then respiration shourd be stopped suddenry onthe inhaled breath and collecting one,s self together, the "h"l; ;;;should be watched internally.Sensation

Respiration should b stopped completelt and suddenly oninhaled breath. The body should be stilled, gathered together andwatched rigorously. Sensations of pain, cramp, rche,.numbnes, heat,orcord.'wourd have ar:isen in the body. Be mindfur of the mostpronounced sensation.. Do not let it go. Do not switch the attention tothe navel, the solar plexus nor any other region. lt is natural for thetftt f.191ounqed sensation to demand one's attention. Turning to theother regions which do not have the most pronounced sensatioi makesone lose grasp of the immediate present."lt th9 sgqsation is weak know the fact of its weakness. rf thesensation is'stiong know the fact of ;r, ,tr"nJ,J;';;;;r;,;;:


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(37)gukyaung Sayadaw. Know neither less nor more. Know it only as it is.Know whatever arises; in the bare fact of its arising. Be mindful of justthis. Let no thoughts of "me'l and "mine" interfere. Do not think thatthis is one's foot or one's body or one's hand. Do not reflect that thisis rupa and this nama. Do not considerrthat this is anicca, this dukkhaand this anatta. All thinking, reflection and consideration areconceptual; they are not vipassana.

Sunlun makes direct, immediate contact with reality. f t cannotafford the time and effort required first to build a conceptual bridgeto approach reality. Confronted with the elephant of its search it doesnot follow the footprins backwards and then retrace them again to theelephant. When there arises an ache it immediately catthes hold ofthat fact of the ache; it does not formulate the concept "aching'aching" and then return to the fact of the ache. Therefore it tells themeditator: avoid namecalling; do not conceptualise reality'

Neither reach towards the sensation nor reach after iL Be mindfulof the sensation in tlre immediacy of its arising or vanishing which isin the present time, the now. ln the struggle with unpleasantsensationwhich may rage with extreme force and virulence the meditator takescare that he does not reach beyond the sensation. This is to say thatthe effort exerted should not exceed that which is necessary tomaintain firm attention. When there is an gxcess of energy it were asthough thd meditator had placed his effort before the unpleasantsensation with the result that the attention slips from the unpleasantsensation and there remains in the consciousness of the meditator,only the violence of his effort. This violence is none other than patigh4anger. And anger is one of the forces which turn the wheel of samsara-

The meditator takes care on the other hand that he does not fallshort of the sensation. This is to say that the effort exerted shottldnot fall short of that which is necessary to maintain firm attention.When the effort is inadequate, the mediator slips back into torpor and


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(38)sloth or is overwhelmed by the unpleasant sensation if the sensationis intense. severe unpleasant sensation which is not held with mindful-ness gives rise to fear, anxiety, anger which are all aspects of patighaand constitute a force which turns.the wheel of samsara. Torpor andsloth lare the basis of ignorance, yet another force which conditionsbirth'in samsara.

Therefore, the meditator takes Ereat care not to reach beyondnor fall short of the sensation. He exerts that foreceful and vigilantattention necessary for knowledge and mindfulness. The arising ofthe attention is made to take place simultaneously with the rising ofthe sensation. lf the attention arises before the sensation it reachesbeyond the sensation.lf it arises after the sensation it falls shortof thesensation. when the attention arises before sensation there'is nosensation to be aware of. when the attention arises after the sensationit is too late for mindful awareness. The reality has slipped away.However'immediate may be the reaction of the attention to the arisingof the sensation it is belated because it is a reaction whereas it oughtto be an independent action. The time relation of attention to sensationshould. not be one of future or past but of the simple immediatepresent. And t}is is realised when instead of being passively attentive tothe arising of the sensation and to its disintegrating future, themeditator tends actively to perceive the very birth of the sensation.It is important to collect together the sensation. lf sensationsarise simultaneously in tie head, the arms, the body and the legs andthe meditator's mind should run helter*kelter after them there will beno mindfulness of them right here and now, vipassana will not bepractised and the only result will be personal distress and suffering. To

avoid this, there should be mindfulness of the most pronouncedsensation. Vigorous awareness of it should be aroused and thisawareness vigilaqtly watched by mindfulness. The meditator should beable to penetra.te into thb sensation to realise its nature. Effort is


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(3e)required to do this. The simile is of a nail being driven into wood' Thewood is sensation, the nail is the mind, the finger which holds the

nailstraight is mindfulness and the hammer is effort'

When the mind has penetrated into the sensation the meditatorwill no longer feel the form of his fobt, or arm or body; he will nolongerfeelthat..|''amsuffering.Theseconceptualnotions.willbereplaced by a simple, clear awareness of sensation alone' And becausethe idea of an "l" which suffers has been removed the meditator

willnotfeelthediscomfortoftheunpleasantsensation'Thesensation'*nt"n " few moments ago was felt as pain or burning, will now be feltiy tt. meditator only as an intense sensation without the element ofinfliction.

Of the three sensations, unpleasant, pleasant and neutral the lastis most subtle and not normally suitable

for ordinary people as aninitialobimtfortheestablishmentofmindfulness.Whenitarisesinthesucceeding stages of development the meditator will have to be mindfulof i, ", it*arises and when it arises' But by then the meditator shouldhave developed the power to grasp subtle neutral sensation'

ln pleasant sensation there lies latent lobha' When the meditatorcoms up against pleasant sensation he likes it since he has always likedit throughout samsara. Because of this he is unable to keep hisawareness of pleasant sensation as it is in the here and now' Latentlobha rears its head and then overwhelms him' He is unable to holdOn to sensation as sensation; sensation moves forward to originate thethirst of tanha (desire).

ln unpleasant sensation there lies latent anger' When themeditator comes up against unpleasant sensation he does not like itsince he has never liked unpleasant sengtion throughout sa'nsara'However, since the object of the practice is to endeavour to be mindfulof ttie sensation, the meditator can summon up zeal and try to bemindful of unpleasant sensation as it arises in the here and now'


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( 4olIt is as though a swimmer in a strongcurrent were asked to grasp

the bunch of flowers at tie winning p6L-lf he is swimming with thecurrent stretches out his hand to grasp the flowers'and misses, hewill be carried beyond the point by the force of the current. lf he isswimming against the current and misses when stretching out tograsp the flowers, he will still be below them and will thus have anopportunity to try again. The swimmer with the current is like themeditator who emproys preasant sensation as an object of meditation.lf he is unable to be mindfur of preasant sensation as it is, he wilr becarried beyond it into robha. The swimmer against the current. is rikethe meditator who employs unpleasant sensation as an object; if he isunable to be mindful of unpleasant sensation as it is, he will still beable to summon up energy and mindfulness to accomplish his mission.Pleasant sensation is rike a hidden enemy; it catches the meditator

unawares. Unpleasant sensation is like a conspicuous foe; the meditatorcan recognise it for what it is and take corrective action should latentanger rear its head. There will be no danager of the meditatorimmersing himself in unpleasant sensation as he might, should heattempt to be aware of pleasant sensation. Between natural dislike ofunpleasant sensation and a z-ealous effort to be mindful of it themeditator will neither immerse himself in it nor flinch from it. He willbe able to detach himserf compretery from the unpleasant senation,dwelling within the sensation, watching the sensation, without thinkingany thought connected with the sensation. Unpleasant sensationserves as a firm hitch-post for the mind which inclines to wander.An unpleasant sensation will never deceive the meditator about thetrue nature of reality-its unpleasantness, dukkha.This may not apply to people with quick intuitions but for mostpeople who are born in these lafter days of the Buddha dispensationand possess a sluggish. intuition,the encounter with unpleasant sensationis inevitable. And if, when the meditator comes up against unpleasant


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. (41 )sensation and he is unable to overcome it, he will soon develop into ameditator with his vipassana back broken or he will be tossed androlled by it like a plum in a wicker tray. Unpleasant sensation is thegreatest ob,stacle on the road of vipassana. Only when the meditatoris able to overcome that ob,stacle can he forge forward to attain therewards beyond irnpleasant sensation.

And it is possible to overcome unpleasant sensation. Sinceunpleasant sensation too is subject to the law of impermanance it mustcome to an end some time. This end can occur in various ways- ltsintensity can subside; .but dris would not be a true ending. Somemeasure of unpleasant sensation would remain. The real overcomingof unpleasant sensation takes place when the meditator dwells in thesnsation, watching the sensation without thinking any thoughtconnected with the sensation, and it is consumed, it ends, it snaps, it isshed, or extinguished. lt is said to be consumed when it graduallysubsides till there is no remainder. lt ends when the meditatorfollowsit till there is no'more of it like a road followed to the end, like alength of string felt along the whole length till nomore is felt. ltsnapswhen it breaks off suddenly as when a taut rope is snapped. lt is shedlike the skin of a snake. lt is extinguished like a light which has usedup its oil and wick.

Pain is unpleasang ache is unpleasant, heat is unpleasant, cold isunpleasani. Within the unpleasantness of all these,there is an element ofdiscomfort. lt is this eJement of diromfort which is the basis of allcomposite things. The meditator who feels fatigue in his limbs andwishes to alter his position or whose mind being confined to the narrowpoint of touch wiihes tq be let loose among sensual objects, desiresescape from the discomfort of his posture and confined mind. But howcan one attain mrgga-nana and escape from samsara by hankeringafter the delights and comforB of the senses? 'iThe uncomfortable trulyis the nonn; the cornforable will set you all adrift on the current of


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( 42\samsara," said Sunlungukyaung Sayadaw. He was referring to theefficacy of dukka to overcome dukka.

How should one be mindful of unpleasant sensation in order tocomsume it, end it, snap it, shed it, extinguish it? The only answer isthat the meditator should be rigorously mindful of unpleasant sensationas it arises, when it arises, in the here and now. But h'ow does one holdthe mind steadfast which finches from unpleasant sensation? Howdoes qne catch unpleasant sensation in the very moment of its arisingin the very manner of its arising? How can one successfully accomplishmindfulness of unpleasant sensation in the here and now? Themeditator knows what is to be done but how does he accomplishit in the face of uncomfortable, unliked unpleasant sensation? Theseare important questions and success or failure in meditation dependsupon the answers.

Usually the meditator is told what he should be but not how heshould become. He is usually given a picture of what he should be atthe end state of his development. He is not told what he should doto initiate that development and how to carry it forward till the goal isreached. For instance, he is told to eliminate the notion of "l"and bedetached but how that notion is to be eliminated or how he is to becomedetached is not enunciated. To make it more tragic, the end and meansare often confused and it is not realised that a statement of ends is initself insufficient and that the means to attain those ends should alsobe provided. lt is most encouraging for the common meditator thatSunlun offers a practical solution to the problem, that it offers precisemethods and a modus operandi.

ln being mindful of unpleasant sensation,collect the body andmind together and keep both perfectly still. Watch the unpleasantsensation with bated breath. Hold the breath as long as the meditatorcan normally hold it. This is not an exercise in breath retention. lt isjust the noraml practice effected in carrying out the common duties of


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(43 )life. Whenever something i3.done with great attention the breath isnaturally held back. -For example, in putting a thread through aneedle hole,, the operator normally holds his breath till the task isaccomplished. ln like manner, the meditator should watch unpleasantsensation with-bated breath..This will enable him to exercise greaterawarness.and more rigorous m indfulness.

lf the ,un.rleasant sensation is too intense for proper attentionwith bated breath the meditator should stiffen himself against it. Hetenses his whole body against the sensation to support the work of themind. He holds his arms tighter against the sides of hisbody, hecloseshis fists, he stiffens his neck, and clenches his teetlr.'He puts forthenrgy as he would in a physical struggle against a strong opponenlAll the time he keeps rigorously mindful of the sensation.

lf the unpleasant sensation is excruciating and cannot beovercome by endeavour with bated breath and tensed body, themeditator should brace his mind against it. Just as in breathinghe hadrespired strongly and firmly, so also in applying his mind to unpleasantsensation he should do it strongly and firmly.

lf with all these the meditator is unable to be rigorously mindfulof unpleasant sensation to its final consumption, its end, its snapping,its shedding and its extinguishing, then he should pit the resources ofhis breath, his body and his mind against the sensation.With batedbreath, tensed body and fortified mind, he should exert pressure againstthe pressure of the sensation until he is able to penetrate it, to dwellin it, watching it, without thinking any thought connected with it tillfinally the sensation is completely consumed or ended.It will be noticed that the important element in the technique isintentness. The meditator should put forth unflinching energy; heshould be ardent, zealous, earnest, and energetic. He should be allthat the Buddha required of his disciples. Escape from samsara is


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(441not achieved through reflective, considerate, relaxed effort. lt isachieved only through t}re most powerful and sustained thrust of all thephyskaF and mental capabilities at the meditator's command. Sunluncalls for just this.

tt will not be necessary to stir up physical force in being mindfulof cetasikavedana (emotional feeling). However, it will still be necessaryto stir up zeal and earnestness for unremitting mindfulness. For themeditator whose training with unpleasant sensation has helped himto develop those qualities, the.practice of mindfulness of cetasikavedanashould not be difficult. Moreover, since cetasikavedana is usuallyaccompanied by unpleasant physical sensations the meditator may turnhis attention to those physical sensations and thus overcome cetasika-vedana through the conquest ofunpleasant physical sensation.Beyond Sensation

When the meditator perfectly dwells in sensation, watching thesensation without thinking any t,hought connected with the sensation,and the sensation snaps or is completely extinguished the meditator'smind becomes cleansed, purged, firm and serviceable. He becomesfull of loving-kindness for all living things and he is able to suffusethem with true loving-kindness, which is not mere repetition of words,which is without craving and self-identification, and which is withoutdifferentiation between a person whom the meditator hates, one whomhe likes and one to whom he is indifferent.

With cleansed, purged, firm and serviceable mind he contemplatesconsciousness in consciousness. He knows consciouness with lust aswith lust; he knows consciousness without lust as without lust; heknows consciousness with hate as with hate; he knows consciousnesswithout hate as witiout hate. He knows When lust and hate have arisenand keeps mindful of them so that they may not be the cause tofurther originate lust and hate and thus give another turn to the wheelof samsara. This is killing the causative force in the effect. When he


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(4s )comes into cdntact with an object which could arouse lust or hate hekeeps rigorously mindful pf it so that lust or hate cannot arise. This iskilling the cause in and as cause.

With this last act of mindfulness he perfectly pracrises what thePali Texts instruct: "ln what is seen there should be only the seen;in what is heard only the heard; in what is sensed only the sensed;in what is thought only the thought".He is able to do this becausehe has cleansed his mind and made it firm and serviceable throughardent mindfulness of unpleasant sensation. For the commonmeditator, with sluggish intuition, trying to see only the seen in whatis seen is extremely difficult if practised as the initial exercise inmindfulness. This is because consciousness is a subtle object ofcontemplation and not readily grasped or held with the impure, weakand unmanageable mind. But when the mind of the meditator has beenstrengthened through mindfulness of unpleasant sensatfon he is ableto hold the seen as the seen, the heard as the heard, the thought asthe thought.

ln has been suggested that if during the practice of mindfulnessdistractions should arise,the mind should follow after them to take noteof them. Theoretically, it should be possible to follow each distractionto grasp it mindfully. Howe

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The Sunlun Way (1)