Psychology of Buddhism. Monograph

Anapana Sati as Meditation on Feelings

Meditation on breathing may lead to body and ego transcendence. It is the next stage of concentration practice, meditation on sublime feelings.

At first, the practitioner induces the feeling of joy (or rapture – “piti”).

When breathing becomes very subtle, it may stop, or seem to stop. Your body seems to disappear. Breathing transforms into the feeling of joy, which is the only apparent bodily psycho-emotional phenomenon that is left.

This experience may take various forms: a ringing sound, the sound of waves, streams of energy or flashes like electrical discharges, moving up and down the spine, hands or legs.

The feeling of joy gives way to pleasure (sukha), or transforms into it. Whereas joy is partly a physical, bodily experience, pleasure is an emotional experience, a mental state.

Anapana Sati as Meditation on Mind

The next stage of concentration is cultivating mindfulness of mind. Deep concentration leads to the feeling of joy and liberation of mind. Whereas the three practices described above focus on cultivating calmness, this one is devoted to meditation on impermanence (anitya) and equanimity (upekkha).

Buddha’s original sermon on the mindfulness of breathing (the Anapanasati sutta) was further developed by various Buddhist masters. It means that there are no definite stages that one has to go through in doing this practice. Everything depends on the practitioner himself.

With the help of this single practice one can both experience calmness and achieve enlightenment. It is said that Gautama himself used the method of cultivating consciousness of breathing, which led him to the final liberation.

Additional Breathing Practices

Breath holding practices may serve as a warm-up before meditation.

The inward method consists in holding your breath after inhaling. You have to inhale and hold your breath for some time. Hold yourself in an upright and steady position,

concentrate.

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Hold your breath for the time that is comfortable for you. Do not force or strain. Use your heartbeats for counting. You can gradually increase the time. Awareness will become less and less intense. At the moment it happens, take a regular breath. It will mark the end of the first cycle. Do 10-15 cycles at a time.

The outward method consists in holding your breath after exhaling. Breath in and out evenly, do not force yourself when exhaling. Hold your breath for as long as you can, then breathe in. This is the end of the first cycle. Repeat the cycle for 10-12 times.

Contraction of abdominal muscles, pressure in temples or spasmodic inhalation mark the limit of time you are able to hold your breath for after exhaling. In this case you have to decrease the time of pause in order to be able to pass on to inhaling as smoothly as possible. If you feel tiredness, alternate breath holding cycles with normal breathing.

Combination of the inward and the outward method. Since this method is most difficult one, it is better to start with the first one, then move on to the second one and only then turn to the third one. The most important thing is not to overdo it. Do not force yourself. It is not a breath-holding competition. Be moderate. Start with seven heartbeats for inhaling and seven heartbeats for exhaling. You yourself regulate the breath holding time.

Sattipathana: Enlightenment Through Mindfulness of Body

This is meditation on bodily sensations. Choose a quiet and safe place for meditation, where your body feels comfortable and can relax.

Lie down in the savasana pose (“the corpse pose” in yoga: lying on the back, the arms and legs spread). You can choose another pose, remember the one you use when you fall asleep and feel most comfortable in.

Close your eyes and direct you awareness into the inner space of your body.

Feel the hundreds of sensations inside your body; see how they change when they become an object of your contemplation. It will give you a clear understanding of the difference between consciousness and the object of consciousness. Feel that the life of your body is a process, a flow. Realize that your sensations are neither good nor bad, they merely exist. They appear as a result of either movement or breathing, or tension, and they are selfless. Realize that the flow is of no permanent nature. Everything is “annata”, everything

is selfless, it appears in the flow of sensations and disappears in accordance with its reasons

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and consequences. The life in the body is a game that consciousness plays with bodily sensations, beginning with the strongest ones, and ending with those whose life is momentary. Having been detected by our perception, they dissolve into nothingness, as soon as they confront the light of our consciousness. They are like meteorites in the night sky that burst into a bright flash and then disappear upon entering the dense layers of the atmosphere.

You will find that the contemplating mind and the objects of contemplation appear and disappear in a flash, that the world of Your reality is renewed every second, and it goes on forever. At this moment you will be able to fully comprehend the impermanent nature of existence.

Meditation on bodily sensations may help you to understand that every single moment everything appears and disappears, there is nothing to rely upon, and it is impossible to get the ultimate satisfaction. The impossibility to derive complete satisfaction from the most simple, dear and intimate that we have, that is from our own body, helps to comprehend dukha, the unsatisfactoriness of our existence and our nature.

This practice can be further developed by adding movement. You will have to stand up, but make standing up a long process, a process lasting for 10-15 minutes. Watch the thousands of subtle and tangible sensations evoked by the process of standing up. When you finally stand up, see how much effort is needed to keep your body in an upright position.

Then, for the first time in your life, take a conscious step. Think about how difficult this task is and how much concentration it demands.

Then take a second step, as slowly and gently as the first one, fully concentrating on the process of movement and the hundreds of sensations evoked by it. Follow the birth, the life and the death of a simple step. Notice that it does not mark the ending of something. Bodily sensations appear all the time, like life and death; birth, life and death, appearance and disappearance... they embrace everything we perceive, from the most tangible things to the most worthless ones.

Move faster and faster, until the steps lose their meaning... The main conclusion you will come to is that the world exists while you are involved, absorbed into it. You have an opportunity to be free, you can choose, to be involved or not to be involved, to experience or not to experience, to feel or not to feel. Try to develop the state of equanimity.

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Continue with the practice, but this time with your eyes open. Try to maintain the state of equanimity. Just be.

Satipatthana as Mindfulness in Everyday Life

This exercise has four main aspects. Let us look at each one of them. The first one is the full awareness of intention. Sometimes people take actions that do not help to reach their goal. It is possible to achieve one’s goal only with the help of actions that correspond to the desired result. That is why before doing something the practitioner has to ask himself whether the action will help him to achieve the desired result. It is better to take a pause and think about what you are going to do. Thus you will save a lot of energy. It is true for both meditation and everyday life, as well as for meditation as everyday mindfulness and awareness. You always have to remember what your goal is and what are the means you are going to use in order to achieve it.

Buddha praised the achievement of three goals:

-Achievement of happiness in this life, here and now, with the help of the Dharma.

-Achievement of happiness in the next life, through creation of good karma in this life;

-Achievement of the greatest happiness, nirvana, or enlightenment, the state of Arhatship, which is the fruit of sadhana.

The second aspect is the full awareness of correspondence between intention and

aim.

People often say that their goal is to achieve happiness, and in this life. But when we look at what surrounds them, at their way of life and their actions, we will see that their goal does not correspond with their means.

When we manage to keep in mind the first two aspects, we turn to the third one, which is the full awareness of the whole sphere of human activity.

The practice of mindfulness in everyday life is a way to develop awareness and the feeling of presence in everyday reality.

This exercise implies that you always have to be fully aware of what you do, whether

you move to and fro, run, dance, look at something or turn away, bend or stretch your limbs,

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put on clothes, wear them or take them off, eat, drink, chew, taste, urinate, walk, stand upright, sit, fall asleep, wake up, talk to somebody, keep silence, drive your car, feel passion or creative excitement, cry or watch television, etc.

Thus, your whole life becomes an object of meditation.

Vipassana – Objectless Observation

This method is also called enlightenment practice or objectless awareness practice. It aims at cultivating mindfulness of body, feelings, mental states and mental phenomena. There is no one single object of meditation. It is meditation on the mindfulness itself. Vipassana leads to full awareness (sampajanna), which manifests absence of ignorance.

Absence of ignorance means that you are always fully aware of the fact that there is no possessor, there is no “Mine” and “I”. “My home”, “my family”, “my body”, “my thoughts”, “my views” do not exist.

Vipassana is a relationless, factual, uninvolved perception, associated with

“thusness”, enlightenment and equanimity. In Vipassana, the birth of a star is equal to the birth of a goat, the President’s speech is equal to the bleating of a sheep, a diamond is equal to a cobblestone, the loss of a relative is no different from the loss of keys from a chest of drawers that you got rid of long time ago.

Meditation on Kasinas

Kasinas are specially created visual objects that can help your mind to concentrate during meditation. For example, red Kasina is a red disc on a white background (like the flag of Japan).

The size of the disc is that of a small saucer. It has to be smooth and even. It is recommended that you place it on a wall at a distance of 60 centimeters above the ground level. You have to sit down on the floor, at a distance of 60-100 centimeters from the wall, direct your eyes to the circle and try to concentrate on it. If you cannot concentrate on the red disc, it is recommended that you silently repeat “red, red, red” and “circle, circle, circle”.

Your words will redirect your mind back to the kasina. Continue doing the exercise till you reach the state of deep absorption.

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Visual monotony usually leads to a series of illusions and hallucinations. You have to be alert, and when it happens, redirect your mind back to the red circle.

In my practice we used kasinas of various colors, mostly black, purple, red and light blue. The color does not really matter, the most important thing is that the circle has to be well-drawn and distinct. Do not make it too large (not more that 20-50 millimeters in diameter), so that your mind does not start to “wander” along its surface.

Meditation on Natural Objects

Any natural elements or objects are suitable for the calming meditation of the samatha type, as long as they can lead to the state of deep absorption.

The object itself does not matter as much as the simplicity of its perception. It is not recommended to choose objects with complicated shape or structure. Therefore, not all natural objects are suitable for this kind of meditation.

You can meditate on campfire or candle flame, on the mirror-like surface of a lake, on the moon path on water, on the moon, on the night sky, on a river, on a flower, on the sunrise, etc.

Mulatantra

This complex meditation practice is based on the ideas of various spiritual traditions, which I have been studying for many years.

It was tried out for the first time at the training called “Spiritual Journeys”, held at the lake Baikal on the day of the Tantrism of the Right Hand in 1997.

This Buddhist school uses “3M” (three Makaras) as objects of meditation.

-mandalas (magical symbols representing the Universe),

-mantras ( sound combinations with sacred meaning),

-mudras (symbolic gestures or secret rituals known only to initiates).

We used these three elements in the right-hand tantrism practice aiming at comprehending the true reality and merging with the Great Emptiness. This is a long-lasting practice that has to be performed systematically and with great concentration. I do not think that such a goal can be achieved even in a month.

But if you do this practice every day, the quality of your life will change.

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The practice consists of several parts:

1.Sit down in the usual position for meditation, relax, relieve tension from your body, make your breathing even and quiet... like the light wind blowing over the lake surface, causing neither ripples nor waves. Your breathing should be free and natural, like a gentle movement without strain.

2.Use water to draw a circle around yourself on the floor or the ground. Then make a movement with your right hand, snapping your fingers and encircling your head. Thus you symbolically burn your body and all its passions, desires and lust. Put your palms on your knees and try to achieve the state of inner concentration.

3.With the help of your breathing purify and fill with energy the five elements of your body situated above the navel – heart, throat, palate, bridge of the nose and head. This is a complicated ritual, therefore I will describe it in detail.

Heart. Open your mouth, relax your jaw, breathe deeply, slowly and rhythmically, making equal in and out breaths, connecting each breath with the next one, making no pause

(practice “connected breathing”). Get used to this way of breathing and “let it go”, that is redirect your attention from breathing to your heart. Inhale and exhale “through” the heart.

Take 21 breaths in such a way.

Throat. Make your breathing slow and shallow, so that the “wave” of your breathing “washes” your throat and reaches only the top of your lungs.

Palate. Press your tongue against your upper front teeth, leaving a space between the tongue and the palate to inhale through it quickly and shallowly. You must have a feeling that your breathing takes place in your mouth, “spinning” in it like a wheel, entering your mouth through the palate and going out through the space under your tongue. Your breathing has to be quick, shallow and connected. Inhale and exhale thus for 21 times.

Bridge of the nose. Breathe in slowly through your nose, neither deeply nor shallowly, then breathe out through your mouth. Imagine that the energy of your breath washes the bridge of your nose. Breathe “through” the bridge of your nose. Inhale and exhale in such a way for 21 times.

Head. Breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose, directing the energy of your breathing into your head. Then breathe out through your mouth. It will seem to that your

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breath washes your brains like a wave. Your breathing has to be deep, slow and connected. Inhale and exhale thus for 21 times.

Repeat the cycle for two more times.

4. When you complete the practice of purifying and energizing the “five elements” of your body, enter your inner calm and imagine your “Tree of life”. The root of the tree is morality (social duty, professional, social and family responsibilities, rules of conduct, etc.), the trunk is your knowledge about life, the branches represent your virtues and personal qualities.

Look at the roots of the tree, think about the basic ethical principles of your life. Think about your relationship with your family and relatives: your relationship with parents, grandparents and forefathers, your wife or husband, your children, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews...

Then look at the trunk and consider these questions: what do you know about life (your knowledge of philosophy, culture, etc.)? What professional skills and knowledge do you possess? What is the meaning of your life on earth? What can you do? What talents and abilities do you have?

Look at the crown of the tree and think about your virtues. What good did you do in your life? What good did you do to others and to yourself? What else can you do? How can you fulfill yourself? How can you express yourself? What is your true path in life? What is your calling in life? What qualities do you demonstrate to other people and to yourself?

Why are there so few branches on your tree? Why is the foliage of your tree so sparse? Or, perhaps, it is heavy and luxuriant, and the branches are strong and at the same time supple...

What is the trunk of your tree like? Is it wide, high and powerful? Or thin and weak? Can it be broken down by a gentle breeze?

And, finally, look at the roots of your tree of life. What are they like? Do they go deep into the ground? What kind of connections do you have with people? How strong are these connections? What ethical principles are at the basis of your tree, of your life? What color are they? What is the form of your roots? Are they supple? Are they fragile?

Examine your Tree of Life, feel it and become aware of it.

Then let the tree enter your body. Be the tree. For You are the tree.

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5. After you have purified yourself and realized who you are, concentrate your energy in your heart, put your hands in a prayer position in front of your chest. Let your breathing be united with your Highest Self, with your Essence. It is an invitation to your Self: you are asking it to enter your body, your consciousness, your feelings.

Sit quietly and wait for it to happen. Breathe gently and lightly. Summon up the image of God and direct the energy of your consciousness towards this image. Feel that this image is the last door to the Dharmakaya (the inconceivable aspect of Buddha, from which all phenomena arise and to which they return after dissolution).

Meet it and communicate with your inner wisdom, your purity, enlightenment, the Buddha in yourself.

Mulatantra. Possible Continuation

At the last stage of meditation concentration can be so deep that you realize that your heart is cleansed from the defilements of selfish urges and desires. It is possible that the meditator empties himself completely, so that there is nothing left of his Self.

Experience shows that at this moment people imagine various tunnel-like spaces, which invite (attract, drag into or pull into) to leave one’s selfish ego and living body.

If the meditator accepts the invitation, he gets an opportunity to experience nonbeing, he can become an arhat. He will then realize that he has never actually had what he had left. He will enter the stream, he will be released.

However, the feeling of liberation does not last for long, as one’s body cannot live without alaya vijnana. Strong pains, spasms, violent convulsions, asthmatic fits make the meditator come back into his body.

Mulatantra as a Possibility to Attain Nirodha

It is possible that at the last stages of mulatantra one experiences the state of

“Liberation” which is called “nirodha” (elimination). It is similar to nirvana: the object of awareness in nirvana is the cessation of consciousness, in the state of nirodha consciousness disappears and becomes the “untainted mind”.

It is extremely difficult to attain the cessation of all of the eight consciousnesses.

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Nirodha is a variation of mulatantra. It can be attained only by “the one who will not come back” and by an arhat, and only on condition that he has mastered the eight dhyanas.

Neither the “one who entered the stream”, nor the “one who will return” renounced their ego and the urge for individual existence to such an extent that they are able to master the superconcentration which is required for nirodha. Even a slight desire is an obstacle on the path to samadhi.

On his way to nirodha the meditator develops the ability to penetrate the nature of things. He takes each dhyana as a basis for meditation and gradually comes up to the eighth dhyana – “neither perception nor non-perception”. This subtle state leads to nirodha. It is said that nirodha is “real in another way”, as it is the kind of inner experience that cannot be described by the one who has had it.

Although nirodha may last up to seven days, the preceding moment and the following one seem to be inseparable. It cannot last longer because of the limitations set by human physiology. During nirodha, heartbeat and metabolism stop or slow down (they function so subtly that they cannot be perceived; metabolism is slow, but it goes on so that the body does not decompose like a corpse).

Before entering this state, the meditator has to think, for how long he is going to stay in it. When he leaves the state of nirodha, he goes through dhyanas in reverse order, till he reaches the normal state. Consciousness comes back at the stage of the eighth dhyana, normal bodily functions reappear at the third dhyana, thoughts and sensual perception – at the first dhyana.

Paranirvana, a Possibility of Mulatantra

It is said that at the higher limit of concentration one is able to consciously leave his body and pass into nirvana.

Whereas nirodha can been described in detail by those who have experienced it, the only thing that can be said about paranirvana is that it is possible. People are said to be able to enter the sphere of death (or paranirvana) with full consciousness, clear perception and will.

One can turn his death into a conscious process consisting in leaving his body with

an effort of will and concentration. This is what we call paranirvana.

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