by NotImportant
"NotImportant" was a lay Vajrayana Buddhist practitioner in Singapore, a student of Lati Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the Vajrayogini tradition. He posted to the Buddhist newsgroups in the mid-to-late 2000s, often developing practical dharma essays that drew on both Theravada and Vajrayana sources.
This essay, posted in September 2008, begins with an observation that has practical consequences: long-term meditators frequently develop chronic knee pain. The cause, NotImportant argues, is not meditation itself but a misunderstanding of what meditation is for — the "heroic view" of conquering pain through will. From there the essay develops a broader critique of how Vipassana meditation is typically taught. The standard instruction to "note" the rising and falling of sensations is, he argues, a case of the tail wagging the dog: consciousness following its objects, rather than detaching from them. True insight, he argues, requires the consciousness to disengage from the four skandhas — sense objects, feeling, perception, and volition — rather than chasing them with mental labels.
The essay's reinterpretation of the Satipathana Sutta's breath instruction is its most distinctive contribution: rather than focusing on sensation at the nostril, use the entire breathing apparatus. Let the breath find its own rhythm without forcing or following it. When the breath becomes natural and self-sustaining, detachment begins. This is, NotImportant notes, what Theravada calls satipatthana and what Vajrayana calls body isolation — the same state, different names.
I attended a one-day seminar on joint pain some years back in Singapore. At the seminar the good doctor said that knee pain is quite common amongst the long-term meditators. How did such a state came about?
If one were to look at some of the books on meditation or meditation classes one is often given a heroic view of the pain that we experience. We are told that these pains whether it is the leg or the back pain are actually good for us to train the mind. We can look at the pain and in time it will disappear by itself and then we can sit for long in a particular posture that is sure to ensure enlightenment or at least progress along the spiritual path. Is such a "heroic view" correct? More importantly does it do more harm than good?
There's certain wisdom in the pain that we receive, either physical, mental or emotional. It is a way for our mind and body to tell us that we are not doing things right or that we have over extended our capacity. If our knee or back is painful from sitting in a rigid and uncomfortable pose it can only mean that some part of us is about to give way and long-term damage can result from it. So do we heed the signal coming to us or will we be like an ignorant spiritual hero that seeks to conquer the pain by the force of will? After having made the heroic effort and we no longer feel the pain have we actually made progress on our spiritual path? These are some of the issues that we will examine in this article.
It is without a question that the recommended postures in yoga, tantra or buddhism are invaluable in helping a person to calm down and with a calm mind a person is then able to work on his delusions. Each of the 8-fold posture recommendation could be explained why it is done in the tantric tradition. For example the tilting forward of the head slightly is to block the wind/Qi from rising from the lower chakras/energy centers. When this is done our thoughts start to be reduced. There's a energy lock at the throat chakra. Too much forward will make a person drowsy. The towing upwards of the tongue towards the ceiling (actually the soft tissue behind) will help channel the energy to the ajna chakra. In so doing the ajna can be stimulated directly and one can actually "feel" a certain tightness in the third eye area. Ajna chakra is the master controller of the whole body and it is of great value to any spiritual aspirant. It is here where real inner peace can arise and at the same time it is this center where insight comes from — either the mundane or super-mundane insights. When you have a lot of energy rising and if it is channeled upwards the bindu will start to be activated and in time to come you will start to have tiny little "pimples" around the bindu area. It is the beginning of the flowering of your expanded consciousness. Sometimes when your meditation is deep you may even be able to taste an interesting taste in your mouth. It can even continue after you have stopped meditating. So the tongue towing upwards to the ceiling (to the soft tissue at the back) is actually quite useful. Many meditation teachers and books just recommended the towing upwards towards the ceiling. The real value and benefit is to the soft tissue at the back. If you are a fortunate person you will induce the divine bliss within a very short time.
Initially such a posture can be tiring and painful but with practice we can slowly build up our capacity and ability. Does that mean we don't listen to our body? No. Part of the spiritual training is to be patient. This means patiently building up the capacity of the body without harming it. Moving your body or your leg when it is painful so that permanent injury will not happen is sometimes wise. Similarly the tongue can be tiring if it is towed upwards and backwards for too long. If so just release it and if you find it distracting drop it and later pick it up again. Always remember that nothing is cast in stone.
The real meditation is beyond mind. The Diamond Cutter Sutra speaks of how liberation is gained when the mind gives rise to thoughts that rest nowhere. It is like an image in a perfect mirror which does not stain the mirror when the image or the cause of it has changed. Hui Neng upon hearing that became enlightened. The real objective of Vipassana meditation is not to gain insights but to train our consciousness not to hold on to the 6 sense objects, feelings, perceptions and volition that arose within our being. The detachment of our consciousness from these four skandhas is freedom and liberation from samsara. All choices, all desires, all hatreds — all arose from the four skandhas referred to above. The detachment of our consciousness from these skandhas is liberation.
The way that Vipassana is taught now is like a tail wagging the dog or the head wagging the dog. In either case the dog is wagged and the consciousness continued to be sullied or stained by the objects that arose within the four skandhas.
Let's take one simple example of the walking meditation as is traditionally taught in Vipassana meditation. We are told to "note" the left or right foot moving and also to note mentally rising and falling or rising, forward and falling of the foot as we walk slowly. The amount of concentration needed to sustain such "noting" can be quite substantial. Is it any wonder that quite a number of people will experience dizziness, headache and in some cases derangement. Such a meditation is not insight meditation but a form of concentration meditation where the object of meditation is the movement of the foot. Two situations can arise from this.
The first is when our mind follows the movement of the foot. The mind kept noting to itself the movement. Such noting actually engages the perception skandha. It is the perception of the movement of the foot. As long as our consciousness is being pulled along by sense objects, feelings, perception or volition this is known as the tail wagging the dog. The consciousness has no chance of disengaging itself from the four skandhas. In following after the "sensation" our mind projects such notion as "rising, rising, forward, forward, decline, decline" etc. These notions are not insights of the impermanence of existence. It is the projection of our own deluded mind. Not seeing these as delusions makes us deluded as to what we have attained. In short we "see" what we project and thought we have conquered.
The second situation is when our mind exercises a deliberate control over the movement of the legs. In this case it is the mind leading the legs and this is known as the head wagging the dog. As long as the dog is wagged by the head or the tail insights will not arise. It is like picking up a stick. When you pick up one end, you pick up the other.
One good way — at least for me, and no one so far had agreed with me on this — to illustrate the basic and very fundamental principle of insight meditation according to the Satipathana Sutta is the awareness of breath. This is part of the first foundation of mindfulness in this particular sutta.
The current understanding of this is the sensation one gets at the nostril and we use that to "note" the in-breath, the out-breath and the length of the breath. But for anyone who had ever used the breath as an object of meditation this sensation is very difficult to feel as one becomes very calm. As the mind calms down, so will the breathing. Nowhere in the Satipathana Sutta was it mentioned that this sensation at the nostril must be used. In fact we can actually "know" we are breathing in or out without really noting the sensation at the nostril. The lung and the surrounding muscles and diaphragm are very large objects. These "movements" can be picked up by our consciousness. Amongst the four skandhas the sense objects are the weakest. Next is the feeling. Then the perception and finally the volition. Our perception and volition dominates much of our consciousness. When Buddha taught in the Satipathana Sutta he had chosen the entire body to set as the first foundation of mindfulness. It needs a large enough sensation in order for us to discern its presence. In tantra when we succeeded in such a detachment that stage is known as body isolation. And the two states in Theravada or Vajrayana are essentially the same.
Coming back to our breath awareness. Instead of just using the sensation at the nostril use the entire breathing apparatus. Mahasi Sayadaw uses the rising and falling of the stomach but why use the stomach when our purpose is to use the breath as an object of our exercise to detach our consciousness from the body? Not that it is not acceptable but why use a second rate substitute? Unless we deliberately force air into the stomach the stomach's movement is not very noticeable.
What to look out for when we are doing breath awareness? When we felt that our breath is unnatural and is felt like it is being controlled then it is the head wagging the dog. If we try to follow the breathing and noting it with our mind then it is the tail wagging the dog. If the breathing is natural and smooth flowing and it has a rhythm of its own then we start to detach from our breath. The various characteristics of the rhythm will spontaneously arise and this is the beginning of insights. This is the "knowing," the "direct perception" in Tibetan Buddhism that is our prime goal of practice. We must not say "long breath in," "long breath out" etc. The basic characteristics of these breathing rhythms arise on their own. When these insights start to come you will "know" what Buddha meant when he said "breath in the breath," "body in the body," "perception in perception." Once you know what that means from your practice, your insight has become very profound. This simple phrase is the key to developing our capacity for insights to arise.
Tantra has a very good perspective on this and this perspective is verifiable by each and everyone of us — the mind is linked to our body through our breath. When the mind quietens down so will our breath and our body is at ease. When the body tenses up our breath becomes laboured or erratic or shallow and the mind follows suit. If our consciousness can be trained to slowly detach from the breath we will find that detaching from our body and our mind becomes very easy or second nature. This was why when Ananda asked Buddha if there's one thing that a person can do and do it well and will be able to traverse the entire path to nirvana, what would that one thing be? And Buddha replied "breath awareness" — Anapana Sati.
The Buddhist path is the path of relaxation — a progressive letting go of body, feelings, perception and volition. The breath is a great way to start.
Let's all of us do it, even while waiting for the traffic light to change, or while watching TV. And in time we will all breathe a little easier.
May you be blessed by the peace of dharma.
Colophon
Posted to alt.religion.buddhism, talk.religion.buddhism, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, and soc.culture.singapore by "NotImportant," September 24, 2008. Message-ID: <7e1b0e82-26d9-4da2-bc41-d2efe5819bd7@i20g2000prf.googlegroups.com>. "NotImportant" was a Singaporean lay practitioner in the Vajrayogini tradition, a student of Lati Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. His writings on alt.religion.buddhism consistently brought a practitioner's perspective to technical questions about how Buddhist meditation traditions interpret their own methods. This essay is his most developed statement on the theory of breath awareness and its relationship to liberation.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2024.
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