Universal Education - Seeing the Big Vision

LAMA THUBTEN YESHE - THE BIG VISION

Interview with Connie Miller on Universal Education at Pomaia in 1982 (transcript from the video-tape. Abbreviations used: yk = "you know",   yu = "you understand"  UEP = Universal Education Project)

Connie Miller: Then perhaps we continue with questions on the Universal Education project.

Lama Yeshe: You need anything, you're welcome.

CM: Thank you. When many people first heard about the UEP and its purpose, they understood it to be for the purpose of formulating educational goals and methods for youth in FPMT centers and to generate a Mahayana-based education for center children and others. But since the conference last October and in light of His Holiness's contribution, it now seems that we can understand the purpose as being much broader than this. Can you enlighten this, can you tell us the goals of the UEP and in what way it is in fact universal?

LY: Mh. Well, first of all, I explain you first beginning UEP - we need new education for the world, because all the education is no longer up-to-date for the present intelligent people, yk. And present education produces world conflict and dissatisfaction for the new generation. So I believe this project is long time, I believe even 7-8 years start already, looking for somebody to take over. Somehow is too late, nobody is act. Then fortunately you accepted and told you that time, this is, the reason I call universal, it means something universal people understood, entire human reality. 
     
Now, now many people in the world don't understand totality of human reality, they don't understand their totality. They don't want to accept spirituality, yk, and when they do accept spirituality, they don't accept scientific reality. This conflict I can see in the Western world. Commonly this, according this, the corresponds, I determinate, there must be way to go middle way, and people educate both spiritual and, yk, what I mean, and both scientific, these two. And human being have to be, sort of capable to take care of themselves physically and mentally, to liberate from any kind of problem of physical or mind.

And so, what I mean is with education now, what you need is, I think, is, present stage, there are lot of intelligence and wisdom but presentation is too narrow and too, sort of dogmatic way present to student of the world. So they conflict each other. Reflect whatever is, dualistic reflection, not only dualistic but conflict reflect. I feel we should eliminate conflict situation by using words, by using terminology, yu, yu? Let's say I tell you, eg. we can teach entire Lam.Rim and something Tantra without using any terminology of Buddhist, I think, I can do. You can do it too.

Yu, so it doesn't have category, yk, sort of category. Instead of producing category self-pity imagination themselves, can have free, free from the category distinction, mh, self-pity identification, yu? Eliminate that situation, be free being, free universal living being, and completely understand own psychology of oneself, one's own physics, or oneself, yu? That's what I call Universal Education.

Then I told you, Buddhism, we have this quality, Universal Education in Buddhism, we do have. But I want you change clothes, cut these terminology, Buddhist words. Yk, don't using like nirvana, yu what I mean, which is Sanskrit religious word, and use just simple scientific language and which does not have any religious connotation, which does not have any, kind of belongs such category. Just explaining neutrally, isn't it? Something. Communicating?

CM: Very helpful.

LY: Because all concepts, I tell you, projection, because human being already projecting such way, narrow connotation. Yk, label already. This have to take out, to have new imagination, new broad view, by eliminating concept-words and clothes. Not sure, understand or no?

CM: Yes, Lama.

LY: That's what universal meaning. So now, I'm telling you, Universal Education doesn't means: "I'm Universal Education organization, I cannot be Buddhist nun." Wrong. Really. You are Buddhist nun, isn't it, by keeping Buddhist ethics. But you have universal understanding, aiming these things, you can plan, otherwise nobody can do, nobody can do. Then everybody says, "No, I can't do, you cannot do, because you are not universal, you. English cannot do, American cannot do, because Americans this way. Tibetans cannot do because Tibet is nowhere, Himalaya world, Shangri-la, nobody knows what is happening in the world." So nobody can do, isn't it? That is no question. 

But we have clean-clear vision, dimension, what we should be. Ok? Now, Universal Education student not requirement to become nun, not requirement to become monk. Can happen monk, can happen nun, can happen marriage, can have everybody, entire universal world is universal, world, education student. Hm. Clear?

CM: I think so, Lama.

LY: So what we have is, I feel, Buddhism, we have universal attitude and we have teachings to give universal reality. So these need to take shape and language and some kind of universal image, have to take, yu, and that is important. Then we can contribute. So this resource is our student, they understand, realistic point of view. I tell you, dedication comes from our student, you let them understanding.

That's why I told you, Universal Education is from children up to death-time, and after death, next life, next life. How to be educated? This has to be planned. Therefore I say, you have to start gradually, same time you have great project. Exercise, you should be slowly, you cannot only intellect. You should realistic start from somewhere, small way. Then I telling you, if something for the children, deep understanding of human being and same time, express somehow very simple language. And you produce A,B,C,D books, some extent contribute, the resource by the ... our student, and they listen. 

I think, slowly, slowly, they can do. So then, they can see benefit is, yk, I think this is quite a bit long distance, many generations sort of, finished for us, children education. We don't need now, we are too old already. But you have to think about new children, new baby, who not yet come out of mother's womb. Yes. And so we are, we think about, really think about with great concern. Don't think new children not come because nuclear disharmony, destroy - not true. Don't worry, new children come.

CM: Thank you, Lama.

LY: You're welcome.

CM: Specifically then, in the process of integrating the Dharma into Western education, then how can we try to be sure not to lose the essence of the Dharma?

LY: That you need good understanding, Dharma people, to work your education board. Right. Agree. Definitely. That need incredible sort of skill. Again I tell you one thing. When we say, when we make new education, that does not mean we give up old education totally. We use old education, but we take out in this old education the words which is, which makes dumb and closed, those things you take out - putting new shape. Communicating or not? Yes, and add more flavor, deeper understanding of human nature, yk. That's why Universal Education does not mean we give up mathematics education which Western offer, give up those things - no sense! That is not true. It has sense and value. 

Same thing, other Western education has value. But many need some kind of flavor, more totality, more deeper nature. Each subject has totality, method and wisdom contained as we described. Remember? We talk about Tantra, always two things to go, method and wisdom, isn't it? Every energy has method and wisdom go together. So the same thing you have to introduce into that situation scientifically, Ok? Ya. Then what other thing, that question, you finished your question?

CM: I finished my question.

LY:  All right. You're satisfied with your question? All right.

CM: Thank you very much.

LY: You are welcome, dear.

(end of the interview with Connie Miller)

copyright Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom

          

                                       

Lama Thubten Yeshe was born in Tibet in 1935. At the age of six, he entered Sera Monastic University in Tibet where he studied until 1959. As Lama Yeshe himself expressed it, "in that year the Chinese kindly told us that it was time to leave Tibet and meet the outside world."

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa came together as teacher and disciple while in exile in India, and met their first Western students in 1965. Lama Yeshe immediately took a lively and profoundly intelligent interest in Western culture, and within ten years had begun to tour extensively and teach students in Australasia, Europe and North America. This network of students eventually became The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Lama Yeshe's vision for "a new kind of universal education" was launched at a conference in Italy in 1982 attended by leading spiritual leaders, psychologists and educators, including HH The Dalai Lama, now Patron of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom. Following Lama Yeshe's early death in 1984, this vision is now being taken forward by his successor Lama Zopa, the Honorary President of the Foundation.

For more see: www.lamayeshe.com 
and more about Universal education:  www.essential-education.org

Secular Ethics

By His Holiness Dalai Lama

I am an old man now. I was born in 1935 in a small village in northeastern Tibet. For reasons beyond my control, I have lived most of my adult life as a stateless refugee in India, which has been my second home for over 50 years. I often joke that I am India’s longest-staying guest. In common with other people of my age, I have witnessed many of the dramatic events that have shaped the world we live in. Since the late 1960s, I have also traveled a great deal, and have had the honor to meet people from many different backgrounds: not just presidents and prime ministers, kings and queens, and leaders from all the world’s great religious traditions, but also a great number of ordinary people from all walks of life.

Looking back over the past decades, I find many reasons to rejoice. Through advances in medical science, deadly diseases have been eradicated. Millions of people have been lifted from poverty and have gained access to modern education and health care. We have a universal declaration of human rights, and awareness of the importance of such rights has grown tremendously. As a result, the ideals of freedom and democracy have spread around the world, and there is increasing recognition of the oneness of humanity. There is also growing awareness of the importance of a healthy environment. In very many ways, the last half-century or so has been one of progress and positive change.

At the same time, despite tremendous advances in so many fields, there is still great suffering, and humanity continues to face enormous difficulties and problems. While in the more affluent parts of the world people enjoy lifestyles of high consumption, there remain countless millions whose basic needs are not met. With the end of the Cold War, the threat of global nuclear destruction has receded, but many continue to endure the sufferings and tragedy of armed conflict. In many areas, too, people are having to deal with environmental problems and, with these, threats to their livelihood and worse. At the same time, many others are struggling to get by in the face of inequality, corruption and injustice.

These problems are not limited to the developing world. In the richer countries, too, there are many difficulties, including widespread social problems: alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, family breakdown. People are worried about their children, about their education and what the world holds in store for them. Now, too, we have to recognize the possibility that human activity is damaging our planet beyond a point of no return, a threat which creates further fear. And all the pressures of modern life bring with them stress, anxiety, depression, and, increasingly, loneliness. As a result, everywhere I go, people are complaining. Even I find myself complaining from time to time!

It is clear that something is seriously lacking in the way we humans are going about things. But what is it that we lack? The fundamental problem, I believe, is that at every level we are giving too much attention to the external material aspects of life while neglecting moral ethics and inner values.

By inner values I mean the qualities that we all appreciate in others, and toward which we all have a natural instinct, bequeathed by our biological nature as animals that survive and thrive only in an environment of concern, affection and warmheartedness -- or in a single word, compassion. The essence of compassion is a desire to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being.

This is the spiritual principle from which all other positive inner values emerge. We all appreciate in others the inner qualities of kindness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and generosity, and in the same way we are all averse to displays of greed, malice, hatred and bigotry. So actively promoting the positive inner qualities of the human heart that arise from our core disposition toward compassion, and learning to combat our more destructive propensities, will be appreciated by all. And the first beneficiaries of such a strengthening of our inner values will, no doubt, be ourselves. Our inner lives are something we ignore at our own peril, and many of the greatest problems we face in today’s world are the result of such neglect.

Not long ago I visited Orissa, a region in eastern India. The poverty in this part of the country, especially among tribal people, has recently led to growing conflict and insurgency. I met with a member of parliament from the region and discussed these issues. From him I gathered that there are a number legal mechanisms and well-funded government projects already in place aimed at protecting the rights of tribal people and even giving them material assistance. The problem, he said, was that the funds provided by the government were not reaching those they were intended to help. When such projects are subverted by corruption, inefficiency and irresponsibility on the part of those charged with implementing them, they become worthless.

This example shows very clearly that even when a system is sound, its effectiveness depends on the way it is used. Ultimately, any system, any set of laws or procedures, can only be as effective as the individuals responsible for its implementation. If, owing to failures of personal integrity, a good system is misused, it can easily become a source of harm rather than a source of benefit. This is a general truth which applies to all fields of human activity, even religion. Though religion certainly has the potential to help people lead meaningful and happy lives, it too, when misused, can become a source of conflict and division. Similarly, in the fields of commerce and finance, the systems themselves may be sound, but if the people using them are unscrupulous and driven by self-serving greed, the benefits of those systems will be undermined. Unfortunately, we see this happening in many kinds of human activities: even in international sports, where corruption threatens the very notion of fair play.

Of course, many discerning people are aware of these problems and are working sincerely to redress them from within their own areas of expertise. Politicians, civil servants, lawyers, educators, environmentalists, activists and so on -- people from all sides are already engaged in this effort. This is very good so far as it goes, but the fact is, we will never solve our problems simply by instituting new laws and regulations. Ultimately, the source of our problems lies at the level of the individual. If people lack moral values and integrity, no system of laws and regulations will be adequate. So long as people give priority to material values, then injustice, inequity, intolerance and greed -- all the outward manifestations of neglect of inner values -- will persist.

So what are we to do? Where are we to turn for help? Science, for all the benefits it has brought to our external world, has not yet provided scientific grounding for the development of the foundations of personal integrity -- the basic inner human values that we appreciate in others and would do well to promote in ourselves. Perhaps we should seek inner values from religion, as people have done for millennia? Certainly religion has helped millions of people in the past, helps millions today and will continue to help millions in the future. But for all its benefits in offering moral guidance and meaning in life, in today’s secular world religion alone is no longer adequate as a basis for ethics.

One reason for this is that many people in the world no longer follow any particular religion. Another reason is that, as the peoples of the world become ever more closely interconnected in an age of globalization and in multicultural societies, ethics based in any one religion would only appeal to some of us; it would not be meaningful for all. In the past, when peoples lived in relative isolation from one another -- as we Tibetans lived quite happily for many centuries behind our wall of mountains -- the fact that groups pursued their own religiously based approaches to ethics posed no difficulties. Today, however, any religion-based answer to the problem of our neglect of inner values can never be universal, and so will be inadequate. What we need today is an approach to ethics which makes no recourse to religion and can be equally acceptable to those with faith and those without: a secular ethics.

This statement may seem strange coming from someone who from a very early age has lived as a monk in robes. Yet I see no contradiction here. My faith enjoins me to strive for the welfare and benefit of all sentient beings, and reaching out beyond my own tradition, to those of other religions and those of none, is entirely in keeping with this.

I am confident that it is both possible and worthwhile to attempt a new secular approach to universal ethics. My confidence comes from my conviction that all of us, all human beings, are basically inclined or disposed toward what we perceive to be good. Whatever we do, we do because we think it will be of some benefit. At the same time, we all appreciate the kindness of others. We are all, by nature, oriented toward the basic human values of love and compassion. We all prefer the love of others to their hatred. We all prefer others’ generosity to their meanness. And who among us does not prefer tolerance, respect and forgiveness of our failings to bigotry, disrespect and resentment?

In view of this, I am of the firm opinion that we have within our grasp a way, and a means, to ground inner values without contradicting any religion and yet, crucially, without depending on religion. The development and practice of this new system of ethics is what I propose to elaborate in the course of this book. It is my hope that doing so will help to promote understanding of the need for ethical awareness and inner values in this age of excessive materialism.

At the outset I should make it clear that my intention is not to dictate moral values. Doing that would be of no benefit. To try to impose moral principles from outside, to impose them, as it were, by command, can never be effective. Instead, I call for each of us to come to our own understanding of the importance of inner values. For it is these inner values which are the source of both an ethically harmonious world and the individual peace of mind, confidence and happiness we all seek. Of course, all the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness, can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I believe the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics that is beyond religion.

Extracted from "Beyond Religion" by H.H. Dalai Lama, copyright 2011 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

His Holiness Dalai Lama; archetypal Bodhisattva, Nobel laureate, Master scholar, Meditation master, simple Buddhist monk. However viewed, His Holiness's boundless compassionate wisdom echoes from the vast activity he engages in for the benefit of beings world wide. For information visit: www.dalailama.com

A GARLAND OF ESSENTIAL POINTS FOR STUDENTS - HEART-ESSENCE OF THE GREAT MASTERS

By His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche

Root guru, precious and most kind,
Lord of the mandala, sole unfailing lasting refuge,
With your compassion, take hold of me!
I work only for this life, not keeping death in mind,
Wasting this free, well-favored human birth.

Human life, lasting an instant, like a dream -
It might be happy, it might be sad.
Not wishing for joy, not avoiding sadness,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This human life, like a butterlamp set out in the wind -
It might last a long time or it might not.
Not letting ego’s hold tighten further,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

A life of luxury, like a bewitching apparition -
It might come to pass or it might not.
With the ways of the eight worldly dharmas cast away like chaff,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

All these underlings, like a bunch of birds in a tree -
They might surround me, they might not.
Not letting others lead me around by the nose,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This illusory body, like a rotting 100-year-old house -
It might last, it might fall into dust.
Not caught up in efforts
to get food, clothes, or medicines,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This dharma behavior, like a child’s game -
It might go on, it might stop.
Undeceived by things that don’t really matter,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

All these gods and spirits, like a mirror’s reflections -
They might give help, they might do harm.
Not seeing my own deluded visions to be enemies,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

All this confused chatter, traceless as an echo -
It might be interesting, it might not.
With the Three Jewels and my own mind bearing witness,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Things that may prove useless in time of real need, like a deer’s antlers, -
I might know them, I might not.
Not placing my confidence merely in the arts and sciences,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

These gifts and money given by the faithful, like deadly poison -
I might receive them, I might not.
Not spending my life
trying to accumulate evil earnings,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This lofty station, like dogshit wrapped in satin -
I might have it, I might not.
Knowing my own rottenness at first hand,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Friends and family, like travelers who come together for a fair -
They might be vicious, they might be loving.
Cutting attachment’s tough cord from the heart,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

All these possessions, like the wealth found in a dream -
I might own them, I might not.
Not using tact and flattery to turn others’ heads,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This rank in the hierarchy, Like a tiny bird perched on a branch -
It might be high, it might be low.
Without making myself miserable wishing for a better position,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Practicing the spells of black magic, like deadly weapons -
I might be able to cast them, I might not.
Not buying the knife that cuts my own throat,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Doing prayers, like a parrot saying ‘om mani padme hum’ -
I might do them, I might not.
Without boasting about whatever I do,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The way one teaches the dharma, like flowing water -
I might be expert, I might not.
Without thinking that mere eloquence is dharma,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Intellect that makes quick discriminations, like a rooting pig -
It might be sharp, it might be dull.
Not allowing the barbs of pointless anger and attachment to arise,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Meditation experiences, like well-water in summer -
They may increase, they may lessen.
Without chasing after rainbows as children do,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This pure perception, like rain on a mountaintop -
It might arise, it might not.
Without taking deluded experience to be real,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

These freedoms and favourable conditions, like a wish-fullfilling gem –
If they are lacking, there is no way to accomplish the holy dharma.
Not throwing away what is already in my own hand,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The glorious guru, like a lamp that lights the way to liberation -
If I cannot meet him, there is no way to realize the true nature.
Not jumping off a cliff when I know the path to go on,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The holy dharma, like a medicine to cure disease -
If I don’t hear it, there is no way to know what should be done and not done.
Not swallowing poison when I can tell benefit from harm,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The changing cycle of joy and sorrow, like the changing seasons -
If this isn’t seen, there is no way to achieve renunciation.
As a time of suffering will surely come around to me,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Samsara, like a stone fallen deep into water -
If I don’t get out now, I won’t get out later.
Pulling myself out by the rope of the compassionate Three Jewels,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Liberation’s good qualities, like an island of jewels -
If they aren’t known, there is no way to begin to make efforts.
Having seen the advantage of permanent victory,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The life stories of the great masters,like the essence of amrita -
If they aren’t known, there is no way for confidence to arise.
Not choosing self-destruction when I can tell victory from defeat,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Bodhicitta, like a fertile field –
Unless it is cultivated, there is no way to achieve enlightenment.
Not staying idle when there is a great aim to be accomplished,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

My own mind, like a monkey’s nonsense -
Without keeping guard, there is no way to avoid conflicting emotions.
Not acting without restraint, like a lunatic,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Ego, like a shadow one is born with -
Until it’s abandoned, there is no way to reach a place of real joy.
When the enemy is in my clutches, why treat him as friend?
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The five poisons, like hot embers among ashes – Until they’re destroyed,
one can’t remain at rest in the natural state.
Not raising baby vipers in my pockets,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This mindstream, like the tough hide of a butter-bag -
If it’s not tamed and softened, one can’t mix mind with dharma.
Without spoiling the child that is born of itself,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

These ingrained bad habits, karmic patterns, like the strong currents of a river –
If they aren’t cut, one can’t avoid acting contrary to the dharma.
Without selling weapons to my enemies,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

These distractions, like never-ending waves -
If they aren’t given up, there is no way to become stable.
When I can do as I like, why practice samsara?
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The lama’s blessings, like spring warming up soil and water -
If they don’t enter into me, there is no way
to be introduced to the nature of mind.
When there is a short-cut, why take the long way around?
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

This retreat in the wilderness, like summer in a lush place where herbs grow -
If I don’t remain here, there is no way for good qualities to be born.
When high up in the mountains, don’t wander back into black towns.
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Desire for pleasure, like a bad-luck spirit entering the house -
If I’m not free of it, I’ll never stop working toward suffering.
Not making offerings to voracious ghosts as my personal gods,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Mindfulness, like the lock on a castle gate -
If it is lacking, one can’t stop the movements of illusion.
When the thief is surely coming, why forget to bar the door?
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The true nature, unchanging, like the sky -
Until it’s realized, one can’t completely resolve doubts as to the view.
Not letting myself be chained by theories,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

Awareness, like a flawless piece of crystal -
Until it’s seen, intentional meditation cannot dissolve.
When there’s an inseparable companion, why go off looking for another?
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

The face of ordinary mind, like an old friend -
If it’s not seen, all that one does is misleading.
Without groping in the darkness of my own closed eyes,
May I truly practice the sublime teachings.

In short, without giving up This life’s preoccupations, there’s no way
to accomplish the sacred teachings after death.
Having decided to show myself great kindness,
May all that I do be toward the dharma.

May I not have wrong views toward the guru who has given instruction in accord with the dharma.
May I not lose faith in the yidam when misfortunes occur.
May I not put off practice when circumstances are hard.
May there be no obstacles to attaining siddhi.

All these activities are pointless, like making a grand tour of a wasteland.
All this trying just makes my mindstream more rigid.
All this thinking only adds confusion onto confusion.
All that passes for dharma to ordinary people only makes for further binding.

So much activity – nothing comes of it.
So much thinking – no point to it.
So much wanting – no time for it.
Having given this up, May I be able to practice according to instructions.

If I must do something,
may Buddha’s teaching bear it witness.
If I must do something, mix mindstream and dharma.
If I must accomplish something,

Read the life stories of past masters.
What’s the use of other things? Spoiled brat!
Take a low seat and become rich with contentment.
Try hard to get free of the eight worldly concerns.

May the guru’s blessings enter into me,
May my realization become equal to the sky.
Grant your blessings so that I may reach Kuntuzangpo’s throne.

Written by Jigdral Yeshe Dorje for his own prayers, Condensing the essential meaning from the vajra words of advice from previous great masters.

This was offered with prayers for the continued blessing of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, and for the long life of his emanation, for the sake of all beings.

Translated by Bhakha Tulku Rinpoche and Constance Wilkinson.
Sarva Mangalam
          



                                           

H.H. Dujom Rinpoche was one of the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist masters of the 20th century.
He was recognized as the incarnation of Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904), whose previous incarnations included the greatest masters, yogins and panditas such as Shariputra, Saraha and Khye'u Chung Lotsawa. Considered to be the living representative of Padmasambhava, the famous Teacher who brought Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century. Dudjom Rinpoche was a great revealer of the ‘treasures’ (terma) concealed by Padmasambhava. A prolific author and meticulous scholar, he wrote more than forty volumes, one of the best known of which is his monumental The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. Over the last decade of his life he spent much time teaching in the West, where he helped to establish the Nyingma tradition, founding major centres in France and the United States.

Right Concentration

By Ajaan Suwat Suvaco

In general terms, Right Concentration means establishing the mind rightly. On one level, this can apply to all the factors of the path. You have to start out by setting the mind on Right View. In other words, you use your discernment to gather together all the Dhamma you've heard. Then when you set the mind on Right Resolve, that's also a way of establishing it rightly. Then you set it on Right Speech, speaking only things that are right. You set it on Right Action, examining your actions and then forcing yourself, watching over yourself, to keep your actions firmly in line with what's right. As for Right Livelihood, you set your mind on providing for your livelihood exclusively in a right way. You're firm in not making a livelihood in ways that are wrong, not acting in ways that are wrong, not speaking in ways that are corrupt and wrong. You won't make any effort in ways that go off the path, you won't be mindful in ways that lie outside the path. You'll keep being mindful in ways that stay on the path. You make this vow to yourself as a firm determination. This is one level of establishing the mind rightly.

But what I want to talk about today is Right Concentration in the area of meditation: in other words, Right Meditation, both in the area of tranquillity meditation and in the area of insight meditation. You use the techniques of tranquillity meditation to bring the mind to stillness. When you make the mind still, firm in skillful qualities, that's one aspect of Right Concentration. If the mind isn't firmly established in skillful qualities, it can't grow still. If unskillful qualities arise in the mind, it can't settle down and enter concentration. This is why, when the Buddha describes the mind entering concentration, he says, "Vivicceva kamehi": Quite secluded from sensual preoccupations. The mind isn't involved, doesn't incline itself toward sights that will give rise to infatuation and desire. It doesn't incline itself toward sounds that it likes, toward aromas, tastes, or tactile sensations for which it feels infatuation through the power of desire. At the same time, it doesn't incline itself toward desire for those things. Before the mind can settle into concentration, it has to let go of these five types of preoccupations. This is called vivicceva kamehi, quite secluded from sensual preoccupations.

Vivicca akusalehi dhammehi: quite secluded from the unskillful qualities called the five Hindrances. For example, the first Hindrance is sensual desire. When you sit in meditation and a defilement arises in the mind, when you think of something and feel desire for an internal or an external form, when you get infatuated with the things you've seen and known in the past, that's called sensual desire.

Or if you think of something that makes you dissatisfied to the point of feeling ill will for certain people or objects, that's the Hindrance of ill will. Things from the past that upset you suddenly arise again in the present, barge their way in to obstruct the stillness of your mind. When the mind gets upset in this way, that's an unskillful mental state acting as an obstacle to concentration.

Or sloth and torpor: a sense of laziness and inattentiveness when the mind isn't intent on its work and so lets go out of laziness and carelessness. It gets drowsy so that it can't be intent on its meditation. You sit here thinking buddho, buddho, but instead of focusing the mind to get it firmly established so that it can gain knowledge and understanding from its buddho, you throw buddho away to go play with something else. As awareness gets more refined, you get drowsy and fall asleep or else let delusion overcome the mind. This is an unskillful mental state called sloth and torpor.

Then there's restlessness and anxiety, when mindfulness isn't keeping control over things, and the mind follows its preoccupations as they shoot out to things you like and don't like. The normal state of people's minds is that, when mindfulness isn't in charge, the mind can't sit still. It's bound to keep thinking about 108 different kinds of things. So when you're practicing concentration you have to exercise restraint, you have to be careful that the mind doesn't get scattered about. You have to be mindful of the present and alert to the present, too. When you try to keep buddho in mind, you have to be alert at the same time to watch over your buddho. Or if you're going to be mindful of the parts of the body — like hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin — you should focus on only one part at a time, making sure that you're both mindful and alert to your mindfulness, to make sure you don't go being mindful of other things. That's how you can cut off restlessness and anxiety.

As you keep being mindful of the same thing for a long time, the body will gradually calm down and relax. The preoccupations of the mind will calm down, too, so that the mind can grow still. It grows still because you keep it under control. You weaken its unruliness — as when you pull fuel away from a burning fire. As you keep pulling away the fuel, the fire gradually grows weaker and weaker. And what's the fuel for the mind's unruliness? Forgetfulness. Inattentiveness. This inattentiveness is the fuel both for restlessness and anxiety and for sloth and torpor. When you keep mindfulness and alertness in charge, you cut away forgetfulness and inattentiveness. As these forms of delusion are subdued, they lose their power. They gradually disband, leaving nothing but awareness of buddho or whatever your meditation object is. As you keep looking after your meditation object firmly, without growing inattentive, restlessness will disappear. Drowsiness will disappear. The mind will get firmly established in Right Concentration.

This is how you enter Right Concentration. You have to depend on both mindfulness and alertness together. Right Concentration can't simply arise on its own. It needs supporting factors. The first seven factors of the path are the supporters for Right Concentration, or its requisites, the things it needs to depend on. It needs Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness. As you keep developing the beginning factors of the path, concentration becomes more and more refined, step by step. When the mind is trained and suffused with these qualities, it's able to let go of sensual preoccupations, able to let go of unskillful mental qualities. Vivicceva kamehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi. When it's secluded from sensual preoccupations, secluded from unskillful qualities, it can enter concentration. It experiences stillness, rapture, pleasure, singleness of preoccupation. Both body and mind feel light.

In the first stage, the mind isn't totally refined because it still has directed thought and evaluation in the factors of its concentration. If your mindfulness is in good shape and can keep its object in mind without pulling away, if your effort is right and alertness keeps watching over things, the coarser parts of your concentration will drop away and the mind will grow more refined step by step. Directed thought and evaluation — the coarser parts — will drop away because they can't follow into that more refined stage. All that's left is rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation. As you keep on meditating without let-up, things keep growing more refined step by step. Rapture, which is coarser than pleasure, will drop away, leaving the pleasure. Pleasure is coarser than equanimity. As you keep contemplating while the mind grows more refined, the pleasure will disappear, leaving just equanimity. As long as there's still pleasure, equanimity can't arise. As long as the mind is still feeding off pleasure, it's still engaged with something coarse. But as you keep up your persistent effort until you see that this pleasure still comes under the Three Characteristics of inconstancy, stress, and not-self, that it's part of the aggregate of feeling, the mind will let go of that coarser aspect and settle down with equanimity. Even though equanimity, too, is part of the feeling aggregate, it's a feeling refined enough to cleanse the mind to the point where it can give rise to knowledge of refined levels of Dhamma.

When the mind reaches this level, it's firm and unwavering because it's totally neutral. It doesn't waver when the eye sees a form, the ear hears a sound, the nose smells an aroma, the tongue tastes a flavor, the body feels a tactile sensation, or an idea comes to the mind. None of these things can make the mind waver when it's in the factors of jhana. It maintains a high level of purity. This is Right Concentration.

We should all develop tranquillity meditation, which can give temporary respite from suffering and stress. But in a state like this, you simply have mindfulness in charge. Discernment is still too weak to uproot the most refined levels of defilement and latent tendencies (anusaya). Thus, for our Right Concentration to be complete, we're taught not to get carried away with the sense of pleasure it brings. When the mind has been still for an appropriate amount of time, we should then apply the mind to contemplating the five aggregates, for these aggregates are the basis for insight meditation. You can't develop insight meditation outside of the five aggregates — the aggregates of form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, and consciousness — for these aggregates lie right within us. They're right next to us, with us at all times.

So. How do you develop the aggregate of form as a basis for insight meditation? You have to see it clearly in line with its truth that form is inconstant. This is how you begin. As you develop insight meditation, you have to contemplate down to the details. What is form? Form covers hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin, and all the four great elements that we can touch and see. As for subsidiary forms, they can't be seen with the eye, but they can be touched, and they depend on the four great elements. For example, sound is a type of form, a type of subsidiary form. Aromas, flavors, tactile sensations are subsidiary forms that depend on the four great elements. The sensory powers of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body are subsidiary forms — they're physical events, not mental events, you know. Then there are masculinity and femininity, which fashion the body to be male or female, and create differences in male and female voices, manners, and other characteristics. Then there's the heart, and then viññati-rupa, which allows for the body to move, for speech to be spoken.

So the Buddha taught that we should contemplate form in all its aspects so as to gain the insight enabling us to withdraw all our clinging assumptions that they're us or ours. How does this happen? When we contemplate, we'll see that yam kiñci rupam atitanagata-paccuppannam: all form — past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near — is inconstant, stressful, and not-self. It all lies under the Three Characteristics. When we remember this, that's called pariyatti-dhamma, the Dhamma of study. When we actually take things apart and contemplate them one by one to the point where we gain true knowledge and vision, that's called the practice of insight meditation, the discernment arising in line with the way things actually are.

This is a short explanation of insight meditation, focused just on the aggregate of form. As for feeling — the pleasures, pains, and feelings of neither pleasure nor pain within us — once we've truly seen form, we'll see that the same things apply to feeling. It's inconstant. When it's inconstant, it'll have to make us undergo suffering and stress because of that inconstancy. We'll be piling suffering on top of suffering. Actually, there's no reason why the mind should suffer from these things, but we still manage to make ourselves suffer because of them. Even though they're not-self, there's suffering because we don't know. There's inconstancy because we don't know. Unless we develop insight meditation to see clearly and know truly, we won't be able to destroy the subtle, latent tendency of ignorance, the latent tendency of becoming, the latent tendency of sensuality within ourselves.

But if we're able to develop insight meditation to the point where we see form clearly in terms of the Three Characteristics of inconstancy, stress, and not-self, then disenchantment will arise. When the latent tendencies of ignorance and becoming are destroyed, the latent tendency of sensuality will have no place to stand. There's nothing it can fabricate, for there's no delusion. When ignorance disbands, fabrications disband. When fabrications disband, all the suffering that depends on fabrication will have to disband as well.

This is why we should practice meditation in line with the factors of the noble eightfold path as set down by the Buddha. To condense it even further, there are three trainings: virtue, concentration, and discernment. Virtue — exercising restraint over our words and deeds — is part of the path. tranquillity meditation and insight meditation come under concentration. So virtue, concentration, and discernment cover the path. Or if you want to condense things even further, there are physical phenomena and mental phenomena — i.e., the body and mind. When we correctly understand the characteristics of the body, we'll see into the ways the body and mind are interrelated. Then we'll be able to separate them out. We'll see what's not-self and what isn't not-self. Things in and of themselves aren't not-self, for they each have an in-and-of-themselves. It's not the case that there's nothing there at all. If there were nothing there at all, how would there be contact? Think about it. Take the fire element: who could destroy it? Even though it's not-self, it's got an in-and-of-itself. The same holds true with the other elements. In other words, these things still exist, simply that there's no more clinging.

So I ask that you understand this and then put it correctly into practice so as to meet with happiness and progress.

That's enough explanation for now. Keep on meditating until the time is up.



Translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Access to Insight, 7 June 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/suwat/concentration.html



                                        


Ajaan Suwat Suvaco (August 27, 1919 - April 5, 2001 in Buriram) was a Buddhist monk who founded four monasteries in the western United States. He was ordained at the age of 20 and became a student of Ajaan Funn Acaro two or three years later. He also studied briefly with Ajaan Mun.
Following Ajaan Funn's death in 1977, Ajaan Suwat stayed on at the monastery to supervise his teacher's royal funeral and the construction of a monument and museum in Ajaan Funn's honor. In the 1980s Ajaan Suwat came to the United States, where he established his four monasteries: one near Seattle, Washington; two near Los Angeles; and one in the hills of San Diego County (Metta Forest Monastery). He returned to Thailand in 1996 and passed away in 2001