Introspection with Vippassana Kammathana Mindfulness

Dhamma Diary

( Discovering How to Reverse Engineer Afflictive Emotions – Quantum Dhamma Diary #1)

Sharing Experiences, both those which i have mastered, (and those which i have not, in the hope that even if i cannot master the teaching, perhaps another listener can master it, even if i can’t)

Introspection as a Practitioner of Vipassana, and Ex Bhikkhu, who suffers with ADHD, and PTSD, and practices Vipassana Kammathana; The results from personal experience and study of not only the inner experience in Meditative Contemplation, but also to peruse the Chemical Molecular Formulas, which are sent into the Nervous System, and cause various ’emotional’ states, which we know as a formless, and think of as a spiritual experience, called ’emotion’.  We see things wrongly because of false views and belief in a self that does not truly exist in the unchanging manner we imagine (Sakaaya Dhitti)

Picture; Little Prince by Anuk on deviant art. Source; http://deviantart.com/anuk/art/Le-Petit-Prince-740681883

But in fact, emotions, be they afflictive or pleasant, are not only temporary (Anijja), dis-satisfactory (Dhukkha), and not self (Anatta), as stated by the Lord Buddha, but are also natural physical reactions, due to chemicals released by the brain into the nervous system, based on what one is thinking.

solitude brings insight and self befriendment

What one is thinking is conditioned, and will cause the brain to send chemicals into the nervous system. One unconscious process we can notice consciously which reflects when we are feeling stressed, is the breath.

Controlling the breath, and noticing if it is agitated, or not, is a key to reverse-engineering the chemicals within the nervous system, which causes stress, and agitated breathing, to douse out, or to change the nature of those chemicals, and create a peaceful physical feeling, and hence, a peaceful mind and emotion.

Inner Vision through Introspective Contemplation

The anger, stress, sadness, loneliness, and other afflictive emotions are not sinful. Sin is not the meaning of ‘Defilement’. Defilement is more like a stain that was conditioned as we grew up, and society conditions us, as do human cultural habits and traditions, and which can be ‘polished off’ leaving the consciousness void of impurity, and liberated from afflictive emotions (Dhukkha Vedhana).

Note; Just because I may be able to explain a technique, does not necessarily mean that i myself have mastered it in my own applied practice and manifested it into my life. Watch the Teachings, Not the Teacher.

The Buddha taught that the skandhas were dukkha.

The idea of the body being directly related with the overcoming of inner suffering may be strange to many Buddhists, but in fact, the sutras state more or less the following (taken from Wikipedia);

Vedanā (Pāli; Sanskrit) is a Buddhist term traditionally translated as either “feeling” or “sensation.” In general, vedanā refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and the associated consciousness.

Vedanā is identified within the Buddhist teaching as follows:

  • One of the seven universal mental factors in the Theravāda Abhidharma.
  • One of the five universal mental factors in the Mahāyāna Abhidharma.
  • One of the twelve links of dependent origination (in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions).
  • One of the five skandas (in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions).
  • One of the objects of focus within the four foundations of mindfulness practice.

5 khandas

In the context of the twelve links, craving for and attachment to vedanā leads to suffering; reciprocally, concentrated awareness and clear comprehension of vedanā can lead to Enlightenment and the extinction of the causes of suffering.

Heaven is in Your Mind

Heaven is in Your Mind

Praying Hands on a Holy Book. A Very Human Phenomena, based in Hopes and Fears, and the feeling of Helplessness. Some Turn to Prayer, others to Magic, and a very few, choose the path of self introspection, self honesty and self transformation through efforts of renunciation of false views and clinging to impermanent things.

Prayer, and the Power of Prayer, can be Effective, or Pointless, depending on how it is applied, and how oneself applies oneself to allowing one’s prayers to manifest. Let us take a Prayer as an example for me to analyse and comment on, to make my point more easy to see. In this case, a Christian Prayer from St Francis of Assisi;

“Lord , make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred , let me sow love ;
where there is injury , pardon ;
where there is doubt , faith ;
where there is despair , hope ;
where there is darkness , light ;
where there is sadness , joy .

O Divine Master , grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console ;
to be understood as to understand ;
to be loved as to love ;
For it is in giving that we receive ;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned ;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life .”

 St Francis of Assisi

A nice prayer (but wishful thinking).. however, prayers are for people who are not prepared to make the effort to change.. the lord wont make you patient or forgiving or generous or merciful.. only you will. The Lord may wish you to be.. but Free will dictates that it is You yourself, who must make the efforts and reach the necessary understanding, to become an angelic mind, and only with an angelic mind, can one enter the pearly gates.. after all, heaven is a pure place isn’t it?

stairway to heaven

stairway to heaven

 

Hence, if Heavenly Abodes are Pure Places, they only have pure beings in them. Therefore only pure beings can enter…. Some Realms are Purer than Others, as one will discover by ascension process throughout eternity, but even the lower realms such as the Astral Plane, require a minimum degree of innocence and absence of malevolence, and to be already mentally and motivated through being  ‘in the spirit’

So purify yourself, it will work better than praying…

Praying is like buying lottery tickets.. in fact, you have more chance of getting something out of a lottery ticket, than you will get from praying without changing yourself

To sow love where there is hatred.. you need understanding.. not prayers, you need to destroy your false views so you don’t feel offended, and to destroy your false views so you don’t feel resentment or wronged, and don’t hate others. However, the power of prayer can strengthen your own resolve, and indeed, is intended for self mindfulness, more than for the angels to hear you.

Mid Celestial Realm with Angelic Beings, can perhaps still hear echoes from the Material World

Mid Celestial Realm with Angelic Beings, can perhaps still hear echoes from the Material World

However, having said this, ‘Athithaan‘ in Thai means ‘to pray’, or cultivate the deep wish (and willpower), to manifest one’s desires.

When i was preparing to Ordain as a Bhikkhu (Buddhist Monk), i was told to pray and pray and pray for the chance to become a Monk, and indeed, the repeated praying developed a higher and more serious attitude and stronger resolve to become one.

This also helped to develop the bases of attitude (Dhitti), needed to become a person deserving of Ordination. So Prayer does have its place and importance as a practice, when performed with wisdom, but not blind faith, and when accompanied by personal efforts to change, and to manifest what one is praying for.

In Buddhism, which is just one way of looking at things, there are four kinds of persons who have begun the unstoppable process of purification of defilement within, the first being the Sotapanna

The Below Video shows a very young girl who is still a young child, asking questions which reveal her own deep understanding, far superior to many adults who profess to be Pundits, and receives some answers which may help you to understand what self purification entails.

 

A Sotāpanna means ‘stream enterer’, and refers to someone who has entered an unstoppable process of introspective self development and purification and ‘eye-opening’ insights, which can never be stopped again, rather like the turning of the wheel of the Dhamma.. or a snowball, which once it begins to roll, never stops, and just keeps growing and growing. A stream enterer will attain the final stage of the path, and will never leave this streamflow which leads to that which Humans call ‘Enlightenment’ which is in truth, is merely the process of reawakening to the true nature of all things in existence, living and not living, and the cessation of all the causes of suffering and rebirth in Material Realms.

Celestial Realm

Celestial Realms of Mind and Spirit, are not Nibbana, and the denizens of these realms are still subject to the law of impermanence, dissatisfactoriness, and not selfness, but have an existence which has much more comfort and less sufferings than the Human Realms.

Praying Hands on a Holy Book. A Very Human Phenomena, based in Hopes and Fears, and the feeling of Helplessness. Some Turn to Prayer, others to Magic, and a very few, choose the path of self introspection, self honesty and self transformation through efforts of renunciation of false views and clinging to impermanent things. My Comment on the Header Picture Caption; Praying Hands on a Holy Book. A Very Human Phenomena, based in Hopes and Fears, and the feeling of Helplessness. Some Turn to Prayer, others to Magic, and a very few, choose the path of self introspection, self honesty and self transformation through efforts of renunciation of false views and clinging to impermanent things.

 

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven – But a Mindful Person, who is diligent in his Practice, and learns to renounce Materiality, may attain the Path, Be He Rich or Poor.

Topic; “The GURU” (Fake and Real);

Osho Rajneesh Rolls Royce and Devotees

Osho Rajneesh Rolls Royce and Devotees

This time we put one of the richest Gurus in Modern History, Rajneesh; A Very clever conman – a very rich one…. with Mijja Dhitti (False Views)

Never heard a word of wisdom or Dhamma from his mouth. And he reiterates how luxury and wealth is his way to happiness.  But if you examine the inner mind and heart, if you notice  the presence of suffering within (comes and goes in greater and lesser levels),, and that most of the mental and emotional sufferings and dissatisfactions we all experience (even Kings and Queens, and Gurus like Rajneesh), come from attachment and clinging to material things, ideologies and religious beliefs, ethics, selfishness. Rajneesh Owns 93 Rolls Royces

Osho Rajneesh Fake Guru

Osho Rajneesh Fake Guru

If one examines within, one will see that however rich you are, it wont make you happy, because true happiness does not require riches or poverty.. it just requires right view, (Samma Dhitti), which this fellow (Rajneesh) doesnt have yet.

his fast breathing teaching is the same as the ajarn sak yant who know that this in combination with clash of sounds causes trance… its part of the brainwashing process and of spiritual domination of people. Any Ajarn tells you to breathe deep fast and strongly as you receive blessings is a conman.. refuse to do that real deep fast breathing….

Breath Should Be Natural. Mindful Observance of Breath is the Mission

That is not the way.. remain calm, breathe naturally, and focus on your mantra or point of meditative focus which works best (chant inwardly ‘Buddho’ or whatever you feel.. ‘jesus’ ‘allah’ ‘peace’ whatever you prefer.. but for gods sake dont do erratic fast breathing when being treated, tattooed or blessed or taught to meditate by such ‘Gurus’. The fact that Rajneesh was a Hypnotist before he left India is also something to consider about how he can influence the Views (Dhitti) of his audience..

Samma Dhitti (Right View)

“Beggars and Pooor People cannot come to me because they cannot understand him so its natural that he is the rich man’s Guru’.. well all the enlightened Buddhas were mendicant beggars, and all of them were without possessions, and taught the path to the end of suffering – This dude teaches how to be reborn as an animal, hungry ghost, or asura monster or hell being, but the Buddhas taught how to practice to be never reborn as any of those, and only be reborn as a Deva (angelic being), a Human, or to Reach Nibbana. 

To intercede a little with my own ‘Views’ (Dhitti), i would say that i feel that the Tathagatha (Buddha as he referred to Himself), did not possess any views, or have a view,  for he held that all views are ‘points of view’ or ‘personal’ and limited, subjective and not objective, and hence, false views (Mijja Dhitti). “Oh but that is a View in Itself”! I hear you Thinking; Well, one could say that the Only View which the Lord Buddha Had, was that all Views are Wrong Views. This is indeed part of having Right View (Samma Dhitti ).

Samma Dhitti is one of the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path Taught by Lord Buddha

The Title Says it All


This guy taught to cling to sensual pleasures and advocated it. he did not see the truth that clinging and desire to impermanent things is the root of suffering and rebirth in realms of suffering, and illusion. He has 90 rolls royces, but he could sell them to educate the poor.. of course this is pointless to indicate, as everyone knows he was a con man

Sometimes people send me messages saying “Ajarn i want to make a donation to you” – No thanks i dont need them as i sell ebooks and amulets as my right profession, and use afilliate marketing (adsense and youtube earnings), to finance myself, and not take money from Looksit or subscribers or wellwishers or students… – True Guru only bestows knowledge wisdom and spirituality but does not allow an institution to arise around him…. Here is one of what most people think is a Guru …. the comments will show some other ‘Gurus’ who are about as rich and famous as Oprah Winfrey and live justr as luxuriously….. 

This teaching below from Ajarn Amaro, is the real reason for not seeking sensual pleasures, and why Rajneesh has 90 Rolls Royces instead of Spiritual Enlightenment. Buddha was happy with nothing, but if Rajneesh was made to live under a tree in the mosquito ridden Jungle, he would soon break apart, proving his lack of self mastery, and love of the cause of rebirth (attachment to sensual pleasures)

I think that people like to hear what they prefer to believe…

If you tell people they will win the lottery within a month after a blessing, and the devotee adds extra donations to the box.. a month later he wonders where his win is…- its with the Ajarn who spent it already or put it on his bank.

Give your children your money, not your Guru.

Death May be the Greatest of all Human Blessings

Death May be the Greatest of all Human Blessings (Socrates) – Now is the Season of Giving, not Taking, for You cannot Take it With You, and You Cannot Give It to Somebody who you Know and Love and who will Need It, and Give it with Your Heart, when You Are Already Dead.

The Perfect Teacher - False Gurus for Profit and Fame

A Critical Investigation into why Gurus and Spiritual teachers always try to appear Flawless and without Defilement in Public, and why they never speak of their own failings or defilement, or how they learned from them. True and Fake Gurus and what is a ‘Perfect Teacher’?

Mindfulness of the Experience of Life is the Greatest Teacher

Mindfulness of the Experience of Life is the Greatest Teacher

My Ajarn Spencer Youtube Channel  description to this Video states the following

“Why do Gurus and teachers always seem faultless in the media and when showing themselves in public? And why do they never, or mostly hardly ever, speak about their own failings and deficiencies (defilement), and how they learned from them?”

I myself don’t consider myself a teacher, and see plenty of defilement within myself (the point of the path is to annihilate defilement, and to annihilate it, one needs to perceive it within oneself first). But many of my subscribers do consider my shares to be ‘teachings’, and so, be i a teacher or not, i can say that i like to reveal my difficulties and obstacles within myself, and how i come to terms with my inner battles, as part of my ‘Teachings’ my teachings are based on what i am learning and have learned from my own imperfections… i don’t see this much with millionaire Gurus or World Famous teachers however…

One Life to Get it Right

One Life to Get it Right

A true teacher reveals his teachings as coming from the developments he has achieved or surpassed within his own life trajectory. The Buddha gave his teachings based on his own experiences, and told of his misconceptions and fails in the run up to his enlightenment. The problem with the modern unenlightened professional ‘teacher’ is ‘Dhitti’ meaning ‘attiude’ or ‘disposition’. One tends to believe one’s own concepts, be they arisen from experience, or through mere Vijjikicha (analytic thought). Dhitti can be a right or wrong attitude.

The Buddha spoke of ‘Sammā Dhitti‘ which means ‘Right View’ and ‘Mijchā Dhitti‘ which means ‘Wrong View’. Many Modern Gurus teach the very egoistic rich and self centered Hollywood society and make immense amounts of money, but they are like the Demon Mephisto, who used trusths to trick the Alchemist Faust into selling his Soul. Teaches like Prof. John hagelin of the Maharishi Transcendental meditation Group for example, teaches to see Not-Self-ness in things, and flip it back into the wrong view (Mijchā Dhitti) of ‘I am the Universe’.

Awareness of Death Triggers Awareness of Life

Awareness of Death Triggers Awareness of Life

I conclude with this question, which cannot be answered, and is Rhetorical; Should one say ‘God is in My heart’? or would it be better to say ‘I am in the Heart of God’?

Shedding skin - Transformation, and the casting off of defilement. Enlightenment comes with the abandonment of craving, not with the desire to Become something.

In Buddhist practice, people try to ‘Attain’ Enlightenment. Academically, there are four stages to Enlightenment, each of those four stages having a path, and a fruit. In the thing we perceive as ‘the path to Enlightenment/Arahantship’ we tend to see the four stages as explained in Buddhist Dhamma Theory, as something to ‘Attain’ when in Truth, there is Nothing to ‘Attain’ or ‘Get’.

Akaranga Sutra - Abandonment

It’s not about Getting anything or Attaining anything, rather, more about Shedding things, and Getting Rid of Things. There is Hence Nothing to be Attained, no Stages of Enlightenment to ‘Get’ . There are merely states of existence, trapped in causality, or free from causality.

The below podcast talks about and elaborates on this.

The mere desire to ‘Become’ a Buddha, is in basis, a false view, because part of the path is to escape the process of Becoming, which is what causes our ceaseless rebirths in Samsaric Illusory Existence (Dependent Origination).

One should not wish to ‘Become’ anything at all, for that is ‘Bhava Tanhā’ (desire of becoming/craving for eternal existence).

The opposite mood, is also a defilement – ‘Vibhava Tanhā’ (desire to not become something/craving for non-existence).

Both are Desires, or forms of Craving. Desire is part of the cycle of Dependent Origination, of which Becoming is a part