To see the world in a grain of sand : Vipassana – a mindless view.
Recently I came to know of the controversy between Mahasi Sayadaw’s vipasanna meditation technique and other school of thoughts. The controversy is with regard to the arising of insight and when momentary concentration arise. The controversy created a lot of heated and very emotional exchanges between both camps. One author wrote a 800 page objections and the other side I supposed replied with just as much fervour and volume. The key contention was "Momentary concentration". The objection was that "momentary concentration" came from absorption concentration , which came from access concentration whereas Mahasi sayadaw’s technique argued that "momentary concentration" can arise even before access and absorption concentration and that access and absorption concentration came from "momentary concentration".
Vipassana-yanika : a person who uses insights as the vehicle. Path taken :
Insight (Momentary concentration) -> Access concentration -> Absorption concentration
Samatha-yanika : a person who uses jhana as the vehicle. Path taken :
Access concentration -> Absorption concentration -> Insight (Momentary concentration)
The argument is that "purification" can only come from "momentary concentration" and so the "momentary concentration" of the vipassana-yanika is the same as the "momentary concentration" of the samatha-yanika. The two states are actually very different. Perhaps both sides are argueing over terminology and semantics and the substance is lost.
The believe that the only fruit (magga) of the vipassana-yanika is the insight into the 3 characteristics is not entirely correct. Before this liberating "magga" is attained there are other mundane insights that arose. But the technique as it is being taught doesn’t allow these mundane insights to arise because all the adherents were taught to "look out for" or "to experience" certain characteristics. Thus the "seeing" is nothing but an externally imposed "magga". What the mind projects as the "magga" to be attain, we will attain. Such an attainment is the attainment of our own delusions. However the technique does develop certain degree of concentration. Even before liberating insight arise in the vipassana-yanika access concentration can some time arise. This is often accompanied by bodily bliss. Absorption concentratioin will not attained until the liberating insight of seeing the 3 characteristics is attained.
The path of a Vipassana-yanika doesn’t progress in a step wise manner to access and absorption concentration from insight. When the supramundane insight arise access and absorption concentration arise naturally. It is when our consciousness have the ability to detach itself from the other 4 skandhas. This access and absorption concentration do not arise because we have seen reality for what it is and automatically it switches from "momentary" concentration into access and absorption concentration. This ability accompanies the arising of supra-mundane or liberating insights. Supramundane insights is not the cause of access and absorption concentration.
The path of the vipassana-yanika follow the following path :
Mundane insight (MI) -> unlearn a bit -> MI -> unlearn a bit more -> MI -> unlearn a bit more
and so on. Vipassana is the process of unlearning and detaching our consciousness bit by bit from our body, our feelings, our perceptiions and our volition.
The path of the vipassana-yanika is the path of clarity and as we see life clearer, we have the ability to let go a bit and is able to put down a bit of our mental and emotional burden. We start to understand life. As we progress we will start to "see" the subtle hindrances and things that continue to create mental and emotional burden. A good example I can think of to illustrate subtle hindrances is our ability to put down our meat diet but at the same time many of these vegetarians pick up arrogance and use their "new found" self-righteousness to judge others. This obscuration is very subtle and we don’t know it when we judge others by our thoughts, words and actions.
For those who has chosen the vipassana path it is important for them to "know" what is concentration and what is awareness or mindfulness. Buddha gave the simple example of a person walking with a full glass of water. When he looked directly at the water level he is using concentration but at the same time he is aware of the objects around him but he has no recognition of what those objects were. In short there weren’t any interpretation of all these other objects. That’s awareness. This is awareness of visual objects. The same thing can be repeated for sound. Such as listening to one tone while a conversation is going on in the background. If we don’t know what is said through out, that’s bare awareness. Or we can concentrate on a visual image while being aware of the sound not not knowing what is being said. Sound is one of the hardest sensation to detach from. One area of our life where we can practice is when we are watching the news or movie. If we notice the sound and yet not know what is being said we have become aware of the sound but not interpreted the sound. The outflow have been successfully stopped.
Here’s a little practice that one can use to develop awareness. With practice one can detach from the perception skandha. This ability can then be extended to the other skandhas. The perception skandha is very "strong" and is therefore an easy object to
practice our detachment.
Look out into a wide open expanse. Our mind is habituated to look at the world through our thoughts. When we see something thoughts on that thing will arise. We make judgement ; good or bad, we compare, we condemn, we recollect related experiences etc. In short the mind is not allowed to rest.
Take a few deep breaths, relax your entire body and try to look at the wide open expanse without any thoughts. When thoughts arise bring it back to the scenery. Make no judgement, no comparison etc the things that the mind normally do. If the scenery is very bright than this will be easier. It helps to calm the mind. When you can do this for even just a few minutes you will experience firstly a deep peace….even ecstatic. More importantly a deep sense of connectedness will dawn on you and your innate wisdom will start to arise. And you will "understand intuitively" what william blake meant when he said "to see the world in a grain of sand".
A calm disposition either through some form of concentration meditation or yoga will certainly help one to progress on the path of insight. One can use it as a supportive practice rather than the main practice.
Knowing the difference between concentration and awareness is critical in this practice. No amount of reading or listening will help one know it. This nice little parable will help illustrate this.
———- Parable of the wheelwright —————-
Duke Huan, seated above in his hall, was once reading a book, and the wheelwright P’ien was making a wheel below it. Laying aside his hammer and chisel, P’ien went up the steps and said, "I venture to ask Your Grace what words you are reading?"
The Duke said, "The words of the sages."
"Are those sages alive?" P’ien continued.
"They are dead," was the reply.
"Then," said P’ien," what you, my ruler, are reading, are only the dregs and sediments of those men."
The duke said, "How should you, a wheelwright, have anything to say about the book I am reading ? If you can explain yourself, very well; if you cannot, you will have to die for your insolence."
The wheelwrigth said, "Your servant will look at the thing from the point of view of his own art. In making a wheel, if I proceed gently, that is pleasant enough but the workmanship is not strong; if I proceed violently, that is toilsome and the joinings do not fit. If the movements of my hand are neither too gentle nor too violent, the idea in my mind is realized. But I cannot tell how to do this by word of mouth."
"I know it, still I cannot say it. I cannot teach the knack to my son – even to my son – nor can my son learn it from me. Teaching and learning are only of the outer things. This knack is an inner feel. Thus it is that I am in my seventieth year, and am still making wheels in my old age. But these ancients, and what it was not possible for them to convey, are dead and gone. So then what you, my ruler, are reading, is but their dregs and sediments!"
———- End of parable —————-
In order to use the vipassana as the vehicle one has to learn this "knack" of distinguishing between concentration and awareness and the knack of knowing without words nor forms – that’s insight.
When we see the world through a multitude of thoughts all we are really seeing are our thoughts and all the attendant baggages. To see the world without thoughts is to see the world anew, fresh and alive. One colleague of mine when I was discussing with him the thoughtless view of the world said that when there is no thoughts what it means is that we will behave like idiots. A vipassana practitioner I spoke to said that he can’t accept such "contradiction" i.e. wisdom arising from thoughtlessness. We are so attune to the notion that all that we know are shaped and form by words – even something we thought as wisdom. Wisdom arise whole in an instant and is never disjointed. Only when we try to express it that we have to arrange things in a straight line. A person with true insight will be able to look at different sides of his insights. A rational thought is essentially one dimensional. If the basis of such thoughts is wrong, everything that follows from it is wrong.
Look at the world today. When we have the capacity to bomb each other senseless daily or to create a lot of harm and burden on others. And all these came through thoughts. We always say – "thoughtless actions" but the person who are doing it actually had given it a lot of thought and because they are trapped in their thoughts their innate wisdom and compassion will never arise. So we can have adults behaving like small children or doing things that are silly thinking that it is of great value. And of course they can argue for their delusions.
When our thoughts are quiet our inner sensibility awake. Our senses come alive and we truly live. We no longer need to live through the opinions of others, through our prejudices, our misconception, our delusions or the activities that dull the senses or excites the emotion. We just live and in time to come deep gratitude will arise – a benediction, a special presence.