Seven Commentaries By

Venerable Sayadaw U
Silananda

Copyright © 1995-2000 Sayadaw U Silananda

All Rights Reserved

The following commentaries were taken off the web at the Access To Insight website (
www.accesstoinsight.org), the BuddhaSasana Website (www.saigon.com/~anson/index.htm) and
the Theravada Buddhist Society of America website (www.tbsa.org).

First RocketEdition September 2000

Converted by Mid America Dharma
www.midamericadharma.org
Send corrections to: moeabl@aol.com

Table Of Contents
Preface About Ven. U Silananda

Ch. 1 Introduction to Vipassana Meditation

Ch. 2 Questions and Answers About Vipassana Meditation

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Ch. 3 Meditation Instructions For Loving-kindness Meditation and Vipassana Meditation

Ch, 4 The Benefits of Walking Meditation

Ch. 5 The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (A Summary)

Ch. 6 A Talk of Kamma, Rebirth and Suffering

Ch. 7 Is Theravada Buddhism for Arahatship Only?

About Venerable Sayadaw U

Silananda
Family

Sayadaw U Silananda was born in Mandalay, Burma (now known as Myanmar) on Friday, December
16, 1927 (the 8th Waning of the month of Nadaw in Burmese Era 1289) of parents Wunna Kyaw Htin
Saya Saing and Daw Mone. Saya Saing was a renowned Burmese architect. (See "Work of Saya
Saing") and had to his credit many religious buildings throughout the country. He was a very religious man
and a meditator as well. He was awarded the title "Wunna Kyaw Htin" by the Government of Burma for
his outstanding achievements in Burmese architecture and religious activities.

Two brothers of Sayadaw are also prominent Burmese architects. His two nephews are graduate
architects of RIT. His brother U Ngwe Hlaing was the chief designer and his nephew U Than Tun is
co-designer of the "Karaweik" in Kandawgyi (Royal Lake), Rangoon.

Sayadaw also comes from a highly religious family. His sister is Daw Thandasari, Chief Nun of "
Shwe-se-di Sar-thin-daik" of "Sasanapala Choung" in Sagaing Hills.

Samanera

At the age of 16, on April 14, 1943 (on the 10th Waxing of the month of Tagu in Burmese Era 1305,
also the third day of the Water Festival) during the Japanese occupation, U Silananda became a novice
at Mahavijjodaya Chaung monastery in Sagaing Hills under the preceptorship of Sayadaw U
Pannavata, a very faamous and popular preacher. He was then given the religious name "Shin
Silananda".

Monkhood

With the consent of his parents, on Wednesday July 2, 1947 (on the Full Moon day of Waso in
Burmese Era 1309) he became a full-fledged monk at the same monastery with the same preceptor.
Four days later re-ordination ceremony was held in his honor at Payagyi Taik monastery in Mandalay
by U Ba Than and Daw Tin (his aunt), dealers in religious artifacts. Again in 1950 (Burmese Era 1311) a
second re-ordination ceremony was held in his honor at Kyaungdawya Shwegyin Taik, Rangoon (now
Yangon) by rice merchants U Ba Thein and Daw Ngwe Saw.

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Education

He received his early years' education at Kelly High School, an American Baptist Mission School for
boys, in Mandalay. He had his religious education in Tipitaka (Buddhist Scriptures) under the guidance
of his preceptor and many other renowned Sayadaws both in Sagaing Hills and in Mandalay.

He took the religious examinations held by the Government of Burma (now Myanmar) and passed the
Phatamange (1st Grade) in 1946, Phatamalat (2nd Grade) in 1947, and Phatamagyi (3rd Grade) in
1948. He attained the 1st position in the 2nd Grade in the whole of Burma and 2nd position in the 3rd
Grade. He got the degree of Dhammacariya, Master of Dhamma, in 1950 and was awarded the title
Sasanadhaja Siripavara Dhammacariya. In 1954 he attained another degree when he passed the
examination held by Pariyattisasanahita Association in Mandalay which was renowned to be the most
difficult examination in Burma. He duely got to add to his name the word "abhivamsa", hence his full
name and title: U Silanandabhivamsa, Sasanadhaja Siripavara Dhammacariya and
Pariyattisasanahita Dhammacariya.

He went to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1954 and while there passed the GCE Advanced Level Examination
(General Certificate of Education Examination held by the University of London in Ceylon) with
distinctions in Pali and Sanskrit.

While he was in Ceylon he made a brief return to Burma and during that trip he practiced Vipassana
meditation in Mahasi Sayadaw's tradition.

Introduction to Vipassana
Meditation
by Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda

Vipassana meditation is an awareness meditation. It teaches you to be with the present moment, to live
in the present moment. It teaches to be aware of everything that comes to you and is happening to you.
Only the present moment is important. And everything that comes to you at the present moment through
the six sense doors: "eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind" is to be noted, to be watched, to be
observed as the object of awareness.

When you practice Vipassana meditation, by making mental notes or just watching the various things that
come to you, you will bring awareness to a high level so that you will be able to see things as they truly
are. You will come to see the true nature of mind and body, of the mental and physical phenomena of
which you are composed. "True nature" means the nature of impermanence, the nature of unsatisfaction,
and the nature of insubstantiality or the absence of an unchanging self or soul. It is important to see these
three characteristics of nature so that you can have a correct view of things, so that you may have less
attachment to mind and body, and gradually be able to weaken the hold of mental defilements that
prevent enlightenment.

When you practice Vipassana meditation, you choose an object on which to focus your mind. That
object will be the "home" object of meditation. Traditionally, the breath is taken as the object. You keep

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your mind focused on the breath and make mental notes "in-out-in-out" along with the breaths. During the
notings of the breath when your mind gets lost or distracted, you make notes of them too, such as
"thinking" or "hearing" or "distractions" or "emotions", etc. And also you make notes of the feelings in
your body. In this way, you keep yourself aware of everything that is happening in you or that comes to
you through the six sense doors.

By keeping your mind on the object of meditation, you are able to develop concentration or
one-pointedness of mind which is necessary for the penetrative knowledge into the true nature of mind
and body to arise. Without concentration this cannot happen. So what you need first is concentration.
And in order to have concentration, you must first keep your mind focused on one object. If you can
keep your mind focused on one and the same object for some time you can get the necessary
concentration. But you will find that in the beginning that is very difficult to do even for a short time. That
is because you are dealing with the mind which is very unruly and difficult to control. You can keep a wild
bull by tying it with ropes. But you cannot tie your mind with ropes, so you tie your mind to the object
with awareness or mindfulness. In the beginning, mindfulness may not be strong enough to tie the mind
down to one object and you may have many distractions to interfere with your meditation. But when
distractions come to you, whether through the eyes, ears or nose, etc., do not get irritated or upset. Just
turn them into the objects of meditation by making notes of them too.

The beauty of Vipassana meditation lies in the fact that all things are the object for this meditation. The
breath is only the "home" object. If you have no other object to note, just keep noting them too. Whether
you are keeping your mind on the breath or on other distractions, you are doing good meditation if you
are aware of them.

When you practice Vipassana meditation, you have to be patient and persevere. And do not get
discouraged, if you cannot get concentration at the beginning. Everybody has that experience. And leave
all your expectations behind when you are meditating. Just be in the present moment. And if these
thoughts come to you in spite of the instructions, just make them the object of meditation. In this way,
you can effectively deal with everything that comes to you.

QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS ABOUT
VIPASSANA
by Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda
1. Where does the practice of Vipassana come from?

Vipassana meditation chiefly comes from the tradition of Theravada Buddhism. There are two major
divisions of Buddhism in the world today—Mahayana and Theravada. Mahayana tradition developed as
Buddhism spread to the Northern Asian countries of Tibet, China, Japan, etc. Theravada tradition stay in
Southern Asian and spread to Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

2. What does Vipassana mean?

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The word Vipassana is composed of two parts—‘Vi’ which means in various ways and ‘passana’
which means seeing. So Vipassana means seeing in various ways.

3. What can Vipassana meditation do for me?

The ultimate purpose of Vipassana is to eradicate mental impurities from your mind altogether. Before
that stage, there are benefits of tranquillity, peace of mind and the ability to accept things as they come.
Vipassana helps you to see things as they truly are, not as they appear to be. Things appear to be
permanent, desirable and substantial, but actually they are not. When you practice Vipassana meditation,
you will see for yourself the arising and disappearing of mental and physical phenomena. And you will
have a clearer comprehension of what is going on in your mind and body. You will be able to accept
things as they come to you with less agitation and deal with situations in a more positive way.

4. Who needs Vipassana meditation?

Vipassana meditation is for the cure of diseases of the mind in the form of mental defilements like greed,
hatred, delusion, etc. We all have these mental diseases almost all the time. In order to at least control
them we need Vipassana meditation. So Vipassana is for all people.

5. When Vipassana is needed?

Since mental impurities are almost always with us, we need Vipassana meditation almost all of the time.
There is no fixed time for the practice of Vipassana. Morning, during the day, before bed…anytime is the
time for Vipassana. And Vipassana may be practiced at any age.

6. Do I have to be a Buddhist to practice Vipassana?

There is nothing which can be called particularly Buddhist in Vipassana meditation. There is no element
of religion. It is a scientific investigation and examination of yourself. You just observe closely every thing
that comes to you and is happening to you in your body and mind at the present moment.

7. Is Vipassana meditation difficult to practice?

Yes and no. Meditation involves control of mind and mind is most unruly. You come to know this
personally when you practice meditation. So it is not easy to practice Vipassana meditation because it is
not easy to control the mind…to keep the mind on one and the same object. In another way, Vipassana
meditation is easy to practice. There are no elaborate rituals to follow or much to learn before being able
to practice. You just sit, watch yourself and focus your mind on the object. Just that.

8. Are there prerequisites for Vipassana meditation?

You need a genuine desire to practice and a readiness to follow the instructions closely because if you
do not practice properly, you will not get the full benefits of meditation. You also need to have
confidence in the practice and the teacher and an open mind to try it and see what it can do for you.
Patience is also very important. When you meditate, you have to be patient with many things. There will
be distractions, sensations in your body, and you will be dealing with your mind. You must persevere
when these distractions come and you cannot concentrate on the object. Also in Theravada Buddhism,
purity of morals is emphasized because without pure moral conduct, there cannot be good concentration
or peace of mind. Thoughts of something wrong you have done will come to you again and again,
especially when you are in meditation, and it will be more difficult for you to get good concentration.

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9. What gadgets do I need for Vipassana meditation?

Actually, you do not need anything at all. All you need is a place where you can sit down, close your
eyes and focus on the object. But I am not against using cushions, benches or even chairs and other
things because in order to practice meditation, you need some degree of comfort. But while you do not
need to inflict pain on yourself unnecessarily, you should take care not to be too much attached to
comfort, or sloth and torpor will come to you and you will go to sleep.

10. In what posture can Vipassana be practiced?

Vipassana meditation can and should be practiced in all postures—sitting, standing, walking, and lying
down. Whatever you do, you should be mindful.

11. Is cross-legged posture essential in sitting meditation?

Although it is customary and traditional to sit on the floor to practice meditation, it is not essential in
Vipassana. If you cannot sit cross-legged, you may sit any way you like as long as it is comfortable for
you. What matters in Vipassana is just the awareness, not the posture.

12. Must my eyes be closed when meditating?

It is better to keep your eyes closed, but you may leave them open if you like, whichever is least
distracting for you. But if you happen to look at anything, then you have to be aware of the "looking" and
note it. The important thing is to have good concentration.

13. What should I do with my hands when meditating?

There are no strict rules as to how to put your hands in Vipassana. You may put them any way you
like. The most usual position is on the lap one over the other. Or you may put them on your knees.

14. How long must I practice at a time?

That depends on how much time you can spend for meditation. There is no fixed rule. It is good if you
can sit for one hour. But if you cannot sit for one hour at the beginning, then you may sit half an hour or
fifteen minutes, and little by little extend the time, until you can sit longer. And if you can sit for more than
an hour without much discomfort, you may sit two or three hours if you like.

15. Should I practice every day?

We eat every day, care for our bodies every day. Since we almost always have mental defilements with
us we need to cleanse our minds every day. I recommend the morning hours because then your body and
mind are rested and you are away from the worries of the previous day. It would also do you good to
meditate in the evening before you go to bed. But you may practice any time. And if you make it a habit
to practice every day, it will be good and beneficial to you.

16. Do I need a teacher to practice Vipassana?

This is important. Whenever you learn a new skill, you need a teacher. With the advice of a teacher, you
learn quicker and you cannot go wrong. You need a teacher who is competent to give instructions,
correct your mistakes, and give guidance when you have trouble in the course of meditation. There are
some meditators who think they are making progress while in reality, they are not making progress at all.

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And sometimes they are making progress but think they are not doing well. Only the teacher can tell, and
so at such a time he or she is indispensable. If you cannot find a teacher, you may rely on books,
although no book can entirely take the place of a teacher. You may be able to do fairly well by reading
the instructions and following them carefully. But even then, you may have need for discussion with a
teacher occasionally.

17. Can Vipassana be applied to daily life?

You can have awareness of whatever you do whether you are working, walking, doing, etc. It will not
be as intense as in meditation or during a retreat, but a more general awareness. And when you apply
mindfulness to problems in your life, you will be able to deal with them more effectively.

18. What is a meditation retreat?

A meditation retreat provides an opportunity to deepen meditation practice in a supportive environment

with the guidance of a experienced teacher. Everything you do at a retreat becomes the object of
meditation.

19. What happens at a retreat?

A retreat day consists of alternate periods of sitting and walking meditation, a nightly lecture and
personal interviews with the teacher. Continuity of practice is developed by bringing mindfulness to all
other activities throughout the day as well. Noble silence is observed during the retreat. Retreats can last
for one day, a weekend, a week or longer.

20. Why should I go to a meditation retreat?

The intensive practice of a retreat is very beneficial for developing good concentration and quieting the
mind. Since concentration is essential for penetrative wisdom to arise, a meditation retreat gives you the
best possible opportunity to be able to experience for yourself the true nature of reality.

MAY ALL BEINGS BE WELL, HAPPY AND PEACEFUL!

*******

Meditation Instructions
For Loving-kindness Meditation and
Vipassana Meditation
by Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda

[The instructions given here are for those who want to practice meditation for an hour or so. So
detailed instructions are given only for sitting meditation and walking meditation.]

To practice meditation, you have to look first for a suitable place. A suitable place is a place which
offers you the necessary seclusion for your meditation. You may find secluded places in nature.

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However, when you are meditating inside a house, you have to look for the place which is most suitable
for meditation and you will then use this place for meditation each time. You may want to put up a statue
or a picture of the Buddha, some flowers, a candle or some incense to assist your meditation, but these
items are not so important as is the necessity for a secluded place where you will always practice your
meditation in the future.

SITTING MEDITATION: POSTURES

To begin your meditation, please be seated in a comfortable posture, preferably in cross-legged position,
and keep the upper portion of your body erect, but not stiff or tense. One of the two kinds of
cross-legged position is recommended, namely, the half lotus position or the easy posture, which some
teachers call "Burmese posture". In the half lotus position one leg is put on top of the other, but in the
easy posture one leg is put in front of the other, thus the pressure on either leg is minimized. If the any of
the cross-legged position is still too difficult for you, you may take any sitting posture which is most
comfortable for you. Because some comfort is necessary to continue the practice of meditation, you may
even sit on a cushion, a chair or a bench. Though the cross-legged position is the ideal position for
meditation, you have to decide for yourself in which position you can maintain your meditation best.
Important in all sitting positions is that you keep the upper portion of your body erect.

FORGIVENESS AND LOVING-KINDNESS

Teachers of meditation suggested that we ask forgiveness from those whom we may have offended by
deed, speech or thought; forgiving others and ourselves also clears our minds of ill-will. The practice of
loving-kindness is also beneficial in that it calms our minds down so that we can go into Vipassana
meditation smoothly. So, before we practice Vipassana meditation, we will practice forgiveness (which
consists of asking forgiveness from others, forgiving others and forgiving ourselves), and loving-kindness
meditation.

We practice forgiveness to remove any guilt feelings. Sometimes you did something wrong to somebody
by body, speech or in mind and then you have this feeling of guilt. Especially, when you are meditating,
you want to keep your mind pure but these thoughts come to you again and again and spoil your
meditation. Like cleaning the slate, you first ask forgiveness from others. This is one aspect. The other
aspect is to forgive others. There may be somebody who has done something wrong to you and you
have some anger or grudge against that person. You have to get rid of this anger or grudge, too. In order
to practice loving kindness fully, you must be able to send thoughts of loving-kindness to all beings
without exception. But if you cannot forgive some people (including yourself), you will not be able to
practice loving-kindness meditation fully. So, loving-kindness and forgiveness go together. And thirdly,
you forgive yourself. Sometimes, you find it more difficult to forgive yourself than to forgive others. If you
cannot forgive yourself, you will not be able to practice loving-kindness to yourself; and if you cannot
practice loving-kindness to yourself, it is very unlikely that you can practice it to other beings.

Therefore, before entering Vipassana meditation, you have to practice forgiveness; after that you
practice loving-kindness meditation.

Loving-kindness is a kind of love, i.e., love without attachment, craving or lust. It is a wholesome and
genuine desire for the well-being of all beings including ourselves. So when you practice loving-kindness
and wish for your own happiness, saying, "May I be well, happy and peaceful", thisshould not be
interpreted as selfishness because, in order to send out thoughts of loving-kindness to others, we have to
generate these thoughts first in ourselves. Also, when you send thoughts to yourself, you can take yourself
as an example. That means, when you say, "May I be well, happy, and peaceful," you think, "Just as I
want to be well, happy and peaceful, so do all other beings. So may they also be well, happy and

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peaceful." To be able to practice loving-kindness towards other beings, you first have to practice loving
kindness towards yourself. Then you send your thoughts to other beings. You can send these thoughts in
different ways. You can send thoughts to all beings by location. You can send loving-kindness to all
beings in this house. By "all beings" we mean not only human beings, but also animals, insects, etc. Then
you send loving-kindness to all beings in this area, in this city, in this county, in this state, in this country, in
this world, in this universe, and last, to all beings in general. When you say the sentences to yourself,
please, mean them and try to see and visualize the beings you mention as really well, happy, and peaceful,
and your thoughts of loving-kindness reaching them, touching them, embracing them and making them
really well, happy, and peaceful. It will take about fifteen minutes.

When practicing forgiveness, fold your hands up, and say:

"If by deed, speech or thought, Foolishly I have done wrong, May all forgive me honored ones,
Who are in wisdom and compassion strong. I freely forgive anyone who may have hurt or
injured me. I freely forgive myself. "

Now you can practice loving-kindness meditation. When practicing loving-kindness meditation,
repeat the following sentences silently to yourself, about ten times each.

May I be well, happy, and peaceful.

May all beings in this house be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this area be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this city be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this county be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this state be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this country be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this world be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings in this universe be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful.

May suffering ones be suffering free and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all
grief, and all beings find relief.

Loving-kindness can also be practiced by way of persons, as follows:

May I be well, happy, and peaceful.

May my teachers be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my parents be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my relatives be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my friends be well, happy, and peaceful.
May the indifferent persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May the unfriendly persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all meditators be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful.

May suffering ones be suffering free and the fear-struck fearless be. May the grieving shed all
grief, and all beings find relief.

After you have sent thoughts of loving-kindness to the whole world and all beings, you practice
Vipassana meditation.

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SITTING MEDITATION: VIPASSANA

Breaths as Main Object

Now focus your attention on the breaths; keep your mind at the tip of the nose, or at the entrance of the
nostrils. When you breathe in, be mindful of the in-breath for the whole duration, or from the beginning to
the end. And when you breath out, be mindful of the out-breath for the whole duration, or from the
beginning to the end. In-breath and out-breath each last about four or five seconds. Be really mindful of
the breaths. You may feel a sensation of the air at the tip of your nose or in your nose. Be mindful of it.
And concentrate on the nature of breath, the moving nature or the supporting nature of breath, rather than
the shape or form of the breath. Try to see the in-breath and out-breath as two separate things, not just
one and the same breath going in and coming out. Do not let your mind follow the breath into your body
or outside the body. Your mind is like a gatekeeper standing at the gate, taking note of people going in
and coming out. Do not force or strain yourself. Just calmly be mindful and watch the breaths. You may
make a mental note when you breathe in and when you breathe out, as "in", "out," "in", "out." Making
mental notes, or labeling, is just to help you keep your mind on the object; if it interferes with your
meditation, you don?t have to do it, but just be mindful of the object. What is important in this meditation
is mindfulness of the object at the moment, and not the notes you make.

If your mind can be on the breaths only, that is very good. However, mind has a tendency to wander
quite often. So, if, in the course of keeping your mind on the breaths, your mind wanders or goes out and
you are aware of it, do not feel guilty, or be upset; just be mindful of its going out. Or you may say to
yourself, "going out, going out, going out," two or three times and then go back to the breaths.

If you see something or someone in your thoughts, be mindful of seeing, or say to yourself, "seeing,
seeing, seeing," until that object disappears from your mind; then go back to the breaths.

If you hear somebody talking in your thoughts, be mindful of hearing or say to yourself, "hearing, hearing,
hearing," and then go back to the breath.

If you talk to someone in your thoughts, or if you talk to yourself, be mindful of talking, or say to yourself,
"talking, talking, talking," and then go back to the breaths.

If you speculate about something, be mindful of speculating; if you analyze something, be mindful of
analyzing; if you make judgments, be mindful of making judgments. In Vipassana meditation, you pay
just bare attention to the object, without any additions of you own, as "beautiful", "ugly", "good", "bad",
etc. Or, in other words, you take the object as it is, without subjective additions of your own.

If you remember something in the past, be mindful of the remembering, or say to yourself, "remembering,
remembering, remembering" or "thinking, thinking, thinking," and then go back to the breaths. If you think
of the future and make plans, be mindful of it, or say to yourself, "thinking of future, thinking of future,
thinking of future,", or "planning, planning, planning," and then go back to the breath.

If you become lazy, be mindful of your laziness, or say, "lazy, lazy, lazy." The laziness will go away after
some moments, then go back to the breaths. If you feel bored, be mindful of boredom, or say to yourself,
"bored, bored, bored," until boredom goes away, then go back to the breaths. If you have resistance, be
mindful of it, or say to yourself, "resisting, resisting, resisting." When resistance disappears, go back to the
breaths.

If you have thoughts of attachment or greed or lust, again do not feel guilty, but be mindful of these

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thoughts, or say to yourself, "attachment, attachment, attachment," or "greed, greed, greed," or "lust, lust,
lust," until they disappear and then go back to the breaths. If you are upset or angry for any reason, just
be mindful of that anger, or in other words, make that anger the object of meditation. Concentrate on
your anger, or you may say to yourself, "anger, anger, anger" or "angry, angry, angry" or "upset, upset,
upset." After some moments, the anger will disappear and when it has disappeared, go back to the
breaths.

If you want to swallow your saliva, first be mindful of the intention or desire to swallow, saying to
yourself, "intention, intention, intention," or "desire, desire, desire." And when you have gathered the
saliva in your mouth, be mindful of the gathering, or say to yourself, "gathering, gathering, gathering."
When you swallow it down, be mindful of swallowing, or say to yourself, "swallowing, swallowing,
swallowing," then go back to the breaths.

If you have an itching sensation, do not scratch it right away. Concentrate on the place of that itching and
be mindful of it, saying to yourself, "itching, itching, itching." In most cases, itching will go away after some
time. When it goes away, return to the breaths. Sometimes, the itching will not go away, but will even
become more intense. In that case try to be with it, taking note of it and be aware of it, as long as you
can. If you think you cannot bear it any longer, you may scratch. But before scratching, be mindful of the
intention or desire to scratch; and when you move your hand to the place where you experience the itch,
be mindful of moving. Move your hand slowly, following the movement with mindfulness. When your
fingers touch the place, say "touching, touching, touching." When you scratch, say "scratching, scratching,
scratching." When you take the hand back, say "taking, taking, taking" or "moving, moving, moving."
When your hand touches your lap, the knee or the other hand again, be mindful of touching, or say to
yourself, "touching, touching, touching." Then go back to the breaths.

If you have painful or unpleasant feelings in the body -- numbness, stiffness, or heat -- focus your mind
on the place of these feelings and be mindful of them. If you have pain somewhere in the body, focus on
the place of that pain, and be mindful of that pain, or say to yourself, "pain, pain, pain." You will have to
be very patient with painful feelings. Pain will not easily go away. You have to be patient and be mindful
of it. It may go away or it may become more acute. Stay with it as long as you can. Actually pain is a
very good object for meditation. It is a strong object. Your mind is pulled towards the place where there
is pain. So be mindful of it and try to see it just as a sensation, an unpleasant sensation. And it is
important that you do not identify pain with yourself, so do not say to yourself, "it is my pain" or "I feel
pain." There is just the pain, just the sensation. If the pain becomes so intense that you think you cannot
bear it any longer, you may ignore pain altogether and go back to the breaths, or you may make
movements or change posture to ease pain. But when you make movements or change posture, first note
the intention to change, or be mindful of the intention to change and then make movements slowly, one at
a time, following each movement with mindfulness. And when you have made the changes, go back to
the breaths.

So the breaths are the home object of your meditation. Whenever there are no other objects to be
mindful of, you just continue with being mindful of the breaths. If there are more prominent objects, then
you take note of them, be aware of them, or be mindful of them, and then go back to the breaths. Do not
use force, do not strain yourself, just calmly watch the objects, take note of them, or be mindful of them.
Do not try to forcefully push distractions or emotions or feelings in the body away, just watch them and
let them go by themselves.

Movements of the Abdomen as Main Object

For some people, it is difficult to concentrate on the breath at the tip of the nose. Such people can keep
their mind on the abdomen and be mindful of the rising and falling movements of the abdomen. When you

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inhale, the abdomen extends or rises and when you exhale, it contracts or falls. These movements --
rising and falling of the abdomen -- can be the main object of meditation instead of the breaths. Keep
your mind on the abdomen and be really mindful of the rising movement from the beginning to the end,
and also of the falling movement from the beginning to the end. Your mind is like a jockey riding a horse,
your mind and your abdomen are both moving. You may even put your hand on the abdomen to feel the
rising and falling movements. After some time, you may be able to follow the rising and falling movements
without your hand on the abdomen. Here also, you may make mental notes as "rising, falling", "rising,
falling", "rising, falling". The rest is the same as for taking the breaths as main object. The only difference
is to substitute ?breaths? with ?movements of the abdomen?.

Common for Both Methods

Let your mindfulness be precise, i.e., going concurrently with the objects. Take only one object at a
time; take the one which is most prominent and be mindful of it. If you cannot decide which is most
prominent, choose just one and be mindful of it. What is important in this meditation is to be mindful of
the object at the present moment; so whether you are mindful of the main object or the secondary object,
so long as you are mindful, you are doing the right thing. Do not have any expectations, do not expect to
experience something strange or to see visions or to get results or even to get concentration. Expectations
are good because they motivate us to practice, but when we are right in the practice, they become
obstacles to concentration. That is because they are a mild form of greed or attachment which is a
hindrance to concentration. So if expectations come up in spite of yourself, do not be irritated by them,
but just be mindful of them, or say to yourself, "expecting, expecting, expecting." Then go back to the
breaths or the movements of the abdomen. When you practice mindfulness you make effort, mental
effort; the effort you make thus must be neither too much nor too little; if you make too much effort, you
will become agitated and you cannot concentrate; and if you make too little effort, you will become
sleepy and again cannot concentrate. The effort you make must, therefore, be well balanced. If you miss
to be mindful and then remember, then be mindful of that missing, or say to yourself, "missing, missing,
missing", or "forgetting, forgetting, forgetting." Above all, do not be tight or tense in your mind; be
relaxed, and calmly watch, or be mindful, or make mental notes.

WALKING MEDITATION

Having meditated for about thirty minutes or more, you may practice walking meditation. When you
practice Vipassana meditation, it is important to keep mindfulness with you always. So, when you
change from sitting to standing, keep mindfulness with you. Before standing up, therefore, be mindful of
the intention to stand up or to get up. You may say to yourself "intention, intention, intention," or "desire,
desire, desire." Then get up slowly, keeping your mind on the whole of your body, or saying to yourself,
"getting up, getting up, getting up." And when you are standing, be mindful of the standing position, or say
to yourself, "standing, standing, standing."

When you walk, it is better to choose a walking path and stay on it. Walk on it back and forth. When
you walk, you walk slowly, keeping you mind on the foot or rather the movements of the foot, being
aware of at least four stages of each step. And keep your eyes down always.

In order to make a step, you first raise your foot. Keep your mind on the foot and be mindful of the
raising or lifting, saying, "lifting." Then you push your foot forward, or you move your foot forward. Be
mindful of that moving, saying to yourself, "moving." When you put your foot down on the floor, be
mindful of the putting down, or just say, "putting." Then you shift weight to make the other step. Keep
your mind on the whole body and say, "shifting." Then make the next step, being mindful of lifting,
moving, putting down, and shifting, making movements slowly. Keep your eyes open and look at the

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floor about three or four feet in front of you. Do not close your eyes. You may fall if you close your eyes.
Keep them a little open and look at the floor, or look down.

When you reach the end of the walking space, you stop and be mindful of stopping, or say to yourself,
"stopping, stopping, stopping." When you want to turn around, be mindful of the desire or intention to
turn around, or say to yourself, "intention, intention, intention," or "desire, desire, desire," and then you
turn slowly. Be mindful of the turning movement, or say to yourself, "turning, turning, turning." Then walk
again, taking note of the different stages in each step, lifting, moving, putting down, shifting, and so on,
until you reach the other end of the walking space. Stop there and be mindful of stopping. When you turn
around, be mindful of turning around and then walk again. Also, when you walk, you may keep your
hands in front or in the back or on the sides. So, you walk back and forth until the end of the walking
period.

[Walking meditation is designed to give exercise to the body. When you are practicing for half an hour or
an hour, walking may not be necessary. But when you are on a retreat and practice the whole day, your
body needs some kind of movement. Hence the walking meditation. At the end of the walking period, the
sitting period begins again. So you go back to the sitting place, walking slowly, making notes, being
aware of the different stages and steps. Before lowering yourself down, be mindful of the desire to sit
down. Then lower yourself down slowly, keeping your mind on the whole body. When the body touches
the floor, say "touching, touching, touching." When you arrange your legs and hands, say "arranging,
arranging, arranging." And then, go back to the breaths and be mindful of the in-breaths and out-breaths.
This way, you alternate sitting and walking and maintain your mindfulness, trying not to lose it at any
moment during the retreat.

During retreats, eating is also done with meditation, for everything has to be done with mindfulness. Even
the activities in the bathroom should not escape your mindfulness.

For full instructions for practice at a retreat, please read "PRACTICAL VIPASSANA
MEDITATIONAL EXERCISES" by the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.]

SHARING OF MERIT

After meditation, we share merit. It is a good practice to share merit with all beings whenever we have
done some meritorious deeds.

Sharing of merit means letting other beings get chance to get merit themselves by having them rejoice at
our merit. By rejoicing at our merit, they themselves get merit, and that merit of theirs is what gives them
happy results. Our merit does not decrease when we share it; in fact, it increases, because sharing of
merit is itself an act of merit which is dana or giving. Therefore, sharing of merit is beneficial to both the
sharer and the recipient.

Please share merit as follows and say, "Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!" at the end:

May all beings share this merit which we have thus acquired. For the acquisition of all kinds of
happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, Deities and others of mighty power, Share
this merit of ours! May they long protect the teachings.

FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS

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 This is the only way, monks,
for the purification of minds of beings, for overcoming sorrow and lamentation, for the disappearance of
pain and grief, for reaching the Path, for the realization of Nibbana, namely, the Four foundations of
Mindfulness.

What are the four?

Herein, monks, a monk dwells practicing body-contemplation on the body, ardent, clearly
comprehending and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

he dwells practicing feeling-contemplation on feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful,

overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

he dwells practicing mind-contemplation on the mind, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful,
overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

he dwells practicing dhamma-object contemplation on dhamma-objects, ardent, clearly comprehending

and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world.

CONTINUANCE OF THE TEACHING

Once the Venerable Ananda and the Venerable Bhadda lived at Pataliputta, in the Cock Monastery. In
the evening, after the Venerable Bhadda had risen from his seclusion, he betook himself to the Venerable
Ananda, and after he had exchanged friendly and polite greetings, he spoke to him:

"What, brother Ananda, is the cause, what is the reason by which, after the decease of the Perfect One,
the Good Law does not continue for long? And what, brother, Ananda, is the cause, what is the reason
by which, after the decease of the Perfect One, the Good Law continues for long?

--"Well said, brother Bhadda, well said. Pleasing is your wisdom, pleasing your insight, excellent is your
question.

"If, brother, the four Foundations of Mindfulness are not cultivated and not practiced regularly, the Good
Law will not continue for long after the decease of the Perfect One. But, brother, if the four Foundations
of Mindfulness are cultivated and practiced regularly, then the Good Law will continue for long after the
decease of the Perfect One."

(From Samyutta Nikaya, The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, p.141.)

The Benefits of Walking

Meditation
by Venerable Sayadaw U Silananda

Buddhist Publication Society, Sri Lanka

Bodhi Leaves BL 137, 1995

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 At our meditation retreats, yogis practice mindfulness in four different postures. They practice
mindfulness when walking, when standing, when sitting, and when lying down. They must sustain
mindfulness at all times in whatever position they are in. The primary posture for mindfulness meditation is
sitting with legs crossed, but because the human body cannot tolerate this position for many hours without
changing, we alternate periods of sitting meditation with periods of walking meditation. Since walking
meditation is very important, I would like to discuss its nature, its significance, and the benefits derived
from its practice.

The practice of mindfulness meditation can be compared to boiling water. If one wants to boil water, one
puts the water in a kettle, puts the kettle on a stove, and then turns the heat on. But if the heat is turned
off, even for an instant, the water will not boil, even though the heat is turned on again later. If one
continues to turn the heat on and off again, the water will never boil. In the same way, if there are gaps
between the moments of mindfulness, one cannot gain momentum, and so one cannot attain
concentration. That is why yogis at our retreats are instructed to practice mindfulness all the time that they
are awake, from the moment they wake up in the morning until they fall asleep at night. Consequently,
walking meditation is integral to the continuous development of mindfulness.

Unfortunately, I have heard people criticize walking meditation, claiming that they cannot derive any
benefits or good results from it. But it was the Buddha himself who first taught walking meditation. In the
Great Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha taught walking meditation two times.
In the section called "Postures," he said that a monk knows "I am walking" when he is walking, knows "I
am standing" when he is standing, knows "I am sitting" when he is sitting, and knows "I am lying down"
when he is lying down. In another section called "Clear Comprehension," the Buddha said, "A monk
applies clear comprehension in going forward and in going back." Clear comprehension means the
correct understanding of what one observes. To correctly understand what is observed, a yogi must gain
concentration, and in order to gain concentration, he must apply mindfulness. Therefore, when the
Buddha said, "Monks, apply clear comprehension," we must understood that not only clear
comprehension must be applied, but also mindfulness and concentration. Thus the Buddha was instructing
meditators to apply mindfulness, concentration, and clear comprehension while walking, while "going
forward and back." Walking meditation is thus an important part of this process.

Although it is not recorded in this sutta that the Buddha gave detailed and specific instructions for walking
meditation, we believe that he must have given such instructions at some time. Those instructions must
have been learned by the Buddha's disciples and passed on through successive generations. In addition,
teachers of ancient times must have formulated instructions based on their own practice. At the present
time, we have a very detailed set of instructions on how to practice walking meditation.

Let us now talk specifically about the practice of walking meditation. If you are a complete beginner, the
teacher may instruct you to be mindful of only one thing during walking meditation: to be mindful of the
act of stepping while you make a note silently in the mind, "stepping, stepping, stepping," or "left, right,
left, right." You may walk at a slower speed than normal during this practice.

After a few hours, or after a day or two of meditation, you may be instructed to be mindful of two
occurrences: (i) stepping, and (ii) putting down the foot, while making the mental note "stepping, putting
down." You will try to be mindful of two stages in the step: "stepping, putting down; stepping, putting
down." Later, you may be instructed to be mindful of three stages: (i) lifting the foot; (ii) moving or
pushing the foot forward; and (iii) putting the foot down. Still later, you would be instructed to be mindful
of four stages in each step: (i) lifting the foot; (ii) moving it forward; (iii) putting it down; and (iv) touching
or pressing the foot on the ground. You would be instructed to be completely mindful and to make a

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mental note of these four stages of the foot's movement: "lifting, moving forward, putting down, pressing
the ground."

At first yogis may find it difficult to slow down, but as they are instructed to pay close attention to all of
the movements involved, and as they actually pay closer and closer attention, they will automatically slow
down. They do not have to slow down deliberately, but as they pay closer attention, slowing down
comes to them automatically. When driving on the freeway, one may be driving at sixty or seventy or
even eighty miles per hour. Driving at that speed, one will not be able to read some of the signs on the
road. If one wants to read those signs, it is necessary to slow down. Nobody has to say, "Slow down!"
but the driver will automatically slow down in order to see the signs. In the same way, if yogis want to
pay closer attention to the movements of lifting, moving forward, putting down, and pressing the ground,
they will automatically slow down. Only when they slow down can they be truly mindful and fully aware
of these movements.

Although yogis pay close attention and slow down, they may not see all of the movements and stages
clearly. The stages may not yet be well-defined in the mind, and they may seem to constitute only one
continuous movement. As concentration grows stronger, yogis will observe more and more clearly these
different stages in one step; the four stages at least will be easier to distinguish. Yogis will know distinctly
that the lifting movement is not mixed with the moving forward movement, and they will know that the
moving forward movement is not mixed with either the lifting movement or the putting down movement.
They will understand all movements clearly and distinctly. Whatever they are mindful and aware of will be
very clear in their minds.

As yogis carry on the practice, they will observe much more. When they lift their foot, they will
experience the lightness of the foot. When they push the foot forward, they will notice the movement from
one place to another. When they put the foot down, they will feel the heaviness of the foot, because the
foot becomes heavier and heavier as it descends. When they put the foot on the ground, they will feel the
touch of the heel of the foot on the ground. Therefore, along with observing lifting, moving forward,
putting down, and pressing the ground, yogis will also perceive the lightness of the rising foot, the motion
of the foot, the heaviness of the descending foot, and then the touching of the foot, which is the hardness
or softness of the foot on the ground. When yogis perceive these processes, they are perceiving the four
essential elements (in Pali, dhatu). The four essential elements are: the element of earth, the element of
water, the element of fire, and the element of air. By paying close attention to these four stages of walking
meditation, the four elements in their true essence are perceived, not merely as concepts, but as actual
processes, as ultimate realities.

Let us go into a little more detail about the characteristics of the elements in walking meditation. In the
first movement, that is, the lifting of the foot, yogis perceive lightness, and when they perceive lightness,
they virtually perceive the fire element. One aspect of the fire element is that of making things lighter, and
as things become lighter, they rise. In the perception of the lightness in the upward movement of the foot,
yogis perceive the essence of the fire element. But in the lifting of the foot there is also, besides lightness,
movement. Movement is one aspect of the air element. But lightness, the fire element, is dominant, so we
can say that in the stage of lifting the fire element is primary, and the air element is secondary. These two
elements are perceived by yogis when they pay close attention to the lifting of the foot.

The next stage is moving the foot forward. In moving the foot forward, the dominant element is the air
element, because motion is one of the primary characteristics of the air element. So, when they pay close
attention to the moving forward of the foot in walking meditation, yogis are virtually perceiving the
essence of the air element.

The next stage is the movement of putting the foot down. When yogis put their foot down, there is a kind

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of heaviness in the foot. Heaviness is a characteristic of the water element, as is trickling and oozing.
When liquid is heavy, it oozes. So when yogis perceive the heaviness of the foot, they virtually perceive
the water element.

In pressing the foot on the ground, yogis will perceive the hardness or softness of the foot on the ground.
This pertains to the nature of the earth element. By paying close attention to the pressing of the foot
against the ground, yogis virtually perceive the nature of the earth element.

Thus we see that in just one step, yogis can perceive many processes. They can perceive the four
elements and the nature of the four elements. Only those who practice can ever hope to see these things.

As yogis continue to practice walking meditation, they will come to realize that, with every movement,
there is also the noting mind, the awareness of the movement. There is the lifting movement and also the
mind that is aware of that lifting. In the next moment, there is the moving forward movement and also the
mind that is aware of the movement. Moreover, yogis will realize that both the movement and the
awareness arise and disappear in that moment. In the next moment, there is the putting down movement
and so also the awareness of the movement, and both arise and disappear in that moment of putting the
foot down on the ground. The same process occurs with the pressing of the foot: there is the pressing and
the awareness of pressing. In this way, yogis understand that along with the movement of the foot, there
are also the moments of awareness. The moments of awareness are called, in Pali, nama, mind, and the
movement of the foot is called rupa, matter. So yogis will perceive mind and matter rising and
disappearing at every moment. At one moment there is the lifting of the foot and the awareness of the
lifting, and at the next moment there is the movement forward and the awareness of that movement, and
so on. These can be understood as a pair, mind and matter, which arise and disappear at every moment.
Thus yogis advance to the perception of the pairwise occurrence of mind and matter at every moment of
observation, that is, if they pay close attention.

Another thing that yogis will discover is the role of intention in effecting each movement. They will realize
that they lift their foot because they want to, move the foot forward because they want to, put it down
because they want to, press the foot against the ground because they want to. That is, they realize that an
intention precedes every movement. After the intention to lift, lifting occurs. They come to understand the
conditionality of all of these occurrences -- these movements never occur by themselves, without
conditions. These movements are not created by any deity or any authority, and these movements never
happen without a cause. There is a cause or condition for every movement, and that condition is the
intention preceding each movement. This is another discovery yogis make when they pay close attention.

When yogis understand the conditionality of all movements, and that these movements are not created by
any authority or any god, then they will understand that they are created by intention. They will
understand that intention is the condition for the movement to occur. Thus the relationship of conditioning
and conditioned, of cause and effect, is understood. On the basis of this understanding, yogis can remove
doubt about nama and rupa by understanding that nama and rupa do not arise without conditions. With
the clear understanding of the conditionality of things, and with the transcendence of doubt about nama
and rupa, a yogi is said to reach the stage of a "lesser sotapanna. "

A sotapanna is a "stream-enterer," a person who has reached the first stage of enlightenment. A "lesser
sotapanna" is not a true stream-enterer but is said to be assured of rebirth in a happy realm of existence,
such as in the realms of human beings and devas. That is, a lesser sotapanna cannot be reborn in one of
the four woeful states, in one of the hells or animal realms. This state of lesser sotapanna can be reached
just by practicing walking meditation, just by paying close attention to the movements involved in a step.
This is the great benefit of practicing walking meditation. This stage is not easy to reach, but once yogis
reach it, they can be assured that they will be reborn in a happy state, unless, of course, they fall from that

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stage.

When yogis comprehend mind and matter arising and disappearing at every moment, then they will come
to comprehend the impermanence of the processes of lifting the foot, and they will also comprehend the
impermanence of the awareness of that lifting. The occurrence of disappearing after arising is a mark or
characteristic by which we understand that something is impermanent. If we want to determine whether
something is impermanent or permanent, we must try to see, through the power of meditation, whether or
not that thing is subject to the process of coming into being and then disappearing. If our meditation is
powerful enough to enable us to see the arising and disappearing of phenomena, then we can decide that
the phenomena observed are impermanent. In this way, yogis observe that there is the lifting movement
and awareness of that movement, and then that sequence disappears, giving way to the pushing forward
movement and the awareness of pushing forward. These movements simply arise and disappear, arise
and disappear, and this process yogis can comprehend by themselves -- they do not have to accept this
on trust from any external authority, nor do they have to believe in the report of another person.

When yogis comprehend that mind and matter arise and disappear, they understand that mind and matter
are impermanent. When they see that they are impermanent, they next understand that they are
unsatisfactory because they are always oppressed by constant arising and disappearing. After
comprehending impermanence and the unsatisfactory nature of things, they observe that there can be no
mastery over these things; that is, yogis realize that there is no self or soul within that can order them to be
permanent. Things just arise and disappear according to natural law. By comprehending this, yogis
comprehend the third characteristic of conditioned phenomena, the characteristic of anatta, the
characteristic that things have no self. One of the meanings of anatta is no mastery -- meaning that
nothing, no entity, no soul, no power, has mastery over the nature of things. Thus, by this time, yogis have
comprehended the three characteristics of all conditioned phenomena: impermanence, suffering, and the
non-self nature of things -- in Pali, anicca, dukkha, and anatta.

Yogis can comprehend these three characteristics by observing closely the mere lifting of the foot and
the awareness of the lifting of the foot. By paying close attention to the movements, they see things arising
and disappearing, and consequently they see for themselves the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and
non-self nature of all conditioned phenomena.

Now let us examine in more detail the movements of walking meditation. Suppose one were to take a
moving picture of the lifting of the foot. Suppose further that the lifting of the foot takes one second, and
let us say that the camera can take thirty-six frames per second. After taking the picture, if we were to
look at the separate frames, we would realize that within what we thought was one lifting movement,
there are actually thirty-six movements. The image in each frame is slightly different from the images in the
other frames, though the difference will usually be so slight that we can barely notice it. But what if the
camera could take one thousand frames per second? Then there would be one thousand movements in
just one lifting movement, although the movements would be almost impossible to differentiate. If the
camera could take one million frames per second -- which may be impossible now, but someday may
happen -- then there would be one million movements in what we thought to be only one movement.

Our effort in walking meditation is to see our movements as closely as the camera sees them, frame by
frame. We also want to observe the awareness and intention preceding each movement. We can also
appreciate the power of the Buddha's wisdom and insight, by which he actually saw all of the
movements. When we use the word "see" or "observe" to refer to our own situation, we mean that we
see directly and also by inference; we may not be able to see directly all of the millions of movements as
did the Buddha.

Before yogis begin practicing walking meditation, they may have thought that a step is just one

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movement. After meditation on that movement, they observe that there are at least four movements, and
if they go deeper, they will understand that even one of these four movements consists of millions of tiny
movements. They see nama and rupa, mind and matter, arising and disappearing, as impermanent. By
our ordinary perception, we are not able to see the impermanence of things because impermanence is
hidden by the illusion of continuity. We think that we see only one continuous movement, but if we look
closely we will see that the illusion of continuity can be broken. It can be broken by the direct
observation of physical phenomena bit by bit, segment by segment, as they originate and disintegrate. The
value of meditation lies in our ability to remove the cloak of continuity in order to discover the real nature
of impermanence. Yogis can discover the nature of impermanence directly through their own effort.

After realizing that things are composed of segments, that they occur in bits, and after observing these
segments one by one, yogis will realize that there is really nothing in this world to be attached to, nothing
to crave for. If we see that something which we once thought beautiful has holes, that it is decaying and
disintegrating, we will lose interest in it. For example, we may see a beautiful painting on a canvas. We
think of the paint and canvas conceptually as a whole, solid thing. But if we were to put the painting under
a powerful microscope, we would see that the picture is not solid -- it has many holes and spaces. After
seeing the picture as composed largely of spaces, we would lose interest in it and we would cease being
attached to it. Modern physicists know this idea well. They have observed, with powerful instruments,
that matter is just a vibration of particles and energy constantly changing -- there is nothing substantial to
it at all. By the realization of this endless impermanence, yogis understand that there is really nothing to
crave for, nothing to hold on to in the entire world of phenomena.

Now we can understand the reasons for practicing meditation. We practice meditation because we want
to remove attachment and craving for objects. It is by comprehending the three characteristics of
existence -- impermanence, suffering, and the non-self nature of things -- that we remove craving. We
want to remove craving because we do not want to suffer. As long as there is craving and attachment,
there will always be suffering. If we do not want to suffer, we must remove craving and attachment. We
must comprehend that all things are just mind and matter arising and disappearing, that things are
insubstantial. Once we realize this, we will be able to remove attachment to things. As long as we do not
realize this, however much we read books or attend talks or talk about removing attachment, we will not
be able to get rid of attachment. It is necessary to have the direct experience that all conditioned things
are marked by the three characteristics.

Hence we must pay close attention when we are walking, just as we do when we are sitting or lying
down. I am not trying to say that walking meditation alone can give us ultimate realization and the ability
to remove attachment entirely, but it is nevertheless as valid a practice as sitting meditation or any other
kind of vipassana (insight) meditation. Walking meditation is conducive to spiritual development. It is as
powerful as mindfulness of breathing or mindfulness of the rising and falling of the abdomen. It is an
efficient tool to help us remove mental defilements. Walking meditation can help us gain insight into the
nature of things, and we should practice it as diligently as we practice sitting meditation or any other kind
of meditation. By the practice of vipassana meditation in all postures, including the walking posture, may
you and all yogis be able to attain total purification in this very life!

The Four Foundations of

Mindfulness

Page 19
(A Summary)
A Talk Given at the Buddha Saasana Yeikthaa
Severn Bridge, Ontario, Canada

by Venerable Sayadaw U Siilaananda

The opening Passage from the Mahaasatipa.t.thaana Sutta:

"This is the only way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and
lamentation, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for reaching the Noble Path, for the
realization of Nibbaana, namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

"Herein (in this teaching) monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent,
clearly comprehending and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the feeling in the feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful,
overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the consciousness in the consciousness, ardent, clearly comprehending
and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the dhamma in the dhammas, ardent, clearly comprehending and
mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world."

"Herein (in this teaching) monks, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent,
clearly comprehending and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the feeling in the feelings, ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful,
overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the consciousness in the consciousness, ardent, clearly comprehending
and mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world;

"he dwells contemplating the dhamma in the dhammas, ardent, clearly comprehending and
mindful, overcoming covetousness and grief in the world."

Today I will explain the passage that we read every morning. This is from the Discourse called The
Four Foundations of Mindfulness. This passage is just a summary of the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness. But it is important that those who practice Foundations of Mindfulness or Vipassanaa
Meditation understand this passage correctly and clearly.

As I have said, the method of the practice of Mindfulness or the Four Foundations of Mindfulness was
discovered by the Buddha. He practiced it himself and got the best results from this practice and then for
forty-five years he taught the Four Foundations of Mindfulness many times. After his death these methods
were collected and recorded in what is known as the Paa.li Canon. The instructions given at Vipassanaa
retreats are all based on the Mahaasatipa.t.thaana Sutta which contains this passage.

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 The first sentence is, "This is the only way, monks, for the purification of beings ... namely, the
Four Foundations of Mindfulness." So, at the very beginning the Buddha said, "This is the only way".
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness or the Practice of Mindfulness, is the only way for the purification
of beings ... Here the Buddha said, "This is the only way".

Now, the Paa.li word for this translation is "Ekaayano". "Ekaayano" is composed of two parts, "eka"
and "ayana". Ayana means way, path or road, and eka means one. So, ekaayano literally means one
way. This one way is interpreted to mean one way which has no forks, no branches. There is just one
way and if you tread this way you will surely reach your destination. There are no misleading branches of
this way. The other meaning is that this is the way to be taken by one, to be taken by the individual only.
That means when you are treading on this path or on this way you are alone, you have no companion
because you make progress or you do not make progress depending on your own capabilities.

Also, this word is interpreted to mean "the Way of The One". "The One" here means the Buddha. The
Buddha was the best of the beings and so he was called "The One" and this is the way discovered and
taught by the Buddha, so this is called the Way of The One. Also, it is interpreted to mean the only way,
this is the only way, there is no other way for the purification of beings and so on. Now, with regard to
the translation "the only way" there are two questions. One is that here, Four Foundations of Mindfulness
mean mindfulness only. But, there are other factors of the Noble Eightfold Path. So, are they also not the
way to purification of beings ...? The answer is that they are also the way to purification of beings ..., but
they do not exist without mindfulness. So when mindfulness is mentioned, they are virtually mentioned,
i.e., although mindfulness alone is mentioned here, we should understand that all the other seven factors
that are concomitant with the Noble Path are also implied.

The other question raised by people, especially of the West, is "Why did Buddha say, "This is the only
way"? Aren't there other ways to the purification of beings? They argue that there are different roads to
reach a city and just as there are different roads to a city there must be different ways to reach
purification of beings or to reach Nibbaana. Some people do not like this or they thought the Buddha
would not have said this, "The only way". Some times analogies are not really correct. It is true that there
are different roads to reach this town. (I am not familiar with this country so I do not know which roads
reach this town.) But they are roads, they are not marshes or forests. And so the road is the only way to
reach this town. There may be different roads but they are roads. In the same way, there may be different
ways of practicing mindfulness but they must be mindfulness. Only mindfulness can lead us to the
attainment of Nibbaana. Also, if we say physical exercise is the only way to build big muscles, I think no
one would object to that. If you want to build big muscles you have to do physical exercise. Without
physical exercise, you cannot hope to build muscles. But, physical exercise can take different forms such
as weight lifting or using machines and so on. In the same way, mindfulness is the only way to reach
Nibbaana, but mindfulness may take different forms. Even in this discourse on the Foundations of
Mindfulness, mindfulness practice is taught in twenty-one ways. There are twenty-one different kinds of
mindfulness practice to choose from. Therefore, I think it is correct to say that this is the only way. So
mindfulness is the only way.

People may argue here because the word used here is "ekaayano", one way. But in another place -- in
the Dhammapada -- Buddha said clearly, "This alone is the way and there is no other way for the purity
of wisdom." So we cannot argue that Buddha said there is any other way. He expressly said that this
alone is the way and there is no other way. So I think we must accept that this is the only way for the
purification of beings. If we consider it with reference to the practice it becomes clear.

I have said that mindfulness is like a guard, and once the guard is removed anything can come in. So as
long as mindfulness is at the sense doors, our minds are pure. No unwholesome mental states can come

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into our minds, because mindfulness is there guarding the sense doors. Once mindfulness is removed, or
once we lose mindfulness, all these mental defilements come in. So mindfulness is the only way to keep
the mind pure. Please note here also that mindfulness is one of the eight Factors of the Path described in
the Dhammapada, and if the Eightfold Path is the "only way", then mindfulness surely is the only way too.

Again, mindfulness may take different forms, such as mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of feeling,
mindfulness of consciousness, mindfulness of dhamma objects or mindfulness of parts of the body and so
on. So, if it is mindfulness it is the only way for the purification of beings. For the purification of beings
means for the purification of the minds of beings. Because Buddha is more concerned about the
purification of mind than the purification of the physical body -- although it does not mean that we do not
take care of the cleanliness of the physical body -- what is more important for us is the cleanliness of our
minds. So, the purification of beings here means purification of minds of beings.

In the Commentaries, it is said that personal cleanliness or cleanliness of the body as well as the
cleanliness of the place are conducive to concentration and wisdom. So we also need to keep our bodies
clean and keep the place where we meditate clean. Although we are not to neglect the cleanliness of the
body we should be more concerned about the cleanliness of our minds. So here the Buddha said that
mindfulness is the only way for the purification of minds of beings.

With this passage Buddha mentioned the benefits we will get from the practice of mindfulness. The first
benefit the Buddha mentiond is purification of mind. Then Buddha said, "for the overcoming of sorrow
and lamentation". If we want to overcome sorrow and lamentation or crying aloud we should practice
mindfulness. Mindfulness is the only way to overcome sorrow and lamentation. Here sorrow is a mental
state. Lamentation is crying aloud through sorrow and saying this thing or that. To overcome sorrow and
lamentation also we should practice the Foundations of Mindfulness.

"For the disappearance of pain and grief": Pain here means physical pain, pain in the body, and grief
means mental pain, depression, ill will, hatred; all these are included in the word "grief". For the
overcoming and disappearance of pain and grief we should practice the Foundations of Mindfulness. As I
said you may not conquer pain, you may not overcome pain altogether, pain may not disappear
altogether. But, if you practice mindfulness you will be able to live with pain and accept it. Like that of the
Venerable Anuruddha, your mind will not be disturbed or perturbed by the physical pain. If your mind is
not perturbed by physical pain, pain is virtually non-existent. So, for the disappearance of pain or the
overcoming of pain, we should practice mindfulness meditation. For the overcoming of grief, overcoming
of ill will, depression and so on we should practice mindfulness meditation.

Grief is a mental state and sorrow is also a mental state. They are actually connected with each other.
These are mental states and so these mental states can be overcome or made to disappear or can be
avoided by the practice of mindfulness.

Mind cannot take two things or more than one thing at a time. Mind can only take one object at a time. I
think we are lucky. If mind could take two or more things at a time our suffering would be much greater.
Since mind can take only one thing at a time, we can overcome sorrow and grief by the practice of
mindfulness. Let's take anger, for example. Suppose I am angry with Mr. A. So long as my mind is on
Mr. A, my anger will increase and I will be getting more and more angry with him because I am taking
him as the object of my consciousness or mind. But once I turn my mind from Mr. A, who is the source
of my anger, to anger itself -- the moment I turn my mind to anger itself -- Mr. A does not exist for me at
that time. He has already disappeared from my mind. When my mind is on the anger itself and when the
source of anger has disappeared, anger has to disappear also.

That way, we treat such mental states with mindfulness, with just simple but strong or forceful

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mindfulness. This is how we deal with what are called emotions such as attachment, anger, hatred,
depression, and sorrow. Whatever the mental state, we just treat it with mindfulness and try to be mindful
of it. When our mindfulness is really strong, they will surely disappear. So Buddha said, "This is the only
way to overcome sorrow and lamentation and to overcome pain and grief."

"This is the only way for reaching the Noble Path." When you read books on Buddhism, you will
see this word "Path" many times. Sometimes it is spelt with a lower case ?p?, but mostly with the upper
case ?P?. "Path" as a technical term is a name for the combination or group of the eight Factors of the
Path -- Right Understanding, Right Thought and so on -- that arise at the moment of enlightenment. The
type of consciousness that is accompanied by these factors is called "Path Consciousness". The word
"enlightenment" is another technical word whose meaning is not easy to understand. People use this word
quite freely, but only a few might understand its meaning properly. Without definition it is vague. It may
mean different things to different persons or different religions: enlightenment for a Buddhist may be quite
different from enlightenment for a Christian.

When we talk about enlightenment, we should first define it. According to Buddhism, enlightenment
means the eradication of mental defilements and seeing Nibbaana directly, seeing Nibbaana face to face,
at the same time. As a person practices Vipassanaa meditation and progresses from one stage to
another, to higher and higher stages, as the result of this Vipassanaa practice, a time will come when in his
mind a type of consciousness arises which he has not experienced before. That type of consciousness,
along with its mental concomitants is so powerful that it can eradicate mental defilements altogether, not
to come back again. At the same time it takes Nibbaana as object. So, what we mean by enlightenment
is " what happens at that moment" -- a moment, when that consciousness arises, eradicates mental
defilements and takes Nibbaana as object.

That consciousness is called "Path Consciousness". Immediately following that Path Consciousness are
two or three moments of Fruition Consciousness. You have to understand Abhidhamma to understand
this fully. So for reaching the Noble Path simply means for gaining enlightenment. When you really reach
the Noble Path, you become enlightened and you are able to eradicate mental defilements and take
Nibbaana as object.

"This is the only way for the realization of Nibbaana". This is the same thing as reaching the Noble
Path. So, when a person reaches the Noble Path, when the Path Consciousness arises in him/her and that
consciousness takes Nibbaana as object, that is when he/she is said to have realized Nibbaana. So,
reaching the Noble Path and realization of Nibbaana mean the same thing.

Buddha said that the practice of mindfulness is the only way to purify our minds, the only way to
overcome sorrow and lamentation, to overcome pain and grief, to reach the Noble Path and to realize
Nibbaana, namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

Here also we have the words "foundation" and "mindfulness". First, let us understand what mindfulness is.
All of us have been practicing mindfulness for, may be, years but sometimes when we are asked, "What
is mindfulness?" we may not be able to give a satisfactory answer. "Mindfulness" is the translation of the
Paa.li word "sati". This discourse is called, "Satipa.t.thaana" so you have the word "sati" there. This "sati"
is translated as mindfulness. Maybe there is no better word for it. "Sati" literally means remembering, but
it covers more than remembering actually. Etymologically, "sati" means remembering but in normal usage
"sati" means more than that. Sati is defined in the Commentaries as remembering and its characteristic is
said to be "non-wobbling", that means "not floating on the surface". If it is sati, it must not be superficial, it
must go deep into the object. That is why I always say, "full awareness of the object," or "thorough
awareness of the object." Sati is said to have the function of not losing the object. As long as there is sati,
or mindfulness, we do not lose that object, we do not forget that object. Mindfulness has the function of

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not losing or forgetting the object. It is like a guard at the gate. So, that is what we call mindfulness.
Mindfulness is not superficial awareness, it is a deep and thorough awareness of the object.

"Foundations of Mindfulness" means actually, "setting up" of mindfulness or "firmly established

mindfulness" or "mindfulness firmly established". The Paa.li word "satipa.t.thaana" is translated as
foundations of mindfulness but we must understand that it means setting up of a firm mindfulness or
establishing a firm mindfulness. So, the practice of establishing firm mindfulness is called the "foundations
of mindfulness." In this discourse, Buddha said that there were four foundations of mindfulness. When
you practice Vipassanaa meditation at a retreat like this, you practice all these four foundations of
mindfulness, but you practice them at random and not one after another in the order given in the
Discourse. That is because when you practice Vipassanaa meditation you have to be mindful of the
object at the present moment. You cannot afford not to be mindful of the object at the present moment.
The object at the present moment can be any one of these four. Sometimes the body, sometimes feelings,
sometimes consciousness, and sometimes dhamma objects. You have to take these objects as they
come, you have no choice. That is why sometimes Vipassanaa meditation is called "choiceless
awareness". That means you have no choice, you just have to take what is presented to you. So you
practice these four foundations of mindfulness at random when you practice Vipassanaa meditation.

Here in the summary the Buddha taught us how to practice the four foundations of mindfulness. So what
are the four? "Herein, a monk dwells contemplating the body in the body, ardent, clearly comprehending
and mindful, overcoming or removing covetousness and grief in the world." It is a very short sentence but
it has many meanings.

"Contemplating the body in the body": That means when a monk practices mindfulness of the body
he is precise. He contemplates the body in the body and he does not contemplate the feeling in the body
or he does not contemplate the person in the body and so on. He contemplates the body in the body. In
order to have a precise object the Buddha repeated the words "body, feeling, consciousness and
dhamma" in these sentences. So that means he is precise in his mindfulness of the body, feelings,
consciousness and the dhammas. When he practices body contemplation he is ardent, he is clearly
comprehending and he is mindful. With regard to the word "ardent" I do not know what other meaning it
carries in English. This word is the translation of the Paa.li word "aataapii".

Sometimes we lose something when we translate from one language to another. The word "aataapii"
comes from the word "aataapa". "AAtaapa" means "heat of the sun." Heat of the sun can heat up things
so that things become withered and even they may burn. So in the same way the effort heats up the
mental defilements or burns them up. So it is called "aataapa" in Paa.li and one who has aataapa is called
aataapii, the "ii" denoting possession. So one who possesses aataapa is called aataapii. When we read
the Sutta in Paa.li and when we read the word aataapii we have that in our mind, we see the effort
burning up the mental defilements. When you translate this word into English as "ardent" you lose that
image. So aataapii means he/she makes real effort, not a slack effort, he makes a real effort to be mindful
and to clearly comprehend.

When Buddha, still a Bodhisatta, sat down under the Bodhi tree to practice to become the Buddha he
made a very firm resolution in his mind. "May my skin, sinews and bones remain, and may my flesh and
blood dry up, but I will not desist from or give up this superhuman effort until I reach Buddhahood. I will
not get up from this seat until I reach Buddhahood, I will make every effort to achieve my aim." Such an
effort is called the "right effort." So to make the right effort means you have to make a really good effort,
not a slackening effort. This word "aataapii" implies all these meanings. To right effort to be understood
here is the Right Effort that is one of the eight factors of the Path. You may have read about Right Effort
in other books. Right Effort means to remove or avoid unwholesome mental states and to acquire and
cultivate wholesome mental states. In order to resist unwholesome mental states, in order to resist evil,

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you need mental effort. If you do not make effort you cannot resist evil. Effort is very useful in resisting or
removing unwholesome mental states and also to cultivate wholesome mental states. To develop
wholesome mental states you need effort. If you do not make effort you do not come here, if you do not
want to make effort you do not go to a retreat at all. So you need a real, strong effort to practice the
Foundations of Mindfulness. Here also the Buddha described the monk as being ardent which means he
has that kind of effort that burns up the mental defilements. That is indicated by the word aataapii in the
Paa.li text.

The next word is "clearly comprehending". Clearly comprehending means clearly seeing. Whatever
object he puts his mind on, he sees it clearly. What does "clearly" mean? He sees it thoroughly, he sees it
with wisdom. When a yogi concentrates on breathing, for instance, he sees the breath clearly. He sees
the in-breath distinctly from out-breath and out-breath distinctly from in-breath; and also he sees that the
breath arises and disappears and that at the moment there are only the breaths and the awareness of the
breaths and no other thing to be called a person or an individual. Such understanding is called "clear
comprehension." When you have clear comprehension about something, you know that thing and all its
aspects. And also according to the teachings of the Buddha, you know that there are just the thing
observed and the mind that observes and none other which you could call a person or an individual, a
man or a woman. Seeing in this way is called clear comprehension. This clear comprehension will come
only after some time, not right at the beginning. You practice mindfulness, but right at the beginning you
may not even see the breaths clearly. Sometimes they are mixed together and very vague. Little by little
with the growth of your concentration and practice, you'll see the objects more and more clearly and then
also their arising and disappearing and so on. So this clear comprehension comes not right at the
beginning but after one has gained some experience.

In order for this clear comprehension to arise, we need one more thing. Although it is not mentioned in
this Discourse we need one more thing and that is concentration. Without concentration clear
comprehension cannot come. What is concentration? Concentration is a mental state or a mental factor,
which keeps the components of mind squarely on the object, and does not let them go to other objects.
That is what we call concentration. It is usually described as the mind being able to be on an object for a
long period of time. For example, if you take the breath as an object your mind is always on the breath
and the mind does not go anywhere else. That is what we call concentration. Actually, at every moment
also the mental factor or state which is called concentration keeps the mind and its components unified on
the object, it keeps them together and does not let them go to another object. This concentration is
essential for clear comprehension to arise. Without this concentration we cannot hope to see things
clearly, we cannot hope to get clear comprehension.

When we get concentration, our mind calms down and becomes quiet and that is the time when we
begin to see things. It is like, say, water. At first there is dirt or mud in the water and so we cannot see
through the water. But when the dirt or mud settles down and the water becomes clear we can see
through it. So, mind needs to be like the water, settled, because there are many dirt or many mental
defilements in our mind. So long as our minds are contaminated by mental defilements we cannot see
things clearly. We need to suppress or let these mental defilements which are called mental hindrances
settle down so that we can see clearly.

When we get concentration we will be able to keep these mental hindrances settled. When the mental
hindrances are subdued or settled, mind becomes clear and it is the time when clear comprehension or
the true knowledge of things arises.

In order to get clear comprehension we need concentration and concentration is not mentioned here. But
we must take that concentration is also included in this passage because without concentration we cannot
get clear comprehension. Sometimes some words may be left out but we have to understand them as

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mentioned through inference. Let's say there is a flat rock and a hunter is following a deer and he sees
foot prints on one side, but on the flat rock itself he does not see any footprints, and again he sees the
footprints on the other side. So from this he infers that the deer must have run across the flat rock. He
sees the beginning and he sees the end and so he infers the middle, that the deer must have run on the
rock. In the same way here, to be mindful is the beginning and clear comprehension is something like the
end. So, when these two are mentioned the middle is also virtually mentioned because without the middle
-- concentration -- there can be no clear comprehension.

Then the last word here is "mindful": Mindfulness is put last here but actually, in practice it should come
after "ardent". We make effort, so we have mindfulness. We have mindfulness, so we have concentration
and concentration leads to clear comprehension. We have "mindfulness" here, but I have already defined
mindfulness so I do not need to define it again.

A monk dwells contemplating the body in the body. A monk practices the foundation of mindfulness on
the body, being ardent, making true effort, being mindful and being thoroughly aware of the object and
having concentration and clear comprehension.

How many components do we now have? Ardent is one component, clearly comprehending is another
component, concentration is yet another and mindfulness, another. So we have four mental states here.
These four mental states are the components of the practice. When we practice there must be these four
mental states working together harmoniously. But, there is one more mental state which is not mentioned
here, and that is faith or confidence. Confidence or faith is also an important factor because if we do not
have confidence in this practice we would not practice. We do not really have blind faith but we have
faith or confidence in the Buddha and His teachings. We believe that just by paying attention to these
objects we will be able to see the true nature of these things, the impermanent, suffering and non-soul
nature. So we should have that much confidence because without confidence no work can be successful.
Confidence, therefore, is also a part of the practice of meditation and although it is not actively operating
at the moment of meditation or practice of mindfulness, it is still there working harmoniously with the
other factors. So, altogether we get five factors and these are the five factors that are called five Mental
Faculties. In Paa.li they are called Indriyas. Meditation teachers are fond of talking about these five
factors. These five factors must be working simultaneously and harmoniously with each other if we are to
have a good practice of meditation.

As I said, in the beginning we may be lacking in clear comprehension but later when our concentration
develops we will be able to see things clearly and so on and these five components will be working in
harmony. What if they do not work in harmony? We are lost! When we are practicing, especially
important is the balance of effort and concentration. If they are not balanced, if there is an excess of one
or the other, we are lost, our meditation is nothing. The effort we make must be just enough, not too
much, and not too little. Sometimes we tend to make too much effort because we want to achieve
something; we become a little greedy and so we make more effort. When we make more effort, we
become restless, agitated and then we lose concentration. So, too much effort will not work. What if
there is too little effort? We become sleepy, lazy and we cannot concentrate and cannot practice either.
So, the effort we make must be neither too much nor too little. When there is excess of effort there is not
enough of concentration. Among effort and concentration, when one goes up the other goes down. Too
much effort, and concentration will go down. When you make too little effort, again concentration goes
down. Concentration also must not be too much. When we have too much concentration we tend to
become lazy. We tend to take it easy or we tend to slacken our effort.

Suppose we are practicing and we have good concentration. When we have good concentration we do
not have to make much effort and so we tend to slacken the effort. When we slacken our effort the
degree of effort goes down and we become lazy or sleepy. In that case we have to step up our effort, by

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making more effort and paying closer attention or sometimes by adding some things to note like three or
more objects in succession at a time. So, the effort and concentration must be balanced so that we have
good meditation and clear comprehension.

Sometime, say, we are practicing and we have good concentration and all of a sudden we lose
concentration. Probably we have made more effort than is needed. We want to make it better and so we
make more effort and the result is the opposite of what we want. Sometimes you are practicing
meditation, your concentration is good and even though your concentration is good, you tend to go
sleepy or nodding. That means you have too much concentration. If there is too much concentration you
have to make the level of concentration go down by stepping up effort, by taking more objects at a time
and so on.

So, meditation is not easy. I do not want to discourage you but meditation is not easy. It is very delicate.
Just a little bit of an unbalanced mental state can destroy the concentration you have built up with great
effort. So, these five mental states should be working simultaneously and also they should be working in
harmony. Meditation practice is like a machine. There are many parts in a machine and each part must
work properly. If one part does not work properly, the whole machine goes out of control. In the same
way, if any one of the factors does not work properly, the whole work of meditation is thrown out of
balance. Therefore, each one of these five mental factors must be working properly and harmoniously
with other factors.

Here comes the value of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a regulating mental factor. So it helps to keep effort
from becoming too much, it helps concentration from becoming too much and so on. So, the mindfulness
factor is a regulating factor among these five components in the practice of meditation. That is why it is
said that mindfulness is always needed, there can be no excess of mindfulness. Mindfulness is needed
everywhere like the seasoning of salt in all dishes and like a Prime Minister who does all the work of a
king. Mindfulness is a very important factor in these five factors but every factor is important and
everyone must be working in harmony and in balance with the other factors.

When the five mental factors are working in balance and a yogi is clearly comprehending, then what is
the result? The result is overcoming covetousness and grief in the world. That is the result a yogi gets
from clearly comprehending in the practice of mindfulness meditation.

Now here, most English translations missed the point. They translate it as "having overcome" or "having
abandoned", or "having removed" covetousness and grief in the world. What is the practice for? What is
this mindfulness practice for? It is for overcoming covetousness and grief. Covetousness means
attachment and grief means ill will or anger. So, Vipassanaa or Satipa.t.thaana meditation is "for
overcoming" covetousness and grief.

If a person has already overcome covetousness and grief he/she does not need to practice. For this very
purpose we are practicing mindfulness, but if we have already achieved this purpose we do not need to
practice mindfulness. So, here we should translate it as "overcoming (at the same time) covetousness and
grief in the world," and not "having overcome." That means the yogi overcomes covetousness and grief as
he practices mindfulness. I want you to be aware of this. (Here an explanation with reference to Paa.li
grammatical construction would be helpful; but since it would be too involved I have no choice but to
ignore it.)

Overcoming covetousness and grief in the world means avoiding craving or attachment or anger or ill will
concerning the object the yogi is observing. "In the world" means in the world of body, feelings and so
on, concerning that object. We see one object and we can be attached to that object. If we come to the
conclusion that it is beautiful, or it is good, we will be attached to it; and we can have anger, or hatred,

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etc., towards that object if we decided it was ugly or disgusting. So, these mental defilements can come
into our minds when we experience something.

In order to prevent them from arising, we need to make some protection and that protection is
mindfulness. When we are mindful, they will not get a chance to get into our minds. When we are mindful,
when we comprehend clearly, and when we see the objects clearly, we know that these objects come
and go, these objects are impermanent and so not to be attached to them. So, we can avoid
covetousness or attachment and grief or hatred regarding that object by the practice of mindfulness.

Whether we say "overcoming" or "removing" or whatever, actually we are avoiding or preventing them
from arising. Not that they have come and then we overcome them, or we remove them after they have
come. The meaning really is preventing covetousness and grief from arising in our minds. If we do not
practice mindfulness on the object they will surely come, either covetousness or grief, or attachment or
hatred. These mental states can come, but by the practice of mindfulness we can prevent them from
coming. Preventing them from arising in our mind is what is meant by overcoming them. (But if they have
arisen, of course, we should make them the object of our attention to eliminate them.)

When we talk about enlightenment we say, "at the moment of enlightenment" mental defilements are
eradicated. What mental defilements are eradicated at that moment? The present ones, or past ones or
the future ones ? The past is already past, we do not have to do anything to get rid of them, and the
future defilements are not here yet, so you cannot do anything about them. What of the present
defilements? If they are present there can be no enlightenment. Because enlightenment is a wholesome
state and those mental defilements are unwholesome states. Wholesome states and unwholesome states
cannot exist together. They do not coexist. So the defilements that are said to be eradicated at the
moment of enlightenment are not of the past, not of the future and not of the present. Then what
defilements are eradicated?

Actually, strictly speaking, those that are eradicated are not called defilements, or kilesas in Paa.li. They
are called latencies or anusayas in Paa.li, which means the potential to arise. What the enlightenment
consciousness eradicates is that potential. That means when something is always with us we say we have
that thing. Take, for example, smoking. Suppose you smoke but right now you do not. If I ask you, "Do
you smoke? " you would say, "Yes, I do." Because you smoked in the past and you will smoke in the
future and you have not given up smoking. So although you are not smoking at the very moment, you say,
"Yes, I smoke."

In the same way, now right at this moment, I hope I have no mental defilements in my mind and you have
no mental defilements in your mind. But after the talk you go out and you step on something sharp or
someone pushes you and you get angry and thus the mental defilement comes when there are the
conditions for them. So we say we have mental defilements. I have mental defilements, you have mental
defilements, but not right at this moment. So, that "liability to arise" is what is eradicated by enlightenment.

The mental defilements that are said to be eradicated at the moment of enlightenment are actually nothing
but that ability or liability to come up. When they come up they are already there. In the same way here,
overcoming covetousness and grief means avoiding or preventing them from arising in our minds. How?
By the practice of mindfulness. We make effort, we apply mindfulness and we have concentration and
we see things clearly. When we see things clearly there is no chance for these mental defilements to come
into the mind. In this way, Vipassanaa or mindfulness practice removes mental defilement.

This removal or overcoming is just momentary, just by substitution. Next moment they may come back.
It is of a very short duration. It is called abandonment by substitution. That means you abandon the
unwholesome mental states by substituting them with the wholesome mental states. When there is

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wholesome mental state there cannot be any unwholesome mental state. You put wholesome mental
states in the place and so unwholesome mental states do not get a chance to arise. That is called
abandonment by substitution. That will last for only a moment. The next moment they may come back.

At the moment of Vipassanaa the covetousness and grief are removed in that way. You get out of
Vipassanaa and you meet some conditions for them to arise, and they will arise.

There is another kind of abandonment called "temporary abandonment." Abandonment by pushing

away. When you push something away it may stay there for sometime, it may not come back quickly,
like plants in the water. If you push them away they may stay away for some time, but then very slowly
they may come back. That kind of removing or abandonment is called "temporary abandonment or
removing", or removal by pushing away. That is achieved by jhaanas. When a person gets jhaanas, or
experiences jhaanas, he/she is able to push these mental defilements away for some time. They may not
come to his/her mind for the whole day or maybe a week or a month, but in this case too they can come
back.

The third removal is called total removal. The Paa.li word is "samuccheda = cutting off", i.e., removal by
cutting off. It is like you cut the root of a tree and it never grows back. So the total removal or removal
once and for all is called removal by cutting off and that is achieved at the moment of enlightenment. The
mental defilement eradicated at the moment of enlightenment never comes back to that person.

An Arahant has eradicated all mental defilements. He has no attachment, no anger, no pride, no jealousy
and other unwholesome mental states. Even though they are provoked Arahants will not get angry. Even
though they may see a very, very attractive and beautiful object, they will not feel any attachment or
desire for that object. Those are the persons who have eradicated mental defilements by totally cutting
them off.

These are the three kinds of removing, and here we can understand the two kinds of removing. I have
already explained the first removing. There can also be the second kind of removing here. That is, if you
have practiced meditation well and you are able to avoid covetousness and grief with regard to the
objects you observe, you will find that you are able to avoid covetousness and grief even with regard to
those objects that you do not observe. Here "do not observe" means do not treat with mindfulness.

Naturally, the objects we come across can cause covetousness and grief in our minds. If we do not
practice mindfulness on the object, then we will have attachment or ill will towards that object. That
happens to most people. If you are good at Vipassanaa practice and you have this experience of
avoiding covetousness and grief with regard to objects that are observed, you will find that you are able
to prevent them from arising even with regard to those that are not observed. That is what is called
temporary removal by Vipassanaa.

Vipassanaa can achieve only these two kinds of removal -- momentary removal and temporary removal.
But Vipassanaa cannot achieve the third one, the total removal; that will be done by enlightenment or
Path Consciousness.

When Buddha said "overcoming covetousness and grief in the world", he meant that the monk was able
to avoid covetousness and grief from arising with regard to that object which he is observing.

Here "covetousness" means all kinds of attachment, greed, lust, and other similar mental states and
"grief" means not just grief but anger, hatred, depression, sorrow; all are included in grief. There are three
roots of unwholesomeness and they are attachment, anger and ignorance. Among these three, two are
mentioned here. Covetousness is actually the first one which is "lobha" or attachment and the second one

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is "dosa". So, by covetousness we mean all shades of lobha and by grief we mean all shades of dosa.
Moha (ignorance) is not included here because moha is very difficult to prevent and eradicate. So, in this
sentence we must understand that a monk practices body contemplation making effort, applying
mindfulness, getting concentration and clearly comprehending and at the same time he is able to avoid
covetousness and grief from arising. It is the same with regard to feelings, to consciousness and to
dhamma objects. (The Commentary says that the statement ?overcoming covetousness and grief? refers
to the overcoming of all the five mental hindrances, because when covetousness and grief that are the
strongest of the five hindrances are mentioned, we must understand that the other hindrances are also
mentioned.)

You know the four foundations of mindfulness, four kinds of setting up of mindfulness. There are four
because there are four kinds of objects.

The first one is body. Sometimes body does not mean the whole physical body, but a group of some
material properties. Breathing is also called the body. Different parts of the body are also called the
body. By the word "body" we must understand anything that is associated with the body.

The second is feelings. Feeling is a mental state. Now we have pain here, physical pain and we
experience that physical pain with our mind. In our mind there is a mental state called feeling. Since it is
pain, feeling is the painful feeling. When Buddha said a monk contemplates feeling in the feeling, He
means the monk is contemplating on that mental state and not necessarily on the pain there. In practice,
when we have pain we have to concentrate on the pain and be mindful of it because that is practical. But
actually, when we are making notes as, "pain, pain", we are really making notes of the mental state that
feels the pain in the body. That feeling is of three kinds -- pleasant, unpleasant and neutral.

The third is consciousness. It is usually translated as mind, but I think consciousness is a better
translation. The Paa.li word is "citta". This means consciousness. In Buddhist psychology, mind is
composed of four things. So what we call "mind" is a group of or combination of four things. Sometimes
there may be confusion regarding these terms: mind and consciousness. Let us say mind is composed of
two things first, consciousness and mental factors. Consciousness is defined as the awareness of an
object. Here awareness is not like awareness in the practice of meditation. It is just mere awareness. It is
like I am aware of someone there although I am looking this way. That kind of awareness is called
consciousness. At least, it is called consciousness in Abhidhamma. The English word may mean more or
less than that, I am not sure.

Please note that although we use the word consciousness for the word "citta", it is not an exact
translation of the word. Consciousness is defined as a mental state which is the awareness of the object.
Only when there is awareness of the object can there be contact with the object, feeling of the object,
liking of the object, disliking of the object and so on. So, these mental states are subordinate to
consciousness, but they are also components of the mind. So, mind is first divided into two --
consciousness and mental factors. Contact, feeling, perception, attention, like, dislike and so on are all
called mental factors. According to Abhidhamma there are fifty-two of them, and these fifty-two are
grouped into three -- feeling, perception and mental formations. So when we add consciousness to these
three we get four kinds of mental states. It?s amazing that the Buddha could define and differentiate each
of these mental states that arise simultaneously taking the same object.

When we practice meditation and say "sorry, sorry", that means we have a consciousness accompanied
by sorrow or something like that. It could be contemplation on consciousness. When I say, "angry,
angry", I am doing contemplation of consciousness.

The last one is the dhamma. This is one Paa.li word that is most difficult to translate or that cannot be

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translated adequately. This word means different things in different contexts. You cannot translate the
word "dhamma" with just one English word. If you do, you will be wrong. Here, dhamma simply means
the objects that are mental hindrances, the five aggregates, the twelve bases, the seven Factors of
Enlightenment and Four Noble Truths. They are called dhamma in this discourse. So, we cannot translate
this word. Mostly it is translated as "mind object" or "mental object", but each of these translations is not
satisfactory. Therefore it is better to keep the word "dhamma" untranslated to avoid confusion.

Dwelling on dhamma objects: if you concentrate on anger, then you are doing contemplation on the
dhamma. Here dhamma does not mean the teachings or discourse or other things. If you see something
and you are mindful of seeing, then you are doing dhamma object contemplation. So, the dhamma object
contemplation is very wide and includes mental hindrances, aggregates, bases, Factors of Enlightenment
and the Four Noble Truths.

If we translate it as "mind object" and we take it to mean "mind as object", then some objects are not
mind. If we translate it as "mental object", then everything is object of mind. Body is also object of mind.
Since we cannot get a satisfactory and adequate translation, it is better to leave it untranslated.

I have already told you that you practice these four at random and so when you are really practicing do
not try to find out which one you are doing. This is a distraction. As a practitioner of Vipassanaa you
have to take what is there at the present moment. Do not try to find out whether it is the body, or the
feeling, or the consciousness or the dhamma. Whatever there is, your duty is to be mindful of that object
so you do not have covetousness and grief regarding that object.

In order not to have covetousness and grief you have to be mindful. You have no time to find out
whether it is consciousness or dhamma or other things. When you practice Vipassanaa meditation you
practice all these four foundations of mindfulness as they come along. So long as you are mindful of the
object at the present moment you are doing fine, your meditation is good. What is not good is when you
are carried away by your thoughts and forget about meditation for some seconds or maybe minutes. That
is not good. But so long as you are mindful, you are doing the right thing, your meditation is going well.

Sometimes, yogis think that if they do not concentrate on the main object they are not doing meditation.
Sometimes they say, "Oh, we have to spend time or waste time noting the mind going here and there and
we do not have much time to concentrate on the main object." Whether you are aware of the main object
or the secondary object, so long as you are mindful at that moment you are doing fine. You are
meditating and practicing Vipassanaa. What is important in Vipassanaa meditation is first to be mindful of
the object at the present moment. Sometimes you may miss to be mindful and then that missing also
becomes the object of meditation. You have to say to yourself, "missing, missing" or something like that
before you go back to the home object.

There should be mindfulness always, mindfulness here, mindfulness there; and if you can keep
mindfulness intense, then you will make rapid progress and you will begin to see the true nature of things.
That is, you will begin to see the objects arising and disappearing. When you see the arising and
disappearing you also see that they are impermanent. When you see they are impermanent you also see
their suffering nature and also the non-soul nature or that you have no control over these, that they arise
and disappear at their own free will. So, when you see them you are said to see the three general
characteristics of all conditioned phenomena. Seeing of these three general characteristics of all
conditioned phenomena is the essence of Vipassanaa. If you practice Vipassanaa you must see these
three characteristics because the word "Vipassanaa" means "seeing in different ways" and seeing in
different ways means seeing in the light of impermanence, in the light of suffering and in the light of
non-soul. What is important in Vipassana is to see these three characteristics and in order to see these
three characteristics we need to observe, we need to watch and pay attention to the objects at that

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present moment.

In order to pay attention to the object at the present moment we need to make effort. Without effort
nothing worthwhile can be achieved. This is why Buddha said, "ardent, clearly comprehending and
mindful." When we can fulfill these conditions -- being ardent, clearly comprehending and mindful -- and
have concentration we will be able to overcome covetousness and grief regarding the object we observe.

This is the summary of the discourse called the Mahaa Satipa.t.thaana Sutta, the Great Discourse on the
Foundations of Mindfulness. If you understand the summary this much I think you have a firm
understanding of what mindfulness practice is, and so you will understand how to practice mindfulness
meditation. There are other detailed instructions for the practice of mindfulness and I hope you are
familiar with all these instructions. Following these instructions, making effort, applying mindfulness and
seeing things clearly, may all of us be able to overcome covetousness and grief in the world.

A Talk of Kamma, Rebirth

and Suffering
Given by
the Venerable Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa, Rector Sayadaw
The International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University

at 9:30 a.m. on the 13th March, 1999

As Requested by
the Members of the Young Presidents' Organization
of the United States

I was requested to give a talk to explain to you the Buddhist Law of Kamma, Rebirth and the
Buddha's Teaching of Suffering. All these teachings are interesting not only for Buddhists
but for non-Buddhists as well. Now, I am a Theravada Buddhist monk and so when I talk
about Theravada Buddhism, I prefer to use Pali words to Sanskrit words that are more
popular with the Western people. It is because Pali is the language in which the original
teachings of the Buddha were preserved and recorded. Therefore, it has become the
sacred language of the Theravada Buddhists.

Kamma

The word kamma --- k-a-m-m-a --- is a Pali word. It is the same word as k-a-r-m-a in
Sanskrit. By the way, since it is a Sanskrit word, you have to pronounce the 'r' in this word
distinctly as you do in Spanish, and not as you normally do in the U.S.

Now, what is kamma? The literal meaning of the word kamma is "something that is done"
or a "deed". It also means a mental state that is instrumental in doing the deed, good or
bad, wholesome or unwholesome. So, technically, kamma means the mental state which
arises in the mind when people do some deed. Whenever there is a deed good or bad,
there arises in the mind this mental state, and this mental state organizes the other
associated mental states and also engages itself to the object. So, that mental state is like a
chief pupil in a class who studies himself and also encourages other pupils to study. In the

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same way that mental state acts upon the object itself and also encourages or organizes the
other mental states arising together with it to act on the object. That mental state is called
"cetana" in Pali, and it is translated as "volition". So what we call kamma is not actually the
deed, good or bad, but that mental state that accompanies or that arises in the mind of a
person who does the good or bad, or wholesome or unwholesome deed.

And as a mental state, it arises and disappears immediately, because according to the
teachings of the Buddha, whether it is a mental state or a material state, it arises and
immediately it disappears. But unlike other mental states, when it disappears it leaves
some potential to give results in the mental continuum of beings. Although we cannot say or
we cannot know where this potential is stored, but when conditions are favorable for that
kamma to give results, the results are produced. Let's take an example of a mango tree that
bears fruits. Before the fruits are on the tree, we cannot say where the fruits are stored,
whether in the rots, or in the trunk, or in the branches, or in the leaves. But when the
conditions come together -- like sunshine, moisture and water -- the fruits are produced. In
the same way the kamma which has the potential to give results gives results when the
conditions are favorable for it. That is what we call kamma. And this kamma as you know
can be good or bad, or can be wholesome or unwholesome. Since it is a natural law that
kamma gives results, it follows that when kamma is good, then it will produce good or happy
results, and when the kamma is bad or unwholesome, it will produce bad or painful results.
This is what we call the Law of Kamma; that there is what we call kamma (or volition) and
this kamma gives results in the future. So we Buddhists all believe in this Law of Kamma.

Discovery of the Law of Kamma

And this Law of Kamma was discovered by the Buddha himself without a teacher. On the
night before He became the Buddha, the Bodhisatta sat down under the Bodhi tree and
practiced meditation for the whole night. During the middle watch of the night -- in modern
terms, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. -- Buddha attained the supernormal knowledge by which
He was able to see beings dying from existence and being born in the next existence. He
also saw that a being died from one existence and was reborn in a miserable existence
because he, the being, did bad kamma in the past, and another being dies from one
existence and was reborn in a blissful state as a human being or a celestial being because
he did wholesome kamma in the past.

So during that time or during that watch of the night, Buddha discovered the Law of
Kamma. Therefore Buddha's teaching of the Law of Kamma was not borrowed from any
other teaching, but it came from His own intuitive knowledge or superwisdom. It is also said
(in our books) that only the Buddha could understand everything about kamma; it is not in the
province of even the best of His disciples to understand kamma in all its entirety. So if we do
not know everything about kamma, we should not be disappointed because it is not in our
own province to know everything about it.

Different kinds of kamma

There are different kinds of kamma. There is kamma which gives results in this very life,
there is another kind of kamma which gives results in the next future life, and there is yet
another kamma which gives results from the third life indefinitely until one gets out of the
rounds of rebirths. The three kinds of kamma become defunct when they do not get the
opportunity to give results in their allotted periods of time. So kamma gives results not only
in future lies, but it can give results in this very life also.

There are some people who said that they got results of the kamma in this very life. There is

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a Myanmar lady in Florida whose daughter was married to an American, a neurosurgeon.
On her one birthday, her son-in-law gave her a Mercedes as a birthday present. She was
surprised because on her own she could never hope to own a Mercedes. She told me that
she got that Mercedes as a present because she did something or she had been doing
something good in her life. And that was that she was providing transportation to an elderly
couple who could not drive. She took them once a week to grocery stores and helped them
in their shopping, and then took them back to their home. She donated transportation to the
couple for man years and she believed that as a result of the good kamma she did in this
life, she got the result also in this life. And I hope you can think of the negative or bad kamma
giving bad results in this life.

Understanding of the Law of Kamma

This understanding of the Law of Kamma taught us self-reliance and self-responsibility,

because we enjoy or suffer as a result of what kamma we did in the past. So whatever you
enjoy in this life is actually the result of good kamma you did in the past. And whatever you
suffer here is also the result of bad kamma you did in the past. So we are not to blame
anybody else for our suffering or failure in this life. If you want to blame at all, we can blame
our own kamma.

So kamma is one that produces results, and since it is we who do the kamma, we are the
ones who cause the results to be produced. Therefore, we are the masters of our own future.
We can shape our future lives. In this respect, I think, we are free and do not have to rely on
any other person for our good future, because we alone can create our future, either good or
bad.

When we understand that we alone are responsible for our own suffering or happiness, we
know we can shape our future so that we get happiness only and not suffering. If we do not
want bad or painful results, we just need to avoid which will give painful results. That means
the knowledge of the Law of Kamma will teach us to abstain from doing what is bad, what is
painful to oneself, and what is harmful to others. Thus we can improve our lives here and
also we can shape our lives in the future because we know or understand the Law of
Kamma.

Rebirth

Now kamma gives results. Whenever there is kamma, there will be results. We cannot get
away from the consequences of the kamma we did in the past unless we become Buddhas
or Arahants. So when a person is reborn in another life, that rebirth is the result of kamma he
did in the past -- in the immediate past life, or in the lives before the past. So when a person
is said to be reborn, he is reborn as a result of the kamma he did in the past.

According to the teachings of Theravada Buddhism, rebirth immediately follows death.

There is no time gap between death in one life and rebirth in the next life. A person may be
reborn in a place thousands of miles away, and there are reports of people who had died in
England and were reborn in Australia. Although the distance may be great -- thousands and
thousands of miles -- there is no time interval between death in one life and rebirth in the
next life. So according to Abhidhamma, rebirth immediately follows death, but we must
understand that rebirth in the next life is not the result of the death in the previous life. Rebirth
in the next life is the result of kamma in the past. Quite often people misunderstand this fact.
They think that rebirth is produced by death. We can say that rebirth is conditioned by death
also when we mean that death consciousness disappears so that rebirth consciousness
can arise. (This is called Proximity Condition in Patthana, the seventh book of

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Abdhidhamma.)

Death is just one moment in life, the last moment. Before that last moment the dying man's
mind is occupied with some kinds of objects presented to his mind by kamma, and the
quality of these objects play an important, or rather decisive, role in conditioning the rebirth.
Therefore, kamma in the past life -- immediate past life or the lives before the past --
conditions or produces rebirth in the next immediate life.

Moments

Actually, disappearing of one moment and arising of another moment go on even when we
are living. According to the teachings of the Buddha, we are being reborn and dying at every
moment of our lives. When I talk I say words and you hear the words. And words disappear
very quickly and your listening to the words also comes and goes very quickly. So at every
moment there is a new pair of mind and matter arising and then disappearing immediately.
In the next moment there is a new pair of mind and matter arising and then disappearing. It
goes on and on like that even when we are living. So if you can understand that even in our
lives one moment of mind and matter follows another moment of mind and matter without
any interruption or any time-gap between the two, we can understand this life and the next
life.

This and next life

Actually, this life and the next life are different only by one moment. At the moment of death,
we call this life. At the next moment which comes immediately, we call it the new life or next
life. That is, because we use the terms conventionally. So actually the death in one life and
rebirth in another are just the same as one moment following another moment during
life-time. Now, one second after twelve midnight of the 31st of December, we call it a new
day, a new month, a new year. But in fact there is just one second's difference between the
old year and the new year. And actually we cannot say that the previous moment is the old
year and the next moment is the new year. But we agree to call it the old year, and the next
one, the new year, and then we say we are in the new year, but actually we are only one
second away from midnight.

In the same way, when beings are reborn after death in one life, they are just one moment
after death. So the arising and disappearing of mind and matter go on and on until one
becomes an Arahant or a Buddha and one dies. Until that moment, this arising and
disappearing of mind and matter will go on and on incessantly. And here also, the rebirth is
produced by kamma, and so, we can do something about kamma in this life so that we are
reborn in a better existence.

Now when we talk about rebirth, people want to know what it is that is reborn there. This, we
answer, with the maxim: "Neither he nor another." The person who is said to be reborn in the
next life, is neither the same person that died in the previous life, nor is he a totally new
person, totally independent of the being who died in the previous life. So this is the maxim
we use "Neither he nor another." At the moment of rebirth what happens is: Kamma
produces a state of mind and some material properties and that we call rebirth. So, mind
and matter that are produced or that arise at the moment of rebirth are not something that is
carried over form the previous life.

Beads example

According to our teachings nothing moves from this life to the next life. But as a result of

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something that beings did in the previous life, there are produced the results in the future. So
they are connected as or related as cause and effect. We may think of a rosary or a
necklace. There are beads on them and these beads are different from one another and
they are distinct too. But there is a string going through those beads and so we think that it is
a series of beads, but actually only the individual beads are real.

In the same way, mind or matter at every moment is new, arising at every moment. But there
is something like a string going through the succession of arising of mind and matter. That is
relationship as cause and effect. So when an effect is produced by a certain cause, then it
must have some features of the cause in it. In that way there are no chaotic arising and
disappearing, or there is no such thing as "my kamma will give results to you or your kamma
will give results to me," because there is this line of relationship of cause and effect going
through arising and disappearing of mind and matter at every moment.

Rebirth is Suffering

Now when mind and matter produced, or mind and matter arise at the moment of rebirth,
Buddha called rebirth "suffering". This is the word that most people don't like, and we are
always told, "You Buddhists talk about suffering all the time." According to the teaching of
the Buddha, that rebirth is also suffering. To be born as a human being to be born as a
celestial being, to be born as an animal is also suffering.

So according to the Buddha's teachings, everything in the world is suffering. Here, first you
must understand the word 'suffering.' Let's go back to the Pali word dukkha. Because
sometimes the translations are not adequate, they do not or cannot cover the range of
meanings that was covered by the original words. Now whenever we hear the word dukkha
in Pali or 'suffering' in English, our minds go to 'just pain.'

When we say there is suffering, we think that only pain is suffering. There is pain -- physical
pain or mental pain. That is suffering. That is very easy to see. But what the Buddha meant
by suffering is much deeper than that. So according to the Buddha, everything in this world
is suffering. Even when you are enjoying yourself, enjoying good relationship, enjoying
sensual pleasures, these pleasures are themselves termed suffering by the Buddha.

Whatever is impermanent is suffering

Why? We must understand that the criterion taught by the Buddha for something being
suffering or dukkha. Now Buddha said, "Whatever is impermanent is suffering." We must
follow that.

"Whatever is impermanent is suffering." Can we find anything that is permanent in this

world? Can we find anything that just arises and does not disappear? There is nothing that
lasts forever. Everything must come to an end., simply because it has a beginning. So
whenever there is a beginning, there is an end. This is law of nature. We cannot escape that.
We are born as human beings, we started as human beings, we will not live forever. One
day, we will die because that is the end of our lives. So whenever there is a beginning, there
is an end, and something that has a beginning and an end cannot be said to be permanent.
It is impermanent. Buddha said, "Whatever is impermanent is suffering (dukkha)." That
means, it is oppressed by arising and disappearing, or bombarded by arising and
disappearing, or tormented by arising and disappearing.

Being constantly oppressed by arising and disappearing is what Buddha meant as dukkha
or suffering. Not just pain, not just sorrow and not just depression and others in the mind of

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suffering, but whether it is pleasure or it is sorrow, everything that has a beginning and an
end is according to that criterion dukkha, because there is a sense of being of oppressed
by arising and disappearing. It will become more pronounced when you practice meditation.
When you practice meditation, you try to be mindful of whatever object is at the present
moment. So whatever object you keep our mind on it, arises and disappears. It will not stay
for a long time. For example, take my voice now. I am saying words and you are hearing
these words one after another; they just come and go, come and go. So when you are
aware of every object that you observe come and go, come and go, you can get that sense
of being oppressed by arising and disappearing.

Even when you are listening to me now, you are being bombarded by arising and
disappearing. You are not the same person now as you were five minutes ago or ten
minutes ago. So there is this arising and disappearing going on all the time; there is no
respite, no gap between these. So we are constantly and continuously oppressed by this
arising and disappearing. That is what Buddha meant by 'suffering.'

All five aggregates are suffering

If we understand this, we can understand that all five aggregates are suffering. Five
aggregates mean everything in the world. So everything in the world has a beginning and an
end, and so everything is suffering. When we try to understand the Teachings of Buddha --
especially the First Noble Truth -- we must understand the suffering on this level, not just on
the popular level. Now when explaining the First Noble Truth, Buddha said, "Birth is
suffering, old age is suffering, disease is suffering, death is suffering." And so on. But they
are not difficult to understand. Without meditation, we can understand that they are all
suffering. But at last Buddha said, "In brief, all five aggregates of clinging are suffering." That
means everything in the world is suffering. That is what many people cannot accept. Many
people do not understand what Buddha really meant.

When Buddha said everything in the world is suffering or all five aggregates of cling are
suffering, he had in mind that definition of suffering or dukkha, that is "being constantly
oppressed by arising and disappearing." There is not a single physical or mental
phenomenon that can escape this bombardment by arising and disappearing. That is why
everything in the world is said to be suffering. So when we try to understand the teaching of
suffering we try to understand in this way. If we do not understand on this level, we may just
not understand the Buddha's teachings, or we may accuse Him of being a pessimist.

Realist

But Buddha was not a pessimist nor was He an optimist. He was a realist. He taught us
what was real. He did not cover something up just to console us. When he found out that the
world was suffering, he just said that the world was suffering. But the good thing is that He
did not stop there. He said that there was a cause for this suffering. And best of all, He said
that there was a way, which can lead to the cessation of suffering or to get out of this
suffering.

Just as a clever physician would point out that you have a disease, and there is a cause for
this disease, and that this disease could be cured and this is the medicine to take, so
Buddha said, "You all beings are suffering, there is a cause for suffering which is craving,
and there is the cessation of this suffering and that cessation of suffering can be achieved
through the practice of the Middle Way or the Noble Eightfold Path."

Buddha did not teach us just suffering, but he taught us how to get rid of suffering also. If we

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follow the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path, we will also be able to end this suffering. So
it is up to us whether we want to get out of this suffering or not, and if we really want to get
out of suffering, we need to follow the Fourth Noble Truth which is the way that leads to the
cessation of the suffering.

Conclusion
Therefore, when we study the Buddha's teaching or try to understand the Buddha's
teachings, we do not try just to understand them, we need to practice them also. His
teachings are like medicine. The medicine will be effective only if you take it. You may have
bottles of medicine at home, but if you do not take them, you will not get cured of that
disease you want to cure. So the effectiveness of medicine lies in being taken. If you do not
take them, you will not get the results of that medicine. In the same way, Buddha's teachings
are good to understand, but that is not enough. We have to put these teachings into practice
or we have to follow the teachings so that we are able to get rid of suffering or get rid of all
mental defilements. That is why in our teachings, practice is very important. Only through
practice can we achieve what was achieved by the Buddhas and the Arahants.

Is Theravada Buddhism for

Arahatship Only?
by Venerable Sayadaw U Siilaananda

Although Theravada Buddhism is known more widely than before nowadays, there are still some
misunderstandings concerning it. There are still people who believe and say (or rather write) that
Theravada is for Arahantship only. Before we talk about this subject, we must understand the meaning of
the word arahant. According to Theravada Buddhist teachings, an arahant is a person who has reached
the fourth and highest stage of enlightenment. All those who have reached this stage are called arahants,
worthy ones. Worthy of what? Worthy of accepting gifts from devotees, because gifts made to those
persons bring abundant results. According to this definition, all those who have reached this stage, both
disciples and Buddhas (and Pacceka-Buddhas also), are called arahants. There are numerous places in
the Pali Canon where the Buddha is referred to as arahant, see for instance the formula of homage
which Buddhists say everyday: "Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa!"; observe also
the statement in the Mahavagga of Vinaya Pitaka, "There are now six arahants in the world", i.e., the
five first disciples and the Buddha. But arahant is also used to refer to the disciples only, and it is in this
sense that the word arahant is used hereafter in this article.

According to Theravada teachings, there are three kinds of beings who have reached the fourth stage of
enlightenment: Buddhas, Pacceka-Buddhas, and Arahants. Arahants are also called Savakas or
Disciples; they are subdivided into Aggasavaka (the Best Disciples), Mahasavaka (the Great Disciples)
and Pakatisavaka (the Ordinary Disciples). All of these beings are enlightened persons, but their quality
of enlightenment differs from one another. The enlightenment of the Buddhas is the best, that of
Pacceka-Buddhas is inferior to the enlightenment of the Buddhas, but is superior to the enlightenment of
the Arahants, and the enlightenment of the Arahants is the lowest of them all. Buddhas can ?save? many
beings, or rather they can help many beings ?save? themselves by giving them instructions, but
Pacceka-Buddhas do not ?save? beings because they are solitary Buddhas and do not teach as a rule.

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The Arahants can and do ?save?'beings, but not as many beings as Buddhas do. And the time required
for the maturity of the qualities of these beings differ greatly. To become a Buddha, one has to fulfill the
Paramis (necessary qualities for becoming a Buddha) for four, eight or sixteen Incalculables and 100,000
worlds cycles; but for a Pacceka-Buddha the time is only two Incalculables and 100,000 world cycles.
Among the Disciples, for an Aggasavaka, the time required is one Incalculable and 100,000 world
cycles, while for a Mahasavaka, it is only 100,000. But for the Pakatisavaka, it may be just one life, or a
hundred lives, or a thousand lives, or more. It is important to note that once a person becomes an
arahant, he will not become a Buddha in that life; and since there is no more rebirth for him, he will not
become a Buddha in the future either.

In Theravada Buddhism one is not forced to follow the path to Buddhahood only, but is given a choice
from among the paths mentioned above. So a Theravada Buddhist can aspire for and eventually reach
Buddhahood; indeed he must be determined to fulfill the Paramis for the long, long time required for the
fulfillment of Buddhahood. Or if he so desires, he may aspire for Pacceka-Buddhahood, or one of the
states of Arahantship and suffer in the round of rebirths for the time required for his particular choice of
the path accumulating the necessary Paramis and ?save? as many beings as they can. So a Theravada
Buddhist is free to choose what suits his willingness to go through the round of rebirths and suffering.

In brief, a Theravada Buddhist can become a Buddha, or a Pacceka-Buddha, or an Arahant

according to his choice. So Theravada Buddhism is for all three paths and not for the path to
Arahantship only.

Here comes another question: If a Theravada Buddhist can choose any path, why is the attainment of
Arahantship so much talked about in Theravada Buddhism? It is because only very few can become
Buddhas. As you know (if you have read so far, of course), an aspirant for Buddhahood has to undergo
a lot of suffering for a long, long time in the round of rebirths making sacrifices no other being even
dreams of; and there can be only one Buddha at a time in the whole world, so that the appearance of a
Buddha is very, very rare. Therefore, for every being to aspire for Buddhahood is impractical; it would
be like all native citizens of the United States trying to become a President of the United States.
Moreover, the purpose of becoming a Buddha is to ?save? beings or ?help beings save themselves.? But
if everybody were to become a Buddha, there would be no beings for a Buddha to ?save??please note
that Buddhas do not need any instructions from anybody?and so the original purpose would not be
served. On the contrary, to become an Arahant is very practical, and millions of beings attained
Arahantship during the time of a Buddha. That is why, in Theravada Buddhism, beings are encouraged to
try to become Arahants which is practical rather than to become Buddhas which is not so. But as stated
before, beings are given freedom to follow the path of their choice in their endeavor for attainment of
enlightenment. After all, what is important for all beings is to get free from suffering in the round of
rebirths no matter which path they choose.

Still another question: Are there Theravada Buddhists who aspire for Buddhahood? We are glad to
answer in the affirmative. But since not many of them are on record, we cannot say how many. At least
there was a king in Myanmar during the Pagan Period who built a pagoda and dedicated it to the
Dispensation of the Buddha. In that pagoda he left an inscription where he clearly declared his aspiration
for Buddhahood; and almost all kings of ancient Myanmar considered themselves to be aspirants for
Buddhahood. There are also authors of religious books, mostly monks, who mentioned their aspiration
for Buddhahood at the end of their books.

So, we can say that there are not a few Theravada Buddhists who aspire for Buddhahood .

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Table of Contents

Introduction to Vipassana Meditation

Questions and Answers About Vipassana Meditation

Meditation Instructions For Loving-kindness Meditation and Vipassana Meditation

The Benefits of Walking Meditation

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (A Summary)

A Talk of Kamma, Rebirth and Suffering

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