Chapter 3
Beginning Meditation Practice

According to the Buddha’s Teachings, before beginning the practice of meditation one should recollect the merit that has been made by oneself already. Without merit it would be impossible to meet with these following four rare things in the world:

The Arising of the Buddha

We understand that the human world is millions of years old yet there has been only one Buddha born in that time. Before he could become the Buddha, he had to develop and practice the perfections (parami) for a very long time. Before he appeared in the world, an innumerable number of human beings existed that were surrounded by the darkness of ignorance and no one had the method to free themselves from dukkha (suffering) and to reach Nibbana (Sanskrit : Nirvana).

But after the Lord Buddha reached his enlightenment, the people of the world had a chance to meet him and to practice in accordance with his Teachings. As a result, many people freed themselves from sufferings and passions. Even though the Lord Buddha reached Nirvana so long ago, it is as though he is still alive because the Dhamma (His Teachings) stands in place of him. As he said to Venerable Vakkali :

“One who sees the Dhamma, sees me; one who sees me, sees the

Dhamma”.

Or as he said to Venerable Ananda :

“The Dhamma and Vinaya (Teaching and Discipline) that I have taught and laid down will be your Teacher when I have passed away”.

So it must be held to be a great merit indeed to be born during the Buddha-time, a time when we can practice meditation for liberating ourselves from suffering.

Being born as a human

This fact of being born a human being must be counted as a very rare opportunity in the world. It is important to note that there are thousands upon thousands of different kinds of animals in this world, but we humans were not born among them. Our fortunate human births have given us the chance to practice meditation, unlike all kinds of animals which have no chance of doing so. This should be considered as a merit and a good fortune of ours.

Having faith in the Buddha’s Teachings

When one has his or her faith in Buddhism it is a kind of gain and regarded as a great merit of ours. Many of those approximately five hundred million human beings who have faith in the Buddha’s Teachings have found that these Truthful and Excellent Teachings can be proved to bring real happiness to those who practice in the right way.

In the world today there are billions of human beings, some who may have faith in various religions and some who may not have any faith at all. Buddhist make up only a fraction of these billions of human beings. This also emphasizes the rarity of being exposed to and having faith in the Buddha’s Teachings, achieved only as a result of one’s merit.

It is very hard and rare to get the chance to be ordained as a bhikkhu (monk) or a samanera (novice) in the Buddha’s Teachings because many human beings, though they have faith in the Buddha, do not have the chance to be ordained. Only a small number can do this because there are many factors related to it such as having faith, having no worries, as well as having the virtues of one who can be ordained, and so on. Moreover, already ordained, we have the chance to practice meditation which is regarded as a great merit, great gain, and very difficult to get. On the other hand, if we die before we have practiced meditation, then we would have had no chance to practice like this at all.

Having faith to practice meditation

This is one of the most difficult opportunities to get in the world, for only a few among the sincere Buddhists have enough faith or confidence to really participate in the intensive practice of meditation, forgoing the many temptations to indulgence and vice that surround them. Hence, we should consider ourselves extremely lucky to be among the few who have this kind of confidence together with the opportunity to practice meditation. We will not waste our lives by being Buddhists only in name, but will actually follow the Buddha’s footsteps by practicing meditation earnestly, which will lead us to absolute purification and prolong the life of Buddhism, as the Buddha said:

“As long as the four groups of my followers pay respect to me by sincerely and earnestly practicing development of their minds, my religion will shine brightly like that of a full moon amidst the cloudless sky.”

As mentioned before, meditation (kammatthana) in Buddhism can be divided into two types:

1) Tranquillity meditation (samatha-kammatthana), the training of the mind to free it from mental hindrances (nivarana) and leading it to tranquillity or samadhi.

2) Insight meditation (vipassana-kammatthana), the training of the mind which leads to clear comprehension of truth directed towards a penetrating insight and finally puts an end to the inflows of defilements. Insight meditation exists in Buddhism only.

In this chapter, the explanation will be for the newly trained meditators using the method of concentration called Mindfulness (recollectedness) of breathing which is one of the forty objects of calm meditation. In Thailand, this method is widely used since it is most suitable for all persons and all circumstances. It does not involve difficulties and complications since everyone has to breathe and the breath is always available as a meditation object.

How to practice mindfulness of breathing

This is brief description of how to practice mindfulness of breathing for the beginning of basic meditation. First of all, the meditators have to follow the basic general practice:

1) Observing precepts (sila). One must request for at least the five precepts (sila—moral conduct) from either the monks or the novice or one can make a resolution by himself to refrain from doing the five evil things. That is, killing, stealing, committing adultery and taking intoxicants. If one has done wrong according to any of the five precepts, it is alright to make a vow by oneself not to commit it again. Monks and novices should abstain from doing what should not be done according to their own levels of precepts. Sila is a very important basic requirement for samadhi.

2) Recollection of the Triple Gem. One joins palms in front of oneself in

a chanting manner, then recollects on the noble virtues of the Lord Buddha, his teaching (Dhamma), and his noble disciples (Sangha), making a vow that the Triple Gem is to be the refuge of one’s mind. This should be done so that one feels secure, cheerful, and brilliant.

3) Extending of Metta or Loving-kindness. Extend one’s loving-kindness to all possible kinds of beings and wishing them happiness, freedom from sufferings, freedom from enmity, and freedom from vindictiveness.

4) Freeing oneself from all worries. As a meditator, one has to take care of some practical matters. For instance, the various disturbing factors must be absent to some extent. One should at least temporarily cut down all worries about work, study, relatives, family, etc. One must not hold onto thoughts of what happened in the past or what may happen in the future. Concentrate on the present, i.e. the meditation object or “breathing” in this case.

Predetermine the period of time that one will practice such as 10, 15, or 30 minutes, then make a vow to let go off any other thoughts or worries, concentrating only on the breathing. Follow each breath from the point of breathing in until the point where it is exhausted; this is to prevent the mind from being swayed by the various thoughts or feelings that may have passed through.

5) Determining the appropriate time for practice. The best time for practice is at night, after the night chanting and before going to bed, or early in the morning. Each time one should spend approximately 15-20 or 30 minutes continuously meditating. To obtain the best result, it is advisable to practice twice a day. Beginning practitioners of meditation should not practice too much at first because they may experience physical tension and a feeling of restlessness. Mental exercise of the mind, just like physical exercise of the body, must be done gradually and regularly in order to obtain satisfactory results.

In preliminary practice of Anapanasati, one has to follow these two steps:

1) Sitting. Practitioners of meditation can either sit on the floor or on a chair according to one’s comfort and ease. If you sit on a chair, do not lean backwards because you will feel sleepy too easily. To sit on the floor, men should sit cross-legged. Women may sit in the same posture or they may sit with both legs folded to one side, if it is more comfortable for them.

The correct sitting posture is to sit like Buddha’s image in Samadhi posture. That is, with the right foot on top of the left foot, hands on the lap with the right on top of the left with palms up, and holding the body erect with one’s back stretched as straight as possible. When the back is straight it makes the breathing, the blood-circulation, and the like processes smoother than usual.

Now, collect your faculties together and sit with full concentration. Concentration and awareness are very important in the practice of meditation if one attains to reach the state of samadhi. Do not let your thoughts wander around. If this is difficult, you can use a word like ‘Buddho’ as an aid by saying to yourself ‘Bud’ on the in-breath and ‘Dho’ on the out-breath. Any other word or words can also be used in the same manner.

The eyes should be closed so that one’s thoughts do not wander as a result of seeing any objects. But those who easily feel sleepy when the eyes are closed should sit with the eyes open and look at the nose-tip, with the intention of seeing the nose-tip only. As concentration gradually becomes firmer, the eyes will slowly begin to close, and will finally close completely and automatically by themselves.

2) Following the Breath (anubantana). To facilitate contemplation take several long, deep, “rough” breaths to begin with. First take a long, rough in-breath then take a long, rough out-breath. Do this a few times to make yourself breathe smoothly, then breathe as you would be naturally. Do not try to control or force the breaths to be short or long because it may make you feel dizzy or give you a headache. Be aware of only the breathing in and out.

When you begin to follow the breath, you come to know the difference between the long and short breaths. You know long inhalations as long inhalations and short inhalations as short inhalations. You know when inhaling or exhaling. Be aware of the whole process, back and forth like a sawyer or a latheman. Say to yourself ‘Bud’ on breathing in and ‘Dho’ on breathing out. Follow your breath and watch the air that touches three certain points: the nose-tip, the middle of the chest, and the abdomen.

The starting point of the running in-breath is the nose-tip, then it goes along the way, passes the middle of the chest, and ends at the abdomen. When you exhale, feel the air starting to go out from the abdomen, then flowing through the middle of the chest, and ending up at the tip of the nose. You can also concentrate on only two points, the abdomen and the nose-tip. Follow the in and out breaths as they alternately go in and out between these two points. As you follow the breathing, be very careful to concentrate on only the breath; if any thought arises and disturbs the practice, you must not hold onto that thought at all, but should continue to follow the breathing earnestly.

Watch the breathing in a manner similar to a baby sitter lulling a baby to sleep in an old fashioned cradle, which swings back and forth from one side to the other. The baby sitter has her eyes fixed on and watches the baby all the time the cradle is swinging so that the baby will not wander or fall down from the cradle and will go to sleep. The breath is like the cradle. If you do not give the mind a chance to wander from or be disrupted in observing the breathing, then the mind cannot escape to somewhere else or think of something else. This means that you are successful in the first step.

3) Watching the Breath. When you succeed in following the breath in and

out without letting the mind have a chance to steal away, then you can change to watch very closely at only one certain point among the three, that is either the nose-tip, the middle of the chest, or the abdomen. Choose the point that is to your liking and comfort. You can test for yourself which point is the most suitable point for you; the one that makes you feel at ease without being restless while meditating. Usually meditators find the nose-tip most suitable.

Watch only this point like a wise cowboy who, after letting the cows go out from the cow-pen, does not have to follow them all the time. Instead, he waits at the water basin where all the cows are sure to come to drink, hence he can drive them back to the range afterwards. Likewise the meditator watches only at the nose-tip where each in and out breath always touches. Do this continuously. Those who feel that they are skillful with the first step, i.e. following the breath, can change to this second lesson of watching the breath. If one can control the mind until it cannot slip away, one is said to be successful in the second step.

In the first step, when one follows the breath, one’s breath is still rough but in this second step, watching the breath, the breath becomes more subtle until one does not feel that there is any air touching at the chosen point or sometimes it seems like one is not breathing at all. This means that the mind is very calm. At this stage, some meditators may have certain kinds of rapture (piti) and the mind is brighter and stronger. The trick here is to continuously feel the breath all the time without any gaps; this will result in inducing more happiness and increasing strength for the mind. This is quite a satisfying stage of samadhi.

One point that should be stressed here is that in practicing meditation, it is important for one to have an experienced meditation teacher to guide him. Those who do not follow the right practice of Buddhism or those who practice by themselves can hardly be successful or may even obtain negative results. So the importance of having a teacher should be a major concern of the meditator.

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