Samatha (tranquillity) and Vipassana (insight) Meditation: The bottom line is don't debate, just do it!

There has been so much discussions and debates between Samatha (tranquillity) and Vipassana (insight) meditation methods. Ajahn Brahm says "it is like the two sides of the same hand."  Ajahn Chah once said it is like "two ends of the same stick, if you pull from one end the other end invariably moves." This means they are closely related and hard to separate as two distinct techniques. Buddha briefly talks about these two paths in Yuganaddha Sutta. In this post I propose a map to show how they are intricately related. I have used the stages as shown in Ajahn Brhams book "Mindfulness bliss and beyond" to outline path of breath meditation that leads to The Right Concentration (Jhanas, 1-4). The Last two factors of The Noble Eightfold Path after The Right Concentration, The Right Wisdom (knowledge) and The Right Release is also shown here to complete the tenfold path as shown in Maha-chttarisaka (The great Forty) Sutta.

The bottom line is don't debate, Just do it!

P.S. Here is a related podcast from Ajahn Brahm from his recent visit to Toronto, in November 2012.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

November 6, 2012 – Public Talk: “Samatha and Vipassana meditation practices: Are these two different methods or two aspects of the same technique?”

How to fix your mind?

If your car is broken you cannot fix it unless you know how it works. To know how it works you need to stop the car first, examine and then learn. Working with the mind is the similar to this. You cannot fix your mind (to get rid of greed, hatred and delusion) unless you know how it works. This knowledge or wisdom comes from insight meditation. Stopping the car can be compared breath meditation. This is how you still (concentration) your mind.

The "real pirates" of the mind

Imagine there is an anchored ship that is about to be hijacked by pirates. There are six pirate ships competing against each other to hijack the ship and bring it to their respective island. If the ship is not anchored well, it will be hijacked by the strongest pirate ship. However, if the ship is anchored very well the pirate ships are going to get exhausted and will eventually give up.

This is like what happens when we sit to meditate. If you do not anchor your breath well to the your whole body (breath fully immersed in the body*) your senses will "hijack" you. The ear may "hijack" you to the sound. Alternatively, our mind will "hijack" you to ideas (thoughts). The same may apply to the other senses too.** Whatever the strongest sense may be, it will hijack the perception of your breath. If you anchor the breath to your body strongly enough, eventually the senses will give up. This is one of the tasks in the early stages of breath meditation.

Buddha used a beautiful simile on this about the six animals in Chappana Sutta -The Six Animals.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains this well in few of his talks. Here are some links:Mind on a leash, The Breath All the Way (16 Steps), Breath Training, Animals in the Mind

*The breath "anchored" to whole body (breath fully immersed in the body)

In Buddhas words:

"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body."

Anapanasati Sutta: Mindfulness of Breathing

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"'Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in,' thinking thus, he trains himself. 'Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out,' thinking thus, he trains himself."

The Way of Mindfulness

The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary

by

Soma Thera

**In formal sitting breath meditation usually mind/ideas, ears/sounds, nose/smells and body/sensations will distracts you the most as your eyes are closed (no eyes/objects) and there is no activity of the tongue/tastes. However in usual day to day life activities too we could apply this method of anchoring the breath when we are challenged with our senses, to prevent the mind getting agitated or stressed. Perhaps we already use this method instinctively without any formal training by "taking a deep breath" when we are stressed. However if you train yourself with formal breath meditation it will be much easier to anchor senses to the breath, restraining the senses and ultimately calming the mind more effectively.

The three layers of "weeds" in the mind...

I recently removed weeds off my flower bed and added mulch to prevent further weeds form growing. The mulch helped to prevent new weeds seeding in the flower bed. However to my surprise, after about a week I found new weeds coming through the thick layer of mulch (see the photo above).

This reminded of me of the three layers of defilements* in our minds. The most superficial layer of defilements arise from our bodily actions and our verbal actions. The defilements from our bodily actions are the killing living beings, stealing, and sexual misconduct. The defilements that arise from our verbal actions include false speech, slanderous speech, harsh speech and idle chatter. Restraining from this is basically cultivating the morality (Sila precept). These I compared to the existing weeds in the flower bed that were removed at the onset of cleaning.

Applying mulch to the bed was to prevent from new weeds growing in the flower bed from disposition of weeds carried by the wind. In this simile I compared these to our obsessional defilements of the mind called the hindrances. They are sensual desire, Ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse and doubt. Practicing samatha meditation (Samadhi precept), for example breath meditation, will suppress these defilements.

However the deep layer of defilements in the mind are just like the deep rooted weeds in this simile. They will surface from time to time given the right conditions, unless they are completely removed without a trace. In the garden I learnt that I had to remove all the weeds down to the tiniest roots before applying the mulch to keep the flower beds weed free. In the mind the deep "weeds" of defilements are mainly removed by wisdom gained through insight practice or Vipassana meditation (Panna precept). Some of the deep rooted defilements of the mind are listed below.

(1) Covetousness and unrighteous greed (2) ill will (3) anger (4) hostility (5) denigration(6) domineering (7) envy (8) miserly(9) hypocrisy(10) fraud (11) obstinacy (12) presumption (13) conceit (14) arrogance (15) vanity (16) negligence

I learnt about the three layers of defilements* from the visiting Buddhist monk, Venerable Uda-Iriyagama Dhammajeeva Thera of Nissarana Vanaya (Forest) Meditation Centre, Sri Lanka, who is currently conducting a meditataion retreat at The Toronto Maha Vihara.

How to grow a tree of wisdom....

This is the method how you grow this tree to bear tasty fruits.

1. Before you plant the seed, you need to prepare the soil (fertile).

2. Then you need to water it well.

3. When the tree grows you have to clean the roots.

4. Then you have to remove the worms that may damage the tree.

5. Finally you have to remove the spider webs from the tree for it to grow to full potential and bear tasty fruits.


In the simile here: Preparing the soil is morality (Sila), watering is acquiring knowledge of Dhamma (Sutha), Cleaning the roots is discussing Dhamma and clearing doubts ( Dhamma sarkach-cha), Clearing the worms is breath meditation (Samatha) and suppressing the five hindrances, and finally removing spider webs is mindfulness meditation (vipassana).

This is taken from a sutta I have heard called, "Anngghita sutta.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.025.than.html
Note: I did not find the simile in the translation here...

Life is like whatching a "movie".....check out how it works !

When the eye meet an object, the eye consciousness arises.

The union of three: The eye+ the object + the eye consciousness = contact arises
(The same is true for all other 5 senses).

Contact gives rise to feeling, perception and mental formations.
In every step there is this “glue” which makes it ”sticky” (craving)

Feeling then give rise to more craving …to clinging…to becoming…births…(Dependent Arising/Origination)
(see previous post)

In day to day life all these processes with our sensors happens at an incredible speed. It is almost impossible for us to recognize these steps, especially for an “untrained mind”. Invariably you are going to end up with feelings, perceptions, and mental formations. These will lead to carving …clinging …. existence in this samsara. It is just like you are watching a movie and getting emotionally involved, not realizing how it is generated at all.

In Samatha meditation (breath meditation) you eliminate the background noise and only focus on your breath (aware of breath). When the mind has achieved a state of smadhi (one pointed concentration) you can start observing how your sensors and their respective stimuli work at a much slower a pace. It is like you are watching the movie in slow motion now.

Now if you want to know what is really happening, you need to get to the projector and examine it. You will find it is a plastic tape going through between a powerful light and a lens, frame by frame. This is some thing like what we do in Vipassana meditation.

Dependent Arising

Still sustained thoughts...as rain would, a cloud of dust

Three skillful thoughts*
should be thought,
three unskillful thoughts
rejected.

Whoever stills sustained thoughts
— as rain would, a cloud of dust —
through an awareness with thinking stilled,
attains right here
the state
of peace.

Iti 3.38; Iti 82

*Skillful thoughts

1.Renunciation

2.Non-ill-will

3. Harmlessness

Related Sutta:

Dvedhavitakka Sutta -Two Sorts of Thinking

Mindfulness in Breathing

"The mindfulness of in and out breathing, of body contemplation, of keeping consciousness of the moment, is a noble occupation and a sublime way, leading to independence of mind and to wisdom."-Samyutta Nikaya

Anapana Sati sutta is the first part of mindfulness of the body in the Satipatthana Sutta . There is also a more detailed disclosure of this sutta by the Buddha. You can read this at the following link:

Meditation on Breathing

If you are not in a mood to read, there is a very good MP3 audio discussion of this sutta by Ajahn Brahm, at the Buddhist Society of Western Australia. Please visit:

Anapana Sati sutta