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Chapter One
Prelude to the Practice
The practice of samatha , sometimes translated as meditative quiescence or calm abiding , is not unique to Buddhism. It is common to non-Buddhist traditions as well. In fact, it is an essential aspect of most spiritual meditative practices because meditative quiescence is an indispensable tool essential for attaining liberation, nirvana , or the full awakening of buddhahood.
These are lofty goals, and many obstacles lie in the path of anyone who seeks them. The chief obstacles to liberation are known as afflictive obstructions. The chief obstacles to the full awakening of a buddha are known as cognitive obstructions. They are the collective obstacles to omniscience, and to go beyond them one must apply the proper antidote. In the case of both the afflictive and cognitive obstacles, that antidote is the realization of emptiness.
In and of itself, the realization of emptiness is a lofty goal, and the attainment of the wisdom that realizes emptiness requires an extremely stable mind able to focus on the ultimate truth.
What does that term, "extremely stable mind," mean?
It means a mind sufficiently stable to be able to focus upon emptiness without wavering to any other object. In order to cultivate such a stable mind capable of focusing upon emptiness without wavering to any other phenomenon, samatha, or meditative quiescence, is indispensable.
Equally indispensable for the attainment of the state of samatha is proper motivation. This is the first step in the process, the cultivation of a proper motivation that will create a momentum to carry the meditator through the course of the practice, however long it may last.
The primary objective of cultivating samatha is the attainment of liberation and full awakening as a means to be of service to others. However, there are subsidiary effects or benefits of meditative quiescence, namely the development of psychic powers and other forms of heightened awareness. These siddhis , too, can be used in the service of others. However, it is important to remember that the primary reason for the cultivation of samatha is the attainment of liberation or full awakening.
In order to focus in on the proper motivation, one must ask the question: What is the point of attaining the full awakening of a buddha?
Just as space is without limit, so it is true that sentient beings are without limit. Buddhist cosmology says that among the various realms inhabited by sentient beings the majority abide in the hell realms, a smaller number abide in the realm of tormented spirits or pretas , still fewer in the animal realms, still fewer in the human realm, fewer yet in the realm of the demi-gods and a very few in the deva world. Moreover, there are limitless numbers of beings in the intermediate state between death and rebirth who are not classified in any of the six realms of existence.
If we look at this question from a Western perspective, using all the available scientific technology, we see that although the ground is solid it is permeated by various types of organisms, as is the air, as is the water. Taking the Western scientific perspective one step further, it is said that something like a billion organisms live in the human body. So again we have the sense of a limitless number of sentient beings stretching infinitely into space.
Now, let us return to the Buddhist perspective and ask this question: What is the point of attaining the full awakening of a buddha? The answer is almost too obvious. Upon attaining full awakening, it is possible to be of unimaginable benefit to countless sentient beings, especially to those who have a close relationship with one's own being, the organisms in one's own body. Undoubtedly there is a close relationship with those.
If you were able to release from samsara simply the billion organisms in your own body, that would be a tremendous achievement. To attain full awakening each would need to develop bodhicitta , the awakening mind, and in order to do that it is virtually necessary to have a human body. Imagine bringing each of these sentient beings with whom you have this intimate connection to the brink of full awakening by affording them the opportunity just to be born with a human body. Each would also have a billion organisms within it. A billion times a billion beings offered the opportunity of liberation by the act and motivation of a single individual.
In the abstract, the motivation of bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, may seem impractical and impossible. However, looking at it from the perspective of our interdependence with just the beings within our own bodies can put the impossible within reach.
The quest for the attainment of nirvana or liberation is chiefly discussed in the Hinayana scriptures. When one investigates this issue of liberation, it is helpful to look back to the preceding life as well as the lives preceding that life. That investigation will lead to an understanding that there is no beginning to one's previous lives, that life is indeed limitless.
If you follow the rim of a metal disc you will see that it has no end and no beginning. Samsara, or the cycle of existence, is very much like the rim of that metal disc. Its beginning and its end cannot be found. It is our mental distortions and the actions conditioned by them that propel us through the endless cycles of samsara. It is a self-perpetuating process.
While this is true of the cycle of life, it is possible to search for and find the beginning of one specific lifetime.
What is the origin of the specific human rebirth?
It is ignorance.
If we take this present body as an example, whence does it arise? It arises from ignorance, from ignorance and karma , from the distorted action of a person of the same continuum as ourselves in a previous life. There was the ignorance; there was the action; it gave rise to this birth.
And whence arose that ignorance, that karma? It arose from preceding ignorance, from preceding karma, preceding without beginning.
Speaking of the twelve links of dependent origination, the great sage Asanga points out that the three primary mental afflictions--attachment, aversion and ignorance--arise from two types of karma--accomplishing and propulsive karma. These both arise from ignorance. The three interact in a self-perpetuating, beginningless, endless cycle. In this manner then, samsara is a cycle without beginning and without end.
If one reflects upon the unsatisfactory nature of suffering, one finds that it too is beyond all bounds. Suffering is not something we like to look into very much. When we do look, however, we see how pervasive it is. Even if one has a quite pleasant human rebirth, even then the extent of suffering is immense. First there is the suffering of the very process of birth. Then following birth there are times of frustration when a child's desires go unfulfilled, the suffering of the discipline that forces the child to conform to its parents' and society's norms. The suffering continues through youth, as one goes to school and struggles to get good grades, all the sufferings of growing up, the suffering of not attracting the boy you like, or the suffering of getting the girl you like and finding she is not the person you wanted, but only the person you thought you wanted.
The suffering continues in adulthood. It becomes the suffering of seeking work, of seeking work that seems meaningful, of economic survival, trying to get one's act together, trying to get one's possessions together, struggling for success and attaining it. Eventually, when you have everything together, even when you're all set with success and everything you told yourself you wanted, then you have to protect it from all those who would take it from you if they had half the chance. Then you die, and you are back to being a beggar again, a baby again, coming into the world naked and without even a single possession.
This is the case in the human situation with a very pleasant human rebirth. But look at the beings with less fortunate human rebirths, at beings in the hell realms, in the preta realm, in the animal realm. There is yet more suffering in those.
At this point, each of us has had limitless experience in both lower and fortunate realms. But where has it gotten us? Right here, even in this fortunate situation in which we have the leisure to devote time and energy to spiritual practice, we are still subject to suffering. How much good has all that suffering done us?
We do not and can not stop it by saying, "I've gone through limitless lives. I've had my share. I'm satisfied with that. I think I'll move on now, on to something else." The truth is that we helplessly cultivate the very sources of our sorrow, we continue to be subject to suffering regardless of how much suffering we have had in the past, and continuing in this way we are bound to experience more suffering than we want to experience in the future.
On the one hand there is the suffering we have discussed. On the other, there are also sources of pleasure and happiness. Paradoxically, however, in the midst of the struggle to maintain happiness, to insure the continuance of pleasure, or pervaded by dissatisfaction with pleasures that have become familiar, these too become part of suffering.
When does this continuum of suffering end? It ends with the cessation of ignorance which brings about the attainment of liberation or nirvana. If we truly seek happiness for ourselves it is that liberation that we should aim for. In the freedom from suffering that comes with liberation lies the true sense of happiness.
Considering all this, as we embark on a one-year retreat, a three-month retreat, or any other form of samatha practice, what objective, what aspiration shall we hold in our mind? What motivation shall we choose?
UNSUITABLE MOTIVATIONS
If our motivation is the increase of our reputation, greater acquisitions, praise, affluence, etc., then our whole practice will be less than insignificant. Moreover such a motivation will make the attainment of samatha impossible.
What is the attainment of samatha?
It is the access concentration to the first dhyana , the first meditative stabilization. This belongs to a different dimension of existence known as the form realm. The prerequisite to the attainment of that dhyana is the turning away from sensual desires. If the motivation for attainment entails attachment to the sensual or desire realm, then that very motivation for the practice becomes the primary obstacle to attainment.
Another unsuitable motivation is the personal satisfaction that comes from serving others. A doctor, for instance, serves others; but if his principal motivation for serving is the satisfaction he himself receives by serving and healing others, his effort becomes self-serving and self-centered. That motivation is centered entirely on benefits attainable only within this lifetime.
This kind of motivation would be equally unsuitable for the cultivation of samatha. If one works to attain samatha in order to bring benefit to other beings but is ultimately interested in the personal satisfaction to be gained through that seemingly altruistic act, that too is said to be an aspiration entailing concerns of this life, and it will become an obstacle for the cultivation of meditative quiescence.
You might logically ask if we are supposed to forget this lifetime all together. If I attain samatha, will it bring no benefit in this lifetime?
This is not the case. If we turn our awareness to having a higher, truly altruistic aspiration, the benefits in this lifetime inevitably occur without any special thought or effort on our part. The lives of the historical Buddha, Buddha Sakyamuni, and the great pandits and contemplatives of India, Tibet, Thailand, Burma and China are the proof of the pudding. Some sought to attain the full awakening of a buddha, others strove for liberation, others hoped for favorable future lives. All these motivations extended beyond this life, yet their effectiveness in serving others in this lifetime was immense.
One of the most well-known examples might be the Tibetan yogi and saint, Milarepa. A teacher of great renown and reputation, he is esteemed by Tibetan Buddhists of every order. Milarepa had utterly renounced the concerns of this life. His objective was very simply to attain full awakening for the benefit of all creatures. His renunciation was complete. He dispensed with all concerns for food, clothing, reputation, all mundane affairs. Paradoxically, he became the recipient of all the things he had renounced.
When most people get ill they want to make sure everyone knows about it, for the sake of sympathy, or in the hope that they will get the best care, the best hospitals, the best doctors. When they're on their death bed, they want comfort, want their loved ones around them. Many think a big funeral will be the best funeral. Still others leave intricate instructions on what should be done with their remains, insuring that a lot of people will be concerned with their bodies after death.
Milarepa's attitude was completely opposite. In one of his songs, he said, "When I am ill, may no one know about it; when I die, may there be no one to weep; and when I am dead, may there be no one who has to dispose of my body." At the end of his life, word of his final illness spread far and wide. In spite of his wishes his disciples came from every corner of the country to be with him at the moment of death and weep for him. After he died there was great concern over his remains. The dakas and dakinis wanted them; his students and disciples wanted them; the people from the village in which he had been born wanted them.
On the surface one might think that if one simply concerns oneself with altruistic intent and future lifetimes, the practical aspects of this life will not be accomplished, and one will be a failure. This simply isn't true. On the contrary, when one really does renounce or let go of this lifetime everything is taken care of by force of the deeper motivation.
MEANINGFUL MOTIVATIONS
There are three levels of meaningful or authentic motivation for the practice of samatha:
--To attain rebirth in the form or formless realms
--To attain liberation or nirvana
--To attain full awakening
REBIRTH IN THE FORM OR FORMLESS REALMS
Such a rebirth can result in a life that lasts billions of earthly years and is filled with tremendous bliss. The first four dhyanas in the formless realm, as well as the fourth to the eighth, are so subtle that it is almost like being in a deep, blissful sleep.
Some non-Buddhist contemplatives confuse rebirth in either of these two realms with the attainment of nirvana. With that in mind, they make its attainment the motivation for their practice of samatha. To strive for that is still of greater meaning than simply striving to attain samatha as a means of accomplishing the affairs of this life. However, if you follow this route and obtain such an exalted rebirth, after so many billions of years when the power of the samatha that got you there is exhausted, you fall from that blissful state and quite possibly could be reborn in the hell realms. Looking at its culmination, such a rebirth seems less significant. It simply decays until one falls back again.
LIBERATION OR NIRVANA
Liberation, or nirvana, irrevocably cuts the continuum and source of one's own suffering. It is a very powerful motivation and a magnificent attainment. Upon attaining nirvana, while abiding in meditative equipoise, one is of no evident benefit to any other sentient being. One is in a state of total inactivity.
There are many accounts of beings who have attained liberation being stimulated to seek and attain the full awakening of a buddha. But it is said that it is far more difficult for such a person to attain full awakening than it is for a person who has not attained liberation.
Why is that?
Liberated beings are so free of suffering, so totally beyond suffering, that it is difficult for them to develop any sense of empathy or sympathy for those who do suffer. Thus, it is difficult for them to generate great compassion or bodhicitta, also essential prerequisites for the attainment of full awakening.
FULL AWAKENING
Of the three authentic motivations for engaging in the practice of samatha, the altruistic aspiration for full awakening is the most meaningful. In terms of altruism or serving the welfare of others, even if one is not engaged in an actual activity, in some active service, it lifts the practice to the highest level. Aryadeva says that the aspiration to serve, in and of itself, is an aspect or means of serving others.
We see that there are basically two avenues to the attainment of full awakening. One is to attain liberation, remain there for some time, get stimulated, get back into gear, and then go on to seek full awakening. The other is simply and directly to go to full awakening. This being the case, why not take the direct path?
It is very much an individual choice. Some may simply feel overwhelmed because the enlightenment of a buddha may seem to be beyond reach. To such a person it might seem more practical to say, "I could handle liberation," and go in that direction. If one has the feeling that it would be more appropriate or satisfactory simply to attain liberation, then let that be the motivation. Remember, however, that through that attainment you really check out of society; that is, you are free of birth, out of the world--at least for a time.
Apart from that special kind of attitude one might as well strive for full awakening for the benefit of all creatures from the outset and then think of samatha as the instrument for attaining that goal.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from CALMING THE MIND by Gen Lamrimpa (Ven. Jampal Tenzin). Copyright © 1992 by B. Alan Wallace and Gen Lamrimpa. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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