Wise Reflection

In these five short teachings, Ajahn Anan talks about a side of meditation that is often neglected—using our mind's activity to bring inner calm and direct knowledge into truth. Both the recollection of life's impermanence and chanting are effective tools to cut off distracted thought. And with a clear mind, we can examine what the Buddha called the 'three characteristics of existence', thereby gaining clear insight into truth.

Transcript

Reflection,

A collection of short Dhamma teachings by Venerable Ajahn Anand.

Recollection of Death Ajahn Chah frequently recommended the contemplation of death,

Particularly at times when the mind is agitated and restless,

Thinking uncontrollably.

Because it's such a powerful recollection,

When we're overwhelmed by some aspect of greed or anger,

Or just deluded by confusion and doubting,

It can cut through all of this,

Bringing a sense of finality into the mind.

Wait,

I'm going to die soon.

It will cut through all those other less important secondary thoughts that are bothering the mind at the time.

This is a very useful meditation technique.

We can practice the recollection of death by contemplating the uncertainty of our lives and the certainty of death.

We continuously reflect that having been born,

We must also die.

Hearing news of death or loss,

We can likewise reflect upon our own mortality.

Suppose that the global human population amounted to six billion people,

Of whom 60 million died every year,

600 million every decade.

Now if there were no new supplementary births,

Then within a century,

The entire population of the world would have passed away,

All six billion people.

However,

Because there are additional births replacing those who have died,

We fail to see the presence of death,

Except for those terrible events that stem from natural disasters.

When great numbers of human beings die through events such as these,

We can reflect that we too must also die,

That we can't escape from death.

When we contemplate the Dhamma,

However,

We have to do it in the correct way.

Reflecting on impermanence and the uncertainty of life,

We might get to the point where we see that all of us must come to the same end.

There's no way around this,

For ultimately we all have to die.

But it's important that we contemplate in the skillful way,

Arousing urgency and energy in the practice.

The contemplation should be developing mindfulness and wisdom,

Bringing the mind to greater peace.

If it's done unskillfully,

It can bring depression,

Seeing life as meaningless.

And if we have that kind of negative reaction,

Then we have to stop,

And realize that it isn't going in the right direction,

It isn't bringing the correct results.

So as we contemplate and practice the Dhamma,

We have to always look at the results of what we're doing to gauge whether we're practicing in the correct way.

If there's more energy,

More effort,

More peace,

Then that's the sign that it's going in the right direction.

Using chanting to aid meditation.

The practice of Buddhist chanting helps to calm the mind,

Focusing it on the Dhamma,

And giving rise to coolness and peacefulness.

Before practicing meditation,

We can use this act of chanting as the object of mindfulness.

Found in these chants are the very teachings that the Buddha gave us,

And if we chant them with mindfulness,

It can give rise to a sense of inner joy.

This will help us to recollect and contemplate the teachings,

Letting them sink into the heart a little more each time.

We may start by chanting the daily devotions,

Reciting the qualities of the Buddha,

The Dhamma,

And the Sangha.

We can then bring up thoughts of loving-kindness,

Directing them first towards ourself,

Then towards all beings.

Chanting is also useful for overcoming the hindrance of dullness.

But if we're meditating and still can't get rid of the dullness or sleepiness,

Then we can change posture and do some walking meditation instead.

We can even try walking backwards,

Or sitting on the edge of a wall,

Or in a high place.

The aim is to give rise to a sense of mindfulness and carefulness,

Which will make the mind alert.

If we do sit in a high,

Dangerous place,

Hopefully we'll wake up.

But if we're still tired and drowsy,

It's better to get down,

Better not to fall and die.

We still haven't realized the Dhamma yet,

So we have to use our wisdom as well.

Observing the Three Characteristics We use wise reflection to contemplate the Dhamma.

In particular,

The three characteristics of existence —impermanence,

Unsatisfactoriness,

And not-self.

Using these three characteristics will help to lessen the mental proliferation,

Which normally agitates the mind.

Using mindfulness,

Formal meditation,

And now contemplation,

This will increase the amount of present-moment awareness and decrease the amount of imagining and daydreaming.

We'll be able to catch all the old memories,

Moods,

And thoughts much more quickly,

And little by little let them go.

The more we can let go of all this mental proliferation,

The less stress and suffering.

Contemplate this mind,

The mind which tends to proliferate and fantasize,

Straying into past and future.

We should train ourselves to see things as not sure,

As changing,

As impermanent.

No matter how much we try to plan out the future,

It never turns out the way we think.

A lot of time can be wasted in this kind of thinking.

But because we're still obstructed by delusion,

These mental formations are continuously occurring.

So the skilled practitioner keeps watching the mind,

Seeing through all this proliferation as impermanent,

Unsatisfactory,

And not-self.

If we look for a self,

A person,

A being,

Any solid me or other in this mental proliferation,

It won't be found.

This is called using impermanence,

Unsatisfactoriness,

And not-self,

As our object of meditation.

Ajaan Chah would say that using the three characteristics as a meditation object gives rise to true wisdom.

It has the strength to change the wrong views and distortions of the mind.

But if wisdom isn't arising in its fullest,

It's because our concentration isn't strong enough.

In that case,

We have to go back and re-establish our awareness on the in-and-out breaths,

Giving the mind time to rest in the calm of concentration.

If we're doing too much contemplation without first calming the mind,

We'll find the thinking becomes restless and excessive,

And we're only watching the mind proliferating.

This isn't the correct way of contemplation.

So again,

We have to come back and make the mind peaceful,

Giving it time to rest and to regain its strength.

Whichever method we use to settle the mind,

Whether mindfulness of breathing,

Metta meditation,

Recollection of the Buddha,

Or death contemplation,

They all bring us the same result.

Going Beyond Calm If we keep practicing like this,

Regularly meditating and developing mindfulness in daily life,

Then sooner or later we'll reach a point where we sit down to meditate and experience a great sense of peace.

We feel light in body,

And the mind seems to gather together and drop all its usual worries and concerns,

Becoming very still and concentrated.

This is the result of all the effort put into developing mindfulness.

Concentration is the foundation,

But we must go beyond the calm of concentration and use its power to develop wisdom.

Up to now we've found wisdom coming from hearing and listening.

This is wisdom coming from the discussion of concepts and things,

From asking and answering questions,

From knowledge of the scriptures.

This is a certain kind of wisdom,

But it's a wisdom that depends on the dimension of memory and thoughts.

This kind of wisdom plays a certain function and gives one level of understanding,

But the true dharma that the Buddha taught comes from the pure mind,

The enlightened mind,

The awakened mind.

By putting the teachings into practice and gaining concentration,

We can experience genuine wisdom.

This is clear seeing rather than the more thinking-based reflection done in the preliminaries of the practice.

The wisdom that arises through concentration has the strength to overcome the unwholesome habits and tendencies of the mind.

And so,

When we look over the books again,

Our understanding is real because we've experienced it for ourself.

Bringing the Practice Home When you come home each day,

Develop an attitude of one who is dedicated to the practice.

Try not to bring all your worries and concerns about work home with you.

When you come home,

Try to set them aside.

If you have a little altar or shrine at home,

You might find some time to bow and do a little bit of chanting,

Just to put yourself in a good space.

And of course,

Do some meditation as well.

Try to develop the self-discipline and motivation to do this on a regular basis.

Because if you develop it as a regular habit,

You'll find that you're always refreshing your efforts in the practice,

Refreshing your confidence in the teachings.

As long as we keep up that sincere effort,

There'll be some good energy there.

Even if we're not perfectly peaceful yet,

We'll find that we remain inspired.

This will give us the ability to resist the normal moods and unwholesome mind states that we might otherwise get caught into.

What we must be careful of,

However,

Is becoming lazy or overly distracted.

If we don't develop good habits and self-discipline,

The practice can become very patchy,

Meaning sometimes we do it,

And other times not.

Gradually,

The unwholesome habits of the mind have a chance to take over again.

And even when we do come to meditate,

The mind is caught up in distracted thinking and proliferation.

Eventually we'll start to feel that it's not worth it,

That the practice isn't getting anywhere,

And maybe we give up.

So we have to maintain that motivation.

Find ways to keep putting effort into the practice,

However small,

Because it will always help to energize the mind and bring up motivation.

As long as you have that,

Then you'll keep on practicing.

Before I became a monk,

I had a regular job.

I'd go to work and come back home in the evening.

But because I saw the value of meditation,

I always tried to make time in the evening to put some effort into the practice.

However tired and exhausted I felt,

I'd still try to set aside one hour for chanting in meditation.

And I found that just by putting in that effort,

Some days I'd be calm and peaceful,

And all the feelings of tiredness would disappear.

I felt refreshed from my practice,

And that inspired me to keep doing it.

Keeping up our motivation and wholesome efforts,

We'll find that mindfulness and wisdom will steadily grow.

Reviews

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I am so deeply grateful for the clarity, import, and inspiration conveyed in this talk. Thank you!

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Thank you for this most enlightening and helpful practice.