Issue

14th Issue (Dec, 2009)

Buddhism and Self-Cultivation (Part 2)

Wong Weng Hon
MA in Buddhist Studies

Right Mindfulness

Furthermore, the crown of Buddhist spiritual development and self-cultivation is characterislized by the skillful execution of Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Cattᾱri Satipaṭṭhᾱna)14 . The greatest treasure of Buddhist Satipaṭṭhᾱna is that the delivered Buddhist has fruitfully abandoned his or her grasping (upᾱdᾱna) upon the five aggregates as this is I; this is mine; this belongs to me. His or her mental obsessions 15 are completely terminated  as he or she has intuitively apprehended the Insubstantiality or Selflessness (Anattᾱ) of the five aggregates. The insightful discernment of Anattᾱ obliterates the ignorantly superimposed self-centric ego that conditions grasping or clinging. The Buddhist Gnostic (Ñᾱnῑῑ) is said to have completely appeased the ordinary mind and abides in Nibbᾱna. Nibbᾱna is the complete stilling of the mind. The mind stilled by wisdom is  the inner Heart of Man in which one is completely appeased and  self- redeemed. Self-redemption is emancipation (vimutti). Emancipation is the summit of Buddhist development and self-cultivation. Emancipation is abiding in the permanence of Nibbᾱna. In Nibbᾱna, greed , hatred and delusion are completely extinct.

Nibbᾱna

 Psycho-ethically put, Nibbᾱna is the complete cessation of greed, hatred and delusion. One dies before one dies. One enters the deathlessness – the eternal bliss of Nibbᾱna (Jambukhᾱdakasamyutta 38). Nibbᾱna is consonant with Monotheistic concept of Kingdom of Heaven in us or Mahᾱyᾱna concept of Pure Land in us while one is still living on Earth. The Hindus also designate it  as Nirvᾱna. The Muslims designate it as Baqᾱ which is permanent realm of cosmic Self (Dharmadhᾱtu) in us.   The empirical false self is dead and a new Universal Self is born. The Universal Self is the Absolute Reality sought by all religions. Buddhistly put, the Universal Self is the Buddha-mind. A Tathᾱgata16,  a Perfect Man,  is born. The birth of a Tathᾱgata consummates Buddhist development and self-cultivation.

Insight Meditation

 The most critical aspect of Buddhist development and self-cultivation of a genuine Buddhist practioner is  the diligent participation in daily  Insight meditation (Vipassanᾱ bhᾱvanᾱ). The Insight meditation pertains to  the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhᾱna)17 . It is heedfully and vigilantly  guarding the six sense doors through right mindfulness and clear awareness of Anattᾱ. The awareness of Anattᾱ is the complete consciousness of Oneness of Being. One is said to be fully conscious of Oneness of Being when one has destroyed individual consciousness and dwells in consciousness of unity with others.  The guarding of security of the six sense doors is considered fruitfully executed if and only if there exists right mindfulness and clear awareness of Anattᾱ of  non-grasping upon the five aggregates. Non-grasping is resulted from the extinction of individual consciousness of independent existence. It is invigorated by the consciousness of unity of existence in all aspects of social living. Individual consciousness is replaced by the consciousness of the Whole. The Whole is the Oneness of Being. Anattᾱ is not only discerned but most importantly is lived cohesively with others in a group or community or society.

 Non-grasping (anupᾱdᾱna) is annihilation of self or ego (attᾱ) so that the practioner pervades his or her entire body and mind with full consciousness of Anattᾱ. In other words, no notion of Iness or Mineness of personal proprietorship is arisen when a Buddhist yogi or practiner is assailed with manifold sensual stimuli. The manifold sensual stimuli impinge upon a man through the human physical body, emotional feelings, thoughts or mental  ideas internally  and external events externally. Right mindfulness is considered to be fruitfully executed if and only if  clear awareness of Anattᾱ of all six sense activities occur unceasingly in all daily activities. The right mindfulness and  clear awareness of Anattᾱ  involve the four-fold mindfulness and clear awareness of selflessness  of the body,  feelings,  thoughts and external phenomena. These four foundations of mindfulness unceasingly become  meditational objects in all daily activities. Anattᾱ is executed if and if only no  whatsoever grasping upon the meditational objects occurs. In the formal Insight meditation exercise , all the six objects of percepts are the meditational objects to be noted with complete right mindfulness and clear awareness. They are the sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental objects. Perfection mindfulness and awareness is said to be actualized when the self-awakened mind transcends the duality between the perceiver and the perceived. Buddhist Gnosis is defined as the fruitful entrance into the door of Non-duality. The entrance into Non-duality is full consciousness of the Oneness of Being and abiding in it.

Most importantly, the right mindfulness and clear awareness of Anattᾱ must continue unceasingly even one is not engaged in  formal sitting meditation. The self-awareness of Anattᾱ must continue in ALL daily activities such as sleeping, waking up, brushing the teeth, taking baths, taking breakfast, driving, working, physical exercise, taking lunch, returning home, resting, taking dinner, watching television, reading and so on. When wisdom of insight into Anattᾱ has been fully developed, the right mindfulness and awareness of Anattᾱ is spontaneous , effortless and automatic or natural.

When each of these  objects of perceptions is mindfully noted, the self-ego of grasping is considered to have been annihilated if and only if the vigilant mind transcends the duality between the perceiver (subject) and the perceived . The absolute experience of Non-duality is the direct experience or immediate tasting  of Anattᾱ. The genuine immediate tasting of Anattᾱ is, in reality, the direct experience of Nibbᾱna – the stilling of the human mind through the destruction of self-centric ego.

The direct experience of Anattᾱ through Satipaṭṭhᾱna is the immediate tasting of Nibbᾱna in the present life while one is still living on earth. The wise  emerges as the Buddhist Gnostic known as an Arahant. An Arahant is a Perfect Man of wisdom and virtue. Therefore, Gotama Buddha declares that Satipaṭṭhᾱna is the sole way  (ekayᾱna) 18 to abide in Nibbᾱna. Satipaṭṭhᾱna obliterates self-centric ego.  In fact, this is the only Way (ekayᾱna)to actualize the soteriological goal of salvation of liberation (vimutti). All dissimilar meditational methods are finally oriented towards the Four Establishments of Mindfulness of Anattᾱ strategy. Anattᾱ strategy is the sole Way to Nibbᾱna – the Buddhist path to  liberation.

An accomplished  Buddhist meditator or executor of  Satipaṭṭhᾱna is one who enters into the door of Non-duality. He or she is fully aware of the Unity of Existence or Insubstantiality of the five aggregates which are one composite of five aggregates  but not five discrete aggregates. A composite of five aggregates is the Oneness of Being. In other words,  the Unity of the five aggregates is ultimately the Oneness of Being. The unity of the existence of the five aggregates  is the non-duality between Man and his immediate environment. The intuitive perception of the Emptiness of the five Aggregates is the perception of Oneness of Being. Nothing is fragmentary from the Unity of Oneness of Being. The Oneness of Being is the Absolute Reality of the Buddha.

18 Elements

Buddhist ontological analysis unveils that the Unity of the Five Aggregates corresponds with the Unity of Existence of the Eighteen Elements (18 Dhᾱtus)19. The Eighteen Elements comprise six sense faculties, six corresponding sense objects and six corresponding sense consciousness. The Unity of Existence of the Eighteen Elements is the integration between the conditioned phenomenon of internal environment of the human personality and the conditioned phenomena of the external environment. The  quintessence of Insight meditation (Vipassanᾱ bhᾱvanᾱ) is the development of insight of wisdom of knowing the Oneness of Being of the Eighteen Elements. The insight of wisdom is the spiritual or Dhammic Eye of  the liberative self-awareness of the Unity of multiplicity between Man and his environment. This liberative wisdom of insight obliterates  the false imagination of personality view (sakkᾱya diṭṭhi)  of the separation between Man and his environment. This is the quintessence of Insight Meditation (Vipassanᾱ bhᾱvanᾱ)  crowned  by Anattᾱ strategy of Satipaṭṭhᾱna.

See the Lord

To see the Lord is not to see substantial Divine personality or figure. To see the Lord is to see the Truth of the Real Principle or Spirit that directs and empowers human six sense activities. The ego or self (attᾱ) is not the original governing  principle of human life . The original governing principle of human life is Non-self (Anattᾱ). The primary agenda of religious life is to rediscover Anattᾱ and utilize it to govern human life.  Process philosophically put, the Truth of Buddhist Anattᾱ is the Unity of multiplicity manifested in the Absolute Reality of process becoming (bhava). If one does not see the Truth of the Unity or Insubstantiality (Anattᾱ) of process becoming, one’s illusorily superimposed self-centric ego (attᾱ) will direct and empower one’s six sense activities.  Self-centric ego is the root of suffering.

All sense activities rooted in self-centric ego of grasping is the root of suffering (dukkha).  Self-grasping ego engenders either greed (lobha) or hatred (dosa) or delusion (moha). Greed conditions selfishness, egoism, pride, prejudice and vanity. Hatred engenders violence, anger, rage, conflict, friction, disharmony, and the like. Delusion connotes the lack of wisdom of insight to see the Truth of Anattᾱ of process becoming. There is only one and only Truth underlying all religion. It is the Truth of Anattᾱ of dependently co-arisen systemic or organic Unity of causes and conditions. Systemic unity conditions the eternal process becoming. Process becoming is the Absolute Reality.

Conclusion

 Every sentient being or Gnostic is a systemic part of the systemic Unity of Anattᾱ. The barometer to measure the discernment of Anattᾱ is the complete annihilation of self-centric ego. The sole way to salvation or liberation is the complete annihilation of self-centric ego. Salvation or liberation is the peak of the   perfection of human development and self-cultivation in every religion.  Therefore, whoever sees Anattᾱ  knows one’s True Self. Whoever knows the True Self knows the Lord. Lord connotes the One who really  governs. The Iness does not govern as ‘I’ does not exist.  The Essence of the Lord is Anattᾱ. The main goal of Buddhist development and self-cultivation is to intuitively penetrate into the Absolute Reality of Anattᾱ. Seeing Anattᾱ is seeing the Lord. Seeing Lord is seeing the Buddha. Seeing Anattᾱ annihilates the false notion of this is I, this is mine or this belongs to me. What is not I, Mine or Me is the Absolute Reality. All genuine religious believers or practioners  seek this Absolute Reality.

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Exuberantly, I discover that all Tathᾱgatas and Prophets promulgate the communal Truth of Wisdom. The communal Message is that perfect self-cultivation of Man is the perfect equilibrium between  the phenomenon and Principle, the relative and  Absolute,  the world God or the  Yin and Yang. All these dissimilar paraphrasings carry an identical d-vine or holy Message of Absolute Reality – the Process Reality of the process becoming. The Absolute Reality is to sought and realized  in Man by Man. Man is the perfect image of the Absolute which is nameless ultimately.

End Notes:

15. Note 2. Ibid. Vol. I, Satipaṭṭhᾱna Sutta, p.141.

16. Note 2 :. Ibid. Vol. I, Vῑmamsaka Sutta, p.379

17. Walshe, Maurice. The Long Discourses of the Buddha : A Translation of the Dῑgha Nikᾱya.  Kandy : Buddhist Publication Society, 1996. Mahᾱsatipaṭṭhᾱna Sutta 22, p.335

18.  Walshe, Maurice, The Long Discourses of the Buddha : A Translation of Dῑgha Nikᾱya. Kandy : Buddhist Publication Society, Mahᾱsatipaṭṭhᾱna Sutta 22, p.335

19. Note 5 in Part 1: Ibid. and Dhᾱtusamᾱyutta, p.627