Three Months Retreat at Kyunpin Meditation Center

Kyunpin Meditation Center 

As planned this year, to have a long retreat in some where ... yet, don't know where, until last month, in September, the mind said, "Ok, go that place!" ...  It is the first time having retreat at this center, Kyunpin,  in Mandalay, athough in 2005, had one also in Yangon, Burma. It is almost 10 years ago. Time flies, waits for no man! Better make best use of it.

Retreat schedule: 10 Oct 2014 to 6 Jan 2015. Just a plan anyway (as proposed by man), who knows, might be shorter, or another extension of 3 months; just like what had been happened in 2005, ended up six months there. So, you will never know! That is the good part of life, always mysterious and exciting too, what important is: 

Whatever will happen, it happens, Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, and enjoy the process ...

Some photos from the Internet, show the place, a very lovely, quiet, and scenic place. It is at a very remote area of Burma. Just imagine: 12 hours over night bus ride from Yangon to Mandalay, then another 5 hours of boat ride, from Mandalay to reach the center! Wow, that's good chance to explore and have some experience in this part of world. 

A strong intuition, the mind will have a good time there, let it go deep and dive into the Source ... for good! Again, Que Sera, Sera ... just to enjoy Life! Haha ...

And also enjoy the song attached here: the evergreen song, Que Sera Sera, one of my favourite songs.

Wish the world and all of you, well and happy
And having a very fruitful year - 2015!
Happy New Year - in advance! 

The Natural Self

Meditation is to search for the natural self, simply being aware of yourself, your being, and eventually to merge with it. 

Self-awareness is like the water in an ocean, the thought process is like the wave on the surface of the ocean. We attach to the thought (the wave) and take it as my, me, I … etc, and forget the real thing is the self-awareness (the ocean). It is similar to a fish that has forgotten the ocean it has lived since its birth. 

In real practice, awareness is a sense of self, the I amness, that is always present together with this body-mind process, but we are unaware of it. So self-awareness is the primal consciousness before all mental states are formed. It is the original thought - I amness. It can also be called the observer, the witness, or simply Consciousness, and many other names. It is timeless, space-less, quiescence, blissful and always has the nature of harmony. 

Resting on this timeless Consciousness, it just like diving into the ocean, the active mind becomes quiet, and relaxed. As everything comes out from the Consciousness, so it is also the platform where, all external objects are formed. The external objects with its own created world, has the nature of impermanence: arising, existing and passing away. Obviously, all external objects are NOT me. So left behind only the self-awareness, the observer, the witness, which is always there, and never leave us.

The self-awareness, or our natural self/consciousness, it can be compared to the vast ocean, where all kinds of fish swim freely, but they are not aware of the ocean where they are born and died there. So exactly the same, we are not aware of our natural self, because it is so quiet, simple and too ordinary to catch our attention. Like fish in the ocean, we are not aware of our ocean - the natural self, our existence, or I amness. Instead, we are so preoccupied and attached to our wave - our thoughts, which are not us.

Obviously, the mind (the wave) is just an object of the self-awareness (the ocean). So called the different mental states or the mind, simply a tiny aspect of the timeless awareness. And this awareness is a platform where all the thought process going through, it is unstable and changeable. Hence, meditation is to be aware of the self awareness, the natural self/consciousness, the observer, the witness, or the sense of self … which is stable, timeless and blissful.

Rest or soak in the ocean of Consciousness as long as you can. With Grace, and finally, merging your mind with it, then you are one with it.

Soaking in the Transcended Ocean of Love

There are many terms to describe the mind. First of all, one must be able to differentiate the two basic aspects of mind: the static and the dynamic, or the passive and the active. Yin (陰) and Yang (陽). In meditation, it is the subject and the object.

Terms often used in various traditions to describe static aspect of mind like the pure Awareness, formless Heart, Soul, Spirit, the witness, God, Buddha Nature, the observer, knowing mind, pure Consciousness, the Source, Home, Tao, Emptiness, the Self, samadhi, Reality, Silence,  and more. These are the terms to describe the passive or static side of the mind. There is just One Consciousness, the rests are just labels and for namesake only.

The mind is like a spectrum, the static part is in one end and in a dormant mode, it is the source of consciousness. The goal of spiritual seeker is to reach the source. Since it is a spectrum, whether it is static or dynamic, it is still within the same consciousness. Like the subject, it is the Source, the passive mind; and watching over an object, the active mind which is just an extension or a manifestation from the Source. Subject and object are within the same spectrum of consciousness, but the Source, the static mind, is the 'blueprint' or 'template' from which the active mind, the object to arise, exist and disappear by itself. So it is obvious, meditation is not on the object, or on the active mind, but on the subject, the static mind or the Source. The subjective approach of meditation practice is the key to liberate the objective mind, which is always changing and unstable.

From this spectrum of consciousness; the Source, the subject, the self-awareness, or Reality ... that is our own self, our being, our existence - the I amness consciousness: is the essence of meditation subject. Hence, greatest attention should be paid to the subject, and NOT to the object.

We also use the word Heart, as the Source, implied Yin (陰) aspect of the mind. The active mind represents Yang (陽), which is always active, like the thinking mind. It generates actions, implies karma making. So the active mind is also the karma creator. On contrary, when the mind is transformed to the Heart; it is transcended, detached, quiet down, all the mental activities to be dissolving into the ocean of Love, like a river merging with the Ocean. In this aspect, Heart or Soul, is the purifier, it purifies the mind, stabilizes the mind, dissolves the mind, and slow down the karma making. Eventually it liberates the mind. 

Heart, its true nature is harmonious, timeless, blissful, peaceful, detached and existential. It is contrast to the nature of mind which are impermanent, inconstant, agitation, changing, clinging, involving with time and addicted to all sorts habitual tendencies. So the active mind is not reliable, but a source of  suffering. When mind is active and dominated our existence or our life, then we cling to the external worldly experiences, that sustains our rebirths and Samsara becomes our eternal home! Meditation is to dissolve, get rid of the active mind and going back to the Source. So the transformation from the mind to the Heart, becomes a transcended state, being one with the Source. That is to end the incessant rebirths; also the goal of the spiritual practice. 

The main theme of practice is always resting our active mind on the observer or the witness, let the mind soaked itself in the ocean of Love, in the pure Awareness, or in the Soul realm. The longer the mind stays at the Source, the more chances to transform the mind to the nature of the Heart. It takes time and effort to practice for this transformation to take place. Once the mind is tame and it is able to ride itself Home.

And with this level of practice, mind has found its Home, its Source, its Love, and it is transcended. At this stage, meditation is effortless, because it can directly contact with the Source itself. By simply ‘parking’ or resting the mind onto the Source, the formless Heart, then the mind is soaked into this infinite pure Awareness. 

Gradually, the previous habitual patterns of the active mind, like restlessness, unceasing thinking habit, other negative aspects of the mind, started to loosen. The mind nature is changing and slow down the mental process. Now the mind is more like the Heart.

In all: the mind is letting go its previous self, or identity, the roles, the images, that previously it has clung so tight, and finally, is able to let go off and free itself.

The Father and the Son Are One

Sunway KL-5 Oct 2014.

While cycling this morning, mind was observing its own mental activities, like thought-process, mental chattering, commenting this and that. The thought-process is passively popping up from no where. Like watching a movie on a screen. It is happened in a very detached manner, like watching other people’s thoughts. 

Conventionally, people say: I am thinking … So whatever come out from this thinking mind is MY thought-process. Or else who’s the one doing the thinking? If not, then who am I? We take it for granted, assuming that the thought process as mine. But actually there is ANOTHER ONE, apart from the thinking mind! 

He (or It) is always there all the time, never ever leave you, but you are unaware of Him because you are so preoccupied and strongly attached with your external mental activities, that means you are not aware of your own existence. You forget yourself!

Your own existence is your witness, your being, yourself or the silent observer, He is always there, and witnessing everything we have experienced. So the thinking mind is just one aspect of His extension. That extension we call it the human mind, or the ego; we apply this limited mind for our day to day activities. One is passive - the witness, and the extension one is the active mind. The mind is like a coin of two sides; static and dynamic at the same time. The tricky thing is that we  are so enchanted by the dynamic side of mind that we take it as ‘me’, ‘mine’, ‘I’, so the Maya (illusion) is in operation, and the separateness emerged, so the sufferings. 

All our life, we seldom notice the static or the passive side of the mind - the silent witness, so we live our life PARTIALLY with the ego being busily and unceasingly engaging to outside world. Before we discover the witness, this personal active mind is the only little mind we have. Once we have found the witness - the all embracing transcended state of mind - we start to realize that this personal mind, or the ego is actually an impostor, and not the ‘real’ one! It is like a run away son, he has left his father long time ago. Then he is wandering around in his own created world as a nobody child. Alone and separated.

As the simile says the Eve was expelled from the Garden of Eden, and disowned by his Father. Metaphorically speaking, the expulsion of the Eve is the beginning of sufferings for the fall of man - the lonely self, or the ego - that the human being so much associated with. 

In this case, the witness is the Father - the primal state of mind, the Garden of Eden, the Source where the Eve came from. That was the time the Father and the Son were One. Due to the emergence of the ego, the Father and the Son separated. That is how the ego is born and becomes a separate self. But in reality, the Father is always here and now, never has one second left His Son, only His Son has left Him. So the spiritual journey is the searching for the Father and the goal is to unite with Him. That's all the human evolution talking about: going to the Source and be One. 

The most precious moment of the seeking is when the Son has found his Father. So to say that the ego, after wandering for a long, long journey in his own world, he finally has found his Source, the witness, the primal timeless consciousness, where he came from. Surprised! He is just behind and with you all the time, you are unaware  because you never turn back your head and look inward of yourself. Like the Allegory of the cave by Plato, saying: the people in the cave only perceive what is in front of them, they are chained and kept from turning their heads. Their perception is their own shadows which the fire reflected on the wall of the cave. Exactly this is how our senses and our thinking minds are fooling and misleading us all the time. We take them as real, but they are just the reflections, until we turn our heads by looking inwardly.

At this stage, when the mind turns back and looks inward, the Son recognizes the Father; or the ego perceives the existence of the witness and found the Reality. How relieved it is, now you can ‘throw’ (surrender) everything of your burdens to the Father, like the saying: Surrender yourself to God. As it is said: The Kingdom of God is within you, so the Salvation lies within. God and you are One. Now you realize, you do not have to find God outside of yourself, or rely on others to find for you.

On the perspective of meditation, we find that there is nothing outside the mind: your hell, heaven or salvation, liberation or the Kingdom of God, is well within you. Just turn back and look inward, then you will find God. When the mind rests on the witness, your little ego is superimposed on the higher and unlimited Consciousness, now you are in the hand of God. God is infinite and timeless, God is Tao, and God is impersonal Consciousness or Emptiness, and many more names. 

The Son no longer runs away from the Father, instead, reunions with Him; reaching the Source. With the embracing of the Silent Father - the witness - the world is still going on, everything as it is: in the World but not of the World. 

Sum up the Truth: 

I am that I am, not this, not that. 
Just Be. 

So, it is a happy ending story. 

************

God Smiles at You ....

A Smile from God --- Sri Ramana Maharshi

Albert Einstein and Tagore

“A problem cannot be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it.  We must change our consciousness in order to solve the problem."

                                                     Albert Einstein

"Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it. Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle,  it is the extinguishing of the flame  because day is come."

                                              Rabindranath Tagore

"The followers of different religions quarrel about Truth because they never have experienced it. Most of them don't even try to experience it; they are much happier to quarrelling, debating and fighting each other. The Truth is actually very simple: when individual self dies in the Heart, which is what happens if one successfully follows the quest, 'Who am I?', the Self alone remains, one without a second. That Self is Truth, the Self is God. What can be simpler than that? But people don't want simplicity, they want something  complicated so they can argue and fight over."

Sarada

“Know that the wondrous jnana vichara (Self-enquiry) is only for those who have attained purity of mind by softening and melting within. Without this softening and melting away of the mind, brought about by thinking of the feet of the Lord, the attachment to the “I” that adheres to the body will not cease to be.”

Sri Ramana Mahashi

Who is thinking? - David Godman

Question: I’m not clear how to make the best use of you as my teacher. I want to make the best use of my time here, but I’m not clear how I should use my time. What should I be doing that I am not doing at home?

Papaji: Take care of the purpose for which you have come. First, clarify your purpose. A relationship is not really necessary. That we can look after later. Purpose is the foremost, the most important thing.

When you are thirsty, you go to the river. Your purpose is to quench your thirst. It is not to ask the river what kind of relationship you have with it. You don’t need a relationship; you only need a purpose. You came here the day before yesterday and your purpose is to find out who you are. Find this out. Know who you are. If you first know who you are, then you will automatically know who I am.

So, your first priority is the question ‘Who am I?’ Once you have discovered that, you will know the real nature of all the other things and people that you see. First start with this question ‘Who am I?’ We started on this question the day before yesterday. You need to recognise yourself. Now, what was that question I asked you to ask?

Question: Who?

Papaji: Yes, what was the full question? 

Question: Who is thinking?

Papaji: Yes, this was the question I gave you. I told you to find the answer to this question. I asked you to return home to the Self through asking this question, and then to come back and tell me what you saw there.

Question: What do I see there?

Papaji: Yes, what do you see there? [There was a pause while Papaji wrote ‘who’ on a piece of paper and showed it to the questioner.] What do you see here?

Question: I see a word on a piece of paper.

Papaji: This simple word is your question.

Question: What do I see in here?

Papaji: Anywhere. Wherever the ‘who’ is. Your question is, ‘Who is thinking?’

Question: I can see the question.

Papaji: Can you see where the question comes from? Focus on this question and look to see where it arises from. Return back to the ‘who’. What do you see there?

Question: I see arising. I see things arising, one from another.

Papaji: Something arose that is the predicate. Now, what is the subject? Who is thinking? Return from this predicate of thinking and focus on the ‘who’. This is the finish. Now you are at the root, aren’t you? Find out who this ‘who’ is. What is its shape? What is the shape of this ‘who’? What is its form? How is it? What does it look like? [Long pause] What is happening?

Question: The question just arises out of nothing, out of emptiness, and disappears back into emptiness.

Papaji: That’s right. You say this question disappeared into the emptiness. The question was, ‘Who is thinking?’ For thinking you need a mind, don’t you? Now, the process of thinking has been arrested. It happened when you put the question, ‘Who is thinking?’ Now the process has been arrested. Then you said, very correctly, that the question disappears. That’s what you said. ‘There’s emptiness.’ What else do you say?

Question: It’s emptiness; just space.

Papaji: OK, it’s emptiness; it’s space. Emptiness is there; space is there. This is your inherent nature. You can call it presence or space or anything else. It is obstructed by desire and by thinking. It is always obstructed by desire. Emptiness is just the lack, the absence of thoughts and desires. When you have a burden on your shoulder, you are restless. Let us say that you are holding onto two hundred pounds and that you want to get rid of this trouble, this burden.

When you drop it, you have not gained anything. You have not attained some new state that was never there before. You have simply thrown something away that was troubling you and returned to your inherent nature, the inherent state that was there before you loaded yourself up with this weight.

This thinking process, this burden, is a desire that we always carry with us. I am showing you how to drop this unwanted burden. When you ask the question, ‘Who is thinking?’ you arrest the process of thinking and return back to your true nature, your inherent nature, your spontaneous nature, the pure source that is empty. This is your own nature, and this is what you are always. The mind does not enter there. Time does not enter. Death does not enter. Fear does not enter. This is your inherent, eternal nature. If you stay there, there will be no fear. If you step out of it, you step into samsara, manifestation, and there you are in trouble all the time. 

Retreat at Wat Ram Poeng-Chiangmai

Wat Ram Poeng is also called Northern Insight Meditation, located less than 10 minutes Taxi drive from Airport. This is an International Meditation Center, you can see lot of different nationalities coming here to practice. Meditation method based on 4 foundations of mindfulness, as taught by using Mahasi Sayadaw techniques.

You will be provided with a small kuti or room with attached bathroom, with only the basic things. You can meditate inside or outside of your room. You will wake up at 4:00am for meditation, 6:30am for breakfast, 10:30am for lunch. There is liquid snack or afternoon drink at 5:00pm. That is it. Have to keep 8 precepts, no food after 12:00pm. Life is simple here, no talking, reading except meditation and keep your heart to your mind and body every moment. There is a daily interview or reporting to the Abbot about your daily experience you encounter during meditation. The Abbot, Ajahn Suphan is very kind, always smiling and giving timely encouragement to your practice, a very experienced meditation teacher.

Give yourself at least ten days, though full course is 26 days, but you still can leave anytime, if you want to. Try to taste the simplicity of temple life, everything is SLOW DOWN, not only on walking but also your mind too! There is no tomorrow or yesterday, only HERE and NOW... Give your heart and mind a chance to see itself clearer, as we have accumulated too much rubbish that obstructing us to understand ourselves deeper and clearer. Mind free from rubbish, is very light and peaceful, that will make you see the wonder of instant insight within, that can make you wiser, and know how to cope with the challenging of life ahead.

Actually mindfulness meditation is part of life, you can practice outside retreat center. In your daily life, just being mindful of your mind, always check and see what is it doing, thinking at that moment? Is your mind happy, sad or angry? But don't involve with the happiness, sadness or anger. Leave them alone, it is dangerous to get involved! That is meditation, sound simple?

Northern Insight Meditation Center - Wat Ram Poeng

Stupa-is an excellent place for night sitting

Meditation Hall

Wat Ram Peong Female Meditation Hall

Dining Hall, served with both meat and veggie.

Area for meditation

Kuti with bathroom attached for meditators

Quarter attached with bathroom for Yogi

Meditation under the Ancient Bodhi tree

Monks assembly to cerebrate Abbot's birthday - 23 Jan

Alm-giving

Abbot Ajahn Suphan, on his birthday giving speech,

23 Jan 2012, falls on CNY

Alm-giving for merit accumulating...

Waiting to offer food for monks

My Favorite Cozy Corner for Sitting

You can practice any where in the temple

Meditation under the Ancient Bodhi tree

Symbolic the pure light of wisdom

Jan 2012 retreat began here ...

Time to leave, people coming and going, a sign of impermanence.

Telling us that nothing in this world is permanent and no change.

So, it is same to our mind and body, if you watch closely

there is no one time mind body stop changing!

That is the important aspect and teaching of Buddhism.

If you cling to changing thing, thought that it is permanent,

sure, you are expecting to suffer. This meditation teaches

you to let go... The more you let go, the more peace and

happy you are. Just that simple!

Higher Than the Thought Realm

S:9:00am-10:00am

When sitting/meditating, mind can always go higher than thought realm, instead of just watch your thought process.

As in the thought realm there is not much room for improvement, it is tiring to see one thought after another, like the continuity of watching movie without stop. So 'switch' to another level. Watch THE mind that watching the thought generated, that mind used to react to your thought habitually, and NEVER fail to trigger your emotions and feelings of LIKE & DISLIKE. In this state of mind, can compare to the stock market, ups and downs, or the changeable weather of sunshine with sudden change to thunder storm and lightnings.

When mind involves with like & dislike, at this mental level, we are inflicted with suffering. You know, thought is the culprit that brings lots of emotional baggage from our memory, good or bad. As we know thought process is never ending, like an ancient story teller, you like it or not, it keeps telling you story. It tells you all kind of stories, some positive and many negative. Some inspire you, but many make you worried and moody.

Why live life like that? Seldom people know, if you investigate your mind, and you may notice that there is another realm or level or consciousness or subconciousness or 靈 or whatever you call it in our mind. Better still, don't label or name it, take it as what it is because it is nameless. At this level of mental state, thought is not active there, vaguely running at background.

So just go in that state of mind, rest there, feel it and enjoy it. It exists, if your mind is subtle enough, quiet enough, you will ‘see’ it or feel its existence. This is the level that push your thoughts to the distant background, it is detached from you. Like you are no longer affected by earth's gravitational force, that always pulls and grounded you.

At this moment you feel that you are not the one who is thinking, it seems like thought comes by itself, it is self-generated and not related to you, so it is detached. Like driving a car in free gear stage, because you de-clutched it, then the car is free from moving.

So when your mind is 'de-clutched' then you are free from thought running. Now your mind is in the state that thought is subtly running at background and no longer affects you. To some extent, you are free from mental disturbances. Sometimes, you may go one step further, then it becomes thoughtless state. This state is like that: something abundant within (there is mental activities) and also emptying out of all things. You just feel a series of very subtle sensational process. That is another FORM of thought without content.

In physics, we know that energy can be converted and manifested in different forms. Now, thought is reduced to merely a series of mental sensations, another form of energy. At this mental level, there is no interpretation of thoughts, but a flow of sensations, nothing else. Therefore, there is no feeling of like & dislike, our habitual pattern, to inflict us. You are emotionally free and detached. This is another form of manifestation of mental energy. A beautiful state of mind, peaceful & calm.

When mind out of the influence of thought process, that is the time, mind can truly rest and being peaceful by itself. Even you rest a while in that level, you feel refresh and the lightness of mind.

At the same time you realize how much suffering life is. For a human being that living in this world, we are constantly bombarded by our self created thoughts without knowing for our entire life. Yet, the infliction is created by ourselves! If you see this happening or experience it in your own mind, and realized it by yourself; that is the inner wisdom appeared. It helps you to understand your life deeper and better.

Cool, isn't?

Thought and Insight Meditation ...

In insight meditation, when awareness is pure, with relatively less thought involved, you only experience mind and body process, nothing else.

The whole insight meditation is mind and body process. Thought comes from outside and has an impact on the mind, like energy goes into the mind body process. It blurs or makes mind body process not clear, but hazy. Cannot see clear because thought creates emotion, feeling, it is a chain reaction, it goes on endlessly, if you watch it closely. Thought sucks in lots of energy, makes you restless, exhausted and tired, sometimes high, other time low, if you let thought runs wild.

With just pure awareness, turn inward, then mind notices and feels the pure bodily sensations, in a direct way. In insight meditation, only two things happened: the pure bodily sensations and the mind watching and knowing it, so called mind and body process. That is the state of mind when thought starting to lose its impact/effect that influences mind. In this state of mind, when thought is losing its power, then left behind is the pure awareness. With pure awareness, inner feelings, sensations can be directly felt clearer in the process of mind and body, it is due to less disturbance from thought. By this way of ‘tuning’ of mind, it dissolves the thought from arising and gets it out of the mind body process. With pure awareness, here your are: a moment of peace and calm, fully rest your body and mind, and finally, you are home again.

Mind clearer or not, depends on how much inflow of thought, or how much thought is created. The more thought the less clear the mind is. With thought you can’t see the reality of mind. In other words, you can’t understand and notice the inner feeling and the subtle mental state of mind.

Thought is just for knowledge and learning, it is useful on day to day interaction with people, such as working to resolve problems. But thought is the enemy to insight meditation. Tuning the mind is tuning the subtlety of thought, from actively thinking to passively passing thoughts, until thought happens only passing by at the background of mind body process. Not longer part of the process.

In this state of mind, thought exists subtly outside the mind body process, it has not much effect on the process. That is the fine tuning of mind inwardly, to make meditation conducive in order to understand mind body process deeper and subtler. If you can further tuning it, until in thoughtless state, then in this undisturbed mind body process, will help for deeper mental investigation during the meditation. Hold it longer, with more clarity, normally insight knowledge or direct experience is getting clearer and clearer in the process (not through thinking mind). That is the whole business of insight meditation.

But, who is the one doing the tuning? There is no one there, the tuning doing by the tuner, and the tuner is the mind itself, so mind does it. Mind body process is like a machine, has its own system and operates by its own way. Thought only disturbs the perfect system by trying to do something, in actual, nothing needs to be done. Leave it as it is. Thought is something outside, something from memory, man made, artificial product of mind body process. When understand this, we can see the glimpse of non self, in Pali word; anatta. Where is ‘I’?

You create it... in order to live in the world of delusion.