This is the first time I meditated in a Pagoda cell almost continuously except for the 6pm group sitting in the hall, followed by Goenkaji's discourse. In the earlier courses I was uncomfortable in the cell in the Pagoda. It was in the last 30day course in May 2019 that I made an attempt to confront the discomfort that I experienced in the cell and started sitting there during the meditation period. This is precisely what I like about the course: you confront your discomforts rather than avoid them. Sitting in the pagoda cell in the 30 day course gave me the opportunity to do that and gradually overcome my fears.
A lot of Goenkaji's instructions are in the discourses that he gives, in which he explains the theory behind the practice. It is interesting that it is the practice that is constantly emphasized and one understands the theory only through the practice.
What impressed me much was the story he narrated about a monk who used to walk past a beautiful lake everyday. Children and adults would visit the park near the lake and they would mess around quite a bit, plucking flowers and running and jumping around. There were beautiful lotuses that bloomed and they were a very pretty sight in the blue lake. The monk one day was drawn towards a lotus, and admiring its beauty he plucked one. Immediately a celestial being appeared in front of him and admonished him for plucking the flower. This was not expected of a monk of his stature, she said. The monk apologised and thanked the celestial being for keeping him in check , but wanted to know why she admonished only him when clearly the children and the other people in the lake were behaving even worse than him, and yet she did not say anything to them. To this she replied : If one spills a drop of ink on a white piece of cloth, it becomes so conspicuous, but when it is spilled on an already dirty cloth, it is hardly visible. A monk is like the white piece of cloth, while the people messing the park are not as pure.
The monk thanked the celestial guardian angel of the lake for opening his eyes to his mistake and said, do let me know of any transgressions I might make in future as well. To this she replied : Out of my compassion, I reminded you today, but it is not my responsibility to go chasing you everywhere to check your conduct. You need to be responsible for yourself, nobody can keep reminding you what you should and should not do.
I have heard this story a number of times in the previous courses but it had a more significant impact on me this time. As a practitioner of Vipassana doing long courses and additionally as a facilitator of 10day Vipassana courses, I need to be careful about how I conduct myself. Nobody really keeps you under their watch, you keep yourself under your watch and behave in a way that is befitting of a practitioner of Vipassana meditation.
True enough, as participants of the 45 day retreat, we are pretty much left on our own to meditate where ever we choose: the Pagoda cell, or the Dhamma Hall or at our residence, follow the timetable and are not "supervised". A facilitator is available if we run into difficulties,but by and large we are alone on a solitary journey.
Why do we do it? To know and live the experience of the unsatisfactoriness of life. To understand and live the experience of the four noble truths
1. There is suffering (dukkha)
2. There is cause for suffering
3. This suffering can end or cease
4 The way out of suffering is to follow the eight fold noble path
What is the eight fold noble path?
First you do not harm yourself or others through speech or by action, you engage in earning an honest livelihood that does not harm others and you put an effort to accomplish these desirable ways of living.
Second, you begin the practice of focusing your mind on an object of meditation, such as the breath, to improve your concentration and awareness. These are essential for the development of wisdom which includes right understanding and developing good positive thoughts.
The first step is taken as a vow or precept and the environment at the center pretty much takes care that one does not cause harm to oneself or others through speech or action.
Therefore we begin with the second step of focusing the mind on the natural respiration for the first ten days. After this, the practice of Vipassana- observing sensations on the body and remaining equanimous to their changing nature.
I will be writing more on my experiences in the next blog.
