A Manual on Buddhist Meditation- Bhikkhu Candana

Ranjith Daluwatta

This book is the result of requests and queries from students and those interested in understanding the core teachings of the Buddha and how the Dhamma could help them, the readers, learn the tools to pierce through the difficulties they face, whereby a level of peace and tranquility may be established in their lives. Therefore, this work is especially intended to relate to the living circumstances of modern readers dealing with the various stressors of life, in all its phases, whether one is a layperson or a monastic. This is a manual intended for readers who are on various levels of practice on the spectrum, from absolute novices to those seasoned in the practice of meditation with years of experience. Given the influence Buddhism has had on the various layers of our contemporary society during the past several decades, one can clearly see how many of its principles have become very much woven into the fabric of our collective consciousness being introduced into various disciplines, including science, art, lifestyles, and especially the field of mental health. This comes as no surprise when we read in the early Pāli Canon’s Nikāyas, such as in suttas in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, where the Buddha talks about two kinds of illness: physical illness and mental illness, thus clearly designating mental health as an important aspect of living a happy and healthy life by underlining its importance, something that predates contemporary and Western psychotherapeutic schools of thought by almost 2600 years. It is no wonder, therefore, that researchers and practitioners in the field of psychology and psychotherapy have often been utilizing principles that run parallel, if not in some cases directly coming from the teachings of the Buddha (although not always paying tribute or acknowledging its contributions to the field). For this reason, we are often introduced to principles of therapeutic modalities that harken many of the principles delineated in the interplay between the mind, emotions, habits, maladaptive behaviors, and a slew of diverse symptomatology. These are addressed and treated given the introduction of mindfulness principles, reconnecting to the body via somatic experiencing, developing insight, as well as maintaining an investigative approach while looking at the intricate workings of the mind, challenging irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions. This, in addition to engendering a systemic and causally natured approach that looks at the interplay of relationships between individuals, as has been the case with modern and post-modern schools of psychotherapy. Perhaps this last principle of causality, which has been carefully explored within systemic models of therapy, serves as a clear indication of the uncanny similarity in approaching the human condition and the symptoms that are faced by individuals with what the Buddha had explained meticulously through his forty-five years of teaching. Of course, while looking at the Dhamma that the Buddha taught, we see a much more in-depth analysis and surgical precision in the investigation of the mind while applying the meditative process that has survived through the centuries and presents itself within the suttas of the earliest available version of his teachings found within the Pāli Canon, and kept alive within the Theravāda tradition of Buddhism. By providing a simpler formula of what comes to us through the Buddha’s words, I have attempted to bring to the reader the most essential and pertinent information regarding mental cultivation or development of the mind while basing it on the earliest known teachings of the Buddha through the suttas and not the commentaries. Unfortunately, this has been a major issue during the last several hundred years whereby the commentaries, while being secondary sources, have replaced the primary ones, i.e., the suttas, and the actual teachings of the Buddha in their importance. This has been detrimental to the Buddha’s teachings, especially as it relates to these commentaries presenting at times contradictory information and in some cases principles that are nowhere to be found within the suttas. The result has been a state of confusion for many a meditator despite their willingness and desire to wholeheartedly follow the path of the Buddha. Often, the simple teaching is the true teaching and herein lies the challenge that many a newcomer into the field of meditation faces due to the lack of proper information. Having studied with teachers in Asia and America and learning from these esteemed monks for the past thirty years, it has been my goal to study the suttas with them while also applying the teachings found in them through dedicated practice. Having studied the Dhamma in both academic and monastic settings, alongside practicing the Teachings through intensive meditation retreats, I have been encouraged by my teachers, all of whom have been Theravāda monks, to come back to the West and teach the Dhamma and its practice to the larger public. Given the recent interest in mindfulness in Western countries, many forms of interpretations and manifestations of it have been introduced, and on a wide spectrum. These include mindfulness in business, mindfulness in sports, mindfulness in the various sensory enjoyments, where some have even begun advocating for “mindfulness in sex.”  Although the magnitude of mindfulness can and does impact the very quality of one’s experience of things, and yet going back to the source of it, i.e. mindfulness within the Teachings of the Buddha, one can easily and clearly see how these various incarnations of mindfulness were not what its Founder had in mind. It is here, in the effort of looking at and demonstrating the proper role of mindfulness in the grander scheme of various other, equally important ingredients that I seek to help the readers expand not only their understanding of mindfulness, but also to guide them through the systematic progression of their practice. If the Buddha’s Teachings are followed without adding or subtracting anything, they can and will assist one in the development of deeper realizations of oneself, of experiences, and the world. This is what the Buddha called, “seeing things as they come to be” (yathābhutaṁ pajānāti). Unlike what some have mistakenly claimed by limiting their focus on the First Noble Truth, that the Buddha declared, i.e. dukkha or “suffering to be the main message of Buddhism,” what is often not considered is that the Buddha also taught the ending of suffering, hence the Third and Fourth Noble Truths (Cessation of suffering and the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering, respectively), via the understanding of the very cause of suffering (the Second Noble Truth: the Origin of Suffering), which is ignorance that is sustained through craving.  It is my hope that the collection of teachings shared herein will be helpful to you as they have been to many of my students of meditation as they progressed to deeper and deeper states of mind where the dart of ignorance has been removed, with some even gaining the vision of Dhamma. In addition, several interventions are presented from my work as a psychotherapist with patients that have dealt with various mental health and behavioral disorders, such as stress, anger management, depression, and anxiety, while offering tools and a wider scope of understanding thanks to the Teachings of the Buddha, undeniably the earliest psychotherapist humanity has known, whose interventions are still being “discovered” by researchers, 2600 years later. The goal of this work is to guide you to a happier state of being , as my intention is to help you gain a better understanding of the vicious cycle of suffering, supported by the practice that will show you how to gain the Fruits of the Dhamma through your personal understanding and wisdom, supported by the tools made available by Lord Buddha. 

Chapters