Buddhist Hour
Radio Script No 503
Broadcast live on 3MDR 97.1FM
4 PM to 5 PM
On Sunday 2 December 2007 CE 2551 Buddhist Era

This Script is entitled:

The Buddhist Path & Meditation is the second chapter of a book written by our late Founder John D. Hughes in 1977. This week's Buddhist Hour continues on from last week, being the second part of this chapter.

It is interesting to read history and realise that many of the early great leaders who altered the course of history for their various countries were in fact beings who turned their psychic skills into the path of their countries’ development. One example which can be seen, was in the early history of Japan in the period P.D. 147 to 190, where the country was in a state of civil war and anarchy until a woman ruler arose having a name which it is easy to trace in the archaic Japanese title NIMDKO, meaning ‘son/daughter or princess’. This ruler was old and unmarried and had devoted herself to magic, by which skill she gained favour with the people who made her their Queen. The varying reports of the time are supported from contemporary Chinese and Korean notices. The WEI records state that queen Pimiku died in 247 and that a great mound was raised over her and over a hundred of her male and female attendants followed her to death. Ultimately a girl of 13, relative of Pimiku named Iyo (or Ichiyo) was made Queen. It is pretty certain that the Pimiku of the Chinese records was the ruler of one of the powerful tribes and her dominion extended over the large part of the land.

The magic possible by control of the astral world was practised at many times through history. But most Westerners would not be aware that these events are anything but legends. It is worthwhile remembering, that to spend a life practicing magic is still a path which generates karma which must delay the completion of the path to Nirvana. Therefore, it must be remembered, that it is better not to be ensnared by the desire to ‘do good’; even more importantly it must be remembered not to be ensnared by the desire to ‘do evil’. Many people start the path but drift off its centre. It must be always remembered that the Buddhist path is the Middle Path. The Buddha, between his Enlightenment and his death, wandered through Northern India teaching people for nearly half a century. He taught that the teachings themselves, must not be taken as dogma, but must be tested by each man for himself. He refused to be regarded as divine. His emphasis on intense self effort is given in his advice to Ananda one of his disciples. ‘Therefore O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves, rely on yourselves and do not rely on external help. Those who either now or after I am dead, shall be a lamp unto themselves, relying on themselves only and not relying on external help, but holding fast to the truth as to their lamp and seeking their salvation to the truth alone, not looking for assistance from anyone beside themselves, it is they, Ananda, among my disciples who shall reach the very top-most height! But they must be anxious to learn………’. There are some types of Buddhist groups which rely on faith. If such groups appeal to you, then you should follow their teachings. I do not wish to label the type of Buddhism I teach in these exercises. I leave that to those who desire the labels. The fact is that you must question even what is said by an ‘All Enlightened One’. The Buddha said, ‘As a goldsmith tests gold by fire and rubbing, so should my words be tested’. This appears to me to be a contrast to those leaders who demand uncritical faith and absolute obedience. Buddhists can, but point the way, each must tread the path himself. The Buddha did not advise his own cousin Ananda to go to any of the some 500 enlightened Bhikkhu monks; many of them gleamed with wonderful supernatural powers but he was to go to himself for a lamp. Remember to question within yourself. The only advice that makes sense is that whatever arises of a psychic nature be swept gently out of the mind. In this manner it will not become an object to be craved. Buddha had tremendous difficulty in convincing people that their eyes did not give them a complete view of the universe. Everybody in the West is familiar with the idea that there are sounds that cannot be heard by the ordinary ear and that X-rays can move through solid matter. The ordinary sense organs of men, particularly the organs of taste and smell are generally much inferior to those possessed by most of the animals. The world you recognise through your daily life is only a small section of the whole universe. Human beings do possess the ability to discover the complete and undistorted universe and therefore liberate themselves from all kinds of suffering. There should be no craving towards the psychic world if you can bear in mind that ultimately that world is impermanent and Anatta (Essencelessness) in nature.

There are three things which Buddha suggested should be abandoned. These three things are greed, hate and delusion. To give up greed, hate and delusion is not easy.

Traditionally, as an aid towards controlling these three factors, meditation in a forest was recommended. In your everyday life, in 20th century living, this is not possible for you. Many years ago, I sat in a forest to meditate thinking this would be the ‘easiest way’ of doing things. There is no easy way. The realisation came to me as my psychic powers developed, sitting in the forest, that it does not matter where the meditation is done since ultimately the distractions which arise are only inner cravings being manifest in the physical world.

Meditation in a forest would, I suppose, in an ideal society, be desirable but while engaged in the ordinary life style of western people it is hardly practicable. How can a person obtain 12 or 18 months to sit in a forest in a modern society? For this reason, the meditations in this book are based on a simple principle. They are based on the principle that if you develop psychic powers, you can use those powers to understand what the Buddha taught. The Path to developing psychic powers is not for everybody. Unless a person has conquered greed, hate and delusion to a large extent, he will tend to use his psychic powers to practice these three barriers leading to ignorance. Things are never ends in themselves but are the basis of successful practice to mindfulness leading to insight. All the Dharma taught by the Buddha may be thought as being for the ‘wild mind’.

The English language has no equivalent for the Sanskrit words used relating to meditation. Meditation is the word used in English but there are different states involved in meditation in the Buddhist manner. For meditation is quite different from an intellectual concept. Buddha used several words to define it precisely such as Bhavana or mental development or culture of mind; Citta; Visuddhi – purification of the mind; Samatha, tranquillity or calming down of the mind; Ekaggata – concentration of the mind and mental faculties; Samadhi – unification of the various mental powers unfolding one’s dormant potentials. The word "Bhavana" is derived from the word ‘BHU’ which means ‘to become’. By meditation, you set in motion a creative process or if you wish a model, you become ‘one with reality’. Meditation properly applied is only the law of karma operating, but it takes you to a more wholesome state. CITTA or CITTU is to purify the mind so your self is not distorted. SAMATHA is to be everminded under all circumstances and achieve a mastery in depth of being able to be still. The technique of making within yourself the ability to sweep thoughts aside as they arise assists this process.

EKAGGATA involves having the mind fully awake. With all its faculties of ‘states of consciousness’ integrated. SAMADHI may be translated as ‘unification’ and may be compared to a new dimension which leads to self-transformation. Because of the difficulty of using English language and its lack of the appropriate word I have used some Sanskrit and Pali in some of the models of explanations in this book. Concentration is not really a good translation of JHANA and there are 4 JHANAS in Buddhism. When Jhana has been obtained and mastered there is no need to try to meditate for one has reached the state of perfected meditation.

The faculties and powers obtained must be balanced by mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. The balance in these faculties can be seen in the holy men in many religions. It is necessary to balance faith with wisdom and effort with concentration. It is necessary as it were to find the Middle Path. Ordinary commonsense (so called), is not necessarily correct when one gets into regions of psychic awareness which most people do not possess. It is here that one is to be a lamp to oneself. There is no short cut to stamping out greed, hate and delusion, since the faculty of the intellect, if not controlled, will increase not diminish unwholesome states by the very act of thinking about them.

If you have fully comprehended the nature of a Bodhisattva, you will realise a Bodhisattva has a lack of the qualities of greed, hate and delusion since the Bodhisattva works selflessly for the Enlightenment of all sentient beings. The types of exercises in this book and the models to intellectual understanding given are therefore directed to the reduction of greed, hate and delusion.

In time, the models of understanding will go, but for the moment they will make you feel more comfortable, since you will have a personality-belief in the nature of your ‘ego’ self. Sceptical doubt is to be held by you because of your nature, but if sceptical doubt prevents you from practicing exercises, it will be a barrier to you giving up greed, hate and delusion.

Clinging to rites and rituals is another barrier to giving up greed, hate and delusion. The trust in the intellect and logic is itself an article of faith. When the mathematical basis of logic is looked at, it is found that within any given system there are things that can be proved and not proved without enlarging the system. The inner need for faith in one particular system as opposed to another, is a tricky problem for the intellect. The conditioning by your own culture is so heavy, that it is difficult to see that most of your convictions are based on very flimsy sub-structures. The emotional and psychic life of a child are fed by stories which children are told. It is a thing that parents of all types quite naturally indulge in. The parents create a framework within a child which is internalised in the inner world of the child. The need for security is so high, that any communication within reason seems satisfactory. It is thought that a child without stories is impoverished, according to Raymond Johnson, in the essay – ‘The language of myth’. A fundamental orientation is always needed, and for this reason models to explain some of the things that happen in these meditations are given. One important psychological condition maintains there are present in every individual the ‘great primordial images’. The explanation for this is that certain myths and legends are found all over the world in almost identical forms. It might also explain why mental patients can reproduce exactly the same images and associations as are found in ancient texts. C.G. Jung called these images or motives ‘ARCHETYPES’. He suggested there is a collective unconscious made up of Primordial images. These images are, in fact, in person, because nearly every human being on this planet has had a long, sad, re-occurring cyclic existence, and the memories of these existences are retrievable by suitable meditation.

At times, the models I use to ‘explain’ are within a frame of reference taken from Western psychology. In other cases, the experience in the psychic world of thought-forms is so ‘alien’ that it is necessary to refer back to Buddhist or Eastern explanations. Let it be understood, that the models are just temporary ‘mental furniture’, to assist you to be comfortable to operate in the world of tables and chairs. I do not consider them to be absolutely valid, but they are ‘relative truths’, suitable for sustaining the fragmenting patterns of the early thought forms, which are being broken down in meditation. The need for verbalisation and explanation vanishes at a certain point of wisdom. The new realities perceived are self-consistent and stand by themselves above relative truths. In this sense, I invite you to indeed have a lack of faith in the ‘models’ I offer you, provided you can fabricate satisfactory substitutes of your own. In fabricating a rationale of what happens to you in meditation, remember not to believe your own ‘framework’ too intensely, since it is only a stepping stone which will be left behind at a later stage.

Unfriendliness is a cause of much anxiety in this society and seems a reasonable protective device against anyone getting too close to you. The Buddha became perfect in Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Evenmindedness. This is best illustrated in the birth stories of the Buddha and his jealous and scheming cousin Devadatta. Devadatta made strong effort to make life difficult for the future Buddha. The Buddha used each attack as a means of strengthening his own emerging powers. According to one tradition, he described his attainment of Buddhahood to Devadatta’s craving.

You may realise that if you are unfriendly towards people, they will be unfriendly towards you. Sooner or later, by the law of Karma, you must as it were ‘make up’ the hurt you do people by your own unfriendliness. If a person presents an unfriendly manner towards you, remember it is probable that they have been hurt by someone else and are trying to pass their hurt away from them. Take their unfriendliness and absorb it and reflect back friendliness. It does not take as much power as you think. If you keep in company with ‘nice people’, it does not take much effort to be friendly. The real test is found, when one is in frequent association with individuals who are annoying. If you reduce the suffering of the world, you lighten the load of the Bodhisattvas, as well as overcoming anger in yourself.

Laziness arises from lack of clear direction as to what your goal in life should be. Of all the possible goals you can undertake, the goal of Nirvana is the highest. It is a process of setting goals, selecting the right learning experience and integration of the learning experiences within you, so that what you learn can be evaluated to give you another goal. The process of becoming is circular. The process of becoming more is a spiral, either up or down accordingly, as the growth is towards or away from wholesomeness. The ‘model goal’ for the moment, you may adopt, is to become a Bodhisattva.

As regards to life as you know it, it is necessary to emphasize, that whatever is wrong in it or the good things about it, have ‘relative’ worth. The average man is said to ‘experience more pleasure than pain’ in the course of human existence. Human life is highly valued, for ‘birth as a human being’ is rare. It is your duty to make the best of your opportunities here, as it is within your capacity to attain the very highest. The Buddha claimed that he was the happiest man alive. It is a fact that the course of spiritual development is marked by the growth of a sense of serenity and joy.

A common view of some Western critics of Buddhism, is that it is a pessimistic philosophy of life. Buddhism is realistic, by squarely facing the problem of suffering, while offering a solution to the problem. It is optimism that it preaches. The Buddha’s teachings are very practical. Buddhists’ conception of karma has nothing to do with predestination. That which we have done in the past, has made us what we are now, giving us certain tendencies and latencies. Even these can be greatly, if not completely, changed by determination. Karma is a continuous process and belongs not to the past only, but to the present and the future. We are our own creators, the creatures of our own destiny.

In this sense, we do not become our own enemies if we are mindful of the operation of karma. Merely to crave for happiness without working for it and so earning it, is as futile, says the Buddha, as to ask the farther bank of the river to come over, so that we may reach the other side. The idea of working out our own future, is a sobering thought. It is perhaps, too much to comprehend at a conscious level; that you are the cause of what happens to you. What is needed is to directly understand.

‘Dosa’ is an attitude of hatred and ill-will and leads to miserable states; therefore the need is to decrease this through love and detachment. ‘Lobha’ is clinging to the world of delusion, attempting to sustain a state of permanency around experiences which constantly change. Therefore, the need is to gain wisdom through meditative reflection.

In a multi-religious society, we must cultivate respect towards the religions of others. Whatever our position is, it is changing. While we ‘know’, or ‘think we know’ the outcome of our pursuits of Buddhism, you can view all other religions, as being steps on the path of those who follow them, if you wish. Understand, that the Buddha did not give any specific teaching regarding the origin of the universe or life, for his own reasons. In fact, it is not for most persons. The Buddha had an unwillingness to explain the inexplicable. This does not mean that the inexplicable cannot be understood. The ‘start’ of all mental and bodily activities, is craving. In the lowest grades of evolution this craving is supreme. This means cravings of purely sensual or material kinds. The individual evolves spiritually, by rising above these. At any stage of his progress, he is liable to become possessed once more by the lower forms of craving and so sink down again. The difficulties of understanding fully the import of these words, cannot be over-stressed. It is necessary to look at these ideas of karma, from each plane. The thought processes that arise through the five sense doors and the mind door, are clearly explained by the Buddha. The different types of consciousness known in Buddhism, are listed in literature. They can be obtained by following appropriate meditations. They are not objects of desire in themselves; Meditation is a tool to understanding.

As a model, consider that the average mind is nothing but compound of reacting mental states. You live only one thought moment, and, potentialities, to the successor. Therefore, each fresh consciousness consists of the potentialities of the pre-successor, together with something more. The subsequent moment is not absolutely the same as the predecessor, since that which goes to make it up, is not identical. Where there is identical feeling, there is identical process. The duration of one thought moment, is even less than one billionth part of the time occupied by a flash of lightning, it is said.

This model of ‘understanding of your own thought processes’ can be obtained, in time.

May you be well & happy.

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