How I started to wake up (Part 2)

ABOUT 2600 YEARS AGO, an Indian prince named Siddhartha was born amid many favorable signs. His father, the king, was determined to protect him against the reality of suffering, and the prince grew up within the walls of the palace with every luxury one can imagine.

Around the age of twenty-nine, Siddhartha began to feel dissatisfied with his princely life and deep feelings of unhappiness began to grow. He longed to explore the world and convinced his reluctant father to let him leave the palace on an outing. This gave the gods and spirits the opportunity to arrange a series of signs that would help Siddhartha wake up and see the truth of life. These signs have become known as the four heavenly messengers, and they changed the course of his life.

The first messenger that he encountered was a very old man, covered in wrinkles, bent over, and barely able to walk down the road. His father had only allowed young and beautiful servants in the palace, and this was an unfamiliar sight. Siddhartha now realized that his youth would some-day end and he too would grow old.

The second heavenly messenger the prince encountered was a very sick man. He was covered in bloody sores, lying in pain on the floor of a mud hut. Because his father had forbidden sick people from entering the palace, the prince had no experience of illness and disease. Now he realized that he and all others would eventually become sick, and his heart was filled with compassion.

The third heavenly messenger was a large funeral procession. A corpse, wrapped in cloth, was being carried to the charnel grounds for hours watching the body slowly burn and disappear, and he realized that death awaits us all.

As Siddhartha continued traveling along the road, he saw the final messenger: a radiant monk dressed in very simple robes, carrying a small bag and a bowl. The sight of this peaceful monk awakened the deepest yearning Siddhartha had ever known. Following the call to awaken of these four heavenly messengers, he rode his horse to the edge of a beautiful forest and, on the banks of a river, ordained himself.

Good question about meditation

"There are so many different terms for Buddhist meditation, like shamatha, vipassana, zazen, vipashyana, mindfulness, awareness, calm abiding, insight, just sitting, etc. What's what?"

There are nuances in the way different school approaches it, but basic Buddhist meditation comes down to two fundamental practices: concentration and insight. There are also called mindfulness and awareness. Most of the terms you see above are names for one or both of these practices. Buddhist practice always starts with meditation that calm and concentrate the mind, such as following the breath. that's because an unstable mind that flits from thought to thought and perception to perception cannot take the crucial next step- insight, seeing deeply into the nature of reality.

While many religions practice some form of concentration, insight is Buddhism" unique specialty. With the stable, focused, and fully present mind you have developed in your mindfulness practice, you investigate the nature of reality. You may discover it is impermanent, has no solid self, and is marked by suffering. these are called the three marks of existence. You could also turn your focus on your mind itself, if you can find such a thing, and investigate its true nature. But it's better not to think too much about what you might discover, because of words. concepts and of hopes will only get in the way of direct experience. the journey of insight is a personal and individual one. We wish you great joy on yours.

Questions about meditation

"What should I do with my eyes when I meditate?"

In some schools of Buddhism, you meditate with your eyes open and in others you keep them closed. If your eyes are open, what you do with them depends on the kind of meditation you are doing. Generally, you look downward and shorten your gaze when you are doing meditations to calm and concentrate the mind. You lift your eyes and expand your gaze when you are meditating on openness and the environment around you.

A good approach to calm abiding (shamatha) meditation is to look slightly downward, letting your gaze fall about six feet in front of you, keeping it in soft focus and relaxed, neither too tight nor too loose. You can also use your eyes to help with obstacles when your mind is scattered, lower and shorten the gaze: when your mind is dull, raise your gaze and take in more space.

"And how about my hands? when I see pictures in the press of people meditating, they usually have their palms up with their index fingers and thumbs making a circle. Is this the right-hand position for Buddhist meditation?"

HAND POSITIONS ARE CALLED mudras, they are meant to encourage certain states of mind. the hand position you see depicted is widely taught in yoga to promote deep diaphragm breathing and concentration. In Hinduism, it symbolizes union with the divine. We are not aware of it being used in Buddhist meditation.

There are two mudras commonly used in Buddhist meditation. In the first, called "resting the mind", you place your hands face down on your knees or thighs, with the upper arms parallel to the torso. This allows your hands to relax and promotes a straight but not stiff back.

The other common hand position is the "cosmic mudra", which is widely used in Zen. In this mudra, your right hand rests in your lap facing up and your left hand sits lightly on top of it. The thumbs gently touch each other as if holding a piece of paper, forming an oval just below the navel. Since this is considered the spiritual and energetic center of the body, the mudra is called cosmic because we gently hold the universe in your hands. More practically, the circle often starts to collapse as our attention wander or we get drowsy, which is a helpful reminder to wake up.