Expert: Anandapanyo Bhikkhu - 10/5/2009

Question
What drew you to Buddhism and what has kept you faithful to this religion?

Has your faith in Buddhism ever been tested?  If not, what do you think could cause one to lose faith in this religion?

I have read that to truly understand Zen, one needs to be open-minded.  Do you find emptying your mind to new ideas difficult, and if so, what methods can be used to do it?


Answer
Dear Lee,

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question.

I have always considered myself to be a logic based and reasonable person. For me, faith alone could not convince me to join a religion. In the past, I had studied many religions, attended Churches, Mosques, and Synagogues, and Temples. All religions, including Buddhism contained many problems. However, what I came to understand is that all the problems were not about the teachings, but about what MAN has done to change the different religions.

When I started Buddhism, what I liked the most was that it teaches you to not believe or have faith. The Buddha told us to be wary of people telling us to do this or that and claiming it is the word of Buddha. What he said was be careful of teachings claiming to be the Buddha's followers. What we should do is listen to their teachings, see if it can benefit us, see if it was logical, and aligned with right view. If so, then it is the Buddha's teachings. If not, then it is not.

So for me, I do consider myself a student of Buddhism, but not necessarily the Buddhism that exists in different groups or sects. I consider myself a student of the Buddha teachings. However, I try not to blame or critique others since we are all humans and subject to mistakes.

So, my faith in the Buddha's teachings grow as I understand more and more of what he teaches. It grows as I realize what he teaches are apparent in MY life. They grow as I see his methods actually working to help me. They grow as I see that the path he laid out actually leads to the goal he said it would. The results I have experienced and seen with my own eyes and life keep me walking the path that I have. In addition, the results I have seen in others who practiced the right way have given me encouragement.

My faith in the Buddha has not been tested, however my faith in Buddhism has on many occasions. However, when I began to understand that the problems I had with Buddhism were not because of the Buddha but of what people did, I came to realize that my problems were not with Buddhism or Buddha, but with people. So, if someone were to think that all Buddhists have to be like this or like that, I could easily see how they could lose their faith in the religion....However, just as I make mistakes and am fallible, so too, all people are mistake prone and fallible. It is crazy to expect them not to be. Since this is contrary to nature. So, when I finally realized the difficulty in changing my own bad behavior, I had compassion for others who make mistakes in this and ALL other religions and creeds.

On a side note, personally, find that only practicing emptying the mind is contradictory to Buddha's teachings. The whole entire point of Buddha's teachings is to find your wrong views and align them with the right views. That is why in the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path (or in laymen's terms, the path to enlightenment) the very first step is Sammaditthi, which is right views. We suffer due to our wrong views. We have bad thoughts, due to our wrong views. We do bad actions, due to our thoughts, due to our wrong views. Therefore, we need to fix and evaluate our wrong views. To me, clearing your mind is good in that it gives you temporary rest, but clearing your mind alone does not change, evaluate or consider your existing wrong views. Many people who practice purely emptying the mind, will tell you that after they exit their meditation, they will still get mad, still get angry, and still be greedy. Emptying the mind is like sleep, you need it to get rest, however, you cannot do it all day. You must go to work during the day. Working is this analogy represents thinking. If you would like to know how to contemplate, please feel free to ask a followup question.

But to answer your question, "what methods can be used to do it?"
There are many popular styles to accomplish this. However, I will present you with the most popular.

Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breath) - This is a popular method of practice in which you focus on your breath. In general, you can sit or walk. I will refer to the sitting position since it is more common. However, if you want the walking position also, feel free to ask a follow-up question.

Sitting:
(this is not set in stone, just a recommendation, feel free to adjust to your comfort)
Sit with your right leg on top of your left leg. Place your left hand in the middle of your lap, then place your right hand on the top of your left hand. Allow the tips of your thumbs to lightly touch. Then proceed to make an aspiration, for example - With this merit I am about to undertake, please help me to obtain, achieve _________ (happiness, understanding, enlightenment, peacefulness.....)

Method 1:
When you breathe in, say in your mind, "Breathe In" or just "In"
When you breathe out, say in your mind, "Breathe Out" or just "Out"
Keep your focus on your breath and on the tip of your nose. If you begin to think and wander, bring your focus back to your breath. You can also count your breaths to keep focus, When you breath in, say "In, one", breathe out, say "Out, 1", then the next set, "In, 2" and "Out, 2"
This is a good technique to keep you focused. If you miss a number, just start over. When you get to "100", just start over.

Method 2:
Instead of saying "In" or "Out" some people change the words to:

Breathe in: Bud
Breathe out: Dho
Breathe in: Dham
Breathe out:Mo
Breathe in: Sang
Breathe out: Gho

Bud-Dho means the Buddha
Dham-Mo means the Buddha's Teaching (Dhamma)
Sang-Gho means the Buddha's Followers (Sangha)

I hope I have answered your questions. If I have not, please feel free to ask a follow-up question so that I can clear anything up.

I thank you for your question and hope that your practice helps you find what you are looking for.

Sincerely,
Phra Anandapanyo

PS. You can read my blog at www.kpyusa.org