Expert: Judy - 7/29/2011

Question
Hello, I'm Eric. I was just wondering if you could offer me any advice on how to start on the Buddhist path, if you will. Thus far I've been to a meditation retreat, read a book or two and some selected scripture from the Tipitaka, meditated off and on; but, I've yet to really make steady progress. What are some things that I should start doing? Perhaps do you know of a "How to start being a Buddhist" Box that I could purchase at Walmart? Just kidding, but if it's out there I would greatly appreciate knowing it's whereabouts. How do I make my start down the noble eightfold path? Unfortunately, I know of no one around that is Buddhist that I can look for guidance on these matters nor peers to help me stick to these things. Thank you very much for your time.

Answer
Hi, Eric,

Try not to read any scripture yet.  When you are still searching for answer and trying to understand yourself, reading scripture may make you more confused.  Because without a period of realization upon your own life experience, you are not going to understand the scripture fully or correctly.  A lot of people have their own interpretation about what the lord Buddha said in the scriptures.  They thought they understand the true meaning, but they don't.  It is easily understand the literal meaning of any scriptures, yet it is not so easy to fully understand the true meaning of them.  It is like music.  If there are two people playing the same 3 very simple notes.  The pianist who practices piano for a very long time makes music out of the 3 simple notes, whereas a beginner makes 3 sounds. I heard even a lot of mis-quotations from people.  The lord Buddha pointed one thing, yet there are thousands of interpretations.  Some are even not close at all.

Another thing here, Eric!  As you already knew, every one of us has the potential to become a Buddha.  However, if you look around, the way the people, sometimes you would question the possibility of each one of us having the potential to become a Buddha.  We have been living in our own fantasies and thoughts for many life times without wakening a bit.  It takes time to get back to our true awakening minds.  The people who are enlightened and liberated this life time must have had a lot of practices in their previous lives.  Don't get me wrong.  This may sound discouraging, yet you should be glad that at least this life time you start to look for inner peace and try to find an answer for the truth and then practice.  You are much much better off ALREADY than most people.  Nevertheless, inner cultivation is not going to be the same as taking an algebra course.  At the end of a semester, you can clear see your understanding on algebra, comparing yourself at the beginning of the course without knowing any algebra at all.

I started studying Buddhism when I was 20 years old.  I thought I understood Buddhist teachings pretty well.  However, I realized that all I understood was on a superficial level.  I did not really start to understand its next level until I was 30 years old.  I did not really fully understand the teachings until 38 or 39 years of age.  Now I am 41, I can say that I understand them all, yet fully using the teachings to LIVE my life is still a long way to go.  I have been improving, yet it takes time, and I am not worried that it takes so long for me to get even to today's condition.  My knowledge of Buddhist teachings is great, yet my cyclical or habitual tendency slows my improvement in practice.  I was asleep for such a long time.  The only thing I can do is to cherish what I have, the opportunity for me to want to cultivate myself this life time and ever improve, and just keep WATCHING myself.

Eric, don't worry too much about progress.  Although you maybe much quicker in realization and practice than me or anybody else, still try not to worry about it.  Each person is different.  Since you don't have Buddhist friends whom you can discuss with questions or share life experiences with, you can start with some meditative routines first.

I will need to take time on explaining the routines.  Please excuse me, but I will get back to you on that.

Until then, be well
  

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O.K.  Eric, I am back.

The lord Buddha taught vipassana meditation, which cannot only be practiced by Buddhists but also non-religious people.  It is not religion or belief oriented, instead, vipassana meditation guides us to see clearly into the nature of the mind.  This meditation refers to practices for the mind that develops calmness through sustained attention, and insight (vipassana) through reflection.  The sustain attention basically focuses on the awareness of the body and all the senses.  The reflection occurs naturally afterwards.  There would be an ease developed when one is OBSERVING, WATCHING the body, the mind, and SENSING around.

In another word, vipassana/insight meditation is a practice of MINDFULNESS. When we are simply just observing, we are NOT judgmental at all.  We don't criticize; we don't praise either.  We just simply accept things as they naturally are.  Our ego would sink down.  Without ego or having little ego, anger exists no more, same as greed.... and etc.

Insight meditation is not limited to sitting or walking.  We often have more access to or knowledge about sitting meditation.  However, insight meditation can be done anywhere or anytime.  If you do sitting mediate regularly, you would find that you become calmer and your mind is clearer.  The feeling of equanimity stretches out longer, and you have less chance to get angry at something.  However, your emotions and state of mind are not fixed.  You may be meditating for an hour, and feeling good about 3 hours afterwards, but something still can irritate you in the next minute.  This happens when people separate the meditative mind of the sitting meditation from LIVING itself; they are not maintaining the meditative mind through LIVING.  Thus, insight meditation can best benefit us through living at each moment.  Through each meditative mind, our life would always be refreshing without the fixed routine, assumption or machinery life style.

For example, people usually say "I wish it were sunshiny," when it is actually raining.  They say "I wish we had some rain," when it was actually hot and sunny.  Why do people always say or wish something the opposite and never seem to be satisfied with any given condition, because most of people do NOT live at each moment mindfully, but they only live their lives through memories, presumption, assumption, and "what is supposed to be."  If we watch and listen to each rain drop, we would appreciate the beauty of it.  The rain of yesterday is never the same as what it is today.  The sunrise today is never the same as that yesterday.  How can anything be boring, if we are aware and just observe ourselves and our surroundings.  Even if we eat the same food everyday, it would taste like we have never had it before when we are mindful.

To start with insight meditation, you can sit, like with an ordinary sitting meditation position.  Pay attention to your breathing and feel the rise and fall of your abdomen associated with your breaths.  Eyes are half way closed.  Eye sight is not doing much for this, but it is a good time to train your other senses.  When you smell something, do NOT judge it or identify it, but JUST BE AWARE of it.  Whether it is a bad or good smell, don't judge it.  Let it be just a smell.  When you hear something, let the sound be without your judging or identifying it.  When you have a wondering thought, be aware of it, but do not criticize it, judge it, or try to get rid of it.  When you are just simply aware of the coming thought without further fabrication, they would be dropped on their own.  Do not continue embellish it or think about it further.  For example, if you have a thought of "what am I going to eat tonight," recognize it as a thought and drop it.  Do not continue the story of it.  Don't criticize yourself for having too many wondering thoughts.  Nothing should be criticized.  While you are paying attention to your senses, you are still keeping recognizing breathing ins and outs.  Still be aware of your breathing.  Don't lose it.  If you forget that you are breathing or losing it, just come back at it.

When you are comfortable with sitting method of insight meditation, you can apply it in your day to day life.  When you are eating, train yourself first eating without any distraction.  Keep everything as simple as possible.  When you eat, you simply eat, without talking, reading, or listening to anything.  Pay attention to and watch the rise of your arm to reach for the fork.  Feel the grip of the fork in your hand.  Pay attention to each movement from picking up the food to sending it to your mouth.  When the food is in your mouth, taste the food, chew with mindfulness, feeling the friction between the teeth and the food.  Still be aware of your breathing.  Whatever you feel, taste, or sense, never forget about breathing in and out.

After you do this for each single event for a while, you can add a little challenge such as eating while listening to the music....and etc.   You broaden up your senses and sensibilities.  Finally, you would find yourself eating with company chatting while maintaining all the awareness and senses.  Even the worst food in your mouth becomes not too bad, because there is just so much going on even for one bite of the food.  Your mind is so calm that you are not judgmental any more.

This applies to everything you do.  When you work out, start with just working out without listening to music or watching anything.  Most people do things without much awareness.  That's why they cannot taste the food, their work-out is not effective, they cut their fingers while chopping vegetables, and etc....Simply because their MINDS are not engaged with whatever they are doing.  They don't live mindfully from moment to moment.

I don't know what you work out, but let say you do push ups.  When you bend your elbow, put your body weight up and down, you are paying attention to the alignment of your body, the angle of your elbow bends, how far down your body is close tot eh ground..etc.....  All the workout actually works better if you pay attention to every section of your body, with breathing.

When you cut vegetables, pay attention to the holding with left hand and the movement of the right hand, as well as targeting the cut..etc.  When you walk to the refrigerator, pay attention to each of your step, reaching out your arm to grab the handle, pulling motion, bending your back, looking inside, searching for items..etc...  All of this is a mindful practice.  EVERYTHING can be a mindful practice.  Then, you expand your practice on more things.  we have 24/7 opportunity!

Insight meditation is super easy, but it is very difficult at the same time.  It is easy because we don't need any tools or anything other than our own bodies and minds.  With insight meditation, you would develop compassion which can never be taught and experience delight and tranquility.  However, just because this method is so easy, we overlook it or ignore it. People are looking for some great methods outside than themselves to be sure that it is a substantial procedure or a type of method to ensure the effectiveness of it.  However, they miss the simplest way they already possess.  One other thing would make this practice difficult is our habitual or chain actions or routinely thoughts, which keep us away from being persistent on the practice.

Don’t get discouraged if you cannot do mindful meditation or mindful living well.  We were all born with a great ability of being mindful, yet we have not practiced ever since the day we were born.  Have you noticed that the smaller the children, the better observation they possess.  Once they get older and older, they don't seem as observant as before.   Think about it; how long have we not practiced it???  Of course, it is very hard to be mindful now after all this time not using it!

The lord Buddha did not invent mindfulness, but it has existed within us when we were born.  We are all capable, but lack of practice has made us muddle with our chaotic minds which treat things all real without truly SEEING things as they truly are.  If the lord Buddha could do it, we can too.  It is just a matter of time and practice, along with our habitual patterns.  

Since we were all born with the ability, it is not something we need to exert ourselves to accomplish the effect.  At first, I know, it is not even easy to get the feel of it, and it may seem confusing.  However, a mindful practice is just observation of your entire being, including your five senses, your breaths, and your mind.  Nothing needs to be exerted about.  Nevertheless, it is hard to keep the mindfulness all the time, if you are not familiar with it yet.  We tend to FORGET to pay attention to our "beings."  We even forget that we are breathing.  We forget about a lot of things, really!

Being mindful is NOT a thing to do, but it is simply life itself.  Without being mindful, we may say something not untruthful or wrong, we may have impulses which lead us to something bad and ugly, we may make wrong decisions,  we may hit someone while backing up our cars.....and etc... the list will be on and on for every single event in day to day life.

When we are mindful, we are watching ourselves for everything.  When someone is finger pointing us, we can "see" that our anger starting to rise, and we "see" it and understand that it rises because our ego is knocked down.  We understand that the anger itself is not "us," but it is a sense of ego-centrism.  We are unlikely fight it back.  Peace exists when we are watching ourselves...  This is just a very small example for being mindful.

When we have a reaction to something, it means that we are "judging."  In our lives, we judge almost on everything.  That's what have kept us from being FREE.  Once you judge something, whether it be a compliment/encouragement or complain/whatever you would like to call it, you are engaged with your own mind, but not live at the present moment.  When you are mindful, you are watching everything, like an observer or a third person.  However things are, you take as they are without judging them.

When we meditate or practice mindfulness, the purpose of doing it is NOT try to get rid of any thoughts we have.  Our minds can never be tamed just by asking them not to think, linger, or indulge thoughts.  When you try NOT to have thoughts, the force of it would actually give you the opposite effect, for you are going against your own mind, instead of being in peace with it.  I am not sure if i explained it clear for my last sentence.  For instance, a child wouldn't be interested in doing something, until you tell him not to.  It's the opposite force that gives you the uneasiness for TRYING to.  You see what I mean?

People believe in more sophisticated ways to achieve something than a simpler way, but actually what the lord Buddha has taught us is just a simple method that people ignore: just to watch yourself.  There are so many sutras talking about this and that, yet they are all the same things to indirectly teaching this simple method to suit different people.  Because when you are just watch yourself, watch your own mind, and watch each thought come.  It would go automatically.  Because the mind gets bored that you are not interested in or react to the thought it creates, you are going to have LESS and LESS thoughts coming up.  However, this involves daily practice to get better.  There is no quicker way or short cut.  Practice makes us achieve whatever we want to.

There are so many accidents and tragedies happening everywhere and all the time, because people don't practice mindfulness.  Fully taste and feel the food in your mouth, as well as tactical  sense of chewing.  You would appreciate your food better with gratitude.  Walk mindfully, feeling how the toes touches the tip of the shoe, and the shoe touches the ground.  Hear the sound of traffic mindfully, just like hearing the birds chirping.  When you are using your 5 senses fully and just BEING there and now, there is nothing bad or wrong.  Everything appears to be wonderful and nice to you.  That's how powerful mindfulness is.  It is not only beneficial to ourselves who practice it, but also upon our practice, it benefits all the people around us.

I cannot tell you how much insight meditation benefits me.  Life has become much interesting and lovelier.  I can see the beauty in everything now, which I could never before.

You can click on the following link to read the science about mindful living: http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content%26task=view%26id=3501%2
If you are interested in, the entire March 2010 issue of ShambhalaSun featreus MINDFUL LIVING:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content%26task=view%26id=34%26I

Good luck!