Tranquillity Leading to Insight

Chulan Sampathge

Description

This book explores the theme of meditation practices. This subject is approached in a realistic manner whilst using historical settings to emphasise the power of the mind and the importance of training the mind to stay in the present moment. To find true happiness one needs to find the path leading to it.

The principal aim of this book is to explain the practical application of Mindfulness to achieving spiritual awakening and ending suffering. This book also demonstrates the continued relevance of Buddhist teachings with regard to overcoming the psychological ramifications that obstruct the way to happiness.

Distilled into twenty two chapters using readily accessible language this is a concise and comprehensive guide. With reference to a range of similar texts this book reveals how to extract the pure gold of consciousnesses as was taught by the enlightened Buddha. Grounded in profound scholarship and Buddhist philosophical psychology the book brings these ancient teachings to the modern world. This book also explores the historical times of the Buddha and shares the story of the cultural awakening that took place across South and South East Asia after his enlightenment.

Sujets

• Mindfulness
• Philosophie et théologie
• Buddhism
• Mindfulness (Buddhism)
• Meditation
• Religion
• Insight

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 28 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665598194
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Tranquillity Leading to Insight
 
Exploration of Buddhist Meditation Practices
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chulan Sampathge
 
 
 
 

 
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© 2022 Chulan Sampathge. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse  12/19/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-9820-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-9819-4 (e)
 
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
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SYNOPSIS
Distilled into a concise and comprehensive twenty-two chapters in connection with a range of similar texts, Tranquillity Leading to Insight reveals how to extract the pure gold of consciousnesses as taught by the enlightened Buddha. Grounded in profound scholarship and philosophical psychology, the book brings the ancient teaching to the modern world. Delve deep into the mind, which explains how to overcome obstructions, stress, and hindrances and how to remove defilements to find true happiness and peace of mind. Written in readable language, giving examples and similes, the book takes you back to the historical time of the Buddha and the subsequent cultural awakening across the South East of Asia after his enlightenment.
PREFACE
Tranquillity Leading to Insight is intended to be read and studied by those who want to learn more about Buddhism and meditation practices. It contains extracts of the Abhidhamma philosophy of the Theravada School of Buddhism, focusing on the theoretical understanding and practical application of the ultimate truth, with emphasis on its relevance for meditation practice as taught by the Buddha to his analytically gifted disciples. The main theme of the discussion is the transformation of consciousness and how to purify the consciousness in search of liberation and of the knowledge that has been passed down in unbroken continuity from a historical perspective.
I was inspired by the book Abhidhamma Studies: Researches in Buddhist Psychology , written by Venerable Nyanaponika Thera, a German monk. The book was published in 1965 by the Buddhist Publication Society (BPS), Kandy, Sri Lanka. This book was the starting point for my further search into the subject of Abhidhamma. Since my youth I have been inclined towards this subject and attempted to learn it by myself by gathering materials from various sources, including publications of the Burmese master Venerable Ledi Saydow, who contributed much of the earlier literature on this subject.
The groundwork for Tranquillity Leading to Insight started in 1994, when I was practising insight meditation (vipassana) at the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, London. I was practising mostly under the guidance of Venerable Amara Thera, the abbot and meditation master of the temple, who formally introduced me to Abhidhamma. In parallel to meditation practice, Venerable Amara Thera conducted very rich Dhamma discussions, including questions and answers, and offered residential retreats for trainees. He also kindly offered structured classroom lessons on this profound philosophical subject over a period of three and half years. The structure of his teaching method was well balanced, giving equal weight to both theory and practice.
Since 2004 I have been consistently teaching insight meditation at the Buddhapadipa Temple and have followed in the master’s footsteps by conducting these meditation classes along with Dhamma discussions. To enhance my own understanding of the Dhamma and for the benefit of other meditation students, I began to read the Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification) and the Sutta Pitaka (discourses on the Nikayas) and drilled deep down into the rich mine of the Buddha’s teachings. I had previous experience with practising tranquillity (samatha) meditation, and in my search to comprehend the Buddha’s enlightenment, I found that tranquillity and insight meditation converged into one coherent system of practice.
The essence of the Buddha’s doctrinal teaching is formulated in the Four Noble Truths. During his long ministry of teaching, the Buddha explained the doctrine to many in a form of dialogues and used eloquent similes to explain the complex dynamic phenomena that are documented in the Thripitaka—three vast collections of teachings known as the Pali Canon. The Fourth Noble Truth, which is the Noble Eightfold Path of liberation embedded in discipline, simplifies the doctrine, translating the abstract formulas of the doctrine into a practical method to unfold the Noble Truths. Abhidhamma literature, the third collection, zooms into the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. It provides a valuable analytical view of life to glean the truth, giving practical guidelines for one who is searching for the truth and for the liberation from mistakenly grasped false notions of how to purify the mind and to see things clearly as they are.
Tranquillity Leading to Insight emerged unbidden in my enquiry into the philosophical and psychological teachings of the Buddha. I should like to dedicate this book to Venerable Amara Thera as a mark of gratitude for the great kindness and wisdom he has shown to me over the years. His guidance has made my journey through Buddhism thoughtful and rewarding.
In this task also, I am thankful to Suraya Dunsford and Danyal Dunsford for their valuable suggestions, along with their proofreading, editing, and helping me prepare the final manuscript. I would also like thank the Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy Sri Lanka, for giving me kind permission to use their materials for reference.
I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to the Buddhapadipa Temple, Wimbledon, London, for kindly giving me permission to use their mural painting images for the cover design.
Photography by Alexandra Kovacs, [e-mail]
Chulan Sampathge
United Kingdom
December 2022
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of Tranquillity Leading to Insight is to discuss meditative absorption in relation to cognitive processes of consciousness as a gateway to final deliverance and reaching supreme happiness. Meditation absorption, also known as trance, is a state of mind that enables worldly people or trainees in the practice of meditation to acquire deep mental stability that opens a path to insight wisdom. The great majority of compilers and commenters who narrated the ancient Pali texts of Buddhism follow a unifying theme that a correctly performed meditation practice can result in the attainment of sainthood. The texts show that there is a change of lineage, from worldly to noble (i.e. puthujjana to Ariyan), in those who pursue liberation by following the path propounded by the Buddha. The Buddha gave these instructions in many geographical locations, a majority of which were found in the greater Ganges basin of north-eastern India, where since thousands of his followers have successfully become liberated through understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
This area was the centre of several empires, notably those of the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties, between the sixth century BCE and the eighth century CE . The language used by the Buddha is said to have been Magadha, a dialect of Pali. The words and terms used by the Buddha have etymological meaning, and the narrative is reasonably consistent with that of several early Sanskrit equivalents. His basic technical vocabulary has been adapted with stemmatic principles by the Thai, Sinhala, and Burmese languages, cultures that are much influenced by Buddhism. The thematic scheme of the teachings has been translated into English and other European languages directly from Pali by the Pali Text Society of the United Kingdom and by many other scholars. The Pali terms are inserted throughout this work for verification of their meanings.
The writer explores the Buddha’s enlightenment and the meditation practices he taught: the way of tranquillity (samatha) leading to insight (vipassana), and its reverse, that of insight leading to tranquillity. The higher philosophical psychology of the mind and the process of mental training towards enlightenment, as taught by the Buddha, has been compiled into a set of teachings by his enlightened disciples and learned monks. Over a period of time, this branch of Buddhism was further developed by scholarly monks who made commentaries and sub-commentaries, now known as the higher teachings of Buddhism, the Abhidhamma. Most of the material used in Tranquillity Leading to Insight is about this subject and gives an overview and detailed explanations of the nature of the mind and how it can be trained to liberate a person from suffering through self-discipline.
Meditation practice is essentially for intelligent people with a keen interest in questioning and discerning what is hidden. The Buddha’s invitation to those with enquiring minds is to come and see. Meditation towards enlightenment is a technique of investigation into one’s own mind. There are two main types of meditation practices in Buddhism: samatha and vipa