Breathing in, I know that I am still in the retreat. Breathing out, I smile to my sangha.
The first four exercises on mindful breathing are designed to take care of our body.
The first one is “In-Out” to recognize our in-breath and to recognize our out-breath and we focus our attention on our in-breath and out-breath only; to identify in and out breath.
The second one is to follow our in-breath all the way through, and to follow our out-breath all the way through. To follow.
These two first exercises can already help us to cultivate mindfulness and concentration. And we can enjoy breathing in and out. If we have enough mindfulness and concentration while breathing in and out, we may get insight also. The insight that we are alive. That there are many wonders of life that are available in the here and the now. That we don’t have to run into the future in order to be happy. Many kinds of insight can come already with mindful breathing.
The third exercise is to become aware of our body. “Breathing in, I’m aware of my body.” That is to bring our mind back to our body and be fully present in the here and the now, body and mind are together. We are truly present.
The fourth is to release the tension in the body. And when we release the tension in our body, we reduce the pain also.
In the fifth we move into the realm of the feelings, and the fifth one is to recognize a feeling of joy. Or we may produce a feeling of joy using the energy of mindfulness to recognize the many conditions of joy and happiness that are already available.
The sixth is to recognize and generate happiness.
The seventh one is to become aware of a painful feeling.
The eight one is to embrace tenderly a painful feeling, or emotion, in order to get a relief. And we can do this collectively also.
And then we move to the ninth exercise of mindful breathing. We know that there are more than 50 mental formations. There are positive, negative and neutral mental formations. The ninth is to recognize any mental formation that manifests itself whether it is joy or happiness, or sorrow or fear. We have to recognize it, any mental formation.
Mind is a kind of river, and each drop of water in the river is a mental formation. They succeed each other and they flow. And to meditate means to be there and observe and recognize the birth, the staying, and the dying down of a mental formation. We can do that without being carried away by these mental formations.
The tenth exercise is to touch the good seeds that are there in the depth of our consciousness like the seed of understanding, compassion, non-fear. There are many good things down there. So the practice is to invite them to come up, to manifest. And we can support each other in watering the beautiful seeds in us and we have learned that when we spoke about Right Diligence - four steps. This is called “invigorating the mind”. To make them stronger, to help them grow at the base. This is called the practice of “transformation at the base.”
At the base there are seeds. And when the seeds manifest up on the level of mental consciousness they are called mental formations. If we are able to help a good seed like compassion, and keep them up there longer, at the base the seed will grow. And that is transformation at the base. Our love, compassion, our insight continue to grow down there.
Exercise #11
The eleventh exercise is to use techniques of concentration, “Concentrating the Mind.” With some mindfulness and concentration embracing our pain and sorrow, but to really transform the block of pain we need the practice of samadhi, of powerful concentration. Samadhi concentration has the power to burn away our afflictions.
Suppose there is a lens receiving the sun rays. And then it is concentrated at one point, one-pointed mind. The mind is concentrated to just one point. The power of concentration becomes powerful and it can burn away the afflictions whether it is fear, or anger, or despair. So concentration is a kind of power with the capacity to transform, to liberate, to burn away the afflictions like fear, anger, delusion, and so on.
There are many practices of concentration, dozens of them. There are three kinds of concentration called, the “Three Doors of Liberation” that are available in every school of Buddhism; the concentration called “Emptiness,” the concentration called “Signlessness,” and the concentration called “Aimlessness.” We can find these teachings and practices in every Buddhist tradition. They are called the “Three Doors of Liberation.” But there are more. The Buddha proposed many more practices of concentration; impermanence, non-self, interbeing, dependent origination. All of these are methods of samadhi concentration. And if we know how to use them we can unlock the door of understanding and liberate us from fear, anger and hate.
So the eleventh is concentrating the mind.
The twelfth is to liberate the mind. So with the practice of being aware of the pain, and embracing the pain you can bring a relief and suffer less. But in order to fully transform the pain and the sorrow we need to use the practice of samadhi concentration in order to full liberate us from the mental formations of fear, anger or despair.
The next four are four concentrations proposed by the Buddha. So the method proposed by the Buddha in the sutra of mindful breathing is very methodical. It begins with body, and goes to the feelings, and goes to mental formations, and then uses techniques of meditation and concentration in order to liberate. In the Plum Village Chanting Book you can find the sutra of mindful breathing with the 16 exercises. One time we organized a 21 day retreat in America and the subject of our studies and practices there was the sutra on mindful breathing. And the dharma talks of that retreat has been transcribed and made into a book called the “Path of Emancipation” - available in English.
So today we consider a little bit, the three concentrations proposed by the Buddha. The three concentration practices that are available in every Buddhist tradition. And first of all the concentration on emptiness.
Concentration on Emptiness
Emptiness does not mean non-existence. This glass can be empty or can be full of tea. But in order to be empty or to be full the glass has to be there. So emptiness does not mean non-existence. This glass is empty of water now, but it is not empty of air. So what is helpful is when we ask the question, “Empty of what?”
The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvera say that everything is empty and we ask him, “Mr. Bodhisattva, you say everything is empty but I would like to ask, empty of what?” To be empty is always to be empty of something. This glass is empty of tea but not empty of air.
So when we contemplate a flower like this, we see that the flower is full of everything. The whole cosmos has come together and helped the flower to manifest; the cloud, the sunshine, the earth, time, space, the gardener. Everything has come together to help the flower to manifest. And we can see the flower is full of the cosmos. Why do we say that it is empty? And bodhisattva will say that, “You are right. The flower is full of the cosmos. But it is empty of only one thing. Empty of a separate existence.” Because a flower cannot be by herself alone.
A flower has to inter-be with the whole cosmos. A flower is made only of non-flower elements, and if you remove all of these non-flower elements there is no flower left. So it is clear that the flower has to inter-be with the cloud, she has to inter-be with the sunshine, she has to inter-be with everything in the cosmos. She cannot be by herself alone. And we can see that “to be” means to “inter-be.” “To be” can only mean to “inter-be,” but to be by ourself alone - that is something impossible. So we can begin to see the nature of emptiness in everything.
Sometimes that nature of emptiness is called “no-self”. There is no self. But “no self” does not mean that you are not there. It’s like the glass. The glass is empty but the glass is there. So “no self” does not mean that you don’t exist. When we look at an action, we believe that there should be an actor behind it that can exist separately from the action. In quantum physics we learn that force and matter, they are just two aspects of the same thing.
When we say that the “wind blows” we may imagine that there is a “blower” that exists outside of the wind. But in fact there is no “blower”. There is only the wind. And if the wind does not blow, it is not the wind at all.
So when we produce a thought, we may believe that there is a thought and there is a thinker that exists separately from the thought. But we know very well that you cannot find a “blower” outside of the wind. You cannot find a “rainer” beside of the rain. So action and actor cannot be two separate things.
So when we produce a thought - the thought is us. There is no thinker existing outside of the thought.
When we say something - that speech is us - and there is no speaker outside.
And when we do something, our action - is ourselves - there is no actor outside.
When the French philosopher Jean Paul Saytre says that ‘man is the sum of his actions’ he came very close to that. There is no man - outside of the action.
So when we produce a thought, speech and act - these things are us, and they are our continuation.
What you have produced in terms of thought, speech and action are you and they continue you, not only in here but out there. You continue always - that is energy. And energy and mass, they are the same thing.
So empty means to be empty of a separate existence - there is no separate self. And that does not mean non-existence.
This morning before we bowed to the Buddha, our teacher, we chanted a verse to help us remove the notion that the Buddha is outside of us, the Buddha is an entity that exists outside of us. The verse goes like this, “The one who bows, and the one who is bowed to.” The one who bows is you, and the one who is bowed to is the Buddha. In the beginning we think that we are a separate entity and the Buddha is a separate entity and the one who bows and the one who is bowed to are two separate entities. That is not the best kind of bowing because there is no Right View.
If you think that you and the Buddha are two separate entities your bow does not reflect insight and wisdom.
So before you bow to the Buddha you have to meditate and you say, “the one who bows and the one who is bowed to, the nature of both are empty.”
A Buddha is made only of non-Buddha elements, and me, I am made only of non-me elements, just like the flower. If you remove non-Buddha elements from the Buddha, there is no Buddha left. If you remove non-me elements from me, there is no me left. That is the meditation on emptiness, and we began with that flower. And we agree with each other that if you remove all of the non-flower elements there is no flower left. The same thing is true with you and with the Buddha. So it means,
“Dear Buddha, You are not a separate entity. You are in me and I am in you. You are made of non-you elements, and I am a non-you elements. And I am made of non-me elements, and you are one of the non-me elements.”
That is meditation.
And if you cannot see the Buddha in you and you in the Buddha the communication is not deep enough. There is still dualistic thinking, and it goes against the wisdom of emptiness. “The one who bows, and the one who is bowed to - there nature both are empty. And that is why communication is perfect.” And only when you have that insight, will the bow that you make can truly help the Buddha to manifest. You don’t think of the Buddha or God as a separate entity. You have transcended the dualistic way of seeing things, and that is Right View. So to bow like that is not just to worship, to bow like that is an act of meditation and you touch the insight of non-duality, you touch the insight of inter-being, you touch the insight of emptiness.
And when the father looks into the son and if he knows that he is inside his son, then he has seen his son. But if he thinks that his son is a totally different person, not connected to him. He is a different person, and his son is another person - he has not seen his son yet. But if he can see him in his son, and his son in him he touches the nature of emptiness, he touches the nature of inter-being, and no anger is possible.
With the insight of inter-being, no discrimination, no anger, no hate is possible. That is why the insight of emptiness, the insight of inter-being can evaporate anger and fear.
Meditating deeply, looking deeply into the nature of what is there you can touch the nature of inter-being in it whether it is a flower, or a Buddha, or a person, or a tree - you can touch the nature of emptiness and inter-being. And you can see that the one contains the all.
David Bohm used the expression, “the explicit order and the implicit order.” Reality can be seen in two ways. In the explicit order things are outside of each other. The flower is outside of the cloud. The flower is outside of the sunshine. But when we look deeply, we see that the sunshine and the cloud are in the flower. So in the implicit order things are inside of each other. And that is very close to emptiness. It is very exciting that scientists are now coming closer and closer to the insight of emptiness and inter-being.
Concentration on Signlessness
The second door of liberation is the door of “Signlessness.” A sign is a mark, an appearance. And we recognize things through the sign. But the Buddha said that if you count or rely so much on the sign, you will be caught in wrong perceptions and delusion.
We recognize a cloud floating in the sky because there is a sign; the appearance of a cloud. And when the cloud has become rain, or snow we don’t recognize it anymore and we say that our cloud has died, and we may cry. But if we know that our cloud can be found, can be identified under another sign then we will not cry. In fact, it is impossible for a cloud to die because in our mind to die means from something you become nothing, from someone you become no one. That is our idea of death.
But with this practice of looking deeply you see that nothing can die. There is a French scientist whose name is Lavoise (sp?), he said that, “nothing is born, nothing dies.” A cloud can become snow, or rain, or hail - but a cloud cannot become nothing. A cloud cannot pass from being into non-being. If we practice signless-ness we will be free from grief, despair and fear. Your beloved cloud is no longer in the sky so you cry, you are caught in grief. But your cloud in her new form, the rain, is calling you, “You, darling, darling, I am here. Don’t you see me?” So instead of getting caught in despair you have to look deeply to see that your beloved one to pass from being to non-being. It’s impossible for a cloud to die. It’s impossible for you beloved to die. She is no longer in the usual form that you used to see, but that does mean that she no longer exists. So we should not count on the appearance, on the sign. Otherwise we will be caught in despair and anger.
In this dharma hall, there are a lot of clouds but we don’t see them. When we breathe, we generate clouds. The water vapor is there but we don’t see it. It is a kind of gas - we don’t see it. But when the air which is full of water vapor comes in touch with something cold, it will begin to be visible, we see the fog, and we see the cloud.
There is a high mountain, and the wind is blowing towards it. You don’t see any cloud but the air has a lot of water vapor. You don’t see it. When it comes to the foot of the mountain it cannot continue any more so it begins to rise. And when it rises it meets the cold and it becomes visible as a cloud. So you think that there is a cloud here (at the top of the mountain) but not here (on the bottom of the mountain). That is a wrong perception. There is a cloud here (at the bottom of the mountain), and there is a cloud here in this very dharma hall. You don’t see because you only count on the sign, on the mark, on the appearance. So the Buddha says that we should not rely so much on the sign.
So the practice of emptiness and signlessness helps us to touch the nature of inter-being, of no birth and no death. And that can dissipate, remove our fear our anger, and so on.
Concentration on Aimlessness
The third practice of concentration is called aimlessness.
Aimlessness means that you don’t put in front of you an object, and run after it. You no longer long for anything. You no longer chase after anything.
Because you come home to the here and the now, you touch deeply what is there and you know that what you have been looking for it is right there already in the here and the now. What you have been looking for like Buddha, Jesus, God, the Kingdom of God; they are already there - in the here and the now. Your happiness, your peace also. You don’t have to go and look for it elsewhere and in the future. This is already it. You don’t have to go and look for anything else.
On the first day of our retreat we practiced looking deeply into a flower and I remember that I said that this flower if you come in touch with it deeply with mindfulness and concentration you know that this belongs to the Kingdom of God. It is the Kingdom of God. It contains the Kingdom of God. And if you can get in touch with it, you get in touch with the Kingdom.
You don’t have to look for the Kingdom elsewhere and in the future. Not only do you touch the Kingdom of God, but when you touch the Kingdom, you touch God. And your body also belongs to the Kingdom.
Your body is also a wonder like the flower. We should not have any complex.
Not only the lotus is a wonder of life, but the mud that helps create the lotus is also a wonder of life. Not only happiness is holy, but suffering is equally holy because if we know how to handle suffering we can create happiness. Because happiness is made only of non-happiness elements.
That is the insight of inter-being.
Therefore, when you touch the truth of aimlessness you don’t run anymore. You are at peace in the here and the now and true happiness becomes possible.
Contemplation of an Wave in the Ocean
Let us contemplate a wave on the surface of the ocean. It looks like there is a beginning and an end. It looks like there is a coming up and a going down. It looks like there is this wave and other waves. And the wave may be caught in this notion; beginning/ending, high/low, being/non-being. And the wave can suffer deeply because of these notions.
We know that our cloud can never die, because to die means from something you suddenly become nothing. But we have learned that nothing can become nothing, and nothing has come from nothing. Because to be born means from nothing we suddenly become something, from no one we suddenly become someone. That is our idea of birth. But look at our cloud again, before it appears as a cloud. It has been something already.
Our cloud has not come from nothing. Our cloud has not passed from the realm of non-being to the realm of being. Before being a cloud she has already been the water in the ocean, the heat generated by the sun. So the manifestation of the cloud is only new, but we cannot call it the birth of the cloud because to be born from nothing you suddenly become something. But this is only a continuation - of something.
It is like this sheet of paper before she expresses herself as a sheet of paper she has been a tree, the rain, the sunshine so this is only a continuation. The sheet of paper has her former life as a tree. So this is a new manifestation, not just a beginning - not a birth. And we live with our notions of birth and death, being and non-being - that is why we suffer.
It is possible for the wave to practice meditation, to bend down and touch herself and realize that she is water. In fact, a wave is made of water. And we cannot speak about water in terms of beginning and ending, and going up and going down. The notions applied to wave cannot be applied to water. The moment when the wave realizes she is water, she loses all her fear. She has the joy of going down, she has the joy of going down. She is not afraid of dying because she cannot die. After this point, she continues to be water. Does the wave have to go and search for water? Is water something outside of the wave? No. She is water in the here and the now.
The same thing is true with the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land of the Buddha, enlightenment, nirvana - we don’t have to look for them elsewhere and in the future. They are our true nature. We don’t have to go and look for them. And that is the meaning of aimlessness. You don’t have to run and look for it. It is right here and right now. You are already what you want to become. You are a wonder and you belong to the Kingdom - enjoy. You are a wonder and you are in touch with wonders.
The Notion of Being and Non-Being
Suppose we draw a line from left to right representing time and suppose we select one point here and call it “B”, point “B” - birth. Everyone of us has a birth certificate and we believe that we only begin to exist at point B, before that we did not exist. We have passed from non-being into being. The segment before B is called ‘non-being’. Starting from B we enter into the realm of ‘being’.
That is the way we think, and it is not right thinking because it is not based on right view.
So we believe that we pass from the realm of non-being into the realm of being through point B, and we continue to stay in the realm of being until later, at the point D - death. Maybe one hundred years, maybe less. But from the point D on, we pass from the realm of being into the realm of non-being. And that is our notion of life and death, of being and non-being.
But when we observe a sheet of paper, when we observe a cloud, we know that this is wrong. This concept of birth and death, being and non-being are wrong. Because if we speak of the cloud we know that before point B the cloud did not belong to non-being. The cloud was the water in the ocean, the heat, and many other things. This point B is only a point of continuation, and not a beginning.
The notion of beginning cannot be applied to reality.
There is no beginning. There is no birth.
And some of the scientists have found that nothing is born, nothing dies.
Lavoise is a scientist, he did not call himself a practitioner of meditation but he also practiced looking deeply and he found out that there is no birth, there is no death.
So the sheet of paper also when it appears in the form of a sheet of paper it is not a beginning. Before that, it was a tree. So the sheet of paper has not passed from non-being, and will not pass from being to non-being.
So our notion of birth and death, being and non-being cannot be applied to reality. And nirvana is the removal of all notions, including birth and death, being and non-being; to be empty of all of these notions.
Contemplation of the Flame (No Coming, No Going)
Let us try to meditate on a flame, on a little flame. We know that a flame is made only of non-flame elements, like the flower. And non-flame elements are already there, inside of the box and outside of the box. Oxygen is a non-flame element, and we know that without oxygen a flame cannot manifest. So we can talk to our flame. Let us not think that our flame belongs to the realm of non-being, and when she manifests she passes into the realm of being.
So we say, “My dear little flame, I know you are somewhere there why don’t you manifest for us? I know you are there - inside the box and outside of the box. You are in your non-you elements. Why don’t you manifest for us?” And then the flame if you listen you can here the answer, “Dear Thay, dear sangha I am ready to manifest for you but I need one more condition - one movement from your fingers.” And then we provide the flame with the last of the non-flame elements. And the flame manifests.
“Thank you dear little flame for having manifested for us. Please stay a little bit longer.” We may like to ask, “My dear little flame, where have you come from and where have you gone to?” And we can hear something like this, “Dear Thay, Dear Sangha; I have not come from anywhere. I have not come from the south, the north, the east or the west. When conditions come together sufficiently I manifest. My nature is the nature of ‘no coming’. My nature is non-local.” And we know that the flame has told us the truth.
And if we ask, “My dear little flame, where have you gone?” And she will say, “I have not gone anywhere. I have not gone to the south, to the north, to the above, to the below. My nature is non-local. When conditions are no longer sufficient, I just stop manifestation and wait for a chance to manifest again. My nature is ‘no coming’/‘no going’.
Think of your beloved one. Think of the person that has left you. We have cried and have said, “Darling, where have you come from, and where have you gone to?” But our beloved one has also the nature of no coming/no going. She has not come from non-being in to being. She has not passed from being to non-being. All these are just notions, ideas. And meditation helps us to touch the real nature of reality and remove all the notions of being and non-being, birth and death, coming and going.
Contemplation of the Flame (Sameness and Otherness)
Now we have two flames. And we shall ask this flame that looks like another flame, “My dear little flame, are you the same as the other flame or are you at totally different one?” That is meditation. And if we have enough concentration we can hear the answer, “Dear Thay, Dear Sangha; although I am not exactly the same as the other flame, I am not a totally different flame either.”
When we look at the flame like this it looks like it is the same flame going on, but we don’t know that there is a multitude of flames succeeding each other. It’s like when we project the film, we see the image of one person making person but we don’t know that there are many pictures succeeding each other to give you the impression that that is the same person, the same actor.
So we have the notion of birth and death; being and non-being; coming and going; and sameness and otherness.
When we open the family album and we see ourselves as a five year old, or as a baby we see how different we are now from that baby. We have grown into an adult. And we may ask, “are we the same person with that baby, or are we a totally different person.” The answer is like the answer we received from the flame. We are not exactly the same person as we were as a baby because we have changed so much; form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness have been changing a lot. But we are not an entirely different person either. So reality transcends all these notions; being/non-being, birth/death, coming/going, sameness/otherness.
There are theologians who describe God as the foundation of being. They are still caught in the notion of being, because the notion of being exists only together with the notion of non-being. And if God is the foundation of being, who will be the foundation of non-being? God should transcend both concepts of being and non-being. You cannot describe God in terms of being and non-being. And deep meditation helps us transcend the notion of being and non-being. “To be or not to be” - that is NOT the question (laughter).
Even scientists are still caught in the notion of being, with the idea of a beginning. But they are on their way to discovering the nature of reality that transcends the notion of existence and non-existence. They begin to say things like the “quantum”, or “quanta” do not really exist. They fluctuate in and out of existence. They don’t really exist - they have only a tendency to exist. Very close! And meditation can help them remove notions of beginning/ending, being/non-being more quickly.
We will have a 21 meditation retreat for scientists and buddhist practitioners at Plum Village next year and both traditions can help each others. Please join us - 21 days. We will examine these teachings in more depth during this retreat.
So Nirvana is not a place where we try to go to. It is not something in the future we are trying to reach.
Nirvana is the true nature of reality itself.
We can get in touch with our true nature by practicing “looking deeply”, and we are able to remove all of these notions. The notions of birth/death; being/non-being; sameness/otherness; and coming/going are the foundation of all of our afflictions - fear, anger and despair. And if we are able to touch our true nature of no-birth, no-death, no coming, no going, no being, no non-being all of these afflictions like fear, anger and despair will no longer be possible. And that is what the Buddha called “right view”.
If you have right view all your thinking will be right thinking, all your speech will be right speech and you can only create peace and happiness. And that is why on our first day of the retreat we already said that the Buddha described right view as the notion that is free from being and non-being. And let us organize our lives in such a way that we have time to go deeply into this, it will satisfy us deeply.
We need a spiritual dimension in our life. And if we can touch our true nature of no birth, no death, no being and non-being, and then no fear will be there, no despair will be there. And peace and solidity will help us to serve other people much better.
The Story of the Venerable Shariputra and Anathapindika
In the time of the Buddha there was a lay practitioner called Anathapindika. He was a business man. He offered the Buddha a park. He bought the park from a prince and offered it to the Buddha as a practice center. And he took a great deal of pleasure to serve the Buddha and the sangha.
And one day the Buddha learned that Anathapindika was dying and he sent his disciple Shariputra to come and visit and help Anathapindika to die peacefully. And on that day, Shariputra learned that Anathapindika was going to die within 24 hours, so he asked his brother in the dharma, the venerable Ananda, a cousin of the Buddha to come with him. So when they came Anathapindika tried to sit up but he was too weak in order to sit up. Shariputra said to him, “Dear friend, please stay on your bed. We will bring a few chairs and sit close to you and we can spend some time with you.”
And when the two Venerables sat down, Shariputra asked, “Dear friend, how do you feel in your body? Is the pain in your body decreasing or still increasing?” And Anathapindika replied that the pain did not seem to be decreasing, in fact is was increasing all the time. Shariputra said that, “In that case let us practice together the Recollection of the Three Jewels.” And he began to offer a guided meditation on the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. Shariputra was one of the most intelligent monks, and he knew that Anathapindika had taken a lot of pleasure serving the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. That is why he felt that if he could focus the attention of the lay person on the three jewels it would lessen the pain in the body. In fact the guided meditation was very helpful, and focusing his attention in this way reduced the pain in the body, and he was able to smile.
And Shariputra said, “Let us continue our guided meditation:
Breathing in - I’m aware of the element of water in me.
Breathing out - I smile to the element of water in me.
Breathing in - I’m aware of the element of water outside of me.
Breathing in - I’m aware of the element of heat in me; water, earth, heat and air.
Breathing in - I know that the element of water is not me.
Breathing out - I know that the element of air is not me. I am much more than water and air.
Breathing in - I know that this body is not me. I am much more than this body.
I am my actions. I am the thoughts that I have produced.
I am the speech that I have produced
And I have produced many beautiful thoughts, and deeds and speech.
And I have served the dharma.
Breathing in - I know that this body has come from nowhere, and this body will go nowhere.
When conditions are sufficient, this body manifests.
And when conditions are no longer sufficient, this body stops manifesting and will manifest again in other forms.
So this guided meditation tried to help Anathapindika to touch the nature of no coming/no going; no birth/no death. There is only manifestation, and re-manifestation. There is no birth and no death, no coming and no going.
And after about 15 minutes of the guided meditation, Anathapindika began to cry and Ananda said, “Dear friend, why do you cry? Do you regret something? Or did you succeed in the meditation?” With a smile, Anathapindika said, “No Venerable Ananda, I practiced very successfully and I do not regret anything.”
So Ananda said, “Why are you crying then?” Anathapindika answered, “I cry because I am so moved. I have served the Buddha in the last 30 years but I have never received a teaching and a practice that is as wonderful as this. I am completely free now. I am not afraid of dying because I know that nothing dies, and nothing is born.” Ananda then said, “Dear Friend. You don’t know this, but this teaching we monastics - we receive every day.”
And Anathapindika answered, “Dear Venerable Ananda. Please go home and tell the Buddha that many of us lay people are so busy, but there are those of us who still have time to receive this wonderful teaching, so please tell him to dispense this practice and teaching also to the lay people.” And Ananda said, “Well, I will do that. I will go back and tell the Buddha what you have recommended.” And after the two Venerables left, Anathapindika passed away very peacefully.
You can also read this story in the Plum Village Chanting Book.
I think this is the cream of the buddhist teaching and practice.
We have to re-arrange our lives so that we have time in order to enjoy this kind of learning and practicing.
And when we have gotten that kind of insight and non-fear and we can very well sit by the bed of an agonizing person and help him or her to die peacefully like Shariputra has helped Anathapindika.
Closing Remarks...
Dear Friends, It has been a great joy for us to meet with you in the last six days and we have watered many good seeds in us. Please remember when you go back to your city, try to set up a group of practitioners in order to organize the recitation of the 5 Mindfulness Trainings, organize a tea ceremony, organize a session of sitting meditation, organize a session of walking meditation to nourish our practice.
We are the continuation of the Buddha.
Each of us should be a torch in order to transmit the light of the Buddha to the next generation.
We will have a chance to be together again in the future.
