The Third Mindfulness Training

Once upon a time, there lived a handsome young man - Megh (Cloud). One day, Megh left his village for the capital in search of a job. On his way to the capital, Megh stopped at many places to do small time jobs. By the time he reached the capital, Megh had earned five gold coins.

When Megh reached the capital, he heard that the Buddha Dipānkara was going to make an appearance. Everyone was so excited! Megh too wanted a glimpse of Buddha Dipānkara. He had heard so much about him. Here was a chance to see a Buddha in person! Megh did not want to meet the Buddha empty handed. But what do you gift a Buddha?

Suddenly she appeared, right in front of him, carrying five lotus flowers in her hands. It was as if the Goddess of Beauty, Rati had appeared in human form. She looked at Megh. He looked at her. The poet Kalidas has said that love begins with the exchange of glances.

Let's call her Pushpa (Flower). If you look closely, you can see the cloud in the flower and the flower in the cloud.

"Those are beautiful lotus flowers! Where did you find them?", asked Megh.

Pushpa replied, "I bought three from the local florist and plucked the other two from the lake near my house."

"I was looking to buy a gift for the Buddha Dipānkara. Will you sell them to me?"

"Why should I? I intend to offer them to the Buddha myself."

"I will give you five gold coins."

"I don't care much for money."

"Ok. Keep the three that you bought from the florist and sell the other two to me."

"What's your name?"

"Megh."

"Listen Megh, flowers are a symbol of love and love is not for sale."

Megh didn't know what to say. Suddenly it was announced that the Buddha Dipānkara was going to appear on the stone platform. Pushpa slipped two lotus flowers into Megh's hands. He smiled. She smiled back. Second stage of love.

The Buddha began speaking. "Dear friends, look at this mango. But can you also see the mango tree? A mango tree comes from a mango seed, earth, water, air and sunshine. These elements are already present here but you are unable to see the mango tree. A mango tree is a sign. We are caught in signs. Where there are signs there is deception. The mango tree is right here but you don't see it because you are looking for certain signs. When those signs are not present we think the object is not present. We experience separation. We experience suffering. But I have some good news for you. Separateness is an illusion. We can awaken from this illusion. To be awake is to be mindful. The Five Mindfulness trainings are the practice of Right Mindfulness. They are an expression of true love. Learn to love. If you truly love, you can be together forever. You can be free from birth and death."

The crowd applauded. Megh and Pushpa were delighted. Megh threw a lotus in the Buddha's direction. It fell right into Buddha Dipānkara's hands. Pushpa too threw a lotus in Buddha Dipānkara's direction. That too fell right into his hands. Everyone cheered! Buddha Dipānkara smiled. He called Megh and Pushpa on to the stage. He could see true love blossoming in their hearts. He advised them to practice the Five Mindfulness trainings together.

A few days later, Megh and Pushpa married. They were happy.

At the age of 50, Pushpa died. Megh suffered. Separation causes suffering. Megh began to understand this. We suffer when we are separated from a person, an object or a condition that we desire. He loved Pushpa and did not want to live without her. What is the use of meeting if we must part? Everything ends in separation in samsara. There is no happily ever after in samsara.

Such experiences lead to one of the two things - despair or a quest. Pushpa's love and their practice of the Five Mindfulness trainings inspired Megh to find his way back to her.

Many years later, Megh was born as Prince Siddhartha in Kapilvastu (Kausambi). Pushpa was born as the Koliyan Princess Yashodhara. They never parted again.

Something is true if it always exists. True love always exists, in samsara as well as nirvana. When we experience true love even for a few minutes we touch nirvana. At that time, we abide in apranihita (the samādhi of aimlessness).

Many people feel that true love does not exist. They say that those who believe in the existence of true love are idealists and are harbouring wrong views. What do you think?

We must understand the difference between existence and manifestation. That something is not manifesting does not mean that it does not exist. When you are at work, your family members who are at home, do not manifest. That does not mean they do not exist. They will manifest when you go home. To come home is to come to love.

The practice of the third mindfulness training has four aspects - Maitri, Karuna, Mudita and Upeksha.

Maitri - Maitri means love, friendship or a union. It is the practice of being a friend or a lover forever, without expecting anything in return. To let go of expectations is the practice of renunciation. We are no longer enslaved by anger, jealousy, pride etc. as they manifest only when we seek for ourselves.

Karuna - Karuna is the ability to understand and eliminate others' suffering. Our presence should bring joy to others. Veganism, social activism, etc. are some ways we can practice Karuna.

Mudita - Mudita is joy. Our practice should fill us with joy. Social engagement in accordance with the Five Mindfulness Trainings can help us manifest joy. Practicing tea meditation in a group is an example of such a social engagement.

Upeksha - In love, there is no discrimination. Upeksha is the lack of discrimination. No one is superior or inferior. Men not superior to women. Humans not superior to animals. There is no hierarchy. We must practice and promote mindfulness and veganism and help social causes like gender equality, peace and non violence etc. but be careful not to become a part of a hierarchy while doing so. We must practice treating everyone as a member of our family and not seek to eat them, use them as resources, earn more than them or to be their manager or ruler.

To love is to understand. Understand what? The understanding that we are not separate from each other. That you are in me and I am in you. I exist because you exist. This is called shunyatā (the samādhi of emptiness). To experience this we must practice true love. For us to exist, everything else must exist. Our body comes from our parents. If we did not exist in our parents, where did our body come from? If our parents are not in us, how come our DNA reveals their identity?

People we love are not separate from us. They are in us. To learn to recognize them without signs like body, voice, name etc. is animitta (samādhi of signlessness). When we abide in animitta, we cannot be separated from our loved ones.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings lead us to the samādhis of shunyatā, animitta and apranihita. So we must practice them diligently.

"Be a lover. Be a beloved."

(The author, Saurabh Singh, is a student of Thich Nhat Hanh.)

#ThichNhatHanh #SisterChanKhong #5Mindfulness #TrueLove #Maitri #Karuna #Mudita #Upeksha #Emptiness #Signlessness #Aimlessness

What The Buddha Taught

A cloud never dies. In fact, nothing can be created or destroyed. Water turns into clouds which turn become ice or rain and flow in the form of rivers. The water in your tea is really a cloud and will be a cloud again. The tears that we shed will turn into rain someday. Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing can turn into nothing. There is only continuation. Not even a speck of dust can be destroyed. Before we were humans, we existed in other forms. We were animals and before that we were plants and trees and before that we were rocks and ice and air etc. We are a continuation of everything. Everything exists in everything else. All mothers exist in their children. And where do children come from? From their parents. They are in their parents only then they can come from their parents.

Since we cannot transform into nothing, we will continue to exist. We will stand to benefit if there is peace and joy. We will suffer if there is violence and pain. What we will be tomorrow depends on what we are today. If we consume cigarettes and alcohol, our tomorrow may not be healthy. It is very important to perform right actions.

If clouds create a world where rain is despised and made to suffer, then those very clouds will suffer when they become rain. In a world which discriminates, we will become victims of discrimination. In a violent society, we will end up experiencing violence.

We don't want to make ourselves or our loved ones unhappy, do we? But when we perform wrong actions or harbour wrong views, we make them suffer.

Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths.

The First Noble Truth is that we experience suffering.

The Second Noble Truth explains the cause of suffering. We suffer when we are separated from someone we love, or from something we want or from conditions that would make us happy. This is because we perform wrong actions which come from wrong views, which are in turn a result of ignorance (lack of understanding).

The Third Noble Truth says that there is a way out of suffering. When a cloud transforms into rain, if other clouds think that the cloud has died then the problem is their inability to recognize manifestations and communicate universally. This is lack of know-how - ignorance. Since the problem is ignorance, it can be fixed through perfect understanding.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the path. Right Mindfulness leads to Right Concentration which leads to Right Views which leads to Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Actions and Right Livelihood. We, then, must practice Right Diligence to ensure continuity in our practice.

Practicing the Five Mindfulness trainings (Panchsheel) is Right Mindfulness.

You can't be happy or free from worries if someone is trying to kill you. This is why we must not kill or encourage killing. This practice of nonviolence is the first mindfulness training. It leads to peace. If you people don't fight, we won't have wars and other firms of violence. Animals too experience pain just like us when we inflict pain upon them by killing them or hurting them. When we practice the first mindfulness training we stop hurting animals too. Death causes separation and that is a painful experience, so we must not cause or encourage killing.

You can't be happy in a society where economic and social inequalities exist. You don't mind your mother making more money than you. This is because she shares her property, food and monetary resources with you. A noble family collectively owns it's material resources. In our society, we don't own our resources collectively. Some people rig the system to create and illusion that they deserve more than others. This leads to discrimination, hierarchy and inequalities. The second mindfulness training is to not seek more than others and to share what we have with others. We must not seek to create wealth while others starve to death and have to constantly worry about paying their bills. When we take more than others, we are stealing from them. No employee ever agreed to starvation wages while his CEO made billions. When we consume cow's milk or wear wool or leather, we are participating in large scale theft. No cow gave permission to you to consume her milk. To take from others, what is theirs, without their permission is theft.

We create grounds for discrimination like specie, caste, gender, educational qualifications, roles, designations etc. Such wrong views and actions are enforced on our society through an established hierarchy. Such hierarchies exist everywhere, from schools to offices to the political system. Religions too are grounds for discrimination and foster wrong views. All discrimination is due to lack of love. In love we are equal, we are one. The third mindfulness training is true love. True love can only exist when understanding exists. This kind of understanding is explained in the Prajñapāramitā Hriday Sutra. The Buddha's body came from his parents, his language, food habits etc. from the society, his education came from his Hindu teachers, his food and drinks came from the Earth and farmers and cooks. Everything else in the world makes up a Buddha. A Buddha is made up of everything else but a Buddha, that is why he is a Buddha. This is the correct understanding of self. This is how we all exist. A flower is made of everything else but a flower, that is why it is a flower. When the flower realizes this, then she does develops perfect equanimity and loves everything. Then we cannot kill, exploit or hurt others.

We do not realize and practice true love because we have been taught wrong views. We are taught by our political, social and religious leaders that it is acceptable to kill enemies and animals. We are taught to discriminate between men and women, humans and animals etc. The fourth mindfulness training is the practice of mindful communication. So we must not propagate wrong views. We must communicate in a manner that brings hope and promotes right understanding. Through our communication we must seek to end discrimination and inequalities. Our communication should promote mindfulness and true love. Violence, inequalities, exploitation etc. will end only when everyone practices true love.

We can see so many people brainwashed into violence. They have acquired wrong views. These wrong views have resulted in wrong actions which have become habits. For example, food habits like consuming animals and animal products like milk. We consume through our five senses and what we consume leaves an impression on our consciousness. The fifth mindfulness training is the practice of mindful consumption. We must be aware of what we are consuming and avoid what is harmful to us or is obtained through cruel means. The most common way we consume is by breathing. So we must develop awareness of our breathing. This is Ānapānasati. This leads to abiding in the four establishments of mindfulness (Satipatthana). These lead to the development of mindfulness which is one of the seven factors of awakening which in turn leads to the development of  the other six. The seven factors of awakening lead to enlightenment.

To share this understanding with others is the practice of giving (Dāna Pāramitā). All six pāramitās are in each other. So, when we learn, practice and create awareness about the Five Mindfulness trainings, we are practicing the six pāramitās, which is the education we need to embark upon the Bodhisattva career.

It is difficult to practice in a community where people are exploiting others, chasing wealth and sensual pleasures and engaging in violence. Therefore, we must help manifest communities which practice the five mindfulness trainings.