Sayadaw U Kundalabhivamsa: Note from this great teacher on Mindfulness Meditation (Part 1)
- 2018
I found surfing the Internet an article by Sayadaw U Kundalabhivamsa dedicated to yogis attending the Saddhamaransi Yeiktha Meditation Center in Yangon, Myanmar. In this writing, the teacher explains the different practical exercises of Vipassana Meditation and Mindfulness meditation .
I always find it interesting that, beyond everything we can find out about the various meditation practices known throughout the world, we can occasionally return to the root, read from the words and learn from the wisdom of the great teachers .
Master Kundalabhivamsa was the founder of the Mahasi Saddhamaransi Meditation Center in 1978 and taught Vipassana meditation to thousands of yogis throughout his life.
Then we will read, then, a humble translation into Spanish of his teachings on the practice of mindfulness meditation that has traveled to every corner of the planet to this day, and has helped thousands of people on their way to overcoming . It is my greatest wish that we can find in his words a tool for our daily life, and that he guides us in these turbulent times that are lived today.
For us to find our way to achieve inner peace and in that way life in community.
Mindfulness Meditation
( Vipassana )
Ashin Kundalabhivamsa, ( Mahasi Nayaka, Agga Maha Kammatthanacariya )
People who have come to meditate would like to know what Vipassana Meditation is.
This is the first reading of Basic Exercises or Basic Principles of Mindfulness Meditation by Major Reverend Sayadaw of Saddhamaransi Yeiktha (Meditation Center) for those yogis who have come to practice Vipassana Meditation here.
Those who have already started in meditation would like to observe and obtain a higher level of concentration as quickly as possible . To be able to acquire the highest goal quickly, you must listen and practice according to the " Practical Exercises of Mindfulness Meditation ."
There are three types of practical exercises of Mindfulness Meditation. These are:
- Meditate while sitting
- Meditate while walking and
- Meditate while doing daily activities
Meditating on the sitting position
We will first explain the practice of meditating on the sitting position .
Choose a quiet and peaceful place. Then select a posture that allows you to meditate for a certain time.
You can sit on your knees or with your legs crossed, the important thing is that it is a position that is not uncomfortable for you to meditate for a long time . When you find the position that suits you, keep your back and head straight . Then close your eyes and bring your full attention to your abdomen and your breath.
When you inhale and the air enters, you should notice how your abdomen grows while the air invades and expands. In the same way, when you exhale and release the air, the abdomen contracts and decreases gradually.
Thus, you will bring your full attention to the expansion and contraction of your abdomen while inhaling and exhaling.
However, you should not focus only on the abdomen, but rather contemplate what happens in your mind in the breathing process how the air that enters produces a pressure n that lifts it from the inside . You should try to feel and know or experience this upward thrust of the air from within and not in the abdomen.
Words are to name only ( pannat ). The push up of the air from inside is PARAMAT, the real event that is happening when you take the air. You should notice as carefully as you can that when you release the air that was being pushed up or forced up, it slowly and gradually withdraws into place or recedes and the abdomen contracts.
So you must pay full attention to these two movements that take place at the moment you inhale (take the air) and exhale (release the air). Then you will realize that when you inhale your abdomen gradually rises while you repeat yourself, ELEVATION, ELEVATION, ELEVATION . Then, when you exhale and your extended abdomen begins to recede gradually, you repeat yourself DESCENT , DESCENT , DESCENT .
At the same time that you are attentive to these two movements, you should concentrate more on the gradual force of the air that causes the abdomen to grow and the gradual decrease in the contraction of the abdomen when you long the air.
Using tags
If you feel that these two points of mindfulness ELEVATION and DESCENT are not effective, you can add another label and say ELEVATION, ELEVATION; DESCENT, DESCENT; CONTACT, CONTACT (Translator's Note: With the label CONTACT the sensation of our buttocks is felt in contact with the ground, bringing our full attention to that point ).
When you want to be aware of the moment of CONTACT, you should not allow yourself to be attracted by the position of the limbs or objects that are in contact, but focus on the feeling of being in contact .
If you still can't concentrate on these three movements, then you can add another and say ' ELEVATION, ELEVATION; DESCENT, DESCENT; SITTED, SITTED; CONTACT, CONTACT '(Translator's note: With the label' SITTING 'you can see the different sensations of the sitting position, bringing our full attention, for example, to our hands on the hips ).
When you are sitting, you should be aware of the fact that the upper part of your body is erect and tense . You should not think in the least about the position of your head, body, hands or legs, but you should notice that your body is tense by the force of the air that presses you up in the sitting position.
So now you have four different options to make mental notes during your meditation: ELEVATION, DESCENT, SIT and CONTACT, and when you use them your mind will find calm. When your mind is calm and peaceful, your mindfulness and concentration become stronger and then your ' VISION ' will emerge. If you see that ' ELEVATION, DESCENT, SITTING, CONTACT ' is effective, then you can meditate by concentrating on them. But if your mind is too anxious, you can use two, three or four things to choose from in the same way to take mental notes.
The thoughts of a beginner
The thoughts of a beginner can wander every so often and take him to the pagoda, monastery, market or home. When this happens, you must take a mental note of your wandering thoughts and repeat yourself ' WALKING, WALKING; IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION; PLANEO, PLANEO ', and if your concentration is strong enough, your wandering thoughts will disappear in a short time to be observed accurately, closely and correctly.
At first it may take some time to observe your wandering thoughts, but then with full and determined attention, they will disappear quickly . Not only will they disappear, but also your attention to those thoughts will also disappear, for nothing is eternal or permanent . And that is ANICCA ( impermanence ). All things in the world are, in fact, TRANSITORY . All things stand up but perish in the blink of an eye . It is obvious that they are all subject to birth and death. This coming to life and then disappearing is nothing more than DUKKHA (suffering) ; and this suffering cannot be avoided by anyone in any way and you cannot do anything about it because it is ANATTA ( uncontrollable ) by any force or law.
From time to time you will realize the truth that all things are TRANSITORY, all things are SUFFERED and all are UNCONTROLLABLE .
We have read enough information from this great teacher's words to know what to expect from our meditation . With this we can begin in this practice, while in the next installments I will finish this translation to give you all this work of the Venerable Sayadaw U Kundalabhivamsa.
The second part of this article can be found here.
AUTHOR: Lucas, editor of the great family of HermandadBlanca.org
SOURCE:
- http://www.myanmarnet.net/nibbana/sadhama1.htm
- http://www.vipassanadhura.com/howto.htm#y
- http://www.myanmarnet.net/nibbana/biograp1.htm#saddhamaransi
PART 1: sayadaw-u-kundalabhivamsa-grand-teacher-about-meditation-mindfulness-part-1 /
PART 2: sayadaw-u-kundalabhivamsa-grand-master-about-meditation-mindfulness-part-2 /
PART 3: sayadaw-u-kundalabhivamsa-grand-master-about-meditation-mindfulness-part-3 /
PART 4: sayadaw-u-kundalabhivamsa-grand-master-about-meditation-mindfulness-part-4 /
