The Rock Covering The Grass

ThailandTom

I was reading earlier about meditation and I read something I have never come across before in relation to meditation and would like ot share it here, see what your thoughts of it are. It reads something like this...

Sitting meditation, walking meditation or whatever 'type' of meditation is like putting a rock down onto a layer of grass for a while. When people sit in meditation in this way they often are trying to find peace but what they are actually refering to is the mere calming of the mind and not the calming of the defilements of the mind, so this is not true peace as it is simply blanking the mind out for a while. As soon as you get up or come out of the meditation the rock is lifted from the grass and the grass will grow again within a short while. The defilements of the mind are simply subdued for a biref period. To find true peace you must develop wisdom within the mind.

So how do we go about developing wisdom? This is me speaking now I am curious of the forums thoughts on this one.

driedleaf

Hi @ThailandTom

I have heard this somewhere before. Do you happen to know the name and author of the book? To answer your question, I think developing wisdom comes from the awareness that we develop in meditation. Just as when we see impermanence, stress, and not-self within ourselves and our surroundings. We develop right view and see things from a different angle. We learn not to cling, and become a more peaceful and open minded person.

ThailandTom

I have looked for an author but literally it simply states that it was printed for distribrution by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, there is monastery mentioned though, The Sangha Bung Wai Forest Monastery.

This has shifted my thoughts of what meditation actually is, from the formal sit your butt down on the cushion to pretty much any situation or position you may be in. Sitting meditation is of course part of the practice, but as you said developing right view is the key I think. Observing each thought that arises and to be aware that it has no owner and should be let go, it is only a thought. Also I read on a bit more recently about how the Buddha spoke of seeing a glass tumbler as being already broken and smashed. Having this view is having right view because it is inevitable that it will one day break, be it your folly, a pet or child, whatever it may be, one day it is going to break. When it does you then will not suffer because you already saw that it was broken. This happens to all things due to conditions arising and soon enough coming to pass.

pegembara

Meditation is mental training under controlled environment. One is safe and secure in such an environment. One is not subjected to criticism, ridicule or blame in a retreat setting.

The real test is how the mind reacts when rubber hits the road in the "real" world as it were.

Rock covering the grass has been used to describe samadhi or tranquil mind. Samadhi is a temporary state where the mind is far from the hindrances ie. greed, anger, drowsiness, restlessness and doubt.

The mind is made still to allow insights to arise. Wisdom comes from developing the transcendent right view. To do this requires to see repeatedly the 3 universal characteristics of anicca. dukkha and anatta until it becomes a 2nd nature.

ThailandTom

@pegembara ah thank you. I was actually just browsing over this again and found that it states sila, samadhi and panna are all the same thing and arise in the same place of course, but take different directions.

amandathetexan

Reading this, I'm led to believe that meditation is a skill. Just like we have to be able to wiggle our toes and feet before we can walk or run, we have to flex that mental muscle and practice.

Or maybe it's a 'fake it till you make it' situation. If you put a lot of effort into developing a certain mindset in shorter bursts, eventually it will become your mindset for longer periods without trying?

ThailandTom

This form of sitting and abiding with a calm mind and then getting back up again going about your day to day life is not true practice, people get drunk on this sort of action and it does not lead anywhere fruitful. This is what I have been doing for 4 years or so now lol, either that or no meditation at all.

federica

Remember the conversation between two monks.
The junior one asks the senior,

"I don't see you following any strict regimen at all. When do you
meditate?"

The other replied,

"When am I not meditating?"

kristin_chan

ThailandTom said:

This form of sitting and abiding with a calm mind and then getting back up again going about your day to day life is not true practice, people get drunk on this sort of action and it does not lead anywhere fruitful. This is what I have been doing for 4 years or so now lol, either that or no meditation at all.

The most important is not what you got or what you have reached from your meditation. But rather in the process, how you are able to lead yourself to sit than doing others. How you tried to control, to put your mind in calm stage. To beat all those monkey mind. If you do it regularly, you will be able to do it as well in your daily life. It's just kind of practise to build a good habit. So keep practising

BhanteLucky

ThailandTom said:

So how do we go about developing wisdom?

To move beyond "the mere calming of the mind", stop doing Samatha/Tranquility meditation, and start practising Vipassana/Insight/Satipatthana meditation.

Zero

ThailandTom said:

So how do we go about developing wisdom?

By the natural application of life.

RebeccaS

federica said:

Remember the conversation between two monks.
The junior one asks the senior,

"I don't see you following any strict regimen at all. When do you
meditate?"

The other replied,

"When am I not meditating?"

Like.