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VENERABLE CHANMYAY SAYADAW OF MYANMAR (BURMA)
TEACHING TOUR - JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1999
Questions & Answers with Venerable Chanmyay Sayadaw in South Africa A Dhamma Talk with Q&A at the Lam Rim, Tibetan Buddhist Centre, Johannesburg, Sunday, 31st January 1999 Q. When suffering ends, do all emotions also fall away? Is there still a state of joy?
A. In accordance with Buddhist abhidhamma / Buddhist philosophy, there are two types of happiness. One is happiness which can be felt, although we say the other is happiness, it's not happiness, it's peace which cannot be felt but we get into it. Happiness which can be felt is called vedethasukkha. The happiness or peace which cannot be felt but can be experienced is called santisukkha, that's peacefulness. When the dukkha (suffering) ends there's no feeling of happiness sensation, happy feeling but we experience peace because there is no suffering at all. So when suffering ends, we experience peace, no emotional states, no feeling, no sensation but there's peace when suffering ends, that's called santisukkha.
Q. What happens when our physical body dies?
A. When the physical body dies there's the mental state that arises after the disappearance of the last consciousness of the previous life. After the disappearance of the last consciousness of the previous life another mental state arises in the next existence, though the body has died. We call that rebirth. The first consciousness of the next existence is related by cause and effect.
Q. In psychology, dreams are used to gain a fuller understanding of a person's being. Do dreams have a role in Buddhism?
A. In Buddhism, there's no role for dreams.
Q. Who am I? Please explain.
A. You are mental and physical phenomena.
Q. How does Sayadaw suggest to approach the spontaneous arising of colours and visualisations during meditation?
A. The colours are seen by the mind, a mental state which must be observed until that mind has disappeared. When you see colours, the consciousness of seeing is an absolute reality which must be realized , you must observe it, "seeing, seeing, seeing", until that colour has disappeared, then that consciousness of seeing has disappeared. Whatever you have in your mind while you are meditating must be observed until it has disappeared.
Q. Sayadaw suggested that we shouldn't analyse or think things through but the moment that we're trying to work out what we're doing, an emotion or an activity or whatever, you are actually analysing to an extent.
A. No need to analyse any emotional states or mental states because you know what your emotion is, you observe it but you don't have any word for the emotional state, just observe it, that's enough.
Q. Do you have any advice for people who understand the meditation technique but they also want to get some benefit from the meditation in their daily life at work, at home, with their families? How can they apply the meditation to their daily life?
A. They can have a general awareness of what they are doing. In a meditation retreat or meditation centre, you have to slow down your actions and movements so that you can be aware of each individual action very precisely. At home you need not slow down, you can do all actions and movements normally and steadily but you should be generally aware of what you are doing. I think that you may have, say, about thirty or forty minutes of time for meditation, then you walk ten minutes and sit thirty minutes. Walking first and sitting later. Every sitting should be preceded by walking meditation because in the walking meditation the object of meditation is very prominent to yor mind so you can concentrate better than in the sitting. So you walk first, then sit. Suppose you have one hour for meditation, then you should practise walking meditation for twenty minutes, another forty minutes, you sit.
Q. We practice Loving Kindness meditation towards all sentient beings. Are the algae in the swimming pool and the ticks on the dog sentient beings?
A. In Loving Kindness meditation, there are two types; one is specific loving kindness, the other is unspecific or general loving kindness. For specific loving kindness meditation, you have to choose a person or a group of persons and say, "May these beings be happy and peaceful", in that way you can concentrate on that person (or persons) to a certain extent. But for unspecific meditation you have to wish for the welfare of all living beings of the world then your mind is not well concentrated on all these beings but you have developed the spirit of loving kindness in you because you wish all these beings peace and happiness, then your mind becomes calm and concentrated to a certain extent. Specific loving kindness enables the meditator to concentrate better on the object of meditation than unspecific loving kindness. Any being which is regarded as living is included in unspecific Loving Kindness meditation.
Q. This meditation can remove our own suffering but how can we remove the suffering of others?
A. In Buddhism, no-one can do it for the other people. If he wants to be happy he must do it for himself. But we can help the other people to get rid of sufferingto a certain extent by advising them and giving them a hand but he must try himself to get rid of suffering. Now you see we came here to teach you how to meditate, vipassana meditation so that you can remove your suffering to a certain extent. So in this way, we are helping the other people to get rid of their suffering.
Q. Can prayers help these people?
A. Yes, there may be some help from the prayer of the other people because some people have faith. If they hear the other people praying they feel happy. In this way, the prayer of some people can help the other people to a certain extent.
Q. Does the practice of morality (keeping precepts), kind and compassionate living with good relationships lead to the reduction of suffering?
A. Yes. As you know, in Buddhism we have five precepts to observe, that's morality. When you observe the five precepts, you have to abstain from killing, taking what is not given, any kind of sexual misconduct, telling lies and any kind of intoxicants. If you refrain from harming any living beings, the other people are not hurt, then you can reduce their suffering by observing your precepts.
Q. Is the Sigolavada sutta of benefit to people today?
A. Yes, today too.
In Pretoria, being interviewed by Ms Ufreida Ho of The Star newspaper, Monday, 1st February 1999.
Q. Is meditation the easiest way to access Buddhist teachings?
A. Yes, I think so. The easiest way to approach Buddhism is through meditation.
Q. Can anybody do it?
A. Yes, anybody can do it, irrespective of race, religion or nationality.
Q. Do you see Buddhism as a religion or a way of life?
A. What do you mean by the word religion?
Q. Is it a fixed religion like Christianity or Judaism?
A. We don't believe in any God, in any divine power or cosmic consciousness but what we believe is in our own action, Kamma. So Buddhism is much more than a way of life, it's a way of liberation from suffering.
Q. Why do you think that the Western World has become so drawn to the Buddhist way of life?
A. I think, in the Western World, the people have had much material development which cannot satisfy their needs so they try to have their mind satisfied with their spiritual development or mental development. Buddhism teaches all the people to develop their mind into the liberation from all kinds of suffering. By practising Buddhism one can liberate one's mind from all kinds of suffering. So it means that if we practise meditation it enables the meditator to live in peace and happiness. That peace and happiness of the mind, I think, attracts the Western World to follow Buddhism.
Q. What are the first steps for the meditation?
A. To start the meditation, you have to train, you have to observe the precepts, so that you speech and deeds are purified. Purification of deeds and speech is the basic requirement for a meditator to start with it. That's why you have to observe the precepts. The Buddha laid down such precepts as five precepts, eight precepts, nine precepts and the two hundred and twenty seven precepts for bhikkhus. First of all, you have to observe these precepts so that you can purify your deeds and speech. Based on the purification of deeds and speech you practise either samatha meditation or vipassana meditation. We have in Buddhism two types of meditation, the first is samatha meditation the other is vipassana meditation. Samatha or serenity or tranquillity meditation is practised to attain a higher degree of concentration which makes your mind calm and peaceful, not to realise any mental or physical phenomena. Vipassana or insight or mindfulness meditation is practised to attain some degree of concentration as well as the realisation of the true nature of your bodily and mental phenomena. Through realisation of mental and physical phenomena in their true nature, you can remove some mental defilements or negative mental states which are the causes of suffering. In this way, you can attain the cessation of suffering then you can live in peace and happiness. Both meditations should be practised by a meditator based on the purification of deed and speech which can be gained by observing the precepts.
Q. The goal of meditation then would be to have that peacefulness or is the goal enlightenment?
A. The goal of peacefulness can be attained through enlightenment. Unless one is enlightened, he can't achieve the goal of peace, the goal of peace here means Nibbana - the cessation of all kinds of suffering. It can be attained through enlightenment. This enlightenment can be attained through the practise of this meditation, mindfulness meditation or vipassana meditation.
Q. How often would someone have to meditate? Is the meditation incorporated into your daily life?
A. Yes meditation can be incorporated into daily life. Meditation is not for a person who stays in a meditation retreat or meditation centre, it's for all the people at home, for daily life. This vipassana meditation is called mindfulness meditation too, that means that you are mindful of whatever arises in you body and mind as it really occurs. In other words, you are mindful of any activity of your mind and body as it is from moment to moment. So you can apply this mindfulness to your daily life, you should be mindful of whatever you are doing as it really occurs. That is meditation. In this way your mindfulness of all actions and movements becomes powerful, continuous and sustained and everything you do is done mindfully. Then there's no wrong doing, false acts or false speech because of mindfulness. But the benefit of mindfulness is not only that but to liberate your mind from all defilements and all suffering. But you have to practise it continuously and intensively at a meditation centre or meditation retreat to gain the benefit.
Q. How long would you be in a retreat for?
A. At least you should spend about one and a half months or two months to gain this remarkable benefit from this meditation. Seven or ten days is just the learning stage.
Q. So the meditation in that form is not something you can do at home, you have to be in a retreat?
A. First of all, you should practise at a retreat, say for about ten days or one month, so that you can get the correct practice. If you practise at home you may take the wrong path. If you practise at a meditation centre or meditation retreat, say for about ten days or one month, you know the correct path or correct way of practice.
Q. So there's not really an individual path to meditation?
A. There's an individual path, individually you can practise it.
Q. But there's a right way to do it, not an individual way?
A. It is individual work. So when you are at home and scrubbing the floors, you observe the movement of your hand, that's meditation, that's individual work. No-one need help you because you can do your observing of the movement of your hands, that's mindfulness meditation, individual work. You see, the principle of this mindfulness meditation is very easy; the principle is to see things as they really are. So you have to see any mental state arising as it is, you have to see any physical process that arises at that moment as it is, that's the principle, that's mindfulness meditation, very easy, very simple and very much effective.
Q. Do people actually come to the monastery?
A. Yes, people come to the monastery and enquire about meditation and the teaching of the Buddha. Recently we have built our meditation hall in Pietermaritzburg, anyone can come and practise meditation there.
Q. Is this your first trip to South Africa?
A. This is the third trip. 1995, first trip, 1997, second trip, this is the third trip. In 1995, when I came here, I delivered some lectures on Buddhism, especially to the Burmese people and also to the South Africans in Ixopo and Durban. At that time, I told the Burmese people to try to establish a meditation centre here, so that anyone who takes interest in meditation in South Africa can meditate. The they bought a house on one acre, in 1997, we opened that meditation centre in Pietermaritzburg. You have the address, it's called, "Dhammodaya Myanmar Vihara". At that time also I delivered Dhamma talks (lectures on Buddhism) at Ixopo, Buddhist Retreat Centre and in Cape Town too. This time, very recently, I conducted a meditation retreat in Cape Town. Altogether twenty one meditators took part in that 10 days meditation retreat.
Q. Is it important to keep coming back to maintain that connection with your community?
A. Yes, so that I can inspire them to go on with their work of the propagation of the Buddha sasana. That's why I came here every second year. Every second year they invited me. But I've visited not only this country, I've visited about twenty eight countries form 1979 onward.
Q. Are they countries in the Western World?
A. Yes, in Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia too, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Philipines, Malaysia, Thailand, almost all countries in Asia. I go abroad twice a year. Before I came here on this trip, I went to Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Sabah, Sarawak, conducting meditation retreats and after that I came here.
Q. Do you have a message for the South African Community?
A. Yes to abstain from evil, to do good and to purify their minds in any way.
Q. Are the needs of South Africa quite different to the goals of other countries?
A. I don't think so, South Africa is not very different from the other countries.
In Pretoria, being interviewed by Ms Zelda Venter of the Pretoria News newspaper, Tuesday, 2nd February 1999.
Q. What is the purpose of your visit to South Africa?
A. The purpose of my visit to South Africa is to deliver Dhamma talks on Buddhism and to conduct meditation retreats. Also to ordain some Myanmar Doctors as bhikkhus (monks) and some children as lower ordination novices. I arrived here on the seventh of January and on the ninth of January we ordained eleven doctors as bhikkhus, that's higher ordination and one South African gentleman was also ordained. Then on the eleventh, we had the consecration of our Sima hall, ordination hall. If we want to ordain anyone as a bhikkhu, we must first consecrate the Sima hall and then anyone can be ordained as a bhikkhu in that ordination hall.
Q. What is Sayadaw's message for the South African people at the public talks and lectures?
A. Happiness through right understanding.
Q. Is this your first time to South Africa?
A. This is the third time. 1995 was the first time, '97 second time.
Q. Do you like the country?
A. Yes, I like every country.
Q. Do you think that the average South Africans understand meditation?
A. Yes, if they listen to the discourse on meditation they will be able to understand, I think. Because the discourse of the Buddha is not very difficult to understand.
Q. Do you think that meditation could be of value to South Africans with all the problems that we have here?
A. Yes it would be very valuable, not only to South Africans but all people in the world, if they practise this meditation.
Q. Is it possible for South Africans to find inner peace with violence around them everyday?
A. Yes
Zelda Venter wrote in Pretoria News Wednesday February 17 1999.
Visiting Buddhist monk says more should practise the art
A message of peace using meditation
Washing your hands could be meditation. You must just be aware of your every movements
Ven. Chanmyay Sayadaw Ujanakabhivamsa
South Africans should gain peace of mind through meditation. Only then would they be a happier, healthier and peaceful nation This is the message of visiting Buddhist master and monk Chanmyay Sayadaw, Ujanakabhivamsa to South Africans who have to face crime daily.
While adding that the need to bring serenity and calm to the mind was very important, Sayadaw stressed that Buddhism did not have to be as a religion.
Anyone, including Christians, could practise meditation. It was an open way of life without
any secrets and also a very practical way of life.
Sayadaw is an intentionally renowned meditation master who has been in a Buddhist monastery since childhood. He is also the abbot of the Chanmyay Yeiktha meditation centre in Yangon (Rangoon) and patron abbot of Myanmar Buddhist centres in London and in South Africa.
He hopes to give inspiration to South Africans on his visit here. As part of his programme in the country he also held a Dharma talk at the Theosophical Society in Pretoria. He was part of a nine day meditation programme held at Nan Hua Temple in Bronkhorstspruit that ended on February 13.
Sayadaw also paid a visit to, among others, a group of Burmese doctors in Pietermaritzburg who arrived in the country in 1996 as part of Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma's call for foreign doctors to help in South Africa.
The master explained that meditation was part of daily life.
"Washing your hands could be meditation. You must just be aware of your every movement," he said.
He explained that the core of Buddhism was to do good and to abstain from doing evil things.
Meditation could even, in certain instances, help cure physical illness, because some illness were caused by the mind, he said.
Meditation, he explained, could be practised by anyone provided they had the desire to meditate. Insight meditation, one of the two main types of meditation, was a simple technique that could be learned by any one.
A Dhamma talk with Q&A at the Johannesburg Theosophical Society, Tuesday, 2nd February 1999 Q. What are the benefits of meditation?
A. In the Maha Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha pointed out the benefits of this meditation. In accordance with that discourse, the first benefit is the purification of being. That means, by means of this meditation you can purify your mind of all undesirable, negative mental states. When your mind is purified, you live in peace and happiness. The second and third benefits are the overcoming of sorrow and worry. If you feel sorrow, you can overcome it by means of this meditation because you have to be mindful of it, when you are mindful of the sorrow then gradually you come to realise the true nature of the sorrow, that sorrow has disappeared, in the same way, worry and so-on. Then the fourth and the fifth are the cessation of mental suffering and physical suffering. We call that grief and pain. The sixth is the attainment of enlightenment which is path knowledge magga-nyana in accordance with abhidhamma or Buddhism. The final benefit the experience of Nibbana the cessation of all kinds of suffering. These are the seven benefits that a Vipassana meditator can attain when he is able to practise fully.
Q. Have you or do you know of anybody who has reached these states of bliss or enlightenment through meditation?
A. Yes, some meditators have reached these stages of enlightenment when they have practised intensively say for about two or three months incessantly, continuously. We have to consult their experiences with what the scriptures said as to the quality of the meditator who has attained enlightenment. Then we can say he has attained such enlightenment.
Q. How do you discipline the mind while you're in pain, physical and emotional, to accept the pain the pain and the suffering?
A. Mindfulness of the pain is the best way of disciplining. When you are mindful of the pain whenever it arises, first of all the pain seems to be more severe gradually, when you are patient with it and observe it precisely then gradually the pain is decreasing, sometimes it disappears.
Q. Can you be a practising Buddhist, be able to let go of suffering, surpass it and be happy?
A. Yes, Buddhism is the way of overcoming suffering by being aware of it, by being mindful of it as it is, only when you are rightly able to understand suffering, you can get rid of it and experience the cessation of suffering.
Q. Why Buddhism in comparison to other faiths and religions?
A. We don't really know the definition of the word religion. If the definition of religion is believing in a God or creator, then Buddhism is not a religion. Buddhism offers a system or a way of life so that you can reach the cessation of suffering by practice.
Q. Does Reiki fit in with Buddhism and where? Reiki is a way of healing?
A. That is not Buddhism.
Q. How did you become a Buddhist and at what point were you able to say, "I'm a Buddhist"?
A. When you believe in the Buddha, his teaching and the order of Buddhist monks, you can be said to be a Buddhist.
Q. What is the attitude towards donating organs or body parts, especially with regard to allowing the body three hours or ten hours for the spirit / soul/ consciousness to depart?
A. Even the Buddha in his previous existences donated his body parts, his limbs, even he donated his eyes to some person who needs it. It should be encouraged.
Q. What is your response to conversion or interest or investigation of Buddhism?
A. We are not interested in conversion but we take interest in anyone who takes interest in Buddhist meditation.
Q. Are there any hints as to how one To what extent is one supposed to be mindful throughout the day?
A. If you want to be a successful meditator, you have to be mindful of any actions and movements throughout the day. In a meditation retreat in a meditation centre you have to do that. At home too, you are able to do that but then you need not slow down, you do all actions and movements normally and you should apply general awareness to what your doing. When you are generally aware of what you are doing, gradually that awareness becomes more and more sharper and sharper and more powerful. The it will give you concentration to a certain extent and some peace and happiness too.
Q. This was my first time to meditate and while I was meditating I was conscious of my hands, palms and after a while I felt that they were no longer there. Can you explain it?
A. You need not pay any attention to the disappearance of the hands. You should be mindful of the other mental or physical process which is predominant.
Q. If one felt oneself lifting or departing from ones physical being during meditation, is it something to be scared of or should it be controlled, or what should one do.
A. When you have two or three or more objects arising at the same moment, you should observe the most prominent object. So when you feel that your body is lifted, then if you know the mind is going, you should observe the mind that is wandering. If the feeling of the lifting is more predominant then that feeling must be observed. Whatever is the most predominant object must be observed. In accordance with the vipassana meditation, you must not control any mental states or physical processes. What you should do is just see it as it is that's all.
Q. When I was meditating, I was sleepy so I laid down on my side and I had that floating experience and when I became more mindful of it I became very scared. Can you explain it?
A. When your feel that the mind is drifting, that drifting mind must be observed until it has disappeared, when you observe it it will disappear. If the fear is more predominant it must be observed, "fear, fear, fear" until it has disappeared.
Q. Do you use mantras in the Theravadan tradition?
A. In Vipassana meditation, you need not have a mantra as the object of meditation, any mental states or physical processes that arise at any moment are the objects of meditation, you need not find any other object.
Q. How do you face fear and let go of it?
A. If you observe fear, then it will gradually disappear. When you do it practically, you'll know it through practice because the fear is overwhelmed by the mindfulness, the concentration, so the fear has disappeared. But you need to observe it, you need to note it attentively enough.
A Dhamma talk with Q&A at the Pretoria Theosophical Society, Thursday, 4th February 1999 Q. How to achieve balance between fulfilling one's duties and time for meditation?
A. This mindfulness meditation is not only for a meditator in a meditation retreat or at a meditation centre, it's for all people at home especially this mindfulness should be applied to what you are doing at home. You can do it because we have three aspects of practice; walking, sitting and awareness of daily activities or general activities. When you do your work at home, whatever you may do, you should be aware of what you are doing, generally not specifically, without noting, without labelling. Say, when you stretch out your arms to do something, you need not slow down, you do it normally, steadily but be generally aware of it without labelling or noting. When you get accustomed to doing that, it will give you some concentration and also you'll be happy with it. Suppose you walk to any destination, you should not think about any other things, you should observe the movement of the foot without labelling, being aware of each movement of the foot normally, steadily. Then your mind will be concentrated to a certain extent and you'll reach your destination without your knowledge, "Ah, I have arrived!". Because your mind is concentrated on the movement of the foot, you feel happy. First of all, you should train yourself at a meditation centre or at a retreat, say, for about a week or ten days so that you can correctly practise this type of meditation, after that you can apply it to your daily life.
Q. How to achieve a balance between attachment and detachment?
A. Attachment and detachment cannot be balanced....but if you rightly understand your bodily and mental phenomena in their true nature, your attachment to your body and your attachment to any other person becomes gradually decreasing. You see, attachment is the cause of suffering. If you're attached to your car and it's stolen, then you're suffering, that attachment is the cause of your suffering. That's why the Buddha said in his four Noble Truths; the second Noble Truth is samuttaya sacca - the truth of the cause of suffering. It refers to attachment, desire, lust greed, craving, grasping, so attachment is the cause of suffering, the immediate cause of suffering, the Buddha said. When you rightly understand your bodily and mental phenomena in their true nature, that attachment will be decreasing gradually, then your suffering will also be decreasing.
Q. Please explain again how to identify the elements within the body.
A. When you are mindful of any phenomena which arises in your body, gradually you'll be able to identify these characteristics of the elements.
Q. Is it possible to be attached to the concept of non-attachment?
A. It is impossible to be attached to the concept of non-attachment because in non-attachment there's no attachment at all just right understanding.
Q. Ignorance is the cause of suffering. Are there things that should be ignored? A. You are ignorant of your bodily and mental phenomena, it is very obvious that you are not able to rightly understand the true nature of your body and mind as they really occur, these are the objects of ignorance.
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