ANNUAL MEETING: Dhamma Giri, India March 4, 1990
Questioner: Please explain why we have painful sensations during meditation. Goenkaji: Sensations can be of different types and have different causes. If you are not accustomed to sit cross-legged for a long time you may experience painful sensations when you start to sit purely because of the sitting posture; or there may be painful sensations because of the food you have taken; or a painful sensation may be due to the atmosphere around you; if it is very hot, for example, a lot of heat may be felt in the body. There can be many reasons for painful sensations.
Another reason for these sensations is your accumulated saṅkhāras from the past. When you meditate properly, the power of the anicca-saññā [awareness of impermanence] vibrations is so strong that all the impurities inside are shaken and come up on the surface in a great upheaval. Initially the gross saṅkhāras surface, and only when they are completely eradicated can one reach the stage of sotāpanna. It’s like sweeping a floor: The first time, large pieces of debris are removed, the next sweeping will pick up the smaller particles, and the third sweeping will clear away finer dust. When you sweep with a small brush still finer dust will be removed and, finally, when you wash the floor the dust removed is still finer. Similarly, in Vipassana you work moving from the gross to the subtle, to the subtlest. This is the law of nature. §
Sectarianism seems to be another form of casteism. How should we safeguard against these evils?
To me, sectarianism is worse than casteism. Discrimination on the basis of caste is a poison, but is limited only to India; sectarianism has now become universal.
Everywhere people are obsessed with their own sect and feel, "My sect is the best!" For them their sect has become Dhamma.
The Dhamma is the law of nature. It is universal, it can’t belong to a particular sect. If one generates negativity in the mind one is bound to become miserable; one may call oneself Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, or Muslim, but this fact does not alter because it is the law of nature. Likewise, if one eradicates the impurities of lobha, dosa, moha [craving, aversion, ignorance] from the mind, one is bound to feel liberated and peaceful.
One may consider oneself religious yet not have even a trace of Dhamma, in which case the label has no meaning. But if anyone from any religion is full of Dhamma and is a good person, then this person will help to create a healthy society. So long as sectarianism keeps raising its head there cannot be peace in the world. Equally, so long as casteism keeps raising its head in this country, there cannot be peace in this country.
The Buddha condemned casteism and said one is not a brāhmaṇa [of the highest caste] just because one is born to brāhmaṇa parents: One becomes a brāhmaṇa only by purifying the mind. One who is called a śūdra [low-caste] because of being born in a śūdra family can become a brāhmaṇa by purifying the mind.
Therefore we have to keep giving importance to Dhamma, and keep explaining that both sectarianism and casteism are the enemies of Dhamma. No matter what caste or religion one belongs to, if one does not care to live the life of sīla, samādhi and paññā, one has wasted one’s life, harmed oneself, and harmed others.
If you get established in sīla, samādhi, and paññā, no matter what religion you belong to, you are a good, liberated, and pious person, and good people make a good society.
This must be emphasized not merely in discussions or discourses, but in actual practice. Anyone who begins to practise Vipassana will see how useless it is to pride oneself on one’s religion if one does not practise sīla, samādhi, and paññā; and if one is practising these one may belong to any religion. §
Can a Hindu, a Jain, or a Muslim take part in religious celebrations at places for the practice of their faith and yet still make progress in Vipassana?
Yes. If you have understood Vipassana properly, even when you attend religious celebrations you will understand that these are meaningless, essenceless. If your family celebrates such festivals, go to the so-called places of worship with them in order to have good relations; you shouldn’t cause antagonism to arise. If you have to bow down, yes, bow down.
But how should you bow down? We were taught by my teacher never to bow down mechanically. As one bows down the first time, one is aware of sensations at the top of the head and understands anicca; the second time one bows down understanding dukkha; and the third time one bows down understanding anattā.
Wherever one bows down understanding anicca, dukkha, anattā at the experiential level, one is bowing down to Dhamma and nothing can go wrong. But if you believe bowing down to a statue in a temple, mosque, or cathedral will liberate you from misery, you are not a good Vipassana meditator.
We can’t say a certain place of worship is either good or bad: The vibration depends on what sort of people go there. When one is established in experiencing sensations within, one starts feeling sensations outside also. A stage comes when, if there are two people sitting in front of you who may outwardly look the same but one is burning with some unhappiness deep inside and the other is peaceful and quiet, you will find you feel heat coming from one person and cool vibrations coming from the other.
These are higher stages, but everyone has to reach higher stages and start to feel the sensations of the vibrations around.
My teacher had his own ways of examining whether a student was developing in Dhamma. An American show called "Holiday On Ice" was playing in Rangoon and while I was meditating on a course he suggested to my sons that they should buy tickets for our family to go and see the show on the day my course ended. On that day he said to me, "Goenka, your boys have bought a ticket for you to see the show, so you should go with them."
I thought to myself, "I have just taken a ten-day course and now Sayagyi is suggesting I go to see a show where semi-naked girls will be dancing and generating passion? There must be some reason for this." And so I agreed.
Our seats were in the front row and as soon as we sat down the vibration was so bad that I felt nausea and wanted to vomit. We couldn’t stay for more than two minutes. The next day we visited the centre and Sayagyi asked me,
"Goenka, did you enjoy ‘Holiday On Ice’?" "Oh, sir…." "What was your experience?" So I told him. "Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu," he replied. "I sent you there to see whether you have started to experience sensations not merely within, but outside also."
At the end of another course he told me to go to Shwedagon Pagoda before returning home. He had never asked me to visit Shwedagon before so I wondered what the purpose was. I was to enter by a particular stairway, go to a place where there is a particular statue, and bow before that statue before returning home.
Knowing my teacher would not have asked me to go there without a reason, I agreed. Shwedagon Pagoda is a wonderful place where relics of the Buddha are enshrined. I had been there a number of times to meditate on a quiet, raised platform, and I knew the place to have wonderful vibrations.
But what happened on that visit? As I bowed down, I found I couldn’t raise my head. It was as if melted lead had been poured down my spinal cord. I had such a heavy and painful feeling, and that sensation lasted twenty-four hours. The next evening I went to my teacher and he questioned me,
"Did you go to Shwedagon Pagoda yesterday?" "Yes, sir." "And what happened?" I didn’t reply because Sayagyi was a Buddhist by birth, and I thought if I described my experience he would feel hurt. But he pressed me, and I had to tell the truth. I told him, "Sir, I can’t even bow down now, my back is so heavy."
"Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu. I sent you there to see what you would feel. People go to that particular place only to crave: They wish for this or that and then pick up a stone that is kept there. If the stone feels light the supplicant will be successful, and if the stone feels heavy the wish will be unfulfilled. What vibrations are there in that area? Only craving."
A good Vipassana meditator should be able to differentiate between the vibrations of this or that place, this or that person. But don’t discuss your impressions; otherwise
your ego will increase. When you find a bad vibration somewhere don’t tell anybody, just smile, give mettā and leave. Whether you go to a temple, a mosque or a church, it makes no difference. Feel the vibrations. If the vibrations are good, that is fine; but if the vibrations are not good, without condemnation smilingly give mettā and leave.
A Vipassana meditator should always bear in mind that it is equanimity towards the internal vibrations which will take us to the final goal. §
In India recitations, mantras and visualization are very important in meditation. Why do you insist that we should not give attention to these and instead devote our attention to pure respiration and sensations?
We are not against verbalization or visualization; they have their own value and are wonderful aids to concentration. If you keep imagining a shape, especially the shape of someone in whom you have great faith, your mind will calm down and become concentrated. Similarly if you mentally repeat a particular word, the mind will calm down and it is also purified. However, it is only purified on the surface; the impurities remain suppressed deep inside.
The aim of Vipassana is not merely to concentrate the mind nor to purify it at the surface level, but to purify it at the deepest level.
Every word has its own vibration, and especially those words called bīja mantras [seed mantras]. If you keep repeating them you get engulfed in a created, artificial vibration, and this is good to some extent because it acts like a shield and doesn’t allow some bad vibrations to disturb you. But your deep-rooted impurities don’t have a chance to be eradicated; and also, you won’t discover what happens to your body and mind when you generate impurities like anger, fear, passion or ego.
Any kind of impurity generated in the mind is bound to create a sensation on the body because mind and matter are so interrelated that they influence each other. If the mind has a positive thought you find pleasant sensations. If the mind is full of negativity you find unpleasant sensations. This is the law of nature. When an impurity in the mind generates an unpleasant sensation you react to that sensation with aversion, and this reaction itself creates a particular type of unpleasant sensation, and in turn you react to this. So your reaction to the impurities multiplies because of these sensations, and the sensations multiply because of the impurities— a vicious circle starts.
The Buddha discovered that to break this vicious circle you must observe sensations objectively, understanding that they are anicca. This is because vedanā-paccayā taṇhā—dependent on sensation, craving arises. It is only pleasant sensations on the body that make you generate craving and clinging, nothing else. It appears as though you are craving something outside—an external form, sound, smell, touch, or taste—but there is a gap between the outside object and your reaction to it.That gap was discovered by the Buddha and was his Enlightenment.
It is not saḷāyatana-paccayā taṇhā—dependent on the sense objects, craving arises. But instead saḷāyatana-paccayā phasso; phassa-paccayā vedanā; vedanā-paccayā taṇhā—dependent on the sense objects, contact arises; dependent on contact, sensation arises; dependent on sensations, craving arises. This missing link was discovered by the Buddha. If you don’t make use of it, you are not following the teaching that will take you to the final goal.
When people are involved only in created vibrations or imaginary forms they give no importance to natural sensations; but if they start working with natural sensations they go to the deepest level of their minds and eradicate their impurities.
We are not here to condemn others who use verbalization or visualization, but those who have confidence that this path will take us to the final goal certainly have to understand the importance of vedanā. Whether the vedanā are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, observe them with anicca. As your understanding of anicca becomes stronger, this purifies the depths of the mind and you reach the final goal that is beyond vedanā. §
You have spoken quite often about our roles and the relationship between Dhamma servers, trustees and assistant teachers. Would you throw light on this subject once again?
I keep repeating the same thing: If one serves Dhamma with the hope of material gain or even hoping for the subtler attraction of status and fame, one is not fit to be an assistant teacher, a trustee or a Dhamma server.
One should generate only love and compassion for others and serve out of a feeling of gratitude and a wish to help them come out of misery, without expecting anything in return. The position in which one works makes no difference; one must be, as far as possible, free from ego.
If your service generates ego in your mind, it is polluted. When it cannot help you, how can it help others? A sick person cannot help another sick person. Come out of your own sickness first. See that Dhamma has started to help you and that you are coming out of ego. Then you can start serving.
Once you have started serving, if you notice that you keep trying to assert your views, you should understand that at this time you are not fit to serve. You’d better meditate and come out of this egotism as much as possible before you continue with service. If this understanding develops at a deep level, the relationship between the assistant teachers, servers, management and trustees will be cordial; otherwise not. The Buddha said that if somebody points out a defect to you, thank him. He is showing you a hidden treasure; you don’t know how useful this treasure is. Thank whoever points out your errors and examine yourself, thinking, "Yes, several people have told me I have this defect so I certainly must have it. Now I should not justify it, I’d better examine it and try to get rid of it." That is the best thing to do.
It is difficult to discover whether one is at fault or not because the tendency is to justify one’s actions to oneself and others; but if you find you get irritated when people criticize you then yes, there really is something wrong within you. If you can’t bear somebody criticizing you, it shows you are still very weak in Dhamma. The Buddha wanted us to live in cordiality without quarrelling. Buddha’s sons (buddha-putra) and Buddha’s daughters (buddhaputri) never quarrel, they always have piyacakkhū, eyes full of love. Their relationship is like khīra odaka, milk and water. Once combined, they can’t be separated. All those who are working for Dhamma should be like khīra odaka, milk and water.
Whatever the way in which you serve Dhamma, you are a Vipassana meditator first and last, so work to eradicate your ego. If you do this, relationships will automatically become cordial. Make use of Dhamma for good relationships. § Running Vipassana courses needs a lot of money; we have to arrange food, residential quarters etc. Is there any objection to charging for courses? There is a big objection to charging! Dhamma is not a commodity that can be sold. The Buddha never sold Dhamma. People came to him and he never asked for anything towards the maintenance of his āshram. Our tradition is against making Dhamma a commodity for sale.
Initially somebody may say, "We would only charge for the actual expenses." But these would start growing and soon you would charge for the residence, the electricity bills, the water bills, and then for the teacher’s needs: This teacher has this need, and that teacher has that…it would keep multiplying.
I repeatedly hear that if we charge for courses the organization will run properly, without a worry. I reply, "All around the world courses are given at centres and outside centres—and how do they run? Students give dāna. When people find something is beneficial they feel like giving, and this is not like paying a fee or a hotel bill. Compassion, mettā, and the volition to help others to meditate arise and inspire them to give."
If you start charging, even for the minimum requirements of board and lodging, you put up a barrier against very poor people attending. Some people come to courses here who are the sole earners in their family, and whatever they earn on a daily basis helps their family to get two meals for that day. Just to come here for ten days is a huge sacrifice. If at the end of the course you also want such people to pay for the expenses, you are creating a barrier against their attending.
To charge would not be Dhamma, it would not be the teaching of the Buddha. The Dhamma cannot be limited to wealthy people, it is for all who are suffering. If you don’t put up such barriers, Dhamma will take care of everything. See how the Dhamma is spreading? This shows that without charging the Dhamma grows, and grows healthily. This is how the Dhamma remains pure. Often twenty-five percent or even fifty percent of the people don’t give anything and leave. So what? Who cares? Money comes and the Dhamma keeps flowing. This is the proper way to teach Dhamma.
I do not recommend charging for courses either now or in the future. The coming generations who teach Dhamma should be very careful not to fall into this trap of Māra. Be aware, don’t become a victim of Māra. §
Sometimes one spouse has done a Vipassana course but the other has not. How can this situation be helped?
You can’t press your life partner to take the path of Dhamma; pressure won’t help. The only way to help them is to have great mettā for them. By your own behaviour show that Dhamma has helped you. Let your partner think, "My spouse used to be very short-tempered but has become less irritable after practising Vipassana. This person was very egocentric, but now is less so." Only this will attract your partner to Dhamma, nothing else. §
Sometimes both husband and wife are Vipassana meditators but they quarrel. What can be done?
This shows they are not Vipassana meditators; they must be doing Vipassana merely as a rite or a ritual. If both husband and wife are really Vipassana meditators, how could they quarrel? Vipassana takes us away from all quarrelling to a life of cordiality. This is one yardstick to measure whether one is really progressing in Dhamma or not. §
There is great turmoil in some parts of India and also violence all over the world. Can Vipassana play a role in relieving this?
Vipassana is the only way to solve these problems, not only in India but throughout the world. Such violence arises where there are deep impurities such as anger, hatred, and animosity in the minds of the people, and on some excuse or other these negativities are manifested. If the mind is full of negativity, it will succumb to violence and harm others.
We all want peace in the world but how will it happen? No amount of sermons, punishment, or violent opposition can solve this problem. The only way is for each individual’s problems to be tackled with Vipassana.
After all, society is made up of individuals. If you forget the individual and want to change the whole world, you will not be successful. If the whole jungle has withered and you want to see it green and blooming, you have to water the root of every tree. If each tree becomes green, the entire jungle will become green. Similarly, you have to deal with individuals; although it takes time, there is no other way. Vipassana is the only solution.
See that Vipassana spreads. We must have compassion, not hatred, for these miserable people—the terrorists and those who use violence. They need Vipassana. If they get Vipassana, they will certainly change for the better.
People have changed through coming to Vipassana courses, and this is bound to happen because it is the nature of Dhamma. And when the individual changes, society will change. If even ten percent of society practise Vipassana and manifest their purity, goodwill, and mettā, they will start to attract more and more people, and the whole society will start changing. This is the only solution. §
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