The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera
Layout and Design
Vidi Dayàsati
Publisher
Ehipassiko Foundation
Copyright ©2012 Bhante Vimalaramsi
ISBN 978-602-8194-49-5
1st print: Feb 2012
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
8218 County Road 204, Annapolis, MO 63620 USA
www.dhammasukha.org
Phone: 573-5461214
Foreword
The Buddha’s Teachings are very suitable for any individual
who is seeking peace and happiness, irrespective of any religious
background. With this universal tradition you can practice sweet
Loving-kindness (“Mettà” in Pàli) Meditation and become a true
blessing to the whole world.
Loving-kindness is the first of four sublime states of mind. The
other sublime states of mind are: compassion, appreciative joy,
and equanimity. Practicing these four sublime states of mind
have limitless applications and boundaries in our every-day
lives. For example, Loving-kindness can be radiated towards
yourself, towards family members, friends and co-workers. It
can even be radiated toward all living beings under the sun and
beyond. Whenever you wish someone Loving-kindness you can
bring them healing, peace, and happiness.
Loving-kindness equally offers its sweet blessings on the pleasant
and the unpleasant, on the rich and the poor, on the vicious and
the virtuous, on females and males, as well as on human beings
and non-human beings. This meditation instruction is simple
to follow. It can be practiced by everyone who has the strong
desire to experience more calm and joy than ever before. We
all try in many different ways to pursue happiness. This is an
unmistakable way to the true happiness that goes far beyond
worldly materialistic types of happiness.
Some years ago in Malaysia I met the Ven. Vimalaramsi and was
so impressed by his style of teaching meditation that I invited
this always smiling monk to come and teach meditation at the
Washington Buddhist Vihàra. He is not just another ordinary
meditation teacher who follows the popular and modified
meditation teachings of some Buddhist commentaries. This
extraordinary teacher always refers to and uses the suttas as
taught by the Lord Buddha in the original Pàli Canon.
I see him as a serious follower of the “Kàlàma Sutta”. This sutta
suggests that we not follow anything without true investigation.
He is continually checking and practicing to see if the teachings
are in agreement with the spirit and the teachings of the suttas
given by the Buddha.
Ven. M. Dhammasiri
President of the Washington Buddhist Vihàra
Introduction
The most rewarding day of my life was the day I knew for certain
that the Buddha-Dhamma was REAL! This Dhamma changed my
life completely. It could change yours, too. Each day is a day of
thanks for the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saïgha and for the
privilege of being born within this Buddha Dispensation. What a
wonderful opportunity and adventure!
The first edition of the little book “The ânàpànasati Sutta: A
Practical guide for Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation”
was printed in 1995. Today the original text continues to spread
worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of copies have been issued
presently in 9 languages. It’s even been used in universities abroad
as the guide for learning meditation. Most amazing is that the book
has spread on its own!
The author, Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera, is a
thirty plus year meditator who spent over twenty years following
the commentarial explanations on how to meditate before looking
in the suttas. Then he practiced according to the suttas and having
seen for himself the results do not match the commentarial
descriptions, Bhante put aside the commentary as he was advised to
do by an elder monk. From that point on, he followed the Buddha’s
instructions as closely as possible.
For over sixteen years, he has dedicated himself to further
investigations. He has been teaching anyone who would dare to
ask the following questions directly: Did the Buddha actually find
a way out of suffering in this life that was different from other
meditation traditions of his time? If he did, how did he do it? Did
he leave us precise instructions? Can it be done again in this day
and time? Can this practice be taken into our daily lives? If so, what
difference can it make?
Remember: Meditation is life! Life is meditation!
Following his enlightenment and full awakening, Buddha Gotama
taught the Dhamma for a remarkable 45 years! This book is about
the instructions he taught that have survived in the suttas, the
discourses in the Pàli canon that were taught by the Buddha to his
followers. It examines “The ânàpànasati Sutta” from the Majjhima
Nikàya: the Middle Length Sayings.
This sutta teaches us Mindfulness of Breathing through Tranquil
Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM). The instructions are repeated
several times throughout the Pàli Canon using the same identical
words. This repetition confirms the importance of these instructions.
Sometimes phrases in a sutta indicate the instructions over again.
It is said that there are more than forty objects of meditation that
the Buddha taught. However, all these forms dealt with one goal in
particular, that is, reaching a clear understanding of the impersonal
process of Dependent Origination and the Four Noble Truths. This
book is about using the breath as the object of the meditation to do
just that.
The result of this practice is seeing for oneself the true nature of
things. Students who have put forth a sincere effort to follow
these instructions precisely have made remarkable strides in their
meditation progress.
Bhante Vimalaramsi brings these teachings to life using simple
clear wording. To study with Bhante Vimalaramsi is a refreshing
rediscovery of our inherent altruistic joy and an introduction to
what, according to the Buddha, a guiding teacher should actually
be. The Buddha indicates that a guiding teacher should be a sincere
conduit of the Buddha’s words, emboldening his students to listen
carefully, investigate fully, observe accurately, frequently question
and confirm everything through personal experience.
Here’s the amazing thing. What the Buddha did is not mythical,
strictly religious, or philosophical. It’s real! I’ve been investigating
it for over eleven years now. It is a methodical scientific experiment
which uncovers how mind’s attention moves and leads to the
discovery of the true nature of HOW everything works in life. It
piques one’s curiosity and alters our perspective. It becomes all
too clear why this particular practice changed the world in the
Buddha’s time.
Buddhist meditation is the compassionate groundbreaking discovery
leading to a doorway that reveals a pathway for transcendence to
peace. To make peace a reality, mankind only needs to activate this
practice. The doorway is available just as it was in the time of the
Buddha! We have to choose to go through it.
Bhante has been bold in his approach to the practice and continues
to reach into the heart of the Buddha’s teaching with his own
questions as he trains his students. He knows this is a journey you
must personally take for yourself to reach a full understanding of
this Dhamma. He sets the Dhamma Wheel in motion as you begin
your journey and challenges you to make the effort to reach the
destination for yourself.
If you work with Bhante as your guiding teacher, you will discover
the true nature of suffering, how it is caused, and how to find
great relief in this life. He offers you the next step each time you
interview with him. Your progress is directly proportional to how
well you follow the instructions, your accurate investigation through
meditation, and your willingness to ask questions.
After 2600 years, the Buddha-Dhamma has become a bit diluted.
This is to be expected with any teaching this old. It is important that
we consider a slight realignment to get across to people today that
“Meditation is Life and Life is Meditation”.
If we follow the Buddha’s last wishes and go to the suttas instead
of recreating the teachings on our own, we will find that there are
the same 37 requisites for awakening that, when clearly understood
and fully experienced, can set us free. These requisites are like the
threads set upon a loom, ready to be woven into a balanced cloth.
If these teachings are taught as separate spools of yarn sitting in a
basket, the student may never realize that, when set upon the loom
and woven together, a bright tapestry can be woven with a pattern
of perfect symmetry and beauty that is the Dhamma Cloth! When
these “spools of yarn” are studied apart from the loom, we have
great difficulty realizing any finished product or understanding
how this can help us today. But set upon the loom, in balance
together, these spools of yarn give us the answers we seek: the true
nature of how things actually are and how we can become happier
living with this.
This practice is like a fine recipe. Don’t leave out ANY ingredients!
Don’t change the instructions! Just do it. Find out for yourself the
relief promised by the Buddha. Come and see!
Let this book be a guide to your deeper understanding of the
Dhamma. Use it well and often. Pass it along to others.
Rev. Sister Khema
United International Buddha-Dhamma Society, Inc.
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
and Anathapindika’s Study Park
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