Four Stations of Mindfulness

Part 3 - "This mind is transient"

In this meditation, we approach the enlightenment through the following process:

1.The mind is transient;
2.Therefore, it is a cause of suffering;
3.Therefore, it is not my True Self;
4.Therefore, I must detach myself from it and become enlightened (I must detach my True Self from my mind).

The point here is to realize through meditation that "the mind is transient". You cannot go into the next proposition unless you realize this fully. Conversely, once you have mastered it, the rest of the proposition should be absorbed smoothly.

Now let us think specifically about what we should do to practice this meditation effectively. First of all, let us think about the significance of detaching our soul (True Self) from the mind.

The soul (True Self) is an entity with pure and illuminating wisdom. It means that it exists by itself, independent of everything else. However, because of illusion, it identifies itself with the mind. Therefore, when the mind is hurt or sad, it mistakenly thinks that it itself is in pain. This is the root cause of pain and suffering in human beings.

But there is something even more serious. It is the case of attachment or clinging. Suppose your mind is attached to something and the True Self mistakenly believes that the attachment is its own. Then, this misbelief can easily become the cause of its own transmigration and subsequent misfortunes.

Suppose that there is a politician who has a strong ambition for power. He will probably be attached to the power until the moment of his death. What if he dies in such a state of mind? If he is the type who tries to gain power by force, he will be reborn as an animal that lives in a group. For example, he may be reborn among the monkeys which have a society based on power relationships. Or if he is the type who tries to gain power through intelligence, he will be reborn in the human realm or even in a higher realm, and will continue to monopolize power.

In order words, deceived by attachment, the True Self is made to manifest it again. Thus, it has to suffer permanently in the cycle of transmigration.

The wise members are supposed to perceive that we need to detach the True Self from the mind, eliminate its illusion and return it to its original state. Then we can break away from the cycle of transmigration. In other words, it means to attain enlightenment.

Now, let me explain the concrete way to practice this meditation. Through this, I hope you could detach your True Self from your mind and set it in the state of absolute freedom. It is because in this way, you yourself will be able to attain the world of absolute freedom and happiness (Nirvana).

How to Practice This Meditation

First, you need to find out what the object of your attachment is, that is, who or what you are attached to. Then you should imagine its attainment in meditation.

For example, if you are attracted to someone, practice the following meditation repeatedly: You fall in love with this person;
You get married with him/her;
You live as a married couple;
You have to separate from this dear person because of death or for other reasons.

You should particularly emphasize the last scene in which you have to part from the one with whom you are attached. As you repeat it many times, it is integrated into the experience of the True Self. Your True Self observes the working of your mind during the meditation and transforms it into its own experience. Eventually, your True Self will realize: "The workings of the mind are transient and are a cause of suffering." At this point, the True Self will detach itself from the attachment.

However, at this point you probably still have a lot of other attachments. You should take one at a time, and clear it one by one in the same manner. When you have eliminated all these attachments, your True Self is detached from the mind completely. Now, let me quote some words of Buddha Sakyamuni from Agama Sutta.

"I have experienced all sort of experience imaginable. What more should I experience? Now, my life of delusion is finished. All sufferings are totally extinct. So, I will enter into Nirvana, the state of absolute freedom and happiness. I will no longer rebirth in this world."

Well, since you have aimed the way of practices, you may attain enlightenment and enter into Nirvana. It depends on your zeal and your efforts.

Part 4- "Fixed Ideas Are Not of the True Self "

The aim of this meditation is: (1) to understand that all fixed ideas and images are illusory; (2) to enter Nirvana, the true world.
In this world we are strongly tied to fixed ideas and images, so we do not know what the Truth is.

Let me take a familiar example. This is about what happened to a member called "I". He quit his job and started to practice full-time on his savings.

However, when his parents had discovered his endeavor, they came to Tokyo and stormed into his house. His stout-hearted mother slapped him several times on the cheeks and said, "You've got to work. You've got to lead a more decent life. Eat meat and fish. Happiness for parents is to see their children's well-provided life."

"I" himself didn't restores and just kept sitting in the lotus posture. I heard that he, who could sit in the lotus posture during only 30 minutes until then, could keep sitting so for 3 hours and a half. What caused the problem here was the fixed ideas of his parents. "I" considered what the purpose of having been born as a human being was, how he could eliminate pain and sorrow that attended this life, and chose the path of practice, of attaining enlightenment.

But his parents had the fixed idea that happiness meant a materially well-provided life. What was worse, they imposed their value system on their son. Both of his parents had experienced a harsh and miserable life during and after World War II. It is not hard to see that their value system was formed through this experience, which everybody at that time was forced to lead.

We must realize that this value system differs with the time and experience through which we go through. Fixed ideas are changeable; therefore, they are far from the Truth.

The same can be said of education. Until the last day of World War II, every Japanese had been taught that the Emperor was a god, therefore, it was the duty of Japanese people to die for the Emperor. But what happened after that? Democracy, introduced with the American Occupation, formed the characteristics of today's Japanese people and established a new value system.

People are subject to such changeable fixed ideas and images. That is exactly the reason why you must realize this fact; and once you have, you should try to eliminate them as soon as possible. You must seek only the Truth. As I wrote in the last number, the True Self is a "pure contemplator". Painful human existence will continue forever unless the True Self is rid of these illusions.

How to Practice Meditation

Then, let me write about the points of the meditation of "Fixed Ideas Are Not of the True Self", which rids the True Self of illusions. Let us use I's case as an example.

Firstly, contemplate what happiness is. Delicious food, a well-provided life, a lot of money, etc. - are these things really indispensable to lead a happy life as his mother said? You must note that it was not so for "I". He had been leading a considerably good life, a happy life by his mother's standards, until he met me. However, he was not satisfied with such a life because he felt that it was not a true life. So he left it and entered the path of practice. Hence, we can already see that he fixed idea: "happiness means a well-provided life" has lost its validity.

This, too, contemplate: his mother may be able o believe "Happiness = a well -provided life" as long as this world continues. But death is sure to come to her. Her soul lives on, but her body disappears without fail. When this happens she will no longer need a good life, food, or money. In other words, she will lose everything she has regarded as the conditions for her happiness.

In this way, by taking one fixed idea at a time and denying it, you eliminate the illusions attached to the True Self. This is how you do this meditation.
I suggest you take the matters you are currently concerned with as the subject of this meditation. It may be affection, social status, honor, power, taste and so on. Take one subject at a time and contemplate if it is of an unchangeable nature, in other words, eternal Truth.

Lastly, let me confirm the aim of these meditations called "The Four Stations of Mindfulness". It is: to rid the True Self (soul), which has eternal life, of its illusions and lead it to Nirvana, the true world of eternal happiness.

The Four Immesurable Mind

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