Whilst observing moral
precepts is about taking the rough element off the mind, meditation practice
adds further refinement to the mind. Why do we have to refine the mind? The
answer is so that we can reach the gateway of wisdom and be able to witness the
profound dhamma as the ultimate simplicity existing right here in front of us.
Meditation practice which is not related to the ultimate goal of life can be a
dangerous matter. Therefore, when I talk about meditation-related
culture, I only mean right meditation or samma-samadhi which initially is led
by right view or samma-dhitti according to the Noble Eightfold path. Right view
at the very least means accepting the enlightenment of the Buddha and the four
noble truths and at the very most means having a glimpse of the ultimate truth.
Therefore, let it be understood that I do not talk about meditation that leads
to achieving other activities like paranormal experiences or a mere mental
relaxation, which is quite popular in Western society.
I emphasise once again that samatha-bhavana or meditation that is aimed at calming the mind down already existed in India before the arrival of the Buddha. Even the young Prince Siddhartha joined in with the samatha-bhavana culture while he was in the process of searching for ultimate enlightenment until he had perfected the technique. Despite the success, samatha-bhavana did not help people to end their suffering after all. The new technique, which is the direct result of the Buddha’s enlightenment, is vipassana-bhavana or the four foundations of awareness. However, samatha-bhavana is the stepping stone, which helps practitioners to develop into vipassana-bhavana. So, let’s understand that we are talking about meditation that aims at entering Nirvana, which is the ultimate purpose of life.
This word is not
recorded in the Thai dictionary or the Buddhist dictionary that I have. Some
Thai Buddhists might have heard this word moot-ta-ra
from somewhere. I first heard this term from my teacher Ajahn Khemanandha but I
could not understand much of what he tried to link it to. My understanding of
this word has now become clearer. Moot-ta-ra refers to the slow, serene and
calm movement of a person plus the quality of being aware, confident and
stable. As a matter of fact, those who engage in meditation practice for a long
period of time naturally have moot-ta-ra movement and a refined quality about
them. This is the quality of those who practise self-awareness or having
sati-sampashanya. Sati means awareness or mindfulness. Sam-pa-shan-ya is the
immediate moment right after sati when our consciousness really sinks or digs
into the activity we are engaging in e.g. walking, stretching, looking, etc.
People can be aware of their movements or have sati without having
sam-pa-shan-ya (full or deeper consciousness). Consequently, their movements
might not be rough but are certainly unrefined. The quick pace of life means
that people nowadays may have sati or awareness, but still very much lack
sam-pa-shan-ya. We skim through our movements very rapidly without really
sinking into and enjoying them. Sam-pa-shan-ya is the element which allows us
to really enjoy the immediate moment (here and now) of our lives.
It is sam-pa-shan-ya or deep consciousness, which conditions moot-ta-ra movements. The movements of the Buddha and all his followers are indeed moot-ta-ra movements, which are slow, serene, calm and tranquil. At the same time, they are fully aware, sinking in, secure, stable and confident. Observing the 227 moral precepts is a way to shape and mould the Buddhist monks to have self awareness or have sati-sam-pa-shan-ya which results in moot-ta-ra movements. Once people have self-awareness or sati-sam-pa-shan-ya, concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (panna) will follow accordingly. Anyone who has practised self-awareness and gained concentration (samadhi) will move in a much more refined way than those who have never practised, except those who are calm and peaceful by nature.
Now, once we have
understood how moot-ta-ra movement comes about, we can easily understand how
the Thai ancestors brought this movement into Thai culture. The Thai ancestors
must have understood Buddhism right to the core to appreciate the full significance
of moot-ta-ra movement. The soft, slow and serene movements are in fact
characteristics of traditional Thai ladies. Despite social change and the rapid
way of life, this unique quality is still very much within our Thai ladies,
especially those who are brought up in a strict traditional Thai family. Thai
ancestors would train their children to walk with moot-ta-ra movements i.e.
soft, gentle, calm and serene. When these refined qualities are combined with
the respect which children had to give to elders, they create a unique
combination which results in a refined and noble personality in a person.
Children are taught to bow every time when walking past elders, to walk on
their knees when approaching elders or if elders are sleeping, children have to
tip toe so that a single sound is not heard and so on. Thai dancing is
undoubtedly based on moot-ta-ra movements. All these unique qualities in people
have hidden in them the two most significant factors - morality and meditation
- which will enable people to easily develop further along the spiritual path.
By living this way of life, children are slowly cajoled into the stream of the
enlightening culture. Whenever children have to walk slowly and serenely in
front of adults, they are forced to be aware of themselves ( having
sati-sam-pa-shan-ya.) Without this awareness, they cannot control their
movement to be slow and serene. Consequently, they are learning to adjust their
minds to the stable or equilibrium state, which is the most significant mental
habit a person can ever have. They
will learn to calm their minds down in this manner and in a way that they don’t
even know because the culture moulds them in this way. When these children are
adults and want to pursue meditation practice, they have already achieved half
of what they need to do as far as training mental habits is concerned. My Tai
chi students can begin to link what they do in class to this moot-ta-ra
concept. All these positive qualities are key factors, which can help people to
reach ultimate enlightenment. They only need to put in a bit more effort to
achieve the result. This is how rich our Thai ancestral culture is.
Unfortunately, the moot-ta-ra movements are fading away from Thai women at an
alarming speed due to social change.
Among the greeting
traditions, placing both hands palms together at the chest is practised widely,
especially among the Buddhists and the Hindus. I must admit that Thai people
can do this greeting gesture rather gracefully and elegantly due to the
moot-ta-ra movement. The correct movement should be done slowly and serenely
without rushing and with the head bowed; juniors must always observe the level
of head bowing when greeting elders. This is a way of paying respect to elders.
If this greeting gesture is being done properly, the persons have created for
themselves a crucial factor for their subsequent spiritual gain. Learning to
bow to others even though they are not related to us is a way to get rid of our
self-importance bit by bit. This factor is very important for our ultimate
enlightenment. Being self-centered, arrogant or having self-importance, apart
from creating self-delusion, also entails other problems in our society. A
clash between two people can often be traced back to a clash between each
other’s ego. People who are totally self-absorbed are likely to be arrogant and
will find it very hard to bow their heads to others. However, if people can
truthfully bow their head to someone, that gesture will naturally chip away
some rough element from their minds. Therefore, just simply bowing our heads to
someone upon greeting, our minds are being shaped and moulded into a supportive
nature which subsequently will boost us towards the path to ultimate
enlightenment. Although this is not a straightforward dhamma practice, people
already engage in this crucial practice without realising it. This is to stress
how fertile this enlightening culture is. If only people could truly understand
the hidden meaning of what they are doing everyday, this precious culture would
be well preserved and the seed of enlightenment would be spread. The Japanese
also very much observe head bowing. It is a shame that modern children who are
brought up in a materially aware environment are losing grip of the traditional
way of greeting.
Whilst placing hands
with palms together and head bowing can get rid of our self-importance,
hand-shaking on the other hand can convey a sense of friendship and
truthfulness. Whether people are truthful and sincere or not can be sensed from
hand-shaking. Hugging and kissing can express warmth, closeness and sincerity
to each other. However, hand-shaking, hugging and kissing do not take away the
sense of arrogance and self-importance in the way that head-bowing can.
Placing the hands palm
to palm and bowing the head is a tradition deriving directly from Buddhism.
This gesture comes from the way we pay respect to the Buddha image. Paying
respect to the Buddha while he was living or to the Buddha image is a way to
surrender to the Buddha. It is because the enlightenment of the Buddha is so
great that nothing else in the universe is better. Therefore, we as the
Buddha’s followers do not have any doubt in him and we wholeheartedly give in
to him so that he can lead us along the path. Upon surrendering to the Buddha’s
wisdom, his followers pay the most genteel and highest respect to their sublime
teacher. This results in the prostration in which five parts of the body touch
the ground -the head, two hands and two feet. As for the Mahayana tradition
like the Tibetans, they have to have eight parts of their body touch the
ground. Giving in to the Buddha, having no doubt in him and letting him be our
spiritual leader are the supportive elements we create for our minds every time
we pay respect to the Buddha image. Paying respect to the Buddha’s image as
well as those who deserve to be respected with a moot-ta-ra gesture, is
considered auspicious and favorable to the people who do it. This is a way to
accumulate all the refined factors within ourselves so that we can easily see
the profound dhamma in the future.
In the Pali cannon,
there is a story of an old woman named Jantalee who went to heaven only because
she had paid respect to the Buddha. It is recorded that:
Once, the Buddha was
staying at the Veruwan monastery. Early one morning, he telepathically knew
that an old lady named Jantalee who lived in the village of Jantala, was about
to die and would be reborn in hell. The Buddha then said ‘I will help this old lady to tam-boon so that she can go to heaven’ Later
that morning, the Buddha, accompanied by a large group of monks, walked towards
the city of Rajgir. It was also the time Jantalee, holding her old, wooden
walking stick, walked towards the suburbs of the city. She saw the Buddha along
with the huge group of monks walking towards her. The crooked old lady stopped
right in front of the Buddha. Meanwhile, Phra-maha-Mokalana[1]
knew telepathically that the Buddha had come especially to help the old lady.
He then walked up to Jantalee and said ‘Listen,
Jantalee, please quickly go to pay your humble respect to the sublime Buddha.
He who is the fourth Buddha stands here to help you. Please have faith in the
Buddha who is the fully enlightened one. Please put your hands together and pay
your greatest respect to him because your life will end very soon.’
Having listened to
what the monk said, the old lady was deeply sad to know that she was about to
die. She then looked at the Buddha; her mind was overwhelmed with great joy and
faith in the Buddha. She subsequently went down on her knees and paid the
highest respect to the Buddha with the five parts of her body touching the
ground. When the Buddha had seen the old lady with a crooked back and aching
bones pay respect to him, he walked away. He knew that the old lady had already
done something most worthwhile for herself.
Whilst the old lady
was watching the departing Buddha, her heart was elated with overwhelming joy
and great happiness, when all of a sudden, a mother cow ran towards the old
lady and hit her. Jantalee died in an instant and went to be reborn in the
heaven called Daowadeung with one thousand angels as her attendants. Once
Jantalee was born in heaven, she came down to earth while still sitting in her
celestial palace to pay respect to Phra-maha-Mokalana. The radiant Angel
Jantalee then elegantly stepped out from her heavenly palace, went to pay
humble respect to the honorable monk, and said
‘ Honorable sir, I pay respect to you.’
The monk looked at the
beautiful shining angel and asked:
‘Angel, who are you? What kind of boon (righteousness) have
you done to deserve such immense power.’
Angel Jantalee
answered:
‘I was the old miserable Jantalee whom you told to pay respect to the
exalted Buddha. Once I had paid respect to the Buddha, I died from my lowly
untouchable status and was reborn as an angel in the Daowadeung heaven with one
thousand angels as my attendants. I come here today to express my deepest
thanks to you.’
Then, the angel
Jantalee returned to heaven.
The next morning, Phra
maha Mokalana went to see the Buddha and told him about the visit from the
angel Jantalee. The Buddha then talked to the crowd and told the story of
Jantalee as an example. He said ‘Paying
respect to those who deserve it like the Buddha, the dhamma, the sangha,
parents, grandparents, benefactors and teachers will bring miraculous results.
Paying respect to the deserving ones is self-gift and will make that person
progress very far.’
The posture of sitting
cross-legged with back straight is considered part of an enlightening culture.
This is the way Thai boys were brought up in the past. They had to learn how to
sit properly on the floor crossing their legs while having their meal on the
floor. The Thai people even called this posture sitting cross-legged meditation
or nang-kad-samadhai. It is quite obvious that this is a posture imitated from
the Buddha’s images.
Sitting meditation is
one of the crucial factors for understanding the dhamma and to witnessing the
dhamma. To gain a good result while meditating, one must be able to sit
comfortably without feeling much pain so that the mind can be focused easily
and wisdom will follow subsequently. However, if people have not sat in this
position until it becomes a habit, it can be quite impossible to do at first.
Maybe this is the reason why the Thai ancestors trained their children to sit
in this posture from childhood so that when they reached the age of ordination,
they could sit in meditation without any problem. Western people who have long
legs are more used to chairs and three piece suites and find it extremely
difficult to sit in this posture. It will become a problem when they want to do
meditation because when the pain sets it, they will lose their concentration.
However, this problem has been solved by using cushions and shaped seats which
can help those who have long legs to sit comfortably.
Tai chi and yoga can
be directly classed as part of an enlightening culture if only teachers
understand about the four foundations of awareness. These two exercises can be
easily used as a means of practising self-awareness and they can benefit big
groups of people right away. Yoga is indeed about mindfulness with breathing or
Ana-pa-na-sati which connects with the physical exercise.
As for Tai chi chuan,
the meaning itself contains a spiritual intent. The word Tai ( ) means great, grand,
majestic. The word chi ( ) means the state of the
ultimate or an absolute state which nothing can go beyond. The Chinese
generally refer by this word to heaven. Chuan means to box, to strike with the
fist or to move. When we combine the three words together, we can clearly see
the spiritual meaning as a set of movements, which enables people to reach the
state of the grand ultimate or great heaven. I am not surprised at all that Tai
chi chuan has everything to do with the supreme concept of Taoism and Buddhism.
Someone has got to understand about the ultimate state in nature, which is Tao
or Nirvana, to be able to come out with something like Tai chi chuan. The three
words contain the path to the fruit or the means to the end that covers the
whole structure of Buddhism. The only way that we can reach the grand ultimate
is by moving with great awareness and concentration. I have no doubt that Tai
chi has had a direct influence from Buddhism and links closely with the four
foundations of awareness.
Of course, the missing
link occurred when the Buddha’s followers did not pursue the practice and could
not witness the state of the ultimate in nature. The essence of Tai chi slowly
faded away as time went by. People turned to capture the meaning of chuan which
means to box and to strike with the fist instead. Since Tai chi movements
themselves were borrowed from the martial art movements which existed in China
long before Buddhism arrived, this makes it easy to lose track of the spiritual
side of Tai chi and grasp the martial art instead. Focusing on the energy or Qi
to maintain physical well-being is still considered a minor issue as far as the
essence of Tai chi is concerned.
To fulfill the
spiritual essence of Tai chi, it is important that teachers understand Buddhist
meditation, especially the four foundations of awareness, so that the serene
movements of Tai chi can be executed purposefully. This is the concept that I
have tried to convey to my students during the past ten years, although the
perfection of this notion happened only two years ago when I could understand
the fourth foundation of awareness. That unique experience convinced me further
about the essence of Tai chi. The slow and serene movements are a clever
strategy to calm people’s minds down. Although the ultimate concept can not be
understood, merely doing the slow movements can bring forward mental
relaxation, which is the focus point of Tai chi in the West at the moment. My
job is to go a bit further beyond the point of mere mental relaxation, which
can be compared to a starter of a three course meal. There are other things
greater than mental relaxation; they are wisdom and ultimate mental freedom.
This is the only way that we can really reach the true essence of Tai chi.
People who can be happy to stand there and move slowly have in fact come a long
way towards their mental freedom. It is a shame that the world is so lacking in
teachers and guidance which can lead people all the way to ultimate mental and
spiritual freedom.
Nevertheless, I would
like to point out that Tai chi and yoga can be a new strategy to help people en
mass to develop along this road to ultimate enlightenment. What makes it most
extraordinary is that they can be used as a non-religious means. As we know,
people are totally indifferent towards religion nowadays because of the
invasion of materialism, consumerism and the leap of science and technology. I
don’t think that we can ever bring religion back to the way it used to be when
it played a big part in people’s lives. But that doesn’t mean that the essence
of what religions are supposed to give to people has disappeared too. The
ultimate truth or the absolute simplicity in nature, which is known as Nirvana
or God, can never be wiped out. It was here before everything else came along,
it will still be here when everything is wiped out, and it will still be here
when something forms again. It will always be here endlessly and ultimately.
That’s why the enlightened ones or the knowers call it the grand ultimate.
That’s why it is of the utmost importance that we know it. That’s why all
enlightened people cannot sit back and not do anything, they will do their best
to let people know about this ultimate truth.
That’s why I would
like to point out that if only we can make Tai chi and yoga become a
non-religious method for people to witness ultimate reality or the innocent world, the seed of
enlightenment can be spread better this way. This can be an answer to a
universal method for ultimate enlightenment, which can serve people of all
sexes, ages, religious beliefs, nationality, race, social, economic and
political status. This obviously sounds like an outrageous and impossible
dream. Nevertheless, I am extremely serious about this idea. But at the moment
I am still very much alone as far as my work is concerned. It hasn’t been
easy carrying all these thoughts
by myself and trying to share my belief especially in a woman’s status in this
foreign land, and especially when I see people disappear from my Tai chi class.
As I always mention, I can be either completely mad and stupid or I know
exactly what I am talking about. It has to be the latter since I seem to be
able to draw strength from somewhere to carry on with my work. Whether it is
stupidity or wisdom, I let the readers be the judge of that. It might be quite
difficult to do so since there is a very thin line to separate these two types
of people! I wish you luck.
Among the collection
of tape-cassettes containing my teachers’ talks, there is one talk in which
Ajahn Khemanandha says that people in southern Thailand have a tradition of
staring at Buddha images. I assumed that it was a particular Buddha image in
the southern province of Nakorn-sri-thamarat to which the pilgrimage takes
place at a certain time of the year. The teacher said that people were looking
forward to the trip and they would prepare their packed lunches so that they
could find a spot to settle down and enjoy the holy experience of watching the
peaceful face of the Buddha’s image. After the pilgrimage, people’s hearts were
elated with faith, happiness and joy, and fully charged with energy; they then
had the strength to go home and get on with their lives once again. I really
wish that I could be there to witness such an enlightening tradition so that I
could share a few more details with readers. I am sure the Buddha’s image is
still there but I am not sure whether this tradition is still being practised
or not nowadays.
As a matter of fact,
this is something that Thai people as well as all other Buddhists I believe, do
individually from time to time. Whenever the Thai Buddhists especially the
devout ones feel a bit depressed, they like to go to temples, do their
offerings to the Sangha and often sit quietly in the shrine room and look at
their favorite Buddha’s image. A while later, they leave the temple with the
lighter heart. I vividly remember the day I walked into the Emerald Buddha
temple situating by my university some 26 years ago. I was the first year
student and had just gone through the most frightening experience of political
upheaval when a big number of students were killed. My heart was heavily loaded
with questions which I could not answer. No one could help me, not even my
favorite books on western philosophy which I was most crazy about at that time.
I used to think that Socrates was the best up to that point because he could
not answer my questions about life in general. I wanted to know so badly what
life was all about. What was the reason to be born? Why were innocent young
people killed? I could not see how I could lead my life peacefully after that
terrible event of October 16 1973. Whilst most of my friends as well as the
whole nation were happy because tyrants were driven out of the country. They
all thought that we could finally have real democracy. Somehow, I felt totally
different from them. My questions were far too profound for a girl of my age
and that caused me to isolate myself from my friends. I was inevitably plunged
into deep turmoil and my heart was full of pain on the day I walked into the
temple. For some reasons, I knew that the Buddha was the only person who could
pull me out from the misery I was facing. I sat on the cool marble floor of the
most stunning and elaborate shrine room and stared into the face of the small
Buddha’s image. I asked him to help me to restore peace into my mind but I
didn’t know how he could do that. However, that was the beginning of my
interest in Buddhism until I found my spiritual teachers. My development on
this spiritual path is indeed the result of being in the Buddhist culture.
Although Japan is a
leading industrial country in the world, with the influence of Zen Buddhism, I
believe that she still has a great deal of an enlightening culture left for the
world to see and cherish. The tea ceremony, flower-arranging and the creation
of the Japanese garden are among many other things in Japan which are closely
linked to meditation. To prevent novices from falling asleep, the Zen monks,
initially coming from China, prepared a cup of tea, making it from young pale
green tea leaves which were ground into powder, and served it to the novices.
It was believed that the caffeine in the tea would keep the practitioners
awake. However, the tea ceremony is executed in a fully structured manner and
with great awareness or with sati-sam-pa-chanya. This is the Japanese way of
moot-ta-ra movement. It is quite obvious that this is a direct meditation
tradition, which requires enormous skill for a host to perform a perfect tea
ceremony. This is something that
traditional Japanese ladies have to learn over many years. This is the same
with flower arranging.
Japanese gardens have been renowned for
the transcending calm, peace and tranquility they bring to people’s minds. This
is because the constitution of the garden is based on raising the sense of self
awareness to the people who are in it. I cannot say much because I have never
been in one but I think I can easily understand how marvelous my feeling will
be to actually be present in a Japanese garden. My first experience of a
Japanese garden was from six pages of a calendar that my eldest brother brought
home one day during my childhood. There was something there which could capture
the heart of a seven-year-old girl who knew nothing about meditation. Somehow
the beautiful shade of different green foliage, the stepping stones, the bridge
and the whole construction of the garden or I should say the whole picture made
my heart tremble with joy, peace and happiness every time I looked at them. I
treasured those pictures so much that I used one of them to cover my very own
photo album. I don’t know where the other five pages are now but the one over
my album is still being kept in my family home in Thailand.