< Return to Video

Attaining Enlightenment Through Meditation

  • 0:05 - 0:09
    <Attaining Enlightenment
    Through Meditation>
  • 0:09 - 0:18
    (Questioner) Hi Sunim, thanks
    for giving me a chance to ask a question.
  • 0:18 - 0:23
    So, I have a question on meditation
    and studying Buddhist scripture.
  • 0:23 - 0:28
    I learned that the Buddha achieved
    a peaceful mind and profound enlightenment
  • 0:28 - 0:29
    through meditation.
  • 0:29 - 0:33
    I am trying to practice meditation
    for the same purpose,
  • 0:33 - 0:40
    but as a beginner who hasn't gone
    through the path, I have some doubts
  • 0:40 - 0:46
    about how I can achieve such a deep state
    of enlightenment through not thinking.
  • 0:46 - 0:55
    Could you explain how meditation can lead
    to such peace of mind and enlightenment?
  • 0:55 - 1:04
    (Sunim) All our suffering actually happens
    because we think too much.
  • 1:04 - 1:21
    So, we need to truly liberate ourselves
    from our preconceptions of ethics,
  • 1:21 - 1:31
    morality, religious faith, and other
    paradigms. These guard our thoughts.
  • 1:31 - 1:37
    For example:
  • 1:37 - 1:52
    Say a man and a woman who like
    each other have become lovers.
  • 1:52 - 2:03
    So, in a regular relationship between
    two ordinary people, they like each other.
  • 2:03 - 2:18
    However, if they are Buddhist clergy
    or Catholic clergy, they have been taught
  • 2:18 - 2:23
    not to engage
    in sexual relationships.
  • 2:23 - 2:35
    So, those people
    who are trained in that way,
  • 2:35 - 2:39
    while they enjoy being with the other
    person in a romantic relationship,
  • 2:39 - 2:42
    also feel guilt.
  • 2:42 - 2:59
    So, that guilt, that negative feeling
    they have, is not the result of their
  • 2:59 - 3:03
    actually having a romantic relationship
    with another person they like.
  • 3:03 - 3:10
    It comes down to their own preconceptions
    that they shouldn't be doing this.
  • 3:10 - 3:30
    So, a lot of the suffering and issues
    we experience today actually happen
  • 3:30 - 3:35
    because of the contradiction or collision
    between what is happening in reality,
  • 3:35 - 3:40
    what we experience in reality, and our
    preconceptions of how things should be.
  • 3:40 - 3:56
    That suffering disappears
    when we erase the contradiction
  • 3:56 - 4:04
    of choosing to abandon our
    preconceptions and accept reality as it is
  • 4:04 - 4:08
    or adhere to those preconceptions
    and give up what we want in this reality.
  • 4:08 - 4:26
    However, we can never solve this problem
    as long as we try to adhere
  • 4:26 - 4:30
    to our preconceptions
    while simultaneously trying to get
  • 4:30 - 4:34
    what we want in reality, because
    that contradiction will always persist.
  • 4:34 - 4:38
    So, another example:
  • 4:38 - 4:53
    If there are traditional ethics or morals
    that say men and women of certain ages
  • 4:53 - 4:59
    can't see each other as romantic partners,
    then doing so creates suffering.
  • 4:59 - 5:11
    Similarly, if we're taught that divorce is
    unacceptable after marriage,
  • 5:11 - 5:17
    yet circumstances call for separation
    or divorce,
  • 5:17 - 5:21
    this contradiction creates
    suffering.
  • 5:21 - 5:29
    But in the natural course of things,
    people come together
  • 5:29 - 5:31
    and separate all the time.
  • 5:31 - 5:39
    It's all coming together.
    It's not the cause of our suffering.
  • 5:39 - 5:43
    Separation or divorce is
    not the cause of our suffering.
  • 5:43 - 5:54
    It's our preconceptions of "what ought to
    be" that actually cause our suffering,
  • 5:54 - 5:58
    whether it's a first meeting
    or a separation.
  • 5:58 - 6:13
    If we can just erase "what ought to be,"
    then we actually eliminate
  • 6:13 - 6:20
    a lot of suffering
    from our own internal conflicts.
  • 6:20 - 6:58
    For example, when we teach our daughters
    that having sex before marriage is a sin,
  • 6:58 - 7:05
    and they then engage in premarital sex, it
    causes them a lot of internal suffering.
  • 7:05 - 7:15
    We don't teach our sons this as much,
    so they may engage in premarital sex
  • 7:15 - 7:17
    without the same level of guilt.
    This is all because
  • 7:17 - 7:23
    of the preconceptions
    that we instill in our children.
  • 7:23 - 7:35
    For example, if you stop thinking
    right now, there is no cost to suffer.
  • 7:35 - 7:43
    So, that is why the foundational piece
    of our meditation is to stop thinking.
  • 7:43 - 7:51
    What position you take,
    however you breathe,
  • 7:51 - 7:55
    all that doesn't really matter.
  • 7:55 - 8:08
    Many of you say you meditate,
    but you end up quietly thinking.
  • 8:08 - 8:11
    That is thinking,
    not meditating.
  • 8:11 - 8:17
    Thinking good thoughts does not mean
    you meditate well.
  • 8:17 - 8:24
    Meditation is
    a state of absence of thoughts.
  • 8:24 - 8:32
    If your thinking stops,
    most of your suffering will go away.
  • 8:32 - 8:40
    But once you try it,
    you will know your thinking does not stop.
  • 8:40 - 8:52
    Naturally, your thinking is amplified
    by 2, 3, 10 times more.
  • 8:52 - 9:00
    So when you are meditating,
    your body may be still,
  • 9:00 - 9:03
    but you are
    always thinking.
  • 9:03 - 9:15
    So how do you stop thinking?
    Because if you intend to stop thinking,
  • 9:15 - 9:19
    that intention itself gets
    amplified.
  • 9:19 - 9:25
    That is why the old teachers told us
    this:
  • 9:25 - 9:32
    There's dust
    flying all over the room.
  • 9:32 - 9:37
    And we don't see it well.
    It is almost invisible.
  • 9:37 - 9:42
    But if there's a ray of sunlight coming
    through the room,
  • 9:42 - 9:48
    we suddenly realize
    that a lot of dust is floating around.
  • 9:48 - 10:02
    And we take a cloth or duster
    and try to dust it off.
  • 10:02 - 10:07
    We realize
    that we are actually creating more dust.
  • 10:07 - 10:12
    Then, what do we do?
    We just have to let it be.
  • 10:12 - 10:21
    As time passes,
    most of the dust will gradually settle.
  • 10:21 - 10:39
    So basically, what they're saying is
    that we constantly live
  • 10:39 - 10:45
    in a flux of thoughts and distractions,
    but we don't realize it
  • 10:45 - 10:50
    because we lack a single ray of light
    to actually illuminate them.
  • 10:50 - 11:07
    So, the fact that you actually sit down
    and start realizing
  • 11:07 - 11:13
    how dusty the room in your mind is,
    is not a failure in the meditation.
  • 11:13 - 11:17
    It's actually a process
    of meditating on that recognition.
  • 11:17 - 11:26
    It's the same as seeing that single ray
    of light illuminating all that dust.
  • 11:26 - 11:34
    That first realization
    that "I live amidst all this dust,
  • 11:34 - 11:37
    in these distracting thoughts".
  • 11:37 - 11:49
    Then you start engaging in a kind
    of performance-oriented meditation,
  • 11:49 - 11:52
    in which you want to do meditation
    better and faster.
  • 11:52 - 11:57
    Thereby creating more distractions
    and letting dust fly even more.
  • 11:57 - 12:01
    You have to just
    let it be.
  • 12:01 - 12:08
    But it doesn't really settle that quickly
    because it just flies around.
  • 12:08 - 12:15
    That's why the strategy is
    to focus your thoughts on one thing.
  • 12:15 - 12:26
    The easiest thing to focus your thoughts
    on is your breath.
  • 12:26 - 12:38
    Basically, it is a strategy
    of focusing
  • 12:38 - 12:43
    on the inhalation and exhalation
    of your breath.
  • 12:43 - 12:51
    In Pali, it is called Ānāpāna.
  • 12:51 - 13:05
    Another strategy that came up
    during Zen Buddhist tradition is a Koan,
  • 13:05 - 13:08
    just to focus
    on one single thought.
  • 13:08 - 13:13
    Or one single question
    like "Who am I?".
  • 13:13 - 13:18
    Just focus
    on that single question.
  • 13:18 - 13:23
    You know,
    other thoughts will constantly be there.
  • 13:23 - 13:27
    You just let them be.
  • 13:27 - 13:35
    The only thing you actually focus
    on is that single question.
  • 13:35 - 13:43
    For example, say you read a book
    in the middle of the forest.
  • 13:43 - 13:47
    There are birds tweeting.
  • 13:47 - 13:49
    You hear a stream.
  • 13:49 - 13:52
    And you hear cars down the road.
  • 13:52 - 13:56
    So you can't really focus.
  • 13:56 - 14:00
    If the cars were not running,
  • 14:00 - 14:03
    if the birds stopped tweeting,
  • 14:03 - 14:07
    if the stream stopped running;
  • 14:07 - 14:14
    then you could actually focus
    in a quiet forest, right?
  • 14:14 - 14:19
    But you can't stop those things.
  • 14:19 - 14:28
    Just because you stop those externalities
    doesn't guarantee that you can focus.
  • 14:28 - 14:55
    But if you really focus on the book
    and get into the substance,
  • 14:55 - 14:57
    birds may tweet,
    but you don't pay attention;
  • 14:57 - 15:01
    cars may run on the road nearby,
    but you don't pay attention,
  • 15:01 - 15:03
    nor do you pay attention
    to the stream beside you
  • 15:03 - 15:08
    because you are really focused;
    you are in that zone of focus.
  • 15:08 - 15:18
    So, meditation is all about the absence
    of thoughts, but from a strategic
  • 15:18 - 15:23
    perspective, it's all about focusing
    on that one single thought.
  • 15:23 - 15:32
    Let's say you focus
    on the breath in and breath out.
  • 15:32 - 15:39
    So, when the breath comes in
    to know that the breath is coming in.
  • 15:39 - 15:47
    You are not thinking
    about the breath coming in.
  • 15:47 - 16:02
    This is a kind of sensory experience:
    the flow of the air as it actually travels
  • 16:02 - 16:06
    over your skin, through your nostrils,
    as it enters your lungs.
  • 16:06 - 16:17
    And you also feel that kind of tactile
    sense of the breath and leaf in your nose.
  • 16:17 - 16:23
    This is experiencing,
    not thinking.
  • 16:23 - 16:27
    You are just experiencing
    that breath.
  • 16:27 - 16:32
    You might think of your mother
    at that time.
  • 16:32 - 16:42
    But once you actually get distracted
    by the thought of your mother,
  • 16:42 - 16:45
    you start thinking,
    "Oh, what about the time we went
  • 16:45 - 16:48
    on a picnic with my mom?
    What about the time
  • 16:48 - 16:49
    we had an argument with her?"
  • 16:49 - 16:54
    So, you actually create narratives
    around those thoughts.
  • 16:54 - 16:58
    This becomes a distraction.
  • 16:58 - 17:06
    So, you can't really stop the thought
    of your mother rising.
  • 17:06 - 17:12
    But despite whatever thoughts come to you,
    you keep focusing on the breath.
  • 17:12 - 17:18
    Basically, do not pay attention
    or give energy to that thought.
  • 17:18 - 17:21
    And then the thoughts
    kind of dissipate.
  • 17:21 - 17:24
    Then other thoughts will come.
  • 17:24 - 17:26
    You'll think about coffee.
  • 17:26 - 17:30
    But nevertheless,
    you focus on the breath.
  • 17:30 - 17:33
    Then the thought of coffee dissipates.
  • 17:33 - 17:45
    So you will have countless thoughts
    rise and fall, rise and fall,
  • 17:45 - 17:48
    as long as you don't pay attention
    to them.
  • 17:48 - 18:00
    But once you start actually doing it,
    when you think of coffee,
  • 18:00 - 18:03
    you kind of follow it
    and create a story out of it;
  • 18:03 - 18:07
    "What kind of coffee do I want?
    With whom do I want this coffee?".
  • 18:07 - 18:14
    At that time, you have already lost
    that focus on your breath.
  • 18:14 - 18:20
    Because your attention can only focus
    on one thing at a time.
  • 18:20 - 18:24
    If you focus on here,
    you lose focus there.
  • 18:24 - 18:30
    And if you pay attention there,
    you lose attention here.
  • 18:30 - 18:40
    Thoughts are just that;
    as long as you don't pay attention
  • 18:40 - 18:44
    to them, they will just rise and fall,
    rise and fall.
  • 18:44 - 18:57
    So, when we say we are distracted,
    those random thoughts are
  • 18:57 - 19:01
    not distractions in themselves.
    It really becomes a source of distraction
  • 19:01 - 19:05
    when you start creating stories
    around those thoughts.
  • 19:05 - 19:27
    So, if you keep practicing, the time
    you can sustain focus on a single breath
  • 19:27 - 19:31
    before getting distracted can increase
    to 1 minute, then 5 minutes,
  • 19:31 - 19:33
    and then 10 minutes.
    It will gradually increase.
  • 19:33 - 19:46
    So, the attention span
    on that single breath will continue
  • 19:46 - 19:53
    to increase,
    and you will experience less distraction.
  • 19:53 - 20:08
    Then you start actually gaining autonomy.
    You are no longer beholden
  • 20:08 - 20:12
    to your past memories
    or future hopes.
  • 20:12 - 20:26
    The reason you get angry, you get sad,
    you feel this emotion and that is
  • 20:26 - 20:30
    because all these past memories come
    haunting you.
  • 20:30 - 20:46
    You become fearful, anxious, and nervous
    because you are thinking about the future.
  • 20:46 - 20:56
    So, if you are not captured
    by thoughts of the future,
  • 20:56 - 20:59
    then all your anxiety and nervousness
    will go away.
  • 20:59 - 21:11
    So that is why we teach to be awakened
    in the here and now,
  • 21:11 - 21:13
    without being captured
    by your past memories
  • 21:13 - 21:17
    or the future
    that has not come yet.
  • 21:17 - 21:28
    So even if a thought
    about Buddha comes unbidden to you
  • 21:28 - 21:32
    while meditating,
    that is just another distraction.
  • 21:32 - 21:42
    So, just singular focus on that breath;
    everything else is a distraction.
  • 21:42 - 21:56
    If it's a Zen Koan,
    anything that falls outside the scope
  • 21:56 - 21:59
    of exploring that question is
    a distraction.
  • 21:59 - 22:10
    And so, in that state, even what you read
    in the scriptures, sutras,
  • 22:10 - 22:13
    or even Buddha's own teachings
    are just distractions.
  • 22:13 - 22:22
    That is why there is a teaching:
    if you see a Buddha,
  • 22:22 - 22:24
    if you think about the Buddha,
    kill the Buddha.
  • 22:24 - 22:28
    If you encounter your teacher,
    kill the teacher.
  • 22:28 - 22:37
    So, we don't really mean to
    literally kill them,
  • 22:37 - 22:41
    but obviously, we are saying is
    to not pay them any mind.
  • 22:41 - 22:44
    They are just distractions.
  • 22:44 - 22:47
    Sorry for the lengthy response.
  • 22:47 - 22:49
    (Sunim/Questioner Laughter)
  • 22:49 - 22:50
    (Questioner) Thanks.
  • 22:50 - 22:51
    (Audience Applause)
Title:
Attaining Enlightenment Through Meditation
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Duration:
23:02

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions