CBM 3: Clearing the Field

Have written quite a bit already.  And someone new to Buddhism or meditation may be asking, “When is he going to get to the nuts and bolts of actual meditation!”

Well, as with anything in life, preparation is everything, and there are several preliminaries that one must implement before one can even think about meditating. (at least, according to the tradition that I follow.) One can’t just wake up one day and run a marathon, or play guitar like Eric Clapton, or run a chess board like Kasparov.

One of the favorite analogies of my root teacher was talking about the mind as if it were a field. And before one can till the soil, or plant the seeds, or reap a harvest, there’s one thing that needs to be done.

Clearing the field of obstacles.

On a farm, these obstacles would be stones, dead tree stumps, debris of all sorts.

And the mind?

In a book called “The Four Immeasurables” by one of my all time favorite teachers, B. Alan Wallace, he talks about when he first went to India in the late sixties, and stayed at a monastery. He states that the Tibetan monks would sometimes laugh at the Westerners who came to visit for teachings and retreat. They would come, and act all holy and mindful, being as good as they could possibly be. But then, they would return to the world and continue carrying out the same actions over and over again. They equated this to leaving a mud pit, taking a thorough shower with soap and then applying rare fragrances, but rather than keeping one’s self clean, they jump right back into the mud pit!

So, in order to prepare one’s mind for meditation, to keep one’s mind “clean,” to “clear the field of obstacles,” what is recommended?

Avoiding ten, very easy to remember, but difficult to avoid, obstacles, commonly referred to as The Ten Non-Virtues. 3 of body, 4 of speech, 3 of mind.

They are as follows:

Non-virtues of Body: Killing, Stealing, Sexual Misconduct.

Non-virtues of Speech: Lying, Divisive Speech, Offensive Speech, Senseless Speech

Non-virtues of Mind: Covetousness, Malice, Wrong View.

Ugh! Oh no! Those sound like the Ten Commandments! And it’s so…so…Puritanical…and ethical! That’s not what Buddhism is about, right? Buddhism is all about doing your own thing, and burning incense and wearing cool jewelry and having a cool cushion, isn’t it?

Nope.

Growing up, was raised Catholic. Never understood it. Be good? Why? Follow the ten commandments? Why?

Because if you do not, you will be judged by God and will go to hell.

I didn’t buy it.

But after studying Buddhism for years, focusing mostly on the existential and wisdom aspects of it, finally discovered why ethics is so fundamental.

When I managed a retreat center, many wanted to learn the super secret, esoteric practices, or dive right into the deep, deep levels of meditation. “I don’t need that rookie, sutra stuff.”

But, they didn’t get it.

The foundation of the entire path is ethics.

And what is ethics? What’s the point to it all?

Not harming others or one’s self. Love. Compassion.

Let’s work backwards.

How does one achieve Nirvana/Enlightenment? Using shi-nay/shamatha upon the true nature of reality.

How does one get shamatha? By developing single pointed concentration.

How does one get single pointed concentration? By training the mind, and going the course of the various levels and stages of meditation.

And how does one prepare the mind for meditation?

By keeping the mind on virtue, ethics, love, compassion.

And how does one do that?

Monks live by over a couple hundred vows and precepts every day. There are also quite a few Bodhisattva vows both lay and non-lay people can take.

And at the foundation of all that?

Avoiding the ten non-virtues.

If anyone attempts to avoid the ten non-virtues, 100% of the time, I can guarantee it will be difficult at first. But over time it gets easier. Then eventually you reach a point where you can’t believe you DIDN’T avoid these.

But why the negative? Why avoid “The Ten Non-Virtues” instead of pursuing “The Ten Virtues.”

Again, going back to Alan Wallace, the negative implies a protection from something.

When you first plant a seed, you put a little wire mesh fence around it, so the rabbits don’t get to it. Then it grows, and the fence gets a little bigger, to keep deer from eating it. Eventually, a fence isn’t needed, because that little sapling has grown into a tree that offers protection TO others, rather than needing protection FROM others.

Same with the mind.

Avoiding the ten non-virtues clears away obstacles in the mind that would hinder meditation.

A key preliminary practice that people in the Indo-Tibetan tradition carry out before going into long retreat (1 month, 6 month, and so on) is ensuring that all is right between them and the rest of the world. Debts paid, peace made, avoidance of conflict, etc. That way, when in retreat, focus can be on one’s own mind and the training thereof, NOT on how so and so hurt me, or I hurt them, etc.

So, once the preliminary of clearing the field has taken place, and the mind is in a good place, it will then be time to focus on the next stage.

And what does any of this have to do with chess? Avoid the ten non-virtues, and I guarantee much mental space is made available for training and focusing the mind. A handy thing for playing chess.

And if you’re still looking for the actual nuts and bolts of meditation, this is it.

Keep working on counting to 30 breaths without any other thoughts getting in the way.

2 number 3s? "Keep working on counting to 30 posts without other thoughts getting in the way."

Sorry, had to. You set it up so well.

Still love me?

One way that I first started thinking about ethics was from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" The simple phrase "Be Excellent to each other" sums it all up.

Two number 3's.

Yes.

Rocket scientist.

Apologies.

And yes.

Be Excellent unto each other.

I think the script writers of Bill & Ted stole that from a sutra entitled, "100 Gazillion Petaled Lotus of, Like, Pizza and Things That Which Do Not Sucketh and are Most Excellent."  

You're story/steps about working one's way backward from the "goal of Enlightenment" reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

Sow an act...reap a habit;
Sow a habit...reap a character;
Sow a character...reap a destiny.

When digging up the proper reference to whom, I got George Boardman, the first Protestant (Baptist) minister to Burma, where he proceeded to convert the Karen tribes - mostly Buddhists. Ahhhhh! The irony of it all.