Supreme Bodhi
Just as with watching the inbreath and the outbreath, which is the movement of air in and out of your lungs,
our founder has developed the practice of watching the arising of thought and the diminishing of thought
as it is just like the breath of the lungs but rather this is the inbreath and outbreath of thought in your mind.
The meditation that our founder has developed from years of teaching is one that goes right to the core of
the effort of ending suffering, and was developed from the need to understand the
Buddha's meaning of "continues to have discerning nature, in the absence of discernment as
perception follows the change of form to undergo its own change"
Over and over again our founder would see people who felt that watching their breath of air
going in and out, in a meditative effort, would bring a temporary calm but as soon as they stopped
watching their air they would be right back where they started and they gave up.
So out of compassion for those that had given up, I believed that watching thought and then
learning to skillfully direct thought in which ever direction that you would choose, with the effort
to end suffering, was my goal.
Here is a list of terms I will use lower on this page:
| Arise: An ongoing process from the slighest to the greatest. |
| Diminish: An ongoing process from the greatest to the slightest. |
| Discern: To distinguish as a thought of knowing that this is it, in the context of whatever sense object is being observed. |
| Discerning nature: To have the potential to discern (discern: as defined above). |
| Form: Anything that you can name, just the name which is a label, no emotions or meanings. |
| Perception: The thinking that combines an object's name with the meaning or feelings that the name implies. |
| Change: Any thought or thinking outside of this moment in time i.e. thinking about what will be in the future or the past. |
| Gate: The five/six senses through which every thought arises. |
| The five/six senses (external contact/internally perception): Sight/Seeing, Olfactory/Olfaction, Hearing/Listening, Gustation(taste)/Gustating(tasting), Touch(haptic)/Touching, Energy awareness internally/externally |
| The five/six sense gates: Eyes, nose, ears, tounge, skin, mind. |
| Raw sense data: The simple attributes of an object, in just this moment, as described by a sense without the object's meaning, the memory of the use of the object, or past contact with the object. |
| Trance state: Any mind state that cannot be sustained all the time without effort, and is associated with a feeling, this is not Supreme Bodhi nor does it lead to Supreme Bodhi. A trance state is a distraction to the practice. |
| Transcendance: As defined in Buddhism is simply "rising above" or "to leap over obsticles", transcendance is not a feeling or disassociation in this context. |
Teiko's training meditation for Supreme Bodhi
1. Pick one sense gate.
2. Pick two tangible (not imaginary) objects that are mundane
(boring/simple not complex or tramatic in your memory)
and uniquely different from each other.
I will call them object #1 and object #2.
Note: If one your sense gates of choice includes the eye, each object needs to be
within your periphrial view of the other and
not so close together that when you see object #1, object #2 is clearly visiable
because it will be hard to distiguish the distictly unique thoughts
from the visible objects if they are too close together.
4. Describe object #1 in three ways,
using the sense gate that you have chosen,
as if you were describing it to someone who cannot experience/sense it,
and to whom you cannot say what it is called. In the three ways, describe
only the raw sense data of object #1.
5. Next, direct your attention to the object #2
and describe that object with your chosen sense gate, as if you
were describing it to someone who cannot experience/sense it,
and to whom you cannot say what it is called.
In the three ways, describe only the raw sense data of object #2.
6. Repeat this process of description of object #1 and object #2,
slowly concentrating on object #1 and then object #2, using the same raw sense data
from each object every time.
For example: There is an apple, I see it, the apple is red, round, and shiny.
There is a cup, I see it, the cup is white, large, and has a handle.
Using the same descriptive data each time, helps to show thought arising and declining.
We are not comparing objects #1 and #2 neither are we trying to learn about the objects.
8. Next, as you sit using your two objects notice that, as you are describing object #1 and
then object #2, you are picking up a thought and then letting it go or setting in down,
this is what I am meaning when I say your thought is arising and then diminishing.
Each time you return to describing the object, in turn, know that you can describe it
in the same ways each time, because you are not learning the object you are just
simply watching your thought arise and diminish,
whatching for the absense of discernment while having discerning nature.
Note: If you find the your mind is distracted by thoughts other than the current object,
stay attentive to that object until you are focused on the description.
7. Next, notice what happens to the three thoughts about the object #1
as you are describing, object #2 in three ways.
Then ask yourself if those thoughts diminish or have they completely vanished entirely?
Note: If your thoughts completely disapear than that is not Supreme Bodhi, it is aversion.
This will feel like a contradiction to the act of multitasking, which is the current convention of efficiency.
We want to train the mind to pick up and let go so that we can watch,
and then control the quiet mind that is in the middle.
Supreme Bodhi will not interfere with tasks at all.
In fact Bodhi, or Buddha nature, is with you already because
it is the quiet mind inbetween a thought arising and declining but
you may not notice it or have control over it yet.
Control or consentrated mind is what makes it Supreme Bodhi.
Another name for Supreme Bodhi is Enlightenment.
Supreme Bodhi is the moment in the middle of arising of thought
and the diminishing of thought, in this moment in time.
There is a progression of the experience of the realization
of Supreme Bodhi that naturally occurs
as you continually pratice this meditation.
In this progression first you may not even realize that there
is a quiet middle between an arising and dimming thought!
As you continue your practice, you'll notice the quiet middle between
an arising and dimming thought, and that you may only notice it for a split second.
In the beginning, this quiet space will be ellusive and it will disapear in an instant and
you will have no control over this quiet at all.
After dilligent practice, using the 2 object meditation, this quiet middle space
between thought arising and declining, will get longer but it will still be uncontroled.
Continuing your dilligent practice, you will notice that you can hold the mind in this place of quietude
between an arising and dimming thought, for a few seconds and then it will disapear again.
Eventually you will be able to stay in this quiet mind all the time,
even when you are "off the cushion" (not formally sitting in meditation) and
this is Supreme Bodhi with effort. This with effort skill is called Samadhi.
Eventually you will be able to stay in this quiet mind all the time,
even when you are "off the cushion" (not formally sitting in meditation) and
this is Supreme Bodhi without effort.
This without effort skill is called Sahaja Samadhi.
Watch carefull for the mind wandering into disassociation or a trance state,
as that would exclude this moment in time and would not be the peace that we are looking for,
neither would it be Supreme Bodhi.
Notes of help until Supreme Bohdi becomes effortless:
This Moment In Time
Now we can consider the last half of the objective of understanding
...as perception follows the change of form to undergo its own change. This is, this moment in time.
Once you have identified this peace inbetween thought arising and diminishing,
next you will need to add this present moment in time, and like a gyroscope adds balance to an object in motion,
being present in this moment in time will bring stability to sustaining Supreme Bodhi.
Time is the progression of this moment as it is moving forward,
it is a dynamic as if you are moving with the crest of a wave.
It is not mind wandering into the future or the past.
Make sure while you are meditating, that you are actively staying present in this moment.
Also note that this moment in time, as an experience cannot be included
in Supreme Bodhi when Supreme Bodhi becomes effortless because it is a Skhanda.
Do not be discouraged that it is difficult to do this,
and do not judge the quality of your effort, as any effort is good effort!
If you notice that your mind has wondered away from your effort just notice that it has wondered
and gently redirect it back to the effort.
You can set a timer and say to yourself, when my timer rings I can stop making this effort.
It has been found that even as little as 2 minutes of meditation is beneficial
and that applies to this specific meditation also.
Consider this experience/example:
If it is that a thought arises there is a car, in order for me to create an opinion about the car,
I would have to think about what I know about a car,
and while I am thinking about what I think that the car will be or do,
I risk being outside of this present moment as it may be that I become
distracted by the past or the future thinking about the car or anything associated
with my experience with cars.
So it is with this in our meditation, that we must direct our mind carefully
to use this moment to our advantage by staying present with it,
just as a surfer successfully rides the crest of a wave.
Notes about peace in this meditation and reminders:
This peace Supreme Bodhi, is not a physical feeling, but rather a low energy state of the mind
and it does not require the body to be still to observe, but of course stilling the body helps, until
Supreme Bodhi is fully realized.
This peace between, may be completely unnoticeable at first or exist only for a very short time,
keep practicing and you will learn to sustain it, balancing beautifully in this moment in time.
Once you start to work on sustaining this peace (Supreme Bodhi) between thought arising and diminishing,
you will no longer need two objects of focus for your meditation, and just like when you learn to ride a bike
at some point the two extra training wheels come off. Once and a while check in again with the object effort
just to see that you havn't become entranced.
Supreme Bodhi medition is hard work!!
It will be difficult, but it is well worth the effort!