Chapter 14
Meditation in Daily Life

Brothers and sisters in the Dhamma; those who are interested in the meditation practice.

Today, I am glad to have an opportunity to lecture on the practice of meditation or mind development in Buddhism to you, Buddhist delegates and observers from various Buddhist regional centers all over the world, who have come to Thailand to join the 30^th Anniversary of the WFB and the 13^th General Conference of this Buddhist organization. On the occasion of your coming to practice Buddhist meditation in this temple, which is major Buddhist meditation center in Thailand, today I would like to talk to all of you about meditation in daily life.

Venerables, ladies and gentlemen, as we have studied the Buddha’s teaching, we know that the development of mind by way of meditation consists of two kinds, that is, Tranquillity Meditation and Insight Meditation. And how much these two kinds of meditation can bring value or happiness to meditators and to others depends on three factors. They are:

 1. Understanding the right method of practicing these two kinds of meditation,

Before bringing meditation into practice in daily life, we must study the theory of Buddhist meditation until we know well the methods of meditation practice and then bring them into practice every day, in the same way as the athlete exercises to build up his strength. The athlete obtains benefits from game playing to be used for himself and for others when he knows well the way of the game and trains himself accordingly. Because, if we do not know the way of practice of meditation or even if we do know it well but do not always practice it, then it cannot bring great fruit. Sometimes, it can’t bring any fruit to us even though we try to bring it into practice. So it is not sufficient to apply oneself only to the theoretical knowledge of Buddhism. The realization of the Buddha’s teachings in daily life is essential.

Sila or Morality is the Firm Foundation of Meditation Practice.

One who can apply meditation in daily life with good benefit must observe Sila (moral precepts), of which there must be at least five precepts for lay people, because Sila or morality is the firm foundation of Buddhist meditation. Without Sila one cannot proceed to a highest level of practice in Buddhism, that is, meditation. So we realize that observing five precepts, which is a primary duty of meditation practice, can bring a great deal of benefit or value to meditators and to society as a whole.

It is obvious that most of the trouble, decline, and suffering of the world at present are caused by the lack of morality of people, which is the lack of observance of the five precepts. But these five precepts can exist in the mind of an aspirant for a long time only if the aspirant sees the danger of the lack of morality and realizes the advantage of its observance, along with the understanding of the way of observing it. That is to say, if anyone of the five precepts is violated or destroyed, it can be observed once again by oneself. In this way, we can observe the five precepts as a firm foundation of meditation practice for the rest of our lives. By doing so, we shall not waste our opportunity of having met Buddhism in this life.

What kind of Meditation can be applied in daily life?

Out of all the kinds of meditation in Buddhism, mindfulness of breathing or Anapanasati as it is called in Pali is a kind that can be practiced in both the fields of Tranquillity Meditation and Insight Meditation. It is easily practiced and is very popular in Thailand. Besides, it can be used in every posture, that is, standing, sitting, walking, or lying. When sitting on the chair, in a bus, in a train, or even in an airplane, we can contemplate our breathing. In this way, we free our minds from mental hindrances or distractions until they are calm and quiet, even if only for a few minutes. This yields energy, peace, and refreshment to the body and mind, permitting us to go on with our daily duties with more safety and efficiency than before.

The following are examples of some Thai Buddhists who have applied meditation in their daily lives.

The first one of whom I know is the late Ven. Somdet Phra Mahaviravong (Tissamahathera) of Wat Boromnivas in Bangkok, formerly a distinguished senior monk of the Thai Sangha. He was the lord abbot of the temple and was respected by many Buddhists throughout the Thai Kingdom. For this reason, he had many duties to perform in his daily life.

For example, one day he accepted some of his close Buddhist followers into his residence. While talking with them, he felt tired and sleepy because of a lack of rest on that day, so he asked them to wait for a few minutes. He then took a rest, while sitting there in front of his guests, by developing meditation on mindfulness of breathing for ten minutes. After that he continued to talk and discuss the Dhamma with his guests with renewed strength. I myself often use this method of meditation practice when I feel tired from my daily work because it provides strong power for the mind and the body, just like recharging a battery.

The second Buddhist who has received benefits from his daily practice of meditation is Ven. Phra Debasiddhimuni, the Insight Meditation teacher of Wat Mahadhatu in Bangkok. He told me that because of his practice of meditation every day he has good health, good memory, and works more efficiently than ever before.

For example, within one day he would sometimes give 12 sermons in various places, some of which ran well into the evening. On one Saturday when I went to meet him at his residence at Wat Mahadhatu at about 9 p.m., I heard him giving the eighth sermon of that day to about 50 Buddhists in his residence. After that he taught Insight Meditation to another group of Buddhists and then discussed the way of meditation practice and other subjects concerning Buddhism with me for about 40 minutes. Although he has worked hard like this almost everyday, he remains active and fresh and talks with a smiling face. This is because he retains the value of meditation used in his daily life.

The third example of one who uses meditation in his life is Mr. Phuag or Pratip Dhammavongphol of Chantaburi province which is about 300 kilometers east of Bangkok. He is a devoted Buddhist and has practiced meditation for more than 20 years. He is about sixty years old and is a follower of Ven. Phra Achan Somchai Thitaviriyo of Wat Khao Sukim, Chantaburi province, who is a well-known meditation teacher in the eastern part of Thailand. I have instructed the student monks of the fourth year undergraduate class of Mahamakut Buddhist University in Bangkok in the practice of meditation at Wat Khao Sukim, a forest temple, for 15 days each year from 1974 up to the present. Therefore, I know Mr. Phuag well because I have had many opportunities to discuss Buddhism and meditation practice with him.

Mr. Phuag related to me that he has obtained many advantages from his meditation practice, one of which is the ability to use meditation to cure illness efficiently. Whenever he is attacked by cardiopathy which causes him great pain, he sits down and practices mindfulness of breathing until his mind becomes calm and his body is bathed by the light from within. Then the illness disappears from his body. He also said that the more severe the illness, the faster he enters into concentration, that is, he can quickly make his mind both quiet and strong. He cures his illness by way of meditation, without taking medicine, each time he is attacked by cardiopathy or heart disease. This is a good example of a Buddhist who applies meditation to his daily life.

Loving-kindness, Helping sick persons

Another form of meditation which can be used in daily life is loving-kindness meditation. This form of meditation is one that most Buddhists use in their daily lives because it brings happiness and peace to the aspirants themselves and to all beings in the world as a whole. It is because of loving-kindness that Buddhism is called the religion of non-violence; that is why there is not a single example of persecution or the shedding of a drop of blood in converting into Buddhism or in its propagation during its long history of more than 2500 years. Indeed, violence in any form or under any pretext whatsoever is absolutely prohibited by the teaching of the Buddha.

One of the special benefits of the development of loving-kindness is that it can be used to help the sick. To verify this fact, an example from a distinguished meditation teacher from the northeast of Thailand follows.

In June of 1980, I had an opportunity to meet with Ven. Phra Achan Sai of Ubol Rajathani province. He is one of the great meditation teachers from the northeast of Thailand and he has 20 different forest meditation temples under his care. He is about 70 years old and lives in a forest temple near his village, not far from the town of Ubol Rajathani. He is also an intimate friend of Ven. Phra Achan Cha, another well-known meditation master of Wat Nong Pa Pong in the same province.

At our meeting, we talked about the way of meditation practice. At that time I asked him about the power of loving-kindness, “Reverend Sir, my teacher told me that one can extend one’s loving-kindness to help the sick to recover from illness. Is this truly possible?” He answered, “It is possible and true. It has happened to me, myself.” Then he explained, “When I was a young monk practicing meditation in the forest alone with another monk who was my intimate friend, we agreed that we would help each other if either of us was in trouble some day. I became very sick from malaria. As I was lying in my shelter, my friend sat near me spreading his loving-kindness to me. At that time, I felt as if my friend was sitting in my heart until I had a feeling of bliss and buoyancy. When I awoke, my sickness had disappeared entirely. It was marvelous.” And then he said that at the end of each of his meditation practices, he extends his loving-kindness to his parents and to all other beings. This is another good example of one who applies meditation in his daily life.

A perfect meditator is always mindful.

The practice of meditation can make a meditator mindful in all actions. That is, one maintains mindfulness in walking, standing, sitting, speaking, eating, working, being silent, driving, lying down, and so on. In this way, one attains more and more clear comprehension and mindfulness, producing better benefits in performing the duties in his daily life. For example, one works more efficiently in daily life and seldom makes mistakes in doing work. In addition, meditation is used to stop the power of mental defilements that will damage one’s mind. However, in training the mind to be always mindful, it is advised by some meditation masters that in the beginning one must not hurry. One must perform meditation quite slowly and calmly because mindfulness doesn’t chase after the racing mind.

The advantages of walking meditation.

Of the methods of meditation practice in daily life, Walking meditation is excellent because it makes the mind reach full concentration and also produces good health for the meditator. Walking meditation is walking up and down a fixed path with mindfulness. While walking, one contemplates one of the many meditation objects such as the virtues of the Triple Gem, the 32 parts of the body, the recollection on death, the development of nama (name) and rupa (form), and so forth. The meditator usually practices Walking meditation alternated with Sitting meditation. Usually one walks for half an hour and then sits for half an hour, or one can walk for an hour and then sit for an hour, etc.

The Buddha referred to the advantages of Walking meditation in the Pancakanipata, Anguttaranikayas, saying that there are five advantages to be obtained from Walking meditation. The five are:

 1. To be patient in walking a long journey,

periods of time.

So Walking meditation is very useful for both the mind and the body. This is why physicians in modern times advise us to walk in the morning for health. Walking meditation not only gives power to the body and the mind but also is very useful in daily life. Other kinds of Buddhist meditation, such as Insight Meditation, can also be put into practice in our daily lives if we know the ways of practicing them. Unfortunately, I cannot explain them to you today because we have a limited amount of time.

The method of practicing the Mindfulness of Breathing.

One of your main purposes in coming here today is to learn about and to practice meditation. So now I would like to talk about a method of meditation practice which is most popular in Thailand, that is, Mindfulness of Breathing or Anapanasati, as it is called in Pali. Before practicing this kind of meditation you should prepare yourself as follows:

 1. Recollect the virtues of the Triple Gem,

past or the future.

After preparation you should sit down cross-legged, holding the body erect, and making mindfulness alert and firm. If sitting down in the crossed-legged posture is not comfortable, you may use another posture or sit on a chair, but the body must be held erect. Next, close the eyes to prevent wandering of the mind to other objects and then focus the mind on the breathing. According to the Buddha’s teachings, one should do this as follows:

 1. Breathing in long, one knows: “I am breathing in long.”

Breathing out short, one knows: “I am breathing out short.”

3. “Experiencing the whole process of breathing, I shall breathe in.”

: thus one trains oneself. “Experiencing the whole process

breathe out.” : thus one trains oneself.

In the practice of this kind of meditation it is suggested that one should not force the act of breathing but let it proceed at its natural pace. One may say mentally some kinds of mantra, such as “Buddho” to prevent the mind being distracted, for example, when breathing in, one says mentally, “Bud” and breathing out, one says mentally “Dho”, or breathing in, one says, “Rising” and breathing out, one says “Falling”. If one contemplates only the breathing without using any kind of mantra as mentioned in Sutra, one can do as well.

The Advantages of Mindfulness of Breathing.

If one trains one's mind by the method of meditation as mentioned above and always practices it, he can get the benefits of his practice of meditation certainly, especially happiness and peacefulness in his daily life. So the Buddha described the advantages of mindfulness of breathing in Mahavagga of Samyuttanikaya,

“Monks, this concentration on mindfulness of breathing, being cultivated and much practiced, leads to the peaceful, the sublime, the cool, and the bliss. At once it causes every evil thought to disappear and tranquillizes the mind.”

Now it is time to bring this talk to a conclusion. May all of you be happy and progressive in the teaching of the Buddha.

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