Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

I[0 Patrick

Kearney

knowledges’,

first

analysed

in the

Visuddhimagga (Path

ofPurificationt.

a

fifth-century

ADteachers'manual

writtenforthemonksoftheMahaviharaol‘

Anuradhapura,

then

capital

ofSri

Lankzi.2Mahasi

Sayudaw

designed

hismethodof

insight

meditationto

guide

the

practitionerthrough

theseIonunas.

culminating

in

muggtI-[Ihala

norm.orm'bharmas

directly

encountered.‘this

experience

turnsthe

practitioner

froman

ordinaryperstin(pulhujjamz)

toa

streamcntcrer

(A‘U’flpaflnfli.

one

who.

having

enteredthestreamof

dhamia.

willnever

again

bebumin

any

ofthelower

realmsandwillattainfinal

awakening

within

sevenlifetimes

(Bodhi

2005:

373—5).

Mahasi

Sayadaw

and his

disciples mapped

the

‘progress

of

insight“by

makingprecise

recordsofthe

experiences

oftheir

studentsand

correlating

these

tothe

literarydescriptions

ofthe"lines.

Therecorded

experiences

of

many

thousandsof

practitioners

createda

phenomenological

databasethatallows

evenan

inexperienced

teachertolistentoa

practitioner‘sreportand.taking

into

accountotherfactorssuchasthe

personality

ufthe

practitioner

andherlevelof

concentration

(samadhi'),

localeher

precisely

withina

specific

norm. l'h .in

tum.influencestheinstructions

given

tothat

particularperson

atthat

particular

time

(Jurdt

2007:

66—9).

The

emphasis

hereisnotonwhatthemeditation

experience

meanstothe

practi-

tioner.but the

quality

oftheirawarenessol‘it

(Jordl

2007:

73).

Ihis

approach

assumesa

great

dealoffaithonthe

part

of

practitioners.

that

they

willbe

willing

towork

extremely

hardto

gothrough

a

process

that

theymay

not

understand.as

wellasthefaithon

the

part

oftheirteachersthatthe

meaning

ol'thcsc

experiences

willberevealed

naturally

overtime.

In

Australia.

most

people

begin

their

insightpractice

withnocultural

background

withinwhich

they

can locatewhat

they

are

doing

andno

prior

commitmentto

Buddhism.Inthese

circumstances.

meaning

becomes

paramount.especially

asthe

encounterwithmeditation

practice

isalien

pan

urabroadersearchfor

meaning

inan

apparentlymeaningless

world.Practitionerswant

tounderstandwhat

they

are

doing.

and

why.

interms

alreadyculturally

familiar.Teachers

are

expected

to

provide

that

meaning.They

havetointroducethecultural

background

tothe

method

,

inother

words.basicBuddhism

—

aswellas

explain

thethree

character-

isticsandtheir

implications

for

the

way

inwhichwelive.

This

brings

metowhereI

standwithinthe

contemporaryinsight

movement.

TrainedinBurma

by

Burmese

teachers. Iknowthatitisneither

possible

nor

desirableto

attempt

a

transplant

of

BurmeseBuddhism.YetIalsoknowthat

the

cultural

strangeness

ofthedharrna

createsthe

temptation

todomesticate

it.

b)

translating

itintosomefamiliar

aspect

of

ourownculture

,

for

example.

as

a

formof

psychotherapy

(see.

for

example.Epstein1995)

orsecularhumanism

(see.

for

example.

Balchelor

I997).

How.

then.

can

insight

be

taught

in

contemporary

Australiaina

way

thatis

relevanttousbutwhichallowsstudents

entry

intothe

aliencultureofBuddhism?

Iseekabalancebetweenthe

Burmese

approach

of

insight

as

purephenom-

enology

andourintuitivesenseof

insight

as

meaning.Emphasizing

the

centrality

of

investigation

as

defining

thenatureof

vipassana

meditation.

1

seekto

convey

Transformation:of

insight

IlI

its

practice

as

an

openenquiry

intothehuman

condition

guidedby

thethemes

of

theBuddha's

teaching.

Howmuchofthis

teaching

isrelevant

toour

culture.

is

something

that

will

only

berevealedover

time

,

andIam

speaking

ofcenturies

ratherthanof

years.

I

begin

with

theBuddha.

My

owncommitment

istounderstmd

andcommu-

nicatetheBuddha's

teaching,

the ‘root'

(mula)

oftheTheravada

,

and

every

other

—

Buddhist

tradition.I

begin

byconveying

ameditation

method

that-makes

clearthefact of

change.

This istheMahasi

methodof

vipassana

meditation,

basedonthe

practice

of

following

themovement

ofawareness

from

primary

to

secondaryobject.

andback

again

(seeSayadaw

l97l).

Thiscultivates

whatthe

Buddhacalls

the

‘perception

of

impermanence‘

(arrived-Sarina).

the

open

door

through

which

insight

enters.This

perception

createsa

space

within which

we

can

pull

back

fromourhabitualstickiness

of

personal

involvement

longenough

to

recognize

andlearntoinhabitaworldno

longer

defined

by

our

normal,

taken-for-

granted

self-reference.

‘ ‘

But

itiscleartomethatitisnot

enoughjust

toteachand

practise

ameditation

technique.

Aswelearnnew

ways

of

perceiving

ourselves

andourworldwe

need

anew

language

withinwhich

they

can

be

conceptualized.

Weneedthe

language

of

the

Buddha.

whichhe

carefullydeveloped

throughout

the 45

years

ofhis

teaching

career.Thisisthesecond

aspect

of

myproject

of

teachinginsight

e

tomake

the

Buddha‘s

languagemy

ownand

communicateit

effectively

toothers,

sothat

it

Canenterourowncultureandbecome

asnaturalto

usasourownreflection

ina

mirror.

_

TheBuddha

provides

a

complete

vocabulary

oftechnicaltermslinked

by

their

places

withina

system

oflists(malika),

which

together

create

a

network

of

meaning(Gethin

1992).These

terms.andtheir

locations

within

the

lists.

provide

reference

points

thatenable

usto

recognizespecific

experiences

thatwe

stumbleinto

during

thecourseofour

practice

,

and

tolocatetheminthe

broader

network.An

eXperience

can

be

placed

Withina

contextthat

gives

it

meaning.

In

brief.

welearntoreadtext

and

experience

against

tint:another.

Gradually.

we

findourselves

seeing

and

inhabiting

thesame

landscape

asthat

mapped

by

the

Buddha.

Notes

1

During

thevassa(rainsretreat)

of

1987 Iwasabhikkhu

under

UPanditaatMahasi

Thalana

Yeiktha,

andwitnessed

his

attempt

to

change

the

way

inwhichfoodwas

offered

tothebhikkhusintheYciktha‘s

dining

hall.TheBuddha

Sasana

Nuggaha[\ch

ignored

hisadviceanditbecamc

cleartohismonastic

studentsthataconflicthad

brokenout

betweenthem.

‘ _

‘ _

SecBhikkhu

Nanamoli

(1975:

inxxviii)

foranintroduction

toandlocationofthis

text.

‘

3 Whilethe

concept

ofnibbann

isusedinvarious

ways.

itissometimes

spoken

of

Inthe

early

Inditionasarealexistent

thatcanbeknown

by

themind.Foradiscussion.

see

Collins

t

I998:

I63—77),

.

' >

4 ThetitleoI'abookin

whichMahasi

Sayadaw([985)gives

a

summary

oflheI6

insight

knowledges.

is