In February Kusal Ariyawansa (aka
Ari) talked to the Stockport group about Meditation and Destiny.
Ari originally came
from Sri Lanka where he grew up in a traditional village with a
temple at its centre, where people offered flowers and said prayers
on a daily basis. Once he was living in the UK someone suggested that
he go on a meditation retreat.
The retreat involved
waking at 4 am to start meditating in the lotus position from 4.30 to
8.00 am. Breakfast was from 8 to 9 am during which they were taught
rules such as abstaining from killing, from lying and from alcohol.
Further meditation was from 9 to 11 am. Lunch was from 11am until
noon but they weren’t allowed to speak. Meditation from 1 pm to 4
pm was followed by drink and food then more meditation from 6 to 8
pm. By day 6 he was having psychotic episodes with flashbacks to
previous scenarios. He also experienced a great desire to sort out
injustice and put the world to rights.
After a brief life
history of Buddha, Ari went on to talk about Dhamma, the path to
liberation. This can be considered non-sectarian for all faiths where
liberation means freedom from impurities in the mind resulting in
freedom from suffering. It is necessary to practice training the mind
persistently, ardently and diligently and each individual has to work
out his own path. It is necessary to abstain from sinful actions and
pious actions can bring harmony.
He discussed a
threefold pathway consisting of Seela (the right morality, involving
no killing, no lies, no stealing, no sexual misconduct and no
toxicants), Samaadhi (the right concentration, involving mental
effort, mental awareness and a wholesome base), and Panna (Wisdom,
listening to, understanding and living the wisdom).
Mind precedes
everything. There are six senses; hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling,
touching and feeling. If one observes rather than reacts to
sensations (e.g. ignoring an itch), there can be changes to patterns
of mind at the deepest level.
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