Cittasubho

Etymology

“Maha” means “great”. “Sati” means “awareness.”

Mahasati Meditation in a nutshell

· As the Buddha said, “Everything is in the mind.” Heaven is in the mind. Hell is in the mind.
· Thought itself is not suffering.
· Suffering arises because we do not see thought.
· The true essence of Truth is latent in everyone without exception, regardless of nationality, religion, sex or age.
· One cultivates self-awareness by being aware of bodily movements and the movement of the mind.
· In this method, don't stay still, don't close your eyes, just be natural. Closing your eyes and ears is not natural.
· Technique is practical and natural.
· If technique is performed correctly, one can see, know and understand the Truth as Buddha did.
· If one practices correctly and continuously, Insight will arise putting and end to Suffering.
· If you have no time for the formal practice, you can also cultivate our self-awareness by being aware of all your actions.
· There is no concern with rituals and Scriptures.
· Technique is simple, but true.

Practice of Mahasati Meditation

Mahasati Meditation: a short-cut to cultivate self-awareness. In today's complex and hectic world, meditation is playing a more and more important role for those who seek psychological well-being and balance. Many teachers, mostly from the East, provide many different forms of meditation. Some teachers use breath-counting and breath-concentration. Others teach concentration on a mantra or a koan. Some tell their students to visualize a religious image or some form of light or color. These methods all share the same central theme - the concentration of the mind.

Luangpor Teean Jittasubho, an important teacher in the world of Thai Buddhism, introduced a new way of looking at and practicing meditation - Mahasati Meditation. He taught that meditation is the art of seeing things as they are with awareness and wisdom. Usually we see the world and everything around us through the filter of our concepts or thoughts and through our mental images which we have collected in our daily life since childhood. Thus, these thought are both the source of human activity and human suffering. Thought is, for Luangpor Teean, the source of greed, anger and delusion.

Luangpor Teean said that we cannot simply suppress greed, anger, and delusion by keeping moral precepts, nor can we suppress them by maintaining calmness through some form of meditation based on concentration. Though these activities are useful to some extent, we need to go to the root of suffering: to let awareness see through and break through. When we see things as they are, outside of thought, the mind changes its qualities completely. At the very moment of awareness, the mind immediately becomes active, clear, and pure. With this active, clear, and pure mind we will realize the law of nature and the freedom of life. And then, we will be free from suffering.

Mahasati Meditation is a form of moving meditation. In Mahasati Meditation the practitioner moves rhythmically with their awareness open to the movement of body and mind. The movements are simple and repetitious, yet Mahasati Meditation is a powerful, deep, and advanced method for self-realization.

Periods of sitting mediation alternate with walking meditation. There is complete flexibility in the amount of time spent on each posture. Even when practicing as part of a group each meditator is free to sit or walk as they so wish.

The aim of Mahasati Meditation is to attain direct insight into one's self-freedom from pain and suffering, and to attain a healthy mind, one that is stable and wise. This healthy mind benefits not only the practitioner, but is also a beneficial influence on the practitioner's surroundings, including those who are close to him/her, and to society in general.

Basic Movements

1. Rest the hands palm down on the thighs.
2. Turn the right hand onto its edge, be aware; do it slowly, then stop. Do not say to yourself “turn the right hand”, being aware is enough.
3. Raise the right hand up, be aware, and then stop.
4. Lower the right hand to rest on the abdomen, be aware, and then stop.
5. Turn the left hand onto its edge, be aware, and then stop.
6. Raise the left hand up, be aware, and then stop.
7. Lower the left hand to rest on the right hand, be aware, and then stop.
8. Move the right hand up to rest on the chest, be aware, and then stop.
9. Move the right hand out, be aware, and then stop.
10. Lower the right hand onto its edge on the thigh be aware, then stop.
11. Face the right palm down, be aware, and then stop.
12. Move the left hand up to rest on the chest, be aware, and then stop.
13. Move the left hand out, be aware, and then stop.
14. Lower the left hand onto its edge on the thigh is aware, and then stop.
15. Face the left palm down, be aware, and then stop.

Quotes

One is one's own shelter

"You should not believe what I have said, but prove it for yourself. If anyone just believes me, that's wrong. Change your mind - don't just believe. Prove it with yourself and thoroughly understand it - then believe. Otherwise, whom should we believe? The Buddha? Don't even believe in the Buddha or teachers. We must believe in ourselves. The Buddha taught us we will be our own refuge. The Buddha said 'attahi-attano-nato' - "One is one's own shelter." Since most people have no shelter, they turn to something else which prevents them from finding the real shelter."
Luangpor Thong Abhakaro

The rat (thought) is bigger and stronger than the kitten (awareness)
Generally, when thought arises, the mind will be dragged along like a kitten trying to catch a big rat. The rat (thought) is bigger and stronger than the kitten (awareness). When the rat shows up, the kitten, by nature, will catch the rat. The rat is frightened and runs away with the kitten holding on. After a while the kitten becomes tired and let the rat go. Similarly, thoughts will arise endlessly and stop by themselves.

As we cultivate self-awareness more and more, it is like we keep feeding a kitten until it becomes a big, strong cat. When thought arises, the mind will not be dragged along and thought will stop immediately.
Luangpor Teean Jittasubho

Bibliography and further reading

Luangpor Thong Abhakaro, Beyond Text, Beyond Scriptures
Anchalee Thaiyanond, Against the Stream: The Teaching of Luangpor Teean. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press., 1986
Luangpor Teean, To One that Feels. Bangkok: Supa Printing Co, Ltd., 3rd Ed 2005, ISBN: 974-94394-3-0
_____________, Normality, Bangkok: Luangpor Teean Foundation, 2004
_____________, Nibbana, Bangkok: Medchai Printing House, 2006 (Thai Version)
_____________, A Manual of Self-Awareness, Bangkok: Luangpor Teean Foundation, 1994
_____________, Teacher, teaching, Bangkok: Luangpor Teean Foundation, 1997, ISBN: 974-89976-1-8

External links

| Luangpor Teean Web page http://www.luangporteean.com/
| Buddhist Association of the United States http://www.baus.org/sati/luangpor_teean.htm
| Vipassana Meditation http://vipassanayanika.wordpress.com/

Official websites

| Mahasati Meditation of America http://www.mahasati.org/
| Mahasati Meditation of Taiwan http://www.mahasati.org.tw/xoops/index.php

Media

| Mahasati Meditation Video Demonstration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOcIhTOJQjo
| Basic Mahasati Meditation Bodily Movements http://www.mahasati.org/video2.htm

References

(1) http://www.buddhanet.net/wbd/search.php?country_id=53&province_id=0&offset=50
(2) http://www.baus.org/sati/to_one_that_feels.htm
(3) http://www.wb-university.org/?do=shownews&banid=2&newid=28
(4) http://www.balv.org/oc/article_showall.asp?cat_id=13&parent_id=7&parent_name=Buddhism&sub_name=Mahasati+Meditation