Hi all, especially fellow lovers of meditation controversies!

> >
> > Last month this was posted on another list. It would be good if
> > venerable Sujato could join in the dialogue but I think he said

he is

> > not replying to group emails while on vassa (maybe he can join

in

> > later

I guess i have really 'missed the moment' (khanatita), but now i'm
off vassa and checking the Pali group again.

I have discussed this issue at great length in the past. Here is a
link to some of my writings on the topic, especially 'A Swift Pair
of Messengers' and 'A History of Mindfulness':


http://www.santiforestmonastery.com/writings.htm



For me the issue was deeply personal, as i was introduced to Dhamma
through the Mahasi technique, and cannot ever adequately express my
appreciation for those teachers. But almost straight away i started
reading the Majjhima Nikaya, and could not understand why my
teachers kept talking about all these '~naa.nas', but i couldn't
find them in the suttas, which kept talking about hese 'jhana'
things. This dynamic eventually stimulated a long process of
research and practice.

The only thing i'd like to add is a personal observation, which is
far from original. Leaving aside questions of the exact
interpretation of the texts, or unverifiable claims about teachers
and their attainments, what really strikes me these days as a
meditation teacher is the amount of raw emotional fractures i see in
the people seeking solace through meditation. There's a desperate
need for wholeness of the mind. Probably it's different in
traditional countries, where strong faith and whole, warm families
create emotionally balanced psyches. But the emotional trauma that i
see is just enormous.

One retreat i did it was just a constant stream: a man who had been
HIV positive for 18 years; another who was clinicaly depressed since
age two; a 22 year old dancer who was dumped by a wave and made
quadriplegic; a 40-something doctor who'd had a complete breakdown;
a woman with multiple sclerosis; and on it goes. One thing i learnt:
keep a box of kleenex handy during meditation interviews! I've just
been trying to help an 18 year old guy who's father was an
alcoholic, separated from the mother; the son went to a dozen
schools and dropped out of all of them; he had 12 male lovers by the
age of 14....

For these scarred, suffering people, the best i can do right now is
to try to bring some ease and joy into their minds. Telling them
that life's just suffering is the wrong medicine.

So mostly i encourage people to develop the samatha qualities of
peace and happiness. But if people have already learnt a meditation
technique, i never tell them to change it, unless it seems to be
harmful. There was one woman on a retreat i was teaching who had
been doing Goenka technique for many years, and felt like her
emotions had just been bleached dry. She was desparate, and on the
verge of giving up meditation altogether, so i encouraged her to do
some metta to try to juice her heart up again.

But normally I just try to support whatever practice they are doing.
Only if they ask will i discuss the controversial issues around
meditation, as these hardly help the actual problem.

I hope no-one feels offended, but i really feel like i've said all i
have to say on this issue, and will try to avoid geting drawn into
further discussions, particularly as i will be very busy in the
upcoming period. (I'm off to Singapore and Malaysia in a few days
and will catch up with Piya, Ven Kumara and other Pali groupies).

in Dhamma

bhante Sujato