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10 EASTERN HORIZON | FACE TO FACE

aspects of Dhamma: the Five Mental Hindrances, the necessary. A daily routine is important, and attending
Five Aggregates, the Six Sense Bases, the Seven Factors short retreats to familiarize oneself with the practice
Of Enlightenment, and the Four Noble Truths). will be useful.
The cultivation of mindfulness helps us to translate our
bookish knowledge or conceptual understanding into Should any doubt, fear or anxiety arise one should
experiential knowledge. pause and seek guidance. If proper guidance is not
available, one should not try to venture too far. As one
With proper guidance, the practice of Mindfulness dwells deeper into practice more cleansing will take
Meditation will lead to the development of mental place with the clearing of stuck energies or emotional
absorptions (Jhānas) and insight into the true nature blockages. This could sometimes be rather unpleasant.
of one’s ‘self’. It is also an effective tool for silencing of Moreover, as one’s practice progresses, one will become
the mind in order to break the habitual tendency of the more aware and sensitive to one’s surroundings. Hence
mind to create thoughts. It is this habitual tendency the need for proper guidance.
of thinking and rethinking that generates karma and
craving, resulting in the continuous cycle of birth, old A serious practitioner should always look out for an
age, sickness and death. authentic teacher to provide guidance. How do we find
one? Just be truthful and sincere. There is a saying that
Craving or the grasping of desire is the cause of when a student is ready the teacher appears. Personal
suffering. It is a force that drives us to get what we want. guidance is essential as one gets deeper into the
When we satisfy our desire, we are happy, but what we practice. A genuine and sincere student in the quest of
do not realize is that we have added more fuel to this truth will naturally receive the blessings, guidance and
driving force. That is why our craving becomes even protection of the Triple Gem, namely, the Buddha, the
stronger. Dhamma and the Saṅgha

With the silencing of our mind through mindfulness, we What is meant by realization of the Dhamma? Are
can effectively reduce the tendency of craving, thereby there different levels of realization, and how do we
reducing and eventually putting an end to suffering. know we have realized the true Dhamma rather
We are fortunate to live at a time when there are still than mere hallucination?
living masters who are able to provide proper guidance
on the development of the Four Foundations of Realization of the Dhamma is the realization of the
Mindfulness, to attain to the path and fruition leading to Truth, the knowledge that enables us to transcend birth,
the realization of Nibbāna. old age, sickness and death. It is also the realization of
the true nature of our ‘self’ and the world around us.
How do we know we are practicing meditation Such realization is always accompanied with a sense of
correctly, especially if we do not have the benefit of joy and bliss.
a teacher with us most of the time?

The experience of the bliss of Nibbāna is beyond words,
The taste of Dhamma is the taste of peace. So the rule as words are mere symbols or concepts used to describe
of thumb for one who practices meditation correctly worldly objects or phenomena. Nibbāna is experienced
would be the experience of peaceful states of mind. when the mind transcends all sensory perceptions and
With regular and prolonged practice certain changes becomes totally unconditioned. It is beyond thoughts
or transformation will take place. The tendencies of – the complete cessation of the tendencies of grasping,
grasping, anger and delusion will be reduced. aversion and delusion.

In the early stages there will be hurdles and obstacles There are different levels of realization depending on
to clear. So patience, endurance and perseverance are the sharpness and clarity of our minds and how deeply