Meditatoin

What I had learned and experienced in Meditatoin
Getting a degree or MSC or PHD is not enough as a human being because we can’t stop suffering, sadness, illnesses, death and etc. So there should be some other way to reduce suffering and to gain real happiness. Mind development is the only way to the real success which can’t get from a university degree. Meditation is the best practice to the mind development. So meditation as a June term module is a good start to develop our minds.
I did meditation in our school time and in Sunday school but not such a long time as our meditation module. I used to meditate at home before coming university, but it was difficult to find a free time to meditate after entering the university as we were very busy with our works. So this was a good chance for me to remind and continue further. In the first day of our practical session we got to learn about the correct posture (Padmasana) of meditation but it was difficult for me to follow that posture in first day so I used the normal posture (Eraminiya) to meditate. We got a cushion and a pillow to sit as it took a long time to meditate and to reduce pain. After few days I could follow the correct posture a longer time.
Mind development is based on two parts called Samadi and Panna. How to control our mind is called Samadi and Panna is the Wisdom. Wisdom and Samadi are two different things and no co-relation in between but helps each others. In Samadi, we can reduce the anger or aversion and the attachment and Lack of Wisdom (mohaya) can be reduced using Panna. We did Anapanasathi meditation to develop Samadi and it helped me to control and concentrate our minds very easily.
In Anapanasathi meditation I concentrated my whole mind to inspiration and expiration. We sit so that we couldn’t hear our neighbors’ sounds as it would disturb to the concentration. When I was inspiring the air touched with my nostrils so I concentrated on that point. So it was easier for me to concentrate further. Sometimes my mind was wandering here and there while I was meditating. In such a case I concentrate again to inspiration and expiration deliberately. At the beginning of this module we meditated only about 10 minutes but we were able to increase that up to 30 minutes by the end of this module. So I think that will be very helpful for our studied too.
Walking meditation was the next step of developing Samadi. It is also somewhat similar to the Anapanasathi meditation. All of us were lined so that there were many spaces among each other. Then
*At first, eyes are closed and hands are released. Then the whole body is scanned from top to the bottom.
*Then, eyes are opened and hands are kept in front before walking.
*Then concentrate on breath while walking. Lift up your right leg while inspiring and put down it while expiring. Then to the left leg and do it further and further again.
*your mind began to wander while walking, again start to concentrate on breath.

We did this walking meditation in every practical day about 10 to 15 minutes. Although it was difficult for me to concentrate on breath with waling at the beginning I could do that later.
The other way of developing Samadi was the metta meditation. The anger or aversion can be reduced using this meditation as it gives the loving-kindness even to our enemies so it can reduce the anger or aversion. Metta meditation starts from me and then it spreads loving-kindness among our family members, teachers, relatives, and friends and even among enemies. The steps of doing metta meditation are as follows. At first, sit in any easy posture so that the pain is minimal and Keep your right hand on top of the left hand. Then try to imagine as follows from myself and then towards the world.
*May I be free from suffering…?
*May I be free from sorrow…?
*May I be free from illness....?
*May I be free from death…?
*May my parents be free from suffering ……?
*May my parents be free from sorrow….? etc.
It’s easy to start metta meditation from myself as I love me more than any other things in the world.
All three meditation methods (anapanasathi, walking and metta) as mentioned before are under the development of Samadhi. There are 8 samadi levels called Dayana or Jana that we can gain from meditation. Eight levels of dyana or Ashtasamapaththi can be divided in to two groups called 4 Rupawachara jana (where both body and mind is there) and Arupawachara jana (where only mind is there). That means with the development of Samadi we began to feel the lightness (free from body weight) as in Arupawachara jana.
Development of wisdom is the other part and we tried to do it in Vipassana meditation. If you have Samadi, It’s easy to develop panna as panna and samadi helps each other although there is no co-relation in between them as mentioned above.
In vipassana, we follow the same posture as metta meditation. Then remove all the body parts one by one and put them in-front of me and think about our body as follows.
*At first remove your head hair and keep in-front of you.
*Then remove your teeth and keep in-front of you.
*Then remove nails, remove the skin and keep them aside.
*Then remove your vessels and muscles and keep them aside.
*Then remove bones and all blood and other liquids one by one and keep them aside.
With the time we get to know that our body is nothing but a collection of various impermanent things and we are out of control of our own body. So there is nothing belonging to us as we can’t stop getting illness and we can’t stop sorrow etc. So, no point in attaching to those impermanent things as there are not real. We are like robots with remote controls which are given to others because others can make me sad, others can make me angry, others can make me happy. Developing wisdom is the only way to get rid of this and get the remote to our hands.
We also have sensors as robots. We get sensation from those five sensors. Sensors are not enough to get sensation there should be an object also. But even a dead body has sensors and objects but it doesn’t have sensations because the consciousness is not there. So, all three things should be there to get a sensation. For example, in act of scene all three things called eye, object in the visible range and the eye consciousness should be there unless there is no eye sensations. Sensation is the reason for good or bad feelings (suka or dukka wedana). And those feelings are the only reason for desire (Thanhawa) and then go to the more desire (Upadana). All five sensors called eye, nose, skin, tongue and ear have objects like color or shape, smell, touch, taste and sound respectively. Those five sensors have five consciousnesses too. Mind is the most powerful thing among them as all the consciousnesses are relevant to the mind.