Ram's Message - Whispered Teachings, 20th January 08
Iwould like to just remind you of, or introduce you to certain factors, the presence of which ensure or indicate the correct approach for success in this work.
The first is initial application. If this is the first time you have come to a Whispered Teachings meeting, then you have initial application. You have generated an effort and directed in the right way to at least attend the meeting.
Those of you who have previously attended and who have embarked on the course of the seeker, will have already deployed your initial application. Initial application is common to all of you - each of you has found this factor, either to bring you here today for the first time, or to have brought you to this work before.
So each of us has to find the initial application and without it no conscious process can begin. To cook lunch, you have to enter the kitchen, you have to begin the process.
That initial application, in order to lead to absorption or union, requires sustained application. Already, this is an area where it is easy to see how we fall behind, or fall back. Once we have entered the kitchen, with our idea and wish to prepare a meal, we might immediately face the obstacle that the washing up from a previous meal has not been done, or any number of other obstacles.
Without sustained application we fall easily into distraction, away from the path and far from union. The energy of initial application brought us into a process and that process then requires that the application is sustained, whatever the obstacles.
Much of the work that we might undertake together in the future, and much of the work that has been undertaken with those who have gathered before in this course, concerns developing and maintaining vicara [pronounced vichara], the Pali/Sanskrit word for sustained application. It is a factor that is often emphasised because it is recognised as being a very important ingredient. It’s the mental, physical and emotional stamina to keep going, especially in the face of doubt.
One of the important qualities that distinguishes vicara from stamina is that doubt is inhibited. Doubt is distracting and an unchecked will divert us time and again away from truly knowing and seeing. When you truly know and see, you understand that doubt is just the arising of the mind without wisdom.
So vicara implies not only the sustained energy and stamina, but also a provisional dispeller of doubt until real wisdom arises in the mind in which case there is no doubt to inhibit and thus no need for vicara to be present.
The best way I have found of distinguishing it is that pitti is like the delight a weary traveller experiences when coming across an oasis; sukha the pleasure in bathing and drinking.
After initial and sustained application, there arises what is best translated at this stage as ‘zest’. Now that zest has a very special quality and import. It is like a spice in a stew or the flavour of a lemon in a meringue. It is not the whole body of the dish but it is something that offers a very particular flavour. The sanskrit word that is used is pitti [pronounced like pity]. The direct translation is rapture but for most of us that is too strong. If we look for rapture we might get distracted, so I think that zest is more appropriate at this stage because it also implies a certain quality more like energy than enjoyment.
The thing about zest is that it produces a certain quality or sensation that lead you on further. In addition to the vicara which has sustained the effort, this arisng of pitti may even cause you to work harder and move more directly. When pitti is present, you will know because you automatically take pleasurable interest in your path, in your work. It is not the same as taking pleasure in a walk or in building a log cabin in the woods.
Such ideas can help you come to an understanding of pitti. If you enjoy building a log cabin, you have zest for it. But can you have that same zest when you are undertaking tasks that do not fit into the usual category of pleasurable pursuits?
This is a quality that takes time to arrive and most usually it is associated with the taking of pleasure in a object of concentration in meditation. If you do not take pleasure in meditation then you will find it difficult to get beyond a certain level. But remember, it is not the same pleasure that we get from ordinarily pleasurable things. it is not something that you cultivate directly, it is a by-product of your work to encourage you to continue your work, yet, it is something that will arise if you apply youreself and it is this sensation of pitti which really can propel you beyond what you imagine possible now.
One of the subtle tasks undertaken in delivering the Whispered Teachings is to allow you the opportunity to generate this zest and to recognise the possibility of it being present in circumstances where you might not have thought it possible.
The next factor arises quite proximate to pitti, but not necessarily at the same time. It is best described as happiness. It is different to ordinary pleasure. This is a quality that when it is present, overcomes restlessness and worry. While pitti belongs to the aggregate of the mental, sukha, happiness, belongs to the aggregate of feeling. The best way I have found of distinguishing it is that pitti is like the delight a weary traveller experiences when coming across an oasis; sukha the pleasure in bathing and drinking.
Whatever you do externally, internally you can still dedicate your attention to the path. That is the fourth way.
Sukha generates sensation more directly in the feelings rather than in the mental aspect. When the two are present, not only does the mind become harmonious, but also the feelings.
The last characteristic is one pointedness. This, like the other factors is very specific, but we can make use of the understanding that accompanies one pointedness supported by the other factors.
One pointednesss, or ekaggatta, means that you very closely study and immerse yourself in the path, in the work. This final factor must be present – how else can we immerse ourselves in the way? We let everything else fall away. And once immersed we find the Truth.
The counterpart to one poiuntedness is dispersion. If you are dispersed with your attention here and there your work becomes only occassional. One thing you must remember is that without immersion there can be no real union. Imagining the meal is not the same as eating it.
Whatever you do externally, internally you can still dedicate your attention to the path. That is the fourth way.
It’s rare that we can find the way without struggle, without confronting our pain and without releasing our attachment. It takes courage and I wish that you all find that courage in sufficient measure to come out of suffering and find deep peace in the tranquility that accompanies union. Welcome to the whispered teachings.Find out more about the next Whispered Teachings Gathering in London
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