Do Buddhists meditate to “reach God through silence”?

An Eternal Now SG

A dharma friend an ex moderator of this forum shared this through facebook.

http://buddhavacana.net/2012/01/10/do-buddhist-...

Do Buddhists meditate to “reach God through silence”?
BY SHI CHUANGUAN, ON 10TH JANUARY, 2012

This morning started off as Tuesdays do for me since 2009 September. My Dharma brother Cheng Soon and I would meet at the Buddhist Library and we would do translation of the Buddhist teachings, from Chinese to English. Today was no different. Except when I read the sms from Sister Theresa Seow about the Straits Times article “Quiet contemplation on common ground” by review editor Chua Mui Hoong.

Over the last weekend (7th & 8th January 2012), representatives from various faiths came together for a seminar on “The Contemplative Dimension of Faith”. The theme and title was “common ground”, representing the contemplative practice (meditation) that is common in many religions.

As I read the article before lunch today, a line grabbed my attention.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=26114

“… they are all engaged in a practice both unique to their tradition, and common to all faiths: reaching God through silence.”

I reread the article and line a few times but did not seem to figure out how that came about. I’ve posted the picture below on my facebook wall to highlight that it is either a misrepresentation or misinterpretation of Buddhist meditation shared during the seminar.

In my article in the handout given during the seminar, I explicitly highlighted that “Buddhists have no belief in a creator God”. This almost did not survive the final edition due to … a space constraint … but made it to print after the organising team managed to resolve it. I’m glad I insisted because even with that clear assertion and my session where I pointed out the clear path, fruits and goal of Buddhist meditation, Ms Chua unfortunately went away from the seminar with the wrong understanding.

Buddhists do not meditate to reach God through silence.

Simply put, Buddhists meditate to cultivate Samadhi (Concentration) and Prajna (Wisdom). This wisdom culminates in Nirvana, i.e. complete Cessation of Suffering, attaining the fruit of Arahanthood or Buddhahood. This is not communion with god/God(s).

There are some Buddhists and moderate theistic persons who may wonder why this monk need to highlight this. After all, isn’t a common ground more meaningful for peace and harmony than picking on the details? As they say, the devil is in the details.

By highlighting this in the handout, talk, on fb and here, I’m clarifying what is and is not Buddhism. If this remains unmentioned, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike may start to think that Buddhists also pray to God, just using different names, when in fact we do not.

Further, by highlighting this here, and especially during Geylang Serai Inter-Racial And Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) and other dialogues in Singapore, I am trying to promote understanding and not mere ‘feel good, we are the world, hands together’ homogenised world religion type of understanding.

Common ground is a very noble and beautiful effort by the Christian community towards interfaith harmony and understanding. Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) and its members supported this seminar precisely because of that. But common ground was not meant to and should not lead to homogenisation. Homogenisation can and I believe has led to the exact opposite: Fundamentalism.

As I mention in numerous talks, Buddhists do not have a belief in God (boys and girls, how many times have I mentioned this? Sunk in yet?), but this does not make theistic believers our enemy nor Buddhists yours. And that is very important moving forward, both in peace and harmony, but also nurturing in-depth understanding amongst faiths.

In parting, I believe that as Sister Theresa communicated to me through sms, Ms Chua was sharing her personal experience in good faith. But I believe it would serve the readers and public better if her sharing reflect what is reality.

EDIT: Updated for formatting and typos.

Update: 10 Jan 2012 3+pm, I sent Ms Chua a fb message pointing to this blog and the fb page. Hope to hear from her.

Update: 10 Jan 2012 9:22pm. Have not heard from Ms Chua as yet. I am sending Sister Theresa and Ms Chua an email (sent around 10:03pm) to help Ms Chua have a better understanding of Buddhist meditation and also to request her to post a correction to the article so that Buddhism do not get unwittingly misrepresented.

Update: 10 Jan 2012 10:07pm Here’s the letter to Sr Theresa Seow and Ms Chua.

simpo_ SG

This should clarify things a bit. Thanks for sharing.

In a paradoxical manner, realised Buddhist practitioners do understand why and know how the idea of God (and even Soul) come about... Along their way on the realisation path, they would have come across transcendental experiences that could easily be identified as God (and even Soul)... BUT in order to move towards deeper level of realisations ... they will have to go beyond these states.

Just a sharing about my personal experience of what the experience of God and Soul are. Certainly nothing definitive .

God experience - This can either be

1. the I AM/Eternal witness experience with no thoughts or

2. the luminosity experience when mind deconstruct. When luminosity is experienced without the understanding/realisation of non-duality, this bright 'light' will be labelled as God. The God experience is the ultimate subject-object division experience.

Soul experience - surprisingly the soul experience is more subtle to experience that the God experience. Haha. This state should be the same as Alaya consciousness.

Soul experience is the subtlest experience where a mental formation is still being registered. It is experienced when the physical mind level activity is suspended. This state is a formless state that have registered all past life experiences of a Being. Because it retained all the past life experiences of a Being... it will be exalted when compared with the physical (gross) mental state. However, an important point to note is that this formless subtle state DO NOT necessarily understand its own empty and no-self nature. To me, the 'soul' state is the original point of cyclical transmigration. If the non-dual and emptiness nature is recognised at this level/state, the 'Being' will be enlightened. If this state is ignorant of its own non-dual and empty nature, it will move into dualistic action believing in the projections. Not written in Buddhist teaching is that the Soul state (in my experience) actually holds the intention of what it attempts to achieve in a particular lifetime. I have personally experienced the 'purpose' of incarnation... however as i have mentioned.. because this formless level of consciousness may not necessarily realise its non-dual and emptiness nature .. it will 'seek action' as a way to resolve what is being perceived as karmic issues.... resulting in transmigration.

The dream state roughly seats between this formless 'soul' state' and physical gross mental state.

For New age guys that talks about recieving guidance from the Soul, many do not actually experience this 'soul' state directly. Rather, they experience projected images and feelings. This so-call 'soul' state is extremely subtle and cannot be experienced when gross mental formations ( such as language and images) are present.

Ultimately... both 'God' and 'soul' experiences are not entities/selfs and are non-dual and empty.

Note: I will not respond to anyone who dispute these understandings unless they themselve have pass beyond non-dual and emptiness phases.

Fugazzi SG

Muse over this and :

Can the sun be expereinced cos of one having a belief? There is no need, one simply knows. In that knowing what is there to believe. does a non-believer miss the sun? Does believing or not believing negate the existence of the sun?

Ignorance belies beleifs! Holding onto beliefs blindly and never questioning them is akin to sheep bleating away. It is the lack of understanding and the fear of being found (that one’s beliefs may not hold up to the fire of reality) out that one knows not. simply parroting scriptures and repeating what could have an existential expereince for another is pretension and being blind to one’s ignorance. A beleif that is held onto not out of one’s love, not out of one’s knowing, not out of one’s knowing or experience – means this – that belief is out of one’s fear.

How to believe in something that one has never expereinced for oneself? To say that i dont know and I am willing to find out and explore before I believe is intelligence. Being receptive, being open to …. is intelligence. Stupidity, is to deny that and simply quote others and …. this is bondage! Whether one is an atheist or non-atheist – both are still beliefs/believers – it is closed book, finished and what is there to find out. One has already concluded what should be the end. One will never meet God and if one were to utter that i meet god”” – one is also real and so is god. In other words, there are two realities, not one. Is there such a thing as two realities? How can a omnipresence, a being have two realities? Reality is ’’self’‘-effulgence. One cannot come across god, one can come across godliness (aka a fragrance of one’s being …..?) – a process that never ends. Can the latter be objectified?

Hence I say this – when one is being present to one’s being …, one is being present to another’s being … – a communion (two emptinesses, can it be counted as two?) However, when one is present to one’s self one can only be present to another’s self (this are two persons cannot become ’’emptinesses’).
When one is ’’knowing’’, when one is ’’being’’ … when one is ’’loving’’ – this is being real.

reborn76 SG

I think most religion in the world practise, Meditation in one way or another. Buddhist meditate by watching our breathe or chanting a mantra. Christian meditate by reflecting on God's words or names. As Steven Convey, has said, "Begin with a end in mind." The ultimate purpose of each religion varies at the end. To a Buddhist, it is about developing Concentration and ultimately Wisdom. To a Christian, it is to let go of oneself and being in one with God.

Hence, meditation is not an exclusive method developed by Buddha. It is a method used by various non Buddhist ascetic in his time. However, he learn it and make further improvement on it to recommending the middle path and eightfold path. That's make, the whole lot difference in term of the Buddhist and non Buddhist goals and objectives.

However, the great things is people like Thomas Merton, who discover the validity of meditation experience and yet choose to continue his calling as a Catholic monk. He refine it and call it contemplative prayer. It goes to show that Meditation experience knows no bound.

Perhaps this is also a form of skillful mean.

Dharmadhatu SG

This should clarify things a bit. Thanks for sharing.

Just a sharing about my personal experience of what the experience of God and Soul are. Certainly nothing definitive .

God experience - This can either be

1. the I AM/Eternal witness experience with no thoughts or

Soul experience - surprisingly the soul experience is more subtle to experience that the God experience. Haha. This state should be the same as Alaya consciousness.

Soul experience is the subtlest experience where a mental formation is still being registered. It is experienced when the physical mind level activity is suspended. This state is a formless state that have registered all past life experiences of a Being. Because it retained all the past life experiences of a Being... it will be exalted when compared with the physical (gross) mental state. However, an important point to note is that this formless subtle state DO not necessarily understand its own empty and no-self nature. To me, the 'soul' state is the original point of cyclical transmigration. If the non-dual and emptiness nature is recognised at this level/state, the 'Being' will be enlightened. If this state is ignorant of its own non-dual and empty nature, it will move into dualistic action believing in the projections. Not written in Buddhist teaching is that the Soul state (in my experience) actually holds the intention of what it attempts to achieve in a particular lifetime. I have personally experienced the 'purpose' of incarnation... however as i have mentioned.. because this formless level of consciousness may not necessarily realise its non-dual and emptiness nature .. it will 'seek action' as a way to resolve what is being perceived as karmic issues.... resulting in transmigration.

The dream state roughly seats between this formless 'soul' state' and physical gross mental state.

For New age guys that takes about recieving guidance from the Soul, many do not actually experience this state directly. Rather, they experience projected images and feelings. This so-call 'soul' state is extremely subtle and cannot be experienced when gross mental formations ( such as language and images) are present.

Ultimately... both 'God' and 'soul' experiences are not entities/selfs and are non-dual and empty.

Note: I will not respond to anyone who dispute these understandings unless they themselve have pass beyond non-dual and emptiness phases.

Thanks, this explains so many things for me... i had the notion before that God/Soul/Alaya/I-Amness are the same thing. Also,

it will 'seek action' as a way to resolve what is being perceived as karmic issues.... resulting in transmigration.

Very nicely put...

simpo_ SG

Thanks, this explains so many things for me... i had the notion before that God/Soul/Alaya/I-Amness are the same thing. Also,

it will 'seek action' as a way to resolve what is being perceived as karmic issues.... resulting in transmigration.

Very nicely put...

Hi Dharmadhatu and All,

Just want to add something...

IMO, no-self can still be realised without firstly accessing the alaya/store-house/'soul' consciousness. This alaya/store-house/'soul' can only be accessed in very deep meditation.

So... don't have to worry whether must alaya/store-house consciousness be reached first before realising no-self. However, when alaya/store-house consciousness is finally reached... one can very very easily be fooled to think that this is the True self/Higher self of a Being. ..

Must see through it.. realise it non-dual, no-self and emptiness nature.... or else our understanding will be just like that of any new age, etc level of understanding which is incomplete.

Dharmadhatu SG

Hi Simpo,

Yes, i am aware of that. Thanks for your clarification. I am trying push past the limits of my preconceptions of reality to understand Anatta.

I hope that all other forummers read this thread and give their best shot for liberating realisations too.