A GUIDE TO STANDING MEDITATION

As standing is something that we do, why not do it with full awareness? After all, standing was one of the positions that the Buddha recommended as a proper basis for mindfulness. Wisely cultivated, it takes strain out of the body, encourages balance and inner stability – and is a support for full liberation.

In this guide, Ajahn Sucitto adds practical details to the establishment and development of this practice. It is for beginners and experienced meditators alike.

This book began as an essay to add some guiding notes to the practice of mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati). The intention was to be concise, with the understanding that plenty of meditation manuals are available, as are several thorough expositions of the theory and practice of mindfulness of breathing. However, as this meditation is so crucial, it seems useful to contribute any fresh approaches. And I have noticed that the way I understand and approach mindfulness of breathing is both somewhat different from what I was originally taught, and yet can fit the original sutta presentation.

This book is a substantially revised and expanded version of the 2009 original. It explores the link between external action and mind cultivation – both of which are forms of the kamma that leads to liberation. The book teaches formal meditation practices, the role of devotion, aspects of dependent origination, and the need to establish skilful relationships – kalyānamitta – and the cessation of suffering and stress.

The following pages offer some means to find clarity and calm within a few minutes. They can be put into practice in a range of non-specialized situations – in the time it would take you to drink a cup of tea. If you live a busy life, this guide may help you come out of the momentum of the day and give you more time. These suggestions may also offer you a way to meditate – but that’s up to you and another guide.

Do you ever find yourself dominated by a chain of thought that tells you that you’re not good enough, that you don’t deserve much, and that other people look down on you or tolerate you out of politeness? Do you find yourself snagging on memories of things you did wrong, or relationships that you didn’t get right? Do you feel that you have to be a success in life like you think someone else is – and are consequently critical of yourself? This piece of psychology is called ‘the Inner Tyrant’. The good news is that it’s not just you who has this, and that you can get free of its grip. And the key to this is through establishing, and continually re-establishing, right intent.

Let’s look at the idea of concentration, or samādhi. When you hear those four little syllables, con-cen-tra-tion, what do they imply to you? It may take a few moments to articulate it, but you might immediately feel a particular set of energies starting to take over. You probably get a sense of doing something, working hard at it to get it right. That’s the normal take. We clench up, get tight, and go for it. It’s intensive practice, a ‘concentration’ camp. No slacking! With this kind of thinking, we rev up the controlling systems, the duty systems, the work systems, and the ‘get-it-right’ systems. Right there is stress. A line of tension starts to form across your brow.

If you’re reading this guide, maybe you’re curious as to why people meditate. Why do they sit still and upright in silence for long periods of time?What are they thinking about? Is it some kind of religion; if so, what do they believe in? Well, it may be that some meditators are deliberately thinking along certain lines; and some may have profound faith in a God or a Truth. But then again, it is possible to meditate without these. To put it simply, what it all boils down to is finding peace of mind – within the mind itself. That the mind is the proper place for that search becomes evident when one acknowledges that, despite many technological, medical and social developments, humanity is profoundly stressed and troubled.

This book arose out of an interest that I had to celebrate my fiftieth birthday by expressing my gratitude to the many people who have made it possible for me to live the Holy Life, and in some way honour the many gifts of Dhamma that the Buddha and my own teachers have bestowed upon me. For me, the significance of the fiftieth year is that during this year (1999) I will have spent twenty-five Rains Retreats as a bhikkhu; approximately half my life will than have been spent in the training. As I was ruminating in this, it coincidentally happened that Richard Allen, a supporter and close associate of the monastery, was also entering his fiftieth year and due to celebrate his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. So out of such a coincidence, and as a very fitting way to acknowledge both the mutuality of our interest in Dhamma and the symbiosis of lay and monastic commitment that upholds the Holy Life, this collection arose. As is often the way with work involv- ing Dhamma, once the project got started, other people came forward to offer further donations and also the acts of service that would put the talks into the form of a printed work. This catalytic spontaneous process is something that still after many years has the flavour of a miracle, or more accurately, the ‘lovely’ (kalyana) taste of the Dhamma that this book commemorates.