Momentum Vitae est meditatio


BENVENUTI, il mio progetto sul web nasce con l'intento di conservare e condividere

gli insegnamenti di Anapanasati e Vipassana al fine di affrancarsi dalla sofferenza esistenziale

con la guida di un insegnante autorizzato. Questo secondo la dottrina del Buddismo Theravada,

nella tradizione birmana di Sayagyi U Ba Khin, in memoria del suo allievo John Earl Coleman.

Tali insegnamenti sono preservati e perpetuati per il beneficio delle future generazioni,

per questo sono conservati con l’indicazione protettiva della perfezione, verità e devozione.

Tutte le nostre azioni sono dirette nello spirito del Damma.


WELCOME, my web project was born with the intention of preserving and sharing

the teachings of Anapanasati and Vipassana, in order to be free from existential suffering

with the guidance of a licensed teacher. This according to the doctrine of Theravada Buddhism,

in the Burmese tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, in memory of his student John Earl Coleman.

Such teachings are preserved and perpetuated for the benefit of future generations,

for this reason they are preserved with the protective indication of perfection, truth and devotion.

All our actions are directed in the spirit of the Dhamma.


Vipassana memoirs
Relazioni umane
di John Coleman

L’attitudine verso la vita di un Buddista, che fa una promessa per ottenere il Nibbana durante questa vita, è diversa da quella di uno che si trova nel processo di accumulazione delle virtù allo scopo d’assolvere il suo voto per diventare un Buddha o servire un Buddha giunto.

Una persona che sta facendo una promessa per liberarsi durante questa vita (raggiungendo Nibbana) non dovrebbe lui stesso danneggiare nessuno e dovrebbe evitare di incoraggiare gli altri a danneggiare chiunque.

Una persona che è nel processo di accumulazione delle Paramis (perfezioni o virtù) dovrebbe provare in tutti i modi possibili di evitare il danneggiare gli altri, ma quando l’occasione lo richiede, egli è preparato a soffrire lui stesso le conseguenze allo scopo di salvare quelli che dipendono da lui, o per il bene dell’umanità.

Pasenadi, il Re di Kosala, era sempre devoto al Buddha ed era nel processo di accumulazione delle virtù allo scopo di diventare un Buddha lui stesso. Una volta Pasenadi condusse le sue armate in battaglia contro un nemico, con lo scopo di salvare il suo paese da maltrattamenti e torture. Quando il Re raccontò al Buddha del suo exploit, il Buddha sorrise e gli disse “Ti sei fatto più nemici di quelli che avevi prima dell’accaduto”. Pasenadi accettò gentilmente le consequenze delle sue azioni, o legge di causa ed effetto, allo scopo di salvare i suoi sudditi.

Non fu assunta una semplice ritualistica concezione di giusto e sbagliato da Pasenadi e sebbene le sue azioni furono molto improprie esse furono propriamente eseguite per raggiungere le necessità delle circostanze. Pasenadi salvò la sua gente ma dovette soffrire le conseguenze dei suoi misfatti.

Sayagyi U Ba Khin era una persona di questo tipo, che si trovava nel processo di accumulare virtù e ad un tempo fu incapace di evitare di commettere un’offesa, per la quale fu preparato lui stesso a soffrire per l’interesse dei suoi studenti o per il bene dell’umanità. Egli sapeva come l’amore profondo, consolidato con il potere della verità, poteva fare qualcosa di tangibile nel dominio delle relazioni umane.

Sayagyi diceva sempre: “Immaginare che ‘bene’ può essere fatto, significa che ‘male’ è un’illusione, un incubo”.

Che tutti gli esseri siano in pace e felici
BUDDHIST MEDITATION in PRACTICE

Statement by Mr. J.Van Amersfoort, President of the Buddhist Association of the Netherlands -
38, Adelheidstraat, The Hague, Holland

Experience of a state of purity of Mind (Samadhi) and Vipassana under the guidance and with the help of my Master Sithu U Ba Khin, Accountant General of Burma

Having been a Buddhist for about eighteen years, having been a member of the Sangha (Buddhist Monks) during a year in Mongolia and Tibet, where I practiced many meditations (the so-called White Magic), I must and wish to affirm, with all my heart, that regarding meditation I have never experienced or even heard how it is done under the direction of Master Sithu U Ba Khin. I went to Rangoon on a business trip for only seven days, but with the help of this Master I was able to achieve Samadhi and Vipassana in this short time, which I myself (and no one else) would not have thought possible.

After only two preliminary meditation lessons of half an hour each, I clearly saw the light within me: this means that the Mind becomes powerful and luminous, freed from disturbances, pure and serene. The technique is quite simple, concentration on the breath which leads to concentration on a single point; but Master can give you better information about it. After having developed the meditation a little on Saturday evening (it was December 20, 1952), at 10 am on Sunday (December 21, 1952) we began with Vipassana. I concentrated on the burning in my body - in other words I concentrated on Dukkha (Suffering) – I felt the burning inside me until I almost felt myself burning like steam on the surface of the water. Then I had to concentrate the total heat, total suffering, on the central part of the body until the suffering became almost unbearable. At the last moment when I felt like I was dying, it was as if my heart was being pulled out of my body and at the same moment - wanting badly to be freed from Dukkha - with a sudden but small flash of light, I was out of it and felt a refreshing coolness and a pleasure that words cannot describe. It is a release and refuge from all daily afflictions, too great to be understood when not experienced. And the great joy is that anyone can achieve this state; as long as he has a pure mind at least for the time of concentration, has right intentions, attention and concentration, and in any case tries to live as pure as possible.

It is also necessary that he (the student) does not have any kind of fear and has complete faith in his Master. I hope with all my heart that in the near future Master U Ba Khin will have many followers and disciples who can be helped by him as much as I have been.

(Signed) JVAmersfoort
Rangoon, 22 December 1952.

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Explanatory Notes by Sithu U Ba Khin On the Statement of Mr. J. Van Amersfoort Dated 22. 12. 1952

Mr. Amersfoort and I had a preliminary discussion regarding the method to be followed for practical Buddhist meditation and he agreed with me that the best course towards the progressive realization of the Truth is to strictly and diligently follow the three indisputable steps of Sila, Samadhi and Panna of the Eightfold Noble Path indicated by the Buddha in the Dhamma Cakka Pavattana Sutta.

Step 1 _ Raise the standard of Morality to the established minimum (Sila);

Step 2 _ Develop the power of concentration towards the concentration of the Mind on a single point (Samadhi)

Step 3 _ Attaining insight into the ultimate realities of nature within our own self (Panna).

I have no reason to doubt the moral qualities of Mr. Amersfoort who impressed me greatly at the first meeting. As a result I immediately put him on an Anapana Sati course. He did very well in the initial course. And in just a few hours of hard work he was able to develop his power of concentration bringing it deep to one point (Samadhi). So when I needed to get him to change his course of training and introduce him to Vipassana, he was able to keep the Light (Pati bhaga- Nimitta) before his Mind's eye for quite a long time and had started playing with it. I would say he is a man of no small Parami (Virtues).

We know from science that everything in the universe is composed of electrons, all in a state of perpetual change or flow. The Karaja Kaya – the gross body – of ourselves cannot therefore be an exception to the rule. Mr. Amersfoort knows this. He also knows what Nama, Rupa and Kalapa are, as well as their composition, characteristics and tendencies. With the powerful lens of Samadhi that he developed, he must now be ready for the introspective and analytical study of the true nature of Rupa and Nama.

At just the right time, just after 10am on Sunday 21 December 1952, Mr Amersfoort was invited to focus all his attention within himself, point by point, to examine and feel the process of change – the radiation, the vibration and the friction caused by the swirling movement of an infinite number of Kalapas (electronic units). The human body, so to speak, is a sum total of countless millions of kalapas, each decomposing simultaneously as it arises. A Kalapa is similar to a visible spark but is infinitely smaller than it. In reality, the human body is nothing more than atomic energy, conditioned by the forces of one's actions, words and thoughts. Thanks to all the Devas who guided us in our work, Mr. Amersfoort caught the thread almost instantly and within a few minutes he began to feel a profound sensation of the radiation, then the vibration and then again the friction of the electronic units in the internal that spread like wild fire to all parts of the body in the course of just half an hour. He was encouraged not to relax, but to continue to feel with greater intensity and to continue to know with a clearer sense of perception. He also came to know that sensation (Vedana), perception (Sanna), the energies of Volition (Sankhara) and consciousness (Vinnana) – the four Namakkhandhas – are also in a continuous flow, passing away and dying together with Rupa. He was then advised to make an analytical investigation of the whole being with respect to both Nama and Rupa in terms of the doctrines of Anicca (Impermanence), Dukkha (Suffering) and Anatta (Absence of Self-centeredness). To prevent him from having any doubts about what was happening, he was asked to examine the temperature of his own body and that of others nearby, which were just normal. The fact is that as he proceeded with meditation he had an increasingly telescopic vision of the Ultimate Realities (Paramattha Dhatu). In the meantime it was explained to him how the predominant factor of tejo (radiation) in a kalapa is responsible for the burning sensation, how the incessant replacement of the kalapa which is consumed due to a continuous influence of the properties of food (nutrients) creates vibration, as the shattering and the replacement of these kalapas (electronic units), individually and collectively, cause friction and how a telescopic view of the true nature of these things can be obtained by one who possesses the powerful lens of Samadhi.

Samadhim bhikkhave bhavetha,

Samahito Yathabhutam pa jana ti.

O Monks! Develop the power of concentration.
He who has the power of concentration
He can see things in their true state.

Just before noon, Mr. Amersfoort felt the heat of the radiation intensely. Not only that, he also saw sparks of light radiating from all over his body.

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