Read second part:
What do I think about healing with the power of the mind (answer to a reader)
For the most persons that read this blog it's maybe not a question. Jataka are not tales, but real progresses of the advanced practicioner.
First, some general words for those who doesn't know it.
Jataka is a book in Pali (language) concerning stories about the previous births (jāti) of Buddha Shakyamuni. The canonical book comprises 547 poems. Some of these stories you find in different languages. Sometimes they are translations, sometimes not.
Among these stories there is the Story of the Monkey King told by Footiam in his splendid posts Literature - Journey to the West and Journey To The West.
When I read these stories for the first time, I remember, I thought: those are noisy fables. Later I began to understand these are learning stories. And only today I finally reached this level of understanding, that all this is perfectly real. These are things that we have to reach in our practice.
For example, one of the stories tells
( in russian 313. Джатака о Бодхисаттве-великомученике):
The king said to cut off hands and feet of Bodhisattwa (he was not Buddha else) to show him how short is his patience. But Buddha had patience to stand the execution so as he didn't feel anything.
Is it possible? Yes.
There are practices where it's necessary to feel the body as something completly separate from "me". It's a great practice.
Normally we are too attaced to our body and every pain is "my" pain. But if the body is not "me" and I feel it separate from me, the mind doesn't feel it's pain.
It's true. Try it.
No, not to cut off your feet. To stand pain.
I did it some times. I could maintain this state for 1-2 minutes. It works.
The first difficulty is to be conscious of what happens to you in the moment of pain.
The mind is suffering and doesn't want to do anything else. In this moment remember this practice (not only where are the tabs) -it's the first step. The mind is under your control now.
It's interesting to observe the mind in this moment (you remember the practice and you can now observe what your mind is doing). It is as a wild animal, like a bull on rodeo.
Once you have understand it, try to separate "me" (mind) from "that body": "That body" has headaches. And because of it "that body" makes so and so. Always tell "that body". If you think "my body" you lose the control.
You will see that for some time you don't feel headaches more. For the mind "my" is something to feel suffer. If it's not "me", is possible to survive it.
I was able to stand the pain in this way for some minutes.
Buddha could stand the execution till the body was dead. This is high realisation.
Read second part:
What do I think about healing with the power of the mind (answer to a reader)
Related post:
in russian Сказка или не сказка “Джатака”?
Liudmila, The Monkey is more a Chinese story, credited to Wu Cheng En. It's not a Jataka story, that's from India. Maybe, there is another story of the Monkey King in the Jataka Tales but I don't know, there are so many of them and to tell you the truth, I don't like all the stories there but some I really loved.There is supposed to be a message in The Monkey King but I don't know. I just love the adventure of the monkey, that's all. And I do agree that you can cut pain off, that's what the four Noble Truth is for. The fourth truth is the cessation of suffering, I think. Many of us, as you say, pays to much emphasis to the 'I' factor, never realising that there is actually no 'I'. In Chinese, this concept, is called 'wu wo' or no 'I' and I think it comes from this Buddhist concept. Without I, we'll all be selfless! Cool!
ReplyDeleteI think the stories can pass from one nation to other. Often they want to describe the same event (like the Flood described in the fables of all nations where it was happend). So the monkey story can have different sources.
ReplyDeleteThe practice I described (not "my" but "this/that" body/other desturbing part of existance -a person ecc) is psychologically very powerful trick to remove dependance.
Jatak stories are great inspiration
ReplyDeleteto human in society.Secondly unless
I conciousness goes one cant know the real truth.Body is totally separate from real I. Thanks for a good philosophical post
Dear DEBASIS, I think, in our human state it's very difficult that "I" can be completly overpassed. But there are many persons that receive right vision. If no, how could it possible that we know about it and we try to reach this state?
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to give you this link http://eavesdropwriter.blogspot.com/2007/11/no-god.html
ReplyDeleteThank you for a link, footiam.
ReplyDeleteDo you want to say, I become boring with buddhist stories like those persons that whants you read their books?
Maybe you are right.
But the alternative healing techniques I write here about, have as their base this Teaching, so I have to explain it, to touch it in any case. It's better studied as others. And I studied it too... So it's easier for me.