DEBATE ON BUDHISM
It is very encouraging to know that Vipassana has benefited Brother Krishna (DV March 1, 2002 p. 7:” Don’t criticise Vipassana without undergoing meditation course“) so much and made him much more efficient. I believe this added benefit will make him go closer to the millions of our people who desperately need liberation.
The common experience is that the current Vipassana project administered by S.N. Goenka has been robbing of militancy of Ambedkarites and also making them forget the standing and walking Budha (social Budha).
HYPOCRISY
I don’t think any Budhist objects to Vipassana per se. What is objectional is the way Vipassana is being projected as a separate entity as a separate cult.
There seems to be a systematic attempt to hijack Vipassana from Budhism and portray it as a separate cult. This gains ground particularly when Goenka says (as Brother Krishna has also said):
Vipassana is most ancient meditation technique of India which was rediscovered by Gotama the Budha 2,500 years ago” Goenka is also on record saying “Vipassana has nothing to do with religion.”
The fact of the matter is that Vipassana is an inseparable element of the teachings of Budhism, in support of which several references can be furnished from the authentic Budhist scholars and authorities in Budhism and in particular Budhist meditation. Vipassana is an exclusively Budhist way of meditation. To accept it is good for the mankind but not to (or avoid to) accept it as Budhist teaching is nothing but hypocrisy.
- AMBEDKAR OPINION
- Thera Piyadassi is a Budhist monk, an authority on Pali Canon and accepted as Budhist scholar by Pali Text Society, London. This is what he has to say about meditation and in particular Vipassana in his book, The Buddh’s Ancient Path.
Meditation taught in Budhism is neither for gaining union with any supreme being nor for manifesting any mystical experiences nor is it for any self hypnosis. It brings calm and insight for the sole purpose of attaining unshakable deliverence of mind and supreme security from bondage through the total extirpation of all the mental defilements.
According to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, belief in the tenets of brahminism (recent name Hinduism) is the worst mental defilement (he called it mental sickness). It obviously follows that one cannot remain Hindu and at the same time continue Vipassana and expect benefits.
Man is an ever-changing process of mind and body in which the most important element is mind. In Budhism, therefore, the greatest importance is attached to the human mind. A disorderly mind is a liability both to its owner as well as others. Control of mind is a key to happiness. The path pointed out by the Budha for inner growth and development is that of meditation.
Meditation as practiced by the Budha before and after his enlightenment is divided into two forms or systems. Concentration of mind or samadhi and insight or Vipassana.
LAND OF MYSTICISM
It must be mentioned here that development of concentrative calm (samadhi bhavana) as taught in Budhism is not exclusively Budhist. Yogis before the advent of Budha practiced different systems of meditation as they still do now. India has always been a land of mysticism but the yoga then prevalent never went beyond a certain point.
The Bodhisatta was not satisfied with mere jhana (dhyana) and mystical experience. His one and only aim was to attain reality. With this end in view he probed the deepest recesses of his mind in search of a method of a meditation that would bring him complete peace and deliverance.
EXCLUSIVELY BUDHIST
The word Vipassana (Vi-Passana) by derivation means seeing in an extraordinary way, from the word passati, to see and the prefix vi denoting special or particular. Vipassana, therefore, means seeing beyond what is ordinary clear vision.
Insight meditation (vipassana bhavana), therefore, is a typical doctrine of Budha himself, a unique experience of the master, exclusively Budhist that was not in existence prior to the advent of Budha.
VIPASSANA NOT TAKEN FROM YOGA
In one of the articles (with reference to Goenka) in a Gulf weekly, the mention of Vipassana as a Budhist way of meditation was conspicuous by its absence. People should know the things as they really are.
V Pravahare Vijivanane Mahathera (Ph.D. Cantab) belongs to the galaxy of celebrated scholars who have faithfully preserved the pristine teachings of Budha. This is what he has to say in his famous book, Buddhist Meditation in Practice & Theory:
All Buddhist meditational practice revolve around the fundamental tenets of Buddhist philosophy. Meditation or bhavana is an integral part of Budhist religious doctrine and practice and does not form a separate study as do some yogic systems in Hindu tradition.
There is no ground for thinking. that Budhist meditational practice (Vipassana) was borrowed from yoga system. The resemblances that exist do not affect the question of independent origin of the Budhist system. As one goes. through the vast Budhist literature, there does not remain the slightest doubt that Vipassana is exclusively a Budhist practice and being the integral part of it’s religious doctrine cannot be studied in isolation.
If one goes through the history of decline of Budhism in India one comes to know the variety of methods used for its elimination. Hijacking and assimilation of the doctrines of mass appeal has been the most important method.
WHY HINDUS NOT JOINING BUDHISM
Today when there is a strong undercurrent of revival of Budhism, once again the method seems to be under operation. Otherwise how can one explain, not a single addition to the Budhist religion from non-Dalits out of 80 Vipassana centres and millions being spent for the purpose (by the people who are staunch supporters of brahminism which has reincarnated as Hinduism). Will Goenka rise above the caste and creed and tell the truth to the world? The least we expect our Brother S. Krishna to reveal the truth.
