On Thursday Oct 12, the Buddhism Study & Practice Group (BSPG) of Stony Brook University invited the Venerable Dhammadipa to host a day of events on meditation as a means of purification. The Ven. Dhammadipa (which means “island of truth” or “lamp of truth”) is a world renowned teacher of Buddhism. The event that day consisted of meditation workshop from 9 am to 3pm and a lecture from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Meditation has become an area of interest in American society recently. I have read many articles about the positive effects of meditation, especially the mindfulness meditation historically used by Buddhist monks from all kinds of magazines including Discovery, Psychology Today, and Newsweek. From what I remembered, it is proven to improve calmness, increase memory, even increase IQ in university students, plus much more. It is even linked with positive changes in the sections of the brain controlling autonomic nervous system, which governs many biological functions in the body but we can’t control.

Although meditation was only noticed by neuroscientists in recent years, it is actually an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years. How and why can meditation be so helpful? Besides hearing from the ongoing scientific viewpoint, the point of view from a religion that has developed mindfulness meditation and made great use of it for a long time may provide more insights.

Because of time conflict in the day time, I only had the chance to attend the evening lecture. I took a little time to get used to the venerable’s tempo of speech, and the equipment in the room wasn’t so good so I struggled a little the whole time to hear what he said, but  the lecture was very worthy of that little struggle.

This is a Buddhist talk, but regardless of believing it or not, everyone can get some insight from the Buddhist wisdom of life. The Ven. Dhammadipa started by chanting in Sanskrit. After that, he proceeded into the formal lecture. He stated that the purification of mind is the essential theme of all religions. The unique feature of Buddhism is that this is a “men-centered” religion. In Buddhism, we hold our own responsibility for impure acts and for the purification of those acts.

Buddhism believes that the mind is a very powerful thing, all the wrong doings starts with an impure mind. Experiences are received by mind, preceded by mind and carried out by the plans made by the mind, if one’s mind is impure, then one percepts impure sensations and does impure acts. Impure minds are corrupted with desire and ignorance, but when we restrain ourselves by practicing the three disciplines — morality, meditation and wisdom, we can purify the mind and set ourselves free. Through deep concentration, which is a stage attainable by meditation, we make it impossible for impurities to cross our minds, and we can learn to see things as they really are. 

The Venerable then talked more about the Five Aggregates of Existence (form, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness), and the different kinds of perfections including generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. Different kinds of perfections are each important and coexist on each other. He also talked about 3 kinds of enlightenment—that of the Arahan, that of Buddha for himself, and the supreme enlightenment. After more talk about the importance of each of the perfections, he talked about the objectless love of the Buddha—compassion.

The lecture ended right on time. Several people asked questions in the following Q&A sessions and were satisfied with the answers. Personally, I achieved a better understanding of meditation and its role in Buddhism, an interest in learning more about it, and some other refreshing insights about life. Not bad for  two hours of time.

For more information on meditation, Buddhism and future lectures and meditation retreats, visit BSPG:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bspg-sbu