No protection from any at the moment of death

There are no sons for one’s protection, neither father nor even kinsmen, for one who is overcome by death no protection is to be found among kinsmen
(Magga wagga - The Dhammpada)

Overcoming brain damage by Sati - mindfulness

Rajah Kuruppu

Recently I ran into Ven. Dr. Walpola Piyananda Thera, Sangha Nayaka of America. He has his Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles, USA. I met the venerable Thera when I went for a recording of the radio programme Buddhist Forum at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).

There in the Lobby of the SLBC he introduced me to Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera, an American monk, who was able to overcome serious damage to his brain caused by brain surgery, which was necessary to save his life, by being in Sati or mindfulness almost all the wakeful hours of the day.

It was a wonderful experience to meet Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera, who was kind enough to agree to relate to me this part of his life story at the temple in Dehiwela where he was residing during his stay here in Sri Lanka.

Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera was born in 1960 in the USA close to New York city to a Christian Born Again family. His parents were separated early in his life and thereafter he lived in Los Angeles where he obtained a Degree in Computer Science from the Granada Hills University in the same city.

Meanwhile he had developed a passion for marathon running and in the process unknowingly developed concentration of the mind which he found important and useful for competitive running.

Tragedy

After University studies, he joined the Texas Instruments Co. dealing with computers and had a very successful career travelling to various parts of America on behalf of his company.

He was now married and had a son. And then he was struck by an incredible tragedy. His young son was killed in an accident. Within one month of his son's death, it was discovered that he had a rapidly growing tumour in the head close to the brain. Immediate surgery was necessary.

The surgery was successful. It saved his life and the tumour was removed in an operation lasting many hours. However, the surgery led to serious damage to the brain giving rise to what in medical parlance is called organic brain syndrome, a chemical imbalance in the brain.

The connection between the brain and the central nervous system was being adversely affected. He was experiencing loss of memory, speech difficulty, and could not walk without falling unless assisted by others. He was unable to take a glass of water to his lips without spilling the water or dropping the glass.

Though he had access to the most advanced neurological treatments in the best hospitals in the USA, he was informed by his doctors that there was no treatment for his ailment and he has to live with it. They could only treat him with drugs to reduce his depression, agitation, anger and frustration caused by the disease.

Meditation

Despite medical advice, Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera thought that there should be a way out of his tragic situation. He remembered his marathon running where deep concentration of the mind was vital for success. He was reminded of the strength of the mind. He started reading books on meditation.

Not only books on Buddhist meditation but any book on meditation. Surrounded with books on the subject he was reading and practising meditation. The learning was put into practice without much delay.

This approach is contrary to most advise regarding the practice of Buddhist meditation where one is told to have the guidance of an experienced meditator or meditation master.

Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera had no teacher but only the books but took to meditation like a duck to water. He was now practising meditation on a major scale. At this time he came to know of meditation retreats where those interested were taught and guided on meditation. He attended a paying meditation retreat in a luxury hotel. His relations advised against his following a retreat because of the difficulties due to his ailment and the meditation retreat was a considerable distance away from Los Angeles. But the meditation master encouraged him.

After the retreat he was much more content and happy, while there was progress for the better in his ailment. Thus, he wanted to pursue the practice of meditation further and was told that there was a Thai Buddhist temple in Los Angeles where meditation retreats were conducted free of charge.

When he visited this temple he saw monks in yellow robes for the first time. In fact he had not seen yellow robes before. In the temple there was more intense practice of formal meditation and more mindfulness of daily activities - physical, verbal and mental.

Take to robes

In the temple Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera took to the scrupulous practice of sila or virtue-observing of the 5 precepts, the 8 precepts and the 10 precepts. There was also the further development of the concentration of the mind and more sati. In the Los Angeles Thai temple, he decided to take to robes and thereafter proceeded to a temple in Thailand.

There was a definite improvement in his ailment. In Thailand the concentrations of the mind and sati was continued with greater vigor. He compares the development of sati to the strengthening of the muscles of the body. With exercise the muscle develops. Similarly, with practice sati develops and it would eventually become a part of ones second nature.

With meditation and mindfulness he was now able to separate the mind and body to some extent and see the cause and effect of things. A broken and scattered mind-moving from one subject to another in quick succession-cannot see things properly. When he is in sati most of the day he is able to see to a large extent anicca, dukkha and anatta-impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and the absence of an unchanging eternal self or ego.

S. N. Goenka

When considering the ease with which Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera took to meditation, one is reminded of the experience of S. N. Goenka, an outstanding and well-known meditation master, who was in Sri Lanka recently. An Indian, born in Burma (now Myanmar) to a wealthy merchant family, he was very successful in business at a young age.

Unfortunately, he simulteneously suffered from severe headaches that required a regular dose of morphine for comfort. Burmese doctors advised him to seek treatment in the medically advanced countries since before long he could become addicted to the painkiller. However, the treatment given by medical specialists in the USA, Europe and Japan also proved unsuccessful.

On return to Burma, he was advised by a friend to try Buddhist Vipassana meditation under the reputed meditation master, U. Ba Khim, at that time the Accountant-General of that country.

Initially the renowned meditation master rebuffed Goenka stating that Vipassana is not a treatment for headaches but a mechanism for mental purification. He, nevertheless, added that if he wished for mental development and wisdom he could stay and meditate.

Surprisingly, despite misgivings, Goenka accepted the offer and took to meditation under the great master. Before long the disease was cured and there was a complete change in his life. In 1971 U.Ba Khim died, and Goenka, who took to mediation with alacrity, devoted his life to spread the Vipassana technique of meditation of his teacher with meditation centres all over the world including Sri Lanka. Restoration of chemical imbalance

Let's take the case of Ven. Dhammanissayo. With the advanced development of mindfulness the healthy connection between the mind and the central nervous system began to be gradually re-established. He was able to take a glass of water with full concentration and mindfulness from the table to his lips slowly and steadily without faltering.

The chemical imbalance in the brain was overcome and he was able to lead a normal life. Meditation and mindfulness replaced medicine. With sati he was able to get control over his body which was not so earlier because of the brain damage.

He now had great faith and understanding of the value of sati based on experiential knowledge. He says that the practice of sati most of the time is so powerful that it could bring into balance the imbalances in the physical body and in his case the chemical imbalance in the brain. To him sati is a wonderful medicine given by the Buddha but in the practice one should not work too hard as that could be a liability. A balanced approach is the best.

After about a year in Thailand and the brain ailment hardly giving him any trouble, Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera returned to the USA on a short visit and met his earlier doctors.

A scan was undertaken and they were amazed that now there was no damage to the brain. In fact the doctors told some of the patients in the hospital to speak to him so that some may benefit from his experiences.

Thus, with the development of mental concentration and the mindfulness of daily activities Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera was able to cure the brain disease which the western medical system with all its spectacular advances in recent times was unable to cure and could only administer drugs for his depressed state of mind to raise his spirits,

Practice for meaningful results

To obtain meaningful results from mindfulness for physical ailments, the advice of this meditating monk is that one should engage earnestly in this exercise in almost all the wakeful hours of the day. That is from the time that one wakes up in the morning until going to sleep in the night.

When he went to Thailand after ordination as a monk he thought that he had developed mindfulness to a very substantial degree and so informed his new meditation master in that country.

Later inquired whether he could say that the awakening breath that morning was an in breath or an out breath. This he could not recall. That made him realise that he had to progress much more to get close to the ideal.

Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera says that one should be deeply and painstakingly committed to mindfulness. For instance, when eating one should be mindful of serving the food, mixing the food, taking an appropriate portion from the plate to the mouth and then chewing, savouring the taste and swallowing. I mentioned to the monk that it is very difficult to be mindful when talking since total attention is usually given to that activity and inquired whether he was mindful talking to me at that time. He replied in the affirmative and said that one could develop it with practice.

In this connection it may be noted that Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera had to develop a very high level of mindfulness to overcome a serious brain ailment that significantly and adversely affected his memory and physical movements. Perhaps lesser levels of mindfulness may suffice for lesser physical diseases.

Several cases of miraculous healing of serious ailments are recorded in a publication Dhamma Therapy - Cases of Healing Through Vipassana" compiled by the late Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw, an outstanding meditation master, which is available at the Buddhist Cultural Centre in Nadimala, Dehiwela and Bullers Road, Colombo 7.

May those suffering from ailments where cures are beyond the reach of the system of medicine benefit from the experiences of Ven. Dhammanissayo Thera.

Sri Lankans celebrate 2550th Buddha Jayanthi in China

The Vesak celebrations to mark the 2550th Buddha Jayanthi, organised by the Sri Lanka Embassy in association with the Sri Lankan expatriate and student community in the Beijing area, currently numbering about 200, was held at the Embassy premises on May 13.

The Chinese Buddhist delegation of five monks was led by the Most Venerable Sheng Hui, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China and included representatives from State Administration of Religious Affairs. The Ven. Sheng Hui was recently accorded the title "Buddha Sasana Keerthi Sri Lokarthacharya" in Sri Lanka.

Given the international significance of the Buddha Jayanthi and the wide spread interest in its commemoration, Ambassadors and representatives of Buddhist countries represented in Beijing, (India, Pakistan, Nepal etc) also participated. Statements were made by the Ambassador of India and the Ambassador of Nepal who appreciated Sri Lanka's initiative in commemorating Buddha Jayanthi, which had global significance.

Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo welcomed the participants to the Sri Lanka Embassy. He recalled that in the year 2000, with the full support and co-sponsorship of Buddhist countries, the United Nations by consensus declared Vesak Day, a day of international significance to be respected and venerated.

He recalled that the initiative was taken on behalf of Sri Lanka by the late Foreign Minister, the Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was himself a Christian who greatly respected the teachings of the Buddha. Ambassador Rodrigo said that the precepts and principles enunciated by the Buddha have eternal and global relevance.

He referred to the recent World Buddhist Forum held in Hanzhou in April this year and its wide international participation which included a 10-member delegation from Sri Lanka. He stated that Buddhist principles provided rational means to deal with global conflicts and to avert violence and bloodshed.

The Maha Sangha from Sri Lanka and China respectively chanted Seth Pirith to invoke blessings on the devotees. Ven. Naotunne Wimala Thera delivered a sermon on the Noble Message of the Buddha to the crowd assembled, which included representatives of the Media.

Most Venerable Sheng Hui referred to the 2-year stay of the Buddhist monk Fa Xian in Sri Lanka in the 4th century A.D., and to the continuing good relations between Sri Lanka and China. He also asserted that Buddhist principles could be applied not only for the benefit of individuals, but also for the peaceful conduct of relations and rational thinking among nations.

A documentary on the 2550th Buddha Jayanthi and Buddhism in Sri Lanka was screened next, which was well received.

The ceremony concluded with the ceremonial opening and lighting by Most Ven Sheng Hui, of the Vesak pandal, depicting Buddha's Birth, Attainment of Buddha hood and Passing away.

The pandal, the first such seen in Beijing was designed by the members of the Sri Lankan community and constructed in the Embassy premises with the assistance of the Embassy staff.

A Bhakthi Gee programme organised by the Embassy staff and students was also held at the end of the proceedings.