Introduction

Many forms of religious practice are associated with the word ‘Buddhism’ but they all

take Siddhattha Gotama, who lives and taught in northern India approximately 2,500 years ago,

as their source of inspiration. It is he who became known as ‘Buddha’ or ‘the Awakened One’.

The Buddha did not write anything down but left a legacy by teaching a path of spiritual

awakening, which can be divided into three aspects - Virtue, Meditation, and Wisdom. “Buddho”

represents the awareness and wisdom of Buddha.

Vimuti Monastery is a Buddhist community in the

lineage of one of Thailand’s greatest meditation masters,

Venerable Ajahn Chah. The name ‘Vimuti’ means liberation

and ultimate freedom. In Auckland, I had the opportunity to stay

at this monastery for a day in order to learn a little more about

the Buddhist religion and take part in the meditation practices.

Based on my observations and experience, Buddhism

seems like not as much a religion with a lot of teachings, but

more of a lifestyle that is focused on generating peace and

wisdom through meditation and seclusion.

Meditation

The Vimuti Monastery has two different meditation sessions each day that we were able

to participate in. In Buddhism, the traditional means for preparing the mind to meditate is

through chanting. For about ten minutes, we followed along in a book and chanted these

recitations that were partly in Pali and partly in English. Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language

native to the Indian subcontinent and is

associated with sacred religious texts of

some Hinduism and all Theravada

Buddhism. These chantings were in some

ways fairly similar to prayer, but in other

ways quite different, although ultimately I

assume that they are in some form

intended as a kind of worship to Buddha.

After chanting, the lights went off, the room went quiet, and it was time to meditate. For

forty-five minutes. We weren’t given any instruction; we were just left to sit there with our

thoughts. But the thing about meditation is that in order to make the mind peaceful, you aren’t

really supposed to think about too much besides breathing. You are just supposed to focus on

inhalations and exhalations – Breathe in…..breathe out…. – for forty-five minutes. That’s really

all there is to it.

One of the ways of practicing meditation is a term called Samadhi. It is focused on

tranquility and one-pointedness of mind, and entails the development of strong concentration. It

leads to various levels of “jhana” (translated to absorption), meditative states of deep inner peace

that go beyond the planes of ordinary human experience. Even when you are not meditating, the

mind has a firm and steady sense of awareness at all times. Mindfulness is life. Even when you

are no longer in Samadhi, mindfulness should be present throughout.

Dukkha

Although there don’t seem to be many core teachings involved in Buddhism, one thing

that the Buddha taught is about a term called dukkha, which means dissatisfaction or

unsatisfactoriness; Knowing about dukkha leads to a better understanding about meditation

practices and other facets of Buddhism. There are four noble truths of dukkha:

1. There is dukkha - As long as we are motivated to seek fulfillment in what is transient

and vulnerable, we will always suffer disappointment and loss. These are compulsive

habits of body and mind.

2. There is an origin of dukkha - This wrong motivation is the origin of dissatisfaction.

When we don’t use our spiritual potential, we are motivated by feelings and moods.

3. Dukkha can cease - If we let go of these habits, the mind rests in an inner harmony.

4. There is a way to stop dukkha - The Way is

part of the Path, which are eight things that

will be mentioned shortly.

When we get rid of dukkha, we achieve Nirvana,

which is described as the highest state of profound

well-being that a human is capable of attaining. It is a

transcendent state where there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and it is the final goal

of Buddhism. Meditation and other lifestyle practices are done in order to help get rid of dukkha

and achieve Nirvana.

Buddhist Life

‘The Path’ that Buddha taught was centered on having ‘rightness’ in eight factors: these

are having right intentions, views, speech, actions, livelihood, efforts, and mindfulness. The eight

factors are divided into three groups; virtuous conduct/morality, meditation and wisdom.

While there are many who come to the monastery to practice meditation and forms of

Buddhist lifestyle, not all who attend choose to live the monastic life. Some return to their homes

and lead normal lives. Others, like me and my group, were simply visitors. We had the

opportunity to take part in a ‘discussion’ with the head monk that was essentially a Q & A

session in which we were able to ask questions we had on Buddhism and aspects that were

related to his lifestyle.

The Ajahn told us his journey in life that brought him from America to Thailand to New

Zealand, where he now resides at the monastery. He informed us the procedure of becoming a

monastic monk – there are only 10 rules to live by when you are a ‘novice’ and these are based

primarily around meditation and some of the things mentioned above. After spending at least a

year as a novice, you can decide if you would like to actually become a monk, in which there are

227 rules to be followed.

Ajahn spends most of the year in seclusion at the monastery but does take time to go back

and visit his family in the States. Even while doing so, he continues to practice meditation and

his schedule. He also is invited to speak in little seminars and visit other monasteries every once

in a while. However, it should be known that neither Buddhist monks nor nuns are preachers.

In fact, they are specifically prohibited from teaching unless asked to do so. They are instead

regarded as spiritual companions.

Social Media Impact

One of the questions that we asked Ahjan was how the influence of social media affected

the monastery. Vimutti does have its own website, as well as its own FaceBook page. Because

they do not make profits or charge visitors

for their stay and donations are voluntary,

the website and FaceBook page are used

more to provide information and generate

awareness and interest in contrast to

actually marketing and promoting the

monastery and the religion.

The head monk does do a lot of meditating but another thing that keeps him busy is

helping out with some of these FaceBook posts, as well as communicating with interested guests

via e-mail to coordinate their stay at the monastery. Ahjan informed us that compared to most

people, he is a little behind the times when it comes to the internet, but that the limited resources

they have used have been a helpful tool for him and the monastery.

I would consider the portrayal of the Buddhist religion that we see in the media is pretty

accurate for the most part. There is certainly much more to Buddhism than what the cinematic

insight provides, but the movies that show a peaceful group that meditates together in an isolated

hut, paints a pretty representative picture at the basic level.

Conclusion

It is cool to think that even though different religions have different doctrines and beliefs,

they also have similarities as well. Most believe in some sort of higher power and hope to find

some kind of peace in life.

Although I don’t think the monastic life would ever be something for me, I can definitely

see the appeal of a minimalistic lifestyle that seeks to obtain peace. It was an incredible learning

experience for me and I was grateful for the opportunity.