This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Guided Meditation: Seeing Non-Clinging; New Vision (1) Knowledge and Vision. It likely contains inaccuracies.
The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.
Hello and welcome. I’m sitting here in Redwood City, California at the Insight Meditation Center in the meditation hall. It’s nice to have you along in this virtual way that we practice here.
To introduce the meditation, seeing is the primary kind of metaphor and activity that’s used to describe mindfulness meditation. Anupassi1 means to see clearly, or vipassanā2 is to see clearly. But there’s a variation of this, which is to have vision. In English, vision can mean to have some sense of what’s possible in the future, and certainly, that’s relevant for Buddhist practice. But there’s also a vision that we acquire over time in practice, which is a vision of what’s possible because we see that possibility in the present. So it’s more like seeing something in a small degree and knowing, “Oh, this is possible to grow. It’s possible for it to be fully present, 100%, not just 1% or 10%.”
One of the visions that comes as practice develops is the vision that one does not have to cling. One starts having a sense, a feel for, or one sees, one knows some characteristic, some quality, some feeling, some sight of the space of non-clinging—the absence of clinging, the open space where there was clinging and now there’s not. It might be in a very small way. There might still be lots of clinging present, but there’s something in our experience that is a strong reference point for non-clinging.
It might be that while you’re sitting meditating, maybe there’s no clinging to the color of the ceiling where you’re sitting. You probably wouldn’t have been thinking about it even if I hadn’t brought it up. And so, maybe in relationship to that color of the ceiling, there’s no clinging. Or maybe it’s to the characteristics of the end of the inhale or the beginning of the exhale, some aspect of breathing. There can be very subtle or not so subtle attachment or reactivity to breathing at times. But then it might be specific to a location, and there might be some location where the sensations of breathing occur where there is no clinging. So maybe the back rib cage, maybe if the shoulders are moving up and down ever so slightly, it might be someplace in the front chest. It might be in the belly. And to feel, to sense there’s no clinging there.
And from that, have a vision that more non-clinging is possible. The vision that that can grow, that it’s healthy, it’s for our benefit to release the tension, the stress of clinging, and expand. So we sense and feel in the present moment some degree that creates a vision for what’s possible. And rather than straining and tensing to attain the full vision of what’s possible, it’s more like we settle into that vision as a way of being more wholehearted in the mindfulness, more full, more embodied, more breathing into the possibility.
So, assume a meditation posture and gently close your eyes.
To begin, take a few fuller inhales and longer exhales. Feeling as you do so, where in your body there’s clinging in the form of tension and holding, and where there is non-clinging. Maybe as you exhale, there’s some aspect of that long exhale that allows you to relax and not cling, not hold on, not resist.
And then letting your breathing return to normal. And continue in a very simple way to notice where in your body, mind, and heart there is some holding, some tension. And to know that without any clinging to no clinging, without clinging more. And instead, on the exhale, allow there to be a softening, an opening, and allowing to relax. An allowing that feels like no clinging, no expectation, no demand. Just allowing the whole system to find refuge in relaxing.
And then, lowering yourself, settling yourself into wherever in the body’s experience of breathing it feels like a refuge or a settling place. With the exhale, let it follow the breathing to the very end of the exhale, to the grounding place, the settling place deep inside.
And then seeing if you can have as a reference point for a vision of non-clinging. Is there some sense of non-clinging that’s available? Non-attachment, non-resistance, not holding on or having tension or pressure in your mind or heart. That is present as a reminder or as an inspiration to move into greater non-clinging with every breath.
Having a vision of the possibility of not clinging to anything, where awareness doesn’t cling. Awareness doesn’t resist. Where awareness is not for or against anything. Awareness is available or can be available for anything. To know this is possible, even in a very minor degree, can provide a vision of a direction to go, what we’re practicing into, what mindfulness and awareness is allowing to grow.
And then coming to the end of the sitting. To whatever degree you’re now a little calmer or settled, whatever degree that you have a little bit more embodiment, settled here, to whatever degree you know yourself a little better, can that provide a vision, a pointer, a reminder for how to be free? Free of clinging, free of grasping, craving, free of attachment. A vision of freedom.
And may that vision of freedom be understood in relationship to our social life, how we are with others. May we have a vision that it is possible to live with others, be with others, without imposing on them or spilling over onto them how we cling, how we crave, how we judge and criticize. May we have a vision of giving others freedom from how we view them, hold them, close our hearts to them. May through this practice, may we give vast open freedom to others. Freedom from our entanglement.
May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free.
Thank you.
So hello and welcome. Today, for this week, I’m going to introduce a new section of this year-long series. First, I guess it was about 60 talks on samadhi3, and then about 50 talks maybe on insight. And for this week at least, talks on the result of samadhi and insight, samadhi and vipassanā. One of the ways that the Buddha refers to it is as knowledge and vision, sometimes just as knowledge, sometimes just as vision. I’ll call this section of the long series “New Vision.”
Because as we practice, we begin to have a new vision of what’s possible, and we know what’s possible. We’ve had the experience of what’s possible. And that knowing it’s possible or having a vision of what’s possible is not something abstract. It’s not that we read a book and we know the potential, but it’s to have direct knowledge, direct experiential knowledge, and a direct, immediate sense of vision of what’s possible, either because the memory of it lives so fully in us that we really see that it’s just ahead, just right here available. Or it’s possible to have a vision because we actually see freedom here and now. It’s just right there, sitting on our left shoulder or in the back of the head or in the eyes. Or maybe it’s not in any place, but there’s a feeling, a sense that there is a place of non-clinging, non-attachment.
And that vision can become quite strong, and it can come with a tremendous faith or confidence. One way this confidence is described is as confidence based on knowledge or knowing. Some translators will translate it as experiential confidence. So it’s something we’re experiencing here and now.
As we practice samadhi, there is a kind of steady growing of non-attachment. You can’t be clinging, and you can’t be filled with unwholesome thoughts and intentions in order to be able to settle the mind deeply, to come into a deep, settled, unified state. So already here, for some people, there’s a surprising inspiration in how healthy the mind can feel, how at peace or healed the mind and heart can feel that comes with samadhi, and that can be very inspiring and give rise to a lot of faith.
The ancient tradition says that when we go into deep samadhi, the first jhāna4, we begin having a direct experience for ourselves of what the Buddha was talking about, what the Buddha is really pointing to. Because in the first jhāna, there’s enough lack of clinging, enough lack of holding on or tightness, that this is a new state for some people, and it’s surprising that this is possible. Some people get attached to it.
As we do insight practice, the same thing begins to happen. Insight tends to be a little more difficult for people, sometimes very much more, because we’re really present for the whole aspect of our life. Samadhi sometimes doesn’t include all of ourselves, even though the feeling is one of unification. With insight, we tend to really come up against the places we are attached, the places we cling or resist or have been knotted up, fisted up in our mind and our hearts. The places where we’ve put on armor or we’ve closed our doors so that nothing comes out or in. So we come across the places we’re maybe quite afraid and scared, that are deep and usually not recognized because we’re keeping ourselves distracted.
But in the process of insight, we are also learning to let go. Let go of holding on, let go of resisting, letting go of fear. And so we’re starting to get a sense of what’s possible again. As this samadhi and insight development gets stronger, sometimes on the foundation of this, there can be a letting go, a releasing and opening up that is quite memorable, quite impactful. The experience of letting go of clinging feels much more thorough or complete, or gives us an experiential sense of, “Oh, this is possible. I don’t have to always live my whole life in a hurry or anxious or rushing ahead or trying to please people or trying to prove myself or defend myself or apologize for myself. I don’t have to always be stuck in these ideas that I’m inadequate or somehow unworthy, or that I’m the best and the most wonderful.” I don’t have to be stuck in conceit.
And to see an alternative of a mind that’s amazingly refreshed, peaceful, intelligent, creative, open. Wow, this is possible. And so to have this knowledge that something like this is possible in such a way that it feels like this is the foundation of what’s possible for all of life, or this is the most valuable thing to do because anything short of this means that I’m clinging again. I’m attached again. I’m contributing tension and suffering to my life. This is the most important thing to do because from this non-clinging, the other important things about life can come. We can love better, we can care better, we can be more creative, we can contribute to a better world more, we can feel more deeply connected to the fullness of who we are rather than becoming partial or disconnected from ourselves.
So to know that this is possible, and it’s not just knowing that it’s possible theoretically, but we’ve really experienced it. We know it for ourselves. “Wow, I can experience this. I can know this.” And so that’s the knowledge part. The vision part of knowledge and vision is a vision of what’s possible if I keep practicing. Some people with this knowledge and vision will have the sense, “Oh, only now do I know what the practice is really about. I wasn’t sure before, but if this is the consequence of practice, then this is what it’s all about.”
But it isn’t just a possibility in the future. It’s a vision based on seeing something here and now that accompanies us all the time. Now we know how to sense, feel, intuit what is alive for us in the present moment. Our mind is an ecosystem. There are a lot of different thoughts, intentions, motivations, feelings, moods that sometimes swirl around each other or exist at the same time. So we’re capable of a whole range of different perceptions, recognitions, and understandings in any given moment. And one of those is the possibility to have a very clear sense: “Oh, there or here, someplace, this is where non-clinging is. This is what non-clinging is like. I’m clinging, I’m attached for sure, but I see the other side of it now.” I see it not just theoretically; I can almost smell or taste or touch what is just beyond the edges of my clinging. And I have a vision of that. I know it’s possible. I’m inspired by that. I’m motivated by that. This is what’s important. I don’t have to be stuck. I don’t have to invest in more and more clinging. That’s a dead end. There is freedom. I can see the freedom right here, right now. And I can practice to grow into it.
So as we practice vipassanā, as we practice samadhi, there comes a day when the vision becomes a central part of our life. We have this vision of what can be done because we see it’s already being done. It might be in a very small degree, 1% or 2% of our whole system, but it’s enough to begin to thaw the places where we’re frozen. It’s enough to just begin to relax the places we’re tense so that we don’t perpetuate being frozen, perpetuate being tense, perpetuate being reactive, and reinforce it over and over again. Now we’re reinforcing, in a sense, or nurturing, fostering this wonderful sense of health that non-clinging is, that allows all other things to be experienced and done so much better. It’s much better to live our life in an active way, in a social way, in a compassionate way, in this mood and place of non-clinging and freedom than it is to do it with clinging and being entangled and snared.
So there comes a time when there’s a vision, and that makes all the difference. That’s the general topic for this week: having a new vision. And this new vision doesn’t have to come from the practice itself. For some people, something happens in their life that is so transformative, something really switches or turns upside down in their hearts and minds or opens up, and that gives them this vision. And what Buddhist practice does is show them how to make space, how to know oneself well enough, completely enough, that what they already know now can begin to grow and expand throughout them.
So, thank you. And thank you for being along for this ride into samadhi, vipassanā, and now a new vision.
Anupassi: A Pali term meaning “one who contemplates” or “observes.” It is part of the compound dhammānupassanā, the contemplation of mental objects. The original transcript said “anupati.” ↩
Vipassanā: A Pali word often translated as “insight” or “clear-seeing.” It refers to the practice of seeing things as they truly are, a central element of Buddhist meditation. The original transcript said “the passa.” ↩
Samadhi: A Pali word for a state of meditative concentration or absorption. It is a state of deep mental stillness and unification. The original transcript said “samadei.” ↩
Jhāna: A Pali term for a state of deep meditative absorption. There are traditionally eight stages of jhāna, each characterized by increasing levels of concentration and tranquility. The original transcript said “Janna.” ↩