Strong determination, compassionate intentions
When talking with 55-year-old Australian Rosemary Weissman and her husband Steve, a 59-year-old American, it’s difficult to determine either one's age. The number seems to flit from late twenties to early forties, depending on the facial expression. Such is just one of many benefits prolonged Buddhist Vipassana (insight) meditation has to offer.
The couple first came to Thailand in the late 1970s to visit and practice with the country’s many meditation teachers. Nearly 30 years later, they’re leading their own Vipassana meditation retreats at the secluded temple of Wat Kow Tahm on the island of Koh Pha-ngan in Surat Thani province.
Originally, the couple didn’t plan on staying at Wat Kow Tahm for more than three weeks. But rather than making plans and worrying about the future too much, Steve and Rosemary prefer to reflect on death – the fact that they might die today – and take care of situations as and when they arise.
About 40-60 men and women per month visit Wat Kow Tahm to take part in 10-day meditation sessions that are held throughout the year. The Weissmans say they like to keep the groups small in order to maintain a personal connection with the students.
Initially, Rosemary and Steve faced a good deal of disrespect, particularly from foreign students from the West, mainly due to the "fixed images" they had of what meditation teachers should be. Still, the couple’s strong determination in providing something of great value has continued to drive them forward.
The couple says Westerners need a balanced practice, to integrate meditation practice in their daily life. This includes wise reflection and developing unselfish emotions, which help give people a strong foundation and emotional maturity. Some are only taught concentration and mindfulness techniques and so they lack the basics of Buddhist practice, which many Thais grow up with.
The couple rarely grants interviews so ThaiAsiaToday.com is grateful to have been given the opportunity.
James Vernon met with Steve and Rosemary recently to learn more about various aspects of Vipassana meditation before they gave a meditation discourse to the Little Bangkok Sangha.
James Vernon (JV): Some of our readers are not familiar with Vipassana meditation. In my experience, it’s not simply sitting on a cushion trying to be happy – it’s an intense exploration of your inner reality, which at times can be grueling. Can you talk about this exploration of inner reality a bit more?
Rosemary Weissman (RW): Yes. When we begin to open to the truth we’ll see both sides of ourselves and also the dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness) in the world. Some people can’t handle it. This is why we feel it is essential to have compassion as a foundation that guides our practice. Compassion makes the process much gentler and healing, whereas resistance to the way things are only increases dukkha.
Steve Weissman (SW): Regarding the word Vipassana - it’s an end result. Not a technique, but an end result. The Buddha taught many skillful means to develop insight. Some techniques such as ‘mental noting’, taught by the late Burmese monk Mahasi Sayadaw; or ‘bodily sweeping’, taught at the S.N. Goenka Vipassana centers, aim to reach Vipassana.
Now, does a technique bring wisdom or insight? If it brings wisdom or insight then we’re gaining Vipassana. A person might be practicing mental noting, for example, and feel calm and peaceful, and that’s fine; but they might not develop wisdom. Somebody else might use that same technique and develop wisdom. So, the technique itself doesn’t actually guarantee wisdom at all.
JV: Steve, you’ve written a book titled Wise Reflection. What is wise reflection?
SW: Put simply, wise reflection is wise thinking – we train our minds to think wisely.
When you think about growing up – watching TV, going to school – you’re being conditioned by everything. We get conditioned to be angry, conditioned to be greedy, and so on. If you want to see greed conditioned in Western kids, just take a look at them a week before Christmas (laughs)!
So, can we condition our mind in a different way? Condition it so that it’s more peaceful, loving, kind, compassionate? This is what wise reflection is all about. We’re going to think wisely and train the mind to keep thinking these wise thoughts.
RW: The second factor of the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path is “right thought and intention”. The Buddha describes “right thought” as thoughts directed towards non-greed, thoughts directed toward harmlessness, free from ill-will and cruelty. How are we going to develop such wise thoughts? We need to develop the unselfish emotions.
One reflective meditation is to reflect on the difficulties we and others experience as human beings. Compassion can arise along with loving-kindness, a wish for peace and well-being.
There’s reflection on death. In the Buddhist scriptures it’s called Maranasati, mindfulness of death. Another is to reflect on impermanence. In the Satipatthana Sutta, the Buddha taught that when we see death or impermanence externally, to reflect internally, “my body is of the same nature and will not escape it”. These are wise reflections that can help us develop "right thought" and "right view". With more "right view" and "right thought" we are able to have more "right speech", "right action", and the other factors of the Noble Eightfold
Path.
SW: Typically, in the beginning people think that if they have enough concentration everything will become peaceful and everything will be fine. Concentration by itself is simply concentration by itself. The same is true for mindfulness. Mindfulness by itself is just mindfulness [by itself]. A great athlete in the Olympics has super concentration, super mindfulness. But it doesn’t mean he or she is wise. According to the scriptures, before becoming enlightened, the Buddha developed the highest levels of concentration possible, but he didn’t gain the wisdom necessary to purify the mind. The night he became enlightened he was using yoniso manasikara, the Pali word for wise reflection. He was actually using that as he became enlightened.
JV: So, are wise reflections also things that take place in the sub-conscious?
RW: As you develop wise reflection, you’ll notice the underlying truth; for example, impermanence, more often. And then understanding or insight may appear to arise more ‘automatically’. But nothing is automatic in Buddhism because there is always a cause. So if the right causes are sown, you will be able to see the truth more clearly and easily without actually reflecting in a mental way. But you need wise reflection on a basic level so that right view guides your awareness, helping you to investigate more deeply so that wisdom arises. Wise reflection is a means.
SW: When we teach during our retreats we do guided meditations to show people how to reflect wisely about subjects like compassion, loving-kindness, sympathetic joy, death, the “Ten [character] Perfections”; we have 20-30 different guided meditations which show people how to train themselves to think wisely. Then they expand their practice – they’re on their own. They expand it more and more …
RW: There’s a short story about the universality of death called Kisagotami: The Mother of the Dead Child. In this story, the Buddha gives a woman a skillful means to reflect on death, a mustard seed. This prepared her mind for the next teaching on impermanence, so that she became a ‘stream enterer’, the first stage of enlightenment. Basically he was giving her a wise reflection on death that enabled her to open to and understand the reality and universality of it. So we give people techniques, which help them reflect on, for example, dukkha. Then we ask them to universalize it. This prepares their mind for deeper understanding. |
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JV: How can Vipassana meditation help an entire society?
RW: Well, each of us is an individual, and our actions are like pebbles that are thrown into water creating ripples that affect others and the world. So if each of us look at our own mind and learn how to let go of some greed, hatred, and ignorance; and develop generosity, compassion, loving-kindness and wisdom, then we impact the world.
There would be less greed, anger, ignorance. And there’d be more understanding of the interrelationship of things. It begins with the individual. If it never begins with the individual, it will never get to the level of society.
SW: Rosemary and I are two people who have been teaching for 20 years. We’ve had over 6,000 students from over 70 countries. A lot of them are happier people, more peaceful people. About 30% come back for another retreat. We know that the two of us have helped thousands upon thousands; if you include those who have read our books, I guess 10,000-20,000 more. We just worked on ourselves, and it has helped others.
RW: One of our old students has small children and is passing this knowledge on to them. This is how it can affect future generations. He started placing a parami (a perfection of human character, of the "Ten [character] Perfections") on the wall to reflect upon and practice each week. His children then started practicing this with him voluntarily.
JV: You mentioned sutta scriptures earlier. Is there a sutta book you can recommend?
SW: The suttas are actually hard to read. There are commentaries people have written about the suttas which are often a better way to delve into them, because many are like skeletons. A lot of them are very brief and, unless you have someone to explain them to you, reading them alone can be difficult. For this reason I prepared a free email attachment explaining 20 suttas for our old students.
For example, sometimes the Buddha might talk very briefly about energy and effort. If you have a deeper understanding of the overall practice you’ll realize he’s talking about a teaching called “The Four Great Efforts”. It’s like this.
RW: You can also get a list of books from the Buddhist Publication Society. The books include stories that sometimes explain things in an easier way, such as the story of Kisagotami.
When our practice deepens it becomes easier to approach the suttas. That’s what we did. We received a basic teaching and then practiced, understood things within ourselves, and then confirmed our understanding with the suttas. Reflecting on their meaning then enabled further wise investigation and practice. Without the practice, any understanding from reading remains shallow.
JV: Do you have any tips for people trying to maintain their meditation practice?
RW: Yes - meet with other meditators; form wise companionship; and have suitable conversation.
Meet with people who can understand, guide, support, and encourage you. For example, Phra Cittasamvaro’s group in Bangkok. When I'm back in the West, I have a good friend in Steve who understands me. We can talk and discuss things with each other, test and help each other.
Also, try to do a retreat at least once a year. Without responsibilities, we can refresh and deepen our understanding and this helps guide us in our normal life. Recharge with a weekly meditation group. Try to do some ‘formal’ meditation each day, even if it’s only 5 or 10 minutes. This is time we give to ourselves, through compassion and loving-kindness for ourselves. And also, try to integrate the practice into your daily life, practice while you’re sitting or standing on a train, waiting for a bus, and so on. A lot of people separate their meditation practice from the rest of their life; try to integrate your practice into your everyday life.
SW: I encourage people to “get good friends”. You also might like to know that in the Pali language there really is no word for meditation. But the Buddha always talked about cittabhavana (mental development). We can develop our mind anywhere, any time.
JV: I see. Thank you very much for your time, and for granting this interview.
SW & RW: You’re welcome.
Wat Kow Tahm Meditation Retreat
A 10-day meditation retreat with Steve and Rosemary Weissman costs 4,500 baht (US$153). None of this money goes to the teachers, who only accept donations. For further information and to access a course schedule, visit the Wat Kow Tahm website at http://www.watkowtahm.org/ |
Special thanks to Phra Cittasamvaro for his help with this interview.
Photo courtesy of William
Yaryan
-James Vernon can be contacted at jamesjvernon[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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Life in Thailand 
Life in Thailand
Thai ways of living - be it countryside or city - have their own distinct styles, rhythms and habits. The kingdom, and especially Bangkok, is also home to an interesting variety of locals and expatriates. Learn about the views and lives of local and expatriate communities, in addition to helpful tips for those exploring and living a Life in Thailand.
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