Monsoon on the Dhamma Land - S N Gonekaji.
The monsoon has come, bringing life to the earth and delight to the mind. The mountainous land around Dhammagiri has become all the more majestic by being submerged in the compelling beauty of living nature. Heated by the fierce summer sun, the rocky cliffs have melted and stream with waterfalls, which bathe the entire Sahayadri Mountain range. Countless cascades have sprung forth and started flowing from the hilltops. The parched soil of summer now is soaked with rainwater, and the lowlands are dotted with little pools and larger ponds. The soft green velvet of new grass competes with the buds, flowers, and creepers in adorning the beauty of the earth. The sky had been empty and impoverished, but now in every direction, it is wreathed in a wealth of water-laden clouds. Gone is emptiness; gone is barrenness; gone are poverty, loneliness, depression, and melancholy.
Upon earth and in the heavens are overflowing riches, and everywhere there are rejoicings and festivals to celebrate the coming of the rains.
And against this backdrop stands the Dhamma Pagoda on the Plateau of Peace.
It seems to call to meditators saying,
"Oh miserable human beings, suffering from worldly torments!
Come and find peace by sitting in my lap. Come and find repose in my embrace. Take refuge in these cells, which are like mountain caves. Come, sit with legs crossed and back straight! All the phenomena of nature that you see outside can be observed within yourselves. Become introspective and behold reality as it is, as it arises within. Develop the wisdom of anicca by direct experience.
In the outer world, clouds roll through the sky; winds blow in the fields and gardens; trees bend before each gust. Branches sway; leaves flutter; each blade of grass quivers. Everywhere, there is impermanence, instability. And in the inner world as well, see how everywhere there is instability, change, tumult, agitation, oscillation, movement every moment.
Outside on the rocky face of the mountain to the north of Dhammagiri, waterfalls are flowing. Inside, as well, flows the Ganges of the awareness of anicca from head to feet.
Outside, all the earth pulses beneath the steadily falling drops of rain. Inside, sensations throb throughout the body.
Outside are ripples on the flowing streams. Inside as well are ripples, wavelets, arising and passing away.
Outside, at times, threatening storm clouds darken the sky. Inside too, a heavy fog of emotion may arise.
The clouds without are driven away by the wind, and inside the wind of the wisdom of anicca dispels the solidity and intensity of emotions.
When the clouds outside pass away, you can gaze into the infinity of space; and when the clouds of sankhāras within are removed, all illusions evaporate and you see the reality of the Void (suññata).
The sky, at last, is liberated from obscuring clouds; within, the mind is liberated from defilements. Washed in the rainwater of Vipassana, it becomes freed from all impurities.
Observing thus the nature outside can give inspiration to discover the same reality within.
And when a meditator becomes established in the practice, he finds that he has a matchless shelter amid the storms of life.
In the joy of liberation of attaining a truly healthy mind, a Vipassana meditator sings:
"Vassati devo yatha sugīta-,
channā me ku.ikā subkhā nivātā,
citta- susamāhita- ca kāye,
atha ce patthayasi pavassa devā."
"The rain falls like a sweet song; my little hut is thatched, pleasant, and sheltered from stormy blasts. My mind is fully concentrated on the body. Now rain, sky god, if you wish!"
--Theragatha, 52.
Blessed is the season of monsoon.
Blessed is the land of mountains.
Blessed is ever-changing nature.
Blessed is Dhammagiri.
Blessed is the Plateau of Peace.
Blessed is the Dhamma Pagoda.
Blessed is each cell within the Pagoda.
Blessed is Vipassana meditation, by practicing which, a meditator becomes blessed.
{SD}
Source:
Vipassana International Newsletter June'88.
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