Daniel Ingram - Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha - An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

MASTERING

THE

CORE T EACHINGS

OF THE

BUDDHA

An Unusually Hardcore

Dharma Book

by

The Interdependent Universe

but conventionally attributed to

The Arahat

Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH

Third Edition

Copyright © April, 2007, By Daniel M. Ingram

[email protected]

www.interactivebuddha.com

This book is dedicated to the memory of the late Bill Hamilton.

His relentless dedication to the cultivation and promotion of wisdom despite all the consequences made him a truly great teacher.

CONTENTS

Contents......................................................................................................i Foreword and Warning..............................................................iv Part I: The Fundamentals.........................................................................1

1. Introduction to Part I..............................................................2

2. Morality, The First and Last Training....................................4

3. Concentration, The Second Training.....................................9

4. Wisdom, The Third Training................................................12

5. The Three Characteristics.......................................................16

Impermanence................................................................................................16

Suffering..........................................................................................................26

No-self.............................................................................................................28

The Five Spiritual Faculties .......................................................34

Faith and Wisdom..........................................................................................34

Energy and Concentration..............................................................................35

Mindfulness.....................................................................................................36

6. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment ....................................38

Mindfulness.....................................................................................................38

Investigation of the Truth...............................................................................40

Energy.............................................................................................................44

Rapture............................................................................................................44

Tranquility.......................................................................................................46

Concentration.................................................................................................47

Equanimity......................................................................................................47

7. The Three Trainings Revisited...............................................52

8. The Four Noble Truths .........................................................60

Truth Number One: Suffering.......................................................................60

Truth Number Two: “Desire”........................................................................62

Truth Number Three: The End of Suffering.................................................65

Truth Number Four: The Path......................................................................66

9. Practical Meditation Considerations.......................................67

When, where and for how long?....................................................................67

Daily life and Retreats.....................................................................................68

Postures...........................................................................................................73

Objects for Insight Practices...........................................................................75

Resolve............................................................................................................78

Teachers..........................................................................................................79

10. Summary................................................................................84

11. Conclusion to Part I..............................................................85

i

Part II: Light and Shadows......................................................................87

12. Introduction to Parts II & III................................................88

13. Buddhism vs. The Buddha *................................................92

14. Content and Ultimate Reality *.............................................97

15. What Went Wrong? *..........................................................102

16. A Clear Goal .........................................................................111

17. Harnessing the Energy of the “Defilements” .......................119

18. Right Thought and the Aegean Stables ................................124

19. From Content to Insight........................................................127

Part III: Mastery....................................................................................132

20. Concentration vs. Insight.......................................................133

21. The Concentration States (Samatha Jhanas) .......................139

The First Jhana...............................................................................................139

The Second Jhana...........................................................................................141

The Third Jhana.............................................................................................142

The Fourth Jhana............................................................................................143

The “Psychic Powers”.....................................................................................144

22. No-self vs. True Self .............................................................153

23. The Formless Realms ..........................................................159

Boundless Space, The Fifth Jhana..................................................................159

Boundless Consciousness, The Sixth Jhana...................................................160

Nothingness, The Seventh Jhana....................................................................161

Neither Perception Nor Yet Non-perception,

The Eighth Jhana............................................................................................163

24. The Progress of Insight ........................................................166

1. Mind and Body...........................................................................................171

2. Cause and Effect.........................................................................................172

3. The Three Characteristics..........................................................................173

4. The Arising and Passing Away....................................................................175

5. Dissolution, Entrance to the Dark Night....................................................181

6. Fear.............................................................................................................191

7. Misery..........................................................................................................191

8. Disgust.........................................................................................................192

9. Desire for Deliverance................................................................................192

10. Re-observation..........................................................................................193

11. Equanimity................................................................................................203

12. Conformity................................................................................................211

13. Change of Lineage....................................................................................211

14. Path...........................................................................................................211

15. Fruition......................................................................................................211

16. Review.......................................................................................................213

25. The Vipassana Jhanas...........................................................217

Bill Hamilton’s Model....................................................................................219

Fractals............................................................................................................225

U Pandita’s Model..........................................................................................227

Inklings of One More Model.........................................................................228

ii

26. How the Maps Help .............................................................229

27. The Three Doors..................................................................240

28. “Was That Emptiness?” .......................................................245

29. Beyond First Path (“What Next?”) ......................................252

30. Models of the Stages of Enlightenment *.............................261

The Non-Duality Model.................................................................................268

The Sudden Schools of Awakening...............................................................269

The Fundamental Perception Models............................................................270

The Specific Perception Models....................................................................271

The Emotional Models...................................................................................272

The Theravada Four Path Model...................................................................274

A Revised Four Path Model...........................................................................279

A Simple Model..............................................................................................283

The Action Models.........................................................................................285

The Power Models.........................................................................................288

The Tibetan Ten Bhumi Model....................................................................290

The Tibetan Five Path Model........................................................................291

The Energetic Models....................................................................................292

The Specific Knowledge Models....................................................................293

The Psychological Models..............................................................................294

The Thought Models......................................................................................297

The God Models............................................................................................301

The Physical Models......................................................................................302

The Radiance Models.....................................................................................303

The Karma Models........................................................................................306

The Perpetual Bliss Models...........................................................................307

The Three Kayas............................................................................................308

The Immortality models.................................................................................314

The Transcendence Models...........................................................................315

The Extinction Models...................................................................................316

The Love Models...........................................................................................317

The Unity Models...........................................................................................318

The Social Models..........................................................................................318

The Three Yanas............................................................................................320

Ditching our “Stuff” vs. Ditching the Split......................................................322

The “Nothing to Do” and “You are Already There” Schools.......................324

Final Points.....................................................................................................328

31. So What’s “Full Enlightenment”? *.....................................329

32. Integration*............................................................................333

33. It is Possible! .........................................................................337

34. More on the “Mushroom Factor”*.......................................339

35. So Who The Heck Is Daniel M. Ingram?...........................346

36. Conclusion And Best Wishes...............................................352

Appendix: The Cessation of Perception and Feeling (Nirodha

Samapatti)....................................................................................353

Index...........................................................................................357

iii

Foreword and Warning

FOREWORD AND WARNING

When I was about 15 years old I accidentally ran into some of the classic early meditation experiences described in the ancient texts and my reluctant spiritual quest began. I did not realize what had happened, nor did I realize that I had crossed something like a point of no return, something I would later call the Arising and Passing Away. I knew that I had had a very strange dream with bright lights, that my entire body and world had seemed to explode like fireworks, and that afterwards I somehow had to find something, but I had no idea what that was. I philosophized frantically for years until I finally began to realize that no amount of thinking was going to solve my deeper spiritual issues and complete the cycle of practice that had already started.

I had a very good friend that was in the band that employed me as a sound tech and roadie. He was in a similar place, caught like me in something we would later call the Dark Night and other names. He also realized that logic and cognitive restructuring were not going to help us in the end. We looked carefully at what other philosophers had done when they came to the same point, and noted that some of our favorites had turned to mystical practices. We reasoned that some sort of non-dual wisdom that came from direct experience was the only way to go, but acquiring that sort of wisdom seemed a daunting task if not impossible.