Is There More to Dharma Practice Than Meditation?
I'd like to delve into a topic I often contemplate, one that I believe many meditators encounter, particularly those seeking a deeper understanding and practice within a traditional Buddhist lineage. My thoughts revolve around a question, perhaps even an assumption we sometimes make: Is meditation the most crucial aspect of Dharma practice?
The reason I call this an assumption stems from the fact that when we first encounter Eastern spiritual traditions, especially Buddhism, it's usually meditation that piques our interest. Most of us, myself included, don't dive straight into a traditional lineage. We enter through secular mindfulness or some other form of non-religious meditation practice. Naturally, at some point, we yearn for more. We crave context, deeper understanding, and perhaps a way to enrich our practices. However, because we entered through the lens of meditation, we might unconsciously elevate it as the most important element.
Here, I'm not suggesting meditation holds no value. Instead, I want to share some alternative perspectives that might encourage us to ask more open-ended questions within our practice. We can also explore how to balance our Dharma practice by incorporating some truly helpful components from the traditional Buddhist path.
Tibetan Buddhism, and likely other Mahayana traditions, offer a framework for this: the Three Wheels. These wheels represent learning the Dharma, reflecting on what we've learned, and then meditating on it. Reflection enhances our understanding and brings a richer experience to our meditation. The title, "Three Wheels," implies action and movement. Just as wheels propel a car or wagon, these wheels necessitate our engagement. They also suggest progress. A holistic Dharma practice, one that truly leads us towards awakening, requires a balance of learning, reflection, and meditation.
I usually advocate incorporating some element of each wheel, or striving for a daily balance of these practices. Here's another key point: we often associate practice solely with meditation. However, learning is also a practice. Actively engaging with the Dharma through listening, studying, and reflecting is a powerful practice in itself.
By approaching Dharma practice through the Three Wheels, we expand and enrich how we interact with the Buddha's teachings and integrate them into our lives. Learning, or listening to the Dharma, is the act of receptively taking in information. Traditionally, this might involve attending a live Dharma talk from a teacher, studying a Sutra from the Buddha, or delving into a Shastra, a commentary that explains the Buddha's teachings. We have a vast amount of these resources available – not endless, but certainly more than anyone can study in a lifetime.
Therefore, especially in Tibetan lineages, there are established systems for learning due to the sheer volume of information. Without guidance, we might not know where to begin in our studies. These systems, structures, and learning paths help us navigate the vast ocean of Dharma knowledge. While exploring random Dharma books can be wonderful, it can also lead to a somewhat jumbled learning experience.
Continuing our exploration of the Three Wheels, let's delve into the crucial concept of receptivity during the learning phase. As someone who has also grappled with this in my own practice, I've noticed a tendency – and perhaps you share this too – for our minds to become judgmental quickly. This is especially true when encountering ideas that challenge our existing understanding or contradict our beliefs.
If we allow judgment to close off our receptivity, our subsequent reflection becomes biased. Disagreement isn't inherently problematic, but when it goes unchecked, it shuts down openness in the learning stage. Therefore, I highly recommend cultivating a practice of conscious receptivity while engaging with the Dharma. This can involve structured study programs, reading specific texts, or even attending live Dharma talks.
Here are some healthy study practices to enhance receptivity:
Taking notes: This helps solidify what you're learning and provides a foundation for reflection.
Highlighting key passages: This focuses your attention on important concepts.
Reviewing material: Revisiting what you've learned deepens understanding.
Once you've established a foundation of receptivity, you can consciously move on to the second wheel: reflection. This is a fascinating stage where even doubt and skepticism become valuable tools. Reflection involves a more analytical approach, utilizing our logical thinking minds. We analyze what we've learned, weigh different perspectives against each other, and challenge our existing beliefs and positions.
In today's world, I believe we're increasingly losing the ability for open, honest, and unbiased reflection. It's crucial to examine our own judgments and hold them up for scrutiny while maintaining an open mind.
Reflection, however, requires a different kind of openness compared to receptivity. Here, we engage in a form of critical thinking, but critical in a balanced way. We critically evaluate both the Dharma teachings themselves and our own biases, even if our initial reaction is one of agreement.
This process becomes an internal debate, fostering our capacity to truly understand what we encountered in the learning phase. We grapple with the teachings, seeking to deepen our understanding and ultimately build conviction in the topics being explored. This internal churning, fueled by logical reasoning and critical thinking, is a vital stage in the growth of our understanding and practice.
Blind belief offers a flimsy foundation. In the past, I've personally grappled with this tendency to adopt beliefs too readily, only to have them crumble later. While this questioning is a natural part of the path, we can avoid some of this struggle by fostering a healthy skepticism rather than rushing to believe.
However, the opposite extreme – an overly critical or judgmental stance – is equally detrimental. In today's world, charged with constant public disagreements, it's easy to become entrenched in our own opinions, effectively shutting ourselves off to new perspectives. This applies not only to the Dharma but also to our own potential for growth within the practice.
Therefore, we want to avoid both extremes: becoming a blind believer and clinging to unhealthy doubt. There's certainly space for constructive criticism, a healthy skepticism that fuels our reflection. However, this skepticism shouldn't be used solely to preserve our existing beliefs for comfort's sake. Such an approach hinders growth as it prevents us from venturing beyond our current limitations.
Of course, we must navigate this process skillfully and according to our individual capacities. If we're not quite ready to relinquish a particular belief, we can utilize meditation and Dharma practice as a whole to observe this with compassion and loving-kindness.
In essence, the goal isn't blind belief but rather a conviction that deepens through using the Dharma to gain a profound understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This conviction grows slowly through the churning process of reflection.
Finally, let's address meditation, which often gets categorized solely as a practice for calming the mind and achieving present-moment awareness. While this is certainly a valuable aspect, a more holistic Dharma practice, one that truly leads to liberation and awakening, requires more.
The conviction and understanding cultivated through learning and reflection are then brought to bear in meditation. Here, we encounter two main categories of Buddhist meditative practices:
Shamatha (calm abiding): Shamatha helps settle the mind, fostering a present-moment awareness. This aligns with the calming aspect of meditation many are familiar with.
Vipashana (insight meditation): This fascinating practice takes reflection a step further, actively using it to transform our experience of reality. Through Vipashana, we cultivate insight into the impermanent and ultimately empty nature of reality. While terms like "emptiness" can be confusing without proper context, the core idea is to loosen the rigid and fixed perception we hold of ourselves, our experiences, and the world around us.
Insight meditation is where the learnings and reflections from the first two wheels truly come alive. It's a direct and transformative experience triggered within meditation.
Thanks for engaging, I hope this exploration of the Three Wheels and their role in building conviction is helpful and encouraging for your own practice, regardless of your chosen Buddhist lineage.
