Webu Sayadaw's Meditation Method - Plausible?

[khaaan]

Such a simple technique. One wonders why the Buddha spoke thousands of suttas and gave a myriad of teachings when he could have just said... 'focus on the spot day and night'.



Maybe it's not that simple; although we all wish it was.

The Webu Sayadaw emphasized the importance of picking a single practice and sticking to it, and he never said that that practice has to be anapana sati.

To Light a Fire:

> You know about many different techniques, but you don't have to practice them all. Choose one and work with it. If you keep your mind steadfastly focused on one object, you will immediately be aware of what you have not been aware of before, just as you see light as soon as you turn on the switch. Can there still be wrong view and delusion in your mind while you are thus aware?

> Every technique the Buddha taught will work as a switch to turn on the light.

Regarding continuous practice, it's commonly said that the Buddha recommended practicing "in all four postures": sitting, standing, walking, and lying down.

[khaaan]

Trimming away any fat, of which there really is little, The Venerable Webu Sayadaw basically said that if one maintains a continuous awareness of the in and out breathing for 24 hours one will reach the goal.

Later in the [Satipatthana] Sutta The Blessed One states that if anyone trains correctly then in seven days one may expect gnosis. For The Venerable to say that he needed 24 continuous hours is entirely believable.

The Satipatthana Sutta states that anyone who practices correctly for days will become an arahant or a non-returner. Maybe if the goal is "only" to become a stream-winner then 24 hours will suffice.

[khaaan]

The Webu Sayadaw's discourses were translated to English from audio recordings by Roger Bischoff, the teacher at the International Meditation Centre in Heddington, U.K. If you contact the center, someone there, possibly Mr. Bischoff himself, may be able to give you some answers. I will note that the center, and Mr. Bischoff's teaching, is in the lineage of Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Sayamagyi Daw Mya Thwin, and their approach to meditation does not consist exclusively of being constantly aware of the place where the breath touches.

My personal, unsupported conjecture is that while the Webu Sayadaw's approach may well be effective for highly motivated individuals with the right disposition, self-studying meditation has its risks. Practicing anapanasati with the Sayadaw there to guide you and practicing on your own are two different things. If you can find an effective living tradition with a guide, so much the better.

In that connection, it's worth noting that the Webu Sayadaw not only urged U Ba Khin to teach meditation ("Webu Sayadaw and Sayagyi U Ba Khin"), but also visited U Ba Khin's meditation center on multiple occasions and even gave talks there to U Ba Khin's students ("Interview with Webu Sayadaw by a group of Western Students"). This can hardly be seen as anything but an endorsement of U Ba Khin's approach.

I'll close with a personal reflection. Emerson wrote, “THAT book is good Which puts me in a working mood”, and the Sayadaw's words, through Mr. Bischoff's translation, continue to inspire me to practice.

[BrokenBones]

Such a simple technique. One wonders why the Buddha spoke thousands of suttas and gave a myriad of teachings when he could have just said... 'focus on the spot day and night'.



Maybe it's not that simple; although we all wish it was.

The Webu Sayadaw emphasized the importance of picking a single practice and sticking to it, and he never said that that practice has to be anapana sati.

To Light a Fire:

> You know about many different techniques, but you don't have to practice them all. Choose one and work with it. If you keep your mind steadfastly focused on one object, you will immediately be aware of what you have not been aware of before, just as you see light as soon as you turn on the switch. Can there still be wrong view and delusion in your mind while you are thus aware?

> Every technique the Buddha taught will work as a switch to turn on the light.

Regarding continuous practice, it's commonly said that the Buddha recommended practicing "in all four postures": sitting, standing, walking, and lying down.

Sounds like self hypnosis with no room to develop Yoniso Manasikara... unless Right View can suddenly appear by the mere act of staying on one object; it's a kinda magic.

It would be wonderful if it was that simple and the Buddha could have trimmed the teachings considerably.

I have no doubt that for a monk, such a practice might produce considerable concentration... but to what end?

As for laypeople, such a practice is impractical at best and could lead to serious problems at worse.

On a personal level I have found such techniques can lead to a mild form of OCD and emotional indifference (not equanimity - the mental state is totally different). In others; it has been well documented that more severe episodes of mental illness can and often do arise.

[AgarikaJ]

I've piece-mailed Webu Sayadaw's meditation techniques through his various discourses presented in the Selected Discourses of Webu Sayadaw (which is the updated version of The Way to Ultimate Clam) and are summarized below:

• concentration should be focused on the breathing sensations at the nose tip

• concentration in this manner shall be maintained during all activities at all times of the day (sitting, standing, walking, eating, etc.)

• vipassana is utilized with constant contemplation of anatta with the breathing sensations ala "dry insight"

• mindfulness of feelings and thoughts are practiced when they do arise

• intense striving and utmost effort is utilized each day

I have practiced this method briefly and can see/feel incremental progress.

I am sure that this method is a good start and also quite adequate to make progress, even substantially so.

But everybody('s mind) is different, and as the book says itself, p.9, there are multiple methods towards the final goal. This is only one of them.

In the Visuddhimagga1 Ashin Buddhaghosa describes sixteen ways of approaching Ónåpåna meditation, but Ven. Webu Sayadaw kept reminding his disciples that they did not need to know about all of these, all they really needed to know was the reality of in- and out-breathing.

It is, however, a very selective simplification. And without developing Right View and Sila, my assumption would be, that progress will be limited at some point in time (which many laypeople never might reach anyway, as they have too many distractions in their life).

If you have a good teacher in this method, I would start here. If you have a good teacher in another method, I would start there. As long as you see progress, do not overcomplicate things too much, gaining the theoretical knowledge is very much an automatic part of the process.