I’m struggling to find the balance between endorsing the pure teaching of dhamma as taught in this tradition and supporting people outside of this tradition to live a better life more in line with dhamma. The path of dhamma is a long path and we each start from where we are at this moment. While one person may be striving to maintain awareness of the breath continuously throughout the day, another person may simply be trying to reduce the intensity and longevity of their aggressive outbursts. I feel I should be able to support and encourage both of these people to take steps on the path but I don’t always have the tools to support someone who is unaware and uninterested in Vipassana.
The first 10 day course is a huge hurdle and continuing your practice after that is an equally large challenge. I want to encourage people to practice Anapana if and when they can but I’m not sure if I should encourage them to sit with me. I want to explain my understanding of these teachings but I don’t want to confuse or mislead people with my misunderstandings.
There is such a strong push from this tradition to keep the teachings pure that I feel like we might be missing opportunities to help make the world a better place. Could we speed up the wheel by promoting Anapana and the intellectual understanding of Vipassana or would we be hurting the clarity of the teachings by separating them from the actual deep meditation? I guess my discomfort comes from watching the people around me suffering. I don’t want them to suffer but I’m not sure exactly how to help if they’re unable to commit to a 10 day course. Maybe more clarity will come with practice. Time to meditate.
