Mental Energy Research Design

Mental Energy Research Design

Introduction

The Lord Buddha said: “O Bhikkus, there are two kinds of illness. What are those two? Physical illness and mental illness. There seem to be people who enjoy freedom from physical illness even for a year or two….even for a hundred years or more. But O, Bhikkus, rare in this world are those who enjoy freedom mental defilements.

Buddha’s teachings, particularly his way of meditation or mental culture, aims at producing a state of perfect mental health, equilibrium and tranquility. It aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desire, hatred, ill-will, indolence, worries, restlessness and doubts. It cultivates such qualities as concentration, awareness, intelligence, will-power, energy, the analytical faculty, confidence, joy, tranquility, leading finally to the attainment of the highest wisdom that sees the nature of things as they are and realizes the ultimate truth.

Dedication

This research design is dedicated to the new group of world servers as well as the world decade for cultural development, 1988 to 1997. The primary aim of this research design is to prove that meditation can be scientifically tested following the methods detailed in this booklet. In fact, this design has been applied on several occasions to various groups by Venerable Dr. Dhammarakkhita, the author of this booklet.

Activity

The word “meditation” means culture or development; i.e.., mental culture or mental development. If practiced regularly and correctly, it may fulfill the highest need of human beings for self-realization or self actualization. It is, indeed, the highest achievement for human beings.

Although this research design has been constructed based on the Lord Buddha’s teachings, it may be tested by modern scientific means.

Those who participates meditation in accordance with my research design will find the miracle of mind power within ten days. After completing the ten-day course, the mental patterns of the yogis may be measured using sophisticated machines such as the electroencephalograph (E.E.G), single photon emission computed tomography (S.P.E.C.T) and positron tomography (P.E.T). With the help of these machines, the researcher can measure the brain wave patterns in order to calculate the validity and reliability of the effects of meditation on mind power.

Those who are interested in this research project can participate irrespective of race, faith, sex, creed and age.

Specific objectives

Once the contemplation and the awareness of in-and-out breathing is practiced and developed, it becomes one’s habit and foundation. Then, one may expect the following blessings:

  1. One does not allow oneself to be overcome by discontent one subdues it, as soon as it arises.
  2. One does not allow oneself to be overcome by fear and anxiety one subdues them, as soon as they arise.
  3. One endures cold and heat, hunger and thirst, wind and sun, as well as bodily pains.
  4. One learns to purify the mind through realization of the four “absorptions” (jhanas)

The immediate expected results

A developed power of concentration is, needless to say, of inestimable value in the ordinary, everyday business of life. It may well make the difference between an efficient or inefficient public servant and professional worker.

Operational definition

Metta-abhinna is the specific operational definition of my research project, Metta-cetovimutti “The mind-deliverance of loving kindness.”

The pali word “metta” means loving kindness, If you have real metta, you can radiate noble, grand peace. It is this metta that attempts to break away all barriers that separate beings from one another.

Abhinna is a special kind of super-normal power of consciousness. Everybody who practices meditation in accordance with my research design can achieve it very easily. Through metta-abhinna, we can help to provide solutions to problems that cannot be resolved by conventional means.

Methodology

  1. Watching over in-and-out breathing (anapanasati)
  2. Four barhma-vihara, the dissemination of love to all directions. Applied metta-abhinna (the mind-deliverance of loving kindles).
  3. Mental energy research (kasina)-para-psychology.

Is the activity feasible?

(a) technical view-point

According to statistical psychology, we need to calculate validity and reliability. That is why I intend to use the latest technical developments in testing the findings of my research work. As there is no financial support to technical expertise available in my country for this purpose, I intend to seek external assistance from interesting organizations to fund the project.

(b) human resources

The human resources or trainees are abundant in my country. I would be able to invite them through the mass media or through voluntary groups. The outstanding trainees from various meditation groups may be selected for further research.

Procedure

Fifty trainees are required primarily for the first ten day course. They will be trained daily in accordance with my method. According to the ability of the trainee, the detailed procedure will be revealed gradually by the teacher.

Result evaluation (data analysis)

Patients suffering from heart disease, hypertension, gastric problems and neurosis are to be examined before and after the use of my research design, by various doctors, scientists and psychologists in order that we may know the changes that occur among them. Thus, we may have the T-tables.

The stages of jhana that the trainees pass, using right concentration, shall be recorded using machines. Under strict observation by a well-qualified scientist, we can obtain reliable brain wave patterns as data.

The fourth jhana is supreme because mental energy is tapped at that state using research methods used in parapsychology.

Conclusion

To talk of maintaining peace through the balance of power or through the threat of nuclear deterrents is foolish. The might of armaments can only produce fear, and not peace. It is impossible that there can be genuine and lasting peace through fear. Through fear can only come hatred, ill-will, and hostility. True and genuine peace can prevail only in an atmosphere of metta. Metta-abhinna can be achieved through mental culture or mental development.

Therefore, I invite you cordially to come to my spiritual workshop and test the ten-day meditation course. It is, indeed, the group service through the power of the mind-deliverance of loving kindness. Buddha taught us not to believe merely because it is heard, but believe only your consciousness and act accordingly and abundantly.

The regular ten-day meditation courses will be opened at the first week of every month.

No charges, but donations are welcome!

For detailed information please contact through the following address:

Everybody is invited to come and see.

Dr. Dhammarakkhita (Director)

M.A (Psy), M.D (M.A), D. Sc (H.C)

Mental Energy Research Meditation Center (M.E.R.M.C)

The Dept. of Irrigation Quarter (East)

Pathingyi Township., Mandalay

Myanmar

Tel: 95-2-57278

e-mail: dahamma.dr@gmail.com

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In Mandalay

44

1. Mandalay

2. Mandalay Scadue

3. Others

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Return of a Huge Teak Tree

Teak 1By Pye Pye (27/11/09)

Myanmar is rich in natural resources and she is proud of growing teak the finest wood in the world. Teak is the world’s most valuable and versatile hardwood. It’s often referred to as the “King of Woods” for its prized property of being the only wood that withstands the harsh effects of sea water and broiling sun and does not split, crack or warp. Teak trees are very large, growing to 30-40 metres in height.

I’d like to give information the trekking program to a huge teak in order to visit there. It will take 3 days/ 2 nights.

Day-1

After breakfast, we leave for Painne Gone (Jackfruit) Village at Pyin Oo Lwin Township. Arrive at the village about 12:00 noon and stop for lunch. The car will stop and drop at the village. After lunch sightseeing around the village and study the ways of the life. Overnight at the village.

Day-2

After breakfast, we start the jungle way to a huge teak tree it will takes approximately 3:30 hrs trekking. We arrive there about 11:00 a.m. After taking a rest and photos for two hours, having lunch there then we came down to the village. Overnight at the village.

Day-3

After breakfast, we leave for Pyin Oo Lwin.

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Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon pagoda at nightBuilt on a crest of the holy Thainguttara Hill, housing relics of The Buddha and three Buddhas that preceded him, encased in gold and in jewels, the Shwedagon pagoda is a wonder to see. the Shwedagon looms over the Yangon skyline. Erected more than 2500 Years ago and enshrining eight hairs of the Buddha placed in a treasure chamber deep under its base. The wide, marble-paved platform is ringed with shrines and pavilions built in the best designs of religious architecture and embellished with ancient carvings of master artisans. No matter how many lovely places you visit, though, your trip will not be complete until you view the Shwedagon Pagoda. The beauty if the architecture and design will take your breath away, as will the sparkling, light catching jewels. This wondrous holy place, filled with history and legend, is not to be missed on your journey.

It is evident that, over the centuries, the Shwedagon Pagoda has survived difficult times. It has withstood earthquakes, invasions, pillaging, foreign occupation etc.

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ခရီးစဥ္မ်ား

ခရီစဥ္မ်ား
၁. ဘန္ေကာက္ – ျမဘုရား – ေစ်း၀ယ္ – ( ၅ ရက္ – ၄ည )

၂. ဘန္ေကာက္ – ခ်င္းမိုင္ – ( ၆ ရက္ – ၅ည )

၃. ဘန္ေကာက္ – ဖူးခက္ – ( ၆ ရက္ – ၅ည )

၄. ဘန္ေကာက္ – မတၱရား – အယုဒၶယ – ( ၅ ရက္ – ၄ည )

၅. စကၤပူ -  မေလးရွား – ( ၇ ရက္ – ၆ည )

၆. ဘန္ေကာက္ – စကၤပူ -  မေလးရွား – ( ၉ ရက္ – ၈ည )

၇. စကၤပူ – ( ၄ ရက္ – ၃ည )

၈. မေလးရွား – ( ၅ ရက္ – ၄ည )

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Silk Weaving

Silk WeavingDifferent countries produce different silk. The main producers of silk are China, India and Thailand, a rather exotic type of silk comes from Myanmar – Burma. Silk Cheit longyis were especially favored during   King Mindon’s reign. Myanmar silk is used mainly to make Cheit longyis, special garments worn by both men and women. Silk Cheit longyis have been in fashion and popular with royalty and commoners for many centuries. It takes great skill to weave these silk fabrics with their varied colors and intricate designs. Weaving to form traditional designs to produce a distinctive and elegant silk pattern can only be done by hand. The top quality silk cheit longyi is called a product of 100 shuttles because that number of small shuttles must be used in the painstaking process of weaving each piece of silk from Myanmar. The young women weavers must have great skill; even three years of training may not be sufficient for a weaver to become a proficient artisan. Silk looks good, Silk comes in beautiful colors, Silk fits the body and Silk gives a pleasant feeling when it touches the skin. Myanmars are justly proud to dress themselves in such prestigious and artistically crafted material to attend official functions, religious and social occasions, weddings and ceremonies. Various artists on the Myanmar stage also wear these resplendent garments.The main centre of cheit longyi weaving is in Amarapura, close to Mandalay.

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Ava

Ava-1Ava was capital of Burma from 1364-1841 founded by King  Thadominbya on an artificial island at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and the Myitnge created by digging a canal linking the two rivers

A Burman Ava Dynasty (1364-1527) was eventually established at the city of Ava by 1364. Pagan culture was revived and a great age of Burmese literature ensued.

Sights of interest

  1. Maha Aungmye Bonzan – A Buddhist monastery built by Nanmadaw Mè Nu, queen of Bagyidaw, in 1818, in traditional style except it was masonry instead of wood (popularly known as Mè Nu Ok Kyaung)
  2. Nanmyin Watch Tower – a 27 meter high masonry tower, all that is left of the Ava Palace
  3. Judson Memorial – a stone that marks the site of Let Ma Yun (lit. no pulling punches)prison where the American missionary Adoniram Judson was incarcerated during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)
  4. Htihlaing Shin Paya – a stupa built by King Kyanzittha of Bagan period (11th c.)
  5. Ava Bridge – a 16 span cantilever bridge built by the British in 1934, the only structure to span the Ayeyarwady River until recently when a new bridge has been built nearby.

Ava was capital of Burma from 1364-1841 founded by King Thadominbya on an artificial island at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and the Myitnge created by digging a canal linking the two rivers

A Burman Ava Dynasty (1364-1527) was eventually established at the city of Ava by 1364. Pagan culture was revived and a great age of Burmese literature ensued.

Sights of interest

  1. Maha Aungmye Bonzan – A Buddhist monastery built by Nanmadaw Mè Nu, queen of Bagyidaw, in 1818, in traditional style except it was masonry instead of wood (popularly known as Mè Nu Ok Kyaung)
  2. Nanmyin Watch Tower – a 27 meter high masonry tower, all that is left of the Ava Palace
  3. Judson Memorial – a stone that marks the site of Let Ma Yun (lit. no pulling punches)prison where the American missionary Adoniram Judson was incarcerated during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)
  4. Htihlaing Shin Paya – a stupa built by King Kyanzittha of Bagan period (11th c.)
  5. Ava Bridge – a 16 span cantilever bridge built by the British in 1934, the only structure to span the Ayeyarwady River until recently when a new bridge has been built nearby.
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Mrauk Oo

Mrauk-OoMrauk U is an archaeologically important town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. In 1431, King Min Saw Mon established Mrauk U as the capital of the last reunited and Arakanese Kingdom. As they prospered, they built many pagodas and temples, many of which remain today. The most notable are the Shite-thaung Temple (Temple of 80,000 Images or Temple of Victory), Htukkanthein (Htukkan Ordination Hall), the Koe-thaung (Temple of 90,000 Images) and the Five Mahn pagodas. Today, Mrauk U is a major archaeological and tourist site. It is about two days journey from Yangon, or 3-5 hours boat ride from Sittwe

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Instruction for Group Meditation

Mett Bhavana…. Metta-cetovimutti

(The mind deliverance of loving-kindness).

The Answer for the 21st Century, the Way of Totality!

  1. Develop Samadhi (concentration) through Anapanasti (in and out breathing). Fix your awareness on the nostril and mentally say “in, out, in ,out, in, out” simultaneously with the breath. Let the breath only be as long as the words, “in and out”. Do this for 5 or 10 minutes.
  2. Shift your awareness to the top of your head. Imagine that The Buddha, Jesus or the Holy Spirit (Teacher, Guru you would like), has come down to the top of your head and dissolves into light and descends into your heart. Identify yourself with your Guru.
  3. By holding the mind steadily within the light, try to see your whole body filling with your loving kindness thoughts. Say mentally each one at least 5 times and go from head to foot, foot to head. Feel it and mean it.

May I be free from enmity. (hatred, war)

May I be free from affliction. (conflict)

May I be free from anxiety. (worry)

May I live happily.

4.  By holding the mind steadily within the light, direct your loving

kindness thoughts to your left side yogi.

Suggestion: Try to develop oneness with him or her.

Say as above, but replace “I” with he or she, or the name of the yogi.

Through creative imagination, expand your consciousness until you reach to the sky. As if you were looking at the stars. Try to see the whole Universe. Try to see the whole universe filling with your loving kindness thoughts.

Say as above, but replace “I” with all sentient beings in the universe.

Feel it and mean it. Identify yourself with the whole universe. This selfless dedication to others is the true meaning of Metta-Cetovimutti, (the mind deliverance of loving-kindness), the way of non-duality, totality.

  1. By holding the mind steadily within the light, pray ardently for what your desire. After developing concentration and this practice of selfless dedication to others, your prayers will be more effective!
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Novitiation and Ear Piercing Ceremony

noviceThe Shinbyu or novitiation ceremony is one of the most important events in a Buddhist’s life in Myanmar. Novitiation means allowing boys to enter the Buddha’s Order of Sangha  as a novice. Myanmar people regard their lives to be incomplete if they themselves, or their sons, have not been novices. Boys aged between 9 and 12 are beautifully dressed in princely attire that can be attributed to the fact that the Buddha’s son had been a prince himself.Then the boys have to beg permission in Pali to the head monk to be novitiated, and the ceremony is then conducted. After prayers, the boys don robes and the transformation occurs. The fresh novices have to stay in the monastery for a retreat of at least seven days under the care of the residing monks, following every set of rules, studying Buddhist scriptures and making the most of their stay there.

ear-piercing ceremonyWhile Myanmar boys are novitiated in the Shinbyu ceremony, the girls also have an important ceremony in which their ear lobes are pierced so they can wear ear-rings when they come of age. Most Myanmar girls used to regard this ritual as the most important and auspicious ceremony in their lives apart from the wedding. But this ritual is no longer as popular although the majority of women wear ear-rings.

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Tazaungdai Pwe Daw (or) Ka Htain Pwe Daw

The month of Tazaungmon was the eight month of Myanmar Calendar. (November was the eight month of Christian Calendar.) In the month of Tazaungmon the ceremonies of Kahtain, Tazaungdai (or) Lighting, Shin Marle, Instant Robe for Buddha and Hot Air Balloons were held.

Special robes and other offertories for monks who had kept the lent for three months, from the Full Moon of Wazo to the first Wanning Moon of Thadingyut, were offered in the Kahtain Ceremony. Kahtain Ceremony could be held during the time of one month ending on the Full Moon Day of Tazaungmon. Kahtain ceremony could be held individually, collectively and organizationally. It was very ceremonious indeed.

The main ceremony of the month of Tazaungmon was Tazaungdai Pwe Daw (or) Lighting Festival. It was not a religious ceremony of the Buddhists but the funny ceremony of worshipping god of fire.

Again in the month of Tazaungmon the religious ceremony of Shin Marle was also held. That ceremony had its background; Pro-Buddha Ari Mittaeya, a god in the abode of gods, requested Shin Marle Mahti of Sri Lanka every year on the Full Moon Day of Tazaungmon to preach Way-than-ta-ya Jataka. Accordingly Shin Marle Mahti preached it in a thousand verses grandly. In honour of that preaching Shin Mrle festival was celebrated by offering one thousand fruits, one thousand oil lamps, one thousand cups of water, one thousand flowers and etc. on the Full Moon of Tazaungmon.

The next festival was Instant Robe Weaving Competition. It has also a background story: on the eve of Pro-Buddha’s renunciation into the forest his mother, then a certain god, namely Thanduthita, in Tawadain-tha Abode of gods urgently wove robe for the son. The robe was finished in one night and its was offered in time to the renouncing son. In honour to that great event, Instant Robe Weaving Competition was included in the Instant Robe Weaving Festival.

There was “Sulamani Pagoda” in the Tawadain-tha Abode of gods, the king of gods, Thakyamin, had built it. The devoted Buddhists worshipped the Sulamani pagoda by launching Hot Air Balloons. Nowadays Tazaungdai Pwe Daw and Hot Air Balloon Launching Festival in Taungyi, The Shan States, was the most outstanding.

The Full Moon of Tazaungmon Night was spent by offering the Myanmar traditional snack such as “Mont-lone-yae-paw” (small glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with palm sugar) to the neighbourers of feeding the close friends with that snack. Some, however, spent the night by playing various Myanmar traditional sports and games. According to Myanmar belief edible flower buds of Mezali had medicinal value on Full Moon Night of Tazaungmon and hence every Myanmar family took Mezali Salad as a special medicine.

The funny festivity of Tawataintha was held by youths. They secretly picked out any property or furniture from nearby houses and piled them up at the visible junctions. It meant they would climb up the abode of gods, Tawadaintha, through the stolen pile of things. Some youths on the other hand held Tazaungmon Night Picnics after asking for money from the elders in addition to stealing rice and chicken. Stealing, however, was no problem for that night in accordance with Myanmar tradition.

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