This special series of four afternoon talks in November aims to shed new light on Buddhism and meditation.  Drawing on his three decades of study and practice, the speaker, Khun Bangkok Chowkwanyun, will discuss an integrative, effective and practical approach to the Buddha’s message of liberation, Nibanna.

Presented in celebration of The Siam Society’s 120th anniversary, the talks are intended to not only introduce newcomers to Buddhist teachings and meditation but also to convey a fresh perspective to scholars and experienced meditators.

While exploring the relationships between Buddhist texts and the processes of meditation practice, the talks will propose that each of us can indeed discover and follow the elusive path to taste liberation, reaching Nibanna in this lifetime.

The talks will illuminate methods based on scientific principles of cause and effect that are inherent and observable in the practice of meditation.  Most importantly, this approach follows from the truth that all Sankhara (“everything”) is subject to the Three Common Characteristics. These are Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering) and Anatta (non-self). 

Beyond situating meditation practice within key Buddhist concepts, the talks will identify the relationships between various Buddhist texts. This approach leads towards a deeper understanding of both the texts themselves and the practice of meditation. It is an integrative approach that spans both Vipassana mindfulness and Samatha concentration meditation, which are traditionally viewed as two separate branches of meditation practice. With a new understanding, seemingly diverse traditions can be viewed as part of a unified tapestry of practice that includes Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, Transcendental Meditation, Qigong, Yoga, and more.

The talks will reveal how formal meditation practice observing Paramattha (ultimate truth) can be multiplexed with observing Pannatti (relative truth) in everyday living thereby solving the problem faced by so many of us that we have “no time” to practice meditation. It opens a path into continuous mindfulness in every circumstance of daily life, approximating the mental state of an Arahat, a fully enlightened holy one having attained the fourth and final stage of enlightenment.

Finally, this powerful yet practical technique of enhanced mindfulness meditation has the potential to help remedy society’s rising incidence of mental illness. Meditation has already been widely proven to complement Western-style mental health care. Yet this enhanced approach can go beyond the psychotherapeutic and psychiatric application of traditional meditation methods such as mindful breathing, walking, body scanning, etc. 

Each of the four talks will incorporate a short secular exercise in meditation that can lead toward a better understanding of Sati mindfulness through direct experience.

Lecture 1 (19 November 2024)

The Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment

This lecture traces the coming of the Buddha and his enlightenment through his re-discovery of the ancient path of Ariya Sacca (the Four Noble Truths). This path integrates the Panna (Wisdom), set forth in the Five Khandas (the Five Aggregates), Ayatana (the Six Senses), Paticcasamuppada (Dependent Origination), Satipatthanna Sutta (the Four Foundations of Mindfulness), Satisampajanna (Clear Comprehension) and Bojjhanga (the Seven Factors of Enlightenment). Throughout these various representations of the path, we trace one common thread, one unifying law of nature: Tilakkhana (the Three Common Characteristics, also known as the Three Marks of Existence). 

Lecture 2 (20 November 2024)

Meditation in Practice

How should we meditate? We will explore the specific techniques of a scientific approach to meditation practice that will lead to the state of Sotapanna (Stream Enterer), the first of the four levels of enlightenment that we can achieve in this lifetime. 

The key objective is sufficient embedding of the nature of Anatta (Non-Self) attained through the repeated experience of the feeling of Anatta through meditation practice. This powerful awareness leads towards the pinnacle of human attainment, the exit from Samsara, the never-ending cycle of rebirths.

The talk will illuminate the process of knowing Sati, (similar to Vinnana, mindfulness and consciousness). It will clarify the distinction between Sati “experiential-knowing” and the other two forms of “knowing”: “thinking-knowing” (Vitakka and Vicara) and “remembering-knowing” (Sanna). We will discuss how Sati is directed to the main objects of meditation as defined in the Five Khandas (the Five Aggregates) and the Five Nivarana (the Five Hindrances). Awareness of these is part of the technique needed to tame the “monkey mind”. 

Lecture 3 (21 November 2024)

Advanced Meditation

This talk will discuss the more advanced meditation practices that lead to higher levels of enlightenment. It will explore the approach cultivated by the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, the late Burmese Theravada monk and scholar, which goes beyond the first Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta to focus on the Anattalakhana Sutta and the attainment of Arahatship. The talk will present the speaker’s tentative conjectures regarding the enlightenment process that he has extrapolated from knowledge gained through direct experience and through the study of the Dhamma and physical science.

Lecture 4 (22 November 2024)

An Integrated, Higher Understanding of Dhamma and Practice

The final talk will bring together the concepts presented in the first three sessions and add important details not covered earlier.  Whereas Magga (the Four Noble Truths) has been referred to as the divine vehicle of the Dhamma (for Liberation), the Satipatthana Sutta can be considered “the owner’s manual”, a personal trainer for the meditation practitioner. 

It is hoped that this series of talks will mark for some the ending of the mystery surrounding Buddhism and for all the beginning of a better understanding of the teachings of Gautama Buddha and an enhanced meditation practice that can immediately lessen suffering and open up a clear path to final liberation, Nibbana … in this lifetime.

It is also hoped that this expanded and deepened version of meditation practice and the decoding of relevant Buddhist texts can be a useful contribution to the further development of Buddhist studies and applications in meditation, whether for spiritual development or mental health care. 

“True success is not in the learning, but in its application to the benefit of mankind.”

HRH Prince Mahidol Adulyadej

Background

This special series of talks on Buddhism is presented as part of ongoing celebrations of the 120th anniversary of the founding of The Siam Society in 1904.  The talks also mark the 30th anniversary of the Consecration Ceremony of the Gold Footprint at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha presided over by His Majesty King Rama IX, Patron of The Siam Society, in the presence of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara and senior members of the Sangha and members of The Siam Society on 22 June 1994.  The Gold Footprint is presently housed in the temple’s scripture hall, the Hor Phra Monthian Tham.

The Gold Footprint of the Four Buddhas Who Have Appeared in this Bhaddakappa was created in honour of the royal 60th birthday anniversary in 1992 of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Vice Patron of The Siam Society.  His Majesty King Rama X, Patron of The Siam Society, then HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Vice Patron of The Siam Society, casted the gold cakka for the centre of the Footprint at the Gold-Casting Ceremony at Wat Bowonniwet Wiharn Ratchaworawiharn on 25 December 1992.

The Gold Footprint project was inspired serendipitously by an exhibition of Buddha footprints at The Siam Society in December 1990 arranged by Dr Waldemar C. Sailer, a leading expert on this topic. The exhibition included a life-size wax replica of a Buddha footprint crafted by Mr Charoen Pattanaggoonn during the reign of Rama V.  To realise the project, The Siam Society under the presidency of Dr Piriya Krairiksh set up an Organising Committee chaired by Chairman of the Privy Council His Excellency Dr Sanya Dharmasakti and an Ecclesiastical Committee chaired by His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara.  Key members of The Siam Society directing the project were Thanpuying Maneerat Bunnag and Thanpuying Putrie Viravaidya.

The artisan who made the Gold Footprint was Mr Surapun Atichatanan, the great grandson of Mr Charoen Pattanaggoonn.  The Gold Footprint incorporates 108 symbols, each of which was separately cast in relief on a gold mould weighing in total some 30 kilograms of gold.  The Gold Footprint rests on a brass base 65 cm high and 170 cm long made from a single mould weighing approximately 500 kg.

The success of the Gold Footprint project helped inspire The Siam Society and its supporters to expand and upgrade facilities by constructing its second building, “The Chalerm Phra Kiat Building”, under the chairmanship of His Excellency MR Kukrit Pramoj to prepare The Siam Society for its second century. Thanpuying Putrie spearheaded the project to completion by Cristiani & Nielson, the contractor that built The Society’s first building.

Proceeds will go towards the funding of other activities to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of The Siam Society which promote the study and knowledge-sharing about the cultures, history, arts, and heritage conservation of Thailand and Southeast Asia