The Holy Grail

This is obviously a distinctively Christian image, but it conveys the concept well enough.

Ajahn Sumedho likes to use “pure consciousness” to denote the necesssary background in which all of our perception and thought takes place. He even calls it “magic,” which gestures in the same direction as the holy grail.

Sumedho, as a Thai forest monk, advocates the same practice, vipassana meditation, or Satipatthana, as does Patrick Kearney, an Australian teacher who is well worth listening to. Reading the Satipatthana Sutra, where the Buddha himself explains the practice, he notes that the Buddha describes Satipatthana is a one way street to awakening, or nirvana. As he points out, if you are on a one way street, and you keep going, you will get to your destination — as long as you keep going.

This is just a metaphorical way of explaining the practice and effects of the same meditation practice that we have been discussing all along.

Satipatthana is, thus, much easier than finding the holy grail, both because it actually exists, and because if you get on the one way street, you know you will get to your destination.

So keep up your consistent meditation practice and amble down the one way street.

Please donate to help get as many people onto the one way street as possible.