Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

other recommended him to disrobe and so he went to see
the Buddha. The Buddha immediately understood the
problem, as well as the solution. Looking back into the past,
he saw that Culapanthaka had once been a king who had a
profound experience of impermanence when wiping sweat
off of his face with a clean cloth and seeing how it became
soiled. In order to take advantage of this distant realization,
he gave Culapanthaka a clean cloth and told him to go stand
in the sun and rub it with his hand. That very morning,
Culapanthaka became an Arahant.
Teaching meditation effectively is not a simple matter. A
meditator’s state of mind can change many times through
the course of their practice, as prevalent character traits
make way for latent ones, which are in turn replaced by
others. Meditation practice can be likened to peeling an
onion; when you peel off one layer, you see there is an
entirely new layer underneath. It is quite difficult to predict
what will be of most benefit to a meditator at any given time.
It is for this reason that even the Buddha placed greatest
emphasis on the practice of mindfulness as a universally
applicable meditation technique.
In Buddhism we hear often about the existence of different
character types and how different meditation practices are
suitable for different character types. For example, if a
person is of a lustful temperament they should focus on the
impurities of the body as a way to counteract their lust. By
focusing on the parts of the body and seeing their true
nature, a person who is very much addicted to sensuality will
benefit by coming to see that the body is actually not
attractive at all. If a person is of an angry or hateful
temperament then they should practice loving-kindness for
the same reason that it will counteract their negative
emotions. A person of hating temperament should not,
however, focus on the impurities of the body, since it will
likely lead to further negativity; nor should a person of
entirely lustful temperament focus on loving-kindness, at
least towards objects of their desire, since it will easily give
rise to further sexual attraction. There are many examples
of this sort of suitability among character types in Buddhist
meditation theory. In regards to mindfulness, however,
there isn’t such a characterization – as the Buddha said,
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