The Dhammakaya Meditation? What does THAT mean?
Let's break down exactly what is meant by Dhammakaya Meditation and get to know some of the more technical terminology that goes along with it. Look at it this way: How many ways can a person warmly greet a friend? In urban America, many people will say: "Hey! How's it going?" Others in the city might say: "Hang Loose man!" or "What up!" If I was from mainland China, I might just wonder what is above me and thus turn my face in that direction. However, if you were to go to China, you might be greeted with, "Have you eaten, yet?" A westerner might be shocked and/or offended when first hearing this. In central Italy, you might hear, "Everything in place (Tutto Opposto)?" then get kissed on both sides of the face. If I was Thai, I would feel COMPLETELY uncomfortable with that greeting and perhaps even walk, or run, away. For, in Thailand, you would probably hear, "Are you comfortable (sabai dee mai)?" along with a welcome by placing the hands in a gesture of prayer and lowering one's forehead to their fingertips. The list goes on and on. Our point here is that, all of these greetings are warm welcomes to our fellow human beings! They all have the same basic purpose, which is wholesome, but they are expressed differently according to culture and frame of reference. This is where we get ourselves into the trouble. It is funny though, because if we didn't say anything at all, then we would still get into trouble! Some words have the tendency of falling into mentally-created boundaries of culture and/or religious connotations. For the sake of cultural and spiritual harmony, let us look beyond that, to the essence of what it is that we will be talking about here: Let's look at the essence which is universal in application.
Taken literally, the word "Dhamma" can have many translations and interpretations from its original mother-tongue of Pali Sanskrit, but here we refer to it as one's innate "pure nature" or "all-knowingness". For your reference, it can also mean "truth" or "reality", along with "wholesome deeds" or "natural law". To keep it simple and without general misinterpretation, we will call it "all-knowledge". By "Kaya" we refer to its meaning of "body" or "vessel". Thus Dhammakaya, here, means "the embodiment of all-knowledge".
To put it simply, if we "don't know", it means that we are ignorant.... "Stupid!" Who wants to be stupid? So, by practicing the Inner Peace Time method, we also strive to gain knowledge so that we can answer basic universal questions like: "Who Am I?" "What Am I Doing With My Life?" We all want some true mental and physical peace and contentment to our lives. The Inner Peace Time helps us to clean up our act through body, speech, and mind. We gradually and steadily refine ourselves over time; chiseling away at our "rough edges" until we are eventually met with a pristine figurine inside that is what makes us, us. Deep, eh?! So, why not practice an exercise that has been proven since ancient times to give access to profound inner knowledge, peace, and happiness? Not to mention that it just sounds cool: "technique for obtaining the embodiment of all-knowledge". If you like Indiana Jones, that terminology might fare well with you. If you are more suave, you could even call it "a trick of how to morally utilize one's innately pure spiritual mojo". At least for us meditation geeks, we like to think that we are in the ball-park of "cool"! But to get to the second perk, the practice is useful. It helps us understand what is going on and be alive! So we get benefits that are two-in-one!
For those of you who need more definitive and professional responses to this topic, feel free to search in Wikipedia under "Dhammakaya", "Dharmakaya" or "Trikaya"...or better yet, continue to practice Inner Peace Time until you see and know it for yourself, and that would eliminate all doubt or curiosity! In any case, remember... "cultural and religious connotations". Here's a website for now:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammakaya_meditation
Yes, it has Buddhist origins. Buddhists are the ones who discovered and re-discovered it. Either way, it leads to happiness and truth. Can a non-Buddhist be happy and understand truth; things that are beyond religion, culture, creed, or race? Of course they can! What's your perspective? Let's all try to be on the same page; there are already too many differences out there for us to create another one. All for one, one for all.
Happy web-hunting
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