When a child is born and sees the light of this world, the faces of that child’s parents will also sparkle with happiness. Also, that child needs to be cared and protected gently like a flower, otherwise even a very minor thing could take that happiness away in an instant, unexpectedly. Life in that way is very gentle and prone to get fade away very easily. As the child grows into a full human being, parents grow older mostly becoming helpless with their weak bodies. They see their child growing up and getting strong enough to face many obstacles by himself, but he still has many vulnerabilities that could take his life away swiftly. If we take a moment, we can think about many ways that one could die. Accidents, illnesses, natural disasters, snake bites, and etc. are some of these ways that we already know. When it comes to illnesses that could hurt your existence in many ways, stress and stress-related sicknesses are very common in this modern world. Western science describes stress as the main cause to heart diseases, asthma, obesity, diabetes, headaches, and many other health problems we have these days. It has also found that stress could lead to one’s accelerated aging and premature death. There are many researches on these topics and discussions describing what stress is, what characteristics it possesses, what health risks it poses, and how it can be dealt with.

What is stress? When one worries about something or someone, people say, “Don’t get stressed about it” or “Don’t let the stress feel you weak or make sick.” In a way stress itself is an illness, one’s weakness. Even though stress causes many health problems, as a physical entity, it gets instigated in one’s mind first and then spread out to parts of the body. It is a state of mind. It is strain, tension, worrying about what could result under many circumstances. Few examples would be an instant where adverse effects are to be upon you or when you are dealing with a situation where you were expected for demanding outcomes. Sometimes, even a small heart breaking incident could bring one’s stress to a prominent level. In some people, level of stress is minute compared to others, even under very demanding circumstances. Thus stress level varies from a person to person because of the capacity for one to perform under pressing conditions. Since it is only mind related at the beginning, one could get rid of it as it starts to form from within. Identification of that state of mind, the situation that brings it, and being aware of these things could help one to identify and quickly free from stress before it could propagate and make one’s body ill. If one is able to identify such moments instantly, how can he/she control it? Buddhism has good answers to this question.

The Supreme Buddha’s teachings are known to many people around the world as a trenchant and wonderful philosophy that describes life in an astounding manner. Since these teachings were originated from a defilement-free great sage with pure thoughts and most compassionate heart, the primary aim of the teachings is to bring the follower to the ultimate state of mind, the bliss, and the pleasure that is free of all sufferings. The path for such liberation is well preached in His teachings and is disclosed as the Noble Eightfold Path. Meditation plays a crucial role in following such a noble path. Practicing meditations unveiled by the Supreme Buddha helps one to develop his or her mind into a liberated state from all attachments, anger/hatred, and blindness toward the universal truth (the Four Noble Truth). Simply putting, one would be able to get rid of any stress just by following at least one of the meditations described in Buddhism, even at a very beginner level. This happens because the Supreme Buddha’s teachings were preached to cross a person from the dangerous Samsara filled with unimaginable sufferings…

There are number of meditations explained in the Supreme Buddha’s teachings. The breathing meditation or Ānāpānasati is one of the most famous among many people around the world. Even in modern medicine, this mediation is used as a therapeutic treatment to many health problems. Breathing meditation is a good solution to stress-related health problems since it focusses one’s scattered mind onto a particular target (one’s breath). By doing this, one can take his/her mind away from the current state of mind suffered from tension. What one needs to do in practicing this meditation is to first focus on the breath that is inhaled and exhaled. One could see/feel the breath touching the nostrils when it is inhaled into the body and exhaled out of the body. If that breath is long or short, one can see it as a long or short breath, respectively. In this manner, one tries to focus his/her mind to that breath. Sometimes, one’s mind could scatter and go chasing other objectives, and in such times, he needs to be aware of it and come back to the objective of the meditation. Once the mind is focused on the breath, he will no longer dwelling with the thoughts that made him stressful in the first place. The Ānāpānasati meditation go beyond this point up to attainment of concentrations (Samādhi) and contemplations (Dhyāna), and one could learn these in more detail by reading the Supreme Buddha’s teachings.

Another fruitful type of meditation to relieve a mind from stress is the recollection of great qualities of the Supreme Buddha. His great qualities extend infinitely, but He has summarized those qualities into nine for the ease of His followers. The Supreme Buddha eradicated all defilements (Arahan), He realized the Four Noble Truths without guidance of any being (Sammā Sambuddha), He had unlimited wisdoms and lived according to those wisdoms (Vijjācaranha Sampanna), He identified the path to Nibbāna and attained it (Sugata), He realized and freed Himself from all Brahma, divine, human, and four hell worlds (Lōkavidu), He tamed defiant divine and human beings and led them to path of Nibbāna (Anuttarō purisa damma sārathi), He is the only teacher who showed the path to Nibbāna to all divine and human beings (Satthā Dēvamanussānan), He disclosed the Four Noble Truths in a perfect way so that other beings could also realize it (Buddha), and He is fortunate to have all these great qualities (Bhagavā).

One can recall these great qualities of the Supreme Buddha (Buddhānussati) and focus the mind on that. This will not only free one’s mind from tension or strain from something that could lead to a stress but also will purify his/her mind. Such mind will also lead oneself toward an unshakable faith about the Supreme Buddha. Therefore, Buddhānussati is also a very important meditation to our lives. Let us free ourselves from stressful circumstances and leading stress-related illnesses by spending some time to practice Ānāpānasati and Buddhānussati meditations.

Chinthaka Mahesh