Taiwanese Scholastic Aloysius Hsu SJ shares his experience of Vipassana Meditation and the 2015 East Asia Theological Encounter Programme (EATEP) held from July 22 to August 17 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. EATEP is a programme of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific that provides Jesuits in formation with opportunities to deepen their dialogue with other faiths, particularly Buddhism, and to enrich their perspectives on theology in Asia.
My first impression of the East Asia Theological Encounter Programme (EATEP) was a group of scholastics wearing white practitioner’s clothes sitting in the lotus position with the slight smiles that you see in images of the Buddha. I had seen these images when I was studying philosophy in Arrupe International Residence, and I was curious at that time as to why the faces looked so calm and peaceful, so different from those I knew and lived with daily in my community. I could not have imagined that a few years later, I would attend the same programme and also look like them. I came to realize that the tranquil mind and joyful faces were a result of the practice of “Vipassana” (Insight) meditation.
“Vipassana” was the first EATEP term I encountered when I registered for the monastery retreat. This strange word became “open sesame” for me to EATEP. At the start of EATEP, Fr John Shea SJ told us of the varieties of Buddhism in different countries of Asia. We also visited several Buddhist Temples (“Wats”) in Chiang Mai. Interestingly, the sacred atmosphere I experienced in Catholic churches was also in these temples. This initial experience of EATEP transformed my perspective on other religions, which are as sacred as my religion.
Before leaving for the monastery, we were given instruction in the practice of sitting and walking meditation used in Vipassana meditation. Then we were off to the monastery for our Buddhist retreat. In the first two days, everything was so new to me: living in a Buddhist monastery, eating Thai vegetarian food and no solids after lunch, doing seven and a half hours meditation per day, etc. However, a physical pain emerged and disturbed my sitting meditation after the novelty wore off. I felt a pain in my hip while I was sitting cross-legged. It was really a nuisance because it hampered my meditation and hindered my concentration. I confided my disturbance during meditation to the Venerable Abbot Piyatassi Bhikku, and he told me that the feelings of pain come and go, and to just stay with them and distinguish the kind of feelings that are within it. He said if I accepted them gently, they would transform and vanish. He also suggested that I keep myself away from the pain and try to be an observer, to just watch and accept the pain as it truly is.
These tips really worked out for me, my hip felt less and less painful in the following days of meditation and I experienced the transformation of my own impurities that manifested through my physical pain. I became less and less anxious, being aware of the here and now, and I also quit drinking coffee. By observing my breath as I breathed in and out, I experienced a simple truth of God’s presence within me: He who is the life giver sustains my life by my breathing, moment by moment. What a simple truth and joy to be aware of!
After the Vipassana retreat, Fr Michael Amaladoss SJ led us in a seminar on Asian Theology during which he explained what contextual Asian Theology is, its methodology, and why there is a need to develop Asian Theology. He also led discussions on Christology in Asia, the Gospel-culture encounter, the Spirit of God, the challenge of religious and cultural pluralism in Asia, religions in conflict, interreligious dialogue and Asian spirituality. The seminar and the final presentations from each scholastic expanded and deepened my perspective on theology in Asia. It helped me to see the need to reflect more on Asian theological issues and pastoral concerns in the future in my learning of theology.
Participating in EATEP gave me a broad perspective to rethink the possibility of God’s salvific work in Asia. By practicing Vipassana, I found God’s presence not only in the Catholic spiritual tradition but also in Buddhist spiritual method. “How big is my God?” Fr Paul Coutinho SJ has asked in his writing, I think my God becomes bigger and bigger after participating in EATEP.
Photo caption: Taiwanese Scholastic Aloysius Hsu SJ (right) at the cave monastery of Wat Tham Doi Tone.