Lessons in Samadhi Meditation
The purpose of training the mind to be still is to simplify things. When things are simplified, the mind can settle down and rest. And when the mind has rested, it’ll gradually become bright, in and of itself, and give rise to knowledge. But if we let things get complicated – if we let the mind get mixed up with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas – darkness. Knowledge won’t have a chance to arise.
Find a quite place to rest the mind and body where being externally interrupted is unlikely. I like the outdoors, in a mountain meadow, next to a river, or at the beach. At home is fine too. It is possible to find the quite and rest internally, even if externally it is noisy and busy, like an airport.
Sit, relax, calm the body, quite the mind. Be present. Here – Now. Let thoughts of past and future flow out. Let the here and now flow in. Breath.
Observe the Breath. Tell yourself, “Now I’m going to breathe in. Now I’m going to breathe out.” You’re the one doing the breathing. You’re not letting the breath come in and out as it naturally would. If you can keep this in mind each time you breathe, you’ll soon be able to observe your breath.
Keep awareness inside your body. In keeping your awareness inside your body, don’t try to imprison it there. In other words, don’t try to force the mind into a trance, don’t try to force the breath or hold it to the point where you feel uncomfortable or confined. You have to let the mind have its freedom. Simply keep watch over it to make sure that it stays separate from its thoughts. If you try to force the breath and pin the mind down, your body is going to feel restricted and you won’t feel at ease in your work. You’ll start hurting here and aching there, and your legs may fall asleep. So just let the mind be its natural self, keeping watch to make sure that it doesn’t slip out after external thoughts.
Let go of perceptions and concepts. When we keep the mind from slipping out after its concepts, and concepts from slipping into the mind, it’s like closing our windows and doors to keep dogs, cats, and thieves from slipping into our house. What this means is we close off our sense doors and don’t pay any attention to the sights coming in by way of the eyes, the sounds coming in by way of the ears, the smells coming in by way of the nose, the tastes coming in by way of the tongue, the tactile sensations coming in by way of the body, and the preoccupations coming in by way of the mind. We have to cut off all the perceptions and concepts – good or bad, old or new.
Cutting off concepts like this doesn’t mean we stop thinking. It simply means we bring our thinking inside to put it to good use by observing and evaluating the theme of our meditation. If we put our mind to work in this way, we won’t be doing any harm to oneself or to our mind. Actually, our mind tends to be working all the time, but the work it gets involved in is usually a lot of nonsense, a lot of fuss and bother without any real substance. So we have to find work of real value for it to do – something to not harm it, something really worth doing. This is why we’re doing breath meditation, focusing on our breathing, focusing on our mind. Put aside all your other work and be intent on doing just this and nothing else. This is the attitude you need when you meditate.
Let go of hindrances. Hindrances come from our concepts of past and future. They’re of no use. Clear your mind of its preoccupation with concepts. The five Hindrances – sensual desire, ill will, unconsciousness resembling deep sleep, restlessness, and uncertainty. Restlessness makes us distracted, unsettled, and anxious all at the same time.
When we focus our thoughts on breathing, the body will be healthy and strong, the mind relaxed and wide open, free from Hindrances.
Keep the breath steadily in mind and let all hindrances flow away.
When you bring the mind to the breath, you’ll feel a sense of rapture and refreshment. The four bases of attainment the desire to practice, persistence in the practice, intentness, and circumspection in your practice – will develop step by step. They’re a form of power that supports our strength and our progress to higher levels.
Letting Go
When you sit and meditate, even if you don’t gain any intuitive insights, make sure at least that you know this much: When the breath comes in, you know. When it goes out, you know. When it’s long, you know. When it’s short, you know. Whether it’s comfortable or uncomfortable, you know. If you can know this much, you’re doing fine. As for the various thoughts and concepts in the mind, let them go – whether they’re good or bad, whether they deal with the past or the future. Don’t let them interfere with what you’re doing – and don’t go chasing after them to straighten them out. When a thought of this sort comes passing in, simply let it go passing on. Keep your awareness, unperturbed, in the present.
Keep one principle firmly in mind, stay right on the path: Whatever appears, good or bad, true or false, don’t let yourself feel pleased, don’t let yourself get upset. Keep the mind balanced and neutral, and discernment will arise. You’ll see the vision or sign displays the truth of stress: it arises (is born), fades (ages), and disappears (dies).
When intuitive knowledge does arise, it can, if you know how to use it, lead to liberating insight. But if you let yourself get carried away by knowledge of the past or future, you won’t get beyond the mundane level. In other words, if you dabble too much in knowledge of physical things, without gaining wisdom with regard to the workings of the mind, it can leave you spiritually immature.
By meditating, we will gain discernment into physical and mental phenomena. Once we have the truth as our wealth, we won’t suffer if we have money, and won’t suffer if we don’t, for our minds will be transcendent. The various forms of greed, anger, and delusion obscuring our senses will all fall away. Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body will be entirely clean, clear, and bright. Our mind, far distant from all forms of trouble and suffering, will stay in the current flowing on to Liberation.
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