Experience of Samadhi (eBook)

Introduction

Even by the ardent standards of his day, the austerities andasceticism the soon-to-be Buddha had undertaken in the course of hisspiritual quest were extreme, leaving him emaciated and weak, but nocloser to his goal. After six years of seeking higher truth, he hadbeen unable to achieve 'any superhuman states, any distinction inknowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.' Now he remembered atime as a child, resting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, whenhe spontaneously entered the first jhā,na—,a deep, meditative statecharacterized by powerful concentration, profound calm, and bliss whilewatching his father lead a plowing ceremony. Realizing this was wherethe path to enlightenment lay, not in self-mortification, he took somefood to regain strength and turned his attention in a new direction.

Andso, on the night of his great awakening, the Bodhisattva entered hefirst jhā,na, the second jhā,na, the third, and the fourth. And when hismind was thus 'purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection,malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability,' hedirected it to the recollection of past lives, to the knowledge ofbeings living, dying, and being reborn in all sorts of circumstances,and finally, to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints. 'When Iknew and saw thus, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensualdesire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance. Whenit was liberated, there came the knowledge: 'It is liberated.' Idirectly knew: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, whathad to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state ofbeing.''

What is the nature of this jhā,na the Buddhaeffortlessly stumbled upon in his youth and that became the basis forhis great awakening and final enlightenment? Intensive concentrationpractices were well known and practiced by a number of renownedteachers of his day. The Buddha had practiced and excelled in severalsuch meditations, declaring in each case that it did not lead toliberation. What was it about this jhā,na that, rather than being a deadend leading merely to pleasant states of consciousness, became thepathway to enlightenment?

From soon after the Buddha passedinto final Nibbā,na, and continuing to this day, disagreements anddisputes have arisen about the nature of jhā,na and its proper place inthe path to liberation. The more we listen, read, study, and practice,the less we may feel we understand what the 'real,' 'correct' teachingis on the role and place of samā,dhi in Buddhist meditation and on thenature of jhā,na. Everyone wants to follow the true path and to practicethe authentic teachings. But what are they? Unraveling the mix of viewsand opinions about what exactly samā,dhi is and its proper place inmeditation practice can be difficult.

Upon embarking onmeditation in any of its forms, one regularly encounters a wide rangeof practices and teachings on samā,dhi. Typically translated as'concentration,' samā,dhi is the quality of a mind that is calm andsettled without distraction. There are so many teachers, each of whomseems to embody a depth of realization, teaching a range of oftencontradictory practices. Conflicting views exist regarding how muchsamā,dhi is necessary in meditation practice, and whether the meditatorshould emphasize concentration or insight practices. Virtually allBuddhist meditation teachers stress the need for some degree ofmindfulness and concentration that are developed together to cultivateinsight. However, there is a diverse assortment of teachings andopinions...