The Special Samādhi of the Buddhas

 

“This Samadhi is not practiced by unrighteous people.”

 

Now,

we can concentrate the mind,

make it focused

in many kinds of ways,

this is possible,

and you don’t necessarily need

to follow the virtues for that.

It will help, like for everything else, but..

 

because what happens,

is when we put our attention

on one single thing,

(and, that is where suppression comes in,

when the Buddha says that…)

for that time that you are

putting that attention there,

and whenever the mind turns

or veers away

and goes to one of the hindrances

(that’s what the usual instructions would be)

you bring it back to that object

 

You put it there

[your attention],

you place it on your object.

 

But that is forcefully controlling.

 

And, what happens is,

the more you do that,

the narrower the focus of attention will be

and that is what suppresses hindrances.

 

Because for that time,

hindrances will not arise,

and one might think:

“I am very steady, concentrated.”

 

But,

the catch is:

Once you come out of that…

What happens?

 

How does that translate

into a broader mental development?

 

First of all, how does it translate

to the ‘Immeasurable Samadhi’

that the Buddha talks about?

 

Very hard to reconcile these things.

That would be the opposite:

It is very narrowed down

and very pin-pointed.

 

But no, the Buddha,

he never really uses these words.

The closest he will use is “ekodibhavam”

which means ‘unified’,

it’s made to be one.

 

He uses the word

“Apamāna” much more ––

‘Immeasureable’

‘Boundless’

 

And we have the Brahmaviharas

which also support that.

 

And so,

when we practice this Samadhi

that we have been practicing,

with the Brahmaviharas,

with the joy and letting go,

the boundless love

of loving-kindness,

 

this meditation is part of joy,

it brings that,

it nourishes that,

and joy will nourish that love also.

 

But our practice is not just about boundless love.

 

Boundless love is one part of it.

But it is mainly understanding the distractions.

And this part two.  

 

There is cultivating a wholesome feeling,

which is one part of Right Effort

(Wise Practice),

but then there is also letting go

of all the distractions that come up.

 

And see, this is where it

[The Special Samadhi of the Buddhas]

branches off

from any kind of pinpointed practice–

because, where is the wisdom in that?

 

But the instructions here are:

no, the hindrances are actually showing you

what’s happening in your mind.

 

They are not to be suppressed.

They are not to be pushed away.

They are to be understood,

and they are to be let go of.

 

That’s wisdom.

That’s the Four Noble Truths right there.

 

And, in some practices…

they focus on just being aware,

but being aware of whatever sensations arise

for example, painful sensations sometimes,

that is, not completely false…

 

but it is incomplete.

 

That’s the problem,

because there’s not

the third Noble Truth in there,

not the fourth Noble Truth,

which is all about the letting it go.

 

If you are just aware,

you are just getting increasingly

aware of dukkha.

 

And what you know more and more is”

dukkha, dukkha, dukkha.

But never letting it go.

 

So, the hindrance,

that’s why it is important

to understand what it does to us,

 

it makes that tension,

it comes with tension.

 

That’s why the Buddha

was so keen on awareness of the body

because you can always

feel it

[the tension]

in your body.

 

Then you can see it,

what it does,

and you can feel it.

It is not pleasant.

 

And then you can,

just let it go.

And see how that feels,

and bring up a smile.

 

Bring up the love again.

Just doing that–

that’s all the mind needs

to be collected.

 

There is no other choice,

if you continually do that,

there’s no choice, it

[the mind]

just has to become collected

because that’s the eight-fold path.

 

But, we really need to practice the virtues

doing this, because

there is no repression,

no suppression,

that’s why we do that.

 

Our practice is about wisdom.

Suppression is not wisdom.

Suppression is just suppression.

It’s not wanting to see something.

 

That’s why a lot of people

go through a lot of forgiveness

at the beginning

because they have to

empty the closet first.

 

And then once that is completely out,

then there’s no more problem

but see, that’s the importance of virtue.

 

In this particular one

[The Special Samadhi of the Buddhas],

that just has to happen,

because we are not going to suppress anything

it’s just all going to come [up/out].

 

So, we need to be straight

with our own selves.

That means doing good.

 

So, this Samadhi is not practiced

by unrighteous people.

 

It’s impossible.

How could somebody practice

this kind of Samadhi,

––which is like boundless love,

and letting go––

how could that person do wrong?

 

It’s impossible.

They would have to stop doing it

and do something.

 

Because that’s just the way it is.

There is no other way.