Meditation - Essential to Buddhism

[sky]

Originally Posted by janielee

Q: You have said that samatha and vipassana or concentration and insight are the same. Could you explain this further?

Answer: It is quite simple. Concentration (samatha) and wisdom (vipassana) work together. First the mind becomes still by holding on to a meditation object. It is quiet only while you are sitting with your eyes closed. This is samatha and eventually this samadhi-base is the cause for wisdom or vipassana to arise. Then the mind is still whether you sit with your eyes closed or walk around in a busy city. It's like this. Once you were a child. Now you are an adult. Are the child and the adult the same person? You can say that they are, or looking at it another way, you can say that they are different. In this way samatha and vipassana could also be looked at as separate. Or it is like food and feces. Food and feces could be called the same and they can be called different. Don't just believe what I say, do your practice and see for yourself. Nothing special is needed. If you examine how concentration and wisdom arise, you will know the truth for yourself. These days many people cling to the words. They call their practice vipassana. Samatha is looked down on. Or they call their practice samatha. It is essential to do samatha before vipassana, they say. All this is silly. Don't bother to think about it in this way. Simply do the practice and you'll see for yourself.

Q: Is it necessary to be able to enter absorption in our practice?

Answer: No, absorption is not necessary. You must establish a modicum of tranquillity and one-pointedness of mind. Then you use this to examine yourself. Nothing special is needed. If absorption comes in your practice, this is OK too. Just don't hold on to it. Some people get hung up with absorption. It can be great fun to play with. You must know proper limits. If you are wise, then you will know the uses and limitations of absorption, just as you know the limitations of children verses grown men.

Questions and Answers with a Buddhist Meditation Master

As always, valuable Buddhist Teachings. Thanks JL

Very welcome. Thai forest teachers are some of the very best I’ve encountered. Ajahn Chah is Ajahn Sumedho’s teacher.

From sentient, on another thread, and relevant to this discussion:

“Padmasambhava said:

‘Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.’

Don’t confuse one with the other.

When training in the view, you can be as unbiased, as impartial, as vast, immense, and unlimited as the sky.

Your behaviour, on the other hand, should be as careful as possible in discriminating what is beneficial or harmful, what is good or evil.

One can combine the view and conduct, but don’t mix them or lose one in the other.

That is very important.

‘View like the sky’ means that nothing is held onto in any way whatsoever.

You are not stuck anywhere at all. In other words, there is no discrimination as to what to accept and what to reject; no line is drawn separating one thing from another.

‘Conduct as fine as barley flour’ means that there is good and evil, and one needs to differentiate between the two.

Give up negative deeds; practice the Dharma. In your behaviour, in your conduct, it is necessary to accept and reject.”

~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Wisdom of the Tibetan teachers.

JL

§ 1. The root meditation themes

Has anyone ever been ordained in the Buddha’s religion without having studied meditation? We can say categorically no—there hasn’t. There isn’t a single preceptor who doesn’t teach meditation to the ordinand before presenting him with his robes. If a preceptor doesn’t teach meditation beforehand, he can no longer continue being a preceptor. So every person who has been ordained can be said to have studied meditation. There is no reason to doubt this.

~ Phra Mun

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/He...ction0005.html

Pasting this here:

https://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/s...8&postcount=20

[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by Gem

That link is really worth a look. It's good quality, clearly spoken, to the point and demonstrates a clear understanding. You guys know how critical I am of spiritual teachers, and I tend to give a negative critique because they are flaky or even degenerates, but this time I could really only make a glowing positive review.

I love spiritual teachers, but yes a lot of fake ones full of ego and vanity and self-importance. But a lot of loving humble ones as well.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

I love spiritual teachers, but yes a lot of fake ones full of ego and vanity and self-importance. But a lot of loving humble ones as well.

A bit of a mixed bag really. But people tend to give undue trust on the grounds of their teacher status. It's better to give trust where it's due. If they want something from you then they are probably a bit dicey. Personally I don't suggest engaging with spiritual teachers because I believe if you have somewhere to turn for answers you will keep turning to the external to distract you from the truth of your uncertainty, and if there is nowhere to turn, only then do we really start to pay attention and fully utilise our own powers of discerning.

[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by sky123

As always, valuable Buddhist Teachings. Thanks JL

Oh I didn't know you were into sitting meditation. Thought you did Tai Chi or something like that as your practice. How many hours do you sit per day? My friend sits for two hours every morning. He does the meditation techniques as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda. I was telling him to check out SRF in Encinitas as he is in the area.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

Oh I didn't know you were into sitting meditation. Thought you did Tai Chi or something like that as your practice. How many hours do you sit per day? My friend sits for two hours every morning. He does the meditation techniques as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda. I was telling him to check out SRF in Encinitas as he is in the area.

I practice various Meditation techniques, each enhances the other...

[Phaelyn]

Originally Posted by Gem

A bit of a mixed bag really. But people tend to give undue trust on the grounds of their teacher status. It's better to give trust where it's due. If they want something from you then they are probably a bit dicey. Personally I don't suggest engaging with spiritual teachers because I believe if you have somewhere to turn for answers you will keep turning to the external to distract you from the truth of your uncertainty, and if there is nowhere to turn, only then do we really start to pay attention and fully utilise our own powers of discerning.

It's kinda funny because most people would laugh about the ancient romans worshipping Apollo and Aphrodite etc yet some pretty much do the same thing when deifying normal humans. I've met a lot of powerful popular worshipped guru's/teachers in this life, all have been a let down of sorts. But then I have seen what goes on behind the scenes a lot. I think it's my particular life's path or karma to see such things. Somehow I always meet somebody in their inner circle, then I get invited "back stage" in a sense.... see them when they are not putting on a spiritual show. See them being mean, gossiping about followers, talking about getting the money from so and so ect...

From my experience, these teachers are really no different from anybody else. No better, no worse. Just humans doing human things. Living their lives, doing the best they are able to. I will say I've met some monks who impressed me. They tended to not hold important titles or positions in their religious orders. They were workers, not teachers in the monastery. One was a monk and had builder skills, so he was always off building structures around the monastery. I'm not sure how to explain it, but he was pure love. His eyes had so much light and he would give me these bear hugs whenever he saw me and smile....he did this to everyone. I never felt anything from him except love. He was somehow always in that space. Another monk I met fed the homeless as his interest. He would work at it all the time. As much as he was allowed. I met him when he was rather old so he walked hunched over and was a bit grumpy due to constant physical pain, but he still was making bread to feed the homeless twice a week.