Ajahn Chah ~ Developing Samadhi (One Pointedness) ~ Theravadin Buddhism Forest Tradition
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2022
- This is a reading of a talk given to a group of lay practitioners on the topic of samadhi at Hampstead Vihara, London in the late 1970s. It is designed to be listened to as a guided meditation.
The Pali/Sanskrit word samādhi, usually translated as “concentration,” is made up of three parts, a verbal root and two prefixes (sam+ā+dhi). The last part, dhi, is a noun form derived from the verbal root dhā, meaning “to put or place.” The prefix ā gives direction and suggests “placing upon,” and the prefix sam means “gathering or bringing together.” When combined and used in a Buddhist context, these elements add up to the sense of “unifying the mind and placing its awareness upon a particular object.”
Traditional sources also emphasize that the mind focuses on a single (eka) point (agga), and “one-pointedness” (Pali, ekaggatā; Skt. ekāgratā) is another common way of defining samādhi (Andrew Olendzki).
Ajahn Chah was a Thai Buddhist monk and meditation Master. He was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. He was reputed to be an Arahant.
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I am going away to prison for some years very soon. Are there any specific types of meditation you might suggest for such a place? Any types you might recommend against?
@@Hermit_mouse Do you have any tantric empowerments?
The greatest enemy is our ordinary mind but with imagination everything can be transformed into radiant nectar.
Creating a vajra fence and palace.
I remember Garchen Rinpoche telling stories of how prison turned into a palace because he was with a high Tibetan lama and practicing constantly.
There are many empowerments given online
@@Hermit_mouse I would simply recommend that you listen and meditate to what resonates most for you and speaks to your heart. Whatever makes your heart peaceful and your mind clear. This will change over time so trust your own intuition. Not sure what you might be able to take with you but please be aware (if you are not already) that you can download any or all of my recordings from my Google Drive and put them on a MP3 player or the like. Here is the direct link: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VYTr5l7jARi_Kb_aB0Jjjq2RZF9kacK7
The most important thing to reflect upon during this challenging time is the perception that although your body might be incarcerated, your mind is not and never can be. If you start to believe that you are 'imprisoned' it can become a living hell. However, the teachings of the Masters can remind you to willingly surrender to your karma and to what is, but to recognise that Awareness is already and forever free. This daily recollection can turn this entire experience around for you. The positive side of going to prison might be that you have more time to meditate, less distractions, and a private meditation room/cell? Not sure, but perhaps some of the conditions might be conducive and positive for practice if viewed in the right way and made use of.
As Master Padmasambhava said, "Wherever you stay, you are never apart from the innate nature. When you understand the view in this way and want to apply it in your experience, wherever you stay is the mountain retreat of your body. Whatever external appearance you perceive is a naturally occurring appearance and a naturally empty emptiness; let it be, free from mental constructs."
Sending you all good wishes and blessings for your safety and well being. May this period of time bring many positive fruits and outcomes regardless of the surroundings or context. 🌺🌈
@@SamaneriJayasara 🥲🙏
@@ghuyakalika 🙏
Last Saturday i visited Amaravati Buddhist Monastery St Margaret's Hertfordshire where fallowing the contemplate teachings Ajahn Chain and Ajahn Sumedho. Two hours meditation passed like 10 minuses. Incredible quiet and completely out of any mind description place. Thank you for reading.
Yes! that is a true land of Buddhas, such blessings ,🙏
Where is this Amaravadi Buddhist Monastery? In which country & region/city? Thanks.
@@g00.41 Is in UK north of London I think
Thanks for sharing
Peace be with all seekers 🙏 🤲 🕍 🕌 ⛪️ 🛕
No matter who we think we are we are all one .
La Illa ha ilallah , All Is That! OM TAT SAT
Ah Sa Hum ❤🙏🤲🌻
I pay my homage to the venerable Ajahn Chah
Ajahn Chah has such a gift of clarity. He has a great gift of simplicity and clarity. And your reading, Friend does him justice.
I can’t stop listening.
I am hungry for this ray of light. I don’t want to explain or inform anyone about how this is feeding my existence.
But you just informed us 😊
Are you practicing it though?
THANKYOU.
WISH WE COULD LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHINGS FOR ETERNITY.
YOU HAVE BEEN MoRE THAN KIND.
This is the best talk / guided meditation on One Pointedness of Mind and entering into Samadhi I have encountered. Thank you for having made this.
Thank you greatly for creating this audio teachings. The most beautiful readings of great wisdom teachers. You have given us a tremendous gift. ✨🙏 ✨
Thank you dear mother.. om jai maa..
Gratitude and appreciation ✨️ 🙏 💛 💓 💗 💖 One Love ❤️ Namaste 🙏 👋 ♥️
I attained Samadhi two years ago and haven't been able to get it back. It happened at the lowest point in my life. I was dying on my bed blaming the world. Then I began to feel pity. Then, I resigned to die and suddenly I felt the greatest compassion for the world that I had ever felt. At this time, I pictured a flame in my mind and suddenly there was no difference between me and the Flame. I was a flame for all intents and purposes.
The supreme method to enter Samadhi is effortless; Samadhi isn't supposed to be difficult, atomism gets in the way.
For those who cannot embody the supreme method, there are crude methods which can aid one in entering Samadhi. I will list as many as i can conceive of:
Through complete physical exhaustion one may forget the indivual self and enter Samadhi.
During hypnagogia or hypnopompia one may forget the indivual self and enter Samadhi.
Through unbound compassion one may forget the individual self and enter Samadhi.
Through visualization of a flame (or any object) one may forget the individual self and enter Samadhi.
Through altruistic actions one may forget the individual self and enter samadhi.
Through perfect absorption meditation one may forget the individual self and enter Samadhi.
Through perfect absorption in sound one may forget the self and enter Samadhi.
After purification through penance or abnegation, with the removal of guilt, one may forget the self and enter Samadhi.
To enter Samadhi is to transcend the Jiva, or the illusion of individuality.
In order to prepare the mind for the Ultimate Reality it can be useful to decondition oneself from cultural programming-to transcend the illusion created by the corporate fiction called society.
Ultimately, The way to enter the higher states of consciousness is to purify thought until the true reality becomes manifest. Theres is no need to do stretches nor poses nor asanas nor mudras. There is no need to become vegan, unless meat eating is a cause for guilt within your illusion. One must remove doubt and exude trust and utter honesty within oneself.
If you know all these ways to enter samadhi, then why do you say you haven't been able to get it back.
@@masubabrenda -
For your reflection (and mine too):
Is it possible that they may mean they have not yet put themselves yet in place to lead to samadhi again?
To know a path, its beginning and end... Does not mean one is yet willing or able to travel along it.
I hope the person answers your question, and I would like to know also
Peace
I say this with love and compassion.
Someone providing many methods for entering, that which is not attainable, should not self limit by continuing to perceive a getting.
You were shown that fully experiencing the world, is a true samadhi.
My point is, I appreciate your providing methods which suit many needs. The attachment to life, formed through perceived loss of it, is a source of the blockage.
For you, since samadhi is the jumping point, use a meditation on your experience on the death bed, as a key to the ultimate reality you are “wanting to gain”
Separation, forms the barriers. Samadhi immerses to a state not effected by life or death.
@@masubabrenda because the thought of attainment, himders that which is a sinking into.
Also thinking “my samadhi” negates the aspect of samadhi which is a connection what is not owned.
Samadhi is a “tool” to springboard to something. Not an end goal.
@@karlinguk thought of attaining is a imposed hindrance.
Being too trapped in the delusions of time being fixed, also imposes with notions of past and future, also diverts from the point.
Samadhi is like erasing the chalkboard, making room for what is to be written, not the period at the end of a sentence.
Such beauty, truth and clarity emerging from that little Vihara on Haverstock Hill. A little bit of single pointed calmness can reveal all the secrets of life if that's what we are looking for. Thank you for this wonderful reading.
This is invaluable.. There's so much wisdom in these 60 minutes. Thank You!!
🙏🌿🙏
You are a creator of light and love
Thank you Samaneri
✨🙏
….I usually go to sleep to ur playlist. Last night, during sleep, I experienced something profound as I could hear ur instructions. Especially when instructed to expel my breath totally. I went through many different stages. From seeing my body float to the ceiling as I laid in the bed, to the many different levels of breathing, to feeling and seeing my body contour, to feeling like I was expelling my LAST breath but drawn back to INHALE. Your familiar VOICE kept me grounded especially since I AM healing from a “monkey mind”. Thank u f YOUR PRICELESS READING from ASCENDED MASTER. 🙏 ❤️ ✌🏾 💡 ❤️🩹
One of the hardest steps to complete in this process is the complete release of control. But in so doing you find complete control. The mind screams in terror, but as you jump into the abyss of the unknown, you are filled with otherworldly serenity when you realize the terror and screaming came from the mind, not the sensations. I know this, and still I struggle without realizing. Like a child about to drown weighs itself down through the effort of staying afloat. The only way is to stop worrying about drowning.
Just say no🤣🤣🤣
I relate to what you are saying
❤❤🙏🙏❤❤ Thanks for lifetime for your wisdom and guidance 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Bowing with. gratitude
I did this meditation for 2 nights and lets just say, it did what it says on the tin. Was quite amazed tbh
That's a golden one
I now realize keeping the mind chatter at bay is the sole point of meditation. Samadhi is a lucky bonus.
Thats just 1st step lol
Very profound. Thank you Samaneri. Much love for you.
This is the most powerful meditation I've heard. Thank you so much
This has been incredibly helpful to return to again and again while getting a better and better understanding and experience of one-pointedness meditation. Thank you as awlays dear Jayasara.
Wonderful to know dear Chris. Hope you are well and happy Christmas and New Year. 💜
This is incredible. Thank you.
So recognisable when he speaks of the Vipassana retreats
Wonderful! So grateful 🙏
Thank you so very much. Gratitude.🙏💖🙏
Beautiful meditation ❤
คิดถึงพ่อมากค่ะท่าน สาธุสาธุสาธุค่ะ
Thank you ❤ the gaps are excellent. It really helps to maintain flow and enable my mind to absorb, contemplate and for the attention to relax back. Too many words, for me at least, starts to create tension. Once again thank you. ❤
อนุโมทนาสาธุค่ะท่านพระอาจารย์ค่ะ
🌹🙏🏼Ajahn Chah🙏🏼🌹
I’ve had a monkey mind all my life and for the last two years have been struggling to control it. Sometimes it works, mostly not. Last night I woke up at 1a.m. after only four hours sleep. I felt like I’d slept all night and began to work on Samatha. I kept slipping back into a vipassana type of meditation, observing and releasing thoughts. My real goal was to get back to sleep to no avail. Finally at 4:45 I gave up and got up. It’s 8:a.m. now and I’m still not tired. My wife, who has been meditating for 40 years tells me my weak mind is getting stronger. Samaneri, do you agree with my wife? I don’t feel like my mind is developing but she assures me it is.
Thank you. I will continue practice
Thank You
🙏❤🌏🌞⭐💖
Thank you! 🙏
Thank you 😊
This was helpful. Thank you for your knowledge
Most Profound 😊.
Beautiful thanks
Thank you.
Thank you so much 🙏🏻🌷🙏🏻🌷🙏🏻💖🕊🤍
Thank you
Good work
It is nothing to do with luck but we are all at different places a great deal of my experiences came in the late 70 s and early 80s they just came over a period of about 5year's to say staggering would be a understatement I witnessed the self in i think it was 1992when I jumped into the abiss when I came back I heard a voice it said don't be empty then it took me back showed me what I had witnessed I was watching my body standing with its hands above my head as though I was afraid the other was just watching there was sort of a dull lamp light sort of golden but I was aware of the watcher as though I was behind it it took me three years to get well again to say suffer after this would be a greatest understatement ever had so so many experiences take care all of you on the path
Just as a ⭕️ starts and ends at the same point, we humans are always seeking who we were as a child desperately till we become one at old age then complete our journey with the beautiful chapter of death.
Crystal
Listen again later
🙏🙏🙏
🙏
🌼🌼🌼🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🌻🌻🌻
As I sit quietly listening to your voice I find my spirit wanting to leave my body. At first it was startling but after I realized I was safe - I flew up and over my body. Maybe I was sleeping? What do you know about this feeling of freedom from the body? Thank you - Love and Light 🙏💛
All sorts of perceptions can and do arise in the mind during meditation - they are merely the illusory display of the mind itself and should not be attached to nor taken too seriously. The important thing is the stay with the silent Awareness and Knowing. Knowing that that all appearances are simply empty phenomena. They are characterised by their impermanence and not-self nature and cannot bring any lasting satisfaction and certainty. However, they do not present a problem if you do not identify and cling to them as 'me' and 'mine'. Let them go - as they arise so they will cease - and you can rest in (and as) the true Dhamma, free from all fabrications.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thanks so much for this, I have tried a number of different meditation methods over the last 20 years of spiritual
seeking and this one really resonates at a very high level, the positive effects last for days, but at the same time I am being mindful not to cling to it!
Hi Samaneri👋I found your YT channel from the Waking Up app. And I'm wondering about some "plan" for guided meditation, which ones do you recommend for the start and which after some time (I mean your guided meditation on the channel and in the waking up app)?
Is there one that I could do every day?
Also, what do you think about guided versus unguided meditation? In unguided meditation, I often feel lost about what to do next/which pointer I should use.
Thank you very much!
Hi Seb, welcome! The nice thing about the path of Dhamma is that there are no hard and fast rules, and no clear plans that we can make. That is the first thing to let go of. The next is to trust your own intuition around all of this and enjoy the journey, rather than be told what to do by others who you think (or they think) know better. They don't! Play around - try things out, see what works for you. Everyone is unique and different and what works for one doesn't work for another. Everyday will be different for you too and that is natural. The important thing about the practice is to learn to listen to your own heart around what it needs and to trust that. That doesn't mean that we don't listen to wise teachers, but we learn to develop our independence, inner wisdom, and an internal GPS system. That is what most of the Masters are encouraging here after all. Whatever you decide to listen to will be right for you, and if you 'think' it is not then that is right too. Everything and every reaction is here to teach us. Hope some of this helps 😍
@@SamaneriJayasara Thank you very much 😍🙏
Please where can I go for a silent healthy retreat that doesn't cost a bomb 🙏
🥰
More Ajahn Chah teachibg please
Samaneri! When are you going to do Neem Karoli Baba Maharaji??! The great bhakti saint 🙃🙂 thank you for your work as always 🙏💙
He never left any written teachings. There are only anecdotes told by Ram Dass about this teacher.
What does it mean to see white light during meditation? Especially during breathwork? Thank you for this video 🙂
Please see my reply above to username Peace Love Joy as it is the same issue.
Nimmita. Pabhasara Citta in the sutras.
Ajahn Brahm talks about it as the gateway to deep meditation.
My own opinion is don't get attached
Don't be conceited this is better worse or same meditation as last time
Just be and calm
@@One.Flower. thank you. When I see the white light, there isn't much of a feeling. I have a fear of letting go during deep meditation when I feel my consciousness detaching. I'm not sure if past that is astral projection or something.
It is the mind what is sometimes called true mind
And mind is manifesting
Just to see the beauty of it is enough, not get excited but calm it down enter it maybe there's a gate you have to pass through.
But instead of going out
Use the stillness to come back to the body see non self
Samadhi state can be attained through many other paths, including practicing music/art, any skill form that absorbs you completely. Also traumatic low point can suddenly transform a meditative mind into samadhi, comes from the deepest core of the heart in my experience, almost like an act of grace from a higher force/power. All different forms of savikalpa samadhi.
Dear Jay, thank you so much for this teaching / practice . Been trying to learn about vipassana with a view of establishing a practice but finding it hard to get reliable information and support . Do you have any tips or pointers please ? 🙏🏻❤️
What sort of pointers are you seeking Nick?
@@SamaneriJayasara
I am using a guided meditation by S N Goenka which starts with anapana awareness of breathing and goes into vipassana after a while but has very little instructions on the process. I guess I’m looking for instructions on the “how” to go about it and a way of knowing if I’m doing it right. Not really in a position to go on retreat right now but would like to make a start. Maybe an online course?
Hi Nick, if you check out my Theravadin Forest Tradition Playlist and see all the Ajahn Chah videos there he will fill in all the missing wisdom blanks for you that you will not find in the Vipassana courses. Have a listen to those (there are about 14 of them) and they should clarify the practice for you. Here is the direct link: th-cam.com/play/PLWzYrEdlV4O7LSZcklKpmaGSfg2pPQypj.html
just read the suttas but not the commentaries and practice - there is so many people with wrong view these days
Thanks Jay very helpful
👍🇩🇪
Is there any concept of GRACE,in your practice.?Karma must be built up in meditation,but the breakthrough comes when the Supreme consciousness has responded.
You can call it Grace. In the teachings of the Buddha this would be known as the ripening of one's pāramī (spiritual perfections). When the fruit is ripe it will fall.
I find this so good! 🤍
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Thank you 😊
🙏🙏🙏