Question regarding Kasinas LP Doo

Question regarding Kasinas
LP Doo

Since there is some interest and questions on my previous post regarding kasinas, let me try to explain more. This is important because before you practice meditation, you must have a firm understanding of what you are doing. If not, there is a possibility that you may go astray (走火入魔). Even advanced meditators can mistake signs and nimittas as the absolute truth and become mentally unbalanced. If you want to hear such stories, you can ask Chao Khun Keng personally. 

1. Before the Buddha was enlightened, there were already practitioners practising meditation to calm their minds. The Buddha himself practised this kind of meditation before he was enlightened. Buddhists call this Samatha meditation. Samatha meditation refers to single-pointedness concentration on your chosen meditation object, which may lead into deeper states of samadhi or jhana. 

2. However, Samatha meditation on its own, does not lead to liberation (Nibbana). You have to follow up with Vipassana after the mind is sufficiently calmed. This is because the mind is peaceful when it rests in Samadhi, but when it emerges, the mind gets moved whenever it encounters sense objects (pleasant or unpleasant sights, sounds, smell, tastes, touches, ideas). Therefore this meditation alone is unable to lead one to liberation and release. At most, it can only lead to rebirth in the Brahma realms. 

3. The Buddha, having studied Samatha meditation under Ālāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, found that such meditation practices does not directly address the roots of suffering. At most, it is like putting a rock on grass, if the rock is removed, the grass continues to grow. Therefore he left and went to practice on his own. When he deeply analysed the elements of body and mind, he found them to be impermanent (anicca), unsatisfactory (dukkha) and non-self (anatta), and his mind became full liberated. This deep introspective meditation is what Buddhists call Vipassana meditation - insight into the true nature of reality. 

4. According to contemporary masters, especially those of the Thai Forest Tradition, beginners must keep mindfulness within the the internal frames of one's body, and not send it outwards. 

This is a key characteristic of the Thai Forest Tradition - Kayagatasati, or mindfulness immersed in the body. For instance, when practising the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness, we are taught to be mindful of the Body, Feelings, Mind and Dhammas. In comparison, amulet enthusiasts and followers of popular monks are more interested in katha aakhom or wichaa aakhom meditation, the practice of magic, as well as kasina meditation. 

5. When you practice kasina meditation to develop psychic powers, you are essentially sending your mind outside. This means you are focusing on an external meditation object and not your body or breath. When you send your mind outside, nimittas and visions are more likely to appear (nonetheless, they can still appear when you enter jhana via breath meditation, for instance). You have to be careful because some visions can turn out to be true, but some are deceptions. For instance, for those who like to visualise a Buddha, you know that it is not uncommon for a particular Buddha image to appear, it can be still or it may float around in front of you.  

6. It is my personal opinion that beginners should not contemplate Asubha Meditation. Asubha meditation reflects on the foulness or unattractiveness of the body. It is used by Kammathana monks as a method to get rid of sensual desire, which is a very strong defilement that causes many monks to disrobe. Luang Phor Thate once cautioned that some people experienced nimittas when they practise this form of meditation, such as seeing their body decomposing, as a skeleton, pile of ashes etc. which made them so repelled by the body that they commit suicide. But for others, they don't experience such problems.  

7. Kasina meditation is a type of samatha meditation. There are 11 kasina objects traditionally used, namely:

a) Earth kasiṇa(paṭhavī kasiṇa);

b) Water kasiṇa(āpo-kasiṇa);

c) Fire kasiṇa(tejo-kasiṇa)*;

d) Air kasiṇa(vāyo-kasiṇa);

e) Blue kasiṇa(nīla-kasiṇa);

f) Yellow kasiṇa(pīta-kasiṇa);

g) Red kasiṇa(lohita-kasiṇa);

h) White kasiṇa(odāta-kasiṇa);

i) Space kasiṇa(ākāsa-kasiṇa);

j) Consciousness kasiṇa(viññāṇa-kasiṇa);

k) Light kasiṇa (āloka-kasiṇa)*

Proceed at your own risk. Be careful when focusing on the fire or light kasina, use wisdom and don't damage your own retinas. 

8. When you choose your preferred kasina object to gaze upon, you must be seated comfortably. You can sit on a chair. Make sure it is not too near and not too far so that your eyes won't be strained. Don't use extra effort to "stare" at the object, it will be too tiring. Don't open your eyes too wide and don't squint too much either. This is so the after-image can form well. This is your object of focus, which remains there even when you close your eyes later.

9. It takes a lot of time to master kasina meditation and perceive an image floating in front of the kasina object. Some of us who have practiced this in our past lives can achieve quick results, others take months or years. If it is not for you, don't force it. There are 40 objects of meditation, you may just choose another one more suited to your temperament. 

10. Proceed at your own discretion. If in doubt, consult an expert Ajaan on kasina meditation. 

Not all Ajaans are expert on kasinas though. The masters of kasina pawana are able to bend space, generate fire, achieve divine sight, control water and the weather elements. But they cannot escape death, which only Vipassana can achieve. Neither are they able to cross-over spirits like LP Doo meditation can.