The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
Question: When I started meditation, on the first day after sitting for about 40 minutes, I saw my mind went up in the air and everybody was sitting around me. It was an interesting experience. But now, after another two days of meditation, I couldn’t get the result I had. Did I do something wrong?
Than Ajahn: No, the result that you’ve got is not something that would happen all the time. It comes and goes; sometimes it comes; and sometimes it doesn’t come. But that is not the result that we want or get from meditation. The result that we can always get from meditation is to make the mind peaceful, calm and happy. Other results are peripheral, something that might or might not come up. So, you should not set your goal on those phenomena, you should set your goal in keeping the mind calm, peaceful and empty. This is the purpose or the goal of meditation: to calm your mind, to empty your mind, so that your mind can become peaceful and at ease.
When you think, when you worry, your mind becomes heavily burdened. So, stop your thoughts. When you can stop your thoughts, your mind becomes light, peaceful and happy: this is what we want from meditation. But sometimes, the mind can create something extra, which is not something you should pay attention to because it can distract your mind from the main purpose and then you can lose your way if you start to look for these phenomena which sometimes might or might not come. If you expect it to come and when it doesn’t come, it makes you frustrated, makes you unhappy, and eventually, you might not want to meditate any more. So, don’t pay attention to this extra phenomena happening in your practice, but pay attention to the main thing that you should get i.e. empty your mind, make your mind calm, peaceful and happy.
- - - - - - -
Question: I have been practicing ānāpānasati. Sometimes the mind and the body feel very calm, very settled; other times the mind is very happy, it’s like being lifted up. I’m not sure which stage is better for investigation.
Than Ajahn: You first need to calm the mind, to make it neutral, to make it emotionless: no emotion, no love, hate, fear or delusion. And this could be attained only by concentrating your mind on one object such as your breath or on a mantra—this will lead the mind to become still.
When the mind becomes still, then the mind will have no emotion but it will be very happy—that’s the state where you want to establish the mind. And then try to maintain it all the time, not only when you’re meditating; you should have it even after you’ve come out of your meditation.
Once you can maintain this calm and emotionless mind, then it’s ready to develop wisdom, to investigate the truth of all things that the mind becomes involved with, to teach the mind to know the true nature of all things. And once the mind sees that everything that the mind becomes involved with will eventually hurt the mind, then the mind will disconnect and detach from everything. Then, the mind will become free from any harmful effect that can hurt the mind.
Question: Is it necessary to see nimittas, like in a form of light?
Than Ajahn: No, no. Nimitta is usually a hindrance more than a help. So, when you meditate for calm, you should disregard any nimittas. Nimitta arises due to your lack of mindfulness. When you lose your mindfulness, when your mindfulness is not continuous, sometimes nimittas will arise, so you should go back to concentrate on your meditation object, then no nimitta will arise.
“Dhamma in English, Apr 22, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
No comments:
Post a Comment