..续本文上一页sumed my earlier samadhi meditation in earnest—this time with an added determination and a sense of absorption stemming from the magnetic pull that this certainty has in the heart. The citta was quick to converge into the calm and concentration of samadhi as before. Although I could not yet release the citta completely from the infiltration of the five khandhas, I was greatly inspired to make a persistent effort to reach the higher levels of Dhamma.
NO MATTER HOW DEEP OR CONTINUOUS, samadhi is not an end in itself. Samadhi does not bring about an end to all suffering. But samadhi does constitute an ideal platform from which to launch an all out assault on the kilesas that cause all suffering. The profound calm and concentration generated by samadhi form an excellent basis for the development of wisdom.
The problem is that samadhi is so peaceful and satisfying that the meditator inadvertently becomes addicted to it. This happened to me: for five years I was addicted to the tranquility of samadhi; so much so that I came to believe that this very tranquility was the essence of Nibbana. Only when my teacher, Acariya Mun, forced me to confront this misconception, was I able to move on to the practice of wisdom.
Unless it supports the development of wisdom, samadhi can sidetrack a meditator from the path to the end of all suffering. All meditators who intensify their efforts to develop samadhi should be aware of this pitfall. Samadhi”s main function on the path of practice is to support and sustain the development of wisdom. It is well suited to this task because a mind that is calm and concentrated is fully satisfied, and does not seek external distractions. Thoughts about sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and tactile sensations no longer impinge upon an awareness that is firmly fixed in samadhi. Calm and concentration are the mind”s natural sustenance. Once it becomes satiated with its favorite nourishment, it does not wander off where it strays into idle thinking. It is now fully prepared to undertake the kind of purposeful thinking, investigation and reflection that constitute the practice of wisdom. If the mind has yet to settle down—if it still hankers after sense impressions, if it still wants to chase after thoughts and emotions—its investigations will never lead to true wisdom. They will lead only to discursive thought, guesswork and speculation—unfounded interpretations of reality based simply on what has been learned and remembered. Instead of leading to wisdom, and the cessation of suffering, such directionless thinking becomes samudaya—the primary cause of suffering.
Since its sharp, inward focus complements the investigative and contemplative work of wisdom so well, the Lord Buddha taught us to first develop samadhi. A mind that remains undistracted by peripheral thoughts and emotions is able to focus exclusively on whatever arises in its field of awareness and to investigate such phenomena in light of the truth without the interference of guesswork or speculation. This is an important principle. The investigation proceeds smoothly, with fluency and skill. This is the nature of genuine wisdom: investigating, contemplating and understanding, but never being distracted or misled by conjecture.
The practice of wisdom begins with the human body, the grossest and most visible component of our personal identity. The object is to penetrate the reality of its true nature. Is our body what we”ve always assumed it to be—an integral and desirable part of who we really are
To test this assumption we must thoroughly investigate the body by mentally deconstructing it into its constituent parts, section by section, piece by piece. We must research the truth about the body with which we are so familiar by viewing…
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