Samatha or Concentration Meditation

1. What is Concentration (Samatha) Meditation?
2. What is the purpose of Concentration Meditation?
3. What should we expect to achieve from it?
4. What should we contemplate?
5. What should we do?
6. What are the four Jhanas or states of absorption?
7. How does the meditator, then, continue to realize the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Samatha-Vipassana Meditation?
8. How does this Concentration Meditation practice prepare the meditator for Insight Meditation?

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1. What is Concentration (Samatha) Meditation?

Meditation by concentrating the mind is known as Samatha (Serenity) or Concentraion Meditation which removes the Five Hindrances and prepares the mind for Insight or Vipassana Meditation. The Five Hindrances are attachment to sensual desire, ill-will, inactivity or sleepiness, anxiety or restlessness, and doubt.

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2. What is the purpose of Concentration Meditation?

Concentration Meditation combines developing inner peace and concentration together. For most new meditators in today’s hectic world, the immediate objective is to cope with stress and develop personal serenity. Concentration provides this immediately. But, the Buddhist objective is higher. It is raising consciousness to more refined planes through purifying the mind.

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3. What should we expect to achieve from it?

Direct benefits that can be anticipated include improved mental and physical health and enhanced concentration. The meditator develops distancing from the passions, cravings and delusional attachments which spin us around in circles. This results in a more peacefully happy life and indirectly fosters harmony in the family, the society, and the world.

Beyond these external consequences, Concentration Meditation develops the mental tools for effective, objective observation of nature for use in Vipassana Insight Meditation to develop Right Wisdom. In Vipassana, the meditator becomes able to penetrate the Four Noble Truths to see clearly and compare objectively the compound, impermanent, unsatisfactory suffering, and hollow emptiness of this world with the non-compound, eternal, peacefully happy, and ultimately meaningful essence of Nibbana or Nirvana.

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4. What should we contemplate?

Most broadly, Concentration Meditation is mental training. Lord Buddha listed nine effective subjects for Concentration Meditation. The first four are the key Foundations of Mindfulness – the body, feelings, mind and mental objects. We shall review each of these in detail. The next three are contemplation of old age, sickness, and death. Eighth is meditation that we are all ultimately destined to be separated from what we love, even from our own self. Finally, the ninth theme is that we are all inevitably subject to reap the karmic consequences of our own actions. This is a natural law of cause and effect.  There is no way out.  Only conscientious good behavior can save us.  

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5. What should we do?

Concentration covers three of the eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: (1) Right Effort, (2) Right Mindfulness, and (3) Right Concentration. 

1. Right Effort (Samma-vayama)

The first factor, Right Effort, is defined as four exertions:

• The first effort is to prevent the arising of new bad habits, that is, bad actions, speech or thought. Examples of bad actions are intentionally killing living beings,  stealing or cheating, sexual misconduct, wrong livelihood, addiction to intoxicants, gambling, and excessive hedonism. Examples of bad speech are lying, back­biting, coarse language and gossiping. Examples of bad thoughts include evil intentions, greed, lust, hot temperedness, hatred, and deluded thinking or holding erroneous beliefs. 
• The second effort is the exertion to abandon bad habits, such as these, which have already arisen.
• The third effort is to develop new good habits, that is good actions, speech, and thoughts. Good actions are the opposites of bad actions. For example, treating other beings with sympathy and mercy, generous benevolence, loyalty to one’s spouse, right occupation, clear-headed concentration, and alert awareness of what is good and bad. 
• The fourth effort is to maintain good habits which have already arisen, such as those just mentioned. 

2. Right Mindfulness (Samma-sati)

The second factor of the Eightfold Path, Right Mindfulness, is defined as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: successive inner perception (anupassana) and contemplation of body, feelings, mentality, and dhamma. The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness (the Mahasatipatthana Sutta in the Digha Nikaya) is Lord Buddha’s main sermon on meditation. 

It lists six methods for mindfulness of the body: Mindfulness of breathing, posture, and actions; Contemplation of body parts as repulsive and as just elements – water, earth, fire or wind; and, nine meditations on corpses, considering that this body too, will become like that. The meditator continues contemplating the body-in-the-body both internally and externally along with the arising and vanishing of phenomena in the body. He remains detached, being aware that there is body, without any clinging. 

Similarly, the meditator perceives and contemplates the feelings-in-the-feelings as pleasant, painful or neutral, without any clinging. 

Then, the meditator perceives and contemplates the mind-in-the-mind as lustful, hateful, deluded, distracted, developed, unsurpassed, concentrated, liberated, or the opposites of these states, without any clinging. 

Finally, the meditator perceives and contemplates the dhamma-in-the-dhamma, specifically: (1) the Five Hindrances; (2) the Five Aggregates; (3) the Six Sense Organs and their sense-objects; (4) the Seven Factors of Enlightenment; and (5) the Four Noble Truths. Lord Buddha concludes, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness are the one way street to the purification of beings for overcoming sorrow and distress and gaining the right path for the realization of Nirvana.

3. Right Concentration (Samma-samadhi)

Finally, Right Concentration or Samma-samadhi is defined as developing the Four Rupa-jhanas or States of Absorption, going deeper and deeper inside to purify the mind from the Five Hindrances, which obscure clear-sightedness, to transform the normal human senses into powerful instruments of observation, enabling the necessary and sufficient, reliable and valid collection of the relevant data required for direct, lucid comprehension of the true nature of reality. Prince Siddhattha intuitively meditated to the First Jhana when he was only seven years old. Later, when he recognized the futility of seeking enlightenment through self-torture, this memory led him onto the correct path.

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6. What are the four Jhanas or states of absorption

The normal human mind is blurred by Five Hindrances.The Five Hindrances, are Sleepiness or Laziness (Thina-middha), Doubt (Vicikiccha), Ill Will (Byapada), Restlessness or Worry (Uddhacca-kukkucca), and Sensual Desire (Kamachanda). As the meditator approaches absorption, he or she perceives spontaneous Nimitta or signs of progress which are the tools of Jhana. First, the meditator perceives Parikamma-nimitta or preliminary signs, signifying temporary or weak (khanika) concentration. With practice, these develop into an intermediate sign or Uggaha-Nimitta, when the sphere lasts for a short time. This signifies substantial or Upacara Samadhi, which is already getting close to stable concentration. Finally, when the mind is permanently in the Nimitta, the meditator comes to perceive the the Counterpart Sign (Patibhaga-nimitta), signifying permanent concentration. At this stage, the meditator can control the Nimitta (a mental image or meditation sign), moving it and changing its size. 

Five Jhana Virtues vs. Five Hindrances

At this point, the mind develops the Five Jhana Virtues, each of which purifies the mind of the corresponding Hindrance. The Jhana Virtues are Applied Thought or Attention (Vitakka) which purifies drowsiness or laziness; Sustained Thought or Contemplation (Vicara) which purifies doubt; Joy or Rapture (Piti) which purifies hatred or ill will; Peaceful Happiness (Sukha) which purifies Restlessness or Worry; and One-pointed Concentration (Ekaggata) which purifies Sensual Desire or Enchantment. These five Jhana Virtues all develop together quickly by the First Jhana level. Applied Thought begins with the Learning Sign (Uggaha-nimitta), and the rest follow quickly with the Counterpart Sign (Patibhaga-nimitta). 

When concentration and absorption or Jhana develop further to the point where the mind no longer pays attention to either Applied or Sustained Thought, the meditator ascends into the Second Jhana, where only Joy, Happiness and One-pointed Concentration remain active. Next, with further concentration and absorption, the mind no longer pays attention to Joy, and the meditator rises into the Third Jhana with only Happiness and One-pointed Concentration. Thereafter, with further concentration and absorption, the mind no longer pays attention to Happiness, and there remains only One-pointed Concentration, which is joined by a new Virtue, Equanimity – neither happiness nor suffering. This is the Fourth Jhana. 

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7. How does the meditator, then, continue to realize the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Samatha-Vipassana Meditation?

Concentration of the mind at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels of Jhana causes development of a stable, concentrated mind purified from all hindrances. This is the necessary and sufficient preparation for direct comprehension of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The Pali wording for the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is Anupassana of the body-in-the-body, feelings-in-the-feelings, mind-in-the-mind, and Dhamma-in-the-Dhamma. Anupassana means step-by-step inner perception more than “contemplation.” In step-by-step Meditation, this is carried out by actually seeing, knowing, and becoming successively more and more refined, purer and purer inner bodies, taking on their corresponding feelings, mental states and Dhamma.  Dhamma is usually rendered as mental objects or phenomena. As we have already noted, this refers to Lord Buddha’s teachings: the Five Hindrances, Five Aggregates; Six Sense Organs and their sense-objects,  the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Four Noble Truths. As the meditator achieves the higher and higher levels of consciousness associated with the purer and more refined inner bodies, he or she attains deeper and deeper understanding of these teachings.

These more and more refined inner bodies are reborn or conceived spontaneously in natural accordance with Dependent Origination, as the meditator focuses the purified mind at the center of the center of the crude outer body. For example, in the First Jhana, when one focuses attention at the center of the center of the body, the mind and Dhamma-in-the-Dhamma become purer and purer causing the Refined Human Body to emerge. Ignorance is still present but less active, and the high virtues of Dana (sacrifice), Sila (morality), and Bhavana (meditation) cause more refined and purer bodies to appear, together with their more blissful feelings (Sukha Vedana), elevated mentality, and deeper comprehension of Dhamma. The meditator enters and becomes each body, in turn, using the higher capability of the new, elevated mind to reach the next body. The bodies are just the visible, attainable base supporting the higher virtue – the happier feelings, elevated mind, and deeper Dhamma.

The meditator is drawn naturally to leave the crude body behind and become the more blissful, refined body with purer mind and more profound Dhamma. Having become the Refined Human Body, meditation continues, concentrated at the center of the center of the Refined Human Body until the meditator perfects the virtues of this new, refined body and mind. Then, the center of the Refined Body expands itself and the next purer body the Celestial Body emerges with its even higher mental state of celestial virtues. The meditator becomes the Celestial Body, causing his or her mental phenomena to become even purer. In the same way, purer and purer refined bodies continue to pop up along with their more and more elevated feelings, purer and purer minds and more and more profound Dhamma, brought on by the higher and higher Morality or Sila, Concentration or Samadhi and Wisdom or Pañña of the successive bodies, which are all higher than the human level.

The meditator continues moving up step-by-step through all eight worldly bodies: Human, Refined Human, Celestial, Refined Celestial, Brahman, Refined Brahman, Formless Brahman, and the Refined Formless Brahman Body, which is the most refined of all the worldly bodies. The meditator becomes each body and uses its purer virtue and higher mentality to meditate up to the next level. When the meditator stops perfectly still at the center of the Refined Formless Brahman Body, the center expands itself and he or she meditates to Dhammakaya.

“Dhamma” means Noble Level Virtue and Kaye means body or base of the virtue. Lord Buddha said “Dhammakaya itipi” which means “Dhammakaya is me.” The Dhammakaya Bodies support the supra-mundane virtues of the Noble Disciples, which form the path from the worldly level to Nibbana. The body is what we can see, know and become. Each Dhammakaya is a radiant, crystal clear Buddha statue, sitting in meditation position inside a crystal sphere. Sitting down cross-legged, the statue is roughly the same height and width across the lap. There are a total of ten basic Dhammakaya, in pairs of crude and refined bodies, corresponding to path and fruit.

The First pair are the crude and refined Gotrabhu Dhammakaya which are roughly nine meters in diameter. These are called “Noble State Wisdom.” They are not yet at the Noble Disciple level. So long as the meditator cannot cut at least the first three of the Ten Fetters, he will still just stay in the Gotrabhu mentality, not yet to the Noble level.  

Beyond Gotrabhu, one meditates to the level of the Nine Noble Virtues cited by Lord Buddha as four paths, plus four fruits, and plus one Nibbana. The Dhammakaya are: Sotapanna or Stream Enterer, Refined Sotapanna, Sakadagami or Once Returner, Refined Sakadagami, Anagami or Non-Returner, Refined Anagami, Arahant or Dhammakaya Saint, and Refined Arahant, which is 40 meters in height and width. Finally, following this path, one can meditate to experience Nirvana temporarily.

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8. How does this Concentration Meditation practice prepare the meditator for Insight Meditation?

At the Noble Disciple level, Concentration and Insight Meditation already begin to merge. The meditator develops super normal tools for effective and efficient Insight Meditation. These powers or Abhiñña such as the Angel Eye and Angel Ear, enable one to perceive the most refined beings and phenomena of the universe, which are transparent to the human eye and beyond the range of the human ear. One also develops the mental microscope and the mental telescope which enable seeing the whole universe and beyond to Nirvana. These are the tools which facilitate Concentration-Insight Meditation and enable one to follow Lord Buddha’s development of the Three Vijja (Transcendental Knowledge) which he attained on enlightenment night.

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