Pre-requisites to Samatha Bhavana practice.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Pre-requisites to Samatha Bhavana practice.

No let us see how the Samatha Bhavana is practiced, to develop the Sati and get established in Sati.

Practicing Aanapana Sati. (Samatha Bhavana).

There are some prerequisites to start Samatha Bhavana, which is called as Tranquil Meditation or as Concentration Meditation as well.

One must be healthy.
He/She is 35 years or younger in age.
Must be intelligent enough to understand instructions.

Why one must be healthy?

When one's mind get concentrated, the mind gets a rest from all activities. That is mind gets calmed down or does not think. Thinking is the mind's usual activity. When mind rests from its usual activity of 'thinking', the body gets tranquillized or become restful. That is the reason why this Meditation is called as Samatha, meaning 'Resting' or 'Tranquil'. This 'resting' or 'tranquil' state happens both in the mind and body, because, both mind and the body relates to each other, corresponds to each other. If the body is 'sick' or has an aliment, then mind won't become restful. Hence, one cannot make the mind to rest from its activities of thinking, without making body to rest as well.

Therefore, if one has an ailment or a sickness or an injury, he has to cure himself fully, before starting Samatha Bhavana.

He/She should be younger in age.

When one become older one's power of concentration as well as energy to involve oneself in a new learning activity goes down.

Must be Intelligent.

Some fail to understand the meditation instruction to apply them in the practice. While practicing one has to 'observe' himself of his mind activity and to come to correct conclusions about the practice to move forward. Meditation instruction are a guide. But mostly the practitioner himself has to guide himself, using his observation and intelligence.

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Paying Attention to Breathing.

A lot of Bhavana practitioners may consider that by paying 'Attention' to breathing, one would end up in one's mind being concentrated, and there would be happiness and joy. Yes, it is true. But this is not the purpose of the Bhavana, though it is a welcome state.

First and foremost, one develops the Skill of 'Attention', needed for the next step in the Bhavana, that is to get established in 'Sati' in the breathing, and then to transform that skill of 'Sati', to get established in 'Sati' on the four states of one's activities, thus bringing the 'Sati' to entire life of living.

'Attention' is a skill, but it is not fully developed as such, where we cannot use it wholly on single object, thus paying attention, fixed, unwavering. By practicing this 'Paying attention on Breathing', the skill is Developed further, making it an 'Obsessive Attention', where the attention prevails most of the time, as it has developed further.

Finally, this 'Obsessive Attention', by further development, becomes 'Sati', for that there is no word in English to be translated, since it is a state of subconscious. So, finally one would have 'Sati' on the breathing, instead of 'Attention'. 'Sati' is the perfect skill developed from the mere skill of 'Attention'.

Then one has to transform that skill of 'Sati', to daily life, from the sitting practice of Bhavana, where one is in Samadi, as he has established in 'Sati.

The Four activities of oneself, where one has to get established in 'Sati' are, Bodily activities, Sensations of body and mind, Mind states, and the Function of the Mind. Once 'Sati' is established in these, mind would start to Penetrate deeper giving insight into the mind, thus enabling, the Development of Wisdom, within.

Root Defilement and Manifest Defilement.

The manifest defilement of the Root defilement are 'thinking', emotions, feeling, perceptive consciousness of Ego, ideas and opinions as thinking.

The Root of them are Anger, Desire, Lust and Ignorance.

One cannot become aware of these root defilement, but become aware of the outcomes, the manifestations of them as thinking in anger, thinking in desire, thinking in lust, thinking in Ego and thinking in ideas and opinions.

In the same way there is manifest thinking, emotions, feelings, in Desire, Lust, Ego and Ignorance.

In the practice of Samatha Bhavana, one puts away, cuts down, these manifested defilement, by understanding them, and then to make an Adistana (Determination, Resolution), to put them away, to cut them down.

But, by this putting away or cutting down the manifest defilement, will not affect the roots. By practicing Panna Bhavana (Development of the Wisdom), after practicing and developing insight into the mind by Vipassana Bhavana, and by that Wisdom alone, which is the sword, one cuts out the roots of the defilement, cutting the roots completely, thus freeing oneself.