Meditation – A Buddhist Perspective

Shamatha
Meditation – A Buddhist Perspective
“Meditation is like Driving to Enlightenment”
Khenpo Kunga

The Importance of Meditation
Meditations are very important in our daily life for three reasons:
1. First of all, in our daily lives both physical health and mental health are very significant. Both of them will be improved through meditation. Usually our minds are very sensitive and weak that is why we very easily become sad and angry. If someone always feels sad and angry, then they often become physically sick. If we meditate a lot, then our mind will become very strong and peaceful. If our mind becomes like that, then we will defeat sensitive or weak mind and become physically and mentally healthy.
2. Second, if someone is trying to find peace, then they method is to practice meditation; because the best remedy is meditation and it bring peace to their inner mind. For example, if someone did physical work for a month without rest, then they could become very seriously sick. In order to stay well, they should get some rest. Similarly, if our mind is always thinking and does not get any rest, then it will become unwell. So, to avoid developing an unwell mind, we need to learn to rest our mind. Meditation is the best way for our mind to rest.
3. Third, meditation in Tibet (GOM) means getting familiar. If we want to become a very good practitioner, we must become familiar with our mind or make friends with our mind. If we want to become familiar with our mind, then we always check our mind and try to improve or repair it.
Three perfect principles of meditation
1. Preparation
• Choose a Place.
• Make an Offering:
• Incense. Flowers. water
• Think about the Benefits of Meditation.
2. Main Part
• Follow the Instructions of meditation.
• Try to Focus on a Single Object. Breath
3. Conclusion
• Dedicate the Merit of meditation benefit for all sentient being
• Thin and Recite a formal meditation such as the following:
Emulating the hero Manjusri,
Samantabhadra and all those with knowledge
I too make a perfect dedication
Of all actions that are positive.
Or
By this merit, may all obtain omniscience
May it defeat the enemy, wrongdoing
From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death
From the ocean of samsara, may I free all beings


The Five Faults/Obstacles to Meditation
1. Laziness (an attitude of attraction to relative ease and general dislike for wholesome activities).
Three kinds of laziness

• Laziness of lack of application- don’t like practicing
• Laziness of personal feeling inadequacy. Looking “down on” yourself
• Laziness which is an attachment to bad activities

2. Forgetting Instructions
3. Dullness and Agitation (“Blah” vs. “Monkey” Mind)
• Dullness - Inner mind falls asleep
• Agitation - Mind goes “outside” the meditation
4. Non-application of antidotes – not using them when necessary
5. Over application of Antidotes – continuing to apply them when unnecessary and thus not being in the peaceful state.

How the Obstacles Harm Our Shamata
1. Laziness is an obstacle to Preparation.
2. Forgetting the instruction 3. Dullness and Agitation harm the Actual meditation.
4. Non-application of Antidotes 5. Over-application of Antidotes are obstacles to increasing
meditation.

The Eight Antidotes
To defeat the Five Faults, you should practice the Eight Antidotes.
1. Faith – Belief that meditation is the best way to happiness in this life and to achieving enlightenment. There are three kinds of Faith:
1, Inspired faith 2, Aspiring faith 3. Confident faith

2. Aspiration – Desire to begin the practice. If you have faith, you will have the aspiration.
3. Effort – Applying enthusiasm to begin the practice. If you have the aspiration, it will be
easy to make the effort.
4. Flexibility of mind – Using the suppleness and pliancy of your mind to the practice. If
you make the effort, you will be able to use the flexibility of your mind.
Note: The first four are the antidotes that destroy laziness.
Or the three kinds of effort are antidotes of laziness.
1,armor-like diligenc 2, effort in training 3, the diligence of never regarding as enough
5. Mindfulness – Remembering the instruction of meditation. If your mind is flexible, you
will be mindful of the instruction or antidotes.
6. Introspection– Using your two minds – one to do the practice and the other to observe and
evaluate your practice and control what is going on, like a Shepherd. If you are mindful
during your practice, you will practice introspection successfully.
7. Applying the Antidotes – Selecting the appropriate antidote when obstacles arise. If you
are introspective while meditating, you will choose the appropriate antidote to defeat
obstacles.
8. Resting in Equanimity – Achieving the feeling of effortless meditating. If appropriate
antidotes are applied, and obstacles are defeated, you will rest in equanimity.

Nine Stages of Setting the Mind

1. Placing attention on an Object. Focus on a single object. Suggestions are:
• A picture of Buddha. Flower. Blue paper. Music/sound. Following breath
• If visual object, colors are important because the symbol of the five Buddha Families.
1) Buddha Family or Vairochana (White) 2) Vajra (Diamond) Family or Akshobhya (Blue) 3) Ratna (Jewel) Family or Ratnasambhava (Yellow) 4) Padma (Lotus) Family or Amitabha (Red) 5) Karma (Action) Family or Amoghasiddhi (Green)
2. Continual Setting – Keep doing the above. Keep your attention on the object slowly
increasing the time.
3. Patch-like Setting – If your mind has distractions during meditation, use your mindfulness
and awareness to bring it back and re-focus on the object.
4. Close Setting – If your mind wanders again, bring it back and focus more intensely to block
the distraction.
5. Taming - If you become bored or tired during meditation, think about the benefits of
meditation and use this knowledge to “tame” the mind.
6. Pacification – If you are meditating and the “three poisons” arise and cause you to become
angry or hate meditation, you can pacify you mind by remembering that anger and hatred
destroy your happiness. Remind yourself that meditation, compassion and loving kindness
will restore it and block the poisons.
7. Complete Pacification – When you observe dullness or sleepiness while you are meditating,
you can refresh your mind by remembering the disadvantages of dullness and sleepiness.
Stop your meditation, walk around and wake yourself up, then return to meditation.
8. Single/ One-Pointed – When you can keep your focus on objects successfully, and destroy
obstacles, you can move to focusing on concepts - compassion , loving kindness or
emptiness.
9. Placement on Evenness/Equanimity – When you can meditated without obstacles or
concepts, you can just “let it go” - don’t work to hard, just do meditation in that state.

Our Buddha Nature
The goal of meditation is to see our Buddha Nature or last emptiness and will get exhaustless bliss - the nature of our mind. All sentient beings have Buddha nature but we can’t see it that’s why we are still wandering in samsara. If we see truly Buddha nature or Basic goodness then we are enlightened.
The three exalted bodies of a Buddha
1. The body of reality {chos sku} or dharmakaya,
2. The body of perfect rapture or complete Enjoyment body {longs sku} or sambhogakaya,
3. The emanation body {sprul sku} or nirmanakaya
• Darma kaya – Only Buddha can see this. If we abandon all obstacles, then we can see
• Sambogakaya – When we attain the 10 bhumi, then we can see it
• Nirmana kaya – All sentient being can see it