2022-12-09-Gil-Gladness Pentad (5 of 5) Natural Unfolding of Samadhi
7:48AM Dec 15, 2022
Speakers:
Gil Fronsdal
Keywords:
samadhi
gladness
mind
settling
suffering
practice
present
immersed
straining
meditation
scattered
centrifugal force
allowing
dharma
feels
boring
center
enter
happen
relax
So we come to the last of the gladness, penne TADS. And this is Samadhi. And Samadhi is a powerful word in India. And to translate Samadhi as concentration, we lose some of the richness and the breadth and depth of it. Sometimes I have this idea that it's Indian context Samadhi is, is has many meanings, sometimes it's refers to kind of some of the deepest realizations a person can have. And, but in terms of and so some people will understand it to be a deep absorption, immersion, immersion, in our experience in ourselves in the meditation, we immerse ourselves in it, some, but the quality of that immersion, that absorption of it all, is kind of like entering into a sacred place sacred, sacred grove a sacred spot in nature, a sacred temple. That's a really a feeling that thought this is, this is where, you know, that allow me to say this is where churches this is where, and if for people that are theistic, which I'm not particularly but this is the presence of God, here they are, it's, it's a really quite something to be immersed in with all this goodness, that Samadhi is to translate it as concentration, many people take it to be kind of a laser focus and bearing down to straining to look and be. But it's more like, there's a welcome at the center of your being a warm, happy, loving welcome. And that you somehow your system, your whole psychophysical being feels that welcome. And, and then is happy to kind of settle there settle around it, kind of like settling around the Earth, where you know, or a group of people kind of settling around a fire and being cozy and comfortable together. Your whole being. And so, the part of what samādhi is, is a gathering together, of all our faculties, the classic language is that of unification, that there's a unified field, nothing is scattered, nothing is fragmented. We're not spinning out, there's not a centrifugal force outwards with the mind, if anything, there's a settling in Word are here. And as that settling happens more and more, it's There's levels of it, and the experience of somebody shifts and changes. And sometimes the sense of boundaries and barriers fall away. Then, even though I talked about this settling into the center, the center that the idea that there's an edge to the, to the space, which we're centered on, falls away, and sometimes somebody just feels like we're immersed in, kind of like in if we swim underwater in a beautiful Clear Lake or someplace in there underneath kind of in the school bass space, it's feels peaceful and quiet. And we might look up at the surface a few feet above us and see that there's some agitation of the water up there. But here we're we are kind of immersed in this kind of boundless kind of water world. So, so Samadhi and in the sense that Samadhi is not something to strain for, is part of the lesson of this gladness pent, that, that the that it's built on the previous four. And you see in the teachings of the Buddha over and over again, different kinds of ways. Samadhi follows the the five, the four before it follows gladness, joy, tranquility of the body, and happiness and then Samadhi and it follows almost as a natural phenomenon. And what we're doing here is a very profound principle of the Buddha's and that is that we're not causing meditation to happen. We're not causing samadhi or concentration to happen, but rather We're setting up the conditions that allows it to happen. And, and the way that this gladness pen Tat is talked about is not something we do, but rather something we allow something that naturally flows, that there's a naturalness to, when we have this dharma gladness, that from there there arises a joy from there, there arises tranquility, from their, their, their happiness occurs, and from their Samadhi concentration happens. So. So, as we give ourselves to the practice, we have to kind of practice. As I like to say, sometimes the practice doesn't work at all, I can finally tell you, the practice doesn't work definitively. If you don't do it. There is a doing of it, that has to happen. But what that doing is, is partly showing up really showing up here. So we can begin allowing here to unfold. And here unfolds without our reactivity here unfolds without our straining and wanting without our mind being scattered and distracted. And so when we start becoming undistracted in here enough, doesn't have to be dramatic enough that, that there's a, there begins to be an unfolding, deepening, that is not necessarily our doing. But what we allow for. So if we're always staying the agent, the one who does in practice, we can only take the practice so far, at some point, we have to start being the doer that does something shows up. But at some point, we also started allowing, then more and more, there's more and more allowing of something to flow through us something to unfold within us. It's not so mystical, it's very, you know, practical, or very, you know, simple. That comes when we allow ourselves to kind of just be present and relax. And one of the remarkable things it's kind of a little bit embarrassing, maybe for some of us, is all our grand conclusions about the world, about ourselves and how terrible things are terrible we are or the challenges we have or even how great things are. That happened from the thinking mind, the conceding mind that's kind of living in his thoughts, reactions, ideas of things, that when those ideas and thinking quiets down, we started living a different world where the conclusions are very different. So even like say do this is boring. Boredom is a certain activity of the mind, actions of the mind, that the mind is kind of constructing the evaluation, things are boring. But as the mind gets quieter, this kind of centrifugal force away from the center that boredom is that there's the board of vanishes. And you see, there's no boring here at all. Unless we return into that evaluative analytical kind of mind, which is an activated mind, and disquieting settling, coming together. Immersing ourselves in our experience here, that kind of begins to slowly occur on its own. And sometimes, you know, if you have a daily sitting practice, this process might be smear so slow, it's inconsistent in and can't see it day by day. There's almost like a slow and steady movement that moves us through this gladness, pen tad so much that we don't necessarily see it or recognize the stages are so slow, but then eventually allows us to kind of sit down to meditate and is more like, here I am. And there's a entering into it or allowing into it, that maybe is the Samadhi. Or it can be that. Sometimes in one meditation session, you can almost feel the cascading movement, like water down a down a hillside of going through these different steps. It's relatively easy for me to talk about it. It's not so easy to have this happen. So it's very important not to be you know, being a kid in the backseat that saying, Am I there yet? Am I there yet? Kind of wanting it and trying to make it happen.
is hugely important part of this meditation practice is a certain kind of contentment. Meant to be practicing with whatever the circumstances are that you're practicing with. There's a very profound principle that I like that the dharma knows better than you what you should be experiencing, that there are no mistakes when you sit down to meditate. Whatever you're given is what we learn to practice with, without trying to make it different, but rather to wake up with it, to be present with it in a very wise way. If anything, what we can do is we can learn to relax, relax with it all. Relaxed with a difficult relax around what's difficult. Let the thinking mind relax. This relaxing this tranquilizing is one as we stay present as we stay attentive, is this is the really the ingredient for allowing the gladness pen had to move through us on its own. Then as we do that, and we come to some modicum of being settled and present here, so that we're not being scattered or pulled into the world of thinking and reactivity. And we're able to see and be present, then the printed, gladness, pant that opens up to being able to see how things are just to see deeply. And, and what we see deeply. One of those things is the nature of suffering. We might begin the practice because we suffer. And we want to find some relief, some freedom from that suffering. But we're not really ready to address it deeply until we prepare the ground for art until we've entered into the temple in a respectful and kind and appropriate way. And enter, enter the temple of Samadhi. Then we have new eyes with which to see the suffering. So yes, we're here to overcome suffering. Don't be so concerned with it at first, let it be the motivating factor. And part of what why you feel the gladness, knowing that you're on a path to end of suffering. But don't try to fix it and navigate it as you begin your practice just develop the ability to be present. And then, when the time is right, when the dharma knows best for you, you will address the suffering in a deep way. And seeing things as they are is that the nature of it. And then I wasn't planning on this, but that is coincidentally the topic for tomorrow's day long is the Four Noble Truths, truth of suffering. So it is kind of a follow up today. I don't know if there's still space in the day long. But it's it's online it's you find the registration in and inside Retreat Center website where it talks about
de Long's online de Long's. There's also a link to it in the IMC what's new, and if there is face and you can only come to part of the day, that's fine. It's best to come early, I suppose. there the whole day is going to be a cover the Four Noble Truths. It's kind of a little bit of a teaching day and practice day and meditation day. So thank you very much for this and I appreciate having this chance to teach and be with you and and share this with you. And and I do look forward also coming back and beginning again on Monday.
