UnbornMind Zen

Posts Tagged ‘samadhi’

Shastra on the Importance of Entering the Path of Spontaneous Awakening 1. I reverently bow before all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the Ten Directions, as well as all Awakened Beings who espouse the Bodhimind. In composing this humble Shastra, I am aware that, indirectly, certain deficiencies may disrupt the pristine eminence of the True Nature of the Unborn Mind. If this be so, I pray that the intercession of the Blessed Tathāgata may intervene to reveal the unobstructed Buddhagnosis Read more [...]

Sŏn is the Korean pronunciation of the Sanskrit, Dhyāna. Sŏn is also comparable with samādhi although it takes on a different connotation from our usual rendering. Tsung-mi expounds that it is a comprehensive equation for both samādhi and prajña. Sŏn’s primary task is the recollection of the original Mind Source, one’s own Buddha-nature. One’s awakening in this endeavor is akin to prajña, while the cultivation of this Mind-ground is samādhi. Chinul, whose teachings are the spotlight Read more [...]

From this series on the Lotus Sutra it’s not hard to imagine why mystical-movements evolved from its teachings. The Japanese Tendai-School has its roots within the Chinese Tiantai Tradition and was established by a monk named Saichō, whom like his Shingon counterpart, the great Kūkai, had traveled and studied first hand in China. While Saichō emphasized encompassing many forms of Buddhist practice under the canopy of the Lotus Sutra, it was long after his death that Tendai-Buddhism evolved Read more [...]

  To a mind divided and blinded by the dissonant vibrations of doubt, fear and uncertainty it is very hard to see and choose the right path to salvation.  One should never forget that ultimately it is the illuminative knowledge acquired in right concentration, Samadhi, that paves the way which brings forth the light that leads to final salvation.  In Samadhi, the Mind is in a super-concentrated state of self-introspection, which is a purely spiritual activity where the Mind, now completely Read more [...]

The Destruction of  Screens: A man who humbly enters on the path Holds a begging bowl to help all beings How can he crave for those sense data Through which he falls into five passions? He has rejected five desires On which he now has turned his back. Why should he then revive them Like one who eats his vomit! Hardship is caused by seeking objects of Desire which are a source of dread when won; When lost, they create grief and resentment, ' ~ None of them ever can bring happiness~; This Read more [...]

iii. 3. First-range Samadhi 3.3 Total Mind Absorption Swami Venkatesananda translates this sutra as: When the field of observation and the observing intelligence merges as if their own form is abolished and the total intelligence shines as the sole substance or reality, there is pure choiceless awareness without the divided identity of the observer and the observed – that is illumination. While this type of Samadhi is not the top-class seedless or “nirbija samadhi” that we discussed Read more [...]

ii. 28-29 Yoga’s Eight-Limbs are the means to transformation 2.28 When the impurities have dried-up, Right Perception dawns pointing the way to Re-union with the Unborn. The upcoming sutras focus on Patañjali’s practical means to subdue the skandhas and rise to Noble Ascent in the Unborn. This Ascent is a Re-union, since originally Mind, before its adventitious outflows, is perfect within It-Self. Before this can occur, as the previous sutras pointed out, all skandhic impurities need Read more [...]

  Verily, I tell you truly, any object you have on your mind, however good, will be a barrier between you and the inmost truth. —MEISTER ECKHART  Book I:Samādhi Samādhi—the settled mind—is the most delicate state of awareness-- Alistair Shearer                                                              The Function of Samādhi  i.1-4 Yoga is the method that restricts Mind from slipping-away into Its own multitudinous of forms, thus empowering Read more [...]

  A good student asked me; "If IT (the light) is a feeling, it is not the self. Then how is uniting with a feeling the right progress (practice)? " My rather lengthy answer, which I recommend you read several times is as follows: You are referring to the second skandha (vedana-feeling/sensation) as a falsely confirming root source for the light. The fact is that it is the undivided light (Pure Mind/Unborn Mind) that is the root source of this elevated sensation (sukha) you Read more [...]

One of the salient points to keep in mind during progress through Bardo Realm One, is that essential “balance” between Spirit-Mind-Body that was indicated at the end of the last blog post. Exclusive focus, like ascending the stages to Suramgamasamadhi(or the heroic assent to deep samadhi)—wonderfully portrayed in the Suramgamasamddhisutra (A future blog-series on its own at a future junction)—while a vitally necessary spiritual component, which will be shared in depth during Bardo Realm Read more [...]