Samma Samadhi (Right Concentration)
Samma Samadhi (Right Concentration) by Dr Diong Kok Hui
“´This Dhamma is for one with samádhi, not for one without samádhi.´ So it was said. For what reason was this said? Here a monk enters and abides in the first jhána … second jhána … third jhána … fourth jhána.” AN 8.30
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When the Bodhisatta had the insight that Jhana was the way to Enlightenment, he then thought, “Why am I afraid of that pleasure which has nothing to do with the five senses nor with unwholesome things? I will not be afraid of that pleasure (of Jhana)!” (MN 36)
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The Buddha said that one who indulges in the pleasures of Jhana may expect only one of four consequences: Stream Winning, Once-returner, Non-returner, or Full Enlightenment!
In other words, indulging in Jhana leads only to the four stages of Enlightenment.
(Pasadika Sutta, DN 29,25)
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“Jhana is to be followed, is to be developed and is to be made much of. It is not to be feared.”
(MN 66)
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“One trains in the higher virtue (sila), the higher mind, and the higher wisdom … What is the training in the higher mind? Here a monk … enters and abides in the first jhána … second jhána … third jhána … fourth jhána.” (AN 3.84, 88, 89)
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“That one could perfect samádhi without perfecting virtue or that one could perfect wisdom without perfecting samádhi – this is impossible.” (AN 5.22)
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“It is impossible to abandon the fetters that bind us to samsára (samyojana) without having perfected samádhi. And without abandoning those fetters it is impossible to realize Nibbána.” (AN 6.68)
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“I say, monks, that the destruction of the mind’s poisons is dependent on the first jhána … eight jhána.”(AN 9.36)
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‘For a person with right samádhi there is no need to arouse the wish,
´May I see things as they truly are.´
It is a natural process, it is in accordance with nature that someone with right samádhi will see things as they truly are.’ (AN 10.3)
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‘There is no jhána without wisdom,
there is no wisdom without jhána,
but for someone with both jhána and wisdom,
Nibbána is near.’ (Dhp 372)
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Develop concentration, bhikkhus; concentrated, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu understands according to reality.(Samàdhi Sutta, S.III.I.i.v)
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Silenced in body, silenced in speech,
silenced in mind, without inner noise,
Blessed with silence is the sage!
He is truly washed of all evil …
(Itivuttaka 3.67)
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Not even wholesome thoughts in Jhana
” … And as I remained thus heedful, ardent, & resolute, thinking imbued with renunciation / non-ill will / harmlessness arose. I discerned that ‘Thinking imbued with renunciation / non-ill will / harmlessness has arisen in me; and that leads neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It fosters discernment, promotes lack of vexation, & leads to Unbinding. If I were to think & ponder in line with that even for a night… even for a day… even for a day & night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it, except that thinking & pondering a long time would tire the body. When the body is tired, the mind is disturbed; and a disturbed mind is far from concentration.’ So I steadied my mind right within, settled, unified, & concentrated it. Why is that? So that my mind would not be disturbed.
… first jhana, second jhana … ”
(Dvedhavitakka Sutta, MN.019)