Categories: Other Meditation Teachings
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
Today, I wish to clarify a fundamental question for anyone on a spiritual path: Why do we meditate? What is the true purpose of our practice? Through our work, we’ve guided many of you in Samatha meditation. It’s important to understand where this path leads.
When we began this journey together about a year and a half ago, we stated that our primary focus would not be on Vipassanā, or insight meditation, but rather on Samatha. This is the path of tranquility and concentration. Through this practice, one can encounter profound experiences like the awakening of Kundalini Shakti (latent spiritual energy), connection with universal energy, opening the Third Eye, developing various psychic abilities, and attaining deep states of meditative absorption known as the Jhānas. Our goal has been to provide practical guidance on how to navigate these experiences.
However, during this time, I realized out of compassion that I needed to share something more. To help you understand your own minds and thoughts, it became essential to introduce elements of what the Buddha taught as Vipassanā, particularly the practice of maintaining mindfulness.
Please do not take these teachings lightly; they are a vast and profound body of wisdom. These are the very tools that can help you attain Nibbāna,the ultimate liberation, and end the long cycle of rebirth entirely. These teachings on mindfulness support both Samatha and Vipassanā, and we have dedicated teachings to help you understand the nature of the mind itself.
So, while our foundation was Samatha, we expanded our guidance to include these insights based on our practical experience with the nature of thoughts and the mind.
The True Aim of Spiritual Development: Beyond Psychic Abilities
The ultimate purpose of all these practices must be clear. Whether we open the Third Eye, what is known as dibba cakkhu, the divine eye,or develop dibba sota, the divine ear; whether we learn to read the minds of others or see our past lives; whatever psychic abilities or meditative states we attain, our final aim must be this: to use these skills as a cause to shorten our journey through Samsāra.
Samsāra is the long, repetitive cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, driven by our actions and ignorance. We must cultivate the understanding that every step in our spiritual development is for the sake of eventually reaching Nibbāna, the final extinguishing of suffering and the end of this cycle.
This understanding is critical, especially today. I observe a concerning trend where the goal of Nibbāna is being pushed aside or even attacked. The Buddha’s teachings face challenges, and practitioners of Samatha meditation may begin to worry, ‘Will I be able to gain insight and shorten my journey, or am I getting stuck?‘
How Psychic Vision Confirms the Buddha’s Teachings on Suffering
Let me offer an example to illustrate this point. Imagine a person who has successfully awakened their Third Eye. There are many such people today who can perceive the unseen world. Through this awakened vision, this person looks into their past existences.
They see lifetimes filled with immense suffering and lifetimes filled with fleeting pleasure. Let’s imagine they can also see the future and how their journey in Samsāra will unfold.
Furthermore, suppose this person gains the ability to see the hell realms, the apāya or niraya. In modern times, many claim these realms do not exist, but those who have advanced in their spiritual development know for certain whether they do or not. We know they certainly exist, and I will speak more on this in the future. When this person with the Third Eye looks into these realms, they witness countless beings experiencing unimaginable suffering.
By seeing this, they directly perceive what the Buddha called Dukkha a fundamental unsatisfactoriness and stress inherent in all existence. They see with their own eyes that moments of happiness are incredibly brief and insignificant in the vast ocean of Samsāra. This direct sight powerfully reinforces the Buddha’s teachings. It aligns perfectly with the insights gained from mindfulness, where we observe how quickly pleasant feelings pass. When you combine these experiences, whether from psychic abilities or deep meditation, you gain a profound understanding: everything is temporary.
The Balanced Path: Uniting Concentration and Insight
Even the powerful states of bliss found in the Jhānas or the joy of psychic abilities are, in the end, temporary. While this spiritual happiness is hundreds of thousands of times greater than any worldly pleasure, the practitioner eventually realizes that it, too, is insubstantial, much like worldly things.
It feels wonderful, but it is ultimately weak in the face of impermanence. This is the crucial turning point. This is where we can begin to use these abilities as tools for our journey to Nibbāna.
This is why I guide you in a balanced way. I teach you mindfulness from the Vipassanā path to help you see what is happening and reduce your mental defilements. At the same time, I guide you in developing the Samatha path to cultivate powerful states of mind. I teach you both sides because the goal is to shorten your journey in Samsāra and to help you cultivate abilities that are often missing in today’s spiritual communities like opening the Third Eye, awakening Kundalini energy, and attaining Jhānas. These are also necessary things to gain in the spiritual world.
My hope is to help you become a complete spiritual person perfected in the insight path of the Buddha, and also fully developed in these other dimensions of Kundalini, universal energy, and the Third Eye. Of course, what one achieves depends on their past actions, their accumulated merits, and their dedication in this life. But the path I am showing you is a balanced one.
The Buddha taught four ways of cultivating the path: one can develop insight first, then tranquility; tranquility first, then insight; or one can develop them both together, yoked in balance. This balanced path, or Yuganaddha, is what we can practice together.
The ‘Two-Cent Miracle’: Using Spiritual Gifts with Wisdom, Not for Show
We must remember that these abilities are not for performing magic tricks. In this context, I am often challenged with childish remarks: ‘If you have such spiritual power, show us! Move a rock!‘ I have addressed this before. There are many in the Himalayas and across Asia with extraordinary spiritual abilities, but once they attain them, they have no desire to perform cheap tricks for show.
To those who say these powers, called iddhi, are fake, I ask a question: If they are not real, why did the Buddha specifically state in the scriptures that the miracle of teaching is superior to the miracle of psychic power? Why were psychic miracles forbidden for public display?
He forbade them precisely because they existed. If you don’t accept that, then it is difficult to have a discussion. The Buddha tells a story about this. He and his assembly of monks were about to cross a river. A non-Buddhist ascetic, wanting to show off his power, walked across the surface of the water to the other side. Seeing this, the Venerable Ananda said to the Buddha, ‘Lord, let us also perform a miracle.
At that moment, the Buddha turned to the ferryman, who rowed people across in his boat, and asked, ‘What is the fee to cross this river?‘ The ferryman replied, ‘Two cents.‘ The Buddha then turned to Ananda and said, ‘Ananda, do not perform great miracles for a job worth only two cents.‘ The message is clear: these profound abilities are not to be squandered on trivial displays. They are for our spiritual development and to shorten our journey in Samsāra, not to show off like Devadatta did with his magic.
When Miracles Are Justified: Aiding Another’s Path to Liberation
So, when are these abilities used?
The Buddha and the Arahants fully enlightened beings used these powers, but only when it served a truly beneficial purpose. They would never do something if it was fruitless. An Arahant would only use such an ability if it would help a person attain a stage of enlightenment, or at the very least, save them from a lower rebirth and ensure they are born in a heavenly realm.
For instance, if you read the stories in the scriptures, you will find occasions where the Buddha used his psychic powers to show an entire village a vision of a hell realm or the realm of suffering ghosts. He did this to awaken people to the consequences of their actions and set them on a righteous path. This is the only reason such powers are used: to help another being advance spiritually.
If the Buddha were here today among the billions of people in our country, and he knew they were not ready to gain any understanding, he would not perform a single miracle. Why? Because he would know it would be useless. People would just say, ‘It’s a trick, it’s technology,‘ and claim that it’s impossible for a physical body to do such things.
Their minds are conditioned to disbelieve. So do not be troubled by the chatter of those around you. In these times, the forces of Māra the tempter who creates obstacles on the spiritual path are very strong. Consider such voices as part of that force and do not feel you need to answer them.
Your Personal Journey: Walking the Path with Quiet Integrity
I will remind you once more: every ability we gain through our spiritual development the Jhānas, psychic powers, everything is not for becoming a ‘big shot,’ performing magic, gathering followers, or making money. We do not practice for these petty aims. We do these things to develop our own inner spirituality, to understand our long journey through Samsāra, and to use these abilities to finally reach the goal of Nibbāna.
That is why we engage in practical meditation methods and the practice of mindfulness to understand our own minds and thoughts. This is a truth that everyone, regardless of age, should take to heart. Walk your path simply and silently, like a free bird.
It was important for me to offer this clarification to give you a deep understanding, especially in these confusing times. May the power and blessings of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha be with you all. With this core purpose in mind, may you attain the Jhānas and spiritual abilities, develop your universal and Kundalini energy, and may you have the strength to shorten your journey through Samsāra and complete the path the Buddha laid out. With this blessing, I conclude today’s teaching.
We invite you to walk this path with us. Read our teachings, and most importantly, apply them practically in your own life. as you practice, questions will naturally arise. Please feel free to share your experiences and questions in the comments below, via email or contact form. I will do my best to offer guidance in future talks based on your progress. For now, begin this practice with an open heart and a mind free from expectation. Cultivate it correctly, and may you find the clarity and peace you seek.
Thank you for joining us. We hope this blog will be of great benefit to your spiritual journey.
May you all be well and happy.
