understanding the Bodhicaryavatara - chap 8

meditating woman with pyramid floating from Aisha

Chapter Eight - Meditation

The next chapter is on Meditation or Meditative Concentration. In order to develop Wisdom, we need to have a stable mind. Therefore, we need to develop Meditation. Once an individual's mind is not controlled or is distracted, then that person is always in the risk of defilement, just like a person caught between the jaws of a crocodile. If our mind is distracted, then negative thoughts will come. We may follow the negative thoughts and do negative actions, and go towards the wrong direction and path. So, all our accumulation of merits can vanish or be destroyed. Therefore, if we don't have a stable mind, we are always at the risk of being attacked by defilements.

In order to subdue or pacify all these negative thoughts and negative actions, physically, we try to abandon all kinds of unnecessary actions. Mentally, we try to avoid unnecessary planning and unnecessary thinking of the future and past. Try to avoid the distractions caused by the body and the distractions caused by the mind.

The main obstacle of meditation Is attachment. Meditators try to subdue their attachment. Within one's capacity, one will try to subdue or reduce as much as one can. Only then will one be more successful when one tries to meditate.

The next is on meditation subjects. According to most Mahayana Sutras or teachings, they advise us to meditate on subduing one's own defilements first. Whatever defilement we have more aggressively, we put an antidote to subdue that defilement first.

If a person has more hatred, he should put every means of practice to develop loving kindness and compassion. That is the antidote of hatred.

If a person has more desire, then practise meditation on the imperfection of samsara and imperfection of the subject of the desire. In that way, one will be able to understand the nature of it and one able to reduce that particular defilement.

If a person has more Ignorance, contemplate on the twelve interdependent links, i.e. every suffering, every samsara experience is caused by ignorance. That ignorance, the confused mind, produces all the kinds of links. Therefore, try to reverse it.

If we try not to be confused, if we try to cut off this ignorance, then we will be able to cut off the rest of the confusions, the rest of the links. If we have more confusions or ignorance, then we should contemplate more on the twelve interdependent links.

Any kind of Samantha meditation is also applicable at this stage. Any method of Samantha meditation can also be practised.