return to
dhamma writings

• Double Brain Experiment : A Case in Meditation
• Tai Chi
• Dynamic Meditation
• Buddhism and something else...?
• Fake Emptiness and Stupid Meditation
   

Can the mind concentrate in more than one thing at a time?

While I am practicing meditation, I start by repeating the following mantra quietly in my mind:

“Bud dhang sa ra nang kad cha me

Dham mang sa ra nang kad cha me

Sang khang sa ra nang kad cha me”

While I am repeating this mantra again and again, I am still able to think, listen, take a bath, type keyboard, and do a lot of things except speaking. However when I try to put more concentration to the mantra and try to hear the mantra as if I am praying out with my voice, It is harder to do more things than the mantra.

Does anyone have the same experience? How can you explain this process of the mind scientifically or in the Buddhism concept? I think thinking and memorizing are different functions of the brain. Is it possible that repeating mantra activates memorizing function (sanna) while concentration needs both of memorizing (sanna) and thinking (sankhara) function?

I have heard Buddhist teachers and psychologists say that the brain is only able to concentrate on one thing at a time, but can move from one object to another so quickly it seems like two objects at once to some. There are, also, different levels of attention in the brain, however, like subconscious reflexes (such as could be created by mantra repetition, perhaps.) What I'm talking about above, though, is conscious or consciously directed attention or concentration. Hope that's clear,

Matthew

Thanks for the information. Also please try to refer to the Ayatana (12 sense-spheres), Samphassa (6 contacts), and Vinnana (6 consciousness) that you may be interested. The Buddha had explained how ayatana, samphassa, and vinnana response and interact. The Buddha had shown the steps from the mind body reborn in the fertilized cell and how fire, air, earth, and water built up to be a physical body and sensory organs. I can not find this teaching in English for you.

The Buddha probably knew how the mind-body processes better than today scientist does. My teacher can turn off his sight while his eyes are opened and also turn off other sensory organs while he is practicing a walking meditation. His physical body turns to be a robot that works as pre-programmed from the mind. Another teacher points out that concentration should be balanced among visualizing, recalling, thinking, and consciousness before continuing further. The word “simply watching” should be implied beyond just simply watching.

I think that concentration on one thing at a time is a must in order to gain the mind power for Samatha. Then the meditator should try to open and balance all of his sensory organs for Vipassana. With these steps, Samatha and Vipassana will be the same process. Without these steps, Samatha will be too focused and inert to activate the mind. I am testing it so let take it as a hypothesis.

Does anyone know about Tai Chi (moving meditation)?

Is it the same concept as mindfulness or insight meditation?

ann

I am also very interested in Tai Chi and Qi Gong meditation and found that they are Samatha not Vipassana. So far I never found vipassana in other kinds of religions except Buddhism. Vipassana is not moving meditation but vipassana may be practiced while the body is moving in order to energize sati or awareness to be maha-sati (extreme awareness). In another word, moving meditation is just a practical part of vipassana. Vipassana is the process of creating Dhamma and wisdom.

Buddhist meditation in the first glance may be different from Tai Chi or Qi Gong. However Buddhist meditation in more advance level is very complicated and many parts of its high techniques are very similar to Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Similar concepts, similar steps, similar outcomes but Buddhist meditation has more in Vipassana. Buddhist meditation that is publicly opened for general people is only for the beginners. Intermediate and advance level need face to face testing prior to advance learning.

Buddhist meditation puts more effort into the spiritual benefit than to the physical benefit. We should keep our physical body in good health as long as possible in order to cultivate Dhamma but the mind comes first. Buddhist meditation may not need microcosmic orbiting of the chi because at the fourth jhana all biological systems will be balanced automatically. Activated chi causes piti (bliss) so in the first jhana when the meditator feels blissful, his chi is activated. Just uses different explanations.

In Anapanasati, you may be wondering why Buddhist monk teaches you to move your focusing points from tip of the nose to forehead to top of the head to the throat then down to navel. Someone may teach you to exhale out from your feet and inhale from skin. Someone may teach you a spiraling meditation. You may understand those secrets of higher level of Buddhist meditation in Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Most of Buddhist masters will not explain why you have to do what they teach you.

You may be interested to take a look in these sites: www.dhammakaya.org, www.falundafa.ca, www.falun.mit.edu, www.healing-tao.com, www.baus.org/dm/index.html. They are more or less related with Buddhist moving meditation, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong. If you are interested to learn Tai Chi and Qi Gong, I suggest you to learn how to meditate, activate chi, energize chi, circulate chi, and purify the body. Do not attach too much on the physical body.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind explanation. It is truly a great help. You really do confirm my believe on this matter!! I have learned Vipassana Meditation and I understand what you are saying. Vipassana jhana is a very complicate thing and truly hard to grasp with a mundane wisdom. That's why I say that it is only Vipassana Jhana that will enable us to the point of no return, which is Nirvana.

Yes, I'll treasure your suggestion on learning Taijhi and Qi Gong. And I will keep on pursuing my spiritual path with Vipassana meditation. My Sati is always my refuge. ann

Mr. Somkiat has recommended me a great website about Buddhist Meditation. I would encourage everyone to have a visit. It is written in a way that is very easy to understand and follow. Some of the nice quotes are:

"Man himself is religion, Buddhism is awareness, attention and wisdom."

"Sin is darkness, ignorance or suffering. Merit is brightness, right understanding or not-suffering."

"Sila means normality, that is, it is neither good nor bad. It is the neutral state of mind. Whenever we are not normal, at that moment we are dead, we have no Sila (precept), we have suffering."

"Vipassana means insight or clearly see (things as they are). If one has insight, the mind will be totally transformed."

"The state of being Phra (noble ones) is the mind that changes its quality from being heavy to light, from being dull to clear, from being ignorant to enlightened."

"The Buddha is the mind that is clean, clear, calm, pure, bright and quick. This kind of mind exists in everybody without exception."

"The Buddha taught only how to solve or end suffering, therefore, all of his teachings have nothing to do with any rituals or the occult."

"Suffering occurs because we do not see our thoughts."

"Thought is the quickest thing. It is quicker than lightning or anything."

"Thoughts flow all the time as a stream. When thought arises, be aware of the bodily movement simultaneously. This is the simplest and most effective way to end suffering. I can guarantee this."

There're still a lot more of good essays and how to practice Dynamic meditation.

Here is the URL address http://www.baus.org/dm/index.html

You can access to the link below.

Dynamic Meditatiion

ann

Buddhism and something else...?

Hi! Long weekend, end of the American summer, etc. Hope everyone made it through alright!

I'm no expert on the Vajrana, the Tibetan tradition, but there is a Tantric practice that interests me: the visualization of a personal deity, in "Deity Yoga." Without getting too technical, can anyone with experience of it tell me something about it? Yes, I know this relates to "Guru Yoga" in the Tantra, and perhaps I will be cautioned against it since I don't have a guru.

I'm not asking in order to scoff. Can a Buddhist visualize the goddess, for example, even if he believes the god and goddess are just metaphors? And what would be the spiritual or karmic effects of this practice?

I know about Kuan Yin, the bhodisattva of compassion, and that Kuan Yin underwent a gender change in the Chinese tradition. Yet I've always been interested in Kuan Yin, and the Tibetan Tara, as feminine embodiments of the ...what? Divine? Sacred? Yin Principle? Universal Energy?

Questions from an agnostic Buddhist, who shies away from the supernatural. Yet I've sometimes missed the "feminine aspect" in our ordinary practice of the Dharma. I think we need the feminine influence in our lives and our beliefs and our practices, otherwise the Buddha-Dharma is just a kind of masculine military training on a spiritual level. There's a time and a place for that, and I'm comfortable with it, on a limited basis, but I don't want my experience and my Dharma goals to be limited to some kind of "barracks spirituality."

I also have a life-long interest in shamanism, so here is my question:

Can a Western Buddhist believe in, or practice, something (of a religious nature) outside the Dharma? If not, why not? Many Chinese, for example, were able to consider themselves Buddhists, Taoists (of the popular religious variety) and Confucianists, all at the same time. And many Japanese have considered themselves Buddhists and Shintoists. Then there are the more esoteric matters like Chinese astrology, fortune-telling, etc.

Any comments on the feminine principle in Dharma practice, OR in accepting other beliefs/practices outside the Dharma?

Lupus

I will try to answer your question though I can not fully understand some of your wordings. English is not my second language. My intention in this forum is too share my idea and help answer someone questions who needs help. I do not see your topic as only your question. I hope my answer may help everyone who clicks this topic and has the same question as posted.

I will answer from the wording of “Buddhism and something else...?” in my experience. Buddhism has no restriction for any Buddhists to practice other thing or something else. Buddhist can be Christian, Taoism, Muslim, and others at the same time. However restriction comes from other religions and belief. I can do what ever I like while I am still have sila (precept), samadhi (meditating), and panna (wisdom). But being real good Buddhist is very hard job for me so I have to choose Dhamma and spend most of my time in practicing Dhamma. Hope I can get some of Dhamma fruit before I die. I like to learn shamanism and other occults but I believe I have not enough time. My personal goal is to be able to attain Samatha as fast and longest as I wish. I need lot of mind power for Vipassana. Supernatural power; such as walking on the water or fly in the air; is just a by-product of meditation.

I practice visualizing in meditation because I do not need only wisdom to understand Dhamma but also eyes to see Dhamma. We have eyes to study and read sutta, then why we should not have the third eyes to see Dhamma. The Buddha’s enlightenment has the power to know and see Dhamma. Thai sutta writes the word “know and see” clearly but always translate as “discern”. I am searching for pali language to see the original word.

Visualizing is very important but visualizing is easy to fool. It hard to proof that the meditator can really see because he has more refined sights perception. Fake pictures always originate from the five aggregates. One way to check the visualizing power is from matching and comparing the experience from 2 persons. If both persons see the same, so it should be real. Discussion forum will help us to check the visualizing progress.

Visualizing may help us to proof the law of karma. A practitioner must try to recall and see a normal picture as if he is seeing with opened eyes. After he can see and prolong the picture as he wishes then he will ask to see the past and future life. Learning from past and future life will help him understand karma and know how to manage karma diligently. The Buddha also practiced visualizing in his enlightenment process.

There are two sides of Buddhists who accept or reject occult and supernatural power as an important tool in Buddhism practice. I am the one who accepts it but I do not practice Dhamma in order to have the supernatural power as the first goal. This need of supernatural power will be a hindrance to advance further or even draw back below zero.

Hope this helps everyone. From me, a person who is still very stupid. (My teacher always said that he was stupid although he had thousands of students. He was stupid because he was not arahant to know everything correctly. So I am not stupid but very very stupid.)

I would like to add a little about emptiness. There is a false meditation practice called as “Moha Samadhi” that Thai people calls it as “Stupid Meditation”. This kind of meditation has gained nothing and no awareness. Meditator will be in a blank mode and blur. He will see nothing and know nothing during meditating. It likes day dreaming without any dream. His mind is turned off in black screen and lost his control. Do not relate moha samadhi with emptiness.

Emptiness in Buddhism still needs awareness. This is a skeptic note from a beginner in Dhamma.

Last updated
12-11-2542