Question: Namo Buddhaya, I would like to give my dearest respect to Sayadaw. Could you please explain to me, if I want to have a deep concentration into meditation, how could I achieve that? Thank you!
“It is very difficult to explain detailed about meditation. There ars some of the Dhamma books explained about meditation, some are writen by monks who are skillful in Buddhist literature. They also practice seriously. If the person who asked the question want to know the knowledge only, he should read books and listen the Dhamma talks about the experiences of practicing meditation. If that person really wants to practice, it is better to go to Myanmar or Thailand, stay in the meditation center, the most well known ones, and try to learn by his own experiences. To be a real meditator and to get success. To practice by oneself, by reading Dhamma books or listening Dhamma talks, it’s really difficult at the present condition. But the condition is changing better and better. That’s why it will be not much difficult than before for those who are doing good deeds continuously. For those who are waiting for the best time without practicing, it’s really wrong. If one doesn’t dare to practice seriously, that one will experience the same in the future. In this way, that one may miss the chance of practicing meditation actually. The time we meet meditation is right time to start meditating, we should not waste the time. We should not think of the future.
Because of many difficulties in meditation, I’m trying to change the method of doing good deeds. Not only meditating but also sharing what we have, our understanding, volunteering for the most needed people and organizations, keeping precepts: five precepts for the lay people, eight precepts for the nuns, 227 precepts or Vinaya for the monks, and practicing meditation not only in the forest and meditation centers, but also in the city, at home, in our daily life. This is cooperation of connecting one place to another, one person to another, one organization to another, one activity to another. Because of my own experience I understand this is really effective for most of the people. The more we emphasize to practice meditation, there will be more attachments on meditation, and we can have more difficulties.
Because the standard of meditators nowaday is not high. The knowledge about meditation is not complete. That’s why if we can’t reach the standard of meditators if we can’t correct the mistakes of meditators, it is sure not get success. Doing all kinds of good deeds including meditation is really helpful to reach the standard of meditators. That’s why we emphasize meditation and also volunteering. We need to do both. Not only meditation, but also volunteering. Whatever we have we should be both meditators and volunteers. In this this way, we will be easy to be real meditators and real volunteers. To be a real meditators only is really difficult at the present time. That’s why we should emphasize in both volunteering and meditating. To detached from the society is really difficult for the layperson. But it’s possible if we try as a meditator or volunteers or Impermanent nature. We just need to change our view in the mind we are using.
As a lay person we have to work for money, responsibilities but not for merits of good deeds. As a meditator or volunteer, we must do for merits, not to reject precepts. By not rejecting precepts with mindfulness and detachment. We don’t need to change our life and our job, we just need to change our view from a lay person to a meditator or volunteer. In this way our value will change. The value of education, business, health care, sports, arts, music, polictic… has limit. So also the life of a lay person has limit. The value of layperson has limit. The value of giving for free, giving and sharing, protecting for free and keeping precept and keeping the mind to be stable and pure has no limit. If we are able to change our view as meditator or volunteer, we are sure to be able to detached from the society, and we will be able to be real meditators or volunteers.”