Life and the Dhamma

In one of our Buddha's suttas a teaching goes like this:"If you are not skillful in reading the habits of others' minds, be skillful in reading the habits of your own mind first."
One of the most easy-to-meet but most-difficult-to overcome problems in meditation and concentration attainment for meditators is wandering thoughts. In order to cope with this, one should reflect on the cause-effect relationship as follows:
Your daily behavior, thoughts and actions are the causes which lead to the effects that are your corresponding states of mind in your meditation. So, if you want good effects (or results), i.e., if you want success in the practice of Samatha - Vipassana meditation, you should develop good conditions (cause) in your daily activities as stated below:
1. Cause/Conditions: - Trying to live a simple, honest and transparent life; radiating a lot of loving-kindness (mettà) and showing a lot of respect to others.
Effect/Results: - Less wandering thoughts; an untainted, calm and tranquil mind leading to attainment of concentration (samàdhi).
2. Cause/Conditions: - A selfish, envious, complicated, dishonest, fussy and hatred-filled person; always trying to overwhelm others for the sake of dominating them in all relationships.
Effect/Results: - A lot of wandering thoughts; much difficulty in developing calm mind for concentration; much waste of time and effort resulting in useless and unproductive meditation practice.

+ Always ask yourself, "What kind of a mind am I developing to treat others in my life?"
+ In order to improve in meditation you need to change your improper mind-set, behavior and habits. You need to know how to use your wise attention not only in your daily life, but also in your meditation retreat period - especially those persons (yogis) who have not yet achieved success in meditation.

It is ideal and perfect if a yogi comes here to meditate and is successful at the end of the retreat. It will be because they already have enough pàramis accumulated in their past lives.
However, as yet unsuccessful yogis will have gained the following valuable benefits from their time at the retreat:-
1. Meditation practice is the best way to repay the gratitude owed to one's parents.
2. Meditation practice is developing the kusala habit - the best preparation for the death moment-consciousness, which means that you are certain not to be reborn in the four woeful stages. Instead, you will be reborn in a better existence.

Unsuccessful meditators can achieve success if they can always keep this kusala object - mindfulness-of-breathing (ànàpànasati) - as a 'flesh and blood' part of their body, as a personal character/habit of themselves, up until their death-moment. This way, no other unwholesome akusala object can interfere at such a very difficult and important moment and, one can then be certain of a moving onto a good rebirth.

**********************