Dear Friends,
The fourth faculty is samadhi. This word is often translated as “concentration,” but as Gil mentions in this first talk on the topic, “it somewhat limits what samādhi means in the practice we do.”
https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11137
Gil looks at samadhi two ways: as a capacity of the mind, which can become strong as it is used, and the other as a state in which we are abiding when the faculty is fully engaged.
One of Gil’s common teaching techniques is to play on some of the words we use. So he looks at the word “concentration” and pulls out this idea of centering – that concentration is the mind’s attention to center itself on something.
I like this idea of centering rather than some of the other words – like concentration or focus. These other words can carry a connotation of striving or of tightness or constriction. Gil describes centering as “a whole body standing in the middle of some experience.”
The other phrase that really resonates for me is the invitation to be “wholeheartedly engaged in what we are doing at the moment.” There is a quality of care, friendliness, kindness in this centering into concentration, a willingness to be intimately with the experience.
As we bring our wholehearted attention to the experience, we are willing to let go. Let go of distractions, of going off in many different directions. And we let go into this moment – this moment will hold us.
In retreats I have sat with Susie Harrington, she has often commented that the word concentration in English has a “brittleness” to it, while samadhi is softer and receptive. Gil says something similar:
One principle of samādhi is that the mind is a soft mind. The movement is toward a mind that is softer, more pliable, more malleable. A mind that is concentrated is bright, with a lot of clarity and calm. The very means by which we try to get concentrated, hopefully will have some of those qualities in it. We have softness, malleability, calm, and brightness.
We center ourselves, we let go of what gets in the way, centering again and again – resting in the experience. And importantly, we find ways to enjoy this. This is a joyful practice! Gil’s advice: “One way to do that is to have low expectation that you are going to get concentrated. Don’t try to be fast or cling. Give yourself lots of time. Be very relaxed.”
Poem:
Gil’s notion of being wholeheartedly engaged with the present moment reminds me of the poem “Another Sama” as rendered by Matty Weingast in The First Free Women: Original Poems Inspired by the Early Buddhist Nuns. Here’s an excerpt from that poem that captures this willingness to be present:
And how countless lives of searching
had brought me
at last
to the present moment,
which I happily married.Can you imagine?
We’ve been living together
From The First Free Women: Original Poems Inspired by the Early Buddhist Nuns – you can also read the full poem here:
ever since,
without
a single
argument.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10295123-written-2-600-years-ago-another-sama-after-twenty-five-years-on
Meditation:
Before Gil gave this talk, he led a guided meditation on “Letting Go Into” (32 minutes):
https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11136
Gil closed his talk with this wish: “May you find many ways today to find yourself centered in your experience in yourself. And may you even enjoy that centering in yourself.”
With good wishes,
Andrea