【Description】
Have you briefly entered a meditative state before? Have you experienced a moment of peacefulness through meditation? Have you felt beauty, comfort, or indescribable joy during meditation? None of these are the highest state of meditation.
What is the highest state of meditation? How can you enter such a state? In this video, Grandmaster JinBodhi explains the different levels of meditation, the method of entering samadhi, and the abilities that can be gained from samadhi, based on his own experience and inspiration. For those meditators who want to improve their state of mind, this video provides an opportunity to elevate spiritually and achieve a higher meditative state.
【You will learn】
- An understanding of the experiences of entering a deep meditative state
- A preliminary understanding of the four levels of meditation
- An understanding of the state of “fake death” or suspended animation
- How to enter samadhi safely
- What incredible abilities can be obtained after samadhi
【Featured aphorisms】
- There are no shortcuts to reaching samadhi. Only by practicing step by step and accumulating a strong energy foundation can you enter safely.
- After entering a deep meditative state, a practitioner can change the world according to their compassionate will.
- The environment will change ordinary people. A practitioner with a strong mind set can change their surroundings after entering the meditative state.
- It takes a long time to reach the fourth level of meditation. You will experience something you have never experienced before. You might see ghosts, deities, or you may feel cold despite meditating in a very hot space. It is a miraculous experience. Only after a long process of unbelievable pain or inexplicable joy and freedom can you finally reach the state of samadhi.
- Don’t ask for help. Just face the Buddha you admire with praise and joy. You will actually gain more from practice this way.
【Content】
Many meditators or meditation instructors are more advanced than me. I practiced meditation when I was a child. Now I practice whenever I have time, but way less than when I was young. I have had some experiences, but some of these you have to experience on your own. If I deliver these experiences to you, actually it is very challenging, as mental activities and methods of meditation are internal.
Most of them are based in thought. It isn’t like dancing which is external and hence easier to imitate: Dancing is mimicking movements. If you mimic well, it is beautiful. For internal feelings, we usually try to find the appropriate words or metaphors to express the experiences of a deep meditative state. But, what we describe can’t fully capture the true meditative state. Only by entering it can you experience it.
Someone told me about a new movie in which a group of scientists travel to outer space. What is it like? They spent 2 hours on another planet. They returned to Earth 2 hours later than expected. They felt they were late for 2 hours, but on Earth, 23 years had passed. Let’s imagine that 2 people, aged 25 and 23, intend to get married when the man comes back. Then the 25-year-old returned and remained 25. How about the 23-year-old? 23 years have passed, and she is now a middle-aged woman. Will they still get married?
This shows the magic of a different time and space, where speed is also different. Things age at different speeds. This reminds us that in this Universe, Earth’s space and time are not the only that exist. Ancient Chinese wrote many descriptions of traveling through time. Many ancient books recorded the story of how a Taoist practitioner unknowingly entered a special cave. Maybe he was lured by aliens. He stayed there for a week. When he returned to his village, he discovered that 300 years had passed.
Why do I mention this now? When hearing a story like this, I feel it describes how I feel while in samadhi. It is very similar. You can reach samadhi through visualization, self-suggestion, or other methods. Once you reach such physical and mental calm, you will have no mental activities. You breathe less. The number of breaths is gradually reduced. I am not talking about death. But your breathing slows down and so does your heartbeat.
When I was a kid, there were doctors around who gave free checkups. This included checking blood pressure and heartbeat. So, I went to have my blood pressure checked, then my heartbeat. When the doctor was working on me, I told myself: “Faster heartbeat.” At that time, I had no idea how fast a heart can beat, how many beats per minute. While he checked my heartbeat, I focused my thoughts on: “Faster.” My heartbeat reached 136 per minute. The doctor said, “Oh no, do you have a fever?” “I don’t know”, I replied. He put a thermometer under my arm. “Hmm… No fever. Why is your heartbeat so fast?”
He asked a senior doctor to check on me. “Teacher, please have a look. This child’s heartbeat is really fast. But he doesn’t have a fever.” The senior doctor checked my eyes and tongue. My tongue was still of normal size. When he measured my heartbeat, I told myself: “Slower, slower.” Then the senior asked the junior: “Did you make a mistake? 136 beats per minute? That is not right. It is only 36 beats. Did you count it right?” “Absolutely. It was wildly fast.” “Try it one more time.” “OK”, I thought, “back to 136 now.” When the young doctor measured me, it was 136 again. They almost got into a fight.
Through meditation, we gradually learn to self-control and self-adjust many things. After we reach a deeper level, it is natural that we develop special reactions to energy and mental activities. Initially, our skin becomes smoother. Then we will develop special and wonderful bodily sensations. And then we feel full of energy. We have also developed more powerful senses. Let’s say that during meditation, I am thinking about peach trees. I visualize a forest of peach trees, blossoms everywhere. It is like I am actually there. Thinking is the first step. Then I think: “The fragrance is very sweet.” As I am thinking, I begin to actually smell the scent of peach blossoms.
So, when we are in a different space-time, all our senses of time, space, feeling and longevity are all changed. I remember a report from a while back about people carrying some seeds of plants and crops such as those of rice, wheat, fruits, and even onions onto a space shuttle and taking them into space. A space shuttle can’t travel very far from Earth. It can maybe circle Earth twice, but certainly not go to Mars or Jupiter. Traveling there is possible only in the imagination. When the space shuttle carrying those seeds returned to Earth, people planted them. The plants grown from those seeds were bigger than normal. Normal green onions were almost 40 cm long, but after traveling in space, what grew from those seeds was almost twice as large.
Frequently, I can sense the differences in time-space. This is similar to meditation. In a meditative state, everything is calm. First, the external body is calm. This is Level 1. At Level 2, it is mental, emotional calm. At Level 3, even the consciousness of calm or the meditation method will slowly disappear. It may be called deep calm. Then you work your way to Level 4. Actually, there are more than 4 levels. I am only briefly speaking. I have condensed them to make it easier to understand. At Level 4, everything disappears.
As we go through this process of disappearance, miracles happen. Many descriptions of this state say that nothing exists in it, including our consciousness. While practicing, if you feel wonderful, you aren’t at Level 4 yet. If you feel great, at best you are at Level 3 because you can still feel your existence; you have wonderful feelings of comfort and happiness. This is not the highest level yet. The highest level is called samadhi. It is so calm that everything ceases to exist. Why is it called samadhi? One way to describe it is “fake death”. There is breathing, but very slowly. The pulse slows down, too.
Some who stay in that state for a long time can’t come out of it easily even when others try to shake them out of it, or when people nearby are singing loudly. In ancient times, some believed that these people’s souls had traveled to Heaven. These are just descriptions. I have entered this state many times, but doing so isn’t easy. Sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets. How does it feel to be there? You have no feeling at all.
Say, I begin a sitting meditation at 10 p.m. I put a clock in front of me. Occasionally I open my eyes to check on the time. After 11 p.m., I forget about time. When I wake up from it and begin my closing steps, I realize that it’s 5 a.m. How long was I in that state, a state in which time means nothing? At least 5 to 7 hours. To a meditator, these hours is a time when you have no feeling. Such a state of “emptiness” is samadhi.
Many times when I get close to the border of that mental state, at which point my brain can still sense some signals, I feel like I reach the origin of life and the Universe, which is beyond time-space. For instance, we can’t simply point in a direction and say: “It is over there.” When you enter the state of samadhi, you are there naturally. It isn’t like you got there by airplane, or any form of carrier, or by God. None of that. You are just there reaching that state. So when you feel fantastic, you are getting closer to samadhi and further away from the mundane world.
When reaching or getting close to that kind of meditative state. The process to get closer to that state involves spending lots of time to gradually elevate to that wondrous state of purity and calm. Reaching such a state takes time. According to ancient records, some yogis were able to get close to that state only after 50 years of practice. But when you get there, you are able to understand many things naturally.
So when you get close to that state, or move beyond it into a deeper level of samadhi, perhaps the brain and body, grows or changes, because of this state. When you observe someone, or some matter, say, a person, you may sense what he’s thinking. When you see a plant, you can see what will happen to it tomorrow. Or when you see a person, you know he wants to borrow money, so you had better stay away. Other amazing things can happen, too. Say, you have achieved that state, and then if you are hungry, a random acquaintance or even a stranger will unexpectedly bring you food. Or when you need money, you will get money from an unexpected source. Many things can be traced. Who brought the money and food, right? But at the moment they appear, you don’t know how they’ve come to you. This is really special.
(Samadhi is the ultimate state of purity and calm, in which one has no feelings. It transcends time-space.)
How can we reach that state of no thoughts, no feelings, no consciousness, and no sense of time? The methods I have taught you, including G.I., sitting meditation, chanting, and prostration all can help you get there. The issue is whether you have the perseverance to practice as instructed. If you haven’t practiced, or not well enough, and you try to enter that state without the visualizations I have taught you, you will fail. Your whole life needs a foundation of visualization and energy to be able to bear that state. It is essentially a huge energy field, a very special field.
If your life doesn’t have the capacity to bear the state and you enter it inexplicably, the energy in the field may bring you unbearable feelings. You won’t be able to handle it. When that happens, you may become mentally unstable. It is just like an old radio: When the inner workings of a radio are subjected to energy, any imbalance in any of the parts could cause an explosion that kills the radio. It is the same with a person without such capacity who enters the samadhi state of purity and calm. The huge energy in that state could burn out a part of the brain. The result can be mental disorders. It is not conducive to health. More damage than benefit.
If you want to reach that deep state, you must get there step by step. Practice diligently. Start with visualization, continue until you get there without visualization. That state of purity and calm is simply amazing. Someday you will get there even when not practicing G.I.; you will just lean against a cushion or sit on one in a pleasant environment. Through sitting meditation, you can easily enter that state. This is the safest path. A solid foundation is needed. You can’t enter that state by airplane. Both the airplane and the unprepared person would be burned for sure. So practice solidly.
When a person finally gets there, for some unknown reason, the person can dovetail with the Universe. When this happens, many things in this world that you never cared about, you begin to understand. You also begin to acquire some special capabilities. It is a very special energy field. Under the influence of that field, your intellectual capacity undergoes major change. Your intelligence changes. Your body energy changes.
My communication with you today is to tell you that the deepest stage of meditation is inconceivable. The inconceivable shouldn’t be attributed to ghosts or gods. Being able to see ghosts or deities while meditating indicates being at a middle level of achievement. Being able to see them or even expel them is at best a middle and advanced level. It is not high compared to ultimate samadhi. “I am a deity myself” is the ultimate meditative state. When you sense the life in the Universe, the origin of the Universe, and become one with the Universe, you can influence the world.
If you don’t have fortitude, your mind, thoughts and emotions will change with the environment. The saying goes: “Mind changes with circumstances.” When your energy is strong enough, particularly after you enter samadhi, one day you may decide the relationship between humans, environment and your fate by using your consciousness. When you enter that state of samadhi, you will possess such power. Anyone who has been to that state begins to possess the prophetic power of “golden mouth and jade words.”
This is an ancient Chinese saying that is used to describe a sacred dharmic power. In ancient China, people used this phrase to describe the words of emperors, who were thought to have this power. It describes the emperor’s power and energy. Historically, when an emperor fell ill, particularly when it was serious, his subordinates would stage a mutiny. Get it? Why subordinates were more likely to rebel when the emperor was sick? You don’t know? Some know but aren’t saying. It is because of energy.
When a person becomes an emperor or an idol to be worshiped, his energy field controls you. Will his energy field weaken when he is sick? Yes. Many senior officials were smart and good at playing power games. When an emperor’s energy field wasn’t strong enough to control his subordinates, they could sense it, and they would want to rebel. They rebel not because the king is dying, but because illness makes the king’s energy field weak. Life is about energy fields.
Some have a huge energy field. Emperors, presidents, well-known scholars, and famous directors all have strong energy fields. Some well-known generals also have strong energy fields. One day, humans will create machines to gauge each person’s energy. Job recruiting will be easy. Won’t it? People will wear a metal helmet and connect their hands to electronic sensors. The machine will read: “A loyal employee.” Recruiting will be easy for a boss. Finding a spouse will be easy: “This man will be devoted to me.” Wouldn’t that be nice? Whether an employee is trustworthy? Or a man gives money to the wife? Women will fight for a man.
One day there will be such a machine. It will detect people’s energy fields and their characteristics. Many people study divination methods. There are many ways to tell a person’s fate, including face reading and astrology. They are good indicators of a person’s characteristics and personality, temper and fate. As mentioned, scientists will one day invent a machine that reads human traits. Some were born with a strong energy field. Some can acquire it through training.
Through the energy field of meditation, I discovered something fascinating. It fits with what famous modern scientists have found about the energy field of the Universe. They are very similar. After you enter samadhi, your energy field will expand. You will have greater sensitivity. More advanced practitioners can actually influence the world according to their wishes. This sounds mysterious, but it can really happen.
I mentioned earlier that ordinary people can be changed by environments. A person entering a deep meditative state, equipped with strong mental power and energy, can then influence the external environment. Which of these 2 types of existence do you like better? To be influenced by the external world, or to influence the world? Almost everyone has been influenced by the world. We have no choice but to be wounded all over.
Raise your hand if you don’t like a bank loan. I don’t like it. Raise your hand if you don’t like a bank loan. You must have your own money, then. You don’t like banks? Don’t you need a loan when buying a house? Can you change the world? A bank can change you, let alone the world. Right? Our female disciples: How many don’t like your husband’s wrong ideas? You don’t want to go with his decision, but also don’t want to disturb the peace at home. You say: “I just went along with his decisions.” You have done it on multiple occasions, right? Almost every married woman or woman in love has experienced this — you comply with your companion.
Often it is the husband who is the main breadwinner in the family. The trajectory of a husband’s life is actually controlled by his wife. Gentlemen, raise your hand if you feel this way and have the nerve to acknowledge it. Some are worried about admitting this, wondering if they will live to see tomorrow’s sunrise. Who dares confess his true feelings? I see no hands. Please don’t tell on others so that your dharma brothers can have a peaceful sleep.
Don’t claim that you can change the world. Your family, job and the economy can all change you. Many people are in a profession they don’t really like. Right? Say, some may have studied geography but ended up working in petroleum or aerospace. They are not working on what they are passionate about. What is even worse is being married to a person you don’t like. Am I right? Why? Multiple reasons. The low standard is: Better to have somebody than nobody.
Indeed, it is so difficult to change the world. Can this goal ever be achieved? Once you have the necessary level of energy, you will have the necessary power, financial resources and wisdom to change the world. Take iPhone and Samsung as examples. So many advanced cellphones. Isn’t this an example of scientists changing the world? Another example is the airplane. Boeing has so many amazing engineers. I have always wondered how a huge pile of steel, loaded with passengers and luggage, can fly up in the air.
I started wondering about this 20 years ago. A plane carries so much weight. I weigh about 200 pounds. How many of me boxed together equal the weight of this thing that flies? The more I think about this, the more I am scared. Eventually I stopped thinking. I fell into samadhi. Scared to think. When you are wise enough, you can change the world.
Through the process of meditation, or reaching the last stage of samadhi, one becomes highly capable. In the process, if you practice daily, you are getting there, every moment you are growing and changing. This growth is sublimation. In computer speak, it is getting an upgrade. There is always an updated version. Your true identity has not changed, but you have become strong mentally. Your resilience becomes more powerful. Such a meditative state is very special.
This may be the first time you have heard about this state. Such a meditative state truly exists. In such a state, your body feels so many things. There are just so many sensations. I can recall one reaction I had when practicing the true-fire mudra. I was sitting there with comforters around me. A few times, my clothes and comforters were burned by my energy.
I also recall one time when my head was hurting a lot along a straight line in the middle. I wondered what was wrong. The Chinese especially may wonder if it is a headache if some draft had blown at my head. My head really hurt. I tried to think back, but couldn’t recall any draft. What kind of illness was it? Was it inherited? My parents have never suffered from headaches. What was going on? I decided to let it be. Enduring the pain, I meditated.
Sometimes I can be very stubborn. With others, I can admit that I have lost, but by myself, I can be very tough. I continued to practice very hard. Until one day I was almost frightened to death. It was as if above my head there was a thunderstorm and a clap of thunder sounded. That was a loud rumble of thunder. My body felt split in half. after being struck by thunder. I shook for a long time. I thought: “My gosh, there’s a hole in my head now. Why can the top of my head breathe now?” For a very long time, over a year, my head could breathe.
Another strange thing happened. I should have known who they were those around me, but I could no longer recall their names. Luckily, I did not owe anyone money. I just couldn’t remember things. Someone seemed to be an old acquaintance, but I just couldn’t remember him at all. The violent thunderbolt I had heard wasn’t actually real thunder. The thunder thing happened 3 times when I was young.
After these experiences, my hands became very hot. They grew so hot that I often wanted to hold a stone or metal. But if I held metal, I would develop rashes on my hands. It is an allergic reaction. Because I was practicing compassion, seeing a cooking knife made me scared. Seeing a knife glittering was like having a sword stuck in my heart. So my body repelled metals. But my hands remained so hot that I developed a habit of collecting stones. What kind of stones? Pebbles. I can hold them in my hands. My hands cool down when I hold them.
To achieve the 4th level, the last stage of samadhi, one must go a really long way. During this process, you may experience things you never had before. As I mentioned earlier, you may see ghosts. You may see deities. You may also visit hell and experience the pain there. On a very hot day, you may feel like you have entered a freezer. The coldness is simply unbearable, but yet you didn’t catch a cold. A really amazing experience. Some experiences were simply unfathomable, some unbearably painful, too. You might also feel blissful for no particular reason. Indeed, you must go through a very long process before you can reach samadhi.
(Only through long-term solid practice can we reach samadhi.)
I often tell you to practice desiring nothing. Take chanting as an example. Many Chinese, when chanting a buddha’s name or a mantra, tend to pray for something in their heart: “I have no job. Buddha, I am chanting to you. ” No matter which buddha you are, ” please give me a job.” A person who looks for a wife chants: “Please give me a wife. The prettier, the better.” When people chant, they wish for something. Parents chant for college admission or a good job for their kids. Their chanting has purpose.
I want to share my experience with you. Using my method, you can gain more. Do you want to hear? (Yes.) The secret is not to ask for anything. Say, right now you have no job. When you chant a deity’s or a buddha’s name, or a mantra, or practice prostration, Energy Bagua, G.I., or sitting meditation, don’t think: “Please help me.” Don’t have such thought. Just praise. Present your praise and joyful heart to the buddha you are praying to. You will get more help this way. It is like when we make offerings: We gain what we give. When we show our respect to buddhas, we will gain what we have offered. We have no requests. We have only praise. You can gain more this way. Give it a try.
It even works for people of different faiths, as long as you don’t worship an animal. If you believe in a real buddha or deities, this method should work. This is different from worshiping animals such as snakes. If you pray: “Dear Snake, please steal something for me”, you are accomplices. Wanting to steal others’ fortune is of low level. I disagree with taking others’ possessions. That is stealing, not belief. It is a very low way of making a living. It is not right. We praise gods and buddhas. The results will be better if you chant with a heart of praise, wanting nothing.
OK, let’s chant The Medicine Buddha’s Mantra. Let’s chant together. I have just told you how to chant. Chant with a joyful heart of praise. Don’t pray with a heart of requests. Don’t say: “Please give me this.” Don’t think this way. Chant with a heart of praise. It is up to you whether you sit or kneel.
(Chant with a joyful heart of praise.)
Let’s thank deities, buddhas and bodhisattvas. Rub your hands and face. May all diseases and afflictions disappear like smoke. As you rub your hands and face, you are receiving blessings from deities, buddhas and bodhisattvas (Got it.) to make us happier, healthier and wiser. (Got it.) Happiness is hard to attain. Maybe after today, everyone will be happy. Why? I have just taken out your mental impurities and afflictions when you weren’t paying attention. (Got it.)
Practice diligently during these days. In the past few days, I have been in a state of trance like what I described today, the deep meditative state. It feels like being in a special place in the Universe. Very relaxed, very special. You were all chanting with me earlier. Why did I lead the chanting today? When practicing together today, I took everyone present as well as this DVD’s future audience to that special world. (Got it.)
When I took you all to that world, it wasn’t done by visualization. I actually saw everyone as a transparent body. just like angels in Western culture. White and pure. Another descriptive word in meditation is “immaculate”, meaning ultimate purity. Only a pure life form is transparent. I wish that this holy journey together to that special place in the Universe, the pure, clean world, brings you some purification or cleansing.
May all of you be auspicious and at ease.