Once we’ve thoroughly understood the technical aspects and skillfully applied the psychological principles, I believe we can become fully proactive in entering samādhi. What’s my personal success rate? So far, I would say nearly 100%. Of course, whether this method is equally effective for others, I don’t know. That would require more people willing to try it for themselves.  

Beyond technical matters, there are other influences that affect whether one can enter samādhi successfully. The following are based on my limited understanding of Abhidhamma[1] along with personal observations during practice.

(1) Current life circumstances and karmic forces

If, prior to practice, my life, work, or relationships (friends, family, colleagues) are chaotic, then even just sitting or lying down to begin practice becomes difficult. And even if I do manage to begin, the “monkey minds” don’t easily give way or get displaced by the numbers, letters, and mental tasks I use as meditation objects. They constantly interrupt and interfere. In such cases, entering samādhi requires great effort—and more complex, layered tasks involving heavy calculations and restructuring. On the other hand, if life is simple and the mind is at ease, then often samādhi arrives even without much mental effort. A few scattered monkey thoughts aren’t much of an obstacle.[2] These could be the results of past unwholesome karma. From a Freudian perspective, they may emerge from the subconscious or unconscious.[3] Of course, it’s not only disruptive or unwholesome thoughts. When life is gentle, grounded in the Dhamma and wholesome intentions—or when good karma has accumulated—then beautiful and wholesome mental states also arise. 

(2) Quality of the physical body (hardware) and mind (software)

Each of us is different—no two people are the same. No one is entirely perfect, nor entirely flawed. The more clearly we understand ourselves, the better we can adapt meditation techniques to suit our unique conditions. Perhaps a firm, wise, and correct faith is helpful in collapsing WM and entering samādhi. The quality of body and mind can fluctuate in the short term (e.g., illness, joy, fatigue, zeal, boredom, doubt, confidence) and also change over time due to age, environment, and life events. These inner conditions are largely outside our conscious control. But what we can take charge of is the meditative technique, with the hope of overcoming obstacles created by body and mind. 

(3) Environment and physical conditions 

The time of day, food intake prior to practice, and environmental conditions also affect one’s ability to enter samādhi. Keeping the body comfortably warm and wearing loose, unobstructive clothing helps blood circulation. Posture—lying or sitting—also affects the duration and quality of samādhi, depending on personal habits. I use a zero-gravity reclining chair, tilted at about 60 degrees, which suits me well. Lying flat or sitting straight on a bed isn’t ideal for me. I usually practice in the morning, after doing 30 minutes of Vạn Thắng Công (VTC), having a small coffee, and finishing my bathroom routine. This time works well: blood is flowing from VTC, the mind is clear (not yet burdened by the day’s work), and the stomach is empty from the night before—so there’s minimal interference from digestion. Even with the mild noise of the kids getting ready for school, I can still enter samādhi. I stopped practicing late at night months ago, as I often felt a twitching in my head—possibly from poor blood circulation, or perhaps some karmic effect 😊. Regardless, an average of more than an hour of morning practice gives me a light, focused start to the day. 

(End of Part 6/11)

Notes:

[1] I referred to A Manual of Abhidhamma by Narada Maha Thera, translated into Vietnamese by Phạm Kim Khánh. 

[2] It’s important to note that the spontaneous arising of thoughts or mental images is not the same as intentional thought (which is a deliberate mental action). These uninvited thoughts are known by many names: discursive thought, unwanted thought, non-voluntary thought, involuntary memory retrieval, etc. See also, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_(memory). Brother Alpha refers to them as “retrospective thoughts against intention”.

[3] These kinds of thoughts tend to surface during the unstressing phase of meditative absorption. See page 205 in Delmonte, M., Kenny, V., 1985. Models of meditation. British Journal of Psychology 1(3), 197–214.