Through many conversations with Brother Alpha, my direct experiences with this practice, and my ongoing contemplation of both samādhi and this number-based method, I find myself filled with more questions—and an ever-growing desire to understand more deeply 😊. The following reflections are ones I need time to explore fully.
(1) What is ‘Entering’?
When we say someone has “entered samādhi,” what does “entering” actually mean? Is it a movement from one place to another? A transition from one state to another? If so, what lies between these two states or places? Is the boundary like a vertical wall of energy (as Brother Alpha often mentions), where the shift is sudden and abrupt? Or is it more like a gentle slope—a wave-like gradient—where the transition into samādhi is smooth and graceful? The first time I entered samādhi using this method—about ten months ago—it felt like the former: a sudden snap. But over time, the entry has felt more like the latter: gradual, light, and fluid.[1] Relating this experience to what I’ve read in Abhidhamma, I suspect that this "gate of transition" may correspond to the Initial Impulse in the Javana thought-process. It's like a switch or relay that opens the door for Pīti (rapture or bliss) to arise at the moment of transformation. As mentioned in Section I, I often sense this moment in practice.
(2) What is ‘Samādhi’?
What is samādhi in essence? Is it mental fixation—holding the mind (or a type of mind) steady and focused on something? For example: focusing on a single point while simultaneously directing volition toward bliss or toward a particular realm? Or is samādhi one-pointedness? If so, what is that one mind? Is it a mind that "looks" toward a single point in space and rests there? Or is one-pointedness in fact a state of complete stillness—the Santi mentioned in the Abhidhamma and The Buddha and His Teachings? Could it be that this mind is not really a “mind” in the usual sense—not a watcher, not a seer, not directed at anything—but instead a quiet, expansive stillness that radiates throughout space? That’s what Brother Alpha practices. He said something like this: “Just leave it alone. Don’t direct your intention anywhere. At a certain point, you’ll feel ‘freedom’.[2] When that moment comes, you can go wherever you want. Just one volition, and you arrive where you wish. But if you’re still trying to direct intention before that freedom arises, you’re still entangled—and your level of samādhi won’t be truly profound.” He even said there were times in practice when he left behind even the mind of concentration. Remarkable!
But when I allow the mind to remain utterly silent and free, without aiming at any point, I sometimes feel as if it’s being swept away—as though I’m falling asleep. Anh Alpha says that’s just unfamiliarity, and it will pass. So currently, I let the mind gently rest on a single point in space—without intending to go anywhere—and then slowly withdraw even that directed gaze. The feeling that arises spans from contentment to profound delight!
But here’s the question: With this kind of still, undirected mind, how can one measure the “quality” of samādhi? More specifically: how can one assess which jhana stage it corresponds to, as described in the Abhidhamma and The Buddha and His Teachings? Do we need to know the jhana levels? Is it necessary to arrive at specific realms in order to be confident that we’ve reached certain attainments? And really, how many layers of jhana are there anyway?[3] Or is it enough to simply proceed straight toward Santi—to rest in serenity? If after each session we feel light, clear, and tranquil, isn’t that already a taste of Nibbāna with residue (Sopadhishesa Nirvana)? Brother Alpha once said: “Entering samādhi is the key. It’s like having a vehicle—once you have it, you can go wherever you wish. No one can stop you.” Maybe I should ask myself honestly: Do I truly want to reach the destination directly—or am I still tempted by the scenic detours along the way? Right now, I say I want to go straight there, but those yet-unseen sights still distract me now and then 😊. Which means… maybe I still don’t know what I truly want ☹😊!
And then there’s the question of what kind of samādhi is Right Concentration. Maybe any concentration is just that—concentration—but the intention behind it and how it’s used determines whether it’s worldly concentration, Wrong concentration, or Right concentration. Anh Alpha believes that complete stillness is what defines Right Concentration.
(3) What is it that enters samādhi?
Brother Alpha often emphasizes that we must accept the existence of a “self”—or, as he puts it, a soul. It is the soul that enters samādhi, that travels from one realm to another, that becomes liberated. Without accepting the existence of this soul, he says, it becomes very hard to make sense of meditation. For example: When we say we feel peaceful during practice—what is it that feels that peace? What is it that knows the presence of that stillness? The soul. Even when we speak of liberation—when we say I have attained release—there must be something that experiences and recognizes that liberation. That, again, is the soul. Master Tibu talks about The Knowing or The Seeing, but he doesn’t (or perhaps I don’t remember him) specifying what exactly is this Knowing or Seeing. Maybe these are just two ways of describing the same phenomenon. Whether they’re different or not—I wouldn’t dare debate that. I haven’t seen the soul… and I haven’t seen “The Seeing” either 😊.
(End of Part 7/11)
Notes:
[1] It’s possible that certain meditation masters can enter samādhi simply by directing volition. I honestly don’t know—because that’s not something I’ve achieved myself, so I cannot speak on it.
[2] Researchers seem to have noted something similar. In Delmonte, M., Kenny, V., 1985. Models of meditation. British Journal of Psychology 1(3), 197–214, there is one passage that reads: “Ornstein (1972) suggested that the prolonged focusing of one's attention onto a stimulus (e.g., mantra) may lead to stimulus habituation so that the mantra disappears and leaves a 'blank' mind or a 'nothought' condition.”
[3] Brother Alpha noted that the number of jhāna levels varies depending on the source—some texts say five, some nine, some ten. So what’s the truth? Perhaps only those who have truly attained can know for sure.