Three Important Benefits of Cultivating Samādhi

~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Cultivating samādhi has three important benefits:

Firstly, it increases mental power. To understand this, we might compare meditation to using a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun. Or, in the Buddha’s own analogy, it is like damming all the tributaries of a mountain stream, thereby stabilizing the current and allowing it to flow swiftly, sweeping any debris along within it.

Secondly, samādhi brings happiness and ease. Relaxation, a deep sense of well-being, joy, tranquility – all are the natural results of letting go of negative thoughts and emotions. It is not so much that happiness has been gained, as that the self-made obstacles to it have been removed.

Thirdly, samādhi brings clarity and sharpness to the mind. The Buddha compared it to the purification of the water in a muddy pond. Once the suspended foreign matter has been removed, it is possible to look through the water and see pebbles, rocks, weeds and fish. Similarly, once freed of mental hindrances, the true nature of things within the mind are revealed, and all the attachments that thrive in mud-like ignorance may be recognized. Thus, samādhi provides the condition for liberating insight.

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"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

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For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website.