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The Danger of Samadhi
The Power and the Pain Book Excerpt

by Andrew Holecek

Sooner or later a meditator will experience samadhi, which is a time of rejoicing and a time for concern. Meditative absorption, as coveted as it may be, is not the point of the path, for we are not trying to create a state of mind that we then label as "spiritual." The point is to be receptive to any state of mind, even those we deem unspiritual. Because our normal mind is so frantic, the experience of samadhi is easily mistaken for a grand realization. The contrast is so dramatic that we think samadhi is it.

When I stumbled into my tiny samadhi during my first meditation instruction, it was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because I tasted the power of meditation and the bliss of a pacified mind. I had no idea this dimension of experience was even possible, and a new world opened before me. I spent the next few years trying to recapture that state. I was hooked. This hook is initially healthy because it pulls us toward the spiritual path, but at a certain point this hook must be cut. Any hook, no matter how sweet, eventually leads us astray. Sogyal Rinpoche says,

Bad experiences, if you do not become trapped by them, are actually blessings in disguise. In my life, really, difficulties have been my greatest teacher. They really helped me to transform. When you're really on the path, really true, then whatever obstacles arise they can become a blessing. Good experiences are more dangerous. You may become proud, or complacent, or attached—then they become traps.

There are three classic meditation experiences waiting to snare the more evolved or lucky meditator. They get us because they feel so good. These are the experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonthought, the by-products of meditative absorption. They are the purest honey covering the sharpest hooks. Traleg Rinpoche nails the problem when he says, "The main cause of misperceptions regarding meditation experience is that, after the loss of the initial fervor, we may forget to focus on the essence of meditation and its purpose and instead place more and more emphasis on the underlying meditative experience itself."

Bliss, clarity, and nonthought are delicious states of mind, and they are partial experiences of enlightenment. Bliss is the experience of everything and every thought as heavenly. We delight in whatever occurs. We may feel like we have transcended all conflicting emotions, and we might express our rapture through song and dance. Bliss easily trips us into believing we have soared into the highest states of realization.

As we spoke, it was clear that the only way to resolve this struggle was to begin to give up the pressure to be something he was not. Rather than forcing himself to be different, he needed to fundamentally accept his distressed sense of self and begin to create an atmosphere that cared for and allowed it to be as it was. If he could establish a depth of acceptance that did not judge and criticize this wound, there would be a greater ease within himself about his distress. It was as though he needed to set up an internal environment that was like a loving, compassionate parent who simply held his painful self-identity without judgment. With this inner environment he could be more at ease with himself. In time he indeed began to struggle less within, not by trying to change but just by cultivating a growing sense of compassion and acceptance of who he was as a whole, with strengths and weaknesses. As this has happened, his capacity to cope with previously paralyzing social settings has also radically changed

Clarity is perceiving whatever arises as pure, sharp, and brilliant. Phenomena are lucid and diamond-like, and it is possible to even see light emanating from objects. Our sense perceptions are heightened and acute, we are more impervious to torpor, and everything seems awake and vibrant. We are also able to more readily grasp and understand things.

Nonthought, or mental spaciousness, is the cessation of discursive thinking. It is utter stillness, like diving below the surface of a stormy sea. We are able to rest our mind in whatever state it is in.

These experiences can arise alone or in combination. Nonthought, for example, is blissful and gives birth to clarity. These three experiences are like mental candy, and a taste is okay, but feasting on these sweets will make your meditation sick.

If these temporary experiences, called nyam in Tibetan, are not understood, they poison even the most advanced meditator. They are sophisticated traps that may arise at any point but tend to occur at higher levels. They are common and very dangerous. Khyentse Rinpoche says, "Meditators who run after experiences [nyams], like a child running after a beautiful rainbow, will be misled. When you practice intensely, you may have flashes of clairvoyance and various signs of accomplishment, but all they do is foster expectations and pride—they are just devilish tricks and the source of obstacles."

I have seen many "enlightened" teachers, mostly Western, who are hooked by the experience of samadhi and its progeny of bliss, clarity, and nonthought. They often extol the extraordinary and ecstatic aspects of meditation and easily snag others just as they themselves have been snagged.

There is nothing inherently problematic with these experiences, the problem is one of improper relationship. Because they feel so good, we get addicted. Like the endorphin released in a "runner's high," these nyams are the "meditator's high," and like any long distance runner, long distance meditators also want more of this buzz. But as we have seen, the point is not to feel good but to get real. These experiences can indicate that we are doing the right thing, for they are glimpses of the nature of the enlightened mind and can point the way. But we will lose our way if we try to repeat them. They are by-products of meditation. The problem is that we think they are the final product of meditation.

A rule about obstacles is that the more subtle they are, the more guileful and dangerous. Nyams can be serious obstacles, and we can get stuck in them for years or an entire lifetime because when we are in a nyam there is no sense of obstacle. We think our meditation has finally come together. This is why it is so important to understand the blessing of having obstacles in our life and that feeling good can be an obstacle. Samadhi is the success story of the spiritual path, and remember that there is no tyranny as great as the tyranny of success.

The point with the nyams is the first become aware of them. Second, realize that they can be markers of progress or just dumb luck. Third, relate to them properly, which means let them go. Khenpo Rinpoche says, "Nurture your samadhi by destroying it." Patrul Rinpoche writes, "The yogin's meditation improves through destruction.... When experiences of stillness, bliss, and clarity occur and feelings such as joy, delight or pleasant sensations arise, you should blast this husk of attachment to experience into smithereens."

Do not try to repeat the experience nor to sustain it, just let it come and let it go. Return without expectations to whatever meditation you were doing when it arose and carry on but carry on without it, otherwise it becomes a burden. These experiences can transform into the three root poisons: bliss becomes passion; clarity flips into aggression; and nonthought transforms into ignorance.

Someone stuck in a nyam is just stroking his or her ego with a very light touch. It is hard to characterize "masters" stuck in nyams, but they often appear very "spiritual," in a subtle negative sense, and can project an aura of the nyam itself. They might convey a seductive spirit of bliss, or a magnetizing clarity, or an alluring nonconceptuality. One such Western master I saw entered a lecture hall with blissful music playing and tried so hard to be holy. In an angelic voice, she proclaimed the love and light aspects of her awakening. To me, she appeared to be stuck in the nyam of bliss.

I began my spiritual journey in the New Age, and there is much that is honorable about it, but the New Age tends to be nyam oriented. It is predisposed to making one feel good, and for many of these teachers, bliss, clarity, and nonthought is what they market—and why they sell.

If you are an advanced meditator or one of the new "enlightened" Westerners, it is hard to turn to your adoring students and tell them that you have been seduced into a nyam for the past decade and that it is time for them to find a real teacher. This would be a sign that this student might yet become a genuine teacher. It is easier to remain locked in overt and covert levels of spiritual codependence, thinking that everyone is being lifted up when in fact everyone is being dragged down.

Genuinely spiritual people are those who are completely ordinary. They are who they are without pretense. At the highest levels, practitioners no longer have any preference for samsara or nirvana. They don't try to act spiritually but simply relax in an uncontrived naturalness that is the heart of enlightenment itself.

Dr. Andrew Holecek

More about the book . . .

We all encounter obstacles on a daily basis—from small inconveniences and nuisances to the really big hardships wreaking havoc with our lives. Sometimes just the small things are enough to set us reeling. Andrew Holecek offers us a progressive path, beginning with common, easily understood hardships, and moving on to more subtle and challenging ones that commonly arise on our spiritual journeys.

"From Andrew Holecek's first words, you know you can trust him. He writes from deeply felt experience as well as a masterful grasp of the vast dharma. His essential point is riveting: 'the path leading to the cessation of suffering necessarily includes suffering.' This book is the essence of good meditation instruction."—Irini Rockwell, author of The Five Wisdom Energies

"With brilliance and kindness, Andrew Holecek brings the shadow side of the spiritual path into the light, helping the practitioner navigate the hardships he or she will inevitably discover. Holecek shows them for what they are—necessary obstacles on all levels of the path that can either hinder or strengthen our practice, and we can indeed be grateful to him for so clearly and completely elucidating this profound and necessary but rarely mentioned side of the spiritual path."—Dr. Jeremy Hayward, author of Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chogyam Trungpa

"the spiritual hardships that each of us face along the way can be literally hard to bear, whether these are purely psychological pressures or events that impact us on a physical level as well. Yet they can be ameliorated when we see their connection to our path as a whole. That is the distinctive gift of The Power and the Pain for contemporary Buddhist practitioners. It helps us make sense of our individual experiences, which, as unique as they are, have been challenging practitioners in different ways since the time of the Buddha.... When we move beyond our theories about the spiritual path into the actual practice of it, that is when the insights and methods offered in this book will become truly useful. Andrew's book is in this sense a compassionate refuge for troubled times."—The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, author of Mind Beyond Death

"When practicing on the spiritual path, often people do encounter difficulties and hardships. It is important to understand what these hardships are and how to deal with them when they occur. I am very glad that Andrew Holecek, who has studied and practiced Buddhism for many years, has written this book that will help people work through the situations they face as they practice the path"—Thrangu Rinpoche

"A wonderful guidebook for spiritual travelers who are facing the challenges of daily living—and that is most of us, surely."—Mandala Magazine, "Editor's Choice"

"...a demanding yet valuable take on the joys and challenges to be found on the Buddhist path. The author places particular emphasis on pain and strife, applying philosophy from Tibetan Buddhist practice to direct readers toward mastery of problematic emotions."—Publishers Weekly

More about the author . . .

Dr. Andrew Holecek is an in-demand teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. As founder of the Forum of Living and Dying, he teaches seminars throughout the country on spiritual hardship and the Tibetan views of life, death, and beyond. He is also the co-founder of the Himalayan Dental Relief Project, which serves impoverished children in five Asian countries. Dr. Holecek is affiliated with Shambhala centers worldwide, and was adjunct faculty at Naropa University and the Ngedon School of Buddhist Studies. Additionally, he has contributed to a number of Buddhist magazines, and has an ongoing column in Bodhi Magazine, published by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Books

• The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy