Dunedin Meditation Center

Emotional pain and discomfort is something none of us can avoid—regardless of our age, social background and religious belief. While we cannot prevent death, illnesses, rejection, separation and a host of other unwanted events, we can also strengthen our mind with regular practice of meditation so that it is less susceptible to pains brought by all these uncontrollable events.

This does not mean that meditation will harden your mind so that you become a heartless person. Rather, it cleanses the mind so that regular Dhammakaya meditators become calmer, gentler, kinder and feel increasingly uncomfortable about harming anyone either by speech or action.

The village chooses to provide lessons on the Dhammakaya meditation as it is the only technique in the world that teaches about the center of the body as the natural home of the human mind and an unlimited source of joy.

Many have found regular practice of this meditation method helped them overcome physical ailments and emotional illnesses. Others have expressed satisfaction at increased self-esteem, better work performance, and improved relationships with colleagues and family members.

Whether you are happy or sad, looking for the real meaning of life, or wishing to discover more about yourself, the Dhammakaya meditation has the answer for you.
Below is what some highly successful people have said about the Dhammakaya Meditation:
” I’ve been practicing the Dhammakaya meditation for five years now and I found it to be a perfect match for who I am. It is quite simply the most profound, powerful meditation I have experienced. I have 30 years experience of practicing various meditation techniques. Meditation is the most important aspect of my life as I meditate daily, sometimes sitting hours upon hours at a time.

The Dhammakaya technique is very simple for everyone. Yet, as you continue to meditate in this method, your results and experience can only be called supernatural. It is something that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. It is the meditation technique that I have permanently embraced as my own. I would love everyone to try the Dhammakaya meditation and discover its many benefits for yourself. ”

” I have discovered and verified for myself, personally, the marvelous benefits the Dhammakaya technique of meditation has provided for my life. It is an elegantly simple method of Meditation that can be practiced and mastered by children as young as six years of age! Soaring creativity, incredible clarity and peace of mind, along with a genuine sense of well being are just a few of the many lasting results I’ve experienced first hand! Regardless of one’s religious orientation, the Dhammakaya method of meditation will add a greater depth and sense of fulfillment to your life”.

” In June 2003, I was diagnosed with blood cancer. I felt shocked when the doctor told me there was no cure for this illness. So, my friend suggested me to try the Dhammakaya meditation.

The first time I meditated, my mind wandered a lot, and I felt stressed and had a headache. But the monk asked me to try again, so I did. I tried to relax my entire body and used the mantra ‘summa arahung’ to keep my mind from wandering. After awhile, my mind became increasingly peaceful, and I felt indescribable joy.

As I continued to practice meditation, my blood quality continued to improve, which surprised my doctor a lot. Five months later, I went to the hospital again for a blood test, the doctor was puzzled to see the result. My blood quality was back to normal. And, now I meditate for two hours everyday. ”

” I’ve been meditating the Dhammakaya way for eight years. But when I was diagnosed with blood cancer, I devoted more time to meditation. My doctor told me that other patients in similar conditions would have died long ago. He was surprised that I was not worried about my illness, and even though I had chemotherapy several times, my hair did not fall off and I felt fine. ”

” For years, I’ve been suffering from a bone disease, and I cannot sit in one position for very long. Before I had to take three pills a day, but after continued practice of the Dhammakaya meditation, I’m now taking just two pills a week. This is just amazing! ”

“Before practicing the Dhammakaya mediation, I often got stressed out by work demands. Now I’m more cool-headed and gentler. I’ve discovered that when we open the eyes, we only get the kind of ‘happiness’ that is adulterated with some amount of problems or suffering. But when we close the eyes and still the mind, we experience pure happiness—not a tiny bit of suffering. ”

” My life has changed in many miraculous ways since I started doing the Dhammakaya meditation in August 2005. At that time I was traumatized by the loss of my precious 21-year-old son. My life then was filled with tears, pain and devastation. Nothing seemed able to stop my heartache. At a friend’s suggestion, I began to meditate the Dhammakaya way, and found the center of the body a place of refuge, bringing me to a core of love, comfort and healing within. ”

” After practicing the Dhammakaya meditation for some time, I began to look at things from in a different perspective. I use my ‘mind’ to look at whatever is happening around me, instead of my ‘naked’ eyes which tend to be deceived from ‘truth’. “

” It changes me from anger to calm, from sadness to happiness. Also after I mediated I felt peaceful, happy, calm, and I smiled a lot. Every time I meditate I feel very, very happy. It makes me feel good! “

” Since birth, my life had always been filled with problems and suffering so much so that I hardly believed there was such a thing as happiness. Now that I practice the Dhammakaya meditation, I’ve found that this is the real happiness I’ve been searching for–all my life. It’s right there within me. When my mind comes to a complete standstill, I feel continuous streams of happiness gushing out from the center of my body. I won’t trade this great experience for anything. ”

” I’ve never felt this much serenity in my life until I had successful experience with the Dhammakaya meditation. It makes me very happy—extremely happy. Meditation also helps me in my job. Concentrating on the center of my body in difficult teaching situations–like trying to deal with many students at once or trying to reach a particularly resistant student–helps me to stay calm and focused. ”

” I enjoy doing the Dhammakaya meditation everyday. It clears my head before I start my work day. I use meditation to guide my life and plan my business strategies and work procedures. Before this, I was extremely stressed out, dealing with problems from customers and employees. But now that I meditate regularly, my mind is clearer and I can see solutions to problems. I’ve become more reasonable and calmer as well. ”

” Now that I do the Dhammakaya meditation everyday, I feel I’m getting close to the best place in my life. No matter what religion you belong to or what kind of education you have, if you mediate before you start doing work, you are likely to be successful. ”

” My family life has improved a lot–not long after we started practicing the Dhammakaya mediation. My husband quit gambling and started to come home after work everyday. Now, he also gets up early to prepare breakfast for the whole family, and helps me get the kids ready for school. Before I had to do everything myself. ”

” I became calmer and Chuck is no longer a nagging husband. My teenage daughter Kendal and I stopped shouting at each other when we disagree on something. Our whole family now practices the Dhammakaya meditation. It has brought us closer and we love each other more. Not that we did not love each other before, but we’ve become gentler and more willing to listen to each other. ”

” Before I did not like going to school because I had to study among people with normal eyes. My classmates would tease me and I had to use a walking stick. Now I meditate everyday, and I can see the brightness inside me, I like going to school. I want to have friends, and I’m no longer afraid of bullying ”

Sit cross-legged with your right leg on your left leg and your right hand on your left hand. If you find this position uncomfortable, you can sit on a cushion or a chair. In any case, your right index should touch your left thumb. Close your eyes very gently as if you are about to sleep. Empty your mind of all kinds of thoughts. Breathe in deeply and gently exhale a few times. Relax every muscle in your body.Imagine that the inside of your body is hollow as well—with no internal organs. Rest your mind at the center of the body, which is located inside at the level of two fingers width above the navel.

If you find it hard to bring attention to the center of the body, you can rest your mind elsewhere inside the body where you feel most comfortable. Calmly and silently observe whatever image that arises– whether it is darkness or bright light or anything else, just accept it without any thought.

When resting your mind at the center of the body or anywhere else inside the body, make sure not to strain the eyes. In meditation, we see with the mind, not with the physical eyes; that’s why we close them.

If your mind wanders, you can use visualization to help keep your mind still. To do so, imagine that a crystal ball is floating in the middle of your stomach. You can use other neutral objects that you’re familiar with such as an orange, a football or the moon. You can also repeat the mantra ‘Summa Arahung’ which means virtuous path, away from impurities of the mind.

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Continue to rest mind at the center of the body and make no judgment or emotional response to whatever you experience. For beginners, we suggest that you practice meditation for 15 to 30 minutes in the morning and near the bedtime, and increase the length of time, say up to one hour, as you feel more comfortable.

Depending on the degree of stillness and clarity of your mind, after a while you will experience a sense of peacefulness and refreshing joy as if you’ve just come out of an inner spa.

If you feel tense afterwards, chances are you might be trying too hard. Open your eyes, adjust your sitting position until you feel comfortable, and start over again.

If you feel asleep, perhaps you need to focus more on the center of the body. Take a few deep breaths and silently repeat the mantra ‘summa arahung.’ If sleepiness persists, perhaps you are physically tired, just allow yourself to doze off a bit before starting over again.

Stilling the mind is an art, and key to mastering the Dhammakaya meditation. There are many other ways to still the mind, which suit different individuals for different reasons. If you would like to explore other alternatives in detail, we’d suggest that you come to learn meditation and receive personalized guidance that best fits your unique character from experienced teaching monks at our village.

In this meditation, the cente of the body and mind is two finger breaths above the level of the navel, deep in the centre of trhe body. The centre of the mind is the awareness itself. We bring the awareness to the centre of the body so that the mind and the body will be in balance. Through the point at the centre of the body, we have found that there are numerous dimensions of the body and mind overlaid on top of each other so that all of them have a common centre. We can think of this point at the centre of the body as a doorway through which, with meditation, we can explore the multitudinous dimensions of ourselves, to find the true peace and happiness. By placing the body and mind together, so that they share the same centre, we can create the highest amount of concentration in all dimensions of ourselves, and multiply peace and happiness without limit.

Samma-Araham is a compound term derived from ancient Indian philosophy. Samma is a prefix which means the righteous one. In ancient Indian philosophy, there was the belief that all human beings, regardless of nationality or faith, have their own goal of highest achievement. This goal they called the arahant and the one who achieves it they called arahanta. The compounded term Samma-Araham means the righteous absolute of attainment of a human being. Samma-Araham needs to be repeated because we use the term as a mantra to prevent the mind from wandering from one idea to another during meditation. Using the mantra, the mind can be trained to rest at the centre of the body, because the sound of the words produces a slight vibration in the mind which helps the awareness to move in the direction of happiness and peace. You can use other words instead but any word which is chosen to be used should have positive associations and should not lead to passion, hatred or delusion. It should be repeated until the mind is calm and peaceful. After this stage, the sound of the mantra will fade away by itself, leaving just the crystal ball shining and still at the centre of our body. Our reason for using the mantra is just a technique for training the mind to rest at the centre of the body, inside the crystal ball.

First of all, we don’t need to use a crystal ball. Any object of meditation will do as long as you have a positive feeling towards it, or at least a neutral one. Also, the object of meditation should be chosen which does not increase the level of passion, hatred or delusion in your mind. Meditating upon the image of your husband or wife will not make for very good meditation because it will increase your level of passion and this will destroy any degree of calm which you had already attained.

By contrast, a flower is a good object of meditation, as is the moon or the sun, because for most people these things arouse a positive feeling. If you can think of nothing better, why not try visualizing the pillow which you use to sleep each night ?

The important thing is to bring the object to rest at the centre of the body, because this is where the most successful degree of concentration can be developed. You will find that whatever the object you originally chose, it will turn to become a crystal ball, in the course of meditation progress, if it is maintained at the centre of the body. This is natural law of meditation.

In my tradition, we recommend all people to meditate upon a crystal ball at the centre of the body because firstly, it gives the meditator a shortcut, to put the crystal ball at the centre of the body from ‘day one’. It saves time from being wasted with many transformations of the visualized image (parikamma-nimitta).

Secondly, across all cultures, the crystal ball is received with a positive, or at least a neutral feeling. In no culture do you find that the crystal ball has associations which are evil!

Thirdly, the crystal ball is bright, clear and pure. When the mind concentrates upon these qualities, it tends to become a mind of brightness, clarity and purity: the qualities of the mind which lead to success in meditation.

Yes, we are supposed to free our mind of all attachment, but the word “non-attachment” can also be an attachment. If we have no specific object of concentration, we can no longer ascertain in our meditation whether we are attached to something or not. So, we contemplate on the crystal ball, which is an acquired attachment which we use as a “vehicle for crossing over”. It carries our awareness to a higher state. It is like a raft for crossing over a river, once we have crossed the river, we no longer have to carry the raft. We use the crystal ball in the beginning just to make our mind clear and bright. The quality of the mind is uplifted. Once its purpose has been fulfilled, we don’t continue with the crystal ball, but carry on with something else.

Meditation is like everything else in the world. It has both benefits and dangers too. But there is substantially more benefit than harm that comes from practising meditation. Meditation creates happiness, peace, creative intelligence and a meaningful life. However, as far as I can see, there are only two dangers.

Firstly, if one enjoys meditation too much and no longer fulfils one’s duties in society, that can ruin one’s career. In such a case, it is better to turn professional and become a monk instead!

Secondly, something common to all sorts of meditation is that it is not suitable for those suffering from the mental illness called “schizophreni”. Those suffering from schizophrenia should never meditate using any technique of meditation. These people cannot control their own awareness at all. While their teacher is trying to explain something they may be listening instead to delusions and hallucinations. They cannot tell which experiences are the real ones, and which ones are fantasy. As far as I am aware, these are the only points of caution concerning meditation.

It is not necessary to be too exacting when finding the point at the centre of the body. If you like, you can imagine the point at the centre of your body is enlarged so that it fills the whole of your stomach, that way you can be sure that you?re on target. In actual fact as soon as your mind comes to a standstill within this approximate area, it will automatically adjust to the exact centre required by itself.

Certainly. You can this by placing your awareness at the centre of your body. You can feel the full extent of the breath, from the beginning to the end. Aanaapaanasati means the awareness of in-and-out breathing. So you can call Dhammakaya meditation, aanaapaanasati or mindfullness of breathing.

However, there is more to Dhammakaya meditation than this. Dhammakaya meditation also employs the practise of visualization using “kasina” (concentration on a subject or image which we use as a nucleus for our awareness), which is internal to our body. Above all, the most important thing about the Dhammakaya meditation technique is that the awareness is placed at the centre of the body. With the attention here, inside the body, instead of outside the body (as is generally the case with aanaapaanasati meditation), you can create not only concentration but also self-awareness. back

The two techniques are close to each other in a certain way: but there are some differences too.

The similarity between the two techniques is that they both emphasize a single point: the centre of the body.

Dhammakaya meditation focuses at a point two finger breadths above the navel.

Qi-gong focuses at a point two finger breadths below the navel. There is however a difference between the aims of the two techniques. The Dhammakaya meditation pays more attention to spiritual attainments, with this technique the effects of meditation are more far-reaching and can bring the body into a state of balance.

Chinese martial arts are generally practised simply with the aim to cultivate the life-force and cultivate well-being and longevity of the physical body; perhaps the spiritual benefits come later.

Yes. The amount and the quality of the food you eat both have an influence on meditation. To begin with, the quality of the food; if you eat too much you will get sleepy easily; if you don’t have enough food your health will be poor and you will feel continuously tired and weak. The quality of the food has an effect too; substances like alcohol and non-medical drugs are addictive, disturbing the awareness and destroying the ability to meditate.

Spicy food may sometimes disturb you by irritating the digestive system, making you feel unwell and unfit for meditation. But I don’t think that vegetarianism or any other restriction of particular types of food will have any direct benefit for the meditator.

One should have a balanced diet which contains every type of nutrient known to nature. In this way you will maintain a healthy body and a healthy life in order to attain the full potential of meditation.

For lay-people there is no prohibition against sex, as long it is moral sex. There is no reason why one cannot enjoy a happy sexual life while also training oneself in meditation. It has been advised that husband and wife should meditate together before going to bed in order that any child that is subsequently conceived will be born clever, high-minded and respectful towards the parents.

Let’s say there are no prohibitions, but there is a baseline of decency towards all sentient life, which all meditators should observe. There are called the “Five rules of training” or “Five Precepts” namely:

1. To abstain from killing or taking the lives of others
2. To abstain from taking things which are not giving, thieving or stealing the property of others
3. To abstain from sexual relationships outside marriage
4. To abstain from telling lies
5. To abstain from consuming alcohol or drugs which destroy the state of awareness.

Besides following these rules of training, you should be kind and ready to help other people. This should be your base-line of normal behaviour as a sentient human being. If you follow these natural norms of behaviour, you will find that your meditation improves a lot.

More than 150 pieces of research have been conducted on meditation by scientists since 1935.

1. Meditatation has indeed been shown to help people with physical and spiritual problems.
2. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, aggression, neuroticism and addictions.
3. Meditation has also been shown to increase mental stability, self-actualization, self-confidence, sociability and scores on intelligence tests.

As for people who do not consider themselves to have problems, meditation has also helped to create more happiness and fulfilment in life.

Meditatin has helped to increase peoples flexibility to environmental change, boosted performance in sports, improved job satisfaction, increased work production efficiency, development of work skills and study scores.

Some of the most convincing scientific evidence that meditation benefits the lives of normal people, is the research by Pupatana and Sribundith reported in The Light of Peace 8, p8-10 which shows clearly

” that those who previously lacked a variety of virtues in their character and personality, managed to increase their virtue as the result of six weeks on a Dhammakaya meditation course. In fact, you can get benefit from meditation at your own level of spiritual health, no matter what your starting point. If you are a person in suffering, meditation can help you to reduce that suffering. If you are a person who already experiences happiness, meditation can enhance that happiness further. As we have seen from the scientific evidence, if you have the problems of stress of depression, meditation can help you to overcome these. If on the contrary you are someone who has no problems, but you want to develop your personality or improve your character further, then meditation can also help you to increase the level of virtues you possess. You do not need to be a person with problems to benefit from meditation but whatever you have will certainly be enhanced and improved.

Meditation is the natural process of mental development. Self-hypnotism is an artificial process of conditioning your memory, so that some form of behaviour, feeling or sensation will be changed according to the conditions. A distinguishing feature of self-hypnosis is that it produces a loss of self-awareness, because the object of concentration used for hypnosis is external to the body.

In true meditation, the object of concentration is inside the body and the more you meditate, the more the self-awareness increases.

It depends on the degree of advancement of his meditation. If one develops strong enough concentration, the meditator will experience nothing but his own internal awareness. At this stage the crystal ball will be very bright and clear. The meditator will have the experience of being completely alone in solitude. It is a moment of delight, a moment of joy, a moment of satisfaction and happiness in the depths of the mind.

It increases one 5 intelligence by reducing the level of defilements in the mind. Take an analogy – the nature of the mind is clear and bright but it has defilements in it which, like the mud and pollution in clear water, make it clouded and dull.

Meditation is a process which allows the impurities to settle-out. Meditation precipitates the defilements of the mind, and allows the nature of the mind which is bright and clear, to reveal itself. One of the natural qualities of the mind is ‘intelligence’, in the absence of combination with anxiety, passion, enmity, folly or hatred. The natural mind is full of wisdom and compassion.

Meditation can help sleep to become more effective. It can help us to sleep deeper. In a very short period of time, one can refresh one 5 awareness through meditation and allow us to make the most of our time of sleep. Together with meditation, sleep can be minimized.

However, there are still some people in my experience who require no sleep at all, but only need meditation to keep their body and mind refreshed all the time. Even the Lord Buddha himself spent four hours asleep each night. However, there were some of his disciples who spent most of their time during the night contemplating in meditation without going to bed.

In true meditation, the object of concentration is inside the body and the more you meditate, the more the self-awareness increases.

I recommend the creation of loving-kindness, especially in the evening, just before going to bed. Cultivating loving-kindness re-shapes the personality of the meditator, creating an optimistic view of human nature, making one more understanding, more compassionate and warm towards other people.

The change of relationship with the world engendered by the cultivation of loving-kindness will free the mind of the things which cause restless sleep. Cultivating loving-kindness will change the pattern of sleeping for the better.

Perhaps the technique with which you meditate aggravates a form of energy inside your mind and makes it difficult for you to sleep. I suggest you allow the mind to relax before bed-time.

Create the light of peace and love for all. With this warm feeling for all sentient beings, you can sleep very well. You will enter smoothly into deep sleep.

Yes, it is very good. If you learn to meditate you will minimize all the stress in your daily life.

Yes, they can do meditation, but they may not be as successful as people who are not on any particular type of drugs. It is best to meditate with a healthy mind, free from drugs or chemicals of any kind. A natural mind is a healthy mind.

As with any disease or illness, meditation can help you to get rid of stress. The doctor can be responsible for your disease, but there is no-one who can be responsible for your mind, unless you yourself are responsible. No-one else can take responsibility for this. This responsibility can be the drive for you to meditate.

With meditation you can take care of yourself. Patients who have less stress, will make a faster recovery than those with a tense mind.