— 2. Attuning the Practice to Conform to the Threefold Training

หน้าสำหรับพิมพ์

2. Attuning the Practice to Conform to the Threefold Training

What has just been presented is a further explanation of the role of samādhi. We can see that samādhi is an important constituent in Buddhism and is of enormous value. Its position in Buddhism is clear—an integral part in the process of the Threefold Training. This training is a practice in progression— all factors in the process are interrelated; the attainment of each one is a necessary factor to the next. The process has its ultimate goal; until the goal is reached, one does not stop.

The practitioner should know the relationship between the factors, the chain of succession, and how the previous factor supports the next one. If this is not comprehended, it means one does not understand the Dhamma. This is significant because, as we have said, this is how the Threefold Training system works.

Each Dhamma factor is a part in the progression of the practice; it has to pass its effects to the next factor in line in order to reach the goal. Regrettably, this critical point is very often neglected. When we look at the purpose of the Dhamma, we tend to treat each factor as an isolated part and have it standing alone. When the factors are thus viewed, we fail to see the interrelationship between them. Then even the meaning of that particular factor will not be clear to us.