Hello DhO,

Upasaka Culadasa is a meditation teacher and former neuroscience professor who has who has done some wonderful writing on meditation practice, especially concentration practice. In particular, he has an excellent series of notes on concentration practice based on the 9 stages of meditation of Master Kamalashila. Personally, I find that they're by far the most precise, detailed, and clear treatment of basic meditation practice that I've read.

I've obtained permission to redistribute some of his writings which are not otherwise easily accessible on the Internet. I'm attaching a number of PDFs to this message which were obtained from from files and messages uploaded to the jhana_insight Yahoo group on which he participates, and from other sources.

I've attached the following as a .zip file (Culadasa.zip)

LightOnMeditationHandout.pdf: An overview of the stages of concentration practice (also available at www.dharmatreasure.com, but reproduced here for convenience)

Plain English - Introduction.pdf, Plain English - Part I.pdf, Plain English - Part II.pdf, Plain English - Part III.pdf: These four PDFs provide a much more detailed treatment of stages 1-6 from LightOnMeditationHandout.pdf, including very precise meditation instructions both for sitting and walking meditation.

Ekaggata.pdf: A discussion of the Pali term Ekaggata, often translated as "single-pointedness" or "unification of mind". From a series of posts to the jhana_insight group in Dec. 2009.

Jhanas.pdf: A discussion of the Jhanas

Meditation and Joy Handout.pdf: A discussion of joy and happiness in meditation. Also includes a comparison between flow (from psychology) and meditative experiences.

Positive Reinforcement.pdf: A note on positive reinforcement in mental training, posted to jhana_insight in Dec. 2009.


I hope people will find these useful. I may add more material later if I find anything.

Hi Chris, thanks for taking the time and initiative to compile this. I like his style a great deal. Very helpful!

Thank you, Chris. These instructions are amazing!

Thank you very much

Thanks!

Hi all

John Yates (Culadasa) has been sick for some time now, at least as of an email update I just received. If you have a metta*** practice it can be a great way to extend gratitude for his presentation of Kamalashila's meditation techniques, for example.


*** Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya's guided metta practice and talk

Is that so, Katy? Have any further information about this? If necessary, PM me.

I'm acquainted with John, but haven't kept up with him since 2005-6, other than to have come across his website http://dharmatreasure.com/.

After reading the first page of LightOnMeditationHandout, I was very excited to continue reading. Thank you for sharing, Chris.

I've been reading the docs, good stuff. I'd be interested in seeing the full version of this talk he may be giving.
Here Comes the Sun: Achieving Awakening Without the Dark Night

In the document "light on meditation", page four mentions "full-minded awareness is developed, and the attention is more easily sustained on the meditation object for longer periods of time."

Can anyone expand on the meaning of full-minded awareness?

He explains it in detail on P. 6 of "Plain English - Introduction.pdf". I can't give you a better description than his, so I'll just point you there.

thanks

Great stuff, thanks Chris, I've been immersing myself in Culadasa's writings and audio for the last couple of weeks, very clarifying in an unexpected sort of way.
Sorry to hear he is sick katy - will for sure include him in my metta practice.

Hi Chris

In "Plain English - Part III.pdf", the author says, "The cultivation of Adept Concentration in stages 7 through 10 will be the subject of Part IV.". Do you know if part 4 exists? I can't find it searching the net.

Thanks
C P M

Hi C P M,

No, part IV was never finished, unfortunately. However, Culadasa has a book which is supposed to be published soon which should contain that material, so you can keep an eye out for that if interested.

Chris

It looks like the upgrade swallowed the attached zip file.

Is there any chance that the file could be reposted, or someone could provide a link? I'd be very grateful.

The "Light on Meditation Handout" alone really had a profound effect on my practice over the last few days, and I'm eager to read more.

Hi, hope this is what you were looking for?

This was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

These writings are really interesting. I don't quite understand how they relate to vipasana and paths though, I read through Light on Meditation and skimmed the others and couldn't find any information about how this relates to nirvana, paths, awakening, etc, if I understand it right he is saying this is a foundation. Is reaching this 10th stage a necessary pre-requisite? Anyone got any perspective on that?

In Light on Meditation, after describing the 10th and final stage, he says


Here's a link to his upcoming book for those interested. The introduction is readable in the "look inside" feature.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integrating/dp/0990847705

There is some pretty big praise from a bunch of big names. Daniel Ingram's quote is pretty awesome:

 “Essential reading for anyone interested in meditative development from any tradition. At once comprehensive and also very easy to read and follow in practice, this is the most thorough, straightforward, clear, and practical guide to training the mind that I have ever found. A remarkable achievement.”  —Daniel Ingram, M.D., author, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

Hi,

I am unable to find the attachments. Can you please guide me in downloading the files.

Regards 

Scroll up - they are relinked above. Just got them myself.

The link for the zip file above is broken, so attaching it again. (edit: but can't get it to work).