Meditation
Meditation for Beginners
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From a Barren Field #1
">by Luang Phaw Dhammajayo
I was not born in time to study with the Great Master. I
mainly learned about Dhammakaya Meditation from Khun Yay Ajahn. I obtained some
knowledge from monastic teachers who were her contemporaries, but my principle
understanding came from Khun Yay Ajahn herself. From her, I felt a great sense
of love and harmony. She was kind to me. I sat in meditation with her
continuously, from the time I was a student at the university and went for
meditation together with my school friends at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen.
When we
graduated, some of us ordained as monks and others become lay volunteers. This
was the community that pioneered the construction of Wat Phra Dhammakaya. At
that time, Khun Yay Ajahn was 60 years old, but she devoted all her energy to
the temple’s construction. At that time, the temple grounds were only open
fields.
Wat Phra Dhammakaya commenced with meditation because the
Dhammakaya resides in every human being. Whatever your nationality or religion,
whether you are educated or not, you have the Dhammakaya.
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Wherever human beings
are located, the Dhammakaya exists.
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Wat Phra Dhammakaya was constructed to preserve and nurture
this spirit. Initially the temple brought the community together to meditate.
Later it gained popularity because people with wisdom wanted to test the Dhammakaya’s
existence and came to meditate. The desire for knowledge of the Dhammakaya
Meditation grew and the number of people coming to the temple expanded.
Meditation first took place under trees, then later under tents. When the
numbers expanded beyond the tents’ capacity, it was necessary to construct the
Catummaharajika Pavilion which could seat 500 people. It was thought that this
was all that was needed. It was possible to sit in meditation and teach one
subject: how to attain the Dhammakaya.
More people continued to come to the temple so that a
pavilion meant for 500 people had to accommodate 5,000. The temple had to rent
hundreds of tents and the financial burden became excessive. So, the
straw-roofed Meditation Hall was built. It could seat more than 10,000 people,
and we thought it to be adequate since no other place had 10,000 people sitting
in meditation together. But soon 30,000 people came, so it became necessary to
rent tents as before. With the original straw-roofed Meditation Hall unable to
accommodate the growing community, we began construction on the World
Dhammakaya Centre. The Centre is composed of more than 320 hecteres of land. It
was believed that this would be enough to welcome people from all over the
world who are interested in learning to meditate and in finding true happiness.
We have welcome guests from all nationalities, languages and religions to
practice and teach meditation at the Centre.
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