Dedicated to our UCLA MARC (Mindful Awareness Research Center)-trained teacher, bonsai enthusiast, and Angeles National Forest docent Tod (rest in peace), who not only led us in meditation in the foothills of Monrovia but also gifted me an authentic handcrafted Native American shakuhachi-style flute to meditate with, which unfortunately was consumed by the Great Spirit of the mountain during the Eaton Fire. Thank you, Tod.
Let the heart (mind) settle here: Japanese Zen music for peace and stillness | shakuhachi and koto
(Yamato Zen Relaxing) June 24, 2026: Let the heart settle here, in this Zen garden of contoured (raked) sand. 🍁 A red maple tree stands alone in the mist, where the world grows still.
This Japanese ambient track is inspired by gassho (the Japanese act, inspired by India's añjali mudrāand namaste-greeting), which is the bringing of the palms together near the heart in reverence.
It is a calm state where any fragmented noise of the day softens into something whole.
Shakuhachi (flute) and koto (harp) unfold in a still, unhurried flow, supported by a quiet and continuous atmosphere that allows thoughts to float away as the mind/heart settles and remain at ease.
Human bowls beat AI tools
(Aurabowls) Nervous system calm with raw Himalayan singing
bowls | no artificial effects, just pure resonant sounds
That black metal bowl can make all that sound?
Namaste. This 5-hour sound bath is the raw, untouched sound of Tibetan Buddhist singing bowls, no effects or music added, just pure, natural resonance recorded as is. These deep tones carry a timeless quality that helps calm the nervous system and bring the mind to a place of rest. Listen for hours or simply set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes. Use it however it feels right. The background is peaceful, like sitting under a tree while a gentle breeze moves through the leaves. Let that image hold. Sounds rise and fade like waves, no need to catch every one of them. Just follow whatever is heard and return to it whenever the mind wanders.
This track is suitable for:
🍁 deep focus and inner stillness
🧘 meditation and mindful presence
😴 quiet rest and gentle relaxation
🌿 inner balance and tranquil harmony. Use it to create a quiet space to slow the breath, soften the edges of a harried life, and rest in the stillness that already lives inside us all.
It pairs well with Zen kinhin or "walking meditation." Walk at a slow, deliberate pace, letting each step fall like a stone into still water, and feel the ground rise gently to meet the body.
Let the hands come to rest, palms together, in a moment that belongs only to the stillness.
TRACKLIST
00:00:00 1. Raked in Mist
00:02:20 2. Still Roots
00:04:51 3. Crimson and Fog
00:08:55 4. Bamboo Mist
00:12:01 5. Veranda's Edge
00:15:55 6. Red Bough
00:19:39 7. Quiet Bearing
00:23:50 8. Circled Sand
00:28:03 9. Veiled Canopy
00:30:53 10. Solitary Maple
00:35:24 11. Sword's Repose
00:39:21 12. Settled Deep
00:42:36 13. White Sand
00:46:53 14. Worn Reverence
00:51:27 15. Soft Enclosure
00:55:56 16. Fog's Return
00:59:29 17. Repeat
🎨 This video's visuals and audio are produced by real humans with artificial AI tools. If any of this resonates, consider subscribing for more original Japanese ambient and Zen-inspired compositions. 🙏 💿️ Zen music, relaxing music, meditation music, focus music, sleep music, background music, Japanese music, flute music, stress relief, Japanese ambient sounds, healing music, calming music
If "God" (GOD, Brahmanbeyond the God Great Maha Brahma) is the Monad, what is the pleroma? Pleroma (Koine Greek πλήρωμα, literally the "fullness") generally refers to the totality of divine powers. It is used in Gnosticism, as well as in Christian theological contexts. The term also appears in the Epistle to the Colossians [1], which is traditionally attributed to Saint Paul (aka Jewish Saul of Tarsus) the Apostle [2], the real founder of modern Christianity (yes, not Christ, after which it is named).
I'm a Jew and I know better than Jesus (Paul)
The word is used 17 times in the New Testament [3]. In Valentinianism it represents as virtualities of the Son [4]. ETYMOLOGY: The word literally means "fullness," from the verb plēróō (πληρόω, "to fill"), from plḗrēs (πλήρης, "full") [5]. More
Noble silence ("enlightening quietude") is a term attributed to the historical Buddha. Practitioners are advised to calm heart/mind by letting go of internal and external chatter.
The Buddha also responded to certain useless or harmful philosophical questions about the ultimate nature of reality. One such instance is when he was asked by a wayward monk named Ven. Malunkyaputta the 14 unanswerable questions.
In similar situations the Buddha often responded to antinomy-based descriptions of reality by saying that both antithetical options presented to him were inappropriate. To answer one way might be true but misleading or comforting but untrue, so that simple silence was a better option until the questioner was ready to receive a direct answer.
A specific reference to noble silence in the Buddha's Teaching (Dhamma or Dharma) involved one occasion when the Buddha told his monastic disciples to discontinue a discussion, saying that in such a congregation the discussion of the sacred Dharma is proper or practicing noble silence [1].
This does not indicate misology or disdain for philosophy on the Buddha's part. Rather, it indicates that he viewed such questions, though popular, as not leading to true and liberating wisdom [2].
The Pali canon
While silence is generally thought to be something visible on the outside of a person — an external state, such as whether or not one is talking — in the Pali canon, a "noble" (enlightened, awakened, or enlightening) state is internal — one synonymous with the stillness of absorption (jhāna).
"What is noble silence?' The thought might occur, 'In one instance a monastic, stilling applied and sustained attention (vitakkaand vicara) [knowing without verbalizing or pondering], enters and abides in the second absorption, characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness, unification of mind, free of applied and sustained attention — internally certain. This is called noble silence.'"
An analogy is given to explain and distinguish vitakka from vicara as a function of what the mind does with its attention (adverting/turning attention towards, bare awareness, MINDFULNESS, vigilance, calm persistence). It's misleading to use the English word [discursive] "thinking," but it is mental activity:
Say a big bird on a branch wishes to fly. It will first leap or thrust itself into the air and flap its wings with great deal of effort then eventually just soar and glide almost with no effort at all. So in tranquility meditation (samatha), one first struggles or wrestles to bring attention back and back again to the object but eventually is fixed on it with no apparent effort.
Instead of force or struggle, great interest (zeal, delight, piti) holds the mind/attention to the object, with stillness and calm. Any movement of mind or body is likely to disturb it. This might also be compared to paddling and sailing. When one can skillfully sail, one is not a victim to the direction of the wind because one can engage in tacking (steering into the wind), that is, choosing one's direction so as to not have to go in the direction the wind is blowing, countered by jibing.
Of the eight absorptions (the jhanas or profound meditative states), that in which the inner dialogue goes silent is the second absorption. More
Jhana: meditative "absorption" ("meditation") chiefly refers to the first four meditative absorptions of form
I want to enter that bliss, but how?
Namely, these are the form absorptions of the fine-material sphere (rūpa-jjhāna or rūpāvacara-jjhāna, see avacara). These profound absorptions are reached through full (ecstatic) stillness, samādhi, concentration (appanā).
At this time there is a complete (albeit temporary) suspension of fivefold sense-activity and of the Five Hindrances (pancha-nīvarana). However, this state of consciousness is one of full alertness and lucidity and, it is said, singlepointedness (ekagata) of mind/attention.
Gandhara: meditating Buddha
This degree of concentration becomes a fully absorbed state. It is generally developed by the practice (cultivation) of one of the 40 subjects of tranquility meditation (samatha-kammatthāna, see bhāvanā).
There are four higher (more refined) states of absorption called the Four Formless Attainments of the immaterial Spheres (arūpāyatana). These are called the four absorptions of the immaterial sphere (arūpa-jjhāna or arūpāvacara-jjhāna).
The usual text, often met with in the Pali canon sutras, runs as follows:... More: jhāna
Ask a Buddhist teacher. Most will say, "There's no way to do it, so just do it." And that's pretty good advice as far as it goes, but it will only get a few there, the "naturals."
For a long time in this round, most of us are not the naturals, not inclined to even try. But when we finally "try," that is not a good sign of getting there. A person letting go, not aspiring, not striving, not anticipating, or doing nothing more than beginner's mind will is more likely to experience "beginner's luck."
That seems to be the Taoist approach advocated by Zen. How many Zen practitioners, however, ever get into a Zen state, a jhana, dhyana, seon, or absorción?
Not many. No one speaks of it, perhaps because of the threat/injunction that, "Anyone who knows doesn't speak; anyone who speaks doesn't know."
That may be true insofar as successful practitioners are not inclined to be worried about what anyone else does or does not do. But as a thinker, I am keen to figure out a practical way of teaching those cannot to be able to. There are a few ways that make sense or have some sort of logic.
First, we know that someone in an absorption has characteristics and is missing others. Things are present, and things are absent. How now if one were to include (cultivate) what is present for them and exclude (abandon) what is absent?
What is present? The Five Factors of Absorption (jhana-anga). What is absent? The Five Hindrances. Does it therefore not stand to reason that by such cultivation, one may very well fall into it? Drop away the obstacles, erect the parallels (those things present along with the wished-for state of heart-mind), and viola there it is!
Second, it is certain that what the Buddha taught was a pyramidal path with virtue (sila) as the base, stillness (samadhi) as the midlevel, and a capstone of wisdom (panna, prajna). So anyone who reaches the second level of "concentration" or singlepointedness of mind, or quietude, stillness, absorption does so on a base or foundation of Precepts and wholesome karma of skillful thoughts, words, and deeds or calm, noble silence, and restraint.
Third, there is the powerful suggestion of Leigh Brasington that these absorbed states of ecstatic composure, concentration, focus, or coherent mindful awareness can be brought about by a method. The method is simple to understand, a little less simple to implement. Attend a retreat, smile, stay calm, slow down, be comfortable, send metta to all in all directions until the heart/mind is restful and at ease then begin to meditate. When meditating, it will be the case that some part of the body is or begins to feel blissful (piti, one of the Factors of Absorption), pleasant, pleasurable. When it does, turn attention to that and just that. Seemingly on the maxim that "where attention goes, energy flows," that bliss (joy, happiness, sukha) will expand and overtake the entire body, bringing one into absorption. Leigh Brasington teaches, or taught, on Cloud Mountain and should be consulted for the details of this method. My coauthor, Virginia Tech Prof. Lori Marsh, attended a Brasington retreat and attained it.
Now this opens up a question that is difficult if not impossible to settle. What is "jhana"? What qualifies as "absorption"? If Prof. Marsh says she attained such a state, can anyone say any different? Because it is a direct and personal experience, can she even know? Does Brasington certify that retreatants are reaching it?
Fortunately, this question can be answered to some extent, but not completely because so much will depend on self-report. The most important thing is that a meditator not be self-deluded. One can know for oneself, and one's teacher can know, but as to whether or not anyone can say, who can say? One might have to possess psychic (abhinna, siddhi) powers to know what another is thinking or experiencing. Fortunately again, we are not concerned with what others are or are not attaining, only with what we are reaching.
How can I know if I was in an absorption during my meditation? And if I can know, how can I know which absorption (Jhana 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8) I was in? There is an answer. In the teaching method of the renowned Buddhist Meditation Master Pa Auk Sayadaw, one will not know it when one is in it, but one can be sure which jhana one was just in. How? By reflecting and counting the Jhana Factors, that is, the Factors of Absorption present during the meditation, one can know which it was. As one moves up towards higher and more refined absorbed states, factors fall away.
The Five Factors are actually six when ekagata (one-pointedness) is counted. See teachers Sayalay Susila, Beth Upton, Sayalay Dipankara, Ven. Dhammadipa (now lay teacher Thomas), Shaila Catherine, Ven. Revata, and others for detailed confirmation of personal experience. The lay Buddhist teachers Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder or check out their handy guide to the jhanas first published as Jhanas Advice. The later name became From First Sit to First Jhana:
Ego (buddhism podcast) The Buddha attained [temporary mental purification and permanent] enlightenment (bodhi) from developing the meditative absorptions (jhana), not in them
When we are kind to ourselves, when we have compassion for ourselves, when we love ourselves without reserve, we create the conditions in which to most easily evolve.
All of this evolution is towards a more peaceful and loving version of the [conventional] self.
Self-love creates a state in which one can hear the voice of our higher self and also feel that voice in the heart.
That higher voice points to the path ahead. The path ahead is always evolving [becoming] towards a more loving version of self. Self-love creates a kind of quiet in the mind/heart.
The lower mind is the place of judgment. That which is not love, that which is harsh, is loud in the lower mind. Self-love is the antidote to this loud voice. It balances and heals the harshness, restoring a kind of homeostasis, a calm, equitable ground [dzogchen]. Self-love creates neutrality in the self. It creates openness, and openness is peace. Into the true openness of peace, the presence of universal love, universal kindness, universal knowing arrives.
All those who walk with universal love walk in service to all beings.
So self-love creates the conditions for one to more easily become peace, and into that peace of the self, the great wisdom of universal loving-kindness arrives. And the individual into which it arrives now carries it as a remarkable offering for all.
Higher mind
It is as if self-love builds the room. The empty room is peace. And universal love always arrives to fill it. Put simply:
This peace flows from the individual consciousness into the collective consciousness, where it heals that which has not been loved which has remained there as residue.
["One-pointedness of mind/heart (cittass'ekaggatā), Ven. Visakha, is called concentration (samādhi, stillness, coherence)" (MN 44).]
Flower power made in the USA
When peace has flowed into the collective consciousness and has healed that which is not-love that is there, new possibilities emerge for humankind.
Old wounds are healed.
Old grievances are healed.
And more people, no longer held in bondage by old grievances, are able to hear their higher selves' voice, which is a loving voice.
And more people, hearing their highest voice, choose to act in love.
And things begin to change.
Old patterns suddenly end.
There is more harmony between people.
There is more peace.
And that peace, felt by any one person, enters the collective consciousness and heals another layer of what is there
calling to be loved,
calling to be witnessed,
calling to be healed,
calling to be honored for all that it is, exactly as it is.
Peace does that.
[EDITORIAL NOTE: When Goenka talks about observing sensations (feelings) in the body, he says to observe each one “AS IT IS.” The Pali phrase he uses is “yathā-bhūta.” Buddhist Sanskrit (tathātā) akin to the Chinese term rú zhēn (如眞) “suchness.”]
It's as if our hearts were burning as one at BM.
So all is honored, all is healed, and another wave of people feel called to lean into that voice at the center of their chests, their own heart's voice, the voice of a higher self, a voice that speaks of their purpose. That voice is loving, the font of love at the center of each being, what we can call the heart's voice. So it is better perceived, easier to hear and learn from.
An act of service to the world
Earth and every living being on it is so much more beautiful and unbelievable close up.
Our self-love is an ACT [karma] of service (sevā) to the world. Is builds our peace first, and our peace builds all peace.
Yes, it builds our neutrality (equanimity, unbiased looking on, upekṣā), which allows us to hear our higher voice. The peace it builds in our own heart/mind travels into the collective consciousness, where it heals and creates new opportunities for future peace, our own and the peace of others.
Our self-love powers this whole peacening[pacifying, cooling, slaking, quenching towards the highest peace of all, which is Nirvana or the "nirvanering"] process.
Our self-love is local -- planetary service to others.
In the Pali language texts, there are two ways for developing the Four
Elements Meditation, in brief and in detail.
The brief method explained here is meant for those of quick understanding. The detailed method is meant for those who have
difficulty with the brief method.
The Buddha taught the brief
method in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta (the “Greater Discourse on Setting Up the Four Foundations of Mindfulness”): A meditator reviews this very body however it is positioned
or placed as consisting of just elements: “There are in this
body just the earth-element, the water-element, the fire-element,
and the air-element” (The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga, Ch.XI, para. 41–43) explains further:
First, one of quick understanding who wishes to develop
this meditation should go to a solitary place. Then one should
advert [turn attention towards] one's entire material body and discern the elements in
brief in this way:
Western (British) Sayalay now Beth Upton
“In this body
what is hard or rough is [to be regarded as] 'earth
element,'
what is flowing or cohesive is 'water-element,'
what
is maturing (ripening) or heat [temperature] is 'fire-element,'
what is pushing
or supporting is 'air-element.'”
One should advert and give
attention to it and review it again and again as [simply] “earth-element,
water-element, fire-element, air-element,” that is to say, as mere
elements [components, qualities, characteristics], not as a being but as selfless.
As one applies attention in this way, in no long time, concentration [stillness] arises, which is reinforced by understanding that illuminates the classification [labelling] of the
elements.
This is only access-concentration* and does not reach absorption [a fully absorbed or concentrated condition] because it has states with individual essences as its object.
[*“Neighborhood or access-concentration” (upacāra-samādhi) is the degree of concentration (stillness, centeredness, mental-settling, focus) just before entering the absorptions or jhānas.]
Alternatively, there are these four [bodily] parts mentioned by Ven. Sariputta for the purpose of showing the absence of any self in the Four (great primary) Elements:
“When a space is enclosed with bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, there comes to be the term 'material form' (rupa)” (M. I. p. 190).
And one should resolve each of these, separating them out by the
hand of knowledge, then discern in the way already stated (above): “In these what is hardness…as its objects.”
4. Air-element: supporting, pushing [for a total of 12 characteristics lumped into four categories called the Four Elements, the dhatu or maha-bhuta].
To learn this meditation, one must begin by learning how to discern each of the 12 qualities or characteristics of the Four Elements one at a time.
Usually, the beginner must first be taught the characteristics that are easier [more obvious] to discern then the more difficult [subtle] ones later. The “Four” Elements are therefore usually taught in this order:
pushing,
hardness,
roughness,
heaviness,
supporting,
softness,
smoothness,
lightness,
heat,
coldness,
flowing,
cohesion.
Each characteristic must be discerned first in one place in the body then one must try discerning that same characteristic throughout the body.
Fortunately for us in the United States, Americans have gone to Burma, practiced under Pa Auk Sayadaw, succeeded in attaining the absorptions and insight and on occasion written books about it. They are in America. They teach. We can recommend these seven:
What is the blissful and inviting rapture of the light of absorption (jhana)? Is it santosha?
Can a Westerner achieve rapture and insight?
Full moon Sunday is the Uposatha (the fasting day of the lunar observance) when some choose to keep the Eight Precepts for one day and night. LA's Mindfulness Meditation Center in Covina (suburban San Gabriel Valley) is conducting its monthly Poya Day celebration in honor of it. This is an excellent time to relax, listen, and practice the path of absorption with the great Ajahn Brahm -- or to read Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?: Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties.
The Jhanas (Absorptions) – Seven Steps to Heaven (and One Beyond) by Ajahn Brahm
(The Buddhist Society) Jhāna (meditative absorption, zen) is a bliss better than sex? Mantra: "Relax to the max!" There are two kinds of Buddhist meditation (no, not samatha and vipassana, which are a single system bifurcated by people who misunderstand what's needed for insight. The two types are Second Noble Truth (craving) meditation and Third Noble Truth (letting go) meditation, as explained by accomplished Western meditator Ajahn Brahm.
British Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahmavamso Mahathera (known to the world as Ajahn Brahm) was born Peter Betts in London, England (United Kingdom) on August 7, 1951.
He came from a working-class background then won a scholarship to study theoretical physics at Cambridge University in the late 1960s. After graduating from Cambridge, he taught high school for a year before traveling to Northeast Thailand (Isan) to become a Theravada Buddhist monk.
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