Ajahn Martin

[Tad]

Hello dear friends,

I wanted to share an inspiring story about a monk in the Thai Forest tradition. It is interesting that before ordaining he followed a routine that Jhananda recommends. That is, 1 hour meditation in the morning and 1 hour meditation before bed. Well, I hope this serves as a positive example of monasticism.

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Martin was born in Stuttgart in 1957. From an early age, he had a penchant for tinkering with things, and he subsequently studied electrical engineering. With a Fulbright scholarship, he went to the USA to extend his studies to computer engineering and to work entirely in the university sector. After graduation, he worked in a research lab on image analysis and artificial intelligence in Hamburg. Also involved in the 'Scientists for Peace' campaign, he was earning enough money to be happy with his life. However, he was not. Instead, he felt dissatisfied, as if something was gnawing at his heart.

At the end of the 1980s, he discovered meditation. Soon after, he met his first meditation teacher - Vimalo Kulbarz, who taught him sitting and walking meditation in line with the Theravada tradition. At first, it was hell for him to sit still and watch his mind, but he stuck with it, and at the end of a ten-day meditation retreat with Vimalo Kulbarz he discovered a silence which filled him completely. "It was similar to coming out of a loud disco at three o'clock in the morning and finding oneself suddenly immersed in the silence of the street. Starry night is all around, the silence permeates everything, and the sound of the disco has fallen away ", he recalls. From this point onwards, he vowed to continue with the meditation practice that had given him such joy. He built his life around meditation, practicing in the morning by sitting one hour before going to work, and for one hour again in the evening.

In the summer of 1990, he again went on a retreat with Vimalo Kulbarz, at the end of which a kind of 'breakthrough' experience occurred, a state of inner rapture (piti) that can occur when the mind comes to rest. This experience lasted for three whole days, and was the decisive catalyst for dramatic change. Martin decided to go into homelessness, but making the decision was a terrible heartache; as he says, "Whenever I thought about it, it seemed like sharp needles were piercing my heart."
The two experiences of inner stillness and great joy, which deeply affected his heart, helped to sustain him on the path and to march forward without deviating, for they made the external sparkling world look pale by comparison. He still went to work, met friends and had a girlfriend, but none of these things had the same power to touch him, such was the experience of absolute silence and the 'uplift of the heart'. Finally, in March 1991, he decided to leave the research lab, gave away all his belongings and went into homelessness, i.e. without worldly goods and living in monasteries.

[Jhanananda]

Ajahn Martin sounds promising, but where is he now?

[Tad]

I read that he lives in a forest in Thailand. I do not know much about him, but read his life story and a few teachings. I got impression that he is genuine monastic that focuses on practice rather than dry doctrines.

[Jhanananda]

Well, if he is the real deal, then what does he say about the 8th fold of the noble eightfold path (samma-samadhi)?

[Tad]

Hello Jhananda,

I looked at his book and he teaches that it is necessary to do two types of practice: samatha practice for samadhi and investigation practice for wisdom.

This is what he says in the book about samatha:

"If you want the results that both Than Ajahn Mahã Bua and I describe in our teachings, forget whatever you’ve known and practised previously. When you want to get calm, just concentrate on the repetition of the word buddho or on the breath around the tip of the nose, or on the combination of breath and buddho, and don’t buy into any of the thoughts that come up. This is called samatha practice, which leads to samãdhi. When we practise for samãdhi, we do just that; we don’t switch to investigation within the same session. Similarly, when we do the practice of investigation, we do just that; we don’t switch to samãdhi practice within the same session. A session can last for three hours or the whole night long, and can include alternate sitting and walking. The longer we remain concentrated on one object, the better results we obtain."

And this is what he says about investigation:

"The practice of samãdhi and the practice of investigation are two different things. For investigation, we should choose just one object to investigate, and focus on it for the whole session. It can be an internal or external part of the body, or a reflection about the body in general, or the act of disassembling the body into its components. Whatever the object, we should know what we intend to do before the session starts, and stay with this one object for the whole session. The longer the session, the more fruitful the practice will be. In investigation, we want to see things clearly. If investigating the liver, for instance, we focus on that organ, not the lungs or anything else, and investigate it until we clearly see its nature before our eyes. Investigation or reflection, when practised correctly, is the only way to develop wisdom. For example, we can reflect that whatever goes into the body is appealing but whatever comes out is disgusting. Why is this? "

[Jhanananda]

Thank you for posting the quotes from bikhu Martin. I see nothing in these quotes to suggest he has any experience with the 8th fold of the Noble Eightfold Path.