Fall 2013 Shamatha And The Bodhisattva Way Of Life

We immediately start with a meditation session. After the guided meditation, a question comes up about the role of pain in meditation, based on a comment from an abbot who claimed that pain is a goal to reach Nirvana, and a comfortable position during meditation is not suitable for reaching Nirvana. Dr. Wallace goes into this question using references from the Pali Canon, Theravada tradition and Tibetan tradition. He shows that such a claim about pain as a goal to Nirvana is nowhere to be found. On the contrary, adopting a position that is most suitable during meditation is strongly recommended (Buddhaghosa). Meditation starts at: 0:35