Note Cards from 1937 - 38
Some thoughts on samädhi:
The body's resting by sleep
Rest for the body is to lie down and fall asleep, but for the mind it is to stop the mind's activity, that is, to rest in samàdhi- or samatha-kammañhàna. The mind of a thinker works very heavily to the point it gets used to never resting. Before long, this becomes a danger if it isn’t allowed to rest sometimes. And it will work the best when it alternates between working and resting appropriately.
(5 November 2480/1937)
Samädhi and the duties of citizens:
In considering this angle we can see most simply that it's something just as necessary as their need for rest, because samädhi is a resting of the mind just as much as sleeping is a resting for the body. Waking in the morning, the body is fresh; the mind is vigorous and perfect in sati. Furthermore, samädhi is a condition for the body's rest to be completed easily and every time it's needed, no matter the amount (for example, a 15 minute break during a meeting). On waking it's fresh and not grumpy.
(26 December 2480)
Samädhi and morality:
When we look at samädhi in the aspect of the good ethics and morals of the people, we will find that it's the very pinnacle of ethics or morals on the level of ordinary people. (Paññä or vipassanä is the wisdom level.) Quiet peace of the mind is the basis for peacefulness in body and speech equal to the degree that it is the peak of both kinds of peacefulness. This is a peak that returns to its own base just as a child grows up to take care of his/her parents.
(26 December 2480)
