Third and Final Level
This booklet is the third and final in the series of booklets on the three levels of meditation that provide step-by-step guidance toward attainment of the imperturbable serenity of mind – Nibbāna – as taught by the Buddha and recorded in the Pali language in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tripitaka.
The reader is invited to read all three booklets before beginning on the meditative path. This will serve as a map to enable one to understand the terrain to be traversed before starting the journey.
The profound teachings of the Buddha are not easy to decipher and put into practice. Today, the Dhamma is mostly practiced at the basic saddhā and sīla levels. The more advanced teachings encompassing samādhi and paññā are not well understood or practiced. The primary reason for this is the difficulty in deciphering the Buddha’s extraordinarily intelligent description of the realities of life, the problem of existence, and the salvation through awakening from the dream of existence.
The author has dedicated over 60 years to the task of understanding and practicing the advanced teachings of the Buddha based on the original teachings as recorded in the scriptures of the Theravada tradition. To do so, the author received training in science, medicine, philosophy, psychology, astronomy and even comparative religion. These fields of knowledge generated by very intelligent though spiritually un- awakened human beings, whose perspectives may be quite different from that of the Buddha, can still be an invaluable aid to understand the deep insightful teachings of the Buddha. The theoretical studies of the author has been put into practice and verified through his own experience. It is these understandings and experiences that the reader is presented within these booklets. May this knowledge offered by the author with great compassion to the general public translate into proper channels leading to the great transformations experienced by the Awakened seekers of the bygone era.
May the merits so acquired by Venerable Dr. Madawela Punnaji Maha Thera help everyone of you strengthen your resolve to attain Nibbāna.