What does it technically mean to have a “beautiful mind” in meditation—beyond vague metaphores or mysticism. Defining the Beautiful Mind When modern teachers describe deep samatha (concentration) meditation as “beautiful,” they speak in mystical metaphors. However, real Theravāda Buddhism involves the Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma is not for scholarly proliferation. It is for knowing how the mind works and applying the mind in that way. The Abhidhamma provides a precise definition: sobhāna cetasikā, or beautiful mental factors.

Irrawaddi River, Bagan, 2015 There seems to be quite a bit of confusion about what the Abhidhamma is all about. If I were to describe a river based on Suttanta values and then describe it again in terms of Abhidhamma and commentary values, Abhidhamma will be very clear in its validity and purpose. I don’t recall the Buddha explaining rivers in Suttas in the way I will explain them. However, I will try to explain them “as if” they were spoken in the Suttas and also “as if” they were mentioned in the Abhidhamma and Commentaries.

Free Book: Abhidhamma Lessons PDF Abhidhamma Lessons Here is a book I wrote long ago that relates the Abhidhamma to Computer Science. As a programmer from the nineties, I “clicked” with the abhidhamma after reading just a small amount. When I learned that the mind does only one thing at a time, it instantly clicked with a graduate class I had taken on digital circuits. It gave me the faith in the Abhidhamma early on which is very rare among Western Monks and Western Theravada Buddhist lay people.