The Meditative Concentration Required for Enlightenment

Does the meditative concentration (samādhi) we need for seeing the path and attaining enlightenment remain unbroken all the time, or is it that concentration is present when we bring it up, available when needed, but absent at ordinary times?

If the meditative concentration one has cultivated is relatively firm, the mind will remain in concentration continuously; it is only that sometimes it is strong and sometimes weak. When there are many worldly affairs, the mind will become distracted, and at such times the power of concentration will weaken. If the meditative concentration one has cultivated is not firm, then there is concentration while sitting on the cushion, but after rising from the seat the mind becomes scattered and the concentration is lost.

The meditative concentration required for attaining the fruits and for seeing the mind is relatively firm concentration. Only with such deep concentration can contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and deliberation be deep, subtle, and continuous, so that the meditative skill can be sustained and the wisdom of contemplative practice can grow better and better. This is like boiling water: only when the fire burns continuously without interruption can the water in the pot become hotter and hotter, and finally reach a boil. If the fire is intermittent, the water in the pot will become hot for a while and then cool down again, and there is no telling when it will ever boil.

The minimum level of meditative concentration required for practice is that there must be continuous concentration during contemplative practice and deliberation; one must engage in contemplation and deliberation within concentration, ensuring that the deliberation and contemplative practice are continuous, sustained, and constantly deepening. One must be able to sustain contemplation and deliberation for a long time with sufficient power of concentration. Otherwise, the meditative skill is easily interrupted and cannot be maintained, the deliberation becomes disjointed, and one will be unable to carry contemplative practice through to completion and thus eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi). As long as there is meditative concentration and the other conditions are complete, one may realize the Path at any time.