The Mystery of Cultivating Meditative Concentration

The secret of cultivating meditative concentration lies in the manas; the target is the manas, and the purpose is the manas — it is to subdue the manas and to bring its functions into play. When the mind consciousness gathers the mind at one point, it forces the manas to attend to that one point; when the mind consciousness is not scattered, the manas is not scattered either. When the mind consciousness is not scattered, it engages in less discrimination and does not disturb the manas, allowing the manas to focus its attention. When the mind consciousness deliberates in a detailed and clear manner, the content of its deliberation is transmitted to the manas; the manas can concentrate its attention on the dharma that the mind consciousness is contemplating through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). When the manas is not scattered, it can also deliberate on these dharmas single-mindedly, and only then can one realize the dharma.

The Buddha used the four foundations of mindfulness to lead us in cultivating meditative concentration. The principle is that through the attention of the mind consciousness, the manas is made to attend to the object that the mind consciousness attends to, without scattering. For example, the manas keeps attending to the breathing and walking of the body faculty, and does not attend to or cling to anything else. Only then can it single-mindedly deliberate on the dharmas that the mind consciousness discriminates, and thereby attain sudden enlightenment and open wisdom. Sudden enlightenment refers to the enlightenment of the manas; gradually understanding the principles bit by bit is the result of the mind consciousness analyzing bit by bit.

If one visualizes a very interesting realm, one can tether the manas to this visualization; the mind settles down, the energy channels flow, the psychological feeling is comfortable, and the manas becomes even more interested — then focus and attaining meditative concentration are no problem. The mind consciousness is very clever; it has no problem deliberating on and analyzing a dharma. The key is making the manas understand, and that is difficult. One must make the manas also not scatter its attention, so that it receives the information transmitted by the mind consciousness, then processes, digests, and absorbs it, and can thereby draw its own conclusion — this is realizing the dharma, and then comes a sudden great awakening. The various states that subsequently arise in body and mind are brought about by the manas.