What Is the Most Crucial Meditative Concentration (Samādhi)?

The most crucial aspect of samādhi in cultivating meditative concentration is that it must be consistent with the goal that the cultivation of samādhi aims to achieve. What is the goal of cultivating samādhi? It is to understand the principles and realize them, thereby opening wisdom. Therefore, the mind must be concentrated on the dharma principles one intends to understand, with every thought abiding in the dharma, single-mindedly devoted to the dharma being cultivated. Only in this way can one engage in focused deliberation (manana), and finally, through deliberation, come to understand clearly, realize the dharma, and attain the wisdom of meditative absorption (samādhi). Thus, the most crucial and primary samādhi is for the manas to be settled within the dharma, having the aspiration to realize the dharma, the aspiration to understand the principles, the aspiration for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the aspiration to investigate, and the aspiration for liberation. Only then can one single-mindedly engage in contemplative practice and investigation. Once the direction of cultivating samādhi is clear, the approach of cultivating samādhi and cultivating the Path will be distinctly different from that of the non-Buddhist paths.

If the manas does not yet have these aspirations, it cannot be settled on the dharma being cultivated, and then meditative concentration cannot be achieved, because when the internal motivation is insufficient, external power of concentration cannot be developed. When the roots of goodness, merit, and conditions are all insufficient, and the great bodhi mind has not been generated, there will be no motivation, and one will be unable to break through the conditioning and limitations of one's environment, like a silkworm bound by its cocoon. If the manas lacks motivation and cannot be settled on the dharma, meditative concentration will not be cultivated well, and contemplative practice will gain no strength. Those who fail to cultivate samādhi well should examine whether they have generated the bodhi mind, whether their aspiration is pure, and whether there is motivation within their minds. 

The samādhi of the manas is first and foremost being settled on the dharma; only then can the mind consciousness be settled on the dharma without distraction, engaging in focused contemplative practice. Because the mind consciousness follows the manas, and the manas's baton is directing the mind consciousness at every moment, instant by instant—if the manas is not settled and waves the baton around aimlessly, the mind consciousness simply cannot be settled. Therefore, the most crucial point in meditative concentration is still to settle the manas. Once the manas is settled and constantly mindful of the dharma, one will practice diligently, with strong motivation, and the cultivation of meditative concentration will progress quickly. If the manas is settled on the Four Noble Truths of the Small Vehicle, one will diligently cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment; if it is settled on the prajñā wisdom of the Great Vehicle, one will diligently practice the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. Only when the manas diligently cultivates the Buddha-dharma can the mind consciousness be diligent; if the manas is lax, the mind consciousness cannot be diligent. When the manas is complete with the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, the mind consciousness will inevitably be complete as well.