Buddhist Practitioners Should Skillfully Employ Meditative Concentration

Some say that meditative concentration (samādhi) is shared with non-Buddhist paths and that cultivating it leads to bondage. But while non-Buddhists enjoy the bliss of meditative concentration, Buddhists can certainly use it to develop wisdom and attain liberation from the suffering of birth and death. It is like a sharp knife: non-Buddhists use it to kill living beings, while Buddhists use it to cut vegetables and peel fruit for the benefit of others and for their own livelihood. One cannot say that because non-Buddhists use it, Buddhists must avoid it and refuse to use it—that is the thinking of a fool. The same principle applies: what non-Buddhists use for evil purposes, Buddhists use for good purposes—how could this not be convenient? All dharmas may be used for evil by sentient beings, yet the Buddha uses them skillfully for good. How could learning Buddhism not be excellent?