Preface

How to cultivate meditative concentration well is the most immediate issue facing practitioners, for without meditative concentration, the actual realization of any Buddhist Dharma becomes impossible. The threefold training of precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom are equally important and indispensable in the Buddhist practice process. Meditative concentration occupies the second position, signifying its crucial and pivotal role in practice. It is the golden key that unlocks the treasury of wisdom and the boat that ferries one to the shore of Nirvana.

For most people today, the bottleneck in their practice lies in meditative concentration. If meditative concentration is not cultivated well, the mind remains scattered and impure, afflictions cannot be subdued, and contemplating and reflecting on the Dharma becomes difficult, thus preventing the actual realization of the Dharma.

1. The World-Honored One taught his disciples in the *Sutra on the Method of Practicing the Samadhi of Sitting Meditation* that the reason a scattered mind cannot manifest meditative concentration is the obstruction caused by the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. The mind harbors many attachments to people and things, making it difficult to become still. The Buddha taught us that before cultivating meditative concentration, one must use wisdom to eliminate various perceptions and thoughts, to eliminate scattered thinking, and to use wisdom to contemplate these afflictions. Only then can meditative concentration arise, subsequently subduing and eradicating afflictions.

2. A common phenomenon among current Dharma practitioners is the insufficiency of both the conditions for cultivating concentration and their merit and virtue, making it very difficult to develop meditative power. Superficially, many people's material living standards have indeed improved, but the merit and virtue that can be applied to the supramundane Dharma is still very insufficient. Those who cannot cultivate meditative concentration well and whose minds are not empty and pure should frequently examine and introspect their own minds. See if the mind is filled with the five desires of the desire realm: wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. See if there is greed and attachment to the various dharmas, people, and affairs of the desire realm, and if there is deep clinging to these desire-realm dharmas. These attachments are the root illness hindering the cultivation of concentration, making it very difficult to develop. Once this root illness is identified, one must find a way to eliminate it, continuously contemplating, analyzing, and observing the illusory and insubstantial nature of these dharmas to reduce the clinging.

If a person enjoys fine food, comfort, pleasures, and praise, is greedy for and attached to everything in the human realm of the desire realm, cares deeply about it all, and constantly dwells on and values all worldly matters, meditative concentration is impossible to cultivate. The more one pursues in life, the more hope and interest one has in worldly life, the harder it is to attain meditative concentration. Because things clog the mind, the burden on the heart becomes heavy; it cannot be empty and still, nor attain lightness and ease. If we can subdue some of our various worldly cravings, hatred, jealousy, resentment, and so forth, meditative concentration can arise quickly.

If our thoughts are constantly greedy and attached to the five-aggregate world, with heavy clinging, meditative concentration will not arise. Only when the mind of aversion towards the five-aggregate world arises, free from desire, can the concentration of the desire realm manifest. Only by feeling aversion towards the environment and life of the five aggregates in the desire realm heavens can the concentration of the form realm manifest. If we always harbor hopes and cravings for the world, if the mind is always rushing towards objects, it becomes difficult to accommodate things that are more sublime and wondrous.

3. Once the greed and clinging within the mind are subdued and reduced, cultivating concentration becomes easy. Concentration can generally be divided into still concentration during seated meditation and moving concentration during walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. Both types of concentration are important; they each have their advantages, complementing, nourishing, and enhancing each other. Among them, still concentration is particularly important. When still concentration is well-cultivated, body and mind become relaxed and at ease, afflictions are subdued quickly, and only then can one gain strength in cultivating moving concentration during daily activities. Contemplative practice of the Dharma becomes even more effective, more meticulous, enabling one to attain deeper and more wondrous wisdom.

For those who still find it difficult, ineffective, or cannot find a starting point in cultivating concentration, some specific expedient methods for cultivating concentration are introduced here for reference and guidance.