The Merits of Meditative Concentration

Ru Zhao's contemplative practice journal: Today I sat in half-lotus with the left leg for half an hour, and with the right leg for half an hour. After sitting down, I first recited the Śūraṅgama Mantra once. Then I settled my mind and calmly contemplated the breath. Before long, my whole body felt continuously warm, with sweat on my limbs and face, and saliva kept flowing in my mouth. I did not feel heat in the dantian, but each breath was drawn in very deeply, and my lower abdomen would naturally expand; as the contemplation deepened, the inhalation seemed to go even deeper. The bodily sensations and the amount of air drawn in through the nostrils seem to differ between sitting half-lotus with the left leg and with the right leg, and the bodily feelings are not entirely the same either. For me at present, when sitting half-lotus with the left leg, the mind settles more easily and I can contemplate for a longer time. In daily life I have become rather dull and slow; most things do not enter my mind, and I cannot remember many trivial matters. Sometimes when I should use my brain, it seems to suddenly freeze, and I do not know what is on my mind. When talking with people, I can perceive what they want to express or vent, but I cannot bring out words to echo them, and I do not even want to open my mouth. When oneself or others experience painful feeling, I contemplate the origin of that painful feeling, wishing to thoroughly eliminate its arising and eradicate suffering. 

Summary: The more concentrated the mental activity, the more concentrated the qi within the body and the more concentrated the energy, which leads to the stirring of the qi mechanism and warmth throughout the body. A person whose meditative concentration (samādhi) is very deep becomes insensitive to cold and heat: in winter they need not wear much, and in summer they do not feel hot even when wearing more—one single robe through winter and summer, without needing to change clothes constantly.

Meditative concentration can eliminate a certain restless, flighty air, so that one no longer applies the mind to unimportant matters, much less fawns on the powerful and curries favor. At first, one's speech and movements appear clumsy, with weak capacity for action but deep and penetrating observational power; the mind is meticulous and sensitive, and one sees people and affairs more accurately and carefully than before, making it hard to be deceived. There is a touch of "great wisdom appearing as foolishness"—in truth, the mind is simply not applied to trivial matters, while genuine wisdom is slowly increasing.