What is wrong meditative concentration? What is right meditative concentration? How can wrong meditative concentration be transformed into right meditative concentration?

Wrong samādhi is not a path on the road to liberation; it is a concentration that cannot give birth to the wisdom of liberation, a concentration that cannot lead toward liberation, a concentration shared with non-Buddhist paths. In such concentration, the conscious mind is dull or drowsy, the mind is idle, thinking does not arise, and the teachings are not contemplated.

The most correct of correct concentrations is one in which, within concentration, the mind is not inverted or deluded; it does not contemplate any worldly dharma, contemplates neither good nor evil, and attaches to no dharma, yet possesses supreme wisdom that accords with sentient beings to give rise to all dharmas, unobstructed and unbound by any dharma, liberated from all dharmas. The next most correct concentration is one in which, within concentration, one can deeply and subtly contemplate various correct principles, without attaching to any worldly mark, without attaching to good or evil, able to give birth to the great wisdom of liberation in its many forms, able to transform worlds and bring to maturity all the wholesome roots, merit, and conditions of oneself and others, with the mind oriented toward the correct path and the mind abiding in the correct path.

When meditative concentration has been cultivated to a certain degree, the mind becomes purified, mental power can be highly concentrated, and thinking has attained a certain depth; then, within concentration, contemplation should arise—contemplating the Buddhist questions that currently need to be resolved, contemplating the questions that currently need to be understood. Moreover, after emerging from concentration, one should also apply the mind to contemplating the Dharma, from morning to evening, with every thought revolving around the Dharma, around the Buddhist questions that currently need to be resolved. In this way one can clearly understand the Dharma, and when causal conditions are complete, one may possibly realize the corresponding dharma and open wisdom.

In relatively deep correct concentration, the mind consciousness deliberates less and more lightly, without emotional sentiment or intellectual interpretation, yet there is the deliberation (manana) of the manas, which is not easily noticed; the manas must contemplate deeply, exerting more effort than the mind consciousness, with the manas's deliberation as the mainstay. Here there is both concentration and wisdom—the concentration being correct concentration; in wrong concentration there is no such deliberation. One must earnestly and solidly do the work, master the technique of deliberation, and learn to deliberate; it is certainly beneficial—of a hundred benefits, not one harm.

Drowsiness in meditative concentration has several causes; find out the causes and counteract them, and the problem of drowsiness can be resolved. One cause is blocked circulation of qi and blood, obstructing blood vessels; insufficient blood supply causes drowsiness. While sitting, one may massage acupoints to unblock the circulation of qi and blood. Another cause is insufficient sleep or physical fatigue. One may regulate the breath and take several deep breaths. Another cause is the lack of an object of contemplation that interests the manas, causing the mind to become dull. At such times one may visualize interesting scenes to free the mind from its dullness.

When one does not have meditative concentration, do not first engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the Dharma; when the power of concentration is insufficient, do not engage in contemplative practice of the Dharma either, for this easily leads to deducing and inferring a conclusion, an answer, after which one can no longer truly apply effort in investigating, and subsequent realization becomes very difficult, greatly obstructing one's progress on the Path. Contemplative practice of the Dharma without meditative concentration is of no benefit to liberation and no benefit to progress on the Path; it only increases views and arrogance, cannot eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), and brings no beneficial experience of merit.