Zhu Shiqing on the Benefits of Meditative Concentration (Chan Ding)

Once a person enters meditative concentration (samādhi), the brain is in a highly ordered state, similar to what we call a superconductor. As everyone knows, copper wire conducts electricity with resistance, because the atoms and molecules inside are constantly vibrating, and this vibration increases the resistance to the electric current—that is, electrical resistance. Once you cool the conductor, an abrupt change occurs: suddenly all the resistance disappears, and at that point the electric current is extremely powerful and the energy field extremely strong. The meditative concentration of Buddhism works the same way: it teaches people how to quiet down, and after becoming quiet, to enter concentration with not a single distracting thought or bit of noise. At that moment, your wisdom is at its highest.

Science is not unaware of the Buddhist method; in fact, science is constantly repeating this same approach, but it has never distilled it into a systematic method for enhancing human wisdom. It can only rely on repeated practice and on experience to gradually improve a person's wisdom—there is no systematic method of meditative concentration like this. The Buddhist method of meditative concentration is an extremely important means of apprehending truth. This thing is truly a treasure, and it can compensate for the shortcomings of science.

If consciousness is compared to an electric current, then the human brain is like a conductor. If one cultivates to the point of deep meditative concentration, the human brain can enter a highly ordered superconducting state, in which consciousness can flow unimpeded; the field of consciousness may become extremely powerful, capable of perceiving truths of the universe that ordinary people cannot attain.