The Meditative Concentration Required at the Time of Attaining the Path

Does the meditative concentration (samādhi) we need for seeing the path and attaining enlightenment remain unbroken at all times, or is it that concentration is present when we bring it up, available when needed, but absent at ordinary times? If the meditative concentration cultivated is relatively firm, the mind will remain in concentration continuously, only sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker; when worldly affairs are many, the mind becomes distracted, and at such times the power of concentration weakens. If the meditative concentration cultivated is not firm, there is concentration while sitting in meditation, but once off the cushion the mind becomes scattered and the concentration is lost.

The meditative concentration required for attaining the fruits and for seeing the mind is a relatively firm kind of concentration. With such deep concentration, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and deliberation can be deep, subtle, and continuous, the practice can be sustained, and the wisdom of contemplative practice can grow better and better. This is like boiling water: only when the fire burns continuously without interruption can the water in the pot become hotter and hotter, and finally boil. If the fire is intermittent, the water in the pot will be hot for a while and then cool down again, and no one knows when this water will ever boil.

The minimum level of meditative concentration required for practice is that there must be continuous concentration during contemplative practice and deliberation; one must engage in contemplative practice and deliberation within meditative concentration, ensuring that the deliberation and contemplative practice are continuous, sustained, and constantly deepening, and that one can sustain contemplative deliberation for a long time with sufficient power of concentration. Otherwise, the practice is easily interrupted and cannot be maintained, the deliberation becomes disjointed, and one will be unable to carry contemplative practice through to completion and achieve the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa). As long as there is meditative concentration and the other conditions are complete, realization of the path may occur at any time.