The Mystery of Cultivating Meditative Concentration

The secret of cultivating meditative concentration (samādhi) lies in the manas; the target is the manas, and the purpose is the manas—it is to subdue the manas and to bring its functions into play. When the mind consciousness gathers the mind at a single point, it forces the manas to direct its attention to that single point as well; when the mind consciousness is not scattered, the manas is not scattered either. When the mind consciousness is not scattered, it engages in less discrimination and does not interfere with the manas, allowing the manas to concentrate its attention. When the mind consciousness deliberates in a detailed and clear manner, the content of its deliberation is transmitted to the manas, and the manas can focus its attention on the dharma that the mind consciousness is contemplating and practicing through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). When the manas is not scattered, it can also single-mindedly deliberate (manana) on these dharmas; only in this way can one realize the dharma.

The Buddha had us cultivate meditative concentration through the contemplation of the four foundations of mindfulness; its principle is that through the mental engagement (manaskāra) of the mind consciousness, the manas directs its attention to the same object that the mind consciousness attends to, without scattering. For example, the manas keeps attending to the breathing and walking of the body faculty, without attending to or grasping at anything else. Only then can it single-mindedly deliberate on the dharmas that the mind consciousness has discerned, and thereby attain sudden enlightenment and give rise to wisdom. Sudden enlightenment refers to the enlightenment of the manas; understanding the principles bit by bit is the result of the mind consciousness analyzing bit by bit.

If you visualize a very interesting state, you tie the manas to this visualization; the mind settles down, the qi channels flow, the mental feelings are comfortable, and the manas becomes even more interested—then focus and attaining concentration are no problem. The mind consciousness is very clever; it has no problem deliberating and analyzing a dharma. The key is making the manas understand, and that is difficult. The manas must also not scatter its attention; it must accept the information transmitted by the mind consciousness, further process and absorb it, and then it can draw its own conclusions—that is realizing the dharma—and thus comes a sudden great awakening. The various states that subsequently arise in body and mind are brought about by the manas.