What is the most crucial meditative concentration?

The most crucial aspect of meditative concentration (samādhi) in cultivating concentration is that it must be consistent with the goal that the cultivation of concentration aims to achieve. What is the goal of cultivating concentration? It is to understand the principles and realize them, thereby opening wisdom. Therefore, the mind must be concentrated on the principles and dharmas one intends to understand, with every thought abiding in the dharma, single-mindedly devoted to the dharma being cultivated. Only in this way can one engage in focused deliberation (manasikāra), and finally, through deliberation, come to understand clearly, realize the dharma, and attain the wisdom of meditative absorption (samādhi). So the most crucial and primary concentration is the manas being fixed within the dharma, having the aspiration to realize the dharma, the aspiration to understand the principles, the aspiration for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the aspiration for investigation, and the aspiration for liberation. Only then can one engage in contemplative practice and investigation with single-minded focus. Once the direction of cultivating concentration is clear, the approach to cultivating concentration and cultivating the Path will be distinctly different from that of the non-Buddhist paths.

If the manas does not yet have these aspirations, it cannot be fixed upon the dharma being cultivated, and then meditative concentration cannot be successfully cultivated, because when the internal motivation is insufficient, external power of concentration cannot be developed. When the roots of goodness, merit, and conditions are all insufficient, and the great bodhi mind (bodhicitta) has not been generated, there will be no motivation, and one will be unable to break through the conditioning and limitations of one's environment, just like a silkworm bound by its cocoon. If the manas lacks motivation and cannot be fixed upon the dharma, meditative concentration will not be cultivated well, and contemplative practice will be ineffective. Those who cannot cultivate concentration well should examine themselves: have they generated the bodhi mind? Is their aspiration pure? Is there motivation within their minds? 

The concentration of the manas is first fixed upon the dharma, and only then can the mind consciousness be fixed upon the dharma without distraction, engaging in focused contemplative practice. Because the mind consciousness follows the manas, and the manas's baton is directing the mind consciousness at every moment, every instant—if the manas is not concentrated, waving the baton around aimlessly everywhere, the mind consciousness simply cannot be concentrated. Therefore, the most crucial aspect of meditative concentration is still to fix the manas. Once the manas is fixed, constantly mindful of the dharma, one will practice diligently with strong motivation, and the cultivation of meditative concentration will progress quickly. If the manas is fixed on the Four Noble Truths of the Small Vehicle, one will diligently cultivate and study the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment; if it is fixed on the prajñā wisdom of the Great Vehicle, one will diligently practice the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. Only when the manas diligently practices the Buddha's dharma can the mind consciousness be diligent; if the manas is lax, the mind consciousness cannot be diligent. When the manas is complete in the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, the mind consciousness will inevitably be complete as well.