The Benefits of Meditative Concentration

Question: When sitting in meditation observing the breath coming in and going out, eventually only the thought of observing remains, without observing the in-and-out breath. I entered samādhi for about an hour. Is this appropriate?

Answer: The observing is the perceiving-aspect (darśana-bhāga), and the observed is the object-aspect (nimitta). As long as there is an observer, there is something observed; the result of observing is called self-cognition (svasaṃvitti). If there is observing in the mind but no breath, then some other object-aspect must exist; otherwise, one has entered the samādhi of the second dhyāna.

The purpose of observing the breath is to gather the mind, to fix the mind in one place—first to attain meditative concentration, and second to give rise to the wisdom of contemplation, so as to realize the Dharma. If there is no breath within the observation, yet the observing is very good and the mind is very concentrated, a certain goal has been achieved, and there is nothing wrong with that. When the power of concentration is very good, you can then move the mind back to observing the breath, continuing to observe the breath in order to realize that the breath arises, ceases, and changes—it is impermanent, not self, and not belonging to self.

No matter what kind of meditative concentration it is—whether the concentration of non-Buddhists or the concentration of those within the Path—gathering the mind is the discipline; just take it and use it. After the mind is gathered and held, then engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the Buddha's Dharma within samādhi—there is nothing blameworthy in this. The four dhyānas and eight samādhis that the Buddha cultivated were precisely the concentrations of non-Buddhists; then, within the fourth dhyāna, He contemplated the Buddha's Dharma and realized anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Without the four dhyānas and eight samādhis shared with non-Buddhists, no Buddha could attain buddhahood, and ordinary beings could not realize bodhi and become bodhisattvas. It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white; as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat.

Cultivating concentration is for the sake of the wisdom of contemplative practice; with the wisdom of contemplative practice, one can realize the Buddha's Dharma and give rise to great wisdom. There is no need to care about what kind of concentration or how to concentrate—as long as the mind settles down, it is good. It is certainly better than the ordinary person's monkey mind that grasps at objects everywhere. Set your goal, head toward it, and do not worry about whether you travel by water, land, or dry road—as long as it is a direct route, that is fine.

The material body of a non-Buddhist is the same as the material body of a Buddhist learner; the mind of a Buddhist is the same as the mind of a non-Buddhist who does not study Buddhism. If the purpose is to subdue the mind, then secular psychology and physiology apply equally to Buddhist learners. Subduing and taming the mind is what matters.

Cultivating concentration is for the sake of contemplative practice, and contemplative practice is for the sake of giving rise to wisdom. Giving rise to wisdom does not depend on the duration of an hour. If you can enter a mindless samādhi for an hour without deliberation, but after emerging from samādhi your body and mind feel refreshed and the experience is extraordinary—throughout the day your body feels comfortable, your mood is pleasant, afflictions do not arise, your thinking is keen, your reactions are quick, you handle people and affairs with wisdom, you have cultivation and refinement, and your character improves—what is there not to enjoy? Meditative concentration is precisely for taming the body, mind, and world, for elevating one's character and cultivation—it both nourishes the mind and nourishes the Path. What is there not to enjoy?