..續本文上一頁mind still isn”t firm, go on to consider mental fashionings: What issues are your thoughts forming at the moment: past or future

　　 Are your thoughts running in a good direction or bad

　　 About issues outside the body and mind, or inside

　　 Leading to peace of mind or to restlessness

　　 Make yourself constantly alert, and once you”re aware of the act of mental fashioning, you”ll see that all thinking is fleeting, stressful, and not-self. Focus your thoughts down on the body and mind, and then let go of all aspects of thinking, fixing your attention on a single preoccupation.

　　If the mind still doesn”t settle down, though, consider consciousness next: What, at the moment, are you cognizant of — things within or without

　　 Past, present, or future

　　 Good or bad

　　 Worthwhile or worthless

　　 Make yourself constantly alert. Once your powers of reference and alertness are constant, you”ll see immediately that all acts of consciousness are fleeting, stressful, and not-self. Then focus on the absolute present, being aware of the body and mind. Whatever appears in the body, focus on it. Whatever appears in the mind, focus on just what appears. Keep your attention fixed until the mind becomes firm, steady, and still in a single preoccupation — either as momentary concentration, threshold concentration, or fixed penetration — so as to form a basis for liberating insight.

　　Thus for concentration or steadiness of mind to arise in a fully developed form and to be firmly maintained depends on the sort of internal exercises mentioned here, dealing with the body, feelings, labels, mental fashionings, and acts of consciousness. These are the foods of concentration. The four frames of reference (satipatthana) are its guardian nurses. Whoever wants his or her concentration to be strong should nourish it well. Once the mind has been properly nourished and put into shape, it can be put to effective use.

　　This ends the discussion of the fourth topic.

　　5. The fifth question — -"What is the essence of concentration

　　" — can be answered as follows: Concentration means for the mind to be firmly intent. To be firmly intent can mean either (a) intent on a mental prop or preoccupation, which is termed appana jhana, fixed absorption; or (b) intent exclusively on the mind itself, which is termed appana citta, the fixed mind. The mind that”s intent forms the essence of concentration.

　　If we were to put this another way, we could make a distinction between cetana samadhi, concentration that is intent on concentration, and cetana-virati samadhi, concentration that is intent on abstinence. In cetana samadhi, the mind has cut itself off from external preoccupations through the power of concentration. In cetana-virati samadhi, the mind is set on finding a technique for letting go of all preoccupations, both within and without. Cetana samadhi means to be focused directly on the mind. In other words, the mind doesn”t think of using any other way to straighten itself out. Simply focusing down is enough to repress the defilements, because we all are bound to have defilements intermixed in our minds, and the very mind that has defilements can cure the mind of its defilements, without having to look for any other means — just like using heat to cure heat, cold to cure cold, or wind to cure wind.

　　For example, suppose a man is slightly singed by a small flame, but then is burned by a glowing ember or lantern flame: The pain from the first burn will disappear. Or suppose you feel a little chilly and have to wrap yourself up in a blanket: If you then get exposed to a bitter cold winter wind, you”ll feel that the slight chill you had earlier didn”t warrant getting wrapped up in a blanket at all. As for an example of wind curing wind: Suppose a person suffers a slight disorder of the internal …

《The Craft of the Heart - Concentration: Questions & Answers》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…