..续本文上一页, to get as close as you can to it and the more you do that the greater the concentration and tranquillity will be.

　　You can read all sorts of books on how to practise mindfulness of breathing but it is just something you have to find your own way with, and experiment with. Regular practice is very important because the skill is cultivated through repetition, learning from each meditation period. Sometimes you are peaceful, sometimes restless, but just keep going. Tranquillity meditation is quite simple, it simplifies the mind and focuses the attention.

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　　It is the same with walking meditation. Use the touch of the feet or the movement of the legs as your focus of attention. It is a very concrete thing with a beginning and an end to focus on. Begin to simplify, to move away from the world of thinking, projecting and complexity to the world of now, this moment, this body. Walking just one step at a time. Training the mind gently and firmly requires awareness and patience. If we have expectations and no patience we will soon become disheartened. The Buddha said that it is easier to go into battle single handed against a thousand enemies armed to the teeth and to conquer them a thousand times than it is to conquer one”s own mind. It”s not that difficult, but the Buddha did want to stress that it is a difficult thing to do. It requires a great deal of patience.

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　　To develop this foundation of concentration and clarity is important as it gives emotional stability and the ability to cut through all the doubt, foolishness and obsessiveness of the mind. When the mind is centred and in a state of clarity and stillness it is a very powerful and useful tool. The Buddha said that a well-trained mind is the most useful thing and the untrained mind the most dangerous thing to have. An untrained mind causes a lot of trouble to oneself and others, so begin by dedicating quite a lot of time and patience to the cultivation of concentration. Develop a good foundation in concentration by practising, sharpening the attention, and repeating this practice of tranquillity meditation in the morning and at night.

　　What is the purpose of concentrating the mind

　　 Is it just to experience a blissful state

　　 Obviously there is more to it than that. In Buddhism we say that concentration is only one part; there is also morality and wisdom. Wisdom is the most important, but not in the sense of knowledge. It”s not what we can hear from someone else, read in a book or think out ourselves, but wisdom in the sense of really understanding the nature of experience. This is why it is so important to have a well-trained mind, sharp and clear, with the ability to be collected and look directly at the experience. A clear mind can look so directly, intensely and so penetratingly that we can see through experience and see it for what it really is. What is the quality of mind that we need for reflection

　　 It is the mind that is still, empty, but fully awake; what we call "bare awareness". We practise Samatha meditation so we can bring the mind into this state of calmness and stillness. When we sit meditation and concentrate on the breath, even if we let go of the breath, we can just be still and when the mind is silent there is this knowing, this awareness of the present. Now it is good if we can stabilize that awareness even if we start with only a few moments. Venerable Ajahn Sumedho says, "To listen to the silence of the mind". So what Samatha meditation does is to give stability to the mind so that we can stay in that alert state of knowing and emptiness for longer and longer periods.

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　　The Buddha said that this thing I call "me" is made up of the body, feeling, perceptions, concepts and consciousness. These are the five aggregates that make up a human being. These are…

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