..续本文上一页exclusive, though can be understood in still another sense: General concentration means concentration that can be focused on any of your postures — sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. Exclusive concentration has nothing to do with your posture, but is done exclusively in the heart: You focus attention solely on the in-and-out breath, without getting involved in actions or speech; your attention is directed solely to the activities of the mind.
b. With regard to its levels, there are three kinds of concentration: momentary (khanika), threshold (upacara), and fixed (appana).
Momentary concentration can arise when you”re intent on your work or when you see a visual object, hear a sound, smell an aroma, taste a flavor, when the body comes into contact with a tactile sensation, or a mental notion arises to the mind — as when you become firm in your repetition of buddho. When the mind becomes still for a moment under conditions like these, this is classed as momentary concentration. Momentary concentration is like a person ping down into a pond and then climbing up onto the bank when he resurfaces.
Threshold concentration: When you practice mindfulness immersed in the body (kayagatasati), mentally scrutinizing the parts of the body until you are struck by the fact that they are filthy and repulsive, simply compounds of the four physical properties of earth, water, fire, and wind: Thinking in this way is termed vitakka; to come to this sort of realization is termed vicara. The mind will then come to a halt, still and at ease for a short period, and then withdraw, like a person who pes down into a pond, resurfaces, and then swims around for a while before climbing up onto the bank. This is called threshold concentration because it comes on the verge of fixed penetration.
Fixed penetration: The mind is steady and firmly concentrated — paying no attention at all to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or tactile sensations — being completely absorbed in a single mental notion. It takes shelter in a subtle preoccupation (arammana), and so is able to hide away from the five hindrances, although it can”t yet kill them off absolutely. Even so, this is still termed fixed penetration because it can be entered for long periods of time, like a person who pes down to the bottom of a pond, resurfaces, and then swims around in all four directions (the four levels of jhana).
All three of these levels of concentration are classed as general. They”re practiced all over the world. The only form of concentration particular to Buddhism is transcendent concentration. Viewed from this standpoint, the forms of concentration are only two: mundane and transcendent. Mundane concentration is further pided into two sorts: that which is accompanied by the hindrances, and that which is accompanied by the discernment of liberating insight (vipassana). Transcendent concentration is also pided into two sorts: that which has abandoned the five lower fetters (sanyojana) but is still accompanied by a number of the hindrances; and that which is accompanied by the realization of liberating insight, eradicating all the hindrances.
The three levels of concentration (momentary, threshold, and fixed) form the basis of discernment. Both mundane and transcendent discernment have to depend on one or another of these three levels of concentration, but concentration is not what constitutes Awakening. Awakening is accomplished by discernment. If discernment is lacking, no amount of concentration, however great, can lead to Awakening.
Once you have attained concentration, the arising of discernment can depend on one of two factors: an experienced friend makes a suggestion that sparks a realization of the opening leading onto discernment; or external events — sights, sounds, sm…
《The Craft of the Heart - Concentration: Questions & Answers》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…