Eastern Meditation and Concentration
Access concentration is so named by the Elders because it develops enough steadiness of heart and mind to give us meditative entry to higher realms. From this access concentration, we can expand the self, level by level, refining consciousness to attain the eight levels of absorption and oneness with extraordinary states of luminous consciousness. Expanding the self into refined realms of absorption allows us to enter visionary states, including the six realms of existence, states of celestial lights and feelings, and rarefied states of consciousness even beyond these.
Path to Enlightenment
Noblification (Finding Virtue), bare attention, concentration, and insights are the necessary ingredients for achieving enlightenment in Eastern meditation. Remember the example of learning to bike? Meditation and achieving concentration are very similar to learning how to bike. When we initially attain concentration, we may feel shaky and strongly focused but occasionally unsteady and distracted by things in the background. Through continued repetition and patience, we gain balance in this state. Through repeated surrender to this experience, we learn to nurture and sustain a focused level of concentrated attention that leads to extraordinary states of luminous consciousness. Our body experiences a rapture that fills every cell, an enormous sense of peace and well-being arises, and an oceanic sense of wholeness and rest can envelop our consciousness.
The Influence of Fear
We discussed the left side of the illustration as a vicious circle. To dislodge the left side, we need more analysis. Fear is an important part of the left side. Whenever we feel a negative impact or the influence of negativity, fear is aroused inside our consciousness. This is the same as the voice of blame, judgment, or even fear itself.
“Will I fail?” “Will I make a fool of myself?” Fear could be the very essence of being on the left side. The main essence of fear is separation and isolation. Separation from what? Separation and isolation are the true opposite of unification, which is the highest form of achievement we are promoting here. So, could it be true that the concept of separation is the main cause of all problems? Separation from what? This question can be debated for months: Separation of body and mind? Separation from God? Separation from each other? Separation from who and what?
Based on this analysis, we can show several concepts that can melt the left side of our main illustration. Keeping fear suppressed is the most damaging thing you can do to your consciousness.
Separation of Body and Mind
Unification of mind and body, a state of perfect mental and physical equilibrium and inner harmony, will lead to self-realization. We spoke of unification theory. The most interesting type is the unification of mind and body, which is the goal of Eastern meditation techniques.
Why achieve it?
Here is what Dr. Bhante H. Gunaratana says in his book Mindfulness in Plain English: “We can truly understand the meaning of the famous metaphor of the blind man who has a healthy body and the disabled person who has good eyes. Both of them alone are limited. But when the disabled person climbs on the shoulders of the blind man, together they can travel and achieve their goals easily. The mind and body are like this. The body alone can do nothing for itself; it is like a log, unable to move or do anything by itself except become subject to impermanence, decay, and death. The mind can do nothing without the support of the body. When we mindfully watch both body and mind, we can see how many wonderful things they do together.”
When the unification of body and mind is achieved, the feelings are very strong. The mind can almost achieve anything. Your mind can imagine riding the winds, being anywhere on the moon, or anywhere in the vast infinite space. However, the body cannot. What if you could unify the body with the mind? Then the body can also feel whatever the mind is feeling or imagining. This is the essence of achieving unification of the body and mind through meditation.
Zen Master Lieh-tzu’s Account
The Zen Master, Professor D. T. Suzuki, was once asked how it feels to have attained satori, the Zen experience of “awakening.” He answered, “Just like ordinary everyday experience, except about two inches off the ground!” When asked to explain the art of riding on the wind, Lieh-tzu gave the following account of his training under his master, Lao Shang: “After I had served him for three years, my mind did not venture to reflect on right and wrong, and my lips did not venture to speak of profit and loss. Then, for the first time, my master bestowed one glance upon me, and that was all. At the end of five years, a change had taken place; my mind was reflecting on right and wrong, and my lips were speaking of profit and loss. Then, for the first time, my master relaxed his countenance and smiled. At the end of seven years, there was another change. I let my mind reflect on what it would do, but it no longer occupied itself with right and wrong. I let my lips utter whatever they pleased, but they no longer spoke of profit and loss. Then, at last, my master led me in to sit on the mat beside him. At the end of nine years, my mind gave free rein to its reflections, and my mouth gave free passage to its speech. Of right and wrong, profit and loss, I had no knowledge, either of myself or others. Internal and external were blended into unity. After that, there was no distinction between eye and ear, ear and nose, or nose and mouth; all were the same. My mind was frozen, my body was in dissolution, and my flesh and bones all melted together. I was wholly unconscious of what my body was resting on or what was under my feet. I was borne this way and that, like dry chaff or leaves falling from a tree. In fact, I did not know whether the wind was riding on me or on me.”
Zen Master Chuang-tzu’s Principles of Mental Hygiene
“The baby looks at things all day without winking; that is because his eyes are not focused on any particular object. He goes without knowing where he is going, and he stops without knowing what he is doing. He merges himself with the surroundings and moves along with them. These are the principles of mental hygiene. If you regulate your body and unify your attention, the harmony of heaven will come upon you. If you integrate your awareness and unify your thoughts, spirit will make its abode with you. Te (virtue) will clothe you, and the Tao will shelter you. Your eyes will be like those of a newborn calf, which seek not the why.”
Confucian Principle
“It is man who makes truth great, not truth which makes man great.”
What is Really Achieved?
Dr. Bhante H. Gunaratana, in Mindfulness in Plain English, says: “Mindfulness alone has the power to reveal the deepest level of reality available to human observation. At this level of inspection, one sees the following: (a) all conditioned things are inherently transitory; (b) every worldly thing is, in the end, unsatisfying; and (c) there are really no entities that are unchanging or permanent, only processes. Mindfulness works like an electron microscope. It operates on such a fine level that one can actually directly perceive those realities that are at best theoretical constructs of the conscious thought process. Mindfulness sees the impermanent character of every perception. It sees the transitory and passing nature of everything that is perceived. It also sees the inherently unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned things. It sees that there is no point in grabbing onto any of these passing shows; peace and happiness cannot be found that way. And finally, mindfulness sees the inherent selflessness of all phenomena. It sees the way we have arbitrarily selected a certain bundle of perceptions, chopped them off from the rest of the surging flow of experience, and then conceptualized them as separate, enduring entities. Mindfulness actually sees these things. It does not think about them; it sees them directly.”
Philip Kapleau, in The Three Pillars of Zen, says: “With body and mind consolidated, focused, and energized, the emotions respond with increased sensitivity and purity, and volition exerts itself with greater strength of purpose. No longer are we dominated by intellect at the expense of feeling, nor are we driven by emotions unchecked by reason or will. Eventually, zazen leads to a transformation of personality and character. Dryness, rigidity, and self-centeredness give way to flowing warmth, resiliency, and compassion, while self-indulgence and fear are transmuted into self-mastery and courage.”
The Aims of Zazen
The aims of zazen are threefold: (1) development of the power of concentration (joriki); (2) satori-awakening (kensho-godo); and (3) actualization of the Supreme Way in our daily lives (mujodo no taigeh). These three form an inseparable unity, but for discussion, I will address them individually.
Joriki
Joriki is the power or strength that arises when the mind has been unified and brought to one-pointedness in zazen concentration. This is more than the ability to concentrate in the usual sense of the word. It is a dynamic power that, once mobilized, enables us even in sudden and unexpected situations to act instantly, without pausing to collect our wits, and in a manner wholly appropriate to the circumstances. Those who have developed joriki are no longer slaves to their passions. More fully in command of both themselves and their circumstances, such people move with real freedom and equanimity. The cultivation of certain supranormal powers is also made possible by joriki, as is the state in which the mind becomes clear, still water. (p.54)