The Faculty and Strength of Concentration

Week of May 29, 2005 – The Faculty and Strength of Concentration

The faculty and strength of concentration is the fourth set of Faculties and Strengths. They are the basic foundation for all practices and cultivation, especially for the attainment of Wisdom. The faculty and strength of concentration is vital for our cultivation in order for us to advance.

This faculty and strength of concentration is different from the Third Base of Miraculous Powers: the miraculous power of concentration. The miraculous power is a natural by-product of and a yardstick of our cultivation, whereas the faculty of concentration is a natural ability within us that can be cultivated into the strength of concentration.

It is related in particular to the following Aids of Enlightenment:
1) The Four Bases of Miraculous Power: Desire, Effort, Concentration, and Wisdom.
2) Rapture as a Factor of Awakening – rejoicing in the truth
3) Serenity as a Factor of Awakening – attainment of pliancy
4) Concentration as a Factor of Awakening
5) Equanimity as a Factor of Awakening – detachment of all thoughts from external things
6) Right Concentration of the Eightfold Path.

In the beginning stage, we cultivate the faculty of concentration by practicing “The Five-fold Procedures for Quieting the Mind” and “The Four Bases of Mindfulness”. These practices help us to develop and strengthen our faculty of concentration. Concentration (Shamatha/Samatha) and Contemplation/Discernment (Vipassana/Vipasyana) are the two wings that are required for the attainment of Wisdom (Prajna).

There are basically two kinds of concentration: Shamatha and Samadhi.

Shamatha means concentration, calmness, and tranquility. As defined in the Hua Yen Glossary: the purpose of Shamatha meditation is to attain deep concentration by focusing the mind on a single object. The result of Shamatha meditation is a state of happiness achieved through the attainment of some kind of deep concentration such as absorption (dhyana) or access concentration (upacara-samadhi), but by itself it does not enable us to rightly understand mental and physical phenomena as they really are. A Shamatha meditator usually takes some specific physical object, symbol or mental image as the object of meditation.

Samadhi refers to deep concentration of mind, which, in turn, gives rise to insight wisdom (Prajna). It is the application of concentration and insight in daily life; applied meditation.

Generally speaking, the strength of Shamatha can be developed through meditation and physical practices; for example sitting meditation, walking meditation, writing out of the Sutra. The strength of Samadhi is developed through contemplation, raising of existential doubts, being wholeheartedly and skillfully mindful. “The Chapter on Purifying Practice in the Hua Yen Sutra” is a good starting point for the learning of Samadhi.

The strength of concentration is particularly important for the transformation of the matter elements of the Five Aggregates. The Five Aggregates (or Five Skandhas) are the five components of an intelligent being, especially a human being. The Five Aggregates are: 1) Matter (Rupa); 2) Feeling (Vedana); 3) Perception (Sanjna); 4) Volition, (Samskara); 5) Consciousness (Vijnana).

Matter or materiality is the physical form related to the five organs of sense. The four great essentials - earth element, water element, fire element and wind element – are the primary material elements. Of the Five Aggregates, matter is not as easy to transform as Perception and Feeling. The strength of concentration assists one to transform the matter element of the Five Aggregates into Primordial Awareness of Dharmadhatu (Dharmadhatu Wisdom).

In the physical aspect, concentration helps us to transform the four elements of our body. This transformation is essential for the attainment of the Jhanas (Mental absorption). In the mental aspect, concentration facilitates contemplation; both, in turn, lead to the attainment of Wisdom.

Cultivate your faculty of Concentration and keep on Practicing!