Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [155]
—FROM THE DHAMMAPADA
(SAYINGS OF THE Buddha),
translated by JUAN MASCARO
The Buddha said that he experienced indescribable bliss, rapture, peace, and transcendence through concentration and that you can too. Right Concentration, the final step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path, involves more than the simple act of focusing. After all, a cat is able to focus unwaveringly on a mouse hole for hours. Right Concentration implies a unification of spiritual intentionality, focus, mental discipline, energy, and attention. In Right Concentration we skillfully collect and harness all of our energy so that every part of our being is integrated and focused, working together toward our goal of enlightenment. Once you have arrived at this point, concentration in this sense is not forced, restricted, or fixated, but instead rests naturally where it is placed.
Learning how to practice Right Concentration is a little like finding your balance. Remember when you were a child and someone taught you how to ride a bicycle. At first it seemed impossible, and all you could do was wobble and hope for the best. Then eventually you caught on, and the balance became an integral part of you. The same thing is true of concentration.
Buddha taught that in order to concentrate we need a combination of Right Effort and Right Mindfulness. Concentration thus integrates all of the factors and aspects of mindful awareness into a coherent and vividly present, functioning whole. Right Concentration involves recollection, remindfulness, vigilance, alertness, and perseverance; it thus brings us full circle back to the wisdom of Right View and authentic understanding.
ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION
Many years ago, a Zen master was on her deathbed. All the monks, nuns, and disciples respectfully came to ask for her final word. “What,” they questioned, “is your final instruction to us? What did you learn in your life? What is the secret of Zen?” She just said one word, “Attention.”
The disciples weren’t satisfied. They wanted a death poem, a meaningful story, or a wisdom sutra. So they asked again, “What is the most essential secret? What’s the main practice? What’s Buddha?”
And again, she answered, “Attention.”
The disciples became confused. It still wasn’t enough. They wanted her to say more, like “pay attention to your teacher,” or “pay attention to the Buddha and the Dharma.” So they asked again.
“Before you breathe your last, tell us what to do with attention. Tell us what is the essence, how to meet the Buddha?”
You know what she said. “Attention.”
Simone Weil defined prayer as “absolutely unmixed attention.” This definition works for concentration and meditation as well. It means being totally in the moment and aware of it, at one with everything and at peace with yourself. These are precious moments. We’ve all had momentary glimpses of what this sense of “oneness” can be. Perhaps when we are playing with a child or grandchild. Perhaps when we are playing with a dog or cat. Many of us have had the experience of listening to music and suddenly feeling a sense of everything coming together. Instead of listening to the music for a brief moment, we are the music. Some people feel that same degree of concentrated oneness during orgasm. These moments feel perfect because we are perfectly, unself-consciously present, focused, and aware—with all the parts in agreement. Suddenly everything feels just right. The right person in the right place at the right time.
When natural concentration unites with the heart of non-dual awareness it achieves a oneness and completeness in which everything fits together. We don’t feel scattered; we are not caught up in many disjointed activities and thoughts. We are there. There is no separation between self and other, between man and God, between heaven and earth. This is what mystics describe as the joining of heaven and earth, the union of the sacred and mundane. Concentration and meditative awareness implies coming home to that and getting used to being there, naturally. One has arrived at last.