{"LSI_no":"38","LSI_no_formatted":"0038","LSI_title":"0038\u3000\u8af8\u5927\u6559\u5178\u4e2d\u7684\u4fee\u5b9a\u65b9\u6cd5\uff08\u4e00\uff09","LSI_videoURL":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ch3eLP9yfTc","LSI_video_intro_offset":"16","LSI_LGL":{"3":{"LGL_id":"3","LGL_code":"en-CA","LGL_name":"EN","LSIL_title":"How the Classic Texts Teach Meditative Concentration (I)","LSIL_datetimeUpdatedLocal":"2022-02-17 13:10:21","LSIL_datetimeUpdatedLocal_formatted":"Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:10:21","LSIL_mainArticle":"
00:00<\/a><\/p>\r\n Hello, everyone! I am very happy that it is time for us to study the Great Treatise <\/em>together again. Have you been well over the past week? Last time, we finished studying the section on the \"meditative posture,\" which is mainly about the eight-point posture of Vairochana Buddha. Today, we will continue learning. Please open the Great Treatise<\/em>, to volume 3, the bottom of page 31. Let's look at the text: 00:40<\/a><\/p>\r\n In terms of the actual meditation process, most compositions on the stages of the path follow the perspective explained in Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes<\/em>, which is through the eight antidotes that eliminate the five faults. Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes <\/em>is one of the five major teachings that most venerated Maitreya gave to Asanga Bodhisattva\u2014known as the five major treatises of Maitreya. This treatise mentions something called the \"eight antidotes\". What are the eight antidotes? They are eight remedies for something. What are these eight remedies used for? They are meant to eliminate five kinds of faults that arise in the process of cultivating concentration\u2014five faults. So then, what are the five faults? They are: laziness\u2014laziness\u2014forgetting the instructions, laxity and excitement, non-application, and application. To eliminate these five faults, one should practice the eight antidotes. The eight antidotes are: confidence, yearning, effort, pliancy, mindfulness, vigilance, intention for application, and equanimity. 02:35<\/a><\/p>\r\n What is the first fault for the antidotes to clear away? It is laziness. It is remedied by confidence, yearning, effort, and pliancy, so the first four antidotes all target the first fault. Do you see that this is four against one? It should be a sure win! And then, the second fault is forgetting the instructions. One forgets! What can we remedy this with? It is with mindfulness. 03:08<\/a><\/p>\r\n The third fault is laxity and excitement\u2014mental laxity and excitement. What is their remedy? It is vigilance. Why are laxity and excitement remedied by vigilance? It is because when some people fall into mental laxity, they don't know it. They also do not notice when their mind has wandered off from the virtuous object of meditation. Therefore, when practicing concentration, we have to train our vigilance. We need to recognize when our mind is drifting off, or when our mental grasp of an object is dwindling in strength and becoming a little loose; or when our mind is not as engaged as before even if the object is still there\u2014this is where problems begin. Therefore, to counter laxity and excitement with vigilance is very much necessary because laxity and excitement make it impossible to achieve meditative concentration. 03:59<\/a><\/p>\r\n The fourth fault is non-application or lack of effort. It is remedied by the intent for application. The fifth fault is application, which is remedied by abiding in equanimity. For more about these topics, we will learn about them in detail in the future. Today, we will only introduce them in brief. 04:20<\/a><\/p>\r\n Many instructions passed down from Geshe Lak-sor-wa say in addition to this, that one must cultivate through what is taught in the Shravaka Levels<\/em>\u2014the \"six powers,\" \"four kinds of attention,\" and \"nine mental states.\" Regarding Geshe Lak-sor-wa, he is one of the main disciples of the eminent translator Nag-tso. Master Nag-tso is the author of the Eighty Verses of Praise for Master Atisha<\/em>. For a long time, he was Master Atisha's translator. Geshe Lak-sor-wa was an erudite scholar versed in the five areas of knowledge. He studied under many teachers in the Ka-dam-pa tradition[1]<\/sup><\/a>. He sought to receive the lineage teachings of Master Atisha, so he went to study under Master Nag-tso, who bestowed him with many teachings of both sutra and tantra, and told him about the life and deeds of Master Atisha. Later on, Geshe Lak-sor-wa's students would record these teachings in text form. 05:16<\/a><\/p>\r\n So, in the instructions passed down from Geshe Lak-sor-wa, it is said that one must apply the six powers, four kinds of attention, and nine mental states while practicing. What are all these respectively? First, let's look at the six powers. For the six powers, can you guess what the first one is? Surprisingly, it is actually the \"power of hearing\"! Yes, it is hearing, as in hearing the teachings\u2014the power of hearing. What is the second power, then? After the first one, I wonder if you guessed the second one right. It is the \"power of contemplation\", or \"reflection.\" After hearing and contemplating, what power comes next? Let's think further\u2014Oh, it is the \"power of recollection,\" or \"mindfulness.\" Then are the powers of \"vigilance,\" \"joyous perseverance,\" and \"conditioning,\" or, \"familiarization.\" Let me repeat: the powers of hearing, contemplation, recollection or mindfulness, vigilance, joyous perseverance, and conditioning\u2014six of them. What are they? They are the six powers. 06:12<\/a><\/p>\r\n Next are the four types of attention: \"tight focus,\" \"intermittent focus,\" \"uninterrupted focus,\" and \"spontaneous focus.\" These are the four types of attention, What else are there? The nine mental states\u2014What are the nine mental states? They are \"mental placement,\" \"continuous placement,\" \"patched placement,\" \"close placement,\" \"taming,\" \"pacification,\" \"complete pacification,\" \"one-pointed attention,\" and \"balanced placement.\" Regarding the six powers, four attentions, and nine mental states, once we reach those later sections, we will learn about each of them in detail. Now, let's continue reading: 06:57<\/a><\/p>\r\n This great scholar by the name of Yon-den-drak\u2014or \"Renown of Good Qualities\"\u2014is a teacher we are familiar with. This is actually Master Sha-ra-wa.[2]<\/sup><\/a> In his own Stages of the Path<\/em>\u2014or Lamrim<\/em>[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u2014he teaches about the four kinds of attention as encompassing the methods for the nine mental states; as well as the six faults and their eight antidotes. In many great classic texts, such as the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras<\/em>, Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes<\/em>, as well as Sage Asanga's Levels of Yogic Deeds<\/em>, Master Kamalashila's three Stages of Meditation<\/em>, and so on, all these teachings which explain the methods for practicing meditative stabilization teach the four attentions, nine mental states, and eight antidotes as the method for all meditative concentration. Here, for the \"six faults\" mentioned, do you remember what the faults are? They are laziness, forgetting the object of meditation[4]<\/sup><\/a>, mental laxity, excitement, non-application, and application. If we treat laxity and excitement as one fault, then these become the \"five faults\" discussed earlier in Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes<\/em>. Whether \"five faults\" or \"six faults,\" they only differ in terms of how the faults are grouped, but the actual contents are identical. 09:08<\/a><\/p>\r\n It says here that if one first abides in the preconditions for concentration, and then diligently practices with these methods above\u2014note this!\u2014one \"will definitely attain concentration.\" Let me say it again: If one first abides in the preconditions for concentration, and then diligently practices with these methods above, one \"will definitely attain concentration\"! This part once again emphasizes the importance of the preconditions. Then, the passage says that there are many contemporary instructions on meditative stabilization which are said to be very profound, but which do not even mention the names of those methods. If one does not meet the preconditions for serenity, and does not have these methods, then even if one spends significant time and effort meditating and cultivating, we still cannot say that one will achieve concentration! 10:08<\/a><\/p>\r\n After citing Master Yon-den-drak's Stages of the Path, he then says: 10:14<\/a><\/p>\r\n This says: what Master Sha-ra-wa says here are words that reflect an uncontaminated final understanding of how the great classic texts teach the methods to cultivate meditative concentration, so it is a pure, uncontaminated instruction, something that we can safely rely on as we cultivate meditative concentration. 10:40<\/a><\/p>\r\n Do you see that Master Tsong-kha-pa is once again helping us determine the correct preconditions and methods for cultivating meditative concentration? For methods of practice that lack a basis in the lineage teachings, no matter how wonderful and awe-inspiring they may sound\u2014without support from the scriptural sources\u2014they cannot be relied upon. All in all, if we can obtain the authentic perspectives contained in the great classic texts about meditative concentration, fulfill the preconditions for serenity, and follow their methods in our practice, we will definitely achieve great meditative concentration! And this is what we are doing now: listening to the authentic lineage teachings; so, let us all make an aspiration to achieve this wonderful meditative concentration! Thank you, everyone! 11:32<\/a><\/p>\r\nHow to Develop Concentration, As Explained by Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes<\/em> and by Geshe Lak-sor-wa<\/h2>\r\n
How to Develop Meditative Concentration, As Explained by Master Sha-ra-wa<\/h2>\r\n
Reference: The Great Treatise <\/em>Passage Studied<\/h2>\r\n