The Supreme Concentration

So again, everyone, he puts his own twist on it. The supreme concentration is not altering the mind. So again, when people are learning shamatha meditation, that is this karma-biding meditation where we learn how to focus on a single object, then again, that is this concentration, learning how to concentrate on a single object. The temptation is to be in control, because we're talking about controlling the mind, mastering the mind. So it gives the idea of keeping everything on a leash. But it's not that either. It's not changing the mind in the sense of keeping the mind constrained and tight and focused. It's about leaving the mind in its natural state, but knowing it. We are not trying to change it in that way. I mean, it's a very subtle point, because it doesn't mean that we don't do anything. But if we constrain the mind too much, keep it in a straitjacket. You must not think these thoughts. You must only think these thoughts. You must not wander. You have to stay focused. Then eventually, it's going to be like a volcano erupting, because for a time, we can keep the mind straitjacketed and think we're being very, very good practitioners. But in the end, the mind will go. And we'll say, well, what happened? I was being so good. So the way to deal with the mind is to allow the mind to be. But at the same time, we focus with awareness, not trying to change the mind and make the mind something which we have already pre-arranged with our egocentric consciousness. This is how I should be thinking, because it's not true. We are just pretending to be spiritual people. I'm ever so spiritual, so I never lose my temper. It's not like that. I mean, to my mind, the most spiritual people I know are the most ordinary outwardly. The ones who are out looking ever so spiritual are the ones one would be suspicious of, because they're playing a role. So with our mind also, we should not try to make it into some kind of pre-ordained shape that we think is what is expected of us. We should be honest. And the change should come from within, not from constrain and from without. Am I making sense here? So when we meditate, even when we're trying to concentrate, it should be from a mind which is very open and spacious and relaxed. But within that open spacious relaxation comes attention and awareness. But it doesn't constrain the mind. The mind just stays how it is. All those thoughts in the background, let them be. We're not trying to stop thinking. We are not trying to stop thinking. The thoughts are not the problem. Natural to think. The problem is that we are swept along by our thoughts, and that we identify with our thoughts. That's the problem. The thoughts are not the problem. So we're not trying to stop something. We're not trying to constrain our mind. We're not trying to, every time a thought comes up, boom. You can do that. And for a time, the mind can be silent. But then it will explode again. That's not the point. The point is not to be swept along by the thoughts, not to identify with the thoughts. And eventually, by observing the thoughts, very relaxedly sitting back and watching them, we recognize they're essentially empty nature.

They're not solid. They're not real. They're just thoughts. But, so then the mind stays natural. It's not contrived. We're not trying to create some special state inside of ourselves. We're trying to look inside and see what is actually just going on there. We're not trying to change what's going on there. We're trying to understand it and then gradually go deeper and deeper and deeper into what is already there, but finally becoming more conscious of what is there. So we don't have to alter anything. We just have to know it. Does that make sense? Do you understand what I'm saying? Otherwise, we try to fit our poor little mind into preconceived shapes and forms, which is not its true nature. It's not how it really is. The mind is vast. So therefore, he is saying, supreme concentration is not altering the mind. It's not trying to change the mind or constrain the mind or in any way twist the mind around to fit in with our preconceptions of how the mind should be. Basically, we just have to observe the mind, not censor it. The mind will self-censor as we begin to observe the thoughts. The thoughts themselves will look at themselves and think, oh, that's pretty dumb. They will begin to clean themselves up, but we don't have to do that. They will do that. Our minds will begin to run more smoothly by themselves. We don't have to make it do it for them. The mind itself adjusts itself. All we have to do is know.