The Six Paramitas - Meditative Concentration
- rklabuddhistcenter
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Kyohei Mikawa
Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles
It's already Friday. Today let us explore the fifth element of the Buddha's teaching of the Six Paramitas: meditative concentration. As we learned on Monday, the first practice in this teaching is generosity, which is supported by the other three elements: ethical discipline, patience, and diligence. Through the practice of generosity supported by these elements, the fifth and sixth paramitas naturally unfold: meditative concentration and wisdom.
According to Ani's The End of Suffering, the practice of meditation reveals the “still mind” (p.113). This mind is “not a blank mind” (p.113). Rather, “[i]t is awake, spacious, and aware. It no longer rushes to react or chase after thoughts. In this stillness, we see more clearly that much of our suffering is not caused by life itself, but by our controlling behavior as a result of our attachments and cravings. With the cessation of our resistance to how things are, peace arises naturally” (p.113).
The attainment of this mind offers a remarkable experience of peace. Ani explains that this peaceful mind “cannot be disturbed because it is no longer dependent on anything outside of ourselves. We are not invested in worldly concerns from a personal agenda” (p.113).
How can we attain it? Ani further explains: “Meditation does not make this peace appear. It simply removes what obscures it. This presence is waiting beneath the noise of our mind and the world” (p.113).
I was struck by this explanation: the mind of unconditional peace is not something we add, but something revealed when what obscures it is removed. This suggests that peace is the inherent nature of our minds. No matter how miserable I may feel at times, or how unenlightened someone may appear, the original quality of everyone's mind is equal to the mind of the Buddha. Our culture may teach us that we are not good enough, But Buddhism teaches each of us is inherently good.
This reminds me how often Ani said during our retreat that our buddha-nature unfolds through practice—through meditation, recitation, generosity, and other forms of cultivation.
My practice of meditative concentration tonight is simple: I will try to maintain peace of mind while attempting to fix RKLA’s broken Epson inkjet printer, which is currently printing only blank pages.
Normally, a small technical problem like this can easily make me impatient or frustrated. Today, however, I will treat it as an opportunity to practice meditative concentration and observe whether my mind can remain calm and spacious even in the middle of a mundane task.
Tomorrow morning, when we explore the final element of the Six Paramitas—wisdom—I will let you know how it goes.