Training in Tranquil Abiding

Perfect concentration is given a special name in the Kadampa Buddhist tradition, “tranquil abiding”. It can be really helpful just to think about that term because it indicates the nature of concentration – otherwise, in our society, “concentration” may be associated less with tranquility and abiding than with tension and hard work. This probably goes back to our school days or something, when the teacher would order us, “Concentrate!”, and we’d have to scrunch our brows. Perhaps we still do that in our meditation practice: “I have brought the meditation object to mind and now the teacher is saying, “Concentrate!”, so here I am getting all tight and tense again.”

Essentially, when we develop tranquil abiding, our mind is completely under our command. We can simply place our mind on whatever we want. So let’s say we place it on a feeling of joy in our heart that has arisen from a breathing meditation – with concentration there’s no grasping, there’s no clutching, there’s no tension … we’re just there. We’re just abiding tranquilly – or tranquilly abiding – serenely, utterly peacefully, with that joy in our heart. Because of this we experience a total absorption into that wonderful state of mind such that it pervades us, and such that it changes us.

Jan 15: What is tranquil abiding?
Jan 22: Obstacles & opponents
Jan 29: The nine mental abidings