Three Aspects Of Concentration & The Simile Of The Goldsmith

Shaila Catherine shares the "Discourse of the Buddha" (AN 3:101), where he employs the simile of a goldsmith to teach skillful ways to deepen concentration. From time to time, meditators adjust the quality of attention to periodically increase calmness, intensify energetic, effort, or observe with a relaxed and non-interfering quality of mindfulness. This insightful talk offers practical instruction for learning the skills to strengthen concentration.

Transcript

I'd like to begin this sitting by reading you the Goldsmith Simile.

One intent on the higher mind should attend periodically to three items.

One should attend periodically to the item of concentration.

One should attend periodically to the item of uplifted energy.

One should attend periodically to the item of equanimity.

If one intent on the higher mind were to attend solely to the theme of concentration,

It would be possible that the mind would tend towards laziness.

If one were to attend solely to the theme of uplifted energy,

It is possible that the mind would tend towards restlessness.

And if one were to attend solely to the theme of equanimity,

It is possible that the mind would not be well concentrated for the ending of the taints.

But when one attends periodically to the theme of concentration and attends periodically to the theme of uplifted energy and attends periodically to the theme of equanimity,

Then the mind becomes pliant,

Malleable,

Luminous,

And not brittle.

It is rightly concentrated for the stopping of the taints.

It is just as if a goldsmith or a goldsmith's apprentice were to set up a smelter,

And having set up the smelter,

He would fire up the receptacle.

Having fired up the receptacle,

He would take hold of some gold with his tongs and place it in the receptacle.

Periodically he would blow on it.

Periodically,

Sprinkle water on it.

Periodically,

Examine it closely.

If he were solely to blow on it,

It is possible that the gold would burn up.

If he were solely to sprinkle water on it,

It is possible that the gold would grow cold.

If he were to solely examine it,

It is possible that the gold would not come to full perfection.

But when he,

From time to time,

Blows on it,

And from time to time sprinkles water on it,

And from time to time examines it,

The gold becomes pliant,

Malleable,

And luminous.

It is not brittle and is ready to be worked.

Then whatever sort of ornament he wishes to make with it,

Whether a belt,

An earring,

A necklace,

Or a gold chain,

The gold would serve that purpose.

In the same way,

One intent on developing the higher mind should from time to time give attention to three items.

One should from time to time give attention to the item of concentration.

One should from time to time give attention to energetic effort.

And one should from time to time attend with equanimity.

If one intent on the higher mind were to attend solely to the theme of concentration,

It is possible that the mind would tend towards laziness.

If one were to attend solely to the theme of energetic effort,

It is possible that the mind would tend towards restlessness.

And if one were to attend solely to the theme of equanimity,

It is possible that the mind would not be rightly concentrated for the ending of the taints.

But when one attends periodically to concentration,

Attends periodically to uplifted energy,

Attends periodically to the theme of equanimity,

Then the mind becomes pliant,

Malleable,

Luminous,

And not brittle.

It is rightly concentrated for the ending of the taints.

Then whichever of the higher knowledge is one turns one's attention to,

One will know and realize that and can witness for himself whenever the opportunity arises.

And so to make the mind pliant,

Workable,

Steady,

Like the goldsmith purifies the gold,

Removes the corruptions of the gold,

And burns away the defilements in the gold,

And then makes that gold,

Once it's pure,

Still works it with the heat and the cool,

Still works it until it becomes pliant and malleable and workable.

Similarly,

The meditator literally develops the mind.

First,

We purify the mind and burn away the defilements.

We abandon them,

We wash them away,

We cleanse them,

We let them go.

But then even with the mind that is free from the coarse defilements,

We still have to work it,

To make it really malleable and fit for this very profound work of ending of the taints,

Of ending greed,

Hate,

And delusion,

Realizing release.

So I use this simile primarily when I'm doing concentration-oriented practices.

It fits very easily to me when I'm focusing on an object.

And so I suggest maybe for this meditation,

You focus a little bit more diligently,

Perhaps on the object or perception of breathing,

Giving your attention to the breath.

However you know the breath,

Let that be your primary object.

Have the intention to stay very close to the breath through this whole meditation.

And so to direct our attention to the breath,

First notice how you know the breath.

Try to connect with the actual experience of the breath.

Connect with the very beginning of the inhalation.

How do you experience or know that an inhalation is beginning?

And stay steadily attentive to the breath or perhaps the changing sensations of breathing as the inhalation goes through the beginning,

The middle,

And the end of that in-breath.

And then catch the beginning of the exhalation and try to stay steady so that the attention is directed to the breath and stays with the breath through the whole duration of the exhalation.

Now the breaths can be long or short,

Doesn't matter.

Please breathe naturally.

Don't try to change the breath.

But see if you can bring a quality of attention and a steadiness of attention that can be with the whole experience of breathing without wandering away,

Without distraction.

The first item or theme of concentration is concentration.

This is a quality of attention focused.

It's the attention that is being focused.

It's the attention that is being sent to pour your attention into one particular perception,

In this case perceiving the breath.

So see if you can intensify or heighten this capacity to focus,

Invigorate it.

Usually it's simply an intention to focus.

It's a simple desire to be more focused.

You don't need to bear down on the breath.

You don't need to tense your face or strain your eyes.

We use the mind,

Not the muscles,

To direct the attention.

But notice what you do mentally to focus and concentrate and how you remind yourself to again focus and concentrate.

You're organizing your mind in some way.

You're organizing your mind in some way.

You're organizing your attention in order to focus.

See if you might notice what you're doing,

How you're doing that,

How you're responding to this thought of focus.

So,

This is a quality of attention focused.

It's the attention that is being focused.

It's the attention that is being focused.

Can be very powerful to focus the mind.

Sometimes that's not the appropriate mode.

And if we're only focusing,

Always focusing,

Then the mind can tend towards a dullness,

A listlessness,

A sluggishness.

And so it's also important to be able to raise up the energy,

Uplifted energy,

Energetic effort,

A perky,

Engaged quality of attention.

So that now as you're directing your attention to the breath,

Let there be an energetic effort in that knowing of the energy.

Effort in that knowing of breath,

Of breathing.

And notice how your mind organizes that inclination towards bringing in energy while it's still basically doing the exact same thing,

Mindful of breath.

So first we were mindful of breath with an emphasis towards concentration and focus.

And now I'm asking you to do the same thing,

Be mindful of breath,

But boost the accompanying energy factor.

How do you meet the breath with that energy,

With that buoyancy,

With that sense of upliftment?

Our project remains the same,

Directing and sustaining attention on the breath,

But we're adjusting the accompanying factors,

The intensity of the focus in the first mode and now the intensity of the energy in the second mode.

.

.

And for the third mode,

We bring in this quality that they call equanimity,

Upeka.

This one translation calls it,

Examines it closely.

Another translation refers to a relaxed on-looking,

An equanimous observation.

The mind is not distracted,

It's still attentive to the meditation subject,

So we still are giving our attention,

Directing and sustaining our attention on the breath.

But now with a profoundly balanced attitude,

The mind is spacious,

Relaxed,

Unagitated and rests in the knowing of the breath.

So the mind is undistractedly at ease in this spacious knowing of breathing.

.

.

Each of these modes of attending with focused attention,

With energetic effort,

With equanimity and spacious ease,

Each is important,

Each is needed,

And each can be taken to excess.

Consider the way your own mind is meeting the perception of the breath.

Which mode do you think might be most useful now?

To enhance the intensity of the focus?

To uplift the energy?

To relax a bit?

To be more balanced and at ease?

As you observe the breath?

Often we're not sure.

We make a guess.

We try one,

And we try it for a few moments,

And we look to see what's the effect.

Does it go to the extreme?

Like if you think I need more energy and you start giving more energetic attention,

Does the mind start to get agitated and restless?

If so,

Try a different one.

Or does it feel like your connection then with your meditation subject of breathing is more steady,

More stable,

More clear?

And so from time to time by trying these different modes,

These different items of concentration,

And watching to see what the effect is,

Then we'll be able to develop the mind so that it becomes quite pliant and malleable and clear and bright.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Reviews

🙏🏼🕊️♥️

Golden

Very interesting. Thank you for the education and guidance on the differences. I liked the simile.

Very helpful.

Excellent. Starts with a short discourse of the Buddha, then leads into guided practice of the elements of concentration mentioned in that discourse. Lovely

Excellent guidance, Thankyou 💚