These thoughts are often some expressions of “I am,” which in Pali is called mana, referring to the mind comparing oneself with others in one way or another or imagining oneself over time. Of note, mana is not uprooted from the mindstream until full enlightenment, so we do want to be mindful of it.

As mindfulness strengthens, we also become more aware of mental hindrances—desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and doubt. They are called hindrances because they obstruct the mind from developing wise discernment and concentration. Being mindful of these hindrances becomes a skillful and effective way of not being overcome by them.

Concentration

Along with mindfulness, concentration plays a critical role in stabilizing our understanding and realization of selfless nonduality. When concentration develops, it keeps the hindrances at bay, enabling us to see more clearly and explore more profoundly various aspects of the dharma.

The Buddha highlighted the necessity of developing concentration in one verse in the Dhammapada: “There can be no concentration in one who lacks wisdom. There can be no wisdom in one who lacks concentration. He who has concentration as well as wisdom is, indeed, close to nibbana.”

In a striking passage from the Pali canon, the Buddha tells Kassapa, one of his great disciples, about what leads to the longevity of the dharma: dwelling with reverence toward the Buddha, the dharma, the sangha, toward the training, and toward concentration—and how the absence of these five things leads to its decay. When I first came across this passage, I was surprised that of all the different mental qualities the Buddha might have mentioned with regard to a matter of such great import—the longevity of the teachings—he singled out concentration as being a key essential element for stabilizing awareness.
===
Joseph Goldstein is cofounder and a guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and its Forest Refuge program, and helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. His books include A Heart Full of Peace, One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism, and Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening.
===
Part 1 of 3:

https://t.me/lorddivinebuddha/4964


Part 2 of 3:

https://t.me/dhammapadas/4446


Part 3 of 3:

https://t.me/wordsofbuddha/6209
===
Words of the Buddha channel:

https://t.me/wordsofbuddha
===