The Great Calm Observation, Volume 1, Part 4, Page 1

The Great Calm Observation

Volume 2 Part 1

2. Practicing the Great Practice

To encourage progress in the Four Kinds of Samadhi and entry into the ranks of the Bodhisattvas, we teach of Calm-Observation. Those that desire the most wonderful rank will not climb the ladder without practice. By skillfully understanding how to churn and skim milk, ghee¹ may be attained.

The Lotus Sutra says:
"And I see the Buddha's children cultivating various practices because they seek the path of enlightenment."

There are many methods of practice. To outline them, we will speak of four:

Always seated
Always walking
Half seated, half walking
Neither seated nor walking

Generally called Samadhis, they control and straighten out one’s concentration.

The Great Discourse says:
"The skillful mind abides in a single place without stirring. This is called 'Samadhi'."

The Spiritual Realm² is this single place. With proper observation one is able to abide here without stirring. In observing the mind one connects with these four practices to control and straighten out one’s concentration. Therefore they are called ‘Samadhis’.

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Footnotes:

1. Ghee: Clarified butter, the fifth essence of milk, representing the quintessential realization.

2. The Spiritual Realm: (S. Dharmadhatu) The reality of the mind, of the spiritual realm that pervades life everywhere, from the depths of hell to the supreme enlightenment. It is one's own mind, the mind of the Buddha, and the mind of all living beings.

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