Concentration: 2 definitions

Introduction:

Concentration means something in Buddhism, Pali. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

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In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: Google Books: The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems

1) Concentration refers to one of the “Six Yogas” according to the Kālacakra Tantric corpus.—Accordingly, [while describing the standpoint of the Nyingma philosophical system]: Their explanation of the way to travel the path, as found in the “Basic Heruka Tantra” and other texts, is similar to new mantra schools’ teachings on the Six Yogas [e.g., the completion-stage yoga of concentration], the five stages, and Lamdré. [...] However, later Nyingmapas do not seem to make those the primary focus of their teaching and study.

2) Concentration (in Tibetan: ting nge 'dzin; Sanskrit: samādhi) — In virtually all Indic traditions, a state in which one is deeply focused in meditation on a particular object. In Buddhism, concentration presupposes tranquil abiding, and is roughly synonymous with meditative equipoise . Concentrations are as various as the objects of meditation and may involve states of inner absorption, the mastery of extraordinary powers, or insight into the nature of things

Tibetan Buddhism book cover
context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Discover the meaning of concentration in the context of Tibetan Buddhism from relevant books on Exotic India

General definition (in Buddhism)

[«previous next»] — Concentration in Buddhism glossary
Source: Shodhganga: The concept and practice of dhyana in the Buddhist literature

Concentration, in the Buddhist discipline, aims at providing a base for wisdom by cleansing the mind of the dispersive influence of the defilements. But in order for the concentration exercises to effectively combat the defilements, the coarser expressions of the latter through bodily and verbal action first have to be checked. Moral transgressions being invariably motivated by defilements–by greed, hatred and delusion–when a person acts in violation of the precepts of morality he excites and reinforces the very same mental factors by which his practice of meditation is intended to eliminate. This involves him in a crossfire of incompatible aims which renders his attempts at mental purification ineffective. The only way he can avoid frustration in his endeavor to purify the mind of its subtler defilements is to prevent the unwholesome inner impulses from breathing out in the coarser form of unwholesome bodily and verbal deeds.

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