The Practice of Concentrating the Mind
The Buddha’s teachings instruct us to resist temptation, eliminate attachment to the seven emotions and six desires, and utilize methods such as contemplating causality, cultivating compassion, and transforming perspectives. However, there are times when these methods are not applied in time, and the mindset has not yet been transformed, yet one has already become mired in the quagmire of desire. Therefore, the most fundamental method is to “restrain the six senses,” which means bringing one’s own mind back, directing the attention of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind inward, rather than outward.
Usually, our bodily organs such as the eyes, ears, and nose, upon coming into contact with external objects, tend to develop a liking for them, desiring to possess and pursue them, and are unable to resist temptation. Sometimes, even if the eyes are closed, the image remains in the mind, and plugging the ears does not help, as the echoes persist. At this point, it is important to feel whether this disturbing sensation is comfortable or joyful, whether it is painful or pleasurable. In fact, even when the eyes are closed, there are still images flickering in front, which is actually very painful, not pleasurable.
Just as when deeply in love, the other person’s appearance, smile, and voice always linger in the mind, impossible to let go of or forget. Even if the other person is thousands of miles away, it feels as though they are right in front, this is lovesickness. If it is not mutual love, but unrequited love, then it is even more painful. We can carefully analyze whether these lingering images and sounds in the mind are real. The images in the mind may disappear once the eyes are opened; the sounds heard by the ears, upon careful discernment, also disappear, everything is just imagination in the mind. Therefore, we must constantly remind ourselves that these are all illusions of the mind, not true happiness.
If the suffering persists, we can continuously focus on our breathing, enjoying the sensation of breathing. In this way, a shift in focus will occur, and the persistent thoughts in the mind may be redirected after focusing on the breath. Additionally, analyzing our thoughts is also one of the methods of restraining the six senses. Our thoughts arise one after another, continuously, so when a coarse or intense thought arises and cannot be shaken off, we can try counting breaths, enjoying the breath. When other thoughts arise again, we can gradually realize that what we were just thinking about, we are no longer thinking about, and the reason for not thinking about it now is because we are focusing on the breath, so the previous thought has been cut off, broken into pieces.
However, our minds will involuntarily continue to think about other things, the thought of “paying attention to the breath, enjoying the breath” itself will also be continuously interrupted by other thoughts. Whenever we notice other thoughts arising, we do not need to pay attention to those thoughts, but continue to return to the sensation of breathing, thereby severing those thoughts. By cutting off these thoughts in this alternating manner, these thoughts become fragmented, and since they are fragmented, they are illusions, and gradually, we can let go of these thoughts.
Moreover, when our deluded thoughts are too chaotic and uncontrollable, paying respects to the Buddha is quite useful. When paying respects to the Buddha, pay attention to the sensations in our body, focusing on the feeling of each movement of bowing down and standing up. If one does not know how to pay respects to the Buddha, it is also effective to kneel in front of the Buddha and sincerely kowtow. Additionally, going for a walk and paying attention to the sensation of each step taken can also help bring our attention back to our own body and restrain our mind.
In daily life, most of the time, our minds are actually scattered outward. We must frequently practice bringing it back inward, back to our own breathing, thoughts, and the sensations of our actions. Through such practice, we can gradually let go of external disturbances and achieve the goal of restraining the six senses.
