sinking and agitation and we remain in concentration, the antidote is now applied
too intensively and concentration is obscured.
Among these five the first two, laziness and forgetting the instructions, obstruct
engagement of concentration at the outset. Sinking and agitation are obstructions
in the process. Failure to recall antidotes and repetitive recalling of the method are
obstructions that prevent development of concentration. These five faults should
be abandoned.
2.13 THE EIGHT VOLITIONAL ANTIDOTES TO THE FIVE FAULTS
The eight antidotes are faith, aspiration, effort, pliancy, recollection, attention,
motivation, and equanimity. Faith implies trust; aspiration is the will to strive;
effort is exertion; pliancy is mental flexibility: these four are the antidotes to
laziness. To induce concentration, trusting faith creates aspiration and will; with
effort, pliancy is attained, and laziness is overcome. The fifth, recollection,
overcomes forgetfulness. The sixth, attention, which can be thought of as inner
concentration, is an antidote to sinking and agitation. The seventh, motivation, can
also overcome sinking and agitation, in this case by the application of
intentionality and volition. The eighth, equanimity, alleviates sinking and
agitation by effortlessly preventing the composition of thought.
Avoiding the five faults and depending upon the eight antidotes, we train the
creativity of shamata. If creativity is not trained, even the most brilliant mind in
the realm of aspiration cannot produce a supreme single-minded wish. In order to
generate that aspiration, we need to train our mind in the nine stages of mental
stillness. These nine stages are resting, continual resting, repeated resting, fully
resting, taming, pacifying, fully pacifying, one-pointedness, and settling in
equanimity. By hearing the instruction on the disposition of mind, the faults that
obstruct concentration disappear and the qualities that facilitate it—faith and
aspiration—naturally arise.
Intense effort in concentration and so on gets rid of the five faults. Thereafter, no
matter what object is envisaged, whether in the development or completion phase
—or even in the empty pure presence of the dharmakaya—resting within that
object is the first stage, which is called “resting.”
When the mind will not stay still even for an instant, moving around like
lightning, use mental constructs to create effort and persevere in the training. The
ability to sustain fixation upon the object of previous focus is the second stage,
“continual resting.”
Beginners will face difficulty maintaining continuity during practice of these
first two methods, so keep in the stream through alertness and vigilance. When
mind wavers and moves like a shooting star, distracted elsewhere from the object
of focus, remember to guide it repeatedly, like guiding a jet of water. This is
“repeated resting,” the third stage.
As recollection grows stronger than previously, just abiding in the object before
us, regardless of how clear it is, mind will become a little more stable. Then,