Just a quick note for today.

(Taken from ViewOnBuddhism.Org, an amazing site.)

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What is undistracted calm abiding? It is meditative absorption free of the six
types of distraction. What are these six?
(1) Inherent distraction refers to
the eye consciousness and the other four collections of consciousness. Because
they are naturally directed outward, they [cause one to] emerge from meditative
absorption.
(2) External distraction refers to a mental consciousness that
reaches out towards or engages objects.
(3) Internal distraction concerns
dullness and agitation, as well as savoring one’s meditative absorption.
(4)
The distraction of marks occurs when, trusting in meditative absorption, one
apprehends marks of it and becomes attached.
(5) Distraction brought about
by negative tendencies is when directing the mind involves the apprehending of
an ego. This is said to refer to the mental act of pridefully believing oneself
to be superior to others, or [simply any mental act] that involves apprehending
an “I.”
(6) The distraction of directing the mind occurs when one is caught
up in the mindset of, and directs the mind in the style of, the Lesser
Vehicle.
The undistracted calm abiding that is determined by the elimination
of those six is the unique calm abiding of the Great Vehicle. This is a state of
one-pointed inner rest, a flawless calm abiding. In it, there is no apprehension
of marks, as is the case when inner absorption alone is believed to bring
liberation. Neither does it involve the ego apprehension that occurs in the
concentrations of non-Buddhists. Further, one does not direct the mind as one
would when cultivating the supports for the inferior paths [to liberation]. This
is how the wise should understand the calm abiding of the Great
Vehicle.
Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya’s
‘Madhyantavibhaga’