Like many little kids, I used to love spinning things. There's a magical mystery to things that move and keep moving and then stop moving. This might be a flicked quarter, a dradle, or Spinjas (TM).
A spinning top, at least from the perspective of me as a little kid, was a magic thing. Normally, things move because we cause it to move. Like my leg moves because I cause it. Or a squirrel in a tree rustles the branches. A baseball moves on it's own through it's flight. But that flight has a trajectory of a parabola. If you map the beginning, you know where it will end. This is not the case of a spinning top. Round and round it spins. When it stops, nobody knows.
It's magical, but carries some Buddhist wisdom to me.
The spin of a top is self sustaining. It doesn't depend on outside forces to keep it going. There is an initial energy/momentum given to the top. Then, that energy keeps it going and keeps the top upright. Cause and effect.
A similar truth exists for our mental states. Your mood is the top, and spinning. And if you "feed it" and give it a ton of meaning, it spins longer and faster. All mental states end, either in a philosophical sense (mind states change) or biochemical sense (glucocorticoid half-life) on their own. (See Anicca). Sometimes we like the states and don't want them to end (clinging). Sometimes we dislike the states and can't wait for them to end (aversion). In all these cases, there is stress.
Orthogonal to liking and disliking is the dimension of useful. Most states, both pleasurable and unpleasurable states are not that useful in the long run. That is, they don't teach skills that help us deal with and understand states. Buddhism lauds many wholesome, useful traits to be developed. See, for example, the 10 paramitas. These aren't commandments... these are more like tools to be developed and carried with you in your life.
Two amazing traits are (directed) concentration and (developed) calm. And I used to think of these as things I develop and then have in my pocket. But they are much more like spinning tops.
Calm and concentration are skills to be developed, like the spinning of a new top. At first, we can barely get it to spin. We've never done it before, or only done it by accident. Then, my adjusting the top, by perfecting our technique via practice, we develop the skill or getting it to spin for 10 seconds. 10 measly seconds, but we should cheer those first 10 seconds. They are an important stepping stone in development. We never had those 10 seconds before.
The skill we develop isn't in the head. Nobody can learn to spin a top just by reading a book or watching a video. We can learn some tricks, but we have to get the feel of it right. In our muscle memory, we develop the flick of the wrist. Watch 10 people and there may be 10 different ways to do it. That's okay; many paths to the same result. And the result (consequence) is what matters here.
If we lose interest, we may peak at 10 seconds or 20 seconds, and then stop developing. In Buddhism, that would be a shame. It's possible to learn to spin the top of calm and concentration for minutes, hours. It is possible to create a space that is safe, useful, wise. A refuge in an unstable world.
It's important to qualify concentration and calm as "directed" concentration and "developed" calm. In the realm of our life, we will get lucky and have calm and concentration. But the real skill is to be able to generate it when it's hard. When we are raging with the seeds of anger or the seeds of desire/passion. And then to simply spin that calmness top and find a refuge in someplace safer. If you're not a Buddhist, just think of this as a way to take a pause before letting your emotions engulf you. The ability to pause is an amazing skill.
The trick with spinning a top is in getting the initial action right, and then letting it go. I used to try to get tops to spin longer by trying to give them a flick while they were spinning. (Definitely a fun game!) But, the way to develop it is to setup the initial energy (causes) and have the knowledge to execute it. Then, it can spin a long time, on its own. There is a way to develop concentration and calm so that it is self sustaining, and that it can last a long time on its own.
They may say it's possible to have it spin on forever. Don't think about that for now. Maybe yes, maybe no. In the practice and development, it's good to just spin it, watch it spin and spin. Don't fuck with it. Watch it slow and fall. And then, very importantly, pick it up and do it again. This is an important part of the practice. We also develop our watcher so that we can notice small differences in our initial energy (cause) and the results (effect). And, in so doing, we can get better at it. We are both enjoying calm and learning how to make it last longer.
Lastly, to extend the analogy a bit, I have found in my own Buddhism, that after I get calm and after I start looking at the causes of thoughts in my mind, I realize how many tops are spinning in my head. Every thought is a spinning top. And by accident and repetition, I've gotten very good at spinning the tops of greed, passion, fear, identity, pleasure, etc. Those tops are spinning all at the same time. At some point, it may be possible to stop spinning those tops (feeding, craving, tanha), but my first goal is to spin new tops. At some point, the calmness and the concentration can (1) crowd out the other tops and (2) give me a "safety square" to rest in and develop that watcher.
[The "directed" and "developed" here denote that it's good to have these under our control, like under the control of a light switch or a spotlight. We all have moments of calm and concentration. For me, calm is from watching TV (maybe sedated is more accurate) and concentration is from playing Tetris. The calm that is to be developed is calmness while mosquitoes are buzzing and biting me. And the concentration that is to be developed is concentration amid a million temptations (like going to buy bananas at a grocery store and walking past all the candy and baked goods.) In english, there is an idiom.... we don't just want courage, we want and need to develop courage under fire.]
See AN 5:27, the sutta on Immeasurable Concentration.
"Wise & mindful, you should develop immeasurable concentration [i.e., concentration based on immeasurable good will, compassion, appreciation, or equanimity]. When, wise & mindful, one has developed immeasurable concentration, five realizations arise right within oneself. Which five?
"The realization arises right within oneself that 'This concentration is blissful in the present and will result in bliss in the future.'
"The realization arises right within oneself that 'This concentration is noble & not connected with the baits of the flesh.'
"The realization arises right within oneself that 'This concentration is not obtained by base people.'
"The realization arises right within oneself that 'This concentration is peaceful, exquisite, the acquiring of serenity, the attainment of unity, not kept in place by the fabrications of forceful restraint.'
"The realization arises right within oneself that 'I enter into this concentration mindfully, and mindfully I emerge from it.'
"Wise & mindful, you should develop immeasurable concentration. When, wise & mindful, one has developed immeasurable concentration, these five realizations arise right within oneself."
The inspiration for this post was the phrase "not kept in place by the fabrications of forceful restraint." This is a spinning top that sustains itself because it is so well spun, made, and developed.
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