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CONCENTRATION MEDITATION

Concentration is like a diamond, a brilliant focusing of our energy, intelligence, and sensitivity.

FOCUSING THE MIND

We have all, at different times in our lives, had a taste of concentration: each of us has fully given our attention to a loved one, a beautiful sunset, a resounding symphony, or a project that completely absorbed us. And it is possible to train our minds to increase and develop this special kind of focused attention.

By developing our ability to concentrate, we increase our capacity for integrating thoughts, fact, and information in a way that reveals deeper, more integral wisdom than that which is immediately apparent to the unfocused observer. The concentrated mind enables us to accelerate our growth and learning because it provides more intuitive insight into the true nature and meaning of life.

Life is learning. The amount of real learning that takes place is directly proportional to our ability to concentrate or focus our attention on a chosen object or theme for a period of time. Real learning is not just the acquisition of knowledge but the ability to penetrate deeply into the meaning behind superficial knowledge and appearances.

For most people, the distracted and uncontrolled circulation of thoughts is the norm. Yet such confused states of mind are problematic and do little to improve the quality of our lives. The father of modern psychology of consciousness, Dr. William James, once said that the maximum attention span of a normal person was four seconds. For most of us, even that would be a feat! While this is regarded as normal by modern standards, the world's contemplative traditions regard this as highly dysfunctional compared to what is really possible if people were to develop their potential. The archives of the great contemplative traditions yield a treasury of inspiring descriptions of, and systematic directions for, developing states of concentration that remain stable and clear for minutes, hours, even days at a time without distraction!

CONCENTRATION, CONTEMPLATION, AND UNIFICATION

Developing strong concentration is similar to developing physical strength. With patient, persistent practice the following techniques will increase the strength and duration of your attention. Once this capacity is developed, a concentrated beam of awareness can be focused on any activity, leading to deeper understanding and appreciation of the ways things truly are and greater wisdom and compassion in your life.

Classic spiritual literature describes several stages of concentrative meditation, each with clear indicators. A simple way to understand these stages follows:

At the first stage, concentration is momentary, then gradually sustained. A classical indicator that our practice of concentration is becoming more stable is when we can focus our attention on a chosen object or theme for seven, then twenty-one, then 108 breaths without losing focus. As concentration grows, even when our attention does wander, distractions are immediately recognized and we return our mind to the object of concentration.

At the second stage, concentration is so stable that we no longer completely lose focus. As we develop our capacity to sustain our focus of attention without lapsing into distraction or dullness, concentration ripens and matures into a state of contemplation or communion with whatever we are focused on. Here we begin to experience a profound sense of connectedness and flow between ourselves as the observer and the object of our contemplation.

Finally, at the third stage, concentration and the sense of communion become so wholehearted and uninterrupted that the mind literally absorbs the object of its focus and merges into a state of unification. You may have spontaneously experienced such complete concentration at times—when you were in love, for example, or when your attention was completely captured by something of inspiring beauty. In such timeless moments we transcend the duality of “connection” and enter a state of ecstasy in which the subject (self) becomes intimately unified with the object in a state of profound intuitive understanding. As the great Tibetan saint Tilopa once said, “At first the meditator feels like his mind is tumbling like a river falling through a gorge; in mid-course, it flows slowly like the gently meandering River Ganges; and finally, the river becomes one with the great vast Ocean, where the Lights of Son (self) and Mother (ground of being) merge into one.”

As our concentration grows more stable, our perception and conception of ourselves and our world gradually transform and new dimensions of intuitive insight are revealed. Our sense of separation and isolation gives way to a heartfelt sense of connection, intimacy, interrelatedness, belonging, empathy, respect, love and compassion—for ourselves, for other “selves,” and for the world and universe in which we live. Most important, through the practice of concentration meditation we awaken the profound insight necessary to transform our perception of the world; we realize that a world of separate objects and entities is truly a compelling, though widely shared illusion, an artifact of the distracted mind. The journey from distraction to concentration, communion, and unification is truly one that leads us toward discovering the many dimensions of our wholeness.

MOTIVATIONS

In the classic meditation manuals, meditative concentration or samadhi (Sanskrit), is developed through cultivating a state of mental stabilization known as “calm abiding”—shamatha (Sanskrit) or shine (Tibetan). These progressive stages of deep meditation open the doorways to various levels of meditative absorption or trance known as the dhyanas (Sanskrit). The meditative practices for developing concentration have traditionally been cultivated with the motivation to achieve one or more of the following results:

 The most common motivation is to develop greater calm and clarity of mind and to reduce the ignorance, confusion, and suffering caused by mental agitation and dullness.

 Classically, concentrative meditation is regarded as the precursor to all the other meditations that appear later in this section. Through mastery of concentration, the mind develops the coherence it needs to become a reliable instrument for investigating and understanding the deep, multidimensional nature of reality. Once developed, the concentrated mind is then applied to enhancing the effectiveness of mindfulness meditations, reflective meditations, and creative meditations in order to supercharge those practices with the focused power of presence necessary to penetrate the illusions of habitual perceptions and conceptions, and reveal the true nature of reality to us directly.

 A third motivation for developing concentrative power is to generate a state of bliss. This, unfortunately, can be quite seductive and lead to a false sense of having achieved an advanced state of spiritual evolution. Becoming attached to the blissfulness that arises from concentration meditation is a sure way to arrest your meditative and spiritual evolution.

 A fourth motivation is the wish to develop a broad spectrum of psychic powers. When fully developed and correctly applied, concentration gives rise to a dazzling array of extraordinary human capacities, including clairvoyance, telepathy, and mind-travel. Many of the classic meditation texts provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to awaken these abilities once sufficient powers of concentration have been developed. Yet again, due to the seductive, blissful, intensity of these practices and the dangers of abusing these powers, meditators are traditionally warned to avoid pursuing this path of development unless they have first developed the ethical maturity necessary to approach these practices with a genuinely altruistic motivation that is free from self-centered personal desires. To pursue this path without a strong moral foundation and the wisdom to direct these powers, is regarded is as extremely dangerous.

In modern times such extraordinary, though natural, powers of the mind are regarded as rare, or even mythical. This is due to the ignorance of those who lack faith and who have never had the inclination and discipline necessary to engage in the intensive meditation practice with which they are cultivated. Out of their wisdom and compassion for others, those who have cultivated these powers are likely to avoid debates with people who flaunt their ignorance, and simply go about their lives with a gentle smile of deep compassion and understanding.

CONCENTRATION IS A BALANCING ACT

Training in concentration performs a miracle of transformation. When we have the kind of stability of mind common in sleep, we lack the clarity necessary for the mind to be truly a useful instrument. On the other hand, during wakeful life the clarity of our minds may be very vivid, such as when we are interested, aroused, threatened, angry, or delighted. At these times, however, we are often also mentally agitated and lacking in the steadiness of attention necessary to carefully examine what is going on and to respond in a wise, compassionate, and effective manner.

The challenge for the meditator is to develop the rare and delicate balance in the nervous system necessary for sustained awareness. Some liken concentration meditation to learning how to balance on the top of a mountain with two very steep slopes on either side. One side is the turbulent valley of agitation, the mind boiling over with excitement which, if taken to extremes, is called psychosis. On the other side is the danger of sinking into the valley of mental dullness where awareness fades, and sleepiness renders us unconscious to our life and world.

To keep the mind balanced in concentration, you must learn to cultivate two qualities of mind: first, the stability and continuity of attention that can remain focused upon whatever you choose, inwardly or outwardly. Second, along with that stability is a quality of lucid clarity and presence that illuminates whatever you focus upon. This unusually balanced mental state is a rare fusion of high intensity with deep peace and stability of mind. Free from the disturbing habits of distraction and mental dullness, the concentrated mind is able to focus deeply into whatever it holds. This reveals a quality of extraordinary intuitive insight that frees us from the confusion generated by the habits of a dull and wild mind.

MINDFULNESS AND VIGILANCE

Two qualities of mind are regarded as necessary to develop the stability and vividness necessary for sustained concentration. The first is called mindfulness. Mindful awareness is the faculty of attention that is able to focus without distraction, without forgetfulness, and with continuity of awareness upon whatever you choose to attend to. The Sanskrit and Arabic terms for mindfulness are often translated as “remembering” or “recollection.” In Hebrew, mindfulness carries the meaning of “deep listening” or “giving your heart to something.” To the degree that mindfulness is strong, we are able to maintain awareness of whatever we choose without lapsing into distraction or forgetting what we were paying attention to.

Though in recent years the practice of mindfulness has received considerable attention, mindfulness alone is not sufficient to perfect concentration. Mindfulness must work in tandem with a second quality of mind—vigilance or discernment. Sometimes also described as “introspective alertness,” this quality of mind serves as a metacognition that monitors our quality of mindfulness. Such an inner “quality control” function keeps us aware of the status of our mental balance, alerting us if the mind is congealing into dullness or churning with too much excitement. In practice, vigilance is like a mother who checks in frequently on her sleeping child. She isn't there constantly but checks in from time to time: “How is the baby? Is everything alright?” In the same way, vigilance checks to see if our attention is present or has gone out to lunch, or if our attention has forgotten our chosen focus and wandered off into memories of the past or fantasies of the future. If vigilance detects that either agitation or dullness are creeping into the mind and threatening mindfulness, it activates our will to apply antidotes to restore our balance of mind.

CONCENTRATION AND INTIMACY