Concentration Meditation

[Gopackgo]

I just wanted to write again how important concentration practice is. Do nothing is a good type of meditation, but the effects of it are muted until you can concentrate effectively. Concentration practice should be the primary concern, because access concentration is the most valuable state, until you realize that it is actually not a state, but who you naturally are. For me, what started as a meditation practice, turned into constant access concentration. You will get to where you can literally feel your brain locking onto an object. An example is when I am in class, my brain latches onto my professors words, and I can feel the unwaivering attachment even when I turn my head, or write something. When I am concentrating and I start relaxing my body and breathing, I immediately go into access concentration. This is so valuable and has really changed my life.

What I would recommend is to start every sitting with eyes open and concentrating on breath and an external object. When you reach access concentration, then you can close your eyes with concentration on breath, and you will notice that you have become removed from your thoughts so that you can just watch them. When you start to get good at this, keep doing it, but add in alternating concentration around sensations. Expand your ability to concentrate until you can hold concentration on more sensations constantly. What this does is it shows you how small a portion of awareness is required for thought. It is all about attention. When people begin, they think they are their thoughts because their attention has been so acutely concentrated on their thoughts their entire life, that they think there is nothing else. Basically, when this is done over time, the locus of attention retreats to be more encompassing of all that is going on. This is our natural state, so they returns you will notice will be immeasurable. You will learn that you have no idea what your mind is truly capable of, and that will continue to deepen forever.

Throw your attention outside of your body, and you will start to notice how boundless your awareness is. As you incorporate more sensation into your attention, you will see what I am talking about, and you will notice that since breathing is the core concentration, it will become a trigger to push thoughts out of the mind and to be present. Finally, if you do this, you will begin to notice that you can actually feel your brain changing permanently. Don't let this freak you out. This is your mind learning that thoughts are not the only thing occurring in awareness. It will make you more productive and you will be pleasantly surprised at how simple it is to be happy.