Concentration Vs Release In Meditation.

[The White Belt]

Some practical meditation questions.

 

Please take the time to overlook and answer these questions for me to help me get the most out of my practice.

 

What's better, to concentrate on a sensation, i.e, the breath, or to let the mind loose?

If my mind wants to kick off, like a child, should I let it, or should I just focus on the breath?

Should I have steel concentration or have a little leeway for the mind to do its thing? If I get lost in a thought story should I take that seriously, in the sense that I failed to keep concentrated or just return to the object of concentration and shrug it off? 

Will trying to keep concentrated on a sensation rather than watch the mind, stir the mind more in my daily life? 

Should meditation be an opportunity to let to mind run lose, in order to calm it a little for the rest of the day, or an opportunity to tell the mind, that it has is fun all day, and now it the time to concentrate on other raw sensations?

 

By the way i'm currently reading Daniel M. Ingram's Mastering the Core Teachings of The Buddha. His first consideration is on concentration so that is what is inspiring me to right this.

[Azrael]

9 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

What's better, to concentrate on a sensation, i.e, the breath, or to let the mind loose?

When you are self-aware, choose to rest in an sensation like concentrating on the breath or on what you see/hear/feel.

9 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

If my mind wants to kick off, like a child, should I let it, or should I just focus on the breath?

If your mind wanders, let it do that. When it comes back home - and you get self-aware - rest in an sensation consciously again. Don't try to frantically hold it there. Just bring it back there until your mind decides to go on its own journey again. This conscious resting in an sensation might only last for 2-3 minutes in an one hour meditation, thats fine. I had times in which there was 0 conscious resting and just the mind wandering off and this was one of my most important purging periods. Everything that happens in meditation is okay, when you are given the choice what to do, rest. When you don't have the choice, don't try to get it. That's a key principal in my practice.

9 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

Should I have steel concentration or have a little leeway for the mind to do its thing? If I get lost in a thought story should I take that seriously, in the sense that I failed to keep concentrated or just return to the object of concentration and shrug it off?

If you get lost in a thought story you should be fascinated by how skilful you are. Going from empty space into another dimension - your thoughts - and playing crazy games in crazy worlds. That's a pretty damn fucking skill, I'd say. You're gifted, my friend.

9 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

Will trying to keep concentrated on a sensation rather than watch the mind, stir the mind more in my daily life?

Any kind of meditation will stir the mind in your daily life. My meditation consists basically of the fact that I sit down. I don't have any rules or so. I just watch from time to time what happens and come up with some mental framework for it. But in the end it's all just phases that change from time to time. If you sit down once a day and stop moving, you're on the right track. The rest will happen for itself.

9 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

Should meditation be an opportunity to let to mind run lose, in order to calm it a little for the rest of the day, or an opportunity to tell the mind, that it has is fun all day, and now it the time to concentrate on other raw sensations?

Meditation should be an opportunity to sit with nobody bugging you, just sit, quietly. Melt in the silence and relax. Become your inner child. That's meditation. Everything else is an implication that comes from doing that and shall never be confused with meditation's only purpose - to sit.

[The White Belt]

@Azrael Hey Azrael, thanks for your response!

One more question;

Will this more sort of relaxed and anything goes approach also be appropriate for trying to reach high states of concentration?

Such as those necessary to reach to first Jhana? I have never gotten there and would like to use that as a bit of a 'goal' in my practice.

[Guivs]

@BeginnerActualizer

Hello !  The practice of jhana is something that you will encounter 'more often' in the Theravada tradition of buddhism.

Some people worth checking out, because they are experienced on the subject (with videos on youtube that you can check out) : 

-Richard Shankman (one of his books : "The Art an Skill of Buddhist Meditation" covers the concentration aspect of meditation and discusses jhana at length. Good book on meditation that answer just your questions I think!) He also has a series of youtube videos on samadhi and jhana.

-Ajahn Brahm (former student of Ajahn Chah. He is really experienced in the Jhanas and lots of lenghty youtube videos can be found)

I think you can benefit from talks about Shamatha meditation (calm abiding) which brings you to jhanas as well.  Someone really knowledgeable about Shamatha is Alan Wallace. You could benefit from his recorded talks and guided meditations in a "shamatha retreat" : https://archive.org/details/ShamathaRetreatWithAlanWallace2012/01_shamathaRetreatDay1Session1.mp3 Would be great for you to follow it as a sort of mini-retreat for you, I think! 

Nothing replaces meeting a qualified teacher face to face, of course. Hope that helps!

 

[Azrael]

7 hours ago, BeginnerActualizer said:

Will this more sort of relaxed and anything goes approach also be appropriate for trying to reach high states of concentration?

It might be an anything goes approach if you look from the typical ego "I must achieve something" perspective on it. That's perfectly fine. This is indeed the most anything goes approach if you look at it that way, it's completely lazy. No goals, no development, you're killing it from the first second to the last second of your practice.

Will this method get you anywhere? No, it's meditation. It doesn't get you anywhere at all, that's why you do it. To realize that there is nothing to do and that you are already there.

No, don't get me wrong here, I know that I'm as ass saying this, but it's important to get that. The moment your practice will get second nature and you stop seeking anything in particular and it just becomes your life - your practice melts into your life - in that instant you'll make real progress because you stop trying and start being.

Please think about that.

But to answer your question, yes it will increase your level of concentration because it will completely unify your conscious attention with what is happening either way. That's your problem, you try to always get one up on yourself. And this method will merge the one who is trying to overcome the other one in yourself. Because that's an illusion.

This implicates peace of mind, and through that access to unconscious territory, concentration how you've never experienced it before and a lot of other stuff. Intense purging, as well. At least that is what I was and am experiencing with this method. It's my fav. But there are a lot of great ones, so look around and try and you'll naturally find one that you connect with the most.

[The White Belt]

@Guivs Thanks a lot for those resources! I will check them out promptly. Very helpful!

@Azrael I definitely see what you're saying here, but I feel like I need to give my ego something to go off, as i'm still ignorant as to what I truly am. I have to work with it! Like giving candy to a bratty child in order to shut it up! 

 

[pluto]

Surrender

[Trond]

Meditate to meditate. Simple is always better in this line of work. 

[Esoteric]

 @BeginnerActualizer

I was struggling with the same confusion you did awhile ago. I was torn between practicing on objects (like breath and body sensations) to increase concentration while I was still very fond of just sitting in acceptance, and I found that (for me) combining the two works really great. That's the beauty of the spiritual path, that you will have to find what works for you on an individual level. So maybe try to have periods where you focus on objects, and have periods where you let go. Both develop concentration, so don't worry too much about it.

[Zenrik]

The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science for Greater Mindfulness

by John Yates

This book is new this year and talk exactly about this and other very subtile traps in meditation. And it maps out the meditative evolution great.

Probably the best book about meditation ever made. At least that I have come across. 

Cheers