This is the sixth post of the “middle way” articles. It is only a personal exploration of the middle way; just my understanding of it. The eightfold path (the “middle way”) is described as the path to the cessation of suffering or the fourth noble truth.
This post will cover the subject of Right or Realistic Concentration.
To review, the eightfold path, (the middle way) has the following parts (the discipline it is connected to is in parenthesis):
.
- Realistic Understanding (Wisdom)
- Realistic Thought (Wisdom)
- Realistic Speech (Ethical Conduct)
- Realistic Action (Ethical Conduct)
- Realistic Livelihood (Ethical Conduct)
- Realistic Effort (Mental Discipline)
- Realistic Mindfulness (Mental Discipline)
- Realistic Concentration (Mental Discipline)
For a description of why I describe these as “realistic” as opposed to right or rightful please read my post Right or Realistic Effort.
- DV
Realistic or right concentration is part of the mental discipline aspect of Buddhism. The three aspects of the mental discipline are closely tied, but yet different. Once a person enters into Buddhist practice all of the eightfold path becomes mixed in their minds. Fortunately, the Buddhists have done a wonderful job in splitting out these disciplines in order to help us reach our goals.
Revisiting Realistic Effort
In the post I wrote about realistic effort (endeavor), I mentioned the way the Buddha suggested keeping the mind free from less than beneficial thought. Once read, it seems pretty clear how this could be helpful in reducing the destructive nature of our karma. Although having understanding, and actually practicing the straightforward techniques, are quite a bit different. I am actually planning on typing the realistic effort “steps” in my phone so I can bring them up from time to time where ever I am.
When I wrote about realistic effort I did not add a good example to the post, and someone asked for one in the comment section of the blog. I will reproduce my answer here so you don’t have to go hunting for the comments:
From my understanding, taking up the goal of realistic effort is to attempt to decrease suffering in your life (not just work life) by reducing the number of “detrimental” states. Those detrimental states are ones which cause actions that cause suffering to both you and others. For example:
Someone “shits” on my day by giving me a vanilla latte instead of a hazelnut one, when I really really really wanted that hazelnut one. You know what I’m talking about here? I have a choice… I can shit on everyone else’s day because of it, or:
1. to prevent the arising of new detrimental states
I can remember the last time I messed up something as simple as a latte, and look across the counter at the new person and feel sorry for them, and then leave them a tip.
2. to abandon detrimental states that are already present
I can taste the vanilla latte and think to myself that: perhaps this is pretty good, and hazelnut can wait for tomorrow. Or I can take a breath and mention nicely that I got the wrong order, attempting not to make the person behind the counter feel like a complete idiot.
3. to cultivate beneficial states that are not yet present
I can think that this place actually has really good music, and that even though out of the last 50 times I have come here, they have gotten my order perfect. Today was that just first bad day. I can decide that this is really no big deal and come in tomorrow for that white chocolate, raspberry mocha I’m going to be hot for.
4. to maintain and perfect beneficial states already present
Damn I love coffee… just feels so good on the palette… so so so yummy… what a great start to the day.
Now that we know how to produce more beneficial states in our life, we need the tools that support the next step in mental discipline: concentration. This is finally where meditation comes in to the middle way.
Realistic Concentration
Realistic concentration is the part of the path that describes how to practice focusing on beneficial thoughts and states of mind.
As I have moved through my life, I have often become distracted by things and thoughts that were not beneficial. When those things really bugged me, it became easy for me to replay the story in my head, applying all sorts of my own selfishness in the process, coming up with something that was less than positive, both for me and my actions. In my other articles in this series, I have tried to show how these patterns of thought limit our options, and increase suffering in our lives. Realistic concentration is a way to focus on focusing, but it is a progressive process. Like most of the eightfold path, achieving insight into each of these is not a easy thing to do.
The progressive processes I am talking about are the steps of reeducating ourselves on how to direct our minds. They also redirect our minds to those things beneficial, those things that will allow us that out-of-the-box (or less than judgmental) way of thinking that Buddhists call wisdom. This is a long process, where often an experienced teacher is a big help in directing a student to the next steps of the process. But if you are like me, and don’t have a teacher handy, there are certainly ways to learn the same things, albeit our progress may be slower.
Meditation
Much of the path deals with what we should be cultivating when we are not “sitting” on a meditation cushion. For many of us, this is helpful, because making the time to meditate is a challenge, and it seems we can readily apply the other lessons directly to our lives as we live and work. The steps of the path seem very practical, and meditation, especially if you have not practiced much meditation, does not seem from the outset to be very beneficial. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Using the eightfold path without some meditation is like running a marathon without practicing. It is possible to do it, but the odds of success in getting somewhere close to the finish line goes up astronomically when proper practice is employed.
As with many other things practiced, meditation has its stages. Each person progresses on through the stages and back again as they practice. There are many types of meditation which are used as tools to help a student progress through the stages, often helped by an experienced teacher. Most of us stay within the first stage of meditation, and then naturally progress through the other stages. Again, the progress being slower without someone to direct our karmic traffic. Like a good friend, a teacher will get to know a student and help them select the next form or tool of meditation that best fits where they are in the continuum. I have heard of some people who attempt to direct their own meditation practice, not realizi
ng that they are skipping some fundamental learning of the most basic meditation. This is not a bad thing. Meditation is good whatever form it takes, but it is possible that their progress may be slowed.
First Steps First
Since I am only a beginner in the practice of meditation, I will keep to my own personal experience. In the post Recommended Way to Meditate: Getting in the Mood, I wrote about how I was introduced to meditation, how to meditate, a little about my experiences with group meditation, as well as where to find more instructions on basic meditation.
The steps to meditate are very simple, so I will summarize here:
1. Find a quiet place to sit
2. Find a cushion or chair that you can sit comfortably, yet with the correct back posture. You can sit in lotus position, half lotus, or if you are sitting in a chair place your feet flat on the ground.
3. Sit up, your shoulders relaxed but straight back, with your head up, so your spine is straightened.
4. Your arms should rest relaxed in your lap. Your hands in the “cosmic mudra”.
5. Your eyes should not be closed, just a quarter closed, and looking forward at a slight downward angle.
6. Your tongue should be gently touching the roof of your mouth.
Meditation is a mix of both relaxation and disciplined form. Each part of the posture is meant to help the student reach their goal.
The posture, sitting up straight, as well as the mudra, are points in which to tell the student that they have fallen from focused concentration. They have fallen prey to distractions of the mind, or are simply falling asleep. If you are meditating and realize you have let your posture slip, the fix is simple, just realign your posture. If you are meditating and your thumbs stop gently touching each other in the mudra, the fix is simple, gently place your hand back into the mudra.
The purpose of meditation is not to relax but to be attentive and focused, although this attention and focus is quite relaxing in itself once you reach that stage.
I have never meditated, what should I think of when I meditate?
I have heard many descriptions of how people should meditate. One common way is called shikantaza, which means “just sitting”. I think people often get confused that this phrase “just sitting”, is an instruction and not an outcome. “Just sitting,” I believe is the first stage of meditation development, the outcome, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
When we first start putting our tush to cushion, it is almost universal that our minds regale us with the days worries or thoughts. The grocery list, the pain in the butt at work, our list of chores, where we are taking the kids, that movie that we really want so see, basically our hopes and our fears. These are usually the same thoughts that distract us from focused concentration in our daily lives. Many people who come to meditation do not realize that these thoughts have become controlling factors in their lives. So instead of deciding to concentrate focus on the task at hand, or even beneficial thoughts, our thoughts take us on an emotional roller coaster ride. Often, we will find ourselves completely missing parts of our day, since the day becomes full of these detrimental thoughts.
Basic meditation practice is not a way to remove these thoughts, not a way to focus on them so you find a right answer, and not a way to hide these issues deeper away from the mind. Basic meditation practice is a way to get to know yourself by not focusing on what thoughts are strumming up in your mind, but by learning to just be. As we get better at the act of “just sitting” in meditation we become more familiar with ourselves, more accepting of ourselves, and a whole list of amazing things start to naturally occur. This is why Buddhists say that if there is only one Buddhist practice that a person performs, and it is meditation. All of the rest will come to that person, all of the eightfold path, all of it.
I believe it. Although I also believe an understanding of the rest helps too.
The Basic Thought Process of Meditation - Counting to Ten
There are two ways that I have read and heard to start meditation practice. One way is to count to ten, and the other is to follow the breath. I use a variation of both of these, but usually not on the same day. Here is what I recommend for beginners:
Sit in the place and posture as I described above. It may be difficult at first to stay in posture, but as you practice it will become more comfortable. The posture is important. As I mentioned above, it is a personal indicator as to one’s progress and focus.
After you get settled into your posture, feel your breath. Breathe through your nose. Some people will breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth. I would keep it simple and just breathe through your nose. Feel your breath fill your lungs. Feel your chest rise and fall as you are breathing. Count each in-breath till you reach ten. Once you have counted to ten, quickly do a check of your posture, and start the process again.
As a person meditates, sitting and breathing, they are often distracted by thoughts. This is completely normal and not a problem. It will happen lots, believe me. Just like you will catch your posture slip, your mental posture will slip also. The simple fix to this is to just realigned yourself and begin again. Just like the posture or your thumbs slipping from the mudra, you will find yourself counting to twenty instead of ten. Just start from one again. The process should be gentle and playful. As you find yourself slipping, just smile at your goofy self and begin the counting again.
The more gentle and playful you are in this process, the more forgiving and accepting you are, the quicker progress you will make.
As thoughts flow through you, mentally let them flow past you, and continue your breathing and counting. If a dog barks, and your mind thinks “a dog barked”, just let the thought go. Instead of wondering whose dog it is, or how annoying the dog is, or what ever story you associate with dogs. Just adjust your mental posture and continue your breathing and counting. When you start getting better at meditation, you will lose count less often.
And that is all there is to it really.
Advanced Forms of Meditation
I will leave our discussion on realistic concentration with just the basics of meditation for now. I may return to the subject of more advanced methods of mediation in later posts, but for most of us, just the basic form of meditation is all we need for quite a long time. If you feel you have already progressed past the basics, there are resources on the Internet that will describe some of the advanced practices of rightful concentration. Just Google the phrase. I should warn you that the methods out there were written for monk practice, and many are best utilized with the help of a teacher.
So What is Rightful Concentration?
Rightful Concentration is the practice of learning to focus on thoughts, but not just any thoughts, and practicing realistic effort as well. It is a conscious effort to concentrate on beneficial thoughts that apply to the task at hand. So in the classic example of washing dishes, the mind is focused on the act of washing dishes and those beneficial thoughts to performing the task. Meditation is the practice which can help us achieve this type of concentration by teaching us the discipline it takes and the pitfalls that
are common to reaching this goal.
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Dharma, thanks, great article. Good that you addressed the question every beginner has - “exactly what am I supposed to do?” I don’t think anyone ever “graduates” from watching the breath. There will be days when that’s all one can do (barely) or traffic jams where it’s the best alternative.
However - one correction: shikantaza is an advanced practice that is an extremely simple yet extremely difficult practice. One teaches describes it as “let everything be as it is.” In other words, be aware of everything, but manipulate nothing, and oh, btw, take the “backward step” away from your thoughts so that they do not carry you away.
After “mastering the basics” (the kind of statement Zen people hate”) shikantaza is one of the classic “ongoing” practices that is given. Koan work, is the other. There is a good summary of the “progression” of practice in Phillip Kaplow’s “Three Pillars of Zen,” and of course there is more than you care to know on google.
Thank you very much, and good point. Your comment certainly clarifies the subject matter.