• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

MAKING A COMMITMENT TO

CONCENTRATION

Continuity is the secret of success.

—S. N. GOENKA

Early on in my training in India, our teacher would have us take a vow to sit in meditation, without moving, for an hour, or two, or even three. It was hard to do this—not only because of the normal itches, pains, and sensations that arise—but because there were so many flies in the area. They had the annoying habit of landing on our faces, poking around, and having a bite to eat. Resisting movement certainly called for unprecedented self-discipline and concentration on my part.

In Goenka’s ten- and twenty-day silent Vipassana meditation courses, we had twelve one-hour sitting periods every day. Three of them were “vow hours,” one each in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The sangha atmosphere was very supportive. You knew that if you moved, it would ripple through almost everyone. No one wanted to be the one who disturbed the calm surface of concentration with even a tiny wave of motion.

Sometimes one hour would progress to two. The real fanatics, including my girlfriend, Suil, would go at midnight beneath the bodhi tree with Goenka where they would sit, motionless, for up to three hours at a time. By that time, I had almost concluded, “I’m not so sure this is good for me. It’s starting to feel weird. Soon we’ll just die; we won’t move at all, and then we will have accomplished the goal!”

Some teachings say that when meditating, “Be like a stick of wood.” There’s a Tibetan teaching that says, “Sit like a tent peg driven into the earth.” I find it more poetic to say, “Sit like a mountain.” Ideally in meditation we are centered and well balanced while remaining flexible and relaxed too.

A refinement of our group vow hour—a variation on the theme of nonmovement and nondistraction—had us sitting in rows facing each other with eyes half open and slightly lowered. It was not to look into each other’s eyes, nor to check on one another. This practice helped us sit still longer and concentrate more intensely. The synergy of our group mind kept us going, individually and collectively. In that Buddhist boot camp this was one way to train Olympic meditators and spiritual athletes.

Concentration can be developed to such a high degree that we achieve advanced states where the mind is so one-pointedly absorbed that we are for a time beyond thought, feelings, pain, external stimuli, or sensory perception of any kind. This is like a profound mystic trance. One reaches these states—traditionally called infinite consciousness, infinite light, boundless bliss, and beyond existence—through long and intensive training. There are yogis whose concentrative absorptions are so intense that they are absolutely impervious to external stimuli—yet this alone is not enlightenment.

In order to attain enlightenment, this laser beam–like concentrated attention must be directed toward insight and wisdom practices. Although concentration alone does not guarantee enlightenment, the practice of Right Concentration can put wings on the practice of insight meditation. Some spiritual virtuosos are able to reach such intense levels of concentration that when they apply it to their insight practice, the attention is focused like a blowtorch or laser beam instead of simple lamplight.

THE FIVE T’S OF CONCENTRATION

During meditation, if we want to settle down and concentrate, we must work with our thoughts and feelings. It becomes easier if we give our discursive mind something to do. To do this, we assign the restless small mind the concrete task of focusing on an object of concentration. We do this so that the holy person of innate awareness that is within each of us can rest at ease in the broader view or natural mind.

The ability to focus and intentionally bring back our wandering attention over and over again is at the root of mental discipline, willpower, and even character development. Any meditation training can be understood according to what I like to call the Five T’s.

1. Taming

For a moment, think of your restless, discursive mind as a beautiful