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how to develop concentration in my meditation? please suggest.
misecmisc1
I am a HinduIndia Veteran
hi all,
i am finding myself a hopeless case as far as meditation is concerned. i understand it is letting go - but still cant let go. i am not trying to achieve anything - but sadly it seems to me that my meditation is nothing more than a way of passing time for me by just sitting and trying not to do anything, but because of thoughts, this is also not happening.
just some background information - i sit in full lotus position with my eyes closed, trying to be aware of whatever is going on in present moment.
initially i tried to have breath as my meditation object - but the problem which came was - my natural breathing is very irregular means long inhalation followed by very short(sometimes not noticeable) exhalation, then a long gap, then again long noticeable inhalation followed immediately by very short exhalation and then again a long gap. So during the gap period what to observe - was the question - so i tried to be aware of whatever is arising in the present moment.
Now the question is how to develop concentration in my meditation?
as far as posture is concerned, i find keeping my back with the natural curve with the chest opening out - this posture usually moves after 5 min or so and again i have to realign my back posture to make it straight for breathing through the diaphragm - i think my head moves (but i am not sleeping) - but this makes my body keeps moving after say every 3min or every 5min - so how concentration can develop here?
as far as trying to be aware of the present moment is concerned, should i try to completely relax my mind and then try to see how much aware i am of whatever is going on in present moment (like external sounds, my ears ringing due to tinnitus, my current bodily sensations) - or should i try to keep attention at the front of my face to feel the sensation of the breath coming in - or should i just sit and pass the time? will just sitting and trying to do nothing(though because of thoughts, this is not happening) is of any use or will it help?
please suggest. thanks in advance.
i am finding myself a hopeless case as far as meditation is concerned. i understand it is letting go - but still cant let go. i am not trying to achieve anything - but sadly it seems to me that my meditation is nothing more than a way of passing time for me by just sitting and trying not to do anything, but because of thoughts, this is also not happening.
just some background information - i sit in full lotus position with my eyes closed, trying to be aware of whatever is going on in present moment.
initially i tried to have breath as my meditation object - but the problem which came was - my natural breathing is very irregular means long inhalation followed by very short(sometimes not noticeable) exhalation, then a long gap, then again long noticeable inhalation followed immediately by very short exhalation and then again a long gap. So during the gap period what to observe - was the question - so i tried to be aware of whatever is arising in the present moment.
Now the question is how to develop concentration in my meditation?
as far as posture is concerned, i find keeping my back with the natural curve with the chest opening out - this posture usually moves after 5 min or so and again i have to realign my back posture to make it straight for breathing through the diaphragm - i think my head moves (but i am not sleeping) - but this makes my body keeps moving after say every 3min or every 5min - so how concentration can develop here?
as far as trying to be aware of the present moment is concerned, should i try to completely relax my mind and then try to see how much aware i am of whatever is going on in present moment (like external sounds, my ears ringing due to tinnitus, my current bodily sensations) - or should i try to keep attention at the front of my face to feel the sensation of the breath coming in - or should i just sit and pass the time? will just sitting and trying to do nothing(though because of thoughts, this is not happening) is of any use or will it help?
please suggest. thanks in advance.
0
Comments
Perhaps not.
Try this
or a more Shingon version print out, use on screen or make the above element image and move up through the elements . . .
Concentration, I have read, is only a means, a tool to be used and by itself is nothing profound. You can find such concentration in day to day activities, when you are washing the dishes for example, your mind may be totally focused on the task at hand, or if you are firing a gun, your will be fixed on completing the task. In the book I am reading at the moment, the author even goes as far to say that the concentration generated on the cushion can be too much at times and concentration found daily is useful enough, if recognized and used correctly.
Time always passes it seems and one cannot do nothing.
Perhaps when meditating, trying to meditate is closer to meditating than trying to do nothing but you're meditating so what are you trying for?
Then I went to a retreat and the teacher led us on several different types of short (5 minutes) meditation sessions. Some of them absolutely didn't work for me, some did. I just experimented with them and sat for very short periods. Over time, my thoughts decreased and so did my discomfort. I stopped having a goal, thinking I'd feel better after I meditated or feel different some how. I just stopped caring what I felt like after and just started doing it. Once I could do 5 minutes without wondering how much time was left or without wondering how I'd feel after or being frustrated, I increased it to 7 minutes then 12 minutes then 18 minutes, then 25 and so on. I'm used to it enough now that I don't set a timer or anything and sometimes, I sit for only 12 minutes. Sometimes, I sit for 40 or more, and during the time I have absolutely no idea how long it's been. I just do what I feel the need to do that day.
Sometimes I still struggle. When I injured my knee I was so wrapped up in it that I couldn't meditate hardly at all. I was so attached to/used to sitting in a certain spot every single time I meditated, that not being able to do that made it very hard for me to meditate at all, and again I got frustrated. So I went back to doing it for 5 minutes in the new place, new position and went from there all over again. Sometimes, I can just sit and it's "perfect" but sometimes I sit and I have to go back to counting my breath, repeating refuge vows or whatever to occupy my mind. Whatever it is that happens, it's ok. Because I don't expect a certain outcome, I don't get frustrated when I have sessions where my thoughts are constant. When that happens, I just don't follow them and let them be like a news ticker on tv, they just go through my mind in a scroll and I don't pay them any mind. Regardless of whether it's a perfect session or a difficult one, I notice the benefits in my daily life so I keep doing it.
I stopped thinking meditation was some magical thing that was going to GET me something. When I stopped expecting the benefits, that is when they started showing up.
Perhaps not.
Try this
or a more Shingon version print out, use on screen or make the above element image and move up through the elements . . .
This guy was in my sangha!
It is one of the earliest Buddhist practices I found useful.
It is very much a concentration enhancing practice, that the OP asked for . . .
Talk on samatha and vipassana
@all: it is paradox - without desire, a person will not sit for meditation and - with desire usually craving and clinging starts, which makes sure the goal of meditation will not be going to be attained till craving and clinging is there. craving for becoming and non-becoming both leading to clinging which leads to suffering. @ThailandTom: no problem dude. keep posting your meditation questions here.
in other words, focus . . . and let go
The element meditation is good because it teaches you to focus
on and with body, emotions, intent, expression and consciousness amongst the other possible elements.
The simpler but effective breath focus
mantra focus
body focus
Buddha focus etc
is also linked with the idea of
tighten and unfold . . . like a lotus breathing . . .
meditation is not hard if you soften
if too easy, harden (focus)
if too much change, remain
if too much remaining
change
OM MANI PEME HUM
as the lotus said to the stalk
@misecmisc1 - If your natural breathing is "ragged" so to speak, then notice that. There's not necessarily any "proper" way to breath (AFAIK). I even find it difficult to keep deep breathing + concentration because the exertion required to breath deeply takes me away from being aware of other things.
So if one in-breath is deep, but the next is shallow, that's okay. Just concentrate on what is happening. It sounds like you're placing your concentration behind an "expectation filter." You want to concentrate, but aren't fully letting go of expectations of what meditation is "supposed to be."
Regarding mindfulness in daily activities, I think the key is to be completely focused on what you are doing and how you are doing it in the space you are in. It's not necessarily "Breathing in -- typing the letter A -- breathing out -- lifting finger from keyboard."
Please don't take this as a harsh critique - I'm simply trying to point out where you might be getting caught up. I think many of us find the same barriers from time to time.
I desire to be better in my practice overall. But I do not expect that simply by desiring it, that it'll suddenly happen.
Thus, the irony: whereas "concentration" implies a closing off or a whittling down of attention so that it is as precise and small as a pinpoint, samadhi is more about opening up and letting go. As Jack Kornfield puts it, it's about "stopping the war" with our experience. If you try too hard to concentrate, you'll just agitate and irritate the mind-body complex even more. Meditation is about remembering, on an experiential level, what it's like to be alive (sati, the word usually translated as mindfulness, literally means "remembering"). We often forget about our existential situation out in the chaos of our workaday lives. Meditation is an opportunity to remember: "Oh yeah! I'm in a body! And this body is doing this crazy thing called breathing, in which I'm directly in a relationship with the air particles around me! And along with breathing, this sort of existence comes with all sorts of other interesting things: feelings, thoughts, urges, attachments, etc."
Have you ever worked with bread dough that was too dry? It crumbles and separates and never comes together into a ball. That is what the mind is like. As the Dhammapada begins: "All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made mind." Our experience of life is based on attention. In everyday life, that attention tends to be scattered, defuse, crumbly like bread dough that is too dry. Attention is like wetness, like water: whatever you apply it to becomes joined with the whole of your experience. You can permeate your entire experience of life with the water of attention. Gather back and unify the scattered crumbs of your experience (which will be your body -- that's your vehicle for experiencing in this life; gather back the disparate consciousness of the body).
Don't try to fixate on the breath. The Buddha said "I breath in and out, sensitive to the whole body." Some people believe he meant "the body of the breath", but I disagree. I believe he meant the whole body. As you breath in, relax the body. As you breathe out, relax the body. Notice the relationship between clinging and the breath. The breath is dynamic, flowing, moving. Clinging is static. The fluidity of the breath can remind you that the nature of experience itself is to flow, and that any clinging, any tension, any resistance, can be allowed to melt and then move and transform of its own accord.
If for example 'being attentive to ones mind wandering' was the nature of meditation, which strangely enough it is, we would find it easy.
We are not trying to hold the mind but behold
The mind.
In my case, beware
The mind.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/17765/bubble-bath-meditation
If meditation doesn't develop it's due to the five hindrances. I can't see in your mind, but to me it sounds like you have doubt in your meditation. You are wondering if it is working, wondering if you are doing it right. You may want to let go, but it sounds like you don't trust in letting go. That's a doubt which makes it not work.
You have to know that some hindrances can be very subtle and unnoticeable unless you point your attention to them. So can you see the doubt? It might be lurking underneath. Usually if you give it some attention you can see it as it is and it'll vanish straight away. Otherwise you may want to do some practices to increase your faith.
Reflect on your faith in the Buddha and the Dhamma. Read some suttas. Do some devotional chanting. Perhaps reflect on previous meditation experiences of some peace, however minor. If you can't arouse faith by yourself, find a teacher you trust, he might recognize it and encourage you.
You can find peace in meditation just like many others have done. There is nothing special about you which makes you unable to. It's very natural for there to be doubts, let me tell you that. But eventually, with time, you'll find a way around it.
If it is not doubt, it's restlessness - these two have a close connection. But investigate doubt first.
With metta,
Sabre
But dude, i think i am seeing your reply after a long time - where were you these days?
as far as watching for doubt is concerned, i will try to see for this doubt - but it seems to me that you are right, because somewhere in my meditation, i do start to think if my back is dropping, if i am doing watching the breath correctly - or am i just deluding myself that i am doing meditation, even though i may be getting caught in thoughts and not even watching the breath properly.
anyways, as for my meditation is concerned, i now just sit - just try to be in present moment and try to keep breath at front as @pegembara suggested. But still it feels to me like i am watching my breath - so is this not a doing in some form, rather than just be aware of breathing? it may seem like a complete idiotic question - but somehow i am not able to understand - is just bare awareness of breath same or different than watching the breath? the thing is it seems to me that somehow watching the breath seems to manipulate my breath either in inhalation, or exhalation or manipulates the gap between inhalation and exhalation.
Its a paradox that it takes practice to be natural...we have so many layers of learning.
Hi All,
Regarding my other question, which may be idiotic, but still asking - is just bare awareness of breath same or different than watching the breath? as far as i can say from what i feel in my so-called meditation (which is without concentration, so not even meditation) or sitting with eyes closed, it is difficult to explain, but let me try if i can explain what i am trying to say - if i chose to go for bare attention, then basically i do not focus on breath, rather just sit and loosely try to be aware of whatever arises, but keeping breath at some higher importance than other parallel going on things like external sounds etc - if i chose to watch breath, then also it is almost same thing, but i think my attention increases here as i focus on the breath - so the difference is in bare awareness, i notice but it is slightly casual and not strict, so may be do not notice much, but in watching the breath, i notice more so it feels like i am watching it (as i said difficult to explain, but still trying to explain) - so this is why i feel in watching the breath, there is some amount of doing involved.
Even difficult to say if i am with bare awareness or watching the breath - means which mode - may be both are same, but i do not know - may be in bare awareness also, trying to be just aware is also some doing, but i do not know.
So should i go with bare awareness or try to watch the breath? Please suggest.
Also, you have my permission to totally fail in meditation. Give yourself this permission also. That's also letting go, letting go of expectations and desires to get somewhere. Next session, just sit and whatever happens, it's fine. You relax.
I suppose someone who has not experienced problems in these areas might not notice an improvement caused by increased mindfulness from meditating.
But having struggled with distraction and probably attention deficit disorder for most of my life, I can say that yes, for me, meditating is done to attain concentration.
More details in With Each and Every Breath, part I, chapter II, "FOCUSING ON THE BREATH," p. 28. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
Hi All,
Regarding my other question, which may be idiotic, but still asking - is just bare awareness of breath same or different than watching the breath? as far as i can say from what i feel in my so-called meditation (which is without concentration, so not even meditation) or sitting with eyes closed, it is difficult to explain, but let me try if i can explain what i am trying to say - if i chose to go for bare attention, then basically i do not focus on breath, rather just sit and loosely try to be aware of whatever arises, but keeping breath at some higher importance than other parallel going on things like external sounds etc - if i chose to watch breath, then also it is almost same thing, but i think my attention increases here as i focus on the breath - so the difference is in bare awareness, i notice but it is slightly casual and not strict, so may be do not notice much, but in watching the breath, i notice more so it feels like i am watching it (as i said difficult to explain, but still trying to explain) - so this is why i feel in watching the breath, there is some amount of doing involved.
Even difficult to say if i am with bare awareness or watching the breath - means which mode - may be both are same, but i do not know - may be in bare awareness also, trying to be just aware is also some doing, but i do not know.
So should i go with bare awareness or try to watch the breath? Please suggest.
Learn to recognize states of mind and how to turn them into more wholesome and peaceful states. Sometimes this requires a more general awareness, sometimes some wisdom, sometimes attention of the breath, sometimes metta, sometime patience. You have to figure out when to use what tools. We can't tell you what to do with every problem, because you are unique and only you can know.
The problem you may be having with both approaches you mention, is that you separate "you" from the technique. So there is "you", the mind and the object. These three have to become one, then it'll flow. Don't over obsess on this. If it's not the time, it's not the time. Perhaps you go to fast and there are grosser defilements you need to work on first. It may be too early for focusing on the breath as well. If the time is especially right, the breath will stick to you like as if you instant glued it to yourself - it won't go loose even if you wanted. You can't 'want' this to happen, not when the mind is course. Glue only works when the surfaces are clean of defilements. And even then, if you apply it, you have to wait for it to dry. So clear the mind of most thoughts, then direct it to the breath once and just see what happens. Don't keep pressing it onto the breath.
I can tell you all this not because I was told this, but because I had the guts to be creative and to go to unfamiliar places of mind. That's the enlightenment factor of investigation. It's important to cultivate this. The Buddhist path isn't like an Ikea bookcase, where you simply follow step 1 to 8 and you've assembled it. Neither is it like a course in law or maths, you do some tests and you graduate. Instead, it takes involvement, it involves all of our life. So you have to figure out things yourself.
You could in your meditation -or afterward- ask yourself why things were working or not working. Not trying to find an answer intellectually or by the things you've read or heard, but by feeling. You'll see you'll often find the answer by yourself. But "don't know" is also a good answer.