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Right Minfulness and right concentration

shanyinshanyin Novice YoginSault Ontario Veteran
edited May 2010 in Meditation
Hello. I have a book called Buddha: His Life and Teachings and in it are teachings, (which sutras I don't know) of the eightfold path.

For right mindfulness it teaches to be "clearly concious" during the day and also includes Buddha's anapanasati instructions - mindfuless of breathing meditation.

In the right concentration part it teaches to sit and "concentrate" on an "object" like your breath.

Did the Buddha recommend 2 different kinds of meditation; anapanasati and concentration as 2 factors of the path?

Comments

  • StephenStephen
    edited May 2010
    Right Mindfulness is your level of awareness of your daily life. It is awareness of your body, of your thoughts, and what is going on around you. The greater your effort in maintaining mindfulness, the greater your awareness of pretty much everything.

    Right Concentration concerns the meditative aspect of the path. When speaking of "mindfulness" of an object, it is the inverse of the other type of mindfulness. Instead of trying to be aware of all things, you are trying to focus the mind to a point, honing it to a razor edge where there are no longer distractions. Some might leave it at that, but a step in the right direction is to then turn the mind to another object... preferably one of the concepts of Buddhism, i.e. Dependent Origination or Dukkha. Your mind, tranquil and focused, can then get to the business of truly understanding the teachings.

    These are two separate factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, yet mindfulness as you can see is meant to be applied to all things. It is our greatest treasure. Good luck in your meditation. :)
  • DhammaDhatuDhammaDhatu Veteran
    edited May 2010
    Concentration is merely the mind with one object due to the fruition of constant mindfulness.

    Mindfulness & concentration cannot be separated.

    Mindfulness is a supporting factor of concentration.

    To separate mindfulness from concentration is akin to separating a leg from a chair.

    If one wishes to understand the meaning of mindfulness from the scriptures, then I recommend referring to Majjhima Nikaya sutta 117 called the Great Forty.

    Also, Majjhima Nikaya sutta 141 lists the Noble Eightfold Path in detail.

    Kind regards

    :)
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