Keeping one pointedness of mind, or empty mind

jonny44

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I imagine how amazing having a blank mind would be for say an hr, or a day, week, it would be extremely pleasant.
Any tips on maintaing single pointedness?
Thank u

how

Party pooper alert!

This is pushing the river in my view. Consider that concentration in itself is not the same as the "right concentration" of the 8 fold path. Each spoke of the 8 fold path has the ability to bring different phenomena to light but it's of little worth compared to the equanimity that results from the deliberate development of all 8.

Special states have their worth in their own time and to see them as attractive is to be expected but don't expect spiritual balance to be the result from the indulgence in any single one.

Jason

jonny44 said:

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I imagine how amazing having a blank mind would be for say an hr, or a day, week, it would be extremely pleasant.
Any tips on maintaing single pointedness?
Thank u

My suggestion is to just try to keep your meditation object (e.g., the breath) as the focus of your attention. The better you are at it, the easier it'll be to maintain one-pointedness of mind. Thinking generally doesn't fall away until one achieves deeper meditative states (e.g., see MN 111).

jonny44

Thanx I guess it's not good to obsess on 1 thing, I should also look @ the other spokes, thanx

BhikkhuJayasara

I've had that " blank mind" ( I call it the quieting of the monkey mind and being in mindfulness, it's technically not a "blank" one in my experience) for about 30 minutes once.

The issue is that no matter WHAT the experience is.. it is impermanent, it will come and go according to causes and conditions and we should work towards lessening our attachments to these experiences.

I remember the first time I had the cessation of the monkey mind. I was doing my usual walk break at work around the office and my mind wanted to sing sweet caroline.. so I let it.. then all of a sudden like a wall smacked me in the face.. I noticed there was no thought, no racing mind.. no .. nothing.. This lasted for maybe 30-40 seconds the first time and it was such a profound experience that I even had to go through 2-3 monastics before I got an answer I was "satisfied with" as to what it was.

it was through that experience that I was told by Bhante G.. it is just phenomenon.. observe it arise and pass away.. and let it go when it does.

now my mind enters into the quiet not when I wish it too.. or ask it too.. but whenever it wills. It is not an "oooh ahhh" experience anymore, I just observe when it comes and when it goes. I will admit though when I had the 30 minute experience I was amazed that it lasted so long, but I was able to let it go without too much fuss.

lobster

and I lose concentration

Keep up the good work

Part of why people have such 'difficulty' with meditation is they tighten, focus and tense what needs relaxing. We all start from a life of dukkha. We just need to sit still and be attentive - chill. Just the simple return to the breath as already suggested or watching/observing the monkey mind, without obsessing. Don't do something, just sit there . . . meditation, it's not what you think . . . etc . . .

DairyLama

how said:

Consider that concentration in itself is not the same as the "right concentration" of the 8 fold path.

How do you mean?

seeker242

jonny44 said:

the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I would bet Siddhartha himself encountered this problem too. Most everyone does I would think. A good tip? Just more practicing I would say. Or, one other thing that may help is to stop thinking of it as a "problem", so to speak, to begin with. It's quite natural for the mind to think about stuff. That is basically what it does. That is it's job you could say. A Zen teacher I knew once would say "Things are always coming and going, coming and going. That is not good or bad. Just don't attach to the coming or the going. Then, no problem!" I always found that to be helpful.

Citta

A blank mind is not something to aim for...it is not the goal of Buddhadharma.

genkaku

My Zen teacher once observed, "Without ego, nothing gets done."

Ego, as usually referred to in Buddhism, is a snare and a delusion, tripping up even the most wary of travelers. But ego, as usually referred to in Buddhism, is a myth in its own right... "there is no abiding self."

It is one thing to parrot these words or strive towards their meaning, but practice leads beyond all this... to some sort of recognition/actualization of the fact that where there is no abiding self, there is no need to diss or despair of ego. So-called ego just comes along where something needs to be done and there is no need to either flee or embrace it. As with the eyes, definitions and explanations and praise and blame are unnecessary ... we just use them. Likewise confusion and great calm ... finding the difference is a fool's errand.

Practice can work wonders when it comes to straightening things out.

how

PedanticPorpoise said:

how said:

Consider that concentration in itself is not the same as the "right concentration" of the 8 fold path.

How do you mean?

@PedanticPorpoise

The eight spokes of the 8FP are always preceded by "right" because these same spokes, left bare of this qualifier,( and usually when take on their own) can lead one to ignorance. This "right" is essential!

Concentration (for example) on its own can be utilized for either compassion, love and wisdom or
greed, hatred and delusion. Skillful utilization's of these spokes are "right" as opposed to a unskilful alternative.

Missing that "right" is why a European sniper could assert how Buddhism's 8FP helped him with his task.

We be talkin about the dark side now.

genkaku

And as a PS, perhaps: The word "right" is sometimes translated as "compete."

Jeffrey

This experience is impermanent. Use this special experience to help your practice if possible. But you shouldn't exchange enlightenment for blankness, because the blankness might end or leave you and then there can be terrible suffering when your support collapses. I've read that blankness can lead to rebirth as an animal if you believe in rebirth.

DairyLama

how said:

Missing that "right" is why a European sniper could assert how Buddhism's 8FP helped him with his task.

Yes, concentration in the general sense is a neutral quality, and right view is essential. In the suttas Right Concentration is described in terms of the 4 jhanas.

footiam

jonny44 said:

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I imagine how amazing having a blank mind would be for say an hr, or a day, week, it would be extremely pleasant.
Any tips on maintaing single pointedness?
Thank u

I think that's not the aim of meditation. Looking for that nice feeling of being blank sounds rather like attachment.

jonny44

This is an old post but I was curious, what should one aim for mentally if one pointedness is not the goal then what is non attachment

fivebells

There are different goals at different stages along the path. Developing one-pointedness as a skill is a very valid goal, which can definitely advance you along the path. Non-attachment is best understood as a different kind of skill, that of relinquishing any attachment you choose to relinquish. It needs to be developed in concert with the discernment to recognize what attachments are helpful and what should be relinquished. It's only near the end of the path that you reach a point where all attachments are troublesome and should be relinquished, though. That leads to a state of mind which is very different from one-pointedness, which inherently involves attachment to staying on the one point.

anataman

jonny44 said:

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I imagine how amazing having a blank mind would be for say an hr, or a day, week, it would be extremely pleasant.
Any tips on maintaing single pointedness?
Thank u

Single-pointedness is a conceptual goal.

Awareness is the objective state, of self-recognition. Sorry can't define it better

Self is a relative attribute that with insight refers to, compliments and acknowledges, but can't fully conceive or realise the objective nature of the self-recognising state of awareness.

Knot, bless you, that I can know anything.

bookworm

I know exactly what you're talking about I can go into that clear state of mind all the time now, but its still really hard, I like to call it into the eye of the hurricane. Not thinking is easy in that state, It first happened to me year ago I made a post about it, it takes me 40 minutes to an hour to go into that fixed state but it takes longer if I'm sleepy or it doesn't work if I'm too tired. I'm pretty sure its an absorption level concentration (appana samadhi) that I could possibly use to go into the jhanas but I haven't tried yet because I still have all of my 5 hindrances still intact unfortunately, and I'm still addicted to cigarettes and caffeine.

Bunks

genkaku said:

And as a PS, perhaps: The word "right" is sometimes translated as "compete."

And "wise".

wangchuey

jonny44 said:

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration.

You're not losing concentration just yet. You can easily bring it back as long you have not lost that meditative state. Its normal to lose focus here and there, as long as we don't easily give up and everything goes out the window, we're fine.

Dakini

jonny44 said:

Sometimes During amazing meditation I reach a point where my mind is wrapped around a single thought or thing, and if its goin real good absolutely nothing....the problem is I can't maintain this state for long, one way or another a thought arises, and I lose concentration,

I imagine how amazing having a blank mind would be for say an hr, or a day, week, it would be extremely pleasant.
Any tips on maintaing single pointedness?
Thank u

Keep practicing. Over time, you'll be able to extend the time you can maintain that focus. I consider it a mental vacation. But it's not something you'd want to do for a whole day or longer, I don't think. It is, after all, an altered state of consciousness. Don't get too attached to it. Life is to be lived, not escaped.