The skilful use of attention

tbornottb?

In my experience, the difference between a good meditation session and a bad meditation session depends on where my attention is. In a good session my attention is reasonably well focussed on my breath or on loving-kindness. In a bad session my attention gets caught up by thoughts on something or other. Could meditation be described as the skilful use of attention to calm the mind and develop positive mental qualities? Is that too simple? Is it completely wrong?<O:p</O:p

nervy3314

Meditation can be described in many ways, and I don't think any one description can be too simple, let alone "completely wrong." I think the calmness of the mind IS the positive mental quality we hope for, and it definitely requires the use of attention, use that becomes more effective over time, just like any skill.

I like to think of the meditative state as like black hole. The mind becomes concentrated into a single infinitely dense focus; the singularity of the black hole. As thoughts enter the mind, they immediately get consumed by the infinite gravity of the concentration, restoring the mind to a silent equilibrium. As we grow spiritually, the density of our focus becomes stronger, more effectively consuming trespassing thoughts. Visualizations and imagination such as this help me tremendously in maintaining a meditative state.

Another one I like is the lake metaphor. A still pond can perfectly reflect the reality of the sky, the birds, and the clouds above it. But if a stone is thrown into the pond, the ripples distort reality and we can no longer see clearly. As soon as we stop throwing stones, the pond becomes still and our perception is restored. Or, our mind is a glass of water. If we shake it, it splashes everywhere. If we stop shaking the glass, the water calms down and we can see our reflection again