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Eightfold Path: Right Concentration (3 of 4)

So today I continue this four-part series on Right Samādhi^[1] in a longer series on the Eightfold Path. It's often a question people ask: What's the difference between mindfulness and concentration? There's a lot of overlap between how these work in us. Some people who practice mindfulness will actually be doing more concentration, and people who do concentration are actually doing more mindfulness because of how much overlap there is. The imprecision may be in the use of the words, and there's no problem with this because concentration and mindfulness go hand in hand; they're there to support each other.

In the deeper or more developed dimensions of Buddhist meditation, mindfulness and concentration come together and work together. The stronger the mindfulness is, the more concentration there is in the wake of it. The stronger the concentration up to a point, the stronger the mindfulness. In fact, in the classic descriptions of the two deepest of the four absorption meditations—the four jhānas^[2]—the word mindfulness is included as part of those states. So they come into play in a very significant way.

Mindfulness vs. Concentration

Very approximately, one way of distinguishing mindfulness and concentration is that, classically, mindfulness is more about what we're attending to. If we're focusing on the breathing, we're really getting into the nuances of the breath, letting the experience of breathing register in a deeper and deeper way. The fullness, the texture, and the variations of sensations that come into play as we're breathing become more and more highlighted and clearer. More and more distinctions are made naturally: "Oh, this is what's happening." As mindfulness gets stronger, that happens with greater detail. It's like having a microscope on it and seeing greater detail of what's happening—not because we're straining, but because the mind is so subtle, open, and undistracted. It's just really right there. It's more about understanding the object of attention.

When we do concentration practice, the focus still might be on the breathing, but the details or nuances of the experience—the sensations of breathing—are not really the subject or the main thing that's going on. In a sense, with concentration meditation, we're just using the breathing as an anchor, as a place to keep the attention from wandering. The subjective experience of what happens to us as we're meditating becomes a little bit more in the forefront of the experience. So with mindfulness, in a sense, we're studying the object of attention; in concentration, we're studying the subject that is concentrating.

I want to emphasize again that there's a big overlap between these two, and they are not so seriously separated from each other. Both are usually going on at the same time, and they support each other. But in terms of the concentration practice, as the concentration deepens, it's the subjective experience that begins shifting, that we keep opening to.

The Five Jhāna Factors

This subjective experience begins with five different factors^[3] that are emphasized for deeper concentration practice. We can start noticing when they come into play. There's a way of relaxing with them, opening to them, and appreciating them that allows them to grow and develop. This is partly because they're all happening in the present moment; they're part of the present moment experience. They are there as the cheerleaders, the support, or the supporting actors for getting more and more unified and focused right here.

You might say we are really focused on something like the breathing, whatever your focus is, but that's a little bit too simplistic for the unification of all these different parts of ourselves being gathered together for this purpose of being settled here. These five different factors are sometimes called jhāna factors. In some ways, I find they are more useful as a reference point to help us harness all these different capacities we have for the purpose of really being here in the present, rather than necessarily focusing on the jhānas themselves (the four different stages of deep absorption). The jhāna factors come into play at all kinds of different levels of concentration.

1. Initial Application of Attention

The first two of these subjective experiences—attention to how we are as we're meditating—have to do with what's called the initial application of attention, or the initial connecting to the focus, for example, the breathing. We begin in a relaxed, fluid, and open way, starting to become attuned, sensitive, or harmonized with the way in which we come back to the breathing.

Of course, the mind will wander away a lot. Some people get disappointed or angry; they jerk or pounce their mind back onto the object of attention. The idea is we want to do it harmoniously. We want to be sensitive to the subjective experience of coming back into the present moment or the focus of attention, and to do it in a way that you enjoy. It's nice to do because you do it calmly, kindly, and lovingly, maybe with a wonderful sense of purpose. It's such a profound thing to get concentrated; it's a transformative, healing, and helpful thing. It's like, "Oh, I'm so fortunate I get to do this. I get to come back." This coming back, doing it in a harmonious and clear way so you enjoy it, puts you back with your breathing. Some people have developed that muscle really well; they come back over and over again.

2. Sustained Attention

The second muscle to develop is the muscle of sustaining attention: hanging in there, lingering, hanging out, and staying connected to whatever the focus is. There's also being aware of the subjective way we are staying with the breath. A corner of the mind is aware, "Okay, here I'm back on the breath. Let's sustain it, let's stay rooted here, let's surf on this."

I think of it sometimes like riding a scooter. Coming back is like kicking the scooter with one foot to roll it along. Sustaining attention is getting carried on the momentum of that, and staying there until you need to push again. You push again with, "Oh, come back, start again." It's a little kick with the foot, and then you glide and hang in there with the glide. The difference with a scooter is that a scooter runs out of its momentum pretty quickly. When we glide on sustaining the attention, we actually begin staying longer and longer. It's like we catch a long wave and we're just really there on it. We're scooting downhill a little bit and we're really just staying.

This initial attention and sustained attention are part of the subjective dimension of how we are as we're meditating. It takes a while to get the hang of how to pay attention to this without tripping over ourselves, trying too hard, or straining. It's meant to be very simple, and it's best not to be trying too hard. Remember that a lot of this concentration has to do with letting go. It's partly just letting go into the sustaining attention, letting go into beginning again.

3. Joy and Delight

The third of these subjective experiences has to do with a sense of joy, delight, and pleasure. It's a feeling of satisfaction, a glow, appreciation, or gladness. All these nuances and feelings of well-being begin to set in as the mind gets focused, really settled, and involved. It's kind of like reading a really good novel or doing a craft you're really involved in; there's a very simple pleasure and delight in doing it. It isn't like the craftsperson or the reader of the book is looking for that joy; it's just there in the background.

As we get really focused on the breathing, this sense of delight, joy, or pleasure comes along. We can use that mildly as a supporting actor, a cheerleader, or an encouragement: "Yes, this is good." With peripheral attention, let that marshal your attention to stay. I think of it as a biofeedback system. The more we focus on the breathing, at some point, this joy kicks in. There's a feedback loop where one gets stronger and supports the other to get stronger. Probably there are some neurological chemicals that come into play, like serotonin, with this kind of focus that is part of the reason this joy factor kicks in.

4. Happiness (Sukha)

The fourth factor is a more sublime, subtle, or embodied well-being, which the tradition sometimes calls sukha^[4] (or sukham). I like to translate it as happiness. It is a deeper, satisfying, contented kind of happiness that is less energetic than earlier kinds of delight and joy.

5. One-Pointedness

The fifth of these jhāna factors is sometimes called one-pointedness. It also means a gathering together, coming together around one point or this one place. It's not a laser focus, but it's more embracing. Here with the breathing, it's like all there is, just really here and present.

Applying the Factors in Daily Life

These are subjective experiences, and there's an art to developing concentration. They can be used a little bit in mindfulness too, as a way to encourage us, interest us, and keep us right here in the present moment, putting aside our concerns. As I said in the meditation earlier, whatever concerns you have that have nothing to do with meditation in the present moment, imagine that for the minutes you're meditating, you put them down on the floor next to you. They're nearby; you can still take care of them and pick them up when you need them. Your concerns know you haven't abandoned them. And then maybe they can just be quiet for a while while you really focus here.

So, the five factors are: the initial application of mind (coming back, starting again), the sustained attention, joy and delight, a more sublime, settled sense of happy satisfaction, and one-pointedness (gathering together to just this).

Maybe as you go through your day today, even in daily activities, you can see if you give yourself completely over to the activity you're doing at any given time. Really do it in a loving, relaxed, kind way, and put aside your concerns. See how these five jhāna factors might come into play. In doing that, maybe you will also enjoy yourself more and find a certain kind of delight or deep satisfaction in just being present and alive in the activity of the moment.

Thank you very much.