--- ai_generation_date: '2026-10-03' ai_model: gemini-3-pro-preview audiodharma: talks: - date: '2020-06-06' mp3_url: https://audiodharma.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/talks/11508/20200606-Gil_Fronsdal-IMC-seven_factors_of_awakening_concentration.mp3 speakers: - speaker_name: Gil Fronsdal speaker_url: https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/1 talk_start_time_seconds: 0 title: 'Seven Factors of Awakening: Concentration' url: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11508 video_unavailable: false location_city: Redwood City, CA video_unavailable: false youtube: id: P0dKbZF1vm8 imprecise_upload_date: '2021-05-04' title: 'Dharmette: Seven Factors of Awakening: Concentration' upload_date: null uploader_str: Insight Meditation Center uploader_url: https://www.youtube.com/@InsightMeditationCenter youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0dKbZF1vm8 --- # Seven Factors of Awakening: Concentration - [Gil Fronsdal](https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/1) _This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers._ ## [Seven Factors of Awakening: Concentration](https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/11508) So here we are, the sixth day for the Seven Factors of Awakening[^1]. The factor today is the factor of Samadhi[^2], often translated as concentration. I think it's important to notice that it's the sixth factor, that it's preceded by practices or states of developing mindfulness, investigation, effort, joy, and tranquility. And before that, there's an understanding that the support for the Seven Factors of Awakening is our virtue or good conduct, living by the precepts. So all these conditions are in place that support the arising, the appearance of Samadhi. Why that's important to say is that there are not a few people who associate concentration with the be-all and end-all of meditation. A person is a beginner, they read about meditation, and they think that means, "I must be concentrated." And so then there's a huffing and puffing of pushing, tightening, expectation, and a measuring of oneself: "Am I there yet? Am I there yet?" But rather, Samadhi—this concentration that the practice certainly emphasizes—is partially a byproduct rather than a beginner's practice. It's a byproduct of doing the practice: settling in, being open, being relaxed, being happy, being settled, having a sense of well-being. So it's kind of like preparing the soil, tilling the soil, fertilizing the soil so that the seed of Samadhi can germinate and arise[^3]. I think of Samadhi as a gift more than as something I work for. In fact, the idea that we're working to develop concentration seems a little bit against the grain of what really is happening here and what's supportive and helpful. It's more like we make ourselves a vehicle, a vessel for Samadhi to arise, rather than we _do_ the Samadhi. But certainly, there's a combination of things that we offer and do in practice, working with it as a gift that can be allowed to occur[^4]. Last time I looked in an English dictionary for the meaning of the word "concentration," there were two primary meanings. One was a focus of mind, zeroing in on something. The other is that it's a gathering together of things or people—like a gathering of people in a crowd is a concentration of people. When people think about Samadhi or concentration in meditation, I get the impression that a lot of people think of the first definition: focusing of the mind. Extreme versions of it are a laser focus—just really pinpoint, narrowing down, and really hooking into something. The other meaning is actually probably more what the meaning is in the ancient Buddhist texts: a gathering together of something. The word Samadhi and related words that are sometimes translated as concentration have the meaning of gathering together, unifying. Samadhi, in one dictionary, means to come into harmony with things. It's easy to see how fragmented we can become, and we can even be at cross-purposes with ourselves. Cross-purposes where we're directing our attention one place and our mind, our system, is concerned about something else. I think most people who sit down to meditate will have that experience sooner or later—probably sooner. We sit down to be present, and the mind is thinking about something else, elsewhere, other times and places. So we're kind of at cross-purposes: the mind is doing one thing, and we're trying to do something else. Sometimes there are many different kinds of fragmentations going on at the same time. Our body has a legacy of experiences of the day, or experiences of a lifetime, that can be quite strong. We carry tensions and resistance, pulling back, tensing up, and shutting off parts of ourselves. All these different parts of us, with different emotions that have happened over a lifetime, are also vying for attention or pulling away from attention. We can have multiple concerns going on at the same time, and the mind jumps around between them. There could even be multiple emotions happening at the same time. There could be an overall sense of well-being and contentment, but a little something in the back is a little hint of concern: "Did I forget to turn off the stove?" Or it's a little bit of fear, or all kinds of things. The mind has no chance to settle when it's fragmented because it moves between all these things. So Samadhi is not just a settling of the mind, but the unification, the gathering together of all the different faculties of attention we have. All the different ways that we can be in our body, mind, emotions, or heart all come into harmony for the same purpose, for the same intention. That happens through a simplification. It becomes simpler and simpler around one thing. Classically, it might be the breathing—becoming simple, just simple with the breath. Some people might protest that it's being too simplistic, but it's a phenomenal process, a very sophisticated process I would say, of bringing all the different parts we have into harmony, into being settled together. The image that I have for this is that maybe the ground has been parched for a long time. The mountainside is dry, the creek beds are dry, and then it starts to rain. The water starts to flow down the hillside and flows into the creeks, into the streams, into the rivers, and there's a gathering together of all the water. By the time all the waters come into a big river, it's all kind of one-pointedness flowing in the stream of the river, the current of the river. It's just here, but it's also all these different things having become unified, gathered together. The image of the water on the slope is the idea of a natural process, that there is a natural gravitational pull in the human being towards Samadhi if we get out of the way. I think that there is a deep-seated feeling of wholeness, contentment, everything being in harmony. Partly because to not do that is to be fragmented. To not do that is to be tense, to be caught up in things, to be clinging to things or resisting things—all forces which in and of themselves eventually feel quite dissatisfying. For some people, it's clearly very nourishing and settling to really be absorbed in an activity and let everything else fall away, like practicing a craft[^5] or reading a book. So Samadhi, concentration, is a gift that comes when we've laid the foundation for it to arise. And this too is part of the foundation: to learn how not to be in conflict with anything, not to be opposed to anything, not to make anything into a problem. We add layers and layers of problems on top of the simplicity of what's actually happening. So to relax the outer layers, our problem-making mind, and just being with what is, trusting ourselves, being here, is an important part of laying the foundation for developing concentration. There are two different kinds of practices associated with concentration that support it. It's helpful to realize there are these two because some people only think there's one or only focus on one rather than the other. The first is the practice of returning the attention to the object of attention. So in meditation, if the object of attention is the breathing, of course, the mind will wander away from time to time, or much of the time. The practice is to return, to redirect the attention, apply the attention back on the breathing. Or in a different language—sometimes language is so important, these metaphors we use—it is to allow the breathing to return to attention, to allow the breathing to come back into awareness. So rather than us going to it, it returns to us. That sometimes lets the mind be quieter and less active, just opening: "Okay, back to the breath, let the breath return." But it has to do with starting over, beginning again. A lot of meditation has a lot to do with starting over. One of the great skills in meditation is to learn the art of starting again, starting over as if it's the first time. To do it in a way that's not discouraged, not annoyed, not irritated, not bouncing back being forceful. But the very return, the very beginning again, feels satisfying: "Oh, this is nice to start again." The mind opens, things relax. It's kind of an easeful thing: "Okay, let's start again. Let's start again." The second activity is sustaining the attention, hanging in there with what goes on. Really hanging in there and being with the experience, so that attention stays in the present moment with what we're focusing on. The reason I emphasize these two is that some people are very good at the first: they come back, they start again. But then they become complacent, or don't do much anymore; there they are, and the mind wanders off very easily. But the two are needed together. They are slightly different functions of the mind, activities of the mind: starting again, and then hanging with it, lingering with it, sustaining the attention over time. There too, there's an art towards having the sustaining be enjoyable and nice. One way to support that is to not have a high standard or high expectation of how long you're going to be able to sustain the attention. Just do it for as long as you can. Keep doing it: "Okay, here I am, let's stay with this experience of breathing, let's do a couple of breaths." Slowly over time, we're able to sustain it longer, rest with the experience longer, be attentive and connected. It's this massage of wandering off, starting again, sustaining the attention, wandering off, coming back, starting again, sustaining the attention, being there, opening to the experience. You can think of it as a massage, massaging the mind and the heart so it gets softer and easier and more relaxed. Less caught up in its concerns, less momentum of clinging and wanting and doing. It begins to rest and relax and settle. The combination of these two—of starting again and then sustaining the attention—the word that I like for this Factor of Awakening, the factor of concentration, is _steady_. You might say the word to yourself when you come back, be here with the breath or whatever you're going to be with, and just say, "Steady." Let yourself be steady. Steady in body, steady in this posture. Steady in the mind, steady in attention, steady in the heart. Just steady. Keep it steady, keep it steady. And then the mind wanders off. Try to stay steady, and if it does[^6], return, start again, and steady. Kind of like holding a ship steady. So relax, and now, steady. Thank you so much, and we'll finish the Seven Factors of Awakening tomorrow morning. --- [^1]: **Seven Factors of Awakening:** In Buddhist teachings, these are seven qualities that lead to enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. [^2]: **Samadhi:** A Pali word often translated as "concentration," "unification of mind," or "meditative absorption." It refers to a state of deep, focused, and tranquil attention. [^3]: Original transcript said "awry", corrected to "arise" based on context. [^4]: Original transcript said "what a lot with a gift", corrected to "working with it as a gift" based on context. [^5]: Original transcript said "accruing a craft", corrected to "practicing a craft" based on context. [^6]: Original transcript said "diffident", corrected to "if it does" based on context.