When you do reenter everyday life, let the
wisdom, insight, compassion, humor, fluidity, spaciousness and
detachment that meditation brought you pervade your day-to-day
experience.
RIGHT CONCENTRATION
IN 1973 I WAS first exposed to Buddhist meditation
practices. My young mind (or “beginner’s mind,” as Buddhist
teaching would call it) took to meditation, as the saying goes,
“like a duck to water.”
Soon after that I became the “subject” in
biofeedback meditation presentations. A number of electrodes were
hooked up to my head, and in a few minutes I would slip from outer
awareness (beta) into inner stillness (alpha). Then I would go much
deeper (theta). I always remained conscious but totally detached
from any outside stimulation such as sounds or noises or
temperature changes. At such times part of my mindfulness
meditation training was to silently repeat, Sounds, sounds, I am
hearing sounds. Then I would consciously breathe in and breathe
out, returning full focus to my breath. I was a real “whiz kid” of
meditation. As I look back on those days, it seems I brought that
energy and knowing with me from previous lives, because I so easily
and quickly went into such deep meditation.
Practicing Right Concentration is to cultivate a
mind that is “single-pointed.”The initial form of meditation I was
engaged in is called “active concentration.” There one observes in
a very detached manner whatever presents itself and then lets it go
and refocuses on the breath—always returning to the present moment,
the now.
The second aspect of Right Concentration is
“selective concentration.” You choose one object and direct your
full focus on it. The object could be a flame, a flower or a
deity.
The more skilled we become in our meditation
practices in Right Concentration, the more enriched our lives
become, the happier we become. For nearly 2,600 years hundreds of
thousands of monks and nuns have spent their lives solely dedicated
to their spiritual practices. What evolved were certain formulas,
such as meditations, that we can take and superimpose on our
present spiritual understanding and practices and receive
consistent results.
The first time I attended a teaching of the Dalai
Lama was 1991 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During a
question-and-answer time, he was asked the question: “How long
should we laypeople meditate daily— not the monks and nuns—but the
average American practitioner?”
His Holiness reflected on the question for several
very long moments and then responded, “Four hours, four hours would
be good.”
There was an audible gasp that rose from the nearly
four thousand attendees. At that time I made an inner commitment to
meditate two hours a day. On only a few occasions have I spent four
full hours in meditation within a twenty-four-hour day. Four hours
is a very long time. Two hours is a very long time. If you are a
newcomer to meditation, don’t even attempt two hours, because in
all likelihood you will grow weary and quit, probably after only a
few days. And that is not the goal.
Since that time in New York I have endeavored to
meditate two hours daily. People ask me how that is possible since
I have such a full life. At least one to one and a half hours is
dedicated to Right Concentrationduring the night. Not sleeping
through the night does not mean counting sheep. Counting breaths
and mantras can be far more beneficial.
At those times of life where there has been just
too much on my plate and my meditation has suffered, I have
suffered. I have learned I simply cannot let “life” press in on my
time of solitude of which I require a lot. Without Right
Concentration life simply does not work well for me. It is reported
that Gandhi would rise between 3 and 4 A.M. and silently meditate
to prepare for his full schedule. He considered this his most
important act of the day, since it gave him the energy to do
whatever would come before him. Charles Fillmore, cofounder of the
Unity movement, would arise in the middle of the night and spend
extended times in meditation. There is something quite sacred about
the stillness of the predawn hours. Interference from the
fast-paced, frenetic world with all of its bombardment from
disruptive waves of ego has not yet begun, and one can more easily
relax into the quiet.
In reflecting on the eight points of the Eight-fold
Path, it is clear that I began my practice of them with Right
Concentration. This is not the norm. Usually one starts with Right
View or Right Thought, the preliminary aspects that are essential.
These two are followed by Right Speech, Right Action and Right
Livelihood. These three align the living and expression of one’s
life with the ideal. The final three—Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness and Right Concentration—are developmentally advancing
one toward the goal of spiritual understanding and awakening.
Right Concentration is not to be used as an escape
mechanism. That would be wrong concentration. Rather, Right
Concentration builds the consciousness for us to live deeply with
clear awareness each moment of our lives.
Following are several concentration practices that
I have used and taught through the years.
Falling Leaves
This exercise will take you twenty to thirty
minutes.
• First, in a quiet place sit either on the floor
in a yoga posture or in a chair with your spine straight, feet flat
on the floor, hands in a relaxed, open, palms-up position.
• Then still your mind by breathing in and out
slowly with awareness. Do this for several minutes until you feel
yourself becoming inwardly quiet.
• Next imagine ten leaves gathered in the region
of your third eye (the center of your forehead). They are your
leaves. Choose whatever kind you wish. One student of mine actually
gathered leaves in the autumn and placed ten of them on a tray in
front of her. She would look at the leaves, close her eyes,
visualize the leaves, once again open her eyes, look at the actual
leaves, close her eyes again and begin the concentration practice.
She reported that this technique was very beneficial for her.
Awaken your creative imagination and find a way that would inspire
and be beneficial to you.
• Now with each breath imagine a single leaf
floating from your forehead to your solar plexus. Stay very
centered and focused in your concentration. Do this until all ten
leaves are resting in the solar plexus without experiencing
distracting thoughts.
I encourage you to practice daily the leaf
meditation, and when you feel a degree of mastery, then move on to
more complex mindfulness techniques such as the ones at the end of
this book. You do the work, and it will work for you. Faithfully
continue in your practice and in time you will reap the priceless
benefits to your inner being. Remember to be certain you are not
sitting quietly with your eyes closed thinking about anything—no
to-do list, no balancing the checkbook, no worrying about anything.
If you are, refocus your attention on your breathing:
In and out, rising, falling, peace within, peace
without, calm within, calm without.
If you need more practice with concentration, then
revisit those ten leaves. You are worth the time and effort. Your
soul is worth the time and effort. The time spent developing Right
Concentration will return to you blessed many times over.
Walking Meditation
This exercise can take thirty minutes to an hour or
more. My husband and I became somewhat skilled in walking
meditation while on retreat at Plum Village in France with Thich
Nhat Hanh.
In the French countryside Thich Nhat Hanh would
very mindfully and most slowly walk with his eyes looking neither
right nor left, cast slightly downward. Imagine the scene with this
diminutive monk leading seventy-five adults and a few children
single file in the slow, nearly motionless walk with French farmers
driving by in their tractors or horse-drawn carts gaping at the
unusual spectacle in their bucolic land. A mischievous, impetuous
little boy, who was the son of parents in our group, would run in
front of Thich Nhat Hanh flailing his arms in an attempt to
distract the teacher. The child never succeeded. Thich Nhat Hanh
remained composed, mindful and centered in spite of the child’s
antics.
This is a lovely practice that aligns the physical
body and its motion through centering, purposeful movement. It also
has the benefit of stilling the mind. Try it on a quiet beach or
park or forest. It is very beneficial. David and I always lead this
walking meditation when we lead group retreats in Hawaii, and we
silently walk mindfully single file through a pristine ironwood
forest. The ironwoods sway and creak in the breeze. It is as if the
gentle sounds of their vibrations are communicating peace to us.
The single-file line of retreatants slowly moving through the
forest is gradually enveloped by the oscillations of the trees. It
has always been a very meaningful experience for all.
Sitting on the Car Meditation
This is another meditation that focuses on Right
Concentration that I learned and practiced at Plum Village. We
signed up for “Sitting on the Car Meditation,” which, when I read
the title, made me burst out laughing as I visualized many
Buddhists using Right Concentration mindfully sitting all over the
cars in the small parking lot. It was quite a comical mental
image.
As it turned out, something was lost in
translation, for it was supposed to read “Sitting in the Car
Meditation.” But the correct translation hardly helped, for what it
really meant was piling sixteen to seventeen people like sardines
into an old van, where we were to be silent as the Vietnamese
driver wove us through the French countryside, transporting us to
our intended destination. It was an attempt to remain centered
while wrapped around the gearshift! I would silently practice
mindful breathing or count my Tibetan mala beads to remain focused,
centered and calm.
Riding so squeezed into a vehicle with others I do
not recommend, but we can always bring mindful concentration to our
driving, whether alone or with passengers. What happens to drivers
in stressful situations is quite revealing as to what lurks in
“store consciousness” (the Buddhist term for the subconscious
mind). It must be one of my soul lessons, because on several
occasions I have been the passenger of drivers who are spiritual
practitioners, but who—when they encounter a hostile driver on the
road—quickly match negative energies, cursing and swearing and
making rude gestures. Such behavior is not worth it.
Calm in, calm out, peace in, peace
out.
The highways of life will always be filled with
unskilled drivers. Another’s driving skills need to have nothing to
do with our maintaining calm at our spiritual center. A helpful
technique to remind you to remain in your center is to print cards
with calming phrases such as “Sitting in the car meditation,”
“Breathe,” or “Calm in, calm out,” and tape them to your dashboard.
Some place a picture of a much-loved saint or teacher, or they hang
mala beads over the rearview mirror. If you find you can easily
lose your spiritual equilibrium while driving, why not incorporate
one or more of these ideas?
Practicing Right Concentration in one’s car can be
both a safety and a centering device for drivers and passengers
alike. If all drivers practiced an outer-directed Right
Concentration while behind the wheel, what an impact it would have
for us all as road rage and accidents began to disappear.
Right Concentration takes years of spiritual
practice to begin to gain any degree of mastery. The years of
effort are so worthwhile because of the peace, compassion and
insight into the nature of mind that it brings.
Practice these simple Right Concentration
techniques faithfully by incorporating one or more into your daily
practice, and you will begin to notice the transformation of your
mind and a great inflow of peace.