Namaste!
Meditation begins with concentration, but after an initial period of concentration, thought activity decreases and keeping the awareness focused becomes more spontaneous. At this point the person may or may not continue to employ the object of concentration.
by Jeffrey CHANCE
Do you agree with these views?
If you agree or not agree with these views kindly state the reason!
Can you share something about meditation with concentration?
Thanks in advance for your views….
Hi Kalaivani, I woulld define it very precisely as:
Well, During concentration the sense organs are active and contact with the external world is not cut off. But during meditation, which needs a higher degree of concentration, the mind alone is active and contact with the external world is cut off.
It’s good to share meditation experiences, but don’t limit meditation by words. As Dogen (13th century zen master) repeated many times, sitting in meditation = enlightenment. << Originally, the Way is complete and universal. How can we distinguish practice from enlightenment?>> from Fukan Zazen-gi.
He, he. He sounds like Benhito.
Meditation is used as a broad term for practices done by a sole practitioner without much, if any, external aid, often for the purpose of self-transformation. Often, though not at all necessarily, meditation is done as part of a religious tradition.
We can distinguish practice from enlightment as we distinguish trying from doing.
Of course, real meditation requires enlightment. Thus, what is usually called meditation is but preparation, trying, instead of doing. A real practice is already the thing. But we should not be lost in words, as these zen guys just love to use the paradox to get you out of your mind. 
The thing with enlightment … what is it ? And how can you want something you do not know ? It is rather longing for personal answers to the great questions of our existence. It’s that a-ha moment, when you figure something out. But by the nature of what you just have figured out, experienced, came to know, there are various levels of enlightment.
Being able to read for example, requires an initiation, learning, practice, until you finally are able to put letters togheter, read them, mentally recite them, comprehend them, this last being the a-ha moment.
Enlightment for me is nothing but arriving to a higher state of understanding, realization, a-ha moment. Learning to read the bigger picture, instead of being told suppositions.
once I had an issue with my father hat I was struggling with, in frustration I sat down and gave up while fully immersed in the feeling of the matter at hand. after letting go, the anwwer appeared. I was concentrated and focused on what I was feeling and dealing with, then all that was let go of. I would call the letting go part the meditation.
thanks
Neil
Beautiful answers from the heart!
The way I see it, words like concentration, meditation, contemplation, realization etc. are used by many to refer to many different states of mind. It can get very confusing if we do not remain undistracted by all these thoughts.
Personally I would describe concentration as it is mostly practiced as simply concentrating on one object and keeping out all other thoughts. But there are two ways concentration can unfold itself.
When coupled with belief in what one is doing, with intention to reach some state of mind, it is the concentration that leads to a cultivated state of mind. In other words: a state that you allows yourself to be blinded/absorbed by; a state that somewhat resembles the state of true openness and understanding as a quality, but is in fact merely a very well developed, a very refined, thought.
Basically what one does, in my observation, is that one chooses the kind of reality one wants by choosing that single thought-form to concentrate on until it becomes total and absorbs attention completely. When this happens, many call it meditation or even samadhi. But as yoga tells us too, samadhi, especially this kind of samadhi, is still maya :). Since all we are truly doing is pick one reality (thought actually) to lose ourselves in without remaining open to whatever is. While wisdom is open and inclusive of everything. It is, in my experience, not dependent on any sort of contrived state of mind.
Concentration.contemplation/meditation, in my vocabulary, can also mean an open quality of presence that’s simple aware of its own presence.
In this instance concentration is not coupled with ideas and concepts about right and wrong, spiritual and non-spiritual, distractions and attainment/goal. In this second way of concentration, one is simply not distracted by whatever appears, including concentration or non-concentrated states. This type of concentration is not cultivated through exerting and perpetuating a single belief/idea/thought and excluding all others until that one thought-quality becomes a state of mind. This second concentration is simply open mindfulness to whatever is, without trying to create a result in the mind, without rejecting or accepting any one thought or reality. This natural openness to whatever is, is attention being aware of its source in the Now. It is Compassion, natural understanding and it unleashes True Love.
Love,
Bentinho.
But as yoga tells us too, samadhi, especially this kind of samadhi, is still maya
I submit that “yoga” tells us nothing of the sort. Bentinho tells us this, and we know that …well, that is beside the point.
Meditation is an English word, so it can be confusing to talk about meditation using the language of Patanjali’s yoga, because Patanjali uses a more specific terminology. Dharana, what we usually call concentration, is fairly straightforward, i.e. holding the mind to a single spot or object. Patanjali doesn’t talk about decreased mental activity in the following stage, i.e. dhyana. In fact, I believe that the concept of decreased mental activity is a common mistake. Rather, dhyana is one-pointedness, in which the activity that arises and subsides is related to the object of concentration.
There is another way of looking at it too. You may recall that yoga is defined as citta vrtti nirodhah - restriction of the fluctuations or modifications of consciousness, and that the modifications are valid perception, misconception, conceptualization, memory, and sleep. So if we are focused on perception for example, as in driving or playing basketball, activity does not slow down. On the contrary, it can become quite intense. But we do not allow our mind to daydream or think about what happened last night.
You may also recall that the vrtti may be klista or aklista, i.e. causing suffering or not causing suffering. I submit that the vrtti that we want to restrict are the klesas, those that cause suffering.
But usually when we talk about meditation we’re talking about getting into a state of mind that is different from normal consciousness, and we want our mental activity to be quiet and under control so that we no longer identify with it. This allows us to get into the deeper levels of our being.
When you are concentrating, you are not relaxed. You need to relax when you meditate.
First dharana or concentration - counting your breaths, for example, so that the mind learns to focus on one thing alone. It becomes dhyana or meditation when you cultivate a devotional aspect to your concentration.
You’re right. If you follow Patanjali’s method, dharana is preceded by asana which is “steady and easeful”, pranayama, and pratyahara or sense withdrawal. So what does that mean? The part of the mind that is involved with perception and physical movement is at rest, allowing us to focus attention on more subtle aspects of consciousness.
I’m not sure I agree that dhyana comes from a devotional aspect. The concept of dhyana is present in the Samkhya system, which doesn’t contain a devotional aspect. But Samkhya doesn’t include samadhi, which does seem to depend on some type of devotion to Isvara.
If you look at some of the Vedic literature, which I’ve done in a superficial way, you may find that the term dhyana is used to describe different types of practices. Samkhya defines it as cessation of raga (passion). I believe that is the same as what the Buddhists call dharma practice, which includes various techniques that are intended to remove or reduce disturbing emotions and accumulate merit, leading to enlightenment.
Having said that, I think I need to modify what I said earlier, because some practices that could be considered dhyana do include a devotional aspect.
SHRAVAKA’S STATE OF CESSATION In the context of Mahayana or Vajrayana practice, this state is used in a derogatory sense and is renowned as a severe sidetrack from the path of the enlightenment of the buddhas. The mistake comes from regarding meditation practice as being the act of cultivating and fixating on a state in which sensations and thoughts are absent.
Quoted from Dakini Teachings
When we practise Yoga continously, our actions will improve in a consistent manner. Here one thing I would like to mention that, concentration lacks only when our mind and body is not fit enough. As such, If your mind and body is fit enough than there is no point in discussing about Concentration. Keep focussed to make our mind and body fit. Than everything else is secondary.
In ordinary concentration the mind is focused on an external object or a mental idea,called perception.but meditation is the reversal process of perception.
Dear if concentration is their then meditation is possible when we in deep meditation because its concentration of mind in a particular frequency
Happy New Year
Removing as much as possible from the attention of the mind is the aim.
Removing unwanted frequencies is another way of putting it, I agree Samarjit
Single focus is a good practice.