Hi Everyone, I get a little bit confusing about the meaning of concentration. Once time when I meditate, I only think, feel and see the way I breath. Do I need to empty my mind and how do I know if I already in concentration?
Please let me know if you have suggestion for me…
To start off (and anybody, feel free to say it’s the wrong direction), it’s my understanding that concentration is different from, and can be preliminary to, meditation. In concentration one brings the mind to center (con-centr-ation: same center, the action of) on an object or thought to the exclusion of anything else.
I’ve read the Sutras only once (with exposition in English), and they seemed to describe a cycle back and forth between concentration and thought-without-being-held-to-an-object – that as one concentrates, the object ‘disappears’ and the person experiences an emptiness of thought, and later a new, more subtle object presents itself, and in its turn also disappears. The exposition suggested that this ‘disappearing’ is a natural resolution of the concentration itself, and did not require that a person change what they were ‘trying’ to do when they sat for meditation.
I may have misunderstood.
[QUOTE=Techne;20137]To start off (and anybody, feel free to say it’s the wrong direction), it’s my understanding that concentration is different from, and can be preliminary to, meditation. In concentration one brings the mind to center (con-centr-ation: same center, the action of) on an object or thought to the exclusion of anything else.
I’ve read the Sutras only once (with exposition in English), and they seemed to describe a cycle back and forth between concentration and thought-without-being-held-to-an-object – that as one concentrates, the object ‘disappears’ and the person experiences an emptiness of thought, and later a new, more subtle object presents itself, and in its turn also disappears. The exposition suggested that this ‘disappearing’ is a natural resolution of the concentration itself, and did not require that a person change what they were ‘trying’ to do when they sat for meditation.
I may have misunderstood.[/QUOTE]
Hi Techne,thanks for the information. This brings a new way of thinking for me…
For me concentration is doing that what you are doing, and only that really feeling yourself very present, filling the mind with that which you have chosen without drifting away…
For me it comes about when I really allow myself the time to practice, and am taken and interested in what I’m doing.
I’ve been juggling for many years even before I really started to practice yoga and I found that juggling spontaneously brought me to a highly concentrated state, though the intense attention that it needed.
I try to bring whatever I learn into my practice, from various experiences, so in this case the more attention I give to what I’m doing in the practice the better…
After having ‘channelled’ the mind well if I’m lucky afterwards the mind automatically goes within and become quite.
I would recommend everyone to learn to juggle 
it’s a very interesting process, but perhaps I should open a new topic for this discussion… got lots to say about it…
balancing the two brain hemispheres, hand eye coordination…
The concept of emptying the mind is a common misconception, and is actually used by some to attack yoga. The source of this misconception is sutra 3.3, which, in some translations, says that samadhi is the state in which only the object of meditation is present, [I]as if[/I] the mind were empty of its essence. This does not imply any conscious effort at emptying the mind. Rather, it is a state of mind[I]fullness[/I], in which the mind is so filled with the object of meditation that it is not conscious of itself. It does, however, imply that the meditator has gone beyond his own ego, so that the true essence of object is reflected in consciousness, without the coloration of the individual desires, passions, and circumstances.
I’ve been meditating for 13 years now.
What I get from my practice is that one should not strive for concentration. A little bit like in yoga, you should seek a state of inner peace. You dont need to concenteate for that, you need to let go, which is different.
You need to diminish the activity of your brain, or diminish your brain waves.
Concentration could produce brain activity. Concentration is a ‘‘doing’’, meditation is a ‘‘not doing’’.
A the beginning of my practice I did need to concentrate. But later my practice changed by itself. Your spirit is like a glass of water with sand in it that is being stured. When you meditate you stop sturing the water and the sand drops naturaly.
If you need to concentrate on something, try concentrating on your body and what you feel in it. But later you should be able to go beyond your physical being, which takes time.
Notwithstanding the opinions of others, this is a yoga forum, and yogic meditation as taught by Patanjali includes concentration.
I like the example of the juggler. Another favorite example is a basketball player shooting free throws with the crowd all around doing everything they can to disrupt his concentration. That is concentration on an external object, or more precisely, an objective. The basketball player isn’t concentrating on the ball or on the basket, he’s concentrating on getting the ball into the basket. That requires both mental focus and action.
Concentration is not so mysterious. Anyone who has ever written a paragraph in which each sentence relates to a specific topic has practiced concentration. It is practiced in many forms, such as by artists, musicians, and surgeons. Yogic concentration typically involves some internal or subtle object, such as the lotus of the heart, or the effulgence in the head.
Another example that I like is that of the Olympic athlete who trains for years with one goal in mind, winning the Olympic gold medal. Every waking, eating, sleeping moment is directed toward that one goal. Technically though, that is not concentration, but one-pointedness.
It is said that in the highest stages, meditation is without object, but that is beyond most of us. Empty-headedness is not an enlightened state.
Meditation on an object(concentration for the sake of the discussion) ,dharana,could be used as a tool to lead to meditation on no object,dhyana ( thoughtless state,pure bliss,just self,or mind perhaps ,conciousness) leading eventually to complete dissolution of self or what some might call non-dual awareness & non-separation, resting in pure awareness perhaps-samadhi.
practicing dharana,dhyana(limbs 6&7 for simplicity’s sake) can allow the yamas and niyamas (limbs 1&2,then) for instance to open up and arise natturally.
The interconnectedness of all the limbs can demonstarte how practicing one can open up them all.The practice of active surrender in meditation coulld be accessed through using concentration as a tool. So the niyama ,Isvhanidharma, loosely defined here for asake of discussion here as’ living with awareness of and surrrendering to the divine ’ intersects quite well with (the esssence of) limb7- dyhana-i.e surrenderdering the self,awareness,
really i think the modern patanjali apporach is to tackle all the limbs together rather than try to ascend them as if they were a staircase ,step by step. if we tackle them all itogether progress is easier such that integration of all 8 is wiser.( the practice of any limb will hit an obstacle if any other limb is excluded) The sum is greater than the parts, after all.
So to the OP- concentration could be used as a tool to empty the mind eventually(i.e including the practice of concentration itself) ,resulting in a state of surrender.
1.Meditation on or with object(‘concentration’ for the sake of discussion though for soe reason i either don’t like that word or i feel cocnetration is not desirable, as in yoga one is heading towards an effortless state, one of surrender, so it may just be used as a tool or vehicle in that sense)—>
2.<—Meditation without object(thoughtless state,pure bliss etc)–>
3.<—Dissolution of self completely( cosmic conciousness,samsadhi or whatever)
Also pratyahara is quite useful important as like a gateway limb(between the first 4 limbs and the last 3) in that sensory introversion open us up internally and externally so the two eventually merge ,our supposed sense of outer and inner, or “I” and other.It certainly expands our sense of inner self and our expansive nature which can help to really open us up,inwards (first)and then expanding outwards…
Looking at yoga as a system for self-transformation with the help of the lense of science and and perhaps developments like quantum physics may help to open up this otherwisse vast esoteric, and at times hazy field buried in acient and arcane texts (and direct transmission from teacher to student , a lucky few who in some sense ‘initiated’ and committed ,so to speak , through the ages). It’s is a very anciennt vast wisdom but to alot of people it’s often not that accessible which is a pity.
In scientifc terms ‘concentration’ could be viewed as thought waves with characterising frequencies and/or modulations.When an inner stillness is reached then the turbulence is calmed down and those vibrations come to flow in a mathematically and acoustically harmonious state(without conflict). That state could be OM possibly or have other designs, though acccording to yogi’s the OM is the origin of all sounds and the universe (oone might extrapolate that the big bang might have sounded like one big Auuummm)
If matter can be affected by sound then we have a potentially powerful tool here.I believe it is the basis of mantra yoga and has been ussed to alter one’s karmic potential( our ability to choose free-will,shape our choces) This then on the face of it then would appear quite profound, in terms both of it’s power and application(and implications in everyday life,war, famine etc etc).
Thanks to everyone who have replied my post, I was so surprised to read that all, so deep and so helped me as a beginner…
yoga sutra 3:1
translated: Concentration (dharana) is binding of the mind to one place
Desabandhaschittasya dharana
How to delete a post I just made ?
Concentration is the choice to spend more time with one bondage than with others.
Well, I have other sexual preferences. 
Hahaha, you bastard.
Sadly, I am one.
thanks it was really very informative…
Concentration in this sense is, i think, surrender to the object of attention, letting all else go.
