Concentration is like gravity. We know gravity causes objects to be attracted to each other but we don’t know exactly how it does that. Concentration can induce a state of deep mental stillness, but we don’t know how it does that either. Probably no term is more ubiquitous in the meditation and awakening lexicon…
Part I ended with a discussion of Culadasa’s translation of samadhi to include the ability to “control the scope of attention” in order to find a “stillness at the core of your moment-to moment experience.” Part II discusses other translations of samadhi that move increasingly in the direction of stillness. Another book dealing with concentration…
The insight meditation movement in the West has from its beginning had a close affiliation with psychology. Many notable teachers such as Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach have doctorates in psychology. In a book chapter written in 1988, Gil Fronsdal observed that at Spirit Rock, the well-known Bay Area meditation center founded by Kornfield and…