Wise Concentration

Hey everyone,

It's Judy Cohen,

And this is Wake Up Call 459.

Been talking about a foundational element of mindfulness,

The Eightfold Path,

The path to freedom from suffering,

Or the path to happiness would be another way of thinking about it.

And here we are at the eighth step,

So the last step.

And a quick review,

Which won't do these justice,

But there are two wisdom elements of the path,

Which are the steps of wise view and wise intention.

There are three ethics elements,

Which are the steps of wise communication,

Wise action,

And wise livelihood.

And then there are three elements that are about calming and focusing the mind,

Also called samadhi,

The steps of wise effort,

Wise mindfulness,

And wise concentration.

So today,

Wise concentration,

I'm going to share my experience with this step.

And just to say,

My experience is basic.

I have friends and teachers who can talk about deeper stages of concentration,

Which are called the jhanas,

But my closest friend who can talk about the jhanas,

Because she's experienced in them,

Says that her teachers have asked her not to talk about them,

And maybe because they can't really be talked about.

Anyway,

I don't know,

So I can't share what the jhanas are like,

Which might be the point.

And it's actually always the point with mindfulness,

I guess,

Is that,

You know,

We can always only share what we've experienced.

So the point of wise concentration at its basic stage,

As I've experienced it,

Is to calm and focus the mind.

And if you think about it,

It makes sense.

You know,

When you're concentrating in the colloquial sense,

Like when you're threading a needle or listening closely to what a child is saying,

Isn't the mind fairly focused and also calm?

That's my experience anyway.

But for me,

When I'm not doing something that requires that kind of concentration or invites that kind of concentration,

And I check in,

You know,

Plenty of the time,

This mind isn't calm.

And it doesn't mean that I'm feeling frantic or even excited.

It just means that there's chatter in the mind.

Which is fine,

Because chatter in the mind is a pretty ordinary,

Maybe it's a universal state.

And,

You know,

So here's how it looks for me.

I'm writing the wake-up call,

And a thought arises,

Uh-oh,

Where's the puppy?

I haven't heard from him in a minute or two.

He must be up to something.

So I go look around,

And I spot the puppy,

And he's fine,

But I also see the dried mangoes in the jar on the counter,

And I think,

Yum.

And then I get one,

And it tastes delicious,

And then the question arises,

Will this spoil my dinner?

I'm making a good dinner tonight.

Which triggers the thought,

Darn,

I can't believe I forgot the mushrooms.

I'm wondering if my partner can go out and get them.

And so on.

So this is the chatter in the mind,

And maybe you can relate,

Because what I just named is such an ordinary snapshot of the ordinary mind.

But I'd also say this is not a snapshot of a concentrated mind,

Or at least of my mind when it's concentrated.

It's a snapshot of a scattered mind,

Which,

Again,

No judgment,

Just the way it is.

I once heard a story about the great teacher Thich Nhat Hanh peeling an orange,

And the person who watched him do it said that Thai,

Which was what his students called him,

Was so joyfully focused on that orange,

So relaxed,

That it was just an inspiration to watch.

And maybe a transmission,

Too,

I don't know.

I can remember when my daughter was little,

Really tiny,

And watching her play with her toys and looking at them,

And she'd look at them,

She'd pick them up,

Of course she'd taste them,

And all the time so focused and completely relaxed.

So those two qualities,

Focus and relaxation,

Are the basics of concentration.

And just like mindfulness,

It's a training.

With wise concentration,

We're simply training ourselves to settle and relax,

And then to focus from that place.

And I find that it's possible to do this most easily on a retreat when there aren't any distractions and I have the privilege of not having any responsibilities other than sitting and walking and eating and taking care of my body and listening to my teachers,

And doing that all in silence.

So those conditions,

Silence,

Sustenance,

Self-care,

The Dharma,

Or great teaching,

Make it easiest for me to move into a basic level of concentration,

And it can be done not on retreat as well.

And there are lots of techniques,

And if you're interested,

I'd encourage you to look around on your meditation timer or with a local or even an online teacher if you're interested,

And especially if you're interested in deeper stages of concentration,

To find a teacher specifically for that.

For what I'll call basic concentration cultivation,

My practice is simply to follow each breath from beginning to end,

And remember to relax a little bit more on each out-breath.

And for me,

It's relax both the body and the mind.

So relaxing my body is always interesting,

Because it's often the case that once I've done a body scan and invited relaxation throughout my body,

Some body part begins to tense back up.

And if that's your experience as well,

What I find is that it's very supportive to simply go back and re-issue the invitation to relax to whichever body part that is.

So for me,

It's often it's the jaw,

Or it's the toes,

Or it's the belly,

Or any way that that's what I'm aware of.

Relaxing the mind can be challenging because I find that the chatter in the mind is inherently unrelaxing,

Right?

And so it's a matter of letting go of that chatter,

And then not getting frustrated with myself if it returns,

Or when it returns,

Or if I do get frustrated,

Not getting frustrated with myself for getting frustrated,

Right?

And continuing to go back to the central invitation to let go.

And I find that the more I practice letting go of whatever thoughts or stories seem so compelling or seductive,

The more I notice a kind of,

I'd say,

Motor memory,

Even though it's the mind,

Which I don't think of as a motor,

But maybe it is the motor,

Maybe it's the ultimate motor,

You know,

Of that.

So it's like this motor memory of a kind of felt sense of how relaxation feels in the mind.

And so the more I practice,

The more I notice a kind of memory of that felt sense,

And then the easier it is to let go of the chatter the next time.

So the benefits of concentration,

This kind of concentration,

This relaxation and focus,

They're pretty big.

I notice that loud noises don't startle me much,

Changes in plans not as disconcerting,

Difficult people don't upset me as often,

You know,

When I smack my elbow or some other body part,

Unless it's a really,

Really big smack,

I can relax,

Even though there's pain rather than getting mad about it.

And then the benefits carry over to the big picture,

Too,

Like not getting overly triggered by the news or what someone says at a party that feels terrible.

You know,

The mind and body are relaxed,

Focused,

And recollect the sense of wise concentration available in formal practice,

And then remain relatively stable,

Both because of the recollection and because its manifestation in the present moment stops the mind or discourages it anyway from spinning out.

I'm sharing this because I'm hoping you'll see the benefits of cultivating concentration and wise concentration in the law,

You know,

This could be really transformative.

I mean,

Defenders and prosecutors less triggered by one another and staying present and relaxed and focused together or,

You know,

Family law,

Immigration,

Public interest,

Even corporate lawyers,

Even corporate lawyers being relaxed and focused and even imparting calm to their clients or a political system that isn't triggered seemingly all the time,

Or maybe even a world full of humans that can relax together and focus together.

And there's a reason,

Or there's a result,

I would say.

This kind of relaxation and focus,

Wise concentration,

It creates space.

So it creates space for good things to arise.

It creates space for kindness to substitute in for aversion of all kinds,

Irritation,

Derision,

Scorn,

Impatience.

It makes room for gratitude to take the place of fear and greed.

It perks things up and brings alertness to moments of confusion and apathy,

But it also brings a sense of peace to moments of agitation and anxiety.

And because it lifts up our best qualities and our ability to see the best qualities in others,

It's a great reminder that,

You know,

We're all in this together and that our practice really matters in a powerful way to everyone.

OK,

So let's sit and maybe do a little bit of concentration practice or at least the groundwork for concentration.

So finding a comfortable posture that is upright and dignified,

But it's very important that you also can completely relax just in this moment.

So I just encourage you to do that in whatever way is most supportive for you right now.

Locating the breath and on each in-breath,

Really noticing the aliveness in the body and on the out-breath,

Letting go into whatever relaxation is available to you right now.

Relaxing the body and relaxing the mind,

Letting go.

And with each in-breath,

Just noticing a little energy coming in,

And with each out-breath,

Noticing more relaxation,

Letting the eyes rest back in their sockets,

And the tongue rest back in the mouth,

And the whole body relax in the chair or on the ground.

And thoughts arise,

Just letting them go,

Inviting more relaxation on each out-breath,

Relaxing the body,

Relaxing the mind,

Even relaxing the breath.

Slowly checking in to see if there is tightness in the body and letting that go.

Using the out-breath as a prompt,

Letting go of thoughts,

Inviting any tightness in the body to relax.

So I hope you enjoyed that,

And thanks for being here on the Wake Up Call,

And have a good Saturday and a good weekend.

Be safe out there.

I'll see you next Thursday.