Depth & Breadth of Concentration - Part 1 of 3

I take concentration power to be one of the 3 core skills that constitutes mindful awareness.

Probably my very first discovery that's sold me on the meditative Endeavour.

Is I started at the end of an hour of meditation focus on breath I started to notice that I would go into these states of light concentration. But for me. It was a highly altered state since like most People I'd lived my life in a very scattered way I started to notice it at the end of period of breath, counting, which is what they gave me in the Zen Temple.

That I would drop into these concentrated States and my teacher told me well. That's good. That's called some by Zalmay as the Japanese pronunciation of somebody that's good, but you now need to try to maintain that in all aspects of life as you go about daily life, I said how to do it and he said. Well, you start with simple things. The temple tasks that you have to do the washing the floor in the washing dishes breaking the sound those are pretty simple things.

Just focus on that and then it will extend out to more and more complicated life activities and in fact, I found it was true.

Over the years.

That eventually became over the decades.

It has developed in 2 directions. It's gotten deeper deeper deeper and it's gotten broader broader broader, meaning able to maintain it in more and more complex life situations.

And as I said, I noticed it was intrinsically rewarding. There was just something it didn't matter what I was focusing on if I had a high concentration that in and of itself was a reward, it was.

Maybe I should use the word but it was a high.

That sounds sold me on this is like how cool is this, I could just do this. I'll never waste. Anytime again in my life. If I'm just sitting around waiting in a doctors office or something like that. I don't have to waste my time waiting for a plane I'll just like.

Get into this concentrated state see all my life, I was afraid of being bored. I hated being bored.

And I discovered then there wasn't any more boredom 'cause If you take something that's intrinsically boring and focus on it in very in somebody if you can taste the somebody if you can taste the concentration.

As your as your focusing on this boring thing it's not boring anymore. It's intrinsically rewarding.

So that's pretty cool and then I was able to appreciate whi in monasteries E and West. They give you such boring tasks to do the archetypal task for Catholic nuns would be stamping out communion wafers a whole lifetime. I'm just making communion wafers. I would suggest to you. That's either heaven or hell.

Depending on how to use their term how recollected you can become as you do that task if you become highly focused on that task. It's more and more and more intrinsically interesting.

I also discovered that.

Not only does the highly focused 8 kerryon intrinsic reward?

But it also reduces suffering.

When they finally took me into the temple.

They said that they would this was in Japan, they wouldn't let me come into the temple. But they wouldn't teach me any of the xinggan practices, the secret Bandar Eonic practices.

But I could sit stick around and work in the temple and they gave me these simple tasks to do and I was like bored to death until somebody pointed out to me. While that same state that you get into when you do the breath meditation. You can do that get into that state when you do these boring test so that was like great, so I did these boring tests for about a year and started to discover they weren't as I said, I could be intrinsically fulfilled doing these very simple things.

Then they finally said, OK, well, you know you, You seem to be serious about this you been sticking around and you memorize the whole liturgy on your own, which is as a foreigner is pretty impressive. You know you're able to memorize these long text since I know Japanese and you kept your nose clean, so OK. We're going to let you initiate you into these secret practices, but you're going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

At this temple, we do it. The old fashioned way so I found out what the old fashioned way meant so it's 100 days in isolation.

In winter.

With essentially very little source of heat.

I'm in a few charcoal briquettes while you're in your room, but you're mostly not in your room in the main Hall of the temple where there's no site. This source of heat and it's a Blizzard outside an you're doing. These contract rituals 3 times a day. But before each one you have to go to this frozen sister and break the ice bucket full of ice water take all your clothes off and Dallas yourself.

But this freezing water then dry yourself with a towel. It's about 6 inches squared size that freezes in your hands as you're attempting to drive somebody actually like knocking the ice out of this thing, so it's like 3 rituals a day with this. Mizu Gordy Gordy and Japanese Miso means cold water. There's 2 words for water is not a single word for water in Japanese.

If it's hot water is called you if it's cold water. It's called music.

So and Corning means to purify too.

Take away the impurities so this cold water purification going to have to do 3 cold water purification's everyday for 100 days.

So.

It's like Day #3.

And something I had noticed was.

That if I kept in a focus state.

Well, I did this thing it was, it was bad. But it wasn't unbearably bad it was just like that. But if my attention was wandering it was unbearably pad.

And it's like Day #3 and I had this epiphany.

Is 97 more days and I see in front of me not a fork but a trichotomy?

There's exactly 3 things are going to happen.

Either I'm going to give up.

Ah.

Because I can't handle this.

And return to the United States in deep disgrace.

Or I'm going to suffer for the next 97 days abjectly.

Or I'm going to.

Stay in a state of somebody for the next 97 days to the best of my ability.

And I didn't want to.

Give up in deep disgrace.

Anna sure didn't want to suffer objectively for 97 days. So I decided OK at least I know it reduces the suffering if I keep in a highly focused state so I'm just going to like I'm going to do my damnedest not to not to suffer not to suffer in the sense of well. I'm gonna have to go through this thing, but try to keep this focused as I can.

So you might say that that was a giant biofeedback device.

Negative biofeedback device go out of somebody you're miserable go back into somebody well, it simply is bearable.