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I agree with your second point, real concentration doesn't require lot of force to sustain, actually it requires much less force than regular mind wandering. I
by aaimnr 11y ago
I agree with your second point, real concentration doesn't require lot of force to sustain, actually it requires much less force than regular mind wandering.
In regard to you first question, he's right - if you're interested look up topic of "Five Mental Hindrances" - when you reach really deep state of concentration (called Jhana) you drop all of these. Which means that if you still feel any strong emotions, you still have some work to do as the mind is not stable.
Stability and calmness of the mind are very important factors of right concentration, however it's not immediately obvious, as the english word 'concentration' has lot of these forceful connotations. That's why there's lot of people criticizing translation Pali term Samadhi as Concentration and suggest using 'unification', 'centeredness' etc instead.
- LifeQuestioner 11y agoThanks for that added information, i'll check those out! Question, would enjoyment be an emotion or pleasure? Thus these could enable a person to maintain more concentration because they're happy/having fun/ Perhaps these do not fit into the "strong" emotions category. Edit: so reading the 5 hinderances is interesting. I guess I was thinking the author was suggesting "all emotions" and using those three(hate, etc) as examples rather than there being a select few "negative emotions" which can hinder concentration. Thanks!
- aaimnr 11y agoThere are actually some wholesome mental states that are conducive to concentration. The most notorious are piti (translated as rapture, joy) and sukha (content, pleasure). Listen to this guy, may be useful http://dharmatreasure.org/piti-joy/ http://dharmatreasure.org/piti-joy/ (his superb book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0990847705 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0990847705 ).