From the start, the article equates "concentration" and "mindfulness", with no backing for that assertion.
From everything I've heard, they are not the same thing. Concentrating on a crime scene you are not present at, for example, would mean your mind is not focused on the here and now -- in other words, concentration of the kind they're speaking of seems to be the exact opposite of mindfulness.
Mindfulness and concentration are not the same thing, though they are related skills. You can't really do mindfulness without a little skill in concentration. They tend to be trained together and not always trained in a distinct way.
It's not exactly opposite, or opposite. "Concentrating on a crime scene" means you chose a crime scene as a concentration object. Any concentration object you choose will always appear to be a separate reality from the here and now. Mindfulness will (eventually, with practice) take you to non-duality where there are no opposites. Eh, difficult to explain, and for most people, this isn't important right now.
Mindfulness is pretty easy to describe in terms of what it is not. Mindfulness is not mindlessness. Mindlessness is letting the zombie eat out your brains. It's what happens when you walk out the front door and get to work or get to class and blanked out everything in between there. It's what happens when fear paralyzes you into impotency, and anger consumes you into saying something or doing something rash. It's entire possible to be mindful of the commute even though you've done it many times. It is possible to be mindful of the fear or anger as they happen.
This "emotional regulation" is far more important and significant than avoiding "multitasking". The latter is framed in default way people are conditioned into being more "productive". Being more productive won't help you feel happier about your life.
In any case, concentration is easier to learn and ince you need some skill in it to practice mindfulness, you might as well start there.
No. If you are aware that you are thinking deeply, or 'surrendering' to a stream of thoughts (so thus not quite a true surrender), that is mindfulness. It takes practice.
It is possible to use the stream of thoughts itself as the concentration object, but I've found that geeks and nerds tend to attach (and value) too much to the thoughts themselves. Call this, "getting lost in stories."
I say this because there is a surrender when you are being mindful. You are surrendering the thought -- rather than surrendering to the thought -- yet somehow, that which witnesses -- experiences -- the thought remains without effort. I used to think, being mindful requires a sort of force, a way of isolating what you are doing here and now. That does not work, a good way to make your mind rigid enough to shatter. And thankfully, not something most people can sustain for long periods of time without becoming exhausted.
When you start meditating, a stream of thought shows up like a train wreck and you get carried along with it. You get lost in stories. Stories and narratives about this and that, why you should do this or that, why this thing happened or that person said this. Making up interpretations of things. Correcting and analyzing your practice as you are practicing. Very comfortable for nerds -- very comfortable for most people -- but still lost in stories. That's mindlessness.
In the deeper states, the "stories" you get lost in start taking on qualities of lucid dreams. That's why there are Zen koans like:
A student was meditating and saw visions
of horrors and hell. Terrified, he ran to
his teacher. The teacher listened and told
him, "Let it go."
A few days later, the student was meditating
and saw visions of heaven. He was blissing out,
totally high as waves of pleasure ran through
him. Suddenly, he felt his teacher hit him on
the head. "Let it go."
This "train wreck" of a thought stream, once going on, is very difficult to suppress. By that point, you don't want to suppress it. It's more of riding it out because in time, that too shall pass.
That's also why you have quotes from say, the Tao Te Ching, "A journey of ten thousand miles begin with the single step." Americans and the Chinese love this quote, often taking it to mean that to achieve great things, you must start with that first step. It's just that, at a different level, it is also teaching you how to not get lost in stories. The verse runs like this:
It's easy to keep hold of what hasn't stirred,
easy to plan what hasn't occurred.
It's easy to shatter delicate things,
easy to scatter little things.
Do things before they happen.
Get them straight before they get mixed up.
The tree you can't reach your arms around
grew from a tiny seedling.
The nine-story tower rises
from a heap of clay.
The ten-thousand-mile journey
begins beneath your foot.
(Verse 64, trans. by Ursula K Le Guin)
It is very easy to take that ten-thousand-mile journey and get lost in your stories. Stuff of flame wars and new operating systems :-)
It is also noting that, as your powers of observation and concentration grows, you will be able to observe these thoughts, emotions, and sensations closer to when they are "born". And releasing them before they become something strong enough that you can only ride out its fury.
There's another side to this. Part of mindfulness, that is, of insight practice (rather than concentration practice), is to probe into the artifacts of your mind. For a stream of thought, you can observe what constitute "thought." You probe into the underlying emotions and the symphony of sensations. If you pay attention, you'll find that emotions and physical sensations precede the "thought", and that the "stream of thoughts" is not as real or tangible as you normally experience it.
See through that bullshit long enough, you start noticing a lot of things in your day to day life are simply BS. Or how you, and no one else, are the one who made yourself unhappy, or fearful, or angry, or sad. Easy to observe when you're sitting still, much harder when you are talking to flesh-and-blood people. Actually applying what you learned on the cushion into day to day life will take lifetimes, more difficult than anything else you will ever learn, and more fun and adventurous.
Mindfulness is accepting the noise and letting it go. On the other hand, concentration is an active effort or rather a fight against what takes our attention.
That's not really concentration ... That's the whack-a-mole method of concentration that doesn't take you very far. You are stil accepting the noise and letting it go when you concentrate. It's just that, you are also resting your attention on a concentration object.
Defined as distinct steps, but considered as leading to or supporting each other. Right mindfulness defines the environment in which mental happiness arises starts the process of deep concentration (or single mindedness citass'ekaggata):
Here is a link to a more experiential summary of this psychological interplay between effort->prolonged attention through retention (aka 'mindfulness', lit. sati) -> concentration:
The article equates them in the sense of "not being distracted" ... I think it's correct enough. You can work on them separately, or at the same time. Concentration practice develops mindfulness as a side effect, and vice versa. You can't get very far in meditation without both.
to answer GP's question, concentration requires the ability to notice distractions right as they pop up and avoid getting spun out.
"These effects make sense: the core of mindfulness is the ability to pay attention. That’s exactly what Holmes does when he taps together the tips of his fingers, or exhales a fine cloud of smoke. He is centering his attention on a single element. And somehow, despite the seeming pause in activity, he emerges, time and time again, far ahead of his energetic colleagues."
I'm not sure I trust scientific conclusions drawn from the behavior of a fictional character.
The conclusions weren't drawn from the behavior of Holmes, but I agree in that I found the metaphor kind of distracting. Especially the lines:
>A quick survey will show that the paradox is illusory: Holmes is depressed when there is no target for his mental faculties. Give him a project, and balance is restored.
I was confused by the extended metaphor, too, until I saw the notice at the bottom that the author is writing a book about how to think like Sherlock Holmes. It's useful when reading this kind of essay to find out what the author is selling, although it usually isn't this obvious.
The reference there is that when he wasn't on a case he had a sort-of mini breakdown during which he would use heroin (remember, it was thought to be a beneficial drug in the late 19th century) to calm himself.
So ... mindfulness isn't something you achieve. Don't worry too much about trying to figure out what "mindfulness" is and how to "achieve" it. I'm answering it as if the question were, "Anyone have a guide on how to meditate without getting lost in stories?"
There are lots and lots of guides, books, teachings. Buddhist methods tend to be very popular because many practitioners want to teach it in service of humanity and will put up with a lot of things from students.
This is not complete or comprehensive. It shows you the first door and you an get fairly far with it. By the time you gain some skill in it, you would be able to find other guides to continue on.
If you like the Buddhist tradition, there are books like "Mindfulness in Plain English", available for free. I also liked "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha" but not everyone does, and it's considered fairly advanced. Advanced or not, the first couple chapters are worth reading. It too is also available for free online.
A method that is not of the Buddhist tradition (though influenced by it) is Dan Millman's "Way of the Peaceful Warrior." The book is written as a teaching story. If you want more of a step-by-step guide, Millman's "Everyday Enlightenment" will work.
Zazen is essentially Samatha (Zen <- Ch'an <- jnana). Ashtanga Yoga is Samatha or Vispassana while using body posture as the concentration object, similar to Zhang Zhuan from the Chinese traditions. The devotional practice of Bakti Yoga results from Samatha and Vispassana, using the meditational diety or compassion as the concentration object.
There is the practice, and there are names like "samatha" and "vispassana". The basic practice is the same, regardless of the tradition. Different traditions will have different maps, different flavours, and some will work better for specific individuals simply because they were designed for that individual's hangups.
About the only thing does not fall into samatha or vispassana is guided meditation. But that's actually samatha in disguise. That is, guided meditations are not as effective without being able to hit some of the deeper jnana. Without skill in samatha, guided meditation is more or less a relaxing daydream.
ALL of them require mindfulness. It's not that you find a specific practice that exercises mindfulness; it is that you are mindful of your practice -- be that sitting on a cushion or coding on a computer.
2. Comfortably sit down, hands in your lap, keep the back straight.
3. Don't tense up. Breathe normally with eyes closed.
4. Be aware of the moment inhaling starts. (Important)
5. Be aware of the moment exhaling ends. (Important)
6. When you start thinking, mentally take note: "I'm thinking."
7. Refocus on breathing. (4 and 5)
8. When you get distracted by a sound, an itch, a cramp or smell, mentally take note: "I'm hearing, I have an itch, etc."
9. Refocus on breathing.
That's it. With time, your trained mind will naturally stop producing random thoughts and your day to day mindfulness will steadily increase.
Some tips:
- For beginners, counting inhale and exhale moments makes it easier. (1-inhale, exhale-1; 2-inhale exhale-2; etc) Stop at 7, restart from 1.
- If sitting meditation is too difficult at first, start with walking meditation. Instead of focusing on breathing, be aware of your stepping (left, right, left, right, etc.) Then sit and focus on breathing.
Depends on how alert you are after waking up. If you're still sleepy and groggy then sitting meditation will be difficult, in which case walking meditation would be the better choice. I prefer sitting meditation after taking the morning shower and having coffee.
I'd recommend studying The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I tried to read a few books on the topic, and this is the first one that managed to catch my attention. It's straightforward and thorough, and he's very good at explaining things that are very hard to put words to. Mindfulness is the core of the book, meditation (as in exercises) is secondary. I think it's an outstanding introduction to the what and why of mindfulness, and a gentle intro to meditation. The audio book version is quite good to, he's an outstanding speaker, with a distinct voice. Look him up.
Anyone who often feels like the mind is a chaotic stream of thoughts and emotions that one can barely control might find this read quite useful. I wish I had read it twenty years earlier. That said I've met a couple people who couldn't latch onto it, so your mileage may vary.
It is excellent. He now has a follow-up book,
Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English: An Introductory guide to Deeper States of Meditation
that I've just started. It promises to take much more time to practice via the book's techniques.
From everything I've heard, they are not the same thing. Concentrating on a crime scene you are not present at, for example, would mean your mind is not focused on the here and now -- in other words, concentration of the kind they're speaking of seems to be the exact opposite of mindfulness.