Concetration vs Open Awareness

[osamipo]

Hello,

I wanted to start discussion about your opinions and experiences regarding differences bettween the so-called concentrative meditation where you narrowly focus on one object (breath sensation, mantra, candle flame...) with the exclusion of everything else and more open „all-inclusive“ awareness, where you are simultaneously aware of multiple sensations (from two or more senses).

I know that in classic mindfulness meditation teachings (Buddhism oriented) one starts with developing concetration and gradually opens awareness to include more senses. In Hinduism teachings, however, it seems that there is a strong emphasis on concentration.

Regarding mantra meditation, there is also this „dichotomy“. Some suggests concentrating strongly on mantra sound, others favor keeping mantra „in background“ and allowing any thoughts to be present as well. I believe TM and Discover Meditation fall into second category.

Dr. Les Fehmi, biofeedback pioneer, in his research, apparently discovered that open attention, where you are aware of more senses at the same time, strongly corresponds to alpha brainwave activation. He also claims that our culture is chronically „narrow focused“ which is one of the major causes of anxiety and depression.

Now, I am aware that each of these two practices have its place in the rich world of meditation. So, i do not expect „definitive answers“ or even preference. Just experiences or opinions.

Best,

Alex

[GilesC]

Hi Alex,

In Hinduism teachings, however, it seems that there is a strong emphasis on concentration.

Odd. When I was learning about Advaita Vedanta (the basis of the Hindu philosophy) the meditation being taught was mantra meditation, and the teachings were about being present and awareness, certainly not about concentration.

Regarding mantra meditation, there is also this „dichotomy“. Some suggests concentrating strongly on mantra sound, others favor keeping mantra „in background“ and allowing any thoughts to be present as well. I believe TM and Discover Meditation fall into second category.

I think with mantra meditation it depends who has taught it and what their understanding is (or sometimes the student has misunderstood the teachings). The point of mantra meditation is typically to use the mantra as an initial awareness to bring the mind away from it's discursive thoughts, thus allowing us to enter a deeper state of meditation, but one should not become attached to the mantra itself or any thoughts that do arise, and when we become aware we have become attached to any thoughts we can re-invite the mantra back to allow it to assist us in getting back into the deep meditative state.

Dr. Les Fehmi, biofeedback pioneer, in his research, apparently discovered that open attention, where you are aware of more senses at the same time, strongly corresponds to alpha brainwave activation. He also claims that our culture is chronically „narrow focused“ which is one of the major causes of anxiety and depression.

Though you could also say that if you are being aware of your senses, you are attached to your physical being, and thus your focus lies on those senses and is preventing you from going deeper into the meditative state. I wouldn't have said that society/culture is "norrow focused" as the cause of anxiety and depression (and which sort of depression, there are many), but rather that our society causes us to lose awareness of the present moment, becoming attached to the past and future and thus preventing us from getting things done or complete, and then because we are not getting things done, our mind gives us a sense of not getting anywhere and induces anxiety about it.

Now, I am aware that each of these two practices have its place in the rich world of meditation. So, i do not expect „definitive answers“ or even preference. Just experiences or opinions.

I guess it depends on how you choose to categorize meditation techniques. Me personally, I have two categories... "focused" and "unfocused" and within focused, it has sub-categories of "objective" and "contemplative"... giving three overall styles of meditation...

focused - objective (focusing on a single object e.g. the breath, a candle)
focused - contemplative (focusing on an idea or question, and observing the thoughts arising)
unfocused (mantra meditation without focus)

Hugs

Giles

[osamipo]

Thanks, GilesC

Originally Posted by GilesC

Though you could also say that if you are being aware of your senses, you are attached to your physical being, and thus your focus lies on those senses and is preventing you from going deeper into the meditative state.

Giles

That is exactly what i thought prior reading about and practicing so-called open awareness. But, being aware of multiple sense perceptions at the same time seems to bring one in a more profound meditative states.

You may want to try the following short exercise:

Became aware of both of your legs, feel their edges and volume,
Now, still feeling your legs, start to feel the space between them (yes, the space)
Maintain awareness of both legs and space simultaneously for a minute or so.
How do you feel?

Feeling the space is quite different than experiencing through other senses because it is formless (like hearing silence) and, oddly or not, more rewarding. That is just my experience, but you may want to explore further.

Alex

[GilesC]

Thanks Alex, I'll try that specific exercise and see what I'm aware of, though it sounds similar to one I already practice:

Bring your awareness to the sense of hearing,
Now become aware of hearing the sounds around you,
Let that awareness expand further and further out,
Being aware of all sound but without attachment to any one.

A good exercise for increasing awareness and becoming 'in the moment' or present, but not necessarily (not from my experience or those of my teachers) the same state of awareness that is found when deeply in the state of meditation.

As I said, it could just be down to how we categorize things and how the terminology we use differs.

Hugs

Giles

[GilesC]

Originally Posted by osamipo

Feeling the space is quite different than experiencing through other senses because it is formless (like hearing silence) and, oddly or not, more rewarding. That is just my experience, but you may want to explore further.

Actually that just reminded me of another exercise I've done before... and that is putting the awareness on the space between thoughts.... now that's an interesting one to try.

Hugs

Giles