Question on attention of 2nd stage

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This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  Blake Barton 7 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #543

    Hello.

    I am a beginner meditator. I read “The Mind Illuminated” and try to meditate at least 10 minutes a day. At some days I have 30 minutes of meditation, on same days I have 0. I’ve done it for one month. And as I understand it, I’m somewhere between 2nd and 3rd stages on the map.

    I have a following question:

    According to the book It is OK to keep your breath somewhere inside a focus of your attention even if it is not the main object of your attention. I have problems with keeping my breathes in the center of my attention. So, I usually focused on some thoughts and I try to keep in my “sight” my breathes on the background and I return to them once in a several seconds. Is it right? Because I feel like I cheat myself thinking that I still focused on my attention when It is on the background.

    So when I try to count my breathes and realize that I lost my breathes for several “breathing cycles” I start to count from zero. But when I not lost my breathes but keep then on the background instead of a center I can count up to 10 or even more. It is much much simpler then trying to keep them in the center.⋅

    Thank you.

    #549

    Blake Barton
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    In this practice it is your intention to keep the breath in the center of your attention. It will probably move to something else quite frequently. Your only job is to notice when this happens and redirect your attention back to the breath in a gentle way. Your attention may move to something else hundreds of times during a meditation session, and that is perfectly alright. You don’t have to make a huge effort or struggle to keep the breath in the center. It is a repeated intention to direct the attention where you want it and to sustain it there. With practice it will happen more frequently. If you maintain peripheral awareness while your attention is on the breath, then you will notice when your attention moves, and you can correct it earlier.

    I hope this helps,

    Blake – Dharma Treasure Teacher in Training.

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