Tape 2- Concentration and Meditation

"You have a window, and that window, which is your state of mind, will determine everything that happens to you - because it affords you a view on life. Opportunities, creative ideas or the lack of them, happiness, frustration, brilliance, talent, success and failure - all of these things are determined by the state of mind that you're in. You are the experiencer of states of mind. Yet your state of mind dominates your awareness to such an extent that you can't conceive of any other state of mind other than the state of mind that you're in. They're just mere words. Concentration and meditation are practices that enable you to alter your state of mind."
- Rama

Rama begins this tape by discussing states of mind. Your state of mind is the way that you view the world. This is not your temporary mood but rather your over-all outlook on life. One person will view a glass as half-empty while another will view it as half-full. Your state of mind is your general awareness of life.

The practices of concentration and meditation can help you to change your state of mind. The principle focus of this tape is on concentration because that's where most people need to spend the first year or two of their practice. Concentration is the daily practice of focusing on a sound, an object or a chakra. In concentration we learn to focus our mind on one thing and let go of the stream of thoughts that is constantly occupying our mind.

Once we have developed some proficiency at concentration, the next step is to learn meditation. In meditation we go from having a single point of focus to having no focus at all. This is not spacing out. It is awareness without thought.

Rama also points out that concentration and meditation are only one aspect of Zen practice. The second aspect is mindfullness. Mindfullness is what you do with your mind during your normal daily activities. This will be discussed in more details in other tapes.

"Zen differs from many other practices in that its emphasis is almost exclusively on concentration and meditation in two forms. One is zazen, which is the practice of direct concentration and meditation, where for a period of time you are not active physically, and you sit down to practice concentration and meditation exercises. The second is mindfulness, which is a practice that an individual engages in at all other times."
- Rama