Daoism on Concentration

"Imagination, song, the soaring spirit.

Separate them to know them as aspects of the whole,

Join them to know the mystery of totality.

"The mind, if focused, can become the most powerful force we know. Yet for most of us, we are lost in the vastness of our own uncharted minds. We play around with different aspects, find certain modes that we can get by with, and leave the rest unexplored. Those who follow Tao do not do this. They want to explore all the dimensions of the mind so that they may find a wholly integral mode of consciousness.

"The primary means of exploration is through concentration of the mind. Practitioners first select an aspect and delve into it by daily focus. Only when they have fully understood do they go on. It is like studying. When you are first introduced to a subject, you must put your attention to work in order to master the knowledge. Such concentration leads to absorption, like mixing liquids together in a bottle: Once they are combined, they cannot be distinguished from one another.

"With concentration, all the various aspects of the mind can be joined together into one superconscious mode. Sound is the same as sight, taste is the same as smell, touch is the same as thought, and all that we are is identical with the spiritual energy that resides within us. In this high concentration, there is complete union, and we feel the joy of total integration with all our facets."

"Concentration" from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao

==========================================

Some years ago here in the U.S. a television commercial solicited money to send young minority students to college. The tag line was "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

When you think about "Concentration," you will realize that you waste so much of your mind on flitting thoughts and idle mental chatter. Concentration seems to be something of the past in this day of multi-tasking where you are typing away either on a laptop computer or a PDA, and engaging in a conversation at the same time.

When was the last time you were driving, eating, and talking on your cell phone all at the same time? I'll bet it was not all that long ago....last week? Yesterday? This morning? When was the last time you were reading a book for pleasure or a bedtime story to your children while mentally going over tomorrow's "To Do" list?

The mind is an amazing thing, but it can think about only one thing at a time. Consider this experiment: You are in a dark room and you must read two papers on related topics, but you can see only one paper at a time. The light that allows you to read the papers is your mind, but it is like a flashlight, able to illuminate only one page at a time. Now, shine your mind (the flashlight) on one piece of paper and read one sentence.

Now, flip the light over to the other piece of paper and read the first sentence. Now, flip back to the first paper and read the second sentence; flip to the second paper and read the second sentence; flip to the first paper and read the third sentence; flip to the second paper and read the third sentence. (I encourage you to perform this little experiment for real and then assess how much of the content of any of those sentences is still in your mind, and how well you can distinguish the writings from the first paper to the second!)

How well did you do? The writings are all jumbled together, aren’t they? Now, multiply the results of the experiment by twelve, fourteen, even sixteen hours each and every day.

This is how you use the “most powerful force we know,” by dividing it and scattering it until it is useless. Think of the most powerful army in the world. How powerful would it be if its forces were divided and scattered all over the globe? (You’ve heard of “divide and conquer,” haven’t you?) Your army would be very weak and ineffective, and so too is your mind when you scatter your mental forces in too many directions, onto too many tasks at once.

Consider the accomplishments of someone you admire; a professional or Olympic athlete perhaps, or a scientist or inventor. Did this object of your admiration rise to the heights of fame or fortune he or she enjoys by flitting from one thing to another? Or, did he or she use dedication, focus, and concentration on his or her chosen task to accomplish the goal?

Spiritual advancement depends as much on concentration as worldly pleasures and accomplishments. There are no short-cuts to enlightenment. This is not what most people want to hear, but it is completely honest and true. Your advancement entirely depends on your level of dedication and devotion.

This is the most important statement in today’s writing: "The mind, if focused, can become the most powerful force we know." If you are completely focused, if you are mindfully dedicated to attaining whatever goal you set for yourself, You Cannot Fail.

There is one very important thing to notice in all of this talk: there is no mention of the emotions. You should not bring your emotions into play when using the power of your mind. Emotions cause you to judge your desires. This often creates inner conflict between what you want to accomplish (earn a million dollars!) and what your past will allow (yeah, sure…in a million years).

If your past experiences lead you to believe you will fail, or you feel unworthy to attain the goal you have set for yourself, the emotions will often find a way to cause you to self-sabotage, thereby leading you to fail.

Do not fall into that trap; leave your emotions at the door when you enter the practice of mindful concentration, and dedicate yourself to attaining your goals and the Dao.

Tonglen Healing

Tonglen is an ancient healing practice that is getting some much-deserved publicity these days and deserves another “day in the sun” here. Though I wrote this over a year and a half ago, and originally sent it to an email group I once belonged to, I do continue to use the practice when in need of self-healing. I hope you find it useful!

Graphic courtesy of Dharma Haven

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 - 9:36 pm:
Hello everyone,

There was mention of a healing practice called tonglen made in another thread. I didn't know much about it then; I know more now and share it here for both healers who would like to incorporate it into their practice, and people in need of healing who would also like to help themselves (and others).

Tonglen (sometimes spelled "tonglin" for folks who would like to do some research of their own) is apparently a practice that comes to us from Tibet.

It is practiced entirely through breathing. As the fellow in the book (cited below) says, "If you can breathe in and out, you can practice tonglin."

As you inhale, you think of people you want to help who are suffering. You can visualize those people if you know them, or think of their names and locations if you do not. You may work on specific problems, or do general work.

As you think of them, you inhale and bring into yourself their pain and suffering. Do not worry that you will somehow be contaminated by their problems; you will transform and exhale the problems almost immediately.

You exhale, and send with the outgoing breath healing, relief, or compassion. When you exhale, imagine and see your breath as flowing expansively outward, reaching all the people whom you are trying to help.

It's not a forceful practice (you don't "suck in" as much air as you can and then force it across the room), but it is deliberate; you should pay attention to each inhale and exhale, and breathe with the purpose of accepting suffering of, and sending healing to, others.

And here is a very interesting point about this practice if you are doing it for yourself. If you can breathe in the suffering and pain of other people who are experiencing the same thing as you, you are sharing the burden of your suffering and thereby reducing it ("a burden shared is a burden lessened" as they say). As you breathe out healing, you heal not only others with the same affliction, but yourself.

I believe the key here is to set aside the "I" and merge with the "us." It is not recommended that you work on just yourself; you should include others who are experiencing the same thing you are. You need not do this on an individual or personal basis (you may not know the name or location of a person with the same problem), but there are 6 billion people in the world today: whatever you are experiencing, you are certainly not alone.

To work on yourself, when you inhale, say or think or intend something like "I breathe in the suffering of all of us who have a pain in their left arm" (or whatever your problem is; it need not be physical, this practice may be used to relieve anger, sadness, grief, etc.). Exhale and say/think/intend "I offer (or send) healing to all of us."

If, at the end of your practice for the day or session, you should feel that you are still connected to someone else's suffering or problems, disconnect by saying "I am done now," or simply "Good-bye!" Repeat if necessary. (Sometimes, if we are working on an emotional problem that triggers us, it will bring up troubling things which we must dismiss for the time being. You could always work on it again during another healing session if needed.)

FYI, I learned about this in a book by Andrew Weiss titled Beginning Mindfulness, New World Library, Novato CA, 2004, ISBN 1577314417. The book presents a ten-week mindfulness course, and the practice for the tenth week is tonglen. There is a Buddhist slant to the material, but the author incorporates other practices as well. (Wanting to develop my own mindfulness material, I am reading what is already out there so as to avoid duplicating it.)

I used the tonglen method four days ago (Thur, Apr 14, 2005) on my arm; I have carpal tunnel, and have had pain of one kind or another in my hands every day for the past three years. (I am having massage therapy for the condition. That helps quite a bit, but sometimes I move the wrong way, or grasp something the wrong way, and it aggravates the condition.) The other day, my left arm, from the heel of the hand to the shoulder, was just about killing me. I did this tonglen practice for ten to fifteen minutes, and my left hand has been completely pain free ever since....and I do mean completely pain free which is nothing short of a miracle! It may start bothering me again, but the last four days have been heaven as far as my left hand is concerned! :-)

As an update (Sunday, May 22, 2005) I'd like to add here that I have been having some carpal tunnel problems lately (mostly because the keyboard is at the wrong height again...will have to fix that!), but a few minutes doing Tonglen relieves the pain admirably.

Further update (Monday, June 13, 2005): in the past couple of weeks I've also used this method to relieve an annoying tooth problem. I walk every evening for 10 to 15 minutes, and I practice this healing method while I walk, breating in pain and breathing out healing. It's an incredibly wonderful practice.

Phoenix

Here is some of the feedback I received on this post:

Massage therapy helped my carpel tunnel without surgery too. Due to neck & back problems from a fall from a tree when I was a child, I had been going to the chiropractor 2-3 times a week, then got it down to once a week or less....then realized my Buddhist practice, which includes some tonglen, relieved me of having to go to the chiropractor. I had learned of tonglen practice from reading Pema Chodron. She also has a CD which explains tonglen.

I like your version/explanation of tonglen best..... :-)......much more simplified than Pema Chodron's. However, if someone wants to read/study Pema Chodron's, I recommend her CD which, for me, was easier to understand than her book. Her book is "Start Where You Are". The CD, book & daily inspiration cards are in a set titled "The Compassion Box.”

~SB~

================================================

I just wanted to Thank You for this Tonglen Healing. This morning coming in from watering, I slipped on the tile and twisted a muscle in my shoulder blade. I thought, good excuse to go and do Phoenix's Tonglen Technique. I did, I sat and did the breathing and letting it heal through. I like that you add others into the technique as well. It made me feel real good… The muscle now barley has any little twinge left in it at all. I am just taking it easy and continue to do the breathing. Thanks again and I will definitely add this easy technique to my list of uses!

~J~

================================================

I tried Tonglen once, on my stomach ache, and it really did work!
Thanks Phoenix, for sharing with us that wonderful technique. :)

~ASP~