When you learn to concentrate, your thoughts and feelings dissolve like bath salts dissolve in water. That’s the first level of concentration. 

Right Concentration has eight levels of awareness. But for most of us, understanding the first level is probably all we need. This first level helps, too, because people who want to begin meditation often ask, “What does it feel like when I’m doing it right?” That’s not really an easy thing to answer, but hopefully this will help.

With practice, we begin to train our mind to concentrate. Over time, we find our thoughts or feelings don’t make us stray as far, and we come back more quickly. When we feel a consistent state of presence, that’s where the first level of concentration begins. It feels like dropping in, like your awareness just got wider but also more focused. 

Often, just as we drop in, we tend to get excited or distracted by the change in our focus. (Yay! I’m doing it!) And then, we drop out. That’s ok. That’s part of the process too. Just let yourself go again. When you feel yourself drop in, don’t cling to it. Just let it be. 

As you abide in this place of deeper concentration, you find that your focus is on this new feeling instead. Not your breath, not any counting, just this feeling. You focus on the feeling of dropping in. This is called the “sign of concentration.” Some people say they get a mental image more than a feeling. Whatever arises, stay with it. Don’t cling to it. 

Soon, even this feeling or image dissolves into something deeper. It’s like your mind releases into Bigger Mind, into Being Beyond Self. It feels expansive and open and alive, but also not like anything particular. Like bath salts dissolved fully in water, their particles and colors can’t be seen or felt any longer. They just belong to the water. 

This first level of concentration feels like “peaceful abiding.” It’s joyful and at ease. 

If you’ve never experienced this, it can sound impossible. How on earth do you let go and drop in like that?! The good news is that you don’t really do this by mental willpower alone. Buddhists call it the “force of concentration,” an energy that gathers and grows when your mind begins to focus. It’s like you’re counting and breathing and then an energy, this force of concentration, takes over. And it does the rest. Your job is simply to stay with it, and not think or feel your way out. 

In meditation, the more you force, the more stuck you’ll be. When you learn to let go, you allow space for the force of concentration to flow. 

What can your mind let go of and let dissolve this week?

Where can you find energy in the Being-Beyond-Self around you?

For those observing Passover, can you recognize how concentration offers resolve and perseverance in the face of suffering and injustice?

For those observing Holy Week, can you imagine how Jesus’ powers of concentration allowed him to stay the course, and remain true to himself?

This post belongs to my series on practicing the Eightfold Path. Read all my posts on Right Concentration here.  Thanks to Bhante Gunaratana for the imagery of bath salts.