576 RIHT CONCENTRATION by MIRANDA Dec. 7th 25

Proper Concentration

Proper concentration, or Samadhi, is the eighth and final step of the Noble Eightfold Path. It belongs to the part of the path that focuses on mental discipline. When we talk about Samadhi, we're talking about a mind that is steady, calm, focused, and collected - not scattered, not dull, not pulled around by distractions. It’s a mind that stays with what’s happening, without wobbling.

But Samadhi doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It develops as we walk the entire eightfold path. If our actions, speech, and intentions are not ethically aligned, the mind becomes agitated, restless, or full of regret, and that makes concentration very difficult. Ethical living supports a peaceful mind, and a peaceful mind supports concentration.

It’s helpful to recognize that concentration tends to come more easily when life is simpler, when there is less noise, fewer demands, and more space to breathe. However, in modern life, maintaining a simple and quiet lifestyle can feel challenging. Our days are often full of responsibilities, technology, and constant stimulation; yet, even if we cannot simplify everything, we can make intentional choices to simplify what we can: reducing unnecessary commitments, creating small pockets of silence, spending time in nature, or limiting distractions. We don’t need a perfect environment, only sincerity and gradual effort. Whatever simplification is possible within our personal circumstances helps prepare the mind to settle more naturally during practice.

Traditionally, the development of Samadhi is described through four stages called the jhānas. Each stage represents a deepening of steadiness and clarity:

1. The mind withdraws from unwholesome states and sensory distractions.
2. The mind becomes more unified and focused.
3. Joy and effort give way to calm contentment.
4. Eventually, the mind rests in equanimity: clear, bright, steady, and free from grasping and aversion.

At its deepest, concentration isn’t heavy or forced,  it’s spacious and effortless, it’s said to be like a candle flame in a windless room.

It’s helpful to distinguish mindfulness from concentration:

• Mindfulness is non-judgmental awareness: knowing what is happening while it’s happening, without analysis or judgment.
• Concentration is stability: the ability to stay with that awareness steadily.

Of course, we don’t walk this path without obstacles. The Buddha named five hindrances that interrupt concentration:

• Sensual desires (i.e. craving for pleasant experiences)
• Ill will (i.e. irritation, resentment, boredom, resistance, aversion to unpleasant experiences)
• Sloth and torpor (i.e.heaviness, dullness, sleepiness)
• Restlessness and worry causing agitation or scattered attention
• Doubt; the voice that asks, “Why bother?”

These hindrances are not personal failures, they are simply conditions of the mind. The practice is to notice them, understand them, and gently begin to work with them. Over time, as we cultivate the path, living ethically, showing up to meditation, developing mindfulness, the mind naturally becomes clearer, calmer, more balanced.

We don’t wait for perfect circumstances. We keep practising. We keep returning. We keep softening and steadying the mind. And slowly, concentration becomes less something we try to do and more a natural state of being. Thanks