It’s common for meditators to wonder where concentration ends and mindfulness begins, and what to do with either practice.  The answer’s in the Eightfold Path, which is often divided into three sections: Wisdom, Ethics and Practice.  Wisely understanding that the purpose of practice is to alleviate unhappiness or dukkha, for ourselves and others, we can sit down to meditate.

But how to do it?  The practice section of the Path has three parts:  Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration.  Again, we start with the purpose, which is to put our effort to a helpful use.  Discussions of Wise Effort in the suttas use a formula of four tasks, which Thich Nhat Hahn neatly consolidated into two with the analogy, “Water the flowers, not the weeds.”  We’re using effort in meditation wisely when we encourage states of mind that lead to happiness and withdraw our attention from states of mind that cause dukkha.

I recently had something stolen, and struggled for several minutes with ill will for the thief.  I didn’t feel good while I thought about what a nasty person it must have been, and how they should suffer blah, blah, blah.  These thoughts caused me actual physical distress until I remembered that the antidote to ill will is good will.  It’s sort of like the saying that we should pray for people who annoy us.  So I did.  I sent the thief metta, wishing whatever distress had made them steal would heal, and they would have peace and happiness.  Instantly I felt better.  And I really wish the thief well.

That’s a prime example of wise effort in feeding the flowers and not the weeds.  I withdrew my mental energy from thoughts that fed anger, dislike, etc. because they caused me dukkha.  And I exerted some effort toward good wishes, which watered the flowers of good will.  This freed me from that dukkha, and left me at peace.  In this process, mindfulness enabled me to notice a few things.  First, I saw that I was physically feeling distress and that this was caused by mindstates of ill will.  Mindfulness also let me remember the teaching that good will triumphs over ill will.

It took concentration to turn my attention from angry thoughts toward compassionate ones.   Concentration is an element of mindfulness, so we automatically practice it during mindfulness meditation.  It takes a bit of effort to focus attention into concentration.  We practice doing this each time we return to the breath.  Mindfulness recognizes when attention strays and concentration returns it.  Over and over.  Sometimes the attention will just stay there for a stretch of concentration.  It’s a lovely feeling.  Concentrating over a long period can open us to insights that let our practice leap toward freedom from suffering.

So all three parts of the Eightfold Path’s section on practice can work together to reduce our dukkha.  A little concentration is needed to be mindful, which we can learn to be throughout our daily lives.  And with a long enough period of practice, mindfulness can help establish deep concentration.  At any time, we can remember that thoughts of dislike are not our friends and turn toward kindness and compassion, for our own sakes, and for others.