Access concentration through noting?

Hello

I am at the most basic level, pre-first nana i think... I'm doing daily noting exercizes which i'm becoming accustomed with (lol, i know i will regret having said that)

On the other side i've done too few exercizes in pure concentration (anapanasati, "grab on it it like a rabid dog" style). The reasons for this are too excessively negative states, and obsessive thoughts/emotions.

In MTCB it's written that "Until you are able to achieve access concentration, nothing is really gonna happen to your practice!", so i'm concerned with it.

I'm wondering about ceasing completely to do pure concentration work and go only for choiceless noting. It's not a problem if that wouldn't be effective, i would just harden myself and continue the concentration-only work alongside the noting one.

TY

Hey Giulio. Noting practice, particularly as one becomes more adept with it, involves paying attention in a consistent manner and builds concentration as well. Different things work for different people though, and concentration practice can bring an added sense of tranquility to vipassana practice which is a nice thing too, so why not give it a shot, play around with the two and see what works for you.

Bill

Hi Guilio,
When I first read MTCB, I got the impression that access concentration was some sort of big deal. It's not really. In fact, you probably have it already if you are noting everyday. One of Kenneth's tips is to count the breath from 1 to 10. If you can do three rounds of ten breaths, then that's access concentration and you're ready for vipassana. Don't obsess too much about concentrating on the breath to the exclusion of everything else at this stage - you can't stop yourself from hearing sounds or feeling tactile sensations, and you can't stop thoughts. The key to access concentration is to let these things remain at the periphery, so that you are still with the breath, and you know what you're doing. Only restart the count if you get completely drawn away into thinking, so that you no longer know what number breath you are on.

And remember to relax! I find that in the first count to 10, I'm like Daniel's rabid dog. But by the second count, I need less effort to watch it - it just remains at the centre of my attention. Concentration is only one way to describe this practice and it can be a misnomer in some cases - really it's about collectedness, still-pointedness, and not about furrowing your brow

I almost always start my sits with at least a few minutes of concentration practice, counting the breaths before switching to vipassana.

"collectedness"

nice! so true.

You don't need to develop concentration prior to noting, you simply need to continue noting objects as they arise until concentration becomes established.

"The kinds of concentration discussed so far arise by fixing the mind upon a single object to the exclusion of other objects. But apart from these there is another kind of concentration which does not depend upon restricting the range of awareness. This is called "momentary concentration" (khanika-samadhi). To develop momentary concentration the meditator does not deliberately attempt to exclude the multiplicity of phenomena from his field of attention. Instead, he simply directs mindfulness to the changing states of mind and body, noting any phenomenon that presents itself; the task is to maintain a continuous awareness of whatever enters the range of perception, clinging to nothing. As he goes on with his noting, concentration becomes stronger moment after moment until it becomes established one-pointedly on the constantly changing stream of events. Despite the change in the object, the mental unification remains steady, and in time acquires a force capable of suppressing the hindrances to a degree equal to that of access concentration. This fluid, mobile concentration is developed by the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness, taken up along the path of insight; when sufficiently strong it issues in the breakthrough to the last stage of the path, the arising of wisdom."

www.vipassana.com/resources/8fp7.php

Many thanks for the help! So i've dropped formal anapanasati for the time being in place of noting (excluded a few 'can't fail'-countings right before it)