Concentration vs. Meditation: Why Effortless Awareness Matters

Concentration is effort. Wherever there is effort, there is a maker of the effort. The maker of the effort is the ego. Concentration nourishes the ego, the maker of the effort.

The more the concentration, the more ego. In meditation, there is no effort and no effort-maker. Therefore there is freedom. You are just sitting quietly and listening to everything, whether it is the call of a bird, the cry of a child, the rustle of the leaves.

Every sound is welcome. Whatever the sound, allow it to come to you. When you listen to the sound, you become the center and the sound is peripheral, rushing toward you, to meet with you. In listening to any kind of sound without judgment, without criticism, without liking or disliking, you become the center and all sounds rush toward you, to dissolve into you.

Follow the sound. Allow it to pass through you. Don’t resist. Then a magical phenomenon happens.

You become empty. You become silent, pure existence. When a breeze comes to you, allow that breeze to pass through you. No effort, no resistance.