#concentration

To his surprise he felt a moment of regret, of sadness that his quest for his mother and father would soon be over. As long as he searched for them he was prepared to be hungry and ill, but now that the search had ended he felt saddened by the memory of all he had been through, and of how much he had changed. He was closer now to the ruined battlefields and this fly-infested truck, to the nine sweet potatoes in the sack below the driver's seat, even in a sense to the detention center, than he would ever be again to his house in Amherst Avenue. ↗

— J.G. Ballard

#concentration-camps #nine-sweet-potatoes #world-war-two #change

On considering these instances it is indubitably clear that sati has a crucial role to fulfill in the realm of samatha. This might be why the Cūḷavedalla Sutta speaks of satipaṭṭhāna as the "cause" of concentration (samādhinimitta).... On the other hand, however, to consider satipaṭṭhāna purely as a concentration exercise goes too far and misses the important difference between what can become a basis for the development of concentration and what belongs to the realm of calmness meditation proper. In fact, the characteristic functions of sati and concentration (samādhi) are quite distinct. While concentration corresponds to an enhancement of the selective function of the mind, by way of restricting the breadth of attention, sati on its own represents an enhancement of the recollective function, by way of expanding the breadth of attention. These two modes of mental functioning correspond to two different cortical control mechanisms in the brain. This difference, however, does not imply that the two are incompatible, since during absorption attainment both are present. But during absorption sati becomes mainly presence of the mind, when it to some extent loses its natural breadth owing to the strong focusing power of concentration. ↗

— Anālayo

#concentration #meditation #samadhi #sutra #nature

Hurricane Katrina exposed the harsh reality that we have been skating on thin ice when it comes to this country's energy concentrations on the Gulf Coast. ↗

— Pete Domenici

#coast #comes #concentrations #country #energy

Concentration of executive power, unless it's very temporary and for specific circumstances, let's say fighting world war two, it's an assault on democracy. ↗

— Noam Chomsky

#circumstances #concentration #democracy #executive #executive power

The 'anti-globalisation movement' is the most significant proponent of globalisation - but in the interests of people, not concentrations of state-private power. ↗

— Noam Chomsky

#globalisation #interests #most #movement #people

Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that's all you have. ↗

— James Dean

#alone #being #concentration #imagination #thing

To do justice to a lifelong dream of being a writer, I must give it the intense concentration and focus I gave to track. To do both with excellence is not possible. It is with a sense of sadness and joyous anticipation that I leave track and move on. ↗

— Florence Griffith Joyner

#being #both #concentration #dream #excellence

Those of us who participate realize the incredible honor bestowed on us, but to really understand the true scope and depth of the movement requires more investigation and concentration. ↗

— Bill Toomey

#concentration #depth #honor #incredible #investigation

I worked with such concentration and focus and I had hundreds of obscure engineering or programming things in my head. I was just real exceptional in that way. ↗

— Steve Wozniak

#engineering #exceptional #focus #had #head

We frequently define an acid or a base as a substance whose aqueous solution gives, respectively, a higher concentration of hydrogen ion or of hydroxide ion than that furnished by pure water. This is a very one sided definition. ↗

— Gilbert Newton Lewis

#base #concentration #define #definition #frequently