8. Right Concentration
My concentration has waned miserably in recent years. (Thank you, internet, you are truly a blessing and a curse.) I find it hard to stay focused on any one thing for more than a few minutes, but the cultivation of concentration is the final step on the Path, and one that should be taken very, very seriously. Anyway, let’s break concentration into two categories: the short-term and the long-term.
For the short-term, having the ability to stay “in it” is an actor’s lifeblood. I don’t do much theater, something I’m remedying these days, but if you can’t keep your wits about you for an entire show, all is lost. And while screen work offers the safety net of repeated takes, the concentration level can be just as intense over the course of a twelve hour day, if not more so. I recall times of having to keep myself at a low simmer for hours on set. It’s draining.
For the long-term, having the ability to focus on a career day in, day out, is the lifeblood of the business side of acting. This is perhaps even harder. With no “boss” down the hall, we are in a constant state of self-starting, and have to summon Herculean will to keep going at times.
So, how is this concentration cultivated? By concentrating. Just as you have to lift weights in order to lift heavier weights, Right Concentration is like a muscle. And how does this happen? Through the sheer force of will, or by using Right Effort, to create Right Action, Right Speech, Right Intention and Right Livelihood, while maintaining Right View and using Right Meditation.
Simple, right? Actually, it is. It’s a beautifully self-contained philosophy. I continually marvel at its elegance.
I’ve seen my concentration come and go. Last winter I was nearly rabid in getting things done. So far this spring, I’ve slowed down, and have been as likely to go for a walk as read Variety, though I can feel the blood starting to tingle again. And yes, this exercise has been enormously helpful.
Sometimes you have to go back to basics. Thankfully in this case, there is such beauty in the basics that it’s easy to come back again and again.