Single Pointed Focus:
We begin to notice that our expanded sense of well-being from the 7th level includes a sense of space. As our awareness of this sense of space increases and increases, our body and mind then become more and more tranquil.
At this point our minds become almost completely integrated. The monkey and the rabbit seem to have disappeared. The truth is that they have dissolved into the elephant. Discursive thought (the monkey) and sense consciousness (the rabbit) were always a part of the mind (the elephant), but they had become over-active and developed a life of their own. They ended up taking control like mutineers on a ship.
In the eighth stage, this increased tranquility leads to an increased sense of integration which leads to greater focus. Thinking and feeling are now integrated into the mind that is focussed. Thinking and feeling are now active when we need them to do some work and, the rest of the time, they help out as part of the mind that we use to focus with. Only occassionally do they stray off on their own a little bit and by the end of the eighth stage, they never stray at all.
As a result of this integration and this increased sense of space and focus, we come to a beginning understanding of the way that our minds work. We come to see beyond thought and feeling and notice the very beginnings of awareness, intention, and perception. We notice how these things arise together in response to what's happening around us.
We come to see how, with the arrival of a sense object and awareness, intention towards the object arises. From there, qualities and attributes are perceived and then they are confirmed by contact and feeling. At this point, analysis and thoughts are generated in relationship to the sense object which in turn affects our awareness and future intentions.
We also realize that the elephant, rabbit and monkey aspects of our mind are mostly the result of the unconsciousness and automatic operations of our body and mind which are greatly influenced by the experiences of our past.
We learn that this automatic-ness is something we have just accepted and not really examined. We begin to become aware of all of the different mind-states that we go through from day to day and moment to moment. We begin, therefore, to get a sense that we have more choice in our response to what's around us than we originally believed. We are beginning to realize that our minds are under our control and this increases our sense of well-being.
Our feeling of well-being ,combined with seeing how all these aspects of our mind arise and fall together in a sea of space, leads to a sense of tranquility of body and mind. We begin to recognize that we can pick our responses. We begin to notice that what we focus on influences our lives. We begin to take more control of the elephant, rabbit, and monkey.
That tranquility of body and mind means that all of our energy lines up behind our ability to focus. We realize that we can now use all of our energy to focus on whatever we choose. We begin to feel that we have the ability to focus on anything we want for as long as we want without getting tired or being distracted.
The 8th Stage - Single-Pointed Concentration
Completion of this stage is evident when subtle agitation & dullness are completely eliminated and no longer arise in meditation.
Because we are so used to and good at maintaining focus, then laziness becomes the main obstacle here. Our sense of choice and focus and our feeling of well-being can lead us to a kind of arrogance that can trick us into thinking that we don't need to meditate any more. We think we have arrived at the final point, when we're still not there yet.
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