In class this week, I was asked a very good question: What is the difference between mindfulness and concentration?
First, a similarity.
Whether in mindfulness or concentration, wandering thoughts of what happened yesterday at work or what might happen when my in-laws come to visit next week are gently brushed aside.
The difference?
Mindfulness is being aware of what we are doing and of what is happening around us. When planting seeds in the garden, I am aware of the feel of the dirt, the fragility of the seedlings, the way the water soaks quickly into the loose soil around the seedling. I am aware of, mindful of, the sounds of children playing in the next yard, of the songs of a group of birds in the trees, of the warmth of the sun on my back, and the changing light pattern as clouds drift across the sky.
Concentration is choosing what I will focus on and remaining focused on that. Planting the seedling, I am focused on the holding the seedling. Digging the hole to place it in. I am focused on my digging. Watering the seedling I am absorbed in giving the seedling just the right amount of water. I hear the children and the birds, I feel sun's warmth, and see the changing light, but I brush thoughts of them aside and do not become absorbed in them.