Day One Hundred and Forty Two

It makes sense that concentration takes effort. If we were in it as a permanent state; we would be like stones. It isn't a permanent state. In fact, it seems that the act of bringing attention to the object of meditation is as important as anything else. It is like how we experience any feeling, in this case we are doing it consciously. It is a dependent thing like anything else, made up of the compound factors of object and sense door.

What is this attention that we bring. In fact, I think that attention arises through the mindful act of bringing it. Then when there is concentration, it grows more or less on its own. Attention seems to be the absence of craving. Perhaps it is simply the removal of craving, or craving is simply lack of attention.