The Buddhist Art of Concentration - by Karen Anderson

COURSE

The Buddhist Art of Concentration

With Karen Anderson

This course is designed to introduce concentration practice and take you on an experiential journey through the mind. As a foundation, we will look at the differences- and similarities- between concentration and mindfulness practices. Then we will explore the practice, using the framework of the Buddha’s teaching of the 7 Factors of Awakening. These factors are mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration and equanimity, and they incline the mind toward awakening. As we cultivate each factor, our concentration will deepen, and we will have new qualities of mind to learn about and experience. We start out working with the difficulties of the mind, then we get to the positive qualities of the mind, and then we come to the full benefits of the practice. Each session includes a short discussion of theory followed by a meditation.

FocusGroundedPresenceSecular MindfulnessConcentration MeditationMindfulnessHappinessPerformanceHealth & HappinessSecularConcentration

Meet your Teacher

Karen Anderson
Vail, Colorado, USA

Karen has been teaching yoga in Vail since 1999. She joined a 30-day silent meditation retreat in India on a whim in 2007 and has been in love with the practice ever since. Karen's training in meditation is primarily in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She is empowered and certified to teach meditation in the Southeast Asian Buddhist Tradition. Karen has attended eleven 30-day silent meditation retreats in Asia and the US.

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7 Days

3.2k students

4.8 stars

20 min / day

Focus

English

Lesson 1

Mindfulness

Concentration practice is gathering the attention around an object, so that over time you develop a steady, stable flow of attention on the object. This has many benefits. In an era of decreased attention span, it’s the antidote to the pitfalls of modern life. It’s both the ultimate mind training and a way to make the mind available for insight. On the way, it reveals our mental difficulties, training us to face them head on. Today’s session is founded on the practice of mindfulness, beginning to gather our attention in a friendly way. If you enjoy the practice, you know that you’re using the right approach.

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Lesson 2

Investigation

Mind wandering has been shown to be correlated with unhappiness, so our endeavors in concentration are quite important. The Buddha taught 5 primary hindrances that get in the way of both concentration and life: craving, aversion, restlessness and worry, laziness and sleepiness, and doubt. In order to put down the hindrances and focus our attention, we use the second factor of awakening, investigation. In tuning into the details of our experience, the mind wakes up and becomes more clear and energized. As the mind gets interested in the breath, we begin to leave our distractions behind.

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Lesson 3

Energy

The term concentration in English can imply strain or striving, but this won’t work in concentration meditation. We need to apply light, steady, balanced effort, a relaxed application of mind. Today we will discuss noticing your mental energy, and adjusting it as needed. This will start to give you confidence in the ability of your mind to focus. Think of concentration as a natural quality of your mind, so that if you apply the right conditions, it will grow like planting a seed and watering it and giving it light. Today we will also talk about the value of paying attention.

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Lesson 4

Joy

Concentration practice doesn't just show us the impediments to our attention and the way to skillfully use our mind, it also reveals the natural beauty of the mind itself. When the mind stabilizes, we feel completely satisfied. We learn directly that when we stop searching outside ourselves and allow the mind to coalesce, there is a light of joy that shines within us. It’s one thing to be told this, and another thing to experience it for ourselves. When we see directly that our own mind is enough to be happy, it changes our relationship to the outside world for the better.

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Lesson 5

Tranquility

After building mental energy through the stages of investigation, energy and joy, we can start to soothe and calm the system, which brings us to today's factor of awakening, tranquility. As the mind settles and mental disturbances quiet, we find relaxation and ease. This calming aligns us toward freedom and understanding. We begin to relax our grip on chasing external satisfaction, and to learn the innate value of our being. We can use our inner well-being to radiate out to the world, instead of looking to the world to satisfy us.

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Lesson 6

Concentration

The concentrated mind is no longer distracted, no longer under the spell of negative mental states, and instead it becomes serene and pliable. It's educational and enriching to leave behind our anxieties and comparing mind behind, and see the mind in its pure state. This type of mind is useable to penetrate beyond everyday reality, to gain the insights that are discussed in mystical traditions. Concentration is an altered state, and there can be some strange experiences. We don't want to get sidetracked by these, but instead stay focused on our goal of relating to the experiences of our lives with clarity and calm and presence.

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Lesson 7

Equanimity

As we progress in our concentration, we find ourselves in equanimity, complete peace and balance. This is less exciting than the higher energy states of joy and bliss that we've left behind, and more stable. Equanimity is described as not being for or against your experience, but it’s not indifference. It’s a deep calm that allows us to be more skillful in daily life. We want to use equanimity to see deep truths and to stay calm in the face of adversity, to move toward compassion and connection and to be less sidetracked by negative emotions. Don't be concerned if you have yet to develop mental stability, now you're ready to begin your journey!

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4.8 (258)

Recent Reviews

Janice

December 27, 2025

Karen is an amazing teacher. Her timing and eloquence are exquisite. What she taught me was priceless

Jocelyn

December 16, 2025

Excellent guidance for my exploration of the mind and living my best life. Thank you!

Don

November 7, 2025

Please see my note at the end of class 7.

ilinca

September 27, 2025

This course ia very profound and very useful 🪷 Thank you! 🙏

Ash

September 20, 2025

Excellent course. Highly recommend.

Giulietta

September 12, 2025

The practical part(guided concentration techniques) are short. Before there is e plantations of buddhist principles. I would have appreciated longer concentration tech insights, as this is what the course was about.

Dianne

July 17, 2025

Thank you.

Mitch

July 14, 2025

This is one of the best courses I iave found on Insight Timer. I highly recommend it.

Hilary

May 11, 2025

Wonderful, thorough, helpful!

Lee

May 6, 2025

Love this course. Karen tells it as it is with clarity and precision. Thank you 🙏

Brett

April 23, 2025

Thank you. The best instruction on meditation and mindfulness that I’ve come across. I’m looking forward to exploring the 16 exercises of mindful breathing next.

John

April 13, 2025

The word perfect comes to mind. Such a powerful and truly effective distillation of the elements we need to attain and stay on the path. I am very grateful to have had this experience. Thank you.

Josh

April 3, 2025

Great course. I liked the consietency of the daily practice. Thank you!

Lu

March 25, 2025

A really helpful course. Thank you 🙏

Arne

February 13, 2025

Beautiful course with a really calm atmosphere. I can tell you meditate on concentration by the very helpful pointers during the guided meditations. I love the attention to the wording that somehow makes it all make more sense.

John

February 3, 2025

Excellent program. I will repeat it to get even more out of it.

Nada

January 22, 2025

Thank you nice one 👏👏👏🕊️

Sheila

December 31, 2024

I think this will be extremely helpful after time.

Susan

December 24, 2024

Thank you! I am less reactive during the day and sleeping better at night. 😘

Michael

December 8, 2024

The course had a wonderful balance of theory, practice, and guidance. Some of your guidance changed how I engage with the experience of breath and of being the observer. I always struggled to "come back to breath" and not awkwardly control breathing. Through these sessions, I got a glimpse into the gentle dance between controlling and observing, letting breath happen, as if both from far away and from all around me. Thank you for the your guidance.

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