And finally we come to the 8th path factor of the Noble Eightfold Path - Wise Concentration.  This may seem like familiar territory and, to some extent, it is.  

Most meditators, and indeed most meditation techniques, begin with concentration.  In the west, the object of concentration is most often the breath.  The Pali words for Wise or Right Concentration are sammā samādhi.  Samādhi refers to a particular kind of concentration.  While one might know concentration in various ways, sammā samādhi is exclusively a wholesome one-pointedness, concentration that arises in a wholesome state of mind not engaged in craving, aversion, or delusion.  And only intensified concentration arises from ‘a deliberate attempt to raise the mind to a higher, more purified level of awareness.”   ~~Bikkhu Bodhi The Noble Eightfold Path

We will touch on what is meant by “intensified concentration” at a later time.  For now, the important point to know is that concentration can be practiced with any number of objects - including the breath.  There are 40 included in the Buddha’s teachings.  Different masters and abbots would assign different objects to the monks depending on what was needed.  Meditation objects included the 32 body parts which supported letting go of sensual desire and non-identification.  Monks were often assigned to sit in the charnel grounds where bodies were taken to be burned in order to know the truth of impermanence.  Other meditation objects included the four elements of earth, water, fire and wind, the colors blue, yellow, red, and white, and various others that were more or less abstract or subtle.  

There is one set of meditation objects that we are familiar with although not in this context.  And that is the Four Brahmavirharas or Sublime States of Being - loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy (joy for the good fortune of another), and equanimity.  The Pali words are metta, karuna, mudita, and upekka.  We will begin to dive into these practices in the fall.  

They all support the arising of a sense of warmth and kindness in our practice that Westerners in particular are in need of.  In all cases, kindness towards ourselves and others is an important part of practice.  And these practices remind us of those qualities while at the same time serving as effective objects of concentration.   

So as we all move toward the fall, reminding ourselves of these sublime states of mind and bringing their contemplation into our practice is a worthy use of our time and effort.