Thought Control v. Concentration

[scienceofempty]

What is the difference between these 2 types of meditations? What is the objective of each?

If you can control thought, is that not the same as being able to concentrate on only 1 thought?

[ButterflyWoman]

Personally, I don't think thoughts can be controlled. They can be put aside, they can be ignored, they can be followed, they can be treated in a lot of different ways, but I don't think "control" is actually one of them. Thoughts are like weeds. They pop up on their own. Other people may have other ideas, I don't know, but I've been practicing meditation of various sorts for decades and I've never found a way to control my thoughts (I can put them aside, however).

I can't really answer your questions with any kind of authority or experience, though. For me, meditation is a very organic thing, and I don't follow a specific method or style. I mostly try to empty my very noisy, very busy mind and just let it all go, and let my mind wander as it will. Sometimes I experience (literally) nothing, which is very pleasant and refreshing. Sometimes, I have various kinds of visions or revelations or however we want to describe it. I actually kind of prefer the nothingness. It's a break from reality, in an almost literal sense.

[IA56]

Thought controll = That you decide what to Think until you can Think only what you decide to Think of.

Concentration = If you concentrate to look at one object until you only see this one object, and you can hold your concentration on it you will notice when you aschive this.

Love
ia

[wstein]

What is the difference between these 2 types of meditations? What is the objective of each?

If you can control thought, is that not the same as being able to concentrate on only 1 thought?

In my view, thought control is not meditation. Thought control is a beginner's misconception about how one gets the mind chatter to cease.

Concentration is similar to focus. It means to be more aware of certain things and less aware of others. Focus during meditation is more like applied meditation. One brings certain things into awareness before or during meditation. Doing so greatly increases the chances of the things that arise during meditation being related to those things in awareness.

Though very practical, focused meditation is not generally good meditation form. In so called open meditation, one just meditates. If things arise, they generally relate to what is most relevant or important to you. So while you use focus to bias this process to some specific outcome, you will likely miss anything that is more important than that outcome.

[outofbodydude]

It is a common misconception to use energy and force to induce a concentrated state. This may work, but it will leave the mind agitated and will likely give rise to stress. All one needs to do is simply let go of the need and desire to focus one's mind on anything that is not the meditation object. Giving oneself permission to temporarily abandon any attachments and desires for the meditation period and allowing one to relax completely is the key to developing a concentrated mind that is also tranquil and at ease. When these attachments are gone, the mind naturally rests on its meditation object without the need to jump from this mental fabrication to that mental fabrication.