Dear Ven Kumara @all,

I would like to second Dhivan's take on this interesting topic. The
translation of "concentration" does not strike me as an overemphasis of
viriya either. Especially the Latin
etymology<http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=concentrate>and
contemporary understanding of the term 'concentration' seem to work
well
with the Pali samādhi - even though one could try to find an even more
differentiating rendering for samādhi and its related terms (as is actually
the case for many of these words: samathā (calmness), ekaggatā
(one-pointedness), ekodibhava (unification), samādhi (state of
concentration, absorption, attainment of a concentrated mind). Esp. Samādhi
seems rather to imply the result of bhāvanā and not so much the action
itself.)

Here is an interesting post on this topic (or closely related) which seems
to point out that it is rather an act of mental balancing which evokes
samādhi rather than straining oneself:

http://theravadin.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/surfing-on-the-wave-of-bliss/

much metta,

Lennart


..., I agree with others who have discussed how 'concentration' does not

> necessarily imply an imbalanced use of will-power. Can I also share a
> teaching on meditation that comes from my own tradition, which is the
> Triratan Buddhist Community (formerly known as Friends of the Western
> Buddhist Order). In our movement, many meditators have also found that
> wilfulness became a problem for them when they tried too hard to concentrate
> on the object of meditation. In order to counteract this, a distinction has
> been made between FOCUS and BREADTH in meditation. In order to have stable
> concentration, a meditator needs to have a broad basis of awareness,
> especially of the body. He or she can then develop the kind of focus on the
> object, for instance the breath, which leads to access concentration and
> jhāna, and hence to the possibility of effective insight reflection.
>
> Good wishes,
> Dhivan
>

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