When you get the mind still enough, with a sense of well-being, you like being here with the breath, that’s the important thing.

"But here the cause [of suffering] is inside. So you want to see that. And it’s right here that you see it. Now to see that, you’re going to be seeing some things you don’t like about yourself. That’s why we work on concentration, to get the mind to settle down and have a sense of well-being. You soothe the mind with the breath.

The question often arises, “How much concentration do you need?” The Buddha talks about different levels of jhana, as he calls them, but we’re not here to focus on jhana, we’re here to focus on our breath. There’s no jhan-o-meter than can measure whether you’ve gone over the threshold to how much concentration is needed. What you know is that when you get the mind still enough, with a sense of well-being, you like being here. That’s the important thing.

So if the breath isn’t the way you like it, change the breath. Or if the mind’s not willing to settle down with the breath right now, there are other topics you can think about that’ll get it more and more inclined to want to settle down. Then you can bring it back to the breath."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Most Important Thing to Be Doing"

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