Right and wrong attention/concentration in Shamatha

[J0rrit]

I'm practicing Anapanasati from the method of Ajahn Brahm (this is not locating the breath at the nose or the abdomen, but focus on the experience of the breath). I've tried to change my attention, reading the piece about unfabricated awareness:

^{http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.nl/2011/10/yogi-experiment-riding-wave.html}

I an now aware of the breath differently than before. Before I used to grab the breath with my attention, now I try to be aware without grabbing. Leading to watching the breath without reacting/interacting to/with it. I watch the breath without expectations, and before I grabbed the breath, so wanting something/clinging to the breath. I watch without attachment now. What happened is that I am now far more equanimous than before, but there is less joy now. I'm not grabbing the breath with my attention, but I'm watching the breath through letting go of more and more of everything else, making the breath more and more prominent.

Am I on the right track?

[Matthew]

That sounds like good progress J0rrit.

focus on the experience of the breath

This is exactly where you work with the breath: direct felt experience, physical body sensations created by the process of breathing. And from this:

What happened is that I am now far more equanimous than before, but there is less joy now. I'm not grabbing the breath with my attention, but I'm watching the breath through letting go of more and more of everything else, making the breath more and more prominent.

shows you are developing wholesome qualities without conceptual attachment to the breath. Don't cling to joy, joy will arise naturally. Don't cling to anything. If you chase any past Meditation experience that's not mindful but attachment.

Kindly,

Matthew

[Dharmic Tui]

What happened is that I am now far more equanimous than before, but there is less joy now.

Is there also less negative emotional experience?