"Concentration," as used in meditation circles, is a translation of the Pali word samadhi. As such, it is important to define it precisely; it has been pointed out that "concentration" is not the best word to render samadhi, but we use it here because it has been almost universally adopted by the English speaking dharma world.

In the context of meditation, concentration refers to "non-distractedness." It is the condition of resting the mind in or around the object(s) or awareness. But this does not mean that concentration is always a tightly focused mind. Samadhi is a broad term which encompasses not only pinpoint, one-pointed awareness, but also a wide and diffuse awareness. In fact, concentration develops through various stages, beginning with a very tight focus and moving toward a wider focus as it deepens. One mistake that meditators often make is attempting to maintain a tight focus even after the mind is ready to move on to a more diffuse way of resting in the object of awareness.