I observe myself going through stages such as Eq. and the Dark Night stages sometimes. But I have a very hard time concentrating during meditation so that I can notice them consistently. I keep getting distracted by my verbal thoughts.

I think I need to do more concentration work. It is hard for me to consistently focus on the breath for very long.

In his recent essay on Actualism-inspired practices, Daniel wrote:

"There also began to be this tension around something else I started referring to as the Attention Wave, meaning some part of the fluxing field that interfered with other experiences and did so totally unnecessarily. . . Thus, there began to be a natural inclination even more to have the volume speak for itself rather than being manipulated or in any way tarnished by anything resembling anything having to do with attention at all. . . That meant that suddenly anything related to jhanas, which were clearly a manipulation of the field, seemed like something headachy, artificial, and needlessly contrived, when the field itself, when in the mode that seemed untrammeled by any manipulative components (however empty and natural they might have been), was so pristine, so satisfying, so wondrous."

Should I not worry about this and just try to attain the first jhana? Is there anything I should do to not distort the attention wave? Or is there a better approach to building concentration, so that I can gain awareness of the insight stages, so that I can attain stream entry?

My current opinion based on my own experience of the so called attention wave.

The buddha gave a very effective way of navigating the dynamc way attention seems to operate for most people. It likes to bounce around. I would also call the attention wave an attention bounce. He gave an object of attention, the breath and coupled it with objects that direct thought at the same time, a primary and secondary object. Observe the breath but at the same time become aware of its length, how it feels in the whole body, relaxing bodily and mental formations. These secondary objectives take up bandwidth, and there is less room to bounce. One starts to train like so and sequentially works on through the jhanas where the movement of attention soldifies somewhat in certain poses. Learn how to manipulate the attention by fabricating poses for it, and you also learn how the cessation of it all comes about.

http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/yogi-toobox-anapanasati-sutta.html

My 2 cents

I'm not sure what the benefit is for bringing in modern conceptual ideas such as a so-called "attention wave" has to do with the meditation techniques as taught by Gotama. Perhaps they were meant to respond to meditation techniques as taught by others (e.g. Mahasi Sayadaw and U Pandita in their somewhat distracted version of teaching the pathway to awakening; that reference to "distracted version" is just a personal opinion and can be disregarded by those who may not have developed the ability to understand it quite yet). Be this as it may. . .

If what you are looking to achieve is an increase in concentration ability in order to be able to hold the mind on a single object of observation for an extended period of time in order to begin making the connections between the teachings and the attainment of insight about them, then you may be better served by just focusing on building up your concentration first through a practice on the samatha side (seeking calm and tranquility of mind) of dhyana meditation before taking steps toward the vipassana or insight side of meditation practice.

In that instance, do not become too concerned with attempting to discern any of the first four levels of dhyana meditation, but rather focus on achieving a quiet mind overall. In other words, practice to achieve the fourth level of dhyana as though you could go there directly by watching how the mind gradually becomes quieter and quieter in tandem with what you are able to notice about the aspects of the breath as it slows down and seems to gradually disappear altogether. If done in this way, you may notice that dhyana develops quite naturally without your being able to discern (or will) all the transitions from one level to the next. When your focus is solely on obtaining a tranquil mind using the medium of the breath as a gauge, this simplifies what you have to pay attention to.

In paying attention to any sensations that lead to a quieter mind, you will naturally go through all the levels of dhyana meditation before reaching the exquisite fourth level where the breath is shallow and can seem to disappear. The transition through these levels of dhyana can be too quick for the inexperienced mind to discern. This is why I recommend not being too concerned about noticing them until you have been able to develop stronger concentration abilities. This shallowness of breath happens only in samatha (calm) meditation practice and can disappear during vipassana meditation practice (especially as one becomes more experienced in reaching this state and being able to recognize it).

Also, if what you are focusing on is being able to discern first, second, third, and fourth dhyana, then you become distracted from the effort to calm the mind in general, and therefore this can throw a monkey wrench into what you are attempting to achieve overall. Leave the discernment of these levels until a later time when you have already developed the requisite concentration to be able to notice them. Of course, there may also be the occasional anomaly when you just happen to notice these stages quite naturally during your journey to quiet the mind, and that is okay. Just don't become distracted by them during meditation, and save reflection on the experience until after your sit. In other words, maintain your focus on the quality and pleasure of the breath as it gradually subsides into the gathering tranquility of mental activity.

Give that a try and see how it goes.

Wow, something about the simplicity of this explanation has really opened up a realm of exploration for me! I've always been more interested in insight but I'm just starting to bump into and comprehend some of the more fundamental layers, and this sounds fascinating!!