Intensity.  I see it all around. 

In Sutra 1.21 tivra-samveganam-asanah

Translation by Govindan:  For those practitioners who are utterly resolute in their practice, the accomplishment of cognitive absorption is imminent.

Sounds a lot like “reap the rewards” or the Little Red Hen Story! 

Per Govindan, one may have glimpses of cognitive absorption (samadhi), the experience of self in which our mind concentrates inwardly, and one is filled with absolute bliss (ananda), but the real challenge is for this to become prolonged and stable.    To do so one needs to practice with INTENSE or enthusiastic devotion…When concentration and witness awareness become spontaneous and continuous, this is known as intense and resolute practice. 

I am grateful for the rewards of practice and on most days I see the patterns of life in one bucket(my humanity-witness awareness) and the truth of being (my self, soul or place of peace-witness awareness) in another bucket.  Seeing bucket one (patterns) does not mean that I can change them, control them or stay out of being them.  On most good days, I am aware of impatience, fear, etc.  I am also aware of bucket 2, grace and peace. This is from intense practice and  I believe mostly from pranayama and meditation.

When my enthusiastic devotion wanes, I don’t see the buckets.  I am not aware and I suffer. 

Heck, this is years after Anthony Robbins, NLP and biofeedback…we can fake the enthusiasm but there is no substitute for practice-even boring, drag your butt to do it practice- if a student desires to sustain samadhi.  If we desire to sustain witness awareness!