For an effective meditative practice 3 disciplines are required: mindfulness, effort/energy & concentration. Mindfulness is central and characterized by effort/energy & concentration. The best way to get started is a modest silence retreat. My first retreat was a 5 day silent retreat in 1990. After 3 days I thought i was dying. Everyone was in a kneeing position that was horribly painful for my Western knees. After 20 kneeling meditations I threw in the towel. On a silent reteat, reading & writing are discouraged. There's no eye contact & no discussion until the 3rd day when there's brief report to the teacher. I went back to my room & started reading The Gradual Awakening by Stephen Levine. Chapter 1 ends with the phrase "the hurricane of the 'I am'." Despite what felt like complete failure I recognized what was happening to me as seeing into the hurricane of "I am".

I resumed my kneeling position despite the pain. At the time I did not know that carefully watching the in/out of the breathing process was just the right effort to concentrate my awareness. Spontaneously I experienced a pretty intense rapture. That was more than reinforcing. Basically I had been searching for a sense of religious awe since comparative religious studies in college. In 3 days of silence, watching the breath & slowing down to half speed (the 2500 year old discipline), I dropped into a rapture that was for me a definitive state of grace. Of course in the next sitting I tried to force my way back to it & suffered all the torments of hell -- more on that later.

Vipassana meditation (watching the breath) is a very effective method of applying & developing the discipline. One concentrates on the inhale & exhale. Effort must be applied to bring awareness back to the inhale & exhale. Mindfulness carefully notes the slightest or grossest perturbations in the breathing process. More importantly, mindfulness notes the origination & intrusion of thoughts. Over & over effort is applied to directing awareness back to the breath. The result is seeing literally the power of hurricane of the "I am."

If it wasn't for the reinforcing qualities, I would have given up, hence the importance of the next 4 factors.