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Meditation
Support
Concentration
is Everything
by Bharat Cornell
"The mind, in meditation must be so perfectly still that
not a ripple of thought enters it. God, the Subtlest Reality,
cannot be perceived except in utter silence."
- Swami Kriyananda, The
Art and Science of Raja Yoga |
Perfect peace
requires perfect stillness of mind, just as the surface of a mountain
lake requires complete calm if it is to reflect the sky. Only in
deep concentration can you discover the hidden depths of your spiritual
nature. Fortunately, concentration is like a muscle—the more
you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. To increase your ability
to concentrate, strive to make each meditation deeper than the one
before. When you meditate with this kind of intensity, you will
find your practice helped tremendously.
Concentration
Is a Work in Progress
Knowing how
important concentration is, people sometimes become discouraged
over their inability to hold their minds steady in meditation. We
need to realize, however, that completely quieting the mind is the
goal of meditation, and not something we will necessarily
experience right away. No one expects to master the guitar the first
time he plays, and this is true for meditation, whose very mastery
reveals Infinity to us. For countless lives we have allowed our
minds to run free and undisciplined, like unruly children. How do
badly behaved children act when you try to discipline them? They
rebel, just as the mind does when we first try to meditate. So we
shouldn't feel surprised if we experience a sense of restlessness
or rebelliousness in the beginning. Our mind, however, will
learn to behave—just like children do—once it realizes
we're serious.
Meditate
with Interest and Energy
Paramhansa Yogananda
said that most people do everything only half-heartedly and use
only one-tenth of their concentration. To be successful in meditation
it is essential that we concentrate with our full attention, otherwise
our efforts will be mechanical, diffused, and lack power. Spiritual
awareness depends on two things: the amount of energy and how that
energy is focused. You can increase your level of energy and focus
by commanding your mind's attention with such practices as chanting,
prayer, yoga postures, breathing exercises, and the Energization
Exercises. These practices generate a strong flow of energy, which
then can be used for meditation.
Meditation
Tips for Concentration
Swami Kriyananda
offers the following suggestions on concentration from his book,
Rays of the One Light:
The
devotee, to protect the candle flame of his concentration from the
gusts of restlessness, must try to banish from his mind all images,
all worldly scenes, the words of others, the remembered episodes
in his life, all thought of physical pleasures, his plans for the
future. Nothing must tempt him to stray from his fixed purpose while
his soul calls to God.
To protect his concentration from sensory invasion, he must first
control his response to outward stimuli. He should train his will
not to respond to sensations of heat or cold, comfort or discomfort,
restlessness or fatigue.
With a little discipline of the body at the beginning of meditation,
and with the strong determination not to move or fidget about, the
body's demands will grow weaker. After even five minutes of this
discipline, one may find it easy to sit for a long period without
even wanting to move.
Most of the difficulty encountered in meditation is due to physical
tension. Once tension is removed by the practice of deep relaxation,
one finds meditation itself becoming increasingly enjoyable.
Again, with a little mental self-discipline at the beginning of
meditation, one finds it increasingly easy to remain without thought.
Tell your mind firmly the moment you become settled on your seat
to meditate, "This is my time for God." If restless thoughts
try insistently to engage your attention, reassure them, "We'll
discuss these things later!"
When True
Concentration Comes
Yogananda said,
"[While] directing your conscious mind from the material world,
you must realize…that effort is not enough…You cannot
withdraw your mind successfully from anything unless you withdraw
your energy also." Deep states of concentration are possible
only when our life-force is interiorized, because the mind follows
the direction of the flow of prana in the body. When the energy
flows outward, our attention goes outward, too, while reversing
it interiorizes the mind.
In the article,
Meditation for Calming the Senses, Swami Kriyananda leads
you through a powerful visualization on withdrawing the energy from
the senses. Withdrawing one's life-force is the inner, universal
path of all spiritual effort, and this meditation will give you
a greater familiarity and command of this process. You should also
enjoy reading Ten Things That Will Increase Your Concentration
and Use Thoughts in Meditation to Your Advantage.
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