(July 4,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Concentration by Sri Swami Sivananada

 Concentration

Divine Life Society Publication: Concentration by Sri Swami Sivananda

If you focus the rays of the sun through a lens, they can burn cotton or a piece of paper; but, the scattered rays cannot do this act. If you want to talk to a man at a distance, you make a funnel of your hand and speak. The sound-waves are collected at one point and then directed towards the man. He can hear your speech very clearly. The water is converted into steam and the steam is concentrated at a point. The railway engine moves. All these are instances of concentrated waves. Even so, if you collect the dissipated rays of the mind and focus them at a point, you will have wonderful concentration. The concentrated mind will serve as a potent searchlight to find out the treasures of the soul and attain the supreme wealth of Atman (the Self), eternal bliss, immortality and perennial joy. 

Real Raja Yoga starts from concentration. Concentration merges in meditation. Concentration is a portion of meditation. 

Meditation follows concentration. Samadhi (superconscious state) follows mediation. The Jivanmukti (liberated being) state follows the attainment of Nirvikalpa Samadhi which is free from all thoughts of duality. Jivanmukti leads to emancipation from the wheel of birth and death. Therefore, concentration is the first and foremost thing a Sadhaka or aspirant should acquire in the spiritual path.

You are born to concentrate the mind on God after collecting the mental rays that are dissipated on various objects. That is your important duty. You forget the duty on account of Moha (infatuation) for family, children, money, power, position, respect, name and fame. 

Concentration of the mind on God after purification can give you real happiness and knowledge. You are born for this purpose only. You are carried away to external objects through attachment and infatuated love. 

WHAT IS CONCENTRATION?

Once a Sanskrit scholar approached Kabir and asked him, “O Kabir, what are you doing now?". Kabir replied, "O Pundit, I am detaching the mind from worldly objects and attaching it to the lotus-feet of the Lord". This is concentration. 

Concentration or Dharana is centering the mind on one single thought. Vedantins try to fix the mind on the Atman. This is their Dharana. Hatha Yogins and Raja Yogins concentrate their mind on the six Chakras (energy centres). Bhaktas concentrate on their Ishta Devata (tutelary diety). Concentration is a great necessity for all aspirants. 

During concentration, the various rays of the mind are collected and focussed on the object of concentration. There will be no tossing of the mind. One idea occupies the mind. The whole energy of the mind is concentrated on that one idea. The senses become still. They do not function. When there is deep concentration, there is no consciousness of the body and surroundings.

When you study a book with profound interest, you do not hear if a man shouts and calls you by your name. You do not see a person when he stands in front of you. You do not smell the sweet fragrance of flowers that are placed on the table by your side. This is concentration or one-pointedness of mind. The mind is fixed firmly on one thing. You must have such a deep concentration when you think of God or the Atman. 

Everybody possesses some ability to concentrate. Everybody does concentrate to a certain extent when he reads a book, when he writes a letter, when he plays tennis, and in fact, when he does any kind of work. But, for spiritual purposes, concentration should be developed to an infinite degree. 

There is great concentration when you play cards or chess, but the mind is not filled with pure and divine thoughts. The mental contents are of an undesirable nature. You can hardly experience the divine thrill, ecstasy, and elevation when the mind is filled with impure thoughts. Every object has its own mental associations. You will have to fill up the mind with sublime, spiritual thoughts. Then only the mind will be expurgated of all worldly thoughts. The picture of Lord Jesus or Buddha or Lord Krishna is associated with sublime, soul-stirring ideas; chess and cards are associated with ideas of gambling, cheating and so forth. 

OBJECTS OF CONCENTRATION

Sit on any comfortable pose. Place a picture of your Ishta Devata in front of you. Look at the picture with a steady gaze. Then close your eyes and visualise the picture in the centre of your heart or in the space between the eyebrows. 

When the picture fades out in your mental vision, open the eyes and gaze at the picture again. Close your eyes after a few seconds and repeat the process. 

It is easy to concentrate the mind on external objects. The mind has a natural tendency to go outwards. In the beginning stage of practice, you can concentrate on a black dot. on the wall, a candle flame, a bright star, the moon, or any other object that is pleasing to the mind. 

The mind should be trained to concentrate on gross objects in the beginning; and later on, you can successfully concentrate on subtle objects and abstract ideas. 

There is no concentration without something to rest the mind upon. Concentrate on anything that appeals to you as good or anything which the mind likes best. It is very difficult to fix the mind, in the beginning, on any object which the mind dislikes. 

Practise various sorts of concentration. This will train or discipline your mind wonderfully. Now concentrate on the Himalayas, a very great object. Then concentrate on a mustard or a pin-point. Now concentrate on a distant object. Then concentrate on a near object. Now concentrate on a colour, sound, touch, smell, or taste. Now concentrate on the virtue ‘mercy’. Then concentrate on the virtue 'patience'. Now concentrate on the Sloka, "Jyotishamai Tat Jyotih”. Then concentrate on "Satyam Jnanam Anantam". Now concentrate on the image of Lord Siva. Then concentrate on the “Aham Brahmasmi" Mahavakya. 

Excerpts from:

Concentration by Sri Swami Sivananda

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(Mar 25,2014) Spiritual Message for the Day – Concentration by Swami Krishnananda

 Concentration

Divine Life Society Publication: Yoga and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda

To bring the mind to the state of awareness of meditation, stability or harmony has to be practiced in every walk of life. Harmony is of various grades.  One of them is concentration.

Concentration is of three forms: Concentration on External Points, Concentration on Internal Points, Concentration on the Universal.

A. Concentration on External Points:

The mind is accustomed to think of external objects only; so, it would be dangerous to suddenly cut off the mind from external objects. You should not try to concentrate on internal centers in the beginning of your practice.

You must pick an external object that you have an interest in; that you have a love for. Believers in God usually try to concentrate on an external picture or symbol of God. You may keep a portrait of Lord Krishna or Jesus Christ in front of you, and gaze at the picture with open eyes. Where the eyes are, there the mind also is. You are not looking merely at a painted picture, but at a symbol of a living personality. So, when you gaze at a picture of Christ or Krishna, you immediately feel in your mind the qualities that these personalities were endowed with.

After three or four minutes of gazing at the picture, close your eyes and mentally imagine the picture. Concentrate on the form you saw. Continue this internal concentration as long as your mind is not disturbed. If, after a few minutes of closed-eyes meditation, you feel that the mind is wandering, then again open the eyes and look at the picture. After, again, gazing the picture for a few minutes, close the eyes again to habituate the mind to internal meditation.

Practice this process for a few months until you can concentrate without a picture. When you can concentrate, merely by closing the eyes, on the form of the portrait, without the external support of a painted picture, you have achieved the first success in meditation.

Feel that this internal picture is not merely in one place, but is in every place. When you begin to feel a uniform presence in all places, the mind ceases from all distraction. The other method to bring about this harmony of mental perception is to think of the vast space. Inasmuch as space is everywhere, you try to concentrate on all directions at one time. You can also concentrate on the light of the sun pervading the whole space. Or you can concentrate on the vast ocean which is everywhere. You can gaze at the flame of a candle or a dot on the wall.

When you gain success in this, you can change your object of concentration; you will have such mastery of mind that you can concentrate on any object. The purpose of this concentration is to make the mind think only of one thing, and not think anything else. So, ultimately, it matters little what object you choose for concentration if the purpose is served, i.e. to think only of that thing and nothing else.

When you are accustomed to this external meditation, you can turn to internal meditation.

B. Concentration on Internal Points:

Internal meditation means concentration on certain centers (Chakras) of the body. The most important and most favorable Chakras (for beginners) in meditation are the Chakra between the eyebrows, and the Chakra in the heart.

In the waking state, the mind functions in the brain, in the dream state it works near the throat, and in deep sleep it goes to the heart. In deep, objectless meditation also the mind goes to the heart. So, the ultimate purpose of internal meditation is to bring the mind to the heart. This is done in three stages: the mind comes from the external object to the head (i.e. the center between the eyebrows), then the mind comes to the heart. Meditation on the point between the eyebrows is in two stages:

(1) external gaze at the center of eyebrows, and

(2) to close the eyes and think of the spot alone (as a spot of light). Slowly, you begin to feel that the mind descends from the head through the throat to the heart. When you do this, you will fall asleep if you are careless. You must do this with caution and alertness; otherwise you will sleep and mistake it for meditation.

The other method of internal meditation is to directly meditate on the heart. You can imagine a blossoming lotus in the heart, or the light of the rising sun in the heart. The best form of meditation on the heart is to feel consciousness as seated there. From this internal point of meditation on consciousness in the heart, you can slowly proceed to the universal.

C. Concentration on the Universal:

Just as Consciousness is in your heart, it is in the heart of everybody. Try to meditate on this Consciousness as present everywhere, in everything (outside and inside) uniformly. This is the absolute form of meditation, i.e., the Supreme State.

To help achieve this Universal State by Meditation, you can chant Om (Pranava) in a methodical manner. There are three types of OM chanting :

1.       short - about one second, i.e. 30 in 30 seconds;

2.       middle - each chant for five seconds, i.e. 6 chants in 30 seconds;

3.       long - each chant for fifteen seconds, i.e. 2 chants in 30 seconds.

The elongated process is the best form of chanting. It makes the cells of the body subside in their activities; the nervous system becomes calm. You need not take any tranquilizers. If you are disturbed, chant this elongated way for fifteen minutes. The whole system will become calm and quiet. When you chant like this, feel also that you are expanding slowly into the Cosmos.

OM is not merely a sound that we make, but a symbol of a Universal Vibration. This is really the Vibration that was made at the beginning of the creation of the world. This Universal Vibration (of creation) is the controlling force behind everything in the world. So, when you chant OM and create this Vibration in your system, you set yourself in tune with the Vibration of the Cosmos. The Forces of the Universe begin to enter into your body; you will feel strong and energetic; your hunger and thirst will decrease; you will feel absolute happiness even if you have nothing (i.e. no material possessions) and are absolutely alone, unknown and unseen by people. You will have no desire for anything in the world, because you have become one with all things.

When you become the friend of the Universal Forces, then the world will take care of you in times of difficulty, and you will have no fear from anywhere. Then it is that, you become a Saint or a Sage. In this state, if you have any desire, it will be immediately fulfilled, because you have become the friend of all Forces in the world. In this state of Ecstasy of Bliss, great Saints sing and dance (because they possess everything in the world). Here it is that you will realize that you are a Child of God. God Himself will perpetually take care of you and you will have no fear, just as the son of a King has no fear because the King protects him always and everywhere in the kingdom.

 Excerpts from:

Concentration – Yoga and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda

Harmony - Yoga and Meditation by Swami Krishnananda

 

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(Nov 30,2013 ) Spiritual Message for the Day – Dhyana (Concentration) by Swami Krishnananda

Dhyana (Concentration)

Divine Life Society Publication: Chapter 3 The Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda

Dhyana, concentration, is beyond even ordinary memory. It is a superior faculty. The more you are able to concentrate your attention, rather to meditate in the proper sense of the term, to that extent you become superior to others. Concentration is fixity of mind. Wherever we find stability of any kind, fixity of any kind, we will discover the presence of concentration. Here, the passage of the Upanishad goes on to say that the earth contemplates, as it were, on account of its stability and fixity of character. We do not see any kind of chaotic activity in nature. There is a stability maintained by the various things of nature.

The heaven and the earth themselves are contemplating or meditating, as it were, in a fixed form without creating any kind of confusion between themselves. We see the earth and the heaven and the waters, even the oceans, the sun and the moon, the stars, all maintain their position due to a concentratedness of their purpose inherent in their very nature brought into action by forces, of course, which are superior, to be mentioned further on. Whoever has attained any kind of greatness in life has achieved it only through the power of concentration. Whether he is a god or a human being, success is due to the power of concentration of the mind, inherent applicability of the mind. The application of thought in a particular direction is the cause of success. The tenacity of the mind in a given direction and a persistent effort in that direction alone, without deviating the mind from the given thought, is concentration. The whole-souled absorption of thought on a particular object, to the exclusion of any other thought, is concentration. This is dhyana.

It is by this action of the mind that people have attained greatness in this world, not by distracted thinking. If we start thinking of a hundred things, we will achieve nothing. We should apply ourselves to one thing only at a time, apply our soul and heart to it and then we see that we succeed. This is the importance of the power of concentration. Those who lack the power of concentration and application of thought are the quarrelsome people of this world. They are the disturbers of society. They are the people who carry tales. They are the dregs of human society. Not so are those who have power of concentration of the mind. They apply wholly to their purpose to such an extent that they have no time at all to engage themselves in useless activity. Those who have the capacity to concentrate, they are the great ones. Therefore, one should always apply oneself to concentration and meditation.

It is difficult to explain the grand nature of the result that will follow by the practice of concentration. As a matter of fact, Yoga practice is nothing but concentration in various degrees of its manifestation. And as the Upanishad has beautifully put it, nothing in life has any sense or meaning when concentration is absent. One becomes free, liberated from bondage, and succeeds in life to the extent of success one has in the practice of concentration of mind.

Excerpts from:

Dhyana (Concentration) – Chhandogya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
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