Concentration (Part 2)
Quieting the mind to experience eternity
Dear readers, today we continue the series of posts on concentration, originally written by an author who signed his essays as V.B., and based on the works of the British occultist Paul Brunton. These essays were published in the journal Occultism and Yoga, issues 13, 14, and 15.
The contemplative stage
The contemplative stage of concentration begins when the practitioner releases an idea or mental object at the deepest level of focus. Even as he lets go, he must sustain steady, unbroken alertness. This is extremely difficult. When done correctly, the mind becomes calm remarkably quickly.
For a brief interval, the mind rests in a state of emptiness, a kind of inner vacuum. This may be accompanied by a momentary lapse of consciousness, a faintness, or a state of self-forgetfulness. Afterward, the center of awareness shifts inward to another plane, one very different from ordinary consciousness. On this plane, the mind experiences profound calm, clarity, freedom, and dispassion. The state, however, is fleeting. It passes almost as imperceptibly as it arrives.
The task of the contemplator is to deliberately repeat this experience as often as possible and to work toward sustaining these elevated states of mind for longer periods. The aim is to extend them until they persist throughout the entire day without interruption.
The essence of concentration is to stop the ever-changing flow of thoughts. The practitioner keeps his mind steadily directed by immersing it deeply in a specific thought chosen for meditation. To achieve this, it is necessary to free oneself from external influences and sensations. Replace the noise of life with mental silence, and eliminate extraneous thoughts by applying conscious control during meditation.
In other words, when one reflects with concentration on a chosen subject, one must resist both the pressure of external impressions and the rise of unsuitable thoughts within the mind itself. No one can simply reject or destroy these intrusions. Instead, one holds a clear ideal steadily before oneself and maintains a firm resolve to remain unchanged, like a rock against which the sea breaks again and again, unable to dislodge it from its foundation.
During the first half of practice, the student will feel an almost irresistible impulse to give it up and turn to something else. The mind resists fiercely when one tries to draw it away from its habitual, absent-minded wandering and compel it to attend to inner objects. Those who begin to practice meditation usually find that the mind is untamable.
Early attempts seem to confirm this, and at first they lead to disappointment. Failed first efforts leave a feeling of hopelessness and sadness. One begins to see that only a few thoughts are truly one’s own, while the rest form a wild, exhausting mixture.
If a beginner gives in to hopeless moods, he will not succeed. But if he understands that the work is difficult yet possible, and persists without abandoning the effort, a reward will follow. In time, a wondrous silence will come over the mind, and its striving toward the external will break.
Do not allow initial difficulties to discourage you from meditation. Expect resistance from the mind and accept it as part of the process. Hold fast to the practice with perseverance and trust, knowing that, over time and with regular effort, the mind will grow steadier and more responsive.
In most people, the mind serves the body. The aim of meditation is to reverse this relation, to free the mind from its subordination so that it may reunite with its rightful master, the Higher Self.
When the mind slips from control and becomes distracted, it must be restrained from wandering. One must force it inward and direct its attention back to the chosen object. This difficult task must be carried out repeatedly.
Endurance, together with independence from repeated failures, is sufficient to attain final success. Exercises in concentration are like riding a stubborn donkey that always wants to go its own way. Each time the rider notices the donkey straying from the path, he must firmly guide it back in the right direction.
The Higher Self within us is always accessible, but false thoughts must be burned away like fuel in order to reach it. We have lived as prodigal sons for so long that our return takes time. Patience is therefore essential.
No one becomes a skilled musician in three months. Yet many expect to attain the highest goal of life just as quickly and grow discouraged when progress is slow.
Concentration on sound
Some people find it easy to concentrate through hearing, for example, by listening to familiar sounds. Eastern teachers place such students near a small waterfall and ask them to listen closely to its musical tones. The purpose is to shut out all other sounds and thoughts. In this way, the mind unites with the sound and loses its tendency to wander. A similar effect can be achieved by focusing on the sound of an electric fan.
Path of concentration
To help beginners in yoga avoid confusion:
Keeping the mind fixed on a single line of thought is only an early and temporary stage on the path.
The next stage is complete concentration on one thought, object, or person. When the mind is firmly fixed in this way, thinking grows quiet and eventually ceases altogether.
Controlled and consistent thinking is only a preparation. It readies the mind for concentration, but it is not concentration itself; it is merely the orderly movement of thoughts.
We must regard the intellect as a thinking machine and set it aside for a time once it has served its purpose. Disciplined mental activity must alternate with controlled rest. This rest opens the gateway to the experience of eternity and frees the thinker from constant mental constraint.
To the average person, such exercises may seem dull at first. They deal with objects that are wholly immaterial, things that cannot be touched or seen. One may feel cut off from interests in the physical world and as though working in a vague mental realm. Yet this mental world is of great importance to one’s well-being.
Such thoughts may, and even should, arise. Yet one must not yield to them. One must actively rouse oneself from spiritual slumber. If necessary, one may encourage oneself with the thought of the great rewards that lie ahead. These rewards cannot be measured by material standards. They appear as harmony, emotional well-being, mental satisfaction, and, above all, spiritual wisdom. One must make a conscious choice and act now to pursue them.
The value of this attainment in itself surpasses any earthly measure and should be sufficient to move a person to seek the inner self, regardless of how difficult the task may be or how long the path may be.
Obstacles on the way
The path of yoga is filled with difficulties and obstacles. For beginners, these are natural and almost unavoidable.
Like a stubborn donkey, the mind strays from the chosen path or loses sight of the goal. Its wanderings often pass unnoticed. Suddenly, the student realizes that he has been thinking about many different things, or has even forgotten the very subject of meditation.
It is therefore not surprising that Hindus compare the mind to a monkey—restless, aimless, and rushing in all directions. Many drift along in streams of random thoughts and desires or are driven by unreasonable haste. Meditation becomes a refuge of silence, allowing the student to attune to the state required for spiritual ascent. This stands in conflict with the mind’s habitual ways, so resistance to these currents is inevitable.
A student who practices regularly and seeks to master his thinking will achieve definite success. Gradually, he emerges from the confusion of thought and feeling that characterized his early efforts.
As thoughts become disciplined and a strong desire arises to attune oneself to higher vibrations, progress accelerates. The student enters the state of concentration more frequently and with greater ease.
Faith and hope
A student must believe that success will come. Hope and confidence are essential qualities that support one on the path of spiritual development.
Hope is necessary because a student may spend years failing to master the mind. Thoughts repeatedly stray from their aim, and at times, there seems to be no progress at all. Setbacks are inevitable and should not become a source of discouragement.
A person who, despite all difficulties, continues to practice concentration with firm belief in ultimate success will one day discover, as a reward for patience and confidence, a priceless inner gift.
Faith and patience are, therefore, the most essential qualities for a student of yoga. This does not mean blind faith or passive patience, but intelligent and conscious faith: an unshakable confidence in the correctness of the chosen path, which must sooner or later lead to its goal.
Typically, a student devotes only a limited amount of time each day to these exercises. During the rest of the time, while attending to ordinary duties, the intellect may be used as actively as before. Yet the daily quieting of the intellect through concentration gradually makes itself felt in many ways, illuminating the whole of life.
The person who continues to meditate in the silence of a room or the stillness of a forest, striving over many years to reach an understanding of the self through independent thought, is in fact laying the foundation upon which the rebirth of the spirit will later be built.
Through the power of increasingly abstract thinking, one learns to withdraw from a purely material environment, to forget the physical world, and to enter a new realm of ideas lying between matter and spirit.
(To be continued.)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1954.
V.B.