How to concentrate and reach
high states of mind?
high states of mind?
If one follows meditation techniques properly and maintains good concentration, the process of meditation is never boring because it brings freedom to life, not limitedness. A person can enjoy finite things only for a limited amount of time. But we all want infinite happiness.
What keeps us in a state of imperfection
During meditation our mind approaches infinite happiness; that gives us a pleasure, which will never be perceived as excessive. But sometimes one may feel dissatisfaction with meditation. This happens because, when sitting in meditation, we are not actually meditating, but thinking our own thoughts. So, the mind is contemplating something of its own most of the time instead of concentrating on the mantra.
"I'll think about it later."
The mind jumps from one thought to another not getting any pleasure, because a thought is a form, and a form is a limited thing. It is necessary to discard your thoughts by saying to yourself: "I will think about it later". Then you can plunge into the very center of existence, and this requires concentration.
What to concentrate on?
During meditation it is important to concentrate on the mantra. The mantra is the center, to which we direct all our attention, discarding the other subtle and crude thoughts. Our thoughts correspond to the active chakra. Our thoughts are determined by the chakra, which is active and by the vibrations it emits at the moment. Sometimes subtle thoughts come to our mind and we want to save the world, but sometimes crude thoughts come, and we want to fulfil our selfish desires. Our attachment to our own thoughts is so strong, that the mind cannot give them up. When the idea of the mantra becomes central, one starts to feel inspiration and enjoys this state. Otherwise, one might get bored.
Why do we think?
We think about something because we want to think about it. The mind derives a certain kind of pleasure from this process, even if the thoughts are unpleasant. Thinking is the process, by which the mind sustains itself. We are attached to something and we want to think about it, we constantly want to return to this thought. We are programmed to be happy, and the process of thinking is what makes the mind happy. So, we recommend to tell the mind, "I'll think about it later," rather than "Renounce your thoughts!" Then the mind understands that it will return to its thoughts after meditation, but now it is to concentrate on something more important.
What is concentration?
Imagine a point, the center of your existence, your unit consciousness. This center can be called a self-sufficient point, and it contains the whole world. All the pains and pleasures, that we experience, come from this point. All objective experience (for example, some people love cheese, while others hate it) depends on our consciousness, which is the source of pain or pleasure. By holding on to some object, by focusing on it, we would never get the full picture, because this object is only one of the manifestations of something, which possesses fullness – of the consciousness. The deeper is the understanding of the mantra, which we have made our central idea, our core, the more complete our own existence is.
The mantra "Baba Nam Kevalam" contains concentration on the highest name, on the highest entity
How long does it take us to renounce our thoughts and come closer to the central idea by concentrating on the mantra? The mantra "Baba Nam Kevalam" contains concentration on the highest name, the highest entity ("Baba" means Supreme Consciousness, "Nam" means the name, "Kevalam" means only). By focusing on the words "Baba Nam," we are concentrating on the supreme entity, the supreme name. By focusing on the word "Kevalam," we discard all other thoughts and reach the very center, get to the very essence. This is called concentration. The closer we come to the center, the greater the feeling of inner joy is.
How do you awaken a desire to meditate?
Sometimes we can't make the highest idea of the mantra central for us. Our mind is in a frenzy because of attachments and we feel that our desire to think about something else is stronger than our desire to think about the essence. But if we at least make attempts to think about the idea of the mantra, the desire to meditate may awaken, so prolonging the time reserved for meditation might be a good idea. Try not to stop meditating until you have touched the Divine at least a little bit. If you set yourself such a goal, and regularly make efforts with such intention, the desire to meditate will awaken in the mind.
How to concentrate?
In order to understand how to concentrate and reach high states of mind, let us draw an analogy between meditation process and shooting an arrow: the arrow is our mind and the target is Brahma, the Absolute. We take aim, discard all thoughts, pull the string back, so that it hurts, make an effort in spiritual practice, concentrate hard, and let the arrow go. It flies right into the target! Our desire and intention to reach the center help us. We say to ourselves, "Yes, I want to know it!" And we hit the goal!
Sometimes a pile of thoughts does not let us make our mind an arrow; in this case, there is another method. You can just repeat the mantra with love. And through love, highest grace works. This is a devotion approach. In this way, we make our mind so beautiful, that the Higher Consciousness itself is attracted to it. We fill our heart with love and think, "Every mantra is an offering to the Highest Consciousness, it is my gift to Him." Since giving presents is a pleasure for us, we feel the flow of love.
Sometimes a pile of thoughts does not let us make our mind an arrow; in this case, there is another method. You can just repeat the mantra with love. And through love, highest grace works. This is a devotion approach. In this way, we make our mind so beautiful, that the Higher Consciousness itself is attracted to it. We fill our heart with love and think, "Every mantra is an offering to the Highest Consciousness, it is my gift to Him." Since giving presents is a pleasure for us, we feel the flow of love.
Every second of our time is a gift to the Supreme Being.
So, we know two ways:
The first - we concentrate, putting all thoughts aside. The second - we just repeat the mantra with the feeling of love. Both ways work. Since the mind might be in different moods, it is important to learn how to combine these two ways.
Hence, we sit in meditation longer, concentrate better, dig in trying hard and doing our best. We renounce all subtle and crude thoughts and go to the very center. If this way does not work, we sit and just repeat the mantra with the feeling of love. Every mantra is an offering. Every second of our time is a gift to the Supreme Being.
The first - we concentrate, putting all thoughts aside. The second - we just repeat the mantra with the feeling of love. Both ways work. Since the mind might be in different moods, it is important to learn how to combine these two ways.
Hence, we sit in meditation longer, concentrate better, dig in trying hard and doing our best. We renounce all subtle and crude thoughts and go to the very center. If this way does not work, we sit and just repeat the mantra with the feeling of love. Every mantra is an offering. Every second of our time is a gift to the Supreme Being.
Read also:
Questions why offense arises and how to overcome this state may interest any person who perceived the destructiveness of this emotional response just for once.
In the modern world there are many positive things and just as many negative ones. The progress and development of humanity carries both sides. It can be technological, intellectual, physical or mental, but it will still carry both positive and negative. Will they neutralize each other?
This article appeared thanks to the donations from like-minded people of the non-profit project Meditation Steps
You can also support the project with any contribution you want. It will help us to produce more articles, videos and other publications that change people lives.
You can also support the project with any contribution you want. It will help us to produce more articles, videos and other publications that change people lives.
