Showing posts with label Concentration. Show all posts

WHEN the student is well practised in concentration, so that he can put on the mood of it like a garment, let him or her proceed to meditation and contemplation.

In all our acting and thinking we shuttle to and fro between two poles of our being — advancing without and retreating within, in both of which we become more and more alive, until we are sufficiently mature to unite the two.

Advancing without. I may look at a flower casually as I pass. I have not been properly aware of its qualities, but only that there is a flower there. But I could pause attentively, and say:

“That yellow color is really nice. How yellow it is! And the shape is beautiful, as the petal turns this way, then that way! And the scent is delicious! And the texture — it is heavenly!”

When I thus pause I bring more of myself to the flower. In this moment I am wedded to the flower. We live together, without reservations. I give myself to the flower, and I believe that in some unseen way the life in the flower is also enhanced. At all events I am enhanced, to a point of great happiness. Let me enjoy this moment of rich living. Let me not lose any of it, even by thinking, “What can I do to preserve this moment?” I need not fear to give myself, for I cannot give myself away.

In thus bringing more of myself to the flower, I am more awake and alive than I was.

But there is death — the moment dies, the pause dies, the flower dies.

Retreating within. Still, I do not die. In a quiet place in my house, and in a quieter place in my mind and heart, the moment lives for ever. I recall it. “A pale simulacrum of the moment”, someone may say. Not so. Pale simulacra result from pale living. Anyhow, now pause, eyes closed, and take the memory of that flower within, into the depths of your thought. Say to yourself, “Here I am, a mind. Alas, a flat, dull and seemingly unprofitable mind”. Perhaps; but not so, if you say, “Come in, little flower, into my lonely mind”. And you meditate with the flower. And soon you will be worshipping the flower and saying, “Wonderful flower, holy flower — forgive me, forgive me, my pride and contumely”. And the flower will forgive, and there will be love and ecstasy. That is meditation.

Our life is the same at both poles. By bringing out the whole of myself to meet the world my life is enhanced. By taking that realest experience within, it is still further enhanced. And just as the outer experience gives a vividness to be carried into the meditation, so does the meditation give new power to future experience. After the meditation I may meet the flower again, and it will be to me more a flower than it was before — in color, form, scent and everything.

How I am made strong by this shuttle action of full living!

It is a shuttle action that will produce full cloth, for soon my meditation-mood will be present while I am advancing without and the object-experience will be clear and strong when I am retreating within.

The whole of life is of this kind and follows this process, but ordinarily it is carried on without much attention. The world seems designed for this purpose. We make things — and in so doing concentrate upon them; and then they react upon us. As we go through life, it is as though we were children making toys for ourselves, playing with them awhile, and then turning to something else. The toy is a limitation to the child, inasmuch as it engrosses the attention in the small field of the object and out of the wider and more diffuse field of indefinite attention.

Even the body and the senses conduce to the same end, shutting out most of the world and admitting only a little of it, but that little is clear and strong, somewhat as in a camera a distant picture is formed upon the plate or film because the small hole in front admits only a limited quantity of light rays. I have often thought that if ordinary men could suddenly be endowed with super-physical senses, as they sometimes wish, they would not benefit thereby, but would be overwhelmed by the variety and volume of new experience. There would not be enrichment of mind, but only worse confusion than already is, as if in the round of daily action we were to see all the operations of the interior of the body. The consciousness of the average man is sufficiently diffused and indefinite; let him practice concentration so as to make it clearer and stronger, and then meditation so as to expand that clearer, stronger, consciousness over a larger field. Let him become master of himself in the small region where he is ruler, and then the time will be ripe for him to have a more expanded life.

Returning to meditation, notice that it is preceded always by concentration, that concentration produces a very wide-awake consciousness, consciousness at its best, and that in meditation this wide-awakeness is preserved and applied to full reflection upon a chosen subject. Meditation is thus the opposite of going to sleep. It is the very completion of thought upon that subject. Sleep, mind-wandering, day-dreaming, drift, dullness and disorder are all absent in meditation. [Patanjali, the ancient exponent of meditation, whose aphorisms are acknowledged to this day all over India to be the most informative ever written on the subject, gave the whole process as threefold - concentration, followed by meditation, passing on to contemplation. His definitions of concentration and meditation are (I) Concentration is the binding of the mind to one place, and (2) Meditation is continued mental effort there. This is my own translation, which is very literal.

You believe it or not but you can improve your memory power upto 3 times by doing some specific Yoga, which are described here. Following Yoga is really useful to improve your memory power.
1. Pranayama- This Yoga is used by many people, and almost all people who are doing it have found improvement in memory Power and concentration. This is simple breathing exersise. for more details about it check here .
2. SHIRSHASANA - This is a very famous yoga . If you do this yoga. More blood will flow in mind, which is really good for healthy and sharp brain. But you must not do it for long time at initial stage. It may cause some health problem to you, better to use it in the guidance of instructor. To know more see here.

3. Meditation – This is another god mehtod by which you can improve your brain poower, What is does is, it activate the passive portion of Mind. Do you know that mind is using only5% of its full capacity. Rest of the mind is always in passive stage. By doing Meditation you can activate your passive portion. learn more about meditation here.

4. Surya Namaskar – This is rally useful for not only for your mind but also for whole body. Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation is the best way to burn the calories and reduce weight. It is often recommended for obesity.

Concentration means loosening up the mind and bringing about a definite but not specified impartial unconcern to external influences. During the process of concentration the mind and body should be at ease and should not be in a state of conflict or disturbance. In order to achieve such a state of concentration, the various yogasanas, Pranayama and pratyahara in the practice of yoga, to get rid of mental influences that come in the way of concentration. One such method in yoga known as Tratak or heightened concentration is an accumulation of various elements and a combination of several concentration techniques. This particular form of concentration techniques helps to strengthen the visual organs and through disciplined training the body energy or prana is passed on to the eyes. Through this method the mind becomes composed while the brain gets relaxed.

In order to perform Tratak, you must place yourself before a lit candle. However before you begin to focus on the candle light you would have to use methods of meditation and relaxation to bring the mind and body to a complete state of relaxation. Once you have opened eyes to focus on the frame of the candle you will be able to train yourself to hold onto a particular thought, instead of a wandering mind.

The sun salutations or Surya Namaskar is also vital in bringing about mental focus. A 20 minute session of Surya Namaskar can help the body to relax and the mind to concentrate. Another art or practice of concentration known as Dharana helps the occupied mind to become more composed and calm. Through the practice of Dharana, mental strength increases while strain on the mind is reduced. With the help of habitual daily practice of Dharana, the attitude of the individual also becomes more confident and a sense of peace can be achieved.

Pranayama and meditation are the best known yoga techniques to bring about increased concentration and memory power. Specific yogasanas such as the inverted poses help to nourish the brain by enhancing the blood circulation and increasing oxygenated blood in the body. In the practice of Pranayama, the mind is trained to focus on the breath while inhaling and exhaling. Through the conscious regulation of breath in Pranayama, oxygen and vital body energy is increased in the body thus bringing about heightened awareness of one's self and improved concentration. Daily meditation is also vital in improving memory power, and as the concentration of the individual improves, the physical self and mental being achieves a sense of harmony.

Here are four common yoga concentration techniques for the development of dharana that you can experiment with:
Trataka

Trataka (which means steady gaze) is a technique whereby the eyes are fixed upon a certain external point such as the horizon of the sea, or the flame of a candle.
Trataka1

* Take a comfortable seated position outdoors, where objects at various distances between you and the horizon can be viewed.
* Pick at least 4 objects (roughly spaced equal distance), the first being near the feet and the furthest at the horizon.
* Beginning at the nearest object, concentrate upon it for 60 seconds.
* Move you attention every 60-seconds to each successively further object until the final one at the horizon has been reached.
* After focusing upon the last point for 60 seconds, reverse object by object (again concentrating 60 seconds on each) back to the first point.

Trataka2

* Place a candle upon a small table, whereby the flame is at eye-level.
* Sit a distance of between 6 to 10 feet away and place your concentration upon the flame.
* Do not to blink and try to hold you concentration for between 30 and 60 seconds.
* Close you eyes for 30 to 60 seconds and try to reproduce the image of the flame in your ‘mind’s eye’.
* Repeat this process 3 to 6 times in one sitting.

Nasarga Drishthi

* Take a comfortable sitting position and gaze open-eyed at the tip of the nose.
* Hold this concentration until you feel tension in the eyes, then
* Close your eyelids, but imagine that you are still gazing at the tip of the nose.
* Hold this visualization for 15-20 seconds and then re-open the eyes.
* Repeat this process several times.

Bhrumadhya Drishthi

* Again, take a comfortable sitting position and turn the gaze to the base of the nose, creating a ‘cross-eyed’ position.
* Raise the eyes slightly, so that this cross-eyed gaze now falls directly between the eyebrows, then…
* Close your eyelids and hold this point of concentration ‘inwardly’.
* Periodically open your eyes to see if this point is being maintained, then close them once again.
* Hold this concentration for several minutes