Stage Two

Concentration

by EdySutio

 

When you enter into concentration, you enter into the first state that will lead you to meditation.  Yet, don’t confuse concentration with meditation.  It’s very much something quite different.

During the second stage of meditation, you can begin to get control of your mind.  When you learn to keep yourself in this type of mind frame, chances are good that you’ll improve the quality of your life considerably. 

In concentration, your goal seems simple but it actually quite difficult to master to any amount of degree.  You need to concentrate on one sole thing or object. 

To be successful, you need to keep your mind focused on that one thing and not distracted by any type of diversion that happens to spring up.  Focus on it, without allowing your mind to wander.  It’s very difficult, actually.

During concentration, although the process of focusing on one element is simple enough, the problem is the mind’s ability to trick you back into its “normal” state of being.  By pulling off the actually concentration topic and focusing on another, it pulls you back.

For example, if you need to concentrate on a paper for school, you could be sitting down thinking and working.  You’ll allow your mind to focus and relax on the topic at hand.  You think to yourself about the topic and can really clearly see what it is.

Then, you think of what your teacher had to say about the paper.  That leads to thoughts of what your friend said next to you while the teacher was talking.  Within a matter of minutes, you are thinking about something completely different than the original thought. 

The end result is that you are distracted so much so that you are back at the “normal” stage of thinking, having accomplished little in way of concentration.  That’s not what will help you.

The goal with concentration, though, is to realize what’s happened.  When you can realize that you’ve been distracted and that your mind has fooled you into making its own decisions then you can come back and actually concentrate.

When you can master the art of keeping your mind focused and concentrating, you will experience a new type of thinking.  You’ll be able to relax more and you’ll be able to actually feel better about life.  That’s an amazing feeling!