CONCENTRATION: THE KEY TO SUCCESS
by Paul Hourihan                                                             

Concentration is the key to success in all endeavors, spiritual or worldly. The scientist, Isaac Newton, for example, said he came by his discoveries as a result of occupying his mind exclusively with the subject over a long period—hence concentration. So with the artist, the musician, the millionaire … all succeed by concentration. Likewise, lost in his contemplation, is the yogi, or the mystic.

Love thy Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.* In other words totally, or through concentration.

Success in meditation depends absolutely on the degree of concentration we attain, which, however, is not to be forced but to be brought into realization by steady application combined with nonegoistic living in relation to others. Like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!**

For example: if I do a completely selfless action, helping others, serving them, thinking only of them, oblivious of the consequences as far as rewards to me are concerned, afterwards I feel … peaceful, satisfied. Then if I meditate, I find I can concentrate much more easily than usual. The reason for this is that the ego for the time being has been overcome, neutralized, leaving the mind open to the inflow of spiritual power, which ordinarily is being blocked due to the presence in the forefront of my consciousness of the ever-present ego!

So if we want God-Realization we must think about it often. As we’ve seen, the more we dwell on anything, the more proficient we become in it, the more we come to master it … or realize it. So here.

Can’t we merely meditate once or twice a day, confining our thoughts of the Divine to those periods, and the rest of the time go about our business like other people do? No.

If we do it that way, sooner or later, we loosen our hold on meditative practices. During the rest of the day the mind grows accustomed to the one kind of food and activity, and as a result it becomes harder and harder for it to settle down in the world of meditation to enjoy its food and activity. We must maintain the practice of constant reflection, even in the midst of duties.

Commitment is necessary even if you don’t gain realization! Without this constant quiet effort within, we inevitably drift back into the clutches of Nature, and lose the purpose of embodiment on this plane.

Thus we have selfless concentration as the key, with ethical, nonselfish attitudes and actions in the outer world, combined with steady application of concentrative techniques in the inner world of meditation, which is the ideal combination for spiritual advance.
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See also Words of Wisdom: Spiritual Life, Karma Yoga and articles MEDITATION-THE ULTIMATE ESCAPE and Attachment in Work & Meditation: SOURCE OF BONDAGE AND LIBERATION
 

Meditation: The Way to Transformation and the Glory of Our True Self
by Paul Hourihan, edited by Anna Hourihan

Have you longed for a new way of living? Have you longed for transformation that will bring you to a higher state of being? Meditation is the way. Meditation is lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps. It is turning yourself inside out, but slowly, systematically, on a daily disciplined basis to bring yourself to the other reality that you yearn for.

Our minds by nature look outward for the experience of reality. We believe everything is out there, even God is out there—that's the delusion we face. Consequently, we look to the outer for peace and happiness, and depend on the outside world for them.

But meditation and self-reform depend on the individual alone, on the Reality within. The mystic teachings of all the religions tell us that the Divine is within—the Self, the Christ-consciousness, the Godhead that is in us is our true nature.

The age we live in is saturated with spiritual elements in a way, but the other elements that pervade our society—sensuality, divisiveness, skepticism, agnosticism, pervasive self-obsession—create very strong barriers that make it more difficult for us to begin or continue on the spiritual path.

How, then, do we cope with the strong non-spiritual climate we are exposed to every day? Through meditation we reverse the current of the mind and turn it in—that same powerful current that is attaching us to everything in the world and making us feel: I must have this, I crave this, I hate that, I can't stand this. These strong aversions and attractions, this “I” consciousness dictates that the world out there is real and we will be bound to it. But with meditation, we slowly loosen the hold of this ingrained tendency by using that same power that's driving us outward and mobilizing our will to drive it inward. But we need to be patient. Our present condition of ignorance has been created over a long period and therefore reversing this process might take a long time. It doesn't mean we don’t receive any of the benefits until then. With persistence and commitment to this practice, the transformation slowly takes place even though we are not always aware of it.

An important part of meditation is learning how to examine the mind. Through this practice we come to the realization that we are not the mind; we are not our thoughts! We discover that the mind can be examined, controlled and mastered. As we proceed, we start to sense freedom from our habitual negative attitudes and emotions such as anger, resentment, jealousy, and all the rest. Even though disturbing thoughts may arise we begin to check these lower, surface patterns of emotion and nurse the emergence of a changed pattern from the inner depths. Gradually, as we conquer these we will know peace and come closer to our true nature.

For Westerners the meditative impulse, sustained and organized, is somewhat unnatural at first. That is why the meditative tradition of the East—India’s gift to the world*—with its time-tested techniques and psychology is indispensable. With a plethora of meditation teachers and techniques available today, it’s important to meditate according to accepted and proven methods. Without proper guidance in this area instead of experiencing more the joy of our true being, the opposite may happen causing us greater suffering.

Is meditation the only way? What about good works, prayer, faith, etc.?

These are all good practices that can take us far in spiritual life. Although they tend to be outer-directed, if carried out faithfully and in the right spirit, they also may  lead us to the goal. But meditation, which by its nature is inward-oriented, is a more direct method. God is found within … deep within! The kingdom of heaven is within you. 

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* This refers to the system of thought and practice in the Yoga Sutras or Yoga Aphorisms as set down by the great sage Patanjali.

See also  Words of Wisdom: Spiritual Life, Meditation and archived articles, MEDITATION - THE ULTIMATE ESCAPE and DISSATISFACTION: THE PREREQUISITE FOR SPIRITUAL LIFE.

Other Archived Feature Articles (Spiritual Essays)