Concentration And Relaxation

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Question: How to get concentration? Most of the time when I sit to study or am hearing a lecture which I otherwise like very much, after some 10-20 minutes, I find that I am no longer having concentration. Any solution?

Answer: First of all give up all activities or habits which destroy your concentration. Compulsive watching of TV for long hours is one of them.

Be focused always. Whatever you do, do it with full concentration—even apparently insignificant action like sweeping a room, or washing clothes. Make concentration a habit. As an aid to improve studies, while reading a book place your finger on the sentence being read and if you are alone, read it aloud. This means involving, along with mind, your eyes, ears, tongue and finger. With four senses thus occupied, it will be easy to focus the mind on whatever your read. While listening to a lecture, make notes. This will make you more focused throughout the lecture.

Question: Will meditation help us to reach our goals other than spiritual goals?

Answer: Yes. Meditation improves concentration, which helps in achieving material goals. However, this is a very mean use of a lofty and noble technique.

Question: Yoga and meditation, it is said, bring relaxation. How are they related to spiritual life or to God?

Answer: It is unfortunate that now-a-days Yoga and meditation are being done for relaxation or for improvement of the concentration only and not for God realization. But the tradition of sanatana dharma considers them as the most important means for God realization and spiritual development. Relaxation and better concentration are only its by-products.

Spiritual life, or God-centred life, essentially means having:

a) A spiritual goal of life,

b) Considering God or Soul as the essential truths of existence, much more real than matter,

c) Regarding oneself as a spiritual entity and not merely a body-mind complex, and

d) Following a definite path to attain spiritual goal.

Yoga believes in all these, and meditation as a powerful means to attain the goal of yoga, which is experiencing our real Self, God himself.

About The Author

A former editor of The Vedanta Kesari, the author is presently the Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chandigarh.