10.28.07
The Source of All Things Part II
Finding something to concentrate on is up to you. It needs to be something that you are interested in and that can absorb your attention. Let this be a concept or idea that, if you could, you would like to know or become. This could be a form of the divine, a state of surrender, or oneness with all things. Or you could simply focus on your self. Once you have your point of concentration, summarize it in one or two words. For example, if I wanted to know my self, I would pick the words, “my self”. Easy. Right?
Now, schedule a time once or twice a day to reflect on your chosen idea. Don’t change the idea, stick with your original choice. Find a quiet place where you can sit up straight, close your eyes and turn your attention within. Know that this time of the day you are dedicated to nothing else but contemplating your chosen idea and strengthening your mind. (Because that is what this will do, get your mind under control.) Once you are firmly established, sitting up right, with your idea of contemplation in your mind, give your attention to your breathing. As you breathe in, feel the breath coming in to your body and hear the word, “my”. As you breathe out, feel the breath leaving your body and hear (and feel) the word “self”.
As you do this, don’t be mechanical about it. Just repeating words and breathing won’t do much for you, other than calm you down a bit. If you really want to strengthen your mind and know what you are contemplating, when you hear and feel the words in your mind as you breathe really focus on them. What do they mean? When you say “my” what is it that you associate with that. When you “self” what is that you attach to your “self”. (Here is a helpful reminder: Anything you can think about imagine to be associated with your self, is not your self.)
Two things are occurring here. One, you are strengthening your mind. Thoughts, emotions, sensations, memories, etc. will break your concentration, but you gently bring your awareness back to your breath and contemplation. With each day and each session of practice your mind grows stronger and you can maintain your contemplation longer. So don’t give up. Look at it like training. If you are weak physically you may need to change a few things to get stronger. 1) eat right. 2) take some time to exercise often. Eating right one day or exercising once a month won’t do it. It needs to become part of the routine of your life. Think about the things that are important to you. You probably take some kind of action that involves these important aspects of your life daily, or at least often. What is important to you is reflected in your regular daily routine.
After you have sat silently for a while just breathing and contemplating, disregard the breath and let go of the contemplation. Just sit silently observing all that passes through your being. Observe the silence, and also observe the distractions as they rise and fall. When your scheduled time is at end, get up and go about your day as usual.
During times when you are simply living and not contemplating, yet you find your self day dreaming or worrying about something useless, use that moment to remember what it felt like to sit in the stillness after your contemplation, and take a moment or two to reflect on your object of contemplation. This will further train you to keep your attention focused and your mind strong.
Note that strength of mind does not indicate strain or force. It is more like a habit. Most people are in the habit of letting thoughts run wild and directing their energies outward. With practice, such as the one above, you are merely changing your habits. Instead of wasting energies and depleting your life force on useless thinking and worrying etc, you learn to remain connected to the source of all things. That becomes your natural state. A person who has done this would feel just as weird having millions of distractions running through his/her mind as a person who would think it strange to not have to think at all.
So the only difference between a “master” and someone who isn’t is really the habit of how they live and what they identify themselves with. A master identifies with the source of all things. Someone else identifies with the things in life that come and go, and feels that as the things come and go, so do they. One knows and is the source. The other is still the source, but has no idea what they really are. The latter could be likened to a person who has lost a precious necklace and is worried to death about where it might be, when really it is still around the person’s neck and they’ve just forgotten. The former never forgets where the necklace is.
