The Effect of Dharana or Concentrating the Mind : 9.

There are hundreds and thousands of methods of concentrating the mind, according to the way in which the mind works at a particular given moment of time. It is not one single method. Also, the method of concentration has to be accompanied by many other accessories, such as a particular physical posture. A single posture cannot be prescribed for everybody. There are various other moods of the mind that have to be adopted, as well as the type of atmosphere in which one has to find oneself. Many other things have to be considered. Hence, we are here at a stage when personal guidance is necessary. It is not easy to give a public lecture on this subject, nor can we find this information in textbooks, because it is all general information that books give. A very detailed analysis of the individual situation cannot be found in any textbook, and it is not possible to listen to it in a lecture. But this is the crucial point and most important thing to be remembered and taken into consideration. The objective of meditation is ultimately the realisation of the Supreme Being – God-realisation, the realisation of the Absolute. This is known to everybody, and this is perhaps the aim and objective of everyone born in this world.


So far, it is general information that is given to people. But we know this Absolute is a terrific Reality, and we cannot conceive it in the mind. Who can conceive the Absolute? Thus, we have to approach it in an appropriate manner, on the basis of the level of mind that we are in at this moment. Though the Absolute is the Supreme Reality, omnipresent and transcendent, it is also immanently present in the very level of thought which we are capable of entertaining in our mind. Hence, we can spot out this Absolute and put our finger upon it at every condition of the mind, because every condition of the mind reflects the Absolute in a particular way, though in a very inadequate manner. We must, first of all, find out the condition of the mind in which we are, and the way in which we can contact the Absolute from the point of view of that particular condition of the mind in which we are. We should not idealise things too much. “Oh, I want the All-pervading Father of the Universe.” This kind of talk is useless. It is all simply nebulous because it is only a theoretical way of speaking of things, whereas our condition is different. We are hard-pressed by certain inward tensions, and it is well known that these tensions will not allow us to think of or contemplate on universal realities. So it is useless to merely divert the mind to theoretical abstractions, even if it be in the name of the Absolute.


We have to take hard realities on their bare connotation – as they appear. Though Reality is our intention ultimately, appearance cannot be completely brushed aside, because we have to pierce through appearance for the sake of contacting Reality. So, we first of all bestow some thought upon the nature of the mind which is our dear possession, which is inseparable from us, through which alone we have to do the concentration. When we probe into the structure of our own mind, we will find that it is constituted of various layers of ideas and ideals, some of which have come up to the conscious level, and some of which are deeply buried inside. Our duty it is to bring up to the surface of consciousness these deep-seated ideas and ideals.

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ...