SOUND THE NOTE OF LOVE,
INVOKE THE SOUL RAY,
PERMIT THE CHRIST SPIRIT ENTRANCE
DISTANCE GROUP MEDITATION
– EVERY SUNDAY AT 21.00 –
for invoking Soul Ray of Greece, Nations and One Humanity
Αpril 3, 2022
Text read by sister A.G.
The Stage of Concentration
In all schools of advanced or intellectual mysticism,
the first and necessary step is the attainment of mind control. Meister Eckhart, writing in the fourteenth
century, tells us that!
"St. Paul reminds us that we being planted in the
likeness of God may attain to higher and truer vision. For this [Page 100]
St. Dionysius says we require three things.
The first is, possession of one's mind.
The second is, a mind that is free.
The third is, a mind that can see.
How can we acquire this speculative mind? By a habit of mental concentration."
This is in the strictest conformity with the eastern
method, which aims first to put a man in control of his mental apparatus, so
that he becomes the one who uses it at will and is not (as is so often the
case) the victim of his mind, swayed by thoughts and ideas over which he has no
control, and which he cannot eliminate, no matter how strong may be his desire
to do so.
The same ideas that Meister Eckhart expressed can also
be found in that ancient Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita:
"The mind wavers, Krishna, turbulent, impetuous,
forceful; I think it is as hard to hold as the wind.
"Without doubt...the wandering mind is hard to
hold; but through assiduous practice...it may be held firm.
"When thy soul shall pass beyond the forest of
delusion, thou shalt no more regard what shall be taught or what has been
taught.
"When withdrawn from traditional teaching, thy
soul shall stand steadfast, firm in soul vision, then thou shalt gain union
with the soul."
The first step, therefore, is mind control. This means the power to make the mind do as
you want, to think as you choose, to formulate ideas and sequences of thought
under direction. The function of [Page 101] the mind, in the majority of cases, is
first of all to receive messages from the outer world, via the five senses, and
transmitted by the brain. Hume tells us
that the "mind is a kind of theatre, where several perceptions successively
make their appearance." It is the
seat of the intellectual functions, and a great recording centre for
impressions of all kinds, upon which we act, or to which we refuse admission if
we do not like them. The mind has a
tendency to accept what is presented to it.
The ideas of the psychologists and of science as to the nature of the
mind are too much to touch upon here.
Some regard it as a separate entity; others as a mechanism, of which the
brain and the nervous system are integral parts. One school deals with it as "a sort of
superior, nonphysical structure...capable of strict scientific study and liable
to its own disorders." Some look
upon it as a form of the self, with a life of its own; as a defense mechanism
built up during the ages; as a response apparatus through which we contact aspects
of the Universe otherwise untouchable.
To some, it is simply a vague term signifying that by which we register
thought or respond to vibrations, such as those incorporated in public opinion
and in the books written throughout the ages.
To the esotericist, it is simply a word standing for an aspect of man
which is responsive in one direction — the outer world of thought and of
affairs — but which could be equally responsive in another — the world of
subtle energies and of spiritual being.
This is the concept we shall hold in our thoughts as we study [Page 102] the technique of meditation. Dr. Lloyd Morgan sums it up for us in such a
way that all lesser definitions are included.
He says:
"...the word 'mind' may be used in three senses;
first, as Mind or Spirit in reference to some Activity, for us God; secondly,
as a quality emergent at a high level of evolutionary advance; and thirdly, as
a psychical attribute that pervades all natural events in universal
correlation."
Here we have the idea of the divine purpose, the
universal mind, of that human mentality which distinguishes man on the ladder
of evolution from the animals, and reference also to that universal psychical
consciousness which pervades the animate and the so-called inanimate. It is with mind as a quality emerging at a
high level of evolution that we as human beings deal. It is for us a mode or means of contact,
receiving information from various sources, and by different means. Through the five senses, information is
conveyed, and the man becomes aware of the world of physical phenomena and of
psychical life in which he is immersed.
Not only that, but the mind registers impressions emanating from other
minds, and the thoughts of men (both ancient and modern) are conveyed to him
through the medium of leading and the spoken word, through the drama, through
pictures and through music. Most of it
is simply registered and stored up, finding later expression as memory and
anticipation. Moods, emotional
reactions, feelings and desires, are also recorded [Page
103] by the mind, whether of a high grade or a low, but with the average
person that is all that happens. Very
little real thinking follows upon the registering of information, and no clear
formulation of thoughts occurs. The
clothing of ideas with words which clearly express them is one of the functions
of the mind, yet, how few people have ideas or originate really intelligent
thoughts! Their minds respond to that
which is conveyed to them from the outer world, but have no inherent or
self-initiated activities of their own.
Therefore, the process at present controlling in the
case of the average man is from the outside world inwards, through the senses,
to the brain. The brain then
"telegraphs" the information registered to the mind, which, in its
turn, records it. That usually closes
the incident.
But, in the case of the truly thoughtful, there is
more than this. Upon the recording
follows an analysis of the incident or the information, its correlation with
other incidents, and a study of cause and effect. The "mind-stuff," as the Oriental
calls it, is swept into activity, and thought-forms are created and mental
images built in connection with the presented idea. Then, if desired, the clear thinking of the
man is impressed upon the brain and so a return activity is instituted. But, in the case of the mystic and of the man
who is beginning to meditate, something further is discovered. He finds that the mind, when properly
governed and disciplined, is capable of wider and deeper responses; that it can
become [Page 104] aware of ideas and concepts
which emanate from a deeply spiritual realm and which are communicated by the
soul. Instead of impressions from the
outer daily life recorded on the sensitive receiving-plate of the mind, they
may come forth from the kingdoms of the soul and are caused by the activity of
a man's own soul, or by other souls with whom his soul may be in touch.
Then the mind enters upon a new and fresh usefulness
and its range of contact includes not only the world of men but also the world
of souls. Its function is to act as an
intermediary between the soul and the brain and to transmit to the brain that
of which the man, as a soul, has become aware.
This becomes possible when the old mental activities are superseded by
the higher, and when the mind can be rendered temporarily insensitive to all
outer calls upon its attention. This,
however, is not brought about by any methods of rendering the mind passive and
receptive, or by any system of "blanking" the mind, or stunning it
into negativity, or other forms of self-hypnotism. It is caused by the expulsive force of a new
and bigger interest, and by the one-pointed attention of the focussed mental
faculties to a new world of phenomena and of force. This system is that of concentration, the
first and most arduous step towards the illumination of the life.
The word "concentration" comes from the
Latin words "con"="together" and
"centrare"="to centre."
It means the "bringing together or the [Page
105] drawing to a common centre or focal point;" it connotes the
gathering together of our wandering thoughts and ideas, and holding the mind
firmly and steadily focussed or centred on the object of our immediate
attention, without wavering or distraction.
It involves the elimination of all that is foreign or extraneous to the
matter under observation. Patanjali
defines it thus: "The binding of
the perceiving consciousness to a certain region is attention or
concentration."
This necessarily involves a distinction between the
Thinker, the apparatus of thought, and that which is to be considered by the
Thinker. We need, therefore, to
distinguish between ourselves, the one who is thinking and that which are use
to think with, the mind. Then there
comes in the third factor, that which is thought.
Students would do well at the very beginning of their
meditation work to learn to make these basic differentiations, and to cultivate
the habit every day of making these distinctions. They must distinguish always between:
- The Thinker, the true Self, or the Soul.
- The mind, or the apparatus which the Thinker seeks
to use.
- The process of thought, or the work of the Thinker
as he impresses upon the mind (when in a state of equilibrium) that which he
thinks.
- The brain, which is in its turn impressed by the
mind, acting as the agent for the Thinker, in order to convey impressions and
information.
Concentration is, therefore, the power to focus the
consciousness on a given subject and to hold it there as long as desired; it is
the method of accurate perception, and the power to visualize correctly, being
the quality which enables the Thinker to perceive and know the field of
perception. Another word for concentration
is attention, that is, one-pointed attention.
It is interesting to note what Father Maréchal says in this
connection. He points out that
"attention is a direct path to full perception, to hallucination, or, more
generally, to belief....It brings about an at least momentary unification of the
mind by the predominance of one mental group....But this 'mental unity,'
realized to some degree in the phenomenon of attention, is also the sole
subjective condition which, we have seen, accompanies always the true or false
perception of the real."
The question may be asked, what is the easiest way to
teach oneself to concentrate? One might
reply, in the words of the French proverb:
"Le meilleur moyen de déplacer est de remplacer;" — "the
best way to eliminate is to substitute," and one way that may be employed
is to utilize what has been called the "expulsive power of a new
affection." To be profoundly
interested in some new and intriguing subject, and to have one's attention
focussed on some fresh and dynamic matter will automatically tend to make the
mind one-pointed.
A second answer might be given: Be concentrated in all that you do all day
every day. Concentration will be rapidly
developed if we cultivate the habit of accuracy in all the affairs of
life. Accurate speech should necessitate
accurate attention to that which is said, read or heard, and this would
necessarily involve concentration and so develop it. True meditation is after all an attitude of
mind and will grow out of an attitude of concentration.
The objective, therefore, of all our endeavor is to
train the mind so as to make it our servant and not our master, and to
cultivate the power of concentration preparatory to true meditation work. The earnest student, therefore, will carry
this close attention into the affairs of everyday life and will thereby learn
to regulate his mind as an apparatus for his thought.
Let me emphasize here the necessity of a constantly
concentrated attitude to life. The
secret of success can be expressed in the simple words: Pay attention. In talking to people, in reading a book, in
writing a letter, let us steadily focus our thought on what we are doing and so
gradually develop the capacity to concentrate.
To this cultivated attitude there must be added
definite concentration exercises, carried forward each day, with
perseverance. This involves the fixing
of the mind upon a particular object, or a chosen topic for thought. To this succeeds a process of steadily and
quietly learning to abstract the consciousness [Page 108]
from the outer world and exoteric conditions and focus it at will on any
subject.
The regular unremitting work of daily concentration
gradually overcomes the difficulty of control and brings about results which
might be enumerated as follows:
The reorganization of the mind.
- The polarizing of the man in his mental, instead of
his emotional vehicle.
- The withdrawal of the man's attention from the
sense perceptions and his learning to centre himself in the brain. Most people, like the animals, use the solar
plexus.
- The development of a faculty of instantaneous
concentration as a preliminary to meditation.
- The capacity to focus the attention unswervingly
upon any chosen seed thought.
(From Intellect to Intuition, p. 99-108)
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