Concentration of attention, disconnection from the environment and one's feelings is helped by preliminary training to control the motor activity of the body, over spontaneous and conscious movements. This is especially useful for those who cannot sit still even for a minute.

Control over the movement of the body. Exercise is performed sitting or lying down (just not to fall asleep). Its essence is self-immersion. It is necessary to trace the sequence of appearance of discomfort, desire to move, change posture, rub some part of the body. At first, there will be minor discomfort. It will grow, there will be a feeling of itching, tension, perhaps peristaltic bowel movements will become audible. You need to go through this stage, relaxing more and more.

Control over the muscles of the pyk and legs. In a sitting position, stretch your hand to the side at shoulder level, palm down and closely follow the middle finger, not allowing the slightest movement. Do one minute for each arm and leg.

Control over the muscles of the whole body. Perform sitting, look at one point. Relax facial muscles and eyes. Breathe rhythmically, slowly, calmly. Relax the muscles of the whole body. Exercise daily for 5 - 10 minutes.

Option - standing with arms extended forward.

Control over voluntary movements. Slowly rotate your thumbs one around the other 50 to 100 times, focusing on this with all your attention.

Modification of the exercise - very slowly, in turn, unbend the fingers of the hand clenched into a fist, then bend. Attention must be fully focused on the movement. It is desirable that the hand was first in sight, on the table, for example. Later, you can keep it in your pocket. Right-handed people should pay more attention to the left hand.

This seemingly simple exercise has an amazing effect. The will is strengthened, its role in the management of attention increases. For some, this exercise affects even more than the system of physical training. An explanation, perhaps, should be sought in the large representation that the hand has in the cerebral cortex.

To develop the ability to disconnect from the environment in yoga, a system of exercises based on the principle of dominance is used, when all attention is focused on only one feeling.

Focusing on the visual image. Place an object in front of your eyes at arm's length and focus on it. Examine it for 5 - 10 minutes, highlighting such qualities as color, shape, structure of the material, etc. Try to go so deep into the process of viewing in order to turn off the rest of the senses. You can complicate the exercise, gradually moving from bright to increasingly dull colors, from a clear, unusual configuration to more and more inexpressive forms.

Focus on sound. For training use the ticking of the clock. First they are placed side by side, then they are transferred farther and farther. You need to listen to the ticking, first count to a hundred, then bring the duration of the exercise to 10 minutes. Daily training, according to yogis, develops clairaudience.

Focus on tactile sensation. A coin or other light object is placed on the exposed area of ​​the body and attention is focused on the sensation of contact. If there is a feeling of warmth and even burning, the coin is moved. Sometimes areas of energy centers are chosen as places for contact. Additional points - the center of the palms. Over time, you need to learn from just one touch to determine the side of the coin.

Focus on taste. To do this, first use products with a contrasting taste (salt, sugar, spices, etc.), then move on to less contrasting ones. You need to close your eyes (you can also your ears) and try to completely go into the taste sensations, merge with them, feel them with every cell of the body. Train for 5 - 10 minutes.

Focus on smell. 10 minutes a day work with various aromatic substances. The source of the smell is gradually removed. The sharpness of the smell is reduced.

After mastering the above exercises, they set directly opposite tasks. It is necessary not to see, not to hear, not to touch. Do not see the clock in front of your eyes, do not hear their ticking, distract from the pressure of the object in contact with the body. Having achieved success, it is no longer difficult to disconnect from the environment, to arbitrarily direct focused attention to any object or its individual characteristic.

Additional shutdown techniques include: multiple monotonous repetition of the AUM mantra (mentally or aloud), concentration on breathing with mental accompaniment of inhalation with the sound of CO, and exhalation with the sound of HAM; performing several series of various Pranayamas with bated breath between each series (Kevali - Kumbhaka); mentally wrapping yourself in a cocoon, impenetrable to light, sound, smell.

Concentration on the object with visualization is the next step. The Trataka method, discussed in detail earlier, is used. Its essence lies in the alternation of periods of peering into an object with periods of mental reconstruction of its image. Gradually, the periods of visualization increase from several to tens of minutes. Any objects can be used as objects for this exercise. The training complication is to reduce their attractiveness.

Concentration on objects of nature is a further complication of practice. Clouds, blue sky, water surface, stars, moon, nature views are used as objects. The concentration method, as in the previous exercise, is Tratak.

Process Focus eating, walking, physical labor, talking, etc. expands the range of self-control, trains attention, promotes awareness of oneself and one's habits, and helps to improve.

Concentration on meditative music, like all previous exercises, it is performed in a relaxed state. You need to imagine that the music fills your entire being and you gradually “merge” with it.

Concentration on the thought process It consists in detached observation of emerging thoughts. Track the beginning and end of each thought. Attention trying to slip onto other objects, gently return.

Concentration training should be regular. Its success is determined not so much by volitional efforts as by the preliminary cleansing of the body and consciousness. An attempt to start with Raja Yoga, without first going through the stages of Kriya and Hatha Yoga, rarely ends in success. Yogis believe that non-observance of the requirements of Yama and Niyama clogs the mind and makes mental training impossible. Self-conceit, arrogance, vanity, hypocrisy, falsehood - all these qualities constantly create problems: either a conflict with superiors, or a sidelong look from a colleague - everything excites, creates an unfavorable emotional background, leads away from the tasks of self-improvement. Failure to comply with the requirements of Niyama sooner or later leads to illness, and then there is no time to train the gaze and attention. Only a comprehensive and consistent approach will lead to victory over oneself.

Meditation

True meditation is a special state of immersion in something observed or done. Images and thoughts, unexpected and striking, come by themselves. True meditation, according to yogis, happens spontaneously. However, it must be prepared, the prerequisites for its occurrence must be created, carefully practicing simple controlled forms. Mastered separately, they can later be combined into a chain of mental journeys. A specific choice of meditation topics, their combination is a problem that they solve on their own,

Pendulum. Feel yourself suspended by a string in space. There is piercing darkness all around. With each inhalation and exhalation, there is a kind of swing from side to side. The amplitude is getting bigger and bigger. The body is relaxed. Attention to the surrounding stars, nebulae, a feeling of weightlessness. The thread holds the crown and goes to infinity. The movement changes to circular. A few circles and a broken thread.

Fall backwards. Flakes of fog, static structures, rush past. The flight accelerates in a vertical tunnel. There is no fear, nothing bad can happen. Heaviness in the body, incredible heaviness. Smooth sliding into horizontal flight. Speed ​​reduction.

Flight. Imagine a blue bottomless sky around. Blooming ground below. Feel like a bird. Watch the landscapes passing by. Get down below. See lakes, rivers, lawns. Find your field.

Nature. See yourself lying on the grass, sand, hayloft, under a tree. Feel the aroma of freshly cut grass. Hear the chirping of grasshoppers, the buzzing of bees. Feel a ray of sun on your shoulder, chest, forehead and a breath of breeze, feel a pleasant languor, relaxation.

Creek. Imagine yourself lying in the bed of a forest stream. Jets of pleasantly cool, clear water bathe the entire body. Water impregnates it, penetrates through, flows through the head, torso, legs, first in small jets, then in a stream, taking with it diseases, toxins, fatigue, bad mood, filling it with sparkling purity, joy, and energy.

Ray. It looks like it's falling down on your face. Sources: the moon, the sun, your star, the entire cosmos. Penetrates through the interbrow into the head, flows along the spine, saturating the entire body with orange (yellow) energy. Spills out through the whole body. Gives a feeling of warmth (coolness).

Option 1. First, the whole body is filled with energy, its clot accumulates in the coccyx, synchronously with breathing, it rises stepwise. When the charge reaches the top of the head, see a thin sparkling thread in the middle of the spine.

Option 2. Along the course of the beam, with each breath, a sparkling sign, the symbol of OM, floats and penetrates into the middle of the head.

Pulsation. Feel the pulsation in certain areas, and then throughout the body. Connect it with a beam, a stream.

Dissolution. To see a stream (stream, beam) passing through the body, which takes away illnesses, tension. Imagine melting soft tissue. Feel like a skeleton. Dissolve it too. Feel like a complex of emotions and desires. Get rid of them too. Then let go of thinking. Wash the remaining Soul with the pure coolness of the stream. Recreate yourself in reverse order.

Rose garden. Imagine yourself among flowering rose bushes. Smell them. Stop attention on the most beautiful bud. Carefully observe how, under the influence of your gaze, it begins to slowly open up. Imagine a picture of the full blooming, and then shedding of the flower. Watch the fall of each petal.

Time and anti-time. Mentally see yourself in the process of any activity. Track the process over time. Try to turn the impressions in reverse order, without missing a single previously seen detail.

I am the subject. Feel like any object, feel its state, internal structure, relationships with the environment. For example, imagine yourself as a bubble, rising and falling in the rhythm of breathing. Feel the tension of its walls, the emptiness inside, the rope that does not let go in flight, experience the feeling of weightlessness.

Partner. Imagine your business partner. Introduce yourself to them. Analyze the situation in which he is. Recreate his views, needs and motives. Feel his reaction to your possible offer.

Meeting. Present the course of the meeting, all those present, their characters, habits, views, attitude towards you and the problem under discussion. Feel the possible options for the development of the situation and the decisions made.

My qualities. See yourself from the outside. Assess the advantages and disadvantages. Steadily visualize an image or a situation when a negative quality is replaced by a positive one (perseverance, goodwill, patience). Perform regularly before falling asleep for 5 minutes.

My star. Imagine yourself lying under the night sky, choose your star. Contemplate it, imagining yourself as a small lake, in the depths of which the star is reflected. Feel the kinship with her, the same vibrations, feel her in the depths of yourself. Do it for several days in a row.

Everything is unreal. In a crowded place to feel the unreality of what is happening. Watch as an outside observer. Repeat during the day several times for 2-3 minutes.

Dive into your void. Performed before going to bed with closed eyes. Feel like a dark deep emptiness, the entrance to a huge other world. Look into it. Perform for 20 minutes 2 - 3 weeks.

Shiva Netra(tantric meditation "third eye"). Sit still with unfocused eyes, focus on a blue light (10 minutes), close your eyes and gently rock from side to side (10 minutes). Repeat three times.

Nada Brahma Meditation is a classic Tibetan technique. Sitting, chant the mantra OM (buzz) for a long time. Listen to the rustle of vibrations. Imagine yourself as an empty vessel filled with buzzing vibrations. Dissolve into them. This stage lasts up to 30 minutes. Then slowly draw a circle with your palms, spreading your arms to the sides from the level of Manipura to Ajna and lowering them. The first 7 - 8 minutes the palms are turned up (energy output), the next - down (reception). Feel the energy exchange with the Universe. At the third stage - exit after complete relaxation for 15 minutes.

Energy exchange. Being in front of natural objects (river, trees, sun, sea, stars, etc.), on a slow breath, imagine that the subtle energy of Prana filling them passes to you in the form of an inhaled fog. As you exhale, mentally slowly release your energy. It is necessary to arouse admiration for nature, admiration for it. The selection of Prana colors is intuitive (blue, green, orange, white, etc.). Help with your hands, as in the previous meditation. Exercise calms, gives strength.

The last three meditations are dynamic. According to Guru Bhagavat Shri Rajneesh, they are more effective than static ones. These exercises are closer to true meditation, which, unlike the preparatory steps, is not accompanied by an effort of will. This is a state of disconnection, a trance, in which there are no mental manipulations. It is believed that it harmonizes the structure of energy, relieves stress, opens up new horizons of consciousness.

Training Rules

1. Practice in a quiet place. A sharp knock, noise, the appearance of unauthorized persons are unfavorable factors. Over time, meditation becomes possible in any conditions:

2. It is more expedient to carry out meditation in the morning, between 4 - 8 o'clock, in the evening between 19 and 20 and just before falling asleep.

3. Train on an empty stomach or not earlier than an hour after eating. With severe physical fatigue, emotional overexcitation or illness, it is better to refrain from meditation.

4. Create a practice ritual (interior, lighting, music, fragrance, clothes).

5. Exercise 3-5 times a week for 15 to 40 minutes.

6. Excessive variety of topics for meditation is not always beneficial. It is better to be limited to a small number of them, but periodically update.

7. Evaluate the effect of meditations, choosing the most appropriate for your psychological make-up and temperament. Criterion - freshness, joy, calm.

The evolution of consciousness

In the Vedas, Upanishads and other sacred books of India, philosophers of antiquity showed in large strokes the path of man in comprehending the world and himself, running from the material through Manas (reasoning mind), Budhi (Higher thinking) to Brahman itself (Cosmic Mind). The stages of this movement were described in detail by Patanjali, who gave the technique of transferring consciousness to higher levels, the technique of Raja Yoga. It took another two thousand years for the Teacher to appear, whose intellect through this technique penetrated into the sphere of higher thinking (Superconscious), studied and systematized it in detail.

Aurobindo Ghosh, in his teaching on integral yoga, considered five states of consciousness, of which two belong to the level of consciousness and three to Higher thinking (Superconsciousness). He believed that a person who has acquired a deep concentration of attention, which allows one to enter the state of Samadhi, enters the zone of the Superconscious. The doors to the unknown open before him, to where the still untouched reserves of the body and psyche lie. Aurobindo Ghosh demarcated the space of Higher thinking and singled out three states: Illuminated mind, Intuitive and Global.

Illuminated mind. In the course of yoga training, with finding peace in mental activity and the emergence of the ability to stop reasoning thinking, the manifestation of the Illuminated Mind becomes possible. In this state, information comes in the form of an avalanche of images, words of revelation that overwhelm a person. Word combinations, rhythms, colors all break out and, with sufficient technical skills, can be embodied in music, poetry, painting.

Enthusiasm, bubbling energy, constant readiness for action are the characteristic features of the Illumined Mind. Talented poets, musicians, artists, writers, as well as lovers rise to this level. But this state is not stable. With insufficient readiness of consciousness and body, a return to lower levels is possible.

Intuitive Mind. Intuition is said to be the remembrance of Truth. Truth, knowledge, information seem to be nearby, waiting for us to become cleaner and more enlightened in order to see them. In this state, the meaning of concepts, phenomena, objects is concentrated in concise formulations, without a single superfluous word. Enlightenment lasts longer. Prominent scientists, creators of new sciences and directions of art, philosophers and religious figures rise to this level.

global mind is a pinnacle that a person very rarely reaches. This is the Cosmic Consciousness, merged with the individuality and conscious of the poet. If the traveler patiently conquered each step of the ascent so that the lower levels remained connected with the summit, then he can tell what he has comprehended.

The global mind is the world of gods and founders of great religions. At this level, Universal Beauty, Universal Love are known. There are no oppositions here. Good and Evil, Love and Hatred are perceived not as denials, but as elements of Cosmic Harmony.

All three stages of the evolution of consciousness represent the Superconscious. However, the threshold of the Superconscient, the limit of the mind to which each person has risen, is not the same. For some, the Illuminated mind can hardly be called Superconscious - this is part of their normal state, for others, a simple reasoning mind remains a distant possibility for internal development.

Modern man, having developed the analytical logical possibilities of thinking, often loses the ability to direct, unprejudiced perception of the environment. He lacks an intuitive understanding of the essence of things, the ability to non-standard solutions.

Yoga allows you to rise to the level when a person becomes the master of not only the body and psyche, but also thinking. He acquires purity of thought, clarity of its expression, the ability to concentrate at any moment and realistically assess the situation. Potentials and talents are developed.

Yoga is the way to oneself, the way of comprehending one's "I", the way of serving Humanity. Good luck on this path. After all, “every person is Shiva and is able to achieve His strength by developing himself by yoga methods” (Garuda Purana).

From comprehending the esoteric meaning of body position as a symbol of staying in the Law, we now move on to mastering the first of seven practical exercises. For convenience, we will call this first exercise concentration.

Concentration - and it is very important for us to understand the meaning of this word in its true mystical sense - is the gathering together of all the faculties of the mind, the direction of attention towards the achievement of a single goal. We use the word concentration in the sense expressed by the Eastern adepts thus: Sitting alone, wrapped in a robe, the master entered samadhi.

The expression sitting alone refers to the position of the body and means being in the present. The words wrapped in a robe indicate that he has brought together or integrated all the manifestations of his mind. This is the meaning of the doctrine of the middle.

Reflect on the mystery that shines through in the words to wrap yourself in the mantle of wisdom. The insignia of the Buddhist patriarchs was the mantle. Each arhat, or master of the school, wore a cape of a certain color. The robes of the Zen sect were green, and Daruma, the Zen arhat, is depicted wearing a robe with one end pulled over his head like a hood. The disciple was not allowed to wear such a robe, as it was the prerogative of the high priests.

Apollonius of Tyana, an initiate of the Pythagorean school, also wore a special woolen robe. Starting esoteric practice, he sat on his mantle and wrapped himself in it, even covering his face. It was believed that, sitting in this way, he traveled to the most remote corners of the world. During one such visit outside the body, he is said to have witnessed the assassination of the emperor Domitian.

We are so accustomed to taking symbols for real entities that few students wonder what the magical meaning of the mantle is. The mantle, like the magic Baghdad carpet, the magic ring of Solomon and the ring of the Nibelungs are symbols of concentration - gathering together and directing all the abilities of the soul to achieve one goal.

How then can we define concentration? The essence of concentration, like any other genuine exercise, is inexpressible. It must be known from within. It can be comprehended because the exercise itself develops in the student the ability to practice it. It is clear that for the practice of concentration one does not need to put on a physical robe; the adept wears a garment not of this world. The features of his traditional dress (by which the adept is distinguished from ordinary followers in the physical world) are only reflections or allegories of his true appearance.

Concentration is a soft and unobtrusive concentration of attention without volitional effort. It is based on understanding the Law. Concentration can be called steadfastness of intention. Like a candle that burns evenly on a windless night, insight shines unwaveringly in the womb of concentration.

Concentration is the constancy of spiritual movement in the direction of the One. This is how the commentary on the Zohar describes it: The follower of the spiritual Mysteries looks with perfect attention into the face of Reality.

If there are no misinterpretations, the simple practice of concentration is completely harmless. However, there is a great difference between the true understanding of the practice of concentration and the popular interpretations of this exercise.

Preparing for Concentration

No occult exercise should be done without proper preparation. In practice, this preparation is expressed in two ways. First, it presupposes a general ordering of individual existence. It is useless to attempt to practice the occult exercises in a contradictory and chaotic environment. One should not cherish in oneself the desire to leave the world for spiritual states. Concentration is not an oasis of spirituality in the desert of a chaotic everyday life.

You can often hear people say: My meditation practice gives me the strength to carry on with a life that would otherwise be unbearable! If a person is guided by such considerations, he is doomed to failure. Concentration cannot be one of the independent aspects of life. It must penetrate to the very foundation of ordinary existence, otherwise it will not be successful and one will simply waste time.

The ability to concentrate in the mystical sense of the word manifests itself in a person's life in the form of the ability to maintain self-control and achieve success in everyday affairs. Consequently, concentration must first of all become an integral part of a person's worldview.

The second part of the preparation for concentration is the actions performed immediately before the start of the practice. For some time before doing the exercise, the mind should be at rest, and the body should be completely relaxed - at this time, one should not indulge in idleness, one just needs to avoid stress. Sitting in the midst of the general bustle and trying to isolate yourself from its influence by showing some special attitude towards it is illogical and not worthy of a philosopher. That is why the master sits alone. These unpretentious words reveal a great mystery to those who can understand it.

Symbols of concentration

The clergy of antiquity and the modern mystical traditions, widespread in the East, are unanimous in the fact that concentration classes should be carried out using sacred objects. Pythagoras taught his followers to meditate on the tetractys, a triangular arrangement of ten points. He also advised all true Pythagoreans to take time to contemplate the sacred figure of the dodecahedron, or regular dodecahedron.

In the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, Plutarch claimed that the ancient Egyptians in the holy of holies of their temples kept geometric designs and figures, the contemplation of which likened them to gods. The mathematician Theon of Smyrna argued that God as a state can be achieved through the contemplation of special numerical series. A significant part of the works of religious art and architecture was created under the influence of the old cults of the sacraments and was intended primarily for contemplation. If you look at the ancient symbols from this point of view, they acquire a new meaning and grandeur.

One modern lama also uses several symbolic objects in the implementation of his ritual actions. Among them are a dorier or image of a double lightning bolt, a ceremonial dagger, a chalice, a small double drum, a mandala, a prayer wheel and a tanka. To these images one should also add a whole pantheon of Tibetan deities. Each of them is depicted in a special position and performs certain actions. For the initiate, all these seemingly insignificant details are of particular esoteric importance.

Among the objects for concentration among the Chinese Taoists, the main place is occupied by the word Tao. The next in importance is the image of yin and yang, which marks the balance of negative and positive poles. Next comes the structure of trigrams drawn by continuous and broken lines. There are eight main trigrams and sixty-four secondary combinations. Confucius' comments on the hidden meaning of trigram combinations are considered important esoteric writings.

Calligraphy patterns also serve as symbols used for concentration by both Chinese and Japanese contemplators. Calligraphically written hieroglyphs, embodying the basic forms, lines and rhythms, are considered especially effective. Religious drawings, sculptures and frescoes adorn most of the Eastern temples. They are also used by initiates in religious activities. The works of priests who created symbolic images while in a state of meditation enjoy the greatest respect. In the East, it is believed that all the beautiful and worthy works of outstanding artists and sculptors have the ability to assist in inner comprehension.

Such is the esoteric teaching about symbols for concentration. The sanctity of these objects is also recognized by some mystical sects in the full sense of the word. However, for our purpose, we must delve into the true meaning of the word

Tao, that is, try to trace the correct Path of understanding the sacred symbols.

Each of them depicts and represents a function of the mind, a state of mind, or an action of the will. Thus, they are accessible to ordinary perception of physical similarities of invisible states, virtues and manifestations of Truth. Under the state is understood the degree or level of approximation to reality; under virtue - correspondence to reality; and beneath the truth is reality itself. Here, as before, only insight can distinguish between terms that are considered synonymous in common usage. In mysticism, all concepts have a very subtle meaning, and the closer to reality a certain idea, the more difficult it is to express its meaning.

When it is said that the master takes the dorier, the meaning of these words is that he gains in consciousness access to the sources of cosmic omnipotence, balancing the universal energies in the course of contemplation. When the master raises the dagger, he throws off the burden of the senses. Holding the cup, he opens himself to the flow of spiritual beings. Turning the prayer wheel, he sets in motion the mechanism of cause and effect, which revolve on the axis of the Self.

Current occurs in every tool. Not a single real, that is, physical, symbol means anything by itself. The tangible remains, as always, only a symbol or a key to the mysteries of the intangible. To the uninitiated, many such truths seem vague, if not meaningless. Thus secrets by their very nature protect themselves from being profaned by the unworthy. Anyone who does not see them has no access to them and therefore cannot misuse them.

Magic mandalas

The mandala is a cryptic drawing or diagram that is usually fairly symmetrical and resembles a geometric drawing rather than a work of art. Its size and palette, although subject to traditional requirements, can vary greatly. In general, the mandala resembles a lotus flower, individual parts or symbolic petals of which can be decorated with Chinese, Tibetan or Sanskrit signs and numbers. In exoteric language, the mandala is a kind of universal map, symbolically depicting the world, heaven, heavenly abodes and various parts of the human body.

Although the traditional type of mandalas are common throughout Asia, various sects have created mandalas that differ in some ways from the generally accepted version. Only an advanced student who is intimately familiar with all the intricacies of metaphysical teachings can identify all types of mandalas with certainty. In addition, only he can distinguish between genuine cult works and commercial copies that narrow-minded souvenir dealers successfully sell to visiting tourists.

The famous abbot Hook was defrocked when he published his books in which he described the practice of some secret magical rituals in the countries of Central Asia. Among the interesting observations of Hook was a report about a mandala that the researcher found in one of their temples. The painting depicted several figures and among them - the moon. According to Hook's testimony, in the figure, the phases of the image of the moon changed in accordance with the phases of the luminary in the sky.

There is a great deal of literature in the East explaining to those who are able to understand how such magical images are made. So, for example, there is a legend about a Buddhist monk who (being in a state of deep meditation) painted the gates of Sukhavati, the door to the eastern paradise of Amitabha. When the masterpiece was completed, he hung this silk painting on the wall of his cell. Subsequently, again immersed in meditation, he rose to his feet, approached in the picture, passed the gate, which he painted himself, and disappeared forever. Thus he reached nirvana.

How can this story be interpreted? If we do not go beyond the abilities of the mind alone, this story will seem strange and meaningless. If we still have the gift to see the true mystery of the legend, it will appear before us as an exquisite allegory. The meditating monk is the Self in human form, which is the limitation of the imperfect mind. The painting represents the embodiment of the middle way, or Tao. The picture depicts a gate or a door, because it is truly the Way. Having visualized in the course of contemplation the secret of the true Path and having joined it, the student is able to achieve perfection, which, like the Path, is Tao. Truth is revealed to him in the course of comprehension, and he himself becomes that which he has comprehended. Comprehension is the gate to the Real, a bridge built from a subtle substance that is realized within. Whoever builds this bridge can walk over it and identify with what he has built.

Young students in some Eastern schools practice concentrating on the mandalas daily. They are then asked what results they have achieved. Usually, first comes the experience that the structure is moving. If the mandala looks like a wheel, it seems to the student that it rotates - at first slowly, and then faster and faster, until all the colors merge and the wheel becomes one rotating light disk. To achieve this result, you need to focus on the mandala for many months, or even years.

At the next stage, the background of the picture, the wall on which it hangs, and the whole environment slowly dissolve, and the contemplator gets the impression that the rotating disk is hanging in space, supported only by the power of its concentration.

At the third stage of concentration, the student sees how the disk of the mandala is gradually approaching him, and he himself feels that he is pouring into the center of luminous energy. When this stage is reached, the student should turn to the mentor for further guidance. He is at a crossroads. One mistake in this place could bring to naught all his studies over the past few years.

The teacher asks what the student noticed in the spinning disk. The point of this question is to ascertain whether the disciple's concentration is essentially mystical or whether it is visual. If it is only visual, classes are stopped, because otherwise he will quickly slide into idolatry. From a metaphysical point of view, idolatry means accepting symbols as Reality and worshiping these symbols. If the student's experience is quite ordinary, and he sees a spinning disk in the way that a person can see an external object, he has failed.

The point is that concentration must have led him to experience the spinning wheel. He had to acquire its significance, not its appearance. It was to be a living wheel, the spinning of the Law itself. The teacher asks the student to explain the true meaning of the spinning wheel. If the student answers that he knows, but cannot explain, and if the mentor sees the light of spiritual forces in the eyes of the student and sees in his every gesture the awakened power of comprehension, he remains satisfied. With the help of certain occult means, the teacher can accurately assess how deep the student's understanding is. If it turns out to be fundamental enough, the student receives special instructions and continues with the lessons. He is given lightning and told to break the wheel. He must destroy the structure of his own concentration, and this should be done without leaving it. More cannot be explained in words.

Thus the disciple has the key: concentration is the visualization of the Law in transcendental and magical forms. The law is found in the forms. However, these forms must be destroyed, for the Law itself has no form. It can be acquired through the form, but not in the form itself. All forms, tangible and intangible, reflect the Law. Woe to him who seeks to catch the Law in the net of the mind!.. Such is the introduction to the magic of mandalas.

Alms bowl

The main symbol of discipleship is the bowl for collecting alms.

This cylindrical vessel made of bronze or clay is a symbol of begging, an emblem of non-attachment. However, the cup has nothing to do with moral inferiority. Like the sacred objects of the arhats, one should see a state of consciousness in the alms bowl. One of the main architectural motifs of the Shwe Dragon Pagoda, perhaps the most impressive of Buddhist temples, is the inverted alms bowl. The inverted bowl in this case is not just the tomb of the liberated adept, but also a reminder of one of the greatest mysteries.

The search for Truth is the process of searching for the whole by the part. This process involves an attitude of acceptance. Although the concept of seeking is the best we know, we are not really looking for Truth. We do not find, but we receive, we receive. Everything that exists and lives gives us something. Reality flows all the time in everything that is. The cup is a universal symbol of the ability to receive. Therefore, a true Buddhist can receive in it only what he needs for one day - and nothing but food. Rice for Asians replaces bread. The Christian prayer says: Give us our daily bread for this day. The Buddhist mystic does not even ask. He simply carries a bowl with him, and all who feel within themselves the prompting of the good Fa will share rice with him.

When other food is offered, the beggar may also accept it. It is said about Buddha Gautama that on the last day of his life on earth, a poor peasant brought and, out of the kindness of his soul, put some of his food into the Buddha's bowl. The peasant was so poor that his food was unfit to eat. However, the Enlightened One accepted it and, turning to the disciples, announced to them that the hour of his departure was approaching. Then, knowing that the food was stale, but the best that the peasant had, he humbly ate it and soon died.

The story is obviously allegorical, and its meaning is extremely simple. To receive the Fa means to be fed. The Fa is given to us through everything that surrounds us, and at any time and under any circumstances, we can comprehend the Fa and achieve liberation. Everyday experiences, problems of life, karma and dharma - everything must be unconditionally accepted into the open bowl of consciousness. Nothing but food can be taken into the cup, but who decides whether what is received is food or not? In the end, experiences reach perfection in the Fa. The one who has attained liberation overturns the cup. When the Law is comprehended, the time to receive comes to an end. But before that, a monk in a yellow robe walked under the roads of the world, carrying an alms bowl with him.

The Practice of Concentration

Read this section several times, delving deeply into its content and trying to avoid possible ambiguity. The fact is that the author cannot know in advance the places that will be misunderstood, although any misunderstanding casts doubt on the success of the whole practice.

Concentration should be practiced at certain times of the day, paying special attention to regularity and duration. Achievement cannot be achieved by any tricks, and therefore the duration of classes does not play a role. The student should concentrate once a day for no more than five or ten minutes. Truth is timeless. Therefore, it is advisable to practice concentration for five minutes a day, especially since the number five has mystical associations with the control of the five senses. To perform the exercise, you can choose both morning and evening time. The middle of the day or night is less preferred, especially for beginners. Day and night are the embodiments of yang and yin, respectively; the transitional time between them is the most suitable.

When the time and place are chosen, it is important to reach the appropriate state. The ability to concentrate attention should be developed through simple, direct and non-violent methods. Under no circumstances should the mind sink into the void. The student should also not wait in the hope that thoughts will flow in the right direction. The law does not immediately fill out the forms. First, the artist must paint a picture of the Law.

Choose the right symbol. This symbol will become your mandala and it will take a long time to work with it. Do not be disheartened if it will take you many months to clarify its meaning. Do not change symbols too often, and never change from one to another until the Law is revealed in it.

(((Picture, p. 93. It says:)))

[Chinese engraving depicting the Buddha preaching the doctrine of enlightenment. ]

Any symbol can be the object of focus, ideal or structure, as long as it can be defined. In other words, this symbol must be accessible, if not to the senses, then at least to the mind. Such abstract virtues as kindness, compassion, and altruism cannot be good symbols for focus. That is why in Eastern schools all the virtues are depicted in the drawings. The embodiment of Buddhism is the Buddha, personifying all the abstract virtues of this teaching. In Christianity, the perfection of virtues is depicted in the form of life, self-sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ.

The Teacher is not the Law, but bears witness to the Law. In concentration, the disciple cannot direct his attention to the Fa; he concentrates it on some structure or image that embodies the Law. At the same time, you should never take the image for what it represents!

Often, preference should be given to images that symbolically depict one of the spheres of life. It is known that a person often finds the Truth in what he is most predisposed to. For a scientist, his books are sacred. A mathematician by vocation finds God in numbers, while an astronomer sees Truth in the stars.

Therefore, as the first structure for concentration, choose some form or object that you know that it inspires you and brings you closer to comprehension to some extent. Thus, through the gates of the known, you enter naturally and directly into the presence of the Knower.

There are no restrictions on the choice of subject. If you find him worthy, he is the embodiment of dignity for you, you can consider him suitable.

As an example, let's assume that we are nature lovers. We draw inspiration and strength from the presence of living plants. In growth we find the Law. So let's consider one plant as a symbol of growth, remembering that in doing so we do not limit growth, but only concretize it in order to make it tangible for human perception. In this way we will avoid uncertainty, quirks of the imagination and abstract constructions that lead only to fruitless reflections and narrow-minded conclusions.

Among plants, the tree is one of the most noble and at the same time perfect forms of the vegetable kingdom. In addition, the tree is an eloquent symbol, since it has been used since time immemorial to represent various forms of human knowledge. In ancient engravings and manuscripts, we find law trees, healing trees, and trees as religious symbols. Entire nations are often depicted as trees and their branches. Several ancient philosophies use the tree as a symbol for the entire universe. Reflections on such a topic can serve as a good prologue for concentration. They make it possible to realize the greatness of the symbol and its universality.

Before proceeding to the next chapter, which continues the study of concentration, it is necessary to dwell on some one symbolic object.

Fifth Realization

The main subject of this chapter is insight, which can be summarized as: pass through the form. Learn to see ideas as essentially formless, yet perceived inwardly as manifestations of the Law.

As you read books, listen to sermons, and contemplate the creations of ancient wisdom, pass through their form. Consider the words of Maimonides: In the body of the Law is the soul of the Law, in the soul of the Law is the spirit of the Law. Seek the spirit of learning. Don't settle for less.

In everything that happens to you as an incident or circumstance, recognize the symbols of the formless. Realize that all visible and tangible physical objects, all possible forms of knowledge, are in reality a multicolored fringe on the mantle of Infinity.

Remember the words inscribed in sai??? temple in Egypt: I, Isis, am all that was, is and will be; no mortal has exposed me. Realize that the whole world is one appearance, and realize that everyone who enters the holy of holies of the temple must overcome the appearance in all its manifestations. Cut the appearance with the sword of illumination and find the Law.

Ernest Wood

CONCENTRATION

SUCCESS IN LIFE

Do you wish to be successful in life? Are you willing to take action to ensure that success is yours? Do you want to make a choice and say to yourself: I want to be rich; I want to be famous; I want to be virtuous. Let your imagination roam unhindered around your chosen thought and watch as this aerial hope gradually turns into a real possibility. Give free play to your imagination, because more beautiful than any picture painted by the imagination will be the future to which a person with a strong will is entitled. Having drawn in your imagination what you have chosen, say to yourself: I want. And there is nothing on earth, or in heaven, or in the waters or under the earth, that could hinder you for a long time, for you are immortal and all the future is obedient to you.

Perhaps you will say that death will block your path? It will not happen. Will you say that poverty or illness or friends can become a hindrance to you? It will not happen. It is only necessary to make a choice and then never want anything again. You must not wish, but say "I want", and really want, constantly, in thoughts and actions, and not just in words. And from now on, never for a minute should you change your goal, directing everything that you will come into contact with from now on on the way to it. And then, if only the chosen goal is not harmful, it will be achieved by you in the near future.

Are you talking about the insignificance of a person lost in the bends of a huge mother earth, which itself, in turn, is just a speck of dust in the midst of infinite space? This is not true. You talk about weakness and fatigue, about madness, about the pleasures and accidents of life - how they limit and oppress the little person. This is not true. The body is just clothes, and the senses are just holes in the body cover, and when the body is calm, and the feelings are obedient and the mind contemplates your immortal possibilities, then a window opens inside you and through it you see and know that you can become only what you yourself are. want to be, and nothing else.

Like a tiny seed buried in the earth, which bursts forth a tender sprout that breaks through the earth to enter the expanse of the outer air, just as it becomes a mighty oak that sows the earth with its offspring, or like a large banyan tree that comes from a small seed and spreading its branches over the boundless space to give welfare and shelter to thousands of beings, so you too will throw out from yourself from now on the first tender but definite sprout of will and choose what exactly you want to be.

What will you choose? Do you want power? In that case, let others have more freedom and more power, because you want it for yourself. Do you want knowledge? Then let others become wiser, because you have chosen wisdom. Do you want love? Then let others enjoy love, since you yourself can give so much. Thus, your will will be in harmony with the Great Will and with the Great Law, and your life will be one with the Great Life, without which lasting success is impossible. What will be your funds? Everything that gets in your way, both small and great; for there is nothing that cannot be applied to your end. But again, may all the people and all the things that will serve you benefit from this service. In this way, your luck will become theirs, and the Great Law will be upheld.

But whatever you choose, one thing is needed everywhere and always - this is the concentration of intention, thought, feeling and action, so that, like a powerful magnet, this concentration can polarize everything that will meet on your path. In all the tasks of life, this is necessary for good luck. All people who have succeeded in business, in social or political life, in art, in science and philosophy, in power and virtue, - all of them were distinguished by a steady constancy of purpose and power over their thought, although many of them neglected the Great Law. Has it not always been so before, is it not the same thing that is repeated now, and will it not be the same in the future, that insofar as the progress of a person depends on himself, it is achieved only by systematic and steady activity, control over desires and concentration of thought, without which progress is unattainable? Re-read the biographies and philosophies of important people of all types, and you will find the same fact in all of them. The Epicurean of ancient times focused his thought on the present and tried to live in harmony with natural laws. He did not allow his mind to dwell on the past with regret or fear for the future. The Stoic focused his attention on objects within his sphere of influence, refusing to distract himself with anything that went beyond the limits of his power and purpose and waste his thoughts and feelings in vain. The Platonist sought to focus his mind on reverent exploration of the mysteries of life. Patanjali, the great teacher of Hindu Yoga, certifies that man can reach his true state only through the successful exercise of complete mastery over his mind. A devout ascetic, filling his life and everything around him with rites and symbols, and constantly repeating in his mind the names of God, strives to evoke ever stronger pious feelings in his soul. A person who succeeds in the sciences is so focused on his goal that he draws knowledge from the most insignificant objects that come across his path. Such is the power of thought that with its help all things can be directed to the intended goal, and such is the power of man that he can subordinate the very power of thought to his will.

Don't we know that indecision, excitement, restlessness and vanity give rise to physical suffering, weakness, indigestion and insomnia? Even under these minor circumstances, regular exercise in mind control in its simplest form works like magical healing. This is the best way to get rid of envy, jealousy, annoyance, discontent, delusion, self-deception, pride, anger and fear. Without control of the mind, it is impossible to undertake character building; with it, success is guaranteed. Successful study of anything depends on mental concentration, and constant exercise in such concentration greatly increases the reproductive capacity of memory.

Mrs. A. Besant describes the great efforts and successes achieved in the concentration of thought in these words:

"The practitioner should begin with great restraint in everything and strive to maintain an even and bright mood of mind; his life should be pure and his thoughts chaste, his body should be in complete submission to the soul, and his mind should be concentrated on noble and sublime subjects; he should manifest compassion, sympathy, willingness to help others and at the same time be indifferent to personal troubles and difficulties, he must develop courage, steadfastness and reverence. time along a certain line of thought, he must then begin to train it more rigorously by daily exercise in concentrating on some difficult or abstract topic or lofty object of reverent reverence. , neither feelings nor the mind itself. The mind must be brought to unshakable stability and calmness until it gradually learns to withdraw its attention from the external world and from its body so that the senses are silent, and then the mind will be ready to direct with all the force of its energy concentrated inside to a certain center of thought. , the highest it can rise to. When the mind can hold itself relatively loose in this way, then it is ready for the next step; by a strong and at the same time calm effort of the will, he can rise above the highest thought accessible to the physical mind, and in this effort he can merge with the Higher Consciousness, freeing himself at the same time from the physical body.

You can read more about this higher life beyond the brain in the valuable theosophical books of Mrs. Besant. Thus, this life opens before man endless prospects of knowledge and power, completely unimaginable for the limited ideas of the brain. If you achieve spiritual life through reverent love, you will again meet the same need to focus on one goal. In one ancient scripture it is said that a pious person should see God in everything and everything in God. Whatever you do, whether you eat, whether you offer sacrifice, whether you give or strive for anything, do everything as an offering to Him. Only one who has attained concentration can do this. And then what else can he need, since he always contemplates the face of his Father? And for those who knock at the gates of the Holy Path, we find in the recently published book "At the Feet of the Master" an indication that the seeker must achieve concentration and control of the mind.

There are other ways in which power over the mind is gained. Spiritual literature is full of examples of the remarkable expansion of vision achieved through ecstasy. Hindu yogis and fakirs will enumerate eight kinds of abilities and powers attainable through concentration, including the ability to see the absent, the past and future, the psychic telescope and microscope, the ability to wander invisibly in the astral body, and others. exercises leading to them, but no less interesting and effective is the application of such concentration to the work of our normal senses, to the expansion of our power and knowledge in the ordinary world of everyday life.

What does this concentration mean, and how should we train to achieve control over the mind? This does not mean narrowing, restricting, or locking in our thoughts and actions; it does not mean retreat into the forest or caves; does not mean the loss of human sympathies and interests; nor does it mean that the source of life has dried up in our veins, like a river during a summer drought in the desert. This concentration means that our whole life has been inspired by a single goal; it signifies an intensification of thought, an intensification of activity, an expansion of sympathy, because a concentrated man stands guard, not missing a single opportunity to serve a great goal.

MIND AND MOOD

The exercises in mental concentration consist in the control of the mind and in the dominance of the mood that is imposed on it by the will, so that all your thinking will be directed towards the goal that you yourself have chosen.

What is this mind that you have to manage? What part of the mind is in your control? These questions must be considered before you take up certain exercises, because a bad worker is one who does not know his instrument.

You have a tool in the outside world. It is driven by your will. It is your body that carries you everywhere as you wish. This is your vehicle, carrying the sense organs that inform you of everything that is available for their perception. I sit in my room and look around; there is a table and chairs in front of me, on the walls there are large shelves for books, clocks, paintings, calendars and many other items, there are a chest of drawers and lockers against the walls. I look out the window and see the tops of palm trees and mango trees, white March clouds over Madras, and behind them the blue of ether. I then turn to my hearing - a crow is croaking to the left, a clock is ticking on the wall, someone is walking in the distance, dragging their feet, a rumble of distant voices is heard somewhere, a squirrel is chirping somewhere nearby, a monotonous reading of pandits is heard below, in another place it is knocking a typewriter, and behind all this, at a distance of half a mile, you can hear the constant sea surf of the bay near the quays of Adyar. I listen even more attentively and hear the blood roaring in my ears, I hear the distant lingering sound of some physiological process unknown to me. I pay attention to my skin and feel the light pressure of my fingers on the pen, the clothes on my back, the chair on which I sit, the floor on which my feet rest, the warm, soft summer breeze touching my hands and face. Thus, these feelings, contained in my vehicle-body, which is the instrument of my will and the center of my consciousness in the external world, bring me into contact with a part of that vast world in which they live. But how small is this part! I moved around in this body for several years and saw, and heard, and felt many things in many places, but how little of this experience of mine exists in my today's consciousness, how immeasurably little of it at all in comparison with the big world that I have not seen and Don't know.

What follows from this? A lot, because the inner world, the world of the mind, the mental world is of the same quality. And it also contains an infinite number of true ideas, some of which I have already known with the help of my mental guide, some others that I have known in the past, but most of which remain a vast unknown to me. In this world, I also have my own instrument, which, according to my will, is transferred through the world of thought and follows the indicated course of mental life, just as my body lives and moves in the external world. What is my guide in the mental world? This is my mind, the center of my consciousness for mental subjects. Let us imagine that this little mental body in which I can dwell is like a fish swimming among the great ocean of thoughts and informing me of what it sees there within its limited capacity. It cannot see beyond a certain limit, it cannot jump over infinity, it must pass through gaps in order to pass from one place to another, from one thought to another. It is this fish of attention that you have to manage so that, firstly, it always swims in the direction you have chosen; and, secondly, she expanded and improved her field of vision, her ability to convey to you with completeness and distinctness those events that she encounters in her wanderings through the world of thought.

An idea is not a fleeting thing. Each time I look at an object again, a new image is imprinted on the retina of my eye, but the object remains alone. Every time I think an idea again, a new image is produced in my mind, but the idea is the same. When the mind is steady, we can see ideas more clearly and can even gain intuitive knowledge from them. The most perfect creations of thought are but snapshots of living ideas, just as the most perfect statue is only the best reproduction of the forms most clearly seen.

While I'm writing, I don't think about my leg; but if the cat begins to scratch my calf with its claws, my attention will immediately be attracted to it. The leg part of my body was there all the time, but there was no attention. The same is true of the mind; I can be busy writing an article on psychology, not thinking at all that at four o'clock I agreed to be with Mr. Smith to discuss the state budget together over a cup of tea; when suddenly the word 'discernment' which I have just written reminds me of what a subtle connoisseur of tea Mr. Smith is, and this immediately brings me to the thought of our condition lying unnoticed in one of the crooks of my mind.

There is as much reason to suppose that the realities of the mind are blotted out of being just because we don't think about them as to imagine that external objects disappear from the field of being just because we don't see them. When I look at a house, it is the same house that anyone else can look at. We can look at him at the same time, or he can see him in my absence. This house exists for another even when I do not notice it, but we are both aware that we see the same house, although we see it differently and each in our own way. In the same way, when we think an idea, we are actually thinking the same idea; but for most of us, we still need to understand that our mental experience reflects the same reality, we need to realize that we all live in a single world of thought in which all true ideas exist, whether we are conscious of them or not.

Even a superficial study of the mind reveals to us the fact that when we think distinctly of one subject, we are at the same time vaguely aware of many others that are more or less near or distant to that subject. Just as I turn my eyes to the bottle of ink in front of me, I see at the same time the other objects on my table, both the furniture on the right and left, and the trees in the garden - many objects; in the same way, when I fix my attention on any one thought, I find around it a mass of vague thoughts, gradually clouded over, becoming more nebulous as they go further away, and finally lost in an indefinite space. As attention shifts from one object to another, its field becomes infinite, and the horizons of this field are constantly receding as our attention approaches them.

Let's take for example what I think about a cat. A cat will immediately appear to me, and many other secondary pictures are grouped around this thought: like a saucer of milk, which the cat loves so much, or a rug in front of the fireplace on which it lies. The wandering mind will stop, let's say, on the rug in front of the fireplace; then I will see the rug more clearly, and the image of the cat will begin to fade, giving way to other new images, such as "fire" or "factory". The mind moves again, it stops at the factory, and I start to see a lot of people working at the looms; at this time, the cat has almost disappeared, and the mind moves on to new objects.

This chain of thoughts represents an unbreakable sequence in the inner life. Each thought follows the next, like links in a chain. And just as in time one object follows another - and only two moments are directly connected with their content - in the same way, in the stream of mental activity, images follow one another, but only two images are directly connected with each other. In the course of our mental life, thoughts do not enter the mind in masses or in disorder, but in regular sequence, and the flow of mental activity is best represented by rows of circles, one on top of the other in successive order. It is advisable to examine the train of thought in the mind and note the nature of the linkage between two successive thoughts (I speak of this in my little book on memory).

This stream of mental activity is nothing but the trace of the "fish of attention" as it passes first in one direction, then in the other. It is constantly floating, and its direction depends on the mood of the moment. In order to concentrate the mind on one goal, we need to establish the mood of concentration so that in the series of thoughts or ideas it always guides the choice of a link in the mental chain and, thus, the train of thoughts will not evade control or concentration. The following diagram will show how insignificant the first branching of the paths of thought, but how far the paths themselves subsequently diverge:

Cat Kr Fireplace rug Ir Fire Ir Matches r

D Milk Cr Cow Cr Meadow r

In this inner world, attention is constantly drawn in various directions at once. The fish is surrounded by various attractive baits. Which one will she grab at now? In which direction will she be attracted? Would she prefer "fireplace rug" or "milk"? Each thought causes many other thoughts or is associated with them. When I look at a banyan tree in front of my veranda, I see and hear flocks of crows and squirrels, and because of this, every thought of a banyan tree will bring into my field of thought the image of this particular banyan tree with its spreading branches and hanging roots, with pots of ferns standing under it, with cheeky, crows and talkative, squeaky, striped, brown squirrels.

But thoughts of other trees will immediately penetrate the field of attention, although other species will appear further from the center: a tall straight palm, a wrinkled oak, a slender poplar, a sad clipped willow of central England, a frosted pine of the snowy north. Or, looking at the spreading branches and numerous trunks of a banyan tree that support the weight of its huge thousand-year-old branches, my mind turns to those stories that it could tell: about the floods of a river flowing nearby, about building houses and laying roads, and even further. in the past - about a dense forest thicket, refreshed by the breeze, with jackals and tigers, with a myriad of ants, scorpions and snakes that found shelter in its hollows and moved along its branches centuries ago. If my mood changes again, I can turn my attention to the vast volume of the banyan tree - a mountain of timber - and think how an entire army could hide under it, how a dozen houses could be built from it, or a thousand huge fires could be lit. Thus, the banyan evokes thoughts about crows and squirrels, about houses and roads, about other tree species, their roots, branches, leaves and trunks, about their size and usefulness, beauty and strength, etc., and each of these thoughts generates in turn a new circle of ideas.

Which direction will the attention go? What kind of bait will the fish take? There is an endless competition between sense objects to get our attention, and the same endless competition to get our attention exists in the world of thought. In a successive train of thought, something must decide that it is this thought that will follow the other in each given case, and not the third one, which is just as closely connected with it.

For greater clarity, I will put the question differently. Imagine that I am sitting at my desk in the middle of my library, when suddenly all four doors of the library open at once and, with the precision of an old country clock cuckoo, my friends Smith, Brown, Jones and Robinson come in and say in one voice: “Listen, Wood, I need to consult with you about one matter!" Which one of them will be the first to capture my astonished attention? Of course, it must depend on something. It will depend on the mood of the mind or on the direction in which the fish swam in the moment of amazement. Another decisive reason could be a greater respect or more frequent thought of one of the friends, or some peculiarity in his clothes and movements, which we do not assume in this case. Of course, if Brown had been dressed as a Turk, he would have attracted my attention first, but assuming that there was no outstanding difference between them, nothing but the mood of the mind at that moment could decide which of the friends my attention would choose.

Imagine again that I am busy printing a book and that someone at this time comes to the door with an exclamation of "correctors!" I immediately see sheets of printed paper and the tedious work of proofreading. But if I am busy studying a scientific problem, the same word will immediately awaken in me a completely different set of thoughts. This example clearly shows that the difference that determines the choice is in the mind and not in the outside world. If Mr. Lincoln's Inn, a famous lawyer, is in the city, and anyone near him says the word "bag," he will immediately think of letters, extracts, and all the trappings of his profession; but if it be during his holidays, when he is engaged in his favorite sport in the swamps, the same word will evoke before him the pleasant sight of helpless birds tied by the leg, and also memories of the dexterity and valor with which he won victories on the field of sports. . At different times, different moods, goals, habits and interests dominate our mind, and in the mood lies the reason that this particular thought will be chosen from all those thoughts that surround each object. Just as a strong magnet polarizes iron not only near but also at a considerable distance, so mood, temporary or permanent, polarizes every thought as soon as it enters the sphere of attention.

Most of us are familiar with the experiment performed by schoolchildren on an assay tube loosely filled with iron filings. They clog it, put it on the table and slowly pass a magnet over it and watch how the sawdust rises and lays down evenly, turning into small magnets that act all at the same time. At first they lie in disorder, and if they were magnets, the influence of one would be neutralized by that of its neighbours; but when they all lie evenly, they act like a strong magnet on any iron that is near them. In the same way, if our thoughts are heaped up in disorder and turned in all directions, their action will destroy each other. But if you make an effort to establish a prevailing mood, then all your thoughts will be polarized by it; thus we see that the train of thought follows the mood; realizing this, we can be convinced that success in the pursuit of the goal can be fully ensured if an unchanging mood is established, directed towards the intended goal. When this is achieved, the most significant and even hostile events will fall into the sphere of attraction and help us achieve our intended goal. This fact was well expressed by the great Greek philosopher, who said that he came into the world only to do one thing - self-improvement - and that there is nothing in the world that could prevent him, for there is nothing that he could not use for your purpose.

FIRST EXERCISES

RETURN OF THOUGHT

The first thing to do is to dwell on the mood that you have chosen and then exclude everything that can disturb the mind in any way. To do this, you must try to free yourself from the slightest trace of anger, irritation, anxiety, indecision and fear.

If such states can penetrate the mind, there can be neither true exercise of the will nor constancy of mood. Mind control exercises can only be successful when the mood is stable; if you are still so young that you can fall under the influence of anger, anxiety or fear, depending on the so-called accidents of life, you cannot, until you gain self-control, rise above the changing mood and wandering mind. Only that which is pure, good, benevolent and calm can be stable; anger, fear, and everything akin to them, by their very nature, are changeable and impermanent. Therefore, the mood that you choose should correspond to the best and most unselfish of your ideals, unselfish not only in relation to yourself, but also to others.

You can no longer look at life as a struggle with others or for a few others, and you can no longer desire to control others; your goal should be the gradual acquisition of power over yourself and the development of your own forces; and the only possible relation for you to others, always and to everyone without exception, should be a benevolent intention to share with them the freedom and power that you acquire for yourself.

Remember the first question. Will you dare to overcome the mental and spiritual resistance that will meet your determination to accept the facts of life as they are, and not want nature or the Great Law to put other possibilities in your path? At least every time such a desire appears, one should say to oneself: "Stop! I don't want this!"

Think about what a change in your consciousness could mean? What would it mean to you every time you get up in the morning, when you eat, when you go to bed? What would it mean for you when you meet your comrades, your friends, your so-called enemies? What would it mean to you if you lost your job, your money, if you got sick and your family had to suffer? Sit quietly and mentally go through all the troubles that could happen to you during the next week and analyze what each of these cases could mean for you.

The change in your consciousness that has taken place would mean that you would not want to change anything and that you would ask each of the proposed cases the question: what is your goal, what use can I get from you? This change would mean that you would not sink helplessly and say "I'm sorry" or "I wish" but stand up cheerfully and say "I want" or "I don't want to". In this mood you are guided not by hope but by certainty, not by expectation but by knowledge, not by fear of the unknown but by trust in the Great Law within and without you.

Every morning, before you start your day, take five minutes to reflect on this cheerful outlook on life. Every night, before going to bed, take five minutes to review how you have fulfilled your decision during the day. Don't look back to dwell on where you went wrong; look primarily at what you have been successful at. And every day will tell you about your achievements. Desire nothing; do not regret anything; don't rely on anything. But when you fall asleep, fall asleep with the thought: I want. And when you are awake, say quietly within yourself: I want.

Your further task will be to keep an eye on all petty needs for some time, to save all your strength, not to waste it on empty thoughts, empty emotions or empty deeds.

During the day, do not do one thing while thinking about another. Thought and action must be brought into unity; no thought should be admitted that has nothing to do with the action being done or intended: and no action should be done without a prior intention. Through the observance of this rule throughout the day, the mind and body will learn to work together without wasting physical and mental energy. And thus you will suppress every idle action and every idle thought.

As for idle actions, avoid all the petty unnecessary and empty conventions that people indulge in semi-consciously, such as: shaking the knee or throwing the leg over the knee, or saying useless phrases like: "you see, I need to tell you" or twisting the mustache, scratching , biting nails, tugging on buttons or watch chains, aimless conversations, etc. Every action or word should have a purpose. More significant useless activities should also be banished, such as staying up late in the morning, wasting time at night, eating unnecessary food, seeking to acquire things that are really unnecessary. Similarly, unnecessary bodily excitement and nervous and muscular tension should be avoided as much as possible. These useless habits are difficult to change all at once, and it is better to follow them up for one hour a day, gradually lengthening the time, than to try to change every useless habit at once and fail to carry out the decision made.

As for idle thoughts, avoid lying in bed mulling things over before going to bed; or lie half asleep when awake; or dwelling on the same thought or reasoning over and over again. If you need to think about something, move forward and sort out everything that pertains to this issue and come to some conclusion, then remove this issue completely from your mind and do not analyze it again until you find new facts related to it. . If the pros and cons of a certain course of action are the same, and it can't make much difference which way your decision turns, roll the die and end your hesitation, don't let your mind ponder the same question over and over again. If a difficulty presents itself, do not shelve it, act now and drive away further reflection, or postpone it for a certain period; never allow anxiety, fear or despair to wander in your mind, poisoning and weakening it. Avoid thinking too much about what you will do - act. Do not think about what others say about you, except for the purpose of extracting that grain of truth that is always found in other people's words. Never make the imperfections of others the subject of your reflection. If you have a still mind, do not eat after dark and do not sleep after sunrise, but do moderate exercise and breathe fresh air.

There is still the elimination of idle emotions. Seeking petty pleasures that give no rest, and indulging in emotions that are not in line with your activities and thoughts, weakens the will. Your main goal should also be your main pleasure; if this is not so, then either the goal or the pleasure is not healthy. All this concerns the concentration desired during daily life. We will now move on to daily mind control exercises.

Exercise 1. Choose the right time, sit quietly and turn your mind to some pleasant thought. Put a watch with a second hand in front of you, note the exact time and, closing your eyes, think about the chosen subject, trying not to lose sight of it. After a while, you will notice that you have forgotten about it and are thinking about something else. Then mark in your notebook: 1) What did you focus on, 2) the length of time, and 3) what did you catch your thought on. This exercise can be repeated several times, but if your head hurts, you should immediately stop it. For the initial exercises, a simple and relatively uninteresting object should be chosen, such as a coin or a watch, or a pen, and the exercise should be repeated for a short time, but daily for, say, a week, with detailed notes entered in a notebook.

You will find that your concentration on a given subject usually ceases for one of the following reasons: impatience, anxiety about something, boredom, physical restlessness, headache, holding your breath, various interferences. This is often conveyed by the expression that "the mind is restless." Let us note for the moment only that attention is easily interfered with and, for some reason, internal or external, is impelled to avoid the chosen subject.

How to overcome this evasion? Create a habit of thought return. How to do it? If you follow the instructions given here, you will be successful.

They usually do this (exercise 1a): having taken the usual position, direct attention to a certain object and then return it back to the starting point whenever it is distracted by something. The practitioner is occupied mainly with the effort to keep the thought in his mind, and partly with the effort not to let it slip away and turn to other objects: and he constantly needs to return his wandering attention. Do the following exercise instead. Choose the subject on which you want to focus your attention, and then think about whatever you want, but do not lose sight of the chosen subject.

The purpose of this exercise will be clear if you study the connecting links. I wrote about these links and sorted them into classes in my little book on memory. For the present purpose it suffices to note the process of thought as it takes place in the brain. I see a tree from my window and think about it. The center of the thinking field is a tree, but it has many other thoughts around it. This can be indicated by arrows in the following diagram.

8. Other 1. Garden, field, etc. 2. Banyan, pine, etc.

7. Seed, color, fruit, etc. h WOOD and 3. Age, size, value, etc.

6. Crows, squirrels, insects, etc. 5. Leaves, branches,

bark, etc. 4. Bush, hedge, plant, etc.

If I were a farmer, then my thought could go along line 7 to thinking about seeds and fruits. The fruit would then become the center of a similar circle, and the thoughts belonging to branches 1-6 would remain almost or even completely unnoticed. Thought could then go to the market. This third thought is not directly related to the tree, and it is now forgotten, and the mind continues its wandering, say, in the direction of the market, street, hotel, mail horse, cow, milk, dairy, etc.

If I were a merchant, my thought could go along line 3 (1,2,4-7 would be left out) to the thought of logging for various crafts, which is in direct connection with the thought of a tree, and then it moved to current prices (which no longer has a direct connection with it), to the present state of my finances, etc.

The naturalist might take line 6, the hunter and seeker of pleasure along line 1, the philosopher along line 3 or 7, and they would all lose sight of the tree at the third step of their thought. The directions of thought given under the numbers are given only for illustration, and not for classification, because the radiation of thought is much more diverse.

But if we take a gardener, his thought would not run away along the radius from the center, but would constantly strive back, revolving around the circle and inside it, because the gardener is concentrated on the subject to a certain extent already by the habit of the mind. He used to think of a tree in terms of its size, structure, appearance, and what surrounds it in the garden.

When you follow exercise 1a, the course of your thought will differ from ordinary wandering in that instead of following one of the directions and moving on to other thoughts not directly related to this subject, the mind runs a short distance along each line, and again comes back. But one should try to run away in thought as far as possible, without losing sight of the chosen subject and thinking about everything that may have a direct relationship or connection with it along lines 1-7 or others.

If this exercise is done completely and at the right time, it produces a habit of returning the thought to replace the habit of wandering, and thus the mind tends to return to the central thought, and the attention can be held for a long time on the same subject. At the same time, such an exercise enlivens the mind, causing it, when thinking about a question, to quickly grasp all the important points connected with this question.

A comparison that may help us is a journey by rail across a rich plain with a mountain in the distance. Sitting in a train, we can notice various objects rushing past us at close range: hedges, bushes, trees, houses along the road, behind them - a village, a field, a river, a forest, a lake and all the constantly changing terrain that lies between them and the mountain. ; at the same time, we do not cease to be aware of the presence of a mountain, standing like an axis around which all these objects seem to revolve. This preliminary exercise of concentration should be like a journey in which we look at the flickering views, but the central object of concentration continues to rise above everything.

Do these exercises for half an hour a day for about two weeks before proceeding further. Carefully write down the object that you thought about, the time you noticed that you lost sight of it, and the thoughts that you found at the place of the lost object of concentration.

It does not matter much what subject is chosen for concentration, although at first it is better to avoid anything extensive or complex, or associated with unpleasant memories. It is quite possible to take a picture or a symbol. The object can be replaced by another in a few days.

Before you begin, choose a quiet place and, as far as possible, a convenient time; then decide how long you intend to devote your attention to a particular goal and say to yourself: I will now do something for half an hour and during this time I will not care about anything else in the world. It is important that you have a very clear mental picture of what you are going to do and visualize yourself doing it before you begin the exercise.

EXERCISES TO OVERCOME PHYSICAL AND SENSUAL INTERFERENCES

Maybe you have never had to sit still for a few minutes before. Try it now. But not in the same way as during rest - this would contribute to laziness and drowsiness, but try several times to sit quite still for five or ten minutes, not propping up your back with your eyes closed, without feeling restless or drowsy. Remember that body postures are related to feeling states, as lying down is related to sleep, kneeling is related to prayer, and so on. For concentration, try to choose a position of the body that would be free from disturbing impressions. It is considered beneficial to sit up straight, with eyes closed, with hands resting calmly, keeping the neck and head straight, but without tension. You will probably find that your body is not as obedient as you would like it to be. It is often restless and impatient and capable of becoming anxious due to insignificant sensations, and this even when you have eliminated all causes for anxiety.

Don't allow it. The body should be your servant. Do you want to be the owner of it? In that case, stand up and say: I want. Do not wish, but say: I want. And from now on and tomorrow, and every day for one month, get up in the morning half an hour earlier and devote this time to the following exercises:

1. Stand still - five minutes.

2. At ease - three minutes.

3. Exercises with stretching and inclination - five minutes.

4. Exercises with nerves - seven minutes.

5. Breathing exercises - three minutes.

6. Suppression of feelings - seven minutes.

(The author gives other, too long periods that can harmfully tire the body. Exercisers should monitor their well-being and not tire themselves, you need to be especially careful with breathing exercises. Editor's note.)

Do this consistently at the same time every day for a month. If you miss one day, start again the next day and do all the exercises for a whole month without missing a single day. This will give you an opportunity to do what the body does not like to do, but what is good for it and valuable for the education of the will. Train your body the way an amateur trains a prize dog: don't starve him or hit him, but don't encourage him to be lazy and overzealous. If you find that under this regimen old rubbish floats to the surface and the body becomes weak and sick - the result of past indulgence and not present tension - stop the exercises for a week. Then start again all over again and so continue stubbornly until the body becomes vigorous, clean, strong and flexible instrument for the fulfillment of your will. Repeat the exercises without ceasing until the bad traces disappear completely. You can if you want.

Enter a room where you will not be disturbed, and stand up straight, carefully, preferably in front of a mirror, putting your watch in full view. Stand perfectly still for five minutes (the time may increase if the body is very strong. Approx. Editorial). The eyes may blink, but they should not be ignored. The body should remain completely still, the fingers should not twitch, and no attention should be paid to any light sensations. The mind can be occupied alternately with thoughts of the various parts of the body and see to it that they remain calm. It is possible that the little fingers or shoulders or some other part of the body will hurt, but they should not be shown sympathy. To diversify this exercise, you can stand in a day and, stretching your hand horizontally forward with your index finger extended, try to stay completely still for certain minutes.

In order to make the body flexible and obedient, exercises in stretching, bending, freestyle and exercises for the nerves are also needed. Freestyle exercises are designed to teach the body to hold still without tension. Stand at the edge of a shelf or sideboard, or near a piano, so that you have a smooth, horizontal surface in front of you that is slightly below your shoulder height. Get very close to this object, turn to face it and put your hand on it. Make an inner effort to extract all the energy and strength from the hand and let it rest on the board as if it were dead.

Extract energy from it little by little, paying attention first to the fingertips, then to the hand, etc., thus passing from the wrist to the elbow and shoulder. Then back away quickly. If the hand falls as if dead, then it has lost all tension, otherwise it is not. Instead of the previous exercise, or in addition to it, try the following method: raise your left elbow above your shoulder and place your left hand in front of your chest, palm down. Press the right elbow to the right side and raise the right hand so that the lowered fingers of the left hand can grab it. Hold your right hand with your left. Withdraw slowly the energy from the right hand, then open the left hand and release the right hand. If it falls lifelessly, then you have succeeded in the exercise.

Having thus learned what sensations should appear in the complete absence of tension, you can move on to other experiments: lie on your back, on the floor or on a board (not on a bed or sofa) and try to sink into the floor as if it were soft. It will give you a wonderful feeling when you do it after exercise. Always discharge yourself of any tension before going to bed.

Stretching and bending exercises are as follows. Each of them should be done slowly, several times, with concentrated thought. Stand with your heels together, raise your arms above your head, lean forward to touch your toes without bending your knees, then come back upright, rising as high as possible on your toes. Stand as before, put your hands at your sides with your palms facing your knees, slowly raise your arms up without bending them until the outer part of the hand brushes converge over your head; stretch, rising on your toes and looking up, slowly lower yourself down. Stand again with your hands at your sides; lean slowly to one side until the arm drops below the knee, while the other is bent under the arm; slowly swing in the opposite direction, all the while stretching the body. Do all these exercises in steady motion with concentrated thought, each one to two minutes. Finally, stand and raise one leg off the floor by bending the knee, then lower and raise the first, and thus run - as fast as you can - for one minute, without leaving your spot. In this exercise, the legs should not touch the floor at the same time. Then rest for three minutes before starting the nerve exercise.

The exercise of the nerves consists in keeping any part of the body still, not letting it tremble, or moving it very, very slowly. Stretch out your hand with fingers slightly apart, watching them intently. They move slightly and you will feel some creaking inside the joints. Try to force the will to keep them completely calm. After a few minutes, they will itch and you will feel as if something is leaking from your fingertips. Guide that something back into the body up the arm with the help of the will. Then stand in front of a large mirror and move your hand with imperceptible gradualness from the side forward in front of you in a horizontal position. It should move without the slightest tremor and so slowly that its movement was barely noticeable. Now sit with your back to the light and facing a large object like a wardrobe or bookcase. Without turning your head, start at one of the corners of the closet and very slowly move your eyes around its outline and along its protruding lines, ending at the starting point. These three exercises should be done for several minutes each.

Sit in a position for concentration. Inhale the air slowly and evenly through both nostrils, mentally counting up to 5 - 8 seconds; hold your breath, counting to eight; Exhale slowly and evenly to the count of eight. Repeat this several times, but no more than twelve. Holding the breath in the body should not be done by the throat muscles, but by the expansion of the pectoral muscles and the lowering of the diaphragm through the will. Blocking the breath in the throat is harmful. The whole exercise should be easy, pleasant and natural.

Following this, carefully fill the lungs with air, and, holding the breath as before, push the air as far as possible into the body, lowering the diaphragm. Then push the air back up into the chest (without lifting or moving the shoulders) so that the abdominal cavity is drawn in. Thus, push the air up and down slowly and gently five or six times and then exhale it slowly and carefully. Repeat the entire exercise four times.

Thirdly, inhale the air as before, push it in as deep as possible and draw it in so that both the lower and upper parts of the lungs are completely filled with it. Then draw in and swallow some more air through your mouth until you feel a slight awkwardness in the muscles. Release the air slowly, starting from the chest. Repeat this two times.

These breathing exercises are designed to make the body clean and alert and to counteract the natural retention of the outer breath that often occurs during intense concentration of the mind, different from the retention of the breath within the body that accompanies physical exertion. If these exercises are done too long at one time, they can destroy the sensitivity of the body. This is absolutely unnecessary for the exercise in concentration, as well as breathing through only one nostril.

Complete isolation is not possible even for a short time. No matter how favorable your conditions may be, you cannot completely protect yourself from light, sound, wind and other influences. This, however, cannot matter much if you train your senses to ignore the evidence of the senses. If we are deeply absorbed in a book, we may be completely unaware that birds are singing in the yard and the trees are swaying and rustling in the wind, or that the fire is crackling in the hearth and the clock is ticking on the mantelpiece, although, in fact, these sounds penetrate the ear and affect sense organs. This does not mean that the ear does not respond to sounds, but only that attention is turned away from the senses. Thus, the eyes can be opened while we are immersed in thought, but we do not see anything, although on the retina we get images of all objects from which waves of light are directed to our eye. If the clock suddenly stops, then our attention is immediately drawn to them, wanting to know the reason for the unexpected change; the same thing will happen again if a large cloud suddenly covers the sun or fresh damp air touches our nostrils or our skin. These things would not attract our senses if our mind did not retain at least a little consciousness of external objects, if there were no interest in them.

One of the exercises is to divert attention from external objects by listening to sounds and various sensations inside the body. Sounds like those that come from the movement of air in the ear and cavities, or from the circulation of the blood, or other physical phenomena, go unnoticed among the grosser sounds of life when we are engaged in ordinary business; but when we sit silently, paying no attention to external shocks, these more tender impressions can be noted in the mind. They can also be chosen as an object of concentration, otherwise attention should be turned away from them as well as from external interference and turned to the chosen object.

The difficult thing is to withdraw the senses from the sense organs. Sit quietly and listen carefully to the ticking of the clock. Then try not to hear him, first making an effort not to listen, and then persistently directing your attention to something else. And yet, try deliberately mixing this sound with others born of your imagination, and in this mixing lose sight of the original sound.

However, the incomparably best way to get rid of such hindrances to concentration is to choose a place where they are as few as possible, and then remove from the mind any expectation or interest in external changes.

Sit down and consider, before you start your morning concentration exercise, whether any physical phenomena can interfere with you. Do you expect someone to call you? Are you afraid that someone might catch you doing what to the ignorant would seem like a strange activity? But even if you are afraid of this, it is still better not to succumb to the expectation. Don't listen to the possibility of someone coming. Any such expectation keeps the senses in intense attention to the slightest sound. Make a firm decision that during the exercise, everything that can happen in the outside world does not concern you in the least, and that you will not pay the slightest attention to all this. If you hear an unusual sound, do not think about its cause or what it means. Stop being interested in external changes and they will soon disappear from your consciousness. If you are determined to succeed, you will not pay attention to the external phenomena around you or spend even a moment's thought on what frivolous people can do or say.

OVERCOMING INVADING THOUGHTS

Sometimes, while we are intensely busy with something, a guest appears who may be welcome at any other time, but at the moment he is annoying. In exactly the same way, at a time when we are busy trying to concentrate, "visitors" crowd around us, some welcome, others unpleasant. What brings them here so untimely, and by what means can we force them to leave?

Even a cursory study of these intruding thoughts will show that they are almost always occupied with our "I" and are associated with some kind of excitement or personal memory. We have a constant tendency to look at things and the people we meet in terms of how they affect our own lives; as long as this inclination exists, the involuntarily arising feelings towards them will take possession of our mind when we least desire it. Thus, it is possible that Colonel Sneafmount, a cheerful, kind fellow to his fellows in the club, at the same time intolerably picky towards his unfortunate subordinates, therefore the thought of him will arouse a feeling of friendliness in some and irritation in others. Both emotions in turn awaken the corresponding current of thoughts. If I walk on the sands, I will find the shifting sand unreliable and unpleasant ground for my feet; meanwhile, the camel will surely find it pleasant to his feet. It is the same with all the events of life: each thing has its pleasant and unpleasant sides, and the latter will disappear for you only when you learn to look at people and at the phenomena you encounter in a superpersonal way.

As long as you look at them solely from the point of view of their influence on your own daily life and on your feelings, your mind will be blown in all directions, driven by winds blowing from everywhere. He will be surrounded by thoughts that most often cause emotions of anxiety, regret or resentment. These thoughts remain hidden for the most part when you are engrossed in any physical work or any mental activity that has a physical basis, such as writing or reading a book, or while talking with others. But as soon as you free yourself from vigorous activity and want to surrender to concentration, especially if this concentration is abstract, without a visible image or a definite form, you feel this influence of uninvited thoughts, which in this case are quite unpleasant. Therefore, it is extremely desirable to weaken and destroy these associations, which entail so much inner excitement, but this can be achieved by considering people and things not in relation to our personal life, but in themselves, as creators of our own destiny in which we we can play a good or a negative role, depending on the will. As applied to life, this means that you must train yourself to look at the actions, motives, words and behavior of another person not from the point of view of your interests and your life, but from the point of view of his life and his interests. With such a view of man, you will also contribute to your own improvement, for the unity of human life does what everyone gains by doing good to another. If you consider people from the point of view of your own advantage, you will go against the Great Law, and the result will be irritation and discontent, which will undermine your strength and your peace.

A selfless attitude towards people prevents the accumulation of personal thoughts, and true concentration cannot be achieved until you develop such an attitude towards others. The state of the mind during concentration and the state of it during the rest of the day mutually influence each other, and if you can largely extinguish anxiety, greed, envy, jealousy, anger, fear, pride and irritability in yourself, you will relieve it to the same extent. your focus.

If you manage to say: I want, you will succeed, and your concentration will not be disturbed by the annoying thoughts and emotions that inhabit the spaces around you. If you said: I want, you can no longer be a slave to your desires; if you catch yourself in such slavery, it will mean that in fact you have not yet wanted. Sort out the facts of your life and decide: 1) what is the main goal of your life, 2) what are your secondary goals caused by your duty, your legitimate pleasures and pleasures, your weaknesses or inclinations, which you do not yet feel strong enough to suppress, 3) what things are in your power and to what extent; and which are beyond your control; and consider how those things that are in your power can be changed to suit the main purpose of your life, and how other things (which are outside your power) can also be used for the same purpose. The former should be the subject of your concentrated contemplation or meditation; the second is the main part of your daily life; the third should help to carry out the first and second calmly and reasonably, so that, on the one hand, not to strain under an unbearable weight, and on the other hand, not to become discouraged by obstacles that can either be overcome or circumvented. Get into the habit of sitting quietly every morning and thinking about what things or phenomena you might encounter during the day. Make a mental list of them and for each of them ask yourself the following questions: Does it interfere with my main goal? Does it fit my secondary goals? To what extent is it in my power to change it or use it? What benefit can I get from it? And when the day is over, check the same list again and ask yourself about each thing and each phenomenon: did I use it for my main purpose or for one of the secondary ones? To what extent was it in my power? What benefit have I derived from this thing or from this phenomenon?

So, when you sit down to meditate, the first thing to ask yourself is, "What am I going to do?" And answer in turn with complete accuracy: "I will do such and such." Then ask yourself the question: "Why would I do such-and-such?" And answer: "For such and such a purpose." And then ask yourself the question: "What are the responsibilities of my daily life?" List them briefly and then articulate the thought: "I don't care about them during my concentration." And finally, think: "What thoughts can put me at this time? Mr. X. spoke badly about me; my son was naughty; my father did not understand me; I lost money; someone robbed me; I am afraid that I want to lose my seat; I want to smoke or chew something; I wish it weren't so hot or so cold; I would like to know if I get such and such a thing; I wish my wife or my child would not sick; when will I achieve good luck; I would like to know if I am making progress; I would like these flies not to bother me; or immediately: why did God create things the way I want them, and not otherwise? Let all these thoughts come to the fore. Do not drive them away hastily and abruptly, but say calmly to each one in turn: "Hello, no doubt, your business is very urgent. I will deal with it seriously and thoroughly later and try to give you complete satisfaction; and now I am busy with other things, and therefore - goodbye." With such circumvention, visitors will be forced to silently take their leave. They will see that you have given them a proper place in your life, and with the small amount of thought you give them during the day, they will live peacefully until they die.

The intrusive thoughts of this kind that prevent you during your efforts to achieve concentration are very numerous, and if any of them is very persistent, stop to take a few moments to consider it. Tell her: "Listen, do not bother me! I'll take care of you at five o'clock," and keep this word and then think through this thought to the end. If she does molest, discuss whether she has a connection with what is in your power, or not. If she has, make the decision to do something for her. If you do your best, or if it is not in your power to satisfy her, then decide that she does not concern you, and you will no longer think about her.

There is yet another class of obsessive visitors, who appear to be from other minds or from objects around us.

In this age of wireless telegraphy, it should be perfectly acceptable that thoughts from other minds influence us. We already know from the foregoing how our own ordinary thoughts rush around us when we are actively occupied with others, and pounce on us in moments of rest.

It is not surprising that the mind, subject to such bombardment, tosses like a boat on a stormy lake, and it is not surprising that it seems to the practitioner at first that the more he tries to control his mind, the more he tosses.

In many cases, intrusive visitors in this second category do not cause much personal disturbance. Words, numbers, images, thoughts, intelligible or incomprehensible, float before our minds; often they have no connection with the events, goals or emotions that dominate our daily lives. They come from surrounding things and from other people. If the concentration is active and the mind is working hard, these tossing thoughts come and go and, although it is possible to see them floating by, they will not capture our attention.

If you find that any of these tossing thoughts becomes insistent and obstinate, it means that it has managed to interest you personally, and that is why some impatience, irritation, disappointment or anxiety has arisen in you. In this case, a hovering thought found a relative sleeping in your mind and awakened him to activity. She should be treated like an obsessive visitor of the first category. You should achieve such calmness that, continuing to think about the chosen subject, you can see the images rushing past and pay no attention to them. Later, when the exercises have given you the necessary peace and concentration, it will be possible to explore similar flashing images; but as long as this is not yet the case, any dwelling on them will only divert your attention.

If you are unable to remain indifferent to these tossing thoughts, you can take the following steps. Have a room for your exercise that serves no other purpose. Remove it yourself; do not send servants to her so that she does not touch things there. Gradually, this room will become a refuge for you, in which you will hide from worldly storms. Sit in the middle of the room and set before you, if you have nothing against such images, a picture or an image, or a symbolic sign of that High Being whom you worship; for example, a picture of Christ or Shri Krishna, or a great person, living or dead, that you would like to be like. Sit with your back to the light, wearing the clothes previously designated for this, preferably linen or paper fabric. Don't keep your ordinary clothes in a select room. Take neither money nor a pocket-knife with you, and have there a special watch, pocket or cutlery, pencil, and paper. Money is mentally especially impure. Feet should be barefoot if not too cold, and well washed before entering. It is even better to douse the whole body with cold water. All this will disconnect you from the emanations coming from frequently used objects; it also guards against rushing thoughts. Do not talk to anyone about these exercises. Secrecy, or rather silence, has a positive value. If people think about what you are doing, their thoughts will tend to penetrate you and interfere with your concentration. But almost all of this is not important at all if you really said: I want. But even under this condition, it is good to observe scrupulous purity and prefer silence. It is an excellent thing to be a good person, but it is not at all wise to announce it to everyone around you. Most people don't like it, and people who are close in spirit will recognize you without that.

We talked about the fish of attention, and in our recall exercise we made it swim around the same chosen thought. Before these exercises, you probably let her wander from the cat to the fireplace rug, from the rug to the factory and from the factory to something else, and so on. constant zigzags.

When you wanted to think through a problem or any plan to the end, your thought probably went approximately the following way, going from problem A to conclusion B, if you really got to the conclusion. This is, in fact, the most common kind of "thinking". As an example, let us listen for a moment to the words of Mrs. Nickleby on the subject of Straford-upon-Avon and the roast suckling pig, as the immortal Dickens relates them:

"It seems to me that there is something about this place, because, shortly after I got married, I went with my poor dear Mr. Nickleby from Birmingham to Straford in a mail coach - although, was it a mail coach? Yes , it must have been a mail-coach, because I remember noticing that the coachman had a green umbrella over his left eye; - in a mail-coach from Birmingham, and after we looked at Shakespeare's grave and the place where he was born, we went back to the hotel, where we spent the night; and I remember that all night I dreamed of a black gentleman, full-length, made of plaster, with a turn-down collar tied with two tassels; he stood leaning against a post and thought; and when I woke up in the morning and described to Mr. Nickleby, he told me that it was Shakespeare, exactly as he was in life, which, you will agree, would be very strange. Stratford, Stratford! Yes, I am sure of it, because I remember that was at that time pregnant with my son Nikolai, and at the same time I the morning was very frightened by an Italian boy, a seller of paintings. Indeed, it was a great mercy that my son did not become Shakespeare, and what a terrible thing that would be!

roast pig; Wait. The day it was five weeks after you were baptized we had a roast - no it couldn't have been a pig because I remember there were a couple of them and your poor dad and I couldn't think of having for dinner two piglets - it was probably two partridges. Roast piglet! I very much doubt that we ever had it on our table, I remember very well that your dad could not stand the sight of them even in the shops and said that they always remind him of very small children, only with the difference that piglets are much whiter; he also had a distaste for small children, because he did not have enough funds to increase his family and he always had an innate dislike for this plot. It is very strange, however, that such a thought could be put into my head! I remember we dined one day at Miss Bevan's, in that wide street around the corner near the carriage house, where a drunken man fell into the open cellar drain of an empty house with a week before the end of the first quarter of the year, and was found only when a new tenant moved in - there we ate roast pig. That must be what reminds me of him, especially because there was a little bird that sang all the time of dinner - although it really wasn't a little bird, because it was a parrot and he was in essence didn't sing, because I remember how he spoke and cursed terribly; but I think it was just that. Yes, I'm sure it was."

Are you still in the mental stage of Mrs. Nickleby, or have you already managed to stop the wandering process of your thoughts and have learned to make them revolve around a certain object so that the fish, losing sight of the object you have chosen, can immediately become aware of its mistake and return? If so, then the next exercise you need to do is to make the fish go in a straight line from A to B, from where you are, to the object that you have outlined for yourself. Once again, the whole process is analogous to seeing and moving on the physical plane. Before you is a thought that you are trying to master, or a problem that you want to solve, and you must calmly go towards the intended goal and move forward until you reach it. This will be your first exercise.

Exercise 2. Sit in your room and examine it carefully, noticing all the small objects that are in it. Then close your eyes and make all these objects mentally pass before your mind until the whole procession has passed. If you are familiar with the alphabets of foreign languages, such as Devanagari, Arabic, or Russian, make the letters run one after the other in front of your mind until the whole series has gone through. You may say that it is easy; and indeed it is easy.

Now sit down again and take a mental walk along the road or street you know, paying attention to all the details you can remember as you mentally walk past them, and then back along the same path until you reach the point of departure. Take a new walk in this way every day for a week, and whenever the fish wants to get out of the way you have chosen for this walk, make him come back and start the walk again from the beginning. In this way, you will teach her to follow an outlined line or a series of certain images chosen not by herself, but by you.

Exercise 3. Go from this exercise to another in which you take another journey, but this time instead of walking along a familiar street or alley, go through some experience you had and let it happen again as it passes before your eyes. panoramas. Imagine, for example, that you got up one morning, had breakfast, went to the station, talked to Mr. Brown on the train that took you to the city, arrived at your office, read your morning correspondence, etc., go in this way through all the major accidents of an ordinary day. Try to experience it all again as clearly as possible, and any one part of the memory even in detail. If the little fish gets away, bring it back and make it start all over again. Do this every day for a week.

Exercise 4. Then go to the third stage of the exercises and try to keep your thoughts in a certain direction. Spot an object or sound near you, such as the ticking of a clock. Ask yourself: what is the reason for this sound? It comes from the swing of the pendulum and from the movement of the spring and wheels. But what produces all this? Try now to go back along the series of images, following the clocks in their wanderings, imagine how they were put in their place, how they reached their destination, where they came from, how their components were collected and made, where and by whom. how the necessary materials were obtained, in general, everything that contributed to their emergence and their present form. It does not matter at all if your representation in this exercise is not quite correct, but it is very important that your mind go through a long series of successive representations, never once losing sight of the goal. Every day, for a week, follow in your imagination the course of life of something around you, never allowing the fish to move away to other objects.

Exercise 5. Now walk again in your imagination, as you did before, along a familiar road, but when you reach a chosen building or a familiar view, stop and look at them. Try to imagine the planned in all details, without being distracted and without continuing your path. At first this will seem difficult, and if you find that your mind begins to rush violently to get away, try to change position at short intervals and try to imagine the familiar sight of these new points; when you feel tired, return to your original place. You will probably find, to your surprise, that you know essentially nothing about the details of those buildings or of those views that you imagine were perfectly familiar to you. As a result, you need an exercise in mental drawing. Look carefully at the wall of the room in which you are sitting, notice all the signs on it, all the objects attached or leaning against it, the shape, size and size of everything connected with it. Now close your eyes and try to imagine everything at once. You will find your image hazy and undefined. Imagine then in turn each small part separately and you will see how much they become clearer. Imagine the figure of a person. You will find it somewhat hazy, but if you look at any particular part of the picture, that part will become distinct, while the rest will tend to disappear. If you can clearly see arms or legs, the head will disappear; the body part will disappear. Whatever image you examine in this way, some parts of it will elude you, and while you are examining one of them, the rest will fade and even disappear altogether.

This phenomenon has its own reason. Your attention is like a lamp. If it shines over a small space, it will illuminate this space distinctly; if it spreads over a large field of observation, all objects will be comparatively dim. We may consequently speak of tension and extensibility when we mean our capacity for attention. If attention is allowed to spread over a vast field, its intensity immediately decreases, while with a reduced field, its intensity increases. We therefore need two series of exercises: one in which the attention is limited and therefore tense, and another in which an effort is made to maintain this increased tension while the attention itself gradually spreads over a larger field. Even a limited mind can do one thing well; even an animal can bring one particular virtue to a high degree of perfection, as, for example, in the case of dog fidelity; but we need to develop a vast mind that can grasp many things at once, and at the same time see clearly the whole. In this way we shall in time acquire a powerful control over a large field of heterogeneous interests. But it is better not to embark on a great expansion until the mind is able to master still small details. This is precisely the reason for the failure of almost every person whose "education" has gone beyond his strength: he loses the ability to see things clearly with his own eyes and act decisively under unexpected circumstances, although he may have acquired a certain amount of superficial knowledge and polishing, which are so valued by secular society. In my short career as a school teacher, I saw many boys whose "education" stepped over the limits of their strength, and under the terrible oppression of our cruel educational system, some of these unbearable students perished for life. If only we could grow up with the clarity of mind and vibrancy of thought that we had in childhood, how happy we could be! It is quite true that the university "grinds the stones and dulls the diamonds," as one of the great writers once said.

Then continue your exercises as follows. Take a portrait of a great and good person whom you sincerely admire, put it in front of you and look at one of the pencil or artist's brush strokes in the middle of the face, for example, at the point between the eyes. Close your eyes and draw this stroke clearly in your mind. Repeat this several times until you can evoke it immediately with perfect clarity. Then take another stroke close to the first, hold it just as clearly in your imagination. Then imagine both strokes at once. Compare your imaginary drawing with the original with each new stroke, and so move forward patiently until you are able to represent quite perfectly, say, one eye or nose. Continue in this way, adding stroke by stroke, until the whole face is so distinct in your mind that you can draw it clearly and effortlessly in all the smallest detail. This is the work of many hours, since each stroke must be represented with precision. At one time, you may be able to reproduce only one feature and it will take at least a week to capture the entire portrait. If you reproduce only one portrait perfectly in this way, you will see how much your mental strength will gain. Practice this mind painting method for two weeks on the same portrait.

Exercise 6. Now you can usefully turn to the exercise of expanding attention. First, take a picture of something beautiful. In India we have many beautiful images of different types of deity used in various forms of meditation. For example, there is a lovely little painting of Sri Krishna, the Lord of Love, as a boy sitting on a rock playing his flute, while in the background a herd of cows is grazing on the banks of a quiet river, behind which stretches a chain of tree-covered mountains, as if defending this meek scene. Take a picture like this, examine it carefully; close your eyes and reproduce it in your imagination. Then start narrowing it down and notice how much the whole scene gets clearer as you shrink it down. First let the clouds and mountains out of the background, then the trees and the river, then the cows grazing on its banks, etc., until you have nothing left but the figure of a boy. Continue to slowly narrow the field of your inner vision, making the image more and more distinct as it decreases, until the rock disappears from view, and until you are left with only the upper body, head and face, and finally only one face with its amazing eyes.

Hold this distinct image for a minute, and then begin to expand it again, trying to keep the whole as distinct as this face, and while you are building the whole picture, stroke by stroke, do your best to keep the same clarity for complex picture that you have achieved for a small fraction of it. When you have done this exercise for a week, move on to the next one.

Exercise 7. Place in front of you some familiar object, such as a box, a watch, a small chair, or a candlestick, about two or three feet from where you are sitting, preferably in the middle of the room. After examining the object, close your eyes and visualize it clearly from where you are, as if you were looking at it. The image will thus be flat, as in the picture. Now imagine the same object from behind, not mentally turning it towards you, but transferring your consciousness to a certain point near the opposite wall. Imagine yourself sitting in the wrong place, but against the opposite wall, looking at the object from that side. Create a picture from what we usually refer to as the back of an item. When you get both images clearly enough from the front and from the back, try to imagine them together as if you were looking at the subject from both sides at once. To do this successfully, you need to get rid of the idea that you are facing the object from only one side of it, and imagine yourself on both sides of it at the same time, contemplating it in both directions at once.

Now take the same object for further exercise. Imagine that you are looking at it from above. For this purpose, transfer your consciousness to the ceiling. Then lower it down again and carefully and slowly go around the object at a short distance, observing it sequentially from all points. Then plunge your consciousness down into the floor and observe the object from below. And finally, running through all these changes of your consciousness successively and with increasing speed, try to merge all these images received by you from different points of view into one and grasp the thing as it really is, regardless of your position in relation to it. . This, of course, is difficult, but keep in mind that in this position you are not required to be perfect, but are only invited to try. Practice this to the best of your ability for a week.

Exercise 8 Now take a simple object like a box of matches. Examine it from the outside and look carefully at its inside; put it in front of you; close your eyes and imagine it to yourself from all angles. Now imagine the inner part of it as well and try to keep all these particulars of the object simultaneously in your mind. Bring your consciousness inside the box and look at it from there. Then gradually expand your consciousness, stop being a point in the middle of an object, and turn into a big ball with an object inside it. Do this exercise for a week with various objects such as a flower, a fruit, a coconut, a glass of water, and your own head.

Exercise 9 You will now find that you are able to call up images with much more ease than before and that your mind no longer wanders as willfully as it used to. The next step will be to make a series of experiments, bringing before the mind the images in their physicality and fullness. To do this, you will probably find it necessary first of all to state the name of the object. Suppose you used a picture of Shri Krishna in one of your previous exercises. Now, with your eyes closed, look into empty space and mentally call the name of Shri Krishna, repeating it over and over again and trying to see his image. Suddenly it will rise before our mental vision and the whole picture will unfold in your mind. Repeat this over and over again every day for a week until you can call up images and hold them for a short time by repeating the same word.

You will find great help in drawing up a mental picture by seeing that all its details fit together. Thus, you could picture in your mind a London omnibus with a pair of horses pulling it, but if you try to imagine it being pulled by a pair of cows, you will find it much more difficult. It is impossible to keep two incompatible images in mind at the same time. But it is possible to grasp them at once, if the main focus of attention is something that includes both objects at the same time or something that is common to both of them. I can imagine a cow and a horse at the same time, focusing on their common feature, thinking of them as animals. I can imagine a horse and a cart together, because they meet simultaneously in ordinary experience, as something that unites the same goal. I can imagine a cart and an omnibus together because of their common purpose. But it would be comparatively difficult to keep in mind the thoughts of a cow and an omnibus at the same time, because the latter belongs to the street life of a lively city, and the former belongs to the peaceful country pastures. The mind would run from one to the other, losing sight of them one by one. But if there were any relation between them that would become the focus of attention, then both thoughts could easily stick together instead of repelling one another by their inconsistency. It is therefore useful to find a thought that would unite the entire group into one whole and place such a thought at the center of a complex picture. The abstract is what connects heterogeneous concrete images.

Exercise 10. Now you should make an attempt to think in images without using words. Try to evoke and know things without naming or describing them in words. Very often we feel that we do not know a thing until we can remember its name or describe it in words, although its appearance and its qualities may be quite familiar to us. To think in words is to think in symbols, and therein lies the danger of deviating from the truth, because it is possible to arrange and rearrange the symbols in a form to which the facts do not at all correspond. When dealing with higher mystical concepts and occult studies, one will often have to do without the help of arbitrary symbolic words and one will have to penetrate into the very realities in such a way as to think and experience it, and so that it becomes one inseparable whole. As an elementary exercise in this, let the following ideas form in your mind a series of images without words: horse, cow, milk, moonlight, moon, sun. Imagine a horse, trying not to think about its name. Now if you drop this image and call up the image of a cow, then you will have to think the word "cow" between both images. Here is the usual course in this chain of thought: name (horse), image (horse), name (horse), name (cow), image (cow), name (cow), name (milk), image (milk), name ( milk), etc., and the image is unclear, as in a very bad cinema. But in the present exercise the names must be omitted, and the image must be subjected to continuous change, brought about by the gradual change in the form of the object without involuntarily destroying it. Having clearly visualized the horse, begin to change it little by little, piece by piece. Let the outline of the back, the curve of the neck, the shape of the body, the shape of the legs and hooves, the tail, the setting of the head, and other details of the horse gradually change into the corresponding outlines of a cow, until a complete transition from one image to another is achieved. Then begin to focus your attention on the milk that the cow gives, and gradually begin to lose sight of the head, tail, body, legs and other parts of the cow, until only the stream of milk or the vessel receiving it remains visible. Now subject this image to a gradual change. Reduce the milky stream, making it lose its definite shape and opacity, keep only its color, although make it paler, and add to this misty stream the shape and environment that would help you get an image of moonlight over dark water or over a forest clearing. Hold this image for a minute in your mind's eye. Now direct the moonlight towards the Moon itself against the dark sky and complement your sea or forest landscape with this. Then gradually destroy the clearing in the forest or the dark sea and let your attention ascend along the moonbeam to the moon itself. Gradually change this form as well. Keep its outline, but expand it and change its color until you have a large red and gold orb of the rising or setting Sun. Do this exercise very slowly, repeating it every day for a week.

You may think that these exercises in concentration will require too much effort. But it's not. Think about the effort you had to make as a child, how long it took you to learn how to control your hand and pen. That was more tension than that, because no matter how much the mind rushes about, remember that it is made of much more elastic and plastic matter than your hand, and therefore it is easier to control. In fact, it is easier to learn how to control the mind than to learn how to write. Think also of the vast number of exercises that a violinist must do in order to make his fingers supple, docile, and skillful. Put the same or even much less effort into controlling the mind, and you will become the master of your instrument.

THE MAIN THING IN EXERCISES

Success depends on what you are looking for and how you are looking. If you have told yourself that you will achieve success, then you will achieve it, if only your will is in harmony with the Great Law. If this is not the case, if you are only looking for empty satisfaction for the body or the senses, or even the mind, then you cannot say what you really want, because you are in bondage to your lower life and you will follow the objects of the senses wherever they go. pulled you. But if you say: "I want power, I want love, I want knowledge," remember that for this you need to choose the true path, so that others will have more strength and more freedom, since you have become stronger and freer, so that there was more love for others, since you yourself can give so much that others also have more knowledge, because it is given to you in abundance. If you, having power, hold it in order to feel superior to others, you are not obeying the Great Law, you are a slave to the low emotion of pride. If you seek the love of other people only so that they think and speak well of you and seek your company, you again disobey the Great Law and become a slave to the low emotion of pride. And your pride, faced with various "accidents" of life, will turn into envy, jealousy, anger, hatred and fear, opposite winds will start throwing you in different directions, you will drown in the ocean of desires and you will not be able to say: "I want."

And this is especially true when you are looking for sensual gratification or luxury for the body; then you certainly become a slave to your senses. Then you will certainly not be able to want, and growing desires will begin to infect your soul, just as an infection affects the body, and there will be no more peace or strength in you. You must educate all your vehicles - body, feelings and mind, directing them to right activity and removing from them all traces of laziness, despondency, anxiety and excitement of every kind, ensuring that they become perfect instruments for the fulfillment of your will in those areas where they have to work. In an ancient Hindu book on Yoga, it is said that a person has four great enemies on the path to success: a sluggish heart, human passions, an obscure mind and attachment to anything but Brahman; what is meant there by the word "Brahman" we can translate as the Good Law.

A sluggish heart means that the body is lazy and pampered, that its activities are negligent or badly regulated, or too excited. Human passions mean that feelings and emotions are weakened and poorly disciplined in their activities. By an obscure mind is meant a lazy or vague and untamed mind. What needs to be done to overcome these enemies? In each individual case, you should strive not for destruction, but for a completely balanced activity.

Physical training is to suppress the wrong activities of the body. It requires an orderly lifestyle with regular and properly proportioned exercise, nutrition and rest. Mastery over natural inclinations does not destroy their powers, but only tunes them to the desired tune, and the feeling of vitality is increased, not diminished by such control. The same can be said about the mind. He also needs correct and well-balanced exercises, nutrition and rest. His natural aspirations also require control and guidance, and in this case the result is not a decrease in mental energy, but, on the contrary, an increase in it.

Exercise is more than the mere application of a faculty. A person who breaks stones on the road uses his muscles and, of course, after a while these muscles will become strong and strong. But a person who practices a certain system of exercises every day, even for half an hour, will soon become stronger than a person who beats with a hammer all day long. In the same way, a person who devotes his time to the study of mathematics, literature, languages, philosophy, or any other subject of knowledge, exercises his mind, and thinking can become an easy task for him. But the man who deliberately carries out a certain system of mental exercises every day, even for a short time, will soon acquire greater control over his mind than he who reads or thinks superficially all day long.

In fact, the need for training and regular and expedient exercise is immeasurably more necessary for the mind than for the body, because at the present stage of development, most of our bodily activities are under control, and the body is obedient to our will, while our mind is distinguished by complete rebelliousness, and laziness, and unbridledness.

Various exercises have been suggested in the fourth chapter of this book. They mean discipline and calming the body. Calm does not mean drowsiness or immobility. It means correctness in movements and is quite compatible with the mobility of the body. In the same way, control of the mind does not mean sleepiness and stupidity. It means a clearly defined and correct thought, speed and strength of the mind, bright and tenacious ideas. It is the opposite of drunkenness and mental licentiousness.

But without prior training to calm the body, control of the mind becomes very, very difficult. For significant success in concentration, a certain amount of rigor is essential. The reason for this need is rooted in the basic rule of the process. The rule is this: the body must be calm and the mind mobile. Ordinarily, people use their mental energy only for the service of the physical body or that which is in connection with it. The flow of thought is unhindered and it is easy to think when there is a physical engine, as, for example, when reading a book. Arguing is easy when the flow of thought is fixed in writing or when the thought is prompted by conversation. Playing chess is easy when we have a chessboard in front of us, but playing blindfolded will be much more difficult. The habit of thinking only in connection with physical activity and physical stimulus in general is so great that a special effort of thought is usually accompanied by a contraction of the eyebrows, a tightening of the lips, and sometimes with a disorder of muscular, nervous and organic functions. The bad digestion of men of science has become almost a proverb. The child, overcoming some mental effort, makes the most amazing grimaces. A boy, learning to write, often follows the movements of the pen with his tongue.

This should not be allowed in concentration exercises. A high degree of mental concentration is positively harmful to the body if it is not brought to complete tranquility. Muscular and nervous tension is not the concentration of the mind, and success in the exercise is not marked by any physical or other sensations. Tightness between the eyebrows does not mean concentration, and besides, concentration on such a sensation is not beneficial. Mind control is not achieved by ardent effort, just as one cannot hold a handful of water by holding it tightly in a fist. Mind control is achieved by constant, unhurried and calm exercise in the absence of emotional disturbances and excitement.

Constant, unhurried, quiet exercise means regular periodic effort over time. The time devoted to this exercise daily can last from five to fifty minutes. The quality of work is more important than the quantity of it. Five minutes of good work contributes to success and adds up to gain. Fifty minutes of careless work does not achieve it. The frequency can be one, two or three times a day. Once a well-executed exercise means success; three times a mediocre performance will not give a result. But the exercise should certainly be done daily, at least once and always before rest or pleasure, and not after them. It should be performed as early as possible, without delay until the easier and more enjoyable duties have been completed. A certain strictness of the rule is necessary, and it is best to impose it on yourself.

A certain restraint does not always coincide with the absence of unrest in human life. And yet, in order to achieve success, the mind must be calm and free from desires, which always entail exciting desires, fears, doubts, expectations, pleasant and painful feelings and thoughts. The ideal to which we aspire must be clearly pictured in the mind and must constantly stand before it. Such a dominant mood will direct every thought, desire and activity under its direction. Just as a traveler follows a star through the thickets of the forest and along unbeaten paths, in the same way, having a constant ideal, one can pass unerringly through all the difficulties and difficult conditions of life. The only thing needed is constant exercise and lack of excitement.

Constant exercise and the absence of excitement or anxiety are the two main conditions for success, and are they not the natural companions of the will? If you said "I want" not only in words, but also in deeds, both in thoughts and in feelings, you will always use your strength to achieve your goal, you will always be free from the excitement that constantly accompanies various desires. If you want light, says a Hindu proverb, what's the use of just talking about a lamp? If you are sick, says another proverb, can you cure your illness by listing the names of medicines? The hidden treasure will not be revealed if you tell him to "Come out!" You must find the place where it is hidden, remove the stones and then dig.

And if you work and train in this way, "desiring nothing and attaching to nothing but Brahman," then you will conquer and have such power, such love and such knowledge, of which neither the king on his throne, nor the ardent a lover with his beloved, not a scientist in his office can even dream. Because the Great Law is the source of all power, all knowledge and all love, and when your consciousness is "attached to nothing but Brahman", success will be guaranteed to you now and at all times. In the distant future, you say? But isn't this future certain?

Look, I'm showing you the Truth! Below hell

Before the beginning and having no end,

As eternal space, and as faithful fidelity,

Divine Force is established, directed towards good.

And only its laws remain.

(Light of Asia)

And what is certain is equivalent to what has already happened, and if you do not want to look into the distance, even without that, success will be yours. And when your guides will not rule over you, and you will no longer be a servant of your body, nor a slave of your senses, when you have no other attachment than the Great Law, then live in it, share its power, its bliss and its wisdom will become your life, your strength and your happiness. And all who are subject to the same Law - and there is no one outside of it - will benefit from it to an extraordinary degree.

In order to find Brahman, search within yourself with the help of Those who have searched for you before and have already found you, for indeed there are Those who know and can teach. Obey the Law and keep your mind open, strive always to recognize the Law in others, try to understand the nature of what is inside you, outside you and above you through meditation.

METHODS OF MEDITATION

If you now pass from exercises in concentration to exercises in meditation, your goal may be threefold. It may consist in the desire to raise your consciousness so that in its normal state it gravitates towards more sublime and refined objects, so that abstract thoughts and superpersonal feelings more and more dominate your soul. Meditation may be aimed at attracting blessings from the higher worlds or an effort to rise in reverence to God himself. And then, it may pursue the development of character and the acquisition of such positive qualities that you would like to have, a conscious attitude towards these qualities and the impact that they could have on your life if they were inherent in you.

Let us take first the influence of meditation on the development of character. Since this question is the subject of my future book, I will confine myself here to one example. Let's take the quality of gentleness.

Exercise 11. Sit quietly and consider what gentleness means. There must be gentleness in action so as not to harm anyone; mildness in speech, so that no hurtful word is said, so that no evil rumors are spread, so that nothing is said about another that could arouse a prejudiced opinion against him or give rise to false rumors, so that nothing is said, what could induce another person to an unreasonable act; gentleness in thought, so that no one suffers from the unkind or impure vibrations of your mind, so that your thought does not serve as an impetus for someone to delusion or error, and so that you yourself are not involved in cruel judgment or unkind criticism. In your opinion, how would gentleness be expressed in the lives of great people you admire, or in the deeds, thoughts, and words of a Master? How would that quality express itself if you stood in His presence? How would gentleness affect your own daily life when you meet a person you do not like, or when you encounter unpleasant phenomena, when someone blocks your way or tries to harm you, when circumstances are not what you think they should be? If you had this quality, how would you treat those you love, how would you protect their freedom of action, which is violated so often, despite love?

In these and other ways, you could meditate on the quality of gentleness, so that you could then bring this mood into your daily life, wherever it is not slow to manifest itself in your actions and thoughts. Continuing in this way quietly to work on the structure of your character, bringing into it one quality after another, you would find your life completely changed after a few months of serious effort.

Let us now turn to raising your consciousness to a higher level, to bringing it to a state that will make the most elevated thoughts and the most refined feelings more accessible to it. This will require different methods, depending on whether you are pursuing refinement of thoughts or feelings. If you aspire to higher feelings, you must, as it were, raise your own feelings to someone above you, to someone whom you recognize as higher than yourself. This will be the initial act of reverence. If you intend to work more along the path of thought, then you will begin by delving into the essence of ideas and try to make clear and definite that area of ​​​​your consciousness that is still foggy. Let's start with the method of reverence.

Exercise 12. Choose your ideal and beware that there is nothing in it that can inspire even a shadow of doubt. Having settled on such an ideal, create in your mind an image of it, fix your attention on it and let your thoughts approach it from all sides, so that all its qualities can arouse in you constant admiration.

If you worship God, He will arouse gratitude in you as the giver of all blessings, and your gratitude will be poured out unlimitedly and unconditionally; in the image of the Creator, Father and Patron, His mystery and greatness will awaken in you joyful reverence, trust and hope; in the image of the Savior, His compassion will arouse self-sacrifice; in the form of the Eternal Sacrifice, His omnipresence will arouse sympathy for everything.

Knowing the value of this method, the Hindus have long lists of qualities listing the various properties of the divine Essence. There is, however, some danger that such an abundance of definitions will not be reduced to a simple repetition of words and that a living feeling will not be lost before the properties of the divine Ideal. The mere repetition of vaguely understood words and phrases can only lead to a kind of mental and moral hypnosis. It is necessary to consciously consider each quality that you have chosen for meditation and take this quality in all its forms and ratios. At first, a number of questions can be posed in order to give an impetus to thought, but when the thought is determined, it is necessary to delve into this quality, considering it from different points of view. These questions may be as follows: why does the divine Ideal exhibit such and such a quality - say, fearlessness? How? Before what? When? To what extent? How? With what result? A number of qualities can be easily extracted from any St. books of one religion or another. One such quality is quite enough for several days of meditation.

The preparation for such a process of meditation is so beautifully depicted in one of the ancient Sanskrit books that I cannot but suggest to the readers a translation of this passage. Directing his imagination, a person can completely free himself from the influence of a closed room and, surrounding himself with a picture of beauty and peace, enjoy the quiet contemplation of his beloved Image.

May he find in his heart a wide ocean of nectar,

And in it is a beautiful island of precious stones,

Where the sand burns with bright gold and semi-precious tints,

Where beautiful trees fringe its shores with myriads of flowers,

And inside grow rare bushes and trees, climbing plants and reeds,

Pouring out in all directions a fragrance sweet to the senses.

Who wants to taste the sweetness of divine perfection,

He must present a wonderful tree on that island,

On whose widely spread branches the fruits of all ideas grow

Four Great Teachings that hold the whole world.

There, fruits and flowers do not know death and grief.

Among them the bees buzz and the birds sing to them so tenderly.

Under the shadow of this peaceful vault

A temple of rubies shining brightly is visible.

And the one who prays will seek will find on the miraculous throne

The one whom he dearly loved, who is there.

Let him stop his thoughts, as the Teacher said,

On the Divine Image, with all His signs and signs.

The Christian will probably choose Christ as the object of his worship and present Him in the setting of the gospel stories. If a symbol is used, careful attention must be paid to all its details, in terms of form and color. If music or singing is used, one must no less consider all notes, both individually and collectively. But it has been noticed that most people prefer a visible image to a sound one in such meditation.

Let us now turn to the intellectual form of meditation. It consists, first of all, in an effort to understand the subject itself, and then its relation to other subjects. The flow of thought must embrace the subject so that it becomes intelligible in all its natural, superphysical and metaphysical aspects. Thought deals primarily with the invisible. It is nothing more than another kind of sight, which, when it becomes predominant, becomes as satisfactory and true as natural or physical sight. We cannot see with our own eyes the square root of two, but it exists. We cannot see with our eyes the elements of mathematical formulas, but we see them with our thoughts.

Exercise 13. Choose a difficult or abstract subject, such as the concept of harmony. Stop your thought on it. Start with questions about him. What is the chosen idea? Name her. Give some specific examples, such as harmony in music and the harmonic movement of pendulums. Consider to what senses these examples apply. Analyze them in detail and note their properties in relation to sensations. What category does this idea belong to? What are its outstanding features? In what ways is it similar and in what ways does it differ from other, homogeneous or opposite ideas? What is its true nature and why does it exist? What role does she play in a series of events? Where does it come from and where does it lead? When you have answered all these questions to a certain extent, imagine several specific images together, trying to grasp the principle of harmony common to them. Then try to keep this abstract idea of ​​harmony, discarding concrete images.

Think of multiple colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Notice that they all evoke certain and quite different sensations. What do you see? You see red, yellow, green, blue and purple. But you don't see the color as such. Stop at two colors, say red and green. Focus on them. What do they have in common? Of course, a little, in relation to their appearance. And yet there is a relationship between them, something common to both of them. This is a color. Try to understand what color is. Leave images and thoughts about red and green and try to keep one concept of color without them. Then stop the thought on heat and cold. We are sensitive to various degrees of heat and cold, but we do not have a direct sensation of heat as such. Try using these two concepts to imagine heat as such. Hold on to the idea you have thus acquired, while at the same time discarding the concept of different degrees of warmth. Again, color and heat are two forms of sensation. What do they have in common? Thought about feeling. Try to grasp this while at the same time discarding concepts of color and warmth. In these exercises, it is not enough to define things logically, naming them according to generic and distinctive features. They must be thought over and penetrated by a kind of mental sensation, and then an effort must be made to seize and hold the abstract idea without any external form and without any name.

Exercise 14 Now take a number of difficult questions for further exercise, such as: What is truth? What is a spirit? What is justice? Avoid giving simple verbal definitions, but try to understand these phenomena intellectually. Take any difficult paragraphs in a book with deep content or in a mystical book. Walk the path of reason in your efforts to interpret them, and when you have reached the limits of your reasoning, yet do not let your thought wander. Hold it there, at the highest point you can reach, and wait for inspiration to come.

It now remains for us to consider only one form of meditation, which has to do with prayer purposes; it serves to express a reverent feeling when the worshiper throws himself at the feet of the Master or when he strives to rise to union with the object of his reverence. This is what we will deal with in the next chapter.

MANTRA SYMBOLIC MEDITATION

There is another method of meditation that is widespread in India, where hundreds of millions of people daily offer their reverent worship to Shri Krishna, the Lord of Love. The worshiper indulges in meditation on Shri Krishna, God incarnate, and through Him passes to Shri Krishna, the Spirit of Knowledge and Love in the world. Often one can hear him repeating a single phrase or chant over and over again while he himself ponders intensely on its deep and varied meaning, and this chant, repeated with true reverence, brings the worshiper into daily contact with the great Lord, the Preserver. Source of Life in our world, Messenger of the Great Light. It makes no difference whether you worship, if you are a Hindu, Shri Krishna, or, if you are a Christian, Christ, or, if you are a Buddhist, a Bodhisattva: your aspiration in all cases is directed equally towards the one Great Being, on whom the veneration of the whole world is concentrated.

Of all the mantras of Shri Krishna, none is as powerful as the five-part mantra, consisting of eighteen syllables, said to have been given by Lord Brahma himself and then transmitted to the whole world:

"Klim Krishna, Govindaya, Gopi-jana Vallabhaya, Matchmaker!"

Again and again the worshiper repeats this mantra and through it he attains the path of Shri Krishna in this world.

Once the Sages came to the Great Brahma and asked: Who is the Supreme God? Who is afraid of death? Through the knowledge of what does everything become conscious? What makes this world go on its way?

He replied: Sri Krishna is indeed the Supreme God. Death is afraid of Govinda (Sri Krishna). By knowing Lord Gopi-Jan (Sri Krishna), everything is known. Through Suah the world continues its evolution.

Then they asked him again: Who is Krishna? Who is Govinda? Who is Lord Gopi Jana? What is Suha?

He replied: Krishna is the one who destroys all evil. Govinda is the Knower of All, the one who is known on earth through the Great Teaching. Lord Gopi-Jana is the one who controls all conventional beings. Swaha is His strength. One who meditates on them, who chants the mantra and worships Him, becomes immortal.

And again they asked him: What is His form? What is His mantra? What is His religion?

He answered: The one who has the form of the patron of shepherds (verses from the Great Teaching). Cloud-colored youth (the color of the bottomless depth). He who sits at the Root of the Tree (whose outstretched branches are the creation and evolution of the age). One whose eyes are like a blossoming lotus (always abiding in the pure Lotus-like hearts of His devotees). One whose clothes are woven from the radiance of lightning (glowing with its own light). One who is two-handed (life and form). One who possesses the mark of Wisdom (to whom the silent Sages are dedicated). One who wears a garland of flowers (a chain of spheres or planets). One who sits at the core of the Golden Lotus (at the heart of everything). Whoever meditates on Him becomes free. He is the Mantra of five parts. First: Klim Krishnaia. Klim is the seed of attraction. Second: Govindaya. Third: Gopi-Jana. Fourth: Vallabhaya. Fifth and last: Suaha. Klim - Krishna Giver of Wisdom - Lord of Shepherds - Suaha!

Ohm. Worship of the World Form, the Source of all patronage, the Purpose of Life, the Ruler of the Universe and the Universe itself.

Ohm. Worship to the Embodiment of Wisdom, Supreme Joy, Krishna, Lord of the Shepherds! Giver of knowledge worship! (From the Upanishads of Gopalatapani and Krishna).

Exercise 15. The Hindu desiring to perform this form of meditation sits quietly in his usual place and lets his thoughts and feelings subside until his mind rests quietly on the thought of the Great Teacher of gods and men. Thinking about all the conditions of earthly greatness, about the royal throne and wealth, about earthly love and learning, he compares how imperfect and unsatisfactory all these things are, how everything good in them is only a weak reflection in heavy matter of His perfect knowledge and power, and love. Every earthly love is surrounded by misunderstandings; every earthly power is connected with obstacles; all earthly knowledge is full of delusions; in Him there are no misunderstandings, no obstacles, no errors. The meditator then imagines in his own heart the ovary of a lotus. He allows his mind to calmly contemplate how she bends on her stalk. As he pronounces the word "Klim" with an ardent desire for the Divine presence, he raises the gradually blossoming flower and contemplates the divine image of Sri Krishna, a cloud-colored youth, with lotus-like eyes and a garland of worlds around the neck at the root, seated on this twelve-petalled throne. The Tree of Life, in clothes shining with the brilliance of lightning. And while he bows before Him, repeating the word "Krishnaya", he pours out all his reverence before Him. When pronouncing "Govindaya", the meditator sees how He raises His hand with the sign of Wisdom for blessing. And when he repeats the words "Gopi-Jana-Vallabhaya," he allows His power and love to joyfully penetrate his heart and illumine it. When pronouncing the word "Suaha" he tries by an act of his will to pour out all His power so that the world can share it with him. And then he repeats the mantra of Sri Krishna seven times, contemplating the Divine Image in the flower of his heart.

OBSTACLES TO MEDITATION

If you have made a decision to really achieve good luck in life, i.e. live and grow in accordance with the Great Law, and if you said "I want", sooner or later you will discover that you have achieved three things. The first of these things is putting your mental faculties on the right track. The second is to keep them there. The third is the ability to make an effort, the ability not to rush, but to steadily move forward without stopping. Over time, you will need to constantly check these three achievements; make sure that you are on the right track, keeping from deviating and moving forward. Put as much power into your movement as possible, but only when you are quite sure that you are on the right path, not before. If you make efforts while you have gone astray, you will do much harm to yourself and others, and create great obstacles for the future; if you are on the right path, the more persistently you move forward, the more success you will achieve and the less obstacles you will meet on your way. In order to keep the straight path, you must always remember that others also want the same thing that you are looking for. Let them have what they want. Never deprive a person of what you yourself value, whether it be freedom or power, knowledge or learning, love or friendship; observing this, you will always follow the chariot of the Great Law. If you notice that you are striving to have power over others, that you are striving to surpass others in knowledge or to attract the love and praise of others, you can be sure that you have gone astray. And therefore watch carefully to advance as carefully as possible, never to cause pain by thought, word or action to a living being in his thoughts and feelings or his physical body. If you are sure that you have embarked on the right path, strive forward as quickly as possible, observing only that you never harm any living being. The three conditions you have reached, which are mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, will influence your behavior and your activities in daily life, and during your meditation you will find the same three steps. The first is an exercise in concentration, bringing your mind to such fixed attention in relation to the chosen subject that all incoming thoughts will be directed to it. The second step is an exercise in meditation, and our thought is constantly striving for the chosen subject, not allowing itself to be distracted to the side. The third is contemplation: striving for a single object and merging with it so completely as to become completely one with it. Before passing from meditation to contemplation, desires and hopes must be completely abandoned, at least for the duration of the exercise. The mind cannot be pure as long as desires rule it; besides, every desire is a seed from which anger, unrighteousness, impurity, greed, negligence, displeasure, sloth, ignorance and vindictiveness can grow; and as long as one desire or one hope remains in you, all these transgressions of the Law are possible. Leave desires and hopes; say "I WANT" and have FAITH; do not obscure your own light and let the Good Law operate. If you are able to maintain such a mood, you will not encounter obstacles in your meditation, but if you cannot, obstacles will constantly appear and spoil your work. Every time you sit down to think, these desires and displeasures will distract you. A well-known saying says that nature does not tolerate emptiness. Similarly, the mind does not tolerate emptiness. The stream of thought tends to flow sideways, into small ravines and channels made by unsatisfied desires and indecisive thoughts. Just as a strong mountain stream rushes past the cracks and clefts that are on its sides, in the same way a carried away thinker can strive forward in his reasoning, not paying attention to the many third-party exits that come across his path. But when the stream enters the flat plains, every obstacle causes it to widen its path, and every depression must be filled before the water can move on. And this again is similar to the process of thinking: if it meets an obstacle, the thought turns aside, fills all the small convolutions, deepens and, finally, flows above the obstacles. When you practice meditation, you will find that the same thing happens in your mind. Every slightest unsatisfied desire, every problem not thought through to the end will open their hungry mouths in front of you, constantly diverting your attention to the side; and during meditation, if your thought encounters difficulty, it will inevitably swerve aside to answer his request. In short, you will find that the course of your meditation is constantly interrupted by thoughts and desires emerging from the folds of your own mind. If you follow these intruding thoughts to the end, you will find that their source is always unsatisfied desires and unresolved problems. To remove these obstacles, it is useless to try to suppress or contain them. It would be better to give them their due by appointing a time for this, and then think them through to the end. A mind that is unable to overcome such hesitation, which leaves its problems constantly unresolved, cannot expect to succeed in meditation. Knowing this, he must solve his problems and already stick to his decision, refusing to think over the same thing again and again. Exercise and the habit of putting into practice a decision once made will help to achieve this. Fill all the clefts of thought and direct all its side streams to the main stream. Consider each request and each obstacle in terms of their relationship to and impact on your main goal. The development of a general philosophical mood, bringing one's experience and one's abilities to a unity of understanding and purpose, is an essential condition for successful meditation. For those on the path of reverence, the obstacles are mostly caused by desire. A long-standing, half-hidden desire will bloom in a series of emotions, overflow into a thought inspired by desire, as soon as the stream of reverent emotion is exhausted and the object of worship will lose its novelty, and the cup of pleasure will seem empty. Desires must be ordered, not by destroying desire, but by bringing them into the main stream of emotional outpouring, into one all-conquering desire to be conscious of the presence of the Divine. The Divine can be sought and found in any place and at any time, and when this happens, all the hindering fears, regrets and worries are absorbed in the great joy of the fulfillment of the most holy and all-encompassing of all desires.

Among all the dissatisfaction among those striving for a higher consciousness, the unsatisfied thirst to find a Teacher is the most common. For them, the strongest consolation is the knowledge that there are Teachers who were once like us, who have achieved greatness and higher consciousness, and who from time to time appear to persistently seekers and show them the way. But if you misuse this blessed knowledge and begin to anxiously crave their help, this anxiety will become one of the main obstacles to your meditation. There is no doubt that the awareness of the necessity of having a teacher is very useful for our self-confidence. But you need to remember that you always have it around you. It could be a book that inspires you at the moment; let her be your teacher for now. You should not look for another until you have exhausted the indications of the one at your fingertips. Experts in yoga certify that when a person reaches a certain height, when all the preliminary knowledge that he can find in books or receive from those who know yoga is completely exhausted, then a great Teacher will appear before him. He will not do it sooner, because it would harm the person, not benefit.

An ancient Scripture says: "Learn in the way of reverence, searching thought and service; then the Wise Ones who know the truth will appear and teach you wisdom." It follows from this that the Teacher is always near us, but he will speak to you only when you give him preference over everything that currently owns you.

Another serious obstacle lies in the desire for this or that special method of meditation, in the desire to know how best to meditate: in the heart, in the head or otherwise. Don't worry about these things at all, unless directed to you personally by a competent teacher, but meditate within yourself. Go deep enough into yourself to forget about your body for a while, because the whole purpose of meditation is to change yourself, to remake yourself, to direct your thought along new lines of thought. First prepare your form and then grow up, for know that you cannot have real power and freedom until you stop harming others, that you cannot acquire true knowledge until you learn to be completely truthful, that you cannot experience true joy of life until you yourself are filled with sympathy, love and reverence.

Be sincere with yourself. Define your goal clearly and focus on the best ways to get there. Life is serious. You cannot play with your destiny and cheat with your beliefs.

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplation has three stages:

1) Attention should be focused on the chosen subject.

2) It should be prompted to action only in connection with this subject.

3) It must remain actively focused on the chosen subject, while its own lower activities must be consistently repressed.

At the second stage, we recognize what the chosen object is in comparison with other objects and in relation to them. Thus, we continue to reason and analyze until all our reasoning is exhausted regarding this subject. Then we stop all comparison and reasoning and, actively directing attention to the same object, we try to penetrate beyond our thought process into that indefinable that is in this object. It is obvious that all three stages require increased concentration: the activity of thought must be preserved within such a small circle that its center always remains in the sphere of attention. The process of contemplation actually sets in when cognitive activity is directed, as it were, at right angles to the ordinary process of thinking, which tries to understand a thing in its relation to other things of the same kind and of the same plane; such an aspiration crosses the various planes of her existence and penetrates into her invisible inner nature. When the attention is no longer fragmented by the process of comparison, the mind will rush in its entirety and appear quite still, just as a spinning top may appear to be stationary during its most rapid rotation.

When all your attention is completely occupied with one subject, and if you can simultaneously raise the cognition of this subject without letting your attention wander away from it, then the lower types of vibrations of your mind will be suppressed, and your energy will animate only the higher vibrations, in other words, you will raise the activity of your consciousness to a higher plane.

Take, for example, some concept, say justice. You can begin by considering some form of justice, by showing justice in action, and in such a way that your whole mind is occupied with this alone; then you could turn to the idea of ​​the psychological effects of justice on the actor and on the object of his action, and concentrate your whole mind on this; then you could move on to an effort to understand abstract justice, and then continue the mental effort until your thought reaches a point beyond which it can no longer go; then it will find itself, as it were, in an open space that is not amenable to the ordinary process of thinking. When you thus by an effort of will keep your thought at a level exceeding its normal activity, it is obvious that you can no longer think about an object, but only contemplate it.

If you are able to do this, then you need to start without thinking of yourself and the chosen subject as two separate concepts standing in relation to each other, because then it will be difficult for you to avoid thinking about the relation of this subject to yourself, and your the idea of ​​it will certainly be colored by this or that feeling. But if you are able to be so distracted from yourself as to begin your contemplation from within the object itself and at the same time retain all the time both mental enthusiasm and energy, gradually moving from the name to the form of the object, from form to its psychological aspect (to its feeling or thought , if it is a thinking being, or, if it is a quality, to the feeling and thought that it awakens in a conscious being), from the psychological aspect to its abstract nature (to its nature in its simultaneous relation to all possible manifestations of itself), to which both disappear - both the word and the form; and if at the same time you can keep your mind at this level, trying to penetrate the uncertainty surrounding this state (without using any words or images) in exactly the same way as if you tried to penetrate the physical look through the fog, then, holding yourself at this level, looking forward and not thinking about returning back, soaring like a bird on wings, you will realize contemplation.

Let's take a few specific examples. If I direct my attention to this sheet of paper, I can think about what grade, size, format and color, what fabric, density and variety this sheet is, how it relates to other sheets of the book, where and how it is was made and I can put many other questions in connection with it. But suppose I wish to contemplate it; then I will turn my attention to the paper and, carefully observing it, I will begin to reflect on its nature, its composition, the finer elements that make it up, and how it would appear to vision that distinguishes finer particles than the gross aggregates of physical matter visible to the physical eye. Going beyond visible matter, I could try to comprehend what the nature of these invisible particles is by applying discrimination to them, rather than mere words and definitions. Such a method would end in concentration.

If a conscious object is chosen, then the process will be more difficult. Take, for example, a dog. I focus my attention on the dog, but thinking of it in relation to myself in any respect whatsoever. From here I turn to an effort to understand the inner nature of the dog, those feelings and thoughts that may occupy it, and I strive to comprehend the state of its consciousness. It is difficult to go beyond that when dealing with animals. If attention is directed to the higher being, then one can move from its external appearance to meditation on the state of its feelings, emotions and thoughts and, thus, try to raise oneself inwardly in order to grasp the state of consciousness that the contemplated being possesses. In each of these cases, I carried my thought to the limit, beyond which I could no longer grasp, although I was aware that there was something else. If you stay at this level, without going back and not turning aside, then you achieve contemplation of the inner nature of this object. It is a thought process that must be practiced hundreds of times at every opportunity before any success can be achieved. In such contemplation there is nothing similar to the nature of sleep or mental inactivity, on the contrary, there is an intense search, a long effort to see something definite in the indefinite, without descending at the same time to the level of our ordinary conscious activity, in which we distinguish clearly and distinctly.

A person imbued with a strong attraction to the object of religious worship, such as a praying Christian to Christ or a Hindu to Sri Krishna, can follow the same method, but in this case, the active principle will be mainly his feeling. Under such conditions, ordinary feelings will fall silent, and the contemplation of the Essence, which guards and protects us and sacrifices itself for us, will awaken in the contemplator the highest order of feelings. First he will imagine the Divine Image, that particular image which he considers to be the most perfect manifestation of God. He will dwell on it, directing his feelings towards Him with love, admiration and reverence. He will imagine himself in the presence of this Divine Being connected with Him, participating in His life. Then, when his senses have reached their highest tension, he will make an effort to pass from the outward appearance to the knowledge of the feelings and thoughts that so wonderfully inspire this Divine Image; by reflecting on how these feelings and thoughts created such a wondrous outward appearance, he will achieve that his own feelings will be transformed. With ardent reverence he will begin to realize the more subtle signs of the Divine nature. Perhaps he considered it possible for God to manifest himself only in a special way. Now he begins to see that the more spiritual qualities so sublimely expressed in this Divine Image appear also in other forms, and he begins to perceive that something inherent in the Divine nature is in all things. Thus, the worshiper of God begins to see Him in all forms and begins to love them because God is manifested in them. But from this his worship of the most beloved Image will not suffer in the least, just as the love of a mother for her child does not suffer, although she also loves her brothers and sisters, and other relatives and friends. The next step will be the transition from the contemplation of feelings and thoughts that inspire the Divine Image, to the ability to love and give one's strength; and now, instead of thinking that in every form there is a particle of God, he realizes that everything exists in God, that He is reflected in all, although not in full; and he will understand that what seems to him bad or ugly is so only because there is felt the absence of what he knows as Divine. And just as the worshiper, bowing down at the feet of the incarnate Savior, still loves Him all, so he, although before him only imperfect manifestations of God, is nevertheless always in the presence of the Divine through them. And if, with the help of contemplation, he can raise to these higher levels the fire of his personal love for the Divine Image, he will constantly abide in the bliss of His presence, feeling that all forms are from Him and all actions are His accomplishment. And with such contemplation, the time will come when the worshiper will lose sight of all those things of which he can be clearly aware. He will find himself in an area of ​​emotional uncertainty and will be drawn to the contemplation of more familiar images; but he must restrain himself and keep the fire of his feelings, striving at the same time to grasp what may seem to him an emptiness containing the most exalted cognition of the Divine.

Another form of contemplation, held in high esteem in the school of the great Sri Shankaracharya, is the contemplation of one's own true nature. Look at your body and take apart its individual parts. Look at your hand; look at it intently, as if it were a completely separate form, until it becomes clear to you "that such a thing cannot be otherwise." Apply the same thought to any part of the body you like. Look in the mirror at your eyes and realize that they and you are not the same. Subject and object can never be the same, and I am the knower, the subject, not the knowable form. What are you in this case? The invisible soul who uses this aggregate called the body? Start watching the soul as you have watched the body. You have found that you are not a hand, not a finger, not an eye. Can you see yourself as anger, fear, trust, doubt, kindness, reverence, pride, or any other manifestation of the soul? Can you find yourself in the various properties of the mind or perception, or in the faculty of discernment? Of course not. These are only those elements that combine to make up the soul, and therefore this soul cannot be myself. The soul is only an aggregate, a collection of objective properties, something separable from me, and not myself. I look at her from above, and I know that this is not me.

Where, then, does the concept of individuality come from? Am I this person, this John Smith or this Lord Whipten? Of course not; it is nothing more than a grouping of associations, which I temporarily use, having gathered these associations around me and locked myself in them through a long series of misconceptions. No one but myself can talk about me, can not praise or condemn me; others know only this outer thing. And if in the past I was in love with this body and this soul, if they turned my head, like Narcissus in love with his image reflected in the water, it does not at all follow that I should have continued my error forever.

What will be your "I" when you remove all its temporary external covers? This question can only be answered by each one for himself when he cognizes his own inner nature, discarding the outer layer by layer, breaking the shell to find the inner core.

There is an erroneous assumption that as this inner self-seeking proceeds, the seeker's own nature becomes more and more indeterminate. Such a thought comes from the false idea that only the physical body is full of fire and only in it the source of the wine of life beats, while the internal is both cold and empty. Some philosophers have even dared to say that they cannot find themselves apart from their bodily sensations, but this is the same as saying that one cannot be awake in the body without experiencing some sensitivity in it, which is no doubt true. But it is possible for a time to lose sight of the very existence of the body and to feel oneself as something outside it, something independent of it.

What will be the results of this denial of our identity with our outer body and our mind? What will be the consequence of realizing that our mind, with all its contents, is only an instrument that we use, and not ourselves at all? Could this mean that the inner man is becoming more and more disattributed - immobile, powerless, unloving, ignorant? No, in this search for yourself, you do not shed attributes, but limitations. The soul is faster and freer than the body, and above it stands the spirit, which is even freer and faster. Love is more possible in the silence of the heart than in any outward expression, but the same love in a spirit that transcends the soul is a divine certainty. Reason and discernment constantly correct the fragmentary indications of the senses, while the guidance of the spirit discerns the truth without the help of the organs and without the help of the mind.

AFTERWORD

If you said "I want," then choose what you want to have, and the closer your choice is to the heart of the Great Law, the sooner you will succeed. Let your imagination run wild and imagine the freedom, power, love and knowledge that you will have. The flash of lightning will be your chariot, the splendor of the Sun your garment, and the thunder of the spheres your voice. The most divine knowledge will be your food, and the ethereal blue your dwelling. The fortress of the mountains, the strength of the storm, the power of the ocean, the beauty of the sunrise, the jubilation of the midday sun, the freedom of the wind, the tenderness of flowers, the silence of evening twilight and the purity of eternal snows will belong to you.

Maybe you say it's crazy? This is not true. It is true that you cannot achieve this in one short life of fifty years. Common sense dictates that one lifetime cannot be enough for such an accomplishment. You need to start by believing in your own immortality, then realizing that the future is full of boundless greatness, full of achievements far beyond the wildest imaginings, and that these achievements are your present choice. Death is only a passing episode in our eternal life. Through its gates, we go out just as a convalescent, rising from the bed of illness, goes out into the light of the sun. If we focus our desires on the superhuman, then we will achieve it. If our dreams concern earthly life, then they will come true in our new incarnations. Believe in your immortality, give wings to your imagination, say "all this is within my reach, I want to achieve this" and success will come sooner than you expect. It is possible that this will take several millennia, but is it really possible to be afraid of this? If you are afraid, it means that you did not want, but only desired, for if you wanted, you would know that the achievement is inevitable, and therefore just as sure as if it were already there. Direct your thought to your ideal, and it will come, and in the light of this certainty, everything that happens to us in the interval between the present and that bright future is of no importance, just as the road along which we will go to this great goals.

Appendix

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE PROCESS OF CONTEMPLATION

Let us make a clear distinction between modes of cognition and knowledge itself. Speech is a way of knowing. When we label facts in satisfactory terms, we think we know them. But words are only a lower vehicle of knowledge, a substitute for facts, like algebraic signs: at best, they only hint at the concept, but cannot replace them, and they must be transcended as we come closer to the actual knowledge of the relations between objects. All the forms that we see and that we can see with our eyes are only an imperfect way of knowing, and in time it will give way to a more perfect one. This, however, does not mean that real knowledge is less definite than that which is embodied in words, although this may seem to one who approaches the question with a metaphysical argument, but it certainly appears otherwise to one who reaches sight by a direct path of inner contemplation. This process of contemplation, we repeat, consists in a gradual transition from the cognition of the grosser to the cognition of the finer qualities of things, without losing vivacity, brightness and precision, or, in short, without losing the certainty of external experience.

The key to success at each step of the exercise can be summed up in a few words: stifle the lower activities while maintaining a full surge of conscious energy. First, the lower consciousness must become strong and alive, then its activity must be suppressed, and the striving acquired at the same time must be applied to the exercise and development of the higher inner faculties. Let us pause and see what activities of the mind are to be transcended. They constitute what within us observes, recognizes, classifies, connects and reasons. This something distinguishes the difference between objects; it finds their common characteristics and classifies them; it deduces the relationship between them and conducts its reasoning from the visible to the invisible, from the present to the past and the future; it is conscious of objects as things familiar to and connected with it, affecting it and being influenced by it. Its general purpose is to decide how best to act in order to achieve the desires, and how to choose between the desires themselves.

If it were possible for all desires to meet their fulfillment immediately, then there would be no desires at all, because desire exists only until its goal is achieved and it dies at the moment of its complete satisfaction. Suppose that in the course of evolution action would never encounter obstacles, then no desire would appear in our world, because desire would not be able to choose among various actions. Desires and emotions grow and strengthen when the action, heading towards the object, encounters an obstacle to its desire. Thus, desire is connected with the selection of activities, but in the course of evolution the highest authority comes forward and, in turn, begins to make a selection of desires. Desires and emotions multiply to such an extent that a struggle arises between them, since they cannot all be satisfied at the same time. And then each presents its rights before the intellect, and with the help of thought, a person begins to choose those of them that are desirable, moving them away from those that are undesirable. Thus, with the suspension of desires, mental activities increase and multiply.

The ancient teachers of Yoga take their reasoning a step further and testify that when the actions of the thinking mind are curbed by the active will, a person finds himself in a new state of consciousness, which transcends ordinary thinking and chooses between thoughts just as thought surpasses desires and chooses between them, and how desires, in turn, impel to certain actions and efforts. This higher state of consciousness cannot be described in terms of the lower consciousness, but the attainment of this state leads to the fact that a person begins to recognize himself as something that has risen above his mind, even if his mental activity continues as before.

The thought-suspension exercise should be applied to all departments of the mind. Disassemble carefully the analytical faculty of the mind. How do we analyze? Through comparison, noticing points of similarity and difference. But in order to distinguish any thing completely, its comparison with all others is required; and since it applies equally to all things, modern discrimination sees the same thing in everything to which it turns, and as a result, the difference between things begins to disappear. Analysis is abolished by analysis. And again, in the process of events, there is the "what", "where" and "when" of every thing, and since all things are in the same conditions, special causality disappears. We really are rushing through space, both mentally and physically, on a ball that itself has neither a base nor a support. Both mental and physical forms of existence, as they are understood by a normal person, are one huge, mutually contradictory delusion.

The concept of the object of contemplation as something outside of me that I observe is the same delusion. There is no limit or bar where "I" ends and "this" begins. The distinction between subject and object disappears when we realize that they are only two ends of the same stick, or that the "I" is the immutable, unchanging witness of all changes and changes within oneself.

There is another state, or rather, another living understanding of life beyond the mind with its labored course of recognition, with its comparisons and causal relations between objects. This highest state is attainable only when the activities of consciousness, with all their earthly fervor and energy, are transferred beyond the limits of the groping cave life, where these activities normally reside. This higher consciousness will sooner or later be the property of all people; and when it comes to any of us, then our whole life seems to us suddenly changed. We will no longer be shaken by the idea of ​​eternal life in the ever-changing conditions of time; we will no longer be disturbed by the fearful possibility of eternal rest in unchangeability; for all these are but the representations of a small mind applying its paltry standards to the boundless light of the divine life. No, we will achieve that insight which makes everything clear and reveals that unshakable rock on which all things have their secure foundation.

We all know perfectly well that the better the activity is prepared, the more effective it is.

This is so banal that it seems there is nothing to discuss here.

Of course, everyone knows that preparation is the basis of success.

However, surprisingly, in life, for some reason, we do not apply this rule. Most often, we underestimate training, neglect it because of laziness or out of ignorance. And so our activity becomes NOT SUCCESSFUL.

However, it would not be scary if we drew a conclusion from the failures and next time tried to fix everything. However, this usually does not happen, so each new attempt starts again WITHOUT preparations, and ends again FAILURE.

Therefore, a fat person can try to lose weight 5-10-50 times, but never lose weight.

Therefore, a smoker may try 5-10-50 times to quit smoking, but never quit.

Therefore, an athlete can try to improve his result 5-10-50 times, but never achieve the desired.

The basis of these chronic failures is the same - the lack of NEEDED preparation.

Many of those involved in physical education have erroneous presentation of preparation for the exercise. And it's not their fault - this is how they were taught to prepare for the beginning of the exercises in physical education classes at school.

What do you usually do to prepare your body for exercise?

Sometimes they don’t do anything at all, but immediately climb onto the exercise bike and start pedaling.

At best, they do a general warm-up - wave your arms and legs, turn your head and pelvis, etc ...

This is an erroneous approach, because MAIN the starting point for any activity is CONCENTRATION on her.

Without concentration, any attempt to do something will obviously be ineffective.

Concentration before the start is the key.

I use the word KEY“because it's really KEY to achieve a result. Those who do not use this key are trying to break through the closed door, wasting a huge amount of energy and emotions on fruitless attempts, while earning neurosis and disbelief in their own strength.

Those who use this key calmly achieve results without unnecessary fuss and hassle.

Focus is made up of TWO phases:

- mental representation of the future action;

- determination of the moment of readiness for the beginning of the action.

Sports psychologists have shown that each of these phases corresponds to its own special bio-electrical activity of the cerebral cortex, which affects the entire body.

The first phase of concentration is mental reproduction of the exercise.

When the future exercise is played in the mind, the nerve centers and muscles are excited in exact accordance with the program of the future action.

Outwardly, a person seems to remain motionless, but his muscle tone rises exactly where it is needed, which will even more effectively prepare him for activity than the usual general physical culture warm-up (which, of course, should not be neglected either).

Psychologists have proven a direct relationship between the clarity of ideas and sports results.

Here is how the Olympic swimming champion G. Stepanova talks about it: “Before the start, I concentrate, distract myself from everything and mentally swim; and how vividly I manage to present my every turn, every technical detail, the result is so good.

The same is said by other athletes of the highest class - champions in shooting, weightlifting, high jumping, diving, wrestling, basketball, etc.

Athletes who have mastered this method often use it even INSTEAD OF regular warm-up - it turned out that the way of mentally working out the movement warms up and prepares the muscles of the body no worse than a regular warm-up.

Such a warm-up even got its own special name - ideomotor training.

It certainly looks impressive. For example, a weightlifter imagining a heavy lift may sweat profusely, so much so that the shirt can be squeezed out. At the same time, outwardly, he remains completely motionless.

It has been experimentally established that in order to obtain an optimal result, short exercises should be mentally represented 3-4 times, and long exercises - once.

What is very important, concentration focuses the attention of the athlete, unnecessary signals and distracting information cease to enter the consciousness. The necessary dominant is excited, which leads to selective sensitivity - now the subconscious mind automatically selects only the necessary one from the entire array of incoming information, aimed at achieving the goal.

Everything that is not relevant to the goal will be weeded out. Everything related to the achievement of the goal will be strengthened.

This condition is known to many and is usually described by the words " as if God helps“when it seems that everything you need suddenly comes across; in some random meeting, exactly the information that is urgently needed at the moment is suddenly recognized; all the necessary events are so timely that it seems as if someone is pushing us to success.

This state is a property concentrated attention, which automatically cuts out the excess and highlights the right one.

Being able scattered attention we would not have noticed the success that suddenly came across; in a random meeting, they would have missed the necessary information; would not want to bother using the events taking place around.

Should be very CAREFULLY relate to the moment of concentration. (By the way, often some not very competent coaches with their “pumps” before the start prevent the athlete from concentrating, which means they sharply worsen the athlete’s performance.)

However, it should be noted that concentration does not have to be long-term. It should be optimal. It is noticed that the concentration time decreases with the growth of sportsmanship.

In addition, as a study of shooting athletes has shown, too much concentration can negatively affect the result.

The second phase of concentration is the choice of the moment of the beginning of activity.

The figurative representation of the activity, playing it in the mind, ends with a special feeling - " a sense of READINESS«.

Sports psychologists conducted a study, the results of which are very revealing. In the course of this study, athletes performed the same exercises in two states - having previously reached a "sense of readiness" and not having previously reached a "sense of readiness".

In the first case (i.e., having achieved a “feeling of readiness”), they successfully completed the action in 95.5%

In the second case, only 13.3%.

As can be seen, the preliminary achievement sense of readiness makes success virtually guaranteed. However, how often in our lives do we begin our activities in a “state of readiness”?

Let's be honest - RARELY. Some of us at all NEVER IN LIFE did not bother before starting any of their activities to bring their psyche into " state of readiness". Is it worth it after this to be surprised that the results of such activities are not impressive.

What is a "sense of readiness"? This feeling UNITY, cheerful composure, joyful concentration of both body and psyche.

Each athlete describes this feeling differently.

Someone will say that he “caught courage”, someone that “lightness and ringing in the muscles” appeared, someone will call it “delight” or “inspiration”, the swimmer will say that the body “became streamlined and sliding”, the shooter will say that "the barrel itself follows the target."

There are many names, but one thing in common is the indivisibility of this feeling. It is impossible to say that something is more ready and something is less ready.

The state of readiness is when everything in a person is ready - the body, attention, emotions. And such a state needs to be purposefully trained daily.

It is important to note one feature - What is the connection between “a sense of readiness” and positive emotions, with joy.

I want to give one impressive example that explains this connection.

English football club Sunderland lost 10 games in a row when he took over Bob Stock. After his arrival, the club won 10 matches in a row and sensationally won the FA Cup.

Answering numerous questions regarding the "recipe for success" Bob Stock said the following: “It's all so simple. The secret of high achievements, in my opinion, lies in good mood. So I try to make it my pets have always been on the level. If I am unable to do so, I I resort to the help of people for whom this is a profession. A team that is in a good mood is almost impossible to beat."

So, figurative representations and good mood lead to a special “sense of readiness”, which leads to victory.

I would like to quote our illustrious hockey coach A.V. Tarasova, who saw the reason for the amazing psychological stability of the players of the Soviet team in the fact that our hockey players "know how to train a lot and funny. Luck - it comes to the strong. And to people who smile. The only way!".

You might get the impression that at the moment I'm talking about sports.

But it's not.

Sport is just a good explanatory example, but what I'm really talking about is ANY activity, about achieving any result, for example, about losing weight, in particular about taking my course "Slimming".

What needs to be done in order to complete this course most effectively?

Need daily GET READY to complete the tasks outlined in the course.

No need to strive to complete in a day ALL tasks of the week or month.

Try to start with just ONE any task.

And you need to start with GET PREPARED to complete the selected task with FOCUS.

Because the process of concentration consists of two phases, then it is these two phases that you need to go through BEFORE how to start any task.

The first phase - phase of figurative representations- It's better to go in the morning. Mentally imagine how you will perform the selected task during the day in various familiar situations (at home, at work, on the road, etc.) - what and how you will do, what and how you will react, what to ignore, etc.

Daily mental representation of the course tasks will allow you to do the right thing in reality, because. emerging everyday situations will no longer be unexpected for you, you will be ready for them, and as a result, paradoxically, they will not interfere, but help the completion of the course tasks. What used to prevent you from losing weight, knocked down and distracted, will now help.

The second phase - readiness phase- you can pass both in the morning and during the day before completing each task. However, I will not dwell on this in detail, because. some course assignments are just options for passing this phase.

So, let us remember that if we want to succeed in any activity, then we must definitely prepare for it with the help of correct concentration. This with a probability of 95.5% will achieve the desired result.

Concentration. Ernest Wood. Do you wish to be successful in life? Are you willing to take action to ensure that success is yours? Do you want to make a choice and say to yourself: I want to be rich; I want to be famous; I want to be virtuous. Let your imagination roam unhindered around your chosen thought and watch as this aerial hope gradually turns into a real possibility. Give free play to your imagination, because more beautiful than any picture painted by the imagination will be the future to which a person with a strong will is entitled. Having drawn in your imagination what you have chosen, say to yourself: I want. And there is nothing on earth, or in heaven, or in the waters or under the earth, that could hinder you for a long time, for you are immortal and all the future is obedient to you.

Read Concentration book online

SUCCESS IN LIFE

Do you wish to be successful in life? Are you willing to take action to ensure that success is yours? Do you want to make a choice and say to yourself: I want to be rich; I want to be famous; I want to be virtuous. Let your imagination roam unhindered around your chosen thought and watch as this aerial hope gradually turns into a real possibility. Give free play to your imagination, because more beautiful than any picture painted by the imagination will be the future to which a person with a strong will is entitled. Having drawn in your imagination what you have chosen, say to yourself: I want. And there is nothing on earth, or in heaven, or in the waters or under the earth, that could hinder you for a long time, for you are immortal and all the future is obedient to you.

Perhaps you will say that death will block your path? It will not happen. Will you say that poverty or illness or friends can become a hindrance to you? It will not happen. It is only necessary to make a choice and then never want anything again. You must not wish, but say "I want", and really want, constantly, in thoughts and actions, and not just in words. And from now on, never for a minute should you change your goal, directing everything that you will come into contact with from now on on the way to it. And then, if only the chosen goal is not harmful, it will be achieved by you in the near future.

Are you talking about the insignificance of a person lost in the bends of a huge mother earth, which itself, in turn, is just a speck of dust in the midst of infinite space? This is not true. You talk about weakness and fatigue, about madness, about the pleasures and accidents of life - how they limit and oppress the little person. This is not true. The body is just clothes, and the senses are just holes in the body cover, and when the body is calm, and the feelings are obedient and the mind contemplates your immortal possibilities, then a window opens inside you and through it you see and know that you can become only what you yourself are. want to be, and nothing else.

Like a tiny seed buried in the earth, which bursts forth a tender sprout that breaks through the earth to enter the expanse of the outer air, just as it becomes a mighty oak that sows the earth with its offspring, or like a large banyan tree that comes from a small seed and spreading its branches over the boundless space to give welfare and shelter to thousands of beings, so you too will throw out from yourself from now on the first tender but definite sprout of will and choose what exactly you want to be.

What will you choose? Do you want power? In that case, let others have more freedom and more power, because you want it for yourself. Do you want knowledge? Then let others become wiser, because you have chosen wisdom. Do you want love? Then let others enjoy love, since you yourself can give so much. Thus, your will will be in harmony with the Great Will and with the Great Law, and your life will be one with the Great Life, without which lasting success is impossible. What will be your funds? Everything that gets in your way, both small and great; for there is nothing that cannot be applied to your end. But again, may all the people and all the things that will serve you benefit from this service. In this way, your luck will become theirs, and the Great Law will be upheld.

But whatever you choose, one thing is needed everywhere and always - this is the concentration of intention, thought, feeling and action, so that, like a powerful magnet, this concentration can polarize everything that will meet on your path. In all the tasks of life, this is necessary for good luck. All people who have succeeded in business, in social or political life, in art, in science and philosophy, in power and virtue, - all of them were distinguished by a steady constancy of purpose and power over their thought, although many of them neglected the Great Law. Has it not always been so before, is it not the same thing that is repeated now, and will it not be the same in the future, that insofar as the progress of a person depends on himself, it is achieved only by systematic and steady activity, control over desires and concentration of thought, without which progress is unattainable? Re-read the biographies and philosophies of important people of all types, and you will find the same fact in all of them. The Epicurean of ancient times focused his thought on the present and tried to live in harmony with natural laws. He did not allow his mind to dwell on the past with regret or fear for the future. The Stoic focused his attention on objects within his sphere of influence, refusing to distract himself with anything that went beyond the limits of his power and purpose and waste his thoughts and feelings in vain. The Platonist sought to focus his mind on reverent exploration of the mysteries of life. Patanjali, the great teacher of Hindu Yoga, certifies that man can reach his true state only through the successful exercise of complete mastery over his mind. A devout ascetic, filling his life and everything around him with rites and symbols, and constantly repeating in his mind the names of God, strives to evoke ever stronger pious feelings in his soul. A person who succeeds in the sciences is so focused on his goal that he draws knowledge from the most insignificant objects that come across his path. Such is the power of thought that with its help all things can be directed to the intended goal, and such is the power of man that he can subordinate the very power of thought to his will.

Don't we know that indecision, excitement, restlessness and vanity give rise to physical suffering, weakness, indigestion and insomnia? Even under these minor circumstances, regular exercise in mind control in its simplest form works like magical healing. This is the best way to get rid of envy, jealousy, annoyance, discontent, delusion, self-deception, pride, anger and fear. Without control of the mind, it is impossible to undertake character building; with it, success is guaranteed. Successful study of anything depends on mental concentration, and constant exercise in such concentration greatly increases the reproductive capacity of memory.

Mrs. A. Besant describes the great efforts and successes achieved in the concentration of thought in these words:

"The practitioner should begin with great restraint in everything and strive to maintain an even and bright mood of mind; his life should be pure and his thoughts chaste, his body should be in complete submission to the soul, and his mind should be concentrated on noble and sublime subjects; he should manifest compassion, sympathy, willingness to help others and at the same time be indifferent to personal troubles and difficulties, he must develop courage, steadfastness and reverence. time along a certain line of thought, he must then begin to train it more rigorously by daily exercise in concentrating on some difficult or abstract topic or lofty object of reverent reverence. , neither feelings nor the mind itself. The mind must be brought to unshakable stability and calmness until it gradually learns to withdraw its attention from the external world and from its body so that the senses are silent, and then the mind will be ready to direct with all the force of its energy concentrated inside to a certain center of thought. , the highest it can rise to. When the mind can hold itself relatively loose in this way, then it is ready for the next step; by a strong and at the same time calm effort of the will, he can rise above the highest thought accessible to the physical mind, and in this effort he can merge with the Higher Consciousness, freeing himself at the same time from the physical body.

You can read more about this higher life beyond the brain in the valuable theosophical books of Mrs. Besant. Thus, this life opens before man endless prospects of knowledge and power, completely unimaginable for the limited ideas of the brain. If you achieve spiritual life through reverent love, you will again meet the same need to focus on one goal. In one ancient scripture it is said that a pious person should see God in everything and everything in God. Whatever you do, whether you eat, whether you offer sacrifice, whether you give or strive for anything, do everything as an offering to Him. Only one who has attained concentration can do this. And then what else can he need, since he always contemplates the face of his Father? And for those who knock at the gates of the Holy Path, we find in the recently published book "At the Feet of the Master" an indication that the seeker must achieve concentration and control of the mind.