By Remez Sasson
What is concentration? What do you know about it?
Concentration is the ability to direct one’s attention in accordance with one’s will. It means control of the attention. It is the ability to focus the mind on one subject, object or thought, and at the same time exclude from the mind every other unrelated thoughts, ideas, feelings and sensations.
It also means the ability to do one thing at a time, instead of jumping from one subject to another and losing attention, time, and energy.
Concentration is a state, in which one’s whole attention is engrossed in one thing only, and being oblivious to everything else. During concentration, the mind focuses on the object of concentration, and only one thought occupies the mind. The whole energy of the mind becomes concentrated on this one thought.
The ability to command the mind and control the attention is not common, and requires training. Most people lack the ability to control their attention and focus the mind exclusively on one subject for any length of time. They can’t command their mind to concentrate, whenever they want to. However, concentration is not uncommon activity. It happens almost everyday, to almost everyone, but it is more of a spontaneous and uncontrolled ability.
It is a habit of the mind to wander. What happens when you sit quietly for a few minutes trying to think about something, or just sit down to relax? Next time you do this, try to watch your mind, and you will discover that it flits around like a butterfly, going from one thought to another.
“The word Attention is derived from two Latin words “ad tendere,” meaning “to stretch toward,” which is really what attention is. The “I” wills that the mind be focused on some particular object or thing, and the mind obeys and “stretches toward” that object or thing, focusing its entire energy upon it, observing every detail, dissecting, analyzing, consciously and sub-consciously, drawing to itself every possible bit of information regarding it, both from within and from without. We cannot lay too much stress upon the acquirement of this great faculty, or rather, the development of it, for it is necessary for the intelligent study of Raja Yoga.”
