Are you aware of the restlessness of your thoughts? If you watch your mind, you will see that it jumps from one subject to another, never standing still. The mind is always busy, too often with trivialities. One moment you might be thinking one thing, and the next moment thinking about something else. This is a deeply embedded habit that constantly distracts the mind and prevents it from focusing on one thing at a time.

If you wish to succeed in anything, you need to be able to overcome the restlessness of your thoughts. The key to every job well done and to every success is concentration - the ability to focus the mind on one thing.

When there are no restless thoughts - There is inner peace.

In my book, Peace of Mind in Daily life, I have written a short story, illustrating the similarity between the behavior of fish and the behavior of thoughts. It is about a young man who asked a spiritual teacher to help him gain peace of mind. To his amazement, the teacher sent him to the river, to watch the fish swimming in the water.

Here is an excerpt from this story:

After sitting by the river for some time, a revelation suddenly flashed through his mind and he shouted excitedly: “My mind and my thoughts are restless too, exactly like the flock of fish. This is probably what the teacher wanted me to understand.”

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People often ask me questions about meditation and visualization. One common question is, “How to visualize and meditate without words?” Here is a question someone has asked me a few days ago, which is a typical question:

“How can I meditate or visualize without words? My meditations, visualization etc. are always accompanied by explanatory words in my mind, and I find it difficult to remove them.”

It is very common for people to use words when they visualize or meditate. This habit often distracts the mind and disturbs the concentration. Instead of focusing on the subject of visualization or meditation, you constantly find yourself explaining to yourself what you are doing, or thinking about other related or unrelated subjects.

This happens because the mind is constantly active with thinking, comparing, analyzing and commenting on everything it is aware of. It is a deeply embedded habit, and while it is useful for certain activities, visualization, and especially meditation are more effective without it.

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Accepting the idea that you are not the mind is a great step toward mental mastery, better concentration and meditation, and the attainment of inner peace. You realize this idea as a fact, after you develop the ability to focus your mind in accordance with your will. Being able to direct your mind according to your will is a proof that you are not your mind, but something higher and above it.

Concentration and meditation require the ability to focus the mind, otherwise you will be constantly distracted and your mind will move from one thought to another, and that is neither cocentration nor meditation.

By practicing concentration exercises and learning to direct the mind according to your own will, you prove to yourself that you are not the mind. You realize that you are separate from the mind, otherwise how can you master it? It is you, the real you that is directing the mind. The ability to focus the mind or stop its activities in accordance with your will, awakens the understanding that you are not your mind, and this understanding helps both concentration and meditation, and is a great step toward self-realization.

Here is an excerpt from the book ‘Meditation - An Outline for Practical Study by Mouni Sadhu, where he speaks about this subject:

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Do you find it difficult to hold your attention fixed on one subject or thought longer than a few seconds, before getting distracted by other thoughts or sense impressions? There are several obstacles to concentration that everyone faces, but these obstacles can be surmounted.

What are the obstacles to concentration?

# Lack of enough willpower

# Lack of enough self discipline

# Impatience

# Undisciplined mind

# Too much interest in other thoughts

# Physical and mental restlessness

# Lack of understanding of what concentration is

# Inability to sit still

# Ill health

# Lack of motivation to improve the concentration

#  Too much stress and lack of enough rest

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Meditation is a technique for calming down the restlessness of the mind and awakening the spiritual consciousness. Regular practice brings inner peace, happiness and freedom from restless thinking. Meditation also relaxes the body and nerves, relieves stress and frees the mind from anxiety and worry.

In meditation you focus the attention on a certain thought, idea, sound or prayer for a certain amount of time. It usually involves turning the attention inwards, away from the external world, and when the mind wanders away, bringing it back to the meditation.

In it higher forms, meditation aims to free the mind from the subconscious compulsion to think incessantly, develop inner detachment and awaken the awareness of the Spirit within. Its regular practice awakens a new sort of consciousness, peaceful and blissful.

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