Chapter 11 - Preliminary Concentration Exercises

Concentration means one-pointedness of mind upon a single object. It is the narrowing of the field of attention.

It is said that Einstein scarcely ever needed pencil and paper in the first instance when solving mathematical problems. His concentration was so good that he could work out his problems in his head and only later would he commit them to paper.

It takes many many hours spread over days and months and maybe years to develop one-pointed concentration. You should exercise your will-power and do your concentration exercises at every available opportunity. If you are really serious, you should spend an hour or more non-stop every day on concentration, in addition to snatches of concentration at all available times of the day. It will pay dividends. After you have achieved one-pointed concentration, nothing will hold you back. You will want to spend more and more time on it.

You can concentrate for a few minutes at a time in any position or posture and in any place, but the best place for longer periods of concentration is in the quietness of your own room.

Sit upright on a chair and place your arms comfortably on the arm rests. Keep your two feet on the ground; you can keep them crossed if you prefer, or your feet can be kept dangling in the air if the chair is high. Keep the body erect. Try different chairs to find out the one you like best.

For long periods of concentration it is better to sit cross-legged in the "Turkish fashion." Sit down on a divan or on the floor with your legs stretched out. Bend your left leg at the knee and place it under the right thigh. Then bend the right leg at the knee and place it under the left leg. The position of the two legs may be reversed, If you are very uncomfortable at the start, sit on a low stool or a book or something 2 or 3 or more inches high.

When sitting cross-legged in the Turkish Fashion with one shin over the other, there may in due course arise some aches and pains where they touch or overlap. A better cross-legged position is where the two shins do not touch at all, but it is difficult at first. When on the floor bend your left leg as usual bringing your left heel towards your body. Maneuver the right leg so that your bent right leg does not touch the bent left leg. This is easy if the junction of the thigh and the shin lies flat on the floor. Actually, if at first this junction is higher than the floor by a few inches, after some months of trying out this posture, one day the junction will lie flat on the floor. At the same time the junction made by your right leg will also lie flat on the floor. The position of the two legs may be reversed.

If you are uncomfortable at the start, you can sit on a book or a low stool some inches high.

Now you can concentrate for hours and hours without cramps and aches due to the touching of the shins.

The cross-legged posture has some calming effects on the body. After sometime your pulse rate will be reduced by as much as 5 to 10 beats, and the respiratory rate will come down to about 14 or 15 times a minute from the usual 18 or l9 or 20. To those very advanced in concentration, the respiratory rate has been known to come down to as little as 5 or 6 a minute.

It is important to keep the body erect. The hands can be placed anywhere where you find it comfortable.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 1

Take up your concentration posture. Breaths naturally, namely, do not force your breathing. Let your Subconscious do the breathing for you.

Now, just be aware of your in-breaths and out-breaths. Or in the alternative be aware of the in-breaths striking the tip of your nose or striking any part of your upper lip (wherever it does strike).

Let there be no conceptual thought at all. Do not think of the past, nor of the future. Just live in the present, aware of the in-breaths and out-breaths.

It is possible that in course of time, the tip of your nose will seem to become a bit hard. You will feel a sensation of hardness at the tip of your nose. You can then concentrate on this sensation of hardness.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 2

When you are occupied in any activity, viz., reading, writing, talking, the idea is to maintain in your marginal zone of consciousness the awareness of the hardness of the tip of your nose.

Your main activity will occupy the focal zone of consciousness but at the same time you must be aware, as mentioned above, in your marginal zone of consciousness.

When you are very much in love, are you not aware of your all-pervading love, though you are occupied with this or that chore, with this activity and that? Your love-awareness is in your marginal zone of consciousness. When you do your concentration exercises, you are concentrating by being aware of your in-breaths and out-breaths in the focal zone of consciousness. In course of time, you will achieve one-pointed concentration for half a minute, then for a minute, then for 5 minutes, then for much longer periods, when you are not aware of anything in your marginal zone of consciousness.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 3

Do one or both of these two arithmetical exercises. Close your eyes and rest them by visualizing black.

NOW ADD AS FOLLOWS :

2 + 2 = 4

4 + 4 = 8

8 + 8 = 16

16 + 16 = 32

32 + 32 = 64

64 + 64 = 128

128 + 128 = 256

256 + 256 = 512

512 + 512 = 1024

1024 + 1024 = 2048

and so on.

THE SECOND EXERCISE IS TO ADD,

3 + 3 = 6

6 + 6 = 12

12 + 12 = 24

24 + 24 = 48

48 + 48 = 96

96 + 96 = 192

192 + 192 = 384

384 + 384 = 768

768 + 768 = 1536

and so on.

You can use your initiative and perform some more arithmetical exercises. For example: 7 + 7 = 14, and so on.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 4

Concentrate on something external to you. Look at a picture or a statue for some seconds and then visualize it in your mind’s eye. Preferably you may wish to visualize a religious picture or statue. Look at the picture or statue again and again and visualize it; keep it up for minutes and minutes.

When you achieve deep concentration by losing consciousness of everything around you for minutes on end, you are making progress.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 5

In this Concentration Exercise you are required to do some forced chest breathing. Breathe fast, in and out. You can adopt long breaths or medium breaths or little breaths. In and out. But the breathing should be rhythmic, namely, the in-breaths and out-breaths should have the same timing, The frequency of respiration per minute may be anything from 100 to 150 or more.

You will find for yourself what is a good frequency of respiration for you. As your body will naturally be shaking because of your forced breathing, this Exercise is not feasible or pleasant when you are in a lying position. The best is the cross-legged position with your body erect, but it can be done when you are sitting in a chair.

People will notice your forced breathing and the shaking of your body and thus it should be done in the privacy of your room.

Carry on for minutes and minutes. The carbonic acid from your blood stream will gradually be reduced causing a gradual increase in alkalinity. If you breathe very hard for a very long time, you may feel a little dizzy, but there is nothing to worry about; you should stop and resume normal breathing for the present.

After starting your forced breathing, concentrate on the impact that your in-breaths and out-breaths make at the entrance of the nose or the upper lip. Be aware of the sensation of impact. Let there be no conceptual thinking, no thinking of the past and no thinking of the future. Just concentrate on the present, namely, be aware of the sensation of impact.

Every time your mind wanders, bring it back with an added burst of breathing. This method of breathing facilitates concentration.

Try the gimmick of short breaths, namely, short in-breaths and short out-breaths, so that the sensation of impact is continuous, For example, a cinema film consists of separate pictures but when projected on the screen at a certain minimum number of pictures per second, the persistence of vision makes you see animated scenes. Similarly, let there be a persistence of the sensation of impact making it a continuous sensation. You focus your mind on this continuous sensation.

Whatever may be your technique of forced breathing, your concentration should become better and better till you achieve one-pointed concentration, at first for half a minute, then a full minute, then for 5 minutes and then for more.

After some time of forced breathing, you consciously change over to calm rhythmic breathing, and then later you are no more aware of your breathing and are just concentrating on the in-breaths and out-breaths on the upper lip, or wherever the impact is.

The period of forced breathing should become less and less as the weeks roll by, and you can move over more quickly into calm rhythmic breathing. But every time your mind wanders, bring it back with an effort of will with the help of a few bursts of forced breathing.

This forced breathing by itself will make you warm physically. You can keep yourself warm by this method. In warmer climates you will begin to perspire and sweat, and you should be careful not to catch a cold with your clothes all wet.

This forced breathing has therapeutic value. You will find that your phlegm is thrown up and you should have a handkerchief or something ready to catch the phlegm. Those with respiratory ailments should try this method from a healing point of view. But more about this in the Appendix on Self-Healing.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 6

In this Exercise you concentrate on sounds external to you. You can close your eyes but it is not an imperative. Or you can perform the Exercise sometimes with your eyes closed and sometimes with your eyes open.

Concentrate on sounds near to you, then on sounds far from you. It is a very interesting Exercise, which you can perform at any place and at any time. Concentrate for minutes on end. Remember that it is a real Exercise and not just a pastime.

You will be surprised after a few weeks how acute your sense of hearing has become and it will have been worth while.

 

Concentration Exercise No. 7

In this Exercise you are to concentrate on smells external to you. It is a matter of choice whether you close your eyes or not, or you may want to close your eyes sometimes and open them sometimes.

Concentrate on smells near to you and on smells far from you. You can do this Exercise wherever you are and at anytime at your convenience. Really concentrate for minutes and minutes, and do not treat it just as a pastime.

After a few weeks your sense of smell will have become more acute and it may be of value to you sometime or other.