Mental Concentration
MENTAL CONCENTRATION The two principal factors in the
manifestation of Mental Influence, in all of its forms, are what are
known as (1) Concentration, and (2) Mental Imagining. The first of
these factors shall be considered in this chapter, the succeeding
chapter taking up the consideration of the second.
"Concentration" is a word derived from two Latin words, i.e. ,
"con," a prefix meaning "to;" and "centrum," meaning "center" or
"fixed central point." The two words combined mean, literally, "to
bring to a common point; to focus," etc. Thus the word
"Concentration" is seen to mean, literally, "the act or state of
bringing to a fixed point or focus."
Borrowing an analogous illustration from physical science, we
readily see that the highest forms of energy, force or power are
manifested by bringing the force to a focus, center, or common point
thereby directing to that point the entire energy employed, instead
of allowing it to become dissipated over a larger area. The
electricity generated by a battery or dynamo, if allowed to diffuse
itself over a large surface manifests but a small degree of the
power that may be obtained from it by compelling it to discharge
itself from a small point of focus. The same is true regarding the
power of steam, which manifests great power by being forced to
discharge itself through a small point or opening instead of being
permitted to spread itself widely in the air. The same law applies
to gunpowder, which manifests force by its gases being compelled to
escape through the small gun-barrel instead of spreading in all
directions, which it would do if unconfined.
Another familiar example is that of the sunglass, or
"burning-glass," which brings the rays of the sun to a common point
or focus, greatly intensifying the heat and light by reason thereof.
The occult masters have ever impressed upon their pupils the
importance and necessity of acquiring the power of Mental
Concentration and all trained and developed occultists have
practiced and persevered toward this end, the result being that some
of them attained almost miraculous mental powers and influence. All
occult phenomena are caused in this way, and all occult power
depends upon it.
Therefore the student of Mental Influence should devote much
thought, time and practice to this most important branch of the
subject.
It is a fact known to all students of mental phenomena that very
few persons possess more than a very small degree of concentration.
They allow their mental forces to become scattered and dissipated in
all directions, and obtain little or no results from the same. In
the degree that a man is able to concentrate, so is he able to
manifest mental power. A man’s power of mental concentration is to a
great extent his measure of greatness.
Mental Concentration, in practice, consists of focusing the mind
upon a given subject, or object, firmly and fixedly, and then
holding it there for a certain time, fully intent upon its object,
and not allowing itself to be diverted or attracted from its object.
It likewise consists in the correlative power of then detaching the
mind from that subject, or object, and either allowing it to rest,
or else focusing it upon another object. In other words, it either
gives undivided attention or else inhibits (or "shuts off")
attention from the given subject or object.
To the reader who has had no experience along the lines of Mental
Concentration, it may seem like a very easy task to focus the mind
upon a subject, and then hold it there firmly and fixedly. But a
little practice will undeceive such a person and will bring him to a
realizing sense of the difficulty of the task.
The mind is a very restless thing, and its tendency is to dance
from one thing to another, darting here and there, soon tiring of
continued attention, and like a spoiled child, seeking a new object
upon which to exercise itself. On the other hand, many people allow
their minds to concentrate (involuntarily) upon whatever may strike
their fancy, and, forgetting everything else, they give themselves
up to the object attracting their attention for the moment, often
neglecting duties and important interests, and becoming daydreamers
instead of firm thinkers. This involuntary concentration is a thing
to be avoided, for it is the allowing of the attention to escape the
control of the will. The Mental Concentration of the occultists is a
very different thing, and is solely in control of the will, being
applied when desirable and taken off or inhibited when desirable.
The trained occultist will concentrate upon a subject or object
with a wonderful intensity, seemingly completely absorbed in the
subject or object before him, and oblivious to all else in the
world. And yet, the task accomplished or the given time expired, he
will detach his mind from the object and will be perfectly fresh,
watchful and wide-awake to the next matter before him. There is a
difference in being controlled by involuntary attention, which is a
species of self-hypnotizing, and the control of the attention, which
is an evidence of mastery.
The secret of Mental Concentration lies in the control of the
Attention. And the control of the Attention lies in the exercise of
the Will.
A celebrated French psychologist has well said: "The authority is
subject to the superior authority of the Ego. I yield it or I
withhold it as I please. I direct it in turn to several points. I
concentrate it upon each point as long as my will can stand the
effort. Sully says: "Attention may be roughly defined as the active
self-direction of the mind to any object which presents itself at
the moment."
All of the occult authorities begin teaching their pupils
Attention as the first step toward Mental Concentration. They
instruct the pupil to examine some familiar object, and endeavor to
see as many details as possible in the object. Then after hearing
the pupil’s report, the master sends him back to the task, bidding
him seek for new details, and so on until at last the pupil has
discovered about all concerning the object that can be discovered.
The next day a new object is given to him, and the process is
repeated. First simple objects are given, and then more complex
ones, until at last objects of great complexity are easily mastered.
In this way not only is the power of close observation highly
developed, but also the faculty of Attention becomes so highly
strengthened that the pupil is able to exert the greatest amount of
Mental Concentration with scarcely the consciousness of effort. And
such a person then becomes a very giant in the manifestation of
Mental Influence. For he is able to mold his mind "one-pointed," as
the Orientals describe it, until he has focused and directed a
mighty degree of Mental Influence toward the desired object.
Among the practices imposed upon their pupils by occult masters
may be named Mathematics, Drawing, Analysis, etc. You will readily
see why this is. To begin with, Mathematics requires the undivided
attention of the student – unless he concentrates upon his examples,
he will not be able to work out their solution. And, according to
the principle in Nature that "practice makes perfect," and that
"exercise develops power," the practice of the mind along lines
requiring voluntary attention and mental concentration will
inevitably result in the acquirement of the mental control and
power, which renders possible the strongest manifestation of Mental
Influence.
The person who uses Mental Influence must certainly possess the
power of focusing the force to a common point, in order to manifest
the greatest amount of power and influence. And that faculty of
focusing results from the training of the mind along the lines of
Concentration. And Concentration arises from the mastery of
Voluntary Attention. So there you have the whole matter in a
nutshell. So your first step toward acquiring Mental Influence
should be to cultivate Voluntary Attention.
We might fill page after page with exercises designed to
strengthen your faculty of Voluntary Attention, but what would be
the use? The best plan is to set you to work to find something upon
which to concentrate, for the very search will develop attention.
Look around you for some object to study in detail. Then concentrate
your attention upon it until you have seen all there is about it to
be seen, then take up another object and pursue the practice
further. Take a page – this page, if you will, and count the number
of words on it.
Then see how many words are required to fill each line, on an
average; then see how many letters there are in each word, in each
line, on the whole page. Then go over the page and see if any words
are misspelled, or if any of the letters are imperfect, etc. In
short, get acquainted with this page, until you know all about it.
Then take up another page, and after studying it in the same way,
compare the two. And so on. Of course this will be very dry and
tedious unless you take an interest in it. And, remembering just
what the exercise is designed for may arouse this interest. After
practicing this way for a short time each day, you will begin to
find that you are able to bestow greater attention upon objects upon
which you are trying to manifest Mental Influence. You are
developing Concentration, and that is the great secret of the use of
Mental Influence, and explains the difference in its manifestation
among men. Think over this. |