The Secret of Concentration

All of us want to be successful in no matter what we are doing, and in order to gain success, there are some basic formulas that we must abide by. Well, I am sure at this point you must be wondering why I am talking about success in a spiritual blog, well actually whether or not we agree to it, all of us are kind of running towards success, wouldn’t you agree?

And that includes a spiritual person too, as he makes a lot of effort too towards controlling his mind so that he can meditate peacefully and ascend the stairs of spirituality. For him, success wouldn’t mean anything else other than concentrating or just focussing deeply on his subjects. 

Psychologists say that a normal person can process up to 26 bits of information per second, and out of that, he cannot really put the whole of 26 bits to work, as there are other things to distract him like background noise, the environment, external matters, and the like. However, there are people who can do that, and they are said to be the ones who have the highest levels of concentration - you would find some of these habits in the hermits, researchers, scientists and scholars. 

I was just reading this anecdote that was shared by a scholar, where he was talking about another scholar who was teaching maths to young students, and the class had just dispersed for tea. The former scholar enquired that he didn’t see him (the latter scholar) for lunch. The latter was taken aback hearing this and said that he had totally forgotten that he had to have lunch. 

Later the former scholar explained that such was the power of concentration and dedication of the scholar that to him nothing outside his work mattered. The Indian religious scriptures often tell us to do whatever we are doing with the fullest possible attention and dedication till we reach the point that whatever our art is, it becomes effortless. 

Let me narrate another anecdote here - once Swami Vivekananda was meditating under a tree, and one of his brother disciples spotted something black near his face, he got curious and when he went closer to the Swami he saw that the Swami’s face was surrounded by mosquitoes which looked black from the distance. 

Such was the power of concentration. There are many modern physicists who say that they can solve any problem no matter how hard it is through the power of focus, which means that they think of the problem so deeply that their contemplation gives rise to solutions, and that comes from within. 

So, if you are still wondering why things aren’t going your way despite numerous efforts from your end, you have to sit back, take out the time to understand the way in which things work, devise a strategy that works best for you and then move ahead. The experts say that everyone on earth can achieve this, and you and I are no different, with a little practice and dedication we’ll get there soon. Of this, I am fairly certain.

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