18. The Art of Concentration A teacher was once teaching with great interest a tough topic.

At the end of his lecture, he asked the students, Did it enter ? one student promptly answered, only the tail is left out, It took one long minute to understand what he said. The teacher meant, Did my teaching enter your brains? The student who was watching a rat struggling to enter a small hole meant, the body has entered, but the tail of the rat is left out. This episode shows us students do ha e concentration, but not on the essential! The irony of life is " they should learn a lesson #$ times and watch %if at all& a mo ie once, but they do the re erse. They learn a lesson once and lea e it to its fate. They watch a mo ie #$ ten times till they can repeat e ery scene, e ery dialogue wonderfully well. ' en if they are studying, their mind goes back to the interesting scenes in the mo ie. Do they think of a mathematical formula when they watch a mo ie? (f course not! )here lies the problem? In oneself! *ord +rishna proclaims in the ,hagad -ita .ato .ato nischarati manaschanchala mastiram Tatastato niyamaita datmanye a asam nayet %/"0/& The mind which is restless and fleeting should be brought back from the ob1ects it is interested in2 it should be counseled and should make to concentrate on atma 3nana. This is meant for a 4adhaka practicing Dhyana to seek 5oksha. -od has already e6plained 3nana Dhyanam 7isistate. Dhyana is thousand times better than theoretical knowledge. The ways and means of Dhyana prescribed can be e6tended to the ways and means of concentration to student to reach his goal. #. 4uchoudese " A student should select a clean en ironment. A congenial atmosphere plays an important role. If the student has 4hah 8ukh +hans photo or Aiswarya 8oys poster in his room, e en as he starts studying he looks at him9her and is lost in the mo ies he has seen of him9her. 4o the room should contain books and some good poster with moti ating captions or :uotations. 0. 8ahasistala " A student should select a lonely place to study. 'k ;iran1an, Do -adabid is the saying. <ombined studies will not help. They are more interested in what the others are doing or they start talking. A student may not go for combined study but still he sits in the main hall, in the midst of the family and studies. Thats wrong again. =e is not studying for publicity sake. =e is studying to seek knowledge. 4o he should seek a lonely place where he can carry on his work undisturbed. >. 4tira sukha asanam " A student should sit in con enient, comfortable

position when he seeks to study. The place of study should not be too high or low. =is body, neck and head should be in one perpendicular line while he studies. The energy flows from the lower le el to the higher part then. +rishna said, 4amam +aya 4iro -ree am. If the body, neck and head are not in one straight line, the energy cannot flow. 4o he should not lie down and read or sit in a reclining pose. ?. *alayeth <hitabalakam " A student may ha e e ery intention of studying, but he cant concentrate. =is mind fleets at the first opportunity. )hat should he do then? The mind is like a small boy. 3ust as we con ince a small boy, he should con ince his mind to cooperate. If he scolds, it reacts in an angry way. =e should e6plain to the mind, these pleasures deri ed out of watching mo ies, playing games, chatting with friends etc are but temporary pleasures. They bring about my downfall. These three years %especially #$th class and Inter& are crucial years for me. They bring about a turning point in me. They decide my career. 4o let me concentrate on my studies. Dont de iate me from my path. =e should repeatedly send suggestions like that. @. Attistata ! Brapya 7aran nibhodata " ,eware! )ake up and come out of your earthly comforts. The student should lea e his temptations for food, comfort, pleasure and entertainment2 he should continuously counsel his mind and tune it in new line of thought. /. The stage of return " A student may con ince his mind to be good and may try to study well but how long? =e goes back to his old, wild ways at the earliest temptation. ,ut he should not yield. =e should hold it tight and should not fall a prey to his pleasures. (nce a de otee asked 8amakrishna Barama =amsa, CI am not able to concentrate during meditation. )hy dont you find me a way out! CThe saint answered, *ook! 4uppose a dog comes to your house one day and being impressed by it, you offer it food. It keeps coming to your house. At a later date, you are e6ed with it and you want to dri e it away, but it wont lea e you easily. .ou should stop gi ing food and should start beating it till it runs away. The same way, your mind is lured to the pleasures of the sense organs. 4o it will not yield to you easily, but still you should not become its sla e. .ou should not pro ide those comforts. Instead you should attack it with the stick of reasoning. Immediately it will not yield, but continuous practice will get the e6pected results. D. Bratyaahara " A de iation is the only method. )hen the cattle graEe in the neighbouring fields unknowingly, how can we stop that habit? Bro ide better food for them in your own house or field. )hen good food is a ailable at home, why will they graEe outside? The same way, when the mind is after fleeting 1oys, show it the e erlasting 1oy, the permanent bliss. It will ne er

seek the temporary pleasure. If a stray student gets the pleasure of getting good marks and being appreciated, then he will not fall astray. F. 4trong will " There is no opening for cowards in the path of success. 5uscles of iron, ner es of steel and gigantic walls are e6pected of a 4adhaka and of a student. (nly a bold person can face the challenges on the way. )hen 7i ekananda was walking along once, monkeys were chasing him. Then a 4adhu addressed him, Gace the de il. Accordingly 7i ekananda turned back and the monkeys ran away. 4o a student should ha e courage and boldness. H. 4anai 4anai " 4lowly If a student is bold enough, he can control his mind, slowly and slowly. The rope round the neck should be untied slowly. If we make haste, it will cut through the neck. 4o 7airagya should be de eloped in small doses. 4ome 4adhakas get e6isted, lea e e erything at once and take up 4anyasa. They cannot get ad1usted there, nor can they come back home. They are great sufferers. 4o +rishna said, slowly, step by step do the Dhyana. A student, who ne er studied before, should start in small doEes, should study for an hour in the beginning and should slowly increase the timings. #$. .uktahara 7iharasya .ukta <hetasya +armasu " food and rest should be taken in a limited way. Anlimited food and e6cessi e rest bring ill health where as fasting and sleeplessness destroys the body and disables concentration %8efer to article 'at limited food&. 4leep and food are essential factors but they should not be stressed too far. They should be in a moderate le el. To reach the goal of success one re:uires two doctors. They are Doctor Diet and Doctor Iuiet. These are the preliminary arrangements for a 4adhaka on the path of 5oksha. They can be, as illustrated throughout, e6tended to a student in the path of his success. Grom the act of dri ing to act of learning All that you re:uire is the art of concentration. JJJJJ