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on the ground. Arjuna saw the reflection of the bird in the basin of water and aimed successfully in
hitting at the right eye of the actual bird tied to the post above.
Napoleon also had remarkable power of concentration. It is said that he had full control over
his thoughts. He could draw one thought from a pigeon hole of his brain, dwell on that single
thought as long as he liked and then shove that thought back into that pigeon-hole. He had a peculiar
brain with peculiar pigeon-holes!
When you study a book with profound interest, you do not hear or see a man shouting or
calling you by your name. You do not smell the sweet fragrance of flowers kept on the table by your
side. This is concentration. This is one-pointedness of mind (Chitta-Ekagrata). The mind is fixed
firmly on one thing and one thing only. Such must be the depth and intensity of your concentration,
when you think of God or Atman. It is easy to concentrate the mind on worldly objects because the
mind takes interest in it very naturally through force of habit. The grooves are already cut in the
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PRACTICAL LESSONS IN YOGA
brain. You will have to create new grooves by fixing the mind again and again on God. After
sometime the mind will not move to external objects, for it experiences joy and bliss within.
Some Western psychologists hold: The mind that wanders aimlessly can be made to move
in a small limited circle only, by the practice of concentration. It cannot be fixed on one point only.
If it is fixed on one point only, then inhibition of the mind will take place. There is death for the
mind. Nothing can be achieved when there is inhibition of the mind. So there is no use of inhibiting
the mind. This is not right. Complete control of the mind can be attained, when all the
thought-waves are extirpated thoroughly. The Yogi works wonders by his one-pointedness of
mind. He knows the hidden treasures of the Soul with the help of the mighty all-penetrating
search-light generated by the one-pointedness of mind. After one-pointedness (Ekagrata) is
attained, you have to achieve full restraint (Nirodha). In this state all modifications subside
completely. The mind becomes quite blank. Then the Yogi destroys this blank mind also by
identifying himself with the Supreme Purusha or Soul or Being from whom the mind borrows its
light. Then he obtains Omniscience and final emancipation (Kaivalya). These are matters that are
Greek and Latin to our Western psychologists. Hence they grope in darkness. They have no idea of
the Purusha who witnesses the activities of the mind.
Man is a complex social animal. He is a biological organism and so he is definitely
characterised by the possession of certain physiological functions such as circulation of blood,
digestion, respiration, excretion, etc. He is also definitely characterised by the possession of certain
psychological functions such as thinking, perception, memory, imagination, etc. He sees, thinks,
tastes, smells and feels. Philosophically speaking, he is the image of God, nay he is God himself. He
lost his divine glory by tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree. He can regain his lost divinity by
mental discipline and the practice of concentration.
Exercises
I
Ask your friend to show you some playing cards. Immediately after the exposure, describe
the forms you have seen. Give the number, name, etc., such as club king, spade ten, diamond queen,
heart jack, and so on.
II
Read two or three pages of a book. Then close the book. Now attend to what you have read.
Abandon all distracting thoughts. Focus your attention carefully. Allow the mind to associate,
classify, group, combine and compare. You will get now a fund of knowledge and information on
the subject. Mere skipping over the pages inadvertently is of no use. There are students who read a
book within a few hours. If you ask them to reproduce some important points of the book, they will
simply blink. If you attend to the subject on hand very carefully, you will receive clear, strong
impressions. If the impressions are strong, you will have very good memory.
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CONCENTRATION
III
Sit on your favourite meditative pose about one foot from a watch. Concentrate on the
tik-tik sound slowly. Whenever the mind runs, again and again try to hear the sound. Just see how
long the mind can be fixed continuously on the sound.
IV
Sit again on your favourite Asana. Close your eyes. Close the ears with your thumbs or plug
the ears with wax or cotton. Try to hear the Anahata sounds (mystic sounds). You will hear various
kinds of sounds such as flute, violin, kettledrum, thunder-storm, conch, bells, the humming of a bee,
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