University of Wyoming; Laramie, Wyoming, USA

23 April 1974

Dear seekers, I wish to give a short talk on concentration. In the spiritual life
concentration is of paramount importance. Without concentration we cannot
make any satisfactory progress With concentration we can run like a deer.
Concentration accelerates our progress towards the Golden Beyond.
Concentration in the physical is attention.
Concentration in the vital is penetration.
Concentration in the mind is observation.
Concentration in the heart is assimilation.
Concentration in the soul is illumination.
Concentration in God is perfection.
Concentration is a seeker’s capacity. His capacity is reality, his reality is
divinity and his divinity is Immortality.
Concentration is the connecting link between man’s aspiration and God’s
Compassion, between earth’s excruciating pangs and Heaven’s liberating Smile.
Concentration is at once the power of rejection and the power of acceptance.
A seeker, on the strength of his concentration, rejects the superficial bodysubstance.
On the strength of his concentration, the seeker accepts the inner soulessence.
Concentration is the seeker’s unfailing companion. It is the seeker’s
commanding captain and his illumining liberator.
In the morning, when we concentrate on God, we come to realise where God
is: God is in the inmost recesses of our hearts. In the afternoon, when we
concentrate on God, we come to learn why God exists: He exists precisely for our
satisfaction. In the evening, when we concentrate on God, we come to learn who
God actually is: God is our unrealised depth; God is our unmanifested height.
Concentration is at once the evolving man’s triumphant success and the
manifesting God’s continuous progress here on earth and there in Heaven. Man
concentrates on God. He fights against his teeming doubts and brooding ignorance;
therefore, he is a divine hero-warrior. God concentrates on man. In spite of
knowing man’s weaknesses, imperfections, limitations and ignorance-night, God
concentrates on man with His infinite Love, eternal Compassion and immortal
Life; therefore, God is the Supreme Lover.
When we concentrate on the past, the past awakens our sympathy, our
concern, our love for our old life. But a seeker of the highest Truth says that the
past is dust. He says so precisely because he sees that the past has not given him
God-realisation, so he feels that the past is of no avail. But again, the seeker feels
that he needs a solid foundation. If the past had something special to offer him
and if he still carries that momentous, precious wealth, then that wealth adds to
his present capacity.
When this same seeker concentrates on the present, if he has a free access to
his heart and soul, then his spiritual journey is safe. But if he still remains most
of the time in his mind—his doubting, suspicious mind, his earth-bound physical
mind—then this seeker is suspected by the present itself. The present questions
his motives for meditating on the present. The present examines his sincerity to
see if he really wants to see the face of Reality in the heart of the present.
Finally, the seeker concentrates on the golden future. This future is in the
immediacy of today’s aspiration and tomorrow’s realisation. The future tells the
seeker that in today’s heart God is his Dream-boat, and in tomorrow’s heart God
will be his Reality-shore.
Concentration has two brothers: meditation and contemplation. Concentration
paves the way for the seeker to walk along the path. This path is sunlit, for concentration
does not permit any shadow of doubt, any iota of thought to enter in
as we proceed to our Transcendental Goal. Meditation makes our mind calm and
quiet and empties our heart so that the Inner Pilot can have free access to His
Throne. Contemplation tells the seeker to play the Cosmic Game together with
the Supreme Pilot. Concentration is the first rung on the ladder of highest
realisation. Meditation is the second rung on the ladder of highest realisation.
Contemplation is the last rung on the ladder of highest, supreme realisation.
Each seeker has a specific way to concentrate. Each seeker has a specific thing
to concentrate on. Each seeker has a specific way to offer his concentration-power
to the world at large, to aspiring humanity. Each seeker has the power of concentration
to give constant, dedicated, devoted and unconditional service to God.