The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 6/Lectures and Discourses/Concentration and Breathing
CONCENTRATION AND BREATHING
The main difference between men and the animals is the difference in their power of concentration. All success in any line of work is the result of this. Everybody knows something about concentration. We see its results every day. High achievements in art, music, etc., are the results of concentration. An animal has very little power of concentration. Those who have trained animals find much difficulty in the fact that the animal is constantly forgetting what is told him. He cannot concentrate his mind long upon anything at a time. Herein is the difference between man and the animals—man has the greater power of concentration. The difference in their power of concentration also constitutes the difference between man and man. Compare the lowest with the highest man. The difference is in the degree of concentration. This is the only difference.
Everybody's mind becomes concentrated at times. We all concentrate upon
those things we love, and we love those things upon which we concentrate our
minds. What mother is there that does not love the face of her homeliest
child? That face is to her the most beautiful in the world. She loves it
because she concentrates her mind on it; and if every one could concentrate
his mind on that same face, every one would love it. It would be to all the
most beautiful face. We all concentrate our minds upon those things we love.
When we hear beautiful music, our minds become fastened upon it, and we
cannot take them away. Those who concentrate their minds upon what you call
classical music do not like common music, and vice versa. Music in which the
notes follow each other in rapid succession holds the mind readily. A child
loves lively music, because the rapidity of the notes gives the mind no
chance to wander. A man who likes common music dislikes classical music,
because it is more complicated and requires a greater degree of
concentration to follow it.
The great trouble with such concentrations is that we do not control the
mind; it controls us. Something outside of ourselves, as it were, draws the
mind into it and holds it as long as it chooses. We hear melodious tones or
see a beautiful painting, and the mind is held fast! We cannot take it away.
If I speak to you well upon a subject you like, your mind becomes
concentrated upon what I am saying. I draw your mind away from yourself and
hold it upon the subject in spite of yourself. Thus our attention is held,
our minds are concentrated upon various things, in spite of ourselves. We
cannot help it.
Now the question is: Can this concentration be developed, and can we become
masters of it? The Yogis say, yes. The Yogis say that we can get perfect
control of the mind. On the ethical side there is danger in the development
of the power of concentration—the danger of concentrating the mind upon an
object and then being unable to detach it at will. This state causes great
suffering. Almost all our suffering is caused by our not having the power of
detachment. So along with the development of concentration we must develop
the power of detachment. We must learn not only to attach the mind to one
thing exclusively, but also to detach it at a moment's notice and place it
upon something else. These two should be developed together to make it safe.
This is the systematic development of the mind. To me the very essence of
education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts. If I had to
do my education over again, and had any voice in the matter, I would not
study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and
detachment, and then with a perfect instrument I could collect facts at
will. Side by side, in the child, should be developed the power of
concentration and detachment.
My development has been one-sided all along I developed concentration
without the power of detaching my mind at will; and the most intense
suffering of my life has been due to this. Now I have the power of
detachment, but I had to learn it in later life.
We should put our minds on things; they should not draw our minds to them.
We are usually forced to concentrate. Our minds are forced to become fixed
upon different things by an attraction in them which we cannot resist. To
control the mind, to place it just where we want it, requires special
training. It cannot be done in any other way. In the study of religion the
control of the mind is absolutely necessary. We have to turn the mind back
upon itself in this study.
In training the mind the first step is to begin with the breathing. Regular
breathing puts the body in a harmonious condition; and it is then easier to
reach the mind. In practicing breathing, the first thing to consider is
Âsana or posture. Any posture in which a person can sit easily is his proper
position. The spine should be kept free, and the weight of the body should
be supported by the ribs. Do not try by contrivances to control the mind;
simple breathing is all that is necessary in that line. All austerities to
gain concentration of the mind are a mistake. Do not practice them.
The mind acts on the body, and the body in its turn acts upon the mind. They
act and react upon each other. Every mental state creates a corresponding
state in the body, and every action in the body has its corresponding effect
on the mind. It makes no difference whether you think the body and mind are
two different entities, or whether you think they are both but one body—
the physical body being the gross part and the mind the fine part. They act
and react upon each other. The mind is constantly becoming the body. In the
training of the mind, it is easier to reach it through the body. The body is
easier to grapple with than the mind.
The finer the instrument, the greater the power. The mind is much finer and
more powerful than the body. For this reason it is easier to begin with the
body.
The science of breathing is the working through the body to reach the mind.
In this way we get control of the body, and then we begin to feel the finer
working of the body, the finer and more interior, and so on till we reach
the mind. As we feel the finer workings of the body, they come under our
control. After a while you will be able to feel the operation of the mind on
the body. You will also feel the working of one half of the mind upon the
other half, and also feel the mind recruiting the nerve centres; for the
mind controls and governs the nervous system. You will feel the mind
operating along the different nerve currents.
Thus the mind is brought under control—by regular systematic breathing, by
governing the gross body first and then the fine body.
The first breathing exercise is perfectly safe and very healthful. It will
give you good health, and better your condition generally at least. The
other practices should be taken up slowly and carefully.