Are we born a certain way with a fixed level of concentration, focus, abilities? Or can we improve our mind’s calmness, attention span, memory, focus and sharpness. Can we be free of anxiety? Is this really possible? More so, on the contrary, can I lose all my abilities and powers?

The answer to the above questions is- Yes we can. We can build concentration meaning we can improve our concentration. Our minds can become stronger, calmer, more focused, free from worries. However, this can only happen if we develop in certain practices. And that too regularly. We can also lose concentration and become more agitated, worrying, anxious or distracted- if we do not maintain the practice. This is really true and millions of people in the world are taking courses to learn about concentration amongst other things. 

The practice that can surely help us gain super concentration is Anapana meditation. 

Anapana meditation is a great tool to sharpen the mind. The practice is about -focusing our mind on the incoming and outgoing “natural breath” (not forced, or heavy breathing) while nonjudgmentally letting our thoughts arise and pass away. How does it work?-

• It helps in building objectivity towards our thoughts.
• We start paying attention to our breath while simply letting thought vibrations arise and pass away.
• We do not pay any attention to the thoughts anymore- aka the audible words, the theories or the stories (“he is bad”, “I am not enough”, “I have to plan for tomorrow”, “When will the school open”).
• The message being- ignore the content of the thought- whatever it is and simply let it pass. The thought can be an angry thought, fearful thought, a happy thought, an exciting thought, thoughts related to work or studies or planning, anxious thought, everything else!
• Irrespective of the content of the thought as well as the nature of feeling, we simply keep observing the incoming and outgoing natural breath.

Remember, one must be an objective and nonjudgmental observer of breath. Otherwise the method won’t work.

Now, there are two powerful things happening here- first, we are no more giving importance to our thoughts so their energy or power is going down a bit, second, we are paying attention to breath which is always present and helps us in being calm and objective. Hence the mind calms down, sharpens and slowly becomes concentrated.

Anapana meditation as taught by the Buddha

Anapana was originally taught as one of the 8 tenets of the Noble Eightfold Path given by the Buddha 2500 years ago. It was called Right Meditation by the Buddha for the right reasons. This practice can give enormous merit and benefit to the user. However, it must be practiced daily and learnt under an accomplished teacher. Anapana meditation is taught for free to students from 8yrs to 18 yrs old and adults, for free in 1 day children’s courses and 10 day Vipassana courses in the tradition of Sri S N Goenka. This technique is so powerful it has spread far and wide and millions of people in the world are sitting Vipassana courses all over the world. Children’s one day courses are also held where they are taught to practice this technique. There are more than 100 centers in India itself. In Maharashtra and a few other states in India, like Delhi, Anapana meditation is taught to students for free and is a compulsory part of education in many govt schools.

Now you must be thinking this must be just another technique which doesn’t help that much. Or only has so much impact. No. This is the right meditation. There are actually levels of concentration that human beings can experience. According to Budhha there are 8 such levels and are called Jhanas in Buddhism. If you are curious you can google about these. “Jhana” is a word in Pali language (the language at the time of the Buddha) and means “Dhyaan” in Hindi or “concentration” in English. Even attaining the first level of Jhana is a great accomplishment in itself. Mind becomes very calm, absorptive, focused, razor sharp and free from anxiety, anger, hatred or other heavy emotions.

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