few people who don’t have correct idea about meditation have confused meditation with concentration.
meditation and concentration are like north and south pole
they are totally different from each other
and should not be confused with each other.
difference between meditation and concentration:
lets understand the difference between them with a simple example
when sunrays falls on earth
then they are diffused and unfocused and thats their natural style
that is what meditation is all about.
meditation is to be spontaneous, present in the moment and not focused on any object.
have you seen the eyes of a toddler, they are unfocused
meditator eyes are also like that unfocused and relaxed
but meditator eyes have much more depth than the eyes of a child.
thats because meditator is aware and in living in the present moment>
meditator function from its center or from its awareness
whereas a child has no center or stability.
on the contrary, if you use a lense and try to focus the sunrays on a paper
then sunrays becomes very focused and can burn the paper also
i am sure you must have done this experiment in childhood
this focusing is concentration
when we exclude everything else, so as to focus our attention on your chosen object
than you are doing concentration excercise.
meditation is unfocused relax watching of mind
in meditation, you don’t control the mind
but you just become silent watcher of all our thinking process
you neither agree nor disagree with any thought
you don’t label any thought good, bad or ugly
you don’t participate with the inner dialogue
you just witness or watch the thinking passively
and trust me, watching the mind passively looks easy
but actually this is the most difficult thing in the world
you can climb the mount everest without oxygen with close eyes
but you can not watch your mind passively
as it may appear very easy thing to many people.
if someone is really daring and loves challenges
then meditation is the real thing and is for those dare devil souls
who are ready to risk everything for a challenge
if you succeed in meditation,
then the rewards will be priceless as well as countless
meditation is to be relaxed, unfocused and not choosing anything but staying aware.
in meditation, you are just silent watcher
and that adds to your awareness of activities around you
e.g. there is a sound of chirping bird or your heartbeat
and you are just listening to them spontaneously
its not that you are putting effort to listen to these sounds
but it is a spontaneous happening as your ears are picking up the sounds
whereas in concentration you are totally focused on the object of your choice
and you exclude rest of the things from your observation
in fact, the whole world becomes a disturbance
e.g. if you are concentrating on one sound among multitude of voices
then all other voices are hindrance to your concentartion
whereas in this scenario, if you are in meditation
then you are not choosing any particular voice
and you will hear all voices without any likes or dislikes.
you are neutral to all sounds – that is choiceless awareness.
this struggle to focus on one object during concentartion
produces lot of tension and friction
as you are all the time avoiding the whole world
to focus on one particular object
thus concentration is a struggle against the world
and it drains lot of energy from you and actually tires you.
in concentration you put lot of effort as you are struggling to focus on something.
whereas pure meditation state is effortless as you are not blocking anything
neither you are choosing anything.
pure meditation is choiceless awarness.
concentration is useful in scientific activities or in mathematics or in analysis
or in activities where you need to focus all your energy on one point
but it really makes you tired and stressed
thats why you can not practice concentration for a long time as it tires you.
few concentration exercises which are wrongly mentioned as meditation methods
are different forms of tratak exercises
which can be done on candlelight, statue or any other object.
meditation is the purest form of relaxation but totally conscious of your surrounding
one can be in meditation as long as one want
and meditation energies you, makes you more vibrant and intelligent
actually, meditation makes you a genius
and opens the doors of your inner creativity and wisdom
there is no other activity in the world
which showers you with so much blessings as meditation does.