Question: Guru, how may one develop the power of concentration?

Sri Chinmoy: There are various ways to develop the power of concentration. One thing you can do is to stand facing a wall and draw a circle in line with your third eye. Then concentrate on it. First you are bound to see the wall, but gradually you will begin to see only the circle. And then, when you see only the circle, put a dot right in the middle of the circle and try to concentrate on the dot. Then, if you see the circle, feel that your concentration is not powerful enough. Only when you can concentrate entirely on the dot can you feel that your power of concentration is successful. This is the ordinary way or, you can say, the easiest way of developing the power of concentration.

There is another way which is most effective, but it may be a little difficult. In the beginning, feel that you have no arms, no nose, no eyes, no ears; you do not have anything but the heart. This heart need not be in the centre of your chest; it may be in your forehead or somewhere else. Only you have to feel that you have the heart and that you are the heart.

Then, after some time, you will locate the heart. How will you locate it? Your consciousness will tell you that the heart is here or that the heart is there. Medical science will immediately say that it is false, that the heart can only be here in the chest. But for spiritual people, the heart can be anywhere, for the spiritual heart means the abode of light. If the Divine within you, the Supreme within you, wants to show you the presence of light through your third eye, which is infinite light and power, then He will tell you that this is the heart. So, for you, the third eye will be the abode of light. That means that the Supreme within you wants to go and visit that particular place and stay there.

When you start your journey, you have to feel that you have the heart and that you are the heart. Then, after some time, your consciousness will tell you where the heart is or who the heart is. At that time, you will concentrate on that spot and feel that that is the only place for you to feel the heart or to become the heart. The heart means light and light means power. The more you have light, the more you will have power. God is all Light. That is why He is all-pervading; that is why He is all powerful. Light and power cannot be separated. Here we can see the electric lamp and we can see the place where it is plugged in. We can separate them. But in the spiritual life, we cannot separate light from power. Light itself is power. And what is light? Universal oneness.

If you want to make your power of concentration more effective, do not think of something vast. Think of something as small as possible. But when you want to meditate, at that time think of something very vast — the sky, the ocean, the mountains — and become one with the vastness, which is all power. But when you want to get the power of concentration, identify yourself with the tiniest thing possible. Then only will you become all-powerful. God is all-powerful not because He is Vastness itself, but because He is inside the elephant as well as the ant. God is all-powerful because He can be both elephant and ant. He is the infinite and He is the finite. Just because He is finite and infinite at the same time, He is omnipotent.

So if you want to meditate and acquire power, just think of Infinity itself, because there is God’s infinite power. But if you want to develop power through your concentration, think of something very subtle, very small.