Question: If someone is having great difficulty in meditating because he lacks discipline and cannot concentrate, can you suggest a possible remedy? How can one develop self-discipline and improve his meditation?
Sri Chinmoy: In this case, the person should start with concentration. Meditation will be too difficult for him.Self-discipline comes through proper concentration, especially under the express guidance of an able Master. One has to lead a disciplined life while practising concentration. If his life is not disciplined to some extent, meditation will always be too hard for him. He will be like a kindergarten student who wants to study at the high school level. Every seeker should start with concentration in the spiritual life. When one concentrates, one tries to control one's thoughts, one's emotions. One becomes a divine hero and enters into the battlefield of life where there can be no doubt, no fear. Doubt and fear are conquered by concentration.
Sri Chinmoy, Promised Light from the Beyond, AUM Publications, New York, 1973