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The Art of Concentration
Learning to center the mind
A spiritualized mode of concentration makes our efforts definite and constructive.
b-meditation
In our meditation work it is the art of concentration that follows silence to lead to the gateway of meditation. It is not something that is forced or strained, rather a letting go into stillness, allowing our attention and thought to be fully present before God. This quieting of our thoughts is when concentration comes as we begin to center our minds on a smaller field of activity. It is the process of limiting the range of our minds. A child concentrating upon their studies, a dressmaker concentrating upon the pattern of a dress they are about to make, and a business person concentrating upon an important letter they are writing are all using a range of thought that is purposefully limited.
Concentration develops precise thoughts, and these definite mental images are very important. This endeavor should always precede meditation in order that our thinking is attuned to clarity of images. Without the preliminary practice of concentration our meditations might easily be vague and diffuse.
Concentration focuses the mind, it limits it, but in a purposeful and very important way. It is like taking a flashlight and only shining it on a certain place. You don't need to light up the entire room, just that passage through which you will have to go.
Reverend Flower A. Newhouse, Humanity’s Need for Meditation
Concentration precedes meditation to bring us to focus.
Some Steps toward Greater Concentration
