समाधानं किम् ?
चित्तैकाग्रता ।
What is samadhanam (समाधानं)? It is the single-pointedness
of the mind.
It is a blessing that our mind is of the nature of
moving from one thought to another for without it we would not be able to get
on with our life. Consider having met with a dreadful accident and the mind
being frozen with that thought and relentlessly replaying the accident. Even
while we appreciate this blessing, we need to train the mind to stay with a
thought for a reasonable length of time to accomplish anything worthwhile.
Samadhanam (समाधानं) is remaining focused on a subject
matter for a reasonable length of time. It is the ability to bring back the
mind from where it is and concentrate it on the preferred subject matter. The idea
is not to stay with a single thought but thoughts that are connected to the
same subject matter where a thought is connected to the thought preceding it
and the one succeeding it. We need this trait to achieve anything significant
in life and even more so in one’s spiritual pursuit for a wandering mind can
never absorb itself in the teachings of Vedanta or engage in the contemplation
of the learning.
Just as one learns to swim by swimming one learns to
concentrate by concentrating. Japa (जप) is a method of mental training by which
a drifting mind is compelled to behave in order and rhythm though the continuous
chanting of a chosen mantra (मन्त्र). Japa (जप) trains the mind to fix itself to
a single line of thinking and if it is practiced effectively, it can bring
about sustained single-pointedness. Samadhanam (समाधानं) ensures that our time
and energy is not wasted away and is kept focused on the goal.
The group of six virtues beginning with shama (शम) which
is the third of the fourfold qualification was elaborated until now. The seeker
needs to work towards attaining all of them in good measure for one’s spiritual
progress.
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