Meditation and Concentration
C. W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant
Extract from Talks on the Path of Occultism Volume II
Chapter 2, pp. 40-42
He who would hear the voice of Nāda, the "Sound-less sound," and comprehend it, he has to learn the nature of Dhāranā.
To this there are two footnotes, as follows:
The "Soundless Voice," or the "Voice of the Silence." Literally perhaps this would read "Voice in the Spiritual Sound," as Nada is the equivalent word in Sanskrit for the Senzar term.
Dhāranā is the intense and perfect concentration of the mind upon some one interior object, accompanied by complete abstraction from everything pertaining to the external universe, or the world of the senses.
The word that is here translated concentration comes from the root dhri, to hold. The word dhārana, with a short final vowel, means holding or supporting in general, but here we have a special feminine substantive, with the long terminal vowel, as a technical term signifying concentration or holding of the mind.
It is described in some places as a kind of pondering or dwelling upon a given thought or object, and it is said in the Hindu books that meditation and contemplation will not be successful unless this is practiced first. It is obvious that while the mind is responding to the appeals of the physical, astral and lower mental planes, it is not likely to hear the message that the ego is trying to transmit to the personality from his own higher planes.
Concentration is requisite, that attention may be given to the chosen object, not to the restless activity of the lower vehicles. It is usual to begin the practice of concentration with simple things. On a certain occasion some people came to Madame Blavatsky, and asked her upon what they should meditate; she threw a matchbox down on the table, and said: "Meditate on that!" It startled them somewhat, because they had expected her to tell them to meditate upon Parabrahman or the Absolute. It is very important that this concentration should be done without strain to the body. Dr. Besant has told us that, when Madame Blavatsky first instructed her to try it, she began with great intensity; but her teacher interrupted her, saying: "My dear, you do not meditate with your blood-vessels!"
What is required is to hold the mind quiet, so that one looks at the object of thought with perfect calmness, just as one would look at one's watch to see the time, except that one keeps on looking for the length of time prescribed or decided upon for the period of concentration. People often complain of headaches and other pains as a result of meditation; there should never be any such result; if they will take care to keep the physical body calm and free from tension of any kind, even in the eyes, they will probably find their concentration much easier and more successful, and free from physical trouble and danger. Various books have been written on this subject, and some of them offer exceedingly dangerous suggestions. Anyone wishing further information on this should read Professor Wood's book, "Concentration—a Practical Course", of which Dr. Besant wrote: "There is nothing in it which, when practiced, can do the striver after concentration the least physical, mental or moral harm."
In her footnote, H.P.B. associates dhāranā with the higher mental plane, for she says the mind must be fixed upon an interior object and abstracted from the world of the senses; that is, from the physical, astral and lower mental worlds. That is a prescription for the candidate who is already on the Path, and is aiming at the samādhi of the nirvānic or ātmic plane. But the three terms concentration, meditation and contemplation are also used in a general way. To fix one's thought on a verse of scripture—that is concentration. To look at it in every possible light and try to penetrate its meaning, to reach a new and deep thought or receive some intuitional light upon it—that is meditation. To fix one's attention steadily for a time on the light received— that is contemplation. Contemplation has been defined as concentration at the top end of your line of thought or meditation. It is usual for the Oriental student to begin his practice on some simple external object, and from that to carry his thought inward or upward to higher things.