LIVING CONCENTRATION

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

83. LIVING CONCENTRATION
To be ever centred, to ever abide, to ever be rooted, to always be fully aware that you live,
move and have your being in God, in the one, non-dual Reality, is verily the practice of truth; for
this is the great fact of your being. God being omnipresent, being the immanent reality hidden
within all visible names and forms, we do indeed live, move and have our being in Him each and
every moment and always through eternity.
If one forgets this truth, one is seemingly alienated from the very roots of one’s being—an
alienation which, in fact, is impossible, but, for all practical purposes, it seems to be the condition of
the individual soul. It weeps and wails in the midst of bliss absolute. It gropes, stumbles and falls in
darkness, while in truth it dwells in eternal light. It seems to be a creature of birth and death when, in
truth, it is part of eternal existence.
It is, therefore, this seeming alienation which is the cause and the prolific source of all
seeming suffering and misery. But whatever state that exists in this mundane world need not
become your experience unless you identify yourself with it; you may go through a chaotic world in
serenity and peace. The moment you identify yourself with this chaos, with this restlessness, you
will plunge into it.
This is inevitable when you do not centre yourself in the supreme peace that passeth
understanding, in the parama santi. If you are rooted in It, centred in It, feel your oneness with It,
peace and peace alone will be your experience. And you will look upon everything else serenely, as
an unaffected, unattached witnessing consciousness, witnessing being.

All troubles, all sorrows start when you move away from this state of being concentrated
upon or centred in God and become identified with states and conditions extraneous to you, not part
of your being in any sense whatsoever. Adi Sankaracharya very clearly tells you that your body,
prana, senses and mind constitute the limiting adjuncts to your reality; they do not constitute you.
They are non-being, anatman. Thou art Atman. And everything else except Atman—which is your
essential, eternal, unchanging, imperishable nature—in this temporary, ever-changing, ephemeral,
transient human personality of yours is anatman, is non-Self; it is not you.
It is the natural behaviour of the mind and senses to be outgoing towards the non-eternal.
But where can they move beyond God? He is everywhere present in all His fullness. No matter what
thing or being they move towards, where can they move other than towards God? For, where is He
not, and in what does He not dwell as the very essence of that being or thing?
So, whatever the eye beholds, be aware, be fully convinced that you are beholding the
Divine Reality. Whatever the ear hears, be fully aware, be fully convinced that it is experiencing
only Divinity. Whatever you feel with the sense of touch, be assured, be aware that you are
experiencing God, for God is all that exists: purusha evedam sarvam, yad bhutam yachcha
bhavyam—Whatever has been, whatever is, whatever shall be, all that is the great Divine Reality.
In whatever is smelt, tasted, thought of, remembered or imagined find your God. For,
wherever your senses take you, they take you towards God—who alone was, who alone is, and who
alone will be unto eternity. This is not only the ultimate experience and the fact, this should also be
your present abhyasa, your present prayer, your present sadhana, your present way of existing and
living your life. Yat cha kimchit jagat sarvam drishyate sruyate’pi va—Whatsoever is before your
gaze, whatsoever reaches your ears as sound, whatsoever exists in this world both within and
without, all is indeed the one great Reality.
If you thus orient your entire being, then the outgoing senses cannot take you away from
God. The outgoing senses cannot distract you. They cannot make you swerve away from your
steady onward movement in the direction of the Goal Supreme.
If you are convinced of this and you begin to diligently practise this Upanishadic truth, if
you keep up this bhava, then, indeed, at all times, in all conditions, in all circumstances, in the midst
of all beings, in the midst of all activities, you will be in a state of yoga.
This is a holistic concept of living your life as a concentration, a total focussing, a directing
of your entire being to the ever-present Reality or God. Life becomes the great yoga of
concentration in a total sense until you reach illumination. It is a living concentration, a living yoga.
Like a river that ever flows on, that stops not until it reaches the ocean, may the stream of
your life move in but one direction. No matter how much it may twist and turn, let it keep moving in
one direction only, back into the ocean of satchidananda, which is your source and origin.