Proper Breathing: The first stage of entering into meditation is breath control. We try to breathe in as slowly and quietly as possible. There are two breathing exercises below that you can try. Once we have learned breath control, we then use the breath in ways to develop the power of concentration.
Concentration: Concentration means inner vigilance and alertness. There are forces all around us—fear, doubt, worry and so on—and when we learn how to concentrate it is very difficult for these hostile forces to enter into us. When we concentrate, we focus our attention on one particular thing. We feel the power of concentration coming from the heart entre and then going up to the third eye. With the power of light inside our concentration, we enter into the object of concentration and identify with it.
Meditation: When we meditate, we expand ourselves. Meditation is like going to the bottom of the sea, where everything is calm and tranquil. On the surface there may be a multitude of waves, but the sea is not affected below. In its deepest depths, the sea is all silence. When we start meditating, first we try to reach our own inner existence, our true existence—the bottom of the sea. Then, when the waves come from the outside world, we are not affected because inside us is solid peace. Thoughts cannot touch us , because our mind is all peace, all silence, all oneness.
(Writings by Sri Chinmoy)
