The scientific, rational way to develop the astral senses is to first acquire the art of concentrating. Bear in mind that in concentration the person, even if shutting out the impressions of the outside world in general, nevertheless focuses and concentrates his concentration upon the one matter before him. This is quite a different thing from making oneself sensitive to every current of thought and feeling that may be in the psychic atmosphere. True attentiveness renders one positive, even if the other methods render one negative. Contrary to the common opinion, psychic attentiveness is a positive state, not a negative—an active state, not a passive one. The person Vipassana Meditation who is able to concentrate strongly is a master, although one who opens himself to “control,” either physical or astral, is more or less of a slave to other minds.
The student who will begin by experimenting along the lines of contact mind-reading, and who then advances along the lines of true telepathy, while explained in the earlier chapters of this book, will have made a good start, and considerable progress, along the road to clairvoyant development. The rest will be largely a matter of exercise and practice. He will be aided by practicing attention along the general lines of the best occult teaching. Such prepare may consist of attentiveness upon almost any physical object, keeping the thing well before the mind and attention. Do not tire the attentiveness by practicing too extensive at one time. The following general rules will help you in developing concentration:
(1) The attention attaches more readily to interesting rather than uninteresting things. Therefore, decide on several fascinating thing to study and analyze by concentrated thought.
(2) The attentiveness will decline in strength unless there is a variation in the stimulus. Therefore, keep up the power of concentration by either changing the object you are observing; or else by discovering various new properties, qualities or attributes in it.
(3) The things you wish to shut out of consciousness can best be shut out by your attentiveness upon certain other thing—the attentiveness can dwell only upon one thing at a time, if focused upon that one thing.
(4) The power of applying your attention, steady and undissipated, to a single object, is a mark of strong will and superior mental discipline—weak-minds cannot do this. Therefore, in cultivating concentrated attentiveness you are really strengthening your mind and will.
(5) To develop concentrated attention, you must learn to analyze, analyze, and analyze the thing upon which you are bestowing concentrated attention. Therefore, proceed by selecting an object and analyzing it by concentrated attention, taking one episode after another, one by one, until you have analyzed and mastered the whole object. Give it the same concentration that the lover gives his loved one; the musician his favorite composition; the artist his favorite work of art; and the booklover his favorite book—when you have accomplished this, you have Free Online Meditation mastered concentration, and will be able to apply the mind “one pointed” upon anything you wish, physical or astral; and, consequently will have no trouble in shutting-out disturbing impressions.
(6) Learn to concentrate on the physical plane, and you will be able to concentrate on the astral plane as well. By the one who has mastered concentration, trances and abnormal psychic states will not be needed. The needle-pointed mind is able to pierce the astral veil at will, while the blunt-pointed mind is resisted and defeated by the astral envelope, which although thin is very tough and unyielding.
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