"There Is Only Now"
Using Concentration and Willpower
by Robin Volker

In meditation we control our awareness.  We learn to take our awareness to different parts of our mind.   With practice and discipline, we take control of where our thoughts go instead of being at the mercy of a runaway mind.  Most people are unable to control where their awareness goes.  It wanders all over the place.  We begin a task, but get distracted, and it never gets completed.  We start a thought, but lose its meaning before we can express it.  We sit in meditation and are bombarded with a myriad of distractions, running like monkeys in our mind.

A Truth principle we study is that all knowledge is inside of us.  In order to put this Truth principle to work for us, we must learn how to direct our awareness inside our mind.  By controlling our awareness, we can get in touch with whatever we need or desire to know.

When our awareness drifts away to random thoughts, we bring it back to the present experience.  This is the practice of willpower.  We develop willpower by completing what we begin.  It takes more effort to finish a project than to begin one.  We integrate this practice into our daily lives by following through on simple day-to-day tasks, such as      making our bed, washing the dishes, or doing the laundry .  These tasks are not just chores in our lives.  They are the final steps in a fulfilling process.  Making the bed completes the process of sleep.  Washing the dishes completes the process of eating.  Doing the laundry completes the process of a variety of activities we engage in. The more we use our willpower, the more it grows.  It never shrinks away.  It is an attribute we can develop and always have at our disposal.

To hold awareness in this present moment takes the practice of concentration.  We concentrate on the task at hand.  We develop deep concentration skills.  Then when we sit in meditation, concentration comes easily and without force or effort.  Meditation is prolonged concentration. Prolonged meditation becomes contemplation.

To get there, the journey begins with how we handle simple day-to-day tasks.  This week, practice completing simple tasks in your life to strengthen your willpower and focus on one task at a time with total concentration.  These two disciplines will help you with your spiritual practice.  This is important because there is no "later"; there is only "now." 

Namaste`
Rev. Robin

This message was inspired by the lecture by Sri Dandapani, given at Unity in Community on August 10, 2009.

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