Concentration of
the Right
Sort Produces a
Buddha or a Christ
John Garrigues

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Editorial Note:
The following
text was first published
anonymously at
“Theosophy” magazine, in November
1926, pages 31-32.
An examination of its contents and
style indicates
it was written by John Garrigues. Original
title:
“Concentration”. In order to make a contemplative
reading easier,
we have divided some paragraphs into
smaller ones. In
one of the concluding paragraphs, we
have underlined
a few words and put them in bold type.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
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Certain
rediscovered, or half-discovered, secrets of Hatha-Yoga have given rise to innumerable
cults devoted to the attainment of one or another personal object through
“concentration”, or “meditation”.
Truly there is a tremendous power in the art of
concentration, a power of such nature as would be better understood before the
beginning of its practices.
Concentration of the right sort produces a Buddha or a
Christ. Concentration of the wrong sort - the only kind known to modern
exponents - produces a Kansa [1], a
Judas - or a medium.
Concentration, like any other act, implies a subject
and an object, an actor and that which is acted upon. Of the many possible
fields of application within the human constitution, not one is understood by
the modern West. There is concentration upon a special field of nature; there
is concentration upon a special object within that field.
The desire principle, Kama, being the motive power of the average human being,
necessarily absorbs ninety-nine per cent of his power of attention. With most
this is an aimless flitting from one object of the senses to another. The man
selects for himself no special object upon which to concentrate his life’s
ambition. Life is thus frittered away in the endless pursuit of gratification,
with no permanent effect upon character other than a tendency to repeat the
process in future lives.
Some few place before themselves the attainment of a
definite ambition. If the will be powerful enough to concentrate on that, the
ambition is attained. Such men are our modern Morgans, Rockefellers, etc. [2] Such products of the power of meditation
also are great artists, geniuses in special lines: powers brought about by
one-sided concentration carried out through more than one lifetime. And this
likewise is no permanent sowing except for a greater crystallization of the
same tendency, the continual repetition of a structure doomed to crumble at the
end of each life cycle.
Such material successes know the power of
concentration, but they know not the vital distinction between that which is
soul and that which is not soul - between the everlasting and the ever fleeting.
It is said of Buddha, that to become such, the will
for spiritual achievement had to be held unbroken through countless
incarnations.
Not all of us can become Buddhas in this Manvantara [3]; but those who know anything of the
reality of spirit understand that the vastest material gain is worthless beside
even the slightest modicum of permanent growth. The building of permanence
comes not from concentration upon the gathering to oneself of material gains;
it comes from concentration upon the doing of material deeds for the
achievement of spiritual ends.
True concentration is of a dual nature: fixed
concentration of will upon the efficient doing of whatever lies at hand to be
done, and an equally constant grasp upon the true reason for the doing; that
reason being the performance of action to the benefit of all beings. Thus one
becomes an impersonal force in nature which has no reason to act for itself.
In life on this earth, we find ourselves seemingly
chained. This is due to misunderstanding of the object of life and of That
which lives this life. To maintain existence, we have to perform actions. Since
material life moves forever between the great pairs of opposites, no man can
achieve a position of complete freedom from tedious or unpleasant action.
Therefore we strive in vain to escape from necessary duties and to follow the
lure of desire. Unsuccessful striving results in deeply chafed sores from the
binding irons; successful striving but exposes the fact that we have exchanged
old fetters for new.
Any being performing duty, not for self, but because
it is duty, reaches the condition of soul wherein there is indifference as to
the nature of action so long as it is action done for the common good. And in
so doing, he discovers that the illusion that happiness depended upon sensation
is only a dream. True happiness arises spontaneously from within; this whenever
the Self is freed from outward-reaching desires.
Physical and mental concentration upon the correct
performance of action are necessary in order that the wheel of life may turn
smoothly, and the destinies of creatures be not thrown into confusion.
Spiritual meditation is to be placed upon Ishwara, the Inner Self, which is
“untouched by troubles, works, fruits of works, or desires”. This is the road
to release from the pains and penalties of selfishness - from the dungeons of
human limitation, and from all Karma. [4]
Concentration, then, may be regarded as universal - that which maintains
manifestation throughout the term of a cycle, or period of evolution; as Hierarchical [5] within the greater cycle - that
which maintains any given state of consciousness and action; and as individual or personal - that
which maintains the identity of the being, whether in a given form, a given
state, a given Hierarchy, or throughout the entire vast cycle of Manvantara.
This latter is Spiritual concentration, whose
cultivation is the real Object of all finite existences. It is exemplified in
the Masters of Wisdom.
Any other form of Concentration is perishable, because
[it is] only a means to an end, itself finite and mortal.
NOTES:
[1] Kansa. In the classic narrative of the Hindu “Mahabharata”, Kansa,
Arjuna’s uncle, was a traitor. Arjuna is the main character of the “Bhagavad
Gita”, which is part of the Mahabharata. (CCA)
[2] Morgan, Rockefeller. Two famous millionaires
of the United States during the 20th century.(CCA)
[3] Manvantara. The long period of objective manifestation of the
Universe, which alternates with Pralaya, the period of
non-manifestation. (CCA)
[4] “… to release …
from all Karma”. Garrigues is making a reference to the liberation from all
lower kinds of Karma. The word “Karma” means Action, and the entire
Universe is in Movement and Action according to the Law of Karma. The highest
and most spiritual intelligences humbly express the law of karma and justice.
Even the duration of Manvantaras and the intervals between them are regulated
by the Law of equilibrium and harmony. The Buddhas and other planetary and
universal intelligences are all at the service of the Law of Karma, and so are
the Masters of Eastern Wisdom who inspire the theosophical movement. (CCA)
[5] Hierarchical: which refers to the hierarchies
of divine intelligences. (CCA)
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On 14 September 2016, after examining the state of the esoteric movement
worldwide, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by
the ILT are learning from the
past and building a better future.
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