How to Increase our mental capacity?
A brief analysis.
Although, everyone craves to reach out to their ‘full mental capacity’, yet I wonder if there is really any need to crave for that much of potential; especially, when we are unable to use our present mental capacity in an efficient manner.
Before progressing further, we need to look at the reasons, why someone is feeling unable to reach towards his full mental capacity. But first let me ask you a question first. Have you ever witnessed a laser or any other focused beam of light? It looks so sharp and beautiful, all rays focused at one place. It is really astonishing that how a focused beam of light is able to move so far, without losing significant amount of luminosity.
Now, compare that to a light bulb. Isn’t it obvious that although the bulb is spreading its light in many directions, it is also the reason why the light of a bulb doesn’t move far ahead in a single direction? On the other side, it is also a fact that we can’t use the laser lights in our bed room. Practically it sounds absurd to even imagine that.
What I want to say is that, one needs to introspect and figure out the cost one is ready to pay, for a success. Growth always comes with a price. It always demands the negation of nonsense in our lives, which can be deemed as irrelevant to our lives. Only, then the desired growth is possible.
Most common problems related to reaching full mental capacity.
The reasons acting behind the difficulties in reaching greater heights are very common among all the individuals. People tend to go on and relate with the outside world. They are always trying to mimic, someone else’s success. Although, it is a very good aspect if someone is taking inspiration from others. However, quiet often it is not the case. If someone goes on and introspect within himself, one might easily find the thoughts which relate to the sense of blind desire. There is a total absence of inspiration, whatsoever.
Ask yourself don’t you also want to be like your idol? We barely think about the morale, our idols use to follow. Instead we are hooked to the individual’s success. It is the success which we only want to mimic and gain progress, not the ethical conduct or the self discipline.
One might ask that how can it make a difference? The answer is the difference between inspiration and a blind sense of greed. Inspiration implants a seed of positivity. When someone admires an individual, he tries hard to focus on the goal, while looking at the ‘inspirer’ as someone, who has struggled a lot and yet after overcoming all the obstacles, achieved success. While on the other side, the blind greed is only fixated with the idea of success.
The problem with this idea is that, we often over stress our selves while trying to reach success. In the same process, we would also go on and ‘fixate’ ourselves with the result, even before doing any actions at all. Isn’t it daydreaming? Indeed, IT IS.
let's read A brief story about the Yoga of ‘Action’.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Lord Krishna has cleared certain doubts of Arjuna in a very logical and detailed manner. However, I am only going to narrate its essence, which will eventually lead us to the gates of ‘Karma Yoga’, also called as the ‘Yoga of action’. It is a highly regarded form of Yoga, which should be practiced while living in the worldly affairs. We can also set the moral of this story as our goal while developing our mental capacity.
But first, let me tell you this story in brief.
In the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, there were many unfortunate incidents which eventually led the foundation of the great war of Mahabharata, which was primarily a battle among the brothers.
Arjuna was considered as the supreme warrior of that era.When the war of Mahabharata was just about to begin; the beholder of the divine bow “Gandiva” and all the celestial weapons of Earth and Heavens, Arjuna suddenly realized that he is facing his own relatives and is bound to fight against them.
His mind was all clouded as he developed inner conflicts such as fear, desire and a sense of defeat. While carrying weakness in his thoughts, and projecting it into his actions, he gave up all the desire to carry on and fight the much needed war.
Hence, his charioteer Lord Krishna, who was the supreme manifestation of the Supreme, intervened to clear his doubts about life, existence and reality and introduced Arjuna to the Truth and the teachings which we call as the ‘Bhagvad Gita’.
In the 3rd verse and chapter -5 of Bhagvad Gita, Krishna says, ‘He who does not hate and does not crave, should be known as a man of constant renunciation’.
Try to develop constant renunciation within your efforts. Don’t perform any actions for the attainment of any results. One simply can’t utilize his full focus and full mental capacity, when his mind is dreaming about success. It’s not the craving for success which helps someone to attain success. Instead it is the amount of focused efforts by an individual, which always determine the success. This is the essence of the verse mentioned above.
That sounds a real oversimplification and complex quality to develop but this is the gateway to the success and balance we always crave for. With the help of certain practices, one can surely achieve this state of abundance and balance. But in simpler terms, we also call these practices as ‘self assessment’ and ‘self discipline’.
However, the battle of Mahabharata was won by Arjuna and the side which he represented in the war.
DO these 3 practices to grow your mental capacity.
Here are the 3 important practices which are needed to grow into a man with a developed mental capacity.
PRACTICE – 1
Be flexible with your thoughts – Learning is the process of mental adaptation towards new thoughts. Be open to move out and learn new things or do anything else which always keeps some stimulation in your life. But overdoing it will always lead to a state of confusion where a person is unable to reach out to the one single and desirable goal. Move out, learn a new art, meet some new people and learn to enjoy and get absorbed in that moment.
Always remember that a person who is adaptable and mutable will always lead a life of balance while providing love and compassion to all the people present in the surroundings. On the other side, if a person is fixated to his own ideas will eventually fail to relate with the outer world which is constantly changing.
Maintain focus on one goal but don’t imagine about perfect conditions to start the much needed work. Always remember that the best time is NOW and the best place is THIS.
PRACTICE – 2
Prepare a mental dustbin– Have you ever considered that when a beginner sits in the meditation, how he suddenly jumps out of it. Even he also failed to realize the moment when he came out of the meditation. What was he thinking, which thoughts were there when he decided to move out of the meditation; he has usually no ideas about it at all.
The question arises here, if someone is not aware of the thoughts at a single moment then how much control one has over his own life? It might sound strange but that answer is ‘NONE’. I always use to say that, we are a physical manifestation of our thoughts. Our minds are constantly thinking, without any sense of awareness as we go on and live our lives in a state of sleep. Hence it is also safe to assume that we have no control of our own lives.
The reason behind is nothing very peculiar and it can be handled quiet easily. Just go ahead and follow these 2 easy steps.
Step 1
Start your meditation practice, immediately. Focus on sitting for at least 15 minutes in the beginning. Observe your thoughts and let them go. You need to develop such a solid foundation of awareness that it won’t flow along with the thoughts.
watch this Guided meditation, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
Once you have developed a certain level of mindfulness, you can also try to end a thought’s cycle, by imagining a contradictory thought which also should be positive in nature. For example, there comes a thought like ‘I am afraid of failure’, then say this to your own self that ‘I will be surely successful’.
Look at that carefully. The second thought is both contradictory to the original thought as well as is positive. Similarly, when there arrives a thought which says ‘I hate him or her’ then develop a thought which says, ‘I forgive him or her’.
Be mindful while developing these thoughts. Say this to yourself with a genuine intent. The more absorbed you will feel in the thoughts, the more easily the thoughts will vanish.
You will immediately feel relaxed and you will develop a mind which is less clouded by the presence of unwanted thoughts.
Step 2
Write down whatever comes in your mind over a piece of paper and burn that paper outside. As soon as you start writing down your thoughts, you will witness that there are several hidden and dark patterns inside your personality. You might have never discovered, but you will find out that you are almost the same person as you once were in your childhood.
Initially, you might feel overwhelmed by the darkness or the negativity in thoughts, which you are writing. But as you go on and progress, you will surely find that your mind has developed in a much lovable place.
PRACTICE – 3
Develop Concentration – There are several practices through which we can develop our concentration. But we are talking about getting concentrated towards a specific goal hence it can be termed as ‘Objective Concentration’. So I am going to mention 2 techniques to develop concentration.
1st Technique to develop concentration
There are many concentration techniques which can work wonders in a generalized manner. However, there is one rather specific technique which actually is quiet practical and easy to implement. As all these other practices works from outside to the inside, this practice works the opposite way. In fact, it quiet safe to assume that is the easiest way to develop a right mindset to achieve our goals. Let’s talk about the wonders of ‘Law of Attraction’ and how it can be used as a tool to increase our concentration for attaining our goal.
The law of attraction only works on the basis of our craving for a certain situation. Either we are living in denial for a situation or crave for it whole-heartedly. Until our minds are occupied with the certain situations in our thoughts, we will surely face these situations in real.
A basic practice is to write your goals on a paper. Maintain a log file. We have talked about purging our minds from unwanted thoughts. But we also need to develop that single thought, which is significant in our lives. This is the central idea of the ‘law of attraction’.
Write your goals on a paper and soon your mind will feel possessed with the idea of that one motive in your life.
Hence it is quiet safe to say that it is highly recommended to develop a progressive mindset towards attaining our goals. Think about it. Make plans. Write it down. All these practices will eventually flood your mind to a state, where the mind forces itself to work in a focused manner for the achievement of that goal.
2nd Technique to develop concentration
Take a blooming flower or any plant in front of you. Sit on a chair with an erect spine. Relax. Don’t make efforts to do anything at all. Feel the body. Feel the breath. Now try to concentrate on the flower. Witness its beauty. Try to focus a bit harder. One needs to do this practice for at least 10 minutes to come up with some really wonderful results.
The state of enhanced concentration is the final aspect, which if we are able to achieve, is going to take us on the gates of success and well being. Hence we need to be more consistent and more progressive with our practices to develop our concentration. Go on, do some efforts and stop thinking about the difficulties.
That’s not all. As someone slowly progresses in his path, he will eventually find out that his mind has developed accordingly. One will witness that his hidden potential is unlocked and now he is able to take leaps over the mountains of difficulties instead of thinking about the mountains all the times.
