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Concentration: A Guide to Mental Mastery

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In the late 1960's and early 70's there was a phrase that was made popular which went, "Tell it the way it is." It came about as a result of the falsehoods which society was being inundated with from all sides of life. People, and especially the young people of that time, were tired of being lied to. In this book, published over four decades ago, Mouni Sadhu "tells it the way it is" in regard to the art and discipline of meditation. He pulls no punches and does not try to sugar coat the cold, hard facts about the development of the ability to concentrate and its necessity in being able to meditate properly.

Mouni Sadhu is the religious name taken by a Westerner who studied with Sri Ramana Maharshi, a famous and much beloved Indian spirtual teacher who passed away at the mid-point of the twentieth century. The word "mouni" means "silent" and "sadhu" refers to a wandering holy man of the Hindu faith. Though the author had tried many paths on the route to self-realization, it wasn't until he came upon his Indian teacher Sri Ramana that he managed to successfully break through the ego's hard exterior and into the infinity of being. He is therefore a bona fide spokesman for the truths which he recollects in this book.

Written in a simple and easily understandable style, Concentration is a classic among books on the art of meditation. Published, as it was, before our fascination with things "New Agey," it dispells many of the myths and misconceptions that have arisen and been promoted out of that movement. And for this reason alone, for the preservation of the truth, it is worth its weight in gold.

First and foremost among the myths it dispells is the idea that developing concentration is really of no consequence in the practical application of the art of meditation, as some so-called New Age gurus would have people believe. This is like saying that for an automobile to function properly it doesn't need gasoline! Without the ability to concentrate, our efforts at meditation will result only in going nowhere, in spinning our wheels in an unending rut.

Concentration is the cornerstone upon which our ability to engage ourselves in true meditation is based. Without its proper development it is as though we are in a car without a steering wheel. We have no way of directing ourselves toward our ultimate goal.

A second myth that is dealt with, which has been promoted in recent years, is that it is not important to be able to develop within oneself the ability to quiet the mind of all extraneous thoughts. This is the subject of Chapter Fourteen wherein is given a method of beginning to develop this ability to quiet the mind. In his usual straightforward way, Mouni Sadhu states quite unequivocally, "The key to success in this study is just the losing of interest in uncontrolled thinking. With that key you may open the golden gate, from which you expect so much. Without the key, there is no purpose in even beginning the exercises."

Mouni Sadhu gives a powerful presentation of all the aspects leading up to the attainment of the ability to concentrate, structuring the book into four sections. The first seven chapters deal with the definition, method, use, and roll of concentration in a spiritual search. The next seven chapters cover the psychological preliminaries and the keys to successful use of the techniques (which themselves are outlined in the third section of seven chapters) for developing concentration. The last chapter, Twenty-Two, deals with what he calls "guided intuitional knowledge, also called the wisdom of the Self, which is the ultimate aim of concentration." Here, whether you are a beginner or an old hand in working with the mind, is a compendium of inspiring information in the practical experience of the higher states of consciousness, useful in helping one to corroborate one's own experience with someone who has been there.

In this slender book, Mouni Sadhu manages to cover a great deal of important ground for the person interested in developing his mental faculties. Though he states at the outset that such abilities are not easily won, he does encourage the reader to follow his own inclinations regarding the level of commitment he is willing to make. He stresses not getting ahead of oneself, but to take it one step at a time. This is all one need do to have success with these exercises.

This is a excellent book. It is not a difficult read, although it should be read carefully for understating of the subtle issues being addressed in the book. It is truly as the title says, a guide to mental mastery. But I must warn readers. Reading this book is not a assurance of mental mastery. A reader must be deligent and patient with the exercises in the book, in order to reap the long term benefits. I hope others can will gain by reading this book as well

I note that the listed publication date is 1986. I purchased my copy in 1966. This book DESERVES a long sales life, being the most masterful work of its kind ever done. If you want to achieve pure concentration in its highest form and are willing to expend the necessary effort, buy and use this book!

Training your mind to concentrate is one of the most difficult, but one of the most rewarding, tasks that you will ever undertake. This book is a guide through this difficult process. There is no royal road to mastering yor mind, but this book at least sets out some good guide posts.
My only quibble with the book is the author's fascination with his Indian Guru, and his acceptance of the Indian Hindu belief structure. This is not a serious enough quibble to harm the utility of the book. I reccomend it to all who wish to make their mind their tool.

When I first encountered this little gem of a book, I read it once through and didn't give it too much thought afterward. I was mainly interested in improving my concentration in an effort to strengthen my intellect, and, at the time, it seemed to me that there were better ways of doing this. This probably isn't the case, though. While Sadhu's exercises are almost insanely difficult, they are practically guaranteed to bring results. And the great thing is that much of the advice offered in the book is compatible with almost any theological or philosophical outlook. The only thing that I found a little off-putting about the book is all the Eastern mysticism and such that Sadhu makes references to and seems to believe in. That's not even nearly enough to detract in any way from this book's value, though.

Any time you spend reading from this book and doing the exercises, no matter how minimal your discipline, will be time well spent.

Sadhus book is an excellent book on concentration. It does not deal with breathing excercises as such but with pranayama done mentally. This book offers yoga excercises done in a diffrent way. It is all done mentally. The exercises not only lead to concentration, but also lead to nirvana for those who are willing to put in the time and effort.

I have been an off and on again student on Yoga in its many forms for four decades. This book gives a practical, step-by-step guide to the application of the principals at the heart of Yoga. The instructions allow the student to cut through the dogma and get to the essence of mastering the mind.

Real quick, do the exercises and stop playing yourself like a fool, i am a yoga teacher and have had many "Spiritual experiences" however don't get caught up to think that because you are not building the body then your lazy. Breaking the Maya, really means controlling the mind, point blank period. Yoga and those posture are meant to build concentration for the higher practices and not a end-all. How many people do you know who are in your yoga or martial arts classes who have gone into Samadhi??? nobody!!! and you know why??? because they don't place strong enough emphasis on the mind, they talk but never get there. Have a healthy body and all that mess is mere marketing, the real masters never placed any importance on health unless it meant they could use those "golden years" to train the mind. Samadhi, been there and guess what? didn't go there reading the yoga sutras or any other "masters", got there by concentration of my "mind". I don't even do Yoga and i'm a teacher, why??? because using my mind i can make my body healthy rather than doing postures, so i can continue perfecting it. This book is the real deal, take your time the results are real when your ready and also good or evil are all in your mind, notice the people who talk about these forces do so because of their lack of ability to let go of what things should be, let go. Get on your ass (take a seat, sitting posture) and just do it!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book isn't on any best seller this and still if you want to learn how to concentrate, this is it. I've had the book for a little over 2 yrs and have only finished half of the exercises. When you think you've performed exercises adequately you haven't, go back and do it again. This book will test your will power but what you gain is worth the work you put in to it