Concentration - Walking Practice.
Part 1:
Practice walking for 15 minutes focusing your eyes on a spot on an object in the distance. The spot must be clearly defined like the intersection of a branch with the tree trunk or a leaf. It could be the side mirror of a car. The attention is fixed to a point to stop the mind from being distracted.
At the start one must be very gentle with this practice, gently allowing the mind, concentration, eyes, attention to rest on a point in the distance. If the eyes deviate to another object or the mind becomes distracted just return to the original point and try to hold your attention there for a little bit longer. Do not force the eyes to focus on an object as this can cause damage to the eye muscles and the mind. Gently does it at the start. Try practicing in the countryside in a forest as there is less distractions and it is easier with all the trees or rocks to focus on. As an extra help we could focus on an object directly in front of us and walk towards it not changing our path until we arrive at the object.
When walking through a city this part of the practice acts as an anchor for the mind. In this way you can remain concentrated in a city walking from corner to corner never losing attention. We always start with the eyes because if the eyes are moving the mind is moving, our mechanical imagination is active and we are dreaming within.
Part 2:
Quietning the mind/Controlling the internal dialogue: Learn to control the internal dialogue. When this ceases silence comes to our minds. We then have what is called a level in the inner work. To quieten the mind we use will power. We do not allow our minds to say anything about any subject, object or place. We try to put a stop to all conversation taking place in our minds as we walk towards our object of concentration. One can make a great effort here to stop ourselves from talking within as it wont damage the mind. We are learning to truly be not identified, not commenting about anything, the practice, anything. So we focus on an object in the distance, do not speak a word about it or anything and walk towards it. By cupping our internal tongues we are starving the ego of energy and he will eventually quieten down. Two people are needed for a conversation, it is the same with our minds. If we do not talk to the ego he quietens down because no-one is listening/talking to him.
Part 3:
Breaking the fascination with external world:
When the mind is quiet and pliable we can then bring the attention inwards inside ourselves. Draw the attention inwards into your minds, into your body and see the world using peripheral vision (seeing all sides). Focus on an object, say nothing, and look at everything left and right of the object of concentration taking in the whole of the present moment. Be able to see everything even between you and the object with out taking your attention off the object of concentration. People at traffic lights can see the lights turn green even though they are looking at something else. This is because they use peripheral vision. At the start it is awkward to see things without looking at them but it can be done. The most important thing though is to bring the attention inwards, step back from the world see everything at once, but at the same time remain concentrated.
This practice should be done 15 mins for the first part, 15 mins for the second part, 15 mins for the third part, 45 mins in total. The practice should be minimum 30 mins, generally 45 mins yields good results, but experiment and try to see what happens after 1 hr. The practice should always work if it is done for long enough - experiment, try, persist.
When the above is done during the night one can often return to the bed and lucid dream.
For the die-hards try 45 mins walking-concentration practice followed by 1 hour mediation.
