Q: What is concentration of attention?  What is the mechanism?

A: Well, the only way to experience concentration is when you have discovered the purpose of your life.  Then the whole life will be concentrated to fulfill that purpose, only then you will experience real concentration.  Without discovering the real purpose of your life, you will never ever experience real concentration.  You can see that I am concentrating on this problem or that problem.  It is more of a focus, not concentration.

Q: What is the difference between focus and concentration? Strength or other things also.

A: Your focus keeps on changing, from things to things.  But when you will discover the real purpose of your life then the whole life will be concentrated towards that end.  Then only you will discover what is concentration.

Everybody is focused on living, earning some money or small things like that.  But concentration is a much more higher thing than that.

Q: And in practice this level is more of a focus.

A: Now it is more of a focus, yes.  You will begin to experience concentration the day you will discover the real purpose of your life.  From that very day you will experience original concentration because your whole activity, your whole life will be concentrated towards your achieving that purpose of your life.  And it is a rare revelation, I think very few people in the world discover why they are here, why they are living, what is the purpose of their life.  It’s rare.

Q: And how does it happen, by thinking?

A: You will discover it accidentally or suddenly.  I mean you don’t have to do any effort in that.

Q: As a result of practice or not?

A: No, just like that.  It is like falling in love, I mean it is either there or it is not there.

Q: If I draw analogy in our work, we make a project plant, we do everything in the project plant, to achieve the project completion and no activity which is against this project completion we will do — in that way I think focus and concentration will come.

A: Yes, for the purpose of explaining you can say that.

Q: So unnecessary distraction, even if it comes, is thrown away, we are not interested in it.

A: Once you have concentrated nothing will distract you. After you discover the purpose you will actually experience concentration on life.  That purpose will always remain in front of you, no matter what you are doing. And your whole activity will be towards that even though you are talking with someone but it will always be there in your mind. We have to discover that.

Most of us take a while to fulfill the result of their past karmas.  So the life plan is almost the same.  Very few people take birth to go above that.  We don’t have to take birth because just to take birth is a result of your past karmas.  Only then we can think about self realization and about God, why the nature is working, what it is. Оtherwise for a layman who is just fulfilling his karmas, no matter how much you talk to him on the subject he will never listen.