Yoda, the Jedi Mind, and The Power of Concentration
A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious
mind. (to the invisible Ben, indicating Luke) This one a long time
have I watched. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was
doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh! Excitement. Heh! A Jedi craves not these
things. (turning to Luke) You are reckless!
- Yoda – The Empire Strikes Back
As I was reading chapter two of “The Power of Concentration”, it struck me that what Dumont is saying is not unlike the Jedi training seen in the Star Wars movies. If you want to achieve anything, you must focus on where you are, and where you want to go. Everything else is a distraction. Ideally, you want to develop a Jedi mind that is able to block out all of the noise that is constantly vying for your attention.
I found Chapter 2 to be a slightly difficult read. Dumont writes in what I would call 19th century style. I found it difficult at times to fully comprehend what he was saying. Perhaps this is just the fault of my own untrained mind? Nonetheless, here is my summary for Chapter 2 of “The Power of Concentration”.
Most men, Dumont claims, do not posses the self-mastery that comes from the self-directing power of concentration. When these self-regulating faculties are not developed, the mind can be influenced by all kinds of impulses, appetites and emotions. This forces the mind to become impulsive, restless and irregular. If the self-regulating faculties are weak in development, it is impossible to have a strong, focused mind.
Dumont believes there are three possible factors for the mind to not have developed this self-regulating faculty. One of these is deficiency of the motors centers. This is actually a physical condition, which is hard to correct (although he does allude to another book, not yet published in 1911, which will deal with this). The second is an overly impulsive or emotional mind. To correct this, it is important to learn how to restrain anger, passion, and intense emotions. One should also avoid over simulative food and drink, and associate with other calm people as much as possible. The third factor is that the mind simply has not been trained, and the person is unaware of this.
The well trained, concentrated mind pays attention to all its thoughts, words, acts, and plans. When you let you mind wander, you are wasting your energy. If you are allowing yourself to get emotional on items that are not central to whatever it is you are trying to achieve, you are wasting energy. For example, reading sensational stories from the newspaper that do not affect you in anyway are a waste of time and vital force. Dumont makes a useful comparison, comparing the trained mind to that of a steam engine. When the mind is trained, the steam is only used to move the train quickly along the tracks to its goal. The untrained mind is like a steam engine in which all of the valves are open. Steam dissipates, energy is lost, and the train no longer speeds along to its goal.
Dumont also mentions the importance of taking deep breaths in order to calm and focus the mind. The mind is associated with muscle and nerve, so this must not be neglected if you want to develop mental concentration.
