Volume 10, Issue 1, page 7
Ault You, 7oo, Can Do gt
By HAROLD S. SCHROEPPEL
LESSON 12 -- CONCENTRATION
UR NEXT subject is concentration,
and the prerequisites for this lesson are an ability to meditate and
a desire to be able to handle or
control or work with the mind. In
order to attain the higher abilities of the mind, it is necessary
to be able to focus and control the
conscious mind, to hold it to a
single point or subject, still and
at rest there. This is exceedingly difficult for most persons to do. The average
individual is totally incapable of holding
his mind or his attention still.
So how does one get to the point?
Preliminary drills should include meditation or holding the mind on a single subject.
They should also include the deliberate filling
of the mind with particular classes of thought,
and then the elimination of those classes of
thought from the mind. In a team drill, the which you fix should be fairly pleasant, and
director might say, "Imagine this for awhile... it should have pleasant connotations for you.
All right, now stop imagining (or playing with. However, any mental pictures held should be
or thinking aboutl this and imagine this...Now static mental pictures. There should be no mostop playing with this one and play with this tion in them, no growth, no change whatsoever.
one," so that the subject matter also comes They should not smile, or talk back to you,
under control. This is a slow exercise and a change color, grow in clarity, or anything
long haul, but you gain from it perception and like that.
control and direction over your own attention. Your purpose eventually is to hold your full
There is one path toward integration or the attention on the chosen object of concentraknowledge of the soul which comprises three tion, absolutely, without any wavering and
steps and three alone: meditation, concentra- without any interferences. You should use all
tion, and beingness. It is a slow path, and it of the attention you have -- the attention with
usually requires a certain amount of counsel- which you see, with which you listen, with
ing, but it is one by which the individual who which you smell, with which you feel your body.
walks by himself toward God can travel almost In the beginning a second, two seconds, 10
completely alone. It conveys very little in seconds of absolute, total attention will be
the way of power or function. It will, however, quite good. Your goal is at least 10 minutes --
convey a clarity of perception and a certainty to hold your attention fixed on the object and
of self; and properly done it should also bring nowhere else, without wavering for any purpose
an inner peace and faith about what the indi- whatsoever, with no awareness of anything else.
vidual is, where he is, where he is going and If you pick the face of a friend as your obwhy; and it should bring about some awareness jett, you may discover some curious sideof God and of what the soul and its purpose effects. When you are concentrating on your
are. It is a path toward God which can be used friend, he may see you and later comment, "I
by itself. The results in effectiveness of saw you on the street corner this morning. What
function in present time, telepathy, clairvoy- were you doing about that time?" Or, "I was
ance, or healing powers, or the ability to alone in my room about nine o'clock last night,
handle energy, are likely to be quite limited. a ni it seemed to me that you just came in and
Effective prayer may or may not result from talked to me for a minute. I looked around, and
it, according to what the individual knows I actually expected to feel you, but I couldabout prayer, rather than the technique itself. n't. What were you doing then?" l have run inProbably it will not make him cause in his to this sort of thing. I use much longer perparticular environment, but may be more likely iods of meditation, and with intention or some
to make him effect. such thing added, it produces definite results
Meditation has been discussed already. Con- at the other end. However, what you are trying
centration is done as follows: Find a place to learn to do is just sit still, with no inwhere you can be alone -- completely and totally tention, no anything except attention, cornalone with no need at all to put your attention plete attention, complete focus of consciouson the physical requirements of the environ- ness on the picture.
ment. Pick an object or mental picture and When you can concentrate like this for 10
focus all your attention on it. If an object, minutes, focus on being something for a susit should be small; it should occupy no more tained period of time. You already have had
APRIL, 1963 The A B E R R E E 7
WARNING -- These lessons in "Advanced Perception" are not to be treated lightly -- or delved
in by the curious for idle or questionable
goals. As the Author cautions, they're dangerous -- and it Is suggested two persons with similar intent work as a team. One of the risks involved. Mr. Schroeppel warns, is that some who
successfully develop their advanced perception
"are going to see some things they'd rather not
see". And don't mix with any other technique.
or you may find yourself working at cross-purposes. Which is no place to find yourself, or
for anyone else to find you -- especially an incompetent psychologist or psychiatrist. They
may get the idea you're as crazy as they are.
-- The EDITOR
than, say, 10 inches of space, maybe six or
eight feet from you -- not far, at the most, not
over 10 feet. The Yogis used a candle flame
placed two feet or so in front of the eyes,
and they concentrate not on the tip of the
flame but on the base. Others sometimes use
things like small statues, or a small painting
that is not too complicated. For myself, I use
a picture -- the face of a friend. The obiect on