On many occasions we can do a lot of thinking; there are plenty of situations in our daily life in which we have nothing to do except wait, and if we are disciplined – and this is part of our spiritual training – we will be able to concentrate quickly and fix our attention at once on the subject of our thoughts, of our meditation. We must learn to do it by compelling our thoughts to attach themselves to one focus and to drop everything else. In the beginning, extraneous thoughts will intrude, but if we push them away constantly, time after time, in the end they will leave us in peace. It is only when by training, by exercise, by habit, we have become able to concentrate profoundly and quickly, that we can continue through life in a state of collectedness, in spite of what we are doing.
However, to become aware of having extraneous thoughts, we must already have achieved some sort of collectedness. We can be in a crowd, surrounded by people and yet completely alone and untouched by what is going on; it depends on us whether to allow what is happening outside to become an event in our inner life or not; if we allow it to, our attention will break down, but if we do not, we can be completely isolated and collected in God’s presence whatever happens around us. There is a story by Al Absihi about this sort of concentration. A Moslem’s family used to keep a respectful silence whenever he had a visitor, but they knew that they could make as much noise as they wanted while he was praying, because at such times he heard nothing; in fact, one day he was not even disturbed by a fire that broke out in his house.
We may sometimes find ourselves in a group of people arguing hotly with no hope of a solution. We cannot leave without causing further disorder, but what we can do is mentally to withdraw, turn to Christ and say, ‘I know that you are here, help!’ And just be with Christ. If it did not sound so absurd one would say, make Christ present in the situation. Objectively he is always present, but there is some difference between being there objectively and being introduced by an act of faith into a given situation. One can do nothing but sit back and just remain with Christ and let the others talk. His presence will do more than anything one could say. And from time to time, in an unexpected way, if one keeps quiet and silent together with Christ, one will discover that one can say something quite sensible that would have been impossible in the heat of argument.
Parallel with mental discipline, we must learn to acquire a peaceful body. Whatever our psychological activity, our body reacts to it; and our bodily state determines to a certain degree the type or quality of our psychological activity. Theophane the Recluse, in his advice to anyone wishing to attempt the spiritual life, says that one of the conditions indispensable to success is never to permit bodily slackness: ‘Be like a violin string, tuned to a precise note, without slackness or supertension, the body erect, shoulders back, carriage of the head easy, the tension of all muscles oriented towards the heart.’
A great deal has been written and said about the ways in which one can make use of the body to increase one’s ability to be attentive, but on a level accessible to many, Theophane’s advice seems to be simple, precise and practical. We must learn to relax and be alert at the same time. We must master our body so that it should not intrude but make collectedness easier for us.
~Archbishop Anthony Bloom, Living Prayer
