The myth of meditation and concentration

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: “Acharya Ji, pranam. In shloka 407 of Vivekchudamani, it is advised to dissolve the mind by ‘concentrating it in the Supreme Self which is one’s inmost essence.’ So, is this inmost essence the same as the I am — the natural sense of being felt in the heart? If so, is it enough to fix the attention on this, both in my meditations and as I go through the day, bringing the attention back every time it wanders away? Would that kind of concentration be sufficient or is something more required?”

Acharya Prashant: The flower, can never quite feel the root, or can it? You have talked of the I am — the natural sense of being felt in the heart. Whatsoever is felt is always felt in the mind. The heart is that which enables the feeling. In the heart, there are no feelings nor can the heart be ever felt. Meditation is not about concentrating on the natural sense of being. Meditation is not about bringing the mind back from the world to some ‘I am’ idea.

To meditate is to continuously look for That, for which the eyes anyway are looking. You must understand this. Look at the way one’s eyes look. We don’t just look. We look purposefully, don’t we? The eyes keep on looking. The ears keep on hearing. The mind keeps on processing. The memory…