Hazrat Inayart continues to answer questions regarding his lecture on ‘Will’. The previous post in the series is here.

Question: Will you please explain the difference between concentration and silence?

Answer: Concentration is holding a certain thought before you. Silence is relaxing mind and body. It is repose. It is a healing. 

Question: What is the difference between concentration and meditation?

Answer: Concentration is the beginning of meditation. Meditation is the end of concentration. It is an advanced form of concentration. The subtle working of the mind is called meditation. It is more profound than concentration; but once concentration is accomplished fully, it becomes easy for a person to meditate.

Question: Will power does not seem to depend upon ourselves. Is it not given to some as a grace, as a blessing?

Answer: It does not depend on ourselves, but it is ourselves. It is grace and blessing, no doubt; but at the same time, it is to be found in ourselves, it is our very being.

Question: Are will and consciousness fundamentally the same?

Answer: Yes. It is the two expressions of one thing, and this makes them distinct. This duality comes out of unity. It is God’s own Being that in expression is will, in repose, consciousness. In other words, in action it is will, in stillness it is consciousness, just as fundamentally sound and light are one and the same thing. In one condition, the same vibrations are audible; in another condition, the friction of vibrations and light are one and the same. So are the nature and character of consciousness and will because fundamentally, both belong to God’s own Being.

To be continued…