You do not practice concentration, you arrive at it, just as you did with insight. Since you have gone beyond some distractions and dissipations, your valuation has changed. You do not fight with yourself about withdrawal or renunciation; you are no longer attracted to those things, and therefore your concentration develops. That is a good and safe plateau where you are not trying to concentrate; you have peacefully arrived at concentration. So after persistence and humility, along with other virtues which together constitute dharma, you arrive at concentration. At this plateau of concentration, you have more understanding, more wisdom, greater perception and better feelings. You are on the foundation of dharma—Dharma rakshati rakshitaha, in Sanskrit: “When you protect dharma, it protects you,” Dharma is personified as Lord Ganesha, the son of Divine Mother. Since you have protected Her son and that son is with you, Mother is your friend. You have fought with none, you are not fighting with your mind, your valuation has changed, you understand better, you see better, and you have faith and humility. Being concentrated, you now employ the final step: you plunge into Consciousness. At that stage it is joyful, effortless.
      Keep constant faith until you reach the goal. Faith is your Master, your Guru. There were many times when you did not know, but He was with you on the path all along, guiding you, saving you, protecting you, sometimes with a “stick” to keep you on the path. You may feel at times “I did it.” Certainly, but you could not have done it without Him. So faith continues as your Master and dharma as Ganesha. With faith you get strength, with dharma you get protection. Without fighting, without hard practices but in a peaceful way, with harmony around you, you are never disturbed. To evolve to higher consciousness does not have to be miserable. You do not have to suffer in order to grow, unless you choose to. This is the peaceful way to Enlightenment. If those around you criticize negatively, that is the way they see it. But see that your mind does not get agitated over the remarks of others. Agitation creates tension and then your peace is gone. Maintain peace and harmony around you at all times, so that at the most dire moment, bleeding and dying on the cross, you could say, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”