Question: Would you please tell us something about the transitional stages of concentration, meditation and contemplation?

Sri Chinmoy: Concentration is the focus of our attention on something very minute, finite, subtle, small. When we concentrate, we have to focus our attention on the tiniest thing possible. When we meditate, we have to meditate on the largest thing possible. From the tiniest, we develop the capacity to meditate on the largest. Martin, when you were a child, at that time, with greatest difficulty, you learned the letter ‘m,’ then ‘a,’ then ‘r,’ then ‘t,’ then ‘i’ and then ‘n.’ With each letter you had to struggle. Then there came a time when you could read ‘Martin.’ It takes all a child’s attention to learn the alphabet. But that same child eventually gets a Master’s degree and reads millions of books. So in the beginning, when you concentrate, you will learn the smallest thing and you will learn it perfectly. And then, when you meditate, at that time you will learn the largest thing, the vast ocean, the vast sky.

Then comes contemplation. Contemplation is a combination of concentration and meditation. You have the love for both the vast infinite and also for the tiniest. God has created the tiny ant and also He has created the elephant. If you really love God, then you have to love God’s ant-creation and also God’s elephant-creation. When you contemplate, at that time you love both the ant who is God and also the elephant who is God. Contemplation gives us the greatest joy because it makes us one. When you play the game of contemplation, this moment God says, “My child, now I am playing the role of the ant, so you take the role of the elephant.” The next moment God says, “Let us change our roles.” Then He becomes the elephant and you become the ant. Here, the Lover and the Beloved are constantly exchanging roles. At this moment, when the Lover is the ant, the Beloved becomes the elephant. Then it is reversed. But it is on the strength of love that this one becomes the divine Lover and that one becomes the Supreme Beloved. So, concentration is the little one, meditation is the big one, and then contemplation comes and unites the two together. Concentration and meditation must be unified in order to get the proper result of contemplation.