Since arriving in India, I’ve heard several individuals tell me their pursuit will take a lifetime. Still others will say that reaching their goal will take several lifetimes. Swallowing this horizon and ruminating upon it forces one to digest the weight of the task at hand. There’s a degree of humility and submission that seems to be inherent in the approach here. While perfection may be the destination, nobody would be so audacious to think that they had arrived.

Plenty of people are deeply devoted the world-over. What I think is interesting about this with respect to India is that this approach seems to be ingrained in people through religion. From childhood, one is inculcated with the concept of achievement taking lifetimes. The timelines laid out in Indian theology seem to always trend toward the intangible. To grapple with such a cumbersome span, one is taught to concentrate. Repetition; ritual; routine; discipline; humility – these are all things that are impressed upon the people here as the ingredients of concentration. Naturally, these lessons are employed in pursuits outside of the religious realm.

Though I have grown up with this religion and this background, I find that I will anoint myself an expert with relatively little time devoted to concentration and study. Learning in any field should never cease, because there is far too much to ascertain. Knowing that mastery is intangible, however, should be encouraging rather than discouraging. Intangibility, from what I have observed, is what sharpens one’s concentration and vivifies one’s devotion.

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