Let’s start with a point picture. A single point may be a gateway leading from the invisible to the visible. Assume you are staring down a train track toward the horizon. At first, all you can see is the convergence of the rails themselves. Then, in the distance, you notice a spot growing larger and larger. Soon, you spot the shape of a locomotive and prepare to leap out of the path. An item has arisen from what appears to be empty space, gradually becoming into a train.
According to yogic metaphysics, all visible objects have progressed from unmanifested to manifested phases of existence. Babies, structures, and creative ideas emerge from the invisible and take physical form. Even consciousness arises from the unseen, and its expression results in every one of us having a sense of different awareness.
Individual awareness is described in the yoga scriptures as a wave coming from an ocean of pure consciousness. The two are closely and eternally related. This relationship between finite and infinite reality, and between individual awareness and pure consciousness, is depicted by a point in a yantra.
Sages tell us that throughout our contemplative journey from individual awareness to pure consciousness, we pass through this pivotal place. The topic appears in Patanjali’s famous yoga text, the Yoga Sutras, where he explains meditation as a process in which we learn to settle our consciousness on a single point. As meditation progresses, this focal point serves as a pivot, directing the flow of attention inward.
Use this image to help you focus your attention when practicing one-pointedness. Consider a pond with a surface that is so motionless that there isn’t even a ripple in it. If a bubble of air floats up from the bottom and breaks the surface of the water, it will form a circular pattern of little waves that will softly spread out throughout the entire pond. This pond represents your thoughts. The surface of your mind gets increasingly still while you meditate.
Imagine yourself resting at the precise point where the object of your focus, your mantra, first enters into awareness during mantra meditation. In this scenario, the mantra is the bubble rising to the surface of awareness. Your focus is on the sound of the mantra when it first reaches the surface of your conscious mind.
The sound’s waves travel through your head, but you’re not paying attention to their motions or the comings and goings of other ideas. Simply do nothing in terms of mental processes other than the sound of the mantra. Once you’ve formed your mantra using the visual picture, let it go and simply rest in the mantra, in the spot in the center of your mind. The sound of the mantra will gradually fill and connect the space of your conscious mind.