THE POWER OF CONCENTRATION/ PART 2
LESSON II. THE
SELF-MASTERY: SELF-DIRECTION POWER OF CONCENTRATION
Man
from a psychological standpoint of development is not what he should be. He
does not possess the self-mastery, the self-directing power of concentration
that is his by right.
He
has not trained himself in a way to promote his self-mastery. Every balanced
mind possesses the faculties whose chief duties are to engineer, direct and
concentrate the operations of the mind, both in a mental and physical sense.
Man must learn to control not only his mind but his bodily movements.
When
the controlling faculties (autonomic) are in an untrained condition, the
impulses, passions, emotions, thoughts, actions and habits of the person suffer
from lack of regulation, and the procedure of mental concentration is not good,
not because the mind is necessarily weak in the autonomic department of the
faculties, but because the mind is not properly trained.
When
the self-regulating faculties are not developed the impulses, appetites,
emotions and passions have full swing to do as they please and the mind becomes
impulsive, restless, emotional and irregular in its action. This is what makes
mental concentration poor.
When
the self-guiding faculties are weak in development, the person always lacks the
power of mental concentration. Therefore you cannot learn to concentrate until
you develop those very powers that qualify you to be able to concentrate. So if
you cannot concentrate one of the following is the cause:
1.
"Deficiency of the motor centers." 2. "An impulsive and
emotional mind." 3. "An untrained mind."
The
last fault can soon be removed by systematic practice. It is easiest to
correct.
The
impulsive and emotional state of mind can best be corrected by restraining
anger, passion and excitement, hatred, strong impulses, intense emotions,
fretfulness, etc. It is impossible to concentrate when you are in any of these
excited states.
These
can be naturally decreased by avoiding such food and drinks as have nerve
weakening or stimulating influences, or a tendency to stir up the passions, the
impulses and the emotions; it is a very good practice to watch and associate
with those persons that are steady, calm, controlled and conservative.
Correcting
the deficiency of the motor centers is harder because as the person's brain is
undeveloped he lacks will power.
To
cure this takes some time. Persons so afflicted may benefit by reading and
studying my course, "The Master Mind."
Many
have the idea that when they get into a negative state they are concentrating,
but this is not so. They may be meditating, though not concentrating. Those
that are in a negative state a good deal of the time cannot, as a rule,
concentrate very well; they develop instead abstraction of the mind, or absence
of mind. Their power of concentration becomes weaker and they find it difficult
to concentrate on anything. They very often injure the brain, if they keep up
this state. To be able to concentrate you must possess strength of mind. The
person that is feeble-minded cannot concentrate his mind, because of lack of
will. The mind that cannot center itself on a special subject, or thought, is
weak; also the mind that cannot draw itself from a subject or thought is weak.
But the person that can center his mind on any problem, no matter what it is,
and remove any unharmonious impressions has strength of mind. Concentration,
first, last and all the time, means strength of mind.
Through
concentration a person is able to collect and hold his mental and physical
energies at work. A concentrated mind pays attention to thoughts, words, acts
and plans. The person who allows his mind to roam at will will never accomplish
a great deal in the world. He wastes his energies. If you work, think, talk and
act aimlessly, and allow your brain to wander from your subject to foreign
fields, you will not be able to concentrate. You concentrate at the moment when
you say, "I want to, I can, I will."
Some
Mistakes Some People Make. If you waste your time reading sensational stories
or worthless newspaper items, you excite the impulsive and the emotional
faculties, and this means you are weakening your power of concentration. You
will not be a free engineer, able to pilot yourself to success.
Concentration
of the mind can only be developed by watching yourself closely. All kinds of
development commence with close attention. You should regulate your every
thought and feeling. When you commence to watch yourself and your own acts and
also the acts of other people, you use the faculties of autonomy, and, as you
continue to do so, you improve your faculties, until in time you can engineer
your every thought, wish and plan. To be able to focalize the mind on the
object at hand in a conscious manner leads to concentration. Only the trained
mind can focalize. To hold a thought before it until all the faculties shall
have had time to consider that thought is concentration.
The
person that cannot direct his thoughts, wishes, plans, resolutions and studies
cannot possibly succeed to the fullest extent. The person that is impulsive one
moment and calm the next has not the proper control over himself. He is not a
master of his mind, nor of his thoughts, feelings and wishes. Such a person
cannot be a success. When he becomes irritated, he irritates others and spoils
all chances of any concerned doing their best. But the person that can direct
his energies and hold them at work in a concentrated manner controls his every
work and act, and thereby gains power to control others. He can make his every
move serve a useful end and every thought a noble purpose.
In
this day the man that gets excited and irritable should be looked upon as an
undesirable person. The person of good breeding now speaks with slowness and
deliberation. He is cultivating more and more of a reposeful attitude. He is
consciously attentive and holds his mind to one thing at a time. He shuts out
everything else. When you are talking to anyone give him your sole and
undivided attention. Do not let your attention wander or be diverted. Give no
heed to anything else, but make your will and intellect act in unison.
Start
out in the morning and see how self-poised you can remain all day. At times
take an inventory of your actions during the day and see if you have kept your
determination. If not, see that you do tomorrow. The more self-poised you are
the better will your concentration be. Never be in too much of a hurry; and,
remember, the more you improve your concentration, the greater are your
possibilities. Concentration means success, because you are better able to
govern yourself and centralize your mind; you become more in earnest in what
you do and this almost invariably improves your chances for success.
When
you are talking to a person have your own plans in mind. Concentrate your
strength upon the purpose you are talking about. Watch his every move, but keep
your own plans before you. Unless you do, you will waste your energy and not
accomplish as much as you should.
I
want you to watch the next person you see that has the reputation of being a
strong character, a man of force. Watch and see what a perfect control he has
over his body. Then I want you to watch just an ordinary person. Notice how he
moves his eyes, arms, fingers; notice the useless expenditure of energy. These
movements all break down the vital cells and lessen the person's power in vital
and nerve directions. It is just as important for you to conserve your nervous
forces as it is the vital forces. As an example we see an engine going along
the track very smoothly. Some one opens all the valves and the train stops. It
is the same with you. If you want to use your full amount of steam, you must
close your valves and direct your power of generating mental steam toward one
end. Center your mind on one purpose, one plan, one transaction.
There
is nothing that uses up nerve force so quickly as excitement. This is why an
irritable person is never magnetic; he is never admired or loved; he does not
develop those finer qualities that a real gentleman possesses. Anger, sarcasm
and excitement weaken a person in this direction. The person that allows
himself to get excited will become nervous in time, because he uses up his
nerve forces and his vital energies. The person that cannot control himself and
keep from becoming excited cannot concentrate.
When
the mind can properly concentrate, all the energy of every microscopic cell is
directed into one channel and then there is a powerful personal influence
generated. Everyone possesses many millions of little trembling cells, and each
one of these has a center where life and energy are stored up and generated. If
this energy is not wasted but conserved and controlled, this person is
influential, but when it is the opposite, he is not influential or successful.
Just
as it is impossible for a steam engine to run with all its valves open, so is
it impossible for you to waste your energy and run at your top speed. Each neuron
in the gray layers of the brain is a psychic center of thought and action, each
one is pulsating an intelligent force of some kind, and when this force, your
thoughts and motions, are kept in cheek by a conservative, systematic and
concentrated mind, the result will be magnetism, vitality and health. The
muscles, bones, ligaments, feet, hands and nerves, etc., are agents for
carrying out the mandates of the mind. The sole purpose of the volitional
faculties is to move the physical mechanism as the energy travels along the
wires of nerves and muscles. Just for that reason, if you throw a voluntary
control over these messages, impulses, thoughts, emotions, physical movements
and over these physical instruments you develop your faculties of self-mastery
and to the extent you succeed here in proportion will you develop the power of
concentration.
Any
exercise or work that excites the mind, stimulates the senses, calls the
emotions and appetites into action, confuses, terrifies or emotionalizes,
weakens the power of concentration. This is why all kind of excitement is bad.
This is the reason why persons who drink strong drinks, who allow themselves to
get into fits of temper, who fight, who eat stimulating food, who sing and
dance and thus develop their emotions, who are sudden, vehement and emotional,
lack the power to concentrate. But those whose actions are slower and directed
by their intelligence develop concentration. Sometimes dogmatic, wilful,
excitable persons can concentrate, but it is spasmodic, erratic concentration
instead of controlled and uniform concentration. Their energy works by spells;
sometimes they have plenty, other times very little; it is easily excited;
easily wasted. The best way to understand it is to compare it with the
discharge of a gun. If the gun goes off when you want it to, it accomplishes
the purpose, but if it goes off before you are ready for it, you will not only
waste ammunition, but it is also likely to do some damage. That is just what
most persons do. They allow their energy to explode, thus not only wasting it
but endangering others. They waste their power, their magnetism and so injure
their chance of success. Such persons are never well liked and never will be
until they gain control over themselves.
It
will be necessary for them to practice many different kinds of concentration
exercises, and to keep them up for some time. They must completely overcome
their sudden, erratic thoughts, and regulate their emotions and movements. They
must from morning to night train the mind to be steady, and direct and keep the
energies at work.
The
lower area of the brain is the store house of the energy. Most all persons have
all the dynamic energy they need if they would concentrate it. They have the
machine, but they must also have the engineer, or they will not go very far.
The engineer is the self-regulating, directing power. The person that does not
develop his engineering qualities will not accomplish much in life. The good
engineer controls his every act. All work assists in development. By what you
do you either advance or degenerate. This is a good idea to keep always in
mind. When you are uncertain whether you should do something or not, just think
whether by doing it you will grow or deteriorate, and act accordingly.
I am
a firm believer in "work when you work, and play when you play." When
you give yourself up to pleasure you can develop concentration by thinking of
nothing else but pleasure; when your mind dwells on love, think of nothing but
this and you will find you can develop a more intense love than you ever had
before. When you concentrate your mind on the "you" or real self, and
its wonderful possibilities, you develop concentration and a higher opinion of
yourself. By doing this systematically, you develop much power, because you
cannot be systematic without concentrating on what you are doing. When you walk
out into the country and inhale the fresh air, studying vegetation, trees,
etc., you are concentrating. When you see that you are at your place of
business at a certain time each morning you are developing steadiness of habit
and becoming systematic. If you form the habit of being on time one morning, a
little late the next, and still later the following one, you are not developing
concentration, but whenever you fix your mind on a certain thought and hold
your mind on it at successive intervals, you develop concentration.
If
you hold your mind on some chosen object, you centralize your attention, just
like the lens of the camera centralizes on a certain landscape. Therefore
always hold your mind on what you are doing, no matter what it is. Keep a
careful watch over yourself, for unless you do your improvement will be very
slow.
Practice
inhaling long, deep breaths, not simply for the improvement of health, although
that is no small matter, but also for the purpose of developing more power,
more love, more life. All work assists in development.
You
may think it foolish to try to develop concentration by taking muscular
exercises, but you must not forget that the mind is associated with muscle and
nerve. When you steady your nerves and muscles, you steady your mind, but let
your nerves get out of order and your mind will become erratic and you will not
possess the power of direction, which, in other words, is concentration.
Therefore you understand how important exercises that steady the nerves and
muscles are in developing concentration.
Everyone
is continually receiving impulses that must be directed and controlled if one
is to lead a successful life. That is the reason why a person must control the
movements of his eyes, feet, fingers, etc.; this is another reason why it is
important to control his breathing. The slow, deep, prolonged exhalations are
of wonderful value. They steady the circulation, the heart action, muscles and
nerves of the mind. If the heart flutters, the circulation is not regular, and
when the lung action is uneven, the mind becomes unsteady and not fit for
concentration. This is why controlled breathing is very important as a
foundation for physical health.
You
must not only concentrate your mind, but also the action of the eyes, ears and
fingers. Each of these contain miniature minds that are controlled by the
master engineer. You will develop much quicker if you thoroughly realize this.
If
you have ever associated with big men, or read their biographies, you will find
that they usually let the others do the talking. It is much easier to talk than
it is to listen. There is no better exercise for concentration than to pay
close attention when some one is talking. Besides learning from what they have
to say, you may develop both mental and physical concentration.
When
you shake hands with some one just think of your hand as containing hundreds of
individual minds, each having an intelligence of its own. When you put this
feeling into your hand shake it shows personality. When you shake hands in a
listless way, it denotes timidity, lack of force and power of personality. When
the hand grip is very weak and stiff, the person has little love in his nature,
no passion and no magnetism. When the hand shake is just the opposite, you will
find that the nature is also. The loveless person is non-magnetic and he shows
that he is by his non-magnetic hand shake. When two developed souls shake
hands, their clasps are never light. There is a thrill that goes through both
when the two currents meet. Love arouses the opposite currents of the positive
and negative natures. When there is no love, life loses its charm. The hand
quickly shows when love is being aroused. This is why you should study the art
of hand shaking and develop your social affections. A person that loves his
kind reflects love, but a person that hates reflects hate. The person with a
bad nature, a hateful disposition, evil thoughts and feeling is erratic, freakish
and fitful. When you allow yourself to become irritable, watch how you breathe
and you will learn a valuable lesson. Watch how you breathe when you are happy.
Watch your breathing when you harbor hate. Watch how you breathe when you feel
in love with the whole world and noble emotions thrill you. When filled with
good thoughts, you breathe a plentiful supply of oxygen into your lungs and
love fills your soul. Love develops a person, physically, mentally and
socially. Breathe deeply when you are happy and you will gain life and
strength; you will steady your mind and you will develop your power of
concentration and become magnetic and powerful.
If
you want to get more out of life you must think more of love. Unless you have
real affection for something, you have no sentiment, no sweetness, no
magnetism. So arouse your love affections by your will and enter into a fuller
life.
The
hand of love always magnetizes, but it must be steady and controlled. Love can
be concentrated in your hand shake, and this is one of the best ways to
influence another.
The
next time you feel yourself becoming irritable, use your will and be patient.
This is a very good exercise in self-control. It will help you to keep patient
if you will breathe slowly and deeply. If you find you are commencing to speak
fast, just control yourself and speak slowly and clearly. Keep from either
raising or lowering your voice and concentrate on the fact that you are
determined to keep your poise, and you will improve your power of concentration.
When
you meet people of some consequence, assume a reposeful attitude before them.
Do this at all times. Watch both them and yourself. Static exercises develop
the motor faculties and increase the power of concentration. If you feel
yourself getting irritable, nervous or weak, stand squarely on your feet with
your chest up and inhale deeply and you will see that your irritability will
disappear and a silent calm will pass over you.
If
you are in the habit of associating with nervous, irritable people, quit it
until you grow strong in the power of concentration, because irritable, angry,
fretful, dogmatic and disagreeable people will weaken what powers of resistance
you have.
Any
exercises that give you better control of the ears, fingers, eyes, feet, help
you to steady your mind; when your eye is steady, your mind is steady. One of
the best ways to study a person is to watch his physical movements, for, when
we study his actions, we are studying his mind. Because actions are the
expressions of the mind. As the mind is, so is the action. If it is uneasy,
restless, erratic, unsteady, its actions are the same. When it is composed, the
mind is composed. Concentration means control of the mind and body. You cannot
secure control over one without the other.
Many
people who seem to lack ambition have sluggish minds. They are steady, patient
and seemingly have good control, but this does not say they are able to
concentrate. These people are indolent, inactive, slow and listless, because
they lack energy; they do not lose control because they have little force to
control. They have no temper and it therefore cannot disturb them. Their
actions are steady because they possess little energy. The natural person is
internally strong, energetic and forceful, but his energy, force and strength,
thoughts and physical movements are well under his control.
If a
person does not have energy, both mental and physical, he must develop it. If
he has energy which he cannot direct and hold to a point he must learn to do
so. A man may be very capable, but, unless he Wills to control his abilities,
they will not do him any good.
We
hear so much talk about the benefit of physical culture, but the real benefit
of this is really lost sight of. There is nothing that holds the faculties at
work in a sustained and continuous manner as static exercises do. For, as
stated before, when you learn to control the body, you are gaining control over
the mind.
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