TERMS STARTING WITH
concentrated ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Concentrate
concentrated
concentrate ::: v. t. --> To bring to, or direct toward, a common center; to unite more closely; to gather into one body, mass, or force; to fix; as, to concentrate rays of light into a focus; to concentrate the attention.
To increase the strength and diminish the bulk of, as of a liquid or an ore; to intensify, by getting rid of useless material; to condense; as, to concentrate acid by evaporation; to concentrate by washing; -- opposed to dilute.
Concentrated Mana Water Concentrated Mana* Because, Water + Toxic Sludge = More Water. You can do Toxic Sludge to Water then Water to Concentrated Mana.
CONCENTRATE—To draw or direct to or toward a common centre.
TERMS ANYWHERE
1. Not divided, separated, or broken up into parts. 2. Not divided between different objects; concentrated on, devoted to, directed towards, one object; whole, entire.
abstract ::: adj. 1. Withdrawn or separated from matter, from material embodiment, from practice, or from particular examples; theoretical. 2. In the fine arts, characterized by lack of or freedom from representational qualities. n. 3. Something that concentrates in itself the essential qualities of anything more extensive or more general, or of several things; essence.
Abstraction: (Lat. ab, from + trahere, to draw) The process of ideally separating a partial aspect or quality from a total object. Also the result or product of mental abstraction. Abstraction, which concentrates its attention on a single aspect, differs from analysis which considers all aspects on a par. -- L.W.
Action of the Divine Force: What comes from above can come when one is In a clear mind or when the vital is disturbed, when one is in meditation or when one is moving about, when one is working or when one is doing nothing. Most often it comes when one is in a clear concentrated stale, but it may not,
ahitabhava ::: concentrated state.
A lemming ::: refers to the act of an investor following the crowd into an investment, without doing research themselves; this usually results in losses. These investors are emotional and easily swayed by short-term market performance. This "herd" mentality can increase the chance of losing money, because investors either leave the market too early or get into it too late, when prices are already too high to make a profit. n the animal kingdom, a lemming is a rodent known for periodic mass migrations that occasionally end in drowning. To contradict the "herd" mentality, many proactive investors react in an opposite fashion than what the majority of investors are doing. For example, if investors are in a buying frenzy, anti-"herd" investors will sell and when the crowd sells, these investors will go against the lemmings by buying stocks, instead. The antidote to becoming a lemming investor is to keep emotions separate from trading judgment. Instead, concentrate on spotting lemming activity and consider exploiting it for gain by moving in a contrarian fashion. Here's why this is a better strategy that succumbing to the lemming mentality: extreme optimism often coincides with market tops. People think the sky's the limit and send stock prices flying. However, savvier investors know that the time to sell is when prices are high. Likewise, extreme pessimism can be bullish for a contrarian investor. Toward the end of a big decline, the last bulls throw in the towel and sell with a vengeance. Cooler heads in such situations can see the fire sale happening and buy. Studies have found that investors are most influenced by current events – market news, political events, earnings, etc. – and ignore long-term investment and economic fundamentals. Furthermore, if a movement starts in one direction, it tends to pick up more and more investors with time and momentum. The impact of such lemming-like behavior has been made worse in recent years because of more quantity of more sensationalist financial, economic, and other news than ever before. This proliferation of financial media inevitable affects investor psychology.
Amarapura NikAya. One of three major monastic fraternities (NIKAYA) within the modern Sinhalese THERAVADA sangha (S. SAMGHA), the others being the majority SIYAM NIKAYA and the RAMANNA NIKAYA. The Amarapura NikAya was founded in the early nineteenth century in opposition to the Siyam NikAya's policy of restricting higher ordination (UPASAMPADA) to the highest Goyigama caste. The Goyigama was concentrated in the interior highlands of Sri Lanka, which were governed by the Kandyan king. The lower castes-comprised of toddy tappers and cinnamon pickers, who formed the majority population in the British controlled coastal lowlands-were at most given lower ordination (PRAVRAJYA) as novices (sRAMAnERA). In protest, five low-caste Sinhalese novices journeyed to the Burmese capital of Amarapura in 1800 to receive higher ordination from the Burmese patriarch, NAnabhivaMsa. In 1803, they were ordained as monks (BHIKsU) and, together with three Burmese elders (P. thera), returned to Sri Lanka to establish the reformist Amarapura NikAya. The Amarapura NikAya takes as its charter the KALYAnĪ INSCRIPTIONS of the Mon king Dhammazedi erected at Pegu in 1479, a recension of which it preserves in its monasteries as the KalyAnipakarana. Following its establishment, the Amarapura NikAya itself divided along caste lines into numerous subgroups, each group maintaining its own lineage of teachers that are traced back to the original founders of the Amarapura NikAya. Continued sectarianism, along with doctrinal disagreements over the role of meditation, led to the formation of another reformist monastic order with Burmese roots, the RAmaNNa NikAya, in 1862.
ACTIVATION OF
CONSCIOUSNESS, SYSTEMATIC Systematic activation of consciousness is done in four steps: concentration, meditation, contemplation and illumination.
Concentration is the keeping of attention on a certain thing. Meditation implies a concentrated analysis of all relations pertaining to this subject-matter. Contemplation entails the isolation of the problem until one begins to see the idea and can concentrate attention on that single point. If thereby activity ceases, there is a risk of falling asleep or into ordinary trance. If activity can be kept up long enough, illumination comes and the individual will find what he has been seeking. K 7.17.9
ananda ::: delight, bliss, ecstasy, beatitude; "a profound concentrated ananda intense self-existent bliss extended to all that our being does, envisages, creates, a fixed divine rapture"; same as sama ananda, the universal delight which constitutes active / positive samata, "an equal delight in all the cosmic manifestation of the Divine", whose "foundation is the Atmajnana or Brahmajnana by which we perceive the whole universe as a perception of one Being that manifests itself in multitudinous forms and activities"; the highest of the three stages of active / positive . 12 samata, "the joy of Unity" by which "all is changed into the full and pure ecstasy" of the Spirit; the third and highest state of bhukti, consisting of the delight of existence experienced "throughout the system" in seven principal forms (kamananda, premananda, ahaituka ananda, cidghanananda, suddhananda, cidananda and sadananda) corresponding to the seven kosas or sheaths of the being and the seven lokas or planes of existence; physical ananda or sarirananda in its five forms, also called vividhananda (various delight), the fourth member of the sarira catus.t.aya; (especially in the plural, "anandas") any of these forms of ananda; same as anandaṁ brahma, the last aspect of the fourfold brahman; bliss of infinite conscious existence, "the original, all-encompassing, all-informing, all-upholding delight", the third aspect of saccidananda and the principle manifested in its purity in janaloka or anandaloka, also present in an involved or subordinated form on every other plane.
ANANDA. ::: Delight; essential principle of delight; bliss; spiritual ecstasy; the bliss of the Spirit which is the secret source· and support of all existence.
Ānanda is the secret delight from which all things are born, by which all is sustained in existence and to which all can rise in the spiritual culmination.
It is the Divine Bliss which comes from above. It is not joy or pleasure, but something self-existent, pure and quite beyond what any joy or pleasure can be.
Something greater than peace or joy, something that, like Truth and Light, is the very nature of the supramental Divine. It can come by frequent inrushes or descents, partially or for a time, but it cannot -remain in the system so long as the system has not been prepared for it.
It can come not only with its fullest intensity but with a more enduring persistence when the mind is at peace and the heart delivered from ordinary joy and sorrow. If the mind and heart are restless, changeful, unquiet, Ānanda of a kind may come, but it is mixed with vital excitement and cannot abide. One must get peace and calm fixed in the consciousness first, then there is a solid basis on which Ānanda can spread itself and in its turn become an enduring part of the consciousness and the nature.
Ānanda (ascension into) ::: It is quite impossible to ascend to the real Ānanda plane (except in a profound trance), until after the supramental consciousness has been entered, realised and possessed; but it is quite possible and normal to feel some form of Ānanda consciousness on any level. This consciousness, wherever it is felt, is a derivation from the Ānanda plane, but it is very much diminished in power and modified to suit the lesser power of receptivity of the inferior levels.
Ānanda (divine) in the physical ::: self-existent in its essence, its manifestation is dependent only on an inner union with the Divine.
Ānanda (of the Brahman) ::: there is an absoluteness of immutable ecstasy in it, a concentrated intensity of silent and inalienable rapture.
anta-manus.a (asamahita ashanta-manusha) ::: "unconcentrated unquiet man", the ordinary human being who lacks the power of spiritual concentration and quietude.
arrest ::: v. t. --> To stop; to check or hinder the motion or action of; as, to arrest the current of a river; to arrest the senses.
To take, seize, or apprehend by authority of law; as, to arrest one for debt, or for a crime.
To seize on and fix; to hold; to catch; as, to arrest the eyes or attention.
To rest or fasten; to fix; to concentrate.
The act of stopping, or restraining from further motion,
ASANA. ::: Fixed posture habituating the body to certain attitudes of immobility. The system of Asana has at its basis two profound ideas ::: control by physical immobility, power by immobility.
The sitting motionless posture is the natural posture for concentrated meditation - walking and standing are active conditions. It is only when one has gained the enduring rest and passivity of the consciousness that it is easy to concentrate and receive when walking or doing anything. A fundamental passive condition of the consciousness gathered into itself is the proper poise for concentration and a seated gathered immobility in the body is the best position for that. It can be done also lying down, but that position is too passive, tending to be inert rather than gathered. This is the reason why yogis always sit in an āsana. One can accustom oneself to meditate walking. standing, lying but sitting is the first natural position.
“A ‘soma-drinker’ attains the power of placing himself in direct rapport with the bright side of the moon, thus deriving inspiration from the concentrated intellectual energy of the blessed ancestors. . . .
::: "Aspiration is to call the forces. When the forces have answered, there is a natural state of quiet receptivity concentrated but spontaneous.” Letters on Yoga
“Aspiration is to call the forces. When the forces have answered, there is a natural state of quiet receptivity concentrated but spontaneous.” Letters on Yoga
ASPIRATION. ::: The call in the being for the Divine or for the higher things that belong to the Divine Consciousness.
A call to the Divine; aspiration for the discovery and embodiment of the Divine Truth and to nothing else whatever.
An aspiration vigilant, constant, unceasing- the mind’s will, the heart’s seeking, the assent of the vital being, the will to open and make plastic the physical consciousness and nature.
There is no need of words in aspiration. It can be expressed or unexpressed in words.
Aspiration need not be in the form of thought; it can be a feeling within that remains even when the mind is attending to the work.
Aspiration is to call the forces. When the forces have answered, there is a natural state of quiet receptivity concentrated but spontaneous.
In aspiration there is a self-giving for the higher consciousness to descend and take possession ; the more intense the call, the greater the self-giving.
Aspiration keeps the consciousness open, prevents an inert state of acquiescence in all that comes and exercises a sort of pull on the sources of the higher consciousness.
The intensity of aspiration brings the intensity of the experience and by repeated intensity of the experience, the change. It is the psychic that gives the true aspiration; if the vital is purified and subjected to the psychic, then the vital gives intensity.
Aspiration in the physical consciousness ::: the physical consciousness is always in everybody in its own nature a little inert and in it a constant strong aspiration is not natural, it has to be created. But first there must be the opening, a purification, a fixed quietude, otherwise the physical vital will turn the strong aspiration into over-eagerness and impatience or rather it will try to give it that turn.
asura ::: (in the Veda) "the mighty Lord", an epithet of the supreme deva; a Titan (daitya); a kind of anti-divine being of the mentalised vital plane; the sixth of the ten types of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the buddhi; (on page 1280) a being of a world of "might & glory".
Aswapati ::: Sri Aurobindo: “Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her [Savitri’s] human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; …” (Author’s Note at the beginning of Savitri.)
Aswapati ::: Sri Aurobindo: “Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her [Savitri’s] human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; …” (From a letter of Sri Aurobindo to a disciple, listed now as the Author’s Note at the beginning of Savitri.)
aswapati ::: Sri Aurobindo: "Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her [Savitri"s] human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; . . . .” (From a letter written by Sri Aurobindo) Aswapati"s.
a ::: the higher knowledge; the knowledge of brahman, "the supreme supra-intellectual knowledge which concentrates itself on the discovery of the One and Infinite in its transcendence or tries to penetrate by intuition, contemplation, direct inner contact into the ultimate truths behind the appearances of Nature".
Big Bang - The explosion and rapid explosion of matter that occurred at the creation of our universe. In the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, all matter is thought to have consisted of free quarks and gluons at extremely high temperatures and densities. This plasma then cooled and coalesced into the particles and atoms that now make up all objects in the universe.
Black Hole - A region of space that has so much mass concentrated in it that there is no way for a nearby object to escape its gravitational pull.
concentrated ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Concentrate
concentrated
concentrate ::: v. t. --> To bring to, or direct toward, a common center; to unite more closely; to gather into one body, mass, or force; to fix; as, to concentrate rays of light into a focus; to concentrate the attention.
To increase the strength and diminish the bulk of, as of a liquid or an ore; to intensify, by getting rid of useless material; to condense; as, to concentrate acid by evaporation; to concentrate by washing; -- opposed to dilute.
behaviourism: one of the major perspectives in psychology that concentrates on overt (observable) behaviour rather than covert (unobservable) mental processing. Behaviours are seen as being acquired through the processes of learning, and the role of the environment is seen to be crucial in development.
Biological Magnification ::: Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans. The substances become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain.
blowpipe ::: n. --> A tube for directing a jet of air into a fire or into the flame of a lamp or candle, so as to concentrate the heat on some object.
A blowgun; a blowtube.
bodhyanga. (P. bojjhanga; T. byang chub kyi yan lag; C. juezhi/qijuezhi; J. kakushi/shichikakushi; K. kakchi/ch'ilgakchi 覺支/七覺支). In Sanskrit, "branches of enlightenment," or "limbs of awakening"; seven qualities attained at the point of realizing the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA): mindfulness (SMṚTI; P. sati), investigation of factors (dharmapravicaya; P. dhammavicaya), energy (VĪRYA; P. viriya), rapture (PRĪTI; pīti), tranquility (PRAsRABDHI; passaddhi), concentration (SAMADHI), and equanimity (UPEKsA; upekkhA). In their roles as "branches of enlightenment," mindfulness, first, refers to the "four foundations of mindfulness" (SMṚTYUPASTHANA; P. SATIPAttHANA), where the practitioner dwells contemplating four types of objects: namely, the body (KAYA), sensations (VEDANA), the mind (CITTA), and mental objects (DHARMA). Investigation of factors refers to investigating, examining, and reflecting on the teachings and numerical lists of factors taught by the Buddha. Energy refers to firm and unshaken energy that arises in the mind of the practitioner while investigating factors, etc. Rapture refers to the supersensuous bliss that arises as a consequence of contemplating with energy. Tranquility refers to the tranquility that arises as a consequence of the mind experiencing rapture. Concentration refers to the mental absorption that arises as a consequence of tranquility. Finally, equanimity refers to the sense of complete composure that arises as a consequence of the mind being well concentrated on an object. These are called factors of "enlightenment," because they lead to awakening (BODHI) or more specifically to the attainment of the "threefold knowledge" (TRIVIDYA; P. tevijjA): "recollection of former lives" (S. PuRVANIVASANUSMṚTI; P. pubbenivAsAnussati), the "divine eye" (DIVYACAKsUS; P. dibbacakkhu), which sees the death and rebirth of beings occurring according to their actions, and the "knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants" (ASRAVAKsAYA JNANA; P. AsavakhayaNAna).
Brahman or of the Self docs not usually come at the beginning of a sadhana or in the first years or for many years. It comes so to a very few. Most would say that a slow development is the best one can hope for in the first years and only when the nature is ready and fully concentrated towards the Divine can the definitive experience come. To some rapid prepdhitory experiences can come at a comparatively early stage, but even they cannot escape the labour of the consciousness which will make these experiences culminate in the realisation that is enduring and complete. It is not a question of liking or disliking, it is a matter of fact and truth and experience. It is the fact that people who arc cheerful and ready to go step by step, even by slow steps if need be, do actually march faster and more surely than those who are impatient and in haste.
buddle ::: n. --> An apparatus, especially an inclined trough or vat, in which stamped ore is concentrated by subjecting it to the action of running water so as to wash out the lighter and less valuable portions. ::: v. i. --> To wash ore in a buddle.
But once concentrated here one must open the silent mental consciousness upward to all that is above mind. After a time one feels the consciousness rising upward and in the end it rises beyond the lid which has so long kept it tied in the body and finds a centre above the head where it is liberated into the
caitanyaghana ::: concentrated consciousness, dense luminous consciousness. [same as cidghana]
candAlī. (T. gtum mo; C. zhantuoli; J. sendari; K. chondari 旃陀利). In Sanskrit, "fierce woman." In ordinary usage, this is a term for an outcaste or low-caste woman. However, in ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, it refers to a meditation practice sometimes described in English as "inner heat" or "psychic heat." It is one of the "six yogas of NAropa" (NA RO CHOS DRUG) but it figures in many practices of the completion stage (NIsPANNAKRAMA). In this practice, the meditator imagines a seed syllable (BĪJA) in the middle of the central channel (AVADHuTĪ) at the navel CAKRA. As the meditator concentrates on the letter, it begins to glow with bright light and emits intense heat. That heat rises slowly up the central channel, first to the cakra at the heart, then to the cakra at the throat, and finally to the cakra at the crown of the head. When it reaches the crown of the head, the heat of the inner fire begins to melt the white drop (BINDU) located there, causing it to begin to melt. As it melts, it descends through the central channel, first to the cakra at the throat, then to the cakra at the heart, the cakra at the navel, and finally to the cakra at the end of the central channel. As the drop moves slowly down through each cakra, a different type of bliss is experienced. This practice is said to produce physical heat in the body; according to tradition, yogins in Tibet, most notably MI LA RAS PA, were able to survive the cold in mountain caves through this practice.
cassareep ::: n. --> A condiment made from the sap of the bitter cassava (Manihot utilissima) deprived of its poisonous qualities, concentrated by boiling, and flavored with aromatics. See Pepper pot.
centre ::: v. i. --> To be placed in a center; to be central.
To be collected to a point; to be concentrated; to rest on, or gather about, as a center. ::: v. t. --> To place or fix in the center or on a central point.
To collect to a point; to concentrate.
Chakra (Skt.): Wheel, disc, lotus; anything circular that whirls or flowers. It usually denotes one of the seven main power-zones in the occult anatomy of man. The chakras concentrate occult energies that work through the glands of the endocrine system (See, in particular, Chapter 4.)
chief; the center around which something revolves. From the Arabic root q-t-b meaning to concentrate, or pull together, into one point.
Circassians ::: Small community of approximately 3,000 people concentrated in two northern Israeli villages. They are Sunni Muslims, although they share neither the Arab origin nor the cultural background of the larger Islamic community. While maintaining a distinct ethnic identity, they participate in Israel's economic and national affairs without assimilating either into Jewish society or into the general Muslim community.
cittaikAgratA. (P. cittekaggatA; T. sems rtse gcig pa; C. xin yijing xing; J. shin ikkyo sho; K. sim ilgyong song 心一境性). In Sanskrit, "one-pointedness of mind"; a deep state of meditative equipoise in which the mind is thoroughly concentrated on the object of meditation. In the progression of the four meditative absorptions associated with the subtle-materiality realm (RuPAVACARADHYANA), the first absorption (DHYANA) still involves the first two of the five constituents of dhyAna (DHYANAnGA): i.e., the application of thought to the meditative object (VITARKA) and sustained attention to that object (VICARA). As concentration deepens from the second dhyAna onward, applied and sustained thought vanish and the meditator moves from the mental "isolation" or "solitude" (VIVEKA) that characterizes the first dhyAna, to the true one-pointedness of mind (cittaikAgratA) that characterizes all higher stages of dhyAna; in this state of one-pointedness, the mind is so completely absorbed in the meditative object that even these most subtle varieties of thinking have disappeared.
citta. (T. sems; C. xin; J. shin; K. sim 心). In Sanskrit and PAli, "mind," "mentality," or "thought"; used broadly to refer to general mentality, citta is the factor (DHARMA) that is present during any type of conscious activity. Citta is contrasted with the physical body or materiality (RuPA), and is synonymous in this context with "name" (NAMA), as in the term NAMARuPA. In this sense, citta corresponds to the last four of the five aggregates (SKANDHA), excluding only the first aggregate, of materiality (RuPA), i.e., sensation (VEDANA), perception (SAMJNA), conditioning factors (SAMSKARA), and consciousness (VIJNANA). (Where the correspondences on this list are further refined, the first three of these mentality aggregates correspond to the mental concomitants, viz., CAITTA, while citta is restricted to the last aggregate, that of consciousness, or vijNAna.) Citta in this broad sense is synonymous with both mentality (MANAS) and consciousness (vijNAna): mind is designated as citta because it "builds up" (cinoti) virtuous and nonvirtuous states; as manas, because it calculates and examines; and as vijNAna, because it discriminates among sensory stimuli. Mind as "consciousness" refers to the six consciousnesses (sadvijNAna): the five sensory consciousnesses of the visual (CAKsURVIJNANA), auditory (sROTRAVIJNANA), olfactory (GHRAnAVIJNANA), gustatory (JIHVAVIJNANA), and tactile (KAYAVIJNANA), along with the mental consciousness (MANOVIJNANA). In some strands of MAHAYANA thought, such as YOGACARA, mind is instead considered to encompass not only mentality but all dharmas, and the distinction between mentality and materiality is presumed to be merely nominal; YogAcAra is thus sometimes called the school of CITTAMATRA, or "mind-only." Citta as mentality serves as one of the four foundations of mindfulness (SMṚTYUPASTHANA) in Buddhist meditative training, and refers to various general states of mind, e.g., a mind (citta) that is depressed, distracted, developed, concentrated, or freed. Citta is also used to signify mind itself in distinction to various sets of mental concomitants (caitta) that accompany the basic sensory consciousnesses. The DHAMMASAnGAnI, the first of the seven books of the PAli ABHIDHAMMAPItAKA, classifies citta as the first of a fourfold division of factors into mind (citta), mental concomitants (P. CETASIKA), materiality or form (rupa), and NIRVAnA (P. nibbAna). In this text's treatment, a moment of consciousness (citta) will always arise in association with a variety of associated mental factors (P. cetasika), seven of which are always present during every moment of consciousness: (1) sensory contact or sense impression (P. phassa; S. SPARsA), (2) feeling or sensation (VEDANA), (3) perception or conception (P. saNNA; S. SAMJNA), (4) volition (CETANA), (5) concentration (SAMADHI), (6) vitality (JĪVITA), and (7) attention, viz., the advertence of the mind toward an object (P. manasikAra; S. MANASKARA). The SARVASTIVADA ABHIDHARMA instead divides all dharmas into five groups: mind (citta), mental concomitants (caitta), materiality (rupa), forces dissociated from thought (CITTAVIPRAYUKTASAMSKARA), and the unconditioned (ASAMSKṚTA). In this system, ten specific factors are said universally to accompany all conscious activity and are therefore called "factors of wide extent" or "omnipresent mental factors" (MAHABHuMIKA): (1) sensation (vedanA); (2) volition (cetanA); (3) perception (saMjNA); (4) zeal or "desire-to-act" (CHANDA) (5) sensory contact (sparsa); (6) discernment (mati); (7) mindfulness (SMṚTI); (8) attention (manaskAra); (9) determination (ADHIMOKsA); (10) concentration (samAdhi). According to the system set forth by ASAnGA in his ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA, this list is divided into two sets of five: the five omnipresent (SARVATRAGA) mental factors (vedanA, saMjNA, cetanA, sparsa, and manaskAra) and the five determining (pratiniyama) mental factors (chanda, adhimoksa, smṛti, samAdhi, and prajNA). ¶ In the experience of enlightenment (BODHI), the citta is said to be "freed" from the "point of view" that is the self (ATMAN). The citta is then no longer subject to the limitations perpetuated by ignorance (AVIDYA) and craving (TṚsnA) and thus becomes nonmanifesting (because there is no longer any projection of ego into the perceptual process), infinite (because the mind is no longer subject to the limitations of conceptualization), and lustrous (because the ignorance that dulls the mind has been vanquished forever). Scriptural statements attest to this inherent luminosity of the citta, which may be revealed through practice and manifested in enlightenment. For example, in the PAli AnGUTTARANIKAYA, the Buddha says, "the mind, O monks, is luminous" (P. pabhassaraM idaM bhikkhave cittaM). Such statements are the strands from which the MahAyAna subsequently derives such concepts as the inherent quality of buddhahood (BUDDHADHATU; C. FOXING) or the embryo of the TATHAGATAs (TATHAGATAGARBHA) that is said to be innate in the mind.
Claris "company" A subsidiary company of {Apple Computer, Inc.}. In January 1998, Apple restructured Claris to concentrate on their {FileMaker} line of {database} {software} and changed the company's name to {FileMaker, Inc.}. (1998-02-18)
Claris ::: (company) A subsidiary company of Apple Computer, Inc.. In January 1998, Apple restructured Claris to concentrate on their FileMaker line of database software and changed the company's name to FileMaker, Inc.. (1998-02-18)
cocktail party effect: refers to (,I) a person's ability to concentrate on just one conversation although others are going on all around and (b) the way a person engaged in (attending to) one conversation will nevertheless hear their own class="d-title" name if it is mentioned in a nearby conversation.
coefficient of kurtosis: A measure of how much the data concentrates around the mean. Informally, it measured the "pointiness"/"peakedness" of the distribution curve.
compacted ::: imp. & p. p. --> of Compact ::: a. --> Compact; pressed close; concentrated; firmly united.
Concentrated Mana Water Concentrated Mana* Because, Water + Toxic Sludge = More Water. You can do Toxic Sludge to Water then Water to Concentrated Mana.
CONCENTRATE—To draw or direct to or toward a common centre.
concentrating ::: p. pr. & vb. n. --> of Concentrate
CONCENTRATION ::: Fixing the consciousness in one place or on one object and in a single condition.
A gathering together of the consciousness and either centralising at one point or turning on a single object, e.g. the Divine; there can also be a gathered condition throughout the whole being, not at a point.
Concentration is necessary, first to turn the whole will and mind from the discursive divagation natural to them, following a dispersed movement of the thoughts, running after many-branching desires, led away in the track of the senses and the outward mental response to phenomena; we have to fix the will and the thought on the eternal and real behind all, and this demands an immense effort, a one-pointed concentration. Secondly, it is necessary in order to break down the veil which is erected by our ordinary mentality between ourselves and the truth; for outer knowledge can be picked up by the way, by ordinary attention and reception, but the inner, hidden and higher truth can only be seized by an absolute concentration of the mind on its object, an absolute concentration of the will to attain it and, once attained, to hold it habitually and securely unite oneself with it.
Centre of Concentration: The two main places where one can centre the consciousness for yoga are in the head and in the heart - the mind-centre and the soul-centre.
Brain concentration is always a tapasyā and necessarily brings a strain. It is only if one is lifted out of the brain mind altogether that the strain of mental concentration disappears.
At the top of the head or above it is the right place for yogic concentration in reading or thinking.
In whatever centre the concentration takes place, the yoga force generated extends to the others and produces concentration or workings there.
Modes of Concentration: There is no harm in concentrating sometimes in the heart and sometimes above the head. But concentration in either place does not mean keeping the attention fixed on a particular spot; you have to take your station of consciousness in either place and concentrate there not on the place, but on the Divine. This can be done with eyes shut or with eyes open, according as it best suits.
If one concentrates on a thought or a word, one has to dwell on the essential idea contained in the word with the aspiration to feel the thing which it expresses.
There is no method in this yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force to transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be.
Powers (three) of Concentration ::: By concentration on anything whatsoever we are able to know that thing, to make it deliver up its concealed secrets; we must use this power to know not things, but the one Thing-in-itself. By concentration again the whole will can be gathered up for the acquisition of that which is still ungrasped, still beyond us; this power, if it is sufficiently trained, sufficiently single-minded, sufficiently sincere, sure of itself, faithful to itself alone, absolute in faith, we can use for the acquisition of any object whatsoever; but we ought to use it not for the acquisition of the many objects which the world offers to us, but to grasp spiritually that one object worthy of pursuit which is also the one subject worthy of knowledge. By concentration of our whole being on one status of itself we can become whatever we choose ; we can become, for instance, even if we were before a mass of weaknesses and fears, a mass instead of strength and courage, or we can become all a great purity, holiness and peace or a single universal soul of Love ; but we ought, it is said, to use this power to become not even these things, high as they may be in comparison with what we now are, but rather to become that which is above all things and free from all action and attributes, the pure and absolute Being. All else, all other concentration can only be valuable for preparation, for previous steps, for a gradual training of the dissolute and self-dissipating thought, will and being towards their grand and unique object.
Stages in Concentration (Rajayogic) ::: that in which the object is seized, that in which it is held, that in which the mind is lost in the status which the object represents or to which the concentration leads.
Concentration and Meditation ::: Concentration means fixing the consciousness in one place or one object and in a single condition Meditation can be diffusive,e.g. thinking about the Divine, receiving impressions and discriminating, watching what goes on in the nature and acting upon it etc. Meditation is when the inner mind is looking at things to get the right knowledge.
vide Dhyāna.
concentration ::: n. --> The act or process of concentrating; the process of becoming concentrated, or the state of being concentrated; concentration.
The act or process of reducing the volume of a liquid, as by evaporation.
The act or process of removing the dress of ore and of reducing the valuable part to smaller compass, as by currents of air or water.
Concentration With meditation, an equivalent for certain parts of yoga, as found in samadhi, dharana; the removal or surmounting of distractions originating in the mind and centering the latter on the spiritual and intellectual objective to be attained, which in the best sense is union with the inner god, the divine monad — a conscious identification of oneself with the universal through the individual’s innate divinity. The method of meditative concentration prescribed in the Bhagavad-Gita is to perform all the duties of life without either attachment or avoidance. The hindrances to concentration which are to be removed are those arising from anger, lust, vanity, fear, sloth, etc. Such obstacles are removed by lifting the mind above them or by deliberately ignoring them, since directly fighting with them serves to concentrate the mind on them, thus defeating the object aimed at; and by cultivating the spirit of impersonal love and the light of wisdom which it evokes. Thus the blending of the personal self with the impersonal self is achieved by an orderly process of self-directed evolution, first by unselfish work in the cause of humanity, continued in the various degrees of chelaship, culminating in initiation.
concentrative ::: a. --> Serving or tending to concentrate; characterized by concentration.
concentre ::: v. i. --> To come to one point; to meet in, or converge toward, a common center; to have a common center. ::: v. t. --> To draw or direct to a common center; to bring together at a focus or point, as two or more lines; to concentrate.
condense ::: v. t. --> To make more close, compact, or dense; to compress or concentrate into a smaller compass; to consolidate; to abridge; to epitomize.
To reduce into another and denser form, as by cold or pressure; as, to condense gas into a liquid form, or steam into water. ::: v. i.
conglomerate ::: a. --> Gathered into a ball or a mass; collected together; concentrated; as, conglomerate rays of light.
Closely crowded together; densly clustered; as, conglomerate flowers.
Composed of stones, pebbles, or fragments of rocks, cemented together. ::: n.
Consciousness which is waiting above us. To concentrate in the heart centre with the offering of oneself to the Divine and the aspiration for this inward opening and for the Presence in the heart is the first way and, if it can be done, the natural begin- ning ; for its result once obtained makes the spiritual path far more easy and safe than if one begins the other way.
constraint satisfaction "application" The process of assigning values to {variables} while meeting certain requirements or "{constraints}". For example, in {graph colouring}, a node is a variable, the colour assigned to it is its value and a link between two nodes represents the constraint that those two nodes must not be assigned the same colour. In {scheduling}, constraints apply to such variables as the starting and ending times for tasks. The {Simplex} method is one well known technique for solving numerical constraints. The search difficulty of constraint satisfaction problems can be determined on average from knowledge of easily computed structural properties of the problems. In fact, hard instances of {NP-complete} problems are concentrated near an abrupt transition between under- and over-constrained problems. This transition is analogous to phase transitions in physical systems and offers a way to estimate the likely difficulty of a constraint problem before attempting to solve it with search. {Phase transitions in search (ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/dynamics/constraints.html)} (Tad Hogg, {XEROX PARC}). (1995-02-15)
contract ::: to reduce in size by drawing together; shrink; concentrate. contracting.
Dand, Danda (Sanskrit) Daṇḍa “The three and seven-knotted bamboo of Sannyasis given to them as a sign of power, after their initiation” (BCW 2:119). Used by raja yogis to store the essence of the yogi’s power: “recognizing this power in himself, he endows the given object with it and concentrates it in the object, . . . Then, when occasion arises, using his own will and discretion, he aims, in one direction or another, this power, the twofold quality of which is attraction and repulsion. . . . By such means he transforms also the wand or danda into a vahana, filling it with his own power and spirit and giving it for the time being his own properties” (Caves and Jungles 594; also 596-8)
deconcentrate ::: v. t. --> To withdraw from concentration; to decentralize.
decentralize ::: v. t. --> To prevent from centralizing; to cause to withdraw from the center or place of concentration; to divide and distribute (what has been united or concentrated); -- esp. said of authority, or the administration of public affairs.
::: "Delight is the soul of existence, beauty the intense expression, the concentrated form of delight.” The Future Poetry*
“Delight is the soul of existence, beauty the intense expression, the concentrated form of delight.” The Future Poetry
deva ::: a god, a divinity; "a dynamic being manifested in Prakriti for the works of the plane to which he belongs"; any of the "cosmic godheads presiding over the action of cosmic principles", brahman "representing Itself in cosmic Personalities expressive of the one Godhead who, in their impersonal action, appear as the various play of the principles of Nature"; the Divine, the supreme and universal Deity (isvara, purus.a) "of whom all the gods are different Names and Powers"; the seventh of the ten types of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated in vijñana, exceeding itself.
Dharmākara. (T. Chos kyi 'byung gnas; C. Fazang biqiu; J. Hozo biku; K. Popchang pigu 法藏比丘). The bodhisattva-monk (BHIKsU) who became the buddha AMITĀBHA. According to the longer SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA (C. Wuliangshoujing), in the distant past, Dharmākara was a monk under the tutelage of the buddha LOKEsVARARĀJA. At Dharmākara's request, Lokesvararāja described and displayed millions of buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA) to the monk. Dharmākara then selected the best qualities of each and concentrated them in his conception of a single buddha-field, which he described to Lokesvararāja in terms of forty-eight vows. The most important of these vows for the PURE LAND tradition is the eighteenth, in which he vows that all beings who call upon him (with the possible exception of those who have committed the five ĀNANTARYAKARMAN, the heinous crimes that bring immediate retribution, or who have slandered the DHARMA) will be reborn in his pure land of SUKHĀVATĪ. Since Dharmākara was eventually successful in his quest and became the buddha Amitābha, his vows have been fulfilled and all sentient beings therefore have access to his buddha land.
diacaustic ::: a. --> Pertaining to, or possessing the properties of, a species of caustic curves formed by refraction. See Caustic surface, under Caustic. ::: n. --> That which burns by refraction, as a double convex lens, or the sun&
Dongshan famen. (J. Tozan homon; K. Tongsan pommun 東山法門). In Chinese, lit. "East Mountain Dharma Gate" or "East Mountain Teachings"; one of the principal early CHAN schools, which is associated with the putative fourth and fifth patriarchs of the tradition, DAOXIN (580-651) and HONGREN (602-675). The name of the school is a toponym for the location of Hongren's monastery, at Huangmei in Qizhou (present-day Hubei province). "East Mountain" refers to the easterly of the "twin peaks" of Mount Shuangfeng, where Hongren taught after the death of his master Daoxin, who had taught on the westerly peak; the term "East Mountain Teachings," however, is typically used to refer to the tradition associated with both masters. The designations Dongshan famen and Dongshan jingmen (East Mountain Pure Gate) first appear in the LENGQIE SHIZI JI ("Records of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankā[vatāra]") and were used in the Northern school of Chan (BEI ZONG) by SHENXIU (606?-706) and his successors to refer to the lineage and teachings that they had inherited from Daoxin and Hongren. ¶ Although later Chan lineage texts list Daoxin and Hongren as respectively the fourth and the fifth Chan patriarchs, succeeding BODHIDHARMA, HUIKE, and SENGCAN, the connection of the East Mountain lineage to these predecessors is tenuous at best and probably nonexistent. The earliest biography of Daoxin, recorded in the XU GAOSENG ZHUAN ("Supplementary Biographies of Eminent Monks"), not only does not posit any connection between Daoxin and the preceding three patriarchs, but does not even mention their names. This connection is first made explicit in the c. 713 CHUAN FABAO JI ("Annals of the Transmission of the Dharma-Jewel"), one of the earliest Chan "transmission of the lamplight" (CHUANDENG LU) lineage texts. Unlike many of the Chan "schools" that were associated with a single charismatic teacher, the "East Mountain Teachings" was unusual in that it had a single, enduring center in Huangmei, which attracted increasing numbers of students. Some five or six names of students who studied with Daoxin survive in the literature, with another twenty-five associated with Hongren. Although Hongren's biography in the Chuan fabao ji certainly exaggerates when it says that eight to nine out of every ten Buddhist practitioners in China studied under Hongren, there is no question that the number of students of the East Mountain Teachings grew significantly over two generations. ¶ The fundamental doctrines and practices of the East Mountain Teachings can be reconstructed on the basis of the two texts: the RUDAO ANXIN YAO FANGBIAN FAMEN ("Essentials of the Teachings of the Expedient Means of Entering the Path and Pacifying the Mind") and the XIUXIN YAO LUN ("Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind"), ascribed respectively to Daoxin and Hongren. The Rudao anxin yao fangbian famen, which is included in the Lengqie shizi ji, employs the analogy of a mirror from the Banzhou sanmei jing (S. PRATYUTPANNABUDDHASAMMUKHĀVASTHITASAMĀDHISuTRA) to illustrate the insubstantiality of all phenomena, viz., one's sensory experiences are no more substantial than the reflections in a mirror. The text then presents the "single-practice SAMĀDHI" (YIXING SANMEI) as a practical means of accessing the path leading to NIRVĀnA, based on the Wenshushuo bore jing ("Perfection of Wisdom Sutra Spoken by MANJUsRĪ"). Single-practice samādhi here refers to sitting in meditation, the supreme practice that subsumes all other practices; it is not one samādhi among others, as it is portrayed in the MOHE ZHIGUAN ("Great Calming and Contemplation"). Single-practice samādhi means to contemplate every single aspect of one's mental and physical existence until one realizes they are all empty, just like the reflections in the mirror, and "to guard that one without deviation" (shouyi buyi). The Xiuxin yao lun, which is attributed to Hongren, stresses the importance of "guarding the mind" (SHOUXIN). Here, the relationship between the pure mind and the afflictions (KLEsA) is likened to that between the sun and clouds: the pure mind is obscured by afflictions, just as the sun is covered by layers of clouds, but if one can guard the mind so that it is kept free from false thoughts and delusions, the sun of NIRVĀnA will then appear. The text suggests two specific meditation techniques for realizing this goal: one is continuously to visualize the original, pure mind (viz., the sun) so that it shines without obscuration; the other is to concentrate on one's own deluded thoughts (the clouds) until they disappear. These two techniques purport to "guard the mind" so that delusion can never recur. The East Mountain Teachings laid a firm foundation for the doctrines and practices of later Chan traditions like the Northern school.
Do not be always thinking of your defects and nxong move- ments. Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, mth (be faith that, since it is the goal before you it must and will come.
Dreams of physical mind and yogic dreams ; The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind-faculties disconnected from the will and reason, the bttddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the bram-memory, partly of reflections from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflections which are, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co-ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, wnlh brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear pos- session of itself, though not of the physical world, works cohe- rently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelli- gence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of communication with material things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflec- tion, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the distractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have their after-consequences on the waking state subsequent to the cessa- tion of the trance.
DULLNESS AND DISPERSION. ::: Two sides of the physical’s resistance to the peace and concentrated power. They correspond to the inertia and chaotic activity of physical Nature, that aspect of it which makes some scientists now say that all is brought about by chance and there is no certitude of things but only probability.
dvandva (dwandwa) ::: duality; any of the pairs of opposites that "are the positive and negative terms in which the ego soul of the lower nature enjoys the universe", freedom from which is part of the mukti or liberation of the nature, also applied to pairs of related terms that are not opposites, such as hunger and thirst; the "discordant and divided experience" that consists of "an oscillation between or a mixture of constant pairs of contraries", due to "an ignorance which is unable to seize on the spiritual truth of things and concentrates on the imperfect appearances, but meets them not with a mastery of their inner truth, but with a strife and a shifting balance of attraction and repulsion, capacity and incapacity, liking and disliking, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, acceptance and repugnance". dvandva rragadvesa
Economics ::: is a social science concerned with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. It studies how individuals, businesses, governments and nations make choices on allocating resources to satisfy their wants and needs, and tries to determine how these groups should organize and coordinate efforts to achieve maximum output. Economic analysis often progresses through deductive processes, much like mathematical logic, where the implications of specific human activities are considered in a "means-ends" framework. Economics can generally be broken down into macroeconomics, which concentrates on the behavior of the aggregate economy, and microeconomics, which focuses on individual consumers.
eka1 (eka; ekam) ::: one; the One, the sole Reality, brahman or saccidananda, seen "as one Existence, Being gathered in itself and Being displayed in all existences; as one Consciousness concentrated in the unity of its existence, extended in universal nature and many-centred in innumerable beings; one Force static in its repose of self-gathered consciousness and dynamic in its activity of extended consciousness; one Delight blissfully aware of its featureless infinity and blissfully aware of all feature and force and forms as itself".
Elemental essence: According to occultism, a substance existing on the subtler planes (q.v.), which concentrated thought or desire can mold into entities called elementals (q.v.).
ethylene ::: n. --> A colorless, gaseous hydrocarbon, C2H4, forming an important ingredient of illuminating gas, and also obtained by the action of concentrated sulphuric acid in alcohol. It is an unsaturated compound and combines directly with chlorine and bromine to form oily liquids (Dutch liquid), -- hence called olefiant gas. Called also ethene, elayl, and formerly, bicarbureted hydrogen.
exsiccator ::: n. --> An apparatus for drying substances or preserving them from moisture; a desiccator; also, less frequently, an agent employed to absorb moisture, as calcium chloride, or concentrated sulphuric acid.
extract ::: anything drawn or taken out of a substance, as an essence, tincture, or concentrate.
Fakir: The term, properly, designates a Moslem mendicant ascetic and miracle-worker of India. It is often, incorrectly, applied to Hindu ascetics, too. According to Yogi Ramacharaka (in The Philosophies and Religions of Indian), “the secret of the fakir’s power generally consists in his ability to produce a mental illusion, or Maya, whereby the senses of the bystanders are deluded and the people made to appear to witness things that have no basis in fact. Another class of effects is produced by the control of Prana (or Vital Force) by the concentrated Will of the performer, so that heavy objects are moved around in defiance of the law of gravitation, and even the human body at times being floated about in the air ...”
Feet ::: [Tehmi: “In India it is considered that the whole power of the being is focused in the feet. So the feet are touched not only in humility but because all the power of the divinity is concentrated there. When someone touches the feet with the right attitude and devotion a certain power is drawn by the one who touches. So it is a grace by the person who is touched to allow it. Only if one is rooted in the Divine he can allow his feet to be touched.”]
Fire Teleportatium / Unstable Teleportatium Concentrated Mana* The fire will burn parts of the Teleportatium into Freezing Vapour.
fix ::: 1. To set or place firmly or definitely; establish. 2. Also refl. To direct one"s efforts or attention; concentrate. 3.* *To give a permanent or final form to. 4. To settle definitely; decide. fixes, fixed, fixing.**
focalize ::: v. t. --> To bring to a focus; to focus; to concentrate.
Focus: An item, act, phrase, gesture or similar artifice required to perform magic. Through the focus, the mage concentrates belief and will and causes magic to result.
Force, one without still encroached on by the lower Nature ; but then the disturbances of the latter become something superficial which are no more than an outer ripple, — until these under the inner pressure fade aud sink away and the outer being too remains calm, concentrated, unattackable.
"For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.” Essays Divine and Human
“For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.” Essays Divine and Human
For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.
forge ::: n. 1. A special fireplace, hearth, or furnace in which metal is heated before shaping. v. 2. To form (metal, for example) by heating in a forge and beating or hammering into shape. 3. To form or make, esp. by concentrated effort or energy; shape, fabricate, fashion, mould. 4. To imitate (handwriting, a signature, etc.) fraudulently; to counterfeit; to commit forgery. forged.
frue vanner ::: --> A moving, inclined, endless apron on which ore is concentrated by a current of water; a kind of buddle.
gnosis ::: "a power above mind working in its own law, out of the direct identity of the supreme Self", a faculty superior to buddhi or intellect, possessing not only the "concentrated consciousness of the infinite Essence", but "also and at the same time an infinite knowledge of the myriad play of the Infinite"; (in 1919-20) the supra-intellectual consciousness (also called ideality or vijñana) with its three planes of logistic, hermetic and seer gnosis, each successive level being more "intense and large in light, imperative, instantaneous, the scope of the active knowledge larger, the way nearer to the knowledge by identity, the thought more packed with the luminous substance of self-awareness and all-vision"; (in most of 1927 before 29 October) a plane of consciousness usually referred to as above the supreme ...64 supermind and descending into it to form supreme supermind gnosis, also rising to the "invincible Gnosis of the Divine"; (in April 1927) a term encompassing three degrees of supramental gnosis (corresponding to planes later redefined as parts of the overmind system) and a fourth degree of divine gnosis; (from 29 October 1927 onwards) equivalent to "divine gnosis", a grade of consciousness above overmind (but sometimes distinguished from supermind, which occupies a similar position) and descending into it to form gnostic overmind or gnosis in overmind.
guru meditation ::: (operating system, exception) The Amiga equivalent of Unix's panic (sometimes just called a guru or guru event). When the system crashes, a indicating what the problem was. An Amiga guru can figure things out from the numbers.In the earliest days of the Amiga, there was a device called a Joyboard which was basically a plastic board built onto a joystick-like device; it was sold concentrate on a solution while sitting cross-legged, balanced on a Joyboard, resembling a meditating guru. Sadly, the joke was removed in AmigaOS 2.04.The Jargon File claimed that a guru event had to be followed by a Vulcan nerve pinch but, according to a correspondent, a mouse click was enough to start a reboot.(2002-06-25)
guru meditation "operating system" The {Amiga} equivalent of {Unix}'s {panic} (sometimes just called a "guru" or "guru event"). When the system crashes, a cryptic message of the form "GURU MEDITATION
haematoin ::: n. --> A substance formed from the hematin of blood, by removal of the iron through the action of concentrated sulphuric acid. Two like bodies, called respectively haematoporphyrin and haematolin, are formed in a similar manner.
Hongren. (J. Konin/Gunin; K. Hongin 弘忍) (601-674). Chinese Chan master and the reputed fifth patriarch of the Chan zong. Hongren was a native of Huangmei in Qizhou (present-day Hubei province). Little is known of his early life, but he eventually became the disciple of the fourth patriarch DAOXIN. After Daoxin's death in 651, Hongren succeeded his teacher and moved to Mt. Fengmao (also known as Dongshan or East Mountain), the east peak of Mt. Shuangfeng (Twin Peaks) in Huangmei. Hongren's teachings thus came to be known as the "East Mountain teachings" (DONGSHAN FAMEN), although that term is later applied also to the lineage and teachings of both Daoxin and Hongren. After his move to Mt. Fengmao, disciples began to flock to study under Hongren. Although Hongren's biography in the CHUAN FABAO JI certainly exaggerates when it says that eight to nine out of every ten Buddhist practitioners in China studied under him, there is no question that the number of students of the East Mountain teachings grew significantly over two generations. The twenty-five named disciples of Hongren include such prominent figures as SHENXIU, Zhishen (609-702), Lao'an (d. 708), Faru (638-689), Xuanze (d.u.), and HUINENG, the man who would eventually be recognized by the mature Chan tradition as the sixth, and last, patriarch. The legendary account of Hongren's mind-to-mind transmission (YIXIN CHUANXIN) of the DHARMA to Huineng can be found in the LIUZU TAN JING. Later, Emperor Daizong (r. 762-779) bestowed upon Hongren the title Chan master Daman (Great Abundance). The influential treatise XIUXIN YAO LUN ("Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind") is attributed to Hongren; it stresses the importance of "guarding the mind" (SHOUXIN). In that text, the relationship between the pure mind and the afflictions (KLEsA) is likened to that between the sun and the clouds: the pure mind is obscured by afflictions just as the sun is covered by layers of clouds; but if one can guard the mind so that it is kept free from false thoughts and delusions, the sun of NIRVĀnA will then appear. The text suggests two specific meditation techniques for realizing this goal: one is continuously to visualize the original, pure mind (viz., the sun) so that it shines without obscuration; the other is to concentrate on one's own deluded thoughts (the clouds) until they disappear. These two techniques purport to "guard the mind" so that delusion can never recur.
"If you go deep enough, into a sufficiently complete silence from all outer things, you will find within you that flame about which I often speak, and in this flame you will see your destiny.} You will see the aspiration of centuries which has been concentrated gradually, to lead you through countless births to the great day of realisation — that preparation which has been made through thousands of years, and is reaching its culmination.” Questions and Answers MCW Vol. 6*.
“If you go deep enough, into a sufficiently complete silence from all outer things, you will find within you that flame about which I often speak, and in this flame you will see your destiny.} You will see the aspiration of centuries which has been concentrated gradually, to lead you through countless births to the great day of realisation—that preparation which has been made through thousands of years, and is reaching its culmination.” Questions and Answers MCW Vol. 6.
INNER ROUND (T.B.) The activity of life within a seven-globe is concentrated almost entirely to one of the seven globes in turn. However, there are in the six other globes small nuclei of monads belonging to all the natural kingdoms, monads who in the evolution have either lagged behind or overtaken the main body. These separate evolutions are called by a common term the &
INTEGRAL YOGA ::: This yoga accepts the value of cosmic existence and holds it to be a reality; its object is to enter into a higher Truth-Consciousness or Divine Supramental Consciousness in which action and creation are the expression not of ignorance and imperfection, but of the Truth, the Light, the Divine Ānanda. But for that, the surrender of the mortal mind, life and body to the Higher Consciousnessis indispensable, since it is too difficult for the mortal human being to pass by its own effort beyond mind to a Supramental Consciousness in which the dynamism is no longer mental but of quite another power. Only those who can accept the call to such a change should enter into this yoga.
Aim of the Integral Yoga ::: It is not merely to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter.
Conditions of the Integral Yoga ::: This yoga can only be done to the end by those who are in total earnest about it and ready to abolish their little human ego and its demands in order to find themselves in the Divine. It cannot be done in a spirit of levity or laxity; the work is too high and difficult, the adverse powers in the lower Nature too ready to take advantage of the least sanction or the smallest opening, the aspiration and tapasyā needed too constant and intense.
Method in the Integral Yoga ::: To concentrate, preferably in the heart and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness. One can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is the beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one’s own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother’s Power and Presence.
Integral method ::: The method we have to pursue is to put our whole conscious being into relation and contact with the Divine and to call Him in to transform Our entire being into His, so that in a sense God Himself, the real Person in us, becomes the sādhaka of the sādhana* as well as the Master of the Yoga by whom the lower personality is used as the centre of a divine transfiguration and the instrument of its own perfection. In effect, the pressure of the Tapas, the force of consciousness in us dwelling in the Idea of the divine Nature upon that which we are in our entirety, produces its own realisation. The divine and all-knowing and all-effecting descends upon the limited and obscure, progressively illumines and energises the whole lower nature and substitutes its own action for all the terms of the inferior human light and mortal activity.
In psychological fact this method translates itself into the progressive surrender of the ego with its whole field and all its apparatus to the Beyond-ego with its vast and incalculable but always inevitable workings. Certainly, this is no short cut or easy sādhana. It requires a colossal faith, an absolute courage and above all an unflinching patience. For it implies three stages of which only the last can be wholly blissful or rapid, - the attempt of the ego to enter into contact with the Divine, the wide, full and therefore laborious preparation of the whole lower Nature by the divine working to receive and become the higher Nature, and the eventual transformation. In fact, however, the divine strength, often unobserved and behind the veil, substitutes itself for the weakness and supports us through all our failings of faith, courage and patience. It” makes the blind to see and the lame to stride over the hills.” The intellect becomes aware of a Law that beneficently insists and a Succour that upholds; the heart speaks of a Master of all things and Friend of man or a universal Mother who upholds through all stumblings. Therefore this path is at once the most difficult imaginable and yet in comparison with the magnitude of its effort and object, the most easy and sure of all.
There are three outstanding features of this action of the higher when it works integrally on the lower nature. In the first place, it does not act according to a fixed system and succession as in the specialised methods of Yoga, but with a sort of free, scattered and yet gradually intensive and purposeful working determined by the temperament of the individual in whom it operates, the helpful materials which his nature offers and the obstacles which it presents to purification and perfection. In a sense, therefore, each man in this path has his own method of Yoga. Yet are there certain broad lines of working common to all which enable us to construct not indeed a routine system, but yet some kind of Shastra or scientific method of the synthetic Yoga.
Secondly, the process, being integral, accepts our nature such as it stands organised by our past evolution and without rejecting anything essential compels all to undergo a divine change. Everything in us is seized by the hands of a mighty Artificer and transformed into a clear image of that which it now seeks confusedly to present. In that ever-progressive experience we begin to perceive how this lower manifestation is constituted and that everything in it, however seemingly deformed or petty or vile, is the more or less distorted or imperfect figure of some elements or action in the harmony of the divine Nature. We begin to understand what the Vedic Rishis meant when they spoke of the human forefathers fashioning the gods as a smith forges the crude material in his smithy.
Thirdly, the divine Power in us uses all life as the means of this integral Yoga. Every experience and outer contact with our world-environment, however trifling or however disastrous, is used for the work, and every inner experience, even to the most repellent suffering or the most humiliating fall, becomes a step on the path to perfection. And we recognise in ourselves with opened eyes the method of God in the world, His purpose of light in the obscure, of might in the weak and fallen, of delight in what is grievous and miserable. We see the divine method to be the same in the lower and in the higher working; only in the one it is pursued tardily and obscurely through the subconscious in Nature, in the other it becomes swift and selfconscious and the instrument confesses the hand of the Master. All life is a Yoga of Nature seeking to manifest God within itself. Yoga marks the stage at which this effort becomes capable of self-awareness and therefore of right completion in the individual. It is a gathering up and concentration of the movements dispersed and loosely combined in the lower evolution.
Key-methods ::: The way to devotion and surrender. It is the psychic movement that brings the constant and pure devotion and the removal of the ego that makes it possible to surrender.
The way to knowledge. Meditation in the head by which there comes the opening above, the quietude or silence of the mind and the descent of peace etc. of the higher consciousness generally till it envelops the being and fills the body and begins to take up all the movements.
Yoga by works ::: Separation of the Purusha from the Prakriti, the inner silent being from the outer active one, so that one has two consciousnesses or a double consciousness, one behind watching and observing and finally controlling and changing the other which is active in front. The other way of beginning the yoga of works is by doing them for the Divine, for the Mother, and not for oneself, consecrating and dedicating them till one concretely feels the Divine Force taking up the activities and doing them for one.
Object of the Integral Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine’s sake alone, to be tuned in our nature into the nature of the Divine, and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine.
Principle of the Integral Yoga ::: The whole principle of Integral Yoga is to give oneself entirely to the Divine alone and to nobody else, and to bring down into ourselves by union with the Divine Mother all the transcendent light, power, wideness, peace, purity, truth-consciousness and Ānanda of the Supramental Divine.
Central purpose of the Integral Yoga ::: Transformation of our superficial, narrow and fragmentary human way of thinking, seeing, feeling and being into a deep and wide spiritual consciousness and an integrated inner and outer existence and of our ordinary human living into the divine way of life.
Fundamental realisations of the Integral Yoga ::: The psychic change so that a complete devotion can be the main motive of the heart and the ruler of thought, life and action in constant union with the Mother and in her Presence. The descent of the Peace, Power, Light etc. of the Higher Consciousness through the head and heart into the whole being, occupying the very cells of the body. The perception of the One and Divine infinitely everywhere, the Mother everywhere and living in that infinite consciousness.
Results ::: First, an integral realisation of Divine Being; not only a realisation of the One in its indistinguishable unity, but also in its multitude of aspects which are also necessary to the complete knowledge of it by the relative consciousness; not only realisation of unity in the Self, but of unity in the infinite diversity of activities, worlds and creatures.
Therefore, also, an integral liberation. Not only the freedom born of unbroken contact of the individual being in all its parts with the Divine, sāyujya mukti, by which it becomes free even in its separation, even in the duality; not only the sālokya mukti by which the whole conscious existence dwells in the same status of being as the Divine, in the state of Sachchidananda ; but also the acquisition of the divine nature by the transformation of this lower being into the human image of the divine, sādharmya mukti, and the complete and final release of all, the liberation of the consciousness from the transitory mould of the ego and its unification with the One Being, universal both in the world and the individual and transcendentally one both in the world and beyond all universe.
By this integral realisation and liberation, the perfect harmony of the results of Knowledge, Love and Works. For there is attained the complete release from ego and identification in being with the One in all and beyond all. But since the attaining consciousness is not limited by its attainment, we win also the unity in Beatitude and the harmonised diversity in Love, so that all relations of the play remain possible to us even while we retain on the heights of our being the eternal oneness with the Beloved. And by a similar wideness, being capable of a freedom in spirit that embraces life and does not depend upon withdrawal from life, we are able to become without egoism, bondage or reaction the channel in our mind and body for a divine action poured out freely upon the world.
The divine existence is of the nature not only of freedom, but of purity, beatitude and perfection. In integral purity which shall enable on the one hand the perfect reflection of the divine Being in ourselves and on the other the perfect outpouring of its Truth and Law in us in the terms of life and through the right functioning of the complex instrument we are in our outer parts, is the condition of an integral liberty. Its result is an integral beatitude, in which there becomes possible at once the Ānanda of all that is in the world seen as symbols of the Divine and the Ānanda of that which is not-world. And it prepares the integral perfection of our humanity as a type of the Divine in the conditions of the human manifestation, a perfection founded on a certain free universality of being, of love and joy, of play of knowledge and of play of will in power and will in unegoistic action. This integrality also can be attained by the integral Yoga.
Sādhanā of the Integral Yoga does not proceed through any set mental teaching or prescribed forms of meditation, mantras or others, but by aspiration, by a self-concentration inwards or upwards, by a self-opening to an Influence, to the Divine Power above us and its workings, to the Divine Presence in the heart and by the rejection of all that is foreign to these things. It is only by faith, aspiration and surrender that this self-opening can come.
The yoga does not proceed by upadeśa but by inner influence.
Integral Yoga and Gita ::: The Gita’s Yoga consists in the offering of one’s work as a sacrifice to the Divine, the conquest of desire, egoless and desireless action, bhakti for the Divine, an entering into the cosmic consciousness, the sense of unity with all creatures, oneness with the Divine. This yoga adds the bringing down of the supramental Light and Force (its ultimate aim) and the transformation of the nature.
Our yoga is not identical with the yoga of the Gita although it contains all that is essential in the Gita’s yoga. In our yoga we begin with the idea, the will, the aspiration of the complete surrender; but at the same time we have to reject the lower nature, deliver our consciousness from it, deliver the self involved in the lower nature by the self rising to freedom in the higher nature. If we do not do this double movement, we are in danger of making a tamasic and therefore unreal surrender, making no effort, no tapas and therefore no progress ; or else we make a rajasic surrender not to the Divine but to some self-made false idea or image of the Divine which masks our rajasic ego or something still worse.
Integral Yoga, Gita and Tantra ::: The Gita follows the Vedantic tradition which leans entirely on the Ishvara aspect of the Divine and speaks little of the Divine Mother because its object is to draw back from world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation beyond it.
The Tantric tradition leans on the Shakti or Ishvari aspect and makes all depend on the Divine Mother because its object is to possess and dominate the world-nature and arrive at the supreme realisation through it.
This yoga insists on both the aspects; the surrender to the Divine Mother is essential, for without it there is no fulfilment of the object of the yoga.
Integral Yoga and Hatha-Raja Yogas ::: For an integral yoga the special methods of Rajayoga and Hathayoga may be useful at times in certain stages of the progress, but are not indispensable. Their principal aims must be included in the integrality of the yoga; but they can be brought about by other means. For the methods of the integral yoga must be mainly spiritual, and dependence on physical methods or fixed psychic or psychophysical processes on a large scale would be the substitution of a lower for a higher action. Integral Yoga and Kundalini Yoga: There is a feeling of waves surging up, mounting to the head, which brings an outer unconsciousness and an inner waking. It is the ascending of the lower consciousness in the ādhāra to meet the greater consciousness above. It is a movement analogous to that on which so much stress is laid in the Tantric process, the awakening of the Kundalini, the Energy coiled up and latent in the body and its mounting through the spinal cord and the centres (cakras) and the Brahmarandhra to meet the Divine above. In our yoga it is not a specialised process, but a spontaneous upnish of the whole lower consciousness sometimes in currents or waves, sometimes in a less concrete motion, and on the other side a descent of the Divine Consciousness and its Force into the body.
Integral Yoga and other Yogas ::: The old yogas reach Sachchidananda through the spiritualised mind and depart into the eternally static oneness of Sachchidananda or rather pure Sat (Existence), absolute and eternal or else a pure Non-exist- ence, absolute and eternal. Ours having realised Sachchidananda in the spiritualised mind plane proceeds to realise it in the Supramcntal plane.
The suprcfhe supra-cosmic Sachchidananda is above all. Supermind may be described as its power of self-awareness and W’orld- awareness, the world being known as within itself and not out- side. So to live consciously in the supreme Sachchidananda one must pass through the Supermind.
Distinction ::: The realisation of Self and of the Cosmic being (without which the realisation of the Self is incomplete) are essential steps in our yoga ; it is the end of other yogas, but it is, as it were, the beginning of outs, that is to say, the point where its own characteristic realisation can commence.
It is new as compared with the old yogas (1) Because it aims not at a departure out of world and life into Heaven and Nir- vana, but at a change of life and existence, not as something subordinate or incidental, but as a distinct and central object.
If there is a descent in other yogas, yet it is only an incident on the way or resulting from the ascent — the ascent is the real thing. Here the ascent is the first step, but it is a means for the descent. It is the descent of the new coosdousness attain- ed by the ascent that is the stamp and seal of the sadhana. Even the Tantra and Vaishnavism end in the release from life ; here the object is the divine fulfilment of life.
(2) Because the object sought after is not an individual achievement of divine realisation for the sake of the individual, but something to be gained for the earth-consciousness here, a cosmic, not solely a supra-cosmic acbievement. The thing to be gained also is the bringing of a Power of consciousness (the Supramental) not yet organised or active directly in earth-nature, even in the spiritual life, but yet to be organised and made directly active.
(3) Because a method has been preconized for achieving this purpose which is as total and integral as the aim set before it, viz., the total and integral change of the consciousness and nature, taking up old methods, but only as a part action and present aid to others that are distinctive.
Integral Yoga and Patanjali Yoga ::: Cilia is the stuff of mixed mental-vital-physical consciousness out of which arise the movements of thought, emotion, sensation, impulse etc.
It is these that in the Patanjali system have to be stilled altogether so that the consciousness may be immobile and go into Samadhi.
Our yoga has a different function. The movements of the ordinary consciousness have to be quieted and into the quietude there has to be brought down a higher consciousness and its powers which will transform the nature.
Jhana (Pali) Jhāna Meditation in wisdom, equivalent to Sanskrit dhyana. This experience was originally divided into four states: the mystic, with his mind free from sensuous and worldly ideas, concentrates his thoughts on some special subject such as the impermanence or mayavi character of all exterior things; uplifted above attention to externals and ordinary reasoning he experiences keen joy and quiet ease both of body and mind; the bliss passes away and he becomes suffused with a sense of inner completeness, in its higher stages approaching cosmic ranges; he becomes aware permanently of purest lucidity of intellect and perfect equanimity.
Jnana-sakti has the power or intrinsic faculty of movement of intelligence in the universe, which likewise expresses itself in man, a child of that universe; consequently it acts according to its own peculiarities or characteristics. The adept, knowing this through the power of his spiritual monad, can at any time select any one of these saktis of his constitution and use it alone or in combination with others to produce both interior or exterior phenomena. He does so by an expenditure of one or the other of the saktis that he is using, which are concentrated so to speak in his constitution. Hence their use is always followed by a corresponding reaction, much after the fashion of an electrical discharge; and a certain time is always required for the constitution to reestablish its normal equilibrium. Such equilibrium is a condition of health.
Just as one can concentrate the thought on an object or the vision on a point, so one can concentrate will on a particular part or point of the body and give an order to the conscious- ness there. That order reaches the subconscient.
karmāvarana. (P. kammāvarana; T. las kyi sgrib pa; C. yezhang; J. gosho/gossho; K. opchang 業障). In Sanskrit, "karmic obstruction," or "hindered by KARMAN." The term is used in the VISUDDHIMAGGA with reference to meditators who are incapable of making any progress in concentration (SAMĀDHI) exercises, specifically involving the KASInA visualization devices. The text notes that a practitioner who has engaged in any of the five types of unwholesome "acts that are of immediate effect" (P. ānantariyakamma; S. ĀNANTARYAKARMAN), such as patricide or causing schism in the community of monks (SAMGHBHEDA), is "obstructed by his acts" and will therefore never be able to develop a viable meditation practice. ¶ The relation of karmāvarana to meditation practice continues in Korean Buddhism, where the term opchang is colloquially used to refer to any kind of persistent physical, mental, or emotional obstacle to meditation practice, whether that be, for example, constant pain in one's legs that makes it difficult to sit in meditation for long periods, an inability to concentrate, or emotional distress caused by being apart from one's family. Anything that continually inhibits one's ability to practice effectively may be termed an opchang (karmāvarana). In the ABHIDHARMAKOsABHĀsYA, obstacles to meditation practice are referred to as vimoksāvarana, obstruction to the production of the eight VIMOKsAs, that is, physical and mental inflexibility (akarmanyatā). The ARHAT who is free in both ways (ubhayatobhāgavimukta) is free from this as well as from the KLEsĀVARAnA.
“ ‘Kriyasakti — the mysterious power of thought which enables it to produce external, perceptible, phenomenal results by its own inherent energy. The ancients held that any idea will manifest itself externally if one’s attention (and Will) is deeply concentrated upon it; similarly, an intense volition will be followed by the desired result’ ” (SD 2:173).
Kundadhāna. (C. Juntubohan; J. Kuntohakan; K. Kundobarhan 君屠鉢漢). In Sanskrit and Pāli, name of an ARHAT who is listed as one of the four great sRĀVAKAs (C. sida shengwen). According to Pāli sources, the Buddha declared him to be foremost among monks in receiving food-tickets (salākā; S. salākā), small slips of wood used to determine which monks would receive meals from the laity, a distinction he was given because he was always the first of the Buddha's disciples to receive food-tickets when he accompanied the Buddha on invitations. Kundadhāna was a learned brāhmana from Sāvatthi (S. sRĀVASTĪ) who knew the Vedas by heart. When he was already an old man, he heard the Buddha preach and decided to renounce the world and join the Buddhist order. However, beginning on the day of his ordination, an apparition of a young woman would follow him wherever he went, although he himself could not see her. This caused great amusement among the public, and he became a frequent butt of jokes that he could not comprehend. On alms rounds (PIndAPĀTA), women would place two helpings of food in his bowl, remarking that the first was for him and the second for his lady friend. In the monastery, his fellow monks and even novices were relentless in their teasing, until one day he lost his temper and abused his tormentors. This outburst was duly reported to the Buddha, who admonished the old monk to be patient, as he was only suffering retribution from some past misdeed. King Pasenadi (PRASENAJIT) of Kosala (S. KOsALA) heard of Kundadhāna's strange case and, after an inquiry that proved his innocence, supplied him with requisites so that he need no longer go into the city for alms. Free from the taunting, Kundadhāna was able to concentrate his mind and in due course became an arahant (S. ARHAT), whereupon the apparition disappeared. Kundadhāna's wrongdoing had occurred during the time of Kassapa (S. KĀsYAPA) Buddha, when, as a sprite, he played a trick on two monks to test their friendship. Assuming the form of a maiden rearranging her clothes after a tryst, he caused one monk to accuse his companion of a violation. Because his mischief forever ended the friendship of the two monks, the sprite was reborn in hell for an eon and, in his last life, as the monk Kundadhāna, he was compelled to be followed around by this apparition of a maiden. He is also sometimes listed as one of the four great srāvakas (C. sida shengwen); the lists vary widely but typically include either MAHĀKĀsYAPA, PIndOLA-BHĀRADVĀJA, and RĀHULA; or MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA, Mahākāsyapa, and ANIRUDDHA; or sĀRIPUTRA, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāsyapa, and SUBHuTI, etc.
LaTeX "language, text, tool" (Lamport TeX) Leslie Lamport "lamport@pa.dec.com"'s document preparation system built on top of {TeX}. LaTeX was developed at {SRI International}'s Computer Science Laboratory and was built to resemble {Scribe}. LaTeX adds commands to simplify typesetting and lets the user concentrate on the structure of the text rather than on formatting commands. {BibTeX} is a LaTeX package for bibliographic citations. Lamport's LaTeX book has an exemplary index listing every symbol, concept and example in the book. The index in the, now obsolete, first edition includes (on page 221) the mysterious entry "Gilkerson, Ellen, 221". The second edition (1994) has an entry for "{infinite loop}" instead. ["LaTeX, A Document Preparation System", Leslie Lamport, A-W 1986, ISBN 0-201-15790-X (first edition, now obsolete)]. (1997-11-17)
LaTeX ::: (language, text, tool) (Lamport TeX) Leslie Lamport 's document preparation system built on top of TeX. LaTeX was developed at SRI International's Computer Science Laboratory and was built to resemble Scribe.LaTeX adds commands to simplify typesetting and lets the user concentrate on the structure of the text rather than on formatting commands.BibTeX is a LaTeX package for bibliographic citations.Lamport's LaTeX book has an exemplary index listing every symbol, concept and example in the book. The index in the, now obsolete, first edition includes (on page 221) the mysterious entry Gilkerson, Ellen, 221. The second edition (1994) has an entry for infinite loop instead.[LaTeX, A Document Preparation System, Leslie Lamport, A-W 1986, ISBN 0-201-15790-X (first edition, now obsolete)]. (1997-11-17)
light ::: Sri Aurobindo: ". . . light is primarily a spiritual manifestation of the Divine Reality illuminative and creative; material light is a subsequent representation or conversion of it into Matter for the purposes of the material Energy.” *The Life Divine
"Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision"s limited range.
For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.
God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light.” *The Hour of God
"Light is a general term. Light is not knowledge but the illumination that comes from above and liberates the being from obscurity and darkness.” The Mother
The Mother: "The light is everywhere, the force is everywhere. And the world is so small.” Words of the Mother, MCW Vol. 15. ::: *Light, light"s, lights, light-petalled, light-tasselled, half-light.
Manichaeans A sect which originated in the 3rd century in Persia and rapidly diffused itself in Mesopotamia and beyond the Oxus, lasting under one or another form down to the 13th century. Its founder was Mani, said to have been a Persian, whose name in Greek became Manes or Manichaios. Little can be ascertained about him, but he is said to have been a natural mystic, conscious of a mission, and endowed with the breadth of view and concentrated zeal characteristic of the founders of systems. He successfully amalgamated the religious, philosophical, and mystical ideas of his time and surrounding countries into a coherent system adapted to the tastes of the age.
Mantra ::: In fact, speech is creative. It creates forms of emotion, mental images and impulses of action. The ancient Vedic theory and practice extended this creative action of speech by the use of the Mantra. The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power born out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed in the heart and not originally constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally —the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken—precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical plane.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 18, Page: 30
merkabah ::: Merkabah Practical Kabbalism concentrated on the Maaseh Merkabah (The History of the Divine Throne or Chariot). The Maaseh Merkabah centred on the mystical adoration of the Throne Chariot of God (as described in Ezekiel Chapter 1, verses 26-28).
n. 1. The point, axis, or pivot about which a body rotates. 2. A point, area, or part that is approximately in the middle of a larger area or volume. 3. A person or thing that is a focus of interest or attention. 4. A point of origin. centre"s, centres. v. 5. To focus or bring together. 6. To move towards, mark, put, or be concentrated at or as at a centre. 7. centred. Brought together to a centre, concentrated.
Nada: Mystic sound (of the Eternal); the primal sound or First vibration from which all creation has emanated; the first manifestation of the unmanifested Absolute; Omkara or Sabda Brahman; also the mystic inner sound or Anahata on which the Yogi concentrates.
netpipes "networking" A package by Robert Forsman "thoth@cis.ufl.edu" to manipulate {BSD Unix} {TCP/IP} stream {sockets}. The netpipes package makes TCP/IP streams usable in {shell scripts}. It can also simplify {client-server} code by allowing the programmer to skip all the tedious programming related to sockets and concentrate on writing a filter/service. {(http://cis.ufl.edu/~thoth/netpipes/)}. (1996-10-03)
netpipes ::: (networking) A package by Robert Forsman to manipulate BSD Unix TCP/IP stream sockets. The netpipes package makes TCP/IP allowing the programmer to skip all the tedious programming related to sockets and concentrate on writing a filter/service. . (1996-10-03)
Niratisaya-ghanibhuta-sakti: Infinitely massive power or potency; condensed or concentrated power which is limitless.
NISTHA. ::: Concentrated will in destuion.
nisthah ::: fixed and steady concentration; concentrated will of devotion; faith.
obakushu. (黄檗宗). In Japanese, "obaku school"; one of the three main ZEN traditions in Japan, along with the RINZAISHu and SoToSHu. The émigré Chinese CHAN master YINYUAN LONGQI (1594-1673) is credited with its foundation. In 1654, Yinyuan fled the wars that accompanied the fall of the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and arrived in Nagasaki, Japan, where he first served as abbot of the monastery of Kofukuji. With the support of the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna (1639-1680) and Emperor Gomizunoo (r. 1611-1629), in 1661, Yinyuan traveled to a mountain he named obaku (after Mt. Huangbo in China), where he began construction of a new monastery that he named MANPUKUJI (C. Wanfusi), after his old monastery in Fujian, China. The monastery and the broader obaku tradition retained many of the exotic Chinese customs that Yinyuan and his Chinese disciples MU'AN XINGTAO, Jifei Ruyi (1616-1617), and Huilin Xingji (1609-1681) had brought with them from the mainland, including the latest monastic architecture and institutional systems, the use of vernacular Chinese as the official ritual language in the monastery, and training in Chinese artistic and literary styles. In addition, for thirteen generations after Yinyuan, Manpukuji's abbots continued to be Chinese, and only later began to alternate between Chinese and Japanese successors. These Chinese monastic customs that Yinyuan introduced were met with great ambivalence by such Japanese Rinzai leaders as Gudo Toshoku (1577-1661) and later HAKUIN EKAKU. Although Yinyuan himself was affiliated with the YANGQI PAI in the Chinese LINJI ZONG, Chinese Chan traditions during this period had also assimilated the widespread practice of reciting of the Buddha's name (C. NIANFO; J. nenbutsu) by transforming it into a form of "questioning meditation" (C. KANHUA CHAN; J. kannazen): e.g., "Who is it who is reciting the Buddha's name?" Raising this question while engaging in nenbutsu was a technique that initially helped to concentrate the mind, but would also subsequently help raise the sense of doubt (C. YIQING; J. gijo) that was central to Linji school accounts of authentic Chan meditation. However, since buddha-recitation was at this time closely associated in Japan with pure land traditions, such as JoDOSHu and JoDO SHINSHu, this approach to Chan practice was extremely controversial among contemporary Japanese Zen adepts. The Chinese style of Zen that Yinyuan and his followers promulgated in Japan prompted their contemporaries in the Rinzai and Soto Zen traditions to reevaluate their own practices and to initiate a series of important reform movements within their respective traditions (cf. IN'IN EKISHI). During the Meiji period, obaku, Rinzai, and Soto were formally recognized as separate Zen traditions (ZENSHu) by the imperial government. Currently, the monastery Manpukuji in Uji serves as the headquarters (honzan) of the obaku school.
Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range. For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere. God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 12, Page: 188
Palestinians ::: Although anyone with roots in the land that is now Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is technically a Palestinian, the term is now more commonly used to refer to Arabs with such roots. Palestinian nationalism, as distinguished from Arab nationalism, did not emerge until after World War I. Most of the world's Palestinian population is concentrated in Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan, although many Palestinians live in Lebanon, Syria and other Arab countries.
paracittajNāna. [alt. cetoparyāyābhijNāna] (P. cetopariyaNāna; T. gzhan gyi sems shes pa; C. taxintong; J. tashintsu; K. t'asimt'ong 他心通). In Sanskrit, "knowledge of others' minds"; one of the five mundane (LAUKIKA) "superknowledges" or "supranormal powers" (ABHIJNĀ) that are gained through refinement of the fourth stage of meditative absorption (DHYĀNA). The sixth "superknowledge," the knowledge of the extinction of the contaminants (ĀSRAVAKsAYA; P. āsavakhaya) is supramundane (LOKOTTARA). One who has developed paracittajNāna knows when another's mind is greedy or free from greed, hateful or free from hate, deluded or undeluded, constrained or distracted, developed or undeveloped, surpassable or unsurpassable, concentrated or unconcentrated, and freed or unfreed.
pasu (pashu) ::: animal; the human animal; the lowest of the ten types pasu of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the bodily life; "the animal power in the body", which "might be divinely used for the greater purposes of the divinised Purusha".
Patience ::: In a more deep and spiritual sense a concrete realisation is that which makes the thing realised more real, dynamic, intimately present to the consciousness than any physical thing can be. Such a realisation of the personal Divine or of the impersonal Brahman or of the Self does not usually come at the beginning of a sadhana or in the first years or for many years. It comes so to a very few. Most would say that a slow development is the best one can hope for in the first years and only when the nature is ready and fully concentrated towards the Divine can the definitive experience come. To some rapid preparatory experiences can come at a comparatively early stage, but even they cannot escape the labour of the consciousness which will make these experiences culminate in the realisation that is enduring and complete. It is a matter of fact and truth and experience, not of liking or disliking.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 240-41
patience to develop. For instance, the neutral quiet so dissatis- fying to five vital eagerness of the sadhaka is the first step towards the peace that passeth all understanding, the small current or thrill of inner delight the first trickling of the ocean of Ananda, the play of tights or colours the key of the doors of the inner vision and experience, the descent that stifTens the body into a concentrated stillness that first touch of something at the end of which is the presence of the Divine.
core - Magnetic material within a coil used to concentrate the magnetic field.
electromagnet - A coil of wire usually wound on a soft iron or steel core. When current is passed through the coil a magnetic field is generated. The core provides an easy path for the magnetic lines of force. This concentrates the field in the core.
inductor - Length of conductor used to introduce inductance into a circuit. The conductor is usually wound into a coil to concentrate the magnetic lines of force and maximize the inductance. While any conductor has inductance, in common usage the term inductor usually refers to a coil.
magnetic core - Material that exists in the center of the magnetic coil to either physically support the windings (non-magnetic material) or to concentrate the magnetic flux (magnetic material).
PDP-10 "computer" Programmed Data Processor model 10. The series of {mainframes} from {DEC} that made {time-sharing} real. It looms large in hacker folklore because of its adoption in the mid-1970s by many university computing facilities and research labs, including the {MIT} {AI Lab}, {Stanford}, and {CMU}. Some aspects of the {instruction set} (most notably the bit-field instructions) are still considered unsurpassed. The PDP-10 was eventually eclipsed by the {VAX} machines (descendants of the {PDP-11}) when DEC recognised that the PDP-10 and VAX product lines were competing with each other and decided to concentrate its software development effort on the more profitable VAX. The machine was finally dropped from DEC's line in 1983, following the failure of the {Jupiter} Project at DEC to build a viable new model. (Some attempts by other companies to market clones came to nothing; see {Foonly} and {Mars}.) This event spelled the doom of {ITS} and the technical cultures that had spawned the original {Jargon File}, but by mid-1991 it had become something of a badge of honourable old-timerhood among hackers to have cut one's teeth on a PDP-10. See {TOPS-10}, {AOS}, {BLT}, {DDT}, {DPB}, {EXCH}, {HAKMEM}, {JFCL}, {LDB}, {pop}, {push}. {news:alt.sys.pdp10} [Was the PDP-10 a mini or a mainframe?] (2001-01-05)
Persian Philosophy: Persia was a vast empire before the time of Alexander the Great, embracing not only most of the orientnl tribes of Western Asia but also the Greeks of Asia Minor, the Jews and the Egyptians. If we concentrate on the central section of Persia, three philosophic periods may be distinguished Zoroastrianism (including Mithraism and Magianism), Manichaeanism, and medieval Persian thought. Zarathustra (Or. Zoroaster) lived before 600 B.C. and wrote the Avesta, apparently in the Zend language. It is primarily religious, but the teaching that there are two ultimate principles of reality, Ormazd, the God of Light and Goodness, and Ahriman, God of Evil and Darkness, is of philosophic importance. They are eternally fighting Mitra is the intermediary between Ormazd and man. In the third century A. D., Mani of Ecbatana (in Media) combined this dualism of eternal principles with some of the doctrines of Christianity. His seven books are now known only through second-hand reports of Mohammedan (Abu Faradj Ibn Ishaq, 10th c., and Sharastani, 12th c.) and Christian (St. Ephrem, 4th c., and Bar-Khoni, 7th c.) writers. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) has left several works criticizing Manichaeism, which he knew at first-hand. From the ninth century onward, many of the great Arabic philosophers are of Persian origin. Mention might be made of the epicureanism of the Rubaiyat of the Persian poet, Omar Kayyam, and the remarkable metaphysical system of Avicenna, i.e. Ibn Sina (11th c.), who was born in Persia. -- V.J.B.
PHYSICAL SELF Human monad that has its consciousness concentrated on physical reality and small activation of emotional and mental consciousness. Also called physicalist.
pisaca (pishacha; pisacha) ::: demon; a kind of anti-divine being of the pisaca lower vital plane; the third of the ten types of consciousness (dasagavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the senses and concerned with the knowledge of bodily life.
pith ::: n. --> The soft spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees, especially those of the dicotyledonous or exogenous classes. It consists of cellular tissue.
The spongy interior substance of a feather.
The spinal cord; the marrow.
Hence: The which contains the strength of life; the vital or essential part; concentrated force; vigor; strength; importance; as, the speech lacked pith.
Plan 9 "operating system" (Named after the classically bad, exceptionally low-budget SF film "Plan 9 from Outer Space") An {operating system} developed at {Bell Labs} by many researchers previously intimately involved with {Unix}. Plan 9 is superficially Unix-like but features far finer control over the {name-space} (on a per-process basis) and is inherently distributed and scalable. Plan 9 is divided according to service functions. {CPU} servers concentrate computing power into large {multiprocessors}; {file servers} provide repositories for storage and terminals give each user of the system a dedicated computer with {bitmap screen} and {mouse} on which to run a window system. The sharing of computing and file storage services provides a sense of community for a group of programmers, amortises costs and centralises and hence simplifies management and administration. The pieces communicate by a single {protocol}, built above a reliable {data transport layer} offered by an appropriate network, that defines each service as a rooted tree of files. Even for services not usually considered as files, the unified design permits some simplification. Each process has a local file name space that contains attachments to all services the process is using and thereby to the files in those services. One of the most important jobs of a terminal is to support its user's customised view of the entire system as represented by the services visible in the name space. {(http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9dist/)}. (2005-02-15)
Plan 9 ::: (operating system) (Named after the classically bad, exceptionally low-budget SF film Plan 9 from Outer Space) An operating system developed at Bell Labs by many researchers previously intimately involved with Unix.Plan 9 is superficially Unix-like but features far finer control over the name-space (on a per-process basis) and is inherently distributed and scalable.Plan 9 is divided according to service functions. CPU servers concentrate computing power into large multiprocessors; file servers provide repositories programmers, amortises costs and centralises and hence simplifies management and administration.The pieces communicate by a single protocol, built above a reliable data transport layer offered by an appropriate network, that defines each service as to support its user's customised view of the entire system as represented by the services visible in the name space. .(2005-02-15)
Poland's Defeat ::: On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Polish defenses crumbled before the German onslaught of tanks, motorized vehicles and attacks by dive-bombers on the civilian population. The German theory of Blitzkrieg ("lightning war") involved massive concentrated attack. After two weeks Germany controlled western Poland except for Warsaw, which held out for two more weeks. Meanwhile, on September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east according to the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact signed in August 1939, which divided Poland into spheres of interest for each country.
portal "web" A {website} that aims to be an entry point to the {web}, typically offering a {search engine} and/or links to useful pages, and possibly news or other services. These services are usually provided for free in the hope that users will make the site their default {home page} or at least visit it often. Popular examples are {Yahoo} and {MSN}. Most portals on the {Internet} exist to generate advertising income for their owners, others may be focused on a specific group of users and may be part of an {intranet} or {extranet}. Some may just concentrate on one particular subject, say technology or medicine, and are known as a {vertical portals}. (2001-07-07)
Potential Difference - Difference in electric potential between two points.
Electric Potential Energy - Energy of a charged body in an electrical field.
Electromagnet - Device that uses an electric current to produce a concentrated magnetic field.
Pramantha (Sanskrit) Pramantha [from pra-math to stir about violently] The upper stick used by the ancient Brahmins to kindle fire. By rubbing it against the arani or under stick, the friction produced the heat and subsequent flame. It would be wide of the inner significance of the pramantha and arani to concentrate attention upon their supposed phallic or sexual significance as these are described both pragmatically and mystically in ancient Hindu works, although unquestionably the language used is at times suggestive. Mystically, the pramantha stands for the will in man, whirling and unceasingly active in and upon the passive portion of the human constitution, arousing the latter into corresponding activity, bringing about there the fire and flame of animate life. When the will is stilled the being is dormant; when the will acts all portions of the constitution touched by the whirling activity of the will react and spring themselves into corresponding motion.
pramatha ::: a kind of being on the lower vital plane, related to the pisaca; the fourth of the ten types of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the heart and the emotional and aesthetic part of the citta.
pratikalpa (pratikalpa; prati-kalpa; prati kalpa) ::: a period of a hundred caturyugas, one tenth of a kalpa, also divided into fourteen manvantaras of several caturyugas each; each pratikalpa corresponds to one of the ten types or forms of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale, the present pratikalpa being regarded as the sixth in the current kalpa, the pratikalpa of the asura in which mind is concentrated on the buddhi.
Pratyeka Buddha(Sanskrit) ::: Pratyeka is a compound of two words: prati, prepositional prefix meaning "towards" or "for";eka, the numeral "one"; thus we can translate the compound by the paraphrase "each one for himself."The Pratyeka Buddha, he who achieves buddhahood for himself, instead of feeling the call of almightylove to return and help those who have gone less far, goes ahead into the supernal light -- passes onwardsand enters the unspeakable bliss of nirvana -- and leaves mankind behind. Though exalted, neverthelesshe does not rank with the unutterable sublimity of the Buddha of Compassion.The Pratyeka Buddha concentrates his energies on the one objective -- spiritual self-advancement: heraises himself to the spiritual realm of his own inner being, enwraps himself therein and, so to speak,goes to sleep. The Buddha of Compassion raises himself, as does the Pratyeka Buddha, to the spiritualrealms of his own inner being, but does not stop there, because he expands continuously, becomes onewith All, or tries to, and in fact does so in time. When the Pratyeka Buddha in due course emerges fromthe nirvanic state in order to take up his evolutionary journey again, he will find himself far in the rear ofthe Buddha of Compassion.
qiao. (S. sarīre khāni; J. kyo; K. kyu 竅). In Chinese, the "bodily orifices," of which nine are listed: the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, the mouth, the reproductive organ, and the anus. In one form of "foulness contemplation" (S. AsUBHABHĀVANĀ), in which the impure aspects of the human body are concentrated upon in order to counter lust and excessive attachment to the body, practitioners focus on the way impurities (pus, blood, secretions, etc.) and odors are constantly being secreted through these nine orifices.
Quintessence: Latin for fifth essence; the purest, most highly concentrated form of a nature or essence; originally, in Aristotelianism, the fifth element, found in celestial bodies, distinguished from the four earthly elements.
Quintessence: (Lat. quinta essentia, the fifth essence) the purest, most highly concentrated form of a nature or essence; originally, in Aristotelianism, the fifth element, found in celestial bodies, distinguished from the four earthly elements. -- V.J.B.
quintessence ::: n. --> The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. See Ferment oils, under Ferment.
Hence: An extract from anything, containing its rarest virtue, or most subtle and essential constituent in a small quantity; pure or concentrated essence. ::: v. t.
quintessence ::: the pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.
Quintessence: The raw concentrated essence of Creation – its Fifth Essence. Also known as Primal Force, Quintessence manifests in Patterns through the interplay of Dynamism and Stasis. (Entropy breaks those Patterns down.)
quintessential: Having in concentrated form the essential part; purest
Raja yoga ::: This is the first step only. Afterwards, the ordinary activities of the mind and sense must be entirely quieted in order that the soul may be free to ascend to higher states of consciousness and acquire the foundation for a perfect freedom and self-mastery. But Rajayoga does not forget that the disabilities of the ordinary mind proceed largely from its subjection to the reactions of the nervous system and the body. It adopts th
refore from the Hathayogic system its devices of asana and pranayama, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to one simplest and most directly effective process sufficient for its own immediate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kundalinı, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within. This done, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless mind and its elevation to a higher plane through concentration of mental force by the successive stages which lead to the utmost inner concentration or ingathered state of the consciousness which is called Samadhi. By Samadhi, in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of consciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental action liberated from the confusions of the outer consciousness and passes thence to the higher supra-mental planes on which the individual soul enters into its true spiritual existence. But also it acquires the capacity of that free and concentrated energising of consciousness on its object which our philosophy asserts as the primary cosmic energy and the method of divine action upon the world. By this capacity the Yogin, already possessed of the highest supracosmic knowledge and experience in the state of trance, is able in the waking state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to his activities in the objective world. For the ancient system of Rajayoga aimed not only at Swarajya, self-rule or subjective empire, the entire control by the subjective consciousness of all the states and activities proper to its own domain, but included Samrajya as well, outward empire, the control by the subjective consciousness of its outer activities and environment.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 36-37
raks.asa (rakshasa) ::: same as raks.as; giant, ogre; a kind of anti-divine raksasa being of the middle vital plane; the fifth of the ten types of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the thinking manas (sensational mind). It is the raks.asa "who first begins really to think, but his thought is . . . egoistic & turned towards sensation", seeking "a gross egoistic satisfaction in all the life of the mind, prana & body"; the "divine use of the Rakshasa force" would come when it is "changed from a nervous egoism to a sort of powerful dynamic utility on that plane".
RāmaNNa Nikāya. Pāli name of one of the three predominant monastic fraternities (P. NIKĀYA) within the Sinhalese THERAVĀDA SAMGHA, the others being the majority SIYAM NIKĀYA and the AMARAPURA NIKĀYA. The RāmaNNa Nikāya is the smallest of these three, their monastic population being a third that of the Siyam Nikāya and half that of the Amarapura Nikāya. The RāmaNNa Nikāya was one of several reform schools that appeared in Sri Lanka in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time, the dominant Siyam Nikāya only ordained members of the elite Goyigama caste. The Goyigama caste was concentrated in the interior highlands of Sri Lanka, which was governed by the Kandyan king. The lower castes-comprised of toddy tappers and cinnamon peelers (salāgama), who formed the majority population in the British-controlled coastal lowlands-were at most given lower ordination (P. pabbajjā; see S. PRAVRAJITA) as novices (P. sāmanera; S. sRĀMAnERA). This discrimination led to the formation of as many as thirty religious orders whose members came from lower or rising castes. Members of the cinnamon-peeler caste sponsored delegations of religious aspirants who traveled to Burma (Myanmar) in order to receive ordination in an established lineage, ordination they could not receive in Sri Lanka. One such aspirant from the salāgama caste was Ambagahawatte Saranankara, who was ordained on June 12, 1861, by Venerable Gneiyadharma Sangharāja of the Ratnapunna Vihāra in Burma. In 1864, Ambagahawatte Saranankara returned to Sri Lanka and established the RāmaNNa Nikāya order. (RāmaNNa is the Pāli name for the region of south-coastal Burma.) The RāmaNNa Nikāya was established not only in response to caste discrimination but also as an attempt to reform the practices of the Sri Lankan saMgha. Indeed, the RāmaNNa Nikāya's official status as an institution that makes no distinction between castes is portrayed as a return to the Buddha's acceptance of all strata of the Indian caste system. The RāmaNNa Nikāya is particularly strong in the southwestern coastal regions of Sri Lanka, where it was founded.
revolution ::: “ . . . for what we inappropriately call revolution, is only a rapidly concentrated movement of evolution—a yet remote end which in the ordinary course of events could only be realised, if at all, in the far distant future.” The Human Cycle, etc.
Rin chen bzang po. [alt. Lo tsā ba chen po, Lo chen] (Rinchen Sangpo) (958-1055). A Tibetan translator of Sanskrit Buddhist texts who helped to initiate the revival of Buddhism in Tibet known as the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of the dharma. He was born in the western Tibetan region of GU GE. According to traditional histories, at the age of seventeen, he was sent to India together with a group of twenty other youths by King YE SHES 'OD to study Sanskrit and Indian vernacular languages. Rin chen bzang po made several trips to India, spending a total of seventeen years in Kashmir and the monastic university of VIKRAMAsĪLA before returning the Tibet. During the last years of his life, he collaborated with the Bengali master ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA at THO LING monastery. Rin chen bzang po's literary career concentrated on new and revised translations of important Indian Buddhist works; he is credited with 178 translations spanning the SuTRAs, TANTRAs, and commentarial literature. Apart from his literary activities, he also brought with him numerous artisans and craftsmen from Kashmir and, with their aid, was highly active in the construction of new monasteries, temples, and shrines across western Tibet. These institutions, and the artwork they house, were strongly influenced by the artistic styles and religious practices of northwest India and now serve as important records of a tradition otherwise nearly lost. Most important among these temples are Tho ling, KHA CHAR, and NYAR MA, although tradition ascribes him with founding 108 buildings in all. Rin chen bzang po is still considered a local hero in the regions of western Tibet, Ladakh, Lahul, Spiti, and Kinnaur, and the current reincarnation, LO CHEN SPRUL SKU, maintains his monastic seat at Kyi monastery in Spiti.
Ryonin. (良忍) (1072-1132). In Japanese, "Virtuous Forbearance"; founder of the YuZuNENBUTSUSHu, an early PURE LAND school in Japan. Ryonin traveled to HIEIZAN at the age of twelve to study the TENDAISHu (C. TIANTAI ZONG) teachings and was ordained at the age of fifteen. He retreated to ohara, a rural area north of Kyoto, in 1095, where he spent the next thirty years. There, Ryonin at first studied the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA and the AVATAMSAKASuTRA, but later concentrated on reciting the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA. Through a revelation from the buddha AMITĀBHA that he received in 1117, Ryonin began teaching his principle of YuZuNENBUTSU (perfect-interpenetration recitation of the Buddha's name), in which every individual benefits from both his own and others' chanting of the Buddha's name (J. nenbutsu; C. NIANFO) through a mutual transfer of merit. In 1124, Ryonin began traveling throughout Japan to spread the practice. His decision to begin teaching evokes sākyamuni Buddha's own life story: after realizing this principle, Ryonin was content dwelling in solitude, but VAIsRAVAnA (J. Tabun tenno) appeared before Ryonin to ask him to teach his revelation and disseminate the chanting practice among the people. As Ryonin traveled around Japan, he carried with him a booklet in which he recorded the names of all the people who agreed to practice the chanting of the Buddha's name everyday. Soon after beginning his campaign, Ryonin received the imperial bell from the retired monarch Toba (r. 1107-1123), who also added his name to this register of adherents: both the bell and the register are now housed at Dainenbutsuji, the headquarters of the Yuzunenbutsu school. Such a sign of imperial support for Ryonin's campaign attracted many new followers to his school. Ryonin continued his evangelical efforts until his death in 1132 at Raigoin, one of the two cloisters (along with Jorengein) that he established in ohara. Ryonin also studied Buddhist "BRAHMĀ chanting" (J. bonbai; see C. FANBAI; K. pomp'ae) and founded his own lineage of bonbai chanting during his thirty years in ohara.
salvo ::: n. --> An exception; a reservation; an excuse.
A concentrated fire from pieces of artillery, as in endeavoring to make a break in a fortification; a volley.
A salute paid by a simultaneous, or nearly simultaneous, firing of a number of cannon.
Samadhi and norma! sleep, between the dream*state of Yoga and the physical state of dream. The latter belongs to the physical mind ; in the former the mind proper and subtle is at work liberated from the immixture of the physical mentality. The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind*faculttes disconnected from the will and reason, the buddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the brain>memory, partly of refieclions from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflec- tions which arc, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co- ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, with brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the Yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear possession of itself, though not of the physical world, works coherently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelligence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of conununicatinn with maJerJal things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflection, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the dis- tractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have
samadhi ::: samadhi in the waking state, "when in the waking consciousness, we are able to concentrate and become aware of things ... beyond our [normal] consciousness". This has two forms, antardarsi(inward-looking) and bahirdarsi (outward-looking), in which images are seen "with the bodily eyes closed or open, projected on or into a physical object or medium or seen as if materialised in the physical atmosphere or only in a psychical ether revealing itself through this grosser physical atmosphere; seen through the physical eyes themselves as a secondary instrument and as if under the conditions of the physical vision or by the psychical vision alone and independently of the relations of our ordinary sight to space". jjagrat agrat suksmavisaya
Samadhi(Sanskrit) ::: A compound word formed of sam, meaning "with" or "together"; a, meaning "towards"; andthe verbal root dha, signifying "to place," or "to bring"; hence samadhi, meaning "to direct towards,"generally signifies to combine the faculties of the mind with a direction towards an object. Hence, intensecontemplation or profound meditation, with the consciousness directed to the spiritual. It is the highestform of self-possession, in the sense of collecting all the faculties of the constitution towards reachingunion or quasi-union, long or short in time as the case may be, with the divine-spiritual. One whopossesses and is accustomed to use this power has complete, absolute control over all his faculties, andis, therefore, said to be "completely self- possessed." It is the highest state of yoga or "union."Samadhi, therefore, is a word of exceedingly mystical and profound significance implying the completeabstraction of the percipient consciousness from all worldly or exterior or even mental concerns orattributes, and its absorption into or, perhaps better, its becoming the pure unadulterate, undilutesuperconsciousness of the god within. In other words, samadhi is self-conscious union with the spiritualmonad of the human constitution. Samadhi is the eighth or final stage of genuine occult yoga, and can beattained at any time by the initiate without conscious recourse to the other phases or practices of yogaenumerated in Oriental works, and which other and inferior practices are often misleading, in some casesdistinctly injurious, and at the best mere props or aids in the attaining of complete mental abstractionfrom worldly concerns.The eight stages of yoga usually enumerated are the following: (1) yama, signifying "restraint" or"forbearance"; (2) niyama, religious observances of various kinds, such as watchings or fastings,prayings, penances, etc.; (3) asana (q.v.), postures of various kinds; (4) pranayama, various methods ofregulating the breath; (5) pratyahara, a word signifying "withdrawal," but technically and esoterically the"withdrawal" of the consciousness from sensual or sensuous concerns, or from external objects; (6)dharana (q.v.), firmness or steadiness or resolution in holding the mind set or concentrated on a topic orobject of thought, mental concentration; (7) dhyana (q.v.), abstract contemplation or meditation whenfreed from exterior distractions; and finally, (8) samadhi, complete collection of the consciousness and ofits faculties into oneness or union with the monadic essence.It may be observed, and should be carefully taken note of by the student, that when the initiate hasattained samadhi he becomes practically omniscient for the solar universe in which he dwells, becausehis consciousness is functioning at the time in the spiritual-causal worlds. All knowledge is then to himlike an open page because he is self-consciously conscious, to use a rather awkward phrase, of nature'sinner and spiritual realms, the reason being that his consciousness has become kosmic in its reaches.
samahita ::: concentrated in its own being; in samadhi. [Gita 6.7]
samahita ::: concentrated.
Sandhi, Samdhi (Sanskrit) Saṃdhi [from sam together + the verbal root dhā to place] That which combines or unites; the interval between day and night, twilight; also the period at the expiration of each yuga (age), or between two manvantaras or kalpas. Equivalent to 1/10 the duration of the yuga and lasts until the commencement of the next yuga. Such is the way the time periods of the yugas are calculated, whether according to divine years or solar years. However, when attention is concentrated solely on the dawns and twilights (there being a dawn and a twilight for each such time period in a yuga), every dawn and twilight conjoined is 1/6 of the length of each such time period: in other words, a dawn or twilight is 1/12 of the length of such period. As an example, a mahayuga of 4,320,000 solar years (or 12,000 Divine Years, 360 solar years making one Divine Year) consists of four minor yugas — the krita, treta, dvapara, and kali, decreasing in length by the Pythagorean scale of 4, 3, 2, 1 respectively. Thus counting in Divine Years, the krita is 4800 such years long, the treta 3600 such years, the dvapara 2400 such years, and the kali 1200 such years. Otherwise phrased, the krita is 4000 years long plus 1/10 thereof — 400 years for its dawn and 400 years for its twilight. The treta is 3000 years long plus 1/10 that period or 300 years for its dawn and 300 years for its twilight. The dvapara and the kali are calculated by the same rule. With solar years, the system can be illustrated by stating that the kali yuga is 360,000 solar years long, 1/10 of that period or 36,000 years each for its dawn and its twilight, the total comprising the full duration of 432,000 years. Thus the 2/10 when added are 72,000, which is 1/6 of the total duration; and either the dawn or twilight is 1/12 of the total or 36,000.
scorifier ::: n. --> One who, or that which, scorifies; specifically, a small flat bowl-shaped cup used in the first heating in assaying, to remove the earth and gangue, and to concentrate the gold and silver in a lead button.
Self, the Divine Peace, Light, Power, Knowledge, Bliss, to enter into that and become that, to feel the descent of these things into the nature. To concentrate in the head with the aspiration for quietude in the mind and the realisation of the Self and
shikan taza. (C. zhiguan dazuo; K. chigwan t'ajwa 祇/只管打坐). In Japanese, "just sitting"; a style of meditation emblematic of the Japanese SoToSHu of ZEN, in which the act of sitting itself is thought to be the manifestation of enlightenment. The Soto school attributes the introduction of this style of practice to DoGEN KIGEN (1200-1253), who claimed to have learned it from his Chinese CAODONG ZONG teacher TIANTONG RUJING (1162-1227). In this degenerate age of the dharma (J. mappo; C. MOFA), Soto claims, a radical simplification of practice was necessary. Rather than attempting to master the full range of meditative techniques used for concentrating the mind, such as counting the breaths (J. susokukan) or investigating a Zen question (J. kanna Zen; C. KANHUA CHAN), Dogen is claimed to have advocated "just sitting" in the posture that had been used by the buddhas (e.g., sĀKYAMUNI's seven days beneath the BODHI TREE) and the patriarchs of Zen (e.g., BODHIDHARMA's "wall contemplation," C. BIGUAN). As the later Soto school interprets shikan taza, by maintaining this posture of "just sitting," the mind would also become stabilized and concentrated in a state of full clarity and alertness, free from any specific content (i.e., "with body and mind sloughed off," J. SHINJIN DATSURAKU). By adopting this posture of the buddhas and patriarchs, the student's own body and mind would thus become identical to the body and mind of his spiritual ancestors. Shikan taza is therefore portrayed as the most genuine form of meditation in which a Buddhist adept can engage. The Soto tradition also deploys shikan taza polemically against the rival RINZAISHu, whose use of koans (C. GONG'AN) in meditation training was portrayed as an inferior, expedient attempt at concentration. In Dogen's own writings, however, there is little of this later Soto portrayal of the psychological dimensions of "just sitting"; instead, Dogen uses shikan taza simply as a synonym of "sitting in meditation" (zazen, C. ZUOCHAN), and may have spent most of his time while "just sitting" in the contemplation of koans.
shinjin datsuraku. (C. shenxin tuoluo; K. sinsim t'allak 身心落). In Japanese, lit. "body and mind sloughed off," the psychological state generated during the practice of "just sitting" (SHIKAN TAZA), a style of meditation emblematic of the Japanese SoToSHu of ZEN. The Soto school attributes this term to DoGEN KIGEN (1200-1253), who claimed to have learned it from his Chinese CAODONG teacher TIANTONG RUJING (1162-1227). During the practice of "just sitting," the adept should sit with "body and mind sloughed off," that is, with the body and mind stabilized and concentrated in a state of full clarity and alertness that is free from any specific content. Once all conception of body and mind had fallen away, the "original face" (J. honrai menmoku, C. BENLAI MIANMU) of inherent enlightenment will then appear. Dogen is said to have achieved enlightenment through hearing his teacher Rujing describe practice as "the sloughing off of body and mind." This phrase is mentioned in only a single passage of Rujing's discourse record (YULU), however. Rujing's record also includes the homophonous phrase shinjin datsuraku (C. xinchen tuoluo), or "defilements of mind sloughed off." It is uncertain which form of the phrase Dogen might have heard, but it seems to have had much more significance for Dogen than for Rujing.
smṛtyupasthāna. (P. satipatthāna; T. dran pa nyer bzhag; C. nianchu; J. nenjo; K. yomch'o 念處). In Sanskrit, "foundations of mindfulness," a meditative training in which one contemplates with mindfulness (SMṚTI): one's (1) body (KĀYĀNUPAsYANĀ; P. kāyānupassanā), by mean of mindfulness of breathing, mindfulness of postures, full awareness of bodily actions, contemplation of bodily impurities, contemplation of elements, and nine cemetery meditations; (2) sensations (vedanānupasyanā; P. vedanānupassanā), viz., pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations (VEDANĀ); (3) mental states (cittānupasyanā; P. cittānupassanā), such as whether the mind (CITTA) generally is elated or depressed, distracted or concentrated; and (4) factors (dharmānupasyanā; P. dhammānupassanā), such as the five hindrances (NĪVARAnA), the five aggregates (SKANDHA), the seven factors of enlightenment (BODHYAnGA); the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, etc. The explanation of smṛtyupasthāna, as the first of the thirty-seven dharmas associated with enlightenment (bodhyanga) details the role of mindfulness in the eightfold noble path (ĀRYĀstĀnGAMĀRGA). See also SMṚTI; SATIPAttHĀNASUTTA.
socialism ::: An ideology with the core belief that a society should exist in which popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the means of production. Though the de facto meaning of socialism has changed over time, it remains strongly related to the establishment of an organized working class, created either through revolution or by social evolution, with the purpose of building a classless society. Socialism had its origins in the ideals of the Enlightenment, during the Industrial Age, amid yearnings for a more egalitarian society. Socialist ideologies have since become increasingly concentrated on social reforms within modern democracies.
*Sri Aurobindo: " . . . for what we inappropriately call revolution, is only a rapidly concentrated movement of evolution — a yet remote end which in the ordinary course of events could only be realised, if at all, in the far distant future.” The Human Cycle, etc.
Steam Any metal Concentrated Mana* Useful in the later biomes where steel is more present. Be careful, as this also applies to both powder gold and gold nuggets.
Such symbols as the cross, the svastika, and the serpent may serve as talismans, for a true symbol is more than a mere arbitrary sign and actually plays its part in the evocation of certain influences — but only when intense faith is conjoined in the production of magical effects. Talismans are utterly useless and foolish unless intense faith operates because all such talismanic emblems depend for their efficacy upon the faith of the possessor of them. When a person believes beyond any shadow of doubt and is thoroughly worked up in such conviction, his will power through such faith when concentrated upon a talisman or similar object can actually bring about the functioning of a potent creative power. This is the root of all genuinely magical operations; but the true magician has no need for such exoteric paraphernalia or adventitious aids. He produces his effects through the sole power of his will combined with his wide knowledge of nature and natural laws.
Sudentenland ::: A section of Bohemia and Moravia in which the German population of Czechoslovakia (Volksdeutsche) was concentrated. In 1938 it was transferred to Germany as a result of agreements reached at the Munich Conference. "Munich" became a symbol of "Appeasement" which meant in this context the pursuit of a short-range policy of conciliation to an aggressive tyrant.
Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra. (T. Bde ba can gyi bkod pa'i mdo; C. Wuliangshou jing; J. Muryojukyo; K. Muryangsu kyong 無量壽經). Literally, the "Sutra Displaying [the Land of] Bliss," the title of the two most important Mahāyāna sutras of the "PURE LAND" tradition. The two sutras differ in length, and thus are often referred to in English as the "larger" and "smaller" (or "longer" and "shorter") Sukhāvatīvyuhasutras; the shorter one is commonly called the AMITĀBHASuTRA. Both sutras are believed to date from the third century CE. The longer and shorter sutras, together with the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING (*Amitāyurdhyānasutra), constitute the three main texts associated with the pure land tradition of East Asia (see JINGTU SANBUJING). There are multiple Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan versions of both the longer and shorter sutras, with significant differences among them. ¶ The longer Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra begins with ĀNANDA noticing that the Buddha is looking especially serene one day, and so asks him the reason. The Buddha responds that he was thinking back many millions of eons in the past to the time of the buddha LOKEsVARARĀJA. The Buddha then tells a story in the form of a flashback. In the audience of this buddha was a monk named DHARMĀKARA, who approached Lokesvararāja and proclaimed his aspiration to become a buddha. Dharmākara then requested the Buddha to describe all of the qualities of the buddha-fields (BUDDHAKsETRA). Lokesvararāja provided a discourse that lasted one million years, describing each of the qualities of the lands of trillions of buddhas. Dharmākara then retired to meditate for five eons, seeking to concentrate all of the marvelous qualities of the millions of buddha-fields that had been described to him into a single pure buddha-field. When he completed his meditation, he returned to describe this imagined land to Lokesvararāja, promising to create a place of birth for fortunate beings and vowing that he would follow the bodhisattva path and become the buddha of this new buddha-field. He described the land he would create in a series of vows, stating that if this or that marvel was not present in his pure land, may he not become a buddha: e.g., "If in my pure land there are animals, ghosts, or hell denizens, may I not become a buddha." He made forty-eight such vows. These included the vow that all the beings in his pure land will be the color of gold; that beings in his pure land will have no conception of private property; that no bodhisattva will have to wash, dry, or sew his own robes; that bodhisattvas in his pure land will be able to hear the dharma in whatever form they wish to hear it and whenever they wish to hear it; that any woman who hears his name, creates the aspiration to enlightenment (BODHICITTA), and feels disgust at the female form, will not be reborn as a woman again. Two of these vows would become the focus of particular attention. In the eighteenth vow (seventeenth in the East Asian versions), Dharmākara vows that when he has become a buddha, he will appear at the moment of death to anyone who creates the aspiration to enlightenment, hears his name, and remembers him with faith. In the nineteenth vow (eighteenth in the East Asian versions), he promises that anyone who hears his name, wishes to be reborn in his pure land, and dedicates their merit to that end, will be reborn there, even if they make such a resolution as few as ten times during the course of their life. Only those who have committed one of the five inexpiable transgressions bringing immediate retribution (ĀNANTARYAKARMAN, viz., patricide, matricide, killing an ARHAT, wounding a buddha, or causing schism in the SAMGHA) are excluded. The scene then returns to the present. Ānanda asks the Buddha whether Dharmākara was successful, whether he did in fact traverse the long path of the bodhisattva to become a buddha. The Buddha replies that he did indeed succeed and that he became the buddha Amitābha (Infinite Light). The pure land that he created is called sukhāvatī. Because Dharmākara became a buddha, all of the things that he promised to create in his pure land have come true, and the Buddha proceeds to describe sukhāvatī in great detail. It is carpeted with lotuses made of seven precious substances, some of which reach ten leagues (YOJANA) in diameter. Each lotus emits millions of rays of light and from each ray of light there emerge millions of buddhas who travel to world systems in all directions to teach the dharma. The pure land is level, like the palm of one's hand, without mountains or oceans. It has great rivers, the waters of which rise as high or sink as low as one pleases, from the shoulders to the ankles, and vary in temperature as one pleases. The sound of the river takes the form of whatever auspicious words one wishes to hear, such as "buddha," "emptiness," "cessation," and "great compassion." The words "hindrance," "misfortune," and "pain" are never heard, nor are the words "day" and "night" used, except as metaphors. The beings in the pure land do not need to consume food. When they are hungry, they simply visualize whatever food they wish and their hunger is satisfied without needing to eat. They dwell in bejeweled palaces of their own design. Some of the inhabitants sit cross-legged on lotus blossoms while others are enclosed within the calyx of a lotus. The latter do not feel imprisoned, because the calyx of the lotus is quite large, containing within it a palace similar to that inhabited by the gods. Those who dedicate their merit toward rebirth in the pure land yet who harbor doubts are reborn inside lotuses where they must remain for five hundred years, enjoying visions of the pure land but deprived of the opportunity to hear the dharma. Those who are free from doubt are reborn immediately on open lotuses, with unlimited access to the dharma. Such rebirth would become a common goal of Buddhist practice, for monks and laity alike, in India, Tibet, and throughout East Asia. ¶ The "shorter" Sukhāvatīvyuhasutra was translated into Chinese by such famous figures as KUMĀRAJĪVA and XUANZANG. It is devoted largely to describing this buddha's land and its many wonders, including the fact that even the names for the realms of animals and the realms of hell-denizens are not known; all of the beings born there will achieve enlightenment in their next lifetime. In order to be reborn there, one should dedicate one's merit to that goal and bear in mind the name of the buddha here known as AMITĀYUS (Infinite Life). Those who are successful in doing so will see Amitāyus and a host of bodhisattvas before them at the moment of death, ready to escort them to sukhāvatī, the land of bliss. In order to demonstrate the efficacy of this practice, the Buddha goes on to list the names of many other buddhas abiding in the four cardinal directions, the nadir, and the zenith, who also praise the buddha-field of Amitāyus. Furthermore, those who hear the names of the buddhas that he has just recited will be embraced by those buddhas. Perhaps to indicate how his own buddha-field (that is, our world) differs from that of Amitāyus, sākyamuni Buddha concludes by conceding that it has been difficult to teach the dharma in a world as degenerate as ours.
sun ::: Sri Aurobindo: "The sun is the symbol of the concentrated light of Truth.” *Letters on Yoga
sun ::: “The sun is the symbol of the concentrated light of Truth.” Letters on Yoga
SUN. ::: The symbol of the concentrated light of Truth. Sun is the divine Truth-Light on whatever plane of Consciousness.
SUPERMIND (DESCENT). The process is a, spiritual evolutionary process, concentrated into a brief period. As we envisage it, it must manifest m a few first and then spread, but is not likely to overpower the earth in a moment.
Su: 'Unadornment', (p'u) 'unadorned simplicity'; (ching) 'quiescence' bespeaking all the complete absence of desires, but really meaning that the desires should be made fewer. (Lao Tzu) Seeking for the tao, emptiness, singleness, concentrated attention (tu), quiescence are all rules for man's conduct. (Hsun Tzu C355-C288 B.C.) -- H.H.
tale: A type of short story that is largely concentrated on action, rather thancharacterisation or atmosphere. Tales are generally oral, opposed to written. See oral literature.
TAPASYA. ::: When the will and energy are concentrated and used to control the mind, vital and physical and change them or bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic pur- pose or high purpose, that is called tapasya.
Tauler, Johannes: (1300-1361) was an outstanding German mystic and preacher. Born in Strassburg, he entered the Dominican Order and did his philosophical and theological studies at Cologne, where he was probably influenced by Eckhart. He was most interested in the ethical and religious aspects of mysticism, and, like Eckhart, he concentrated on an analytical intuition of his own consciousness in his endeavor to grasp the immanent reality of God. Die Predigten Taulers, ed. F. Vetter, (Berlin, 1910) is the most recent edition of his sermons. -- V.J.B.
The Academy continued as a school of philosophy until closed by Justinian in 529 A.D. The early scholars (Speusippus, Xenocrates, Polemo, Crates) were not great philosophers, they adopted a Pythagorean interpretation of the Ideas and concentrated on practical, moral problems. Following the Older Academy (347-247 B.C.), the Middle and New Academies (Arcesilaus and Carneades were the principal teachers) became scepticil and eclectic. Aristotle (384-322 B.C. ) studied with Plato for twenty years and embodied many Platonic views in his own philosophy. Platonism was very highly regarded by the Christian Fathers (Ambrose, Augustine, John Damascene and Anselm of Canterbury, for instance) and it continued as the approved philosophy of the Christian Church until the 12th century. From the 3rd century on, Neo-Platonism (see Plotinism) developed the other-worldly mystical side of Plato's thought. The School of Chartres (Bernard, Thierry, Wm. of Conches, Gilbert of Poitiers) in the 12th century was a center of Christian Platonism, interested chiefly in the cosmological theory of the Timaeus. The Renaissance witnessed a revival of Platonism in the Florentine Academy (Marsilio Ficino and the two Pico della Mirandolas). In England, the Cambridge Platonists (H. More, Th. Gale, J. Norris) in the 17th century started an interest in Plato, which has not yet died out in the English Universities. Today, the ethical writings of A. E. Taylor, the theoiy of essences developed by G. Santayana, and the metaphysics of A. N. Whitehead, most nearly approach a contemporary Platonism. -- V.J.B.
The analogy is seen in these streams of solar living fire stepped down into vital electricity on earth, and also in the psychic and astral-physical currents of lunar life which influence generation and all terrestrial growth. In chemical composition, the plasma or fluid part of the blood is said to be identical with that of primordial sea water, ocean water having since become more concentrated.
The nerves are distributed all over the body, but the vital- physical action is concentrated in its origin between the Mula- dhara and the centre Just above It.
::: "The silent mind is a result of yoga; the ordinary mind is never silent. . . . The thinkers and philosophers do not have the silent mind. It is the active mind they have; only, of course, they concentrate, so the common incoherent mentalising stops and the thoughts that rise or enter and shape themselves are coherently restricted to the subject or activity in hand. But that is quite a different matter from the whole mind falling silent.” Letters on Yoga
“The silent mind is a result of yoga; the ordinary mind is never silent. . . . The thinkers and philosophers do not have the silent mind. It is the active mind they have; only, of course, they concentrate, so the common incoherent mentalising stops and the thoughts that rise or enter and shape themselves are coherently restricted to the subject or activity in hand. But that is quite a different matter from the whole mind falling silent.” Letters on Yoga
— the state of samadhi that arises "when the mind has lost its outward consciousness . . . and goes inside itself"; this state has some resemblance to ordinary svapna or dream-consciousness, but is characterised not by dreams but by internal visions which are accurate "records of true and actual experiences". The mind in svapnasamadhi "is at work liberated from the immixture of the physical mentality" and "is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelligence of the more exalted planes of mind".
The sun is the symbol of the concentrated light of Truth. The sun is the Truth from above, in the last resort the supramental
The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power bom out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed In the heart and not constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally — the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken — precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only Create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our p^chical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can pro- duce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical place. ’
"The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power born out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed in the heart and not constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally — the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken — precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical plane.” The Upanishads
“The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power born out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed in the heart and not constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally—the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken—precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mental and vital atmosphere which result in effects, in actions and even in the production of material forms on the physical plane.” The Upanishads
“The theory of the Mantra is that it is a word of power born out of the secret depths of our being where it has been brooded upon by a deeper consciousness than the mental, framed in the heart and not constructed by the intellect, held in the mind, again concentrated on by the waking mental consciousness and then thrown out silently or vocally—the silent word is perhaps held to be more potent than the spoken—precisely for the work of creation. The Mantra can not only create new subjective states in ourselves, alter our psychical being, reveal knowledge and faculties we did not before possess, can not only produce similar results in other minds than that of the user, but can produce vibrations in the mentaland vital atmosphere which result ineffects, in actions and even in theproduction of material forms on the physical plane.” The Upanishads
The universal correspondences in nature, the interrelation of all things, imply that the most apparently casual and trivial events have of necessity connection with other events, so that the one can be interpreted by means of the other, provided only that the diviner knows the rules and has the insight and skill. Thus, in cartmancy, one deals the cards with a mind concentrated on the knowledge desired, and their fall is determined by these unseen and little understood influences. It is evident, however, that the condition and capacities of the diviner play an essential part in the success of the operation; hence the instructions as to fasting, continence, and the like, so often laid down as preliminaries.
thin ::: 1. Having relatively little extent from one surface or side to the opposite; not thick. 2. Lean or slender in form, build, or stature. 3. Lacking radiance or intensity. 4. Not dense or concentrated; sparse. 5. Lacking substance or significance. 6. Scant; not abundant or plentiful. 7. (of sound) lacking resonance or volume. 8. Rarefied, as air.
thinly ::: not dense or concentrated; sparse.
T’ien (Chinese) Heaven, the abode of the ancestors; when applied to the human being, spirit: “Wander to where the ten thousand things [the cosmos] both begin and end, unify your nature, foster your life-breath, concentrate your ‘power’ till it is one with the force that created all things after their kind — do this, and your t’ien (heaven) shall maintain its integrity” (Chuang Tzu, 19:2).
Tolman (1886 ?1959): an American psychologist who concentrated on learning (escape, latent, avoidance, approach and choice-point learning) in rats, most commonly in mazes.
Two opposite errors have to be avoided, two misconceptions that disfigure opposite sides of the truth of gnosis. One error of intellect-bounded thinkers takes vijnana as synonymous with the other Indian term buddhi and buddhi as synonymous with the reason, the discerning intellect, the logical intelligence. The systems that accept this significance, pass at once from a plane of pure intellect to a plane of pure spirit. No intermediate power is recognised, no diviner action of knowledge than the pure reason is admitted; the limited human means for fixing truth is taken for the highest possible dynamics of consciousness, its topmost force and original movement. An opposite error, a misconception of the mystics identifies vijnana with the consciousness of the Infinite free from all ideation or else ideation packed into one essence of thought, lost to other dynamic action in the single and invariable idea of the One. This is the caitanyaghana of the Upanishad and is one movement or rather one thread of the many-aspected movement of the gnosis. The gnosis, the Vijnana, is not only this concentrated consciousness of the infinite Essence; it is also and at the same time an infinite knowledge of the myriad play of the Infinite. It contains all ideation (not mental but supramental), but it is not limited by ideation, for it far exceeds all ideative movement.
Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 476-77
vanara ::: ape; "man with the Ape nature"; the second of the ten vanara types of consciousness (dasa-gavas) in the evolutionary scale: mind concentrated on the pran.a.
We live in a common mental atmosphere, taking in and giving out thoughts and feelings, which must often pass from mind to mind, though we may not be aware of the fact. The undoubted fact of our having separate minds does not mean that these minds are closed systems, and not mutually penetrable. The experiments which are made to prove thought transference defeat their object to a great extent, because the mind of the transmitter is not concentrated on the idea to be transmitted, so much as on the idea that he is trying to transfer it. The most conclusive proofs, and curiously enough the most common, are unpremeditated, and actually are daily occurrences.
Will power is a mighty, colorless force or energy which can be set in motion by one who has the power and knowledge to do so. In India, in combination with abstract desire, it is mentioned as one of six primary powers (ichchhasakti) by which the adept accomplishes many of his wonders. “The ancients held that any idea will manifest itself externally, if one’s attention (and Will) is deeply concentrated upon it; similarly, an intense volition will be followed by the desired result . . . For creation is but the result of will acting on phenomenal matter, the calling forth out of the primordial divine Light and eternal Life “(SD 2:173). The occult power of will explains many scientific problems of animate and inanimate matter. In human beings, it may consciously and unconsciously act upon other human wills and upon that of beasts; likewise, it may act upon physical and astral substance to produce various phenomena such as levitation, fire-walking, birthmarks, etc. “Paracelsus teaches that ‘determined will is the beginning of all magical operations. It is because men do not perfectly imagine and believe the result, that the (occult) arts are so uncertain, while they might be perfectly certain’ ” (TG 370).
wirehead "jargon" /wi:r'hed/ (Probably from SF slang for an electrical brain-stimulation addict) 1. A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on communications hardware. 2. An expert in {local-area networks}. A wirehead can be a network software wizard too, but will always have the ability to deal with network hardware, down to the smallest component. Wireheads are known for their ability to lash up an {Ethernet} {terminator} from spare resistors, for example. [{Jargon File}] (1995-02-28)
wirehead ::: (jargon) /wi:r'hed/ (Probably from SF slang for an electrical brain-stimulation addict) 1. A hardware hacker, especially one who concentrates on communications hardware.2. An expert in local-area networks. A wirehead can be a network software wizard too, but will always have the ability to deal with network hardware, down to the smallest component. Wireheads are known for their ability to lash up an Ethernet terminator from spare resistors, for example.[Jargon File] (1995-02-28)
yantra. ::: objects for ritualistic worship; geometrical designs of the energy patterns made by mantras when they are recited or which, when concentrated on produce the effects of the corresponding mantras
Yoga. This is usually done by those who want to make a clean cut, to live a purely religious or exclusively inner and spiritual life, to renounce the world entirely and to depart from the cosmic existence by cessation of the human birth and passing away into some higher stale or into (he transcendental Reality. Otherwise, it is only necessary when the pressure of the inner urge becomes so great that the pursuit of the ordinary life is no longer compa- tible with the pursuit of the dominant spiritual objective. Till then what is necessary is a power to practise an inner isolation, to be able to retire within oneself and concentrate at any time on the necessary spiritual purpose. There must also be a power to deal with the ordinary outer life from a new inner attitude and one can then make the happenings of that life itself a means for the inner change of nature and the growth m spiritual experience.
Zen. (禪). In Japanese, "Meditation"; the Japanese strand of the broader East Asian CHAN school, which includes Chinese Chan, Korean SoN, and Vietnamese THIỀN. Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term Chan, which in turn is a transcription of the Sanskrit term DHYĀNA, or meditative absorption. More specifically, Zen denotes the Japanese Buddhist traditions that trace their origins back to the Chinese Chan school, or CHAN ZONG. Currently three major traditions in Japan, RINZAISHu, SoToSHu, and oBAKUSHu, refer to themselves as Zen schools, and are thus known collectively as the Zen tradition (J. ZENSHu; C. CHAN ZONG). The Rinzaishu was first transmitted to Japan in the late twelfth century by MYoAN EISAI (1141-1215), who visited China twice and received training and certification in the Chinese LINJI ZONG. By the end of the Kamakura period, some twenty-one different Rinzai lineages had been transmitted to Japan. The Rinzai school came to be associated with the meditative practice of contemplating Zen "cases" (J. koan; C. GONG'AN; see also J. kanna Zen; C. KANHUA CHAN). The foundation of the Sotoshu is attributed to DoGEN KIGEN (1200-1253), who is credited with transmitting the CAODONG ZONG of the Chinese CHAN teacher TIANTONG RUJING (1162-1227). Dogen is said to have taught the technique of "just sitting" (SHIKAN TAZA), through which the mind would become stabilized and concentrated in a state of full clarity and alertness, free from any specific content. During the Tokugawa period, the Soto school developed into one of the largest Buddhist sects in Japan through the mandatory parish system (DANKA SEIDO), in which every household was required to register as a member of a local Buddhist temple. By the middle of the eighteenth century, there were more than 17,500 Soto temples across the country. The obakushu was founded by the émigré Chinese CHAN master YINYUAN LONGXI (J. Ingen Ryuki; 1592-1673), who traveled to Japan in 1654/1655 to escape the succession wars and political turmoil that had accompanied the fall of the Ming dynasty. The obaku school introduced exotic contemporary Chinese customs and monastic practices to the Japanese Zen Buddhism of the time. Although it remained much smaller than the Rinzai and Soto Zen traditions, the presence of the obaku school compelled the monks of its two larger rivals to reevaluate their own practices and to initiate a series of important reform movements within their respective traditions (see IN'IN EKISHI). In the modern era, largely through the efforts of such towering intellectual figures as DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI (1870-1966), NISHIDA KITARo (1870-1945), and NISHITANI KEIJI (1900-1991), the term Zen has also come to connote a "pure experience" (junsui keiken) that transcends language and thought, which is sometimes argued to be the unique property of the Japanese people and their culture (cf. KYOTO SCHOOL). The cavalier way in which the term Zen is now deployed in generic Western writings (e.g., the myriad "Zen in the Art of" books) often has little to do with the traditional perspectives of the Zen tradition found in either Japan or the rest of East Asia. As in the case of Chan, in more common parlance, Zen can also denote the particular teaching style of a Zen master and is often expressed as "so-and-so's Zen." See also entries on the SoToSHu, RINZAISHu, and oBAKUSHu and on specific Japanese Zen masters and monasteries.
KEYS (10k)
17 Sri Aurobindo
15 The Mother
4 SWAMI SUBODHANANDA
4 Sri Ramana Maharshi
4 Sri Ramakrishna
2 Vivekananda
2 Sri Sarada Devi
2 Sri Ramana Maharshi
2 Swami Vivekananda
1 The Mother
1 SWAMI VIRESWARANANDA
1 Swami Subodhananda
1 SATM?
1 Samuel Johnson
1 Saint Gregory the Great
1 Ramana Maharshi: Yes
1 Peter J Carroll
1 Nolini Kanta Gupta
1 Noam Chomsky
1 Nikola Tesla
1 Masaaki Hatsumi
1 Karma-glin-pa
1 Josef Pieper
1 Haruki Murakami
1 Donald Knuth
1 Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
1 Dian Fossey
1 Buddhist Texts
1 Buddhist Sayings from the Chinese
1 Buddhist Maxims
1 Buddha
1 Bhagavad Gita
1 Anonymous
1 Alfred North Whitehead
1 Alexander Graham Bell
1 Saint Teresa of Avila
1 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
NEW FULL DB (2.4M)
29 Paulo Coelho
20 Anonymous
17 The Mother
13 Swami Vivekananda
12 Sri Aurobindo
12 Mehmet Murat ildan
8 Sun Tzu
8 Rick Riordan
8 Noam Chomsky
8 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
8 Kurt Vonnegut
8 Erich Fromm
7 Steven Pressfield
7 Haruki Murakami
7 Brian Tracy
6 Sarah Young
6 Ralph Waldo Emerson
5 Thomas Sowell
5 Sri Ramana Maharshi
5 Samuel Johnson
1:If you cannot concentrate, you are not so happy.
~ Haruki Murakami,#KEYS
2:Let the past be past.
Concentrate only on the Eternal.
Blessings ~ The Mother,#KEYS
3:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Buddha, #KEYS
4:Concentrate on the Seer, not on the seen. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Face to Face, 197, [T5], #KEYS
5:Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~ Alexander Graham Bell, #KEYS
6:When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future." ~ Dian Fossey, #KEYS
7:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #KEYS
8:Concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
9:The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. ~ Nikola Tesla, #KEYS
10:To start, one should choose lonely places in which to concentrate the mind; otherwise, many things may distract the meditation. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
11:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race.
~ Alfred North Whitehead,#KEYS
12:Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T1],#KEYS
13:To philosophize means… to concentrate our gaze upon the totality of encountered phenomena and methodically to investigate the coherency of them all and the ultimate meaning of the Whole.... ~ Josef Pieper, Guide to Thomas Aquinas, #KEYS
14:Everything seems to me to pass so quickly that we must concentrate on how to die rather than on how to live. How sweet it is to die if one has lived on the Cross with Christ. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #KEYS
15:What good is there in reading a whole lot of scriptures? What good is there in the study of philosophy? What is the use of talking big? At the beginning one should concentrate on God with form. ~ Sri Ramakrishna, #KEYS
16:Aspire for your will to be one with the Divine will, concentrate in the heart and be plastic to whatever experience comes, neither forcing nor resisting any spiritual experience
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - I,#KEYS
17:And when no subject is given, is it enough to concentrate on your Presence in the heart-centre? Should we avoid a formulated prayer?
Yes, concentration on the Presence is enough.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
18:Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs. Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do. ~ Donald Knuth, #KEYS
19:D.: When I concentrate, all sorts of thoughts arise and disturb me. ~ Ramana Maharshi: Yes, that will happen. All that is inside will try to come out. There is no other way except to pull the mind up each time it wants to go astray and fix it in the Self., #KEYS
20:If we wanted to lift our mind up towards God, we must have to bring it back from all external things and concentrate it at one point. But how to concentrate the scattered mind? This can be effected by faith in God or in one's own Guru. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
21:My mind is sundered and torn to pieces by the many and serious things I have to think about. When I try to concentrate and gather all my intellectual resources for preaching, how can I do justice to the sacred ministry of the word? ~ Saint Gregory the Great, #KEYS
22:You have asked us to help You. How can I help You? What am I to do?
To concentrate and open to receive the new progressive consciousness, to receive the new things which are coming down.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#KEYS
23:How to concentrate the scattered mind? the mind which has been distributed to wife and children, to the attainment of name and fame and to the pursuit of all sorts of sensual pleasures? This can be effected by faith in God or in one's own Guru. ~ SWAMI SUBODHANANDA, #KEYS
24:The Self is the one reality that always exists and it is by its light all other things are seen. We forget it and concentrate on the appearances. We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the light that we pay no attention to the light. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
25:In the waking state or dream state, in which things appear, and in the sleep state, in which we see nothing, there is always the light of consciousness or Self. Concentrate on the Seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #KEYS
26:The more you are preoccupied by your own physical aging, the more anxious you will become. Do not worry so much about your physical appearance. Concentrate, rather, on not wasting your life. Practise the Dharma. The more you engage in it, the more your satisfaction will grow. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #KEYS
27:I have said that we are always with you and it is true, but to feel it you must draw back from your vital and be able to concentrate in your inner being. If you do that faithfully and sincerely, after a time you will feel the connection and the support.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
28:When you want to think and find a solution, instead of following the deductions of thought, you stop everything and try to concentrate and concentrate, intensify the point of the problem. You stop everything and wait until, by the intensity of the concentration, you obtain an answer. ~ The Mother, #KEYS
29:To do yoga, one of the most important things to achieve is to get rid of all attachment to the past. Let the past be past and concentrate only on the progress you want to make and the surrender to the Divine you have to achieve. My blessings and help are always with you. With love. 10 January 1967 ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III, #KEYS
30:My dear child, I carry you always in my arms, pressed close to my heart, and I have no doubt that you will become aware of it if you forget the world and concentrate on me. By turning your thoughts towards me you will feel closer and closer to me and peace will come to dwell in your heart. Love. 25 May 1934
~ The Mother, On Education, [T0],#KEYS
31:(1) Offer yourself more and more - all the consciousness, all that happens in it, all your work and action.
(2) If you have faults and weaknesses, hold them up before the Divine to be changed or abolished.
(3) Try to do what I told you, concentrate in the heart till you constantly feel the Presence there. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
32:First of all, each one has a soul, and secondly, we have the luminously strong sup port of the Mother. It is the nature of the Divine that even if you don't think of Him He thinks of you. It is true, very true; because you are part of the Divine. Only you have to concentrate consciously on that part, that portion; then gradually it will increase. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta, To Read Sri Aurobindo, #KEYS
33:D.: how to meditate?
M.: Concentrate on that one whom you like best. If a single thought prevails, all other thoughts are put off and finally eradicated. So long as diversity prevails there are bad thoughts. When the object of love prevails only good thoughts hold the field. Therefore hold on to one thought only. Dhyana is the chief practice. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks,#KEYS
34:When you give us a subject for meditation, what should we do about it? Keep thinking of it?
Keep your thought focused upon it in a concentrated way.
And when no subject is given, is it enough to concentrate on your Presence in the heart-centre? Should we avoid a formulated prayer?
Yes, concentration on the Presence is enough.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#KEYS
35:The force of attention properly guided and directed towards the inner life allows us to analyse our soul and will shed light on many things. The forces of the mind resemble scattered rays; concentrate them and they illumine everything. That is the sole source of knowledge we possess. To conquer this knowledge there is only one method, concentration. ~ Vivekananda, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
36:There is no harm in concentrating sometimes in the heart and sometimes above the head. But concentration in either place does not mean keeping the attention fixed on a particular spot; you have to take your station of consciousness in either place and concentrate there not on the place, but on the Divine. This can be done with eyes shut or with eyes open, according as it best suits you. [how to concentrate?]
~ SATM?,#KEYS
37:When coming out of sleep you must keep quiet for a few moments and consecrate the coming day to the Divine, praying to remember Him always and in all circumstances.
Before going to sleep you must concentrate for a few minutes, look into the day that has passed, remember when and where you have forgotten the Divine, and pray that such forgettings should not happen again. 31 August 1953
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#KEYS
38:Meditation means thinking on one subject in a concentrated way. In concentration proper there is not a series of thoughts, but the mind is silently fixed on one object, name, idea, place etc. There are other kinds of concentration, e.g. concentrating the whole consciousness in one place, as between the eyebrows, in the heart, etc. One can also concentrate to get rid of thought altogether and remain in a complete silence.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
39:Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range.
For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.
God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human,#KEYS
40:It's important to make an effort under any circumstance - stagnant, sickness, being in an unstable lifestyle, even when society is insane. You should consider such periods as an omen before you move. When you are stuck on something, it is important to hold to your purpose but not press onward against the current. When you can't move at all, try to concentrate, continuing forward as if in a boat switching to a stronger motor. The keiko that is most important when you cannot move is kage no keiko [shadow training]. ~ Masaaki Hatsumi, #KEYS
41:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN INVOCATION
Invocation is a three stage process. Firstly the magician consciously identifies with what is traditionally called a god-form, secondly he enters gnosis and thirdly the magicians subconsciousness manifests the powers of the god-form. A successful invocation means nothing less than full "possession" by the god-form. With practice the first stage of conscious identification can be abbreviated greatly to the point where it may only be necessary to concentrate momentarily on a well used god-form. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,#KEYS
42:When the disciple regarding his ideas sees appear in him bad and unwholesome thoughts, thoughts of covetousness, hatred, error, he should either turn his mind from them and concentrate on a healthy idea, or examine the fatal nature of the thought, or else he should analyse it and decompose it into its different elements, or calling up all his strength and applying the greatest energy suppress it from his mind: so bad and unwholesome thoughts withdraw and disappear, and the mind becomes firm, calm, unified, vigorous. ~ Buddhist Maxims, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
43:... What you should do, is always to reject the lower experiences and concentrate on a fixed and quiet aspiration towards the one thing needed, the Light, the Calm, the Peace, the Devotion that you felt for two or three days. It is because you get interested in the lower vital experiences and in observing and thinking about them that they take hold, and then comes the absence of the Contact and the confusion. You have surely had enough of this kind of experience already and should make up your mind to steadily reject it when it comes.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
44:When the disciple considering an idea sees rise in him bad or unhealthy thoughts, thoughts of covetousness, hatred or error, he should either turn his mind away from that idea or concentrate it upon a healthy thought, or else examine the fatal nature of the idea, or analyse it and decompose it into its different elements, or, making appeal to all his strength and applying the greatest energy, suppress it from his mind; thus are removed and disappear these bad and unhealthy ideas and the mind becomes firm, calm, unified, full of vigour. ~ Mahayana; the Book of the Faith, the Eternal Wisdom #KEYS
45:There is no method in this Yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eyebrows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one's own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother's Power and Presence.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
46:When we are concentrated in mental movements or intellectual pursuits, why do we sometimes forget or lose touch with the Divine?
You lose it because your consciousness is still divided. The Divine has not settled in your mind; you are not wholly consecrated to the Divine Life. Otherwise you could concentrate to any extent upon such things and still you would have the sense of being helped and supported by the Divine. In all pursuits, intellectual or active, your one motto should be, Remember and Offer. Let whatever you do be done as an offering to the Divine. And this too will be an excellent discipline for you; it will prevent you from doing many foolish and useless things.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, [T0],#KEYS
47:My child, if you can concentrate deeply into my eyes, then you will get all that you want to know, all that you want to comprehend, all that you want to realise, just by an intense concentration, just by the power of your will which expresses itself through your eyes.
You can have all that you aspire for, all that you need. You can see the whole world in my eyes: the whole universe unfolds in my eyes, all that is beautiful in nature as well as in the heavens. And you will not need to go here and there looking for the so-called attractions and revelations of this world. All is in me, and all expresses itself through me. Take the trouble to find me there (Mother points to the heart) and you will see everything, everything through my eyes. Voilà! ~ The Mother,#KEYS
48:Please initiate me into a tangible form of Yoga. I make this assurance that I shall follow your instructions to the very letter and refer to you my doubts and difficulties on the way.
There is no method in this Yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eyebrows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one's own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother's Power and Presence. 30 November 1934 ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother,#KEYS
49:there is a special personal tie between you and me, between all who have turned to the teaching of Sri Aurobindo and myself, - and, it is well understood, distance does not count here, you may be in France, you may be at the other end of the world or in Pondicherry, this tie is always true and living. And each time there comes a call, each time there is a need for me to know so that I may send out a force, an inspiration, a protection or any other thing, a sort of message comes to me all of a sudden and I do the needful. These communications reach me evidently at any moment, and you must have seen me more than once stop suddenly in the middle of a sentence or work; it is because something comes to me, a communication and I concentrate. With those whom I have accepted as disciples, to whom I have said Yes, there is more than a tie, there is an emanation of me. This emanation warns me whenever it is necessary and tells me what is happening. Indeed I receive intimations constantly
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother I,#KEYS
50:But a time will come when you will feel more and more that you are the instrument and not the worker. For first by the force of your devotion your contact with the Divine Mother will become so intimate that at all times you will have only to concentrate and to put everything into her hands to have her present guidance, her direct command or impulse, the sure indication of the thing to be done and the way to do it and the result. And afterwards you will realise that the divine Shakti not only inspires and guides, but initiates and carries out your works; all your movements are originated by her, all your powers are hers, mind, life and body are conscious and joyful instruments of her action, means for her play, moulds for her manifestation in the physical universe. There can be no more happy condition than this union and dependence; for this step carries you back beyond the border-line from the life of stress and suffering in the ignorance into the truth of your spiritual being, into its deep peace and its intense Ananda. ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, 12, #KEYS
51:It is necessary to observe and know the wrong movements in you; for they are the source of your trouble and have to be persistently rejected if you are to be free.
But do not be always thinking of your defects and wrong movements. Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
To be always observing faults and wrong movements brings depression and discourages the faith. Turn your eyes more to the coming Light and less to any immediate darkness. Faith, cheerfulness, confidence in the ultimate victory are the things that help, - they make the progress easier and swifter. Make more of the good experiences that come to you; one experience of the kind is more important than the lapses and failures. When it ceases, do not repine or allow yourself to be discouraged, but be quiet within and aspire for its renewal in a stronger form leading to still deeper and fuller experience. Aspire always, but with more quietude, opening yourself to the Divine simply and wholly. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#KEYS
52:It is always better to try to concentrate in a centre, the centre of aspiration, one might say, the place where the flame of aspiration burns, to gather in all the energies there, at the solar plexus centre and, if possible, to obtain an attentive silence as though one wanted to listen to something extremely subtle, something that demands a complete attention, a complete concentration and a total silence. And then not to move at all. Not to think, not to stir, and make that movement of opening so as to receive all that can be received, but taking good care not to try to know what is happening while it is happening, for it one wants to understand or even to observe actively, it keeps up a sort of cerebral activity which is unfavourable to the fullness of the receptivity - to be silent, as totally silent as possible, in an attentive concentration, and then be still. If one succeeds in this, then, when everything is over, when one comes out of meditation, some time later - usually not immediately - from within the being something new emerges in the consciousness: a new understanding, a new appreciation of things, a new attitude in life - in short, a new way of being.
~ Sri Aurobindo, [where to concentrate?],#KEYS
53:
Sweet Mother, Is it possible to have control over oneself during sleep? For example, if I want to see you in my dreams, can I do it at will?
Control during sleep is entirely possible and it is progressive if you persist in the effort. You begin by remembering your dreams, then gradually you remain more and more conscious during your sleep, and not only can you control your dreams but you can guide and organise your activities during sleep.
If you persist in your will and your effort, you are sure to learn how to come and find me at night during your sleep and afterwards to remember what has happened.
For this, two things are necessary, which you must develop by aspiration and by calm and persistent effort.
(1) Concentrate your thought on the will to come and find me; then pursue this thought, first by an effort of imagination, afterwards in a tangible and increasingly real way, until you are in my presence.
(2) Establish a sort of bridge between the waking and the sleeping consciousness, so that when you wake up you remember what has happened.
It may be that you succeed immediately, but more often it takes a certain time and you must persist in the effort. 25 September 1959
~ The Mother, Some Answers From The Mother, 226,#KEYS
54:the first necessity; :::
The first necessity is to dissolve that central faith and vision in the mind which concentrate it on its development and satisfaction and interests in the old externalised order of things. It is imperative to exchange this surface orientation for the deeper faith and vision which see only the Divine and seek only after the Divine. The next need is to compel all our lower being to pay homage to this new faith and greater vision. All our nature must make an integral surrender; it must offer itself in every part and every movement to that which seems to the unregenerated sensemind so much less real than the material world and its objects. Our whole being - soul, mind, sense, heart, will, life, body - must consecrate all its energies so entirely and in such a way that it shall become a fit vehicle for the Divine. This is no easy task; for everything in the world follows the fixed habit which is to it a law and resists a radical change. And no change can be more radical than the revolution attempted in the integral Yoga. Everything in us has constantly to be called back to the central faith and will and vision. Every thought and impulse has to be reminded in the language of the Upanishad that That is the divine Brahman and not this which men here adore. Every vital fibre has to be persuaded to accept an entire renunciation of all that hitherto represented to it its own existence.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration, 72,#KEYS
55:It is, then, in the highest mind of thought and light and will or it is in the inner heart of deepest feeling and emotion that we must first centre our consciousness, -in either of them or, if we are capable, in both together,- and use that as our leverage to lift the nature wholly towards the Divine. The concentration of an enlightened thought, will and heart turned in unison towards one vast goal of our knowledge, one luminous and infinite source of our action, one imperishable object of our emotion is the starting-point of the Yoga. And the object of our seeking must be the very fount of the Light which is growing in us, the very origin of the Force which we are calling to move our members. our one objective must be the Divine himself to whom, knowingly or unknowingly, something always aspires in our secret nature. There must be a large, many-sided yet single concentration of the thought on the idea, the perception, the vision, the awakening touch, the souls realisation of the one Divine. There must be a flaming concentration of the heart on the All and Eternal -and, when once we have found him, a deep plunging and immersion in the possession and ecstasy of the All-Beautiful. There must be a strong and immovable concentration of the will on the attainment and fulfilment of all that the Divine is and a free and plastic opening of it to all that he intends to manifest in us. This is the triple way of the Yoga.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Divine Works, Self-Consecration, 80 [where to concentrate?],#KEYS
56:Concentrating the Attention:
Whatever you may want to do in life, one thing is absolutely indispensable and at the basis of everything, the capacity of concentrating the attention. If you are able to gather together the rays of attention and consciousness on one point and can maintain the concentration with a presistent will, nothing can resist it - whatever it may be, from the most material physical development to the highest spiritual one. But this discipline must be followed in a constant and, it may be said, imperturbable way; not that you should always be concentrated on the same thing - thats not what I mean, I mean learning to concentrate. And materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensble. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention. And from the spiritual point of view it is still more important. There is no spiritual obstacle which can resist a penetrating power of concentration. For instance, the discovery of the psychic being, union with the inner Divine, opening to the higher spheres, all can be obtained by an intense and obstinate power of concentration - but one must learn how to do it. There is nothing in the human or even in the superhuman field, to which the power of concentration is not the key. You can be the best athlete, you can be the best student, you can be an artistic, literary or scientific genius, you can be the greatest saint with that faculty. And everyone has in himself a tiny little beginning of it - it is given to everybody, but people do not cultivate it.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958,#KEYS
57:Sweet Mother, how can we cut the knot of the ego?
How to cut it? Take a sword and strike it (laughter), when one becomes conscious of it. For usually one is not; we think it quite normal, what happens to us; and in fact it is very normal but we think it quite good also.So to begin with one must have a great clear-sightedness to become aware that one is enclosed in all these knots which hold one in bondage. And then, when one is aware that there's something altogether tightly closed in there - so tightly that one has tried in vain to move it - then one imagines one's will to be a very sharp sword-blade, and with all one's force one strikes a blow on this knot (imaginary, of course, one doesn't take up a sword in fact), and this produces a result. Of course you can do this work from the psychological point of view, discovering all the elements constituting this knot, the whole set of resistances, habits, preferences, of all that holds you narrowly closed in. So when you grow aware of this, you can concentrate and call the divine Force and the Grace and strike a good blow on this formation, these things so closely held, like that, that nothing can separate them. And at that moment you must resolve that you will no longer listen to these things, that you will listen only to the divine Consciousness and will do no other work except the divine work without worrying about personal results, free from all attachment, free from all preference, free from all wish for success, power, satisfaction, vanity, all this.... All this must disappear and you must see only the divine Will incarnated in your will and making you act. Then, in this way, you are cured.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1954,#KEYS
58:Sweet Mother, how can we cut the knot of the ego?
How to cut it? Take a sword and strike it (laughter), when one becomes conscious of it. For usually one is not; we think it quite normal, what happens to us; and in fact it is very normal but we think it quite good also.So to begin with one must have a great clear-sightedness to become aware that one is enclosed in all these knots which hold one in bondage. And then, when one is aware that there's something altogether tightly closed in there - so tightly that one has tried in vain to move it - then one imagines one's will to be a very sharp sword-blade, and with all one's force one strikes a blow on this knot (imaginary, of course, one doesn't take up a sword in fact), and this produces a result. Of course you can do this work from the psychological point of view, discovering all the elements constituting this knot, the whole set of resistances, habits, preferences, of all that holds you narrowly closed in. So when you grow aware of this, you can concentrate and call the divine Force and the Grace and strike a good blow on this formation, these things so closely held, like that, that nothing can separate them. And at that moment you must resolve that you will no longer listen to these things, that you will listen only to the divine Consciousness and will do no other work except the divine work without worrying about personal results, free from all attachment, free from all preference, free from all wish for success, power, satisfaction, vanity, all this.... All this must disappear and you must see only the divine Will incarnated in your will and making you act. Then, in this way, you are cured.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1954,#KEYS
59:One can concentrate in any of the three centres which is easiest to the sadhak or gives most result. The power of the concentration in the heart-centre is to open that centre and by the power of aspiration, love, bhakti, surrender remove the veil which covers and conceals the soul and bring forward the soul or psychic being to govern the mind, life and body and turn and open them all-fully-to the Divine, removing all that is opposed to that turning and opening.
This is what is called in this Yoga the psychic transformation. The power of concentration above the head is to bring peace, silence, liberation from the body sense, the identification with mind and life and open the way for the lower (mental vital-physical) consciousness to rise up to meet the higher Consciousness above and for the powers of the higher (spiritual or divine) Consciousness to descend into mind, life and body. This is what is called in this Yoga the spiritual transformation. If one begins with this movement, then the Power from above has in its descent to open all the centres (including the lowest centre) and to bring out the psychic being; for until that is done there is likely to be much difficulty and struggle of the lower consciousness obstructing, mixing with or even refusing the Divine Action from above. If the psychic being is once active this struggle and these difficulties can be greatly minimised. The power of concentration in the eyebrows is to open the centre there, liberate the inner mind and vision and the inner or Yogic consciousness and its experiences and powers. From here also one can open upwards and act also in the lower centres; but the danger of this process is that one may get shut up in one's mental spiritual formations and not come out of them into the free and integral spiritual experience and knowledge and integral change of the being and nature.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [where to concentrate?],#KEYS
60:The capacity for visions, when it is sincere and spontaneous, can put you in touch with events which you are not capable of knowing in your outer consciousness.... There is a very interesting fact, it is that somewhere in the terrestrial mind, somewhere in the terrestrial vital, somewhere in the subtle physical, one can find an exact, perfect, automatic recording of everything that happens. It is the most formidable memory one could imagine, which misses nothing, forgets nothing, records all. And if you are able to enter into it, you can go backward, you can go forward, and in all directions, and you will have the "memory" of all things - not only of things of the past, but of things to come. For everything is recorded there.
In the mental world, for instance, there is a domain of the physical mind which is related to physical things and keeps the memory of physical happenings upon earth. It is as though you were entering into innumerable vaults, one following another indefinitely, and these vaults are filled with small pigeon-holes, one above another, one above another, with tiny doors. Then if you want to know something and if you are conscious, you look, and you see something like a small point - a shining point; you find that this is what you wish to know and you have only to concentrate there and it opens; and when it opens, there is a sort of an unrolling of something like extremely subtle manuscripts, but if your concentration is sufficiently strong you begin to read as though from a book. And you have the whole story in all its details. There are thousands of these little holes, you know; when you go for a walk there, it is as though you were walking in infinity. And in this way you can find the exact facts about whatever you want to know. But I must tell you that what you find is never what has been reported in history - histories are always planned out; I have never come across a single "historical" fact which is like history.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951, 109 [T7],#KEYS
61:I know some individuals who make this their daily practice: starting at the beginning and reading a canto or half a canto every day till they reach the end and then starting at the beginning again, and in that way they have gone through the whole of Savitri many times. When this is done in groups there's really no doubt that by this going through the whole soundbody of the epic from beginning to end aloud, there must be built up a very strong force field of vibrations. It is definitely of benefit to the people who participate in it. But again I would say that the effect or benefit of this sacrifice will be richer to the extent that the reading is done with understanding and above all with soul surrender. It shouldn't become a mere ritual.
Sri Aurobindo's mantric lines, repeated one after the other, will always have their power; but the power will be much greater if the mind can participate, and the will and the heart.
I have also heard of some groups who select one line that seems to have a particular mantric power and then within the group they chant that line many, many times. They concentrate on that one special line, and try to take its vibrations deep into themselves. Again I am sure that this is very beneficial to those who practice it.
In that way the words enter very deeply into the consciousness. There they resonate and do their work, and perhaps not just the surface meaning but the deeper meaning and the deeper vibrations may reveal their full depth to those who undertake this exercise if it is done with self-dedication, with a true aspiration to internalise the heart of the meaning, not just as a mere repetition.
At another end of the spectrum of possible approaches to Savitri, we can say there would be the aesthetic approach, the approach of enjoying it for its poetic beauty. I met a gentleman a couple of months ago, who told me, "We have faith in Sri Aurobindo, but it is so difficult to understand his books. We tried with The Life Divine, we tried with The Synthesis of Yoga but we found them so difficult. ~ collab summer & fall 2011,#KEYS
62:How often there is a kind of emptiness in the course of life, an unoccupied moment, a few minutes, sometimes more. And what do you do? Immediately you try to distract yourself, and you invent some foolishness or other to pass your time. That is a common fact. All men, from the youngest to the oldest, spend most of their time in trying not to be bored. Their pet aversion is boredom and the way to escape from boredom is to act foolishly.
Well, there is a better way than that - to remember.
When you have a little time, whether it is one hour or a few minutes, tell yourself, "At last, I have some time to concentrate, to collect myself, to relive the purpose of my life, to offer myself to the True and the Eternal." If you took care to do this each time you are not harassed by outer circumstances, you would find out that you were advancing very quickly on the path. Instead of wasting your time in chattering, in doing useless things, reading things that lower the consciousness - to choose only the best cases, I am not speaking of other imbecilities which are much more serious - instead of trying to make yourself giddy, to make time, that is already so short, still shorter only to realise at the end of your life that you have lost three-quarters of your chance - then you want to put in double time, but that does not work - it is better to be moderate, balanced, patient, quiet, but never to lose an opportunity that is given to you, that is to say, to utilise for the true purpose the unoccupied moment before you.
When you have nothing to do, you become restless, you run about, you meet friends, you take a walk, to speak only of the best; I am not referring to things that are obviously not to be done. Instead of that, sit down quietly before the sky, before the sea or under trees, whatever is possible (here you have all of them) and try to realise one of these things - to understand why you live, to learn how you must live, to ponder over what you want to do and what should be done, what is the best way of escaping from the ignorance and falsehood and pain in which you live. 16 May 1958
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931,#KEYS
63:What is the difference between meditation and concentration?
Meditation is a purely mental activity, it interests only the mental being. One can concentrate while meditating but this is a mental concentration; one can get a silence but it is a purely mental silence, and the other parts of the being are kept immobile and inactive so as not to disturb the meditation. You may pass twenty hours of the day in meditation and for the remaining four hours you will be an altogether ordinary man because only the mind has been occupied-the rest of the being, the vital and the physical, is kept under pressure so that it may not disturb. In meditation nothing is directly done for the other parts of the being.
Certainly this indirect action can have an effect, but... I have known in my life people whose capacity for meditation was remarkable but who, when not in meditation, were quite ordinary men, even at times ill-natured people, who would become furious if their meditation was disturbed. For they had learnt to master only their mind, not the rest of their being.
Concentration is a more active state. You may concentrate mentally, you may concentrate vitally, psychically, physically, and you may concentrate integrally. Concentration or the capacity to gather oneself at one point is more difficult than meditation. You may gather together one portion of your being or consciousness or you may gather together the whole of your consciousness or even fragments of it, that is, the concentration may be partial, total or integral, and in each case the result will be different.
If you have the capacity to concentrate, your meditation will be more interesting and easieR But one can meditate without concentrating. Many follow a chain of ideas in their meditation - it is meditation, not concentration.
Is it possible to distinguish the moment when one attains perfect concentration from the moment when, starting from this concentration, one opens oneself to the universal Energy?
Yes. You concentrate on something or simply you gather yourself together as much as is possible for you and when you attain a kind of perfection in concentration, if you can sustain this perfection for a sufficiently long time, then a door opens and you pass beyond the limit of your ordinary consciousness-you enter into a deeper and higher knowledge. Or you go within. Then you may experience a kind of dazzling light, an inner wonder, a beatitude, a complete knowledge, a total silence. There are, of course, many possibilities but the phenomenon is always the same.
To have this experience all depends upon your capacity to maintain your concentration sufficiently long at its highest point of perfection. ~ The Mother,#KEYS
64:10000 :::
The Only Way Out:
... Once you have no more desires, no more attachments, once you have given up all necessity of receiving a reward from human beings, whoever they are - knowing that the only reward that is worth getting is the one that comes from the Supreme and that never fails - once you give up attachment to all exterior beings and things, you at once feel in your heart this Presence, this Force, this Grace that is always with you. And there is no other remedy. It's the only remedy, for everybody without exception. To all those who suffer, for the same thing that has to be said: all suffering is the sign that the surrender is not total. Then, when you feel in you a 'bang' like that, instead of saying, 'Oh, this is bad' or 'This circumstance is difficult,' you say, 'My surrender is not perfect.' Then it's all right. And then you feel the Grace that helps you and leads you, and you go on. And one day you emerge into that peace that nothing can trouble.
You answer to all the contrary forces, the contrary movements, the attacks, the misunderstandings, the bad wills, with the same smile that comes from full confidence in the Divine Grace. And that is the only way out, there is no other.
But where to get such a strength?
Within you. The Divine Presence is in you. It is in you. You look for it outside; look inside. It is in you. The Presence is there. You want the appreciation of others to get strength - you will never get it. The strength is in you. If you want, you can aspire for what seems to you the supreme goal, supreme light, supreme knowledge, supreme love. But it is in you - otherwise you would never be able to contact it. If you go deep enough inside you, you will find it there, like a flame that is always burning straight up. And don't believe that it is difficult to do. It is because the look is always turned outside that you don't feel the Presence. But if, instead of looking outside for support, you concentrate and you pray - inside, to the supreme knowledge - to know at each moment what is to be done, the way to do it, and if you give all you are, all you do in order to acquire perfection, you will feel that the support is always there, always guiding, showing the way. And if there is a difficulty, then instead of wanting to fight, you hand it over, hand it over to the supreme wisdom to deal with it - to deal with all the bad wills, all the misunderstandings, all the bad reactions. If you surrender completely, it is no more your concern: it's the concern of the Supreme who takes it up and knows better than anybody else what is to be done. That is the only way out, only way out. There, my child
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III, [T1],#KEYS
65:One can learn how to identify oneself. One must learn. It is indispensable if one wants to get out of one's ego. For so long as one is shut up in one's ego, one can't make any progress.
How can it be done?
There are many ways. I'll tell you one.
When I was in Paris, I used to go to many places where there were gatherings of all kinds, people making all sorts of researches, spiritual (so-called spiritual), occult researches, etc. And once I was invited to meet a young lady (I believe she was Swedish) who had found a method of knowledge, exactly a method for learning. And so she explained it to us. We were three or four (her French was not very good but she was quite sure about what she was saying!); she said: "It's like this, you take an object or make a sign on a blackboard or take a drawing - that is not important - take whatever is most convenient for you. Suppose, for instance, that I draw for you... (she had a blackboard) I draw a design." She drew a kind of half-geometric design. "Now, you sit in front of the design and concentrate all your attention upon it - upon that design which is there. You concentrate, concentrate without letting anything else enter your consciousness - except that. Your eyes are fixed on the drawing and don't move at all. You are as it were hypnotised by the drawing. You look (and so she sat there, looking), you look, look, look.... I don't know, it takes more or less time, but still for one who is used to it, it goes pretty fast. You look, look, look, you become that drawing you are looking at. Nothing else exists in the world any longer except the drawing, and then, suddenly, you pass to the other side; and when you pass to the other side you enter a new consciousness, and you know."
We had a good laugh, for it was amusing. But it is quite true, it is an excellent method to practise. Naturally, instead of taking a drawing or any object, you may take, for instance, an idea, a few words. You have a problem preoccupying you, you don't know the solution of the problem; well, you objectify your problem in your mind, put it in the most precise, exact, succinct terms possible, and then concentrate, make an effort; you concentrate only on the words, and if possible on the idea they represent, that is, upon your problem - you concentrate, concentrate, concentrate until nothing else exists but that. And it is true that, all of a sudden, you have the feeling of something opening, and one is on the other side. The other side of what?... It means that you have opened a door of your consciousness, and instantaneously you have the solution of your problem. It is an excellent method of learning "how" to identify oneself.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1953, 217 [T1],#KEYS
66:the process of unification, the perfecting our one's instrumental being, the help one needs to reach the goal :::
If we truly want to progress and acquire the capacity of knowing the truth of our being, that is to say, what we are truly created for, what we can call our mission upon earth, then we must, in a very regular and constant manner, reject from us or eliminate in us whatever contradicts the truth of our existence, whatever is opposed to it. In this way, little by little, all the parts, all the elements of our being can be organised into a homogeneous whole around our psychic centre. This work of unification requires much time to be brought to some degree of perfection. Therefore, in order to accomplish it, we must arm ourselves with patience and endurance, with a determination to prolong our life as long as necessary for the success of our endeavor.
As you pursue this labor of purification and unification, you must at the same time take great care to perfect the external and instrumental part of your being. When the higher truth manifests, it must find in you a mind that is supple and rich enough to be able to give the idea that seeks to express itself a form of thought which preserves its force and clarity. This thought, again, when it seeks to clothe itself in words, must find in you a sufficient power of expression so that the words reveal the thought and do not deform it. And the formula in which you embody the truth should be manifested in all your feelings, all your acts of will, all your actions, in all movements of your being. Finally, these movements themselves should, by constant effort, attain their highest perfection. ... It is therefore of capital importance to become conscious of its presence in us [the psychic being], to concentrate on this presence until it becomes a living fact for us and we can identify ourselves with it.
In various times and places many methods have been prescribed for attaining this perfection and ultimately achieving this identification. Some methods are psychological, some religious, some even mechanical. In reality, everyone has to find the one which suits him best, and if one has an ardent and steadfast aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet, in one way or another - outwardly through reading and study, inwardly through concentration, meditation, revelation and experience - the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable: the will to discover and to realize. This discovery and realization should be the primary preoccupation of our being, the pearl of great price which we must acquire at any cost. Whatever you do, whatever your occupations and activities, the will to find the truth of your being and to unite with it must be always living and present behind all that you do, all that you feel, all that you think.
~ The Mother, On Education, [T1],#KEYS
67:How can one awaken his Yoga-shakti?
It depends on this: when one thinks that it is the most important thing in his life. That's all.
Some people sit in meditation, concentrate on the base of the vertebral column and want it very much to awake, but that's not enough. It is when truly it becomes the most important thing in one's life, when all the rest seems to have lost all taste, all interest, all importance, when one feels within that one is born for this, that one is here upon earth for this, and that it is the only thing that truly counts, then that's enough.
One can concentrate on the different centres; but sometimes one concentrates for so long, with so much effort, and has no result. And then one day something shakes you, you feel that you are going to lose your footing, you have to cling on to something; then you cling within yourself to the idea of union with the Divine, the idea of the divine Presence, the idea of the transformation of the consciousness, and you aspire, you want, you try to organise your feelings, movements, impulses around this. And it comes.
Some people have recommended all kinds of methods; probably these were methods which had succeeded in their case; but to tell the truth, one must find one's own method, it is only after having done the thing that one knows how it should be done, not before.
If one knows it beforehand, one makes a mental construction and risks greatly living in his mental construction, which is an illusion; because when the mind builds certain conditions and then they are realised, there are many chances of there being mostly pure mental construction which is not the experience itself but its image. So for all these truly spiritual experiences I think it is wiser to have them before knowing them. If one knows them, one imitates them, one doesn't have them, one imagines oneself having them; whereas if one knows nothing - how things are and how they ought to happen, what should happen and how it will come about - if one knows nothing about all this, then by keeping very still and making a kind of inner sorting out within one's being, one can suddenly have the experience, and then later knows what one has had. It is over, and one knows how it has to be done when one has done it - afterwards. Like that it is sure.
One may obviously make use of his imagination, imagine the Kundalini and try to pull it upwards. But one can also tell himself tales like this. I have had so many instances of people who described their experiences to me exactly as they are described in books, knowing all the words and putting down all the details, and then I asked them just a little question like that, casually: that if they had had the experience they should have known or felt a certain thing, and as this was not in the books, they could not answer.~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1955, 211-212,#KEYS
68:Concentration is a gathering together of the consciousness and either centralising at one point or turning on a single object, e.g., the Divine; there can be also be a gathered condition throughout the whole being, not at a point. In meditation it is not indispensable to gather like this, one can simply remain with a quiet mind thinking of one subject or observing what comes in the consciousness and dealing with it. ... Of this true consciousness other than the superficial there are two main centres, one in the heart (not the physical heart, but the cardiac centre in the middle of the chest), one in the head. The concentration in the heart opens within and by following this inward opening and going deep one becomes aware of the soul or psychic being, the divine element in the individual. This being unveiled begins to come forward, to govern the nature, to turn it and all its movements towards the Truth, towards the Divine, and to call down into it all that is above. It brings the consciousness of the Presence, the dedication of the being to the Highest and invites the descent into our nature of a greater Force and Consciousness which is waiting above us. To concentrate in the heart centre with the offering of oneself to the Divine and the aspiration for this inward opening and for the Presence in the heart is the first way and, if it can be done, the natural beginning; for its result once obtained makes the spiritual path far more easy and safe than if one begins the other ways.
That other way is the concentration in the head, in the mental centre. This, if it brings about the silence of the surface mind, opens up an inner, larger, deeper mind within which is more capable of receiving spiritual experience and spiritual knowledge. But once concentrated here one must open the silent mental consciousness upward and in the end it rises beyond the lid which has so long kept it tied in the body and finds a centre above the head where it is liberated into the Infinite. There it begins to come into contact with the universal Self, the Divine Peace, Light, Power, Knowledge, Bliss, to enter into that and become that, to feel the descent of these things into the nature. To concentrate in the head with the aspiration for quietude in the mind and the realisation of the Self and Divine above is the second way of concentration. It is important, however, to remember that the concentration of the consciousness in the head in only a preparation for its rising to the centre above; otherwise, one may get shut up in one's own mind and its experiences or at best attain only to a reflection of the Truth above instead of rising into the spiritual transcendence to live there. For some the mental concentration is easier, for some the concentration in the heart centre; some are capable of doing both alternatively - but to begin with the heart centre, if one can do it, is the most desirable.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#KEYS
69:An integral Yoga includes as a vital and indispensable element in its total and ultimate aim the conversion of the whole being into a higher spiritual consciousness and a larger divine existence. Our parts of will and action, our parts of knowledge, our thinking being, our emotional being, our being of life, all our self and nature must seek the Divine, enter into the Infinite, unite with the Eternal. But mans present nature is limited, divided, unequal, -- it is easiest for him to concentrate in the strongest part of his being and follow a definite line of progress proper to his nature: only rare individuals have the strength to take a large immediate plunge straight into the sea of the Divine Infinity. Some therefore must choose as a starting-point a concentration in thought or contemplation or the minds one-pointedness to find the eternal reality of the Self in them; others can more easily withdraw into the heart to meet there the Divine, the Eternal: yet others are predominantly dynamic and active; for these it is best to centre themselves in the will and enlarge their being through works. United with the Self and source of all by their surrender of their will into its infinity, guided in their works by the secret Divinity within or surrendered to the Lord of the cosmic action as the master and mover of all their energies of thought, feeling, act, becoming by this enlargement of being selfless and universal, they can reach by works some first fullness of a spiritual status. But the path, whatever its point of starting, must debouch into a vaster dominion; it must proceed in the end through a totality of integrated knowledge, emotion, will of dynamic action, perfection of the being and the entire nature. In the supramental consciousness, on the level of the supramental existence this integration becomes consummate; there knowledge, will, emotion, the perfection of the self and the dynamic nature rise each to its absolute of itself and all to their perfect harmony and fusion with each other, to a divine integrality, a divine perfection. For the supermind is a Truth-Consciousness in which the Divine Reality, fully manifested, no longer works with the instrumentation of the Ignorance; a truth of status of being which is absolute becomes dynamic in a truth of energy and activity of the being which is self-existent and perfect. Every movement there is a movement of the self-aware truth of Divine Being and every part is in entire harmony with the whole. Even the most limited and finite action is in the Truth-Consciousness a movement of the Eternal and Infinite and partakes of the inherent absoluteness and perfection of the Eternal and Infinite. An ascent into the supramental Truth not only raises our spiritual and essential consciousness to that height but brings about a descent of this Light and Truth into all our being and all our parts of nature. All then becomes part of the Divine Truth, an element and means of the supreme union and oneness; this ascent and descent must be therefore an ultimate aim of this Yoga.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Divine Works, The Supermind and the Yoga of Works [279-280],#KEYS
70:[desire and its divine form:]
Into all our endeavour upward the lower element of desire will at first naturally enter. For what the enlightened will sees as the thing to be done and pursues as the crown to be conquered, what the heart embraces as the one thing delightful, that in us which feels itself limited and opposed and, because it is limited, craves and struggles, will seek with the troubled passion of an egoistic desire. This craving life-force or desire-soul in us has to be accepted at first, but only in order that it may be transformed. Even from the very beginning it has to be taught to renounce all other desires and concentrate itself on the passion for the Divine. This capital point gained, it has to be aught to desire, not for its own separate sake, but for God in the world and for the Divine in ourselves; it has to fix itself upon no personal spiritual gain, though of all possible spiritual gains we are sure, but on the great work to be done in us and others, on the high coming manifestation which is to be the glorious fulfilment of the Divine in the world, on the Truth that has to be sought and lived and enthroned for eveR But last, most difficult for it, more difficult than to seek with the right object, it has to be taught to seek in the right manner; for it must learn to desire, not in its own egoistic way, but in the way of the Divine. It must insist no longer, as the strong separative will always insists, on its own manner of fulfilment, its own dream of possession, its own idea of the right and the desirable; it must yearn to fulfil a larger and greater Will and consent to wait upon a less interested and ignorant guidance. Thus trained, Desire, that great unquiet harasser and troubler of man and cause of every kind of stumbling, will become fit to be transformed into its divine counterpart. For desire and passion too have their divine forms; there is a pure ecstasy of the soul's seeking beyond all craving and grief, there is a Will of Ananda that sits glorified in the possession of the supreme beatitudes.
When once the object of concentration has possessed and is possessed by the three master instruments, the thought, the heart and the will,-a consummation fully possible only when the desire-soul in us has submitted to the Divine Law,-the perfection of mind and life and body can be effectively fulfilled in our transmuted nature. This will be done, not for the personal satisfaction of the ego, but that the whole may constitute a fit temple for the Divine Presence, a faultless instrument for the divine work. For that work can be truly performed only when the instrument, consecrated and perfected, has grown fit for a selfless action,-and that will be when personal desire and egoism are abolished, but not the liberated individual. Even when the little ego has been abolished, the true spiritual Person can still remain and God's will and work and delight in him and the spiritual use of his perfection and fulfilment. Our works will then be divine and done divinely; our mind and life and will, devoted to the Divine, will be used to help fulfil in others and in the world that which has been first realised in ourselves,- all that we can manifest of the embodied Unity, Love, Freedom, Strength, Power, Splendour, immortal Joy which is the goal of the Spirit's terrestrial adventure.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration [83] [T1],#KEYS
71:To arrive then at this settled divine status must be the object of our concentration. The first step in concentration must be always to accustom the discursive mind to a settled unwavering pursuit of a single course of connected thought on a single subject and this it must do undistracted by all lures and alien calls on its attention. Such concentration is common enough in our ordinary life, but it becomes more difficult when we have to do it inwardly without any outward object or action on which to keep the mind; yet this inward concentration is what the seeker of knowledge must effect. Nor must it be merely the consecutive thought of the intellectual thinker, whose only object is to conceive and intellectually link together his conceptions. It is not, except perhaps at first, a process of reasoning that is wanted so much as a dwelling so far as possible on the fruitful essence of the idea which by the insistence of the soul's will upon it must yield up all the facets of its truth. Thus if it be the divine Love that is the subject of concentration, it is on the essence of the idea of God as Love that the mind should concentrate in such a way that the various manifestation of the divine Love should arise luminously, not only to the thought, but in the heart and being and vision of the Sadhaka. The thought may come first and the experience afterwards, but equally the experience may come first and the knowledge arise out of the experience. Afterwards the thing attained has to be dwelt on and more and more held till it becomes a constant experience and finally the Dharma or law of the being.
This is the process of concentrated meditation; but a more strenuous method is the fixing of the whole mind in concentration on the essence of the idea only, so as to reach not the thought-knowledge or the psychological experience of the subject, but the very essence of the thing behind the idea. In this process thought ceases and passes into the absorbed or ecstatic contemplation of the object or by a merging into it m an inner Samadhi. If this be the process followed, then subsequently the state into which we rise must still be called down to take possession of the lower being, to shed its light, power and bliss on our ordinary consciousness. For otherwise we may possess it, as many do, in the elevated condition or in the inward Samadhi, but we shall lose our hold of it when we awake or descend into the contacts of the world; and this truncated possession is not the aim of an integral Yoga.
A third process is neither at first to concentrate in a strenuous meditation on the one subject nor in a strenuous contemplation of the one object of thought-vision, but first to still the mind altogether. This may be done by various ways; one is to stand back from the mental action altogether not participating in but simply watching it until, tired of its unsanctioned leaping and running, it falls into an increasing and finally an absolute quiet. Another is to reject the thought-suggestions, to cast them away from the mind whenever they come and firmly hold to the peace of the being which really and always exists behind the trouble and riot of the mind. When this secret peace is unveiled, a great calm settles on the being and there comes usually with it the perception and experience of the all-pervading silent Brahman, everything else at first seeming to be mere form and eidolon. On the basis of this calm everything else may be built up in the knowledge and experience no longer of the external phenomena of things but of the deeper truth of the divine manifestation.
Ordinarily, once this state is obtained, strenuous concentration will be found no longer necessary. A free concentration of will using thought merely for suggestion and the giving of light to the lower members will take its place. This Will will then insist on the physical being, the vital existence, the heart and the mind remoulding themselves in the forms of the Divine which reveal themselves out of the silent Brahman. By swifter or slower degrees according to the previous preparation and purification of the members, they will be obliged with more or less struggle to obey the law of the will and its thought-suggestion, so that eventually the knowledge of the Divine takes possession of our consciousness on all its planes and the image of the Divine is formed in our human existence even as it was done by the old Vedic Sadhakas. For the integral Yoga this is the most direct and powerful discipline.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, The Yoga of Integral Knowledge, Concentration,#KEYS
72:Mother, how to change one's consciousness?
Naturally, there are many ways, but each person must do it by the means accessible to him; and the indication of the way usually comes spontaneously, through something like an unexpected experience. And for each one, it appears a little differently.
For instance, one may have the perception of the ordinary consciousness which is extended on the surface, horizontally, and works on a plane which is simultaneously the surface of things and has a contact with the superficial outer side of things, people, circumstances; and then, suddenly, for some reason or other - as I say for each one it is different - there is a shifting upwards, and instead of seeing things horizontally, of being at the same level as they are, you suddenly dominate them and see them from above, in their totality, instead of seeing a small number of things immediately next to yourself; it is as though something were drawing you above and making you see as from a mountain-top or an aeroplane. And instead of seeing each detail and seeing it on its own level, you see the whole as one unity, and from far above.
There are many ways of having this experience, but it usually comes to you as if by chance, one fine day.
Or else, one may have an experience which is almost its very opposite but which comes to the same thing. Suddenly one plunges into a depth, one moves away from the thing one perceived, it seems distant, superficial, unimportant; one enters an inner silence or an inner calm or an inward vision of things, a profound feeling, a more intimate perception of circumstances and things, in which all values change. And one becomes aware of a sort of unity, a deep identity which is one in spite of the diverse appearances.
Or else, suddenly also, the sense of limitation disappears and one enters the perception of a kind of indefinite duration beginningless and endless, of something which has always been and always will be.
These experiences come to you suddenly in a flash, for a second, a moment in your life, you don't know why or how.... There are other ways, other experiences - they are innumerable, they vary according to people; but with this, with one minute, one second of such an existence, one catches the tail of the thing. So one must remember that, try to relive it, go to the depths of the experience, recall it, aspire, concentrate. This is the startingpoint, the end of the guiding thread, the clue. For all those who are destined to find their inner being, the truth of their being, there is always at least one moment in life when they were no longer the same, perhaps just like a lightning-flash - but that is enough. It indicates the road one should take, it is the door that opens on this path. And so you must pass through the door, and with perseverance and an unfailing steadfastness seek to renew the state which will lead you to something more real and more total.
Many ways have always been given, but a way you have been taught, a way you have read about in books or heard from a teacher, does not have the effective value of a spontaneous experience which has come without any apparent reason, and which is simply the blossoming of the soul's awakening, one second of contact with your psychic being which shows you the best way for you, the one most within your reach, which you will then have to follow with perseverance to reach the goal - one second which shows you how to start, the beginning.... Some have this in dreams at night; some have it at any odd time: something one sees which awakens in one this new consciousness, something one hears, a beautiful landscape, beautiful music, or else simply a few words one reads, or else the intensity of concentration in some effort - anything at all, there are a thousand reasons and thousands of ways of having it. But, I repeat, all those who are destined to realise have had this at least once in their life. It may be very fleeting, it may have come when they were very young, but always at least once in one's life one has the experience of what true consciousness is. Well, that is the best indication of the path to be followed.
One may seek within oneself, one may remember, may observe; one must notice what is going on, one must pay attention, that's all. Sometimes, when one sees a generous act, hears of something exceptional, when one witnesses heroism or generosity or greatness of soul, meets someone who shows a special talent or acts in an exceptional and beautiful way, there is a kind of enthusiasm or admiration or gratitude which suddenly awakens in the being and opens the door to a state, a new state of consciousness, a light, a warmth, a joy one did not know before. That too is a way of catching the guiding thread. There are a thousand ways, one has only to be awake and to watch.
First of all, you must feel the necessity for this change of consciousness, accept the idea that it is this, the path which must lead to the goal; and once you admit the principle, you must be watchful. And you will find, you do find it. And once you have found it, you must start walking without any hesitation.
Indeed, the starting-point is to observe oneself, not to live in a perpetual nonchalance, a perpetual apathy; one must be attentive.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1956, [T6],#KEYS
73:summary of the entire process of psychic awakening :::
You have asked what is the discipline to be followed in order to convert the mental seeking into a living spiritual experience. The first necessity is the practice of concentration of your consciousness within yourself. The ordinary human mind has an activity on the surface which veils the real Self. But there is another, a hidden consciousness within behind the surface one in which we can become aware of the real Self and of a larger deeper truth of nature, can realise the Self and liberate and transform the nature. To quiet the surface mind and begin to live within is the object of this concentration. Of this true consciousness other then the superficial there are two main centres, one in the heart (not the physical heart, but the cardiac centre in the middle of the chest), one in the head. The concentration in the heart opens within and by following this inward opening and going deep one becomes aware of the soul or psychic being, the divine element in the individual. This being unveiled begins to come forward, to govern the nature, to turn it an d all its movements towards the Truth, towards the Divine, and to call down into it all that is above. It brings the consciousness of the Presence, the dedication of the being to the Highest and invites the descent into our nature of a greater Force and Consciousness which is waiting above us. To concentrate in the heart centre with the offering of oneself to the Divine and the aspiration for this inward opening and for the Presence in the heart is the first way and, if it can be done, the natural beginning; for its result once obtained makes the spiritual path far more easy and safe than if one begins the other way.
That other way is the concentration in the head, in the mental centre. This, if it brings about the silence of the surface mind, opens up an inner, larger, deeper mind within which is more capable of receiving spiritual experience and spiritual knowledge. But once concentrated here one must open the silent mental consciousness upward to all that is above mind. After a time one feels the consciousness rising upward and it the end it rises beyond the lid which has so long kept it tied in the body and finds a centre above the head where it is liberated into the Infinite. There it behind to come into contact with the universal Self, the Divine Peace, Light, Power, Knowledge, Bliss, to enter into that and become that, to feel the descent of these things into the nature. To concentrate in the head with the aspiration for quietude in the mind and the realisation of the Self and Divine above is the second way of concentration. It is important, however, to remember that the concentration of the consciousness in the head is only a preparation for its rising to the centre above; otherwise, one may get shut up in one's own mind and its experiences or at best attain only to a reflection of the Truth above instead of rising into the spiritual transcendence to live there. For some the mental consciousness is easier, for some the concentration in the heart centre; some are capable of doing both alternatively - but to begin with the heart centre, if one can do it, is the more desirable.
The other side of the discipline is with regard to the activities of the nature, of the mind, of the life-self or vital, of the physical being. Here the principle is to accord the nature with the inner realisation so that one may not be divided into two discordant parts. There are here several disciplines or processes possible. One is to offer all the activities to the Divine and call for the inner guidance and the taking up of one's nature by a Higher Power. If there is the inward soul-opening, if the psychic being comes forward, then there is no great difficulty - there comes with it a psychic discrimination, a constant intimation, finally a governance which discloses and quietly and patiently removes all imperfections, bring the right mental and vital movements and reshapes the physical consciousness also. Another method is to stand back detached from the movements of the mind, life, physical being, to regard their activities as only a habitual formation of general Nature in the individual imposed on us by past workings, not as any part of our real being; in proportion as one succeeds in this, becomes detached, sees mind and its activities as not oneself, life and its activities as not oneself, the body and its activities as not oneself, one becomes aware of an inner Being within us - inner mental, inner vital, inner physical - silent, calm, unbound, unattached which reflects the true Self above and can be its direct representative; from this inner silent Being proceeds a rejection of all that is to be rejected, an acceptance only of what can be kept and transformed, an inmost Will to perfection or a call to the Divine Power to do at each step what is necessary for the change of the Nature. It can also open mind, life and body to the inmost psychic entity and its guiding influence or its direct guidance. In most cases these two methods emerge and work together and finally fuse into one. But one can being with either, the one that one feels most natural and easy to follow.
Finally, in all difficulties where personal effort is hampered, the help of the Teacher can intervene and bring above what is needed for the realisation or for the immediate step that is necessary.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, 6, {871},#KEYS
74:[an Integral conception of the Divine :::
But on that which as yet we know not how shall we concentrate? And yet we cannot know the Divine unless we have achieved this concentration of our being upon him. A concentration which culminates in a living realisation and the constant sense of the presence of the One in ourselves and in all of which we are aware, is what we mean in Yoga by knowledge and the effort after knowledge. It is not enough to devote ourselves by the reading of Scriptures or by the stress of philosophical reasoning to an intellectual understanding of the Divine; for at the end of our long mental labour we might know all that has been said of the Eternal, possess all that can be thought about the Infinite and yet we might not know him at all. This intellectual preparation can indeed be the first stage in a powerful Yoga, but it is not indispensable : it is not a step which all need or can be called upon to take. Yoga would be impossible, except for a very few, if the intellectual figure of knowledge arrived at by the speculative or meditative Reason were its indispensable condition or a binding preliminary. All that the Light from above asks of us that it may begin its work is a call from the soul and a sufficient point of support in the mind. This support can be reached through an insistent idea of the Divine in the thought, a corresponding will in the dynamic parts, an aspiration, a faith, a need in the heart. Any one of these may lead or predominate, if all cannot move in unison or in an equal rhythm. The idea may be and must in the beginning be inadequate; the aspiration may be narrow and imperfect, the faith poorly illumined or even, as not surely founded on the rock of knowledge, fluctuating, uncertain, easily diminished; often even it may be extinguished and need to be lit again with difficulty like a torch in a windy pass. But if once there is a resolute self-consecration from deep within, if there is an awakening to the soul's call, these inadequate things can be a sufficient instrument for the divine purpose. Therefore the wise have always been unwilling to limit man's avenues towards God; they would not shut against his entry even the narrowest portal, the lowest and darkest postern, the humblest wicket-gate. Any name, any form, any symbol, any offering has been held to be sufficient if there is the consecration along with it; for the Divine knows himself in the heart of the seeker and accepts the sacrifice.
But still the greater and wider the moving idea-force behind the consecration, the better for the seeker; his attainment is likely to be fuller and more ample. If we are to attempt an integral Yoga, it will be as well to start with an idea of the Divine that is itself integral. There should be an aspiration in the heart wide enough for a realisation without any narrow limits. Not only should we avoid a sectarian religious outlook, but also all onesided philosophical conceptions which try to shut up the Ineffable in a restricting mental formula. The dynamic conception or impelling sense with which our Yoga can best set out would be naturally the idea, the sense of a conscious all-embracing but all-exceeding Infinite. Our uplook must be to a free, all-powerful, perfect and blissful One and Oneness in which all beings move and live and through which all can meet and become one. This Eternal will be at once personal and impersonal in his self-revelation and touch upon the soul. He is personal because he is the conscious Divine, the infinite Person who casts some broken reflection of himself in the myriad divine and undivine personalities of the universe. He is impersonal because he appears to us as an infinite Existence, Consciousness and Ananda and because he is the fount, base and constituent of all existences and all energies, -the very material of our being and mind and life and body, our spirit and our matter. The thought, concentrating on him, must not merely understand in an intellectual form that he exists, or conceive of him as an abstraction, a logical necessity; it must become a seeing thought able to meet him here as the Inhabitant in all, realise him in ourselves, watch and take hold on the movement of his forces. He is the one Existence: he is the original and universal Delight that constitutes all things and exceeds them: he is the one infinite Consciousness that composes all consciousnesses and informs all their movements; he is the one illimitable Being who sustains all action and experience; his will guides the evolution of things towards their yet unrealised but inevitable aim and plenitude. To him the heart can consecrate itself, approach him as the supreme Beloved, beat and move in him as in a universal sweetness of Love and a living sea of Delight. For his is the secret Joy that supports the soul in all its experiences and maintains even the errant ego in its ordeals and struggles till all sorrow and suffering shall cease. His is the Love and the Bliss of the infinite divine Lover who is drawing all things by their own path towards his happy oneness. On him the Will can unalterably fix as the invisible Power that guides and fulfils it and as the source of its strength. In the impersonality this actuating Power is a self-illumined Force that contains all results and calmly works until it accomplishes, in the personality an all wise and omnipotent Master of the Yoga whom nothing can prevent from leading it to its goal. This is the faith with which the seeker has to begin his seeking and endeavour; for in all his effort here, but most of all in his effort towards the Unseen, mental man must perforce proceed by faith. When the realisation comes, the faith divinely fulfilled and completed will be transformed into an eternal flame of knowledge.
~ Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis Of Yoga, Self-Consecration, 82-83 [T1],#KEYS
75:Depression, unless one has a strong will, suggests, "This is not worth while, one may have to wait a lifetime." As for enthusiasm, it expects to see the vital transformed overnight: "I am not going to have any difficulty henceforth, I am going to advance rapidly on the path of yoga, I am going to gain the divine consciousness without any difficulty." There are some other difficulties.... One needs a little time, much perseverance. So the vital, after a few hours - perhaps a few days, perhaps a few months - says to itself: "We haven't gone very far with our enthusiasm, has anything been really done? Doesn't this movement leave us just where we were, perhaps worse than we were, a little troubled, a little disturbed? Things are no longer what they were, they are not yet what they ought to be. It is very tiresome, what I am doing." And then, if one pushes a little more, here's this gentleman saying, "Ah, no! I have had enough of it, leave me alone. I don't want to move, I shall stay in my corner, I won't trouble you, but don't bother me!" And so one has not gone very much farther than before.
This is one of the big obstacles which must be carefully avoided. As soon as there is the least sign of discontentment, of annoyance, the vital must be spoken to in this way, "My friend, you are going to keep calm, you are going to do what you are asked to do, otherwise you will have to deal with me." And to the other, the enthusiast who says, "Everything must be done now, immediately", your reply is, "Calm yourself a little, your energy is excellent, but it must not be spent in five minutes. We shall need it for a long time, keep it carefully and, as it is wanted, I shall call upon your goodwill. You will show that you are full of goodwill, you will obey, you won't grumble, you will not protest, you will not revolt, you will say 'yes, yes', you will make a little sacrifice when asked, you will say 'yes' wholeheartedly."
So we get started on the path. But the road is very long. Many things happen on the way. Suddenly one thinks one has overcome an obstacle; I say "thinks", because though one has overcome it, it is not totally overcome. I am going to take a very obvious instance, of a very simple observation. Someone has found that his vital is uncontrollable and uncontrolled, that it gets furious for nothing and about nothing. He starts working to teach it not to get carried away, not to flare up, to remain calm and bear the shocks of life without reacting violently. If one does this cheerfully, it goes quite quickly. (Note this well, it is very important: when you have to deal with your vital take care to remain cheerful, otherwise you will get into trouble.) One remains cheerful, that is, when one sees the fury rise, one begins to laugh. Instead of being depressed and saying, "Ah! In spite of all my effort it is beginning all over again", one begins to laugh and says, "Well, well! One hasn't yet seen the end of it. Look now, aren't you ridiculous, you know quite well that you are being ridiculous! Is it worthwhile getting angry?" One gives it this lesson cheerfully. And really, after a while it doesn't get angry again, it is quiet - and one relaxes one's attention. One thinks the difficulty has been overcome, one thinks a result has at last been reached: "My vital does not trouble me any longer, it does not get angry now, everything is going fine." And the next day, one loses one's temper. It is then one must be careful, it is then one must not say, "Here we are, it's no use, I shall never achieve anything, all my efforts are futile; all this is an illusion, it is impossible." On the contrary, one must say, "I wasn't vigilant enough." One must wait long, very long, before one can say, "Ah! It is done and finished." Sometimes one must wait for years, many years....
I am not saying this to discourage you, but to give you patience and perseverance - for there is a moment when you do arrive. And note that the vital is a small part of your being - a very important part, we have said that it is the dynamism, the realising energy, it is very important; but it is only a small part. And the mind!... which goes wandering, which must be pulled back by all the strings to be kept quiet! You think this can be done overnight? And your body?... You have a weakness, a difficulty, sometimes a small chronic illness, nothing much, but still it is a nuisance, isn't it? You want to get rid of it. You make efforts, you concentrate; you work upon it, establish harmony, and you think it is finished, and then.... Take, for instance, people who have the habit of coughing; they can't control themselves or almost can't. It is not serious but it is bothersome, and there seems to be no reason why it should ever stop. Well, one tells oneself, "I am going to control this." One makes an effort - a yogic effort, not a material one - one brings down consciousness, force, and stops the cough. And one thinks, "The body has forgotten how to cough." And it is a great thing when the body has forgotten, truly one can say, "I am cured." But unfortunately it is not always true, for this goes down into the subconscient and, one day, when the balance of forces is not so well established, when the strength is not the same, it begins again. And one laments, "I believed that it was over! I had succeeded and told myself, 'It is true that spiritual power has an action upon the body, it is true that something can be done', and there! it is not true. And yet it was a small thing, and I who want to conquer immortality! How will I succeed?... For years I have been free from this small thing and here it is beginning anew!" It is then that you must be careful. You must arm yourself with an endless patience and endurance. You do a thing once, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times if necessary, but you do it till it gets done. And not done only here and there, but everywhere and everywhere at the same time. This is the great problem one sets oneself. That is why, to those who come to tell me very light-heartedly, "I want to do yoga", I reply, "Think it over, one may do the yoga for a number of years without noticing the least result. But if you want to do it, you must persist and persist with such a will that you should be ready to do it for ten lifetimes, a hundred lifetimes if necessary, in order to succeed." I do not say it will be like that, but the attitude must be like that. Nothing must discourage you; for there are all the difficulties of ignorance of the different states of being, to which are added the endless malice and the unbounded cunning of the hostile forces in the world.... They are there, do you know why? They have been.... ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1950-1951,#KEYS
76:
Why do we forget our dreams?
Because you do not dream always at the same place. It is not always the same part of your being that dreams and it is not at the same place that you dream. If you were in conscious, direct, continuous communication with all the parts of your being, you would remember all your dreams. But very few parts of the being are in communication.
For example, you have a dream in the subtle physical, that is to say, quite close to the physical. Generally, these dreams occur in the early hours of the morning, that is between four and five o'clock, at the end of the sleep. If you do not make a sudden movement when you wake up, if you remain very quiet, very still and a little attentive - quietly attentive - and concentrated, you will remember them, for the communication between the subtle physical and the physical is established - very rarely is there no communication.
Now, dreams are mostly forgotten because you have a dream while in a certain state and then pass into another. For instance, when you sleep, your body is asleep, your vital is asleep, but your mind is still active. So your mind begins to have dreams, that is, its activity is more or less coordinated, the imagination is very active and you see all kinds of things, take part in extraordinary happenings.... After some time, all that calms down and the mind also begins to doze. The vital that was resting wakes up; it comes out of the body, walks about, goes here and there, does all kinds of things, reacts, sometimes fights, and finally eats. It does all kinds of things. The vital is very adventurous. It watches. When it is heroic it rushes to save people who are in prison or to destroy enemies or it makes wonderful discoveries. But this pushes back the whole mental dream very far behind. It is rubbed off, forgotten: naturally you cannot remember it because the vital dream takes its place. But if you wake up suddenly at that moment, you remember it. There are people who have made the experiment, who have got up at certain fixed hours of the night and when they wake up suddenly, they do remember. You must not move brusquely, but awake in the natural course, then you remember.
After a time, the vital having taken a good stroll, needs to rest also, and so it goes into repose and quietness, quite tired at the end of all kinds of adventures. Then something else wakes up. Let us suppose that it is the subtle physical that goes for a walk. It starts moving and begins wandering, seeing the rooms and... why, this thing that was there, but it has come here and that other thing which was in that room is now in this one, and so on. If you wake up without stirring, you remembeR But this has pushed away far to the back of the consciousness all the stories of the vital. They are forgotten and so you cannot recollect your dreams. But if at the time of waking up you are not in a hurry, you are not obliged to leave your bed, on the contrary you can remain there as long as you wish, you need not even open your eyes; you keep your head exactly where it was and you make yourself like a tranquil mirror within and concentrate there. You catch just a tiny end of the tail of your dream. You catch it and start pulling gently, without stirring in the least. You begin pulling quite gently, and then first one part comes, a little later another. You go backward; the last comes up first. Everything goes backward, slowly, and suddenly the whole dream reappears: "Ah, there! it was like that." Above all, do not jump up, do not stir; you repeat the dream to yourself several times - once, twice - until it becomes clear in all its details. Once that dream is settled, you continue not to stir, you try to go further in, and suddenly you catch the tail of something else. It is more distant, more vague, but you can still seize it. And here also you hang on, get hold of it and pull, and you see that everything changes and you enter another world; all of a sudden you have an extraordinary adventure - it is another dream. You follow the same process. You repeat the dream to yourself once, twice, until you are sure of it. You remain very quiet all the time. Then you begin to penetrate still more deeply into yourself, as though you were going in very far, very far; and again suddenly you see a vague form, you have a feeling, a sensation... like a current of air, a slight breeze, a little breath; and you say, "Well, well...." It takes a form, it becomes clear - and the third category comes. You must have a lot of time, a lot of patience, you must be very quiet in your mind and body, very quiet, and you can tell the story of your whole night from the end right up to the beginning.
Even without doing this exercise which is very long and difficult, in order to recollect a dream, whether it be the last one or the one in the middle that has made a violent impression on your being, you must do what I have said when you wake up: take particular care not even to move your head on the pillow, remain absolutely still and let the dream return.
Some people do not have a passage between one state and another, there is a little gap and so they leap from one to the other; there is no highway passing through all the states of being with no break of the consciousness. A small dark hole, and you do not remember. It is like a precipice across which one has to extend the consciousness. To build a bridge takes a very long time; it takes much longer than building a physical bridge.... Very few people want to and know how to do it. They may have had magnificent activities, they do not remember them or sometimes only the last, the nearest, the most physical activity, with an uncoordinated movement - dreams having no sense.
But there are as many different kinds of nights and sleep as there are different days and activities. There are not many days that are alike, each day is different. The days are not the same, the nights are not the same. You and your friends are doing apparently the same thing, but for each one it is very different. And each one must have his own procedure.
Why are two dreams never alike?
Because all things are different. No two minutes are alike in the universe and it will be so till the end of the universe, no two minutes will ever be alike. And men obstinately want to make rules! One must do this and not that.... Well! we must let people please themselves.
You could have put to me a very interesting question: "Why am I fourteen years old today?" Intelligent people will say: "It is because it is the fourteenth year since you were born." That is the answer of someone who believes himself to be very intelligent. But there is another reason. I shall tell this to you alone.... I have drowned you all sufficiently well! Now you must begin to learn swimming!
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1953, 36?,#KEYS
77:Intuition And The Value Of Concentration :::
Mother, how can the faculty of intuition be developed?
... There are different kinds of intuition, and we carry these capacities within us. They are always active to some extent but we don't notice them because we don't pay enough attention to what is going on in us. Behind the emotions, deep within the being, in a consciousness seated somewhere near the level of the solar plexus, there is a sort of prescience, a kind of capacity for foresight, but not in the form of ideas: rather in the form of feelings, almost a perception of sensations. For instance, when one is going to decide to do something, there is sometimes a kind of uneasiness or inner refusal, and usually, if one listens to this deeper indication, one realises that it was justified. In other cases there is something that urges, indicates, insists - I am not speaking of impulses, you understand, of all the movements which come from the vital and much lower still - indications which are behind the feelings, which come from the affective part of the being; there too one can receive a fairly sure indication of the thing to be done. These are forms of intuition or of a higher instinct which can be cultivated by observation and also by studying the results. Naturally, it must be done very sincerely, objectively, without prejudice. If one wants to see things in a particular way and at the same time practise this observation, it is all useless. One must do it as if one were looking at what is happening from outside oneself, in someone else. It is one form of intuition and perhaps the first one that usually manifests. There is also another form but that one is much more difficult to observe because for those who are accustomed to think, to act by reason - not by impulse but by reason - to reflect before doing anything, there is an extremely swift process from cause to effect in the half-conscious thought which prevents you from seeing the line, the whole line of reasoning and so you don't think that it is a chain of reasoning, and that is quite deceptive. You have the impression of an intuition but it is not an intuition, it is an extremely rapid subconscious reasoning, which takes up a problem and goes straight to the conclusions. This must not be mistaken for intuition. In the ordinary functioning of the brain, intuition is something which suddenly falls like a drop of light. If one has the faculty, the beginning of a faculty of mental vision, it gives the impression of something coming from outside or above, like a little impact of a drop of light in the brain, absolutely independent of all reasoning. This is perceived more easily when one is able to silence one's mind, hold it still and attentive, arresting its usual functioning, as if the mind were changed into a kind of mirror turned towards a higher faculty in a sustained and silent attention. That too one can learn to do. One must learn to do it, it is a necessary discipline.
When you have a question to solve, whatever it may be, usually you concentrate your attention here (pointing between the eyebrows), at the centre just above the eyes, the centre of the conscious will. But then if you do that, you cannot be in contact with intuition. You can be in contact with the source of the will, of effort, even of a certain kind of knowledge, but in the outer, almost material field; whereas, if you want to contact the intuition, you must keep this (Mother indicates the forehead) completely immobile. Active thought must be stopped as far as possible and the entire mental faculty must form - at the top of the head and a little further above if possible - a kind of mirror, very quiet, very still, turned upwards, in silent, very concentrated attention. If you succeed, you can - perhaps not immediately - but you can have the perception of the drops of light falling upon the mirror from a still unknown region and expressing themselves as a conscious thought which has no connection with all the rest of your thought since you have been able to keep it silent. That is the real beginning of the intellectual intuition.
It is a discipline to be followed. For a long time one may try and not succeed, but as soon as one succeeds in making a mirror, still and attentive, one always obtains a result, not necessarily with a precise form of thought but always with the sensations of a light coming from above. And then, if one can receive this light coming from above without entering immediately into a whirl of activity, receive it in calm and silence and let it penetrate deep into the being, then after a while it expresses itself either as a luminous thought or as a very precise indication here (Mother indicates the heart), in this other centre.
Naturally, first these two faculties must be developed; then, as soon as there is any result, one must observe the result, as I said, and see the connection with what is happening, the consequences: see, observe very attentively what has come in, what may have caused a distortion, what one has added by way of more or less conscious reasoning or the intervention of a lower will, also more or less conscious; and it is by a very deep study - indeed, almost of every moment, in any case daily and very frequent - that one succeeds in developing one's intuition. It takes a long time. It takes a long time and there are ambushes: one can deceive oneself, take for intuitions subconscious wills which try to manifest, indications given by impulses one has refused to receive openly, indeed all sorts of difficulties. One must be prepared for that. But if one persists, one is sure to succeed.
And there comes a time when one feels a kind of inner guidance, something which is leading one very perceptibly in all that one does. But then, for the guidance to have its maximum power, one must naturally add to it a conscious surrender: one must be sincerely determined to follow the indication given by the higher force. If one does that, then... one saves years of study, one can seize the result extremely rapidly. If one also does that, the result comes very rapidly. But for that, it must be done with sincerity and... a kind of inner spontaneity. If one wants to try without this surrender, one may succeed - as one can also succeed in developing one's personal will and making it into a very considerable power - but that takes a very long time and one meets many obstacles and the result is very precarious; one must be very persistent, obstinate, persevering, and one is sure to succeed, but only after a great labour.
Make your surrender with a sincere, complete self-giving, and you will go ahead at full speed, you will go much faster - but you must not do this calculatingly, for that spoils everything! (Silence) Moreover, whatever you may want to do in life, one thing is absolutely indispensable and at the basis of everything, the capacity of concentrating the attention. If you are able to gather together the rays of attention and consciousness on one point and can maintain this concentration with a persistent will, nothing can resist it - whatever it may be, from the most material physical development to the highest spiritual one. But this discipline must be followed in a constant and, it may be said, imperturbable way; not that you should always be concentrated on the same thing - that's not what I mean, I mean learning to concentrate.
And materially, for studies, sports, all physical or mental development, it is absolutely indispensable. And the value of an individual is proportionate to the value of his attention.
And from the spiritual point of view it is still more important.
There is no spiritual obstacle which can resist a penetrating power of concentration. For instance, the discovery of the psychic being, union with the inner Divine, opening to the higher spheres, all can be obtained by an intense and obstinate power of concentration - but one must learn how to do it. There is nothing in the human or even in the superhuman field, to which the power of concentration is not the key. You can be the best athlete, you can be the best student, you can be an artistic, literary or scientific genius, you can be the greatest saint with that faculty. And everyone has in himself a tiny little beginning of it - it is given to everybody, but people do not cultivate it.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1957-1958,#KEYS
78:The Science of Living
To know oneself and to control oneself
AN AIMLESS life is always a miserable life.
Every one of you should have an aim. But do not forget that on the quality of your aim will depend the quality of your life.
Your aim should be high and wide, generous and disinterested; this will make your life precious to yourself and to others.
But whatever your ideal, it cannot be perfectly realised unless you have realised perfection in yourself.
To work for your perfection, the first step is to become conscious of yourself, of the different parts of your being and their respective activities. You must learn to distinguish these different parts one from another, so that you may become clearly aware of the origin of the movements that occur in you, the many impulses, reactions and conflicting wills that drive you to action. It is an assiduous study which demands much perseverance and sincerity. For man's nature, especially his mental nature, has a spontaneous tendency to give a favourable explanation for everything he thinks, feels, says and does. It is only by observing these movements with great care, by bringing them, as it were, before the tribunal of our highest ideal, with a sincere will to submit to its judgment, that we can hope to form in ourselves a discernment that never errs. For if we truly want to progress and acquire the capacity of knowing the truth of our being, that is to say, what we are truly created for, what we can call our mission upon earth, then we must, in a very regular and constant manner, reject from us or eliminate in us whatever contradicts the truth of our existence, whatever is opposed to it. In this way, little by little, all the parts, all the elements of our being can be organised into a homogeneous whole around our psychic centre. This work of unification requires much time to be brought to some degree of perfection. Therefore, in order to accomplish it, we must arm ourselves with patience and endurance, with a determination to prolong our life as long as necessary for the success of our endeavour.
As you pursue this labour of purification and unification, you must at the same time take great care to perfect the external and instrumental part of your being. When the higher truth manifests, it must find in you a mind that is supple and rich enough to be able to give the idea that seeks to express itself a form of thought which preserves its force and clarity. This thought, again, when it seeks to clothe itself in words, must find in you a sufficient power of expression so that the words reveal the thought and do not deform it. And the formula in which you embody the truth should be manifested in all your feelings, all your acts of will, all your actions, in all the movements of your being. Finally, these movements themselves should, by constant effort, attain their highest perfection.
All this can be realised by means of a fourfold discipline, the general outline of which is given here. The four aspects of the discipline do not exclude each other, and can be followed at the same time; indeed, this is preferable. The starting-point is what can be called the psychic discipline. We give the name "psychic" to the psychological centre of our being, the seat within us of the highest truth of our existence, that which can know this truth and set it in movement. It is therefore of capital importance to become conscious of its presence in us, to concentrate on this presence until it becomes a living fact for us and we can identify ourselves with it.
In various times and places many methods have been prescribed for attaining this perception and ultimately achieving this identification. Some methods are psychological, some religious, some even mechanical. In reality, everyone has to find the one which suits him best, and if one has an ardent and steadfast aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet, in one way or another - outwardly through reading and study, inwardly through concentration, meditation, revelation and experience - the help one needs to reach the goal. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable: the will to discover and to realise. This discovery and realisation should be the primary preoccupation of our being, the pearl of great price which we must acquire at any cost. Whatever you do, whatever your occupations and activities, the will to find the truth of your being and to unite with it must be always living and present behind all that you do, all that you feel, all that you think.
To complement this movement of inner discovery, it would be good not to neglect the development of the mind. For the mental instrument can equally be a great help or a great hindrance. In its natural state the human mind is always limited in its vision, narrow in its understanding, rigid in its conceptions, and a constant effort is therefore needed to widen it, to make it more supple and profound. So it is very necessary to consider everything from as many points of view as possible. Towards this end, there is an exercise which gives great suppleness and elevation to the thought. It is as follows: a clearly formulated thesis is set; against it is opposed its antithesis, formulated with the same precision. Then by careful reflection the problem must be widened or transcended until a synthesis is found which unites the two contraries in a larger, higher and more comprehensive idea.
Many other exercises of the same kind can be undertaken; some have a beneficial effect on the character and so possess a double advantage: that of educating the mind and that of establishing control over the feelings and their consequences. For example, you must never allow your mind to judge things and people, for the mind is not an instrument of knowledge; it is incapable of finding knowledge, but it must be moved by knowledge. Knowledge belongs to a much higher domain than that of the human mind, far above the region of pure ideas. The mind has to be silent and attentive to receive knowledge from above and manifest it. For it is an instrument of formation, of organisation and action, and it is in these functions that it attains its full value and real usefulness.
There is another practice which can be very helpful to the progress of the consciousness. Whenever there is a disagreement on any matter, such as a decision to be taken, or an action to be carried out, one must never remain closed up in one's own conception or point of view. On the contrary, one must make an effort to understand the other's point of view, to put oneself in his place and, instead of quarrelling or even fighting, find the solution which can reasonably satisfy both parties; there always is one for men of goodwill.
Here we must mention the discipline of the vital. The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depressions, of passions and revolts. It can set everything in motion, build and realise; but it can also destroy and mar everything. Thus it may be the most difficult part to discipline in the human being. It is a long and exacting labour requiring great patience and perfect sincerity, for without sincerity you will deceive yourself from the very outset, and all endeavour for progress will be in vain. With the collaboration of the vital no realisation seems impossible, no transformation impracticable. But the difficulty lies in securing this constant collaboration. The vital is a good worker, but most often it seeks its own satisfaction. If that is refused, totally or even partially, the vital gets vexed, sulks and goes on strike. Its energy disappears more or less completely and in its place leaves disgust for people and things, discouragement or revolt, depression and dissatisfaction. At such moments it is good to remain quiet and refuse to act; for these are the times when one does stupid things and in a few moments one can destroy or spoil the progress that has been made during months of regular effort. These crises are shorter and less dangerous for those who have established a contact with their psychic being which is sufficient to keep alive in them the flame of aspiration and the consciousness of the ideal to be realised. They can, with the help of this consciousness, deal with their vital as one deals with a rebellious child, with patience and perseverance, showing it the truth and light, endeavouring to convince it and awaken in it the goodwill which has been veiled for a time. By means of such patient intervention each crisis can be turned into a new progress, into one more step towards the goal. Progress may be slow, relapses may be frequent, but if a courageous will is maintained, one is sure to triumph one day and see all difficulties melt and vanish before the radiance of the truth-consciousness.
Lastly, by means of a rational and discerning physical education, we must make our body strong and supple enough to become a fit instrument in the material world for the truth-force which wants to manifest through us.
In fact, the body must not rule, it must obey. By its very nature it is a docile and faithful servant. Unfortunately, it rarely has the capacity of discernment it ought to have with regard to its masters, the mind and the vital. It obeys them blindly, at the cost of its own well-being. The mind with its dogmas, its rigid and arbitrary principles, the vital with its passions, its excesses and dissipations soon destroy the natural balance of the body and create in it fatigue, exhaustion and disease. It must be freed from this tyranny and this can be done only through a constant union with the psychic centre of the being. The body has a wonderful capacity of adaptation and endurance. It is able to do so many more things than one usually imagines. If, instead of the ignorant and despotic masters that now govern it, it is ruled by the central truth of the being, you will be amazed at what it is capable of doing. Calm and quiet, strong and poised, at every minute it will be able to put forth the effort that is demanded of it, for it will have learnt to find rest in action and to recuperate, through contact with the universal forces, the energies it expends consciously and usefully. In this sound and balanced life a new harmony will manifest in the body, reflecting the harmony of the higher regions, which will give it perfect proportions and ideal beauty of form. And this harmony will be progressive, for the truth of the being is never static; it is a perpetual unfolding of a growing perfection that is more and more total and comprehensive. As soon as the body has learnt to follow this movement of progressive harmony, it will be possible for it to escape, through a continuous process of transformation, from the necessity of disintegration and destruction. Thus the irrevocable law of death will no longer have any reason to exist.
When we reach this degree of perfection which is our goal, we shall perceive that the truth we seek is made up of four major aspects: Love, Knowledge, Power and Beauty. These four attributes of the Truth will express themselves spontaneously in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love, the mind will be the vehicle of infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible power and strength and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and harmony.
Bulletin, November 1950
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
79:Mental Education
OF ALL lines of education, mental education is the most widely known and practised, yet except in a few rare cases there are gaps which make it something very incomplete and in the end quite insufficient.
Generally speaking, schooling is considered to be all the mental education that is necessary. And when a child has been made to undergo, for a number of years, a methodical training which is more like cramming than true schooling, it is considered that whatever is necessary for his mental development has been done. Nothing of the kind. Even conceding that the training is given with due measure and discrimination and does not permanently damage the brain, it cannot impart to the human mind the faculties it needs to become a good and useful instrument. The schooling that is usually given can, at the most, serve as a system of gymnastics to increase the suppleness of the brain. From this standpoint, each branch of human learning represents a special kind of mental gymnastics, and the verbal formulations given to these various branches each constitute a special and well-defined language.
A true mental education, which will prepare man for a higher life, has five principal phases. Normally these phases follow one after another, but in exceptional individuals they may alternate or even proceed simultaneously. These five phases, in brief, are:
(1) Development of the power of concentration, the capacity of attention.
(2) Development of the capacities of expansion, widening, complexity and richness.
(3) Organisation of one's ideas around a central idea, a higher ideal or a supremely luminous idea that will serve as a guide in life.
(4) Thought-control, rejection of undesirable thoughts, to become able to think only what one wants and when one wants.
(5) Development of mental silence, perfect calm and a more and more total receptivity to inspirations coming from the higher regions of the being.
It is not possible to give here all the details concerning the methods to be employed in the application of these five phases of education to different individuals. Still, a few explanations on points of detail can be given.
Undeniably, what most impedes mental progress in children is the constant dispersion of their thoughts. Their thoughts flutter hither and thither like butterflies and they have to make a great effort to fix them. Yet this capacity is latent in them, for when you succeed in arousing their interest, they are capable of a good deal of attention. By his ingenuity, therefore, the educator will gradually help the child to become capable of a sustained effort of attention and a faculty of more and more complete absorption in the work in hand. All methods that can develop this faculty of attention from games to rewards are good and can all be utilised according to the need and the circumstances. But it is the psychological action that is most important and the sovereign method is to arouse in the child an interest in what you want to teach him, a liking for work, a will to progress. To love to learn is the most precious gift that one can give to a child: to love to learn always and everywhere, so that all circumstances, all happenings in life may be constantly renewed opportunities for learning more and always more.
For that, to attention and concentration should be added observation, precise recording and faithfulness of memory. This faculty of observation can be developed by varied and spontaneous exercises, making use of every opportunity that presents itself to keep the child's thought wakeful, alert and prompt. The growth of the understanding should be stressed much more than that of memory. One knows well only what one has understood. Things learnt by heart, mechanically, fade away little by little and finally disappear; what is understood is never forgotten. Moreover, you must never refuse to explain to a child the how and the why of things. If you cannot do it yourself, you must direct the child to those who are qualified to answer or point out to him some books that deal with the question. In this way you will progressively awaken in the child the taste for true study and the habit of making a persistent effort to know.
This will bring us quite naturally to the second phase of development in which the mind should be widened and enriched.
You will gradually show the child that everything can become an interesting subject for study if it is approached in the right way. The life of every day, of every moment, is the best school of all, varied, complex, full of unexpected experiences, problems to be solved, clear and striking examples and obvious consequences. It is so easy to arouse healthy curiosity in children, if you answer with intelligence and clarity the numerous questions they ask. An interesting reply to one readily brings others in its train and so the attentive child learns without effort much more than he usually does in the classroom. By a choice made with care and insight, you should also teach him to enjoy good reading-matter which is both instructive and attractive. Do not be afraid of anything that awakens and pleases his imagination; imagination develops the creative mental faculty and through it study becomes living and the mind develops in joy.
In order to increase the suppleness and comprehensiveness of his mind, one should see not only that he studies many varied topics, but above all that a single subject is approached in various ways, so that the child understands in a practical manner that there are many ways of facing the same intellectual problem, of considering it and solving it. This will remove all rigidity from his brain and at the same time it will make his thinking richer and more supple and prepare it for a more complex and comprehensive synthesis. In this way also the child will be imbued with the sense of the extreme relativity of mental learning and, little by little, an aspiration for a truer source of knowledge will awaken in him.
Indeed, as the child grows older and progresses in his studies, his mind too ripens and becomes more and more capable of forming general ideas, and with them almost always comes a need for certitude, for a knowledge that is stable enough to form the basis of a mental construction which will permit all the diverse and scattered and often contradictory ideas accumulated in his brain to be organised and put in order. This ordering is indeed very necessary if one is to avoid chaos in one's thoughts. All contradictions can be transformed into complements, but for that one must discover the higher idea that will have the power to bring them harmoniously together. It is always good to consider every problem from all possible standpoints so as to avoid partiality and exclusiveness; but if the thought is to be active and creative, it must, in every case, be the natural and logical synthesis of all the points of view adopted. And if you want to make the totality of your thoughts into a dynamic and constructive force, you must also take great care as to the choice of the central idea of your mental synthesis; for upon that will depend the value of this synthesis. The higher and larger the central idea and the more universal it is, rising above time and space, the more numerous and the more complex will be the ideas, notions and thoughts which it will be able to organise and harmonise.
It goes without saying that this work of organisation cannot be done once and for all. The mind, if it is to keep its vigour and youth, must progress constantly, revise its notions in the light of new knowledge, enlarge its frame-work to include fresh notions and constantly reclassify and reorganise its thoughts, so that each of them may find its true place in relation to the others and the whole remain harmonious and orderly.
All that has just been said concerns the speculative mind, the mind that learns. But learning is only one aspect of mental activity; the other, which is at least equally important, is the constructive faculty, the capacity to form and thus prepare action. This very important part of mental activity has rarely been the subject of any special study or discipline. Only those who want, for some reason, to exercise a strict control over their mental activities think of observing and disciplining this faculty of formation; and as soon as they try it, they have to face difficulties so great that they appear almost insurmountable.
And yet control over this formative activity of the mind is one of the most important aspects of self-education; one can say that without it no mental mastery is possible. As far as study is concerned, all ideas are acceptable and should be included in the synthesis, whose very function is to become more and more rich and complex; but where action is concerned, it is just the opposite. The ideas that are accepted for translation into action should be strictly controlled and only those that agree with the general trend of the central idea forming the basis of the mental synthesis should be permitted to express themselves in action. This means that every thought entering the mental consciousness should be set before the central idea; if it finds a logical place among the thoughts already grouped, it will be admitted into the synthesis; if not, it will be rejected so that it can have no influence on the action. This work of mental purification should be done very regularly in order to secure a complete control over one's actions.
For this purpose, it is good to set apart some time every day when one can quietly go over one's thoughts and put one's synthesis in order. Once the habit is acquired, you can maintain control over your thoughts even during work and action, allowing only those which are useful for what you are doing to come to the surface. Particularly, if you have continued to cultivate the power of concentration and attention, only the thoughts that are needed will be allowed to enter the active external consciousness and they then become all the more dynamic and effective. And if, in the intensity of concentration, it becomes necessary not to think at all, all mental vibration can be stilled and an almost total silence secured. In this silence one can gradually open to the higher regions of the mind and learn to record the inspirations that come from there.
But even before reaching this point, silence in itself is supremely useful, because in most people who have a somewhat developed and active mind, the mind is never at rest. During the day, its activity is kept under a certain control, but at night, during the sleep of the body, the control of the waking state is almost completely removed and the mind indulges in activities which are sometimes excessive and often incoherent. This creates a great stress which leads to fatigue and the diminution of the intellectual faculties.
The fact is that like all the other parts of the human being, the mind too needs rest and it will not have this rest unless we know how to provide it. The art of resting one's mind is something to be acquired. Changing one's mental activity is certainly one way of resting; but the greatest possible rest is silence. And as far as the mental faculties are concerned a few minutes passed in the calm of silence are a more effective rest than hours of sleep.
When one has learned to silence the mind at will and to concentrate it in receptive silence, then there will be no problem that cannot be solved, no mental difficulty whose solution cannot be found. When it is agitated, thought becomes confused and impotent; in an attentive tranquillity, the light can manifest itself and open up new horizons to man's capacity. Bulletin, November 1951
~ The Mother, On Education,#KEYS
80:It does not matter if you do not understand it - Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step.
But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.
Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate on Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs. For him who wishes to follow this path, it is a concrete help as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every question, however personal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds its solution herein; indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.
*He has crammed the whole universe in a single book.* It is a marvellous work, magnificent and of an incomparable perfection.
You know, before writing Savitri Sri Aurobindo said to me, *I am impelled to launch on a new adventure; I was hesitant in the beginning, but now I am decided. Still, I do not know how far I shall succeed. I pray for help.* And you know what it was? It was - before beginning, I warn you in advance - it was His way of speaking, so full of divine humility and modesty. He never... *asserted Himself*. And the day He actually began it, He told me: *I have launched myself in a rudderless boat upon the vastness of the Infinite.* And once having started, He wrote page after page without intermission, as though it were a thing already complete up there and He had only to transcribe it in ink down here on these pages.
In truth, the entire form of Savitri has descended "en masse" from the highest region and Sri Aurobindo with His genius only arranged the lines - in a superb and magnificent style. Sometimes entire lines were revealed and He has left them intact; He worked hard, untiringly, so that the inspiration could come from the highest possible summit. And what a work He has created! Yes, it is a true creation in itself. It is an unequalled work. Everything is there, and it is put in such a simple, such a clear form; verses perfectly harmonious, limpid and eternally true. My child, I have read so many things, but I have never come across anything which could be compared with Savitri. I have studied the best works in Greek, Latin, English and of course French literature, also in German and all the great creations of the West and the East, including the great epics; but I repeat it, I have not found anywhere anything comparable with Savitri. All these literary works seems to me empty, flat, hollow, without any deep reality - apart from a few rare exceptions, and these too represent only a small fraction of what Savitri is. What grandeur, what amplitude, what reality: it is something immortal and eternal He has created. I tell you once again there is nothing like in it the whole world. Even if one puts aside the vision of the reality, that is, the essential substance which is the heart of the inspiration, and considers only the lines in themselves, one will find them unique, of the highest classical kind. What He has created is something man cannot imagine. For, everything is there, everything.
It may then be said that Savitri is a revelation, it is a meditation, it is a quest of the Infinite, the Eternal. If it is read with this aspiration for Immortality, the reading itself will serve as a guide to Immortality. To read Savitri is indeed to practice Yoga, spiritual concentration; one can find there all that is needed to realise the Divine. Each step of Yoga is noted here, including the secret of all other Yogas. Surely, if one sincerely follows what is revealed here in each line one will reach finally the transformation of the Supramental Yoga. It is truly the infallible guide who never abandons you; its support is always there for him who wants to follow the path. Each verse of Savitri is like a revealed Mantra which surpasses all that man possessed by way of knowledge, and I repeat this, the words are expressed and arranged in such a way that the sonority of the rhythm leads you to the origin of sound, which is OM.
My child, yes, everything is there: mysticism, occultism, philosophy, the history of evolution, the history of man, of the gods, of creation, of Nature. How the universe was created, why, for what purpose, what destiny - all is there. You can find all the answers to all your questions there. Everything is explained, even the future of man and of the evolution, all that nobody yet knows. He has described it all in beautiful and clear words so that spiritual adventurers who wish to solve the mysteries of the world may understand it more easily. But this mystery is well hidden behind the words and lines and one must rise to the required level of true consciousness to discover it. All prophesies, all that is going to come is presented with the precise and wonderful clarity. Sri Aurobindo gives you here the key to find the Truth, to discover the Consciousness, to solve the problem of what the universe is. He has also indicated how to open the door of the Inconscience so that the light may penetrate there and transform it. He has shown the path, the way to liberate oneself from the ignorance and climb up to the superconscience; each stage, each plane of consciousness, how they can be scaled, how one can cross even the barrier of death and attain immortality. You will find the whole journey in detail, and as you go forward you can discover things altogether unknown to man. That is Savitri and much more yet. It is a real experience - reading Savitri. All the secrets that man possessed, He has revealed, - as well as all that awaits him in the future; all this is found in the depth of Savitri. But one must have the knowledge to discover it all, the experience of the planes of consciousness, the experience of the Supermind, even the experience of the conquest of Death. He has noted all the stages, marked each step in order to advance integrally in the integral Yoga.
All this is His own experience, and what is most surprising is that it is my own experience also. It is my sadhana which He has worked out. Each object, each event, each realisation, all the descriptions, even the colours are exactly what I saw and the words, phrases are also exactly what I heard. And all this before having read the book. I read Savitri many times afterwards, but earlier, when He was writing He used to read it to me. Every morning I used to hear Him read Savitri. During the night He would write and in the morning read it to me. And I observed something curious, that day after day the experiences He read out to me in the morning were those I had had the previous night, word by word. Yes, all the descriptions, the colours, the pictures I had seen, the words I had heard, all, all, I heard it all, put by Him into poetry, into miraculous poetry. Yes, they were exactly my experiences of the previous night which He read out to me the following morning. And it was not just one day by chance, but for days and days together. And every time I used to compare what He said with my previous experiences and they were always the same. I repeat, it was not that I had told Him my experiences and that He had noted them down afterwards, no, He knew already what I had seen. It is my experiences He has presented at length and they were His experiences also. It is, moreover, the picture of Our joint adventure into the unknown or rather into the Supermind.
These are experiences lived by Him, realities, supracosmic truths. He experienced all these as one experiences joy or sorrow, physically. He walked in the darkness of inconscience, even in the neighborhood of death, endured the sufferings of perdition, and emerged from the mud, the world-misery to breathe the sovereign plenitude and enter the supreme Ananda. He crossed all these realms, went through the consequences, suffered and endured physically what one cannot imagine. Nobody till today has suffered like Him. He accepted suffering to transform suffering into the joy of union with the Supreme. It is something unique and incomparable in the history of the world. It is something that has never happened before, He is the first to have traced the path in the Unknown, so that we may be able to walk with certitude towards the Supermind. He has made the work easy for us. Savitri is His whole Yoga of transformation, and this Yoga appears now for the first time in the earth-consciousness.
And I think that man is not yet ready to receive it. It is too high and too vast for him. He cannot understand it, grasp it, for it is not by the mind that one can understand Savitri. One needs spiritual experiences in order to understand and assimilate it. The farther one advances on the path of Yoga, the more does one assimilate and the better. No, it is something which will be appreciated only in the future, it is the poetry of tomorrow of which He has spoken in The Future Poetry. It is too subtle, too refined, - it is not in the mind or through the mind, it is in meditation that Savitri is revealed.
And men have the audacity to compare it with the work of Virgil or Homer and to find it inferior. They do not understand, they cannot understand. What do they know? Nothing at all. And it is useless to try to make them understand. Men will know what it is, but in a distant future. It is only the new race with a new consciousness which will be able to understand. I assure you there is nothing under the blue sky to compare with Savitri. It is the mystery of mysteries. It is a *super-epic,* it is super-literature, super-poetry, super-vision, it is a super-work even if one considers the number of lines He has written. No, these human words are not adequate to describe Savitri. Yes, one needs superlatives, hyperboles to describe it. It is a hyper-epic. No, words express nothing of what Savitri is, at least I do not find them. It is of immense value - spiritual value and all other values; it is eternal in its subject, and infinite in its appeal, miraculous in its mode and power of execution; it is a unique thing, the more you come into contact with it, the higher will you be uplifted. Ah, truly it is something! It is the most beautiful thing He has left for man, the highest possible. What is it? When will man know it? When is he going to lead a life of truth? When is he going to accept this in his life? This yet remains to be seen.
My child, every day you are going to read Savitri; read properly, with the right attitude, concentrating a little before opening the pages and trying to keep the mind as empty as possible, absolutely without a thought. The direct road is through the heart. I tell you, if you try to really concentrate with this aspiration you can light the flame, the psychic flame, the flame of purification in a very short time, perhaps in a few days. What you cannot do normally, you can do with the help of Savitri. Try and you will see how very different it is, how new, if you read with this attitude, with this something at the back of your consciousness; as though it were an offering to Sri Aurobindo. You know it is charged, fully charged with consciousness; as if Savitri were a being, a real guide. I tell you, whoever, wanting to practice Yoga, tries sincerely and feels the necessity for it, will be able to climb with the help of Savitri to the highest rung of the ladder of Yoga, will be able to find the secret that Savitri represents. And this without the help of a Guru. And he will be able to practice it anywhere. For him Savitri alone will be the guide, for all that he needs he will find Savitri. If he remains very quiet when before a difficulty, or when he does not know where to turn to go forward and how to overcome obstacles, for all these hesitations and incertitudes which overwhelm us at every moment, he will have the necessary indications, and the necessary concrete help. If he remains very calm, open, if he aspires sincerely, always he will be as if lead by the hand. If he has faith, the will to give himself and essential sincerity he will reach the final goal.
Indeed, Savitri is something concrete, living, it is all replete, packed with consciousness, it is the supreme knowledge above all human philosophies and religions. It is the spiritual path, it is Yoga, Tapasya, Sadhana, in its single body. Savitri has an extraordinary power, it gives out vibrations for him who can receive them, the true vibrations of each stage of consciousness. It is incomparable, it is truth in its plenitude, the Truth Sri Aurobindo brought down on the earth. My child, one must try to find the secret that Savitri represents, the prophetic message Sri Aurobindo reveals there for us. This is the work before you, it is hard but it is worth the trouble. - 5 November 1967
~ The Mother, Sweet Mother, The Mother to Mona Sarkar, [T0],#KEYS
*** WISDOM TROVE ***
1:Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 2:On the way to work, concentrate on the way - not the work. ~ jim-rohn, @wisdomtrove 3:Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 4:Concentrate your energy, your thoughts and your capital. ~ andrew-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 5:It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world ~ og-mandino, @wisdomtrove 6:What you focus on grows. What you concentrate on is what you see more of in your life. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove 7:Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. ~ johann-wolfgang-von-goethe, @wisdomtrove 8:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ buddha, @wisdomtrove 9:The secret of great battles consists in knowing how to deploy and concentrate at the right time. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 10:To be successful, you should concentrate on the world of companies, not arcane accounting mathematics. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 11:The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim. ~ napoleon-hill, @wisdomtrove 12:Define your goals in terms of the activities necessary to achieve them, and concentrate on those activities. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 13:We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 14:You can't concentrate on doing anything if you are thinking, What's gonna happen if it doesn't go right? ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 15:As soon as children find something that interests them they lose their instability and learn to concentrate. ~ maria-montessori, @wisdomtrove 16:Concentrate on the activities of prospecting, presenting and following-up; the sales will take care of themselves. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 17:Its like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory. ~ bruce-lee, @wisdomtrove 18:Just concentrate on thinking and living and acting in harmony with God's laws and inspiring others to do likewise. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 19:If you concentrate on the present, you eliminate what happened yesterday and any apprehension of what may happen tomorrow. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 20:It seems essential, in relationships and all tasks, that we concentrate only on what is most significant and important. ~ soren-kierkegaard, @wisdomtrove 21:What you concentrate on largely determines the quality and quantity of the results that you get and the success that you enjoy. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 22:If I am able to determine the enemy's dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 23:To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 24:Concentrate your energies, your thoughts and your capital. The wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket. ~ andrew-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 25:That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones. ~ kurt-vonnegut, @wisdomtrove 26:Over the years, I've learned that a confident person doesn't concentrate or focus on their weaknesses - they maximize their strengths. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 27:Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 28:The power to concentrate was the most important thing. Living without this power would be like opening one’s eyes without seeing anything. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 29:Although my spelling is still sometimes poor, I have managed to overcome the worst of my difficulties through training myself to concentrate. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 30:John Maynard Keynes essentially said, don't try and figure out what the market is doing. Figure out a business you understand, and concentrate. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 31:Be willing to take the first step, no matter how small it is. Concentrate on the fact that you are willing to learn. Absolute miracles will happen. ~ louise-hay, @wisdomtrove 32:The Pertinent Question is NOT how to do things right - but how to find the right things to do, and to concentrate resources and efforts on them. ~ peter-drucker, @wisdomtrove 33:People can't concentrate properly on blowing other people to pieces properly if their minds are poisoned by thoughts suitable to the 25th of December ~ ogden-nash, @wisdomtrove 34:Concentrate . . . for the greatest achievements are reserved for the man of single aim, in whom no rival powers divide the empire of the soul. ~ orison-swett-marden, @wisdomtrove 35:When you go to a power place, if you are receptive, if you are able to quiet your thoughts and concentrate, a lot of that power can enter into you. ~ frederick-lenz, @wisdomtrove 36:Your ability to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay at it until it is complete, is an essential prerequisite for success. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 37:Always concentrate on the most valuable use of your time. This is what separates the winners from the losers. Self-esteem is the reputation you have with yourself. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 38:Control your thoughts. Decide about that which you will think and concentrate upon. You are in charge of your life to the degree you take charge of your thoughts. ~ earl-nightingale, @wisdomtrove 39:He who pays no attention to what his neighbor does, says or thinks, preferring to concentrate on making his own actions appropriate and justifiable, better uses his time. ~ marcus-aurelius, @wisdomtrove 40:I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 41:Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed. ~ paulo-coelho, @wisdomtrove 42:Everything seems to me to pass so quickly that we must concentrate on how to die rather than on how to live. How sweet it is to die if one has lived on the Cross with Christ. ~ teresa-of-avila, @wisdomtrove 43:Your ability to use the principle of autosuggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession. ~ napoleon-hill, @wisdomtrove 44:Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 45:Our task is to find teaching methods that continually engage the whole human being. We would not succeed in this endeavor if we failed to concentrate on developing the human sense of art. ~ rudolf-steiner, @wisdomtrove 46:Successful people know they need to get many things done-and done effectively. Therefore, they concentrate their time and energy on doing one thing at a time-and on doing first things firs. ~ peter-drucker, @wisdomtrove 47:The more the capacity to concentrate is developed, the more often the profound tranquility in work is achieved, then the clearer will be the manifestation of discipline within the child. ~ maria-montessori, @wisdomtrove 48:I generally concentrate on work for three or four hours every morning. I sit at my desk and focus totally on what I’m writing. I don’t see anything else, I don’t think about anything else. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 49:Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 50:To learn to concentrate we must choose a prayer or meditation and follow this path with commitment and steadiness, a willingness to work with our practice day after day, no matter what arises. ~ jack-kornfield, @wisdomtrove 51:The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do. ~ denis-waitley, @wisdomtrove 52:Our model is to develop each business separately with its own shareholder and management - this way we can concentrate on the job in hand, rather than be part of some enormous and faceless conglomerate. ~ richard-branson, @wisdomtrove 53:One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. ~ tony-robbins, @wisdomtrove 54:He could not be mistaken. There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world who could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she. It was Kitty. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove 55:I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on longer in these terrible times. I shan't recover this time. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought against it but cannot fight any longer. ~ virginia-woolf, @wisdomtrove 56:The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 57:It is not book learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebra which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies, do a thing. ~ elbert-hubbard, @wisdomtrove 58:My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically. ~ stephen-hawking, @wisdomtrove 59:My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically. ~ stephen-hawking, @wisdomtrove 60:It is sufficient to estimate the enemy situation correctly and to concentrate your strength to capture him. There is no more to it than this. He who lacks foresight and underestimates his enemy will surely be captured by him. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 61:Most people don't remember names, for the simple reason that they don't take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. They make excuses for themselves; they are too busy. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 62:Self-realization may be and sometimes is attained even by people who are struggling with sick and otherwise imperfect bodies; but it cannot be attained unless one can concentrate and meditate uninterruptedly upon God. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove 63:Our policy is to concentrate holdings. We try to avoid buying a little of this or that when we are only lukewarm about the business or its price. When we are convinced as to attractiveness, we believe in buying worthwhile amounts. ~ warren-buffet, @wisdomtrove 64:Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations. ~ nathaniel-branden, @wisdomtrove 65:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 66:So many of us have not attended to the deeper issues in ourselves; in our minds, our hearts, and in our external manifestations that keep love at bay. We instead concentrate on making a list of what we're looking for in another person. ~ marianne-williamson, @wisdomtrove 67:Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged... & 68:When you concentrate on the middle of your chest - this is where loving awareness lives. This is the spiritual heart. Not the beating heart, not the emotional heart. This spiri¬≠tual heart goes way back - goes back many incarnations. We call it the soul. ~ ram-das, @wisdomtrove 69:Create time zones for specific important activities. The idea is not to fill the entire week with time zones, but to set aside a few specific periods during which you can concentrate on non- urgent and important activities relating to your goals. ~ stephen-r-covey, @wisdomtrove 70:& 71:And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We're always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important. ~ steve-jobs, @wisdomtrove 72:We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we will not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace ~ martin-luther-king, @wisdomtrove 73:Throughout my career, I have discovered and rediscovered a simple truth.It is this: the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the key to great success, achievement, respect, status and happiness in life. ~ brian-tracy, @wisdomtrove 74:For me the information has to remain incredibly neutral. It's what I would call & 75:To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind, to concentrate and go beyond the mind. By turning the mind's concentration inward, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of Meditation. ~ sivananda, @wisdomtrove 76:To concentrate implies bringing all your energy to focus on a certain point; but thought wanders away... Whereas attention has no control, no concentration. It is complete attention, which means giving all your energy, the energy of the brain, your heart, everything, to attending. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 77:Think about all the good things of your life. Never think about your difficulties. Forget yourself, and concentrate on being of service as much as you can in this world, and then, having lost your lower self in a cause greater than yourself, you will find your higher self: your real self. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 78:Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. ~ george-washington, @wisdomtrove 79:For me the information has to remain incredibly neutral. It's what I would call & 80:In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day. ~ napoleon-bonaparte, @wisdomtrove 81:If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it. ~ sun-tzu, @wisdomtrove 82:Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it. ~ andrew-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 83:I liked school, but I used to dread those moments when the teacher would call me up to give an oral report. I forced myself to deal with it and not dwell on the class in front of me - to keep a straight face, give the report and concentrate on getting it right. That's normally how I perform. That's how I am. ~ steven-wright, @wisdomtrove 84:My mind has been the most discontented and restless one that ever was put into a body too small for it... . I never felt my mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment- upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses ~ john-keats, @wisdomtrove 85:Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise-even in their own field. ~ isaac-asimov, @wisdomtrove 86:They alone live whose lives are in the whole universe, and the more we concentrate our lives on limited things, the faster we go towards death. Those moments alone we live when our lives are in the universe, in others; and living this little life is death, simply death, and that is why the fear of death comes. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove 87:I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality; therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture. ~ napoleon-hill, @wisdomtrove 88:In all the people I meet - though some may be governed by the self-centered nature and may not know their potential at all - I see that divine spark. And that's what I concentrate on. All people look beautiful to me; they look like shining lights to me. I always have the feeling of being thankful for these beautiful people who walk the earth with me. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 89:To concentrate is not to meditate, even though that is what most of you do, calling it meditation. And if concentration is not meditation, then what is? Surely, meditation is to understand every thought that comes into being, and not to dwell upon one particular thought; it is to invite all thoughts so that you understand the whole process of thinking. ~ jiddu-krishnamurti, @wisdomtrove 90:Keep a grateful journal. Every night, list five things that happened this day that you are grateful for. What it will begin to do is change your perspective of your day and your life. If you can learn to focus on what you have, you will always see that the universe is abundant; you will have more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough. ~ oprah-winfrey, @wisdomtrove 91:I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time, no matter how quickly its successor should come upon its heels, which I then formed. ~ charles-dickens, @wisdomtrove 92:In difficult times, people too often lose the ability to face the future optimistically. They begin to think about their tomorrow's negatively. They forget that the tough times will pass. They concentrate on the problems of today rather than on the opportunities of tomorrow. In so doing, they not only lose the potential of today, they also throw away the beauty of tomorrow. ~ robert-h-schuller, @wisdomtrove 93:Q: Is there any particular place you would advise me to go to for spiritual attainment? M: The only proper place is within. The outer world neither can help nor hinder. No system, no pattern of action will take you to your goal. Give up all working for a future, concentrate totally on the now, be concerned only with your response to every movement of life as it happens. ~ sri-nisargadatta-maharaj, @wisdomtrove 94:One of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem. ~ dale-carnegie, @wisdomtrove 95:The essence of the modern state is that the universal be bound up with the complete freedom of its particular members and with private well-being, that thus the interests of family and civil society must concentrate themselves on the state. It is only when both these moments subsist in their strength that the state can be regarded as articulated and genuinely organized. ~ georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel, @wisdomtrove 96:Chris Langan] told me not long ago. I found if I go to bed with a question on my mind, all I have to do is concentrate on the question before I go to sleep and I virtually always have the answer in the morning. Sometimes I realize what the answer is because I dreamt the answer and I can remember it. Other times I just feel the answer, and I start typing and the answer emerges onto the page. ~ malcolm-gladwell, @wisdomtrove 97:It will begin with its President taking a simple, firm resolution. The resolution will be: To forego the diversions of politics and to concentrate on the job of ending the Korean war-until that job is honorably done. That job requires a personal trip to Korea. I shall make that trip. Only in that way could I learn how best to serve the American people in the cause of peace. I shall go to Korea. ~ dwight-eisenhower, @wisdomtrove 98:Today Lord I am going to do my best with Your help and for Your glory. I realize that there are many different people in the world with a variety of opinions and expectations. I will concentrate on being a God-pleaser and not a self-pleaser or man-pleaser. The rest I leave in Your hands lord. Grant me favor with You and with men and continue transforming me into the image of Your dear Son. Thank You Lord. ~ joyce-meyer, @wisdomtrove 99:Now there is living to give instead of to get. As you concentrate on the giving, you discover that just as you cannot receive without giving, so neither can you give without receiving - even the most wonderful things like health and happiness and inner peace. There is a feeling of endless energy, it just never runs out, it seems to be as endless as air. You seem to be plugged in to the source of universal energy. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 100:Intellect can veil itself from the world and concentrate its gaze within, and though it sees nothing, it will behold a light - not an external light in some perceived object, but a solitary light, pure and self-contained, suddenly revealed within itself… We must not enquire whence it comes, for there is no "whence"… He does not come as one expected, and his coming knows no arrival; he is beheld not as one who enters but who is eternally present. ~ plotinus, @wisdomtrove 101:The path of the seeker is full of pitfalls and temptations, and the seeker must walk it alone with God. I would recommend that you keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights, so that you may attract only good. Concentrate on giving so that you may open yourself to receiving; concentrate on living according to the light you have so that you may open yourself to more light; get as much light as possible through the inner way. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 102:If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a defeatist or negative thought. Since we create through thought, we need to concentrate very strongly on positive thoughts. If you think you can't do something, you can't. But if you think you can, you may be surprised to discover that you can. It is important that our thoughts be constantly for the best that could happen in a situation - for the good things we would like to see happen. ~ peace-pilgrim, @wisdomtrove 103:Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything. ~ thomas-merton, @wisdomtrove 104:Math is like water. It has a lot of difficult theories, of course, but its basic logic is very simple. Just as water flows from high to low over the shortest possible distance, figures can only flow in one direction. You just have to keep your eye on them for the route to reveal itself. That’s all it takes. You don’t have to do a thing. Just concentrate your attention and keep your eyes open, and the figures make everything clear to you. In this whole, wide world, the only thing that treats me so kindly is math. ~ haruki-murakami, @wisdomtrove 105:Tao is obscured when men understand only one pair of opposites, or concentrate only on a partial aspect of being. Then clear expression also becomes muddled by mere wordplay, affirming this one aspect and denying all the rest. The pivot of Tao passes through the center where all affirmations and denials converge. He who grasps the pivot is at the still-point from which all movements and oppositions can be seen in their right relationship... Abandoning all thought of imposing a limit or taking sides, he rests in direct intuition. ~ zhuangzi, @wisdomtrove 106:but it wasn't just about my feelings. The more I got to know you, the more I was certain that you'd do whatever it took to provide for your family. That was important to me. You have to understand that back then, a lot of people our age wanted to change the world. Even though it's a noble idea, I knew I wanted something more traditional. I wanted a family like my parents had, and I wanted to concentrate on my little corner of the world. I wanted someone who wanted to marry a wife and a mother, and someone who would respect my choice. ~ nicholas-sparks, @wisdomtrove 107:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character& 108:If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to a star or some equally unattainable object, it wouldn't succeed. Only, it wouldn't even try in the first place. A moth confines its search to what has sense and value for it, what it needs, what is indispensable to its life... if I imagined that I wanted under all circumstances to get to the North Pole, then to achieve it I would have to desire it strongly enough that my whole being was ruled by it. But if I were to decide to will that the pastor should stop wearing his glasses, it would be useless. That would be making a game of it. ~ hermann-hesse, @wisdomtrove 109:A person functioning exclusively in the Cartesian mode may be free from manifest symptoms but cannot be considered mentally healthy. Such individuals typically lead ego-centred, competitive, goal-oriented lives. Overpreoccupied with their past and their future, they tend to have a limited awarenessof the present and thus a limited ability to derive satisfaction from ordinary activities in everyday life. They concentrate on manipulating the external world and measure their living standard by the quantity of material possessions, while they become ever more alienated from their inner world and unable to appreciate the process of life. For people whose existence is dominated by this mode of experience no level of wealth, power, or fame will bring genuine satisfaction ~ fritjof-capra, @wisdomtrove *** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***
1:concentrate on my novel ~ A J Waines, #NFDB
2:I can concentrate on my art. ~ Lou Reed, #NFDB
3:Concentrate on your task. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
4:concentrate on the irreducible core. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
5:The soul should concentrate itself by itself. ~ Plato, #NFDB
6:To concentrate on heaven is to create hell. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
7:Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
8:Concentrate on the Essence, concentrate on the Light. ~ Rumi, #NFDB
9:Concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
10:Concentrate on doing the job, not the fear. ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
11:Concentrate on what the other person says. ~ David J Schwartz, #NFDB
12:All I have to concentrate on is my performing. ~ Mickey Gilley, #NFDB
13:Just concentrate on what you're supposed to do ~ Jeff Van Gundy, #NFDB
14:Concentrate on the things that matter to you. ~ Elizabeth Edwards, #NFDB
15:It's hard to concentrate when your feelings are hurt. ~ Jenny Han, #NFDB
16:Concentrate on the small things and do them well. ~ Colin Cotterill, #NFDB
17:If I play, I try to concentrate on producing my best. ~ Oliver Kahn, #NFDB
18:YOU CAN ONLY DO ONE THING AT A TIME SO CONCENTRATE ON IT. ~ Bob Hope, #NFDB
19:If you cannot concentrate, you are not so happy.
~ Haruki Murakami,#NFDB
20:On the way to work, concentrate on the way - not the work. ~ Jim Rohn, #NFDB
21:You get what you concentrate upon. There is no other main rule. ~ Seth, #NFDB
22:Find A Market First... And Then Concentrate On A Product! ~ Gary Halbert, #NFDB
23:Concentrate on your work—it is that that gives you strength. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
24:But today I’m all medulla oblongata and I can’t concentrate. ~ Paul Beatty, #NFDB
25:Concentrate your energy, your thoughts and your capital. ~ Andrew Carnegie, #NFDB
26:Don't dwell on the problem; concentrate on the solution. ~ Jeffrey Gitomer, #NFDB
27:It's very hard to concentrate when your stomach's rumbling. ~ Shania Twain, #NFDB
28:Concentrate on the road ahead, not on the road behind! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
29:The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything. ~ Lee Iacocca, #NFDB
30:concentrate on what you will do, not what you should have done. ~ Jim Butcher, #NFDB
31:Start over again. Concentrate." [to a young Ernest Hemingway] ~ Gertrude Stein, #NFDB
32:You get what you concentrate on…there is no other main rule. ~ Trish MacGregor, #NFDB
33:Turn down the porn soundtrack! Trying to concentrate here!-Shane ~ Rachel Caine, #NFDB
34:Instead of trying to fight your fears, concentrate on trusting Me. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
35:I really love the dark of the night. It helps me to concentrate. ~ Bobby Fischer, #NFDB
36:Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half. ~ Paul Bryant, #NFDB
37:Zoos should concentrate more on the preservation side of things. ~ Gerald Durrell, #NFDB
38:Concentrate on your job and you will forget your other troubles. ~ William Feather, #NFDB
39:Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be dogmas. ~ Ashraf Ghani, #NFDB
40:If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
41:It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick, #NFDB
42:the ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
43:You have to really concentrate on piano or acting. You can't do both. ~ Alicia Witt, #NFDB
44:Concentrate on the small things and do them well. -Dr Siri Paiboun ~ Colin Cotterill, #NFDB
45:Concentrate on your assets. You’re better than you think you are. ~ David J Schwartz, #NFDB
46:I just try to go to work, and concentrate on coming home to my girls. ~ Bruce Willis, #NFDB
47:The more completely you concentrate, the stronger your mind becomes. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
48:When the past is hard to explain, it’s best to concentrate on the future. ~ Nell Zink, #NFDB
49:You have to stop flicking ahead and just concentrate on the page you're on ~ Matt Haig, #NFDB
50:Concentrate your attention entirely upon the thing desired.” Oddly, ~ Neville Goddard, #NFDB
51:Experts say you can't concentrate on more than one task at a time. ~ Marilyn vos Savant, #NFDB
52:Concentrate your strengths against your competitor's relative weaknesses. ~ Paul Gauguin, #NFDB
53:I've always thought you should concentrate on paddling your own canoe. ~ John Dos Passos, #NFDB
54:You could concentrate much more deeply when you were alone with agony. ~ William Goldman, #NFDB
55:You Must Always Find A Market First... And Then Concentrate On A Product! ~ Gary Halbert, #NFDB
56:Concentrate on the Seer, not on the seen. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Face to Face, 197, [T5], #NFDB
57:so many people concentrate on looks, but the invisible is sacred ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
58:Anything for you, Dru. And I mean it. Now, be quiet and let me concentrate. ~ Lili St Crow, #NFDB
59:I'm not perfect. But I am trying every day to concentrate on being better. ~ Allen Iverson, #NFDB
60:Patch: "It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick, #NFDB
61:There is nothing to prove to anyone, just concentrate on your own needs. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
62:Concentrate on the here and now. The future can take care of itself. ~ Christopher G Nuttall, #NFDB
63:I've reached a place with my work where I'm ready to concentrate more on life. ~ Dana Delany, #NFDB
64:Conversation should touch everything, but should concentrate itself on nothing. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
65:Don't concentrate on the obvious. They might want you to miss something else. ~ John Flanagan, #NFDB
66:It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world ~ Og Mandino, #NFDB
67:It is certain that most who concentrate upon achievement miss life. ~ Michael Joseph Oakeshott, #NFDB
68:It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world. ~ Og Mandino, #NFDB
69:Making love is like hitting a baseball. You just gotta relax and concentrate. ~ Susan Sarandon, #NFDB
70:Don't get locked up into the ultimate goal. Just concentrate on the next step. ~ Robert Anthony, #NFDB
71:There was an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine. Now concentrate! ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
72:They so stupid they stared at the orange juice carton because it said concentrate. ~ C L Bevill, #NFDB
73:I was born with an ability to concentrate very hard on a job for a long time. ~ Lord Mountbatten, #NFDB
74:Start all over again and this time, concentrate." [to a young Ernest Hemingway] ~ Gertrude Stein, #NFDB
75:As long as you are conscious of yourself, you can never concentrate on anything. ~ Walpola Rahula, #NFDB
76:Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth. ~ Dorothy Day, #NFDB
77:He strove to concentrate on the journey rather than worry about an uncertain future. ~ Lane Hayes, #NFDB
78:If we will concentrate on the best, that element will grow until it sparkles. ~ Gordon B Hinckley, #NFDB
79:Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
80:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
81:You do miracles if you concentrate your mind on one thing and one thing only. ~ Nikos Kazantzakis, #NFDB
82:Concentrate on being aware of what is; seek no explanations; seek but awareness. ~ L E Modesitt Jr, #NFDB
83:concentrate on doing the best possible work you can in the time allotted for the task. ~ S J Scott, #NFDB
84:I had never seen anyone concentrate like that on anything. It was like watching love. ~ Laura Dave, #NFDB
85:Mistakes happen. Learn from the past, but concentrate on the present and the future. ~ Brandon Mull, #NFDB
86:I think life is far too short to concentrate on your past. I rather look into the future. ~ Lou Reed, #NFDB
87:She couldn’t concentrate enough to lose herself in a book—her lifelong method of escape. ~ Tami Hoag, #NFDB
88:It's never been a priority for me to concentrate on the likability of the character. ~ Johnny Galecki, #NFDB
89:Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. Yet ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
90:To emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on heaven is to create hell. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
91:What you focus on grows. What you concentrate on is what you see more of in your life. ~ Robin Sharma, #NFDB
92:When alone, concentrate on the fruits of the solitude, not on the poisons of it! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
93:Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
94:One should go easy on smashing other people's lies. Better to concentrate on one's own. ~ Iris Murdoch, #NFDB
95:What if instead of focusing on what you don't have, you concentrate on what you've got? ~ Jodi Picoult, #NFDB
96:When I have a chance to make some movies, I am 200 percent to concentrate about my works. ~ Andrew Lau, #NFDB
97:It takes guts to stop fretting about the unknown and concentrate on the present moment. ~ Camille Pag n, #NFDB
98:Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, #NFDB
99:one of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
100:the only way to keep fear and panic at bay was to concentrate ruthlessly on the job at hand. ~ Lee Child, #NFDB
101:Would you like me to stop talking? Because I can. I have to concentrate, but it's possible ~ Eva Ibbotson, #NFDB
102:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Buddha, #NFDB
103:To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement. ~ Bertrand Russell, #NFDB
104:You must concentrate on pleasing God alone, and if He is pleased, you must be pleased. ~ Pio of Pietrelcina, #NFDB
105:What we think about, what we concentrate on, will always, always, be reflected on the outside. ~ Alyson Noel, #NFDB
106:Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process. ~ Isabel Allende, #NFDB
107:It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.” — Og Mandino ~ Gary Keller, #NFDB
108:The best way of forgetting how you think you feel is to concentrate on what you know you know. ~ Mary Stewart, #NFDB
109:It is much easier to try one's hand at many things than to concentrate one's powers on one thing. ~ Quintilian, #NFDB
110:Rather than concentrating on what you should have done, concentrate on what you can do now. ~ Rachel Van Dyken, #NFDB
111:The concentrate tasted like acidified mud, except mud tasted better because it was buffered. ~ L E Modesitt Jr, #NFDB
112:While you're writing, you can't concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying. ~ Marilyn vos Savant, #NFDB
113:Don't write too much. Concentrate your sweat on one story, rather than dissipate it over a dozen. ~ Jack London, #NFDB
114:If you're too focused on your current business, it's hard to change and concentrate on innovating. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
115:Let’s concentrate on our discussion of things that make us happy, Humble,” says the psychologist. ~ Ned Vizzini, #NFDB
116:A need to concentrate on each sound, so that every blade of grass would be as important as a flower. ~ Arvo Part, #NFDB
117:If you excessively concentrate on a closed door, you may miss the alternative easy entries! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
118:I give myself a good cry if I need it, but then I concentrate on all good things still in my life. ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
119:I was able to concentrate and focus better on the day I was born than Max is able to even today. ~ Matthew Dicks, #NFDB
120:Most of us concentrate on what we can get in life, but we need to concentrate on what we can give. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
121:To become a better you, concentrate on the work at hand at the moment. Do it and do it well. ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
122:You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on. ~ George W Bush, #NFDB
123:But I couldn’t concentrate on writing in the notebook. I wanted to live inside it, not write in it. ~ Rachel Cohn, #NFDB
124:Confident people do not concentrate on their weaknesses; they develop and maximize their strengths. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
125:I concentrate on the lives of individuals whom the reader comes to know and feel with intimately. ~ Helen Dunmore, #NFDB
126:I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. ~ Henry Rollins, #NFDB
127:Living well is both a discipline and an art. Concentrate on staying close to Me, the divine Artist. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
128:There is no point in competing with young talent...I just concentrate on getting better each day. ~ Michael Caine, #NFDB
129:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
130:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. ~ Liane Moriarty, #NFDB
131:Way too late in life, Els learned that the time to concentrate yourself was right before sunrise. ~ Richard Powers, #NFDB
132:When you're up for an award at the Oscars, try as you might, it's hard to concentrate on the show. ~ Marlee Matlin, #NFDB
133:You might be a redneck if you've ever stared at a can of orange juice because it said concentrate. ~ Jeff Foxworthy, #NFDB
134:Concentrate on a single feature - as, build all toward one eye - make all lines lead toward that eye. ~ Robert Henri, #NFDB
135:Concentrate on what will produce results rather than on the results, the process rather than the prize. ~ Bill Walsh, #NFDB
136:Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. A ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
137:It was like walking: if Rumbold didn’t concentrate too hard on it, the illusion took care of itself ~ Alethea Kontis, #NFDB
138:any man who could concentrate for as much as three minutes on any given problem could rule the world. ~ Louis L Amour, #NFDB
139:Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
140:The secret of great battles consists in knowing how to deploy and concentrate at the right time. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte, #NFDB
141:The worse I get along with people the more I learn to have faith in Nature and concentrate on her. ~ Vincent Van Gogh, #NFDB
142:There's nothing like the knowledge of being hanged in the morning to concentrate the mind wonderfully. ~ Timothy Spall, #NFDB
143:Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~ Kevin Horsley, #NFDB
144:I have learned not to focus too much on what's yet to come...
and instead,
I concentrate on today. ~ Jos N Harris,#NFDB
145:I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
146:It is probably best for us not to concentrate in too literal a fashion on the temporal structure of myth. ~ Stephen Fry, #NFDB
147:My assistants generally do all the flowers and all of the decorative work. I concentrate on the figure. ~ Kehinde Wiley, #NFDB
148:To be successful, you should concentrate on the world of companies, not arcane accounting mathematics. ~ Warren Buffett, #NFDB
149:What part of ourselves needs to evaporate in order to concentrate our essence? What do we have to let go? ~ Andrew Weil, #NFDB
150:Every instant of our lives is essentially irreplaceable: you must know this in order to concentrate on life. ~ Andr Gide, #NFDB
151:If you're being ignored, that's a good time to concentrate on finding yourself and creating your own mystery. ~ Lykke Li, #NFDB
152:The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one definite chief aim. ~ Napoleon Hill, #NFDB
153:The more one emphasizes winning, the less he or she is able to concentrate on what actually causes success. ~ Nick Saban, #NFDB
154:...because from bigness comes impersonality, insensitivity and a lust to concentrate abstract power. ~ Ernst F Schumacher, #NFDB
155:Every instant of our lives is essentially irreplaceable: you must know this in order to concentrate on life. ~ Andre Gide, #NFDB
156:I very seldom worry about other systems. I concentrate pretty fully on just making Linux the best I can. ~ Linus Torvalds, #NFDB
157:She couldn't think about the entire world right now. She had to concentrate on what was right next to her. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
158:The happiest people don’t bother about whether life is unfair. They just concentrate on what they have. ~ Andrew Matthews, #NFDB
159:Concentrate on material gains. Whatever your opponent gives you take, unless you see a good reason not to. ~ Bobby Fischer, #NFDB
160:If a person were to concentrate all his will power on a certain end, then he would achieve it. That's all. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
161:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II, #NFDB
162:Concentrate on the next step because the rope will lead you to the end as long as all the steps are completed. ~ Chris Voss, #NFDB
163:Concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
164:How was I supposed to concentrate on my mental health when my therapist was encased in orange sparkle madness? ~ E Lockhart, #NFDB
165:Live the life you always wanted to live. Avoid criticizing others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
166:Del tried to concentrate on the Celtics and Sixers, and, surprising himself, he could. Funny how life worked. ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
167:If I was a criminal, stationery stores and bakeries would be the two kinds of places I would concentrate on. ~ John Turturro, #NFDB
168:To be able to concentrate for a considerable amount of time is essential to difficult achievement ~ Hector Garcia Puigcerver, #NFDB
169:You can either waste time worrying about a death that might not come or concentrate on what’s left to you. ~ Jeff VanderMeer, #NFDB
170:You can't concentrate on doing anything if you are thinking, “What's gonna happen if it doesn't go right? ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
171:You can’t concentrate on doing anything if you are thinking, “What’s gonna happen if it doesn’t go right? ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
172:Medicine’s focus is narrow. Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
173:The blue lights reflected on Abby’s face, and I had to really concentrate through the liquor not to kiss her. ~ Jamie McGuire, #NFDB
174:We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
175:When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state. ~ Xunzi, #NFDB
176:A rabbi told me that when you have two problems - one near, one not so near - concentrate on the immediate one. ~ Ariel Sharon, #NFDB
177:imagine the chimneys billowing smoke. Concentrate on those chimneys, can you see them? STUDENT: I can see them. ~ Ian McDonald, #NFDB
178:In my books you have to concentrate, but I work hard to make it that, when you do, the rewards are quite high. ~ John Banville, #NFDB
179:I've always believed a great photographer should concentrate more on depth of feeling and less on depth of field. ~ Max Dupain, #NFDB
180:Shh,” he says gently. “I’m here.” He pulls me into his arms and I try to concentrate on feeling his warmth. Inside, ~ Susan Ee, #NFDB
181:As soon as children find something that interests them they lose their instability and learn to concentrate. ~ Maria Montessori, #NFDB
182:I believe that the quintessential task of every painter in any time has been to concentrate on the essential. ~ Gerhard Richter, #NFDB
183:I never ask my wife about my flaws. Instead I try to get her to ignore them and concentrate on my sense of humor. ~ Paul Newman, #NFDB
184:Kids love games and chess is a game where you have to sit down and concentrate and it just helps in every way. ~ Magnus Carlsen, #NFDB
185:She told herself she should concentrate on those things in her control, not what was in the lap of the gods. ~ Elisabeth Storrs, #NFDB
186:There is always something worse, limit thinking about worse things and concentrate on the best things. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
187:Concentration is about learning how to stay centered. When you concentrate your power, you can achieve anything. ~ Kevin Horsley, #NFDB
188:I cannot concentrate all my friendship on any single one of my friends because no one is complete enough in himself. ~ Anais Nin, #NFDB
189:if you don't concentrate on what you are doing then the thing that you are doing is not what you are thinking. ~ Alfred Tennyson, #NFDB
190:Jealousy is just a reminder of the frustrations you have with yourself. Who has time to only concentrate on that? ~ Chris Colfer, #NFDB
191:Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~ Alexander Graham Bell, #NFDB
192:Its like a finger pointing away to the moon. Dont concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory. ~ Bruce Lee, #NFDB
193:Parents just concentrate on the thing that drives them nuts and all the other good stuff you do goes out the window. ~ Joan Bauer, #NFDB
194:You can either waste time worrying about a death that might not come or concentrate on what’s left to you. When ~ Jeff VanderMeer, #NFDB
195:Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ~ Alexander Graham Bell, #NFDB
196:I had too many big passions in life and it gets in the way of work. You can't concentrate properly on the one thing. ~ Omar Sharif, #NFDB
197:I never really do much research before signing a film. It is just the script and character that I concentrate on. ~ Kareena Kapoor, #NFDB
198:Like many musicians, I don't look back much... only concentrate on what music I'm doing, and occasionally look ahead. ~ Tony Levin, #NFDB
199:You can always find the sample that covers what you're hearing, but barely...it allows me to really concentrate on words. ~ Doseone, #NFDB
200:You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair. ~ Taisen Deshimaru, #NFDB
201:attention restoration theory (ART), which claims that spending time in nature can improve your ability to concentrate. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
202:Do not concentrate on showing the misdeeds of the government, for we have to convert and befriend those who run it. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
203:Instead of worrying what others think of you, concentrate on what you care about instead.", Loving Summer by Kailin Gow ~ Kailin Gow, #NFDB
204:It takes guts to stop fretting about the unknown and concentrate on the present moment. That’s what matters, anyway. ~ Camille Pag n, #NFDB
205:I wish I didn't have daily problems to deal with, so that I could just concentrate on learning more, every single day. ~ Agnes Denes, #NFDB
206:A good surgeon doesn't just concentrate on technical ability, but also on the appropriateness of what you're doing. ~ Benjamin Carson, #NFDB
207:He worked quickly, recognizing that he may as well take care of Elle first so he could concentrate on the remaining tasks. ~ K M Shea, #NFDB
208:if you don't concentrate on what you are doing then the thing that you are doing is not what you are thinking. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson, #NFDB
209:That’s not a father. That’s a sperm donor. Forget him. He’s a mess. Concentrate on me. I’m terrific. -(Linc Blaise) ~ Jennifer Crusie, #NFDB
210:There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
211:a stumble may be helpful, because it shows me where I need to concentrate my efforts in order to do better next time. ~ Gretchen Rubin, #NFDB
212:blur trying to shy away from the camera. I listen to her advice and on my way to and from work I concentrate on the other ~ Junot D az, #NFDB
213:People at rehab were stealing my hats and pens and notebooks and asking for autographs. I couldn't concentrate on my problem. ~ Eminem, #NFDB
214:Something strange is going on,” said Theo. “Only I find myself unable to concentrate as you are still rubbing my penis. ~ Andie M Long, #NFDB
215:If you concentrate hard on the state you are in, it would be suprising if you have time for anything else. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, #NFDB
216:My advice to my younger self would have been, "Chill. Concentrate on the poems. Everything else will work itself out." ~ Denise Duhamel, #NFDB
217:The person that is able to concentrate utilizes all constructive thoughts and shuts out all destructive ones. ~ William Walker Atkinson, #NFDB
218:Concentrate on your money. Try to hold your paper. It takes money to make money, so save your money, opportunites come. ~ Curtis Jackson, #NFDB
219:Maybe when we recognize the trivial for what it is, we can concentrate on what we love most, what we most treasure. ~ Randy Susan Meyers, #NFDB
220:One of the things that novels have tended not to concentrate on over the centuries is the fact that people read books. ~ Jonathan Lethem, #NFDB
221:Paths are so much clearer when people stop looking at what everyone else is doing and instead concentrate on themselves. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
222:To focus means to bring your attention to the center, to concentrate on one thing intently in order to gain clarity. ~ Cheryl Richardson, #NFDB
223:The very fact that we have access to God's attention and presence should concentrate the thoughts and elevate the heart. ~ Timothy Keller, #NFDB
224:When we learn to give thanks, we are learning to concentrate not on the bad things, but on the good things in our lives. ~ Amy Vanderbilt, #NFDB
225:Your life will always be better off when you concentrate on the simplest joys of life like drinking a cup of coffee! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
226:Children who played outside every day, regrdless of weather, had better motor coordination and more ability to concentrate. ~ Richard Louv, #NFDB
227:His trick: Don’t speculate where the slave is headed next. Concentrate instead on the idea that he is running away from ~ Colson Whitehead, #NFDB
228:It's beautiful, as long as you concentrate on the landscape and the birds, because everything man-made there is ugly. ~ Mario Vargas Llosa, #NFDB
229:People whose sensibility is destroyed by music in trains, airports, lifts, cannot concentrate on a Beethoven Quartet. ~ Witold Lutoslawski, #NFDB
230:He couldn't concentrate on anything while her incredible bottom led him up those stairs like the Pied Piper of tempting asses. ~ Nina Bangs, #NFDB
231:If I just concentrate I can walk into memory's store and find the right shelf with the right film and disappear into it.... ~ Per Petterson, #NFDB
232:It seems essential, in relationships and all tasks, that we concentrate only on what is most significant and important. ~ Soren Kierkegaard, #NFDB
233:The moment you concentrate the focus of your mind on a singular purpose, extraordinary gifts will appear within your life. ~ Robin S Sharma, #NFDB
234:When you concentrate, even a phone book becomes interesting. Perhaps your life is boring because you are not concentrating.^ ~ Haemin Sunim, #NFDB
235:Concentrate your time, your brains, and your advertising money on your successes. Back your winners, and abandon your losers. ~ David Ogilvy, #NFDB
236:If I had a choice as to my perfect career, I would make a couple of films a year and then concentrate on natural history. ~ Dominic Monaghan, #NFDB
237:Overcomers concentrate on details that go unnoticed by others. They do what needs to be done, even when no one is watching. ~ David Jeremiah, #NFDB
238:The bane of Americans is overwork-and the ruin of any work is a divided interest. Concentrate-concentrate. One thing at a time. ~ Mark Twain, #NFDB
239:"When you concentrate, even a phone book becomes interesting. Perhaps your life is boring because you are not concentrating." ~ Haemin Sunim, #NFDB
240:When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future. ~ Dian Fossey, #NFDB
241:All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate. ~ Julio Cortazar, #NFDB
242:All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate. ~ Julio Cort zar, #NFDB
243:I knew a bit but we don't study a lot of British history at school in Australia. We have our own 50-year period to concentrate on. ~ Eric Bana, #NFDB
244:It's the circumstances that create fear. How you respond is all you can control. Concentrate on that, and you'll always succeed. ~ Steve Berry, #NFDB
245:Let me tell you what to forget in the New Year: Forget about the luck; concentrate on the insistent and conscious effort! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
246:My father could look straight ahead but concentrate on something on the very edge of his vision, almost nearly behind him. ~ Dale Earnhardt Jr, #NFDB
247:You can do only one thing at a time. I simply tackle one problem and concentrate all efforts on what I am doing at the moment. ~ Maxwell Maltz, #NFDB
248:You should have a ritual for your life. All a ritual does is concentrate your mind on the implications of what you are doing. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
249:Concentrate more on your achievements than your failures. Learn to take the failures as opportunities to rectify your errors. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
250:Concentrate on the essentials. We will then be accomplishing the greatest possible results with the effort expended. ~ Theodore Wilhelm Engstrom, #NFDB
251:If I am able to determine the enemy's dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
252:Okay,” Nina said. “What if you two drop the special acid and concentrate on opening the gate again, and I’ll stand by with Lulu. ~ Christa Faust, #NFDB
253:Concentrate your energies, your thoughts and your capital. The wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket. ~ Andrew Carnegie, #NFDB
254:Don't be a whiner, she told herself. Concentrate on the good things in life, even if there don't seem to be too many of them left. ~ Jill Mansell, #NFDB
255:I value very much the time before the show, when there is nothing else but to concentrate on the show, and it's just purely design. ~ Marc Jacobs, #NFDB
256:The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, #NFDB
257:To concentrate is to come back to the center and contemplate the Infinite Power within you that lies stretched in smiling repose. ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
258:Do not judge a day as devoid of Joy just because it contains difficulties. Instead, concentrate on staying in communication with Me. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
259:That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
260:There are two kinds of 'disabled' persons: Those who dwell on what they have lost and those who concentrate on what they have left. ~ Thomas Szasz, #NFDB
261:After I finished 'E.R.', I wanted to concentrate on re-examining what kind of actress I am and taking time for real-life things. ~ Linda Cardellini, #NFDB
262:Concentrate a big force to strike at a small section of the enemy force" remains a principle of field operations in guerrilla warfare. ~ Mao Zedong, #NFDB
263:I couldn't concentrate on music. So I made the choice to give up my career as a musician in the frontline to deal with the business. ~ Robert Fripp, #NFDB
264:It is the freedom to concentrate military equipment in key locations around the world that has preserved American military might. ~ Robert D Kaplan, #NFDB
265:That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
266:That's one thing earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
267:The best that an individual can do is to concentrate on what he or she can do, in the course of a burning effort to do it better. ~ Elizabeth Bowen, #NFDB
268:There’s no way in the world I can concentrate while he’s basically flaunting his penis in front of me. What the hell is he thinking? ~ Leisa Rayven, #NFDB
269:By learning to concentrate, a person acquires control over psychic energy, the basic fuel upon which all thinking depends. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
270:If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat . . . ~ Muriel Spark, #NFDB
271:It is our duty to concentrate all our influence to make popular that which is sound and good, and unpopular that which is unsound. ~ Joseph Smith Jr, #NFDB
272:The fight against capitalism has many aspects, particularly the distinctive economic models that concentrate the capital in few hands. ~ Evo Morales, #NFDB
273:We all have our imperfections. But I'm human, and you know, it's important to concentrate on other qualities besides outer beauty. ~ Beyonce Knowles, #NFDB
274:Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
275:Don't think. FEEL. It's like a finger pointing at the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all of the heavenly glory. ~ Bruce Lee, #NFDB
276:into things. Paths are so much clearer when people stop looking at what everyone else is doing and instead concentrate on themselves. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
277:Just let go of the need to care about whether it happens or not, then you are free from fear and can then concentrate on focusing. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
278:Leadership is about focus and concentrations. To be in focus, choose a clear direction. To concentrate, remain in that direction! ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
279:Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
280:But nobody ever tells you in advance when you should concentrate on the good times-that's why you're supposed to do it every day. ~ Jordan Sonnenblick, #NFDB
281:Ssh, I’m counting.” Travis watched me for a moment, and then leaned down to kiss my neck. “I can’t concentrate while you’re doing tha… ~ Jamie McGuire, #NFDB
282:The sun has already set on the days we made those choices. We must concentrate on what we can do tomorrow; we can't relive yesterday. ~ Terry Goodkind, #NFDB
283:There is no corporation in the world that would, in a competitive environment, try and concentrate all decisions at the corporate level. ~ James Mattis, #NFDB
284:There tends to be a lot of autism around the tech centers... when you concentrate the geeks, you're concentrating the autism genetics. ~ Temple Grandin, #NFDB
285:And truly, O man, if you concentrate hard on the state you are in it will be surprising if you have time for anything else. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, #NFDB
286:Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self. ~ Erich Fromm, #NFDB
287:Please do not obsess over choices you cannot change. Mistakes happen. Learn from the past, but concentrate on the present and the future. ~ Brandon Mull, #NFDB
288:There were none of the card games marines usually played in downtimes. They were too tired to concentrate, and poker was serious business. ~ Mark Bowden, #NFDB
289:When I got pregnant, I had to concentrate on being pregnant for a whole nine months, even though I knew it was ruining my career at the time. ~ Yoko Ono, #NFDB
290:Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled, to concentrate, to accept conflict and tension, to be born every day, to feel a sense of self. ~ Erich Fromm, #NFDB
291:I think that this might be the easiest way to live — just concentrate On the small things, and never let your mind wander on big things, ~ David Levithan, #NFDB
292:I used to try and concentrate the poem so much that there wasn't a word that wasn't essential. This leads to becoming boring and constipated. ~ W H Auden, #NFDB
293:concentrate less on people and much on purpose. People can put your purpose in disarray; your purpose can put people in disarray. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
294:How is it possible for me to be so miserable and embarrassed and humiliated and beaten an function still talk and smile and concentrate? ~ Beatrice Sparks, #NFDB
295:I have never dared to concentrate as hard as I can for fear of the damage I might do. I’m to the point where a mere whim is a blockbuster. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
296:I kinda have the opposite of ADD. I have a hyper-focused disorder, where if there's a given task in front of me I really concentrate on that. ~ Jared Leto, #NFDB
297:Now go put some clothes on. Because if you want me to concentrate, you can’t dangle that much naked man in front of me. Vampire or not. ~ Elizabeth Hunter, #NFDB
298:to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances. 17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind, [The simile is doubly ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
299:The more you concentrate on what you discover that you will be good for you to pursue, the more experienced you will be while doing it. ~ Israelmore Ayivor, #NFDB
300:to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones—to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
301:The power of concentrate was the most important thing. Living without this power would be like opening one's eyes without seeing anything. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
302:The power to concentrate was the most important thing. Living without this power would be like opening one’s eyes without seeing anything. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
303:All too often people concentrate on finding the right spouse, little realizing that half of any marriage is being the right spouse. ~ Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, #NFDB
304:Don't try to follow any trends, just concentrate on writing great songs and knowing your instrument. All the other stuff will fall into place. ~ Steven Adler, #NFDB
305:Once evolution gets a good basic design, it tends to throw away the variants and concentrate on the near-infinite diversity within that design. ~ Dan Simmons, #NFDB
306:The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business--or almost anywhere else for that matter. ~ Lee Iacocca, #NFDB
307:The ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your most important task, to do it well, and to finish it completely is the key to great success. ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
308:A certain night in a certain train?"
"Stop. I need to concentrate."
"You need to concentrate on a certain night in a certain train? ~ Kasie West,#NFDB
309:Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~ Kevin Horsley Alexander Graham Bell ~ Kevin Horsley, #NFDB
310:He lingers over images of Marie-Laure—her hands, her hair—even as he worries that to concentrate on them too long is to risk wearing them out. ~ Anthony Doerr, #NFDB
311:The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
312:We just have to plan everything in advance and concentrate it so that we get everything done in time. It's not as laidback as I wish it could be. ~ David Pajo, #NFDB
313:You can either hold yourself up to the unrealistic standards of others, or ignore them and concentrate on being happy with yourself as you are. ~ Jeph Jacques, #NFDB
314:Although my spelling is still sometimes poor, I have managed to overcome the worst of my difficulties through training myself to concentrate. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
315:I don't read novels whilst I'm writing one; I just haven't got a wide enough brain to concentrate on incoming and outgoing in the same time zone. ~ Dawn French, #NFDB
316:I never talk when I'm drawing a person, especially if I'm making line drawings. I prefer there to be no noise at all so I can concentrate more. ~ David Hockney, #NFDB
317:My greatest fear is speaking in public. You meet, like, um, people who just concentrate on me. I'd rather not have everyone focus on me. ~ Jennifer Love Hewitt, #NFDB
318:Paths are so much clearer when people stop looking at what everyone else is doing and instead concentrate on themselves ~ Cecelia AhernGabe ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
319:Patience is the prime virtue. If you hurry, you will fail. And failure is painful. You must always relax and concentrate on the task in hand. ~ Jonathan Stroud, #NFDB
320:Sometimes, when life gets complicated and stressful, it helps to concentrate on something comparatively soothing and simple, like violent murder. ~ Lila Monroe, #NFDB
321:Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It doesn't. It relieves them of the boredom that concentration on homework induces. ~ Marilyn vos Savant, #NFDB
322:We’re simply trying to survive—and the first principle of survival is not to worry about the impossible and concentrate on what’s possible. ~ Robert A Heinlein, #NFDB
323:Who the hell ever said that plenty was supposed to abolish unhappiness? But what it will do is free our hands to concentrate on unhappiness. ~ Francis Spufford, #NFDB
324:Be willing to take the first step, no matter how small it is. Concentrate on the fact that you are willing to learn. Absolute miracles will happen. ~ Louise Hay, #NFDB
325:John Maynard Keynes essentially said, don't try and figure out what the market is doing. Figure out a business you understand, and concentrate. ~ Warren Buffett, #NFDB
326:No matter how you resent other people's company, when you have it, you can't concentrate so fiercely upon your misery as you would without it. ~ Dorothy Whipple, #NFDB
327:The Pertinent Question is NOT how to do things right - but how to find the right things to do, and to concentrate resources and efforts on them. ~ Peter Drucker, #NFDB
328:It's incredible how one song or even one little phrase or just a few notes, if you really concentrate on it, can be a kaleidoscope of possibility. ~ Bill Frisell, #NFDB
329:To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives. - Denis Waitley. ~ Denis Waitley, #NFDB
330:But I think technology advertising will have to stop addressing how products are made and concentrate more on what a product will do for the consumer. ~ Jay Chiat, #NFDB
331:Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
~ Kevin Horsley Alexander Graham Bell ~ Kevin Horsley,#NFDB
332:How is it possible for me to be so miserable and embarrassed and humiliated and beaten and still function, still talk and smile and concentrate? ~ Beatrice Sparks, #NFDB
333:I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm only interested in the present. If you can concentrate only on the present, you'll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
334:In India, we kind of concentrate only on weight loss. I want to teach people that it is very important to be strong and fit, rather than just thin. ~ Bipasha Basu, #NFDB
335:I think, it is a challenge to get critics or whoever to see past what you wear and makeup and the way you look and just concentrate on the music. ~ Ellie Goulding, #NFDB
336:This semester we will concentrate on studying Speech as a multilevel system of efforts that either alter the world or prevent it from changing. ~ Marina Dyachenko, #NFDB
337:I can't make two records at the same time. Whatever I do, I have to concentrate on and put everything in, because if I don't, I'm just not good. ~ Steve Lillywhite, #NFDB
338:I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
339:I think what we should concentrate on is what it feels like to be a working artist in the day to day. One doesn't imagine what comes down the line. ~ Kehinde Wiley, #NFDB
340:Sorry. If I tell you what the trials entail, you’ll only concentrate on those parts of the training, and it’s never a good idea to teach to the test. ~ Scott Meyer, #NFDB
341:The police and other law enforcements agencies are going to concentrate their efforts on organised crime, especially organised aggravated robbery ~ Charles Nqakula, #NFDB
342:Your locus of attention is the single point on which you are able to concentrate your mind. You’re human and you can only focus on one thing at a time. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
343:A peculiar feature – no doubt a weakness – of my mental make-up is that I find it difficult to concentrate twice on the same subject. Normally ~ Claude L vi Strauss, #NFDB
344:Concentrate . . . for the greatest achievements are reserved for the man of single aim, in whom no rival powers divide the empire of the soul. ~ Orison Swett Marden, #NFDB
345:Don't make a direct effort to understand things. Rather, concentrate on your present misunderstanding. Try to see through your own false viewpoints. ~ Vernon Howard, #NFDB
346:I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
347:I'm like most people. We just concentrate on the present. I live right where the film is going through the film projector and it hits the light. ~ Pharrell Williams, #NFDB
348:We should concentrate our work not only to a separated housing problem but housing involved in our daily work and all the other functions of the city. ~ Alvar Aalto, #NFDB
349:When I have a lot of work to do my life is very distracted, so for me to concentrate on music I need to create a structure where I can focus better. ~ Suzanne Ciani, #NFDB
350:When we use our past merely as a guide-book, and concentrate our noble emotions on the present and future, we shall improve more rapidly. ~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman, #NFDB
351:When you go to a power place, if you are receptive, if you are able to quiet your thoughts and concentrate, a lot of that power can enter into you. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
352:A man will be effective to the degree that he is able to concentrate! Concentration is not basically a mode of doing but above all a mode of Being. ~ Lawrence LeShan, #NFDB
353:I am going to start with the sock drawer because that is clearly the most important. You can’t really concentrate on anything if your socks aren’t right. ~ Meg Cabot, #NFDB
354:I pray. Prayer is a time to connect with the divine, but also time, I'm sure, to concentrate one's thoughts, to meditate, and to imagine what might be. ~ Mitt Romney, #NFDB
355:sangfroid. Brezan took notes, even though the meeting was being recorded, because otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on what Muris was ~ Yoon Ha Lee, #NFDB
356:The cock does not just crow! It crows for a reason. Do not just concentrate on the cock crowing and mind the reason why it crows; the time ! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
357:But I'm going to be a real good boy and take it day by day and try to concentrate on what's most important to me, and that's offering women a service. ~ John Galliano, #NFDB
358:nervously. “I have never dared to concentrate as hard as I can for fear of the damage I might do. I’m to the point where a mere whim is a blockbuster. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
359:19. Create large chunks of time: Organize your days around large blocks of time so you can concentrate for extended periods on your most important tasks. ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
360:He believed that the secret of happiness was to concentrate on things outside oneself. Introspection and self-awareness were the enemies of contentment, ~ James Runcie, #NFDB
361:I felt dumb and subdued. Every time I tried to concentrate, my mind glided off, like a skater, into a large empty space, and pirouetted there, absently. ~ Sylvia Plath, #NFDB
362:I was told that I was good in my dance movement classes and that I should concentrate on dance because it would enhance my ability to get acting work. ~ Morgan Freeman, #NFDB
363:The concern that I have is that, as wealth continues to concentrate in the hands of a few, economic inequality grows, and power also becomes more unequal. ~ Jane Mayer, #NFDB
364:To generate great power you must first totally relax and gather your strength, and then concentrate your mind and all your strength on hitting your target. ~ Joe Hyams, #NFDB
365:Too many companies waste time trying to eliminate their employees' weaknesses when, in fact, they should concentrate on developing their strengths. ~ Marcus Buckingham, #NFDB
366:Dear Lord, help us forget about everything else and concentrate on You and Your Word. Thanks for being our abiding place, our home. In Jesus’ name, Amen. ~ Cathy Bryant, #NFDB
367:don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in
the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy
man. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
368:To pursue mental operations to any depth, a person has to learn to concentrate attention. Without focus, consciousness is in a state of chaos. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
369:Fifth and finally, do nothing impulsively. Give God an opportunity to speak. Until He does, stall for time and concentrate on the first four approaches. ~ James C Dobson, #NFDB
370:Graves are for the living, not the dead. It gives us something to concentrate on instead of the fact that our loved one is rotting under the ground. ~ Laurell K Hamilton, #NFDB
371:if you can't concentrate long enough to hold the spell you wish to enact, you’ll never find yourself casting the more advanced spells that you’ll need. ~ Rachel E Carter, #NFDB
372:Too often we concentrate only on the things we can see now; but our focus should be on that place we can only envision, but will enjoy for all eternity. ~ David Jeremiah, #NFDB
373:I learned not to worry so much about the outcome, but to concentrate on the step I was on and to try to do it as perfectly as I could when I was doing it. ~ Steve Wozniak, #NFDB
374:He believed that the secret of happiness was to concentrate on things outside oneself. Introspection and self-awareness were the enemies of contentment, and ~ James Runcie, #NFDB
375:I can’t… I find that I can’t concentrate. On anything. I can’t really…” Rhage’s eyes drifted to Zsadist. “How do you live with it? All the anger. The pain. The… ~ J R Ward, #NFDB
376:Seal Team Six is a different unit than the rest of the SEAL teams inasmuch as they concentrate primarily on one thing, counter-terrorism, hostage rescue. ~ Howard E Wasdin, #NFDB
377:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
378:If you have issues with family, friends, and people at work, try and solve these issues head on so you can move on and concentrate on having the life you want. ~ Heidi Klum, #NFDB
379:I really don't like to do back-to-back movies. I concentrate on things at home. My family and school life are important to me. I try to do one movie a year. ~ Anna Chlumsky, #NFDB
380:I tried to concentrate, but I didn't like how Noah's family was looking at me so long, hoping so hard that I was sweet and harmless and possibly Christian. ~ Emily Fridlund, #NFDB
381:So when we sit we concentrate on our breathing, and we become a swinging door, and we do something we should do, something we must do. This is Zen practice. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
382:There is no more light in a genius than in any other honest man - but he has a particular kind of lens to concentrate this light into a burning point. ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein, #NFDB
383:To do much clear thinking a person must arrange for regular periods of solitude when they can concentrate and indulge the imagination without distraction. ~ Thomas A Edison, #NFDB
384:I don't want to date celebrities, I don't want to roll out of clubs absolutely steaming, make an idiot out of myself. I want to concentrate on my music career. ~ John Newman, #NFDB
385:I don't want to wreck my voice. I love to concentrate on playing the bass and keeping it very rock-solid. If I were singing, I would have blown out my voice. ~ Tina Weymouth, #NFDB
386:I get absolutely ruthless in my own way about not doing anything else when I am trying to concentrate on writing a book. I have to stick to it and concentrate. ~ Jane Jacobs, #NFDB
387:I pick up the last of my three horseshoes. I concentrate, make certain that my aim is perfect, bring my arm back ever so slightly, and toss the horseshoe. ~ Karen Pokras Toz, #NFDB
388:I feel the time is right, I want to spend more time with my young family and concentrate fully on my career [on retiring from international football at age 30 ~ Robbie Savage, #NFDB
389:I'm really not afraid of spooky things. When I have to look really frightened, I concentrate on scary things like losing my kittens or something like that. ~ Heather O Rourke, #NFDB
390:A democracy which fails to concentrate authority in an emergency inevitably falls into such confusion that the ground is prepared for the rise of a dictator. ~ Walter Lippmann, #NFDB
391:People forget they have options. And they forget that those things really don't matter. They should concentrate on what they have and not what they don't have. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
392:The end of the trial and the 'not guilty' verdicts on all counts, clearing Michael of all charges, mean that he can now concentrate on the future and his art. ~ LaToya Jackson, #NFDB
393:Lunch, Ms. Baylor. Concentrate. Pick a place.” “You seem to be under the impression that I work for you and you can give me orders. Let me fix that.” I hung up. ~ Ilona Andrews, #NFDB
394:Smart hiring managers in the modern world should be asking, “How long can you concentrate on a task before you have to take a break?” I wonder how many of them do? ~ Kevin Drum, #NFDB
395:the more addicted you become to your phone, the more prone you are to depression and anxiety, and the less able you are to concentrate at work and sleep at night. ~ Tony Reinke, #NFDB
396:Every woman has a different metabolism and different genetics, so rather than compete with one another, concentrate on yourself and be the best you can be. ~ Alessandra Ambrosio, #NFDB
397:Have you ever sat very silently, not with your attention fixed on anything, not making an effort to concentrate, but with the mind very quiet, really still? ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
398:The Atomic Age will see men’s minds sobered and broadened by the now scientifically indisputable truth that matter is in reality a concentrate of energy. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
399:Be like a train; go in the rain, go in the sun, go in the storm, go in the dark tunnels! Be like a train; concentrate on your road and go with no hesitation! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
400:At Leeds I've tried to concentrate on my club form, but you get caught up in all the World Cup fever once you come back to Ireland and see all the Irish boys again. ~ Robbie Keane, #NFDB
401:Be prepared! All of your gear should be in a state of readiness so you can concentrate on painting. Choose your brushes as you would choose weapons before battle. ~ Richard Schmid, #NFDB
402:Concentrate more upon what you are to be, on the ideal, with the faith that, since it is the goal before you, it must and will come.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV, [T1],#NFDB
403:When travelling, concentrate on the path! Don’t sleep! Don’t read! Just live the journey in full by observing the path instead of wandering in your own world! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
404:Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana. We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society. ~ Dan Quayle, #NFDB
405:Every one of my works, when I'm looking back, becomes some kind of solution, or something to concentrate on. Something to pay attention to and maybe change direction. ~ Agnes Denes, #NFDB
406:I concentrate on the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other and continue moving forward even as part of me is left behind, beyond a fence I cannot breach. ~ Amy Engel, #NFDB
407:In the communication jungle out there, the only hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on narrow targets, to practice segmentation. In a word, "positioning. ~ Al Ries, #NFDB
408:Reinhart tried to concentrate on the numbers and lists on his desk, of the expenses of the previous month, but his mind kept wandering, mostly to Lady Dorothea. ~ Melanie Dickerson, #NFDB
409:There is nobody in the world that you can't get if you really concentrate on it, if you really want them. You've got to want it to the exclusion of everything else. ~ Truman Capote, #NFDB
410:We all feel a separateness; we wish that a drop of water would soften our ego; the world needs a common conscience: agreement... we must concentrate outside ourselves. ~ Mark Tobey, #NFDB
411:Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the other wants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrate on decides what we are at the end. ~ Theron Q Dumont, #NFDB
412:If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man…Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
413:There is a time for everything. There is a time when I sit down, I concentrate myself on the problem of my bills, but I would not worry before that. One thing at a time. ~ Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
414:... it came to me that what I had to do was to take pictures and concentrate upon people, only people, all kinds of people, people who paid me and people who didn't. ~ Dorothea Lange, #NFDB
415:The mind has to be made malleable like clay. Just as clay sticks wherever you throw it, so the mind must be made to dwell upon whatever object you concentrate it. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
416:When I concentrate on a specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history and its sensuous qualities. ~ Peter Zumthor, #NFDB
417:Concentration is about learning how to stay centered. When you concentrate your power, you can achieve anything. Imagine your mind was a torch. Most people allow their ~ Kevin Horsley, #NFDB
418:I know when I'm onstage, I don't think about how it looks, I just concentrate on really feeling what I hear. But I totally know I look like Gollum when I perform, so it's cool. ~ Lorde, #NFDB
419:Concentrate on comfort - even if that means wearing the same thing over and over, because when I feel comfortable, I feel so much more relaxed and have a much better time. ~ Emma Watson, #NFDB
420:given a good idea to start with, it is better to concentrate on perfecting it than to hunt around for a new idea. One idea at a time is about as much as any one can handle. ~ Henry Ford, #NFDB
421:I think I would have been so much in awe of the movie set, the people and what everybody's job was, that I don't know if I would be able to concentrate on the character. ~ Daisy Fuentes, #NFDB
422:I had never imagined myself doing [wrestling]. Once I came to the realization that it was a possibility, I just tried to concentrate on what I thought people would enjoy. ~ Bill Goldberg, #NFDB
423:You have to decide what's important to you and work it out. When I'm with my family, I try to concentrate on my family and when I'm at work, I try to concentrate on my work. ~ JJ Ramberg, #NFDB
424:Especially for fostering creative, conceptual work, the best way to use money as a motivator is to take the issue of money off the table so people concentrate on the work. ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
425:That's what I do now: I lead and I teach. If we win basketball games from doing that, then that's great, but I lead and teach. Those are the two things I concentrate on. ~ Mike Krzyzewski, #NFDB
426:Yes, ma'am. He figured the world was a sorry affair and that it had enough ugly things in it and what he was going to do was concentrate on putting something sweet in it. ~ Kate DiCamillo, #NFDB
427:3. Apply the 80/ 20 Rule to everything: Twenty percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results. Always concentrate your efforts on that top 20 percent. ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
428:He who pays no attention to what his neighbor does, says or thinks, preferring to concentrate on making his own actions appropriate and justifiable, better uses his time. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
429:I don't know how a judge can concentrate on being fair and impartial when he or she is faced with possible jail time for making a decision that others deem incorrect. ~ Sandra Day O Connor, #NFDB
430:I hate the opera. I think I must have a tin ear. No matter how hard I concentrate it still sounds like a bunch of Italian chefs screaming risotto recipes at each other. ~ Aristotle Onassis, #NFDB
431:I just think you should concentrate more on what you are good at, and the strengths you already have, instead of worrying about changing yourself into something you’re not. ~ Nicole Peeler, #NFDB
432:The phone collapsed distances, just as the radio did, and, like the radio, it relied on the miracle of imagination: one had to concentrate deeply, plunge headlong into it. ~ Daniel Alarc n, #NFDB
433:A bit of advice, don't copy nature too closely. Art is an abstraction; as you dream amid nature, extrapolate art from it, and concentrate on what you will create as a result. ~ Paul Gauguin, #NFDB
434:Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the other wants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrate on decides what we are at the end. ~ William Walker Atkinson, #NFDB
435:I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
436:I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
437:It is hardly surprising that women concentrate on the way they look instead of what is in their minds since not much has been put in their minds to begin with. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, #NFDB
438:Studios are an assembly line. They can be a very good assembly line. As a producer, you concentrate on one project at a time. As an executive, you're in charge of a slate. ~ Michael De Luca, #NFDB
439:I have to concentrate on my son. That's why I have lovers right now and not a boyfriend. I don't want my son to start calling somebody Daddy unless that person's gonna stay. ~ Angelina Jolie, #NFDB
440:When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. “Because ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
441:You concentrate on waiting for someone and after a certain time it hardly matters what happens anymore. It could be five years or ten years or one month. It's all the same. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
442:Basketball isn't a game; It's an art form. You master the fundamentals so you can forget 'em, so you can improvise and just concentrate on what really matters: getting buckets. ~ Kyrie Irving, #NFDB
443:If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on learning to write and to speak before an audience . Nothing is more important than the abillity to communicate effectively. ~ Gerald R Ford, #NFDB
444:If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul ~ Harold S Kushner, #NFDB
445:Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
446:You've got to concentrate on the business of entertaining and writing songs. Always think different from the next person. Don't ever do a song as you heard somebody else do it. ~ Otis Redding, #NFDB
447:All I needed was to be alone and quiet and in the dark, so that my mind could concentrate itself of fearful things, and it could not be unconcentrated sometimes until daylight. ~ Wendell Berry, #NFDB
448:Animal in man is the drive to concentrate on the satisfaction of needs; spiritual in man is the will to serve higher ends, and in serving ends he transcends his needs. ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, #NFDB
449:Concentrate on your goals. Do not allow other thoughts to enter your mind. If you allow them to, other things could take your concentration away from your ultimate aim. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger, #NFDB
450:It's time for Black people to stop playing the separating game of geography, of where the slave ship put us down. We must concentrate on where the slave ship picked us up. ~ John Henrik Clarke, #NFDB
451:When we concentrate on photography, we make it possible to see the walls of photographs in black homes as a critical intervention, a disruption of white control over black images. ~ Bell Hooks, #NFDB
452:I found if I go to bed with a question on my mind, all I have to do is concentrate on the question before I go to sleep and I virtually always have the answer in the morning. ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
453:If you concentrate on the road too much, you will miss the view and when you do the opposite, you will miss the road! Life is an art of catching both the road and the view! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
454:I just consider myself a committed actor. If a movie is a success, that's great; I'm happy for that. But I've learned just to concentrate on my job and do the best that I can. ~ Giovanni Ribisi, #NFDB
455:Rather than struggling to become bigger fish, we might concentrate our energies on finding smaller ponds or smaller species to swim with, so our own size will trouble us less. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
456:Don't dissipate your powers; strive to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it will surely repent of every ill-judged outlay. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
457:Every moment is utterly unique and will not be continued in eternity. This fact gives life its poignancy and should concentrate your attention on what you are experiencing now. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
458:It was my study of the two Corinthian letters that first caused me to concentrate my attention more directly on the relation of the apostle Paul to the older apostles. ~ Ferdinand Christian Baur, #NFDB
459:The more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. ~ ~ The MotherThe more we concentrate on the goal, the more it blossoms forth and becomes precise. The Mother, #NFDB
460:I decided I was going to give up singing and concentrate on acting, and a result of that, I didn't do another film for two to three years, and I don't blame it on anybody but myself ~ Bobby Darin, #NFDB
461:I just don't see the point in beating myself up. I think it's more productive to concentrate on being a better person right now than punishing myself for who I was in the past. ~ Megan McCafferty, #NFDB
462:when you concentrate on what would make you happy, you actually produce an electromagnetic frequency which operates internally and literally soothes you into a feeling of inner peace. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
463:Your ability to use the principle of autosuggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession. ~ Napoleon Hill, #NFDB
464:Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment. ~ Garry Kasparov, #NFDB
465:Looking back, the first symptom was a gradual decrease in his ability to concentrate at work. Naturally curious and active, he noticed an uncharacteristic tendency to procrastinate. ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
466:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, #NFDB
467:There are so many ways to lose, but so few ways to win. Perhaps the best way to achieve victory is to master all the rules for disaster, and then concentrate on avoiding them. ~ Victor Niederhoffer, #NFDB
468:You will respect my authori-tah!' Oberon said, in a passable imitation of Eric Cartman. I reminded him that I needed to concentrate. Sometimes dogs forget; they just get too excited. ~ Kevin Hearne, #NFDB
469:A side effect of memory training, in other words, is an improvement in your general ability to concentrate. This ability can then be fruitfully applied to any task demanding deep work. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
470:Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
471:Everything seems to me to pass so quickly that we must concentrate on how to die rather than on how to live. How sweet it is to die if one has lived on the Cross with Christ. ~ Saint Teresa of Avila, #NFDB
472:I actually love working with accents. I don't know, something about it unlocks something in me. It makes me concentrate on getting into character a little more, helps me find a focus. ~ Kevin McKidd, #NFDB
473:I prefer to concentrate on my task of leading Europe to the success that our citizens expect. We have to look forwards now because what is at stake is what makes Europe Europe. ~ Jean Claude Juncker, #NFDB
474:Pain is an interesting and off-putting thing. Few if any things in life concentrate our attention so completely and terribly, and few things are more boring to listen to or read about. ~ Dan Simmons, #NFDB
475:The most important thing to determine is what to do right now. Instead of scanning the horizon of your life, looking for things that need to be done, concentrate on the task before you ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
476:Most people who have a problem concentrate on the problem. They take it to bed with them and stay awake all night thinking it over. Let go of that problem. Rise above it in consciousness. ~ Emmet Fox, #NFDB
477:That is the whole thing with the future. You don’t know. At some point you have to accept that you don’t know. You have to stop flicking ahead and just concentrate on the page you are on. ~ Matt Haig, #NFDB
478:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race.
~ Alfred North Whitehead,#NFDB
479:The inherent tendency of the State is to concentrate, to narrow, and monopolize all social activities; the nature of revolution is, on the contrary, to grow, to broaden, and disseminate ~ Emma Goldman, #NFDB
480:What we need to do in this PC world is forget about unanimity of speech and unanimity of thought and we need to concentrate on being respectful of those people with whom we disagree. ~ Benjamin Carson, #NFDB
481:When you concentrate on God, you can actually enjoy his gifts in a meaningful way. But when you pursue just the gifts themselves, they become the product of despair rather than joy. ~ Jefferson Bethke, #NFDB
482:As she turned to concentrate on the portal, Eve tugged on Claire's shirt. "What?"
"Ask him where he got the boots."
"You ask." Personally, Claire wanted the vampire bunny slippers. ~ Rachel Caine,#NFDB
483:But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty which is forever. ~ Philip Yancey, #NFDB
484:Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening. ~ Allen Ginsberg, #NFDB
485:Don't be afraid of new ideas. Be afraid of old ideas. They keep you where you are and stop you from growing and moving forward. Concentrate on where you want to go, not on what you fear. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
486:I think it's more important to concentrate on trying to be, simply, happy. Once you've known deep despair, you feel even more motivated to be as happy as possible. That's how I feel. ~ Emily Susan Rapp, #NFDB
487:There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world that could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she. It was Kitty. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
488:To select, combine and concentrate that which is beautiful in nature and admirable in art is as much the business of the landscape painter in his line as in the other departments of art. ~ J M W Turner, #NFDB
489:I may be able to concentrate on a move, but it may not look exactly how I need it to look like, as far as in the ballroom world. Hip-hop is different; it is a lot more flowy with ballroom. ~ Joey Fatone, #NFDB
490:Generally, the different bodily postures in the yoga system are accepted by less intelligent men to be the end of yoga, but actually they are meant to concentrate the mind upon the Supersoul. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
491:One who is interested in developing and enhancing intrinsic motivation in children, employees, students, etc., should not concentrate on external-control systems such as monetary rewards, ~ Daniel H Pink, #NFDB
492:Sharif gave instructions to his staff regarding snacks he wanted served to all of us—Sharif often asked for specific food items during meetings, as if it helped him concentrate his mind. ~ Husain Haqqani, #NFDB
493:David Gascoyne once told me that the only point of keeping a journal was to concentrate of the personal, the diurnal minutiae, and forget the great significant events in the world at large. ~ William Boyd, #NFDB
494:Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, no matter how deep we dig in our heels, we just can't resist the gravity of alternate worlds. ~ Jonathan Gottschall, #NFDB
495:Rapunzel tried to slow her breathing and control her thoughts. Becoming angry was not the way to concentrate on making a plan of escape. It was foolish to defend herself to this woman. ~ Melanie Dickerson, #NFDB
496:When people concentrate on the idea of beauty, they are, without realizing it, confronted with the darkest thoughts that exist in this world. That, I suppose, is how human beings are made. ~ Yukio Mishima, #NFDB
497:You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real. ~ Edouard Manet, #NFDB
498:And as she talks, I concentrate on spreading out my substance, making myself spongy to absorb the puffiness into myself, to absorb the pain radiating through her feet and legs and back. ~ Deborah Eisenberg, #NFDB
499:Are you afraid of the future? That is funny because future does not exist yet! Future is not even a shadow, because shadow exists! Let go your fear and concentrate on the present time! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
500:Garrett never looked straight at her, sideways yes, but never straight. Couldn’t concentrate that way. Too uncomfortable. That didn’t mean Garrett didn’t see what was right in front of him. ~ Destiny Booze, #NFDB
501:Starlight is falling on every square mile of the earth's surface, and the best we can do at present is to gather up and concentrate the rays that strike at area 100 inches in diameter. ~ George Ellery Hale, #NFDB
502:Successful people know they need to get many things done-and done effectively. Therefore, they concentrate their time and energy on doing one thing at a time-and on doing first things firs. ~ Peter Drucker, #NFDB
503:The more the capacity to concentrate is developed, the more often the profound tranquility in work is achieved, then the clearer will be the manifestation of discipline within the child. ~ Maria Montessori, #NFDB
504:I generally concentrate on work for three or four hours every morning. I sit at my desk and focus totally on what I’m writing. I don’t see anything else, I don’t think about anything else. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
505:I have just taught you the most important lesson about the power of thought,’ replied Raman. ‘When you want something, concentrate only on that: no one will ever hit a target they cannot see. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
506:I just think old old movies, they make you concentrate and pay attention so much more. They feel so warm. A lot of modern digital videotape, it's just too bright. Don't know why, it's not warm. ~ Jack White, #NFDB
507:People who constantly looked over their shoulders bumped into things. Paths are so much clearer when people stop looking at what everyone else is doing and instead concentrate on themselves. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
508:Sometimes I feel an impingement of something I went through in another lifetime. But I like to concentrate on the absolute present. That's why I love my animals. They live in the present. ~ Shirley MacLaine, #NFDB
509:To establish yourself as an actress, you have to become well known. A girl just starting out, I would tell her to concentrate on acting, but she doesn't have to go around wearing blankets. ~ Jayne Mansfield, #NFDB
510:Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets better at math. Ask your brain to worry, and it gets better at worrying. Ask your brain to concentrate, and it gets better at concentrating. ~ Kelly McGonigal, #NFDB
511:If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on two areas learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively. ~ Gerald R Ford, #NFDB
512:Instead of describing ADD as an inability to concentrate, this model presents it as the ability to concentrate on everything. The world always is alive and ripe with sources of interest. ~ Edward M Hallowell, #NFDB
513:It takes a long while for a director to cease thinking in terms of the result he desires and instead concentrate on discovering the source of energy in the actor from which true impulses arise. ~ Peter Brook, #NFDB
514:It is my art. I am better at it than I ever was. And I will do it as long as I can. When you reach a certain age you can slough off what is unnecessary and concentrate on what is. And why not? ~ Arthur Miller, #NFDB
515:It's taken folk a while to come around, hasn't it? Even the boys in the band weren't too sure about the whole art thing. They just wanted me to concentrate on the music. But they respect it now. ~ Ronnie Wood, #NFDB
516:Stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Concentrate on this flower and allow the real "I" to reveal itself. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
517:The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, and I'm more thankful than I ever was. I try to concentrate on the hundreds of things that go right in a day, instead of the three or four that go wrong. ~ A J Jacobs, #NFDB
518:Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from the energy we have is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy. ~ Denis Waitley, #NFDB
519:The ability to concentrate singlemindedly on your most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the key to great success, achievement, respect, status, and happiness in life. ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
520:To learn to concentrate we must choose a prayer or meditation and follow this path with commitment and steadiness, a willingness to work with our practice day after day, no matter what arises. ~ Jack Kornfield, #NFDB
521:When we first went there we completely lacked confidence. Our manager told us our act was too long, and told us to drop certain numbers and concentrate on the exciting stuff. And he was right. ~ Steve Marriott, #NFDB
522:Don't waste your time with people who will ultimately destroy you, but concentrate instead on those who will appreciate your responsibility to them, and, likewise, feel responsible to you. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey, #NFDB
523:It is for the poor people's sake, above all, that we urgently need more unity and better organization and need to concentrate our reform efforts in order to really to achieve reforms, one by one. ~ Thomas Pogge, #NFDB
524:You're almost there already. Just imagine what you want to happen. And then concentrate on that, and only on that. The magic is everywhere. It's waiting for you to take it and make it your own. ~ Danielle Paige, #NFDB
525:Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets better at math. Ask your brain to worry, and it gets better at worrying. Ask your brain to concentrate, and it gets better at concentrating. Not ~ Kelly McGonigal, #NFDB
526:As we do at such times I turned on my automatic pilot and went through the motions of normalcy on the outside, so that I could concentrate all my powers on surviving the near-mortal wound inside. ~ Sonia Johnson, #NFDB
527:I don't spend a lot of time judging anyone I play. Even if their function in the script is to be the villain, I concentrate on what their perspective of the events is. Not even to justify them. ~ Peter Sarsgaard, #NFDB
528:I often concentrate on the eyes and lips, they are great indicators of mood and feeling, and I find that I can project character into my portraits by bringing the viewer's attention to these areas. ~ Robert Ryan, #NFDB
529:Later on in life, the Tralfamadorians would advise Billy to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones-to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
530:Life isn't all grand, but it isn't all miserable either. There's both sweet and sour in every day. So why focus on the ugly when you can gaze at what's beautiful? Concentrate on the good. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
531:I go in for the eye test, and I don't know about you, but I concentrate like crazy during the eye exam. You don't want to get no 'D' on that thing and end up with these big thick Coke bottle glasses. ~ Brian Regan, #NFDB
532:The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. My Mother had taught me to seek all truth in the Bible. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
533:The mental ability to concentrate is inherent to all; it is not extraordinary or mysterious. Meditation is not something that a Yogi has to teach you; you already have the ability to shut out thoughts. ~ Sivananda, #NFDB
534:The other death for an actor is comparing yourself to other people: Forget someone else's path. Concentrate on your path. Otherwise, you get lost, and if you don't have joy in the work, forget it. ~ Shirley Knight, #NFDB
535:Wing Chun teaches you what to concentrate on, whether you're here or out in the world dealing with problems. It's second nature for me now. I don't even get to the point where there's a problem. ~ Robert Downey Jr, #NFDB
536:Later on in life, the Tralfamadorians would advise Billy to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones - to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
537:Our view of history diminishes the reality of the past. We concentrate on the historic event as something that has happened, and in so doing we ignore it as a moment which, at the time, is happening. ~ Ian Mortimer, #NFDB
538:I would have to say that I have to concentrate more when I'm doing comedy. There are so many details that make up any character, but developing a character for a dramatic role seems to come more naturally. ~ Kaitlyn, #NFDB
539:Take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then go to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through, so as to form correct ideas of leadership-such is the basic method of leadership. ~ Mao Zedong, #NFDB
540:However, we couldn't focus on the films much during the series because we're dumb. Individually we're smart guys, but together we're one big dumb guy, and couldn't concentrate on two things at once. ~ Bruce McCulloch, #NFDB
541:The power to concentrate exists in everyone, but few people can concentrate sufficiently to drive a motor car with complete mastery in all circumstances.
Roadcraft The Police Driver's Manual, 1960 ~ Lesley Thomson,#NFDB
542:We went into the living room and he turned on the TV. He had this strange habit of always leaving it on, saying he couldn’t concentrate in silence. He was the weirdest, most chaotic person I knew. ~ Isabella Starling, #NFDB
543:What in the world are you thinking?” She sounded pretty flustered. “I try not to think,” Leo admitted. “It interferes with being nuts. Just concentrate on moving that Celestial bronze. Echo, you ready? ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
544:Aspire for your will to be one with the Divine will, concentrate in the heart and be plastic to whatever experience comes, neither forcing nor resisting any spiritual experience
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - I,#NFDB
545:I noticed long ago that Amin has the tendency to concentrate power in his own hands but I did not attach any particular significance to this. However, recently this tendency has become dangerous. ~ Nur Muhammad Taraki, #NFDB
546:When you have what you want (inner peace), you are less distracted by your wants, needs, desires, and concerns. It’s thus easier to concentrate, focus, achieve your goals, and to give back to others. ~ Richard Carlson, #NFDB
547:As the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, so should you stop off your miscellaneous activity and concentrate your force on one or a few points. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
548:At the beginning of any magical working, take few minutes to concentrate on your breathing. This helps to alter your state of consciousness and also improves the flow of life energy within the body. ~ Storm Constantine, #NFDB
549:Let us concentrate all our efforts on achieving perfection through the imperfect gestures of everyday life. True wisdom means respecting the simple things we do, for they can take us where we need to go. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
550:Concentrate on values and principles. Be authentic; stand up for what you really believe. Empathize and connect with the people you are talking to, on the basis of identity—their identity and yours. This ~ George Lakoff, #NFDB
551:Nobody can predict interest rates, the future direction of the economy or the stock market. Dismiss all such forecasts and concentrate on what's actually happening to the companies in which you've invested ~ Peter Lynch, #NFDB
552:Questioner: "I cannot calm my mind and concentrate.”Mother: “The mind will be steadied of itself, if aspirants repeat God’s name 15,000 or 20,000 times a day. I myself have experienced it.” ~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, #NFDB
553:Shut up and concentrate,” I ordered, and his hips thrust harder. Oh yeah. “Now who’s bossy?” he grunted. “You’re not concentrating.” He pulled out and then slammed back in. “Oh yeah, baby, I fuckin’ am. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
554:The older Nico got, the more juvenile Percy seemed to him, though Percy was three years older. Nico found his sense of humour equal parts endearing and annoying. He decided to concentrate on the annoying. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
555:The one thing that I appear to have been given, bearing in mind that I am capable of being very, very scatty and extremely lazy, is the ability to concentrate on something I choose to give my time to. ~ Daniel Day Lewis, #NFDB
556:What in the world are you thinking?” She sounded pretty flustered.
“I try not to think,” Leo admitted. “It interferes with being nuts. Just concentrate on moving that Celestial bronze. Echo, you ready? ~ Rick Riordan,#NFDB
557:Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not, there would be no downtown to amount to anything--certainly not one with much downtown diversity. ~ Jane Jacobs, #NFDB
558:I'm pulling out, and I'm going to concentrate every ounce of time and energy over the next week working to defeat the recall because I realize now that's the only way to defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger. ~ Arianna Huffington, #NFDB
559:Our model is to develop each business separately with its own shareholder and management - this way we can concentrate on the job in hand, rather than be part of some enormous and faceless conglomerate. ~ Richard Branson, #NFDB
560:For me, Islam is a moral reference point, a source of inspiration to work collectively with people, to love people and to help them, to concentrate on universal values of mercy, co-operation and tolerance. ~ Wadah Khanfar, #NFDB
561:If we're afraid, sometimes there are things that can feed on that fear. Fear makes it worse for us. The trick is to concentrate on what you can see and stop thinking about yourself. It works every time... ~ Joseph Delaney, #NFDB
562:If you just concentrate on what you're doing and allow yourself to actually enjoy and let your feelings come out, whatever the tempos, whatever the rhythms, whatever the songs, 9 out of 10 times it will work. ~ Ben E King, #NFDB
563:I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all. ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
564:Man or woman, you have to have the mental characteristics, the ability to concentrate, the focus, the flexibility, where women have the advantage, and strength-to-weight ratio. It does depend on the raw power. ~ Lynn Hill, #NFDB
565:The natural proclivity of democratic governments is to pursue public policies which concentrate benefits on the well-organized and well-informed, and disperse the costs on the unorganized and ill-informed. ~ Peter Boettke, #NFDB
566:The world is filled with good, but it's equally overwhelmed with bad. People who commit horror and evil. You have to concentrate on what you can do, what you can influence. The ones who you can hunt down. ~ Robert Bryndza, #NFDB
567:You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting. Very few filmmakers will concentrate on the story. You get very little rehearsal time, so anything you do onscreen is a kind of speed painting. ~ John Malkovich, #NFDB
568:Anymore, no one's mind is their own. You can't concentrate. You can't think. There's always some noise worming in. Singers shouting. Dead people laughing. Actors crying. All those little doses of emotion. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
569:Because materialists cannot understand Krsna spiritually, they are advised to concentrate the mind on physical things and try to see how Krsna is manifested by physical representations. ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhup da, #NFDB
570:Concentrate on what you need to do... Do step one. Begin! That's the important thing- Did you do step one? Did you actually do it?. . . It's not a matter of 'Can you do it?' If you do it, you're doing it. ~ Laurence Boldt, #NFDB
571:If all the rich and all of the church people should send their children to the public schools they would feel bound to concentrate their money on improving these schools until they met the highest ideals. ~ Susan B Anthony, #NFDB
572:In fact, there are autism clusters, you know, around some of the big tech centers. You take two socially awkward computer programmers and put them together, that can kind of concentrate the autistic genes. ~ Temple Grandin, #NFDB
573:That it is statistically easier for low-IQ people to kick an addiction than it is for high-IQ people...That boring activities become, perversely, much less boring if you concentrate intently on them. ~ David Foster Wallace, #NFDB
574:We live in a time of conflict - external and internal - when we sometimes concentrate too much on what divides us. Today, fly the Stars and Stripes with pride and confidence that what unites is far stronger. ~ Charlie Dent, #NFDB
575:Decision it was only necessary for him to concentrate his attention for a few moments and the spirit moved him, and the best possible decision presented itself as though an inner voice had told him what to do. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
576:I never felt my Mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment - upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses. ~ John Keats, #NFDB
577:Well, in Japan, I have got a group of musicians that I have worked with a lot, that concentrate just on the hardcore stuff, say, that Naked City has been working on. We have like a repertoire of sixty songs now. ~ John Zorn, #NFDB
578:And when no subject is given, is it enough to concentrate on your Presence in the heart-centre? Should we avoid a formulated prayer?
Yes, concentration on the Presence is enough.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
579:One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
580:What are you doing?"
"I'm trying - "
"You are not, my girl. There are two sort of people in this world, doers and tryers. You are the latter and I'm trying to make you the former. Now concentrate, girl! ~ Jasper Fforde,#NFDB
581:Could one really concentrate on one’s job when what preoccupied the faculty was how to excise the word wine from a Hemingway story, when they decided not to teach Brontë because she appeared to condone adultery? ~ Azar Nafisi, #NFDB
582:Teachers find many children emotionally distracted, so upset and preoccupied by the explosive drama of their own family lives that they are unable to concentrate on such mundane matters as multiplication tables. ~ John Medina, #NFDB
583:He could not be mistaken. There were no other eyes like those in the world. There was only one creature in the world who could concentrate for him all the brightness and meaning of life. It was she. It was Kitty. ~ Leo Tolstoy, #NFDB
584:It could be an important feature to be added to your portrait: your mind has interior walls that allow you to partition different times in which to stop or flow, to concentrate alternately on parallel channels. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
585:I try to concentrate on the words, on the melody, but then she starts searching through songs, and this feels like my brain—fragments of words, fragments of melodies, fragments of moments, fragments of things. ~ Jennifer Niven, #NFDB
586:What I enjoy most about doing voiceovers is that you can be completely unconscious with the rest of your body and just concentrate on doing something with your voice, creating an entire character with your voice. ~ Justin Long, #NFDB
587:What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people's lives. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
588:I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on longer in these terrible times. I shan't recover this time. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought against it but cannot fight any longer. ~ Virginia Woolf, #NFDB
589:It seems a peculiar fact that it is easier to concentrate on something that is not good for us, than on something that is beneficial. This tendency is overcome when we learn to concentrate consciously. ~ William Walker Atkinson, #NFDB
590:Yeah. Listen, I'm Zaphod Beeblebrox, my father was Zaphod Beeblebrox the Second, my grandfather Zaphod Beeblebrox the Third ...""What?""There was an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine. Now concentrate! ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
591:the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
592:…Those who’ve marred their appearance in any way by their actions in life aren’t forced to witness that marring. If they were, they’d become self-conscious and be unable to concentrate on improving themselves. ~ Richard Matheson, #NFDB
593:We have developed a more logical and discursive mode of thought. Instead of looking at a physical phenomena imaginatively, we strip an object of all its emotive associations and concentrate on the thing itself. ~ Karen Armstrong, #NFDB
594:Breathing affects your respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, muscular, and psychic systems, and also has a general affect on your sleep, memory, ability to concentrate, and your energy levels. ~ Donna Farhi, #NFDB
595:I abandoned chemistry to concentrate on mathematics and physics. In 1942, I travelled to Cambridge to take the scholarship examination at Trinity College, received an award and entered the university in October 1943. ~ John Pople, #NFDB
596:It is not book learning young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebra which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies, do a thing. ~ Elbert Hubbard, #NFDB
597:Woo your biggest fans. This rule says concentrate your efforts at understanding on the 2 percent of consumers that personally drive 20 percent of sales and invite their friends and colleagues to enjoy you. ~ Michael J Silverstein, #NFDB
598:How can music without any words make you think? I listen to jazz when I'm doing something else. I use it for background music, I don't just sit down and concentrate on it. Lyrics, words - that's what makes me think. ~ Eddie Murphy, #NFDB
599:If we want to overcome fear, we must mentally deny fear and concentrate on the opposite quality, courage. The positive always overcomes the negative. The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war. ~ Vishnudevananda Saraswati, #NFDB
600:I think a lot of people like to gamble, and they don't want to go to the casino to gamble. Sometimes they want to do it in the privacy of their home. They can't concentrate the way they want to in a gambling casino. ~ Larry Holmes, #NFDB
601:My character Lena is somebody who responds to people in a very simple way. I didn't have to take myself off to a darkened room to concentrate, I just had to try and be open. It's an interesting, subtle relationship. ~ Emily Watson, #NFDB
602:What is there to forgive?. . .Ignore forgive and concentrate on living. Life for you is short; far too short to allow small jealousies to infringe on the happiness which can be yours only for the briefest of times. ~ Jasper Fforde, #NFDB
603:I love Scotland and I speak about it a lot, so people think I'm desperate to go back. They just take it upon themselves to say I'm going back, but I'm not. I'd rather concentrate on becoming a citizen of the world. ~ Billy Connolly, #NFDB
604:In a lot of writing or intellectual discourse we're starting to use that model: "Oh, this is where it comes from!" I would like to concentrate on work which is more resistant to that procedure, as I think fiction is. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
605:It is not enough to say, 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
606:...the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
607:The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
608:And when I concentrate on the stars, the planets, and their motions, I have an irresistible sense of machinery, clockwork, elegant precision working on a scale that, however lofty our aspirations, dwarfs and humbles us. ~ Carl Sagan, #NFDB
609:choose to look at the mountains rather than trying to concentrate on the valleys. It's easier to glance behind you and see the peaks, but it takes actual effort to look down into the darkness of where you've been. ~ Rachel Van Dyken, #NFDB
610:First it’s your temper, now you’ve become a green-eyed klikusha, a hysterical jealous demoniac, she thought. Idiotka, concentrate on your work. Focus on the Gray Cardinals in the Kremlin; reserve your spite for them ~ Jason Matthews, #NFDB
611:My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically. ~ Stephen Hawking, #NFDB
612:This is the great luxury of not working: the moment you read a book that has nothing to do with work, you know you're really relaxed. And I have a sh*t attention span. I can't concentrate for more than five minutes. ~ Eddie Redmayne, #NFDB
613:He tried to listen to the conversations going on at the table and he found that he could no longer concentrate on what anyone was saying and which was worse that he was not interested in any of what he was able to hear. ~ Neil Gaiman, #NFDB
614:Much the way I want to know if my food is farm-raised, or wild, or if my orange juice is fresh or from concentrate. I also believe I have the right, and we as Americans all have the right to know what's in our food. ~ Gwyneth Paltrow, #NFDB
615:You have asked us to help You. How can I help You? What am I to do?
To concentrate and open to receive the new progressive consciousness, to receive the new things which are coming down.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#NFDB
616:If you concentrate, there is something that emanates from you, and that’s what the great photographer photographs. Diana Vreeland says, “There is no beauty without emotion.” I think that is the responsibility of a model. ~ Terry Gross, #NFDB
617:Sometimes I think with the telephone that if I concentrate enough I could pour myself into it and I'd be turned into a mist and I would rematerialize in the room of the person I'm talking to. Is that too odd for you? ~ Nicholson Baker, #NFDB
618:Too much concentration belittles life. Concentration is a narrowing down of the mind - but we are concerned with the total process of living, and to concentrate exclusively on any particular aspect of life, belittles life. ~ Bruce Lee, #NFDB
619:You always have in the back of your mind that would be cool if you get recognized. But you can't concentrate on any of those things. You've got to just keep playing and doing your music and the rest is just a bonus. ~ Michael Kiwanuka, #NFDB
620:It is sufficient to estimate the enemy situation correctly and to concentrate your strength to capture him. There is no more to it than this. He who lacks foresight and underestimates his enemy will surely be captured by him. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
621:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics (1911), #NFDB
622:Can you hear me, Todd? There’s an ambulance on its way.” For a moment his eyes opened a little wider, and he seemed to be making an effort to concentrate on the face in front of him. “It’s Maxine,” she said. “Remember me? ~ Clive Barker, #NFDB
623:When I'm assembling a book I concentrate as though I were writing a poem. A truly imagined arrangement will indicate gaps and generate new poems. I re-read the new poems in my folder in the hope that this might happen. ~ Michael Longley, #NFDB
624:When you concentrate your energy purposely on the future possibility that you aspire to realize, your energy is passed on to it and makes it attracted to you with a force stronger than the one you directed towards it. ~ Stephen Richards, #NFDB
625:With historicals, the research is half the fun. Contemporaries are especially easy. People are right out there in front of you; you meet them every day. You can concentrate wholly on the story and characters. ~ Heather Graham Pozzessere, #NFDB
626:Meanwhile, it’s who you are inside that counts anyway. If you have God-confidence, you’re going to look, act, and feel good about yourself because that’s just how God made you. Concentrate on God and who He wants you to be. ~ Nancy N Rue, #NFDB
627:We must not concentrate overmuch upon our feelings. Do not spend too much time feeling your own pulse taking your own spiritual temperature, do not spend too much time analyzing your feelings. That is the high road to morbidity. ~ Martyn, #NFDB
628:How can I concentrate on this case when she's all I can think of? When one pert look turns my spine to blackberry jam?"
"Blackberry?"
Drew looked up. "Oh, yes, I'm certain it's blackberry. I don't like blackberry. ~ Julianna Deering,#NFDB
629:I had done lots of theater and I really wanted to do screen work. I said to my agent, "Look, I really want to do screen work and I want to concentrate on that now" and he said, "Well, it's going to be tough for you." ~ Gwendoline Christie, #NFDB
630:It's nice being around someone without always having to think about who you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to do and think and say. It's nice to just concentrate on being the person you are - whoever you are. ~ Brenna Yovanoff, #NFDB
631:We’re constantly surrounded by video, music, people. No wonder attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is more prevalent than ever; no one has to concentrate for more than thirty minutes to learn everything they need to know. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
632:Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are simply a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. ~ Tony Robbins, #NFDB
633:My body started to shut down. I got really, really ill. When you're starving yourself, you can't concentrate. I was like a walking zombie, like the walking dead. I was just consumed with what I would eat, what I wouldn't eat. ~ Tracey Gold, #NFDB
634:Studies find that as people grow older they interact with fewer people and concentrate more on spending time with family and established friends. They focus on being rather than doing and on the present more than the future. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
635:We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One. ~ A W Tozer, #NFDB
636:whose students are willing to concentrate and sit still long enough and focus on answering every single question in an endless questionnaire are the same countries whose students do the best job of solving math problems. ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
637:And, you know, what we need to do—[applause]what we need to do in this PC world is forget about unanimity of speech and unanimity of thought, and we need to concentrate on being respectful to those people with whom we disagree. ~ Ben Carson, #NFDB
638:I must concentrate all of my energies on the enfranchisement of my own sex! She had named and claimed her calling. Here is concentration of purpose. This declaration, as we shall see, unified her energy in extraordinary ways. ~ Stephen Cope, #NFDB
639:It's hard to train that in practice time. You can make calls, you can make adjustments, but just that pressure, 'This is what it is, this is reality, I need to concentrate on every play,' that's what we've got to get through. ~ Bret Bielema, #NFDB
640:Good for you,” Portnov said. “And now show me exercises fifty-two through fifty-four. Simultaneously, don’t forget. Three branches of the process must be led in parallel, with a half-measure step between them. Concentrate. ~ Marina Dyachenko, #NFDB
641:If crime is going down, you shouldn't be increasing resources for crime prevention. Or you should be taking note of what has worked and concentrate the crime-prevention methods on policies that have a track record of success. ~ Steven Pinker, #NFDB
642:Let us then set aside the most salient images of the conscious mind, the ones that largely make up the contents of stories, and concentrate on the images that construct the critical enabler of consciousness: subjectivity. ~ Ant nio R Dam sio, #NFDB
643:Most people don't remember names, for the simple reason that they don't take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. They make excuses for themselves; they are too busy. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
644:Self-realization may be and sometimes is attained even by people who are struggling with sick and otherwise imperfect bodies; but it cannot be attained unless one can concentrate and meditate uninterruptedly upon God. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
645:The finest pieces of software are those where one individual has a complete sense of exactly how the program works. To have that, you have to really love the program and concentrate on keeping it simple, to an incredible degree. ~ Bill Gates, #NFDB
646:Who knew why they waited, I thought, understanding that I, too, had it in me to wait. To expect change to come from outside, to concentrate on the task of meeting it, waiting to meet it, rather than going out and finding it. ~ Rachel Kushner, #NFDB
647:You know when you play in the big away games that the fans are going to be behind their team and will be booing you. As a professional you need to tune yourself out of that part of the game and concentrate on the job at hand. ~ David Beckham, #NFDB
648:I don't concentrate on technical things like where a microphone is placed and things like that. As a producer, I try to keep the initial feeling from when I first heard a song and make sure we do what were initially aiming for. ~ Guy Berryman, #NFDB
649:That’s how it should be with you; stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Concentrate on this flower and allow the real “I” to reveal itself. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
650:The point of women's liberation is not to stand at the door of the male world, beating our fists, and crying, 'Let me in, damn you, let me in!' The point is to walk away from the world and concentrate on creating a new woman. ~ Vivian Gornick, #NFDB
651:However, in the meantime, we are going to concentrate on writing itself, on how to become a better writer, because, for one thing, becoming a better writer is going to help you become a better reader, and that is the real payoff. ~ Anne Lamott, #NFDB
652:Life isn't all perpetual bliss, nor is it one woeful weeping session. But you can concentrate so hard on noticing moments of one or the other that either a bright outlook or dim expectations becomes your regular illusion. ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
653:Makeup is part of my daily routine. It's the time in my mornings when I can concentrate on me, and me alone. Giving yourself the kind of attention is so important - and is something that is definitely glossed over by to many women ~ Kat Von D, #NFDB
654:A man does what must be done,' Karl said, trying to concentrate on his board-making.
"But you never complain."
'What good would complaining do? A job takes so many hours of work, complaining will not shorten those hours. ~ LaVyrle Spencer,#NFDB
655:Frau Lange, her chins and her dog were waiting for me on the same chaise longue, except that it had been recovered with a shade of material that was easy on the eye only if you had a piece of grit in there on which to concentrate. ~ Philip Kerr, #NFDB
656:I like Pixie Sticks. Yeah, screw the middle man. Just a tube of sugar... I'd pour two of those in a big 12 ounce coke. And I'd go out to catechism class and try to concentrate on the priest. I saw Jesus several times. I swear I did. ~ Tim Allen, #NFDB
657:The first rule of success, and the one that supersedes all others, is to have energy. It is important to know how to concentrate it, how to husband it, how to focus it on important things instead of frittering it away on trivia. ~ Michael Korda, #NFDB
658:The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musican, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
659:What does it feel like, having a missing sister? I can tell you. You know how if you lose something valuable, a wallet or a piece of jewelry, you can’t concentrate on anything else? Well, it feels like that all the time, every day ~ Nick Hornby, #NFDB
660:The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
661:Things are better now that the attention has subsided a bit, and I'm happier. Now I can concentrate on what I'm supposed to do, that is, training and running. Despite everything that's happened, I feel like I'm still the same person. ~ Liu Xiang, #NFDB
662:A good thing about talking to someone who is standing behind you is that you can pretend you don't know they're crying, and not trouble yourself too much with working out why. You can simply concentrate on helping them feel better. ~ Nathan Filer, #NFDB
663:Concentrate on the question. Oooh, interesting. I haven't seen that stone in that position before. Have you had a history of spontaneous combustion in your family?"
His eyes widened in surprise.
I grinned."Just kidding. ~ Katie MacAlister,#NFDB
664:🌸If you have the capacity to concentrate, your meditation willbe more interesting and easier. But one can meditate withoutconcentrating. Many follow a chain of ideas in their meditation— it is meditation, not concentration. ~ The Mother(CWM 4:8)🌸, #NFDB
665:I give myself a good cry if I need it, but then I concentrate on all good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories that I'm going to hear. On you, if it's Tuesday. Because we're Tuesday people. ~ Mitch Albom, #NFDB
666:I try to work out with my personal trainer for an hour, four times a week - we mainly concentrate on weights and running. If I'm on the road I sometimes do DVD work-outs in my hotel room - P90X and Insanity are a couple of my favourites. ~ Fergie, #NFDB
667:Sit down, keep your back straight, relax and have an object on which to concentrate; you might use a candle flame, a brightly colored rock, a yantra, which is a geometrical designed specifically for the practice of concentration. ~ Frederick Lenz, #NFDB
668:The inattentive, slovenly way we drift into the presence of God is an indication that we are not bothering to think about Him. Whenever our Lord spoke of prayer, He said, "Ask." It is impossible to ask if you do not concentrate. ~ Oswald Chambers, #NFDB
669:When we give up our goals and concentrate diligently on the practices of our lives, we increase self-mastery and move toward the invisible universe, toward Spirit, to receive the wonders and miracles the universe has to offer us. ~ Gerald Epstein, #NFDB
670:Every moment is utterly unique and will not be continued in eternity. This fact gives life its poignancy and should concentrate your attention on what you are experiencing now...that source of eternal energy is here, in you, now. ~ Joseph Campbell, #NFDB
671:Luckily, Other Division had started me out with a pamphlet entitled Witty Banter to Ease Any Paranormal Situation. In unpredictable and potentially life-threatening circumstances like this, levity really helped an agent concentrate. ~ Anton Strout, #NFDB
672:Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations. ~ Nathaniel Branden, #NFDB
673:Our policy is to concentrate holdings. We try to avoid buying a little of this or that when we are only lukewarm about the business or its price. When we are convinced as to attractiveness, we believe in buying worthwhile amounts. ~ Warren Buffett, #NFDB
674:Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged... 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' is all wrong. I tell you 'put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.' ~ Andrew Carnegie, #NFDB
675:If you find yourself plagued by a recurrent worry, train yourself to think of something else. Your conscious mind can concentrate on only one thought at a time, and driving the negativity away will free you up to move forward again. ~ Harvey Mackay, #NFDB
676:If you’re committed to transforming your team or your organization, hiring better is the single best way to do it. It takes will and patience, but it works. Be willing to concentrate your people investment on hiring. And never settle. ~ Laszlo Bock, #NFDB
677:She was more used to men ignoring her when she was with her friends. Even when she went out alone, they would concentrate their efforts on the other females in the room before going to her as a last-ditch effort not to go home alone. ~ Jamie Begley, #NFDB
678:I don't want to be a film-maker. I think painting is far more exciting and profound. It's always at the back of my mind - let's give up this silly business of film-making and concentrate on something more satisfying and worthwhile. ~ Peter Greenaway, #NFDB
679:I give myself a good cry if I need it.
But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I'm going to hear. On you - if it's Tuesday. Because we're Tuesday people. ~ Mitch Albom,#NFDB
680:Limits are possibilities. ... Formal restrictions, contrary to what you might think, free you up by allowing you to concentrate on purer ideas. ... You can be crippled by too many choices, especially if you don't know what your goals are. ~ Chip Kidd, #NFDB
681:Theatre is a concentrate of life as normal. Theatre is a purified version of real life, an extraction, an essence of human behaviour that is stranger and more tragic and more perfect than everything that is ordinary about me and you. ~ Eleanor Catton, #NFDB
682:This is one of the things I don't like so much about French cinema - we have tendency to concentrate on actors and dialogue and we don't care so much about the visual aspect. I love when you use all the elements at your disposal. ~ Jean Pierre Jeunet, #NFDB
683:What is confidence? I believe confidence is all about being positive concerning what you can do and not worrying over what you can’t do. Confident people do not concentrate on their weaknesses; they develop and maximize their strengths. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
684:I only get involved with roles that I find intriguing, in top quality productions regardless of the medium. I try not to focus on the format itself and concentrate instead, on finding roles that challenge and entertain me as an artist. ~ Brian J White, #NFDB
685:I run a lot. If I don't have time to go to the gym or don't have time to work out properly, I will go for a quick run. I think running is a great way to stay fit, and I really concentrate on fitting into a realistic urban lifestyle. ~ Stella McCartney, #NFDB
686:Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs. Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do. ~ Donald Knuth, #NFDB
687:The sweating is awful. It’s not as bad as the not eating, but it’s weird—cold sweat, all over my forehead, having to be wiped off every two minutes, smelling like skin concentrate. People notice. It’s one of the few things people notice. ~ Ned Vizzini, #NFDB
688:As soon as a free kick is given and it's anywhere near the box, I get excited. I don't really concentrate what side the keeper is on, because I always think that if I catch it as well as I can, then I can beat him whichever way he goes. ~ David Beckham, #NFDB
689:Flying radio-controlled airplanes [is my guiltiest pleasure]. Only God would give me a hobby where I'm looking up to the sky. It's the only time where I am able to focus and concentrate on nothing but looking up. It's a fascinating hobby. ~ Tyler Perry, #NFDB
690:I have to concentrate more intently when people speak. I always have to position myself on their right side so that I can hear out of my left ear. I sometimes get a crick in my neck from listening. But I don't there's too much else. ~ Stephanie Beacham, #NFDB
691:I'm learning how to drown out the constant noise that is such an inseparable part of my life. I don't have to prove anything to anyone, I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world. ~ Beyonce Knowles, #NFDB
692:Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs. Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do. ~ Donald Knuth, #NFDB
693:The best thing anyone can give to humanity is God consciousness. Then you can really give them something. But first you have to concentrate on your own spiritual advancement; so in a sense we have to become selfish to become selfless. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
694:Uribe and I have very good relations. I owe him loyalty, I admire him, he did great things for our country, and I think that because of what he did, I can now concentrate on different issues, different from what he concentrated on. ~ Juan Manuel Santos, #NFDB
695:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
696:I don't believe that one has to tear down the cinema screen in order to renew cinema. But new input and new energy are lacking. They are flowing above all into the television technologies. We must, therefore, concentrate on the CD-ROM. ~ Peter Greenaway, #NFDB
697:Let us change our traditional attitude to the construction of programs: Instead of imagining that our main task is to instruct a computer what to do, let us concentrate rather on explaining to human beings what we want a computer to do. ~ Vikram Chandra, #NFDB
698:Studies find that as people grow older they interact with fewer people and concentrate more on spending time with family and established friends. They focus on being rather than doing and on the present more than the future. Understanding ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
699:There were some extremely good teachers there that were great artists really in their own right. It was actually very hard to concentrate on getting down to going any work being an art student especially when it's a flighty thing at best. ~ Graham Coxon, #NFDB
700:Being gifted intellectually is only a small part of the equation of success. Concentrate on the factors you have control over: persistence, self-discipline, confidence. Far more failures are due to lack of will than lack of ability. ~ Terry Bradshaw, #NFDB
701:Having played an angel for so long, you can imagine that I've been asked to endorse any number of causes over the years. Obviously I have to limit my participation with any charity, so I decided to really concentrate on my love of children. ~ Roma Downey, #NFDB
702:I had received some minor indie label interest when I was 14 after I was in a schools music competition thing in NZ called 'Rockquest', but I knew it wasn't the right time and that I wasn't good enough and needed to concentrate on school. ~ Brooke Fraser, #NFDB
703:No matter how old you are, if you're just not an empathetic person, it's a lot easier to concentrate solely on something that is injuring another person to even some score. Hopefully as people grow older, their ability to empathize deepens. ~ James Scott, #NFDB
704:I think everybody's got different methods of working which suit the particular individual. Mine is to sort of play the part, and give 100%, to concentrate and focus on it while I'm actually working, but then leave it behind until the next day. ~ Sean Bean, #NFDB
705:There are a lot of things going on in politics at the moment which means that people can't concentrate on politicians' personalities and the characters of those who are actually running this country. This can overcome what politics is about. ~ John Newman, #NFDB
706:Bring your mind to noble silence. Unify your mind in noble silence. Concentrate your mind in noble silence... Enter into rapture and pleasure born of silence derived of concentration and awareness that is free from thought and fabrication. ~ Gautama Buddha, #NFDB
707:I concentrate on character, theme, language, structure, voice. It actually surprises me that no matter what I write, people declare it "intently political." I'm just writing about the world I know, as it is. Wounds and griefs included. ~ Barbara Kingsolver, #NFDB
708:If you don't concentrate on counting the money, people soon realize that money is not the focus of your consciousness, so they give you everything other than money: kudos, acclaim, praise, etc., etc. And sooner or later you'll be in trouble. ~ Stuart Wilde, #NFDB
709:I know that I want to concentrate more on my inside-pretty than my outside-pretty, because thats gonna go away. But if your inside is beautiful, it never wears away. The light always shows on the outside if you are striving to be good inside. ~ Erykah Badu, #NFDB
710:When someone has gifted you with one act of love after another, it’s only fair to ignore their bad moods and concentrate exclusively in the many things they’ve done for you. Acts and feelings should always prevail over moods and words. ~ Mya Robarts, #NFDB
711:I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
712:In most sports they have a physical effect on your performance, in swimming only psychological. If you worry about what your rival is doing, you take your mind off what you are doing and so fail to concentrate on your performance. ~ Louis Fabian Bachrach Jr, #NFDB
713:I want you to concentrate. You are going to die in a moment. The hereafter for all we know may be an eternal state of excruciating insanity. You smoked your last cigarette yesterday. Concentrate. Try to understand what is happening to you ~ Vladimir Nabokov, #NFDB
714:Liebig himself seems to have occupied the role of a gate, or sorting-demon, such as his younger contemporary Clerk Maxwell once proposed, helping to concentrate energy into one favored room of the Creation at the expense of everything else. ~ Thomas Pynchon, #NFDB
715:So many of us have not attended to the deeper issues in ourselves; in our minds, our hearts, and in our external manifestations that keep love at bay. We instead concentrate on making a list of what we're looking for in another person. ~ Marianne Williamson, #NFDB
716:Flexible applications are built on objects that operate on trust; it is your job to make your objects trustworthy. When you see these code patterns, concentrate on the offending code’s expectations and use those expectations to find the duck type ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
717:I think I'd concentrate on young women - particularly girls at school - and I would try and build into school curriculums much more education about relationships and how girls (and boys) can handle them: stuff about consent and that sort of thing. ~ Jo Brand, #NFDB
718:It may work, Jeeves. It is, at least, worth trying. I shall now leave you, to prepare myself for the ordeal before me with silent meditation.’ ‘Your tea will be here in a moment, sir.’ ‘No, Jeeves. This is no time for tea. I must concentrate. ~ P G Wodehouse, #NFDB
719:SOMETIMES, WHEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS HAPPENING, I TRY MY DAMNEDEST TO CONCENTRATE ON THE MOST INCONSEQUENTIAL, UNRELATED DETAIL READILY AVAILABLE TO ME. A DETAIL THAT, IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SITUATION AT HAND. ~ Kim Holden, #NFDB
720:I thought about it a lot (losing the 2002 NLCS). It's something you have to go home and wrap it up because if you keep thinking about it, you're going to take that to Spring Training and you're not going to be able to concentrate on your work. ~ Albert Pujols, #NFDB
721:Up to that time I never realized that I possessed any particular gift of discovery, but Lord Rayleigh, whom I always considered as an ideal man of science, had said so and if that was the case, I felt that I should concentrate on some big idea. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
722:But in practice the great difference between the medieval ethics and ours is that ours concentrate attention on the sins which are the sins of the ignorant, and practically deny that the sins which are the sins of the educated are sins at all. ~ G K Chesterton, #NFDB
723:It was like those old Star Trek sets—you ignored the polystyrene boulders and painted sky to concentrate on watching Kirk pace around like a caged tiger. Well, I always had, anyway. The man even managed to make those awful uniforms look sexy. ~ Josephine Myles, #NFDB
724:I believe that the purpose of life is, at least in part, to be happy. Based on this belief, Ruby is designed to make programming not only easy but also fun. It allows you to concentrate on the creative side of programming, with less stress. ~ Yukihiro Matsumoto, #NFDB
725:I don't worry about the last shot or the next shot. I concentrate. Every shot gets a clean slate. And when a shot is over, I wipe it out absolutely. Tell a joke or something. If you worry about how you looked, how well you did, you'll go insane. ~ Michael Caine, #NFDB
726:If you concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens...Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
727:I've never got on with the British press because they've always given me such a hard time. Once they build a band up they just want to do people down. They shouldn't concentrate on the colour of someone's shirt they should listen to the music. ~ Andrew Eldritch, #NFDB
728:Let your works not be interrupted by the stupidities happening in your own country! Work and walk on your true path ignoring any kind of distractions! Abstract yourself from all the primitivenesses surrounding you! Concentrate on your work! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
729:When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people with their difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more effectively. Somehow, the act of self-giving is a personal power-releasing factor ~ Norman Vincent Peale, #NFDB
730:You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. …Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!… I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed! ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
731:Books educate people and educated people ask awkward questions of those who govern them. The educated, in short, are considered ungovernable. Better to keep people ignorant of the past and to concentrate their minds on the utopia that lies ahead. ~ The Economist, #NFDB
732:It’s this stupid, desperate longing—this rose-colored-glasses way of looking backward—that makes it hard to concentrate on gymnastics, yet somehow makes everything I want seem more possible, too. Like maybe if I was happy once, I can get there again. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
733:Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins; we tend to concentrate on that merciful fact. But isn't it also true He lived to show us a lifestyle free from sin? So, wouldn't following in his footsteps be something like preventative medicine? ~ Richelle E Goodrich, #NFDB
734:Law of Attraction won't let you remove a thought. You cannot concentrate upon NOT thinking about something hard enough to stop thinking about it! For the more you decide you will not think about it, the more you think about it!...Think about that. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
735:One, you will become what you think about. Two, remember the word imagination. Let your mind soar. Three, courage. Concentrate on your goal everyday. Four, save 10 percent of what you earn and action. Ideas are worthless unless we act on them. ~ Earl Nightingale, #NFDB
736:'Trust-me' government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man, that we trust him to do what's best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. ~ Ronald Reagan, #NFDB
737:What made you fall in love with a prostitute?” “I didn’t understand it myself at the time. But I’ve thought about it since, and I think it was because, knowing that your body would never be mine alone, I had to concentrate on conquering your soul. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
738:During the first five years that I was writing the series, I made plans and wrote small pieces of all the books. I concentrate on one book at a time, though occasionally I will get an idea for a future book and scribble it down for future reference. ~ J K Rowling, #NFDB
739:The job is, however, not to set priorities. That is easy. Everybody can do it. The reason why so few executives concentrate is the difficulty of setting “posteriorities”—that is, deciding what tasks not to tackle—and of sticking to the decision. ~ Peter F Drucker, #NFDB
740:Is this still worth doing?” And if it isn’t, he gets rid of it so as to be able to concentrate on the few tasks that, if done with excellence, will really make a difference in the results of his own job and in the performance of his organization. ~ Peter F Drucker, #NFDB
741:I was raised to be in service to something larger than myself. A lot of actors concentrate on what they will get out of the profession, rather than what they can offer it. The way I see it, if you come with something to offer, you can offer it forever. ~ Tyne Daly, #NFDB
742:Mick the Mick tried to concentrate on reading the page, but his gaze kept flicking up to the trees. The prehistoric landscape lapsed into deadly silence. Then, like some giant monster coming out of the jungle, a giant monster came out of the jungle. ~ Blake Crouch, #NFDB
743:Our true appearance is our mind’s appearance; whatever our mind’s visage is, that is our real visage! Thus, whenever you meet a person, concentrate on his mind to see his real look, try to understand his mind because his mind is his real face! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
744:Things might have been different if she hadn't been able to drift; if she'd had to concentrate on her next meal, instead of dwelling on all the injuries she felt we'd done her. An unearned income encourages self-pity in those already prone to it. ~ Margaret Atwood, #NFDB
745:When you concentrate on the middle of your chest - this is where loving awareness lives. This is the spiritual heart. Not the beating heart, not the emotional heart. This spiritual heart goes way back - goes back many incarnations. We call it the soul. ~ Ram Dass, #NFDB
746:I wont deny that I have a far more productive writing life without the Internet, mostly because I rekindle my ability to concentrate on one thing for a period of longer than three minutes. My curiosity is channeled inward rather than Internet-ward. ~ Heidi Julavits, #NFDB
747:So during those first moments of the day, which are yours and yours alone, you can circumvent these boundaries and concentrate fully on spiritual matters. And this gives you the opportunity to plan the time management of the entire day. ~ Menachem Mendel Schneerson, #NFDB
748:What made you fall in love with a prostitute?”
“I didn’t understand it myself at the time. But I’ve thought about it since, and I think it was because, knowing that your body would never be mine alone, I had to concentrate on conquering your soul. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
749:Attention is the key to life. Whatever you really give your attention to, you become. Whatever you really concentrate upon will come into your life. We grow into the thing that fills our thoughts as inevitably as the stream merges into the ocean at last. ~ Emmet Fox, #NFDB
750:I can’t get her out of my mind. She’s all I keep thinking about both day and night. I haven’t been
able to concentrate on anything else. I’ve cancelled all my dates because I only want to see Ellery.”
Connor Black's thought on Ellery Lane. ~ Sandi Lynn,#NFDB
751:Take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own ~ Mao Zedong, #NFDB
752:When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people with their difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more effectively. Somehow, the act of self - giving is a personal power - releasing factor. ~ Norman Vincent Peale, #NFDB
753:It was extremely useful to grow up in front of the camera. It gives the camera no significance. I think it helped me have perspective on things. The attraction that Hollywood can have, I feel like I'm over that. Instead I just concentrate on acting. ~ Giovanni Ribisi, #NFDB
754:I wonder if this is the way it will be next year if I come to New York, or wherever I go—me trying to concentrate on college, on life, when all I’m doing is thinking about him. I wonder if he’ll come with me, or if our built-in ending is high school. ~ Jennifer Niven, #NFDB
755:My parents thought that I had ADD when I was young,” I say, remembering. “I couldn’t concentrate well then. That just made me frustrated. Angry. It was only when I started running… running helped me to deal with it.”, Celestra Caine in FADE by Kailin Gow ~ Kailin Gow, #NFDB
756:The ability to concentrate singlemindedly on your most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the key to great success, achievement, respect, status, and happiness in life. This key insight is the heart and soul of this book. This ~ Brian Tracy, #NFDB
757:The single most important lesson of effective communication is this: Focus on clarity. Concentrate on precisions. Don’t worry about constructing beautiful sentences. Beauty comes from meaning, not language. Accuracy is the most effective style of all. ~ David Gerrold, #NFDB
758:Let others vibrate as they vibrate and want the best for them. Never mind how they're flowing to you. You concentrate on how you're flowing. Because one who is connected to the Energy Stream is more powerful, more influential than a million who are not. ~ Esther Hicks, #NFDB
759:Take up anything that you see or feel, a book for instance; first concentrate the mind on it, then on the knowledge that is in the form of a book, and then on the Ego that sees the book, and so on. By that practice all the organs will be conquered. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
760:They didn’t hold Frankie as she sobbed for hours at a time without talking. They didn’t make sure she ate even when she wasn’t hungry. They didn’t do her homework when she couldn’t concentrate, or explain to our teachers why she was late to every class. ~ Sarah Ockler, #NFDB
761:Alfalfa juice concentrate • Alfalfa leaf • Aloe concentrate • Barley grass • Beta-carotene • Bilberry leaf • Black walnut lea • Blueberry leaf • Boldo leaf • Broccoli • Cabbage • Celery • Cornsilk • Couch grass • Dandelion leaf • Echinacea • Goldenseal ~ Robert O Young, #NFDB
762:I think it's very natural to get nervous. I've usually got concerns about a specific thing in the opening which might worry me. I have to be relaxed and balanced emotionally and then I can concentrate on the moves during the game. Then things will be ok. ~ Judit Polgar, #NFDB
763:It is the job of conscious rational thought to decide what you want, select the goals you wish to achieve-and concentrate upon these rather than upon what you do not want. To spend time and effort concentrating upon what you do not want is not rational. ~ Maxwell Maltz, #NFDB
764:I try to concentrate on quality clothing and accessories that are worth having, and to get my people to take fewer trips by air and stay longer each time they travel. It’s more human, especially if they take time to visit an art gallery while there. ~ Vivienne Westwood, #NFDB
765:It's really hard to make records and concentrate and have a free mind, because I have this whole other life. If you don't have kids it's a whole other thing. I think you can be fifty and still have a rock and roll lifestyle; you can still perpetuate that. ~ Pat Benatar, #NFDB
766:No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on something else, to pass the time and to distract her from the situation she was in, the fear came trickling out. It hovered like a cloud of gas around her, threatening to penetrate her pores and poison her. ~ Steig Larsson, #NFDB
767:No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on something else, to pass the time and to distract her from the situation she was in, the fear came trickling out. It hovered like a cloud of gas around her, threatening to penetrate her pores and poison her. ~ Stieg Larsson, #NFDB
768:What I want most is . . .” She stopped. What did she want most? “Honestly, all I need is for us to do three things in this world: take good care of our family, do good work we can be proud of, and concentrate on bringing out the best in each other. ~ Randy Susan Meyers, #NFDB
769:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future, I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man…Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
770:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man…Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
771:He [The Dalai Lama] has made it his mission to say, "We can't afford to squabble over minor differences, we have to concentrate on what we have in common, our common mission, our common culture - and indeed what we have in common with the rest of the world." ~ Pico Iyer, #NFDB
772:I never went to stage school or anything like that. It was always plays, productions at school and things like that. The thing for me with acting was it was the only thing I could fully concentrate on. I loved playing sports. I didn't really love studying. ~ Ed Speleers, #NFDB
773:it was with a great deal of help and supervision that Rosemary was able to perform. Newton observed that Rosemary could not concentrate on her studies for more than two and a half hours. Her limited attention span thwarted attempts to educate her, ~ Kate Clifford Larson, #NFDB
774:Instead of searching for what you want externally, concentrate on developing mental pictures of your desires. Surround these images with feelings of security, gratitude, and faith; and know that what you’ve been looking for is on its way to you right now. ~ Doreen Virtue, #NFDB
775:... we shall never become an immense power in the world until we concentrate all our money and editorial forces upon one great national daily newspaper, so we can sauce back our opponents every day in the year; once a month or once a week is not enough. ~ Susan B Anthony, #NFDB
776:Eye contact is still difficult for me in noisy rooms because it interferes with hearing. It’s like my brain’s wiring lets only one sense function or the other, but sometimes not both at the same time. In noisy rooms, I have to concentrate on hearing. Some ~ Temple Grandin, #NFDB
777:Husbands must, therefore, concentrate on being strong for the sake of their wives. Ungodly men are strong for selfish reasons, and not for the sake of others. A godly husband uses his strength to give to her; he does not use his strength to take from her. ~ Douglas Wilson, #NFDB
778:My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on your enemy's cheek, so, too, in war. You cannot waste time on feinting and sidestepping. You must decide on your target and go in. ~ Otto Skorzeny, #NFDB
779:One way in which all of us can help to combat the current wave of public indecency which threatens to undermine Western civilization is to concentrate upon and increase the solidarity of the family. This solidarity begins with a child at the mother's breast. ~ Grace Kelly, #NFDB
780:Try to think about more important things,' he said. 'Think about your soul, your character. Think about the freezer. It's a solid block of ice. It needs defrosting. There might a steak in there. Concentrate on things like that. There could be a meal in it. ~ Jonathan Ames, #NFDB
781:And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We're always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important. ~ Steve Jobs, #NFDB
782:Anymore, no one's mind is their own. You can't concentrate. You can't think. There's always some noise worming in. Singers shouting. Dead people laughing. Actors crying. All these little doses of emotion. Someone's always spraying the air with their mood. ~ Chuck Palahniuk, #NFDB
783:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
784:If I give a little hint or clue as to where my voice could be going, that would [be] read. Because people can listen closely, you know, you can sit with headphones or you just concentrate on music, you can just hear, sometimes, the desires of the voice itself. ~ Will Oldham, #NFDB
785:It can be very frustrating and very deflating to be constantly defined and described by other people, so I've stopped reading anything written about me, and I find it much healthier. I just sort of concentrate on what I do and don't worry too much about that. ~ Ani DiFranco, #NFDB
786:You know what the problem that animal activists sometimes have? They only concentrate on the heartbreaking things to the point where the general public thinks, 'Oh, here comes those animal folks again and I'm going to hear all the things I don't want to hear.' ~ Betty White, #NFDB
787:Effective salespeople concentrate on and master the art of bouncing back from disappointments, sharpening focus and delivery, and then returning to action as quickly as possible. Effective sales professionals win and lose more sales—because they stay in the game. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
788:People are afraid to concentrate because they are afraid of losing themselves if they are too absorbed in another person, in an idea, in an event. The less strong their self, the greater the fear of losing themselves in the act of concentration on the non-self. ~ Erich Fromm, #NFDB
789:Those who want to "spread the wealth" almost invariably seek to concentrate the power. It happens too often, and in too many different countries around the world, to be a coincidence. Which is more dangerous, inequalities of wealth or concentrations of power? ~ Thomas Sowell, #NFDB
790:Concentrate on your strength and strongly build your strength whilst others concentrate on your weakness! When your strength is strong enough, you shall surely put them to shame with your strength, and they shall surely see their own weakness better!. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
791:Hope is the most sensitive part of a poor wretch's soul; whoever raises it only to torment him is behaving like the executioners in Hell who, they say, incessantly renew old wounds and concentrate their attention on that area of it that is already lacerated. ~ Marquis de Sade, #NFDB
792:Concentrate. Level the sight. Breathe in.
Ease the trigger. And relax?
BLAP! The can somersaulted across the sand.
Pride swelled till I thought I'd burst.
But my pride slipped at Dad's reality check.
Not bad. Pretty good, in fact. For a girl. ~ Ellen Hopkins,#NFDB
793:In a campaign against more than one state or army, it is more fruitful to concentrate first against the weaker partner than to attempt the overthrow of the stronger in the belief that the latter's defeat will automatically involve the collapse of the others. ~ B H Liddell Hart, #NFDB
794:After sex, they would often lie in bed listening to the record. She never tired of it. “Armstrong’s trumpet and singing are absolutely wonderful, of course, but if you ask me, the thing you should concentrate on is Barney Bigard’s clarinet,” she would say. Yet ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
795:Improv relies just as much on listening as it does you delivering dialogue. That's the hard for some people. Some people just concentrate on what they're going to say, and they're not listening. You have to listen in order to see where the other person is going to. ~ J B Smoove, #NFDB
796:The influx of competing messages that we receive whenever we go online not only overloads our working memory; it makes it much harder for our frontal lobes to concentrate our attention on any one thing. The process of memory consolidation can’t even get started. ~ Nicholas Carr, #NFDB
797:To be rigorous means consistently applying exacting standards at all times and at all levels, especially in upper management. To be rigorous, not ruthless, means that the best people need not worry about their positions and can concentrate fully on their work. ~ James C Collins, #NFDB
798:To dance with a man is to concentrate a twelvemonth's regulation fire upon him in the fragment of an hour. To pass to courtship without acquaintance, to pass to marriage without courtship, is a skipping of terms reserved for those alone who tread this royal road. ~ Thomas Hardy, #NFDB
799:Look at those numbers running. Money makes time. It used to be the other way around. Clock time accelerated the rise of capitalism. People stopped thinking about eternity. They began to concentrate on hours, measurable hours,man-hours, using labor more efficiently. ~ Don DeLillo, #NFDB
800:What modern technology has done has afforded us the luxury of abbreviation and being concise with time, I think. Things that it would take you a week to do can now be done in a day, which is absolutely awesome because you can concentrate on the bigger picture. ~ Justin Broadrick, #NFDB
801:And then, because I’m now the one thinking too much, and because she is different from all other girls and because I really, really don’t want to screw this up, I concentrate on kissing her on the banks of the Blue Hole, in the sunshine, and I let that be enough. ~ Jennifer Niven, #NFDB
802:Education is not filling the mind with a lot of facts. Perfecting the instrument and getting complete mastery of my own mind [is the ideal of education]. If I want to concentrate my mind upon a point, it goes there, and the moment I call, it is free [again].... ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
803:Gulls pass, braying like donkeys, and in the distance the guns thud again, and the rattling of the truck fades, and Marie-Laure tries to concentrate on rereading a chapter earlier in the novel: make the raised dots form letters, the letters words, the words a world. ~ Anthony Doerr, #NFDB
804:I learnt to distrust all physical concepts as the basis for a theory. Instead one should put one's trust in a mathematical scheme, even if the scheme does not appear at first sight to be connected with physics. One should concentrate on getting interesting mathematics. ~ Paul Dirac, #NFDB
805:I suggest that the introductory courses in science, at all levels from grade school through college, be radically revised. Leave the fundamentals, the so-called basics, aside for a while, and concentrate the attention of all students on the things that are not known. ~ Lewis Thomas, #NFDB
806:Our motto should be: let us make peace so that we can concentrate on the really important work that needs to be done. That is, alleviating the plight of the poor and the defenceless, for as long as most of humanity feels the pain of poverty we all remain prisoners. ~ Nelson Mandela, #NFDB
807:Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That’s the hardest part and that’s what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Do not go with the flow. Be the flow. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
808:Rather than the manufactured clash of civilizations, we need to concentrate on the slow working together of cultures that overlap, borrow from each other, and live together in far more interesting ways than any abridged or inauthentic mode of understanding can allow. ~ Edward W Said, #NFDB
809:Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That's the hardest part and that's what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Do not go with the flow. Be the flow. ~ Elif Safak, #NFDB
810:I never do enjoy my breaks, long or short...I look forward to them intensely, but as soon as they begin, I can feel them starting to end. I feel the temporariness of my freedom, and find it hard to concentrate on anything other than the sensation of it trickling away. ~ Sophie Hannah, #NFDB
811:Initially I had intended to study medicine, but before going to University I had decided that I would be better suited to a career in which I could concentrate my activities and interests more on a single goal than appeared to be possible in my father's profession. ~ Frederick Sanger, #NFDB
812:the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future.” ― Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
813:I am going to concentrate on what's important in life. I'm going to strive everyday to be a kind and generous and loving person. I'm going to keep death right here, so that anytime I even think about getting angry at you or anybody else, I'll see death and I'll remember. ~ Diane Frolov, #NFDB
814:Is that the only way?" Tom asked her. "Vik and I tried net-sending with a thought interface during Programming once, but I couldn't concentrate on just one thing at a time."
Vik nodded. "His programming questions were always like, 'Vik, how do steak boobs function? ~ S J Kincaid,#NFDB
815:The common error of past improvised political defiance campaigns is the reliance on only one or two methods, such as strikes and mass demonstrations. In fact, a multitude of methods exist that allow resistance strategists to concentrate and disperse resistance as required. ~ Gene Sharp, #NFDB
816:Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted – a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. ~ Harold S Kushner, #NFDB
817:I think it helps to have a good old-fashioned trajectory, plodding along. Obviously one has an ego and it's really easy to have that ego tickled, but what helps me get through the night is if I concentrate on just quality of work so that I don't panic about my profile. ~ Anne Marie Duff, #NFDB
818:I took a complete year off the road, but a big part of that year was making 'The Big Revival.' I needed that down time just so I could concentrate. The one thing that starts it all for us is the music. That's what you create in the studio. That's where the magic happens. ~ Kenny Chesney, #NFDB
819:I was reminded of our history lessons, in which we learned about the loot or bounty an army enjoys when a battle is won. I began to see the awards and recognition just like that. They were little jewels without much meaning. I needed to concentrate on winning the war. ~ Malala Yousafzai, #NFDB
820:His being too enveloped in opaque promise, choking the faculty with it. Eyes streaming and throats constricted with the noxious concentrate of Cork's great post-millennial of hope. Oh God, that was it. Ryan was all tied up in nasty knots of his own smothering competence. ~ Lisa McInerney, #NFDB
821:I try to neutralize my figures; I want them to be mythic and timeless. I want them to exist beyond time. I've used the skull caps or cowls to banish hair, which is distracting. I want to isolate the face and concentrate on what is really going on deep within my subjects. ~ Joyce Tenneson, #NFDB
822:There is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty—unless she is wed to something more meaningful—is always superficial. It is not that your Julian chooses solely to concentrate on certain, exalted things; it is that he chooses to ignore others equally as important. ~ Donna Tartt, #NFDB
823:Mourning can go on for years and years. It doesn't end after a year, that's a false fantasy. It usually ends when people realize that they can live again, that they can concentrate their energies on their lives as a whole, and not on their hurt, and guilt and pain. ~ Elisabeth Kubler Ross, #NFDB
824:there is a branch of science called geobotany. It is a way of looking for minerals by knowing that certain plants will only grow in their presence or absence, and sometimes by knowing that the plants themselves concentrate particular minerals in their leaves and stems. ~ Charles Sheffield, #NFDB
825:You may have envisioned half a dozen potential markets for your product, but as soon as you open your doors, one just explodes from the pack and becomes so instantly important that good business sense dictates that you abandon the others and concentrate all your efforts. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
826:No doubt, the flakes of snow falling over him carried ashen nuclei. John tried to concentrate on those tiny flecks of carbon at the center of each snowflake. He tried to think of their elemental futures. Perhaps a hundred thousand years from now they would become tiny diamonds. ~ Ginn Hale, #NFDB
827:I'm alive. When I'm eating that's all I think about. If I'm on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight,it will be just as good a day as any to die. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. Life is the moment we are living now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
828:It is the growing custom to narrow control, concentrate power, disregard and disenfranchise the public; and assuming that certain powers by divine right of money-raising or by sheer assumption, have the power to do as they think best without consulting the wisdom of mankind. ~ W E B Du Bois, #NFDB
829:To concentrate properly, you still the wheels of your mind and enter into a quiet, relaxed mental state. When you concentrate, you gather your thoughts together; and you focus all your attention on your ideal, aim, or objective. You are now at a focal or central point, where ~ Joseph Murphy, #NFDB
830:As ever new aspects of this system come to light, we see the contours of a highly complex global machine that serves to not only facilitate global trade and production, but also to systematically concentrate large amounts of wealth in the hands of a very small minority of people. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
831:Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breath. Remember that you were not always earthbound. Every living creature, every drop of water and every sombre mountain is the by-blow of some bloated, dying star. Deep down, we remember wriggling through the universe as beams of light. ~ Eden Robinson, #NFDB
832:Sleep makes people calmer, more alert, less fearful - just plain happier, or so I see around me and in me. I am sure that if this great nation were to concentrate on getting more sleep, we would be a happier, more confident people, and that by itself would be a major achievement. ~ Ben Stein, #NFDB
833:The more you do it, the more you learn to concentrate, as a child does, incredibly intensively and then you sort of have to relax. I remember the first film I did, the lead actor would in between scenes be reading a newspaper or sleeping and I'd think, 'How can you do that?' ~ Cate Blanchett, #NFDB
834:We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we will not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
835:Critics of American colleges typically attribute the failings of undergraduate education to a tendency on the part of professors to neglect their teaching to concentrate on research. In fact, the evidence does not support this thesis, except perhaps in major research universities. ~ Derek Bok, #NFDB
836:Drawing is simply another way of seeing, which we don’t really do as adults,” says cartoonist Chris Ware. We’re all going around in a “cloud of remembrance and anxiety,” he says, and the act of drawing helps us live in the moment and concentrate on what’s really in front of us. ~ Austin Kleon, #NFDB
837:I always like it when someone attractive to me agrees with me, so I have fond memories of Phil Fisher. The idea that it was hard to find good investments, so concentrate in a few, seems to me to be an obviously good idea. But 98% of the investment world doesn't think this way. ~ Charlie Munger, #NFDB
838:I have said that we are always with you and it is true, but to feel it you must draw back from your vital and be able to concentrate in your inner being. If you do that faithfully and sincerely, after a time you will feel the connection and the support.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - IV,#NFDB
839:Teaching well draws from the same well that writing draws from: the reserves of compassion and ability to listen and concentrate on another. So I have to have fine line between teaching and writing. I try not to ever think of career. I just try to go to the dream world every day. ~ Andre Dubus, #NFDB
840:Wherever you go in the world, in any society, it is always the same when it comes to questions of justice - We concentrate our laws, investigations, prosecutions, and punishments on how much crime is in the sin, rather than how much sin is in the crime. " - Abdul Khader ~ Gregory David Roberts, #NFDB
841:Few things concentrate the mind more efficiently than the necessity of saying what you mean. It brings you face to face with what you are talking about, what you are actually proposing. It gets you away from the catch phrases that not merely substitute for thought but preclude it. ~ Edwin Newman, #NFDB
842:For me the information has to remain incredibly neutral. It's what I would call 'ice-like' information. I receive very rapid impressions. I don't have to sit there and concentrate. Because, if I start to really focus, my conscious mind begins to apply data, which is not accurate. ~ Caroline Myss, #NFDB
843:Many feel the urge to create a new and better world. Rather than let your thoughts dwell on such matters, you should concentrate on That by the contemplation of which there is hope of perfect peace. It is man’s duty to become a seeker after God or Truth.” —Ananda Moyi Ma. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
844:Winds shake the leaves and for a moment I smell smoke. I concentrate on the scent, but it vanishes into the aroma of rain and tree bark, the way one life can collapse into another and different people can stir within the same body, like bats thrashing inside a secret hollow. ~ Laura van den Berg, #NFDB
845:During meditation, if we can concentrate all our attention on one point, and put all problems in front of it, then they can be solved immediately. Our power is great, but we never use it. If we do not use our power by concentrating on it, then it seems we do not have any power at all. ~ Ching Hai, #NFDB
846:On a good night, I'm just into the flow and seeing the pictures and words in my mind clearly before I say them. On a bad night, which to be honest are nowhere near as bad as when I was starting out, I just concentrate on performing the routines correctly. I focus on my delivery. ~ Franklyn Ajaye, #NFDB
847:researchers found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips and cookies; spent on a whole food like carrots, the same dollar buys only 250 calories. On the beverage aisle, you can buy 875 calories of soda for a dollar, or 170 calories of fruit juice from concentrate. ~ Michael Pollan, #NFDB
848:I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. ~ Gautama Buddha,#NFDB
849:When you want to think and find a solution, instead of following the deductions of thought, you stop everything and try to concentrate and concentrate, intensify the point of the problem. You stop everything and wait until, by the intensity of the concentration, you obtain an answer. ~ The Mother, #NFDB
850:In this perfect world, there are certain imperfections that catch your eye. That's what works for me. I don't concentrate on being perfect, but instead put that effort behind my craft and being true to myself. I don't conform to pressures outside of me. I am confident about myself. ~ Sonakshi Sinha, #NFDB
851:The other day a young Internet surfer asked me why I preferred using a pencil instead of a computer. The principal reason, I told him, was that I liked chewing on the end of my pencil. A nasty habit, but it helps me concentrate. And I find it extremely difficult to chew on a computer. ~ Ruskin Bond, #NFDB
852:People always complain that they can't do this and they can't do that."
"If we look at our lives and concentrate on things that we don't have or wish to have, that doesn't change the circumstances. The truth is that we have to focus on what we have and make the best out of it. ~ Nick Vujicic,#NFDB
853:This is exactly how those who rely on their own efforts to be justified still act today. They concentrate on the good that they do, which they hope will please God. They don’t trust in God’s mercy and his grace. They aren’t hoping that God will forgive their sins through Christ. This ~ Martin Luther, #NFDB
854:You cannot know the future. You look at the news and it looks terrifying. But you can never be sure. That is the whole thing with the future. You don't know. At some point you have to accept that you don't know. You have to stop flicking ahead and just concentrate on the page you are on. ~ Matt Haig, #NFDB
855:You have to let go of stuff when you act for a while. You stay too attached to things that have worked or haven't worked, it kind of makes it harder for you to move forward. So I try to concentrate on the experience that I have and then let the public expression of it be its own deal. ~ Billy Crudup, #NFDB
856:I've always been fortunate in that I'm quite good at what I do, but there have been many people who have made it to the high level and they weren't necessarily the fastest runner in their class at school. Concentrate on yourself. It's down to planning, preparation and being dedicated. ~ Jenny Meadows, #NFDB
857:She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers along his jaw. “I need you to do something for me, Carson.”
It was hard to concentrate with her stroking his face like that, but he managed to ask, “What is it?”
“I need you to rock my world. Can you do that for me? ~ Elle Kennedy,#NFDB
858:There's no excuse for excuses. Many of us are good at finding justification for behavior in men that isn't acceptable. We sometimes let them get away with things that hurt and upset us because we concentrate on what we like about HIM and the crumbs that give us gratification. ~ Daylle Deanna Schwartz, #NFDB
859:When any of our faculties retains
a strong impression of delight or pain,
the soul will wholly concentrate on that,
neglecting any other power it has;
and thus, when something seen
or heard secures the soul in stringent grip,
time moves and yet we do not notice it. ~ Dante Alighieri,#NFDB
860:It's really hard to perfect one aspect of your kicking game when you're spending some of your time kicking with a holder, some of your time kicking off a tee, and some of your time drop-kicking the ball. To be able to concentrate just on my punting responsibilities will do wonders for me. ~ Pat McAfee, #NFDB
861:To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind, to concentrate and go beyond the mind. By turning the mind's concentration inward, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of Meditation. ~ Sivananda, #NFDB
862:To concentrate implies bringing all your energy to focus on a certain point; but thought wanders away... Whereas attention has no control, no concentration. It is complete attention, which means giving all your energy, the energy of the brain, your heart, everything, to attending. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
863:She made an appearance to offer me courage, and I worried about her appearance. Shame. Such a worrywart I am. I miss miracles blooming before my eyes: I concentrate on a fading star and miss the constellation. I overlook dazzling thunderstorms worrying whether I have laundry hanging. ~ Rabih Alameddine, #NFDB
864:The more you are preoccupied by your own physical aging, the more anxious you will become. Do not worry so much about your physical appearance. Concentrate, rather, on not wasting your life. Practise the Dharma. The more you engage in it, the more your satisfaction will grow. ~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, #NFDB
865:Turn your mind completely away from your difficulty, concentrate exclusively on the Light and the Force coming from above; let the Lord do for your body whatever He pleases. Hand over to Him totally the entire responsibility of your physical being.
Words Of The Mother, vol 15, p.150 ~ The Mother,#NFDB
866:Today we live in a world that judges its achievements by speed and busyness. We are so busy making things happen that we have little time left to think about the value of what is happening. We urgently need people who concentrate on the meaning of life rather than simply the speed. ~ Joan D Chittister, #NFDB
867:You may concentrate on appearances all through the rest of your house, but in the bedroom comfort should be supreme. I think that bedrooms should also be very intimate rooms-they should express your personal preferences in every way...Of all the rooms in the house your bedroom is yours. ~ Dorothy Draper, #NFDB
868:You see that the people who are drawn to alternative medicine are often fairly healthy and they go to alternative medicine for what I call the 'symptoms of life.' Fatigue, joint pains, inability to concentrate, perhaps, the kinds of things that anyone over twenty-five gets at some point. ~ Marcia Angell, #NFDB
869:It's all still about having a good story. You have to have a good story as your anchor, as your main focus. So for me, personally, I just like to concentrate on writing the best book I can, and if there's other stuff that goes along with it, that's awesome, as long as the story is central. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
870:It's annoying when you've got a guitar and you're working on music and then you have to go and do the shopping or someone calls your mobile and you get distracted or you have to go out and do something. So it's nice to just concentrate on it one hundred percent and give your all to it. ~ Michael Kiwanuka, #NFDB
871:Okay, well, Mr Raven, my advice to you is to stop taking yourself so seriously. Stop trying to be so smart, and concentrate on telling a story. People want to be entertained. If they want to be educated they buy a text book.” Her accent returned. “That’s my two-bob, take it or leave it. ~ Iain Rob Wright, #NFDB
872:The traditional religions worry me. Their long history proves that they have not understood the meaning of the commandment: Thou shalt not kill. If we want to save this world from unimaginable destruction we should concentrate not on the faraway God , but on the heart of the individual. ~ Albert Einstein, #NFDB
873:Throughout my career, I have discovered and rediscovered a simple
truth.It is this: the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your
most important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is the
key to great success, achievement, respect, status and happiness in
life. ~ Brian Tracy,#NFDB
874:You can go back to avoiding squirrel meat tomorrow.” The second hunter knew he shouldn’t, but he ate.’ Jason traced his finger across her knuckles, which made it hard to concentrate. ‘What happened?’ ‘In the middle of the night, the second hunter woke up screaming in pain. The first hunter ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
875:Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. ~ George Washington, #NFDB
876:From childhood I was compelled to concentrate attention upon myself. This caused me much suffering, but to my present view, it was a blessing in disguise for it has taught me to appreciate the inestimable value of introspection in the preservation of life, as well as a means of achievement. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
877:New York is the concentrate of art and commerce and sport and religion and entertainment and finance, bringing to a single compact arena the gladiator, the evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader and the merchant. No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky. ~ E B White, #NFDB
878:The method is to quiet the mind and, in order to do so, to concentrate on an aspiration for faith in the Divine Power, peace and calm in the mind, single-minded sincerity in the heart, and a conscious opening to the Light and Truth and Power.
Letters on Himself and the Ashram, p.817 ~ Sri Aurobindo,#NFDB
879:Will he really give her that heart box of candy?” I’d asked the shiny ball. Digital words spelled out across the surface in reply, “Not sure, try again”. I immediately rubbed it again and got “Concentrate and ask once more”. One more vigorous scrub gave me, “Try again later”. So frustrating! ~ P T Michelle, #NFDB
880:After my husband died, I could not write much - I could not concentrate. I was too exhausted most of the time even to contemplate writing. But I did take notes - not for fiction, but for a journal, or diary, of this terrible time. I did not think that I would ever survive this interlude. ~ Joyce Carol Oates, #NFDB
881:If you can assemble a team of 11 talented players who concentrate intently during training sessions, take care of their diet and bodies, get enough sleep and show up on time, then you are almost halfway to winning a trophy. It is always astonishing how many clubs are incapable of doing this. ~ Alex Ferguson, #NFDB
882:In successive speeches in 1920 he called for the hanging of war profiteers and racketeers; he identified them as the Jews; and then he began to concentrate his venom on the Jews as a whole, on the Ostjuden from Russia, and on the ‘Polish-Jewish vermin’ who had flooded into Vienna and Germany. ~ David Irving, #NFDB
883:In the entertainment industry all that anybody wants to do whether it's music or stories or dancing or comedy or whatever, they want to entertain the public. And they do it any way they can. Sometimes they concentrate simply on entertaining people and they don't care what message they are giving. ~ Stan Lee, #NFDB
884:A file-sharing service and a hedge fund are essentially the same things. In both cases, there's this idea that whoever has the biggest computer can analyze everyone else to their advantage and concentrate wealth and power. It's shrinking the overall economy. I think it's the mistake of our age. ~ Jaron Lanier, #NFDB
885:In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte, #NFDB
886:If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it. ~ Sun Tzu, #NFDB
887:When our mind is entangled with anger, jealousy, or sadness, we can be in that state hour after hour, day after day. It’s a pity, because meanwhile, life is wondrous. If we only concentrate on breathing in and seeing that our body is a wonder, we can see that nothing else is really important. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
888:When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
889:When you see a person, do you just concentrate on their looks? It's just a first impression. Then there's someone who doesn't catch your eye immediately, but you talk to them and they become the most beautiful thing in the world. The greatest actors aren't what you would call beautiful sex symbols. ~ Brad Pitt, #NFDB
890:In violence, it is the getting away that you concentrate on. When you begin to go over the edge, life receding from you as a boat recedes inevitably from shore, you hold on to death tightly, like a rope that will transport you, and you swing out on it, hoping only to land away from where you are. ~ Alice Sebold, #NFDB
891:Even in the heyday of frozen concentrate, the popularity of orange juice rested largely on its image as the ultimate natural beverage, fresh squeezed from a primordial fruit. But the reality is that human intervention has modified the orange for millenniums, as it has almost everything people eat. ~ Deborah Blum, #NFDB
892:The mark of a person who is in control of consciousness is the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer. And the person who can do this usually enjoys the normal course of everyday life. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
893:I'd never complain about the attention - ever. I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love to do. Not everyone gets that chance every day. This is just part of it, and it comes down to managing my time to make sure I concentrate on my passion, which is the hockey, and have time away from hockey. ~ Sidney Crosby, #NFDB
894:I made orange juice from concentrate and showed her the trick of squeezing the juice of one real orange into it. It removes the taste of being frozen. She marveled at this, and I laughed and said, Life is easy. What I meant was, Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again. ~ Miranda July, #NFDB
895:Man's earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his efforts, his mind, his soul upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical instincts and passions, or whether he will make as his life's end and purpose the acquisition of spiritual qualities ~ David O McKay, #NFDB
896:Were they laughing at me? I forced myself to block them from my mind, to concentrate on the lake, the water. What were they to me? People I met today, that was all. We shared blood. The One who mattered to me still found me worthy, still loved me, whether I knew when to curtsy properly or not. ~ Lisa Tawn Bergren, #NFDB
897:Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it. ~ Andrew Carnegie, #NFDB
898:Let one concentrate all his energies in one single great effort, let him perceive a single truth, even though he be consumed by the sacred fire, then millions of less gifted men can easily follow. Therefore it is not as much quantity as quality of work which determines the magnitude of the progress. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
899:Mankind is focused on earth; he is mostly interested in stupid things like wars or ideological absurdities. What he has to do is to concentrate on the universe, because the universe is a cosmic novel that he must read fully, that he must understand fully and that in the end he must rewrite it! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
900:Strengths are not activities you're good at, they're activities that strengthen you. A strength is an activity that before you're doing it you look forward to doing it; while you're doing it, time goes by quickly and you can concentrate; after you've done it, it seems to fulfill a need of yours. ~ Marcus Buckingham, #NFDB
901:I procrastinate in spades. In my defence, I also try to have all other distractions solved before I can concentrate on writing. My small theory is that to write for three hours, you need to feel like you have three days. To write for three days, you need to feel like you've got three weeks, and so on. ~ Markus Zusak, #NFDB
902:In a safe Western world where we're not being shot at and we're not starving, the worst thing that happens to us most days is someone's rude to us, or we accidentally insult someone. Social faux pas is the worst thing that happens to most people, most days, so we've got to concentrate on that, really. ~ Ricky Gervais, #NFDB
903:Do one thing: live the live you always wanted to live. Avoid criticising others concentrate on fulfilling your dreams. This may not seem very important to you, but God, who sees all, knows that the example you give is helping Him to improve the world. And each day, He will bestow more blessings upon it. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
904:Francis Crozier now understood that the most desirable and erotic thing a woman could wear were the many modest layers such as Sophia Cracroft wore to dinner in the governor's house, enough silken fabric to conceal the lines of her body, allowing a man to concentrate on the exciting loveliness of her wit ~ Dan Simmons, #NFDB
905:I like my surroundings to be pretty spare and severe. It helps me to concentrate on my work. All I ever do here is go from my studio to my bedroom. Everything else is extraneous. I never entertain, because to me, New York is about meeting people in public spaces, absorbing a little bit of their energy. ~ Ross Bleckner, #NFDB
906:Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man, it is perhaps better to take the knee of the trouser.
Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle,#NFDB
907:When I got off the phone with Rachel, I called Ema and filled her in on the plan. I wanted to get an update on Spoon, but, one, I didn’t know who to call, and, two, I didn’t want to be distracted. Spoon had made it clear: There was nothing I could do for him. I had to concentrate on finding the truth. I ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
908:concentrate on my deep breathing and the whole mindfulness shtick and on trying not to casually squeeze the contents of a taxiing aluminum tube of intercontinental goodness into my imaginary mouth—it’s a Boeing 777 or Airbus A330 and it’s nearly two miles away, a distantly rational part of me realizes— ~ Charles Stross, #NFDB
909:I've been wearing terrible jeans most of my life and finally someone showed me the way. And it made such a difference. So for me, the three things a guy should concentrate on for an easy fix are shoes, good-fitting jeans, and a nice watch. I think everything else can kind of fall into place around that. ~ James Marsden, #NFDB
910:I don't like to put too much effort into things. I find that once you get involved with special effects it is no longer about what is happening in front of the camera and I really want to concentrate on what is happening in front of the camera, like the man apparently peeing on the surface of the screen. ~ Steve McQueen, #NFDB
911:In general, questions are fine; you can always seize upon the parts of them that interest you and concentrate on answering those. And one has to remember when answering questions that asking questions isn't easy either, and for someone who's quite shy to stand up in an audience to speak takes some courage. ~ Vikram Seth, #NFDB
912:Your unconscious, in the sense, was acting as a kind of mental valet. It was taking care of all the minor mental details in your life. It was keeping tabs on everything going on around you and making sure you were acting appropriately, while leaving you free to concentrate on the main problem at hand. ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
913:Before I take you into the beating heart of the story, let’s get one thing out of the way. I know from experience that when it comes up later, it will distract you so much that you won’t be able to concentrate on anything else I will tell you. My name is Jubilee Dougal. Take a moment and let it sink in. ~ Maureen Johnson, #NFDB
914:For you, o broker, there is no other principle but arithmetic. For me, commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred; nor can I detach one duty, like you, from all other duties, and concentrate my forces mechanically on the payment of moneys. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
915:Remember: Stay task-focused. Interrupt negative self-talk and images the moment they arise, shut them down on the spot. Replace them with positive self-talk and positive images. Concentrate on showing your brain exactly what it is that you want to achieve, never dwell on what you do not want to happen. ~ D C Gonzalez, #NFDB
916:Sometimes you go to a film and well, you are not very concentrated. In reading, you have to concentrate, to spend the time it requires in order to feel the experience of the work. You have to put all of yourself there to experience something new and to feel and perceive an atmosphere that is unprecedented. ~ Albert Serra, #NFDB
917:Finish discarding first.” I’m sure you know by now that this is a cardinal rule of the KonMari Method. If you start thinking about where to store this and that before you have completely finished throwing stuff away, you won’t get very far. That’s why it’s imperative to concentrate solely on discarding first. ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
918:WHEN SOME BASIC NEED IS LACKING—time, energy, money—consider yourself blessed. Your very lack is an opportunity to latch onto Me in unashamed dependence. When you begin a day with inadequate resources, you must concentrate your efforts on the present moment. This is where you are meant to live—in the present; ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
919:You do your due diligence, you read as much as you can, and then, ultimately, I find that you discard that and you concentrate on the characters [of 'Antropoid'] and you can draw on [the research] if you wish, but I think ultimately it's about bringing as much truth and honesty to the portrayal as possible. ~ Cillian Murphy, #NFDB
920:Why is Caterpillar bad if we create a new job in India or China to receive U.S. exports? It makes no sense to me. We want to drive all the exports we can from the United States. We want to concentrate on all those consumers, outside contractors, customers outside the United States that we possibly can. ~ Douglas R Oberhelman, #NFDB
921:Depression affects not only mood but the nature and content of thought as well. Thinking processes almost always slow down, and decisiveness is replaced by indecision and rumination. The ability to concentrate is usually greatly impaired and willful action and thought become difficult if not impossible. ~ Kay Redfield Jamison, #NFDB
922:He who wishes to exert a useful influence must be careful to insult nothing. Let him not be troubled by what seems absurd, but concentrate his energies to the creation of what is good. He must not demolish, but build. He must raise temples where mankind may come and partake of the purest pleasure. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, #NFDB
923:in his ability to concentrate at work. Naturally curious and active, he noticed an uncharacteristic tendency to procrastinate. At times he felt listless and tired. Then the headaches arrived, and with a fury. He blamed them on stress and took lots of ibuprofen. As he drove to work one morning, his vision became ~ John Grisham, #NFDB
924:When you cannot concentrate and focus sufficiently, the code you write will be wrong. It will have bugs. It will have the wrong structure. It will be opaque and convoluted. It will not solve the customers’ real problems. In short, it will have to be reworked or redone. Working while distracted creates waste. ~ Robert C Martin, #NFDB
925:You're all I think about, dream about. I get high and low and it's all about you now, it's not even about me anymore. I can't sleep, can't think, can't concentrate worth shit anymore and it's all because I want to be the fucking 'one' for you and as soon as you realize what I am, all I'll be is a fucking mistake! ~ Katy Evans, #NFDB
926:Baby,” another voice came into my ear and this was my man’s, “shut the fuck up, concentrate and don’t sit there muttering into your tits makin’ it look like you’re waitin’ to fuck over some asshole. He sees you doin’ that shit, these guys we’re hunting will take you out and tonight is not my night to lose you. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
927:But--" she tried not to wail, but her voice crept upward, anyway "--I want to go HOME--"
"And I want a palace and a handsome, young prince who has an unnatural lust for old women, and neither of us are going to get what we crave, so let's concentrate on what we can do something about!" Granny said sharply. ~ Mercedes Lackey,#NFDB
928:It's very good for you, riding. You know how every model is like, 'I do yoga.' Well, I find horses to have the same effect, in that you have to put your ego aside and concentrate on making the horse do the things you want it to do, and move in the way you want it to move - particularly if you're doing dressage. ~ Edie Campbell, #NFDB
929:My mind has been the most discontented and restless one that ever was put into a body too small for it.... I never felt my mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment- upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses ~ John Keats, #NFDB
930:Turn your mind completely away from your difficulty,
concentrate exclusively on the Light and
the Force coming from above;
let the Lord do for your body whatever He pleases.
Hand over to Him totally the entire responsibility
of your physical being.
ref. Words Of The Mother, vol 15, p.150 ~ The Mother,#NFDB
931:I'm not saying I have to write a book that's ten times better than my counterparts, but I do think that I have to concentrate my efforts on writing something that will really engage people's humanity and will tie readers to my characters regardless of race. I have to prove that I can connect with a wider audience. ~ Jesmyn Ward, #NFDB
932:It was now or never. When he was sure that she was engrossed in her work, he quickly took the small bottle of poison from his pocket and poured it into his water flask, making sure that his back was to Morgana. He had to concentrate to stop his hands from shaking; the enormity of what he was doing made him tremble. ~ Colin Brake, #NFDB
933:All feelings that concentrate you and lift you up are pure; only that feeling is impure which grasps just one side of your being and thus distorts you. Everything you can think of as you face your childhood, is good. Everything that makes more of you than you have ever been, even in your best hours, is right. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, #NFDB
934:The Small Business 'common app' would function much like the one that students complete to apply to multiple colleges and universities simultaneously. It would ensure that small businesses across the country can concentrate on growing and creating jobs - not wasting time, filling out mountains of repetitive paperwork. ~ Kay Hagan, #NFDB
935:They alone live whose lives are in the whole universe, and the more we concentrate our lives on limited things, the faster we go towards death. Those moments alone we live when our lives are in the universe, in others; and living this little life is death, simply death, and that is why the fear of death comes. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
936:He believed that the secret of happiness was to concentrate on things outside oneself. Introspection and self-awareness were the enemies of contentment, and if he could preach a sermon about the benefits of selflessness, and believe in it without sounding too pious, then he would endeavour to do so that very Sunday. ~ James Runcie, #NFDB
937:Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise - even in their own field. ~ Isaac Asimov, #NFDB
938:While July read, Tom listened with his eyes closed. This was a trick of his whenever he wanted to concentrate on what he heard. By shutting down one information flow he thought to heighten his attention on the other. However, he was never known to put his fingers in his ears when he wanted to see something clearly. ~ Michael Flynn, #NFDB
939:I can't concentrate. I thought I could do this." He put his hands up in defeat. "Can't." Then he came closer. Aria didn't think her heart can beat any faster, but then it did, faster with every step he took toward her, until it hammered against her chest, making her breathless when he stopped right in front of her. ~ Veronica Rossi, #NFDB
940:I loved the idea of doing impressions and mimicking and playing around with the spectrum of your own voice. That's what I enjoy most about doing voiceovers. You can be completely unconscious with the rest of your body and just concentrate on doing something with your voice, creating an entire character with your voice. ~ Justin Long, #NFDB
941:To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but
merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on
this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of
God will not protect you. ~ Jos N Harris,#NFDB
942:Everything is being synced up, and it's harder to see where the skill starts and the technology starts and ends. Maybe that's a good thing; it's more enjoyable for the listeners, more enjoyable for the party, if you don't need to worry about things falling off. So maybe we can concentrate on other aspects of the art form. ~ Jeff Mills, #NFDB
943:Inflation is probably the most important single factor in that vicious circle wherein one kind of government action makes more and more government control necessary. For this reason all those who wish to stop the drift toward increasing government control should concentrate their effort on monetary policy. ~ Friedrich August von Hayek, #NFDB
944:Most of the time I sit down with my guitar or at the piano, and I play for awhile until I get a new riff or groove that I like a lot. Then I'll concentrate on building around that line of thought by adding words and textures. At first I'm only trying to please myself, and hopefully what I like will appeal to others. ~ Jackie DeShannon, #NFDB
945:To do yoga, one of the most important things to achieve is to get rid of all attachment to the past. Let the past be past and concentrate only on the progress you want to make and the surrender to the Divine you have to achieve. My blessings and help are always with you. With love. 10 January 1967 ~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III, #NFDB
946:I am an alien huntress. I am part of the A.I.R. team, working with or against the New Chicago PD—whichever suits me at the time. Every night I stalk and kill other-worlders, and whether I’m investigating a death or causing one myself, I have to shove sentiment aside, find humor where I can, and concentrate on the facts. ~ Gena Showalter, #NFDB
947:People concentrate, particularly for their own purposes, on dividing people, and it's just not necessary. If you actually spend time with somebody, in 10 minutes, you'll find something in common, and it's powerful when you do. When you find you've got something in common with somebody, all of a sudden, you're friends. ~ Paul Blackthorne, #NFDB
948:So-called 'higher education' is a veritable magnet for second-raters and actively destructive parasites bent on promoting unsound ideas to the inexperienced and gullible. The concentrate in areas like social studies, literature, and art - where opinion reigns supreme. And I find their opinions almost universally appalling. ~ Doug Casey, #NFDB
949:If you're a little hippy and full-bosomed, don't try to remake yourself in the image of a skinny fashion model. It won't work. You can trim down your hips. You should always concentrate on special movements to keep your breasts firm and lifted and young. Hippy and bosomy can be very nice, very desirable. Accept it. ~ Diane von Furstenberg, #NFDB
950:Imagine your body replaced by dust and vapor, and having a tingly feeling in your stomach without even having a stomach. Imagine having to concentrate just to keep yourself from dispersing into nothing. I got so angry, a flash of lightning crackled inside me. “Don’t be that way,” Amos chuckled. “It’s only for a few minutes. ~ Rick Riordan, #NFDB
951:When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
952:I use the Clarisonic electronic skin cleansing system. It's great for removing excess oil and make-up and leaves my face feeling really smooth and clean. Then I apply Avon Anew Rejuvenate Day Revitalising Cream and Creme de la Mer Eye Concentrate. I think eye cream is so important - it keeps me looking young and prevents wrinkles. ~ Fergie, #NFDB
953:Tango had helped me forget, if only temporarily. Perhaps it was the having to concentrate so damn hard, but it seemed more than that. Something about the connection, the struggling to sense with the palms of my hands which way my partner wanted me to move, the being with another person so completely, the comfort of our contact. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
954:Any man was capable of jaunting provided he developed two faculties, visualization and concentration. He had to visualize, completely and precisely, the spot to which he desired to teleport himself; and he had to concentrate the latent energy of his mind into a single thrust to get him there. Above all, he had to have faith. ~ Alfred Bester, #NFDB
955:There are so many aspects to the sport. It never gets boring because you always do something different. Maybe you train really hard on a sport climbing and get tunnel vision for a while, but as soon as you burn out a bit, you concentrate on another aspect, like traveling. You see the world through the vehicle of climbing. ~ Wolfgang Gullich, #NFDB
956:I just thought, ‘Wait a minute, if I’m going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place.' And this is the least quiet place I’ve ever been in my life. … It’s like taking the bar exam at Coachella. It’s like, ‘Um, I really need to concentrate on this! Guys! Can you all just…I have to…It’s super important for my law! ~ Joss Whedon, #NFDB
957:It is useless endeavor to fight the ego in the open; like a wounded hydra, it produces two heads for every one cut off. We must not indulge in self-scrutinization; we must not concentrate upon the problem of egocentricity. The way to purify the self is to avoid dwelling upon the self and to concentrate upon the task. ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel, #NFDB
958:It was rather that he discovered for himself the inherent undesirability of becoming a leader; it was an act of pomp engaged in by lesser men who enjoyed bedecking themselves in feathers. He would let others use office to proclaim their feats. He would concentrate on the feat itself, doing what had to be done … in silence. ~ James A Michener, #NFDB
959:YOU ARE MY BELOVED CHILD. I chose you before the foundation of the world, to walk with Me along paths designed uniquely for you. Concentrate on keeping in step with Me, instead of trying to anticipate My plans for you. If you trust that My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, you can relax and enjoy the present moment. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
960:My dear child, I carry you always in my arms, pressed close to my heart, and I have no doubt that you will become aware of it if you forget the world and concentrate on me. By turning your thoughts towards me you will feel closer and closer to me and peace will come to dwell in your heart. Love. 25 May 1934
~ The Mother, On Education, [T0],#NFDB
961:The most important thing to remember about drunks is that drunks are far more intelligent than non-drunks- they spend a lot of time talking in pubs, unlike workaholics who concentrate on their careers and ambitions, who never develop their higher spiritual values, who never explore the insides of their head like a drunk does. ~ Shane MacGowan, #NFDB
962:You would think that if any group in America had 20% to 25% unemployment, it would generate all kinds of attention. The Labor Department would understandably and necessarily begin to concentrate on what can we do to reduce this level of unemployment. Congress would give great time on the floor for debate on what can be done. ~ Emanuel Cleaver, #NFDB
963:Imagine your body replaced by dust and vapor, and having a tingly feeling in your stomach without even having a stomach. Imagine having to concentrate just to keep yourself from dispersing into nothing.
I got so angry, a flash of lightning crackled inside me.
“Don’t be that way,” Amos chuckled. “It’s only for a few minutes. ~ Rick Riordan,#NFDB
964:I think of the moment in time when everything changed. A moment that caused so much evil. The moment the Star fell from the sky. Then, I picture it never falling, disappearing, vanishing into thin air. I concentrate on that moment as warmth spreads throughout my body and I feel time fading, like the morning mist. Evanescence. ~ Jessica Sorensen, #NFDB
965:Strive through your adversities like a great football striker. Concentrate on the goal post and your ability to score a great goal. Let your attention be on your strength and your distinctive dexterity that can beat the strength and oppositions of your defenders and not the height, strength or boldness of the defenders. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
966:I live for the moment. I'm basically a Buddhist-type person. I'm just here right now, and I don't think about what's going to happen a hundred years from now. I try to concentrate on what's going on right now. But I'm really trying to run this company like it is going to be here a hundred years from now. That's what's important. ~ Yvon Chouinard, #NFDB
967:I think talent has a huge amount to do with concentration, concentration rather than the athletic ability of your neurons. If you can concentrate on an esoteric piece of math, how can you think about the rest of your life? That's why people can leave their car keys in the gutter; they're in the midst of obsession and concentration. ~ Ethan Canin, #NFDB
968:Earlier, my priority was only work. I worked like a dog before I got married. After marriage, once you have a baby, time management is difficult. Your responsibilities change, your priorities change. And you have to concentrate on them if you have to work out your life. Your career is just a part of your life. For me, my family is my life. ~ Kajol, #NFDB
969:Everybody is looking for happiness, as if happiness is hidden somewhere! But you must realise that happiness is everywhere, not hidden in a secret corner of life! You are a bee and everywhere is full of flowers; do not try to find a particular flower; concentrate on every flower; try to extract happiness from ever simple thing! ~ Mehmet Murat ildan, #NFDB
970:My hands tend to be full enough dealing with people who hate me for who I am. Concentrate too hard on the millions of people who hate you for what you are and you're likely to turn into one of those unkempt, sloppy dressers who sag beneath the weight of the two hundred political buttons they wear pinned to their coats and knapsacks. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
971:People forget they have options. And they forget that those things don't really matter. They should concentrate on what they have and not what they don't have. And by the way, wishing and dreaming doesn't mean concentrating on what you don't have, it's positive thinking that encourages hoping and believing, not whinging and moaning. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
972:(1) Offer yourself more and more - all the consciousness, all that happens in it, all your work and action.
(2) If you have faults and weaknesses, hold them up before the Divine to be changed or abolished.
(3) Try to do what I told you, concentrate in the heart till you constantly feel the Presence there. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#NFDB
973:Before I decided to concentrate on writing, I drew pictures and painted, and made Super 8 experimental movies. I was the singer in three rock bands, and I wrote and staged and acted in plays for kids in my neighborhood. So I was kind of all over the place in my interests and far-flung in terms of where my creativity wanted to end up. ~ Dennis Cooper, #NFDB
974:For the very first time in my life, I can’t concentrate. I’ve never had a problem with it before, always able to put singular focus on any task I attempted. Even though I have an amazingly high IQ, I would never have accomplished what I have so far in life without the ability to funnel my thoughts with the precision of a drill team. ~ Sawyer Bennett, #NFDB
975:Every building you come out of, there is a parasite there exercising his constitutional right to make money out of being a parasite, trying to take your photo. Frankly, folks, I go to work, I do my job. I really concentrate, and if you go to the cinema, pay your money and have a good time. That's the end of it, as far as I'm concerned. ~ Russell Crowe, #NFDB
976:By putting the means of production into the hands of the masses but withholding from those same masses any ownership over the product of their work, Web 2.0 provides an incredibly efficient mechanism to harvest the economic value of the free labor provided by the very, very many and concentrate it into the hands of the very, very few. ~ Nicholas G Carr, #NFDB
977:She couldn’t live with this tearing agony in her heart any longer; it was killing her. In fact, she wished it would kill her and there would be an end to it, because she knew she couldn’t recover from it. There was nothing to live for: she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t concentrate, she couldn’t find any joy or hope in anything. ~ Milly Johnson, #NFDB
978:Driving home, it's all I can do to keep from crying. Time's come, time's gone, time's never returning, I say to myself. What's here in front of me is all I've got, I decide, and as I drive my car through the blowing snow it doesn't seem like much, except for the kindness that I've just exchanged with an old lady, so I concentrate on that. ~ Russell Banks, #NFDB
979:O how far remov'd, Predestination! is thy foot from such As see not the First Cause entire: and ye, O mortal men! be wary how ye judge: For we, who see the Maker, know not yet The number of the chosen; and esteem Such scantiness of knowledge our delight: For all good is, in that primal good, Concentrate; and God's will and ours are one. ~ Dante Alighieri, #NFDB
980:Concentrate on the wonders and joys of this life, and accept the very best which is your true heritage. It is not being an ostrich, afraid of life and not facing it. It is seeing the reality of this glorious life which is yours, and in doing so, helping to bring it about. The more clearly you can see it, the more quickly will it come about. ~ Eileen Caddy, #NFDB
981:I do not see Russia as a friend of the United States in any form or fashion. Are there some things that we might be able to work together on? Sure. We certainly haven't seen evidence of their desire to fight terrorism with us. I mean, we see them kill civilians, and you know, help Syrian President Bashar Assad concentrate more fully his power. ~ Bob Corker, #NFDB
982:If exclusive privileges were not granted, and if the financial system would not tend to concentrate wealth, there would be few great fortunes and no quick wealth. When the means of growing rich is divided between a greater number of citizens, wealth will also be more evenly distributed; extreme poverty and extreme wealth would be also rare. ~ Denis Diderot, #NFDB
983:1My child,* listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. 2Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
984:A great private collection is a material concentrate that continually stimulates, that overexcites. Not only because it can always be added to, but because it is already too much. The collector’s need is precisely for excess, for surfeit, for profusion. It’s too much—and it’s just enough for me. … A collection is always more than is necessary. ~ Susan Sontag, #NFDB
985:Nixon urged Clinton to maintain his relationship with Yeltsin but make contact with other democrats in Russia. He warned Clinton away from some ultranationalists and toward those interested in liberty and reform. He pressed Clinton to replace his ambassador in Kiev and concentrate future U.S. economic aid on Ukraine, where it would matter most. ~ Nancy Gibbs, #NFDB
986:I became much more interested in plot when I really didn't consider myself a writer anymore. When I was in an art context and I started to do installations, that was when writing of mine almost returned to fiction. Earlier I felt like I didn't have anything to write about, I could only concentrate on the page, I could only concentrate on words. ~ Vito Acconci, #NFDB
987:We have many shelves of poetry at home, but still, it takes an effort to step out of the daily narrative of existence, draw that neglected cloak of stillness around you — and concentrate, if only for three or four minutes. Perhaps the greatest reading pleasure has an element of self-annihilation. To be so engrossed that you barely know you exist. ~ Ian McEwan, #NFDB
988:Later on in life, the Tralfamadorians would advise Billy to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones—to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by. If this sort of selectivity had been possible for Billy, he might have chosen as his happiest moment his sundrenched snooze in the back of the wagon. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
989:anxiety is just groundless and pointless. It occurs only as a hangover of bad habits established when we were trusting things—like human approval and wealth—that were certain to let us down. Now our strategy should be one of resolute rejection of worry, while we concentrate on the future in hope and with prayer and on the past with thanksgiving. ~ Dallas Willard, #NFDB
990:In fashion, general people will look to the piece itself. [Some designers] concentrate on, 'How can I make this seam look special?' or 'What am I going to do with that button so it looks interesting?' I am not interested in that. At the moment, I am more interested in the shape and the form. I have a big desire to make clothes without defining them. ~ Raf Simons, #NFDB
991:The force of attention properly guided and directed towards the inner life allows us to analyse our soul and will shed light on many things. The forces of the mind resemble scattered rays; concentrate them and they illumine everything. That is the sole source of knowledge we possess. To conquer this knowledge there is only one method, concentration. ~ Vivekananda, #NFDB
992:If I’m asked what the next most important quality is for a novelist, that’s easy too: focus—the ability to concentrate all your limited talents on whatever’s critical at the moment. Without that you can’t accomplish anything of value, while, if you can focus effectively, you’ll be able to compensate for an erratic talent or even a shortage of it. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
993:Imagine you are trying to lose weight and attempting to concentrate on writing an article, but there is a bowl with your favorite chocolate cookies in your field of vision, a permanent immoral offer. If we are capable of rejecting such offers or to postpone them into the future, then we can also concentrate on that which we currently want to do. ~ Thomas Metzinger, #NFDB
994:I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
995:Certainly what constitutes a stage actor, what constitutes a film actor, I don't even know what that is. And both things are very accurate, in a sense. In terms of people's needs to concentrate on race, I wonder if it's completely necessary, but it's not something that is so dynamically relevant to me that I feel it should be one thing or another. ~ Chiwetel Ejiofor, #NFDB
996:If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work ... the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk lamp ... The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serenity that passes all understanding. ~ Muriel Spark, #NFDB
997:I have changed the focus of the work of my Commission so that we no longer concern ourselves with trivial details and concentrate on the key issues instead. By doing that, we met a large number of the legitimate demands made by the British people. The Commission really did do everything it could to create the conditions for a positive campaign. ~ Jean Claude Juncker, #NFDB
998:I think that when you're depressed, you can't concentrate long enough and well enough to read for the most part; some people can, but by and large people - that's one of the first things that goes, is the capacity to read meaningful literature. With grief, that's not true. For a while you can't read, but then you really are amenable to solace. ~ Kay Redfield Jamison, #NFDB
999:Or so we don't think about how we're just vulnerable specks trying to survive on a violent, tumultuous planet, at the mercy of hurricanes and volcanoes and asteroids and terrorists and disease and a million other things. We concentrate on having little thoughts so we don't have BIG THOUGHTS. . . . You've got to ignore the one big truth - life is fatal. ~ Deb Caletti, #NFDB
1000:Recognizing the power of our Mind and the power of our Soul, learning the art of Concentration and Love, we are learning to Live with the Flow, not against it.
It is in our nature to learn and grow. For happiness we need to learn to Love, we need to learn to Concentrate and we should keep the flow and energy of inspiration within our lives. ~ Nata a Nuit Pantovi,#NFDB
1001:Sri Krishnamacharya used to tell me: 'Do the Headstand when you are tired and in need of a tonic; when you are unable to fall asleep; when you are hungry, nervous and unhappy. Do it when in need of relaxation, when the brain is clouded, when you are in low spirits. Do it when your thoughts are distracted and you cannot concentrate properly or meditate.' ~ Indra Devi, #NFDB
1002:Don’t concern yourself with being right in others’ eyes. And don’t secretly hope that their lives will fall apart so that your opinion will be vindicated. Instead, concentrate on obeying God in your own life and, when possible, helping others to obey Him as well. You don’t have to prove others wrong to continue on the course you know God has shown you. ~ Joshua Harris, #NFDB
1003:If we concentrate our attention on trying to solve a problem of geometry, and if at the end of an hour we are no nearer to doing so than at the beginning, we have nevertheless been making progress each minute of that hour in another more mysterious dimension. Without knowing or feeling it, this apparent barren affort has brought more light into the soul. ~ Simone Weil, #NFDB
1004:Our urge to trade has profoundly affected the trajectory of the human species. Simply by allowing nations to concentrate on producing those things that their geographic, climatic, and intellectual endowments best enable them to do, and to exchange those goods for what is best produced elsewhere, trade has directly propelled our global prosperity. ~ William J Bernstein, #NFDB
1005:I’m alive,” he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and no moon. “When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1006:I suppose the more you have to do, the more you learn to organize and concentrate-or else get fragmented into bits. I have learned to use my 'ten minutes'. I once thought it was not worth sitting down for a time as short as that; now I know differently and, if I have ten minutes, I use them, even if they bring only two lines, and it keeps the book alive. ~ Rumer Godden, #NFDB
1007:Many of you have already found out, and others will find out in the course of their lives, that truth eludes us if we do not concentrate our attention totally on it's pursuit. But even while it eludes us, the illusion of knowing it still lingers and leads to many misunderstandings. Also, truth seldom is pleasant; it is almost invariably bitter. ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, #NFDB
1008:Of the maxims of orthodox finance none, surely, is more anti-social than the fetish of liquidity, the doctrine of that it is a positive virtue on the part of investment institutions to concentrate their resources upon the holding of 'liquid' securities. It forgets that there is no such thing as liquidity of investment for the community as a whole. ~ John Maynard Keynes, #NFDB
1009:My advice to young writers would be to write every day, even if it is only a few words. Get yourself on the habit of writing and it will become a lifelong one. And find a place to write where you are physically comfortable. You can't concentrate if you aren't. Ernest Hemingway could only write standing up, and Truman Capote could only write lying down! ~ Cassandra Clare, #NFDB
1010:Around 11 P.M., unable to concentrate on his work or even watch the news, he had started to wonder if this was how it started with stalkers. And then he started to think maybe he'd do his next article as an investigation of stalkers. But then he wondered... if you do a ride-along with a stalker, are you stalking the stalker?
It all got very weird. ~ Richard Castle,#NFDB
1011:The problem facing our people here in America is bigger than all other personal or organizational differences. Therefore, as leaders, we must stop worrying about the threat that we seem to think we pose to each other's personal prestige, and concentrate our united efforts toward solving the unending hurt that is being done daily to our people here in America. ~ Malcolm X, #NFDB
1012:There's something grueling but very appealing about rough, to-the-bone material in a low budget context. There's less between you and the material. There are less people. There is less time. There's often less technology. You have to concentrate very intensely, and you jump in a little deeper because there's nothing in your way... but there are challenges. ~ Laura Linney, #NFDB
1013:I think one of the things that might distinguish me is when I'm going to work as an actor I really try not to worry about my own personal hang-ups and just really concentrate on the work. Because I have such a respect for acting, which is something I feel like I'm constantly learning how to do, that all of my energy is always focused on the acting itself. ~ Peter Sarsgaard, #NFDB
1014:To concentrate is not to meditate, even though that is what most of you do, calling it meditation. And if concentration is not meditation, then what is? Surely, meditation is to understand every thought that comes into being, and not to dwell upon one particular thought; it is to invite all thoughts so that you understand the whole process of thinking. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
1015:Well, it worked. I think you saved me from having a nervous breakdown.” “I’m glad I did. Now get off the phone and concentrate on driving. Take care of our boy, and I love you.” “Love you, too.” I disconnect the call and thank my lucky stars that Cindy and the rest of the Canning clan are part of my life. Then I drive to the hospital to take care of our boy. ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
1016:When I start to play a game I try to forget about previous games and try to concentrate on this game. This game is now the most important to me. But of course I am not a computer and you cannot simply press a button, delete, and everything you want to forget disappears automatically. But if you want to play well, it's important to concentrate on the now. ~ Vassily Ivanchuk, #NFDB
1017:Clare,” he said, his voice thicker with desire. He made himself concentrate on the road, on driving, though his peripheral vision showed her breasts rising faster.
“Yes?” she asked, quiet, more vulnerable. That vulnerability called out to him now more than ever before . . . because he knew he was flawed so badly.
“I like you.” Hell, that sounded dumb. ~ Robin D Owens,#NFDB
1018:In the development of the understanding of complex phenomena, the most powerful tool available to the human intellect is abstraction. Abstraction arises from the recognition of similarities between certain objects, situations, or processes in the real world and the decision to concentrate on these similarities and to ignore, for the time being, their differences. ~ Tony Hoare, #NFDB
1019:I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person. ~ Napoleon Hill, #NFDB
1020:The only time when you and I really entered into literature, entered the kingdom of letters, was when each of us sat as a child absorbed in the magic pages of a book: in some snug corner of a quiet room or sheltered in some lost recess of the seashore with the muffled sound of the wind and sea to concentrate our thought — that is reading, that is literature. ~ Stephen Leacock, #NFDB
1021:Annie's thing was to concentrate on the living. To honor every day & every person in some interesting way, because that's what you had, just that one moment. ... It 's important to honor a life, the way it was lived, the potential it had to grow & change. ... Saluting someone after they die can be done in a way that allows us to grieve & to celebrate. ~ Kris Radish, #NFDB
1022:Sexual energy in general has tremendous power, the power to concentrate one's attention like nothing else, to become the sole reality, to warp judgement, to obliterate pain and the perception of risk. The power to make all other considerations irrelevant. There is no force on earth that comes close to it in its power to blind and drive the individual in its grip. ~ John Verdon, #NFDB
1023:D.: how to meditate?
M.: Concentrate on that one whom you like best. If a single thought prevails, all other thoughts are put off and finally eradicated. So long as diversity prevails there are bad thoughts. When the object of love prevails only good thoughts hold the field. Therefore hold on to one thought only. Dhyana is the chief practice. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks,#NFDB
1024:If, in your mind, you think, “I wish this fellow would quit talking, so I could concentrate,” you have already lost your mindfulness. But if you think, instead, “If he wishes to talk, I will answer, but I will continue in mindfulness, aware of the fact that we are walking along this path together, aware of what we say, I can continue to watch my breath as well. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1025:In plain words, you’ve got to make up your mind to study whatever you undertake, and concentrate your mind on it, and really work at it. This isn’t wisdom. Any damned fool in the world knows it’s true, whether it’s a question of raising horses or writing plays. You simply have to face the prospect of starting at the bottom and spending years learning how to do it. ~ Eugene O Neill, #NFDB
1026:Mostly, isolation allows me to go through a period where I really concentrate and get in a flow. Sometimes the whole process can be daunting, and when you're away from it, thinking about going back to it is especially daunting. If I go away for a week, I can be working on 10 songs at once, just jumping around to each one. I can get a month's worth of work done. ~ John Britt Daniel, #NFDB
1027:Luigi, the art teacher, holds up his brush, and we all do the same. I’m not quite sure why we’re mirroring his action, but Luigi is very compelling, more than capable of making four excited girls calm down and concentrate on what he’s telling us. I think it’s partly because he’s very serious. Either he doesn’t have a sense of humor, or it’s extremely well hidden. ~ Lauren Henderson, #NFDB
1028:Forget about the height of the staircase... concentrate instead on the first step, taking it step by step from there. That's how you confront a challenge that seems overwhelming at first... Shrink the world, be precise; pay no heed to the long night before you but only to the next moment. You must follow the path to the very end to get an overview of the whole journey. ~ Nina George, #NFDB
1029:Keep a grateful journal. Every night, list five things that happened this day that you are grateful for. What it will begin to do is change your perspective of your day and your life. If you can learn to focus on what you have, you will always see that the universe is abundant; you will have more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey, #NFDB
1030:Hugh had been her obsession. When he was away, she had assumed he was with other women. It drove her crazy, dominated her thoughts. She had tried to concentrate on her daughters, but her own insecurity was much too huge. When Skye would beg for a story or Clea would need help with her music lessons, Augusta would tell them to ask Caroline. So Augusta could be with Hugh. ~ Luanne Rice, #NFDB
1031:You should never read just for ‘enjoyment.’ Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends’ insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick ‘hard books.’ Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for God’s sake, don’t let me ever hear you say, ‘I can’t read fiction. I only have time for the truth.’ Fiction is the truth, fool! ~ John Waters, #NFDB
1032:Sometimes Carlie hands me the squirt bottle of "Bam" (an acronym for something that begins, ominously, with "butyric" - the rest of it has been worn off the label) and lets me do the bathrooms. No service ethic challenges me here to new heights of performance. I just concentrate on removing the pubic hairs from the bathtubs, or at least the dark ones that I can see. ~ Barbara Ehrenreich, #NFDB
1033:Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” You do not fight against your problem; your problem will only live as long as you are conscious of it. Take your attention away from your problem and the multitude of reasons why you cannot achieve your ideal. Concentrate your attention entirely upon the thing desired. ~ Neville Goddard, #NFDB
1034:When you concentrate much on the faults, you shall be at fault. When you always focus on the solutions, you shall always be a solution. Don’t just find faults; be a solution digger! You shall definitely meet some faults in your journey to digging for a solution, but mind your true purpose: solution! Don’t just find faults; be the solution to the problems you see! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
1035:I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time, no matter how quickly its successor should come upon its heels, which I then formed. ~ Charles Dickens, #NFDB
1036:Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities they have built-in goals, feedback rules, and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one’s work, to concentrate and lose oneself in it. Free time, on the other hand, is unstructured, and requires much greater effort to be shaped into something that can be enjoyed. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1037:When you give us a subject for meditation, what should we do about it? Keep thinking of it?
Keep your thought focused upon it in a concentrated way.
And when no subject is given, is it enough to concentrate on your Presence in the heart-centre? Should we avoid a formulated prayer?
Yes, concentration on the Presence is enough.
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother II,#NFDB
1038:the first and foremost step towards a victorious landing was to upset the equilibrium of the Turk so that he should be unable to concentrate either his mind or his men to meet our main attacks…. Prudence here is entirely out of place. There will be and can be no reconnaissances, no half measures, no tentatives. At a given moment we must stake everything on the one hazard. ~ Martin Gilbert, #NFDB
1039:Justice departments and parole boards all over the world have accepted his contention that psychopaths are quite simply incurable and everyone should concentrate their energies instead on learning how to root them out using his PCL-R Checklist, which he has spent a lifetime refining. His was not the only psychopath checklist around, but it was by far the most extensively used. ~ Jon Ronson, #NFDB
1040:So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1041:First of all, each one has a soul, and secondly, we have the luminously strong sup port of the Mother. It is the nature of the Divine that even if you don't think of Him He thinks of you. It is true, very true; because you are part of the Divine. Only you have to concentrate consciously on that part, that portion; then gradually it will increase. ~ Nolini Kanta Gupta, To Read Sri Aurobindo, #NFDB
1042:I don’t understand it, though. You didn’t need me there before.”
I turned to her, my finger touching her cheek. She clearly had no idea how deep my feelings ran. “I didn’t know you before. When you’re not there, I can’t concentrate. I’m wondering where you are, what you’re doing . . . if you’re there and I can see you, I can focus. I know it’s crazy, but that’s how it is. ~ Jamie McGuire,#NFDB
1043:The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
1044:The question does arise if how and why to write poetry in this time. It feels both completely essential and also quite difficult. But that's how writing poetry has felt to me my whole life. Everything seems to have just gotten immensely more mortal and tragic and scary, which makes it hard to concentrate, but also, if harnessed, can provide immense energy for making poems. ~ Matthew Zapruder, #NFDB
1045:The trouble with a great many men is that they spread themselves out over too much ground. They fail in everything. If they would only put their life into one channel, and keep it in, they would accomplish something. They make no impression because they do a little work here and a little work there....Lay yourselves on the altar of God, and then concentrate on some one work. ~ Dwight L Moody, #NFDB
1046:You’ll leave me the second it gets too steep, and you’ll leave me with nothing – when I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in life. You’re all I think about, dream about. I get high and low and it’s not about you now, it’s not even about me anymore. I can’t sleep, can’t think, can’t concentrate worth shit anymore and it’s all because I want to be the fucking ‘one’ for you. ~ Katy Evans, #NFDB
1047:From mirror to mirror — this is what I happen to dream of — the totality of things, the whole, the entire universe, divine wisdom could concentrate their luminous rays into a single mirror. Or perhaps the knowledge of everything is buried in the soul, and a system of mirrors that would multiply my image would then reveal to me the soul of the universe, which is hidden in mine. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1048:So many people concentrate on knowing who a good preacher or a bad preacher is and so many people concentrate on knowing what the word of God is! The former is good but the latter is noble. The latter is the best answer to the former. The real duty of man is never to know man but to know God through Christ Jesus! Knowing the word of God is the true way to knowing God! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, #NFDB
1049:The most frequent fallacy by far today, the fallacy that emerges again and again in nearly every conversation that touches on economic affairs, the error of a thousand political speeches, the central sophism of the “new” economics, is to concentrate on the short-run effects of policies on special groups and to ignore or belittle the long-run effects on the community as a whole. ~ Henry Hazlitt, #NFDB
1050:Time is of the essence, particularly if we're sending images out on social media. The reality is that the majority of images are only viewed for a few seconds, often on a phone or computer. There are so many images freely available that it takes a lot of will power to concentrate and prolong the gaze on one picture at the expense of the thousands of others waiting to be viewed! ~ Michael Kenna, #NFDB
1051:Do you know how crazy that made me? I’m trying to concentrate on my fucking fucking ball baseball game and all I can think about is why the hell the girl I’m in love with is ignoring me. I knewsomething was wrong when you never called. I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t. You can’t do that tome. Don’t you understand? You can’t fucking do that to me when I’m trying to play ball! ~ J Sterling, #NFDB
1052:I don't know what the misconceptions are, but I approach a small budget, artsy, independent movie in the same way as a big budget, commercial Hollywood movie. I don't get into those [details]. I have to get into my character and I concentrate on that, on the story, on researching, and on certain training if I have to be prepared physically. I think that's the most important thing. ~ Olga Kurylenko, #NFDB
1053:When one is rising, standing, walking, doing something, stopping, one should constantly concentrate one's mind on the act and the doing of it, not one ones' relation to the act or its character or value... One should simply practice concentration of the mind on the act itself, understanding it to be an expedient means for attaining tranquility of mind, realization, insight, and wisdom. ~ Asvaghosa, #NFDB
1054:I always thought, I can't waste time, I have to do work. I also thought that I was slower than other people, that I had to concentrate more. I always thought, I'm not brilliant, I have to work. That was something I embedded in myself very early: I have to go home and write. But did I get any more work done than people like Frank O'Hara, who were always going to parties? Probably not. ~ Vito Acconci, #NFDB
1055:I'm a very dull passenger. I don't speak. I don't have sex. No alcohol. I don't do drugs. The thing that I like about flying is that I feel like I can really concentrate. I used to write many things, and many ideas for my movies belong to this moment where I'm not anywhere specifically in terms of time and space and geography. I am suspended, and this suspension fits me very well. ~ Pedro Almodovar, #NFDB
1056:When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, even if by continuing to concentrate on the breath the feeling or thought passes naturally from the mind. The intention isn't to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1057:When you're a former president, you have much less power, but you have a lifetime of experience and contacts and if you've got the energy, you can bring influence to bear on a small but still fairly substantial number of things where you can concentrate on it because you don't have to change the subject when you wake up in the morning and there's something else in the newspaper. ~ William J Clinton, #NFDB
1058:When you have lost your way, when the world appears as if it is crumbling around you, perhaps, just maybe, you should close your eyes. By looking outward we forget the strength that is given inward. We can only see part of the picture with our eyes open. But, when they are closed, we see as a whole. We concentrate not on what we can see, but on the faith of what we know to be true. ~ Rachel Van Dyken, #NFDB
1059:Eyes closed, I concentrate on visualizing a sandy beach and slowing my breathing—in through my nose, hold, out through my mouth—the way Dr. Andrews, my grief counselor, taught me. I've done this often enough to know it works. I've used it to numb the panic and sorrow for the past two years. Problem is, I've also succeeded in dulling pretty much every other emotion. There's always a price. ~ Eve Silver, #NFDB
1060:I also figured out that I could use my workouts as a form of meditation because I concentrate so much on the muscle, I have my mind inside the bicep when I do my curls. I have my mind inside the pectoral muscles when I do my bench press. I’m really inside, and it’s like I gain a form of meditation, because you have no chance of thinking or concentrating on anything else at that time. ~ Timothy Ferriss, #NFDB
1061:I went through that stage every teenager goes through: Who am I? What am I? Where do I fit in? In my case I had to deal with newspapers saying I looked fat or tired or my hair was a mess. People always criticize: they either love you, or they don't. But you have to block that out and concentrate on the work. And I feel I am doing good work, and I'm finally getting to see who I really am. ~ LeAnn Rimes, #NFDB
1062:One of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
1063:The essence of the modern state is that the universal be bound up with the complete freedom of its particular members and with private well-being, that thus the interests of family and civil society must concentrate themselves on the state. It is only when both these moments subsist in their strength that the state can be regarded as articulated and genuinely organized. ~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, #NFDB
1064:When I think about it like that, it feels like a burden. But that won't mean I'll be single for the rest of my life - I hope. I feel very settled with myself in my world. I don't feel as needy and desperate to prove things about myself. In my twenties I was very keen to achieve this and disprove this and that. Now I enjoy just being able to concentrate on my children and my work and myself. ~ Jude Law, #NFDB
1065:A lack of serotonin impaired one’s capacity to concentrate at work, to sleep, to eat, and to enjoy life’s pleasures. When this substance was completely absent, the person experienced despair, pessimism, a sense of futility, terrible tiredness, anxiety, difficulties in making decisions, and would end up sinking into permanent gloom, which would lead either to complete apathy or to suicide. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1066:don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1067:We study better in hostile surroundings than in hospitable ones, a student is always well advised to choose a hostile place of study rather than a hospitable one, for the hospitable place will rob him of the better part of his concentration for his studies, the hostile place on the other hand will allow him total concentration, since he must concentrate on his studies to avoid despairing, ~ Thomas Bernhard, #NFDB
1068:When some people ask me about voting, they would say will you support this candidate or that candidate? I say: "I will support this candidate for one minute that I am in the voting booth. At that moment I will support A versus B, but before I am going to the voting booth, and after I leave the voting booth, I am going to concentrate on organizing people and not organizing electoral campaign." ~ Howard Zinn, #NFDB
1069:About 90 percent of the things in our lives are right, and about 10 percent are wrong. If we want to be happy, all we have to do is to concentrate on the 90 percent that are right, and ignore the 10 percent that are wrong. If we want to be worried and bitter and have stomach ulcers, all we have to do is to concentrate on the 10 percent that are wrong and ignore the 90 percent that are glorious. ~ Og Mandino, #NFDB
1070:African American children are significantly more likely to be obese than are white children. Nearly half of African American children will develop diabetes at some point in their lives. People, that's half of our children. ...We can build our kids the best schools on earth, but if they don't have the basic nutrition they need to concentrate, they're still going to have a challenge learning. ~ Michelle Obama, #NFDB
1071:You want to hope for something better than what you have right now, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be hoping. But then, you forget that you have it all right now anyway, and you don’t know it. Why not concentrate on the now instead of hoping for better times in the future? Why not understand the now instead of forgetting it and hoping for the future? Isn’t the future just another trap? ~ Anthony de Mello, #NFDB
1072:And I always do this aloud, or at least at a mumble level, making sure I am doing more than just glancing at the psalms or prayers. Glancing at prayers is the fastest path toward vain repetitions I know of. For that reason, the church has always advocated reading our prayers aloud so we will go more slowly and concentrate more on what we are saying. Prayer books are designed to be read aloud. ~ Scot McKnight, #NFDB
1073:I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1074:You. I want you and I don’t want to be a luxury. I want you to need me. I want you to not be able to concentrate because you’re thinking about me. I want you to reach for your phone because you thought of something you have to share with me. I want you to not even be able to breathe at the thought of never seeing me again, because that’s how I feel about you, Paige. I want to be a necessity. ~ Shannon Stacey, #NFDB
1075:You can’t prescribe decently for something you hate. It will always come out wrong. You can’t prescribe decently for something you despair in. If you despair of humankind, you’re not going to have good policies for nurturing human beings. I think people ought to give prescriptions who have ideas for improving things, ought to concentrate on the things that they love and that they want to nurture. ~ Jane Jacobs, #NFDB
1076:[Chris Langan] told me not long ago. "I found if I go to bed with a question on my mind, all I have to do is concentrate on the question before I go to sleep and I virtually always have the answer in the morning. Sometimes I realize what the answer is because I dreamt the answer and I can remember it. Other times I just feel the answer, and I start typing and the answer emerges onto the page. ~ Malcolm Gladwell, #NFDB
1077:I'm going to take a shower. You're going to be good, try not to be sexy or freak me out or anything like that. I've got to concentrate, preparing for a formal party is serious business. I don't need distractions."
His eyes went half-mast and his half-grin appeared.
"You're doing it!"I accused.
His eyebrows went up.
I shook my head. "Never mind".
Then I stomped to the shower. ~ Kristen Ashley,#NFDB
1078:Remember that you are not supposed to continue your counting all the time. As soon as your mind is locked at the nostril tip where the inhalation and exhalation touch and you begin to feel that your breathing is so refined and quiet that you cannot notice inhalation and exhalation separately, you should give up counting. Counting is used only to train the mind to concentrate on one object. ~ Henepola Gunaratana, #NFDB
1079:Spaced about ten feet apart on the first-floor ledge were leering gargoyles with chipped features that only added to their grotesqueness. They’d once been functional drains to divert rainwater from the entrance, but now a dark brown canopy served that purpose. The gargoyles didn’t seem to mind; now they could concentrate full-time on leering at passersby too preoccupied to glance up and notice them. ~ John Lutz, #NFDB
1080:His fingers lightly grazed my cheek. "I didn't know you before. When you're not there, I can't concentrate. I'm wondering where you are, what you're doing...if you're there and I can see you, I can see you, I can focus. I know it's crazy, but that's how it is."
"And crazy is exactly the way I like it," I said, leaning up to kiss his lips.
"Obviously," America muttered under breath. ~ Jamie McGuire,#NFDB
1081:Even though I might go out on a date with a boy, emotionally I just wouldn’t be able to concentrate. I’d be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string. I’d be thinking about one unrelated thing after another. I don’t know, I guess finally I want to be alone a little while longer. And I want to let my thoughts wander freely. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1082:I love the curve of Miu's rear end. The exquisite contrast between her jet-black pubic hair and snow-white hair, the nicely shaped arse, clad in tiny black panties. Talk about sexy. Inside her black panties, her T-shaped pubic hair, every bit as black.
I've got to stop thinking about that. Switch off the circuit of pointless sexual fantasies (click) and concentrate on writing - Sumire, p.150. ~ Haruki Murakami,#NFDB
1083:When her father had taught her to fly, he hadn’t expected her to take to it so strongly. She knew this because he’d told her as much. He wanted her to be serious and concentrate on her schooling. Focus on being a duster for his groves. The fancy flying, the dips and twists and turns . . . it had never been important to anyone but her. And maybe Calix, who knew how much she loved being in the sky. ~ Tracy Banghart, #NFDB
1084:I remember when my daughter was twelve, suddenly a boy started hanging out in front of our house after school. It was this kid, Justin. My office at the time was right in the front, so I just looked out the window. I couldn't write. I couldn't concentrate. I was like, "What are you doing? What do you expect to achieve by standing in front of my house with my daughter inside?" I hated that kid so much. ~ Cinco Paul, #NFDB
1085:...to emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on Heaven is to create hell. In their desperate longing to transcend the disorderliness, friction, and unpredictability that pesters life; in their desire for a fresh start in a tidy habitat, germ-free and secured by angels, religious multitudes are gambling the only life they may ever have on a dark horse in a race that has no finish line. ~ Tom Robbins, #NFDB
1086:when children reach early adolescence, what motivates them most effectively isn’t licking and grooming–style care but a very different kind of attention. Perhaps what pushes middle-school students to concentrate and practice as maniacally as Spiegel’s chess players do is the unexpected experience of someone taking them seriously, believing in their abilities, and challenging them to improve themselves. ~ Paul Tough, #NFDB
1087:Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1088:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1089:It will begin with its President taking a simple, firm resolution. The resolution will be: To forego the diversions of politics and to concentrate on the job of ending the Korean war-until that job is honorably done. That job requires a personal trip to Korea. I shall make that trip. Only in that way could I learn how best to serve the American people in the cause of peace. I shall go to Korea. ~ Dwight D Eisenhower, #NFDB
1090:To pay attention to the actual core of the movement - that would be pretty hard. Can you concentrate for example on either the policy issues or the creation of functioning democratic communities of mutual support and say, well, that's what's lacking in our country that's why we don't have a functioning democracy - a community of real participation. That's really important. And that always gets smashed. ~ Noam Chomsky, #NFDB
1091:You need to calm down, empty your mind.” “Empty my mind? What the hell are you talking about?” My mind was a bubbling cauldron, I’d never been able to still its voices, even enjoying a goblet of wine out on a balcony after a tumble in the sheets my thoughts would be a seething mass of this and that and maybe and when. “I can’t!” “Then concentrate on something else, some good memory, something peaceful. ~ Mark Lawrence, #NFDB
1092:Chanting doesn't stop you from being creative or productive. It actually helps you concentrate. I think this would make a great sketch for television: imagine all the workers on the Ford assembly line in Detroit, all of them chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna while bolting on the wheels. Now that would be wonderful. It might help out the auto industry, and probably there would be more decent cars too. ~ George Harrison, #NFDB
1093:There is no harm in concentrating sometimes in the heart and sometimes above the head. But concentration in either place does not mean keeping the attention fixed on a particular spot; you have to take your station of consciousness in either place and concentrate there not on the place, but on the Divine. This can be done with eyes shut or with eyes open, according as it best suits you. [how to concentrate?]
~ SATM?,#NFDB
1094:Today is such a strange day. The news is out about the Russians and mini-Donald. This seems like a turning point, but it certainly has felt that way before. Like all of us, I am vibrating with electric uncertainty. How do you manage to concentrate and write poems? I know that for me it is just a relief to be in that sort of thinking, away from the news and all the immense global and personal worries. ~ Matthew Zapruder, #NFDB
1095:Today Lord I am going to do my best with Your help and for Your glory. I realize that there are many different people in the world with a variety of opinions and expectations. I will concentrate on being a God-pleaser and not a self-pleaser or man-pleaser. The rest I leave in Your hands lord. Grant me favor with You and with men and continue transforming me into the image of Your dear Son. Thank You Lord. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
1096:Dictators love to talk. It is remarkable how men who wield excessive sole power will be consistent in this: Given a captive audience, they all drone on for hours. And hours. The human brain can only concentrate for twenty minutes, ask any teacher. Dictators have rarely been despatched on a training course to learn that simple fact. Many dictators are completely untrained; tyranny comes to them naturally. ~ Lindsey Davis, #NFDB
1097:So what would make American health care better now? Since its failings lie more within the system than with the president’s attempt to reform it, health reformers should concentrate on three areas that could make its flawed market work better: directing handouts towards the poor rather than the affluent, nudging individuals to take charge of their own health care, and making sure that prices are transparent. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1098:10. Breathe. Breathe deep and pure and smooth. Concentrate on it. Breathing is the pace you set your life at. It’s the rhythm of the song of you. It’s how to get back to the centre of things. The centre of yourself. When the world wants to take you in every other direction. It was the first thing you learned to do. The most essential and simple thing you do. To be aware of breath is to remember you are alive. ~ Matt Haig, #NFDB
1099:Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.” Two ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1100:I've been very lucky in that the studios really respect me and they give me all my creative freedom. But nevertheless, they are inputs, they have opinions. It's the same thing for me as if you're in a shower and you're coming up with a tune, with a melody, but there are 70 people trying to sing their own melody at the same time. So you have to focus and concentrate, and not lose the track of your melody. ~ Alfonso Cuaron, #NFDB
1101:So . . . what is this fire river called?”
“The Phlegethon,” [Annabeth] said. “You should concentrate on going down.”
“The Phlegethon?” [Percy] shinnied along the ledge. They’d made it roughly a third of the way down the cliff—still high enough up to die if they fell. “Sounds like a marathon for hawking spitballs.”
“Please don’t make me laugh,” she said.
“Just trying to keep things light. ~ Rick Riordan,#NFDB
1102:This is precisely why success depends on experiencing tangible results immediately. If you use the right method and concentrate your efforts on eliminating clutter thoroughly and completely within a short span of time, you’ll see instant results that will empower you to keep your space in order ever after. Anyone who experiences this process, no matter who they are, will vow never to revert to clutter again. ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
1103:Undergraduates today can select from a swathe of identity studies.... The shortcoming of all these para-academic programs is not that they concentrate on a given ethnic or geographical minority; it is that they encourage members of that minority to study themselves - thereby simultaneously negating the goals of a liberal education and reinforcing the sectarian and ghetto mentalities they purport to undermine. ~ Tony Judt, #NFDB
1104:We've got so much in this life that all we know how to do is want more. So we concentrate on the wrong things--things we can see--as being the measure of a person. We think if we win something big or buy something snazzy it'll make us more than we are. Our hearts know that's not true, but the eyes are powerful. It's easier to fix on what we can see than listen to the still, small voice of a whispering heart. ~ Joan Bauer, #NFDB
1105:By 'God', I understand, a substance which is infinite, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, and which created both myself and everything else [...] that exists. All these attributes are such that, the more carefully I concentrate on them, the less possible it seems that they could have originated from me alone. So, from what has been said it must be concluded that God necessarily exists. ~ Rene Descartes, #NFDB
1106:Death tends to change people’s focus and priorities—at least for a time. After the war deaths of several Bonhoeffer cousins, the younger members of the family would often lie in bed at night and talk about death and eternity. Do you spend much time thinking about eternity? Should a person concentrate on life after death, or is it better to keep one’s focus solely on this life and what can be accomplished now? ~ Eric Metaxas, #NFDB
1107:A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared the “energy cost” of different foods in the supermarket. The researchers found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips and cookies; spent on a whole food like carrots, the same dollar buys only 250 calories. On the beverage aisle, you can buy 875 calories of soda for a dollar, or 170 calories of fruit juice from concentrate. ~ Michael Pollan, #NFDB
1108:Democratic laws generally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest possible number; for they emanate from the majority of the citizens, who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to their own advantage. The laws of an aristocracy tend, on the contrary, to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the minority, because an aristocracy, by its very nature, constitutes a minority. ~ Alexis de Tocqueville, #NFDB
1109:I worry about that terribly because the public eye can bring all sorts of unwanted intrusions and problems. But he's treading his own path. I think the modeling is something that Rafferty Law sees as a pastime and something to maybe give him a bit of pocket money. He's a musician mostly. He's in college studying music, which he takes very seriously and I think that is something that he will concentrate on in the future. ~ Jude Law, #NFDB
1110:Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases...When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have-and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose...But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life. ~ Andy Andrews, #NFDB
1111:So there I was, wondering what sort of things women would look for in a video game. I sat in cafés and listened to what they were talking about: mostly it was fashion and boyfriends. Neither of those was really the stuff of a good video game. Then they started talking about food - about cakes and sweets and fruit - and it hit me: that food and eating would be the thing to concentrate on to get the girls interested. ~ Toru Iwatani, #NFDB
1112:The psychological and physiological mechanism of love is so complex that at a certain period in his life a young man must concentrate all his energy on coming to grips with it, and in this way he misses the actual content of the love: the woman he loves. (In this he is much like a young violinist who cannot concentrate on the emotional content of a piece until the technique required to play it comes automatically.) ~ Milan Kundera, #NFDB
1113:To function efficiently - to function at all - we must concentrate our effects. Picturing things is bad for business, it is undynamic. It can choke the mind with horror if persisted in. We have graphs and tables and balance sheets and statement of corporate philosophy to help us remain busily and safely in the realm of the abstract and comfort us with a sense of lawful endeavor and lawful profit. And we have maps. ~ Barry Unsworth, #NFDB
1114:About 90 percent of the things in our lives are right, and about 10 percent are wrong. If we want to be happy, all we have to do is to concentrate on the 90 percent that are right, and ignore the 10 percent that are wrong. If we want to be worried and bitter and have stomach ulcers, all we have to do is to concentrate on the 10 percent that are wrong and ignore the 90 percent that are glorious. The words Think and Thank ~ Og Mandino, #NFDB
1115:Once released from life, having lost it in such violence, I couldn’t calculate my steps. I didn’t have time for contemplation. In violence it is the getting out that you concentrate on. When you begin to go over the edge, life receding from you as a boat recedes inevitably from the shore, you hold on to death tightly, like a rope that will transport you, and you swing out on it, hoping to land away from where you are. ~ Alice Sebold, #NFDB
1116:When coming out of sleep you must keep quiet for a few moments and consecrate the coming day to the Divine, praying to remember Him always and in all circumstances.
Before going to sleep you must concentrate for a few minutes, look into the day that has passed, remember when and where you have forgotten the Divine, and pray that such forgettings should not happen again. 31 August 1953
~ The Mother, Words Of The Mother III,#NFDB
1117:When you have lost your way, when the world appears as if it is
crumbling around you, perhaps, just maybe, you should close your eyes.
By looking outward we forget the strength that is given inward. We can
only see part of the picture with our eyes open. But, when they are closed,
we see as a whole. We concentrate not on what we can see, but on the faith
of what we know to be true." - WHISPERED MUSIC ~ Rachel Van Dyken,#NFDB
1118:The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical in self-regulatory activities of all kinds, both emotional and cognitive. As a result, children who grow up in stressful environments generally find it harder to concentrate, harder to sit still, harder to rebound from disappointments, and harder to follow directions. And that has a direct effect on their performance in school. ~ Paul Tough, #NFDB
1119:I don't need any crutches in order to concentrate. As a child I learned that you must be ready because I'd be yelled at more than other people and it would always be my fault. I learned that to be professional is your number-one priority. The art comes second. You learn that, in order to give your best performance, you have to be a good technician, which means never allowing negative influences affect your performance. ~ Angelina Jolie, #NFDB
1120:If you are serious, and you want to make a living as an author, then you need to hustle. Period. If you can't make that quality, then you need to concentrate on your craft and practice more.
One other thing, quality comes with practice. If you are prolific, then you become a better writer because you are writing. The more you do anything the better at it you will become. So in a way, quantity does add to quality. ~ Larry Correia,#NFDB
1121:You could buy a car for fifty thousand dollars. A really nice car.” Ascanio’s eyes lit up. “A Hummer. You could buy a converted Hummer.”
“You don’t need a Hummer.” I said.
“Chicks dig the Hummer.”
“You don`t need any chicks either.”
He gave me an injured look. “I have needs.”
“I have needs too and right now I need you to concentrate on tracking down Jamar`s collection. Get to it.”
- Andrea & Ascanio ~ Ilona Andrews,#NFDB
1122:He was, however, unable to give much prolonged or continuous thought to anything that evening , or to concentrate on any one idea; and anyway, even if he had been able to, he would not have found his way to a solution of these questions in a conscious manner; now he could only feel. In place of dialectics life had arrived, and in his consciousness something of a wholly different nature must now work towards fruition. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
1123:I AM YOUR STRENGTH AND SHIELD. I plan out each day and have it ready for you, long before you arise from bed. I also provide the strength you need each step of the way. Instead of assessing your energy level and wondering about what’s on the road ahead, concentrate on staying in touch with Me. My Power flows freely into you through our open communication. Refuse to waste energy worrying, and you will have strength to spare. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
1124:Rather than limiting population growth, they should concentrate on improving the economic status of the people in general and the people at the bottom half in particular. Governments and population agencies are not putting nearly as much effort into changing the quality of life of the poor as they put into their scare tactics, such as pressuring illiterate men and women to physically remove their ability to procreate. UN ~ Muhammad Yunus, #NFDB
1125:You okay? (Grace) Oh, yeah. I’m just fine considering the fact I’ve walked through burning fires that hurt less than my groin does right now. (Julian) I said I was sorry. Okay, can you reach the pedals? (Grace) I’d like to reach your pedals…(Julian) Julian! Would you concentrate? (Grace) All right. I’m concentrating. (Julian) I don’t mean on my breasts. (He dropped his hungry gaze to her lap.) Or there, either. (Grace) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon, #NFDB
1126:That’s how it should be with you; stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Concentrate on this flower and allow the real “I” to reveal itself."
"What is the real "I"?" asked Veronika. Perhaps everyone else there knew, but did it matter: She must learn to care less about annoying others.
"It's what you are, not what others make of you. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
1127:When you really concentrate, you will get a sense of expansion. You will feel that you are larger person than you are physically, as if you become a person two or three sizes bigger than your ordinary physical self, and that you are flowing with all your being toward the object of your concentration. Whether it is a physical thing or an image that you are concentrating on, your whole invisible person will be in movement. ~ Michael Chekhov, #NFDB
1128:As Luxenberg's work has only recently been published we must await its scholarly assessment before we can pass any judgements. But if his analysis is correct then suicide bombers, or rather prospective martyrs, would do well to abandon their culture of death, and instead concentrate on getting laid 72 times in this world, unless of course they would really prefer chilled or white raisins, according to their taste, in the next. ~ Ibn Warraq, #NFDB
1129:Sherlock Holmes had listened with the utmost intentness to the statement of the unhappy schoolmaster. His drawn brows and the deep furrow between them showed that he needed no exhortation to concentrate all his attention upon a problem which, apart from the tremendous interests involved must appeal so directly to his love of the complex and the unusual. He now drew out his notebook and jotted down one or two memoranda. ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, #NFDB
1130:Century or another. Usually, the dangerous beliefs are those which concentrate particularly in the ruling classes of an era; the classes that have most contact with us and, at the same time, carry the important weight of what is called public opinion.” Finge paused as though he expected Harlan to offer some comment or ask some question. Harlan did neither. Finge continued. “Ever since the Reality Change 433–486, Serial Number ~ Isaac Asimov, #NFDB
1131:Even in small matters, we can say, our intellect is not resolute. It will be resolute only if we fix our minds on one purpose and cling to it with discrimination, only if we work without looking for immediate results. At present, whether in politics or social reform we leap from one branch to another. I began with the illustration of a ball of earth and told you that, even if we concentrate on that, we can realise the atman. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1132:No matter how much he loved someone, he still couldn't share his life with them. He needed solitary time every day to concentrate, and he couldn't stand it when someone's presence threw off his concentration. If he lived with someone he knew he would end up detesting them. Whether it was his parents, a wife, or children. He feared that above all. He wasn't afraid of loving someone. What he feared was growing to hate someone. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1133:You should never read just for "enjoyment." Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends' insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick "hard books." Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god's sake, don't let me ever hear you say, "I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth." Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of "literature"? That means fiction, too, stupid. ~ John Waters, #NFDB
1134:The first step: Don’t be anxious. Nature controls it all. And before long you’ll be no one, nowhere—like Hadrian, like Augustus. The second step: Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1135:Then I heard your voice as clear as day,
And you told me I should concentrate,
It was all so strange,
And so surreal,
That a ghost should be so practical.
Only if for a night
And the only solution was to stand and fight,
And my body was bruised and
I was set alight,
But you came over me like some holy rite,
And although I was burning,
You're the only light
Only if for a night ~ Florence Welch,#NFDB
1136:I’m not sure what he means. “What am I doing?”
“You’re making me fall so hard for you that my head is spinning. The more time I spend with you, the more I want. The more I touch you, the more I crave you. I can’t concentrate at work or sleep or do anything but think about you. You’re making a hot mess of my life.
…“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. Please don’t ever take it away from me. I’m not sure I’d survive it. ~ M S Force,#NFDB
1137:I'd chosen this spot. We'd tried to get out in the water once, but it was summer and people were everywhere. Even at night, there were bonfire parties and midnight surfers. We'd all snuck out and come here at three in the morning a few weeks ago, but nothing had worked right. It was too hard to concentrate and work to stay afloat offshore. Plus, there were jellyfish everywhere, and once Eli got stung, he refused to go back in. ~ Elizabeth Norris, #NFDB
1138:Injection of environmental and political perspectives in midstream of the science discussion cannot help the process of inquiry. I believe that persons with relevant scientific expertise should concentrate, with pride, on cool objective analysis, providing information to the public and decision-makers when it is found, but leaving the moral implications for later common consideration, or at most for summary inferential discussion. ~ James Hansen, #NFDB
1139:Proverbs 2 The Benefits of Wisdom 1 My child,* listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. 2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD grants wisdom! ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1140:As far as I can tell, kids are called bossy when they behave in a dictatorial and domineering fashion. They’re called bossy when they try to order people around and refuse to listen to authority figures. Here’s a suggestion: instead of telling us not to refer to them as bossy, why don’t we teach them not to be bossy? We concentrate so much on eradicating negative words while forgetting to address the behavior that the words describe. ~ Matt Walsh, #NFDB
1141:We have always tried to concentrate on the long term, and to place bets on technology we believe will have a significant impact over time. It's hard to imagine now, but when we started Google most people thought search was a solved problem and that there was no money to be made apart from some banner advertising. We felt the exact opposite: that search quality was very poor, and that awesome user experiences would clearly make money. ~ Larry Page, #NFDB
1142:The struggle hasn't ended. It's only just begun in our view. In the sense that if all goes well during the elections and we emerge as the government there will still be another form of struggle. But there's going to be lots of work in reconstruction, resettling people. In the initial period we will expect all the support groups we have here in Britain and elsewhere to concentrate their efforts in enabling us to resettle our people. ~ Robert Mugabe, #NFDB
1143:Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1144:Sometimes such simple acts, which could not be rushed and took up a fixed amount of necessary time, were a respite from more lasting uncertainties and preoccupations. If he could concentrate more upon such manageable tasks (making this cocoa, looking after his wife, feeding his child, or teaching his dog to fetch a ball) then ideas, and even solutions, might come unbidden; thoughts that could make him a better priest, a kinder husband, ~ James Runcie, #NFDB
1145:...the souls of the dead [are] not deprived of their intellectual faculties but... they also are not lacking in feelings such as hope and sadness, joy and fear. They already have a foretaste of what is in store for them after the general judgment. Nor does it happen, as some unbelievers would hold, that upon leaving this world they are turned to nothing. Actually they live more intensely and they concentrate more on the praises of God. ~ John Cassian, #NFDB
1146:A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning. The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines. The island of Manhattan is without any doubt the greatest human concentrate on earth, the poem whose magic is comprehensible to millions of permanent residents but whose full meaning will always remain elusive. ~ E B White, #NFDB
1147:Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1148:Gable patted her hand. “I’m not supposed to say this to you,” said Gable, “but you should either cut it off with him once and for all, or defect and concentrate on your lives together. Maybe recruit your replacement before you go. Loving each other and spying at the same time is gonna get someone hurt.” Dominika was silent; she knew Gable understood her. “Don’t tell anyone I told you that,” he said, smiling. Then he got back to business. ~ Jason Matthews, #NFDB
1149:No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on something else- pass the time and to distract her situation she was in- The fear came trickling out. It however like a cloud of gas around her threatening to penetrate her pores and poison her. She had discovered that the most affective way of keeping the fear of day was to fantasize that something that gave her a feeling of strength. She closed her eyes and conjured up the smell of gasoline. ~ Stieg Larsson, #NFDB
1150:But over the last decade, neuroscientists have discovered that, like an eager student, the brain is remarkably responsive to experience. Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets better at math. Ask your brain to worry, and it gets better at worrying. Ask your brain to concentrate, and it gets better at concentrating. Not only does your brain find these things easier, but it actually remodels itself based on what you ask it to do. ~ Kelly McGonigal, #NFDB
1151:What made you fall in love with a prostitute?'
I didn't understand it myself at the time. But I've thought about it since, and I think it was because, knowing that your body would never be mine alone, I had to concentrate on conquering your soul.'
'Weren't you jealous?"
'You can't say to the spring: "Come now and last as long as possible." You can only say: "Come and bless me with your hope, and stay as long as you can. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
1152:You okay? (Grace)
Oh, yeah. I’m just fine considering the fact I’ve walked through burning fires that hurt less than my groin does right now. (Julian)
I said I was sorry. Okay, can you reach the pedals? (Grace)
I’d like to reach your pedals…(Julian)
Julian! Would you concentrate? (Grace)
All right. I’m concentrating. (Julian)
I don’t mean on my breasts. (He dropped his hungry gaze to her lap.) Or there, either. (Grace) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,#NFDB
1153:I hadn’t simply taken a fancy to you.” “No?” He shook his head slowly. His thumb traced the shape of her lips. “Fancy doesn’t begin to describe it. This is closer to . . . an obsession. An enchantment, or perhaps a curse. You’re like a little fair-haired witch who cast a spell on me, and I can’t concentrate. I can’t sleep. I can’t think of anything but hearing you laugh and holding you close and imagining what you’ll look like naked in my bed. ~ Tessa Dare, #NFDB
1154:Rude wasn’t so much a heel who happened to be attractive as he was a 100 percent pure concentrate of machismo and self-absorption, a Lothario for his own sake. He could have any woman he wanted, but his objective was never love or even lust; it was heterosexual avidity purely for show. And he seemed not so much to objectify women as to coolly demean them. The object of his affection was solely himself. It was hardcore pornography minus the sex.* ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1155:The best answer to this puzzle is that the real surprise was that such a pure and focused strategy was actually implemented. Most complex organizations spread rather than concentrate resources, acting to placate and pay off internal and external interests. Thus, we are surprised when a complex organization, such as Apple or the U.S. Army, actually focuses its actions. Not because of secrecy, but because good strategy itself is unexpected. ~ Richard P Rumelt, #NFDB
1156:The great advantage of indexing investment operations is that we can avoid the vain search for superior performance and concentrate our time and energy on investment policy and asset-mix decisions. Instead, it focuses your attention on the most important decision in investing: defining the long-term “policy” portfolio that will both minimize the risk of avoidable mistakes and maximize the chances of achieving your true investment objectives. ~ Charles D Ellis, #NFDB
1157:Meditation means thinking on one subject in a concentrated way. In concentration proper there is not a series of thoughts, but the mind is silently fixed on one object, name, idea, place etc. There are other kinds of concentration, e.g. concentrating the whole consciousness in one place, as between the eyebrows, in the heart, etc. One can also concentrate to get rid of thought altogether and remain in a complete silence.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#NFDB
1158:The question of crime is one of concern to everybody. But the position is that the security forces in our country for the last four decades did not concentrate on suppressing crime. Their main objective was to suppress, to crush political activity. And in the process, crime grew to unacceptable proportions. And criminals were able to form powerful syndicates, and they virtually took over the control of the life of the community in certain areas. ~ Nelson Mandela, #NFDB
1159:Any serious consideration of the world as it is around us today must tell us that maintaining common decency, much less peace and harmony, among living contemporaries is a major challenge, both among nations and within nations. To admit that we can do nothing about what happened among the dead is not to give up the struggle for a better world, but to concentrate our efforts where they have at least some hope of making things better for the living. ~ Thomas Sowell, #NFDB
1160:Even if you did not love me I could not help an entire devotion to you: how much more deeply then must I feel for you knowing you love me. My Mind has been the most discontented and restless one that ever was put into a body too small for it. I never felt my Mind repose upon anything with complete and undistracted enjoyment -- upon no person but you. When you are in the room my thoughts never fly out of window: you always concentrate my whole senses. ~ John Keats, #NFDB
1161:Remember, whatever you focus upon, increases. . . . When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have--and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose. But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life. ~ Andy Andrews, #NFDB
1162:Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing. I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me. "You're doing it again," I muttered. His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?" "Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him. "Oh." He frowned. "It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it. ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
1163:Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you've ever seen or read about. There isn't anything we can do about them, so we simply don't look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments-like today at the zoo. Isn't this a nice moment?"
"Yes."
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."
"Um," said Billy Pilgrim. ~ Kurt Vonnegut,#NFDB
1164:I did not know there was any controversy. I don't get a lot of time to read the fan forums, etc. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to have more storylines. I was just so happy to step in and pick up some of the slack for Emily while she was pregnant. It was so important for Emily to concentrate on her health and the well-being of her baby. In the end ... she is a great mother and her baby is adorable. I did not realize there was any controversy. LOL! ~ Eva LaRue, #NFDB
1165:Just concentrate on the performers. Make sure you get the performers, and that's it. That's all we need to do." And I was thinking, "Well what if you do both? Of course the performance is important, the writing is really important. But what if you could have the perfect marriage of making it look really slick as well?" I think that's kind of what I tried to develop as a style, and Spaced was the first TV show I did where all the elements came together. ~ Edgar Wright, #NFDB
1166:Rick shuffled through the cards again. “Where is the tallest mountain on earth?” Lydia put her hand over her eyes so she could concentrate. “You said tallest, not highest elevation, so it can’t be Everest.” She made some thinking noises that caused the dogs to stir. The cat started making biscuits on her stomach. She could hear the clock ticking in the kitchen. Finally, Rick said, “Think ukulele.” She peeked through her fingers. “Hawaii?” “Mauna Kea. ~ Karin Slaughter, #NFDB
1167:...If Jesus came to bring abundant life to all who follow him, that means that transgender Christians should be able to stop spending every single bit of their energy defending themselves against those 'clobber passages,' in order to concentrate instead on becoming better disciples. We should be able to move from survival practices to thriving faith. Jesus didn't come to make things marginally more bearable. He came to give us abundant and eternal life. ~ Austen Hartke, #NFDB
1168:In fact, beginning meditators often think that they are able to concentrate on a single object, such as the breath, for minutes at a time, only to report after days or weeks of intensive practice that their attention is now carried away by thought every few seconds. This is actually progress. It takes a certain degree of concentration to even notice how distracted you are. Even if your life depended on it, you could not spend a full minute free of thought. ~ Sam Harris, #NFDB
1169:There is a group of core symptoms common to those who have ADD. These include short attention span for routine, everyday tasks, distractibility, organizational problems (for spaces and time), difficulty with follow-through, and poor internal supervision or judgment. These symptoms exist over a prolonged period of time and are present from an early age, although they may not be evident until a child is pushed to concentrate or to organize his or her life. ~ Daniel G Amen, #NFDB
1170:You are in front of your brother, but your mind is on many other things, so you don’t really see your brother. Maybe he is having some trouble, but you don’t see it, not even when you share the same room. But mindfulness brings you there, to the present, and then you see. Train yourself all day long to bring your mind to your body and to be present with your food, your friends, your work, everything, because the more you concentrate, the deeper you will see. ~ Chan Khong, #NFDB
1171:But you do have a peaceful planet here.” “Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you’ve ever seen or read about. There isn’t anything we can do about them, so we simply don’t look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments—like today at the zoo. Isn’t this a nice moment?” “Yes.” “That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
1172:Our sense by its incapacity has invented darkness. In truth there is nothing but Light, only it is a power of light either above or below our poor human vision's limited range.
For do not imagine that light is created by the Suns. The Suns are only physical concentrations of Light, but the splendour they concentrate for us is self-born and everywhere.
God is everywhere and wherever God is, there is Light. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Essays Divine And Human, #the Light,#NFDB
1173:There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called Dharana, concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering. When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called Dhyana, meditation. And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost — Samadhi or absorption ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1174:You only play Pistol Annies when you're pissed, usually at me. I know your fake laugh from your real one. You have a great laugh, by the way. I know which shirts are your favorites, because they're the first ones you wear after you've done your laundry. You lick your bottom lip when you're trying to concentrate on your textbook reading. You cry during those commercials with the absurd animals when you think no one is looking. No, I don't know you at all. ~ Chelsea M Cameron, #NFDB
1175:Staying interested in a match is a lot harder than many people think. Throughout my career, I've always had trouble in the early rounds of a tournament mainly because it was hard for me to psychologically get up until I got to the quarters or the semis. What happened a lot of times is that I would fall behind early, maybe even lose the first couple of sets in a five-set match and then begin to concentrate. Still it wasn't something I could control from the start. ~ Rod Laver, #NFDB
1176:Billy stayed in the wagon when it reached the slaughterhouse, sunning himself. The others went looking for souvenirs. Later on in life, the Tralfamadorians would advise Billy to concentrate on the happy moments of his life, and to ignore the unhappy ones—to stare only at pretty things as eternity failed to go by. If this sort of selectivity had been possible for Billy, he might have chosen as his happiest moment his sundrenched snooze in the back of the wagon. ~ Kurt Vonnegut, #NFDB
1177:He could tell by Keith’s kisses exactly what Shane was doing to him, fingering him. Could feel Keith tense with one finger, then two. Glanced over and saw Shane watching them, gauging Keith’s reactions, taking them seriously. Reed forced Keith to concentrate on the pleasure, stroked his cheek, felt him gradually relax as Shane brought his cock back to life. His hips rocked under Shane’s hand and finally, he pulled his face away from Keith and stared down at Shane. ~ S E Jakes, #NFDB
1178:KUBLAI: I do not know when you have had time to visit all the countries you describe to me. It seems to me you have never moved from this garden.
POLO: Everything I see and do assumes meaning in a mental space where the same calm reigns as here, the same penumbra, the same silence streaked by the rustling of learn. At the moment when I concentrate and reflect, I find myself again, always, in this garden, at this hour of the evening, in your august presence. ~ Italo Calvino,#NFDB
1179:In human affairs of danger and delicacy successful conclusion is sharply limited by hurry. So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this. ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1180:One thing we haven't mentioned is something everyone should understand very clearly. Look at the budget that was invested in 'Avatar': who in China has that kind of money to spend on making a movie? So we as Chinese filmmakers should work together to make Chinese movies that can compete as best we can for Chinese audiences, not make lousy movies, but make the best we can for that audience. Concentrate the money, the talent we have on making good movies [for China]. ~ Jackie Chan, #NFDB
1181:A person who is of fixed mind in a small matter can be so even in a big matter. If he is asked to make an ellipsoid of clay and concentrate on it, he would do so. In trying to concentrate on any object, one is likely to be distracted by all manner of troublesome thoughts. A person to whom this happens may be described as one whose intellect is not fixed on one aim. One who would succeed in the yoga of works must be of a fixed mind in small matters as well as big. ~ Mahatma Gandhi, #NFDB
1182:From childhood I was compelled to concentrate attention upon myself. This caused me much suffering but, to my present view, it was a blessing in disguise for it has taught me to appreciate the inestimable value of introspection in the preservation of life, as well as a means of achievement. The pressure of occupation and the incessant stream of impressions pouring into our consciousness thru all the gateways of knowledge make modern existence hazardous in many ways ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
1183:POLO: Everything I see and do assumes meaning in a mental space where the same calm reigns as here, the same penumbra, the same silence streaked by the rustling of learn. At the moment when I concentrate and reflect, I find myself again, always, in this garden, at this hour of the evening, in your august presence, though I continue, without a moment’s pause, moving up a river green with crocodiles or counting the barrels of salted fish being lowered into the hold. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1184:All feelings that concentrate you and lift you up are pure; only that feeling is impure which grasps just one side of your being and thus distorts you. Everything you can think of as you face your childhood, is good. Everything that makes more of you than you have ever been, even in your best hours, is right. Every intensification is good, if it is in your entire blood, if it isn't intoxication or muddiness, but joy which you can see into, clear to the bottom. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, #NFDB
1185:Having children changes your behavior. Your personality doesn't change, but you're more cautious of what you say and how you say it to start with-so that already changes things. My mind is not completely mine anymore. I used to be able to concentrate and achieve things. Now I find it much harder to focus, because it just seems that half your brain doesn't belong to you anymore. My kids are still little. Maybe it will change more when they're older, but I doubt it. ~ Vanessa Paradis, #NFDB
1186:That might work," I said. "I'm good at faking it." This led to a couple moments of uncomfortable silence from both of us. "You didn't mean... ?" Morelli asked. "No. Of course not." "Never?" "Maybe once." His eyes narrowed. "Once?" "It's all that comes to mind. It was the time we were late for your Uncle Spud's birthday party." "I remember that. That was great. You're telling me you faked it?" "We were late! I couldn't concentrate. It seemed like the best way to go. ~ Janet Evanovich, #NFDB
1187:time proved that the persistent educational gap between black and white students was only indirectly traceable to segregation. Instead, the root of the problem appeared to be the substantial disparities in the resources provided to black students relative to white students. Many, including myself, decided that given the difficulty of integrating black and Latino students with their swiftly fleeing white counterparts, we should concentrate on desegregating the money. ~ Derrick A Bell, #NFDB
1188:In human affairs of danger and delicacy successful conclusion is sharply limited by hurry. So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this. What ~ John Steinbeck, #NFDB
1189:There are so many great reasons to devote all of your time and effort to taking and marketing listings. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent grasps the incredible advantages of making, obtaining, and marketing seller listings their primary lead-generation focus, and they do so almost exclusively. Over time, they will hire one or more buyer specialists to work the buyer side of the business and concentrate their energy on the high-return, high-leverage business of listings. ~ Gary Keller, #NFDB
1190:Well the artists that inspire me were, first of all I would say Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, John Holt, Alton Ellis, Errol Dunkley, Delroy Wilson and Dennis Brown you know. They have unique voice and sweet melody and you know, good lyrics those time yeh. The music was very nice in that time still seen, because you find that even the musical part, the musicians concentrate more on the melody than everything, more than how they concentrate on the money that time you Know ~ Gregory Isaacs, #NFDB
1191:I do know where it is,” Daniel said. “At least, I know what it was.”
“You’ve got a circuitous sense of direction, Daniel.”
“Arriane.” Roland used the warning tone he reserved for those too frequent occasions when Arriane went too far. “Let him concentrate.”
“Yeah yeah yeah.” Arriane rolled her eyes. “Better return to ‘formation.’” Arriane beat her wings the way some girls batted their eyelashes, flashed a peace sign with her fingers, and fell back. ~ Lauren Kate,#NFDB
1192:Once your brain has become accustomed to on-demand distraction, Nass discovered, it’s hard to shake the addiction even when you want to concentrate. To put this more concretely: If every moment of potential boredom in your life—say, having to wait five minutes in line or sit alone in a restaurant until a friend arrives—is relieved with a quick glance at your smartphone, then your brain has likely been rewired to a point where, like the “mental wrecks” in Nass’s research, ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1193:The problem with medicine and the institutions it has spawned for the care of the sick and the old is not that they have had an incorrect view of what makes life significant. The problem is that they have had almost no view at all. Medicine’s focus is narrow. Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. Yet—and this is the painful paradox—we have decided that they should be the ones who largely define how we live in our waning days. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
1194:In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one's social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education... But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one's development as a human being. Honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others - qualities which are within easy reach of every soul - are the foundation of one's spiritual life. ~ Nelson Mandela, #NFDB
1195:In the previous days and times, we've been involved, not exclusively, but largely, in the process of individual survival: How do I get through the day, how do I get through the week, how do I get through the month? In the 21st century, we're learning that we can no longer concentrate on individual survival strategies, that unless we begin to coalesce those strategies and learn how we can survive collectively, that no individual is going to survive in the long run. ~ Neale Donald Walsch, #NFDB
1196:I concentrate on what I am going to say to Vivi, instead of thinking of Cardan. I do not want to consider what happened between us. I do not want to think about the way his muscles moved or how his skin felt or the soft gasping sounds he made or the slide of his mouth against mine.
I definitely don’t want to think about how hard I had to bite my own lip to keep quiet. Or how obvious it was that I’d never done any of the things we did, no less the things we didn’t do. ~ Holly Black,#NFDB
1197:If the regular length of a shot is increased, one becomes bored, but if you keep on making it longer, a new quality emerges, a special intensity of attention.' At first there can be a friction between our expectations of time and Tarkovsky-time and this friction is increasing in the twenty-first century as we move further and further away from Tarkovsky-time towards moron-time in which nothing can last—and no one can concentrate on anything—for longer than about two seconds. ~ Geoff Dyer, #NFDB
1198:Sometimes, if we are faced with obstacles, be they tangible or not, such as jealousy, worldly sentiment, greed, hatred or obsession, etc., there is no other way to overcome them except by practicing more diligently. You need to read Master's books and to listen to Master's tapes more often, meditate more, do Quan Yin more, put more effort into your practice and concentrate more on the path of practice. It is safe only when you are sheltered by the supreme power, no other way. ~ Ching Hai, #NFDB
1199:Anyhow, even though I might go out on a date with a boy, emotionally I just wouldn't be able to concentrate. I'd be smiling and chatting away, and my mind would be floating around somewhere else, like a balloon with a broken string. I'd be thinking about one unrelated thing after another. I don't know, I guess finally I want to be alone a little while longer. And I want to let my thoughts wander freely. In that sense, I guess, I'm probably still "on the road to recovery. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1200:Concentrate on sharpening your memory and peeling your sensibility. Cut every page you write by at least one third. Stop constructing those piffling little similes of yours. Work out what it is you want to say. Then say it in the most direct and vigorous way you can. Eat meat. Drink blook. Give up your social life and don't think you can have friends. Rise in the quiet hours of the night and prick your fingertips and use the blood for ink; that will cure you of persiflage! ~ Hilary Mantel, #NFDB
1201:We believe that almost all really good investment records will involve relatively little diversification. The basic idea that it was hard to find good investments and that you wanted to be in good investments, and therefore, you'd just find a few of them that you knew a lot about and concentrate on those seemed to me such an obviously good idea. And indeed, it's proven to be an obviously good idea. Yet 98% of the investing world doesn't follow it. That's been good for us. ~ Charlie Munger, #NFDB
1202:From an early age she had developed the art of being alone and generally preferred her own company to anyone else’s. She read books at enormous speed and judged them entirely on her ability to remove her from her material surroundings. In almost all the unhappiest days of her life she had been able to escape from her own inner world by living temporarily in someone else’s, and on the two or three occasions that she had been too upset to concentrate she had been desolate. ~ Sebastian Faulks, #NFDB
1203:I am not religious. I only believe in the power of imagination. And the fact that there isn't only one reality. The real world and another, unreal world exist at the same time, they are strongly connected. Sometimes they overlap, blend. And if I want, if I concentrate a lot, I can cross the border. I can come and go. That is what's happening in my books. That's the point. My stories take place on one side, then the other, and I don't even recognize the difference anymore. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1204:I never ask my wife about my flaws. Instead I try to get her to ignore them and concentrate on my sense of humor. You don't want any woman to look under the carpet because there's lots of flaws underneath. Joanne believes my character in a film we did together, "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" comes closest to who I really am. I personally don't think there's one character who comes close... but I learned a long time ago not to disagree on things that I don't have a solid opinion about. ~ Paul Newman, #NFDB
1205:Just for a while": Death's opening chat-up line in His great seduction, before he drugged you with soporific comforts, distracted you with minor luxuries and ensnared you with long-term payment plans.
Join the Rat Race "just for a while."
Concentrate on your career "just for a while."
Move in with your girlfriend "just for a while."
Find a bigger place, out in the burbs "just for a while."
Lie down in that wooden box "just for a while. ~ Christopher Brookmyre,#NFDB
1206:Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest yoga performance by trained devotional yogīs. Despite all the allurement of yoga practice, the eight kinds of yogic perfections are hardly achievable by the common man. But here it is described that the Lord, who appeared before the four sages, is Himself full of all eight of those perfections. The highest yoga-mārga process is to concentrate the mind twenty-four hours a day on Kṛṣṇa. This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The ~ A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhup da, #NFDB
1207:My hands tend to be full enough dealing with people who hate me for who I am. Concentrate too hard on the millions who hate you for what you are and you're likely to turn into one of those unkempt, sloppy dressers who sag beneath the weight of the two hundred political buttons they wear pinned to their coats and knapsacks. I haven't got the slightest idea of how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1208:The mind that has learned to meditate, which is to concentrate, the mind that has learned the technique of shutting out everything and narrowing down to a particular point—such a mind is incapable of meditation. That is what most of us want. We want to learn to concentrate, to be occupied with one thought to the exclusion of every other thought, and we call that meditation. But it is not meditation. Meditation is something entirely different, which we are going to find out. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
1209:The established religions no longer ask fundamental questions about our identity and our reason for living. Instead, they concentrate purely on a series of dogmas and rules concerned only with fitting in with a particular social and political organization. People in search of real spirituality are, therefore, setting off in new directions, and that inevitably means a return to the past and to primitive religions, before those religions were contaminated by the structures of power. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1210:Meditation is totally different. When you concentrate you close your mind to everything else. Meditation means just an openness, a relaxed openness. It is not concentration. While listening to me you are listening to the birds singing in the trees too. The wind passing through the trees singing its song - you are open to it too. The aeroplane passing by, or the train - you are open to it too. This is meditation - you are simply open, available, conscious, available, all doors are open. ~ Rajneesh, #NFDB
1211:After he died, there was a deep calm to his face; he seemed a kind of unfathomable, still well which opened on and down beneath the suddenly smooth surface of his skin…The heat in him lasted a long time. I loved that heat. I don’t know how long I held his face and his shoulders and stroked him; as he began to cool I kept my hands on his belly, where the last of his warmth seemed to pool and concentrate. Here the fire of the body came to rest, smoldering longest, down to the last embers. ~ Mark Doty, #NFDB
1212:Don Keough's (CEO Coca-Cola) 11 Rules on "HOW TO LOSE": 1. Stop taking risks 2. Be content 3. Never deviate from what the founder did 4. Be inflexible 5. Rely totally on research and experts 6. Concentrate on competitors instead of your customers 7. Put yourself - not the customer - first 8. Solve administrative concerns first 9. Let others do your thinking for example, headquarters 10. Rely on T-G-E: "That's Good Enough" and T-N-M-J: "That's Not My Job!" 11. Rationalize slow growth ~ Donald Keough, #NFDB
1213:Here the poor are a means to an end. These kinds of leftists show remarkably little interest in the creation of wealth, which has raised living standards for the poor, as compared to their obsession with redistribution, which has not.
These kinds of leftists concentrate on inequalities that can be dealt with by turning money and power over to people like themselves. These kinds of leftists will never desert the cause that serves them so well, no matter how badly it serves others. ~ Thomas Sowell,#NFDB
1214:I never ask my wife about my flaws. Instead I try to get her to ignore them and concentrate on my sense of humor. You don't want any woman to look under the carpet, guys, because there's lots of flaws underneath. Joanne believes my character in a film we did together, 'Mr. and Mrs. Bridge' comes closest to who I really am. I personally don't think there's one character who comes close . . . but I learned a long time ago not to disagree on things that I don't have a solid opinion about. ~ Paul Newman, #NFDB
1215:And about feelings: All feelings that concentrate you and lift you up are pure; only that feeling is impure which grasps just one side of your being and thus distorts you. Everything you can think of as you face your childhood, is good. Everything that makes more of you than you have ever been, even in your best hours, is right. Every intensification is good, if it is in your entire blood, if it isn’t intoxication or muddiness, but joy which you can see into, clear to the bottom. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, #NFDB
1216:See what's inside a drop of water. The whole seed of the universe. Come, come. See what's inside a drop of blood. The composition of life. It's all there. Hate as well. We approach the mystery of life, but it's impossible to understand the mystery of hate. The kind of hate that causes people not only to kill, but to want to erase you from the census of births. I have to concentrate on that mystery. Read everything there is. It has to be in a drop of blood. It has to have its chemistry. ~ Manuel Rivas, #NFDB
1217:Two days ago, in the afternoon, Amanda said to me, "I can't read books any more. Who has the time?" It was the day after Oliver had left, and we were in this little café in the industrial part of the city. "Who can concentrate any more?" she said, stirring her coffee. "Who reads? Do you read?" (I shook my head.) "Somebody must read, I guess. You see all these books around in store windows, and there are those clubs. Somebody's reading," she said. "Who? I don't know anybody who reads. ~ Raymond Carver, #NFDB
1218:Geologists search for the meaning to be read into the piled-up strata of the earth much as a historian might turn the pages of an ancient, damaged manuscript. The astronomer seeks the answer to his questions in the depths of space. Still other men concentrate on the scriptures alone. The wise man searches all these and other sources, knowing that all are communications from the same divine source and certain that, if followed far enough, all will guide him back to the Divine Presence. ~ Henry B Eyring, #NFDB
1219:I'm pretty critical, but I'm also pretty good at letting go once it's done. There's this existential argument that comes in, at some point, when you're over-thinking the songwriting process. There's no guarantee that the more time you spend or the more you concentrate on certain aspects that that's going to produce a better result, especially in the arts. Some of the most brilliant things that someone might do could happen in three minutes because it's something that just occurs to them. ~ Chris Cornell, #NFDB
1220:I could not bounce back from my divorce - emotionally - I just could not bounce back. With any bad situations I’d experienced before - a bad game or my two previous divorces - I got over them. This time I just could not get out of the hole. The anxiety attacks were frequent and extensive. I had weight loss, which I’d never had before. I couldn’t stop crying. And if I wasn’t crying, I was angry, bitter, hateful and mean-spirited. I couldn’t sleep - couldn’t concentrate. It just got crazy. ~ Terry Bradshaw, #NFDB
1221:The big ape could be safely ignored. That’s how you deal with the overwhelming complexity of the world: you ignore it, while you concentrate minutely on your private concerns. You see things that facilitate your movement forward, toward your desired goals. You detect obstacles, when they pop up in your path. You’re blind to everything else (and there’s a lot of everything else—so you’re very blind). And it has to be that way, because there is much more of the world than there is of you. ~ Jordan Peterson, #NFDB
1222:We fill our minds up with all kinds of conflict, and this takes us away from the moment. Have you ever had a fight with someone at home, then you get to work, and the whole day you can’t concentrate? Conflict pulls your mind in many directions; when you fill your mind with conflict, your mind will be all over the place. Conflict is the opposite of concentration. When you are peaceful, you enjoy the moment and your mind becomes like a laser beam. Peace and concentration are the same thing. ~ Kevin Horsley, #NFDB
1223:Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.
I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me.
"You're doing it again," I muttered.
His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?"
"Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him.
"Oh." He frowned.
"It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it. ~ Stephenie Meyer,#NFDB
1224:In 1960, I met a college basketball coach on the court and asked him for his best, niftiest pointer. He took the ball, walked under the basket, and shot an easy lay-up. "See that shot?" he said gruffly. "Ninety-nine percent of all basketball games are won with that shot. Don't miss it." And he walked away. I felt cheated that day, but 20 years later, I realized it was the best sales lesson I ever got. Concentrate on the fundamentals; ninety-nine percent of all sales are achieved that way. ~ Jeffrey Gitomer, #NFDB
1225:The big ape could be safely ignored. That’s how you deal with the overwhelming complexity of the world: you ignore it, while you concentrate minutely on your private concerns. You see things that facilitate your movement forward, toward your desired goals. You detect obstacles, when they pop up in your path. You’re blind to everything else (and there’s a lot of everything else—so you’re very blind). And it has to be that way, because there is much more of the world than there is of you. ~ Jordan B Peterson, #NFDB
1226:We had been sitting in this crouching manner for some time, when all at once I thought I would open my eyes; for when between sheets, whether by day or by night, and whether asleep or awake, I have a way of always keeping my eyes shut, in order the more to concentrate the snugness of being in bed. Because no man can ever feel his own identity aright except his eyes be closed; as if, darkness were indeed the proper element of our essences, though light be more congenial to our clayey part. ~ Herman Melville, #NFDB
1227:Since it took up office, the Commission which I lead has pursued a clear policy: we need less interference from Brussels when it comes to the things that Member States can deal with better on their own. That is why we no longer regulate oil cans or showerheads, but concentrate instead on what we can do better together rather than alone - such as tackling the refugee crisis or securing our external borders. Only in that way can we make people feel that Europe makes a tangible difference. ~ Jean Claude Juncker, #NFDB
1228:The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power ... Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favorable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood (Eisen und Blut). ~ Otto von Bismarck, #NFDB
1229:Pidge, how many times do I have to say it?” he frowned.
I shook my head at his impatient tone. “I don’t understand it, though. You didn’t need me there before.”
His fingers lightly grazed my cheek. “I didn’t know you before. When you’re not there, I can’t concentrate. I’m wondering where you are, what you’re doing…if you’re there and I can see you, I can focus. I know it’s crazy, but that’s how it is.”
“And crazy is exactly the way I like it,” I smiled, leaning up to kiss his lips. ~ Jamie McGuire,#NFDB
1230:Following the stream down into ThunderClan territory, she refused to even look sideways at WindClan’s moorland. That part of her life was over, never to be revisited. She was a medicine cat, with the power to walk among StarClan. There was a good reason why she could never be close to any other cat—she walked a different path and always would. If she could just concentrate hard enough on her duties, her feelings would die away, and Crowfeather would mean nothing more to her than any other warrior. ~ Erin Hunter, #NFDB
1231:1016
The Sun And Moon Must Make Their Haste
871
The Sun and Moon must make their haste—
The Stars express around
For in the Zones of Paradise
The Lord alone is burned—
His Eye, it is the East and West—
The North and South when He
Do concentrate His Countenance
Like Glow Worms, flee away—
Oh Poor and Far—
Oh Hindred Eye
That hunted for the Day—
The Lord a Candle entertains
Entirely for Thee—
~ Emily Dickinson,#NFDB
1232:Loving God "with all thy mind", means withdrawing one's attention from the senses and giving it to God, giving to Him one's whole concentration in meditation. Every seeker of God must learn to concentrate. A prayer that one utters while at the same time thinking of other things in the background of his mind is not a true prayer and is unheeded by God. Yoga teaches that in order to find the Father it is first necessary to seek Him with all one's mind with concentration that is one-pointed. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, #NFDB
1233:5. You may celebrate and enjoy the delights of your spirited child. You can concentrate on strengths, appreciate her tender heart, and tickle your fancy with her wild stories and crazy creations. It is appropriate and right to tell her when she is good, instead of when she is bad, to teach her the right way to behave rather than to punish her for innocent errors. Your spirited child possesses personality traits that we value in adults. It is never too early to begin proclaiming her virtues. ~ Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, #NFDB
1234:Among all the feats of construction in which the megamachine excelled, the pyramid stands forth as an archetypal model. In its elemental geometric form, in the exquisite accuracy of its measurements, in the organization of the entire working force, in the sheer mass of construction involved, the final pyramids demonstrate to perfection the unique properties of this new technical complex. To exhibit the properties of this system, I shall concentrate upon the pyramid alone, the Great Pyramid at Giza. ~ Lewis Mumford, #NFDB
1235:Concentration is the magic key that opens the door to accomplishment. By concentrating our efforts upon a few major goals, our efficiency soars, our projects are completed -- we are going somewhere. By focusing our efforts to a single point, we achieve the greatest results. The first rule of success, and the one that supercedes all others, is to have energy. It is important to know how to concentrate it, how to husband it, how to focus it on important things instead of frittering it away on trivia. ~ Michael Korda, #NFDB
1236:I do think there's a great deal of politics mixed in rap. Their reference to the real world is much better than most, particularly a lot of women who seem like all they do is sing about love. Love is such a fleeting emotion. It's such a small part of the things you do in your life. I don't understand why that's all they concentrate on, except that that's what they're encouraged to do, because if you keep thinking about love, you'll be less of a challenge. I like that about rap. It's got power to it. ~ Nellie McKay, #NFDB
1237:What is confidence? I believe confidence is all about being positive concerning what you can do—and not worrying over what you can’t do. A confident person is open to learning, because she knows that her confidence allows her to walk through life’s doorways, eager to discover what waits on the other side. She knows that every new unknown is a chance to learn more about herself and unleash her abilities. Confident people do not concentrate on their weaknesses; they develop and maximize their strengths. ~ Joyce Meyer, #NFDB
1238:I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Lemon declared. “About whether your past makes you what you are. That’s all our memories are, right? The pieces of our yesterdays that make us who we are today?”
Eve thought about it for a while, finally nodded. “Sounds right.”
“So you’ve had some bad days, no doubt,” Lemon said. “But I figure, instead of letting your yesterdays bring you down, maybe you can concentrate on building some happier memories today. And that way you’ll have them for tomorrow? ~ Jay Kristoff,#NFDB
1239:Take dopamine. Elevated levels of dopamine in the brain produce extremely focussed attention,2 as well as unwavering motivation and goal-directed behaviors.3 These are central characteristics of romantic love. Lovers intensely focus on the beloved, often to the exclusion of all around them. Indeed, they concentrate so relentlessly on the positive qualities of the adored one that they easily overlook his or her negative traits;4 they even dote on specific events and objects shared with this sweetheart. ~ Helen Fisher, #NFDB
1240:The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. These periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times of their lives (chapter 3). ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
1241:I realized I was grinding my teeth again. I stopped and took a deep breath. I reminded myself that I was really very clever, much smarter than him, and anything he came up with to taunt me I could certainly decode and shove down his throat. I just had to think positive thoughts and concentrate a little. It made me feel a lot better. I started over from the top: Witty. It did nothing for me. Don’t be a turtle. Even worse. Nothing at all came to me. It was wonderful to see the power of positive thinking. All ~ Jeff Lindsay, #NFDB
1242:If you have an area where high-income receivers concentrate, you have a higher fiscal capacity. That fiscal capacity is a valuable resource and will create rent-seeking. People will trying to get that resource one way or the other, including immigration. It is very much like the medieval peasants putting their sheep on the commons pasture. It is better than the open range, and if you let them have open access they will, in fact, put too many sheep on the pasture and waste the value that the pasture has. ~ James M Buchanan, #NFDB
1243:Coming up with lectures is a huge amount of work. I was willing to do one lecture for Gresham because I was honored to have been invited, but to create lectures for a class would probably require that I shut down everything else and concentrate on lectures for a couple of years. Then there would be many, many other skills that I'd have to learn, such as how to sit through a faculty meeting, how to deal with students, etc. It is really not in the cards for me. It's not who I am or what I do. I'm a novelist. ~ Neal Stephenson, #NFDB
1244:Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience; to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder upon it, to dwell upon it. He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it. He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of the moon and the colors of the dawn and dusk. ~ Barry Lopez, #NFDB
1245:We ask God to endow human souls with justice so that they may be fair and may strive to provide for the comfort of all that each member of humanity may pass his life in the utmost comfort and welfare. Then this material world will become the very paradise of the Kingdom this elemental earth will be in a heavenly state and all the servants of God will live in the utmost joy happiness and gladness. We must all strive and concentrate all our thoughts in order that such happiness may accrue to the world of humanity. ~ Abdu l Bah, #NFDB
1246:Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything. ~ Thomas Merton, #NFDB
1247:The first and most important rule to observe...is to use our entire forces with the utmost energy. The second rule is to concentrate our power as much as possible against that section where the chief blows are to be delivered and to incur disadvantages elsewhere, so that our chances of success may increase at the decisive point. The third rule is never to waste time. Finally, the fourth rule is to follow up our successes with the utmost energy. Only pursuit of the beaten enemy gives the fruits of victory. ~ Carl von Clausewitz, #NFDB
1248:I started to concentrate more upon how the viewer looks at photographs... I would insert my own text or my own specific reading of the image to give the viewer something they might not interpret or surmise, due to their educated way of looking at images, and reading them for their emotional, psychological, and/or sociological values. So I would start to interject these things that the photograph would not speak of and that I felt needed to be revealed, but that couldn't be revealed from just looking at an image. ~ Lorna Simpson, #NFDB
1249:I tried to concentrate on the angel's voice instead. "Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, please, Bella, please!" he begged. Yes, I wanted to say. Anything. But I couldn't find my lips. "Carlisle!" the angel called, agony in his perfect voice. "Bella, Bella, no, oh please, no, no!" And the angel was sobbing tearless, broken sobs. The angel shouldn't weep, it was wrong. I tried to find him, to tell him everything was fine, but the water was so deep, it was pressing on me, and I couldn't breathe. ~ Stephenie Meyer, #NFDB
1250:Running alone can allow you to hit the mute button on the world... and take full advantage of exercise's stress-busting benefits. 'Running alone can be a meditative experience where you get to really think and concentrate or completely clear your mind and zone out,' a psychotherapist Michelle Maidenberg says, ... 'You have to practise letting go of the inner chatter that can get in the way of what you want to accomplish,' sports psychologist Cindra Kamphoff says, 'And that's something you have to do on your own. ~ Sara Maitland, #NFDB
1251:Marshall recalled that one evening he needed to talk to Charlie about a business situation, so he went over to the Mungers' June Street home. Marshall had five children of his own so he knew what a busy household was like, but even he was surprised that Charlie could concentrate under the circumstances. Charlie was sitting in a big chair, and "One kid was climbing on his shoulder, another was pulling his arm. Another was yelling. It was bedlam, but he didn't send them out or correct them. It didn't bother him a bit. ~ Janet Lowe, #NFDB
1252:Math is like water. It has a lot of difficult theories, of course, but its basic logic is very simple. Just as water flows from high to low over the shortest possible distance, figures can only flow in one direction. You just have to keep your eye on them for the route to reveal itself. That’s all it takes. You don’t have to do a thing. Just concentrate your attention and keep your eyes open, and the figures make everything clear to you. In this whole, wide world, the only thing that treats me so kindly is math. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1253:Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience; to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it. He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it. He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of the moon and the colors of the dawn and dusk. ~ N Scott Momaday, #NFDB
1254:The practice of concentration is like acquiring a lampshade to help us concentrate our mind on something. While doing sitting or walking meditation, cutting the future, cutting the past, dwelling in the present time, we develop our own power of concentration. With that power of concentration, we can look deeply into the problem. This is insight meditation.
First we are aware of the problem, focusing all our attention on the problem, and then we look deeply into it in order to understand its real nature [...]. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh,#NFDB
1255:It's important to make an effort under any circumstance - stagnant, sickness, being in an unstable lifestyle, even when society is insane. You should consider such periods as an omen before you move. When you are stuck on something, it is important to hold to your purpose but not press onward against the current. When you can't move at all, try to concentrate, continuing forward as if in a boat switching to a stronger motor. The keiko that is most important when you cannot move is kage no keiko [shadow training]. ~ Masaaki Hatsumi, #NFDB
1256:It's important to make an effort under any circumstance - stagnant, sickness, being in an unstable lifestyle, even when society is insane. You should consider such periods as an omen before you move. When you are stuck on something, it is important to hold to your purpose but not press onward against the current. When you can't move at all, try to concentrate, continuing forward as if in a boat switching to a stronger motor. The keiko that is most important when you cannot move is kage no keiko [shadow training]. ~ Masaaki Hatsumi, #NFDB
1257:Achieving this unity with one’s surroundings is not only an important component of enjoyable flow experiences but is also a central mechanism by which adversity is conquered. In the first place, when attention is focused away from the self, frustrations of one’s desires have less of a chance to disrupt consciousness. To experience psychic entropy one must concentrate on the internal disorder; but by paying attention to what is happening around oneself instead, the destructive effects of stress are lessened. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
1258:I think a huge part is how we're socialized growing up to see our value and worth as being tied into a relationship and how our culture teaches us a distorted sense of romantic love - can't live without you, can't breathe without you, I'll die without you. As teenage girls we believe that level of emotional intensity and dramatics equates with real love. We're also taught that if we date lots of people, then we're sluts, so at an early age we put all our eggs into one basket, so to speak, and concentrate on "the one". ~ Rachel Lloyd, #NFDB
1259:Ideas are powerful things, requiring not a studious contemplation but an action, even if it is only an inner action. Their acquisition obligates each man in some way to change his life, even if it is only his inner life. They demand to be stood for. They dictate where a man must concentrate his vision. They determine his moral and intellectual priorities. They provide him with allies and make him enemies. In short, ideas impose an interest in their ultimate fate which goes far beyond the realm of the merely reasonable. ~ Midge Decter, #NFDB
1260:I tilted my chin up a fraction. "You can't f-force me to stay here." I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two. "That sounded more like a question than a statement," said Patch. "Then ans-s-swer it." His rogue smile crept out. "It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that." I glanced down at Patch's black shirt, wet and clinging to my body. I brushed past him and shut the bathroom door between us. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick, #NFDB
1261:When the disciple regarding his ideas sees appear in him bad and unwholesome thoughts, thoughts of covetousness, hatred, error, he should either turn his mind from them and concentrate on a healthy idea, or examine the fatal nature of the thought, or else he should analyse it and decompose it into its different elements, or calling up all his strength and applying the greatest energy suppress it from his mind: so bad and unwholesome thoughts withdraw and disappear, and the mind becomes firm, calm, unified, vigorous. ~ Buddhist Maxims, #NFDB
1262:She is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The same elements that are inside the rest of us, but I can’t help thinking she’s more than that and she’s got other elements going on that no one’s ever heard of, ones that make her stand apart from everybody else. I feel this brief panic as I think, What would happen if one of those elements malfunctioned or just stopped working altogether? I make myself push this aside and concentrate on the feel of her skin until I no longer see molecules but Violet. ~ Jennifer Niven, #NFDB
1263:Because I’m a helpful, giving man, I’m going to answer some questions for y’all before classes start so you can concentrate on your shit inside, instead of spending the class period making up your own stories. Yes, Hartley and I are together. Yes, my family is okay with that.” He taps Ella, who nods. “Yes, Hartley still has amnesia and yes, I will beat the shit out of anyone who even makes her frown. If you make her cry, you’ll have so many broken bones that it’ll take an entire fleet of Chinese steel to put you back together. ~ Erin Watt, #NFDB
1264:Global warming is socialism by the back door. The whole point of global warming is that it's a rationalization for progressives to do what progressives want to do, which is concentrate more and more power in Washington, more and more Washington power in the executive branch, more and more executive branch power in independent czars and agencies to micromanage the lives of the American people -- our shower heads, our toilets, our bathtubs, our garden hoses. Everything becomes involved in the exigencies of rescuing the planet. ~ George F Will, #NFDB
1265:I tried to concentrate on the angel's voice instead.
"Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, please, Bella, please!" he begged.
Yes, I wanted to say. Anything. But I couldn't find my lips.
"Carlisle!" the angel called, agony in his perfect voice. "Bella, Bella, no, oh please, no, no!" And the angel was sobbing tearless, broken sobs.
The angel shouldn't weep, it was wrong. I tried to find him, to tell him everything was fine, but the water was so deep, it was pressing on me, and I couldn't breathe. ~ Stephenie Meyer,#NFDB
1266:Medicine’s focus is narrow. Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. Yet—and this is the painful paradox—we have decided that they should be the ones who largely define how we live in our waning days. For more than half a century now, we have treated the trials of sickness, aging, and mortality as medical concerns. It’s been an experiment in social engineering, putting our fates in the hands of people valued more for their technical prowess than for their understanding of human needs. ~ Atul Gawande, #NFDB
1267:Soberly, when our trust is in things that are absolutely beyond any risk or threat, and we have learned from good sources, including our own experience, that those things are there, anxiety is just groundless and pointless. It occurs only as a hangover of bad habits established when we were trusting things—like human approval and wealth—that were certain to let us down. Now our strategy should be one of resolute rejection of worry, while we concentrate on the future in hope and with prayer and on the past with thanksgiving. ~ Dallas Willard, #NFDB
1268:Each of the two contestants would then concentrate their will on the bottle and attempt to tip it and pour spirit into the glass of his opponent, who would then have to drink it. The bottle would then be refilled. The game would be played again. And again. Once you started to lose you would probably keep losing, because one of the effects of Janx Spirit is to depress telepsychic power. As soon as a predetermined quantity had been consumed, the final loser would have to perform a forfeit, which was usually obscenely biological. ~ Douglas Adams, #NFDB
1269:It follows that it is foolish and misleading to concentrate our attention merely on some special point.- to examine, for example, merely what happens to one industry without considering what happens in all. But it is precisely from the persistent and lazy habit of thinking only of some particular industry or process in isolation that the major fallacies of economics stem. These fallacies pervade not merely the arguments of the hired spokesmen of special interests, but the arguments even of some economists who pass as profound. ~ Henry Hazlitt, #NFDB
1270:So I’ve had the pleasure of watching these two little rascals grow up.” As Aunt Teeta passed the table, she gave Gage’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “Isn’t this Gage just the cutest thing?”
Shaking his head, Gage flushed slightly and tried to concentrate on his scrambled eggs.
“And those dimples,” Aunt Teeta teased. “Aren’t they just precious?”
Before Gage could ward him off, Etienne leaned over and pinched his cheek. “Just precious. Cute and precious.”
“Cut it out,” Gage mumbled, lowering his head. ~ Richie Tankersley Cusick,#NFDB
1271:Gary thought about all of these revelations, and said to Tim, “Someone is going to have to do something about Jorge Bornos when the time comes. When I finally consolidate my power, I think we should seize his assets and put them to our use. What do you think?” “I think you’re right, but, it’ll be a long time before we get to that point. In the meantime, we should just concentrate on what we’re supposed to do now. I wish I could’ve asked him who the others are that are supposed to do the same thing that you’re supposed to do, Gary. ~ Cliff Ball, #NFDB
1272:In computer terms, the cerebral cortex writes the software programs for actions and, after some practice on your part, the basal ganglia take over to run the programs that enable you to carry out the actions. When you learn the tango, for instance, you have to concentrate (i.e., use the cerebral cortex) to plan, learn, and get comfortable with the steps. But after some practice and experience, you’re eventually able to tango while thinking of other things because the basal ganglia are operating that system automatically. Toward ~ Richard Restak, #NFDB
1273:That might work," I said. "I'm good at faking it."
This led to a couple moments of uncomfortable silence from both of us.
"You didn't mean... ?" Morelli asked.
"No. Of course not."
"Never?"
"Maybe once."
His eyes narrowed. "Once?"
"It's all that comes to mind. It was the time we were late for your Uncle Spud's birthday party."
"I remember that. That was great. You're telling me you faked it?"
"We were late! I couldn't concentrate. It seemed like the best way to go. ~ Janet Evanovich,#NFDB
1274:These sites are especially harmful after the workday is over, where the freedom in your schedule enables them to become central to your leisure time. If you’re waiting in line, or waiting for the plot to pick up in a TV show, or waiting to finish eating a meal, they provide a cognitive crutch to ensure you eliminate any chance of boredom. As I argued in Rule #2, however, such behavior is dangerous, as it weakens your mind’s general ability to resist distraction, making deep work difficult later when you really want to concentrate. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1275:Nothing is quite beautiful alone: nothing but is beautiful in the whole. A single object is only so far beautiful as it suggests this universal grace. The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce. Thus is Art, a nature passed through the alembic of man. Thus in art, does nature work through the will of a man filled with the beauty of her first works. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
1276:Nothing is quite beautiful alone; nothing but is beautiful in the whole. A single object is only so far beautiful as it suggests this universal grace. The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce. Thus is Art, a nature passed through the alembic of man. Thus in art, does nature work through the will of a man filled with the beauty of her first works. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
1277:Seth can get irritated/frustrated with Jane and me. This exerpt is from the private session of November 11, 1979: "... the same kind of reaction, however, are involved in all activities, and it is sometimes frustrating for me that you cannot perceive the fascinating facets of any event. You still - and I do not simply mean you two alone - do not feel the unsurpassable force that thoughts have. You do not understand that they do form events, that to change events you must first change thoughts. You get what you concentrate on." ~ Jane Roberts, #NFDB
1278:And do you know why we have not the power to attain this Stoic ideal? It is because we refuse to believe in our power. Nay, of a surety, there is something else which plays a part: it is because we are in love with our vices; we uphold them and prefer to make excuses for them rather than shake them off. We mortals have been endowed with sufficient strength by nature, if only we use this strength, if only we concentrate our powers and rouse them all to help us or at least not to hinder us. The reason is unwillingness, the excuse, inability. ~ Seneca, #NFDB
1279:May there not be methods of using explosive energy incomparably more intense than anything heretofore discovered? Might not a bomb no bigger than an orange be found to possess a secret power to destroy a whole block of buildings-nay, to concentrate the force of a thousand tons of cordite and blast a township at a stroke? Could not explosives even of the existing type be guided automatically in flying machines by wireless or other rays, without a human pilot, in ceaseless procession upon a hostile city, arsenal, camp or dockyard? ~ Winston Churchill, #NFDB
1280:It's very good for you, riding. Every model is like, "I do yoga." I find horses have the same effect, in that you have to put your ego aside and concentrate on making the horse do the things you want it to do, and move in the way you want it to move. So you have to use your body to help this horse do incredibly difficult movements that don't come naturally to it. And if something goes wrong, it's not the horse's fault; it's always your fault. So you have to be quite levelheaded. And then the whole nature aspect of it is very calming. ~ Edie Campbell, #NFDB
1281:Next you just relax and hold really still and concentrate on your breathing. You don’t have to make a big deal about it. It’s not like you’re thinking about breathing, but you’re not not thinking about it either. It’s kind of like when you’re sitting on the beach and watching the waves lapping up on the sand or some little kids you don’t know playing in the distance. You’re just noticing everything that’s going on, both inside you and outside you, including your breathing and the kids and the waves and the sand. And that’s basically it. ~ Ruth Ozeki, #NFDB
1282: "Breathe deeply and concentrate on me. You are safe.”
I take a shallow breath, but it chokes me.
“Look at me,” Morpheus presses. I focus on his complexion, the color of snowy shadows beneath the eclipse of his wings, and he begins to sing. Not inside my mind, since the iron dome prevents it, but aloud . . . a simple, sweet lullaby, carried on his beautiful voice.
“Little blossom so filled with dread, clear the nightmares from your head. Let me wipe away your tears, for in this place you have no fears.” ~ A G Howard,#NFDB
1283:We take for granted that we need to take showers, clean our house, and wash our clothes. Yet the mind and its thoughts need cleansing and ordering as much as our bodies. While few of us would consider eating dinner on yesterday's dirty dishes, we think nothing of tackling our problems with yesterdays cluttered minds.... The purpose to any meditation technique is to move beyond the normal contents of our consciousness, empty your mind of its habitual chatter, and concentrate your attention for the purpose of experiencing a higher state ~ Anodea Judith, #NFDB
1284:but it wasn't just about my feelings. The more I got to know you, the more I was certain that you'd do whatever it took to provide for your family. That was important to me. You have to understand that back then, a lot of people our age wanted to change the world. Even though it's a noble idea, I knew I wanted something more traditional. I wanted a family like my parents had, and I wanted to concentrate on my little corner of the world. I wanted someone who wanted to marry a wife and a mother, and someone who would respect my choice. ~ Nicholas Sparks, #NFDB
1285:We have now got what seems to be definite proof that an X ray which spreads out in a spherical form from a source as a wave through the aether can when it meets an atom collect up all its energy from all round and concentrate it on the atom. It is as if when a circular wave on water met an obstacle, the wave were all suddenly to travel round the circle and disappear all round and concentrate its energy on attacking the obstacle. Mechanically of course this is absurd, but mechanics have in this direction been for some time a broken reed. ~ Henry Moseley, #NFDB
1286:One seemed to read between the lines: "Concentrate yourselves on me. Behold what I was like at those moments. What are the sea, the storm, the rocks, the splinters of wrecked ships to you? I have described all that sufficiently to you with my mighty pen. Why look at that drowned woman with the dead child in her dead arms? Look rather at me, see how I was unable to bear that sight and turned away from it. Here I stood with my back to it; here I was horrified and could not bring myself to look; I blinked my eyes—isn't that interesting? ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky, #NFDB
1287:System Holmes in, check the tendency to gather detail thoughtlessly, and instead focus—thoughtfully—on the details we already have. All of those observations? We need to learn to divide them in our minds in order to maximize productive reasoning. We have to learn when not to think of them as well as when to bring them in. We have to learn to concentrate—reflect, inhibit, edit— otherwise we may end up getting exactly nowhere on any of the myriad ideas floating through our heads. Mindfulness and motivation are essential to successful deduction. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1288:The effective leader should keep the following guidelines in mind when it is necessary to change attitudes or behavior: 1. Be sincere. Do not promise anything that you cannot deliver. Forget about the benefits to yourself and concentrate on the benefits to the other person. 2. Know exactly what it is you want the other person to do. 3. Be empathetic. Ask yourself what it is the other person really wants. 4. Consider the benefits that person will receive from doing what you suggest. 5. Match those benefits to the other person’s wants. 6. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
1289:If you're a realist, you know that people have different roles to play in politics, economics, and this is an important role, but I do think that there has to be an understanding of how what happens here on Wall Street has such broad consequences not just for the domestic but the global economy, so more thought has to be given to the process and transactions and regulations so that we don't kill or maim what works, but we concentrate on the most effective way of moving forward with the brainpower and the financial power that exists here. ~ Hillary Clinton, #NFDB
1290:SLEIGHT OF MIND IN INVOCATION
Invocation is a three stage process. Firstly the magician consciously identifies with what is traditionally called a god-form, secondly he enters gnosis and thirdly the magicians subconsciousness manifests the powers of the god-form. A successful invocation means nothing less than full "possession" by the god-form. With practice the first stage of conscious identification can be abbreviated greatly to the point where it may only be necessary to concentrate momentarily on a well used god-form. ~ Peter J Carroll, Liber Kaos,#NFDB
1291:3. Evil does not exist by nature, nor is any man naturally evil, for God made nothing that was not good. When in the desire of his heart someone conceives and gives form to what in reality has no existence, then what he desires begins to exist. We should therefore turn our attention away from the inclination to evil and concentrate it on the remembrance of God; for good, which exists by nature, is more powerful than our inclination to evil. The one has existence while the other has not, except when we give it existence through our actions. ~ Kallistos Ware, #NFDB
1292:I have learned that all knowledge is available to us. We don’t have to create it; we have only to access it. Simply ask in the right way—not with pride in your accomplishment, but with an open heart. I don’t even mean to ask humbly, in the sense of being self-deprecating. Don’t think about yourself at all, nor about your ability or lack of it. Concentrate, rather, on attuning yourself to Infinite Consciousness and ask for guidance in what you want to do. It’s delightful, fun, and deeply inspiring to work and let yourself be used in this way. ~ Ervin Laszlo, #NFDB
1293:The people who work within these industries or public services know that there are basic flaws. But they are almost forced to ignore them and to concentrate instead on patching here, improving there, fighting the fire or caulking that crack. They are thus unable to take the innovation seriously, let alone to try to compete with it. They do not, as a rule, even notice it until it has grown so big as to encroach on their industry or service, by which time it has become irreversible. In the meantime, the innovators have the field to themselves. ~ Peter F Drucker, #NFDB
1294:Thinking about what might happen if we ran completely out of money—laying off all the employees that I’d so carefully selected and hired, losing all my investors’ money, jeopardizing all the customers who trusted us with their business—made it difficult to concentrate on the possibilities. Marc Andreessen attempted to cheer me up with a not-so-funny-at-the-time joke: Marc: “Do you know the best thing about startups?” Ben: “What?” Marc: “You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both. ~ Ben Horowitz, #NFDB
1295:The most significant factor lies elsewhere, and it is on this that I intend to concentrate in this first chapter. Why I am a Christian is due ultimately neither to the influence of my parents and teachers, nor to my own personal decision for Christ, but to ‘the Hound of Heaven’. That is, it is due to Jesus Christ himself, who pursued me relentlessly even when I was running away from him in order to go my own way. And if it were not for the gracious pursuit of the Hound of Heaven I would today be on the scrap-heap of wasted and discarded lives. ~ John R W Stott, #NFDB
1296:When I was about 7 years old, I had been labeled dyslexic. I'd try to concentrate on what I was reading, then I'd get to the end of the page and have very little memory of anything I'd read. I would go blank, feel anxious, nervous, bored, frustrated, dumb. I would get angry. My legs would actually hurt when I was studying. My head ached. All through school and well into my career, I felt like I had a secret. When I'd go to a new school, I wouldn't want the other kids to know about my learning disability, but then I'd be sent off to remedial reading. ~ Tom Cruise, #NFDB
1297:I tilted my chin up a fraction. "You can't f-force me to stay here." I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two.
"That sounded more like a question than a statement," said Patch.
"Then ans-s-swer it."
His rogue smile crept out. "It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that."
I glanced down at Patch's black shirt, wet and clinging to my body. I brushed past him and shut the bathroom door between us. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick,#NFDB
1298:Prayer is always hard work, and often an agony. We sometimes have to wrestle even in order to pray. “When those hours of the day come in which we should be having our prayer-sessions with God, it often appears as though everything has entered into a conspiracy to prevent it.” We often wrestle in prayer just to concentrate. “Your thoughts flit back and forth between God and the many pressing duties which await you.”226 While God can and will grant times of peace and tranquility, no Christian outgrows the need to struggle and persevere in prayer. ~ Timothy J Keller, #NFDB
1299:The first thing to do is to keep silent – to abolish audiences and learn to be your own judge. To keep a balance between active concern for the body and an attentive awareness of being alive. To abandon all claims and devote yourself to achieving two kinds of freedom: freedom from money, and freedom from your own vanity and cowardice. To have rules and stick to them. Two years is not too long to spend thinking about one single point. You must wipe out all earlier stages, and concentrate all your strength on forgetting nothing and learning patiently. ~ Albert Camus, #NFDB
1300:You know I meant it. I am human. And male. And not remotely blind. Do you want me to say it again? You are distractingly, even if-that-is-not-a-real-word pretty. You are so pretty that I bullied Clay Whitaker into drawing me a picture of you so I could look at you when you aren't around. You are so pretty that one of these days I'm going to lose a finger in my garage because I can't concentrate with you so close to me. You are so pretty that I wish you weren't so I wouldn't want to hit every guy at school who looks at you, especially my best friend. ~ Katja Millay, #NFDB
1301:An entirely new factor has appeared in the social development of the country, and this factor is the Irish-American, and his influence. To mature its powers, to concentrate its action, to learn the secret of its own strength and of England's weakness, the Celtic intellect has had to cross the Atlantic. At home it had but learned the pathetic weakness of nationality; in a strange land it realised what indomitable forces nationality possesses. What captivity was to the Jews, exile has been to the Irish: America and American influence have educated them. ~ Oscar Wilde, #NFDB
1302:Even if we ignore the 'non-theoretical' knowledge which we acquire through experience (such as the knowledge of what something tastes like) and concentrate on theoretical knowledge, there is no good reason to think that physics can literally give the theory of everything. Here I want to be really pedantic. Although everything may be subject to physical law, not everything can be explained or described in physical terms. Physics has literally nothing to say about society, morality and the mind, for example - but of course these are parts of 'everything'. ~ Tim Crane, #NFDB
1303:When I go into meditation, I simply concentrate on oneness with the essential universal vibration. My breathing becomes deeper, slower, and more spiritualized. My body cells become more spiritualized as well. I can feel my cells expanding through the surrounding space until there is no dividing line between me and space, nor between me and others. My consciousness still recognizes that I am Masami Saionji, but there is no borderline to my existence. I am one with the universe, one with Earth, one with all living things, existing beyond time and space. ~ Ervin Laszlo, #NFDB
1304:I am trying to stop being mystified. Important to concentrate on good hard facts. But which facts? One week before mu eighteenth birthday, on August 8th, did Pakistani troops in civilian clothing cross the cease-fire line in Kashmir and infiltrate the Indian sector, or did they not? In Delhi, Prime Minister Shastri announced “massive infiltration…to subvert the state:; but here is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, with his riposte: “We categorically deny any involvement in the rising against tyranny by the indigenous people of Kashmir”. ~ Salman Rushdie, #NFDB
1305:When the disciple considering an idea sees rise in him bad or unhealthy thoughts, thoughts of covetousness, hatred or error, he should either turn his mind away from that idea or concentrate it upon a healthy thought, or else examine the fatal nature of the idea, or analyse it and decompose it into its different elements, or, making appeal to all his strength and applying the greatest energy, suppress it from his mind; thus are removed and disappear these bad and unhealthy ideas and the mind becomes firm, calm, unified, full of vigour. ~ Mahayana; the Book of the Faith, #NFDB
1306:Life noise has become an atmospheric accompaniment that we have grown inured to, resulting in the outcome that all too often we are poor listeners, to speech or music. There are constant reminders in the workplace as to just how often most people are not paying particular attention to what is being said. People frequently simply don’t listen. They have lost the art of concentrated hearing—so fundamental to real human connection. Music alone restores the capacity to concentrate and liberate your brain to really listen and enjoy the process of engaged hearing. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1307:You have to continually transmit the object of your focus to your entire body, and make sure it thoroughly assimilates the information necessary for you to write every single day and concentrate on the work at hand. And gradually you'll expand the limits of what you're able to do. Almost imperceptibly you'll make the bar rise. This involves the same process as jogging every day to strengthen your muscles and develop a runner's physique. Add a stimulus and keep it up. And repeat. Patience is a must in this process, but I guarantee the results will come. ~ Haruki Murakami, #NFDB
1308:In fact their strength, as with over-specialized athletes, is the result of a deformity. I thought it was the same with people who were selected for trying to get high grades in a small number of subjects rather than follow their curiosity: try taking them slightly away from what they studied and watch their decomposition, loss of confidence, and denial. (Just like corporate executives are selected for their ability to put up with the boredom of meetings, many of these people were selected for their ability to concentrate on boring material.) I’ve ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb, #NFDB
1309:The Great Khan tried to concentrate on the game: but now it was the game’s reason that eluded him. The end of every game is a gain or a loss: but of what? What were the real stakes? At checkmate, beneath the foot of the king, knocked aside by the winner’s hand, nothingness remains: a black square, or a white one. By disembodying his conquests to reduce them to the essential, Kublai had arrived at the extreme operation: the definitive conquest, of which the empire’s multiform treasures were only illusory envelopes; it was reduced to a square of planed wood. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1310:(knitting while on a motorcycle)
"For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and LEAN into the curves, etc), and used a small circular needle (socks and mittens) in order to keep the knitting in her pocket until they were under way; then she leaned back slightly so Gaffer couldn't feel the movement of her hands.
On the interstate one day, they were slowly passing a semi and my father happened to see the truck driver laugh and point out my mother's knitting to his passenger. Whoops- ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann,#NFDB
1311:... What you should do, is always to reject the lower experiences and concentrate on a fixed and quiet aspiration towards the one thing needed, the Light, the Calm, the Peace, the Devotion that you felt for two or three days. It is because you get interested in the lower vital experiences and in observing and thinking about them that they take hold, and then comes the absence of the Contact and the confusion. You have surely had enough of this kind of experience already and should make up your mind to steadily reject it when it comes.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#NFDB
1312:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases... mental power... Probably nothing in the modern world would have more astonished a Greek mathematician than to learn that, under the influence of compulsory education, the whole population of Western Europe, from the highest to the lowest, could perform the operation of division for the largest numbers. This fact would have seemed to him a sheer impossibility. ~ Alfred North Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics (1911) Ch. 5, p. 59., #NFDB
1313:I do very, very, very simple, skimpy doodles, nothing too committed. Because people tend to fall in love if they like it - if you color it in and they like it, then they want exactly those colors, even if they were just indications. You really have to do it as simple as possible so they can concentrate on the idea and composition. And then all of the energy goes into making the final piece. And the final piece can be anything - it can be a drawing, a painting, a collage - and usually, it's obvious what that should be. Usually, the idea dictates what medium you use. ~ Dave McKean, #NFDB
1314:Once your brain has become accustomed to on-demand distraction, Nass discovered, it’s hard to shake the addiction even when you want to concentrate. To put this more concretely: If every moment of potential boredom in your life—say, having to wait five minutes in line or sit alone in a restaurant until a friend arrives—is relieved with a quick glance at your smartphone, then your brain has likely been rewired to a point where, like the “mental wrecks” in Nass’s research, it’s not ready for deep work—even if you regularly schedule time to practice this concentration. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1315:The ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. This idea might sound obvious once it’s pointed out, but it represents a departure from how most people understand such matters. In my experience, it’s common to treat undistracted concentration as a habit like flossing—something that you know how to do and know is good for you, but that you’ve been neglecting due to a lack of motivation. This mind-set is appealing because it implies you can transform your working life from distracted to focused overnight if you can simply muster enough motivation. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1316:When I feel compelled to interfere in someone else’s business, I try to ask myself, “Am I concentrating on the task I have been given?” When my meditation practice is going well, I am too busy looking within myself to bother with other people’s affairs. But when I cannot concentrate on my meditation practice, my mind starts to wander and notice the faults in others. And I soon see they are my own faults reflected back at me. No one has asked me to focus my attention there. In moments like this, I recall my original intention of being a monk and return to my practice. ~ Haemin Sunim, #NFDB
1317:You can’t try. Trying is a struggle and doing is an act. You can’t witness the act of trying, but you can see the results of doing. Trying brings on stress because not only do you have the problem, but now you have all this frustration with it not going away just because you want it to. It’s kind of like being told not to think of pink elephants—impossible. What you have to do is stop. You say to yourself, this is over for now. I’m done for now. Take your mind to another place and concentrate on that peaceful place. Deep breaths. Go limp. Put your mind in another state. ~ Robyn Carr, #NFDB
1318:We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living. If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, brethren! Be careful, teachers! ~ Martin Luther King Jr, #NFDB
1319:The guy to my left had now completed his turn. He looked at me, the universal expression for Oh, shit moving across his face, his right hand going for the inside of his jacket. Too late. I snapped my hips to the right and backhanded the flail around. He saw it coming, but was too focused on deploying his weapon and couldn’t concentrate on getting out of the way. It caught him in the side of the neck—not as solid a shot as his buddy had received but good enough for my purposes. His eyes lost focus and I knew I’d have at least a couple seconds before he was back in the game. ~ Barry Eisler, #NFDB
1320:Our brains cope automatically with all three layers of time—past, present and future. The issue is which one we concentrate on. My suggestion is not to avoid making long-term plans, but once they’re in place to focus wholly on the now. Make the most of your present experiences instead of worrying about future memories. Savor the sunset instead of photographing it. A life of wondrous yet forgotten moments is still a wondrous life, so stop thinking of experiences as deposits for your memory bank. One day you’ll be on your deathbed, and your account will be permanently closed. ~ Rolf Dobelli, #NFDB
1321:Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods can ask of you. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1322:We see, as in the universes of the material kosmos, after meteorological, vegetable, and animal cycles, man at last arises, born through them, to prove them, concentrate them, to turn upon them with wonder and love -- to command them, adorn them, and carry them upward into superior realms -- so, out of the series of the preceding social and political universes, now arise these States. We see that while many were supposing things established and completed, really the grandest things always remain; and discover that the work of the New World is not ended, but only fairly begun ~ Walt Whitman, #NFDB
1323:I made the deal with Mr. Zuckerman on my own,” Crispin said. “I could make others.” “I won’t comment on the Zoom deal,” Win said. “But I will tell you this. You are a bright young man. A bright man knows not only his strengths but equally important, he knows his weaknesses. I do not, for example, know how to negotiate an endorsement contract. I may know the basics, but it is not my business. I’m not a plumber. If a pipe in my house broke, I would not be able to fix it. You are a golfer. You are one of the greatest talents I have ever seen. You should concentrate on that.” Tad ~ Harlan Coben, #NFDB
1324:n every culture, the sky and the religious impulse are intertwined. I lie back in an open field and the sky surrounds me. I’m overpowered by its scale. It’s so vast and so far away that my own insignificance becomes palpable. But I don’t feel rejected by the sky. I’m a part of it - tiny, to be sure, but everything is tiny compared to that overwhelming immensity. And when I concentrate in the stars, the planets, and their motions, I have an irresistible sense of machinery, clockwork, elegant precision working on a scale that, however lofty out aspirations, dwarfs and humbles us. ~ Carl Sagan, #NFDB
1325:5. Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods can ask of you. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1326:Concentrate every minute like a Roman— like a man— on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can— if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered , irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods can ask of you. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1327:Charles Wallace looked troubled. “I don’t think it’s that. It’s being able to understand a sort of language, like sometimes if I concentrate very hard I can understand the wind talking with the trees. You tell me, you see, sort of inad—inadvertently. That’s a good word, isn’t it? I got Mother to look it up in the dictionary for me this morning. I really must learn to read, except I’m afraid it will make it awfully hard for me in school next year if I already know things. I think it will be better if people go on thinking I’m not very bright. They won’t hate me quite so much. ~ Madeleine L Engle, #NFDB
1328:That’s how you deal with the overwhelming complexity of the world: you ignore it, while you concentrate minutely on your private concerns. You see things that facilitate your movement forward, toward your desired goals. You detect obstacles, when they pop up in your path. You’re blind to everything else (and there’s a lot of everything else—so you’re very blind). And it has to be that way, because there is much more of the world than there is of you. You must shepherd your limited resources carefully. Seeing is very difficult, so you must choose what to see, and let the rest go. ~ Jordan Peterson, #NFDB
1329:When one begins to concentrate, the dropping of a pin will seem like a thunderbolt going through the brain. As the organs get finer, the perceptions get finer. These are the stages through which we have to pass, and all those who persevere will succeed. Give up all argumentation and other distractions. Is there anything in dry intellectual jargon? It only throws the mind off its balance and disturbs it. Things of subtler planes have to be realised. Will talking do that? So give up all vain talk. Read only those books which have been written by persons who have had realisation. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1330:You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice -- they won't hear you otherwise -- "I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed!" Maybe they haven't heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell: "I'm beginning to read Italo Calvino's new novel!" Or if you prefer, don't say anything: just hope they'll leave you alone. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1331:I began to realize something fundamental about field-work: that it is useless to concentrate exclusively on one's 'research project.' One has to be endlessly curious about everything, sharpen one's eyes and ears, and take notes about everything. The experience of strangeness makes all your senses more sensitive than normal, and your attachment to comparison grows deeper. This is why fieldwork is also so useful when you return home. You will have developed habits of observation and comparison that encourage or force you to start noticing that your own culture is just as strange. ~ Benedict Anderson, #NFDB
1332:The RAM Breathing Exercise
Expel all of the air from your lungs, emptying them as much as you can. Then, inhale slowly as you raise your arms as high as possible. As you inhale, concentrate on allowing love, peace, and harmony with the universe to enter into your body. Hold the air you have taken in and keep your arms raised for as long as you can, enjoying the
harmony between your inner sensations and the outer world. When you reach your limit, exhale all of the air rapidly, as you say the word, ‘RAM.’
Repeat this process for five minutes each time you do the exercise. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
1333:That’s how you deal with the overwhelming complexity of the world: you ignore it, while you concentrate minutely on your private concerns. You see things that facilitate your movement forward, toward your desired goals. You detect obstacles, when they pop up in your path. You’re blind to everything else (and there’s a lot of everything else—so you’re very blind). And it has to be that way, because there is much more of the world than there is of you. You must shepherd your limited resources carefully. Seeing is very difficult, so you must choose what to see, and let the rest go. ~ Jordan B Peterson, #NFDB
1334:He felt like a man in a small boat under which a huge sea creature has passed, causing the boat to pitch gently. Like a man in a boat, he could chase it or run from it, and he picked chase. If he felt it on her lips, he put his mouth on her lips. If he found it on the palm of her hand, he opened her hand and licked it up. Her soul darted here and there, sensitive as any creature, tipping her center of balance back and forth as it oscillated. She liked this, and if she had any fear, she did not take it seriously. He liked it, too, so much that he could barely concentrate on the chase. ~ Mary Gaitskill, #NFDB
1335:I don't want to tiptoe around her or him or you anymore.
The only thing that's doing us making it harder for me to remember her.
Sometimes i try to concentrate on her voice just so i can hear her again-
The way she always said 'Hey there' when she was in a good mood,
An 'Vi-o-let' when she was annoyed.
For some reason, these are the easiest ones.
I concentrate on them, and when i have them.
I hold on to them because i don't ever want to forget how she sounded.
Like it or not,
She was here and now she's gone.
But she doesn't have to be completely gone. ~ Jennifer Niven,#NFDB
1336:We’re going to stop this preposterous obsession with economic growth at the cost of all else. Great economic success doesn’t produce national happiness. It produces Republicans and Switzerland. So we’re going to concentrate on just being lovely and pleasant and civilized. We’re going to have the best schools and hospitals, the most comfortable public transportation, the liveliest arts, the most useful and well-stocked libraries, the grandest parks, the cleanest streets, the most enlightened social policies. In short, we’re going to be like Sweden, but with less herring and better jokes. ~ Bill Bryson, #NFDB
1337:I don't remember when I first heard the word Konzentrationslager, but I became aware of it long before I learned about the Holocaust. I sensed that concentration camps were sinister places, and I imagined that the people who lived there were forced to concentrate to the point of physical anguish. But I was too afraid to ask, feeling that this was something embarrassing to talk about, something that grown-ups discussed in whispers, something evoking the same unsettling feeling as the man who sometimes gave candy and balloons to my brother and me when we were playing alone in the front yard. ~ Nora Krug, #NFDB
1338:Most people assumed (and still do) that relaxation makes them happy. We want to work less and spend more time in the hammock. But the results from Csikszentmihalyi’s ESM studies reveal that most people have this wrong: Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities they have built-in goals, feedback rules, and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one’s work, to concentrate and lose oneself in it. Free time, on the other hand, is unstructured, and requires much greater effort to be shaped into something that can be enjoyed. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1339:I took a walk on the cool sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown, and above me, in the night sky, above me, I saw. Bitter taste of unripe peaches and a smell I could not place, nor could I escape. I remembered other times that I could not escape. I remembered other smells. The moon slunk like a wounded animal. The world spun like it had lost control. Concentrate only on breathing and let go of ideas you had about nutrition and alarm clocks. I took a walk on the cool sand dunes, brittle grass overgrown, and above me, in the night sky, above me, I saw.
This message brought to you by Coca-Cola. ~ Joseph Fink,#NFDB
1340:If a night-moth were to concentrate its will on flying to a star or some equally unattainable object, it wouldn't succeed. Only, it wouldn't even try in the first place. A moth confines its search to what has sense and value for it, what it needs, what is indispensable to its life... if I imagined that I wanted under all circumstances to get to the North Pole, then to achieve it I would have to desire it strongly enough that my whole being was ruled by it. But if I were to decide to will that the pastor should stop wearing his glasses, it would be useless. That would be making a game of it. ~ Hermann Hesse, #NFDB
1341:As he analyzed the areas that fire in chronic pain, he observed that many of those areas also process thoughts, sensations, images, memories, movements, emotions, and beliefs—when they are not processing pain. That observation explained why, when we are in pain, we can’t concentrate or think well; why we have sensory problems and often can’t tolerate certain sounds or light; why we can’t move more gracefully; and why we can’t control our emotions very well and become irritable and have emotional outbursts. The areas that regulate these activities have been hijacked to process the pain signal. ~ Norman Doidge, #NFDB
1342:I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am like: horrid, I know: selfish, conceited, and material-minded. For instance, lately whenever I've tried to concentrate on anything serious or beautiful, I've started thinking about the Spencers' dance next week. I am ashamed of my pettiness. I'm going to try to do better this year--develop my character more and not always be thinking about enjoying myself. I've always been so happy, I dread disappointment and unhappiness, but they would be good for me. But I don't want them. ~ Rosamond Lehmann, #NFDB
1343:If America’s universities are indeed poor value for money, why might that be? The main reason is that the market for higher education, like that for health care, does not work well. The government rewards universities for research, so that is what professors concentrate on. Students are looking for a degree from an institution that will impress employers; employers are interested primarily in the selectivity of the institution a candidate has attended. Since the value of a degree from a selective institution depends on its scarcity, good universities have little incentive to produce more graduates. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1344:But the one thing my illness did make me realize is how necessary it is to ignore the dangers of living in order to live. And how much trouble you can get into if you can't. We all have to get up every morning and go outside and pretend we aren't going to die... We concentrate on having little thoughts so we don't have BIG THOUGHTS. It's like those days when you've got a really bad pimple but you still have to go to school. You've got to convince yourself it's not so bad just so you can leave the house and actually talk to people face to face. You've got to ignore the one big truth -- life is fatal. ~ Deb Caletti, #NFDB
1345:His starting place is the paradox of the first Discourse: progress is a bad thing because it is morally corrupting. Human beings were better when their lives were simpler and less sophisticated. Underlying this argument- barely stated but already present- is a further paradox, the paradox of the second Discourse: inequality is the root of all evils. Progress requires inequality because it requires some people to have the time to concentrate on literature, philosophy, or science. Free time is one of the luxuries that only come into existence with inequality, and all intensifies the process. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, #NFDB
1346:Satisfied needs produce fulfilled people, and fulfilled people are free to pursue and exercise their full potential as human beings. The primary goal, then, in any relationship should be the meeting of needs. We should not concentrate so much on meeting our own needs, but those of the other person in the relationship. A good test for the health of a relationship is to ask ourselves periodically whose needs we are meeting, ours or theirs? If we are focusing on our needs, the relationship is in trouble. In successful, healthy relationships, both parties put a priority on meeting the needs of the other. ~ Myles Munroe, #NFDB
1347:I could have sworn I just heard him thinking about the proposal he had planned. Red roses and champagne waiting at the restaurant, but maybe I imagined it.”
I frowned in turn. “You could read his thoughts?”
“It is probably just my imagination running away with me. I’m so freaked out that I plucked the idea from my own head. I’m not a mind reader.”
“Well, it is easy enough to test. Try to concentrate on me and tell me what I’m thinking.”
Finally, Nessa’s eyes lit up and met mine. Amused, she quirked a smile at me. “Really, Cora, that’s lame. I love fluffy bunnies, is not what I expected. ~ Andrea Heltsley,#NFDB
1348:I have decided to keep a record of my inmost real-self thoughts. Perhaps it will help me to find out what I really am like: horrid, I know: selfish, conceited, and material-minded. For instance, lately whenever I've tried to concentrate on anything serious or beautiful, I've started thinking about the Spencers' dance next week. I am ashamed of my pettiness. I'm going to try to do better this year--develop my character more and not always be thinking about enjoying myself. I've always been so happy, I dread disappointment and unhappiness, but they would be good for me. But I don't want them. ~ Rosamond Lehmann, #NFDB
1349:Fight your genes.' The Big Hoom said to us once, to Susan and me. He did not explain. He did not know how to. But we knew what it meant. It meant that we were to march into the hall and take out our school books and reproduce the slipper-shaped animalcule whose psuedopodia power it through a world without feeling; to learn how to inscribe a hexagon into a circle without tearing the paper; to assimilate the causes and consequences of the battle of Panipat without ever identifying your own enemy because that would be mean identifying yourself.
'Fight your genes'. Focus. Be diligent. Concentrate. Do ~ Jerry Pinto,#NFDB
1350:Take some very deep breaths," Miranda said. "Relax. Concentrate. Then envision a frosty six-pack and wiggle your pinky."
A frosty six-pack. Kylie inhaled. He held out her pinky, and right then Della chimed in. "We are talking a six=pack of soda, not a cold guy with good-looking abs, right?"
There was a strange kind of sizzle in the air. And suddenly appearing in front of the refrigerator was a shirtless, shivering guy with great abs. His blue eyes studied the three of them in complete bafflement.
"What the...!" he muttered.
Kylie gasped.
Miranda giggled.
Della snorted with laughter. ~ C C Hunter,#NFDB
1351:I always think fondly of my years inside Detention Center LC/766B.
The women and the children I met had all lost people they loved, but they never wallowed in despair.
Dying is one of the few experiences we'll eventually all enjoy firsthand, and like most shit that's commonplace, it's boring to dwell on.
My fellow inmates/classmates (and really, what's the difference?) showed me it was more interesting to concentrate on the living.
Because death is fucking predictable...
...but life has science experiments and free time and surprise naps and who knows what comes next? ~ Brian K Vaughan,#NFDB
1352:I can see him juggling the words inside his head. Fumbling. I tried to juggle once, with three apples I'd found in the pantry. But I just ended up bruising them all so badly my mother had to make apple bread. The whole time I was trying, I kept getting lost in the movements. I couldn't concentrate on all of them at once.
I wish Cole would give me an apple. And then he looks at me, and there's that same sad, almost smile, like he's decided to pass me one, but he knows I can't juggle either. Like there's no reason for both of us to bruise things any more than needed.
I hold out my hand. "Let me help. ~ Victoria Schwab,#NFDB
1353:How about your plan?"
"Nothing. Useless. And now we have started on the others I seem to have less time to concentrate on my own."
"Why don't I seduce him?"
"Not a bad idea, but you'd have to be pretty special to get £100,000 out of him, when he can hang around outside the Hilton or Shepherd Market and get it for £30. If there's one thing we've learnt about that gentleman it's that he expects value for money. At £30 a night it would take you just under 15 years to repay my share, and I'm not sure the other three would be willing to wait that long. Infact I'm not sure they will wait another fifteen days. ~ Jeffrey Archer,#NFDB
1354:One way of taking care of our suffering is to invite a seed of the opposite nature to come up. As nothing exists without its opposite, if you have a seed of arrogance, you have also a seed of compassion. Every one of us has a seed of compassion. If you practice mindfulness of compassion every day, the seed of compassion in you will become strong. You need only concentrate on it and it will come up as a powerful zone of energy. Naturally, when compassion comes up, arrogance goes down. You don’t have to fight it or push it down. We can selectively water the good seeds and refrain from watering the negative seeds. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, #NFDB
1355:I have never been able to look upon myself as a criminal and I would feel that in a society in which sanity is publicly available I could go on with the kind of work I have always done throughout my life. I never tried to hurt a person. I tried to do something symbolic with pieces of paper. We tend to overlook the crimes of our political and business leaders. We don't send to jail Presidents and their advisers and certain congressmen and senators who talk like bloodthirsty mass murderers. We concentrate obsessively and violently on people who are trying to say things very differently and operate in different ways. ~ Daniel Berrigan, #NFDB
1356:The universe seeks equilibriums; it prefers to disperse energy, disrupt organization, and maximize chaos. Life is designed to combat these forces. We slow down reactions, concentrate matter, and organize chemicals into compartments; we sort laundry on Wednesdays. "It sometimes seems as if curbing entropy is our quixotic purpose in the universe," James Gleick wrote. We live in the loopholes of natural laws, seeking extensions, exceptions and excuses. The laws of nature still mark the outer boundaries of permissibility - but life, in all its idiosyncratic, mad weirdness, flourishes by reading between the lines. ~ Siddhartha Mukherjee, #NFDB
1357:First, we should concentrate each day on the happiness portfolio: faith, family, community, and earned success through work. Teach it to those around you, and fight against the barriers to these things. Second, resist the worldly formula of misery, which is to use people and love things. Instead, remember your core values and live by the true formula: Love people and use things. Third, celebrate the free enterprise system, which creates abundance for the most people—especially the poor. But always remember that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that the ideal life requires abundance without attachment. ~ Arthur C Brooks, #NFDB
1358:In the republican view, there is certainly a place for the negative liberty—immunity from oppression by the government or any other powerful organization or individual—that liberalism puts at the front of its political demands. But this liberty cannot be preserved unless the citizenry is active in preserving it. In effect, one republican complaint is that liberalism is unable to offer a coherent story about how liberal goals are to be secured, while the other is that liberalism in action tends to turn individuals in on themselves, encourages them to quit the public stage and concentrate only on domestic or economic goals. ~ Alan Ryan, #NFDB
1359:It is one of the unexpected disasters of the modern age that our new unparalleled access to information has come at the price of our capacity to concentrate on anything much. The deep, immersive thinking which produced many of civilization's most important achievements has come under unprecedented assault. We are almost never far from a machine that guarantees us a mesmerizing and libidinous escape from reality. The feelings and thoughts which we have omitted to experience while looking at our screens are left to find their revenge in involuntary twitches and our ever-decreasing ability to fall asleep when we should. ~ Alain de Botton, #NFDB
1360:Most dogs could hear four times better than a person, but Maggie’s enormous, upright ears evolved to detect quiet predators and distant prey. She could control each ear independently of the other. Eighteen muscles articulated each ear, shaping and sculpting her sail-like pinna to gather and concentrate sounds at frequencies far beyond any a human could hear. This allowed Maggie to hear seven times better than Scott. She could hear the whine of a jet at thirty thousand feet, termites chewing through wood, the crystal in Scott’s watch hum, and thousands of sounds as invisible to Scott as the scents he could not smell. When ~ Robert Crais, #NFDB
1361:Most anyone who has endeavored to maintain the habit of prayer, or making art, or regular exercise...knows the syndrome well. When I sit down to pray or write, a host of thoughts arise. I should call to find out how so-and-so is doing. I should dust and organize my desk, because I will get more work done in a neater space. While I'm at it, I might as well load and start the washing machine. I may truly desire to write, but as I am pulled to one task after another I lose the ability to concentrate on the work at hand. Any activity, even scrubbing the toilet, seems more compelling than sitting down to face the blank page. ~ Kathleen Norris, #NFDB
1362:The dispatcher said they’re ten minutes out. That was almost ten minutes ago, so—” “Okay, I need to concentrate here.” Faith knew it was better to perform a few unnecessary chest compressions for someone with a beating heart, rather than withhold compressions from someone in cardiac arrest. Holding her hands one over the other, she leaned over his bare chest and got started. Everything else fell away as she pushed hard and fast, counting out thirty compressions at a hundred beats per minute. She visualized the heart, such a fragile organ beneath her hands, being forced to pump again and again, oxygenating the victim’s blood. ~ Susan Wiggs, #NFDB
1363:16Most anyone who has endeavored to maintain the habit of prayer, or making art, or regular exercise...knows the syndrome well. When I sit down to pray or write, a host of thoughts arise. I should call to find out how so-and-so is doing. I should dust and organize my desk, because I will get more work done in a neater space. While I'm at it, I might as well load and start the washing machine. I may truly desire to write, but as I am pulled to one task after another I lose the ability to concentrate on the work at hand. Any activity, even scrubbing the toilet, seems more compelling than sitting down to face the blank page. ~ Kathleen Norris, #NFDB
1364:I have a feeling that you're riding for some kind of a terrible, terrible fall. But I don't honestly know what kind. . . Are you listening to me?"
Yes."
You could tell he was trying to concentrate and all.
It may be the kind where, at the age of thirty, you sit in some bar hating everybody who comes in looking as if he might have played football in college. Then again, you may pick up just enough education to hate people who say, 'It's a secret between he and I.' Or you may end up in some business office, throwing paper clips at the nearest stenographer. I just don't know. But do you know what I'm driving at, at all? ~ J D Salinger,#NFDB
1365:You can’t try. Trying is a struggle and doing is an act. You can’t witness the act of trying, but you can see the results of doing. Trying brings on stress because not only do you have the problem, but now you have all this frustration with it not going away just because you want it to. It’s kind of like being told not to think of pink elephants—impossible. What you have to do is stop. You say to yourself, this is over for now. I’m done for now. Take your mind to another place and concentrate on that peaceful place. Deep breaths. Go limp. Put your mind in another state. It takes practice, but it gets easier, over time.” “Thanks, ~ Robyn Carr, #NFDB
1366:We were outside the world, we didn't even own things -- some clothes. . . . This arrangement resembles the prehistoric way to live, and it therefore feels right to us, because our brains recognize it from 3 millions of years practicing it. In essence our brains grew to their current configuration in response to the realities of that life. So as a result people grow powerfully attached to that kind of life, when they get the chance to live it. It allows you to concentrate your attention on the real work, which means everything that is done to stay alive, to make things, or satisfy one's curiosity, or play. That is utopia. ~ Kim Stanley Robinson, #NFDB
1367:You can't try. Trying is a struggle and doing is an act. You can't witness the act of trying, but you can see the results of doing. Trying brings on stress because not only do you have the problem, but now you have all this frustration with it not going away just because you want it to. It's kind of like being told not to think of pink elephants—impossible.
What you have to do is stop. You say to yourself, this is over for now. I'm done for
now. Take your mind to another place and concentrate on that peaceful place. Deep
breaths. Go limp. Put your mind in another state. It takes practice, but it gets easier,
over time. ~ Robyn Carr,#NFDB
1368:Education must be largely self-initiated, a tapestry woven out of broad experience, constant introspection, ability to concentrate on one’s purpose in spite of distractions, a combination of curiosity, patience, and intense watchfulness, and it requires substantial trial and error risk-taking, along with a considerable ability to take feedback from the environment — to learn from mistakes. I once heard someone in my own family, who I once loved very much, say,“I don’t take criticism well,” as if it were a boast, and I knew at that instant there was no way at all for her to grow in mind or character with that self-destructive attitude. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1369:this finding pushed back against conventional wisdom. Most people assumed (and still do) that relaxation makes them happy. We want to work less and spend more time in the hammock. But the results from Csikszentmihalyi’s ESM studies reveal that most people have this wrong: Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities they have built-in goals, feedback rules, and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one’s work, to concentrate and lose oneself in it. Free time, on the other hand, is unstructured, and requires much greater effort to be shaped into something that can be enjoyed. ~ Cal Newport, #NFDB
1370:Newton found that breaking up Rosemary’s day between academic lessons and craft activities helped with her concentration and gave Rosemary opportunities to talk about her academic work with Adeline: “I received this idea from visiting several schools for retarded children when they found this plan of procedure gives the best results, as 9–11:30 or longer is too long for her to concentrate on school subjects.” Helen spent lunchtime showing Rosemary how to use her lessons as launching points for polite conversation. Adeline monitored Rosemary when she did her homework, and Helen noted, “She gets a great deal from my mother’s personality. ~ Kate Clifford Larson, #NFDB
1371:Grasping the handle, I turn the mug upside down to see if she’s signed it. Sure enough, there’s something etched into the unglazed bottom. I have to squint to read the tiny letters. Dear Ryan. Thank you for making Jamie so happy. He loves you and so do we. Welcome to the Canning clan. Oh boy. There’s a burn at the back of my throat, and I concentrate hard on settling the mug back into the box. I spend more time than necessary tucking the tissue paper around it with the care of someone performing neurosurgery. When I’m finally ready to look up again, Jamie’s mom is waiting for me. The warm look in her eye makes the sting in my throat even worse. ~ Sarina Bowen, #NFDB
1372:He finds his way up the side of my neck, biting me just a little, moving lightly back and forth, like he's searching for a special spot. When he finds it, I make small sound I've never heard myself make before, like a gasp. He traces his tongue in slow circles around that spot. I realise my hands are just lying in my lap, doing nothing. I concentrate on lifting my arm and reaching for his face, but he catches my hand and holds it tightly at the wrist. His lips leave the spot and find their way back to my mouth, which is waiting, hoping for his return. He plants a gentle kiss on my lower lip and then whispers in my ear, "I just got lucky, Rose. ~ Louise Rozett, #NFDB
1373:TICKLED PINK LEMONADE COOKIES Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position. Hannah’s 1st Note: This recipe is from Lisa’s Aunt Nancy. It’s a real favorite down at The Cookie Jar because the cookies are different, delicious, and very pretty. ½ cup salted, softened butter (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) (do not substitute) ½ cup white (granulated) sugar ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 large egg, beaten cup frozen pink or regular lemonade concentrate, thawed 3 drops of liquid red food coloring (I used ½ teaspoon of Betty Crocker food color gel) 1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it) ~ Joanne Fluke, #NFDB
1374:it is almost always a mistake for heads of state to undertake the details of a negotiation. They are then obliged to master specifics normally handled by their foreign offices and are deflected onto subjects more appropriate to their subordinates, while being kept from issues only heads of state can resolve. Since no one without a well-developed ego reaches the highest office, compromise is difficult and deadlocks are dangerous. With the domestic positions of the interlocutors so often dependent on at least the semblance of success, negotiations more often concentrate on obscuring differences than they do on dealing with the essence of a problem. ~ Henry Kissinger, #NFDB
1375:The effective leader should keep the following guidelines in mind when it is necessary to change attitudes or behavior: 1 Be sincere. Do not promise anything that you cannot deliver. Forget about the benefits to yourself and concentrate on the benefits to the other person. 2 Know exactly what it is you want the other person to do. 3 Be empathetic. Ask yourself what is it the other person really wants. 4 Consider the benefits that person will receive from doing what you suggest. 5 Match those benefits to the other person’s wants. 6 When you make your request, put it in a form that will convey to the other person the idea that he personally will benefit. ~ Dale Carnegie, #NFDB
1376:The mystery of creativeness is surrounded with awe. A special reverence does envelop the power to be co-creators with God in the making of human life. It is this hidden element that in a special way belongs to God, as does the grace of God in the sacraments. Those who speak of sex alone concentrate on the physical or visible element, forgetting the spiritual or invisible mystery of creativeness. Humans in the sacraments supply the act, the bread, the water, and the words; God supplies the grace, the mystery. In the sacred act of creating life, man and woman supply the unity of the flesh; God supplies the soul and the mystery. Such is the mystery of sex. ~ Fulton J Sheen, #NFDB
1377:I’m alive,” he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and no moon. “When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1378:But really, that is kind of silly,' Abigail tried to explain. 'I mean, a book is much less personal than a programmed screen that can respond to you according to your needs, and concentrate on what's hard for you, and go fast on what's easy. A book stays the same no matter *who's* reading it. And anyway, I don't see how anyone could read a whole long book, it must be so boring!'
'But...but it wasn't,' Peter said faintly. 'I...almost forgot I was reading it. The...the whole story was going on in my head.'
'I still don't understand,' said Oliver. 'I mean, watching a real-life hologram right before your eyes is better than anything you could *imagine.* ~ William Sleator,#NFDB
1379:I have my mind,’ she whispered. ‘That’s the worst part. It’s my mind that fills the darkness with horrid things. I have too much imagination.’
‘Shut the door to it, then. No stories or wild tales. Concentrate only on the things you can sense. What’s in front of you?’
Her hands flattened on the linen of his shirt, light and chilled. ‘You are.’
‘What’s to either side of you?’
‘Your arms.’
‘What’s behind you?’
She inhaled slowly. ‘Your hands. Your hands are on my back.’
He rubbed his hands up and down, warming her. ‘Then that’s all you need to know. I have you. If there are beasties in the dark, they have to get through me. ~ Tessa Dare,#NFDB
1380:Empathy teaches this lesson; it is one of the feelings we are put on Earth to learn, a key aspect of our preparation for immortality. It is difficult lesson in that we must experience it not only in our mind but in our physical bodies, and in the mind and body we have pain, dark emotions, difficult relationships, enemies, loss and grief. We thus tend to forget others and concentrate on ourselves. But we also have love, beauty, music, art, dance, nature, and air, and we long to share them. We cannot transform negativity into the positive without empathy, and we cannot truly understand empathy without experiencing it in our present life, in our past, and in our future. ~ Brian L Weiss, #NFDB
1381:Nobody can argue against the advantage of a good education for children. If from the earliest possible age they are taught to understand the various unfoldings of nature revealed before them, eventually they can discern the subtlest manifestations; verily, not in ignorance, but with full perception of all the necessary scientific conditions. All this is mentioned in the books of the Teaching. Besides, is not the whole Teaching directed toward the broadening of consciousness? But merely to concentrate on the tip of one's nose or on one's navel, without striving to spiritual synthesis... will lead to idiocy or obsession. ~ Helena Roerich Letters of Helena Roerich I, (12 December 1934), #NFDB
1382:I’m alive,” he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and no moon. “When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.” Two ~ Paulo Coelho, #NFDB
1383:Together with the centrifugal radiation that projects my image along all the dimensions of space, I would like these pages also to render the opposite movement, through which I receive from the mirrors images that direct sight cannot embrace. From mirror to mirror - this is what I happen to dream of - the totality of things, the whole, the entire universe, divine wisdom could concentrate their luminous rays into a single mirror. Or perhaps the knowledge of everything is buried in the soul, and a system of mirrors that would multiply my image to infinity and reflect its essence in a single image would then reveal to me the soul of the universe, which is hidden in mine. ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1384:Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back and drain your mind of all thought. And there you are watching the bubbles in the primeval ooze. You don't have to concentrate. You don't have to react. You don't have to remember. You don't miss your brain because you don't need it. Your heart and liver and lungs continue to function normally. Apart from that, all is peace and quiet. You are in the man's nirvana. And if some poor nasty minded person comes along and says you look like a fly on a can of garbage, pay him no mind. He probably hasn't got the price of a television set. ~ Raymond Chandler, #NFDB
1385:I would like to see a government that said: "We're going to stop this preposterous obsession with economic growth at the expense of all else. Great economic success doesn't produce national happiness. It produces Republicans and Switzerland. So we're going to concentrate on being lovely and pleasant and civilized. We're going to have the best schools and hospitals, the most comfortable public transportation, the liveliest arts, the most useful and well-stocked libraries, the cleanest streets, the most enlightened social policies. In short, we're going to be like Sweden, but with less herring and better jokes." Wouldn't that be delightful? But of course it will never happen. ~ Bill Bryson, #NFDB
1386:Mostly, however, we've got it smooth and efficient now. We don't have to think. She says, 'What are you doing?', I peer at her with irritation and expel air, we go on about our business. This morning, though, she came upstairs to the attic here while I was sitting in front of the computer doing some work on the net.
'What are you doing?' she asks.
Trying to concentrate on something, distracted and harassed, I reply with some degree of acerbic aggravation.
'What does it look like I'm doing?'
There's a beat, during which we hold each others eyes, unblinking.
It's immediately after this beat has passed that I realize I'm wearing no trousers. ~ Mil Millington,#NFDB
1387:His lips brushed my cheek, and I found it hard to concentrate."I lied earlier."
"About what."
His hands slid to my lower back."When I said you looked great? I wasn't completely honest."
That was not what I expected. I turned my head the slightest and then bit back a gasp. Our mouths were centimeters apart and I thought about Brit's certainty that he would kiss me tonight. I forced my tongue to work."You don't think I look great?"
"No,"he said, his expression serious as one hand followed the line of my spine, resting below the edges of my hair. He lowered his head so that his temple pressed against mine.
"You look beautiful tonight."
My breath caught."Thank you. ~ J Lynn,#NFDB
1388:APRIL 30 WHEN SOME BASIC NEED IS LACKING—time, energy, money—consider yourself blessed. Your very lack is an opportunity to latch onto Me in unashamed dependence. When you begin a day with inadequate resources, you must concentrate your efforts on the present moment. This is where you are meant to live—in the present; it is the place where I always await you. Awareness of your inadequacy is a rich blessing, training you to rely wholeheartedly on Me. The truth is that self-sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success. Health and wealth can disappear instantly, as can life itself. Rejoice in your insufficiency, knowing that My Power is made perfect in weakness. ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
1389:Neglect is usually better classified as child maltreatment defined by poverty rather than maltreatment caused by poverty. The main reason child protection services deal primarily with poor families is because of the way child maltreatment is defined. The child welfare system is designed to detect and punish neglect on the part of poor parents and to ignore most middle-class and wealthy parents’ failings. Although the meaning of child maltreatment shifted from a social to a medical model, it retained its focus on poor families. The system continues to concentrate on the effects of childhood poverty, but it treats the damage as a symptom of parental rather than societal deficits. ~ Dorothy Roberts, #NFDB
1390:And Castle nodded sagely. 'So this is a picture of the meaninglessness of it all! I couldn't agree more.'
'Do you really agree?' I asked. 'A minute ago you said something about Jesus.'
'Who?' said Castle.
'Jesus Christ?'
'Oh,' said Castle. 'Him.' He shrugged. 'People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order, so they'll have good voice boxes in case there's ever anything really meaningful to say.'
'I see.' I knew I wasn't going to have an easy time writing a popular article about him. I was going to have to concentrate on his saintly deeds and ignore entirely the satanic things he thought and said. ~ Kurt Vonnegut,#NFDB
1391:A crime scene is a crime scene is a crime scene. Except for the unique nightmarish qualities of each one. I was standing in a bedroom of a very nice one-story ranch. There was a white ceiling fan that turned slowly. It made a faint whirring creak, as if it wasn’t screwed in tight on one side. Better to concentrate on the small things. The way the east light fell through the slanting blinds, painting the room in zebra-stripe shadows. Better not to look at what was left on the bed. Didn’t want to look. Didn’t want to see. Had to see. Had to look. Might find a clue. Sure, and pigs could fucking fly. But still, maybe, maybe there would be a clue. Maybe. Hope is a lying bitch. There ~ Laurell K Hamilton, #NFDB
1392:love you. You know that, don’t you? I love every part of you.” He smiles, nudging my shoulder with the end of his nose. “I love your crazy, weird eyes. I love your non-symmetrical face. I love the way you look at things, trying to figure out how you’re going to paint them. I love the way you hum when you’re trying to concentrate. And I love how you look at me, Coralie.” “How do I look at you?” “Like you love me, too. Like there are things about me that make your heart swell in your chest. Like you might love me enough to be with me for the rest of your life.” He takes a lock of my hair and twists it gently around his fingers. “Is that how you feel?” he whispers. “Is that what you want? ~ Callie Hart, #NFDB
1393:She walked Toby to Victoria Station and left him at the barrier. On her way into the underground she thought he’d followed her, but there was nobody to be seen behind her on the escalator that sailed downwards with a faint inconsolable squeal. She sat on a bench on the empty platform, the breaths of oncoming trains stirring the hairs on the back of her neck. She leafed through Graham’s notebook, but couldn’t concentrate; she found she had to keep glancing along the platform towards the tunnel. Some fault in the mechanism made the train doors reopen after she boarded, as if someone had leapt on at the last moment. The galloping rush of the wheels made her think of a hunt in the dark. ~ Ramsey Campbell, #NFDB
1394:Succeed at home first. Seek and merit divine help. Never compromise with honesty. Remember the people involved. Hear both sides before judging. Obtain counsel of others. Defend those who are absent. Be sincere yet decisive. Develop one new proficiency a year. Plan tomorrow’s work today. Hustle while you wait. Maintain a positive attitude. Keep a sense of humor. Be orderly in person and in work. Do not fear mistakes—fear only the absence of creative, constructive, and corrective responses to those mistakes. Facilitate the success of subordinates. Listen twice as much as you speak. Concentrate all abilities and efforts on the task at hand, not worrying about the next job or promotion. ~ Stephen R Covey, #NFDB
1395:I'm alive," he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and
no moon. "When I'm eating, that's all I think about. If I'm on the march, I just
concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any
other.
"Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present.
If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that
there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight
because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival,
because life is the moment we're living right now. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
1396:Scientists who had worked on the atom bomb added their voices to the growing movement. George Kistiakowsky, a Harvard University chemistry professor who had worked on the first atomic bomb, and later was science adviser to President Eisenhower, became a spokesman for the disarmament movement. HIs last public remarks, before his death from cancer at the age of eighty-two, were in an editorial for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientist in December 1982. "I tell you as my parting words: Forget the channels. There simply is not enough time left before the world explodes. Concentrate instead on organizing, with so many others of like mind, a mass movement for peace such as there has not been before. ~ Howard Zinn, #NFDB
1397:Something scary is happening; you don’t want reason getting in the way of survival. The second is that the locus coeruleus is flooding the brain with noradrenaline, compromising the ability to override instincts and impulses. The PFC is the part of the kid’s brain that puts the brakes on impulses and helps him or her make smarter decisions. Telling a kid to sit still, concentrate, and ignore stimuli that are flooding his brain with the need to act is a lot to ask. This down-regulation of the PFC can have different consequences for different people. For some, it results in an inability to concentrate and solve problems, but in others it manifests as impulsive behavior and aggression. ~ Nadine Burke Harris, #NFDB
1398:She turned to the three men in her life. “I don’t want any of you trying to protect me tonight.” Marcus, Nick, and Eli frowned. “I mean it. I’ll be nothing but a distraction if all you’re thinking about is my safety. Besides, if you really want me safe, the way to do it is to rip apart any jackal you see—you concentrate on what’s in front of you. Got me?” Her brothers nodded with an unhappy sigh.
Marcus rubbed his nose against hers. “I got you, sweetheart. But that works both ways.” He almost smiled at her rebellious expression. He and his wolf liked that was she so protective. “Don’t worry about me. You just worry about this.” He lightly tapped her ass. “It’s mine, and I want it safe. ~ Suzanne Wright,#NFDB
1399:1. Think about the areas where you feel you are lacking in life. What are the actions you take to try to get more of what you are missing? 2. When you wake up in the morning, instead of thinking about what you are lacking, concentrate on what you have now and the blessings of each day. What are some of the blessings, right now in the present, that you can be grateful for today? 3. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (NASB). Can you think of a time when you felt empowered when you lost something or let something go or when you felt weak in resources or circumstances but recognized that strength resulted from that time of loss? ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
1400:Inclusive economic institutions are in turn supported by, and support, inclusive political institutions, that is, those that distribute political power widely in a pluralistic manner and are able to achieve some amount of political centralization so as to establish law and order, the foundations of secure property rights, and an inclusive market economy. Similarly, extractive economic institutions are synergistically linked to extractive political institutions, which concentrate power in the hands of a few, who will then have incentives to maintain and develop extractive economic institutions for their benefit and use the resources they obtain to cement their hold on political power. These ~ Daron Acemo lu, #NFDB
1401:Listen with Ease Have you ever sat very silently, not with your attention fixed on anything, not making an effort to concentrate, but with the mind very quiet, really still? Then you hear everything, don’t you? You hear the far off noises as well as those that are nearer and those that are very close by, the immediate sounds—which means really that you are listening to everything. Your mind is not confined to one narrow little channel. If you can listen in this way, listen with ease, without strain, you will find an extraordinary change taking place within you, a change that comes without your volition, without your asking; and in that change there is great beauty and depth of insight. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, #NFDB
1402:How could she have reacted like that? She didn’t understand what had come over her. She’d felt his passion and her own. It made her anxious. On edge. For something. Something that made her skin prickle whenever he was in the room with her. Indeed, she found it difficult to concentrate when he was
around. He was big and strong and smelled incredible. She wanted to curl up against his chest and never leave. She’d never had such strong urges. But then again, she’d never met a man who made her feel so protected simply by his solid presence and his confident command of everything around him. His strength was strangely soothing. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d felt so…content. ~ Monica McCarty,#NFDB
1403:There is no method in this Yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eyebrows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be. For the rest one must not depend on one's own efforts only, but succeed in establishing a contact with the Divine and a receptivity to the Mother's Power and Presence.
~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II,#NFDB
1404:She daydreamed, walking head down on the dusty sidewalk of Ambelokipi toward her hotel, about escaping. How would she frame it, how would she tell Nate she wanted him to take her to America, right now, and put her in a house near a lake surrounded by pine trees, a house with a fireplace, and make slow love in the mornings? You’re a little genius, she thought. A real dreamer. Who are you kidding? This deep-freeze existence of hers would continue until she died, exposed by a traitor, or shot by a sniper, or butchered by a maniac assassin.
Marta walked beside her, smoking and looking at the young men on the sidewalk. Clear your mind, she told her, concentrate, love your man, and don’t be afraid. ~ Jason Matthews,#NFDB
1405:How to describe what humans look like to us! I’ve tried to describe it a little, when I spoke of Nicki’s beauty the night before as a mixture of movement and color. But you can’t imagine what it’s like for us to look on living flesh. There are those billions of colors and tiny configurations of movement, yes, that make up a living creature on whom we concentrate. But the radiance mingles totally with the carnal scent. Beautiful, that’s what any human being is to us, if we stop to consider it, even the old and the diseased, the downtrodden that one doesn’t really “see” in the street. They are all like that, like flowers ever in the process of opening, butterflies ever unfolding out of the cocoon. Well, ~ Anne Rice, #NFDB
1406:I'd heard once in school that if a single bird were to transport all the sand, grain by grain, from the eastern seabord to the west coast of Africa, it would take... I didn't catch the number of years, preferring to concentrate on the single bird chosen to perform this thankless task. It hardly seemed fair, because, unlike a horse or a Seeing Eye dog, the whole glory of being a bird is that nobody would ever put you to work. Birds search for grubs and build their nests, but their leisure time is theirs to spend as they see fit. I pictured this bird looking down from the branches to say, "You want me to do what?" before flying off, laughing at the at the foolish story he now had to tell his friends. ~ David Sedaris, #NFDB
1407:These days the type of milk added to chocolate varies widely throughout the world, and this is the main reason that milk chocolate tastes different from country to country. In the USA the milk used has had some of its fat removed by enzymes, giving the chocolate a cheesy, almost rancid flavor. In the UK sugar is added to liquid milk, and it is this solution, reduced to a concentrate, that is added to the chocolate, creating a milder caramel flavor. In Europe powdered milk is still used, giving the chocolate a fresh dairy flavor with a powdery texture. These different tastes do not travel well. Despite globalization, the preferred taste of milk chocolate, once acquired, remains surprisingly regional. ~ Mark Miodownik, #NFDB
1408:For a moment she could have sworn she was standing in one of those history-comes-alive museums--the kind that feature animatronic robots, the narration stylings of James Earl Jones, and the sort of exhibits that invade children's nightmares for years to come. But instead of a cyborgish John Wilkes Booth discharging his deadly bullet into the back of a plastic Lincoln's head, a very real version of the assassin was engaged in a furious arm-wrestling match with Elvis Presley.
Lincoln was watching the tussle, amused. "Come on, John," he said. "You can do better than that."
"He's all talk," Elvis whispered back.
"Silence!" roared Booth. "I'm trying to concentrate!"
Lincoln rolled his eyes. ~ Gina Damico,#NFDB
1409:In another exercise, which is quite common to many meditation traditions, I sit quietly in a quiet place, close my eyes, and concentrate on the breath. More than just concentrating on it, I know that the sensations that make up the concept “breath” are each impermanent, lasting only an instant. With this knowledge, I try to see how many individual times in each part of the breath I can perceive the sensations that make up the breath. During the in-breath I try to experience it as many times as possible, and try to be quite precise about exactly when the in-breath begins and ends. More than this, I try to perceive exactly and precisely when each sensation of motion or physicality of the breath arises and passes. ~ Daniel M Ingram, #NFDB
1410:An important spiritual law is here involved. I have explained that you can weaken his prayers by diverting his attention from the Enemy Himself to his own states of mind about the Enemy. On the other hand fear becomes easier to master when the patient’s mind is diverted from the thing feared to the fear itself, considered as a present and undesirable state of his own mind; and when he regards the fear as his appointed cross he will inevitably think of it as a state of mind. One can therefore formulate the general rule; in all activities of mind which favour our cause, encourage the patient to be unself-conscious and to concentrate on the object, but in all activities favourable to the Enemy bend his mind back on itself. ~ C S Lewis, #NFDB
1411:When people revert to clutter no matter how much they tidy, it is not their room or their belongings but their way of thinking that is at fault. Even if they are initially inspired, they can't stay motivated and their efforts peter out. The root cause lies in the fact that they can't see the results or feel the effects. This is precisely why success depends on experiencing tangible results immediately. If you use the right method and concentrate your efforts on eliminating clutter thoroughly and completely within a short span of time, you'll see instant results that will empower you to keep your space in order after. Anyone who experiences this process, no matter who they are, will vow never to revert to clutter again. ~ Marie Kond, #NFDB
1412:Self-development is a way of Life. Our Self-Development never ends. We are never too young or too old for personal growth.
We have an amazing potential to reach our highest potential, to have truly inspiring careers and loving relationships.
Unfortunately, often we walk through our lives asleep, we let our habits rule us, and find it difficult to change our beliefs. Recognizing the power of our Mind and the power of our Soul, learning the art of Concentration and Love, we are learning to Live with the Flow, not against it.
It is in our nature to learn and grow. For happiness we need to learn to Love, we need to learn to Concentrate and we should keep the flow and energy of inspiration within our lives. ~ Nata a Nuit Pantovi,#NFDB
1413:I’d asked Tink about good fae when I got home. He’d been busy on my computer, creating If Daryl Dies We Riot memes. He’d genuinely appeared confused by my line of questioning. According to my pint-sized roommate, all fae were bad. There was no such thing as a good fae. Something had occurred to me while I’d watched him concentrate, the white glare from my computer lighting up his face. “Do you ever leave this house, Tink? Go anywhere?” He’d frowned up at me like I’d asked him why I should watch The Walking Dead. “Why would I leave? This place has everything I need, and if it doesn’t, I can order it from Amazon.” He’d paused. “Though, on second thought, we could use a live-in chef, because you can’t cook for shit. ~ Jennifer L Armentrout, #NFDB
1414:So how big is this thing anyway?” Desideria asked
Chayden made a sound of irritation. “You know, that’s not really a question I want to hear my younger sister ask a man, especially not one I consider a friend, while he’s lying bare-assed on my floor.”
Hauk and Fain laughed.
Desideria was less than amused. “Remember, brother, I’m currently the only one holding a weapon.”
Caillen glared at him. “Really, Chay, why don’t you concentrate on the people trying to kill us right now? ’Preciate it, pun’kin.” He turned his attention to her. “About the size of your smallest fingernail.”
Fain laughed again. “Damn, I should have been taping that response and using it for playback at every party from here until I die. ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon,#NFDB
1415:The saddest thing about these imagined deathbed conversions is that, even if they were real, they could hardly be seen as victories for Christ. They are stories in which the final pain of a fatal disease, or the fear of imminent death and eternal punishment, is identified as the factor necessary for otherwise rational people to believe in the supernatural.
If mental torture is required to effect a conversion, what does that say about the reliability of the fundamental premises of Christianity to begin with? Evangelicals would be better advised to concentrate on converting the living. Converting the deceased suggests only that they can't convince those who can argue back. They should let the dead rest in peace. ~ Lawrence M Krauss,#NFDB
1416:If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work ... the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk lamp ... The cat will settle down and be serene, with a serenity that passes all understanding. And the tranquility of the cat will gradually come to affect you, sitting there at your desk, so that all the excitable qualities that impede your concentration compose themselves and give your mind back the self-command it has lost. You need not watch the cat all the time. Its presence alone is enough. The effect of a cat on your concentration is remarkable, very mysterious. ~ Muriel Spark, #NFDB
1417:What's wrong with the world," Nana explained, "is that people stopped listening to their hearts...
"Not everybody stopped listening," she continued, "but enough people did to make a difference. We've go so much in this life that all we know how to do is want more. So we concentrate on the wrong things--things we can see--as being the measure of a person. We think if we can win something big or buy something snazzy it'll make us more than we are. Our hearts know that's not true, but the eyes are powerful. It's easier to fix on what we can see than listen to the still, small voice of a whispering heart."
Nana turned her eyes on me like a vet looking for fleas: "A heart will say amazing things if it's given half a chance. ~ Joan Bauer,#NFDB
1418:Even when they are successful in tapping into a more diverse set of knowledge flows, companies tend to concentrate on flows involving transfers of existing knowledge rather than creation of new knowledge. I read your white paper. You show me your well-polished and tightly scripted PowerPoint presentation. We certainly gain value from exchanging this knowledge. But we are able to create even more value if we can bring people together across different companies to engage in deep problem solving around a performance challenge so that they are creating new knowledge. Now we are not simply accessing knowledge that already exists, but driving performance to new levels that could not be achieved without distinctive new knowledge. ~ John Seely Brown, #NFDB
1419:The excitement that filled Usaeil could barely be contained. She knew it wouldn’t take Taraeth long to corner Rhi.
As she walked past a mirror on her way to the movie set, she paused and looked at herself. Perfection. There was no way Con would refuse her. He was making a show of it, but she knew he’d cave.
It didn’t matter how long it took, the King of Kings would be hers.
That was something else she’d tell Rhi right before the pesky meddler breathed her last. The need to have Rhi wiped from existence consumed her.
Usaeil wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else until Rhi was gone. Forever. No one would stand between the Queen of the Light and what she wanted. Especially not someone like Rhi. ~ Donna Grant,#NFDB
1420:Stop thinking," he said.
I have to think," said val. "You said I was supposed to concentrate."
Thinking makes you slow. You need to move as I move. Right now, you're merely following my lead."
How can I know where you're going to go before you've gone there? That's stupid."
It's no different from knowing where an opponent might move. How do you know where a ball is likely to go on the lacrosse field?"
The only things you know about lacrosse are the things I told you," Val said.
I might say the same about you and sword fighting." He stopped. "There. You did it. You were so busy snapping at me that you didn't notice you were doing it."
Val frowned, too annoyed to be pleased, but too pleased to say anything more. ~ Holly Black,#NFDB
1421:Shortly before the United States entered World War II, I received an invitation to come to the American Consulate in Vienna to pick up my immigration visa. My old parents were overjoyed because they expected that I would soon be allowed to leave Austria. I suddenly hesitated, however. The question beset me: could I really afford to leave my parents alone to face their fate, to be sent, sooner or later, to a concentration camp, or even to a so-called extermination camp? Where did my responsibility lie? Should I foster my brain child, logotherapy, by emigrating to fertile soil where I could write my books? Or should I concentrate on my duties as a real child, the child of my parents who had to do whatever he could to protect them? ~ Viktor E Frankl, #NFDB
1422:deliberately withdrawing your attention from the objective world and of focusing it subjectively. In other words, concentrate on those thoughts or moods which you deliberately determine. Then those things that now restrict you will fade and drop away. The day you achieve control of the movements of your attention in the subjective world, you are master of your fate. You will no longer accept the dominance of outside conditions or circumstances. You will not accept life on the basis of the world without. Having achieved control of the movements of your attention, and having discovered the mystery hid from the ages, that Christ in you is your imagination, you will assert the supremacy of imagination and put all things in subjection ~ Neville Goddard, #NFDB
1423:I’ve always thought the pre-Revolutionary system was more elegant, but it did concentrate too much power in the hands of one person. Keyes says that at least you knew who the man was then. The person who represents a Lobby in Congress is never the one who makes the real decisions; the real leaders are rarely identifiable and are never held responsible for their actions. If a puppet gets in trouble they sacrifice him and haul out another. I don’t doubt that that’s true, at least some of the time, but it’s certainly not the whole story. If a Lobby consistently acts against the public interest, its voting power dwindles away. Keyes says that’s a cynical illusion: all the polls reflect is how much money a Lobby has put into advertising. ~ Joe Haldeman, #NFDB
1424:There's nothing to mourn about death any more than there is to mourn about the growing of a flower. What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don't live up until their death. They don't honor their own lives, they piss on their lives. They shit them away. Dumb fuckers. They concentrate too much on fucking, movies, money, family, fucking. Their minds are full of cotton. They swallow God without thinking, they swallow country without thinking. Soon they forget how to think, they let others think for them. Their brains are stuffed with cotton. They look ugly, they talk ugly, they walk ugly. Play them the great music of the centuries and they can't hear it. Most people's deaths are a sham. There's nothing left to die. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1425:There’s nothing to mourn about death any more than there is to mourn about the growing of a flower. What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don’t live up until their death. They don’t honor their own lives, they piss on their lives. They shit them away. Dumb fuckers. They concentrate too much on fucking, movies, money, family, fucking. Their minds are full of cotton. They swallow God without thinking, they swallow country without thinking. Soon they forget how to think, they let others think for them. Their brains are stuffed with cotton. They look ugly, they talk ugly, they walk ugly. Play them the great music of the centuries and they can’t hear it. Most people’s deaths are a sham. There’s nothing left to die. ~ Charles Bukowski, #NFDB
1426:He slammed her door shut and spun her so she was facing him.
“One more for the road.” She stared at him with a perplexed expression but didn’t back away. “I want another taste,” he said, feeling his heart race. He leaned her against the car and crushed his lips against hers. This time she ran her fingers through his hair, making him moan. He wanted to touch the curves of her body through the thick fabric of her dress, but he forced himself to concentrate all his efforts on her sexy, soft, pouty lips. When he released her, they were both breathless. Her lips were chapped, and those golden eyes were on fire with a carnal sexuality. There was so much electricity between them that, if harnessed, they could power the whole damn city. ~ M K Schiller,#NFDB
1427:Because of the size of this body, I must concentrate much harder than I usually do. Even the small things -- my foot on the gas pedal, the amount of space I have to leave around me in the halls -- require major adjustment.
And there are the looks I get -- such undisguised disgust. Not just from other students. From teachers. From strangers. The judgment flows freely. It's possible that they're reacting to the thing that Finn has allowed himself to become. But there's also something more primal, something more defensive in their disgust. I am what they fear becoming.
I've worn black today, because I've heard so often that it's supposed to be slimming. But instead I am this sphere of darkness submarining through the halls. ~ David Levithan,#NFDB
1428:Although this force is indeed my own in the sense that it is I who concentrate it and experience it, I am quite unable to pin it down, whether I try to decipher any part either of its past or of its future. Behind the unity it assumes in my consciousness there lies hidden the dense multitude of all the succession of beings whose infinitely patient and lengthy labour has carried to its present stage of perfection the phylum of which I am for a moment the extreme bud. My life is not my own: I know this from the inexorable determinism contained in the development of overpowering emotions, in pain and in death. And I feel this, not only in my bodily members but in the very core of what is most spiritual in my being. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Cosmic Life, #NFDB
1429:Lovers' reading of each other's bodies (of that concentrate of mind and body which lovers use to go to bed together) differs from the reading of written pages in that it is not linear. It starts at any point, skips, repeat itself, goes backward, insists, ramifies in simultaneous and divergent messages, converges again, has moments of irritation, turns the page, finds its place, gets lost. A direction can be recognized in it, a route to an end, since it tends toward a climax, and with this end in view it arranges rhythmic phases, metrical scansions, recurrence of motives. But is the climax really the end? Or is the race toward that end opposed by another drive which works in the opposite direction, swimming against moments, recovering time? ~ Italo Calvino, #NFDB
1430:And, thanks once again to the plasticity of our neuronal pathways, the more we use the Web, the more we train our brain to be distracted—to process information very quickly and very efficiently but without sustained attention. That helps explain why many of us find it hard to concentrate even when we’re away from our computers. Our brains become adept at forgetting, inept at remembering. Our growing dependence on the Web’s information stores may in fact be the product of a self-perpetuating, self-amplifying loop. As our use of the Web makes it harder for us to lock information into our biological memory, we’re forced to rely more and more on the Net’s capacious and easily searchable artificial memory, even if it makes us shallower thinkers. ~ Nicholas Carr, #NFDB
1431:The only people who remained there after the exodus that night were an assortment of lost, unclaimed souls. There was a boy from Iran who appeared very sad, his eyelashes clustered together in little wet starbursts. He sat in a chair in a corner of the first-floor lounge with his computer on his lap, gazing at it mournfully. When Greer entered the lounge—her room, a rare single, was too depressing to stay in all evening, and she’d been unable to concentrate on her book—she was startled to realize that he was merely looking at his screen saver, which was a picture of his parents and sister, all of them smiling at him from far away. The family image swept across the computer screen and gently bounced against one side, before slowly heading back ~ Meg Wolitzer, #NFDB
1432:These objects and postures are not that important, but understanding impermanence directly is. In one of these exercises, I sit quietly in a quiet place, close my eyes, put one hand on each knee, and concentrate just on my two index fingers. Basic dharma theory tells me that it is definitely not possible to perceive both fingers simultaneously, so with this knowledge I try to see in each instant which one of the two finger’s physical sensations are being perceived. Once the mind has sped up a bit and yet become more stable, I try to perceive the arising and passing of each of these sensations. I may do this for half an hour or an hour, just staying with the sensations in my two fingers and perceiving when each sensation is and isn’t there. ~ Daniel M Ingram, #NFDB
1433:And once it comes, now that I am wise in its ways, I no longer fight it. I lie down and let it happen. At first every small apprehension is magnified, every anxiety a pounding terror. Then the pain comes, and I concentrate only on that. Right there is the usefulness of migraine, there in that imposed toga, the concentration on the pain. For when the pain recedes, ten or twelve hours later, everything goes with it, all the hidden resentments, all the vain anxieties. The migraine has acted as a circuit breaker, and the fuses have emerged intact. There is a pleasant convalescent euphoria. I open the windows and feel the air, eat gratefully, sleep well. I notice the particular nature of a flower in a glass on the stair landing. I count my blessings. ~ Joan Didion, #NFDB
1434:And once it comes, now that I am wise in its ways, I no longer fight it. I lie down and let it happen. At first every small apprehension is magnified, every anxiety a pounding terror. Then the pain comes, and I concentrate only on that. Right there is the usefulness of migraine, there in that imposed yoga, the concentration on the pain. For when the pain recedes, ten or twelve hours later, everything goes with it, all the hidden resentments, all the vain anxieties. The migraine has acted as a circuit breaker, and the fuses have emerged intact. There is a pleasant convalescent euphoria. I open the windows and feel the air, eat gratefully, sleep well. I notice the particular nature of a flower in a glass on the stair landing. I count my blessings. ~ Joan Didion, #NFDB
1435:THE LAMPS ARE DIFFERENT
BUT THE LIGHT IS THE SAME
So many garish lamps in the dying brain’s lamp-show,
Forget about them.
Concentrate on the essence, concentrate on the Light.
In lucid bliss, calmly smoking off its own holy fire,
The Light streams towards you from all things,
All people, all possible permutations of good, evil, thought, passion.
The lamps are different,
but the Light is the same.
One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,
Endlessly emanating all things.
One turning and burning diamond,
One, one, one.
Ground yourself, strip yourself down,
To blind loving silence.
Stay there, until you see
You are gazing at the Light
With its own ageless eyes ~ Rumi,#NFDB
1436:You determine your assumptions in this way: Form a mental image, a picture of the state desired, of the person you want to be. Concentrate your attention upon the feeling that you are already that person. First, visualize the picture in your consciousness. Then feel yourself to be in that state as though it actually formed your surrounding world. By your imagination that which was a mere mental image is changed into a seemingly solid reality. The great secret is a controlled imagination and a well-sustained attention firmly and repeatedly focused on the object to be accomplished. It cannot be emphasized too much that, by creating an ideal within your mental sphere, by assuming that you are already that ideal, you identify yourself with it and ~ Neville Goddard, #NFDB
1437:If you can't put magnolia on a wall then there are always a million other colors you can use, if you can't pay your phone bill then just write letters telling them. I'm not playing down the importance of these things, yes you need money for food, yes you need food to survive, but you also need sleep to have energy, to smile to be happy, and to be happy so you can laugh, just so you don't keel over with a heart attack. People forget they have options. And they forget that those things really don't matter. They should concentrate on what they have and not what they don't have. And by the way, wishing and dreaming doesn't mean concentrating on what you don't have, it's positive thinking that encourages hoping and believing, not whining and moaning. ~ Cecelia Ahern, #NFDB
1438:Well, no,” I told him. “But all the referendums freak me out. I used to try to understand them, then one year I voted for one and found out after that I voted the wrong way because they made the language purposefully confusing so you thought you were voting for one thing and you weren’t. I went back and read and reread it and there was no way I knew what I was voting for. That’s dirty business, so I decided that I should vote only on things I totally understood instead of making another mistake like that because, well, you know, these things affect people’s lives and you shouldn’t screw up something that important. As none of the referendums make a lick of sense to me, I concentrate on the candidates and hope they’ll take care of the referendums. ~ Kristen Ashley, #NFDB
1439:If there is a state where the soul can find a resting-place secure enough to establish itself and concentrate its entire being there, with no need to remember the past or reach into the future, where time is nothing to it, where the present runs on indefinitely but this duration goes unnoticed, with no sign of the passing of time, and no other feeling of deprivation or enjoyment, pleasure or pain, desire or fear than the simple feeling of existence, a feeling that fills our soul entirely, as long as this state lasts, we can call ourselves happy, not with a poor, incomplete and relative happiness such as we find in the pleasures of life, but with a sufficient, complete and perfect happiness which leaves no emptiness to be filled in the soul. ~ Jean Jacques Rousseau, #NFDB
1440:When we are concentrated in mental movements or intellectual pursuits, why do we sometimes forget or lose touch with the Divine?
You lose it because your consciousness is still divided. The Divine has not settled in your mind; you are not wholly consecrated to the Divine Life. Otherwise you could concentrate to any extent upon such things and still you would have the sense of being helped and supported by the Divine. In all pursuits, intellectual or active, your one motto should be, Remember and Offer. Let whatever you do be done as an offering to the Divine. And this too will be an excellent discipline for you; it will prevent you from doing many foolish and useless things.
~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, [T0], #index,#NFDB
1441:Film and television have convinced too many writers that heaps of dialogue make novels more like movies and therefore good. This is an amateur's fantasy, and it has induced some writers to surrender the few advantages they have over cinematic storytelling. The moviemaker is stuck with what the camera can see and the microphone can hear. You have more freedom. You can summarize situations. You can forthrightly give us people's histories. You can concentrate ten years into ten words. You can move anywhere you like outside real time. You can tell us—just tell us—what people are thinking and feeling. Yes, abundant dialogue can lighten a story, make it more readable and sparkle with wonders. But it is pitiably inadequate before what it is not suited to do. ~ Stephen Koch, #NFDB
1442:Here, let me help.” Nick stepped behind her, reached around her body, and placed his hands over hers, steadying the rifle against her shoulder. At his touch, unusual tingling sensations coursed through her. “Look down the sights to the target,” he murmured in her ear. His finger pressed over hers, guiding her movement. Her whole body warmed at his closeness. Too aware of him, she couldn’t concentrate. She just closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. The noise of the shot reverberated in her ears. The recoil of the gun sent her staggering back into Nick. His arms tightened around her. She lowered the rifle. “You missed,” Nick’s voice teased in her ear. Elizabeth’s heart raced. She relaxed against his chest, loving the feel of his strong arms around her. ~ Debra Holland, #NFDB
1443:Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the past, or worry about the future. ✽ If you have to think about something else, that’s okay, but try to keep one eye on the present moment, by noticing how you’re using your body and mind – try to be aware of each second that passes. ✽ If it helps, imagine that you’re seeing the world for the first time, or that this is your last day of life, and concentrate your attention on how you actually think and act, from moment to moment. ✽ Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment. ~ Donald J Robertson, #NFDB
1444:Overall, Zinni’s rules read like an updating of how to apply the Marine Corps culture to today’s conflicts: Stay loose. Stay focused. Keep it simple. And be honest. Similar messages can be heard in many parts of the Corps, wherever there are good officers willing to seize the initiative—that is, who care more about their mission and their Marines than they do about their careers. This is how Major Davis at the Drill Instructors School summarizes the Marine Corps way of doing business: “Concentrate on doing a single task as simply as you can, execute it flawlessly, take care of your people, and go home.”That doesn’t leave a lot of room for the “doctrine”that the Army so loves to write and cite. But those four steps offer an efficient way to run any organization. ~ Thomas E Ricks, #NFDB
1445:A person functioning exclusively in the Cartesian mode may be free from manifest symptoms but cannot be considered mentally healthy. Such individuals typically lead ego-centred, competitive, goal-oriented lives. Overpreoccupied with their past and their future, they tend to have a limited awarenessof the present and thus a limited ability to derive satisfaction from ordinary activities in everyday life. They concentrate on manipulating the external world and measure their living standard by the quantity of material possessions, while they become ever more alienated from their inner world and unable to appreciate the process of life. For people whose existence is dominated by this mode of experience no level of wealth, power, or fame will bring genuine satisfaction ~ Fritjof Capra, #NFDB
1446:There’s not much risk that it will conquer Iraq’s Shia-majority region or Kurdistan, now that the first shock of its expansion up to their borders has passed, for both could count on strong Iranian military support if required. Syria is a more worrisome case, for a jihadi victory in Syria would bring Islamic State (and, in the north, perhaps also the Nusra emirate) right up to the borders of Lebanon and northern Israel. Millions more refugees would pour across the borders into Lebanon and Jordan (which have already taken in several million Syrian refugees), possibly with Islamist fighters in hot pursuit. This would create a high probability of a direct military confrontation with Israel, even if the Islamists would really prefer to concentrate on killing Shias first. ~ Gwynne Dyer, #NFDB
1447:The War Department in Washington briefly weighed more ambitious schemes to relieve the Americans on a large scale before it was too late. But by Christmas of 1941, Washington had already come to regard Bataan as a lost cause. President Roosevelt had decided to concentrate American resources primarily in the European theater rather than attempt to fight an all-out war on two distant fronts. At odds with the emerging master strategy for winning the war, the remote outpost of Bataan lay doomed. By late December, President Roosevelt and War Secretary Henry Stimson had confided to Winston Churchill that they had regrettably written off the Philippines. In a particularly chilly phrase that was later to become famous, Stimson had remarked, 'There are times when men have to die. ~ Hampton Sides, #NFDB
1448:I had taken away my own time and added it to his to make him more powerful. I had put aside my own aspirations to go along with his. At every crisis of despair I had set aside my own crises to comfort him. I had disappeared into his minutes, into his hours, so that he could concentrate. I had taken care of the house, I had taken care of the meals, I had taken care of the children, I had taken care of all the boring details of everyday life, while he stubbornly climbed the ladder up from our unprivileged beginnings. And now, now he had left me, carrying off, abruptly, all that time, all that energy, all that effort I had given him, to enjoy its fruits with someone else, a stranger who had not lifted a finger to bear him and rear him and make him become what he had become. ~ Elena Ferrante, #NFDB
1449:The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. These periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times of their lives (chapter 3). A person who has achieved control over psychic energy and has invested it in consciously chosen goals cannot help but grow into a more complex being. By stretching skills, by reaching toward higher challenges, such a person becomes an increasingly extraordinary individual. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, #NFDB
1450:Once you familiarize yourself with your tools, you should forget about them. It will only throw you off-balance. In all these ‘rolling shit into little balls’ types who spend hours of time and reams of paper saying nothing, literary masturbators, they concentrate on the vehicle more than what they want to produce. That impedes the end result and defeats the purpose. You must lose consciousness of the medium or mechanics to do the impossible. Like Nijinsky who explained how he gave the impression of hovering in mid-air – ‘I just pause when I get there.’ In a child-like way, real magicians innocently do the simplest thing. The objective is all they think about. I just want to make music the way I hear it. The ends justify the means, and the means become inconsequential. ~ Anton Szandor LaVey, #NFDB
1451:By relieving the brain of all unnecessary work, a good notation sets it free to concentrate on more advanced problems, and in effect increases the mental power of the race. Before the introduction of the Arabic notation, multiplication was difficult, and the division even of integers called into play the highest mathematical faculties. Probably nothing in the modern world would have more astonished a Greek mathematician than to learn that … a huge proportion of the population of Western Europe could perform the operation of division for the largest numbers. This fact would have seemed to him a sheer impossibility…. Our modern power of easy reckoning with decimal fractions is the almost miraculous result of the gradual discovery of a perfect notation. —Alfred North Whitehead ~ Steve McConnell, #NFDB
1452:I wasn't sure what to feel. Somewhere within me still blazed my perpetual flame of anger, indignation, and resentment. But deeper than that, there was more. There was abandonment. There was betrayal. There was a hollow sense of grief. For years, I'd been grasping at straws in an attempt to find meaning to my life, purpose to my days. As much as my country had been the cause of my darkest depths of depression, it had also picked me up from them. It had forced me to keep going in some direction, even if it wasn't what I would have chosen for myself. In many ways, being imprisoned had been the best thing that could have happened to me. It had taught me to stop feeling and to simply concentrate on doing. We were worked hard and weren't given time for much else. Days were comfortably numb. ~ Bella Forrest, #NFDB
1453:...Learn to concentrate, to give all your attention to the thing at hand, and then to be able to put it aside and go on to the next thing without confusion.
My husband said that being President of the United States meant that you saw more kinds of people, took up more subjects, and learn more about a variety of things than anyone else. But it required complete concentration on the person you were with and on what he was saying. When that person left the room, you pulled down a shade in your mind, and you were ready, with your attention free, for what the next person had to say. You might have to shift from banking to forestry, but each subject had the attention and concentration it required and each, in turn, was put in the back of the mind, ready to be called upon when needed. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt,#NFDB
1454:When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called Dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of Dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi. The three — Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi — together, are called Samyama. That is, if the mind can first concentrate upon an object, and then is able to continue in that concentration for a length of time, and then, by continued concentration, to dwell only on the internal part of the perception of which the object was the effect, everything comes under the control of such a mind. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1455:Dear God, show me any sins that I may be committing unawares. Help me to forsake them immediately, and by the power of your Holy Spirit break the strong hold of their temptations. I desire to do your will; please give me the strength to forsake any sins which have become habits and to which I feel in bondage. Father, you know there are times that I must concentrate totally on a task and cannot be in conscious thought of you, but in those times I thank you for your presence and your guidance in fulfilling my responsibilities. By the gentle nudge of your Spirit, call me once again to prayer that I might do every task seeking your power and insight, and conscious that you are an ever present help in time of trouble. I love you, Father, and want to do everything for your ultimate glory. Amen. ~ Andrew Murray, #NFDB
1456:No easy way out. No escape. From yourself. You had to LEARN to DEAL with the cards you were dealt. Had to learn the hard way that the world doesn't OWE you a fucking thing. Not a reason, nor excuse. No apologies. Had to learn that some forms of insanity run in the family, pure genetics, polluted lifelines, full of disease. Profanity. Addiction. Co-addiction. Inability to deal with reality, what the fuck ever that's suppose to mean when you're born into an emotional ghetto of endless abuse. Where the only way out is in...deep, deep inside, so you poke holes in your skin, thinking that if you could just concentrate the pain it wouldn't remain an all-consuming surround which suffocates you from the first breath of day to your last dying day. Day in. Day out. Day in. Day out. I knew all about it. ~ Lydia Lunch, #NFDB
1457:Perhaps you are not trying to whip a crowd into a frenzy; you just want to bring people over to your side. Choose your strategy and words carefully. You might think it is better to reason with people, explain your ideas. But it is hard for an audience to decide whether an argument is reasonable as they listen to you talk. They have to concentrate and listen closely, which requires great effort. People are easily distracted by other stimuli, and if they miss a part of your argument, they will feel confused, intellectually inferior, and vaguely insecure. It is more persuasive to appeal to people’s hearts than their heads. Everyone shares emotions, and no one feels inferior to a speaker who stirs up their feelings. The crowd bonds together, everyone contagiously experiencing the same emotions. ~ Robert Greene, #NFDB
1458:What I’m trying to say is, you can’t change a guy. Concentrate on your own life. Someone whose hobbies include trying to break his neck on a motorcycle and slipping into a girl’s bedroom first thing in the morning isn’t worth bothering about.”
“He’s actually been here since last night.”
Dad’s fingers tightened on the doorknob even though his voice stayed light. “I really need to buy that shotgun.”
“He was sick and needed to lie down,” said Kami.
“Uh-huh,” said Dad.
“He was literally unconscious, and Mum and I had to carry him up the stairs.”
“Oldest trick in the book,” grumbled Dad, but his brow cleared. “Claire didn’t mention anything about this.”
“Maybe because she thought you’d go out and buy a shotgun?”
“Maybe,” Dad conceded. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan,#NFDB
1459:So they gave me love in form of poison and tiny little pills, programming my emotions, teaching me how to feel. To act correct and talk correct and answer without knowing the question, because that, my dear, is how you get love. Yes that, dear youth, is how you'll be loved. I tried to medicate my own fucked up little mind with chemicals and adrenaline, tasting sweeter every night, shaking louder every time. Sitting wide awake in bed until the world disappears, writing poetry to concentrate on something real while waiting for the love to arrive.
I've been looking for it night after night, waiting patiently for it to show up, maybe somewhere in between the state of awake and asleep, alive and not so alive, sober and not so sober.
(I lost track of the difference somewhere in between.) ~ Charlotte Eriksson,#NFDB
1460:In another related exercise, I do the same sort of thing, sitting quietly in a quiet place with my eyes closed, but instead I concentrate on the sensations of the front and back of my head. With the knowledge that the illusion of a separate perceiver is partially supported by one impermanent sensation incorrectly seeming to perceive another impermanent sensation which it follows, such as the sensations in the back of the head incorrectly seeming to perceive the sensations of the front of the head which they follow, I try to be really clear about these sensations and when they are and aren’t there. I try to be clear if the sensations in the head are from the front or the back of the head in each instant, and then try to experience clearly the beginning and ending of each individual sensation. ~ Daniel M Ingram, #NFDB
1461:...if I do not take my intellectual vocation seriously, putting it before everything else even at the risk of appearing inhuman, then I am also incapable of helping people in more concrete and proximate ways. Conversely, if I am not alert and ready to save people from a conflagration, that is to say, if I do not take my spiritual calling in all earnestness, sacrificing to it all else, even my own life, then I shall be unable to help in rescuing the manuscript. If I do not involve myself in the concrete issues of my time, and if I do not open my house to all the winds of the world, then anything I produce from an ivory tower will be barren and cursed. Yet if I do not shut doors and windows in order to concentrate on this work, then I will not be able to offer anything of value to my neighbors. ~ Raimon Panikkar, #NFDB
1462:THREE STAGES OF MEDITATION There are three stages in meditation. The first is what is called Dharana, concentrating the mind upon an object. I try to concentrate my mind upon this glass, excluding every other object from my mind except this glass. But the mind is wavering. When it has become strong and does not waver so much, it is called Dhyana, meditation. And then there is a still higher state when the differentiation between the glass and myself is lost — Samadhi or absorption. The mind and the glass are identical. I do not see any difference. All the senses stop and all powers that have been working through other channels of other senses are focused in the mind. Then this glass is under the power of the mind entirely. This is to be realised. It is a tremendous play played by the Yogis. ~ Swami Vivekananda, #NFDB
1463:The sensing person has faith in the actual, the intuitive in the possible. As each concentrates accordingly, they seldom look at anything from the same angle. The difference in viewpoint becomes acute, often exasperating, when the person with sensing has authority over the intuitive and the intuitive comes up with a blazing idea. The intuitive tends to present the idea in rough form—suitable for another intuitive—and expects the sensing listener to concentrate on the main point and ignore the sketchy details. The sensing person’s natural reaction is to concentrate on what is missing, decide that the idea cannot work (and of course it cannot in that form), and flatly turn it down. One idea is wasted, one intuitive is frustrated, and one sensing executive has to deal with a resentful subordinate. ~ Isabel Briggs Myers, #NFDB
1464: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. ~ William Walker Atkinson, #NFDB
1465:1) Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2) Start no more new books, add no more new material to "Black Spring."
3) Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
4) Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5) When you can't create you can work.
6) Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.
7) Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.
8) Don't be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.
9) Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
10) Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
11) Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards. ~ Henry Miller,#NFDB
1466:This estranged me. And I was still more estranged by what he said next; for, having inquired what the story I was then writing was about, and I having answered—reluctantly and apologetically, because down on the flat he had seemed so strictly principled,—that I was very sorry but I was afraid it was about adultery, he called out, with horrifying heartiness, “The finest sport in the world!” What sort of a guest, I asked myself, shocked, was this for a widow, the sole protector of a set of orphans, to have got herself involved in? But there was worse to come; for quite soon, instead of helping me with the uproarious children, he left off even pretending to be interested in them, and began, to my concern, to concentrate on me. In other words, he left off being just a guest, and turned into a suitor. I know ~ Elizabeth von Arnim, #NFDB
1467:The Listening Exercise
Relax. Close your eyes. Try for several minutes to concentrate on all of the sounds you hear in your surroundings, as if you were hearing an orchestra playing its instruments. Little by little, try to separate each sound from
the others. Concentrate on each one, as if it were the only instrument playing. Try to eliminate the other sounds from your awareness.
When you do this exercise every day, you will begin to hear voices. First, you will think that they are imaginary. Later, you will discover that they are
voices of people from your past, present, and future, all of them participating with you in the remembrance of time.
This exercise should be performed only when you already know the voice of your messenger.
Do this exercise for ten minutes at a time. ~ Paulo Coelho,#NFDB
1468:The modern Berkshire Hathaway that he had created churned out new beads for the rosary almost like a clockwork. Buffett’s hunt for things to buy had become more ambitious, free of the cigar butts and lawsuits of the decades before. The great engine of compounding worked as a servant on his behalf, at exponential speed and under the gathering approval of a public gaze. The method was the same: estimate an investment’s intrinsic value, handicap its risk, buy using margin of safety, concentrate, stay in the circle of competence, let it roll as compounding did the work. Anyone could understand these simple ideas, but few could execute them. Even though Buffett made the process look effortless, the technique and discipline underlying it actually did involve an enormous amount of work for him and his employees. As ~ Alice Schroeder, #NFDB
1469:The cultural and political backgrounds of the two sides diverge in important aspects. The American approach to policy is pragmatic; China’s is conceptual. America has never had a powerful threatening neighbor; China has never been without a powerful adversary on its borders. Americans hold that every problem has a solution; Chinese think that each solution is an admission ticket to a new set of problems. Americans seek an outcome responding to immediate circumstances; Chinese concentrate on evolutionary change. Americans outline an agenda of practical “deliverable” items; Chinese set out general principles and analyze where they will lead. Chinese thinking is shaped in part by Communism but embraces a traditionally Chinese way of thought to an increasing extent; neither is intuitively familiar to Americans. China ~ Henry Kissinger, #NFDB
1470:The parliamentary democracy we have adopted involves the British perversity of electing a legislature to form an executive: this has created a unique breed of legislator, largely unqualified to legislate, who has sought election only in order to wield (or influence) executive power. It has produced governments obliged to focus more on politics than on policy or performance. It has distorted the voting preferences of an electorate that knows which individuals it wants but not necessarily which policies. It has spawned parties that are shifting alliances of individual interests rather than the vehicles of coherent sets of ideas. It has forced governments to concentrate less on governing than on staying in office, and obliged them to cater to the lowest common denominator of their coalitions. It is time for a change. ~ Shashi Tharoor, #NFDB
1471:it’s rare to see a family-run media business with deep pride in its independence and a journalistic tradition that has survived over half a dozen generations. Such businesses are now part of conglomerates whose obligations involve meeting Wall Street’s expectations rather than the Founders’ expectations of the requisite for a well-informed citizenry. Now that the conglomerates can dominate the expressions of opinion that flood the minds of the citizenry and selectively choose the ideas that are amplified so loudly as to drown out others that, whatever their validity, do not have wealthy patrons, the result is a de facto coup d’état overthrowing the rule of reason. Greed and wealth now allocate power in our society, and that power is used in turn to further increase and concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few. ~ Al Gore, #NFDB
1472:AM YOUR STRENGTH AND SHIELD. I plan out each day and have it ready for you long before you arise from bed. I also provide the strength you need each step of the way. Instead of assessing your energy level and wondering about what’s on the road ahead, concentrate on staying in touch with Me. My Power flows freely into you through our open communication. Refuse to waste energy worrying, and you will have strength to spare. Whenever you start to feel afraid, remember that I am your Shield. But unlike inanimate armor, I am always alert and active. My Presence watches over you continually, protecting you from both known and unknown dangers. Entrust yourself to My watchcare, which is the best security system available. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. PSALM 28:7; MATTHEW 6:34; PSALM 56:3–4; GENESIS 28:15 ~ Sarah Young, #NFDB
1473:And I love you,” she said softly. He was utterly still. Even his breathing stopped for a moment. He knew he was unresponsive for too long, then he gently lowered his lips to hers and in a solemn whisper he said, “I love you, too, with my whole heart. I wondered if you were ever going to say it.” “I don’t know if loving me is one of your smarter moves,” she whispered. “It’s like trouble follows me wherever I go.” “Not anymore, Ellie. From now on, it’ll only be the good stuff. For the rest of our lives together, only the good stuff.” “Right now I’ll try to concentrate on good stuff for one more day, maybe one more week. I’m afraid to think any further ahead than that.” “I understand, but I want you to know that I’m thinking lots further. And, honey, I don’t see any dark clouds. Maybe pretty soon you’ll forget to be afraid….” She ~ Robyn Carr, #NFDB
1474:People were differentiated by this substance, which was called nganon. Nganon was a concentrate which was defined in each person by nurture and circumstance. She believed that she and a certain few others were not of the same nganon as the rest of Earth's people. At first Deborah had thought that it was only she who was set apart from human kind, but others of the un-dead on D ward seemed to be tainted as she was. All of her life, herself and all her possessions had been imbued with her essence, the poisonous nganon. She had never lent her clothes or books or pencils, or let anyone touch any of her things, and she had often borrowed or stolen from other children at school or camp, delighting, until their stolen nganon wore off them, in the health and purity and grace of the possessions. ~ Joanne Greenberg, #NFDB
1475:The secular world is the world of history as made by human beings. Human agency is subject to investigation and analysis, which it is the mission of understanding to apprehend, criticize, influence, and judge. Above all, critical thought does not submit to state power or to commands to join in the ranks marching against one or another approved enemy. Rather than the manufactured clash of civilizations, we need to concentrate on the slow working together of cultures that overlap, borrow from each other, and live together in far more interesting ways than any abridged or inauthentic mode of understanding can allow. But for that kind of wider perception we need time and patient and skeptical inquiry, supported by faith in communities of interpretation that are difficult to sustain in a world demanding instant action and reaction. ~ Edward W Said, #NFDB
1476:And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret—concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it. The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also. They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here, there and everywhere. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is all wrong. I tell you “put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” Look round you and take notice; men who do that do not often fail. It is easy to watch and carry the one basket. It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country. ~ Gary Keller, #NFDB
1477:If you can cut yourself—your mind—free of what other
people do and say, of what you’ve said or done, of the things
that you’re afraid will happen, the impositions of the body
that contains you and the breath within, and what the whirling
chaos sweeps in from outside, so that the mind is freed from
fate, brought to clarity, and lives life on its own recognizance
—doing what’s right, accepting what happens, and speaking
the truth—
If you can cut free of impressions that cling to the mind,
free of the future and the past—can make yourself, as
Empedocles says, “a sphere rejoicing in its perfect
stillness,” and concentrate on living what can be lived
(which means the present) . . . then you can spend the time
you have left in tranquillity. And in kindness. And at peace
with the spirit within you. ~ Marcus Aurelius,#NFDB
1478:The officers saw an opportunity for efficiency; you can get the same protection with less armor if you concentrate the armor on the places with the greatest need, where the planes are getting hit the most. But exactly how much more armor belonged on those parts of the plane? That was the answer they came to Wald for. It wasn’t the answer they got. The armor, said Wald, doesn’t go where the bullet holes are. It goes where the bullet holes aren’t: on the engines. Wald’s insight was simply to ask: where are the missing holes? The ones that would have been all over the engine casing, if the damage had been spread equally all over the plane? Wald was pretty sure he knew. The missing bullet holes were on the missing planes. The reason planes were coming back with fewer hits to the engine is that planes that got hit in the engine weren’t coming back. ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1479:The most recent writers on genius, creativity’s greatest manifestation, agree that it can appear at any point in the life cycle, not just in childhood. They reject the nineteenth-century romantic belief that it exists only in a small set of heroic people. They find three factors key to what they see as a more general phenomenon. First is a grandiose and mystical sense of the world, what Einstein called “cosmic religiosity.” Such an elevated mood can appear in the hypomanic phase of the up-down cycle of someone with a bipolar disorder, as depression lifts and elation appears. The second element of genius is an ability to concentrate obsessively on a goal and to strive for perfection in reaching it. The third element is a resonance to one’s historical era, being in sync with current ideals, living when one’s gift or invention can be appreciated.5 ~ Lois W Banner, #NFDB
1480:You can achieve excellent control of the heart. But I never practiced it violently, never strained myself. I think holding for 16 is too long. I used to do it simply like this: breathe in very slowly to the count of 4, then hold for 4 like this (I still have the knack of it!), lifting the diaphragm and lowering the head56 (Mother bends her neck), closing everything and exerting pressure (this is an almost instantaneous cure for hiccups – it's handy!). Then while I held the air, I would make it circulate with the force (because it contained force, you see) and with the peace as well; and I would concentrate it wherever there was a physical disorder (a pain or something wrong somewhere). It's very effective. The way I did it was: inhale, hold, exhale and empty – you are completely empty. It's very useful; very handy for underwater swimmers, for instance! ~ Anonymous, #NFDB
1481:That second man has his own way of looking at things; asks himself which debt must I pay first, the debt to the rich, or the debt to the poor? the debt of money, or the debt of thought to mankind, of genius to nature? For you, O broker! there is no other principle but arithmetic. For me, commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred; nor can I detach one duty, like you, from all other duties, and concentrate my forces mechanically on the payment of moneys. Let me live onward; you shall find that, though slower, the progress of my character will liquidate all these debts without injustice to higher claims. If a man should dedicate himself to the payment of notes, would not this be injustice? Does he owe no debt but money? And are all claims on him to be postponed to a landlord's or a banker's? ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, #NFDB
1482:From childhood I was compelled to concentrate attention upon myself. This caused me much suffering, but to my present view, it was a blessing in disguise for it has taught me to appreciate the inestimable value of introspection in the preservation of life, as well as a means of achievement. The pressure of occupation and the incessant stream of impressions pouring into our consciousness through all the gateways of knowledge make modern existence hazardous in many ways. Most persons are so absorbed in the contemplation of the outside world that they are wholly oblivious to what is passing on within themselves. The premature death of millions is primarily traceable to this cause. Even among those who exercise care, it is a common mistake to avoid imaginary, and ignore the real dangers. And what is true of an individual also applies, more or less, to a people as a whole. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
1483:You are going to have a nasty scar," I said as I gently held pressure to stop the bleeding.
"All true warriors wear their scars proudly," he mumbled. "How can I be proud of this one?"
I looked up at him, horrified, as I realized what he meant. "What will your parents say?" I would be sent to Siberia. My whole family would be exiled. If not executed.
He shook his head. "They will know about the count before too long. My father will think that I failed to protect the public from this danger. It is I who fear being sent to Siberia."
"But...wait. I didn't express my fears out loud, did I?" I dropped his arm and backed away, suddenly spooked by his silvery faerie eyes. "Can you read my thoughts?"
"Sometimes, when I concentrate." He winced and grabbed the bandage from me to apply pressure to the bleeding himself. "You are very easy to read. Most of the time. ~ Robin Bridges,#NFDB
1484:The underlying reason why this transition was piecemeal is that food production systems evolved as a result of the accumulation of many separate decisions about allocating time and effort. Foraging humans, like foraging animals, have only finite time and energy, which they can spend in various ways. We can picture an incipient farmer waking up and asking: Shall I spend today hoeing my garden (predictably yielding a lot of vegetables several months from now), gathering shellfish (predictably yielding a little meat today), or hunting deer (yielding possibly a lot of meat today, but more likely nothing)? Human and animal foragers are constantly prioritizing and making effort-allocation decisions, even if only unconsciously. They concentrate first on favorite foods, or ones that yield the highest payoff. If these are unavailable, they shift to less and less preferred foods. ~ Jared Diamond, #NFDB
1485:J. Robertson McQuilkin...was once approached by an elderly lady facing the trials of old age. Her body was in decline, her beauty being replaced by thinning hair, wrinkles and skin discoloration. She could no longer do the things she once could, and she felt herself to be a burden on others. “Robertson, why does God let us get old and weak? Why must I hurt so?” she asked.
After a few moments’ thought McQuilkin replied, “I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty which is forever. It makes us more eager to leave behind the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave! ~ Philip Yancey,#NFDB
1486:We should rest content with nothing, however good it may seem or be, so that, when we find ourselves under pressure or constraint, it will be apparent that we are more worked than working, and so that we may learn to enter into a relationship of cooperation with our God. It is not that we should abandon, neglect or deny our inner self, but we should learn to work precisely in it, with it and from it in such a way that interiority turns into effective action and effective action leads back to interiority and we become used to acting without any compulsion. For we should concentrate on this inner prompting, and act from it, whether through reading or praying or – if it is fitting – some form of external activity. Though if the external activity destroys the internal one, we should give priority to the latter. But if both are united as one, then that is best for cooperating with God. ~ Meister Eckhart, #NFDB
1487:Because I can’t imagine living another day of my life without you in it. You made me fall in love with you.”
That last small distance disappeared as his strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close with achingly gentle care. “I’d say that’s only fair. Because you made me love you, first.”
“Not true. I loved you first, because you’re sneaky that way.”
He smiled against her hair. “You know, we could argue about this until the day we die.”
“If that’s how long it takes, so be it.”
“I’m up for it.”
Her hand trailed below the sheet. “I’m guessing that’s not all you’re up for,” she said with a grin.
He laughed. “I’m a born multitasker.”
Lena drew him in for a kiss. “It’s been a long day. How about we concentrate on one task at a time?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sandor looked over her, gold flecks twinkling in his eyes. “You will have my undivided attention. ~ Alexis Morgan,#NFDB
1488:Once I asked Maharajji how it is possible for a man to remember God all the time. He told me the story of Narada (the celestial sage) and the butcher: Vishnu (one of the aspects of God) was always praising the butcher and Narada wondered why, since the butcher was always occupied and Narada spent twenty-four hours a day praising Vishnu. Vishnu gave Narada the task of carrying a bowl of oil, full to the brim, up to the top of a mountain, without spilling a drop. The task completed, Vishnu asked how many times Narada remembered Vishnu. Narada asked how that would be possible, since he had to concentrate on carrying the bowl and climbing the mountain. Vishnu sent Narada to the butcher and the butcher said that as he works he is always remembering God. Maharajji said then, “Whatever outer work you must do, do it; but train your mind in such a way that in your subconscious mind you remember God. ~ Ram Dass, #NFDB
1489:It had been communicated to me through the odd, secret whispers of women that a female’s nose must never shine. In war, in famine, in fire, it had to be matte, and no one got a lipstick without the requisite face powder. … I was taunted by the problem: how could someone write something like the ‘Symposium’ and make sure her nose did not shine at the same time? It didn’t matter to me that I was reading a translation. I’d read Plato’s brilliant, dense prose and not be able to tear myself away. Even as a reader my nose shined. It was clearly either/or. You had to concentrate on either one or the other. In a New York minute, the oil from Saudi Arabia could infiltrate your house and end up on your nose. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t make noise, it didn’t incapacitate in any way except for the fact that no girl worth her salt took enough time away from vigilance to read a book let alone write one. ~ Andrea Dworkin, #NFDB
1490:Stress physiologists have found a biological explanation for this phenomenon as well. The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical in self-regulatory activities of all kinds, both emotional and cognitive. As a result, children who grow up in stressful environments generally find it harder to concentrate, harder to sit still, harder to rebound from disappointments, and harder to follow directions. And that has a direct effect on their performance in school. When you’re overwhelmed by uncontrollable impulses and distracted by negative feelings, it’s hard to learn the alphabet. And in fact, when kindergarten teachers are surveyed about their students, they say that the biggest problem they face is not children who don’t know their letters and numbers; it is kids who don’t know how to manage their tempers or calm themselves down after a provocation. ~ Paul Tough, #NFDB
1491:Your three components: body, breath, mind. Two are yours in trust; to the third alone you have clear title. If you can cut yourself—your mind—free of what other people do and say, of what you’ve said or done, of the things that you’re afraid will happen, the impositions of the body that contains you and the breath within, and what the whirling chaos sweeps in from outside, so that the mind is freed from fate, brought to clarity, and lives life on its own recognizance—doing what’s right, accepting what happens, and speaking the truth— If you can cut free of impressions that cling to the mind, free of the future and the past—can make yourself, as Empedocles says, “a sphere rejoicing in its perfect stillness,” and concentrate on living what can be lived (which means the present) . . . then you can spend the time you have left in tranquillity. And in kindness. And at peace with the spirit within you. ~ Marcus Aurelius, #NFDB
1492:Dickey on Capote
This small childlike individual, this self-styled, self-made, self-taught country boy—what did he teach himself? To concentrate: to close out, and close in: to close with. His writing came, first, from a great and very real interest in many things and people, and then from a peculiar frozen detachment that he practiced as one might practice the piano, or a foot position in ballet. Cultivated in this manner, his powers of absorption in a subject became very nearly absolute, and his memory was already remarkable, particularly in its re-creation of small details. He possessed to an unusual degree this ability to encapsulate himself with his subject, whatever or whoever it might be, so that nothing else existed except him and the other; and then he, himself, would begin to fade away and words would appear in his place: words concerning the subject, as though it were dictating itself. ~ James Dickey,#NFDB
1493:Instead of focusing on getting more resources, tipping point leaders concentrate on multiplying the value of the resources they have. When it comes to scarce resources, there are three factors of disproportionate influence that executives can leverage to dramatically free resources, on the one hand, and multiply the value of resources, on the other. These are hot spots, cold spots, and horse trading. Hot spots are activities that have low resource input but high potential performance gains. In contrast, cold spots are activities that have high resource input but low performance impact. In every organization, hot spots and cold spots typically abound. Horse trading involves trading your unit’s excess resources in one area for another unit’s excess resources to fill remaining resource gaps. By learning to use their current resources right, companies often find they can tip the resource hurdle outright. What ~ W Chan Kim, #NFDB
1494:Personally, I am far from convinced that the British system is suited to India. The parliamentary democracy we have adopted involves the British perversity of electing a legislature to form an executive: this has created a unique breed of legislator, largely unqualified to legislate, who has sought election only in order to wield (or influence) executive power. It has produced governments obliged to focus more on politics than on policy or performance. It has distorted the voting preferences of an electorate that knows which individuals it wants but not necessarily which policies. It has spawned parties that are shifting alliances of individual interests rather than the vehicles of coherent sets of ideas. It has forced governments to concentrate less on governing than on staying in office, and obliged them to cater to the lowest common denominator of their coalitions. It is time for a change. Pluralist ~ Shashi Tharoor, #NFDB
1495:Then I instinctively commenced to make excursions beyond the limits of the small world of which I had knowledge, and I saw new scenes. These were at first very blurred and indistinct, and would flit away when I tried to concentrate my attention upon them, but by and by I succeeded in fixing them; they gained in strength and distinctness and finally assumed the concreteness of real things. I soon discovered that my best comfort was attained if I simply went on in my vision farther and farther, getting new impressions all the time, and so I began to travel—of course, in my mind. Every night (and sometimes during the day), when alone, I would start on my journeys—see new places, cities and countries—live there, meet people and make friendships and acquaintances and, however unbelievable, it is a fact that they were just as dear to me as those in actual life and not a bit less intense in their manifestations. ~ Nikola Tesla, #NFDB
1496:Blindness to larger contexts is a constitutional defect of human thinking imposed by the painful necessity of being able to concentrate on only one thing at a time. We forget as we virtuously concentrate on that one thing that hundreds of other things are going on at the same time and on every side of us, things that are just as important as the object of our study and that are all interconnected in ways that we cannot even guess. Sad to say, our picture of the world to the degree to which it has that neatness, precision, and finality so coveted by scholarship is a false one.
I once studied with a famous professor who declared that he deliberately avoided the study of any literature east of Greece lest the new vision destroy the architectonic perfection of his own celebrated construction of the Greek mind. His picture of that mind was immensely impressive but, I strongly suspect, completely misleading. ~ Hugh Nibley,#NFDB
1497:Once Reagan was elected, the Republican strategy had two components. The first was to build from the bottom up, getting the party rooted so it could win state and local elections, then congressional elections, then the presidency. When it comes to the presidency, liberal Democrats have daddy issues, even when their candidate is a woman. Rather than concentrate on the daily task of winning over people at the local level, they have concentrated on the national media and invested their energies in trying to win the presidency every four years. And once they do, they expect Daddy to solve all the country's problems, oblivious to the fact that without support in Congress and the states a president under our system can accomplish very little. And so they are perpetually dissatisfied with their presidents and snipe at them from the left, which is the last thing a Democratic president in the current environment needs. ~ Mark Lilla, #NFDB
1498:I would fix my eyes, without limit of time, upon the trunk of a distant tree, from behind which she must appear and spring towards me; my closest scrutiny left the horizon barren as before; night was falling; without any hope now would I concentrate my attention, as though to force up out of it the creatures which it must conceal, upon that sterile soil, that stale and outworn land; and it was no longer in lightness of heart, but with sullen anger that I aimed blows at the trees of Roussainville wood, from among which no more living creatures made their appearance than if they had been trees painted on the stretched canvas background of a panorama, when, unable to resign myself to having to return home without having held in my arms the woman I so greatly desired, I was yet obliged to retrace my steps towards Combray, and to admit to myself that the chance of her appearing in my path grew smaller every moment. ~ Marcel Proust, #NFDB
1499:Festivals and fasts are unhinged, traveling backward at a rate of ten days per year, attached to no season. Even Laylat ul Qadr, the holiest night in Ramadan, drifts--its precise date is unknown. The iconclasm laid down by Muhammed was absolute: you must resist attachment not only to painted images, but to natural ones. Ramadan, Muharram, the Eids; you associate no religious event with the tang of snow in the air, or spring thaw, or the advent of summer. God permeates these things--as the saying goes, Allah is beautiful, and He loves beauty--but they are transient. Forced to concentrate on the eternal, you begin to see, or think you see, the bones and sinews of the world beneath its seasonal flesh. The sun and moon become formidable clockwork. They are transient also, but hint at the dark planes that stretch beyond the earth in every direction, full of stars and dust, toward a retreating, incomprehensible edge ~ G Willow Wilson, #NFDB
1500:If you were doing a technique that said, “Concentrate on the out-breath, have one hundred percent attention on the out-breath” (and there are techniques like that which are very beneficial), that would be cultivating precision, but not gentleness. But since this technique is ripening not only precision, but also gentleness, the instruction is that there is only twenty-five percent awareness on the out-breath, which is really very little. The truth of the matter is that if you are concentrating on the out-breath and only on the out-breath, you’re not being aware of the person next to you, of the lights going on and off, of the sound of the ocean. However, in this technique, because your eyes are open and because the gaze is not a tight gaze and because the whole emphasis of the practice is one of openness, even though you’re mindful of the out-breath, you’re not shutting out all the other things that are going on. ~ Pema Ch dr n, #NFDB
576 Integral Yoga
47 Yoga
43 Occultism
39 Christianity
25 Philosophy
16 Psychology
12 Hinduism
12 Education
11 Science
11 Fiction
9 Integral Theory
8 Poetry
3 Theosophy
2 Mythology
1 Thelema
1 Cybernetics
1 Baha i Faith
1 Alchemy
359 The Mother
250 Sri Aurobindo
218 Satprem
88 Nolini Kanta Gupta
21 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
20 Aleister Crowley
17 Swami Krishnananda
17 Plotinus
16 Sri Ramakrishna
13 A B Purani
12 Swami Vivekananda
11 H P Lovecraft
11 Carl Jung
6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
5 Nirodbaran
5 George Van Vrekhem
5 Aldous Huxley
4 Saint Teresa of Avila
4 Franz Bardon
3 Walt Whitman
3 Vyasa
3 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
3 Rudolf Steiner
3 Peter J Carroll
3 Patanjali
3 Jordan Peterson
3 James George Frazer
3 Alice Bailey
2 Thubten Chodron
2 Saint John of Climacus
2 Robert Browning
2 R Buckminster Fuller
2 Joseph Campbell
2 Henry David Thoreau
55 The Synthesis Of Yoga
42 Record of Yoga
28 Agenda Vol 10
26 Letters On Yoga IV
25 Letters On Yoga II
24 The Life Divine
24 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
24 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
24 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
20 Agenda Vol 03
20 Agenda Vol 02
20 Agenda Vol 01
19 Questions And Answers 1956
19 Agenda Vol 08
18 Agenda Vol 09
18 Agenda Vol 04
17 The Study and Practice of Yoga
17 Questions And Answers 1954
16 Agenda Vol 11
15 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
15 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
15 Questions And Answers 1953
13 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
13 Agenda Vol 05
12 Some Answers From The Mother
12 On Education
11 Questions And Answers 1955
11 Lovecraft - Poems
11 Agenda Vol 13
10 Talks
10 Magick Without Tears
10 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
10 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
9 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
9 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
9 Raja-Yoga
9 Liber ABA
9 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
9 Agenda Vol 12
8 Words Of The Mother II
8 The Phenomenon of Man
8 The Human Cycle
8 The Future of Man
8 Prayers And Meditations
8 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
7 Words Of Long Ago
7 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
7 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 02
7 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
7 Essays On The Gita
7 Agenda Vol 07
7 Agenda Vol 06
5 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
5 The Perennial Philosophy
5 Preparing for the Miraculous
5 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 04
5 Mysterium Coniunctionis
5 Letters On Poetry And Art
5 Isha Upanishad
4 Words Of The Mother III
4 Letters On Yoga III
4 Letters On Yoga I
4 Essays Divine And Human
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 06
3 Whitman - Poems
3 Vishnu Purana
3 The Practice of Psycho therapy
3 The Practice of Magical Evocation
3 The Golden Bough
3 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
3 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 01
3 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
3 On the Way to Supermanhood
3 Maps of Meaning
3 Liber Null
3 Let Me Explain
3 Kena and Other Upanishads
3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
3 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
3 Amrita Gita
2 Walden
2 Vedic and Philological Studies
2 The Way of Perfection
2 The Secret Doctrine
2 The Ladder of Divine Ascent
2 The Interior Castle or The Mansions
2 The Hero with a Thousand Faces
2 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
2 Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking
2 Savitri
2 Plotinus - Complete Works Vol 03
2 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
2 Hymn of the Universe
2 How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator
2 Browning - Poems
2 A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah
2 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2E
00.01 - The Mother on Savitri, #Sweet Mother - Harmonies of Light, #unset, #Zen
But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.
Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate on Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs. For him who wishes to follow this path, it is a concrete help as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every question, however personal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds its solution herein; indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.
--
My child, every day you are going to read Savitri; read properly, with the right attitude, concentrating a little before opening the pages and trying to keep the mind as empty as possible, absolutely without a thought. The direct road is through the heart. I tell you, if you try to really concentrate with this aspiration you can light the flame, the psychic flame, the flame of purification in a very short time, perhaps in a few days. What you cannot do normally, you can do with the help of Savitri. Try and you will see how very different it is, how new, if you read with this attitude, with this something at the back of your consciousness; as though it were an offering to Sri Aurobindo. You know it is charged, fully charged with consciousness; as if Savitri were a being, a real guide. I tell you, whoever, wanting to practice Yoga, tries sincerely and feels the necessity for it, will be able to climb with the help of Savitri to the highest rung of the ladder of Yoga, will be able to find the secret that Savitri represents. And this without the help of a Guru. And he will be able to practice it anywhere. For him Savitri alone will be the guide, for all that he needs he will find Savitri. If he remains very quiet when before a difficulty, or when he does not know where to turn to go forward and how to overcome obstacles, for all these hesitations and incertitudes which overwhelm us at every moment, he will have the necessary indications, and the necessary concrete help. If he remains very calm, open, if he aspires sincerely, always he will be as if lead by the hand. If he has faith, the will to give himself and essential sincerity he will reach the final goal.
Indeed, Savitri is something concrete, living, it is all replete, packed with consciousness, it is the supreme knowledge above all human philosophies and religions. It is the spiritual path, it is Yoga, Tapasya, Sadhana, everything, in its single body. Savitri has an extraordinary power, it gives out vibrations for him who can receive them, the true vibrations of each stage of consciousness. It is incomparable, it is truth in its plenitude, the Truth Sri Aurobindo brought down on the earth. My child, one must try to find the secret that Savitri represents, the prophetic message Sri Aurobindo reveals there for us. This is the work before you, it is hard but it is worth the trouble. - 5 November 1967
00.04 - The Beautiful in the Upanishads, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
And what else is the true character, the soul of beauty than light and delight? "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." And a thing of joy is a thing of light. Joy is the radiance rippling over a thing of beauty. Beauty is always radiant: the charm, the loveliness of an object is but the glow of light that it emanates. And it would not be a very incorrect mensuration to measure the degree of beauty by the degree of light radiated. The diamond is not only a thing of value, but a thing of beauty also, because of the concentrated and undimmed light that it enshrines within itself. A dark, dull and dismal thing, devoid of interest and attraction becomes aesthetically precious and significant as soon as the artist presents it in terms of the values of light. The entire art of painting is nothing but the expression of beauty, in and through the modalities of light.
And where there is light, there is cheer and joy. Rasamaya and jyotirmayaare thus the two conjoint characteristics fundamental to the nature of the ultimate reality. Sometimes these two are named as the 'solar and the lunar aspect. The solar aspect refers obviously to the Light, that is to say, to the Truth; the lunar aspect refers to the rasa (Soma), to Immortality, to Beauty proper,
--
The perception of beauty in the Upanishadic consciousness is something elemental-of concentrated essence. It silhouettes the main contour, outlines the primordial gestures. Pregnant and pulsating with the burden of beauty, the mantra here reduces its external expression to a minimum. The body is bare and unadorned, and even in its nakedness, it has not the emphatic and vehement musculature of an athlete; rather it tends to be slim and slender and yet vibrant with the inner nervous vigour and glow. What can be more bare and brief and full to the brim of a self-gathered luminous energy than, for example:
yat prena na praiti yena pra
000 - Humans in Universe, #Synergetics - Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, #R Buckminster Fuller, #Science
cunning, and selfishness. Intellectual cunning has concentrated on how to divorcemoney from true life-support wealth; second, cunning has learned how to make
money with money by making it scarce. As of the 1970s muscle, guns, and
0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
Hardly had he crossed the threshold of the Kali temple when he found himself again in the whirlwind. His madness reappeared tenfold. The same meditation and prayer, the same ecstatic moods, the same burning sensation, the same weeping, the same sleeplessness, the same indifference to the body and the outside world, the same divine delirium. He subjected himself to fresh disciplines in order to eradicate greed and lust, the two great impediments to spiritual progress. With a rupee in one hand and some earth in the other, he would reflect on the comparative value of these two for the realization of God, and finding them equally worthless he would toss them, with equal indifference, into the Ganges. Women he regarded as the manifestations of the Divine Mother. Never even in a dream did he feel the impulses of lust. And to root out of his mind the idea of caste superiority, he cleaned a pariahs house with his long and neglected hair. When he would sit in meditation, birds would perch on his head and peck in his hair for grains of food. Snakes would crawl over his body, and neither would be aware of the other. Sleep left him altogether. Day and night, visions flitted before him. He saw the sannyasi who had previously killed the "sinner" in him again coming out of his body, threatening him with the trident, and ordering him to concentrate on God. Or the same sannyasi would visit distant places, following a luminous path, and bring him reports of what was happening there. Sri Ramakrishna used to say later that in the case of an advanced devotee the mind itself becomes the guru, living and moving like an embodied being.
Rani Rasmani, the foundress of the temple garden, passed away in 1861. After her death her son-in-law Mathur became the sole executor of the estate. He placed himself and his resources at the disposal of Sri Ramakrishna and began to look after his physical comfort. Sri Ramakrishna later spoke of him as one of his five "suppliers of stores" appointed by the Divine Mother. Whenever a desire arose in his mind, Mathur fulfilled it without hesitation.
--
Totapuri asked the disciple to withdraw his mind from all objects of the relative world, including the gods and goddesses, and to concentrate on the Absolute. But the task was not easy even for Sri Ramakrishna. He found it impossible to take his mind beyond Kali, the Divine Mother of the Universe. "After the initiation", Sri Ramakrishna once said, describing the event, "Nangta began to teach me the various conclusions of the Advaita Vedanta and asked me to withdraw the mind completely from all objects and dive deep into the Atman. But in spite of all my attempts I could not altogether cross the realm of name and form and bring my mind to the unconditioned state. I had no difficulty in taking the mind from all the objects of the world. But the radiant and too familiar figure of the Blissful Mother, the Embodiment of the essence of Pure Consciousness, appeared before me as a living reality. Her bewitching smile prevented me from passing into the Great Beyond. Again and again I tried, but She stood in my way every time. In despair I said to Nangta: 'It is hopeless. I cannot raise my mind to the unconditioned state and come face to face with Atman.' He grew excited and sharply said: 'What? You can't do it? But you have to.' He cast his eyes around. Finding a piece of glass he took it up and stuck it between my eyebrows. ' concentrate the mind on this point!' he thundered. Then with stern determination I again sat to meditate. As soon as the gracious form of the Divine Mother appeared before me, I used my discrimination as a sword and with it clove Her in two. The last barrier fell. My spirit at once soared beyond the relative plane and I lost myself in samadhi."
Sri Ramakrishna remained completely absorbed in samadhi for three days. "Is it really true?" Totapuri cried out in astonishment. "Is it possible that he has attained in a single day what it took me forty years of strenuous practice to achieve? Great God! It is nothing short of a miracle!" With the help of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna's mind finally came down to the relative plane.
--
About this time Totapuri was suddenly laid up with a severe attack of dysentery. On account of this miserable illness he found it impossible to meditate. One night the pain became excruciating. He could no longer concentrate on Brahman. The body stood in the way. He became incensed with its demands. A free soul, he did not at all care for the body. So he determined to drown it in the Ganges. Thereupon he walked into the river. But, lo! He walks to the other bank." (This version of the incident is taken from the biography of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Saradananda, one of the Master's direct disciples.) Is there not enough water in the Ganges? Standing dumbfounded on the other bank he looks back across the water. The trees, the temples, the houses, are silhouetted against the sky. Suddenly, in one dazzling moment, he sees on all sides the presence of the Divine Mother. She is in everything; She is everything. She is in the water; She is on land. She is the body; She is the mind. She is pain; She is comfort. She is knowledge; She is ignorance. She is life; She is death. She is everything that one sees, hears, or imagines. She turns "yea" into "nay", and "nay" into "yea". Without Her grace no embodied being can go beyond Her realm. Man has no free will. He is not even free to die. Yet, again, beyond the body and mind She resides in Her Transcendental, Absolute aspect. She is the Brahman that Totapuri had been worshipping all his life.
Totapuri returned to Dakshineswar and spent the remaining hours of the night meditating on the Divine Mother. In the morning he went to the Kali temple with Sri Ramakrishna and prostrated himself before the image of the Mother. He now realized why he had spent eleven months at Dakshineswar. Bidding farewell to the disciple, he continued on his way, enlightened.
0.00 - The Book of Lies Text, #The Book of Lies, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
The Adept concentrates the Microcosm in Tiphareth,
recognising an Unity, even in the microcosm, but, qua
0.02 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You must be calm and concentrated, never utter an unnecessary
sentence and have faith in the divine help.
--
I concentrate on Mother, ask Her to guide me and find
the solution. This is not unusual. It has happened several
0.03 - Letters to My little smile, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
all the divine forces were to concentrate on you, it would be in
vain - you would refuse to receive them.
--
It means the consciousness that is not filled with the activities and influences of ordinary life, but is concentrated in an
aspiration towards the divine light, force, knowledge, joy.
--
receiving Sri Aurobindo's blessing, it is better to remain concentrated and to keep one's joy locked inside oneself rather than to
throw it out by mixing and talking with others. The experiences
--
I have noticed that when I am concentrated, or
rather when I try to concentrate, I cannot smile at anyone and if I try to smile I feel as if I were smiling
superficially.
--
It is very good to remain silent and concentrated in your aspiration; and I am sure that if you keep a deep affection for X in your
heart, she will feel it and will no longer be sad. But, of course,
--
you should concentrate in the inner being, which has a life
independent of the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).
0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
The mental life concentrates on the aesthetic, the ethical and the intellectual activities. Essential mentality is idealistic and a seeker after perfection. The subtle self, the brilliant Atman,1 is ever a dreamer. A dream of perfect beauty, perfect conduct, perfect Truth, whether seeking new forms of the Eternal or revitalising the old, is the very soul of pure mentality. But it knows not how to deal with the resistance of Matter. There it is hampered and inefficient, works by bungling experiments and has either to withdraw from the struggle or submit to the grey actuality. Or else, by studying the material life and accepting the conditions of the contest, it may succeed, but only in imposing temporarily some artificial system which infinite Nature either rends and casts aside or disfigures out of recognition or by withdrawing her assent leaves as the corpse of a dead ideal. Few and far between have been those realisations of the dreamer in Man which the world has gladly accepted, looks back to with a fond memory and seeks, in its elements, to cherish.
1 Who dwells in Dream, the inly conscious, the enjoyer of abstractions, the Brilliant.
--
2 The Unified, in whom conscious thought is concentrated, who is all delight and enjoyer of delight, the Wise. . . . He is the Lord of all, the Omniscient, the inner Guide.
Mandukya Upanishad 5, 6.
--
But if Progress also is one of the chief terms of worldexistence and a progressive manifestation of the Divine the true sense of Nature, this limitation also is invalid. It is possible for the spiritual life in the world, and it is its real mission, to change the material life into its own image, the image of the Divine. Therefore, besides the great solitaries who have sought and attained their self-liberation, we have the great spiritual teachers who have also liberated others and, supreme of all, the great dynamic souls who, feeling themselves stronger in the might of the Spirit than all the forces of the material life banded together, have thrown themselves upon the world, grappled with it in a loving wrestle and striven to compel its consent to its own transfiguration. Ordinarily, the effort is concentrated on a mental and moral change in humanity, but it may extend itself also to the alteration of the forms of our life and its institutions so that they too may be a better mould for the inpourings of the Spirit. These attempts have been the supreme landmarks in the progressive development of human ideals and the divine preparation of the race. Every one of them, whatever its outward results, has left Earth more capable of Heaven and quickened in its tardy movements the evolutionary Yoga of Nature.
In India, for the last thousand years and more, the spiritual life and the material have existed side by side to the exclusion of the progressive mind. Spirituality has made terms for itself with Matter by renouncing the attempt at general progress. It has obtained from society the right of free spiritual development for all who assume some distinctive symbol, such as the garb of the Sannyasin, the recognition of that life as man's goal and those who live it as worthy of an absolute reverence, and the casting of society itself into such a religious mould that its most customary acts should be accompanied by a formal reminder of the spiritual symbolism of life and its ultimate destination. On the other hand, there was conceded to society the right of inertia and immobile self-conservation. The concession destroyed much of the value of the terms. The religious mould being fixed, the formal reminder tended to become a routine and to lose its living sense. The constant attempts to change the mould by new sects and religions ended only in a new routine or a modification of the old; for the saving element of the free and active mind had been exiled. The material life, handed over to the Ignorance, the purposeless and endless duality, became a leaden and dolorous yoke from which flight was the only escape.
--
But what Nature aims at for the mass in a slow evolution, Yoga effects for the individual by a rapid revolution. It works by a quickening of all her energies, a sublimation of all her faculties. While she develops the spiritual life with difficulty and has constantly to fall back from it for the sake of her lower realisations, the sublimated force, the concentrated method of Yoga can attain directly and carry with it the perfection of the mind and even, if she will, the perfection of the body. Nature seeks the Divine in her own symbols: Yoga goes beyond Nature to the Lord of Nature, beyond universe to the Transcendent and can return with the transcendent light and power, with the fiat of the Omnipotent.
But their aim is one in the end. The generalisation of Yoga in humanity must be the last victory of Nature over her own delays and concealments. Even as now by the progressive mind in Science she seeks to make all mankind fit for the full development of the mental life, so by Yoga must she inevitably seek to make all mankind fit for the higher evolution, the second birth, the spiritual existence. And as the mental life uses and perfects the material, so will the spiritual use and perfect the material and the mental existence as the instruments of a divine self-expression.
0.04 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
roof I concentrated the power on the bullocks ordering them to
yield and obey and I found them quite receptive. To use a quiet,
0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
Self. Hathayoga selects the body and the vital functionings as its instruments of perfection and realisation; its concern is with the gross body. Rajayoga selects the mental being in its different parts as its lever-power; it concentrates on the subtle body. The triple Path of Works, of Love and of Knowledge uses some part of the mental being, will, heart or intellect as a starting-point and seeks by its conversion to arrive at the liberating Truth,
Beatitude and Infinity which are the nature of the spiritual life.
--
By Samadhi, in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of consciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental action liberated from the confusions of the outer consciousness and passes thence to the higher supra-mental planes on which the individual soul enters into its true spiritual existence. But also it acquires the capacity of that free and concentrated energising of consciousness on
The Systems of Yoga
0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
world and concentrate on me. By turning your thoughts towards
me you will feel closer and closer to me and peace will come to
--
the repose that comes from concentrated energy.
Be sure that you will become strong and quiet, have faith in
--
The peace is there in the depths of your heart; concentrate there
and you will find it.
--
peace, a deep and luminous silence, a calm and concentrated
force, and the immutable joy that comes from a constant contact
0.06 - Letters to a Young Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There are two ways of uniting with the Divine. One is to concentrate in the heart and go deep enough to find there His Presence;
the other is to fling oneself in His arms, to nestle there as a child
--
To keep constantly a concentrated and in-gathered attitude is
more important than having fixed hours of meditation.
--
I have had the experience myself that one can be fully concentrated and be in union with the Divine even while working
physically with one's hands; but naturally this asks for a little
0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(1) concentrate your thought on the will to come and find
me; then pursue this thought, first by an effort of imagination,
--
listen to music with an intense and concentrated attention, to
the point of stopping all other noise in the head and obtaining
0.09 - Letters to a Young Teacher, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
have understood it. Talk little, remain quiet and concentrated,
and speak only when it is indispensable.
01.01 - A Yoga of the Art of Life, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Another question that troubles and perplexes the ordinary human mind is as to the time when the thing will be done. Is it now or a millennium hence or at some astronomical distance in future, like the cooling of the sun, as someone has suggested for an analogy. In view of the magnitude of the work one might with reason say that the whole eternity is there before us, and a century or even a millennium should not be grudged to such a labour for it is nothing less than an undoing of untold millenniums in the past and the building of a far-flung futurity. However, as we have said, since it is the Divine's own work and since Yoga means a concentrated and involved process of action, effectuating in a minute what would perhaps take years to accomplish in the natural course, one can expect the work to be done sooner rather than later. Indeed, the ideal is one of here and nowhere upon this earth of material existence and now in this life, in this very bodynot hereafter or elsewhere. How long exactly that will mean, depends on many factors, but a few decades on this side or the other do not matter very much.
As to the extent of realisation, we say again that that is not a matter of primary consideration. It is not the quantity but the substance that counts. Even if it were a small nucleus it would be sufficient, at least for the beginning, provided it is the real, the genuine thing
01.02 - Natures Own Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
The secret of evolution, I have said, is an urge towards the release and unfoldment of consciousness out of an apparent unconsciousness. In the early stages the movement is very slow and gradual; there it is Nature's original unconscious process. In man it acquires the possibility of a conscious and therefore swifter and concentrated process. And this is in fact the function of Yoga proper, viz, to bring about the evolution of consciousness by hastening the process of Nature through the self-conscious will of man.
An organ in the human being has been especially developed to become the effective instrument of this accelerated Yogic process the self-consciousness which I referred to as being the distinctive characteristic of man is a function of this organ. It is his soul, his psychic being; originally it is the spark of the Divine Consciousness which came down and became involved in Matter and has been endeavouring ever since to release itself through the upward march of evolution. It is this which presses on continually as the stimulus to the evolutionary movement; and in man it has attained sufficient growth and power and has come so far to the front from behind the veil that it can now lead and mould his external consciousness. It is also the channel through which the Divine Consciousness can flow down into the inferior levels of human nature. It is the being no bigger than the thumb ever seated within the heart, spoken of in the Upanishads. It is likewise the basis of true individuality and personal identity. It is again the reflection or expression in evolutionary Nature of one's essential selfjivtman that is above, an eternal portion of the Divine, one with the Divine and yet not dissolved and lost in it. The psychic being is thus on the one hand in direct contact with the Divine and the higher consciousness, and on the other it is the secret upholder and controller' (bhart, antarymin) of the inferior consciousness, the hidden nucleus round which the body and the life and the mind of the individual are built up and organised.
--
Now, with regard to the time that the present stage of evolution is likely to take for its fulfilment, one can presume that since or if the specific urge and stress has manifested and come up to the front, this very fact would show that the problem has become a problem of actuality, and even that it can be dealt with as if it had to be solved now or never. We have said that in man, with man's self-consciousness or the consciousness of the psychic being as the instrument, evolution has attained the capacity of a swift and concentrated process, which is the process of Yoga; the process will become swifter and more concentrated, the more that instrument grows and gathers power and is infused with the divine afflatus. In fact, evolution has been such a process of gradual acceleration in tempo from the very beginning. The earliest stage, for example, the stage of dead Matter, of the play of the mere chemical forces was a very, very long one; it took millions and millions of years to come to the point when the manifestation of life became possible. But the period of elementary life, as manifested in the plant world that followed, although it too lasted a good many millions of years, was much briefer than the preceding periodit ended with the advent of the first animal form. The age of animal life, again, has been very much shorter than that of the plant life before man came upon earth. And man is already more than a million or two years oldit is fully time that a higher order of being should be created out of him.
The Dhammapada, I. 1
01.02 - Sri Aurobindo - Ahana and Other Poems, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
All the tragedy, the entire pathos of human life is concentrated in this line so simple, yet so grand:
Son of man, thou hast crowned the life with the flowers that are scentless,
--
The superb and the right imperial tone instinct with a concentrated force of
Who art thou, warrior armed gloriously
01.04 - The Intuition of the Age, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
All this may be good and necessary, but there is the danger of leaving altogether out of account the one thing needful. We must then pause and turn back, look behind the apparent impulsion that effectuates to the Will that drives, behind the ideas and ideals of the mind to the soul that informs and inspires; we must carry ourselves up the stream and concentrate upon the original source, the creative intuition that lies hidden somewhere. And then only all the new stirrings that we feel in our heartour urges and ideals and visions will attain an effective clarity, an unshaken purpose and an inevitable achievement.
That is to say, the change has been in the soul of man himself, the being has veered round and taken a new orientation. It is this which one must envisage, recognise and consciously possess, in order that one may best fulfil the call of the age. But what we are doing instead is to observe the mere external signs and symbols and symptoms, to fix upon the distant quiverings, the echoes on the outermost rim, which are not always faithful representations, but very often distorted images of the truth and life at the centre and source and matrix. We must know that if there has been going on a redistribution and new-marshalling of forces, it is because the fiat has come from the Etat Major.
0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One must learn to concentrate and do all that one does with
full concentration.
--
I have noticed one thing: When I sit for a few minutes and make an effort to concentrate before going
to sleep, the next day I wake up quite early and am
quite fresh. I concentrate on the tiny luminous tip of an
"Only by perfect renunciation of desire or by perfect satisfaction of desire can the
--
instead of taking advantage of it to concentrate your efforts on
spiritual progress, you have enjoyed yourselves as much as you
--
I am trying to concentrate in the heart and to enter
deep within as You advised me to do, but in vain. The
--
One must learn to concentrate one's energies in the heart
- then, when one succeeds in that, silence comes automatically.
--
The best way of seeing us in your dreams is to concentrate on us
before going to sleep. Do you do this now as you used to before?
--
my "business" was - all I knew was that I had to concentrate on myself in order to perfect myself more and
more. Was that correct? Mother, what actually is my
--
to concentrate on the future, on the consciousness to be acquired
and on the development of the nature, which is almost unlimited
01.10 - Principle and Personality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
But, it may be asked, what is the necessity, what is the purpose in making it all a one man show? Granting that principles require personalities for their fructuation and vital functioning, what remains to be envisaged is not one personality but a plural personality, the people at large, as many individuals of the human race as can be consciously imbued with those principles. When principles are made part and parcel of, are concentrated in a single solitary personality, they get "cribbed and cabined," they are vitiated by the idiosyncrasies of the man, they come to have a narrower field of application; they are emptied of the general verities they contain and finally cease to have any effect.
The thing, however, is that what you call principles do not drop from heaven in their virgin purity and all at once lay hold of mankind en masse. It is always through a particular individual that a great principle manifests itself. Principles do not live in the general mind of man and even if they live, they live secreted and unconscious; it is only a puissant personality, who has lived the principle, that can bring it forward into life and action, can awaken, like the Vedic Dawn, what was dead in allmritam kanchana bodhayanti. Men in general are by themselves 'inert and indifferent; they have little leisure or inclination to seek, from any inner urge of their own, for principles and primal truths; they become conscious of these only when expressed and embodied in some great and rare soul. An Avatar, a Messiah or a Prophet is the centre, the focus through which a Truth and Law first dawns and then radiates and spreads abroad. The little lamps are all lighted by the sparks that the great torch scatters.
01.13 - T. S. Eliot: Four Quartets, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
Here the poet is almost grimly tense, concentrated and has not allowed himself to be dissipated by thinkings and arguments, has confined himself wholly to a living experience. That is because the poet has since then moved up and sought a more rarefied air, a more even and smooth temper. The utter and absolute poetic ring of the Inferno is difficult to maintain in the Paradiso, unless and until the poet transforms himself wholly into the Rishi, like the poet of the Gita or the Upanishads.
"East Coker"
0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
to eliminate. One should concentrate all one's effort on building up and strengthening the true consciousness, which will
automatically do the work of unifying the being.
--
feel it. But each time that we are attentive and concentrated, we
become aware of a wonderful transformation in all things.
0.12 - Letters to a Student, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One concentrates at the Samadhi to grow in devotion and
to put oneself in contact with Sri Aurobindo in order to receive
0.13 - Letters to a Student, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
If the departed one is a person one loves, one should concentrate one's love on him in peace and calm, for that is what
can most help the one who has departed.
0.14 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
to concentrate on it by making it the witness of all your inner
movements and the judge of all that you should or should not
--
with the Divine Presence. So you must concentrate in silence and
Series Fourteen - To a Sadhak
--
The aspiration to concentrate solely on this realisation.
To know how to transform all circumstances into a means
0 1955-09-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
No matter where I concentrate, in my heart, above my head, between my eyes, I bang everywhere into an unyielding wall; I no longer know which way to turn, what I must do, say, pray in order to be freed from all this at last. Mother, I know that I am not making all the effort I should, but help me to make this effort, I implore your grace. I need so much to find at last this solid rock upon which to lean, this space of light where finally I may seek refuge. Mother, open the psychic being in me, open me to your sole Light which I need so much. Without your grace, I can only turn in circles, hopelessly. O Mother, may I live in you.
Your child,
0 1957-10-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
There is no question of my abandoning the path and I remain convinced that the only goal in life is spiritual. But I need things to help me along the way: I am not yet ripe enough to depend upon inner strength alone. And when I speak of the forest or a boat, it is not only for the sake of adventure or the feeling of space, but also because they mean a discipline. Outer constraints and difficulties help me, they force me to remain concentrated around that which is best in me. In a sense, life here is too easy. Yet it is also too hard, for one must depend on ones own discipline I do not yet have that strength, I need to be helped by outer circumstances. The very difficulty of life in the outside world helps me to be disciplined, for it forces me to concentrate all my vital strength in effort. Here, this vital part is unemployed, so it acts foolishly, it strains at the leash.
I doubt that a new experience outside can really resolve things, but I believe it might help me make it to the next stage and consolidate my inner life. And if you wish, I would return in a year or two.
0 1958-05-10, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Thats where I am. I have renounced the uncontested authority of a god, I have renounced the unshakable calm of the sage in order to become the superman. I have concentrated everything upon that.
We shall see.
0 1958-06-06 - Supramental Ship, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
They exist simultaneously; its the same thing. When you start becoming truly conscious, you realize that it depends upon the kinds of activities you have to do. When you do a certain kind of work, it is in the heart that the Force gathers to radiate outwards, and when you do another kind of work, it is above the head that the Force concentrates to radiate outwards, but the two are not separate: the center of activity is here or there depending upon what you have to do.
As for the latest experience,1 I cant say for sure that no one has ever had it, because someone like Ramakrishna, individuals like that, could have had it. But I am not sure, for when I had this experience (not of the divine Presence, which I had already felt in the cells for a long time, but the experience that the Divine ALONE is acting in the body, that He has BECOME the body, yet all the while retaining his character of divine omniscience and omnipotence) well, the whole time it remained actively like that, it was absolutely impossible to have the LEAST disorder in the body, and not only in the body, but IN ALL THE SURROUNDING MATTER. It was as if every object obeyed without even needing to decide to obey: it was automatic. There was a divine harmony in EVERYTHING (it took place in my bathroom upstairs, certainly to demonstrate that it exists in the most trivial things), in everything, constantly. So if that is established in a permanent way, there CAN NO LONGER be illness it is impossible. There can no longer be accidents, there can no longer be illness, there can no longer be disorders, and everything should harmonize (probably in a progressive way) just as that was harmonized: all the objects in the bathroom were full of a joyful enthusiasmeverything obeyed, everything!
0 1958-09-16 - OM NAMO BHAGAVATEH, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
As soon as I sit for meditation, as soon as I have a quiet minute to concentrate, it always begins with this mantra, and there is a response in the body, in the cells of the body: they all start vibrating.
This is how it happened: Y had just returned, and he brought back a trunk full of things which he then proceeded to show me, and his excitement made tight, tight little waves in the atmosphere, making my head ache; it made anyway, it was unpleasant. When I left, just after that had happened, I sat down and went like this (gesture of sweeping out) to make it stop, and immediately the mantra began.
0 1958-10-04, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
It must be strong enough to pull me from my concentration or my activity. If I knew when you concentrate or do your puja,1 I could tune into you, and shell I would know more; otherwise, my inner life is too l am not at all passive inwardly, you see, I am very active, so I dont usually receive your vibrations unless they impose themselves strongly or unless I have decided beforeh and to be attentive to what is coming from someone or other. If I know that at a given moment something is going to happen, then I open a door, as it were. But its difficult to speak of these things.
When you left on your journey,2 for example, I made a specie! concentration for all to go well so that nothing untoward happen to you. I even made a formation and asked for a constant, special help over you. Then I renewed my concentration every day, which is how I came to notice that you were invoking me very regulary. I Saw you everyday, everyday, with a very regular precision. It was something that imposed itself on me, but it imposed itself only because l had initially made a formation to follow you.
--
The other day when I was in this state of concentration, I had the vision that I mentioned to you. I felt I was being pulled, that something was pulling me and trying to draw my attention. I felt it very strongly. So I opened my eyes, my mental eyes (the physical eyes may remain opened or closed, it makes no difference either way; when I am concentrated, things on the physical plane no longer exist), I deliberately opened the minds eyes, for that is where I felt myself being pulled, and then I had this vision I told you of. Someone was trying to draw my attention, to tell me something. It takes someone really quite powerful, with a very great power of concentration, to do thatthere are certainly a great many people here and elsewhere who try to do this, yet I dont feel a thing.3
In the outer, practical domain, I might suddenly think of someone, so I know that this person is calling or thinking of me. When you left on your trip, I created a special link-up so that if ever, at any moment, you called me for anything, I would know it instantly, and I remained attentive and alert. But I do that only in exceptional cases. Generally speaking, when I havent made this special link-up, things keep coming in and coming in and coming in and coming in, and the answer goes out automatically, here or there or there or therehundreds and hundreds of things that I dont keep in my memory because then it would really be frightful. I dont keep these things in my consciousness; it is rather a work that is done automatically.
0 1958-11-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I was VERY HAPPY with the vision, for there was a great POWER, though it was rather terrible. But it was magnificent. When I saw that, I This vision was given to me because I had concentrated with a will to find the solution, a true solution, an enduring and permanent solution that is, I had this spontaneous gratitude which goes out to the Grace when it brings some effective help. Only, what followed was interrupted by someone who came to call me and that cut it short, but it will return.
But now I KNOWbefore I did not know. The other morning I saw, and I was told very clearly that it was a karma1 to be worked out; so then I told you, but at the time I didnt know what it was.
0 1958-11-22, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
As soon as you had left, and since I was following you, I saw that nothing of the kind was going to happen, but rather something very superficial which would not be of much use. And when I received your letters and saw that you were in difficulty, I did something. There are places that are favorable for occult experiences. Benares is one of these places, the atmosphere there is filled with vibrations of occult forces, and if one has the slightest capacity, it spontaneously develops there, in the same way that a spiritual aspiration develops very strongly and spontaneously as soon as one lands in India. These are Graces. Graces, because it is the destiny of the country, it has been so throughout its history, and because India has always been turned much more towards the heights and the inner depths than towards the outer world. Now, it is in the process of losing all that and wallowing in the mud, but thats another story it was like that and it is still like that. And in fact, when you returned from Rameswaram with your robes, I saw with much satisfaction that there was still a GREAT dignity and a GREAT sincerity in this endeavor of the Sannyasis towards the higher life and in the self-giving of a certain number of people to realize this higher life. When you returned, it had become a very concrete and a very real thing that immediately commanded respect. Before, I had seen only a copy, an imitation, an hypocrisy, a pretentionnothing that was really lived. But then, I saw that it was true, that it was lived, that it was real and that it was still Indias great heritage. I dont believe it is very prevalent now, but in any case, it is still there, and as I told you, it commands respect. And then, as I felt you in difficulty and as the outer conditions were not only veiling but spoiling the inner, well, on that day I wrote you a short note I no longer recall when it was exactly, but I wrote you just a word or two, which I put in an envelope and sent you I concentrated very strongly upon those few words and sent you something. I didnt note the date, I dont remember when it was, but its likely that it happened as I wished when you were in Benares; and then you had this experience.
But when you returned the second time, from the Himalayas, you didnt have the same flame as when you returned the first time. And I understood that this kind of difficult karma still clung to you, that it had not been dissolved. I had hoped that your contact with the mountains but in a true solitude (I dont mean that your body had to be all alone, but there should not have been all kinds of outer, superficial things) Anyway, it didnt happen. So it means that the time had not come.
0 1959-01-27, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Sweet Mother, I have a kind of fear that all these mantras are not bringing me nearer to you I mean you in your physical body, for it is not upon you physically that I was told to concentrate. Also, I almost never see you in my dreams any longer, or else only very vaguely. Last night, I dreamed that I was offering you flowers (not very pretty ones), one of which was called mantra, but I did not see you in my dream. Mother, I would like to be true, to do the right thing, to be as you want me to be.
I am your child. I belong to you alone.
0 1959-05-28, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I did not utter the words that you heard I wanted to speak to you of my experience during the night, but I was paralyzed because I clearly felt that you no longer understood me. As soon as I received your letter, I concentrated on you in an effort to help you, and when night fell, just at the hour I enter into contact with X, I called for his helpwhereupon he sent me this little Kali whom he had already sent once before. So I went to your house, I took you in my arms and pressed you tightly to my heart to keep you as sheltered as possible from blows, and I let Kali do her warrior dance against this titan who is always trying to possess you, creating this rebelliousness in you. She must have at least partially succeeded in her work, because very early in the morning the titan went away somewhat discomfited, but while leaving, he flung this at me as he went by: You will regret it, for you would have had less trouble if he had left. I flung his suggestion back in his face with a laugh and told him, Take that, along with all the rest of your ugly person! I have no need of it! And the atmosphere cleared up.
I wanted to tell you all this, but I couldnt because you were still far away from me and it would have seemed like boasting. Also the misunderstanding created by the distance made you hear other words than those I uttered.
0 1960-03-03, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
And there are many, many experiences like this. It is only a small, a very small beginning. This one in particular came to mark the new stage: four years have elapsed, and now four years to come. Because everything has focused on this body to prepare it, everything has concentrated on itNature, the Master of the Yoga, the Supreme, everything So only when its over, not before, will it really be interesting to speak of all this. But maybe it will never be over, after all. Its a small beginning, very small.
The Darshan on February 29, 1960, the first anniversary of the Supramental Manifestation.
0 1960-05-24 - supramental flood, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
And during the time my experience lasted, I had no feeling of anything exceptional, but rather simply the fact that after all its preparation, the body consciousness was ready for a total identification with Thatin my consciousness its always the same, a perpetual, constant and eternal state in that it never leaves me. Its like that, and it never varies. What diminishes the immensity of the Vibration are the limitations of the material consciousness which can color it and even sometimes change it by giving it a personal appearance. Thus, when I see someone and speak to him, for example, when my eyes concentrate on the person, I have almost the sensation of this flood flowing from me towards the person or of it passing through me to go onto the person. There is an awareness of the eyes, the body. And it is this which limits or even changes a little the immensity of the thing But already this feeling has almost disappeared; this immensity seems to be acting almost constantly. There are moments when I am less interiorized, when I am more on the surface, and it feels like its passing through a bodymoments when the body consciousness comes back a little. And this is what diminishes the thing.
This experience last night also enabled me to understand what X had felt during one of our meditations. He had explained his experience by way of saying that I was this mystic tree whose roots plunge into the Supreme and whose branches spread forth over the world,3 and he said that one of these branches had entered into himand it had been a unique experience. He had said, this is the Mother.
0 1960-05-28 - death of K - the death process- the subtle physical, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
During the operation and just afterwards, I had simply put the Force on him, as I always do in such cases, so that everything would turn out for the best. Then a few days ago, during my japa, a kind of order camea very clear orderto concentrate on him so that he would be conscious of his soul and able to leave under the best conditions. And I saw that the concentration worked wonderfully: it seems that during his last days he was ceaselessly repeating Ma-Ma-Ma1even while he was in a semi-coma.
And the concentration grew stronger and stronger. The day before yesterday it became very, very powerful, and yesterday morning, around half past noon, it pulled me inward; he came to me in a kind of sleep, a conscious sleep, and I even said almost aloud, Oh, K!
0 1960-07-12 - Mothers Vision - the Voice, the ashram a tiny part of myself, the Mothers Force, sparkling white light compressed - enormous formation of negative vibrations - light in evil, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I heard the Voice and awoke with the feeling of this Power, this Light, this Force of realization concentrated here which sets everything in motion (as always, it is always the same, a Power in motion). It was a dazzling white light. But then, what I found funny was that there I was, quite in my natural state, and this, the Ashram, was a tiny, tiny part of myself. And throughout the whole experience, it remained like thata very tiny part of myself. Everything else was I cant say de concentrated, but an entirely general, overall activity, as it normally is every night. And I saw the Ashram quite clearlyit was something special, made for special reasons, but whereas I seemed to have an immense body, that was very small, very small. It went on for an hour. Thats what I found amusing; the other things just happen, and they may be interesting, but this was so spontaneous; I was watching it (I dont know where my head was), I was looking down from above so tiny, so tiny.
What was me was up above, and the Ashram was It began just here (the navel) and went that way (downwards), and it was encircled, to show that it was a special formationencircled in the inconscience of the terrestrial creation. And I was everything else, with the usual vibrations of power and light. And then one current and another current and another were passing into it, into this formation, and they kept going in and in and in, accumulating. They kept going in, and yet they did not come out, they did not leave. It was not an undulatory movement, but rather a pulsating movementit had no beginning, it didnt go out, and yet it kept moving. Its very difficult to describe.
--
It was a force with a sparkling white light at its center, the light which is the force of the Divine Mother, and as soon as it was well packed and concentrated inside, or condensed, it took on all the colorsvibrations of every color Like a materialization these colors were like a materialization of the Divine Force when it enters matter. (Just as matter is a condensation of energy, well, this seemed to be a condensation of Divine Force. Thats really the impression it gave.)
It reminded me of tantric things. I have seen tantric formations and how forces are systematically separated by themeach vibration, each color. Its very interesting. They are all one, and yet each is distinct. That is, they are separated in order to be distinguished and for each one to be used individually. Each one represents a particular action for obtaining something in particular. This is the special knowledge the tantrics have, I believe. Or its the reflection of their knowledge. And my impression is that when they do their pujas or say their mantras, what they are trying to do is recombine all that into the white light. Im not sure. I know they use each one separately for a separate purpose, but when they speak of their puja succeeding, it may mean that they have been able to recombine the light. But I say this very guardedly. For I would have to see X do his puja one day to really knowfrom afar Im not so sure. Its merely an impression.
0 1960-07-26 - Mothers vision - looking up words in the subconscient, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I woke up at three oclock (what I mean is, I came out of my nightly activities). I had an hour ahead of me before getting up. So I concentrated and went within.
I came out of the concentration at 4:10quite late. For I was VERY busy! I was in some sort of small house similar to my room, but it was at the top of a tower, for you could see the landscape from above. It was similar to my room here, with large windows. And I was much taller than I actually am, for there was a ledge below each window (there was a cupboard below each window, as in my room), and this ledge came quite low on me; in my room, it comes up to my chest, whereas it was much lower in my vision. And from there oh, what beautiful landscapes! It was surrounded by such lovely countryside! There was a flowing river, woods, sunlightoh, it was really lovely! And I was very busy looking up words in the dictionary!
0 1960-09-20, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
I felt better that night because I was concentrated, but my head was still hurting a little. Then the following day I said to myself, or rather I told him inwardly, Whether you like it or not, I am bringing down whats up above; it is the only way I can feel comfortable! And I told you what happenedas soon as I sat down I was so surprised, for he didnt start doing what he had done the day before; I myself did the same thing, I participated, so to speak, in his will (so as to find out), but with the resolve to remain consciously in contact with the highest consciousness, as always, and to bring it down. And it came in a marvelous flood. He was quite happy, he did not protest! All the pain was gone, there was nothing left, it was perfect. Only towards the end of the meditation did he again want to start doing his little trick of enclosing my physical mind in this construction, but it didnt last I watched all this from above.
And he isnt aware of this, actually, he isnt aware at all. If he were told, he would absolutely deny it for him, its an opening onto Infinity! But in fact, its always like that, we are always shut in, each of useach one is enclosed inside certain limits which he doesnt feel, for should he feel it, he would get out! Oh, I know this feeling very well, for when I was with Sri Aurobindo I was open in this way (gesture towards the heights), and I always had this feeling of Yes, my child He tolerated me the way I was and waited for it to change. Thats truly how things are, you know. And now I feel my limits, which are the limits of the world as it is at present, but beyond that theres an unmanifested immensity, eternity and infinityto which we are closed. It merely seeps init is not the great opening. What I am trying to bring about is the great opening. Only when it has opened wide will there really be the (how should I put it?) the irreducible thing, and all the worlds resistance, all its inertia, even its obscurity will be unable to swallow it up the determining and transforming thing I dont know when it will come.
But this experience with X was really interesting. I learned many things that day, many things If you concentrate long enough on any one point, you discover the Infinite (and in his own experience he found the infinite), what could be called your own Infinite. But this is not what WE want, not this; what we want is the direct and integral contact between the manifested universe and the Infinite out of which this universe has emerged. So then it is no longer an individual or personal contact with the Infinite, its a total contact. And Sri Aurobindo insists on this, he says that its absolutely impossible to have the transformation (not the contact, but the supramental transformation) without becoming universalized that is the first condition. You cannot become supramental before being universal. And to be universal means to accept everything, be everything, become everythingreally to accept everything. And as for all those who are shut up in a system, even if it belongs to the highest regions of thought, it is not THAT.
But to each his destiny, to each his work, to each his realization, and to want to change someones destiny or someones realization is very wrong. For it simply throws him off balance thats all it does.
--
I didnt speak of it to anyone, but it caused me some concern. And just the next day the machine broke down! When I was informed, immediately I thought It was then repaired, and again it broke downthree times. Then the following night, just before ten oclock I should mention that during the day I had thought, But why not attract these forces to our side, take them and satisfy them, give them some peace and joy and use them? I thought about it, concentrated a little, but then I didnt bother any further. At ten oclock that evening, they came upon mein a flood! They kept coming and coming. And I was busy with them the whole time. They were not ugly (not so luminous either! ), they were wholesome, straightforwardhonest forces. So I worked on them. This began exactly at 9:30, and for one hour I was busy working. After an hour, Id had enough: Listen, this is quite fine, youre very nice, but I cant spend all my time like this! We shall see what to do later for it absorbed my whole consciousness. They kept coming and coming (you understand what that means to a body?!). So at 10:30 I told them, Listen, my little ones, be quiet now, thats enough for today At 10:30, the machine broke down!
I found out, of course, because they log everything at the factory, so when they came to inform me of the breakdown the next morning, I asked them what time it had happenedexactly 10:30.
0 1960-09-24, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Just now, I concentrated a little and tuned into your voice. And not one word escaped me! It became clear, absolutely clear.
Normally Im not there. And some people I hear, others I dont hear. But I hadnt imagined that it depended on this I thought I had lost my hearing. But just now I stopped everything, absolutely everything, I concentrated and tuned init became so clear!
Basically, it must be the same for my eyes. Sometimes I see wonderfully, and sometimes its blurred. It must be for the same reason I probably have to learn to concentrate!
Yes, laugh if you wantwhat I mean is concentrate on what Im doing. Not concentrate within Precisely, Im rather too concentrated!
***
0 1960-10-02a, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Before going to bed, sometimes I say to myself, I will do what is necessary to spend my night in these great currents of force(because there is a way to do it). And then I think, Oh, what an egotist you are, my girl! So sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesntwhen theres something important to do, it doesnt happen. But all I have to do is concentrate in a certain way before going to sleep to spend my whole night in these very far from here, very far I cant say very far from the earth, for surely its in an intermediate zone between the forces from above and the earths atmosphere. Thats what it mainly is, in any case. Its a great universal current as well, but mainly its what descends and comes onto the earth, and it is permeating the earths atmosphere all the time, all the time, and it comes with this wide, overall visionit makes for wonderful nights I no longer bother about people at allat least not as such, but in a more impersonal way.
(silence)
0 1960-10-11, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
Arent you aware of this thing up above, this white plate at the crown of the head? Its what receives intuitions. Its just like a photographic plate, and its not even activethings pass right through it without our even realizing it. And then if you concentrate just a little, everything stops, everything stops.
A few days ago, I recall, I wanted to know something that was going to happen. I thought that with the consciousness of supramental time, I could find out I MUST find out whats going to happen. Whats going to happen?No answer. So I concentrated on it, which is what I usually do, I stopped everything and looked from abovetotal silence. Nothing. No answer. And I felt a slight impatience: But why cant I know?! And what came was the equivalent of (Im translating it in words), Its none of your business!!
So I understand more and more. Everythingthis whole organization, this whole aggregate, all these cells and nerves and sensorsare all meant uniquely for the work, they have no other purpose than the work; every foolish act that is done is for the work; every stupidity that is thought is for the work; you are made the way you are because only in that way can you do the work and its none of your business to seek to be somewhere else. Thats my conclusion. Very well, as You wish, may Your will be done!No, not be done; it IS done. As You wish, exactly as You wish!
0 1960-10-25, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
All this happened just on the day X1 was leaving. So I told S to take the photograph and letter to X and tell him the story. X consulted some book, did a very short japa for a few seconds and said, Oh, hell come back before September 26, BUT inform Mother so that She may see to ft. therefore, I concentrated a little.
About two weeks later (in other words, ten days or so before September 26), some more news the boys older brother, who lives in Ahmedabad (not Bombay), came to visit his mother, father and grandmo ther (theres also a grandmo ther), and he asked about his brother. He had come with a friend. Your brother has disappeared, they explained, we dont know what has happened to him. So the two of them decided to search for him: Well find him .
--
So of course they were terribly worried; they wondered what had happened. I had someone write to X, I concentrated, and four days later the boy (the brothers friend, that is) returned in a lamentable state: white, emaciated, barely able to speak. Then he recounted his story:
On his way to the grandmo thers house, he passed by the station and went in to drink something. While drinking, two persons who were there started playing with some balls in front of him. He WATCHED. But suddenly, he felt very uneasy; he wanted to leave and ran towards an exit that opened onto the tracksit was closed and he could not get out. And these two people were just behind him; suddenly he lost consciousness: I dont know what happened to me after that.
--
Then the police got involved. They wanted to take him back to the countryside around Poona (naturally I suppose they nursed him in the meantime), but not much came out of it. Seems that wherever he remembered seeing these people, when he said he had seen them, he fainted. Finally, I was told the story, and the poor family wrote to me saying, Who are these demons with such a great power that even it withstands Mothers force as well as that of Xand who are holding our son? So X was again informed and, knowing the story of the elder brothers friend, he said, Ah, now I know where the other one is, and I hope it wont take too long. But then September 26 passedgeneral despair in the family. They wrote to me, and I concentrated.
It was just before Durga Puja,3 or just after I cant remember (dates and I dont go together)no, it was after Durga Puja. So I went into a deep concentration and, as a matter of fact, I saw that a very powerful and dangerous rakshasic4 power was involved. And then, when I started walking for my japa upstairs in my room (I had given some thought to this story and tried asking for something to be done), I suddenly saw Durga before me raising high a lance of white light the lance of light that destroys the hostile forcesand She struck into a black swarming mass of men.
But then there came a frightful reaction. For one day I was nearly as sicknot quiteas two years ago5 (they must have used the same mantra). And, you see, I who never vomit terrible vomitingeverything inside came out! Only now Im a bit more experienced than two years ago (!), so I set it right It happened here, downstairs, in the afternoon. I went right back up to my room (I didnt see anyone that afternoon), and I remained concentrated to try to find out what had happened. I saw that it came from therea backlash of those people trying to defend themselves.
I did what had to be done.
0 1961-01-10, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And when the day comes for the manifestation of supreme Lovea crystalized, concentrated descent of supreme Love that will truly be the hour of Transformation, for nothing will be able to resist That.
But as its all-powerful, a certain receptivity must be prepared on earth so its effects are not devastating. Sri Aurobindo has explained it in one of his letters. Someone asked him, Why doesnt this Love come now?, and he replied something like this: If divine Love in its essence were to manifest on earth, it would be like an explosion; for the earth is not supple enough or receptive enough to widen to the measure of this Love. The earth must not only open itself but become wide and supple. Matternot just physical Matter, but the substance of the physical consciousness as wellis still much too rigid.
0 1961-01-24, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The remainder of the evening passed as usual. I went to bed, and at exactly a quarter to twelve I got up with the feeling that this presence in me had increased even further and really become rather formidable. I had to instill a great deal of peace and confidence into my body, which felt as though it wasnt so easy to bear. So I concentrated, I told my body to be calm and to let itself go completely.
At midnight I was lying in bed. (And I remained there from midnight until I oclock fully awake. I dont know if my eyes were open or closed, but I was wide awake, NOT IN TRANCEI could hear all the noises, the clocks, and so forth.) Then, lying flat, my entire body (but a slightly enlarged body, exceeding the purely physical form) became ONE vibration, extremely rapid and intense but immobile. I dont know how to explain this, because it did not move in space but was a vibration (that is, it wasnt motionless); yet it was motionless in space. And the exact form of my body was absolutely the most brilliant white Light of the supreme Consciousness, the consciousness OF the Supreme. It was IN the body and it was as though in EACH cell there was a vibration, and it was all part of a single BLOCK of vibration. It extended this much beyond the body (gesture indicating about six centimeters). I was absolutely immobile in my bed. Then, WITHOUT MOVING, without shifting, it began consciously to rise upwithout moving, you understand: I remained like this (Mother holds her two joined and motionless hands at the level of her forehead, as if her entire body were mounting in prayer)consciously like an ascension of this consciousness6 towards the supreme Consciousness.
--
Then, with the same precision, the same calm, the same deliberate, clear and concentrated consciousness (absolutely NOTHING MENTAL), I began to come back down. And as I was descending, I realized that all the difficulty I had been fighting the other day and which had created this illness was absolutely ended, ANNULLEDmastered. Actually, it was not even mastery but the non-existence of anything to be mastered: Simply THE vibration from top to bottom; yet there was neither high nor low nor any direction.
And it went on like that. After this, Slowly, Still WITHOUT MOVING, everything went back into each of the different centers of the being. (Ah, let me say parenthetically that it wasnt AT ALL the ascent of a force like the ascent of the Kundalini! It had absolutely nothing to do with the Kundalini movement and the centers, it wasnt that at all.) But while re-descending, it was as though WITHOUT LEAVING THIS STATE, without leaving this state which remained conscious ALL the time, this supreme Consciousness began to reactivate the different centers: first here (Mother points to the center above the head and then touches the crown of the head, the forehead, throat, chest, etc.) then there, there, there. At each there was a pause while this new realization organized everything. It organized and made the necessary decisions, sometimes down to the most minute details: what had to be done in this case or said in that case; and all of that TOGETHER, at once, not one by one but seen entirely as a whole. It kept on descending I noted many things, it was extremely interestingdown and down, farther and farther, right to the depths. Everything went on at the same time,7 simultaneously, and at the same time this supreme Consciousness was organizing everything separately.8
0 1961-02-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Human nature is such that when you concentrate on your body you fall ill; when you concentrate on your heart and feelings you become unhappy; when you concentrate on the mind you get bewildered.
(Laughing) And its absolutely true!
--
And its absolutely truetrue at each stage, on all levels. Whatever level you have attained, even the very highest, if you concentrate on that [the body], it is finished! And all the difficulties begin, you know, with that very concentration that tries to draw down Light and Poweryogic concentration itself.
So it would seem that if one wants to use his individuality, his body, to transform the whole that is, if one wants to use his bodily presence to act upon the universal corporeal substance theres no end to it. No end to the difficulties, no end to the battle BATTLE!
0 1961-02-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its a rather amusing sensation, a combination of sensation and feeling, that the ordinary human attitude towards things multiplies and magnifies the difficulties to FANTASTIC proportions; while if they simply had the true attitudea NORMAL attitude, quite simple, uncomplicatedahh, all life would be much easier. For the body feels the vibrations (those very vibrations which concentrate to form a body), it feels their nature and sees that its normal reaction, a peaceful and confident reaction, makes things so much easier! But as soon as this agitation of anxiety, fear, discontent comes in, the reaction of a will that doesnt want any of it oh, right away it becomes like water boiling: pff! pff! pff! like a machine. While if the difficulty is accepted with confidence and simplicity, its reduced to its minimum, and I mean purely materially, in the material vibration itself.
Almost (I say almost because the body hasnt had every experience), but almost all pains can be reduced to something absolutely negligible. (Of course, some pains it hasnt had, but it has had a sufficient number!) Its this anxiety resulting from a semi-mental vibration (the first stirrings of Mind) that complicates everything, everything! For example, take this difficulty I mentioned of climbing the stairs: in the doctors consciousness or anyone elses, pain causes it. According to their ordinary reasoning, pain is what tenses the nerves and muscles so one can no longer walk but this is absolutely FALSE. Pain does not prevent my body from doing anything at all. Pain isnt a factor, or rather its a factor that can be easily dealt with. Its not that: it is Matter; Matter (probably cellular matter, or) losing its capacity to respond to the will, to will-power. But why? I dont know! It depends upon the particular disorganization; but why is it like that? I dont know. Now each time I climb the stairs, I am trying to find the means of infusing Will in such a way that this lack of response doesnt last but I still havent found it. Although theres all this accumulated force and power and will (a tremendous accumulation, I am BATHED in it, the whole body is bathed in it!), yet for some reason it doesnt respond. Here and there, groups of cells fail to respond, and the Force cannot act. So what must be found is.
--
Its a curious thing speaking evidently helps me follow the experience. But I cant just begin speaking all alone up in my room! And talking to a tape recorder is useless. Up to now, it certainly flows the best with youby far. I havent tried with others, although occasionally Ive said something to Nolini, but his receptivity is fuzzy (I dont know whether you can understand this impression: its as though my. words were going into cotton-wool). Once, as I told you, I spoke with R., and with him I felt that three quarters of it was absolutely lostand as a matter of fact it was. But with you I begin to SEE, and the need to formulate makes me concentrate on my vision. And this I experience with you more than I ever have with anyone. So.
So you are bearing the consequences!
--
'There is no longer this kind of opposition between what is an agreeable impact and what is a disagreeable one. There are no more "agreeable" things and "disagreeable" things: they are simply vibrations one registers. Usually when people receive a shock they do this (gesture of recoil), then they reflect, concentrate, and finally restore peace. But equality does not mean that! That's not what it is. The state must be SPONTANEOUS, constant and invariable.'
Atman: the Self or Spirit.
0 1961-03-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its a rather difficult business and could last a long time: I dont want it to stay dormant and then resurface with the next attack of this or that. So I am proceeding slowly and cautiously, which means it takes time: I concentrate and work on it for one hour after lunch every day. (I used to do my translation then, but since Im at least two or three years ahead of the Bulletin, it doesnt matter, I wont be delaying the work! I have almost finished The Yoga of Divine Love; now theres only The Yoga of Self-Perfection thats quite a job, oh! I miss itthis translation was my pleasure.) But the work on the body is useful something must be attempted in life; we are here to do something new, arent we?!
But were you bitten like that by accident?
--
Yesterday I sent you something (there wasnt much of it, just a taste): its a bit of the pistachio puree they make for me. concentrated food.6 Its funny I have got it into my head to make you a gourmand! (Mother laughs) Good-bye, mon petit.
Gomphrena globosa (purple Amaranth).
0 1961-03-14, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There is the sense of all things being organized, concentrated and arranged according to a rhythm, and if one manages to maintain the equilibrium of this rhythm, something permanent results.
(Mother remains absorbed within herself) The equilibrium of this rhythm the progressive, ascending equilibrium of this rhythmis what, for Matter, must constitute Immortality.
0 1961-03-17, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The experience occurred in a place corresponding to ours [the main Ashram building], but immense: the rooms were ten times bigger, but absolutely one cant say emptythey were barren. Not that there was nothing in them, but nothing was in order, everything was just where it shouldnt be. There wasnt any furniture so things were strewn here and therea dreadful disarray! Things were being put to uses they werent made for, yet nothing needed for a particular purpose could be found. The whole section having to do with education [the Ashram School] was in almost total darkness: the lights were out with no way to switch them on, and people were wandering about and coming to me with incoherent, stupid proposals. I tried to find a comer where I could rest (not because I was tired; I simply wanted to concentrate a little and get a clear vision in the midst of it all), but it was impossible, no one would leave me alone. Finally I put a tottering armchair and a footstool end-to-end and tried to rest; but someone immediately came up (I know who, Im purposely not giving names) and said, Oh! This wont do at all! It CANT be arranged like that! Then he began making noise, commotion, disorderwell, it was awful.
To wind it all up, I went to Sri Aurobindos rooman enormous, enormous room, but in the same state. And he appeared to be in an eternal consciousness, entirely detached from everything yet very clearly aware of our total incapacity.
0 1961-03-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And I found it interesting that when I received your letter yesterday evening I concentrated for a moment, almost out of curiosity: Why doesnt he ever feel he has an experience? Why doesnt he feel anything? I wanted to know precisely what type of experience would give you the feeling of having an experience!
If I could receive the Light: if I could SEE this Light; if I could see the vastness opening before my eyes.
0 1961-03-27, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And for me the experience was so clear! So lovely and so spontaneous! And its the first timeat the very beginning of our relationship, I had often concentrated on X to thank him for what he had done, but this is the first time it came like that: such a sweet, sweet atmosphere, so luminous, so radiant. Then in the afternoon N. tells me this [that an adverse force was present in the atmosphere]!
I had felt NOTHING. Nothing.
0 1961-04-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And if you really want to please me (I believe you do!), if you want to please me, concentrate on the book on Sri Aurobindoyou cant imagine how much I am interested! And as I LOOK, I see into the future (not with this little consciousness), I see that its a thing of GREAT importance. It will have a great action. So, I want to clear the way for you now, for us to have time.
I will surely need a quiet mind to prepare the work.3
0 1961-04-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
After that, I spend hours concentrated in prayernot exactly prayer but (gesture palms turned upwards), like that, beseeching.
What has been achieved now is that I am absolutely detached from EVERYTHING. From everything, beginning with my body and including the work, ideas, conceptions, even the [people], all, all of them. It all seems to me so utterly dull and nonexistent.
0 1961-07-07, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This happens quite often on the balcony, because there I am concentrated on the descending Light. Then, very often, the body becomes completely still, like this.
That way one can last. Very well. Lets work.
0 1961-07-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
We tried, ohmyself in particular! I concentrated all my power to prevent him from going, and it made him suffer greatly, because he WANTED to go, he had decidedhe the Supreme Lord had decided that he would go.
Yes, but why exactly was there this halt? He had come for that.
0 1961-07-18, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In my experience, it is; and it has come to the point where the more concentrated the Force, the more things turn up at the very moment they ought to, people come just when they should and do just what they ought to be doing, the things around me fall into place naturally and this goes for the LEAST little detail. And simultaneously it brings with it a sense of harmony and rhythm, a joya very smiling joy in organization, as if everything were joyously participating in this restructuring. For example, you want to tell someone something and he comes to you; you need someone to do a particular work and he appears; something has to be organizedall the required elements are at hand. All with a kind of miraculous harmony, but nothing miraculous about it! Essentially its simply the inner force meeting with a minimum of obstacles, and so things get molded by its action. This happens to me very often, VERY often; and sometimes it goes on for hours.
But its rather delicate, like a very, very delicate clockwork, like a precision machine, and the least little thing throws everything out of gear. When someone has a bad reaction, for instance, or a bad thought, or an agitated vibration, or an anxietyanything of this nature is enough to dissolve all the harmony. For me, its translated straight-away into a malaise in my body, a very particular type of malaise; then disorder sets in, and the ordinary routine returns. So again I have to gather up, as it were, the Presence of the Lord and begin to infuse it everywhere. Sometimes it goes quickly, sometimes it takes longer; when the disorganization is a little more radical, it takes a little longer.
0 1961-08-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Theon was the first one to give me the idea that the earth is symbolic, representativesymbolic of concentrated universal action allowing divine forces to incarnate and work concretely. I learned all this from him.
In this respect, you say somewhere that the gods too must incarnate to become fully conscious.
0 1961-08-05, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Then comes what Theon called the nervous sub-level, which lies between this subtle physical and the vital. And it acts as a protection: if it is stable, harmonious and strong, it protects youit protects you even physicallyfrom contagious diseases, for instance, and even from accidents. I experienced it when I was living at Val-de-Grce. It was the year I resolved to attain union with the psychic being and I was concentrated on this from morning to night and night to morning. Every day I spent some time in the Luxembourg Gardens. They were right near the house, but to get there I had to go all the way down Rue du Val-de-Grce and cross Boulevard Saint Michel, where there were streetcars, automobiles, buses the whole circus. I would remain in my concentration the whole time, and once, while crossing the boulevard, I felt a shock about this far from my body [slightly more than arms length], so spontaneously I jumped backjust enough for the streetcar to pass by. I hadnt heard anything; I was totally absorbed, and without that warning I would surely have been run over; instead, I jumped back just in time, and the streetcar sped by. I understood then that this nervous sheath was something entirely concrete, because what I had felt was not an idea of danger but a shocka material SHOCK.
So its true that as long as this envelope is strong and undamaged, you are protected. But for instance, if you are over-tired or worried or flusteredanything that brings disorder into the atmosphere seems to make holes in this envelope, and all kinds of things can enter.
--
Once when I was at Tlemcen with Theon (this happened twice, but Im not sure about the second time because I was alone), my body was in a cataleptic state and I was in conscious trance. It was a peculiar kind of catalepsy in the sense that my body could speak, though very slowly Theon had taught me how to do it. But this is because the life of the form always remains (this is what takes seven days to leave the body) and it can even be trained to make the body move the being is no longer there, but the life of the form can make the body move (in any case, utter words). However, this state is not without danger, the proof being that while I was working in trance, for some reason or other (which I no longer remember, but obviously due to some negligence on the part of Theon who was there to watch over me), the cord I dont know what to call itwent snap! The link was cut, malevolently,5 and when it was time and I wanted to return, I could no longer re-enter my body. But I was still able to warn him: The cord is cut. Then he used his power and knowledge to help me come back but it was no joke! It was very difficult.6 And this is when I had the experience of the two different states, because the part that had gone out was now without the bodys support the link was cut. Then I knew. Of course, I was in a special state; I was doing a fully conscious work with all the vital power, and I was in control not only of my surroundings but. You see, what happens is a kind of reversal of consciousness: you begin to belong to another world; you feel this quite distinctly. Theon instantly told me to concentrate (I was finding it all interestingMo ther laughs I was making experiments and getting ready to go wandering off, but he was terribly scared that I would die on him!). He begged me to concentrate, so I concentrated on my body.
When I re-entered, it hurt terribly, terriblyan excruciating pain, like plunging into a hell.
0 1961-09-10, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Maybe this is what you were thinking ofwhat you would like to express in your book. It occurred in a place similar to the realm of expression where, as I told you, I have frequently been going lately. It is very, very vast, very open, but this time there were no walls. No ceiling, no walls. There was only a kind of groundvery pale, luminous, vast and very empty, empty. People were seated but I didnt see any chairs. Only the pianos were visible, and they were quite odd: you could hardly see anything but the keyboards, which were sort of overlapping. In front was a grand piano, and over here was a somewhat bigger one the one I had been leaning over sideways to play on and then there was one turned to the other side. And then this grand piano, right in front but with only the keyboard visible! Well, why shouldnt I be comfortable! I said to myself, and I sat down. Then everything became bluegreat, blue notes. How am I going to play? I wondered. I tried to play as usual and then: It doesnt work, it doesnt work, I said. Ah! It has to be played from aboveit has to be played from above! So I place my hands on the keys, I concentrate and brrff! It was like some not violent, not loud and noisy, butoh, overwhelming! Three, fournot notes: sounds, harmonies I dont really know what.
But this must be what you were thinking of, what you would like to use for your book.1
0 1961-10-02, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The story began with an entirely concrete and material incident something very amusing; this is not the first time it has happened, but it was so concrete and so precise that it became interesting. Someone was complaining of being ill, quite a serious, psychological illness: periodic possession by a spirit of falsehood, recurring regularly every month, of more or less long duration. This person comes to see me, and the moment shes here theres an upwelling of that profound Compassion of Love, with a considerable, concentrated Power to drive away the possession; and all of this accompanied, even outwardly, by quite an affectionate gesture. This person leaves and within half an hour I receive a letter: Now I know: you hate me, you want me to be ill and you want me to die because I disgust you.
It was interesting because it was so concrete. I was conscious of my movement of compassion and love and of what it had become in the other persons consciousness!
--
But some people I dont hear at all! I see lips moving, but there is nothing, nothing, not even an ordinary thought! When people are capable of a little clear-thinking, I hear everything. But with others, its like oo-oo-oo. Just recently there was something really comical! I no longer know who it was, but someone came to see me and when he began to talk I understood nothing! All I heard was noise. What to do? This person was asking me questions (he came here for sadhana, mind you, not for external matters; it was a serious visit), and all that came out was oo-oo-oo-oo, nothing else. So I concentrated and put myself in contact with his soul, which was the only thing I could contact. It took some time. I kept silent, and finally so did he, since he saw that I was not replying. Then suddenly it came, so clearly, like drops of water falling from above: ready-made sentences. I began to tell him all sorts of things about what his soul wanted, what he had to do in the world. It was a revelation! Ah! he said, I have been waiting to hear this all my life!
But it took some time, because first of all he had to stop talking, and then I had to concentrate.
And I never did find out what he said to me!
0 1961-10-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Well then, concentrate, call it! Make an invocation, call it init is THERE, contact it. That is the thread to catchnot in the head.
But thats just it, you see-before working I always become completely silent and in that silence there is NOTHING. I could stay like that for hours!
0 1961-12-20, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I dont know, Im putting it poorly, but this experience was concrete to the point of being physical. It happened in a Japanese country-house where we were living, near a lake. There was a whole series of circumstances, events, all kinds of thingsa long, long story, like a novel. But one day I was alone in meditation (I have never had very profound meditations, only concentrations of consciousness Mother makes an abrupt gesture showing a sudden ingathering of the entire being); and I was seeing. You know that I had taken on the conversion of the Lord of Falsehood: I tried to do it through an emanation incarnated in a physical being [Richard]7, and the greatest effort was made during those four years in Japan. The four years were coming to an end with an absolute inner certainty that there was nothing to be done that it was impossible, impossible to do it this way. There was nothing to be done. And I was intensely concentrated, asking the Lord, Well, I made You a vow to do this, I had said, Even if its necessary to descend into hell, I will descend into hell to do it. Now tell me, what must I do?The Power was plainly there: suddenly everything in me became still; the whole external being was completely immobilized and I had a vision of the Supreme more beautiful than that of the Gita. A vision of the Supreme.8 And this vision literally gathered me into its arms; it turned towards the West, towards India, and offered meand there at the other end I saw Sri Aurobindo. It was I felt it physically. I saw, sawmy eyes were closed but I saw (twice I have had this vision of the Supremeonce here, much later but this was the first time) ineffable. It was as if this Immensity had reduced itself to a rather gigantic Being who lifted me up like a wisp of straw and offered me. Not a word, nothing else, only that.
Then everything vanished.
0 1962-01-09, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its a sort of decentralization. You see, to form a body all the cells are concentrated by a kind of centripetal force that binds them together. Well, now its just the opposite! A kind of centrifugal force seems to be dispersing them. When it gets a bit too much I go out of my body; outwardly I seem to faint but I dont faint, I remain fully conscious. So obviously this creates a sort of bizarre disorganization.
And theres a strange thing about it, which so far I havent figured out: it always happens (it has already happened three times, and thats a lot for me) when X1 comes, the night before he arrives.
--
These past few days Ive had some interesting experiences from this standpoint. I had what is commonly called fever, but it wasnt feverit was a resurfacing from the subconscient of all the struggles, all the tensions this body has had for what will soon be eighty-three years. I went through a period in my life when the tension was tremendous, because it was psychological and vital as well as physical: a perpetual struggle against adverse forces; and during my stay in Japan, particularly oh, it was terrible! So at night, everything that had been part of that life in Japanpeople, things, movements, circumstancesall of it seemed to be surrounding my body in the form of vital3 vibrations, and to be taking the place of my present state, which had completely vanished. For hours during the night, the body was reliving all the terrible tensions it had during those four years in Japan. And I realized how much (because at the time you pay no attention; the consciousness is busy with something else and not concentrated on the body), how much the body resists and is tense. And just as I was realizing this, I had a communication with Sri Aurobindo: But youre keeping it up! he told me. Your body still has the habit of being tense. (Its much less now, of course; its quite different since the inner consciousness is in perfect peace, but the BODY keeps the habit of being tense.) For instance, in the short interval between the time I get up and the time I come down to the balcony,4 when I am getting ready (I have to get this body ready to come down) well, the body is tense about being ready in time. And thats why accidents happen at that moment. So the following morning I said, All right, no more tension, and I was exclusively concerned with keeping my body perfectly tranquil I was no later than usual! So its obviously just one of the bodys bad habits. Everything went off the same as usual, and since then things are better. But its a nasty habit.
And so I looked. Is it something particular to this body? I wondered. To everyone who has lived closely with it, my body gives the impression of two things: a very concentrated, very stubborn will, and such endurance! Sri Aurobindo used to tell me he had never dreamed a body could have such endurance. And thats probably why. But I dont want to curtail this ability in any way, because it is a CELLULAR will, and a cellular endurance toowhich is quite intriguing. Its not a central will and central endurance (thats something else altogether)its cellular. Thats why Sri Aurobindo used to tell me this body had been specially prepared and chosen for the Workbecause of its capacity for obstinate endurance and will. But thats no reason to exercise this ability uselessly! So I am making sure it relaxes now; I tell it constantly, Now, now! Just let go! Relax, have some fun, wheres the harm in it? I have to tell it to be quiet, very quiet. And its very surprised to hear that: Ah! Can I live that way? I dont have to hurry? I can live that way?
So thats why I am resting. Am I better or not? Things are always the same. Were I to start doing what I was doing before, which I KNEW all along was absolutely unreasonable. Its not that I didnt know it; I did know and I wasnt happy about it, because I knew I was doing something I shouldnt. I have no intention of starting again, but if I had said, I am withdrawing for good, it would have been. If you knew how MANY things have gone slack [in the Ashram]! And how many people I am telling off: Well, you wouldnt have done that a week ago! Oh, thats an experience in itselfto see what peoples so-called faithfulness depends on.
0 1962-02-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I should mention that three or four days before my birthday something apparently very troublesome happened5 (it could have been troublesome, anyway), and it made me wonder: Will I be able to do what I have to on the 21st? I wasnt happy about it. No, I said, I cant let these people down when theyre expecting so much from this day; thats not right. So throughout the 20th I stayed exclusively concentrated in a very, very deep, very interiorized invocation, not in the least superficial, far from all emotions and sentiments something really at the summit of the being. And I remained in contact with That, for everything to be truly for the best, free from any false movement in Matter whatsoever. And that night I was CLEARLY cured; I mean I followed the action and saw myself really and truly cured. When I got up in the morning, I got up cured. All the things I constantly had to do, all the tapasyas just to keep going, were no longer necessarysomeone had taken charge of everything, and it was all over and done with. And on the morning of the 21st, with a crowd of two thousand and some hundred people, it went perfectly smoothly, without the slightest hitch. Then in the afternoon I had that very special experience for my legs.
So on the 21st morning I could say quite spontaneously and unhesitatingly, Today the Lord has given me the gift of healing me. (I was speaking in English about the things people had given me, and I said, and the Lord has given me the gift of healing me.)
--
The 19th was so-so, and on the 20th I was concentrated all day long: no contacts with anyone, nothing external, only an intense invocation as intense and concentrated as when youre trying to melt into the Lord at death. It was like that. The same movement of identification, but at its core a will for everything to work out in a good way here [on the material plane]. In a good way I mean I said to the Lord, YOUR Good, the true Good, not. The true Good, a victorious Good, a real progress over the way life is usually lived. And I stayed in this unwavering concentration the whole day, all the time, all the time: even when I spoke, it was something very external speaking. And then at night when I went to bed I felt something had changed the body felt completely different. When I got up in the morning, all the pains and disorders and dangers had vanished. Lord, I said, You have given me a gift of health.
And with this change, the bodily substance, the very stuff of the cells, was constantly being told, Dont you forget, now you see that miracles CAN happen. In other words, the way things work out in physical substance may not at all conform to the laws of Nature. Dont forget, now! It kept coming back like a refrain: Dont forget, now! This is how it is. And I saw how necessary this repetition was for the cells: they forget right away and try to find explanations (oh, how stupid can you be!). Its a sort of feeling (not at all an individual way of thinking), its Matters way of thinking. Matter is built like that, its part of its make-up. We call it thinking for lack of a better word, but its not thinking: it is a material way of understanding things, the way Matter is able to understand.
--
You can achieve excellent control of the heart. But I never practiced it violently, never strained myself. I think holding for 16 is too long. I used to do it simply like this: brea the in very slowly to the count of 4, then hold for 4 like this (I still have the knack of it!), lifting the diaphragm and lowering the head8 (Mother bends her neck), closing everything and exerting pressure (this is an almost instantaneous cure for hiccupsits handy!). Then while I held the air, I would make it circulate with the force (because it contained force, you see) and with the peace as well; and I would concentrate it wherever there was a physical disorder (a pain or something wrong somewhere). Its very effective. The way I did it was: inhale, hold, exhale and emptyyou are completely empty. Its very useful; very handy for underwater swimmers, for instance!
I had trouble breathing in slowly enough thats a bit hard. I began with 4 and eventually managed to do 12. I did 12-12-12-12. It took me months to reach that, it cant be done quickly. To brea the in very slowly and hold all that air isnt easy.
--
Tapas: literally, heat. It is the concentrated energy constituting everythingnot generated by some mechanism, but by the very concentration of the power of Consciousness (chit). In Indian tradition, the world was created by Tapas in the form of an egg the primordial eggwhich broke open from the incubating heat of consciousness-force and gave birth to the world. To "become the tapas of things" is to uncover in one's own material, bodily substance that same formidable, supramental seat of energy (what physicists, following Einstein, call atomic energy: E = mc2), the energy that animates the stone and the bird and the universe for then like can act upon like. Mother was reaching that point.
***
0 1962-02-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For the subtler senses, the method is to create an exact image of what you want, make contact with the corresponding vibration and then concentrate and practice. For instance, you practice seeing through an object, or hearing through a sound2 or seeing at a distance. As an example, I was once bedridden for several months, which I found quite boring I wanted to see. I was staying in one room and beyond that room was another little room and after that a sort of bridge; in the middle of the garden the bridge changed into a stairway going down into a very spacious and beautiful studio built in the middle of the garden.3 I wanted to go see what was happening in the studio I was bored stiff in my room! So I stayed very still, shut my eyes and gradually, gradually sent out my consciousness. I did the exercise regularly, day after day, at a set hour. You begin with your imagination, and then it becomes a fact. After a while, I distinctly sensed my vision physically moving: I followed it and saw things going on downstairs I knew absolutely nothing about. I would verify it in the evening, asking, Did it happen like this? Was that how it was?
But each of these things must be practiced for months, patiently, almost stubbornly. You take the senses one after another: hearing, sight, and eventually even the subtle aspects of taste, smell and touch.
Its easier with the mind because we are more used to concentrating there. When you want to reflect and find a solution to something, instead of using mental deduction, you stop everything, focus on the idea or problem, and then concentrate, concentrate, intensifying the crux of the problem. You stop everything and wait until, through sheer intensity of concentration, a response comes. Learning that also demands a little time; but if you were ever a good student you have something of the aptitudeits not so very difficult.
Theres a kind of extension of the physical senses. In American Indians, for instance, the senses of hearing and smell are far more extended than ours (in dogs too!). When I was eight or ten years old, I had an Indian friend who came with Buffalo Bill in the days of the Hippodrome that was a long time ago, I was around eight. He was so sharp that he could put his ear to the ground and tell, from the intensity of the vibrations, how far the sound of footsteps was coming from. All the children immediately said, Id really like to know how to do that! And so you try.
--
"Hearing behind a sound," Mother explained, "means to make contact with the subtle reality behind the material fact: behind the word or the physical sound, or behind music, for example. You concentrate and then hear what is behind. It means contacting the vital reality behind appearances (there can also be a mental reality, but usually what is immediately behind the physical noise is a vital reality)."
The studio on Rue Lemercier in Paris, in 1898.
0 1962-06-02, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Last night I spent almost all my time in such a building. And all the people who help the work were symbolized there but its always a material help, either work or money or. I remember being particularly struck by one character last night. (Again, there were a lot of aggravations, but someone or something was always on the scene when I arrived and it all sorted itself outit was the exact opposite of the dreams I was talking about the other day: all the difficulties sorted themselves out when I arrived.) Then I came to a rather difficult place to cross (you had to flounder about on slippery scaffoldings) and suddenly, facing me, there was a man (of course, it was probably a symbol rather than a man, but it might really be someone physical). He was one of the workers, a master mason (when I woke up this morning, I thought of the symbolism of Freemasonry and wondered if it might give a clue to the experience). Nearby, people were coming to supervise, observe, direct, people who thought themselves highly superior but they were never any help in solving practical problems! They were creating more problems than they were helping to solve. Anyway, this master mason appeared to be around fifty, with a beautiful facea workers face, beautiful and concentrated. There was a difficult place to cross, and he had worked the thing out very efficiently, with a lot of care. Then, when it was all done and I was able to go on my way, I felt a great surge of love go out to him, with neither gesture nor word and he received it, he felt and received it. His face lit up and he implored me, with wonderful humility, Never let me forget this moment, the most beautiful moment of my life. (I dont know what language he used because it didnt come to me in words.) It was such an intense experience. His humility, his receptivity, his response were all so beautiful and pure that when I woke upwhen I came out of the experience, at any rate I was left with a most delightful impression.
What he represents might be partly manifested by somebody here. A beautiful face a man around fifty. Or it may be symbolic: such characters are sometimes put together with features from several people, to make it very clear that they represent a state of consciousness and not an individual. Its far more often a state of consciousness than an individual.
0 1962-06-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It must give a sort of woolly effect to someone not used to it. You know, when you want to draw your consciousness withinwhat people call concentrating for meditation, for instance, or japa, well, to the sharp-edged surface consciousness the movement of interiorization is like entering something not exactly smoky, because it isnt dark, but woolly: the feeling of something with no angles, no precise demarcations. Dont you have that impression when you concentrate?
I dont see anything when I concentrate.
Not see: feel.
--
It happened in a split second: I was sitting, waiting for you, thinking you were about to come; but the door wasnt opening, so automatically the body went like this (inward-turning gesture). And since it happened so suddenly, I noticed the difference in the way the body felt. What it normally feels is a formidable willvery tranquil, very peaceful, free of tension or agitation, yet so direct and clear, concentrated (not concentrated: coagulated) that it is almost hard. And thats what controls the body, thats what the body obeys. And when thats not there, its the other state: smooth, mellow, soft, woolly and what peace! As if nothing in the world could disturb it.
It took maybe a second or a fraction of a second thats why I was able to observe both states.
--
As for the head, it has learned to keep still. I walk in the mornings and afternoons, saying the mantra as I did before; but while before I had to drive thoughts away, concentrate and make an effort, now this state comes and takes over everything the head, the body, everything and then I walk in that woolly dream (woolly isnt the right word, but its all I can find!). Its smooth, soft, without angles and supple! No resistance, no resistance. Oh, that peace!
Very well, petit.
--
No. I have to think about it, concentrate. That takes time.
***
--
Petit, before you go to sleep, when you get into bed, simply think of me a little, with the will to receive what I send youjust for the space of a few seconds before you go to sleep, thats all. Dont try to concentrate and keep yourself awake, just formulate it, then go to sleep. Because I am really trying!
Of course, I know youre trying! Im not accusing anyone Im the one thats blocked.
0 1962-06-23, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In the morningevery morning, as I walk I concentrate on you in the hope that you will remember your nights and have an experience.
And it stayed put, in the sense that all sorts of things could go on, but there it remained, at the borders of the terrestrial world, like a declaration from the Supremea very tall being.
0 1962-06-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Previously, when I had an experience, I took great care to keep everything quiet and still so that it wouldnt be interrupted; but afterwards it was always made use of by the mind in its typical way (not exactly typical, but typical to the mind), and this appeared to be inevitable. But now it doesnt work in the same way: its limited to a few inevitable interventions; I mean people speak to me or I to them (I keep as silent as I can, but they still chatter away about every possible subject and I am obliged to answer), and its limited to that. But as it is, even that as soon as I am a bit concentrated, even that seems so not wrong or distorted, not that, but INADEQUATE. It expresses absolutely nothing, thats all I can say.
The TRUE thing escapes completely.
0 1962-06-30, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And thats why. How many times Durga came! She would always come, and I had my eye on her (!), because in her presence I could clearly sense that there wasnt that rapport with the Supreme (she just didnt need it, she didnt need anything). And it wasnt that something acted on her consciously, deliberately, to obtain that result: it has been a contagion. I remember how she used to come, and my aspiration would be so intense, my inner attitude so concentrated and one day there was such a sense of power, of immensity, of ineffable bliss in the contact with the Supreme (it was a day when Durga was there), and she seemed to be taken and absorbed in it. And through that bliss she made her surrender.
Most interesting.
--
In those movements of consciousness, in this state of consciousness, I am comfortable (Mother heaves a sigh). But it has taken me a lot of discipline to concentrate here [in the body]: there was always something, from my very childhood, that felt hemmed in, squeezed, really oh! And with a sense of something so powerful that if it ever went into action (gesture of unleashing), it would smash everything.
Now it has been tamed.
0 1962-07-04, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
One week later, Mother added: "It has worked out: he has gone to the psychic domain for a while (I think it's only for a while) to concentrate."
***
0 1962-07-25, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But whenever there was unpleasantness with my relatives, with playmates or friends, I would feel all the nastiness or bad willall sorts of pretty ugly things that came (I was rather sensitive, for I instinctively nurtured an ideal of beauty and harmony, which all the circumstances of life kept denying) so whenever I felt sad, I was most careful not to say anything to my mother or father, because my father didnt give a hoot and my mother would scold me that was always the first thing she did. And so I would go to my room and sit down in my little armchair, and there I could concentrate and try to understand in my own way. And I remember that after quite a few probably fruitless attempts I wound up telling myself (I always used to talk to myself; I dont know why or how, but I would talk to myself just as I talked to others): Look here, you feel sad because so-and-so said something really disgusting to you but why does that make you cry? Why are you so sad? Hes the one who was bad, so he should be crying. You didnt do anything bad to him. Did you tell him nasty things? Did you fight with her, or with him? No, you didnt do anything, did you; well then, you neednt feel sad. You should only be sad if youve done something bad, but. So that settled it: I would never cry. With just a slight inward movement, or something that said, Youve done no wrong, there was no sadness.
But there was another side to this someone: it was watching me more and more, and as soon as I said one word or made one gesture too many, had one little bad thought, teased my brother or whatever, the smallest thing, it would say (Mother takes on a severe tone), Look out, be careful! At first I used to moan about it, but by and by it taught me: Dont lamentput right, mend. And when things could be mendedas they almost always could I would do so. All that on a five to seven-year-old childs scale of intelligence.
--
But I have never been able to do it for anyonenot like that, with such plenitudenever, never. Its fantastic! It was stupendous! Truly we can say that only the Lord can do such a thing, He alone. Without the slightest effort, without even seeming to he didnt even seem to concentrate, nothing, just like that. You never met him, did you?
Yes, I had a darshan.
0 1962-08-18, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mon petit, we had a meditation here on the 15th, at ten oclock.2 At a quarter to ten, I was sitting here at the table in a total silence. And then I cant say Sri Aurobindo came, for he is always here, but he manifested in a special way. Concretely, in the subtle physical, he became so tall that, sitting cross-legged as they do here, he covered the whole compoundeven extended a bit beyond it! He was literally sitting upon the compound; so to the extent that the people meditating were not closed, they were all inside him. He was sitting like that (not on their heads!), and I could feel (I was here, you see) the FRICTION of his presence in the subtle physicalan utterly physical friction! And I saw him (as you well know, I am not shut up in here [the body]), I saw him sitting there, very tall and perfectly proportioned; and then he started gently, gently descendingthis descent is what caused the frictiongently, very gently, so as not to give people a shock. Then he settled there and stayed for a little more than half an hour, a few minutes more, like that, absolutely still, but fully concentrated on all the people they were inside him.
I was sitting here smiling, almost almost laughing, really; you could feel him like that everywhere (Mother touches her whole body), everywhere. And with such peace! Such peace, such force, such power. And a sense of eternity, immensity, and absoluteness. A sense of absoluteness, as if all were fulfilled, so to speak, and one lived in Eternity.
0 1962-08-25, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Satprem complains that he finds it difficult to write his book. Mother concentrates for about fifteen minutes, then says:)
All right.
0 1962-08-28, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see, the subtle physical seems to DOSE OUT its power and light and capacity of consciousness according to the amount of receptivity in the purely physical vibration. Thats why the effects stretch over a long period of time. Its being done very, very gradually. But its an almost continuous work. Only when theres some bodily activity and the consciousness must turn outwards (not in the same way as before, thats impossible, but still in a way that seems like a continuation of the old consciousness), then, if the work continues at all, its invisible and maybe it doesnt continue. I dont know. But as soon as all activity stops and the body is concentrated or immobileperhaps no more than simply passive that penetration is perceptible: its visible. Visible. And its not like something more subtle penetrating something less subtle without altering it; the essential point is that this penetration actually changes the composition. Its not merely a degree of subtlety, its a change in the internal composition. Ultimately, this action probably has an effect on the atomic level. And thats how the practical possibility of transformation can be accounted for.
Its an experience I have all the time.
0 1962-09-05, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You must go out through here (the heart)you can go out through the top of the head, but its more difficult. You must leave through the heart and return the same way. Its quite natural; its the first thing you learn when you want to exteriorize. The whole consciousness has to be concentrated here (the heart), and thats where you go out. And you must reenter the same way and maintain the link.
Its interesting though, very interesting.
--
I have already told you the reason (there are many reasons): one tiny undeveloped level in the being is enough. It obviously has to do with atavism, with the way the body was built, the milieu one was born in, ones education, the life one has led. But its mainly how much one has been drawn to higher things. It is clear that your energies have been far more concentrated on breaking through that lid and touching the Source of Truth than on having mediumistic experiencesfar more. And for what you have come to do, that was INFINITELY more important. Minor experiences such as exteriorizing and the like are just diversions along the way thats how I have always seen them.
Yes, Mother, thats all right. But theres no outer encouragement. I have the feeling that nothing is happening I wake up each morning and theres nothing. I meditate, theres nothing theres never anything! Just the certainty that its the only thing worth doing.
0 1962-09-08, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
He came yesterday. The meditation was good in that it was very concentrated and silent, and he had an ascent like this (gesture of an upright triangle), with a point that was supreme (for him) and a descent of light. Very calm, very silent.
The doctor says he has the flumaybe he gave it to me I dont know.
0 1962-09-18, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
First of all, Ill concentrate on it just as Sri Aurobindo said it in English, using French words. Then Ill see if something comes WITHOUT changing anything that is, if the same inspiration he had comes in French. It will be an interesting thing to do. If I can do one, two, three lines a day, thats all I need; I will spend one hour every day like that.
I dont have anything in mind. All I know is that being in that light above gives me great joy. For it is a supramental lighta supramental light of aesthetic beauty, and very, very harmonious.
0 1962-09-26, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
This region just overlooks the earth and the mind (including the very highest mind). But evolution I mean TERRESTRIAL evolution, with its particular rhythm which is more condensed, more concentrated and, you could say, more focused than universal evolution as a wholethis terrestrial evolution has, with the human species, created a kind of higher intellectuality capable of passing through the overmental region, the region of the gods, and reaching a higher Principle directly.
But this overmental region, this region of the gods with the power to govern the universe and, PARTIALLY, the earth, does have its own reality. You can come into contact with it and use it; the Vedic forefa thers used it, occultists use it, even Tantrics use it. But theres another path which, distrusting the gods, bypasses them through a kind of intellectual asceticism, as it were, wary of forms, of images, and differing expressions, which rises straight as an arrow, proud and pure, towards the supramental Light. That is a living experience.
0 1962-10-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I often wonder: when one prays to the Lord, when one wants to tell Him that somethings wrong, I always feel its necessary to concentrate very hard because its really something Far you have to call. But is this true? Or is it really.
It depends on us!
0 1962-10-30, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But I was entirely concentrated on that. I was in Paris, and I did nothing else but that; when I walked down the street, I was thinking only of that. One day, as I was crossing the Boulevard Saint Michel, I was almost run over (Ive told you this), because I was thinking of nothing but thatconcentrating, concentrating like sitting in front of a closed door, and it was painful! (intense gesture to the chest) Physically painful, from the pressure. And then suddenly, for no apparent reason I was neither more concentrated nor anything elsepoof! It opened. And with that. It didnt just last for hours, it lasted for months, mon petit! It didnt leave me, that light, that dazzling light, that light and immensity. And the sense of THAT willing, THAT knowing, THAT ruling the whole life, THAT guiding everythingsince then, this sense has never left me for a minute. And always, whenever I had a decision to make, I would simply stop for a second and receive the indication from there.
But that was ages ago. I have done a lot of things since then. It was long ago, in 1912. And now oh, this old carcass!
0 1962-11-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Everything was like that, and without thought I am now trying to put it into words. And at the center of that immensity was a concentration of white light as we know it (far more intense), but denser, forming a sort of cube that was relatively tiny in the immensity, but nonetheless quite perceptible. It was vibrant, fluid, condensed, concentrated, and tremendously active. And all that immensity converged there (how?) without moving. And from there, it was spreading everywhere, without going out.
In order to be discernible, the cube was enveloped in something that looked like a kind of tulle, a tulle made of a pale gray substance, which expressed the individual nonexistence, the perfect humility that completely abolishes the ego: because of that there wasnt the least possibility of egoif you ask me why, I cant say, but thats how it was. And I was seeing that tulle all the time something extremely delicate, scarcely perceptible, yet maintaining the cubes form. It was perfect humility (in the divine sense) and total absence of egothere wasnt even the memory or idea of it, nothing whatever: the abolition of the ego. And it served to receive that immobile immensity which manifested through an action of the Power. And then, the action of the Power. I was conscious (I was consciouswhere was I? I dont know; the cube represented my physical being: I had been TOLD it was my physical being), and I was watching it without being situated I myself had no precise place but could see and understand the whole thing. And I could discern all the action being done through the cube: this action for that thing, this for that, this for that the whole earth (gesture expressing forces radiating outward, each for a special purpose), things from the past and things FAR into the future.
0 1963-02-23, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Simply for want of training. If you train yourself, you remember quite well. There are small holes in the consciousness, gaps, and when you go through such a gap you forget. You may suddenly get a fleeting impression of something, and then it eludes youoh, its gone! Only, it takes a long time to train yourself; you shouldnt be in a hurry or too busy. I went through it at a time when I was bedridden for five months. I had nothing to do. (You cant keep reading all the timeduring those five months I read some eight hundred books no, nine hundred and fifty! But it tires the eyes.) So the rest of the time (you cant sleep too much either when youre in bed all the time), I trained myself: that was when I learned to have completely conscious nights. But its a discipline. When you wake up, either in the middle of the night or in the morning, dont budge, stay absolutely still, concentrated, very silent, and PULL the memory back. For one month, two months, you seem to get nowhere; after six months it begins to work; and eventually you remember everything. At the end, you do the opposite movement, in the sense that whenever you have an interesting dream, you wake up: you learn to wake up in the middle of the night every time you have a vision or a dream, or some activity (there are various cases), so that you can remember, and then you repeat it to your consciousness (once youre awake, you repeat it to yourself two or three or ten times, till youre certain not to forget), and then off you go again.
But you cant do that if, when morning comes, you have to leap out of your bed and attend to fifty thousand pressing matters. It isnt indispensable for the yoga, not at all. Its a hobby, rather, something to amuse yourself with.
--
Formerly too, I used to sense the Force, the Consciousness, the Power concentrated in a particular point and then spreading out. While here, there was an IMMENSITY of Power, of Light, of Consciousness, of perception, concentrated in a tiny point: the people gathered there.
So colossal a difference that I didnt expect it I wasnt thinking about it nor was I expecting it. I stayed there as long as it lasted, then at a certain point someone said, Thats enough, they are getting tired. (It wasnt I who said it.) Enough, they cant take any more. So I came back inside. Thats what made me come inside. It lasted five minutes. In five minutes, they were full to bursting.
0 1963-03-13, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Satprem concentrates and opens the book)
Oh!
0 1963-03-23, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I began reading the letter, it was four or five pages long and I didnt have time. Nolini didnt say anything (of course, he is much too well-mannered to say anything), but within himself, he thought, Why does Mother waste her time reading this letter when we barely have time to do our work? It entered the atmosphere, and even before it reached me, as soon as I saw one, two, three, four, five pages, I said, Oh, enough! At the end of the first page, I said, Enough! and put the letter aside. But the thought from Nolini and the fact that my decision was made just a moment too late, a few seconds too late my body was in a sweat from head to toe! It felt terribly exhausted. It took me at least half a minute of concentration to set things right. You understand, it has become so sensitive that in ordinary life it would be impossible but for its transformation it was a necessity. Still, it surprised me. Naturally, after half a minute it was all over, but I had to concentrate and call for calm.
So the body thought, Oh, I havent got beyond that. If I have to do the right thing in the right way and right on the dot to keep my balance You understand, a sense of insecurity! And very strong, very strong. Of course, there is something like reason (not quite ordinary reason), something like reason that says, When you automatically and always do exactly what should be done, it will vanish. (Mother laughs) Thank you very much! But as it cannot be a mental decision, then how? You see, you can learn only through experience, and since everything is in perpetual motion, the experience of the past cannot help for the future: its a matter of every minute. So how can you know? It means well know that we are free from error only when we are all the time, all the time in perfect harmony! But then there will be no point in knowing it, it will be done! Thats the situation. If the body is transformed and lives naturally in the divine rhythm, why would I need to know it! (Laughing) It will be immaterial to me, because it will BE. We want to know things when they arent yet.
0 1963-05-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
When I lie down, I go from one state to the other with extraordinary speed. And Ive noticed (the thing is just at its beginning, so I cant really say), Ive noticed that in that state, the Movement2 exceeds the force or power that concentrates the cells into an individual form. And that state seems to be all-powerful, although devoid of conscious will or vision (for the moment). Its a state (how can I explain this?) whose characteristics exceed the power that concentrates the cells into an individual body. The effect is automatic (not willed): as soon as something takes the form of a physical pain, it disappears INSTANTLY. But then, and this is most interesting, the second the body reverts to a certain stateits ordinary state, which isnt the ordinary human state, of course, but its ordinary, habitual stateit recaptures the MEMORY of its pain, and along with the memory comes the possibility of reverting to it if a certain number of conditions are not automatically fulfilled. I dont know if what I am saying makes any sense, but thats how the experience is. It is probably the passage from the true thing to the thing no longer truenot what is meant by Falsehood here on earth (thats something else altogether), but a first alteration compared to the pure Vibration. It gives the impression of a wrong habit, what remains is merely a question of a wrong habit. Its not the principle of distortion that works here, but the wrong habit due to the effect of ANOTHER principle. And something is to be found to checkcheck, eliminate, prevent that effect from recurring automatically.
Because it happens CONSTANTLY. Its a constant phenomenon: passing from this to that, this to that, this to that, to such a pointits so strong that a second comes, or a minute, or anyway a certain interval of time (I dont know), when you are neither this nor that; then you have a feeling of nothingness. It lasts just an instant; if it lasted longer, it would probably result in fainting or something, I cant say what. But it happens all the time: this, that (oscillating gesture). And between this and that, there is a passage.
0 1963-05-11, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Mother remains concentrated)
It is clearly taken as a symbol of the gestation of the new birth, the second birth, the divine birth. Thats certain.
0 1963-06-19, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There are activities that take place in a semidarkness, which the people of the placepeople who are here at the Ashramregard as light and where everyone attends to his affairs with his own ideas and what he considers to be his knowledge. Everything takes place in a semidarkness, a great confusion and a you know, a most oppressive sense of powerlessness. It went on for hours. Finally, I absolutely wanted I wanted to get out of that place at all costs and return to the Light (the real one) and the open. But it was literally impossible: whatever path I took to get out suddenly collapsed, or disappeared as if swallowed up in a wall or a complexity of incoherent things, or else it came to an abrupt end, plunging straight down very deep. I remember one of those places, I absolutely wanted to find a way out, and when I got there, there was a sheer gulf, and I said to myself, What am I going to do? Just then I saw a man, I dont know who he was, but he was dressed (it was symbolic) as a mountain climber, with all the equipment needed to climb down a sheer cliff, and with the help of his ice axe he fastened himself to the cliff and climbed down. Then I said, This is PRETENDING to find the way, but its not finding the way. I was there concentrating, and as I concentrated, suddenly I was able to find a path which led me up to a terrace.
I was accompanied by three or four people (but they are symbolic people). Everything was taking place in a half-night, and outside it was complete night. But when I reached the terrace, there was one of those big electric street lights, which turned on and gave a white light (like the half-light of an electric lamp in the nightwhich is nothing). The terrace was a very long one, but with a drop on every side: there was no way to get out; at one end, the way was blocked by a sort of house, and on both sides it plunged straight down into a black hole. And then that sense of powerlessness, of knowing nothingyou dont know where to go, you dont know what to do. It was And it is THE ORDINARY STATE OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS the consciousness of human activity. But in my consciousness (I was shut in there, you understand), it was truly it was almost a torture, last night; it was frightful.
I was saying to myself, But whats the way to get out of here? I concentrated, became conscious again of the divine Presence, but there was something telling me, Nothing is responding, its not working. It was horrible. Nothing is responding, its not working; its not working, it cant change, nothing is responding; nothing is responding, its not working. I was there like that, with two or three people. I sat down (some rooms were higher than others and it made a difference in level between the terraces), I sat down on a ledge, questioning intensely within, What can I do? What can I do? Whats the way? What can I do? Wheres the lever? I was trying to find the lever for changing it all. But I was unable to find it. Suddenly, from the room at the end a little old man came out, very old, who gave the impression of an attachment to old things; just the same (he was all blue), just the same when he arrived (it must be the symbol of an old method or an old discipline), I told him, Ah, now that you are here, can you tell me the way out of this place? Whats the way to get free, the way out? That started him laughing: No, no! Theres no way, no way out, you must be content with what you have. Then he looked at that poor light above, which really didnt give much light at all, and he said (in a high-sounding tone): But in the first place, I came to tell you that you must put out that sun! I dont want that dazzling sun here. Ah! I thought, Thats what he calls a sun! I was so disgusted that finally I woke up. Something pulled me out abruptly. But with such a strong impressionso strong that I was gripped by anguish: What can be done to change that? The WAY, you see, the way was inadequateinadequate. That was the anguish: My own experience is inadequate, it has no effect THERE, so whats to be done? Whats to be done? What can be done? So thats how I was for hours this morning: Whats the way? Whats the way? Whats the way to change that darkness into light?
It wasnt very cheering.
--
But those who do not have that experience (its not a question of words, its a question of experience), those who do not have that experience, were they to have that half-knowledge, the knowledge that we live in Ignorance, that we live in Ignorance with a sort of incapacity to get outThere is no way out, no way to get outand that human wisdom is like that little old man who comes and tells you, But why should you want to get out? Why should you thats the way things are, just the way things are. Its appalling. I felt, you know, like when you concentrate forces to the bursting point, as they do with their bombs; it was exactly like that: so concentrated, so overwhelming that I felt as if everything were about to burst. So much so that it would be utterly impossible for humanity to live with the awareness of the state it is in, if, at the same time, there werent the key to get out (the key hasnt been found yet), or the assurance that we will get out.
Im not speaking of things of the higher mind, because there the key to the way out was found long ago, a long time ago: I mean down below, in the material world the material world. Thats why all those people, like the old man last night, go somewhere elseits all the same to them, why should they bother! Why do you want to change that? And dont try to give light here, its no use and in addition its a nuisance. Leave this Ignorance in peace.
0 1963-06-29, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Afterwards (because I am not concerned with all those things), I learned what he was doing: his Ecumenical Council and all his reforms, his attempt, in short, to bring everyone together as much as he could (all the Christians, at least), and the fact that he had become a friend of the Russians, etc. So then, I concentrated, because according to natural logic (the logic of Natures actions), the next Pope should be a horrible reactionaryin a word, it didnt bode well. I concentrated and tried to make things work out for the best. And I see that Sri Aurobindo did find the thing important, since he concentrated over there.
According to the little popular wisdom, it seems his successor is a man with still more progressive ideas. I saw his photo (but its a newspaper photo, theyre generally very bad: you cant have any contact, you only see this much [gesture on the surface]). The thing that struck me most is a sort of insincerity. A benevolent and ecclesiastical insincerityif you know what I mean?
--
But clay, that was something really newand lovely! Pink. Pink, a warm, golden pink. They were cutting out [of the clay] rooms, stairways, ship decks and funnels, captains cabins. Sri Aurobindo himself is as he was, but more with a harmony of form: very, very broad here (in the chest), broad and solid. And very agile: he comes and goes, sits down, gets up, always with great majesty. His color is a sort of golden bronze, a color like the coagulation of his supramental gold, of his golden supramental being; as if it were very concentrated and coagulated to fashion his appearance; and it doesnt reflect light: it seems as if lit from within (but it doesnt radiate), and it doesnt cast any shadows. But perfectly natural, it doesnt surprise you, the most natural thing in the world: thats the way he is. Ageless; his hair has the same color as his body: he has hair, but you cant say if its hair, its the same color; the eyes too: a golden look. Yet its perfectly natural, nothing surprising. He sits down just as he used to, with his leg as he used to put it [the right leg in front], and at the same time, when he gets up, he is agile: he comes and goes. Then when he went out of the house (he had told me he would have to go, he had an appointment with someone: he had promised to see two people, he had to go), he went out into a big garden, and down to the boatwhich wasnt exactly a boat, it was a flat boatand he had to go to the captains cabin (he had to see the captain about some work), but it was with that boat that he was returning to his room elsewherehe has a room elsewhere. Then after a while I thought, Ill follow him so I can see. So I followed him; as long as I saw him in front of me I followed him. And when I came to the boat, I saw it was entirely built out of pink clay! Some workmen were working thereadmirable workmen. So Sri Aurobindo went down quite naturally, down into the ship under construction, without (I dont think there were any stairs), and I followed him down. Then I saw him enter the captains room; as he had told me he had some work to do, I thought (laughing), I dont want to meddle in others business! Ill go back home (and I did well, I was already late in waking up!), Ill go back home. And I saw one of the workmen leaving (as Sri Aurobindo had come back to the ship, they stopped the work). He was leaving. I called him, but he didnt know my language or any of the languages I know; so I called him in thought and asked him to pull me up, as I was below and there was a sheer wall of slippery clay. Then he smiled and with his head he said, I certainly dont mind helping you, but it isnt necessary! You can climb up all by yourself. And indeed he held out his hand, I took it (I only touched him slightly), and climbed up all by myself without the slightest difficulty I was weightless! I didnt have to pull at his hand, he didnt pull me up. And as soon as I was up, I went back home I woke up and found myself in my bed five minutes later than my usual time.
But what struck me was the clayit means something very material, doesnt it? And pink! A pink, oh, lovely! A golden pink.
0 1963-07-10, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats what I saw when I spoke to you the other day about what I called a bath of the Lord. The atmosphere was full, really chockfull of a Presence (you cant even call it a vibration, its much more than a vibration: its a Presence), but when people enter it, they dont feel anything! Or if they do, they dont even understand, it doesnt correspond to anything in their consciousness. But if I concentrate a particular vibration on their consciousness, I bring them into contact with it. And all of a sudden they feel something, with the impression that its a new thingits nothing new! Whats new is their capacity to perceive the thing.
In a general way, thats how it works: the Lord is everywhere, His vibration is everywhere, but whats new is the capacity to feel Him or be conscious of Him. From all eternity He has been there, for all eternity He shall be there.
--
Ill give you the example of what Pavitra told me yesterday: he always used to go out of his body in his aspiration and to rise very high I told him a hundred times that he shouldnt do it, it wasnt good (for HIM; to another I would have said to do it). He never understood, and every time he meditated, brrt! he would go out of his body. Then the other day he told me, Ah, now Ive understood! I was always seeking Mother up above, till suddenly I couldnt find anything any more. So I concentrated here [in the body], and I found Mother immediately. And he added, Its because now Mother is here! (Mother laughs) I didnt explain anything, but that was exactly the point!
I didnt tell him anything, but I smiled as though he had made a discovery!
0 1963-07-17, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And along with this, theres a vast, dead-calm rest (if you know what I mean?) in that Lightprobably the Light as it will manifest. Its a golden Light, not very intense or very pale either; a little less pale than the one that I said comes when I concentrate3; a little more intense than that, though not darka golden Light, absolutely immobile, with such an inner intensity of vibration that its beyond all perception. And then its perfect restinstantly. So as soon as I complain, the same ironic remark always comes: Oh, when one can have that in the midst of work, one ought not to complain! The two states are I cant say simultaneous (naturally its not one after the other, both are there together), but its not like two things next to each other, its two ways of looking, I could say, two pointsnot points of view a horizontal look, and a look thats or rather, a specific look and an overall look. A specific look, that of the immediate activity, and an overall and constant look, that of the whole; and as soon as you look at the whole, its (dead-calm gesture) immutable peace, unvarying rest. And then things seem to become swollenswollen with an infinite content.
It requires no preparation, it isnt something you have to attain: its ALWAYS there. Only, it also stems from the fact that I am not here (thats so clear, so clear, it needs no reflection or observation, its such a well-established fact) I am not here for anything, anything whatsoever, any satisfaction of any sort, on any level, any pointnone of that exists any more, that has no more reality, no more existence. The only thing I still FEEL is a sort of not an aspiration, not a will, not an adherence or enthusiasm, but something that is maybe its more like a power: to do the Lords Work. At the same time, I feel the Lord you understand, He isnt in front of me or outside of me! Thats not it, He is everywhere and He is everywhere and I am everywhere with Him. But what holds these cells together in a permanent form is that something which is at once the will and power (and something more than both) to do the Lords work. It contains something which probably is translated in peoples consciousnesses as Bliss, Ananda (I must say its an aspect of the problem I am not concerned with). Something like the intensity of a superlove as yet unmanifestits impossible to say.
0 1963-07-20, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thats too muchagitation is too much, its rather a lack of rest. Not agitation really, but something that lacks the rest of certainty. I constantly catch my cells being like that. Naturally I react, but for them its a very normal state: always straining after the next moment, never the quietude of the present moment. The result (the words I use give a very concrete character to something rather fluid), the result is the feeling that you have to bear or endure, and the haste to get out of that enduring, along with the hope (a very faint and flimsy hope) that the next moment will be better. Thats how it is from moment to moment, from moment to moment, from moment to moment. As soon as the Consciousness comes (gesture of descent) and concentrates, as soon as I bring the Consciousness into the present moment, everything becomes quiet, immobile, eternal. But if I am not CONSTANTLY attentive, the other condition [of restlessness] comes almost as a subconsciousness: its always there. And VERY tiringit must be one of the most important sources of fatigue in mankind. Especially here (Mother touches her forehead and temples), its very tiring. Only when you can live in the eternity of the present minute does it all stopeverything becomes white, immobile, calm, everything is fine.
But it means constant vigilanceconstant. Its infinitely more difficult than when one worked even in the vital; in the vital, its nothing, its childs play in comparison. But here, phew! Because, you see, in the mind or the vital, its all movements of organization, of action, of choice, of decisionits very easy to decide, to rule! But that cellular tension is there EVERY SECOND: its the activity inherent in material existence. Its only when you go into samadhi that it stops. That is, when outwardly you are in trance. Then it stops.
--
I said just now that when I come out of those moments of trance, the body feels, Oh, Ive forgotten to live. It isnt live, its the feeling: Ive forgotten to act or concentrate, or to do the thing needed; the feeling of a servant who for a minute has stopped his work thats it. Its just a flash, then at once comes the sense of the divine Presence, and its all over.
Its not the word live, no, its To do what one is supposed to do.
0 1963-07-27, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
As long as you were here, I didnt bother about it. I simply thought of something else. But when you left, I thought, Theres no reason to leave that here. So I concentrated I called the Lord and put Him here (gesture to the side), and I saw it all, what Ive just told you, that state of stupid negation, and how if you allow the thing to follow what they call its normal course, it becomes a good illness (Mother laughs), a serious illness. I call the Lord. (He is always here! But the fact that I concentrate and keep quiet.) And then its almost instantaneous: the first thing is a reactionalmost a STATE rather than a reactionwhich DENIES the possibility of divine Action. It isnt a will, its an automatic negation. Then there is always a Smile that answers (thats what is interesting, theres never any anger or any force that imposes itself, only a Smile), and almost instantly the pain disappearsThat settles in, luminous, tranquil.
It isnt final, mind you, only a first contact: the experience recurs on another occasion and for another reason (they arent mental reasons, they are occasions), it recurs, but there is already a beginning of collaboration: the cells have LEARNED that with That, the state changed (very interestingly, they remember), so they begin to collaborate, and the Action is even more rapid. Then a third time, a few hours away, it recurs once again; but then THE CELLS THEMSELVES call and ask for the divine Action, because they remember. And then That comes in, gloriously, like something established.
0 1963-09-28, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You see, I was always under the impression that the earth was a symbolic representation of the universe in order to concentrate the Work on one point so that it could be done more consciously and deliberately. And I was always under the impression that Sri Aurobindo too thought that way. But here I had read Savitri without noticing this. But now that I read it and I am so immersed in that problem In other words, its as if it were THE question given me to resolve.
I noticed it while reading.
0 1963-10-16, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Then I concentrated just a little and thought, Lets see, now. Whom is he trying to delude? And instantly, everything vanished. And I saw X, his head.
I had stared at that thingit went on for more than ten minutes I stared and stared at it, and with truly an extreme goodwill I tried to see if Sri Aurobindos vibration was in it (the light wasnt, but I tried to see if the vibration was), but I didnt feel anything.
--
You understand, I know those things, I have seen thousands of them! Only, as it happens, for more than half a century I have sensed the difference in a most sharp way. I think I told you already that when I returned here from Japan, there were difficulties: once, I was in danger and I called Sri Aurobindo; he appeared, and the danger went away2he appeared, meaning, he came, something from him came, an EMANATION of him came, living, absolutely concrete. The next day (or rather later the same day), I told him my experience and how I saw him; that worried him (it was an unceasing danger, you see), and he very strongly thought that he should concentrate on me to protect me. And the next day, I saw him but it was an image, a mental formation! I told him, Yes, you came in a mental formation, it wasnt the same thing. Then he told me that this capacity of discernment is an extremely rare thing. But I always had it, even when I was small. Its a sensitiveness in the perception. And indeed I believe that very few people can sense the difference. So with X, my first impression was, My goodness, to do this to me! Well, really, I have some experience of the world, I cant be so easily made to believe that the moon is made of green cheese!
And yesterday, it was all very peaceful: X was there all the time with nobody in front of him, not pretending anything. But the first time, as he expected some result, he stayed on for ten minutesprobably he was expecting some reaction (I never told him that Sri Aurobindo is with me all the time, that we talk to each other every night). Anyhow, he was probably expecting some enthusiasm on my part (!) There you are.
0 1963-10-19, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Another time, a fellow (there are some demented characters of that kind) had come from Australia: he was a teacher and had been given classes in the School. He started to preach unbelievable thingshe was God incarnate, you see! Until the day it began to be a pain in the neck. And he had declared he would stay here forever. People were annoyed, everyone was annoyed, they didnt know what to do. I was in my room here (it was three years ago, maybe four). I remember: I was sitting on my bed (at the time I used to work on my bed, over there), and I received a letter in which I was told in short, that it had become impossible, intolerable, that he could not be kept here. So I concentrated for a minute and Kali arrivedKali in her battling mood, a black, dancing Kali. I told her, Why dont you go on his head? (Laughing) She went and did her dance on his head the next day, he wrote he was leaving the Ashram. In this case, it was very clear: the day before, he had declared that he wouldnt budge, that he intended to stay here and continue his lessons, and that we would have to send him away forcibly for him to go (they had told me all this quite tearfully). Kalis dance convinced him he had better go!
But all that, you see, its the play of the world. What is going on now is something else, altogether something else.
0 1963-11-27, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
For some time, I had been encountering in N. a sort of resistance to the Action. Whenever he entered the atmosphere (Mother makes the gesture of banging against a wall), it resisted terribly. And I didnt have any intention other than to make it give way, in other words, I confined myself to the inner action (gesture indicating the Force at work). Then, as it happened, he fell ill. Yesterday, he came as every day, but he wasnt well. So I told him, Listen, go downstairs, shut yourself up in your room, enter Sachchidananda and dont move from it. (He is quite capable of doing it.) In the evening, the doctor came and told me that N. had a very high fever: He is restless. The fever was too high. I thought, The resistance is even stronger than I thought. At night, when I went to bed, I began to concentrate on him to see, and I saw him surrounded by a kind of black crust, which obviously comes from the fact that he isnt used to purifying himself as things come onto him from outside (me too, for example, I would be surrounded by a black cuirass, absolutely coal black, if I didnt do my work of purification all the time, all the time, all the time). So I saw this, and did what was needed. And this morning, the fever had dropped. But the interesting thing is that when he came this morning, he told me this: Last night I had a vision: I suddenly found myself entirely surrounded by coal, a thick crust of coal, and I wanted to get rid of it and get out of it. I looked at my hands, I had nothing in them, so I thought, How can I do it? I have nothing to do it with. And instantly, I saw the crust begin to crumble and crumble and crumble into dust and gone! And this morning, I feel weak and tired, but its over.
Its a minimum of distortion.
0 1963-12-03, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
December 2nd was interestingsports day1: the day before, the 1st, the weather was wonderful, and insofar as I gave it thought I was convinced that on the 2nd it would be just as fine. But in the morning I saw it was nothing of the sort, and as the day went by, it became worse and worse. In the beginning my first movement was to say to myself, Well, I didnt see to it, I should have given it thought, but then I saw that was absurd. Then I told the Lord, Why are You doing this? Its not very nice! Those children have worked so hard, they have taken great pains. And just as I said it, the consciousness was looking at what I said, smiling, Oh, my! How silly still to be that way! And then there was yet another thing (its becoming very, very complete), something that wasnt exactly the Lord, but like an expression of the Lord, telling me (not with words, of course, but how can I explain? Sri Aurobindo describes it very well in the Yoga of Self-Perfection: its a very new thing which has to do with action, feeling, sensation and consciousness all at the same time; its all of them togethernone of those things, yet all of them), so it was there, telling me (I am putting it into words, but that distorts it entirely), So what! What if its a test, what do you have to say about it? So immediately in the consciousness here the consciousness at work here the thought awakened, Ah, it has to become a test, then. In THEIR consciousness it has to become a test. (Because at first I had made a kind of attempt to stop the rain; then I saw it didnt correspond to the Truth and that the rain had to be acceptedwhy accepted? To do nothing after having worked so hard? And to accept is easy, its nothing, its not interesting, nothing new.) So a test, all right. If they take it as a test, they will go through it victoriously and it will be very good. And all the time, I was so concentrated on them [at the sports ground] that I no longer knew what I was doing or where I was. It lasted from 4 P.M. to 8 P.M. Around 8 P.M., I received the news: they had gone on with the performance just the same, the important visitors had remained till the end, so ultimately it was a real success.
There was only one difficulty: the little children, who cannot be conscious of a test, of course, and who remained four and a half hours in the rain. I didnt want it to do any damage there were about a hundred small ones, tiny tots. I spent the night in concentration to bring into their material sensation the true reaction (because, for a short while, children love rain, they have a lot of fun in it), so I said to myself, That part of their consciousness should predominate so there is no damage. And I waited for the day after. The day after, no one was sick.
0 1963-12-11, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Anyway, things went back to normal fairly quickly at the time. But the other day, the 9th, there was a return of that attack, as though that ill will hadnt been completely eliminated, completely defeated there was a return. It didnt have the same effect, but it was painful. A curious feeling, as if (I was sitting at the table, as I always do on mornings when there is meditation), then at the beginning, in some parts of the body, the cells seemed to be grating. I concentrated, I called, and I saw there was a battlea formidable battle being waged down below. It was grating, its curious. A kind of grating of things that arent smooth. And I wondered, When will it be able to relax? Then spasms here, at the solar plexus. And on those days, the doctor and P. always stay here for the meditation; but I was in trance, in my battle, when suddenly I felt a pressure on my pulse (laughing): it was the doctor, who had got up from his meditation (I must have been making some strange noises!) and was feeling my pulseit seems my pulse was fading! But I didnt come out of my trance (I was conscious, but I didnt come out of it), I stayed like that till the end of the meditation, even a little afterwards. Then when the grating diminished, I came out of the trance and saw them both standing in front of me. I gave them a nice smile and told them, Its all right. And I lay down. Then I went into a deep trance, completely out of the body, and everything returned to normal.
Afterwards I took a look. I wasnt too happy: To do that during the meditation! And I was told that it could be done only during the meditation and not at any other time, in activity or even in concentration, because its not the same thing: it could be done only in deep meditation. So I said, Very well. And I was also shown that there was a concrete result, a kind of partial victory over that type of ill willa very, very aggressive ill will, extremely aggressive, which belongs to another age: its something that no longer has the right to exist on the earth. It must go.
0 1963-12-31, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, its not so good any more. And while I was writing it, some strange things happened: one day, suddenly, I feel Ive lost all control over my hand. How do you write? And all at once, I start writing, and then I see: its Sri Aurobindos handwriting! And as it is illegible, I thought, Thats no great progress! (laughter) So I really exerted myself, concentrated, wrote slowly, slowly, like a pupil in school, and it came back!
So you may come across some passages that arent all that legible.
0 1964-02-05, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The next morning I was alone, concentrating I concentrated a lot, saying to myself, I do not want to be under an illusion, I do not want to be fooled by something. I had seen the photo as clearly as I saw it, I looked at it for several MINUTES. Which is to say that I am absolutely sure of what I saw.
I looked through the book one, two, three timesnothing. So I thought, Its not possible, a spell has been cast! A. was coming that morning. When A. comes, Ill ask him to look for it. So I told him, Look for it. He did find bouquinistes, but not like in my photograph, and then I had seen it on this side of the book, while his was on the other side; and I knew his photo quite well (I knew my album by heart, you understand!), it wasnt the same at all, there werent any bouquinistes, only closed boxes. So it didnt look like much, and moreover it was on the other side of the book.
0 1964-02-22, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It was translated in an interesting way. I read it, then I concentrated (A. was sitting here, not moving or saying anything), so first I said a word or two to him to establish the atmosphere. Then I remained quiet, and it simply cameit isnt exactly a translation:
Sa volont solitaire affronta la loi du monde.
0 1964-03-07, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I noticed (Ive known it for some time, but it was quite concrete this time) that in my rest, as soon as I am at rest, the body is completely identified with the material substance of the earth, that is to say, the experience of the material substance of the earth becomes its ownwhich may be expressed by all sorts of things (it depends on the day, on the occasion). I had known for a long time that it was no longer the individual consciousness; it isnt the collective consciousness of mankind: its a terrestrial consciousness, meaning it also contains the material substance of the earth, including the unconscious substance. Because I have prayed a lot, concentrated a lot, aspired a lot for the transformation of the Inconscient (since it is the essential condition for the thing to happen)because of that there has been a kind of identification.
Last night it became a certainty.
--
And I didnt feel it went away: its I who left it, or rather, to say things accurately, I was made to leave it in order to concentrate on this bark, for the necessities of the work.
But it hasnt goneits here.
0 1964-03-11, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I wasnt seeing physically. But that expression thats the state I was in when I said (I was concentrated and something came out of here [gesture to the heart] and said to the Lord), Well, we will wait another four years.
Four years, that means 1968. Sri Aurobindo said there would be a beginning of supramental manifestation in 67; so perhaps in 68 the two experiences will meet. Its possible.
0 1964-03-25, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Even from that point of view, I have seen You know, the ordinary idea that the phenomenon [of transformation] must necessarily occur first in the body in which the Consciousness is expressed the most constantly seems to me quite unnecessary and secondary. On the contrary, it occurs at the same time wherever it can occur the most easily and totally, and this aggregate of cells (Mother points to her own body) isnt necessarily the most ready for this operation. It may therefore remain a very long time as it apparently is, even if its understanding and receptivity are special. I mean that this bodys awareness, its conscious perception is infinitely superior to the one all the bodies it comes into contact with can have, except for a few minutesa few minuteswhen other bodies, as if through a grace, have the Perception. While for it, its a natural and constant state; its the effective result of this Truth-Consciousness being more constantly concentrated on this collection of cells than on othersmore directly. But the substitution of one vibration for another in facts, in actions, in objects, occurs wherever the result is the most striking and effective.
I dont know if I can make myself understood, but it is something I have felt very, very clearly, and which one cannot feel as long as the physical ego is there, because the physical ego has the sense of its own importance, and that disappears entirely with the physical ego. When it disappears, one has a clear perception that the intervention or manifestation of the true Vibration doesnt depend on egos or individualities (human or national individualities, or even individualities of Nature: animals, plants and so on), it depends on a certain play of the cells and Matter in which there are aggregates particularly favorable for the transformation to occurnot transformation: the substitution, to be precise, the substitution of the Vibration of Truth for the vibration of Falsehood. And the phenomenon may be very independent of groupings and individualities (it may happen in one part here, another part there, one thing here, another thing there); and it always corresponds to a certain quality of vibration that causes a sort of swellinga receptive swelling and then, the thing can occur.
--
The body even felt several times, when the Work was very concentrated or condensed, that it is the equivalent of a fever.
Two or three nights ago, something like that occurred: in the middle of the night, early morning, there was a descent of this Force, a descent of this Truth-Power; and this time it was everywhere (its always everywhere), but with a special concentration in the brainnot in this brain: in THE brain.2 And it was so strong, so strong, so strong! The head felt as if it were about to burstyes, as if everything were going to burstso that for about two hours I simply had to keep calling for the widening of the Lords Peace: Lord, Your widening, Your peace, like that, in the cells. And with the consciousness (which is always conscious, of course [gesture above]) that this descent into an unprepared brain would be enough to drive you completely mad or absolutely daze you (at the very best), or else you would burst.
0 1964-03-28, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
All that I am doing, all that this body is doing, it has the power to pass on to others thats precisely what I am studying now. I am studying this. Its a sort of power to put people in contact with the Vibration of the Consciousness (radiating gesture around the head), which is concentrated on a number of people and things (all over the earth, naturally), but also on certain points. Its the Power that came the night when there was that descent in the brain: at any moment I was able to direct a beam here, another beam there, touch a point here, another point there (gesture like a beacon).
Thats what Sri Aurobindo never stopped repeating: Do not try to do it all by yourself, the Mother will do it for you, if you trust Her.
0 1964-07-22, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Since that experience came, there has no longer even been in the consciousness that sort of care I took for years not to concentrate too much Force or Power, or Light or Love, on beings and things for fear of upsetting their natural growth that seems so childish! Its there, its there, its there it is there. And its for things themselves that its impossible to feel more of it than they can bear.
(silence)
0 1964-08-08, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its like a continuation but it didnt come as a continuation: its the experience that came back. As if something in the consciousness of THE EARTH felt an urgent and irrevocable need for this change for the change, for the new creation. As if the consciousness of the earth The aspiration grows so intense, you know, so acute, so constant, so concentratedunder pressure that something has to burst.
So these are poor words. The experience translates itself into words at a given moment: first, there is the intensity of the experience, then spontaneouslyspontaneouslyit takes the form of words, so I note them down. But the words are thin and flat, theyre poor. But its like when you are about to come into contact with your psychic being and you feel the egos obstruction; there comes a point when you push and push to get through, its so acute that you feel as if everything is going to burst. And in fact something does burst.
0 1964-09-16, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The first movement is indeed like this: At last, to find the place where I can concentrate, find myself, live truly without having to bother about material things. This is the first aspiration (its even on this basis that the disciplesat least in the beginningwere chosen), but it doesnt last! Things become easy, so you let yourself go. There are no moral restraints, so you do stupid things.
But it cannot even be said it was a mistake in recruitingit would be tempting to believe this, but its not true, because the recruiting was done on the basis of a rather precise and clear inner sign. Its probably the difficulty of keeping the inner attitude unalloyed. Thats exactly what Sri Aurobindo wanted and attempted; he used to say, If I can find a hundred people, it will be enough for my purpose.
0 1964-09-23, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I dont know what is the fruit of the japa and what is simply the fruit of a sedimentation: I cant tell. I know that when I am doing my japa, there is a rather concentrated force, but I dont know if that comes from the japa or, quite simply, from the fact that I concentrate. I cant tell.
Oh, you mean the words of the japathose words have only the power given by the generations that have repeated them.
0 1964-10-14, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
These last few nights, an experience has been developing. There is a sort of objectification, like scenes unfolding in which I am one of the characters; but it isnt me, it is some character or other that I play in order to have the double consciousness, the ordinary consciousness and the true consciousness at the same time. There was a whole series of experiences to show simultaneously the True Thing and the sort of half-death (its his word that makes me think of this I am too dead), the half-death of the mind. In those experiences, the state of ordinary mentality is something dry (not exactly hard because its crumbly), lifeless, without vibrationdry, cold; and as a color, its always grayish. And then, there is a maximum tension, an effort to understand and remember and knowknow what you should do; when you go somewhere, know how you should go there; know what people are going to do, know Everything, you see, is a perpetual question of the mind (its subconscious in the mindsome are conscious of it, but even in those who are apparently quiet, its there constantly that tension to know). And its a sort of superficial thing, shallow, cold and dry, WITHOUT VIBRATION. At the same time, as if in gusts, the true consciousness comes, as a contrast. And it happens in almost cinematographic circumstances (there is always a story, to make it more living). For instance, last night (its one story among many, many others), the I that was conscious then (which isnt me, you understand), the I that was playing had to go somewhere: it was with other people in a certain place and had to go through the town to another place. And she knew nothing, neither the way nor the name of the place she was going to, nor the person she had to seeshe knew nothing. She knew nothing, but she knew she had to go. So then, that tension: how, how can you know? How can you know? And questioning people, asking questions, trying to explain, You know, its like this and like that, innumerable details (it lasts for hours). And now and then, a flood of lighta warm, golden, living, comfortable lightand the feeling that everything is prearranged, that all that will have to be known will be known, that the way has been prepared beforeh and that all you have to do is let yourself live! It comes like that, in gusts. But then, there is an intensity of contrast between that constant effort of the mind, which is an enormous effort of tension and concentrated will, and then and then that glory. That comfortable glory, you know, in which you let yourself go in trusting happiness: But everything is ready, everything is luminous, everything is known! All you have to do is let yourself live. All you have to do is let yourself live.
Its as if a play were performed to make it more living, more realone subject, another subject, this, that. If you enter a certain state, then another time enter the other state, you can remember the difference and its useful, but in this form of a play, with the double consciousness, the opposition becomes so real, so concrete that you come out of it wondering, How can you go on living in this aberration when you have once TOUCHEDtouched, experienced the True Thing?
--
Things come from outside, you cant always stop them from coming; its like what I told you, those little black darts (you dont keep guard, you dont spend all your time protecting yourself!). But if, at that moment, you had the true attitude It was curious enough, because it came to the throat, and it rather bothered me, I dont like it when it comes there; so I concentrated so it wouldnt be there, and it didnt come there (laughing) it turned into a cold!
Oh, they are learning their lesson all the time, all the time. Everything, all that happens is ALWAYS a lessonalways. Always, always: all the quarrels, all the difficulties, all the troubles, all the so-called illnesses, everything, all the disorders are to make you learn a lessonas soon as youve learned the lesson, its over! But then, you are so slow and heavy, you take so much time to realize that its a lesson that it drags on and on and on.
0 1964-10-30, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But you know, for hours, sometimes for hours something becomes fixed, really concentrated (in the true sense of the word) on the relationship between Eternity and the Unfolding. More and more, what comes is a vision, a certainty that its only ONE way of seeing, adapted to our humanized consciousness, and there is a kind of unmoving perception (which has more to do with sensation than with thought), a perception that what iswhat truly isis something else altogether: neither the Unfolding as we conceive of it and perceive it, nor Eternity (coexistent Eternity, one might say) as we can understand it. And its because of our incapacity to truly grasp the Thing that we are like this, having difficulty combining these two things properly.
I am putting it into words very poorly, but it isnt a vision, in the sense that it isnt an objective perception: it is a vibration, a way of being that you BECOME for a few seconds, and then you understand, but you cant put it into words.
0 1964-11-07, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Because I have concentrated.
Its always the same thing, you know: I strongly feel that the explanation, or even the physical phenomenon, is the translation of something going on elsewhere. But I dont know what it is. It is a new process.
0 1965-02-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
On the evening of the attack, on the 11th, a little after seven in the evening, I had for the first time, in a concrete, total way, the physicalphysicalearth consciousness. It was a STATE of consciousness that was given to me, the state of consciousness of the earth. The physical, bodily consciousness no longer existed: it was the PHYSICAL earth consciousness. And that physical earth consciousness was concentrated, its attention was concentrated on this little point of Pondicherry. Tiny little point of Pondicherry. And then, it was all seen as if from not exactly from very high up, but as if it were a tiny little thing (microscopic gesture), yet with an accuracy for details, for the smallest element. And that physical earth consciousness was the consciousness of the PHYSICAL TRUTH of the earth the physical Truth-Consciousness of the earth; to be precise, the quality of the vibration of Truth in the physical earth consciousness.
And the vision, the perception (it was like a perception, you know) wasnt exactly from very far because it had the accuracy of a microscope, but all was an object of observation. At that moment, all the fires were starting, then hundreds of brickbats (not stones: brickbats) were bombarding all the windows and doors (all our windows, all the doors have been smashed in), which means infernal din: a pack of several hundred people, all drunk, bellowing, and shouts all over the place. So that bombardment of stones and those flames leaping up to the sky the whole sky was redit was all seen I was simply seated at my table; when the attack started, I was having my dinner, and a little before it started, that experience came, that consciousness: I wasnt this body anymore, I was the earth the physical truth-consciousness of the earth, to be exactwith a PEACE, a STILLNESS unknown to the physical. And it all seemed like an absolute Falsehood, without any element of truth behind it. Yet at the same time, I had a microscopic perception (but absolutely precise and exact) of all the points of falsehood IN THE ASHRAMS ATMOSPHERE that established the contact.
0 1965-03-20, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It interested me. Absolutely no fatigue and that sort of feeling of living in the universal, eternal Rhythm, like that (great gesture in waves), and amused all the time, I am all the time amused; and instantly: tension, fatigue, a need to rest, to concentrate.
And visiblyvisibly for the consciousness the vibrations came from the others [P., V.].
0 1965-05-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I looked at the problem when I tried to understand the position of Buddha, who reproached the Manifestation for its impermanence; to him, perfection and permanence were one and the same thing. In his contact with the manifested universe, he had observed a perpetual change, and so his conclusion was that the manifested world was imperfect and had to disappear. And the change (the impermanence) does not exist in the Nonmanifest, therefore the Nonmanifest is the true Divine. When I looked and concentrated on this point, I saw that his observation was indeed correct: the Manifestation is absolutely impermanent, its a perpetual transformation.
But in the Manifestation, perfection is to have a movement of transformation or unfolding identical to the divine Movement, the essential Movement. Whereas all that belongs to the unconscious or tamasic1 creation tries to keep its existence unchanged, instead of lasting by constant transformation.
0 1965-06-02, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Oh, listen, it was Y.s birthday the other day. I told her to come. She came: her face was exactly like her monkeys! She sat down in front of me, we exchanged a few words, then I concentrated and closed my eyes, and then I opened my eyesshe had the face of the ideal madonna! So beautiful! And as I had seen the monkey (the monkey wasnt ugly, but it was a monkey, of course), and then that, Ah! it struck me, I thought, What wonderful plasticity. A face oh, a truly beautiful face, perfectly harmonious and pure, with such a lovely aspirationoh, a beautiful face! Then I looked a few times: it was no longer one or the other, it was it was something (what she usually is, I mean), and it was behind the veil. But those two visions were without the veil.
And for me thats how it is, I dont see people, I no longer see (but that has been going on for a long time), I no longer see the way people do, the way they are used to seeing. At times someone tells me, Have you noticed, so-and-so is like this or like that? I answer, No, I havent seen anything. And at other times I see things no one else sees! Its a much more complete development than simply switching from one vision to the other.
0 1965-07-24, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Sri Aurobindo told me that it wasnt so strong in Indians as in Europeans, because Europeans have concentrated in Matter a lot and are much more bound there.
Anyway
0 1965-11-03, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
So it seems to me. And theres no reason for it not to get later still. See, I have all this (Mother shows a stack of letters), which is work yet to be done, and it was supposed to be done this morning. Every day its like that. Now its a mountain of letters, and some letters havent even been opened. So some write to me (but that frees me), I have already sent you two letters and you havent answered, I am unluckytoo bad for them. But there are those who are very patient, who ask for things that are important to them, and whom I dont have time to answer. When I hear the letter (there are some letters I havent even opened, I dont know what they have written), but when I hear, I answer inwardly; if they had the mental perception they would receive my answer; unfortunately they dont have it. Some letters are important, from people who ask for something reasonable, and a word or a gesture would greatly help them to move onits not possible. And it keeps increasing and increasing. Previously, I used to rest (rest, that is to say, concentrate) regularly, at a fixed time, but now thats finished, I cant do it anymore. It cuts into the rest, too, and thats bad.
Its the world in a rush. Its not just from a small number of individuals, its from everywhere: from the United Nations, the Government of India, from people here, there and everywhere who ask for a directive, an indication. They ought to be able to receive mentally; that way I could do all the work, because it doesnt take any time, its immediate, but they arent there yet, they cant. You know, requests for messages, for something to start an action there are dozens of them every day. And its a good sign, I cant complain. Its a good sign, it means the world is growing receptive. But
0 1965-12-25, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But if you follow the experience farther and deeper, if you concentrate on this vibration, you realize it is the original Vibration of the creation and that this Vibration is what has been transformed, distorted in everything that is. So then, there is a sort of understanding warmth (we cant exactly call it sweetness, but its a sweetness that would be strong), an understanding warmth in which there is as much smile as sorrowmuch more smile than sorrow. Its not to legitimize the distortion, but its mostly a reaction against the choice that human mentality (and especially human morality) has made between one particular type of distortion and another. There is a whole series of distortions that have been labeled bad and there is a whole series of distortions towards which people are full of leniency, almost compliments. And yet, from the essential standpoint, this distortion is hardly better than that distortionits a question of choice.
Ultimately, whats necessary would be first to perceive THE central Vibration, then to appreciate its UNIQUE and marvelous quality to such a point that you automatically and spontaneously move away from all distortions, whether virtuous distortions or evil distortions.
0 1966-01-19, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And when I concentrate on someone while calling the Lord, then, generally, near the shoulder (gesture between the persons head and shoulder), there is a great golden light, like that, which sparkles and sparkles, shines and shines, very brightly, all the while. And when the light goes, the concentration goes.
But just now, it was amusing, it was quite small like this, moving along with my pen. Now its finished, gone! (Mother laughs)
0 1966-01-31, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
It has a drawback, but it will have that advantage. I am not referring to external drawbacks, that cant be helped, well have to manage.1 I mean for yourself: it concentrates you in an almost hypnotic way on that part of your being which is almost imprisoned in the form, in the form of expression, that is to say, the author, the writer. Yet I know, and its very clear, that your external being was formed in large part for that, but from a higher standpoint: more as a means than as an end.
You see, your book on Sri Aurobindo is exceptional in all respects and it was a sort of summit in expression. There was also the fact that Sri Aurobindo was always there while you were writing it. When it came, I had the sense of a summit that cannot be exceeded. Thats why I no longer thought about other books: my consciousness used this book on Sri Aurobindo as a starting point towards something else, something more complete. But when I read your letter yesterday, I thought, Maybe, after all, there is indeed something that has to be expressed; maybe it will be the right way to get rid of a past thats lingering on.
0 1966-02-26, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Thons idea (which also fits with the teaching here in India in which they say it was the sense of separation that created the whole DisorderDeath, Falsehood and all the rest), Thons idea was that those first four Emanations, that is, Consciousness, Love, Life, and Truth (Love was the last, I think, but I no longer remember what he said), those four individual emanated Beings, according to him, in full consciousness of their power and existence, cut themselves off from their Origin. In other words, they wanted to depend only on themselves, they didnt even feel the need to keep the connection with their Origin (I am putting it very materially). So then, that cut is what instantly caused Consciousness to become Unconsciousness, Love to become Suffering (it wasnt Loveit was actually Ananda which became Suffering), Life to become Death and Truth to become Falsehood. And they hurled themselves into the creation like that. Then, there was a second creation, which was the creation of the gods, to mend the mischief caused by those four (the story is told in almost a childlike way in order not to be abstract, in order to become concrete). The gods are the second emanation and they came to mend. In India and everywhere, they were given various names and functions, and they are found in the Overmind region, that is to say, above the physical quaternary, the material quaternary. And the function of those gods is to mend the damage wrought by the others. And the region in which the others (the first Emanations) concentrated is the vital region.
All this can be translated philosophically, intellectually and so on. It is told as a story so that the most physical intellectuality may understand. But in principle, its the separation from the Origin that created the whole Disorder. And, as far as I know, in India too the Upanishads say the same thing; Sri Aurobindo, at any rate, says that Disorder came with the sense of Separation. So those are different ways of saying the same thing. In one case, seen in a certain way, its a willed separation; in the other case, its an inevitable consequenceinevitable consequence of of what? I dont know.
0 1966-05-22, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In ordinary life, when one doesnt know, with people who dont know, there is a tremendous wastage of vital forces, for no reason. Well, we no longer have the right to do that because all that vital force is there, as I said, concentrated to keep the bodys balance.
Its a very, very widespread state in all those who not who do the yoga, but for whom the yoga is done. And its done (how can I put it?) almost without their knowledgeall that puts them in a fit state to do it is, first, aspiration, and then, trust. Those are the two things: the faith, the trust that the divine Consciousness is at work, and then the aspiration for transformation. Thats all thats needed. And the work is done. But that work implies, in fact, not a loss of equilibrium but a change of equilibrium. A change of balance. And in order to go from one equilibrium to the other, well, one must stay very calm.
0 1966-09-28, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But then, when that true Compassion of divine Love comes and you see all those things that look so horrible, so abnormal, so absurd, that great pain over all beings and even over things Then there was born in this physical being the aspiration to relieve, to cure, to make all that disappear. There is something in Love in its Origin that is constantly expressed by the intervention of the Grace; a force, a sweetness, something like a vibration of solace, spread everywhere, but which an enlightened consciousness can direct, concentrate on certain points. And thats just where I saw the true use one could make of thought: thought is used as a channel to carry the vibration from place to place, wherever its necessary. This force, this vibration of sweetness is there over the world in a static way, pressing to be received, but its an impersonal action, and thoughtenlightened thought, surrendered thought, the thought that is nothing more than an instrument, that no longer tries to set things in motion, that is satisfied with being moved by the higher Consciousness thought is used as an intermediary to make contact, to build a connection and allow this impersonal Force to act wherever its necessary, on precise points.
(silence)
--
I think its something that has been felt, experienced (partially and very fleetingly) through all ages, but which is beginning to be concentrated and almost concretized on earth. But physical Matter in its cellular form has, we cant say a fear or an anxiety, but a sort of apprehension of new vibrations, and that apprehension naturally takes away from the cells their receptivity and takes on the appearance of a discomfort (its not a suffering but a discomfort). But when that apprehension is counterbalanced and cured by aspiration and the will for total surrender and the act of total surrender, then that sort of apprehension having disappeared, there comes supreme ease.
All this is like microscopic studies of the phenomena of consciousness independent of mental intervention. The need to use words to express ourselves brings in that mental intervention, but in the experience it doesnt exist. And its very interesting because the pure experience holds a content of truth, of reality, which disappears as soon as the mind intervenes. There is a flavor of true reality which totally eludes expression for that reason. Its the same difference as between an individual and his portrait, between a fact and the story told about it. Thats how it is. But its far more subtle.
0 1966-11-30, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Mother concentrates for a moment) Well, thats it. Thats it. But there are lots of them, you know! I could say at least a hundred, constantly, at all times.
Men are really imbeciles: what they dont understand they hate.
--
In my case, strangely, I seem to see through a thick veil, that is to say, everything is blurred. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, I see an object, some thing or other, clearly, so clearly, precisely, with a detailed accuracy, as if it were shown to me. Or else when reading a letter, for instance, if I read it without paying attention to anything else, I see perfectly well, but if I start thinking of an answer or concentrate, if the consciousness starts working, everything disappears and I cant see anything anymore the next minute, the words become clear again. Which means it doesnt depend on a defect of the sight or the material organ: its something else something else that one wants me to learn. Because it constantly comes back as if to show me something. But theres so much work and so many people that I dont always have the time to stop and concentrate to see what it is. I would have to catch the exact point when the sight comes and when it goes, and follow the conditions of the consciousness at that moment. I dont have the time.
Its really like an attempt to demonstrate to me that sight doesnt depend on the eyes.
The organ is in good condition, it doesnt have any lesion. But the sight isnt the same with this eye as with that one. With this one (the right), its only an overall, slightly blurred vision. With that one (the left), its a precise, clear vision, but theres a tiny spot in the corner, like a black spot, because of which I see everything clearly but with a patch in the corner. Then if I concentrate, I see that patch grow bright and luminous, like a dark blue star, and that star moves in front of me (it doesnt depend on the eye), it moves about, and if I fix my eyes on someone, for instance, I see that dark blue star go and rest here or there (gesture at different levels of the person), at the exact spot where some work has to be done. So it means it doesnt depend on the eye, its independent of the eye. And also if I look at a photo, with a certain position between the right eye and the left, I suddenly see the photo come alive, in three dimensions, with the persons head sticking out. Thats how I can see the character. Its really strange, like an attempt to teach me to see in a different way.
We are learning our lesson.
0 1966-12-07, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But that inspiration comes from the highest region, the region beyond all individualizations. Thats why its something we find difficult to formulate and explain. Its complete, perfect in itself, but it doesnt have anything of the character of our mental formulation, not at all; it doesnt even have the character of a formulated idea. And its absolutely imperative, absolutely. But then, as soon as it touches the mental zone, it seems to attract words. My impression is that the more silent I am, the more precise it is; in other words, the more inactive the mind is, the more precise the expression. So thats what it is, its that force coming down and attracting words. Its not even ideas (it doesnt come through the region of ideas): its an experience, its something living which comes and which, to take expression, catches hold of words. What came on Sunday was like that: I was asked that question on the Grace, then I was seized by a concentrated, extremely strong silence for maybe a minute (not even that long), and it came. Then I spoke. I heard myself speaking. But then it clearly came through Sri Aurobindo.
If it were already written, fully ready somewhere, you couldnt change anything in it; when it was there you would feel its perfect in itself and you cant change anything in it.
0 1967-01-28, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Not very diplomatically, by the way. I said it had nothing to do with Tantrism. But the strange thing is that despite all this sexual atmosphere, the man still has an opening: one day, about twelve years ago, as he had a problem, instead of writing to Sri Aurobindo (he had read Sri Aurobindo), he said to himself, But why dont I concentrate on Sri Aurobindo to get the answer to my problem? He concentrated, and in the night he suddenly saw a big golden disk come and fill him, and a voice of extraordinary force told him the words he was waiting for, words of revelation. So the man has an opening.
Oh, yes.
0 1967-02-04, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
But this morning I was told to rest, that is, to go within. I said I had other things to do; then it came over me forcibly! That is, suddenly something comes to me that I see, and then quite naturally, I concentrate on it, and I realize Ive gone off!
It was like that this morning, while I was working.
0 1967-02-08, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its true that now, as soon as the nerves (but you know, its an observation of every second), as soon as the nerves start protesting and it happens very often when they are interested in a sensation: they become interested in a sensation, they concentrate and follow it, then suddenly, it exceeds (how should I put it?) the amount they are used to considering as pleasant (it can be put that way), so theres a slight tipping over and they start going wrong, they start protesting. But if there is observation, there is the action of the inner mentor that tells them, Now, all sensations can be borne almost to their maximum: its quite simply a bad habit and a lack of plasticity. Remain calm and you will see. (Something of the sort.) Then they are docile, they stay calm, and everything smoothes out. Smoothes out, and then the allergic reaction is over. So I think Ive learned the knack! Thats why I answered the doctor with such force.
Its very amusing. Thats how you learn things.
0 1967-02-11, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
And then, this incident made me realize that I seem to be learning a way of resting without going out of the body. Because there, I was sure I was awake, as its called: there was nothing resembling sleep, and I wasnt thinking. There was only the consciousness watching, like that. But interiorized. And a will to get up at four-thirty. I looked at the time once in between (there was a clock near my bed, I looked at it), it was 3:15. I was surprised, I thought, How come? It was 2:30 a minute ago. Then I made a slight concentration to be sure of being quite awake at 4:30. And at exactly 4:30: How come? Ive just seen it was 3:15! It was astounding, because I didnt leave my body, I know I didnt sleep, and the consciousness was perfectly still, motionless, so to say; a consciousness concentrated like that (but a consciousness with foresight, which sees what has to be done), simply like that, without thought.
It was so to say instantaneous.
0 1967-02-18, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Once, very long ago, when Sri Aurobindo was telling me about himself, that is, of his childhood, his education, I put the question to him, I asked him, Why am I, as an individual being, so mediocre? I can do anything; all that I have tried to do I have done, but never in a superior way: always like this (gesture to an average level). Then he answered me (at the time I took it as a kindness or commiseration), Thats because it gives great supplenessa great suppleness and a vast scope; because those who have perfection are concentrated and specialized. As I said, I took it simply like a caress to comfort a child. But now I realize that the most important thing is not to have any fixity: nothing should be set, definitive, like the sense of a perfection in the realization that puts a total stop to the forward march. The sense of incapacity (with the meaning I said of mediocrity, of something by no means exceptional) leaves you in a sort of expectation (gesture of aspiration upward) of something better. And then, the most important thing is supplenesssuppleness, suppleness. Suppleness and breadth: reject nothing as useless or bad or inferiornothing; set nothing up as really superior and beautifulnothing. Remain ever open, ever open.
The ideal is to have this suppleness and receptivity and surrender, that is, so total an acceptance of the Influence that no matter what comes the instrument adapts itself instantly to express it naturally, spontaneously and effortlessly. With everything, of course: with the plastic arts, with music, with writing.
--
The nature (of Mother) was rather shy, and as a matter of fact, there wasnt much confidence in the personal capacity (although there was the sense of being able to do anything, if the need arose). Till the age of twenty or twenty-one I spoke very little, and never, never anything like a speech. I wouldnt take part in conversations: I would listen, but speak very little. Then I was put in touch with Abdul Baha (the Bahai), who was then in Paris, and a sort of intimacy grew between us. I used to go to his gatherings because I was interested. And one day (when I was in his room), he said to me, I am sick, I cant speak; go and speak for me. I said, Me! But I dont speak. He replied, You just have to go there, sit quietly and concentrate, and what you have to say will come to you. Go and do it, you will see. Well then (laughing), I did as he said. There were some thirty or forty people. I went and sat in their midst, stayed very still, and then I sat like that, without a thought, nothing, and suddenly I started speaking. I spoke to them for half an hour (I dont even know what I told them), and when it was over everybody was quite pleased. I went to find Abdul Baha, who told me, You spoke admirably. I said, It wasnt me! And from that day (I had got the knack from him, you understand!), I would stay like that, very still, and everything would come. Its especially the sense of the I that must be lost thats the great art in everything, for everything, for everything you do: for painting, for (I did painting, sculpture, architecture even, I did music), for everything, but everything, if you are able to lose the sense of the I, then you open yourself to to the knowledge of the thing (sculpture, painting, etc.). Its not necessarily beings, but the spirit of the thing that uses you.
Well, I think it should be the same thing with language. One should be tuned in to someone in that way, or through that someone to something still higher: the Origin. And then, very, very passive. But not inertly passive: vibrantly passive, receptive, like that, attentive, letting that come in and be expressed. The result would be there to see. As I said, we are limited by what we know, but that may be because were still too much of a person; if we could be perfectly plastic it might be different: there have been instances of people speaking in a language they didnt know, consequently
0 1967-04-05, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
He adds: I suggested it might be better to gather and listen to Mothers voice (the recordings of the Wednesday and Friday classes), for even if one doesnt understand at all, your voice would do its inner work, which we are not able to comprehend. In this regard I would like to know what is the best way to put the child in contact with you. For all the suggestions, mine included, seem to me arbitrary and worthless. Mother, would it not be better for the teachers to concentrate exclusively on the subjects they teach, for you are there to look after spiritual life?
For?
0 1967-04-12, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
There has been for some time a deliberate will not to leave the body. In the mornings, when I emerged from my nocturnal activities, I would often notice that there was a whole work of readjustment to be done in the body, as though the concentration of forces had been disturbed and even undone in the night and everything had to be started up again. It was a sheer waste of time, a waste. Previously, in the evening when I would lay down on my bed, I would go limp, a complete relaxation (one should always do that), that is, surrender, and the consciousness would rise above. There was a concentration of forces, but it wouldnt last: after two or three hours, everything was taken up by the nights activities. But now, instead of that, there is a will to keep the whole consciousness in the body, to concentrate and to keep all the energies so that the work in the cells may go on undisturbed. And I see the effect lasts much longer; even when I wake up (or rather when I get into external activity), I can see it goes on, it doesnt cease, and it resumes as soon as I am outwardly awake. A sort of concentration of energy, of consciousness, force, light, which starts working in the cells at night. And then theres nothing, no activity, theres a contemplative silence.
I had only one instance of activity these last four days, one morning between two and four, that I spent absolutely conscious and active with Sri Aurobindo, who had made changes in his activities and his organization of the subtle physical; he had made changes and wanted to show them to me, to let me know about them. And he showed it all to me for two hours. But that was the only thing, and as for the resteverything, going to see people, going here or there, doing this or that I have stopped it all. And things are better.
0 1967-04-27, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The pressure went away after the meditation, but the effect has remained, and when, out of the old habit, I got up afterwards to take something on the table over there, I nearly fell! The body no longer knew how to walk! I had to concentrate, then it came back.
Something still remained (but not as strong as that), something remained when I went to the balcony (in the afternoon of the 24th). At the balcony I was different from what I usually am. I dont exactly know what it was. But then, the photographs are very different; there is something in the photographs that isnt there usually. There was a special atmosphere.
0 1967-05-03, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Mon petit, there is (you will find this amusing), there is mental vision: when you are concentrated, you see things here (gesture around the head); not with the same kind of vision as with open eyes, but you see them. You see images, you see thoughts, you see There is a vital vision: you just have to close your eyes to see all sorts of things. Its not always pretty. Its the kind of dreams you have. You will have had dreams of that kind which werent very pleasant. And then, for (how long?) twenty, thirty years (I started seeing when I was quite small I didnt know what it was) but when I began to know what it was, I complained a lot that I didnt have perfectly objective visions (Mother gestures in front of her open eyes): not those one sees here around the head; not those one sees when one is in the vital; but those one sees like this, with open eyes. And when I met quite ordinary mediums, people who saw with open eyes, I used to say, Those people are great! When I met Sri Aurobindo, I told him. Naturally he made fun of mehe was right. So I took no more interest in it.
Then, quite recently, when I began doing the yoga in the cells, lo and behold, they started seeing! But then what a caravanserai! And it kept going and coming, and seeing and seeing, constantly, all the time. I would open my eyes: instead of seeing material things, I would see the physical things behind them. Oh! Then I said, I understand! It was the aspiration of Ignorance, now I understand: people who dont see are blessed! Because I always used to say, My visions arent concrete, they are subjective visions since they are inner visions; they are subjective visions, not concrete ones I want concrete visions, I want to see the material world as it is; not in its deceptive appearanceAS IT IS. When I started seeing, I said, No thanks! We are blessed not to see.
0 1967-05-06, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
They had wired me that he was dying. So I concentrated (gesture) like that to make contact little by little with this force of harmony, this principle of harmony. And now he tells me that he feels quite fine, quite a new man.
Thats what I did.
--
But I found that interesting, because Its generally like this: the Force is there, working, and if something comes (a call from someone, a prayer or something), all this (gesture to the forehead) generally remains absolutely still, immobile, letting only the Force pass through, and all I sometimes do is simply (gesture of offering or presenting something upward): Lord, here is this task, its for You. Thats all, and I leave it. But in this case, I was sitting at my table (the telegram had just come), and I concentrated and quite deliberately and consciously I put him in contact with the Force. Because there was a whole world of suggestions, he expected the end: This time its the end. So because of that, I concentrated and put a formation.
(silence)
0 1967-05-17, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
At the time when I had gatherings in Paris and followed Thons system (he didnt call them meditations but repose: having repose together), during our gatherings a kind of vibration of light would flow from my fingers (it was visible to the naked eye), and it was like electricity. But that was a concentrated vital force. It was visible as a vibration of light flowing from my fingers.
It must be the same thing.
0 1967-06-07, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
The man was very touched (I didnt tell him it was Sri Aurobindo; I spoke, you understand, it was my mouth that spoke then, but it was Sri Aurobindo who spoke). Then I concentrated, and Sri Aurobindo said with great force:
All the countries live in falsehood. If only one country stood courageously for truth, the world might be saved.
0 1967-07-22, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
In a magazine (I think its Life, an American magazine), they published the story of a man (who is in fact one of the editors or administrators of the magazine), a man who was given an injection of penicillin and who was allergic to penicillin. And lo and behold, suddenly all his cells begin to dissolve, while he, entirely conscious and as if concentrated in his brain, watches the dissolution. When it reached up to the heart, the doctors declared him dead. The impression it had on him was that the cells had a kind of expanding movement, then burst and dissolved one after another: feet, legs, abdomen, everything. And when it reached the heart, the doctor said, Hes dead. But he had taken refuge in his brain and thought, I must hold out; if I can hold out here, concentrate and resist here, all will be well. And thats what he did. Then he felt all at once a power, he says, something so luminous, so beautiful, so gentle, so so much more full of love than anything else in the world, such a marvellous sensation that he let himself melt into it, and after some time, everything was put in order and he came back to life! He describes that. He describes it (with sentences: its in a magazine, so he makes sentences), but his experience is really interesting. You see, because of that will to concentrate in what he conceived to be the essential part of his being, the centre of his life, he suddenly found himself in the presence of that power. He said he tried to recapture it afterwards, but I forget what it was, I no longer remember, except for the sensation, that sensation more marvellous than anything one can conceive.2
I found that interesting.
--
I took it as one of the signs that the Force is really at work. Because I dont think that man had done any yoga, he knew nothing about those things; he is just a gentleman-whos-had-an-injection-of-penicillin which he cant tolerate (those accidents happen fairly often), nothing more. There was just this idea that the brain is the conscious part of the being, and if he concentrated there His idea was, I want to know whats happening, I want to be conscious of whats happening, I want to see whats happening. So thats what pulled the Force. A simple thing.
It seems to me there is a progress in human consciousness thats my impression.
0 1967-09-13, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
You know, when I go there (to the music room) to see people, I simply concentrate and there is a sort of invocation to the Lords Presence. And when He is there, when I feel the whole room full of Him, then its good. That is the sole will (immobile, passive gesture turned upward). I expressed this when I said to someone, I give them a bath of the Lord! And thats indeed how it is: His Presence, His Action His Presence, His Action Thats all. And when I look at them, there is no more person: there is only His Presence and His Action.
So there we are, it has a different effect on each one!
0 1967-09-30, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Then, once that was done, it was as if concretized, concentrated on this little point of a body, so that, there too, certain things, certain vibrations of unconsciousness can no longer exist. And today the outcome was that transfer, which was constantconstant, unadulterated for about four hours. Afterwards Its mostly the invasion of outside things that cuts off the experience. Yet there is no reproval of that invasion; the transformation the TRANSFERmust continue AMID the contact with all that comes. Then it will be fine.
There are two things. There is all this crowd I see constantly, and since long (a long time, that is in human terms), as soon as I am there, as soon as the body is there to see the people, it becomes no more than a channel, a kind of (gesture showing the Force flowing down through Mother to the people), for the Consciousness of the Lord to flow through it and go. There isnt even, or there is as little need to receive as possible: its an Action like this (same gesture through Mother), the Force passing through. And when it happens in that room over there which is reserved exclusively for seeing people, the room fills with the Presence, and its as if that Presence opened its arms to receive people, took them, enveloped them, and then let them go out.
0 1967-10-19, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
(Soon afterwards, Mother remains concentrated on the photo of a European lady vaguely connected to the Ashram.)
I dont feel. I have no contact I have a contact with everybody, but I mean theres no special affinity: the psychic appears to be completely asleep. Its vital and intellectual. The psychic is asleep, or absent, in the background, not moving.
0 1967-11-08, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Ah, yesterday I saw ex-Brother A. He came to see me (he had asked, so I called him). He came in, gave me a bunch of flowers, sat down on the floor and looked at me; we looked at each other for at least five minutes. Then I smiled, and he made a big pranam, then got up and went away. I found him very receptive, very receptive and very sincere in his aspiration to find himself, to find his soul. Very fine and concentrated, very fine. I was quite satisfied. Anyhow he behaved very well. It was very peaceful and receptive.
Then at one point, I smiled like that (I dont know why), and he got up and left. It was good.
0 1967-12-06, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Its an acute state of consciousness, that is, wholly awakened. In the cells of the body, it dispels all darkness. Naturally, its a long and slow work, but it dispels, its a state that dispels all darkness everywhere. And darkness is always the sign (sign or cause) of a disorder. We know there is still plenty of it. Its a slow work, a whole world! When you (how should I put it?) when you descend into (one can say descend or concentrate on) this cellular constitution of the body, on the bodys scale, its an innumerable world! An innumerable world. Everything is as though made up of innumerable tiny points, and each point has to be awakened and flooded with consciousness and lighta long work.
(silence)
0 1967-12-20, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
I take the simplest and most concrete things like, for instance, brushing ones teeth; its extremely flexible and things are done, not out of habit but by a sort of choice based on personal experience and routine, so there is no necessity for a special concentration (the real purpose of routine is to avoid the need for a special concentration: things can be done almost automatically). But that automatism is very flexible, very plastic, because depending, as I said, on the intensity of the concentration, the time varies the time varies: you can (you can know by looking at your watch before and after), you can certainly reduce the time by more than half, yet things are done in exactly the same way. Thats right: you dont do away with anything, you do everything in the same way. To make sure, you can, for instance, count the number of times you brush your teeth or the number of times you rinse your mouth I am DELIBERATELY taking the most banal thing, because in other activities there is a natural suppleness that allows you to spread yourself and concentrate (and so its easier to understand with such things). But it works in the same way with the most concrete and banal things too. And there isnt any Oh, I wont do this today or I am neglecting thattheres none of that, nothing at all: everything is done in the same way, BUT with a sort of concentration and constant call the constant call is always there. The constant call which might find a material expression in saying the mantra, but its not even that: its the SENSE, the sense of the call, of the aspirationits above all a call. A call. You know, when the mind wants to make sentences, it says, Lord, take possession of Your kingdom. For certain things, I remember, when there are certain disorders, something wrong (and with the perception of a consciousness that has become very sharp, you can see when that disorder is the natural origin of an illness, for example, or of something very serious), with the call, the concentration and the response [the disorder is dissolved]. Its almost a surrender, because its an uncalculating self-giving: the damaged spot opens to the Influence, not with an idea of getting cured, but like this (gesture like a flower opening out), simply like this, unconditionally that is the most potent gesture.
But the interesting part is that formulating it in words makes it sound artificialits much more sincere, much truer, much more spontaneous than anything expressed or expressible by the mind. No formula can render the sinceritysimplicity, sincerity, spontaneity, something uncalculatingof the material movement. There was a time when expressing or formulating caused a very unpleasant sensation, like putting something artificial on something spontaneously true; and that unpleasantness was cured only, to begin with, by a higher knowledge that all that is formulated must be surpassed. For instance, every experience expressed or described CALLS FOR a new progress, a new experience. In other words, it hastens the movement. That has been a consolation, because in fact, with the old sensation of something very stable and solid and immobile because of inertia (a past inertia, which is now being transformed but has left marks), because of that inertia there is a tendency to prefer things to be solid; so there is a thrill at being forced to No, no! No rest, no halt, go on!farther and farther and farther on When an experience has been very fruitful and highly pleasant, let us say, when its had a great force and a great effect, the first movement is to say, We wont talk about that, well keep it. Then after comes, Well say it in order to go farther onto go farther on, ever farther, ever farther.
0 1968-02-03, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
Then Ive written something else. They wanted to prepare a sort of brochure on Auroville to distribute to the press, the government, etc., on the 28th,1 and before that, there is in Delhi in two or three days a conference of all nations (all nations is an exaggeration, but anyway they say all nations). Z is going there, and she wants to take with her all the papers on Auroville. They have prepared textsalways lengthy, interminable: speeches and more speeches. So then I asked, I concentrated to know what had to be said. And all of a sudden, Sri Aurobindo gave me a revelation. That was something interesting. I concentrated to know the why, the how and so on, and all of a sudden Sri Aurobindo said (Mother reads out a note:)
India has become
--
And the clear vision: the same thing which in the history of the universe made the earth the symbolic representation of the universe so as to concentrate the work on one point, the same phenomenon is now taking place: India is the representation of all human difficulties on earth, and it is in India that the cure will be found. And then, that is whyTHAT IS WHY I was made to start Auroville.
It came and it was so clear, so tremendously powerful!
--
Every time the rule or domination of Natures ordinary laws is, on one point or another, replaced (or must be or is going to be replaced on any point) by the authority of the Divine Consciousness, that creates a state of transition with all the appearances of a tremendous disorder and a very great danger. And as long as the body doesnt know, as long as its in its state of ignorance, it gets panic-stricken (which is what happens in almost everyone), panic-stricken, it thinks its a serious illness, and sometimes, with the help of imagination, it may even result in an illness. But originally its not that: its a withdrawal, the withdrawal of Natures ordinary law with its adjunct of personal vital and mental law (but Natures law in the body is generally much stronger than the minds and the vitals law); well, its the withdrawal of that law and its replacement by the other. So there is a moment when its neither this nor that, and that moment is critical. But if the body begins to know, it remains still and has faithtrust and faith; it remains still, then all goes well. The difficulty soon passes and all goes well. So long as the body doesnt know its reactions are disastrous. But for it to know automatically and spontaneously, it means that a large part of its elements must already be conscious and transformed. Now, its all right. Not so long ago it was still necessary to stop, to fall silent, concentrate, to call the Presence, call on its faith, then everything was back in order. Now the movement is spontaneous.
And the surface, the very part that gives the sense of bark, is what will change lastwhats going to happen? I dont know I dont know. But it will change last.
--- Overview of noun concentrate
The noun concentrate has 3 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (3) dressed ore, concentrate ::: (the desired mineral that is left after impurities have been removed from mined ore)
2. (1) concentrate ::: (a concentrated form of a foodstuff; the bulk is reduced by removing water)
3. (1) concentrate ::: (a concentrated example of something; "the concentrate of contemporary despair")
--- Overview of verb concentrate
The verb concentrate has 8 senses (first 5 from tagged texts)
1. (8) concentrate ::: (make denser, stronger, or purer; "concentrate juice")
2. (4) concentrate, focus, center, centre, pore, rivet ::: (direct one's attention on something; "Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies")
3. (4) centralize, centralise, concentrate ::: (make central; "The Russian government centralized the distribution of food")
4. (2) digest, condense, concentrate ::: (make more concise; "condense the contents of a book into a summary")
5. (1) concentrate ::: (draw together or meet in one common center; "These groups concentrate in the inner cities")
6. condense, concentrate, contract ::: (compress or concentrate; "Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan")
7. boil down, reduce, decoct, concentrate ::: (be cooked until very little liquid is left; "The sauce should reduce to one cup")
8. reduce, boil down, concentrate ::: (cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time")
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun concentrate
3 senses of concentrate
Sense 1
dressed ore, concentrate
=> ore
=> mineral
=> material, stuff
=> substance
=> matter
=> physical entity
=> entity
=> part, portion, component part, component, constituent
=> relation
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
Sense 2
concentrate
=> foodstuff, food product
=> food, nutrient
=> substance
=> matter
=> physical entity
=> entity
Sense 3
concentrate
=> prototype, paradigm, epitome, image
=> model, example
=> representation, mental representation, internal representation
=> content, cognitive content, mental object
=> cognition, knowledge, noesis
=> psychological feature
=> abstraction, abstract entity
=> entity
--- Hyponyms of noun concentrate
1 of 3 senses of concentrate
Sense 2
concentrate
=> tomato concentrate
=> evaporated milk
=> frozen orange juice, orange-juice concentrate
--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun concentrate
3 senses of concentrate
Sense 1
dressed ore, concentrate
=> ore
Sense 2
concentrate
=> foodstuff, food product
Sense 3
concentrate
=> prototype, paradigm, epitome, image
--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun concentrate
3 senses of concentrate
Sense 1
dressed ore, concentrate
-> ore
=> dressed ore, concentrate
=> iron ore
=> lead ore
=> pay dirt
=> uranium ore
Sense 2
concentrate
-> foodstuff, food product
=> starches
=> breadstuff
=> coloring, colouring, food coloring, food colouring, food color, food colour
=> concentrate
=> meal
=> roughage, fiber
=> flour
=> frozen food, frozen foods
=> canned food, canned foods, canned goods, tinned goods
=> dehydrated food, dehydrated foods
=> carob, carob powder, Saint-John's-bread
=> tapioca
=> cocoa
=> grain, food grain, cereal
=> ingredient, fixings
=> egg, eggs
=> dairy product
=> milk
=> curd
=> concoction, mixture, intermixture
=> juice
=> perishable, spoilable
Sense 3
concentrate
-> prototype, paradigm, epitome, image
=> concentrate
=> imago
--- Grep of noun concentrate
concentrate
concentrated fire
orange-juice concentrate
tomato concentrate
Wikipedia - Alamosa Solar Generating Project -- Concentrated photovoltaic power station in Colorado, United States
Wikipedia - Angostura bitters -- Concentrated bitters made of water, alcohol, herbs and spices
Wikipedia - Ashalim Power Station -- Concentrated solar thermal power station in Israel
Wikipedia - Brine -- A highly concentrated solution of a salt in water
Wikipedia - Carolina bays -- Elliptical depressions concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard of North America
Wikipedia - Combat box -- A heavy bomber formation used by the USAAF in WW2 to concentrate offensive and defensive firepower.
Wikipedia - Concentrated animal feeding operation -- American type of intensive animal farming at large scale
Wikipedia - Concentrated disadvantage -- Sociological term based on socioeconomic status of neighborhoods
Wikipedia - Concentrated solar power
Wikipedia - Desert Green Solar Farm -- Concentrated photovoltaic power station in California, USA
Wikipedia - Distributism -- Economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated
Wikipedia - Eilenberg-MacLane space -- Topological space with homotopy concentrated in a single degree
Wikipedia - Freckle -- Clusters of concentrated melanin
Wikipedia - Ivanpah Solar Power Facility -- Concentrated solar thermal power station in the Mojave Desert of California
Wikipedia - Juicy Juice -- American brand of juices and juice concentrates
Wikipedia - Meat extract -- Highly concentrated meat stock
Wikipedia - Platelet-rich plasma -- Concentrate of platelet-rich plasma protein derived from whole blood
Wikipedia - Rasna -- Indian soft drink concentrate
Wikipedia - Sandstone Solar Energy Project -- Proposed and unbuilt concentrated solar power station in Nevada
Wikipedia - Somali Civil War (2009-present) -- Present phase of the Somali Civil War, which is concentrated in southern Somalia
Wikipedia - Squash (drink) -- Non-alcoholic concentrated syrup
Wikipedia - Yellowcake -- Uranium concentrate powder
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29778374-concentrated-investing
wiki.auroville - File:Mother_playing_organ_concentrated.jpg
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome
The Nesting(1981) - A writer suffering from agoraphobia rents an isolated house so she can concentrate on her writing. She doesn't know that the house is a former brothel, and is inhabited by the ghosts of dead prostitutes.
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Acid
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Lead_Sector
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Mercury_Sector
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Phosphorus_Sector
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Silicon_Sector
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Sulfur_Sector
https://allods.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Tin_Sector
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrate
https://dnd4.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_attack
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Concentrated_Poison
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Food_concentrate
Onegai☆Twins: Natsu wa Owaranai -- -- Daume -- 1 ep -- Original -- Comedy Drama Romance -- Onegai☆Twins: Natsu wa Owaranai Onegai☆Twins: Natsu wa Owaranai -- Two weeks have passed since the dilemma between Maiku, Karen and Miina was resolved, but their lives are more hectic than ever. Karen has become possessed in her newly discovered brother and Miina is desperate for attention as well, which leaves little time for Maiku to concentrate on his work. Therefore he decides to head out in the woods and set up a camp, where he can be work in peace. But, as always, we have Morino who is up to no good. To make things a bit more interesting, she organizes a field trip to Maiku's camp site, and encourages everyone to make some good summer memories. -- OVA - Apr 28, 2004 -- 27,598 7.03
Cannabis concentrate
Concentrate
Concentrated
Concentrated animal feeding operation
Concentrate (disambiguation)
Concentrated photovoltaic thermal system
Concentrated poverty
Concentrated snail
Concentrated solar power
Concentrated solar still
Leaf protein concentrate
Milk protein concentrate
Neoregelia 'Pink Concentrate'
North 24 Parganas: minority concentrated district
Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant
Ore concentrate
Prothrombin complex concentrate
Whey concentrate
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