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01 CONCENTRATION AND
MEMORIZING By SARALDEN
CONCENTRATION AND
MEMORIZING By SARALDEN
Copyright. By Supreme
Grand
1934 Lodge
AII Righhl
Prinled
ff68
1962
*
California
Ine.
Reses-ved
in U. S. A. by The Rosierucian
San Jese, G-GO
and
of A.M.O.R.C.,
95114,
Press,
U. S. A.
Lrd,
\l BOOK ONE
Concentration \l
c!Jnlroduclion .. It is very generally admitted by thinking men and women of the Western world that the most serious obstacle confronting them in their daily lives is the inability to concentrate the attention and to focalize the inner consciousness easily and at will. The art of concentration is a simple thing to the people of the Oriento It is also a simple process and a very valued asset in the lives of all primitive tribes of people, and was even a highly cultivated asset in the lives of the American Indians who probably brought the art with them in their pilgrimages from Ioreign lands to this Western world continent many centuries ago. To the business man and woman the lack of ability to concentrate properly is truly a serious matter. In many respects the ability to concentra te is much like the ability to relax thoroughly and the two processes are somewhat related. Both of them are absolute necessities to anyone attempting to be successful in life through the use of all of the mental abilities, and the application of all knowledge. Thousands of successful business men and women have frankly admitted in magazine articles, newspaper interviews, personal conversations, and otherwise, that their difficulty in properly concentrating has been one of the greatest problems which they have had to master, and that the effort expended in trying to concentrate very often caused them greater loss in time and energy than any other deterrent factor. On the other hand, many thousands of business men and women [5]
Sueeess In Lile Depends
UPOR Concentration
THE
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Coneentration Xeeded
for
All Material Aetivity
Ph ysfcu l Disability
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who have not made a success in life have very definitely stated that the one outstanding cause of their lack of success is their inability to concentra te. There is hardly an hour of the day in the lives of busy men and women when there is not some need for the process of mental concentration. It is not only necessary to concentrate when attempting to memorize certain facts, or to recall memorized facts from the storehouse of memory, but it is necessary to concentra te when analyzing, examining, or digesting any number of facts, or examining in an efficient manner any proposition or subject that arises in the course of human affairs. To answer a given question at any moment of our lives requires immediately the ability to concentrate for a few seconds and thereby focus our entire thinking consciousness upon the question in order to arrive at a proper answer. Whenever one is called upon to decide a disputed point or to arrive at a decision in regard to an unsettled matter, unless the mind can concentrate its attention and its realization upon the subject, no fair and proper consideration can be given to it. In order that one may realize his whereabouts, and associate himself with his environment, plan his activities, and outline his daily work or hís course of procedure, he must be able to concentrate the mind and consciousness easily and properly at a moment's notice. In fact, the ability to concentrate applies to and affects so many of our mental and physical activities Irom hour to hour, and day to day, that it is a governing and controlling factor that makes not only for efficiency and success, but for happiness, contentment, and [6 J
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the real enjoyment 01 all that occurs in our waking hours. If our eyes were unable to focalize our sight and we were unable to direct our sight toward a given point and remain fixed for a moment upon that point, we would soon realize how valuable is the ability of concentrating the sight of the eyes. When this inability to focus the eyes properly upon a given point is due to physiological conditions of the eye, we resort to the use of eyeglasses, or special lenses that will force the eyes into the proper focalization and enable us to fix our sight-attention upon any selected point or place. In other words, jf our eyes vacillated and fluctuated in their attention and varied in their fixed attentiveness as greatly as our consciousness and mind fluctuate and vacillate in our attempts to concentrate upon any given thought or idea, we would find ourselves unable to enjoy most of the blessings of IHe, and unable to read or to study or even to go about our daily affairs efficiently. When the inability to concentrate properly reaches a high degree of vacillation and fluctuation, we find that it seriously affects the mental consciousness and leads to mental troubles and even physical troubles of various kinds. There are c!asses of abnormal individuals such as idiots, imbeciles, and those mentally unsound, who are incapable of concentrating their attention or fixing their minds upon a single idea just as there are certain types of mentally unsound persons who are incapable of fixing their eyes steadily on one point. Vacillating, swiftly-moving, unsteady eyes indicate two types of persons: those who are mentally unsound, irrational, and incompetent, or those who have been occupied for a [7
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Vaeillating Attention Causes Mental Troubles
Normal Persons Can Aequire Perfect Coneentration
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long time in positions or at various trades and activities which require the constant shifting of the point of vision. There is possibly a third class that may be properly included among the first class; namely, those whose eyes are constantly shifting and moving beca use of fear of detection in their crimes, or who suffer from the consciousness that they are guilty of crimes and are fearful of looking straight forward into the eyes of others but must constantly watch and seek for the inevitable recognition by representatives of the law. We, therefore, cast out of the classification of highly competent individuals those whose sight is constantly shifting, and who are incapable of concentrated vision. But we must also place among the failures in life, and among the incompetent or unfortunate, those who wholly lack the ability to concentrate their attention or fix their consciousness upon any given subject. And just as the eyes may be assisted with proper glasses, so as to enable them to focalize the attention of sight, so the consciousness of the human mind may be aided in its ability to concentrate and focalize its attention through certain processes and exercises of a psychological nature.
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE Brain Controls Voluntary Aetions
It must be understood, first of all, that the human consciousness is a very complex mechanism and form of psychological function. The brain of man is the great controlling switchboard of the nerve functioning of the human body, especially those functions which are wholly voluntary. There are many involuntary functionings within the body not controlled by the brain of man through the [8J
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use of his will. Generally listed under this category are such functionings as the beating of the heart, the rhythmic action of other organs, the reaction through certain nerve impulses throughout the body, and the more mysterious activities of the lungs, stomach, bowels, kidneys, and bladder, for instance, in their maintenance of normal activity. Fortunately for man these important functionings were not left to man's arbitrary or voluntary control. Considering the manner in which man neglects those functionings over which he does have control, it is fortunate indeed for man that his brain and his will are not in absolute control of all parts and all functionings and all activities that constitute the human body in its living, conscious status. The consciousness of man is not situated exclusively in the brain. It is a part of every living cell in his body. In fact, the consciousness of man is the multiple of the millions of forms and degrees of consciousness existing in all of these cells. It is an accumulated consciousness, for while this consciousness can function and can manifest itself by registering in the brain as a unit, it does function in parts of the body separately and independently. Nevertheless, man's realization of his consciousness requires focalization, and this focalization must take place in the brain as an objective center for the functioning of consciousness in all parts of the body. We may compare the human body with all of its nerve centers and localized centers of consciousness in cells and organs to a thousand telephones located in a community with one central station to which all of them respond. On the other hand, we may compare these distributed points of consciousness in [9 J
Consclousness Resides Every
in Cell
Oí rhe Body
Foealization
Oí Consetousne se Takes Place In the Brain
THE
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"'e ReaUze Only One Thing
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the human body to a large number of photoelectric cells, or electric eyes that are seeing and receiving impressions of light, but all of these impressions must be transmitted to one central point where the impressions are focalized into realization and that realization must be impressed upon the mind of man as a unit impression, and not as a multiple of impressions. We see, therefore, that it is impossible for the brain and consciousness of man to realize more than one thought, or one impression at a time. It is a fact that man cannot think and realize his thinking on more than one point or one thing at a time. you may see aman walking along the street reading a book and understanding what he is reading. If you watch him you will see that although he does not take his eyes from the book he seems to guide his feet correctly, to stop when the persons in front of him stop, or to walk around them. On reaching the street crossing he may hear the traffic signal and pause with others to wait until it rings again, and it may look as though the man were able to read and be conscious of his reading, and at the same time be conscious of his walking. The truth of the matter is that in this process man divides his attention between reading and walking. He cannot think of both at the same time. He cannot fix his eyes upon the words on the printed page and turn those symbols into thoughts, and be conscious of those thoughts, and at the same time think of his walking and of the traffic signals. What actually occurs is a rapid alternation of consciousness or attention, and between every few words there is a fraction of a moment when his attention is given to his walking [ 10 }
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and followed by a return of his attention to his reading. This alternation of attention is so rapid that it appears difficult for the man to realize that he was interrupting his reading with momentary concentration or reflection upon his walking.
THE SECOND PRINCIPLE We see, therefore, that in order to do justice to our realization of things we must focalize our attention and consciousness upon one thing at a time. This calls for concentration in its simple formo But what is more difficult than this is not only to blot out of our minds those things which are not associated with the thought we wish to concentrate upon, but to blot out of our minds the pictures, ideas, and impressions that rise from our memory and which interfere with keeping the consciousness focalized only upon one point, or one subject. Most persons who lack the ability to concentrate frankly admit that the great trouble they have is in shutting out from their consciousness the thousands of ideas and thoughts that rush in as soon as the mind begins to think and analyze. Here is truly a very serious interference with the individual process of thinking, analyzing and logical reasoning. It is also one of the great obstacles to success in memorizing. Those persons who are most seriously affected by the inability to concentra te admit that the moment they attempt to concentrate their attention and fix their consciousness upon some thought or idea, or attempt to recall from the storehouse of memory certain facts, the whole body becomes slightly relaxed while the brain becomes overactive instantly. To these people it seems that the slightest de[ 11 }
BIOIOut
OfMind tJnassoeiated Thoughts
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gree of relaxation of the body, the slightest pause in physical activity causes the brain to begin to function more actively than at any other time. Such persons suffer from insomnia beca use as they prepare to go to sleep and relax the physical body the brain becomes overactive. Even when they are riding or walking leisurely or attempting to rest the body in the theatre or at mealtime, the letting down of physical activity seems to be immediately accompanied by an over amount of mental activity.
THE THIRD PRINCIPLE Thinking Requires Nerve Energy
Early Hours Before Hreakfast Bes r
It is a fact that thinking and any other forms of mental activity and the concentration of consciousness require nerve energy. Physical and muscular activity of any kind also require nerve energy and persons can become exhausted, tired, and depleted in nerve energy from purely mental activity just as easily as from purely physical activity. Brain fag is just as real as muscular fatigue, but the moment that the physical activities of the body are lessened, there is released a greater amount of energy in the physical body to be used by the brain, and the brain utilizes this extra amount of nerve energy by becoming overactive. On the other hand, such mental activity interferes with certain physical activities in the body. After a person has eaten a very heavy meal it requires a great deal of nerve energy for its proper digestion, and not enough nerve energy is left for the brain to use in any great amount of thinking, analyzing, and reasoning, and for this reason men and women who are students, or who are required to do great and deep thinking and analyzing, find it impossible to use the brain and mind efficiently [ 12 ]
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immediately after a heavy meaL For this reason memorizing is more easily done before eating rather than after eating, and while resting rather than exercising. Many of the world's greatest students, and most of those who are attending colleges and universities and must prepare their examinations or special studies, have found that the early hours after sunrise and before breakfast are the very best for reading and memorizing beca use the body, being rested, is not drawing heavily upon the nerve energy, and the stomach be~ ing empty and with no other very active functioning taking place, the brain can utilize a great amount of the nerve energy for realizing what the eyes are reading and register it in the memory's storehouse.
THE FOURTH PRINCIPLE From all of the foregoing facts we learn that the best method for concentrating is that of sitting down in a relaxed and quiet position. This enables the brain to think more easily and more efficiently. Everyone has discovered this simple fact, however, and we find it is a common practice, even among those who have never given the subject any careful thought, to sit down when trying to think or reason, and they even rest the head upon the hands, and close the eyes and become as physically relaxed as possible so that the mind and brain may have every opportunity to function. In every picture and painting that one ever sees of a thinking person, we find him in a position of relaxation and generally with the eyes closed, or with the head resting upon the hand in simple ease and restfulness. This reminds us of the wonderful piece of sculpture called The Thinker, except that the position of this man [ 13 ]
Complete RelaxatioD MOSl
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does not seem to be as restful nor does the body seem to be as greatly at ease as it might be for one who is in deep thought. But there are those who say that even in the most comfortable position of relaxation and even with the eyes closed and every wilfuI means used to focalize the attention in concentrating, the mind will fill with thoughts, impressions, and ideas that are unwanted. The pending troubles, the anticipated anxieties, the hoped-for joys, the pending activities that must be attended to very shortly, the forgotten things that were to be done a little while ago, and many other subjects rush in upon the consciousness, and flit across the mind like an endless stream of moving pictures. It is impossible to concentrate the consciousness upon one subject when such impressions go passing by or crowd up and fill the consciousness so that nothing else can hold forth exclusively. What then is to be done, or what can be done to improve this condition and make perfect concentration possible?
THE FIFfH Forrnjng Mental Images
PRINCIPLE
In the first place, man has one other very great ability and that is imagery. This ability is part of the process of imagining and is what gives man the great power of imagination. This special Iaculty enables man to form a mental image of anything that he has ever seen or heard of, or even of anything that he has never seen or heard of, and which he creates out of the nothing of his conscíousness and brings into realization. It is easy to prove to yourself that you have this ability to imagine or to form images in your mind, and in your consciousness, and [ 14 )
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CENTRATION
make them seem real. Por instance, I will describe to you an article I have in my hand. I tell you that it is a piece of brass about as thick as a heavy piece of cardboard. It is cut round in shape about the size of a saucer, or let us say five and one half or six inches in diameter. Now you can visualize in your mind's eye, so to speak, this flat brass disk five and one half inches in diameter, and as thick as a heavy piece of cardboard, highly polished until it shines and looks almost like a piece of gold. There is nothing engraved on it, no designo There is merely a flat, bright, shiny piece of brass cut into a round disk. Can you see it? Pause for a moment in the reading of this paragraph, and close your eyes and visualize that flat disk of brass lying in the palm of your hand. Now let us turn it over and on the other side of it in the cen ter of its polished surface there is a fivepointed star in blue enamel. The star is about one half inch in its widest diameter from point to point. The blue is about the color of the blue sky on a beautifully clear day. Now close your eyes again and for a moment or two hold that disk in the palm of your right hand and look down on it and see that blue star. If you have seen the blue star in your hand, then you will know what is meant by mental images. And if you have actually seen this disk and the star for just a moment you will have had a perfect example of concentration. If, on the other hand, you have not been able to see this disk with your eyes closed, and you have not been able to visualize it because your mind kept trying to pieture the brass in some other shape than round, or beca use your mind was trying to analyze whether five and one half inches was [ 15 )
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more or less than you believed it to be, or if your mind was trying to analyze the shade of blue and the shape of the star, and thereby the vision of the disk was blurred, and constantly fading out, then you have an excellent example of the inability to concentrate.
THE SIXTH PRINCIPLE Home Experimenta
By this little analysis, and through trying this experiment with the brass disk, you will be able to determine whether or not you are capable of concentrating, íf you know how to do it. If you have been unable to see the disk properly, you must begin at once the practice of certain exercises that will develop the ability to concentra te. The first step in this process is to pick out certain small objects in your home, or things which you have about your person such as a coin, a key, a small purse, or a fancy button, or something that is simple in design and yet novel or new, and look at it with your eyes far a moment or two until you register its appearance, then close your eyes and try to see it mentally as clearly as possible. Do not try to find a photographic picture of the object suddenly developing in your consciousness, for you will find that you must crea te the image in your consciousness by recalling what your eyes saw and putting in the details wilfully just as though you were an artist painting it. In this case, however, your painting is being done with a mental brush and with mental pigments upon a mental screen. At first you may find that you did not recall all of the details of the thing you looked at, and that you must take a second look at it. You may also find that it is hard to get the mental image fairly clear. You [ 16)
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should be able after a little practice to get the image clear enough for you to identify it. For instance, suppose someone were to ask you six months from now to give a description of the Iíttle object at which you have been looking. Could you close your eyes and see it clearly enough to say that it was round or square, or hexagon; that it was bright and shiny, or dull; that its color was a deep red, or a light red; a maroon, or wine color; a cherry red, or a pink; and whether it had a scroll around the edge or a beading, or little stars or circles? The best practice is for you to take some simple object that has various designs or elements to it that you can look at for a few moments, and then close your eyes and recall the details in forming the image. This exercise can be done while riding in a car, resting in relaxation, or in moments of idleness, so that after a few weeks of practice in this way you will find it a fascinating pastime, almost like a game, and at the same time you will discover that you are developing three faculties: first, the faculty of observation and retention of fact; second, the ability to image and visualize; and third, the ability to concentrate. In developing these three faculties you are not only helping to improve your ability to concentrate but you will be developing your ability to memorize and to recall what you have memorized.
Book Two of this series, The Key to the Art of Concentration and Memorizing, entitled Memorizing, is devoted entirely to a simple presentation of facts and exercises conducive to the perfection of memory. [ 17 )
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Three Faculties: Observation, Retention,
Imaging, Visualizing,
Concentratíon
\l BOOK TWO
Memorizing \l
cSJnlroduclion .. Millions of persons say that they find it difficult to memorize as easily as they could in childhood, or to recall what they have memorized. Many persons say that they can remember names, but not faces. Others say that they can remember names and faces, but cannot memorize telephone numbers and street addresses. Other persons say they can memorize historical facts, business appointments, and the ordinary events of the day, but they cannot remember certain social engagements, or lesser matters, which at times suddenly becomes embarrassing. The truth of the matter is that if one can memorize faces or figures or facts of any kind, one can memorize anything. The difference is due to interest in the subject. It is a fact that those things whích interest us the most for a moment or two register themselves most strongly upon our consciousness, and those things which do not interest us do not make the same registration in the storehouse of memory. Some will argue and say that they do their best to memorize telephone numbers and are interested in them, for they must be interested in them as part of their business affairs. But there is a great dífference between in terest and realization. We may Iook at a pieture, such as a comic picture in a newspaper, with momentary interest in order to enjoy the Iaugh in the joke, but at the same time we are not attempting to realize that interest and therefore ít does not register as would something eIse that was properly realized. In Iooking at a comic picture or interesting ( 21 )
Interest
In Subjeet Neeessary
Must ReaUze Interest
THE
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Deep Realizalion Regb.ters Incident
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photograph or a mere incident along the street that holds our interest or attention for a moment, we have a consciousness of the fact that the thing is not of importance to us, and therefore our interest is purely superficial and momentary. If, on the other hand, it is something that we know or believe will be of value to us, or something that strikes a keynote of special interest in us, as for instance being associated with some experience, some game, or something interesting to which we devote ourselves to a great extent, we give more realization to the thing than we do ordinarily. It is this moment of deep realization that registers the incident or the fact in the storehouse of memory, and at the same time associates it with certain channels of other thoughts which make it possible for us to recall the registered facts through the association of ideas. Now it is true that the memorizing of telephone numbers, street addresses, dates ol contracts, hours of appointments, and names of persons, are all important things that every business man and woman does consider as of more than casual interest and does try to realize. Some will argue and say that certainly the important date of a business meeting is of more interest to us than a comic picture in the newspaper, and therefore we should have a deeper realization of this than of the picture. That is true, but the fact remains that just because we do know its ímportance and do want to memorize it we interfere with the memorizing process by thinking of memorizing it instead of thinking of realizing.
Memos Break Faith
in
Memory
In other words, let us suppose that someone calls me on the telephonc and says that he would like to have me cal! him again at [22 }
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eleven o'clock, and then gives me a telephone number. And let us suppose that instead of writing it down and thus breaking down my faith in my memory 1 say to myself, "Now I must memorize that number, Stuyvesant 86427." 1 then proceed to keep repeating the number to myself while I unconsciously analyze the number and try to figure what it is about the number that will help me to memorize it. 1 keep saying the number over to myself and then argue with myself at the same time that I will remember it, and that 1 am registering ít, and may even try to visualize it. But this is not the correct way to memorize such a number for the chances are than an hour later 1 would not be able to recall any part of that telephone number. If, on the other hand, 1 repeated the number to myself just once, and then visualized it so that I could see the word and the numbers with my eyes closed, I would then sit in a relaxed and in active condition for a moment or two and allow that visualized number to sink into my consciousness not by repeating it mentally, which keeps the mind active and prevents the subconscious mind and memory frorn functioning, bu t by merely holding it in my mind as an image, and allowing it to register itself just as a photograph is registered upon a pIate thraugh a time exposure. But at the same time as 1 was visualizing the number I would be visualizing the person and the hour of eleven o'clock. If 1 wanted the number only and did not have any speciaI hour for calling it, 1 would visualize the person and the number, and hold that picture in my mind until a few moments had passed, and then feeling as though 1 had absorbed and digested it in a mental way, I would dismiss the entire mat[23 }
Viaualize Thlng lo be Memorized
Hold Mental Piclure Briefly
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ter from rny consciousness as something that was finished, registered, and permanently and indelibly established in my memory. From that hour on, whenever 1 thought of or heard mention of the person 1 would instantly think of the telephone number, for the two would be in my memory together. Or if 1 heard the telephone number or saw ít written on a piece of paper, 1 would recall the person to whom it belonged, for the thought of the one would bring forth the thought of the other, not as numbers and facts but as images in my mind, and 1 would see again the same picture that 1 had created in the process of registration.
THE FIRST PRINCIPLE
Conseious
OíOne Faet Al a Time
There are many memory systems being offered to the public today as private or personally discovered keys to the secret of perfect memorizing. In nearly every case the system is so involved that in any attempt to memorize facts and figures, faces or places, in accordance with the system, more effort is required to concentra te upon the system than upon the points to be remembered. And when it comes to the recollection of the memorized facts the system of associating ideas with the desired facts is so involved as to make the whole matter very perplexing and inefficient. We cannot get away from the principIe that, in attempting to memorize a fact, the mind should be able to clear itself of all other facts except the one that is to be memorized. Repeating again the principIe that the mind cannot be conscious of two facts at the same time and realize them simultaneously should make it appear that an attempt to memorize a fact while also trying to recall and apply an [24 }
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involved system for memorizing would simply interfere with the laws that make memorizing possible. If the fact to be memorized can be visual" ized in a picture that is as free from disassociated facts and background matters as it is possible to make it, the fact will be more easily transferred from the outer objective consciousness to the subconsciousness where the storehouse of memory is located. It is like attempting to paint a portrait of a person that will attract immediate attention and cause persons to focalize their interest on the face and features of the painted picture, and then put into the background scenes and incidents from the person's life such as scenes from his childhood, views of him sitting at his desk, a picture of his home and of his wife and children, of the sports which occupy his attention, of a book which he has written, of a great trademark that represents the business controlled by him, etc. It may be argued that by associating all of these other thlngs with the individual in the portrait you could create an ensemble composed of many elements, and that each of these things is associated, and that by thinking of the one you think of the others. But everyone knows that by standing and looking at such a painted picture, the attention would not be focalized on the portrait, but on all of the elements of the picture, and such divided attention would rob anyone of the important features of the concentrated realization that is necessary for perfect registration in the memory storehouse. It is a simple matter to associate a telephone number with an individual, not by thinking of the two elements with equal ímportance, but by concentrating the attention [25 ]
Disassoeiated
Faeu Distorted
Simplify Mental Picture
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on the telephone number and visualizing it with a preponderance of consideration, and with a mere shadowy realization of the individual to whom it belongs. But the moment one goes beyond this or attempts to add in the street address of the individual , his business connections, and other similar incidents, the picture becomes too complicated for perfect visualization, and too divided in its attention-attracting qualities to be thoroughly realized and registered as one unit.
THE SECOND PRINCIPLE
ClassiCy The Subjecl
To Be Memorized
Memory Mental Library
In attempting to register any fact in the subconscious mind for storing it away in the memory, the fact must be isolated from all other important things except one key connection. Every fact that you wish to register undoubtedly has some categorical classífication that represents its key connection or association. It is like the classification of facts in reference books in a great library. If 1 went to a great library representing the great storehouse of knowledge and wanted to learn whether the composition of water was H20, or H02, my most natural impulse would be to realize that such a fact would be associated with the general classification of chemístry. If 1 wanted to learn the exact route taken by Columbus in his discovery of America or American shores, 1 would turn to a book that dealt with voyages. If 1 wanted to know something of the life of Marie Antoinette, 1 would turn to the classification of books known as biographies. Certainly, in any of these cases, 1 would not take the most roundabout method of associating the desired fact with other indirectly related facts. As, for instance, in seeking details of the life of Marie Antoinette, 1 would not complica te my [26 }
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search by hunting through books that dealt with the lives of other queens with whom she may have been associated, or with great generals, or with the history of wars, or with the building of beautiful palaces in France, or with the subject of costuming, or with the history of the first use of mirrors, even though each of these matters might eventually give me some few little facts regarding Marie Antoinette. The memory is a great storehouse of knowledge. For every practical purpose it is easily compared with a great library, for all of the facts that are stored away in the memory are na turally classífied. All telephone numbers are associated first of all with telephones, and then divided into associations with individuals, firrns, organizations, or places. All faces of persons are associated under the classifications of relatives, friends, business associates, information bureaus, purchasing centers, etc. All historical facts are associated with outstanding historical events of a general nature, and with individuals or ·places. Not more than one association or classification key is necessary in order to store away a fact properly, and ever afterwards in attempting to recall the fact, the tendency will be to associate it with the key classification in which it was deposited and registcred in memory. For that very reason the more simple the classification, the more simple thc key association in registering, the easier it is to withdraw the registered fact, or to find it in the great storehouse of memory.
Associate
Fael 'Vi." Only One Classification
THE THIRD PRINCIPLE Naturally, all of this requires concentration, but jf the simple exerciscs given in thc forepart of this treatise are tried consistently, [27 }
F'o refng Mind InterCeres
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MEMORIZING
and therefore breaks the concentration, the consciousness cannot realize two things at one time. Great good and great power in the accomplishment of important matters in life, and a marvelous benefit to health and the mind and the body will result through being able to relax at times and concentrate the conscious realization of our beings upon one subject, and alIowing that subject to submerge itself into the subconscious to be permanently registered. In this way thoughts of health, peace, happiness, as well as important business matters may be made a part of the inner consciousness where such things take root and become active subconsciously and to the good of the being. It is urged that Book One of the series,
and during the experiments with concentration, if the mind and body are relaxed and no intense effort is made to force the mind upon any one issue, the ability to concentrate perfectly will be easily developed. Remember that every mental effort to try to force the mind to do something means exercising the mind, and exercising the mind in any complicated or involved manner prevents concentration and relaxation, and perfect concentration is possible only during relaxation. There must be the minimum amount of mental effort instead of the maximum amount. In every great psychological experíment, the beginner, the Neophyte, attempts to force and wilfully energize his mental activities as though he were trying to force a great body of water into a narrow stream that it may be focalized at one point. This energizing and wilful effort prevents relaxation. Concentrating should be a passive rather than an active effort, and this calls for relaxation of body and of all the mental activities, except the one faculty of visualizing and realization. In this wise the person in a concentrated mood is momentarily lost to his objective consciousness and surroundings. He should not be easily distracted by even the passing of another person through the room, or the gentle calling of his name, or even the ringing of a telephone bello When the ability to concentrate becomes perfectly developed, a brass band may pass by the window playing loudly without the person in concentration actually knowing or realizing that it is playing. Hís ears may hear, and his eyes may see, but if his thoughts are directed on one point or one subject, alI the rest would be naturalIy shut out, and unless the mind vacillates or alternates in its attention
The Key to the Art of Concentration and Memorizing, entitled Concentration, be read in conjunction with this one. The success of perfecting memory depends upon the development of concentration, and Book One is devoted to the presentation of practical rules and exercises for that purpose.
EXPLANATORY The Rosicrucian
Order (AMORC)
Anticipating questions which may be asked by the readers of this booklet, the publishers wish to announce that there is but one universal Rosicrucian Order existing in the world today. It is united in its various [urísdictions and has one Supreme Council in accordance with the original plan of the ancient Rosicrucian manifestoes. The Rosícru-
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THE
KEY
TO
THE
ART
OF
MEMORIZING
cian Order is NOT a religious or sectarian society. The internationaI organization retains the ancient traditions, teachings, principIes, and practicaI helpfulness of the Brotherhood as founded centuries ago. It is known as the Ancient, Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, which name is abbreviated for popular use into AMORC. The jurisdiction of this Order for The Americas, British Commonwealth, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Africa is located at San J ose, California. Those who have enjoyed the helpfulness of this booklet and are interested in knowing more of the history and present-day offerings of the Rosicrucians may have a FREE copy of the book entitled, The Mastery of Life. Send a definite request to Extension Librarian, AMORC, Rosicrucian Park, San J ose, California 95114.
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ROSICRUCIA"
ORDER
q4$.~R~C5~~. SAN JOSE. CAUFORNIA eS114
