{"id":4365,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:29","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4365"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:29","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:29","slug":"02-23-december-1950-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/04-questions-and-answers-volume-04\/02-23-december-1950-vol-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","title":{"rendered":"-02_23 December 1950.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n23 December 1950<\/font><\/span><\/b>
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/b>
\n
\n <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Mother reads out her article \u201cConcentration
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

and Dispersion\u201d (On
\nEducation<\/i>), then comments on it: <\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

To solve a
\nproblem, to learn a lesson, a lot of concentration and attention is needed, everyone
\nknows that \u2013 an intellectual attention and concentration. But concentration is
\nnot only an intellectual thing, it may be found in all the activities of the
\nbeing, including bodily activities. The control over the nerves should be such
\nas would allow you a complete concentration on what you are doing and, through
\nthe very intensity of your concentration, you acquire an immediate response to
\nexternal touches. To attain this concentration you need a conscious control of
\nthe energies. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Are you conscious of the energies you receive
\nand those you spend ? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>One is more or less conscious of the energy
\none spends, especially when one wastes it too much ! It is a question here of
\nthe constant exchange between receiving and spending ! Before the age of reason,
\nlittle children receive a lot of energy and they spend it lavishly, without
\nthinking, and this allows them to play for hours together without getting
\ntired. But gradually, as thought develops, one begins to measure and calculate
\nthe energy spent \u2013 usually this is futile, for unless you have the knowledge of
\nthe process of receiving energy, it is better to spend freely what you get than
\nlet it stagnate within you. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>First, you must become conscious of the
\nreceiving of energies, their passing into your being and their expenditure.
\nNext, you must have a sort of higher instinct which tells you whence the most
\nfavourable energies come; then you put yourself in contact with them through
\nthought, through stillness or any other process \u2013 there are many. You must know
\nwhat energy you want, whence it comes, of what it is composed. Later comes the <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 4<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

control of the
\nenergy received. Ninety per cent of men do not absorb enough energy or they
\ntake in too much and do not assimilate what they take \u2013 as soon as they have
\nhad a sufficient dose they immediately throw it out by becoming restless,
\ntalking, shouting, You must know how to keep within you the received energy and
\nconcentrate it fully on the desired activity and not on anything else. If you
\ncan do this, you won’t need to use your will. You need only gather together all
\nthe energies received and use them consciously, concentrate with the maximum
\nattention in order to do everything you want. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>And you must know how to give a real value to
\nwhat you want<\/i> to do \u2013 what the higher
\npart of your being wants to do \u2013 for to do what one likes<\/i> to do is not difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What is concentration? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It is to bring
\nback all the scattered threads of consciousness to a single point, a single
\nidea. Those who can attain perfect attention succeed in everything they
\nundertake; they will always make a rapid progress. And this kind of
\nconcentration can be developed exactly like the muscles; one may follow
\ndifferent systems, different methods of training. Today we know that the most
\npitiful weakling, for example, can with discipline become as strong as anyone
\nelse. One should not have a will which flickers out like a candle. <\/span><\/p>\n

The will,
\nconcentration must be cultivated; it is a question of method, of regular
\nexercise. If you will, you can. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But the thought \u201cWhat’s the use?\u201d must not
\ncome in to weaken the will. The idea that one is born with a certain character
\nand can do nothing about it is a stupidity.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 5<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23 December 1950     Mother reads out her article \u201cConcentration and Dispersion\u201d (On Education), then comments on it:   To solve a problem, to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-04-questions-and-answers-volume-04","wpcat-124-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}