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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
tion. Here we would add a few words more about it. Concentration means the focussing of force on a point, the mobilization of the army on the frontier of the territory to be attacked. If we wish to make a conquest of Russia, we must bring our forces to bear against her on a point. It would not do to send a million soldiers to St. Petersburgh, individually, and one after another; for it would require only a handful of the Russians to kill each soldier as he emerges on the scene. A handful of soldiers properly handled will achieve great victories, but their energies must not be dissipated in all directions. Says a learned writer :
“How has all this knowledge in the world been gained but by concentration of the powers of mind ? Nature is ready to give up her secrets if we only know how to knock, to give her the necessary blow, and the strength and the force of the blow come through concentration. There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point, and that is the secret."--Vivekananda.
The question now arises, how to concentrate one's mind ? A number of methods have been suggested for this purpose which Hinduism deals with under four heads, namely, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. These are prescribed according to the capacity and qualifications of the aspirant. Hatha Yoga aims at producing the desired attitude of concentration hy controlling the physical body, and at purifying and uplifting the mind by restraining the senses. Its severe practices prepare the Yogi for the higher methods of Raja Yoga. Bhakti Yoga is the path of Love of the Divine, through which man becomes merged in the beatific state of a vision divine in his own soul. He
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