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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
owes its origin to this idea of collective concentration. A simple illustration of the power of collective concentration is to be found in the phenomenon of table-rapping. Another is to be found in the second chapter of. the Acts in the Holy Bible, which opens with a description of the attitude of concentration on the part of the apostles of Jesus, who were in one place with one accord, and closes with the description of the wonderful phenomena which took place on the day of Pentecost. Similar phenomena used to occur on the occasions of yajna. In explaining this kind of phenomena, Swami Rama Tirtha observes :
“Rama tells you that what your Scriptures say about the Gods becoming visible on the occasions of Yajna ceremonies is indeed literally true. But that simply proves the power of collective concentration. The latest researches of psychology show that the effect of concentration increases, as the square of the number of one-minded people present on the occasion. That is the virtue of Satsanga. Now, if Rama alone can materialize any idea he pleases, how much more could the hundreds and thousands of people of one mind, chanting the same hymn, thinking the same form, help materializing it?"
The reason why our collective worship is incapable of achieving any great results now-a-days, is to be found in the fact that people are lacking in the power of concentration. Of the scores of persons who generally pray in mosques, or unite in worship in churches, no two individuals can be said to have their minds concentrated on the same idea. Of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, it is said that he was one day invited to accompany certain Mahomedans to a mosque to join them in their prayers. On getting there, however, he stood aloof and did not join them in their orisons; and when asked to explain his mysterious
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