yogesh master_learn to learn

8/3/2019 Yogesh Master_Learn to Learn

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LEARNLEARNLEARNLEARNTO TO TO TO

LEARNLEARNLEARNLEARN

CompliedBy

Yogesh Master

Rajamarga literature


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Any part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means without permission of the publisher or writer.Rather, request you to propagate the ideas and techniques mentioned

in this book to help students everywhere.

Heart felt thanks to

Nithya Shilpa Sinish

Nivedita Bhat Prashanth

and Shankar

Who shared my task of preparing this book.

Yogesh Master Yogesh Master Yogesh Master Yogesh Master


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Content

1) Prayer2) Chapter-1: ( Learn to learn)3) Chapter-2: ( What you think so you are)4) Chapter-3: (Concentration: Where attention goes,

energy flows.)5) Chapter-4: (Habit is Memory)6) Chapter-5: (Listening: The foundation of

communication and learning)7) Chapter-6: (Reading without understanding is like

eating without digesting.)8) Chapter-7: (Effective writing is a reflection of proper

thinking.)9) Chapter-8: (The art of note-taking is an art of

reproducing.)10) Chapter-9: (Writing examinations is to examine

oneself)11) Chapter-10( Where there is will there is a way !)12) Chapter-11(Teaching is the best way of learning)13) Chapter-12(Summary of Practical Hints)

14)

Chapter-13 ( To Breathe is to be alive)15) Chapter-14 ( We are what we eat)16) Chapter-15 ( Build up your Vocabulary)17) Chapter-16 (Thoughts to eat, chew and digest)


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Prayer The more I learn,

the better I see how little I know-and how little I know of my own capacity to know.

I see the each branch of knowledgeis so rich, so complex

one can study a life-timeand still be a beginner.

Teach how to learn wisely and well.Help me to master the subjects I need to study,

and never give to despair or boredom.Help me to remember how fortune I am

to be able to study, to grow in knowledge.Give me wisdom,

that I may treasure knowledge,And never forget how little I know.

Help me to be diligent, without undue ambition,and successful, without worshipping success.

Teach me to give each taskits rightful place,

and use my talents to the best of my ability.

Give me a vision large than my studiesand greater than my individual success.

Teach me to use my opportunities gratefully,develop my talents responsibly,

and place my learningat the service of truth and justice.

May I keep learning all through my life,knowing that, however much I may learn,there are always new words to discover.

Make me wise and strong,that I may learn from life itself.

consider every one as my teacher,and never turn away from the light of your grace.

Joe Mannath


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Chapter-1

LEARN TO LEARN TO LEARN TO LEARN TO LEARN LEARN LEARN LEARN

A long time ago, a woodcutter was very busy in cutting down a tree.

He was very tired because the tree was very big and his master had

given him only eight hours to chap it down. So, the woodcutter

continuously working without rest.

A passer by noticed that our poor woodcutter was sweating andgasping. Naturally, he felt sorry for him and thought to help him. Heapproached the woodcutter and said, Sorry to disturb you, why cant youtake rest for sometime and continue your work. I think you must be verytired. You drink some water and continue your work.

Yes, our loyal woodcutter said, I could do so. Nevertheless, I amreally busy and running short of time. Please, dont disturb me because Ihave only three hours from now to cut down this tree.

The passer by noticed that his axe was not enough sharp. That is thereason the woodcutter was tiring himself. O.k., but why cant you sharpyour axe and continue working. the passer by asked.

The woodcutter exclaimed, My god! I have no enough time to sharpmy axe. I have to cut down this tree in given time. Otherwise my masterwont spare my life.


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The passerby thought, If I had 8 hours to chop a tree I would spend 4hours to sharp my axe.

Yes, he is right. When he sharpens his axe, he can work easily andneed not to get tired much. He can take rest even in the given time.

There are some people believe in working hard. Very often, you hearfrom your elders that you should WORK HARD. Yet, I would like to tellyou not to work hard as our innocent woodcutter was working withoutsharpening his axe. Sharpen your axe and work easily.

In your learning too, you need not work hard; rather you have to learnhow to learn at ease. In my opinion, learning the proper method of learning makes you learn better. To help you in this way, this book isdesigned.

Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you weredie tomorrow. Gandhiji.

The most tremendous experience of life is the learningprocess. The saddest time is when a person thinks thathe has learned enough. Charles Jones.

What is learning?

Learning is to some extent permanent change in behaviorbrought about by experience.

Particularly important about this explanation is that it permits us todifferentiate between performance changes due to maturation and thosechanges brought about by experience. For instance, children becomebetter tennis players, as they grow older partially because their strengthincreases with their size-maturational experience. Such maturationalchanges need to be distinguished from improvements due to learning,which are result of practice.

For example, when you was very small you did not know how talk.You would utter only Mum, Mama, Papa or similar words. In fact, theyare not words but sounds. As you grow up your mummy, granny, aunty,dad and other family members taught you different words. Later youlearnt to compose those words and form sentences. Though the learningof those words and sentences were simple and straight, that is thefoundation of learning. Now, you just sit and try to remember how manywords you know. You know Lakhs of words. You wonder. You are not at


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all aware of the learning of those words but you know. How it happened?How did you learn it?

Let think in different way. When you were a baby when you knew nowords and did not know even to speak, you were crying when you felt

hungry. You would not have stopped crying until you mother fed youwith milk. Later when you were two or three years old you would haveasked your mother to get some food for you while showing the food andsaid, I want it. or Amma, mammu ( whatever your family memberstaught you to name food. In some houses they teach Anna, mammu,Buvva so on so forth.) Later as you grow up you would say, Mummy, Iam feeling hungry. Get something to eat. Now, it is not necessary to sitand cry for food if the food is not ready at home. You just say, If foodis not ready, never mind I go to some Darshini hotels and have fast foodthere. Look at the words you use. How did you learn all those words?

Who made you to sit and learn to go to hotels? You learnt all these thingswith your knowledge. As you grow up, by your experience you learntthousands of things which you are not at all aware of the learning process.This is what when I said your performance changes due to experience andmaturation.

Learning involves changes brought about by experience, whereasmaturation describes changes due to biological development.

O.K. let us think over another question. You learnt to go to hotel andhave food. You learnt how to beat your opponent in a game. You learnthow to go to a shop and get whatever you want. Why did you learn allthese? Whose sake you learnt to go to a hotel? Your sake, because youfeel hungry or you want a tasty food because you want somethingdifferent from what your mother or a cook prepare at your house. Why dobeat your opponent in game? Winning a game is sheer joy, you love toplay, it gives you pleasure. Why do you go to shop and buy whatever youwant? Because you want it, it is necessary, if do not go nobody is going.Behind all activities you have purpose. Is it not so?

Now let me ask you, why do you want to study? Why do you want tolearn? Is it because your parents have been driving you? In that case your

learning is useless. You are spoiling the precious time of your life.You learn for your sake. If you are not convinced the purpose of

learning, there is no point in your learning. You, first get convinced whyare you learning studying. Never read or study for somebody else. Whydo you want to study? You ask yourself. Unless you get the satisfactoryanswer, you do not become a learned person in real sense. Do not studyfor the sake of your parents and teachers.


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When you respect persons who teach you, who help youwhile you are studying, who share the learning experienceswith you

When you are filled with gratitude for the place where youare learning

When you recognize your responsibility in learning, and WHEN YOU FIND A RIGHT WAY OF LEARNING

TO LEARN.

Learning is an observable fact in your day-to-day life. You getopportunity to learn everywhere and in everyway. When your mother isgetting ready for food preparation, when your father is planning hisbudget, when you are watching TV, traveling, playing, so on and so forth,I vow, you can learn if you have the intension of learning. I would like to

share my own experience. I studied my primary and middle classes inKannada government school, obviously I found very difficult in learningEnglish. No doubt I learnt Kannada better. However, when I felt offendedfor not learning English as other English medium students would learn, Idecided to put little extra effort. For that, can you guess what I wouldhave done? Attending special classes? Appointing private tutors? Goingto London English speaking courses? Reading rapidex English speakingcourse? No, No, No. Just I would read all the signboards on the way of my everyday traveling, especially, by bus. I read the writings on the wallsand boards of advertisements which were in two languages i.e. Kannada

and English. Of course, I knew English alphabets. My Kannadaknowledge helped me a lot in learning English spelling and reading. Forexample, Mahalakshmi provision stores; I read in Kannada, later samething could be read in English. It was a wonderful experience. P-r-o-v-I-s-I-o-n s-t-o-r-e-sprovision stores. Some times I learnt many Englishwords in this manner. You might have noticed, in some shops you findthe sign board in two languages. On one side you find words in nativelanguage and on other side you may find in English. This type of signboards helped me lot. For example; Canara Bank--mukya kacheri head office, or Sagarothara Shaakheoverseas branch, so on so forth.Start reading the pamphlets, advertisements, signboards which give youknowledge of two languages. There are lots of chances of learningsentence formations too. In those days, usages of polythene carry bagswere very less. And the paper covers or news papers, magazine innersheets were used to wrap the things or eatables when we would buy fromthe shops or venders on streets. That would provide us a great opportunityto go through some useful general knowledge or information, evengrammar exercises. Now, you need not follow this kind of crude method


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of learning, you are well equipped with hundred and one opportunity toread, follow the right form of grammar, sentence formation, vocabulary,through TV and other means of publicities.Whatever is mentioned above, one thing is very clear; if you areinterested there is no need to make fuss much about the opportunities tolearn, they are simply at your hand. You learn from everything,everywhere, everyway and every time. You cannot escape from learning.It is a life process. That is Expansion of your being. Learning is growth,experience and unavoidable happening. This is what I experienced.

Points to remember:- Learning is a life experience which is responsible for your

intellectual, emotional, social and individual growth. Learning is not for the examination to be passed to the further class

rather it is of the development of your complete personalitythrough experience. It is like growing of a small plant to a hugetree.

Learning is not a property of some blessed ones but it is a blessingmade available to everyone freely.

Work hard is an old concept. Now, there is no need to work hardbut work easily in proper way using your intelligence.

Learning is not possible if do not love the subject matter to belearned.

You should have the purpose of learning. Where there is nointention, no learning.

There are many aspects involve in making learning a genuine ,solid and effective experience. The important points are,

(a) Positive thinking.(b) Love for learning.(c) Attitude towards learning.(d) Understanding the purpose of

learning.(e) Methods of learning.(f) Recognizing the need of learning.

Learn at ease and learn with interest. Be always eager to find the chances to learn. Learning is possible

when you are opened and inviting. Learning is sheer joy and every step of learning is complete it self

and fulfillment.


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Learning is possible anywhere if you are opened to learning. There is no need of waiting for the particular chance for learning,

but it freely available wherever you go.

A STORY OF AN EAGLET.

Once an eaglet accidentally separated from its mother. He, somehow,reached poultry without his knowledge. The good-hearted hens lookedafter him. The chickens became its companions. He ate what they ate. Heslept with them. He enjoyed their company. He grew up a young eaglebut as a chicken. He never thought that he was an eagle. In fact, he neversuspected that he would be something else other than a chicken.

One day an old eagle had been flying over the poultry. He wasattracted towards his favorite prey - chickens. As he looked for a goodone, noticed a young eagle. ' An eagle! ' He could not believe his owneyes,' amidst chickens? ' He forgot the idea of picking his prey butapproached the young eagle.

As he appeared before the young eagle, he was frightened and tried torun away like any chicken. However, the old eagle did not leave him. "How come your are here?" Without giving answer to the question, theyoung eagle started crying and begged for mercy. The old eagle

understood that something has to be probed. He caught hold of him andcarried away from the poultry. He consoled the crying eagle and said,Why are you crying? You are an eagle like me. Do not be afraid!" "No!"exclaimed the young eagle, "I am a chicken."

The old eagle showed his beak, claws and wings, which are similar tothat of the young eagle. Also tried to convince him that he too can fly likehim in the sky. Nevertheless, the young eagle ever tried a flight but onlyhopped like any chicken. The old eagle took him to an edge of amountain and just pushed him into the valley. The crying eagle had

opened his wings and started fluttering. As he feared he did not fall anddie but had an amazing flight. "Oh! I never thought that I could fly!"He thanked the old eagle for the great help he did.

"I AM NOT A CHICKEN, BUT AN EAGLE!" he cried out of joy.What a boundless joy it must be! When the young eagle found its realnature and capacity. We shall tell him,

CONGRATULATIONS !!


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Hi! You too are like that eaglet. You too have wings to fly. If youhave not tried till now, try it.

When some body tells you that you are a chicken, never accept but tellconfidently," I am an eagle."

If somebody tells you that you are a stupid, a fool or an idiot, neveraccept it. You cannot see when you close your eyes. It does not mean youare blind. You have eyes and capacity of seeing, but only you have toopen your eyes. Later no effort is needed. Seeing will happen on it's ownaccord. In the same way, just because you have not minded to understandsomething and apply your skills to learn something,you are not a stupidor an idiot.

You have to practice canceling negative thoughts and replacing themwith positive ones. When somebody tells you, 'you idiot' or 'stupid' or 'fool' immediately say "cancel, cancel" in your mind and think of goodyourself and say it your self, " I do good, I do better, I do the best. And

you do it!Never allow anybody to destroy your dream! Cancel, cancel them, if

they tell you that you cannot do it, you imagine yourself doing it.Whenever you have moments of self-doubt, follow the same.

Think positive! The result of all your efforts lies on it. What is positivethinking? Positive thinking is nothing but thinking about what you wantnot what you do not want. Positive thinker thinks of the better result.Negative thinker worries about the unwanted result due to lack of self-confidence.

If you have a habit of thinking of what you do not want, you need

positive autosuggestions to install better program in to your braincomputer. That will bring you what good result you want.

HOW TO DO IT?Sit in a comfortable chair and close your eyes. You can sit in anyposition. Take a deep breath and relax. Count backwards from 50 to 1.Say to yourself mentally, Every day and in every way I am becomingbetter, better and better. Say it 10 or 12 times.

Slowly count from 1 to 5 mentally. At the count of 5 open your eyes.Say yourself that, Yes, I do good, I do better and I do the best. Now continue your work.


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ITS ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND.

If you think that youre beaten, you are;If you think you dare not, you dont;If youd like to win, but think you cant,Its almost certain you wont.

If you think you will lose, you have lost;For out in the world you will find,Success begins with a fellows will;Its all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;You have got to think high to rise;You have got be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Think big and your deeds will grow,Think small, and you will fall behind.Think that you can, and you will,its all in the state of mind.

Lifes battles dont always goTo the stronger or faster man;But soon or late the man who wins

is the fellow who thinks he can!

You have to hammer your mind with positives thoughts repeatedlyseveral times every day. This is one of the important things to be doneyour life.

Here are some positive thoughts as autosuggestions which you canuse for your improvement.

If you think, you have poor memory_Day by day my memory is improving, I can remember whatever I

study, and I can recall whenever I want.

If you think that you cannot concentrate for long time_ Day by day my ability to concentrate is developing and

I can concentrate with ease and better.

If you think that you don not understand what you study_ I have natural intelligence, I can understand whatever I


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study. Day by day my ability in understanding is improving.

Whatever may be your problem in school, at home, withYour friends or in your play team, you say the following_

Day by day I am becoming more loving, more friendly,and more affectionate. I love all and everyone loves me.

While giving autosuggestions you have to take care that you should notuse negative words. For example, I do not forget whatever I study.Here, your intension is clear that you want to remember well. But, yourinner mind is fed with negative word such as forget, which you do notwant. Your inner mind knows the perfect meaning of the words you use.When you use negative words, it produce negative picture in your mind.

Remember, Positive thoughts produce positive mental pictures. Positivemental pictures produce positive results. Likewise, your good thoughtsgive you good mental pictures, and your good mental pictures attractgood results to you.

Your parents may tell you, repeatedly, if you do not study properly,you will fail. And now, you just ask them, of course politely, mom/dad,please tell me that when I study well that is good for me in all the ways.Positive thinking is the first step in learning to use of more of your mindto improve your overall performance. It will create the right environmentfor you to win more often.When I use the word WIN here, it does not mean you should putsomebody down and you have to come up. Winning is the very nature of your being. You should not wish ill for others and never, by mistake,think your friend or somebody else must go down you should come up.When wish ill of others that means you are feeding your inner mind withnegative thoughts which are not good for the health of your mind.

You have heard the golden rule: Do unto others what you wouldhave them do unto you. Apply this teaching to the way you think aboutyour other friends or your opponents, when you are in a play team.

Your parents or teachers may compare YOU with your brother orsister, classmate or your neighboring friends or cousins, look at thatboy/girl, so good in studies, does every home work in time, gets goodmarks in the tests and the examinations, you have to learn from them.Dont you feel shame?

Naturally you get angry! Isnt it? In addition, you feel jealous of theperson with whom you are compared. Why should one learn from them?What a great model is that to be kept before! Moreover, you do not


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appreciate them rather you start seeing all negative qualities in thatperson which your parents and teachers may never notice.

He / she is very proud. Moreover, puts me down. When I am gettingscolding he/she laughs silently and I can read their expression as yes,get nice scolding, see how great I am, you stupid, you are deserved getnot only scolding even beatings. And I am deserved for appreciation. Letme get a chance to give you a nice blow.

Yes, what you feel is really natural, nothing is bad in that. That is thereaction happens in your mind, but that kind of feeling is not good foryour mind. When you think so, you are allowing all negative thoughtsinto your inner mind which is not good for the health of your mind.

On other hand, you are cutting the bridge between your friend andyou. When you start criticizing or condemning someone elses qualities,you do not have them. Remember! What you criticize you do not attractthem. When you criticize your friend he/she will be pushed away, with

their some qualities too.Certainly, you too must be good in one or other qualities. Whether

you are aware of them or not. You have to discover the talents and specialqualities which are hidden in you. They must be sleeping, it is yourresponsibility to awake them and activate them to glow in this world.

You may not be knowing a great secret. Your true source of progressconsists of the ideas in your mind. Envy and jealousy are the obstacles tothe free growth of your progress and prosperity. Rejoice in the progressof others. When you see somebody is showing progress in their studies orin other activities, you tell this in your mind, I am happy about your

progress. I wish, you continue to progress in all walks of your life. Letmore success and more prosperity come to you. Let you get more andmore appreciation by everybody. I wish you all success in your efforts.Then, wait and watch the miracles to happen in your life.

Well! What about the parents and teachers who criticize, whilecomparing you with somebody else? The two things can happen; one-you can speak to them about their comments which you do not like. Infact they do it with a good intention that you should show the progress.Of course the way may not be so right. They will understand and theywill appreciate your straightforwardness. Since, they sincerely wish you

good and welfare, they listen to you, consider your words and value yourfeelings and thoughts. Then you enjoy their love and a pleasantenvironment will be created.

Two- they do not listen to you. They may stick to their ideas justifying what they say is right. In addition to that you may get solidbeatings because you tried to point their mistake. You may listen fromthem saying, if you were right and doing the things in right time as yourparents and your teachers gave the instructions why should we talk so.


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Moreover, what we are saying is hundred percent right! And you arestupid, and that girl/boy is really intelligent.

Then, please, do not talk. Sensibly keep quite for some time and sayin your mind, cancel, cancel, cancel they have not yet found mytalents and special qualities of mine. On the other hand, I might have notexposed them. Anyhow, let me forgive them because they do not knowwhat they are doing. From now on, the opportunities will be created forus to have better understanding and knowing each other.Did you notice here? You canceled the negative comments of your elders

or friends and replacing with positive thoughts.Remember Jesus Christ who said, Father forgive them for they do not

know what they are doing. Instead of cursing, he prayed the God toforgive the people who were with the evil intension of killing him. Wetoo can forgive our people, when they hurt our feelings and disturb ourmind.

Finally, one more important thing you must not forget that you shouldnot criticize your teachers. Through the teachers you learn many things.They are the vehicles for the knowledge what you are anticipated toacquire. From my childhood I have noticed that whoever condemn theparticular subject teacher they do not like that subject also. Naturally,they loose interest and do not study. Obviously, they fail to become goodin that subject. The sufferer is the criticizer but not the teacher. I havenoticed that the students criticize their teachers with many unnecessaryremarks. That is too bad for their learning. Remember, what you criticizeyou cannot attract.

Always, you be filled with the sense of gratitude towards the thingswhich contribute to your learning and progress. The parents: who are thekey persons for your present state of being. The teachers; who areresponsible for the growth of your intelligence and knowledge. Friends;who are sharing your feelings and thoughts. The other members of yourfamily and society: who are rejoicing this world with you. Not only forthe people, but also for the school or collage where you study, for also forthe things what you use. The book from which you read. The pen whichyou use. The bus, you traveled. The waiter who served you in a hotel.There are countless things and persons offer you their service. Never

think that you pay money, they work for you. Let your whole being fillwith sense of gratitude. Then it is possible for you to be opened to everything and their messages. Every thing has been conveying their ownmessage. It may be universal message or which you have to learn inparticular. You will be wonder filled when you are in the process of learning from everything. The quality of your learning depends on thequality of your mind. The quality of your mind depends on your thinkingprocess. So, always think healthy.


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* Points to think over.

You are full of potentiality. No need to feel lower.Everybody has their own special talents and qualities you no need to feel

jealousy or inferior, because you too are a worth of something which youmay not be aware of it.Cultivate positive thinking. Positive thinking means, thinking of something what you want. Negative thinking means, thinking of something what you do not want and fearing of something which has notyet happened.When people criticize you with negative remarks, do not accept themrather cancel them saying cancel cancel in your mind.What you criticize you do not attract, so never criticize your learningsubjects and the teachers who teach you.Whenever you notice others progress, feel happy and wish them toprogress increasingly. As you wish others, will happen to you in plenty.Feel thankfulness for every thing you come across. That sense of gratitude will make you to learn in healthy way and enable you learn notonly from persons mouth, but from animals and nonliving things too.When people talk ill of you, of course, cancel it and forgive thembecause they do not know what they are doing.Every day, in every way I am becoming better, better and better. Letthis would be your mantra for every morning when rise from the bed andbefore going to bed.While giving auto suggestions, never use negative words like I dontforget, I dont hate or I dont get angry, etc., but say I remember well, Ilove everybody and I have patience and peace etc.

A man is what he thinks about all day long. Emerson.


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Look what you want.

In MahaBharata there is a beautiful incident explaining aboutconcentration. The Pandavas and Kauravas were young and learningmartial art lessons from Guru Drona. Once they were learning the lessonson archery. You must be knowing, to learn archery the power of concentration is very much essential. To check and practice this, Dronahad conducted a small test with the princes. That is, a dummy of a birdwas hung on the top of a tree. From the ground level the princes wereasked to shoot an arrow to the eye of the bird. So, Duryodhana was calledand asked by Drona that what he saw when he aimed at the birds eye.Duryodhana answered that he could see the ground, tree, sky as thebackground of the tree, and he gave a big list of the things that he couldsee. Drona was not satisfied. He said that one who sees hundred and one

things when he aimed at certain things he cannot beat it. So, he did notallow him to shoot the arrow. He called Yudhishtira, the first Pandava.Yudhishtira said that he could see the tree, branches, leaves, fruits andbird. Again, Drona was not satisfied. He called Bheema, the secondPandava. He said that he could see only the bird when he aimed at.Drona, still, did not allow to shoot the arrow and expressed hisdisappointment. At last he called Arjuna, the third Pandava, and hisbeloved student to aim at the birds eye. As Arjuna aimed at the birdseye, was asked the same question what he could see. Arjuna said that hecould see only the birds eye. Nothing else. Now Drona was happy and

permitted him to shoot the arrow, of course, Arjuna could hit itsuccessfully.They supposed to hit the birds eye and they should see only the birdseye. If they could see other things too, that means, their concentration isdiverted. This is a good lesson the Pandavas and Kauravas learnt fromGuru Drona.


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Concentration.

L et us understand what is concentration?

In simple way concentration can be described aspaying attention. Then, paying attention is very muchneeded in all kind of work, especially in learning.

The difference between the superior mind and the ordinary mind isconcentration the ability of the trained mind to focus, all its attentioncompletely on one point; while the ordinary mind dissipates its energieson many points at the same time.

Concentration is unchanging attention. As we have noticed, attentionis constantly shifting. Even when one is concentrating, attention shiftsrapidly from one aspect to another of the matter to which we areattending.

The problem of attention and concentration is really the problem of habit. We must develop the habit of paying attention to what concerns us.

There are three things to be considered when we are understandingconcentration. They are intention, attention and conscious thoughts. First,we should have the intension of learning. Your intention selects out whatyou need to know. When you are intended to learn some thing, itspossible for you to pay your attention towards the subject matter. Yourreal intention creates the genuine interest. The interest will give you thepower to get hold of your monkey mind from jumping from one subjectto another. Moreover, your interest starts gathering the information aboutyour learning subject. Your real intention of learning and interest to learnmakes the proper information available to you. You see, informationseems to come when we need it. Perhaps more correctly, information is aconstant stream, and our intention starts a sorting procedure for relevancyto the need of learning. Like the Bold function key on the computer,intention selects out what we need.


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test at the same time; in each line below you will find one or morepairs of adjacent numbers whose sum are ten. List by line the pairsyou can find within three minutes:

EXAMPLE:(a) 418491304859684769101328375448(b) 986438581385670748231587409861(c) 318603941237048690428509948671(d) 755012848981584837915847694132(e) 624834092843851384867418378904(f) 693813567834578335772943129438(g) 859483749813874183074651475563(h) 534763598237662014622579342385(i) 493963036855891408676347295835(j) 119275168745613924367484395699

Stop after just three minutes then go over each line carefully and check again the number of adjacent pairs that total ten. How many did you getright?

8. Now take any of your textbooks, and for five minutes go onreading paragraph by paragraph without regressing, that is, withoutgoing back on what you have read. This will force you to pay fullattention to what you read. If have in the habit of regressing, stopit. Regression reduces your reading speed and concentrationconsiderably.

9. Repetition is the best way to increase your skill. If you practiceeveryday, you condition your self to do it every day. Practice yourmental technique just like you would practice any physical skills.

There are four important aspects to gain concentration immediately.

Posture:- Sit straight. Just you become aware of your sitting position. Constantly put your effort tomake your back straight. It may not be easy orpleasant as you have the habit of bending your back while sitting. Soon you will get into the habit of

sitting straight. Breathing :- No matter where we are we have our

breath. Many times we can calm ourselves quicklyby simply paying attention to our breathe for a fewminutes. Take deep breathe and hold it inside for afew seconds and slowly release it. Do it for fewtimes you can notice a considerable change in yourconcentration.


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Repetition or remembrance of your intension and interest :- when you find that your attention is beingfocused on some thing else other than your subjectmatter, immediately you repeat your intention of

learning in your mind. Ex. You are in maths class,your mind started moving to something else. Sayfirmly and convincingly, I am sitting here to learnmathematics. I learn it. This is important for me. Ilike mathematics. I learn mathematics.

Awareness :- You can call it meditation too. All youhave to do is, just see your wandering mind where itgoes. No need to pull it back. Do not force to sit andlisten to class. You just watch your mind. Becomeaware of your mind likes to go without yourpermission. Without your deliberate focus. It may bea movie or something else which is not your learningsubject. Oh! You are here! This exclamation isenough. Your mind is back.

The Yogic exercise for concentration.TRATAKA. (Concentrated Gazing):-The word TRATAKA means to look or to gaze. It acts as a steppingstone between physical oriented practices and mental practices whichleads to higher states of awareness.Light a candle and place it on a small table so that the flame is exactly atthe eye level when sitting.Seat in any comfortable meditation Asana with the head and spine erect.Adjust the position so that the candle is an arms length away from thebody.Close the eyes and relax the whole body, especially the eyes.Be aware of the body steadiness for a few minutes. Keep the bodyabsolutely still throughout the practice.Open the eyes and gaze steadily at the top of the wick.The flame may flicker slightly but the tip of the wick will always remainsteady.Try not to blink or move the eyeballs in anyway.Do not strain as this will cause tension and eye will flicker.The awareness should be so completely centered on the wick that bodyawareness is lost.If the mind begins to wander, gently bring it back to practice.After a minute or two, when the eyes become tired or begin to water,close them gently.


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Gaze at the after-image of the flame in the space in front of the closedeyes. If the image moves up or down, or from side to side, observe it andtry to stabilize it.When the image of the flame begins to fade, try to bring it back.When the image can no longer be retained, gently open the eyes and gazeat the tip of the wick once more.Repeat the procedure for external gazing.Close the eyes once more and gaze at the inner image.Continue this way three or four times.After completing the final round, practice palming two or three times,before opening the eyes.This completes the practice.

Time of Practice:TRATAKA may be performed at anytime, but the best time is at dawn or

dusk when the stomach is empty.

Duration:Beginners should gaze for one or two minutes only. For general purpose10 minutes is sufficient. TRATAKA may be performed for extendedperiod after consulting a qualified Yoga teacher.

Precautions:TRATAKA must be practiced on a steady flame, so there should be nodraught in the area. The practitioner should always avoid undue strain.

The ability to keep the eyes open without blinking should be developedgradually with consistent practice.TRATAKA is an excellent method for clearing accumulated complexes,problems and suppressed thoughts from the mind, enabling thepractitioner to witness what is surfacing. It is also possible, however, forthese problems to manifest too rapidly which may be mentally disturbing.If these occur, stop the practice and seek advice from an expert Yogateacher.

Benefits:

These practice make the eyes clear and bright. It balances the nervoussystem, relieving nervous tension, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness.It improves the memory and helps to develop good concentration andstrong will power.

Practice Note:The practice involves gazing at a fixed point or object without blinkingthe eyes. The aim is to focus the mind and curb its oscillating tendencies,


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making it one pointed and awakening inner vision. All the attention andpower of mind is channeled in one continues stream. This should be aneffort less process, without strain. Once this has been achieved, the latentpotential within the mind is able to arise spontaneously.

Candle Flame Meditation:This is also one of the most effective and popular technique to improveyour power of concentration.Sit in a dark room and place a burning candle before you and keep ongazing it. Here, you need not gaze at the wick rather you have to look atthe whole flame.See the candle, the colour of the wax, the burning cotton thread, thewhole flame, and the different colours of the flame i.e. red, blue, orangeand yellow parts of the flame.After three or four minutes of observation close your eyes and relax.Now, you start remembering the layers of the colours of the candle flamementally. Try to bring the picture of those layers of different colours.Do this exercise very often which is very good for both concentration andmemorization.

To understand What is concentration, there is an another story.

Once, a group of youths planned to go for an adventure. They came to

know about a forest which was very thick and human find difficult to

travel through it. They heard that many failed in their attempt to pass

through the woods and reach a temple which was situated on a hillock

that was at the center of the forest.

The youths accepted the challenge and moved very enthusiastically to

find the way to the temple. As they were ready to face any kind of

danger, never listened to the people those discouraged them. When they

entered the forest they found that was really tough to find way to the

temple. They had to find the way to the temple in the forest and visit it


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also come back in given time that was only three days. They became very

tired in search of the way because nobody was there to guide them. The

two days passed with no fruit. The third day morning, they met a person

who said he knew the way. The youths were very happy and they said

that they should reach the temple in limited time. The man, who declared

himself as the guide, told them, It is possible to reach the temple in fixed

time. Only thing you have to mind is, you must not focus your attention

on any other thing except the way you move on. You will find a lot of

attractive things on the way. You should not pay your attention to them

but you have to move only towards your destiny. The way is horrible and

full of dangers. If you delay in your moving you cannot reach the temple

in time.

The youths accepted the words and decided to follow the guide who was

ready to show them the way to the temple.

They started. They found lot of irresistible attractions: such as beautiful

pond, which would invite them to have swimming, beautiful orchard

which would offer them a variety of fruits, wide and green pasture where

they could play and roll down. Every time the guys liked to go and

entertain themselves for some time and continue their journey.

Nevertheless, the guide strictly objected. But the youth could not resist

and they started playing here and there. Of course they could not reach


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the temple in time and failed. The guide said, reaching the temple is

really not a problem. But to resist the temptations on the way is difficult.

This is the reason why people could not reach the temple not because the

way is difficult.

Likewise in our life journey, we too find so much of attractive things

which are really of no use. But when we get attracted to them and lose all

our concentration which would spoil our main work. You see, many

times the interesting or colourful programs attract you and you leave your

homework or studies to sit before the TV. Naturally you lose interest in

your studies which is necessary for your life. I do not want to talk about

those things now. You better understand yourself.


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IMPRESSION AND CONCENTRATION.

We must obtain a deep impression on the mind of what we wish toremember. The attention must be concentrated on one thing only at timeto the exclusion of every thing else.The problem of attention and concentration is really the problem of habit.We develop the habit of paying attention to what concern us.Attention may be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary attention is theresult of forming the habit of attending. It is directed towards an object oridea by ones own decision backed by an effort of will. Involuntaryattention, on the other hand, is brought by the intensity of the impressionor by the interest, which it arouses.If you want to concentrate on something, you must feel that it matters to

you.Without the interest that brings involuntary attention, an effort of will isnecessary.We must strike a balance between relaxation and tension.The distribution of attention is inversely proportional to its intensity.

It will thus be seen that the problem of concentration lies in (a)forming the habit of bringing the mind back every time it wanders; (b)acquiring a deep and permanent interest in the matter to which we areseeking to attend; (c) relaxing our tension until we are slightly braced upbut not too much; and (d) settling any emotional problems which distractour attention from what we are doing.In other words, concentration depends up on four things: Habit, Interest,

relaxation and Emotions. These points may be remembered bysummarizing them in the word HIRE.

HABIT.The inability to concentrate is often a sign that a person is the victim of over-indulgence in fantasy, which, when conscious, takes the form of daydreaming. The law of attention is that we can attend to only one thingat once.Concentration is a habit and habits are perfected by practice.What is called sustained, voluntary attention is a repetition of successiveefforts that bring back the topic to the mind.

We should try to buildup habits that are conducive to concentration. Forinstance, it helps to sit down to work at definite time and in a definiteplace.Other thoughts tend to intrude because this is the normal way in whichthe mind works, one thought succeeding another.


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Points To Ponder:

The difference between the superior mind and the ordinarymind is concentration the ability of the trained mind to focus,

all its attention completely on one point; while the ordinarymind dissipates its energies on many points at the same time.

Concentration is unchanging attention. There are three things to be considered when we are

understanding concentration. They are intention, attention andconscious thoughts.

Your real intention of learning and interest to learn makes theproper information available to you.

When you wish to learn a subject, interest is also created.Now, it is easy for you to focus your attention on learning

subject. Meditation helps to build concentration and calm of mind. If meditation practiced properly, one can become aware of hisown mind and train it to respond correctly to situations.

We must obtain a deep impression on the mind of what wewish to remember. The attention must be concentrated on onething only at time to the exclusion of every thing else.

If you want to concentrate on something, you must feel that itmatters to you.

Concentration depends up on four things: Habit, Interest,

relaxation and Emotions. These points may be remembered bysummarizing them in the word HIRE.


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HABIT IS MEMORY HABIT IS MEMORY HABIT IS MEMORY HABIT IS MEMORY

Plato said it this way, All knowledge is but remembrance, Cicero said,

the treasury and guardian of all things. You see, all the things weattribute to habit should be attributed to memory.Habit is memory. The question that people ask me most often is, is not itconfusing to remember too much? my answer to that is, NO! there isno limit to the capacity of the memory. I believed that more youremember, the more you can remember.The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised and developedin order to give proper service and use. So must the memory. Thedifference is that the muscle can be over trained. On the other hand,become muscle bound while the memory cannot. If can read and writeEnglish, and have normal amount of common sense, and if you read andstudy this book, you will have acquired a trained memory! Along with thetrained memory you will probably acquire a greater power of concentration, a purer sense of observation, and perhaps a strongerimagination. Remember that there is no such thing as a bad memory! Thismay come as a shock to those of you who have used your supposedlybad memories as an excuse for years. Nevertheless, I repeat, there is nosuch thing as bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories.Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associatedin your mind to something you already know or remember. Of course,most of you will say that you have remember, or do remember, manythings and that you do not associate with anything else. Very true! If youwere associating knowingly, then you would already have the beginningsof trained memory. You, most of the things you have ever rememberedhave been associated subconsciously with something else that youalready knew or remember. The important word here is subconsciously.You yourself do not realize what is going on in your subconscious; mostof us would be frightened if we did. What you subconsciously associatedstrongly will be remembered, what was not associated strongly will beforgotten.I am going to teach you to associate anything you want to, consciously!When you have learnt to do that, you will have acquired a trainedmemory!Keep in mind that the system that I teach in this book is an aid to yournormal or true memory. It is your true memory that does the work foryou, whether you realize it or not there is very thin line between a trainedmemory and the true memory, and as continue to use the system taughthere the line will begin to fade.


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The present day youth is facing many problems like forgetfulness, andfear of examinations. Sometimes the young people proceed to study withnegative suggestion in their mind. They feel that their memory isdecreasing. They are afraid of it and so they invite forgetfulness. These

types of learning problems can be reduced or eliminated with the help of Positive Auto Suggestions. ( See chapter-2.)The major factors, low self esteem and lack of motivation are bothcovered extensively. Additional factors are, poor study habits, negativethoughts, absence of reward, medicine and drugs, and fear.So keep the following factors in your mind.

Take up certain regular study methods which may become yourhabit.

Think positive and do not think or fear of unwanted orundesirable facts.

Some times you may not be rewarded for your achievements.Your teachers and parents may not appreciate you when you dosome thing with sincere effort. It does not mean that they do notlike you or they are not happy with you. they do not do thatbecause there is a secret fear of that You may stop continuing orgrowing in your efforts. So they tell you it is OK but not enoughstill you have achieve further. Never mind, if they appreciate you,enjoy and thank them. If they do not appreciate you do not bother.Whatever you do, do it for your satisfaction.

Some students have the habit of some kind of medicine fordifferent purposes. Once they need to consult their doctor in thisregard.

Fear is your worst enemy. Never be afraid of anything concerningyour study matter. Be dare enough to question, doubt, discoverand probe over the subject matter which you come across in yourstudy circle.

Food habits are also very important regarding keeping your mindin order. Your food habits greatly affect your physical and mentalhealth. So constantly keep an eye on your food habits.( this matterwill be discussed in fore coming chapters.)

It is a matter of common observation that a persons mental andemotional life is affected by the condition of his body and theenvironment in which he lives. So, see that your body, home andenvironment be kept clean and healthy according to yourobservation.

Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists inthe mind. So, calm and relaxed mind only be useful both inlearning and in recalling.


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Diary writing or recalling the past day before going to bed alsohelps you to your good memory habit to certain extent.

Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in themind. The conscious recalling provides a rational way to eradicate theirrationalities in our personality.Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in themind. Learning is an operation of both right and left-brains, though in thepast it was strongly believed that it was an operation of the left-brainonly. Recall means to bring the information back into consciousawareness, i.e. allow the information back into the left-brain.The memory functions best when it is relaxed.

A simple illustration will be effective to make the point clear. Supposeyou wish to remember a telephone number and for some reason, you haveno access to the operator, or you do not know the address. This is a fairlycommon occurrence in day- to day life. What you could do is relax andsuggest yourself, and imagine a situation where you are ringing up theperson. Begin with your number. In all likelihood the number will pop upin your conscious awareness.

How memory works.

The subconscious mind is also the storehouse of memory. We recordevery perception when received, much like a motion picture with soundeffects and even with all the other senses viz., sight, sound, touch, smelland taste. Under relaxation and self suggestion the picture can bereplayed.

Some physicians familiar with hypnosis are convinced that there is in thesubconscious an actual memory of being born.

The subconscious may punish you at times for things you have done, yetone of its duties is to protect you from harm. Memory makes manythings.

Amnesia

It is the human brain and his or her mental faculties will be there in goodstead. This is a fact. The only requisite is one has to apply a positivesuggestion instead of a negative one.


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The loss of memory never occurs to healthy people including those whoare attaining the age of maturity.

According to Harry Lorayne, a memory expert, there are two kinds of memory (i) trained memory and (ii) untrained memory. If you clearly feelthat you can remember a particular thing or event you can remember orrecall the same at any time. If you are not willing to remember somethingor event, you will naturally forget them all.

First and foremost thing is one has to feel that amnesia is a mere jokebecause we will not forget to take meals, counting currency notes,attending to daily chores. All these are necessary for ones sustenance andsurvival.

Secondly one does not evince proper instance in his studies. To attainmemory one need not study a lesson ten times. It is unnecessary. If onestudies three times it should normally be sufficient.

During the first reading the student read it from beginning to end. Duringthe second reading he or she should read the same with someunderstanding and concentration. Closing the book they have to reviewthe same and recapitulate. During the third and final reading one has toapply a bit of more attention. Done this way, one cannot forget the lesson.

The boy can remember the items up to twenty if not more, by applyingthe link system of memory. The only thing is one has to train his mindand formulate a code or a link system of memory pegs.

Good Memory

Loss memory may be due to damage of the brain, excessive smoking andsometimes due to much stress and strain.

One of the pre-requisites to improve ones memory is self-confidence. If one is possessing grip and determination, many things can be achieved inthis world, not only memory, but many more things.

YOU REMEMBER BETTER. If you understand what you repeat (comprehension). If you study a little but often. (Spaced learning.) If you recite yourself. (Recitation.)


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If you repeat for longer than need to learn. (Over learning.) If you repeat wholes rather than parts. (Whole learning.) If you tell yourself that you can. (Autosuggestion.)

Under conditions like those under, which you learned.(Reintegration.) You remember uncompleted tasks better than completed ones.

(Zeigarnik effect.) Something that contrasts with its background. (Von Restorff

effect.)

Plato said it this way, All knowledge is but remembrance; while Cicerosaid of memory, it is The treasury and guardian of all things.You see, all the things we attribute to habit should be attributed to

memory. Habit is memory.The question that people ask me most often is, isnt it confusing toremember too much? My answer to that is, No! there is no limit to thecapacity of the memory. I believe that the more you remember, the moreyou can remember. The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must beexercised and developed in order to give proper service and use; so mustbe memory. The difference is that a muscle can be over trained or becomemuscle bound while the memory cannot. If you can read and writeEnglish, and have a normal amount of common sense, and if you read andstudy this book, you will have acquired a trained memory! Along with the

trained memory you will probably acquire a great power o f concentration, a purer sense of observation, and perhaps, a strongerimagination. Remember, that there is no such thing as bad memory! Thismay come as a shock to those of you who have used your supposedlybad memories as an excuse for years. But, I repeat, there is no suchthing as bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories.Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associatedin your mind to something you already know or remember. If you wereassociating knowingly, then you would already have the beginnings of atrained memory. Most of the things you have ever remembered have beenassociated subconsciously with something else that you already knew orremembered. The important word here is, subconsciously. Youyourselves do not realize what is going on in your subconscious; most of us would be frighten if we did. What you subconsciously associatedstrongly will be remembered, what was not associated strongly will beforgotten.


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I am going to each you to associate anything you want to, consciously!When you have learned to do that, you will have acquired a trainedmemory!Keep in mind that I teach in this book is an aid to your normal or true

memory. It is your true memory that does the work for you, whether yourealize it or not. There is a very thin line between a trained memory andthe true memory, and as you continue to use the system taught here, thatline will begin to fade.

The true art of memory is the true art of attention.-Samuel Johnson .

Memory and observation do go hand in hand. You cant possiblyremember any thing you do not observe; and it is extremely difficult toobserve or remember anything that you do not want to remember, or thatyou are not interested in remembering.

If want to improve your memory immediately, force yourself to want toremember. Force yourself to be interested enough to observe anythingyou want to remember or retain. I say, force yourself, because at first alittle effort may be necessary; however, in an amazingly short time.

As far as Im concerned, the phrase I forgot should not be in thelanguage. It should be, I didnt remember in the first place.

You cannot forget any thing you ever really remembered. If you weregoing to improve it.

Please keep in mind that the memory likes to be trusted. The more youtrust it the more reliable and useful it will become. Writing everythingdown on paper without tryingTo remember is going against all the basic rules for a stronger and bettermemory. You are not trusting your memory; you have not the confidencein your memory; you are not exercising the memory; you havent theconfidence in your memory; and your interest is not strong enough toretain it, if you must write it down. Remember that you can always loseyour paper or notebook, but not your mind. If I may be allowed a smallattempt at humour,


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WAYS OF REMEMBERING.

We remember in three ways. We can study something to commit it tomemory. For example, we can repeat a poem to learn it by heart. This is

called memorizing. Secondly, we can try to bring to mind something wehave temporarily forgotten. For example, we memorized a friendstelephone number yesterday and to day we try to think what it was. Whenthe attempt is successful, this memory activity is known as recalling.Some times events are recalled differently from how they actuallyhappened. They are reconstructed in a way which strikes a person asreasonable and which fits in with his established habits of thought andfeeling. There are unintentional inaccuracies in the recall of pastexperiences. Investigators, who have studied this phenomenon of retrospective falsification, as it is called, have reported the existence of tendencies to simplify, generalize, and distort events so that they providea meaningful and connected narrative.

We have seen what must happen to an item betweenmemorizing it and recalling it. Obviously, it must somehow be recordedin the brain; otherwise, we should be unable to recall it at all. The imagewas impressed on the mind and some trace of the impression remains. If nothing of it remained, nothing could be revived. The memory activity,which keeps, says, the date of the battle of Hastings in our heads, eventhough we are not consciously thinking of it, is called retaining orretention.

There are, then, three ways in which we remember. We memorize, weretain and we recall. Memory depends upon 1. The acquirement of theidea or image to be recalled 2. The ability to retain the impression, whichhas been made, and 3. The ability to revive or recognize the impression,which has been retained. Remembering is to be reduced essentially tothese three functions.The practical question with everyone who would strengthen his memoryand make it serviceable and reliable is how to get it out again on demand.From a practical point of view the most important of an idea or image andthe recall of that idea or image to consciousness. This furnishes the key toa scientific training of the memory.We have seen that the things we experience from mental pictures, whichare impressed, on our brain as memory traces. Each trace is accompaniedby a certain amount of mental energy, which is drawn from other memorytraces already laid down.


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YOU REMEMBER BETTER. If you understand what you repeat (comprehension). If you study a little but often. (Spaced learning.) If you recite yourself. (Recitation.)

If you repeat for longer than need to learn. (Over learning.) If you repeat wholes rather than parts. (Whole learning.) If you tell yourself that you can. (Autosuggestion.) Under conditions like those under, which you learned.

(Reintegration.) You remember uncompleted tasks better than completed ones.

(Zeigarnik effect.) Something that contrasts with its background. (Von Restorff effect.)

Plato said it this way, All knowledge is but remembrance; while Cicero

said of memory, it is The treasury and guardian of all things.You see, all the things we attribute to habit should be attributed to memory.Habit is memory.The question that people ask me most often is, isnt it confusing toremember too much? My answer to that is, No! there is no limit to thecapacity of the memory. I believe that the more you remember, the more youcan remember. The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercisedand developed in order to give proper service and use; so must be memory.The difference is that a muscle can be over trained or become muscle boundwhile the memory cannot. If you can read and write English, and have a

normal amount of common sense, and if you read and study this book, youwill have acquired a trained memory! Along with the trained memory youwill probably acquire a great power o f concentration, a purer sense of observation, and perhaps, a stronger imagination. Remember, that there is nosuch thing as bad memory! This may come as a shock to those of you whohave used your supposedly bad memories as an excuse for years. But, Irepeat, there is no such thing as bad memory. There are only trained oruntrained memories. Anything you wish to remember must in some way orother is associated in your mind to something you already know orremember. If you were associating knowingly, then you would already have

the beginnings of a trained memory. Most of the things you have everremembered have been associated subconsciously with something else thatyou already knew or remembered. The important word here is,subconsciously. You yourselves do not realize what is going on in yoursubconscious; most of us would be frighten if we did. What you

The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised anddeveloped in order to give proper service and use. So must the


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memory. The difference is that the muscle can be over trained. Onthe other hand, become muscle bound while the memory cannot.

there is no such thing as a bad memory! There are only trained oruntrained memories.

Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other isassociated in your mind to something you already know orremember.

It is your true memory that does the work for you, whether yourealize it or not there is very thin line between a trained memoryand the true memory, and as continue to use the system taught herethe line will begin to fade.

The major factors, low self esteem and lack of motivation are bothcovered extensively. Additional factors are, poor study habits,negative thoughts, absence of reward, medicine and drugs, andfear.

Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists inthe mind. The conscious recalling provides a rational way toeradicate the irrationalities in our personality.

Learning is an operation of both right and left-brains, though in thepast it was strongly believed that it was an operation of the left-brain only. Recall means to bring the information back intoconscious awareness, i.e. allow the information back into the left-brain.

The memory functions best when it is relaxed. The loss of memory never occurs to healthy people including those

who are attaining the age of maturity. If you are not willing to remember something or event, you will

naturally forget them all. one does not evince proper instance in his studies. To attain

memory one need not study a lesson ten times. It is unnecessary

YOU REMEMBER BETTER. If you understand what you repeat (comprehension). If you study a little but often. (Spaced learning.) If you recite yourself. (Recitation.) If you repeat for longer than need to learn. (Over learning.) If you repeat wholes rather than parts. (Whole learning.) If you tell yourself that you can. (Autosuggestion.) Under conditions like those under, which you learned.

(Reintegration.) You remember uncompleted tasks better than completed

ones.


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READINGReading is intimately connected with learning, and so with study and

memory as well. Even a slight knowledge of the physiology of the eyewill help you to understand the process of reading, and use thisknowledge to become a more efficient reader.

Our eyes are a miracle of biological engineering. At the back of each of them is the retina, which contains 150 million separate light receivers.These light receivers, rods and cones, can process millions of millions of photons (light energy particles) per second. In the fovea, a slightindentation of 1/10 of a square millimeter in the retina, the light receiversare more tightly packed. It is on the fovea that the objects seen are

sharply focused.The size of the pupil of the eyes adjusts according to light intensity,distance and with emotions like anger, tension and boredom.

What is read and understood quickly is remembered at least as well aswhat is read and understood slowly and may be remembered better. Withquicker reading the amount of the material which is remembered afterone reading is at least as much, and generally more, than that rememberedafter a slow reading. You can read twice as fast and remember just asmuch. You might have heard that better understanding comes from

reading more slowly and carefully, that is true with the beginners, but anobstacle to the efficient.

The average reader can read between two hundred and three hundredwords per minute. A slow reader reads between a hundred and twohundred words per minute, while a fast reader may read up to fourhundred words per minute.In reading a line the eyes make several jumps. This is because they arereading separate words or phrases. A fast reader makes three or four

jumps per line on average. This means that he reads three or words at a

time. A slow reader may make a dozen or more jumps. This is because hereads each word separately and looks back at words already read.To train yourself to read faster you should practise making fewer eyemovements. Fix your eyes on the center of each line, and then let themrun down the page instead of across it. try not to say the words toyourself, and do not look back at what you have already read. Begin withsimple material such as short stories and other light literature. As yourreading rate improves, choose more difficult material.


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Five simple Rules To Fasten Your Reading .I. Eliminate whispering, pointing and movements of the lips, head

and hands as you read. Such movements tend to slow your readingand distract the mind from its effort to understand what you read.

II. Practise relaxation of your muscles. Sit down to read in an easychair. Make sure that your are physically comfortable.

III. Try to read phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs rather thansingle words.

IV. Try not to let your mind wander. If you find yourself thinking of something else, write down a note about it to be taken up later.

V. Try to anticipate the argument the author is setting forth. Ask yourself whether he is developing his ideas on the lines you wouldexpect.

Tips for Reading and Understanding. If you want to, you can cut a slit in a postcard wide enough

and high enough to expose one full line at a time. By slidingit down the page as you read you can force yourself to readat a faster pace.

Get a general idea of what you are going to read before youbegin to read it. to do this,1. If there are points to remember, just go through it.2. If there are questions after the lesson, better you read all

thequestions before you read the lesson.

3. If your friend or brother or sister had gone through thelesson

you listen to the gist of the lesson from their mouth.

4. Do not read one or two line to understand the point, ratherread completely the whole lesson. If it is too big bite for

youread at least paragraphs or pages.

Do not attempt to read too much all at once at theincreased rate. If you keep on for a long time, fatigue willtend to set in and you will revert to your slower rate of reading. That is why short practice periods are desirable atthe start. When the faster rate becomes habitual, however,it is no more tiring than a slower rate.

Understanding is just as important as speed. It may beasked what sense there is in reading fast if a person does


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not understand what he reads. The answer is that it isbetter to read what one does not understand rapidly than toread it slowly. The sooner one discovers that one does notunderstand it, the sooner one can go over it again or go onto another book that explains it better.

Therefore, to see whether you have gathered ideas andinformation from rapid reading, it is as well to close thebook from time to time and jot down what you have reador run over it in your mind. Read for five or ten minutesand then stop to think about what you have read. If something the author has said has confused you of seemscontrary to fact, go back and read the passage over again,thinking about the doubtful point.

A book can also be read rapidly by skimming through it.if you know what not to read, you can pick out the more

important parts, just casting your eye over the lessimportant ones. Some things need plenty of concentration,while others call for less of it. it is wise to adjust yourmethod to the material.

Learn the art of judicious skipping. Discriminate betweenwhat is and what is not worth your attention.

Learning more words also helps one to read faster. Byconstantly reading you become much more familiar withwords and their meanings. Having a better knowledge of words, you can read with greater speed than before.

Pay attention to your eyesight. Have your eyes tested and,if necessary, have glasses fitted. Defects of sight areobstacle to rapid reading. Be sure that there is enoughlight but avoid glare on the page. Once the eyes becometired reading is slower and poorer.

Focused and Peripheral Vision:Focused looking is done when we look straight at an object tosee it clearly. The image of the object must fall on the foveato be clear.

Peripheral looking is done when we look at things from theedge of our eyes. For example, look straight at any object thatis in front of you and focus your vision on that object clearly(focused vision). Now without shifting your head, look withthe edges of your eyes at whatever you can see as far right,left top and bottom of the object your eyes are focused on.The rest you see is done by peripheral vision, and is not soclearly focused, but somewhat blurred or hazy. The fact that


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we see most clearly what we are looking at directly onaccount of the image being on the fovea, has two importantimplications for reading:

(1) The eye must move along the text so that differentparts of the line are brought in the focus at the

fovea;(2) To see anything clearly, the eye has actually to

stop moving for a fraction of a second in orderthat a still image can rest on the fovea and betransmitted to the brain through the optic nerve.

Purpose In Reading.Your purpose in reading determines

your speed in reading:1) For detailed study of a text in prose or poetry, the

speed is naturally rather slow, about from 80 to 100words per minute, or even slower.

2) For self-enrichment, reading the classics of literature,the speed may also be slow anything from 100 to 250words per minute.

3) For critical or evaluative reading, the speed will alsobe slow as for self-enrichment, anything from 100 to250 words per minute, or a little faster.

4) For creative reading, to see how one could benefitpersonally or in ones work, or to savour and visualize

a poem or good prose, the speed is also slow, from200 to 300 words or a little more per minute.

5) For information from a book or magazine, the speedis faster, anything from 300 to 500 words per minute,or more.

6) For relaxation and pleasure, the speed is much faster;say from 300 to 800 words per minute or more.

7) In scanning and skimming, the speed is very fast,anything from 800 to 1500 words per minute, or evenmore.

Scanning is done when a definite word or factis being looked for in an article. The reading isdone mostly vertically. Therefore it is very fast.

Skimming is done when surveying an article ora book to get at the main ideas. This is also fast.

( No matter what kind of reading you do, and forwhat purpose you read, you must alwaysConcentrate your attention fully on what you read.


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Moreover, have a definite purpose. This will helpyou to get the most of your reading.)

Bad Methods of Reading.

a)

Moving your lips when reading.b) Moving your head from side to side.c) Unnecessarily reading aloud.d) Vocalization in the throat.e) Regression, unnecessary going back on

what you have read.f) Reading word by word instead of

meaningful phrases.g) Reading without any fixed purpose.h) Making or producing musical tones while

reading.i) Making unnecessary body movements or

gestures while reading. j) Tapping fingers or shaking legs or hands

while reading.

Some Helps For Better Reading.

I. Vertical Reading.Instead of reading all material horizontally, that is, from left toright, why not try certain material, for instance, newspapercolumns vertically, from top to bottom.

For practice, draw in pencil, very lightly, a line down themiddle of columns of a newspaper. Then keeping your focuson the line, read the lines vertically down the line with focusedattention, both sides of the line with peripheral vision.This needs practice for some time and it will pay dividendsafter a while. You will be able to easily read newspapercolumns and those of magazines, and get the main points youwant quickly.

II. Indentation.Most readers, and you among them start reading a page of abook from the very first word on the first line and so on in veryline till the last word of the last line. You will notice that anordinary page of a book has to the left and right of the printedpage a white blank space.


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Notice that your focused vision falls on the first and last wordof each line. This means that your peripheral vision in bothcases is just reading the blank space to the right and left of the printed page. Why waste time and energy on reading emptymarginal space?

Therefore, train yourself to read two or three words from thefirst word on the left in each line, and stop the focus vision twoor three words from the last word of each line. Thus yourperipheral vision takes in the first two words at the beginningof a line and the last two words at the end of each line. Thisrequires much practice to become a habit.


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Effective writing.Writing well is a power. Each student has to learn it in varyingdegrees and everyone has to apply it in the subjects he learnsand in a variety of communications he constructs in everydaylife.

Put on your thinking cap.

First put on your thinking cap. Suppose you want to tell a storyor describe a scene . Then have:I. A vivid imagination of it,II. Trace out its basic skeleton, andIII. Think of the flesh and blood of lively details you willinvest each part with to infuse it with life.This activity is essential. It gives vividness to your narrative ordescription and helps the reader share your experience well.Again, suppose you have to argue for or against a subject, youmust them muster enough material with which you canpersuade him to your line of thinking or let him appreciateyour approach to the subject. If it is an exposition of a conceptor a plan or the explanation of a process or a mechanism youhave to give, acquaint your self with it thoroughly before youstart writing it. For this, bear the following points in mind:

Make the content sufficient: insufficiency is a seriousflaw. In examinations and classroom assignments the lengthneeded is normally stipulated but in other situations youdecide yourself within the framework of time and spaceavailable and the background of the person you are writingfor.

Ensure that whatever you write is compact: it has notraces of looseness. It means avoid all undesirable repetitionas it bores the reader, shows poverty of ideas and projects apoor image of the writer.

Thinking alone is not enough: control it and direct it. Inother words, focus your mind on what the subject requiresand distinguish between the relevant and the irrelevant. Also,turn the subject over in your mind repeatedly and see


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whether the material you propose to write fits in with itsframework.

Besides being relevant, every bit of the material must becredible. That is , the reader should feel that whatever hasbeen said is reasonable and true.

This all calls for digging up relevant information frombooks, journals and magazines and taking down meaningfulnotes as well. For this, read selectively, bearing in minddemands of the subject and the readers background andexpectations. To do this, visit your library and seek yourlibrarian or your teachers guidance.

Enjoy writing your introduction

It is real fun to write an introduction if you follow thefollowing steps. Think of what you propose to tell your reader: condenseit into a sentence. This becomes your thesis sentence: the lastsentence of your introduction. For instance, the subject is: IsMizoram ripe for setting up heavy industries? Suppose you areconvinced that Mizoram is not yet ready for it. Your thesissentence then can be, In my view the odds against it aregreat and Mizoram is not yet ripe for it. Then begin your funnel-like introduction with a generalbackground of the subject and work your way to the thesissentence. In the course of doing so, arouse the readerscuriosity and highlight the importance of the subject thepurpose is to motivate the reader to read on. Now keep yourside of the bargain: meet the expectations you aroused here.That is, maintain the stand you have taken and justify it in themain bodyThe stuff of the matter:

Once you have moved to the main body, your primarytask is to organize the mass of material into suitable units of paragraphs. It is extremely important as without paragraphingthe reader will find it hard to grasp what you are saying.

Identify the major points of your content as distinct from yoursupporting details. These could be in the form of facts,


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figures, examples, illustration, reasons, arguments,explanation, and elaboration. Attach the appropriate ones toeach major point and organize them suitably.

To accomplish it, make your first sentence your topicsentence. It is not a rule but it has a great advantage; it is easyto follow. However, as you get the command over writing, youcan as well make it the second or the third or the last or thelast but one also.

A topic sentence normally embodies two features. One, itcontains an expression which links it with the precedingparagraph. Two, it holds the seed of the main idea whichgrows into a full paragraph. Now observe the following twopoints.

1. Each word in a paragraph should contribute to the mainidea stated in the topic sentence. Do not deviate from it as itdemolishes the unity of the paragraph and causes confusion.

2. A sentence should have a cohesive link with thepreceding one. Cultivate this aspect diligently as it is ahallmark of good writing. It removes jerkiness and makesreading smooth.

The conclusion.

The reader does get a thrust if the composition endsabruptly without a suitable conclusion. He even feels desertedand cheated and comes to believe that the writer stoppedbecause he was fed up with the task. Therefore, concludeyour writing abruptly your writing appropriately In an argumentative type of writing, your conclusionsuccinctly reinforces the arguments you have advanced forand against and reflect your balanced view on the subject. Inother words, it will embody take-away material which thereader can easily carry in his mind even if he has forgotten therest of it. If it is the exposition of a concept or the explanation of mechanism of a process, it will be a summing-up of majorpoints expressed in words and phrases, not much used in the


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main body. The idea is to retain freshness and sustain thereaders interest well. If the writing is a narrative type, the writer will worktowards its climax and give the result in the conclusion. For it,the trick is: it should not be a foregone conclusion: it shouldbe a surprise. The reader should feel well reward for havingread your narrative. If it is description, you can round it off with someintelligent observation on what you have and deftly createatmosphere set in the introduction. This way your writingmust come full circle where it started. Here, too, the purposeis to help the reader take away the sum-total of yourexperience in this memory.

Brush up your punctuation:

Do you know, one of the major causes of the confusion is theignorance about the use pf punctuation marks? You may comeacross the long string of sentences ridiculously strung togetherwith commas. Some times a sentence is suddenly split into twoor three parts, making each a hanging one. The list of suchproblems is very long and their treatment requires a very largespace which is not possible here. All the same you are advisedto consult a good grammar book and brush up your knowledgeof this aspect well and soon.

Correct your structural problems:

There are structural problems too. You may come across alarge number of your friends those use some nonstandardstructures as they badly ingrained in their languagebehaviour. Such nonstandard structures must be identifiedand corrected. For this, seek an experienced teachers helpand seriously analyze the problem to get proper solution.When you identify the structural problems, take care of yoursentences they should be freed from the previous errors. Donot neglect it although it is quite painstaking. Remembercultivating new habits of the old is an uphill task. You cannotaccomplish it without actually taking pains.


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Handwriting-brain writing:

A great deal about your personality can be read in yourhandwriting. The graphology experts consider handwriting akind brain writing-a direct expression of mental impulses inthe brain transmitted through the writers hand to paper.A renowned painter kuo Jo Hsu noted, hand writing caninfallibly show whether it comes from a person who is nobleminded or one who is vulgar.Whatever may be the analysis of the handwriting according tothe handwrite experts; you have to bear certain veryimportant aspects of hand writing in your mind.

Do not cultivate the habit of writing, slanting towardsyour left hand side. Let all the curves and ends of the words be facingupward towards your right hand side. If you have the practice of running and cursivehandwriting let the strokes be upward and let letters beslanting towards always right side. Let the letters be as bold as possible. Write always on the lines of the sheets. Do not change the position of the pen very often.

The Art of Note-taking.

You may very well question as to why note taking is soadvantageous the reasons are:1. Well constructed notes become a permanent recordwhich can be conveniently used.2. Our memory span is unlimited and a considerable part of the knowledge acquired from lectures or books is bound tofade away due to some preoccupied information. Naturally,there is dire need to prevent it. Note taking achieves it.3. It helps you to be attentive as you have to listen andprocess the information mentally and write it selectively.


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Its true you may find it hard to cope with the task: it appearsto be too much. Nevertheless, be sure, patience and practicewill make it easy. Let us go systematically.Choice of stationery. First choose the right stationary. It wouldbe from any one of the three items : a notebook, a ring file,and a spring binder. Some students do not cho

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