Yogesh Master_Learn to Learn

LEARN

TO
LEARN
Complied By

Yogesh Master

Rajamarga literature

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

Content

1) Prayer 2) 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)

Prayer
The more I learn, the better I see how little I knowand how little I know of my own capacity to know. I see the each branch of knowledge is so rich, so complex one can study a life-time and 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 task its rightful place, and use my talents to the best of my ability. Give me a vision large than my studies and greater than my individual success. Teach me to use my opportunities gratefully, develop my talents responsibly, and place my learning at 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

Chapter-1 LEARN TO 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 wood- cutter continuously working without rest. A passer by noticed that our poor woodcutter was sweating and gasping. Naturally, he felt sorry for him and thought to help him. He approached the woodcutter and said, “Sorry to disturb you, why can’t you take rest for sometime and continue your work. I think you must be very tired. You drink some water and continue your work.” “Yes,” our loyal woodcutter said, “ I could do so. Nevertheless, I am really busy and running short of time. Please, don’t disturb me because I have only three hours from now to cut down this tree.” The passer by noticed that his axe was not enough sharp. That is the reason the woodcutter was tiring himself. “O.k., but why can’t you sharp your axe and continue working.” the passer by asked. The woodcutter exclaimed, “My god! I have no enough time to sharp my axe. I have to cut down this tree in given time. Otherwise my master won’t spare my life.”

The passerby thought, “ If I had 8 hours to chop a tree I would spend 4 hours to sharp my axe.” Yes, he is right. When he sharpens his axe, he can work easily and need 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 hear from your elders that you should WORK HARD. Yet, I would like to tell you not to work hard as our innocent woodcutter was working without sharpening his axe. Sharpen your axe and work easily. In your learning too, you need not work hard; rather you have to learn how 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 is designed. Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were die tomorrow. – Gandhiji. The most tremendous experience of life is the learning process. The saddest time is when a person thinks that he has learned enough. – Charles Jones. What is learning? Learning is to some extent permanent change in behavior brought about by experience. Particularly important about this explanation is that it permits us to differentiate between performance changes due to maturation and those changes brought about by experience. For instance, children become better tennis players, as they grow older partially because their strength increases with their size-maturational experience. Such maturational changes 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, they are not words but sounds. As you grow up your mummy, granny, aunty, dad and other family members taught you different words. Later you learnt to compose those words and form sentences. Though the learning of those words and sentences were simple and straight, that is the foundation of learning. Now, you just sit and try to remember how many words you know. You know Lakhs of words. You wonder. You are not at

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 no words and did not know even to speak, you were crying when you felt hungry. You would not have stopped crying until you mother fed you with milk. Later when you were two or three years old you would have asked your mother to get some food for you while showing the food and said, ‘ I want it.’ or ‘ Amma, mammu ( whatever your family members taught 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, I am feeling hungry. Get something to eat.” Now, it is not necessary to sit and cry for food if the food is not ready at home. You just say, “ If food is not ready, never mind I go to some Darshini hotels and have fast food there.” 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 things with your knowledge. As you grow up, by your experience you learnt thousands 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 and maturation. Learning involves changes brought about by experience, whereas maturation describes changes due to biological development. O.K. let us think over another question. You learnt to go to hotel and have food. You learnt how to beat your opponent in a game. You learnt how to go to a shop and get whatever you want. Why did you learn all these? Whose sake you learnt to go to a hotel? Your sake, because you feel hungry or you want a tasty food because you want something different from what your mother or a cook prepare at your house. Why do beat your opponent in game? Winning a game is sheer joy, you love to play, it gives you pleasure. Why do you go to shop and buy whatever you want? 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 to learn? 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 why are you learning studying. Never read or study for somebody else. Why do you want to study? You ask yourself. Unless you get the satisfactory answer, you do not become a learned person in real sense. Do not study for the sake of your parents and teachers.

Never study for the examination sake. The examination is not the goal of education or your personal studies. Rather one’s own experience, growth, evolution and realization are may be quoted as to be achieved. If you study for the examination, after the examination you will not carry the knowledge with you. That is the reason, many, even so called bright students, as I noticed, do not remember or carry the previous knowledge after summer vacation. They start newly to study the texts of particular class. In my opinion, what one studies in one class is nothing but an expansion of the study of the previous class. He or she is kept on growing in his or her knowledge as a sapling grows into a tree. In this way learning is nothing but your willingness to grow and accept experience of life with a new outlook. Moreover, learning is inseparable process of one’s life. If anybody denies learning, he or she is almost dead because by their denying they are simply not allowing life to happen. For learning is sheer a joy and blossoming experience. Now let us remember the phrase ‘work hard’ which we talked earlier, in the beginning of this chapter. Did you work hard to learn to eat? Did you work hard to go shop and buy whatever you want? Did work hard to travel in city transport? No! You learnt whatever you want in course of time. You became sharp in buying things using your intelligence. You learnt to travel by city transport using your common sense. In your learning too, you need not work hard; rather you have to learn how to learn at ease. Learning at ease is really not difficult. You need a bit of common sense, using the method of learning. One cannot be an ignorant woodcutter who did not have the common sense of sharpening his axe to chop off the tree. In my opinion, learning the proper method of learning makes you learn better. To help you in this way, this book is designed. YOU LEARN BETTER, When you think positively When you love what you learn When you respect what you learn When you learn for your sake When you learn with joy When you accept all the possibilities of learning When you opened to correct your mistakes When you can identify the priorities When you make proper use of the study materials

When you respect persons who teach you, who help you while you are studying, who share the learning experiences with you When you are filled with gratitude for the place where you are 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 get opportunity to learn everywhere and in everyway. When your mother is getting ready for food preparation, when your father is planning his budget, 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 in Kannada government school, obviously I found very difficult in learning English. No doubt I learnt Kannada better. However, when I felt offended for not learning English as other English medium students would learn, I decided to put little extra effort. For that, can you guess what I would have done? Attending special classes? Appointing private tutors? Going to London English speaking courses? Reading rapidex English speaking course? 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 walls and boards of advertisements which were in two languages i.e. Kannada and English. Of course, I knew English alphabets. My Kannada knowledge helped me a lot in learning English spelling and reading. For example, Mahalakshmi provision stores; I read in Kannada, later same thing could be read in English. It was a wonderful experience. P-r-o-v-Is-I-o-n s-t-o-r-e-s—provision stores. Some times I learnt many English words in this manner. You might have noticed, in some shops you find the sign board in two languages. On one side you find words in native language 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 Shaakhe—overseas branch, so on so forth. Start reading the pamphlets, advertisements, signboards which give you knowledge of two languages. There are lots of chances of learning sentence formations too. In those days, usages of polythene carry bags were very less. And the paper covers or news papers, magazine inner sheets were used to wrap the things or eatables when we would buy from the shops or venders on streets. That would provide us a great opportunity to go through some useful general knowledge or information, even grammar exercises. Now, you need not follow this kind of crude method

of learning, you are well equipped with hundred and one opportunity to read, 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 are interested there is no need to make fuss much about the opportunities to learn, 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 personality through experience. It is like growing of a small plant to a huge tree. • Learning is not a property of some blessed ones but it is a blessing made available to everyone freely. • Work hard is an old concept. Now, there is no need to work hard but work easily in proper way using your intelligence. • Learning is not possible if do not love the subject matter to be learned. • You should have the purpose of learning. Where there is no intention, 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.

• 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 looked after him. The chickens became its companions. He ate what they ate. He slept with them. He enjoyed their company. He grew up a young eagle but as a chicken. He never thought that he was an eagle. In fact, he never suspected that he would be something else other than a chicken. One day an old eagle had been flying over the poultry. He was attracted towards his favorite prey - chickens. As he looked for a good one, noticed a young eagle. ' An eagle! ' He could not believe his own eyes,' amidst chickens? ' He forgot the idea of picking his prey but approached the young eagle. As he appeared before the young eagle, he was frightened and tried to run away like any chicken. However, the old eagle did not leave him. " How come your are here?" Without giving answer to the question, the young eagle started crying and begged for mercy. The old eagle understood that something has to be probed. He caught hold of him and carried 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 to that of the young eagle. Also tried to convince him that he too can fly like him in the sky. Nevertheless, the young eagle ever tried a flight but only hopped like any chicken. The old eagle took him to an edge of a mountain and just pushed him into the valley. The crying eagle had opened his wings and started fluttering. As he feared he did not fall and die 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 real nature and capacity. We shall tell him, “CONGRATULATIONS !!

Hi! You too are like that eaglet. You too have wings to fly. If you have not tried till now, try it. When some body tells you that you are a chicken, never accept but tell confidently," I am an eagle." If somebody tells you that you are a stupid, a fool or an idiot, never accept it. You cannot see when you close your eyes. It does not mean you are blind. You have eyes and capacity of seeing, but only you have to open your eyes. Later no effort is needed. Seeing will happen on it's own accord. In the same way, just because you have not minded to understand something and apply your skills to learn something,you are not a stupid or an idiot. You have to practice canceling negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. When somebody tells you, 'you idiot' or 'stupid' or ' fool' immediately say "cancel, cancel" in your mind and think of good yourself 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 positive thinking? Positive thinking is nothing but thinking about what you want –not what you do not want. Positive thinker thinks of the better result. Negative thinker worries about the unwanted result due to lack of selfconfidence. If you have a habit of thinking of what you do not want, you need positive autosuggestions to install better program in to your brain computer. 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 any position. • Take a deep breath and relax. • Count backwards from 50 to 1. •Say to yourself mentally, “Every day and in every way I am becoming better, 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.

IT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND. If you think that you’re beaten, you are; If you think you dare not, you don’t; If you’d like to win, but think you can’t, It’s almost certain you won’t. If you think you will lose, you have lost; For out in the world you will find, Success begins with a fellow’s will; It’s 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, it’s all in the state of mind. Life’s battles don’t always go To 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 repeatedly several times every day. This is one of the important things to be done your life. Here are some positive thoughts as autosuggestions which you can use for your improvement. If you think, you have poor memory_ •“Day by day my memory is improving, I can remember study, and I can recall whenever I want.”

whatever I

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, with Your 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.”

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While giving autosuggestions you have to take care that you should not use negative words. For example, “I do not forget whatever I study.” Here, your intension is clear that you want to remember well. But, your inner mind is fed with negative word such as forget, which you do not want. 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. Positive mental pictures produce positive results. Likewise, your good thoughts give you good mental pictures, and your good mental pictures attract good 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 mind to improve your overall performance. It will create the right environment for you to win more often. When I use the word ‘WIN’ here, it does not mean you should put somebody 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 with negative thoughts which are not good for the health of your mind. You have heard the golden rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. Apply this teaching to the way you think about your other friends or your opponents, when you are in a play team. Your parents or teachers may compare YOU with your brother or sister, classmate or your neighboring friends or cousins, “ look at that boy/girl, so good in studies, does every home work in time, gets good marks in the tests and the examinations, you have to learn from them. Don’t you feel shame?” Naturally you get angry! Isn’t it? In addition, you feel jealous of the person 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

appreciate them rather you start seeing all negative qualities in that person which your parents and teachers may never notice. “He / she is very proud. Moreover, puts me down. When I am getting scolding 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 get not only scolding even beatings. And I am deserved for appreciation.’ Let me get a chance to give you a nice blow.” Yes, what you feel is really natural, nothing is bad in that. That is the reaction happens in your mind, but that kind of feeling is not good for your mind. When you think so, you are allowing all negative thoughts into your inner mind which is not good for the health of your mind. On other hand, you are cutting the bridge between your friend and you. When you start criticizing or condemning someone else’s qualities, you do not have them. Remember! What you criticize you do not attract them. 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 special qualities which are hidden in you. They must be sleeping, it is your responsibility to awake them and activate them to glow in this world. You may not be knowing a great secret. Your true source of progress consists of the ideas in your mind. Envy and jealousy are the obstacles to the free growth of your progress and prosperity. Rejoice in the progress of others. When you see somebody is showing progress in their studies or in 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. Let more success and more prosperity come to you. Let you get more and more 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, while comparing you with somebody else? The two things can happen; oneyou can speak to them about their comments which you do not like. In fact 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 they will appreciate your straightforwardness. Since, they sincerely wish you good and welfare, they listen to you, consider your words and value your feelings and thoughts. Then you enjoy their love and a pleasant environment 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 solid beatings because you tried to point their mistake. You may listen from them saying, ‘if you were right and doing the things in right time as your parents and your teachers gave the instructions why should we talk so.

Moreover, what we are saying is hundred percent right! And you are stupid, and that girl/boy is really intelligent.’ Then, please, do not talk. Sensibly keep quite for some time and say in your mind, “ cancel, cancel, cancel – they have not yet found my talents and special qualities of mine. On the other hand, I might have not exposed them. Anyhow, let me forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. From now on, the opportunities will be created for us 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 to forgive the people who were with the evil intension of killing him. We too can forgive our people, when they hurt our feelings and disturb our mind. Finally, one more important thing you must not forget that you should not criticize your teachers. Through the teachers you learn many things. They are the vehicles for the knowledge what you are anticipated to acquire. From my childhood I have noticed that whoever condemn the particular subject teacher they do not like that subject also. Naturally, they loose interest and do not study. Obviously, they fail to become good in that subject. The sufferer is the criticizer but not the teacher. I have noticed that the students criticize their teachers with many unnecessary remarks. That is too bad for their learning. Remember, what you criticize you cannot attract. Always, you be filled with the sense of gratitude towards the things which contribute to your learning and progress. The parents: who are the key persons for your present state of being. The teachers; who are responsible for the growth of your intelligence and knowledge. Friends; who are sharing your feelings and thoughts. The other members of your family and society: who are rejoicing this world with you. Not only for the people, but also for the school or collage where you study, for also for the things what you use. The book from which you read. The pen which you 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 fill with sense of gratitude. Then it is possible for you to be opened to every thing and their messages. Every thing has been conveying their own message. It may be universal message or which you have to learn in particular. You will be wonder filled when you are in the process of learning from everything. The quality of your learning depends on the quality of your mind. The quality of your mind depends on your thinking process. So, always think healthy.

* 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 you may 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 not yet happened. •When people criticize you with negative remarks, do not accept them rather cancel them saying cancel – cancel in your mind. •What you criticize you do not attract, so never criticize your learning subjects and the teachers who teach you. •Whenever you notice others’ progress, feel happy and wish them to progress 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 not only from persons’ mouth, but from animals and nonliving things too. •When people talk ill of you, of course, ‘cancel’ it and forgive them because they do not know what they are doing. •“Every day, in every way I am becoming better, better and better.” Let this would be your mantra for every morning when rise from the bed and before going to bed. •While giving auto suggestions, never use negative words like I don’t forget, I don’t hate or I don’t get angry, etc., but say I remember well, I love everybody and I have patience and peace etc. A man is what he thinks about all day long. – Emerson.

Look what you want.
In MahaBharata there is a beautiful incident explaining about concentration. The Pandavas and Kauravas were young and learning martial art lessons from Guru Drona. Once they were learning the lessons on archery. You must be knowing, to learn archery the power of concentration is very much essential. To check and practice this, Drona had conducted a small test with the princes. That is, a dummy of a bird was hung on the top of a tree. From the ground level the princes were asked to shoot an arrow to the eye of the bird. So, Duryodhana was called and asked by Drona that what he saw when he aimed at the bird’s eye. Duryodhana answered that he could see the ground, tree, sky as the background of the tree, and he gave a big list of the things that he could see. 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 not allow him to shoot the arrow. He called Yudhishtira, the first Pandava. Yudhishtira said that he could see the tree, branches, leaves, fruits and bird. Again, Drona was not satisfied. He called Bheema, the second Pandava. He said that he could see only the bird when he aimed at. Drona, still, did not allow to shoot the arrow and expressed his disappointment. At last he called Arjuna, the third Pandava, and his beloved student to aim at the bird’s eye. As Arjuna aimed at the bird’s eye, was asked the same question what he could see. Arjuna said that he could see only the bird’s eye. Nothing else. Now Drona was happy and permitted him to shoot the arrow, of course, Arjuna could hit it successfully. They supposed to hit the bird’s eye and they should see only the bird’s eye. If they could see other things too, that means, their concentration is diverted. This is a good lesson the Pandavas and Kauravas learnt from Guru Drona.

Concentration. Let us understand what is concentration?

In simple way concentration can be described as paying attention. Then, paying attention is very much needed in all kind of work, especially in learning.
The difference between the superior mind and the ordinary mind is concentration – the ability of the trained mind to focus, all its attention completely on one point; while the ordinary mind dissipates its energies on many points at the same time. Concentration is unchanging attention. As we have noticed, attention is constantly shifting. Even when one is concentrating, attention shifts rapidly from one aspect to another of the matter to which we are attending. 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 understanding concentration. They are intention, attention and conscious thoughts. First, we should have the intension of learning. Your intention selects out what you need to know. When you are intended to learn some thing, its possible for you to pay your attention towards the subject matter. Your real intention creates the genuine interest. The interest will give you the power to get hold of your monkey mind from jumping from one subject to another. Moreover, your interest starts gathering the information about your learning subject. Your real intention of learning and interest to learn makes the proper information available to you. You see, information seems to come when we need it. Perhaps more correctly, information is a constant stream, and our intention starts a sorting procedure for relevancy to the need of learning. Like the Bold function key on the computer, intention selects out what we need.

When you wish to learn a subject, interest is also created. Now, it is easy for you to focus your attention on learning subject. Still your work is not over. You have to consciously observe the thoughts moving in your mind. Whether it is preparing for learning a difficult subject, or dealing with unexpected question in your exam papers, the ability to keep a calm mind is essential. A quiet mind is fine place for you begin any kind of learning or preparing for any kind of tests or examinations. Meditation helps to build concentration and calm of mind. If meditation practiced properly, one can become aware of his own mind and train it to respond correctly to situations. Not only does it improve your powers to focus and concentrate on the assignment, it helps you improve the quality of your life by finding the space within.

Exercises. For each of the exercises you will find it beneficial first all to relax completely. Close your eyes, breath deeply and let the tension from any part of your body drained out. Do each exercise for five to ten minutes. 1. Breathe deeply. Concentrate your attention exclusively on your breathing. Is it regular? Jerky? Is it deep? Shallow? 2. Take your pulse. Place your right thumb on the vein on the inner side of your left wrist, just below the palm of your hand. Feel the pulse. Now look at the minute hand of your watch and count the number of heartbeats per minute. 3. Keep your eyes closed. Now listen attentively to all the sounds you can hear. Do not classify them. Just give your exclusive attention to each. 4. Go out side and bring in a small pebble. Sit down and using your senses, one by one, concentrate on knowing that pebble as well as you can. Use your eyes, touch it, smell it, taste it. Know it so well that you could identify it if it were mixed up with twenty pebbles of the same size. 5. Take a good look at your room: walls, floor, table, etc. now close your eyes and visually see in your mind the various objects, one by one, on the wall, floor, table, etc. 6. Now sit in front of a blank wall and choose a point on it in level with your eyes. See how long you can look at it exclusively, without any distractions. Time your self. 7. For this test, to measure your concentration, put on the radio or T.V. set or a cassette player with loud music. Now do the following

test at the same time; in each line below you will find one or more pairs of adjacent numbers whose sum are ten. List by line the pairs you 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 get right? 8. Now take any of your textbooks, and for five minutes go on reading paragraph by paragraph without regressing, that is, without going back on what you have read. This will force you to pay full attention to what you read. If have in the habit of regressing, stop it. Regression reduces your reading speed and concentration considerably. 9. Repetition is the best way to increase your skill. If you practice everyday, you condition your self to do it every day. Practice your mental technique just like you would practice any physical skills. There are four important aspects to gain concentration immediately.
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Posture:- Sit straight. Just you become aware of your sitting position. Constantly put your effort to make your back straight. It may not be easy or pleasant 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 quickly by simply paying attention to our breathe for a few minutes. Take deep breathe and hold it inside for a few seconds and slowly release it. Do it for few times you can notice a considerable change in your concentration.

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Repetition or remembrance of your intension and interest:- when you find that your attention is being focused on some thing else other than your subject matter, immediately you repeat your intention of learning in your mind. Ex. You are in math’s class, your mind started moving to something else. Say firmly and convincingly, “I am sitting here to learn mathematics. I learn it. This is important for me. I like mathematics. I learn mathematics.” • Awareness:- You can call it meditation too. All you have to do is, just see your wandering mind where it goes. No need to pull it back. Do not force to sit and listen to class. You just watch your mind. Become aware of your mind likes to go without your permission. Without your deliberate focus. It may be a movie or something else which is not your learning subject. Oh! You are here! This exclamation is enough. 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 stepping stone between physical oriented practices and mental practices which leads to higher states of awareness. Light a candle and place it on a small table so that the flame is exactly at the 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 arm’s length away from the body. Close the eyes and relax the whole body, especially the eyes. Be aware of the body steadiness for a few minutes. Keep the body absolutely 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 remain steady. 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 body awareness 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.

Gaze at the after-image of the flame in the space in front of the closed eyes. If the image moves up or down, or from side to side, observe it and try 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 gaze at 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 purpose 10 minutes is sufficient. TRATAKA may be performed for extended period after consulting a qualified Yoga teacher. Precautions: TRATAKA must be practiced on a steady flame, so there should be no draught in the area. The practitioner should always avoid undue strain. The ability to keep the eyes open without blinking should be developed gradually with consistent practice. TRATAKA is an excellent method for clearing accumulated complexes, problems and suppressed thoughts from the mind, enabling the practitioner to witness what is surfacing. It is also possible, however, for these problems to manifest too rapidly which may be mentally disturbing. If these occur, stop the practice and seek advice from an expert Yoga teacher. Benefits: These practice make the eyes clear and bright. It balances the nervous system, relieving nervous tension, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. It improves the memory and helps to develop good concentration and strong will power. Practice Note: The practice involves gazing at a fixed point or object without blinking the eyes. The aim is to focus the mind and curb its oscillating tendencies,

making it one pointed and awakening inner vision. All the attention and power of mind is channeled in one continues stream. This should be an effort less process, without strain. Once this has been achieved, the latent potential within the mind is able to arise spontaneously. Candle Flame Meditation: This is also one of the most effective and popular technique to improve your power of concentration. Sit in a dark room and place a burning candle before you and keep on gazing it. Here, you need not gaze at the wick rather you have to look at the whole flame. See the candle, the colour of the wax, the burning cotton thread, the whole flame, and the different colours of the flame i.e. red, blue, orange and 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 flame mentally. Try to bring the picture of those layers of different colours. Do this exercise very often which is very good for both concentration and memorization. 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

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

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.

IMPRESSION AND CONCENTRATION.
We must obtain a deep impression on the mind of what we wish to remember. The attention must be concentrated on one thing only at time to 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 the result of forming the habit of attending. It is directed towards an object or idea by one’s own decision backed by an effort of will. Involuntary attention, on the other hand, is brought by the intensity of the impression or 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 is necessary. 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 are seeking to attend; (c) relaxing our tension until we are slightly braced up but not too much; and (d) settling any emotional problems which distract our 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 by summarizing 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 thing at once. Concentration is a habit and habits are perfected by practice. What is called sustained, voluntary attention is a repetition of successive efforts that bring back the topic to the mind. We should try to buildup habits that are conducive to concentration. For instance, it helps to sit down to work at definite time and in a definite place. Other thoughts tend to intrude because this is the normal way in which the mind works, one thought succeeding another.

HOW TO LISTEN EFFECTIVELY TO A CLASS LECTURE. BEFORE THE LECTURE. “SET” Your mind to listen well by doing these things: (1) Determine to get all you can out of the lecture; (2) Have a good opinion of the lecturer. (3) Do a quick survey of the matter to be seen in class so that you have general idea of the topic to be covered in the lecture. (4) Try to make an out line of the lecture from what you have read so that you fill in the details during the lecture, under the proper headings, like this LISTENING. MEANING? IMPORTANCE. KINDS. HOW TO BECOME A GOOD LISTENER, etc. (5) Write out any questions that come to your mind about the topic. During The Class. Force yourself to pay full attention to what the lecturer is saying. Note –Taking. An extremely important part in listening to a class is the way you take notes. Some people have the tragic defect called SCRIBBLEMANIA. They try to write down everything the lecturer or class is saying word by word, and end up with a jumble of incomplete notes and not having understood a thing about the lecture. This is tragic and a waste of time. When you are listening, look out for the key words or clue phrases the lecturer uses. Key words are the words that give the main ideas. If the lecturer says,” the four important points about this topic are…” When he mentions the first important thing, jot the key word. Do the same for the other three important things, thus you have four key words for the four important points he mentioned. These key words will help you to understand your textbook when you read it after the lecture. The clue phrases alert you to some thing that is important to follow. The lecturer may say, “Watch carefully this step…” or he may say, “Don’t miss this point…”or “you will be asked this point examination…” All these clue phrases give you a clear indication of what you should take down in key words or very briefly. Pay close also attention also to the lecturer’s facial expression, his tone of voice, the emphasis he places on certain words or phrases, his key words, clue phrases, his summary, his topic sentences etc and you will be able to grasp his lecture. (3) You may fill in your out line or mind-map of the main ideas with key words under the proper headings.

Points To Ponder: The difference between the superior mind and the ordinary mind is concentration – the ability of the trained mind to focus, all its attention completely on one point; while the ordinary mind 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 and conscious thoughts. Your real intention of learning and interest to learn makes the proper 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 his own mind and train it to respond correctly to situations. We must obtain a deep impression on the mind of what we wish to remember. The attention must be concentrated on one thing only at time to the exclusion of every thing else. If you want to concentrate on something, you must feel that it matters to you. Concentration depends up on four things: Habit, Interest, relaxation and Emotions. These points may be remembered by summarizing them in the word HIRE.

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 we attribute to habit should be attributed to memory. Habit is memory. The question that people ask me most often is, ‘is not it confusing to remember too much?’ my answer to that is, ‘NO!’ there is no limit to the capacity of the memory. I believed that more you remember, the more you can remember. The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised and developed in order to give proper service and use. So must the memory. The difference is that the muscle can be over trained. On the other hand, become muscle bound while the memory cannot. If can read and write English, and have normal amount of common sense, and if you read and study this book, you will have acquired a trained memory! Along with the trained memory you will probably acquire a greater power of concentration, a purer sense of observation, and perhaps a stronger imagination. Remember that there is no such thing as a bad memory! This may come as a shock to those of you who have used your supposedly ‘bad’ memories as an excuse for years. Nevertheless, I repeat, there is no such thing as bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories. Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associated in your mind to something you already know or remember. Of course, most of you will say that you have remember, or do remember, many things and that you do not associate with anything else. Very true! If you were associating knowingly, then you would already have the beginnings of trained memory. You, most of the things you have ever remembered have been associated subconsciously with something else that you already knew or remember. The important word here is subconsciously. You yourself do not realize what is going on in your subconscious; most of us would be frightened if we did. What you subconsciously associated strongly will be remembered, what was not associated strongly will be forgotten. 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 trained memory! Keep in mind that the system 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 you realize it or not there is very thin line between a trained memory and the true memory, and as continue to use the system taught here the line will begin to fade.

The present day youth is facing many problems like forgetfulness, and fear of examinations. Sometimes the young people proceed to study with negative suggestion in their mind. They feel that their memory is decreasing. 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 both covered extensively. Additional factors are, poor study habits, negative thoughts, 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 your habit. Think positive and do not think or fear of unwanted or undesirable facts. Some times you may not be rewarded for your achievements. Your teachers and parents may not appreciate you when you do some thing with sincere effort. It does not mean that they do not like you or they are not happy with you. they do not do that because there is a secret fear of that You may stop continuing or growing in your efforts. So they tell you it is OK but not enough still 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 for different purposes. Once they need to consult their doctor in this regard. Fear is your worst enemy. Never be afraid of anything concerning your study matter. Be dare enough to question, doubt, discover and probe over the subject matter which you come across in your study circle. Food habits are also very important regarding keeping your mind in order. Your food habits greatly affect your physical and mental health. So constantly keep an eye on your food habits.( this matter will be discussed in fore coming chapters.) It is a matter of common observation that a person’s mental and emotional life is affected by the condition of his body and the environment in which he lives. So, see that your body, home and environment be kept clean and healthy according to your observation. Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in the mind. So, calm and relaxed mind only be useful both in learning and in recalling.

Diary writing or recalling the past day before going to bed also helps you to your good memory habit to certain extent. Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in the mind. The conscious recalling provides a rational way to eradicate the irrationalities in our personality. Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in the mind. Learning is an operation of both right and left-brains, though in the past it was strongly believed that it was an operation of the left-brain only. Recall means to bring the information back into conscious awareness, 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. Suppose you wish to remember a telephone number and for some reason, you have no access to the operator, or you do not know the address. This is a fairly common occurrence in day- to – day life. What you could do is relax and suggest yourself, and imagine a situation where you are ringing up the person. Begin with your number. In all likelihood the number will pop up in your conscious awareness. How memory works. The subconscious mind is also the storehouse of memory. We record every perception when received, much like a motion picture with sound effects and even with all the other senses viz., sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Under relaxation and self suggestion the picture can be replayed. Some physicians familiar with hypnosis are convinced that there is in the subconscious an actual memory of being born. The subconscious may punish you at times for things you have done, yet one of its duties is to protect you from harm. Memory makes many things.

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

The loss of memory never occurs to healthy people including those who are 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 feel that you can remember a particular thing or event you can remember or recall the same at any time. If you are not willing to remember something or event, you will naturally forget them all. First and foremost thing is one has to feel that amnesia is a mere joke because we will not forget to take meals, counting currency notes, attending to daily chores. All these are necessary for one’s sustenance and survival. Secondly one does not evince proper instance in his studies. To attain memory one need not study a lesson ten times. It is unnecessary. If one studies three times it should normally be sufficient. During the first reading the student read it from beginning to end. During the second reading he or she should read the same with some understanding and concentration. Closing the book they have to review the same and recapitulate. During the third and final reading one has to apply 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 applying the link system of memory. The only thing is one has to train his mind and formulate a “code” or a link system of memory pegs. Good Memory Loss memory may be due to damage of the brain, excessive smoking and sometimes due to much stress and strain. One of the pre-requisites to improve one’s memory is self-confidence. If one is possessing grip and determination, many things can be achieved in this 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.)

• • • •

…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, “isn’t it confusing to remember too much?” My answer to that is, “No!” there is no limit to the capacity of the memory. I believe that the more you remember, the more you can remember. The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised and 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 bound while 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, 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 stronger imagination. Remember, that there is no such thing as bad memory! This may come as a shock to those of you who have used your supposedly ‘bad’ memories as an excuse for years. But, I repeat, there is no such thing as bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories. Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associated in your mind to something you already know or remember. If you were associating knowingly, then you would already have the beginnings of a trained memory. Most of the things you have ever remembered have been associated subconsciously with something else that you already knew or remembered. The important word here is, “subconsciously”. You yourselves do not realize what is going on in your subconscious; most of us would be frighten if we did. What you subconsciously associated strongly will be remembered, what was not associated strongly will be forgotten.

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 trained memory! 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 you realize it or not. There is a very thin line between a trained memory and the true memory, and as you continue to use the system taught here, that line 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 can’t possibly remember any thing you do not observe; and it is extremely difficult to observe or remember anything that you do not want to remember, or that you are not interested in remembering. If want to improve your memory immediately, force yourself to want to remember. Force yourself to be interested enough to observe anything you want to remember or retain. I say, “force yourself”, because at first a little effort may be necessary; however, in an amazingly short time. As far as I’m concerned, the phrase “ I forgot “ should not be in the language. It should be, “I didn’t remember in the first place”. You cannot forget any thing you ever really remembered. If you were going to improve it. Please keep in mind that the memory likes to be trusted. The more you trust it the more reliable and useful it will become. Writing everything down on paper without trying To remember is going against all the basic rules for a stronger and better memory. You are not trusting your memory; you have not the confidence in your memory; you are not exercising the memory; you haven’t the confidence in your memory; and your interest is not strong enough to retain it, if you must write it down. Remember that you can always lose your paper or notebook, but not your mind. If I may be allowed a small attempt at humour,

If you do lose your mind, it doesn’t matter much if you remember or not, does it? The problem is not with memories, but with their lack of interest. The proof of the pudding is in the fact that most children excel in at least one particular subject, even though they have poor marks in others. All the things you experience with your senses are stored as mental images. The past is brought in to the present by means of mental images of the things perceived by the sense organs. In actual practice a group of similar experiences is revived as often as a single past experience. Remembering is repeating something previously experienced, while thinking is doing some thing partly original. In recent years there has been renewal of interest in finding a physiological basis for the phenomena of memory. Recent research has also discovered two kinds of storage: temporary and permanent. During temporary storage an impression is liable to be erased, although even when in permanent storage, it can still be temporarily forgotten. After about an hour, the memory is either erased or transferred to permanent storage. It is the letter, which involves changes in the amount and composition of the protein molecules in the brain cells. Studies suggest, in fact, that short- term memory is electrical, long term is chemical. At present it is impossible to decide among the above views. It may even be that all three are true and that there are memories of three types; those laid down in a particular area of the brain, those existing as patterns of electrical stimulation, and those represented by protein activity. There are two main types of remembering activity. The first is that involved in such apparently simple tasks as writing and speaking, which it would be impossible to carry out unless we had learned and remembered them in child hood. On the other hand, there is the remembering activity involved in attending to present experience which is determined by a particular past experience, as, for example, when we remember now where we spent our last summer holidays. The first type of memory is called habit memory; the second type is called pure memory. When we speak of memory we may mean either or both of these types, although we generally mean the second. Remembering activities are also capable of being classified in various other ways. For instance, there are immediate memory and remote memory. When we attempt to reproduce what we have learned, we can do

so at once, in which case we are testing immediate memory. For example, when you use the index of a book, you need to remember the page number only long enough to find the reference you want. One of the simplest memory experiments measures the immediate memory span. A set of letter or a row of numbers in presented, and you are required to reproduce as many as you can remember after seeing or hearing them once only. Immediate memory is contrasted with remote memory. This is tested when we try to recall something after a lapse of time. If after we have learned a certain lesson we reproduce what we have learned before we have had time to forget any appreciable amount, we speak of immediate memory. If we delay the occasion on which we reproduce the learned material until some time after having learned it, we can then use remote memory. In addition, memory can be classified on the basis of the method used in memorizing. When we memorize by repetition alone, we are using rote memory. On the other hand, when try to fit the parts in to a unified whole, we employ logical memory. Usually fewer repetitions are necessary for fixing the facts in mind when the logical method is employed. When we are dealing with material which can not easily be organized in to a meaningful whole, this where rote memory, which depends purely and simply upon repetition, comes in handy. Most memory images are inferior in realism to actual sensory experience. That is to say, remembering some thing is never as vivid as seeing it. But individual differ greatly in the realism of their memory images. For example, some children under 14, if they examine any picture closely for a few moments and then look at a plain grey background, can see the objects as if it were present. They can answer questions about it, which they did not have in mind while looking at it. This type of image is called an eidetic image. Eidetic imagery seems to fade out during adolescence. Although a few adults can still obtain eidetic images, most are incapable of doing so. Another type of memory experience, which shows considerable individual differences, is the hallucination. An hallucination is a memory image which seems real, until you awaken to the reality of your surroundings, or because you have lost contact with the objective situation, e.g. in dreams, mental illness. It’s built up out of past experiences and taken for a present objective fact.

WAYS OF REMEMBERING. We remember in three ways. We can study something to commit it to memory. 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 we have temporarily forgotten. For example, we memorized a friend’s telephone number yesterday and to day we try to think what it was. When the attempt is successful, this memory activity is known as recalling. Some times events are recalled differently from how they actually happened. They are reconstructed in a way which strikes a person as reasonable and which fits in with his established habits of thought and feeling. There are unintentional inaccuracies in the recall of past experiences. 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 provide a meaningful and connected narrative. We have seen what must happen to an item between memorizing it and recalling it. Obviously, it must somehow be recorded in the brain; otherwise, we should be unable to recall it at all. The image was 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, even though we are not consciously thinking of it, is called retaining or retention. There are, then, three ways in which we remember. We memorize, we retain and we recall. Memory depends upon 1. The acquirement of the idea or image to be recalled 2. The ability to retain the impression, which has been made, and 3. The ability to revive or recognize the impression, which has been retained. Remembering is to be reduced essentially to these three functions. The practical question with everyone who would strengthen his memory and 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 and the recall of that idea or image to consciousness. This furnishes the key to a scientific training of the memory. We have seen that the things we experience from mental pictures, which are impressed, on our brain as memory traces. Each trace is accompanied by a certain amount of mental energy, which is drawn from other memory traces already laid down.

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, “isn’t it confusing to remember too much?” My answer to that is, “No!” there is no limit to the capacity of the memory. I believe that the more you remember, the more you can remember. The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised and 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 bound while 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, 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 stronger imagination. Remember, that there is no such thing as bad memory! This may come as a shock to those of you who have used your supposedly ‘bad’ memories as an excuse for years. But, I repeat, there is no such thing as bad memory. There are only trained or untrained memories. Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associated in your mind to something you already know or remember. If you were associating knowingly, then you would already have the beginnings of a trained memory. Most of the things you have ever remembered have been associated subconsciously with something else that you already knew or remembered. The important word here is, “subconsciously”. You yourselves do not realize what is going on in your subconscious; most of us would be frighten if we did. What you The memory is like a muscle. A muscle must be exercised and developed in order to give proper service and use. So must the

memory. The difference is that the muscle can be over trained. On the other hand, become muscle bound while the memory cannot. there is no such thing as a bad memory! There are only trained or untrained memories. Anything you wish to remember must in some way or other is associated in your mind to something you already know or remember. It is your true memory that does the work for you, whether you realize it or not there is very thin line between a trained memory and the true memory, and as continue to use the system taught here the line will begin to fade. The major factors, low self esteem and lack of motivation are both covered extensively. Additional factors are, poor study habits, negative thoughts, absence of reward, medicine and drugs, and fear. Memory is concerned with the recall of information that exists in the mind. The conscious recalling provides a rational way to eradicate the irrationalities in our personality. Learning is an operation of both right and left-brains, though in the past it was strongly believed that it was an operation of the leftbrain only. Recall means to bring the information back into conscious awareness, i.e. allow the information back into the leftbrain. 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.

READING
Reading is intimately connected with learning, and so with study and memory as well. Even a slight knowledge of the physiology of the eye will help you to understand the process of reading, and use this knowledge 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 slight indentation of 1/10 of a square millimeter in the retina, the light receivers are 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 as what is read and understood slowly and may be remembered better. With quicker reading the amount of the material which is remembered after one reading is at least as much, and generally more, than that remembered after a slow reading. You can read twice as fast and remember just as much. You might have heard that better understanding comes from reading more slowly and carefully, that is true with the beginners, but an obstacle to the efficient. The average reader can read between two hundred and three hundred words per minute. A slow reader reads between a hundred and two hundred words per minute, while a fast reader may read up to four hundred words per minute. In reading a line the eyes make several jumps. This is because they are reading 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 he reads each word separately and looks back at words already read. To train yourself to read faster you should practise making fewer eye movements. Fix your eyes on the center of each line, and then let them run down the page instead of across it. try not to say the words to yourself, and do not look back at what you have already read. Begin with simple material such as short stories and other light literature. As your reading rate improves, choose more difficult material.

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 reading and distract the mind from its effort to understand what you read. II. Practise relaxation of your muscles. Sit down to read in an easy chair. Make sure that your are physically comfortable. III. Try to read phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs rather than single 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 would expect. 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 sliding it down the page as you read you can force yourself to read at a faster pace. Get a general idea of what you are going to read before you begin 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 the questions before you read the lesson. 3. If your friend or brother or sister had gone through the lesson you listen to the gist of the lesson from their mouth. 4. Do not read one or two line to understand the point, rather read completely the whole lesson. If it is too big bite for you read at least paragraphs or pages. Do not attempt to read too much all at once at the increased rate. If you keep on for a long time, fatigue will tend to set in and you will revert to your slower rate of reading. That is why short practice periods are desirable at the 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 be asked what sense there is in reading fast if a person does

not understand what he reads. The answer is that it is better to read what one does not understand rapidly than to read it slowly. The sooner one discovers that one does not understand it, the sooner one can go over it again or go on to another book that explains it better. Therefore, to see whether you have gathered ideas and information from rapid reading, it is as well to close the book from time to time and jot down what you have read or run over it in your mind. Read for five or ten minutes and then stop to think about what you have read. If something the author has said has confused you of seems contrary 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 less important ones. Some things need plenty of concentration, while others call for less of it. it is wise to adjust your method to the material. Learn the art of judicious skipping. Discriminate between what is and what is not worth your attention. Learning more words also helps one to read faster. By constantly reading you become much more familiar with words 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 are obstacle to rapid reading. Be sure that there is enough light but avoid glare on the page. Once the eyes become tired reading is slower and poorer. Focused and Peripheral Vision: Focused looking is done when we look straight at an object to see it clearly. The image of the object must fall on the fovea to be clear. Peripheral looking is done when we look at things from the edge of our eyes. For example, look straight at any object that is in front of you and focus your vision on that object clearly (focused vision). Now without shifting your head, look with the 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 so clearly focused, but somewhat blurred or hazy. The fact that

we see most clearly what we are looking at directly on account of the image being on the fovea, has two important implications for reading: (1) The eye must move along the text so that different parts 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 order that a still image can rest on the fovea and be transmitted 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 100 words per minute, or even slower. 2) For self-enrichment, reading the classics of literature, the speed may also be slow anything from 100 to 250 words per minute. 3) For critical or evaluative reading, the speed will also be slow as for self-enrichment, anything from 100 to 250 words per minute, or a little faster. 4) For creative reading, to see how one could benefit personally or in one’s work, or to savour and visualize a poem or good prose, the speed is also slow, from 200 to 300 words or a little more per minute. 5) For information from a book or magazine, the speed is 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 even more. Scanning is done when a definite word or fact is being looked for in an article. The reading is done mostly vertically. Therefore it is very fast. Skimming is done when surveying an article or a book to get at the main ideas. This is also fast. ( No matter what kind of reading you do, and for what purpose you read, you must always Concentrate your attention fully on what you read.

Moreover, have a definite purpose. This will help you 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 to right, why not try certain material, for instance, newspaper columns vertically, from top to bottom. For practice, draw in pencil, very lightly, a line down the middle of columns of a newspaper. Then keeping your focus on the line, read the lines vertically down the line with focused attention, both sides of the line with peripheral vision. This needs practice for some time and it will pay dividends after a while. You will be able to easily read newspaper columns and those of magazines, and get the main points you want quickly. II. Indentation. Most readers, and you among them start reading a page of a book from the very first word on the first line and so on in very line till the last word of the last line. You will notice that an ordinary page of a book has to the left and right of the printed page a white blank space.

Notice that your focused vision falls on the first and last word of each line. This means that your peripheral vision in both cases is just reading the “blank” space to the right and left of the printed page. Why waste time and energy on reading empty marginal space? Therefore, train yourself to read two or three words from the first word on the left in each line, and stop the focus vision two or three words from the last word of each line. Thus your peripheral vision takes in the first two words at the beginning of a line and the last two words at the end of each line. This requires much practice to become a habit.

Effective writing.
Writing well is a power. Each student has to learn it in varying degrees and everyone has to apply it in the subjects he learns and in a variety of communications he constructs in everyday life. Put on your thinking cap. First put on your thinking cap. Suppose you want to tell a story or describe a scene . Then have: I. A vivid imagination of it, II. Trace out its basic skeleton, and III. Think of the ‘flesh and blood’ of lively details you will invest each part with to infuse it with life. This activity is essential. It gives vividness to your narrative or description and helps the reader share your experience well. Again, suppose you have to argue for or against a subject, you must them muster enough material with which you can persuade him to your line of thinking or let him appreciate your approach to the subject. If it is an exposition of a concept or a plan or the explanation of a process or a mechanism you have to give, acquaint your self with it thoroughly before you start writing it. For this, bear the following points in mind: Make the content sufficient: insufficiency is a serious flaw. In examinations and classroom assignments the length needed is normally stipulated but in other situations you decide yourself within the framework of time and space available and the background of the person you are writing for. Ensure that whatever you write is compact: it has no traces of looseness. It means avoid all undesirable repetition as it bores the reader, shows poverty of ideas and projects a poor image of the writer. Thinking alone is not enough: control it and direct it. In other words, focus your mind on what the subject requires and distinguish between the relevant and the irrelevant. Also, turn the subject over in your mind repeatedly and see

whether the material you propose to write fits in with its framework. Besides being relevant, every bit of the material must be credible. That is , the reader should feel that whatever has been said is reasonable and true. This all calls for digging up relevant information from books, journals and magazines and taking down meaningful notes as well. For this, read selectively, bearing in mind demands of the subject and the readers’ background and expectations. To do this, visit your library and seek your librarian or your teacher’s guidance. Enjoy writing your introduction It is real fun to write an introduction if you follow the following steps. Think of what you propose to tell your reader: condense it into a sentence. This becomes your thesis sentence: the last sentence of your introduction. For instance, the subject is: ‘Is Mizoram ripe for setting up heavy industries?’ Suppose you are convinced that Mizoram is not yet ready for it. Your thesis sentence then can be, “In my view the odds against it are great and Mizoram is not yet ripe for it.” Then begin your ‘funnel-like’ introduction with a general background of the subject and work your way to the thesis sentence. In the course of doing so, arouse the reader’s curiosity and highlight the importance of the subject the purpose is to motivate the reader to read on. Now keep your side of the bargain: meet the expectations you aroused here. That is, maintain the stand you have taken and justify it in the main body The stuff of the matter: Once you have moved to the main body, your primary task is to organize the mass of material into suitable units of paragraphs. It is extremely important as without paragraphing the reader will find it hard to grasp what you are saying. Identify the major points of your content as distinct from your supporting details. These could be in the form of facts,

figures, examples, illustration, reasons, arguments, explanation, and elaboration. Attach the appropriate ones to each major point and organize them suitably. To accomplish it, make your first sentence your topic sentence. It is not a rule but it has a great advantage; it is easy to follow. However, as you get the command over writing, you can as well make it the second or the third or the last or the last but one also. A topic sentence normally embodies two features. One, it contains an expression which links it with the preceding paragraph. Two, it holds the seed of the main idea which grows into a full paragraph. Now observe the following two points. 1. Each word in a paragraph should contribute to the main idea stated in the topic sentence. Do not deviate from it as it demolishes the unity of the paragraph and causes confusion.

2. A sentence should have a cohesive link with the preceding one. Cultivate this aspect diligently as it is a hallmark of good writing. It removes jerkiness and makes reading smooth. The conclusion. • The reader does get a thrust if the composition ends abruptly without a suitable conclusion. He even feels deserted and cheated and comes to believe that the writer stopped because he was fed up with the task. Therefore, conclude your writing abruptly your writing appropriately • In an argumentative type of writing, your conclusion succinctly reinforces the arguments you have advanced for and against and reflect your balanced view on the subject. In other words, it will embody take-away material which the reader can easily carry in his mind even if he has forgotten the rest 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 major points expressed in words and phrases, not much used in the

main body. The idea is to retain freshness and sustain the reader’s interest well. • If the writing is a narrative type, the writer will work towards its climax and give the result in the conclusion. For it, the trick is: it should not be a foregone conclusion: it should be a surprise. The reader should feel well reward for having read your narrative. • If it is description, you can round it off with some intelligent observation on what you have and deftly create atmosphere set in the introduction. This way your writing must come full circle where it started. Here, too, the purpose is to help the reader take away the sum-total of your experience in this memory. Brush up your punctuation: Do you know, one of the major causes of the confusion is the ignorance about the use pf punctuation marks? You may come across the long string of sentences ridiculously strung together with commas. Some times a sentence is suddenly split into two or three parts, making each a hanging one. The list of such problems is very long and their treatment requires a very large space which is not possible here. All the same you are advised to consult a good grammar book and brush up your knowledge of this aspect well and soon. Correct your structural problems: There are structural problems too. You may come across a large number of your friends those use some nonstandard structures as they badly ingrained in their language behaviour. Such nonstandard structures must be identified and corrected. For this, seek an experienced teacher’s help and seriously analyze the problem to get proper solution. When you identify the structural problems, take care of your sentences they should be freed from the previous errors. Do not neglect it although it is quite painstaking. Remember cultivating new habits of the old is an uphill task. You cannot accomplish it without actually taking pains.

Handwriting-brain writing: A great deal about your personality can be read in your handwriting. The graphology experts consider handwriting a kind ‘brain writing’-a direct expression of mental impulses in the brain transmitted through the writer’s hand to paper. A renowned painter ‘kuo Jo Hsu’ noted, ‘hand writing can infallibly show whether it comes from a person who is noble minded or one who is vulgar’. Whatever may be the analysis of the handwriting according to the handwrite experts; you have to bear certain very important aspects of hand writing in your mind.

Do not cultivate the habit of writing, slanting towards your left hand side. Let all the curves and ends of the words be facing upward towards your right hand side. If you have the practice of running and cursive handwriting let the strokes be upward and let letters be slanting 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 so advantageous the reasons are: 1. Well constructed notes become a permanent record which can be conveniently used. 2. Our memory span is unlimited and a considerable part of the knowledge acquired from lectures or books is bound to fade 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 and process the information mentally and write it selectively.

Its true you may find it hard to cope with the task: it appears to be too much. Nevertheless, be sure, patience and practice will make it easy. Let us go systematically. Choice of stationery. First choose the right stationary. It would be from any one of the three items : a notebook, a ring file, and a spring binder. Some students do not choose any of this: they just use scraps or sheets of papers they hope to use them properly but , in actual practice, being loose, they are either misplaced or lost. With it the chance of revising them also lost. Hence the need for one of the three. The discussion below will help you choice. First, the notebook. For each subject you will need a separate notebook. In addition, you will take down notes of that subject in that particular notebook only. You will carry each book your school according to the timetable dictates. This will involves carrying the load of quiet a few books. You will naturally tend to write on both sides of the sheets of the notebook. This is economical but it has a problem . Suppose your teacher has discussed and you have taken down notes on it. After a few days, say , you want to add some more information to it. Nevertheless, you may find you are disabled: you may not find a place to do so because you have taken down the note of another teacher or topic. To over come it , a couple of options are opened. You may write on one side only in the classroom and leave other side for additional notes from other sources. On other hand you can leave a page or two at the end of the notes of each lecture. This all depends upon your individual requirements. On other hand you can also use the ring-file. It has the advantage that you can insert loose sheets anywhere you like. In this you do not have to leave blank for additional notes- an advantage over the notebook. In addition, You do not have to carry the load of a quite a few books to your classroom. A packet of loose sheets is all that you need. But this has also got its drawback. The area near the hole may get torn and the sheets may be misplaced or lost. To avoid this, you can fix rings on the holes: sheets will not be lost then. To skirt this difficult, you can use spring-binders one for each subject. For it. You take only loose sheets to the classroom as you do in respect of ring-files. After taking down notes, you put them systematically in a spring-binder. Since it

has no holes, it eliminates the difficult you face with ring-files. However, with this advantage comes a disadvantage. You have to take care that the sheets retain their order. To ensure it , number them. Here I do not make any recommendation. You make your own decision. If you are not sure about your choice, then try all the three, one for one area and then come to your conclusion. In any case, you must choose any one of the three and keep your notes consolidated, well-organized manner. Remember revision this way becomes easy and learning effectively. There is another problem, too: some students do use notebooks however keep them confined to their houses. In classroom, they take notes on their loose sheets or a notebook meant for all the subjects and later transcribes them to the respective notebooks. This is very time consuming and has its adverse consequences. Having done this mechanical work, students assume they have done enough in the subject. The essential part, the revision, is left out and days, weeks and even months pass with out doing it. Only examination gives them a push but then it is too late. That they thought were easy are now difficult. The examination is nearer, they are nervous. The purpose of note taking has been condensed completely. There fore it is better to organize yourself in a very systematic way. So that you need not be in a hurry to cover up the things at once, which is not possible.

Your seat.
If seats have not been allotted, then sit as far as possible between the front and the middle or the classroom. This gives you obvious advantage of listening and seeing. But, more important, it establishes greater rapport between you and the teacher. This, you can discover for yourself, is a powerful factor in promoting learning. Do not fret either if you fail to obtain a reasonable seat and thus put yourself out. It will impair your concentration. The suggestion above is a very useful one addressed particularly to those consistently sits at the back.

How to make sufficient notes Now comes the matter of taking down the notes. This throws up the question: what should we write? In other words, what should we exclude? It all depends upon the following factors: your knowledge of the subject, the extent of the material contained in the book you have, and your purpose of taking down the notes. If your knowledge of the subject, on the other hand, is adequate, you will then have the knowledge. You will have clear perception of your needs and take down notes accordingly. Suppose the book you have contains all the material covered in the classroom, you will then take down only the major points of the lecture. The purpose for which you are taking down notes will also guide you. If it is for tests and examination, you will then undertake the task from that angle. The need is to begin taking down notes. Follow the guidelines give below:

1. Right from the start, be selective: identify each major point and write it clearly. 2. Write down the formulae and draw the diagrams and graphs, if any, in full. Do not leave out any of their parts for completion afterwards. The reason: molehill of an inaccuracy, in these cases, becomes a mountain of a mistake. Worse still you may not perceive it easily. That is you must prompt decision what to include and what to exclude. In other words, do not write down the details in full as it distract your attention from grasping the lecture- then main purpose of your presence in the class. Leave sufficient space after each condensed word or phrase for developing it adequately. 3. When you move from one point to another, leave some space to indicate it. Number each point. This will bring organisation into notes and make revision. 4. Ensure that you reconstruct your skeleton points the very day of teaching. This is necessary accuracy as delay weakens the recall and inaccuracies may creep in.

5. Design your shorthand for common words and phrases. This will help you write rapidly and give you sufficient time to attend to your lectures with attention.

When the notes are ready check them with the checklist given below. 1. Check whether the notes you have taken down is brief and grammatically correct. 2. Check the notes are easy to read and understand. 3. Check whether the notes contain the headings and subheadings properly. 4. Check that each major point is numbered properly. 5. Check that you have used proper symbols and abbreviations. As you apply this checklist, you may across the deficiencies in your notes which you ensure do not recur.

Make a group.

To check the accuracy of your notes, make a group of two or three students. After your class, find a convenient time to quickly compare your notes with theirs and see whether your notes are deficient in any respect. Other members will compare there with yours. This will bring a good training in note-taking and in mutual co-operation. Finally, it must be emphasized that note-taking is creative; it does not permit any straitjacket rules. In the course of time you will develop your own insight and techniques to suit you individually. The supreme need is to take them down regularly and diligently.

The Technique of Passing Exams
You are reading this book because you are keen to apply its methods of learning academic ideas, facts, and figures with a minimum expenditure of time and effort. This chapter in particular will appeal to you if, as is probable, you are in a position similar to the ones described by students in the following subjects. Examinations are an accepted feature of the modern scene whether we like them or not. Knowing how to approach and sit for them is an essential part of the technique of study. A basic essential is a keen interest in the subject or subjects you are studying. If you lack this, you can cultivate it by thinking about your reason for studying. Preferably you should have several good reasons. you should be able to see the value of the material by relating it to your own life. You should have a definite purpose in view and should hold in your mind a clear picture of yourself achieving that purpose. 1. How to Make Notes

It is more than a coincidence that there are addicts of the notebook habit among the great minds of the world. A list of inveterate note-takers would include such famous names as Charles Darwin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Emile Zola, Thomas Hobbes, Jonathan Edwards, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein. Notes serve four main purposed:(a) They constitute a written record which can be first learned and later revised. (b) They express your understanding of the material in your own words. (c) They help you to remember the main ideas and important details. (d) They provide the raw material for a more formal treatment of the subject, such as in an essay. So make notes on the content of what you have read or heard. There are two ways of doing this. One is to write précis or summary in continuous prose. If you adopt this method, write short, simple sentences. Use short, common words as far as the subject matter permits. Both

sentence complexity and remember. Write in the active rather that the passive voice. That is, write ‘The topic sentence states the main idea’ rather than ‘The main idea is stated in the topic sentence.’ A study by Smith and McMahon has shown that when people read a sentence and then answer a question on it, it takes them 15 per cent longer to answer if the sentence is in the passive voice. The other method is to break up the ideas into main points and major details. You can then produce a skeleton outline employing lettered and/or numbered headings and subheadings indented at varying distances from the left margin. Make sure that you include everything important. This method has the advantage that it makes for greater clarity. It enables you to appreciate the logical arrangement and classification of the material. You can take your notes on separate sheets which can be kept in a loose-leaf binder. Or you can make them in a bound notebook. The latter is probably neater and more manageable, but the former has the advantage of greater flexibility. It permits you to arrange and rearrange your notes to suit the growing state of your knowledge. In your notes make use of abbreviations that you can understand. Standard abbreviations like ‘i.e.’ and ‘e.g.’ can be employed. A common practice in abbreviating both long and short words is to leave out the vowels, e.g. wds. (words), lgcl. (logical), etc. The use of capital letters, underlining, putting words in boxes, drawings and diagrams all contribute to making notes easier to picture in the mind. And there is no doubt that being able to see a page of notes in the mind is an invaluable aid in remembering them. 2. Learning your Notes. Previous chapters of this book have put forward a number of suggestions intended to be helpful for this purpose. Some of the more important of these hints (with additional comments relevant to exam needs) are : 1. Always make an effort to understand the material, especially the principles which underlie it.

2. Study a little at a time at fairly frequent intervals. This is better than studying for long stretches at a time with longish intervals between your study periods. A few minutes every day devoted to your studies will produce better results that a week of neglect followed by several hours of intensive work. It is the thing which you do consistently every day for fifteen minutes which is more beneficial to you than that which you forget for a week and then work on diligently for three hours. 3. instead of reading and rereading, read and then try to recall. The popular way of doing a thing is not always the best way. For instance, people may expect to remember a piece of material after reading it once – or after reading it and them rereading it. Both methods are inadequate, the first because it is not thorough enough and the second because it is an uneconomical use of time. Research has shown that a second reading brings only 7 percent more comprehension, while a third one adds only another 1 per cent. The time spent on rereading is out of proportion to the gain that can be expected from it. a better method is known as the P-V formula. (a) P stands for Preview. Browse through the material to get a general idea of what it is about. Close the book and think about what you have gathered form your preview. (b) Q stands for Question. Ask yourself a few questions which you want your reading to answer. Some authors suggest such questions at the beginning of a chapter. If your author doesn’t, think of your own. (c) R stands for Read. Read the material and make sure that you understand it. Underline key words and/or phrases. Think about what you have read. Assess the relative importance of its various features. (d) S stands for Summarize. Make notes on what you read, summarizing the material in either or both of the two ways we have suggested. (e) T stands for Test. Test yourself on what you have read by using the information to answer the questions you asked under Q (above). Answer questions and problems set by your lecturer or by your textbook author. Answer questions set earlier exam paper. Refer to what critics have said about the material and ask yourself whether you agree with them. Discuss the subject with someone. (f) U stands for Use. Try to put the material to some practical use in everyday affairs.

(g) V stands for Visualize. Picture the ideas in your mind’s eye. Or visualize the actual pages of the textbook or notebook. Preview, Question, Read, Summarize, Test, Use, Visualize – these are your keys to more efficient study. Established by experimental research on learning methods, the P-V formula has proved its value in understanding and retaining what you read. 4. Material is forgotten more slowly when it is ‘over learned’(more than barely learned). This means that you should nor study your material until you know it very well. This will tend to ensure that you remember it better. 5. Which are you more interested in : the study itself or what it can do for you? if the former, you may learn the material better if you break off your study before you come to a natural division of the subject-matter, e.g., the end of a section. On the other hand, if you are more interested in what the course can do for you, you may learn it better if you carry on to the end of the section or chapter. 6. If you study in the evening, go to bed afterwards rather than take up further waking activity, especially of a similar kind. Revise the material in the morning before the activity of the day makes you forget too much of it. Revision is most economical when carried out as soon as possible after learning. the reason for this is that the material is forgotten rapidly in the first few hours after learning, and then more and more slowly. In other words, most of what you lose is lost the same week. If another must immediately follow one period of study, try to ensure, if possible, that it is of a different sort or in a different subject. Avoid other mental work, especially of a similar kind, in the event that you cannot go to bed immediately after studying. 7. If possible, study at the same table or desk or while sitting in the same chair. This, too, tends to help recall of the material. 8. Lightly brace yourself (but not too much) as you work. 9. The autosuggestion ‘I can study and assimilate’ has a definitely positive effect in improving both concentration and

retention. ‘Autosuggestion has helped my memory in everyday affairs,’ reported Mr. E.C. 10. It is also advisable to put in plenty of practice at answering questions set in previous examination papers in order to get your mind adjusted to the ‘feel’ of the examination conditions. 3. How to Revise

Two psychologists, Davis and Moore, cited by Laird and Laird, compared the rater of forgetting of meaningless material with that of meaningful material. They found that with meaningful material the initial loss was less after one day and after one month than with meaningless material. They also noted that between six months and one year after learning there was even a slight improvement in the recall of meaningful material as compared with meaningless material. Consequently, it is most economical to refresh our memory of study material as soon as possible after we have studied it, rather than to wait until some time has elapsed. The practical corollary for the examination candidate is that revision should be done not only at the end of your course but at intervals while the course is in progress. Memory starts to fall as soon as learning is completed and that the fall is rapid at first but levels out later. ‘The first review,’ he writes, ‘should take place about 10 minutes after a one – hour learning period and should itself take 10 minutes. This will keep the recall high for approximately one day, when the next review should take place, this time for a period of 2 to 4 minutes. After this, recall will probably be retained for approximately a week, when another 2-minute review can be completed followed by a further review after about one month. After this the knowledge will be lodged in Long Term Memory.’ In his book Buzan makes mush of what is known as the reminiscence effect. This was first discovered by Ballard in 1913. He found that his subjects, who were young children, appeared to remember more poetry a day or two after the last learning period. This conclusion, however, is not properly supported by the experimental findings of psychologists. McGeoch found that 84 percent of a group of young subjects admitted that they had

mentally rehearsed the memorized material during the interval between learning and testing. Melton and Stone carried out an experiment designed to exclude this factor. They had their subjects employed in naming colours during the interval. When this was done, no reminiscence effect was found. This suggests that the improved recall between the learning period and the test was due not to the reminiscence effect, as Buzan supposes, but to mental rehearsal or revision of the material, Buzan gives the right advice but bases it on the wrong reason. Buzan’s error is repeated by R.Freeman in Mastering Study Skills. Freeman prints a graph which purports to show that after one day recall has dropped to about 80 per cent but that revision at that point immediately brings it back to 100 per cent. On week after this first revision, recall has again dropped to only 80 per cent and is immediately restored to 100 per cent by a second revision period. One month later, when it has fallen to only about 95 per cent, a third revision again restores it to 100 per cent. The graph suggests that about midway between the second and third revision sessions the amount of recall actually increases slightly. Here again the message is that reliance should be placed upon the proven value of continuous revision rather than upon the unproven reminiscence effect. Bugelski, however, has pointed out that, if we test the same subject on the same material at different intervals, the tests themselves act as a form of revision. In these circumstances, the rate of forgetting is slowed down, although there is still an initial sharp drop immediately after learning. As Ian M.L.Hunter puts it in his Memory facts and fallacies, ‘The facilitating effect of successive testing on retention is analogous to the value of periodic review in formal study or teaching. It is as well to revise material from each of several else who is interested in it can be a useful means of revision. Don’t rely only on silent reading or rereading. Repeat your material aloud or run over it silently from memory. Try to look at it from more than one angle or to combine various points in different ways. A big draw back that the examination candidate faces is that his revision material is no longer fresh. You find yourself

reluctant to revise your notes because revision is rather boring compared with the original learning. It is therefore, often helpful to try to reorganize the old material to imbue it with some of the freshness that it now lacks. The methods described in this book are recommended partly with the aim of making notes more interesting to refer to again. Don’t overlook the importance of that revision which takes the form of applying the material you have learned to practical situations in everyday life. Look for opportunities of using it in this way. By doing so, you make it truly your own and guarantee that you mastery of it stays with you for a long time to come. 4. In the Examination Hall

(a) Mental attitude Have confidence in your ability to do your best. If you feel nervous at the thought of the approaching examination, the thing to do is to have made yourself thoroughly familiar with the syllabus beforehand. This puts you in a position to say to yourself: ‘If I don’t pass, no one to see if you have prepared yourself adequately and to give you an opportunity of showing this. He wants to know if you can answer certain are the outcome of a great deal of preliminary discussion among the examiners. They aim to be fair, to cover various aspects of the syllabus, and to reward competent answers. (b) Reading the paper When the paper is handed to you, read it carefully. Don’t lose marks unnecessarily by failing to observe the examiner’s instructions. If he asks you to explain, don’t describe. If short notes are called for, don’t write long ones. If you are required to give examples, make sure that they are relevant. A wellchosen example at any point will always secure more marks than bald statement. Read every question carefully before you attempt to answer it. one question may spark off ideas which will be useful to you in answering another. Make a sensible choice of optional questions. Avoid a question that appears to you to be at all ambiguous. Before tackling any question decide exactly what the examiner wants. Say to yourself: ‘What is he asking for?’ Having settled this, give it to him in your answer.

(c) Presenting your answer Adopt a methodical approach in answering a question. Avoid a slipshod presentation of your work. Write legibly. Number of letter your points. Use headings. Clear arrangements in your written answers is a distinct advantage. Make it easy for the examiner to see what you are getting at. Make sure that your answer is relevant to the question actually asked. If a question is in more than one part, consider each part well in relation to the others. This will help to save you from giving irrelevant answers. A Joint Matriculation Board report on GCE scripts complains: ‘As usual, there was a common failure to focus upon the questions as such . . . . Too many candidates were determined to regurgitate information rather than to answer the question.’ (d) Time Don’t spend too much time on any one question. Leave a little time at the end for rereading both the paper and your answers. You may be able to obtain extra marks by correcting obvious mistakes and omissions. If necessary, you can write in the margin – but write clearly. Correct any mis-spellings or faulty grammar. Put your punctuation right. Get the examiner on your side by making your answers as easy to read as you can. 5.How to Answer Essay-type Exams There are several further points worth remembering when an examination paper of this common type is placed before you. (e) Outline Have an outline of the course in your mind when you enter the examination room. This you will have prepared during your studies leading up to the exam. You will have done it by taking notes in your textbooks, summarizing your reading, and revising your material periodically. Someone has said that the successful candidate usually passes an exam several months before he sits for it. Thorough preparation in the period preceding the examination is the best way pf guaranteeing success.

(f) Terms of reference. Certain terms crop up regularly in exam papers, e.g. analyse, comment, criticize, illustrate, justify, outline, prove. Get clear in your mind the difference of meaning among them. We will examine some of these terms in a later section of this chapter. (g) Selection Before beginning to write, select the headings and material for your answer. Organize them intelligently and systematically – either in your head or on a piece of scrap paper. arrange them in logical order, starting a fresh paragraph with each new topic. Supply details and examples to support general statements. For example, a question might be handled by defining some term to begin with, going on to develop your ideas about it, and concluding by saying whether the use of the term is justified or not. (h) Conciseness Write concisely. Wordiness and padding are weaknesses in an exam essay, as indeed they are in any piece of writing. Remember that examiners are adept at spotting waffle. Try to show as clearly and concisely as possible that you have read up the particular topic and have some understanding of it. (i) Flexibility As you write, other ideas may occur to you. so keep your outline flexible enough to permit you to incorporate them. (j) Summary notes If you run short of time and can’t put all your ideas down in essay form, include them in summary form. Here the notes you have prepared for revision purposes will come in useful. This will at least show the examiner that you are familiar with the material. Then press on with the next question. Freeman points out the conclusions that can be drawn from the following instructions commonly found in examination papers: 1. 2. 3. Answer either . . . or . . . Answer only five questions. Answer all the questions.

4.

Write short notes on . . .

He says that he first instruction implies that both parts of the question carry equal marks. You will not be penalized by answering one rather than the other – but if you answer both your second answer will be ignored. Instruction 2 implies that all the questions in the paper carry the same marks. Again , if you answer more than the stipulated number, you will receive marks for only the first five. From the third instruction it can be concluded that all the questions do not carry equal marks. You do not know which ones carry higher marks than the others. To fail to observe this instruction may mean omitting a question which bears the highest marks. A question prefaced by the fourth instruction will probably contain several topics, all of which should be dealt with. Essay – type sentences are not required here. Freeman thinks that such a question probably won’t earn you may marks anyway, so there is not much point in spending a great deal of time on it. 6. More About Terms

Examiners are fond of beginning questions with certain stock verbs like ‘Explain. . .’, ‘Discuss . . .’, ‘State . . .’, and so on. It is, therefore, worth while studying the differences between these verbs, so as to make sure that in your answer you are doing what you are supposed to do. There is no point in describing if you are asked to prove, nor in enumerating if you are required to criticize. Unless you adhere precisely to the terms of the question, you are likely to lose marks. Comment is an ambiguous verb because it means both ‘write explanatory notes’ and ‘criticize’. So the examiner may expect you to do both and penalize you if you don’t. for this reason questions which ask you to comment are perhaps best avoided if you have a choice. Compare means ‘State how two things resemble or are related to each other,’ e.g.,

Like all creatures, man must come to terms with his environment. Unlike other animal species, he has learned to control that environment to a great degree. Criticize means ‘Express an opinion about.’ This word should not be restricted to its everyday meaning, which is ‘Express an adverse opinion about’. Here is an example of criticism: The association of Cleopatra’s Needle with Cleopatra is uncertain. The name is misleading as this obelisk dates from a very much earlier period than the reign of that ill-fated queen. Define means ‘Give the exact meaning of’. For example: What does Matthew mean when he quotes Isaiah as saying: ‘The virgin will conceive’? he was quoting from a Greek translation of the Old Testament, but had he gone back to the original Hebrew, he would have found that Isaiah used ‘almah’ a word which means simply, ‘young woman’. Hebrew has a different word for ‘virgin’. On this evidence it is clear that Isaiah is defining a normal birth rather than a virgin birth. Describe means ‘Tell about the features of’, as in the example below. The National book league is a non-profit-making society devoted to stimulating the full use and enjoyment of books. It publishes a periodical, Books, in addition to Book Lists and Reader’s Guides. It also runs a Book information Bureau which can provide individual reading lists on special subjects. Discuss means ‘Examine in the light of arguments for and against’. For example: Lawrence’s most famous – and most controversial – novel is the outspoken Lady Chatterley’s Lover. This has been condemned for its attempt to make ‘four-letter’ words respectable, but, contrary to popular belief, its main center of interest in not sex, but the improvement of the condition of the working class. However, the superficial(albeit true) view that Lady Chatterley’s Lover deals frankly with sexual relations has inspired a host of more recent imitators.

Enumerate means ‘Set out in order one after the other’. List has the same meaning. Here is an example, which lists or enumerates the steps in a recipe: Select smooth , medium- sized potatoes. Wash, dry, and place in pan. Bake forty minutes or until soft in a very hot oven. Serve at once. Evaluate, strictly speaking, means ‘Count, ascertain the amount of’. In maths it means ‘Find a numerical expression for’. It is also used in the sense of ‘Give an opinion of’. For example The Robbins Report on Higher Education mentioned the need to study the economic and social problems which science students meet in their careers. This must be welcomed as implying a recognition of the importance of seeing one’s specific job in relation to the whole. Explain means ‘Make known in detail’ or ‘ Give reasons which account for’, such as: When other ancient Greek city-states were evolving from monarchies to democracies, Sparta was becoming a militaristic commune. Spartan training was pragmatic in nature although very harsh, and began at the age of seven in the case of boys, including whipping and a great discomfort in all acts of mere living. The result of the training was a well – organized army of inscrutable and worthy adversaries. Illustrate means ‘Make clear by means of examples’ or ‘Explain by means of drawings’. Here is an example of the former meaning: To determine the meaning of a word that has a prefix, you combine the meanings of the separate parts. For example, add ‘semi-‘, which means ‘half’, to ‘deponent’, which means ‘passive in form but active in sense’. This yields ‘semideponent’, which means ‘having active forms in present tenses and passive forms with active sense in perfect tenses’. Interpret means ‘State the meaning of’, e.g.: The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world: the good seed stands for the children of the Kingdom, the darnel for the children of the evil one. The enemy who

sowed the darnel is the devil. The harvest is the end of time. The reapers are angels.(Matthew 13, 37-39.) Justify means ‘Give reasons in support of’ or ‘Show how something is right’. For example: When a person uses a cross or other mark instead of a signature, we commonly assume that he is illiterate. Until the end of the nineteenth century this assumption was almost always correct. Before the passing of Gladstone’s Education Act in 1870, primary education was provided only by voluntary religious societies. There were great gaps in the network of voluntary religious societies. There were great gaps in the network of voluntary schools, so that very many people were illiterate. Even as late as 1841 one out of three men and two out of five women in England and Wales signed the register with a mark when they got married. Name means ‘Give names or labels to’ or ‘Mention’ or ‘Specify’: The literature of a language often contributes new words. Such a word is ‘Malapropism,’ derived from the character of Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan’s play The Rivals. Outline and summarize mean the same thing, i.e. ‘Give a brief account of’. Précis, too , has the same meaning. Here is an example which outlines, summarizes, or makes a précis of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven: A weary student is visited, one stormy midnight, by a raven who can speak the single word ‘November’. Tortured by grief over the loss of his beloved, the student questions the bird about the possibility of meeting her in another world. He is driven to wild demands by the repetition of the word, until the raven becomes a symbol of his dark doubts and frustrated longings. Prove means ‘Show why something is true .’ in maths it means ‘Test the accuracy of a calculation’. Study the following paragraph: The Great Train Robbery, produced in 1903 by Edwin S. Porter , was anotable achievement for several reasons. it established a tradition of Western films which has remained popular to the

present day. Shot on location out of doors, it marked a departure from the painted scenery which had been used hitherto. It was also revolutionary in the sense that it succeeded in telling a connected story. What is being proved here? Report means ‘Give a factual account of’ or ‘Tell something as spoken by another person’ or Make formal statement about,e.g.: The battle of Agnicourt was fought on the plain of Northern France in 1415. It was one of the major battles of the Hundred Years War between England and France. The French army was vastly superior in numbers to that of the English, who were led by their monarch, Henry V, in person. After landing Harfleur and making a detour, the English were advancing on Calais when they were intercepted. Review means ‘Write a survey of the whole field of . . .’ it therefore calls for a fairly lengthy answer. State means ‘Express fully or clearly,. For example: Pull the rotor arm off the distributor spindle and add a few drops of oil around the head of the screw exposed to view. Do not remove this screw. Smear a small quantity of grease on to the distributor cam and the pivot post for the moving contact. Also add a small quantity of oil through the hole in the center of the base plate through which the spindle passes. This is to lubricate the advance/retard mechanism. A candidate who carefully studies these explanations and examples should be able to avoid the mistake of giving the wrong type of answer to a question. Don’t try to force a question to fit a stock answer which you have prepared. For instance, ‘Satan as the hero’ is a stock topic arising from Books I and II of Milton’s Paradise Lost. But one year the examiners asked: ‘How does Milton present us with a picture of Satan as an angel in defeat?’ this did not prevent a lot of candidates from trotting out the stock answer on Satan as the hero. Remember, too, that answers should be expressed in grammatical English with soundly constructed sentences and

correct paragraphing and punctuation. AGCE examiner writes: ‘Punctuation seems to be a lost art. Each year sees on increasing number of candidates using commas instead of full stops.’ He continues: ‘It was by no means uncommon to find faulty sentence construction, and even A-level candidates frequently confused “their” and “there”. The classical elite, those taking Special Latin, often spelt Briton, Britain, and British with a double “t”.’ Truly, an examiner’s lot, like a policeman’s, is not happy one. I was once surprised to read a book of advice for examination candidates in which the author recommended a deliberate attempt to blind the examiner with science – by quoting from non-existent authorities. One feels that authors who recommend intellectual dishonesty are more interested in getting candidates through their examinations than in producing tomorrow’s scientists, doctors, and engineers. Both are important, certainly. But one should not take precedence to the detriment of the other. If you have prepared your work thoroughly, you will probably pass your examination anyway whether you heed my advice or anyone else’s. that is , unless the questions or practical tests set ate grossly unfair or irrelevant to the published syllabus, but this kind of upsetting experience is probably quite rare. If you haven’t prepared your work thoroughly , trying to bluff your way through is an unacceptable solution likely to be quickly spotted by a discerning examiner. On the other hand, there is no objection to taking advantage of anything which s more soundly based. For example, psychological experiments have shown that the beginning and end of a piece of text are better remembered than the middle. This implies that a candidate is likely to impress the examiner most by paying particular attention to the opening and closing paragraphs of his answer. It is worth noting that occasionally one part of an examination paper can be used to supply the answer to another. For example, if you are uncertain about the ender of a French noun, look through the paper to see if it is used by the examiner in a context which makes the gender clear. Again, in an examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English, a question asked candidates to complete the sentence ‘The course . . . of a series of lectures followed b practical demonstrations.’ The expected answer, out of a choice of five

optional answers, was ‘consisted’. Candidates could hardly fail to get this question right if they noticed that the construction ‘consisted of’ occurred twice elsewhere in the same paper. one wonders whether they had included it deliberately in order to penalize those candidates who got the question wrong for lack of observation as well as inaccuracy.

7.Concluding Advice. Can examination questions be spotted by studying previous papers and noting what has not been asked in recent years? This practice has its advocates among schoolmasters, but in my opinion it is a waste of time. A question is just as likely to be as to be repeated. Moreover, the practice assumes that the same examiners will be setting this year’s paper as set last year’s or the year’s before that. I once read all the published psychology books by one particular examiner discover his particular fields of interest. This was on the assumption that, having set the paper previously, he would be doing so again and that his choice of questions would reflect his interests. When the paper was issued to me in the examination hall, I found that it had been set by an entirely different examiner. So a far better counsel to the candidate than that of trying to spot the questions is: Know your subject well and be prepared for anything. Examiners themselves are aware that some candidates try to spot the questions and that some teachers encourage their students in this practice. So they are found to do a little ‘spotting’ of their own, trying to distinguish the candidate who has ‘crammed’ from the one who has really studied the syllabus. So even if you succeed in identifying the topic of a question itself may have been given some original twist which will make your prepared answer next to useless. Go into the exam room with the right tools and enough of them. For instance, if you need a sharp-pointed pencil, take two, so that in case one breaks you don’t have to lose time sharpening it. take something to sharpen it with anyway- just in case the other one breaks. Make sure that you have plenty of ink and a good pen – or two good pens in case one packs up before the examination is over.

Handwriting is important I exams and papers that are difficult to read prejudice a candidate’s chances of success. An experiment by Dennis Briggs, a staff tutor with the Open University, showed that examiners marked quite differently identical copies of the same CSE language-paper essay written in different handwritings. So remember that poor writing may turn a potential pass into a failure. If you cant see the clock, make sure that your watch us wound, showing the right time and keeping good time. Take your glasses and a handkerchief with you, if you are likely to need them. Remember to go to the toilet before the examination starts. If you are a girl, calculate whether your period is going to coincide with your examination. If you do not fell at your best at such times, it may be advisable to consult your doctor. Don’t spoil your chances by lack of attention to some trivial detail that may become vitally important if neglected. I wish you every success in your forthcoming examination, which I am sure you now look forward to tackling with confidence. I know you will succeed if you remember to apply the hints offered above. It would interest me very much to learn your examination result when it is announced. You are cordially invited to write to me about it care of my publishers.

MAKE YOUR EXAMINATION EASY
In addition to organizing your studies, there are meaningful points which, if observed, can make an enormous difference to your performance in the examination. Cultivate a Healthy Attitude. First, the attitude, You have seen that your attitude is of overriding importance in all you do. So is the case with the examination: it should be positive. But most mediocare students and almost all the weak ones harbour a negative attitude towards it. they resent it, fear it and wish to escape from it. The emphatic need is to realize that the examination is not their enemy and they are not its victims. They should regard it as a means by which they will obtain their excellent certificates and degrees. This training of the mind should begin by auto-suggestion right from the first day of the session. That is, you repeat positive thoughts about it in your mind and dismiss negative ones. Gradually, the former will take roots and the latter disappear. Here, the suggestion is not that a feeling of stress is unnatural and that you feel guilty, if you have it. no, some stress is natural and even advantages: it spurs you on to prepare well. What you should reject is anxiety: it undermines your power of concentration and renders preparation difficult . besides, and anxiety- ridden student may misread a question in an examination and answer wrongly. To avoid it, take three steps. First, convince yourself that preparation for the examination is not confined to the examination is not confined to the examination time only and that it is an ongoing process. It begins right from the beginning of the session and goes on up to the end of it. therefore, you so adequate preparation all through the year without any postponement. Two, have a reasonable amount of recreation regularly for a short time which involves some challenge to your physical powers. Here, note two things, short time and physical exertion, stick to them . Three, believe that preparation is not a painful task but a pleasurable one. Feed your mind with this suggestion: it will

gradually accept it. also, approach your study with a feeling of pleasure: do not even for a moment think that it is boring. The more you tackle your tasks with this attitude, the better you perform them. The session Begins As soon as the session begins, take the following measures. 1. Obtain a copy of the syllabus. If it is not readily available, consult your teacher and even your institution authorities, if necessary. Read it carefully and see what it stipulates. While reading it, you may not make any senses of topics that may be absolutely new to you. do not fear them; you master all of them as the year passes. 2. obtain a list of recommended textbooks and buy them. Then open each and see the areas it covers. Compare them with the topics contained in your syllables. Check whether all of them have been dealt with in the book. If some have not been included, make their list and keep it with care. Like this, do in respect of all the subjects and all the books. This will give you a fair acquaintance with the latter. In case some are sufficient in some way, you will be on the look out for supplementing them. 3. Procure examination papers of the last three to four years. See the type of questions that have been asked and the topics on which they have been set. Make a list of such topics and refer to it during the course of your studies. 4. note how many questions have been set in each paper, what is the choice provided, the time set and how the marks have been distributed. Sometimes the distribution is not done in some question papers. In that case you have to leave it out. 5. the information these question papers supply is certainly most useful but do not depend upon them entirely. Sometimes the examiners change and introduce a new look. So, basically depend upon your syllabus, your lectures and your preparation but use them to train you in answering questions. Organize Your Revision. Revise you material the very day you learn it. we have already discussed it in Step 14. here let it be reemphasized that revision is most effective soon after the original learning has

taken place. Any delay will only weaken your grasp of it and excessive delay may even wipe it out completely. Do more revisions at reasonable spaced out intervals. Your aim should be to over learn it. you will note that the most often you do it, the quicker and easier it is. Under no circumstances should you postpone your revision till the examination time. In this context, you have read the story of Zakia in Step 9. The same fate awaits those who do what she did. It does not in any way mean to forbid you from doing revisions on the eve of the examination. Some people so recommend it. but it is wrong: it is getting to the other extreme. You should certainly do some revision to refresh your memory but ensure that it is not at the expense of your sleep. A fair amount of sleep is necessary to maximize your performance. How to Revise 1. At the time of revision you will go over your well-kept notes and refer to you book only in the event of doubt. 2. Make recitation an important part of your revision: no revision is complete without it. recall the major points and supporting details; then open your notes and examine how well your recall compares with them. Both the exercise are highly useful. The recitation creates examination conditions and reveals you to extent of your command. The comparison with the notes gives you the precise idea of your deficiencies. 3. as you go over your notes, design probable questions and make sensible predictions of their appearing in the examination. Write down some of them and think over their answers. 4. Select some of the questions from the question papers and the questions you designed. Write down their answers in an outline form. 5. Learn also the skill of answering questions in full. For it, take some question and write sown their answers appropriately. In case your lecturer has given you some assignments of this type, you do not have to undergo this exercise then. If you attempt some questions on your own, try to discuss the answers with your lecturer or at least with a student who is good in your estimate. As you do it, do not feel you have

become inferior. No. remember a wise man learns from all possible sources, even from fools. This way you are creating a possibility of learning something from the other party and even from yourself as the exercise stimulates you to think about the questions and answers again. Admittedly, this exercise is highly demanding in terms of time and energy. But do attempt a couple of questions: do not neglect this part completely. It will give you training and boost your confidence. 6. Draw up a timetable for revising each subject for the examination. Note this is different from the one you made at the beginning of the session. Examination Techniques. Learn some examination techniques also. A little attention to them is bound to be highly rewarding. 1. Read all the instructions carefully and quickly go over all the questions. If choice is given, select those you can answer best and put a mark on them. 2. Budget your time, see how much time you can spend on each question with out missing any. While doing so, take into account the weightage of each, the command you have of it and the speed with which you can tackle it. 3. Before beginning your answer read the question, including all the parts, carefully. See what it requires and write only that much; do not write any extra material. 4. Make an outline of your answer in your mind before starting writing. This will help you organize your answer well. 5. Do not overspend time on a question, howsoever tempting your material you propose to write may be. It is always better to write two incomplete answers than a complete one even though it may be a well-written one. 6. Write legibly. People whose handwriting is not clear are generally marked down by examiners, even though they do not mean to do so. 7. At the end, try to keep some time for going over your answers and making corrections. Experience has shown that it pays to undergo this exercise. Some serious errors of

calculations. Some silly errors of facts or expression may be removed and the image of the answer improved. 8. Above all, do not let tension grip you as it inhibits mental processes and causes confusion. As a result, one may misread questions and misinterpret instructions or make some other serious mistakes. To avoid it, do all the best you can and leave the rest in the hands of God. Besides, saturate your conscious and subconscious mind with the conviction that (a) your powers are great and (b) their unsparing application produces those desirable results and rewards for which you sincerely aspire. It demands that you know your goal and pursue it not only vigorously but methodically. Examination Scripts. In some of the examinations, teachers return their marked scripts with their corrections and comments. Take note of them. Remember it is this part of the examination exercise that confers the highest benefit. It is here you know your deficiencies which you can eliminate. For it, think why you made the mistakes and what measures you can take to avoid them in future. It has been seen that some students, particularly the weak ones, dismiss the corrected answers-scripts as useless stuff. They do not care to like into them. Thus, they deprive themselves of the great advantage these corrections and comments yield and thus further sink into weakness. Perhaps they do not pick up enough courage to face their in adequacies. They have to rise and meet the challenge they present. You see all this needs regular work right from the beginning of the session. Once you do it the way it has been suggested, the examination becomes easy and the result excellent. Remember everybody makes efforts but it is the timing, the method and the intensity of mental involvement that tilt the balance in favour of those that shine.

AWAKEN AND EDUCATE YOUR WILL – POWER A MIND DIVIDED NOW the thing is this : weak- willed people only reduce their vows and decisions to wishful thinking. The reasons: 1. Unlike the mahatma, they do not have the deep-seated convictions of the correctness of the vows and decisions they take. They do not realize that a commitment is commitment: it cannot be broken. 2. They quickly become the victims of temptation, forget their goals and achieve nothing. 3. They easily submit to difficulties. To exercise will power, the primary necessary is to be single minded. Everyone knows that a house divided against it self Cannot stand. A mind ridden with confusion and division cannot wield its power and achieve what it wants to. The reason: its energies are wasted in battling against its opponent: lack of confidence about the decision , the promise, the commitment. However, these battles are worse, if they grind down our confidence, too. Every such battle lost is not only an opportunities lost to make our will power strong. It is the erosion of will power. A DEAD LEAF Consider a leaf fallen from a tree. It has no will of its own and is blown here and there by every wind that blows. In the process, it disintegrates and ceases to exist. A man of dead will power is certainly superior to a dead leaf; he breathes: he lives. However, you can be sure he does not amount to anything. Mere breathing, you know is not living: it is the active striving of the will that demonstrates it. WIN THE BATTLE Moreover, you have to demonstrate it every moment. You have to win each battle and lose none. Says Waldo Emerson: “as thus sand witch islander believes that the strength and weakness of the enemy he kills passes in to himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.” When you successfully resist one, the triumph, the power you so acquire helps you vanquish another and you are on the high way to

achieving the unconquerable will power, the mastery over yourself one of the greatest achievements possible on this earth. A most fabulous reward indeed. Remember the first law of building up your will power is the unquestioning obedience to any instruction you give your mind. Any delay or any violation is the break of this powerful law. In other words, as soon as a temptation that challenges your will power raises its ugly head, crush it immediately. One step. Besides, take one step at a time. I repeat: take one step at a time. That is not only enough but most essential. Under take to accomplish more than you can cope with and you run the grave risk of breaking the first law. That will be most unfortunate. Then you in your ambition to achieve a lot end up in achieving nothing. Proceed, therefore, slowly but steadily. Benjamin’s technique. All great people pursued the strategy of proceeding one step at a time consciously or subconsciously with spectacular results. Here is the example of Benjamin Franklin. At the beginning of his career he conceived a noble ambition of arriving at ‘Moral perfection’ to become as perfect as possible. Towards this end, he listed 13 virtues which he zealously wanted to cultivate. They were : 1.Temperance : do not eat or drink in excess. 2.Silence : do not speak unnecessarily. 3.Order : organize your things and work. 4.Resolution : do what you would do with firm determination. 5.Frugality : do not waste money or anything. 6. Industry : use time meaningfully. 7. Sincerity: do not deceive anyone: think and speak honestly. 8.Justice: be just. 9. Moderation: do not overreact : tolerate injuries up to reasonable degree. 10.Cleanliness: keep you body, clothes and surroundings clean. 11.Tranquility: do not get upset over small things.

12. Chastity: be uncorrupted. 13. Humility: be humble . He knew it was reasonable to inculcate all of them at the same time . So he resolved to take up one a time and acquire mastery over it. This is what he did? 1. He took a notebook and drew up seven columns for seven days of the week for each virtue. In other words, there were thirteen vertical columns and seven horizontal. 2. For one week he gave full attention to one virtue. 3. At the end of the day, he would examine all the events of last 24hours and put a dot in the appropriate column of the notebook for any slip he made. Suppose he deviated from the specified virtue of the week three times on a particular day. He would then put three dots in the slot concerned. 4. In addition to one virtue ear marked for the week, he would still be attending to the rest of them but not so thoroughly as the main of the week. He would then put a dot for each lapse he made in the appropriate column. This way he four rounds of the whole exercise in a year. It turned out to be most rewarding and gave him the benefits of self-denial and will power. One feeds the other as they are closely bound together and each grows stronger. Also, the weakening of one leads to the weakening of the other and thus each become weaker. You can draw up your own list of virtues you would like to acquire and adopt this method or design your own that suits you. But do cultivate a set of virtue with deliberation and determination. As you set out to do so, you will not only have to overcome various temptations but even difficulties. You may, for instance, resolve to do a certain piece of work at a particular time and, in the process, experience some problem. Your first impulse may be to give it all up but that will be accepting defeat. That is not the way. Remember each defeat weakens our will- power and paves the way for a chain of defeats. Victory at each level is extremely important. Difficulty: an essential ingredient You cannot dispense with difficulties either. They form a necessary ingredient of the training of will power. A task

easily accomplished, you know, does not give you the thrill, the feeling of triumph. You are, for example, able-bodied and in good health. The door of the room you are is in shut. Suppose you want to open it. It is easy: you simply rise, walk and open it. There is no sense of achievement in it. But suppose another person, pale and sickly, with such an acute pain in his legs that his every step is ordeal, determined to do so and does it. It is an act of will power. Why? The encounter with difficulty has made it. An escape from such an encounter is, therefore, an escape from acquiring the giant power. There are some more things to be shared with you regarding the will power. You see there are several types of people. Some people have no strong will power, with the result that they are overtaken by desires and they become slaves to desires. Desires in multitudes keep on haunting them. They are also lacking in self- confidence. As a result that they do not succeed in fulfilling desires. Their life is reduced to one of imbalance and hopeless suffering. On the contrary there are some people have a strong will power; they are the people who can control the strongest desires. Such people suppress with an iron hand all such desires as a re harmful and anti-social. Through this medium they serve the society and join the celebrated. Those who are weak willed are always controlled by voluptuous Senses. They are left with no self- confidence. They keep on hankering after their desires. They live a slowly life. They do not have high aspiration. It at any time they do have such high aspiration, they brush them away, weak-willed as they are. In order to achieve integrity and superiority man has to develop certain strength to control his desires. It is only by controlling desires that man has achieved what apparently was wholly impossible. He has been able to conquer the Himalayan summit; he has been able to cross the Sahara desert and the vast and frightening expanse of the ocean. Looking at the impossible feats he has achieved, it is not difficult to know how he has been able to do so. It was sheer will power which got him whatever he wanted – whether possible or impossible. To this end he bends all his energy, crushed all other desires,

and worked hard. He cared fig for all kind of dangers in his path. True he did encounter many obstacles. However, he was certainly not over come. He never accepted defeat. The moment any other desires come up, he suppressed it, he had one very clear-cut target and he advanced with a singleminded devotion to that end. What is important is that we should have an objective recognition of our own capability. We should know what we are lacking in. what are the factors which have made our life so common and mundane and how we can bring our thoughts and mind under control. It is essential that we are strong willed. Unless we develop a certain measure of volition we shall not be able to succeed in any job. Whenever we take up any job, it is likely that we are confronted with certain difficulties and obstacles. If we are not strong-willed, we likely to give up the job. So with a sense of determination we should plan out the job well in advance. When we start doing the job we should be determined to complete the job, come what may. We should develop any weakness or slackness until the job is accomplished. It is only by will power that we succeed in our life. Scientists have found out that our desires are closely related to our breath. Every breath give rise to desire. The more we breathe in, the greater the number of desires. So we don’t breathe in as much, we shall not have so many desires in life. The most authentic and effective way to control our breathing is Pranayama. It is by effective control over breathing that the seers and others accomplished meditators achieve a total control over their desires. Besides, they have strong will – power which enables them to suppress contrary and mundane desires. In order to cultivate a strong will power it is essential that we are physically strong and healthy. We can achieve a strong health only when we are free from desires otherwise this lowly desires eat into the vitals of a strong and healthy constitution. How does anxiety get germinated? It is due to our efforts to do what is social and ethically reprehensible. Whenever we have done such a job which try to keep it a secret. A fear that it will be out reduces our body an unsuspecting hollowness.

Life should, therefore, be balanced. First we must not do anything which society does not approve. Suppose we have done a thing like this, we should not suppress it. To err is human, and so we must be more careful about committing mistakes in future. HOW TO ENRICH OUR WILL POWER? A strong will power Is crucial to success in one’s life. It is by virtue of a strong will power that one can suppress one’s desires. We can achieve for ourselves a tension-free and strong-willed mind following some methods. Put down any five lines from a book in front of you. Have a timepiece. Now take a vow that you have got to commit the five lines to memory in only ten minutes. Now repeat the lines without uttering them loudly. Suggest to yourself that you have got to learn the lines within ten minutes. As you continue with this kind of practice, reduce the time progressively- from 10 minutes to 8, from 8 minutes to 6, and so on so forth. Soon you will reach a stage when you can learn any five lines in no more than a minutes. Ascertain what you take to cover a certain distance on your bicycle. Suppose you negotiate a distance of 2kms in 10 minutes, Now you start progressively reducing the timeduration. While you will not feel tired or panting for breath, you will certainly be able to negotiate the same distance in reduced time. You start counting in reverse from 1000 to1. Ensure that you do not take more than 10 minutes for this job. You take a firm decision that you will now do reverse counting only in 8 minutes. If you achieve this feat taking even less time, it should be taken as an indicator of your firm will power You are to bear in mind that you will do a certain thing taking less than the allotted time. It will show that you have gained full control on yourself. You can have another interesting practice. Place a timepiece in front of you. Fix your eye on it, being seated at a place without the slightest movement. At least for 10 minutes continue to watch like this. During this allotted time even if a fly settles down on your face, you shall not budge an inch. In other words you may have any kind of obstacle, but you must have grim determination to stick to it in any case. Your determination must know to relaxing.

If you go about the job with sustained determination, you will achieve it within the allotted time-span. After having accomplished the practices referred to above, the Practitioner should take up bafflingly difficult jobs or such jobs as normally take a very long time. The practitioner should take up a difficult job which takes at least a month. In that case, he must accomplish the job within a month. Similarly the practitioner should fix up to have a certain income within a certain period. Whatever difficulties may have to face, he must earn this amount within the time schedule. It is likely that one has to face many difficulties and obstacles doing a job within a fixed time schedule. Whatever be the difficulties he must not give up. If he has full control over his will power, he will certainly achieve it. To further develop a strong will power. We suggest the following steps: As a rule speak less. The more you speak the greater will be the wastage of your energy which is inherent in your body. In that case you will have to work a lot to get back your lost energy. So the best course is to preserve the energy inherent in your body. As a rule do not keep the company of fools and the weakwilled. They are the people who inject in us pessimistic feelings. They have been failures in their own life. They want to see others failing similarly. Keep away from such elements. Spend a part of your time in profound solitude. Nobody will talk with you and nobody will put any obstacles in your way. Do not reveal your thoughts or secretes to anybody. If you feel incensed, try to gain control over your anger. Even in a laughter provoking situation try to restrain yourself. You shall not laugh. It will ensure self-control. One who has a proven confidentiality about oneself gets higher place in society. If you share some of the secretes of

your friends or associates, you will not disclose whatever be the provocation. Suppose the relation at one stage cool off, and yet you will not betray confidence. You must sustain a mystique about yourself. The more you do so, the greater will be the honour. The accepting mind The explorations we have made in the preceding chapters indicate that the mind is centrally important in the human body. Through the instrumentality of the mind we accomplish such jobs as seem to be difficult if not impossible. As established earlier, the outer mind is largely accountable for the normal functioning of our life. On the other hand , the inner mind which is stronger is wholly accountable for the man’s conquests in the realm of divine perfections. For grasping the method of learning the inner mind is the chief instrument. We have also discussed that the mind is always active and normally it is never devoid of ideas or thoughts. And yet, given a bit of effort and regular practice, we can certainly make the mind idea-free. To achieve a state of mind like this will certainly be a very big accomplishment. By obtaining an ideafree mind we can ensure a measure of respite to the mind. At the same time, we can use it as an instrument to concentrate all our mental faculties on a certain object. When we are able to make the mind concentrate all attention on a certain idea, the velocity of the mind takes a sharp upturn. Generally a mind such as this is called stoical or accepting mind. The practice to achieve this kind of mind involves Yoga meditation, particularly the following methods and Pranayamas. TECHNIQUE-1. Stretch both hands. Stand for sometime with both hands stretched straight. Ensure that both palms face the floor. And the hands are straight. Now you breathe in slowly. Finally breathe out slowly. TECHIQUE-2. Stretch both hands straight. Keep standing for a while. Now slowly move your hands to your head. When the hands go upwards, breath slowly. Pump out all air stored in the lungs with all force at your command. Note that you must exert

yourself while breathing out. On the hand when you breathe in, you should do so slowly. TECHIQUE-3. Spread out your hands in front. The two palms must face each other. The fingers should remain open. Breathe in quickly and then breathe out slowly. TECHIQUE-4. Keep the two palms facing of both hands. Keep them facing your chest and interlock the fingers. Exert utmost and breathe in. and with the dame force breathe out. TECHIQUE-5. Interlock the fingers of both hands. Throw up your hands into the sky as high as possible. Now breathe deeply. Slowly and steadily breathe out. The five techniques described above seem to be very commonplace. But they have a special importance. It regulates breathing and we succeed in regulating our breath. Needless to say a controlled respiration also controls the incidence of the rise of ideas in the mind.

Teaching is the best way of Learning.

Once upon a time there was a great master of martial art lived in a village. The master was very popular and nobody could defeat him in wrestling. Those who challenged had to accept their defeat. With all his authority the master was very gentle and humble. He had a very good number of disciples. Every year the crowd of his disciples were increasing predominately. The tricks and techniques were amazingly huge amount for the learners those who becoming his students. Everybody would have the feeling of incompletion after the course. Of course, there is no end for learning. Listening to the fame of this master, a young guy came from far to become his disciple. He had the passion of learning every bit of martial art’s techniques from that particular master. He was very ambitious and strong-minded. He surrendered himself at the feet of the master and expressed his passion for learning the complete martial art. Of course, the master was welcoming and encouraging, he accepted the guy as his disciple. The guy lived in the master’s house. Through day and night he learned everything for several years. While he was studying he never mixed with other students and whenever somebody showed interest in exchanging ideas or sharing knowledge, he did not take part rather refused to join them. When juniors approached him to learn something from him or get help from him, he escaped from them because if he teaches them, they too would become good wrestlers and he had the ambition that of nobody should stand against him. He was dreaming of only superior in the world of wrestling.

He accepted challenges, while he was practicing wrestling, and participated in many competitions, of course, won the prizes and popularity. One fine day the master announced that the guy had learned every thing from him. But the guy asked again and again whether he learnt everything and anything was leftover unlearned. But the master confirmed that he had learnt everything whatever he knew so far. The guy was immensely happy and prostrate before the master and took his permission to leave for his home town. The master blessed him and advised him to teach other people what he has learnt. The enthusiastic guy visited number of places and everywhere he challenged the wrestling champions. He could defeat everybody. He was striving to get Number One Championship in wrestling. Even though he defeated the hundreds of champions he could not get the Number One Championship because his master had it. Now, unless this guy wrestle with his master and defeat him he had no chance of getting the championship. The guy was confident that he could defeat his master in no time because he knew all the tricks and techniques what his master knew. Moreover, his master had grown old and this guy still young and strong. Thinking so, he met his master. There he prostrated before his master and asked the permission to do what he had on his mind. The master understood his disciple and agreed. The guy begged his pardon because he had to wrestle with his own master and requested him to allow to exercise the rules of wrestling but not be bound in the sentiments of Guru and Shishya. The master accepted that too. In a fixed day the open challenge was announced. As it was very interesting and exiting a huge crowd had gathered. The wrestling began. In breath taking competition the master and the disciple were showed their immense intelligence and all their talents. In one particular position as the master was attempting to counterattack, demonstrated a very rare type of grip. The disciple was bound in and he could not escape from that hold. The guy was really surprised because he never learned that particular hold which his master used now. He was defeated. The poor guy could not win the Number One Championship at last. He felt that his master had cheated him.

He met his master later. He accused his mater for not teaching the very rare hold which he used to defeat him. Also accused him for he lied saying that he taught everything. The master confessed that he defeated his beloved disciple which was unintentional. The master made it clear that the several new tricks and techniques were not known by the guy which the master knew, because, those were developed after the guy left the institution. As the master was teaching every day his new students he learnt many more new things which he never knew before. The master told his ambitious disciple, “There is no end for learning. Moreover, teaching is the best way of learning. As one tries to make his learner clear about what he is teaching, he understands better and knows the depths and heights of it. This is the reason after you left the institution I learnt many more things while teaching the new students.” Now, the ambitious guy learnt the value of teaching and begged his master to forgive him for his ignorance. Hello, did you understand the story? If you understand the story, you also understand the value of the teaching. It is my sincere advice, teach whatever you learn. As you teach more and more you learn better and better. Teaching is the best way of learning. How to teach? To whom you can teach? Where you can teach? Many questions are rising in your mind I imagine. As you are a student who is there to learn from you? Who will sit and listen to you? Do not have the doubts. Where you can teach? Soon after learning, make sure you are going to teach the learned material to your friend who has not understood properly. If you have not understood, make your friend to tell you what he/she understood. At home, after coming from the school, have the habit of vomiting everything to your mother or sister or other member of your family. Your mother may not show interest in knowing what you are trying to say, but do not leave her, keep on saying everything what you learnt in the school.

If you have servants at home, make them to sit before you and try to teach whatever you have learnt in the school. In this way you will have personal benefit of learning and a social service, educating illiterates. Never miss the opportunity of teaching your youngsters. You might have finished those classes; still it will strengthen your foundation. You will get enough ingredients for the studies what you are doing now. If your parents or grand parents don’t know the language what you are studying, everyday without fail have the class of that particular language. E.g. if your parents do not know English, teach them whatever you learn. Especially, simple English grammar i.e., parts of speech, active and passive voice, direct and indirect speech etc. Your science class can be revised at home when you are observing your mother’s work in the kitchen. Whatever you learn there is an opportunity for revising in your active life. You Have To Seek It.

Summery of Practical Hints. 1. What is Memory? Remembering is the activity of attending to present ideas which are determined by past experiences. A past event which we are able to revive as a present experience leaves a physiological change in the brain structure called memory trace. Pure memory is the activity of attending to a particular experience, as, for example, when I remember what I ate for my Christmas dinner last year. Habit memory is the knowledge acquired by experience as distinct from, the particular experiences of acquiring it. Memory differs from both imagination and thinking. The function of images in memory is to represent past experiences. In imagination the images relate to what is thought of as occurring in the future. Past experience is made use of both in memory and in thinking, but whereas memory is a direct use of what has been learned, thinking is an indirect use. Remembering is performing a previously learned act, while thinking is doing something partly original.

Those who have difficulty in forming mental images can derive encouragement form two sources. One is that mental imagery doesn’t have to be all that vivid to be effective as a memory aid. The other is that verbal memory(thinking with words) can be used instead of mental pictures. If you cannot form mental pictures at all, there are also two things you can do. One is to rely on verbal memory or thinking. And you may be able to use images based on senses other than sight, e.g. auditory (hearing), tactile (touch), olfactory(smell), even gustatory(taste). It does not follow that the more intelligent a person is, the better his memory is bound to be. Nor can it be said that the less intelligent he is, the worse his memory. Success in remembering depends upon interest, attentions, and persistence as well as intelligence. 2. Why Do We Forget?

You read and reread a chapter in a book, yet a few minutes afterwards you cannot relate one word of what you have read. This usually caused be lack of attention, so that the experience does not make a proper impression upon us. Forgetting is also due to the lapse of time between an experience and the attempt to recall it. As a result of the normal metabolic processes of the brain a memory trace tends to face or decay with the passage of time, unless we renew it by repeating the experience which gave rise to it. Much of what we learn is forgotten almost as soon as we have learned it. Forgetting proceeds most rapidly immediately after learning but less rapidly as the interval increases. Changes occurring in the brain with the passing of time also lead to things being ‘remembered’ that never occurred or that occurred differently from the way they are remembered.(Distortion) The view that the lapse of time alone accounts for the decay of a memory trace is too simple. For a few minutes after a memory trace is formed it is easily disturbed. If left undisturbed, the trace hardens consolidation, however, the memory trace is still susceptible to a type of interference known as retroactive inhibition from material which is learned subsequently (and also, as we shall see later, from material which has been learned before).

This has led to the formulation of the view that we forget because we do or think something else afterwards. The principle of retroactive inhibition states that the trace left behind by an earlier activity is impaired by a later one. This means that we tend to forget a certain thing nor simply because it is a week ago since we learned it, but because we have since learned other things the memory traces of which have interfered with the memory trace of the original thing. The nor active we are in the interval, the more likely we are to forget. The better we learn the original task, the more likely we are to remember it in spite of interpolated activities. As we noted in Chapter 3, there are certain conditions under which retroactive inhibition operates. One of these is that the greatest loss of retention occurs by shifting directly to material of a very similar kind. The more a later experience resembles an earlier one, the more likely are we to forget the latter. But a point is eventually reached when the similarity is close enough to assist the remembering of the original material rather than interfere with it. If waking activity interferes with recall, we should remember better after sleep, when awake. You do, in fact, forget less when asleep than when awake. Yu lose a little during the first hour or two of sleep, but after that you forget very little more during the night. For example, a person who read a story before going to sleep could remember many details when he was awakened. When he remained awake after reading the story, he forgot more of the details. The principle of proactive inhibition states that work which precedes learning also tends to interfere with the retention of the learned material. What happened before an experience caused us to forget it as well as what happened afterwards. There is also a process of unconscious forgetting of painful memories known as repression. Such memories may not be recalled because of the sense of anxiety or guilt which they would provoke if they were. We tend to remember events which give us satisfaction and to forget those which are annoying to us. We more easily forget an experience which conflicts with our comfort and self-esteem than one which does not. The tendency of a memory to become repressed varies directly with the anguish which accompanies it. Senility, too, is a cause of forgetting, although as it cannot be eliminated we are not concerned with it in this book. Some

people approaching old age can barely remember the events of the day, although their memory for events of the distant past and childhood may be unimpaired. This type of forgetting occurs through the organic changes taking place in the brain and nervous system with the passing years. A poor memory is caused, then, by the memory trace not having much energy to begin with the lapse of time, and by losing its energy to other memory traces. There is also a form of forgetting, known as repression, caused by resistance or opposition from something else in the mind to the recall of a painful memory. Yet other causes are shock and drugs. Shock is of two kinds – that resulting from an intense emotional experience and that resulting from psychiatric treatment for nervous or mental illness. Drugs, taken with or without medical justification, can hamper remembering. Particularly dangerous is marijuana or pot, which damages the brain because if contains substance soluble in the brain’s fat. Chronic heavy smoking could also impair the memory although as yet there is no evidence to support this view. The main causes of forgetting may thus be briefly summarized as follows: 1. We forget an experience because it makes a weak impression on us. 2. We forget an experience because we do not refresh our memory of it. 3. We forget an experience because other experiences interfere with it. 4. We forget an experience because it creates a conflict between the wish to remember it and the wish not to remember it. 5. We forget because the brain is affected by the physiological changes accompanying old age, shock, the use of drugs, and possibly the use of tobacco.

3.

How Can We Remember?

The first cause of a poor memory is that an experience makes a weak impression on us. To secure a strong impression it its necessary to concentrate on what we wish to remember. Lack of concentration is caused by the habit of day-dreaming, lack of interest in the subject, too little or too much muscular tension, and worry or emotional conflict, which distracts attention from what we are doing. Therefore, we can acquire the habit of concentration if we: 1. Bring our mind back every time it wanders to other things. 2. Strengthen our interest in the subject by means of autosuggestion. 3. Lightly brace ourselves (but not too much) as we work. 4. Try to deal with the emotional problems that distract our attention. The second cause is that we allow time to elapse without refreshing our memory. This cause can be removed by repeating whatever it is we wish to remember. The more frequently a thing is repeated, the more likely it is to be remembered. To be most effective in refreshing our memory repetition depends upon certain conditions, which may be stated in the form of the following practical rules: 1. Always make an effort to understand the material which you are repeating. 2. A few minutes repetition every day is better than a greater amount of repetition less often. 3. A better method of repetition than reading and rereading is to read and then try to recall what has been read. 4. Do not repeat what you wish to remember until you barely know it, but until you know it really well. 5. It is better to repeat the material as a whole than to break it up into parts and repeat each part separately. 6. Use autosuggestion to acquire confidence in your ability to remember what you repeat. 7. Repeat your work at the same table or desk in the same room with your books arranged in the same way. 8. Break off your repetition before you come to a natural division of the subject matter, for if you are working without emotional stress you will remember an uncompleted task

better than a completed one. On the other hand, if you are more interested in what the study can do for you than in the study itself, it may be better to complete the task, for you will remember a completed task better than an uncompleted one. 9. Try to arrange that what you wish to learn contrasts in come way with the background against which you are studying it. The third cause of forgetting is that the memory traces of other experiences interfere with the memory trace of the experience we wish to remember. This interference is less active during sleep than during waking hours. It is less active between different types of material than between similar types. It concerns what we do before an experience as well as what we do afterwards. The practical application of these principles to the problem of overcoming retroactive and proactive inhibition is as follows: 1. Go to bed after studying in the evening rather than take up further waking activity. 2. Revise the material in the morning before the activity of the day makes you forget too much of it. 3. Avoid other mental work, especially of a similar kind, in the event that you cannot go to bed after studying. 4. Change to a different form of learning in the event that one period of study must be followed by another. 5. Take a brief rest before studying a lesson rather than engage in other mental activity, especially similar mental activity. 6. Period of study must be immediately followed by another. The fourth cause of forgetting is repression. There are various ways in which a repression can be undone, thus helping us to remember better. 1. We can rely upon the repressed memory occurring to us spontaneously. 2. We can run through the alphabet until we come to a letter associated with the repressed memory.

3. We can through consecutive numbers, starting with 0 , until we come to one which reminds us of the forgotten number. 4. We can recall repressed thought or memory by interpreting a dream which embodies it. 5. We can wait to be reminded of the repressed memory by some happening during the course of the day. 6. We can often remember something by ‘sleeping on it’. If we take a problem how to solve it. 7. We can repeat or imagine ourselves repeating the situation in which we first experienced what we want to recall 8. We can make use of free association, writing down whatever thoughts occur to us until we recall the repressed memory. 9. We should also make use of any available associations in committing something to memory. Two ideas may be associated if they resemble or contrast with each other, or if they simply occur together. 4. How Can We Use Mnemonics in Learning?

Mnemonics, once despised by academic psychologists, have now come into their own, thanks to serious research which has validated their usefulness. Simple mnemonics represent a way of programming the human computer. They are of several types, involving the use of: initial letters, acronyms, rhyming jingles, associations, digits represented by words, and wordplay. Those that codify the material in a shortened form, e.g., acronyms, are reductive; those that enlarge upon it, e.g., rhyming mnemonics, are elaborative. It is an interesting and useful exercise to devise your own mnemonics. Chapter 4 gives numerous examples illustrating how this can be done. For example, the Morse code can be learned by devising mnemonic words in which vowels represent dots and consonants dashes. Place memory employs mental pictures which associate items to we learned with places (loci) in a building or on a street. It enables you to recall any point at random, irrespective of its position in the pre memorized series of loci. So it is suitable for memorizing items where you want to recall a particular one without going through the whole series form the beginning every time. For this purpose it is best to use places which you

are thoroughly familiar with and which you can readily visualize in your mind’s eye. Words can also be employed as loci in the place-memory method. They can be selected to rhyme with the cardinal numbers from 1 to 12, e.g., gun, shoe, tree, door, hive, sticks, heavens, gate, wine, pen, Devon, delve. Turned into mental images, these can be used to form associations with a list of twelve or fewer items to be learned. If your material contains more than twelve items, add each further item to one of the mental images already formed. Letters, too, can be used as places, e.g., the letters of the Latin cryptogram or word square:

R O T A S

O P E R A

T E N E T

A R E P O

S A T O R

In this case, associate each point in the material to be recalled with one of he above letters. State the point in the form of a sentence that begins with the letter you want to associate it with. The letters spelling the mane of a topic can be used in this way. Link each letter to one point in your material by stating the point in the form of a sentence beginning with that letter. To recall the material, carry out the following steps: 1. Hold in mind the letter-place word, phrase, or sentence related to your subject matter. 2. Mentally work through the letters which spell it, reviving the points which you have associated with them. Each letter will remind you of a word of a statement embodying the point to be recalled. 3. This recall provides you with the facts which you need to answer a question on that subject, whether written or oral.

5. How Can We Pass Exams?

Chapter 5 brings out the following points on the technique of passing exams: 1. Cultivate a keen interest in your subject by thinking about your reasons for studying it, by relating the material to your own life, and by visualizing yourself achieving your purpose. 2. Make notes on the content of what you read or hear. Either write a summery in continuous prose or develop an outline with lettered and/or numbered headings and subheadings. Notice how both methods are used in this summery chapter. 3. When learning notes: (a) Make an effort to understand the material. (b) Study a little at a time at fairly frequent intervals rather than for long stretches at less frequent intervals. (c) Instead of reading and rereading, read and then try to recall use the P-V formula: Preview your material to get a general idea of what it is about. Question yourself on points which you want your reading to answer. Read and make sure that you understand. Summarize the material in either or both of the note forms suggested under (2) above. Test yourself on it. Use what you have learned. Visualize the ideas in your mind’s eye. (d) Over learn your material, i.e., until you know it really well rather than just barely (e) If you are interested in the subject matter itself, break off before you get to one of its natural divisions. If you are interested in what it can do for you, complete the section or chapter before breaking off. (f) Revise as soon as possible after learning. (g) Use the same study place each time. (h) Lightly brace yourself ( but not too much) as you work. (i) Tell yourself that you can succeed. (j) Practise answering questions set in previous papers. 4. Revise during your course as well as at the end of it. 5. Confront the paper with the right mental attitude of confidence. Read it carefully. Follow to examiner’s

instructions. Say to yourself : ‘What is he asking for ?’ Having decided, give it to him. Present your answers methodically, legibly, clearly, and relevantly. Keep an eye on the clock. Leave yourself a little time at the end. 6. Answer essay-type exams form a course outline carried in your head. Select the headings and material for your answer, organizing them intelligently and systematically. Write concisely. Keep your outline flexible enough to allow the inclusion of ideas that occur to you while you are writing. If you run short of time, put down the rest of your ideas in summary form. Then press on with the m\next question. 7. Distinguish among the various terms that examiners are fond of, e.g., comment, criticize, explain, etc. 8. Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In particular, don’t misspell a word which actually appears in the paper. 9. Pay particular attention to the opening and closing paragraphs of your answer. 10. See if you can use one part of the paper to help you in answering another. 11. Know your subject well and be prepared for anything. 12. Make sure that you have the right tools with you in the examination room. 5. How can we forget?

A study of the four causes of forgetting yields practical hints on how to forget as well as on how to remember. These practical hints may be briefly summarized as follows: 1. Weaken the impression left by a disturbing emotional experience by turning your attention to fresh experiences as soon as possible after it has occurred. 2. Rely upon the power of time to heal the wounds of the soul. The person who wishes to forget an unpleasant experience has time on his side. 3. Find other interests that will help to obliterate the disappointments of the past. Seek other experiences that will erase the memory of the previous unpleasant experience. The greater the similarity of needs involved, the easier we shall forget the disappointment. The best cure for a broken love affair is a new one that is successful.

Keep yourself busy after you have undergone something likely to upset you. Avoid going to the places which in your mind are associated with the broken romance. Don’t go to bed and sleep immediately after a disappointing experience, but get out and get a change of scene to take your mind off the problem. 4. Build up throughout life a reserve stock of pleasant experiences upon which you can look back when things go against you. 5. Avoid expecting to banish unpleasant memories by ‘repressing’ them, i.e., by denying to yourself that they ever occurred. This method of forgetting has no practical application to the problem, because it is not under the conscious control of the will but occurs without our being aware of it, and because unless what is repressed is sublimated or worked off indirectly, it leads to the appearance of nervous symptoms. But what you shouldn’t repress you may be able to suppress. That is, you may be able to push it more or less to the back of your mind so that it is not bothering you all the time.

Posture: I have seen many students trying to study while tucked up snugly in bed, sprawled on a sofa, or stretched halfway down in an armchair. This is harmful in many ways. When you study, be comfortable: yet avoid being too comfortable. Use a cane chair without a cushion and a table that is not too high or too low. It should allow your knees to go under, so that your back is erect when studying. Avoid bending over or stooping over your book when reading or writing. This position makes your tired quickly and, may spoil your health. If a cushion is necessary to raise your seat for comfortable reading, use a rubber foam cushion, not a cotton or leather one. A comfortable posture helps you to study for a longer period, with less eyestrain or body fatigue. I find resting my elbows on the table or resting my cheekbone on my knuckles a comfortable posture for reading. It automatically keeps your eyes at the correct distance from your book that is about 14 inches away.

A good posture during the long hours of study enables you to keep a good figure. For if you slouch when you read or write, you are likely to develop a stoop. That is certainly a handicap in developing a smart personality. Moreover, always remember this: wherever you may sit, take care not to slide down in your seat, for this is the worst study posture of all.

To breathe is to be Alive I have seldom seen a man in such distress: he sat before me pale and drawn – his shrunken neck afloat inside the collar of his shirt. He had come, without much conviction, to see me on the advice of a friendhe had problems to explain to me. However, when I say ‘explain’ do not imagine he confined himself to telling his troubles: his state of exhaustion and nervousness was such that he was almost incoherent. He read aloud from notes he had prepared .. but I will spare you the details. He was married, and a few years previously had suffered some emotional upheaval whose nature he did not disclose. Since then, his health had gradually got worse. He was suffering from digestive trouble, from palpitations, irritability and lack of concentration. He was growing visibly thinner, losing is zest for life, and was at the end of his tether. He had just changed his job: the pay was better but unfortunately he did not feel able to cope with its new responsibilities. Some important business had to be done next day, and he felt he could not face it. He had decided to hand in his notice. What was I to do? Exercises were out, for the slightest effort exhausted him. I felt rather inadequate. I wanted to help, but it really did seem that he was not subject for yoga even in its most elementary form. In order to help explain this state of affairs, I asked him to take off his coat, lie down on the rug and breathe easily. Because I could see no movement in either stomach or chest, I said to him, ‘ Don’t hold your breath!’ ‘ But I’m not, I’m breathing normally,’ came the astonishing reply. Then breathe as deeply as you can.’ He made an effort, and chest rose …. About half and inch…’ I felt his stomach ; it was hard and tense. This man was so tense that he was scarcely breathing, only enough to keep himself from suffocation. This explained everything! He looked at me astonished when I told him that he was barely breathing: he had never realized it and nor had anyone else. After half

and hour’s attempt he succeeded in relaxing a little and breathing through his stomach. The result was in no way remarkable, but, compared with his former state, he was breathing at least five times more air. Three quarters of an hour later a touch of colour shyly crept into his cheeks, a pale smile lit up his face, and . . . he could speak without his notes. Do not imagine that from now on everything was plain sailing, but through the magic of breathing, a human body had come to life again like a thirsty plant that is being watered. With the help of his doctor, he is now on the way to taking up a normal life. This is an extreme but an uninteresting case, and, since this experience, I never fail to lay stress upon the supreme importance of breathing. I never fail to lay stress upon the supreme importance of breathing. I notice that, almost without exception, those whose thoracic cage is well developed-and who make full use of it-live without troubles, that is to say they succeed in solving them as and when they arise. Those who breathe badly battle endlessly with problems in every direction : health, profession, emotional life. They are alas, among the majority, for we nearly all breathe more or less badly. How many unfortunate pairs of civilized lungs are never thoroughly ventilated! Breathing is the great vital source of energy. It is possible to live without solid food for weeks on end, without drink for several days; but without air we die within a few minutes. Every one of the activities of life is bound up in the processed of oxidation and reduction of carbon dioxide; without oxygen there can be no life. Our cells depend upon the blood for their supply of oxygen. When the blood stream in the arteries runs short of oxygen, the vitality of every cell in the body is diminished. It is vital for us to appreciate this first truth : each and every one of the billions of cells in the body are ready to serve you to the utmost. Since each one depends upon its supply of oxygen from that most magic liquid, the blood, you will see how vitality important it is to breathe correctly so that every cell can receive its oxygen. Not only do we breathe very badly, but often the quality of the air leaves much to be desired, and from this stems our lack of resistance to disease and loss of energy, our unwillingness to perform the slightest physical effort, our nervousness and irritability.

The supply of oxygen is only one aspect of the function of breathingthere is also the elimination of carbon dioxide. The cells have only one way in which to get rid of their waste products- into the blood which is purified by the lungs. What is more, innumerable bacteria may develop in the dark warm humidity of badly-ventilated lungs, so well-suited to their growth. Koch’s bacilli cannot withstand the action of oxygen; correct breathing, by ensuring complete ventilation of the lungs, immunizes against tuberculosis. Of course we didn’t have to wait for the Yogis before we could breathe, but in practicing their art of breathing you will come to realize just how bad your own has been! The difference between the breathing habits of the skilled yogi and the uninitiated is a great as between the child floundering in a pool and the champion swimmer. The first battles away, using up a great deal of energy, and in the end can barely keep afloat, the second moves swiftly and effortlessly. The difference lies entirely in the method and its practice. If only we would learn to breathe properly; the rewards are incalculable! Swami Shivananda believes strongly in the beneficial effects of yogic respiration: ‘The body becomes strong and healthy; excessive fat disappears, the face glows, the eyes are bright and the whole personality radiates a special charm. The voice becomes soft and melodious. The adept is no longer subject to illnesses. The process of digestion is eased, (you will remember how hungry you are after a long walk in the open air). The whole body is purified and the mind improves in its ability to concentrate. Constant practice brings latent spiritual forces to life, and produces happiness and peace.’ Before birth the mother breathes for the child, but the level of carbon dioxide in the blood rises at birth and the respiratory apparatus sets off the first and profound indrawn breath. Inside the thoracic cage the lungs unfold and the first independent action is achieved. From now on the ebb and flow of breathing will set the rhythm for life until the last breath is drawn. In the words of C. L. Schleich, from the moment when the midwife cuts the umbilical cord, the lungs are the placenta which binds man to the cosmic mother. To be alive is to breathe-to breathe is to be alive. Yogis measure by the number of respirations the length of human life. Before we undertake any complicated breathing exercises, let us first learn to breathe well. Rather let us re-learn . . . for we all once knew it in infancy . . . Many things in our lives have changed since then, and

not always for the better, particularly in this matter of breathing, which has often become an incomplete, superficial, gasping, sometimes hasty procedure. This is because we are perpetually tense, wrought up, prey to negative emotions; anxiety, anger and much else. Before we can improve our breathing we must remember that the process existed long before we did- we have nothing to teach it. What we have to do is to prepare ourselves to receive its revitalizing strength by removing any obstacles that might hinder its good effects. Proper breathing depends on our eliminating tension, correcting bad habits, wrong mental and physical attitudes; the moment we get rid of these obstacles it will come into its own and bring us vitality and good health. The corsets of 1900 are no longer in fashion, but there is still more than one item of clothing which prevents us from normal breathingleather belts for men, griddles and brassieres for women. These must be as flexible as possible if they are not to hinder respiration. But the physical obstacles are even more daunting: the hard tense stomach which encumbers every breath, imprisoning the personality; the rib-cages as inflexible as a breast-plate; the diaphragm immobilized by the wind-itself caused by spasms-which has accumulated in the alimentary canal. The first step is to relax all these muscles, which when permanently tense ate designed more successfully than any corset to prevent normal breathing; and this is why relaxation is the open door to yoga.

PRIORITY GIVEN TO EXHALATION In the act of respiration, westerners give precedence to the in-drawing of the breath. Yoga, on the other hand, maintains that all good respiration begins with a slow and complete exhalation, and that this perfect exhalation is an absolute prerequisite of correct and complete inhalation, it cannot be filled. Unless we first breathe out fully it is impossible in correctly. Normal respiration therefore, begins with a slow calm exhalation carried out by relaxing of the inspiratory muscles. The chest is depressed by its own weight, expelling the air. This out breath must be as silent as every other action involved in breathing( you should not hear yourself breathe), and because it is silent, it will also be slow. At the end of the expiration the abdominal muscles help the lungs to empty to their fullest extent, by means of a contraction which expels

the last traces of tainted air. The spongy make-up of the lungs does not allow them to be emptied completely-there is always a residue of impure air in the lungs. We must attempt to minimize this ‘ residue’ because together with the fresh air provided by inhalation it makes up the actual air we breathe. The more complete the exhalation, therefore, the greater the quantity of fresh air to enter the lungs, and so the purer the air in contact with the alveolar surfaces. The total volume of air which the lungs are able to contain is known as ‘the vital capacity’. A more apt term cannot be imagined, and innumerable techniques have been thought up aimed at increasing this capacity. Before we can contemplate this improvement Yoga recognizes three separate forms of breathing: diaphragmatic, intercostals and clavicular. Complete yogic breathing, combines all three, and constitutes the ideal technique. Diaphragmatic Breathing The majority of men breathe in this way. The diaphragm subsides while the breath is being draw in, and the abdominal region swells. This is the least faulty method of breathing. The base of the lungs fills with air, and the rhythmic lowering of the diaphragm produces a constant gentle massage of the whole abdominal content, and helps these organs to function correctly. Intercostal Breathing This is achieved by rising the ribs through dilating the thoracic cage or chest wall like a pair of bellows. It is a form of breathing which fills the middle section of the lungs, allowing less air to enter than in abdominal respiration, and more important, involving far more effort! This is ‘athletic’ respiration. When combined with abdominal breathing it ventilates the lungs satisfactorily.

Clavicular Breathing Air is introduced by rising the collar-bone and shoulders. In this way, only the upper part of the lungs receives any fresh air. It is the least satisfactory method of breathing and is often characteristic of women. Complete Breathing

Complete yogic respiration incorporates all three methods, integrated into one single, full and rhythmic movement. The method is best studied while you are lying on your back; here is a brief description of the various phases: (1) Empty the lungs entirely (2) Slowly lower the diaphragm allowing air to enter the lungs. When the abdomen swells filling the bottom of the lungs with air . . . (3) . . . expand the ribs without straining, then . . . (4) . . . allow the lungs to fill completely by rising the collar-bones. Throughout the procedure, the air should enter in a continuous flow, without gasping. No noise must be made for it is essential to breathe silently. It is of the utmost importance to concentrate the mind entirely upon the action of breathing. When the lungs are completely filled, breathe out, in the same sequence as when inhaling. Now breathe in again in the same way. You may continue for as long as you wish. It should not induce any discomfort or fatigue. You can practice it at any time of day, whenever you think of it, at work, walking, any time; breathe consciously and as completely as possible. Gradually you will acquire the habit of complete respiration, and your method of breathing will improve as you go on. It is essential to reserve daily, for few minutes’ practice, a special time convenient to yourself ( the morning when you wake up is a good time, and so is the evening before going to sleep). Whenever you feel tried, depressed or discouraged do a few complete breathing exercises; your’ fatigue will disappear magically, your mental balance will be re-established and you will set to work again with renewed will. Inspiration like exhalation must be silent, slow, continuous and easy. Do not blow yourself up like a balloon or a tyre. Breathe easily without straining. Remember that the ideal respiration is deep, slow, silent, easy. Those engaged in sedentary work are liable to accumulations of blood or to develop congestion in one organ or another. The slowing down of the bloodstream produces wear and premature ageing in the organism: with complete breathing, the

bloodstream in our organs is prevented from slowing down to the point where it stagnates and degenerates from ‘stream’ into ‘marsh’. One of the most important correlations between deep respiration and circulation is the effect, induced by deep breathing, of suction, of aspiration. The technical reason is given in an example be Dr Fritsche. The large vein continuously pouring blood from the liver into the heart is emptied regularly through suction developed by the lungs in breathing. When the venous blood from the liver fails to circulate freely the liver swells and becomes congested and this has unfortunate repercussions on the circulation of the blood which supplies the alimentary canal, which in turn can cause digestive trouble. Deep, slow breathing is capable of dispersing almost instantaneously this condition of congestion in the liver, for the lungs literally suck up the excess blood accumulated in the liver, and pour it into the right auricle(side of the heart). Moreover the movements made by the diaphragm and thoracic cage have the effect of accelerating the venous circulation throughout the organism. When you breathe in, not only do you inhale air into the lungs but at the same time blood is pumped through every tissue in the body. According to research made by P . Heger, when the lungs are completely filled with air they contain the maximum amount of blood. When, therefore, the diaphragm is depressed and flattened during the first phase of breathing, the inferior vena cava, because its walls are contracting, propels its blood towards the heart. Deep slow breathing is, therefore, a powerful driving force in circulation. The heart is the forcing-pump propelling the blood into the arterial network, while the lungs act as a suction-pump on the venous circulation. Circulation depends upon the correct interaction of these two driving forces. It is the finest tonic of all for the heart. The optimum interchange of gases in the lung, the absorption of oxygen, and the giving off of carbon dioxide are most satisfactory when breathing is deep, complete and slow . according to Walter Michel: ‘If the ventilation of the lungs is not complete, plentiful and slow, the surfaces to be oxygenated suffer in performance, and the fixation of oxygen is incompletely carried out even when ferments are present.’ It is essential for this optimum gaseous interchange that ‘ the venous blood adapt its tension slowly to the alveolar air. . . when alveolar air remains for long in contact with the blood, the maximum degree of union is effected-i.e., after aerated blood had remained for ten to

twenty seconds in the alveoli. The rate of blood circulation and for ten to twenty seconds in the alveoli. The rate of blood circulation and the length of time during which the air remains in the alveoli – in other words the degree of capacity and the method of respiration being used – play an equal part in determining the quantity of the interchanges of gases in the lungs. Through deep inspiration and by retention of the air breathed in, the diffusion surface is increased. The effective surface is also increased, since all the normally inactive alveoli unused in everyday breathing, are brought into service. Thus medical practice is justified in concluding that correct filling of the alveoli is necessary to complete an interchange of the respiratory gases as can be attained. . .’ This illustrates how essential rhythm is in breathing, and especially to what an extent slow breathing affects the respiration of the tissues, which by this simple device, increases more than in any other way the available consumption supply of oxygen throughout the organism. ‘Every organic of functional disorder leading to conditions of illness is susceptible to the influence, if not always the cure , of controlled breathing.’ ‘Potential bronchitic, asthmatic and emphysematic patients are invariably cases who breathe insufficiently’, says Dr Peschier. ‘Controlled respiration is the most outstanding method known to us for increasing organic resistance. Reduce the organic resistance by any means whatsoever and you will see germs, which up to that moment have been non-injurious, now developing into agents of infection [ Pasteur]. There are failures in the use of serotherapy by sulphonamides, as well as by penicillin: ceratin remedies like these have no direct action on the infectious agent. On the other hand, it is known that certain states of the blood or of fluids in the tissues (temperature, density, viscous state or simply pH degree) are enough to destroy an infection without the help of any therapy from outside. ‘There is a natural immunity attributed to an ionic balance in the blood, and dependent upon breathing, which, in acting upon the pH in the tissue-fluids, reacts upon the optimum pH content of the microbe. It confers on the balance of the acid-base a regularity which is reestablished with each breath, allowing the organism to maintain or recover its vital pH. ‘If controlled breathing is not always sufficient to combat infectious illnesses, it at least supports the struggle which rids us of them, and provides the organism with ways of avoiding them.’ The foresight of the yogis who, thousands of years ago, established the rules and methods of ideal breathing is astonishing! They advised us

to breathe as though at our birth we had been allotted a certain number of respirations, and our lives would last until this capital ‘number of respirations’ came to an end. Had we inherited this belief, how careful would we be to breathe slowly. There is no doubt that to breathe is to live. But to breathe slowly is to live long – and to enjoy good health. While it is necessary to practice asanas on an empty stomach, and to wear suitable clothing and choose an appropriate place, controlled breathing may be practiced anywhere, at any time, without attracting the notice of even our most immediate companions! Begin the day with some deep, slow, silent breaths while you lie in bed in the few minutes before you get up . . . and, all through your asana session, breathe in the yogic manner. If you have to walk home from work, breathe for three, finally exhaling it to the count of twelve steps. As a general rule, exhalation should last for twice as long as inspiration, whether or not you hold your breath. You can begin with, say: four steps for inspiration, two for holding the breath, and eight for letting it go. During the day, at work or elsewhere, each time you remember-often, let us hope-take time off for a few deep, complete, slow breaths, and during the evening take a moment off for a shot session of breathing in bed – this will probably lull you to sleep. You may continue to breathe in the same rhythm that you used when walking, but perhaps this time counting the seconds. In this way by an accumulation of short but frequent sessions during the day, you are ensuring for yourself the incalculable advantages of yogic breathing.

We are What We Eat
The Rishis of Ancient India laid down with infinite care the diet which keeps a yogi healthy and young; but the difference in climate and way of life, to say nothing of the food available, is such that in the West it is impossible to follow their precepts to the letter. The practice of yoga without attention to diet will never secure all the results which should be expected of it. Food is the material which builds the body and so we must establish dietary principles which are relevant to Western civilization. But this is not easy, because the various systems are surrounded by a web of argument and contradiction. The following pages will describe those fundamental principles on which almost everyone is agreed. Let us first look at the main faults in our diet. Listen to the German specialist Dr. W . Kollath : ‘Expect for illnesses resulting from accidental causes, poisoning ( by lead, arsenic and so on), extremely virulent micro-organisms, and congenital malformations, most recognized illness stems directly or indirectly from improper feeding.’ In view of the conventional food eaten by the ‘average’ civilized being, it is really surprising that things are not worse. A growing number of people, although they are still in the minority, are aware of the situation. However, it is a mistake to think that reforms in eating are merely concerned with actual food: it is, rather. A whole collection of feeding habits which has to be reviewed. I will list some of the more obvious ones. WE SWALLOW FOOD: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) too fast too hot – or too cold in too great a quantity adulterated, and too rich, but at the same time impoverished.

The first three mistakes are the first to be remedied ; if they are not, then most of the advantages of correct feeding are lost, while in avoiding them, if your diet is still open to discussion, at least some of the disadvantage will have been eliminated. The essential factor lies in the assimilation of food and not in what you swallow. Of course we know our food must be chewed thoroughly, because we were constantly reminded to do so at our primary schools, and this by a master who supervised the dining room, where we bolted with brimming mugs of coffee. Food which has not been properly chewed and so has missed the pre-digestive processes in the mouth, weighs on the stomach and intestines. A yogi chews his food as patiently as a cow in order to extract all the taste; he will masticate until he mouthful liquifies, and then churn it round appreciably with his tongue – after the mucous lining of the nose, the main organ for the absorption of pranic energy. The well-known American dietician, Horace Fletcher , was not an inventor, but his work is worth studying, because he took his thinking farther than any of his predecessors. He is worthy of our respect because he puts his own theories into practice, which other ‘ system-makers sometimes fail to do. Apart from the yogis, none before Fletcher had ever stressed the importance and the need for mastication, in such persuasive and irrefutable terms. Nor had anyone ever given such precise and practical instruction. If food is well chewed, it is half digested ; when Fletcher chews it is three-quarters digested. You must masticate , grind and churn every mouthful. Keep it in the mouth as long as you can, until it finds its way into the oesophagus; do not count the number of your mastication’s! Allow the saliva to act on the food, while you concentrate entirely on the act of eating, on the variety of tastes which arise; you will come to find that food really does taste. Digestion accounts for about sixty per cent of available nervous energy : by assisting in the very complicated work of the alimentary canal you free reserves of energy for other duties, whereas, if you do not chew your food enough, it becomes indigestible, causing digestive troubles and afflicting you with all the consequences of abnormal

metabolism: dyspepsia, obesity or, in the opposite direction, excessive thinness. Well-masticated, and so ‘conditioned’, the food reaches the stomach at an ideal temperature and you cut out the second and third mistakes, because those who eat too fast invariably eat too much. Any excess of even the best food is harmful. Because you will digest more easily you will feel better from your very first attempt to chew in the sensible manner. One proof of the effectiveness of the method lies in evacuation: the stools are well-formed, soft, like damp clay and no longer smell bad: constipation is banished. You are familiar with its pernicious effects: how toxins produced by putrefactive bacteria pass into the blood, poisoning the whole system. Fletcher also requires us to eat only when we are really hungry; sets in (there is all the difference between ‘hunger’ and ‘appetite’, which is only a desire to eat), the simplest dishes become delicious and the taste more subtle, while complicated food loses its attractions. You become an epicure in the real sense, while a glutton finds no real pleasure in even the most refined cooking. Fletcher also says: ‘stop eating as soon as you feel satisfied-do wait until you are replete!’ He advises you to forget any worries and to argue after meals rather than before. The change in you eating habits is a thankless task, which requires patience and perseverance. You must not delude yourself! It is very difficult to get rid of the deeply ingrained habit of eating fast. Many parents are guilty of pressing their children to eat quickly, even promising rewards to the one who finishes first, berating the last to finish with the threat of foregoing his pudding. It is uncomfortable but essential to change the rhythm of chewing. Use the following method: put down your spoon, fork, or bread, place the hands in the lap and chew, with your eyes shut if possible, as an aid to concentration. The first week is the worst, but you will coon find yourself unable to eat in any other manner. Even liquids must be treated in the same way ( soups, milk and so on), even water. Swami Satchidananda says: ‘ you must drink solids and masticate liquids.’ Nevertheless, you must not chew meat for too long as it then acquires a very bad taste: in any case there is no point in

doing so, because meat is digested in the stomach by gastric juice and not by the ptyalin contained in he saliva, which is not the case with starchy food. Keep mastication for your cereal foods.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Today research shows that a person’s success is on 4% dependent on his IQ. Technically sound people with high ‘Emotional Intelligence’ manage and achieve much increasingly easier than low EQ people.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions, as a source of human energy, information, connection and influence. Everything important that happens to us, arouses emotions. They are the primary source of motivation, feedback, personal power, innovation and influence. For the most part, reasoning has its power and value only in the context of emotion. No matter what the product, idea, service, or cause, WE BUY based on feelings and then if possible, we rationalize or justify our choices with numbers and facts. Every great leader must have the capacity to create excitement. This is similar to what is generally called the ability to motivate self and others. When emotions are acknowledged and guided constructively, they enhance intellectual performance. Emotions generated out of expectancy influence performance. (Pygmalion effect.) EMOTIONAL HONESTY: Are you honest with yourself? It takes courage to acknowledge what you feel, especially when it is opposite to whatever your thoughts may be trying to rationalize. There are three forms of truth. Sensory, Rational and intuitive. The most fundamental, essential and deepest is intuitive. Many business leaders call this “gut instinct” or judgment.

Intuition, builds on the foundation of emotional honesty. It requires telling yourself the truth about what you are feeling. Only when you can stay in touch with this inner voice, can you develop a source of knowing beyond your thoughts. LAGUAGE OF EMOTIONS: Emotions are inherently neither good nor bad. It is what we do with the information and energy they produce, that makes the difference. When you report emotions as body sensations, you free yourself from judgements or criticisms of yourselves or others. You simply report it. The emotions feel this way in my body. Moreover, because you can locate it, you can work with it and guide its inherent energy more directly. With practice, you can distinguish between many different emotions and feelings. As we practice feeling our feelings, just as they are, we increase not only our awareness of ourselves, but our trust in ourselves. EMOTIONAL ENERGY: Your first and foremost job as a leader is to take charge of your energy and then help orchestrates the energy of those around you. -Peter Drucker. There is one time when it is wise not to trust what you feel. When your tense, tired, stressed, hungry etc., feelings cannot be trusted. Small problems seem major and a minutes delay looks very long. At these times when we are required to work – how open, adaptable, curious, empathetic, truthful or trusting are we? Most exceptional leaders and creative pioneers have found ways to capture and focus their emotional energy. Even if they are not good communicators in the conventional sense, there is energy in their voice, in their face, eyes and body language. People realize that here is someone who believes what he says. TENSE ENERGY: High tension and high energy- mood of excitement and power from hectic work schedule. If persisted with, we fail to pay attention to our needs, or other people or other projects. Suddenly ends in exhaustion or burnout. CALM ENERGY: Low tension and high energy. A state most of us do not experience often enough. Mental and physical reserves are high with calm energy. Here we have best combination of healthy vitality and increased creative intelligence. Relaxed

alertness with mental or emotional overdrive(5th gear) less struggle, wear and tear. TENSE TIREDNESS: High tension - low energy. State of high tiredness mixed with nervousness, tension or anxiety. Not pleasant, leads to undesirable moods that lead to depression, low selfesteem, negative thought patterns etc. CALM TIREDNESS: Low tension and low energy. Generally a pleasant state when you feel like letting go or unwinding with TV or a book, or quiet music. Thought patterns are generally free from problems, major or minor. This is a healthy state for unwinding at end of the day or after a challenging work schedule. GETTING STARTED Being real and true to yourself, builds personal power, including self awareness, inner guidance, respect, responsibility and connection. MORNING NOTES: For next 21 days- spend 5 minutes first thing in the morning writing- not typing or computer – writing your feelings. First sit quietly, listen deeply- then get out of your head to your heart and do emotionally honest writing- no wrong way – write what you feel. Tired, anxious about a meeting during the dayexcited about something- write about your work – your houseyour loved ones- for your eyes only. Do not judge yourself or worry about what others will think if they knew your feelings. Whatever comes up is real – put it down – do not edit. BENEFITS: From time to time you will get a creative break through or some deep insight into self or others- or become clearer about questions to ask. You will begin to understand your ‘EMOTIONAL BUTTONS’. Issues that make you angry or off balance instantly and the deeper feelings or concerns hidden beneath. You will begin to understand your own unique emotional make up, your strengths and vulnerabilities. EMOTIONAL LOG OR DAILY JOURNAL- daily jot down 3 to 4 times a day your emotional reactions to various situations

and opportunities. This is a powerful awareness building techniques, used successfully by many leaders and professionals – review at end of day to reflect and identify areas you can approach differently in future. Daily review helps to reflects and identify areas to approach differently in future. Helps increase emotional intelligence dramatically very fast. And your performance in your studies and day-to-day life. It helps you to cope up with your difficult situations. It makes you to understand yourself better.

Build up your

Vocabulary
We have been told again and again that people in top positions in different spheres of life have superior vocabularies. Unfortunately very few people, after they have left school or college, ever bother to increase their vocabulary. But those who are keen on rising in the social or economic scale take the trouble regularly to add new words to their vocabularies. How? By taking courses on vocabulary development? No. Very few persons have the time or energy to do so regularly. By learning a fixed number of words daily form a dictionary or vocabulary building book? No. They Find that what they learn quickly, forget quickly too. We should vocabulary: remember that each of us has three kids of

1.Active vocabulary. These words we usually use in speech.

2.Reserve vocabulary: These words we know but seldom use in talking. We use them in writing, and recall their meaning when we recognize them in our reading. 3. Passive vocabulary : these words we know but we do not use them any more in speech or writing . They sunk into the subconscious mind. They may also be the words we recognize vaguely when reading, but are not sure of meaning . To become an efficient reader you must be able to recognize thousands of words . Failure to know a word makes you hesitate and lessens your speed and comprehension. Here are some ways to increase your vocabulary: 1.Read the daily newspaper or magazine, like the most popular one , namely, the Reader’s digest. And note down in a small notebook one or two words you do not know. Take down the sentence in which they occur so as to get the context in which they were used. Then sometimes during the day or in the evening look up their meaning in a good dictionary. Then try to frame your own sentence with these words, and on first occasion try to introduce them naturally into conversation. Each review the words noted down in your notebook and repeated daily. During the month, especially at the end of the month, make a general review of all the words learnt in that month. The reader’s digest is highly recommended, not only because of its interesting and up-to-date articles, but also because of the wide variety of subject covered in the articles. This helps you to pick wide variety of words connected with different subject as history, geography, Civics, politics, management, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, biochemistry, medicine, sociology, ecology, agriculture, travel, communication, and many others. Besides reading the newspaper and good magazines, you should keep up the habit of regularly reading the classics in prose, poetry, and drama. The writers of classics give us not only food for thought, but also a expressive use of words. They are sensitive to the different shades and meaning, and so choose extremely picturesque vocabulary. Shakespeare is one of the best.

2.Get to know the prefixes and suffixes: 3. Learn the Roots of words: 4. Play WORD GAMES like scrabble: word making form one word given e.g. VOCABULARY, EXBHITION, this makes passive vocabulary active. 5. Become WORD-CONCIOUS: develop a strange idea to increase you vocabulary. 6.learn words in categories and group them accordingly. To improve your vocabulary you can invent no. of games you can play with your fellow beings. The last chapter of this book is a list of games that you can play to develop constructive attitudes and healthy state of mind in your studies as well as in your active life. 1. Compared to what ought to be we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part Of our physical and mental resources. -William James. 2. Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. - Erich Fromm 3. True happiness involves the full use of one’s powers and talents. - J.W.Gardner: self-Renewal & The-innovative society. 4. What a man can be he must be. - A.H.Maslow: Motivation & Personality 5. It is more than probable that the average individual, without any injury to his health, can increase his efficiency 50%. - Walter Dill Scott President of Northeastern University

6. the mainspring of creativity is the individual’s tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities. - Carl Rogers: On Becoming a Person 7. Every man knows how to read, has it in himself: to magnify himself; to multiply the ways in which he exists; to make his life full, significant, interesting. - Aldous Huxley 8. A wise man makes more opportunities than he finds. - Francis Bacon 9. Every obstacle can be an opportunity. Dr. Robert Schuller 10. You open doors when you open books - Wilfred A.Peterson:The art of Living 11. Read to lead, read to grow. - Wilfred A.Peterson:The art of Living 12. Read with your mind instead of only with your eyes. - Harry lorayne 13. Some books are to tasted, others to be swallowed, some few to be chewed and digested. - Farncis Bacon: Easays: Of studies 14. Knowledge is power only if put to use. - Harry Lorayne. 15. Action makes dreams come true. - Glenn Bland 16. Nothing worthwhile

just came by chance. - J.Oss: A winning Personality 17. Ninety per cent of the failures in life come from people who have the habit of making excuses. - Geroge Washington Carver. 18. Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety- nine per cent perspiration. - Thomas A.Edison. 19. We live in a marvelous age. Live in it? Too many of us just exist in it. - Martin Panzer: How to Develop a Winning Personality 20. Learn as if you were to live forever; Live as if you were to die tomorrow. - Mahatma Gandhi 21. The most tremendous experience of life is the learning process. The saddest time is when a person thinks That he has learned enough. - Charles Jones: Life is Tremendous

22. You will be the same in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read. Leaders are readers. - Charles Jones: Life is Tremendous 23. There’s only one corner of the world you can be certain of improving, and that’s your ownself. - Aldous Huxley 24. If you wait for perfect conditions,

you will never get anything done. - Ecclesiasticus 25. Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes furthest is generally the one Who is willing to do and dare! - Dorothy Carnegie 26. A man is what e thinks about all day long. - Emerson

27. A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it. - Marcus Aurelius 28. As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. - Proverbs 29. The mind is its own place, And in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. - Milton 30. The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. - William James: Talks to Teachers 31. Men fell disturbed not by things but by the view which they have of them. - Epictetus

32. Every man who has risen above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers; the second, more important, from himself. - Edward Gibbons: Autobiography 33. The tombstones of a great many people should read –

“DIED AT 30, BURIED AT 60!” - Nicolas Murray Butler 34. The saddest words of tongue or pen are these – it might have been. - John Greenleaf Whittier 35. It is no exaggeration to say that a strong positive selfimage is the best possible preparation for success in life. - Dr. Joyce Brothers 36. A good self- image is the most valuable psychological possession of a human being. - John Powell: Fully Human, Fully Alive 37. So long as a man is capable of self-renewal, he is a living being. - Jemro Frederic Auriel: Journal In time 38. We want learning professors, not learned ones. He who does not read is no better than he who cannot. - Dr. Thangaraj : American College, Madurai 39. The size of a person’s world is the size of his or her heart. - John Powell 40. He who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints - Joan I. Brannon 41. The journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. - A Chinese Proverb

42. A little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men. -Anon

43. The best talkers are the best listeners. Learn to listen. - F.Oss: A Winning Personality 44. I’m sure I have a noble mind And honesty and tact. And no one’s more surprised than I To see the way I act! - Rebecca McCann: Inconsistency 45. Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. - Shakespeare: Twelfth Night 46. Plain living and high thinking are no more. Wordsworth: National Independence 47. One by one the sands are flowing, One by one the moments fall; Some are coming, Some are going, Do not strive to grasp them all. Adelaide Proctor: One by One 48. What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind. T.H.Key 49. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. W. H. Davies: Leisure 50. Only the stupid are satisfied with what they know. Anon 51. Two men looked through the prison bars: One saw mud, and the other stars F.Langbridge

52. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Santayana: Life of Reason 53. It is better to wear out than to rust out. Richard Cumberland 54. Minds are like parachutes: they only function when open. T.R. Dewar 55. Nothing is particularly hard, if you divide it into small jobs. Henry ford 56. I slept and dreamed that life was Beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty. Ellen S.Hooper: Beauty and Duty 57. Speaking generally, the human individual possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. William James: Talks to Teachers 58. There are four sorts of men: He who knows not and knows not he knows not, He is a fool – shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not, He is simple – teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows, He is asleep – wake him. He who knows and knows he knows, He is wise – follow him. Lady burton in life of Sir Richard burton 59. Never run after a bus, a woman, or an educational theory, because soon there’ll be another coming along. Anon 60. The measure of a life is not in its duration, but in its donation. Anon

61. The test of education is not what man knows, but what he is. Cardinal John H. Newman 62. You cannot teach a child to take care of himself unless you let him try to take care of himself. He will make mistakes; And out of these mistakes will come his wisdom. H.W.Beecher 63. A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar. Benjamin Franklin 64. Some essential qualities like moral principles, are caught and not taught. Anon 65. Four things come not back – the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, the neglected opportunities. A Persian proverb 66. I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act. G. K. Chesterton 67. Use three physicians: First, Doctor Quiet; Then, Doctor Merryman, And then, Doctor Diet. 68. What we learn with pleasure, we never forget. A.Mercier 69. The optimist fell ten storeys, And at each window bar, He shouted to his friends, “All right so far!” R.W.Trine

70. Not failure, but low aim, is crime. J. R. Lowell 71. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. Anon

72. Frowning is hard work. It takes 64 muscles of the face to make a frown, and only 13 to make a smile. Anon 73. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Fr. J . Keller 74. In music there are no unimportant notes; just as in life there are no unimportant people. Sir Malcolm Sarjeant 75. To care is to share. Anon 76. Sitting still and wishing Makes no person great; The good Lord sends the fishing, But you must dig the bait. Anon 77. Give to the world the best you have, And the best will come back to you. Anon 78. Only the best is good enough for me. Arnold Bennett 79. Most failures are not due to lack of LUCK, but to lack of PLUCK. Dr. Arty Pereira 80. Failure is the line of least resistance. Real failure comes only when we forget our ideals, objectives,

and begin to wander away from the road which leads to their realization. Jawaharlal Nehru 81. He who laughs – lasts. Anon 82. Strong men are made by opposition; like kites they go against the wind to rise. Frank Hern

83. Nothing is ever accomplished by a committee, unless it consists of three members: one of whom happens to; be sick, and another absent. Hendrick Van Leon 84. a woman looks at a secret two ways: either it is not worth keeping, or it is good to keep. Anon 85. There are many damns on the Nile. Anon 86. Men are what their mothers make them. Emerson 87. Well arranged time is surest mark of a well arranged mind. Pitman 88. I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. Alexander the Great 89. A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence ends. Henry Adams

90. The difference between stumbling blocks and steppingstones is the way you use them. Anon