"Mental Efficiency And Other Hints to Men and Women"

After writing comes thinking. (The sequence may be considered odd, but I adhere to it.) In this connexion I cannot do better than quote an admirable letter which I have received from a correspondent who wishes to be known only as " An Oxford Lecturer."

The italics (except the last) are mine, not his. He says: " Till a man has got his physical brain completely under his control -- suppressing its too-great receptivity, its tendencies to reproduce idly the thoughts of others, and to be swayed by every passing gust of emotion -- I hold that he cannot do a tenth part of the work that he would then be able to perform with little or no effort.

Moreover, work apart, he has not entered upon his kingdom, and unlimited possibilities of future development are barred to him. Mental efficiency can be gained by constant practice in meditation -- i. e., by concentrating the mind, say, for but ten minutes daily, but with absolute regularity, on some of the highest thoughts of which it is capable.

Failures will be frequent, but they must be regarded with simple indifference and dogged perseverance in the path chosen.

If that path be followed without intermission even for a few weeks the results will speak for themselves." I thoroughly agree with what this correspondent says, and am obliged to him for having so ably stated the case.

But I regard such a practice of meditation as he indicates as being rather an advanced exercise for a beginner.

After the beginner has got under way, and gained a little confidence in his strength of purpose, and acquired the skill to define his thoughts sufficiently to write them down then it would be time enough, in my view, to under- take what " An Oxford Lecturer " suggests.

By the way, he highly recommends Mrs. Annie Besant's book, Thought Power: Its Control and Culture. He says that it treats the subject with scientific clearness, and gives a practical method of training the mind. I endorse the latter part of the statement.

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