Yoga of Perfect Sight

How to Concentrate

To remember the letter O of fine print continuously and without effort proceed as follows:

Imagine a little black spot on the righthand side of the O blacker than the rest of the letter; then imagine a similar spot on the lefthand side. Shift the attention from the righthand spot to the left, and observe that every time you think of the left spot the O appears to move to the right, and every time you think of the right one it appears to move to the left. This motion, when the shifting is done properly, is very short, less than the width of the letter. Later you may become able to imagine the O without conscious shifting and swinging, but whenever the attention is directed to the matter these things will be noticed.

Now do the same thing with a letter on the test card. If the shifting is normal, it will be noted that the letter can be regarded indefinitely, and that it appears to have a slight motion.

To demonstrate that the attempt to concentrate spoils the memory, or imagination, and the vision:

Try to think continuously of a spot on one part of an imagined letter. The spot and the whole letter will soon disappear. Or try to imagine the whole letter, equally black and distinct at one time; this will be found to be even more difficult.

Do the same with a letter on the test card. The results will be the same.