ntion, in earnest, and shows what practice
will do to develop a faculty. The result was shown by the wonderful
powers of observation, memory and attention, together with instantaneous
mental action, that the boy developed. Not only was he able to add
dominoes instantaneously, but he had powers of observation, etc., that
seemed little short of miraculous. And yet it is related that he had poor
attention, and deficient memory to begin with.

If this seems incredible, let us remember how old whist players note and
remember every card in the pack, and can tell whether they have been
played or not, and all the circumstances attending upon them. The same is
true of chess players, who observe every move and can relate the whole
game in detail long after it has been played. And remember, also, how
one woman may pass another woman on the street, and without seeming to
give her more than a careless glance, may be able to relate in detail
every feature of the other woman's apparel, including its color, texture,
style of fashioning, probable price of the material, etc., etc. And a
mere man would have noticed scarcely anything about it--because he would
not have given it any attention. But how soon would that man learn to
equal his sister in attention and observation of women's wearing apparel,
if his business success depended upon it, or if his speculative instinct
was called into play by a wager with some friend as to who could remember
the most about a woman's clothing, seen in a passing glance? You see it
is all a matter of Interest and Attention.

But we forget that the Attention may be developed and cultivated, and we
complain that we "cannot remember things," or that we do not seem to be
able to "take notice." A little practice will do wonders in this
direction.

Now, while the above exercises will develop your memory and powers of
observation, still that is not the main reason that we have given them to
you. We have an ulterior object, that will appear in time. We aim to
develop your Will-power, and we know that Attention stands at the gate of
Will-power. In order to be able to use your Will, you must be able to
focus the Attention forcibly and distinctly. And these childish exercises
will help you to develop the mental muscles of the Attention. If you
could but realize the childish games the young Yogi students are required
to play, in order to develop the mental faculties, you would change your
minds about the Yogi Adept