The idea of Concentration by Vivekananda

It is only when the mind is very calm and collected that the whole of its energy is spent in doing good work. And if you read the lives of the great workers which the world has produced, you will find that they were wonderfully calm men.

Education is not filling the mind with a lot of facts. Perfecting the instrument and getting complete mastery of my own mind[is the ideal of education]. If I want to concentrate my mind upon a point, it goes there, and the moment I call, it is free[again].

We who cannot for a moment govern our own minds, nay, cannot for a moment govern our own minds on a subject, focus it on a point to the exclusion of everything else for a moment! Yet we call ourselves free. Think of it!

Raja-Yoga is the science which teaches us how to gain the power of concentration.

In making money, or in worshipping God, or in doing anything, the stronger the power of concentration, the better will that thing be done.

The purer the mind, the easier it is to control. Purity of the mind must be insisted upon if you would control it.

The danger of concentrating the mind upon an object and then being unable to detach at will. This state causes great suffering. Almost all our suffering is caused by our not having the power of detachment.

Side by side, in the child, should be developed the power of concentration and detachment.

Regular breathing puts the body in a harmonious condition; and it is then easier to reach the mind… Simple breathing is all that is necessary in that line… In this way we get control of the body, and then we begin to feel the finer working of the body, the finer and more interior, and so on till we reach the mind… Thus, the mind brought under control.