6.3 The Track of the Fish

Be it folly or wisdom, I must concentrate on some part of this world. Few men have the inclination and power to ignore it altogether. I must decide to pay attention to this thing or idea rather than that. For this purpose it is the little fish of attention that I have to control.

Put this matter to yourself. You want the fish to (1) swim in the direction you have chosen, and (2) extend and improve its range of vision, its ability to present before you fully and clearly the events with which it meets as it travels through the world of thought. The concentration practiced already will have improved its vision; now we have to deal with its power to travel. As the attention passes from object to object in this mental scene it finds no limit; its horizon for ever recedes as it approaches it.