Want To Be Successful In Your Life ? Improve Your Memory...

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Want To Be Successful in Your Life ? Improve Your Memory

When the famous saint, Swami Vivekananda, was living in Chicago, USA, he used to go to the library, borrow large volumes of books, take them home and return them the next day. After some time the librarian became curious and asked him, "Why do you take out so many books when you can't possibly read them all in one day?" Swami Vivekananda replied that he read each and every page of every book. The librarian could not believe it, and so Swami Vivekananda asked her to test him. She opened a book, selected a page and paragraph, and asked him to tell her what was written there. Swami Vivekananda repeated the sentence exactly as it was written in the book, without looking at it. The librarian was astounded and did more tests. Each time Swami Vivekananda repeated the exact words written in the book.

Later the librarian discovered that Swami Vivekananda had a photographic memory. He did not have to read books. His eyes, his mind, would capture the image on the page, and whenever he wished, he could just recall a book, a page, a sentence. That was the capacity of his brain and mind. How did he develop this capacity? He did not have it when he was ordinary Narendra, before he became Swami Vivekananda. His life story tells us that he had many difficulties and problems in his early life. Yet when he started to practise yoga with sincerity, he was able to develop that quality of the brain known as photographic memory.

Exams, memory and concentration

Students often ask how to develop concentration, how to face exams without getting nervous, and how to memorise. One of the faculties of mind is memory, another is intellect and another is understanding. Intellect, memory and understanding are the three faculties that students have to manage. In the past people have thought a lot about how to improve the quality of the body and mind. The yoga techniques were devised in accordance with the natural laws of the body.

Let me share few important techniques with you all :

What is Trataka ?

Trataka is the most effective practice for developing concentration. During exam time, if you do five minutes before you begin your studies, you will find it very useful.

Light a candle and place it so that the flame is at eye level. Look straight at the flame without blinking the eyes for half a minute, or as long as you are able to keep your eyes open. When you feel the need, close your eyes and see the afterimage of the flame in front of the closed eyes. When the after image disappears, the screen in the forehead becomes black. Then open the eyes and again look at the flame without blinking the eyes. Whenever you close your eyes, you will see the afterimage of the flame, and you look at that. You will find that the image moves, it won't remain static. Sometimes it will move up, to the left, to the right, or down, it will keep moving. So you have to make an effort to hold that image fixed at one point and not allow it to move.

Do this for five minutes before going to sleep and before you begin your studies. In a couple of days you will find you are able to memorise and retain whatever you read more easily. This practice develops mental concentration. It is most important for success in studies.

Besides this technique there are other techniques to improve your memory. They are Pranayam and Surya Namaskar. But as the above technique is simple and most effective, I recommend members to follow it rather than getting into complex yogic postures.

The 4 Steps of Memorising : Shravan, Manan, Nididhyas and Sakshatkar

1. Shravan : To listen to a lecture through the ears, is known as Shravan.

2. Manan : Then, after hearing the lecture, to mentally think over it, and to discard parts of the talk which are not needed and to retain the parts of the talk which are useful, is known as Manan.

3. Nididhyas : Then, after having mentally retained the lecture with conviction that it is true, the practice of continuously recalling the lecture day and night is known as Nididhyãs.

4. Sakshatkar : Finally, when that lecture is recalled exactly as it was, with absolute clarity and sincerity, it is known as Sãkshãtkãr.

This step also applies to reading a book.

Thus, by following Tratak and implementing the 4 steps of memorizing, you will develop a very good memory.

Before bidding goodbye, let me remind you about the reason of Swami Vivekananda developing a photographic memory. The sole reason is his following of Brahmacharya i.e vow of celibacy…

Brahmacharya is accompanied with the betterment of all mental faculties. Further to a year of unbroken Brahmacharya, the mind becomes calmer and possessed of much focus and concentration. Veerya (semen) which is transmuted gives sustained mental ability and determination. Memory and grasping power will improve as compared to earlier. The longer one practices Brahmacharya, the better are the results. With every year of progress, the merits become more noticeable. Further to 12 years of honest and unbroken practice with devotion towards God and meditation, ‘Medha Nâdi’ (a special astral energy channel) is formed in the brain which gives photographic memory and an excellent understanding of any subject that the aspirant wishes to know. Celibacy is thus the most direct path to superlative mental faculties…

I hope you liked this article !

Warm Regards,

Veeral Gandhi

Replies (16)

Deepak kumar sharma

Govt. job

2946 Points Joined February 2012

Originally posted by : Veeral Gandhi
	Later the librarian discovered that Swami Vivekananda had a photographic memory. He did not have to read books. His eyes, his mind, would capture the image on the page, and whenever he wished, he could just recall a book, a page, a sentence. That was the capacity of his brain and mind. he started to practise yoga with sincerity, he was able to develop that quality of the brain known as photographic memory.

Thanks sir for your article. I have already read everything you mentioned here. But never tried to follow.

It seems very hard to have patience like swami ji. Because the distractions have increased very much in the present age of science.

Photographic memory may be useful in Exams if someone get it. Otherwise Laptop, smartphone, scannar, camera etc. are very helpful. We have become so dependant on tech. that we have forgotton our own capacities and abilities. I used to remember all of my friends and relatives mobile nos. 5 years before when i didn't have a mobile. Now i don't remember more than 10.

Guest

Deepak, developing a photographic memory is not very easy, I too understand, as it comes after a longer practice of Brahmacharya (celibacy), which is itself an uphill task ! Such powers are developed only by patience and self-discipline. Till the time we develop such powers, it is better to stick to above mentioned techniques like Tratak and steps for memorising.

Ankur S Kumar

204 Points Joined April 2012

Quite an informative article... Thanks for sharing...

Guest

Types of Human Memory

Guest

Once a memory is created, it must be stored (no matter how briefly).

Many experts think there are three ways we store memories: first in the sensory stage; then in short-term memory; and ultimately, for some memories, in long-term memory.

Because there is no need for us to maintain everything in our brain, the different stages of human memory function as a sort of filter that helps to protect us from the flood of information that we're confronted with on a daily basis.

Sensory memory : The creation of a memory begins with its perception: The registration of information during perception occurs in the brief sensory stage that usually lasts only a fraction of a second. It's your sensory memory that allows a perception such as a visual pattern, a sound, or a touch to linger for a brief moment after the stimulation is over.

Short term memory : After that first flicker, the sensation is stored in short-term memory. Short-term memory has a fairly limited capacity; it can hold about seven items for no more than 20 or 30 seconds at a time. You may be able to increase this capacity somewhat by using various memory strategies. For example, a ten-digit number such as 8005840392 may be too much for your short-term memory to hold. But divided into chunks, as in a telephone number, 800-584-0392 may actually stay in your short-term memory long enough for you to dial the telephone. Likewise, by repeating the number to yourself, you can keep resetting the short-term memory clock.

Long term memory : Important information is gradually transferred from short-term memory into long-term memory. The more the information is repeated or used, the more likely it is to eventually end up in long-term memory, or to be "retained." (That's why studying helps people to perform better on tests.) Unlike sensory and short-term memory, which are limited and decay rapidly, long-term memory can store unlimited amounts of information indefinitely.

People tend to more easily store material on subjects that they already know something about, since the information has more meaning to them and can be mentally connected to related information that is already stored in their long-term memory. That's why someone who has an average memory may be able to remember a greater depth of information about one particular subject.

Most people think of long-term memory when they think of "memory" itself -- but most experts believe information must first pass through sensory and short-term memory before it can be stored as a long-term memory.

Guest

Mr. Gandhi, rightly said about the memory, but do also tell them the way to DE-memorize the things, without which the whole program is not worth, from my personal experience am saying this, I got near photographic memory I never read more then once for any subject, it stays inside me for ever, but it sometime cause so much hindrance while communicating with people around you, and you tend to miss to enjoy this world, as your brain will be always be alert for the new things, these are my personal views.

Guest

Thanks for your comments Suraj, but I really don't know what do you mean by 'dememorizing' in this context ! I just know that this terminology is used in Computer science. If you know something about it, then please shed some light on it.

Guest

De-memorize isn't correct word to use, but , What I meant was , when you try to increase the power of memory , by any means, by any method, it becomes your habit, that habit which does not distinguish between bad or good, it will just store it in brain, in long run it is too dangerous a thing, so it is important to increase the level of alertness to the point where it can analyze before storing it or you will require an additional level of training on “How to Forget things which, you remember to forget but not really able to forget” - these are purely my experiments.

To write further on this subject matter , I think it is out of scope of this platform,

nilam

surat

22 Points Joined October 2012

mr viral main tratka roj karta hu isme kitne dare lagegi memory enrzised karne k liya

Ankur S Kumar

204 Points Joined April 2012

Originally posted by : nilam
	mr viral main tratka roj karta hu isme kitne dare lagegi memory enrzised karne k liya

Nilam ji, tratak se focus badhata hai aur focussed rehne se, memory badhati hai. Yeh prakriya karne se kabhi labh hoga vah fixed nahi hai. It all depends upon person to person. But one thing is certain that your memory will start increasing slowly the day you start Tratak. Best of luck.

Suman

senior software engineer

21 Points Joined June 2015

Hi,

Kindly tell me how did you develop almost photographic memory.I want to have photographic memory.For that I am ready to follow all possible instructions.

Kindly revert back.