Amidst
showers of bullets, and dying soldiers, Napoleon's mind was absorbed
in mathematics. Not that I say that Napoleon's concentration was of
the highest. We know examples of higher kinds of concentration, but
I wanted you to see how great his concentration was. Of Caliph Omar
too, it is said that in the midst of a battle, when it was time for namaz,
he would draw in his thoughts and, kneeling in the battle-field,
would begin to pray; his concentration was such that he did not even
know whose men were mowed down. If Islam spread far and wide it was
because of the devotion to God and one-pointedness of the early
Mussalmans.
6. The other day I heard a story.
There was a fakir. An arrow had entered his body. The pain was
unbearable. But any attempt to pull the arrow out would make it
worse. They didn't know of chloroform or other anaesthetics in those
days. It was a difficult situation. Some people who knew him came
forward and said, "Don't try to pull out the arrow now. It will
be easy to do so when he is at prayer." The time came for namaz.
The fakir settled down to pray. In a moment his mind became
one-pointed, and he did not know that the arrow was pulled out.
Look at the power of concentration! |
