20. How Does the Soul Find Its True Essence?

How many people, one might almost say all people, complain of a weak memory, of a declining memory at a certain age! If we were to consider the connection between attention and memory at the right time, things would be better. We can say the following to all people: the more a person strives to develop the power of attention, that is, to repeatedly focus their interest on individual facts of life, the more they concentrate their soul on attention through inner effort, the stronger their memory and power of recollection become. Not only do we remember more easily what we have paid attention to, but the power of memory, the power of recollection, becomes stronger the more we are taught or teach ourselves to develop the activity of attention again and again. Activity and ability are related here. Not only is it very easy to observe in life that we remember more easily what we have paid attention to, but the development of the activity of attention also strengthens the power of memory. That is one thing.