Hazrat Inayat Khan continues with his explanation of the memory. The previous post in the series is here.

Sometimes memory is weakened by too great a strain put upon it. When one tries to remember, this puts a strain upon a process that is natural. It is the nature of memory to remember; but when you put a strain upon it that it must remember, then it will forget. The very fact that you have strained it will make it forget. One must not try to impress one’s mind more deeply than it naturally becomes impressed. One’s attention is quite enough. Will power must not be used to remember things. It is a wrong method that people are applying at present when they say that in order to remember things, one must will it. By willing it, one weakens the memory. Besides, a balance between activity and repose is necessary.

Memory is never lost. What happens is that, when the mind is upset, then the memory becomes blurred. It is the stillness of the mind that makes one capable of distinguishing all that one’s memory contains. When the mind is upset, when a person is not tranquil, then naturally – in spite of all the record the memory has – one is not able to read it. It is not true that memory gives away what is stored in it. It is only man who loses the rhythm of his life by over-excitement, nervousness, weakness of nerves, anxiety, worry, fear, confusion. It is that which causes a kind of turmoil in the mind, and one cannot distinctly find the things that were once recorded in the memory. One need not work with one’s memory in order to make it clear. What is required is to make oneself tranquil, rhythmical and peaceful in order to make the memory distinct.

Question: Should one then not use the brain when trying to remember something?

Answer: It is not necessary to use the brain when trying to remember something because by using the brain, one only strains it. The memory is at the command of the person. If he wants to know about something instantly, without his straining the brain, then it must come. It is an automatic mechanism and it must bring before him automatically all that he wishes to know.

Question: What should a person do who cannot easily learn by heart?

Answer: He should make his mind tranquil. This is the first thing. It is the mental way of making memory better. A physical way of making the memory better is to eat less and sleep normally. One should not work too much, not worry very much, and keep all anxiety and fear away.

To be continued…