In *The Power of Concentration (Unabridged)*, William Walker Atkinson presents concentration as a trainable faculty through which attention, will, memory, and purposeful action may be disciplined. Organized in a progressive, lesson-like form, the book combines practical exercises—such as focused observation, mental imagery, and sustained attention—with exhortations toward self-command and constructive thought. Its direct, instructional prose, characteristic of early twentieth-century New Thought literature, joins psychological vocabulary to spiritual and metaphysical assumptions, reflecting an era fascinated by self-culture, personal efficiency, and the hidden capacities of mind. Rather than treating concentration as mere intellectual effort, Atkinson frames it as the foundation of character and achievement. Atkinson (1862–1932), a prolific American writer associated with New Thought, wrote under his own name and several pseudonyms, including Yogi Ramacharaka and Theron Q. Dumont. His work emerged from the period's overlapping interests in mental healing, occult philosophy, Eastern religious ideas as they were then interpreted in the West, and the practical psychology of success. This intellectual milieu helps explain the book's synthesis of spiritual aspiration and systematic self-training: Atkinson seeks to translate broad metaphysical ideals into repeatable daily practices. The book is recommended to readers interested in the history of self-help, New Thought, esoteric psychology, and theories of attention. It is especially valuable when read both as a practical manual of mental discipline and as a cultural document revealing how modern notions of personal transformation were formed.
The Power of Concentration (Unabridged) : Practical Exercises in Mental Discipline, Memory, Willpower, Habit Formation, and Self-Mastery
Écrit par William Walker Atkinson
