In the chapter "The Disciplines of Salvation" in his book "Lectures on Ancient ..." Hall talks about the three methods of the Pythagorean school used in achieving illumination; namely, observation, discrimination, and lastly, concentration. This blurb is about the latter.
"Having discovered the purpose of life through observation and discrimination, man consummates that purpose through concentration of his faculties upon that single end. To concentrate means simply to focalize all the energies upon an appointed task. The mental activities of most people are scattered like spray when they are confronted by the solid wall of that which is to be known ....
Philosophy assures its disciples that when man through discrimination has discovered the desired end and is willing to sacrifice every other interest to the attainment of that end, he will ultimately arrive at indissoluble union with the object of his desire ....
If the mind can be deflected from its goal by the phantasm of surroundings, it is incapable of concentration ....
We should never concentrate upon any desired end until discrimination has revealed it to be the supreme ideal; for the universe avenges itself for the misuse of its agencies .... The ultimate ideal of concentration is attained when all the external parts are turned inward toward the contemplation of Self."
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