Latest / THE SECRET LAW OF ATTRACTION: Manifest Wealth, Success & Abundance / THE INNER CONSCIOUSNESS: Hidden Powers of the Mind, Intuition & Subconscious Thought — William Walker Atkinson

Transcript

THE INNER CONSCIOUSNESS: Hidden Powers of the Mind, Intuition & Subconscious Thought — William Walker Atkinson · THE SECRET LAW OF ATTRACTION: Manifest Wealth, Success & Abundance

0:00
Speaker 1: The Inner Consciousness. A course of lessons on the inner
0:04
Speaker 1: planes of the mind, intuition, instinct, automatic mentation and other
0:08
Speaker 1: wonderful phases of mental phenomena. William Walker Atkinson, 1908. Lesson 1.
0:17
Speaker 1: Inner Consciousness. It was formerly taught in the schools that
0:20
Speaker 1: all of the mind of an individual was comprised within
0:23
Speaker 1: the limits of ordinary consciousness. but for many years this
0:26
Speaker 1: old idea has been gradually superseded by more advanced conceptions.
0:31
Speaker 1: Leibniz was one of the first to advance the newer idea,
0:34
Speaker 1: and to promulgate the doctrine that there were mental energies
0:36
Speaker 1: and activities manifesting on a plane of mind outside of
0:39
Speaker 1: the field of ordinary consciousness. From his time psychologists have taught,
0:45
Speaker 1: more and more forcibly, that much of our mental work
0:48
Speaker 1: is performed outside of the ordinary field of consciousness. And,
0:52
Speaker 1: at the present time, the idea of an inner consciousness
0:55
Speaker 1: is generally accepted among psychologists. Lewis says, The teaching of
1:01
Speaker 1: most modern psychologists is that consciousness forms but a small
1:04
Speaker 1: item in the total of physical processes. Unconscious sensations, ideas
1:09
Speaker 1: and judgments are made to play a great part in
1:12
Speaker 1: their explanations. It is very certain that in every conscious volition,
1:17
Speaker 1: every act that is so characterized, the larger part of
1:20
Speaker 1: it is quite unconscious. It is equally certain that in
1:24
Speaker 1: every perception there are unconscious processes of reproduction and inference,
1:28
Speaker 1: there is a middle distance of subconsciousness, and a background
1:31
Speaker 1: of unconsciousness. And Sir William Hamilton states, I do not
1:36
Speaker 1: hesitate to affirm that what we are conscious of is
1:38
Speaker 1: constructed out of what we are not conscious of. That
1:42
Speaker 1: our whole knowledge in fact is made up of the
1:44
Speaker 1: unknown and incognizable. The sphere of our consciousness is only
1:48
Speaker 1: a small circle in the center of a far wider
1:51
Speaker 1: sphere of action and passion, of which we are only
1:53
Speaker 1: conscious through its effects. And Tain has said in connection
1:57
Speaker 1: with the same thought, mental events imperceptible to consciousness are
2:01
Speaker 1: far more numerous than the others, and of the world
2:03
Speaker 1: which makes up our being we only perceive the highest points.
2:08
Speaker 1: The lighted-up peaks of a continent whose lower levels remain
2:11
Speaker 1: in the shade. Beneath ordinary sensations are their components, that
2:15
Speaker 1: is to say, the elementary sensations, which must be combined
2:19
Speaker 1: into groups to reach our consciousness. Outside a little luminous
2:23
Speaker 1: circle lies a great large ring of twilight, and beyond
2:26
Speaker 1: this an indefinite night, but the events of this twilight
2:29
Speaker 1: and this night are as real as those within the
2:31
Speaker 1: luminous circle. To this, Maudsley adds his testimony, as follows.
2:37
Speaker 1: Examine closely and without bias the ordinary mental operations of life,
2:42
Speaker 1: and you will surely discover that consciousness has not one-tenth
2:45
Speaker 1: part of the function therein which it is commonly assumed
2:47
Speaker 1: to have. In every conscious state there are at work conscious,
2:51
Speaker 1: subconscious and infraconscious energies, the last is indispensable as the first.
2:57
Speaker 1: It is now known that inner conscious ideas, impressions and
3:01
Speaker 1: thoughts play a most important part in the thought world
3:03
Speaker 1: of every individual. Beyond every outer conscious action there may
3:08
Speaker 1: be found a vast inner conscious background. It is held
3:11
Speaker 1: that of our entire mental processes, less than 10% are
3:15
Speaker 1: performed in the field of outer consciousness. As a well-known
3:19
Speaker 1: writer has so well expressed it, our self is greater
3:22
Speaker 1: than we know, it has peaks above and lowlands below
3:24
Speaker 1: the plateau of our conscious experience. Professor Elmer Gates has
3:29
Speaker 1: forcibly put it, at least 90% of our mental life
3:32
Speaker 1: is subconscious. If you will analyze your mental operations you
3:36
Speaker 1: will find that conscious thinking is never a continuous line
3:39
Speaker 1: of consciousness. but a series of conscious data with great
3:42
Speaker 1: intervals of subconsciousness. We sit and try to solve a
3:46
Speaker 1: problem and fail. We walk around, try again, and fail.
3:52
Speaker 1: Suddenly an idea dawns that leads to a solution of
3:54
Speaker 1: the problem. The subconscious processes were at work. We do
3:59
Speaker 1: not volitionally create our own thinking. It takes place in us.
4:04
Speaker 1: We are more or less passive recipients. We cannot change
4:09
Speaker 1: the nature of a thought or of a truth, but
4:12
Speaker 1: we can, as it were, guide the ship by a
4:14
Speaker 1: moving of the helm. But, perhaps, the most beautiful expression
4:19
Speaker 1: of this underlying truth is that of Sir Oliver Lodge,
4:22
Speaker 1: who says in his consideration of the subject, Imagine an
4:27
Speaker 1: iceberg glorying in its crisp solidity, and sparkling pinnacles, resenting
4:31
Speaker 1: attention paid to its submerged self, or supporting region, or
4:35
Speaker 1: to the saline liquid out of which it arose. and
4:37
Speaker 1: into which in due course it will some day return. Or,
4:41
Speaker 1: reversing the metaphor, we may liken our present state to
4:44
Speaker 1: that of the hull of a ship submerged in a
4:46
Speaker 1: dim ocean among strange monsters, propelled in a blind manner
4:49
Speaker 1: through space, proud perhaps of accumulating many barnacles of decoration.
4:55
Speaker 1: Only recognizing our destination by bumping against the dock-wall, and
4:59
Speaker 1: with no cognizance of the deck and cabins above us,
5:01
Speaker 1: or the spars and sails, no thought of the sextant,
5:05
Speaker 1: and the compass, and the captain, no perception of the
5:07
Speaker 1: lookout on the mast, of the distant horizon. With no
5:11
Speaker 1: vision of objects far ahead, dangers to be avoided, destinations
5:15
Speaker 1: to be reached, other ships to be spoken to by
5:18
Speaker 1: means other than by bodily contact. A region of sunshine
5:23
Speaker 1: and cloud, of space, or perception, and of intelligence utterly
5:27
Speaker 1: inaccessible below the waterline. Dr. Schofield has cleverly and beautifully
5:32
Speaker 1: illustrated the idea in the following words, Our conscious mind,
5:36
Speaker 1: as compared with the unconscious mind, has been likened to
5:38
Speaker 1: the visible spectrum of the sun's rays, as compared to
5:41
Speaker 1: the invisible part which stretches indefinitely on either side. We
5:46
Speaker 1: know now that the chief part of heat comes from
5:48
Speaker 1: the ultra-red rays that show no light. And the main
5:52
Speaker 1: part of the chemical changes in the vegetable world are
5:54
Speaker 1: the results of the ultraviolet rays at the other end
5:56
Speaker 1: of the spectrum, which are equally invisible to the eye,
6:00
Speaker 1: and are recognized only by their potent effects. Indeed as
6:04
Speaker 1: these invisible rays extend indefinitely on both sides of a
6:07
Speaker 1: visible spectrum, so we may say that the mind includes
6:10
Speaker 1: not only the visible or conscious part and what we
6:13
Speaker 1: have termed the subconscious, that which lies below the red line,
6:16
Speaker 1: but also the super-conscious mind that lies at the other end.
6:21
Speaker 1: All those regions of higher soul and spirit life, of
6:24
Speaker 1: which we are only at times vaguely conscious, but which
6:27
Speaker 1: always exist, and link us on to eternal verities, on
6:30
Speaker 1: the one side, as surely as the subconscious mind links
6:34
Speaker 1: us to the body on the other. The late Frederick W. H. Myers,
6:40
Speaker 1: after years of careful study and research along the lines
6:43
Speaker 1: of the out-of-consciousness states, formulated a hypothesis of a secondary self,
6:48
Speaker 1: or as he called it a subliminal self, which self
6:51
Speaker 1: he held possessed certain powers which it exercised in a
6:54
Speaker 1: measure independent of the ordinary conscious self. Perhaps the best
6:59
Speaker 1: explanation of his hypothesis has been stated by Mr. Myers, himself,
7:03
Speaker 1: in his book entitled, Human Personality, in which he states,
7:08
Speaker 1: The idea of a threshold of consciousness, of a level
7:11
Speaker 1: above which sensation or thought must rise before it can
7:14
Speaker 1: enter into our conscious life, is a simple and familiar one.
7:18
Speaker 1: The word subliminal, meaning, beneath the threshold, has already been
7:22
Speaker 1: used to define those sensations which are too feeble to
7:25
Speaker 1: be individually recognized. I propose to extend the meaning of
7:30
Speaker 1: the term, so as to make it cover all that
7:32
Speaker 1: takes place beneath the ordinary threshold, or say, if preferred,
7:36
Speaker 1: the ordinary margin of consciousness, not only those faint stimulations,
7:40
Speaker 1: whose very faintness must keep them submerged, but much else
7:43
Speaker 1: which psychology as yet scarcely recognizes. Sensations, thoughts, emotions, which
7:50
Speaker 1: may be strong, definite, and independent, but which, by the
7:54
Speaker 1: original constitution of our being, seldom merge into that subliminal
7:58
Speaker 1: current of consciousness which we habitually identify with ourselves. Perceiving
8:03
Speaker 1: that these submerged thoughts and emotions possess the characteristics which
8:06
Speaker 1: we associate with conscious life, I feel bound to speak
8:10
Speaker 1: of a subliminal, or ultra-marginal, consciousness. A consciousness which we
8:15
Speaker 1: shall see, for instance, uttering or writing sentences quite as
8:19
Speaker 1: complex and coherent as the subliminal consciousness could make them.
8:23
Speaker 1: Perceiving further that this conscious life beneath the threshold or
8:26
Speaker 1: beyond the margin seems to be no discontinuous or intermittent thing,
8:30
Speaker 1: that not only are these isolated subliminal processes comparable with
8:34
Speaker 1: isolated supraliminal processes, as when a problem is solved by
8:37
Speaker 1: some unknown procedure in a dream, but that there also
8:42
Speaker 1: is a continuous subliminal chain of memory, or more chains
8:45
Speaker 1: than one, involving just that kind of individual and persistent
8:48
Speaker 1: revival of old impressions and response to new ones, which
8:52
Speaker 1: we commonly call a self. I find it permissible to
8:54
Speaker 1: speak of subliminal selves, or more briefly a subliminal self.
8:59
Speaker 1: I do not indeed by using this term assume that
9:01
Speaker 1: there are two correlative and parallel selves existing always within
9:05
Speaker 1: each of us. Rather I mean by the subliminal self
9:09
Speaker 1: that part of the self which is commonly subliminal, and
9:12
Speaker 1: I conceive that there may be, not only many cooperations
9:15
Speaker 1: between these quasi-independent trains of thought, but also upheavals and
9:19
Speaker 1: alternations of personality of many kinds, so that what was
9:22
Speaker 1: once below the surface may for a time, or permanently,
9:25
Speaker 1: rise above it. And I conceive also that no self
9:29
Speaker 1: of which we can here have cognizance is in reality
9:31
Speaker 1: more than a fragment of a larger self, revealed in
9:35
Speaker 1: a fashion at once shifting and limited through an organism
9:38
Speaker 1: not so framed as to afford it full manifestations. We
9:42
Speaker 1: have given you the different views of these respective authorities
9:45
Speaker 1: not that we purpose adopting exclusively any of the various
9:48
Speaker 1: theories or hypotheses advanced, but merely that you may see
9:52
Speaker 1: that this question of an inner consciousness is not a
9:54
Speaker 1: mere vague theory of certain mystics and metaphysicians, but on
9:58
Speaker 1: the contrary is one that has attracted the earnest attention
10:01
Speaker 1: and consideration of scientific men and careful investigators along psychological lines.
10:07
Speaker 1: We shall have but very little to do with theories
10:09
Speaker 1: in this book, the facts of the subject concern us
10:12
Speaker 1: more earnestly. Lesson 2. The Planes of Consciousness. We have seen,
10:19
Speaker 1: in the preceding chapter, that many leading minds have recognized
10:23
Speaker 1: the existence, and phenomena of, certain planes of consciousness lying
10:27
Speaker 1: outside of, below or above, the ordinary plane or field
10:31
Speaker 1: of ordinary consciousness. Brushing aside as unimportant the various names
10:36
Speaker 1: and terms that have been applied to these planes or
10:38
Speaker 1: fields of inner consciousness, we easily find a common ground
10:41
Speaker 1: of agreement between all of the authorities. It is true
10:45
Speaker 1: that the subject has become somewhat clouded by the insistence
10:48
Speaker 1: of certain details of theory on the part of the
10:51
Speaker 1: several investigators, but they all practically agree upon the fundamental
10:54
Speaker 1: and basic facts and phenomena, and it is upon these
10:57
Speaker 1: basic and fundamental facts and phenomena that we shall rest
11:00
Speaker 1: our case as presented in this little book. The student
11:04
Speaker 1: of psychology has heard much during the past decade regarding
11:07
Speaker 1: the many theories, some of them quite fantastic, designed to
11:11
Speaker 1: account for and explain the phenomena which science finds to
11:14
Speaker 1: exist and which it has classified as belonging to the
11:16
Speaker 1: inner conscious plane of mental activity. Some of the theories
11:20
Speaker 1: advanced to account for the known facts and observed phenomena,
11:24
Speaker 1: have attracted to their support many followers, the respective schools
11:27
Speaker 1: holding animated and sometimes fierce contest regarding the validity and
11:31
Speaker 1: superior qualities of their respective schools and their founders. But
11:35
Speaker 1: with these theories, and the schools which have been built
11:38
Speaker 1: up upon them, this work will have little to do
11:40
Speaker 1: or say. Enough for us is the fact of the
11:44
Speaker 1: existence of the phenomena, and the fact that there is
11:46
Speaker 1: certainly in manifestation an area of mental activity, which for
11:50
Speaker 1: reasons that we shall state we have called the inner consciousness.
11:54
Speaker 1: Recognizing the fact of the phenomena and accepting it as
11:57
Speaker 1: proven truth, we shall proceed to consider its manifestations, and
12:01
Speaker 1: apparent laws, and also the methods whereby one may use
12:04
Speaker 1: this mental activity to advantage. But we shall leave the
12:08
Speaker 1: theories to the theorists, and the discussions regarding the same
12:11
Speaker 1: to those who are fond of such exercises of the mind,
12:14
Speaker 1: for ourselves, we are tired of such things, and prefer
12:18
Speaker 1: to deal with observed facts, and the, how to get results,
12:21
Speaker 1: part of the question. We are apt to regard as
12:24
Speaker 1: a truth the observation of the writer who said, theories
12:27
Speaker 1: are but mighty soap bubbles, with which the grown-up children
12:30
Speaker 1: of science amuse themselves. And we also view with favor
12:34
Speaker 1: the lines of the poet in which he says. The
12:37
Speaker 1: nearer to the practical men keep, the less they deal
12:40
Speaker 1: in vague and abstract things, the less they deal in huge,
12:44
Speaker 1: mysterious words, the mightier is their power. The simple peasant
12:49
Speaker 1: who observes a truth, and from the fact deduces principle,
12:52
Speaker 1: adds solid treasure to the public wealth. The theorist who
12:56
Speaker 1: dreams a rainbow dream, and calls hypothesis philosophy, at best
13:01
Speaker 1: is but a paper financier who palms his specious promises
13:04
Speaker 1: for gold. Facts are the basis of philosophy, philosophy the
13:08
Speaker 1: harmony of facts seen in their right relation. As a
13:12
Speaker 1: matter of fact, in order to account for the phenomena
13:15
Speaker 1: of the inner consciousness, it is not necessary to believe in,
13:18
Speaker 1: or assume, the hypothesis of any kind of a dual
13:21
Speaker 1: mind at all. One mind may contain within itself sufficient
13:26
Speaker 1: to account for the facts, without postulating a two-mind theory.
13:31
Speaker 1: One mind may contain within itself two, or many more
13:34
Speaker 1: than two, planes or fields of activity or consciousness, upon
13:38
Speaker 1: which and in which the varied mental phenomena may be manifested.
13:43
Speaker 1: In order to understand the phenomena of the inner consciousness,
13:46
Speaker 1: all that it is necessary for us to do is
13:48
Speaker 1: to start with the idea that in the mind of
13:50
Speaker 1: every person there are areas, fields, or planes of mental
13:53
Speaker 1: activity above and below the field, area, or plane that
13:56
Speaker 1: we know as the outer consciousness. In other words, to assume, one,
14:02
Speaker 1: that there are basements or cellars, vaults and sub-vaults of mind,
14:06
Speaker 1: below the level of the mental first floor in which
14:08
Speaker 1: we consider the results of our mental processes. And, too,
14:13
Speaker 1: is this true that also there are several mental stories above,
14:16
Speaker 1: as well as below, the one on which we do
14:19
Speaker 1: our considering. And it is with these several stories of mind,
14:23
Speaker 1: these planes or areas of mental activity, that we shall
14:26
Speaker 1: now have to do in this work. As we have
14:29
Speaker 1: seen from the authorities quoted, the fields or areas of mind,
14:33
Speaker 1: outside of the circle of the outer consciousness, are many
14:36
Speaker 1: and varied. Careful investigators have divided the mental activities of
14:41
Speaker 1: these several planes or areas into two general classes, namely, 1. those, below,
14:46
Speaker 1: the plane of outer consciousness, and which have the nature
14:49
Speaker 1: of automatic action, and, 2. those, above, the plane of
14:53
Speaker 1: outer consciousness, and which have the nature of intuitive action, etc.
14:58
Speaker 1: Some investigators have given to these two general planes or
15:01
Speaker 1: fields of mentation, the names of the subconscious and the superconscious, respectively.
15:08
Speaker 1: The term sub meaning under, beneath, etc., and the term
15:13
Speaker 1: super meaning above, over, etc., the trouble with this classification
15:17
Speaker 1: is that it places the conscious mind or that portion
15:20
Speaker 1: of our mentality the actions of which we may call
15:23
Speaker 1: the outer, in the center of a scale, the extremes
15:26
Speaker 1: of which represent the higher and lower phases of inner mentation, respectively.
15:32
Speaker 1: This is not correct, for the so-called conscious mind is
15:35
Speaker 1: merely a field of observation before which passes the results
15:39
Speaker 1: of mental activity on the other planes, which when evolved
15:42
Speaker 1: pass into the field of consciousness, just as a star
15:45
Speaker 1: passes into the field of observation of a telescope, or
15:48
Speaker 1: a tiny object into the field of observation of the microscope,
15:51
Speaker 1: and is then perceived by the watching organ of vision.
15:55
Speaker 1: These objects passing into the field of observation of the
15:59
Speaker 1: outer consciousness are may come from the higher or lower
16:02
Speaker 1: planes of the inner mind. In fact the best observers
16:05
Speaker 1: know there can be no hard and fast line drawn
16:08
Speaker 1: between the activities and manifestations of the two respective groups
16:11
Speaker 1: of planes known as the subconscious and superconscious minds. These
16:17
Speaker 1: activities shade into each other, and are like the degrees
16:20
Speaker 1: on a scale which are merely symbols which record the
16:22
Speaker 1: comparative and relative stages of manifestation of a thing, but
16:25
Speaker 1: which do not divide the thing into absolute divisions or classes.
16:30
Speaker 1: In fact, the very best occult authorities inform us that
16:33
Speaker 1: there are very many degrees or planes of mental activity,
16:37
Speaker 1: higher and lower, outside of the field of observation of
16:40
Speaker 1: the outer consciousness. On the lower planes of consciousness are
16:44
Speaker 1: to be found the consciousness of the various cells and
16:47
Speaker 1: cell groups in our bodies, which constitute the organ minds
16:51
Speaker 1: which occultists know to exist. Then there are many planes
16:55
Speaker 1: of mentation concerned with directing the bodily activities. Then there
16:59
Speaker 1: are many planes of thought below the ordinary field of
17:02
Speaker 1: outer consciousness, and many planes of awareness and knowing above
17:07
Speaker 1: that of the ordinary intellectual operations of the average mind.
17:11
Speaker 1: These planes are merely the many degrees in the grand
17:14
Speaker 1: scale of mind. We shall learn something of certain of
17:18
Speaker 1: them as we proceed with these lessons. Following the illustration
17:22
Speaker 1: of the upper and lower stories, basements, cellars, sub-cellars, etc.,
17:28
Speaker 1: We may say that it will help the student to
17:30
Speaker 1: think of the ordinary field of observation, known as the
17:33
Speaker 1: outer consciousness of the everyday mind, as akin to the
17:37
Speaker 1: main floor of a warehouse, on which is received merchandise
17:40
Speaker 1: arriving from the outside business world, and on which are started,
17:45
Speaker 1: packed and expressed the various goods, wares and merchandise reaching
17:49
Speaker 1: the department from the upper stories, basement, cellars and other
17:52
Speaker 1: storehouses of the mental warehouse and place of business, in
17:56
Speaker 1: pursuance to orders from the office. The outer consciousness, or
18:01
Speaker 1: field of observation and consideration, is not a separate mind,
18:05
Speaker 1: as some claim, or the real mind, as the masses
18:08
Speaker 1: of people consider it, but instead is merely a department
18:11
Speaker 1: of the whole mental business, in which the goods, stored articles,
18:15
Speaker 1: and manufactured goods from the other departments and workshops are sorted, selected,
18:19
Speaker 1: packed and expressed to the outer world. If you will
18:23
Speaker 1: fix this illustration in your mind, you will be able
18:26
Speaker 1: to easily assimilate and consider the facts to which we
18:28
Speaker 1: shall call your attention in the following lessons. And, now,
18:33
Speaker 1: you see why we have adopted the term, the inner consciousness,
18:36
Speaker 1: as applicable to both the higher and lower planes of
18:39
Speaker 1: the extra-conscious mental activities. The term inner means, further in, interior, internal,
18:46
Speaker 1: not outer, etc. The word, consciousness, is one difficult to
18:51
Speaker 1: correctly define. In a general sense it means mental awareness,
18:56
Speaker 1: but we have adhered to the closer meaning of the
18:58
Speaker 1: term which is used in the sense of awareness of
19:01
Speaker 1: mental action and energy, or the quality by which mind
19:04
Speaker 1: in activity is aware of its own activities. There can
19:08
Speaker 1: be no mental activity without consciousness on some plane, and
19:11
Speaker 1: the use of the word unconscious in connection with mental
19:14
Speaker 1: activity is an absurdity. There is consciousness, in some degree
19:19
Speaker 1: and on some plane, in everything. from the atom and
19:22
Speaker 1: electron to the highest manifestation of superhuman mind. And that
19:27
Speaker 1: which we call our outer consciousness, is merely one of
19:30
Speaker 1: the many planes of the manifestation of the quality. And,
19:34
Speaker 1: now let us proceed to our consideration of the phenomena
19:37
Speaker 1: and principles of manifestation of the inner consciousness. Lesson 3.
19:43
Speaker 1: The Basements of the Mind. On the lower planes of
19:46
Speaker 1: the inner consciousness are performed the various forms of mental
19:49
Speaker 1: activity which have to do with the building up, preservation, repairing, etc.,
19:54
Speaker 1: of the physical body. Every cell has its share of mind,
19:58
Speaker 1: and every combination of cells into cell groups and organs
20:01
Speaker 1: of the body, has its group or organ mind also.
20:05
Speaker 1: That which we call instinct, or nature, in a person
20:09
Speaker 1: or animal is a manifestation of mind on some of
20:11
Speaker 1: the lower planes of the inner consciousness. And these lower
20:15
Speaker 1: planes are susceptible to suggestions or orders from other planes
20:18
Speaker 1: of mind, and will take on suggested ideas or conceptions,
20:22
Speaker 1: the result being that we are often made sick by
20:24
Speaker 1: ideas absorbed or suggested in this way. And we are
20:28
Speaker 1: likewise cured of physical ailments by similar methods. the suggested
20:32
Speaker 1: idea being placed on the proper plane by means of auto-suggestion,
20:36
Speaker 1: imparted ideas, and mental treatments of various kinds. Mind pervades
20:42
Speaker 1: every part of the physical body and is always capable
20:44
Speaker 1: of being impressed by orders or suggestions coming from the
20:47
Speaker 1: more dominant portions of the mind of the individual. On
20:51
Speaker 1: some of the lower planes of the inner consciousness are
20:54
Speaker 1: to be found the seat and abode of the so-called
20:56
Speaker 1: automatic or habit actions of the mind. The habit mind
21:00
Speaker 1: is made up of various things which have been placed
21:03
Speaker 1: there by the individual, which things were once performed in
21:05
Speaker 1: the field of consciousness, but which gradually became almost automatic
21:09
Speaker 1: by reason of experience, repetition, etc. Until the performance of
21:15
Speaker 1: them passes from the field of consciousness down to some
21:17
Speaker 1: of the lower planes of the inner consciousness, thus becoming
21:21
Speaker 1: second nature, and being likely to be repeated with little
21:24
Speaker 1: or no attention being bestowed by the conscious mind, You
21:27
Speaker 1: are familiar with this fact, all of you perform certain
21:30
Speaker 1: work almost automatically. You run the sewing machine, typewriter, or
21:35
Speaker 1: play the piano almost automatically, and may be thinking of
21:39
Speaker 1: other things at the same moment. These tasks were originally
21:43
Speaker 1: performed only by an expenditure of much attention and effort
21:46
Speaker 1: on your part, but constant practice has enabled you to
21:48
Speaker 1: delegate the work to certain planes of your inner consciousness,
21:51
Speaker 1: until now they almost work themselves, with a minimum of
21:55
Speaker 1: attention and concentration on your part. Some writers hold that
21:59
Speaker 1: no one really learns how to perform a task properly,
22:02
Speaker 1: until he or she is able to pass it down
22:04
Speaker 1: to this part of the mind, where it is performed
22:06
Speaker 1: almost automatically. Musicians and others are aware that their best
22:10
Speaker 1: work is performed by this part of their mentality, and
22:13
Speaker 1: that when, as occasionally happens, their conscious attention is directed
22:17
Speaker 1: to the work, there is a slip-up and less perfect performance.
22:22
Speaker 1: The artist knows what it is to lose himself in
22:24
Speaker 1: his work and his greatest successes come at such times.
22:28
Speaker 1: Every writer knows this also, and the phenomena occurs in
22:31
Speaker 1: all manner and kinds of work. How many of us
22:35
Speaker 1: lose ourselves in daydreams when performing our habitual tasks? How
22:40
Speaker 1: many of us seem to stand aside and watch ourselves
22:43
Speaker 1: work at tasks rendered familiar by habit? We often cross
22:47
Speaker 1: the streets without paying conscious attention to our actions, and
22:50
Speaker 1: many of us have had the experience of forgetting where
22:53
Speaker 1: we are going, and after a time finding ourselves brought
22:55
Speaker 1: up standing in front of the place from which we started.
22:59
Speaker 1: We put on our clothes in this way, the same
23:02
Speaker 1: arm going into the same sleeve, etc., without our thinking
23:05
Speaker 1: about the matter. If you will notice which arm you
23:08
Speaker 1: place in your coat the next time you dress, and
23:11
Speaker 1: then after taking off the coat again, try to insert
23:14
Speaker 1: the other arm first, reversing the regular order, you will
23:17
Speaker 1: be surprised to see how awkward you are, and how
23:19
Speaker 1: the habit mind rebels at the change. The same is
23:23
Speaker 1: true of buttoning a collar. You always button on a
23:27
Speaker 1: certain tab first, and will find it most difficult to
23:30
Speaker 1: reverse the process. We are in the habit of thinking
23:33
Speaker 1: of these things being done by themselves, or as doing themselves,
23:38
Speaker 1: but a moment's consideration will show you that nothing can
23:40
Speaker 1: manifest such activity except by means of mind of some
23:43
Speaker 1: kind and degree. The activity is the result of mental
23:47
Speaker 1: processes and direction, and without mind could not be performed.
23:52
Speaker 1: We may call it automatic or mechanical, if we please,
23:56
Speaker 1: but it is really the result of mind, there is
23:58
Speaker 1: mind back of and in every automatic action of the individual.
24:03
Speaker 1: But being below the field of the outer consciousness, we
24:05
Speaker 1: do not recognize the mental operation. It is part of
24:09
Speaker 1: the phenomena of the lower planes of the inner consciousness.
24:13
Speaker 1: And there are other planes of that wonderful region, in
24:16
Speaker 1: which certain habits are implanted, but which were not placed
24:19
Speaker 1: there by ourselves. We allude to the field of hereditary
24:24
Speaker 1: influences which have come down to us from those who
24:26
Speaker 1: lived before us throughout countless generations. There are planes of
24:30
Speaker 1: the inner consciousness filled with impressions, ideas, habit, emotions, feelings,
24:36
Speaker 1: desires and impulses which we have acquired by inheritance from
24:39
Speaker 1: the past. From the time of the cave men, and
24:43
Speaker 1: even further back, have come to us certain mental seeds
24:46
Speaker 1: and forces, which lie slumbering in the deep recesses of
24:49
Speaker 1: the lower planes of the inner consciousness. We are able
24:52
Speaker 1: to control and subdue, or else use, these latent impulses,
24:57
Speaker 1: by means of our higher mental faculties, but they are
24:59
Speaker 1: there just the same. As some writers have said, we
25:03
Speaker 1: have the whole menagerie within us. The tiger, the ape,
25:08
Speaker 1: the peacock, the donkey, the hyena, the goat, the sheep,
25:12
Speaker 1: the lion, and all the rest of the collection. We
25:16
Speaker 1: have come by these things honestly, and there is no
25:18
Speaker 1: reason to be ashamed of them, the shame consists only
25:21
Speaker 1: in turning these wild beasts loose into actions unworthy of
25:25
Speaker 1: our higher state gained through arduous evolution. As Luther Burbank
25:29
Speaker 1: has said, heredity means much, but what is heredity? Not
25:34
Speaker 1: some hideous ancestral specter, forever crossing the path of a
25:37
Speaker 1: human being. Heredity is simply the sum of all the
25:41
Speaker 1: effects of all the environments of all past generations on
25:44
Speaker 1: the responsive ever-moving life forces. And all of the effects
25:48
Speaker 1: of all the past environments of all past generations are registered,
25:52
Speaker 1: faintly or strongly on certain planes of our inner consciousness.
25:57
Speaker 1: An understanding of this fact will enable us to submit
25:59
Speaker 1: such tendencies when they occasionally poke their heads out from
26:02
Speaker 1: their dark caves in response to some familiar call which
26:05
Speaker 1: has roused them from their slumber, and an understanding will
26:08
Speaker 1: enable us to call upon the past within us for
26:10
Speaker 1: help and aid when we need the same to perform
26:12
Speaker 1: certain of the work of life. We have many things
26:15
Speaker 1: within us, which can and will manifest in outer consciousness
26:19
Speaker 1: when so called forth. We may use these things, or
26:23
Speaker 1: else allow them to use us, according to our degree
26:26
Speaker 1: of understanding and will power. But let us remind you
26:29
Speaker 1: always that there is nothing good enough to allow it
26:31
Speaker 1: to use you, use many things, but allow nothing to
26:35
Speaker 1: use you. There are other planes of the inner consciousness
26:39
Speaker 1: in which rest the many suggestions placed there by your
26:41
Speaker 1: outer consciousness or that of others. You have a queer
26:45
Speaker 1: storehouse of acquired suggestion, some good, some bad, and some
26:49
Speaker 1: neither or both. And from this storehouse comes that habit thought,
26:54
Speaker 1: of which such a large part of our mental processes
26:57
Speaker 1: are composed. In that storehouse are packed away countless impressions, ideas, opinions, prejudices, notions,
27:05
Speaker 1: likes and dislikes, and similar mental furniture. Much of this
27:09
Speaker 1: has been placed there by ourselves as the result of
27:12
Speaker 1: past thinking or half-thinking. And much has been placed there
27:16
Speaker 1: by the opinions, statements and suggestions of others, which we
27:20
Speaker 1: have admitted to our inner consciousness without due consideration and examination.
27:25
Speaker 1: As we shall see later on, this storehouse is an
27:27
Speaker 1: important part of our mental dwelling, and we should be
27:30
Speaker 1: careful just what we admit there. We shall also see
27:34
Speaker 1: that by means of auto-suggestion we may place there just
27:36
Speaker 1: what is likely to aid and help us in our lives,
27:39
Speaker 1: and that by the same means we may counteract the
27:41
Speaker 1: effect of many adverse and hurtful suggestions and mental habits
27:44
Speaker 1: that we have allowed to find a home and storage
27:47
Speaker 1: room on these important planes of our minds. An understanding
27:50
Speaker 1: of these facts will be of the greatest importance and
27:53
Speaker 1: benefit to us. On other planes of the inner consciousness
27:57
Speaker 1: are to be found the impressions and records comprising that
28:00
Speaker 1: which we know as memory. The memory part of our
28:03
Speaker 1: mentality is like a vast collection of phonographic records upon
28:07
Speaker 1: which are registered the countless impressions that we have received
28:09
Speaker 1: during our life. Some of these records bear deep, clear
28:13
Speaker 1: and distinct impressions which when placed in a recollecting machine
28:17
Speaker 1: send forth a clear reproduction of the original which produced
28:20
Speaker 1: the impression. Others contain impressions less clear, some bear very
28:25
Speaker 1: indistinct impressions, which are most difficult of reproduction. But there
28:30
Speaker 1: is this difference between these memory records and those of
28:33
Speaker 1: the phonograph. The phonographic records grow fainter and less perfect
28:37
Speaker 1: according to the frequency of their use, while the memory
28:40
Speaker 1: records register a still deeper and clear impression the oftener
28:43
Speaker 1: they are reproduced. If one dwells in memory upon certain
28:48
Speaker 1: past events, he will find that each reproduction gives out
28:51
Speaker 1: a clearer response. Of course, it is likewise true that
28:55
Speaker 1: one may mix outside facts and imaginary events with the
28:58
Speaker 1: real recollections, in some cases, so that in future reproductions
29:02
Speaker 1: the real and the false appear together. But this is
29:05
Speaker 1: merely another proof of the rule. One may, and many
29:09
Speaker 1: often do, add to a tale at each telling, until
29:12
Speaker 1: at last the retold tale bears but little resemblance to
29:15
Speaker 1: the original. In so doing one mixes the new impressions
29:19
Speaker 1: with the old, on his mental phonographic records, and at
29:22
Speaker 1: the next reproduction both the original and the added points
29:25
Speaker 1: sound forth together. This is why some people tell a
29:29
Speaker 1: lie so often that they actually believe it, the repeated
29:32
Speaker 1: impressions upon the tablets of memory become deeper and clearer,
29:35
Speaker 1: and the notes of the false mix with those of
29:37
Speaker 1: the true. One should always endeavor to keep an honest
29:41
Speaker 1: collection of memory records, and be careful to avoid adding
29:45
Speaker 1: false impressions to the original ones. It is astonishing that
29:49
Speaker 1: anyone at all familiar with the phenomena of memory should
29:52
Speaker 1: doubt for a moment the existence of planes of consciousness
29:54
Speaker 1: beneath that of the ordinary outer consciousness. Every moment of
29:58
Speaker 1: our everyday life we are drawing upon these inner conscious
30:01
Speaker 1: planes of memory for the many things stored away there.
30:05
Speaker 1: Far below the everyday outer consciousness. Not only do we
30:09
Speaker 1: draw upon these planes in this way, but in moments
30:12
Speaker 1: of intense stress, sudden danger, and other critical periods of life,
30:16
Speaker 1: these gates between these planes swing ajar and a flood
30:19
Speaker 1: of recollection pours out from them. It is related in
30:23
Speaker 1: numbers of instances that as a writer well expresses it.
30:27
Speaker 1: The acts of a whole lifetime which are of consequence,
30:30
Speaker 1: and many that are not, will be flashed across the
30:32
Speaker 1: screen of memory with such lightning rapidity and with such
30:35
Speaker 1: distinctness as to seem like a vast panorama whose every
30:38
Speaker 1: detail is grasped by the mind in an instant of time.
30:42
Speaker 1: A noted high-bridge jumper, in describing his feelings while making
30:46
Speaker 1: his famous leap from the Brooklyn Bridge, stated that it
30:49
Speaker 1: seemed as if, during the few seconds required for his
30:51
Speaker 1: descent to the water beneath, there passed through his memory
30:54
Speaker 1: all the acts of his life, in their proper order,
30:57
Speaker 1: some of which had not appeared in his recollection for years,
31:00
Speaker 1: and which would have all his life remained dormant except
31:03
Speaker 1: for some extraordinary stimulus such as this. It is the
31:07
Speaker 1: almost universal experience of drowning persons who have been rescued
31:11
Speaker 1: at the last moment and resuscitated, that during the few
31:13
Speaker 1: moments just preceding the loss of consciousness, the memory suddenly
31:17
Speaker 1: grasps with a marvelous vigor the deeds of the life
31:20
Speaker 1: which seems about to end. and by some mysterious compelling
31:23
Speaker 1: intuition the sufferer is able and obliged to recognize at
31:26
Speaker 1: the same time, and more fully than ever before, the
31:29
Speaker 1: right or wrong of each particular act. The following quotations
31:34
Speaker 1: will show you, at a glance, what an important part
31:37
Speaker 1: is played by this inner conscious faculty of memory, in
31:40
Speaker 1: the domain of knowledge, in the opinion of eminent authorities.
31:44
Speaker 1: All knowledge is but remembrance. Bacon That which constitutes recollection
31:50
Speaker 1: or an act of memory is the present image which
31:52
Speaker 1: a past sensation has left in us, an image which
31:55
Speaker 1: seems to us the sensation itself. Cain. Memory is a
32:00
Speaker 1: primary and fundamental faculty, without which none other can work.
32:05
Speaker 1: The cement, the bitumen, the matrix in which the other
32:08
Speaker 1: faculties are embedded. Without it all life and thought were
32:12
Speaker 1: an unrelated succession. Emerson. There is no faculty of the
32:17
Speaker 1: mind which can bring its energy into effect unless the
32:20
Speaker 1: memory be stored with ideas for it to look upon.
32:23
Speaker 1: Burke Every organ, indeed, every area and every element, of
32:28
Speaker 1: the nervous system has its own memory. Ladd Memory is
32:33
Speaker 1: the golden thread linking all the mental gifts and excellences together.
32:38
Speaker 1: Hood Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason,
32:43
Speaker 1: the registry of conscience. and the council chamber of thought. Basile.
32:49
Speaker 1: A man's real possession is his memory, in nothing else
32:52
Speaker 1: is he rich, in nothing else is he poor. Alexander Smith.
32:57
Speaker 1: I would rather have a perfect recollection of all that
33:00
Speaker 1: I have thought and felt in a day or a
33:01
Speaker 1: week of high activity, than read all the books that
33:04
Speaker 1: have been published in a century. Emerson. And, after reading
33:10
Speaker 1: the above, remember that all of the records of memory
33:12
Speaker 1: are stored away on the planes of the inner consciousness,
33:15
Speaker 1: the existence of which has been denied by the majority
33:18
Speaker 1: of people until very recently. In considering the marvelous phenomena
33:23
Speaker 1: of memory, what thinking man can doubt that his mind,
33:26
Speaker 1: and self, are greater by far than the little, narrow
33:29
Speaker 1: field of outer consciousness, which is nothing but the eyepiece
33:32
Speaker 1: of his mental telescope, or microscope, before which pass and
33:35
Speaker 1: review the objects rising from or superimposed by, the planes
33:39
Speaker 1: of the inner consciousness. Lesson 4 The Mental Storehouse In
33:46
Speaker 1: the previous lessons we have stated that there are planes
33:49
Speaker 1: of the inner consciousness which resemble vast mental storehouses in
33:52
Speaker 1: which are placed the materials from which much of our
33:54
Speaker 1: thinking is composed. These thought materials are brought by the
33:58
Speaker 1: porters and carriers of our mental warehouse into the field
34:01
Speaker 1: of consciousness, or thought factory, where they are manufactured into
34:04
Speaker 1: the fabric of conscious thought and action. In those vast
34:09
Speaker 1: mental warehouses are much that we never placed there ourselves,
34:12
Speaker 1: the remnants of mental goods stored by countless ancestors, which
34:15
Speaker 1: are constantly being brought forward to be woven into the
34:18
Speaker 1: fabric of our thoughts. But, there are also vast quantities
34:22
Speaker 1: of material, good, bad and indifferent, placed there by ourselves,
34:26
Speaker 1: and it is these personal contributions to the storehouse which
34:29
Speaker 1: largely determine the thoughts and acts which result from what
34:32
Speaker 1: we call our character or our nature. And this being
34:36
Speaker 1: the fact, is it not of the greatest importance that
34:39
Speaker 1: we should be careful just what kind of material we
34:41
Speaker 1: place in these great mental warehouses and storage chambers? Our
34:45
Speaker 1: present thoughts and actions, our characters, in fact, are largely
34:50
Speaker 1: the result of our past thoughts and mental attitude. And
34:53
Speaker 1: the thoughts, actions and character of each of you, in
34:56
Speaker 1: the future, will be largely the result of the mental
34:59
Speaker 1: material which you are now placing in these storage rooms
35:02
Speaker 1: of your mind. This is not preaching or moralizing, but
35:07
Speaker 1: is merely the calling of your attention to facts and
35:09
Speaker 1: truths known to and admitted by all students of psychology.
35:14
Speaker 1: We are today largely the result of what we have
35:16
Speaker 1: thought or what we have allowed to impress us in
35:18
Speaker 1: the past. Our mental attitude, together with the kind of
35:22
Speaker 1: suggestions that we have allowed to impress us in the past,
35:25
Speaker 1: determines to a great extent our character and self of today.
35:30
Speaker 1: When we think, we do not manufacture the thought fabric
35:33
Speaker 1: out of the thin air, or sunlight, or out of nothing,
35:37
Speaker 1: as many seem to suppose. Each bit of wonderful fabric
35:41
Speaker 1: of thought and action is the result of the weaving
35:43
Speaker 1: of the mental material that we have accumulated in the
35:45
Speaker 1: past and stored away in some of the storage rooms
35:48
Speaker 1: of the inner consciousness. This surely is plain enough to
35:52
Speaker 1: everyone who will give the matter a moment's thought, and
35:54
Speaker 1: yet how few really have realized the truth and still
35:57
Speaker 1: fewer are those who have learned to act upon this principle.
36:01
Speaker 1: If we were building a house, store or any other building,
36:04
Speaker 1: how careful we would be to see that none but
36:06
Speaker 1: the best materials were delivered to the builders in whose
36:09
Speaker 1: hands the erection of the property was placed. How carefully
36:13
Speaker 1: each item of material would be inspected. If we were
36:17
Speaker 1: in the manufacturing business and wished to turn out goods
36:20
Speaker 1: of fine quality, how careful we would be regarding the
36:23
Speaker 1: grade of the material to be used. Our buyer would
36:26
Speaker 1: exercise his skill and the inspector would look over each
36:29
Speaker 1: consignment as it arrived, rejecting all imperfect and unsatisfactory material.
36:35
Speaker 1: And yet, how careless we are regarding our thoughts, moods,
36:39
Speaker 1: mental attitudes, and auto-suggestions that we place among the material
36:42
Speaker 1: to be used in our mental building and manufacturing in
36:45
Speaker 1: the days to come. Is it not time to call
36:48
Speaker 1: a halt on these careless and almost criminal methods, and
36:51
Speaker 1: adopt a sane, scientific plane of thought-life? The mental attitude
36:56
Speaker 1: of a man is represented by the character of thoughts
36:58
Speaker 1: which he allows to take a hold on him. If
37:02
Speaker 1: he allows every despondent, negative, hurtful thought to obtain lodgment
37:06
Speaker 1: in his mind, his mental attitude will gradually become in
37:09
Speaker 1: harmony with such thoughts, and he will be laying away
37:12
Speaker 1: a fresh stock of negative thoughts each day, which will
37:15
Speaker 1: surely be woven into the mental fabric he turns out
37:17
Speaker 1: on some future day. Can you doubt this, when you
37:20
Speaker 1: know of the effects of certain mental habits of manifestation?
37:25
Speaker 1: And what are these habits, but the using of the
37:27
Speaker 1: thought material of the past? How much harder is it
37:31
Speaker 1: for a man whose mind is full of these negative
37:33
Speaker 1: thought materials to present a bold, confident, courageous front in
37:37
Speaker 1: the battles of life? His every instinct and habit of
37:40
Speaker 1: thought is against it. It is so much easier to
37:44
Speaker 1: droop the shoulders, and fold the hands, and say, what's
37:47
Speaker 1: the use, in such a case, because all the mental
37:50
Speaker 1: material is of that dark gray, negative hue, all the
37:53
Speaker 1: material is of that rotten, worthless quality. But if, in
37:58
Speaker 1: the past you have cultivated the habit of refusing to
38:01
Speaker 1: admit the negative thoughts and suggestions, have thrown them out
38:04
Speaker 1: on the scrap pile, and have stored away nothing but
38:06
Speaker 1: the bright, cheerful, courageous and positive thoughts and suggestions, then
38:11
Speaker 1: when you begin to build or weave you will surely
38:13
Speaker 1: produce the best kind of thought and action. You cannot
38:17
Speaker 1: help it, for you are working with the best materials,
38:20
Speaker 1: and with your mental machine adjusted to the proper gauge.
38:24
Speaker 1: All this is far more than jollying or cheering up talk,
38:27
Speaker 1: it is a statement of psychological fact which if once
38:30
Speaker 1: thoroughly understood by the masses of people, would make this
38:33
Speaker 1: old world of ours over into a much brighter and
38:35
Speaker 1: cheerful place. An understanding of these principles will make you
38:39
Speaker 1: over mentally, if you will but act upon your new knowledge.
38:43
Speaker 1: There is no secret process connected with this work. All
38:48
Speaker 1: that is necessary for you to do, is to will
38:51
Speaker 1: that henceforth you will allow no negative, depressing or undesirable
38:55
Speaker 1: thought take lodgment in your mind, but will on the
38:57
Speaker 1: contrary keep steadily at work replacing the undesirable things in
39:00
Speaker 1: your mind with desirable material. When a negative thought comes
39:04
Speaker 1: into your field of consciousness, dismiss it with the thought,
39:07
Speaker 1: there is another bit of that mental truck that I
39:09
Speaker 1: stored away, away with it to the scrap pile. And
39:14
Speaker 1: lose no opportunity of thinking the bright, optimistic, positive, desirable thoughts,
39:19
Speaker 1: and storing them away. And when you can put one
39:22
Speaker 1: of these thoughts into action, by all means do so,
39:25
Speaker 1: for by so doing you have added a large share
39:28
Speaker 1: to the right kind of material in your mental storehouse.
39:31
Speaker 1: Do not let the thought of the past thought foolishness
39:33
Speaker 1: worry you or discourage you. Think of the comparison made
39:38
Speaker 1: by a well-known writer who compared the mind to a
39:40
Speaker 1: bowl of muddy water into which a clear stream of
39:43
Speaker 1: fresh water was pouring. Anyone will see that the fresh
39:47
Speaker 1: water will gradually clear the entire body of water, until
39:50
Speaker 1: the muddy substances are not discernible. So pour in the
39:54
Speaker 1: kind of thoughts you desire, and thus render clear the
39:56
Speaker 1: muddiness that has been your bane for so long. Another
40:00
Speaker 1: writer has compared the matter to a dark room. If
40:04
Speaker 1: you wish to drive away the darkness, just open the
40:06
Speaker 1: shutters and admit the light, and lo! The darkness has disappeared.
40:12
Speaker 1: And this last illustration is true according to the old
40:14
Speaker 1: occult teachings which held that a positive thought always tended
40:18
Speaker 1: to neutralize and transmute a negative one, in fact that
40:21
Speaker 1: a positive thought had sufficient potency and force to neutralize
40:24
Speaker 1: many negative thoughts. This being the case, by willpower and perseverance,
40:31
Speaker 1: you may change the nature of your mental material stored
40:33
Speaker 1: away in the storerooms of the inner consciousness, including the
40:36
Speaker 1: inherited ones, and thus render yourself practically a new person
40:40
Speaker 1: in character and nature. within a reasonable time. The ego
40:44
Speaker 1: is the real master, and not the slave of environment
40:47
Speaker 1: that so many seem to think it is. It is
40:50
Speaker 1: true that when the ego lies dormant and passive, the
40:53
Speaker 1: personality is indeed made up of the inherited ideas and feelings,
40:57
Speaker 1: the suggested thoughts and ideas, and the acquired ideas and
41:00
Speaker 1: tendencies picked up during our life. But let the ego
41:04
Speaker 1: once rouse itself and put into operation its own weapon,
41:07
Speaker 1: the will, Then it is enabled to master environment, and
41:11
Speaker 1: to cast out the rubbish stored away from the past,
41:14
Speaker 1: replacing it with bright, fresh, good strong mental material from
41:18
Speaker 1: which the thoughts and actions of the future will be manufactured.
41:22
Speaker 1: The ego can remake one's character, for it is the
41:25
Speaker 1: master of the mental warehouse. Dismiss your careless and incompetent
41:29
Speaker 1: mental assistants, which have allowed this accumulation of mental rubbish.
41:34
Speaker 1: Take charge yourself, you, the ego, and assert your mastery.
41:39
Speaker 1: Inspect and pick out your own mental material, that nothing
41:43
Speaker 1: but the best quality of thought and action may be produced.
41:47
Speaker 1: Lesson 5. Making over oneself. One of the most interesting
41:52
Speaker 1: phases of the science of using the inner consciousness, is
41:55
Speaker 1: that which may be called, making over oneself. That is,
41:59
Speaker 1: the application of psychological laws in the direction of rebuilding
42:03
Speaker 1: certain of the inner conscious planes, or rather in replacing
42:06
Speaker 1: the mental material stored there by the more desirable material.
42:11
Speaker 1: This process has been aptly called character building, which indeed
42:14
Speaker 1: it is, for the character is largely dependent upon what
42:17
Speaker 1: is contained in the inner consciousness, and whatever affects the
42:20
Speaker 1: latter affects the character. The word character, itself, is derived
42:25
Speaker 1: from a Greek word meaning, to engrave, to cut in.
42:30
Speaker 1: And some of the authorities state that the Greek word
42:32
Speaker 1: was derived from some older language and was first used
42:35
Speaker 1: by the ancient makers of bricks to indicate the personal
42:37
Speaker 1: trademark marked by each upon the bricks manufactured by himself,
42:41
Speaker 1: each maker having his own trademark. And the word has
42:45
Speaker 1: gradually grown in meaning until today we use it in
42:47
Speaker 1: the sense of the peculiar quality or sum of qualities
42:51
Speaker 1: by which a person or thing is distinguished from others.
42:55
Speaker 1: Webster This latter-day use of the term is interesting when
42:59
Speaker 1: one is able to trace it from its original usage,
43:02
Speaker 1: showing the idea that was in the minds of those
43:04
Speaker 1: who have gone before us, i.e., that this thing that
43:07
Speaker 1: we call character was something impressed or engraved upon a
43:10
Speaker 1: man's mental substance. To the majority of persons character is
43:14
Speaker 1: something that belongs to a person, by some unchangeable natural law,
43:18
Speaker 1: and which cannot be altered or improved. To the experienced psychologist, however,
43:24
Speaker 1: character is a plastic thing, which is modified by the
43:27
Speaker 1: character of one's thoughts and mental attitude, and which may
43:30
Speaker 1: therefore be improved, changed or altered at will. Psychology, taking
43:36
Speaker 1: cognizance of the planes of inner consciousness, and understanding the
43:39
Speaker 1: truth of the fact that character is the fabric manufactured
43:42
Speaker 1: from the material stored away on those planes, now teaches
43:45
Speaker 1: that by placing the proper materials in the storage rooms
43:48
Speaker 1: we may cause the character to be manufactured in accordance
43:51
Speaker 1: with the quality thereof. In short, that one may practically
43:55
Speaker 1: make over oneself by placing the right kind of raw
43:58
Speaker 1: material in the mind. This is true in the case
44:02
Speaker 1: of training children and others, but is equally true in
44:05
Speaker 1: self-training or character building. To those who may think that
44:09
Speaker 1: in speaking of the planes of the inner consciousness, we
44:11
Speaker 1: are postulating a shadowy, intangible, mind, independent of the brain,
44:16
Speaker 1: we would say that this is not correct. We regard
44:19
Speaker 1: the brain as the organ of the mind, in its
44:21
Speaker 1: inner conscious manifestations as well as in its outer conscious ones.
44:26
Speaker 1: The brain is composed of an enormous number of cells,
44:29
Speaker 1: composed of plasm or elementary living matter, some authorities estimating
44:34
Speaker 1: the number of the brain cells at about 500 million
44:36
Speaker 1: to 2 billion, the number depending upon the mental activity
44:39
Speaker 1: of the person. Beside the number of brain cells in
44:43
Speaker 1: active use, there are always great reserve forces of cells
44:46
Speaker 1: awaiting a sudden call. In addition to this, it is
44:50
Speaker 1: believed that the brain will grow additional cells in cases
44:53
Speaker 1: of need, so that the mind capacity of the individual
44:56
Speaker 1: is almost limitless. A class of brain cells actively used
45:00
Speaker 1: will manifest a tendency to spring into activity almost automatically,
45:04
Speaker 1: at the slightest need, while those remaining unused will become
45:07
Speaker 1: almost atrophied, and are called into action slowly and clumsily.
45:13
Speaker 1: It therefore follows that the cells which are constantly used
45:15
Speaker 1: will exert a more marked influence upon the character of
45:18
Speaker 1: the individual than will those become atrophied by disuse. Therefore,
45:22
Speaker 1: if one will but use a set of cells actively,
45:25
Speaker 1: they will manifest strongly in his everyday life and character.
45:29
Speaker 1: To develop traits of character in oneself, that we consider
45:33
Speaker 1: desirable but lacking, we should endeavor to think and act
45:36
Speaker 1: as often as possible along the lines that we wish
45:38
Speaker 1: to develop. Just as we exercise the muscle that we
45:42
Speaker 1: wish to bring up to a higher degree of efficiency,
45:45
Speaker 1: so should we exercise the faculties of the mind that
45:47
Speaker 1: we wish to increase in power and strength. And at
45:51
Speaker 1: the same time, we should avoid developing the opposite set
45:54
Speaker 1: of faculties. And if we wish to rid ourself of,
45:57
Speaker 1: or restrain an objectionable set of faculties, we should actively
46:01
Speaker 1: use and thus develop the opposite set, so as to
46:03
Speaker 1: counteract the undesirable ones. As Halleck says, By restraining the
46:10
Speaker 1: expression of an emotion we can frequently throttle it, by
46:13
Speaker 1: inducing an expression we can often cause its allied emotion.
46:17
Speaker 1: Professor James says, refuse to express a passion, and it dies.
46:22
Speaker 1: Count ten before venting your anger, and its occasion seems ridiculous.
46:27
Speaker 1: Whistling to keep up courage is no mere figure of speech.
46:31
Speaker 1: On the other hand, sit all day in a moping posture, sigh,
46:34
Speaker 1: and reply to everything with a dismal voice, and your
46:37
Speaker 1: melancholy lingers. There is no more valuable precept in moral
46:42
Speaker 1: education than this, as all of us who have experienced
46:45
Speaker 1: it know, if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies
46:49
Speaker 1: in ourselves we must assiduously, and in the first instance cold-bloodedly,
46:53
Speaker 1: go through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which
46:56
Speaker 1: we wish to cultivate. Smooth the brow, brighten the eye,
47:01
Speaker 1: contract the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the frame,
47:04
Speaker 1: and speak in a major key, past the genial compliment
47:07
Speaker 1: and your heart must indeed be frigid if it does
47:09
Speaker 1: not gradually thaw. To sum up the matter of making
47:13
Speaker 1: over oneself, we may say that the whole secret consists
47:16
Speaker 1: in filling up the particular storage room having to do
47:18
Speaker 1: with the desired faculty, and its opposite, with thoughts, actions, desires, manifestations, etc.,
47:25
Speaker 1: of the desired thing. Think of the thing, act it
47:29
Speaker 1: out so far as possible, desire it ardently, picture it
47:33
Speaker 1: out to yourself as much as possible, in short, keep
47:35
Speaker 1: its mental image before you as clearly and as persistently
47:38
Speaker 1: as possible. It is an old occult maxim that we
47:42
Speaker 1: grow to be like the thing that we keep constantly
47:44
Speaker 1: in our mind, and if you will but keep that
47:47
Speaker 1: axiom in your mind, you will work out the problem
47:49
Speaker 1: for yourself. The secret underlying much of the phenomena called
47:54
Speaker 1: occult is the creation of what is known as a
47:56
Speaker 1: mental image, and which is really a mental pattern or
47:59
Speaker 1: mold from which we wish to materialize character in ourself
48:02
Speaker 1: or others. This mental pattern or mold serves as a
48:06
Speaker 1: model around which is built the actual mental manifestation. And
48:10
Speaker 1: the clearer and stronger we build this mental image, the
48:13
Speaker 1: better and stronger results do we materialize. Keep in mind
48:18
Speaker 1: constantly the idea of the thing you wish to be,
48:20
Speaker 1: and you will unconsciously grow toward being just that thing.
48:24
Speaker 1: This is a well-established psychological law, and is not a
48:27
Speaker 1: mere airy fancy of some writer's imagination. You can see
48:31
Speaker 1: it evidenced in the life of yourself and those around you.
48:35
Speaker 1: Everyone unconsciously inclines toward the shape and form of the
48:38
Speaker 1: mental image that they carry around with them. And, this
48:42
Speaker 1: being so, that we grow to resemble our ideals. Should
48:47
Speaker 1: we not be careful to use the right kind of
48:49
Speaker 1: mental patterns or molds? Our manifested character depends upon the
48:53
Speaker 1: mental patterns created by ourselves, either by our own will
48:56
Speaker 1: and according to our own judgment, or else, unconsciously, from
49:00
Speaker 1: the suggestions or will of others. Aristotle wrote that of
49:04
Speaker 1: every object of thought there must be in the mind
49:06
Speaker 1: some form, phantasm, or species. That things sensible are perceived
49:12
Speaker 1: and remembered by means of sensible phantasms, and things intelligible
49:16
Speaker 1: by intelligible phantasms, and that these phantasms have the form
49:19
Speaker 1: of the object without the matter, as the impression of
49:22
Speaker 1: a seal upon wax has the form of a seal
49:24
Speaker 1: without its matter. The student of modern psychology may see,
49:28
Speaker 1: at a glance, just what Aristotle meant, the mental image
49:32
Speaker 1: which molded or served as a pattern for the thought
49:34
Speaker 1: which would spring from the inner consciousness. K. says. It
49:39
Speaker 1: is as serving to guide and direct our various activities
49:42
Speaker 1: that mental images derive their chief value and importance. In
49:47
Speaker 1: anything that we purpose or intend to do we must
49:49
Speaker 1: first of all have an idea or image of it
49:51
Speaker 1: in the mind, and the more clear and correct the image,
49:54
Speaker 1: the more accurately and efficiently will the purpose be carried out.
49:58
Speaker 1: We cannot exert an act of volition without having in
50:01
Speaker 1: mind an idea or image of what we will to effect.
50:04
Speaker 1: The same writer also says. Clearness and accuracy of image
50:09
Speaker 1: is only to be obtained by repeatedly having it in
50:11
Speaker 1: mind or by repeated action of the faculty. Each repeated
50:15
Speaker 1: act of any of the faculties renders the mental images
50:18
Speaker 1: of it more clear and accurate than the preceding, and
50:21
Speaker 1: in proportion to the clearness and accuracy of the image
50:23
Speaker 1: will the act itself be performed easily, readily, skillfully. And, now,
50:29
Speaker 1: all this that we have said on the subject means
50:31
Speaker 1: simply that you can make over yourself to be that
50:34
Speaker 1: which you desire to be, by means of determined and
50:37
Speaker 1: persistent desire and will. By filling up the storage rooms
50:41
Speaker 1: of the proper plane of the inner consciousness with the
50:43
Speaker 1: ideals and ideas which you desire to materialize in your
50:47
Speaker 1: own character and self, you will find that you will
50:50
Speaker 1: gradually begin to grow like the mental image that you
50:52
Speaker 1: have placed there. Your thoughts, actions, feelings and emotions will
50:57
Speaker 1: gradually be found to be reshaping themselves to fit into
51:00
Speaker 1: the pattern or mold which you have set before them.
51:03
Speaker 1: The material which has been placed in the storage rooms
51:06
Speaker 1: will be brought forth by the silent mental workers and,
51:09
Speaker 1: being placed into the mental machinery will be manufactured into thoughts, moods, feelings, emotions,
51:15
Speaker 1: actions and outward manifestations of the grade and quality indicated
51:18
Speaker 1: by the materials which you have supplied. You cannot make
51:22
Speaker 1: silk from cotton, nor broadcloth from shoddy. Unless you furnish
51:27
Speaker 1: the proper materials you cannot expect the finished product to
51:30
Speaker 1: be as you desire. You are making character and self
51:34
Speaker 1: every day, but it depends upon the material furnished just
51:37
Speaker 1: what that character or self shall be. An understanding of
51:41
Speaker 1: the inner conscious workings of the mind gives you the
51:43
Speaker 1: only key to the mystery of character and self, then
51:46
Speaker 1: why not act upon it? Lesson 6. Automatic Thinking The
51:52
Speaker 1: advanced writers on the subject of psychology have given us
51:55
Speaker 1: many examples of the workings of the mind on the
51:57
Speaker 1: planes of what some have aptly called automatic thinking. We
52:01
Speaker 1: feel that it will be well to quote a few
52:03
Speaker 1: cases to illustrate this phase of the subject. There are
52:08
Speaker 1: many instances stated of persons who have been earnestly endeavoring
52:11
Speaker 1: to solve certain problems and questions, but who have been
52:14
Speaker 1: compelled to lay aside the matters as incapable of solution
52:17
Speaker 1: at the time. In a number of such cases it
52:20
Speaker 1: is related that while thinking of something entirely foreign to
52:22
Speaker 1: the subject the long-sought answer would suddenly flash into the
52:25
Speaker 1: field of consciousness, of course without any conscious effort on
52:29
Speaker 1: the part of the person. A well-known writer, in giving
52:33
Speaker 1: an instance of the kind which had happened to him personally,
52:36
Speaker 1: states that when the answer came to him in this
52:38
Speaker 1: way he trembled as if in the presence of another
52:40
Speaker 1: being who had communicated the secret to him in a
52:42
Speaker 1: mysterious manner. Nearly every person has had the experience of
52:47
Speaker 1: trying to remember a name, word, date, or similar thing,
52:51
Speaker 1: without success, and then after dismissing the matter from the
52:54
Speaker 1: mind have had the missing idea or word suddenly flashed
52:56
Speaker 1: from the inner consciousness into the field of the ordinary consciousness.
53:01
Speaker 1: Some part of the inner consciousness was at work trying
53:03
Speaker 1: to supply the demand, and when it found it it
53:05
Speaker 1: presented it to the person. Another well-known writer gives several
53:10
Speaker 1: cases of what he calls, unconscious rumination, in which the
53:14
Speaker 1: mind worked silently, and below the field of the ordinary consciousness,
53:18
Speaker 1: after the person had read works relating to new subjects
53:20
Speaker 1: or presenting new points of view essentially opposed to previously
53:24
Speaker 1: conceived opinions and views. He states that in his own experience,
53:29
Speaker 1: he found that after days, weeks, or even months, he
53:32
Speaker 1: would awaken to a realization that his old opinions were
53:35
Speaker 1: entirely rearranged, and new ones had taken their place. Some
53:39
Speaker 1: have called this process subconscious mental digestion and assimilation, and
53:44
Speaker 1: indeed the process is akin to the work of the
53:46
Speaker 1: physical organism in digesting and assimilating material nourishment. Sir William
53:52
Speaker 1: Hamilton is stated to have discovered an important mathematical principle
53:55
Speaker 1: while walking one day in the Dublin Observatory. He stated
53:59
Speaker 1: that upon the occasion he felt the galvanic circle of
54:02
Speaker 1: thought close, and the sparks that fell from the mental
54:04
Speaker 1: process were the fundamental mathematical relations of his problem, which
54:08
Speaker 1: as all students know now forms an important law in mathematics.
54:12
Speaker 1: Thompson the psychologist has written as follows on this subject.
54:17
Speaker 1: At times I have felt a feeling of uselessness of
54:19
Speaker 1: all voluntary effort, and also that the matter was working
54:22
Speaker 1: itself clear in my mind. It has many times seemed
54:26
Speaker 1: to me that I was really a passive instrument in
54:28
Speaker 1: the hands of a person not myself. In view of
54:32
Speaker 1: having to wait for the results of these unconscious processes,
54:35
Speaker 1: I have proved the habit of getting together material in advance,
54:38
Speaker 1: and then leaving the mass to digest itself until I
54:41
Speaker 1: am ready to write about it. I delayed for a
54:44
Speaker 1: month the writing of my book, System of Psychology, but
54:47
Speaker 1: continued reading The Authorities. I would not try to think
54:51
Speaker 1: about the book. I would watch with interest the people
54:54
Speaker 1: passing the windows. One evening while reading the paper, the
54:58
Speaker 1: substance of the missing part of the book flashed upon
55:01
Speaker 1: my mind, and I began to write. This is only
55:04
Speaker 1: a sample of such experiences. Berthelot, the eminent French chemist
55:10
Speaker 1: who founded the present system of synthetic chemistry, has said
55:13
Speaker 1: that the experiments leading to his remarkable discoveries in that
55:16
Speaker 1: branch of science were seldom the result of carefully followed
55:19
Speaker 1: lines of conscious thought or pure reasoning processes, but, instead,
55:23
Speaker 1: came of themselves, from a clear sky, so to speak. Mozart,
55:28
Speaker 1: the great composer, once said, I cannot really say that
55:31
Speaker 1: I can account for my compositions. My ideas flow, and
55:36
Speaker 1: I cannot say whence or how they come. I do
55:39
Speaker 1: not hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I
55:42
Speaker 1: hear them, as it were, all at once. The rest
55:46
Speaker 1: is merely an attempt to reproduce what I have heard.
55:49
Speaker 1: In addition to the experience above mentioned, Dr. Thompson has
55:52
Speaker 1: stated that, in writing my work I have been unable
55:55
Speaker 1: to arrange my knowledge of a subject for days and weeks,
55:58
Speaker 1: until I experienced a clearing up of my mind, when
56:00
Speaker 1: I took my pen and unhesitatingly wrote the result. I
56:05
Speaker 1: have best accomplished this by leading the mind away as
56:07
Speaker 1: far as possible from the subject upon which I was writing.
56:11
Speaker 1: Oliver Wendell Holmes has said, the automatic flow of thought
56:14
Speaker 1: is often singularly favored by the fact of listening to
56:17
Speaker 1: a weak continuous discourse, with just enough ideas in it
56:20
Speaker 1: to keep the mind busy. The induced current of thought
56:24
Speaker 1: is often rapid and brilliant in inverse ratio to the
56:27
Speaker 1: force of the inducing current. Wundt has also said, on
56:30
Speaker 1: this subject. The unconscious logical processes are carried on with
56:35
Speaker 1: a certainty and regularity which would be impossible where there
56:38
Speaker 1: exists the possibility of error. Our mind is so happily
56:42
Speaker 1: designed that it prepares for us the most important foundations
56:45
Speaker 1: of cognition, whilst we have not the slightest apprehension of
56:48
Speaker 1: the modus operandi. The unconscious soul, like a benevolent stranger,
56:53
Speaker 1: works and makes provisions for our benefit, pouring only the
56:56
Speaker 1: mature fruits into our laps. An English writer has stated,
57:02
Speaker 1: Intimations reach our consciousness from unconsciousness that the mind is
57:06
Speaker 1: ready to work, is fresh, is full of ideas. The
57:10
Speaker 1: grounds of our judgment are often knowledge so remote from
57:13
Speaker 1: consciousness that we cannot bring them to view. The human
57:16
Speaker 1: mind includes an unconscious part, unconscious events occurring in that
57:20
Speaker 1: part are proximate causes of consciousness, the greater part of
57:23
Speaker 1: human intuitional action is an effect of an unconscious cause.
57:28
Speaker 1: The truth of these propositions is so deducible from ordinary
57:31
Speaker 1: mental events, and is so near the surface, that the
57:34
Speaker 1: failure of deduction to forestall induction in the discerning of
57:37
Speaker 1: it may well excite wonder. Our behavior is influenced by
57:41
Speaker 1: unconscious assumptions respecting our own social and intellectual rank, and
57:45
Speaker 1: that of the one we are addressing. In company we
57:48
Speaker 1: unconsciously assume a bearing quite different from that of the
57:51
Speaker 1: home circle. After being raised to a higher rank the
57:55
Speaker 1: whole behavior subtly and unconsciously changes in accordance with it.
58:00
Speaker 1: Commenting on the above, another writer adds, this is also
58:03
Speaker 1: the case in a minor degree with different styles and
58:06
Speaker 1: qualities of dress in different environments. Quite unconsciously we change
58:10
Speaker 1: our behavior, carriage, and style, to suit the circumstances. Jensen
58:16
Speaker 1: has written, When we reflect on anything with the whole
58:20
Speaker 1: force of the mind, we may fall into a state
58:22
Speaker 1: of entire unconsciousness, in which we not only forget the
58:25
Speaker 1: outer world, but also know nothing at all of ourselves
58:28
Speaker 1: and the thoughts passing within us after a time. We
58:32
Speaker 1: then suddenly awake as from a dream, and usually, at
58:35
Speaker 1: the same moment the result of our meditations appears as
58:38
Speaker 1: distinctly in consciousness without our knowing how we reached it.
58:42
Speaker 1: Another writer has said, It is inexplicable how premises which
58:46
Speaker 1: lie below consciousness can sustain conclusions in consciousness. how the
58:50
Speaker 1: mind can wittingly take up a mental movement at an
58:53
Speaker 1: advanced stage, having missed its primary steps. Some psychologists, Hamilton
58:59
Speaker 1: and others, have made a comparison likening the action of
59:02
Speaker 1: the mental processes to that of a row of billiard balls,
59:05
Speaker 1: of which one is struck and the impetus transmitted throughout
59:07
Speaker 1: the whole row, the result being that the latter ball
59:10
Speaker 1: actually moves, the others remaining in their places. The last
59:14
Speaker 1: ball represents the plane of ordinary outer consciousness, the other
59:18
Speaker 1: balls representing the various stages of the action of the
59:20
Speaker 1: inner consciousness. Lewis, the psychologist, commenting on the above conception, adds,
59:27
Speaker 1: something like this, Hamilton says, seems often to occur in
59:31
Speaker 1: a train of thought, one idea immediately suggesting another into consciousness,
59:36
Speaker 1: this suggestion passing through one or more ideas which do
59:39
Speaker 1: not themselves rise into consciousness. This point, that we are
59:43
Speaker 1: not conscious of the formation of groups, but only of
59:46
Speaker 1: a formed group, may throw light on the existence of
59:49
Speaker 1: unconscious judgments, unconscious reasonings, and unconscious registrations of experience. In
59:56
Speaker 1: connection with these processes of the mind, on the planes
59:58
Speaker 1: below those of the outer consciousness, many writers have noted
1:00:02
Speaker 1: the discomfort and uneasiness preceding this birth into consciousness of
1:00:05
Speaker 1: the ideas developed on the unconscious planes. Maudsley says regarding this,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: It is surprising how uncomfortable a person may be made
1:00:14
Speaker 1: by the obscure idea of something which he ought to
1:00:17
Speaker 1: have said or done, and which he cannot for the
1:00:19
Speaker 1: life of him remember. There is an effort of the
1:00:22
Speaker 1: lost idea to get into consciousness, which is relieved directly
1:00:25
Speaker 1: the idea bursts into consciousness. Oliver Wendell Holmes says, There
1:00:31
Speaker 1: are thoughts that never emerge into consciousness, and which yet
1:00:34
Speaker 1: make their influence felt among the perceptive currents, just as
1:00:37
Speaker 1: the unseen planets sway the movements of the known ones.
1:00:41
Speaker 1: He adds, I was told of a businessman in Boston
1:00:44
Speaker 1: who had given up thinking of an important question as
1:00:47
Speaker 1: too much for him. But he continued so uneasy in
1:00:50
Speaker 1: his brain that he feared he was threatened with palsy.
1:00:54
Speaker 1: After some hours the natural solution of the question came
1:00:57
Speaker 1: to him, worked out, as he believed, in that troubled interval.
1:01:01
Speaker 1: The above experiences are common to the race, and nearly
1:01:05
Speaker 1: everyone who reads the above lines will at once recognize
1:01:07
Speaker 1: the occurrences as familiar in his or her own mental experience.
1:01:12
Speaker 1: Among the many interesting cases related to illustrate the principle
1:01:16
Speaker 1: of automatic thinking, or unconscious rumination, that of the famous
1:01:20
Speaker 1: mathematical prodigy, Zira Colburn, is perhaps one of the most striking.
1:01:25
Speaker 1: this individual possessed a remarkable faculty of automatically working out
1:01:29
Speaker 1: the most difficult mathematical problems. It is related of him,
1:01:34
Speaker 1: that while yet a child of seven years of age,
1:01:37
Speaker 1: and while he was without any previous knowledge of the
1:01:39
Speaker 1: common rules of arithmetic, he was still able by some intuitive,
1:01:43
Speaker 1: inner-conscious faculty, to solve the most difficult mathematical problems without
1:01:47
Speaker 1: the aid of figures, pencils or paper, by some inner-conscious
1:01:51
Speaker 1: system of mental arithmetic. At that early age, he was
1:01:55
Speaker 1: able in this way to immediately give the number of
1:01:57
Speaker 1: minutes and seconds in any given period of time, and
1:02:00
Speaker 1: to tell the exact product arising from the multiplication of
1:02:03
Speaker 1: any number consisting of two, three, or four figures, by
1:02:07
Speaker 1: any other number consisting of a like number of figures.
1:02:11
Speaker 1: The records of his times give many wonderful instances of
1:02:14
Speaker 1: his strange power, from which we quote the following, as
1:02:17
Speaker 1: an illustration. At a meeting of his friends, which was
1:02:21
Speaker 1: held for the purpose of concerting the best methods of
1:02:23
Speaker 1: promoting the views of the father, this child undertook and
1:02:26
Speaker 1: completely succeeded in raising the number 8 progressively up to
1:02:29
Speaker 1: the 16th power. And in naming the last result, viz., 281,474,976,710,656,
1:02:34
Speaker 1: he was right in every figure. He was then tried
1:02:46
Speaker 1: as to other numbers consisting of one figure, all of
1:02:48
Speaker 1: which he raised as high as the tenth power, with
1:02:51
Speaker 1: so much facility and dispatch that the person appointed to
1:02:54
Speaker 1: take down the results was obliged to enjoin him not
1:02:56
Speaker 1: to be so rapid. He was asked the square root
1:02:59
Speaker 1: of 106,929, and before the number could be written down,
1:03:01
Speaker 1: he immediately answered, 327. He was then required to name
1:03:03
Speaker 1: the cube root of 268,336,125, and with equal facility and
1:03:16
Speaker 1: promptness he replied, Six hundred forty-five. Various other questions of
1:03:22
Speaker 1: a similar nature, respecting the roots and powers of very
1:03:25
Speaker 1: high numbers, were proposed, to all of which he answered
1:03:28
Speaker 1: in a similar manner. One of the gentlemen asked him
1:03:31
Speaker 1: how many minutes there were in forty-eight years, and before
1:03:34
Speaker 1: the question could be written down he replied, Twenty-five million
1:03:37
Speaker 1: two hundred twenty-eight thousand eight hundred. and then instantly added
1:03:41
Speaker 1: that the number of seconds in the same period was 1,513,728,000.
1:03:45
Speaker 1: He persistently declared that he did not know how the
1:03:50
Speaker 1: answers came into his mind. Moreover, he was entirely ignorant
1:03:55
Speaker 1: of the common rules of arithmetic and could not perform
1:03:58
Speaker 1: upon paper a simple sum in multiplication or division. In
1:04:02
Speaker 1: the extraction of roots and in mentioning the factors of
1:04:05
Speaker 1: high numbers, he gave the answers either immediately or in
1:04:08
Speaker 1: a very few seconds, whereas it requires, according to the
1:04:12
Speaker 1: ordinary method of calculation, very difficult and laborious work, and
1:04:16
Speaker 1: much time. A most peculiar sequel was noted in this case,
1:04:21
Speaker 1: for as the child was educated to perform mathematical calculations
1:04:24
Speaker 1: according to rule, and in the ordinary way, his wonderful
1:04:27
Speaker 1: power deteriorated, and in the end he was no more
1:04:30
Speaker 1: than the ordinary well-drilled child, so far as the branch
1:04:33
Speaker 1: of mathematics was concerned. The instance of blind Tom is
1:04:37
Speaker 1: also an illustration of automatic thinking, for this poor, blind creature,
1:04:42
Speaker 1: but little above idiocy so far as ordinary knowledge was concerned,
1:04:47
Speaker 1: possessed something in his inner consciousness that enabled him to
1:04:50
Speaker 1: play any piece that he had ever heard, even years before,
1:04:53
Speaker 1: with perfect reproduction of detail, and to also improvise wonderful
1:04:57
Speaker 1: strains and harmonies. Something was at work on the inner
1:05:01
Speaker 1: conscious planes of this poor black man's mind, as if
1:05:04
Speaker 1: to show to a doubting and materialistic world the possibilities
1:05:07
Speaker 1: of the human mind and soul in its hidden phases.
1:05:11
Speaker 1: In view of the above instances, and many other similar ones,
1:05:15
Speaker 1: can you doubt that there are planes of mental action,
1:05:18
Speaker 1: outside of the ordinary consciousness, on which in some marvelous
1:05:21
Speaker 1: manner mental work can be, and is, done? Even if
1:05:25
Speaker 1: the experience of nearly everyone did not furnish proof, surely
1:05:28
Speaker 1: the recorded cases should place the matter above the plane
1:05:31
Speaker 1: of doubt. And yet, so strong is the spirit of doubt,
1:05:35
Speaker 1: that many will say, yes, but. Lesson 7. Inner Conscious Helpers.
1:05:43
Speaker 1: Many of you have heard the old fairy tales and
1:05:45
Speaker 1: bits of folklore relating to the kindly brownies, or good fairies, who,
1:05:50
Speaker 1: feeling affection for, and gratitude toward, some poor tailor or
1:05:54
Speaker 1: cobbler who had befriended them, would come at night, when
1:05:57
Speaker 1: the workman and his family were asleep, and taking up
1:06:00
Speaker 1: the unfinished work that had been left on the table
1:06:02
Speaker 1: or bench. would work diligently at it so that when
1:06:05
Speaker 1: the morning sun roused the worker from his slumbers he
1:06:07
Speaker 1: would find his unfinished task. Completed. The little hands of
1:06:13
Speaker 1: the brownies would have fashioned the leather into shoes, then
1:06:15
Speaker 1: stitched and pegged them, the cloth would be cut and
1:06:18
Speaker 1: made into garments, the pieces of wood would be made
1:06:21
Speaker 1: into boxes, chests, furniture, chairs, etc. The rough material had
1:06:26
Speaker 1: been prepared by the workmen during the day, the brownies
1:06:29
Speaker 1: would do the rest. But what has all this to
1:06:32
Speaker 1: do with the inner consciousness, you may ask? Just this.
1:06:38
Speaker 1: That in the inner consciousness of each of us there
1:06:40
Speaker 1: are forces which act much the same as would countless
1:06:43
Speaker 1: tiny mental brownies or helpers who are anxious and willing
1:06:45
Speaker 1: to assist us in our mental work, if we will
1:06:48
Speaker 1: but have confidence and trust in them. No, this is
1:06:51
Speaker 1: no fairy tale, it is a psychological truth expressed in
1:06:55
Speaker 1: the terms of the old fairy tale. By reference to
1:06:58
Speaker 1: Lessons 3 and 6, you will see mentioned many instances
1:07:01
Speaker 1: of the work of these inner conscious helpers. In Lesson 6, especially,
1:07:07
Speaker 1: you will notice several instances in which well-known authorities testified
1:07:10
Speaker 1: to the fact that there was a marked manifestation of
1:07:13
Speaker 1: automatic thinking or unconscious rumination, by means of which problems
1:07:17
Speaker 1: which had proved unsolvable by the conscious mind had been
1:07:20
Speaker 1: gradually worked out by the inner consciousness, and the results
1:07:23
Speaker 1: then duly presented to the field of outer consciousness. The
1:07:27
Speaker 1: facts are well known to psychologists and many investigators have
1:07:31
Speaker 1: learned to use the law to their own benefit. The
1:07:34
Speaker 1: process of calling into service these inner conscious helpers is
1:07:37
Speaker 1: similar to that by which we constantly employ the memory
1:07:40
Speaker 1: to recall some forgotten fact or name. We find that
1:07:43
Speaker 1: we cannot recollect the desired fact, date or name, and
1:07:47
Speaker 1: instead of racking our brains with an increased effort, we,
1:07:50
Speaker 1: if we have learned the secret. Pass on the matter
1:07:54
Speaker 1: to the inner consciousness, with a silent command, remember this
1:07:57
Speaker 1: name for me, and then go on with our ordinary work.
1:08:01
Speaker 1: After a few minutes, or it may be hours, all
1:08:04
Speaker 1: of a sudden, pop! Will come the missing name or
1:08:07
Speaker 1: fact before us, flashed from the planes of the inner consciousness,
1:08:11
Speaker 1: by the help of the kindly workers or brownies of
1:08:14
Speaker 1: those planes. The experience is so common that we have
1:08:18
Speaker 1: ceased to wonder at it, and yet it is a
1:08:20
Speaker 1: wonderful manifestation of the inner conscious workings of the mind.
1:08:24
Speaker 1: Stop and think a moment, and you will see that
1:08:27
Speaker 1: this missing word does not present itself accidentally or just because.
1:08:31
Speaker 1: There are mental processes at work for your benefit, and
1:08:34
Speaker 1: when they have worked out the problem for you they
1:08:36
Speaker 1: gleefully push it up from their plane on to the
1:08:38
Speaker 1: plane of the outer consciousness where you may use it.
1:08:42
Speaker 1: We know of no better way of illustrating the matter
1:08:44
Speaker 1: than by this fanciful figure of the mental brownies, in
1:08:47
Speaker 1: connection with the illustration of the mental storehouse. If you
1:08:52
Speaker 1: would learn to take advantage of the work of the
1:08:54
Speaker 1: inner conscious brownies, form a mental picture of the mental
1:08:57
Speaker 1: storehouses on the several planes of the inner consciousness. in
1:09:00
Speaker 1: which are stored all sorts of knowledge that you have
1:09:02
Speaker 1: placed there during your lifetime, as well as the impressions
1:09:05
Speaker 1: that you have had passed on to you from the past,
1:09:08
Speaker 1: whether that past be the lives of ancestors, or past
1:09:11
Speaker 1: lives of yourself, take your choice regarding this. The information
1:09:16
Speaker 1: stored away has often been placed in the storage rooms
1:09:18
Speaker 1: without any regard to systematic storing or arrangement, and when
1:09:22
Speaker 1: you wish to find something that has been stored away
1:09:24
Speaker 1: a long time ago, the exact place being forgotten, you
1:09:27
Speaker 1: are compelled to call to your assistance the little brownies
1:09:30
Speaker 1: of the mind, which you do by the silent command of,
1:09:33
Speaker 1: Recollect this for me. These brownies are the same little
1:09:36
Speaker 1: chaps that you charge with the task of waking you
1:09:39
Speaker 1: up at four o'clock tomorrow morning when you must catch
1:09:41
Speaker 1: your train, and they obey you well. The same little
1:09:45
Speaker 1: fellows will also flash into your consciousness the report, I
1:09:48
Speaker 1: have an engagement at two o'clock with Jones, and looking
1:09:51
Speaker 1: up at your clock you can see that it is
1:09:53
Speaker 1: just a quarter before the hour of your engagement. Well,
1:09:57
Speaker 1: if you will examine carefully into a subject which you
1:09:59
Speaker 1: wish to master, and will pass along the results of
1:10:02
Speaker 1: your observations to these inner conscious brownies, you will find
1:10:05
Speaker 1: that they will work the raw materials into shape for
1:10:07
Speaker 1: you in time. They will arrange, analyze, systematize, collate and
1:10:13
Speaker 1: arrange in consecutive order the various details of information which
1:10:16
Speaker 1: you have passed on to them, and will add thereto
1:10:19
Speaker 1: the various articles of similar information that they will find
1:10:22
Speaker 1: stored away in the various recesses of your memory. In
1:10:25
Speaker 1: this way they will group together various scattered bits of
1:10:28
Speaker 1: knowledge that you have forgotten. And, right here, let us
1:10:32
Speaker 1: say to you that you never absolutely lose anything that
1:10:35
Speaker 1: you have placed in your mind. You may be unable
1:10:38
Speaker 1: to remember to recollect certain things, but they are not lost,
1:10:42
Speaker 1: sometime later some associative connection will be made with some
1:10:45
Speaker 1: other fact, and lo! The missing idea will be found
1:10:49
Speaker 1: fitted nicely into its place in the larger idea, the
1:10:52
Speaker 1: work of our little brownies. Read the examples given in
1:10:56
Speaker 1: other lessons, they can be reproduced by you or anyone
1:10:59
Speaker 1: who will cultivate that knack of it. Remember Thompson's statement
1:11:03
Speaker 1: that In view of having to wait for the results
1:11:06
Speaker 1: of these unconscious processes, I have proved the habit of
1:11:09
Speaker 1: getting together material in advance, and then leaving the mass
1:11:13
Speaker 1: to digest itself until I am ready to write about it.
1:11:16
Speaker 1: This inner conscious digestion is the work of our little
1:11:19
Speaker 1: mental brownies. There are many ways of setting the brownies
1:11:23
Speaker 1: to work. Nearly everyone has had some experience, more or less,
1:11:27
Speaker 1: in the matter, although often it is done almost unconsciously
1:11:31
Speaker 1: and without intent or knowledge. Perhaps the best way for
1:11:35
Speaker 1: the average person, or rather, for the majority of persons,
1:11:39
Speaker 1: is to get as clear an idea of what you
1:11:40
Speaker 1: really want to know as possible, as clear an idea
1:11:43
Speaker 1: or mental image of the question you want answered, and then,
1:11:46
Speaker 1: after rolling it around in your mind, giving it a
1:11:49
Speaker 1: high degree of voluntary attention, then, we say, pass it
1:11:52
Speaker 1: on to the inner conscious planes, with the mental command,
1:11:56
Speaker 1: attend to this for me, work out the answer, and
1:11:58
Speaker 1: then report to me, or a similar order. This order
1:12:02
Speaker 1: may be made silently, or aloud if you wish, the
1:12:05
Speaker 1: forming of the word seems to give force to the order.
1:12:09
Speaker 1: Speak to the inner conscious workers just as you would
1:12:11
Speaker 1: to people in your employ, firmly but kindly. And, then,
1:12:16
Speaker 1: and this is an important point, you must accompany the
1:12:19
Speaker 1: order with an earnest expectation that your will will be
1:12:21
Speaker 1: carried out. The clearer your belief the better will be
1:12:24
Speaker 1: the result. A doubt will interfere somewhat. The writer of
1:12:29
Speaker 1: this book once said, earnest desire. Confident expectation, and firm demand,
1:12:35
Speaker 1: these form the triple key of occult attainment. And so
1:12:39
Speaker 1: it is, in this case as in many others. Talk
1:12:43
Speaker 1: up to your inner consciousness, and firmly command it to
1:12:46
Speaker 1: do your work, but also earnestly desire its accomplishment, and
1:12:49
Speaker 1: above all, confidently expect the desired answer. And then forget
1:12:54
Speaker 1: all about the matter, throw it off of your conscious mind,
1:12:57
Speaker 1: and attend to other tasks. And then in due time
1:13:01
Speaker 1: the answer will be forthcoming, and will flash before your consciousness,
1:13:05
Speaker 1: perhaps not until the very minute that you must decide
1:13:07
Speaker 1: upon the matter, or need the information. You may give
1:13:11
Speaker 1: your brownies orders to report by such and such a time,
1:13:14
Speaker 1: if you wish, just as you do when you tell
1:13:16
Speaker 1: them to awaken you for your train, or to remind
1:13:19
Speaker 1: you of your appointment. Lesson 8. Forethought. The late Charles
1:13:25
Speaker 1: Godfrey Leland, a well-known writer, and investigator along psychological lines,
1:13:30
Speaker 1: devoted several of the last years of his long life,
1:13:33
Speaker 1: he lived to be nearly 80 years of age, to
1:13:35
Speaker 1: an investigation of the operation of the will along the
1:13:38
Speaker 1: general lines of inner consciousness. He, of course, did not
1:13:43
Speaker 1: use the term inner consciousness, but he recognized the existence
1:13:46
Speaker 1: of its planes of mental manifestation, and his ideas fit
1:13:50
Speaker 1: very nicely into the subject matter and ideas advanced in
1:13:53
Speaker 1: this book, particularly so far as concerns the actual employment
1:13:57
Speaker 1: of the power possible to those who understand the subject.
1:14:01
Speaker 1: In connection with the idea of automatic thinking, which we
1:14:04
Speaker 1: have described in the two preceding chapters, under the head
1:14:07
Speaker 1: of automatic thinking and inner conscious helpers, he uses the
1:14:11
Speaker 1: word forethought, first employed in a similar connection by Horace Fletcher.
1:14:16
Speaker 1: He uses the term forethought in the same sense that
1:14:19
Speaker 1: we use the term mental command to the figurative brownies
1:14:22
Speaker 1: of the inner conscious planes. We think it advisable to
1:14:26
Speaker 1: quote liberally from him in this lesson and the one
1:14:29
Speaker 1: immediately following. in which latter the Leland method is described. Mr.
1:14:34
Speaker 1: Leland's ideas are so practical, and so readily understood by
1:14:38
Speaker 1: the average person, that you will do well to read
1:14:40
Speaker 1: closely these quotations. Mr. Leland says, Forethought is strong thought,
1:14:46
Speaker 1: and the point from which all projects must proceed. As
1:14:50
Speaker 1: I understand it, it is a kind of impulse or
1:14:52
Speaker 1: projection of will into the coming work. I may here
1:14:56
Speaker 1: illustrate this with a curious fact in physics. If the
1:15:00
Speaker 1: reader wished to ring a doorbell so as to produce
1:15:02
Speaker 1: as much sound as possible, he would probably pull it
1:15:05
Speaker 1: as far back as he could, and then let it go.
1:15:08
Speaker 1: But if he would, in letting it go, simply give
1:15:11
Speaker 1: it a tap with his forefinger, he would actually redouble
1:15:14
Speaker 1: the sound. Or, to shoot an arrow as far as possible,
1:15:18
Speaker 1: it is not enough to merely draw the bow to
1:15:20
Speaker 1: its utmost span or tension. If, just as it goes,
1:15:25
Speaker 1: you will give the bow a quick push, though the
1:15:27
Speaker 1: effort be trifling, the arrow will fly almost as far
1:15:30
Speaker 1: again as it would have done without it. Or, if,
1:15:34
Speaker 1: as is well known, in wielding a very sharp saber,
1:15:37
Speaker 1: we make the draw cut, that is, if to the
1:15:39
Speaker 1: blow or chop, as with an axe, we also add
1:15:42
Speaker 1: a certain slight pull, simultaneously, we can cut through a
1:15:46
Speaker 1: silk handkerchief or a sheep. Forethought is the tap on
1:15:49
Speaker 1: the bell, the push on the bow, the draw on
1:15:52
Speaker 1: the saber. It is the deliberate but yet rapid action
1:15:56
Speaker 1: of the mind when before falling to sleep or dismissing thought,
1:15:59
Speaker 1: we bid the mind to subsequently respond. It is more
1:16:03
Speaker 1: than merely thinking what we are to do, it is
1:16:05
Speaker 1: the bidding or ordering the self to fulfill a task
1:16:08
Speaker 1: before willing it. Forethought, in the senses employed or implied,
1:16:13
Speaker 1: as here described means much more than mere previous consideration
1:16:16
Speaker 1: or reflection, which may be very feeble. It is, in fact, constructive,
1:16:22
Speaker 1: which implies active thought. Therefore, as the active principle in
1:16:27
Speaker 1: mental work, I regard it as a kind of self-impulse,
1:16:30
Speaker 1: or that minor part in the division of the force
1:16:32
Speaker 1: employed which sets the major into action. Now, if we
1:16:36
Speaker 1: really understand this, and can succeed in employing forethought as
1:16:40
Speaker 1: the preparation for, and impulse to, auto-suggestion, we shall greatly
1:16:44
Speaker 1: aid the success of the latter, because the former ensures
1:16:47
Speaker 1: attention and interest. Forethought may be brief, but it should
1:16:51
Speaker 1: always be energetic. By cultivating it we acquire the enviable
1:16:56
Speaker 1: talent of those men who take in everything at a glance,
1:16:59
Speaker 1: and act promptly, like Napoleon. This power is universally believed
1:17:04
Speaker 1: to be entirely innate, or a gift, but it can
1:17:06
Speaker 1: be induced or developed in all minds in proportion to
1:17:09
Speaker 1: the will by practice. Be it observed that as the
1:17:12
Speaker 1: experimenter progresses in the development of will by autosuggestion, he
1:17:16
Speaker 1: can gradually lay aside the latter, or all processes, especially
1:17:20
Speaker 1: if he worked to such an end, anticipating it. Then
1:17:24
Speaker 1: he simply acts by clear will and strength and forethought
1:17:27
Speaker 1: constitutes all his stock in trade, process, or aid. He
1:17:32
Speaker 1: preconceives and wills energetically at once, and by practice and
1:17:35
Speaker 1: repetition forethought becomes a marvelous help on all occasions and emergencies.
1:17:41
Speaker 1: To make it avail the one who frequently practices auto-suggestion,
1:17:45
Speaker 1: at first with, and then without sleep, will inevitably find
1:17:48
Speaker 1: ere long that to facilitate his work, or to succeed,
1:17:51
Speaker 1: he must first write, as it were. or plan a preface, synopsis,
1:17:56
Speaker 1: or epitome of his proposed work, to start it and
1:17:58
Speaker 1: combine with it a resolve or decree that it must
1:18:01
Speaker 1: be done, the latter being the tap on the bell-knob.
1:18:05
Speaker 1: Now the habit of composing the plan as perfectly, yet
1:18:08
Speaker 1: as succinctly as possible, daily or nightly, combined with the
1:18:11
Speaker 1: energetic impulse to send it off, will ere long give
1:18:14
Speaker 1: the student a conception of what I mean by forethought,
1:18:17
Speaker 1: which by description I cannot. And when grown familiar and
1:18:21
Speaker 1: really mastered, it will give to its possessor a power
1:18:24
Speaker 1: to think and act promptly in all the emergencies of life,
1:18:27
Speaker 1: in a greatly increased degree. All men of great natural
1:18:31
Speaker 1: strength of mind, gifted with the will to do and dare,
1:18:34
Speaker 1: the beings of action and genius, act directly, and are
1:18:37
Speaker 1: like athletes who lift a tree by the simple exertion
1:18:40
Speaker 1: of the muscles. He who achieves his aim by self-culture, training,
1:18:45
Speaker 1: or auto-suggestion, is like one who raises the weight by
1:18:48
Speaker 1: means of a lever, and if he practice it often
1:18:50
Speaker 1: enough he may in the end become as strong as
1:18:52
Speaker 1: the other. Such a man is like the hero in
1:18:56
Speaker 1: one of Maine Reed's novels, of whom it is said.
1:19:00
Speaker 1: His aim with the rifle is infallible, and it would
1:19:02
Speaker 1: seem as if the ball obeyed his will. There must
1:19:05
Speaker 1: be a kind of directing principle in his mind. independent
1:19:09
Speaker 1: of strength of nerve and sight. He and one other
1:19:12
Speaker 1: are the only men in whom I have observed this
1:19:14
Speaker 1: singular power. This means simply the exercise in a second,
1:19:18
Speaker 1: as it were, of the tap on the bell-knob, or
1:19:21
Speaker 1: the projection of the will into the proposed shot, and
1:19:23
Speaker 1: which may be applied to any act. Mind and especially forethought,
1:19:28
Speaker 1: or reflection, combined in one effort with will and energy,
1:19:32
Speaker 1: enters into all acts, though often unsuspected, for it is
1:19:35
Speaker 1: a kind of reflex action or cerebration. Thus I once
1:19:40
Speaker 1: discovered to my astonishment in a gymnasium that the extremely
1:19:43
Speaker 1: mechanical action of putting up a heavy weight from the
1:19:45
Speaker 1: ground to the shoulder, and from the shoulder to the
1:19:47
Speaker 1: full reach of the arm above the head, became much
1:19:50
Speaker 1: easier after a little practice, although my muscles had not grown,
1:19:54
Speaker 1: nor my strength increased during the time. And I found
1:19:58
Speaker 1: that whatever the exertion be, there was always a trick
1:20:01
Speaker 1: or knack, however indescribable, by means of which the man
1:20:04
Speaker 1: with a brain could surpass the dolt at anything, though
1:20:07
Speaker 1: the latter were his equal in strength. But it sometimes
1:20:10
Speaker 1: happens that the trick can be taught and improved upon.
1:20:14
Speaker 1: And it is in all cases forethought, even the lifting
1:20:17
Speaker 1: of weights or the willing on the morrow to write
1:20:19
Speaker 1: a poem. This acting or working of the two thoughts
1:20:23
Speaker 1: at once, the thought of just what you want, and
1:20:25
Speaker 1: the thought that you succeed, may be difficult for some
1:20:28
Speaker 1: readers to understand. It may be formulated thus, I wish
1:20:32
Speaker 1: to remember tomorrow at four o'clock to visit my bookseller, booksellers,
1:20:37
Speaker 1: four o'clock, four o'clock. but with practice the two will
1:20:41
Speaker 1: become as one conception. When the object of a state
1:20:45
Speaker 1: of mind, as, for instance, calmness all day long, is obtained,
1:20:49
Speaker 1: even partially, the operator, who must of course do all
1:20:53
Speaker 1: to help himself to keep calm, should he remember his wish,
1:20:56
Speaker 1: will begin to believe in himself sincerely, or in the
1:20:59
Speaker 1: power of his will to compel a certain state of mind.
1:21:02
Speaker 1: This one all may be won, by continued reflection and perseverance.
1:21:07
Speaker 1: It is the great step gained, the alphabet learned, by
1:21:10
Speaker 1: which the mind may pass to boundless power. This process
1:21:15
Speaker 1: of autosuggestion and trusting to the effect of ordinary sleep
1:21:19
Speaker 1: is well adapted to producing desired states of mind, including
1:21:22
Speaker 1: those manifesting in future action. Forethought can be of vast
1:21:26
Speaker 1: practical use in cases where confidence is required. Many a
1:21:31
Speaker 1: young clergyman and lawyer has been literally frightened out of
1:21:33
Speaker 1: a career, and many an actor ruined for want of
1:21:36
Speaker 1: a very little knowledge, and in this I speak from
1:21:38
Speaker 1: personal experience. Let the aspirant who is to appear in public,
1:21:43
Speaker 1: or pass an examination, and is alarmed, base his forethought
1:21:47
Speaker 1: on such ideas as this, that he would not be
1:21:49
Speaker 1: afraid to repeat his speech to one or two persons,
1:21:52
Speaker 1: why then should he fear a hundred persons? There are
1:21:55
Speaker 1: some who can repeat this idea to themselves, till it
1:21:58
Speaker 1: takes hold strongly, and they rise almost feeling contempt for
1:22:01
Speaker 1: all in court, as did a lady in a seat. Lewis,
1:22:05
Speaker 1: who felt so relieved when a witness had not feeling frightened,
1:22:09
Speaker 1: that she bade the judge and jury to cease looking
1:22:11
Speaker 1: at her in that impudent way. It will be useless
1:22:14
Speaker 1: for any person to take up this method as a
1:22:16
Speaker 1: trifling pastime or to attempt auto-suggestion and development of will
1:22:20
Speaker 1: with as little earnestness as one would give to a
1:22:22
Speaker 1: game of cards, for in such half-hearted effort time will
1:22:25
Speaker 1: be lost and nothing come of it. Unless centered upon
1:22:29
Speaker 1: with the most serious resolve to persevere, and make greater
1:22:32
Speaker 1: effort and more earnestly at each step, it had better
1:22:35
Speaker 1: be left alone. All who persevere with calm determination cannot
1:22:39
Speaker 1: fail ere long to gain a certain success, and this achieved,
1:22:43
Speaker 1: the second step is much easier. However, there are many
1:22:46
Speaker 1: people who after doing all in their power to get
1:22:49
Speaker 1: to the gold or diamond mines hasten away even when
1:22:51
Speaker 1: in the full tide of success, because they are fickle.
1:22:55
Speaker 1: And such people are more wearisome and greater foes to
1:22:58
Speaker 1: real science than the utterly indifferent or the ignorant. This
1:23:02
Speaker 1: will not have been written in vain should it induce
1:23:04
Speaker 1: the reader to reflect on what is implied by patient
1:23:07
Speaker 1: repetition or perseverance, and what an incredible and varied power
1:23:10
Speaker 1: that man acquires who masters it. There are many cases
1:23:14
Speaker 1: in which the reader may ask me whether this method
1:23:16
Speaker 1: may be employed, to which I am compelled to answer
1:23:19
Speaker 1: that I have had no experience in such cases. But
1:23:23
Speaker 1: I may add, in such cases, that as regards the method,
1:23:27
Speaker 1: I am like the Scotch clergyman, who, being asked by
1:23:30
Speaker 1: a wealthy man if he thought the gift of a
1:23:31
Speaker 1: thousand pounds to the Kirk would save the donor's soul, replied,
1:23:35
Speaker 1: I'm not prepared to precisely answer thought question, but I
1:23:39
Speaker 1: wad varo warmly advise ye to try it. Lesson 9.
1:23:44
Speaker 1: The Leland Method. Mr. Leland, whose remarks on forethought we
1:23:48
Speaker 1: gave you in the preceding lesson, paid much attention to
1:23:51
Speaker 1: a method of using the inner consciousness, which is generally
1:23:54
Speaker 1: known as the Leland Method. Other writers, before and after Mr.
1:23:59
Speaker 1: Leland's work, have considered this phase of the subject, but Mr.
1:24:03
Speaker 1: Leland deserves much credit for having brought the matter before
1:24:06
Speaker 1: the attention of a large number of people in so
1:24:08
Speaker 1: practical a manner, and in so forcible a style. We
1:24:13
Speaker 1: herewith give you the gist of his method, in his
1:24:15
Speaker 1: own words, culled from his works on the subject. Mr.
1:24:19
Speaker 1: Leland begins by stating that for a number of years
1:24:22
Speaker 1: he had given much attention, time, study and reflection to
1:24:25
Speaker 1: the subject of the methods of impressing the inner conscious
1:24:28
Speaker 1: planes of the mind with auto-suggestions, forethoughts, mental commands, orders
1:24:32
Speaker 1: to the brownies, etc., given immediately before one would sink
1:24:36
Speaker 1: to sleep at night. He then goes on to say,
1:24:41
Speaker 1: All mental or cerebral faculties can by direct scientific treatment
1:24:45
Speaker 1: be influenced to what would have once been regarded as
1:24:47
Speaker 1: miraculous action, and which is even yet very little known
1:24:50
Speaker 1: or considered. In the development of this theory, and as
1:24:54
Speaker 1: confirmed by much practical and personal experience, the will can
1:24:57
Speaker 1: by very easy processes of training, or by aid of auto-suggestion,
1:25:01
Speaker 1: be strengthened to any extent, and states of mind soon induced,
1:25:05
Speaker 1: which can be made by practice habitual. Thus, a man,
1:25:10
Speaker 1: by a very simple experiment a few times repeated, an
1:25:13
Speaker 1: experiment which I clearly describe and which has been tested
1:25:16
Speaker 1: and verified beyond all denial, can cause himself to remain
1:25:19
Speaker 1: during the following day in a perfectly calm or cheerful
1:25:22
Speaker 1: state of mind, and this condition may, by means of
1:25:25
Speaker 1: repetition and practice, be raised or varied to other states
1:25:28
Speaker 1: or conditions of a far more active or intelligent description. Thus,
1:25:34
Speaker 1: for illustration, I may say that within my own experience,
1:25:37
Speaker 1: I have by this process succeeded since my seventieth year
1:25:40
Speaker 1: in working all day far more assiduously, and without any
1:25:43
Speaker 1: sense of weariness or distaste for labor than I ever
1:25:46
Speaker 1: did at any previous period of my life. And the
1:25:49
Speaker 1: reader need only try the extremely easy experiment, as I
1:25:52
Speaker 1: have described it, to satisfy himself that he can do
1:25:55
Speaker 1: the same, that he can continue it with growing strength
1:25:58
Speaker 1: ad infinitum. Mr. Leland then goes on to point out
1:26:03
Speaker 1: to the reader the effects of autosuggestion, which are known
1:26:06
Speaker 1: to all students of psychology. He says, Then it came
1:26:10
Speaker 1: to my mind that since autosuggestion was possible, that if
1:26:13
Speaker 1: I would resolve to work all the next day, that is,
1:26:16
Speaker 1: apply myself to literary or artistic labor without once feeling fatigue,
1:26:20
Speaker 1: and succeed, it would be a marvelous thing for a
1:26:23
Speaker 1: man of my age. And so it befell that by
1:26:26
Speaker 1: making an easy beginning I brought it to pass to perfection.
1:26:30
Speaker 1: What I mean by an easy beginning is not to
1:26:32
Speaker 1: will or resolve too vehemently, but to simply and very gently,
1:26:36
Speaker 1: yet assiduously, impress the idea upon the mind so as
1:26:39
Speaker 1: to fall asleep while thinking of it as a thing
1:26:41
Speaker 1: to be. My next step was to will that I should,
1:26:45
Speaker 1: all the next day, be free from any nervous or
1:26:47
Speaker 1: mental worry, or preserve a hopeful, calm, or well-balanced state
1:26:51
Speaker 1: of mind. This led to many minute and extremely curious
1:26:55
Speaker 1: experiments and observations. That the imperturbable or calm state of
1:27:00
Speaker 1: mind promptly set in was undeniable, but it often behaved
1:27:04
Speaker 1: like the angel in H. G. Wells' novel, The Wonderful Visit,
1:27:08
Speaker 1: as if somewhat frightened at, or of, with, or by
1:27:11
Speaker 1: its new abode, and no wonder. for it was indeed
1:27:14
Speaker 1: a novel guest, and the goblins of worry and tease,
1:27:17
Speaker 1: fidget and fear, who had hitherto been allowed to riot
1:27:20
Speaker 1: about and come and go at their own sweet wills,
1:27:23
Speaker 1: were ill-pleased at being made to keep quiet by this
1:27:25
Speaker 1: new lady of the manor. I had my lapses, but
1:27:29
Speaker 1: withal I was simply astonished to find how, by perseverance,
1:27:33
Speaker 1: habitual calm not only grew upon me, but how decidedly
1:27:37
Speaker 1: it increased. And far beyond perseverance in labour, or the
1:27:41
Speaker 1: inducing a calmer and habitually restful state of mind, was
1:27:44
Speaker 1: the awakening of the will, which I found as interesting
1:27:47
Speaker 1: as any novel or drama or series of active adventures
1:27:50
Speaker 1: which I have ever read or experienced. Then Mr. Leland
1:27:54
Speaker 1: proceeds to impart to his readers his discovery, or method,
1:27:58
Speaker 1: as follows. And this is the discovery, resolved before going
1:28:03
Speaker 1: to sleep that if there be anything whatever for you
1:28:05
Speaker 1: to do which requires will or resolution, be it to
1:28:07
Speaker 1: undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a
1:28:11
Speaker 1: disagreeable person, to fast, or make a speech, to say no,
1:28:15
Speaker 1: to anything, in short, to keep up to the mark
1:28:18
Speaker 1: or make any kind of effort that you will do it,
1:28:20
Speaker 1: as calmly and unthinkingly as may be. Do not desire
1:28:24
Speaker 1: to do it sternly or forcibly, or in spite of obstacles.
1:28:29
Speaker 1: But simply and coolly make up your mind to do it,
1:28:32
Speaker 1: and it will much more likely be done. And it
1:28:35
Speaker 1: is absolutely true that if persevered in, this willing yourself
1:28:38
Speaker 1: to will by easy impulse unto impulse given, will lead
1:28:41
Speaker 1: to marvelous and most satisfactory results. Mr. Leland then gives
1:28:46
Speaker 1: the following words of caution to those undertaking the practice
1:28:49
Speaker 1: of his method, there is one thing of which the
1:28:51
Speaker 1: young or over-sanguine or heedless should be warned. Do not
1:28:56
Speaker 1: expect from this method, or anything else in this life,
1:28:59
Speaker 1: prompt perfection or the maximum of success. You may predetermine
1:29:03
Speaker 1: to be cheerful, but if you are very susceptible to
1:29:06
Speaker 1: bad weather, and the day should be dismal, or you
1:29:09
Speaker 1: should hear of the death of a friend, or a
1:29:11
Speaker 1: great disaster of any kind, some depression of spirits will
1:29:14
Speaker 1: likely ensue. On the other hand, note well that forming
1:29:18
Speaker 1: habit by frequent repetition of willing yourself to equanimity and cheerfulness,
1:29:23
Speaker 1: and also to the banishing of repulsive images when they come,
1:29:26
Speaker 1: will infallibly result in a very much happier state of
1:29:28
Speaker 1: mind As soon as you actually begin to realize that
1:29:32
Speaker 1: you are acquiring such control, remember that is the golden hour,
1:29:36
Speaker 1: and redouble your efforts. I trust that I have thus
1:29:40
Speaker 1: far in a few words explained to the reader the
1:29:42
Speaker 1: rationale of a system of mental discipline based on will,
1:29:45
Speaker 1: and how by a very easy process the latter may
1:29:48
Speaker 1: be gradually awakened. Everyone would like to have a strong,
1:29:52
Speaker 1: vigorous will. and there is a library of books or
1:29:55
Speaker 1: sermons in some form, exhorting the weak to awaken and
1:29:58
Speaker 1: fortify their wills or characters, but all represent it as
1:30:01
Speaker 1: a hard and vigorous process, akin to storm and stress,
1:30:04
Speaker 1: battle and victory, and none really tell how to go
1:30:07
Speaker 1: about it. I have indeed only indicated that it is
1:30:11
Speaker 1: by auto-suggestion that the first steps are taken. If we
1:30:15
Speaker 1: will that a certain idea shall recur to us on
1:30:17
Speaker 1: the following, or any other day, and if we bring
1:30:20
Speaker 1: the mind to bear upon it just before falling asleep,
1:30:22
Speaker 1: it may be forgotten when we awake, but it will
1:30:25
Speaker 1: recur to us when the time comes. That is what
1:30:28
Speaker 1: almost everybody has proved, that if we resolve to awake
1:30:31
Speaker 1: at a certain hour we generally do so, if not
1:30:34
Speaker 1: the first time, after a few experiments, apropos of which
1:30:37
Speaker 1: I would remark that no one should ever expect full
1:30:39
Speaker 1: success from any first experiment. Just by the same process
1:30:44
Speaker 1: as that which enables us to awake at a given hour,
1:30:47
Speaker 1: and simply by substituting other ideas for that of time,
1:30:50
Speaker 1: we can acquire the ability to bring upon ourselves predetermined
1:30:53
Speaker 1: or desired states of mind. This is auto-suggestion, or deferred determination,
1:30:59
Speaker 1: be it with or without sleep. It becomes more certain
1:31:02
Speaker 1: in its results with every new experiment or trial. The
1:31:06
Speaker 1: great factor in the whole is perseverance or repetition. By
1:31:11
Speaker 1: faith we can remove mountains, by perseverance we can carry
1:31:14
Speaker 1: them away, and the two amount to precisely the same thing.
1:31:18
Speaker 1: And here be it noted what, I believe, No writer
1:31:21
Speaker 1: has ever before observed, that his perseverance depends upon renewed
1:31:24
Speaker 1: forethought and reflection, so by continued practice and thought, in auto-suggestion,
1:31:29
Speaker 1: the one practicing begins to find before long that his
1:31:32
Speaker 1: conscious will is acting more vigorously in his waking hours,
1:31:35
Speaker 1: and that he can dispense with the sleeping process. For,
1:31:39
Speaker 1: in fact, when we once find that our will is
1:31:42
Speaker 1: really beginning to obey us, and inspire courage and indifference
1:31:45
Speaker 1: where we were once timid, there is no end to
1:31:47
Speaker 1: the confidence and power which may ensue. Now this is
1:31:51
Speaker 1: absolutely true. A man may will certain things ere he
1:31:55
Speaker 1: fall asleep. This willing should not be intense, as the
1:31:59
Speaker 1: old magnetizers taught, it ought rather to be like a quiet,
1:32:03
Speaker 1: firm desire or familiarization with what we want, often gently
1:32:06
Speaker 1: repeated until we fall asleep in it. So the seeker
1:32:10
Speaker 1: wills or wishes that he shall, during all of the
1:32:13
Speaker 1: next day, feel strong and vigorous, hopeful, energetic, cheerful, bold,
1:32:18
Speaker 1: or calm, or peaceful, as he may desire. And the
1:32:22
Speaker 1: result will be obtained just in proportion to the degree
1:32:25
Speaker 1: in which the command or desire has impressed the subconscious mind,
1:32:28
Speaker 1: or sunk into it. But, as I have said, do
1:32:32
Speaker 1: not expect that all of this will result from a
1:32:34
Speaker 1: first trial. It may even be that those who succeed
1:32:38
Speaker 1: very promptly will be more likely to give out in
1:32:40
Speaker 1: the end than those who work up from small beginnings.
1:32:44
Speaker 1: The first step may very well be that of merely
1:32:46
Speaker 1: selecting some particular object, and calmly and gently, yet determinately
1:32:50
Speaker 1: directing the mind to it, to be recalled at a
1:32:53
Speaker 1: certain hour. Repeat the experiment, if successful add to it
1:32:57
Speaker 1: something else. Violent effort is unadvisable, yet mere repetition without
1:33:02
Speaker 1: thought is time lost. Think, while willing, what it is
1:33:07
Speaker 1: that you really do want, and, above all, if you can,
1:33:10
Speaker 1: think with a certainty and feeling that the idea will
1:33:13
Speaker 1: surely recur to you. To recapitulate and make all clear
1:33:17
Speaker 1: we will suppose that the reader desires during the following
1:33:19
Speaker 1: day to be in a calm, self-possessed or peaceful state
1:33:22
Speaker 1: of mind. Therefore at night, after retiring, let him first
1:33:27
Speaker 1: completely consider what he wants and means to acquire. This
1:33:31
Speaker 1: is the forethought, and it should be as thorough as possible.
1:33:35
Speaker 1: Having done this, will or declare that what you want
1:33:37
Speaker 1: shall come to pass on waking, and repeating this and
1:33:40
Speaker 1: thinking on it, fall asleep. This is all. Do not
1:33:45
Speaker 1: wish for two things at once, or not until your
1:33:47
Speaker 1: mind shall have become familiar with the process. As you
1:33:51
Speaker 1: feel your power strengthened with success, you may will yourself
1:33:54
Speaker 1: to do whatever you desire. It may have struck the
1:33:58
Speaker 1: reader as an almost awful, or at least a very
1:34:01
Speaker 1: wonderful idea, that man has within himself, if he did
1:34:04
Speaker 1: but know it, tremendous powers or transcendental faculties of which
1:34:08
Speaker 1: he has really never had any conception. One reason why
1:34:11
Speaker 1: such bold thought has been subdued is that he always
1:34:14
Speaker 1: felt according to tradition the existence of superior supernatural beings,
1:34:18
Speaker 1: by whose power and patronage he has been effectively restrained
1:34:21
Speaker 1: or kept under. It may seem a bold thing to
1:34:25
Speaker 1: say that it did not occur to any philosopher through
1:34:27
Speaker 1: the ages that man, resolute, noble and free, might will
1:34:31
Speaker 1: himself into a stage of mind defying devils and phantasms,
1:34:35
Speaker 1: or that amid the infinite possibilities of human nature, there
1:34:38
Speaker 1: was the faculty of assuming the indifference habitual to animals
1:34:41
Speaker 1: when not alarmed. Our method renders potent and grand, pleasing,
1:34:46
Speaker 1: or practically useful, to all who practice it, a faculty
1:34:50
Speaker 1: which has the great advantage that it may enter into
1:34:52
Speaker 1: all the relations or acts of life, will give to
1:34:55
Speaker 1: everyone something to do, something to occupy his mind, even
1:34:58
Speaker 1: in itself, and if we have other occupations. The student
1:35:03
Speaker 1: will recognize in the Leland Method the same principles of autosuggestion,
1:35:07
Speaker 1: of self-command, that we have referred to in other lessons,
1:35:11
Speaker 1: together with the principle of the mental helpers already spoken of.
1:35:15
Speaker 1: But he will also notice the stress and importance that Mr.
1:35:18
Speaker 1: Leland attaches to the idea of giving the command or
1:35:21
Speaker 1: auto-suggestion just before one goes to sleep. This idea, in fact,
1:35:26
Speaker 1: forms the keynote of the Leland method, and Mr. Leland's
1:35:31
Speaker 1: ideas have attracted much attention by reason thereof, notwithstanding that
1:35:35
Speaker 1: the idea of suggestion before sleep has been referred to
1:35:37
Speaker 1: and written upon by other writers, before and since the
1:35:40
Speaker 1: date of Mr. Leland's work. But, inasmuch as the latter
1:35:44
Speaker 1: brought out this phase of the subject so clearly, it
1:35:47
Speaker 1: is but just that any presentation of the general subject
1:35:50
Speaker 1: contain a liberal reference to his work, theories, and ideas,
1:35:53
Speaker 1: and full credit for the same. There is a good
1:35:57
Speaker 1: psychological reason underlying the fact that mental commands given to
1:36:00
Speaker 1: one's own mind just before sleep should prove so efficacious.
1:36:05
Speaker 1: The reason lies in the fact that sleep is a
1:36:07
Speaker 1: state induced by nature not only for the purpose of
1:36:09
Speaker 1: resting the physical body and enabling the reparative and recuperative
1:36:13
Speaker 1: processes to work to the best advantage, important as is
1:36:16
Speaker 1: this work, there is still another purpose behind the phenomena
1:36:19
Speaker 1: of sleep. During sleep there is a mental work going on,
1:36:23
Speaker 1: as well as a physical. The tiny worker of the mind,
1:36:27
Speaker 1: to follow the figurative illustration already used by us, the
1:36:30
Speaker 1: brownies of the mind, do much of their work during
1:36:33
Speaker 1: the time of sleep. The period of sleep is the
1:36:36
Speaker 1: time of great doings on some of the planes of
1:36:39
Speaker 1: the inner consciousness. Then is to be found the performance
1:36:43
Speaker 1: of the work of mental assimilation, analysis, collation, combining, adjusting,
1:36:48
Speaker 1: storing away, arranging, etc. Of the material gathered by the
1:36:54
Speaker 1: outer consciousness, through its sense organs and reasoning faculties during
1:36:57
Speaker 1: the waking hours just past. The workers of the mind
1:37:01
Speaker 1: gather up the material roughly stored at the end of
1:37:03
Speaker 1: the day, and store it away systematically, each impression according
1:37:07
Speaker 1: to its kind, and according to the law of association,
1:37:10
Speaker 1: so that when one starts on a certain subject he
1:37:12
Speaker 1: will find arranged in order all that he knows concerning
1:37:15
Speaker 1: that subject. The process is like the arrangement of books
1:37:19
Speaker 1: in a large modern reference library. so that anyone familiar
1:37:22
Speaker 1: with the system may go from one book to another
1:37:24
Speaker 1: until he has acquainted himself with all the library contains
1:37:27
Speaker 1: concerning that particular subject. But this is not all. During
1:37:32
Speaker 1: the day the conscious mind has made numerous demands for
1:37:35
Speaker 1: certain information, answers, work, solutions, etc. More or less unconsciously,
1:37:43
Speaker 1: and the little workers of the mind take this their
1:37:45
Speaker 1: first chance to do this work, now that the outer
1:37:47
Speaker 1: consciousness is asleep and not bothering them with demands for
1:37:50
Speaker 1: the performance of the numerous tasks of the day that
1:37:53
Speaker 1: demand immediate attention. They gather together the scattered material, and
1:37:58
Speaker 1: like the brownies work up the material into perfected articles,
1:38:01
Speaker 1: so that the next day the individual is surprised to
1:38:03
Speaker 1: find how his mind has worked out many matters for
1:38:06
Speaker 1: him while he was asleep. These little brownies work while
1:38:09
Speaker 1: you sleep, as the current slang expresses it. And so
1:38:13
Speaker 1: now you see the value of the Leland method. Just
1:38:17
Speaker 1: before going to sleep you formulate a definite demand upon
1:38:20
Speaker 1: the brownies and then dismiss the subject from your outer consciousness.
1:38:24
Speaker 1: Then while you are asleep the desired task is accomplished,
1:38:28
Speaker 1: the missing link to the chain of knowledge is forged
1:38:30
Speaker 1: and adjusted into place, the puzzling problem is solved, the
1:38:34
Speaker 1: perplexing riddle is answered. But you must always remember that
1:38:38
Speaker 1: after you have said to your inner consciousness, attend to
1:38:41
Speaker 1: this for me while I sleep, you must then positively
1:38:44
Speaker 1: dismiss the matter from your outer consciousness, just as a
1:38:46
Speaker 1: great executive dismisses a matter when he gives it over
1:38:49
Speaker 1: to a tried and trusted assistant. Until you do this
1:38:53
Speaker 1: the inner consciousness cannot do its work properly. Always remember
1:38:57
Speaker 1: this in connection with this phase of the subject. It
1:39:00
Speaker 1: is highly important. Lesson 10. Intuition and Beyond. Just as
1:39:07
Speaker 1: there are mental planes which the investigator naturally classifies as, below,
1:39:11
Speaker 1: the ordinary planes of consciousness, the instinctive planes, the physical
1:39:16
Speaker 1: function plane, the habit plane, and even the plane on
1:39:19
Speaker 1: which the so-called automatic thinking, etc., manifests, so are there
1:39:23
Speaker 1: many planes which one naturally thinks of as, above, the
1:39:27
Speaker 1: ordinary plane. As we have said, not only are there
1:39:31
Speaker 1: the basements and sub-cellars beneath the floor of the packing
1:39:34
Speaker 1: and shipping department of the mind, but also many upper stories,
1:39:37
Speaker 1: above that floor. Upon these upper floors of the mind
1:39:41
Speaker 1: rest those things which the world calls genius, inspiration, intuition,
1:39:46
Speaker 1: spiritual power, and other names denoting higher faculties of the mind.
1:39:51
Speaker 1: Kay says, it is in the ultra-conscious region of the
1:39:54
Speaker 1: mind that all its highest operations are carried on. It
1:39:58
Speaker 1: is here that genius works. Carlyle said, Shakespeare's intellect is
1:40:03
Speaker 1: what I call an unconscious intellect, there is more virtue
1:40:06
Speaker 1: in it than he himself is aware of. The latest
1:40:09
Speaker 1: generations of men will find new meanings in Shakespeare, new
1:40:12
Speaker 1: elucidations of their own human being. Goethe said, I prefer
1:40:17
Speaker 1: that the principle from which, and through which, I work
1:40:20
Speaker 1: shall be hidden from me. Ferrier says, The sublimest works
1:40:25
Speaker 1: of intelligence are quite possible, and may be easily conceived
1:40:29
Speaker 1: to be executed, without any consciousness of them on the
1:40:31
Speaker 1: part of the apparent and immediate agent. Holmes says, The
1:40:36
Speaker 1: creating and informing spirit which is within us and not
1:40:38
Speaker 1: of us, is recognized everywhere in real life. It comes
1:40:43
Speaker 1: to us as a voice that will be heard. it
1:40:45
Speaker 1: tells us what we must believe, it frames our sentences
1:40:48
Speaker 1: and we wonder at this visitor who chooses our brain
1:40:50
Speaker 1: as his dwelling place. Schofield says, the super-conscious mind lies
1:40:55
Speaker 1: at the other end, all those regions of higher soul
1:40:58
Speaker 1: and spirit life, of which we are only at times
1:41:01
Speaker 1: vaguely conscious, but which always exist, and link us on
1:41:04
Speaker 1: to eternal verities, on the one side, as surely as
1:41:08
Speaker 1: the subconscious mind links us to the body on the other.
1:41:11
Speaker 1: Schofield also says, The mind, indeed, reaches all the way,
1:41:17
Speaker 1: and while on the one hand it is inspired by
1:41:19
Speaker 1: the Almighty, on the other it energizes the body, all
1:41:22
Speaker 1: whose purpose of life it originates. We may call the
1:41:26
Speaker 1: super-conscious mind the sphere of the body-life, the sub-conscious mind
1:41:30
Speaker 1: the sphere of the body-life, and the conscious mind the
1:41:33
Speaker 1: middle region where both meet. Schofield also says, The Spirit
1:41:38
Speaker 1: of God is said to dwell in believers, and yet,
1:41:41
Speaker 1: as we have seen, his presence is not the subject
1:41:44
Speaker 1: of direct consciousness. We would include, therefore, in the superconscious,
1:41:49
Speaker 1: all such spiritual ideas, together with conscience, the voice of God,
1:41:54
Speaker 1: as Max Muller calls it, which is surely a half-conscious faculty.
1:41:59
Speaker 1: Moreover the superconscious, like the subconscious, is, as we have said,
1:42:03
Speaker 1: best apprehended when the conscious mind is not active. Visions, meditations, prayers,
1:42:10
Speaker 1: and even dreams have been undoubtedly occasions of spiritual revelations,
1:42:14
Speaker 1: and many instances may be adduced as illustrations of the
1:42:17
Speaker 1: workings of the spirit apart from the action of reason
1:42:20
Speaker 1: or mind. The truth apparently is that the mind as
1:42:23
Speaker 1: a whole is an unconscious state, by that its middle registers,
1:42:27
Speaker 1: excluding the highest spiritual and lowest physical manifestations, are fitfully
1:42:32
Speaker 1: illuminated in varying degrees by consciousness. And that it is
1:42:36
Speaker 1: to this illuminated part of the dial that the word mind,
1:42:39
Speaker 1: which rightly appertains to the whole, has been limited. And
1:42:43
Speaker 1: as Emerson has said, trust the instinct to the end,
1:42:46
Speaker 1: though you can render no reason. It shall ripen into truth,
1:42:50
Speaker 1: and you shall know why you believe. In the region
1:42:53
Speaker 1: of the higher planes of the inner consciousness are to
1:42:56
Speaker 1: be found that wonderful aspect or phase of mind which
1:42:58
Speaker 1: we call intuition, which Webster defines as, direct apprehension or cognition.
1:43:05
Speaker 1: Immediate knowledge, as in perception or consciousness involving no reasoning process.
1:43:10
Speaker 1: Intuition is a most difficult thing to describe, but yet
1:43:14
Speaker 1: nearly everyone understands just what is meant by the term.
1:43:18
Speaker 1: It is a higher form of that which we know
1:43:19
Speaker 1: as instinct, the difference being chiefly that instinct belongs to
1:43:23
Speaker 1: the phenomena of the below, conscious planes, and has to
1:43:26
Speaker 1: do chiefly with that which concerns the physical body and well-being.
1:43:31
Speaker 1: while intuition belongs to the above conscious planes and has
1:43:35
Speaker 1: to do with the higher part of the nature of
1:43:36
Speaker 1: the individual. Instinct sends its messages up to the intellect,
1:43:41
Speaker 1: while intuition sends its messages down to the intellect. Many
1:43:46
Speaker 1: of the highest form of pleasurable things come from the
1:43:48
Speaker 1: region of intuition. Art, music, poetry, the love of the
1:43:53
Speaker 1: beautiful and the good, the higher forms of love, intuitive
1:43:57
Speaker 1: perception of truth, all these come from above, from the
1:44:00
Speaker 1: region of intuition. Genius also comes from that enchanted region.
1:44:06
Speaker 1: All great writers, poets, painters, musicians, actors, and artists of
1:44:11
Speaker 1: all kinds and modes of expression have received their inspiration
1:44:15
Speaker 1: from these higher regions of the mind. All great artists,
1:44:19
Speaker 1: working through the various mediums of expression noted above, have
1:44:22
Speaker 1: felt that their best work was rather the result of
1:44:25
Speaker 1: the labor of some higher power, rather than of their
1:44:27
Speaker 1: own everyday self. The testimony on this point is overwhelming. And,
1:44:34
Speaker 1: strange to say, the work that impresses itself most strongly
1:44:37
Speaker 1: upon the public, is just this kind of work which
1:44:40
Speaker 1: left upon the mind of the worker the impression that
1:44:42
Speaker 1: it came, from above, was the result of, inspiration. The Greeks,
1:44:47
Speaker 1: recognizing the wonderful phenomena emanating from this part of the mind,
1:44:50
Speaker 1: were wont to call it the work of the, demon, or, spirit, which,
1:44:54
Speaker 1: friendly to the artist, would attach itself to him and, inspire,
1:44:58
Speaker 1: his work. Plutarch wrote that Timarchus saw in a vision
1:45:02
Speaker 1: the spirits which were partly attached to human bodies, and
1:45:05
Speaker 1: partly over and above them, shining luminously over their heads.
1:45:10
Speaker 1: In the vision, he was informed by the oracle that
1:45:12
Speaker 1: the part of the spirit which was immersed in the
1:45:14
Speaker 1: body was called the soul, while the outer or unimmersed
1:45:17
Speaker 1: portion was called the demon or spirit. The oracle also
1:45:21
Speaker 1: stated that every man had his demon, whom he was
1:45:24
Speaker 1: bound to obey. Those who implicitly follow that guidance are
1:45:29
Speaker 1: the prophetic souls, the favorites of the gods. This idea
1:45:33
Speaker 1: of the demon was a favorite one with Socrates, and
1:45:36
Speaker 1: even Goethe was evidently impressed with the idea, for he
1:45:39
Speaker 1: speaks of the demon as a power higher than the will,
1:45:42
Speaker 1: and which inspired certain natures with miraculous energy. Of course
1:45:46
Speaker 1: these ideas were merely the attempts of the thinkers of
1:45:49
Speaker 1: those days attempting to account for and explain the phenomena
1:45:52
Speaker 1: which was apparent to all. There is no necessity for
1:45:56
Speaker 1: postulating the existence of these demons or spirits to account
1:46:00
Speaker 1: for the phenomena of intuition and genius. The demon is
1:46:04
Speaker 1: merely the operation of the mind of each of us
1:46:06
Speaker 1: on its higher planes. We have it all within us,
1:46:10
Speaker 1: that something within which seems almost like a protecting and
1:46:13
Speaker 1: guiding entity. In this connection we quote the following from
1:46:17
Speaker 1: a well-known work. The advanced occultist knows that in the
1:46:21
Speaker 1: higher regions of the mind are locked up intuitive perceptions
1:46:24
Speaker 1: of all truth, and that he who can gain access
1:46:27
Speaker 1: to these regions will know everything intuitively, and as a
1:46:30
Speaker 1: matter of clear sight, without reasoning or explanation. The race
1:46:34
Speaker 1: has not as yet reached the heights of intuition, it
1:46:37
Speaker 1: is just beginning to climb the foothills. But it is
1:46:40
Speaker 1: moving in the right direction. It will be well for
1:46:44
Speaker 1: us if we will open ourselves to the higher inner guidance,
1:46:47
Speaker 1: and be willing to be led by the Spirit. This
1:46:50
Speaker 1: is a far different thing from being led by an
1:46:52
Speaker 1: outside intelligence, which may, or may not, be qualified to lead.
1:46:58
Speaker 1: But the spirit within each of us has our interests
1:47:00
Speaker 1: at heart, and is desirous of our own best good,
1:47:03
Speaker 1: and is not only ready but willing to take us
1:47:05
Speaker 1: by the hand and lead us on. The higher self
1:47:08
Speaker 1: is doing the best it can for our development and welfare,
1:47:11
Speaker 1: but is hampered by its confining sheaths. And, alas, many
1:47:16
Speaker 1: of us glory in these sheaths and consider them the
1:47:18
Speaker 1: highest part of ourselves. Do not be afraid to let
1:47:22
Speaker 1: the light of the Spirit pierce through these confining sheaths
1:47:25
Speaker 1: and dissolve them. The intuition, however, is not the Spirit,
1:47:29
Speaker 1: but is one of its channels of communication to us.
1:47:33
Speaker 1: There are other and still higher planes of mind, but
1:47:36
Speaker 1: the intuition is the one next above the intellect in
1:47:38
Speaker 1: the line of unfoldment, and we should open ourselves to
1:47:41
Speaker 1: its influence and welcome its gradual unfoldment and manifestation within ourselves.
1:47:47
Speaker 1: There are indeed planes of the inner consciousness above that
1:47:50
Speaker 1: which we know as intuition, but the consideration of these
1:47:53
Speaker 1: would take us beyond the scope of this little work
1:47:55
Speaker 1: and on to the great field of what has been
1:47:57
Speaker 1: called spiritual consciousness, and which is as yet practically undeveloped
1:48:01
Speaker 1: in the majority of the race. In this great field
1:48:05
Speaker 1: is also included that plane of consciousness which has been
1:48:07
Speaker 1: called cosmic consciousness. in which certain highly developed individuals have
1:48:12
Speaker 1: been able to penetrate, and thus realize in actual consciousness
1:48:15
Speaker 1: that oneness of life and the unity in the universe. But,
1:48:19
Speaker 1: as we have said, this belongs to an entirely different
1:48:22
Speaker 1: phase of the general subject from that which we are
1:48:24
Speaker 1: considering in this work. The purpose of this little work
1:48:28
Speaker 1: is chiefly to point out to the students the various
1:48:30
Speaker 1: fields of consciousness common to the whole race, and which
1:48:33
Speaker 1: may be developed by any individual, together with certain suggestions
1:48:37
Speaker 1: concerning this work of development and use. Therefore, we must
1:48:41
Speaker 1: pass by with a mere mention those exalted planes of
1:48:44
Speaker 1: consciousness which have been penetrated only by certain highly developed individuals.
1:48:49
Speaker 1: In fact, these higher planes can scarcely be called mental
1:48:53
Speaker 1: planes at all. They belong to that part of man's
1:48:57
Speaker 1: nature which is more properly designated spiritual. The possibilities before
1:49:02
Speaker 1: any man and every man along the lines pointed out
1:49:05
Speaker 1: in this work are sufficiently great for the majority of individuals.
1:49:08
Speaker 1: and the development and use of these various mental planes will,
1:49:11
Speaker 1: keep them busy, for a long time to come. And
1:49:15
Speaker 1: when finally they are ready for further progress, the way
1:49:18
Speaker 1: will open itself out for them, and the book or
1:49:20
Speaker 1: the teacher will be found ready to give the needed instruction.
1:49:24
Speaker 1: While the phase of the subject of inner consciousness, known
1:49:27
Speaker 1: as spiritual consciousnessing, that spiritual, knowing, by means of which
1:49:31
Speaker 1: one is able to see through and behind the things
1:49:33
Speaker 1: of the material plane, belongs to another branch of occult science,
1:49:38
Speaker 1: and can scarcely be touched up in this work, still
1:49:41
Speaker 1: it would not be just to the reader for us
1:49:43
Speaker 1: to fail to call his attention to the higher planes
1:49:45
Speaker 1: of his own being, which are unfolding into conscious realization
1:49:49
Speaker 1: as he advances in spiritual unfoldment and attainment. All of
1:49:53
Speaker 1: us have recognized that something within which comes to our
1:49:56
Speaker 1: aid in times of doubt, distress, and trouble. Many of
1:50:00
Speaker 1: us have considered this something to be outside of themselves.
1:50:04
Speaker 1: but it is really a higher part of the soul
1:50:06
Speaker 1: awakened into greater activity by the needs of the individual.
1:50:10
Speaker 1: This something within is always alert and awake to our interests,
1:50:13
Speaker 1: and tries to send us a warning word or a
1:50:15
Speaker 1: restraining hand, but alas! We brush these loving admonitions aside
1:50:20
Speaker 1: as mere imagination, absurd notions, etc., and refuse to accept
1:50:25
Speaker 1: the message coming from the higher planes of our own being.
1:50:29
Speaker 1: Not only in times of danger does the something within
1:50:32
Speaker 1: send us its messages, It tries to help us even
1:50:34
Speaker 1: in the little affairs of everyday life. Did you never
1:50:38
Speaker 1: feel an earnest desire for some information of a certain
1:50:40
Speaker 1: kind and, after failing to find it, later be led
1:50:43
Speaker 1: to some bookshelf in a store or in a public
1:50:46
Speaker 1: library and, picking up a book at random, find either
1:50:49
Speaker 1: the information you wish or else a reference to some
1:50:51
Speaker 1: other book containing the information? Many have had these experiences.
1:50:57
Speaker 1: Perhaps you are one of the number. Have you never
1:51:00
Speaker 1: had the experience of being led to a person or
1:51:02
Speaker 1: place in order to gain certain information or advantages? Have
1:51:07
Speaker 1: you never been led apparently in the opposite direction from
1:51:10
Speaker 1: where you thought a desired something might be found, only
1:51:12
Speaker 1: to find later that in that opposite direction was the
1:51:15
Speaker 1: thing you desired? Have you never been conscious of the
1:51:19
Speaker 1: little mental nudges in this direction, or the little restraining
1:51:22
Speaker 1: pullback drawing you away from certain things, afterwards to find
1:51:26
Speaker 1: that the suggestion of the something within had been actually right?
1:51:29
Speaker 1: whether you followed it or not. These things are not
1:51:32
Speaker 1: mere imaginings, but are the manifestations of that something which
1:51:35
Speaker 1: is the higher part of ourselves, always striving and trying
1:51:38
Speaker 1: to guide us aright. The old tales about conscience were
1:51:43
Speaker 1: founded on true scientific facts, each of us has that
1:51:46
Speaker 1: which folks have called a conscience, trying to steer the
1:51:49
Speaker 1: way true for each of us. This conscience or something
1:51:53
Speaker 1: within is not the goody-goody thing that has been taught,
1:51:56
Speaker 1: but instead is a watchful something, knowing better and seeing
1:51:59
Speaker 1: farther than can we in our outer consciousness, and endeavoring
1:52:02
Speaker 1: to steer us aright. Do not reject these things as
1:52:06
Speaker 1: played-out relics of outgrown creeds, but recognize them for what
1:52:10
Speaker 1: they are. Learn to recognize the pressure of the unseen hand,
1:52:14
Speaker 1: welcome it when it comes, and bid it welcome. Do
1:52:18
Speaker 1: not shake it from your shoulder as an alien thing,
1:52:21
Speaker 1: simply because you fail to understand it and its laws.
1:52:24
Speaker 1: Trust to its well-meaning and kindliness. It is not an
1:52:28
Speaker 1: outside thing, it is a part of your very self.
1:52:32
Speaker 1: It will manifest according to your faith in and expectation
1:52:35
Speaker 1: its presence. It is striving to unfold further and further
1:52:39
Speaker 1: into your conscious life, and you may aid it by
1:52:42
Speaker 1: bidding it welcome and treating it as a part of
1:52:43
Speaker 1: yourself instead of as an alien. It is yourself who
1:52:47
Speaker 1: is speaking, so do not shut the door of your
1:52:49
Speaker 1: mind to it. Let the light within you send its
1:52:52
Speaker 1: rays into your outer consciousness, that it may illumine and
1:52:55
Speaker 1: make plain the way that your feet must tread. And
1:52:58
Speaker 1: step out boldly upon the place illumined for your footsteps
1:53:01
Speaker 1: without fear and with confidence. If you understand these things
1:53:06
Speaker 1: clearly you will know what good old Newman meant when
1:53:08
Speaker 1: he wrote the beautiful lines. Lead, kindly light, amid the
1:53:13
Speaker 1: encircling gloom, lead thou me on. The night is dark,
1:53:17
Speaker 1: and I am far from home, lead thou me on.
1:53:21
Speaker 1: Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see
1:53:23
Speaker 1: the distant scene, one step enough for me, lead thou
1:53:26
Speaker 1: me on.