You have a mind, and you should learn how to use it. There are two levels
of your mind – the conscious or rational level, and the subconscious or irrational level. You think with your conscious mind, and whatever you habitually think sinks down into your subconscious mind, which creates according to the nature of your thoughts. Your subconscious mind is the
seat of your emotions and is the creative mind. If you think good, good
will follow, if you think evil, evil will follow. This is the way your mind
works.
The main point to remember is once the subconscious mind accepts an
idea, it begins to execute it. It is an interesting and subtle truth that the
law of the subconscious mind works for good and bad ideas alike. This
law, when applied in a negative way, is the cause of failure, frustration
and unhappiness. However, when your habitual thinking is harmonious
and constructive, you experience perfect health, success and prosperity.
Peace of mind and a healthy body are inevitable when you begin to think
and feel in the right way. Whatever you claim mentally and feel as true,
your subconscious mind will accept and bring forth into your experience.
The only thing necessary for you to do is to get your conscious mind to
accept your idea, and the law of your own subconscious mind will bring
forth the health, peace or position you desire. You give the command or
decree, and your subconscious will faithfully reproduce the idea impressed
upon it. The law of your mind is this: You will get a reaction or response
from your subconscious mind according to the nature of the thought or
idea you hold in your conscious mind.
Psychologists and psychiatrists point out that when thoughts are conveyed to your subconscious mind, impressions are made in the brain cells.
As soon as your subconscious accepts any idea, it proceeds to put it into
effect immediately. It works by association of ideas and uses every bit of
knowledge that you have gathered in your lifetime to bring about its purpose. It draws on the infinite power, energy and wisdom within you. It
lines up all the laws of nature to get its way. Sometimes it seems to bring
about an immediate solution to your difficulties, but at other times it may
take days, weeks, or longer…Its ways are past finding out.
You must remember that these are not two minds. They are merely two
spheres of activity within one mind. Your conscious mind is the reasoning
mind. It is that phase of mind which chooses. For example, you choose
your books, your home and your partner in life. You make all your decisions with your conscious mind. On the other hand, without any conscious choice on your part, your heart is kept functioning automatically, and the
process of digestion, circulation and breathing are carried on by your subconscious mind through processes independent of your conscious control.
Your subconscious mind accepts what is impressed upon it or what you
consciously believe. It does not reason things out like your conscious
mind, and it does not argue with you controversially. Your subconscious
mind is like the soil, which accepts any kind of seed, good or bad. Your
thoughts are active and might be likened unto seeds. Negative, destructive thoughts continue to work negatively in your subconscious mind and
in due time will come forth into outer experience, which corresponds with
them.
Remember, your subconscious mind does not engage in proving whether
your thoughts are good or bad, true or false, but it responds according to
the nature of your thoughts or suggestions. For example, if you consciously assume something as true, even though it may be false, your
subconscious mind will accept it as true and proceed to bring about results, which must necessarily follow, because you consciously assumed it
to be true.
Innumerable experiments by psychologists and others on persons in the
hypnotic state have shown that the subconscious mind is incapable of
making selections and comparisons, which are necessary for a reasoning
process. They have shown repeatedly that your subconscious mind will
accept any suggestions, however false. Having once accepted any suggestion, it responds according to the nature of the suggestion given.
To illustrate the amenability of your subconscious mind to suggestion, if a
practiced hypnotist suggests to one of his subjects that he is Napoleon
Bonaparte, or even a cat or a dog, he will act out the part with inimitable
accuracy. His personality becomes changed for the time being. He believes himself to be whatever the operator tells him he is.
A skilled hypnotist may suggest to one of his students in the hypnotic
state that his back itches, to another that his nose is bleeding, to another
that he is a marble statue, to another that he is freezing and the temperature is below zero. Each one will follow out the line of his particular suggestion, totally oblivious to all his surroundings, which do not pertain to
his idea.
These simple illustrations portray clearly the difference between your conscious reasoning mind and your subconscious mind, which is impersonal,
non-selective and accepts as true whatever your conscious mind believes
to be true. Hence, the importance of selecting thoughts, ideas and
premises which bless, heal, inspire and fill your soul with joy.
Your conscious mind is sometimes referred to as your objective mind because it deals with outward objects. The objective mind takes cognizance
of the objective world. Its media of observation are your five physical
senses. Your objective mind is your guide and director in your contact
with your environment. You gain knowledge through your five senses.
Your objective mind learns thought observation, experience and education. As previously pointed out, the greatest function of the objective
mind is that of reasoning.
Suppose you are one of the thousands of tourists who come to Los Angeles annually. You would come to the conclusion that it is a beautiful city
based upon your observation of the parks, pretty gardens, majestic buildings and lovely homes. This is the working of your objective mind.
Your subconscious mind is oftentimes referred to as your subjective mind.
Your subjective mind takes cognizance of its environment by means independent of the five senses. Your subjective mind perceives by intuition. It
is the seat of your emotion and the storehouse of memory. Your subjective mind performs its highest functions when your objective senses are in
abeyance. In a word, it is that intelligence, which makes itself manifest
when the objective mind is suspended or in a sleepy, drowsy state.
Your subjective mind sees without the use of the natural organs of vision.
It has the capacity of clairvoyance and clairaudience. Your subjective mind
can leave your body, travel to distant lands and bring back information oftentimes of the most exact and truthful character. Through your subjective mind, you can read the thoughts of others, read the contents of
sealed envelopes and closed safes. Your subjective mind has the ability to
apprehend the thoughts of others without the use of the ordinary objective means of communication. It is of the greatest importance that we understand the interaction of the objective and subj mind in order to learn
the true art of prayer.
Your subconscious mind cannot argue controversially. Hence, if you give it
wrong suggestions, it will accept them as true and will proceed to bring
them to pass as conditions, experiences and events. All things that have
happened to you are based on thoughts impressed on your subconscious
mind through belief. If you have conveyed erroneous thoughts to your
subconscious mind, the sure method of overcoming them is by the repetition of constructive, harmonious thoughts frequently repeated, which your
subconscious mind accepts, thus forming new and healthy habits of
thought and life, for your subconscious mind is the seat of habit.
The habitual thinking of your conscious mind establishes deep grooves in your subconscious mind. This is very favorable for you if your habitual
thoughts are harmonious, peaceful and constructive.
If you have indulged in fear, worry and other destructive forms of thinking, the remedy is to recognize the omnipotence of your subconscious
mind and decree freedom, happiness and perfect health. Your subconscious mind, being creative and one with your divine source, will proceed
to create the freedom and happiness, which you have earnestly decreed.