In this lesson we will take up this particular phase of mentation, and trust to be able to point out the way to use it to the best advantage, giving some simple instructions that have been given by the Hindu teachers to their students for centuries past, such instructions of course, being modified by us to conform to the requirements and necessities of the Western student of today.
We have taken the liberty of bestowing a new t.i.tle upon this phase of mentation--we have thought it well to call it "Sub-consciousing." The word "Sub," of course means "under; below;" and the word "Consciousing"
is a favorite term employed by Prof. Elmer Gates, and means receiving impressions from the mind. In a general way, "Sub-consciousing," as used in this lesson, may be understood to mean "using the subconscious mind, under orders of the conscious mind."
By referring to our Eighth Lesson, we see mention made of the case of the man who indulged in "unconscious rumination," which happened to him when he read books presenting new points of view essentially opposed to his previous opinion. You will note that after days, weeks, or months, he found that to his great astonishment the old opinions were entirely rearranged, and new ones lodged there.
On the same page you will see mentioned the case of Sir William Hamilton, who discovered an important law of mathematics while walking with his wife. In this case he had been previously thinking of the missing link in his chain of reasoning, and the problem was worked out for him by the sub-conscious plane of his Intellect.
On the same page, and the one following, is found the case of Dr.
Thompson, who gives an interesting account of the workings of this part of his mind, which caused him at times to experience a feeling of the uselessness of all voluntary effort, coupled with a feeling that the matter was working itself clear in his mind. He tells us that at times he seemed to be merely a pa.s.sive instrument in the hands of some person other than himself, who compelled him to wait until the work was performed for him by some hidden region of the mind. When the subconscious part of the mind had completed its work, it would flash the message to his conscious mind, and he would begin to write.
On page 178 mention is also made of the great French chemist Berthelot, who relates that some of his best conceptions have flashed upon him as from the clear sky. In fact, the Eighth Lesson is largely made up of examples of this kind, and we ask the student to re-read the same, in order to refresh his mind with the truth of the workings of the sub-conscious mentality.
But you will notice in nearly all the cases mentioned, that those who related instances of the help of the sub-conscious mind had merely stumbled upon the fact that there was a part of the mind below consciousness that could and would work out problems for one, if it could somehow be set in operation. And these people trusted to luck to start that part of the mind in operation. Or rather, they would saturate their conscious mind with a ma.s.s of material, like stuffing the stomach with food, and then bid the subconscious mind a.s.sort, separate, arrange and digest the mental food, just as does the stomach and digestive apparatus digest the natural food--outside of the realm of consciousness or volition. In none of the cases mentioned was the subconscious mind _directed_ specially to perform its wonderful work. It was simply hoped that it might digest the mental material with which it had been stuffed--in pure self defense. But there is a much better way, and we intend to tell you about it. The Hindu Yogis, or rather those who instruct their pupils in _"Raja Yoga,"_ give their students directions whereby they may _direct_ their sub-conscious minds to perform mental tasks for them, just as one may direct another to perform a task. They teach them the methods whereby, after having acc.u.mulated the necessary materials, they may bid the sub-conscious mentality to sort it out, rearrange, a.n.a.lyze, and build up from it some bit of desired knowledge.
More than this, they instruct their pupils to direct and order the sub-conscious mentality to search out and report to them certain information to be found only within the mind itself--some question of philosophy or metaphysics. And when such art has been acquired, the student or Yogi rests a.s.sured that the desired result will be forthcoming in due time, and consequently dismisses the matter from his conscious mind, and busies himself with other matters, knowing that day and night, incessantly, the sub-consciousing process is going on, and that the sub-conscious mind is actively at work collecting the information, or working out the problem.
You will see at once the great superiority of this method over the old "hit-or-miss," "hope-it-will-work" plan pursued by those who have stumbled upon bits of the truth.
The Yogi teacher begins by impressing upon his students the fact that the mind is capable of extending outward toward an object, material or mental, and by examining it by methods inherent in itself, extracting knowledge regarding the object named. This is not a startling truth, because it is so common, everyone employing it more or less every day.
But the process by which the knowledge is extracted is most wonderful, and really is performed below the plane of consciousness, the work of the conscious mind being chiefly concerned in _holding the Attention_ upon the object. We have spoken of the importance of Attention in previous lessons, which it will be well for you to re-read, at this time.
When the student is fully impressed with the details of the process of Attention, and the subsequent unfoldment of knowledge, the Yogi proceeds to inform him that there are other means of obtaining knowledge about an object, by the employment of which the Attention may be firmly directed toward the object and then afterwards held there _unconsciously_--that is, a portion of the Attention, or a sub-conscious phase of mentation, which will hold the sub-conscious mind firmly upon the work until accomplished, leaving the conscious Attention and mentality free to employ itself with other things.
The Yogis teach the students that this new form of Attention is far more intense and powerful than is the conscious Attention, for it cannot be disturbed or shaken, or distracted from its object, and that it will work away at its task for days, months, years, or a lifetime if necessary, according to the difficulty of the task, and in fact carries its work over from one life to another, unless recalled by the Will. They teach the student that in everyone"s life there is going on a greater or less degree of this sub-conscious work, carried on in obedience to a strong desire for knowledge manifested in some former life, and bearing fruit only in the present existence. Many important discoveries have been made in obedience to this law. But it is not of this phase of the matter that we wish to speak in this lesson.
The Yogi theory is that the sub-conscious intellectual faculty may be set to work under the direction of orders given by the Will. All of you know how the sub-conscious mentality will take up an order of the Will, or a strong wish, that the person be awakened at a certain hour in order to catch a train. Or, in the same way how the remembrance of a certain engagement at, say, four o"clock, will flash into the mind when the hands of the clock approach the stated hour. Nearly every one can recall instances of this sort in his own experience.
But the Yogis go much further than this. They claim that any and all faculties of the mind may be "set going," or working on any problem, if ordered thereto by the Will. In fact, the Yogis, and their advanced students have mastered this art to such a surprising extent that they find it unnecessary to do the drudgery of thinking in the conscious field, and prefer to relegate such mental work to the sub-conscious, reserving their conscious work for the consideration of digested information and thought presented to them by the sub-conscious mind.
Their directions to their students cover a great deal of ground, and extend over a long period of time, and many of the directions are quite complicated and full of detail. But we think that we can give our students an abbreviated and condensed idea in a few pages of the lesson.
And the remaining lessons of the course will also throw additional light on the subject of sub-conscious mental action, in connection with other subjects.
The Yogi takes the student when the latter is much bothered by a consideration of some knotty and perplexing philosophical subject. He bids the student relax every muscle,--take the tension from every nerve--throw aside all mental strain, and then wait a few moments. Then the student is instructed to grasp the subject which he has had before his mind firmly and fixedly before his mental vision, by means of concentration. Then he is instructed to pa.s.s it on to the sub-conscious mentality by an effort of the Will, which effort is aided by forming a mental picture of the subject as a material substance, _or bundle of thought,_ which is being bodily lifted up and dropped down a mental hatch-way, or trap-door, in which it sinks from sight. The student is then instructed to say to the sub-conscious mentality: "I wish this subject thoroughly a.n.a.lyzed, arranged, cla.s.sified (and whatever else is desired) and then the results handed back to me. Attend to this."
The student is taught to speak to the sub-conscious mentality just as if it were a separate ent.i.ty of being, which had been employed to do the work. He is also taught that _confident expectation_ is an important part of the process, and that the degree of success depends upon the degree of this confident expectation.
In obstinate cases, the student is taught to use the Imagination freely, until he is able to make a mental image or picture of the sub-conscious mind doing what is required of it. This process clears away a mental path for the feet of the sub-conscious mind, which it will choose thereafter, as it prefers to follow the line of least resistance.
Of course much depends upon practice--practice makes perfect, you know, in everything else, and sub-consciousing is no exception to the rule.
The student gradually acquires a proficiency in the art of sub-consciousing, and thereafter devotes his time to acquiring new facts for mental digestion, rather than bestowing it upon the mechanical act of thinking.
But a very important point to be remembered is that the Will-power back of the transferred thought-material, which Will-power is the cause of the subconscious action, depends very greatly upon the attention and interest given to the acquired material. This ma.s.s of thought-material which is to be digested, and threshed out by the sub-conscious mind, must be well saturated with interest and attention, in order to obtain the best results. In fact interest and attention are such important aids to the Will, that any consideration of the development and acquirement of Will-power is practically a development and acquirement of attention and interest. The student is referred to previous lessons in this course in which the importance of interest and attention is explained and described.
In acquiring the ma.s.s of thought-material which is to be pa.s.sed on to the sub-conscious digestion, one must concentrate a great degree of interest and attention upon each item of thought-material gathered up. The gathering of this thought-material is a matter of the greatest importance, and must not be lightly pa.s.sed by. One cannot hastily gather together all sorts of thought-material, and then expect the subconscious mind to do its work properly--it will not, in fact, and the student proceeding upon any such erroneous supposition is doomed to disappointment.
The proper way to proceed, is to take up each bit of thought-material in turn, and examine it with the greatest possible interest, and consequently the greatest attention, and then after having fairly saturated it with this interested attention, place it with the pile of material which, after a while, is to be pa.s.sed on to the sub-conscious mentality. Then take up the next bit of material, and after giving it similar treatment, pa.s.s it along to the pile also. Then after a while when you have gathered up the main facts of the case, proceed to consider the ma.s.s as a whole, with interest and attention, giving it as it were a "general treatment." Then drop it down the trap-door into the sub-conscious mind, with a strong command, "Attend to this thought-material," coupled with a strong expectant belief that your order will be obeyed.
The idea underlying this treatment of the thought-material with interest and attention is that by so doing a strong "Mental Image" is created, which may be easily handled by the sub-conscious mind. Remember that you are pa.s.sing on "thoughts" for the sub-consciousness to act upon, and that the more tangible and real these thoughts are, the better can they be handled. Therefore any plan that will build these thoughts up into "real"
things is the plan to pursue. And attention and interest produce just this result.
If we may be pardoned for using a homely and commonplace ill.u.s.tration we would say that the idea may be grasped by the ill.u.s.tration of boiling an egg, whereby the fluid "white" and "yolk" becomes solid and real. Also the use of a shaving brush by a man, by which the thin lather is gradually worked up into a rich, thick, creamy ma.s.s, is an ill.u.s.tration.
Again, the churning of b.u.t.ter is a favorite ill.u.s.tration of the Hindus, who thus call the attention of their students to the fact that thought-material if worked upon with attention and interest become "thought-forms" that may be handled by the mind just as the hands handle a material object. We ask you to think of these ill.u.s.trations, for when you once grasp the idea that we wish to convey to you, you will have the secret of great thinking powers within your grasp.
And this power of sub-consciousing is not confined alone to the consideration of philosophical questions. On the contrary it is applicable to every field of human thought, and may be properly employed in any and all of them. It is useful in solving the problems of every-day life and work, as well as to the higher flights of the human mind. And we wish every one of our students to realize that in this simple lesson we are giving them the key to a great mental power.
To realize just what we are offering to you, we would remind you of the old fairy tales of all races, in which there is to be found one or more tales telling of some poor cobbler, or tailor, or carpenter, as the case may be, who had by his good deeds, gained favor with the "brownies" or good fairies, who would come each night when the man and his family were asleep, and proceed to complete the work that the artisan had laid out for the morrow. The pieces of leather would be made into shoes; the cloth would be sewed into garments; the wood would be joined, and nailed together into boxes, chairs, benches and what not. But in each case the rough materials were prepared by the artisan himself during the day.
Well, that is just what we are trying to introduce to you. A clan of mental brownies, loving and kindly disposed toward you, who are anxious and willing to help you in your work. All you have to do is to give them the proper materials, and tell then what you want done, and they will do the rest. But these mental brownies are a part of your own mentality, remember, and no alien and foreign ent.i.ties, as some have imagined.
A number of people who have accidentally discovered this power of the sub-conscious mind to work out problems, and to render other valuable service to its owner, have been led to suppose that the aid really came from some other ent.i.ty or intelligence. Some have thought that the messages came from friends in the spirit land, and others have believed that some high intelligence--G.o.d or his angels--was working in their behalf. Without discussing spirit communication, or Divine messages, in both of which we believe (with certain provisional reservations) we feel justified in saying that the majority of cases of this kind may be referred to the sub-conscious workings of one"s own mentality.
Each of us has "a friend" in our own mind--a score of them in fact, who delight in performing services for us, if we will but allow them to do so. Not only have we a Higher Self to whom we may turn for comfort and aid in times of deep distress and necessity, but we have these invisible mental workers on the sub-conscious plane, who are very willing and glad to perform much of our mental work for us, if we will but give them the material in proper shape.
It is very difficult to impart specific directions for obtaining these results, as each case must depend to a great extent upon the peculiar circ.u.mstances surrounding it. But we may say that the main thing needed is to "lick into shape" the material, and then pa.s.s it on to the sub-conscious mind in the manner spoken of a few moments ago. Let us run over a few cases wherein this principle may be applied.
Let us suppose that you are confronted with a problem consisting of an uncertainty as to which of two or more courses to adopt in some affair of life. Each course seems to have advantages and disadvantages, and you seem unable to pa.s.s upon the matter clearly and intelligently. The more you try the more perplexed and worried do you become. Your mind seems to tire of the matter, and manifests a state which may be called "mental nausea." This state will be apparent to any one who has had much "thinking" to do. The average person, however, persists in going over the matter, notwithstanding the tired condition of the mind, and its evident distaste for a further consideration of the subject. They will keep on forcing it back to the mind for consideration, and even at night time will keep thrashing away at the subject. Now this course is absurd.
The mind recognizes that the work should be done by another part of itself--its digestive region, in fact--and naturally rebels at the finishing-up machinery being employed in work unsuited for it.
According to the Sub-consciousing plan, the best thing for the man to do would be for him first to calm and quiet his mind. Then he should arrange the main features of the problem, together with the minor details in their proper places. Then he should pa.s.s them slowly before him in review, giving a strong interest and attention to each fact and detail, as it pa.s.ses before him, _but without the slightest attempt to form a decision, or come to a conclusion_. Then, having given the matter an interested and attentive review, let him _Will_ that it pa.s.s on to his sub-conscious mind, forming the mental image of dropping it through the trap-door, and at the same time giving the command of the Will, "Attend to this for me!"
Then dismiss the matter from your conscious mind, by an effort of command of the Will. If you find it difficult to do this, you may soon acquire the mastery by a frequent a.s.sertion, "I have dismissed this matter from my conscious mind, and my sub-conscious mind will attend to it for me."
Then, endeavor to create a mental feeling of perfect trust and confidence in the matter, and avoid all worry or anxiety about it. This may be somewhat difficult at the first trial, but will become a natural feeling after you have gained the confidence arising from successful results in several cases. The matter is one of practice, and, like anything else that is new, must be acquired by perseverance and patience. It is well worth the time and trouble, and once acquired will be regarded as something in the nature of a treasure discovered in an unexpected place.
The sense of tranquillity and content--of calm and confidence--that comes to one who has practiced this plan, will of itself be worth all the trouble, not to speak of the main result. To one who has acquired this method, the old worries, frettings, and general "stewed up" feeling, will seem like a relic of barbarism. The new way opens up a world of new feelings and content.
In some cases the matter will be worked out by the sub-conscious mind in a very short time, and in fact we have known cases in which the answer would be flashed back almost instantly, almost like an inspiration. But in the majority of cases more or less time is required.
The sub-conscious mind works very rapidly, but it takes time to arrange the thought-material properly, and to shape it into the desired forms. In the majority of cases it is well to let the matter rest until the next day--a fact that gives us a clue to the old advice to "sleep over" an important proposition, before pa.s.sing a final decision.
If the matter does not present itself the following day, bring it up again before the conscious mind for review. You will find that it has shaped itself up considerably, and is a.s.suming definite form and clearness. But right here--and this is important--do not make the mistake of again dissecting it, and meddling with it, and trying to arrange it with your conscious mind. But, instead, give it attention and interest in its new form, and then pa.s.s it back again to the sub-conscious mind for further work. You will find an improvement each time you examine it.
But, right here another word of caution. Do not make the mistake of yielding to the impatience of the beginner, and keep on repeatedly bringing up the matter to see what is being done. Give it time to have the work done on it. Do not be like the boy who planted seeds, and who each day would pull them up to see whether they had sprouted, and how much.
Sooner or later, the sub-conscious mind will, of its own choice, lift up the matter and present it to you in its finished shape for the consideration of the conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind does not insist that you shall adopt its views, or accept its work, but merely hands out to you the result of its sorting, cla.s.sifying and arranging.
The choice and will still remains yours, but you will often find that there is seen to be one plan or path that stands out clearly from the others, and you will very likely adopt that one. The secret is that the sub-conscious mind with its wonderful patience and care has a.n.a.lyzed the matter, and has separated things before apparently connected. It has also found resemblances and has combined things heretofore considered opposed to each other. In short it has done for you all that you could have done with the expenditure of great work and time, and done it well. And then it lays the matter before you for your consideration and verdict.
Its whole work seems to have been in the nature of a.s.sorting, dissecting, a.n.a.lyzing, and arranging the evidence, and then presenting it before you in a clear, systematic shape. It does not attempt to exercise the judicial prerogative or function, but seems to recognize that its work ceases with the presentation of the edited evidence, and that of the conscious mind begins at the same point.
Now, do not confuse this work with that of the Intuition, which is a very different mental phase or plane. This sub-conscious working, just mentioned, plays an entirely different part. It is a good servant, and does not try to be more. The Intuition, on the contrary, is more like a higher friend--a friend at court, as it were, who gives us warnings and advice.
In our directions we have told you how to make use of this part of the mind, consciously and knowingly, so as to obtain the best results, and to get rid of worry and anxiety attendant upon unsettled questions. But, in fact, every one of us makes more or less use of this part of the mind unconsciously, and not realizing the important part it plays in our mental life. We are perplexed about a matter and keep it "on our minds"
until we are forced to lay it aside by reason of some other demand, or when we sink to sleep. Often to our surprise we will find that when we next think of it the matter has somehow cleared up and straightened itself out, and we seem to have learned something about it that we did not know before. We do not understand it, and are apt to dismiss it as "just one of those things." In these lessons we are attempting to explain some of "those things," and to enable you to use them consciously and understandingly, instead of by chance, instinctively, and clumsily. We are teaching you Mastery of the Mind.
Now to apply the rule to another case. Suppose you wish to gather together all the information that you possess relating to a certain subject. In the first place it is certain that you know a very great deal more about any subject than you think you do. Stored away in the various recesses of the mind, or memory if you prefer that term, are stray bits of information and knowledge concerning almost any subject. But these bits of information are not a.s.sociated with each other. You have never attempted to think attentively upon the particular question before you, and the facts are not correlated in the mind. It is just as if you had so many hundred pounds of anything scattered throughout the s.p.a.ce of a large warehouse, a tiny bit here, and a tiny bit there, mixed up with thousands of other things.
You may prove this by sitting down some time and letting your thoughts run along the line of some particular subject, and you will find emerging into the field of consciousness all sorts of information that you had apparently forgotten, and each fitting itself into its proper place.
Every person has had experiences of this kind. But the work of gathering together the scattered sc.r.a.ps of knowledge is more or less tedious for the conscious mind, and the sub-conscious mind will do the work equally well with the wear and tear on the attention. In fact, it is the sub-conscious mind that _always_ does the work, even when you think it is the conscious mind. All the conscious mind does is to hold the attention firmly upon the object before it, and then let the sub-consciousness pa.s.s the material before it. But this holding the attention is tiresome work, and it is not necessary for it to expend its energies upon the details of the task, for the work may be done in an easier and simpler way.
The best way is to follow a plan similar to the one mentioned a few pages back. That is, to fix the interested attention firmly upon the question before you, until you manage to get a clear, vivid impression of _just what you want answered_. Then pa.s.s the whole matter into the sub-conscious mind with the command "Attend to this," and then leave it.
Throw the whole matter off of your mind, and let the sub-conscious work go on. If possible let the matter run along until the next morning and then take it up for consideration, when, if you have proceeded properly you will find the matter worked out, arranged in logical sequence, so that your conscious attention will be able to clearly review the string of facts, examples, ill.u.s.trations, experiences, etc., relating to the matter in question.