PART I
How to Understand Yourself

2.CREATIVE POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND

If you should ask someone how his mind operates, what thoughts are, or to explain memory, do not be surprised if his knowledge about the mind is vague or completely lacking. He may tell you it is a mystery beyond understanding, and so dis­miss the subject. We are prone to avoid matters about which we have no knowledge. We label them mysteries or unworthy of consideration and so excuse our ignorance.

Since every act, every effort, every success, and every failure was first created in "thought," do you not agree that this subject demands attention? It is estimated that mental illness is in­creasing so rapidly that one person out of every ten is destined to spend some time in a mental institution. Should there be any doubt that this prevailing ignorance is generating chaos in our social structure, one need go no further than his evening paper for proof. War, rape, murder, suicide, incest, and robbery are just a few examples. Prisons, reform schools, and psychiatric wards are filled to overflowing with unfortunates. These twen­tieth-century tragedies reflect the inability of society to under­stand the operation of the human mind. We hope this appalling situation is nearing its end and the next generation will receive, as a matter of course, basic knowledge of the mind as a com­pulsory social service in the public schools.

The mind is not a mystery; human behavior is predictable and can be understood. Man can and must understand his own mind if he is to master himself. Then he will see why thoughts are things and how complexes and negative attitudes are respon­sible for most of his problems. Then he will better understand how one wrong attitude that ferments within the mind of one person can endanger the security of many. It will become clear why some people compulsively gravitate toward destruction like the moth around the flame. Knowledge of the mind is neces­sary to understand why it is difficult to change an established pattern of thought or habit, even though one may sincerely wish to do so.

CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS

The two divisions of the mind, the conscious and subcon­scious, may each work independently of the other or together, as the situation dictates. When the combined efforts of the con­scious and subconscious are needed, the degree of harmony with which they operate is an accurate gauge of man's health and well-being. There are untold levels of awareness within the sub­conscious areas of the mind, and many writers initiate, for theoretical discussion, various subjective titles. For easy identifi­cation we will adhere to the conscious and subconscious divisions.

Identify your conscious mind as your "waking" self. Identify your wishes, your ambitions, your five senses, and your ideals with your consciousness. In fact, all things of which you are aware when awake are a part of your consciousness. The con­scious mind is the spark that ignites the flame, it is the power behind the throne, and without analytical thought man would) be denied expression and he would lack self-awareness and his> identity. The consciousness of man is capable of unlimited ex­pansion, for neither was it meant nor is it necessary that hu­manity should be 90 per cent unconscious.

Visualize the subconscious mind as an indwelling spirit, or a spiritual counterpart of yourself. See this identical twin as a real entity, as a giant in strength, indefatigable in spirit, able to contact the highest channels of knowledge and to generate ability beyond conception. See him as your slave, this powerful inner you who obeys your every command but does not "think" as you do. He does not know right from wrong; he does not differentiate between sickness and health. Neither does he know nor care about social position, money, or success. True, he can and will propel you unerringly down the road to wisdom and health if you give him proper orders and instructions.

This inner mind is many things. It is a master chemist, a mathematical genius, a lightning calculator, and Univac rolled into one. For instance, do you know the proper proportions of salt, water, and the different elements needed to maintain the correct specific gravity of your blood if you are a sedentary office worker? Could you calculate, in a split second, how quickly or how much these proportions would have to change, should you suddenly break into a swift run, or engage in sudden violent effort? Should infection occur, could you immediately calculate and then produce the quantity of white corpuscles to combat the infection? Of course you couldn't. Neither can the greatest chemists nor the greatest mathematicians in the entire world— but your subconscious can. It solves problems of this nature, and even greater problems, every hour of every day. This inner self, having perfect deductive powers, occupies your entire body, giving intelligent attention to every living cell. Such intricate processes as digestion, heartbeat, circulation of the blood, respi­ration, and elimination are only a few of the silent processes so perfectly executed by this inner genius, your subconscious.

Before you knew your A B C's and were still struggling to manage a knife and fork, your inner self had been making math­ematical and chemical calculations far beyond the abilities of modern science. With the fuel of proper nutrition, our organs perform perfectly and we are rarely conscious of them or their functions, until we interfere with the work of the subconscious. For instance, a man whose heart performs normally reads of the alarming increase in heart attacks. He begins to wonder if his heart is beating properly and decides to check it, just to be certain. The sum total of his conscious knowledge about the heart may be zero, but he is concerned, so in his spare time he -worries about his heart. Should this attitude become a habit, the tension and chemical imbalance generated from such action makes it difficult for the heart to function normally. People, every day, are creating heart trouble and various other ills, in this way, without realizing the damage they do. The inner you is a master physician, too, so don't hamper his work by worry, for he knows what he is doing! The cut finger, the broken leg, the incision—who heals them? Not you, not the surgeon, cer­tainly not the medication. No, the creation of one single cell is beyond the ability of mortal consciousness, but the power within achieves this miracle with effortless precision. You may have called this nature or the power of God that works within and through you to heal and nourish and strengthen. We agree. The Creator dwells within all men. Is it not strange how often we recognize Him not? This power within has been called the God power, the inner force, the infinite intelligence, and the immortal soul. It is all these things. It has been described in many ways by all races of every age. As we progress upward this inner power makes us ever more aware, and our degree of consciousness is increased as our unconsciousness diminishes.

The more charitable of authorities say our conscious mind operates at about 10 per cent of its potential. This means that 90 per cent of our true intellect is dormant, unused, and out of conscious reach. Other experts, less generous, contend that 1 per cent conscious mind and 99 per cent subconscious are more accurate percentages. Obviously, we are far from efficient men­tally, and something is very wrong with this situation.

A man is just as well and just as able and just as conscious as he is capable of directing his attention and concentration to the present now. Whether one worries about his tomorrows to­day or spends his time reliving his past yesterdays, of one thing he may be certain: he is scattering his forces (consciousness) and dissipating his attention, which is the very essence of life energy itself. One may consistently dissipate his attention by directing it to his past, on the failures sustained or on the losses and sadness of past experiences, until he grows weary and forget­ful. It is possible to experience physical and mental bankruptcy at any age. Chronic scattering of attention can produce neurosis. When the attention of the mentally disturbed patient is im­prisoned by the past, leaving no attention for now, we recognize the symptoms of psychosis. A man without attention parted with his abilities, one by one, as he descended into the morass of effects, confusion, forgetfulness, ill-health, and failure.

The mind forgets nothing. No thought, no impression, no emotion is ever lost, for the mind, like a photographic plate, pre­serves and records everything that has happened to you since birth. True, your ability to recall may be dulled, but the memo­ries are there, buried in that vast storehouse—the subconscious. Should you try in vain to recall your neighbor's name, you say you have forgotten it, or that it has escaped you. What has hap­pened? You are, for the moment, unconscious of the name; it has become buried in an area of the mind beyond the vibration of conscious awareness. Memories finally become lost in the tangled maze of mental conflict and short circuits, but under certain conditions, properly induced, they may be recalled. As a man grows less able he is more prone to forget. As he becomes less cause and more effect he forgets. The more subjective a man's thinking becomes, the less he remembers. The less he communi­cates with others, the less able he is to communicate, and the more his memory suffers. Attention must be used if it is to avoid the hazards of deterioration. Attention and memory are inter­dependent and furnish the most accurate mental yardstick for determining man's well-being. As long as we have command of most of our attention, we are outgoing, we are communicating well with others, and we are reasonably healthy. Should we ex­perience grief, sadness, or defeat for a sustained period and lose ourselves in the sad reflections of yesterday's tragedies, we dis­cover we are burying our attention as we continue to reflect upon the past. It is much as if we covered up a little of life with our bygone unhappy experiences and past mistakes. When we watch the grief-stricken wife or husband whose attention is caught in a whirlpool of sorrow, we witness the ebbing of life force, a striving toward death. Sustained grief can be fatal. In such cases there is no organic cause of death—just a lack of sur­vival potential, much as if the force of life had been drained away. We hear it said: "He wanted to die," or "He lost the will to live."

Life energy flows from the highest levels of the subconscious mind and permeates our consciousness to the degree that we are able to receive it. Negative attitudes such as fear, grief, anger, insecurity, ill health, and so on inhibit and restrict this vital force of the subconscious and are the factors that dim and finally darken the flame of life. You will see how this life force, or buried attention, can be uncovered, restored, and again be put to use when you recognize the symptoms!

We explain, as we progress, the many things about the inner you, the subconscious self. You will see why this inner man is not a mystical concept or philosophical probability. We present irrefutable evidence from others' research as well as our own, plus proof through electronic instrumentation, that there is such a force. It is real, it does exist, and you are its master.

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