| I remember a story told by Woodrow Wilson. A man | | | | alpha state. It is called alpha because it was the first |
| got drunk on whiskey and boarded a train. His friends | | | | one detected by Dr. Schultz of Germany during |
| were concerned about his safety and sent a telegram | | | | autogenic mind training using a recently discovered |
| to the conductor, "Send a man named Johnson back. | | | | electroencephalogram technique. |
| He is intoxicated." | | | | We all know that the brain cells produce electricity and |
| A little while later they received this reply. "Further | | | | the current so produced can be measured by a |
| information needed. There are thirteen men on board | | | | galvanometer. The resultant graph is called an |
| who do not know their names or destinations." | | | | electroencephalogram or EEG for short. During periods |
| Like those men, I feel drunk, drunk with the joy of living. | | | | of anger and stress, brain activity is the highest up to |
| I don't care how long I will be travelling or when I will | | | | 50 cycles per minute. During the normal wake period |
| reach my destination. I am happy today and that is all | | | | the brain produces between 14 to 38 cycles per |
| that matters to me. When tomorrow comes, it will be | | | | minute. During the initial stages of sleep as well as later |
| today to me. I am high and am having a trip of my life. | | | | during the REM period (dreaming stage of sleep) a |
| Yet I must admit that I am not as high as the fellow | | | | range of 7 to 14 cps are common. |
| who wrote the lyric. | | | | Thomas Edison used the early stages of sleep, alpha |
| "I wish that my room had a floor, | | | | state period, to solve problems he encountered during |
| I don't care so much for a door. | | | | development of his inventions, nearly 1400 of them. |
| But this walking around without touching the ground. | | | | While concentrating on the problems he had, he went |
| Is getting to be quite a bore " | | | | into light sleep. He took these naps seated in a chair |
| It is a common adage that a lady is privileged to | | | | holding a glass ball which would fall into a metal tray |
| change her mind. This statement shows that mind is | | | | and wake him up when he had just gone to sleep. This |
| something separate from us. Mind is not our master | | | | is a good method even today for every one of us. |
| and that mind appears to hold a position equivalent to | | | | One way to obtain the benefit of our dreams, which |
| that of a subordinate who can be dismissed or | | | | are an activity of the subconscious mind, is to write |
| changed at will. | | | | down the dream as soon as you wake up before you |
| What is mind? It is a faculty or function of man. It is the | | | | are fully awake. Then analyse the nonverbal |
| most complex of all faculties. Mind is involved in | | | | communication of the brain as dream and find out the |
| perceiving, remembering, considering, evaluating, and | | | | meaning. |
| deciding. It is different from soul, heart and body but | | | | One unbelievable but true fact is that we can |
| very closely associated with brain, intelligence, and | | | | consciously and actively influence the brain and |
| experience. | | | | thereby the mind. The subconscious mind can be |
| Mind can be considered to have three levels; | | | | influenced during conscious state by pure imagination. |
| conscious, subconscious, and super conscious. | | | | The subconscious mind does not question whether the |
| Let us first consider the subconscious mind. It is the | | | | experience is real or imaginary. We can image that we |
| store house of the conscious mind. Whatever the | | | | are seeing , hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Thus |
| conscious mind thinks or the body reacts to, whatever | | | | we can influence the subconscious mind and make it |
| we see, hear, touch, taste or smell is recorded in the | | | | our servant. |
| subconscious mind. It is like a photographic file. | | | | The conscious mind questions, argues, intellectualizes |
| Everything in front of the camera is in the photograph. | | | | and decides. It has power over our body and can |
| Similarly, all that we have heard from infancy, maybe | | | | control the voluntary and involuntary muscles as well |
| even from the fetal stage on, all that we have seen, | | | | as the autonomic and sympathetic systems of the |
| touched, tasted, or smelled is recorded. The difficulty is | | | | body. We know that the famous Indian ascetic, Swami |
| in the recall. | | | | Rama, when tested at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, |
| Recall is facilitated by the supply in the storehouse. | | | | Kansas, demonstrated that he could lower his |
| When there is plenty, i.e. when there are deep | | | | heartbeat at will. He stopped the flow of blood from |
| impressions made in the brain cells, recall is easy. | | | | his heart to demonstrate the remarkable control of the |
| Repeated occurrences create repeated impressions | | | | autonomic body systems. He did this by the control of |
| which become deeper and the store house is filled. | | | | mind. The body and its functions can be controlled by |
| During emergency, without demand from the | | | | the conscious mind which can be controlled by man. |
| conscious mind, the store house is opened and the | | | | Modern medical opinion is that 90% of ailments are |
| goods are delivered. It is like the body guard of the | | | | imaginary. That is, we make ourselves sick by thinking. |
| president. When an assassin comes to attack, the | | | | If we can create sickness by thinking, we must be able |
| president does not ask the bodyguard to protect him. | | | | to cure disease by thinking. |
| The bodyguard takes over. But unless the | | | | If there is no need to argue or question, to decide or |
| subconscious mind is well stored, the correct goods | | | | evaluate, the conscious mind gives way to the |
| are not delivered. | | | | subconscious mind. Even when we are actively |
| For example, when I was a little boy, I used to go and | | | | engaged in thinking or acting, the conscious mind is |
| swim in the river. Quite often when I got out of the | | | | replaced by the subconscious mind. It is then that we |
| river, there would be water in the external ear canal. | | | | find ourselves wandering or day-dreaming. We are |
| To get the water out, I used to bend my head and | | | | able to eliminate or subjugate the conscious mind by |
| shake. If there was only a little water, it will not flow out | | | | two systems: |
| so I had to pour some more water into the ear and | | | | 1. Concentration |
| then bend and shake my head. Then all the water | | | | 2. By elimination of logical argument. |
| would drain. Similarly, if the subconscious mind does not | | | | Therefore, the conscious mind is also our servant. |
| have sufficient stored impressions, the appropriate | | | | What is the super-conscious mind? According to |
| automatic reaction will not be produced. | | | | Christian Science, God is mind. According to Plato, |
| When we first learn to drive, we accelerate, | | | | everything in the universe is an image of the reality of |
| decelerate, brake, turn and change gears quite | | | | what is in God's mind. In the Upanishads and the Hindu |
| consciously and sometimes after considerable mental | | | | Vedas we find that super-consciousness is God. They |
| exercise. But after driving for some time, we perform | | | | say "By whom willed and directed does the mind light |
| these actions quite automatically. Sometimes we drive | | | | on its object?" |
| and reach home and are surprised how we got there. | | | | I will compare the super-conscious mind to the light in a |
| During emergencies, instantaneous reactions are | | | | light house. The light rotates with the sparkle of millions |
| triggered. Many of you drivers, if you happen to | | | | of candlepower of luminosity and it will illumine any |
| occupy the passenger seat, during emergencies you | | | | surface that falls within the path of the luminescence. |
| apply the brakes even though there are no brakes | | | | To others who are not facing it, it does not shed any |
| there. This is a subconscious reaction. | | | | light. This is what we see as intuitive knowledge. Some |
| Better impressions are made by two senses rather | | | | others call it prophecy. |
| than by one alone. Best impressions are created when | | | | Isaac Newton, when he was yet a young man of 23 |
| all the senses are employed. Silent reading creates | | | | years was the recipient of intuitive knowledge by |
| impressions through the sense of sight. When we read | | | | which he discovered four of his major discoveries viz. |
| aloud, both the sense of sight and the sense of hearing | | | | The binomial theorem, the infinitesimal and differential |
| are employed and the impressions created are | | | | calculus, the composition of white light, and the law of |
| deeper. | | | | gravitation. From the law of gravitation he was able to |
| If the same impression is created time after time, we | | | | calculate the speed and orbit of the planets of the sun. |
| become conditioned. As an illustration of conditioning, let | | | | Another man who was considered by his parents a |
| us look at how the Sea World at Los Angeles trained | | | | dullard at the age of 16, who failed the ordinary |
| the barracuda to share its tank with a mackerel. | | | | entrance examination for a polytechnic institute, failed |
| They divided the tank into two with an unbreakable | | | | to get the job of teacher in a school and accepted a |
| glass and introduced a mackerel into the tank on the | | | | job as an inspector of patents. You know his name is |
| other side of the glass. As soon as the barracuda | | | | Einstein. At the age of 25, his wisdom blossomed as a |
| saw the mackerel, he turned around and hit the glass. | | | | flower and he discovered the famous formula E = MC |
| He looked at the mackerel a little surprised turned | | | | 2. He prosecuted his ideas as an animal worries its |
| around and again, bang, hit the glass. He did that about | | | | prey. Banish Hoffman, his co-worker and friend says |
| a dozen times during the day. The time interval | | | | that he was a deeply religious man though he did not |
| between charges increased progressively. After two | | | | show any outward sign of such religiosity. |
| days, the barracuda stopped attacking the mackerel, | | | | God, in his infinite love has filled the universe with |
| even though the mackerel was only half an inch away | | | | himself and he resides in us as our super |
| on the other side of the glass. Then the authorities | | | | consciousness. Yet He is willing to be used by us as |
| removed the glass. Two years back when we visited | | | | we wish. If we compare the supreme mind to the |
| the Sea World at Los Angeles, they told us that the | | | | ocean and each of us to a drop from the ocean, then |
| barracuda and the mackerel were swimming side by | | | | we find the unity in the universe and we recognize our |
| side for three and a half years. | | | | potential . But it is up to each one of us to accept our |
| We are conditioned similarly by various failures and we | | | | potential and our inheritance as being a channel for the |
| too give up tackling the problems because our | | | | for the love of God. So, the super-conscious mind is |
| subconscious mind is set up to accept failure as a | | | | neither master nor servant. It is God, our timely help. |
| reality. We also get conditioned by the advice of our | | | | Instead of this, we have accepted a life of mediocrity, |
| friends, neighbours, parents, acquaintances, co-workers | | | | poverty, ill health, pain, suffering, disease, worry, |
| and everybody else. | | | | jealousy, loneliness and spite. Og Mandino, in his book |
| When we sought advice from them they told us we | | | | "The Greatest Miracle on Earth", says that most |
| were stupid, too old, too young, too fat or too lean. | | | | humans in varying degree in one way or another have |
| They assured us that we can't do it because no one | | | | lost their dreams, their ambitions, and their desire for a |
| has done it before. | | | | better life. They have surrendered their fight for |
| Someone wrote, | | | | self-esteem. They have compromised their great |
| "If you think you are beaten you are. | | | | potential. They have settled for a life of mediocrity and |
| If you think you dare not, you don't | | | | days of despair and nights of tears. They are no more |
| If you like to win but think you can't | | | | than dead spirits in mobile caskets. They have willed |
| Its almost certain you won't." | | | | themselves into cemeteries. They do not have to |
| We are conditioned by the negativity of our | | | | remain in that state. They can be resurrected from |
| associates. We all know the story of Robert Bruce | | | | their sorrowful condition. They can each perform the |
| King of Scotland, who, on Rathlin Island, watched a | | | | greatest miracle in the world. They can come back |
| spider trying to jump from one beam to another to | | | | from the dead. |
| build a web and fail six times. Bruce said to himself | | | | The greatest miracle that Jesus performed was |
| "Will this spider teach me a lesson for I too tried six | | | | perhaps raising the dead. We read in the Bible that |
| times and failed to defeat my enemies." He saw the | | | | Jesus raised the dead four times. But the greatest |
| spider succeed at the seventh attempt. Encouraged | | | | miracle ever done was the next one. Jesus raised |
| by this feat and educated by the spider with 300 | | | | himself from the dead. It is easier to raise another from |
| soldiers he surprised and defeated the English army at | | | | the dead than to raise oneself from the dead. That is |
| Carick Castle. | | | | the greatest of all miracles that Jesus did. This is the |
| Winston Churchill claimed that the greatest secret of | | | | miracle each one of us is capable of performing today. |
| success ever formulated had only five words. They | | | | We don't have to remain dead to our great potential. |
| are "Never, never, never give up." | | | | Today we can raise ourselves from the sorrowful |
| Eliminate the negative thoughts and stock the | | | | condition we are in. I believe that those of us who are |
| subconscious mind with success experiences. | | | | willing to work a miracle will work this miracle on |
| The Subconscious mind can not only be influenced by | | | | ourselves today. |
| the outside forces and the five senses, it can also be | | | | We can do it by using the miraculous power of our |
| influenced during the unconscious states such as sleep, | | | | mind. Our mind is available to us to do our bidding, if we |
| under anaesthesia, hypnosis, or meditation. | | | | will take control of it. Otherwise, it will run like a horse |
| The most receptive period is when we are in the | | | | with a rider on its back but no reins. |