William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

All thought-impulses, once started on their errands, continue to vibrate along Sub-conscious lines until corrected or terminated by subsequent impulses imparted by the Conscious thought or other controlling power. The continuance of the original impulse adds momentum and force to it, and renders its correction or termination more difficult. This explains that which is called “the force of habit.” I think that this will be readily understood by those who have struggled to overcome a habit which had been easily acquired. The Law applies to good habits as well as bad. The moral is obvious.

Several of the faculties of the mind often combine to produce a single manifestation. A task to be performed may call for the combined exercise of several faculties, some of which may manifest by Conscious thought and others by Sub-conscious thought.

The meeting of new conditions—new problems—calls for the exercise of Conscious thought, whilst a familiar problem, or task, can be easily handled by the Sub-conscious thought, without the assistance of his more enterprising brother.

There is in nature an instinctive tendency of living organisms to perform certain actions; the tendency of an organized body to seek that which satisfies the wants of its organism. This tendency is sometimes called Appetency. It is really a Sub-conscious mental impulse, originating with the impetus imparted by the Primal Cause, and transmitted along the lines of evolutionary development, gaining strength and power as it progresses, grows and unfolds.

Man, the highest type of life yet produced upon this planet, shows the highest form of Sub-conscious mentation, and also a much higher development of Conscious mentation than is seen in the lower animals, and yet the degrees of that power vary widely among the different races of men. Even among men of our race, the different degrees of Conscious mentation are plainly noticeable, these degrees not depending, by any means, upon the amount of “culture,” social position, or educational advantages possessed by the individual. Mental Culture and Mental Development are two very different things.

You have but to look around you to see the different stages of the development of Conscious mentation in man. The reasoning of many men is little more than Sub-conscious mentation, exhibiting but little of the qualities of volitional thought. They prefer to let other men think for them. Conscious mentation tires them, and they find the instinctive, automatic, Sub-conscious mental process much easier. Their minds work along the lines of least resistance. They are but little more than human sheep.

Among the lower animals and the lower types of men, Conscious mentation is largely confined to the grosser faculties— the more material plane, the higher mental faculties working along the instinctive, automatic lines of the Sub-conscious function.

As the lower forms of life progressed in the evolutionary scale, they unfolded new faculties, which were latent within them. These faculties always manifested in the form of rudimentary Sub-conscious thought, and afterwards worked up, through higher Sub-conscious forms, until the Conscious thought was brought into play. The evolutionary process still continues, the invariable tendency being toward the goal of highly developed Conscious mentation.

This law of evolution is still in progress, and man is beginning to develop new powers of mind, which, of course, are first manifesting themselves along lines of Sub-conscious thought. Some men have developed these new faculties to a considerable degree, and it is possible that before long Man will be able to exercise them along the line of their Conscious functions. In fact, this power has already been attained by a few. This is the secret of the Oriental occultists, and of some of their Occidental brethren. We will have more to say on this subject in succeeding chapters.

The amenability of the mind to the Will may be increased by properly directed practice. That which we are in the habit of referring to as the “strengthening of the Will” is in reality the training of the mind to recognize and obey the Power Within. The Will is strong enough; it does not need strengthening, but the mind needs to be trained to receive and act upon the suggestions of the Will. The Will is the outward manifestation of the I am. The Will current is flowing, in full strength, along the spiritual wires, but you must learn how to raise the trolley-pole to touch it before the mental car will move. This is a somewhat different idea from that which you have been in the habit of receiving from writers on the subject of Will Power, etc., but it is correct, as you will demonstrate to your own satisfaction if you will follow up the subject by experiments along the proper lines.

The attraction of The Absolute is drawing man upward, and the vibratory force of the Primal Impulse has not yet exhausted itself. The time of evolutionary development has come, when man can help himself. The man who understands the Law, can accomplish wonders, by means of the development of the powers of the mind, whilst the man who turns his back upon the truth will suffer from his lack of knowledge of the Law.

He who understands the laws of his mental being, develops his latent powers and uses them intelligently. He does not despise his Sub-conscious mental expressions, but makes good use of them also, and charges them with the duties for which they are best fitted, and is able to obtain wonderful results from their work, having mastered them and trained them to do the bidding of the Higher Self. When they fail to do their work properly, he regulates them, and his knowledge prevents him from meddling with them unintelligently, and thereby doing himself harm. He develops the faculties and powers latent within him, and learns how to manifest them along the line of Conscious mentation as well as Sub-conscious. He knows that the real man within him is the master to whom both Conscious and Sub-conscious mentation are but tools. He has banished Fear, and enjoys Freedom. He has found himself . HE HAS LEARNED THE SECRET OF I AM.

Table of Content

The greater part of our thinking performed along sub-conscious lines—Illustrations of this fact—The sub-conscious, the habit plane—Means by which the sub-conscious mentality is reached—A store-house of thoughts—A mixture of wisdom and foolishness—How the super-conscious faculties manifest first along sub-conscious lines—A reservoir receiving conscious thoughts—The desirability of a clear supplying stream—Auto-suggestions and affirmations—Did thought originate on the conscious, or sub-conscious plane?—My views on the subject—Filling the store-house with proper material—Creating on the thought plane— Our own thoughts, not others—Disease producing on the sub-conscious plane—Thoughts take form in action—As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

WE ARE so accustomed to thinking of the mind as working along conscious lines that it comes as a great surprise to us when our attention is directed to the fact that the greater part of the mental work being performed by us is being manifested along sub-conscious lines. We are conscious of many of our thoughts and many of our actions, but are almost or entirely unconscious of thousands of thoughts and actions that are being expressed every hour.

When we take nourishment in the shape of food we do it consciously, but the process of digestion and assimilation is done unconsciously, although the impulse causing it comes from the mind just as much as if the act was consciously performed. The food is converted into blood, and the blood is carried to all parts of the body, and the various organs and parts of the body are built up—all unconsciously. The heart beats—the stomach digests—the liver and kidneys perform their functions—all unconsciously. But the work is done precisely—carefully—and properly, under the direction of the mind working on the sub-conscious plane. These things do not run themselves. The mind controls them just as surely as if the work was done on the conscious plane.