There is a constant struggle for dominance between the conscious and subconscious activities of life; the innate tendency of the conscious being radical and that of the subconscious being conservative. The subconscious is the repository of habits, the nature of which is persistency, and reluctance to change. All sensations find an abiding place in the subconscious fields of activity, which is the realm of emotions, habits, automatism and vital adjustment.
The subconscious represents the ocean of residual mental activities of one’s present existence . . if it does not run back of this . . and it dominates his life except to the extent that the conscious faculties challenge or direct it successfully. While always possible to accomplish this purpose often a strong incentive is required.
The subconscious is particularly sensitive to racial ideas and concepts, or to those beliefs and opinions that are being constantly thought, expressed and acted upon by others. In time these are likely to become one’s own thought habits, and to constitute the guiding impulses to which constantly one gives ready obedience. It is customary to defer to traditional beliefs and opinions, so that usually one is indisposed to think consciously of these matters except in line with the inclination of the subconscious.
Most people think and speak of traditional beliefs . . particularly of spiritual and religious ones . . in borrowed words, quoting from those who have lived and died long since, and especially from the records of ancient days. Seemingly, these are regarded as having gathered increased authority from age to age, and as possessing a character of sacredness that is lacking in similar statements of the present day. Distance in time seems to lend enchantment to words of wisdom.
We of the Western World worship the beliefs and opinions of our ancestors rather than their persons. On these beliefs and opinions have been established the organizations and institutions of our civilization, and as these constitute or represent the ruling powers of the day, it is deemed by them essential to the well-being of society that these beliefs and opinions remain unchanged. Any challenge to them is considered generally to be dangerous if not intolerable.
There is a universal law of progress that will prevail quite irrespective of what man may do or think concerning it. There is that inner urge of the One Life that cannot be repressed entirely. It may be retarded and delayed, but it will finally break away from a restraint that is too long continued. Inherited traditions and beliefs must have their evolutionary variance and development in correspondence with the necessities of human progress.
Racial thought may be much stimulated and humanity make considerable progress in times of great emotional excitement, such as the years covered by the World War. While this was a period of destruction rather than construction, it witnessed the passing away or the lessened acceptance of some long standing traditional beliefs and opinions that had long outlived their usefulness. To this extent, at least, it answered a useful purpose.
The subconscious is charged with all sorts of negative and destructive beliefs and opinions, and these dominate both one’s inner and outer activities unless they are neutralized or overcome by his conscious thought. One’s outward activities usually meet with conscious recognition, and therefore one’s thoughts that are expressed physically are often changed, altered, corrected or neutralized by conscious thought. But one’s erroneous inner activities usually continue unnoticed and unchanged until they evidence themselves in physical discord and disease.
It is essential to health that one counteract the influences on the body of such inherited beliefs and traditional opinions, by conscious activities that will change the subconscious mental attitude from the negative and destructive to the affirmative and constructive. This is the office of the conscious faculties, which have the power and privilege of so impressing the subconscious that it will become subservient to conscious dominion.
In other words, when man does his own thinking, he may dominate his world; but when he permits others to think for him or merely repeats the words of others, he places himself under their direction and control, and offers but slight resistance to the racial thoughts that engulf him. Why remain a parasite when one possesses the divine privilege of thinking for himself ?
Before one may change from error to Truth he must know what distinguishes them, and be able to discriminate between the two. He must know how to effect the change, and then do what is necessary to accomplish this purpose. Truth is the invisible essence of the Universe, binding it, correlating it, determining all relations of parts and all sequences of events. It has all of the attributes and qualities of God, the Infinite, Universal Spirit; it is All; it is One, and it is Good. It is ever and always affirmative and constructive; it is eternal, unchanging and universal. All else is error.
The subconscious is surcharged with traditional beliefs and inherited opinions that are based on the misconception of Duality; and that inspire, demand, require or necessitate fear. All of these are false thoughts, productive of mental inharmony and physical disease. They must be transferred from negative and destructive influences to affirmative and constructive ones, if one is to secure mental harmony and physical health. This requires the exercise of the conscious mind, willing to perform the duty of a transforming station; so that the false thought may be changed in character and polarized rightly.
The interpretation of every sensation that suggests fear, discouragement, failure and particularly bodily harm, discord and disease, must be changed from negative to affirmative and from destructive to constructive. With the change thus brought about in subconscious thought, physical conditions are altered accordingly, and both one’s inner and outer existence are transformed by the renewing of the mind, through the substitution of constructive elements for destructive ones.
When the subconscious has been trained to disregard false traditional beliefs and inherited opinions, it will substitute constructive thoughts for destructive ones, through the recognition of Principle. Instead of permitting the subconscious to dominate one’s life with its inherited and erroneous negative and destructive thoughts, one will charge it with affirmative and constructive thoughts that will assist him to physical health and ease.
One may plant in the subconscious either the dominant note of Principle or of opinion; of Faith and Love or doubt and hate; of health and ease or discord and disease. This dominant note will be the controlling influence in one’s life, and it will prevail except where the conscious thought challenges it successfully through definite and intense suggestions to the contrary. Each thought seed will bring forth fruit of its kind, and the dominant thought will be productive of a bounteous crop.
If one impresses upon the subconscious as its dominant note the understanding that God is One, God is All and God is Good; that Principle or Truth is of the essence of all sensation and appearance; that sensation and appearance are therefore always affirmative and constructive, however otherwise they may seem to be; then it becomes comparatively easy for one’s conscious thought to impel and direct his life’s activities along the path of physical health and ease.
The subconscious never forgets, it never rests, it is eternally persistent; while the conscious is neglectful, intermittent and spasmodic. The subconscious is always awake, even while the conscious sleeps. These qualities and attributes of the subconscious are of tremendous import and advantage to one when its dominant note represents the knowledge of Principle, and is therefore affirmative and constructive.
The conversion of the subconscious from a negative and destructive quality to one of affirmative and constructive influence is brought about by conscious thought, speech and action of the latter character. The more clear, definite, forceful and intense the conscious activities, the deeper is the impression that will be made on the subconscious. One should feel what he thinks and affirms. The more definite the challenge and the greater the conviction behind the conscious thought and activities, the more effectually will the subconscious inheritances and acquired habits of false thinking be overcome and changed.
Behind the affirmation of Truth is the thought of it, and the power of the affirmation depends upon the conviction, or the Faith and Love that it represents. Idle and indifferent affirmations are of but slight importance; automatic duplication of words is lifeless and impotent; the spoken word has power in the Truth that it symbolizes and the realization that vitalizes it. The most effective affirmations are those that are vitalized, through being lived, expressed and manifested in one’s physical activities.
Before the conscious faculties were given creative power over the expressions of the One Life, the subconscious was in sole control. It is essential that it retains this control, except to the extent that the conscious faculties assume the responsibility of direction and cooperation. When the conscious mind accepts this leadership in the knowledge of Truth, the subconscious becomes its faithful ally in the cause of mental harmony and physical health.
The conscious impresses its will by means of suggestions, which the subconscious receives and then obeys. In its obedience, it contracts habits that become increasingly difficult to change as time goes on, and especially if these habits are in accord with and sustained by racial habits of thought. The subconscious becomes increasingly reluctant to believe that it is the will of the conscious to change or alter its time-honored instructions. In its loyalty to these, it requires positive evidence of the change in conscious desire, and it is justified in demanding convincing proof in the way of clear, definite and positive command.
One’s purpose should be the harmonious activity of the conscious and subconscious on the plane of affirmative and constructive thought, so that one’s physical activities will receive the stimulus of not only the intellectual conviction but also the emotional qualities of Faith and Love. As man is primarily emotional, it is seldom that his reason dominates when his emotions run counter to it. The subconscious ocean is likely to overwhelm his conscious stream of thought; but their cooperation will add to the power of the conscious stream the full force of the ocean of the subconscious.
It does not necessarily require as long a time to overcome a thought habit as it took to acquire it. It depends upon the intensity of one’s desire, the depth of one’s previous false convictions, and the completeness of one’s realization of Truth. The habits of a lifetime may be overcome in an instant. One may have trod the path of error all of his life, and yet have the ability to right-about-face in a moment. One need but seek Truth and he shall find it if his search for it be earnest and sincere. One has but to turn away from the darkness of falsity to be flooded with the light of Truth.
Eugene Del Mar
Conscious and Subconscious, Secrets, Mysteries and Powers of The Subconscious
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