es 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 pass 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-conscio
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