of one of the basic laws of mind: Your subconscious mind is amenable to suggestion. As you know, your subconscious mind does not make comparisons or contrasts, neither does it reason and think things out for itself. This latter function belongs to your conscious mind. It simply reacts to the impressions given to it by your conscious mind. It does not show a preference for one course of action over another.
The following is a classic example of the tremendous power of suggestion. Suppose you approach a timid looking passenger on board ship and say to him something like this: “You look very ill. How pale you are! I feel certain you are going to be seasick. Let me help you to your cabin.” The passenger turns pale. Your suggestion of seasickness associates itself with his own fears and forebodings. He accepts your aid down to the berth, and there your negative suggestion, which was accepted by him, is realized.
Different Reactions To The Same Suggestion
It is true that different people will react in different ways to the same suggestion because of their subconscious conditioning or belief. For example, if you go to a sailor on the ship and say to him sympathetically, “My dear fellow, you're looking very ill. Aren't you feeling sick? You look to me as if you are going to be seasick.”
According to his temperament he either laughs at your “joke,” or expresses mild irritation. Your suggestion fell on deaf ears in this instance because your suggestion of seasickness was associated in his mind with his own immunity from it. Therefore, it called up not fear or worry, but self-confidence.
The dictionary says that a suggestion is the act or instance of putting something into one's mind, the mental process by which the thought or idea suggested is entertained, accepted, or put into effect. You must remember that a suggestion cannot impose something on the subconscious mind against the will of the conscious mind. In other words, your conscious mind has the power to reject the suggestion given. In the case of the sailor, he had not fear of seasickness. He had convinced himself of his immunity and the negative suggestion had absolutely no power to evoke fear.
The suggestion of seasickness to the other passenger called forth his indwelling fear of seasickness. Each of us has his own inner fears, beliefs and opinions. These inner assumptions rule and govern our lives. A suggestion has no power in and of itself except it is accepted mentally by you. This causes your subconscious powers to flow in a limited and restricted way according to the nature of the suggestion.
How He Lost His Arm
Every two or three years I give a series of lectures at the London Truth Forum in Caxton Hall. This is a forum I founded a number of years ago. Dr Evelyn Fleet, the director, told me about an article which appeared in the English newspapers dealing with the power of suggestion. This is the suggestion a man gave to his subconscious mind over a period of about two years. “I would give my right arm to see my daughter cured.” It appeared that his daughter had a crippling form of arthritis, together with a so-called incurable form of skin disease. Medical treatment had failed to alleviate the condition, and the father had an intense longing for his daughter's healing, and expressed his desire in the words just quoted.
Dr Evelyn Fleet said that the newspaper article pointed out that one day the family was out riding when their car collided with another. The father's right arm was torn off at the shoulder and immediately the daughter's arthritis and skin condition vanished.
You must make certain to give your subconscious only suggestions which heal, bless, elevate and inspire you in all ways. Remember that your subconscious mind cannot take a joke. It takes you at your word.
How Autosuggestion Banishes Fear
Illustrations of autosuggestion: Autosuggestion means suggesting something definite and specific to oneself. Hebert Parkyn, in his excellent manual of autosuggestion, records the following incident. It has its amusing side, so that one remembers it. “A New York visitor in Chicago looks at his watch, which is set an hour ahead of Chicago time, and tells a Chicago friend that it is twelve o'clock. The Chicago friend, not considering the difference in time between Chicago and New York, tells the New Yorker that he is hungry and that he must go to lunch.”
Autosuggestion may be used to banish various fears and other negative conditions. A young singer was invited to give an audition. She had been looking forward to the interview, but on three previous occasions she had failed miserably due to fear of failure. This young lady had a very good voice, but she had been saying to herself, “When the time comes for me to sing, maybe they won't like me. I will try, but I'm full of fear and anxiety.”
Her subconscious mind accepted these negative autosuggestions as a request and proceeded to manifest them and bring them into her experience. The cause was an involuntary autosuggestion, i.e. silent fear thoughts emotionalized and subjectified.
She overcame it by the following technique: Three times a day she isolated herself in a room. She sat down comfortably in an armchair, relaxed her body and closed her eyes. She stilled her mind and body as best she could. Physical inertia favors mental passivity and renders the mind more receptive to suggestion. She counteracted the fear suggestion by saying to herself, “I sing beautifully, I am poised, serene, confident and calm.”
She repeated this statement slowly, quietly and with feeling from five to ten times at each sitting. She had three such “sittings” every day and one immediately prior to sleep. At the end of a week she was completely poised and confident. When the invitation to audition came, she gave a remarkable, wonderful audition.
How She Restored Her Memory
A woman, aged seventy-five, was in the habit of saying to herself, “I am losing my memory.” She reversed the procedure and practiced induced autosuggestion several times a day as follows: “My memory from today on is improving in every department. I shall always remember whatever I need to know at every moment of time and point of space. The impressions received will be clearer and more definite. I shall retain them automatically and with ease. Whatever I wish to recall will immediately present itself in the correct form in my mind. I am improving rapidly every day, and very soon my memory will be better than it has ever been before.” At the end of three weeks, her memory was back to normal and she was delighted.
How He Overcame A Nasty Temper
Many men who complained of irritability and bad temper proved to be very susceptible to autosuggestion and obtained marvelous results by using the following statements three or four times a day – morning, noon and night prior to sleep for about a month. “Henceforth, I shall grow more good humored. Joy, happiness and cheerfulness are now becoming my normal states of mind. Every day I am becoming more and more lovable and understanding. I am now becoming the center of cheer and good will to all those about me, infecting them with good humor. This happy, joyous and cheerful mood is now becoming my normal, natural state of mind. I am grateful.”
The Constructive & Destructive Power of Suggestion
Some illustrations and comments on heterosuggestion: Heterosuggestion means suggestions from another person. In all ages the power of suggestion has played a part in the life and though of man in every period of time and in each country of the earth. In many parts of the world it is the controlling power in religion.
Suggestion may be used to discipline and control ourselves, but it can also be used to take control and command over others who do not know the laws of mind. In its constructive form it is wonderful and magnificent. In its negative aspects it is one of the most destructive of all the response patterns of the mind, resulting in patterns of misery, failure, suffering, sickness
