the window; and a scene, afterward split in two, in which Hyde, pursued, took the powder and underwent the change in the presence of his pursuer.”
Many another famous writers have spoken in similar strain, and every man who has problems to solve has had like experiences. You know how, after you have studied a problem from all angles, it sometimes seems worse jumbled than when you started on it. Leave it then for a while — forget it — and when you go back to it, you find your thoughts clarified, the line of reasoning worked out, your problem solved for you. It is your little “Mental Brownies” who have done the work for you!
The flash of genius does not originate in your own brain. Through intense concentration you’ve established a circuit through your subconscious mind with the Universal, and it is from It that the inspiration comes. All genius, all progress, is from the same source. It lies with you merely to learn how to establish this circuit at will so that you can call upon It at need. It can be done.
“In the Inner Consciousness of each of us,” quotes Dumont in “The Master Mind,” “there are forces which act much the same as would countless tiny mental brownies or helpers who are anxious and willing to assist us in our mental work, if we will but have confidence and trust in them. This is a psychological truth expressed in the terms of the old fairy tales. The process of calling into service these Inner Consciousness helpers is similar to that which we constantly employ to recall some forgotten fact or name. We find that we cannot recollect some desired fact, date, or name, and instead of racking our brains with an increased effort, we (if we have learned the secret) pass on the matter to the Inner Consciousness with a silent command, ‘Recollect this name for me,’ and then go on with our ordinary work. After a few minutes — or it may be hours — all of a sudden, pop! will come the missing name or fact before us — flashed from the planes of the Inner Consciousness, by the help of the kindly workers or ‘brownies’ of those planes. The experience is so common that we have ceased to wonder at it, and yet it is a wonderful manifestation of the Inner Consciousness’ workings of the mind. Stop and think a moment, and you will see that the missing word does not present itself accidentally, or just because.’ There are mental processes at work for your benefit, and when they have worked out the problem for you they gleefully push it up from their plane on to the plane of the outer consciousness where you may use it.
“We know of no better way of illustrating the matter than by this fanciful figure of the ‘mental brownies,’ in connection with the illustration of the ‘subconscious storehouse.’ If you would learn to take advantage of the work of these Subconscious Brownies, we advise you to form a mental picture of the Subconscious Storehouse in which is stored all sorts of knowledge that you have placed there during your lifetime, as well as the impressions that you have acquired by race inheritance — racial memory, in fact. The information stored away has often been placed in the storage rooms without any regard for systematic storing, or arrangement, and when you wish to find something that has been stored away there a long time ago, the exact place being forgotten, you are compelled to call to your assistance the little brownies of the mind, which perform faithfully your mental command, ‘Recollect this for me!’ These brownies are the same little chaps that you charge with the task of waking you at four o’clock tomorrow morning when you wish to catch an early train — and they obey you well in this work of the mental alarm-clock. These same little chaps will also flash into your consciousness the report, ‘I have an engagement at two o’clock with Jones’ — when looking at your watch you will see that it is just a quarter before the hour of two, the time of your engagement.
“Well then, if you will examine carefully into a subject which you wish to master, and will pass along the results of your observations to these Subconscious Brownies, you will find that they will work the raw materials of thought into shape for you in a comparatively short time. They will analyze, systematize, collate, and arrange in consecutive order the various details of information which you have passed on to them, and will add thereto the articles of similar information that they will find stored away in the recesses of your memory. In this way they will group together various scattered bits of knowledge that you have forgotten. And, right here, let us say to you that you never absolutely forget anything that you have placed in your mind. You may be unable to recollect certain things, but they are not lost — sometime later some associative connection will be made with some other fact, and lo! the missing idea will be found fitted nicely into its place in the larger idea — the work of our little brownies. Remember Thompson’s statement: ‘In view of having to wait for the results of these unconscious processes, I ‘have proved the habit of getting together material in advance, and then leaving the mass to digest itself until I am ready to write about it.’ This subconscious ‘digestion’ is really the work of our little mental brownies.
“There are many ways of setting the brownies to work. Nearly everyone has had some experience, more or less, in the matter, although often it is produced almost unconsciously, and without purpose and intent. Perhaps the best way for the average person — or rather the majority of persons — to get the desired results is for one to get as clear an idea of what one really wants to know — as clear an idea or mental image of the question you wish answered. Then after rolling it around in your mind — mentally chewing it, as it were — giving it a high degree of voluntary attention, you can pass it on to your Subconscious Mentality with the mental command: ‘Attend to this for me — work out the answer!’ or some similar order. This command may be given silently, or else spoken aloud — either will do. Speak to the Subconscious Mentality — or its little workers — just as you would speak to persons in your employ, kindly but firmly. Talk to the little workers, and firmly command them to do your work. And then forget all about the matter — throw it off your conscious mind, and attend to your other tasks. Then in due time will come your answer — flashed into your consciousness — perhaps not until the very minute that you must decide upon the matter, or need the information. You may give your brownies orders to report at such and such a time — just as you do when you tell them to awaken you at a certain time in the morning so as to catch the early train, or just as they remind you of the hour of your appointment, if you have them all well trained.”
Have you ever read the story by Richard Harding Davis of “The Man Who Could Not Lose?” In it the hero is intensely interested in racing. He has studied records and “dope” sheets until he knows the history of every horse backward and forward.
The day before the big race he is reclining in an easy chair, thinking of the morrow’s race, and he drops off to sleep with that thought on his mind. Naturally, his subconscious mind takes it up, with the result that he dreams the exact outcome of the race.
That was mere fiction, of course, but if races were run solely on the speed and stamina of the horses, it would be entirely possible to work out the results in just that way. Unfortunately, other factors frequently enter into every betting game.
But the idea behind Davis’ story is entirely right. The way to contact with your subconscious mind, the way to get the help of the “Man Inside You” in working out any problem is:
First, fill your mind with every bit of information regarding that problem that you can lay your hands on.
Second, pick out a chair or lounge or bed where you can recline in perfect comfort, where you can forget your body entirely.
Third, let your mind dwell upon the problem for a moment, not worrying, not fretting, but placidly, and then turn it over to the “Man Inside You.” Say to him — “This is your problem. You can do anything. You know the answer to everything. Work this out for me!” And utterly relax. Drop off to sleep, if you can. At least, drop into one of those half-sleepy, half-wakeful reveries that keep other thoughts from obtruding upon your consciousness, Do as Aladdin did — summon your Genii, give him your orders, then forget the matter, secure in the knowledge that he will attend to it for you. When you waken, you will have the answer!
For whatever thought, whatever problem you can get across to
