The Principle of Autosuggestion
Autosuggestion means self-suggestion.
Think of a human being having three minds and one brain – the Thinking Mind, the Conscious Mind, and the Subconscious Mind.
Then think of the conscious mind as the gateway between the thinking and subconscious minds.
Autosuggestion is the agency of communication between the thinking and subconscious minds.
No thought whether it be positive or negative can enter the subconscious mind without the aid of autosuggestion, except for thoughts picked up from the ether (through the unknown source we call Infinite Intelligence).
This means all thoughts that enter our thinking mind can be stopped by our conscious mind. They can be either passed on to the subconscious mind or rejected at will.
The faculty of the conscious mind acts as an outer guard for the subconscious mind.
Feeding the Subconscious
Nature has so built man that he has absolute control over the thoughts that enter his subconscious mind. Although, in the great majority of instances, he does not exercise it.
What we allow to pass through determines the way we think and feel. This in turn creates our emotional state, which in turn influences our actions and behaviours.
You can look at the subconscious mind as though it is a fertile garden, in which weeds will grow in abundance if the seeds of more desirable crops are not sewn.
Through the principle of autosuggestion we can voluntarily feed our subconscious mind with thoughts of a creative nature aligned with our vision for the future and our mission for today. Or by neglect, we can permit thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into this rich garden of the mind. By use of this principle, we can voluntarily create thought habits that transmute desire, backed by faith into reality.
The Power of Emotion
Our subconscious mind acts only upon thoughts that have been combined with emotions! This is a fact of such importance as to warrant repetition with all 13 principles. People who get no desirable results through application of autosuggestion fail because they do not understand this.
Plain intentional thoughts, or plain words read from the statement of our chief aim in life referred to in last week’s blog on the principle of faith do not influence the subconscious mind.
It is difficult at first to direct our emotions, yet we should not become discouraged because the ability to reach and influence our subconscious mind is not an easy habit to acquire.
It has its price, and we must be willing to pay that price. The price is everlasting persistence applying the 13 principles. There are no short cuts.
Where failure is experienced, it is the individual not the method that has failed.
The subconscious mind takes any orders given to it in a spirit of absolute faith and acts upon those orders, although the orders often have to be presented over and over again through repetition before they are interpreted by the subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind will then hand over to us practical plans for the fulfillment of our burning desires.
It will do this through the application of our imagination, and through the guidance of ideas, hunches and inspirations that enter our mind through the unknown source that we call Infinite Intelligence.
Reason is Faulty
Begin at once to think, feel, and act as though you are already in possession of the riches you desire.
Expect and be on the alert for the plans and the guidance from our subconscious mind, and when they appear act on them without hesitation.
Failure to do this will be fatal to our success.
Do not trust our reason. Our reason is faulty, and if we rely entirely on our reasoning faculty it will disappoint us.
No matter how abstract or impractical these plans and inspirations may at first appear, follow them in spirit as well as in act.
Scepticism in connection with new ideas is characteristic of all human beings but if we follow the instructions with persistence then scepticism will soon be replaced by belief and this in turn will soon become crystallised into absolute faith.
Philosophers say that man is the master of his own earthly destiny, but most of them have failed to say why he is the master.
The reason that man may become the master of himself and his environment is because he has the power to influence his own subconscious mind, and through it gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence.
The principle of autosuggestion represents the keystone to the whole 13 principle philosophy.
The other principles are simply tools by which to apply autosuggestion – which is the ability to reach and influence and our own subconscious mind.