Some reactions are healthy; others are unhealthy. The reaction to a reaction is destructive, whereas the reaction itself, when viewed with a balanced mind, eventually becomes an asset.§
Reaction is what makes the world go round. It is the driving force which makes it possible for us to continue living and creating in our subconscious search for the inner being, our craving to bring forth our latent forces to the conscious plane. Reactions are twofold: a reaction to a reaction; or just a normal reaction to something we do, or do not, understand. This is why a strong foundation must be established in organized thought before we dive deeper into the mind to conquer reaction. This takes only a little study to accomplish. ¶When you react to a situation, don’t re-enact it or go over it in your mind again after it has happened. Wait until the emotional nature has completely composed itself. Then take apart the reaction, little by little–being sure you do not upset yourself again–and find out its basic cause. Only then can you come to terms with yourself and arrange a working agreement with your own mind. Handling your mind in this way takes discipline; it is one of the first steps in concentration. If you cannot think the reaction through and arrive at the cause, make a problem of it on paper. Write down everything that comes into your mind about the reaction until it has been assimilated. In this way you turn every reaction into an asset. Doing that will add wisdom, color and vitality to your life.§
The conscious mind creates the future by what has gone before, through its subconscious. Should memory be weakened due to abusive practices, its creations are distorted.§
This creation is sometimes distorted when the faculty of memory has been weakened due to improper diet or lack of sexual controls. The inability to come to terms with oneself often makes one dull and somewhat blank. Then the subconscious mind receives a distorted, unqualified impression. When the impression is ready to be qualified, it comes out in the outside world as an experience uncomprehendible to the conscious mind. ¶It is of the utmost importance that the body be kept strong and healthy, that the vital fluids be conserved, that the memory gain conscious and subconscious control over every situation, and that the subconscious receive impressions fully qualified and well organized. ¶The future is created by the impressions we have put into the subconscious in the past and those impressions we are placing there continually in the present. The future is the continuing summation of all our past actions and reactions, for there is only the moment in which we live. The eternal now is the only consciousness we have when living in the higher states of mind. A concept of this must begin working through your conscious and subconscious mind so that the subconscious will be well schooled when the intuitive nature awakens and you realize that there is no time, no past, no future–only the eternal now, which is a total of all the mind contains. §
When the conscious mind relies on its subconscious states to master the problem, having logically placed the problem before them, the result: no concern. Concern is a muddled understanding of the subconscious states of mind filled with unreasonable doubts from the conscious mind.§
The conscious mind has an intriguing way of holding up the progress of its subconscious. This is the result of mass thinking, fear, worry, doubt, lack of faith in oneself and, more than all, a lack of understanding of the workings of the mind. The conscious mind never lets the subconscious rest. It is always placing demands upon it. That is all right, because that is what the subconscious is for, but the demands must be placed in the right way. ¶It is impossible for the subconscious to handle two opposing thoughts at the same time. For instance, one thinks, “I shall do this if I can.” Those are two opposite vibrations, and the poor subconscious doesn’t know what to do. It should be impressed in a definite manner, for instance, with a statement, “I will do this,” or “I can’t do it.” This is the only way you can keep your mind free from opposing thoughts. This is the beginning of thought control, and thought control is the greatest asset you can possibly have. ¶Concern is a state of mind caused by what I have just explained. It is really unnecessary, and an extra feeling that you can very well do without. To be free from concern is to have the power over your subconscious mind through the proper presentation of your thoughts. When impressing your subconscious, suppressed thoughts lurk in the subconscious, ready to spring out at a moment’s notice, which if permitted, consume the entire mind. To avoid this, quiet the body, emotions and mind before giving a command to the subconscious mind.§
True happiness can never be found in the conscious mind or its subconscious states.§
Happiness is not the first sign of awakening. It is only the first sign of a realization that there is something beyond the conscious and subconscious phases of the mind. When you think you are ready for a spiritual awakening, you have only realized that the awakening has already taken place in the subsuperconscious mind. It has not yet been able to manifest itself in the realms of the conscious and subconscious mind, because they are too possessed with material things and thoughts. It is impossible for your awakening to penetrate. So you live in the realm of desire, striving and hoping that the grace of God will descend upon you. ¶Instead, you must only wake up and release your mind from all worldly thoughts, feelings and desires long enough to unfold what is already within your subsuperconscious state of mind, locked up and waiting to be expressed. To do this, concentration is needed. Concentration brings light, or understanding, by holding the mind to one point. Then all material thoughts, feelings and desires fall away for the time, and you are allowed to receive your rightful unfoldment. ¶This is not as hard as it seems. It does not require you to renounce the world. It only requires you to make an effort every day to concentrate the mind, by first quieting the physical body and then the mind, to free itself from all the thoughts of the day. Then hold the mind on one thing that is attractive to you for as long as you can. When it wanders, pull it back until the light of understanding begins to appear. You will be amazed at the results in a very short time. True happiness will then be yours, released from the subsuperconscious state of your own mind. §
The seed of desire is a false concept in relation to corresponding objects. The conscious mind throws into its subconscious a series of erroneous thoughts based upon a false concept. This creates a deep-rooted desire or complex. Single out the seed of desire by disregarding all other corresponding erroneous thoughts. Then destroy that seed through understanding its relation in itself and to all other corresponding thoughts. The deep-rooted desire or complex will then vanish.§
All your conflicts in life are caused in this way. In tracing each major conflict back through the power of concentration, of which we shall learn more later, all seeds are gradually and systematically destroyed, giving you an intense release and a burst of light from within. ¶Get off to a good start now and congratulate yourself on the fact that you have at last found the key to remove all your suppressions, repressions, unqualified feelings and unfulfilled desires through the application of right thought. Concentration digs up the seed in this manner and brings it before the mind as a fact, not as an elusive remnant of fiction. ¶Call upon your inner intelligence to help you and guide your unfoldment from within. Show to your own mind the seed of desire, which may be far divorced from the desire itself. It may be so far removed you will wonder how it was ever connected and was able to create the desire in the first place. In this wondering, you begin the birth pains of understanding, and when the birth is complete through qualified thinking, the seed will vanish, and the desire will resolve itself into the halls of memory. ¶Your major desires should be qualified first; then you can tackle the subtle ones. This law can be a tremendous help to you on your path of enlightenment, for the world is a place in which we learn. Therefore, all things of which we lack understanding represent a challenge to us, to qualify and resolve in our own consciousness.§