Chapter V
Concentration
The object of a mental treatment is to implant a suggestion or affirmation in the subconscious mind. We may call it a treatment, “going into the silence,” “realization,” meditation, or concentration. The word concentration means moving toward a center, or bringing the mind to one point. In the case of mysticism, which is a deeper form of concentration or abstraction, it may be called mono-ideism, meaning the holding of one idea to the exclusion of all else. The object is not the tenacious “holding of a thought” as a mental “stunt.” The object is to get an idea firmly implanted in the subconscious so that it will be acted upon to produce the desired result. Concentration is holding the mind to a point to the exclusion of anything that is contrary to the desired purpose.
Bearing this in mind, it can be seen that it is not the method that matters, so much as the result. Whatever will bring us to the point of the mental realization of an idea is of value no matter by what name it may be called. And there may be those who are never able to place themselves in a subjective state, who, nevertheless, are able to hold tenaciously to one idea without change or wavering until it is objectified or realized. Indeed, many who are of a very positive objective type get their results by the positive ness of their ideas without reference to method. There is a big school of metaphysics which follows the method of argumentation in which the practitioner mentally debates, or “argues out of court” anything that opposes the desired good. They use the syllogistic form, such as, “All reality is good.” “This is not good; therefore it is not real.” The method which we follow does not permit of this particular argument for the simple reason that we affirm that every thought produces fruit of its kind and the thistle is as real as the fig, the thorn as real as the rose. Both are the result of what we have planted in thought. But the argumentative method might still be employed. “Whatever a man thinks, he creates. The created cannot control the creator. It has no power in itself. It is merely the result. Results therefore cannot dictate my fate because I have the power to change the thought that produced them. I am not the sport of fate, I am not suffering form any injustice, because nothing comes to me that I may not control by the change of my mind. The problem I face contains a solution or else it is not a problem. The solution of this problem lies within me for I am one with the Universal Intelligence in which all problems are dissolved. There is no power that can oppose me because I am working with infinite power. Weakness, sickness, inharmony, poverty are the results of wrong thought and misdirected faith. I do not need to think of them as inevitable. I will not think of them as inevitable. They are not inevitable. I know that within me is a tower of strength. “The strength of the hills is His also.” “I go from strength to strength. Everyone (who employs the law) is as Mount Zion which cannot be moved.” I now declare that the desired end is within my reach, that I have the power to attain it, that there is nothing to oppose it, that I am happy in working out my problem, that “all things work together for my good,” that I am surrounded by infinite wisdom which will direct me, infinite power which will work for me, infinite peace which holds me eternally in the everlasting arms.”
However, many desire to enter more deeply than this into mental abstraction and a few words of direction will perhaps be welcome.
Steps in Concentration
1. Choose definitely the idea to be realized. The method for such choice, when in doubt, may be found in Chapter VI.
2. Relax.
a. Physical relaxation.
By physical relaxation we mean the letting down of all physical and nervous tension. Sit down or lie in a comfortable position and mentally go over the body saying “I am relaxed, I am relaxed.” If any part of the body is found to be in tension, then speak to that part of the body saying for example to the arm, “You are relaxed,” and then mentally picturing it as relaxed. Presently the most tense contractions will be released.
The use of the breath is very helpful in relaxation. Inhale deeply saying, “I am,” very slowly, then exhale with the word, “relaxing.” “I--a-m--r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g--”
b. Mental relaxation.
Remove mental tension by such methods as reading the Bible, inspirational books, poems, or the quotation of helpful statements and treatments. Affirm that all worry and concern are now being lifted from your mind and that you are mentally giving yourself over to the attention and care of an intelligence which can and will solve all your problems for you.
c. Moral relaxation.
Many people cannot get into the deeper abstraction because of moral tension or a sense of guilt. It is very essential to establish the sense of unity or harmony with your environment and with the universal life. At all costs see to it that your conscience is clear and if it is not, go to work to right whatever wrong rises to cloud your thought. But one must not be introspective to the point of faulty self-consciousness; nor get the idea that an absolutely flawless character is necessary to demonstration. To do so would be to shut off from demonstration not only the large body of those who have grave faults in character but even more those whose character is beautiful and above reproach, for it is true that the higher a man’s moral and spiritual attainment, the more sensitive he is to his own faults and to the requirements of the law of spirituality. But moral relaxation must be obtained for the simple reason that any sense of wrong divides the personality, introduces duality, leads to a feeling of separation --and therefore it is impossible to be monoideistic, and to enter into a state of abstraction.
3. Fixation of attention
To enter into abstraction or the subconscious by psychological methods it is often helpful to aid the attention by fixing it upon some object. The religious devotee often uses the crucifix or some other sacred symbol. Some occultists employ the crystal. The suggestionists often employ the voice, saying, “I am concentrating,” and repeating it monotonously and slowly. Sometimes we see them rubbing the thumb over the nerves along the line of the eyebrow, rubbing away from the bridge of the nose. Others use music or the monotonous tick of the clock or intonations of religious worship. In the use of an object the point is to hold it in such a way as to weary the eye which suggests sleep or mental drowsiness. Everyone enters the state of subconsciousness when he falls asleep and the eye is the first to yield to the lure of relaxation. Therefore to enter into a subconscious state for psychological demonstration we find that the cutting off or dulling of sense perception is necessary. The object is usually held up before the eye and just above the level of the bridge of the nose. A pencil or any similar article answers as well as the crucifix except that religious consciousness often adds expectancy.
Uncontrolled Mental Pictures
4. In concentrating it will be found that as soon as one begins to lose the consciousness of sense perception such as hearing, and sight, the mind begins to amuse itself with all kinds of reveries, fleeting thoughts, visions, memories, impressions and so on. It is surprising in how trifling a matter we may spend the moments of mental indolence. Who else could be as silly as we are in the hobo thoughts that tramp vagrantly across our empty minds?
This is the realm of subjective states of consciousness; and many persons never plunge beneath this surface. Here is where the seeds of impressions and suggestions from our environment find their shallow soil. Large numbers of people live out their lives guided by the chance thoughts that swarm about them seeking recognition and expression. A vast number of the suggestions upon which we act are neither passed upon by our conscious attention nor become fixed ideas in the subconscious.
Controlled Mental Pictures
It is in this field of subjectivity that the mental picturing which we call visualization takes place. Let this be borne carefully in mind for it is the secret of control of the attention. Instead of allowing vagrant thoughts and mental pictures to run through your mind, practice controlled picturization. In other words, at the threshold of the subconscious you may utilize the instinctive tendency to dramatize by controlling the pictures which are presented to the subconscious for creation, as already noted in the chapter on Visualization.
5. The next step is passivity, the state of mental calm into which it is desired to enter. The mental action is now brought under control through the slowing up of physical forces, the abatement of nervous impulses, the removal of mental and moral tensions, the centering of the thought on one picture. It is easy now to let the mind slip into arrested consciousness. Let the stillness of life be realized. Cultivate the love of stillness so that you do not feel awed or alarmed in its presence.
To this end one should develop a spirit of repose and the pleasure of relaxed attention. Gilder tells us to
“Be still and listen,
Be still and drink the quiet
Of all around.”
And by others we are told,
“He giveth his beloved rest.” “There remained therefore a rest for the people of God.” “In quietness and confidence shall be my strength.” “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you.”
Entering the Subconscious in Falling Asleep
The process of entering the subconscious is not far different from that of falling asleep for we enter the subconscious every night. In falling asleep first comes the letting down of muscular tension, then nerve relaxation. Then the circumference of the mind is indrawn until we think of nothing beyond the borders of our couch. A peaceful calm settles upon us, a sense of well-being. We are entering the mystery of the subconscious, a mystery so deep that the materialist knows it only as a problem while the occultist tells us that “the night of the mind is the day of the soul.” On entering sleep we usually go without a definite idea unless it be a “wonder if we are catching cold,” or an assertion that our old lumbago is coming back; or that it’s not going to rain tomorrow, it’s going to pour.
On the other hand it is quite possible to take a well-chosen idea and a fixed purpose into the subconscious as one falls asleep, in which case the mind will work upon it all night as in the solving of problems. Judge Troward tells us that when both healer and patient are asleep is the best time to give a mental treatment for the simple reason that the idea once taken into the subconscious remains fixed there all night: distance is unknown to the mind, therefore, we may reach our patient anywhere: and finally, the idea will have the most direct influence since there is for the time being no contradiction of the impression such as is set up by the conscious mind during waking hours.
The analogy between concentration and falling asleep, however, is not quite complete for there is a state of consciousness in the conscious entrance of the subconscious which is not found in the sleep of the average person although it is enjoyed by some who have mastered certain occult principles.*
*Without alluding to person experiences, the author refers the reader to “The Law and the Word,” by Judge Troward.
The secret of successful demonstration by the method now being outlined lies in the ability to hold in mind the one particular idea which you are seeking to implant there. Instead of rapping out the message on the wall of the subconscious by means of repeated suggestion or argumentation, you are about to make one definite command within the very center itself where all creation takes place. We had a good illustration of this in the experiment previously referred to where Dr. William F. Kelley was impressing his subconscious with the involuntary movement of his thumb.** Remembering that the subconscious has no power of opposing your idea, you will perceive that all that remains is to be definite enough when you have come into this inner realm of mind.
*See “Twenty Secrets of Success,” Vol. I of this series.
The Joy of Contacting Universal Mind
Upon entering the subconscious you are in the power house of the personality and in direct contact with universal force and intelligence. The amazing wonder of this statement must strike upon the most stolid mind. To the uninitiated the foregoing scientific presentation may have convinced without awakening the responsive realization without which the truth cannot be appropriated. The intellect perhaps has accepted but the feelings have not yet been aroused. Or worse still, we may have become so accustomed to hearing the truth that we are unaffected by it. Of all states none could be worse than that of the sermon-saturated pagan, who has heard the Word, but after the first flare of enthusiasm, has settled down into cold ashes from which neither bellows nor a whirlwind can again arouse a flame. Rather the ardent glow of ignorance than the ashen gray of uninspired initiation! Happy is he whose whole soul is glowing with the ardor of realization of the divine unity, his oneness with all life, with universal force and movement. With what ecstasy he approaches the center for here he is to find his true nature, here he is to meet with that larger self of which in his conscious hours he is only dimly aware! Here he is to make his impress upon the plastic substance of creative mind. I venture to express this emotion in some lines of verse which came to me during the past summer.*
*Poems in a similar strain may be found in the “Songs of the Silence,” by the author.
I am drunk with conception,
I am mad with creative ardor;
The passion of God is upon me
And I shall make as He makes;
I shall take the subtle essence of my being
And build worlds and stars and suns--
There is room for more and I must make them.
O ye wise and prudent, I do not ask,
“Can it be done,” or, “May I do it?”
If ye are fearful, stand aside
Lest the explosive ardor of my conception
Shall consume you.
O the beauty that seethes in my soul!
O the unborn worlds that await my wording!
O the stars that seek an orbit
And suns pressing for utt’rance!
Sunrises and sunsets are appealing to me
And the souls of things are urging me on--
Seeds of roses, bulbs of lilies, germs
And spoors and seedlings stir within me
Beseeching me to utter and clothe them.
Unhoused souls, no longer shall ye clamor
About the barren womb
For I am ripe for conception
And I shall embody you!
I do not urge the reader either to burst into verse or give birth to a sun; but I do trust to fire you with creative ardor to join your forces with the universal flow of energy, to line up with cosmic intelligence and realize your unity with it.
The passionate surrender of the self to the wonder of spiritualized consciousness can be felt in such treatments as the following, expressed by Harvey Hardman, the author’s assistant at the Divine Science Church in New York.
“I reach out to the stars and bring the white radiance of Eternal Light to my healing.
“I penetrate to the still center of Infinite Motion for power to make me well.
“I seek in the calm beauty and mystic serenity of Cosmic Motherhood, the blessing of my peace.
“I enter the inner silence of Divine Consciousness and know that I am well.
“I am; and I am Life and Love --perfect, balanced, joyous and radiant Life and Love.”
Planting the Seed Idea or Mental Impression
Returning to the process of concentration we find that we have now entered into the creative medium of mind, that we are about to impress it directly. For this purpose many find it of value to have written on a piece of paper just what it is they are to imprint. The propitious time is found in the complete immersion of consciousness, which is by some called “the psychological moment,” and without rousing from this state, one makes himself aware, either through the assistance of the paper or not, that he is here for a purpose; he then pronounces the desired suggestion.
The strongest impression rules and as this is scientifically established, the only thing that remains is for the subconscious to work it out into expression as it does in physical healing in the body, and in financial healing of business affairs.
The responsiveness of the involuntary nerves and muscles to the “predominant mental impression” is a well-known fact of modern suggestive psychology and psychoanalysis. It should not be difficult to perceive that the control of business affairs is but an extension of the activity of the same mind.
We may, therefore, look with confidence for a result in harmony with the treatment, on the principle that there is no form without a thought back of it, and there cannot be a thought without a corresponding form following upon it. “Thoughts are things,” is no mere poetic statement.
The Mystical Consciousness
It is not our purpose here to teach the development of the mystical consciousness, but it may be remarked that the preceding method leads definitely to the doorway of the ego. It is, as it were, the passage way leading to the king’s chamber in the human pyramid, familiar to all students of occultism. Through it one may be led until he stands face to face with himself, and comes into mystical consciousness of that Wider Self to which he is related and of which he is indeed an undivided part. We refer the reader to our book on “Being and Becoming” for a study of the principles of the development of this wider consciousness, being content here to stop at the point where the demonstration has been made which leads to financial freedom and the sense of mastery which follows upon a self-directed course. “Men are sometimes masters of their fate; the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Men may be not only sometimes masters of their fate but always, if they will avail themselves of those indwelling powers which are part of man’s heritage as he comes into the material world to work out the development of the individualized self-conscious existence.
Realization
The life in me is God in me and I am, therefore, pure spirit, free from ills of body, mind, and soul. In pure spirit I live, move, and have my being. I am perfect, even as my Father in Heaven is perfect. The breath which I breathe is the breath of the Spirit. The food which I eat is the gift of the Spirit. The consciousness of the Perfect Spirit is mine, and I know it and feel it flowing through my whole being, bringing with it strength, power and perfect peace. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and I feel His presence all around me, in me and through me. I am free from all sickness, worry, and fear. Perfect love casts out all fear from me and I am free. Health, hope, peace, life, love, truth, and plenty are mine. These I claim from God. These in the name of the Indwelling Christ I now receive. I render thanks for the perfect gift. Amen.
