Your Mind And How To Use It - YOGeBooks
Your Mind and How to Use Iti
Your Mind and How to Use ItWritingsThought Force in Business and Everyday LifeThe Law of the New ThoughtNuggets of the New ThoughtMemory Culture: The Science of Observing, Remembering and RecallingDynamic Thought or The Law of Vibrant EnergyThought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought WorldPractical Mind‑ReadingPractical Psychomancy and Crystal GazingThe Mind Building of a ChildThe Secret of Mental MagicMental FascinationSelf‑Healing by Thought ForceMind‑Power: The Law of Dynamic MentationPractical Mental InfluenceReincarnation and the Law of KarmaThe Inner ConsciousnessThe Secret of SuccessMemory: How to Develop, Train and Use ItSubconscious and the Superconscious Planes of MindSuggestion and Auto‑SuggestionThe Art of ExpressionThe Art of Logical ThinkingThe New Psychology: Its Message, Principles and PracticeThe WillThought‑CultureHuman Nature: Its Inner States and Outer FormsMind and Body or Mental States and Physical ConditionsTelepathy: Its Theory, Facts and ProofThe Crucible of Modern ThoughtThe Psychology of SalesmanshipThe Psychology of SuccessScientific ParenthoodThe Message of the New ThoughtYour Mind and How to Use ItThe Mastery of BeingMind‑Power: The Secret of Mental MagicThe New Psychology of HealingNew Thought: Its History and Principlesii
Your Mind and How to Use ItA Manual of Practical Psychology1911William Walker Atkinson1862–1932信YogeBooks: Hollister, MO2013:09:06:17:22:05iii
Your Mind and How to Use ItCopyrightYOGeBooks by Roger L. Cole, Hollister, MO 65672 2013 YOGeBooks by Roger L. ColeAll rights reserved. Electronic edition published 2013isbn: 978-1-61183-106-1 (pdf)isbn: 978-1-61183-107-8 (epub)www.yogebooks.comiv
DedicationIt is not enough merely to have a sound mind—one must alsolearn how to use it, if he would become mentally efficient.v
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ContentsChapter I. What is the Mind?Chapter II. The Mechanism of Mental States.Chapter III. The Great Nerve Centers.Chapter IV. Consciousness.Chapter V. Attention.Chapter VI. Perception.Chapter VII. Memory.Chapter VIII. Memory—Continued.Chapter IX. Imagination.Chapter X. The Feelings.Chapter XI. The Emotions.Chapter XII. The Instinctive Emotions.Chapter XIII. The Passions.Chapter XIV. The Social Emotions.Chapter XV. The Religious Emotions.Chapter XVI. The Aesthetic Emotions.Chapter XVII. The Intellectual Emotions.Chapter XVIII. The Role of the Emotions.Chapter XIX. The Emotions and Happiness.Chapter XX. The Intellect.Chapter XXI. Conception.Chapter XXII. Classes of Concepts.vii
Your Mind and How to Use ItChapter XXIII. Judgments.Chapter XXIV. Primary Laws of Thought.Chapter XXV. Reasoning.Chapter XXVI. Inductive Reasoning.Chapter XXVII. Deductive Reasoning.Chapter XXVIII. Fallacious Reasoning.Chapter XXIX. The Will.Chapter XXX. Will‑Training.Chapter XXXI. Will‑Tonic.viii
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What is the Mind?Chapter I.What is the Mind?Psychology is generally considered to be the science ofmind, although more properly it is the science of mentalstates—thoughts, feelings, and acts of volition. It wasformerly the custom of writers on the subject of psychology tobegin by an attempt to define and describe the nature of mind,before proceeding to a consideration of the subject of thevarious mental states and activities. But more recent authoritieshave rebelled against this demand, and have claimed that it isno more reasonable to hold that psychology should be heldto an explanation of the ultimate nature of mind than it isthat physical science be held to an explanation of the ultimatenature of matter. The attempt to explain the ultimate natureof either is futile—no actual necessity exists for explanation ineither case. Physics may explain the phenomena of matter, andpsychology the phenomena of mind, without regard to theultimate nature of the substance of either.The science of physics has progressed steadily during the pastcentury, notwithstanding the fact that the theories regardingthe ultimate nature of matter have been revolutionized duringthat period. The facts of the phenomena of matter remain,notwithstanding the change of theory regarding the nature3
Your Mind and How to Use Itof matter itself. Science demands and holds fast to facts,regarding theories as but working hypotheses at the best. Someone has said that “theories are but the bubbles with which thegrown‑up children of science amuse themselves.” Science holdsseveral well‑supported, though opposing, theories regardingthe nature of electricity, but the facts of the phenomena ofelectricity, and the application thereof, are agreed upon bythe disputing theorists. And so it is with psychology; the factsregarding mental states are agreed upon, and methods ofdeveloping mental powers are effectively employed, withoutregard to whether mind is a product of the brain, or the brainmerely an organ of the mind. The fact that the brain andnervous system are employed in the phenomena of thought isconceded by all, and that is all that is necessary for a basis forthe science of psychology.Disputes regarding the ultimate nature of mind are nowgenerally passed over to the philosophers and metaphysicians,while psychology devotes its entire attention to studying thelaws of mental activities, and to discovering methods of mentaldevelopment. Even philosophy is beginning to tire of the eternal“why” and is devoting its attention to the “how” phase ofthings. The pragmatic spirit has invaded the field of philosophy,expressing itself in the words of Prof. William James, who said:“Pragmatism is the attitude of looking away from first things,principles, categories, supposed necessities; and of lookingforward toward last things, fruits, consequences, facts.” Modernpsychology is essentially pragmatic in its treatment of thesubject of the mind. Leaving to metaphysics the old argumentsand disputes regarding the ultimate nature of mind, it bendsall its energies upon discovering the laws of mental activitiesand states, and developing methods whereby the mind maybe trained to perform better and more work, to conserve itsenergies, to concentrate its forces. To modern psychology themind is something to be used, not merely something about4
What is the Mind?which to speculate and theorize. While the metaphysiciansdeplore this tendency, the practical people of the world rejoice.Mind Defined.Mind is defined as “the faculty or power whereby thinkingcreatures feel, think, and will.” This definition is inadequateand circular in nature, but this is unavoidable, for mind canbe defined only in its own terms and only by reference to itsown processes. Mind, except in reference to its own activities,cannot be defined or conceived. It is known to itself onlythrough its activities. Mind without mental states is a mereabstraction—a word without a corresponding mental image orconcept. Sir William Hamilton expressed the matter as clearlyas possible, when he said: “What we mean by mind is simplythat which perceives, thinks, feels, wills, and desires.” Withoutthe perceiving, thinking, feeling, willing, and desiring, it isimpossible to form a clear conception or mental image of mind;deprived of its phenomena it becomes the merest abstraction.“Think About That Which Thinks.”Perhaps the simplest method of conveying the idea ofthe existence and nature of the mind is that attributed to acelebrated German teacher of psychology who was wont tobegin his course by bidding his students think of something, hisdesk, for example. Then he would say, “Now think of that whichthinks about the desk.” Then, after a pause, he would add, “Thisthing which thinks about the desk, and about which you arenow thinking, is the subject matter of our study of psychology.”The professor could not have said more had he lectured for amonth.Professor Gordy has well said on this point: “The mind musteither be that which thinks, feels, and wills, or it must be thethoughts, feelings, and acts of will of which we are conscious—mental facts, in one word. But what can we know about thatwhich thinks, feels, and wills, and what can we find out about5
Your Mind and How to Use Itit? Where is it? You will probably say, in the brain. But, if youare speaking literally, if you say that it is in the brain, as a pencilis in the pocket, then you must mean that it takes up room,that it occupies space, and that would make it very much like amaterial thing. In truth, the more carefully you consider it, themore plainly you will see what thinking men have known for along time—that we do not know and cannot learn anythingabout the thing which thinks, and feels, and wills. It is beyondthe range of human knowledge. The books which definepsychology as the science of mind have not a word to sayabout that which thinks, and feels, and wills. They are entirelytaken up with these thoughts and feelings and acts of the will,—mental facts, in a word,—trying to tell us what they are, andto arrange them in classes, and tell us the circumstances orconditions under which they exist. It seems to me that it wouldbe better to define psychology as the science of the experiences,phenomena, or facts of the mind, soul, or self—of mental facts, ina word.”In view of the facts of the case, and following the example ofthe best of the modern authorities, in this book we shall leavethe consideration of the question of the ultimate nature ofmind to the metaphysicians, and shall confine ourselves to themental facts, the laws governing them, and the best methods ofgoverning and using them in “the business of life.”The classification and method of development to be followedin this book is as follows:—I. The mechanism of mental states, i. e., the brain, nervoussystem, sense organs, etc.II. The fact of Consciousness and its planes.III. Mental processes or faculties, i. e., (1) Sensation andPerception; (2) Representation, or Imagination and Memory; (3)Feeling or Emotion; (4) Intellect, or Reason and Understanding;(5) Will or Volition.Mental states depend upon the physical mechanism formanifestation, whatever may be the ultimate nature of mind.6
What is the Mind?Mental states, whatever their special character, will be found tofit into one of the above five general classes of mental activities.7
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Chapter II.The Mechanism of Mental States.The mechanism of mental states—the mental machineryby means of which we feel, think, and will—consists ofthe brain, nervous system, and the organs of sense. Nomatter what may be the real nature of mind,—no matter whatmay be the theory held regarding its activities,—it must beadmitted that the mind is dependent upon this mechanismfor the manifestation of what we know as mental states.Wonderful as is the mind, it is seen to be dependent upon thisphysical mechanism for the expression of its activities. Andthis dependence is not upon the brain alone, but also uponthe entire nervous system. The best authorities agree that thehigher and more complex mental states are but an evolution ofsimple sensation, and that they are dependent upon sensationfor their raw material of feeling and thought. Therefore it isproper that we begin by a consideration of the machinery ofsensation. This necessitates a previous consideration of thenerves.The Nerves.The body is traversed by an intricate system of nerves, whichhas been likened to a great telegraph system. The nerves9
Your Mind and How to Use Ittransmit sensations from the various parts of the body to thegreat receiving office of the brain. They also serve to transmitthe motor impulses from the brain to the various parts of thebody, which impulses result in motion of appropriate parts ofthe body. There are also other nerves with which we have noconcern in this book, but which perform certain physiologicalfunctions, such as digestion, secretion, excretion, and circulation.Our chief concern, at this point, is with the sensory nerves.The sensory nerves convey the impressions of the outsideworld to the brain. The brain is the great central station of thesensory nerves, the latter having countless sending stations inall parts of the body, the “wires” terminating in the skin. Whenthese nervous terminal stations are irritated or excited, theysend to the brain messages calling for attention. This is truenot only of the nerves of touch or feeling; but also of thoseconcerned with the respective senses of sight, smell, taste, andhearing. In fact, the best authorities hold that all the five sensesare but an evolution of the primary sense of touch or feeling.The Sense of Touch.The nerves of the sense of touch have their ending in theouter covering or skin of the body. They report contact withother physical objects. By means of these reports we are awarenot only of contact with the outside object, but also of manyfacts concerning the nature of that object, as, for instance,its degree of hardness, roughness, etc., and its temperature.Some of these nerve ends are very sensitive, as, for example,those of the tip of the tongue and finger ends, while othersare comparatively lacking in sensitiveness, as, for illustration,those of the back. Certain of these sensory nerves confinethemselves to reporting contact and degrees of pressure, whileothers concern themselves solely with reporting the degreesof temperature of the objects with which their ends come incontact. Some of the latter respond to the higher degrees ofheat, while others respond only to the lower degrees of cold.10
The Mechanism of Mental States.The nerves of certain parts of the body respond more readilyand distinctly to temperature than do those of other parts. Toillustrate, the nerves of the cheek are quite responsive to heatimpressions.The Sense of Sight.The nerves of the sense of sight terminate in the complexoptical apparatus which in popular terminology is knownas “the eye.” What is known as “the retina” is a very sensitivenervous membrane which lines the inner, back part of the eye,and in which the fibers of the optic nerve terminate. The opticalinstrument of the eye conveys the focused light vibrations tothe nerves of the retina, from which the impulse is transmittedto the brain. But, contrary to the popular notion, the nervesof the eye do not gauge distances, nor form inferences of anykind; that is distinctly the work of the mind. The simple officeof the optical nerves consists in reporting color and degrees ofintensity of the light waves.The Sense of Hearing.The nerves of the sense of hearing terminate in the inner partof the ear. The tympanum, or “ear drum,” receives the soundvibrations entering the cavities of the ear, and, intensifying andadapting them, it passes them on to the ends of the auditorynerve in the internal ear, which conveys the sensation to thebrain. The auditory nerve reports to the brain the degreesof pitch, intensity, quality, and harmony, respectively, of thesound waves reaching the tympanum. As is well known, thereare certain vibrations of sound which are too low for theauditory nerve to register, and others too high for it to record,both classes, however, capable of being recorded by scientificinstrument. It is also regarded as certain that some of thelower animals are conscious of sound vibrations which are notregistered by the human auditory nerves.11
Your Mind and How to Use ItThe Sense of Smell.The nerves of the sense of smell terminate in the mucousmembrane of the nostrils. In order that these nerves report theodor of outside objects, actual contact of minute particles of theobject with the mucous membrane of the nostrils is necessary.This is possible only by the passage through the nostrils of aircontaining these particles; mere nearness to the nostril willnot suffice. These particles are for the most part composed oftenuous gases. Certain substances affect the olfactory nervesmuch more than do others, the difference arising from thechemical composition of the substance. The olfactory nervesconvey the report to the brain.The Sense of Taste.The nerves of the sense of taste terminate in the tongue, orrather in the tiny cells of the tongue which are called “tastebuds.” Substances taken into the mouth chemically affect thesetiny cells, and an impulse is transmitted to the gustatory nerves,which then report the sensation to the brain. The authoritiesclaim that taste sensations may be reduced to five generalclasses, viz.: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and “hot.”There are certain nerve centers having important offices inthe production and expression of mental states, located in theskull and in the spinal column—the brain and the spinal cord—which we shall consider in the following chapter.12
Chapter III.The Great Nerve Centers.The great nerve centers which play an important part inthe production and expression of mental states are thoseof the brain and spinal cord, respectively.The Spinal Cord.The spinal cord is that cord or rope of nerve substance whichis inclosed in the spinal column or “backbone.” It leaves thelower part of the skull and extends downward in the interiorof the spinal column for about eighteen inches. It is continuouswith the brain, however, and it is difficult to determine whereone begins and the other ends. It is composed of a mass ofgray matter surrounded by a covering of white matter. Fromthe spinal cord, along its length, emerge thirty‑one pairs ofspinal nerves which branch out to each side of the body andconnect with the various smaller nerves. extending to all partsof the system. The spinal cord is the great central cable of thenervous telegraphic system, and any injury to or obstruction ofit cripples or paralyzes those portions of the body the nervesof which enter the spinal cord below the seat of the injury orobstruction. Injuries or obstructions of this kind not only inhibitthe sensory reports from the affected area, but also inhibit the13
Your Mind and How to Use Itmotor impulses from the brain which are intended to movethe limbs or parts of the body.The Ganglia or “Tiny Brains.”What are known as ganglia, or tiny bunches of nerve cells,are found in various parts of the nervous system, includingthe spinal nerves. These groups of nerve cells are sometimescalled “little brains,” and perform quite important offices in themechanism of thought and action. The spinal ganglia receivesensory reports, and issue motor impulses, in many cases,without troubling the central brain regarding the matter. Theseactivities are known as “reflex nervous action.”Reflex Action.What is known as reflex nervous action is one of themost wonderful of the activities of the nervous and mentalmechanism, and the knowledge thereof usually comes as asurprise to the average person, for he is generally under theimpression that these activities are possible only to the centralbrain. It is a fact that not only is the central brain really a trinityof three brains, but that, in addition to these, every one hasa great number of “little brains” distributed over his nervoussystem, any and all of which are capable of receiving sensoryreports and also of sending forth motor impulses. It is quiteworth while for one to become acquainted with this wonderfulform of neuro‑mental activity.A cinder enters the eye, the report reaches a ganglion, amotor impulse is sent forth, and the eyelid closes. The sameresult ensues if an object approaches the eye but withoutactually entering it. In either case the person is not consciou
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14 Power of Your Subconscious Mind Connect to your Subconscious Mind . Once we are very clear about our life goals and ready with the vision board, we should now connect with our Subconscious Mind. Our Subconscious Mind is also known as Inner Mind while our Conscious Mind is known as Outer Mind. Conscious Mind can be connected to
Master Mind Abacus Master Mind Abacus Master Mind Abacus Master Mind Abacus Master Mind Abacus Master Mind Abacus Master Mind AbacusMaster Mind Abacus
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Why Mind Maps work Your memory is naturally associative, not linear Any idea has thousands of links in your mind Mind maps allow associations and links to be recorded and reinforced The mind remembers key words and images, not sentences Because mind maps are more visual and depict associations between key words, they
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Mind thinking its Life, Love and Wisdom into form. Mind in Action is always creative, but it is also thought. Thought acts in Mind to create. Or Mind first produces thought, and then reacts to it, to become that which it has thought. This is the whole law of creation. Mind creates what it thinks. The many
Map. (Rounds 1&2 Mind Maps available.) With one speaker for each group, ideas recorded and aligned in a new consolidated Mind Map without discussion Gleaning process used to pick up sub-tier ideas from the two preceding Mind Map sessions Final Mind Map Publication (plan for action) Brainstorming by Mind Mapping 1993 32
1. The Mind is the Battlefield 7 2. A Vital Necessity 11 3. Don’t Give Up! 13 4. Little by Little 15 5. Be Positive 17 6. Mind-Binding Spirits 21 7. Think About What You’re Thinking About 23 Part 2: Conditions of the Mind Introduction 27 8. When Is My Mind Normal? 29 9. A Wandering, Wondering Mind 31 10. A Confused Mind 33 11.
