THE SUBCONSCIOUS & THE SUPERCONSCIOUS PLANES OF MIND. William Walker AtkinsonЧитать онлайн книгу.
at the outset "that for the purpose of arriving at a conclusion it is a matter of indifference whether we consider that man is endowed with two distinct minds, or that his one mind possesses certain attributes and powers under some conditions, and certain other attributes and powers under other conditions. It is sufficient to know that everything happens just as though he were endowed with a dual mental organization. Under the rules of correct reasoning, therefore, I have a right to assume that man has two minds; and the assumption is so stated, in its broadest terms, as the first proposition of my hypothesis. For convenience, I shall designate the one as the objective mind, and the other as the subjective mind." We shall consider the details of Hudson’s theory in another chapter.
Following Hudson and Myers came a number of other writers who eagerly availed themselves of the convenient classification of the mind into two divisions or "two minds." The new hypothesis served as an excellent foundation for various theories explaining, or attempting to explain, all things "in heaven and in earth" ever dreamt of in any of the philosophies. Some of the wildest theories were built upon this broad foundation, and this fact caused many careful thinkers to undervalue the fundamental principles of both Myers’ and Hudson’s thought. Hudson, himself, alienated a number of his earlier admirers by extending his theory to what was considered unwarranted lengths in his later books in which he boldly invaded the metaphysical and theological fields, endeavoring to account for and explain immortality and the "divine pedigree" by his dualmind theory. And Myers, by identifying his theory with the phenomena of Telepathy, brought down on his head the adverse criticism of the orthodox psychologists, so that the value of his conception was largely overlooked.
But there were other influences at work which led to the gradual recognition of the fact that while Myers’ and Hudson’s conceptions served an excellent purpose of classification and convenience of thought, nevertheless they must properly be regarded as but the first steps toward a larger and more complete theory. It was recognized that the subconscious mind (under its various names) could scarcely be at one and the same time the seat of emotional impulses, suggested vagaries, delusions, etc., and also the region of the highest intuition, spiritual truth, and other mental and spiritual qualities which seemed to be above rather than below the ordinary mind of man. To this dissatisfaction the teaching of Vivekananda, and other Hindu teachers visiting America and Europe, contributed. These Oriental teachers taught that just as there was a subconsciousness, below the ordinary plane of consciousness, so was there a superconsciousness, above the ordinary plane. From the one emerged the things which had been deposited there by raceinheritance, suggestion, memory, etc., while from the other came things which had never been placed there by either raceexperience or individual experience but which were superimposed from higher regions of the soul. These newer ideas gave to the "threemind" conception advantages lacking in the "two-mind" theory.
Then came a reconciliation in the writings of various investigators and teachers who held that the mind of man consisted of many regions, somehigher and some lower than the ordinary plane of consciousness. In short, the most advanced thought of today on the subject holds that the mind of man consists of many planes of mentation, in which are manifested the phenomena of subconsciousness and superconsciousness, in great variety and degree. And the minds of thousands of earnest investigators are now bent upon an exploration of these vast, unknown regions of the mind.
Sir Oliver Lodge has aptly and beautifully expressed the most advanced conception of the various planes of the human mind in his wellknown paragraph: "Imagine an iceberg glorying in its crisp solidity and sparkling pinnacles, resenting attention paid to its submerged self, or supporting region, or to the saline liquid out of which it arose, and into which in due course it will some day return. Or, reversing the metaphor, we may liken our present state to that of the bull of a ship submerged in a dim ocean among strange monsters, propelled in a blind manner through space; proud perhaps of accumulating many barnacles of decoration; only recognizing our destination by bumping against the dockwall; and with no cognizance of the deck and cabins above us, or to the spars and sails—no thought of the sextant and the compass, and the captain—no perception of the lookout on the mast—of the distant horizon. With no visions of objects far ahead—dangers to be avoided—destinations to be reached—other ships to be spoken to by means other than bodily contact—a region of sunshine and cloud, of space, or perception, and of intelligence utterly inaccessible below the water line."
Dr. Schofield also paints us a beautiful wordpicture of the same conditions, in words which should be always considered in connection with the paragraph of Sir Oliver Lodge, just quoted. Here are Schofield’s words: "Our conscious mind, as compared with the unconscious mind, has been likened to the visible spectrum of the sun’s rays, as compared to the invisible part which stretches indefinitely on either side. We know now that the chief part of heat comes from the ultrared rays that show no light; and the main part of the chemical changes in the vegetable world are the results of the ultraviolet rays at the other end of the spectrum, which are equally invisible to the eye, and are recognized only by their potent effects. Indeed as these visible rays extend indefinitely on both sides of the visible spectrum, so we may say that the mind includes not only the visible or conscious part, and what we have termed the subconscious, that which lies below the red line, but also the supraconscious mind that lies at the other end—all those regions of higher soul and spirit life, of which we are only at times vaguely conscious, but which always exist, and link us on to eternal verities, on the one side, as surely as the subconscious mind links us to the body on the other."
Keeping before us then the fact that there are regions above, as well as below (and also, probably, regions parallel to) our ordinary consciousness, let us now proceed to a consideration of what has been gathered by the many investigators regarding these strange regions of the Self. Let us examine the various reports before formulating a theory—let us examine the various theses and antitheses before we attempt to synthesize.
Chapter III.
Hudson’s "Subjective Mind."
HUDSON, in his conception of the "subjective mind," not only postulated the existence of a plane of mentality, or a "mind," in which was performed the subconscious activities recognized by the later psychologists, but also held that in that mind were manifested the unusual and almost abnormal activities which are generally grouped together under the term "Psychic Phenomena." In fact this explanation of psychic phenomena by the theory or hypothesis of the subjective mind was the main purpose and underlying idea in his principal work, as is indicated by its title: "The Law of Psychic Phenomena." In order to understand the general subject of the subconscious mind, and its phenomena, it is necessary that the general idea of Hudson be considered, for its influence has been very marked on the later writings on the subject.
Hudson advanced as a working hypothesis the general proposition of the dualmind. The statement of the duality of mind, and the naming of its phases as the objective and subjective minds, respectively, is the first proposition of his hypothesis. He then proceeds as follows: "The second proposition is, that the subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by suggestion. The third, or subsidiary, proposition is, that the subjective mind is incapable of inductive reasoning ." He then explains his use of the terms objective mind and subjective mind, which usage was opposed to that familiar to the older psychologists and which aroused instant opposition from them. Hudson states:
"In general terms the difference between man’s two minds may be stated as follows:—The objective mind takes cognizance of the objective world. Its media of observation are the five physical senses. It is the outgrowth of man’s physical necessities. It is his guide in his struggle with his material environment. Its highest function is that of reasoning. The subjective mind takes cognizance of its environment by means independent of the physical senses. It perceives by intuition. It is the seat of the emotions, and the storehouse of memory. It performs its highest functions when the objective senses are in abeyance. In a word, it is that intelligence which makes itself manifest in a hypnotic subject when he is in a state