THE SUPREMACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS
CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM STUDIES IN HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY, ANATOMY AND
PHYSIOLOGY
[Sidenote: Striking off the Mental Shackles]
Stop a moment and mark the conclusion to which you have come. You have
been examining the human body with the scalpel and the microscope of
the anatomist and physiologist. In doing so and by watching the bodily
organs in operation, you have learned that _every part of the body, even
to those organs commonly known as involuntary, is ultimately subject to
the influence or control of consciousness_, that part of the human
intelligence which is popularly known as "the mind."
Prior to this, as a matter of direct introspective knowledge, we had
come to the conclusion that the influence of the mind over all the
organs of the body was one of the most obvious facts of human life.
So, our study of the body as the instrument of the mind has brought us
to the same conclusion as did our study of the mind in its relations to
the body.
Looked at from the practical science standpoint, the evidences that
mental activity can and does produce bodily effects are so clear and
numerous as to admit of no dispute.
The world has been slow to acknowledge the mastery of mind over body.
This is because the world long persisted in looking at the question from
the point of view of the philosopher and religionist. It is because the
thought of the world has been hampered by its own definitions of terms.
The spiritualist has been so busy in the pursuit of originating "first"
causes, and the materialist has so emphasized the dependence of mind
upon physical conditions, that the world has received with skepticism
the assertion of the influence of mind over body, and in fact doubted
the intuitive evidence of its own consciousness.
[Sidenote: The Awakening of Enlightenment]
The distinction between the two points of view has gradually come to be
recognized. Today the fact that the mind may act as a "cause" in
relationship with the body is a recognized principle of applied science.
The world's deepest thinkers accept its truth. And the interest of
enlightened men and women everywhere is directed toward the mind as an
agency of undreamed resource for the cure of functional derangements of
the body and for the attainment of the highest degree of bodily
efficiency.
In some respects it is unfortunate that you should have been compelled
to begin these studies in mental efficiency and self-expression with
lessons on the relationship between the mind and the body. There is the
danger that you may jump at the conclusion that this course has some
reference to "mental healing." Please disabuse your mind of any such
mistaken idea.
[Sidenote: The Vital Purpose]
Health is a boon. It is not the greatest boon. Health is not life.
Health is but a means to life. Life is service. Life is achievement.
Health is of value in so far as it contributes to achievement.
Our study of the relation between mind and body at this time has had a
deeper, broader and more vital purpose. It is the foundation stone of an
educational structure in which we shall show you how the mind may be
brought by scientific measures to a certainty and effectiveness of
operation far greater than is now common or ordinarily thought possible.
[Sidenote: Your Reservoir of Latent Power]
Remember the two fundamental propositions set forth in this book.
I. _All human achievement comes about through some form of bodily
activity._
II. _All bodily activity is caused, controlled and directed by the
mind._
The truth of these propositions must now be obvious to you. You must
realize that the mind is the one instrument by which it is possible to
achieve anything in life. Your next step must be to learn how to use it.
_In succeeding volumes, we shall sound the depths of the reservoir of
latent mental power. We shall find the means of tapping its resources.
And so we shall come to give you the master key to achievement and teach
you how to use it with confidence and with the positive assurance of
success._
End of Project Gutenberg's Psychology and Achievement, by Warren Hilton