A NEW SYSTEM OF MENTAL THERAPEUTICS (_continued_).
Recapitulation of Propositions.--Natural Sleep the Best
Condition attainable both for Healer and Patient.--Demonstrative
Experiments.--Healing at a Distance of One Thousand
Miles.--Distance no Obstacle.--Space does not exist for
the Subjective Mind.--Objective Habits of Thought the only
Adverse Factor.--Diseases treated.--Strabismus Cured.--Mode of
Operation.--Not a Good Money-making Scheme.--It Promotes the Health
of the Healer.--A Method of Universal Utility.--Self-healing
its Most Important Function.--The Power absolute.--Within the
Reach of all.--Method of Self-healing.--The Patient's Credulity
not overtaxed.--The Example of Christ.--Material Remedies not
to be ignored.--Advice to Christian Scientists.--The Control of
Dreams.--Practical Conclusions.
It is thought that the following propositions have now been, at least
provisionally, established:--
1. There is, inherent in man, a power which enables him to communicate
his thoughts to others, independently of objective means of
communication.
2. A state of perfect passivity on the part of the percipient is the
most favorable condition for the reception of telepathic impressions or
communications.
3. There is nothing to differentiate natural sleep from induced sleep.
4. The subjective mind is amenable to control by suggestion during
natural sleep just the same as it is during induced sleep.
5. The condition of natural sleep, being the most perfect passive
condition attainable, is the best condition for the reception of
telepathic impressions by the subjective mind.
6. The most perfect condition for the conveyance of telepathic
impressions is that of natural sleep.
7. The subjective mind of the agent can be compelled to communicate
telepathic impressions to a sleeping percipient by strongly willing it
to do so just previous to going to sleep.
The chain of reasoning embraced in the foregoing propositions seems to
be perfect; and it is thought that sufficient facts have been adduced
to sustain each proposition which is not self-evident, or confirmed
by the common experience of mankind. The conclusion is irresistible
that _the best possible condition for the conveyance of therapeutic
suggestions from the healer to the patient is attained when both are
in a state of natural sleep; and that such suggestions can be so
communicated by an effort of will on the part of the healer just before
going to sleep._
It is not proposed herein to detail the many experiments which have
been made with a view of testing the correctness of this theory,
my present object being to advance the hypothesis tentatively,
in order to induce others to experiment as I have done. It must
suffice for the present to state that over one hundred experiments
have been made by the writer and one or two others to whom he has
confided his theory, without a single failure. Some very striking
cures have been effected,--cures that would take rank with the most
marvellous instances of healing recorded in the annals of modern
psycho-therapeutics. It is obvious that details of names and dates
could not properly be given, for the reason that the cures have been
effected without any knowledge on the part of the patients that they
were being made the subjects of experiment. I do not feel at liberty,
therefore, to drag their names before the public without their consent.
Besides, if they were now made acquainted with the facts, their
recollection of the circumstances of their recovery would in many
instances be indistinct; and, as a matter of course, all of them have
attributed their sudden recovery to other causes.
I have taken care, however, in many instances to acquaint third
persons with intended experiments, and to request them to watch the
results; so that I have the means at hand to verify my statements if
necessary.
The first case was that of a relative who had for many years been
afflicted with nervous trouble, accompanied by rheumatism of the most
terrible character. He was subject to the most excruciating spasms
during his nervous attacks of rheumatic trouble, and was frequently
brought to the verge of the grave. He had been under the care of many
of the ablest physicians of this country and of Europe, finding only
occasional temporary relief. An idea of the suffering which he endured
may be imagined from the fact that one of his hips had been drawn out
of joint, by which the leg had been shortened about two inches. This,
however, had been partially restored by physical appliances before the
psychic treatment began. In short, he was a hopeless invalid, with
nothing to look to for relief from his sufferings but death.
The treatment began on the 15th of May, 1890. Two persons were informed
of the proposed experiment, and were requested to note the time when
the treatment began. They were pledged to profound secrecy, and to
this day the patient is not aware that he was made the subject of an
experiment in psycho-therapeutics. After the lapse of a few months, one
of the persons intrusted with the secret met the invalid, and learned,
to her surprise and delight, that he was comparatively well. When asked
when he began to improve, his reply was, "About the middle of May."
Since then he has been able at all times to attend to the duties of his
profession,--that of journalist and magazine-writer,--and has had no
recurrence of his old trouble.
Of course, this may have been a coincidence; and had it stood as a
solitary instance, that would have been the most rational way of
accounting for it. But a hundred such coincidences do not happen in
succession without a single break; and more than a hundred experiments
have been made by this process by myself and two other persons, and
not a single failure has thus far been experienced, where the proper
conditions have been observed. In two cases the patients have not
been perceptibly benefited; but in both of those they were notified
of the intended experiments, and were profoundly sceptical. But these
failures cannot be charged to the account of this method of treatment,
for the simple reason that the fundamental principle of the system was
deliberately violated. That is to say, the best conditions were not
observed,--in that the patient was informed beforehand of what was
intended. In such cases the healer is handicapped by probable adverse
auto-suggestion, as has been fully explained in former chapters. The
principle cannot be too strongly enforced that neither the patient
nor any of his immediate family should ever be informed beforehand
of the intended experiment. Failure does not necessarily follow the
imparting of such information; but when the patient or his immediate
friends are aware of the effort being made in his behalf, there is
always danger of adverse auto-suggestion on the part of the patient,
or of adverse suggestion being made orally or telepathically by his
sceptical friends. The conditions are then no better and no worse
than the conditions ordinarily encountered by those who employ other
methods of mental healing. I have successfully treated patients after
informing them of my intentions; but it was because I first succeeded
in impressing them favorably, and their mental environment was not
antagonistic.
One fact of peculiar significance connected with the case of rheumatism
above mentioned must not be omitted; and this is that the patient was
a thousand miles distant when the cure was performed. Others have been
successfully treated at distances varying from one to three hundred
miles. The truth is, as has been before remarked, space does not seem
to exist for the subjective mind. Experimental telepathy demonstrates
this fact. Cases of thought-transference are recorded where the
percipient was at the antipodes. The only thing that operates to
prevent successful telepathy between persons at great distances from
each other is our habit of thinking. We are accustomed to regard space
as an obstacle which necessarily prevents successful communication
between persons. It is difficult to realize that space is merely a
mode of objective thought, so to speak, and that it does not exist as
an obstacle in the way of subjective transmission of impressions. We
are, therefore, handicapped by a want of faith in our ability in that
direction. In other words, our faith is in inverse proportion to the
distance involved. When we can once realize the fact that distance does
not exist for the soul, we shall find that a patient can be treated
as successfully by telepathic suggestion in one part of the world as
another. The only exception to the rule will be when the patient is at
the antipodes; for then the healer and the patient will not ordinarily
both be asleep at the same time. But space, or distance between the
agent and the percipient, does not enter _per se_ as an adverse element
to modify the effects of telepathic suggestion.
The diseases thus far successfully treated by this process have been
rheumatism, neuralgia, dyspepsia, bowel complaint, sick headache,
torpidity of the liver, chronic bronchitis, partial paralysis, pen
paralysis, and strabismus. The last-named case was not treated by
myself, and I very seriously doubt whether I could have commanded
sufficient confidence to be successful. But a lady, whom I had
instructed in the process, asked me if I thought there was any use
in her trying to cure a bad case of strabismus, her little niece,
about ten years of age, having been thus afflicted from her birth. I
unhesitatingly assured her that there was no doubt of her ability to
effect a cure. Full of confidence, she commenced the treatment, and
kept it up for about three months, at the end of which time the cure
was complete. In this case the best conditions were rigidly adhered to,
no one but myself having been informed of the intended experiment. A
volume could be filled with the details of the experiments which have
been made; but as it is foreign to the purpose of this book to treat
exhaustively any one phase of psychological phenomena, but rather to
develop a working hypothesis applicable to all branches of the subject,
the foregoing must suffice.
Little need be said regarding the mode of operation, as it is apparent
from what has been said that the method is as simple as it is
effective. All that is required on the part of the operator is that
he shall be possessed of an earnest desire to cure the patient; that
he shall concentrate his mind, just before going to sleep, upon the
work in hand, and direct his subjective mind to occupy itself during
the night in conveying therapeutic suggestions to the patient. To that
end the operator must accustom himself to the assumption that his
subjective mind is a distinct entity; that it must be treated as such,
and guided and directed in the work to be done. The work is possibly
more effective if the operator knows the character of the disease
with which the patient is afflicted, as he would then be able to give
his directions more specifically. But much may be left to instinct,
of which the subjective mind is the source. It seems reasonable to
suppose, however, that if that instinct is educated by objective
training it will be all the better. This is, however, a question which
must be left for future experimental solution, not enough being now
positively known to warrant a statement as to how far the healing
power of the subjective mind is, or may be, modified by the objective
knowledge or training of the healer.
Be this as it may, the fact remains that all men possess the power
to alleviate human suffering, to a greater or less degree, by the
method developed in the foregoing pages. For obvious reasons it is
not a method by which money can be made. But it is pre-eminently
a means of laying up treasures where neither moth nor rust can
corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. Each one has it in
his power to alleviate the sufferings of his neighbor, his friend,
or the stranger within his gates; but his compensation must consist
in the consciousness of doing good, and in the hope of that reward
promised by the Master to those who do their alms in secret. There
is, nevertheless, a practical and immediate reward accompanying
every effort to heal the sick by the method herein indicated. In
consists in this,--that every earnest effort to convey therapeutic
impressions to a patient during sleep is inevitably followed by a
dreamless sleep on the part of the healer. It would seem that the
subjective mind, following the command or suggestions of the healer,
occupies itself with the work it is directed to do, to the exclusion
of all else; and hence the physical environment of the sleeper fails
to produce peripheral impressions strong enough to cause the dreams
which ordinarily result from such impressions. Following the universal
law, it obeys the suggestions of the objective mind, and persists in
following the line indicated until it is recalled by the awakening of
the bodily senses.
Moreover, therapeutic suggestions imparted during sleep inevitably
react favorably upon the healer; and thus his own health is promoted
by the act which conduces to the health of the patient. And thus it is
that therapeutic suggestion may be likened to the "quality of mercy"
which "is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon
the place beneath; it is twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives, and
him that takes."
It is easy to foresee that when the world once understands and
appreciates the wonderful therapeutic powers inherent in the human
soul, a great change will be the result. When it is once understood
that the power exists in every human organism to alleviate physical
suffering by a method at once so simple, so effective, and so mutually
beneficial, it cannot be doubted that a large proportion of the ills to
which flesh is heir will exist only in history.
The most important branch of psycho-therapeutics is, however, yet
to be discussed. It has been shown in this and former chapters that
auto-suggestion plays its subtle _rôle_ in every psychological
experiment. It has been shown that the subjective mind of an individual
is constantly controlled by the suggestion of his own objective mind.
This is the normal relation of the two minds; and when that control
ceases, the person is insane just in proportion to the degree in
which the objective mind has abdicated its functions. This control
is ordinarily exercised unconsciously to the individual. That is to
say, we do not ordinarily recognize the operations of the two minds,
for the simple reason that we do not stop to philosophize upon the
subject of their mutual relations. But when we once recognize the
fact, we have not only arrived at the principle which lies at the
foundation of all true psychological science, but we are prepared
to accept the subsidiary proposition which underlies the science of
mental self-healing. That proposition is, that man can control by
suggestion the operations of his own subjective mind, even though the
suggestion be in direct contravention to his own objective belief.
This is unqualifiedly true, even though the suggestion may be contrary
to reason, experience, or the evidence of the senses. A moment's
reflection will convince any one of the truth of this proposition.
It is auto-suggestion that fills our asylums with monomaniacs. That
long-continued and persistent dwelling upon a single idea often results
in chronic hallucination, is a fact within the knowledge of every
student of mental science. That it often happens that a monomaniac
identifies himself with some great personage, even with the Deity, is
a fact within common knowledge. What gives rise to such hallucinations
is not so well known; but every student of the pathology of insanity
will verify the statement that auto-suggestion is the primary factor
in every case. The patient, who is usually a monumental egotist to
start with, begins by imagining himself to be a great man; and by
long-continued dwelling upon the one thought he ends by identifying
himself with some great historical character whom he specially admires.
If he is afflicted with some nervous disorder which causes him to pass
easily and habitually into the subjective condition, the process of
fastening the hallucination upon his mind is easy and rapid, and he
is soon a fit subject for a lunatic asylum. But, whatever physical
condition may be a necessary factor in producing such hallucinations,
the fact remains that auto-suggestion is the primary cause.
The subject is introduced here merely to illustrate the power and
potency of auto-suggestion, even when the suggestion is against
the evidence of reason and sense. It must not be forgotten that
an auto-suggestion which produces a hallucination such as has been
described, operates on the lines of strongest resistance in nature. If,
therefore, such results can be produced when opposed by the strongest
instincts of our nature, how much easier must it be to produce equally
wonderful results when operating in harmony with those instincts, and,
hence, on the lines of least resistance.
It is self-evident, therefore, that auto-suggestion can be employed
to great advantage for therapeutic purposes. Indeed, the power of
self-help is the most important part of mental therapeutics. Without
it the science is of comparatively little value or benefit to mankind.
With it goes the power to resist disease,--to prevent sickness, as
well as to cure it. The old axiom, that "an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure," holds good in psycho-therapeutics as well as
in material remedies, and he who obtains the power to hold himself
in the mental attitude which enables him to resist the encroachments
of disease has mastered the great secret of mental medicine. That it
can be done by any one of ordinary intelligence, is a fact which has
been demonstrated beyond question. The best workers in the field of
Christian science give more attention to teaching their pupils and
patients how to help themselves than they do to instructing them how to
help others. And this is the secret of the permanence of their cures,
as has been fully explained in other chapters of this book. The process
by which it can be done is as simple as are the laws which govern the
subject-matter.
The patient should bear in mind the fundamental principles which lie at
the foundation of mental therapeutics,--
1. The subjective mind exercises complete control over the functions
and sensations of the body.
2. The subjective mind is constantly amenable to control by the
suggestions of the objective mind.
3. These two propositions being true, the conclusion is obvious,
that the functions and sensations of the body can be controlled by
suggestions of the objective mind.
The whole science of psycho-therapeutics is embraced in the foregoing
propositions. They contain all that a patient, who undertakes to heal
himself or to ward off the encroachments of disease, needs to know.
The process of making a particular application of these principles is
equally simple, and must be obvious to the intelligent reader. At the
risk of repetition, a few general directions will be given.
We will take, for illustration, a simple case of nervous headache,
and suppose that the patient resolves to cure himself. He must, first
of all, remember that the subjective mind is to be treated precisely
as though it were a separate and distinct entity. The suggestion must
first be made that the headache is about to cease; then, that it is
already ceasing; and, finally, that it has ceased. These suggestions
should be made in the form of spoken words, and they should be
steadily persisted in until the desired effect is produced. A constant
reiteration of the declaration that the head is better will inevitably
produce the desired result; and, when the effect is distinctly felt,
the declaration should be boldly made that the pain has entirely
ceased. If any remnants of the pain are felt, the fact should be
ignored, and the suggestion persisted in that it has ceased. This
should be followed by the declaration that there will be no return of
the symptoms; and this should be made with an air, tone, and feeling of
perfect confidence.
The only practical difficulty and obstacle in the way of success with
a beginner lies in the fact that at first he lacks confidence. The
education of his whole life has been such as to cause him to look with
distrust upon any but material remedies, and there is a disinclination
to persist in his efforts. But he should remember that it is the
suggestions conveyed by this very education that he is now called upon
to combat, neutralize, and overcome by a stronger and more emphatic
counter-suggestion. If he has the strength of will to persist until he
is cured, he will find that the next time he tries it there will be
much less resistance to overcome. Having once triumphed, the reasoning
of his objective mind no longer interposes itself as an obstruction,
but concurs in the truth of his suggestions. He then possesses both
objective and subjective faith in his powers, and he finds himself
operating on a line of no resistance whatever. When he has attained
this point, the rest is easy; and he will eventually be able to effect
an instantaneous cure of his headache, or any other pain, the moment he
finds himself threatened with one. These remarks apply, of course, to
every disease amenable to control by mental processes.
It will be observed that in the process of applying the principles of
auto-suggestion to the cure of disease the patient is not called upon
to tax his own credulity by any assertion that is not a demonstrable
scientific truth. He is not called upon to deny the existence of
matter, nor does he find it necessary to deny the reality of the
disease which affects him. In short, he is not called upon to deny
the evidence of his senses, to assert a manifest impossibility, nor
to maintain an exasperating absurdity as a condition precedent to his
recovery. The fact that cures can be made and are constantly being made
by those who instruct their patients that a denial of the existence
of matter and of the reality of disease is a necessary condition to
their recovery, is the strongest possible evidence of the truth of
the proposition that the subjective mind is constantly amenable to
control by the power of suggestion. For it is a fundamental truth in
psycho-therapeutics that no cure ever was, or ever can be, effected by
mental processes until the subjective mind of the patient is impressed
with a belief in the efficacy of the means employed. It is obvious,
however, that it is more difficult to impress a manifest absurdity upon
the subjective mind of a man of common-sense than it is to impress him
with a belief in a demonstrable scientific truth. Hence it is that,
by methods now in vogue, both healer and patient are handicapped just
in proportion to the tax laid upon their credulity. The point is,
that in impressing a patient with a new scientific truth we should
seek to make it as simple as possible, and avoid anything which will
shock his common-sense. Christ enjoined upon his followers the simple
scientific fact that faith on their part was a condition precedent to
their reception of the benefits of his healing power; and he compelled
them to believe, by publicly demonstrating that power. He would have
had little success among the people with whom he had to deal if he had
begun his treatment by telling them that they had no disease; that
leprosy is a figment of the imagination, and has no existence except in
the mind; or that blindness is merely blindness of the mind, and not of
the body; and that the body itself has no existence except as a form of
belief. He even resorted to material remedies, as in the case of the
blind man, when "He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle,
and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto
him, Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam. He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seeing."[34]
The Christian scientist would doubtless say that the clay and the
subsequent washing in the Pool of Siloam did no good, except as they
acted through the mind. This may be true; but in either case it teaches
a valuable lesson, which it would be well for all classes of mental
healers to remember. If the clay had a curative effect, it shows that
the Master did not disdain to employ material remedies as an auxiliary
to his healing power. If, on the other hand, it possessed no curative
power, it shows that the Great Healer did not hesitate to employ any
legitimate means at hand to confirm and increase the faith of the
patient.
But this is a digression which pertains rather to the general
subject of mental healing than to that of self-healing, which we are
discussing. It is believed that the few simple rules herein laid down
will enable any one of ordinary intelligence to become proficient, by
a little practice, in the science of self-healing. It is not a mere
theory, without practice, which has been here developed. It has been
demonstrated over and over again to be eminently practical, not only
as a means of healing disease, but as a means of warding off its
encroachments. Indeed, its chief value will eventually be found to
consist in the almost unlimited power which it gives one to protect
himself from contracting disease. To do that it is only necessary to
hold one's self in the mental attitude of denying the power of disease
to obtain the mastery over him. When the patient recognizes the first
symptoms of approaching illness, he should at once commence a vigorous
course of therapeutic auto-suggestion. He will find prevention much
easier than cure; and by persistently following such a course he
will soon discover that he possesses a perfect mastery over his own
health. In this connection it must not be forgotten that the method
of healing during sleep is as applicable to self-healing as it is to
healing others. Indeed, perfect rest and recuperative slumber can be
obtained under almost any circumstances at the word of command. Dreams
can be controlled in this way. If one is troubled by distressing or
harassing dreams, from whatever cause, he can change their current, or
prevent them altogether, by energetically commanding his subjective
mind to do so. It is especially efficacious for this purpose to direct
his subjective mind to employ itself in healing some sick friend. If
one habitually does this at the time of going to sleep, he will not
only be certain to obtain recuperative sleep for himself, but he will
procure that contentment and peace of mind which always result from a
consciousness of doing good to his fellow-creatures. The exercise of
the power to heal in this way is never a tax upon the vital energies of
the healer, but always redounds to his own benefit as well as to that
of the patient. The reason of this is obvious. The normal condition of
the subjective mind during the sleep of the body and the quiescence of
the objective faculties is that of constant activity. This activity,
under ordinary conditions, entails no loss of vital power on the part
of the sleeper. On the contrary, that is the period of his rest and the
means of his recuperation. If the activities of his subjective mind are
directed into pleasant channels, his bodily rest is perfect, and his
recuperation complete.
It is for this reason that the method of healing during sleep is
better for all concerned than any other system of mental healing yet
discovered. It follows the lines of nature, in that it employs the
subjective powers at a time when they are normally active; and it
employs them in such a way that the ordinary peripheral impressions,
which often disturb the sleeper and produce unpleasant dreams, are
overcome by a more potent suggestion. Any other method of mental
healing, where the subjective powers of the healer are called into
action, entails a certain loss of vital power on his part, for the
simple reason that subjective activity during waking moments is
abnormal. It is true that when the work is not carried to excess the
physical exhaustion may not be perceptible; but any Christian scientist
will testify that any great amount of effort in the line of his work
produces great physical exhaustion. And it is noticeable that this
exhaustion ensues in exact proportion to the success of his treatment.
This success being in proportion to the subjective power exerted, it
is reasonable to infer that subjective activity during waking hours
and physical exhaustion bear to each other the relation of cause and
effect.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 34: John ix. 6.]
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