Part 2 · The Master Weaver · points 14–20 of 31 in this Part
The conditions you did not consciously build
Fear, worry and lack of thought become conditions as surely as their opposites.
7 numbered points · 2 study questions · 3 min read
Fear, worry and lack of thought become conditions as surely as their opposites.
Study questions for this sublevel
Haanel put a review question at the end of every part. Answer out loud first — the recall is what moves it into memory.
15. How has the distinction between the conscious and subconscious been expressed?
"Conscious mind is reasoning will. Subconscious mind is instinctive desire, the result of past reasoning will."
16. What method is necessary in order to impress the subconscious?
Mentally state what is wanted.
Haanel's own words — points 14–20
Quoted exactly from The Master Key System (1912, public domain). The translation above is ours; this is his.
It is often true that conditions of fear, worry, poverty, disease, inharmony, and evils of all kinds dominate us by reason of false suggestions accepted by the unguarded subconscious mind. All this the trained conscious mind can entirely prevent by its vigilant protective action. It may properly be called "the watchman at the gate" of the great subconscious domain.
One writer has expressed the chief distinction between the two phases of mind as follows: "Conscious mind is reasoning will. Subconscious mind is instinctive desire, the result of past reasoning will."
The subconscious mind draws just and accurate inferences from premises furnished from outside sources. Where the premise is true, the subconscious mind reaches a faultless conclusion, but, where the premise or suggestion is an error, the whole structure falls. The subconscious mind does not engage in the process of proving. It relies upon the conscious mind, "the watchman at the gate," to guard it from mistaken impressions.
Receiving any suggestions as true, the subconscious mind at once proceeds to act thereon in the whole domain of its tremendous field of work. The conscious mind can suggest either truth or error. If the latter, it is at the cost of wide-reaching peril to the whole being.
The conscious mind ought to be on duty during every waking hour. When the "watchman" is "off guard," or when its calm judgment is suspended, under a variety of circumstances, then the subconscious mind is unguarded and left open to suggestion from all sources. During the wild excitement of panic, or during the height of anger, or the impulses of the irresponsible mob, or at any other time of unrestrained passion, the conditions are most dangerous. The sub-conscious mind is then open to the suggestion of fear, hatred, selfishness, greed, self- depreciation, and other negative forces, derived from surrounding persons or circumstances. The result is usually unwholesome in the extreme, with effects that may endure to distress it for a long time, hence the great importance of guarding the subconscious mind from false impressions.
The subconscious mind perceives by intuition. Hence, its processes are rapid. It does not wait for the slow methods of conscious reasoning. In fact, it can not employ them.
The subconscious mind never sleeps, never rests, any more than does your heart, or your blood. It has been found that by plainly stating to the subconscious mind certain specific things to be accomplished, forces are set in operation that lead to the result desired. Here, then, is a source of power which places us in touch with Omnipotence. Here in is a deep principle which is well worth our most earnest study.
Put it to work
Inhibit All Thought (Part Two)
Take the same room, the same chair, the same position as in Level 1.
See all stepsGuided stillness timer
The sit is the whole foundation of the course: still body, watched breath, no phone. Pick five minutes if fifteen feels like a hill.
Open the timerKeep going
You are running a habit machine — feed it on purpose