The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-01-08

of the all-important role of the
imagination.
Contrary to the generally accepted
theory the will is not the invincible
force lit is claimed to be; in fact,
whenever Imagination and will come
into conflict it is always Imagination
that trumphs. Try to do something
while you are repeating: Il cannot Go
it"-anl you will see this truth con-
firmed The mere idea of inability
to acc omplish thing paralyzes the
will power.
Self-mastery is attained when the
imagination has been directed and
trained to conform with our desires
for although. in one sense, the i'm
agination is contained in the sub
conscious, yet it dominates the latter,
and, therefore, If we know how to
guide it. our subconscious self will
take charge of our material being
and do its work just as we wish it
to be done; or, in other words. ex-
actly in conformity with cur con-
scious suggestions.
/ cannot too strongly insist that.
in the practice of auto suggestion the
eXrcise of will must be strictly
avoided, except in the initial phase
of directing or guiding the magma
ton on the desired lines. This is abb
sClutely the only manifestation of
will necessary, or even desirable. Any
other voluntary effort is positively
harmful in connection with auto-sug-
gestion, and will almost certainly
have a contrary effect to the one de-
sired
Analyze the so-called strong-willed
characters of history: Napoleon.
| ata
We're all men of big imagination. Ger
tain ideas We're implanted in their
minds and their tenacious suggestions
impelled them to action.
This, however, is depression.
Inducing Sleep
What l want to drive home for
the moment is the law of what my
friend Charles Baudouin calls Cen
verified effort" Suppose a man suf-
fering from insomnia decides to try
the effect of auto-suggestion. I'm
less previously warned he will repeat
to himself phrases like this: I want
to sleep; L viii sleep; I am going to
sleep. And all the time he will be
making desperate efforts to coax
sleep. That is fatal The very fact of
exerting effort has converted the lat
ter into force acting in sense
L.,
with the result that the poor man
losses and turns in his bed in sleep
less wretchedness.
Let the imagination do its work
alone. rnhindered. Be quite passive.
Through mysterious, still unex-
planned processes, our shbconscious
self accomplishes it's marvellous
things. Think of the very commonest
movements of the human body and
ask yourselves how they are OPP
Grated. What has set in motion the
complicated mechanism when you
stretch your arm to CHI glass on a
table or when you take a cigarette
from YOUR case? Nc one knows. But
If we cannot explain the phenomenon
we do know that, IN actual fact, it
is an order resulting from a mere
suggestion which is transmitted
/ Through the nervous system, and
translated into action at speed in
finitely greater than that of light
| ming.
Thousands of examples of the
power of imagination may be found
Fin everyday life. There is the one
given by Pascal. and so often cited,
tbut which / cannot help repeating
here because it is such perfect IL
Illustration, No one would have the
slightest difficulty on walking along
a foot wide plank placed on the
ground. But put the same plank
across a street at the height of one
of your American skyscrapers
Blondel himself would not have
ldared trust himself on it,. Anyone