The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental ScienceTroward, T. (Thomas)
Religion
The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science
Troward, T. (Thomas)
New Thought
But perhaps the most important fact which hypnotic experiments have
demonstrated is that the subjective mind is the builder of the body. The
subjective entity in the patient is able to diagnose the character of the
disease from which he is suffering and to point out suitable remedies,
indicating a physiological knowledge exceeding that of the most highly
trained physicians, and also a knowledge of the correspondences between
diseased conditions of the bodily organs and the material remedies which
can afford relief. And from this it is but a step further to those numerous
instances in which it entirely dispenses with the use of material remedies
and itself works directly on the organism, so that complete restoration to
health follows as the result of the suggestions of perfect soundness made
by the operator to the patient while in the hypnotic state.
Now these are facts fully established by hundreds of experiments conducted
by a variety of investigators in different parts of the world, and from
them we may draw two inferences of the highest importance: one, that the
subjective mind is in itself absolutely impersonal, and the other that it
is the builder of the body, or in other words it is the creative power in
the individual. That it is impersonal in itself is shown by its readiness
to assume any personality the hypnotist chooses to impress upon it; and the
unavoidable inference is that its realization of personality proceeds from
its association with the particular objective mind of its own
individuality. Whatever personality the objective mind impresses upon it,
that personality it assumes and acts up to; and since it is the builder of
the body it will build up a body in correspondence with the personality
thus impressed upon it. These two laws of the subjective mind form the
foundation of the axiom that our body represents the aggregate of our
beliefs. If our fixed belief is that the body is subject to all sorts of
influences beyond our control, and that this, that, or the other symptom
shows that such an uncontrollable influence is at work upon us, then this
belief is impressed upon the subjective mind, which by the law of its
nature accepts it without question and proceeds to fashion bodily
conditions in accordance with this belief. Again, if our fixed belief is
that certain material remedies are the only means of cure, then we find in
this belief the foundation of all medicine. There is nothing unsound in the
theory of medicine; it is the strictly logical correspondence with the
measure of knowledge which those who rely on it are as yet able to
assimilate, and it acts accurately in accordance with their belief that in
a large number of cases medicine will do good, but also in many instances
it fails. Therefore, for those who have not yet reached a more interior
perception of the law of Nature, the healing agency of medicine is a most
valuable aid to the alleviation of physical maladies. The error to be
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