How The Mind Works
	The Increase Of Mental Power <  Previous Contents Next  >

All mental actions that consciously move towards the within tend to increase the capacity, the power and the quality of mind. The majority of mental actions in the average mind, however, move towards the surface, and this is one reason why advancing years bring mental inferiority as the converse of this law is also true. That is, that all mental actions that move towards the surface will decrease the power of mind.

According to the law of growth the more we use a faculty the larger and stronger and more perfect it should become, provided it is used properly. Therefore continuous use in itself should invariably bring increase. However, the use of anything may follow the lines of destruction as well as construction. For this reason we must train all mental actions along constructive lines. And we find all constructive action tends to deepen mental action; in other words, tends to move towards the within.

The value of the increase of mental power is clearly evident along all lines. Everything must increase in the life of him who is perpetually increasing his own personal power. We know that a large mind creates more extensively than a small one.

The creations of a highly developed mind are more worthy than the creations of an inferior mind, and the achievements of any one are in proportion to that one's capacity and power. Therefore when we begin to increase the value of life everything pertaining to life as well as everything coming into life will increase also. Perpetual development in ourselves means perpetual increase of everything of worth required in our sphere of existence. This is the law; but so long as mental actions move towards the surface, mentality is diminished; therefore the opposite process must be established.

By training all mental actions to move constantly towards the within we increase perpetually the capacity, the power and the quality of mind and the reason why is very simple. When mental actions move towards the surface consciousness will be centered upon the surface of things and will therefore picture in mind the lesser and inferior side of things. Those mental energies that serve as patterns for the creative energies will in consequence be formed in the likeness of the smaller. And the result is that the mind will be created according to the lesser and more inferior conception of itself.

On the other hand, when all the actions of mind move toward the great within, the eye of the mind will concentrate upon the world of greater possibilities. The conception of things will in such a mental state constantly increase because attention at such times is concerned only with that which is larger and superior. Thus the mental energies will be directed towards the idea of superiority, and the creative energies will naturally rebuild the mind gradually and steadily upon a larger and more perfect scale.

This is all very simple and anyone who will examine the workings of his own mind will find it to be absolutely true. We understand therefore how each individual has in his own hands the power to create for himself a greater mind, a more perfect personality, a richer life and a more desirable destiny.

In all methods for mental development this law must be wisely considered for no matter how perfect the method may be, if the mental actions move towards the surface, no results will be gained. While on the other hand, if the mental actions move towards the within results will positively be gained even though the methods be inferior. Nearly all minds in the past that continued to develop through life did so without system, but gained increase through aspiration, or rather concentration upon the greater possibilities of life, which in turn caused mental actions to move towards the within.

When your attention is turned upon the inner and the larger phases of life your mind will begin to turn its actions upon the great within. Accordingly all mental tendencies will begin to move toward superiority, and all the building forces in your life will have superiority as their goal. That you should constantly rise in the scale when thinking and acting in this manner is therefore evident. Remarkable results have been gained and can be gained simply through aspiration, but if a complete system of the best methods are employed in conjunction with the fundamental law, these results will naturally increase to a very great degree. For this reason all things that are conducive to the growth of the mind should be employed in harmony so that the increase of mental power may be gained in the largest possible measure.

To train the mental actions to move towards the within we should concentrate attention upon the greater possibilities of life, and think as deeply and as much as we can upon those possibilities. In fact we should train the mind to look towards the within at all times and view with great expectations those superior states that before long will be attained. In addition all tendencies of life should be trained to move towards the higher and the larger and every thought should have an ascending spirit.

When you feel that you are becoming too much concerned with the superficial, turn attention at once upon the depths of existence. And when you feel that you have fallen down temporarily into the world of inferiority use every effort at your command to rise again towards the heights. The leading purpose should be to train all the forces, desires, tendencies and actions in life to move upward and onward at all times. This will cause the greater powers and possibilities within to be awakened, which will be followed by the perpetual increase of the capacity, the power and the quality of the mind. And with this increase comes also the increase of everything else in life that is required for our highest welfare.

When this increase of power begins it will naturally be felt in various parts of mind, and in order to know how to make the best possible use of this increase, as well as of the power we already possess, we should remember the great law, that whatever you feel that you can do, that you have the power to do. There are many methods through which we can determine what the mind really can do and what work we may be able to carry out successfully, but this particular law is the best guide of all, provided it is properly understood. And it is extremely important to discover what we are able to do because the majority are not in their true spheres of action.

To be in your true sphere of action means better work, greater results and more abundant good both to yourself and to others with whom you are associated. It also means that you can be at your best at all times and he who is at his best at all times is on the way to perpetual growth and perpetual increase.

To do your best work and your true work you must employ the largest and the strongest faculty that you possess. But to learn what this faculty actually is, this is the problem. This problem can be solved, however, if we live in compliance with the law just mentioned. The power that we possess is always felt, therefore when you feel that you can do a certain thing it means that there is sufficient power in that particular faculty that is required. But a faculty must be large before it can contain enough power to be consciously felt. Consequently the fact that you feel power in a certain faculty proves conclusively that that faculty is large, and is possessed of considerable ability.

From this point on, the question to decide is, where you feel the greatest amount of power because where you feel the most power there you will find the greatest ability. This is conclusive, but here another question arises, that is, if the feeling of the average person is always reliable. The answer is that it is not. But it can be made so with a little training.

All psychologists have come to the conclusion that there is but one sense, the sense of feeling and that all other senses, both in the external and the internal are but modifications of this one sense. It is also admitted that the sense of feeling can be cultivated along scores of lines where it is now wholly inactive, and that there is no perceptible limit to its development along any line. This being true we shall go to the very foundation of all the senses, and all the modes of discerning things, when we take the sense of feeling for our guide in the selection of that work for which we have the greatest talent and power.

To train the sense of feeling in detecting the exact place in mind where, the greatest power resides, the first step is to make this sense normal, which is highly important because the average person has so many artificial desires, and permits the mind to be stimulated by every successful venture that is heard of.

There are a great many people who become aroused with ambition to enter the literary world whenever they learn of remarkable success attained in that world. Thus their energies are temporarily turned upon the literary faculties and they feel considerable power in that part of the mind. This they think is sufficient evidence that they have literary talent and make attempts to get results in such work; but they soon find that the inspiration in that direction did not last and they are compelled to try something else.

Then these people may learn of remarkable success in the business world. They become enthused over the possibilities of commercial ventures and turn their energies in that direction. But they soon find that their commercial faculties are not large enough to carry out their ambitions along this line. In consequence they turn their attention to the next venture that looks promising. There are thousands of minds who are constantly affected in this way, drifting from one thing to another. They imagine that because someone is succeeding in a certain work they may also succeed in that work, provided they have inclinations along that line. They also imagine that they are the very ones to enter every particular field where the demand for great service and great ability is required. The reason is their minds are controlled by appearances and what they feel as the result of the switching of energy here and there from one faculty to another. Such people therefore cannot rely upon the sense of feeling in any line of action because it is seldom normal.

To produce a normal sense of feeling for the purpose in question we should never pay any attention to what others have done or are doing because the success of others proves nothing as far as we are concerned. We must not look at the power of another man's brain, but try to find what there is in our own brains. We should never permit the enthusiasm of others to intoxicate our own minds. We should let others be enthused in their way and we should let them concentrate upon what work they like. But we should not imitate others either in thought, enthusiasm or feeling.

The course to pursue is to watch yourself closely for some weeks or months and try to discover in what faculty you feel the most power. If you feel the greatest power in a certain faculty and in that one only, you may choose that faculty without further examination and give it all your force, energy, ambition and desire, realizing that the application of that faculty will bring the greatest results that you could attain in your life.

But if there are several other faculties that seem to be equally strong, wait and watch more closely until you finally discover the seat of the greatest power. When two or more seem to be equally strong, and continue thus under the most rigid self-examination, choose the one that you can use to the best advantage now, and turn all your power for attainment and achievement in that direction.

When there is prolonged uncertainty as to where the greatest amount of power is expressed try to increase the power of every part of your mind by directing the subconscious to express more power from within. The value of this is found in the fact that the greatest amount of power always goes to the largest faculty so that an increase of power will in every case reveal the existence of the leading talent or faculty in your possession.

After you have made the sense of feeling normal so that you can feel the state of your mind as it really is, you can always depend upon the law that whatever you feel that you can do you have the power to do. And you may proceed to act along that line knowing that you will succeed, no matter how difficult the undertaking may seem to be. It is the presence of great power in a certain faculty that makes you feel that you can do things by using that faculty. Therefore when you can feel what faculty is the largest and strongest you know positively what you can do, what you can accomplish and what you should undertake. True, a great deal of training of that strongest faculty may be required, but since the talent, the ability, and the power are there the results must follow when the practical application is made.