LEARN ABOUT HYPNOSIS

SELF HYPNOSIS

In the preceding chapters we have attempted to show the extent to which psycho-therapeutics, with our without hypnotism, has modified medical treatment, how it has thrown a flood of light on the mental origin of many diseases and put a fresh weapon in the hands of the medical profession. Through the knowledge it has given us of how characters may be transformed, of how bad habits may lose their hold and a more balanced and controlled life be built up, we are led to turn our thought to consider the extent to which this may be applied in the self hypnosis. How seek to change the characters of others unless one has first learnt and appreciated to the full the defects of one's own character, and set oneself with might and main to carry out the self hypnosis with a view to building up just such a balanced and controlled character as one would fain help others to attain to. Too common is the tendency to regard a man's character as something quite beyond his control, as something he was born with and must carry unaltered to his grace; and this tendency finds expression in the oft-heard phrases, "I have always had a quick temper," "I am emotional; I was made so," pronounced in a tone of fatalistic acceptation of the fact, and as it were with a refusal to accept my responsibility for the consequences which may accrue to others from such defects. To talk to such people of the possibility of educating oneself so as to eradicate such defects is to suggest what seems to them something entirely outside the practical politics of daily life, something to cloudy and vague to be considered practicable.


The question of the self hypnosis is indeed a vital one, since it is intimately bound up with the whole question of human happiness. To find happiness is the desire, the craving of every human creature, whether expressed in words or only vaguely felt as a something that is lacking. We set out by very various paths to search for happiness, and but few, I fear, return from the search satisfied. Many of us, like Norah in Ibsen's "Doll's House," awake one day to find that we have only been "merry," not "happy," and well is it for us if we then realize as she did and with deep conviction, that we shall only find happiness by setting out afresh on the more steep and thorny path of self-education: "Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end."

Life seems but ill-adapted for happiness to be found in worldly success, in the enjoyment of pleasures or even in the joys of home life, if we, as it were, stake our all on finding it and holding it there. Fortunate with one turn of her wheel may destroy the worldly success which only yesterday seemed so assured, may dash the cup of pleasures from our lips, or may cloud the home life with sorrow and leave us lamenting our lost happiness. Further, if we pause to think for a few moments we are bound to realize, as a profound truth, the fact that we ourselves create much of the suffering we endure, and for which we blame others, our temperament, our environment, our ill-luck, in fact anything and everything except our undisciplined selves. We feel certain that in other surroundings and with other work we should be happy, forgetting that we largely create our own environment and carry it about with us wherever we go, so ensuring to ourselves either a great measure of happiness or a great measure of misery.


Were it only we ourselves who suffered from this neglect that were sad enough, but sadder still is the fact that those with whom we come in daily contact suffer perhaps more, since life is not lived alone but in company with other human soul. Life being so full of uncertainties and much of what we count happiness being held on such an uncertain tenure, we ourselves creating so much of our unhappiness, it would seem that the most sand and rational thing to do would be to face these facts, and to set ourselves to the task of self-education by developing those qualities which will be a shield and a buckler to us, and by modifying and even eradicating every defect which would lend additional difficulty to an already all too difficult life. So and so only shall we find happiness, a happiness that exists in the depths of ourselves, a happiness that grows in fulness as our life grows, a happiness that enables us to meet the rebuffs of life with greater equanimity and that expresses itself in a sane and controlled life. Nor can such a means of finding happiness be termed egotistical or selfish, since individual progress implies the progress of the race, since everything that leads to greater control in one life leads to a diminution of suffering in numberless other lives, and since the cultivation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in one human being leads inevitably to such a profound change in him that life is counted of but small worth, except in so far as it is spent in service for others.

The self hypnosis may be expressed in other words as the formation of one's character, and the formation of one's character is incontestably the most important business in life. In attempting to navigate the difficult seas of life without having devoted any time to what we might call the laws of moral navigation, we show the same appalling foolishness as would be shown by any man who attempted to cross the Atlantic alone with not a vestige of nautical lore. Such a man would be indeed condemned as mad, and yet numbers of us are in much the same position without realizing it. Happy indeed are those to whom this knowledge comes before their frail bark suffers shipwreck.

What then is character, the attainment of which is the ultimate object of all attempts to educate oneself? The Greek word from which character is derived at once gives us the key to its meaning, that word signifying a mark engraved or impressed, as on a coin. To quote an American author, character is "an epitome of a man's past and a forecast of his future."

From these definitions we realize that as a result of our attitude to life, as a result chiefly of the manner in which we have acted in times of storm and stress, we set a mark upon ourselves which is visible to others, and which constitutes our character. Character, however, is not a fixed and stationary thing; it changes from day to day, it possibly suffers infinitesimal modification from hour to hour, from minute to minute, according to the great law of transformation, and it is because of this law that we dare urge with confidence and hope the task of the self hypnosis. We see the law of transformation at work both in the animal kingdom and in human lives, and though these transformation are for the most gradual there are some which startle us by their suddenness, or shall we rather say by their apparent suddenness, for a sudden change or crisis is after all only the outward evidence of changes which have been at work invisibly for an indefinite period. As we are concerned at present with individual lives we shall not dwell upon transformation in the animal kingdom and in nature, fascinating as such a study would be. We would only indicate one or two instances in passing, such as the wonderful lesson of triumphant progress contained in the life history of the nautilus, which in its spiral home "ceaselessly leaves the past year's dwelling for the new," and which inspired Holmes to write "The Chambered Nautilus." Most wonderful of all perhaps is the miraculous transformation of the Mayfly, so fascinatingly described by Edward Carpenter. In the twinkling of an eye "the brown scaly creature, clumsy and sluggish, that crawls about the bottom of running streams, or hides itself in small semicircular burrows in the banks," bursts its bonds, leaves its scaly husk on the water, and flies into the air "a little fairy with four pearly lace-like winds, and whity-green body about an inch long, and tail of three long hairs." Wonderful as these are, is there after all any transformation more wonderful or more miraculous than the "ungaped-at Pentecostal miracle" of spring?

No less interesting and no less wonderful is the study of transformation in human lives during the development of the embryo to perfection and during each life history from infancy to old age, gradual evolution being marked at intervals by apparently sudden crises. Our bodies alter from day to day, as the result of a combined process of decay and regeneration; each morning sees us subtly transformed by the preceding night's sleep; our ideals suffer modification as from year to year life opens out more vast and more endlessly full of hidden possibilities, and there may come sudden crises altering the whole current of life. We dare to realize it is in our power to direct these successive developments, to take command at the time of a crisis, and so to build up a stronger and more balanced character than we started with at birth. It is but our bare duty to bravely undertake this task, this herculean task of the self hypnosis, in the interest of our fellow-creatures, since they suffer in a greater degree even that we do from neglect of this duty.

The Keynote to all sane, healthy, and happy life is control, control in every direction, control of our bodies, control of our thoughts, or our emotions, or our acts. As our thoughts are the mainspring our our lives, all efforts at control must first be directed to them.

It is impossible to enter here into a discussion of freewill versus Determinism, to discuss the question of whether under certain given circumstances we act as we do by choice, or merely because certain powerful motives draw us in that direction and so cause us to have the illusion that we act by choice. While we fully appreciate the fact that the object of all education is to create in us such an intense enthusiasm for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful that these shall draw us upward powerfully with magnetic force and away from baser motives, it is yet the experience of all of us that even such an intense enthusiasm does not save us from exclaiming many times and oft with Paul, "The good that I would, I do not, and the evil that I would not, that I do." When we come to realize that thoughtcontrol, with control of our emotions and acts, is something that we cannot merely be enthusiastic about at a distance, but which must be put into practice at every moment of the day if we are seriously to pursue Goodness, Truth, and Beauty' more than that, when we realize at close quarters the appalling difficulty of our task, then we awake to the fact that hand in hand with enthusiasm there must be concentration of our willpower in constant daily practice. It seems strange that while we realize that to master the piano, a new language, or any new branch of learning, steady practice day by day is necessary, we expect thought-control, a far more elusive and difficult pursuit, to come as it were by intuition.

WE have in a previous chapter dwelt on the enormous influences of the thoughts we think to cause ill-health. Equally great is their influence to cause happiness or misery, and vast numbers of us doom ourselves to a lowered state of bodily health, to daily unhappiness, to nervous breakdowns, and even to temporary or permanent mental derangements, by our lack of control over the thoughts we think. We are obsessed by fears and apprehensions--fear for ourselves, fear of life and of the vague future, fear of death, fear for others, fear of public opinion and conventions. We live through in apprehensive imagination many trying and painful moments which we are never called upon to face, we torture ourselves by brooding over things which cannot be altered, and at every step we magnify our sufferings by self-pity. Comforting indeed is the thought that many of the real difficulties of life have to be faced at a moment's notice, and come upon us often most unexpectedly. While it is true that all day long thoughts come pouring into our minds against our will, that we cannot will to think on thought an d not to think another, it is on the other hand forcibly true that by constant and unceasing practice we can gradually acquire the habit of controlling our thoughts and of banishing from our minds worrying trains of thought.

The necessity of opening our eyes wide to the far-reaching influence of our thoughts in causing health or disease, happiness or unhappiness, cannot be too strongly urged. Still more strongly would we urge the duty of every human being to set himself to gain though-control by persistent and patient effort, by devoting to it some of the time, energy, and interest which are cheerfully given to pursuits which have but little bearing on the great question of the art of living and the art of happiness.

Much help may be got in acquiring thought-control by altering our outlook on life, by realizing that an altered point of view often has the power to rob thoughts of their sting and their worrying quality, and so to make it easier for us to banish them. If a train or steamship accident occurs regrets alone are not indulged in, but an inquiry is instituted with the object of providing greater safeguards for that future. So with the "accidents" of life, either those which are past or those whose advent we dread, much help may be got by readjusting our point of view, so that self does not fill the whole horizon.

The greatest safeguard we can have is to accept limitations and to dwell upon and make the most of compensations, that is, to accept life as a compromise, for a compromise it is from beginning to end. Many of us master precious years in pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp' "mine be some figured flame, which blends, transcends them all," we cry. Many of us go about from day to day with our eyes upon "the ends of the earth," losing all the joy which is stored in near and familiar objects. Happy indeed are those who learn in time, not merely to accept life as a compromise, but to accept it gladly and joyfully, to realize that in doing so we escape much fruitless fretting and worrying, that we open many doors which had otherwise remained closed, and set free fresh energies to make that compromise a supreme success.

Another priceless safeguard against "accidents" is the conviction that our temperaments cause half our sufferings, and that temperaments are wonderfully subject to modification, if we choose to pull ourselves together and will that we shall effect this modification, however uphill and difficulty the task may be.

Again, we have great need to learn the truth that suffering, if met with a courageous and undaunted spirit, has the power of effecting sweeping reforms in ourselves, of putting into our hands the keys of many locked doors, and of giving a wonderful strength and dignity of life.

Lastly, many of us refuse to realize the great fact that, however much we may wish to, we cannot live to ourselves alone, that during our progress from cradle to grave we touch and influence hundreds of other lives, and that therefore we are responsible in an appallingly wide circle for all our thoughts and acts, and that this responsibility does not expend itself in a vague theory to that effect, but must hold for every thought we think, and every act we do in the trivial round of our daily duties.

We have dwelt at length on thought-control, since thoughts are the mainspring of acts, but a few words must now be said on the practical application os self-control and exercise of will-power in everyday life by formation of habits. It has certainly been the experience of many that we leave our habits to form themselves, and often first become aware of their existence when they obtrude themselves pleasantly or unpleasantly in our daily life. How often we hear, "I have got into the habit of doing so-and-so."; how comparatively seldom we hear, "I have formed the habit doing so-and-so." And yet our habits form our characters, just as our habits are an outcome of our thoughts. It is, however, when we turn our thoughts to the question of self-suggestion that the necessity for thought-control presses itself home. A self-suggestion, as we have seen, is a suggestion which we give to ourselves either consciously or unconsciously. It has been shown that most of us are dominated by or self-suggestions to an appalling extent without realizing it, and therefore without realizing that it is in our power to turn the tables by dominating them and to deliberately give ourselves suggestions of a healthy and invigorating character.

Let us frankly realize the extent to which we are ruled by unhealthy self-suggestions; let us indulge in a good laugh at ourselves after each fresh discovery, since no healthier form of exercise exists than that, and let us set ourselves not only to make counter-suggestions, but to deliberately suggest to ourselves each morning strong and healthy thoughts which shall dominate our day. In this way we shall find not only that it is in our power to exercise a great control over our bodies and minds, but that we can train ourselves to many things which we had previously regarded as quite beyond our control. To many people the idea is novel that one can train oneself to sleep well, should one have previously been a bad sleeper, and yet as we have shown in a previous chapter the failure to do so is often due to a refusal to use the powers we have.

We believe that similarly be exercise of will power, and by constantly drawing upon spiritual forces around us and in us, it is possible for every sane man and woman to modify and even eradicate defects of character, and to deliberately cultivate qualities which are lacking and which they would fain acquire. We believe that for this, not only is a great faith in the existence of, and an equally great enthusiasm for, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty necessary, but a constant and unceasing effort, literally the same constant and unceasing effort which we put forth to acquire a new branch of learning, a new accomplishment or a new sport. The direction which the fight takes will depend on the individual character, since the weak points of one person may be the strong points of another.

Fortunate it is for us in deliberately setting ourselves to develop new qualities, that each time we do anything in a certain fashion it becomes easier and easier to do it again in exactly the same way. If I therefore deliberately refrain on one occasion from saying what had been better left unsaid, it becomes successively easier to refrain on future occasions. If I once dare to shake off conventions of thought and action, and be and act what I truly am, conventions lose their hold in a small space of time, and I live in a freer and ampler atmosphere. If I once make a mighty effort to smile when i have greater cause to weep, then it will soon become a second nature to forget myself so that others may be happy.

There is much truth in the American health literature series, which insists upon the fact that by concentration it is in our power to get most of the things we desire, that we in fact draw these things to us by intensely concentrating upon them. Certain it is that without concentration and effort nothing of value is effected, and that only by daily concentration of our thoughts on the changes which we wish to effect shall we gradually translate those thoughts into actions. Strenuous is the fight, and it ceases only at the grave, but is there not an intense satisfaction in doing battle to gain something that is beyond one's reach, is it not true that life stagnates unless "a man's reach" perpetually exceeds his grasp, that attainment means arrest of all progress, and that even failure is merely a "triumph's evidence for that fullness of the days," and therefore to be welcomed as a fresh incentive.

By such deliberate and concentrated effort we develop powers that we knew not we possessed, for it is most true that many of us pass through life unaware of the hidden powers and possibilities within us, which can only come to birth by travail. We are content to jog thorough life as best we can, content to accept the rose strewn path, content to avoid the rebuffs "that turn earth's smoothness rough," the stings "That bid nor sit nor stand, but go," little realizing that by so doing we forfeit our grandest heritage, our right to walk the earth as gods. True it is that there are endless days of drudgery before us when we once set out to educate ourselves, and that we shall only realize in moments of inspiration, in "uprushes of our subliminal consciousness," the full grandeur of the heritage which those who "overcome" are heir to, but one such moment of inspiration will add a new and wonderful dignity to the task of the self hypnosis, will cause "our noisy years to seem moments in the being of the eternal silence."

And so we shall eventually find more, far more, than we set out to seek. We looked for happiness, and we shall find peace, a peace that lies deep within ourselves, that we carry about with us wherever we go, that no change of outward environment can alter, that storms may disturb for a moment, but cannot destroy. Such a peace will come to us insensibly and gradually, as we realize with increasing conviction that life has a high purpose if we will open our eyes to see it, and that that high purpose is the formation of character. Once we accept this conviction we cannot content ourselves with baser things, that high purpose must be the keynote of our lives, and we must have constantly before us, to lure us across mountains and floods, the inspiration of the Impossible Ideal of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. Even so did the Holy Grail tempt the Knights of the Round Table to high and doughty deeds.