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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
Fcar inspires escape. In a state of fear, certain reactions take place. Resistance to fear calls for greater energy. As soon as the emotion of fear is aroused, the adrenal gland becomes very active; more energy must be provided. Such energy would not be forthcoming without the additional flow of adrenal secretion. As fear grows, the secretion of adrenal also grows providing additional energy to escape or to resist. It is a fact that a man in a state of fear is charged with greater power than otherwise. Sometimes in a state of deep fear unusual strength is awakened in the organism.
There was a man sitting at dusk in the growing darkness. Presently he fell asleep. In sleep he had a frightening dream, and started screaming in a fit of fear, "Look! I see a ghost in that corner! In this corner too! There is a spectre wherever I look and all these are advancing towards me!" People around him said, "There are no ghosts. Please be quiet!" But the man was in a daze; he saw and heard nothing and continued with his act. They tried to raise his hand, but such strength he had at the time that even ten men failed to lift it.
Wherefrom this sudden acquisition of power? There was no ghost, no spectre, nothing. Only the man's adrenal gland was greatly stimulated and secreted more than usual, filling his body with such strength that even ten men could not control him. When someone has an attack of hysteria and falls into a swoon, his body is charged with extra energy and people think it to be the work of some invisible spirit. "Some demon must have possessed him, or he could never display such strength," they say. As a matter of fact, however, there is no ghost or ghoul; only increased adrenal secretion, creating a superhuman effect. The adrenal is the ghost, the spectre, the phantom great. As long as it is under control, all goes smoothly; the moment, however, it gets out of control, it begins to secrete heavily and then becomes a monster indeed. The additional secretions which in the beginning fill the organism with extraordinary energy are also responsible for extreme exhaustion and weariness after the fit is over. When the adrenal is active, one feels in oneself an upsurge of energy, when it is inactive, one grows very lax and spiritless.
There are four main causes of fear:
Ignorance of the laws of nature; Ignorance of the laws of physiology; Ignorance of the functioning of the mind;
Ignorance of the nature of consciousness. The man who acquaints himself with the laws of nature, and those governing the body, the mind and consciousness, is freed from fear. On the other hand, a person who lives in ignorance of these
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