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DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL POWERS AND THEIR USE
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manifestation of mental energy. Relaxation of the body means the subduing of emotions and impulses which obstruct the manifestation of mental energy. The second condition is to stop the waste of energy. Usually every one of us wastes energy. We go on thinking on one thing or the other even when it is not necessary. The brain does not get even a minute's rest. It works even during sleep. It is active in dreams. This is a tremendous waste of energy.
The mind is always active. It does not stand still. The body too does not remain without activity. If one sits in a particular posture several parts of the body begin to ache. We are not accustomed to remaining stable. We believe that there will be no development of the mind if the body and speech did not remain active and that activity alone gives us strength. This a complete reversal of truth. The truth, however, is that energy can be aroused only when the mind, body and speech are completely suspended. Energy can not be aroused if they remained active. I do not plead that they should not be used at all. What I mean to say is that energy can be aroused if we used them the least.
Our nervous system has two parts. One of these is autonomous and the other is activised by forces other that itself. The autonomous part is the least used. It is the other which is the most used. That is the reason why our energies lie dormant. The activised part which is driven by the brain and the spinal cord keeps our energies dormant. When we control it and decrease its activity, the unconscious mind gets an opportunity to become active. Increasing the activity of the unconscious mind means the arousing of energy. In the course of our practice the spring of energy becomes active in the unconscious mind.
The third principle is to give a new direction or orientation to the vital breath. Once this new orientation has been brought about and a new direction has been given to it, the practitioner begins to move towards it. A new horizon is opened before him and he comes to know something which he had never known before. By concentrating the mind and by giving a new turn to the breathing process the practitioner comes to have a direct knowledge of a new reality which he did not have earlier.
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