Series 2 - Lesson 5 - Annotation 4
How is thought controlled?
4. The process of thinking is controlled by the conscious phase of mind (thinking, reasoning realm), and the process of denial and affirmation becomes a vital factor in exercising this control. In one sense, we can think of the conscious phase of mind (thinking) as the "control knob" for it is here that the decision is made either to change established thoughts in the subconscious (feeling) or to allow them to continue to bring forth "after their kind." It is through our power to reject (denial) or accept (affirmation) that we have control of thought.
If the subconscious phase of mind (realm of feeling or "secondary thinking") is holding thoughts that are not consistent with the image God created for our mind, body, or affairs, it is the conscious phase of mind that can (by exercise of the will faculty) produce a new pattern. To control thought, then, is to fill the mind with an idea, an inspiration, and concentrate our whole attention upon it. Before this can be done there is often much mental work to be done in cleansing (by denial) the consciousness of the old negative concepts that would be obstacles to the new inspiration. When the denial (spoken silently or audibly) has done its work, the next step is also through the conscious phase of mind — it is the work of affirmation, or "planting" of the seed-ideas of Truth that we wish to replace the wrong concepts. (See Lessons in Truth Lesson 7 Annotation 7)
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Preceding Entry: Describe In your own words how the body is reconstructed by affirmation and by denial.
Following Entry: What is the one true standard of thinking?
