The Hierarchy of the Mind - A Simple Understanding of New Thought

The hot-selling book and DVD, The Secret has directed much attention to metaphysics, particularly the New Thought ("Science of Mind") branch of metaphysics, which stresses The Mind as a powerful, divine creative force and agent of change. I have not read The Secret or seen the DVD, but I know from people who have and the reviews and synopses I have read that it is about the universal "Law of Attraction." Simply, you get whatever your Conscious Mind focuses on. So, you should focus on what you want and not what you don't want. (That's unless you actually want what you don't want.) What I have learned from "Science of Mind" practitioners and spiritual leaders is that The Mind has three levels:

THE SUPERCONSCIOUS
("God," "The Creator," "The Word," "The Father," "The Lord," "The Almighty," "Jehovah," "Yahweh," "Allah," "Brahma," "Universal Mind," "Universal Law," "Eternal Law," "The Universal Life Force," "Infinite Intelligence," "Infinite Wisdom," "The Divine Light of Being," "Divine Substance," "Divine Presence," "Divine Mind," "I Am That I Am," "God's Will," "God's Grace," "God's Plan," "Divine Design," "Karma," "The Alpha and The Omega," "Super Soul," "Over Soul," etc.)

This is the all-perfect, external and eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omni-active source of all life, power, knowledge, wisdom, good, love, creation, creativity, abundance, experience, "miracles," and what many of us call "luck" or "God's will." It ultimately powers and can directly access, communicate with and guide both The Subconscious and The Conscious Mind, which cannot directly access it. It can communicate with the Conscious Mind directly through events, "signs," symbols, people, nature and natural and supernatural phenomena, or through The Subconscious Mind with dreams, insights, mental flashes, ESP or an inner voice. It collaborates with and acts independently of The Subconscious Mind.

The Superconscious Mind created and instilled Free Will in all Selves. Whether The Self's experiences are good or bad is dependent on whether the thinking, attitudes, beliefs, values and feelings The Conscious Mind programs into its collaborator, The Subconscious Mind, and The Self's actions are aligned with the Universal Law of The Superconscious Mind. Following Universal Law creates harmony. Violating any part of it creates discord or what some call "bad karma." As Creator and Driving Force of The Universe and all within it, The Superconscious Mind is immutable. It and its Universal Laws are as they have always been and always will be. All Subconscious Minds of those living and dead are connected to The Superconscious Mind.

THE SUBCONSCIOUS
("The Soul," "The God Self," "The Son," "The Holy Spirit," "God's Likeness," "God's Image," "The Divine Self," "The Higher Self," "The In-dwelling God," "The God Within," "The Spirit Within," "The Guardian Angel," "Divine Awareness," "Dormant Awareness," "Higher Consciousness," "Higher Awareness," "Higher Mind," "The Messenger," "The Core," etc.)

The Subconscious Mind alone is directly linked to both The Superconscious and The Conscious Mind. It receives programming and messages from the Superconscious and The Conscious Mind and relays messages from one to the other. It acts as their liaison. It often relays messages to the Conscious Mind from The Superconscious Mind in the form of dreams or an "inner voice." It is The Conscious Mind's immediate source of power, insight and inspiration. The Conscious Mind could not function, and learning and survival would be impossible without it. It is also the seat of dreams, imagination, personality, dormant awareness and mental power (including ESP), intuition, creativity and instincts, and it controls involuntary body functions. It uses the right brain hemisphere.

The Subconscious Mind records The Conscious Mind's every thought, attitude, belief, emotion, perception, interpretation, theory, calculation, prediction, experience, etc. for the Conscious Mind to later retrieve and use. It collaborates with The Superconscious Mind to create realities that correspond to the Conscious Mind's thoughts, words, beliefs, feelings and perceptions--bad or good. The Subconscious Mind is indiscriminate and works to prove right The Conscious Mind's every thought, feeling, belief, attitude and statement. So, if The Conscious Mind is positive The Subconscious Mind works with The Self. If The Conscious Mind is negative The Subconscious Mind works against The Self.

THE CONSCIOUS
("The Self," "Lower Self," "Perception," "Conscious Awareness," "Cognitive Self," "Free Will," "The Analytical Mind," "The Person," "The Body," "The Rational Animal," etc.)

The Conscious Mind perceives what's around and within The Self. It receives information from the Subconscious and Superconscious Minds, perceives experiences and searches the Subconscious Mind for the data it needs to analyze, visualize, form theories, calculate, make predictions, consider possibilities, form opinions, make comparisons, make decisions, respond emotionally, etc. Its scope and power are limited by its reliance on empirical knowledge and by its inability to directly access The Superconscious Mind. It does have the power of Free Will and is mutable. The Free Will of other Selves affects The Self's environment, heredity and upbringing, which along with The Self's personality, attitudes, beliefs and memories of past experiences can affect The Self's Free Will, which then affects The Self's experiences. The Conscious Mind's Free Will voluntarily and involuntarily programs The Subconscious Mind.

Through "scientific prayer" ("affirmative prayer") and positive guided imagery The Conscious Mind can will The Subconscious Mind to retrieve only positive experiences from The Superconscious Mind. The Conscious Mind's Free Will also includes its decision whether to submit to The Subconscious Mind by using lower brain wave frequency known as "the alpha state," the relaxed mental state before sleep and immediately after awakening. This mind state is important because as Joseph Murphy says in Telepsychics: Tapping Your Hidden Subconscious Powers, "the relaxed mind receives the answer." This mind state can be achieved through meditation and other relaxation methods.

Conscious Mind power is often tied to left-brain activity, but whether people are "left-brain" or "right-brain" thinkers they are using The Conscious Mind whenever they think or perceive anything through any of the five senses--or from The Subconscious Mind through a sixth sense (ESP). It uses both brain hemispheres. The phrase "expanding consciousness" refers to expanding conscious awareness, of activating dormant mental powers housed within The Subconscious Mind and thereby becoming more aligned with The Superconscious Mind. People with extraordinary mental or spiritual gifts are people whose Conscious Minds have greater access to, greater use of, this dormant awareness and mental power.

A question that for eons has challenged people of all faiths is whether Creation is ongoing, as many metaphysicists say, or was a one-time event with all possible experiences pre-determined. I believe The Superconscious Mind set all possible experiences (food) on The Table of Life at Creation, and left The Selves with the Free Will to come to The Table and choose The Food that is right for them. My Food has been blessed and is sustaining me. So I believe, and so it is.