Modern spiritism; its science and religion - SpiritArchive.org

MODERN SPIRITISM
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Now a "consciousness" of which I am unconscious
is, in relation to myself, unconsciousness;
hence my term "the unconscious mind," which I
much prefer to "subliminal," or "sub-conscious."
It seems to me that we have but one mind (I know
of no cosmic mind, other than God Himself) which,
however, in us exists in three conditions.
Regarding consciousness as ' ' the eye of the mind, ' '
by which we can see mental processes, and comparing
the mind as a whole to an island, I would regard the
first mental condition of full consciousness as comparable
to that part of the island which is always
above water. The second condition of sub-consciousness
I would describe as that part of the island
which is sometimes visible and sometimes invisible
according to the state of the tide. In us this represents
that part of our mentality which can be
brought into consciousness by strong introspection,
but which is usually outside it.
The third condition of unconsciousness (Myers'
subliminal consciousness) is the rest of the island
under water, which is always invisible. To me, as
I think I have demonstrated,* the mental processes
that are wholly unseen by the eye of consciousness
are just as truly psychic and purposive as those that
we see and know. The fact of their being unseen
does not, as so many seem to think, make them either
unreal or non-mental.
This is, perhaps, a long enough digression to make
what follows intelligible.
*"The Unconscious Mind."