J Heinrich Arnold-Freedom from sinful thoughts.pdf

6. AutosuggestionIN CONTRAST to suggestion, autosuggestion is “thereleasing of a reflexive power of the imagination fromwithin in response to external influences” (Baudouin).Autosuggestion may seem like a positive force, andinsofar as it helps us to substitute “good” mental imagesfor “bad” ones, it is. Yet in my experience it is often notso simple. Sometimes the very fear of an evil ideatriggers that idea and calls it to the fore. That, too, isautosuggestion. In this way, even against our will, wecan work ourselves up into such a terrible state of innertension that we no longer see a way out, and lose sightnot only of God, but even our own resolve to comethrough the struggle.Autosuggestion affects other areas of life as well.Anyone who has learned to ride a bicycle will remembermaking every mental effort to go to one side of theroad to steer away from a ditch or a wall, but ending up