These things are "ancient history" to you, of course, but I have something else to say to you on the subject that is not so "antiquated." I propose to make you a present of a labor saving "path maker," which is guaranteed to clear away the underbrush and rubbish in but a fraction of the time, and with much less labor, that the old plodding clearing away process.

This new plan is very simple, but very effective, and will enable you to "make yourself over" without the ripping apart process dependent upon the other method. I will tell you about it in as few words as possible. I have already explained to you that your mind possess two planes of effort, two functions, the Active and the Passive. The Active function does the volitional, original thinking, whilst the Passive function does only what it is told to do by the Active function (or by others). The Passive function is the easygoing partner of the firm, to whom I introduced you in a previous lesson. It is this part of the mind upon which hypnotists operate, after lulling to sleep the Active function, the critical partner. The Passive function, although in a sense the inferior, really rules us, unless we know how to manage it. It is the habit-function, the beaten-track function, of whose existence we are all conscious. It is easily influenced, but nevertheless is "set" in its ways. Tell it a thing over and over - something, which you wish it to believe - and it will end up accepting the new thought and being as "set" in the new notion as it was in the former one. This is the secret of breaking up the habits of thought; action; disposition; and character. The suggestion upon which the Passive function acts may come from your own Active mind, or from the mind of another. This is the explanation of the beginning of a habit, good or bad. To break up old thought habits, and to replace them with new habits of thinking, one or more of several plans may be used. One may accomplish the results by sheer force of will; another by hypnotic suggestion from an experienced qualified operator; to your Passive mind, a fourth by that which I will term Thought Absorption. Breaking up thought-habits by sheer force of will is a most difficult task, as most of us know, for we have all tired it. It is a plan by which only the strongest succeed whilst the weaker are defeated and relinquish the effort, experiencing additional discouragement and despair. We accomplish this result by the "strengthening of the will," or more correctly by the strengthening of the Active Function of the mind by the will, enabling it to step in and simply command the Passive function to drop the old thought-habit and adopt the new in its place. It is a magnificent feat, but very difficult of performance. The same result can be obtained by an easier plan. The very habit of making the Passive mind more amendable to the commands of the Active function can be acquired by the easier plan of which I will speak in this lesson.