The Unconscious mind

By Jimmy Henderson

(MA (psychology) CHRP

‘The images of the unconscious place a great responsibility upon a man. Failure to understand them, or a shirking of ethical responsibility, deprives him of his wholeness and imposes a painful fragmentariness on his life.’
Carl Jung

The unconscious mind is usually only considered as being involved in the regulation of bodily functions such as digestion, breathing and heartbeat. However, research has shown that its functions extend into all areas of human life. For example, there are constant communications between unconscious and conscious processes which are most clearly noted during dreams, visions and meditations, but which can also be detected using various forms of biofeedback. Such communications can also enter normal awareness under certain subjective conditions and are usually considered as moments of intuition or inspiration.

Most of the processing of sensory information takes place at an unconscious level and in most cases one is not even aware of the profound effect of subliminal mental programs or ‘schemas’ on one’s perception and thinking. These schemas have developed from one’s past experiences over the years and research has shown that they act as a filter for all incoming information, usually passing only that which conforms to one’s current thinking and beliefs. In other words, some sensory (perceptual) cues can be distorted or even blocked by the subliminal content of one’s own unconscious mind.

Furthermore, it is a known fact that the unconscious can also control the flow of sensory information where there is the danger of a possible emotional or psychological overload. This can be clearly seen in cases of persons ‘shutting down’ following exposure to a highly traumatic event. Metaphorically, the unconscious mind can therefore also be seen as a ‘guardian’ and ‘protector’, filtering and regulating one’s inner experiences in accordance with one’s state of psychological or emotional readiness and even one’s moral or religious convictions. For example, someone who has not included the possibility of transcendental experiences in their belief system is unlikely to ever recognise such an experience, as any cues would probably be ignored or even excluded at an early (subliminal) level.

Programming the unconscious mind

‘Everything we experience in the outer world is a reflection of our inner states of consciousness’

Sri Gawn Tu Fahr

During human perception, receptor organs combine with mental processing to encode sensory information from the environment and recode it into recognizable shapes and forms, and the resulting images that one sees are actually reconstructed in the mind. 

New methods of mental programming (such as NLP), have shown that it is possible to further refine one’s perceptual ability in order to translate more subtle bodily sensations and feelings into visible images and impressions. This ability of the (unconscious) mind to translate cues from one sensory mode to another has been noted in psychological research as ‘synesthesia’, but is considered rare.

However, case studies have revealed that, with special training involving the repetitive association of cues with impressions and symbolic interpretations, almost imperceptible changes in the environment can be perceived in the mind as colours, shapes, forms and even humanlike figures. For example, the sensory cues associated with feelings of danger could give rise to impressions of ‘spikiness’ and  ‘thorns’ and a feeling of comfort or safety may spontaneously produce an impression or even a brief image of ‘bubbles’ or ‘cotton puffs’.   

Deeper unconscious programming would involve working directly with the subliminal programs or schemas already mentioned, specifically those which contain the fundamental core beliefs which govern one’s perception of self, the world and reality. This implies that, in order to increase perceptual sensitivity, one would have to alter or modify the content of these schemas or self-imposed ‘rules’ at an unconscious level. Fortunately, cognitive research has also shown that although they are extremely resilient, it is indeed possible to do this by exposing oneself to novel and radical thoughts and experiences which will challenge this existing schematic framework, forcing it to loosen its grip and to expand in order to accommodate these new experiences.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, this requires a powerful state of mind in which one has total control over one’s thoughts, emotions and perceptions, and is best accomplished during conditions in which the unconscious mind is open to suggestion, such as occurs during meditation. An example of this deep reprogramming would involve combining visualization with meditation to create pseudo-realities into the mind involving complex and bizarre dramatisations, such as a visit to a strange planet with zero gravity in which rocks are floating suspended in the air. This would radically challenge one’s current beliefs, thinking and understanding of reality, even more so if one is able to accurately reproduce an experience of interacting with this (mentally created) environment and be able to shift one’s perception back and forth between the world of floating rocks and everyday reality.

Personal case studies have revealed that this is indeed possible, and although it can initially cause some confusion, one’s experiential framework eventually expands to accommodate these radical inner experiences, introducing the potential for a deeper perception of reality.    

Jimmy Henderson is a metaphysical teacher and the author of a number of books and articles on inner self-development. He has an Honours degree in philosophy (Metaphysics) and a Masters degree in Psychology. He is also a Metavarsity facilitator and based in Durban, South Africa. His books ‘Multi-Dimensional Thinking’ (2007) and ‘Multi-dimensional Perception’ (2010) are available at Exclusive Books as well as on Amazon.com and Kalahari.com and can also be ordered via his website www.jimmyhendersonbooks.com