An excellent time for suggestions is late at night, just before retiring. Here we have the very opposite condition, from the morning; namely, fatigue, congestion of thoughts, and a myriad of flitting ideas, trying to occupy our mental attention. Here we must willfully clear the brain and make ready for the wonderful mental state which comes with sleep.

During sleep, the brain is absolutely inactive, if the sleep is complete and thorough in relaxation. Therefore, the mind, or the subconscious mind as some persons wish to call it, has greater opportunity to carry on its activities, because it is not hampered by the incoming impressions from the brain.

If, therefore, just before going to sleep you will willfully cast out all other thoughts and concentrate your brain and whole attention on some idea and fall asleep with this one idea occupying your consciousness, it will pass from your brain, or outer consciousness, to the subconscious, or the mind.

But a formula must be used. Your thought must be in the from of a suggestion. It must be so visualized, pictured, and worded that it is not a mere, vague, abstract idea, but one that is reducible to a command, or a law, or a statement that is in the form of a decree.

For instance, if the idea that you wish to hold in your mind when you go to sleep is in regard to something you wish to do or accomplish the next day, you must visualize yourself doing the act, but your thought must not be a mere abstract; it must be a command, worded something like this: “Tomorrow I will do this or that;” “Tomorrow I will accomplish this or that.”

In this way you are really commanding your subconscious mind to accept this statement as a decree; it will be received by the subconscious mind in that form during your sleep and it will become a law, a paramount law, an absolute law with the mind, and will be so established there by morning that it will be the first thing your brain contacts upon awakening, and you will feel the effects of it all day as an inner command, an inner reminder of what you are to do.

Incidentally, the thought coming from within during the day will be as an inspiration and will give you confidence to proceed to do the thing you wish to do.

So, you have these two periods during the day—early in the morning, and late at night—when you are most susceptible to the influence of suggestion.

Other times during the day, or when you are relaxed, or in a meditative mood, if you can get away long enough to look out of a window into space, or look at some green trees, or flowers, or into some dark corner of your home or office, and go into what some call reflection, but which the mystics call meditation, with but one thought occupying your mind, a thought arranged as we have said, it should be arranged at night when you go to sleep, then you will find that this thought in the form of a suggestion or command will slip over from your brain into your subconscious while you are lost in this spell of meditation and reflection.

The more completely you forget your environment and forget where you are for two or three minutes and have nothing but the one thought inhabiting your whole consciousness, the more completely and the more commandingly, will the idea and suggestion pass on to the subconscious mind.

Therefore, we suggest to you to try this matter of suggestion during the coming week in connection with your daily affairs and learn the first principles of self-mastery and self-mastership as it relates to your very intimate personal affairs.

Much has been said in recent years about the influence of mind over matter, and in many of the modern philosophical writings, we find innumerable new metaphysical terms, such as Infinite Mind, Divine Mind, Mortal Mind, and so forth.

All such terms, including the ones we use, are the invention of man. Names for things are merely ideographs invented to represent an idea much like the strange hieroglyphics which the Egyptians cut into stones to represent the ideas they wished to express.

Different names for the same thing and different ideographs for the same idea cannot affect the nature of the thing or the idea. Whether you call an affirmation a command, or whether you call it a plea or prayer makes little difference in the operation of the Divine Law.

Many persons will find it more convenient to think of the inner subjective mind and consciousness of man as the Divine, Immortal Mind, which it is really. They will likewise want to think of the objective, outer mind as the mortal, transient mind of man, which it really is.

In the foregoing testing of the law, it is not a question of the mortal mind dictating to the Divine Mind while asking the Divine Mind to do that which the mortal mind cannot do.

This is the fundamental principle of metaphysical consecration to the Divine Mind, and you will find the principle one that is easily demonstrable and very practical in its results.

The idea back of all this is to make you the master of your environment, master of your fate, as others would call it, and the master of your affairs; so practice this at least for one week and note the results.