Dreams and the Two Aspects of Mind

Humans seem to have two aspects to their minds or two ways to process information: logically through conscious reasoning and intuitively through feelings or flashes of awareness from the subconscious. Some people strongly favor one method over the other. Those who are grounded in logic and reason often scoff at the intuitive and think reliance on feelings or psychic flashes is nonsense, only accepted by the gullible. And those who rely on the intuitive sometimes have a tendency to think that being logical and relying on conscious reasoning is somehow inferior.

Both aspects of the mind have their place and are necessary. The conscious mind and use of logic and reason allows us to experience and interpret the physical world in which we live. If the subconscious could do the job, we wouldn’t need a conscious mind. However, the conscious mind with its unique connection with the brain tells us when we are in danger or about to do something that is not compatible with existence in a physical world. Consider the following example. I was thinking about astral projection one night prior to falling asleep. While asleep, I left my body and joined another person who was going to take me on an astral tour. We traveled together until we arrived at a railroad track with a fast moving train approaching. I immediately stopped, still having conscious awareness in the dream. He laughed and said, “You don’t have to stop; it can’t hurt you,” as he moved through the train and arrived safely on the other side. Now to the subconscious this was not a threat, but if I tried this in the physical world, I would not survive for long. We can see this with people suffering from a disease like leprosy, where the sufferers often have sores and skin rubbed to the bone. Due to nerve damage, they have lost the physical sensation that normally warns and protects the body in its contact with other objects. They don’t know when they are damaging parts of their own body.

Intuition is equally important because this emanates from the source of who and what we are. The subconscious is the activating force for carrying out the instructions given to it by the conscious mind as it assesses the world. The denial of the subconscious is the denial of our greater reality. The activation of the subconscious is the great secret employed by successful people in all occupations. Athletes use principles they have been taught to tap into the awesome power of the subconscious to improve performance. The subconscious relays messages to us in a variety of ways. Sometimes we have a hunch about something, another time we get a strange feeling around someone, and often we see clear messages related to our daily lives in our dreams. If you deny intuition and your dreams, you are cutting yourself off from your greater self.

Now who is in charge? Extensive study and research makes it clear that the conscious mind should be in charge. The conscious mind is assessing reality and constantly sending messages to the subconscious, which then tries to act upon the direction it receives. I say the conscious mind should be in charge because some have let the subconscious take control causing a severe mental imbalance. They have abandoned what should be the function of the conscious mind, often to disastrous consequences. The conscious mind is equipped to interact with and evaluate the physical world, not the subconscious. Intuition and dreams are there for guidance, but you must set the course for your life and the conscious mind must deal with its daily challenges.

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting dream that showed me the balance that needs to exist between the two aspects of mind. We need both, but they must be balanced and complement one another. For those of you who are interested in pursuing this topic, I recommend reading The Law of Psychic Phenomena by Thomson Jay Hudson. This work dates back to the late eighteen hundreds, but is a seminal work and recommended in the Cayce readings as a book to read to understand better what Cayce was doing while in trance.