onsequently dismisses the matter from his conscious
mind, and busies himself with other matters, knowing that day and night,
incessantly, the sub-consciousing process is going on, and that the
sub-conscious mind is actively at work collecting the information, or
working out the problem.

You will see at once the great superiority of this method over the old
"hit-or-miss," "hope-it-will-work" plan pursued by those who have
stumbled upon bits of the truth.

The Yogi teacher begins by impressing upon his students the fact that the
mind is capable of extending outward toward an object, material or
mental, and by examining it by methods inherent in itself, extracting
knowledge regarding the object named. This is not a startling truth,
because it is so common, everyone employing it more or less every day.
But the process by which the knowledge is extracted is most wonderful,
and really is performed below the plane of consciousness, the work of the
conscious mind being chiefly concerned in _holding the Attention_ upon
the object. We have spoken of the importance of Attention in previous
lessons, which it will be well for you to re-read, at this time.

When the student is fully impressed with the details of the process of
Attention, and the subsequent unfoldment of knowledge, the Yogi proceeds
to inform him that there are other means of obtaining knowledge about an
object, by the employment of which the Attention may be firmly directed
toward the object and then afterwards held there _unconsciously_--that
is, a portion of the Attention, or a sub-conscious phase of mentation,
which will hold the sub-conscious mind firmly upon the work until
accomplished, leaving the conscious Attention and mentality free to
employ itself with other things.

The Yogis teach the students that this new form of Attention is far more
intense and powerful than is the conscious Attention, for it cannot be
disturbed or shaken, or distracted from its object, and that it will work
away at its task for days, months, years, or a lifetime if necessary,
according to the difficulty of the task, and in fact carries its work
over from one life to another, unless recalled by the Will. They teach
the student that in everyone's life there is going on a greater or less
degree of this sub-conscious work, carried on in obedience to a strong
desire for knowledge manifested in some former life, and bearing fruit
only in the present existence. Many important discoveri