In the first part of this book (Mind Magic) I have been teaching you the technique of healing yourself and others through the magic principle of MIND ENERGY. But healing is not concerned with the needs of the body alone. It is also concerned with peace of mind. What is the point of being 100 per cent physically fit if the spirit is restless, dissatisfied and disturbed, if you are nasty to other people and a nuisance to yourself? In offices, railway carriages, wherever people are jammed together, you only have to look around you and listen to the conversations to realize that half the world is fed up with itself. How sad - and how much sadder when anger, grumbling and discontent penetrate, as all too often they do, into the one place where harmony and good fellowship should reign - that is, the home. Here is negativity on the rampage, negativity at its most lethally destructive.

 Escape from it while you can! 

This next section is concerned with teaching you how to live so that you can continue the work of expanding your mind energy by expelling the poison of negativity forever and enthroning the positive in its place. But such an achievement will not be brought about in a day. Nor will all of us accomplish it at the same speed. For just as we are all born with different legacies from the past, in the form of our temperaments, surroundings and family influences. In other words, each of us has a different hand of cards to play. We call that our fate. But what is fate?

                                                FATE

Ninety per cent of the population have no idea what fate means. When something bad befalls us we say: 'What have I done to deserve this?' Unless your understanding is better than this,  you will always blame someone or something else, never yourself, and call it 'fate'! So I will make the explanation easy for you.

                        F-A-T-E : From Another Time Extracted

All the good and bad things we have done, both in this life and in our previous existences - for remember, the mind is everlasting because energy in indestructible - have to be paid for in the end. What you give out will come back tenfold and more. In a past life you may have been a saint, but in this life, perhaps because of the circumstances of your birth, you are a criminal - or just a creep! Yet others envy your material assets, your luxurious life style. They say: 'Why should such an appalling person be entitled to such a good deal?' What that person has done is to reap the rewards of a good life the last time around. That, precisely, is FATE - From Another Time Extracted! That, and no more. So it is up to such a person to mend his or her bad ways now. Otherwise the universal computer will get to work and in a future existence you will be back to square one.

Remember, in your life or loves, past, present and to come, whatever you give out you will get back. There is true justice in this. It is the law of the universe and there is no hiding from it for any of us. I have seen good and bad deeds return in the space of a few days, or at other times, in a few years. There is no special time scale for retribution and rewards, only lessons for us to learn when the time is right for us to receive them. That is why we should take steps to moderate our excesses and errors.

So-called 'saintly' behaviour is boring: we are given our lives to enjoy. But the other side of the coin is also boring, with its lack of compassion and spirituality. It can also manifest unbelievable cruelty both mental and physical. Walking the middle path will give us a happy, normal life - no small achievement in itself. If we can notch up extra points for compassion and spirituality, well and good, but only if our feelings are genuine and from the heart. All things are known. You may not be scoring as many points as you think.

                                           INHERITANCE

Affecting us also, but in a rather more obvious way, is our ancestry. All of us suffer, or benefit as the case may be, from the way in which our ancestors, grandparents and parents lived. We have inherited their genes, and the health or otherwise of our genetic structure is passed down to us from them and is outside our control. What they did to their bodies directly affects ours, and what we do to ours will affect those of our children. If anyone gets it wrong, abnormalities and diseases multiply all along the line, and these will show up earlier and earlier in young lives. Conversely, if we turn our behaviour around we can arrest the downward spiral, our children will be born fitter, and their genetic structure will be altered for the better this time. If we behave well, that is another way of saying that we are using our mind energy well; if badly, then the reverse. It is never too late, but the greatest blessing we can confer on our children is to train them properly from birth. Before they can speak they can feel and therefore automatically will already be picking up vibrations from their parents' energy counterparts and minds.

                                         SPIRITUALITY

What you achieve with your body and your mind depends on you, and the result is your spirituality - so don't let that high-sounding word throw you. So many people associate it exclusively with religion in the narrow sense. That is not correct. To be spiritual is to be part of the universal energy. Whether you combine religion and spirituality is up to you. 

Spirituality means 'pertaining to the spirit'; spirit is essence; essence is energy. That is the best explanation.

What we must never forget is that  however we play with words, when it comes to leading our lives we have freedom of thought, word, and deed. That is, we have choice, and the responsibility for the choices we make is ours and ours alone.

But what are we to do to make sure we are in a position to make our choices positively and well? The answer, once more, is, by expanding our mind energy. There are all sorts of common-sense ways in which we can do this and the rest of this chapter, and the next, will be aimed at suggesting some of those which I think are the most important, and the attitudes without which we cannot expect to get by. And first, a virtue which is welcome everywhere and always - humour.

                                             HUMOUR

Having a sense of humour is one of the greatest gifts that can bestowed on us. Without humour life is a nightmare. The ability to make people laugh makes you automatically a member of the healing league, for it is the greatest healer of all. 

I have this ability and have used it all my life, but especially in my healing practice.

No matter how ill my patients may be, I know if I can make them smile there  is more chance of a cure. If I can make them laugh, that's even more of a bonus.

Laughter releases pent-up emotion. By dislodging congestive energies it takes the pressure off the major organs, allows the body to function and can instantly cure malfunction. Negativity and despair fly out the window. Colours are brighter, even the weather in England becomes tolerable! It can even restrain you  from polishing off your children, your spouse and your pets, in that order. It can't be bad!

For that reason, comedians are among the greatest healers of all. I have studied the auras of the audiences in theatres and the effect comedians have on them is absolutely magnificent.

Before the performance begins the energies are normal; our energy line, when we are reasonably healthy, is about one to one and half inches around the body. as I have said. During the performance, especially if the comedian is good, the energies are sparkling with colour and life and blending one with another, until the theatre or hall is filled with energy (usually blue, I find!) - a sea of energy that helps also to stimulate the performer, for we all draw from each other.

The reason for this, as I have also explained earlier (see Chapter Two/Mind Magic), is that the chakras, those rotating vortices of energy, are being stimulated. The life force we draw in dislodges negative congestion within the body, thus enabling the energies to flow and expand.

All artists, not only comedians, but opera singers and all other performers, feel this sea of energy when the audience is with them. It creates total rapport. They also fail miserably when the audience is against them because of anger, boredom or just plain lack of interest will cause the congestive energies to block even more and thus prevent the vortices from drawing in life force to stimulate the energy system. So the auras fail to expand and there is no linking up. Without the sea of energy the artist cannot be stimulated and 'dies', as stage parlance has it. In other words, the performance is always very much below par and on occasion a total disaster.

We desperately need both our own humour and the humour of others. Without it we become isolated and our health deteriorates mentally as well as physically.

Laughter is the beginning of all healing. Everyone feels the better for having had a good laugh. If you find that laughter has gone from your life, you must make every effort to bring it back in again, even if that means seeking out the company of people you don't especially like but who, for some reason, make you laugh. Buy videos that make you laugh. Watching them will be as good as a real healing session!

                                SEEKING KNOWLEDGE 

Now here is another and most valuable way of expanding your mind energy by disciplining your mind. For remember, as I have said: an undisciplined mind will always be the servant of a disciplined mind.

The subject matter you choose is not important. What is important is to spend some time each day taking the pressure away from the physical body and linking up to the Universal Mind, that vast sea of information that can be tapped merely by concentration. If you study your subject well you will find this linking up becoming easier and easier as the months go by. Moreover, by spending a certain amount of your time day-dreaming (yes, day-dreaming!) about your subject your intuition will become second to none.

If you find studying difficult, start by timing yourself and switch off after ten minutes. Do not allow yourself any more time that day. You will find after a few days that because your time is limited you'll be anxious not to want to waste a moment of it. Then you will want to extend the limit to fifteen minutes and so on until your interest has been stimulated to such a degree that you will be reluctant to finish at all, and will wish your studies could continue indefinitely. And while all this is happening, one remarkable change will have taken place. You will discover that you have not had time to think about yourself at all!

Studying for long periods may make you feel tired. What it will not do is to make you feel bored and negative. That is the biggest bonus of all.

Are you one of those who feel discouraged and disappointed because you lack what is known as 'a good education'? If so, I sympathize - I started like that myself. But I can tell you, it's never too late, there are always opportunities, and besides, though higher education and a university degree are a wonderful advantage for some, they are by no means the best thing for everybody. Being 'clever' is not the same as being intelligent or even sensible. Some really brainy people are exceptionally silly, some too are exceptionally unreceptive to unfamiliar ideas, and there are loads of men and women with good academic degrees who, as the saying goes, couldn't even run a whelk stall!

As I described in Mind to Mind, I grew up during the Second World War. I had a rough time of it - in fact, for over a year, I was half starved. No chance for me of a degree from Oxford or Cambridge! So I have had to teach myself, and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

I have been a bookworm all my life, and everything I read and everything I learn means something to me. Jung, Laurens van de Post and Bertrand Russell are three authors from whom I have learned to write with simplicity. 

Perhaps you are young, still in your teens or only just out of them, and perhaps your school results were not as good as they might have been, either because you were a bit of a late developer, or because you had troubles at home - or because you were being a rebel! Again, don't worry. Just pick up the bits, get on with things, and be positive. About this vital positivity you will find more in the next chapter (Mind Magic).

If you are unhappy at work or in your private life, give thought to the situation but do not worry about it. Turn your mind to other things. Again by reversing the mind energy you cause the brain and body to react and are able to tackle  your problems in a more relaxed way.

There is an answer to every problem but very often we have to wait some time before we can see the wood for the trees. By worrying and causing pressure to build up on the brain we merely cloud the issue. But controlling our mind energy is the way to control our life.

                            GETTING BACK TO NATURE

Next I come to a subject very close to my own heart. No matter what our occupations may be, getting back to nature is an essential step towards health. We all need spiritual sustenance and to deny ourselves this leads to mental and physical illness.

To be able to look into the distance, expand your mind energy and become aware of the link-up with other energy fields gives you an incredible boost. Again, you have this wonderful feeling of release and letting go of tension.

If you are unable to get out of your house through illness, or escape for whatever reason from a congested urban area, don't despair. We all have a mind, we can expand our mind energy, and by thought we can travel anywhere. The thought is the deed. Just sit quietly, close your eyes and think yourself anywhere in the world you like to be.

First of all, reinforce the sensation of being there. If it is by the sea listen to the waves crashing against the rocks, feel the spray on your face, feel the sand between your toes as you walk barefoot along the beach, feel the sun warming your skin, your face. With practice these sensations will become so intense the the scenery will begin to impress itself on your mind and the pictures will become totally real.

Much more real, in fact, than the pictures on your television screen, and much better for you! All of us can benefit from this traveling by thought, but none more, perhaps, than those who are ill in hospital, or lying sick at home. For them it is a real tonic.

But perhaps you don't feel you're much good at letting go. You don't? Well, have you ever really tried? Have you ever...? Have you ever...?

                                     HAVE YOU EVER...?

Have you ever sat beside a stream on a hot summer's day watching the water rippling over stones which look like bright, shiny gems? Or suddenly glimpsed a large fish silvery in the sunlight?

Have you ever sat in a field of ripe corn watching it sway with the breeze and experienced the mystical feeling of belonging as  your energies merge with your surroundings and you sway back and forth for a magical moment in time?

Have you ever sat on top of a mountain breathing the cool air and feeling its cleanness as your lungs fill with this magic substance?

Have you ever sat in a wood watching the rabbits as they runaround, heads popping up from their burrows, careful, watchful, as their babies take their first tremulous steps, then, finding their feet, start to hop about with joy?

Have you ever waited for hours beside a badger run hoping to see that beautiful black and white head appear?

Have you ever spent time watching birds making their nests and waiting patiently for their babies to hatch our until - probably while you are not looking - the chicks leave the nest for the first time?

Have you ever sat with your back to an old oak tree to absorb the energy of the tree and become one with it, listening to the unspoken yet powerful vibrations that are continually emanating from it? Tree talk!

Have you ever lain on the grass, listened to it and heard it growing?

Have you ever talked to your flowers and plants? Then it's high time you did! Unlike Prince Charles, I don't risk being laughed at in public when I tell you they really do listen.

Have you ever swum in the sea with the dolphins or talked to the seals? OR sunbathed on a deserted beach listening to the cry of the seagulls overhead and the calming sound of the sea as it washed the shore?

Have you ever lain down on the lawn and stared at the sky on a bright summer's day, watching globules of energy exploding like bright, minute pin-heads?

If you have never experienced any of these things, or not enough of them, you can start now!

When you go out into the country for the day, or on holiday, feel at one with your surroundings, become aware of the natural vibrations and the energy of nature. Choose a quiet place where you can do the balloon exercises (see pages 51-62 of 'Mind Magic') to expand your mind and you will begin to experience that magical feeling of oneness with nature.

While you are still up in your balloon feel the material you are wearing, the floor you are sitting on, the wood of your chair. They are telling you something. Everything has a story. The energy of the person who made the chair will always be there and the energy of the original tree will always be there. Energy in any form can never be destroyed.

Or lean against the trunk of a tree and listen. You will be surprised at the different vibrations you will pick up. Or if there are seagulls overhead listen to them - feel as though you are flying around with them, that you are one of them.

Maybe your balloon will take you to the mountain top and you will feel the cool mountain breeze as it brushes against your face. Being at one with nature is our only chance of survival. We have ignored its language for too long and we cannot afford to do so any more. If we had listened carefully long ago most of the terrible things that have happened in this earth would never have occurred.

Knowing needs no language at all. Knowing is a feeling of right or wrong, of being happy or unhappy, of being confident or lacking in confidence. It is a sense of being, and when you know, there is no going back. You will always know. This sounds mystical perhaps. Well, it is mystical. For the mystique of being at one with nature will take you over, and what better way could there be to live than be nurturing and caring for everything that makes this planet beautiful?

If you are unable to go out for any reason, don't worry. Wood, mountain top and seashore can all be visited in your mind. Your mind energy can take you wherever you wish to go; all you have to do is lose yourself within your imagination and your mind will expand to reach the farthest places on Earth if you so wish. It is a type of astral travel, if you like, but travel that you can discipline and command and not the sort of  butterfly-mind existence over which you have no control. You can experience everything: there is no need to travel physically at all.

Enjoy your travels and your expanding awareness. In so doing you will also find the nature of your being. But now for two qualities so crucial to being healthy, that I shall write about them in separate chapters.....