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by George Tillekeratne

The word hypnotism is derived from the Greek word 'Hypnos' which means 'The Greek God of Sleep'. It also means a sleep like state in which the mind responds to external suggestions of the hypnotist. It can also be described as a special art or science, an outstanding capacity under the influence of which a certain mind can act in a way in which another mind can hardly hope to cope with.

According to a very eminent hypnotist Dr. Shirmali, hypnotism is a science through which the outer mind of an individual can be induced to sleep and the Inner Mind or the Subconscious mind awakened to obtain desired results. Hypnotism is also the forerunner of a great mental aptitude which installs affirmative thoughts and exclude negative thoughts.

It is said to be the oldest knowledge of India rooted in the deepest traditions of India. The greatest thing in hypnotism is that it can recover long forgotten memories.

Hypnotism like any other science is based on concrete principles. It has however remained shrouded in secrecy and mystery for many years which explains why it remained stagnating for a long time. Any sane person can become a hypnotist after much hard work.

Hypnotism originated in ancient India several centuries ago and much later spread to the West where it has now gained a firm foothold. It was the Rishis of ancient India who introduced hyptonisms to this world. Indian Yogis call it 'Yoga Nidra', 'Pran Vidya' or 'Trikala Vidya'.

The human body

The human body could be best described as a complex of certain strange and inexplicable phenomena which have always baffled the scientist especially the western scientists. These scientists dissected the body to locate its mystery and yet they could not identify the body in its entirety. Nevertheless they discovered in the human body such elements as not visible and yet nobody could disprove their existence, for example the mysterious mind is such an element.

The mind

The mind plays a pivotal role in hypnotisation. The mind has two segments, the Outer Mind and the Inner Mind or the Subconscious Mind. A mind free of evil thoughts is a must for hypnotisation. The inherent power of the mind is that it transcends all dimensions of time and space. Every minute the Outer Mind sees and records our responses to the physical world and the physical phenomena.

At times when it is rendered inactive for example when man is sleeping the outer mind is left with no work and the Inner Mind or the Subconscious Mind springs into action. Being active it reaches the higher planes of consciousness. According to Hindu philosophy the mind is a mystery. Broadly its functions are Budhi (intellect) Chitha (subconscious), Ahamkara (egoism) and Manas the mind. According to the Githa, Lord Krishna has said that 'among the Indrayas (the senses) I am the mind. It is worth mentioning that the Buddha is the only religious teacher who has preached extensively on the mind.

He stated that the only way one could control one's mind is by meditation and meditation alone. Buddhists could reach their salvation 'Nirvana' only through the control of the mind. Hypnotism teaches various methods for the control of the mind, gazing on a point or idol, right conduct, eradication of evil thoughts and habits and increase of will power are some of them. A very powerful eyesight free from desire, anger, lust, greed etc. is a must for hypnotisation.

Will power

A strong will power is absolutely necessary for one to be a hypnotist. Man is always tormented by a host of desires. We should try to control all such desires. We should organise all kinds of stray and multitudious desires into a collection and try to bring about a sublimation of this entity. The better we organise our desires the greater will be our spiritual, social and physical integrity.

The suppression and the getting rid of desires are always controlled by voluptious senses and they are therefore left with no self-confidence, an essential element for a hypnotist. It is therefore very essential that we are strong willed.

Hypnotic power

In man a special kind of energy and magnetic power are discernable. Certain human bodies contain vast deposits of magnetic power with the result such persons are more popular than others. The need therefore is to find ways and means of increasing this magnetic power potential present in our bodies, one cannot control others without increasing his magnetic power in himself.

Inherent in all human beings are two kinds of magnetic power, the normal magnetic power varying in degrees from individual to individual with which he attracts others and the magnetic power which opens up into life only in anticipation of danger.

Pran Shakthi

Any individual can increase his or her magnetic power by a set of practices. The famed hypnotist Dr. Mesmer who introduced mesmerism to the world by a process of trial and error after experimentation found that we could increase our magnetic power as we like to have. What is stated by Dr. Mesmer is referred to as Pran Shakthi by the Indian Yogis. They discovered this thousands of years ago and they believed that this power can be increased or developed by an exercise called Pranayama. Dr. Jagdish Chandra Bose an eminent Indian hypnotist has by a series of experiments proved beyond any reasonable doubt that vegetation also contains this power.

Pran Shakthi is universal according to the Indian Philosophy. Indian Yogis believe that we can draw into our bodies Pran Shakthi or life power and that we could transfer such power to others and increase their life span. The entire universe is said to be permeated with Pran Shakthi. They believe that in a moment one could reach all corners of the universe through this Pran Shakthi.

It is said that there are some 7200 Nadis or Astral tubes in ones body that carry pran shakthi. They are said to be very subtle and cannot be seen through the naked eye. Among them the three most important are the Ida, Pingala representing the Sun and the Moon and the Susumnawa.

Pran Shakthi is formed from Air, Sunlight, Earth, Ether etc. The individual is attracted to this force. The health of the individual is said to remain balanced due to this force. Pran Shakthi influences and governs the eight centres or Chakras in the human body namely:

1. Mooladhar, 2. Swadisthan, 3. Surya, 4. Anhad, 5. Visudha, 6. Agni, 7. Sahasra, 8. Brahma. Kundalani shakthi or Serpent power flows through the psychic passages called the Nadis.

According to the Hindu Philosophy each and every human action is controlled by Pran Shakthi. The absorption of Pran Shakthi is called Pranayama. Swami Vivekahanda has stated that the cosmos is made up of two elements called Prana and Ether and that creation has been made possible through a harmonious blending of these two elements.

All tangible objects are born of ether and it was through it that the Sun and the Moon assumed their forms. The human being came into existence through the Ether. All moving and active objects of the world owe their existence to the Ether according to Hinduism. By a series of yogi exercises called Pranayama one can absorb Pran Shakthi from the universe and spread it into all parts of the body.

The Kundalani Shakthi or serpent Power as it is also called when awakened gives enormous mental power to those engaged in the Hindu form of meditation. It is very difficult to perform, awakening of ones Kundalani shakthi needs total dedication to the task and patience. The Kundalani Shakthi is a coiled sensitive organ situated between the Anus and the Janakeniya, another sensitive organ.

The sensitive organ Kaseruwa is situated in the Spinal chord. The Janakendiya is placed at the end of Kaseruwa. The Kundalani shakthi as stated above is placed between the Anus and the Janakendiya. The Susumnawa another sensitive organ is situated in the Spinal Chord and on either side of it are the Ida and Pingala two other sensitive organs representing the Sun and the Moon.

The Thejo Dhatu (fire) taken in during meditation (inhaling) moves up to the Muladhara Chakra, a sensitive organ, found near the Anus and awakens the Muladhara Chakra. The Thejo Dhatu is then taken up to the brain through the Susumnawa and the Ida Pingaland it awakens the area around the brain resulting in the awakening of the Kundalani Shakthi.

The upward movement of the Thejo Dhatu from the Muladhara Chakra awakens the Kundalani Shakthi found at the end of the Janakendiya. Inability to control the Thejo Dhatu moving from the Muladhara Chakra to the Sahasra Chakra people become either insane, blind or paralysed. Here lies the danger in this form of medication unless great care is taken to avoid it. But in Buddhist meditation there is no such danger.

Self Hypnosis

Self hypnosis is really a sort of Auto suggestion. This is a mental process originating in a belief in ones own mind. A controlled mind free from evil thought is very essential for self hypnosis. Unless one is able to hypnotise himself he cannot hypnotise others. By the process of Self Hypnosis positive thoughts are given to the mind. It teaches self confidence and unless one has self confidence he cannot give thoughts on self confidence to others.

By self hypnotism one can plan and tell the mind to remove unnecessary desires. Self hypnosis may be brought it two ways. It can be operated on himself by the hypnotist. Practice is essential for this.

If the would be hypnotist is agreeable to get hypnotised by a trained and experienced Hypnotist then getting into hypnotic sleep will be very easy for him. The subject who is well prepared and is accommodating is an easy subject. Only a few words from the hypnotist will be sufficient to put him to sleep.

Hypnotising Others (Hypnotisation)

Hypnotisation is the process by which a person is induced to sleep by a hypnotist. While the outer mind of an individual is induced to sleep the Inner Mind or the Subconscious Mind is aroused or awakened and become fully conscious. The various methods of hypnotisation have one common aim and that is to put the subject to a hypnotic sleep or trance.

The subject has to be carefully and systematically put into sleep for which purpose the hypnotist has to use the method best suited for the purpose. After the hypnotic state the subject must be fully awakened from his hypnotic sleep. This forms a major aspect of the whole procedure of hypnotisation. The responsibility of the hypnotist is not over until the subject is fully awakened and is normal. The waking up process varies from subject to subject and the hypnotist must ensure that he uses words such as "please wake up" or "you are now fully awakened" to wake up the subject.

Methods of Hypnotisation

There are mainly four ways of hypnotisation namely,

1. Induction

2. Conditioning

3. Testing

4. Performance

Induction - To induce hypnotic sleep to a subject the hypnotist has to use one of the methods of hypnotisation. Each hypnotist has to make use of the method best suited to him.

Conditioning - When the subject is in a hypnotic sleep or trance he will be in a condition to act according to the dictates of the hypnotist given to him in a hypnotic state. In this stage the hypnotist can do a preliminary test by asking the subject to do something as suggested by him to ascertain whether the subject is really conditioned.

Testing - Thereafter the Hypnotist can proceed to further testing to find out the depth of the hypnotic state of the subject. He should also ensure that he brings back the subject to full consciousness and is fully awakened and is normal.

Performance - The Hypnotist should now make his suggestion to the subject. He can also make post-hypnotic suggestions to him so that after he is fully awakened the subject will do anything that the hypnotist suggested to him in his hypnotic sleep.

Benefits of Hypnotisation

Hypnotism teaches one to be strong with good mental capacity or prowess. It means to influence others to do an act for their benefit by the strong will power of the hypnotist. In the world today there are no remedies for a number of diseases.

There are also several other ailments for which there are no known specific cures but most of these ailments can be easily cured through hypnotism. Many ailments which do not respond to any medicine however respond to hypnotic treatment.

The maladies of the mental patient for example cannot be removed through the use for drugs and other medicines. It is only hypnotism which has proven promise to handle such diseases.

Under hypnotic sleep man is liberated from a host of other diseases or ailments such as Anger, fear, Alcoholism, drug addiction, clostrophobia, loss of memory, depression, hallunications, childlessness, homosexuality, hysteria, phobia, child abuse etc. Hypnotism can be used successfully by the state for the purpose of rehabilitating reconvicted criminals, first offenders, drug addicts, alcoholics quite easily and effectively.

For this purpose qualified and well experienced Hypnotists must be recruited. Today even major operations are carried out under deep hypnosis in the West and also in India. Hypnotism can be made use for the benefit of man and for the Society as a whole.

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