ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 935, 12 July 1957, Page 11

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

M. Maxwell ~(Palmerston North): Not a talk, a reading-one of a_ series-from the celebrated book Tutira. The piece to which you refer was read in the same tone as the rest of the extract. Ronnie Smith (Wellington): Alas, you must try to bear it. El Dorado (New Plymouth): No longer; the last of this year’s series was heard on May 23. }

More letters from listeners ill be found on pages 26 a 26 and

Letters from Listeners

(continued from page 11) THE CHICKEN-HEARTED Sir,-Your recent editorial "The Chicken-Hearted" illustrates delightfully that the mind of man is still in the early stages of evolutionary development, and not far separated from that of the higher animals. Of course, most of us would be loath to admit this disquieting fact. The mind is no doubt slowly improving, but the rate of improvement is not keeping pace with the rate of scientific discovery, dnd all the consequent depressing possibilities, Superficially it would appear that man is doomed, and this may well be so. There are those who think that there is still hope. Man has a great capacity for intolerance, both of his immediate neighbours, and more particularly of people of other nations whom he knows even less about. This state arises largely from inaccurate subconscious associations spurred on, of course, by newspapers and other propaganda. In most cases our conclusion is not reached by any intelligent logical form of reasoning. This state of. affairs has, of course, existed since man first appeared on the scene, but now the possibilities resulting from such thinking are far graver. ° As long as this constant international tension exists, man must be heading for eventual extermination, just as an individual mind with internal stress is heading for lunacy. Is there a solution to the problem? The only possibility would be a mental mutation taking place in mankind in the fairly near future, and some feel this is imminent. This mutation would be in the form of an increased awareness, a state of higher consciousness, a disentanglement of our subconscious from our conscious minds. Probably some minds do reach this state, and it appears to be the goal of various sects such as the Zen Buddhists, Christian mystics and others. Jung described it as the state of "Individuation" attainable in some by a long period of psycho-analysis. Dr Rolf Alexander, better known for his psycho-kinetic "cloud-busting" ability, has recently published a book entitled The Power of the Mind (Werner Laurie), in which he sets out a workable method by which a Westerner can attain a higher state of consciousness. This, however, involves persistent mental exercises for a long period of time, and most students will no doubt fall by the wayside. Most of us still prefer to live amongst our dreams. The subconscious mind is a tolerable, relatively pleasant place. We are, however, becoming increasingly aware that man’s mind has greater potentials than originally thought. J, B; Rhine’s work on parapsychology at Duke University, North Carolina, has recently been published as a Pelican, The Reach of the Mind. Two recent NZBS programmes, "Frontiers of the Mind" and "Native Magic," have told us of such research, Psychical investigation is increasing throughout the world. Whether this will delay the threat of "the bomb" is doubtful. To quote C. G. Jung: "Now the integration of unconscious contents is an individual act of realisation, or understanding and moral evaluation. It is a most difficult task, demanding a high degree of ethical responsibility. Only relatively few individuals can be expected to be capable of such an accomplishment, and they are not the political but the moral leaders of mankind. The maintenance and

further development of civilisation depends upon such individuals." The mind of man will, of course, gradually improve by the normal evolutionary process. The time available for such improvement would appear to be the all-important factor.

J.C.

HAYES

(Kamo),