Books by Jose Silva The Silva Mind Control Method (with Philip Miele) The Silva Mind Control Method for Business Managers (with Robert B. Stone, Ph.D.) The Silva Mind Control Method for Getting Help from Your Other Side (with Robert B. Stone, Ph.D.) The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental Dynamics (with Burt Goldman) Published by POCKET BOOKS Most Pocket Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, pre- miums or fund raising. Special books or book excerpts can also be created to fit specific needs. For details write the office of the Vice President of Special Markets, Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020. POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 Copyright © 1977 by los6 Silva All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 ISBN: 0-671-73989-1 First Pocket Books printing July 1978 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster. Printed in the U.S.A. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors have benefited from the wise and generous help of more friends, associates, and disinterested critics than they can ever hope to acknowledge fully. A few of them are: Marcelino Alcala, Ruth Aley, Manuel Lujan An- ton, Dr. Stephen Applebaum, Robert Barnes, MX)., Joa- banne Blodgett, Larry Blyden, Dr. Fred I. Bremner, Maria Luisa Bruque, Vicki Carr, Dr. Philip Chancellor, Dr. Jeffrey Chang, Dr. Erwin Di Cyan, Dr. George De Sau, Alfredo Duarte, Stanley Feller, M.D., Dord Fitz, Richard Floyd, Paul Fansella, Fermin de la Garza, Ray Glau, Pat Golbitz, Alexandro Gonzales, Reynaldo Gonzales, Father Albeit Gorayeb, Ronald Gorayeb, Paul Grivaa, Sister Michele Guerin, Blaz Gutierrez, Emflio Guzman, Dr. J. Wilfred Hahn, Timothy Harvey, James Hearn, Richard Herro, Larry Hildore, Celeste Holm, Joanne Howell, Margaret Huddleston, Adele Hull, Chris Jensen, Umberto Juarez, Carol Lawrence, Fred Levin, Kate Lombardi, Dorothy Longoria, Alice and Harry McKnight, Dick Mazza, Clancy D. McKenzie, M.D., Dr. James Motiff, Jose Moubayed, Jim Need ham, Wingate Paine, Marguerite Piazza, Eduardo Moniz Resende, Rosa Argentina Rivas, Jose Romero, Al- berto Sanchez Vilchis, M.D., Gerald Seadey, Nelda Sheets, Alexis Smith, Loretta Swit, Pat Teague, Dr. Andre Weitzen- hoffer, Dr. N. E. West, Jim Williams, Lance S. Wright, M.D. DEDICATION To my wife, Paula, my sister, Josefina, my brother, Juan, and all my sons and daughters: Jose Silva, Jr., Isabel Silva de Las Fuentes, Ricardo Silva, Margarita Silva Cantu, Tony Silva, Ana Maria Silva Martinez, Hilda Silva Gonzalez, Laura Silva Lares, Delia Silva and Diana Silva. lost SILVA To Marjorie Miele and Grace and Bill Owen. PHILIP MDBLB CONTENTS BY PHILIP MIELB 11 1. Using Mote of Your Mind in Special Ways 17 2. Meet Jose 22 BY JOSE SILVA 3. Mow to Meditate 29 4. Dynamic Meditation 34 5. Improving Memory 40 6. Speed Learning 46 7. Creative Sleep SO 8» Your Words Have Power 58 9. The Power of Imagissatiosi 65 10. Using Your Mind to Improve Year Health 73 11. An Intimate Exercise for Lovers 83 12. You Can Practice ESP 89 13. Fonts Your Own Practice Group 103 14. How to Help Others wMh Mind Control 108 16. A Checklist 121 BY PHILIP MIELB 17. A Psychiatrist Works with Mind Control 123 18. Your Self-Esteem Will Soar 138 9 10 / CONTENTS 19. Mind Control in the Business World 155 20. Where Do We Go from Here? 163 Appendix I: The Mind Control Coarse and the Organization Behind It JOSE SILVA 172 Appendix IL Silva Mind Control and the Psychiatric Patient CLANCY D. MCKENZIE, M.D., and LANCE s. WRIGHT, MJJ. 182 Appendix HI: Introduction j. w. HAHN, Ph.D. 212 EEG Correlates of Attention in Humans F. J. BREMNER, V. BENIGNTJS, and F. MORITZ of Trinity University 215 Internal Focus as a Subset of Attention F. J. BREMNER and F. MORTTZ, Trinity University 221 References 227 Index 233 INTRODUCTION You are now setting oat on one of the most transform- ing adventures of your life. Each result you achieve will change your view of yourself and of the world you were born into. With your new powers will come a respon- sibility to use them "for the betterment of mankind"— a Mind Control phrase. You cannot use them otherwise, as you are about to learn. The city planner of a Western city closed his office door, leaving his secretary alone and troubled at her desk. The drawings for a proposed shopping mall were missing, and a yes-or-no meeting with city officials was scheduled for later that same week. Jobs have been lost for less, but the planner seemed almost untouched by what would have driven other bosses into a secretary- shattering storm. He sat at his desk. In a moment his eyes closed and he became still and quiet Anyone might have thought he was composing himself in the face of disaster. A full ten minutes later he opened his eyes, rose slowly, and walked outside to his secretary. "I think I've found them," he said calmly. "Let's look at my expense account for last Thursday, when I was in Hartford. What restaurant did I have dinner in?" 11 12 / THE SILVA MIND CONTROL METHOD He telephoned the restaurant The drawings were there. The city planner had been trained in Silva Mind Control, to awaken what for most of us are unused talents of the mind. One of the things he learned was to retrieve memories that have been squirreled away where the untrained mind cannot find them. These awakened talents are doing amazing things for the more than 500,000 men and women who have taken the course. What exactly was the city planner doing when he sat quietly for ten minutes? A report from another Mind Control graduate provides a hint: "I had an incredible experience yesterday in Ber- muda. I had two hours to get on the plane back to New York and couldn't find my plane ticket anywhere. For almost an hour, three of us searched the apartment where I'd been staying. We looked under carpets, be- hind the refrigerator—everywhere. I even unpacked and packed my suitcase three times, but no ticket was found. Finally I decided to find myself a quiet corner and enter my level. No sooner was I at my level than I could 'see' my plane ticket as clearly as if I were ac- tually looking at it. It was (according to my level' sight) in the bottom of a closet tucked in between some books, hardly noticeable. I rushed to the closet and there was the ticket, just as I had imagined it!" To those not trained in Mind Control, this sounds incredible, but when you come to the chapters by Jose" Silva, Mind Control's founder, you will learn of even more amazing powers of your own mind. Perhaps most amazing of all is how easily and quickly you can learn. Mr. Silva has devoted most of his adult life to re- search into what our minds can be trained to do. The result is a 40-to-48-hour course that can train anyone to remember what appears to be forgotten, to control pain, Introduction I 13 to speed healing, to abandon unwanted habits, to spark intuition so that the sixth sense becomes a creative, problem-solving part of daily life. With all this comes a cheerful inner peace, a quiet optimism based on first- hand evidence that we are more in control of our lives than we ever imagined. Now for the first time through the printed word you can learn to practice much of what is taught in the course. Mr. Silva has borrowed freely from both Eastern and Western learning, but the end product is quintessentlaily American. The course, like its founder, is totally prac- tical Everything he teaches Is designed to help you live more happily, more effectively, here and now. As you proceed from one exercise to another in the chapters by Mr. Silva, you will pile one success on top of another and so strengthen your confidence in your- self that you will be ready for achievements which, as- suming you are not acquainted with Mind Control, you now regard as impossible. But there is scientific proof that your mind is capable of miracles. In addition, there is the successful experience of more than a half-million people whose lives Mind Control has changed. Imagine using your mind to improve your eyesight. "While taking my first course in Silva Mind Control Method, I began to notice that my eyes were changing —seemed stronger. Prior to this Td worn glasses ten years through childhood (till I graduated), then again started when I was thirty-eight Always my left eye was said to be three times the weaker of the two. "My first glasses in 1945 were reading glasses, but in '48 or '49 I began wearing bifocals—^msting al- ways to stronger. After the course I found that, while I could not read without glasses, my eyes were certainly stronger. Since they were changing so fast, I waited as 14 / THE SILVA MIND CONTROL METHOD long as possible before having them checked. I even reverted to twenty-year-old glasses. "When the local optometrist tested my eyes, he agreed that the old pair would do much better until the new lenses came." This may seem mysterious to you now, but when you read Chapter 10 you will see exactly how graduates put their minds in charge of their bodies to speed up natural healing. The techniques are amazingly simple, as you will see in the following letter from a woman who lost 26 unwanted pounds in four months: "First I visualized a dark frame and saw a table loaded with ice cream, cake, etc.—all the things I knew put the pounds on. I drew a large red X through the table and saw myself in a mirror that made me look very wide (the kind you find in a carnival fun house). Next I visualized a scene surrounded by golden light: a table on which all the high-protein foods rested—tuna fish, eggs, lean meat. I placed a large golden check mark on this scene and saw myself in a mirror looking very tall and thin. Mentally I told myself that I craved only the foods on the protein-laden table. I also heard all my friends telling me how fantastic I looked and saw all this happening on a specific date (this was the most important step, because I set a goal for myself). And I made it! Having been a chronic dieter, I find this the only method that has worked." This is Mind Control—going to a deep meditative level where you yean train your own mind to take charge, using its own language of images reinforced with words, bringing results that become more and more amazing, with no end in sight for the person who keeps in practice. As you can see, this is no ordinary book. It will take you in easy steps first into meditation, then into the many ways you can use meditation until, when you Introduction I 15 reach the final step, you can do routinely what most people firmly believe cannot be done. It is a book within a book. The outside book (chapters 1 and 2 and 17 through 20), by Philip Miele. de- scribes the almost explosive growth of Mind Control and how it has benefited many thousands of its graduates. In the inside book, Mr. Silva shares with you many of the techniques taught in Mind Control classes. Because these classes are group experiences led by skilled lec- turers, their results are speedier and more spectacular than you will achieve working alone. However, if you follow Mr. Silva's directions carefully and practice the exercises, the results are virtually certain to transform your life for the better—not as speedily, but just as certainly. There is a special way to read this book: first read it as you would any other, from beginning to end. How- ever, during your first reading, do not begin to practice any of the exercises. Then reread chapters 3 to 14 to get an even clearer, overall picture of the roads you are about to travel. Next read Chapter 3 and practice die exercises in it—and only those exercises—for a few weeks. When you know you are ready, go on to Chap- ter 4, and so on. When you reach Chapter 14 you will already be an experienced practitioner of much that Mind Control graduates have learned. To further enrich your expe- rience, you may wish to form a small group of friends who have practiced the same exercises. Chapter 13 teDs you how to do this. CHAPTER ONE USING MORE OF YOUR MIND IN SPECIAL WAYS Imagine coming into direct, working contact with an all-pervading higher intelligence and learning in a mo- ment of numinous joy that it is on your side. Imagine too that you made this contact in such simple ways that for the rest of your life you need never again feel help- lessly out of touch with something you always suspected was there but could never quite reach—a helpful wis- dom, a flash of insight when you need it, the feeling of a loving, powerful presence. How would it feel? It would be a peak experience not too different— perhaps not different at all—from spiritual awe. This is what it feels like after four days of Silva Mind Control training. So far, more than a half-million peo- ple know; they have been through it. And as they be- come more accustomed to using the methods that produce this feeling they settle down into a calm, self- confident use of new powers and energies, their lives richer, healthier, freer of problems. Shortly Jose" Silva will explain some of these methods so that you will be able to start using them yourself. First let's look in on the beginning of a Mind Control class and see what takes place. 17 18 / THE SILVA MIND CONTROL METHOD To start off, there is an introductory lecture of about an hour and twenty minutes. The lecturer defines Mind Control and outlines the two decades of research that led to its development. Then, briefly, he describes ways the students will be able to apply what they learn in improv- ing health, solving everyday problems, learning more easily, and deepening spiritual awareness. A twenty- minute break follows. Over coffee the students become acquainted. They are from widely varying backgrounds. Physicians, sec- retaries, teachers, taxi drivers, housewives, high-school and college students, psychiatrists, religious leaders, re- tired people—this is a typical mix. After the break there is another hour-and-twenty- minute session beginning with some questions and an- swers, then down to business with the first training exercise, which will lead to a meditative level of mind. The lecturer explains that this is a state of deep relaxa- tion, deeper than in sleep itself but accompanied by a special kind of awareness. It is in fact an altered state of consciousness used in virtually every meditative dis- cipline and in intensive prayer. No drugs or biofeedback machines are used. Mind Control lecturers speak of entering this state as "going to your level," or sometimes "going into Alpha." In a thirty-minute exercise they lead the student there gently, giving instructions in plain English. In fact all of Mind Control is in plain English: no scientific jargon or Far Eastern words. Several of the students may already have learned to meditate before coming to class, some using methods that take a few weeks to learn, others after months of determined effort. They are amazed at a simple exercise that takes only thirty minutes. One of the first things students hear is, "You are