Recently, I found some very interesting information about the subconscious mind that I wasn’t aware of prior. In an online article, entitled, Scientific Facts About The Subconscious Mind, we learn that our “genes are controlled and manipulated by how we think.” The article goes on to say:
“Some really smart molecular biologists have discovered a new perspective as to why we are the way we are, and why we do what we do. Foremost among them is former professor of medicine at Stanford University, Dr. Bruce Lipton.
He found that our genes are in fact controlled and manipulated by how our minds perceive and interpret our environment. It was formerly believed that genes themselves would dictate our traits and form who and how we are.”
The article then goes on to list some amazing things about the power of the subconscious mind:
1. The subconscious will not act outside of its fixed programs previously stored.
2. It responds without the knowledge or control of the conscious mind.
3. 97% of our actions are controlled by the subconscious mind.
4. Only the subconscious mind has memory.
5. The subconscious has no concept of time in a linear fashion, that’s why when we sleep time goes by so quickly or when you enjoy something you really enjoy.
6. There is no such thing as yesterday or tomorrow, only the present..
7. It processes 40 million bits of data per second, the conscious mind processes only 40 bits per second.
8. All our decisions, actions, emotions and behaviour depend on 95% of brain activity that is below our conscious awareness. This means that 95 – 99% of our life comes from previous subconscious programming.
There were many other facts about the subconscious mind listed in tis article that the reader is encouraged to investigate. Amazingly, these things were also known in ancient times, among those who practiced what is known as Shinto today. In Shinto cosmology, Omohi-kane-no-Kami (also spelled Omoikane) represents the subconscious mind. Wikipedia states the following about this Omoikane:
“A heavenly deity, identified as a child of Taka-mi-musubi-no-kami, who is always called upon to “ponder” (omopu) and give good counsel in the deliberations of the heavenly deities.”
As with many of the kami described in ancient texts, like the Nihon Shoki, represent certain forces of influence and phenomena that lies outside the preview of the five senses. Amaterasu Omikami & The Force of Kundalini, and A Proper Definition of the Shinto Term Kami are two articles that illustrate this principle.
There are a few examples where Omohi-kane-no-Kami was called upon by the Amatsukami (heavenly deities) to help bring things into fruition and help solve problems. The subconscious mind operates on its own. It processes certain impulses received, the thoughts and desires we meditate upon, the things we are exposed to, are absorbed by the subconscious mind and then it begins to create reality based on what is received. It does so with non-discriminatory care.
Omohi-kane-no-Kami, being the subconscious mind, however, was employed and sought after by the heavenly deities. These heavenly deities, Amatsukami, are symbolic of the superconscious mind. The mark of divinity is when the superconscious mind is the force of influence over subconscious mind. Mortality is an individual whose subconscious mind is just running rampant. The conscious mind has no influence over the subconscious mind’s actions and how it creates reality. Florence Scovel Shinn, in the book, The Game of Life and How To Play It, states:
“There are three departments of the mind, the subconscious, conscious and superconscious. The subconscious, is simply power, without direction. It is like steam or electricity, and it does what it is directed to do; it has no power of induction…. This means that the subconscious mind or soul, must be restored with the right ideas, and the “mystical marriage” is the marriage of the soul and the spirit, or the subconscious and superconscious mind. They must be one. When the subconscious is flooded with the perfect ideas of the superconscious, God and man are one, “I and the Father are one.” That is, he is one with the realm of perfect ideas; he is the man made in God’s likeness and image (imagination) and is given power and dominion over all created things, his mind, body and affairs. ”
Shinn’s description of the relationship between the subconscious and the superconscious minds is often depicted in Shinto mythology as Omohi-kane-no-Kami being summoned by the “gods.” Omohi-kane-no-Kami represents not simply the subconscious mind, but the subconscious mind under the guidance and direction of the superconscious mind. When Amaterasu Omikami his in the rock-cave, the Nihon Shoki states that the following occurred:
“Then the eighty myriads of Gods met on the bank of the Tranquil River of Heaven, and considered in what manner they should supplicate her. Accordingly Omohi-kane-no-Kami with profound device and far-reaching thought , at length gathered long-singing birds of the Eternal land and made them utter their prolonged cry to one another.”
Omohi-kane-no-Kami is mentioned later in the Nihon Shoki, when he is petitioned, this time by Amaterasu Omikami, in regards to some advice concerning Ame-waka-hiko:
‘Therefore, Amaterasu-no Oho-kami summoned Omohi-kane no Kami (the Thought-combiner) and inquired the reason why he did not come. Now the Thought-combining Deity reflected and informed her, saying: “It will be well to send the pheasant to inquire into this.”
It is interesting to note that in both of these experiences cited, Omohi-kane-no-Kami utilized birds in the process of finding some resolve. This is interesting as the Ninzuwu are often associated with birds. In The Ivory Tablets of the Crow, we read:
“The Ninzuwu know well the Path of Dreams. During these days of Calling, the rays of the Sun will anoint thee. The Ninzuwu may visit the person of these operations in physical form, usually as one ripe in years. They also speak through beautiful birds and plants.”
Some sources associate birds with the “spirits of the dead.” Under the topic, Torii, Wikipedia states :
“In Japan birds have also long had a connection with the dead, this may mean it was born in connection with some prehistorical funerary rite. Ancient Japanese texts like the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki for example mention how Yamato Takeru after his death became a white bird and in that form chose a place for his own burial. For this reason, his mausoleum was then called shiratori misasagi (白鳥陵?, white bird grave). Many later texts also show some relationship between dead souls and white birds, a link common also in other cultures, shamanic like the Japanese. Bird motifs from the Yayoi and Kofun periods associating birds with the dead have also been found in several archeological sites. This relationship between birds and death would also explain why, in spite of their name, no visible trace of birds remains in today’s torii: birds were symbols of death, which in Shinto brings defilement (kegare).”
I’m not sure how accurate the latter part of the above cited information is. If birds are seen as a defilement in Shinto , then how is it that they were useful to such deities as Amaterasu Omikami, who sent a “crow” to guide Emperor Jimmu, or the example of Omohi-kane-no-Kami? It is without a doubt a clear indication of an ancient form of spirituality that resembled more closely the rites in the Nihon Shoki during the Age of the Gods. This is Ninzuwu. Birds are also symbolic of starry energies. In the Encyclopedia of Shinto , Omohi-kane-no-Kami is described as:
“An offspring of the kami Takamimusuhi, and endowed with the ability to “think together” (omoi-kane) about various things. In Sendai kuji hongi, the kami’s name is also given as Yagokoro Omoikane no kami (“the kami that thinks together myriad thoughts”)”
