People imagine all kind of things which have no real substance, yet I have heard that imagination is very important in relation to supersensory development. Is this so?

Imagination can be either positive or negative, constructive or useless; as with many things it is what is done with it that matters. A prime law of psychology states that in any contest between the will and imagination the latter always wins. Therefore, developmental systems advocating the use of will-power alone are inferior to those which give pre-eminence to imagination. If you can imagine (strongly enough) that you can do something you will eventually be able to accomplish it. What your imagination tells your subconscious mind is possible becomes possible; similarly, what your subconscious mind is told is impossible become impossible. Take the following as an example. Place a long plank on bricks, just off the ground, and walk across it. You will have no difficulty at all, you can even run across it. However, if you are in a tall building, some stories up and because of a fire below the only escape route is across the same plank placed between a window of the building and a window of a building across the street, you will find it impossible to cross. This is because your imagination comes into play and warns about the hazards of the crossing, so you become dizzy. If you attempted to cross you would certainly sway and if you persisted you would fall. No matter how much will-power you generate you will not be able to accomplish the feat, for your imagination will have told you that it was impossible. If you were capable of properly exercising your imagination, as you would through supersensory development then you could imagine yourself reaching the other side and the crossing could be accomplished. Such a feat has been tried on a number of occasions and is one of the classical examples of the principle involved. This is the principle employed by tight rope walkers and also trick cyclists who cycle across ropes stretched over canyons. They discipline their imagination and use it constructively. Unfortunately the word ‘imagination’ has now come to mean something fanciful, unbelievable or fantastic, but this is only as it manifest in its negative aspect, as undisciplined imagination.