This is the message behind the Silva Method, which has reportedly helped millions of people worldwide to develop their brain potential through a system of "dynamic'' or "active'' meditation.

Unlike passive meditation which has been practised for thousands of years and conjures up images of Eastern yogis and gurus, the Silva Method is a faster, more practical affair that goes a step further, claiming that easily learned relaxation techniques can enable anyone to increase their brain power by using both right and left hemispheres of the brain.

Ms Velories Figures, who has already brought the Silva Method to over 200 people in Bermuda, describes the concept as being drawn on the most modern knowledge of how the brain actually works: "The left side of the brain controls the physical and logical skills, such as mathematics, language and science, whereas the right hemisphere is the creative side, governing imagination, art, insight and intuition.'' Jose Silva is a Mexican-American who never went to school, yet went on to become an electronics engineer, now owns the largest electronics business in south Texas, is chairman of four corporations and holds honourary degrees. His research began in 1944 and his `Mind Control Method' was launched in 1966. He realised that young children have equal powers in both the right and left side of the brain, but as it is the latter, physical side that is developed, the power of the right hemisphere gradually diminishes. He explains that only about 10 percent of adults think in a balanced way, using both sides, with the other 90 percent using the left hemisphere to the near exclusion of the right.

According to Mr. Silva, everyday thinking takes place at about 20 cycles per second while awake and from one to four cycles when asleep. The intermediate frequency, at about 10 percent, which is thought to be the ideal "thinking'' frequency, can be achieved through relaxation and is referred to by scientists as the "alpha'' level. At this level the brain is then free to work creatively, primarily by the process of visualisation, or imagination. His method teaches people how to function mentally at a deeply relaxed level, or to constructively daydream.

This relatively simple concept has achieved a worldwide following, with the Silva Method currently being taught in 94 countries.

Ms Figures emphasises that it is an educational programme that teaches a form of relaxation that eliminates the stress of everyday life: "It is generally realised that stress can lead to chronic illness and the Silva Method has been used in many countries to treat terminally ill patients, including those with AIDS and cancer. Some people have had health drastically improved and at the very least the technique has helped people find serenity and peace of mind.'' Silva `graduates' also speak enthusiastically of memory enhancement, improved business skills and better student grades. The system is also widely used to improve general health, overcome problems of substance abuse, including cigarette smoking, cure insomnia and lose weight.

Ms Figures first heard about the Silva Method when she was in London, just over five years ago. Armed with a degree in psychology and another from Harvard Law School, she went to London to study for her bar examinations: "After I'd done the Silva course, I gradually came to realise that I wanted to follow my own dreams -- not the dreams my father had lain down for me.'' It was after she took a specialist counselling course at the Institute for Human Sexuality in London in order to help people who were testing positive with the AIDS virus, that she realised the skills acquired through Silva were helping her to assist people who were ill. So, in 1988, she took a personal teacher-training course with Mr. Silva.

Since then she has been teaching in the US, with several courses also being held in Bermuda: "My greatest satisfaction is seeing how it has changed other peoples' lives... For me, it is as if a great fog has been lifted, the world... is a better place.'' She stresses the method cannot guarantee "bad'' things won't happen to good people, but it gives the skills to cope: "To overcome stress, you have to learn to look at events in such a way that they become constructive innovations in your life, as opposed to barriers that have been raised to prevent you from doing what you want.'' Ms Figures is planning another Silva course starting this week: "Over two weekends we hold a combination of short lecture periods along with relaxation exercises designed to teach you how to use each of the skills involved. At the end of each day people go away knowing how to accomplish whatever has been learned in the session. For example, it might be a relaxation technique that shows you how to sleep without using medication, or how to overcome migraines and headaches.'' Several local participants have attested to the success of the technique, one of them a young mother who had chronic fatigue syndrome for two years. Doctors were unable to help her and by the time she heard of the Silva Method, she was having difficulty in holding a hair-dryer or a knife and fork. After completing the first half of the course, she astonished her family by going off on a walk of several miles and is now cured.

Ms Figures will hold free, introductory lectures on the method at the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday from 5.30 to 7 p.m., or from 7.30 to 9 p.m. Telephone 238-0609 for further information.

TEACHING THE SILVA METHOD -- Ms Velories Figures.