The first part is a quick biography explaining how Jose Silva came to his discovery and development of the Silva Method. The rest of it is a how-to manual. It lays the groundwork for his later books which concentrate on applying these principles to your life.

The Silva Method is based on a simple philosophy that you become what you think you are. If you have a negative self-image, then you become that person in the real world. If you want to change who you are in the real world, you need to change who you are in your mind. And he tells you how to do it.

on one level, it's a beginner's course in positive thinking, giving you step-by-step instructions on active meditation and creative visualization. Silva tells you how to go to your "alpha level" (a semi-conscious dream state), create a positive self-image, and turn it into reality. Even if you never get past this beginning stage, if all you can do is repeat Emile Coue's daily affirmations, "Every day in every way, I'm getting better and better" and "Negative thoughts have no influence over me", you'll still be so much better for it. It's really like positive self-programming.

But, on another level, it's also an advanced course teaching you how to expand your mind to increase your intelligence, improve your memory, develop ESP, heal your injuries and disease, and even heal others. Getting there is a little more difficult for most of us because it involves a leap of logic and faith. We have to overcome our belief systems.

You may have some difficulty with this book if you tend to be very literal in a scientific sense. We all know the mind is capable of many things, but there's no hard scientific evidence for some of Silva's more extraordinary claims. There's only anecdotal evidence, mostly of the kind that cannot be measured or quantified. Believing that your mind can influence yourself may be easy to accept, but believing that your mind can influence others requires a leap in logic. 

You may also have some difficulty with this book if you tend to be very literal in a strict Christian sense. The Silva philosophy is that you can control, or at least greatly influence, your own destiny. And you need a strong faith ... in yourself. Then you can do anything ... even things we might think of as "miracles". That might be hard to reconcile with your belief that only God can perform miracles. He also speaks of God in a more universal sense, a "Higher Intelligence". It sounds more like the "Force" in Star Wars than the Biblical God. 

Anyway, Silva's books can mean many different things to many different people. The scientific community has debunked it. The religious community has denounced it. And it sounds a little too New Age-ish. 

But, in the final analysis, it's really a recipe for finding -- within ourselves -- the happiness, peace, understanding and success we're all searching for.