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Teach Us To Pray
How to Handle the Psychic Forces of Consciousness
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[Teach Us To Pray]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
THE FIRST step of a Truth student in handling the psychic
forces of consciousness is the same as that in handling any
other, and that is to realize that God is the one and only
power; to declare with Byron: "There is no god but God!--to
prayer--lo! God is great!"
The name psyche, which figures in Greek mythology, means
breath, life. Psyche is represented as one of the three
daughters of a king. These three "daughters" are spirit,
soul, and body. Psyche is the soul in its many earthly
experiences, in its failures and its successes.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His law
is for the use of all alike. Man interprets His law and
operates in accord with it to the best of his ability in
his endeavor to grow and prove his mastery over the many
events that take place in his life.
If man would become expert in handling scientifically the
psychical forces, he should first get a thorough
understanding of just what these forces are, and above all
he should know that like other forces they are subservient
to God's law. The psychic
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or soul realm includes the sum total of consciousness, all
that the individual has experienced.
In analyzing the soul realm we have first the animal soul.
The animal soul comprises all sensations and all thoughts
that we entertain with reference to animal life. Through
man's thought the animal soul forms the animal man.
The second element in the soul realm, the human soul, is
one step higher than the animal, and comprises all the
thoughts and emotions we entertain on the human plane of
consciousness: thoughts of family, of friends, of business
associates, or personal possessions.
The third and highest element of soul is the spiritual.
This phase of the soul is the depository of all thoughts
and aspirations we have ever had about God and things
spiritual. Here also we find a consciousness that relates
us to God and forms the connecting link between the human
and the divine. When through prayers, meditations, and good
works man has built spiritual qualities into his soul to
the point of dominance over the animal and human natures,
he is ready for the regeneration with Jesus Christ.
It is true that through the animal and human departments of
the soul we are in sympathy with all nature, which includes
the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and as these
are all ensouled, their reactions affect us when there is
no higher power in evidence. But there is a higher power in
us every one: Spirit. In Genesis it is stated that spiritual
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man, the image-and-likeness man, was given dominion over
all creation. As Shakespeare aptly says,
"The fault is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
In our ongoing we endeavor always to bear in mind that God
is the one and only power. We must know and realize that
the great intelligence of God works in every conceivable
way to lead us into the light, thus aiding us in avoiding
error conditions. The indwelling Christ will "neither
slumber nor sleep"; with the Holy Spirit it is teaching us
the great truth that we are "Gods in the making" and that
as such we have dominion over every thought and condition.
When Jesus was born in the manger in Bethlehem the star
appeared in the east and pointed the way for the Wise Men
to the spot where the young child lay. A mighty soul had
been incarnated and had come to do a mighty work on the
earth. So great was the occasion that the whole heavenly
universe sang with joy. This to the individual means that a
speck of light shone in the east, the within, revealing to
the illumined soul what was taking place. The star is a
symbol of potentiality; it represents expanding
possibilities. The saving I AM had at last made its
spiritual power manifest in the earth. But was the star
seen by those who were not spiritually illumined? No. They
had eyes but saw not. Only the illumined, the awakened,
could perceive
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the star of Bethlehem. So the spiritual I AM is often doing
a great work in a man, and the man knows it not. This
scripture also reveals the way in which Spirit often uses
the so-called psychic to do its bidding, to reveal its
power.
Today men are breaking into the psychic realm as never
before and, not being consciously unified with Spirit, are
becoming entangled in their own mentality, in addition to
the psychic vibrations of the whole race. Often this leads
to very unpleasant experiences.
In fact all people are being quickened, and in the absence
of an understanding of Truth erratic states of mind are
formed that cause fantastic notions about many things.
Persons in this condition often become supersensitive and
imagine that they are being criticized, that others are
talking about them, and a thousand and one other things.
Very often this condition is the result of trying to
communicate with the dead through mediums and
spiritualistic seances.
There is a realm in which the souls that have left the body
are functioning feebly. Spiritualists call it "spirit land"
or "the home of the soul." The early Christians taught that
those who had passed away were asleep. This is not true of
all persons, but those who have lived a long, strenuous
life and are weary want rest and fall asleep. Paul said,
"Because you have not discerned the Lord's body you have
fallen asleep." Others who have lost their body early in
life are ready for immediate action
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in reincarnation and do not find sleep necessary.
Eventually all souls reincarnate on the earth as babes and
in due time take up their problems where they left off at
death. But before they do reincarnate they sometimes try to
communicate with their loved ones here on earth. This is
never satisfactory and leads nowhere. Persons who sit in
seances are taking a great risk. Instead of really getting
in touch with their loved ones they are apt to make contact
with psychic forces of a low order that tend to weaken
their faith in God.
Paul said, "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood,
but against the principalities, against the powers, against
the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
When a person is established in the Christ power and
dominion, he finds that Spirit often uses the mental realm
to reveal to him some message that is of vital importance
to him. Such messages are imparted through dreams and
visions. When the soul is still, as in sleep, the Spirit of
truth throws the message on the screen of the mind in the
form of thought pictures. One only has to read the symbols
in order to receive the message. If the message is
constructive, it is well to praise God and give thanks. If
it is of a destructive nature, take the message into the
silence and place it before God. Hold the thought for light
until you have the realization that the illumination of
Spirit permeates and penetrates the whole condition.
Spiritual light transforms, reconstructs,
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and makes beautiful. Joseph, the son of Jacob, was an
expert at interpreting dreams and visions. However many of
the patriarchs of old were well versed in the art of
deciphering the visions of the night.
Again the psychic realm is the realm in which primitive man
(Adam and Eve) first functioned. Instead of listening to
the Lord they listened to the serpent (the sense man) and
learned to indulge in sensation until it depleted divine
substance. Disintegration of the body followed. This is
physical death. For this cause the human family lost their
original estate in the ethereal or heavenly kingdom and
descended into earthly fleshly consciousness.
We are now, through Christ, listening to Jehovah God,
through whom we are learning the law of life, and we are
being restored to the understanding that all the factors
that enter into life are here all the time and are ours to
use. Through Christ man has dominion. Through Christ it is
possible for us to make the perfect union between soul and
body, and enter into the consciousness of Almightiness,
thus being restored to the paradise of God from which we
originally came forth.
We should not think of the psychic realm as evil or be
afraid of it. Through Christ we possess mastery and
dominion over all realms. Through our own Christ dominion
we develop spiritual powers to handle the psychic realm to
great advantage. And that this is a realm in which
tremendous forces are present is being discovered by the
investigations of
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physical science. Jesus often referred to the "kingdom of
the heavens" or the kingdom of God, which He said was very
nigh unto us and even within us. This kingdom is above the
psychic, awaiting our appropriation of it through prayer.
Jesus told His followers that after His ascension they were
to go into the upper room in Jerusalem (a high, peaceful
state of consciousness), where the Holy Spirit would come
upon them with power. Science says the ether possesses
dynamic power beyond anything we can imagine. Sir Oliver
Lodge is quoted as saying that there is energy enough in
one cubic inch of ether to run a forty-horsepower engine
for forty millions of years. This is beyond all human
conception; but many of the stories that science is telling
us about the power of the ether are fully equal to this,
and if they were in the Bible skeptics would point to them
as examples of the credulity of the Christians.
Jesus says that all power should be given to us, which
carries with it the idea of unlimited capacity.
For mastery and dominion over all conditions affirm:
I AM THAT I AM.
Through Jesus Christ I am the master of every realm of
consciousness in my being.
Through Jesus Christ I enter into a full and complete
understanding of how to handle all states of consciousness
to the glory of God.
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I am illumined with the light of Spirit, and I bring "every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
I commit all my works unto Jehovah, and my purposes are
established.
Every plane of consciousness in me is transformed by the
renewing of the mind.
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