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CAUSES AND CONDITIONS.
THE expression "relative first cause" has been used in the
last section to distinguish the action of the creative principle in the
individual mind from Universal First Cause on the one hand and from
secondary causes on the other. As it exists in us, primary causation
is the power to initiate a train of causation directed to an individual
purpose. As the power of initiating a fresh sequence of cause and effect
it is first cause, and as referring to an individual purpose it is relative,
and it may therefore be spoken of as relative first cause, or the power
of primary causation manifested by the individual. The understanding and
use of this power is the whole object of Mental Science, and it is therefore
necessary that the student should clearly see the relation between causes
and conditions. A simple illustration will go further for this purpose
than any elaborate explanation. If a lighted candle is brought into a room
the room becomes illuminated, and if the candle is taken away it becomes
dark again. Now the illumination and the darkness are both conditions,
the one positive resulting from the presence of the light,
and the other negative resulting from its absence: from this simple example
we therefore see that every positive condition has an exactly opposite
negative condition corresponding to it, and that this correspondence results
from their being related to the same
cause, the one positively and the other negatively; and hence we may
lay down the rule that all positive conditions result from the active presence
of a certain cause, and all negative conditions from the absence of such
a cause. A condition, whether positive or negative, is never primary
cause, and the primary cause of any series can never be negative,
for negation is the condition which arises from the absence of active causation.
This should be thoroughly understood as it is the philosophic basis of
all those "denials" which play so important a part in Mental Science, and
which may be summed up in the statement that evil being negative, or privation
of good, has no substantive existence in itself. Conditions, however, whether
positive or negative, are no sooner called into existence than they become
causes in their turn and produce further conditions, and so on ad infinitum,
thus giving rise to the whole train of secondary causes. So long as
we judge only from the information conveyed to us by the outward senses,
we are working on the plane of secondary causation and see nothing but
a succession of conditions, forming part of an endless train of antecedent
conditions coming out of the past and stretching away into the future,
and from this point of view we are under the rule of an iron destiny from
which there seems no possibility of escape. This is because the outward
senses are only capable of dealing with the relations which one mode of
limitation bears to another, for they are the instruments by which we take
cognizance of the relative and the conditioned. Now the only way of escape
is by rising out of the region of secondary causes into that of primary
causation, where the originating energy is to be found before it has yet
passed into manifestation as a condition. This region is to be found within
ourselves; it is the region of pure ideas; and it is for this reason
that I have laid stress on the two aspects of spirit as pure thought and
manifested form. The thought-image or ideal pattern of a thing is the first
cause relatively to that thing; it is the substance of that thing untrammelled
by any antecedent conditions.
If we realize that all visible things must have their origin in
spirit, then the whole creation around us is the standing evidence that
the starting-point of all things is in thought-images or ideas, for no
other action than the formation of such images can be conceived of spirit
prior to its manifestation in matter. If, then, this is spirit’s modus
operandi for self— expression, we have only to transfer this conception
from the scale of cosmic spirit working on the plane of
the universal to that of individualized spirit working
on the plane of the particular, to see that the formation of an
ideal image by means of our thought is setting first cause in motion with
regard to this specific object. There is no difference in kind between
the operation of first cause in the universal and in the particular, the
difference is only a difference of scale, but the power itself is identical.
We must therefore always be very clear as to whether we are consciously
using first cause or not. Note the word "consciously" because, whether
consciously or unconsciously, we are always using first cause; and it was
for this reason I emphasized the fact that the Universal Mind is purely
subjective and therefore bound by the laws which apply to subjective mind
on whatever scale. Hence we are always impressing some sort of ideas
upon it, whether we are aware of the fact or not, and all our existing
limitations result from our having habitually impressed upon it that idea
of limitation which we have imbibed by restricting all possibility to the
region of secondary causes. But now when investigation has shown us that
conditions are never causes in themselves, but only the subsequent
links of a chain started on the plane of the pure ideal, what we have to
do is to reverse our method of thinking and regard the ideal as the real,
and the outward manifestation as a mere reflection which
must change with every change of the object which casts it. For
these reasons it is essential to know whether we are consciously making
use of first cause with a definite purpose or not, and the criterion is
this. If we regard the fulfilment of our purpose as contingent upon any
circumstances, past, present, or future, we are not making use of
first cause; we have descended to the level of secondary causation, which
is the region of doubts, fears, and limitations, all of which we are impressing
upon the universal subjective mind with the inevitable result that it will
build up corresponding external conditions. But if we realize that the
region of secondary causes is the region of mere reflections we shall not
think of our purpose as contingent on any conditions whatever, but shall
know that by forming the idea of it in the absolute, and maintaining that
idea, we have shaped the first cause into the desired form and can await
the result with cheerful expectancy.
It is here that we find the importance of realizing spirit’s independence
of time and space. An ideal, as such, cannot be formed in the future. It
must either be formed here and now or not be formed at all; and it is for
this reason that every teacher, who has ever spoken with due knowledge
of the subject, has impressed upon his followers the necessity of picturing
to themselves the fulfilment of their desires as already accomplished
on the spiritual plane, as the indispensable
condition of fulfilment in the visible and concrete.
When this is properly understood, any anxious thought as to the means
to be employed in the accomplishment of our purposes is seen
to be quite unnecessary. If the end is already secured, then it follows
that all the steps leading to it are secured also. The means will pass
into the smaller circle of our con-. scious activities day by day in due
order, and then we have to work upon them, not with fear, doubt, or feverish
excitement, but calmly and joyously, because we know that the end
is already secured, and that our reasonable use of such means as present
themselves in the desired direction is only one portion of a much larger
co-ordinated movement, the final result of which admits of no doubt. Mental
Science does not offer a premium to idleness, but it takes all work out
of the region of anxiety and toil by assuring the worker of the success
of his labour, if not in the precise form he anticipated, then in some
other still better suited to his requirements. But suppose, when we reach
a point where some momentous decision has to be made, we happen to decide
wrongly? On the hypothesis that the end is already secured you cannot decide
wrongly. Your right decision is as much one of the necessarysteps in the
accomplishment of the end as any of the other conditions leading up to
it, and therefore, while being careful to avoid rash action, we may make
sure that the same Law which is controlling
the rest of the circumstances in the right direction will influence our
judgment in that direction also. To get good results we must properly understand
our relation to the great impersonal power we are using. It is intelligent
and we are intelligent, and the two intelligencies must co-operate. We
must not fly in the face of the Law by expecting it to do for us
what it can only do through us; and we must therefore use our intelligence
with the knowledge that it is acting as the instrument of a greater
intelligence; and because we have this knowledge we may, and should,
cease from all anxiety as to the final result. In actual practice we must
first form the ideal conception of our object with the definite intention
of impressing it upon the universal mind—it is this intention which takes
such thought out of the region of mere casual fancies—and then affirm that
our knowledge of the Law is sufficient reason for a calm expectation of
a corresponding result, and that therefore all necessary conditions will
come to us in due order. We can then turn to the affairs of our daily life
with the calm assurance that the initial conditions are either there already
or will soon come into view. If we do not at once see them, let us rest
content with the knowledge that the spiritual prototype is already in existence
and wait till some circumstance pointing in the desired direction begins
to show itself.
It may be a very small circumstance, but it is the direction and not
the magnitude which is to be taken into consideration. As soon as we
see it we should regard it as the first sprouting of the seed we have
sown in the Absolute, and do calmly, and without excitement, whatever the
circumstances may seem to require, and then later on we shall see that
this doing will in turn lead to further circumstances in the same direction
until we find ourselves conducted step by step to the accomplishment of
our object. In this way the understanding of the great principle of the
Law of Supply will, by repeated experiences, deliver us more and more completely
out of the region of anxious thought and toilsome labour and bring us into
a new world where the useful employment of all our powers, whether mental
or physical, will only be an unfolding of our individuality upon the lines
of its own nature, and therefore a perpetual source of health and happiness;
a sufficient inducement, surely, to the careful study of the laws governing
the relation between the individual and the Universal Mind.
x.
INTUITION.
WE have seen that the subjective mind is amenable to suggestion by the
objective mind; but there is also an action of the subjective mind upon
the objective. The individual’s subjective mind is his own innermost self,
and its first care is the maintenance of the individuality of which it
is the foundation; and since it is pure spirit it has its continual existence
in that plane of being where all things subsist in the universal here and
the everlasting now, and consequently can inform the lower mind of things
removed from its ken either by distance or futurity. As the absence of
the conditions of time and space must logically concentrate all things
into a present focus, we can assign no limit to the subjective mind’s power
of perception, and therefore the question arises, why does it not keep
the objective mind continually informed on all points? And the answer is
that it would do so if the objective mind were sufficiently trained to
recognize the indications given, and to effect this training is one of
the purposes of Mental Science. When once we recognize the position of
the subjective mind as the supporter of the whole individuality we cannot
doubt that much of what we take to be the spontaneous movement of the objective
mind has its origin in the subjective mind prompting the objective mind
in the right direction without our being consciously aware of it. But at
times when the urgency of the case seems to demand it, or when, for some
reason yet unknown, the objective mind is for a while more closely en
rapport with the subjective mind, the interior voice is heard strongly
and persistently; and when this is the case we do well to pay heed to it.
Want of space forbids me to give examples, but doubtless such will not
be wanting in the reader’s experience.
The importance of understanding and following the intuition cannot be
exaggerated, but I candidly admit the great practical difficulty of keeping
the happy mean between the disregard of the interior voice and allowing
ourselves to be run away with by groundless fancies. The best guide is
the knowledge that comes of personal experience which gradually leads to
the acquisition of a sort of inward sense of touch that enables us to distinguish
the true from the false, and which appears to grow with the sincere desire
for truth and with the recognition of the spirit as its source. The only
general principles the writer can deduce from his own experience are that
when, in spite of all appearances pointing in the direction of a certain
line of conduct, there is still
a persistent feeling that it should not be followed, in the majority
of instances it will be found that the argument of the objective mind,
however correct on the facts objectively known, was deficient from ignorance
of facts which could not be objectively known at the time, but which were
known to the intuitive faculty. Another principle is that our very first
impression of feeling on any subject is generally correct. Before the
objective mind has begun to argue on the subject it is like the surface
of a smooth lake which clearly reflects the light from above; but as soon
as it begins to argue from outside appearances these also throw their reflections
upon its surface, so that the original image becomes blurred and is no
longer recognizable. This first conception is very speedily lost, and it
should therefore be carefully observed and registered in the memory with
a view to testing the various arguments which will subsequently arise on
the objective plane. It is however impossible to reduce so interior an
action as that of the intuition to the form of hard and fast rules, and
beyond carefully noting particular cases as they occur, probably the best
plan for the student will be to include the whole subject of intuition
in the general principle of the Law of Attraction, especially if he sees
how this law interacts with that personal quality of universal spirit of
which we have already spoken.
HEALING.
THE subject of healing has been elaborately treated by many writers
and fully deserves all the attention that has been given to it, but the
object of these lectures is rather to ground the student in those general
principles on which all conscious use of the creative power of thought
is based, than to lay down formal rules for specific applications of it.
I will therefore examine the broad principles which appear to be common
to the various methods of mental healing which are in use, each of which
derives its efficacy, not from the peculiarity of the method, but from
it being such a method as allows the higher laws of Nature to come into
play. Now the principle universally laid down by all mental healers, in
whatever various terms they may explain it, is that the basis of all healing
is a change in belief. The sequence from which this results is as follows
: -- the subjective mind is the creative faculty within us, and creates
whatever the objective mind impresses upon it; the objective mind, or intellect,
impresses its thought upon it; the thought is the expression of the belief;
hence whatever the subjective mind creates is the reproduction externally
of our beliefs. Accordingly our whole object is to change our beliefs,
and we cannot do this without some solid ground of conviction of the falsity
of our old beliefs and of the truth of our new ones, and this ground we
find in that law of causation which I have endeavoured to explain. The
wrong belief which externalizes as sickness is the belief that some secondary
cause, which is really only a condition, is a primary cause. The knowledge
of the law shows that there is only one primary cause, and this
is the factor which in our own individuality we call subjective or sub-conscious
mind. For this reason I have insisted on the difference between placing
an idea in the sub-conscious mind, that is, on the plane of the absolute
and without reference to time and space, and placing the same idea in the
conscious intellectual mind which only perceives things as related to time
and space. Now the only conception you can have of yourself in the
absolute, or unconditioned, is as purely living Spirit, not hampered
by conditions of any sort, and therefore not subject to illness; and when
this idea is firmly impressed on the sub-conscious mind, it will externalize
it. The reason why this process is not always successful at the first attempt
is that all our life we have been holding the false belief in sickness
as a substantial entity in itself and thus being a primary cause, instead
of being merely a negative condition resulting from the absence
of a primary cause; and a belief which has become ingrained from childhood
cannot be eradicated at a moment’s notice. We often find, therefore, that
for some time after a treatment there is an improvement in the patient’s
health, and then the old symptoms return. This is because the new belief
in his own creative faculty has not yet had time to penetrate down to the
innermost depths of the subconscious mind, but has only partially entered
it. Each succeeding treatment strengthens the subconscious mind in its
hold of the new belief until at last a permanent cure is effected. This
is the method of self-treatment based on the patient’s own knowledge of
the law of his being.
But "there is not in all men this knowledge," or at any rate not such
a full recognition of it as will enable them to give successful treatment
to themselves, and in these cases the intervention of the healer becomes
necessary. The only difference between the healer and the patient is that
the healer has learnt how to control the less self-conscious modes of the
spirit by the more self-conscious mode, while the patient has not yet attained
to this knowledge; and what the healer does is to substitute his own objective
or conscious mentality, which is will joined to intellect, for that of
the patient, and in this way to find entrance to his subconscious mind
and impress upon it the suggestion of perfect health.
The question then arises, how can the healer substitute his own conscious
mind for that of the patient? and the answer shows the practical application
of those very abstract principles which I have laid down in the earlier
sections. Our ordinary conception of ourselves is that of an individual
personality which ends where another personality begins, in other words
that the two personalities are entirely separate. This is an error. There
is no such hard and fast line of demarcation between personalities, and
the boundaries between one and another can be increased or reduced in rigidity
according to will, in fact they may be temporarily removed so completely
that, for the time being, the two personalities become merged into one.
Now the action which takes place between healer and patient depends on
this principle. The patient is asked by the healer to put himself in a
receptive mental attitude, which means that he is to exercise his volition
for the purpose of removing the barrier of his own objective personality
and thus affording entrance to the mental power of the healer. On his side
also the healer does the same thing, only with this difference, that while
the patient withdraws the barrier on his side with the intention of admitting
a flowing-in, the healer does so with the intention of allowing a flowing-out:
and thus by the joint action of the two minds the barriers of both personalities
are removed and the direction of the flow of volition is determined, that
is to say, it flows from the healer as actively willing to give, towards
the patient as passively willing to receive, according to the universal
law of Nature that the flow must always be from the plenum to the
vacuum. This mutual removal of the external mental barrier between
healer and patient is what is termed establishing a rapport between
them, and here we find one most valuable practical application of the principle
laid down earlier in this book, that pure spirit is present in its entirety
at every point simultaneously. It is for this reason that as soon as the
healer realizes that the barriers of external personality between himself
and his patient have been removed, he can then speak to the sub-conscious
mind of the patient as though it were his own, for both being pure spirit
the thought of their identity makes them identical, and both
are concentrated into a single entity at a single point upon which the
conscious mind of the healer can be brought to bear, according to the universal
principle of the control of the subjective mind by the objective mind through
suggestion. It is for this reason I have insisted on the distinction between
pure spirit, or spirit conceived of apart from extension in any
matrix and the conception of it as so extended. If we concentrate our mind
upon the diseased condition of the patient we are thinking of him as a
separate personality, and are not fixing our mind upon that conception
of him as pure spirit which will afford us effectual entry to his springs
of being. We must therefore withdraw our thought from the contemplation
of symptoms, and indeed from his corporeal personality altogether, and
must think of him as a purely spiritual individuality, and as such entirely
free from subjection to any conditions, and consequently as voluntarily
externalizing the conditions most expressive of the vitality and intelligence
which pure spirit is. Thinking of him thus, we then make mental affirmation
that he shall build up outwardly the correspondence of that perfect vitality
which he knows himself to be inwardly; and this suggestion being impressed
by the healer’s conscious thought, while the patient’s conscious thought
is at the same time impressing the fact that he is receiving the active
thought of the healer, the result is that the patient’s sub-conscious mind
becomes thoroughly imbued with the recognition of its own life-giving power,
and according to the recognized law of subjective mentality proceeds to
work out this suggestion into external manifestation, and thus health is
substituted for sickness.
It must be understood that the purpose of the process here described
is to strengthen the subject’s individuality, not to dominate it.To use
it for domination is inversion, bringing its appropriate penalty
to the operator.
In this description I have contemplated the casewhere the patient is consciously
co-operating with the healer, and it is in order to obtain this co-operation
that the mental healer usually makes a point of instructing the patient
in the broad principles of Mental Science, if he is not already acquainted
with them. But this is not always advisable or possible. Sometimes the
statement of principles opposed to existing prejudices arouses opposition,
and any active antagonism on the patient’s part must tend to intensify
the barrier of conscious personality which it is the healer’s first object
to remove. In these cases nothing is so effective as absent treatment.
If the student has grasped all that has been said on the subject of
spirit and matter, he will see that in mental treatment time and space
count for nothing, because the whole action takes place on a plane where
these conditions do not obtain; and it is therefore quite immaterial whether
the patient be in the immediate presence of the healer or in a distant
country. Under these circumstances it is found by experience that one of
the most effectual modes of mental healing is by treatment during sleep,
because then the patient’s whole system is naturally in a state of relaxation
which prevents him offering any conscious opposition to the treatment.
And by the same rule the healer also is able to treat even more effectively
during his own sleep than while waking. Before going to sleep he firmly
impresses on his subjective mind that it is to convey curative suggestion
to the subjective mind of the patient, and then, by the general principles
of the relation between subjective and objective mind this suggestion is
carried out during all the hours that the conscious individuality is wrapped
in repose. This method is applicable to young children to whom the principles
of the science cannot be explained; and also to persons at a distance:
and indeed the only advantage gained by the personal meeting of the patient
and healer is in the instruction that can be orally given, or when the
patient is at that early stage of knowledge where the healer’s visible
presence conveys the suggestion that something is then being done which
could not be done in his absence; otherwise the presence or absence of
the patient are matters perfectly indifferent. The student must always
recollect that the sub-conscious mind does not have to work through
the intellect or conscious mind to produce its curative effects. It
is part of the all-pervading creative force of Nature, while the intellect
is not creative but distributive.
From mental healing it is but a step to telepathy, clairvoyance and
other kindred manifestations of transcendental power which are from time
to time exhibited by the subjective entity and which follow laws as accurate
as those which govern what we are accustomed to consider our more normal
faculties; but these subjects do not properly fall within thescope of a
book whose purpose is to lay down the broad principles which underlie all
spiritual phenomena. Until these are clearly understood the student
cannot profitably attempt the detailed study of the more interior powers;
for to do so without a firm foundation of knowledge and some experience
in its practical application would only be to expose himself to unknown
dangers, and would be contrary to the scientific principle that the advance
into the unknown can only be made from the standpoint of the known, otherwise
we only come into a confused region of guess-work without any clearly defined
principles for our guidance.
THE WILL.
THE Will isof such primary importance that the student should be on
his guard against any mistake as to the position which it holds in the
mental economy. Many writers and teachers insist on will-power as though
that were the creative faculty. No doubt intense will-power can evolve
certain external results, but like all other methods of compulsion it lacks
the permanency of natural growth. The appearances, forms, and conditions
produced by mere intensity of will-power will only hang together so long
as the compelling force continues; but let it be exhausted or withdrawn,
and the elements thus forced into unnatural combination will at once fly
back to their proper affinities; the form created by compulsion never had
the germ of vitality in itself and is therefore dissipated as soon
as the external energy which supported it is withdrawn. The mistake is
in attributing the creative power to the will, or perhaps I should say
in attributing the creative power to ourselves at all. The truth is that
man never creates anything. His function is, not to create, but to combine
and distribute that which is already in being, and what we call our creations
are new combinations of already existing material, whether mental or corporeal.
This is amply demonstrated in the physical sciences. No one speaks of creating
energy, but only of transforming one form of energy into another; and if
we realize this as a universal principle, we shall see that on the mental
plane as well as on the physical we never create energy but only provide
the conditions by which the energy already existing in one mode can exhibit
itself in another: therefore what, relatively to man, we call his creative
power, is that receptive attitude of expectancy which, so to say, makes
a mould into which the plastic and as yet undifferentiated substance can
flow and take the desired form. The will has much the same place in our
mental machinery that the tool-holder has in a power-lathe: it is not the
power, but it keeps the mental faculties in that position relatively to
the power which enables it to do the desired work. If, using the word in
its widest sense, we may say that the imagination is the creative function,
we may call the will the centralizing principle. Its function is to keep
the imagination centred in the right direction.
We are aiming at consciously controlling our mental powers instead of
letting them hurry us hither and thither in a purposeless manner, and we
must therefore understand the relation of these powers to each other for
the production of external results. First the whole train of causation
is started by some emotion which gives rise to a desire; next the judgment
determines whether we shall externalize this desire or not; then the desire
having been approved by the judgment, the will comes forward and directs
the imagination to form the necessary spiritual prototype; and the imagination
thus centred on a particular object creates the spiritual nucleus, which
in its turn acts as a centre round which the forces of attraction begin
to work, and continue to operate until, by the law of growth, the concrete
result becomes perceptible to our external senses.
The business of the will, then, is to retain the various faculties of
our mind in that position where they are really doing the work we wish,
and this position may be generalized into the three following attitudes:
either we wish to act upon something, or be acted on by it, or to maintain
a neutral position; in other words we either intend to project a force,
or receive a force, or keep a position of inactivity relatively to some
particular object. Now the judgment determines which of these three positions
we shall take up, the consciously active, the consciously receptive, or
the consciously neutral; and then the function of the will is simply to
maintain the position we have determined upon; and if we maintain any given
mental attitude we may reckon with all certainty on the law of attraction
drawing us to those correspondences which
exteriorly symbolize the attitude in question. This is very different from
the semi-animal screwing-up of the nervous forces which, with some
people, stands for will-power. It implies no strain on the nervous system
and is consequently not followed by any sense of exhaustion. The will-power,
when transferred from the region of the lower mentality to the spiritual
plane, becomes simply a calm and peaceful determination to retain a certain
mental attitude in spite of all temptations to the contrary, knowing
that by doing so the desired result will certainly appear.
The training of the will and its transference from the lower to the
higher plane of our nature are among the first objects of Mental Science.
The man is summed up in his will. Whatever he does by his own will is his
own act; whatever he does without the consent of his will is not his own
act but that of the power by which his will was coerced; but we must recognize
that, on the mental plane, no other individuality can obtain control over
our will unless we first allow it to do so; and it is for this reason that
all legitimate use of Mental Science is towards the strengthening of the
will, whether in ourselves or others, and bringing it under the control
of an enlightened reason. When the will realizes its power to deal with
first cause it is no longer necessary for the operator to state to himself
in extenso all the philosophy of its action every time he wishes
to use it, but, knowing that the trained will is a tremendous spiritual
force acting on the plane of first cause, he simply expresses his desire
with the intention of operating on that plane, and knows that the desire
thus expressed will in due time externalize itself as concrete fact. He
now sees that the point which really demands his earnest attention is not
whether he possesses the power of externalizing any results he chooses,
but of learning to choose wisely what results to produce. For let us not
suppose that even the highest powers will take us out of the law of cause
and effect. We can never set any cause in motion without calling forth
those effects which it already contains in embryo and which will again
become causes in their turn, thus producing a series which must continue
to flow on until it is cut short by bringing into operation a cause of
an opposite character to the one which originated it. Thus we shall find
the field for the exercise of our intelligence continually expanding with
the expansion of our powers; for, granted a good intention, we shall always
wish to contemplate the results of our action as far as our intelligence
will permit. We may not be able to see very far, but there is one safe
general principle to be gained from what has already been said about causes
and conditions, which is that the whole sequence always partakes of the
same character as the initial cause: if
that character is negative, that is, destitute of any desire to externalize
kindness, cheerfulness, strength, beauty or some other sort of good, this
negative quality will make itself felt all down the line; but if the opposite
affirmative character is in the original motive, then it will reproduce
its kind in forms of love, joy, strength and beauty with
unerring precision. Before setting out, therefore, to produce new conditions
by the exercise of our thought-power we should weigh carefully what further
results they are likely to lead to; and here, again, we shall find an ample
field for the training of our will, in learning to acquire that self-control
which will enable us to postpone an inferior present satisfaction to a
greater prospective good.
These considerations naturally lead us to the subject
of concentration. I have just now pointed out that all duly controlled
mental action consists in holding the mind in one of three attitudes; but
there is a fourth mental condition, which is that of letting our mental
functions run on without our will directing them to any definite purpose.
It is on this word purpose that we must fix our whole attention;
and instead of dissipating our energies, we must follow an intelligent
method of concentration. The word means being gathered up at a centre,
and the centre of anything is that point in which all its forces are equally
balanced. To concentrate therefore means first to bring our minds into
a condition of equilibrium which will enable us to consciously direct the
flow of spirit to a definitely recognized purpose, and then carefully to
guard our thoughts from inducing a flow in the opposite direction. We must
always bear in mind that we are dealing with a wonderful po tential
energy which is not yet differentiated into any particular mode, and
that by the action of our mind we can differentiate it into any specific
mode of activity that we will; and by keeping our thought fixed on the
fact that the inflow of this energy is taking place and that by
our mental attitude we are determining its direction, we shall gradually
realize a corresponding externalization. Proper concentration, therefore,
does not consist of strenuous effort which exhausts the nervous system
and defeats its own object by suggesting the consciousness of an adverse
force to be fought against, and thus creating the adverse circumstances
we dread; but in shutting out all thoughts of a kind that would disperse
the spiritual nucleus we are forming and dwelling cheerfully on the knowledge
that, because the law is certain in its action, our desire is certain of
accomplishment. The other great principle to be remembered is that concentration
is for the purpose of determining the quality we are going to give
to the previously undifferentiated energy rather than to arrange the specific
circumstances of its manifestation. That is the work of
the creative energy itself, which will build up its own forms of expression
quite naturally if we allow it, thus saving us a great deal of needless
anxiety. What we really want is expansion in a certain direction, whether
of health, wealth, or what not: and so long as we get this, what does it
matter whether it reaches us through some channel which we thought we could
reckon upon or through some other whose existence we had not suspected.
It is the fact that we are concentrating energy of a particular kind for
a particular purpose that we should fix our minds upon, and not look upon
any specific details as essential to the accomplishment of our object.
These are the two golden rules regarding concentration; but we must not
suppose that because we have to be on our guard against idle drifting there
is to be no such thing as repose; on the contrary it is during periods
of repose that we accumulate strength for action; but repose does not mean
a state of purposelessness. As pure spirit the subjective mind never rests:
it is only the objective mind in its connection with the physical body
that needs rest; and though there are no doubt times when the greatest
possible rest is to be obtained by stopping the action of our conscious
thought altogether, the more generally advisable method is by changing
the direction of the thought and, instead of centering it upon something
we intend to do, letting it dwell quietly upon what we are. This
direction of thought might, of course, develop into the deepest philosophical
speculation, but it is not necessary that we should be always either consciously
projecting our forces to produce some external effect or working out the
details of some metaphysical problem; but we may simply realize ourselves
as part of the universal liviugness and thus gain a quiet centralization,
which, though maintained by a conscious act of the volition, is the very
essence of rest. From this standpoint we see that all is Life and all is
Good, and that Nature, from her clearly visible surface to her most arcane
depths, is one vast storehouse of life and good entirely devoted to our
individual use. We have the key to all her treasures, and we can now apply
our knowledge of the law of being without entering into all those details
which are only needed for purposes of study, and doing so we find it results
in our having acquired the consciousness of our oneness with the whole.
This is the great secret: and when we have once fathomed it we can
enjoy our possession of the whole, or of any part of it, because by our
recognition we have made it, and can increasingly make it, our own. Whatever
most appeals to us at any particular time or place is that mode of the
universal living spirit with which at that moment we are most in touch,
and realizing this, we shall draw from it streams of vital energy which
will make the very sensation of livinguess a joy and will radiate from
us as a sphere of vibration that can deflect all injurious suggestion on
whatever plane. We may not have literary, artistic, or scientific skill
to present to others the results of our communings with Nature, but the
joy of this sympathetic indrawing will nevertheless produce a corresponding
outflow manifesting itself in the happier look and kindlier mien of him
who thus realizes his oneness with every aspect of the whole. He realizes—and
this is the great point in that attitude of mind which is not directed
to any specific external object—that, for himself, he is, and always must
be the centre of all this galaxy of Life, and thus he contemplates himself
as seated at the centre of infinitude, not an infinitude of blank space,
but pulsating with living being, in all of which he knows that the true
essence is nothing but good. This is the very opposite to a selfish self-centredness:
it is the centre where we find that we both receive from all and flow out
to all. Apart from this principle of circulation there is no true life,
and if we contemplate our central position only as affording us greater
advantages for in-taking, we have missed the whole point of our studies
by missing the real nature of the Life-principle, which is action and re-action.
If we would have life enter into us, we ourselves must enter into life—enter
into the spirit of it, just as we must enter into the spirit of a book
or a game to enjoy it.
There can be no action at a centre only. There must be a perpetual flowing
out towards the circumfcrence, and thence back again to the centre to maintain
a vital activity; otherwise collapse must ensue either from anemia or congestion.
But if we realize the reciprocal nature of the vital pulsation, and that
the out-flowing consists in the habit of mind which gives itself to the
good it sees in others, rather than in any specific actions, then we shall
find that the cultivation of this disposition will provide innumerable
avenues for the universal livingness to flow through us, whether as giving
or receiving, which we had never before suspected: and this action and
re-action will so build up our own vitality that each day will find us
more thoroughly alive than any that had preceded
it. This, then, is the attitude of repose in which we may enjoy all
the beauties of science, literature and art or may peacefully commune with
the spirit of nature without the aid of any third mind to act as its interpreter,
which is still a purposeful attitude although not directed to a specific
object: we have not allowed the will to relax its control, but have merely
altered its direction; so that for action and repose alike we find that
our strength lies in our recognition of the unity of the spirit and of
ourselves as individual concentrations of it.
IN TOUCH WITH SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND.
THE preceding pages have made the student
in some measure aware of the immense importance of our dealings
with the sub-conscious mind. Our relation to it, whether on the scale of
the individual or the universal, is the key to all that we are or ever
can be. In its unrecognized working it is the spring of all that we can
call the automatic action of mind and body, and on the universal scale
it is the silent power of evolution gradually working onwards to that "divine
event, to which the whole creation moves"; and by our conscious recognition
of it we make it, relatively to ourselves, all that we believe it to be.
The closer our rapport with it becomes, the more what we have hitherto
considered automatic action, whether in our bodies or our circumstances,
will pass under our control, until at last we shall control our whole individual
world. Since, then, this is the stupendous issue involved, the question
how we are to put ourselves practically in touch with the sub-conscious
mind is a very important one. Now the clue which gives us the right direction
is to be found in the impersonal quality of subconscious mind of
‘which I have spoken. Not impersonal as lacking the elements of
personality; nor even, in the case of individual subjective mind, as lacking
the sense of individuality; but impersonal in the sense of not recognizing
the particular external relations which appear to the objective mind to
constitute its personality, and having a realization of itself quite inde-.
pendent of them. If, then, we would come in touch with it we must meet
it on its own ground. It can see things only from the deductive standpoint,
and therefore cannot take note of the inductive standpoint from which we
construct the idea of our external personality; and accordingly if we would
put ourselves in touch with it, we cannot do so by bringing it down to
the level of the external and non-essential but only by rising to its own
level on the plane of the interior and essential. How can this be done?
Let two well-known writers answer. Rudyard Kipling tells us in his story
of "Kim" how the boy used at times to lose his sense of personality by
repeating to himself the question, Who is Kim? Gradually his personality
would seem to fade and he would experience a feeling of passing into a
grander and a wider life, in which the boy Kim was unknown, while his own
conscious individuality remained, only exalted and expanded to an inconceivable
extent; and in Tennyson’s life by his son we are told that at times the
poet had a similar experience. We come into touch with
the absolute exactly in proportion as we withdraw ourselves from the relative:
they vary inversely to each other.
For the purpose, then, of getting
into touch with our subconscious mind we must endeavour to think of
ourselves as pure being, as that entity which interiorly supports the outward
manifestation, and doing so we shall realize that the essential quality
of pure being must be good. It is in itself pure Life, and
as such cannot desire anything detrimental to pure Life under whatever
form manifested. Consequently the purer our intentions the more readily
we shall place ourself en rapport with our subjective entity; and
a fortiori the same applies to that Greater Sub-conscious Mind of
which our individual subjective mind is a particular manifestation. In
actual practice the process consists in first forming a clear conception
in the objective mind of the idea we wish to convey to the subjective mind:
then, when this has been firmly grasped, endeavour to lose sight of all
other facts connected with the external personality except the one in question,
and then mentally address the subjective mind as though it were an independent
entity and impress upon it what you want it to do or to believe. Everyone
must formulate his own way of working, but one method, which is both simple
and effective is to say to the subjective mind, "This is what I want you
to do; you will now step into my
place and do it, bringing all your powers and intelligence to bear, and
considering yourself to be none other than myself." Having done this return
to the realization of your own objective personality and leave the subjective
mind to perform its task in full confidence that, by the law of its nature,
it will do so if not hindered by a repetition of contrary messages from
the objective mind. This is not a mere fancy but a truth daily proved by
the experience of increasing numbers. The facts have not been fabricated
to fit the theory, but the theory has been built up by careful observation
of the facts; and since it has been shown both by theory and practice that
such is the law of the relation between subjective and objective mind,
we find ourselves face to face with a very momentous question. Is there
any reason why the laws which hold good of the individual subjective mind
should not hold good of the Universal Mind also? and the answer is that
there is not. As has been already shown the Universal Mind must, by its
very universality, be purely subjective, and what is the law of a part
must also be the law of the whole: the qualities of fire are the same whether
the centres of combustion be great or small, and therefore we may well
conclude these lectures by considering what will be the result if we apply
what we have learnt regarding the individual subjective mind to the Universal
Mind.
We have learnt that the three great
facts regarding subjective mind are its creative power, its amenableness
to suggestion, and its inability to work by any other than the deductive
method. This last is an exceedingly important
point, for it implies that the action of the subjective mind is in no way
limited by precedent. The inductive method works on principles inferred
from an already existing pattern, and therefore at the best only produces
the old thing in a new shape. But the deductive method works according
to the essence or spirit of the principle, and does not depend on
any previous concrete manifestation for its apprehension of it; and this
latter method of working must necessarily be that of the all-originating
Mind, for since there could be no prior existing pattern from which it
could learn the principles of construction, the want of a pattern would
have prevented its creating anything had its method been inductive instead
of deductive. Thus by the necessity of the case the Universal Mind must
act deductively, that is, according to the law which has been found true
of individual subjective mind. It is thus not bound by any precedent, which
means that its creative power is absolutely unlimited; and since it is
essentially subjective mind, and not objective mind, it is entirely amenable
to suggestion. Now it is an unavoidable inference from the identity of
the law governing subjective mind, whether in the individual or the universal,
that just as we can by suggestion impress a certain character of personality
upon the individual subjective mind, so we can, and do, upon the Universal
Mind; and it is for this reason that I have drawn attention to the inherent
personal quality of pure spirit when contemplated in its most interior
plane.
It becomes, therefore, the most important of all considerations with
what character we invest the Universal Mind; for since our relation to
it is purely subjective it will infallibly bear to us exactly
that character which we impress upon it; in other words it will be to us
exactly what we believe it to be. This is simply a logical inference from
the fact that, as subjective mind, our primary relation to it can only
be on the subjective plane, and indirectly our objective relations must
also spring from the same source. This is the meaning of that remarkable
passage twice repeated in the Bible, "With the pure thou wilt show thyself
pure, and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward" (Ps. xviii.,
26, and II. Sam. xxii., 27),
for the context makes it clear that these words are
addressed to the Divine Being. The spiritual kingdom is within us,
and as we realize it there so it becomes to us a reality. It is
the unvarying law of the subjective life that "as a man thinketh in his
heart so is he," that is to say, his inward subjective states are the only
true reality, and what we call external realities are only their objective
correspondences. If we thoroughly realize the truth that the Universal
Mind must be to us exactly according to
our conception of it, and that this relation is not merely imaginary
but by the law of subjective mind must be to us an actual fact and the
foundation of all other facts, then it is impossible to over-estimate the
importance of the conception of the Universal
Mind which we adopt.
To the uninstructed there is little or no choice: they form a conception
in accordance with the tradition they have received from others, and until
they have learnt to think for themselves, they have to abide by the results
of that tradition: for natural laws admit of no exceptions, and however
faulty the traditional idea may be, its acceptance will involve a corresponding
reaction upon the Universal Mind, which will in turn be reflected into
the conscious mind and external life of the individual. But those who understand
the law of the subject will have no one but themselves to blame if they
do not derive all possible benefits from it. The greatest Teacher of Mental
Science the world has ever seen has laid down sufficiently plain rules
for our guidance. With a knowledge of the subject whose depth can be appreciated
only by those who have themselves some practical acquaintance with it,
He bids His unlearned audiences, those common people who heard Him gladly,
picture to themselves the Universal Mind as a benign Father, tenderly compassionate
of all and sending the commonbounties of Nature alike on the evil and the
good; but He also pictured It as exercising a special and peculiar care
over those who recognize Its willingness to do so --
" the very hairs of your head are all numbered," and "ye
are of more value than many sparrows." Prayer was to be made to the unseen
Being, not with doubt or fear, but with the absolute assurance of a certain
answer, and no limit was to be set to its power or willingness to work
for us. But to those who did not thus realize it, the Great Mind is necessarily
the adversary who casts them into prison until they have paid the uttermost
farthing; and thus in all cases the Master impressed upon his hearers the
exact correspondence of the attitude of this unseen Power towards them
with their own attitude towards it. Such teaching was not a
narrow anthropomorphism but the adaptation to the intellectual capacity
of the unlettered multitude of the very deepest truths of what we now call
Mental Science. And the basis of it all is the cryptic personality of spirit
hidden throughout the infinite of Nature under every form of manifestation.
As unalloyed Life and Intelligence it can be no other than
good, it can entertain no intention of evil, and thus all intentional evil
must put us in opposition to it, and so deprive us of the consciousness
of its guidance and strengthening and thus leave us to grope our own way
and fight our own battle single-handed against the universe, odds which
at last will surely prove too great for
us. But remember that the opposition can never
be on the part of the Universal Mind, for in itself it is sub-conscious
mind; and to suppose any active opposition taken on its own initiative
would be contrary to all we have learnt as to the nature of sub-conscious
mind whether in the individual or the universal; the position of the Universal
Mind towards us is always the reflection of our own attitude. Therefore
although the Bible is full of threatening against those who persist in
conscious opposition to the Divine Law of Good, it is on the other hand
full of promises of immediate and full forgiveness to all who change their
attitude and desire to co-operate with the Law of Good so far as they know
it. The laws of Nature do not act vindictively; and through all theological
formularies and traditional interpretations let us realize that what we
are dealing with is the supreme law of our own being; and it is
on the basis of this natural law that we find such declarations as that
in Ezek. xviii., 22, which
tells that if we forsake our evil ways our past transgressions shall never
again be mentioned to us. We are dealing with the great principles of our
subjective being, and our misuse of them in the past can never make them
change their inherent law of action. If our method of using them in the
past has brought us sorrow, fear and trouble, we have only to fall back
on the law that if we reverse the cause the effects will be reversed also;
and so what we have to do is simply to reverse our mental attitude
and then endeavour to act up to the new one. The sincere endeavour to act
up to our new mental attitude is essential, for we cannot really think
in one way and act in another; but our repeated failures to fully act as
we would wish must not discourage us. It is the sincere intention
that is the essential thing, and this will in time
release us from the bondage of habits which at pres almost
insuperable.
The initial step, then, consists in determining
to picture the Universal Mind as the ideal of all we could wish it to be
both to ourselves and to others, together with the endeavour to reproduce
this ideal, however imperfectly, in our own life; and this step having
been taken, we can then cheerfully look upon it as our ever-present Friend,
providing all good, guarding from all danger, and guiding us with all counsel.
Gradually as the habit of thus regarding the Universal Mind grows upon
us, we shall find that in accordance with the laws we have been considering,
it will become more and more personal to us, and in response to our desire
its inherent intelligence will make itself more and more clearly perceptible
within as a power of perceiving truth far beyond any statement of it that
we could formulate by merely intellectual investigation. Similarly if
we think of it as ) a great power devoted to supplying all our
needs, we shall impress this
character also upon it, and by the law of subjective mind it will proceed
to enact the part of that special providence which we have credited it
with being; and if, beyond the general care of our concerns, we would draw
to ourselves some particular benefit, the same rule holds good of impressing
our desire upon the Universal Subjective Mind. And if we realize
that above and beyond all this we want something still greater and more
enduring, the building-up of character and unfolding of our powers so that
we may expand into fuller and yet fuller measures of joyous and joy-giving
Life, still the same rule holds good: convey to the Universal Mind the
suggestion of the desire, and by the law of relation between subjective
and objective mind this too will be fulfilled. And thus the deepest problems
of philosophy bring us back to the old statement of the Law :—Ask and ye
shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto
you. This is the summing-up of the natural law of the relation between
us and the_Divine Mind. It is thus no vain boast that Mental Science can
enable us to make our lives what we will. We must start from where we are
now, and by rightly estimating our relation to the Divine Universal Mind
we can gradually grow into any conditions we desire, provided we first
make ourselves in habitual mental attitude the person who corresponds to
those conditions: for we can never get over the law
of correspondence, and the externalization will always be
in accord with the internal principle that gives rise to it. And to this
law there is no limit. What it can do for us to-day it can do tomorrow,
and through all that procession of to-morrows that loses itself in the
dim vistas of eternity. Belief in limitation is the one and only thing
that causes limitation, because we thus impress limitation upon the creative
principle; and in proportion as we lay that belief aside our boundaries
will expand, and increasing life and more abundant blessing will be ours.
But we must not ignore our responsibilities. Trained thought is far
more powerful than untrained, and therefore the more deeply we penetrate
into Mental Science the more carefully we must guard against all thoughts
and words expressive of even the most modified form of ill-will. Gossip,
tale-bearing, sneering laughter, are not in accord with the principles
of Mental Science; and similarly even our smallest thoughts of good carry
with them a seed of good which will assuredly bear fruit in due time. This
is not mere "goodie, goodie," but an important lesson in Mental Science,
for our subjective mind takes its colour from our settled mental habits,
and an occasional affirmation or denial will not be sufficient to change
it; and we must therefore cultivate that tone which we wish to see reproduced
in our conditions whether of body, mind, or circumstance.
In these lectures my purpose has been,
not so much to give specific rules of practice as to lay down the
broad general principles of Mental Science which will enable the student
to form rules for himself. In every walk in life, book knowledge is only
a means to an end. Books can only direct us where to look and what to look
for, but we must do the finding for ourselves; therefore, if you
have really grasped the principles of the science, you will frame rules
of your own which will give you better results than any attempt to follow
somebody else’s method, which was successful in their hands precisely because
it was theirs. Never fear to be yourself. If Mental Science does not teach
you to be yourself it teaches you nothing. Yourself, more yourself, and
yet more yourself is what you want; only with the knowledge that the-true
self includes the inner and higher self which is always in immediate touch
with the Great Divine Mind.
As Walt Whitman says :—" You are not all
included between your hat and your boots."
The growing popularity of the Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science
has led me to add to the present edition three more sections on Body, Soul,
and Spirit, which it is hoped will prove useful by rendering the principles
of the inter-action of these three factors somewhat clearer.
THE BODY.
SOME students find it difficult to realize
that mental action can produce any real effect upon material substance;
but if this is not possible there is no such thing as Mental Science, the
purpose of which is to produce improved conditions both of body and environment,
so that the ultimate manifestation aimed at is always one of demonstration
upon the plane of the visible and concrete. Therefore to afford conviction
of an actual connection between the visible and the invisible, between
the inner and the outer, is one of the most important points in the course
of our studies.
That such a connection must exist is proved by metaphysical argument in
answer to the question, "How did anything ever come into existence at all?"
And the whole creation, ourselves included, stands as evidence to this
great truth. But to many minds merely abstract argument is not completely
convincing, or at any rate it becomes more convincing if it is supported
by something of a more concrete nature; and for such readers I would give
a few hints as to the correspondence between the physical and the
mental. The subject covers a very wide area, and the limited space
at my disposal will only allow me to touch on a few suggestive points,
still these may be sufficient to show that the abstract argument has some
corresponding facts at the back of it.
One of the most convincing proofs I have seen is that afforded by
the "biometre," a little instrument invented by an eminent French scientist,
the late Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc, which shows the action of what he calls
the " vital current." His
theory is that this force, whatever its actual nature may be, is universally
present, and operates as a current of physical vitality perpetually, flowing
with more or less energy through every physical organism, and which can,
at any rate to some extent, be controlled by the power of the human will.
The theory in all its minutie is exceedingly elaborate, and has been described
in detail in Dr. Baraduc’s published works. In a conversation I had with
him about a year ago, he told me he was writing another book which would
throw further light on the subject, but a few months later he passed over
before it was presented to the world. The fact, however, which I wish to
put before the reader, is the ocular demonstration of the connection between
mind and matter, which an experiment with the biometre affords.
The instrument consists of a bell glass, from the inside of which is suspended
a copper needle by a fine silken thread. The glass stands on a wooden support,
below which is a coil of copper wire, which, however, is not connected
with any battery or other apparatus, and merely serves to condense the
current. Below the needle, inside the glass, there is a circular card divided
into degrees to mark the action of the needle. Two of these instruments
are placed side by side, but in no way connected, and the experimenter
then holds out the fingers of both hands to within about an inch of the
glasses. According to the theory, the current enters at the left hand,
circulates through the body, and passes out at the right hand, that is
to say, there is an indrawing at the left and a giving-out at the right,
thus agreeing with Reichenbach’s experiments on the polarity of the human
body.
I must confess that, although I had read Dr. Baraduc’s book, "Les Vibrations
Humaines," I approached the instrument in a very sceptical frame of mind;
but I was soon convinced of my error. At first, holding a mental attitude
of entire relaxation, I found that the left-hand needle was attracted through
twenty degrees, while the right-hand needle, the one affected by the out-going
current, was repelled through ten degrees. After allowing the instrument
to return to its normal equilibrium I again approached it with the purpose
of seeing whether a change of mental attitude would in the least modify
the flow of current. This time I assumed the strongest mental attitude
I could with the intention of sending out a flow through the right hand,
and the result as compared with the previous one was remarkable. The left-hand
needle was now attracted only through ten degrees, while the right-hand
one was deflected through something over thirty, thus clearly indicating
the influence of the mental faculties in modifying the action of the current.
I may mention that the experiment was made in the presence of two medical
men who noted the movement of the needles.
I will not here stop to discuss the question of what the actual constitution
of this current of vital energy may be—it is sufficient for our present
purpose that it is there, and the experiment I have described brings us
face to face with the fact of a correspondence between our own mental attitude
and the invisible forces of nature. Even if we say that this current is
some form of electricity, and that the variation of its action is determined
by changes in the polarization of the atoms of the body, then this change
of polarity is the result of mental action; so that the quickening or retarding
of the cosmic current is equally the result of the mental attitude whether
we suppose our mental force to act directly upon the current itself or
indirectly by inducing changes in the molecular structure of the body.
Whichever hypothesis we adopt the conclusion is the same, namely, that
the mind has power to open or close the door to invisible forces in such
a way that the result of the mental action becomes apparent on the material
plane.
Now, investigation shows that the physical body is a mechanism specially
adapted for the transmutation of the inner or mental power into modes of
external activity. We know from medical science that the whole body is
traversed by a network of nerves which serve as the channels of communication
between the indwelling, spiritual ego which we call mind, and the
functions of the external organism. This nervous system is dual. One system,
known as the Sympathetic, is the channel for all those activities which
are not consciously directed by our volition, such as the operation of
the digestive organs, the repair of the daily wear and tear of the tissues,
and the like. The other system, known as the Voluntary or Cerebro-spinal
system, is the channel through which we receive conscious perception from
the physical senses and exercise control over the movements of the body.
This system has its centre in the brain, while the other has its centre
in a ganglionic mass at the back of the stomach known as the solar plexus,
and sometimes spoken of as the abdominal brain. The cerebero-spinal system
is the channel of our volitional or conscious mental action, and the sympathetic
system is the channel of that mental action which unconsciously
supports the vital functions of the body. Thus the cerebro-spinal system
is the organ of concious mind and the sympathetic is that
of sub-conscious mind.
But the interaction of conscious and
subconscious mind requires a similar interaction between the corresponding
systems of nerves, and one conspicuous connection by which this is provided
is the nerve. This nerve passes out of the cerebral region as a portion
of the voluntary system, and through it we control the vocal gans; then
it passes onwards to the thorax sending out branches to the heart and lungs;
and finally, passing through the diaphragm, it loses the outer coating
which distinguishes the nerves of the voluntary system and becomes identified
with those of the sympathetic system, so forming a connecting link between
the two and making the man physically a single entity.
Similarly different areas of the brain indicate their connection with
the objective and subjective activities of the mind respectively, and speaking
in a general way we may assign the frontal portion of the brain to the
former and the posterior portion to the latter, while the intermediate
portion partakes of the character of both.
The intuitional faculty has its correspondence in this upper area of
the brain situated between the frontal and posterior portions, and physiologically
speaking, it is here that intuitive ideas find entrance. These at first
are more or less unformed and generalized in character, but are nevertheless
perceived by the conscious mind, otherwise we should not be aware of them
at all. Then the effort of nature is to bring these ideas into more definite
and usable shape, so the conscious mind lays hold of them and induces a
corresponding vibratory current in the voluntary system of nerves, and
this in turn induces a similar current in the involuntary system, thus
handing the idea over to the subjective mind. The vibratory current which
had first descended from the apex of the brain to the frontal brain and
thus through the voluntary system to the solar plexus is now reversed and
ascends from the solar plexus through the sympathetic system to the posterior
brain, this return current indicating the action of the subjective mind.
If we were to remove the surface portion of the apex of the brain
we should find immediately below it the shining belt of brain substance
called the " corpus
callosum." This is the point of union between the subjective and objective,
and as the current returns from the solar plexus to this point it is restored
to the objective portion of the brain in a fresh form which it has acquired
by the silent alchemy of the subjective mind. Thus the conception which
was at first only vaguely recognized is restored to the objective mind
in a definite and workable form, and then the objective mind, acting through
the frontal brain — the area of comparison and analysis — proceeds to work
upon a clearly perceived idea and to bring out the potentialities that
are latent in it.
It must of course be borne in mind that I am here speaking of the mental
ego in that mode of its existence with which we are most familiar, that
is as clothed in flesh, though there may be much to say as to other modes
of its activity. But for our daily life we have to consider ourselves as
we are in that aspect of life, and from this point of view the physiological
correspondence of the body to the action of the mind is an important item;
and therefore, although we must always remember that the origin of ideas
is purely mental, we must not forget that on the physical plane every mental
action implies a corresponding molecular action in the brain and in the
two-fold nervous system.
If, as the old Elizabethan poet says, "the soul is form, and doth the
body make," then it is clear that the physical organism must be a mechanical
arrange-. ment as specially adapted for the use of the soul’s powers as
a steam-engine is for the power of steam; and it is the recognition of
this reciprocity between the two that is the basis of all spiritual or
mental healing, and therefore the study of this mechanical adaptation
is an important branch of Mental Science.
Only we must not forget that it is the effect and not the cause.
At the same time it is important to remember that such a thing as reversal
of the relation between cause and effect is possible, just as the same
apparatus may be made to generate mechanical power by the application of
electricity, or to generate electricity by the application of mechanical
power. And the importance of this principle consists in this. There is
always a tendency for actions which were at first voluntary to become automatic,
that is, to pass from the region of conscious mind into that of subconscious
mind, and to acquire a permanent domicile there. Professor Elmer Gates,
of Washington, has demonstrated this physiologically in his studies of
brain formation. He tells us that every thought produces a slight molecular
change in the substance of the brain, and the repetition of the same sort
of thought causes a repetition of the same molecular action until at last
a veritable channel is formed in the brain substance, which can only be
eradicated by a reverse process of thought. In this way "grooves of thought"
are very literal things, and when once established the vibrations of the
cosmic currents flow automatically through them and thus react upon the
mind by a process the reverse of that by which our voluntary and intentional
indrawing from the invisible is affected. In this way are formed what we
call "habits," and hence the importance
of controlling our thinking and guarding it against undesirable ideas.
But on the other hand this reactionary
process may be used to confirm good and life-giving modes of thought, so
that by a knowledge of its laws we may enlist even the physical
body itself in the building up of that perfectly whole personality, the
attainment of which is the aim and object of our studies.
THE SOUL.
HAVING now obtained a glimpse of the adaptation
of the physical organism to the action of the mind we must next realize
that the mind itself is an organism which is in like manner adapted to
the action of a still higher power, only here the adaptation is one of
mental faculty. As with other invisible forces all we can know of the mind
is by observing what it does, but with this difference, that since we ourselves
are this mind, our observation is an interior observation of states
of consciousness. In this way we recognize certain faculties of our mind,
the working order of which I have considered at page 84; but the point
to which I would now draw attention is that these faculties always work
under the influence of something which stimulates them, and this stimulus
may come either from without through the external senses, or from within
by the consciousness of something not perceptible on the physical plane.
Now the recognition of these interior sources of stimulus to our mental
faculties, is an important branch of Mental Science, because the mental
action thus set up works just as accurately through the physical correspondences
as those which start from the recognition
of external facts, and therefore the control and right direction
of these inner perceptions is a matter of the first moment.
The faculties most immediately concerned are the intuition and the
imagination, but it is at first difficult to see how the intuition, which
is entirely spontaneous, can be brought under the control of the will.
Of course, the spontaneousness of the intuition
cannot in any way be interfered with, for if it ceased to act spontaneously
it would cease to be the intuition. Its province is, as it were, to capture
ideas from the infinite and present them to the mind to be dealt with at
its discretion. In our mental constitution the intuition is the point of
origination and, therefore, for it to cease to act spontaneously would
be for it to cease to act at all. But the experience of a long succession
of observers shows that the intuition can be trained so as to acquire increased
sensitiveness in some particular direction, and the choice of the general
direction is determined by the will of the individual.
It will be found that the intuition works most readily in respect to
those subjects which most habitually occupy our thought; and according
to the physiological correspondences which we have been considering this
might be accounted for on the physical plane by the formation of brain-channels
specially adapted for the induction in the molecular system of vibrations
corresponding to the particular class of ideas in question. But of course
we must remember that the ideas themselves are not caused by the molecular
changes, but on the contrary are the cause of them: and it is in this translation
of thought action into physical action that we are brought face to face
with the eternal mystery of the descent of spirit into matter; and that
though we may trace matter through successive degrees of refinement till
it becomes what, in comparison with those denser modes that are most familiar,
we might call a spiritual substance, yet at the end of it it is not the
intelligent thinking principle itself. The criterion is in the word "vibrations."
However delicately etheric the substance its movement commences by the
vibration of its particles, and a vibration is a wave having a certain
length, amplitude, and periodicity, that is to say, something which can
exist only in terms of space and time; and as soon as we are dealing with
anything capable of the conception of measurement we may be quite certain
that we are not dealing with Spirit but only with one of its vehicles.
Therefore although we may push our analysis of matter further and ever
further back—and on this line there is a great deal of knowledge to be
gained—we shall find that the point at which spiritual power or thought-force
is translated into etheric or atomic vibration will always elude us. Therefore
we must not attribute the origination of ideas to molecular
displacement in the brain, though, by the reaction of the physical upon
the mental which I have spoken of above, the formation of thought-channels
in the grey matter of the brain may tend to facilitate the reception of
certain ideas. Some people are actually conscious of the action
of the upper portion of the brain during the influx of an intuition, the
sensation being that of a sort of expansion in that brain area, which might
be compared to the opening of a valve or door; but all attempts to induce
the inflow of intuitive ideas by the physiological expedient of trying
to open this valve by the exercise of the will should be discouraged as
likely to prove injurious to the brain. I believe some Oriental systems
advocate this method, but we may well trust the mind to regulate the action
of its physical channels in a manner suitable to its own requirements,
instead of trying to manipulate the mind by the unnatural forcing of its
mechanical instrument. In all our studies on these lines we must remember
that development is always by perfectly natural growth and is not brought
about by unduly straining any portion of the system.
The fact, however, remains that the intuition works most freely in
that direction in which we most habitually concentrate our thought; and
in practice it will be found that the best way to cultivate the intuition
in any particular direction is to meditate upon the abstract principles
of that particular class of subjects rather than only to consider particular
cases. Perhaps the reason is that particular cases have to do with specific
phenomena, that is with the law working under certain limiting conditions,
whereas the principles of the law are not limited by local conditions,
and so habitual meditation on them sets our intuition free to range
in an infinitude where the conception of antecedent conditions does not
limit it. Anyway, whatever may be the theoretical explanation, you will
find that the clear grasp of abstract principles in any direction has a
wonderfully quickening effect upon the intuition in that particular direction.
The importance of recognizing our power of thus giving direction to the
intuition cannot be exaggerated, for if the mind is attuned to sympathy
with the highest phases of spirit this power opens the door to limitless
possibilities of knowledge. In its highest workings intuition becomes inspiration,
and certain great records of fundamental truths and supreme mysteries which
have come down to us from thousands of generations bequeathed by deep thinkers
of old can only be accounted for on the supposition that their earnest
thought on the Originating Spirit, coupled with a reverent worship of It,
opened the door, through their intuitive faculty, to the most sublime inspirations
regarding the supreme truths of the universe
both with respect to the evolution of the cosmos and to the evolution
of the individual. Among such records explanatory
of the supreme mysteries three stand out pre-eminent, all bearing witness
to the same ONE Truth, and each throwing light upon the other; and
these three are the Bible, the Great Pyramid, and the Pack of Cards—a curious
combination some will think, but I hope in another volume of this series
to be able to justify my present statement. I allude to these three records
here because the unity of principle which they exhibit, notwithstanding
their wide divergence of method, affords a standing proof that the direction
taken by the intuition is largely determined by the will of the individual
opening the mind in that particular direction.
Very closely allied to the intuition is the faculty of imagination.
This does not mean mere fancies, which we dismiss without further consideration,
but our power of forming mental images upon which we dwell. These, as I
have said in the earlier part of this book, form a nucleus which, on its
own plane, calls into action the universal Law of Attraction, thus giving
rise to the principle of Growth. The relation of the intuition to the imagination
is that the intuition grasps an idea from the Great Universal Mind, in
which all things subsist as potentials, and presents it to the imagination
in its essence rather than in a definite form, and then our image-building
faculty gives it a clear and definite form which it presents before the
mental vision, and which we then vivify by letting our thought dwell upon
it, thus infusing our own personality into it, and so providing that personal
element through which the specific action of the universal law relatively
to the particular individual always takes place.* Whether our thought shall
be allowed thus to dwell upon a particular mental image depends on our
own will, and our exercise of our will depends on our belief in our power
to use it so as to disperse or consolidate a given mental image; and finally
our belief in our power to do this depends on our recognition of our relation
to God, Who is the source of all power; for it is an invariable truth that
our life will take its whole form, tone, and color from our conception
of God, whether that conception be positive or negative, and the sequence
by which it does so is that now given.
In this way, then, our intuition is related to our imagination, and
this relation has its physiological correspondence in the circulus of molecular
vibrations I have described above, which, having its commencement in the
higher or "ideal" portion of the brain flows through the voluntary nervous
system, the physical channel of objective mind, returning through the sympathetic
system, the physical channel of subjective mind, thus completing the circuit
and being then restored to the frontal brain, where it is con— sciously
modelled into clear-cut forms suited to a specific purpose.
In all this the power of the will as regulating the action both of
the intuition and the imagination must never be lost sight of, for without
such a central controlling power we should lose all sense of individuality;
and hence the ultimate aim of the evolutionary process is to evolve individual
wills actuated by such beneficence and enlightenment as shall make them
fitting vehicles for the outfiowing of the Supreme Spirit, which has hitherto
created cosmically, and can now carry on the creative process to its highest
stages only through conscious union with the individual; for this is the
only possible solution of the great problem, How can the Universal Mind
act in all its fulness upon the plane of the individual and particular?
This is the ultimate of evolution, and the successful evolution of the
individual depends on his recognizing this ultimate and working towards
it; and therefore this should be the great end of our studies. There is
a correspondence in the constitution of the body to the faculties of the
soul, and there is a similar correspondence
in the faculties of the soul to the power of the All-originating Spirit;
and as in all other adaptations of specific vehicles so also here, we can
never correctly understand the nature of the vehide and use it rightly
until we realize the nature of the power for the working of which it is
specially adapted. Let us, then, in conclusion briefly consider the nature
of that power.
THE SPIRIT.
WHAT must the Supreme All-originating Spirit
be in itself? That is the question before us. Let us start with one fact
regarding it about which we cannot have any possible doubt—it is creative.
If it were not creative nothing could come into existence; therefore
we know that its purpose, or Law of Tendency, must be to bring individual
lives into existence and to surround them with a suitable environment.
Now a power which has this for its inherent nature must be a kindly power.
The Spirit of Life seeking expression in individual lives can have no other
intenttion towards them than "that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly." To suppose the opposite would be a contradiction
in terms. It would be to suppose the Eternal Principle of Life acting against
itself, expressing itself as the reverse of what it is, in which case it
would not be expressing itself but expressing its opposite; so that it
is impossible to conceive of the Spirit of Life acting otherwise than to
the increase of life. This is as yet only imperfectly apparent by reason
of our imperfect apprehension of the position, and our consequent want
of conscious unity with the ONE Eternal Life. As our consciousness of unity
becomes more perfect so will the life-givinguess of the Spirit become more
apparent. But in the realm of principles the purely Affirmative and Life-giving
nature of the All-originating Spirit is an unavoidable conclusion. Now
by what name can we call such an inherent desire to add to the fulness
of any individual life—that is, to_make it stronger, brighter, and happier?
If this is not Love, then I do not know what else it is; and so we are
philosophically led to the conclusion that Love is the prime moving power
of the Creating Spirit. -
- But expression is impossible
without Form. What Form, then, should Love give to the vehicles of its
expression? By the hypothesis of the case it could not find self-expression
in forms that were hateful or repugnant to it—therefore the only logical
correlative of Love is Beauty. Beauty is not yet universally manifested
for the same reason that Life is not, namely, lack of recognition of its
Principle; but, that the principle of Beauty is inherent in the
Eternal Mind is demonstrated by all that is beautiful in the world in which
we live.
These considerations show us that the inherent nature of the Spirit
must consist in the eternal interaction of Love and Beauty as the Active
and Passive polarity of Being. Then this is the Power for the working of
which our soul faculties are specially adapted. And when this purpose of
the adaptation is recognized we begin to get some insight into the way
in which our intuition, imagination, and will should be exercized.
By training our thought to habitually dwell upon this dual-unity of the
Originating Forces of Love and Beauty the intuition is rendered more and
more sensitive to ideas emanating from this supreme source, and the imagining
faculty is trained in the formation of images corresponding to such ideas;
while on the physical side the molecular structure of the brain and body
becomes more and more perfectly adjusted to the generating of vibratory
currents tending to the outward manifestation of the Originating Principle.
Thus the whole man is brought into unison with himself and with the Supreme
Source of Life, so that, in the words of St. Paul, he is being day by day
renewed after the image of Him that created him.
Our more immediately personal recognition of the All-originating Love
and Beauty will thus flow out as peace of mind, health of body, discretion
in the management of our affairs, and power in the carrying out of our
undertakings; and as we advance to a wider conception of the working of
the Spirit of Love and Beauty in its infinite possibilities, so our intuition
will find a wider scope and our field of activity will expand along with
it—in a word we shall discover that our individuality is growing, and that
we are becoming more truly ourselves than we ever were before.
The question of the specific lines on which the individual may be
most perfectly trained into such recognition of his true relation to the
All-embracing Spirit of Life is therefore of supreme importance, but it
is also of such magnitude that even to briefly sketch its broad outlines
would require a volume to itself, and I will therefore not attempt to enter
upon it here, my present purpose being only to offer some hints of the
principles underlying that wonderful three-fold unity of Body Mind
and Spirit which we all know ourselves to be.
We are as yet only at the commencement of the path which leads to the realization
of this unity in the full development of all its powers, but others have
trodden the way before us, from whose experiences we may learn; and not
least among these was the illustrious founder of the Most Christian Fraternity
of the Rosicrucians. This master-mind, setting out in his youth with the
intention of going to Jerusalem, changed the order of his journey and first
sojourned for three years in the symbolical city of Damcar, in the mystical
country of Arabia, then for about a year in the mystical country of Egypt,
and then for two years in the mystical country of Fez. Then, having during
these six years learned all that was to be acquired in those countries,
he returned to his native land of Germany, where, on the basis of the knowledge
he had thus gained, he founded the Fraternity R. C., for whose instruction
he wrote the mystical books M. and T. Then, when he realized that his work
in its present stage was accomplished, he of his own free will laid aside
the physical body, not, it is recorded, by decay, or disease, or ordinary
death, but by the express direction of the Spirit of Life, summing up all
his knowledge in the words,
"Jesus mihi omnia."
And now his followers await the coming of "the Artist Elias," who shall
bring the Magnum Opus to its completion.
"Let him that readeth understand."
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