way, and he has this vegetative mind also within him, below the plane of
consciousness, of course. To many this thought of a vegetative mind may
be somewhat startling. But let us remember that every part of our body
has been built up from the vegetable cell. The unborn child starts with
the coalition of two cells. These cells begin to build up the new body
for the occupancy of the child--that is, the mind principle in the cells
directs the work, of course--drawing upon the body of the mother for
nourishment and supplies. The nourishment in the mother's blood, which
supplies the material for the building up of the child's body, is
obtained by the mother eating and assimilating the vegetable cells of
plants, directly or indirectly. If she eats fruit, nuts, vegetables,
etc., she obtains the nourishment of the plant life directly--if she eats
meat she obtains it indirectly, for the animal from which the meat was
taken built up the meat from vegetables. There is no two ways about
this--all nourishment of the animal and human kingdom is obtained from
the vegetable kingdom, directly or indirectly.
And the cell action in the child is identical with the cell action in the
plant. Cells constantly reproducing themselves and building themselves up
into bodily organs, parts, etc., under the direction and guidance of the
mind principle. The child grows in this way until the hour of birth. It
is born, and then the process is but slightly changed. The child begins
to take nourishment either from the mother's milk or from the milk of the
cow, or other forms of food. And as it grows larger it partakes of many
different varieties of food. But always it obtains building material from
the cell life of the plants.
And this great building up process is intelligent, purposeful, to a
wonderful degree. Man with his boasted intellect cannot explain the real
"thingness" of the process. A leading scientist who placed the egg of a
small lizard under microscopical examination and then watched it slowly
develop has said that it seemed as if some hand was tracing the outlines
of the tiny vertebrae, and then building up around it. Think for a moment
of the development of the germ within the egg of the humming-bird, or the
ant, or the gnat, or the eagle. Every second a change may be noticed. The
germ cell draws to itself nourishment from the other part of the egg, and
then it grows and reproduces another cell. Then both cells divide--then
subdivide until there are millions and millions and millions of cells.
And all the while the building up process continues, and the bird or
insect assumes shape and form, until at last the work is accomplished
and the young bird emerges from the egg.
And the work thus commenced continues until the death of the animal. For
there is a constant using-up and breaking-down of cell and tissue, which
the organism must replace. And so the vegetative mind of the plant, or
insect, or animal, or man, is constantly at work building up new cells
from the food, throwing out worn-out and used-up material from the
system. Not only this, but it attends to the circulation of the blood in
order that the materials for the building up may be carried to all parts
of the system. It attends to the digestion and assimilation of the
food--the wonderful work of the organs of the body. It attends to the
healing of wounds, the fight against disease, the care of the physical
body. And all this out of the plane of consciousness--in the infant man
the animal world, the vegetable kingdom--ever at work, untiring,
intelligent, wonderful. And this plane of mind is in man as well as in
the plant, and it does its work without aid from the conscious part of
man, although man may interfere with it by adverse conscious thought,
which seems to paralyze its efforts. Mental Healing is merely the
restoring of normal conditions, so that this part of the body may do its
work without the hindrance of adverse conscious thought.
On this plane of the mind is found all of the vital functions and
operations. The work is done out-of-consciousness, and the consciousness
is aware of this part of the mind only when it makes demands upon the
conscious for food, etc. On this plane also resides the elementary
instinct that tends toward reproduction and sexual activity. The demand
of this part of the mind is always "increase and multiply," and according
to the stage of growth of the individual is the mandate carried out, as
we shall see presently. The elementary impulses and desires that we
find rising into the field of consciousness come from this plane of the
mind. Hunger, thirst and the reproductive desires are its messages to the
higher parts of the mind. And these messages are natural and free from
the abuses and prostitution often observed attached to them by the
intellect of man in connection with his unrestrained animal impulses.
Gluttony and unnatural lust arise not from the primitive demand of this
plane of the mind--for the lower animals even are free from them to a
great extent--but it is reserved for man to so prostitute these primitive
natural tendencies, in order to gratify unnatural and artificial
appetites, which serve to frustrate nature rather than to aid her.
As Life advanced in the scale and animal forms appeared on the scene new
planes of mind were unfolded, in accordance to the necessity of the
living forms. The animal was compelled to hunt for his food--to prey upon
other forms, and to avoid being preyed upon by others. He was compelled
to struggle for the unfoldment of latent powers of his mind that would
give him means to play his part in the scheme of life. He was compelled
to do certain things in order to live and reproduce his kind. And he
demanded not in vain. For there came to him slowly an unfolding knowledge
of the things necessary for the requirements of his life. We call this
Instinct. But, pray remember, by Instinct we do not mean the still higher
something that is really rudimentary Intellect that we notice in the
higher animals. We are speaking now of the unreasoning instinct observed
in the lower animals, and to a certain degree in man. This Instinctive
plane of mentality causes the bird to build its nest before its eggs are
laid, which instructs the animal mother how to care for its young when
born, and after birth; which teaches the bee to construct its cell and to
store up its honey. These and countless other things in animal life, and
in the higher form of plant life, are manifestations of Instinct--that
great plane of the mind. In fact, the greater part of the life of the
animal is instinctive although the higher forms of animals have developed
something like rudimentary Intellect or Reason, which enables them to
meet new conditions where Intellect alone fails them.
And man has this plane of mind within him, below consciousness. In fact
the lower forms of human life manifest but little Intellect, and live
almost altogether according to their Instinctive impulses and desires.
Every man has this Instinctive mental region within him and from it are
constantly arising impulses and desires to perplex and annoy him, as well
as to serve him occasionally. The whole secret consists in whether the
man has Mastery of his lower self or not.
From this plane of the mind arise the hereditary impulses coming down
from generations of ancestors, reaching back to the cavemen, and still
further back into the animal kingdom. A queer storehouse is this.
Animal instincts--passions, appetites, desires, feelings, sensations,
emotions, etc., are there. Hate, envy, jealousy, revenge, the lust of the
animal seeking the gratification of his sexual impulses, etc., etc., are
there, and are constantly intruding upon our attention until we have
asserted our mastery. And often the failure to assert this mastery comes
from an ignorance of the nature of the desire, etc. We have been taught
that these thoughts were "bad" without being told _why_, and we have
feared them and thought them the promptings of an impure nature, or a
depraved mind, etc. This is all wrong. These things are not "bad" of
themselves--they came to us honestly--they are our heritage from the
past. They belong to the animal part of our nature, and were necessary to
the animal in his stage of development. We have the whole menagerie
within us, but that does not mean that we should turn the beasts loose
upon ourselves or others. It was necessary for the animal to be fierce,
full of fight, passionate, regardless of the rights of others, etc., but
we have outgrown that stage of development, and it is ignoble for us to
return to it, or to allow it to master us.
This lesson is not intended as a discourse upon Ethics or morals. We do
not intend going into a discussion of the details of "Right and Wrong,"
for we have touched upon that phase of the subject in other works. But we
feel justified in calling your attention to the fact that the human mind
intuitively recognizes the "Rightness" of the living up to that which
comes to us from the highest parts of the mind--the highest product of
our unfoldment. And it likewise intuitively recognizes the "Wrongness" of
the falling back into that which belongs to the lower stages of our
mentality--to the animal part of us, that is our heritage from the past
and that which has gone before.
While we may be puzzled about many details of morals and ethics and may
not be able to "explain" why we consider certain things right or wrong,
we still intuitively feel that the highest "Right" of which we are
capable is the acting out of that which is coming to us from the highest
pole of our mental being, and that the lowest "Wrong" consists in doing
that which carries us back to the life of the lower animals, in so far as
mentality is concerned. Not because there is anything absolutely "Wrong"
in the mental processes and consequent of the animals in themselves--they
are all right and perfectly natural in the animals--but we intuitively
recognize that for us to fall back to the animal stage is a "going
backward" in the scale of evolution. We intuitively shrink at an
exhibition of brutality and animality on the part of a man or woman. We
may not know just why, but a little reflection will show us that it is a
sinking in the evolutionary scale, against which the spiritual part of us
revolts and protests.
But this must not be construed to mean that the advanced soul looks upon
the animal world with disgust or horror. On the contrary, there is
nowhere to be found a higher respect for animal life and being than among
the Yogi and other advanced souls. They delight in watching the animals
filling their places in life--playing out their parts in the divine
scheme of life. Their animal passions and desires are actions viewed
sympathetically and lovingly by the advanced soul, and nothing "Wrong" or
disgusting is seen there. And even the coarseness and brutality of
the savage races are so regarded by these advanced souls. They see
everything as natural according to the grade and degree of development of
these people.
It is only when these advanced souls view the degeneracies of "civilized"
life that they feel sorrow and pain. For here they see instances of
devolution instead of evolution--degeneration instead of regeneration
and advancement. And not only do they know this to be the fact, but the
degenerate specimens of mankind themselves feel and know it. Compare
the expression of the animal or savage going through their natural life
actions and performances. See how free and natural are their expressions,
how utterly apart are evidences of wrong doing. They have not as yet
found out the fatal secret of Good and Evil--they have not as yet eaten
the forbidden fruit. But, on the contrary, look into the faces of the
degenerates and fallen souls of our civilized life. See the furtive
glance and the self-consciousness of "Wrong" evident in every face. And
this consciousness of "Wrong" bears heavily upon these people--it is
heavier than the punishments heaped upon them That nameless something
called "conscience" may be smothered for a while, but sooner or later it
comes to light and demands the pound of flesh from its victim.
And yet you will say that it seems hard to think that the same thing can
be Right in one person and Wrong in another. This seems like a hard
saying and a dangerous doctrine, but it is the Truth. And man
instinctively recognizes it. He does not expect the same sense of moral
responsibility in a young child, or in a savage, that he does in a
mature, developed, civilized man. He may restrain the child and the
savage, for self-protection and the welfare of all, but he realizes the
distinction, or at least should do so. And not only is this true, but as
man advances in the scale he casts off many ideas of "Wrong" that he
once held, having outgrown the old ideas and having grown into new
conceptions. And the tendency is always upward and onward. The tendency
is constantly from Force and Restraint toward Love and Freedom. The ideal
condition would be one in which there were no laws and no necessity for
them--a condition in which men had ceased to do wrong because they had
outgrown the desire rather than from fear or restraint or force. And
while this condition as yet seems afar off, there is constantly going on
an unfoldment of higher planes and faculties of the mind, which when once
fully manifest in the race will work a complete revolution in ethics and
laws and government--and for the better, of course. In the meantime
Mankind moves along, doing the best it can, making a steady though slow
progress.
There is another plane of the mind which is often called the "Instinct,"
but which is but a part of the plane of the Intellect, although its
operations are largely below the field of consciousness. We allude to
what may be called the "Habit Mind," in order to distinguish it from the
Instinctive Plane. The difference is this: The Instinctive plane of mind
is made up of the ordinary operations of the mind below the plane of the
Intellect, and yet above the plane of the Vegetative mind--and also of
the acquired experiences of the race, which have been transmitted by
heredity, etc. But the "Habit Mind" contains only that which has been
placed there by the person himself and which he has acquired by
experience, habit, and observation, repeated so often until the mind
knows it so well that it is carried below the field of consciousness and
becomes "second nature," and akin to Instinct.
The text books upon psychology are filled with illustrations and examples
of the habit phase or plane of the mental operations, and we do not think
it necessary to repeat instances of the same kind here. Everyone is
familiar with the fact that tasks which at first are learned only by
considerable work and time soon become fixed in some part of the mind
until their repetition calls for little or no exercise of conscious
mental operation. In fact, some writers have claimed that no one really
"learns" how to perform a task until he can perform it almost
automatically. The pupil who in the early stages of piano playing finds
it most difficult to control and manage his fingers, after a time is able
to forget all about his fingering and devote his entire attention to the
pages of his music, and after this he is able to apparently let his
fingers play the entire piece of music by themselves without a thought on
his part. The best performers have told us that in the moments of their
highest efforts they are aware that the out-of-conscious portion of their
mind is doing the work for them, and they are practically standing aside
and witnessing the work being done. So true is this that in some cases it
is related that if the performer's conscious mind attempts to take up the
work the quality is impaired and the musician and the audience notice the
difference.
The same thing is true in the case of the woman learning to operate the
sewing machine. It is quite difficult at first, but gradually it grows to
"run itself." Those who have mastered the typewriter have had the same
experience. At first each letter had to be picked out with care and
effort. After a gradual improvement the operator is enabled to devote her
entire attention to the "copy" and let the fingers pick out the keys for
themselves. Many operators learn rapid typewriting by so training the
habit mind that it picks out the letter-keys by reason of their position,
the letters being covered over in order to force the mind to adapt itself
to the new requirements. A similar state of affairs exists wherever men
or women have to use tools of any kind. The tool soon is recognized by
the mind and used as if it were a part of the body, and no more conscious
thought is devoted to the manipulation than we devote to the operation of
walking, which, by the way, is learned by the child only by the
expenditure of time and labor. It is astonishing how many things we do
"automatically" in this way. Writers have called our attention to the
fact that the average man cannot consciously inform you how he puts on
his coat in the morning--which arm goes in first, how the coat is held,
etc. But the habit mind knows--knows very well. Let the student stand up
and put on his coat in the regular way, following the leadings of the
habit mind. Then, after removing it, let him attempt to put it on by
inserting the other arm first, for instance. He will be surprised to find
out how awkward it will be for him, and how completely he has been
depending upon the habit mind. And tomorrow morning let him find out
which shoe the habit mind has been putting on him first and then try to
reverse the order and notice how flurried and disturbed the habit mind
will become, and how frantically it will signal to the conscious mind:
"Something wrong up there!" Or try to button on your collar, reversing
the order in which the tabs are placed over the button--right before
left, or left before right, as the case may be, and notice the
involuntary protest. Or, try to reverse the customary habit in walking
and attempt to swing your right arm with the movement of your right leg,
and so on, and you will find it will require the exercise of great will
power. Or, try to "change hands" and use your knife and fork. But we must
stop giving examples and illustrations. Their number is countless.
Not only does the habit mind attend to physical actions, etc., but it
also takes a hand in our mental operations. We soon acquire the habit of
ceasing to consciously consider certain things, and the habit mind takes
the matter for granted, and thereafter we will think automatically on
those particular questions, unless we are shaken out of the habit by a
rude jolt from the mind of someone else, or from the presentation of some
conflicting idea occasioned by our own experience or reasoning processes.
And the habit mind hates to be disturbed and compelled to revise its
ideas. It fights against it, and rebels, and the result is that many of
us are slaves to old outgrown ideas that we realize are false and untrue,
but which we find that we "cannot exactly get rid of." In our future
lessons we will give methods to get rid of these old outgrown ideas.
There are other planes of mind which have to do with the phenomena known
as "psychic," by which is meant the phases of psychic phenomena known as
clairvoyance, psychometry, telepathy, etc., but we shall not consider
them in this lesson, for they belong to another part of the general
subject. We have spoken of them in a general way in our "Fourteen Lessons
in Yogi Philosophy, etc."
And now we come to the plane of mind known to us as Intellect or the
Reasoning Faculties. Webster defines the word Intellect as follows: The
part or faculty of the human soul by which it knows, as distinguished
from the power to feel and to will; the thinking faculty; the
understanding. The same authority defines the word Reason as follows:
"The faculty or capacity of the human mind by which it is distinguished
from the intelligence of the inferior animals." We shall not attempt to
go into a consideration of the conscious Intellect, for to do so we
would be compelled to take up the space of the remaining lessons of the
course, and besides, the student may find extended information on this
subject in any of the text books on psychology. Instead we will consider
other faculties and planes of mind which the said text books pass by
rapidly, or perhaps deny. And one of these planes is that of Unconscious
Reasoning, or Intellect. To many this term will seem paradoxical, but
students of the unconscious will understand just what is meant.
Reasoning is not necessarily conscious in its operations, in fact, a
greater part of the reasoning processes are performed below or above the
conscious field. In our last lesson we have given a number of examples
proving this fact, but a few more remarks may not be out of place, nor
without interest to the student.
In our last lesson you will see many instances stated in which the
sub-conscious field of the Intellect worked out problems, and then after
a time handed to the conscious reason the solution of the matter. This
has occurred to many of us, if not indeed to all of us. Who has not
endeavored to solve a problem or question of some sort and after "giving
it up" has had it suddenly answered and flashed into consciousness when
least expected. The experience is common to the race. While the majority
of us have noticed these things, we have regarded them as exceptional and
out of the general rule. Not so, however, with students of the mental
planes. The latter have recognized these planes of reason, and have
availed themselves of their knowledge by setting these unconscious
faculties to work for them. In our next lesson we will give directions to
our students regarding this accomplishment, which may prove of the
greatest importance to those who will take the trouble to practice the
directions given. It is a plan that is known to the majority of men who
have "done things" in the world, the majority of them, however, having
discovered the plan for themselves as the result of a need or demand upon
the inner powers of mind.
The plane of mind immediately above that of Intellect is that known as
Intuition. Intuition is defined by Webster as follows: "Direct
apprehension or cognition; immediate knowledge, as in perception or
consciousness, involving no reasoning process; quick or ready insight or
apprehension." It is difficult to explain just what is meant by
Intuition, except to those who have experienced it--and these people do
not need the explanation. Intuition is just as real a mental faculty as
is Intellect--or, to be more exact, is just as much a collection of
mental faculties. Intuition is above the field of consciousness, and its
messages are passed downward, though its processes are hidden. The race
is gradually unfolding into the plane of Intuition, and the race will
some day pass into full consciousness on that plane. In the meantime it
gets but flashes and glimpses from the hidden region. Many of the best
things we have come from that region. Art, music, the love of the
beautiful and good poetry, the higher form of love, spiritual insight to
a certain degree, intuitive perception of truth, etc., etc., come from
this region. These things are not reasoned out by the intellect, but seem
to spring full born from some unknown region of the mind.