writers, poets, musicians, artists and other examples of genius have felt
that their power came to them from some higher source. Many have thought
that it emanated from some being kindly to them, who would inspire them
with power and wisdom. Some transcendent power seemed to have been called
into operation, and the worker would feel that his product or creation
was not his handiwork, but that of some outside intelligence. The Greeks
recognized this something in man, and called it man's "Daemon." Plutarch
in his discourse on the daemon that guided Socrates speaks of the vision
of Timarchus, who, in the case of Trophonius, saw spirits which were
partly attached to human bodies, and partly over and above them, shining
luminously over their heads. He was informed by the oracle that the part
of the spirit which was immersed in the body was called the "soul," but
that the outer and unimmersed portion was called the "daemon." The oracle
also informed him that every man had his daemon, whom he is bound to
obey; those who implicitly follow that guidance are the prophetic souls,
the favorites of the gods. Goethe also spoke of the daemon as a power
higher than the will, and which inspired certain natures with miraculous
energy.
We may smile at these conceptions, but they are really very close to the
truth. The higher regions of the mind, while belonging to the individual,
and a part of himself, are so far above his ordinary consciousness that
to all intents and purposes messages from them are as orders from another
and higher soul. But still the voice is that of the "I," speaking through
its sheaths as best it is able.
This power belongs to every one of us, although it manifests only in the
degree that we are able to respond to it. It grows by faith and
confidence, and closes itself up, and withdraws into its recesses when
we doubt it and would question its veracity and reality. What we call
"originality" comes from this region. The Intuitive faculties pass on to
the conscious mind some perception of truth higher than the Intellect has
been able to work out for itself, and lo! it is called the work of
genius.
The advanced occultist knows that in the higher regions of the mind are
locked up intuitive perceptions of all truth, and that he who can gain
access to these regions will know everything intuitively, and as a matter
of clear sight, without reasoning or explanation. The race has not as yet
reached the heights of Intuition--it is just beginning to climb the
foothills. But it is moving in the right direction. It will be well for
us if we will open ourselves to the higher inner guidance, and be willing
to be "led by the Spirit." This is a far different thing from being led
by outside intelligence, which may, or may not, be qualified to lead. But
the Spirit within each of us has our interests at heart and is desirous
of our best good, and is not only ready but willing to take us by the
hand and lead us on. The Higher Self is doing the best it can for our
development and welfare, but is hampered by the confining sheaths. And
alas, many of us glory in these sheaths and consider them the highest
part of ourselves. Do not be afraid to let the light of the Spirit pierce
through these confining sheaths and dissolve them. The Intuition,
however, is not the Spirit, but is one of its channels of communication
to us. There are other and still higher planes of mind, but the Intuition
is the one next in the line of unfoldment, and we should open ourselves
to its influence and welcome its unfoldment.
Above the plane of Intuition is that of the Cosmic Knowing, upon which we
will find the consciousness of the Oneness of All. We have spoken of this
plane in our lesson on the Unfoldment of Consciousness. When one is able
to "conscious" on this plane--this exalted plane of mind--he is able to
see fully, plainly and completely that there is One Great Life underlying
all the countless forms and shapes of manifestation. He is able to see
that separateness is only "the working fiction of the Universe." He is
able to see that each Ego is but a Centre of Consciousness in the great
Ocean of Life--all in pursuance of the Divine Plan, and that he is moving
forward toward higher and higher planes of manifestation, power and
individuality, in order to take a greater and grander part in the
Universal work and plans.
The Cosmic Knowing in its fulness has come to but few of the race, but
many have had glimpses, more or less clear, of its transcendent wonder,
and others are on the borderland of this plane. The race is unfolding
gradually, slowly but surely, and those who have had this wonderful
experience are preparing others for a like experience. The seed is being
sown, and the harvest will come later. This and other phases of the
higher forms of consciousness are before the race. The individuals who
read this lesson are perhaps nearer to it than they think; their interest
in the lessons is an indication of that hunger of the soul which is a
prophecy of the satisfaction of the cry for spiritual bread. The Law of
Life heeds these cries for aid and nourishment and responds accordingly,
but along the lines of the highest wisdom and according to the _real
requirements_ of the individual.
Let us close this lesson with a quotation from "Light on the Path," which
bears directly upon the concluding thought. Read it carefully and let it
sink down deep into your inner consciousness, and you will feel the
thrill of joy that comes to him who is nearing the goal.
"Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm; not
till then.
"It shall grow, it will shoot up, it will make branches and leaves, and
form buds while the storm lasts. But not until the entire personality of
the man is dissolved and melted--not until it is held by the divine
fragment which has created it, as a mere subject for grave experiment and
experience--not until the whole nature has yielded and become subject
unto its higher self, can the bloom open. Then will come a calm such as
comes in a tropical country after the heavy rain, when nature works so
swiftly that one may see her action. Such a calm will come to the
harassed spirit. And in the deep silence the mysterious event will occur
which will prove that the way has been found. Call it by whatever name
you will. It is a voice that speaks where there is none to speak, it is a
messenger that comes--a messenger without form or substance--or it is the
flower of the soul that has opened. It cannot be described by any
metaphor. But it can be felt after, looked for, and desired, even among
the raging of the storm. The silence may last a moment of time, or it may
last a thousand years. But it will end. Yet you will carry its strength
with you. Again and again the battle must be fought and won. It is only
for an interval that nature can be still."
* * * * *
The concluding three lessons of this series will be devoted to a
practical course of instruction in the development of the hidden planes
of the mind, or rather, in the development of the power of the individual
to master the same and make use of them in his life. He will be taught to
master the lower principles, not only in the surmounting of them, but in
the transmitting of the elemental forces toward his higher ends. Power
may be obtained from this part of the mind, under the direction of the
Will. And the student will be told how to set the unconscious Intellect
to work for him. And he will be told how to develop and train the Will.
We have now passed the line between the theoretical and the practical
phases of the subject, and from now on it will be a case of train,
develop, cultivate and apply. Knowing what lies back of it all, the
student is now prepared to receive the instructions which he might have
misused before. Peace be with thee all.
MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION).
I AM THE MASTER OF MY SOUL.
THE TENTH LESSON.
SUB-CONSCIOUSING.
In the Ninth Lesson we called your attention to the fact that Reasoning
was not necessarily conscious in its operations, and that, in fact, a
large part of the rational processes of the mind are performed below or
above the field of consciousness. And in the Eighth Lesson we gave you a
number of examples illustrating this fact. We also gave you a number of
cases in which the sub-conscious field of the Intellect worked out
problems, and then after a time passed on to the conscious field of the
Intellect the solution of the matter. In this lesson we purpose
instructing you in the methods by which this part of the Intellect may be
set to work for you. Many have stumbled upon bits of this truth for
themselves, and, in fact, the majority of successful men and men who have
attained eminence in any walk of life have made more or less use of this
truth, although they seldom understand the reason of it.
Very few Western writers have recognized the work of this plane of the
mind. They have given us full and ingenious theories and examples of the
workings of the Instinctive Mind, and in some cases they have touched
upon the workings and operations of the Intuitional planes, but in nearly
every case they have treated the Intellect as something entirely confined
to the Conscious plane of mentation. In this they have missed some of the
most interesting and valuable manifestations of sub-conscious mentation.
In this lesson we will take up this particular phase of mentation, and
trust to be able to point out the way to use it to the best advantage,
giving some simple instructions that have been given by the Hindu
teachers to their students for centuries past, such instructions of
course, being modified by us to conform to the requirements and
necessities of the Western student of today.
We have taken the liberty of bestowing a new title upon this phase of
mentation--we have thought it well to call it "Sub-consciousing." The
word "Sub," of course means "under; below;" and the word "Consciousing"
is a favorite term employed by Prof. Elmer Gates, and means receiving
impressions from the mind. In a general way, "Sub-consciousing," as used
in this lesson, may be understood to mean "using the subconscious mind,
under orders of the conscious mind."
By referring to our Eighth Lesson, we see mention made of the case of the
man who indulged in "unconscious rumination," which happened to him when
he read books presenting new points of view essentially opposed to his
previous opinion. You will note that after days, weeks, or months, he
found that to his great astonishment the old opinions were entirely
rearranged, and new ones lodged there.
On the same page you will see mentioned the case of Sir William Hamilton,
who discovered an important law of mathematics while walking with his
wife. In this case he had been previously thinking of the missing link in
his chain of reasoning, and the problem was worked out for him by the
sub-conscious plane of his Intellect.
On the same page, and the one following, is found the case of Dr.
Thompson, who gives an interesting account of the workings of this part
of his mind, which caused him at times to experience a feeling of the
uselessness of all voluntary effort, coupled with a feeling that the
matter was working itself clear in his mind. He tells us that at times he
seemed to be merely a passive instrument in the hands of some person
other than himself, who compelled him to wait until the work was
performed for him by some hidden region of the mind. When the
subconscious part of the mind had completed its work, it would flash the
message to his conscious mind, and he would begin to write.
On page 178 mention is also made of the great French chemist Berthelot,
who relates that some of his best conceptions have flashed upon him as
from the clear sky. In fact, the Eighth Lesson is largely made up of
examples of this kind, and we ask the student to re-read the same, in
order to refresh his mind with the truth of the workings of the
sub-conscious mentality.
But you will notice in nearly all the cases mentioned, that those who
related instances of the help of the sub-conscious mind had merely
stumbled upon the fact that there was a part of the mind below
consciousness that could and would work out problems for one, if it could
somehow be set in operation. And these people trusted to luck to start
that part of the mind in operation. Or rather, they would saturate
their conscious mind with a mass of material, like stuffing the stomach
with food, and then bid the subconscious mind assort, separate, arrange
and digest the mental food, just as does the stomach and digestive
apparatus digest the natural food--outside of the realm of consciousness
or volition. In none of the cases mentioned was the subconscious
mind _directed_ specially to perform its wonderful work. It was simply
hoped that it might digest the mental material with which it had been
stuffed--in pure self defense. But there is a much better way, and we
intend to tell you about it. The Hindu Yogis, or rather those who
instruct their pupils in _"Raja Yoga,"_ give their students directions
whereby they may _direct_ their sub-conscious minds to perform mental
tasks for them, just as one may direct another to perform a task. They
teach them the methods whereby, after having accumulated the necessary
materials, they may bid the sub-conscious mentality to sort it out,
rearrange, analyze, and build up from it some bit of desired knowledge.
More than this, they instruct their pupils to direct and order the
sub-conscious mentality to search out and report to them certain
information to be found only within the mind itself--some question of
philosophy or metaphysics. And when such art has been acquired, the
student or Yogi rests assured that the desired result will be forthcoming
in due time, and consequently dismisses the matter from his conscious
mind, and busies himself with other matters, knowing that day and night,
incessantly, the sub-consciousing process is going on, and that the
sub-conscious mind is actively at work collecting the information, or
working out the problem.
You will see at once the great superiority of this method over the old
"hit-or-miss," "hope-it-will-work" plan pursued by those who have
stumbled upon bits of the truth.
The Yogi teacher begins by impressing upon his students the fact that the
mind is capable of extending outward toward an object, material or
mental, and by examining it by methods inherent in itself, extracting
knowledge regarding the object named. This is not a startling truth,
because it is so common, everyone employing it more or less every day.
But the process by which the knowledge is extracted is most wonderful,
and really is performed below the plane of consciousness, the work of the
conscious mind being chiefly concerned in _holding the Attention_ upon
the object. We have spoken of the importance of Attention in previous
lessons, which it will be well for you to re-read, at this time.
When the student is fully impressed with the details of the process of
Attention, and the subsequent unfoldment of knowledge, the Yogi proceeds
to inform him that there are other means of obtaining knowledge about an
object, by the employment of which the Attention may be firmly directed
toward the object and then afterwards held there _unconsciously_--that
is, a portion of the Attention, or a sub-conscious phase of mentation,
which will hold the sub-conscious mind firmly upon the work until
accomplished, leaving the conscious Attention and mentality free to
employ itself with other things.
The Yogis teach the students that this new form of Attention is far more
intense and powerful than is the conscious Attention, for it cannot be
disturbed or shaken, or distracted from its object, and that it will work
away at its task for days, months, years, or a lifetime if necessary,
according to the difficulty of the task, and in fact carries its work
over from one life to another, unless recalled by the Will. They teach
the student that in everyone's life there is going on a greater or less
degree of this sub-conscious work, carried on in obedience to a strong
desire for knowledge manifested in some former life, and bearing fruit
only in the present existence. Many important discoveries have been made
in obedience to this law. But it is not of this phase of the matter that
we wish to speak in this lesson.
The Yogi theory is that the sub-conscious intellectual faculty may be set
to work under the direction of orders given by the Will. All of you know
how the sub-conscious mentality will take up an order of the Will, or a
strong wish, that the person be awakened at a certain hour in order to
catch a train. Or, in the same way how the remembrance of a certain
engagement at, say, four o'clock, will flash into the mind when the hands
of the clock approach the stated hour. Nearly every one can recall
instances of this sort in his own experience.
But the Yogis go much further than this. They claim that any and all
faculties of the mind may be "set going," or working on any problem, if
ordered thereto by the Will. In fact, the Yogis, and their advanced
students have mastered this art to such a surprising extent that they
find it unnecessary to do the drudgery of thinking in the conscious
field, and prefer to relegate such mental work to the sub-conscious,
reserving their conscious work for the consideration of digested
information and thought presented to them by the sub-conscious mind.
Their directions to their students cover a great deal of ground, and
extend over a long period of time, and many of the directions are quite
complicated and full of detail. But we think that we can give our
students an abbreviated and condensed idea in a few pages of the lesson.
And the remaining lessons of the course will also throw additional light
on the subject of sub-conscious mental action, in connection with
other subjects.
The Yogi takes the student when the latter is much bothered by a
consideration of some knotty and perplexing philosophical subject. He
bids the student relax every muscle,--take the tension from every
nerve--throw aside all mental strain, and then wait a few moments. Then
the student is instructed to grasp the subject which he has had before
his mind firmly and fixedly before his mental vision, by means of
concentration. Then he is instructed to pass it on to the sub-conscious
mentality by an effort of the Will, which effort is aided by forming a
mental picture of the subject as a material substance, _or bundle of
thought,_ which is being bodily lifted up and dropped down a mental
hatch-way, or trap-door, in which it sinks from sight. The student is
then instructed to say to the sub-conscious mentality: "I wish this
subject thoroughly analyzed, arranged, classified (and whatever else is
desired) and then the results handed back to me. Attend to this."
The student is taught to speak to the sub-conscious mentality just as if
it were a separate entity of being, which had been employed to do the
work. He is also taught that _confident expectation_ is an important part
of the process, and that the degree of success depends upon the degree of
this confident expectation.
In obstinate cases, the student is taught to use the Imagination freely,
until he is able to make a mental image or picture of the sub-conscious
mind doing what is required of it. This process clears away a mental
path for the feet of the sub-conscious mind, which it will choose
thereafter, as it prefers to follow the line of least resistance.
Of course much depends upon practice--practice makes perfect, you know,
in everything else, and sub-consciousing is no exception to the rule.
The student gradually acquires a proficiency in the art of
sub-consciousing, and thereafter devotes his time to acquiring new facts
for mental digestion, rather than bestowing it upon the mechanical act of
thinking.
But a very important point to be remembered is that the Will-power back
of the transferred thought-material, which Will-power is the cause of the
subconscious action, depends very greatly upon the attention and interest
given to the acquired material. This mass of thought-material which is to
be digested, and threshed out by the sub-conscious mind, must be well
saturated with interest and attention, in order to obtain the best
results. In fact interest and attention are such important aids to the
Will, that any consideration of the development and acquirement of
Will-power is practically a development and acquirement of attention and
interest. The student is referred to previous lessons in this course in
which the importance of interest and attention is explained and
described.
In acquiring the mass of thought-material which is to be passed on to the
sub-conscious digestion, one must concentrate a great degree of interest
and attention upon each item of thought-material gathered up. The
gathering of this thought-material is a matter of the greatest
importance, and must not be lightly passed by. One cannot hastily gather
together all sorts of thought-material, and then expect the subconscious
mind to do its work properly--it will not, in fact, and the student
proceeding upon any such erroneous supposition is doomed to
disappointment.
The proper way to proceed, is to take up each bit of thought-material in
turn, and examine it with the greatest possible interest, and
consequently the greatest attention, and then after having fairly
saturated it with this interested attention, place it with the pile of
material which, after a while, is to be passed on to the sub-conscious
mentality. Then take up the next bit of material, and after giving it
similar treatment, pass it along to the pile also. Then after a while
when you have gathered up the main facts of the case, proceed to consider
the mass as a whole, with interest and attention, giving it as it were a
"general treatment." Then drop it down the trap-door into the
sub-conscious mind, with a strong command, "Attend to this
thought-material," coupled with a strong expectant belief that your
order will be obeyed.
The idea underlying this treatment of the thought-material with interest
and attention is that by so doing a strong "Mental Image" is created,
which may be easily handled by the sub-conscious mind. Remember that you
are passing on "thoughts" for the sub-consciousness to act upon, and that
the more tangible and real these thoughts are, the better can they be
handled. Therefore any plan that will build these thoughts up into "real"
things is the plan to pursue. And attention and interest produce just
this result.
If we may be pardoned for using a homely and commonplace illustration we
would say that the idea may be grasped by the illustration of boiling an
egg, whereby the fluid "white" and "yolk" becomes solid and real. Also
the use of a shaving brush by a man, by which the thin lather is
gradually worked up into a rich, thick, creamy mass, is an illustration.
Again, the churning of butter is a favorite illustration of the Hindus,
who thus call the attention of their students to the fact that
thought-material if worked upon with attention and interest become
"thought-forms" that may be handled by the mind just as the hands handle
a material object. We ask you to think of these illustrations, for when
you once grasp the idea that we wish to convey to you, you will have the
secret of great thinking powers within your grasp.
And this power of sub-consciousing is not confined alone to the
consideration of philosophical questions. On the contrary it is
applicable to every field of human thought, and may be properly employed
in any and all of them. It is useful in solving the problems of every-day
life and work, as well as to the higher flights of the human mind. And we
wish every one of our students to realize that in this simple lesson we
are giving them the key to a great mental power.
To realize just what we are offering to you, we would remind you of the
old fairy tales of all races, in which there is to be found one or more
tales telling of some poor cobbler, or tailor, or carpenter, as the case
may be, who had by his good deeds, gained favor with the "brownies" or
good fairies, who would come each night when the man and his family were
asleep, and proceed to complete the work that the artisan had laid out
for the morrow. The pieces of leather would be made into shoes; the cloth
would be sewed into garments; the wood would be joined, and nailed
together into boxes, chairs, benches and what not. But in each case the
rough materials were prepared by the artisan himself during the day.
Well, that is just what we are trying to introduce to you. A clan of
mental brownies, loving and kindly disposed toward you, who are anxious
and willing to help you in your work. All you have to do is to give
them the proper materials, and tell then what you want done, and they
will do the rest. But these mental brownies are a part of your own
mentality, remember, and no alien and foreign entities, as some have
imagined.