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 _potential_ 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 livingness 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 livingness 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 circumference, and
thence back again to the centre to maintain a vital activity; otherwise
collapse must ensue either from anaemia or congestion. But if we realize
the reciprocal nature of the vital pulsation, and that the outflowing
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.
XIII.
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 sub-conscious 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
independent 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 sub-conscious 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
common bounties 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 present seem 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 to-morrow, 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."
* * * * *