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 interaction of these three factors somewhat clearer_.
XIV.
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 minutiae 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 cerebro-
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 conscious 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 "vagus" nerve. This
nerve passes out of the cerebral region as a portion of the voluntary
system, and through it we control the vocal organs; 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
arrangement 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 in-drawing 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.
XV.
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.[1] 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 consciously 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 outflowing 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 vehicle 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.
XVI.