There is a normal psychic capacity, and some are able to discern mental causes with perfect ease. Jesus was such an One; He was able to tell the woman that she had been married five times, and that the man with whom she was living was not her husband. He read that out of her thought; but He did it while in an objective state; for He was able to consciously and objectively exercise His subjective faculties. This is perfectly normal; but to let go of the volitional and choosing faculties, which alone constitute individuality, and become immersed in subjectivity, is very dangerous. One might become obsessed by discarnate spirits, earth-bound entities, elementals, thought forms, desires or other forces floating around; for we cannot close our eyes to the fact that all of these things do exist.
It is a crime against individuality to allow the conscious faculties to become submerged. We should control the subjective and not let it control us. The teaching of the illusion of mind sprang up because men of wisdom perceived that people might mistake the shade for the reality, the form for real substance, the hollow voice for revelation, and thereby be misled. That is why they warned against these things and against having familiar spirits; and they were absolutely right. Never let any voices speak to you unless you are in perfect control of the situation. Never admit any mental impressions or images that you do not wish to receive or that you cannot receive consciously. Say: "There is no power in the flesh or out of it but the One, which can enter my consciousness. Any thing that obeys the One, conforms to the One, believes only in the One and comes only through the consciousness of the One, is perfectly welcome, but anything other than that cannot come."
The only value that an understanding of psychic phenomena can have, is that without it we do not understand the complete workings of mind. We do not understand experiences people often have; and in a consistent philosophy which deals with mind, the lack of an understanding of psychic phenomena would be inexcusable. For any one in this day to say that powers of clairvoyance, telepathy, thought transference, clairaudience or telekinetic energy are not exercised, is to admit his own ignorance.
These things do happen and are continuously happening in more and more instances. The thing to do is not to deny what happens, but to find a logical and scientific explanation of it. It is our business to explain all mental action, in so far as it is explainable; and so we must find and answer which will cover the law of psychic phenomena. Mind, with the laws governing It, is the whole answer, for each plane reproduces the one next to it; and psychic phenomena are reproductions of man's physical capacities on the mental plane. "What is true on one plane is true on all."
NOTE: Read and carefully study "Law of Psychic Phenomena," Hudson; "Life After Death," Hyslop; "The Unknown Guest," Maeterlinck; "Science and Immortality," Lodge; "The Hidden Power," Troward; "From the Unconscious to the Conscious," Geley.
Lesson Six: Recapitulation
Psychic phenomena are the phenomena of the soul, or subjective mind. The subjective mentality is man's atmosphere in Universal Mind; it is the seat of his memory and the avenue through which Instinctive Life works.
The subjective mentality, being deductive only in its reasoning power, is compelled to retain all of the impressions that it receives, but, of course, these impressions can be erased, consciously.
Man is Universal on the subjective side of life, and in this way is connected with the subjectivity of all with whom he is in harmonious vibration.
Mental suggestion operates through the subjective mind, and a silent influence is always going on through this avenue in the form of race-suggestion. A silent communication takes place at all times between friends on the subjective side of life; when it comes to the surface, it is called mental telepathy.
The subjective mind, being in contact with the race-thought, has a much greater knowledge than the conscious mind. It is through this avenue that human inspiration comes. Orators and actors contact the subjective side of their audiences and, in this way, wield a tremendous influence. Singers, poets and writers enter the subjective race-thought and interpret it; this enables them to depict the race-emotions.
Each person has a subjective mental emanation or atmosphere which is the result of all that has ever been consciously or unconsciously said, thought or done by that person. The mental atmosphere of a person is his power of attraction. It is the result of his inner thoughts. The mental atmosphere of a place is the result of all that has been thought, said or done in that place. The mental atmosphere of a place is its power of attraction. We love those places whose mental atmosphere is one of love and peace; this is why we like our homes. The home should always be kept sacred and its atmosphere should always be one of love.
Things are possessed of a soul element and continuously emanate this atmosphere.
Each city or town has a special atmosphere which is the result of the mental emanations of those who inhabit it. The same may be said of nations; each has its national mentality.
The history of the whole race is subjectively written on the unseen walls of time, and may be reproduced by one who can read the race-mentality.
Telepathy, which is the act of reading subjective thought takes place through the medium of Universal Subjectivity. In order to mentally receive a message, and bring it to the surface, one must be in tune with the vibration of that message.
Since the whole field of subjectivity is Universal, it follows that everything that has ever been thought, said or done, is retained in the race-thought; and since this field is a unit, all of the vibrations are ever present, and may be contacted at the point of any one's mentality.
In his objective state, man is separate and distinct, but on the subjective side of life he is universal.
The conditions necessary for the best results in psychic work are faith and expectancy; this is because the subjective mentality is the seat of the instinctive emotions and responds to feeling.
A psychic, going into more or less of a subjective state, is able to enter the vibration of an individual's thought and read from the book of his remembrance. The personal reading seems to be limited to the subjective remembrance, although this is often very far-reaching.
Each maintains a stream of consciousness in the One Mind, and any one contacting this stream may objectify it. Because of the Universality of the Medium, the individual stream of consciousness is always omnipresent, whether the one from whom it emanated be in the flesh or out of it.
Time and space are unknown in Mind, the past and the present are one. In reading the thought of people set down in books, we enter their vibration, and in studying their thoughts we enter their stream of consciousness.
Every one who ever lived on earth has left behind a mental picture of himself; these pictures are often seen when one is in a subjective state. This does not mean that we really see the person; what we see generally is the picture.
The human aura is the mental vibration or emanation of the individual. The idea of the halo surrounding the heads of the saints is explained in this way. The personal atmosphere varies with the changing thought and emotion, and is sometimes pleasant and at other times unpleasant.
Habits are formed through conscious thought becoming subjective, and in its turn, controlling the one through whom it operates. Mania is a strong desire, subjectified, which becomes an obsession.
People may become obsessed with their own ideas or with those that operate through them from some foreign source, whether this source is from some one in the flesh or out of it. Obsession is always some form of mental suggestion. Insanity is the loss of the objective faculty.
The psychic power must always be controlled. A normal state is a perfect balance between the objective and the subjective faculties. This is the aim of evolution: to produce a man who, at the point of his objective faculty, may perfectly control the subjective. A trance state is abnormal, and only that psychic faculty is normal which is under full control of the self-discerning mind.
Clairvoyance is the ability to see without the physical eye. Psy
chometry is a clairvoyant state wherein the medium is able to enter the subjective side of things and read the atmospheres surrounding them; this is why mediums often wish to hold some familiar object in their hands while giving readings.
Clairaudience is the ear of the soul. Independent voices sometimes come from the air, proving that some inner power is able to express itself audibly. Apparitions are thought forms, and may come from the living or from the dead; at times they come as a warning.
Crystal gazing is for the purpose of concentrating the mind, in order that it may become subjective.
Black magic, the curse of malpractice, all mean the use of thought power for destructive purposes.
Automatic writing takes place when the arm is under control of the subjective mind of the operator or by the subconscious mind of some one else, either in the flesh or out of it; it is a form of suggestion, either conscious or unconscious. Independent writing is where the pencil writes without physical contact. This shows that some inner power has the ability to grasp solid objects without physical contact. Table tipping and rappings are from the same source. It is thought by some that these manifestations come from the agency of what is called "ectoplasm," or a subtle emanation of the body; this theory, however, does not explain all of the facts. Mind alone can do this. Levitation or the ability to move the body is another fact well known to investigators.
The power of prophecy is limited to some subjective tendency already set in motion; for mental tendencies cast their shadows before them. There is a higher power of prophecy which contacts the Cosmic Purposes and reads the thought of God.
Man reproduces, on the mental plane, all of the physical faculties.
IMMORTALITY
Immortality means that the individual shall persist after the experience of physical death, carrying with him a complete remembrance and an unbroken stream of consciousness; for if man be immortal, death cannot rob him of anything.
Man cannot conceive of himself, either as being born or as dying; he lives, and cannot think of himself from any other standpoint. Even though a person should conceive of himself as dying and imagine his own funeral, he would still have to conceive of himself as consciously being there, and so prove that he did not die at all. It is the same with birth; we can imagine being born into this world, but we cannot imagine the self as being non-existent; for, while thinking of the self as being born, we are still consciously thinking; thus proving that we were before we were physically born.
All inquiry into the Truth starts with the self-evident proposition that Life Is.
When man first woke to self-consciousness on this plane he already had a body. Consciousness always clothes itself in some kind of form.
Matter, from which the body is made, is a fluent substance, forever taking the form that intelligence gives it; it flows in and out like a river; we yearly immortalize ourselves, so far as the body is concerned.
The ether, being more solid than matter, proves that we could have a body within the one that we now occupy. Since matter in form is only a certain rate of vibration, it follows that, in dealing with Infinite Life, we are dealing with an infinite number of vibrations; consequently, we might have a body within a body to Infinity.
In reality, the body is a spiritual idea; the flesh simply covers it for the purpose of providing a physical instrument through which Spirit may function on this plane.
Man departs this body only to find himself already equipped with another one. He carries with him every attribute that he now possesses, and goes forth in complete retention of his individuality.
Since there is but One Mind, it follows that it is possible to communicate with the departed; but, as the communication must come through the subjective, it is difficult to receive clear messages; and it is impossible to know whether or not the ones with whom we think we are communicating are consciously present.
It is never safe to go into a trance state in order to communicate with the departed, as in so doing, one might subject himself to the mental influences of lesser mentalities. Individuality is sacred and must never be tampered with nor controlled, except by the conscious mind.
The value of an understanding of psychic phenomena lies in the fact that they are the phenomena of Mind and must be accounted for.
Every plane reproduces the one just below or just above it; psychic phenomena are the reproductions, on the mental plane, of the principle just below the mental, which is the physical.
Part III: Special Articles
Note: It is well for the student to carefully read and study the following articles, as they have a distinct bearing on the preceding lessons.
ABSOLUTENESS AND RELATIVITY
Absolute is defined as, "Free from restrictions, unlimited, unconditioned." "The Unlimited and Perfect Being, God."
Relativity is defined as, "Existence only as an object of, or in relation to, a thinking mind." "A condition of dependence."
The Absolute, being Unconditioned, is Infinite and All; It is that Which Is, or the Truth. It is axiomatic that the Truth, being All, cannot be separated, limited nor divided; It must be Changeless, Complete, Perfect and Uncreated.
Relativity is that which depends upon something else; and if there be such a thing as relativity, it is not a thing of itself, but only that which functions within the Absolute and depends on It.
We wish to affirm relativity without destroying Absoluteness. This can be done only by realizing that the relative is not a thing apart from, but is an experience in, the All-Comprehending Mind. The relative does not contradict the Absolute, but affirms It; and the relative alone guarantees that there is an Absolute.
The Absolute is Cause, the relative is effect; the Absolute depends upon Itself, being Self-Existent; the relative must depend upon the Absolute.
We should be careful not to deny the relative, simply because it is not absolute. To suppose that there could be an Absolute without a relative, would be to suppose that there could be an unexpressed God or First Cause; this is unthinkable and impossible. The Consciousness of God must be expressed, hence the relative. The relative is not apart from, but is in the Absolute; and, as such, it is perfectly good and necessary. Time, space, outline, form, change, movement, action and reaction, manifestation and creation, all are relative; but all are real.
Relativity subsists within existence and inherent Life is potential and latent with limitless possibilities.
The relative and the Absolute do not contradict each other.
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
Evil will remain a problem as long as any one believes in it. This may sound rather startling until one has taken the time to think the matter through to a conclusion. Evil; of itself, is neither person, place nor thing, but is only a certain use that we make of life. We call that evil which we feel is the wrong thing to do; but our ideas of good and evil change with the unfoldment of our thought about, and belief in, life; for what was thought to be good yesterday, is to-day considered evil; and what, yesterday, was considered to be evil, is to-day called good.
Generally speaking, we may consider evil to be that which is destructive in its nature, and good to be that which is constructive
Evil, then, will disappear in the exact proportion that we cease using destructive methods; and good will appear to the degree that we embody constructive methods. To turn from evil and do good is the desire of every soul who is consecrated to the Truth; this we can do only as we cease talking about, believing in, or doing evil.
The problem of evil will continue to be a problem just as long as we believe in it. Good will appear only as we embody it. Each soul has within a sure test, a something which directs and guides it. This Something is the Spirit of God and It knows no evil.
As there is no sin but a mistake, so there is no punishment but an inevitable consequence. As long as we make mistakes we shall be sinning; and just so long, we shall automatically be punished; for the law is certain and sure. As we turn to the Good, we will stop doing evil and, ther
efore, stop sinning.
The problem is solved as we turn from all that hurts, all that is destructive, all that denies the Good, and turn with our whole being into the light and toward the Truth. Evil is swallowed up in the Good as we learn to live daily in the Presence of God. "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." 100 That is, it will be completely blotted out; it will cease to be.
With our whole heart, with our whole being, in sincerity and honesty, with a complete trust in the Good, yearning toward It with a soul-desire that will be satisfied, we should turn to God, as the Supreme Presence, as the Complete Life, forsaking any belief in evil; we should turn so completely to the Spirit that our souls will become illumined by the Light Eternal.
Evil will cease to be when we stop looking at it; it never really was and is but a supposition. Let us, then, turn to the Path of Light and look to the God Within. Let us say, "Thou Infinite, Indwelling God, within me, knowing no evil, teach me of Thy ways, and in Thy wisdom make me wise. Almighty God within me, direct me into the way of the All Good." Let us turn completely from any and every belief in evil and do good. The problem will thus be solved and we shall realize that only the Good remains.
THE MEANING OF THE FALL
The story of the fall typifies race-experience as brought about through its belief in duality. Man is created perfect; that is, he starts on his journey as a perfect being, but he also starts as an individual; and this, of course, means that he starts with self-choice. Self-choice would have no real meaning unless it were backed by the power to externalize this choice and experience the effect of it. Man has the ability to choose and to externalize his choice; for he is a real individuality.
The Science of Mind Page 23