The seventh lesson, the Unfoldment of Consciousness. We have thought it well to
make a slight change in the arrangement of these lessons, that is, in
the order in which they should appear. We had contemplated making the seventh lesson
a series of mental drills, and tended to develop certain of the mental faculties.
But we have decided to postpone the same until a later lesson, believing
that by so doing a more logical sequence or order of arrangement will be preserved.
In this lesson we will tell you of the unfoldment of consciousness in man,
and in the next lesson, and probably in the one following it,
we shall present to you a clear statement regarding the states of mind below and
over consciousness, the most wonderful region, we assure you, and one that
has been greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted. This will lead up to the subject of
the cultivation of the various faculties, both conscious and outside of consciousness, and
the series will be concluded by three lessons going right into the heart of this
part of the subject, and giving certain rules and instruction calculated to develop man's
wonderful thought machine that will be of the greatest interest and importance to all of
our students. When the lessons are concluded, you will see that the present
arrangement is most logical and proper. In this lesson we take up the subject
of the unfoldment of consciousness, the most interesting subject. Many of us have
been in the habit of identifying consciousness with mind. But as we proceed with
a series of lessons, we will see that that which is called consciousness is
but a small portion of the mind of the individual, and even that small
part is constantly changing its states on unfolding new states. Undreamed of consciousness is
a word we use very often in considering the science of the mind. Let
us see what it means. Webster defines it as one's knowledge of sensations and
mental operations, or of what passes in one's own mind. Hallick defines it
as that undefinable characteristic of mental states which causes one to be aware of them.
But, as Halleck states, consciousness is incapable of definition. To define
anything, we are obligated to describe it in terms of something else, and
there is nothing else in the world like consciousness. Hence, we can define
it only in terms of itself, and that is very much like trying to
lift one's self by one's own footstraps. Consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries
that confronts us. Before we can understand what consciousness really is, we must
know what mind really is, and that knowledge is lacking. Notwithstanding the many
ingenious theories evolved in order to explain the mystery, metaphysicians do not throw much
light on the subject. And as for materialistic science, listen to what Huxley
says. How it comes about that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness
comes about by the result of irritating nervous tissue is just as unaccountable as the
appearance of the genie when Aladdin rubbed his lamp. To many persons, the
words consciousness and mental process or thought are regarded as synonyms, and in fact
psychologists so held until quite recently. But now it is generally accepted as a
fact that mental processes are not limited to the field of consciousness, and it
is now generally taught that the field of subconsciousness, that is under consciousness mentation,
is of a much greater extent than that of conscious mentation. Not only
is it true that the mind can hold in consciousness but one fact to any
one instant, and that consequently, only a very small fraction of our knowledge
can be in consciousness to any one moment. But it is also true that
the consciousness plays a very small part in the totality of mental processes or mentation.
The mind is not conscious of the greater portion of its own activities.
Maudsley says that only ten percent comes into the field of consciousness. Taine has
stated it in these words, of the world which makes up our being,
we only perceive the highest points, the lighted up peaks of a continent,
whose lower levels remain in the shade. But it is not our intention to
speak of this great subconscious region of the mind at this point, for we
shall have much to do with it later on. It is mentioned here in
order to show that the enlargement or development of consciousness is not so much a
matter of growth as it is in unfoldness, not a new creation or enlargement
from the outside, but rather an unfoldment outward from within. From the very
beginning of life, among the particles of inorganic substance may be found traces of
something like sensation. In response, hitherto, writers have not cared to give
to this phenomenon the name of sensation or sensibility, as the terms savored too
much of senses and sense organs, But modern science has not hesitated to bestow
the name so long withheld. The most advanced scientific writers do not hesitate to
state that in reaction, chemical response, et cetera, may be seen indications
of rudimentary sensation. Haeckel says, I cannot imagine the simplest chemical and physical
process without attributing the movement of the material particles to unconscious sensation. The idea
of chemical affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical elements perceive the qualitative
differences in other elements and experience pleasure or revulsion at contacts with them, and
execute their specific movements on this ground. He also speaks of the sensitiveness of
plasm or the substance of living bodies, as being only a superior degree of
the general irritability of substance. Chemical reaction between atoms is spoken of by chemists
as a sensitive reaction. Sensitiveness is found even in the particles of inorganic substance,
and may be regarded as the first glimmerings of thought. Science recognizes this
when it speaks of the unconscious sensation of the particles as a thesis or feeling,
and the unconscious will that responds there too, as tropesis or inclination.
Hakel says of this that sensation perceives the different qualities of the stimuli and feeling
the quantity. And also we may ascribe the feeling of pleasure and pain in
the contact with qualitatively different atoms to all atoms, and so explain the elective
affinity in chemistry attraction of loving atoms, inclination repulsion of hating atoms, this
inclination. It is impossible to form a clear or intelligent idea of the phenomena
of chemical affinity, et cetera, unless we attribute to the atoms something akin
to sensation. It is likewise impossible to understand the actions of the molecules unless
we think of them as possessing something akin to sensation. The law of attraction
is based upon mental states and substance. The response of inorganic substance to electricity
and magnetism is also another evidence of sensation, and the response there too.
In the movements and operations of crystal life, we obtain evidences of still a
little higher forms of sensation in response. There too, the action of crystallization
is very near akin to that of some low forms of plasmic action. In
fact, the missing link between plant life and the crystals is claimed to have
been found in some recent discoveries of science, the connection being found in certain
crystals in the interior of plants, composed of carbon combinations and resembling the inorganic
crystals. In many ways, crystals grow along certain lines and forms up to
a certain size. Then they begin to form baby crystals on their surfaces,
which then take on the growth. The processes, being almost analogous to cell
life. Processes akin to fermentation have been detected among chemicals in many ways.
It may be seen that the beginning of mental life must be looked for among
the minerals and particles. The latter be it remembered, composing not only inorganic
but also the organic substance. As we advance in the scale of life,
we are met with constantly increasing unfoldment of mentation, the simple giving place to
the complex manifestations. Passing by the simple vital processes of the monera or single
celled things, we notice the higher forms of cell life with growing sensibility or
sensation. Then we come to the cell groups in which the individual cells manifest
sensation of a kind coupled with a community sensation. Food is distinguished, selected
and captured, and movements exercised in pursuit of the same. The living thing
is beginning to manifest more complex mental states. Then the stage of the lower
plants is reached, and we notice the varied phenomena of that region evidencing an
increased sensitiveness, although there are practically no science of special organs of sense.
Then we pass on to the higher plant life and which begin to manifest certain
sensitive cells or groups of such cells, which are rudimentary sense organs. Then
the forms of animal life and considered, with rising degrees of sensations and growing
sense apparatus or sense organs, gradually unfolding into something like nervous systems. Among
the lower animal forms there are varying degrees of mentation, with accompanying nerve centers
and sense organs, little or no science of consciousness, gradually ascending until we
have dawning consciousness in the reptile kingdom, et cetera, and fuller consciousness and
a degree of intelligent thought in the still higher forms, gradually increasing until we
reach the plane of the highest mammals, such as the horse, dog,
elephant, ape et cetera, which animals have complex nervous systems, brains,
and well developed consciousness. We need not further consider the forms of mentation in
the forms of life below the conscious stage, for that would carry us far
from our subject among the higher forms of animal life. After a dawn period
or semi consciousness, we come to forms of life among the lower animals possessing
a well developed degree of mental action and consciousness, the latter being called by
psychologists simple consciousness, but which term we consider too indefinite, and which we
will term physical consciousness, which will give a fair idea of the thing itself.
We use the word physical in the double sense of external and relating to
the material structure of living being, both of which definitions are found in the
dictionaries. And that is just what physical consciousness really is, an awareness in
the mind or a consciousness of the external world, as evidenced by the senses
and of the body of the animal or person. The animal or person thinking
on the plane of physical consciousness. All the higher animals do, and many
men seem unable to rise much higher identifies itself with the physical body, and
its conscious only of thoughts of that body and the outside world it knows,
but not being conscious of mental operations or of the existence of its mind,
it does not know that it knows. This form of consciousness while infinitely above.
The mentation of the non conscious plane of sensation is like a different world
of thought from the consciousness of the highly developed intellectual man of our age and
race. It is difficult for a man to form an idea of the physical
consciousness of the lower animals and savages, particularly as he finds it difficult to
understand his own consciousness except by the act of being conscious. But observation and
reason have given us a fair degree of understanding of what this physical consciousness of
the animal is like, or at least in what respect it differs from our
own consciousness. Let us take a favorite illustration. A horse standing out in
the cold, sleet and rain undoubtedly feels the discomfort and possibly pain, for
we know by observation that animals feel both. But he is not able to
analyze his mental states and wonder when his master will come out to him.
Think how cruel it is to keep him out of the warm stable, wonder
whether he will be taken out in the cold again tomorrow, feel envious of
other horses who are indoors, wonder why he is compelled to be out cold
nights, et cetera, et cetera. In short, he does not think
as would a reasoning man under such circumstances. He is aware of the discomfort,
just as would be the man, and he would run home if he
could, just as would the man. But he is not able to pity
himself, nor to think about his personality as would the man. Nor does
he wonder whether such a life is worth living. After all, he knows,
but is not able to think of himself as knowing. He does not
know that he knows as we do. He experiences the physical pain and discomfort,
but has spared the mental discomfort and concern arising from the physical which man
so often experiences. The animal cannot shift its consciousness from the sensations of the
outer world to the inner states of being. It is not able to know
itself. The difference may be clumsily illustrated by the example of a man feeling,
seeing or hearing something that gives him a pleasurable sensation, or the reverse.
He is conscious of the feeling and sensation, and that it is pleasurable
or otherwise. That is physical consciousness, and the animal may share it with
him, but it stops right there with the animal. But the man may
begin to wonder why the sensation is pleasurable, and to associate with other things
in persons, or speculate why he dislikes it, what will follow, and
so on. That is mental consciousness. Because he recognizes an inward self and
is turning his attention inward. He may see another man in experience of feeling
or sensation of attraction or aversion like or dislike. This is physical consciousness,
and an animal may also experience the sensation. The man goes further than the
animal and wonders just what there is about the man he likes or detests,
and may compare himself to the man and wonder whether the latter feels as he
does, and so on. This is mental consciousness. In animals, the
mental gaze is freely directed outward and never returns upon itself and man, the
mental gaze may be directed inward or may return inward after its outward journey.
The animal knows the man not only knows, but he knows that he knows,
and is able to investigate that knowing and speculate about it. We call
this higher consciousness mental consciousness, the operation of physical consciousness. We call instinct
the operation of mental consciousness. We call reason. The man who has mental
consciousness not only feels or senses things, but he has words or mental concepts
of these feelings and sensations, and may think of himself as experiencing them,
separating himself the sensation or feeling and the thing felt or sensed. The man
is able to think, I feel, I hear, I see, I
smell, I taste, I desire I do, et cetera, et cetera.
The very words indicate mental consciousness, recognizing mental states and giving them names,
and also recognizing something called I that experiences the sensations. This latter fact
has caused psychologists to speak of this stage as self consciousness, but we reserve
this idea of the eye consciousness for a higher stage. The animal experiences something
that gives it the impressions or feeling that we call pain, hurt, pleasant,
sweet, bitter, et cetera, all being forms of sensation, but
it is unable to think of them in words. The pain seems to be
a part of itself, although possibly associated with some person or thing that caused
it. The study of the unfoldment of consciousness in a young baby will give
one a far better idea of the grades and distinctions than can be obtained from
reading mere words. Mental consciousness is a growth. As Hallick says, many
persons never have more than a misty idea of such a mental attitude. They
always take themselves for granted, and never turn the gaze inward. It has
been doubted whether the savages have developed self consciousness, and even many men of
our own race seem to be but little above the animals in intellect and consciousness.
They do not seem able to know themselves even slightly. To them.
The eye seems to be a purely physical thing, a body having desires and
feeling, but little more. They are able to feel an act, but
scarcely more. They are not able to set aside any physical not i,
being utterly unable to think of themselves as anything else but a body. The
eye and the body are one with them, and they seem incapable of distinguishing
between them. Then comes another stage in which mental consciousness proper sets in the
man begins to realize that he has a mind. He is able to know
himself as a mental being and to turn the gaze inward a little. This
period of development may be noticed in young children. For a time they speak
of themselves as a third person, until finally they begin to say aye.
Then a little later comes the ability to know their own mental states. As
such, they know that they have a mind and are able to distinguish between
it and the body. It is related that some children experience a feeling of
terror when they pass into this stage. They exhibit signs of bashfulness and what
is commonly termed self consciousness. In that sense, Some tell us in after
years that when they became aware of themselves as an entity, they were overcome
with alarm, as if by a sense of loneliness and a partness from the
universe. Young people often feel this way for several years. There seems to
be a distinct feeling that the universe is antagonistic to and set apart from them.
And although this feeling of separateness and apartness grows less acute as the man
grows older, yet it is always present to a greater or less degree,
until a still higher stage the ego. Consciousness is reached when it disappears,
as we shall see. And this mental conscious stage is a hard one for
many. They are entangled in a mass of mental states which the man thinks
is himself, And the struggle between the real eye and its confining sheaths is
painful, and it becomes still more painful as the end is neared. For
as man advances in mental consciousness and knowledge, he feels more keenly and suffers.
Accordingly, man eats the fruit of the tree of knowledge and begins to
suffer, and is driven out of the garden of Eden, of the child
and primitive races, who live like birds of the air and can concern themselves
not about mental states and problems. But there is deliverance ahead in the shape
of a higher consciousness, although but few realize it, and still fewer have
gained it. Perhaps this lesson may point out the way for you. With
the birth of mental consciousness comes the knowledge that there is a mind in others.
Man is able to speculate and reason about the mental states of other men
because he recognizes these states within himself. As man advances in the mental consciousness,
he begins to develop a constantly increasing degree and grade of intellect, and
accordingly he attaches the greatest importance to that part of his nature. Some men
worship intellect as a god, ignoring its limitations which other thinkers have pointed out.
Such people are apt to reason that because the human intellect in its present
state of development reports that such a thing must be or cannot possibly be,
that the matter is forever settled. They ignore the fact that it is possible
that man's intellect, in its present state of unfoldment, may be able to
take cognizance of only a very small part of the universal fact, and that
there may be regions upon regions of reality and fact of which he cannot even
dream, so far are they removed from his experience. The unfoldment of a
new sense would open out a new world, and might bring to light facts
that would completely revolutionize our entire world of conceptions by reason of the new information
it would give us. But nevertheless, from this mental consciousness has come the
wonderful work of intellect, as shown in the achievements of man up to this
time. And while we must recognize its limitations, we gladly join in singing.
If praises reason is the tool with which man is digging into the mind
of facts, bringing to light new treasures. Every day. This stage of
mental consciousness is bringing to man knowledge of himself, knowledge of the universe that
is well worth the price he pays for it. For man does pay a
price for entrance into this stage, and he pays an increasing price as he
advances in its territory. For the higher he advances, the more keenly he
feels and suffers as well as enjoys. Capacity for pain is the price man
pays for attainment. Up to a certain stage, his pain passes from the
physical to the mental consciousness, and he becomes aware of problems that he never
dreamt existed, and the lack of an intelligent answer produces mental suffering. And
the mental suffering that comes to him from unsatisfied longings, disappointment, the pain
of others whom he loves, et cetera, is far worse than any physical
suffering. The animal lives its animal life and is contented, for it knows
no better. If it had enough to eat, a place to sleep,
a mate, it is happy, and some men are likewise, But others
find themselves involved in a world of mental discomfort. New wants arise, and
the lack of satisfaction brings pain. Civilization becomes more and more complex and brings
its new pains as well as new pleasures. Man attaches himself to things,
and each day creates for himself artificial wants which he must labor to meet.
His intellect may not lead him upward, but instead may merely enable him to
invent new and subtle means and ways of gratifying his senses to a degree impossible
to the animals. Some men make a religion of the gratification of their sensuality,
their appetite, and become beasts magnified by the power of intellect. Others
become vain, conceited, and puffed up with a sense of importance of their
personality the false eye. Others become morbidly introspective and spend their time analyzing and
dissecting their moods, motives, feelings, et cetera. Others exhaust their capacity
for pleasure and happiness but looking outside for it instead of within, and become
blaise, bored, enewed, and an affliction to themselves. We mention these
things not in a spirit of pessimism, but merely to show that even this
great mental consciousness has a reverse and ugly side, as well as the bright
face that has been ascribed to it. As man reaches the higher stages of
this mental consciousness, and the next higher stage begins to dawn upon him,
he is apt to feel more keenly than ever the insufficiency of life as it
appears to him. He is unable to understand himself, his origin, destiny,
purpose, and nature, and he chafes against the bars of the cage
of intellect in which he is confined. He asks himself the question, whence
come I, Whither go I? What is the object of my existence?
He becomes dissatisfied with the answers the world has to give him to these questions,
and he cries aloud in despair, And but the answer of his own
voice comes back to him from the impassable walls with which he is surrounded.
He does not realize that his answer must come from within. But so it
is. Psychology stops when it reaches the limits of mental consciousness, or as
it calls it self consciousness, and denies that there is anything beyond any unexplored
regions of the mind. It laughs at the reports that come from those who
have penetrated farther within the recesses of their being, and dismisses the reports as
mere dreams, phantasies, illusions, ecstatic imagings, abnormal states, et cetera,
et cetera. But nevertheless, there are schools of thought that teach of
these higher states, and there are men of all ages and races that have
entered them and have reported concerning them, And we feel justified in asking you
to take them into consideration. There are two planes of consciousness of which we
feel it proper to speak, for we have obtained more or less information regarding
them. There are still higher planes, but they belong to higher phases of
life than we are dealt with here. The first of these plains or states
of consciousness, above the self consciousness of the psychologists, which we have called
mental consciousness, may be called ego consciousness, for it brings an awareness of
the reality of the ego. This awareness is far above the self consciousness of
the man who is able to distinguish I from you and to give it a
name, and far above the consciousness that enables a man as he rises in
the scale, to distinguish the eye from faculty after faculty of the mind which
he is able to recognize as not I, until he finds left a mental
something that he cannot set aside, which he calls I. Although this stage
alone is very much higher than that of the average of the race, and
is a high degree of attainment itself, it is akin to this last stage,
and yet still fuller and more complete. In the dawning of ego consciousness,
the eye recognizes itself still more clearly and more than this, is fully
imbued with a sense and awareness of its own reality unknown to it before.
This awareness is not a mere matter of reasoning. It is a consciousness,
just as is physical consciousness and mental consciousness. Something different from an intellectual conviction.
It is a knowing, not a thinking or believing. The eye knows
that it is real, that it has its roots in the supreme reality underlying
all the universe, and partakes of its essence. It does not know what
this reality is, but it knows that it is real and something different from
anything in the world of name, form, number, time, space,
cause and effect, something transcendental and surpassing all human experience. And knowing this,
it knows that it cannot be destroyed or hurt, not die, but
is immortal, and that there is something which is the very essence of good,
behind, of underneath, and even in itself. And in this certainty
and consciousness is their peace, understanding, and power. When it fully bursts
upon one, doubt, fear, unrest, and dissatisfaction drop from him like
worn out garments, and he finds himself clothed in the faith that knows fearlessness,
restfulness, satisfaction. Then he is able to say, understandingly and with
meaning, I am. This ego consciousness is coming to many as a dawning
knowledge. The light is just rising from behind the hills. To others,
it has come gradually and slowly, but fully, and they now live in
the full light of the consciousness. Others, it has burst upon like a
flash or vision, like a light falling from the clear sky, almost blinding
them at first, but leaving them changed men and women possessed of that something
that cannot be understood by or described to those who have not experienced it.
This last stage is called illumination. In one of its forms, the man
of the ego consciousness may not understand the riddle of the universe, or be
able to give an answer to the great questions of life, but he has
ceased to worry about them. They now disturb him. Not he may use
his intellect upon them as before, but never with the feeling that in their
intellectual solution rests his happiness or peace of mind. He knows that he stands
on solid rock, and though the storms of the world of matter and force
may beat upon him, he will not be hurt. This and other things,
he knows. He cannot prove these things to others, for they are
not demonstratable by argument. He himself did not get them in that way,
and so he says but little about it, but lives his life as if
he knew them, not so far as outward appearances go. But inwardly he
is a changed man. His life is different from that of his brothers,
for while their souls are wrapped in slumber or tossing in troubled dreams, his
soul has awakened and is gazing upon the world with bright and fearless eyes.
There are, of course, different stages or degrees of this consciousness, just
as there are in the lower planes of consciousness. Some have it to a
slight degree, while others have it fully. Perhaps this lesson will teach some
of its readers, just what is the thing that has happened to them,
and which they hesitate to speak of to their closest friend or life companion.
To others, it may open the way to a fuller realization. We sincerely
trust so, for one does not begin to live until he knows the eye
as reality. There is a stage still higher than this last mentioned, but
it has come to but very few of the race reports of it come from
all times, races countries. It has been called cosmic consciousness, and is
described as an awareness of the oneness of life, that is, a consciousness
that the universe is filled with one life, an actual perception and awareness that
the universe is full of life, motion, and mind, and that there
is no such thing as blind force or dead matter, but that all is
alive, vibrating, and intelligent. That is, of course, that the
real universe, which is the essence or background of the universe of matter,
energy, and mind, is as they describe. In fact, the description
of those who have had glimpses of this state would indicate that they see the
universe as all mind, that all is mind. At the last, this
form of consciousness has been experienced by men here and there only a few in
moments of illumination, the period lasting but a very short space of time,
then fading away, leaving but a memory. In the moment of the illumination,
there came to those experiencing it a sense of in touchness with universal knowledge
and life impossible to describe, accompanied by a joy beyond understanding. Regarding this
last cosmic consciousness, we would state that it means more than an intellectual conviction,
belief, or realization of the facts as stated, for an actual vision
and consciousness of these things came in the moment of illumination. Some others report
that they have a deep, abiding sense of the reality of the facts described
by the report of the illumined, but they have not experienced the vision or
ecstasy referred to. These last people seem to have with them always the same
mental state as that possessed by those who had the vision and passed out of
it, carrying with them the remembrance and feeling, but not the actual consciousness
attained at the moment. They agree upon the essential particulars of the reports.
Doctor Maurice Buck, now passed out of this plain of life, wrote a
book entitled Cosmic Consciousness, in which he describes a number of these cases,
including his own, Walt Whitman's, and others, and in which he holds
that this stage of consciousness is before the race, and will gradually come to
it in the future. He holds that the manifestation of it, which has
come to some few of the race, as above stated, is but the
first beams of the sun which are flashing upon us, and which are but
prophecies of the appearance of the great body of light itself. We shall not
here consider at length the reports of certain great religious personages of the past,
who have left records that in moments of great spiritual exaltation, they became conscious
of a being in the presence of the Absolute, or perhaps within the radius
of the light of its countenance. We have great respect for these reports,
and have every reason for believing many of them authentic, notwithstanding the conflicting reports
that have been handed down to us by those experiencing them. These reports are
conflicting because of the fact that the minds of those who had these glimpses of
consciousness were not prepared or trained to fully under the nature of the phenomena they
found themselves in the spiritual presence of something of awful grandeur and spiritual rank,
and they were completely dazed and bewildered at the sight. They did not understand
the nature of the absolute, and when they had sufficiently recovered, they reported
that they had been in the presence of God, the word God, meaning
their particular conception of deity, that is, the one appearing as deity in
their own particular religious creed or school. They saw nothing to cause them to
identify this something with their particular conception of deity, except that they thought that
it must be God, And knowing no other God except their own particular conception,
they naturally identifying the something with God as they conceived him to be,
and their reports naturally were along these lines. Thus the reports of all religions
are filled with accounts of the so called miraculous occurrences. The Catholic saint reports
that he saw the light of God's countenance, and the non Catholic reports likewise,
regarding God as he knows him. The Mohammedan reports that he caught a
glimpse of the face of Allah, and the Buddhist tells us that he saw
Buddha under the tree. The Brahman has seen the face of Brahma and the
various Hindu sects have men who give similar reports regarding their own particular deities.
The Persians have given similar reports, and even the ancient Egyptians have left records
of similar occurrences. These conflicting reports have led to the belief on the part
of those who did not understand the nature of the phenomena, that these things
were all imagination and fancy, if indeed not rank falsehood and imposture. But
the yogis no better than this. They know that underneath all these varying reports
is a common ground of truth, which will be apparent to anyone investigating the
matter. They know that all of these reports, except a few based upon
fraudulent imitation of the real phenomenon, are based upon truth, and are but
the bewildered reports of various observers. They know that these people were temporarily lifted
above the ordinary plane of consciousness and were made aware of the existence of a
being or beings higher than mortal. It does not follow that they saw God
or the Absolute, for there are many beings of high spiritual growth, and
the development would appear to the ordinary mortal as a very God. The Catholic
doctrine of angels and archangels is corroborated by those among the Yogis who have been
behind the veil, and they give us reports of the divas and other advanced
beings. So the Yogi accepts these reports of the various mystics, saints,
and inspired ones, and accounts for them, all by laws perfectly natural to
the students of the Yogi philosophy, but which appear as supernatural to those who
have not studied along these lines. But we cannot speak further of this phase
of the subject in this lesson, for a full discussion of it would lead
us far away from the phase of the general subject before us. But we
wish to be understood as saying that there are certain centers in the mental being
of man from which may come light regarding the existence of the absolute and higher
order of beings. In fact, from these centers come to man that part
of his mental feelings that he calls the religious instinct or intuition. Man does
not arrive at that underlying consciousness of something beyond by means of his intellect.
It is the glimmer of light coming from the high centers of the self.
He notices these gleams of light, but not understanding them, he proceeds to
erect elaborate theological and credal structures to account for them. The work of the
intellect, however, always lacking that feeling that the intuition itself possesses true religion,
no matter under what name it may masquerade, comes from the heart and
is not comforted or satisfied with these intellectual explanations, and hence comes that unrest
and craving for satisfaction which comes to man when the light begins to break through.
But we must postpone a further discussion of this part of the subject for
the present. We shall consider it again in a future lesson, in connection
with other matters. As we have said, our next two lessons will take
upon the inquiry regarding the regions outside of the consciousness of the ordinary man.
You will find it a most fascinating and instructive inquiry, and one that will
open up news fields of thought for many of you. Mantram affirmation, I
am a being far greater and grander than I have as yet conceived. I
am unfolding gradually but surely into higher planes of consciousness. I am moving forward
and upward constantly. My goal is the realization of the true self, and
I welcome each stage of unfoldment that leads me toward my aim. I am
a manifestation of reality. I am