WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:05.919 The ninth lesson, the Mental Planes, Part One. In our 2 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.400 last lesson, we told you something about the operation of 3 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.400 the mind outside of the field of consciousness. In this lesson, 4 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.440 we will attempt to classify these out of consciousness plains 5 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:23.000 by directing your attention to the several mental planes above 6 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.320 and below the plane of consciousness. As we stated in 7 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:31.519 the last lesson, over ninety percent of our mental operations 8 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:35.960 are conducted outside of the field of consciousness, so that 9 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.200 the consideration of the plains is seen to be an 10 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:44.399 important subject. Man is a center of consciousness in the 11 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:49.320 great one life of the universe. His soul has climbed 12 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.399 a great many steps before it reached its present position 13 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:56.920 and stage of unfoldment, and it will pass through many 14 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:01.079 more steps until it is entirely free and delivered from 15 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.760 the necessity of its swaddling clothes. In his mental being, 16 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:10.480 man contains traces of all that has gone before, all 17 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:14.439 the experiences of himself and the great race movement of 18 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:19.040 which he is a part. And likewise his mind contains 19 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.239 faculties and mental planes which have not as yet unfolded 20 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.239 into consciousness, and of the existence of which he is 21 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:32.599 but imperfectly aware. All of these mental possessions, however, are 22 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:37.280 useful and valuable to him, even the lowest. The lowest 23 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.599 may be used to advantage under proper mastery, and are 24 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.599 only dangerous to the man who allows them to master 25 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:48.719 him instead of serving him as they should, considering his 26 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:54.519 present stage of development. In this consideration of the several 27 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:58.760 mental plains, we shall not confine ourselves to the technical 28 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:03.239 occult terms given to these several planes, but will place 29 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.640 them in general groups and describe the features and characteristics 30 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:11.680 of each, rather than branch off into long explanations of 31 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:15.479 the growth and reason of the several plains, which would 32 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.400 take us far away from the practical consideration of the subject. 33 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.560 Beginning at the lowest point of the scale, we see 34 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:27.159 that man has a body. The body is composed of 35 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:32.039 minute cells of protoplasm. These cells are built up of 36 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:37.680 countless molecules, atoms, and particles of matter, precisely the same 37 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:42.960 matter that composes the rocks, trees, air, et cetera around him. 38 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:47.479 The Yogi philosophy tells us that even the atoms of 39 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.439 matter have life and an elementary manifestation of mind, which 40 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.879 causes them to group together according to the law of 41 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:02.479 attraction forming different elements, combinations, et cetera. This law of 42 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.879 attraction is a mental operation and is the first evidence 43 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:12.520 of mental choice, action, and response. Below this is prana 44 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:18.039 or force, which strictly speaking, is also a manifestation of mind, 45 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:22.960 although for convenience we designate it as a separate manifestation 46 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:28.000 of the absolute. And therefore we find that this law 47 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:31.680 of attraction between the atoms and particles of matter is 48 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.719 a mental action, and that it belongs to man's mental kingdom, 49 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.560 because he has a body and this mental action is 50 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:44.680 continually going on in his body. So therefore this is 51 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.840 the lowest mental plane to be considered in the make 52 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.599 up of the man. This plane is of course far 53 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.960 sunken beneath the plane of consciousness, and is scarcely identified 54 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:59.120 with the personality of the man at all, but rather 55 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.759 belongs to them the life of the whole manifest in 56 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:07.080 the rock as well as in the man. But after 57 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.280 these atoms have been grouped by the law of attraction 58 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.319 and have formed molecules of matter, they are taken possession 59 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:18.000 of by a higher mental activity and built up into 60 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:22.040 cells by the mental action of the plant. The life 61 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.639 impulse of the plant begins by drawing to it certain 62 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:31.240 particles of inorganic matter chemical elements, and then building them 63 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:36.480 into a single cell. Oh mystery of the cell. The 64 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:40.480 intellect of man is unable to duplicate this wonderful process. 65 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.680 The mind principle on the vegetative plane, however, knows exactly 66 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.360 how to go to work, to select and draw to 67 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:54.519 itself just the elements needed to build up the single cell. Then, 68 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.800 taking up its abode in that cell, using it as 69 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:03.839 a basis of operation, it proceeds to duplicate its previous performance, 70 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.920 and so cell after cell is added by the simple 71 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:13.399 reproductive process of division and subdivision, the primitive and elemental 72 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:18.399 sex process, until the mighty plant is built up from 73 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:22.560 the humblest vegetable organism up to the greatest oak. The 74 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:26.680 process is the same, and it does not stop there. 75 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.160 The body of man is also built up in just 76 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.519 this way, and he has this vegetative mind also within 77 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:39.079 him below the plane of consciousness. Of course, to many 78 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.720 this thought of a vegetative mind may be somewhat startling, 79 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.920 but let us remember that every part of our body 80 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:51.279 has been built up from the vegetable cell. The unborn 81 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:56.639 child starts with the coalition of two cells. These cells 82 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.759 begin to build up the new body for the occupancy 83 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:03.680 of the child. That is, the mind principle in the 84 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:08.079 cells directs the work of course drawing upon the body 85 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:12.079 of the mother for nourishment, and supplies the nourishment in 86 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.680 the mother's blood, which supplies the material for the building 87 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.920 up of the child's body, is obtained by the mother 88 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:25.199 eating and assimilating the vegetable cells of plants directly or indirectly. 89 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:31.279 If she eats fruit, nuts, vegetables, et cetera, she obtains 90 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:35.519 the nourishment of the plant life directly. If she eats meat, 91 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.199 she obtains it indirectly, for the animal from which the 92 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:44.000 meat was taken built up the meat from vegetables. There 93 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.360 is no two ways about this. All nourishment of the 94 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:51.439 animal and human kingdom is obtained from the vegetable kingdom 95 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:56.519 directly or indirectly, and the cell action in the child 96 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:01.079 is identical with the cell action in the plant cells 97 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.600 constantly reproducing themselves and building themselves up into bodily organs parts, 98 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.720 et cetera, under the direction and guidance of the mind principle. 99 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.279 The child grows in this way until the hour of birth, 100 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:20.160 it is born, and then the process is but slightly changed. 101 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:25.319 The child begins to take nourishment, either from the mother's 102 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:28.399 milk or from the milk of the cow, or other 103 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:32.439 forms of food, and as it grows larger, it partakes 104 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.639 of many different varieties of food. But always it obtains 105 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:41.160 building material from the cell life of the plants. And 106 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:46.360 this great building up process is intelligent, purposeful to a 107 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:51.920 wonderful degree. Man with his boasted intellect cannot explain the 108 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:57.439 real thingness of the process. A leading scientist who placed 109 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.360 the egg of a small lizard under micro scopical examination 110 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:05.399 and then watched it slowly develop, has said that it 111 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:09.480 seemed as if some hand was tracing the outlines of 112 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:14.120 the tiny vertebrae and then building up around it. Think 113 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.240 for a moment of the development of the germ within 114 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.240 the egg of the humming bird or the ant, or 115 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:24.600 the gnat or the eagle. Every second a change may 116 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:29.480 be noticed. The germ cell draws to itself nourishment from 117 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.320 the other part of the egg, and then it grows 118 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:37.799 and reproduces another cell. Then both cells divide, then subdivide, 119 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.399 until there are millions and millions and millions of cells, 120 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.919 and all the while the building up process continues, and 121 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.840 the bird or insect assumes shape and form, until at 122 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.559 last the work is accomplished and the young bird emerges 123 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:58.919 from the egg. And the work thus commenced continues until 124 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.240 the death of the animal. For there is a constant 125 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.720 using up and breaking down of cell and tissue which 126 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:11.080 the organism must replace. And so the vegetative mind of 127 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:15.639 the plant or insect, or animal or man is constantly 128 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:19.960 at work, building up new cells from the food, throwing 129 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.440 out worn out and used up material from the system. 130 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.200 Not only this, but it attends to the circulation of 131 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.480 the blood in order that the materials for the building 132 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:34.960 up may be carried to all parts of the system. 133 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:38.759 It attends to the digestion and assimilation of the food, 134 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:43.799 the wonderful work of the organs of the body. It 135 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:48.000 attends to the healing of wounds, the fight against disease, 136 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.639 the care of the physical body, and all this out 137 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.840 of the plane of consciousness in the infant man, the 138 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:04.320 animal world, the vegetable kingdom ever at work, untiring, intelligent, wonderful, 139 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.720 And this plane of mind is in man as well 140 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:12.080 as in the plant, and it does its work without 141 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.600 aid from the conscious part of man, although man may 142 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:19.480 interfere with it by adverse conscious thought, which seems to 143 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:24.559 paralyze its efforts. Mental healing is merely the restoring of 144 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:28.399 normal conditions so that this part of the body may 145 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.240 do its work without the hindrance of adverse conscious thought. 146 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.519 On this plane of the mind is found all of 147 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:41.159 the vital functions and operations. The work is done out 148 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.399 of consciousness, and the consciousness is aware of this part 149 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.559 of the mind only when it makes demands upon the 150 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.919 conscious for food, et cetera. On this plane also resides 151 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:59.480 the elementary instinct that tends toward reproduction and sexual activity. 152 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.360 The demand of this part of the mind is always 153 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.519 increase and multiply, and according to the stage of growth 154 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:11.120 of the individual, is the mandate carried out. As we 155 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:16.200 shall see presently, the elementary impulses and desires that we 156 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:19.720 find rising into the field of consciousness come from this 157 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:25.039 plane of the mind. Hunger, thirst, and the reproductive desires 158 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.879 are its messages to the higher parts of the mind. 159 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:34.000 And these messages are natural and free from the abuses 160 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:38.519 and prostitution often observed attached to them by the intellect 161 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:44.240 of man. In connection with his unrestrained animal impulses. Gluttony 162 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:48.799 and unnatural lust arise not from the primitive demand of 163 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.559 this plane of the mind, For the lower animals even 164 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.879 are free from them to a great extent. But it 165 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.639 is reserved for man to so prostitute these primitive natural 166 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:04.200 tens deencies in order to gratify unnatural and artificial appetites, 167 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:08.080 which served to frustrate nature rather than to aid her. 168 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.879 As life advanced in the scale and animal forms appeared 169 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.519 on the scene, new planes of mind were unfolded in 170 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:21.039 accordance to the necessity of the living forms. The animal 171 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.000 was compelled to hunt for his food, to prey upon 172 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.480 other forms, and to avoid being preyed upon by others. 173 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.879 He was compelled to struggle for the unfoldment of latent 174 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.039 powers of his mind that would give him means to 175 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:38.799 play his part in the scheme of life. He was 176 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.759 compelled to do certain things in order to live and 177 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:46.679 reproduce his kind, and he demanded not in vain, For 178 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:50.200 there came to him, slowly and unfolding knowledge of the 179 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:54.399 things necessary for the requirements of his life. We call 180 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.759 this instinct, But pray remember by instinct we do not 181 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:03.879 mean the still highers something that is really rudimentary intellect 182 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:07.600 that we notice in the higher animals. We are speaking 183 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.840 now of the unreasoning instinct observed in the lower animals, 184 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:16.440 and to a certain degree in man. This instinctive plane 185 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.279 of mentality causes the bird to build its nest before 186 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:24.240 its eggs are laid, which instructs the animal mother how 187 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:27.519 to care for its young when born, and after birth, 188 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.399 which teaches the bee to construct its cell and to 189 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:35.960 store up its honey. These and countless other things in 190 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.679 animal life and in the higher form of plant life, 191 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:44.480 are manifestations of instinct, that great plane of the mind. 192 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.200 In fact, the greater part of the life of the 193 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:52.519 animal is instinctive, although the higher forms of animals have 194 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:57.960 developed something like rudimentary intellect or reason, which enables them 195 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:03.120 to meet new conditions where intellect alone fails them. And 196 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:08.159 man has this plane of mind within him below consciousness. 197 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:12.120 In fact, the lower forms of human life manifest but 198 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:17.240 little intellect, and live almost altogether according to their instinctive 199 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:23.120 impulses and desires. Every man has this instinctive mental region 200 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:27.120 within him, and from it are constantly arising impulses and 201 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.120 desires to perplex and annoy him, as well as to 202 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.840 serve him. Occasionally, the whole secret consists in whether the 203 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:40.720 man has mastery of his lower self or not. From 204 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:45.120 this plane of the mind arises the hereditary impulses, coming 205 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:49.399 down from generations of ancestors, reaching back to the cavemen, 206 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:54.000 and still further back into the animal kingdom. A queer 207 00:14:54.039 --> 00:15:04.039 storehouse is this animal instincts, passion, appetites, desire, feelings, sensations, emotions, 208 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:11.600 et cetera. Are there. Hate, envy, jealousy, revenge, The lust 209 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:15.600 of the animals seeking the gratification of his sexual impulses, 210 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.399 et cetera. Et cetera are there and are constantly intruding 211 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:25.240 upon our intention until we have asserted our mastery. And 212 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.919 often the failure to assert this mastery comes from an 213 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:33.480 ignorance of the nature of the desire et cetera. We 214 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.480 have been taught that these thoughts were bad without being 215 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:41.200 told why, and we have feared them and thought them 216 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:46.000 the promptings of an impure nature or a depraved mind, 217 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.600 et cetera. This is all wrong. These things are not 218 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:56.799 bad of themselves. They came to us honestly. They are 219 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:00.600 our heritage from the past. They belong to the animal 220 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.879 part of our nature, and were necessary to the animal 221 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.120 in his stage of development. We have the whole menagerie 222 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:11.159 within us, but that does not mean that we should 223 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.919 turn the beasts loose upon ourselves or others. It was 224 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:20.600 necessary for the animal to be fierce, full of fight, passionate, 225 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:25.519 regardless of the rights of others, et cetera. But we 226 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.399 have outgrown that stage of development, and it is ignoble 227 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.639 for us to return to it or to allow it 228 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:36.960 to master us. This lesson is not intended as a 229 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.480 discourse upon ethics or morals. We do not intend going 230 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:45.039 into a discussion of the details of right and wrong, 231 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.120 for we have touched upon that phase of the subject 232 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.000 in other works. But we feel justified in calling your 233 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.080 attention to the fact that the human mind intuitively recognizes 234 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.480 the rightness of the living up to that which comes 235 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.120 to us from the highest parts of the mind, the 236 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:09.359 highest product of our enfoldment, and it likewise intuitively recognizes 237 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.680 the wrongness of the falling back into that which belongs 238 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:17.279 to the lower stages of our mentality, to the animal 239 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.559 part of us, that is our heritage from the past, 240 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.640 and that which has gone before While we may be 241 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:28.400 puzzled about many details of morals and ethics, and may 242 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.839 not be able to explain why we consider certain things 243 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:36.160 right or wrong, we still intuitively feel that the highest 244 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:39.480 right of which we are capable is the acting out 245 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:42.720 of that which is coming to us from the highest 246 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:46.440 pole of our mental being, and that the lowest wrong 247 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:50.240 consists in doing that which carries us back to the 248 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.279 life of the lower animals. In so far as mentality 249 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:59.880 is concerned, not because there is anything absolutely wrong in 250 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:04.440 und the mental processes and consequence of the animals. In themselves. 251 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.440 They are all right and perfectly natural in the animals. 252 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.720 But we intuitively recognize that for us to fall back 253 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:16.559 to the animal stage is a going backward in the 254 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:22.200 scale of evolution. We intuitively shrink at the exhibition of 255 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:26.880 brutality and animality on the part of a man or woman. 256 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.799 We may not know just why, but a little reflection 257 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.960 will show us that it is a sinking in the 258 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.920 evolutionary scale against which the spiritual part of us revolts 259 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:44.279 and protests. But this must not be construed to mean 260 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.799 that the advanced soul looks upon the animal world with 261 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:53.000 disgust or horror. On the contrary, there is nowhere to 262 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.680 be found a higher respect for animal life and being 263 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:01.680 than among the Yogi and other advanced souls. They delight 264 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:06.039 in watching the animals filling their places in life, playing 265 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.200 out their parts in the divine scheme of life. Their 266 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:15.400 animal passions and desires are actions viewed sympathetically and lovingly 267 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:20.039 by the advanced soul, and nothing wrong or disgusting is 268 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:24.319 seen there. And even the coarseness and brutality of the 269 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:29.519 savage races are so regarded by these advanced souls they 270 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.000 see everything as natural. According to the grade and degree 271 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:37.119 of development of these people, it is only when these 272 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:42.119 advanced souls view the degeneracies of civilized life that they 273 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:46.759 feel sorrow and pain, For here they see instances of 274 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:53.759 devolution instead of evolution, degeneration instead of regeneration, and advancement. 275 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.160 And not only do they know this to be the fact, 276 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.920 but the degenerate specimens of mankind themselves feel and know it. 277 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.640 Compare the expression of the animal or savage going through 278 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:10.960 their natural life actions and performances. See how free and 279 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:16.640 natural are their expressions, how utterly apart are evidences of wrongdoing? 280 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.799 They have not as yet found out the fatal secret 281 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:25.039 of good and evil. They have not as yet eaten 282 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:29.440 the forbidden fruit. But on the contrary, look into the 283 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:34.039 faces of the degenerates and fallen souls of our civilized life. 284 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.640 See the furtive glance and the self consciousness of wrong 285 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:43.519 evident in every face. And this consciousness of wrong bears 286 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.200 heavily upon these people. It is heavier than the punishments 287 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:52.039 heaped upon them. That nameless something called conscience may be 288 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.640 smothered for a while, but sooner or later it comes 289 00:20:55.680 --> 00:21:00.000 to light and demands the pound of flesh from its victim. 290 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.319 And yet you will say that it seems hard to 291 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.400 think that the same thing can be right in one 292 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:11.200 person and wrong in another. This seems like a hard 293 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.920 saying and a dangerous doctrine. But it is the truth, 294 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.160 and man instinctively recognizes it. He does not expect the 295 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:24.319 same sense of moral responsibility in a young child or 296 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.880 in a savage that he does in a mature, developed, 297 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:32.359 civilized man. He may restrain the child and the savage 298 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.839 for self protection and the welfare of all, but he 299 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:41.160 realizes the distinction, or at least should do so. And 300 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:44.920 not only is this true, but as man advances in 301 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.279 the scale. He casts off many ideas of wrong that 302 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:53.599 he once held, having outgrown the old ideas and having 303 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:58.359 grown into new conceptions. And the tendency is always upward 304 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:03.559 and onward. The tendency is constantly from force and restraint 305 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:08.880 toward love and freedom. The ideal condition would be one 306 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.799 in which there were no laws and no necessity for them, 307 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.359 a condition in which men had ceased to do wrong 308 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:20.599 because they had outgrown the desire, rather than from fear 309 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:25.359 or restraint or force. And while this condition as yet 310 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:29.640 seems afar off, there is constantly going on an unfoldment 311 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:33.400 of higher planes and faculties of the mind, which, when 312 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.319 once fully manifest in the race, will work a complete 313 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:42.000 revolution in ethics and laws and government, and for the better. 314 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:47.160 Of course, In the meantime, mankind moves along, doing the 315 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:54.599 best it can, making a steady, though slow progress. Part two. 316 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:57.480 There is another plane of the mind, which is often 317 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:00.559 called the instinct but which is but a part of 318 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:04.680 the plane of the intellect, although its operations are largely 319 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:08.839 below the field of consciousness. We allude to what may 320 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:12.559 be called the habit mind in order to distinguish it 321 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:17.880 from the instinctive plane. The difference is this, the instinctive 322 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:21.400 plane of mind is made up of the ordinary operations 323 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.920 of the mind, below the plane of the intellect, and 324 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:29.319 yet above the plane of the vegetative mind, and also 325 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:33.400 of the acquired experiences of the race, which have been 326 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:39.359 transmitted by hereditary et cetera. But the habit mind contains 327 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:42.599 only that which has been placed there by the person himself, 328 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:47.319 and which he has acquired by experience, habit and observation, 329 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.119 repeated so often until the mind knows it so well 330 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.680 that it is carried below the field of consciousness and 331 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:01.640 becomes second nature and akin to instinct. The text books 332 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:06.200 upon psychology are filled with illustrations and examples of the 333 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:10.440 habit phase or plane of the mental operations, and we 334 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.559 do not think it necessary to repeat instances of the 335 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:18.160 same kind here. Everyone is familiar with the fact that 336 00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:21.960 tasks which at first are learned only by considerable work 337 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.640 and time, soon become fixed in some part of the mind, 338 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:29.880 until their repetition calls for little or no exercise of 339 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:35.240 conscious mental operation. In fact, some writers have claimed that 340 00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:39.079 no one really learns how to perform a task until 341 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:43.799 he can perform it almost automatically. The pupil, who, in 342 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:47.759 the early stages of piano playing finds it most difficult 343 00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:51.680 to control and manage his fingers, after a time is 344 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:55.039 able to forget all about his fingering and devote his 345 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:59.240 entire attention to the pages of his music. And after 346 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:02.279 this he he is able to apparently let his fingers 347 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:06.319 play the entire piece of music by themselves, without a 348 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:10.400 thought on his part. The best performers have told us 349 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:13.920 that in the moments of their highest efforts, they are 350 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.279 aware that the out of conscious portion of their mind 351 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:20.440 is doing the work for them, and they are practically 352 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:25.359 standing aside and witnessing the work being done. So true 353 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.920 is this that in some cases it is related that 354 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:32.680 if the performer's conscious mind attempts to take up the work, 355 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:36.839 the quality is impaired, and the musician and the audience 356 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.880 notice the difference. The same thing is true in the 357 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:45.400 case of the woman learning to operate the sewing machine. 358 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:49.319 It is quite difficult at first, but gradually it grows 359 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.960 to run itself. Those who have mastered the typewriter have 360 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.559 had the same experience. At first, each letter had to 361 00:25:58.599 --> 00:26:03.640 be picked out with care and effort. After a gradual improvement, 362 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:08.160 the operator is enabled to devote her entire attention to 363 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.359 the copy and let the fingers pick out the keys 364 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:17.119 for themselves. Many operators learn rapid typing by so training 365 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:20.799 the habit mind that it picks out the letter keys 366 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:25.200 by reason of their position, the letters being covered over 367 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.880 in order to force the mind to adapt itself to 368 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:34.599 the new requirements. A similar state of affairs exists wherever 369 00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:38.319 men or women have to use tools of any kind, 370 00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:42.799 the tool soon is recognized by the mind and used 371 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.599 as if it were a part of the body, and 372 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.559 no more conscious thought is devoted to the manipulation than 373 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.640 we devote to the operation of walking, which, by the way, 374 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.799 is learned by the child only by the expenditure of 375 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.200 time and labor. It is astonishing how many things we 376 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:07.000 do automatically in this way. Writers have called our attention 377 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:10.720 to the fact that the average man cannot consciously inform 378 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:13.319 you how he puts on his coat in the morning, 379 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:17.240 which arm goes in first, how the coat is held, 380 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:22.240 et cetera. But the habit mind knows knows very well. 381 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:26.119 Let the student stand up and put on his coat 382 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:30.400 in the regular way, following the leadings of the habit mind. 383 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:35.000 Then after removing it. Let him attempt to put it 384 00:27:35.079 --> 00:27:39.680 on by inserting the other arm first. For instance, he 385 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.960 will be surprised to find how awkward it will be 386 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:46.880 for him and how completely he has been depending upon 387 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:51.519 the habit mind. And tomorrow morning, let him find out 388 00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:55.119 which shoe the habit mind has been putting on him first. 389 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:58.839 And then try to reverse the order, And notice how 390 00:27:58.920 --> 00:28:03.039 flurried and disturb the habit mind will become, and how 391 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:07.799 frantically it will signal to the conscious mind something wrong 392 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:12.759 up there. Or try to button on your collar, reversing 393 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.440 the order in which the tabs are placed over the 394 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:20.519 button right before left or left before right, as the 395 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:26.559 case may be, and notice the involuntary protest. Or try 396 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.559 to reverse the customary habit in walking and attempt to 397 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:34.119 swing your right arm with the movement of your right leg, 398 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.400 and so on, and you will find it will require 399 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:42.640 the exercise of great will power. Or try to change 400 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:47.519 hands and use your knife and fork. But we must 401 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:53.960