The particular interest in this movement of the cosmic process—polarization—is that it is infinitely repeated on every level and in every creative effort. It represents one of the keys by which we open the book of nature and read her secrets. If our psychiatrists would study long and deeply into this first movement, accept it as an invariant force or power in nature (and for them, human nature), the basis for understanding most abnormal psychological cases, the schizoid states of over fifty percent of the population of these United States, etc., would become established. I am of the opinion that when the true story is written about “the decline and fall of the West” and the main cause therefore developed, it will center on the loss of clear perception of this one great and fundamental fact of nature. This dichotomy or polarization, repeated at the inception of every creative effort, is called the most fundamental of all life-facts and if the loss of understanding or clear perception of it represents the primary cause for the decline and fall, then we have a most striking case in point for the statement that if we do not learn to deal with life-facts, they will most assuredly deal with us. However, the life-fact that every dynamic configuration is, by reason of that dichotomy, has become well established. If one exception can be found, the invariant law will be overthrown. The whole cosmos and every aspect thereof from atom to galaxy exhibits this meaning. So one of the prerequisites to entering into knowledge or to reading the book is learning to perceive this fact in each and every ‘thing’. Generally speaking, the emphasis on this first movement—dichotomy—is placed upon the inceptive phase of a new creative effort, even designating it as the incentive of the effort. There is another aspect of equal importance in regard to understanding
events, effects, manifestations, etc. In olden times this other aspect was cryptically called The Truce of God.Today it is spoken of as the withdrawal of the sanction, which simply means the cessation of polarity or dichotomy. These two aspects of the law can be labeled the positive and negative phases of it. Wherever there is peace, harmony, constructive or creative activity, etc., polarity between the Positive Power and Negative Substance, or representations thereof, continues. Wherever inharmony, destruction, turmoil, etc., reigns, there the dichotomy has ceased or decreased. Chaos will continue until in or on that particular level, or relative to that definite field, until another incentive for cosmos (creativity) emerges. When this process of conversion of chaos into cosmos is seen from the Mind level, it appears as a change in state. To describe this in conceptual terms, fields, patterns, configurations as representations, etc., one field withdraws and a new field comes in, incarnates. Instead of using the label field, symbolized as one turn on a helix, let us use the term spirit as a synonym. When the cyclic process (work of the spirit, operating on a given level) has finished, it withdraws and a spirit operating on a higher level takes over. But this change on the high-command level produces a complete reorientation of configurated constituents on the representation level. The new boss (spirit) has his own ideas (pattern of the lines of force of the field) and has to reorganize the personnel under his command accordingly. When this change in command takes place on a level wherein the constituents are in varying degrees of acquiring consciousness and are therefore conscious, but not as yet sufficiently conscious to really know what is going on, they see nothing except chaos and they call it chaos. They regret the ‘loss’of the old order, fight for “our way of life,” and generally make the reorientation process far more chaotic than is necessary. While all this confusion is going on with and among the configurated constituents, the high command sees it very simply, and if he would label it he would call it reorganization for a picturing forth of a higher order in a greater process of creating a “new Heaven and a new Earth.” However, he has an ancient enemy which he has to keep an eye on. He welcomes all the help he can get in dealing with this enemy. Organized forces of darkness on a lower level than the one upon which the organizing spirit works lie in wait for, or seize upon every opportunity to thwart extension of Powers of Light into the lower levels. (The reason for this fierce, fiery, and deadly resistance is obvious. The sense of possession, love of, or desire for temporal power and occupation of habitations not rightfully owned are defended. But control of the lower levels fortified by elemental forces on the descending or involutionary arc—and this on a vast and far reaching scale—represents the main reason.) Achange in command, at the close of one cycle and the beginning of another, with attendant confusion on the configurated constituents, affords an opportunity for the enemy to get in some good licks and perhaps regain some lost advantages. Do not expect me to explain why when I tell you that upon several occasions in the past this devilish method has been successful and the spirit has been forced to retreat. However, the spirit knows this enemy and while the reorganization process is under way, he has to exercise considerable force to allow his enemy to function and serve
just enough to expiate the karma of the old cycle and not enough to gain control of the new configuration. If you will be attentive to effectsof these events on the objective or contemporary historical level, you will be able to piece the jigs of the puzzle together and infer the game and read the score. Straw-like stems of dead grass can indicate the way a wind is blowing; watch for these indications. No truce has been declared, nor is one possible, in the age-old war between the forces of Light and the forces of darkness for the control of the lower levels. When the cosmic process has been explained, given, or described exclusively from or relative to the Logoic level and in terms of Logoic consciousness and its states of Self-awareness, to many it does not seem possible that there could be an enemy or forces of darkness opposing its representations. The enigma which appears to those loyal ones is more in the nature of puzzlement in their own respective minds transferred to the cosmic process, for the basis of the confusion in clear perception is found in trying to evaluate cosmos from the objective manifold of values.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Vitvan on Memory
From July-August Resonance send out by SNO:
Memory is the result of experience between what is called birth and death when the result of that experience is abstracted between what is called death and birth. One thing we must remember is that between what is called death and birth, memory is extremely keen, because memory in this sense belongs to the Mind (which again means the lines of force of a given field that we label Mind). This is in distinction to the refraction through the qualities of the psychic nature, which breaks it all up into the variegated colors or its spectrum. The psychic nature is like the prism through which the wavelengths and frequencies in Mind Substance become refracted. Outside or relatively ‘above’ the psychic nature there is no refraction; it is the pure Light. That pure Light represents memory. It is extremely keen, to the degree in which it is developed on a point on the timeline of an individual field (all that has to be put in because it cannot be verbalized). Because it is the pure Light relative to the field, relative to the timeline, memory is keen. Therefore the result of experience can be abstracted and incorporated.
If the experience has only been automatic repetition of the taboos, the mores, the customs and usages of the tribe, very little experience is gained. It is like chickens automatically picking up corn – peck, peck, peck. Similarly, the psychic nature automatically repeats the tribal usages. It all eventuates into mere suggestion on the psychic nature. Where the psychic nature reflects these suggestions, there is very little or no original experience. But variations upon it take place. That is, a member of a given tribe will question. If he questions any taboo too closely, a dichotomy will develop in the group, the cell will divide, and the questioner will pick up his supporters, withdraw (if he can get away with it), and form another tribe. So we have cellular division on the group level of a tribe. His question is that which will affect the field. In memory, he will build that quality into his pattern and it will show forth a little change; a little iridescent color will begin to form in his soap bubble. 1
Memory is the result of experience between what is called birth and death when the result of that experience is abstracted between what is called death and birth. One thing we must remember is that between what is called death and birth, memory is extremely keen, because memory in this sense belongs to the Mind (which again means the lines of force of a given field that we label Mind). This is in distinction to the refraction through the qualities of the psychic nature, which breaks it all up into the variegated colors or its spectrum. The psychic nature is like the prism through which the wavelengths and frequencies in Mind Substance become refracted. Outside or relatively ‘above’ the psychic nature there is no refraction; it is the pure Light. That pure Light represents memory. It is extremely keen, to the degree in which it is developed on a point on the timeline of an individual field (all that has to be put in because it cannot be verbalized). Because it is the pure Light relative to the field, relative to the timeline, memory is keen. Therefore the result of experience can be abstracted and incorporated.
If the experience has only been automatic repetition of the taboos, the mores, the customs and usages of the tribe, very little experience is gained. It is like chickens automatically picking up corn – peck, peck, peck. Similarly, the psychic nature automatically repeats the tribal usages. It all eventuates into mere suggestion on the psychic nature. Where the psychic nature reflects these suggestions, there is very little or no original experience. But variations upon it take place. That is, a member of a given tribe will question. If he questions any taboo too closely, a dichotomy will develop in the group, the cell will divide, and the questioner will pick up his supporters, withdraw (if he can get away with it), and form another tribe. So we have cellular division on the group level of a tribe. His question is that which will affect the field. In memory, he will build that quality into his pattern and it will show forth a little change; a little iridescent color will begin to form in his soap bubble. 1
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Excerpt from Commentaries on When the Sun Moves Northward
Pre-non Aristotelian teachings, but I think it paints a great picture. Conceptually it is Non-Aristotelian in nature, but the language used to express the point is not. It is very simple but I know for myself I want to hammer this in. We are not trying to get away from anything, but diving into it and co-creatively (or creatively, depending how you want to view it) transmuting it. I have one sticky note up on my wall. It effectively, says, "this journey is not about what I'm striving to be, but about simply tuning into the frequencies" and then understanding what I Am and identifying with that or becoming One with that which is creating - which is Me and thus why it is a matter of tuning in and not changing something.
This comes from page 48:
This comes from page 48:
"The spiritual part of the man must so recognize the darkness and
death of the physical, must so completely and willingly enter into it and
transform it, the inevitable ill, into a thing desirable, that it shall
dissolve away, and vanish in its character and quality as that which is ill or
evil. So, in entering the Tomb, the Christ of the world, the Buddha of the
world, the Krishna of the world, destroys the Tomb itself.
Enter into it willingly and transform it and bring the
kingdom of heaven to it. This teaching is sound, and I endorse it. It is not
pulling yourself up and beyond objective consciousness into a transcendental
state; it is not trying to reach something back of or other than the astral and
physical substance, but it is entering the material conditions of consciousness
willingly and dwelling there until the material view has been transformed into
the release of the substance. This can be carried to such an extent that the
divine precept of the Illumined One becomes literally true. “More uprightly and
purely speaketh the healthy body, perfect and square-built; and it speaketh of
the meaning of the earth.” This is Freidrich Nietzsche's doctrine of the
meaning of the earth. The earth has a meaning — it is not a material concept,
but it is divine substance, and he who touches the physical body touches God.
That is the doctrine; stop running away from it and enter
it until the material concept of it is dissolved away, until the character and
quality which appears evil has completely vanished. You have not left it, but
you are still there blended with it as the substance. Then think of the whole
sidereal universe and of the orders of Beings embodied; think of all that as
the body of God — and you have arrived! This is the significance of the
resurrection. It is not pulling yourself out of objective consciousness and
going on up somewhere; it is transforming it. When you can do that, you have
resurrected yourself from material concept — the tomb — and there no longer is
a tomb."
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Vitvan Q&A on affirmations
These two questions stuck out to me. They come from "A Textbook of The Sacred Science".
Q: Why is it not desirable to use affirmations and denials in healing or self-help?
A: One only affirms that of which he is not conscious or does not possess. If one is already in the consciousness of a thing or state he does not affirm for it-he is naturally at rest in the consciousness of it. Therefore, to affirm for a thing or condition is to admit one's lack of it. This is liable to make one more conscious of his lack than of the positive and natural sense of having the desired thing or condition. If the affirmation is liable to suggest the very thing one wishes to overcome, it is much better not to us it. All affirmations suggest polar opposites. The effectiveness of the affirmation, then, depends upon the degree and strength of concentration of the one using it. If the person affirming is negative or weak in concentration the adverse suggestion of the affirmation will be stronger. So with the use of denials; there is a very subtle adverse suggestion attached to their use. For instance: If a thing or condition does not exist, never did and never could exist, then one could never be conscious of it in a sufficient degree to deny it, by this very process it becomes a something, even if that something is only a hypothetical nothing. In short, to name a thing or condition definitely enough to deny it, is to affirm or recognize its existence. This naming or declaration of a something (even a hypothetical nothing) with sufficient intensity to deny it, is to affirm it. If negative or weak in concentration, this adverse affirmation to the denial becomes a subtle suggestion. The strongest suggestions upon one are always the unnoticed or unconscious subtle ones.
Q: Is there a more effective method in healing, or in improvement, than the use of affirmations and denials?
A: Yes, indeed. In the School of the Sacred Science [Vitvan's first school], it is called the law of association. It is state thus: One partakes of the quality of that which he associates. IN the study of this book it has been learned that imagination is a faculty of the Ego, and is a very powerful instrument in achieving results. If one will, by the help of imagination, closely and constantly associate himself with that which he would be, completely ignoring that which he does not wish to be or to manifest, he will eliminate those qualities from his consciousness, together with the corresponding matter in his mental, astral and physical bodies which he does not want; and will build into his consciousness the qualities, and into his bodies the corresponding matter, which he desires. This is called elimination by substitution through the law of association. To the real student, let it be said directly: 1. Do not affirm for that of which you are not now conscious of being and thereby associate yourself with that of which you are conscious of being and wish to overcome; 2. Do not deny that of which you are now conscious of being, but ignore it completely; and, with the aid of imagination, merge yourself with or in the state or quality you wish to manifest. If you hold this, resisting every temptation to slip back into the old habit-activity of consciousness, you will soon partake of the qualities of your ideal and will manifest them.
Q: Why is it not desirable to use affirmations and denials in healing or self-help?
A: One only affirms that of which he is not conscious or does not possess. If one is already in the consciousness of a thing or state he does not affirm for it-he is naturally at rest in the consciousness of it. Therefore, to affirm for a thing or condition is to admit one's lack of it. This is liable to make one more conscious of his lack than of the positive and natural sense of having the desired thing or condition. If the affirmation is liable to suggest the very thing one wishes to overcome, it is much better not to us it. All affirmations suggest polar opposites. The effectiveness of the affirmation, then, depends upon the degree and strength of concentration of the one using it. If the person affirming is negative or weak in concentration the adverse suggestion of the affirmation will be stronger. So with the use of denials; there is a very subtle adverse suggestion attached to their use. For instance: If a thing or condition does not exist, never did and never could exist, then one could never be conscious of it in a sufficient degree to deny it, by this very process it becomes a something, even if that something is only a hypothetical nothing. In short, to name a thing or condition definitely enough to deny it, is to affirm or recognize its existence. This naming or declaration of a something (even a hypothetical nothing) with sufficient intensity to deny it, is to affirm it. If negative or weak in concentration, this adverse affirmation to the denial becomes a subtle suggestion. The strongest suggestions upon one are always the unnoticed or unconscious subtle ones.
Q: Is there a more effective method in healing, or in improvement, than the use of affirmations and denials?
A: Yes, indeed. In the School of the Sacred Science [Vitvan's first school], it is called the law of association. It is state thus: One partakes of the quality of that which he associates. IN the study of this book it has been learned that imagination is a faculty of the Ego, and is a very powerful instrument in achieving results. If one will, by the help of imagination, closely and constantly associate himself with that which he would be, completely ignoring that which he does not wish to be or to manifest, he will eliminate those qualities from his consciousness, together with the corresponding matter in his mental, astral and physical bodies which he does not want; and will build into his consciousness the qualities, and into his bodies the corresponding matter, which he desires. This is called elimination by substitution through the law of association. To the real student, let it be said directly: 1. Do not affirm for that of which you are not now conscious of being and thereby associate yourself with that of which you are conscious of being and wish to overcome; 2. Do not deny that of which you are now conscious of being, but ignore it completely; and, with the aid of imagination, merge yourself with or in the state or quality you wish to manifest. If you hold this, resisting every temptation to slip back into the old habit-activity of consciousness, you will soon partake of the qualities of your ideal and will manifest them.
Monday, April 10, 2017
The Natural Order Process - Lesson 36 Excerpt
"Don't play loose and fast with this study; don't flirt with it, because by doing so one does himself a grievous injury. Seek, inquire and read in order to measure yourself for readiness for effort, but once entering the course, be sincere and genuine...
If students and followers of the School of the Natural Order were devotees of truth, lovers of wisdom, as a man of 'the world' is a lover of money, then that truth, that wisdom would be sufficiently valued to sustain effort; for only intense love of wisdom will carry a student or disciple on toward the goal. If it were not for the fact that religious attitudes are, for the greater part, based in the emotional-psychic nature, we would think that a religious attitude born of faith, consecration, love and devotion would fortify the religious devotee and carry him on to the goal of perfected being. But a higher level and therefore truer religious attitude would have to be maintained, separate and apart from many of the organized churches, on the grounds that association with an organized church (as here indicated) would bring the individual into the group influence thereof. In the vast majority of such cases this influence would be concerned mainly with social problems, Aristotelian concepts of morality, efforts to increase membership, economic pressures and the raising of money for this and that to say nothing of the doctrines of blood atonement, objectified pictures of heaven, hell, etc. dogmas anent "resurrection of the flesh", the insistence upon "belief", the conception of 'revealed' knowledge as authoritative, showmanship, pageantry, etc., with its vulgar appeal, the hypnotic influence of hymn singing, etc.
For many, the true religious attitude could be better maintained outdoors in the open sky and air, in the presence of rocks and crags, in the woods, by running waters and with woodland creatures around and about, whereas it would be exceedingly difficult to maintain this true religious attitude in the gloomy confines of these brick and concrete structures called churches.
The object in view (union with the Master-self as an individualized field of Mother-substance activated by a Positive Power, with subsequent expansion of consciousness of Self into that state we label universalized Self of Logos) must be justly appraised, the necessity and reasons for its achievement correctly judged, and the results to be gained most earnestly desired. A student must have an intense love and/or determination before he will make that sufficiently strong effort which will give him hold upon the method of leading to control of the modifications of Mind and, subsequently, upon his entire real nature. A half-hearted attitude will not be sufficient to stabilize the effort. We believe that where an individual is fortified by intense love or desire for true knowledge, the creative forces of will are aroused and become an irresistible urge to sustained effort. When that urge is once developed or aroused, one may be able to relax from the intense love or determination required in the early stage of his development because the force of the awakened urge will carry him on. When his appreciation is true and his ability is such that he goes forward with the work of direction and control without cessation, then the times will come when he will know consciously and increasingly the real meaning of restrain respecting modifications of Mind....
"One attached to the lower three worlds through identification therewith can only free himself from them by transforming his semantic evaluations and reactions thereto, not by withdrawal from them. When one runs away from a 'thing' or 'condition' he has tied himself irrevocably to it; for he not only takes his state of consciousness with him, but he has intensified that state by giving such strong value to the 'thing', 'condition', etc which caused the running away.
If students and followers of the School of the Natural Order were devotees of truth, lovers of wisdom, as a man of 'the world' is a lover of money, then that truth, that wisdom would be sufficiently valued to sustain effort; for only intense love of wisdom will carry a student or disciple on toward the goal. If it were not for the fact that religious attitudes are, for the greater part, based in the emotional-psychic nature, we would think that a religious attitude born of faith, consecration, love and devotion would fortify the religious devotee and carry him on to the goal of perfected being. But a higher level and therefore truer religious attitude would have to be maintained, separate and apart from many of the organized churches, on the grounds that association with an organized church (as here indicated) would bring the individual into the group influence thereof. In the vast majority of such cases this influence would be concerned mainly with social problems, Aristotelian concepts of morality, efforts to increase membership, economic pressures and the raising of money for this and that to say nothing of the doctrines of blood atonement, objectified pictures of heaven, hell, etc. dogmas anent "resurrection of the flesh", the insistence upon "belief", the conception of 'revealed' knowledge as authoritative, showmanship, pageantry, etc., with its vulgar appeal, the hypnotic influence of hymn singing, etc.
For many, the true religious attitude could be better maintained outdoors in the open sky and air, in the presence of rocks and crags, in the woods, by running waters and with woodland creatures around and about, whereas it would be exceedingly difficult to maintain this true religious attitude in the gloomy confines of these brick and concrete structures called churches.
The object in view (union with the Master-self as an individualized field of Mother-substance activated by a Positive Power, with subsequent expansion of consciousness of Self into that state we label universalized Self of Logos) must be justly appraised, the necessity and reasons for its achievement correctly judged, and the results to be gained most earnestly desired. A student must have an intense love and/or determination before he will make that sufficiently strong effort which will give him hold upon the method of leading to control of the modifications of Mind and, subsequently, upon his entire real nature. A half-hearted attitude will not be sufficient to stabilize the effort. We believe that where an individual is fortified by intense love or desire for true knowledge, the creative forces of will are aroused and become an irresistible urge to sustained effort. When that urge is once developed or aroused, one may be able to relax from the intense love or determination required in the early stage of his development because the force of the awakened urge will carry him on. When his appreciation is true and his ability is such that he goes forward with the work of direction and control without cessation, then the times will come when he will know consciously and increasingly the real meaning of restrain respecting modifications of Mind....
"One attached to the lower three worlds through identification therewith can only free himself from them by transforming his semantic evaluations and reactions thereto, not by withdrawal from them. When one runs away from a 'thing' or 'condition' he has tied himself irrevocably to it; for he not only takes his state of consciousness with him, but he has intensified that state by giving such strong value to the 'thing', 'condition', etc which caused the running away.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Learning the Right Use of Will
A series of steps as provided in the Natural Order Process, Vol. 2 - Lesson 35:
Step one: Be very careful about decisions. Once a decision has been made do not change; or change most reluctantly and not until newly discovered factors have changed the original basis upon which the decision was made. Avoid stubbornness, be reasonable, open and receptive to new factors, remain or stand always on extensional grounds, but hold fast to clearly perceived and valid convictions. Superficially considered, this may seem contradictory, but study it carefully; a firm position is here described, yet a tenable one.
Step two: When striving to achieve something--some plan, some work, some objective--dwell with it, quietly and alone; do not mentalize nor emotionalize about it, but sustain a quiet, steady feeling that it is coming into being. Notice that the word thinking was not use. The word feeling was used--"quiet, steady feeling". This is because one must work in, with or through feeling until the apperceptive faculty of Mind has been sufficiently developed to be available. Very few today have perceptive faculties of Mind developed, saying nothing of the apperceptive faculty; so let us work with that which we do have available; then in very reasonable times the other faculties will come into use. A vivid imagination will help here if it is kept well under control, but allowing it to run free or loose is worse than not employing it at all. However, keen, vivid imaginative feeling, as if the objectives sought were already enjoyed, describes the approach here intended. Dwell with an idea quietly; do not talk about it. When one tells another, no matter how close that other may be, the telling dissipates the stored up energy which should go forth as frequencies in creating and sustaining the matrix, web or field-pattern in the consciousness respecting the new creation. The rule is this: the more a feeling is repressed, the stronger becomes the force, energy-frequencies, etc. thereof. So, to accomplish anything worthwhile, feel strongly about it; keep silent. REMAIN STEADY; for here the turning point in the development of will may be reached. Vacillation, wavering, fits and starts, can never develop will. Hold steady like a rock. Do not allow enthusiasm today and forget all about it tomorrow. To hold steadfastly to the feeling that it now IS means success.
Step three: Arouse the faculty of determination. Lay down a law within the feeling-realm of your own being like a divine decree sent forth in your conscious realm. (Remember no one else is concerned in this nor knows anything about it.) Determine that it is so. (The antecedent of it, of course, means that which a given individual may have as the objective of his will.) Determine it.
These three steps as given, culminate in the fourth and last step. These steps operate on forces in the psychic-nature in a manner similar to that which takes place when a bar of soft iron is converted into a magnet. If a bar of iron is wrapped with a coil of wire and an electric current is turned through the wire, or if a bar of iron is placed in a strong electro-magnetic field, the positive and negative poles of the molecules of which the iron is composed will become aligned--a positive pole of each molecule will be immediately opposite a negative pole of the adjacent molecule, throughout the bar of iron. (Before the bar of iron was converted into a magnet the positive and negative poles of the molecules were at odds with each other, positive repelling positive; negative repelling negative, etc.) The alignment in polarity of the molecules causes the force within the bar of iron itself to flow, the negative force flowing to one end of the bar, and the positive force flowing to the other end. The force hitherto "locked up" now becomes available; the bar of iron attract to itself.
To accomplish these steps as given creates alignment of forces "locked up" in the psychic-nature. The feel, the experience, the realization of this alignment in one's own consciousness leads directly to KNOWING. This knowing or will is NOW available; only sense of separateness prevents immediate realization. Right use of will becomes a serious and real responsibility accompanying its realization. Francis Bacon never tired of reiterating, "Knowledge is power." But he could have added that with power comes responsibility. Many religious teachings and practices respecting goodness, morality, virtue, etc. with the expectation of reward in some 'hereafter' or 'other than' are ineffective because understanding and knowledge of karma has been left out. It should be said here that to injure another is to suffer injury to one's Self. To put another in bondage is to go into bondage. Therefore:
Step four: "The right use of will" is to use this power to further consciousness of Self; it is not to be used in or on the level of elemental-self, object-predicate manifold, for personal or selfish reasons, for acquisitiveness, etc. In directing energies and forces out of one's own psychic-nature, development of will--this inflexible knowing--gives one a tremendous advantage. The right use of will, therefore, is to control forces and energies in the psychic-nature and direct them to the level of the Master-self. On this level one becomes a seer and the master of his own house. Leaving these forces locked up in the psychic-nature, unavailable for the great work to be done, amounts to a crime against the Most High and constitutes the basic cause for individual and world-wide misery.
No one can develop will and escape responsibilities which come with it. The warning and promise has been given: "Whosoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whosoever though shalt loose on earth shalt be loosed in heaven." Think of the responsibility of exercising such power! Peter had this power of will, but he did not have realization of the responsibility which came with it; you know, of course, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
"Ceasing from self-indulgence" is so self-explanatory that no comment seems necessary. Be temperate in all things--in sleeping and eating, exercising, working, playing, the satisfying of natural hunger in sexual appetite, etc. Treat sexual appetite just as you would any other natural appetite--no more, no less. Be temperate in all things, because as you are temperate you can tread the path with greater facility. But over-indulgence respecting any of the natural appetites results in over-stimulation which creates false appetite. This counsel is given here for the reason that someone reading these words--ceasing from self-indulgence--might go into some form of asceticism and try to kill or drown out some natural appetite of the psychic-nature before he has outgrown it or directed the forces out therefrom. It is just as deleterious to try to kill out natural wholesome appetite as it is to over-indulge it, if not more so. The point here is one of direction, control, growth, etc., not a repression leading into psycho-somatic maladjustments, neurosis, etc.
Step one: Be very careful about decisions. Once a decision has been made do not change; or change most reluctantly and not until newly discovered factors have changed the original basis upon which the decision was made. Avoid stubbornness, be reasonable, open and receptive to new factors, remain or stand always on extensional grounds, but hold fast to clearly perceived and valid convictions. Superficially considered, this may seem contradictory, but study it carefully; a firm position is here described, yet a tenable one.
Step two: When striving to achieve something--some plan, some work, some objective--dwell with it, quietly and alone; do not mentalize nor emotionalize about it, but sustain a quiet, steady feeling that it is coming into being. Notice that the word thinking was not use. The word feeling was used--"quiet, steady feeling". This is because one must work in, with or through feeling until the apperceptive faculty of Mind has been sufficiently developed to be available. Very few today have perceptive faculties of Mind developed, saying nothing of the apperceptive faculty; so let us work with that which we do have available; then in very reasonable times the other faculties will come into use. A vivid imagination will help here if it is kept well under control, but allowing it to run free or loose is worse than not employing it at all. However, keen, vivid imaginative feeling, as if the objectives sought were already enjoyed, describes the approach here intended. Dwell with an idea quietly; do not talk about it. When one tells another, no matter how close that other may be, the telling dissipates the stored up energy which should go forth as frequencies in creating and sustaining the matrix, web or field-pattern in the consciousness respecting the new creation. The rule is this: the more a feeling is repressed, the stronger becomes the force, energy-frequencies, etc. thereof. So, to accomplish anything worthwhile, feel strongly about it; keep silent. REMAIN STEADY; for here the turning point in the development of will may be reached. Vacillation, wavering, fits and starts, can never develop will. Hold steady like a rock. Do not allow enthusiasm today and forget all about it tomorrow. To hold steadfastly to the feeling that it now IS means success.
Step three: Arouse the faculty of determination. Lay down a law within the feeling-realm of your own being like a divine decree sent forth in your conscious realm. (Remember no one else is concerned in this nor knows anything about it.) Determine that it is so. (The antecedent of it, of course, means that which a given individual may have as the objective of his will.) Determine it.
These three steps as given, culminate in the fourth and last step. These steps operate on forces in the psychic-nature in a manner similar to that which takes place when a bar of soft iron is converted into a magnet. If a bar of iron is wrapped with a coil of wire and an electric current is turned through the wire, or if a bar of iron is placed in a strong electro-magnetic field, the positive and negative poles of the molecules of which the iron is composed will become aligned--a positive pole of each molecule will be immediately opposite a negative pole of the adjacent molecule, throughout the bar of iron. (Before the bar of iron was converted into a magnet the positive and negative poles of the molecules were at odds with each other, positive repelling positive; negative repelling negative, etc.) The alignment in polarity of the molecules causes the force within the bar of iron itself to flow, the negative force flowing to one end of the bar, and the positive force flowing to the other end. The force hitherto "locked up" now becomes available; the bar of iron attract to itself.
To accomplish these steps as given creates alignment of forces "locked up" in the psychic-nature. The feel, the experience, the realization of this alignment in one's own consciousness leads directly to KNOWING. This knowing or will is NOW available; only sense of separateness prevents immediate realization. Right use of will becomes a serious and real responsibility accompanying its realization. Francis Bacon never tired of reiterating, "Knowledge is power." But he could have added that with power comes responsibility. Many religious teachings and practices respecting goodness, morality, virtue, etc. with the expectation of reward in some 'hereafter' or 'other than' are ineffective because understanding and knowledge of karma has been left out. It should be said here that to injure another is to suffer injury to one's Self. To put another in bondage is to go into bondage. Therefore:
Step four: "The right use of will" is to use this power to further consciousness of Self; it is not to be used in or on the level of elemental-self, object-predicate manifold, for personal or selfish reasons, for acquisitiveness, etc. In directing energies and forces out of one's own psychic-nature, development of will--this inflexible knowing--gives one a tremendous advantage. The right use of will, therefore, is to control forces and energies in the psychic-nature and direct them to the level of the Master-self. On this level one becomes a seer and the master of his own house. Leaving these forces locked up in the psychic-nature, unavailable for the great work to be done, amounts to a crime against the Most High and constitutes the basic cause for individual and world-wide misery.
No one can develop will and escape responsibilities which come with it. The warning and promise has been given: "Whosoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whosoever though shalt loose on earth shalt be loosed in heaven." Think of the responsibility of exercising such power! Peter had this power of will, but he did not have realization of the responsibility which came with it; you know, of course, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
"Ceasing from self-indulgence" is so self-explanatory that no comment seems necessary. Be temperate in all things--in sleeping and eating, exercising, working, playing, the satisfying of natural hunger in sexual appetite, etc. Treat sexual appetite just as you would any other natural appetite--no more, no less. Be temperate in all things, because as you are temperate you can tread the path with greater facility. But over-indulgence respecting any of the natural appetites results in over-stimulation which creates false appetite. This counsel is given here for the reason that someone reading these words--ceasing from self-indulgence--might go into some form of asceticism and try to kill or drown out some natural appetite of the psychic-nature before he has outgrown it or directed the forces out therefrom. It is just as deleterious to try to kill out natural wholesome appetite as it is to over-indulge it, if not more so. The point here is one of direction, control, growth, etc., not a repression leading into psycho-somatic maladjustments, neurosis, etc.
Monday, January 2, 2017
The Natural Order Process - Volume 2 - Lesson 27
I found the below passages very beneficial and wanted to capture them:
""Sin" can be described as the violation of the law of harmony, or transgression of the law of one's own being, by following sense when it is contrary to following the urge of Self. Thousands of persons are living in sin when they think they are perfectly decorous and virtuous, perfectly in line and in order. For many are outraging and violating the law of unity or harmony, called the law of their own being, by conforming to codes and standards arbitrarily created instead of cultivating the inner feel of harmonic urges of their own respective Selves.
Salvation therefore means liberation from the false values given to mental images appearing substantive and has been described as "freedom from sin and the sorrow which comes from sin." No one can reach liberation and go against the law of his own nature. Let one violate the law of his own being (which is called the law of harmony), the law of love, the law of unity) and, no matter how much that act may be justified by the outer codes, conventions, amenities and properties of organized society, he feels deeply unhappy; and even greater sorrow and remorse will follow if he continues thus against Himself. One's first duty therefore is to get out of every condition which is not true to the heart and soul and law of one's own being. Once free from the violations of this law, and the sorrow which comes with it, peace and eternal well-being obtains, where the soul partakes of the bliss of Self, called the glory of God."
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One must have a strong mental conviction that with the power of the real Self it is possible to dethrone or overcome this usurper (the psyche). The deeper this conviction, the more immediate and constant the progress on the path. One must not waver; he should throw all of the influence of which he is capable into the conviction that the Power with which he created this usurper IS (and WAS) before there was any creation. With this strong mental conviction it is possible to contact that Power and manifest it, not only in daily life, but for the real battle necessary to dethrone this adversary. More than this--in one's essential nature he is that Power, and it is possible to become conscious of being that Power.
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The goal is the full consciousness of the Master-self, the seer illumined by his own light. Nothing except the obdurate resistance of the psychic-nature keeps one from this goal. If the psychical powers are really "spiritual" powers (forces from the level of the Master-self) drawn from their proper channels, then the task is to regain control and restore these powers to their proper channels. This requires sharp differentiation between energies or forces and forms of activities. We therefore emphasize attention focused upon energies or forces, not upon activities or forms thereof.
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The FIRST STEP, therefore, on the ladder of development may be stated as a simple exercise in concentration. If one is going to withdraw creative force from integrated desire-forms, thought-forms, etc., (called psychic-nature) he must concentrate thought or attention upon these forces as separate or distinct from the forms. As a rule this is done by attending to and thinking only of the energies or forces and ignoring the activities or character, forms, etc. of expression.
It is this process which is called control of the psychic-nature. Emphasis must be given to the lifting up of the creative forces; it is not sufficient to just direct them out of the desire-forms, etc. With this accomplished, one has a possibility of controlling his thoughts. Therefore, to establish union he has three things to do: 1) He must gain control of his own versatile psychic-nature; 2) he must prevent the thinking-principle from assuming the many forms it so easily does when creative-life-forces are functioning in the cortical aspect or phase of the psychic-nature; and 3) he must come en rapport or "make connection" with the Master-self.
""Sin" can be described as the violation of the law of harmony, or transgression of the law of one's own being, by following sense when it is contrary to following the urge of Self. Thousands of persons are living in sin when they think they are perfectly decorous and virtuous, perfectly in line and in order. For many are outraging and violating the law of unity or harmony, called the law of their own being, by conforming to codes and standards arbitrarily created instead of cultivating the inner feel of harmonic urges of their own respective Selves.
Salvation therefore means liberation from the false values given to mental images appearing substantive and has been described as "freedom from sin and the sorrow which comes from sin." No one can reach liberation and go against the law of his own nature. Let one violate the law of his own being (which is called the law of harmony), the law of love, the law of unity) and, no matter how much that act may be justified by the outer codes, conventions, amenities and properties of organized society, he feels deeply unhappy; and even greater sorrow and remorse will follow if he continues thus against Himself. One's first duty therefore is to get out of every condition which is not true to the heart and soul and law of one's own being. Once free from the violations of this law, and the sorrow which comes with it, peace and eternal well-being obtains, where the soul partakes of the bliss of Self, called the glory of God."
---------------------------
One must have a strong mental conviction that with the power of the real Self it is possible to dethrone or overcome this usurper (the psyche). The deeper this conviction, the more immediate and constant the progress on the path. One must not waver; he should throw all of the influence of which he is capable into the conviction that the Power with which he created this usurper IS (and WAS) before there was any creation. With this strong mental conviction it is possible to contact that Power and manifest it, not only in daily life, but for the real battle necessary to dethrone this adversary. More than this--in one's essential nature he is that Power, and it is possible to become conscious of being that Power.
-----------------------------
The goal is the full consciousness of the Master-self, the seer illumined by his own light. Nothing except the obdurate resistance of the psychic-nature keeps one from this goal. If the psychical powers are really "spiritual" powers (forces from the level of the Master-self) drawn from their proper channels, then the task is to regain control and restore these powers to their proper channels. This requires sharp differentiation between energies or forces and forms of activities. We therefore emphasize attention focused upon energies or forces, not upon activities or forms thereof.
--------------------------------
The FIRST STEP, therefore, on the ladder of development may be stated as a simple exercise in concentration. If one is going to withdraw creative force from integrated desire-forms, thought-forms, etc., (called psychic-nature) he must concentrate thought or attention upon these forces as separate or distinct from the forms. As a rule this is done by attending to and thinking only of the energies or forces and ignoring the activities or character, forms, etc. of expression.
It is this process which is called control of the psychic-nature. Emphasis must be given to the lifting up of the creative forces; it is not sufficient to just direct them out of the desire-forms, etc. With this accomplished, one has a possibility of controlling his thoughts. Therefore, to establish union he has three things to do: 1) He must gain control of his own versatile psychic-nature; 2) he must prevent the thinking-principle from assuming the many forms it so easily does when creative-life-forces are functioning in the cortical aspect or phase of the psychic-nature; and 3) he must come en rapport or "make connection" with the Master-self.
Patanjali's Methodology as described by Vitvan
The Natural Order Process - Volume 2 - Lesson 1
Patanjali's methodology is summarized as follows:
1) Disentangle the psyche from the elemental, animal and animalized human desire influences by the superior mental powers;
2) Direct the forces by which the psychic-nature functions to the centers in which Mind contacts the personality in identity with the 'objective world', and thence into the Mind-level of the individualized Self or Master;
3) Through control and purification of the thinking-principle and the instrumentality of Mind, induce will to take charge of the psyche;
4) By conscious functioning in will, free and clear from all hindrances or modifications by the thinking-principle, liberate the seer or Master and enter the real world.
Patanjali's methodology is summarized as follows:
1) Disentangle the psyche from the elemental, animal and animalized human desire influences by the superior mental powers;
2) Direct the forces by which the psychic-nature functions to the centers in which Mind contacts the personality in identity with the 'objective world', and thence into the Mind-level of the individualized Self or Master;
3) Through control and purification of the thinking-principle and the instrumentality of Mind, induce will to take charge of the psyche;
4) By conscious functioning in will, free and clear from all hindrances or modifications by the thinking-principle, liberate the seer or Master and enter the real world.
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