Filename: RC1065.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel

[PAGE 2338]

                  THE PITUITARY BODY AND THE PINEAL GLAND:

   In the brain, and in approximately the positions shown in diagram 17, are
two  small organs called the pituitary body and the pineal  gland.   Medical
science  knows but little about these,  or the other ductless glands of  the
body.   It calls the pineal gland "the atrophied third eye,"  yet neither it
nor  the pituitary body are atrophying.  This is very perplexing  to  scien-
tists, for nature retains nothing useless.  All over the body we find organs
which are either atrophying or developing,  the former being milestones,  as
it were, along the path which man has traveled to reach his present stage of
development,  the latter pointing out the lines for future  improvement  and
development.   For instance,  the muscles which animals use to move the ears
are  present in man also,  but as they are atrophying,  few people  can  use
them.   The heart belongs to the class indicating future development; as al-
ready shown, it is becoming a voluntary muscle.

   The pituitary body and the pineal gland belong to still another class  of
organs, which at the present time are neither evolving nor degenerating, but
are  dormant.   In  the far past,  when man was in touch  with  the  "inner"
Worlds,  these organs were his means of ingress thereto, and they will again
serve that purpose at a later stage.   They were connected with the involun-
tary or sympathetic nervous system.   Man then saw the inner Worlds,  as  in
the Moon Period and the latter part of the Lemurian and early Atlantean  Ep-
ochs.   Pictures  presented themselves quite independent of his  will.   The
sense  centers  of his desire body were  spinning  around  counter-clockwise
(following negatively the motion of the Earth, which revolves on its axis in
that  direction)  as the sense centers of "mediums" do to this day.  In most

[PAGE 2339]

people these sense-centers are inactive,  but true development will set them
spinning clockwise,  as explained elsewhere.  That is the difficult  feature
in the development of positive clairvoyance.

   The development of mediumship is much easier,  because it is merely a re-
vival of the mirror-like function possessed by man in the far past, by which
the outside world was involuntarily reflected in him, and which function was
afterward  retained by inbreeding.   With present day mediums this power  is
intermittent,  which  explains  why they can sometimes "see"  and  at  other
times,  for no apparent reason, fail utterly.  Occasionally,  the strong de-
sire of the client enables them to get into touch with the information he is
seeking, on which occasions they see correctly, but they are not always hon-
est.   Office rent and other expenses must be paid,  so when the power (over
which they have no conscious control) fails them,  some resort to fraud  and
utter  any absurdity that occurs to their minds,  in order to satisfy  their
client  and get his money,  thus casting discredit upon what they really  do
see at other times.

   The  aspirate to true spiritual sight and insight must first of all  give
proof of unselfishness,  because the trained clairvoyant has no "off  days."
He is not in the least mirror-like, dependent upon the reflections which may
happen to come his way.   He is able to reach out at any time and in any di-
rection, and read the thoughts and plans of others, provided he particularly
turns his attention that way--not otherwise.

   The  great danger to society which would result from  the  indiscriminate
use of this power if possessed by an unworthy individual,  can be easily un-
derstood.  He  would be able to read the most secret thought.  Therefore the

[PAGE 2340]

                                 DIAGRAM 17:

                    THE PATH OF THE UNUSED SEX CURRENTS

                                     IN:

              THE MYSTIC:        THE OCCULTIST:              THE ADEPT:

               |---------|        |---------|               |---------|
               |   THE   |        |   THE   |               |   THE   |
               |  HUMAN  |        |  HUMAN  |               |  HUMAN  | 
ORGANS OF      |   HEAD  |        |   HEAD  |               |   HEAD  |
KNOWLEDGE--------[BRAIN]------------[BRAIN]-------------------[BRAIN] |
               |         |        |         |               |         |
               |---------|        |---------|               |---------|
                  |   |    ||        |   |    ||               |   |       
LARYNX----------->| * |----||--------| * |----||----CREATIVE---| * |<--THE 
                  |   |    ||        |   |    ||     ORGAN     |   |  WORD 
                  |   |    ||        |   |    ||               |   |      
                  |   |    ||        |   |    ||               |   |       
                _/\___/\_  ||      _/\___/\_  ||             _/\___/\_     
ORGAN OF       |   THE   | ||     |   THE   | ||            |   THE   |    
FEELING--------|  HUMAN  |-||-----|  HUMAN  |-||------------|  HUMAN  |    
                \ HEART /  ||      \ HEART /  ||             \ HEART /     
                 \     /   ||       \     /   ||              \     /      
                  \___/    ||        \___/    ||               \___/       
                           ||                 ||                           
RIGHT SIDE                 ||    LEFT SIDE    ||                           
SPINAL CORD--------------->||   SPINAL CORD-->||                           
                           ||                 ||                           
                           ||                 ||                           

         THE MYSTIC:            THE OCCULTIST:                THE ADEPT: 

      UNUSED SEX FORCE         UNUSED SEX FORCE                PERFECT
      POSITIVE IN HEART        NEGATIVE IN HEART               BALANCE
      NEGATIVE IN BRAIN        POSITIVE IN BRAIN

NOTE: As it is impossible to represent in ASCII text characters all of the 
information in the original diagram, the following explanation is given:

In the Mystic, the path of the unused sex currents forms a figure eight. The 
upper part of the figure eight is in the brain and the currents are flowing 
in a counterclockwise direction if the human body is viewed from the left 
lateral position. The lower part of the figure eight includes the right side 
of the spinal cord and the heart and the forces here flow in a clockwise 
position. The two segments of this figure eight meet at the larynx. 

In the Occultist the pattern of the forces is identical to the Mystic, 
except that the direction of the forces is reversed. Therefore, in the brain 
the forces flow in a clockwise direction, and through the left side of the 
spinal cord and heart they flow in a counterclockwise direction.

In the Adept the figure eight includes the larynx, heart and brain, which 
are in perfect balance, and the original diagram does not show either 
clockwise or counterclockwise flow of the forces. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[PAGE 2341]

initiate  is bound by the most solemn vows never to use this power to  serve
his individual interest in the slightest degree, nor to save himself a pang.
He  may feed five thousand others if he will,  but he must not turn a  stone
into bread to appease his own hunger.   He may heal others of palsy and lep-
rosy, but by the Law of the Universe, he is forbidden to stanch his own mor-
tal wounds.  Because he is bound by his vow of absolute unselfishness, it is
ever true of the Initiate that although he saves others,  himself he  cannot
save.

   So  the trained clairvoyant who really has something to give  will  never
hang out a sign offering to exercise his gifts for a fee,  but will give and
give freely where he considers it consistent with the ripe destiny generated
under the law of consequence by the person to be helped.

   Trained clairvoyance is the kind used for investigating occult facts, and
it is the only kind that is of any use for that purpose.   Therefore the as-
pirant must feel,  not a wish to gratify an idle curiosity,  but a holy  and
unselfish desire to help humanity.  Until such a desire exists,  no progress
can be made in the attainment of positive clairvoyance.

   In  the ages that have passed since the Lemurian Epoch humanity has  been
gradually  building the cerebro-spinal nervous system,  which is  under  the
control of the will.  In the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch, this was so
far  evolved that it became possible for the Ego to take full possession  of
the dense body.   That was the time (previously described) when the point in
the  vital body came into correspondence with the point at the root  of  the
nose  in  the  dense  body and the indwelling spirit  became  awake  in  the
Physical  World but,  so far as the greater part of humanity was  concerned,
lost consciousness of the inner Worlds.

[PAGE 2342]

   Since  then,  the connection of the pineal gland and the  pituitary  body
with the cerebro-spinal nervous system has been slowly building,  and is now
all but complete.

   To  regain contact with the inner Worlds, all that remains to be done  is
the  reawakening of the pituitary body and the pineal gland.   When that  is
accomplished, man will again possess the faculty of perception in the higher
worlds,  but on a grander scale than formerly, because it will be in connec-
tion  with the voluntary nervous system and therefore under the  control  of
his Will.   Through this inner perceptive facility all avenues of  knowledge
will  be opened to him and he will have at his service a means of  acquiring
information  compared with which all other methods of investigation are  but
child's play.

   The awakening of these organs is accomplished by Esoteric Training, which
we will now describe, as far as may be done in public.

                              ESOTERIC TRAINING:

   In  the majority of people,  the greater part of the sex force which  may
legitimately   be  used  through  the  creative  organs  is   expended   for
sense-gratification;  therefore in such people there is very little  of  the
ascending current shown in diagram 17.

   When  the aspirant to the higher life begins to curb these excesses  more
and more, and to devote his attention to spiritual thoughts and efforts, the
trained clairvoyant can perceive the unused sex force commencing to  ascend.
It surges upward in stronger and stronger volume,  along the path  indicated
by the arrows in diagram 17, traversing the heart and the larynx or the spi-
nal cord and the larynx or both, and then passing directly between the pitu-
itary  body  and  the  pineal gland toward the dark point at the root of the

[PAGE 2343]

nose where "The Silent Watcher," the highest spirit, has its seat.

   These currents do not usually take one of the two paths indicated in  the
diagram  to  the entire exclusion of the other,  but generally one  path  is
traveled  by the greater volume of the sex-currents,  according to the  tem-
perament of the aspirant.   In one who is seeking enlightenment along purely
intellectual lines the current travels particularly over the spinal cord and
only a small part goes over the path through the heart.   In the mystic  who
feels  rather than knows,  the currents find their way upwards  through  the
heart.

   Both are developing abnormally, and each must sometime take up the devel-
opment  he  has neglected,  so as to become fully  rounded.   Therefore  the
Rosicrucians aim to give a teaching that will satisfy both classes, although
their  main efforts are expended in reaching the intellectually minded,  for
their need is the greater.

   This current of itself,  however,  even though it assumes the proportions
of a Niagara and flows until the crack of doom, will be useless.  But still,
as  it  is  not  only a necessary  accompaniment,  but  a  pre-requisite  to
self-conscious work in the inner World, it must be cultivated to some extend
before  the real esoteric training can begin.  It will thus be seen  that  a
moral life devoted to spiritual thought must be lived by the aspirant for  a
certain length of time before it is possible to commence the work that  will
give his first-hand knowledge of the super-physical realms and enable him to
become, in the truest sense, a helper of humanity.

   When the candidate has lived such a life for a time sufficient to  estab-
lish  the current of spiritual force,  and is found worthy and qualified  to
receive  esoteric  instruction,  he  is taught certain exercises, to set the

[PAGE 2344]

pituitary  body in vibration.   This vibration causes the pituitary body  to
impinge upon and slightly defect the nearest line of force (See diagram 17).
This, in turn, impinges upon the line next to it, and so the process contin-
ues until the force of the vibration has been spent.   It is similar to  the
way  in which the striking of one note on a piano will produce a  number  of
overtones,  by  setting  up a vibration in the other strings  which  are  at
proper intervals of pitch.

   When by the increased vibration of the pituitary body, the lines of force
have been deflected sufficiently to reach the pineal gland,  the object  has
been accomplished, the gap between these two organs has been bridged.   This
is the bridge between the World of Sense and the World of Desire.   From the
time it is built,  man becomes clairvoyant and able to direct his gaze where
he will.   Solid objects are seen both inside and out.  To him space and so-
lidity, as hindrances to observation, have ceased to exist.

   He is not yet a TRAINED clairvoyant,  but he IS a clairvoyant AT WILL,  a
voluntary clairvoyant.   He is a very different faculty from that  possessed
by  the medium,  who is usually an involuntary clairvoyant and can see  only
what comes;  or who has,  at best, very little more than the purely negative
faculty.  But the person in whom this bridge is once built is always in sure
touch  with the inner Worlds,  the connection being made and broken  at  his
will.  By degrees, the observer learns to control the vibration of the pitu-
itary body in a manner enabling him to get in touch with any of the  regions
of  the inner Worlds which he desires to visit.   The faculty is  completely
under  the control of his will.   It is not necessary for him to go  into  a
trance  or do anything abnormal,  to raise his consciousness to  the  Desire
World. He simply WILLS to see, and sees.

[PAGE 2345]

   As we explained in the earlier part of this work, the neophyte must learn
to see in the Desire World,  or rather, he must learn how to understand what
he sees there.   In the Physical World objects are dense, solid,  and do not
change in the twinkling of an eye.   In the Desire World they change in  the
most erratic manner.   This is a source of endless confusion to the negative
involuntary clairvoyant, and even to the neophyte who enters under the guid-
ance of a teacher,  but the teaching soon brings the pupil to a point  where
the  Form  may change as often as it will;  he can perceive  the  Life  that
causes  the change,  and knows it for what it is,  despite all possible  and
puzzling changes.

   There  is  also another and most important distinction to be  made.   The
power  which enables on to PERCEIVE the objects in a world is NOT  identical
with the power of ENTERING that world and FUNCTIONING there.   The voluntary
clairvoyant,  though he may have received some training, and is able to dis-
tinguish from true from the false in the Desire World, is in practically the
same  relation to it as a prisoner behind a barred window is to the  outside
world--he  can  see it,  but cannot function  therein.   Therefore  esoteric
training  not  only opens up the inner vision of the aspirant,  but  at  the
proper  time  further exercises are given to furnish him with a  vehicle  in
which he can function in the inner Worlds in a perfectly self-conscious man-
ner.

                       HOW THE INNER VEHICLE IS BUILT:

   In  ordinary  life  most  people live to ear,  they  drink,  gratify  the
sex-passion in an unrestrained manner, and lose their tempers on the slight-
est provocation.   Though outwardly these people may be very  "respectable,"
they are, nearly every day of their lives, causing almost utter confusion in
their organization.  The entire period  of  sleep is spent by the desire and

[PAGE 2346]

the  vital bodies in repairing the damage done in the day time,  leaving  no
time for outside work of any kind.  But as the individual begins to feel the
needs of the higher life, control sex force, and temper, and cultivate a se-
rene  disposition,  there is less disturbance caused in the vehicles  during
waking hours; consequently less time is required to repair the damage during
sleep.   Thus it becomes possible to leave the dense body for  long  periods
during  sleeping hours,  and function in the inner Worlds in the higher  ve-
hicles.   As the desire body and the mind are not yet organized, they are of
no  use as separate vehicles of consciousness.   Neither can the vital  body
leave the dense body,  as that would cause death, so it is evident that mea-
sures must be taken to provide an organized vehicle which is fluidic and  so
constructed  that it will meet the needs of the Ego in the inner  Worlds  as
does the dense body in the Physical World.

   The vital body is such an organized vehicle,  and if some means could  be
found  to loosen it from the dense body without causing death,  the  problem
would  be solved.   Besides,  the vital body is the seat of memory,  without
which  it would be impossible to bring back into our physical  consciousness
the remembrance of super-physical experiences and thus obtain the full  ben-
efit of them.

   We  remember that the Hierophants of the old Mystery  Temples  segregated
some  of  the  people into castes and tribes such as the  Brahmins  and  the
Levites,  for the purpose of providing bodies for use of such Egos  as  were
advanced enough to be ready for Initiation.  This was done in such a  manner
that the vital body became separable into two parts, as were the desire bod-
ies  of  all  humanity  at the beginning of  the  Earth  Period.   When  the
Hierophant took the pupils out of their bodies he left one part of the vital

[PAGE 2347]

body,  comprising the first and second ethers,  to perform the purely animal
functions  (they are the only ones active during sleep),  the  pupil  taking
with him a vehicle capable of perception, because of its connection with the
sense-centers of the dense body;  and also capable of memory.   It possessed
these  capabilities because it was composed of the third and fourth  ethers,
which are the mediums of sense-perception and memory.

   This is,  in fact, that part of the vital body which the aspirant retains
from life to life, and immortalizes as the Intellectual Soul.

   Since Christ came and "took away the sin of the world," (not of the indi-
vidual) purifying the desire body of our planet,  the connection between all
human  dense and vital bodies has been loosened to such an extent  that,  by
training, they are capable of separation as above described.  Therefore Ini-
tiation is open to all.

   The finer part of the desire body,  which constitutes the Emotional Soul,
is capable of separation in most people (in fact, it possessed that capabil-
ity even before Christ came) and thus when,  by concentration and the use of
the proper formula, the finer parts of the vehicles have been segregated for
use during sleep,  or at any other time,  the lower parts of the desire  and
vital bodies are still left to carry on the processes of restoration in  the
dense vehicle, the mere animal part.

   That  part  of the vital body which goes out is highly organized,  as  we
have seen.   It is an exact counterpart of the dense body.   The desire body
and  the mind,  not being organized,  are of use only because they are  con-
nected  with the highly organized dense body.   When separated from it  they
are but poor instruments, therefore before man  can  withdraw from the dense

[PAGE 2348]

body, the sense-centers of the desire body must be awakened.

   In  ordinary life the Ego is INSIDE its bodies and its force is  directed
OUTWARD.   All man's will and energy are bent upon the task of subduing  the
outside  world.   At no time is he able to get away from the impressions  of
his  outside environment and thus be free to work on himself in  his  waking
hours.   During sleep, when such an opportunity is afforded,  because of the
dense  body having lost consciousness of the world,  the Ego is OUTSIDE  his
bodies.   If man is to work on his vehicle at all,  it must be when the out-
side world is shut out as in sleep,  but yet the spirit still remains within
and in full control of the faculties, as it is in the waking state.  Not un-
til such a state can be attained will it be possible for the spirit to  work
inwardly and properly sensitize its vehicles.

   Concentration is such a state.   When in it, the senses are stilled and a
person is outwardly in the same condition as in the deepest sleep,  yet  the
spirit  remains within and fully conscious.   Most people  have  experienced
this state, at least in some degree, when they have become interested in ab-
sorption in a book.   At such times they live in the scenes depicted by  the
author  and  are  lost  to their environment.   When  spoken  to,  they  are
oblivious to the sound, so to all else transpiring around them, yet they are
fully  awake to all they are reading, to the invisible world created by  the
author,  living there and feeling the heart-beats of all the different char-
acters in the story.   They are not independent,  but are bound in the  life
which some one has created from them in the book.

   The  aspirant to the higher life cultivates the faculty of  becoming  ab-
sorbed AT WILL in any subject he chooses,  or rather not a subject  usually,
but a very simple object, which he imagines.  Thus when the proper condition

[PAGE 2349]

or  point  of absorption has been reached where his  senses  are  absolutely
still,  he concentrates his thought upon the different sense centers of  the
desire body and THEY START TO REVOLVE.

   At first their motion is slow and hard to bring about, but by degrees the
sense centers of the desire body will make places for themselves within  the
dense  and vital bodies,  which learn to accommodate themselves to this  new
activity.   Them some day,  when the proper life has developed the requisite
cleavage  between the higher and lower parts of the vital body,  there is  a
supreme effort of the will;  a spiral motion in many directions takes place,
and  the aspirant stands OUTSIDE HIS DENSE BODY.   He looks at it as at  an-
other person.  The door of this prison house has been opened.  He is free to
come  and  go,  as much at liberty in the inner worlds as  in  the  Physical
World, functioning at will, in the inner or outer World, a helper of all de-
siring his services in any of them.

   Before  the aspirant learns to voluntarily leave the body,  he  may  have
worked  in the desire body during sleep, for in some people the desire  body
becomes  organized before the separation can be brought about in  the  vital
body.   Under those conditions it is impossible to bring back these  subjec-
tive  experiences to waking consciousness,  but generally in such  cases  it
will be noticed,  as the first sign of development, that all confused dreams
will cease.   Then,  after while, the dreams will become more vivid and per-
fectly logical.   The aspirant will dream of being in places and with people
(whether  known  to him in waking hours or not matters  little),  conducting
himself  in as reasonable a way as if he were in the waking state.   If  the
place of which he dreams is accessible to him in waking hours,  he may some-
times get proof of the reality of his dream if he will  note  some  physical

[PAGE 2350]

detail of the scene and verify his nocturnal impression next day.

   He will next find that he can, during sleeping hours,  visit any place he
desires  upon  the face of the Earth and investigate it a  great  deal  more
thoroughly than if he had gone there in the dense body,  because in his  de-
sire body he has access to all places, regardless of locks and bars.   If he
persists,  there will at last come a day when he need not wait for sleep  to
dissolve the connection between his vehicles,  but can consciously set  him-
self free.

   Specific  directions for freeing the higher vehicles cannot be given  in-
discriminately.   The separation is brought about, not by a set  formula  of
WORDS, but rather by AN ACT OF WILL, yet the manner in which the will is di-
rected  is  individual,  and  can therefore be given  only  by  a  competent
teacher.   Like all other real esoteric information,  it is never sold,  but
comes  only as a result of the pupil qualifying himself to receive it.   All
that can be done here is to give an indication of the first steps which lead
up to the acquirement of the faculty of voluntary clairvoyance.

   The most favorable time to exercise is on first awakening in the morning,
before any of the worries and cares of daily life have entered the mind.  At
that  time  one  is fresh from the inner Worlds and  therefore  more  easily
brought back into touch with them than at any other time of the day.  Do not
wait  to dress,  or sit up in bed, but relax the body perfectly and let  the
exercises  be the first waking thought.  Relaxation does not mean  simply  a
comfortable position;  it is possible to have every muscle tense WITH EXPEC-
TATION and that of itself frustrates the object,  for in that condition  the
desire  body is gripping the muscles.   It cannot do otherwise till we  calm
the mind.

[PAGE 2351]

                                CONCENTRATION:

   The first thing to practice is fixing one's thoughts upon some ideal  and
holding them there WITHOUT LETTING THEM SWERVE.   It is an exceedingly  hard
task,  but,  to some extend at least, it must be accomplished before  it  is
possible to make any further progress.   Thought is the power we use in mak-
ing images, pictures, thought forms, according to ideas from within.   It is
our  principal power,  and we must learn to have absolute control of it,  so
that what we produce is not wild illusion induced by outside conditions, but
true imagination generated by the spirit from within (see diagram 1).

   Sceptics say that it is ALL imagination but,  as said before,  if the in-
ventor had not been able to imagine the telephone, etc.,  we would not today
possess those things.   His imaginings were not generally correct or true at
first,  otherwise the inventions would have worked successfully from the be-
ginning,  without the many failures and apparently useless experiments  that
have nearly always preceded the production of the practical and  serviceable
instrument  or machine.   Neither is the imagination of the  budding  occult
scientist  correct at first.   The only way to make it true is  by  uninter-
rupted practice,  day after day, exercising the will to keep the thought fo-
cussed upon one subject, object, or idea, exclusive all else.   Thought is a
great power which we have been accustomed to waste.   It has been allowed to
flow on aimlessly, as water flows over a precipice before it is made to turn
the wheel.

   The rays of the Sun, diffused over the entire surface of the Earth,  pro-
duce only a moderate warmth,  but if even a few of them are concentrated  by
means of a glass, they are capable of producing fire at  the focusing point.

[PAGE 2352]

   Thought-force is the most powerful means of obtaining knowledge.   If  it
is  concentrated upon a subject,  it will burn its way through any  obstacle
and solve the problem.   If the requisite amount of thought-force is brought
to bear,  there is nothing that is beyond the power of human  comprehension.
So long as we scatter it, thought-force is of little use to us,  but as soon
as we are prepared to take the trouble necessary to harness it,  all  knowl-
edge is ours.

   We often hear people exclaim petulantly, "Oh, I cannot think of a hundred
things at once!" when really that is exactly what they have been doing,  and
what  has caused the very trouble of which they complain.   People are  con-
stantly  thinking of a hundred things other than the one they have in  hand.
Every success has been accomplished by persistent concentration upon the de-
sired end.

   This  is something the aspirant to the higher life must positively  learn
to do.   There is no other way.   At first he will find himself thinking  of
everything  under the sun instead of the ideal upon which he has decided  to
concentrate,  but he must not let that discourage him.  In time he will find
it  easier to still his senses and hold his thoughts  steady.   Persistence,
PERSISTENCE,  and always PERSISTENCE will win at last.   Without that,  how-
ever,  no results can be expected.  It is of no use to perform the exercises
for two or three mornings or weeks and then neglect them for as long.  To be
effective they must be done faithfully every morning without fail.

   Any subject may be selected, according to the temperament and mental per-
suasion of the aspirant, so long as it is pure and mentally uplifting it its
tendency.   Christ will do for some; others,  who flowers particularly,  and
most easily helped by taking one as the subject of concentration.   The  ob-
ject matters little, but whatever it is we must imagine  it  true to life in

[PAGE 2353]

all details.   If it is Christ,  we must imagine a real Christ,  with mobile
features,  life in His eyes,  and an expression that is not stony and  dead.
We must build a living ideal, not a statue.  If it is a flower, we must,  in
imagination,  take the seed and having buried it in the ground, fix our mind
upon  it  steadily.   Presently we shall see it burst,  shooting  forth  its
roots, which penetrate the Earth in a spiral manner.  From the main branches
of the roots we watch the myriads of minute rootlets, as they branch out and
ramify  in all directions.   Then the stem begins to shoot upward,  bursting
through the surface of the earth and coming forth as a tiny green stalk.  It
grows,  presently there is an off-set;  a tiny twig shoots out from the main
stem.   It grows;  another off-set and a branch appears;  from the branches,
little stalks with buds at the end shoot out;  presently there are a  number
of leaves.   Then comes a bud at the top;  it grow larger until it begins to
burst and the red leaves of the rose show beneath the green.   It unfolds in
the air,  emitting an exquisite perfume,  which we sense perfectly as it  is
wafted  to  us on the balmy summer breeze which gently sways  the  beautiful
creation before the mind's eye.

   Only when we "imagine"  in such clear and complete outlines as these,  do
we enter into the spirit of concentration.  There must be no shadowy,  faint
resemblance.

   Those who have traveled in India have told of fakirs showing them a seed,
which was planted and grew before the eyes of the astonished witness,  bear-
ing fruit which the traveler tasted.   That was done by concentration so in-
tense that the picture was visible, not only to the fakir himself,  but also
the spectators. A case is recorded where the members of a committee of sci-
entist all saw the wonderful things done before their eyes, under conditions
where  sleight-of-hand  was  impossible,  yet  the  photographs  which  they

[PAGE 2354]

obtained while the experiment was in progress, came to naught.  There was no
impression on the sensitive plates, because there had been no material, con-
crete objects.

   At  first the pictures which the aspirant builds will be but shadowy  and
poor  likenesses,  but in the end he can,  by concentration,  conjure up  an
image more real and alive than things in the Physical World.

   When the aspirant has become able to form such pictures and has succeeded
in  holding his mind upon the picture thus created,  he may try to drop  the
picture suddenly and,  holding his mind steady without any thought,  wait to
see what comes into the vacuum.

   For a long time nothing may appear and the aspirant must carefully  guard
against  making visions for himself,  but if he keeps on faithfully and  pa-
tiently every morning,  there will come a time when,  the moment he has  let
the imaged picture drop,  in a flash the surrounding Desire World will  open
up to his inner eye.   At first it may be but a mere glimpse,  but it is  an
earnest of what will later come at will.

                                 MEDITATION:

   When  the aspirant has practiced concentration for some  time,  focussing
the mind upon some simple object, building a living thought form by means of
the imaginative faculty,  he will,  by means of Meditation,  learn all about
the object thus created.

   Supposing that the aspirant has, by concentration, called up the image of
the  Christ.   It is very easy to meditatively recall the incidents  of  His
life,  suffering and resurrection,  but much beyond that can be  learned  by
meditation.  Knowledge  never  before  dreamed of will flood the soul with a

[PAGE 2355]

glorious light.   Yet something that is uninteresting and does not of itself
suggest  anything marvelous,  is better for practice.   Try to find out  all
about--say, a match, or a common table.

   When  the image of the table has been clearly formed in the  mind,  think
what kind of wood it is and whence it came.  Go back to the time when,  as a
tiny seed,  the tree from which the wood was cut first feel into the  forest
soil.   Watch it grow from year to year,  covered by the snows of winter and
warmed by the summer Sun,  steadily growing upward--its roots meanwhile con-
stantly spreading under the ground.   First it is a tender sapling,  swaying
in  the breeze;  then,  as a young tree,  it gradually stretches higher  and
higher  toward the air and the sunshine.  As the years pass,  its girth  be-
comes greater and greater, until at last one day the logger comes,  with his
axe and saw gleaming as they reflect the rays of the winter Sun.   Our  tree
is felled and shorn if its branches, leaving by the trunk;  that is cut into
logs,  which  are hauled over the frozen roads to the river bank,  there  to
await the springtime when the melting snow swells the streams.  A great raft
of the logs is made, the pieces of our tree being among them.  We know every
little peculiarity about them and would recognize them instantly among thou-
sand,  so clearly have we marked them in our mind.   We follow the raft down
the  stream,  noting the passing landscape and become familiar with the  men
who  have  the care of the raft and who sleep upon little  huts  built  upon
their floating charge.  At last we see it arrive at a sawmill and disbanded.
One by one the logs are grasped by prongs on an endless chain and hauled out
of the water.   Here comes one of our logs, the widest part of which will be
made  into  the top of our table.  It is hauled out of the water to the log-

[PAGE 2356]

deck and rolled about by men with peavies.   We hear the hungry whine of the
great  circular saws as they revolve so fast that they appear as mere  blurs
before our eyes.   Our log is placed upon a carriage which is propelled  to-
ward one of them, and in a moment those teeth of steel are tearing their way
through its body and dividing it into boards and planks.   Some of the  wood
is  selected to form part of a building,  but the best of it is taken  to  a
furniture factory and put into a kiln, where it is dried by steam so that it
will not shrink after it has been made into furniture.  Then it is taken out
and put through a great planing machine with many sharp knives,  which makes
it smooth.  Next it is sawn off into different lengths and glued together to
form table-tops.   The legs are turned from thicker pieces and set into  the
frame which supports the top;  then the whole article is smoothed again with
sandpaper,  varnished and polished,  thus completing the table in every  re-
spect.   It is next sent out,  with other furniture,  to the store where  we
bought it,  and we follow it as it is carted from that place to our home and
left in our dining room.

   Thus,  by meditation, we have become conversant with the various branches
of  industry necessary to convert a forest tree into a piece  of  furniture.
WE  have seen all the machines and the men,  and noted the peculiarities  of
the  various places.   We have even followed the life process  whereby  that
tree  has  grown from a tiny seed, and have learned that back  of  seemingly
very  commonplace things there is a great and absorbingly  interesting  his-
tory.  A pin; the match with which we light the gas; the gas itself; and the
room in which that has is burned--all have interesting histories, well worth
learning.

[PAGE 2357]

                                 OBSERVATION:

   One of the most important aids to the aspirant in its efforts is observa-
tion.   Most people go through life blind-folded.   Of them it is  literally
true that they "have eyes,  and see not; .  .  .  have ears,  and hear not."
Upon the part of the majority of humanity there is a deplorable lack of  ob-
servation.

   Most people are, to some extent, excusable for this,  because their sight
is  not normal.   Urban life has caused untold damage to the eyes.   In  the
country  the child learns to use the muscles of the eye to the full  extend,
relaxing of contracting them as required to see objects at considerable dis-
tances  in  the  open,  or close at hand in and about the  house.   But  the
city-bred child sees practically EVERYTHING close at hand and the muscles of
its eyes are seldom used to observe objects at any great distance, therefore
that  faculty  is  to a great extent lost,  resulting  in  a  prevalence  of
near-sightedness and other eye troubles.

   It  is very important to one aspiring to the higher life that he be  able
to see all things about him in clear, definite outlines, and in full detail.
To one suffering from defective sight, the use of glasses is like opening up
a new world.   Instead of the former mistiness,  everything is seen  clearly
and definitely.  If the condition of the sight requires the use of two foci,
one should not be content with having two pairs of glasses, one for near and
one for far seeing,  thus necessitating frequent changes.   Not only are the
changes wearisome, but one is very apt to forget one pair when leaving home.
The two foci can be had in one pair of bi-focal glasses,  and such should be
worn, to facilitate observation of the minutest details.

[PAGE 2358]

                               DISCRIMINATION:

   When the aspirant has attended to his eyesight,  he should systematically
observe everything and everybody, drawing conclusions from actions,  to cul-
tivate the faculty of logical reasoning.   logic is the best teacher in  the
Physical World, as well as the safest and surest guide in any world.

   While practicing this method of observation, it should always be kept  in
mind  that  it  must be used only to gather facts and not  for  purposes  of
criticism,  at least not wanton criticism.   Constructive  criticism,  which
points  out  defects  and  the means of remedying  them,  is  the  basis  of
progress;  but destructive criticism, which vandalistically demolishes  good
and bad alike with aiming at any higher attainment, is an ulcer on the char-
acter  and must be eradicated.   Gossip and idle tale-bearing are clogs  and
hindrances.   While it is not required that we shall say that black is white
and overlook manifestly wrong conduct, criticism should be made for the pur-
pose  of helping,  not to wantonly besmirch the character of a  fellow-being
because we have found a little stain.   Remembering the parable of the  mote
and the beam,  we should turn our most unsparing criticism toward ourselves.
None is so perfect that there is no room for improvement.   The more  blame-
less the man, the less prone he is to find fault and cast the first stone at
another.   If we point out faults and suggests ways for improvement, it must
be  done without personal feeling.   We must always seek the good  which  is
hidden in everything.  The cultivation of this attitude of discrimination is
particularly important.

   When the aspirant to first-hand knowledge has practiced concentration and
meditation  exercises  for  some  time,  and has become fairly proficient in

[PAGE 2359]

them, there is a still higher step to be taken.

   We have seen that concentration is focusing thought upon a single object.
It is the means whereby we build a clear, objective, and living image of the
form about which we wish to acquire knowledge.

   Meditation  is the exercise whereby the history of the object of our  in-
vestigation is traced and,  so to say, entered into, to pick out of it every
shred of evidence as to its relation to the world in general.

   These two mental exercises deal, in the deepest and most thorough manner,
imaginable,  with THINGS.   They lead up to a higher, deeper and more subtle
stage of mental development, which deals with the very SOUL OF THINGS.

   The name of that stage is Contemplation.

                                CONTEMPLATION:

   In  contemplation there is no reaching out in thought or imagination  for
the sake of getting information, as was the case in Meditation.   It is sim-
ply the holding of the object before our mental vision and letting the  soul
of it speak to us.   We repose quietly and relaxed upon a couch or  bed--not
negatively,  but thoroughly on the alert--watching for the information  that
will surely come if we have reached the proper development.   Then the  FORM
of the object seems to vanish and we see only the LIFE at work.   Contempla-
tion  will teach us about the Life side,  as Meditation taught us about  the
Form side.

   When we reach this stage and have before us,  say,  a tree in the forest,
we  lost sight of the Form entirely,  and see only the Life,  which in  this
case is a group spirit.  We shall find, to our astonishment,  that the group
spirit of the tree includes the various insects which feed upon it; that the

[PAGE 2360]

parasite and its host are emanations from one and the same group spirit, for
the  higher we ascend in the invisible realms,  the fewer the  separate  and
distinct forms, and the more completely the One Life predominates,  impress-
ing  upon  the  investigator  the supreme fact that there  is  but  the  One
Life--the Universal Life of God, in Whom it is an actual fact that "we live,
and move, and have our being."  Mineral, plant, animal, and man--all,  with-
out exception--are manifestations of God,  and this fact furnishes the  true
basis of brotherhood--a brotherhood which includes everything from the  atom
to the Sun, because all are emanations from God.  Conceptions of brotherhood
based upon any other foundation,  such as class distinctions, Race affinity,
similarity of occupation,  etc.,  fall far short of this true basis,  as the
occult scientist clearly realizes when he sees the Universal Life flowing in
all that exists.

                                  ADORATION:

   When this height has been reached by Contemplation,  and the aspirant has
realized  that he is in truth beholding God in the Life that  permeates  all
things, there remains still to be taken the highest step, Adoration, whereby
he  unites himself with the Source of all things,  reaching by that act  the
highest goal possible of attainment by man until the time when the permanent
union takes place at the end of the great Day of Manifestation.

   It is the writer's opinion that neither the heights of Contemplation, nor
the  final step of Adoration can be attained without the aid of  a  teacher.
The aspirant need never fear, however, that for want of a teacher he will be
delayed in taking these steps;  nor need he be concerned about looking for a

[PAGE 2361]

teacher.   All that is necessary for him to do is start to improve  himself,
and to earnestly and PERSISTENTLY continue therein.  In that way he will pu-
rify  his vehicles.   They will commence to shine in the inner  Worlds,  and
cannot fail to attract the attention of the teachers,  who are always watch-
ing for just such cases and are more than eager and glad to help those  who,
because of their earnest efforts to purify themselves, have won the right to
receive  help.   Humanity is sorely in need of helpers who are able to  work
from the inner Worlds,  therefore "seek and ye shall find,"  but let us  not
imagine  that by going about from one professed teacher to another,  we  are
seeking.   "Seeking,"  in that sense of the word, will avail nothing in this
dark world.   We ourselves must kindle the light--the light which invariably
radiates from the vehicles of the earnest aspirant.   That is the star which
will lead us to the teacher, or rather the teacher to us.

   The time required to bring results from the performance of the  exercises
varies with each individual and is dependent upon his application, his stage
in  evolution and his record in the book of destiny;  therefore  no  general
time can be set.   Some,  who are almost ready, obtain results in a few days
or weeks; others have to work months, years, and even their whole life with-
out  VISIBLE results,  yet the results will be there,  and the aspirant  who
faithfully persists will some day,  i this or a future life,  behold his pa-
tience  and  faithfulness rewarded and the inner Worlds open  to  his  gaze,
finding himself a citizen of realms where the opportunities are immeasurably
greater than in the Physical World only.

   From that time--awake or asleep, through what men call life,  and through
what  men  call  death--his  consciousness will be unbroken.  He will lead a
consciously continuous existence,  having the benefit of all the  conditions
which make for more rapid advancement to every higher positions of trust, to
be used in the unlifting of the race.

Continued with file "RC1066.TXT"

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