English
” The lower animals do not possess this “ I ” sense. They are conscious of the outer world; of their own desires and animal cravings and feelings. But their consciousness has not reached the Self-conscious stage. They are not able to think of themselves as separate entities, and to reflect upon their thoughts. They are not possessed of a consciousness of the Divine Spark—the Ego—the Real Self. The Divine Spark is hidden in the lower forms of life—even in the lower forms of human life—by many Mi Nir^ THE “ 1 ” is that shut out its light. But, neverthelel always. It sleeps within the mind of the sa\ _ c as he unfolds, it begins to throw out its light. 0 In you, the Candidate, it is fighting hard to have its beams pierce through the material coverings. When the Real Seif begins to arouse itself from its sleep, its dreams vanish from it, and it begins to see the world as it is, and to recognize itself in Reality and not as the distorted thing of its dreams. The savage and barbarian are scarcely conscious of the T” They are but a little above the animal in point of consciousness, and their “ I ” is almost entirely a matter of the consciousness of the wants of the body ; the satis¬ faction of the appetites ; the gratification of the passions ; the securing of personal comfort; the expression of lust, savage power, etc. In the savage the lower part of the Instinctive Mind is the seat of the “ I.” (See “ Fourteen Lessons ” for explanation of the several mental planes of man.) If the savage could analyse 'his thoughts he would say that the “ I ” was the physical body, the said body having certain “ feelings,” “ wants,” and “ desires.” The I ” of such a man is a physical “ I,” the body repre¬ senting its form and substance. Not only is this true of the savage, but even among so-called “ civilized ” men of to-day we find many in this stage. They have developed powers of thinking and reasoning, but they do not “ live in their minds ” as do some of their brothers. They use their thinking powers for the gratification of their bodily desires and cravings, and really live on the plane of the Instinctive Mind. Such a person may speak of “ my mind,” or “ my soul,” not from a high position where he looks upon these things from the standpoint of a Master who realizes his Real Self, but from below, from the point of view of the man who lives on the plane of the Instinc¬ tive Mind and who sees above himself the higher attri- rtiN/sr^ Sl mm w RAJA yoga to such people the body is the “ I.” Their ind up with the senses, and that which comes to them through the senses. Of course, as Man advances in “ culture ” and “ civilization,” his senses become educated, and are satisfied only with more refined things, while the less cultivated man is perfectly satisfied with the more material and gross sense gratifications. Much that we call “ cultivation ” and “ culture ” is naught but a cultivation of a more refined form of sense gratification, instead of a real advance in consciousness and unfold- ment. It is true that the advanced student and Master is possessed of highly developed senses, often far surpass¬ ing those of the ordinary man, but in such cases the senses have been cultivated under the mastery of the Will, and are made servants of the Ego instead of things hindering the progress of the soul—they are made servants instead of masters. As Man advances in the scale, he begins to have a somewhat higher conception of the “ I.” He begins to use his mindgWjLreason, and he passes on to the Mental Plane—his jbegins to manifest upon the plane of Intellect. that there is something within him that is highertnan the body. He finds that his mind seems more real to him than does the physical part of him, and in times of deep thought and study he is able almost to forget the existence of the body. In this second stage Man soon becomes perplexed. He finds problems that demand an answer, but as soon as he thinks he has answered them the problems present themselves in a new phase, and he is called upon to “ explain his explanation.” The mind, even although not controlled and directed by the Will, has a wonderful range, but, nevertheless, Man finds himself travelling around and around in a circle, and realizes that he is con¬ fronted continually by the Unknown This disturbs him. he IJLi aTTTTTT^ n'd the higher the stage of “ book learning the more disturbed does he become. The man of but little' knowledge does not see the existence of many problems that force themselves before the attention of the man of more knowledge, and demand an explanation from him. The tortures of the man who has attained the mental growth that enables him to see the new problems and the impossibility of their answer, cannot be imagined by one who has not advanced to that stage. The man in this stage of consciousness thinks of his “ I ” as a mental thing, having a lower companion, the body. He feels that he has advanced, but yet his “ I ” does not give him the answer to the riddles and questions that perplex him. And he becomes most unhappy. Such men often develop into Pessimists, and consider the whole of life as utterly evil and disappointing — a curse rather than a blessing. Pessimism belongs to this plane, for neither the Physical Plane man nor the Spiritual Plane man have this curse of Pessimism. The former man has no such disquieting thoughts, for he absorbed in gratifying his animal natuj man recognizes his mind as an ins rather than as himself, and knows it its present stage of growth. He knows that he has in him¬ self the key to all knowledge — locked up in the Ego— and which the trained mind, cultivated, developed and guided by the awakened Will, may grasp as it unfolds. Knowing this, the advanced man no longer despairs, and. recognizing his real nature, and his possibilities, as he awakens into a consciousness of his powers and capa¬ bilities, he laughs at the old despondent, pessimistic ideas, and discards them like a worn-out garment. Man on the Mental Plane of consciousness is like a huge elephant who knows not his own strength. He could break down barriers and assert himself over nearly any condition or a. t he tc r h<y0*dm durik jjpjffl it tone 11 most entirely c the latter of himself imperfect in MIN IST/fy Sl RAJA YOGA Jl^mbent, but in his ignorance of his real condition ^. pow^Mie may be mastered by a puny driver, or frightened by the rustling of a piece of paper. When the Candidate becomes an Initiate—when he passes from the purely Mental Plane on to the Spiritual Plane—-he realizes that the “ I,” the Real Self—is some¬ thing higher than either body or mind, and that both of the latter may be used as tools and instruments by the Ego or “ I.” This knowledge is not reached by purely intellectual reasoning, although such efforts of the mind are often necessary to help in the unfoldment, and the Masters so use it. The real knowledge, however, comes as a special form of consciousness. The Candidate becomes “ aware ” of the real “ I,” and this consciousness being attained, he passes to the rank of the Initiates. When the Initiate passes the second degree of conscious¬ ness and begins to grow into a realization of his relationship to the Whole—when he begins to manifest the Expansion of Self—then is he on the road to Mastership. In the present lesson we shall endeavour to point out to the Candidate the methods of developing or increasing the realization of this “ I ” consciousness—this first degree work. We give the 5 following exercises,or development drills for the Candidate to practise. He will find that a careful and conscientious following of these directions will tend to unfold in him a sufficient degree of the “ I ” consciousness, to enable him to enter into higher stages of development and power. All that is necessary is for the Candidate to feel within himself the dawn of the awaken¬ ing consciousness, or awareness of the Real Self. The higher stages of the “ I" consciousness come gradually, for, once on the Path, there is no retrogression or going backward. 1 here may be pauses on the journey, but there is no such thing as actually losing that which is once gained on The Path. THE “ I ” ■this “ I ” consciousness, even in its highest sta a preliminary step toward what is called “ Illumina- tion and which signifies the awakening of the Initiate to *o of lus actual con nection with and relation to the Whole. The full sight of the glory of the “ I ” is hut a faint reflected glow of “ Illumination.” The Candi- ! th <f T he e,lte ' S fally int0 the “ 1 ” consciousness, the TH ltia - te ' • And the Initiate who enters into ™ f Illumin ation takes his first step upon the road to Mastery. The Initiation is like the awakening e s f oul }° a knowledge of its real existence—the Illumination is the revelation of the real nature of the soul and of its relationship with the Whole. After the first thC ** 1 ” cons ciousness has been attained, the Candidate is more able to grasp the means of developing he consciousness to a still higher degree-is more able menS w P0WerS latent within him t0 control his own S ? T t0 .!? anifest a Centre of Consciousness and .nfiuence that will radiate into' the outer world which is always striving and hunting for such centres around which it may revolve. Man must master himself before he can hope to exert an influence beyond himself. There is no royal road to untoldmcnt and power—each step must be taken in turn, and each Candidate must take the step himself, and by his own effort. But he may, and will, be aided by the help¬ ing hand of the teachers who have travelled The Path before him, and who know just when that helping hand is needed to lift the Candidate over the rough places.