English
He felt disgusted and discouraged, and wished he had never come to Agassiz, whom, it seemed, was a stupid old man after all—one away behind the times. Then, in order to kill time, he;; began to count the scales. This completed, he counted the spines of the fins. Then he began to draw a picture of the fish. In drawing the picture he noticed that the fish had no eyelids. He thus made the discovery that as his teacher had expressed it often, in lectures, “ a pencil is the best of eyes. Shortly after the teacher returned, and after ascertaining what the youth had observed, he left ^CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTION PC ^appointed, telling the boy to keep on look wpybe he would see something. Ms put the boy on his mettle, and he began to work with lus pencil, putting down little details that had escaped nm before, but which now seemed very plain to him He began to catch the secret of observation. Little by httle he brought to light new objects of interest about the fish. But this did not suffice his teacher, who kept him at work on the same fish for three whole days. At the end of that time the student really knew something about the fish, and, better than all, had acquired the “ knack ” and habit of careful observation and perception in detail. Years after, the student, then attained to eminence, is icpoited as saying: “ That was the best zoological lesson , cv f had a lesson whose influence has extended to V, etails , ever y subsequent study; a legacy that the tinv w^° r f ft t0 me ’ as * ie ,ef t to many others, of ines- *i a le value, which we could not buy, and with which we cannot part.” inf Apan - fr ° m the value to the student of the particular - ormation obtained was the quickening of the percep- ve faculties, that enabled him to obserye the important points in a subject or object, and, consequently, to deduce T^nt information from that which was observed. *e Mind is hungry for knowledge, and it has by years weary evolution and effort built up a series of sense yiH™ S ’ n ° rder to yield 11 that knowI edge, and it is still ar V dla S- The men and women in the world who have rwed at the point of success have availed themselves of ; n , wonderful channels of information, and by direct- attam unt * er dle guidance of Will and Attention, have anc , wonderful results. These things are of import- Port;’ anC p Y e beg . of our students not to pass by this 1 n ot the subject as uninteresting. Cultivate a spirit rnisTfy RAJA YOGA erawakeness and perception, and the ill come to you will surprise you. ; kno ft. iai Will IW JUU vvxxx - Not only do you develop the existing senses by such practice and use, but you help in the unfoldment of t e latent powers and senses that are striving for m<)lc ment. By using and exercising the faculties that Vr have, we help to unfold those for the coming of which we have been dreaming. MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION) I am a Soul, possessed of channels of communication with the outer world. I will use these channels, and thereby acquire the information and knowledge neces¬ sary for my mental development. I will exercise and develop my organs of sense, knowing that m so doing I shall cause to unfold the higher senses, of which the. are but forerunners and symbols. I will be “ wide awake and open to the inflow of knowledge and information. The Universe is my Home—I will explore it. umisr^ §L the seventh lesson J^THE UNFOLDMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS ^ bave thought it well to make a slight change in the 1 , 1 i 8 ?f ient , of these lessons—that is, in the order in this c the y should appear. We had contemplated making mis Seventh Lesson a series of Mental Drills, intended to velop certain of the mental faculties, but we have in tn P ° Stpone the same until a hher lesson, believ- g hat by so doing a more logical sequence or order ip!] 31 ™ 8 * 1 ” 611 * wiI1 be P reserved - In this lesson we will in ,h° J °* tbe un I°l d, nent of consciousness in Man, and '" ext lesson ’ and probably in the one following it, stntnc 3 1 prese , nt to you a clear statement regarding the W(ln , ° f , mind ’ below and over consciousness—a most arei^ '• re ®! on ’ we assure y° u > and one that has been un a ' ly misllnderst ood and misinterpreted. This will lead -hnii 6 SUbjCCt ° f the cuItivation of the various faculties seri ^. < ? n ® ci0us and outside of consciousness, and the the he^f r 6 l concluded b y three lessons going right to ru]e °* thlS part of tbe sub J ect > and giving certain derf, i u inStructl0n ca,cula ted to develop Man’s won- u thought-machine” that will be of the greatest f ,J :r . est and importance to all of our students.When nrr ^ lessons arc concluded you will see that the present c n 2 e Hient is most logical and proper. mentor Ie ^ SOn we take up the sllb J' ect of “ The Unfold- Manl °; , nsc,ousnes s a most interesting subject. scinn y 0f U have been in the habit of identifying “con- if " * tb mind, but as we proceed with this series le „„ ,f on ^ we will see that that which is called “ conscious- is but a small portion of the mind of the individual, E 129 min isr^ RAJA YOGA ■tsi^L _ sn that small part is constantly changing an4 unfolding new states undreamed of. ' Consciousness ” is a word we use very often in con¬ sidering the science of the Mind. Let us see what it means. Webster defines it as one’s “ knowledge of sensa¬ tions and mental operations, or of what passes in one’s own min d.” Halleck defines it as “ that undefinable characteristic of mental states which causes one to be aware of them.” But, as Halleck states, “ Consciousness is incapable of definition. To define anything we are obliged to describe it in terms of something else. And there is nothing else in the world like consciousness, hence we can define it only in terms of itself, and that is very much like trying to lift one’s self by one’s own boot straps. Consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries that confronts us.” Before we can understand what Consciousness really is, we must know just what “ Mind ” really is—and that knowledge is lacking, notwithstanding the many ingenious theories evolved in order to explain the mystery. The metaphysicians do not throw much light on the subject, and as for materialistic science, listen to what Huxley says: “ How it comes about that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness comes about by the result of irritating nervous tissue is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the genii when Aladdin rubbed Ills lamp.” To many persons the words “consciousness” and “ mental process,” or “ thought,” are regarded as synonymous. And, in fact, psychologists so held until quite recently. But now it is generally accepted as a fact that mental processes are not limited to the field of consciousness, and it is now generally taught that the field of sub-consciousness (that is, “ under ” conscious) mentation, is of a much greater extent than that of con¬ scious mentation. > UNFOLDMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS ify only is it true that the mind can hold in',,_ “^hsness but one fact at any one instant, and that, conse- uently, only a very small fraction of our knowledge can .<SL i . - j ~ wi uui Kuuwieuge can oe in consciousness at any one moment, but it is also true that the consciousness plays but a very small part m the totality of mental processes, or mentation. The mind is not conscious of the greater portion of its own activities—Maudsley says that only 10 per cent comes into the held of consciousness. Taine has stated it in these words: “ Of the world which makes up our being, we only perceive the highest points—the lighted up peaks of a continent whose lower levels remain in the shade.” out it is not our intention to speak of this great sub¬ conscious region of the mind at this point, for we shall have much to do with it later on. It is mentioned here in order to show that the enlargement or development of consciousness is not so much a matter of “ growth ” as it is an “ unfoldment ”•—not a new creation or enlarge¬ ment from outside, but rather an unfoldment outward from within. From the very beginning of Life—among the Particles of Inorganic Substance, may be found traces of some¬ thing like Sensation, and response thereto. Writers have not cared to give to this phenomenon the name of “ sen¬ sation,” or “ sensibility,” as the terms savoured too much of “ senses ” and “ sense-organs.” But Modern Science has not hesitated to bestow the names so long withheld. The most advanced scientific writers do not hesitate to state that in reaction, chemical response, etc., may be seen indications of rudimentary sensation. Haeckel says: “ 1 cannot imagine the simplest chemical and physical process without attributing the movement of the material particles to unconscious sensation. The idea of Chemical Affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical elements perceive the qualitative differences in other RAJA YOGA elerhents, and experience ‘ pleasure ’ or ‘ revulsifc pntacts with them, and execute their specific move n this ground.” He also speaks of the sensitiveness of “ plasm,” or the substance of “ living bodies,” as being “ only a superior degree of the general irritability of substance.” ' Chemical reaction, between atoms, is spoken of by chemists as a “ sensitive ” reaction. Sensitiveness is found even in the Particles of Inorganic Substance, and may be regarded as the first glimmerings of thought. Science recognizes this when it speaks of the unconscious sensa¬ tion of the Particles as cethesis or “ feeling,” and the unconscious Will that responds thereto as tropesis, or “ inclination.