|
We have seen that
the subjective mind is amenable to suggestion by the objective mind; but
there is also an action of the subjective mind upon the objective. The
individual's subjective mind is his own innermost self, and its first care
is the maintenance of the individuality of which it is the foundation; and
since it is pure spirit it has its continual existence in that plane of
being where all things subsist in the universal here and the everlasting
now, and consequently can, inform the lower mind of things removed from
its ken either by distance or futurity. As the absence of the conditions
of time and space must logically concentrate all things into a present
focus, we can assign no limit to the subjective mind's power of
perception, and therefore the question arises, why does it not keep the
objective mind continually informed on all points? And the answer is that
it would do so if the objective mind were sufficiently trained to
recognize the indications given, and to effect this training is one of the
purposes of Mental Science. When once we recognize the position of the
subjective mind as the supporter of the whole individuality we cannot
doubt that much of what we take to be the spontaneous movement of the
objective mind has its origin in the subjective mind prompting the
objective mind in the right direction without our being consciously aware
of it. But at times when the urgency of the case seems to demand it, or
when, for some reason yet unknown, the objective mind is for a while more
closely en rapport with the subjective mind, the interior voice is
heard strongly and persistently; and when this is the case we do well to
pay heed to it. Want of space forbids me to give examples, but doubtless
such will not be wanting in the reader's experience.
The importance of
understanding and following the intuition cannot be exaggerated, but I
candidly admit the great practical difficulty of keeping the happy mean
between the disregard of the interior voice and allowing ourselves to be
run away with by groundless fancies. The best guide is the knowledge that
comes of personal experience which gradually leads to the acquisition of a
sort of inward sense of touch that enables us to distinguish the true from
the false, and which appears to grow with the sincere desire for truth and
with the recognition of the spirit as its source. The only general
principles the writer can deduce from his own experience are that when, in
spite of all appearances pointing in the direction of a certain line of
conduct, there is still a persistent feeling that it should not be
followed, in the majority of instances it will be found that the argument
of the objective mind, however correct on the facts objectively known, was
deficient from ignorance of facts which could not be objectively known at
the time, but which were known to the intuitive faculty. Another principle
is that our very first impression of feeling on any subject is
generally correct. Before the objective mind has begun to argue on the
subject it is like the surface of a smooth lake which clearly reflects the
light from above; but as soon as it begins to argue from outside
appearances these also throw their reflections upon its surface, so that
the original image becomes blurred and is no longer recognizable. This
first conception is very speedily lost, and it should therefore be
carefully observed and registered in the memory with a view to testing the
various arguments which will subsequently arise on the objective plane. It
is however impossible to reduce so interior an action as that of the
intuition to the form of hard and fast rules, and beyond carefully noting
particular cases as they occur, probably the best plan for the student
will be to include the whole subject of intuition in the general principle
of the Law of Attraction, especially if he sees how this law interacts
with that personal quality of universal spirit of which we have already
spoken. |
