n came, and analysis was applied there arose a feeling of
disappointment and dissatisfaction, and people began to feel that there
was something lacking. They intuitively recognized that their higher
inspirations and intuitions came from a different part of the mind than
the lower emotions, passions, and other sub-conscious feelings, and
instincts.
A glance at the Oriental philosophies will give one the key to the
problem at once. The Oriental teachers have always held that the
conscious mentation was but a small fraction of the entire volume of
thought, but they have always taught that just as there was a field of
mentation _below_ consciousness, so was there a field of mentation
_above_ consciousness as much higher than Intellect as the other was
lower than it. The mere mention of this fact will prove a revelation to
those who have not heard it before, and who have become entangled with
the several "dual-mind" theories of the recent Western writers. The more
one has read on this subject the more he will appreciate the superiority
of the Oriental theory over that of the Western writers. It is like the
chemical which at once clears the clouded liquid in the test-tube.
In our next lesson we shall go into this subject of the above-conscious
planes, and the below-conscious planes, bringing out the distinction
clearly, and adding to what we have said on the subject in previous
books.
And all this is leading us toward the point where we may give you
instruction regarding the training and cultivation--the retraining and
guidance of these out-of-conscious faculties. By retraining the lower
planes of mentation to their proper work, and by stimulating the higher
ones, man may "make himself over." mentally, and may acquire powers of
which he but dreams now. This is why we are leading you up to the
understanding of this subject, step by step. We advise you to acquaint
yourself with each phase of the matter, that you may be able to apply the
teachings and instructions to follow in later lessons of the course.
MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION).
I recognize that my Self is greater than it seems--that above and below
consciousness are planes of mind--that just as there are lower planes of
mind which belong to my past experience in ages past and over which I
must now assert my Mastery--so are there planes of mind into which I am
unfolding gradually, which will bring me wisdom, power, and joy. I Am
Myself, in the midst of this mental wor
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