1) the "not I"
thing, and (2) the "I" who is regarding the "not I" thing just as the "I"
regards a lump of sugar, or a mountain. Do you see what we mean? Keep at
it until you do.
Next, consider some of the emotions, such as anger; hate; love, in its
ordinary forms; jealousy; ambition; and the hundred and one other
emotions that sweep through our brains. You will find that you are able
to set each one of these emotions or feelings aside and study it; dissect
it; analyze it; consider it. You will be able to understand the rise,
progress and end of each of these feelings, as they have come to you, and
as you recall them in your memory or imagination, just as readily as you
would were you observing their occurrence in the mind of a friend. You
will find them all stored away in some parts of your mental make-up, and
you may (to use a modern American slang phrase) "make them trot before
you, and show their paces." Don't you see that they are not "You"--that
they are merely something that you carry around with you in a mental bag.
You can imagine yourself as living without them, and still being "I," can
you not?
And the very fact that you are able to set them aside and examine and
consider them is a proof that they are "not I" things--for there are two
things in the matter (1) _You_ who are examining and considering them,
and (2) the thing itself which is the _object_ of the examination and
consideration at mental arm's length. So into the "not I" collection go
these emotions, desirable and undesirable. The collection is steadily
growing, and will attain quite formidable proportions after a while.
Now, do not imagine that this is a lesson designed to teach you how to
discard these emotions, although if it enables you to get rid of the
undesirable ones, so much the better. This is not our object, for we bid
you place the desirable (at this time) ones in with the opposite kind,
the idea being to bring you to a realization that the "I" is higher,
above and independent of these mental somethings, and then when you have
realized the nature of the "I," you may return and use (as a Master) the
things that have been using you as a slave. So do not be afraid to throw
these emotions (good and bad) into the "not I" collection. You may go
back to them, and use the good ones, after the Mental Drill is over. No
matter how much you may think that you are bound by any of these
emotions, you will realize, by careful analysis, that it is o
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