CLAIRVOYANCE AND OCCULT POWERS/PART 8
LESSON VIII.
CLAIRVOYANT REVERIE.
In
the preceding two chapters, I have asked you to consider the first two methods
of inducing the clairvoyant phenomena, namely, Psychometry, and Crystal-Gazing,
respectively. In these cases you have seen how the clairvoyant gets en rapport
with the astral plane by means of physical objects, in the case of psychometric
clairvoyance; or by means of a shining object, in the case of crystal gazing.
Let us now consider the third method of inducing the clairvoyant condition or
state, i.e., by means of what may be called Clairvoyant Reverie, in which the
clairvoyant gets en rapport with the astral plane by means of psychic states in
which the sights, sounds and thoughts of the material and physical plane are
shut out of consciousness.
The
student of the general subject of clairvoyance will soon be impressed with two
facts concerning the production of clairvoyant phenomena, namely, (1) that in
the majority of the recorded cases of the investigators the clairvoyant
phenomena were obtained when the clairvoyant was in the state of sleep, or at
least semi-sleep or drowsiness, the visioning appearing more or less like a
vivid dream; and (2) that in the case of the clairvoyant voluntarily entering
en rapport with the astral plane, he or she would enter into what seemed to be
a kind of trance condition, in some cases an absolute unconsciousness of the
outside world being manifested. The student, noting these facts, is apt to
arrive at the conclusion that all clairvoyance is accompanied by the condition
of sleep, or trance, and that no clairvoyant phenomena are possible unless this
psychic condition is first obtained. But this is only a half-truth as we shall
see in a moment.
In
the first place, the student arriving at this conclusion seems to have ignored
the fact that the phenomena of psychometry and crystal gazing, respectively,
are as true instances of clairvoyance as are those which are manifested in the
sleep or trance condition. It is true that some psychometrists produce
phenomena when they are in a state of psychic quiescence, but, on the other
hand, many clairvoyant psychometrists merely concentrate the attention on the
object before them, and remain perfectly wide-awake and conscious on the
physical plane. Likewise, the average crystal gazer remains perfectly wide-awake
and conscious on the physical plane. When the student takes these facts into
consideration, he begins to see that the trance condition, and similar psychic
states, are simply particular methods of inducing the en rapport condition for
the clairvoyant, and are not inseparably bound up with the phenomena of
clairvoyance.
As
the student progresses, moreover, he will see that even in the case of
Clairvoyant Reverie, the third method of inducing the astral en rapport
condition, the clairvoyant does not always lose consciousness. In the case of
many advanced and exceptionally well-developed clairvoyants, no trance or sleep
condition is induced. In such cases the clairvoyant merely "shuts
out" the outside world of sights, sounds and thoughts, by an effort of trained
will, and then concentrates steadily on the phenomena of the astral plane. For
that matter, the skilled and advanced occultist is able to function on the
astral plane by simply shifting his consciousness from one plane to another, as
the typist shifts from the small letters of the keyboard to the capital
letters, by a mere pressure on the shift-key of the typewriter.
The
only reason that many clairvoyants manifesting along the lines of the third
method, known as "clairvoyant reverie," fall into the trance or sleep
condition, is that they have not as yet acquired the rare art of controlling
their conscious attention at will—this is something that requires great
practice. They find it easier to drop into the condition of semi-trance, or
semi-sleep, than it is to deliberately shut out the outer world by an act of
pure will. Moreover, you will find that in the majority of the recorded cases
of the investigators, the clairvoyance was more or less spontaneous on the part
of the clairvoyant person, and was not produced by an act of will. As we
proceed to consider the various forms and phases of clairvoyant phenomena, in
these lessons, you will notice this fact. There are but few recorded cases of
voluntary clairvoyance in the books of the investigators—the skilled
clairvoyants, and more particularly the advanced occultists, avoid the
investigators rather than seek them; they have no desire to be reported as
"typical cases" of interesting psychic phenomena—they leave that to
the amateurs, and those to whom the phenomena come as a wonderful revelation
akin to a miracle. This accounts for the apparent predominance of this form of
clairvoyance—the secret is that the net of the investigators has caught only a
certain kind of psychic fish, while the others escape attention.
All
this would be of no practical importance, however, were it not for the fact
that the average student is so impressed by the fact that he must learn to
induce the trance condition in order to manifest clairvoyant phenomena, that he
does not even think of attempting to do the work otherwise. The power of
auto-suggestion operates here, as you will see by a moment's thought, and
erects an obstacle to his advance along voluntary lines. More than this, this
mistaken idea tends to encourage the student to cultivate the trance condition,
or at least some abnormal psychic condition, by artificial means. I am
positively opposed to the inducing of psychic conditions by artificial means,
for I consider such practices most injurious and harmful for the person using such
methods. Outside of anything else, it tends to render the person negative,
psychically, instead of positive—it tends to make him or her subject to the
psychic influence of others, on both the physical and astral plane, instead of
retaining his or her own self-control and mastery.
The
best authorities among the occultists instruct their pupils that the state of
clairvoyant reverie may be safely and effectively induced by the practice of
mental concentration alone. They advice positively against artificial methods.
A little common sense will show that they are right in this matter. All that is
needed is that the consciousness shall be focused to a point—become "one
pointed" as the Hindu Yogis say. The intelligent practice of concentration
accomplishes this, without the necessity of any artificial methods of
development, or the induction of abnormal psychic states.
If
you will stop a moment and realize how easily you concentrate your attention
when you are witnessing an interesting play, or listening to a beautiful
rendition of some great masterpiece of musical composition, or gazing at some
miracle of art, you will see what I mean. In the cases just mentioned, while
your attention is completely occupied with the interesting thing before you, so
that you have almost completely shut out the outer world of sound, sight and
thought, you are, nevertheless, perfectly wide awake and your consciousness is
alert. The same thing is true when you are reading a very interesting book—the
world is shut out from your consciousness, and you are oblivious to the sights
and sounds around you. At the risk of being considered flippant, I would remind
you of the common spectacle of two lovers so wrapped up in each other's company
that they forget that there is a smiling world of people around them—time and
space are forgotten to the two lovers—to them there is only one world, with but
two persons in it. Again, how often have you fallen into what is known as a
"brown study," or "day dream," in which you have been so
occupied with the thoughts and fancies floating through your mind, that you
forgot all else. Well, then, this will give you a common-sense idea of the
state that the occultists teach may be induced in order to enter into the state
of en rapport with the astral plane—the state in which clairvoyance is
possible. Whether you are seeking clairvoyance by the method of psychometry, or
by crystal gazing, or by clairvoyant reverie—this will give you the key to the
state. It is a perfectly natural state—nothing abnormal about it, you will
notice.
To
some who may think that I am laying too much stress on the undesirability of
artificial methods of inducing the clairvoyant condition, I would say that they
are probably not aware of the erroneous and often harmful teachings on the
subject that are being promulgated by ignorant or misinformed teachers—"a
little learning is a dangerous thing," in many cases. It may surprise some
of my students to learn that some of this class of teachers are instructing
their pupils to practice methods of self-hypnosis by gazing steadily at a
bright object until they fall unconscious; or by gazing "cross eyed"
at the tip of the nose, or at an object held between the two eyebrows. These
are familiar methods of certain schools of hypnotism, and result in producing a
state of artificial hypnosis, more or less deep. Such a state is most
undesirable, not only by reason of its immediate effects, but also by reason of
the fact that it often results in a condition of abnormal sensitiveness to the
will of others, or even to the thoughts and feelings of others, on both the
astral and the physical planes of life. I emphatically warn my students against
any such practices, or anything resembling them.
While
I dislike to dwell on the subject, I feel that I should call the attention of
my students to the fact that certain teachers seek to produce the abnormal
psychic condition by means of exhausting breathing exercises, which make the
person dizzy and sleepy. This is all wrong. While rhythmic breathing exercises
have a certain value in psychic phenomena, and are harmless when properly
practiced, nevertheless such practices as those to which I have alluded are
harmful to the nervous system of the person, and also tend to induce
undesirable psychic conditions. Again, some teachers have sought to have their
students hold their breath for comparatively long periods of time in order to
bring about abnormal psychic states. The slightest knowledge of physiology
informs one that such a practice must be harmful; it causes the blood to become
thick and impure, and deficient in oxygen. It certainly will produce a kind of
drowsiness, for the same reason that impure air in a room will do the same
thing—in both cases the blood stream is poisoned and made impure. The purpose
of rational and normal breathing is to obviate just this thing—so these
teachers are reversing a natural law of the body, in order to produce an
abnormal psychic state. With all the energy in me, I caution you against this
kind of thing.
Along
the same line, I protest and warn you against the practices advised by certain
teachers of "psychic development," who seek to have their pupils
induce abnormal physical and psychic conditions by means of drugs, odor of
certain chemicals, gases, etc. Such practices, as all true occultists know,
belong to the clans of the Black Magicians, or devil worshippers, of the savage
races—they have no place in true occult teachings. Common sense alone should
warn persons away from such things—but it seems to fail some of them. I assert
without fear of intelligent contradiction, that no true occultist ever
countenances any such practices as these.
All
the true teachers are vigorous in their denunciation of such false teachings
and harmful practices. In this same category, I place the methods which are
taught by certain persons, namely, that of inducing abnormal physical and
psychic condition of giddiness and haziness by means of "whirling"
around in a circle until one drops from giddiness, or until one "feels
queer in the head." This is a revival of the practices of certain fanatics
in Persia and India, who perform it as a religious rite until they fall into
what they consider a "holy sleep," but which is nothing more than an
abnormal and unhealthful physical and psychic condition. Such practices are a
downward step, not an upward one. It seems a pity that the necessity has arisen
for such warnings as these—but my duty, as I see it, is very plain. To all who
are tempted to "develop" in this way, I say, positively,
"DON'T!"
The
scientific, rational way to develop the astral senses is to first acquire the
art of concentrating. Bear in mind that in concentration the person, while
shutting out the impressions of the outside world in general, nevertheless
focuses and concentrates his attention upon the one matter before him. This is
quite a different thing from making oneself sensitive to every current of
thought and feeling that may be in the psychic atmosphere. True concentration
renders one positive, while the other methods render one negative. Contrary to
the common opinion, psychic concentration is a positive state, not a
negative—an active state, not a passive one. The person who is able to
concentrate strongly is a master, while one who opens himself to
"control," either physical or astral, is more or less of a slave to
other minds.
The
student who will begin by experimenting along the lines of contact
mind-reading, and who then advances along the lines of true telepathy, as
explained in the earlier chapters of this book, will have made a good start, and
considerable progress, along the road to clairvoyant development. The rest will
be largely a matter of exercise and practice. He will be aided by practicing
concentration along the general lines of the best occult teaching. Such
practice may consist of concentration upon almost any physical object, keeping
the thing well before the mind and attention. Do not tire the attention by
practicing too long at one time. The following general rules will help you in
developing concentration:
(1)
The attention attaches more readily to interesting rather than uninteresting
things. Therefore, select some interesting thing to study and analyze by
concentrated thought.
(2)
The attention will decline in strength unless there is a variation in the
stimulus. Therefore, keep up the power of concentration by either changing the
object you are observing; or else by discovering some new properties, qualities
or attributes in it.
(3)
The things you wish to shut out of consciousness can best be shut out by your
concentration upon some other thing—the attention can dwell only upon one thing
at a time, if focused upon that one thing.
(4)
The power of applying your attention, steady and undissipated, to a single
object, is a mark of strong will and superior mental discipline—weak-minds
cannot do this. Therefore, in cultivating concentrated attention you are really
strengthening your mind and will.
(5)
To develop concentrated attention, you must learn to analyze, analyze, and
analyze the thing upon which you are bestowing concentrated attention.
Therefore, proceed by selecting an object and analyzing it by concentrated
attention, taking one part after another, one by one, until you have analyzed
and mastered the whole object. Give it the same attention that the lover gives
his loved one; the musician his favorite composition; the artist his favorite
work of art; and the booklover his favorite book—when you have accomplished
this, you have mastered concentration, and will be able to apply the mind
"one pointed" upon anything you wish, physical or astral; and,
consequently will have no trouble in shutting-out disturbing impressions.
(6)
Learn to concentrate on the physical plane, and you will be able to concentrate
on the astral plane as well. By the one who has mastered concentration, trances
and abnormal psychic states will not be needed. The needle-pointed mind is able
to pierce the astral veil at will, while the blunt-pointed mind is resisted and
defeated by the astral envelope, which while thin is very tough and unyielding.
A
well-known authority on psychic development has well said: "Occasional
flashes of clairvoyance sometimes come to the highly cultured and
spiritual-minded man, even though he may never have heard of the possibility of
training such a faculty. In his case such glimpses usually signify that he is
approaching that stage in his evolution when these powers will naturally begin
to manifest themselves. Their appearance should serve as an additional stimulus
to him to strive to maintain that high standard of moral purity and mental
balance without which clairvoyance is a curse and not a blessing to its
possessor. Between those who are entirely unimpressionable and those who are in
full possession of clairvoyant power, there are many intermediate stages.
Students often ask how this clairvoyant faculty will first be manifested in
themselves—how they may know when they have reached the stage at which its
first faint foreshadowings are beginning to be visible. Cases differ so widely
that it is impossible to give to this question any answer that will be
universally applicable.
"Some
people begin by a plunge, as it were, and under some unusual stimulus become
able just for once to see some striking vision; and very often in such a case,
because the experience does not repeat itself, the seer comes in time to
believe that on that occasion he must have been the victim of hallucination.
Others begin by becoming intermittently conscious of the brilliant colors and
vibrations of the human aura; yet others find themselves with increasing frequency
seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf;
others, again, see faces, landscapes, or colored clouds floating before their
eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while perhaps the commonest
experience of all is that of those who begin to recollect with greater and
greater clearness what they have seen and heard on other planes during
sleep."
The
authority in question gives the following excellent advice regarding the
subject of the development of clairvoyant power and astral visioning: "Now
the fact is that there are many methods by which it may be developed, but only
one which can be at all safely recommended for general use—that of which we
shall speak last of all. Among the less advanced nations of the world the clairvoyant
state has been produced in various objectionable ways; among some of the
non-Aryan tribes of India, by the use of intoxicating drugs or the inhaling of
stupefying fumes; among the dervishes, by whirling in a mad dance of religious
fervor until vertigo and insensibility supervene; among the followers of the
abominable practices of the Voodoo cult, by frightful sacrifices and loathsome
rites of black magic. Methods such as these are happily not in vogue in our own
race, yet even among us large numbers of dabblers in this ancient art adopt
some plan of self-hypnotization, such as gazing at a bright spot, or the
repetition of some formula until a condition of semi-stupefaction is produced;
while yet another school among them would endeavor to arrive at similar results
by the use of some of the Indian systems of regulation of the breath. All these
methods are unequivocally to be condemned as quite unsafe for the practice of
the ordinary man who has no idea of what he is doing—who is simply making vague
experiments in an unknown world. Even the method of obtaining clairvoyance by
allowing oneself to be mesmerized by another person is one from which I should
myself shrink with the most decided distaste; and assuredly it should never be
attempted except under conditions of absolute trust and affection between the
magnetizer and the magnetized, and a perfection of purity in heart and soul, in
mind and intention, such as is rarely to be seen among any but the greatest of
saints.
"Yet
there is one practice which is advised by all religions alike—which if adopted
carefully and reverently can do no harm to any human being, yet from which a
very pure type of clairvoyance has sometimes been developed; and that is the
practice of meditation. Let a man choose a certain time every day—a time when
he can rely upon being quiet and undisturbed, though preferably in the daytime
rather than at night—and set himself at that time to keep his mind for a few
minutes entirely free from all earthly thoughts of any kind whatever, and, when
that is achieved, to direct the whole force of his being towards the highest
ideal that he happens to know. He will find that to gain such perfect control
of thought is enormously more difficult than he supposes, but when he attains
it it cannot but be in every way most beneficial to him, and as he grows more
and more able to elevate and concentrate his thought, he may gradually find
that new worlds are opening before his sight. As a preliminary training towards
the satisfactory achievement of such meditation, he will find it desirable to
make a practice of concentration in the affairs of daily life—even in the
smallest of them. If he writes a letter, let him think of nothing else but that
letter until it is finished; if he reads a book, let him see to it that his
thought is never allowed to wander from his author's meaning. He must learn to
hold his mind in check, and to be master of that also, as well as of his lower
passions; he must patiently labor to acquire absolute control of his thoughts,
so that he will always know exactly what he is thinking about, and why—so that
he can use his mind, and turn it or hold it still, as a practiced swordsman
turns his weapon where he will."
I
have given the above full quotation from this authority, not merely because
that from another angle he states the same general principles as do I; but also
because his personal experience in actual clairvoyant phenomena is so extended
and varied that any word from him on the subject of the development of
clairvoyant power must have a value of its own. While I differ from this
authority on some points of detail of theory and practice, nevertheless I
gladly testify to the soundness of his views as above quoted, and pass them on
to my students for careful consideration and attention. The student will do
well to heed what he has to say, and to combine such opinion with what I have
uttered in the earlier part of this chapter—there will be found a close
agreement in principle and practice.
And,
now let us pass on to a consideration of the various forms and phases of the
clairvoyant phenomena itself. The subject is fascinating, and I am sure that
you will enjoy this little excursion into the strange realm of thought
regarding the astral phenomena of clairvoyance. But, be sure to master each
lesson before proceeding to the rest, as otherwise you will have to turn back
the leaves of the course in order to pick up some point of teaching that you
have neglected.
NEXT CHAPTER
Comments
Post a Comment