Coues E. - The Response

The foregoing letter is a type of many that I receive. It is absolutely sincere; the writer is in earnest, and such sentiments command respect. I undertake, with reluctance, to say a few words in public by way of reply, believing that if I am anywhere near the truth my words may be of use to others than my correspondent.

The process which he describes as an actual and veritable one which has gone on in himself, is, I think, not at all a singular experience. Many persons could tell a similar story, should they bare their hearts with equal unreserve. It is the growth of the “sixth sense”; it is the awakening to consciousness of the sixth principle, which exists only as a rudiment or embryo in most persons, incapable of making its existence known to its possessor till it has grown like a plant from its seed. In those whose “intuitions” are large this germ of wisdom often makes itself felt, and as it gains in strength it gradually dominates the Fifth Principle, or ordinary intellect, making reason quite subservient to the higher faculty, and tending to merge the merely human into the more nearly divine being. The process of growth of the embryo “Buddhi” is not unattended with dangers of its own, threatening both mental and physical integrity unless the tender sprout be firmly rooted in reason, and carefully guarded from passion.

The use of the sixth sense, especially for one who comes into its possession rapidly rather than by a process of very gradual unfoldment or evolution, is against all the world, the flesh, and the devil, and its vigorous self-assertion is likely to react unfavourably upon bodily health and mental peace. There is always some disturbance of the nervous system when voices can be heard and forms can be seen, that have no objective or material counterpart. The nervous shock of the awakening is apt to extend to other bodily functions, and often becomes a case for medical treatment. Therefore, I should say, the first and most imperative need is special attention to the ordinary laws of hygiene, in eating, sleeping, working or recreation.

If a man is to live some years after his psychic faculties have come into operation, it is essential for their proper and useful manifestation on the physical plane to have a good sound body through which they may operate. Not necessarily the most robust, muscular, bone and sinew mechanism, but a thoroughly well organised, pliable and “vivid” apparatus of relation between the soul or astral body and the world or material things. Otherwise a person becomes like a super-heated boiler, or one in which steam is too suddenly generated, and the danger of an explosion is imminent. It is often a question, whether a person in the state in which I judge my unknown correspondent to be, shall go on to safely grow a splendidly effectual astral organism whose faculties shall be adequate to the discernment of the substance of things unseen or whether he shall become prey of the elementals which will infallibly seek to fasten themselves like vampires upon his astral organism. If the former, he becomes a Theosophic adept, a seer of eternal truths, a doer of Divine deeds; if

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the latter, either a practitioner of black magic, should his courage be equal to that, or else a mere wreck on the fatal rocks of so-called “mediumship.”

The most important practical point, next to the care of the bodily health, is concentration of the will. By that I mean a firm, fixed determination, never vacillating, never wavering, never doubting, to know the truth, and to use this knowledge for the good of others, irrespective of consequences to self-hood. This is a positive moral power, without the operation of which on the astral body the latter never acquires real true effectual organisation, capable of withstanding in the end the shock of physical dissolution. For the souls of bad persons, however strong they seem to be here and now, find their strength fictitious and evanescent as soon as they are deprived of physical support, and black magicians are no exception to this rule. They may flicker about in Kama-Loka for a while, especially if they can feed upon the vitality of persons in the flesh whom they succeed in obsessing for the gratification of their unhallowed, unsatisfied desires; but their end is the murky smoke of a snuffed-out candle.

Since the concentration of the will, of which I have spoken, has for its purpose and motive the attainment of true knowledge, or wisdom as distinguished from worldly erudition; and since the soul that is troubled with desire (using that word in its broadest sense) can reflect but distorted images, it follows as a matter of course that the fourth principle or middle nature of man, must be held thoroughly in hand, under the rigid mastery of the reason, or fifth principle, itself a willing instrument in the hands of the still higher principle, the sixth, the “Christ.” And if haply this victory shall be won in the battle-ground of life, the Divine spouse shall seek and find the soul.

Let none hastily suppose I have used figurative language. I have been speaking of actual processes which may go on in the substance of the soul, of the real nature of which it is not permitted me to more than hint. These things may be known; but they are unspeakable. Many know them; but, strangest of all, they are never told. They only need explanation to those for whom they are inexplicable.

First find thyself; then know thyself; then, be thyself. Strange words – meaningless jargon. Nevertheless, “as above, so below”; and the two are not two but one.

Wishing my unknown correspondent a prosperous voyage of discovery among the finer particles of his being, I beg to subscribe myself with respect,

A Psychic Researcher.

Footnotes