head of the great spiritual Teacher whose deep and true teachings have been obscured from the minds of many of those who claim His name, by reason of the ignorance of the generations of teachers who have lived since His death, but whose teachings are a living truth to occultists of all races. lands, and outward apparent differences of belief.
Of the Aura of the seventh principle, Spirit, we can say but little, and that little has been handed down to us, by tradition. We are told that it consists of a "pure white" light, something unknown to science. No man among us has ever seen this light and none of us ever will (in this stage of development). The sight of this wonderful effulgence is reserved for beings far higher in the scale than are we, but who were once mortals like unto us, and like whom we shall in due time be. "We are Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be"; but we are on The Path, and Those who have gone before send back cheering !messages to us. After long ages we are going home.
THE FIFTH LESSON.
THOUGHT DYNAMICS.
Had these lessons been written twenty years ago, instead of today, it would have been a most difficult task to have awakened the understanding of the Western public to the importance of the power of thought, its nature, its effects. Twenty years ago but comparatively few people in the Western world knew anything about the subject in question, and, outside of a few occultists, the words of the teacher would have been regarded as the wildest utterances. But, during the time mentioned, the Western world has been slowly educated to at least a partial understanding of the power of thought, and echoes of the great Oriental teachings on this subject have reached the ears of nearly every thinking person in the Western world, this being particularly true of Great Britain and America.
This awakening is in accordance with natural laws, and is a part of the evolution of the race. It is true that much of the teaching has come from persons who have had but a partial awakening to the truth, and consequently the teachings have been more or less crude and imperfect and more or less colored by the personal theories and speculations of the various teachers who have been writing and speaking upon the subject. The average Western student, who has been interested in the various movements which may be roughly grouped together under the style of "The New Thought," has been more or less confused by the apparently conflicting theories and teachings which have resulted from the various speculations and theories of the numerous teachers who have sprung up, grown, and in many cases afterward "gone to seed." But a careful analysis will show that underlying all of the teachings are certain fundamental facts which the awakened mind grasps as truth. All of these teachers have done good work, and, in fact, the teachings of each have reached certain minds which needed the particular thing taught by the particular teacher, and which teaching was the very best possible, considering the particular stage of development of the student. Many students have obtained much good from certain teachers, and have then grown beyond the teacher and his teaching, and have in turn become teachers themselves, giving forth to others the truth as it came to them, more or less colored by their own personality.
The careful student who has taken the trouble to run down to fundamental principles the teachings of these new schools of thought, will have discovered that they all rest upon the Oriental teachings which reach back beyond written history, and which have been the common property of occultists of all ages and races. This "New Thought" is really the oldest thought, but the modern presentation of it comes as a new thing to those who hear it today, and the new movement is entitled to full credit for its work, and the advanced occultist knows that the fundamental truth lying underneath all of these conflicting theories will be gradually uncovered and brought to light, the speculations and pet theories of the various teachers being thrown aside.
The majority of those who read this lesson will have heard something of this subject of the power of thought, and will have doubtless had many experiences of its effect. So this lesson may come as an old story to nearly all of the members of the Class, but we will endeavor to give a brief, plain outline of the Yogi teachings upon the subject, which may help to reconcile some of the apparently conflicting theories which have been previously considered.
We shall not attempt to explain what thought is - that is too complicated a subject for elementary lessons. But we will begin by explaining some of its properties, laws, and effects. We avoid the theory for the time being, and get down to the "practical" side of the question.
You will remember what we said in our last lesson about the Aura. We explained that the Aura was projected into space by the several principles of man, just as is the light of the sun, the heat of a stove, the odor of a flower, etc. Each of these sources throws off vibrations, which we call light, heat, or odor, respectively. In one sense these emanations are minute particles of the thing which throws them off. In this connection we must also remember that the thing throwing off the emanations may be afterward withdrawn, but the emanations still remain for a greater or lesser time. For instance, astronomy teaches that a distant star may be destroyed, and yet the light rays thrown off from it will continue on their journey, and may soon be seen by us of the Earth years and years after the star itself has been destroyed - in fact, what we really see at any time are the rays of the star which left it many years before, the time, of course, depending upon the distance of the star from the earth. In the same way a fire in a stove may be extinguished, and yet the heat will remain in the room for a long time afterward. Likewise, a small particle of musk may be exposed in a room and then removed, and yet the odor will be perceptible for a long time. In the same way thoughts may be in active existence which have been sent out years before by some person, whose entire mental character may have changed or who, in fact, may have passed out of the body long since. Places and localities are often permeated by the thought of persons who formerly lived there, who have moved away or died many years ago. The mind is continually throwing off emanations, which may be seen as the Aura extending a few feet from the person, and which usually becomes thinner and less easily perceived as it extends away from the sender. We are constantly sending forth thought waves (to use a favorite term) , and these waves, after the initial force of projection is expended, float along like clouds, mixing with other thought waves of the same character, and extending often to far distant parts of the earth. Some of the thought emanations remain around the place from which they were sent forth, and unless disturbed by strong thoughts of a contrary nature will remain but slightly changed for many years. Other thoughts sent forth with a definite purpose or under a strong desire, emotion, or passion, will go forth rapidly toward the object to which they are directed. We shall see instances of this as we proceed with this lesson.
The majority of persons put very little force into their thought; in fact, thinking with them becomes almost a mechanical process, and consequently their thought - waves have very little motion imparted to them and do not travel very far, unless drawn by some other person of similar thought who attracts them to him. (We are merely stating general principles as we go along, repeating them when necessary, so that the student will gradually absorb the idea. We consider this conversational method the most effective form of teaching - far more so than the usual "cut and dried" form.)
We wish the student to particularly understand that when we say "Thoughts are Things," we are not using the words in a figurative sense or in a fanciful way, but that we are expressing a literal truth. We mean that thought is as much a "thing" as is light, heat, electricity,. or similar forms of manifestations. Thought can be seen by the psychic sight; can be felt by the sensitive; and, if the proper instruments were in existence, could be weighed. Thought, after being sent forth, is of a cloudy appearance, bearing the color belonging to it, as de scribed in our lesson on the Aura. It is like a thin vapor (the degree of density varying) , and is just as real as the air around us or the vapor of steam or the numerous gases with which we are acquainted. And it has power, just as have all of these forms of vapor which we have just mentioned.
In this place let us mention that when a thought is sent forth with strength, it usually carries with it a certain amount of Prana, which gives it additional power and strength, and often produces startling effects. The Prana practically "vitalizes" it in some cases, and makes of it almost a living force. We will have more to say on this point a little later on.
So,