4. Diseases and Problems of Disciples and Mystics - Part 2

the interior life of the man becomes a whirlpool of conflicting energies with disastrous effects upon the intestinal tract, upon the liver and upon the other organs found below the diaphragm.  The mystic, as is well known, is often dyspeptic and this is not always caused by wrong eating and wrong physical habits.  It is brought about in many cases by the processes of transference which are going on.

One of the difficulties which tend also to increase the strain is the inability of the average mystic to divorce his mind from his physical condition.  Energy inevitably follows thought and where a distressed area is found, there the mind seems to throw all its attention, with the result that the situation is not bettered but surely and steadily made worse.  The best mental rule of all mystics should be to keep the mind definitely above and away from the region where the transference is going on, except in those cases where esoteric methods are being employed to force the process, to hasten and facilitate the processes of elevation.  Then (under right direction and guidance plus a knowledge of the rules) the mystic can work with the centre in the spine which is concerned.  This academic technique, I will endeavor to indicate in a later Instruction, but I want first of all to deal with the psychic difficulties of the mystic, for both the psychic and physical difficulties arise from the same basic cause and can be offset and controlled by the same correct occult and psychological knowledge.

The ills with which we are dealing are, therefore, the result of a large number of causes and it might be of service if I [547] listed them here, reminding you that the centres up the spinal column and in the head govern definite areas in the body.  These are affected and controlled by the centres and it is in these regions that one must look for indications of trouble.

Speaking generally, diseases fall into five major categories and it is only with the last of them that we are here occupied.  These five groupings of disease are:

1. Hereditary diseases:

a. Inherent in the planet itself and having a definite effect upon humanity, through contact with the soil and water.

b. Developed during past ages in mankind itself and handed on from generation to generation.

c. Characteristic of some particular family and inherited by the member of this family as part of his chosen karma.  Souls come into certain families because of this opportunity.

2. Diseases invoked by tendencies in the man himself.  These are governed by his astrological sign—either his sun sign or his rising sign and will be considered later.

3. Contagious diseases (epidemic or endemic) which are of group origin and involve the man as a part of his group karma, but are quite frequently unrelated to his personal karma.

4. Acquired diseases and accidents which are the result of injudicious action or unwise habits in this life and definitely condition his future karma.  One interesting point in connection with accidents might here be made.  Accidents are frequently caused by what might be regarded as "explosions of force".  These are generated by a man or by a group of human beings through hatred or [548] jealousy or vindictiveness, which qualities react or are "turned back" upon the individual life like a boomerang.

5. The diseases of mystics with which we are at this time concerned.  Speaking generally, these are caused by the energy of an awakened and active lower centre being transferred into a higher one.  This is done in three stages and each stage brings its own physiological difficulties:

a. The stage wherein the energy of the lower centre becomes intensely active prior to rising upward.  This will produce over-activity of the organs in the physical area governed by the centre, with consequent congestion, inflammation, and usually disease.

b. The stage wherein the "processes of elevation" are taking place, producing intense activity in the higher centre and a lessening of activity in the lower.  A fluid period intervenes in which the forces swing back and forth between the two centres, accounting for the uneven life of the mystic in the earlier stages of his unfoldment.  This is particularly the case in connection with the solar plexus.  The energy is rejected at first by the higher centre and is then re-absorbed into the lower only to be elevated again and again until the higher centre can absorb and transmute it.

c. The stage wherein the energy is raised definitely into the higher centre.  This leads to a difficult period of adjustment and of tension, again producing physical ills but, this time, in the area controlled by the higher centre.

When, for instance, the sacral energy is raised to the solar plexus, there will be found many ailments involving, as noted before, the intestinal tract.  When the energy of the lesser centres which are found below the diaphragm (but not up the [549] spine) are raised to the solar plexus centre, trouble involving the gall bladder and the kidneys will often be found.  Occultly speaking, any process of elevation or of "raising up" automatically involves death.  This death affects the atoms in the organs involved and causes the preliminary stages of ill-health, disease and disruption, because death is nothing but a disruption and a removal of energy.  When the science of the transference of energy from a lower centre to a higher is understood, then light will be thrown upon the entire problem of dying and the true Science of Death will come into being, liberating the race from fear.

Students would do well at this stage to pause and consider the following points with care:

1. Which are the areas controlled by the five centres up the spine and the two centres in the head.

2. The three major points of transference:—the solar plexus, the throat centre and the ajna centre in the head.  The heart centre and the highest head centre, as points of transference, only concern the initiate.

3. The fluidic and changeable condition produced by the processes of awakening, transference and the focussing of the energy in the higher centre.  These three major activities are conditioned by the intermediate stages of:

a. The active radiation of the lower centre.

b. The responsiveness of the lower centre to the magnetic pull of the higher.

c. The succeeding interplay between the higher and the lower centres, conditioned at first by a rhythmic repulsion and attraction.  This is a reflection of the play of the dualities in the career of the human being.

d. This is followed by a concentration of the lower energy in the higher centre.

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e. Then comes the control of the lower centre or centres by the higher focal points of energy and their rhythmic interplay.

Between all these different stages come "points of crisis" of greater or lesser moment.  This intense interior activity which is going on all the time in the subjective life of humanity produces both good and bad effects, and psychological as well as physiological reactions.  Today, the mass transference of the forces of the sacral centre into that of the solar plexus is responsible for many of the modern and physical disabilities of the race.  Because also of the slow removal on a racial scale of the sacral force to the solar plexus there is eventuating a condition which is called sometimes "race suicide", necessitating the efforts of many of the different governments to offset the rapidly falling birth rate in their countries.

The above summation of the threefold activity which is going on in the human body all the time will give some idea of the strain under which the individual man labours, and will account, therefore, for much of the discomfort and disease found in those areas in the human body which are governed and controlled by a particular centre.  I would like to add the following points to the information given above:

1. The intense activity of the sacral centre will often produce diseases and physiological abnormalities, connected with the organs of reproduction (both male and female).  These difficulties are of two kinds:

a. Those to which normal humanity is prone and which are well known to the physician, surgeon and psychologist.

b. Those which are the result of over-stimulation, through the successful effort of the mystic to bring in energy [551] from the higher centres and from sources outside the human frame altogether.

2. In all cases of transference, the intense activity produced will cause all kinds of tensions and reactions, resulting in congestions, inflammations and diseases of the organs vitalised.  This is particularly the case today in relation to the sacral and solar plexus centres.  The glands—major and minor, endocrine and lymphatic—in the abdominal area are powerfully affected and through their hyper-sensitivity or their "deficiency through abstraction" (as it is esoterically called) they constitute a fruitful source of difficulty.

3. The activity of the solar plexus centre at this time, which is a result of this transference, produces the abnormal tension which characterises the race.  This tension, with the average man, controls the intestinal tract and its connections, both above and below the diaphragm.  With the advanced man, it produces tension in the higher centres, definitely affecting the heart and the vagus nerve.  It should be pointed out that many of the diseases inherent in the racial form to which planetary disease predisposes the human being are brought into activity as the result of the stimulation of the solar plexus.  As humanity becomes less astral in its consciousness and the solar plexus, therefore, becomes less active and less dominating, these forms of difficulty will die out.  As the heart centres and the higher centres assume control, such diseases as cancer, tuberculosis and the various syphilitic complaints (due to the age old activity of the sacral centre) will gradually die out.

4. The activity of the heart centre as it

a. Magnetically attracts the energies out of the solar plexus,

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b. Becomes involved in a reciprocal interplay with the solar plexus,

is a fruitful source of nervous trouble to the mystic and advanced aspirant.  The heart centre powerfully affects the vagus nerve and the autonomic nervous system with all that that involves and we are only today beginning to understand and deal with these difficulties.  Clarification will come once the premise of the existence of the centres and their three "activities of interplay" are admitted—even if only as a possible hypothesis.  The little understood thymus gland holds the key to much that concerns the activity and control of the vagus nerve—a fact not yet generally recognised.  Later, a carefully controlled process with the object of stimulating the thymus gland and its secretion will be worked out by the medical profession, leading to a much better functioning of the nervous system and of the vagus nerve which controls it.  I can but hint at possibilities at present because the basic premise of the existence of the centres of force is not yet recognised.  It is interesting to note, however, that the solar plexus (as a great nerve centre) is recognised and this is due to the fact that the bulk of humanity is, at this time, transferring force to that centre.  It is, for the masses, the major recipient of forces, both from below the diaphragm, from above, and from the environment.

5. The activity of the throat centre is steadily increasing today, owing to the creative activity and the inventive genius (which brings in the higher stimulation) and the idealistic conceptions of the intelligentsia of the world.  This activity is responsible physiologically for many of the diseases of the respiratory tract.  Energy is carried to the throat but is not adequately used and there is a consequent [553] congestion and similar consequences.  But, curiously enough, a great many of the difficulties connected with the entire breathing apparatus are related to group conditions.  These I will touch upon later.  Today, the concentration of energy is producing serious effects upon that master gland, the thyroid gland.  These effects disturb the balance of the physical body and involve also the parathyroid glands.  The metabolism of the body is upset bringing attendant difficulties.  The race is advancing so rapidly in its development that this centre will soon compete with the solar plexus centre for the position of being the most important centre and the major clearing house in the human body.  I would commend this statement to your careful consideration for it carries with it much of encouragement.  It indicates, nevertheless, much physiological change and many problems and above everything else much psychological difficulty.

6. The activity of the ajna centre will increase a great deal during the coming century, bringing with it its own attendant problems.  Its close relation to the pituitary body and the growing interplay between

a. The ajna centre and the pituitary body

b. The centre at the top of the head (involving the pineal gland) and the ajna centre

will produce serious problems connected with the brain and the eyes.  The ajna centre focusses the abstracted energy of the five centres up the spine and is the seat of personality power.  According to the use made of that power and according to the direction of the force sent forth throughout the body by the directed, integrated personality, so will the organs of the body be affected.  The solar plexus can be stimulated from that centre with [554] disastrous effects; the heart centre can be swept into undue activity by the imposition of personality force, and its energy deflected downwards in a focussed selfish manner; the solar plexus can be so over-vitalised that all the forces of the personality can be turned downwards and subverted to purely selfish and separative ends, thus producing a powerful personality, but—at the same time—the temporary suspension of the spiritual life of the man.  When this suspension takes place, all the forces of the body which have been "elevated" are driven downwards again, putting the man en rapport with the rank and file of humanity who are working through the lower centres; this tends to produce an immense personality success.  It is interesting to note that when this takes place, the energies—concentrated in the ajna centre—sweep down into the solar plexus or into the sacral centre, and seldom to the heart centre.  The heart centre has a power all its own to produce what is called "occult isolation", because it is the seat of the life principle.  The throat centre receives stimulation in this case but seldom to the point of difficulty.  The man is a powerful creative thinker, selfishly polarised and with an emotional solar plexus contact with the masses.  He frequently also has a strong sexual complex in some form or another.

7. The activity of the head centre is as yet little known and there is little that I can profitably say about it, for I would not be credited with speaking the truth.  This centre is the central factor in human life, but the focalisation of the lower and the higher bodily forces is not yet located there.  Beyond producing hyper-tension (becoming so prevalent today among the more advanced people of the world) and certain forms of brain trouble and nervous disorders, its power is mostly seen in its pronounced [555] psychological effects.  With these I shall proceed to deal as we consider the unfoldment of the psychic powers, the evolution of the mystical vision and the revelation of the light and of power.  This centre controls the pineal gland and consequently certain areas of the brain.  Indirectly also, the vagus nerve is affected.  Consciousness and life, sensitivity and directed purpose are the great energies which express themselves through this centre, for consciousness is a form of energy, as well you know, and life is energy itself.

b. UNFOLDMENT OF THE PSYCHIC POWERS

The forces which are responsible for the awakening of the centres are many.  The primary one is the force of evolution itself, plus the inherent or innate forward-pressing urge towards greater inclusiveness which is always found in every individual being.  This secondary aspect of the evolutionary principle needs careful elaborating.  We have for too long been occupied with the effort to develop the form side of nature so that it shall become increasingly sensitive to its environment and thus build an ever improving mechanism.  But the twofold idea (should I say Fact, for such it is?) of the development of an increasing capacity to include and the fact of the existence of the one interior factor, the Self, which brings about this steady development, needs emphasising.  From the standpoint of the occult student, there are three ideas which lie behind this belief:

1. The fact of the Indweller, the Entity within the form who looks on at life as it unfolds, who develops awareness of the environment and who becomes inclusive—eventually to the point of synthesis.

2. The fact of the inherent ability (found in all forms of life [556] in all kingdoms) to progress towards this greater inclusiveness, passing from kingdom to kingdom in this unfolding process.

3. The fact that humanity constitutes a central point from which this inclusiveness can be consciously developed.  Hitherto, the development has been natural, normal and part of the evolutionary urge.  This it still remains, but the process can be hastened (and frequently is) as man gains control of his mental processes and begins to work (as the conscious Indweller) towards appointed ends.

I wanted to make these points adequately clear because they have a definite bearing on our theme which concerns the psychic difficulties of modern man.  These difficulties are rapidly growing and are causing much distress among those who believe that the development of the lower psychic powers is a hindrance to true spiritual development.  Certain mystics regard these powers as indications of divine grace, however, and as guarantees of the reality of their endeavour.  Others regard them as signifying a definite "fall from grace".  It seems to me, therefore, that an analysis of these powers, their correct placing upon the path of development, and a comprehension of the distinction between the higher and the lower powers will be of real value and will enable students in the future to proceed with a greater surety and knowledge.  They will thus be more accurately sure of the nature of the contacts of which they become aware and of the means whereby these contacts are approached and gained.

The major idea which I would have you bear in mind is the development of Inclusiveness.  This inclusiveness is the outstanding characteristic of the soul, or self, whether it is the soul of man, the sensitive nature of the cosmic Christ, or the anima mundi, the soul of the world.  This inclusiveness tends [557] to synthesis.  It can already be seen functioning at a definite point of fulfillment in man, because man includes in his nature all the gains of past evolutionary cycles (in other kingdoms in nature and in previous human cycles), plus the potentiality of a greater future inclusiveness.  Man is the macrocosm of the microcosm; the gains and peculiar properties of the other kingdoms in nature are his, having been resolved into capacities of consciousness.  He is, however, enveloped in and part of a still greater macrocosm, and of this greater whole he must become increasingly aware.  Let this word, Inclusiveness, govern your thinking as you read this instruction which I am giving you upon the psychic powers and their effect.

The next idea to which I would call your attention is that the human being has the power to be inclusive in many directions, just as a line can be drawn from the point at the centre of the circle to any point upon the periphery.  You must remember that for a large part of his career and for the most important part of his human experience, he remains the dramatic actor, holding the centre of the stage and in his own eyes playing the star part; he is always conscious of his acting and of the reactions to that acting.  When man was little more than an animal, when he was in the state which we have earlier called the Lemurian consciousness and the early Atlantean consciousness, he lived unthinkingly; life unrolled like a panorama before his eyes; he identified himself with the episodes depicted and knew no difference between himself and that which he seemed to be in the unfolding picture.  He simply looked on, played his little part, ate, reproduced, reacted to pleasure and to pain, and seldom, if ever, thought or reflected.

Then comes the period, familiar to all of us, wherein the man becomes the dramatic center of his universe—living, loving, planning, acting, conscious of his audience and his surroundings, [558] and demonstrating to his fullest capacity the later Atlantean and present Aryan characteristics.  He is intelligently aware of his power and of a few of his powers; he is a functioning personality and (because the mind is controlling or beginning to control) the lower animal powers and the Atlantean psychism which have distinguished him begin to fade out.  He loses these lower powers and has not yet developed the higher ones.  Hence the reaction to be seen on every hand today to such powers as clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc.; hence their wholesale condemnation as fraudulent by the intelligentsia of the world.

Next comes the mystical stage wherein the advanced human being, the aspirant and the disciple becomes steadily aware of another realm of nature to conquer, the realm of the Kingdom of God, with its own life and phenomena; he registers the existence of other powers which he can develop and use if he so desires and is willing to pay the price; he recognises another and wider sphere of being which he can include in his own consciousness if he permits himself to be conquered by it.

The inference then is that there are two sets of powers latent in his human equipment—the lower one being recoverable if he deem it desirable, the other and higher one to be developed.  These two sets of powers are:

1. The ancient powers and faculties which humanity developed and possessed in past ages and which he drove into the background of his consciousness and below the threshold of his current awareness in order to develop the mind and thus become himself a conqueror and a personality.

2. The higher powers and faculties which are the prerogative of the conscious soul.  These are the greater powers to which the Christ referred when He promised His [559] disciples that some day they would do greater things than He had done.

It should be remembered, however, that all the psychic powers are the powers, faculties and capacities of the One Soul but that, in time and space, some of them are expressions of the animal consciousness or the animal soul, some of the human soul, and some of the divine soul.

The following tabulation of the developing psychic powers as they blend in consciousness three kingdoms in nature may be of service at this point if careful study is made of the inferred relationships:

Extracts from "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" pp. 188-200

No. 1

Microcosmic Sensory Evolution