CHAPTER XX.
CHARACTER-BUILDING.
Knowledge
gives power. Power controls. Man stands for inner perfection. Our character is
the sum-total of our inner unfoldment. What is unfoldment? I told you in my
paper on Spiritual Unfoldment of the different bodies of Man and how the right
control and culture of each body would enable the light of the Spirit to stream
forth to the objective plane of existence in all its pure radiance. Here is a
beautiful illustration. Take a small but strong, electric light bulb wrapped
around which are many pieces of cloth. Suppose further that the electric light
in the glass bulb is the Spirit shot into the Spiritual Consciousness in and
through which the Spirit can shine out without the least obstruction and with a
minimum of resistance. Remember the Light is the spirit and the glass bulb is
the thin veil of brilliant mind--substance known as the spiritual mind. The
piece of cloth immediately next to the glass bulb is very fine and the light
pierces it through. The piece of cloth next to this one is a little less fine
and receives a little less of the light. Thus each piece of cloth as you go
lower and lower is less fine than the one immediately next above it till at
last you come to the last piece. This cloth-piece is at once the thickest and
the least illumined of all others. You will see that whatever bit of light this
last one has is all it can possibly receive. Compared to this piece, the last
but one is brighter and more desirable and so on from the bottom upwards. As
you take off piece after piece, more and more light comes to you and when you
have stripped off the entire number of cloth-pieces you have the pure electric
light shining out of the transparent glass bulb. Need I tell you how the last
piece of cloth is the physical organism. The grossest and least lighted-up
sheath of man. The ego is mounting upwards as it were, from the densest veil of
matter to more and more rarefied grades. The more rarefied the grade of matter
in which you are clothed the more highly energized and spiritualized it is. The
finer your body, the more powerfully vibrating the pranic force animating it.
Think over it in connection with the illustration of the tiny, strong, electric
light confined in the glass bulb and do not feel particularly attached to your
physical form.
CHARACTER--CONTROL.
Let
us in this paper confine ourselves to (a) Habit-control, (b) thought-control
and (c) self-control.
I
have already spoken to you, in full of thought-control in a preceding paper. I
advise you strongly to master and apply the principles laid down in that lesson
conjointly with what little I succeed in giving you here, for truly, Habit and
thought are the two great pillars of our whole life-structure. They are the
roots which sustain the tree of Life. Poison the roots and you have set your
plans for the rapid corrosion of the royal tree; nourish and strengthen the
roots and the tree shall grow, develop and expand; it shall put forth leaves,
flowers, branches, and bear life-giving, sweet and nourishing fruits.
First
of all let us consider Self-Control. What is it? How is this great virtue to be
acquired?
What
is self-control?
Self-control
in Yogis is demonstrated by perfect Soul-Calm. A perfect Yogi will never allow
himself to be cast into or hurried away by any form of emotional disturbance
and excitement. Indeed the mere idea is absurd in connection with such
developed souls. When they move through the restless and busy throngs of men yielding
every moment to some emotional impulse; at times sad, at others glad, utterly
unable to say a firm, "No" to their impulses; unable to view things
from any higher point of view than that of the Relative and the transient form
of existence and getting miserable and falling into dejection at the least
touch of adverse conditions arising from the singularities of their unillumined
intellects;--on such occasions the self-controlled man will remain unmoved in
this atmosphere of conflicting thought-Magnetisms. While all sorts of
thought-waves are dashing against him his mental aura remains untouched and
unshaken, and he radiates peace. When he sees distress and pain, he does not
make the whole air throb with his cries but he calmly sets about finding a
remedy for the evil. When something goes against his personality, he does not
give way to a blind rush of anger but he holds himself perfectly unruffled.
There
was a great sage in India named Vyasa. His father, his grandfather and his
great-grandfather had all of them struggled for Perfection and had fallen short
of the mark.
Vyasa
had himself striven for the same prize and failed. But as no honest seeking
goes unrewarded, at last a son was born to Vyasa who was to manifest perfection
in himself. Vyasa named him Suka. He taught him, trained him and initiated him
into the inner mysteries of the Spirit. Suka was wonderfully intelligent. He
soon grasped the principles of spirit and embodied them in himself.
In
those days there was a great philosopher-king named Janaka. He was called
"Videha"--bodiless, since he had lost all thought of body and
believed himself to be the spirit. Vyasa sent his son to this king's court so
that he might be put to test. Janaka being a developed occultist came to know
of this intuitively and made suitable arrangements. When Suka arrived no notice
was taken of him. The guards gave him a seat but otherwise were quite oblivious
of his presence. This was no light matter. Vyasa was the most venerable sage in
the country and could dictate to any one. But Suka was a Gnyani. For three days
and nights he was left to himself. He sat there calm and serene.
Then
they conducted him into a splendid suite of rooms. All sorts of luxuries,
fragrant baths and regal honors were paid to him. Not a muscle of his face
moved. He was calm, serene and thoughtful. This continued for eight days. Then
he was led before the king who was sitting in full court. Music was playing.
You know the intoxicating influence of music upon the brain. Beautiful girls
and damsels, fit to bewitch the most abstemious of men, were dancing and
singing. In short, it was a most impressive and splendid court. The king
presented to Suka a cup of milk. It was full to the brim. "Go seven times
round the court but spill not a drop of milk." Suka gravely bowed his head
and accepted the cup. Round and round the court he went. Thousands of pairs of
eyes were levelled at him. The music, dancing and nautch-girls of ravishing
charm were all up in arms against his concentrated attitude of calm and repose.
But this man went round, and after the seventh round returned the cup to the
king--full to the brim--with the same quiet expression. The King, the court and
everyone else could only gasp with surprise. This is the ideal self-controlled
man. Naught could distract his attention. Can you conceive of a more positive
proof of self-control? We shall do well to bear this story in mind and,
whatever be our position in life, our gaze should ever be turned upwards and
inwards. Never mind the form of occupation. Always maintain an inner balance
and as soon as you are free, your attention should fly back with intense
longing to the Higher Life.
WHAT
IS HABIT-CONTROL?
Habit
or automatism compels all organized life. Habit is a established by the Will. Now the former is
Static. It works along sub-conscious lines of mentation. If you lift the
brain-cap of man, you would see the belt of glowing and phosphorescent brain-substance
physiologically known as the
Callosum--this is the organic base of consciousness for the operation of
mental energy. The finer the matter, the greater, the more powerful its vibrant
force. This matter is constantly in motion, that is it ever vibrates.
Habit
is a mode of motion. It is the same pitch of vibration repeating itself. The
action of the Will is dynamic. When a man thinks concentratedly for some length
of time upon some resolve, deep vortices are formed in the brain-substance. To
these vortices the Will communicates a certain wave--motion which continues
till the force which gave it the initial impulse exhausts itself. The stronger
the will, the greater the wave-length and the more lasting its action and the
deeper and more intensely active the vortices. You know how tenacious human
nature is of habits. It cannot but be so. Your thoughts create these vortices.
Your actions deepen them. Repeat the initiatory impulse and the Law of
automatism will take it up permanently and keep up the motion. Your thoughts and
actions register themselves in your brain-cells and nerve-force. Each inward
tension of the Will develops changes in the molecular structure of the brain
and since there is an immediate rapport between the brain and the nervous
system that which exhausts or recuperates the "Volts" in that battery
of vital powers--the organized human brain--welds a corresponding influence
upon the vital centres of the body.
Professor
Elmer Gates of Chevy Chase, the great American Experimenter in the new science
of Psycho-Physics, who has been conducting experiments in an elaborate
laboratory through complicated apparatus for measuring the sensations and
emotions of man is of the opinion--and this opinion is endorsed by D. Carpenter
in his grand work on Human Physiology and many other leading investigators on
the subject--that every conscious mental activity creates in some part of the
brain a definite chemical and anatomical structure; that mind-activity creates
organic structure; that one essential condition of remembrance is the
refunctioning of the structure which was originally created by the conscious
experience which we remember; that organisms are mind-embodiments; that there
is an art of brain-building and mind-embodiment whereby individuals can get
more mind; that evil emotions create poisonous chemical products in the cells
and juices of the body; that there is an art of promoting originative
mentation, consciously and subconsciously; that immoral dispositions can be
cured by putting in the same parts of the brain where they have evil-memory
structures a far greater number of good structures, and then keeping the good
structures functionally active a greater number of times daily than the evil
ones; and that one's mental capacity can be more than doubled. The
self-activity of the mind creates organic structures and, says Professor Gates:
"The
mind rules the body. Here you have the grand principle of magnetic affinity
between brain-waves and health-conditions in a nut shell. Psychologists give
two divisions of the Habit-nature: the natural and the artificial. The natural
is the mode of motion kept up by the Instinctive mind for the up-keep of health
conditions. It is quite well-educated. Do not disturb it by trying to take
control of it. The body has been abused and badgered by the artificial life of
modern civilization. Go back to nature; have full confidence in it and do not
meddle with the Involuntary activities of the body. As to artificial habits, I
will simply say that they arise from the singularities of the ill-developed
mind.
Remember
this: All instinctive action is the continual and automatic swing of motion at
first initiated by the Will and later on established on a permanent basis by
continued repetition. This rhythm, if improperly and unwisely initiated can be
swung on to a new line or can be disturbed. The will which started the motion
can assuredly call it back by starting an opposite set of vibrations, which are
finer and more powerful and bring about an equilibrium of forces and, by the
further sustenance of same, develop an entirely new condition. One can change
one's physical conditions as well as mental and emotional states by suggesting
to one's subconscious mind the desired transformation and by constructing a mental
picture, contemplating and projecting same into the realms of subconsciousness.
As James Allen puts it:
Mind
is the master-power that moulds and makes, and man is mind and ever more he
takes.
The
tool of thought and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:
He thinks in secret and it comes to pass;
"Environment is but his
looking-glass."
We build our future, thought by thought,
Or good or bad, and know it not
Yet so the universe is wrought,
Thought is another name for Fate
Choose then thy destiny, and wait
For Love brings Love, and Hate brings Hate--
Again: All that we are is the result of
thought.
Lord Buddha: "The ."
Now
if you would control your habits, you must begin by forming Positive Decisions
and then act them out. For instance, if you want to correct yourself of
Fearfulness and Nervousness, sit quietly and repeat to yourself in all
earnestness, "I resolve to drive out of my brain all fear thoughts. I will
not permit them to come in. I am master. I am Brave. I am perfectly fearless.
I
resolve to be full of Courage, Snap, and mental vigour. I am Master."
Repeat
this to yourself earnestly, concentratedly and positively. Insist upon immediate
mastery. Say "I will conquer, this moment, this very moment," and set
up the Strong Present tense. This is a most important fact to remember. When
you sit down to concentrate, relax all over, breathe deeply and gently, and let
your mind dwell exclusively upon these thoughts. Then gradually wind up your
brain to a state of inner tension. Do not contract your brows. Do not clench
your fists. Do not make any physical movement at all. Let the body rest in
quiet repose. Let the mind be alertly poised. Set the teeth together quietly
for the lock of the jaws is the seat of the will-force, but do not grind and
gnash them. Simply close your eyes and shut out of your mental vision all the
external world.
Retire
into yourself mentally. Draw inwards. As the mind becomes tense, the body
naturally follows suit. But this is not right. You should "break off"
from time to time and then begin again. Soon the body shall be taught to lie
quiescent while the brain is intensely active. Concentrate twice every day at
the same hour. Soon the Law of Periodicity will set in and lead you into your
room for your concentration exercise although you might have forgotten it. Be
rigid in these matters. When you have once begun, do not be overcome by initial
failures and your lapses into former states of mind. The new form of vibrations
must adjust themselves along settled lines and you must persevere by right
thoughts and their determined execution into actions till then.
Do
not make false promises to yourself. If you do so you will become a miserable
"dreamer" prostrated by mental weaknesses. Determine to do a thing
and do it. After you have made your resolve to banish evil thoughts and crush a
certain bad habit, turn your mind to Oppositely-higher types of thought and
habit and persist in your resolve to be Master. Remember a resolve will last a
certain length of time in proportion to the force which generated it and then
it must be renewed repeatedly till it becomes clinched into a habit.
Hold
firmly in your mind the particular thought which you would embody in yourself,
during the time you are nourishing your body and at least an hour afterwards.
This will liberate certain finer forces from the food and nourish particular
brain-centres that you are building up. Do the same when walking in fresh air
and when having physical exercise. This will deepen the thought-channels in the
brain. Remember, at first there will be resistance from the lower
brain-centres, but as the higher centres develop they will take absolute control.
Go on. Stop not; you must build up a new brain in which the higher centres will
control the lower ones and this process of Brain-transformation has to be done.
It is very painful, but now that you know these things, and see the absolute
necessity of setting about the task, it is no use getting impatient. The
following lines from
Dr.
Sheldon Leavit, M. D., will help you immensely when practicing the above
exercises. It has a direct bearing upon the setting up of the strong Present, I
have already spoken of.
The
present tense crystallizes possibilities. In "I am" and "It
is" are wrapped great possibilities. There is a wealth of satisfaction to
be found in being able to say, in all faith, "I am well, I am strong, I am
Happy." Assurance like this crystallizes into tangibility, the things for
which otherwise we are perpetually longing. It is a giant hand reaching out
into the future and bringing to our feet what has long eluded us. Faith then
proves a wonder-worker. It stands sponsor for us under all the trying
conditions of life. When desire rises within us for some great good upon which
to build a useful and happy life; the Present tense of faith at once brings it
within our grasp.
To
effect our purpose we should not hesitate to avail ourselves of the help to be
had from any of the facilities at command. In a particular emergency all we
lack may be the inspiration which shall drive us to triumph. Our greatest
trouble arises from the tendency of the human (lower) mind to dwell upon
failure rather than Success. We lose confidence in our ability to accomplish
because we ourselves or some one else has met with failure, and it becomes
necessary to churn up all our emotional energies to carry us past the sticking
point. The best of us is not using a tittle of the powers which we really
possess. Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. It is right
here that the power of assertion can do effective work in the rousing of our
dormant faculties and bringing into strong action the forces awaiting our
command. But they need vigorous stirring.
A
young physician had been lying ill for many weeks from what appeared to be a
serious complication of disorders, from which he had nearly given up hope of
recovering. All his powers of resistance were seemingly in ruin. He could not
sleep, he could not eat. He could not speak above a low tone. To sit up was
beyond his power; his vital forces were at so low an ebb. His circulation was
feeble and even his mind appeared to be wavering. After a careful examination I
pressed upon him the need of summoning all his mental and physical powers,
tottering to a final fall, in a grand effort to throw off the terrible incubus,
which was crushing him as a strong man might crush his foe, by one vigorous and
desperate effort. It did not seem hard for him to believe, under the
stimulation that he would ultimately recover, but to bring his faith to
immediate acceptance of relief was the difficulty. But he resolved to do this
and warmly confessed his faith when at once the force of the ailment broke, the
life-forces were set into cheerful and strong action and he soon resumed his
place among men.
In
reviewing the case I can see that it was that final culmination of all his
hopes, that concentration of all his mental and spiritual powers into creative
assertion, that lifted him out of the desperate condition into which he had
sunk, and from which he would probably have moved downwards on gradually
declining planes, to utter despair and death.
Before
I close this chapter let me reiterate some important points. You can control
your habits, however perverse they may appear. A complete decision of the mind
is the first step. Effort, yea, Positive Effort and an indomitable will is the
second thing. Remain unshaken in your resolves. Remember the first twenty-five
years of every man constitute the Formative Period of life. The habits that you
carry with yourself across this age become persistent and die hard. The psychological
explanation is simple. During adult age growth is very rapid and your
brain-channels are strongly grooved out; but this should not lead you to
despair. You can render your brain responsive and pliant by earnest endeavor at
any period of life, only those who take to these things in their youth will
find the task of habit-culture comparatively easier. But it matters not at all
whether you are young, middle-aged or old. You must do these things, not
because of any extraneous pressure--you who have followed me so far cannot and
should not believe in any such thing--but because it is the law of your nature.
At
first when you start forming a new habit, there is resistance from your brain
and many heroic efforts are necessary. Then gradually the task shall become
easy and really pleasant. Another important fact to remember is that if at some
hour today you go into your room and send forth an intense thought, next day
the same thought shall start up in your mind at the same point of time. This is
known as Periodicity. Therefore, supposing you want to perform some difficult tasks
with which your mind is not accustomed to cope, sit up a few hours previous to
that time and suggest to yourself, "I wish you, subjective mind, to
prepare yourself for the performance of such and such a task tomorrow at 4
o'clock. Be sure you do it. Now prepare yourself." Next day you will find
yourself quite prepared to accomplish the task. Suppose you wanted to get up at
4 o'clock in the morning. Before retiring to bed say to yourself on your
subjective mind "Look here--I wish you to get up (or wake me up) at 4
o'clock. Be sure you do it." You will wake at that hour..
Always
concentrate your attention upon such autosuggestions and repeat them till you
feel sure your commands will be obeyed and they will be, if you insist upon
their fulfilment positively and persistently with confidence. Believe in your
power to succeed and everything in nature shall rush to your aid.
CONCLUSION.
Dear
Student: Before we part let me thank you for having paid attention to what I
have said thus far. This work is meant solely to extend to you a helping hand
in the thickening gloom of Materialism which I see with horror and pain all
around me. Whatever I have tried to tell you has received a trial at my own
hands and may it strike a sympathetic chord in your heart. It may be my good
fortune to present to you more fully some truths of the Grand Yoga Philosophy
of ancient India of which I have hardly succeeded in touching even the
outskirts. You may catch a passing glimpse here, a flash of light there:--but
what of that? The Lord alone can enlighten your intellect. Therefore meditate
and pray often and wait in patient earnestness for the dawn of spiritual Light
from within. It will come. You cannot escape your own birth right.
Peace--Peace--Peace--be
unto You.
THE
ROLE OF PRAYER. = THOUGHT: CREATIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE. MEDITATION EXERCISE.
HIGHER
REASON AND JUDGMENT= CONQUEST OF FEAR.
QUEEN CHUNDALAI, THE
GREAT YOGIN
THE POWER OF
DHARANA, DHIYANA, AND SAMYAMA YOGA.
THE POWER OF THE
PRANAYAMA YOGA.
KUNDALINI,
THE MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE.
TO THE KUNDALINI—THE
MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE.
Yoga Vashist part-1
-or- Heaven Found by Rishi Singh Gherwal
Shakti and Shâkta
-by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe),
Mahanirvana Tantra-
All- Chapter -1 Questions relating to
the Liberation of Beings
Tantra
of the Great Liberation
श्वेतकेतु और
उद्दालक, उपनिषद की कहानी, छान्द्योग्यापनिषद,
GVB THE UNIVERSITY OF VEDA
यजुर्वेद
मंत्रा हिन्दी व्याख्या सहित, प्रथम अध्याय 1-10,
GVB THE UIVERSITY OF VEDA
उषस्ति की
कठिनाई, उपनिषद की कहानी, आपदकालेमर्यादानास्ति,
_4 -GVB the uiversity of veda
वैराग्यशतकम्, योगी
भर्तृहरिकृत, संस्कृत काव्य, हिन्दी
व्याख्या, भाग-1, gvb the university of Veda
G.V.B. THE
UNIVERSITY OF VEDA ON YOU TUBE
इसे भी पढ़े-
इन्द्र औ वृत्त युद्ध- भिष्म का युधिष्ठिर को उपदेश
इसे भी पढ़े
- भाग- ब्रह्मचर्य वैभव
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राजकुमार और
उसके पुत्र के बलिदान की कहानीः-
पुरुषार्थ और विद्या- ब्रह्मज्ञान
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श्रेष्ट
मनुष्य समझ बूझकर चलता है"
पंचतंत्र- कहानि क्षुद्रवुद्धि गिदण की
कनफ्यूशियस के शिष्य चीनी विद्वान के शब्द। लियोटालस्टा
कहानी माधो चमार की-लियोटलस्टाय
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