Lesson 20

PSYCHIC DELUSIONS

With the developing orientation to the natural order, which results from this instruction comes an ever increasing difficulty in the use of words as a medium of communication. Words, when understood and used with the sharpest clarity of insight and perception respecting denotation as well as connotation, loom as crude gesture symbolism against the meaning and content of consciousness to be conveyed. For myself, I have endeavored to account for this on the grounds of lack of vocabulary and deficiency in understanding language, but recent experience has taught me otherwise. I now know that these symbols called words belong to the aristotelian or three dimensional orientation. A new language not composed of words but a telepathic means of communication accompanies the non-aristotelian or fourth dimensional orientation. How this will inevitably eventuate becomes apparent if we remember that the semantic reaction carried by the phrase "orientation to the natural order" can be expressed as a conscious functional participation in energy currents of factual reality.

In our former Sacred Science teaching we did not have the understanding of the basis for the aristotelian language we have today; therefore, that which we now call identity or identification we called the objective state of consciousness. Notwithstanding the correctness of this, in the old presentation we carried identification over into a psycho-logical state which we called the psychic world. Out of identification thus carried into a psycho-logical state we envisioned a three dimensional method of functioning and called it the psychic level. Others refer to this state the astral plane. Free from identification of word with 'thing', and of the first order of abstraction with the dynamic process, let us now examine this psychic world or astral plane.

We must keep in mind how tenacious is objectification in the consciousness with its various forms of identification. The natural functions in the dynamic process are translated and interpreted in terms of this state of identification. The functions and experiences which belong to our nature take place in the only realm in which they could take place, namely, the natural order or the dynamic process. They are evaluated by the consciousness in identity which is divided into 'objective' and 'subjective'. In that period of unconscious abstracting the 'objective' interpretations were, labeled the physical plane, and others which could not readily be accounted for were labeled the subjective plane, psychic world, or astral plane. We know now that a large percentage of these 'subjective' experiences can be accounted for on physiological, neurological, or psycho-logical grounds. These last named terms include balance of glandular secretions in the blood stream, vitamin deficiencies in the diet, colloidal tensions, colloidal maladjustments due to emotional and mental environmental factors. The psycho-logical phase encompasses the range of compensatory and substituted forms of expression due to the repression of the various normal and natural creative urges.

Like the pre-aristotelians who when they could not account for experiences or phenomena of these kinds attributed the cause to the gods, spirits, daemons etc., so we were wont to attribute the 'cause' for phenomena and experiences we could not understand to the psychic world or astral plane.

There are those strongly canalized in identification who conclude that all experiences which cannot be accounted for on purely 'objective' grounds are due to these physiological, neurological or psycho-logical factors. This, however, is not true. Because, after due allowance and accurate diagnosis and evaluation have been made, the fact still remains that there is an ever increasing functional development in the fourth dimensional phase of consciousness respecting the natural order. In other words, there is a growing and developing functional participation in the dynamic process outside of these physiological, neurological, and psycho-logical factors.

What then is the psychic world or the astral plane? Due to the tenacity of identification in consciousness, the image-making faculty of the mind is so trained in formulating pictures that desires, imaginings, strong thoughts, and feelings are formulated into images. These images, plus the memory of 'objective' appearance, constitute a conglomeration in the image-formulating faculty. Due to the habit of identification, these are projected-that is, made substantive-and then labeled the psychic world or astral plane. If the image formulated from stimuli made substantive and labeled the 'objective world' is illusory, then certainly the formulated images symbolizing the hidden content of the unconscious, labeled psychic world are also illusory. So, desire forms, thought forms, imaginary picturings, and memory of objective appearances made substantive are illusory, irrespective of the label attached thereto. This is what I meant when I said "carrying over" into the psycho-logical state of the influences and habit of identification.

The careful and discerning student must learn sharp discrimination between 'subjective' experiences due to physiological and neurological causes plus psycho-logical substituted images and experiences on one hand, and developing functions in the fourth dimensional phase of the consciousness respecting the dynamic process or the natural order on the other hand.

In psychiatric work, image symbolization, like dream symbolization, has a value in diagnosis. Psychics are sick individuals. The introverted types become schizophrenics or develop dementia, the extroverted types develop paranoia. It is not the purpose of this study to enter the psychiatric field. Some of our students, however, are qualifying as psychiatric nurses through this study, and many of our students who are practicing physicians are developing extraordinary ability in their profession by reason of these studies. Our province is to develop a clear perception of the truth of reality so that progress in one's development may proceed with a minimum of semantic blockages due to these various forms of identification. In the old teaching that which we labeled 'causal' we now designate as the fourth dimensional function of consciousness.

By every possible means we, as students of the truth of reality, must break identification, thus freeing ourselves from the delusional evaluations. This is done through the practice of conscious abstracting. Freed from delusional evaluations, the psychic world disappears, leaving one free to function in the next step or evolutionary phase in ongoing which we label the fourth dimensional stage of consciousness or fourth dimensional aspect of the dynamic process.

But to return to the consideration of psychic delusions: through hundreds of thousands of years of picture-making, and the focusing of consciousness therein, a semantic eclipse was developed, thus preventing man from perceiving reality. This semantic eclipse was the "mist which arose from the earth," the "veil of maya" of the Orientals. The Christian Scientists fell into the error of identifying this semantic eclipse with reality, and therefore denied both the semantic eclipse and Reality. We label it psychic delusional evaluation. Primitive man lived in these psychic pictures and as the generations continued they became the 'objective world'. The psycho-logical or 'subjective' hypostatizing of the picture-making habit continued until a psychic world or astral plane was created. With the intensification of attention upon these images-made-substantive as 'objective world' and psychic world the focus of consciousness was drawn more and more away from instinctual unity with nature into a state of separateness.

It will help us to be patient with ourselves in the re-educational process or reorientation to the natural order if we will remember that it required hundreds of thousands of years to develop the focus of consciousness in identification or in the objective and psychic worlds. We can, however, take consolation in the fact that the process of reorientation is tremendously facilitated by the basic forces of our own nature, which belong to the natural order, and therefore structurally coincide with our effort. This immeasurably shortens the period of the process, and where cortical development is not too strong, the process be comes relatively fast.

Psychiatrists have many cases of reversion or atavistic throwback to the 'subjective' picture-making state wherein psycho-logical images appear as realities. Psychics and spiritualistic mediums belong to this category. Children have a natural aptitude for living in a world peopled with their own pictures. If this is continued over into later life, daydreaming becomes a form of atavistic throwback. When the cortex lapses in sleep and the dream ensues, there is a definite reversion to the former primitive world of imagery. We could say that as soon as the cortex with its objective focus is no longer in control, there is a reversion to thalamic functioning in imagery. So, sleep is a temporary reversion to the elementalistic state of development. This also accounts for the fact that primitive man could not abstract beyond the first and second levels. With clear understanding and elimination of delusional evaluations based upon these psychic delusions, we will progress with immediacy into the orientation respecting our next step in development-namely, functioning in the fourth dimensional state of consciousness.