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Psychic
Education and Spiritual Education
It
is through this psychic presence that the truth of an individual
being comes into contact with him and the circumstances
of his life. In most cases the presence acts, so to say,
from behind the veil, unrecognised and unknown; but in some,
it is perceptible and its action recognisable and even,
in a very few, the presence becomes tangible and its action
fully effective. These go forward in life with an assurance
and a certitude all their own; they are masters of their
destiny. It is for the purpose of obtaining this mastery
and becoming conscious of the psychic presence that psychic
education should be practised. But for that there is need
of a special factor, the personal will. For till now, the
discovery of the psychic being and identification with it
have not been among the recognised subjects of education,
and although one can find in special treatises useful and
practical hints on the subject, and although in exceptional
cases one may have the good fortune of meeting someone who
is capable of showing the way and giving the help that is
needed to follow it, most often the attempt is left to one's
own personal initiative. The discovery is a personal matter
and a great determination, a strong will and an untiring
perseverance are indispensable to reach the goal. Each one
must, so to say, trace out his own path through his own
difficulties. The goal is known to some extent, for most
of those who have reached it have described it more or less
clearly. But the supreme value of the discovery lies in
its spontaneity, its ingenuousness, and that escapes all
ordinary mental laws. And that is why anyone wanting to
take up the adventure usually first seeks out some person
who has successfully undertaken it and is able to sustain
him and enlighten him on his way. Yet there are some solitary
travellers and for them a few general indications may be
useful.
The
starting-point is to seek in yourself that which is independent
of the body and the circumstances of life, which is not
born of the mental formation that you have been given, the
language you speak, the habits and customs of the environment
in which you live, the country where you are born or the
age to which you belong. You must find, in the depths of
your being, that which carries in it a sense of universality,
limitless expansion, unbroken continuity. Then you decentralise,
extend and widen yourself; you begin to live in all things
and in all beings; the barriers separating individuals from
each other break down. You think in their thoughts, vibrate
in their sensations, feel in their feelings, live in the
life of all. What seemed inert suddenly becomes full of
life, stones quicken, plants feel and will and suffer, animals
speak in a language more or less inarticulate, but clear
and expressive; everything is animated by a marvellous consciousness
without time or limit. And this is only one aspect of the
psychic realisation; there are others, many others. All
help you to go beyond the barriers of your egoism, the walls
of your external personality, the impotence of your reactions
and the incapacity of your will.
But,
as I have already said, the path of that realisation is
long and difficult, strewn with snares and problems to be
solved, which demand an unfailing determination. It is like
the explorer's trek through virgin forest in quest of an
unknown land, of some great discovery. The psychic being
is also a great discovery which requires at least as much
fortitude and endurance as the discovery of new continents.
A few simple words of advice may be useful to one who has
resolved to undertake it.
February
1952
- The Mother
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