Awakening

You know that the omniscient Life-power knows all about the subject of your inquiry, and knows just how to answer your question. Your part is to provide suitable conditions for bringing that answer out into the field of your self-conscious awareness. This is all; but if you practice every day, you will find that it is more than enough, for you will soon begin to get a full measure of response, a measure heaped up and running over, whenever you employ this method for tapping the super-conscious supply of wisdom.

Two months from now, read over whatever comes to you within the next few days after you study this lesson. Then study the High Priestess, the Hermit and the Tower once more. You will discover things you do not see now, and you will be able to add to your notes. By that time you may feel that some parts of your first notes need modification or recasting. It is inevitable, as you ripen in consciousness, that you should find better and clearer ways to express the truth that is in you.

Thus, you see, there will never come a time when you cannot improve your work somewhere, nor a time when you will know all there is to know. Never will you be denied the joy of making fresh discoveries, the happiness of finding new beauties in this wisdom-teaching. The riper you become, the more you will know, and the better will you be able to express what you know.

Yet you should not begin your work with any tinge of feeling that these first steps are not important. Never permit yourself to think that the instruction you receive from the One Teacher now is not as good as that which is to come later. What you get now, just as it comes, is what is best for you at your present stage of growth. What comes later may seem better by comparison with your present expressions of the Inner Wisdom, but as Jesus said, 'Ye cannot bear it now.'

The second stage of spiritual unfoldment has for its active principle the phase of universal consciousness represented by the High Priestess. This we have identified with what is variously labeled by modern psychology as 'subconscious,' 'subliminal,' or 'subjective' mind. It has been called also 'transliminal consciousness,' and there is much in favor of this term. 'Transliminal' means 'across the threshold,' and in

some respects this seems to be a more accurate description of the consciousness symbolized by the High Priestess. It is certainly more in accord with the Tarot symbolism. For one thing, it conveys no impression of inferiority, as do the terms “subconscious” and “subliminal.” This mode of consciousness may be identified with what Hindu philosophers call Prakriti, and those Wise Men of the East tell us that Prakriti and Purusha (the Witness, the Magician, self-consciousness) are co-equal and co-eternal.

Through transliminal consciousness, or subconsciousness, we can read the records of past expressions of the Life-power. Psychologists have found by experiment that subconsciousness seems to have perfect memory. Nothing that you ever experienced has been forgotten. Some experiments conducted in France by Colonel De Rochas have even succeeded in tapping subconscious memories of previous incarnations. Under hypnosis, recollection has been carried back to birth, and then, under the command to go back still farther, the subject has related the experiences of a person who lived several generations earlier, and these experiences have been verified by ancient records.

Objection has been made to such experiments on the ground that the result is tainted by the operator’s suggestion, and that consequently there is no proof that the subject recalls his own former existence. In some instances, however, the investigators have found ancient archives, in old churches and town halls, which show that at such and such a date a person such as the subject mentions actually lived, and that at the same time events occurred such as the subject seems to remember. Even if one concedes that the subject may not be reading a record of his own personal experience, the fact remains that through the transliminal consciousness he taps some reservoir of memory — perhaps the Akashic Record, or memory of nature.

Certainly we all carry with us a perfect record of all that has happened to us in this incarnation. Furthermore, by tapping this one may learn whatever he needs to know concerning previous physical expressions of the particular tendencies of the Life-power that are unfolding through his personality.

We offer no argument in favor of the doctrine of reincarnation. We refuse to be drawn into argument about it. Objections to the doctrine come always from persons who have not had a certain type of experience. We are choosing words carefully when we say that we know that the particular complex of activities now projected through the personality of the writer of these lessons is a continuation of activities which at other times and places were projected into physical existence as other personalities. We say that we know, because we remember those other personalities, with as vivid a recollection of emotional and intellectual experience as that which enables us to identify this present “Paul Foster Case” with a certain youngster of ten, whose reputation

for devilry was emphasized by the fact that his father was a pillar in the Congregational Church. Paul Case remembers that he was that boy. In exactly the same way he remembers being a Rabbi who wrote a Qabalistic commentary on Genesis. One memory is just as valid, for him, as the other. Argument cannot overthrow this testimony of inner experience.

The scroll of the High Priestess symbolizes this cosmic memory, to which we all have access. Keep in mind the fact that the two aspects of the personal expression of the Life-power (Purusha and Prakriti, self-conscious and subconscious, Magician and High Priestess) are co-existent. In a sense we may say that the Life-power is both. It is the superconscious unity of which these two are the poles.

The two poles are present wherever the Life-power is present, and they are present in their entirety. What seem to us to be personal manifestations of self-consciousness or subconsciousness are really expressions of the Life-power in either its self-conscious or subconscious modes. Logical necessities of the process whereby the Life-power manifests itself result in the illusion of personal separateness; but by the exercise of reason we are able to discover that separateness is an illusion, and after reason has taken us this far, we can go on and make experiments which forever free us from the delusions arising from that illusion. We have to remind ourselves continually that we are not separate beings, until we have established a subconscious habit of recognizing our essential identity with the Life-power.

Careful observation of nature, through practicing the objective concentration symbolized by the Magician, enables us to discover the essential unity of Being behind the veil of manifold appearances. This discovery has then to be transferred from the field of self-conscious awareness to that of subconsciousness. We make the discovery by watching closely what happens in the plane of existence that we experience through sensation. From that plane we get the facts which are utilized in the process of inductive reasoning. At this point in our unfoldment, we do not experience the unity of Being as we shall know it when we become riper. We perceive it intellectually, as a premise or hypothesis, which we then turn over to subconsciousness, and this premise is the seed that the Magician plants in his garden.

In considering the first stage of unfoldment, we saw that subconsciousness is always amenable to suggestion, and that it controls all the vital functions. It is the mistress of the body-building process. It determines cell structure. Consequently, when subconsciousness is impressed with the idea of the unity of Being, every cell of the trillions in the body is modified by that impression. The suggestion accepted by subconsciousness tinges the consciousness of all the cells.

Thus, from the moment self-consciousness impresses subconsciousness with the premise of non-separateness, the mental state of all the

cells begins to be changed. Some cells do not adapt themselves easily to this new conception of personality. They die, and are eliminated from the body. Their places are taken by new cells, new 'wine-skins' to hold the 'wine' of the new idea.

Thus there is brought about a gradual change in the structure of the body, until a moment arrives when there is a sufficient number of new cells to make possible a flash of personal realization of the truth. Weeks and months, perhaps years, may have passed while these imperceptible changes in cell structure were being accomplished. The person in whose body these changes are occurring has no inkling of what is going on; but all at once there comes a flash of direct perception which seems to upset his whole house of life. This sudden, catastrophic glimpse of reality is pictured by Key 16.

Sometimes this experience is so vivid that it temporarily paralyzes one or more of the person's faculties. One may be struck dumb by it. Another, like St. Paul, may be blinded. Even when the physical effects are not so marked, there is a forcible tearing apart of the structure of personal consciousness, so that the person who is passing through this experience may wonder if he is not going mad.

Sudden as this experience is, it is nevertheless but the culmination of an orderly series of mental and physical changes, just as a thunderstorm is the culmination of a gradual accumulation of electric energy. It comes to nobody who is unprepared to stand the shock. It destroys forever the delusion of separateness, just as a lightning-flash gives a traveler a momentary, but clear, picture of the road he is on, and destroys whatever false notions he may have formed of it while stumbling along in the dark. The darkness may close in the very next moment, and as time passes, some details of the vision may grow dim, but the flash of realization cannot be forgotten, and the memory of it will spur the traveler, will give him courage to pursue his journey to its end.

Therefore is the path assigned to the letter Peh called the 'Exciting Intelligence,' and it joins Victory to Splendor on the Tree of Life, because this experience is at once a realization that the I AM, by reason of its own nature, is already the conqueror of all limitation, and it is also a flash of intuition which gives one a glimpse of the dazzling glory of the perfect expression of the Limitless Light.

For this flash of realization is a momentary sharing of the Life-power's perfect self-knowledge. It seems to contradict everything in previous experience, because all previous experience has been colored by the sense of separateness. The consciousness of the Life-power finds expression in the words, 'I am the Lord, and there is none else.'

Prior to the experience we are now considering, the human consciousness is, 'I am a poor mortal surrounded by millions of other mortals who are potential enemies, and by natural conditions even more

inimical.' Suddenly to realize that all this is a lie, suddenly to see that one is immortal, suddenly to perceive that all other human beings and all conditions of personal existence are working together to bring about the perfect realization of a cosmic plan which, in essence, is the outworking of the inmost reality of one's own being, this is a reversal of personal and race consciousness which temporarily overwhelms us.

This experience is not an acquisition, not something that comes to one from outside. Neither is it a miracle. Because you are a center of expression for the self-conscious aspect of the Life-power's activity, there comes a time in the evolution of this consciousness through your personality when the premise of the unity of Being is formulated in your conscious mind. That premise then becomes the starting point of a series of subconscious operations that build into your body new cells that can give expression to the Life-power's self-knowledge.

This flash of inspiration, therefore, is really a participation in the Life-power's perfect recollection of itself. For a moment one remembers who and what he really is. Thus the lightning-flash of Key 16 may be understood to be a ray of light from the Hermit's lantern. To us, when the experience comes, it seems that we have seen something new. The light seems to come from above, and from afar. In truth, the Light-bearer is close at hand, right here with us, now and always, 'closer than hands or feet.'

So much has been said of the physiological changes that precede this realization that a careless reader of these pages might suppose that we are trying to persuade you that this sudden illumination is nothing more than a physical phenomenon. That would, of course, be a grave error. It has seemed best to make the process as clear as possible, so that it will be evident that it is an orderly manifestation of cosmic law, and not a miracle.

The physiological explanation of this stage of unfoldment may be carried much further, for the occult meanings of the letter Yod, corresponding to the Hermit, provide us with some important clues. Want of space, and certain other considerations that need not be discussed here, make it seem best to do no more than give some hints. Those who are ready will be able to follow these clues to their logical conclusions.

First of all, consider the astrological attribution of the letter Yod. Note the sign of the zodiac, and the part of the body ruled by it. Note also the planetary ruler of that sign. Then, remembering that this second stage of spiritual unfoldment is experienced through a change in cell structure effected by subconsciousness, ask yourself what these astrological correspondences mean in this connection. They point out a part of the body where an important change occurs, and indicate the specific influence that governs the change itself. When you have made this knowledge your own (never forgetting that it is already la-

tent in you), you will be able to make special applications of the law of suggestion which will accelerate the transformations of cell structure described in this lesson.

Perhaps you have already passed through this stage of unfoldment. If so, then the knowledge you have just been shown how to seek will be of use to you in enabling you to progress more rapidly through subsequent states.

Don't suppose we are being willfully mysterious. Here is an opportunity for you to find something out for yourself. When you do discover it, you'll understand some of the reasons for our reticence. When you think you have the correct answer to this little problem, write it in your occult diary. You will need these notes later on.

The principle behind this is that personal effort is the price that must be paid for the discovery of certain aspects of truth. It would be a violation of a cosmic law to tell you this instead of showing you how to find out for yourself. Strangely enough, you never really know it unless you do find it out just this way. Nobody can tell you so that you can really comprehend it. Really, you know it already. The thing for you to do now is to get it into conscious awareness, so that from now on you may apply it to hasten your unfoldment.

After the stress and shock of the sudden awakening to the fundamental error of separateness, after the lightning-flash of true knowledge has toppled the crown off the Tower of Common-sense, as shown in Key 16, there comes a period of calm and gradual growth. In the second stage of unfoldment, considered in the preceding lesson, there is a sudden and painful overthrow of the false wisdom of the world, a momentary but never-to-be-forgotten glimpse of reality, a quick insight into the absolute unity of life. In the third stage, this conception of the Oneness of All begins gradually to develop.

What happens during this development, and the specific activities involved therein, we may discover from the 17th Key of Tarot. As you will remember, this picture develops the esoteric meaning of the Hebrew letter Tzaddi, named “the fish-hook.” To this letter the function of meditation is assigned. Astrologically it corresponds to the zodiacal sign Aquarius, the sign of the Man, ruled by Saturn.

Let us begin with this last detail. In Tarot, Saturn is the 21st Key, The World, symbol of cosmic consciousness. As in mythology the god Saturn was said to eat his children, so in occult psychology we find that cosmic consciousness, when it becomes a personal experience, swallows up all its differentiations. As Saturn was the father of the gods, so is cosmic consciousness really the source of the states of consciousness that we have known up to this moment. From it spring all personal nodes of consciousness. It is not something new, even though for most of us it seems to be in the future. We are really going back to cosmic consciousness, even though the actual realization is as yet in the future. Hence in the books of wisdom, the methods which lead to personal realization of cosmic consciousness are often described as constituting the Path of Return.

Persons familiar with the conventional astrological interpretations of Saturn are often puzzled when they find this planet represented by the gay dancer of Key 21. Many astrologers call Saturn a “malefic” influence. It is said to be constricting, limiting, and confining. That it seems to have an unfortunate influence on worldly affairs cannot be denied, but the reason is that ordinary worldly affairs are conducted from the point-of-view of limited, three-dimensional consciousness. In short, the affairs of “this world,” and the structures of politics, economics, and so on, devised by human beings to take care of those

affairs, are based upon a fundamental delusion. To men and women engaged in the vain endeavor to erect a house of life on the lonesome peak of personal isolation, the influence of Saturn is, indeed, inimical. Not so with those who have developed, and are living from, a consciousness of the unity of Being. Then the Saturnine force of restriction becomes a means for concentrating the Life-power into definite, specific, desirable and beautiful forms of expression.

This is the form of Saturnine manifestation depicted by Key 17. It is the basis of the growth and increase in wisdom characterizing the third stage of spiritual unfoldment. For meditation, 'an unbroken flow of knowledge in a particular object,' as Patanjali defines it, begins with concentration, and concentration is a voluntary limitation of consciousness. That limitation is Saturnine in quality, and because its consequence is understanding, we find that Qabalists give to that aspect of the Life-power which they call Understanding the additional designation, 'The Sphere of Saturn.'

Meditation is prolonged concentration. By associating it with the letter Tzaddi, Qabalists liken meditation to a fish-hook. The analogy is a good one, even in its more obvious implications, and we shall discover that its deeper meanings are also worthy of earnest consideration.

A fundamental assumption of Ageless Wisdom is that every center of the Life-power is related to the whole Life-power. The Many are expressions of the One. In its perfect knowledge, the One unites present, past and future. It knows the whole of its self-expression, and knows every part of the whole. Our personal consciousness is a specialization of this cosmic consciousness, and since the Life-power is omnipresent and omnipotent, there is nothing whatever to prevent it from communicating to any one of its personal centers any detail of knowledge possessed by it.

We call this an assumption, but for us it is more than that, as it has been for men and women far wiser than we, down through the ages. The Life-power knows all things, and stands ready to share whatever detail of its knowledge may be required to aid in the unfoldment of any of its personal manifestations.

While yet we are deluded by the illusion of separateness, it seems to us that we, as persons, think and feel that we have personal states of self-consciousness and subconsciousness. Except for comparatively brief periods of ecstasy, even the greatest sages experience the same illusion. They, however, know it for what it is, and are not deceived by it. Hence we find them saying, with Jesus, 'Of myself I can do nothing,' yet saying also, 'All that the Father hath is mine.'

This has been touched upon many times in the work you have had from TAROTA. It cannot be mentioned too often. These lessons are not the work of Paul Foster Case. Neither is your response to them something which originates in your personality. This teaching and your ap-

plication of it are actually phases of the work of the One Life-power, which uses these words and your response as means for ripening us, its centers and channels of self-expression. The illusion of personal effort persists, to be sure, but the more we know it for what it is, the less are we deluded by it. This is the meaning of that fine sentence in Light on the Path: 'Stand aside in the coming battle, and though thou fightest, be not thou the warrior.'

We find from experience that the less personal effort we put into writing these pages, the better the result. Whenever we permit ourselves to be deluded into thinking: 'This is a hard lesson to make clear; we must take great pains in preparing an outline for it,' we always find that nothing worth mentioning is accomplished. Just as soon as we remember that we draw all things needful from the limitless resources of the Life-power, and, acting on that knowledge, sit down to write, without any outline at all, the work is quickly finished, and from what has been said of it, is well done.

Apply the same principle when you study the lessons. If you think this study is your personal work, if you regard many of the details of esoteric knowledge as being terribly difficult, so that you must get them into your head by dint of strenuous personal exertion, you actually increase the difficulty. Think of your study as the work of the Life-power, which already knows every one of these details of instruction. Remind yourself that the Life-power brings you just exactly what you can use, at the very moment you need that knowledge most. You will be amazed to see what a difference this will make in your work.

This is not so much of a digression from our main theme as it may seem, because success in meditation cannot come until we realize that, just as the Life-power is the Teacher and Worker, so is the Life-power really the One who engages in meditation. We do nothing of ourselves. We are instruments through which, or by means of which, the Life-power does certain things. Through us it concentrates, through us it meditates, and through these activities ripens us into perfected centers of its all-embracing consciousness.

To return to the connection between the letter Tzaddi, the 'fish-hook,' and what goes on during meditation, let us remind you that the inner consciousness, or subconsciousness, is often compared to a sea, and the various forms of knowledge to fishes swimming in it.

When we select some particular object for concentration, and focus the Life-power upon it in an act of attention, we are baiting a hook and dropping it into the sea of subconsciousness. As fish are attracted by bait, so are various forms of knowledge having an affinity with the object of concentration attracted to our mental fish-hook.

Suppose, for example, you concentrate on some Key of Tarot. In the beginning you may not see very much, but the longer you watch, the nearer will you come to this experience: some detail will be em-

phasized in your consciousness, and glimpses will come to you of a meaning below the surface. This is the time to land your fish, that is, to make notes of what you have glimpsed, just as soon as it is definite enough to put into words. Then cast your hook again, and watch until another thought-form takes the bait.

Remember always to maintain the mood of expectancy. Your subconsciousness is like a bay opening into the ocean of cosmic consciousness, and thought-forms from the remotest reaches of that great sea will be drawn to you by meditation. This is no theory. It is a plain statement of what many persons have experienced.