The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson
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of all races, from the songs of the great poets of all peoples, from the preachings of the prophets of all religions and times we can gather traces of this illumination which has come to them - this unfoldment of the Spiritual Consciousness. We have not the space to enumerate these numerous instances. One has told of it in one way, the other in another; but all tell practically the same story. All who have experienced this illumination, even in a faint degree, recognize the like experience in the tale, song, or preaching of another, though centuries may roll between them. It is the song of the Soul, which when once heard is never forgotten. Though it be sounded by the crude instrument of the semibarbarous races or the finished instrument of the talented musician of today, its strains are plainly recognized. From Old Egypt comes the song from India in all ages - from Ancient Greece and Rome from the early Christian saint - from the Quaker Friend - from the Catholic monasteries from the Mohammedan mosque - from the Chinese philosopher - from the legends of the American Indian hero prophet - it is always the same strain, and it is swelling louder and louder, as many more are taking it up and adding their voices or the sounds of their instruments to the grand chorus.
That much misunderstood Western poet, Walt Whitman, knew what he meant (and so do we) when he blurted out in uncouth verse his strange experiences. Read what he says - has it ever been better expressed?
As in a swoon, one instant,
Another sun, ineffable, full dazzles me,
And all the orbs I knew, and brighter, unknown orbs,
One instant of the future land, Heaven's land."
And when he rouses himself from his ecstasy, he cries:
"I cannot be awake,
For nothing looks to me as it did before,
Or else I am awake for the first time,
And all before has been a mean sleep.
And we must join with him when he expresses
man's inability to describe intelligently this thing in these words:
When I try to tell the best I find, I cannot;
My tongue is ineffectual on its pivots,
My breath will not be obedient to its organs,
I become a dumb man.
May this great joy of Illumination be yours, dear students. And it will be yours when the proper time comes. When it comes do not be dismayed, and when it leaves you do not mourn its loss - it will come again. Live on, reaching ever upward toward your Real Self and opening up yourself to its influence. Be always willing to listen to the Voice of The Silence - willing always to respond to the touch of The Unseen Hand. In the little manual, "Light on the Path," you will find many things which will now perhaps seem plainer to you.
Do not fear again, for you have with you always the Real Self, which is a spark from the Divine Flame, and which will be as a lamp to your feet to show you the way.
Peace be unto you.
THE FOURTH LESSON.
THE HUMAN AURA.
In our previous three lessons we called your attention briefly, in turn, to the Seven Principles of Man. The subject of the Constitution of Man, however, is incomplete without a reference to what occultists know as the Human Aura. This forms a most interesting part of the occult teachings, and reference to it is to be found in the occult writings and traditions of all races. Considerable misapprehension and confusion regarding the Human Aura have arisen, and the truth has been obscured by the various speculations and theories of some of the writers on the subject. This is not to be wondered at when we remember that the Aura is visible only to those of highly developed psychic power. Some possessing inferior sight, which has enabled them to see only certain of the grosser manifestations of the emanation constituting the Aura, have thought and taught that what they saw was all that could be seen; while the real truth is, that such people have seen but a part of the whole thing, the remainder being reserved for those of higher development.
Some teachers of late years have taught that the Aura was really the several principles of man, projecting beyond the space occupied by his physical body; but this is only true in the same sense that the light of the sun is a part of the sun - the rays of the electric light a part of the light - the heat radiating from a stove the heat contained within the stove - the odor of a flower the flower itself. The Aura is really an emanation of one or more of the seven principles of man - radiations sent forth from the principle itself and not, strictly speaking, a part of the principle, except in the sense above referred to.
Each of the seven principles of which man is composed radiates energy which is visible to the developed psychic senses of certain of our race. This radiated energy is akin to the radiations known as the "X-Ray," and like them is invisible to the human eye unless aided by something which the human eye does not ordinarily possess. Some of the grosser forms of the Aura are visible to those possessing a comparatively undeveloped grade of psychic power, while the higher forms become visible only as the psychic faculties develop in power. There are but comparatively few in the flesh today who have ever seen the Aura emanating from the sixth principle, the Spiritual Mind. And the Aura of the seventh principle, the Spirit, is visible only to those beings far higher in the scale than the human race as we know it. The Aura emanating from the lower five principles is seen by many of us who have developed psychic power, our clearness of vision and range of sight being determined by the particular state of development we have reached.
We will try to give our students a general idea of the Human Aura and a hasty outline of that which pertains to it in this lesson, but it will readily be seen that the subject is one that could not be exhausted in a volume of considerable size. It is a difficult matter to condense information of this nature, but we trust to be able to convey a fairly clear impression of the subject to those of our students who will follow us closely.
As we have already stated, each principle radiates energy which, combining, constitutes what is known as the Human Aura. The Aura of each principle, if the other principles be removed, would occupy the same space as that filled by the Aura of all or any of the other principles. In other words, the several Auras of the different principles interpenetrate each other, and, being of different rates of vibration, do not interfere one with the other. When we speak of The Aura, we mean the entire Aura of the man, visible to one of psychic sight. When we speak of the Aura emanating from any particular principle, we distinctly refer to the principle.
The grossest form of the human Aura is, of course, that emanating from the physical body. This is sometimes spoken of as the "Health Aura," as it is a sure indication of the state of the physical health of the person from whose body it radiates. Like all other forms of the Aura, it extends from the body to a distance of two to three feet, depending upon certain circumstances which need not be mentioned at this place. Like all other forms of the Aura, it is oval or egg-shaped. (This shape common to the several manifestations of the Aura has caused some writers to refer to it as the "Auric Egg.") The physical Aura is practically colorless (or possibly almost a bluish-white, resembling the color of clear water) , but possessing a peculiar feature not possessed by the other manifestations of Aura, inasmuch as to the psychic vision it appears to be "streaked" by numerous fine lines extending like stiff bristles from the body outward. In normal health and vitality these "bristles" stand out stiffly, while in cases of impaired vitality or poor health they droop like the soft hair on an animal, and in some cases present the appearance of a ruffled coat of hair, the several "hairs" standing out in all directions, tangled, twisted, and curled. This phenomenon is occasioned by the current of prana energizing the body to a greater or lesser extent, the healthy body having the normal supply of prana, while the diseased or weak body suffers from an insufficient supply. This physical Aura is seen by many having a very limited degree of psychic sight and to whom the higher forms of Aura are invisible. To the developed psychic it is sometimes difficult to distinguish, owing to its being obscured by the colors in the higher forms of Aura, the psychic, in order to observe it, being compelled to inhibit the impressions of the higher forms