The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson
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Love, Sympathy, or any other emotion to a race which had never experienced the sensation. They are things which must be felt. And so it is with the "I Am" consciousness. It comes to a soul which has unfolded sufficiently to admit of the rays of knowledge from the Spiritual Mind, and then that soul simply knows—that's all. It has the actual spiritual knowledge that it is an entity—immortal—but it cannot explain it to others, nor can it, as a rule, even intellectually explain it to itself. It simply knows. And that knowing is not a matter of opinion, or reasoning, or faith, or hope, or blind belief. It is a consciousness—and like any other form of consciousness, it is most difficult to explain to one who has never experienced it. Imagine what it would be to explain light to a man born blind—sugar to one who had never tasted a sweet thing—cold to one who dwelt in a tropical country and who had never experienced the sensation. simply cannot explain to those who have not experienced them our spiritual experiences—a fact that is well known to those who have at some time in their lives had what are generally known as "religious" experiences.
We know of a case in which this consciousness came to a man who lived in a community in which there seems to have been no one in a like stage of development. He was a business man of no mean ability, and his associations had been along entirely different lines. He felt the Hood of light beating into his mind—the certainty of his spiritual existence impressed upon his consciousness—and he became very much disturbed and worried. He thought it must be a sign of approaching insanity, and he hoped it would pass oft; although it gave him the greatest happiness. But it did not pass off, and he went so far as to make arrangements to transfer his business interests, fearing that he was becoming mentally unbalanced, for he had never heard of a similar case. However, one day he picked up a book, in which the writer gave utterances to words which could come only from one who had had a like experience. The man recognized the common language (although another would not) and throwing his hands above his head, he cried aloud: "Thank God, here's another crazy man."
This awareness of the "I Am" has come to many more people than is generally imagined, but those who have this consciousness, as a rule, say nothing about it, for fear that their friends, relatives and neighbors would consider them abnormal and mentally unsound. And, indeed, it is not always wise to relate these experiences to others, for those who have not reached the same plane cannot understand, and seeing in another a thing of which they can have no comprehension, are apt to consider him irrational. It is a strange thing—an amusing thing—that in a world made up of people who claim to believe that each man is (or "has" as the term goes) an immortal soul, one who claims to really know this to be a fact is regarded as abnormal. The belief of the race is only skin-deep" the people are as much afraid of death, or more so, than the man who believes that death ends all. They reject all evidences of other planes of existence, considering those who teach of and believe in them as being either imposters or lunatics. They live and act as if this earth—life were all, in spite of all their claims and expressed beliefs. They half—believe certain teachings, but have no real knowledge, and deny that anyone else may possess that which they themselves lack.
But to the one into whose field of consciousness have come some rays of the truth from the Spiritual Mind, these things are no longer mere beliefs—they are realities and although such a one may apparently conform to the beliefs of the world around him, he becomes a different being. Others notice a something different about him, keep he ever so quiet. They cannot explain just what it is, but they feel something.
It must not be imagined that this budding consciousness springs fullgrown into a man's mind at once. has done so in some cases, it is true, but in the majority of instances, it is a matter of slow growth, but the man is never just the same after the growth commences. He apparently may lose his full consciousness of the truth, but it will come back to him again and again, and all the time it is working gradually to make over that man's nature, and his changed mental attitude manifests itself in his. actions. He becomes more cheerful and happy. Things that worry his neighbors seem to have but little effect upon him. He finds it hard to manifest a respectable amount of regret and grief over things that bear heavily upon those around him. He is apt to be regarded as unfeeling and heartless, notwithstanding his heart may be full of Love and Kindness. His mental attitude is changed—his viewpoint has shifted. He finds himself ceasing to fear, and those around him are apt to consider him reckless or thoughtless. Time has less meaning to him, for the idea of eternity has come to him. Distance ceases to appal him, for is not all space his? Such a one had better keep quiet, or he will be sure to be considered a "queer fish," and people may tap their foreheads significantly when speaking of him (behind his back).
There is another peculiarity about this phase of Spiritual Consciousness, and that is that one who has it will recognize its language in the writings of others. He may pick up the works of some of the ancient writers, or even some of the modern ones, and where others see only beautiful language he will listen to a heart-to-heart talk from his brother-in-thought. writers, having but a slight degree of spiritual insight will fall into a "mood" in which the Spiritual Mind deftly passes on its words to the lower mental principle, and the result is that the spiritual meaning is readily grasped by those ready for it, even though the writer may not fully understand what he has written. When Spirit speaks, Spirit hears.
Let those who read these words, if they have had this consciousness in a greater or lesser degree, take courage. Let not your loneliness oppress or depress you. There are thousands who are your brothers and sisters in this great understanding, and their thought will seek yours and both will be benefited. Keep quiet to those around you, if you see fit, but open up yourself to the sympathy and help that will surely come to you along the channels of the thought currents. Your thought will attract to you the similar thought of others of the same consciousness, and theirs will attract yours. In books, writings, pictures, you will find words which are written for you and your kind. Read over the old books, and see how different they appear to you, now that you understand. Read the Bible; read Shakespeare; read the poets and the philosophers; and see how soon you will recognize that the writers are your brothers. The dark corners and hard sayings will become plain to you now. You need not be alone—you are one of a great and growing family.
But, on the other hand, avoid being possessed of an inflated idea of your own development. You are but on the threshold, and the great hall of the Occult is before you, and in that hall there are many degrees, and an initiation must be met and passed before you may go on.
Before we pass to the next stage of the growth of the Rower, it may be interesting to our readers to listen to a description of a peculiar experience related by that great modern writer, Rudyard Kipling—be who understands much more than he tells his English and American readers—in his story of East Indian
Let those who read these words, if they have had this consciousness in a greater or lesser degree, take courage. Let not your loneliness oppress or depress you. There are thousands who are your brothers and sisters in this great understanding, and their thought will seek yours and both will be benefited. Keep quiet to those around you, if you see fit, but open up yourself to the sympathy and help that will surely come to you along the channels of the thought currents. Your thought will attract to you the similar thought of others of the same consciousness, and theirs will attract yours. In books, writings, pictures, you will find words which are written for you and your kind. Read over the old books, and see how different they appear to you, now that you understand. Read the Bible; read Shakespeare; read the poets and the philosophers; and see how soon you will recognize that the writers are your brothers. The dark corners and hard sayings will become plain to you now. You need not be alone—you are one of a great and growing family.
But, on the other hand, avoid being possessed of an inflated idea of your own development. You are but on the threshold, and the great hall of the Occult is before you, and in that hall there are many degrees, and an initiation must be met and passed before you may go on.
Before we pass to the next stage of the growth of the Rower, it may be interesting to our readers to listen to a description of a peculiar experience related by that great modern writer, Rudyard Kipling—be who understands much more than he tells his English and American readers—in his story of East Indian life, entitled "Kim," Many read what he has said and can "see nothing in it," but those who have had glimpses of this Spiritual Consciousness will readily understand it.