The Supreme Doctrine - neo-alchemist

Chapter Nine
THE ZEN UNCONSCIOUS
THE psychological consciousness of the natural man contains
perpetually two different layers of perception; it pays attention to two
different orders of things. The natural man's attention is continually
held on two planes of perception; it is divided between these two planes. It is
a mistake to suppose that one can only pay attention to one thing at a time;
one continually pays attention to two things at a time; but, as we are about to
see, in two different ways.
On the first plane of perception the attention is held by particular
aspects of the outside world, effectively present or rendered present by the
imaginative film. On this plane I live, in duration, my particular dispute,
qualitatively changing all the time, with the Not-Self.
On the other plane of perception my attention is held by the situation, at
the moment, of the hearing of my profound general lawsuit between 'to be'
and 'not to be'. This action is always the same, so this plane of perception is
qualitatively entirely monotonous. If, on this plane, things change
unceasingly also, it is quantitatively. My state therein is more or less 'white'
(impression of 'being') or 'black' (impression of 'not being'). Apart from these
fluctuations between the white and the black there occur quantitative
fluctuations between calm and agitation; we will return later to these two
kinds of fluctuation.
It is interesting to study the relations which exist between these two
planes. The plane of my particular perceptions, or surface plane, depends (in
so far as my imagination influences thereon my perception of the outside
world or re-creates on it aspects of the outside world) on the plane of my
profound general perception, that is to say, on my state. A white state peoples
my imaginative film with positive forms, a black state peoples it with
negative forms. An agitated state accelerates my imaginative film, a calm
state slows it down. Apart from that this surface plane evidently depends also
on outside circumstances.
80