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Lesson III: Spiritual Consciousness.271
words, if sacred I may not use, to indicate the heaven of this deity, and to
report what hints I have collected of the transcendent simplicity and energy
of the Highest Law.” It is a thing to be felt rather than to be intellectually
grasped—and yet the Intellect may partially grasp it, when the illumination
of the Spirit has raised it (the Intellect) to higher planes.
Knowing what lies before it, the hand that writes these words trembles
over its work. To attempt to put into plain words these experiences of the
Higher Life seems futile and foolish—and yet we seem called upon to make
the effort. Well, so be it—the task is set before us—we must not shrink from
it.
In our “Fourteen Lessons” we have told of the threefold mind of man—
the three mental principles—the Instinctive Mind; the Intellect; the Spiritual
Mind. We advise that you re-read the lessons bearing upon this subject,
paying particular attention to what we have said regarding the Sixth
Principle—the Spiritual Mind. This Illumination—this flower that blooms in
the silence that follows the storm—comes from that part of your nature.
But, first, let us consider what is meant by “the storm” which precedes the
blossoming of the flower.
Man passes through the higher stages of the Instinctive Mind on to the
plane of the Intellect. The man on the Instinctive Plane (even in its higher
stages where it blends into the lower planes of the Intellect) does not
concern himself with the problems of Life—the Riddle of Existence. He
does not recognize even that any such problem or riddle exists. He has a
comparatively easy time, as his cares are chiefly those connected with the
physical plane. So long as his physical wants are satisfied, the rest matters
little to him. His is the childhood stage of the race. After a time, he begins
to experience troubles on another plane. His awakened Intellect refuses to
allow him to continue to take things for granted. New questions are constantly
intruding themselves, calling for answers. He begins to be pestered by the
eternal “Why” of his soul. As Tolstoi so forcibly puts it: “As soon as the
mental part of a person takes control, new worlds are opened, and desires