Chapter 2
THE THEORY FROM THE EDGAR CAYCE READINGS
Fundamental Assumptions
Any theory rests upon some basic assumptions. If we wish to construct a theory
of how ESP works, we should begin by defining human nature itself. The theory
of psychic ability given in the readings of Edgar Cayce is based upon a set
of principles which create a foundation for understanding. They provide an explanation
of human nature and of the mechanism of ESP and its potential usefulness in
our spiritual growth.
Perhaps the most basic of these principles or assumptions is the concept that
there exists a universal awareness. This is a state of consciousness that is
spiritual in nature-that is, it has the potential to express itself in matter,
but it is not limited to time and space. Many terms have been used to describe
this universal awareness, such as God, the superconscious and the Creative Forces.
Our relationship to the universal awareness often seems paradoxical. In one
way, we are a part of it, for we are part of the whole. And yet, on the other
hand, we also experience ourselves as being unique individuals. One aim of spiritual
growth is to reconcile this seeming contradiction. Perhaps the best way that
we can do this is to begin to express in our individual lives the qualities
of the universal. It is a matter of making finite (i.e., making applicable)
our infinite nature.
Except for those rare instances of psychic or spiritual experience, our existence
as conscious physical beings usually seems to be cut off from the universal
awareness. We frequently fail to see the unity of all life, and we tend to see
ourselves as independent, although very limited, creatures. The Edgar Cayce
readings suggest that when we see ourselves and life in this way, we are failing
to take into account unseen, yet very real, aspects of life. One of Edgar Cayce's
dreams provided the basis for a model that illustrates this condition.
That which cuts us off from the universal awareness is either some element
of physical consciousness -such as a conscious attitude or an inharmonious condition
in the body-or some aspect of the subconscious mind. By the term '(subconscious
mind" we are referring to the storehouse of thought patterns which we have
created. The word "created" is used here in a very specific way, to
indicate that the mind has the capability of giving a shape or a pattern to
energy. Although this may sound somewhat strange to us, these thought creations
or thought forms are very real and continue to exist even after the thought
has left consciousness awareness. The phrase "Thoughts are things,"
which is found throughout the readings, has special meaning to our understanding
of how ESP works.
If we consider our conscious experience in the material world as being three-dimensional,
meaning we have a tendency to describe or understand our experiences in the
earth in terms of three measurements, we can then assign these thought forms
to a fourth dimensional existence. We find this idea in the Cayce readings as
well as in the writings of the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung.
Best definition that ever may be given of fourth dimension is an idea! 364-10
"If we wish to form a vivid picture of a non-spatial being of the fourth
dimension, we should do well to take thought as a being for our model."
(Modern Man in Search of a Soul, p. 184)
The reader might wish to refer to Chapter Four of Herb Puryears Meditation
and the Mind of Man for a further explanation of this topic.
The creative capacity of the mind and the existence of its creations at a higher-dimensional
level are principles very important to the theory of psychic ability. - We should
not become confused or intimidated by the introduction of fourth-dimensional
reality into the theory, for we all have experiences with our thought-form creations
each day. The clearest example of this is dream experiences. We may have a very
vivid dream of a place or a group of people that exists not in the physical
world, but within our own mental world. At that moment of the dream, however,
the experience with these people or that place seems just as real as any waking
experience.
The proposition that each individual has within himself universal (or superconscious)
awareness depends upon the assumption that each individual is actually a soul.
Only a portion of the soul projects itself into the limited dimensions of time
and space. The physical body, conscious mind and personality are not apart from
the soul, yet they are only a partial representation of it.
The remaining aspects
of the soul include unconscious elements of the mind, as well as access to universal
awareness or the spirit. Perhaps the most important concept in the Edgar Cayce
readings concerning psychic ability is that the phenomenon cannot be fully understood
if it is approached from only a physical and a mental perspective. The psychic
is of the soul. Paranormal experiences happen to us because we have a universal,
or spiritual, dimension.
The psychic, then, is of the soul, and it operates through faculties of perception,
whether hearing, seeing, feeling, or any portions of the sensory system . .
. 5752-1
Hence we would have in the truest sense, psychic, meaning the expression to
the material world of the latent, or hidden sense of the soul and spirit forces,
whether manifested from behind, or in and through the material plane. 3744-1
The soul forces within ourselves seek expression, and psychic ability is one
form of such expression and should be viewed as a natural experience. It is
not a matter of coaxing the soul to manifest itself and its capabilities, for
the soul has a constant impulse to express itself in a variety of ways. The
problem is to get rid of conditions within the physical consciousness and the
subconscious mind that block this natural manifestation.
For, life-or the motivative force of a soul-is eternal; and that portion of
same that is motivated by the mental and spiritual attributes of an entity has
experienced, does experience the influences that have guided or prompted same
through its sojourns. For each soul seeks expression. 987-4
From the material in the readings we can isolate what seems to be the fundamental
requirement for balanced, helpful psychic experiences: attunement. What is needed
is an integration of body, mind, and soul. Attunement implies vibration, a term
used to describe all of life. The body is a collection of energy made up of
various patterns of vibration.
Modern physical sciences agree with this point.
The readings suggest that the mind and the soul are also expressions of energy
that have taken on particular vibrational qualities. In most individuals the
vibrational patterns of the body, mind, and soul are not working in an integrated,
holistic fashion. Attunement involves the transformation of mental and physical
energy conditions, or vibrations,, to those of the superconscious awareness
of the soul. Whenever attunement is achieved a variety of experiences may arise,
including ESP, astral projection and healing.
Q-2. Is there any method whereby I might develop such faculties as a perfect
memory; intuition, telepathy, astral projection, and healing of others, as well
as myself.?
A-2. All healing of every nature comes from the divine within that body, or
the body applied to such methods or manners of healing. The attuning of self-not
as to that this or that may be accomplished. But remember, as has ever been
given of old, all manner of expression, all life, emanates from one source-God!
God in thyself; not as "I will, but as Thou wilt." I Let that be the
purpose, the import, the intent, the desire; and that which is needed for the
bringing of its abilities and faculties of every nature in attunement will be
done. 1861-4
These psychic forces, which are of the soul, are operative not just during
paranormal experiences such as ESP or spontaneous healing. The psychic pervades
every aspect of living, although normally we are not conscious of the way in
which we are drawing upon it. Some of the most exciting new findings of parapsychology
indicate that we are using our ESP unconsciously in many ways each day. The
readings express this principle in the following words.
There is no condition existing in a world as the earth plane but what there
is the phenomena in every action of psychic forces manifesting. 900-19
... for without the psychic force in the world the physical would be in that
condition of "hit or miss," or that as a ship without a rudder or
pilot, for that element that is the guiding force in each and every condition
is the spirit or soul of that condition which is the psychic or occult force.
3744-1
If we accept the assumption that we are souls with the potential to bring universal
awareness into conscious expression, then psychic ability is seen as a latent
capability within everyone. In the words of the readings, "These psychic
abilities are latent in each and every individual." (256-2) Although the
two previously quoted passages from the readings indicate that the psychic is
operative in all experience, we should not conclude that everyone has demonstrable
ESP that can be called upon at will.
This is clearly not the case. Even though
psychic perception may be a latent ability in each person, only some people
are able consciously to draw upon that potential in a consistent manner. It
has been suggested that demonstrable psychic ability may be distributed throughout
the population in much the same way as are the other talents, such as musical
ability. If this is the case, we will find that some people will score well
on ESP tests, about the same number will score correspondingly poorly, and the
bulk of the population will show only infrequent or inconsistent psychic ability.
The analogy with musical ability can be used in another way, to illustrate
that there are many different types of paranormal capacities, just as there
are many different kinds of instruments that can be played. Most likely, there
is an underlying similarity in all forms of psychic expressions, just as there
are underlying factors upon which is based the talent to play any instrument;
however, in our exploration of psychic ability we must not overlook the fact
that a particular individual may need to be given a specific kind of ESP task
in order to demonstrate his psychic gift.
You find an artiste that is musical; with the ear and sense forces given for
the application in the use of some specific instrument. Do you give one that's
playing a horn piano lessons? or piano lessons to one that plays the violin?
Not that these are not kindred. Not that these are not in accord. But the expression,
the ability to move those forces that manifest themselves, comes through their
particular phase of expression and manner. 1135-5
It may be tempting to suppose that ESP will result whenever we transcend physical
consciousness and that part of the subconscious mind which contains our own
thought-form creations. However, this is probably too simple an explanation.
The problem arises when we consider more closely the nature of universal awareness.
Up to this point in our discussion, universal awareness has been equated with
the superconscious mind. The term superconscious (or the mind of the soul) will
be used in the rest of this book to denote the highest state of awareness, which
is totally unlimited.
In addition to the superconscious, there are other levels
of awareness that might be termed "universal" in the sense that they
transcend time and space, and in the sense that they are universally accessible,
available to all individuals. However, in contrast to superconscious awareness,
which is defined as being unlimited and omniscient, each of these levels of
awareness has distinct limitations. Some of these lesser levels of universal
awareness are the collective unconscious, the astral plane, and the etheric
plane, to name just a few. To depict this condition, we might redraw our original
model as follows:
Psychic impressions can come from any of these levels. For example, we can
have psychic experiences involving the astral level, like those in which we
attune ourselves to another person's thought-form creations, which are at that
level. Such experiences may include attuning oneself to discarnate souls, as
demonstrated in mediumship. The Edgar Cayce readings emphasize the importance
of attuning oneself to the consciousness of superconscious awareness, for it
is at this level that the limitations and inaccuracies of the lower levels are
transcended.
A considerable amount of material concerning the actual development of psychic
ability will be presented in this booklet. However, in this section on fundamental
assumptions it will be helpful to consider two basic positions taken by the
readings regarding psychic capacities. The first is that paranormal abilities
are awakened as a natural result of the proper motivation: to grow in spiritual
awareness and in service to others.
This is in distinction to the common desire
to develop psychic ability in order to be able to impress others or oneself
with remarkable phenomena (for example, mind reading just for the sake of curiosity
and without an altruistic purpose). We find the principle that ESP will be a
natural outgrowth in the following passages from the readings:
Q-6. How may I develop psychic power for warnings of danger, difficulties to
be avoided and opportunities to be taken advantage of, for myself, my children
and others?
A-6. Let these be rather the outgrowth of the spiritual desire, rather than
beginning with material manifestations, see? For, these are-to be sure -a part
of the whole, but if they are sought for only the material sustenance,, material
warning, material satisfaction, they soon become dead in their ability to be
creative. 1947-3
How develop the psychic forces? So live in body, in mind, that self may be
a channel through which the Creative Forces may run ... So with the body mentally,
physically, spiritually, so make the body, the mind, the spiritual influences,
a channel-and the natural consequences will be the manifestations. 5752-2
The second basic position concerns the question of why some people have ESP
and some do not. In the readings we find the theory of reincarnation as a part
of the description of how souls evolve in consciousness. This theory helps us
answer an obvious question raised by the first basic position on psychic development:
How are we to account for people who have clearly demonstrable psychic ability
and yet have no desire to use it for the benefit of others or for their own
spiritual growth?
The readings suggest that many individuals have developed
psychic capacities in previous earthly experiences, especially during those
time periods in which paranormal abilities were respected in the culture and
used to benefit society. Although these experiences may not be consciously remembered,
the qualities developed can be drawn upon, just as a child prodigy in music
or mathematics, like Mozart or Pascal, is able to draw upon his or her previous
development.
A term used in the readings to refer to abilities that were developed in previous
lives is "innate." This term should not be confused with "latent,
"' which indicates the potential in everyone yet does not signify that
the ability has been previously brought into conscious use.
There are those in the group who have experimented that are gifted; gifted
meaning then innately developed by the use of those faculties of the Mind to
attune themselves to the Infinite. 792-2
The theory of reincarnation has another significant role in our examination
of the fundamental assumptions about psychic ability, in that it can provide
us with a more enlightened historical perspective. The readings suggest that
an ancient civilization called Atlantis was destroyed more than 12,000 years
ago-destruction due at least partially to the misuse of psychic abilities. Many
individuals who received readings from Edgar Cayce were told that they had had
incarnations in this society at the time of the destructions. This information
seems pertinent to our consideration of psychic ability, because the readings
indicate that mankind once again stands at a crossroads.
Once more we have the
technology with which to destroy ourselves. We are also discovering the tremendous
psychic powers of the mind, which can be used constructively or destructively.
Every helpful influence possible must be brought to bear on conditions in our
world if we are to avert another destruction of a major portion of mankind.
The importance of modern man gaining a thorough understanding of the mechanism
and purpose of psychic ability cannot be underestimated. The spiritual implications
of psychic ability may well provide one of the most stabilizing and healing
forces possible.
The Mechanism of Psychic Ability
In this section we will turn our attention to a theory of how psychic ability
operates. Here we will be interested in defining the primary factors that are
involved and the ways in which these factors can relate to each other. When
we finish, we will have a rather complex model which (a) takes into account
the theory given in the Edgar Cayce readings, (b) accounts for many previous
parapsychological findings, and (c) predicts the nature of certain parapsychological
relationships that have not yet been researched. Any model is, of course, only
an approximation of reality. It is very likely that every factor within our
model of psychic ability has some kind of influence on every other factor. However,
for our present purposes, we will be concerned with only those relationships
which seem to have a significant, direct bearing on psychic experiences.
Physical consciousness
Our normal waking physical consciousness is produced primarily by our bodies
and especially by the sensory input that they receive from the physical environment.
Research studies have shown that under conditions of sensory deprivation, in
which the body's senses are able to receive virtually no stimulation, normal
physical consciousness is interrupted and an altered state of consciousness
is produced. We might conclude, therefore, that an important factor in maintaining
normal waking consciousness is the reception of outside stimuli by the senses
of the body. Of course, this waking state of consciousness is necessary because
it allows us to make our behavior appropriate to daily life in the physical
world.
However, we must remember that the five senses do not actually function at
the conscious level. They operate in a relatively unconscious and automatic
way, and we become aware of only a small portion of what they receive. For example,
as you were reading the previous paragraph,, your senses undoubtedly received
sounds, smells and sights that did not pass into your conscious awareness. If
we were to draw a model of our normal waking consciousness, it would look something
:
According to the readings, the senses have another important role in addition
to helping us to become aware of what is happening in the outer world: They
also help us to become conscious of inner events, including psychic impressions.
The psychic, then, is of the soul, and it operates through faculties of perception,
whether hearing, seeing,, feeling, or any portions of the sensory system ...
5752-1
Awareness of subjective, inner events
Of course, our awareness is not always focused upon the outside world; we can
also become aware of impressions that come from within. The variety of these
inner impressions is extensive, ranging from memories of recent events to accurate
psychic impressions. The readings tell us that the senses, together with special
parts of the nervous system located mainly in the brain, form a receiver that
can Pick up both environmental stimuli and inner impressions. What frequently
happens, however, is that information from the physical environment overrides
or cuts off our awareness of impressions from within. For example, imagine that
you are driving through heavy traffic in an unfamiliar part of town.
It is unlikely
that in such a situation you would be consciously attending to random memories
or other subjective, inner impressions. You would be primarily concerned with
evaluating information coming to you from the environment. One exception to
this would be a memory that is directly helpful to you in dealing with your
current situation, like, for instance, remembering that a particular traffic
sign has a special meaning. What determines or selects the information that
is allowed to pass into our conscious awareness? As we have noted,, this receiver
is constantly being bombarded with environmental stimuli as well as inner impressions.
Among the major factors in this selection process are our ideals, attitudes,
purposes and motivations. The situation is illustrated in the diagram below,
in which solid arrows indicate the movement of information and dotted arrows
indicate controlling or directing influences.
A considerable amount of research has been done on the question of how awareness
is related to attitudes and motivation. However, when we examine motivations
it is often difficult to determine which are conscious and which are unconscious.
It may well be that most experiences of the conscious mind are in fact built
upon influences that remain unconscious. An example of this can be seen in the
case of a person who tries overly hard to do well at his job, but whose drive
comes from an unconscious motivation to make up for feelings of inadequacy from
childhood.
We have probably all had some experience with the way in which an attitude
or a motivation can clearly affect our conscious awareness. For example, suppose
you are taking an important test and you need to remember some obscure name
or date. If you are motivated to do well on the test, you will probably minimize
for a few moments the attention you give your physical environment, while you
allow subjective memories to occupy your awareness. However, the Edgar Cayce
readings go further and suggest that if you hold in mind particular attitudes
and purposes, you may make it more likely that you will become aware of another
category of subjective impressions: accurate psychic information. In the above
example, this information might come as thought transference from a person who
knows the correct answer or from superconscious awareness, where all knowledge
is available.
The question, of course, arises as to the nature of those particular attitudes
and purposes that will facilitate psychic ability. The most carefully researched
answer to this question is "the belief that ESP is possible." It has
been clearly demonstrated in many studies that subjects who believe in ESP are
more likely to do well on ESP tasks. It could be argued that some of this effect
is due to the fact that many people who believe in ESP do so because they have
had frequent personal experiences with it, and hence they would be more likely
to perform psychic tasks well; however, it is unlikely that this accounts for
all of the effect. It is also important to remember that simply our openness
to the possibility of an experience can make it more likely that the experience
will be recognized when it stands at the threshold of our conscious awareness.
For example, suppose you had a dream in which you saw an old friend in a crowd
of people. If you intuitively felt that this was actually a precognitive or
prophetic dream, and that this old friend might very well be in your town soon,
then you might keep an eye out for him. Walking through a crowded store several
days later you might actually pass near him, and you would be more likely to
notice him because you were open for the experience. Your conscious attitude
and motivation would make you especially alert to a particular kind of impression.
In this case the impression was visual (the face of your friend), but the same
principle holds true for more subjective impressions, such as psychic ones.
The Edgar Cayce readings suggest another conscious attitude or purpose which
will facilitate psychic ability: a desire to help others. This principle has
already been discussed. We cannot claim that this desire is a sufficient condition
in itself for the awakening of psychic ability. Nevertheless, it may influence
the selection process that takes place as a wide variety of impressions impinge
upon the sensory system. The desire to help will probably make it more likely
that information coming from universal awareness or from another person's mind
will be allowed to pass into conscious awareness. In the following passage one
individual is counseled that unless he is grounded in universal motivation,
unless his goal is to serve and to experience the unity of all life, the subjective
impressions he expects to be accurate psychic information actually are more
likely to be elements of his own imagination.
In giving the interpretation of that which is received through these higher
activities of the sensory forces of a body is oft where individuals may bring
their own imaginative forces, or the satisfying of their individual ego to be
above that of or exceptional to others, to such a point that there may be the
satisfying of that within the self.
Why, then, is this all to be taken into consideration from that as has been
given in aiding or instructing individuals in development of these faculties?
For there remains,, ever, the universal law that comes as the basis of man's
relationships to the Creative Forces; that first law, that thou shalt not have
any god before thee other than that thou wilt worship in Him!
Hence unless such an individual, that shows a tendency, is grounded in that
which is the universal motivative force that can be constructive, it becomes
rather among those that allow the influences to enter that are not only the
exaltation of personal ego but the exaltation of personal egos that may be in
a state of positive affluence through the very opening of self for such a manifestation.
1135-3
A second important reason for holding a conscious attitude of service is that
without such a selfless motive the awakening of psychic ability is more likely
to be a confusing or disorienting experience. So many of our life experiences
that seem confusing have this quality because they do not have a purposefulness
which seems meaningful. For example, an individual who gets intoxicated every
Saturday night may begin to find that this experience is no longer fun and has
become confusing and disorienting. One possible reason for his feeling of confusion
is related to a lack of purpose behind this particular activity. In the following
reading we find the advice that we should have a purpose beyond ourselves as
we work with psychic ability (which is referred to here as expressing our "super-selves").
Know that the seeking, the developing of individuals in the expression ' of
their super-selves in their activity must be for creative forces and not (as
this entity now called [1135] has seen, has known in its inner self) for self
aggrandizement, self-exaltation, self-indulgence; for if it is, then the way
of that soul is made all the more in a state of bewilderment -without a cause.
1135-2
The previous diagram from our model illustrates how important the sensory system
is to understanding how psychic ability works. One key to the development of
psychic ability seems to be to interrupt the way that impressions are usually
sorted at this point. We have just examined one way of effecting this kind of
alteration: through our conscious attitudes and motivations. Another method-perhaps
more straightforward-is to change the amount of sensory stimuli coming from
the physical environment.
This is called sensory deprivation, and it was mentioned
briefly in the section on physical consciousness. Sensory deprivation usually
does not refer to blocking stimuli from just one of the senses. For example,
someone who is blind has the input channel of sight cut off but usually makes
an adjustment by becoming more sensitive to one of the other channels, such
as the sense of hearing. Sensory deprivation experiments usually involves cutting
off as many of the senses as possible; this can be done by floating a person
in body temperature salt water in a sound- and light proof room. John Lilly
(1972) and others have reported paranormal experiences under such conditions.
An alternative method to blocking out all environmental stimuli is to alter
the nature of the stimuli. There is some evidence to indicate that a repetitious
input from the environment serves to interrupt the way in which the senses operate,
and this may allow psychic impressions to come into awareness. Charles Honorton
and Sharon Harper (1974) have reported significant telepathy scores for subjects
who received a constant visual and auditory stimulus. Meditators who chant their
mantra for a long period of time, thus providing themselves with a repetitive
auditory stimulus, report attaining an altered state of consciousness, although
it is not clear that this results in verifiable ESP. The Edgar Cayce readings
support the principle that paranormal experiences can result from (a) altering
the input of environmental impressions and (b) using the senses as a vehicle
of expression for inner events.
In the material manifestations, concepts are made aware to observers and the
more oft to the individual -through a functioning of the senses; or the perception
is arrived at through such activity. Hence there are those varied forms of demonstrative
activity; as in the vision without the sense of the natural eye; the perception
of hearing without the activity of the auditory forces of the natural body.
There is also the feeling without those perceptions of the personal or physical
contact by a presence. There is a super-activity through the olfactory centers
that produces perception. 1135-3
Each will find a variation according to the application and the abilities of
each to become less and less controlled by personality, and the more and more
able to shut away the material consciousness -or the mind portion that is of
the material, propagated or implied by what is termed the five senses. The more
and more each is impelled by that which is intuitive, or the relying upon the
soul force within, the greater, the farther, the deeper, the broader, the more
constructive may be the result. 792-2
To summarize this section, we have explored the concept that at least two important
mechanisms must be operative in conjunction with the senses if we are to experience
conscious psychic ability. First, we must allow subjective impressions to enter
our awareness. This can be facilitated by sensory deprivation or by making the
relationship between the senses and the physical environment repetitive or automatic.
Secondly, we must select from the wide variety of subjective impressions that
are available those that are actually coming from beyond our own imaginings
or memories. Among the factors important in this selection process are our conscious
and unconscious attitudes, purposes and motivations. Other factors no doubt
are involved as well. One that we will explore later is the condition of the
physical body.
A higher-dimensional receiver
This section will describe one of the readings' most significant concepts concerning
how our ESP works, a concept that relates to the nature of the physical body.
According to the Cayce material, at least two aspects of the physical body are
involved in ESP. First there is the "flesh body," which, because it
is easily measured and its presence easily detected, is very familiar to us;
we can see our own bodies or the bodies of others, and, even if we are blind,
we can become aware of the flesh body through one of the other senses. Secondly,
the readings indicate that each flesh body is accompanied by another aspect
of the physical body, referred to as the "finer physical body." Like
the flesh body, the finer physical body is an energy system. The two energy
systems are closely related, and together they work in an integrated manner
to make up the physical person. The fact that most people cannot see this finer
physical body should not lead us to the conclusion that it does not exist.
Traditional science has provided us with some evidence of the finer physical
body. Medical doctors are frequently baffled by cases of so-called "spontaneous
remission," in which there seems to be no justification within the flesh
body for a healing to have taken place. It may well be that such cases involve
the direct activity of the finer physical body. As further evidence of the existence
of this structure, several psychics have been well documented in laboratory
settings in their ability to diagnose patients accurately, simply by observing
this finer physical body.
They describe seeing energy patterns surrounding and
interpenetrating the flesh body, a phenomenon that is often referred to as the
"aura" (see Karagulla, 1967). Another significant area of research
involves out-of-body experiences. These studies seem to indicate that each individual
has a higher-vibrational body, which is normally invisible to human vision and
can separate from the flesh body and undergo experiences in a relatively independent
manner. Although there is not yet enough evidence to convince everyone of the
reality of these out-of-body experiences, a growing collection of research findings
supports this notion. It may have far-reaching implications for medicine as
well as for our understanding of how psychic ability works.
The finer physical body plays an extremely important role in our theory of
psychic ability. The readings suggest that it is capable of receiving impressions
that are not of the material world. The reader will recall that some theorists
have proposed a physical explanation for ESP. If these theories are accurate,
we would need to find some aspect of the flesh body capable of receiving a wave
or particle carrying ESP information. Up until now, the search for such a receiver
has been fruitless. The Edgar Cayce readings suggest that the transference of
psychic impressions does not take place at the level of the material world and
that something other than the flesh body receives such impressions.
The finer physical body can be thought of as that receiver. It is sensitive
to energy patterns of a higher-dimensional level: fourth dimensional, thought-form
creations. Although such a concept may seem rather abstract to many readers,
it helps to explain much of the mystery of psychic ability. The finer physical
body extends beyond the limitations of time and space, as do certain psychic
phenomena. Most simply stated, the theory given in the Edgar Cayce readings
suggests that a finer physical body (closely related to the flesh body) can
receive or is sensitive to thought, either one's own thoughts or those of others.
Of course, this would explain only telepathy, and we will see that another source
of information is also accessible to the finer physical body.
At this point an illustration might be helpful. Since some of the qualities
of the finer physical body are fourth-dimensional, it is extremely difficult
to depict them in a two-dimensional diagram. To help us understand the finer
physical body, we might use an analogy. In this analogy we can suppose that
the three-dimensional world of time and space, in which we normally operate,
is like a two dimensional piece of paper. Contained within that world of time
and space is the flesh body.
The finer physical body, which is depicted on the
right-hand side of the diagram below, is of one greater dimension than the flesh
body. Notice that in a sense the finer physical body interpenetrates the flesh
body; it is as if one cross section of the finer physical body roughly corresponds
to the flesh body. This diagram clearly illustrates an important point: Whereas
the flesh body is relatively limited in sensitivity and would usually receive
impressions from only the material level of time and space, the finer physical
body has far greater sensitivity. We might imagine, in our diagram, other two-dimensional
pieces of paper intersecting the finer physical body. These would represent
other planes or dimensions of consciousness from which the finer physical body
could receive psychic impressions.
Of further interest is the relationship of the finer physical body to health.
The cross section of the finer physical body that exists in the material realm
very closely approximates the conditions of the flesh body. It is often a precursor
of conditions experienced in the flesh; in other words, a disturbance within
the finer physical body would probably lead to a disturbance in the flesh body
at a later time, seconds or even months later. Another characteristic of the
finer physical body is that it is always fully intact, whereas the flesh body
may not be. For example, even though an individual may have had an arm amputated,
the corresponding arm in the finer physical body would still be there. The readings
suggest, as well, that prayer for healing affects another person first through
the finer physical body, with the effect then moving to the flesh body.
If, in fact, the finer physical body is capable of receiving information not
accessible to the flesh body, we should consider the possible sources of that
information. The readings describe three sources from which such information
can be received. First is universal awareness, or, more specifically, that portion
of it that we have labeled the superconscious mind. The second possible source
is an individual's own thought forms-for example, impressions that we receive
from our own imaginations. The third source is the thought forms of another
person. However, as illustrated in the diagram below, this information must
first pass through the personal thought forms of the receiver. Such a transmission
may take place at lower levels of universal awareness, such as the collective
unconscious or the astral plane.
As we might expect, the readings state that the most accurate and helpful form
of psychic ability involves the finer physical body receiving information from
the superconscious. This is because at the superconscious level we are free
of the limitations and distortions that characterize the lower levels of the
mind. By attuning ourselves to the superconscious we may in fact receive divine
guidance and direction from the soul.
When the information being received by the finer physical body comes only from
an individual's own thought forms, the result is not psychic ability but the
possibility for conscious awareness of memories or imaginings. We find this
condition described in a passage we considered earlier.
In giving the interpretation of that which is received through these higher
activities of the sensory forces of a body is oft where individuals may bring
their own imaginative forces, or the satisfying of their individual ego to be
above that of or exceptional to others, to such a point that there may be the
satisfying of that within the self. 1135-3
This also seems to be the condition described in the following statement to
an individual who sought advice about being more psychic. In this case, the
reference to "mental-material visioning" can be interpreted to mean
that this individual was not allowing himself to become receptive to outside
information. Instead, he was making guesses based primarily on his own efforts
to use the physical conscious mind to imagine the target.
There is the tendency for world wisdom to confound the spiritual concept. Hence
most of the common experiences become guesses, or the attempt to vision by mental-material
visioning. 792-2
In a later section, as part of an investigation of the role of the sender in
telepathic communication, we will consider the factors that influence the creation
of thought forms. At this point in our discussion,, however, the primary concern
is the variety of sources from which the finer physical body can receive information.
The thought forms of another person are one such source, but access to them
is not direct. Psychic information that comes from another person rather than
from the superconscious of the receiver must be interpreted through the thought
forms of the receiver; therefore, in a sense it must "match" one of
his or her own thought forms. The precise mechanism of this "matching"
is not clearly spelled out in the Edgar Cayce readings.
However, we are given
the basic principle that the information being directly received from another
person must be translated into terms that the receiver can consciously understand.
If we imagine that there is a language of the unconscious, then each person
speaks a different dialect of that language. To the extent that the message
being transmitted involves words that are pronounced in a similar way in the
dialects of the sender and the receiver, the message is more likely to be accurately
received. Here is one reason why we might expect greater ESP between family
members. Not only is it probable that they will be motivated by love, but they
are also likely to have had similar experiences and thus, to a large degree,
to have similar thought forms available.
Attunement of the finer physical body
We have seen that there are three primary sources of information from which
the receivers within the finer physical body can draw. There are, in addition,
at least two important factors that determine which of these sources is drawn
upon. The first is the individual's conscious attitudes and purposes; the second
is the attunement level of the spiritual centers. We have already explored the
first factor and found that the readings suggest that self-centered attitudes
and purposes tend to orient these receivers towards one's own thought forms.
On the other hand, a conscious ideal and purpose of service and caring for others
makes a person more likely to be able to psychically draw upon information from
the superconscious or from another person.
The spiritual centers (or chakras, to use Eastern terminology) are located
within the finer physical body. These centers are the seven locations within
the body that especially control the integration and alignment of the physical,
mental and spiritual aspects of our being. Many books based upon the Edgar Cayce
readings and many other sources have been written concerning the spiritual centers.
Anyone who wishes to explore this area in greater depth will find many resources
available, including Meditation Gateway to Light and Meditation and the Mind
of Man, both available from the A.R.E. Press. However, for purposes of understanding
how ESP works, the following three points are most significant:
1. The spiritual centers act as a bridge between our conscious, physical selves
and the psychic or spiritual parts of our being. They act as a mediator between
our finite lives in materiality and our infinite lives as souls.
2. Each of the seven spiritual centers relates to a different aspect of consciousness
and experience. In terms of our understanding of ESP, a particular type of psychic
experience is related to each of the spiritual centers. Of course, in any type
of experience, psychic or otherwise, there is likely to be a combination of
the activities of several centers. However, specific forms of psychic ability
have often been associated especially with a particular center. For example,
as the third spiritual center, located in the area of the solar plexus and adrenal
glands, is awakened or "opened," we are likely to observe mediumship
abilities. Similarly, poltergeist phenomena may be related to the cells of Leydig
and/or gonad centers, and glossolalia (speaking in tongues) seems to be related
to the thyroid center. Ideally, these seven spiritual centers will operate in
an integrated, cooperative fashion. When this happens, the resulting psychic
ability is more likely to come from superconscious awareness.
3. Thought creations of our minds have a special relationship to the individual
spiritual centers. Some people have even used the expression that our thought
forms are "stored within the centers." We have probably all observed
that through our conscious attitudes and our behavior in daily life, we tend
to activate or awaken particular memories. These memories can be thought of
as examples of our thought forms, and the readings suggest that specific types
of thought-form memories tend to be associated with particular spiritual centers.
This concept may have a direct bearing on our ability to receive information
psychically. For example, the second spiritual center relates to our consciousness
and experience of the male-female balance, including our attitudes and physical
expression in sexual activity. Male college students often spend a considerable
amount of time focusing on this subject, so from our theory we would predict
that their own thought forms about sexuality would be particularly accessible
and easily able to come into their conscious awareness.
The reader will recall
that one phase of the finer physical body's reception of telepathic impressions
involves having the thought form of the sender "match" accessible
thought forms of the receiver. Considering this statement in combination with
the preceding one, we might expect male college students to do better on ESP
tests when the target pictures are erotic in nature rather than of a more commonplace
type; research findings have indicated that this is, in fact, frequently the
case. We might suspect that this principle could be shown to hold true for female
college students as well.
The concept that memory patterns may be especially important to the mechanism
of telepathy has been pointed out by parapsychologists. Honorton and Harper
(1974) found that telepathic impressions were often received in images that
matched available memories. They write, "Memory, in particular, seems to
serve as a vehicle for psi-mediation" (1974, p. 164).
This discussion of the spiritual centers may help us to understand why the
readings suggest that meditation would help an individual to develop psychic
ability. In the first place, meditation tends to awaken the activities of the
spiritual centers, particularly those of the three highest ones. These three
highest centers are directly related to our awareness of ourselves as souls.
Since all of the centers are mediators between our physical, conscious selves
and the more unlimited levels of the soul, the awakening of their activity in
meditation may result in psychic experiences. This is especially true if we
meditate upon a spiritual ideal, which would help to integrate the activities
of all seven centers.
Second, psychic ability may be developed as our attitudes and purposes are
transformed through proper meditation. We may move from self-centeredness to
love, which will help us to attune to information which comes from beyond our
own imaginings and desires.
And third, meditation may help to awaken constructive, helpful experiences
of psychic ability as we realign and integrate the activities of the spiritual
centers and their corresponding thought forms. Many schools of meditation teach
that such a reprogramming of the activities of these centers is an important
byproduct of meditation. When such attunement and integration has taken place
in all of our centers, we might expect to be sensitive to a wider range of psychic
impressions than were the ma
A summary of factors affecting the attunement of the finer physical body is
shown in the following diagram. Once again, the dotted lines indicate controlling
or directing influences. The solid lined arrow between "thought forms"
and "spiritual centers" represents the concept that particular thought
forms are directly associated with specific spiritual centers.
Filtering factors
This portion of our model relates to unconscious factors within the mind that
lie between the receivers of the finer physical body and the sensory system
of the flesh body and conscious mind. The unconscious mind has access to information
received by the finer physical body, just as the conscious mind can get information
through the flesh body's senses. However, certain stages must be passed through
for this unconscious material to reach conscious awareness. These stages, or
filtering mechanisms, are often advantageous because we probably would not want
to become aware of every psychic impression available to us. Our awareness would
be swamped, just as it would be if we became aware of every possible sensory
stimulus that reached the flesh body.
What are the stages involved in a psychic impression moving from the receiver
of the finer physical body to conscious awareness? Karlis Osis and Edwin Bokert
(1971) have proposed an excellent model for understanding this internal processing.
There is nothing in the Edgar Cayce readings to suggest any modifications of
their proposal, and it is incorporated into our overall model as is.
The relevancy filter "protects the organism from information overload"
by screening out irrelevant or unnecessary information. For example, at this
moment you may potentially have access to telepathic information concerning
the activities of a neighbor. However, if those activities don't really have
a bearing on your own life at this moment, the relevancy filter may be screening
out that information.
The defense filter protects an individual from threatening or Painful information
he might receive psychically, such as, for example, the knowledge that someone
else has thoughts of disliking him. The relevancy and defense filters probably
work together. For instance, if something catastrophic were happening to a family
member hundreds of miles away, the awareness of that event might be quite painful;
but the tremendous relevancy of the occurrence could override the unconscious
reluctance to become aware of painful information.
It is likely that another mechanism blocks many ESP impressions, not because
they contain distressing news about others, but because they threaten the world
view that is usually held. For example, if I were to become aware that I can
tune in on other people's thoughts, I could not ignore the implication that
they can potentially tune in on mine, as well. Since I may not want to have
to face the fact that my secret thoughts can be known, it may be safer to block
my own ESP impressions and preserve the traditional world view that ESP is impossible.
We can call this aspect of the process "psi-blocking."
The same mechanism that causes psi-blocking-which we can label the "gating
mechanism"-could also prevent accurate psychic impressions from coming
to conscious awareness by distorting the impressions. The most straightforward
way this could take place in the unconscious mind would be for one's ESP to
be used to miss the' correct target in a consistent way-that is, "psi-missing."
This is not to say that every time a person tries to demonstrate ESP and is
wrong it is psi-missing.
We use this term only to describe a situation in which
a person is wrong so frequently that it is statistically very unlikely to be
due to chance. For example, if a person is asked to telepathically guess a standard
deck of ESP symbols card by card, and he misses every one, this is a meaningful
demonstration of psychic ability. It is very unlikely that chance alone would
cause him to miss continually. It has been found that when a subject has an
unsympathetic attitude towards ESP in general or towards the specific ESP task
at hand, psi-missing is likely to occur.
In addition to psi-blocking and psi-missing, a third possibility exists at
the gating mechanism: psi-hitting, or allowing the impression to come through
undistorted. It is this possibility that we will continue to focus our attention
upon as we develop our model of how psychic ability works.
Attunement of the flesh body
As we have already seen in developing the theory of psychic ability found in
the readings, the sensory system of the physical body has an especially important
role to play. A previous description was given of two basic types of information
which can be received by the sensory system: stimuli from the physical world
and mental impressions (some of which might be psychic) from inner, subjective
levels. It was also pointed out that a person's conscious ideals, purposes and
motivations have a controlling influence on the type of impressions that are
selected to come into conscious awareness.
Another extremely important controlling factor is the general health and balance
of the physical body. This concept is depicted in the following diagram:
Seven of the endocrine glands-the gonads, cells of Leydig, adrenals, thymus,
thyroid,, pineal and pituitary glands-have a special relationship to the spiritual
centers of the finer physical body: Each of these glands serves as a part of
one of the centers. For example, the pineal is the expression in the flesh body
of the sixth spiritual center. The nonflesh components of the center are found
within the finer physical body. This concept is symbolically illustrated in
the following diagram:
As we can see from the above diagram, anything which affects the endocrine
gland is likely to influence the total functioning of that particular spiritual
center, and vice-versa. Furthermore, as the research findings of endocrinology
have shown, the general condition of the physical body, especially of the nervous
system, has an extensive effect on the operation of the endocrine centers and
the sensory system.
In order to understand how the flesh body can be attuned and how that attunement
might affect psychic ability, it is necessary to consider first three different
ways in which psychic ability can arise. The following distinctions are undoubtedly
one of the most significant aspects of the theory of psychic ability found in
the readings. The Cayce material is one of the few sources to differentiate
clearly between a variety of conditions that can produce a psychic gift.
1. Making use of the theory of reincarnation, the readings suggest that psychic
ability may be related to experiences in previous lifetimes. By working with
such attunement procedures as meditation, an individual may have developed a
psychic gift during a former incarnation. That soul would still have memory
patterns related to this ability and would perhaps be capable of drawing upon
those patterns during the current lifetime, even though a conscious attitude
of service or spiritual seeking may no longer be held; thus we would have a
type of residual effect. Apparently the spiritual centers and the associated
thought forms retain, at least temporarily, the memory of functioning in such
a way as to allow accurate psychic impressions to come through.
2. An imbalanced condition in the flesh body can also cause psychic ability.
This is especially true of situations in which stress is placed on one of the
endocrine glands. This stress results in the activation of the corresponding
spiritual center of the finer physical body, thus potentially opening a channel
in that individual for psychic experiences to occur. Unfortunately, these experiences
may be imbalanced or confused, as are the physiological conditions that create
them. This theory gives us a way of interpreting the psychic experiences that
may occur under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Through the activity
of these drugs on the chemistry of the brain and related endocrine glands, a
temporary stressful or hyperstimulated condition, which can have a direct effect
on the spiritual centers, may come about.
This theory is further illustrated in the case histories of individuals who
have developed psychic ability immediately after incurring an injury to the
nervous system. The classic example of this is Peter Hurkos, who became aware
of his psychic gift after an accident in which he fell on his head. Our theory
would suggest that the injury created an imbalanced or stressful condition in
one of the endocrine glands, most likely the pineal or pituitary.
3. A balanced and attuned condition among the various aspects of the flesh
body can also have a direct, positive effect on the development of psychic ability.
This effect can be twofold. First, an attuned, balanced body will make for a
more sensitive, alert condition in the five senses. In addition, the integrated,
harmonious operation of the endocrine glands allows the spiritual centers to
function in a corresponding way. When this is the case, the psychic experiences
that may result are more likely to be balanced and helpful. They come not from
the awakening of just one center, but from a holistic, healthy state of being.
Specific recommendations from the readings for the attunement of the flesh body
are found in the next chapter of this book. They include dietary procedures,
exercise and other activities designed to create a greater physical balance.
It is unfortunate that the differences among these three origins of psychic
ability are not clear in most people's minds. Our concern has been to categorize
an experience in terms of telepathy, clairvoyance or precognition, instead of
in terms of the conditions that produced it. This has caused confusion in parapsychology,
because we often find three different kinds of individuals who seem to be having
experiences that are similar in many ways. The following excerpt from the readings
uses an analogy to distinguish between psychic exeriences that arise from imbalanced
conditions and those that experience come from attunement: One is like an appliance
that has shorted out and may be demonstrating unusual behavior, while the other
is like a radio that has been carefully tuned to the desired frequency.
In electrical forces of every nature (that are the very basis of the atomic
structure of the body, through which there is the manifestation of mind and
soul of an individual entity, in its varied forms of whatever nature), if there
are shorts of any nature there is confusion. This is true whether it be in the
atomic structure of the individual or in any mechanical appliance to which it
may be applied for its activity in the relationships for the benefit or convenience
or constructive forces for man.
So in the radio wave that may make for pleasure, for convenience, for activities
that are necessary for an attunement to a vibratory rate of a given nature for
its association or connection with individuals who may attune instruments that
may be in accord with certain lengths that are of a certain wave vibration,
so that these are in unison, then there is the perfect accord for the bringing
of those influences or forces into the experiences of individuals who may hear,
feel, see, experience those activities that are without their own sphere of
activity, but brought into their relationships as one to another by the use
of those forces that must work by a law. 1135-3
The sender in telepathy
The process of telepathy is closely tied to the creation and nature of thought
forms. As mentioned in the section on fundamental assumptions, the mind is able
to pattern or shape energy, and the product of that process is a fourth-dimensional
thought form. Thoughts are things, in the sense that they are very real and
continue to exist after they are no longer consciously held in mind. When the
sender in a telepathy experiment focuses his or her mind on a target-whether
it is a particular symbol, a specific picture, or a physical ailment in his
or her own body-it is perceived through the sensory system. Often this involves
the use of more than just the sense of sight. In many telepathy experiments
the research methods have been designed to enable the senders to make use of
as many different senses as possible, by having them smell, taste, touch or
listen to the target as well as look at it. The following diagram depicts the
primary steps involved in the creation of the senders thought forms.
Just as conscious attitudes and ideals have a significant influence on the
receptive function of the five senses (see the section on awareness of subjective,
inner events), they have an important directing effect on the creation of the
sender's thought forms. And, once again, we should consider the fact that unconscious
motivation often lies behind conscious attitudes and purposes.
The readings suggest that certain attitudes, purposes and motivations are optimal
for the creation of thought forms; if these are part of the sender's mental
makeup, impressions of whatever target he is focusing on will be more likely
to be received. Among these helpful attitudes are the desire to grow in spiritual
awareness, a sense of relaxation (as opposed to straining to send the telepathic
message), and a belief that the psychic contact can be made. Conversely, certain
other conscious or unconscious attitudes and motivations, like fear, anxiety
and skepticism, may block the psychic communication.
It is interesting to note, as well, that sending and receiving are apparently
two separate processes, and frequently a person will be better at one than the
other. This is mentioned in the following passage:
Not all elements may be attuned to a vibratory influence sufficient for sending
or receiving. Some may send while others may receive. There may be those that
are able to do both. 1135-4
Superconscious awareness
How can we know to what we are psychically attuning? This is one of the most
frequently asked questions concerning ESP. The problem of the sources of psychic
information was often brought to Edgar Cayce, for many individuals who received
readings were concerned about the origins of their own personal psychic experiences.
Some felt that they were attuning to discarnate souls that is individuals who
had died physically but continued to be alive in another dimension of reality.
The evaluation of such sources is, of course especially relevant to any consideration
of mediumship. In the following passage, we see that the readings suggest that
some people who die do not realize for a while what has happened. Having discarded
their flesh bodies, they may be experiencing in their finer physical bodies;
yet they continue to try to contact or affect the three-dimensional, material
world.
Just as an entity that leaves the earth's plane oft experiences an interim
without the knowledge of being without that dimension; being in a greater dimension,
yet not capable of manifesting again in its form in a third dimension, seeks
to express itself. This we see in many phases, in many manners. 311-2
The reader might wonder how such contacts with discarnates should be included
in our model of how ESP works. Probably the most effective way to answer this
would be to consider such discarnate souls as "senders." Even though
they may not have flesh bodies, the creative function of the mind is still operative
and thought forms are created. These thought forms can potentially be picked
up telepathically by a receiver, just as can be done in more traditional telepathy
experiments.
However, the readings warn that these discarnate entities do not necessarily
offer good advice or accurate information. A person who has died is not necessarily
smarter nor more spiritually attuned than before. Furthermore, it is recommended
that we seek guidance from the divine within ourselves rather than from some
outside source.
Here again we have the distinction between seeking the superconscious awareness
and focusing on some of the more limited levels of universal awareness, which
may be occupied by discarnate souls. This is one reason why automatic writing,
for example, is not recommended. In terms of our model, automatic writing would
involve an individual allowing the thought forms of another to direct the activities
of both the spiritual centers and certain structures of the body. This influence
can grow to such an extent that movements of the flesh body are controlled by
the outside entity. This differs from inspirational writing, in which a person
attunes to the divine within and then writes, using his or her own conscious
mind and will.
When individuals worried that they might be picking up on thought forms of
discarnate or evil forces, the readings suggested a specific technique for protecting
oneself.
Q-2. How can I discern the helpful entities or forces from those forces that
would do me harm?
A-2. In each experience ask that they acknowledge the life, the death, the
resurrection of the Jesus, the Christ. They that answer only as in the affirmative;
otherwise, "Get thee behind me, I will have no part with thee. Through
His name only will I, [422], accept direction!" 422-1
Thus the intuitions are well, provided these are tempered in spirituality -not
ism. For, as these vibrations come about the entity, know that if ye surround
yourself with the creative forces or vibrations that are the way, the truth
and the light, then only good may come; and those things of dire natures, or
demoniacal forces in any form will not be a part of thy experience. 2539-2
Once we properly understand the role of discarnate souls and don't make the
mistake of assuming that souls on the other side are generally wiser and more
spiritual than we are (which may be inherent in many forms of spiritualism),
we can explore the nature of superconscious awareness. As has been mentioned,
this is the source of information that the readings recommend. Because it is
beyond the limitations of time and space, superconscious awareness has access
to all knowledge.
For example, contained within the superconscious are the likelihoods of future
events. For this reason, the most effective way of demonstrating prophecy, or
precognition-in which a person makes a guess concerning the nature of some future
occurrence-is to attune oneself to the superconscious. Of course, we must be
careful not to imply that everything that will happen is fixed, for this would
deny free will. The readings are very clear in stating that we have free will
and that not even God knows what we will choose; however, through our past choices
we have created strong likelihoods, or probabilities, that specific future experiences
will come about.
In a similar way, information about all other kinds of events and conditions
is accessible to superconscious awareness. This includes knowledge of things
not yet known by any other person (which could serve as the target in a clarivoyance
test) or of whatever is being held in mind by someone else (a possible target
for a telepathy test). Referring back to our consideration of the sender in
a telepathy test, this means that the thought form created by the sender is
known to superconscious awareness. This is illustrated in the following diagram:
As we can see, this aspect of our model illustrates a principle which has been
mentioned previously: There are two primary ways in which a psychic contact
can be experienced. One of these is to think of the other person or source of
information as being outside of oneself; this method involves an attempt to
receive impressions through a matching of personal thought forms. The other
approach is to affirm that the source of psychic information can be found within
oneself
This second alternative asserts that once an individual has attuned
to superconscious awareness, the psychic information that will be most helpful
will be given. In the following passages we see that the second method is recommended.
The reader will note that in the first of these passages (and in several other
excerpts) the general term "universal consciousness" is used. A thorough
study of the many readings given on the nature of mind and of psychic ability
seems to indicate that such references to universal awareness are intended to
denote the superconscious mind.
What is the source of the information as may be had in such experiments, that
goes beyond that called or termed the ordinary mind guessing? Or what is the
basis of telepathic or clairvoyant communication? ... To be sure, the experience
is a portion of the Mind; but Mind, as we have given, is both material and spiritual
... It is not then to be presumed, supposed, or proposed, to be a calling upon,
a depending upon, a seeking for, that which is without-or that outside of self;
but rather the attuning of self to the divine within, which is (the divine)
a universal or the universal consciousness. 792-2
Q-1. On March 2nd, whose voice did I hear speak to me, and what was the message?
A-1.... To be sure, this was a manifestation -but rather than being specific,
rather than being an entity activity from without, it is rather the awakening
within of the abilities to so associate and so connect and communicate with
those influences from without. Then, as given of old, if there will be held
and magnified within the consciousness of self that that desired, that voice,
that presence that would aid in bringing the various consciousnesses to self,
must be from the universal influences, or from His messenger, then this may
be magnified in self and for self. Be mindful that it is not clothed in some
other power. 262-40
The reader may be wondering if every psychic impression that comes from superconscious
awareness is therefore pure and uncontaminated. This is not the case. For example,
the readings given by Edgar Cayce claim to have come from superconscious awareness,
but there seem to be instances in which the personal memories or thoughts of
Edgar Cayce filtered in. In other instances, an impression coming from the superconscious
of a psychic may draw upon the receiver's memories and thought-form images as
a way of assuming a symbolic form that can be transmitted to conscious awareness.
However, in such a case,, the thought forms of the receiver are playing a very
different role than they do in the kind of telepathy in which the sender's and
receiver's thought forms must match. In this matching type of telepathy, there
are distinct limitations as to what can be transmitted, because the range of
information that can get through is limited by the kinds of experiences and
memories available to the receiver.
Perhaps an analogy would clarify this difference between the two types of telepathy.
Imagine that you have a very important complaint that you wish to make to the
President of the United States. Let us suppose that you call the White House
and you are told that your complaint will be relayed to the President through
his Chief of Staff. You might not care for this course of action, because you
know that the transmission of your message will be only as accurate as the intermediary
person is willing and able to make it; you will be dependent on his having had
experiences similar to your own and on his being capable of recreating your
frustrations and suggestions and expressing them articulately to the President.
At worst, the Chief of Staff might even disagree with your opinions and either
distort the message significantly or block it from getting through at all.
A superior alternative in this situation would be for you to have a personal
audience with the President. Let us imagine that this audience can be arranged
only under the condition that the Chief of Staff is permitted to be in the office
with you and the President. An additional stipulation is that after you have
presented your complaint and suggestions, the Chief of Staff might choose to
express his opinions on the matter as well. In this case, however, your message
will have gotten through to the President directly, even though his mind may
also be somewhat affected by comments made by this third party. As the reader
has probably surmised, the citizen with the complaint represents the thought
form of the sender; the Chief of Staff, the thought forms of the receiver; and
the President, the receiver's finer physical body.
The readings go on to suggest ways in which we can judge whether or not we
are attuning to superconscious awareness. If we feel drained after a psychic
experience or at the end of an ESP test, we are probably not attuning ourselves
to this highest source.
This may be set as a criterion to any-yes, 'to all: When such an experiment,
such a trial, draws or tires, or makes the mind foggy or dull or become as a
drain upon the physical energies, know you are attuning wrong-and static has
entered, from some source! For the universal consciousness is constructive,
not destructive in any manner-but ever constructive in its activity with the
elements that make up an entity's experience in the physical consciousness.
792-2
According to the readings, the capacity to make contact with the divine within
oneself is the highest form of psychic ability. In a society that is still highly
impressed by phenomena and the results of attunement,, such as psychic readings
and psychokinesis, this concept might not be fully appreciated nor understood.
However, the fulfillment of our potential to know directly the divine is what
the readings place at the pinnacle of psychic experience.
Q-1. What is the highest possible psychic realization ... ?
A-1. That God, the Father, speaks directly to the sons of men-even as He has
promised. 440-4
A second way in which we can judge whether or not we have attuned to superconscious
awareness concerns the quality of the impression we receive; more specifically,
it involves evaluating the nature of the guidance contained within the information.
Superconscious awareness will always direct us to take the very best possible
action available to us. The importance of this principle cannot be underestimated
in our personal efforts to develop psychic ability. The evaluation of possible
psychic impressions is a problem which we will all face, and even as gifted
a psychic as Edgar Cayce wrestled with this very question, especially in the
early years of his work.
Often an intuition or a hunch may direct us to do something
which we can justify as permissible or acceptable; and yet, we are encouraged
in the readings to use a higher standard of judgment. Simply stated, the question
which we should pose to ourselves is this: Is this information or guidance directing
me to do the very highest or most loving thing possible? Whenever the answer
to this question is no, we are probably best off to seek further within ourselves
and attempt to contact a source of psychic information that can meet this standard.
Finally, in our consideration of the role of superconscious awareness, we should
keep in mind the confusion in meaning among these three words: mystic, psychic,
and occult. What does each of these terms signify about attunement to the superconscious?
The readings make the following simple distinction. The mystic experience is
a contact with the Spirit or superconscious mind without a simultaneous expression
in the physical world.
For example, in a trance-like state of ecstasy a person
may come in touch with the Infinite, but at that moment he loses contact with
his finite physical self. The occult, on the other hand, is limited to psychic
phenomena-experiencing the effects of higher-dimensional reality, without necessarily
having an experience of their origin. Attending a seance and having what sounds
like a dead relative's voice come through a medium would be an example of an
occult experience. The psychic, when experienced in the way recommended in the
readings, involves both an attunement to the superconscious and a simultaneous
expression in the physical world and conscious mind.
Q-1.... What is meant in the life reading by "Do not confuse the mystic,
the psychic, the occult forces, " and how is this to be accomplished?
A-1. Each of these terms-mystic, psychic, occult -represent phases of experience
in the human experience acting through the mental body, the spiritual body,
the physical body. While each of these are one, as the Father, the Son, the
Holy Spirit-the Body, the Mind, the Soul-mystic is as the spirit or the activity,
while the psychic is the soul, the occult is the mind. Do not confuse; for each
in their respective sphere-if and when taken alone-becomes confusing. The occult
is phenomena, or phenomenon. Alone considered it may become confusing. If the
mystic or the mysterious is considered alone it may become confusing. 1265-3
This reading suggests that there is a temptation inherent in each of these
three experiences. In each case this involves taking too limited a viewpoint.
For the mystic, the problem arises if he fails to integrate his profound experience
into daily life and human relationships. For the occultist, the problem comes
if he fails to hold a spiritual ideal in seeking such experiences and becomes
preoccupied with the phenomena. The temptation faced by the psychic is twofold:
(a) to lose his sense of balance between the mystical and the occult by focusing
too much in one direction, or (b) to forget that his psychic attunement must
be with something inside himself rather than with an outside source.
Actions in the material world
The final aspect of our model of how ESP works concerns the application of
a psychic impression. This involves taking an inner experience and translating
it into physical expression; the expression can be a verbal response, like guessing
a telepathy target or making a prediction about some future event, or a specific
action, such as buying a particular stock because of a dream that one hopes
was psychic in nature. In order to make our model comprehensive, we will also
want to indicate actions that are based on either perceptions from the material
world or impressions from imagination and memory. The following rather complex
diagram accounts for these various possibilities:
Although this aspect of our model may appear rather imposing to some readers,
it is relatively easy to follow if we begin with the point labeled "Input
from the senses." If the senses are receiving information primarily from
the outside world, then the first of our three types of conscious awareness
is created; this awareness is indicated by the box labeled "Conscious awareness
of physical world." If the senses are selecting information that comes
directly from the individual's own thought forms, this creates the second alternative,
indicated by the box labeled "Conscious awareness of subjective imagination
or memories." A third possibility is shown in the diagram by the box labeled
"Conscious awareness of paranormal experience," which may be the result
of the senses selecting information that has come from superconscious awareness
or from thought forms created by another person.
This, of course, is a simplified picture, in that the mind is capable of handling
a mixture of these three types of conscious awareness simultaneously. For example,
it can be cognizant of events in the material world and at the same time bring
a specific memory into consciousness. For our purposes, however, the situation
can be shown more clearly by separating these three kinds of conscious awareness,
though we must keep in mind the limitations that almost always arise when we
construct a model.
Three kinds of action in the world are also included in the model. The first
of these is represented by the box labeled "Actions in physical world."
These actions include behaviors that are based upon conscious awareness of the
material world and/or conscious awareness of inner, subjective thoughts. This
is the traditional view of how we operate in the world.
A second possible category of action results from coupling the conscious awareness
of the physical world with unconscious psychic impressions. Here we introduce
the effect of psychic impressions that have been stopped by the defense filter
(see the section on filtering factors). How much influence this filtered information
has probably depends to a large degree upon unconscious motivation to make use
of these impressions. This impulse may be strong enough to give this psychic
input an extremely significant role in determining our actions in the world.
In simpler terms, this process amounts to using our ESP unconsciously. As was
mentioned previously, research studies done by Rex Stanford and others have
shown that the unconscious use of psychic ability does in fact happen in a wide
variety of situations. It is not yet possible to say conclusively how frequently
an individual's actions might be affected by unconscious ESP. However, the readings
would suggest that in most conditions and behaviors psychic ability is used
to some degree, although we are rarely aware of it.
A third type of action in the physical world results from the conscious awareness
of paranormal or psychic information. Such conscious psychic impressions must
be translated into behavior if they are to have meaning. It is important to
realize that this translation also involves conscious thoughts and biases that
already exist . The following example should clarify this process and show how
it can be a source of difficulty. Let us imagine that a psychic who is asked
to predict what will happen during the next year closes her eyes and sees the
image of an elephant falling down and dying.
Suppose that this is in fact an
accurate psychic impression, a symbolic portrayal of a likely future event as
perceived from superconscious awareness. In this case, as with many psychic
impressions, the information from the superconscious is mixed with thought forms
from the unconscious mind of the psychic, creating a symbolic representation
that comes into consciousness. To continue our story, suppose that the psychic
then makes the verbal statement (i.e., an action interpreting the impression)
that the Republican Party is going to be badly beaten in the next election.
If, in fact, it turns out that during the next year a terrible disease wipes
out half of the elephant population in India, this will indicate the probability
that the psychic has misinterpreted her accurate impression. Though she may
claim to be totally impartial, her unconscious biases and motivations would
perhaps be the most likely cause of this misinterpretation.
In many ways it is what happens after the psychic impression comes into conscious
awareness that separates the effective psychic from the ineffective one. This
process of translating intuition into words and deeds is the test of how useful
psychic development will be. In some instances, our psychic information may
stimulate us into forceful activity; in others, the act of keeping silent and
waiting may be indicated as the most effective use of the impressions. The readings
tell us that in either case, keeping our minds focused on conscious thoughts
of love and service is the best way of insuring that our actions will accurately
reflect the impressions we receive.
Limitations in the Theory
The reader may have noticed shortcomings in specific areas of the theory that
has been proposed. One such problem is our incomplete understanding of the exact
way in which the finer physical body and associated thought forms are able to
interact with the flesh body. In essence, this is one form of the classical
mind-body problems: What is the nature of the connection between mental things
and physical things? However, this difficulty is not limited to the theory of
ESP derived from the readings; no generally accepted answer has been proposed
anywhere, and psychology, as well as parapsychology, usually skips over this
issue.
The readings are noteworthy in that they suggest possible locations for
a part of this interaction-within the spiritual centers and the endocrine system,
as well as within the connection between the sensory-motor and autonomic nervous
systems. Some readers may be particularly interested in this question of how
things that are nonmaterial are able to interact with the material world. One
especially promising theory, proposed by Evans Harris Walker (1975), makes use
of the principles of quantum mechanics.
Another shortcoming of our theory may be in explaining how psychokinesis (PK)
works. This phenomenon involves using only the mind to affect things in the
material world directly (in common parlance, "mind over matter").
Though the readings are not as clear on how PK operates as they are in explaining
the other forms of psychic ability, it almost undoubtedly involves the thought
forms of an individual. It may well be that the thought forms associated with
a particular spiritual center are most likely to be related to PK. The theory
that poltergeist phenomena-the activity of "ghosts" that have an effect
on the material world-may be a form of unconscious PK would seem to indicate
that the center involved is either the gonads or the cells of Leydig: such poltergeist
phenomena are frequently associated with an adolescent child who is going through
dramatic endocrine changes, especially in these two glandular centers.
In summary, a comprehensive model and theory of psychic ability has been proposed
in this chapter. It has several features usually not included in theories of
ESP: the finer physical body, the spiritual centers, and the influence of ideals.
An abbreviated version of the overall model appears on the following page. Having
studied the individual aspects of the model, the reader can now put all the
pieces together and see how they work as a whole.
Now we will explore specific procedures and elements of a life style that will
facilitate psychic development. These techniques and methods of application
should be much more meaningful to the reader who understands more clearly how
ESP works.