William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

A man who descends into the depths of his sub-consciousness finds only that which has been stored up there. This alone is enough to give a man a wonderful knowledge of the past—of the process of evolution—of much miscellaneous information which is stored up there—of things long forgotten by the conscious mind—some say that even a memory of past lives may be obtained there by those who know how to look for it. But all that can be obtained from the sub-consciousness is what has been stored there. On the contrary, those who have been able to catch a gleam of that contained in the super-conscious faculties know that the knowledge so obtained is above man’s experience. It is a glimpse into an unknown world— an illumination. The man who has caught a glimpse of the knowledge contained in some of the super-conscious faculties is a changed man—life is no longer the same to him—where before he believed, he now knows .

At the best, the little field of consciousness known to the average man, even if to it may be added the entire field of the sub-conscious, is but small and petty. Most of the things which are the most important are outside of its scope, and his only knowledge of them comes to him as a reflection from the field of super-consciousness. Of course, the consciousness has grown—is growing—by reason of the unfoldment of the super-conscious faculties, but Man has merely touched the outer edge of super-consciousness.

Man cannot tell, by the exercise of his conscious faculties, whether there is a God, the fact cannot be grasped by the conscious mentality, and yet the faint glimpse of super-consciousness makes him feel that there is a God, and as he progresses he will know what he now feels. So it is with the question of the immortality of the Soul. The consciousness cannot prove it, and yet the super-consciousness makes us feel the truth of what we cannot prove or see. And yet these two questions exceed in importance any other questions before us to-day. All of our ethical principles—all of our morality—all of our plans of life—are based upon these two facts, which we do not know by reason of our consciousness, but which we feel are so because of the gradual unfoldment of the super-consciousness. As this unfoldment goes on our ideas of God become less crude—less childish. We see him as a much greater Presence than ever dreamt of by our forefathers, who could see in Him but a magnified man, with all of man’s failings, weaknesses and limitations. And Man of the future will have a concept as much higher than ours as ours is higher than that of the savage. And as this unfoldment goes on, our certainty of immortality becomes stronger. It becomes more of a matter of knowing than belief. In some of us the unfoldment has approached the field of consciousness, and some have awakened into a state of consciousness of immortality.

Just stop to think for a moment, and consider from whence come our feelings of Justice, Mercy, Love, Sympathy, Kindness. Not from the old consciousness surely. The Intellect does not tell us these things. Why should man show Love or Comradeship or Sympathy for another, if the Intellect alone decides the question? Why should not every man look out for himself and leave his brother to starve and suffer? Why should he not trample his brother in the mire and take his belongings? Is there anything in cold Intellect to tell you to do otherwise? Not a thing—not a thing. Then why do you not do these things? I’ll tell you why. Because you cannot . Because from the inner recesses of your Soul comes a protest. You do not stop to reason about the matter—you listen to the voice from within—gaze at the light that comes from the unfolding super-consciousness. But you say, all men have always had these feelings, and that you do not see what unfolding super-consciousness has to do with the question. Stop a moment! Did Man always feel thus? Was human sympathy always as marked as to-day? Were men always so broad in their love as to-day? No!—it is a gradual unfoldment—a steady opening. We are to-day little more than barbarians in some things, but we are growing as the unfoldment goes on, and some of these days it will be impossible for us to do that which seems perfectly natural for us to-day. In not so many years men will look back with amazement upon our record of warfare, bloodshed, killing, exterminating, and all the rest, and will wonder how a people of our intellectual development could have suffered these things to be done. They will view our acts as we view the crimes of the arena of ancient Rome. And our economic and social inhumanity to our brothers will seem horrible to the men and women of that day. It will seem incredible to them, as they will have reached a stage of spiritual unfoldment which will render it simply impossible for them to do the things which to-day seem perfectly natural and unavoidable to us. To them the Brotherhood of Man will be no idle dream, but a live everyday truth, worked out in their lives. They cannot avoid this—it will come with unfoldment.

From this region of the super-conscious comes that which is not contrary to reason, but which is beyond reason. This is the source of the illumination—enlightenment—inspiration. This is the region from which the poet obtains his inspiration—the writer his gift—the seer his vision—the prophet his knowledge. Many have received messages of this kind from the recesses of the super-consciousness, and have thought that they heard the voices of God—of angels—of spirits, but the voice came from within. In this region are to be found the sources of intuition. Some of these super-conscious faculties are higher than others, but each has its own part to play.

Many of the higher psychic powers lie latent within the region of the super-conscious. Some of us are able to use these gifts to a greater or lesser degree, but to all but a few this use is always more or less on the unconscious plane—we find it hard to manifest psychic powers to order. But by practice, and by growth, these gifts are brought within the realm of consciousness and we are enabled to use them just as we would use any other faculty of the mind or body. When man has attained this power he will have mastered wonderful forces, and will have at his disposal instruments and tools of which but few dream at this time. It is a wise provision of the Law that Man shall not acquire the use of these powers until he is ready for them. When he is ready for them, they come, and he then knows enough not to use them improperly. As the higher psychic faculties unfold, the spiritual faculties also unfold, thus making it impossible for the possessor to use his new found forces improperly. The man who aspires to high psychic powers must come with clean hands and clean heart. In truth, the very fact that he seeks power for the sake of power, shows that he is not the proper possessor of these gifts. It is only when he cares naught for power, that power comes. Strange paradox— wonderful wisdom.

This field of super-consciousness is a source of the highest happiness to the man who recognizes its existence, and who will open himself to the knowledge coming from it, even though the faculty be not fully unfolded. (You understand that the complete unfoldment of such a faculty brings it full into the field of consciousness, and it is no longer a super-conscious faculty, but belongs to our conscious mentality.) Many a man has received inspiration from within and has been given a message which astonished the world. Many poets, painters, writers, sculptors have acted upon the inspiration received from their super-consciousness. And you will notice that certain poems, certain writings, certain pictures, certain statues, have about them an undefinable something which appeals to us, and makes us feel their strength, which is absent from the productions of mere mental effort. Some of us are in the habit of saying that such productions have “soul” in them, and we are far nearer the truth than we realize when we say this. Some writers satisfy the intellect but fail to cause the reader to feel , while another writer will write a few verses or a short story and lo! the world is thrilled with the message. This is also true of the orator or speaker, who thrills an audience with a few simple words coming straight from the inner self, while a far more polished speaker attracts merely an intellectual interest.