Abuse Of Lower Psychic Powers

Let us now consider how the abuse of the lower psychic powers may be arrested temporarily until such time as the initiate may seek to use them, in full consciousness and with full control.

The prime difficulty of the natural psychic and of the man who is born as a medium is his inability intelligently to control the phenomena evidenced. Lack of control of the physical powers is deemed highly undesirable. Lack of psychic control should also be relegated to the same category. The  medium is either in trance or his psychic powers are brought into expression through the stimulation which comes from his contact with the group of sitters in the seance room or from a large audience. In other cases, he is all the time living on the borderland of consciousness between the physical and the psychic or astral planes. How can this be changed, provided the medium wishes for such a change, which is rare indeed. In three ways only:

1. By ceasing to be interested in the display of these powers, by refusing to use them any more and by this means causing them gradually to die out. This leads to the closing of the solar plexus center (and consequently of the open door to the lower levels of the astral plane) and the atrophying of that part of the inner mechanism which has made these powers available.
2. By the transference of the attention to the mystical life and to the expression of an intense aspiration towards the spiritual realities. This provides the new interest which eventually becomes dynamically expulsive of the old interests and thus tends to shift the life-emphasis away from the lower levels of the astral plane to the higher levels. This also presupposes a tendency to spiritual orientation on the part of the psychic.
3. By a course of intellectual training and of mental development which would, if persisted in for a sufficient length of time, automatically make the use of the lower powers impossible because the shift of the flow of energy will be into the centers above the diaphragm. It is well known in psychic circles that mental training does bring to a close the psychic cycle.

There are three ancient rules which – in the last period of the Atlantean cycle – were given by the Adepts of the time to Their disciples. You must bear in mind that the problem before the Hierarchy at that time was to bring to an end temporarily the then normal psychic emphasis and start the flow of the forces to the upper part of the body. These three rules can be connected in your minds with the three methods touched upon above.

1. Shun the pits of hell, Oh, Chela. Let your feet go hurrying from the lower way and seek the upper reaches of the plane of glamor. Ascend. Choose for your good companions those who live a life of arduous labor upon the plains of earth. Depart. Descend and live the normal life of Earth. Depart.
2. Lift up thine eyes, Oh, Chela, and cleanse thine heart and see the vision of thy soul. Look up, not down; within, not out. Live free and hasten towards the higher goal. Depart and seek the distant secret place where dwells thy soul.
3. Energy follows thought, the ancient rule proclaims. Think, Chela, think and leave behind the realms where thought rules not and where no light revealing can be seen but only self-engendered light and thus deluding. So, therefore, think.

These rules sound simple and familiar but are of profound difficulty to follow, particularly in the case of the average psychic, and this for two reasons; first, he does not truly desire the loss of the power which the use of the powers confers, and secondly, his mental perception is as a rule so undeveloped that the effort to transfer his consciousness into the higher levels of expression proves too arduous a task. But, where the will is active and the peril entailed by continuing to work on the lowest astral levels is adequately perceived, then in due time the needed effort will be made.

The above rules apply to the psychic who is willing enough and intelligent enough to change his orientation and type of work. But what of the man who has drifted into the dangerous ways of the lower psychism when he is an Aryan in consciousness and not an Atlantean? What can he do if the solar plexus center is over-active and the door to the astral plane stands wide open? He seeks to shut it and to function normally; he distrusts and fears his psychic powers of sight and hearing. There is no one specific or one rule of conduct for much is dependent upon the originating cause, but I will here suggest various rules and remedial lines of behavior.

1. If the door to the astral plane has been opened by following certain breathing exercises, plus certain postures, and other methods taught by ignorant teachers at this time, I would suggest certain preliminary and necessary steps, as follows:

1. Let the man drop all such exercises and postures and avoid all contact with the teacher. This is a first and necessary step.
2. Let him live a full life of physical activity, permitting himself no time for the introspective life. If he is materially minded, let him fulfil his commercial, business or social obligations, by physical plane interests and his due responsibilities with every power he has, permitting himself no backward thought.
3. Let him focus his attention upon the things of physical living until such time as evolution carries him to the stage of mental focusing and spiritual orientation. Before this can be done, the lower door must be closed. Let him, therefore, control emotion, for emotion serves to keep the door ajar and facilitates astral experience.
4. Let him “learn to work and think with the spine and head and not with the forefront of the body”, as the ancient rule can be translated. The idea is that the average psychic regards the solar plexus and throat centers (the only two about which they seem to know anything) as existing in the front and center of the torso or the front of the throat. This carries the energy downwards by the involutionary route and not upwards by the evolutionary route of the spinal column. This is of moment.

2. If the door to the astral plane is open because of natural birthright, the activity of previous lives and because the flow of the forces normally focuses in the solar plexus, the problem is much more difficult. It will be necessary to gain:

1. Some understanding of the etheric constitution of man and teaching must be given as to the nature of the centers of force so that the Aryan psychic has some intelligent background upon which to work. The effort must be made to build a healthy body.
2. Higher goals must be emphasized and the necessity for the life of service must be stressed. I would remind you that service is a scientific method whereby the forces which awaken, stimulate and control the solar plexus are directed to the heart center, thus causing the closing of the astral door and a decentralization of the interests of the psychic. This decentralization is technically fulfiled when the central plexus is no longer the dominant factor and the thought interests of the man are of a different nature.
3. One other practical hint may be useful here. When the psychic is at the Aryan stage of unfoldment and is not simply at the Atlantean, then much good can come from the frequent use of the color yellow. He should surround himself with that color, for it serves to keep the inflowing energies in the head or to prevent their descent no lower than the diaphragm. This deprives the solar plexus of a constant inflow of energy and greatly aids in freeing of the psychic from the astral plane. I would point out here that the psychic with the Atlantean consciousness (and they constitute the great majority) is functioning normally when displaying the psychic faculties, though along an arc of retrogression, but the man with the Aryan consciousness who displays these powers is an abnormality.

3. Where the danger is of a serious nature, producing great nervous tension or excessive debility, extreme care must be used. Where there is a violent fight against the psychic activity going on, or where there is a nervous breakdown and loss of mental grip and control, then it is essential that at times the psychic should be forced to take a long rest in bed, with light diet and complete freedom from all contacts. It may be necessary at times to put him under restraint. Today, many such cases – fighting hard for mental equilibrium and seeking to close the astral door – are deemed insane or on the border line of insanity. Their plight is greatly enhanced by the lack of understanding of their friends, and of the consulting physicians and psychologists. Their trouble is not mental but is entirely related to the solar plexus. Only when this is recognized will we begin to have a right handling of these problem cases. It is rare indeed to find a psychologist who would be willing to admit the possibility of these premises.

When psychic difficulties arise in the case of the advanced mystic, the disciple or the occult student, the mode of approach has to be more definitely scientific, for the trouble is more deep seated owing to the fact that the mind is more involved. Definite work with the centers up the spine and in the head is in order but must be carried forward under careful supervision. I cannot here give the exercises which lead to

1. The closing of the different centers
2. The opening of the higher centers
3. The transference of force from one center to another.

This treatise [Esoteric Psychology II] is intended primarily for the general public and will be widely read during the next generation. Should I give them here, my readers might experiment with them and only succeed in doing real harm to themselves.