Human nature is a composition of body and mind. It is the activities of the mind we term the spiritual. Every action of the mind is expressed by the body, and the body in return affects the mind as well. On top of this there is that thing that can say "I am" that needs their service for its own fulfillment. That is your soul- the master. The mind and the body are two vehicles the soul needs for its work on this plane. The mind is a "dynamo", the body only expresses what is in the mind in speech and actions, in habits and characters. And the "I am" that's you, is supposed to control the two in unison. The ability to control the mind will lead to the control of the body. If we are able to tell the mind "be still" and it obeys, then we can instruct it as well to summon other minds or spirits to our obedience. Every thing we are doing that is not acceptable to us which give us embarrassment and we wish we can stop is our starting point. If you are able to control your mind to stop it, to hold your anger for example, and gradually manage your eventual expression in such a way that you did not add more turmoil into the world, you have started your spiritual growth. Let us look into what is behind it.
Human body is a product of an egg like every other being. At very early stage, this egg determine the nature of our being before birth. The egg in its development, form 3 layered body: 1)the inside layer which grows to be stomach, 2) the middle layer which grows into bones and muscles, 3) the outside layer which becomes the brain. These three layers don't often develop equally in all human beings. Some has the part that concerns the stomach very developed and others have the muscle or brain more developed. In this way, some people are mainly "digestion-minded", "muscle-minded" and "brain-minded". The digestion-minded likes to take in things: likes to take in food, affection and approval as well. When he faces a problem he will often want to go to where he can eat and drink and be in good company at a time when he might be better off attending to the problem. The muscle-minded will want to go out and do something about it, master the situation even if what he does is foolish and not proper. The brain-minded" will go off by himself and think it over seeking to resolve it within, when perhaps he would be better off doing something about it or seeking good company to try to forget it. Since these nature depend on the growth of the layers of the little egg, they are very difficult to change. It is therefore necessary we know this about the people around us and about ourselves, so that we can have idea of what to expect from such people and be able to make the necessary allowances for their idiosyncrasies. This will also enable you to know yourself and be able to control some tendencies that can make you make mistakes over and over again in handling certain difficulties.
We can see that depending on how the human egg is constituted at the point of conception will partly determine how a person acts and reacts. The glands of the body contribute to how the body behaves. The thyroid gland acts like an accelerator and keeps active or inactive the body. A person whose thyroid is overactive tends to lose weight or whereby it is under active it causes the person to be sluggish. The adrenal glands are attached to the kidneys. They prepare us for action when we are angry or afraid by calling up extra energy so that we can fight or run. Sometimes we are angry or afraid without being able to do anything about it, so that this extra energy is not used. Something has to happen to this energy, and since it was not used outwardly, it therefore exert itself on several part of the body causing pounding and other disagreeable sensation in the body.
The gonad gland supply vigor and interest for certain special purposes. We may say that the adrenals assist the instinct of self- preservation by releasing added strength for separation or destruction The testicles and ovaries which are where the gonad is, assist through the feeling of sex to give added interest to certain constructive activities. The gonad is central to the spiritual need of attraction, the feeling of approach, affection, creativity and productivity. However the glands do not determine how we accomplish the push they have ignited in us but they are central to the energy outbursts in us. This is where the mind comes in. The mind must be able to control the body push towards some certain ideas and feelings. The more the mind stands up against certain body desires the more it becomes rewired and energised to enforce the instalment of other conditions. This is because the glands in their active or passive functioning are instrumental to how we feel and if the mind has the power to direct them, it can instruct them to make corrections where necessary, and this is the source of spirituality.
In earlier discourses we said that a person acts and feels, not according to what things are really like, but according to his or her mental image of what they are like. Everyone has such image of himself or herself, the world, and those around them and behave as though, those images, rather than the objects they represent were the truth. The images have the same pattern in almost every individual. If there is any reason to think anything to the contrary, deep down in their minds people hate to believe it. They like to continue to feel according to these images regardless of whether they correspond to what is really there. If they are forced to change them, they become sad and agitated, and even mentally ill. You see this in fanatics: a lover, religious people etc. People's image of their own bodies for example, are very difficult to change. People's image of their parents and children are also very difficult to change. There are other images which belong only to certain individuals because of special circumstances, and this also are hard to change.
The mental image of someone's first experience may frustrate his future interest. Such mental images, which guide our behaviour, are charged with feeling. Though the individual may change his or her images gradually as times passes, he or she would not like to have others try to change them for him or her before they are ready. That is why people shout and become agitated during an argument. We have an understandable but unreasonable tendency to dislike people who beat us in an argument, who tell us that our cherished image are not what they are cracked up to be. We are also annoyed by someone who try to make us like people of whom we have a hateful image. It is always wise to be tactful in bringing a superior, a friend, a husband or a wife face to face with the fact that their images and reality do not correspond. This is more necessary where the person has a history of uncontrollable thyroid and adrenal explosion.
These dynamic images are stored in our mind, even when we are not remembering them. These images consist of two things: 1) symbolic representation and 2) a charged feeling. The charge may be positive or negative that's love or hate. The representation give the image a shape, and the charge gives it energy(this shall be handy when we come to dream interpretation). Images are made of different flexibility. Some people have soft images and others have hard images. Those with soft images melt easily under a simple convictions, and face disappointments for undisciplined expectations, while the hard image stands up against the assault of reality with no change up to a certain point, and then suddenly crack wide open, causing great anxiety to the individual. Adjustment depends on the ability to change one's images to correspond to a new reality. Most times flexibility is often more important than intelligence for success in any field. The successful person is the one whose images correspond most closely to reality, because then his actions will lead to the results which he imagines. A man's failures depend upon the fact that his images do not correspond to reality, whether he is dealing with marriage, politics or business. A great man or woman is the one who finds out what the world is really like, and tries to change the world to match their image or fit into it. One of the most important things in life is to understand reality and to keep changing our images to correspond to it, for it is our images which determine our actions and feelings, and the more accurate they are the easier it will be for us to attain happiness and stay happy in an ever changing world.
Human beings, if nothing interfered, would tend to act in such a way at every moment as to try to relieve their strongest tensions by gratifying their dearest wishes. The problem with human beings is that it is necessary to postpone the relief of some tensions in order to avoid setting up new and more painful tensions such as embarrassment. This has a lot to do with why some people get splitting headaches and burning pains in the sacral areas(upper stomach), while some do not. Therefore we have to learn how to handle and judge our surroundings so as to reduce the danger of being thwarted or destroyed when we finally act. This is the problem of control. Man has learn to control three group of forces: 1) Himself or Herself 2) other people, and 3) Nature. This is called Reality Principles. This requires the forming of clear cut images. The reason life is so difficult is that the soul-master is in such a complicated situation. It has the forces of mind, nature and other people to contend with. We must therefore have a clear cut idea of Reality and understand how we function in it.
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