Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism | Page 8

the animal progressed along the scale of evolution, certain things became necessary for its protection and well-being. It could not reason on these things, so that wonderful intelligence dwelling, subconsciously, in the instinctive mind unfolded until it was able to grasp the situation and meet it. It aroused the "fighting instinct" in the brute for its preservation, and this action of the instinctive mind, very good for its purpose and essential to the preservation of the life of the animal, is still with us and occasionally projects itself into our mentality with a surprising degree of strength. There is a great deal of the old animal fighting spirit in us yet, although we have managed to control it and to hold it in restraint, thanks to the light obtained from our unfolding higher faculties. The instinctive mind also taught the animal how to build its nests, how to migrate before approaching winter, how to hibernate, and thousands of other things well known to students of natural history. And it teaches us how to do the many things which we perform instinctively, as it also assumes tasks which we learn how to perform by means of our intellect, and which we pass on to the instinctive mind, which afterward performs them automatically or nearly so. It is astonishing how many of our daily tasks are performed under the direction of our instinctive mind, subject merely to a casual supervision of the Intellect. When we learn to do things "by heart," we have really mastered them on the intellectual plane, and then passed them on to the instinctive plane of mentation. The woman with her sewing machine, the man who runs his engine, the painter with his brush, all find the instinctive mind a good friend, in fact the intellect would soon tire if it had these every - day tasks to perform. Note the difference between learning to do a thing, and then doing it after it has been learned. These manifestations of the instinctive mind are of course among its higher phases, and are due largely to its contact with and blending with the unfolding intellect.
The instinctive mind is also the "habit" mind. The intellect (either that of the owner of the instinctive mind, or of some other man) passes on ideas to it, which it afterward faithfully carries out to the letter, unless corrected or given better instructions, or worse ones, by the intellect of some one.
The instinctive mind is a queer storehouse. It is full of things received from a variety of sources. It contains many things which it has received through heredity; other things which have unfolded within it, the seeds of which were sown at the time of the primal impulse which started life along the path; other things which it has received from the intellect, including suggestions from others, as well as thought-waves sent out from the minds of others, which have taken lodgment within its corridors. All sorts of foolishness as well as wisdom is there. We will deal with this phase of the subject in future lessons, under the head of Suggestion and Auto Suggestion, Thought Power, etc.
Instinctive mind manifests varying degrees of consciousness, varying from almost absolute sub-consciousness to the simple consciousness of the highest of the lower animals and the lower forms of man.
Self-consciousness comes to man with the unfoldment of the intellect, and will be spoken of in its proper place. Cosmic or universal consciousness comes with the unfoldment of the spiritual mind and will be touched upon later on. This gradual growth of consciousness is a most interesting and important branch of the subject before us, and will be referred to, and spoken of, at different points in this course.
Before we pass on to the next principle, we must call your attention to the fact that the instinctive mind is the seat of the appetites, passions, desires, instincts, sensations, feelings, and emotions of the lower order, manifested in man as well as in the lower animals. There are of course higher ideas, emotions, aspirations, and desires, reaching the advanced man from the unfolding spiritual mind, but the animal desires, and the ordinary feelings, emotions, etc., belong to the instinctive mind. All the "feelings" belonging to our passional and emotional nature belong to this plane. All animal desires, such as hunger and thirst, sexual desires (on the physical plane); all passions, such as physical love, hatred, envy, malice, jealousy, revenge, are a part of it. The desire for the physical (unless as a means of reaching higher things), the longing for the material, all belong to this plane. The "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life," are on this plane. This principle is the most material of the three mental principles, and is the