How The Mind Works
	The X-Ray Power Of The Mind <  Previous Contents Next  >

There are many things that the human mind can do and all of them are remarkable when viewed from the highest pinnacle of consciousness; but one of the greatest and most wonderful is the power of mind to see through things; that is, to cause the rays of its insight and discernment to pass through the problems of life just as the X-ray passes through opaque and tangible substances. This power is latent in every mind and is active to a considerable degree in many minds; and on account of the extreme value of this power its development should be promoted in every possible manner.

When this power is highly developed practically all mistakes can be avoided. The right thing can be done at the right time, and every opportunity can be taken advantage of when the psychological moment is at hand; and in addition that finer perception of life will be gained through which consciousness may expand into larger and larger fields until the mind goes beyond all limitations and lives in the spirit of the universal.

We are all surrounded by possibilities that can never be measured, possibilities that, if employed even in a limited degree, would make life many times as rich and beautiful as it is now. The average person, however, does not see these many larger and greater ways of adding to the value and worth of existence. In other words, he cannot see through the circumstances of his life and thus take possession of the more substantial elements of growth, attainment and realization. Therefore life with him continues to remain a very ordinary matter.

He may know that there are better things in store and that there is something just beyond his present conception of life that could change his life completely if he could only lay hold upon it; still here is where he fails. He is in the dark. He cannot see how to proceed in gaining those greater and better things that life must contain. There is something in the way of his vision, a cloud, a veil, or an obstacle of some kind that hides the path to better things. And he cannot see through the obstacle. For this reason he remains where he is, wondering why he has not the power to reach what he is absolutely certain could be reached.

Millions of minds complain, "If we could only have things cleared up." This is the problem everywhere. Therefore, if they could all see their way clear what might they not accomplish both for themselves and others. But as a rule they do not see their way clear. Occasional glimpses of light appear when the real path to all good things seems to reveal itself, but before they are ready to take this path another cloud comes in the way and they have no idea what to do next. This is the experience of the average person along these lines.

And there seems to be no hope for the average person of ever passing from the lesser to the greater. The reason seems to be that when everything looks bright and the way is clear for greater results, desirable changes, more happiness and a larger life, something invariably happens to confuse things again, and the way to pastures green has for the time being been closed up once more. However, there is a way out of all sorts of conditions and everybody can find this way. Though it is a fact well to remember that every individual must always see this way for himself.

To proceed, everybody must develop the power to see through things. In fact, see through all things, or in other words learn to use the X-ray of what may be termed superior degrees of intelligence. Every mind has this X-ray, this higher power to penetrate and see through the difficult and the confused. And there is no condition, no circumstance, no obstacle, no mystery through which this ray cannot penetrate.

Therefore, when we employ this X-ray of the mind we clear up everything, we see exactly where we are going, where we ought to go and where we should not go. So that to live constantly in the light of these finer grades of intelligence is to live in the cleared up atmosphere perpetually, no matter where our sphere of activity may be.

That those minds who live in the lower atmosphere of thought cannot see clearly where they are going is quite natural. Because in the first place these lower atmospheres of life are usually dense, being surcharged with the confused thought of the world; and in the second place, those who live in these lower grades do not employ the higher and finer rays of mental light.

We all know that the lower vibrations of physical light cannot pass through objects that are opaque. And we have also learned that the lower rays of mental light cannot pass through conditions and circumstances that are confused with discord and materiality. But it has been demonstrated that the higher rays of physical light can pass through almost any physical object. In like manner the higher rays of intelligence or mental light can see through almost anything in the mental world. And, therefore, the one who employs these higher rays of his mind will have the power to see through all things in his life.

However, when we speak of higher grades of intelligence as being the power that can see through things we must not infer that such intelligence is too high to be gained by the average individual. For the fact is that we all have this higher intelligence or finer rays of mental light active within us at all times. The secret is simply to learn how to apply these finer rays of mental light; thus we shall all be able to exercise the power to see through things.

The difference between the lower and the higher rays of light is found almost wholly in the attitude of the mind. That is, it is materiality on the one hand and spirituality on the other hand. By materiality we mean the attitude of mind that looks down; an attitude that is absorbed wholly in things; that dwells on the surface, and that lives exclusively for the body, not being consciously interested in anything but the body.

By spirituality we mean that attitude of the mind that gives an upward look to every thought, every desire, every motive, every feeling and every action of the entire being of man. But this upward look is not an attitude that looks for the invisible, nor an attitude that dreams of the glories of another sphere of existence. It is an attitude that simply looks for the greater possibilities that exist everywhere now, and for the beauty and the truth that crowns the whole world.

The mind that is material or that lives exclusively in the world of things is more or less in the clouds of confusion, therefore employs the lesser rays of intelligence, those rays that do not have the power to see through things. Such a mind, therefore, can never be in a cleared-up mental atmosphere. At times those minds that have been conscious of higher grades of mentality and that have seen the superiority and the brilliancy of this higher intelligence within them, may fall down temporarily into materiality, and for the time being they may lose sight completely of the higher consciousness of truth which they previously gained. Thus they frequently forget every principle in higher experience that once was so vivid, and while in this state of depression they generally conclude that all is sin, sorrow and human weakness after all; that is, it seems so to such a mind, because at such a time it is only the discord of the world and the results of mistakes that are discerned.

While in this submerged state the mind cannot see the splendors that are immediately beyond, and he cannot feel the supreme joy that higher realms have in store. Accordingly he comes to the conclusion that all is trouble and pain; he feels nothing else, knows nothing else and has temporarily forgotten the light and the joy that be knew while in higher realms of consciousness. The wise man who wrote the proverbs was in this lower mentality when he declared that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. And he spoke the truth about that lower world, that is, that material state that is composed wholly of the mistakes of man.

That material state, however, is not the only world that there is. There are other and finer worlds in the mind of man -worlds where vanity does not exist and where nothing vexes the spirit. It is these higher and finer worlds of the mind that we must train ourselves to love, if we wish to see through things and thus learn to understand things as they really are. Then we shall find that the wrong is insignificant compared with the immensity of the right and the good.

When we look at things from a worldly or materialistic point of view, things do not appear very well, nor are things always very well in that particular state. They are frequently wrong and misdirected. But when we learn to see through things and see all things as they are we change our minds. Then we discover other worlds and other and higher stories to the mansion in which we live. The cellar is usually dark and damp, but how much better we find it further up. And yet when the average person is in the cellar of his mind he imagines that it is the only place there is and that there is neither light, comfort nor joy in the world. But why should we ever enter the cellar of the mind, and why should we permit a dark damp cellar to exist in our minds at all? There is no need of it in human life, for it is simply the sum total of our mistakes, and does not represent the real mansion of existence in any sense of the term.

The whole of the being of man should be illumined and every atom should be filled with harmony, comfort, joy and life. When the mind that had fallen down comes up again it realizes how absurd it was to forget all the truth and all the joy of real existence simply because there were a few clouds for a little time. However, after a few such experiences the mind learns to interpret the experience of the cellar and does not consider it real any more, but on the contrary makes haste to prevent that experience as well as all other descending attitudes in the future.

The mind that has never experienced the higher phases of consciousness does not know how to proceed to prevent the more adverse experiences of ordinary existence, and therefore will remain among the dense fogs of confusion more or less until taught how to rise into the finer grades of mental light. To proceed in rising above these undesirable conditions the first step to take is to make harmony, happiness and brightness of spirit the great objects in view. Even when we simply think of these states we elevate the mind in a measure, and whenever the mind is elevated to some extent we find that finer light comes into our world of intelligence; that is, the higher rays of mentality begin to express themselves and many things begin to clear up.

In this connection it is well to remember that our brightest ideas come while we are on the mountaintop of intellectual activity, and also that we can find the correct answer to almost any problem that may appear in personal life if we only go up in mind as high as we possibly can reach at the time. While the mind is up in those finer grades of intellect the most abstract principles are comprehended with almost no mental effort, and the path to greater things becomes as clear as the midday sun.

It is therefore a great and valuable accomplishment to be able to go up in the mind as high as one may wish. For to bring superior intelligence into constant use is to live in the world of absolute light itself, the reason being that this intelligence actually does possess X-ray power of penetration in the mental world. There is nothing that this ray cannot see through, and there nothing is hidden that it cannot reveal to light.

Again we must remember, however, that it is not necessary to attain an enormous amount of wisdom and knowledge in order to gain the power to see through things in this way, because every stage of development that exists has the power to see through everything that may appear in that particular stage. Every individual in his present state has the power to see through everything in that state, that is, a finer grade of a mental light that belongs to that particular state and it has the X-ray power of penetration in its own sphere. Accordingly he can learn to see through everything where he is without becoming a mental giant, or without acquiring wisdom which belongs exclusively to higher states of mental attainment.

The idea is to live in the upper story of your mental world whatever that world may be now, because by entering the upper story of your mental world you enter that state of your present intelligence that can see through everything that pertains to your present world. In order to enter the upper story of the mind the whole of life should be concentrated so to speak, upon the most superior states of existence that we can conceive of. This will cause the mind to become ascending in its attitude and the power of the ascending mind is immense. Such a mind will steadily grow upward and onward towards higher and finer grades of intellect, wisdom and mental light, and gradually this power to see through things will be gained. In addition everything will be turned to greater use and better use, and thus be made more conducive to a life of beauty, richness and joy.

However, when we proceed to consecrate a life to the superior in this manner we do not leave the world of things. We simply turn the life and the power of all things towards the higher, the larger and the better. We thereby cause the world of things to move steadily towards superior states of life and action. As we enter more and more into this upper realm of thought, light and understanding we should employ this penetrating power of finer intelligence in connection with every move we make. For it is the constant use and the true use of a power that develops that power. Therefore, we should do nothing without first turning on the X-ray of the mind. In other words, we should view every circumstance from the standpoint of a clearer perception before any decision is made, and we should seek to secure the very highest viewpoint under every circumstance. This will not only give the mind a better understanding of how to proceed, but the faculty of finer discernment will be developed constantly, and our growth in wisdom and intellectual brilliancy will in time become remarkable.

In this connection we should remember that nearly all the missteps that are taken in the average life are the results of the mind's failure to penetrate the surface of things and conditions so as to see the real nature of the factors at work. But the lower mental rays, that is, that phase of intelligence that we use while in the lower story of the mind, do not possess.