To the world of the intellect, a glass door must be considered solid, as it is in the world of physical senses. In other quite as factual terms, indeed in the larger frameworks of facts, the door of course is not solid at all, as no objects are. Obviously that is known to science.
Science delegates the world of nature as the realm of exterior natural events. Its view of nature is therefore mechanistic. The natural self, however, like the rest of nature, possesses a rich dimension of inside psychological depth, that science, because of its own definitions, cannot perceive. Telepathy and clairvoyance, for example, are a part of natural effects, but they belong to a nature so much more expansive than science’s definitions that they have been made to appear as highly unnatural eccentricities of behavior rather than as natural components of consciousness.
It is also for that reason that they seem to fall outside of the realm of the s-a-n-e. Such characteristics are, however, basic properties of the natural person. They do not appear very well under the auspices of the scientific method, because the scientific method is itself programmed to perceive only information that fits into its preconceived patterns. Such abilities appear to be unpredictable, discontinuous, only because we are so relatively unaware of what is actually quite constant psychological behavior. That is, such abilities operate so smoothly, so continuously, and with such ease that we become aware of them only under certain conditions. We are aware of what seem to be isolated hints of odd characteristics.
The intellect is basically able to handle many kinds of information, and information systems. It is far more flexible that we presently allow it to be. It can handle several main world views at once, realizing that they are each methods of perceiving and approaching reality. To some degree historically speaking, that sort of situation operated in the past when — comparatively speaking, now — people realized that there was indeed an inner world of complexity and richness that could be approached in certain fashions, one that existed alongside with the physical world, so that the two intersected. Certain approaches worked in one area, and others worked in the inner reality.
The intellect could handle both approaches, operating with separate assumptions. There were separate assumptions that applied to different realities. I do not mean to idealize those times. In so-called modern ages, however, the intellect has been stripped down, so to speak. Science perceived the spectacular complexity of exterior reality, but turned its sights completely away from any recognition — any at all — until regarded subjectivity itself as a mere throw-away product, accidentally formed by a mindless matter.
All of this applies to our situation, for I want you to thoroughly understand, intellectually and emotionally, the errors of current thought, so that we can see that our material is indeed providing us not only with “creative material,” but with a more factual presentation of the framework in which we have our existence.
In modern times, then, the intellect was finally left with only one acceptable world view, with one set of assumptions, with only one main approach to reality and experience. The acceptable assumptions to a large extent ran directly contradictory to built-in biological, spiritual, and psychological assumptions that are a part of man’s and woman’s heritage. The intellect does try to order experience, to make sense out of perception. When it is enriched by having in its possession several world views, then it does an excellent job of merging those into meaningful patterns, of sorting information and sending it to the proper places, so to speak.
It understands, for example, that clairvoyant material is a part of the personality’s overall characteristics, so it is not afraid of perceiving it — and it is able to separate such information confusion from present physical sense perception. Orderliness, then, is one of its main characteristics. When it is given only one world view, and only one group of assumptions, its orderly nature causes it to throw out all information that does not fit. It is almost forced to make an orderly picture, say like a jigsaw puzzle picture, while being denied half of the pieces.
The intellect is not to blame. It does the best it can under those conditions.
Now in our dreams, we are quite clearly seeing the threshold between physical reality and the magical dimension in which that physical reality has its source. We are being shown — or showing ourselves — the difference in the rules or assumptions between the two. The dog’s desire for food led him to walk magically through the door, for the desires of the natural creature are satisfied with an ease that has nothing to do with our ideas of work. What I am getting at is the introduction of the concepts of a different kind of work — very valuable, vital work that is performed at another level and in a different fashion.
A prime example, of course, is the “work” done to keep each and every creature alive and breathing, the “work” done to keep the planets in their places, the “work” being done so that one evolutionist can meditate over his or her theories.
Now in our dreams we get the feeling of that kind of work, or action. It is the given power of the world, the given power of nature. It is the directed force of value fulfillment. In other terms it is of course the energy of All That Is. The trouble is that the rational view of life has separated man and woman from a sense of his or her own power source. When he or she have a problem, the rational approach to its solution seems the only answer, and often, of course, it is no answer at all.
I want to make sure that I am right. I try to go ahead and not go ahead at the same time. I try to be daring and cautious, brave and safe. This applies to some extent to each of us, of course, precisely because we are gifted strongly both intellectually and intuitively. We try rationalize our creativity, to some extent. The rational line of thought finds creativity highly disruptive, so in those terms as highly gifted creative people, we would have encountered some difficulties in any case.
It is time that we regarded such difficulties instead as challenges that are a part of a creative adventure that we have ourselves chosen. We chose the adventure because it is the kind best suited to our own individual value fulfillment. In reconciling the many concepts and contradictions for ourselves, we also lead the way for many others. It would, again, help considerably if we thought of our work more as an adventure, an exciting creative adventure, than of work in our old terms.
This will allow us to include the feeling of inner, magical “work” in our calculations. It would also begin to give us a feeling for the magical support that upholds us, and our lives — the support that we can count upon, and that can bring about the solution to our physical difficulties. Here, the vital word is ease of effortlessness. If we want to feed a dog in the physical world — and he or she is on the other side of the door — we must open it. In the inner world we or the dog can walk through the door without effort, because desire is action. Desire is action.
In the inner world, our desires bring about their own fulfillment, effortlessly. That inner world, and the exterior one, intersect and interweave. They only appear separate. In the physical world, time may have to elapse, or whatever. Conditions may have to change, or whatever, but the desire will bring about the proper results. The feeling of effortlessness is what is important. It is quite proper for our intellect to understand this, and to say, simply now, ” That is not my realm. I will leave the solution to that problem where it belongs. We will use the magical approach here.”
Of course, an entire reorientation is instead implied, and that entire reorientation will effortlessly bring about a new relationship in our bodies and our lives, and with the adventure we embark upon. We will simply automatically get better, because the framework will allow us to do so.
Within our time scheme each physically-endowed consciousness, whatever its form or size or complexity, inherently seeks to fulfill its own highest potential — not only for itself, but for the benefit of each other such consciousness in our reality. There is no drifting through life, then, but a built-in search for the fulfillment of values, whatever possible successes, conflicts, or failures may be involved, and no matter how modest or great or complex any of those qualities may be. The ecstasy and love of being always operate to ensure the quality and growth of life’s existence through value fulfillment.
