The Art of Mental Alchemy
Man has felt enslaved to his thoughts & emotions for aeons of time. Lacking a clear direction & understanding of the Laws of the Universe, he feels like Nature’s victim. However, Man with his intellect actually stands above Nature. Nature merely follows blind Laws. Man has the potential to learn how to use these Laws for his benefit. It is a matter of practice & perseverance. From an understanding of the Laws of Nature has been groomed the Art of Mental Transmutation, a practice of Mental Alchemy developed thousands of years ago, & just now coming back to light.
Alchemy, in the past, has often been referred to as the process of transforming lead into gold. The average Man understands this process to happen purely on the physical plane. This misinformation deprives him of the ability to master his mind, thus master his life. Mental Alchemy is the process of transformation that happens on the mental & spiritual planes. Through Mental Alchemy, Man transforms his inner life from undesirable (lead) to desirable (gold). Now why would Man need a transformation on the invisible yet very existent mental & spiritual planes?
The rich Man like the poor Man has often expressed dissatisfaction with the conditions of his life. For the past few thousands of years, his solution to this dissatisfaction has been to change his external conditions. Be it a change of house, a change of car, a change of partner, or a change of country, Man has consistently seeked to make an external change that would hopefully lead to a boost in satisfaction levels. Unfortunately, Man has almost always been blighted in his attempts for happiness & satisfaction. Man has given far too much importance to his external circumstances, & far too little importance to his internal circumstances. By observing merely external conditions, he feels like he is constantly playing catch up to the Universe. He feels like everything just happens & he has no effect on anything. He feels like the victim of the Universe. This blatant misperception is what Mental Alchemy aims at transforming.
The Universe may seem very complicated to Man’s closed eyes, but its simplicity outstands him once he chooses to open his eyes. Evidently, this shift in attention does not happen on the physical plane. It happens on the mental plane. Once Man embraces responsibility for his thoughts, words, & actions, he unlocks the door that will lead him to Mastery. Man no longer blindly represses his thoughts & emotions. He starts investigating their nature. Through this open investigation, he will eventually gain control over his Mind. Through Mental Alchemy, Man will eventually gain control of his Powers. This process of transmutation may be divided into 3 sub-steps, that will be outlined hereafter.
1) Self-Awareness
Man’s pursuit of Self-Mastery inevitably starts with Self-Awareness. As long as Man is not aware of his inner conditions, he can do nothing to change them. His outer conditions are merely a reflection of his inner conditions. His external life is merely a reflection of his internal life. Self-Observation is a key pillar in the process of Mental Alchemy. Man must strive for awareness of his every thought, word, & action. Anytime he witnesses a negative thought come to consciousness, it is his duty to immediately investigate the origins of that thought. The average Man may feel baffled as to why he would have to do such a thing. Are his thoughts not the product of his private consciousness? How do his thoughts impact his life or the life of others in any way? Well, thoughts emit extremely strong waves of energy. These waves of energy are ultimately what dictates Man’s fate. If Man’s inner thought-life is dominated by negativity, his external conditions will inevitably follow suit. Negativity will be prevalent in his outer life. If Man desires a positive love-filled environment, he must nurture a positive love-filled environment within his own being. Through consistent Self-Observation, Man learns to recognize & discern positive thought & behavioural-patterns from negative thought & behavioural-patterns.
2) Self-Cleansing
Once Man has identified the harmful thoughts & emotions he harbours within, his next step is to cleanse his inner life of such negative frequencies of energy. He attentively investigates the origins of his relationships with each trigger of negativity. If he observes himself reacting negatively to a certain situation, his task becomes to investigate the root of the reaction. Man will notice that many of these roots have their origin in childhood & adolescent conditioning. Those are times when Man had as of yet very little awareness in regard to his thoughts & emotions. In those times is when he developed detrimental habits to his mental conditioning. Those habits have been replaying themselves over the years in a variety of shapes & forms, waiting hopelessly for Man to notice them & come to terms with them. In going through his storehouse of memories, Man will encounter many painful recollections. It is his task to crystalize each painful moment into Experience. He does this through active understanding & forgiveness of himself & his fellow humans. Now he may wonder as to how & why he should forgive someone or something that has inflicted pain onto his being. A quick recap of some Laws of Nature will provide him with sufficient material to re-structure his ill-mental habits.
Principle of Cause & Effect
The principle of Cause & Effect is always in motion. Each Cause has its Effect; Each Effect has its Cause. Not a single act has ever been committed out of pure luck. Man often finds it hard to recall the first Cause that enabled a chain of consequences that have led him to his current predicament. Nonetheless, there is always a Cause preceding an Effect. Any perceived pain inflicted onto him by a fellow human is never out of pure evil. There are specific Causes & Effects that led this human to behave the way he did. As a matter of fact, evil is simply ignorance veiled in negativity. When Man perceives himself as separate from the rest of the Universe, he finds a tendency to act selfishly. He believes that he can get away with it. He believes that it is beneficial for himself. Once Man realizes that he is an Individual Centre of Consciousness playing his part in the Infinite Cosmic Consciousness, he understands that he cannot separate himself from who he is. He cannot separate himself from the other Individual Centres of Consciousness nor from the Cosmic Whole.
Principle of Rhythm
Unfortunately for the ignorant Man, the Principle of Rhythm is Universally in motion. Man has always observed this principle on the physical plane, be it through the rising & fall of nations, the rising & fall of the Sun, or the rising & fall of the ocean. However, Man has mistakenly turned a blind eye to the fact that this principle is also in full effect on the mental plane. The Law of Karma is simply the Universal Principle of Rhythm in motion. What goes around comes around. What Man emits into the Universe; he receives. The negative action is always followed by the negative reaction. The positive reaction always follows the positive action. The swing of the pendulum is always in effect.
Principle of Polarity
The Principle of Polarity underlies the Principle of Rhythm. Everything manifested in the Universe has two poles, two opposites. These opposites are essentially the same in kind, yet infinitely different in degree. For instance, on the physical plane, hot/cold are merely different degrees of the same thing. You may also find hard/soft, gas/solid, or alive/dead as different examples of pairs of opposites. The Principle of Polarity is also in full effect on the mental plane of Man. Love/hate are essentially the same emotion, just experienced at different spectrums of the polarity scale. Joy/sadness is another example, as is fear/courage. Within these extremes does the Principle of Rhythm operate. Whenever one polarity is being manifested, its opposite is always existent in the unmanifested state. Man chooses which pole he wishes to manifest. The potential for manifestation of either-or is always present.
3) Self-Polarization
Once Man has grasped the different Principles underlying the Manifestation of Life, he may truly become a Master of Mental Transmutation. Essentially, what this practice of Alchemy consists of is transforming the negative mental habits into positive mental habits. Recognizing the presence of the Principle of Polarity in all thoughts & manifestations, he aims to transmute his thought & behavioural-patterns from the negative harmful pole to the positive empowering pole. Man understands that the negative manifested aspect of his thought has a positive unmanifested aspect to it as well. Hate, being the same thing in kind as Love, can be transformed into Love. Fear, being the same in kind as Courage, can be transmuted into Courage. Consequently, Man embarks on the lengthy process of transmuting his thought-life from negative to positive; from undesirable to desirable. Judgemental thought-patterns become empathetic thought-patterns. Anxious thought-patterns become serene thought-patterns. Unreliable behavioural-patterns becomes consistent behavioural-patterns. Unmindful behavioural-patterns becomes self-disciplined behavioural-patterns. By transmuting his inner life, his outer life inevitably follows suit.
Aiming for Mastery, Man tasks himself with transmuting every negative aspect of his mental character. Essentially, he transforms his vices into his virtues. Through this process of Mental Transmutation, he becomes Master of his Mind & of his Character. Instead of being a mere sheep to his thought-life, he tames his thought-life & takes the position of the shepherd. He asserts his Will-Power over his Mental Character & reshapes himself into the successful positive love-filled human he desires to be. Through extensive pain & suffering, he obtains extensive joy & satisfaction.
Food for thought…
Ego
