Namaskar, welcome to Session 4 of the Layers of the Mind course.
We’ve gone through both the crude and subtle minds. Now we come to the Causal Mind. In Western psychology it was given the name “unconscious”, and although Freud recognized it on the individual level, it was Carl Jung who went on to develop the idea of the “collective unconscious”, although the idea had already been around a long time in Eastern philosophy. Because the term “unconscious” tends to imply absence of consciousness — the exact opposite of the actual reality — the better name is “causal” mind, signifying that it is the deepest layer of the mind in the most direct contact with the causal consciousness within which the mind exists and from which all knowledge emanates.
The crude and subtle minds are the layers we use most. We need them to take care of all the different problems that come up in our lives, but their over-use inhibits the expression of the Causal Mind. Whereas the crude and subtle minds are characteristic to each individual, the Causal Mind is common to everyone, being the deepest layer of the Cosmic Mind. It can be likened to the depths of the ocean, where the waves on the surface represent the subtle and crude layers of individual minds. On the surface the water is “divided” into different waves, but in the depths there is no turbulence or division.
The Causal Mind itself has within it three different depths. The first shallow layer is called the Supramental Mind. This is the layer of intuition, which gives the capacity for such phenomena as intuitive dreams, clairvoyance, telepathy and creative insight.
Intuition is sometimes known as the “Sixth Sense.” You may have noticed that sometimes when you think of something it happens. You may think of a friend and then almost immediately she or he will call or email. This is a type of intuition.
There are many examples of important discoveries or great works of art coming from inspiration from the Supramental Mind. Intuitive insight is transferred through this layer from the vast storehouse of infinite Cosmic knowledge in the deeper layers of the Cosmic Mind. One way in which this happens is through intuitive dreams. For this reason they have real significance in life because they can reveal important information. They often occur when someone is thinking very deeply about a certain problem and their mind is concentrated very acutely on that problem.
A man called Elias Howe was working on an invention. He had everything worked out except for one problem that he just couldn’t solve. Then one night he dreamt that he was captured by a tribe of people and they were dancing around him with spears in their hands. Then he noticed something unusual about those spears: each one had a hole in the tip. In a flash of insight he got the solution to his problem: put the hole at the tip of the needle, and he invented the first sewing machine!
So intuition can be a very useful faculty to develop. Its natural means of development is through psychic clash. This means the clash between minds — having a disagreement with friends or family, exam pressure, stress at work, etc. Through this type of clash the mind develops from the subtle (cognitive) into the causal (intuitive) sphere. This development is accelerated by special techniques of meditation that allow the mind to withdraw itself from the day-to-day reality of everyday life and come into contact with the deeper intuitive layers. These techniques are part of the more advanced lessons of meditation. Reply to this email if you would like to learn them.
“The attainment of one’s inner self is only possible through love for the Infinite… Fill your heart with love of the Infinite, and your soul will be transformed into the Supreme Soul. No worldly happiness is limitless. Dedicate yourself completely to the blissful ocean of the Supreme Soul. Then alone will you realize what happiness really is.”
Shrii Shrii Anandamurti
When you’re ready, go to the next session…
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