In The Brain at Will
Who
lives in this marvelous Hall of living walls of mortared osseous tissues fitted with
the various ocular, tactual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory doors?
This hall of life, the human skull, presents a veritable epitome of a huge
State. It includes the range of hilly convolutions of the cerebrum, inlaid with
the arterial streamlets and dark rivers of veins. Is this exquisite territory
vacant, unoccupied? Is this hall filled just with a senseless mass of physical
cells? Is there a book without an author, a child without parents, a clock
without a maker, a rose without a designer? Nay—and similarly there
are wondrous Ruling Agencies behind thisKingdom of Mystic
Beauty. Beneath the dome of the human skull is enacted scenes of
intense activity, pulsating life and intelligence. The strange colony of
myriads of little brainy cells are guided and controlled by a mixed host of
good and impish ...invisible —sprites, pixies and fairies of Unseen Habits.
There ....the little blood corpuscles are paddling their tiny boats laden
with various vitalcommodities in the arterial stream. There is buying
and selling—absorption and elimination ...going on here. The little intelligent
cells are engaged in banqueting or introspecting ....or receiving the guests of
sensations from the outer sensory doors. Some, are creating mischief
by inviting sprites of invisible Disorderly Habits into the Great Common-Wealth.
The
Habit Lords, and the Commoners—the brain-cells— are gathered together and are
furiously debating ....who should assume the responsibility of the Bodily Government. These United
States of Flesh have been the scenes of many wars and revolutions. At certain
election times, the whole State is in disorder and confusion. Who is
going to be President? How many votes will the various candidates receive?
Every human Action, mentally or physically performed, is a voter. When a
particular Action is repeated, it swells the number of its votes and a huge
number of such Actions ...elects a certain Habit-Candidate. Then a
collective vote of All Human Action —determines at different periods of life,
which Habit is going to be the predominant one and rule supreme.
Election
by numerical superiority often ignores the qualitative standard.
If the majority of voters are morons or criminals, they are bound to blunder
and elect the wrong Habit-Candidate. Unless the Voting Human Actions are
guided by the supreme law of discrimination, they enslave themselves
anew under an Undesirable Ruler.
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A
true Spiritual Democracy in this Bodily Kingdom —necessitates the thorough education of
the Voting Human Activities. They should not only depend on their numerical
power of repetition, but also on the quality of attentive performance.
Above all, they should be trained to be guided by Ideal Rationalism —and
warned against the bribing effects of Sentimental Environment, leading to the
misuse of their voting powers. The power of reason should select the
candidates. Habits of anger, greed, envy, drinking, excessive smoking, coffee or tea
drinking, sloth, failure ....result from their being elected to office by
unwise hordes of little Actions, whose numerical strength alone
elected them ....without thought of the after-effects of enslavement.
Habit-Slaves are not born, they make themselves so,
unknowingly or knowingly thru their constantly repeated actions. The first
drink never made a drunkard; the first act of sensuality ...never made a
sensual slave; the first use of dope ...never made a dope-fiend. A series
of mechanical or thoughtless repetitions of the wrong action elected
the Gripping Habit as Ruler. Quantitative strength won against
the weak qualitative voice of reason ...that had no votes because it
had not been exercising its powers.
Guard
yourself against the first performance of Evil Actions. What you will
do once ...you are liable to do again. Like a rolling snowball, Habit grows
stronger and bigger by repetition. Use your reason in all your Actions —
otherwise you become converted into helpless slaves of Undesirable Habits.
A
strong Bad-Habit —presiding for a long time in the Bodily State, brings chaos
and misery. Spiritual famine, mental fevers, universal poverty of body and
brain ...exist in a Kingdom thus misruled. A strong Bad-Habit should be
impeached before a tribunal of Daily Introspective and Conscience Judges, who
should inform the Daily-Offending-Actions that the inevitable outcome of their
persistence will be a nervous breakdown, wasted youth and exploded
happiness. This constant note of warning ...may serve gradually to awaken
the enslaved reason and will of the Habit-Bound Victim.
Many
excessive smokers, drunkards, sex-slaves are not free because they do not think
they are doing wrong and because they don't die immediately. But though the
shovels of Habit dig slowly, yet they dig surely ....a yawning untimely grave,
preceded by the scorching flames of suffering.
Convince
your Actions of the tyranny of the Undesirable Ruling Habit
first, then begin the work of constitutional agitation and
actual impeachment. A whining or sorrowing attitude, remonstrance, or
even violent but spasmodic rebellion ...is of little avail. You are the maker
of your Habits and you must undo them by regular effort.
Relate
your Actions to new ...better ways. Keep them continuously —busy,
interested, attentive— in serving and fraternizing with Good Actions. If
the Actions begin to revert back to their old dangerous associations ...don't
get discouraged. Persist, give sufficient time and attention ...and the voting
strength of the New Actions will increase and finally get power enough to
overthrow the worthless Ruler and elect in his place, their own Good-Candidate
Habit.
A
Bad Habit takes time to attain supremacy, so why be impatient about the growth
of its rivalling Good Habit? Do not despair about your Undesirable
Habits, simply stop feeding them by repetition.
The
time used in the formation of Habits ...varies with the individual kind of
nervous system and brain cells, and is chiefly determined by the quality of
attention. But any Habit can be installed in the brain, almost instantaneously
at will, by creating brain-grooves ...thru the power of deep
trained attention.
True
Democracy presupposes rational, willing obedience to good laws
—ungoaded by Higher Authority or any other external influences whatsoever.
Similarly, a Wise Man —one who is really free ...avoids error and performs good
—not compelled by Habit—but from free reasonable choice.
"To
him who hath ...shall be given; but from him who hath not ...shall be taken
away —even that which he hath." This Biblical statement is very true
of Habits. A man of Good Actions increases in virtue, but a slave of Bad Habits
—loses all power of will and reason.
All
national tastes, human customs —are results of Habits— and are environmental in
nature. Love of Americanism or
Hinduism is the outcome of Habit and
familiarity. When I was a baby —if I had a choice— I would have preferred to be
a human chameleon ...free to embrace the desirable aspects of all nations and
creeds.
Government
of Actions by internal self-evolved discrimination —unguided by Good
or Bad Habits— imparts unbounded power of will. A man with such power can
instantly fix a New Habit in his brain, or stop one at will, without feeling
the compulsion of a Habit-President. One must not be dominated by a Good Habit
either, because the Habit may be in power ...simply because there has never
been any temptation of Evil. Such a Good Habit is not permanently fixed in the
nature, because it is born —not from choice and reason, but thru circumstance.
One
way we can test our power over our Habits is to command the mind to like or
dislike a certain food at will. When I first arrived in America, I was served
at a dinner —some Roquefort cheese and crackers. No sooner had Mr. Roquefort
touched the palate and its arrival become known to the cerebral cells ...than
the Habit Lords rebelled and were about to upset the Honored Guests in my
stomach. I didn't enjoy this sudden embarrassment, and saw that everyone else
at the table was greatly enjoying this particular cheese. I strongly urged my
senses to immediately elect the Roquefort-cheese-enjoying Habit. I liked the
taste at once and do so to this day.
Why
do things happen contrary to your desires? Because ...your Habits are also
contrary to your desires, and —your Actions flatter your Habits. Your
Habits must cater to your True Ideals.
Habit is an automatic mental mechanism for performing Actions
......without the labor involved in initiating New Actions. Wrongly used,
this mechanism becomes man's arch-enemy. Be practical. Try from today to
overcome the hidden Enemy-Habits within you —garbed with your environmental
likings—and be free to act from reason alone. Your Habits are not you. Be
yourself ...and you will remember the lost image of God within you.
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