One destined to become a great mathematician stumbles in childhood with despair over the first addition sum, and the most distinguished musician has to do battle with the rudiments of music.
Thus it is in clairvoyance. Seemingly insuperable difficulties surround the novice who has never learnt to recognize the value and power of the sixth sense. Patience, a tranquil, determined mind, and not a little courage, are necessary in this branch of science. Time and growth work wonders in the persistent mind, and it will be seen that the obstacles gradually move aside, the curtain is lifted, and the strenuous seeker reaches that mature vision which he has formerly imagined dimly, if at all.
It is a good plan for the novice to ponder on his own name, and, shut away from all distractions, repeat it again and again to himself. He will gradually feel a sense of deepest mystery surrounding him, for in that name is concentrated the riddle of existence. The blending of spiritual and material kingdoms lies behind it, and the material slips rapidly into obscurity.
The Eternal Question
The eternal question based on introspection faces him. “What am I? Whither am I going? What is the meaning of this thoughtful brain, this palpitating heart, these stirring pulses through which the mysteries of the soul flash in a thousand directions?”
These and many other questions will move into being until the eternal atmosphere of spirituality is reached, and the wings of the soul become unfurled and increase in strength and power to lift him to the realms of his desire.
Only when the heart is pure and worthy will the vision be granted—the dross of bitterness, envy, hatred, and malice, which generally hide the precious jewel from the light, and render scintillating brilliance impossible, all discarded.
Every one knows how difficult it is to control the mind, and keep it from mean and uncharitable thoughts. It is more rebellious even than the body, and influences it for good or evil.
Temptations small and great are created and emerge from the mind. No one thieves with his fingers until the thought of theft is born. His mental faculties plan the ways and means and cunningly devise protections against the punishment in which the act when culminated results, unless artful deceptions render discovery impossible. No treason or wrong-doing was ever committed before the deed was hatched in the brain.
The mental sphere may be a hotbed of falsehoods and treachery, or it may be a world of purest truth and virtue.