And first of all, when I had learnt the cubes, I found that I invariably associated some with the idea of being above others. When two names were said, I had the idea of a direction of up and down. But with regard to the cubes themselves, there was no absolute direction of up or down. I only conceive of an up and down in virtue of being on the earth’s surface, and because of the frequent experience of weight. Now this condition affecting myself I found was present in my knowledge of the cubes. When certain of the names were said, I conceived of a figure having an upper part and a lower part. Now, considered as a set of cubes related to one another and not to me, the block had nothing to do with up and down. As long ago as Ptolemy, men have known that there is no such thing as an absolute up and an absolute down. And yet I found that in my knowledge of the set of cubes there was firmly embedded this absolute up and this absolute down. Here, then, was an element arising from the particular conditions under which I was placed, and the next step after recognizing it was to cast it out. This was easily done. The block had to be turned upside down and learnt over again with the cubes all in their new positions. It was, I found, quite necessary to learn them all over again, for, if not, I found that I simply went over them mentally the way first learnt, and then about any particular one made the alteration required, by a rule. Unless they were learnt all over again the new knowledge of them was a mere external and simulated affair, and the up and down would be cast out in name, not in reality. It would be a curious kind of knowing, indeed, if one had to reflect what one knew and then, to get the facts, say the opposite.
It may seem as if, when the cubes were known in an upright position, they would be easily imagined in an inverted position. But practice shows that this is very far from being the case. It requires considerable mental effort to determine the alterations in position, and to get an immediate knowledge requires a considerable time.
It may seem as if it were a dubious way of getting rid of gravity, or up and down, just to reverse the action of it.
But this way is the only way, for we, I have found, cannot conceive it away; we have to conceive it acting every way, then, affecting each view impartially, it affects none more than another, and is practically eliminated.
The cube had not only to be turned upside down, but also laid on each of its sides and then learnt. There were a considerable number of positions, twenty-four in number, which had to be brought close to the mind, so that the lie of each cube, relative to its neighbours and the whole block, was a matter of immediate apprehension in each of the positions.
If a single cube be taken and moved about, it will be found that there are twenty-four positions in which it can be put by turning it, keeping one point fixed, and letting each turning be a twist of a right angle. The whole block had to be turned into each of these positions and learnt in each.
Thus the block of cubes seemed to be thoroughly known.
At any rate, up and down was cast out. And we can now attach a definite meaning to the expression “casting out the self.” One’s own particular relation to any object, or group of objects, presents itself to us as qualities affecting those objects—influencing our feeling with regard to them, and making us perceive something in them which is not really there.
Thus up and down is not really in the set of cubes.
Now these qualities or apparent facts of the objects can be got rid of one at a time. To cast out the self is to get rid of them altogether.