Chapter 14 - Mental Gender - The Kybalion

View our full collection of podcasts at our website: https://www.solgoodmedia.com or YouTube channel: www.solgood.org/subscribe

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter fourteen, Mental gender. Studentsof psychology who have followed the modern trend
of thought along the lines of mentalphenomena are struck by the persistence of the
dual mind idea which has manifested itselfso strongly during the past ten or fifteen
years, and which has given riseto a number of plausible theories regarding the

(00:23):
nature and constitution of these two minds. The late Thompson J. Hudson attained
great popularity in eighteen ninety three byadvancing his well known theory of the objective
and subjective minds, which he heldexisted in every individual. Other writers have
attracted almost equal attention by the theoriesregarding the conscious and subconscious minds, the

(00:48):
voluntary and involuntary minds, the activeand passive minds, et cetera, et
cetera. The theories of the variouswriters differ from each other, but there
remains the underlying principle of the dualityof mind. The student of the hermetic
philosophy is tempted to smile when hereads and hears of these many new theories

(01:10):
regarding the duality of mind, eachschool adhering tenaciously to its own pet theories
and each claiming to have discovered thetruth. The student turns back the pages
of occult history and away back inthe dim beginnings of occult teachings, he
finds references to the ancient hermetic doctrineof the principle of gender on the mental
plane, the manifestation of mental gender. And examining further, he finds that

(01:37):
ancient philosophy took cognisance of the phenomenonof the dual mind and accounted for it
by the theory of mental gender.This idea of mental gender may be explained
in a few words to students whoare familiar with the modern theories just alluded
to. The masculine principle of mindcorresponds to the so called objective mind,

(01:59):
conscious mind, voluntary mind, activemind, etc. And the feminine principle
of mind corresponds to the so calledsubjective mind, subconscious mind, involuntary mind,
passive mind, etc. Of course, the Hermetic teachings do not agree
with the many modern theories regarding thenature of the two phases of mind,

(02:22):
nor does it admit many of thefacts claimed for the two respective aspects,
some of the said theories and claimsbeing very far fetched and incapable of standing
the test of experiment and demonstration.We point to the phases of agreement merely
for the purpose of helping the studentto assimilate his previously acquired knowledge with the

(02:44):
teachings of the Hermetic philosophy. Studentsof Hudson will notice the statement at the
beginning of his second chapter of theLaw of Psychic Phenomena, that the mystical
jargon of the Hermetic philosophers disclose thesame idea, i e. The duality
of mind. If doctor Hudson hadtaken the time and trouble to decipher a

(03:07):
little of the mystic jargon of theHermetic philosophy, he might have received much
light upon the subject of the dualmind. But then perhaps his most interesting
work might not have been written.Let us now consider the Hermetic teachings regarding
mental gender. The Hermetic teachers imparttheir instruction regarding this subject by bidding their

(03:28):
students examine the report of their consciousnessregarding their self. The students are bidden
to turn their attention inward upon theself dwelling within each Each student is led
to see that his consciousness gives himfirst a report of the existence of his
self the report is I am.This at first seems to be the final

(03:50):
words from the consciousness, but alittle further examination discloses the fact that this
I am may be separated or splitinto two distinct parts or aspects, which,
while working in unison and in conjunction, yet nevertheless may be separated in
consciousness. While at first there seemsto only be an eye existing, a

(04:15):
more careful and closer examination reveals thefact that there exists an eye and a
me. These mental twins differ incharacteristics in nature, and an examination of
their nature and phenomena arising from thesame will throw much light upon the many
problems of mental influence. Let usbegin with a consideration of the me,

(04:38):
which is usually mistaken for the eyeby the student until he presses the inquiry
a little further back into the recessesof consciousness. A man thinks of his
self in its aspect of me,as being composed of certain feelings, tastes,
likes, dislikes, habits, peculiarties, characteristic etc. All of

(05:00):
which go to make up his personalityor the self known to himself and others.
He knows that these emotions and feelingschange, are born and die away,
are subject to the principle of rhythm, the principle of polarity, which
take him from one extreme of feelingto another. He also thinks of the
me as being certain knowledge gathered togetherin his mind, and thus forming a

(05:26):
part of himself. This is theme of a man. But we have
proceeded too hastily. The me ofmany men may be said to consist largely
of their consciousness of the body andtheir physical appetites, etc. Their consciousness
being largely bound up with their bodilynature, they practically live there. Some

(05:47):
men even go so far as toregard their personal apparel as part of their
me, and actually seem to considerit as part of themselves. A writer
has humorously said that men can cistof three parts soul, body, and
close. These close conscious people wouldlose their personality if divested of their clothing

(06:09):
by savages upon the occasion of ashipwreck. But even many who are not
so closely bound up with the ideaof personal raiment stick closely to the consciousness
of their bodies being their me.They cannot conceive of a self independent of
the body. Their mind seems tothem to be practically a something belonging to
their body, which in many casesit is indeed. But as man rises

(06:34):
in the scale of consciousness, heis able to disentangle his me from his
idea of body, and is ableto think of his body as belonging to
the mental part of him. Buteven then he is very apt to identify
the me entirely with the mental states, feelings, etc. Which he feels

(06:55):
to exist within him. He isvery apt to consider these internal states as
identical with himself, instead of theirbeing simply things produced by some part of
his mentality and existing within him,of him and in him, but still
not himself. He sees that hemay change these internal states of feelings by

(07:15):
all effort of will, and thathe may produce a feeling or state of
an exactly opposite nature in the sameway, And yet the same knee exists.
And so after a while he isable to set aside these various mental
states emotions, feelings, habits,qualities, characteristics, and other personal mental

(07:36):
belongings. He is able to setthem aside in the not me collection of
curiosities and incumbrances, as well asvaluable possessions. This requires much mental concentration
and power of mental analysis on thepart of the student. But still the
task is possible for the advanced student, and even those not so far advanced

(08:00):
are able to see in the imaginationhow the process may be performed. After
these laying aside processes have been performed, the student will find himself in conscious
possession of a self which may beconsidered in its eye and me dual aspects.
The me will be felt to besomething mental in which thoughts, ideas,

(08:20):
emotions, feelings, and other mentalstates may be produced. It may
be considered as the mental womb,as the ancients styled it, capable of
generating mental offspring. It reports tothe consciousness as a me with latent powers
of creation and generation of mental progenyof all sorts and kinds. Its powers

(08:43):
of creative energy are felt to beenormous, but still it seems to be
conscious that it must receive some formof energy from either its eye companion,
or else from some other eye ereit is able to bring into being its
mental creation. This consciousness brings withit a realization of an enormous capacity for

(09:05):
mental work and creative ability, Butthe student soon finds that this is not
all that he finds within his innerconsciousness. He finds that there exists a
mental something which is able to willthat the me act along creative certain lines,
and which is also able to standaside and witness the mental creation.

(09:28):
This part of him he is taughtto call his eye. He is able
to rest in its consciousness at will. He finds there not a consciousness of
an ability to generate and actively createin the sense of the gradual processes attendant
upon mental operations, but rather asense and consciousness of an ability to project

(09:48):
an energy from the eye to theme, a process of willing that the
mental creation begin and proceed. Healso finds that the eye is able to
stand aside and witness the operation ofthe me's mental creation and generation. There
is dual aspect in the mind ofevery person. The eye represents the masculine

(10:11):
principle of gender, the me representsthe feminine principle. The eye represents the
aspect of being, the me theaspect of becoming. You will notice that
the principle of correspondence operates on thisplane, just as it does the great
plane upon which the creation of universesis performed. These two are similar in

(10:33):
kind, although vastly different in degreeas above, so below, as below,
so above. These aspects of mind, the masculine and feminine principles,
the I and the me, consideredin connection with the well known mental and
psychic phenomena, give the master keyto these dimly known regions of mental operation

(10:56):
and manifestation. The principle of mentalgender gives the truth underlying the whole field
of the phenomena of mental influence,et cetera. The tendency of the feminine
principle is always in the direction ofreceiving impressions, while the tendency of the
masculine principle is always in the directionof giving out or expressing. The feminine

(11:18):
principle has a much more varied fieldof operation than has the masculine principle.
The feminine principle conducts the work ofgenerating new thoughts, concepts, ideas,
including the work of the imagination.The masculine principle contends itself with the work
of the will in its varied phases, and yet without the active aid of

(11:41):
the will of the masculine principle,the feminine principle is apt to rest content
with generating mental images, which arethe result of impressions received from outside instead
of producing original mental creations. Personswho can give continued attention and thought to
a subject actively employ both of themental principles, the feminine in the work

(12:05):
of the mental generation and the masculinewill in stimulating and energizing the creative portion
of the mind. The majority ofpersons really employ the masculine principle but little,
and are content to live according tothe thoughts and ideas instilled into the
me from the eye of other minds. But it is not our purpose to
dwell upon this phase of the subject, which may be studied from any good

(12:28):
textbook upon psychology. With the keythat we have given you regarding mental gender,
the student of psychic phenomena is awareof the wonderful phenomena classified under the
head of telepathy, thought, transference, mental influence, suggestion, hypnotism,
etc. Many have sought for anexplanation of these varied phases of the phenomena

(12:52):
under the theories of the various dualmind teachers, and in a measure they
are right, for there is clearlya manifestation of two different phases of mental
activity. But if such students willconsider these dual minds in light of the
hermetic teachings regarding vibrations and mental gender, they will see that the long sought

(13:13):
key is at hand. In thephenomena of telepathy, it is seen how
the vibratory energy of the masculine principleis projected toward the feminine principle of another
person, and the latter takes theseed thought and allows it to develop into
maturity. In the same way suggestionand hypnotism operates, the masculine principle of

(13:35):
a person giving the suggestions directs astream of vibratory energy or will power towards
the feminine principle of the other person, and the latter, accepting it,
makes it its own and acts andthinks accordingly. An idea, thus lodged
in the mind of another person growsand develops, and in time is regarded

(13:56):
as the rightful mental offspring of theindividual, where is in reality like the
cuckoo egg placed in the sparrow's nest, where it destroys the rightful offspring and
makes itself at home. The normalmethod is for the masculine and feminine principles
in a person's mind to coordinate andact harmoniously in conjunction with each other.

(14:18):
But unfortunately, the masculine principle inthe average person is too lazy to act,
the display of willpower is too slight, and the consequences that such persons
are ruled almost entirely by the mindsand wills of other persons, whom they
allow to do their thinking and willingfor them. How few original thoughts or
actions are performed by the average person, are not the majority of persons mere

(14:43):
shadows and echoes of others having strongerwills or minds than themselves. The trouble
is that the average person dwells almostaltogether in his me consciousness and does not
realize that he has such a thingas an eye. He is polarized in
his feminine principle of mind, andthe masculine principle, in which is lodged

(15:03):
by the will, is allowed toremain inactive and not employed. The strong
men and women of the world invariablymanifest the masculine principle of will, and
their strength depends materially upon this fact. Instead of living upon the impressions made
upon their minds by others, theydominate their own minds by their will,

(15:26):
obtaining the kind of mental images desiredand moreover dominate the minds of others likewise
in the same manner. Look atthe strong people how they manage to implant
their seed thoughts in the minds ofthe masses of the people, thus causing
the latter to think thoughts in accordancewith the desires and wills of the strong
individuals. This is why the massesof people are such sheeplike creatures, never

(15:52):
originating an idea of their own,nor using their own powers of mental activity.
The manifest station of mental gender maybe noticed all around us in everyday
life. The magnetic persons are thosewho use the masculine principle in the way
of impressing their ideas upon others.The actor who makes people weep or cry

(16:14):
as he wills is employing this principle, and so is the successful orator,
statesman, creature, writer, orother people who are before the public attention.
The peculiar influence exerted by some peopleover others is due to the manifestation
of mental gender along the vibrational linesabove indicated In this principle lies the secret

(16:37):
of personal magnetism, personal influence,fascination, etc. As well as the
phenomena gradually grouped under the name ofhypnotism. The student who has familiarized himself
with the phenomena generally spoken of aspsychic will have discovered the important part played
in the said phenomena by that forcewhich science has styled suggestion, by which

(17:03):
term is meant the process or methodwhereby an idea is transferred to or impressed
upon the mind of another, causingthe second mind to act in accordance therewith.
A correct understanding of suggestion is necessaryin order to intelligently comprehend the varied
psychical phenomena which suggestion underlies. Butstill more is a knowledge of vibration and

(17:26):
mental gender necessary for the student ofsuggestion, for the whole principle of suggestion
depends upon the principle of mental genderand vibration. It is customary for the
writers and teachers of suggestion to explainthat it is the objective or voluntary mind
which makes the mental impression or suggestionupon the subjective or involuntary mind. But

(17:49):
they do not describe the process orgive us any analogy in nature, whereby
we may more readily comprehend the idea. But if you will think of the
matter. In the light of theHermetic teachings, you will be able to
see that the energizing of the feminineprinciple by the vibratory energy of the masculine
principle, is it accordance to theuniversal laws of nature, and that the

(18:14):
natural world affords countless analogies whereby theprinciple may be understood. In fact,
the Hermetic teachings show that the verycreation of the universe follows the same law,
and that in all creative manifestations,upon the planes of the spiritual,
the mental, and the physical,there is always an operation this principle of

(18:34):
gender, this manifestation of the masculineand the feminine principles, as above,
so below, as below, soabove, and more than this. When
the principle of mental gender is oncegrasped and understood, the varied phenomena of
psychology at once becomes capable of intelligentclassification and study. Instead of being very

(18:59):
much in the dark, the principleworks out in practice because it is based
upon the immutable universal laws of life. We shall not enter into an extended
discussion of or description of the veryphenomena of mental influence or psychic activity.
There are many books, many ofthem quite good, which have been written

(19:19):
and published on this subject of lateyears. The main facts stated in these
various books are correct, although theseveral writers have attempted to explain the phenomena
by various pet theories of their own. The student may acquaint himself with these
matters, and by using the theoryof mental gender, he will be able
to bring order out of the chaosof conflicting theory and teachings, and may

(19:44):
moreover readily make himself a master ofthe subject, if he be so inclined.
The purpose of this work is notto give an extended account of psychic
phenomena, but rather to give thestudent a master key, whereby he may
unlock many doors leading into the partsof the Temple of knowledge which he may
wish to explore. We feel thatthis is in consideration of the teachings of

(20:07):
the Cabalion. One may find anexplanation which will serve to clear away many
perplexing difficulties, a key that willunlock many doors. What is the use
of going into detail regarding all ofthe many features of psychic phenomena and mental
science, Provided we placed in thehands of the student, the means,
whereby he may acquaint himself fully regardingany phase of the subject which may interest

(20:33):
him. With the aid of theCabalion, one may go through any occult
librarian new the old light from Egypt, illuminating many dark pages and obscure subjects.
That is the purpose of this book. We do not come expounding a
new philosophy, but rather furnishing theoutlines of a great world old teaching,
which will make clear the teachings ofothers, which will serve as a great

(20:57):
reconciler of dif ring theories and opposingdoctrines. End of Chapter fourteen.