the Wave part 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fair Use

cassiopaea.org/cass/wave6.htm

02-11-95

Q: (L) Earlier we were reading from Ouspensky's Tertium Organum about perceptions, was this a fairly accurate description of the state of our perceptions and the state of 2nd density perceptions? A: Yes. Q: (L) Okay, now making a jump with that, as to 4th density perception, is the 4th density perception... A: Wait and see.

I know that a number of you are wondering about that remark about Ouspensky's description of the perceptions of 2nd density which was mentioned in a previous section of this series because you have written to ask me what, exactly, it was. Before I get into the Cassiopaean discussion here, I want to quote that passage we discussed at the session because the issue will come up again in this segment, and the reader might like to be familiar with what it says because everyone seems to want to know exactly why it is, and HOW it is, that we can be living in a world of such vastly different perceptions, and that these can have so profound an impact on us that it is possible that we live and move among beings that we cannot perceive. There is also the issue of what our own perceptions might be like after "graduation" to 4th density, and that is a question we would all like to have answered. So, perhaps, in his speculations on the matter, Ouspensky gave us some clues, though it is pretty certain that it was not all correct.

In fact, Ark and I have debated rather long over whether to share this extract or not because of what he perceives to be serious flaws in Ouspensky's "scientific arguments." Ark says they are not scientific at all and that Ouspensky makes leaps of assumption and statements without proof.

That may be true, but the point of the passage was to get something of an inkling of what might be the differences between human and animal experience of the world around us so that we might have a framework from which to speculate further.

In the meantime, Ark will be preparing some additional information about some of the current knowledge in particular areas bearing on the subject that Ouspensky might never have imagined, or if he did, he didn't imagine big enough, so stay tuned for that.

The extract is going to be a little long, but I just didn't see how I could shorten it without really losing something important. Even though the language is a little "dated," since it was written in the 20's or earlier, Ouspensky is pretty concise and economical with his words and there are very few that are "extra." But, the end result will be that, even for those who cannot just go out and buy the book, there will be a good understanding of what we are talking about from here on out when we talk about density "perceptions." And it is this idea of the differences that I want to convey, not necessarily the specifics as outlined by Ouspensky. So, please read it through even if you don't at first see the relevance, and you may be surprised at some of the ideas that will start popping up!

From Tertium Organum:

The basic unit of our perception is a sensation. A sensation is an elementary change in the state of our inner life, produced, or so it appears to us, either by some change in the state of the outer world in relation to our inner life, or by a change in our inner life in relation to the outer world. ...It is sufficient to define a sensation as an elementary change in the state of the inner life. Experiencing a sensation, we assume it to be, so to speak, a reflection of some kind of change in the external world.

The sensations experienced by us leave a certain trace in our memory. In accumulating, memories of sensations begin to blend in our consciousness into groups according to their similarity, to become associated, to be put together, or to be contrasted. Sensations, usually experienced in close connection with one another, will arise in our memory preserving the same connection. And gradually, out of memories of sensations there are formed representations.

Representations are, so to speak, group memories of sensations. In the formation of representations, the grouping of sensations follows two clearly defined directions. The first direction is according to the character of the sensations: thus sensation of yellow colour will be linked with other sensations of yellow colour, sensation os acid taste, with other sensations of acid taste. The second direction is according to the time of receiving the sensation.

When one group, forming one representation, contains different sensations experienced simultaneously, the memory of this definite group of sensations is attributed to a common cause. The "common cause" is projected into the external world, as the object; and it is assumed that the given representation reflects the real properties of this object.

Such a group memory constitutes a representation, as for instance, the representation of a tree - this tree. Into this group enters the green colour of the leaves, their smell, their shade, the sound of the wind in the branches, and so on. All these things, taken together, form as it were, the focus of rays emitted by our mind and gradually focused on the external object, which may coincide with it either badly or well.

In the further complexities of mental life, memories of representations undergo the same process as memories of sensations. In accumulating, memories of representations or "images of representation" become associated along the most varied lines, are put together, contrasted, form groups and, in the end, give rise to concepts.

Thus, out of the various sensations experienced at different times (in groups), there arises in a child the representation of a tree (this tree), and later, out of the images of representaions of different trees is formed the concept of a tree, i.e. not of this particular tree but of a tree in general.The formation of concepts leads to the formation of words and the appearance of speech.

Speech consists of words; every word expresses a concept. A concept and a word are really the same thing, only the one (the concept) stands, as it were, for the inner aspect, while the other (the word) stands for the outer aspect. The word is the algebraic sign of a thing.

In our speech words express concepts or ideas. Ideas are broader concepts; they are not a group sign for similar representations, but embrace groups of dissimilar representations, or even groups of concepts. Thus an idea is a complex or an abstract concept.

At the present moment an average man, taken as a standard, has three units of mental life - sensation, representation and concept.

Observation further shows us that in some people at certain moments there appears, as it were, a fourth unit of mental life, which different authors and schools call by different names, but in which the element of perception of the element of ideas is always connected with the emotional element. If Kant's idea is true, if space with its characteristics is a property of our consciousness and not a property of the external world, then the three-dimensionality of the world must in some way be dependent on the constitution of our mental apparatus.

Concretely, the question may be put in this way: What is the relation of the three-dimensional extension of the world to the fact that our mental apparatus contains sensations, representations and concepts, and that they stand exactly in this order?

We have a mental apparatus of this kind and the world is three-dimensional. How to prove that the three-dimensionality of the world depends on this particular constitution of our mental apparatus?

If we were able to alter our mental apparatus and observe that the world around us changed with these alterations, this would prove to us the dependence of the properties of space on the properties of our mind. If the above mentioned higher form of inner life, which now appears only accidentally depending on some little-known conditions, could be rendered as definite, as precise, as obedient to our will as a concept, and if, through this, the number of characteristics of space increased, i.e. if space, instead of being three-dimensional, became four dimensional, this would confirm our supposition and prove Kant's idea that space with its properties is the form of our sense perception.

If we could reduce the number of units of our mental life and deliberately deprive ourselves or some other man of concepts, leaving his or our mind to operate by representations and sensations alone; and if, through this, the number of characteristics of the space surrounding us diminished, i.e. if for that man the world were to become two-dimensional instead of three-dimensional and, with a further limitation of his mental apparatus, i.e. with depriving him of representaions, it were to become one-dimensional, this would confirm our surmise and Kant's thought could be regarded as proved.

Thus, Kant's idea could be proved experimentally if we were able to ascertain that for a being possesseing nothing but sensations the world is one-dimensional; for a being possessing sensations and representations it is two-dimensional; and for a being possessing, in addition to concepts and ideas, also higher forms of perception, the world is four-dimensional.

Kant's proposition regarding the subjective character of the idea of space could be taken as proved if:

a) for a being possessing nothing but sensations, our entire world with all its variety of forms appears as one line; if the universe of this being had one dimension, i.e. if this being were one-dimensional by virtue of the properties of his perception; and

b)for a being possessing the capacity of forming representations in addition to his ability of experiencing sensations, the world had a two-dimensional extension, i.e. if our entire world with its blue skies, clouds, green trees, mountains and precipices, appeared to him merely as a plane; if the universe of this being had only two dimensions, that is, if this being were two-dimensional by virtue of the properties of his perception.

More briefly, Kant's proposition would be proved if we saw that for a given subject the number of characteristics of the world changed according to the change of his mental apparatus.

It does not seem possible to carry out such an experiment of reducing mental characteristics, for we do not know how to restrict our own or someone else's mental apparatus with the ordinary means at our disposal. Experiments of augmenting mental characteristics exist but, for many different reasons, they are not sufficiently convincing. The main reason is that an increase of mental faculties produces in our inner world so much that is new, that this new masks any changes which take place simultaneously in our usual perceptions of the world. We feel the new but cannot exactly define the difference.

A whole series of teachings and religious and philosophical doctrines have as their professed or hidden aim precisely this expansion of consciousness. This is the aim of mysticism of all times and all religions, the aim of occultism, the aim of the Eastern Yoga. But the question of the expansion of consciousness requires special study.

In the meantime, in order to prove the contention stated above about the change of the world as a result of a change in the mental apparatus, it is sufficient to examine the hypothesis about the possibility of a lesser number of mental characteristics.

If we do not know how to carry out experiments in this direction, perhaps observation is possible.We must ask ourselves the question: Are there in the world beings whose mental life is below ours in the required sense?

Such beings, whose mental life is below ours, undoubtedly exist. They are animals.We know very little about what constitutes the difference between the mental processes of an animal and the mental processes of a man; our ordinary 'conversational psychology' is altogether ignorant of it. As a rule we entirely deny the existence of reason in animals, or, on the contrary, we ascribe to them our own psychology, but 'limited' - though how and in what respect it is limited, we do not know. And then we say that an animal has no reason but has instinct. But we have a very hazy idea of what instinct may mean. I am speaking now not only of popular but also of 'scientific' psychology.

Let us, however, try to examine what instinct is and what animal mentality is like. In the first place, let us examine the actions of an animal and determine in what way they differ from ours. If they are instinctive actions, what does it mean?

We distingusish in living beings reflex actions, instinctive actions, rational actions, automatic actions. Reflex actions are simply responses by motion, reactions to external irritations, always occurring in the same manner, irrespective of their usefulness or uselessness, expediency or inexpediency in a given instance. Their origin and laws are the outcome of the simple irritability of the cell.

What is meant by irritability of the cell and what are these laws?

By irritability of the cell is meant its capacity to respond by motion to external irritations. Experiments with the simplest living one-cell organisms proved that irritability is governed by strictly definite laws. The cell responds by motion to an external irritation. The force of the responsive motion is increased with the increase of the force of irritation, but it has not been possible to establish the exact ratio. In order to provoke a responsive motion, the irritation must be sufficiently strong. Every irritation experienced leaves a certain trace in the cell, rendering it more susceptible to further irritations. This is proved by the fact that to a repeated irritation of an equal force the cell responds with a stronger movement than to the first irritation. And, if irritations are further repeated, the cell will respond to them with an increasingly stronger motion, up to a certain limit. Having reached this limit, the cell becomes tired, as it were, and begins to respond to the same irritation by increasingly weaker reactions. The cell appears to become used to the irritation. It becomes for the cell part of its permanent surroundings and the cell ceases to react to it, for it reacts only to changes in the permanent conditions. If from the very beginning the irritation is too weak to produce a responsive motion, it still leaves a certain invisible trace in the cell. This is shown by the fact that, by repeating weak irritations, it is possible to make the cell react to them.Thus in the laws of irritability we see what seem to be the rudiments of the capacities of memory, fatigue and habit. The cell produces the illusion of a being, which, if not conscious and reasoning, is at least capable of remembering, capable of forming habits and of getting tired.

If we are almost deceived by a cell, how much easier it is for us to be deceived by an animal with its complex life.But let us return to our analysis of actions.

By reflex actions of an organism are meant actions where the whole organism or its separate parts act as the cell does, i.e. within the limits of the law of irritability. We observe such actions both in man and in animals. A shudder runs through a man from sudden cold or from an unexpected touch. He blinks if some object quickly approaches or touches him. If a man sits with his leg hanging loosely, his foot jerks forward if the tendon immediately below the knee is hit. These movements happen independently of consciousness and may happen even contrary to consciousness. As a rule consciousness perceives them as an already accomplished fact. And these movements need not necessarily be expedient. The foot will jerk forward if the tendon is hit even if there is a knife or fire in front of it.

By instinctive actions are meant actions which are expedient but performed without any consciousness of choice or consciousness of purpose.

They arise with the appearance of an emotional quality in a sensation, i.e. from the moment when the feeling of pleasure or pain becomes connected with the sensation.

And indeed, before the appearance of human intellect, 'actions' in all the animal kingdom are governed by the tendency to obtain or keep pleasure, or to avoid pain.We may say with the utmost certainty that instinct is pleasure-pain which, like the positive and negative poles of an electro-magnet, repels and attracts an animal in one or another direction, thus forcing it to perform a whole series of complicated actions, at times so expedient as to appear conscious; and not only conscious, but based on a foresight of the future almost bordering on clairvoyance, such as the migration of birds, the building of nests for the young still unborn, the finding of the way south in the autumn and north in the spring, and so on.But in actual fact all these actions are explained solely by instinct, i.e. by subordination to pleasure-pain.

In the course of periods in which thousands of years may be counted as days, there was evolved in all animals, through selection, a type which lives according to this subordination. This subordination is expedient, i.e. its results lead to the required aim. It is quite clear why this is so. If the feeling of pleasure proceeded from something harmful, a given species could not live and would soon die out. Instinct is the guiding factor of its life; but only so long as instinct is expedient. As soon as it ceases to be expedient, it becomes the guiding factor of death, and the species very soon dies out. Normally, 'pleasure-pain' is pleasant and unpleasant not for the usefulness or the harm it brings, but as a consequence of it. Influences which had proved useful to a given species during its vegetable life begin to be experienced as pleasant with the transition to animal life; harmful influences are experienced as unpleasant. One and the same influence - say a certain temperature - may be useful and pleasant for one species and harmful and unpleasant for another. It is clear, therefore, that subordination to 'pleasure-pain' should be expedient. The pleasant is pleasant because it is useful; the unpleasant is unpleasant because it is harmful.

The next stage after instinctive actions consists of rational and automatic actions.By rational action is meant an action known to the acting subject before it is performed - an action which the acting subject can name, define, explain and whose cause and purpose he can point out - before it has taken place.

By automatic actions are meant actions which have been rational for a given subject but have since become customary and unconscious through frequent repetition. The automatic actions learned by trained animals were previously rational not in the animal but in the trainer. Such actions often seem quite rational, but this is pure illusion. The animal remembers the order of actions and so its actions appear to be thought out and expedient. And it is true they were thought out, but not by it. Automatic actions are often confused with instinctive actions; and indeed they do resemble the instinctive, but at the same time there is an enormous difference between them. Automatic actions are created by the subject in the course of his own life. And, before becoming automatic, they must for a long time remain rational for him or for another person.

Instinctive actions are created during the lifetime of a species and the capacity to perform them is handed down, in a ready-made form, through heredity. Automatic actions may be called the instinctive actions which a given subject has evolved for himself. Instinctive actions cannot be called automatic actions evolved by a given species, because they never were rational for separate individuals of that species, but are the result of a complex series of reflexes.

-- SAR01 (rauch01@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001