Today, we will start a series of presentations on the mechanism of thought transference. Before delving into this phenomenon and its impact on individuals, it would be helpful to first explain how thoughts are transmitted from one person to another.
The term telepathy literally means “feeling at a distance” and could have been originally limited to the transmission of feelings and emotions. However, it is now commonly used interchangeably with thought transference and can encompass the transfer of images, thoughts, or feelings from one person to another through non-physical means.
In telepathy, there are three potential modes of direct communication:
1. Between two etheric brains
2. Between two emotional bodies
3. Between two mental bodies
The first method, known as the physical or etheric method, involves a thought causing vibrations in the mental body, then the emotional body, followed by the etheric brain, and finally, the dense molecules of the physical brain. These brain vibrations affect the physical ether and radiate outwards until they reach another brain, where they induce vibrations in its etheric and dense particles. These vibrations in the receiving brain are then transmitted to the attached emotional and mental bodies, eventually reaching the consciousness.
When a person strongly visualises a concrete form in their physical brain, they create the form in etheric matter and also emit etheric waves in all directions in the process of creating the image. It’s not the image itself that is emitted, but rather a set of vibrations that reproduce the image. This process is similar to a telephone, where the voice itself isn’t transmitted, but a series of electrical vibrations generated by the voice is converted back into the sounds of the voice upon reaching the receiver.
The pineal gland serves as the organ of thought transference, much like the eye is the organ of vision. While the pineal gland is rudimentary in most people, it is evolving rather than regressing. It’s possible to accelerate its evolution so that it can fulfil its intended function, which it will have in the future for all.
If someone focuses intensely on a single idea with concentration and sustained attention, they may become aware of a slight quivering or creeping feeling in the pineal gland, which has been likened to the crawling of an ant. This quivering occurs in the ether that permeates the gland, creating a subtle magnetic current that causes the creeping sensation in the dense molecules of the gland. If the thought is powerful enough to generate the current, then the thinker knows they have successfully sharpened and strengthened the thought enough for it to be transmitted.
The vibration in the ether of the pineal gland creates waves in the surrounding ether, similar to light waves but much smaller and faster. These vibrations radiate in all directions, setting the ether in motion, and these etheric waves, in turn, create vibrations in the ether of another person’s pineal gland, leading to transmission to the emotional and mental bodies, as previously explained, thus reaching consciousness. If the second pineal gland cannot replicate the undulations, then the thought will go unnoticed, leaving no impression, just as light waves make no impression on the eye of a blind person.
In the second method, emotional thought-transference, the etheric brain does not play a role, as communication is direct from one emotional body to another.
In the third method, or mental thought transference, the thinker, after creating a thought on the mental plane, doesn’t send it down to the brain but directs it straight to the mental body of another thinker. The ability to intentionally do this indicates a much higher level of mental evolution than the physical method of thought transference, as the sender must be self-conscious on the mental plane to knowingly engage in this activity. As humanity evolves further, this will likely become the common method of communication. The Masters already use this method to instruct their pupils, conveying even the most complex ideas effortlessly.
Having said this, let us now go on to look at unconscious thought transference.
In previous presentations, we discussed how thoughts are generated and how they affect others. Now, let’s delve further into the type of thought transfer that occurs unconsciously or partially unconsciously.
It’s evident from what we’ve covered that every person leaves a trail of thoughts wherever they go. For instance, as we walk down the street, we are surrounded by a sea of other people’s thoughts, filling the atmosphere with vague and indistinct ideas. When a person leaves their mind blank for a while, these residual thoughts from others may drift through it, often making little impression. However, occasionally, a thought may strongly affect the individual. Sometimes, a thought might capture a person’s attention, temporarily becoming their own as they add their own energy to it, before releasing it to potentially impact someone else.
A person is not always responsible for a thought that pops into their mind, because it may not be their own, but someone else’s. However, they are responsible if they entertains it, dwells upon it, and then spreads it further.
This mix of thoughts from various sources may not have a clear connection, but any one of them can start a chain of associated ideas and set the mind thinking on its own. Many people, if they were to observe the flow of thoughts passing through their minds, would be surprised to find how many idle and useless fancies come and go in a short period of time. Not even a quarter of these are their own thoughts. In most cases, they are quite useless and tend to be more harmful than beneficial.
People continually influence each other with their thoughts, often without specific intent. Public opinion, in fact, is largely formed in this manner; it is mainly thought-transference. Most people think along certain lines not because they have carefully considered the issues themselves but because many others are thinking along those lines and drawing others in. The strong thoughts of a powerful thinker enter the mental world and are picked up by receptive and responsive minds. They replicate their vibrations, reinforce the thought, and thereby help to influence others, with the thoughts gaining strength and eventually impacting large numbers of people.
When considering the impact of collective thought forms, it becomes apparent how influential they are in shaping national and racial attitudes, predisposing the mind to bias. Throughout our lives, we are immersed in an environment saturated with thought forms embodying specific ideas: national biases, viewpoints, and patterns of thought and emotion. These influences affect us from birth and even before. Our perception of everything is filtered through this environment, and our thoughts are influenced by it. Our mental and emotional bodies resonate with it. The majority of people are dominated by this national atmosphere, and once public opinion takes hold, it exerts a continuous influence on minds, triggering responsive vibrations.
As a result of this environment, nations absorb impressions from other nations and interpret them based on their own vibrational frequencies. Consequently, people from different nations, when faced with the same facts, incorporate their existing preconceptions, leading them to accuse each other of distorting facts and using unfair methods. If this truth and its inevitability were acknowledged, many international disputes could be resolved more easily, and even wars could be prevented. Each nation would understand the concept of the “personal equation” and, instead of blaming others for differing opinions, would seek a middle ground between the two perspectives without insisting solely on its own stance. We can but dream.
Most people never make any effort at real discrimination on their own account, as they are unable to free themselves from the influence of public opinion. Consequently, they never truly perceive the truth, nor do they acknowledge its existence, as they are content to accept this enormous thought form in its place. However, for the esotericist, the first priority is to achieve a clear and unbiased understanding of everything; to perceive it as it truly is, rather than as it is supposed to be by a number of people.
To attain this clarity of vision, constant vigilance is essential. Recognising the influence of the overarching thought cloud is not the same as being able to resist its influence. Its pressure is always present, and we may unconsciously find ourselves succumbing to it in various minor matters, even if we manage to remain unaffected in major aspects. We were born under its pressure just as we were born under the pressure of the atmosphere and are just as unaware of one as the other. The esotericists must truly learn to liberate themselves from this influence completely and confront the truth as it is, without distortion through these enormous collective thought forms. The influence of aggregated thoughts is not limited to their impact on people’s subtle bodies. Destructive thought forms act as a disruptive energy and can often wreak havoc on the physical plane, being the cause of “accidents,” natural upheavals, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and so on. So, the next time your roof blows off in a storm don’t always blame the weather. You and the society you live in may be responsible. We may stir up wars, revolutions, social disturbances and upheavals of every kind. Epidemics of disease and crime and cycles of accidents have a similar explanation. Thought forms of anger aid in the perpetration of murder. Thus in every direction, in endless fashions, do people’s evil thoughts play havoc, reacting on themselves and others.
In the upcoming presentation, we will start by examining the impact of thoughts generated by individuals.