Having examined the physical dimension of the interaction with the mental envelope, we now turn our attention to the Emotional Envelope. The connection between the mental and emotional bodies is very strong, and they significantly influence each other.
The link between desire (kama) and mind (manas) and how they affect each other has already been discussed in some detail. In this presentation, we will focus on a few additional effects of the emotional envelope on the mental envelope and vice versa.
When a strong emotion overwhelms the emotional envelope, it doesn’t directly impact the mental envelope. Still, it can make it almost impossible for the mental envelope’s activity to manifest in the physical brain. This is because the emotional envelope, which serves as a bridge between the mental envelope and the brain, vibrates at a specific rate and cannot convey any other vibrations that are not in harmony with it. For example, when a person is deeply in love, their intellectual aspects may not be apparent in their aura.
Coarse sensuality in the emotional envelope, represented by an unpleasant hue, cannot manifest in the mental envelope. This illustrates the principle that as matter becomes finer across different planes, it loses the ability to express lower qualities.
A person can create a mental image that evokes sensual feelings, but the thought and image will manifest in emotional matter, not in the mental realm. It will leave a distinct impression of its particular colour on the emotional envelope, but in the mental envelope, it will enhance the colours representing associated negative traits such as selfishness, conceit, and deception.
At times, certain emotions and thoughts, both positive and negative, are closely intertwined. For instance, deep devotion and a certain form of sensuality are often closely linked. This may explain the scandals that bedevil the Catholic Church and many an Indian guru promoting enlightenment through sex. A person troubled by this unwelcome combination can benefit from the devotion without succumbing to the negative effects of sensuality by creating a protective shell around the lower levels of the mental envelope. This effectively blocks out the negative influences while allowing the positive ones to affect the person freely. This is just one example of a phenomenon with many variations in the mental world.”
The influence of the mental envelope on the emotional envelope is significant, and it’s important for the student to recognise this. It’s essential to remember that each envelope is ultimately governed by the envelope above it. Therefore, the physical envelope cannot govern itself, but the emotions and desires of the emotional envelope can influence and control it.
In turn, the emotional envelope must be trained and brought under control by the mental envelope because, through thought, we can change desire and start turning it into will, which is the higher form of desire. The Self as Thought is the only way to master the Self as Desire.
The very sense of freedom in choosing between desires indicates that something higher than desire is at work and that higher element is manas, in which free will resides in relation to anything lower than itself.
It’s important to note that the chakras or energy centres of the emotional envelope are constructed and controlled from the mental plane, just as the physical brain centres were constructed from the emotional plane.
Every signal sent by the mental envelope to the physical brain has to pass through the emotional envelope. Since emotional matter is much more receptive to thought vibrations than physical matter, the impact on the emotional envelope is correspondingly greater. When a person thinks about something they see as unfair, they can easily make themselves angry. On the other hand, by thinking calmly and reasonably, they can prevent or dismiss anger and other undesirable emotions.
A person’s logical and orderly way of thinking can impact their emotional envelope. This is shown in an image from the book Man Visible and Invisible, which depicts the emotional envelope of a scientific person. In extreme cases, intellectual development can eliminate devotional feelings and reduce sensuality.
Improving concentration and mental development can positively affect dreams, making them vivid, sustained, rational, and instructive. The emotional envelope should just reflect the colours of the mental envelope, indicating that the person allows themselves to feel only what their reason dictates. Conversely, no emotion should affect the mental envelope because it is the home of thoughts, not of passions or emotions.
Now, let us move on and complete the set by looking at the mental envelope. While some influence on the development of a person’s mind may come from external sources, the majority of it comes from their own thoughts and consciousness.To have a strong and active mental envelope capable of understanding profound ideas, a person must consistently engage in the right thinking.
Each individual has the most significant impact on their mental envelope. Others, like speakers and writers, may influence it occasionally, but the person themselves has the most enduring influence. They set the normal vibratory rate of their mind, and thoughts that do not align with this rate will be disregarded. For example, if a person thinks truth, a lie cannot take root in their mind; if they think love, hate cannot disturb them; if they think wisdom, ignorance cannot hinder them.
It is important for the mind not to be left dormant, as any thought can take root and grow. The mind should not be allowed to vibrate freely, as it would then respond to any passing vibration. A person’s mind belongs to them, and they should only allow thoughts chosen by their own monad to enter.
The majority of people do not know how to think at all. Even those who are a little more advanced rarely think definitely and strongly, except during the moments when they are actually engaged in some piece of work which demands their whole attention. Consequently, large numbers of minds are always lying fallow and ready to receive whatever seed may be sown in them. The vast majority of people, if they watch their thoughts closely, will find that they are very largely made up of a casual stream of thoughts which are not their own but simply the cast-off fragments of other people’s. Ordinary people rarely know exactly what they are thinking at any particular moment or why they are thinking of it. Instead of directing their mind to some definite point, they allow it to run riot or let it lie fallow so that any casual seed cast into it may germinate and come to fruition there.
Students earnestly trying to raise themselves somewhat above the average person’s thought should bear in mind that a substantial proportion of the insurgent thought constantly pressing upon them is at a lower level than their own. Therefore, they need to guard themself against its influence. There is a vast ocean of thought upon all sorts of utterly unimportant subjects that it is necessary to strive rigidly to exclude.
If a person takes the trouble to form the habit of sustained and concentrated thought, they will find that their brain, trained to listen only to the promptings of the monad – the real Thinker – will remain quiescent when not in use, and will decline to receive and respond to casual currents from the surrounding ocean of thought. So, it will no longer be impervious to influences from the higher planes, where insight is keener and judgment truer than it ever can be down here.
It is only when a person can keep their mind steady, quiet, and free from thoughts that higher consciousness can emerge. Then, the person is ready to start practising meditation and yoga, as we will see later on. This is the practical lesson in training the mind. Those who practice it will find that through thinking, life can be made more noble and happy, and by wisdom, suffering can be reduced.
A wise person will carefully monitor their thoughts, understanding that their thoughts are a powerful tool for which they are responsible. It is their duty to control their thoughts to prevent them from causing harm to themselves and others. It is also their duty to develop their thinking abilities, as it can be used to do a great deal of good.
Reading alone does not strengthen the mind; only through thought that the mind can be strengthened. Reading is valuable only in that it provides material for thought, and a person’s mental growth will be proportionate to the amount of thought they put into their reading. With regular and persistent, but not excessive, exercise, thinking abilities will grow, just as muscles grow through exercise. Without such thinking, the mind remains unorganised and lacks focus. Without gaining concentration – the ability to focus the mind on a specific point – thought-power cannot be exercised at all. This is why students are asked to write essays on the subject matter they have studied. The subject matter is less important than the processes used to order and relate the information gathered. If the student regurgitates the information gathered, they are missing the whole point of studying. The users of AI beware.
The law of life, that growth results from exercise, applies to the mind just as it does to the body. When the mind is exercised and stimulated by thought, it draws in new material from the mental environment, which builds and expands the mind. The amount and quality of thought determine the growth and the nature of the mind’s development.
In the following presentation, we will start by considering the act of reading in more detail.