The Hidden Power: XXIII. The Central Control

IN contemplating the relations between body, soul, and spirit, between Universal Mind and individual mind, the methodised study of which constitutes Mental Science, we must never forget that these relations indicate, not the separateness, but the unity of these principles. We must learn not to attribute one part of our action to one part of our being, and another to another. Neither the action nor the functions are split up into separate parts. The action is a whole, and the being that does it is a whole, and in the healthy organism the reciprocal movements of the principles are so harmonious as never to suggest any feeling than that of a perfectly whole and undivided self. If there is any other feeling we may be sure that there is abnormal action somewhere, and we should set ourselves to discover and remove the cause of it. The reason for this is that in any perfect organism there cannot be more than one centre of control.

A rivalry of controlling principles would be the destruction of the .organic wholeness; for either the elements would separate and group themselves round one or other of the centres, according to their respective affinities, and thus form two distinctive individualities,

And the reason is that, either through ignorance or carelessness, we have surrendered our position of control over the system as a whole, and have lost the element of Purpose, around which the consciousness of individuality must always centre. Every state of our consciousness, whether active or passive, should be the result of a distinct purpose adopted by our own free will; for the passive states should be quite as much