those great minds which for thousands of years have been investigating the subject of Personal Power, long since discovered the fact that before one can hope to exercise any phase of Personal Power he must first arrive at a clear, distinct, and fundamental consciousness of HIMSELF— his “I AM I”—as a reality transcending all of his mental and physical instruments; and that upon the degree of his actual consciousness of the independent existence of this “I AM I” centre of his being depends the degree of his ability to manifest Personal Power.
So, you see, we are not wasting your and our time in telling you something not needing telling. Instead, we are endeavoring to awaken in you the actual and vivid conscious perception of a fundamental truth, without which you cannot hope to manifest or demonstrate Personal Power. Omitting this basic and fundamental instruction, there would be no reason for presenting the rest of the subject to you.
This Ego, Self, “I,” or “I AM I,” which stands at the centre of your conscious experience, and which is the real Seer, Doer, Feeler, Thinker, Willer, and Actor in your life journey, is the Master Self—the King on the Throne of your Personal Being. To omit reference to it here would be like omitting the character of Hamlet from the play of that name. Before you can hope to manifest and demonstrate Personal Power, you must become consciously aware of that Something or Somewhat which employs and manifests that power.
Personal Power might be present in abundance, but unless there were also something present able to employ and use it, there would be no manifestation or demonstration possible. YOU are that Something. You must become consciously aware of your essential and fundamental Self, before you will be able to employ the instruments at your hand. You must recognize your sovereignty, before you may mount your throne and rule your kingdom.
We wish, however, to state emphatically at this point that in our consideration of the Master Self—the Ego or “I” which asserts “I AM I”—we shall confine ourselves entirely to the reports of consciousness concerning its presence and existence, its nature and character. We shall point out to you just how you may discover its presence at the centre of your being, and how you may awaken its latent powers and possibilities so that they may be applied effectively as Personal Power.
We shall avoid entirely the advocacy of any particular one of the many various metaphysical, philosophical, or theological speculations or dogmas concerning its nature, character, source or origin, or its destiny. We prefer to leave these subjects in the hands of those who specialize upon them; we have no desire to invade their special fields of thought, conjecture or speculation. We prefer to base our thought upon the fundamental report of selfconsciousness—that inevitable, invariable, and infallible report made by selfconsciousness whenever it is awakened.
For the purpose of our consideration of the Master Self in this book, and that of the instruction to be based upon this, it is sufficient to assert merely: (1) that there exists in you a Master Self, Ego, “I,” or “I AM I” entity, to which all your personal faculties, powers and activities are subordinate; (2) that this Master Self (whatever else it may be or may not be) must be regarded as a focalized centre of Presence and Power manifested and expressed by the Ultimate PresencePower in its manifestation and expression in the Cosmos.
These two general postulates are supported by all human thought on the subject, and in one form or the other are accepted by all phases of philosophical, metaphysical, or theological thought, though variously interpreted and explained. Moreover, actual human experience is in agreement with them. We shall present the general argument to you as we proceed, showing you how firmly based and grounded they are in human thought and experience. But, even so, you are not asked to accept them as truth until your own reason and experience so report them to you.
Let us begin, then, with the consideration of the first of the abovestated postulates, viz., “There exists in you a Master Self, Ego, “I,” or “I AM I” entity, to which all of your personal faculties, powers and activities are subordinate.” The argument and proof of this proposition is to be drawn entirely from your own conscious experience, and not from any philosophical, metaphysical, or theological theories or dogmas, whatsoever. Selfanalysis will furnish you with the proof; that proof once so obtained will be far more satisfying than the mere “say so” or “thus saith” of others.
We earnestly ask you to proceed carefully with this process of selfanalysis, for it will bring to you results of the most practical and vital character. Do not pass over this part of the instruction as being merely theoretical, or speculative—for it is far from being so. And, above all, do not take the position that “I am willing to take this for granted without actual proof, without bothering about the investigation”; for by so doing you will miss the very kernel of the instruction. For, know you, that the process of selfanalysis will not only “prove the thing” to your satisfaction: it also will awaken within you the Power of the “I AM I,” or Master Self, in a way impossible by any other means. You must not only recognize this “I AM I” intellectually, but must also realize it in feeling, before you can manifest and demonstrate it in action.
In the following several sections of this book we shall, through your own selfanalysis, make you acquainted with your Master Self, your Ego, your I or “I AM I.” You will be led not only to “see” it, but also to “feel” it within yourself. This “seeing” and “feeling” constitute the first two stages or steps in Personal Power—the “doing” stage or step is the third, and results from the attainment of the first two. The more thoroughly grounded you are in the first two stages or steps, the better will you be able to attain the final one.
IV
CONSCIOUS EGOHOOD
THERE ARE seven stages of consciousness, as taught by the great masters of the Science of Being. Five of these stages we have just considered viz., the respective stages of (1) consciousness of separate existence—of existence as a separate and distinct individuality; (2) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of the Physical Body; (3) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Emotion; (4) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Thought; (5) consciousness of the ownership and control of the instrument and machinery of Will. There are two other and higher stages of consciousness remaining to be considered.
In your consideration of the physical body, of the emotionalstates, of the thoughtstates, of the willstates, respectively, you have found it possible to abstract your consciousness of each of these instruments from your consciousness of your “I AM I” or Master Self. Each and every one of these processes of selfanalysis has found and left you conscious of the existence, “here and now,” of that “I AM I” or Master Self, independent of the several instruments and elements of machinery which it owns and uses. At the centre of each—even of Will—you found your “I AM I” existing in firm, constant and identical presence and power throughout all the changes in the activities and processes of its instruments and its machinery of expression and manifestation.
But, in the sixth stage of selfanalysis, you will discover that you are unable to abstract a certain kind of consciousness from the “I AM I” or Master Self—you will be unable to set aside, examine, analyze, experiment with, and detach this form of consciousness from your Real Self, or “I AM I,” try as you may. Hence, you see, you will there have reached the stage of reality—of ultimate fact and being within yourself. This is a most important stage of your selfanalysis—of your search for the “I AM I” or Master Self; therefore, you should approach it carefully, and conduct your inquiry with earnestness and diligence.
The sixth stage of your selfanalysis is that known as Ultimate SelfConsciousness. First, you
