THINKING AND DESTINY

Harold W. Percival

CHAPTER VIII

NOETIC DESTINY

Section 1

Knowledge of the conscious self in the body. The noetic world. Self-knowledge of the knower of the Triune Self. When knowledge of the conscious self in the body is available to the human.

THE noetic destiny of the majority of human beings is the condition of the noetic atmosphere of the human, (Fig. V-B). That condition includes the amount of knowledge of the conscious self in the body available to the human, the much or little of the Light of the Intelligence present, the quality of that Light as attachable to objects of nature and the consequences of all this to the human. Human beings think of destiny as physical only, yet their noetic destiny dominates the other three kinds.

Noetic destiny may not seem as obvious as mental destiny. It manifests through physical destiny chiefly as the generative power and the use to which it is put; through psychic destiny as the ability or inability to control one’s passions and desires; and through mental destiny as the power or lack of power to do real thinking. It can be seen in physical things because human beings let the Light of the Intelligence go into nature through the action of the four senses and through the generative power; and the physical results are the only indications that they are able to notice. Noetic destiny in the present stage of human beings appears chiefly as their troubles, their afflictions, their diseases, though the immediate cause of all these is the psychic part of the Triune Self, the doer, and the thoughts which it generates. Noetic destiny is a background in the noetic atmosphere rather than an active force.

When there are enough people who think along these lines, their thoughts will be exteriorized in words according to the genius of the language, and a vocabulary will be made. In the meantime, terms are here used which can be taken in a sense approximating the unknown things named, such as the Triune Self, its noetic atmosphere, the knower as the noetic part of the Triune Self, the noetic breath, the noetic world and the Light of the Intelligence.

Knowledge, which is the permanent result as accomplishment in the noetic atmosphere coming from the thinking of the human, is stored in the noetic atmosphere of the human. It depends upon thinking and cannot come without it. Thinking that brings knowledge into the noetic atmosphere and strengthens the powers of that atmosphere is such thinking as that on the origin, nature and destiny of feeling-and-desire as the doer, and on its relation to the Triune Self and to other doers. But thinking selfishness, greed, lust, meanness, hypocrisy, lying, dishonesty and ingratitude, creates thoughts which lead away from the knowledge stored. Be the doer’s knowledge much or little, it is acquired only through thinking with the mind that it uses and so must be reached through the mental atmosphere. It cannot be gotten through actions, feelings, emotions, ecstasy or trances. Knowledge of the conscious self in the body can come only as the result of active thinking. This knowledge is of the intelligent-side of the Universe and is stored in the noetic world. This world is in but is not of the light world, which belongs to the nature-side. In the light world the beings are all, from the highest to the lowest, devoid of intelligence, except for what they get from human doers. On the intelligent-side there are no worlds in the sense of the worlds of nature-matter. On the intelligent-side are Triune Selves. The term noetic world is figurative like scientific or literary world.

The noetic world is a world of knowledge and is a name for the common part of the noetic atmospheres of the knowers of the Triune Selves in the earth sphere. The human beings of these Triune Selves are different from each other. But there is a part of the noetic atmosphere of each Triune Self that it has in common with all other Triune Selves. There is a one-ness among Triune Selves. That common part is here called the noetic world or world of knowledge. It has an identity and unity in the Great Triune Self of the world. The Great Triune Self of the world is the Triune Self of the Supreme Intelligence and has to it a relation similar to that which exists between a Triune Self and its Intelligence. The noetic world is the storehouse of the knowledge of all Triune Selves in the earth sphere and this knowledge is available to every Triune Self.

In the noetic world is the knowledge of everything concerned with the earth sphere, the earth crusts that have been and the present earth crust; with their matter, the forces that act through them; with the units of the elements in the earth sphere and the laws by which they work. It also contains knowledge of gods, elemental beings and races, past and present, of the continents and races of the physical earth, its fauna, flora and structure, past and present; of the make-up of the exterior and interior sides of the earth crust; of how the stars and other bodies beyond the physical earth are produced, continued and changed; of the nature of sun and moon and their functions and of times and their measurements. All this is knowledge of nature-matter. Moreover the knowledge of the origins and nature of all Triune Selves, the manner of their progress and their final destiny and the relation that the Light of the Intelligences has to their Triune Selves and to the earth sphere, is contained in the noetic world. There is no noetic destiny in the noetic world. In that world, therefore, is the treasure of knowledge of all that is or touches the matter, forces and beings in the four worlds of the earth sphere.

The knowledge which a human acquires is available to him only during that life, except for a small portion, the essence of that knowledge, which is assimilated and stored up by the doer-in-the-body. The knowledge which the doer thus acquires through its many human beings, often assists the present human being. In a crisis and even in ordinary affairs of trade and work, a human then finds that hidden knowledge of his doer coming to his help.

On moral questions this hidden knowledge reveals itself through rightness and speaks as conscience. This knowledge makes a human responsible. It is his noetic destiny and makes physical destiny.

Self-knowledge of the knower of the Triune Self is always certain, be it much or little, and it leaves no doubt. It leaves no room for thinking, because it is the summation in which thinking has found its completion.

Self-knowledge of the knower may come to the doer also as intuition. Intuition is a definite and certain knowledge concerning a subject that has a relation to the doer. Intuition comes through the thinker and gives to the human information and an understanding of a superior kind. The understanding is a live understanding and because it comes from Self-knowledge of the knower is not subject to argument. Intuition is not a feeling, not an instinct, not a prejudice or a preference. It is impartial, it does not come to everybody, and those to whom it comes do not usually mention it. Intuition is tuition by one’s Self from within.

Knowledge of the conscious self in the body comes to some unexpectedly, not as definite intuition and not as conscience, but as confidence and as a general aid in accomplishing a plan. This is noetic destiny of the human.

According to the purpose for which one uses this assistance he closes or opens himself as a channel for further contact with Self-knowledge of the knower. If he will not have anyone but himself benefit by the contact with that aid he closes himself as a channel and shuts off the aid. If he is willing to share the advantages he keeps himself open and may even make better contact. The more he is willing to share without restrictions, the more he receives of this knowledge, from which most people shut themselves off because of their selfish desire.

As it becomes more evident to him that there is an inner source he will be led by it to think about it, and so he opens the way to the source, which is by exercise and discipline of his thinking, until this becomes a thinking without attachment, which does not create thoughts. Thus a doer may eventually have in its waking state access to the noetic world.

An aspect of noetic destiny is the amount of Light of the Intelligence present in the noetic atmosphere and available to the human. An Intelligence lends to its Triune Self a certain amount of Light, so that the doer may use it to educate itself and to go through the experiences necessary to acquire knowledge of the conscious self in the body. At times the Intelligence loans more Light, at times it withdraws Light, according to the use which the human makes of the Light loaned to him. As the human acquires knowledge of the conscious self in the body he receives more Light. The noetic atmosphere shows by a record how much Light has been received, how much has gone out into nature, how much the Intelligence has withdrawn, how much remains in the atmosphere, what has been done with the Light that went into nature and where in nature that Light is.

The record in the noetic atmosphere of the human is noetic destiny. The condition of the noetic atmosphere is the record. It shows itself in the mental atmosphere, in the psychic atmosphere and in the physical body.

Another aspect of noetic destiny is the quality of the Light in the noetic atmosphere. The Light when in the noetic atmosphere is not attached to objects of nature but is attachable or non-attachable. The attachable Light will go out into nature. The Light which is unattachable is Light that has gone out many times and has at last been made unattachable so that it can never again be bound to desire and sent into nature. It is Light that has been freed by the action of desire with rightness and reason, freed from desire by desire. The atmosphere shows to what uses the Light has been put in the doer itself and in nature and how it has been made unattachable. There is in the noetic atmosphere of the average human little Light that has been made unattachable. This shows itself in the actions of men, who go through the same experiences over and over again, without learning anything, without changing their positions as body doers, without the desire to free themselves from nature, without the desire to look into the Light.

Noetic destiny is recondite. It is not visible as is physical destiny, nor manifest as is mental destiny, but there are physical facts which are immediately and above all others connected with noetic destiny and are therefore indications of it.