Telepathy Verses Clairvoyance

The term "clairvoyance" in its broad sense of "astral perception," as distinguished from perception by means of the physical senses. By "telepathy," I mean the sending and receiving of thought messages, and mental and emotional states, consciously or unconsciously, by means of what may be called "the sixth sense" of the physical plane. There is, of course, a form of thought transference on the astral plane, but this I include under the general term of clairvoyance, for reasons which will be explained later on. In addition to the five ordinary physical senses of man there were also two other physical senses comparatively undeveloped in the average person.

These two extra physical senses are, respectively, (1) the sense of the presence of other living things; and (2) the telepathic sense. As I also told you, these two extra physical senses have their astral counterparts. They also have certain physical organs which are not generally recognized by physiologists or psychologists, but which are well known to all occultists.There is in every human being a sense which is not generally recognized as such, although nearly every person has had more or less experience regarding its workings.

I refer to the sense of the presence of other living things, separate and apart from the operation of any of the five ordinary physical senses. I ask you to understand that I am not claiming that this is a higher sense than the other physical senses, or that it has come to man in a high state of evolution. On the contrary, this sense came to living things far back in the scale of evolution. It is possessed by the higher forms of the lower animals, such as the horse, dog, and the majority of the wild beasts.

Now, this sense of the presence of other living beings is very well developed in the lower animals, particularly in those whose safety depends upon the knowledge of the presence of their natural enemies. As might be expected, the wild animals have it more highly developed than do the domesticated animals. But even among the latter, we find instances of this sense being in active use—in the case of dogs, horses, geese, etc., especially. Who of us is not familiar with the strange actions of the dog, or the horse, when the animal senses the unseen and unheard presence of some person or animal?

For probably every one of us has had experiences in which we have actually "felt" the presence of some strange person about the premises, or place. The effect of the report of this sense is particularly noticed in the region of the solar plexus, or the pit of the stomach. It manifests in a peculiar, unpleasant feeling of "gone-ness" in that region—it produces a feeling of "something wrong," which disturbs one in a strange way. This is generally accompanied by a "bristling up," or "creepy" feeling along the spine. In connection with the telepathic sense (to be described a little further on) this sense operates to give a person that sense of warning when approached by another person whose feelings are not friendly to him, no matter how friendly the outward appearance of that person may be.

This particular, as well as the telepathic sense, may be cultivated or developed by anyone who wishes to take the time and trouble to accomplish the work. The principle is simple—merely the same principle that one uses in developing any of the other physical attributes, namely, use and exercise. The first step (a) is the recognition of the existence of the sense itself; then (b) the attention given to its reports; then (c) frequent use and exercise. Just think of how you would proceed to develop any of the five ordinary senses—the hearing, sight, or touch, for instance—then follow the same process in the cultivation of this extra sense, or two senses, and you will accomplish the same kind of results.

Now, let us consider the other extra physical sense— the "telepathic" sense, or sense of becoming aware of the thought-waves, or emotional waves, of other persons. Now, as strange as this may appear to some persons—the most of persons in fact—this telepathic faculty is not a "higher" faculty or sense, but is really a comparatively low one. That which really is "higher" in this kind of psychic phenomena is the manifestation of that higher form of telepathy—by use of the astral counterpart of this sense—which we shall consider, later, under the name of clairvoyance, for this is really a particular phase of clairvoyance.

It must be remembered, of course, that all of us are constantly receiving thought-waves, and feeling thought-influence, unconsciously. I am speaking now only of the conscious perception of the thought-waves. Many investigators have so developed their telepathic sense that they are able, at times, to obtain wonderful test results. But, it has been a source of disappointment to many of them to discover that at other times, under apparently similar conditions, their success was very slight. In the first place, every thought process, every emotional activity, every creation of ideas, is accompanied by a manifestation of force—in fact, is the result of the manifestation of a force.

 

Without entering at all into the question of what mind is, in itself, we may rest firmly on the natural fact that every manifestation of mental or emotional activity is the result of an action of the brain or nervous system, manifesting in a form of vibrations. Just as in the case of the manifestation of electricity in which certain chemical elements are consumed, or transformed, so in the case of mental or emotional activity there is a consuming or transformation of the substance of which the nervous system is composed. When I say "nervous system" in this connection, I include the brain, or brains of man— for these are but a part of his great nervous system in which all emotional or mental activity is manifested.

In the same way, the telepathic waves of energy are sent forth by the activity released by the thought or emotion state. These waves travel in every direction, and when they come in contact with physical apparatus sufficiently sensitive to register them, they may be reproduced or retransformed into thought or mental states similar to those which originally sent them forth. Now, in the case of what may be called a clairvoyant- telepathy, or astral telepathy, the ordinary thought- waves play but a small part.

Instead of these, there is a transmission of force along the channels of the astral plane. It is almost impossible to describe the phenomena of the astral plane in the terms of the physical.

Telepathy is simply a matter of the transmission and receiving of waves of vibratory force which have travelled along the ether between two persons. But clairvoyance or astral- telepathy is something like your mind being extended out until it actually touches the mind of the other person and sees what is there.