The Great Work

The Great Work: Obtaining Inner Power and Virtue

by Clayten Tylor

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Keywords: Spiritual development, Self-improvement, Self help, Pyschic Development, Divine Feminine, Divine Love.

The Great Work:
Obtaining Inner Power and Virtue by Clayten W Tylor

Everyone wants to feel loved, but most of us seek it from others. This book takes us on an inner journey to obtain love in a different way, a different kind of love. It is Divine love, which is power and virtue, the power to rule over our thoughts and emotions, and the virtue that enables us to receive this love as the life and light of understanding. This is happiness and delight from doing what is good.

Obtaining the will for good and the understanding of truth is essential to be free of the pull of the mass mind that brings pain and suffering to mankind. The will for good is the feeling of delight, and the understanding of truth is the light of faith, which is awareness and enlightenment.

The conjunction of love and faith in the body is warmth and light, and both are perceptible substances to a transformed mind. If you are reading this, then you are ready for change. If you are suffering, you are ready for healing. These two substances, the warmth of love, and the light of truth are pleasurable sensations that change and heal the body. And because they are spiritual they allow you to enter the affections of others, which brings understanding. Take this journey to a new intellectual light derived from charity called the Great Work.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to the many Swedenborgians who worked tirelessly for two hundred years to translate the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

 

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Preface

The subject of this book is the human mind. I dedicated it to the people who translated the writings of Swedenborg, because the process of translation is a good example of how to access the higher levels of the rational mind. When it is used as a meditative practice, it can also help to access the spiritual realm of abstract thought.

Swedenborg used a similar practice to get intuitive answers, to what he called, ultimate questions. His intensive inner-search process culminated in his own spiritual awakening. We will use a similar “ask and receive” process to guide us on this inner journey into the human mind. This is “The Great Work” — our own spiritual awakening.

Of course, the human mind is the home of personality. And entrance into the mind of the personality is through its memory. The intelligence aspect of personality is formed from the accumulated facts that it memorized. It thrives on accumulating knowledge. We want to encourage it to continue to seek knowledge and to grow wise. We also want to develop the ability to silence the mind and to perceive the realm of abstract thought.

The human mind when silent, is the home of the spiritual self, the realm of abstract thought. The spiritual self too has a memory, which is the doorway to the soul of the spirit. With guidance the spiritual memory becomes transparent, which lets the truth shine through as spiritual light. The personality experiences these fleeting moments as an inner knowing. In this way the personal memory is slowly transformed while it also acts as a receiving station for the spiritual mind. The goal is to maintain a continuous spiritual awareness of the mind at this heightened level of Knowing.

The further process needed to access the higher feeling-levels of abstract thought is by turning within, and asking a question. First we define the search terms or problem, and then we seek a solution. Yet, we also want to develop an intuitive perception of spiritual thought, by training our mind to stay receptive for a few moments after.

The most important thing to understand about the process of turning within and asking a question is that this process is the beginning of all science, of all success. It is the mind learning to seek and to find. When we apply it to some specific area of interest in our own life, something that interests us deeply, it can stir strong emotions — and preferably good ones like dedication and love. Then we surrender the question to our subconscious mind as a suggestion, by letting go of it until it is answered.

If we apply the same spiritual process of “asking and receiving” to a personal problem, then this is the beginning of reason. We define the difficulty by forming it into a question. This is how we can access the higher levels of the rational mind. Therefore, use this time to also solve your personal problems as well. The practice of defining our difficulties into a question thrown out to the universe to be resolved, will help us to improve how our mind works when we access the spiritual realm of abstract thought.
As an example, if you were to ask yourself why you are not happy, you would see a million reasons. But if you were to ask yourself what you could do to be happy, this is the kind of suggestion that the subconscious mind gets pumped-up over. We want to suggest our dedication by composing the right questions to suggest the right answer.

That said, by composing a question into a statement that implies an outcome that is more favorable than the present state is how the rational mind works the best. This is because the rational mind corresponds to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is evolving to a more perfected state of mind. The three degrees are three different feelings; the first is the feeling of enlightenment as an inner Knowing.

Keep in mind that only the spiritual or expanding feeling of Good can enter these heavenly affections of Knowing. This is because the spiritual sensation of Good expanding is the same sensation as conjugial love. It is the highest inmost affection of love, and by acknowledging that, causes within us a slight glow of spiritual light as proof of our dedication. This is how we will access the heavenly levels of the three higher degrees of the rational consciousness. It is done by attuning with the expanding sensation of self, and then letting it carry our consciousness up with it, as a Feeling.

In addition, when reading the following spiritual quote, try to ignore the religious terminology. We want to use the emotional zeal that arises from these kinds of religious ideas to create a vortex of magnetism. We can then shape it into a light-body, for the spiritual feeling of love to inhabit — if only briefly. Think of God as the feeling-essence of Love, and the Holy Spirit as the feeling of spiritual Light. The light is proof of our dedication, which brings the essence of Love into a Knowing Moment.

Exercise #1 Seek & Find:

Prepare to ask yourself an ultimate question. We want to understand the dedication required to seek an answer to something unknowable. Our own spiritual awakening, starts by deciding what we want, by deciding what to ask. We need to want to know about something, which is the test of our dedication. Once we trust the process of asking and receiving, then move on to another question about something spiritual.

Note: I do not expect you to be interested in asking the same kinds of questions that Swedenborg did. But here is an extreme example of one of his ultimate spiritual questions that he asked. Remember, the deeper your dedication, the more profound the answer. I included this quote, because it says that we can actually perceive the Holy Spirit, and can “understand spiritual truths” – and this is what we are training to do. Imagine, if right now you experienced feeling eternal... everything would change.

QUESTION: “Is the Holy Spirit not the same as the sphere of God?”

ANSWER: “The Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit are two distinct things. The Spirit of God did not and could not operate on man except imperceptibly, whereas the Holy Spirit, which proceeds solely from the Lord, operates perceptibly on man, and enables man to understand spiritual truths in a natural way” (Nine Questions, Rose).

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Introduction

What is an acknowledgment? Or better yet, what is it to be acknowledged? To me, the feeling of acknowledgment is the same feeling as worship. Similarly, if we obey the answers that come from within by acting on them, then that too, is a kind of worship by acknowledgment. That said, to receive spiritual guidance and feel uplifted by enlightenment we need to acknowledge some kind of higher power.

Every question that we pose to ourselves results in an answer if we listen. If we were to determine that the answer came to us as a hunch or an instinct, either way, it always acts to guide us, or leads us to a decision that results in our greater benefit. We need to develop our hunches and instincts to be successful in the material world. Yet, we need to develop our intuition, if we want to be successful in the spiritual world. The easiest way to distinguish pure intuition, from hunches or instincts, is that the latter always leads to some kind of personal gain.

Our mind first opens to science, by practicing the process of asking a question and receiving an answer. The spiritual mind opens to spirit when those answers act as guidance. An answer to an ultimate question, one that is meant for our higher self, arrives not as a hunch or an instinct, but as an enlightened intuitive Knowing.

Let me explain further, because we are not talking about becoming psychic in any way, we are talking about being spiritually good. The feeling of spiritual good, can lead to both selfish or selfless acts. Whereas, Reason is the result of the analysis of scientific facts combined with a selfless quest for intuitive guidance — but not for personal gain.

Reason can have both an inner and outer nature, in that, both can be true or false, because it depends on our perception. If we believe that the answer to our question is a result of analyzing facts by using our own reason, then we tend to believe anything as long as it benefits us whether it is true or false. Consider an answer that comes from someone we trust, it too, can be unselfish or selfish, and true or false. Therefore, what is it, that determines how we decide if an answer is right?

If we determine the answer comes from a higher source as an intuitive sensation, it always brings an acknowledgment as an inner Knowing. This kind of acknowledgment when thought of as worship is responsible for increasing our intuition, which becomes the strongest feeling about an answer. Without intuition, we are just guessing.

An instinct or a hunch tends to benefit only ourselves, because they appear to come from ourselves. Selfish answers can cause both a good or bad feeling. A bad feeling produces emotions of pride and arrogance, and we run off half-cocked with an idea that hurts humanity. Whereas, answers that come from a higher source appear as an inner perception, as an intuitive Knowing. This is because intuition corresponds to the three degrees of the higher mind. It is easier to tap into this level of the mind if the sensations that accompany intuition are an acknowledgment of a higher source.

The process of asking questions and receiving an answer stirs an emotional feeling for science and memory. When we use the process in an intensive search for answers applied to ultimate questions, it culminates in a Knowing as intuition. In addition, if we determine that this Knowing is actually coming from a higher source, it suggests an acknowledgment. This is inner worship. It is an intuitive Knowing that results in faith.

The feeling of spiritual faith, when it is acquired in this way develops into an adoration. Everyone can feel it. It creates a spiritual influx, as a slight personal enlightenment experience. The entire process could be called the life of religion. However, when it is without the feeling of being religious, it is called the “Great Work.”

Exercise #2 Acknowledgment as Worship:

The purpose of this exercise is to acknowledge someone in order to understand the spiritual correspondence of the term acknowledgment. From an esoteric perspective, it is the affection, which results from the concept of Fairness. The actual act of acknowledgment, is both a physical luminous glow and a spiritual uplifting affection, but especially, when that acknowledgment is fair or truthful.

Of course, it is always easier to be fair to a child or a parent, or someone that we love. This is because we can feel their love when we acknowledge them. So, we will use the image of them, of someone we love, while we acknowledge a stranger, or a store clerk. Then we will move on to acknowledging someone that we dislike. We will imagine them as evolving to perfection, and the day when they will be perfect, and we will no longer dislike them. To be fair, we must dissolve lifetimes of collective patterns of self-love. We no longer want anything to block our ability to love others. By bringing awareness as acknowledgment to these unconscious patterns, they too become silent.

Note:

Keep in mind that the spiritual sensation that we are seeking, is to experience our acknowledgment of others as “fairness.” We do not need to be in the company of the person to acknowledge them — just thinking about them will accomplish this exercise. Remember, this is a spiritual acknowledgment, which is the sensation of inner worship. It is this inner feeling that we are training to make stronger, to radiate outwards.

We do not want or need to do or say anything that would make the other person know that we are acknowledging them. The act of acknowledgment sets up a spiritual feeling as a suggestion only for your subconscious mind. It is then up to Her, to convince our Higher Self that we are fair, and ready to be guided by intuition.

Overall, we want to impress upon our Higher Self, via the subconscious mind that we understand that all of our experiences are from a higher level, and we now have a deeper appreciation. We want our inner feeling of acknowledgment to glow in silence. Our suggestion to the higher self is that we now understand that our intuition is an exchange of Silent Thought, which in itself can effect positive changes in our body.

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About the Author

Clayten W. Tylor is a Retired Certified Esoteric Astrologer, Numerologist, and Mystic. His other interests include Occult Psychology, Metaphysics, Sacred Science, Mystical Qabalah, and Contemporary Spirituality.

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