1923_02_28 EVOLUTION OF BRAIN CENTRES

[Ani]

Note 4

 

EVOLUTION OF BRAIN CENTRES

 

Master’s Nineteenth Lecture delivered at the Youth Esoteric Class on 28 February 1923 – Wednesday,

 

Reflection

 

A summary of The First Thought Generated by Human Brains topic is to be read.

 

Your topic, to write on for the next time, is “The Usefulness of Rivers, Seas and Oceans”.

 

 

Figure 1

 

Often we talk about the evolution of human beings, about the evolution of everything. The word evolution implies movement, development in an upward and forward direction. Such a movement is to be noticed in the evolution of all living creatures. For example, studying the snake, you will see that its head is joined together with its backbone and forms a straight line without any deviation. Point A (Figure 1) represents a snake’s head, which together with the backbone constitutes the straight line AB. The higher you climb up the ladder of the animal kingdom and reach as high as dogs, for example, the clearer you will see a deviation from the straight line, which is equal to a 45° angle. The face starts enlarging, moving backwards and forwards. In such a deviation of the head from the straight-line dogs manifest a much higher level of life than snakes. The brain’s centre of gravity in animals is [located] more to the back compartment, therefore they move in a direction parallel to the ground. Simultaneously with the centre of gravity moving forward, animals start moving toward a standing position. This was a gradual process, until finally we get to human beings. Today we see an erected human walking on two legs; standing in a position perpendicular to the ground, face parallel to the backbone. Well, the deviation angle has been gradually increasing – from 45° to 90° and from 90° to 180°, as is the case with the human being. Thus, the human face has turned at a 180° angle from back to front. This considerable deviation is due to the currents, to the forces of Nature, which were gradually passing through from one field to another.

 

Some people are said to be double-faced. What is the meaning of the word double-faced? This means a person with two faces – one in front as with human beings, while the other one is behind, as with animals. Hence, such a person behaves at times like a human being and at times like an animal; therefore, such a person cannot be relied upon. Human beings differ from animals not only by the weight of their brain and spinal cord, but also by their facial shape and size. No other animal has the weight of a human being. Human intelligence is judged by the size, form and evolution of the front brain centres in the forehead. Human beings differ from animals not only by the quantity but also by the quality of their brain. Human beings, in comparison to animals, were created under completely different astral circumstances. Put in other words, at the time of creation, human beings descended to the Earth through a different gate. Human embryo has passed through about four to five hundred thousand inferior evolutionary forms until it reached human form. Today human form is the most sophisticated form in which Life manifests itself on the Earth. There are many other superior forms through which human beings will pass in the future. For the time being, however, human beings have to work upon their brain, to prepare for the future conditions. Having its current structure, the human body is subjected to huge changes. A severe illness can reduce the human weight by twenty to thirty kilograms, but there is hardly any reduction in the weight of the brain. The most sustainable substance in the human organism is that of the brain.

 

So, the most precious substance in the human organism is the brain. Therefore one should be able to command one’s brain, which is to say, to know the law governing it, so that one can make a reasonable use of its energy. The brain is a great driving engine, generating forces, electric power, sending it all over the organism. Provided one knows how to properly avail of this energy, a person can cure one’s organism on one’s own. Faith, Hope, Mercy, Reverence, as well as the moral feelings in the human beings are positive variables, which have their places in certain centres, in certain brain areas. Those who know how to utilize them will become aware of the good they can do, and of their   wholesome effect upon human beings. Certain other feelings like apprehension and fear are negative variables. Apart from the positive and negative feelings, there are many other centres in the brain, some of which are simultaneously positive and negative. Such centres, for example, are conscience[1], [M1] self-respect, communicativeness etc.

 

Apart from the feelings and abilities mentioned, there are many similar ones in the human head: destructiveness, comparison, conscience etc. When a person has a highly critical mind and a highly developed destructive feeling, such a person manifests in Life as a big destroyer – whatever obstacle there may be in his or her way, such a person wants to destroy it, to remove it. If a person, whose comparative centre is developed, comes upon whatever obstacles in Life, such a person will remove these obstacles with his or her mind – such a person will be reflecting for a long time and only then will such a person act. When the comparative centre is fairly well developed, such a person will compare things, examine them carefully and such a person will then form an opinion. As soon as encountering two different ideas, such a person starts comparing and analyzing them and only then can such a person either accept or reject the two ideas, or accept the one and reject the other idea. When the reasoning faculties are developed, such a person is prone to examining the causes of things, thus finding one’s way among the potential consequences. The highly developed feeling of apprehension generates fear. Fear is a law in the animal kingdom; it regulates the relations – the weaker one saves its life by running away; the longer the legs, which are more suitable for running, the better for such an animal. The fact that this feeling is well-developed in animals shows that their living conditions were not favourable. Fear in animals is a safe guard against dangers they might come upon. It’s not good for human beings to develop too much of this feeling. When the conscience is highly developed while reason is under-developed, such a person becomes a fanatic.

 

Well, because in the contemporary human beings, brain centres are not developed harmonically, so they cannot receive properly the energies descending from the superior worlds and consequently their thoughts, feelings, and actions are wrong. When moral feelings develop well, the human head grows upward and assumes a beautiful dome-shaped form. When the physical feelings – e.g. the feeling of self-protection is too developed, the human head grows sideways. When the social feelings are over-developed, the back of the human head grows. If the feeling of self-protection and the social feelings or the so called domestic feelings are strongly developed, the movement is in the left direction, i.e. the human head grows better its left side, and consequently the moral feelings are under-developed. In order to give impetus to the moral feelings, blood should be directed to circulate first upwards, and then to the right. Those of you who want to develop their reasoning abilities have to think about the causes of things. Generally speaking, contemporary science is doing its best to develop the various brain centres harmonically, so that human beings can manifest their gifts and abilities.

 

Now that you are students, you should be working consciously to regulate your feelings. Your feelings must be balanced, must be in harmony with each other. If your personal feelings are strongly developed, then regulate them. If your moral feelings and reasoning abilities are underdeveloped, work upon them to strengthen them. Some say, “I feel ashamed to lie, this does not become me, lies undermine my dignity, my honour.” In this case such persons speak on the basis of their semi-moral feelings; they live in a world where they themselves are in the centre. However, when someone says that it is not right to act in such a way, regardless of the fact whether one gains or loses from the situation, such a person acts on the basis of one’s moral feelings coming from a supreme world.

 

 

Figure 2

 

In Figure 2 there are several semi-circles, which represent projections of forces. Which of the projections is the biggest? The last one, i.e. the sixth one. Consequently the more intensive the force, the bigger its projection. Therefore, aim at having broad views, broad vistas. If one wants to reach beyond the physical world, to feel free at large, one must keep great, elevated ideas in mind. What greater idea can there be than the idea of God, of the Primary Cause of things? These who can relate with the Divine World, they will use the healthy energies in Nature, which elevate and rejuvenate people. In order to be able to receive such energies, one must have developed one’s moral feelings. These reside in the upper part of the head. With contemporary people, the personal feelings are best developed of all, residing in the back of the head, where there is no culture. Or if there is any culture, it is at an utterly low level. This fact is evident in the last European war: Christian people believing in the same God fought this war. The war is over, but even today these people are not reconciled with each other. What is the discord among Christian people due to? They have the same religious faith, but different political beliefs and convictions, different interests. Their interests and convictions dominate their religious faith, and consequently they are irreconcilable. Their personal feelings prevail over their moral feelings. One day when human forces start ascending to the moral superior world, all family, social, public and general human issues shall be resolved automatically.

 

The same law applies to each individual human being. Apply this law in your personal life and you will see how easy it will be for you to solve your problems. Imagine someone insults you; if the insult touches upon your personal feeling you will immediately tune yourself against this person and you will say, “I can do everything, but I will never forgive you for the insult.” If you do not forgive, what will you gain? There will be someone else who will feel insulted by you and won’t forgive you, yet someone else will feel insulted by the second person - and won’t forgive him or her etc. What will you gain? You will gain nothing, but there will be a chain of insulted people, whose personal feeling will be affected. Against these circumstances there will be somebody who will boast that he or she is very noble and can easily forgive. How does one forgive? By making the other person pay through the nose. This is no forgiveness. Anybody can forgive like this. Forgiveness is not an arbitrary process; it stems from an elevated place, which resides in the upper part of the human head.

 

Why should one forgive? Because every insult, dealt to you by anyone, willingly or unwillingly, has the purpose of protecting you from an evil, which you are about to experience. Imagine someone ties your hands and legs, and places a sack, containing five hundred kilograms of gold, upon your back; then this person places you in a boat and sets the boat on water. What will happen to you? You will hardly have passed ten-twelve meters and the boat will start sinking. However, in this particular moment, a thief is after the boat, cuts the rope around your hands and legs quickly, takes the sack of gold and takes you back to the surface. You come back safe to the shore and are happy to have your life back. Will you be angry with the thief for taking the bag of gold? You will not be angry with the thief – the sack of gold will be his payment for saving you from drowning. These are moral reflections, which you must use when you want to transform your state of mind, for example; to transform the insult into a blessing for your soul. Such is the new culture, which humankind must adopt. The new ideas the new concepts allow students to tell the difference between one’s own experience or understanding and somebody else’s.

 

What is the difference between the caterpillar and the butterfly for example? Caterpillars and butterflies eat in different ways; caterpillars eat a lot and are greedy, while butterflies eat little and are moderate. This is the reason why everybody can trample on caterpillars. Who can trample on butterflies? Nobody can. They have wings, fly from one flower to another and suck in sweet juices with their proboscis. One after another, there comes a second, third, tenth butterfly and they all suck from the same flower. Therefore, at least twenty butterflies can feed themselves with the juice of one flower, while one caterpillar will not be fed even if it ate twenty flowers. Greediness is a fiercely destructive force. A similar sight is to be seen with certain human desires – insatiable as caterpillars. Having realized this, one has to transform the forces in one’s organism arousing greediness. From caterpillar’s forces, energies, one has to transform these into butterfly’s energies, as butterflies are satisfied with the sweet juice of flowers. The life of caterpillars can be associated with the materialistic life of human beings, while the one of butterflies – with the spiritual life of human beings. Butterflies have developed intelligence; this is evident by their ‘clothes’. It is pleasant to watch the wings of butterflies, on such a small area there are so many colours, so many patterns, properly combined in harmony and placed where they belong.

 

Well, you have to know, that from a moral point of view each reflection has an influence upon future forms, which will be created. Therefore, whatever reflections come to your mind, try to be calm. Do not be disconcerted if many negative thoughts visit you. One has to acquire such a self-control that even when prodded with a needle one will not flinch, and will stay calm and quiet as if nothing is going on. In this respect, Life is favourable to contemporary people; the conditions of life are so changeable, that even the willy-nilly one will develop self-control. Today you meet one rich person happy with the situation, tomorrow you see the same person poor, unhappy; today this person is pre-disposed, having a great impulse to work, tomorrow the same person is indisposed, despondent, sees no point in life. These changes of circumstances take place in order to test one, to get to know or find what progress such a person has made. If such a person has acquired certain self-control, he or she will then take a sombre, calm look at life. If he or she has not acquired self-control, then such a person will be scared; will be dispirited with life. It is an art for someone, having lost everything one has acquired in Life, to rely on one’s abilities and feelings and say, “There is nothing that can scare me as long as I have a brain, a heart and will.” This is a strong person; this is a person of convictions.

 

Three people travel together and arrive late in an unfamiliar village; they decide to eat in the first house in the village and to spend the night there. The first stranger knocks on the door. “Who’s there?” “I am a stranger, who has arrived late, please open the door and put me up for the night in your house.” “Oh, no, it’s too late; we do not let anybody in at this time.” The second stranger knocks on the door, “Please let me in, to have some rest and spend the night in your home.” “Oh, no, we do not let strangers in.”  The third stranger knocks on the door, “Please, open the door to me, to take shelter in your house.” They immediately went out and opened the door. Why did they not let the first two strangers in? In order for you to understand the reasons for such behaviour, I will give you the following example: three persons travel and catch up with a familiar cart. The first stranger addresses the cart driver with the words, “Look, I am a poor man. Can I get into your cart to take a rest?” “No, you can’t.” The second one asks the cart driver for the same thing, but he is also refused. The third stranger takes a Napoleon[2] out of his or her pocket shows this to the cart driver and asks, “Can you take us in your cart?” “Yes, I can. Get on the cart.” What made the cart driver take the strangers in his cart? The gold coin. Such substance must have been detected in the third person’s voice and knocking in order for the people to open the door and let them in their house. Hence, there is a difference in the way people knock, in the way people talk, in the words people use. Thus, there is a saying, “Nice words open iron doors.”

 

I shall give you one more example to show you the effect of good words, to see their power: three people take their musical instruments and travel along the road. The first carries a bagpipe, the second one – a drum, the third one – a violin. Late in the evening, they get to a village and stop in front of a rich house. The first stranger takes out the bagpipe and starts playing; the master wakes up, hears the bagpipe squealing and immediately commands the servants to get rid of the bagpiper. Shortly afterwards the drummer starts beating the drum, believing they will open the door; the servants go out, start shooing the drummer away telling the drummer that the master needs quietness, and does not want to listen to either bagpipes or drums. Finally the third stranger takes out the violin and starts playing tenderly, softly; the rich master gets up from bed, listens to it and starts putting his clothes on. The playing goes on; he goes to the window, opens it and sees a violinist – a young lad playing the violin. He immediately orders his servants to invite the violinist upstairs to play music to them. At the same the wife and children get up, put on their clothes and come into the room to listen to the young violinist. Well, in this particular case the violin stands for the good word, which opens people’s hearts and enters their homes. As long as one uses in life one’s own crude feelings and inclinations, such a person will always be unwanted – no door will open to such a person. If you use the tender sounds of your violin, i.e. if you apply the moral feelings in your life, any door will open to you and will welcome you and let you in.

 

Thus, as long as one is not aware of what feelings and abilities to use, one will always suffer. The suffering of the contemporary people is due to a surplus energy in their organisms, which they cannot cope with. Their energy is not evenly spread[M2]  through all of their organs, and as a result certain organs, certain centres suffer some surplus, while others – some shortage. The same can be seen in the brain centres: certain brain centres are hyperactive due to the surplus energy gathered there; the slightest touch to one of these centres is enough to produce an explosion. Certain people have surplus energy at the centres near the ears: as soon as blood floods into these centres, they immediately explode. Such people are recommended to do hard physical labour, to dig and send some of the surplus energy into the ground. On meeting such a person, you will have to either avoid him or her, or to be very cautious. There are many methods for energy transformation in the human organism. As students, you will study and apply these methods. Imagine you have been through a big misfortune and you are disheartened, you want to commit suicide, to throw yourself from a treacherous cliff, this situation is due to certain karmic reasons. Do not be in a hurry, do not lose heart, but think of the reasons why such gloomy thoughts should come to your mind and try to find a way to transform your state of mind.

 

One young lad lost heart and decided to commit suicide. He climbed up to a very high rock and decided to throw himself down the precipice. While he was reflecting on this issue, he felt sorry for his life, for his youth and started crying. Why should he be crying? It is very simple, this state is not his, he experiences the state of someone who died long ago, whom he must have thrown from such a cliff and thus must have killed him. The spirit of the dead person wants to avenge itself, to make him throw himself from the cliff in order to die the same death. Knowing this, the young lad had to address, in his thoughts, the spirit of the departed person and to tell the spirit, “Listen to me brother, do not make me make such a big mistake, which will be of use neither to me nor to younot benefit either of us[3]. Look, I have a body, which I am willing to share with you – come into me to live and work together. There is room in my body for many souls, let’s make one big partnership and let all of us work in the name of one common great goal, which will elevate us, which will give meaning to our life.”

 

So wellWell then[4], do not avoid suffering, do not avoid gloomy thoughts, but learn from them. There is nothing more pleasurable than coping with one’s gloomy and negative situations. There is nothing greater than coping with one’s difficulties and sufferings and looking upon Life with Joy. Such was the Life of the old Christians; they suffered and glorified God. Whatever sufferings you have to go through, you have to retain your dignity as a human being, as a student. Externally you may be a servant, to perform the lowest of jobs, but internally you have to be masters. Many are masters externally but servants internally. Preferable it isIt is preferable[5] for one to be a servant externally and a master internally.

 

Now everybody should work on himself - or herself, to cope with their pessimism. Their pessimism resembles childish situations. A girl plays with her doll, the doll falls to the floor at one moment and a leg is broken; the girl starts crying inconsolably. As soon as the leg is repaired, the girl’s sadness is gone. A boy is playing with his horse, but the horse falls on the ground and breaks, the boy starts crying, and falls into despair. As soon as a new horse is bought, his pessimism is gone. Such is the pessimism of the contemporary people. No, one has to analyse, to examine the depth of one’s feelings. Whatever one’s feelings may be, one has to transform them, not to give in to their current. What is so scary if someone has lost one hundred leva? Just as one has lost the money, so in the same way one will make it again. He will say that he is in despair and is going to commit suicide. If one is about to commit suicide for a loss of one hundred leva, then such a person does not understand the meaning of Life. Life cannot be bought back. Those who dare to resist Life will be thrown out in the abyss to find out what Life itself is.

 

A young lad went abroad to earn his living. He asked for a job at one place, asked at another, could not find any job – he went hungry for a day or two, as he had no money to buy any bread. At that time, he passed along a Turkish inn with the smell of the most delicious dishes. This definitely aroused his appetite; he gave a deep sigh and told himself, “Why does God put me in this situation? He is not thinking of me.” In utterly low spirits, he passed the inn and went on his way. At the same time something from within whispered into his ear, “Look down!” He looked down and saw half a lev on the ground. He picked the coin up quickly and went back into the inn to have a meal. Having come backreturned[6] to his normal senses, he thanked God that He did not leave him to die of hunger. From this moment on, however, everything with the lad went perfectly.

 

One has to temper oneself in Life. Ordeals are intended to temper one, to make one study, work, and understand the deep meaning of Life. Working upon oneself, a person will develop moral feelings, be free of any apathy, any despair. As long as you keep losing heart, you are on the level of the physical world; you live in your personal feelings. When you fall into despair, get down tostart[7] reading about the lives of great people, to see what serious ordeals they had to pass through. If you do not feel like working, study Tolstoy, he gives an impetus to work. Whatever you do, you will have to make efforts to work and labour. When you are in low spirits and you do not feel like living, this is what you have to do: go outside and watch the sky, get in touch with the other world above you and reflect on the Reasonable creatures who incessantly work upon you without any remuneration or gratitude from you. In the evenings go out and watch the stars, the Moon, to see how great the world is and what there is in store for you to learn. If the night is gloomy, stormy, go to the nearest mountain – to feel the greatness of Nature. Do various experiments, different exercises in order to transform your state of mind. The purpose of the experiments, of the exercises is to place you in a position to experience something grander than your despair. What is[8] grander and stronger than connecting with Living Nature, with the reflecting world, with God? You have to be brave, decisive, to endure hardships in Life. Nature, curing people from their desperation, places great surprises before them;: either in their dreams or when awake, Nature often makes such ambushes, that people forget about any desperation, any discouragement and disheartenment and are ready to live under most difficult conditions. A person wanted to do harm to a someone[9] close to her/him, but during the night had a dream about enemies chasing and torturing him or her. This person had to fight, run away and could hardly escape. In the morning, having got up, that person completely changes his or her decision to take revenge, to do the intended harm – that person has become kind, considerate, taking care not to harm anybody else. Once one gets to know the price of Life, such a person starts along the right path, the path of Good.

 

Exercise:. Visualize the following picture: on a moonlit night, you climb up to a high mountain peak. Getting toArriving at[10] the top of it, you will find a high cliff, you will sit upon it and will start reflecting, watching the sky. While sitting you will notice small clouds appearing in the sky, which will gradually grow, become becoming[11] big dark clouds and covering the entire horizon in front of you – the Moon is no longer to be seen, no stars can be seen either. You are sitting still on the cliff, intently concentrated in your thoughts and at this moment you see a small light somewhere far away on the horizon. The sky opens, the clouds disperse, dawn breaks and in a short while the Sun rises and its purple golden disk comes into view. The exercise should last five minutes altogether.

 

 

[1] To Editor; - the underlined word is repeated. I suppose that the person taking notes of Master’s lecture must have been in a hurry. My hesitation is which of the two words to delete – in the first paragraph concerning centres simultaneously positive and negative; or in the second paragraph – other feelings and abilities. Something tells me that conscience is well placed in the first paragraph and should be deleted in the second, but note at the end of the second paragraph, there is an example with conscience – ­so I am leaving this to your discretion.

[2] Napoleon – a French gold coin with the image of Napoleon I or Napoleon III

[3] Translator’s note – ‘be of use neither to me not to you’ & ‘not benefit either of us’ – are equally grammatically legitimate + have the same meaning – can’t see what’s the point of substituting one with the other

[4] Same comment as in footnote 3

[5] Same comment as in footnote 3, 4 – ‘Preferable it is’ = dislocated emphatic word order, as the original sentence contains emphasis

[6] Same comment as in footnote 3,4,5 – ‘come back’ & ‘return’ – synonymous – slight difference – ‘come back’ is more colloquial – Master’s word is delivered in a particularly colloquial style – why not keep ‘come back’

[7] Translator’s notes - get down to = to give one's attention or consideration  - why then the need to change ‘get down to’ for ‘start’ – as the meaning of the original Bulgarian sentence is ‘to start paying attention to and doing’

[8] Translator’s notes – substituting ‘can there be’ with ‘is’ is actually editing the Master, not the translation…

[9] What was wrong with ‘Someone wanted to do harm to a person’ – and what makes ‘A person wanted to do harm to someone’ preferable? – equally impersonal sentences

[10] See my previous comments on ‘return’ and ‘come back’

[11] While sitting you will notice small clouds appearing in the sky, which will gradually grow, [which will gradually] become big dark clouds and [which will gradually] cover the entire horizon in front of you – Translator’s comments: because ‘which will gradually’ is implied – I used infinitive, rather than gerund – lets leave the verbs in infinitives and preserve the ‘and’.

 [M1]{I agree with you about deleting the word conscience in the second paragraph. At the end of the second paragraph, the word conscience shows the negative side that a highly developed conscience could have if reason is under-developed; this has a connection to conscience in the first paragraph, where it says that some centres in the brain (conscience) are simultaneously positive and negative.}

 [M2]Distributed!?-Yes, this is the meaning