91/115 SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS By FRANK H. SPRAGUE
He who avails himself of the advantages offered by every accessible medium of spiritual perception, is certain to find the richest and fullest appreciation of life. Every vision of beauty, every thought of truth, every impulse of good, every aspiration for a larger, more real life, is evidence of the presence of a deeper Self, the infinite, God-self within.
One may grow to recognize its presence more clearly by cultivating greater intimacy with nature, a more ardent desire for the real and substantial, a more positive love of right, and a more sincere devotion to the service of humanity. Every man’s capacity for realization enlarges with the using. Faithful employment of faculties already developed, not only tends to in- crease their scope and efficiency, but it also opens up the way for the appearance of others previously latent.
One may increase his power of discernment by occasionally retiring into the inner recesses of his Being for self-communion; by seeking the solitude of nature; by becoming familiar with the best available art and literature; by coming into touch with the great, active world of human interests. Above all else, he needs to cultivate originality, to learn to think for himself,
so that he may know what is real at first hand, by coming into direct contact with the soul of things. His mind must be permeated with the atmosphere of reality. He need not rely on others to search the hidden depths of consciousness for truth that he may discern as well. In these and many other ways, he will come by degrees to realize his deeper selfhood.
In the present stage of human development, nearly every man’s life is passed, to a great extent, amid outward associations so unfavorable to the promotion of spiritual consciousness that he needs, at frequent intervals, to come into the immediate presence of the Infinite, in order to obtain renewed strength and ideal energy to dispense in the practical affairs of life.
By persistently dwelling on the spiritual aspect of life, one may, in time, accumulate sufficient reserve power to render him equal to any emergency. Every man who desires to realize a deeper selfliood, finds it necessary, in the beginning at least, to repeatedly and persistently emphasize the fact that such a Self does in reality exist in him,
even though buried beneath a tangled web of disorderly thoughts which obscures, and threatens, if not swept away, to obliterate the image of the Ideal. It may be that he will succeed only after repeated trials, in permanently establishing and maintaining his standpoint in a realm of consciousness deeper than the finite, so that changes in the transient world of events, circumstances and opinions, will not disturb his peace of mind.