Fear of Growth Is SeIf-Imposed Delusion

Many Choke Desire to Expand Awareness By Accepting Danger Signals of Mystic Quacks

By ROY EUGENE DAVIS

EVEN IN this age of enlightenment, it
is surprising to find so many sincere men and women who are lost in
fear and confusion. This seems to
be accelerated because the mass
consciousness is becoming clearer
I and people are consciously reaching
out for more information concerning
the psychic and mental worlds. It
is only natural that they should
tollow the urge to extend themselves, and
it is only natural that in following this
urge they should also feel the pangs of
the subconscious resistance to change.

We do not move into the consciousness of
light in one great step; it is done in a series of steps. We often catch a glimmer of the
light thru the maze of subconscious conditioning and confusion. We linger at the threshold
of the greater life and cling to superstitions,
fears, and limited ideas.

Because we are unsure of ourselves, we accept what others have to say on the subject of
this new life which stands before us. Many students are willing to accept what others say
instead of getting their own realization on
the matter. Because human nature is such that
fear and doubt is common in the daily experience, people tend to accept advice that is
colored in this way, even in relationship to
the purer realms of consciousness. Hence, the
remark which is often heard, "It is dangerous
to practice meditation and awaken to consciousness because Mr. ----- said so in his latest
book, and Mrs. ----- told us that in her recent lecture."

It is amazing to me how persons who will
consult only an authority when it comes to
making an investment of money, will listen to
anyone when it comes to the subject of selfrealization. Maybe it is because the average
person does not know how to tell the difference
between a successful spiritual teacher and a
teacher who is only teaching what he in turn
has heard from others.

Most people are pretty firmly attuned to the
three-dimensional world. They may feel an inner
desire to experience an expansion of awareness
but the desire to remain in a comfortable situation in the present will cause them to make
excuses for doing so.

A number of years ago, I gave a class to a
large group of students on the subject of meditation and inner awakening. During the class,
everyone was attentive and obviously uplifted,
as a group gathered for this purpose can be.
The next day I met one of the men and in our
conversation he mentioned the instruction of
the previous evening. "You know," he said, "I
think a person can unfold too fast for his own
good." In this instance, the man, after having
satisfied his curiosity, was content to remain
at his level of consciousness. This, of course,
is all right, In the overall picture, there is
no real reason for a compulsive drive for illumination since we have all the time there is

and we cannot do anything but unfold in due
time. When we come to the point where we take
a conscious interest in the process, however,
we usually look forward to every opportunity
to experience a new surge in the right direction.

In the Orient they tell a story of a man
invited to visit a King. The appointment is
for 6 p.m. The man goes to the palace a little
early, and while waiting for 6 o'clock, busies
himself about the palace grounds, taking in
the beauty of the gardens. Before he realizes
it, the clock shows that it is now much past 6
p.m., and he has missed seeing the King. What
he didn't think about was, had he met the King
and established an understanding, he could
have enjoyed the company of the King, his palace, and the gardens whenever he felt like it.

The moral is obvious. We are concerned with
the idea that eventually we shall experience
illumination of consciousness. If we reach it,
we then have access to any level of awareness
that exists. If we become fascinated with any
one phase(or group of phases) of life and fail
to open to the cosmic vision, we find that life
has passed us by before the goal is reached.
What most people who dabble in psychic investigation do not realize is that, if they once
moved into the consciousness of omnipresence,
they would be free to operate on any level at
will. The truth they claim to be seeking in
their investigation would be self-evident.

Thankfully, only the desire for unfoldment
is necessary for the experience to manifest.
The law is -- Desire fulfills itself. That is
why different people experience the unfoldment
of awareness thru channels which often seem unrelated. It is not the technique nor the teaching that produces realization. Realization is
the result of an inner urge. We find techniques
and methods presented to us to help clear the
mental debris. There is no path suitable for
every person.

A number of years ago I talked with a man
who had been an active worker in the metaphysical field for a long time. After our talk, we
meditated together. I observed that as we moved
into clear levels of consciousness, his breathing tempo changed. He became more relaxed. He
exhibited every psychological and physiological
characteristic of moving from the awareness
of this plane to the inner worlds. This man
does not practice any technique -- at least, not
consciously. Yet, he experiences the same step
by step withdrawal of awareness that is evident in an accomplished Yogi. The mystics all
experience a similar inner activity, even tho
they claim to differ in philosophy.

Earlier, while talking with this man, I
asked him if he had ever practiced any of the
techniques of the Yoga system. He sat upright
and looked at me with mock surprise and said,
"No, I don't practice them because they awaken
the psychic centers, you know?" Yet, less than
a year later, this person began to relate incidents of being aware of men on other dimen-

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