I pick the following subjects at random by casually
opening a dictionary. The first word I light upon is ``tranquillity'',
the second ``masticate'', the third ``hexagon'', and the fourth ``deep''. We
will suppose you are going to concentrate and perhaps
meditate on tranquillity, so as to understand and feel it better than
you have done before, and we will suppose that you have come upon the
ideas ``masticate'', ``hexagon'' and ``deep'' and you want them to be
polarized to ``tranquillity''. The following are specimen operations,
but you should also make your own:
- Think of mastication, with tranquillity in view as the goal of a
mental series. Your thought must bridge the gap between these two,
like an electric spark between two carbons. Hold on till you get the
connection. Do not give up. Something will come; never mind if it
seems silly. Here is one that comes to me: mastication -no toothache
- tranquillity. That would come from someone who had been having
dental treatment to remove pain. Here is another: mastication - good
digestion - good sleep - tranquillity. There must be plenty more.
- Now Hexagon. Repeat the word, and look mentally at a hexagon with
tranquillity in view. My first thought is that the hexagon is a
well-balanced figure, well-poised, giving me a tranquil feeling which
I could not so easily receive from a lop-sided diagram. Then, too, to
me a hexagon suggests the familiar symbol of the interlaced triangles,
which is interpreted by many symbologists as the harmonious or
balanced union of the triple mind (will, love and thought)
with the triple world (matter, force and law), instead of the very
symbol of tranquil power.
Figure 6.1:
Star of David
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- Now Deep. ``Still waters run deep.'' Also
deep thoughts make for tranquillity.
Use your own dictionary to get new words with which to experiment, and
make your own connections for daily practice for a week.
Terrence Brannon
2005-09-09
