"Art of Mental Chemistry"

Mental Transmutation 

    "Mind (as well as metals and elements) may be transmuted, from state to state; degree to degree; condition to condition; pole to pole; vibration to vibration. True Hermetic Transmutation is a Mental Art." -The Kybalion.

 

The Kybalion teachings contain principles that can be used as a guidance for enduring hapiness. 
I will skip the philosophical justification, the most important justification is that it works. 

The word "Transmute" means "to change from one nature, form, or substance, into another; to transform" (Webster). And accordingly, "Mental Transmutation" means the art of changing and transforming mental states, forms and conditions, into others. So you may see that Mental Transmutation is the "Art of Mental Chemistry".

 

The first of the Seven Hermetic Principles is the Principle of Mentalism, the axiom of which is "The ALL is Mind; the Universe is Mental,"

This means that  the Universe is existing in the Mind of the ALL. 

We are able to freely work along the Mental Plane, in Mental Transmutation. In fact all that we call "psychic phenomena,"; "mental influence"; "mental science"; "new-thought phenomena," operates along the same general lines, for there is but one principle involved, no matter by what name the phenomena be called.

 

The student and practitioner of Mental Transmutation works among the Mental Plane, transmuting mental conditions, states, etc., into others, according to various formulas, more or less efficacious.

The various "treatments," "affirmations," "denials" etc., of the schools of mental science are but formulas, often quite imperfect and unscientific, of The Hermetic Art.

 

Not only may the mental states, etc., of one's self be changed or transmuted by Hermetic Methods; but also the states of others may be, and are, constantly transmuted in the same way. 

And more than this, as many students and practitioners of modern mental science know, every material condition depending upon the minds of other people may be changed or transmuted in accordance with the earnest desire, will, and "treatments" of person desiring changed conditions of life.

 

The Basic Principle of the Hermetic Philosophy: 

Every thought, emotion or mental state has its corresponding rate and mode of vibration.

And by an effort of the will of the person, or of other persons, these mental states may be reproduced, just as a musical tone may be reproduced by causing an instrument to vibrate at a certain rate--just as color may be reproduced in the same may.

By a knowledge of the Principle of Vibration, as applied to Mental Phenomena, one may polarize his mind at any degree he wishes, thus gaining a perfect control over his mental states, moods, etc.

In the same way he may affect the minds of others, producing the desired mental states in them. In short, he may be able to produce on the Mental Plane that which science produces on the Physical Plane--namely, "Vibrations at Will."

 

Light and Darkness are poles of the same thing, with many degrees between them. The musical scale is the same--starting with "C" you move upward until you reach another "C" and so on, the differences between the two ends of the board being the same, with many degrees between the two extremes.

 

The scale of color is the same-higher and lower vibrations being the only difference between high violet and low red. Large and Small are relative. So are Noise and Quiet; Hard and Soft follow the rule. Likewise Sharp and Dull.

Positive and Negative are two poles of the same thing, with countless degrees between them.

 

Good and Bad are not absolute-we call one end of the scale Good and the other Bad, or one end Good and the other Evil, according to the use of the terms.

A thing is "less good" than the thing higher in the scale; but that "less good" thing, in turn, is "more good" than the thing next below it-and so on, the "more or less" being regulated by the position on the scale.

For instance, a person is "blue," melancholy and full of fear. A mental scientist bringing his own mind up to the desired vibration by his trained will, and thus obtaining the desired polarization in his own case, then produces a similar mental state in the other by induction.

The result being that the vibrations are raised and the person polarizes toward the Positive end of the scale instead toward the Negative, and his Fear and other negative emotions are transmuted to Courage and similar positive mental states.

 

A little study will show you that these mental changes are nearly all along the line of Polarization, the change being one of degree rather than of kind

 

Practices

Let's say we all strive for success. For material as well as spiritual success. These two can be combined by making your chief aim to grow your consciousness. That will guarantee the most profound happiness possible. At the highest level you will influence thousands of peoples. When you are enlightened people who are in your neighborhood will immediately feel joyful. At the lowest you’re considering suicide.

 

So this course is about how to raise your vibration, and grow from the vibrational levels of shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, and anger up to pride, courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy, peace and enlightenment. Every level can be seen as a keynote. From this keynote a symphony of emotions and feelings arises that belong to the scale of this keynote.

Your subconscious mind can be seen as the orchestra, that will play on and on even if the conductor, you, is taking a break. So one of these states, or levels, is dominant. And the state will automatically perpetuate when you don't pay attention. The keynote of your mind attracts people and circumstances in your live that vibrate/resonate at the same level.

 

Find your keynote 

 

To step up to a next level you have to first realize what's your dominant keynote. (Read the paragraph on earth matters on the right to find out). Then you can start raising the key.

So starts your permanent job as a conductor/composer of the best version of yourself.
 

Emotions, feelings and thought are interrelated. Emotions are primal reactions. In face with a roaring lion, before we can think, our pants will be full of shit from fear. It takes a while to change emotions because they are memories that have origins that go back to the parents of our parents of our parents. And you have vibrated their grooves all of your live. No priority to change them. They are building blocks, they are what make you a human being.

Feelings are more sophisticated. They seem to sprout from our unconscious mind, as a current in the sea, they are extracted from emotions by the mind. And coloured. A memory can recall a feeling of years ago. They are emotions with momentum, ripened vibrations, mostly consisting of several emotions in a harmony. This palette of emotions feels like one. Feelings are characterized, individualized. They (technically) circulate through the ocean of energy that surrounds the matter of the universe and will come back to you, if the nerve cells, the receptors in your brain, are triggered to receive them, because of a similar experience occurring as the first time you felt them, or better put: created them.

So thinking is at the base of receiving feelings. (These feelings are like wales, swimming through your subconsciousness mind, singing their songs and when you don't pay attention, they start singing the same song and become leading, because of there momentum ). Your thoughts are leading. You can ignore the wales. And by replacing the thought that triggers them, for another attract dolphins. Or adding a new thought to the feeling and thereby changing their character. Make the whales sing different songs.

This process, the deliberately stirring of feelings by thought, coloring the tone, or changing the feeling from minor to mayor, is transmutation. Changing the unwanted feeling when it arises is an art everyone can master. A feeling is a package of energy. In essence its neutral. So to change the character of the energy, is not more than to give a different explanation to the feeling. It’s guiding the energy with thought, match it with another thought. And another power tool is to simply close the receptor, shut the mind for a tone that doesn’t fit your symphony.

Energy is free to use. Energy comes from the Allmind. And If we direct it according to the direction, the Allmind intends, (it wants to grow and make the world a beautiful place), is what I would call co-creating with source, with God.
And about energy: The one who can make the most energy available is closest to Source.

 

If you are in a passive mental state, feelings will attract thoughts out of the subconscious mind to endure. Every emotion has a will to survive and will attract thoughts to confirm his right of existence. And when you look around in the outside world, the emotion and the feeling, will find confirmation for its existence, because the emotion immediately recognizes its equivalent.

 

To step up to the vibrations on a higher keynote your mind can reach out for evidence in a higher key. In for example the C note. The note of Courage, Confidence, Courtesy and Coolness. Just align yourself to people and circumstances where the C is dominant. In this key you will find a different range of emotions.

 

From earth matters: 

Not only people but also objects, events, and whole societies can be ranked at these levels. Within your own life, you’ll see that some parts of your life are at different levels than others. But you should be able to identify your current overall level. You might be at the level of neutrality but still be addicted to smoking (the level of desire). The lower levels you find within yourself will serve as a drag that holds the rest of you back. But you’ll also find higher levels in your life. You may be at the level of acceptance and read a book at the level of reason and feel really inspired. Think about the strongest influences in your life right now. Which ones raise your consciousness? Which ones lower it? You can trace back your life and see how you’ve been moving through these levels of consciousness.We’ll naturally fluctuate between multiple states throughout the course of any given week, so you’ll probably see a range of 3-4 levels where you spend most of your time. One way to figure out your “natural” state is to think about how you perform under pressure. If you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice because that’s what’s inside. What comes out of you when you get squeezed by external events? Do you become paranoid and shut down (fear)? Do you start yelling at people (anger)? Do you become defensive (pride)? Everything in your environment will have an effect on your level of consciousness. TV. Movies. Books. Websites. People. Places. Objects. Food. If you’re at the level of reason, watching TV news (which is predominantly at the levels of fear and desire) will temporarily lower your consciousness. If you’re at the level of guilt, TV news will actually raise it up.Progressing from one level to the next requires energy. But it’s possible to take quantum leaps. With conscious effort, help of others or by some outside force, which could at first seem to be a disaster. Consider what happens when you try to short-cut the process.

If you try to reach the level of reason before mastering self-discipline (willingness) and goal-setting (acceptance), you could be too disorganized and unfocused to use your mind to its full extent.

If you try to push yourself to the level of love before you’ve mastered reason, you could suffer from gullibility. A change in just one level can radically alter everything in your life. People below the level of courage aren’t likely to progress without external help. Courage is required to work on this consciously; it comes down to repeatedly betting your whole reality for the chance to become more conscious and aware. According to Hawkins 85% of the people on earth live below the level of courage.But whenever you reach that next level, you realize clearly that it was a good bet. For example, when you hit the level of courage, all your past fears and false pride seem silly to you now. When you reach the level of acceptance (setting and achieving goals), you look back on the level of willingness and see you were like a mouse running on a treadmill — you were a good runner, but you didn’t pick a direction.To raise our individual level of consciousness is the most important work we can do as human beings.When we do this, we spread higher levels of consciousness to everyone around us. Imagine what an incredible world this would be if we could at least get everyone to the level of acceptance. When you temporarily experience the higher levels, you can see where you must go next. You have one of those moments of clarity where you understand that things have to change. We have to keep consciously taking ourselves back to the sources that can help us complete the next leap. Each step requires different solutions. To make the shift from neutrality to willingness, you can listen to time management tapes. Immerse yourself in sources created by people of a higher level.

 

Practise: When angry

Based on article Transmuting Anger 
by Brian Ruhe

The Buddha gave us several techniques such as replacing the thought with a more skillful thought. But this is for advanced transmutators. A strong feeling of anger will keep on attracting angry thoughts, even after active changing the thought several times. The practice of transmuting emotions is to uplevel your emotions from your lower energy centres to your higher energy centres. To transform and make the energy available.

Deal directly with the negative emotions as they arise. How? Take a break. Sit down.

Take a few deep breaths. Visualize the energy/air  coming in by your feet 4 seconds. Keep the air in your heart, for 7 seconds, and blow out, up in space for 8 seconds.

Now you are ready to 'stare down' your anger (jealousy, envy, whatever). You bring your attention to the physical feeling of your anger. Closely observe the knot in your stomach, your clenched jaw, the shoot of heat going up your spine and neck, etc. Anger is like fire. That is burning inside. It's hurting no-one but you. You are responsible for the size of the fire. By looking at the fire it will not grow. Give it some time. Active quenching will not work. A little patience is more effective.  Without fuel it will stop burning.

 Observe your anger.
Ideally, if you can sit in meditation or control the environment around you, that would be good.
Bring your mind inside your body with your eyes closed.

Let angry thoughts tumble and rumble through your mind, but consider them as fuel.  Stay with the feeling. Feel your pain, experience your experience.  Your objective is to get rid of your anger.
Now visualize the air that you breath in, as mercury rise up from the floor coursing up through your spine and body. Imagine the mercury transmuted by the fire in tiny particles of gold. This gold will stay in your body and become available when needed. Gold is a conductor that attracts thoughts that will help you solve the cause of the anger. Later on. The next day or week when making a plan to solve the conflict. 

Solving the conflict is part of the actions that can be taken to release longterm feelings in the unconscious mind.  

Back to the metaphore: 
Not all mercury will transform in gold. Smoke will reach your head with a warm soft whiteness enveloping your face and the crown of your head, then see the emanation of violet light beam upwards from your crown, going in many directions across infinite space. To the outer sphere of  the universe. Imagine that shooting the energy of anger up to there is the very best thing that you can possibly do with your anger and your other negative emotions. 
When keeping vigil over your feelings, your emotions take on a translucent quality, they become flimsy and fall apart. No one can claim that their personal anger is as solid as concrete, that it has no gaps, that it is continuous and purely refined. No. Such anger does not exist in this universe. All things are impermanent.

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So in this technique, when you put your focus keenly on your negativities, they eventually shift and change and their energy is transmuted.

What happens is that anger is associated with the lower of the seven chackras, and you are bringing that energy up, out of the top, as it were. "Chackras" are channel wheels or energy centres in the body.
The Seven Chackras
(Location on the body Colour Purpose or connection)
1. root red grounding 
2. naval orange sex and creativity 
3. solar plexus yellow emotional centre 
4. heart centre green love 
5. throat blue communication 
6. third eye indigo mission in life 
7. crown violet the ultimate- enlightened mind 

As you bring your energy up, your experience of anger fades and you begin to feel alright- in fact this is a faster way of feeling better than going for a brisk walk or chomping on a stake.

As the energy delicately makes its way upwards to your higher chackras, or even out the top, you feel as tough you have won, you have conquered this bout with anger. You want to keep on using your new found strength.

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You no longer have to abandon anything. You begin to see that you do not have to suppress your energy. You do not have to keep calm and suppress the energy of anger, but you can transform your aggression into dynamic energy. 
The whole point is that the emotions play the part of messengers, bureaucrats and soldiers. Expressing or acting out of hatred or desire on the physical level is a way of trying to escape from your emotions, just as you do when you try to repress them.

If one actually feels the living quality, the texture of the emotions as they are in their naked state, then this experience also contains ultimate truth.

And automatically one begins to see the simultaneously ironical and profound aspect of the emotions as they are. Then the process of transmuting the emotions into wisdom, takes place automatically.

We think that fighting and killing express anger, but these are another kind of escape, a way of releasing rather than actually experiencing emotion as it is. The basic nature of the emotions has not been felt properly.
If we are trying to suppress or subdue our emotions, that is the basic twist of ego in operation. We are being aggressive towards our emotions, trying forcefully to achieve peace or goodness. Once we cease trying to change our emotions and experience them properly, then transmutation may take place. 

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7. TRANSMUTATION OF NEGATIVE THOUGHT 

Worry is the child of Fear

William Walker Atkinson
 
If you kill out Fear - Worry will die for want of nourishment. This advice is very old, and yet it is always worthy of repetition-for it is a lesson of which we are greatly in need. 
 

Some people think that if we kill out Fear and Worry-we will never be able to accomplish anything. I have read editorials in the great journals in which the writers held that, without Worry, one can never accomplish any of the great tasks of life-because  

Worry is necessary to stimulate interest and work. This is nonsense -no matter who utters it! 
Worry never helped one to accomplish anything.

On the contrary-it stands in the way of accomplishment and attainment. 
 

The motive underlying action and "doing things" is Desire and Interest. If one earnestly desires a thing, he naturally becomes very much interested in its accomplishment-and is quick to seize upon anything likely to help him to gain the thing he wants. 

More than that, his mind starts up a work on the subconscious plane that brings into the field of consciousness many ideas of value and importance. 

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Desire and Interest are the causes that result in success 
Worry is not Desire. 

It is true that if one's surroundings and environments become intolerable, he is driven in desperation to some efforts that will result in throwing off the undesirable conditions

-and in the acquiring of those more in harmony with his desire. 

But this is only another form of Desire. The man desires something different from what he has-and when his desire becomes strong enough-his entire interest is given to the task, he makes a mighty effort, and the change is accomplished. 

But it wasn't Worry that caused the effort. 

Worry could content itself with wringing its hands and moaning, "Woe is me," and wearing its nerves to a frazzle--and accomplishing nothing. 

Desire acts differently. It grows stronger as the man's conditions become intolerable, and finally when he feels the hurt so strongly that he can't stand it any longer, he says, "I won't stand this any longer--I will make a change," and lo! Then Desire springs into action. 

The man keeps on "wanting" a change the worst way (which is the best way) and his Interest and Attention-being given to the task of deliverance-he begins to make things move. 

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Worry never accomplished anything
Worry is negative and "death-producing." 
Desire and Ambition are positive and "life-producing." 

A man may worry himself to death-and yet nothing will be accomplished. But let that man transmute his worry and discontent into Desire and Interest-coupled with a belief that he is able to make the change (the "I Can and I Will" idea) -then something happens. 

Yes, Fear and Worry must go before we can do much. One must proceed to "cast out" these negative intruders--and replace them with Confidence and Hope. 

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Transmute Worry into keen Desire 

Then you will find that Interest is awakened -and you will begin to think things of interest to you. Thoughts will come to you from the great reserve stock in your mind -and you will start to manifest them in action. 

Moreover, you will be placing yourself in harmony with similar thoughts of others- and will draw to you aid and assistance from the great volume of thoughtwaves, with which the world is filled. 

One draws to himself thoughtwaves corresponding in character with the nature of the prevailing thoughts in his own mind -his mental attitude. 

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Then, again, he begins to set into motion the great Law of Attraction, whereby he draws to him others likely to help him-and is, in turn, attracted to others who can aid him. 

This Law of Attraction is no joke -no metaphysical absurdity-

but is a great live working principle of Nature,

as anyone may learn by experimenting and observing. 

To succeed in anything you must want it very much

Desire must be in evidence in order to attract. 
 

The man of weak desires attracts very little to himself. 

The stronger the Desire -the greater the force set into motion. 
You must want a thing hard enough, before you can get it. 

You must want it more than you do the things around you

-and you must be prepared to pay the price for it.

The price is the throwing overboard of certain lesser-desires that stand in the way of the accomplishment of the greater one. 

Comfort, ease, leisure, amusements, and many other things may have to go (not always, though). It all depends on what you want. As a rule, the greater the thing desired-the greater the price to be paid for it. 

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Nature believes in adequate compensation. But if you really Desire a thing in earnest- you will pay the price without question. For the Desire will dwarf the importance of the other things. 

You say that you want a thing very much and are doing everything possible toward its attainment? Pshaw! You are only playing Desire. 

Do you want the thing as much as a prisoner wants freedom-as much as a dying man wants life? Look at the almost miraculous things accomplished by prisoners desiring freedom. Look how they work through steel plates and stonewalls with a bit of stone. Is your desire as strong as that? 

Do you work for the desired thing as if your life depended upon it? Nonsense! You don't know what Desire is. 

I tell you-if a man wants a thing as much as the prisoner wants freedom, or as much as a strongly vital man wants life

-then that man will be able to sweep away obstacles and impediments apparently immovable. 

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The key to attainment is Desire, Confidence and Will 
This key will open many doors. 

Fear paralyzes Desire. It scares the life out of it. 
You must get rid of Fear

There have been times in my life when Fear would get hold of me and take a good, firm grip on my vitals-and I would lose all hope... all interest... all ambition... all desire. 

But, thank the Lord, I have always managed to throw off the grip of the monster and face my difficulty like a man. And lo! Things would seem to be straightened out for me, somehow. Either the difficulty would melt away, or I would be given means to overcome, or get around, or under or over it. 

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It is strange how this works. No matter how great is the difficulty-when we finally face it with courage and confidence in ourselves- we seem to pull through, somehow. And then we begin to wonder what we were scared about. 

This is not a mere "fancy." It is the working of a mighty Law, which we do not, as yet, fully understand--but which we may prove at any time. 

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People often ask, "It's all very well for you "New Thought" people to say 'Don't worry.' But what's a person to do when he thinks of all the possible things ahead of him, which might upset him and his plans?" 

Well... all that I can say is that the man is foolish to bother about thinking of troubles to come at some time in the future.

The majority of things that we worry about don't come to pass at all; a large proportion of the others come in a milder form than we had anticipated; and there are always other things which come at the same time which help us to overcome the trouble. 

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The future holds in store for us-not only difficulties to be overcome-but also agents to help us in overcoming the difficulties. 

Things adjust themselves. We are prepared for any trouble which may come upon us -and when the time comes, we somehow find ourselves able to meet it. 

God not only tempers the wind to the shorn lamb -but He also tempers the shorn lamb to the wind. The winds and the shearing do not come together. There is usually enough time for the lamb to get seasoned -and then he generally grows new wool, before the cold blast comes. 

It has been well said that nine-tenths of the worries are over things which never come to pass and that the other tenth is over things of little or no account. So what's the use in using up all your reserve force in fretting over future troubles, if this be so? 

Better wait until your troubles really come before you worry.

You will find that -by this storing up of energy-you will be able to meet about any sort of trouble that comes your way. 

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What is it that uses up all the energy in the average man or woman, anyway? Is it the real overcoming of difficulties , or the worrying about impending troubles? 

It's always "Tomorrow, tomorrow," and yet tomorrow never comes, just as we feared it would. Tomorrow is all right; it carries in its grip good things as well as troubles. 

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Bless my soul, when I sit down and think over the things which I once feared might possibly descend upon me, I laugh! Where are those feared things now? I don't know--have almost forgotten that I ever feared them. 

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You do not need fight Worry. 
That isn't the way to overcome the habit. Just practice concentration.

And then learn to concentrate upon something right before you, and you will find that the worry -thought has vanished. 

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The Mind can think of but one thing at a time, and if you concentrate upon a "bright" thing, the "other" thing will fade away. There are better ways of overcoming objectionable thoughts than by fighting them. Learn to concentrate upon thoughts of an opposite character and you will have solved the problem. 

When the mind is full of worry-thoughts, it cannot find time to work out plans to benefit you. But when you have concentrated upon bright, helpful thoughts, you will discover that it will start to work subconsciously and when the time comes, you will find all sorts of plans and methods by which you will be able to meet the demands upon you. 

Keep your mental attitude right and all things will be added unto you.

There's no sense in worrying. 

Nothing has ever been gained by it and nothing ever will be. 

Bright, cheerful and happy thoughts attract bright, cheerful and happy things to us. Worry drives them away. Cultivate the right mental attitude.