“Man in his developing has become overbalanced in the direction of the reasoning faculties, and as suggested in the preceding chapter, the harmony of a well-rounded maturity demands that the intuitional faculties be understood and given their full function. As intelligent, thinking beings, we find ourselves here with but a vague idea of how we came to be here, or of what forces projected us into being, and with less idea of the origin of conscious intelligence. In order to obtain a knowledge of such truths, we must have an adequate conception of the immensity of the universe and of its eternal duration, and a realization that we are integral parts of the universe, integral parts of something we have discerned faintly, and vaguely defined as law, nature.
In the dark ages of human intelligence when it was illuminated only from its source, this something about which so little is known was called “God”, a term which expressed the idea of power only, all-mighty, all-comprehensive power.
From this very early phase of human experience have come two modes of thought and action – the reasoning mentality and the intuitional mind had their beginning in this period. That intuitional mind has been termed the “subjective mind”, and, in the religious cults of the past, it has been mystically known as the mind of the soul; and the inquiry as to what the soul is, has brought out many answers uncertain and unsatisfactory to the mind analytic in its tendencies. The nearest approach to a satisfactory definition is, that it is the thinking part of man’s nature, which is as far from satisfactory as it is inadequate as a definition.
If we accept the Bible Revelation that God created the world and all that is in it by a word, then we must accept as a fact also that we were created by that word. This, at least, suggests the thought that we are but a part of the Universal Mind, having been organized and given limitations that we term the individual consciousness. These limitations may be called the ego, and that which is limited, the soul.
For illustration, if we take an air-tight vessel and seal it up so that no air can get in or out, then the air originally in the vessel will remain, no matter where the vessel may be carried, even though it is forced into the depths of the ocean. It is so with the original consciousness of man’s existence. It is part of the All-Mind, and through organization, it has been shut in and given limitations, and these limitations are determined by the uses arising in the necessity for maintenance of its individualized existence. This fact makes it evident that the stronger the ego, the narrower are the limitations of the individual.
It follows, therefore, that in the developing and in the expanding of the individual, there need be an overcoming of self-love and the eradication of too much self-appreciation, in order that the consciousness may become receptive to the fountains from which it draws its existence.
We agree, therefore, in the assertion that individuality, as such, is an organized condition of life, and we agree also in the belief that life did not originate with us nor with our ancestors. This being true and life being the source of our consciousness, the possibility of opening up the limitations of the ego is again suggested to the mind, thus giving free access to the inflow of the Universal Life. Special methods bearing directly upon this subject characterize all the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
Nevertheless, the experiences of the past and of many persons at the present time, demonstrate the fact that this letting go of the strength of the ego, and being passive to the inflow of Universal Life have been destructive to the individuality. Notable among such instances is the spiritualistic medium who becomes passive and receptive to whatever may flow in. As a matter of fact, there flows into such a person just what he or she believes. And as these people believe in the existence of spirits—disincarnate souls—therefore, individualities or thought-forms, dark and malicious characteristics of their own lower natures flow in and possess them, and as Christ said, the last state of these people is worse than the first.
Again, we have all seen the religious devotee, who, without a knowledge of God or of universal law, has relinquished the ego to a certain extent, and, opening himself to the Universal Mind, has become fanatical even to the loss of his individuality, insane. The reasoning intelligence has taken such examples as a warning against opening the selfhood to the Universal Mind. Just here, however, we meet a law of mind so well-known as to have escaped critical inquiry, which is explained in what follows.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 