Idle Fancies & Vain Imaginings

The five outer powers are those of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. These constitute our sensation.

The five inner powers are the common faculty, imagination, thought, comprehension, and memory. The common faculty, imagination, thought, and memory are powers that humans share in common with animals. Comprehension is the power of encompassing realities, and is unique to the human spirit. It enables us to discover that which is hidden, but also hides that which is “known” if it is not supported by thought.

The powers of sensation are complemented by the power of perception, or imagination. But our perception of that which is seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or felt must be reflected upon or thought about before it can be correctly comprehended. As a mirror reflecting only that towards which it is directed, our thought must be directed towards or concentrated upon a given reality. This quality of thought gives it the character of consciousness, for it comes about only through an act of will.

That which is sensed without being perceived can never attain our consciousness, as seen in the state of sleep or unconsciousness; even when staring at an object while “day dreaming” or meditating. Nor can it be comprehended nor remembered.

That which is perceived without being reflected upon or thought about, however, can be comprehended, encompassed, or absorbed – be it a perception true to, or incongruous with, reality – and passed on to our memory. It is then called a subconscious perception (mental model).

Because the act of reflecting upon one’s perceptions or “image”–inations is one of conscious and willful effort, subconscious perception can also be called idle fancies. When these subconscious perceptions constitute erroneous representations of reality, they are known as vain imaginings. Idle fancies and vain imaginings, then, constitute that portion of our memory which has been acquired without conscious effort or thought, but has been taken into our “scheme” of reality or comprehended subconsciously.

This subconscious comprehension can be acquired in at least two ways. One is through the infant’s perception and often–times false “comprehension” of the world around it before its power of thought or reflection is well developed. Another is through “blind imitation” or thoughtless acceptance of what is perceived from one’s parents, superiors, etc. Such is the case with prejudice, many superstitions, and unfounded beliefs.

The job of evoking those contents of one’s memory that have been acquired through subconscious perception (bringing them back to the “imagination”), reflecting upon them consciously, and either reflecting or confirming their validity in relation to that reality which has been comprehended through conscious thought, is a difficult but necessary one. Hence we are taught to pray, “Hold Thou my hand with the hand of Thy power, and deliver me from the depths of my fancies and idle imaginings, and cleanse me of all that is abhorrent unto Thee”.

This task is further complicated by the fact that every one of our perceptions is inexorably linked with an affect (love and/or hate), which can attract us towards error or detract us from truth. Thus we are counseled to detach ourselves from all things but God in our search for truth. For our love for our parents translates into love for the subconscious perceptions acquired from them, and our fear of social disapproval becomes fear of rejecting the vain imaginings of our culture.

The result is often dishonesty. We deny the fact that we possess certain prejudices (perceptions that are “comprehended” or accepted without prior thought) in order to avoid reflecting on them. Hence it is said that honesty is the basis of all divine virtues for humankind, and that without it progress in all the worlds of God is impossible. Only when we are mercilessly (justly) honest with ourselves can we correct our idle fancies and vain imaginings. Hence the most beloved in God’s sight is justice, through the aid of which we can see through our own eyes (conscious reflection) and not through the eyes of others (blind imitation).

(September 1985)