The Open Door by Theon Wright was published in 1970. It's the detailed record of experiments in automatic writing carried out by Wright's parents, Nella and George, and later by Theon's brother Stowell and by Theon himself. The unusual thing about these experiments is that little effort was made to obtain verifiable evidence of identity, the usual procedure in mediumship, particularly in the days when Wright's parents were at work. Instead, the focus was on obtaining wisdom, what the Wrights called the Philosophy of Self, essentially a version of nondualistic mysticism in which the development of one's higher Self contributes to the overall development of Cosmic Consciousness.
Most of the messages were attributed to a nameless entity whom the Wrights called the Master.* These were collected by the Wrights over a period of many years and later incorporated into a long autobiographical account written by Nella Wright in the last decades of her life. Her son Theon has augmented this account with additional background information and with his own experiments, as well as with opening and closing essays intended to place the work in a historical and philosophical context.
The book seems to have been almost entirely forgotten today. A Google search turns up only a handful of references, a couple of which come from this blog, courtesy of our frequent commenter William, who recommended the book. In a way, it's easy to see why the book didn't make more of a splash. There is no hard evidence for postmortem survival here -- at least nothing that would persuade anyone who is skeptical -- and the channeled material is considerably less detailed than than, say, the messages of Seth as received by Jane Roberts, or the writings of Stewart Edward White.
But there are good reasons to seek out a copy of The Open Door, which, though out of print, remains available through online retailers. For one thing, the sincerity of the Wrights shines through on every page. It would take a cynical soul indeed to imagine that this series of experiments, encompassing nearly a century, was carried out as some kind of elaborate hoax. Self-delusion, of course, is always a possibility, but it's impressive to see how the Wrights themselves frequently doubted the source of the information they were receiving and were constantly asking themselves if it simply bubbled up from their own subconscious. (Jane Roberts went through similar periods of self-doubt.) The Wrights, evidently a highly intelligent and intellectually curious couple, never took the messages at face value and were determined to maintain some objectivity about the process throughout. If anything, their doubts and reservations may strike the reader as a bit excessive.
Another interesting feature of the book is the way it weaves together the family's experiments in channeling with the other developments in their lives. The book serves as a fascinating memoir of life from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, and leaves one wondering how many other private communications are being attempted along these lines, even today.
Then there are the messages themselves. The material here may strike some readers as profound; others may dismiss it as puerile. This kind of extreme simplicity, which may seem wise or foolish depending on one's attitude, is a feature of many mystical writings. As an example, here's an excerpt from one message:
... you should value each experience for itself, and endeavor to feel the real and actual joy and pleasure that should be the accompanying factor in each day's experience. Do not look for the seemingly disagreeable facts of life, but emphasize the pleasant ones. So adjust your viewpoint that you will derive a maximum of happiness from every experience. Be ever patient, and strive for Peace and Contentment that is the sure test of a right adjustment and a proper outlook.
It is, after all, the big things that count for happiness, while only trifles and petty inconveniences give rise to the feeling of discontent, worry and annoyance.
Is this profoundly helpful advice or just an inconsequential bromide? From one point of view, "enjoy the moment" is a pretty obvious teaching. But whole books have been written about "being in the now," and the practice of mindfulness meditative exercises is intended to help us achieve this state of mind.
In another excerpt, the Master summarizes the metaphysics of the new philosophy:
My Children, Long ago I taught you to distinguish the Reality from the Appearance -- to look for the Cause back of all manifestational activity. But in no sense did I bid you separate them, for there can be no differences except of state or condition.
The Underlying Reality is that all pervading spiritual Essence that exists, of itself, without cause, containing within itself the possibilities of all experience. In action it gives rise to the phenomenon of Appearance, which is the corresponding entity in the physical or material plane being.
So to your ordinary senses as well as to your conscious mental processes, the phenomenon of Appearance seems to be the Reality, when it is in fact only the representation or concrete and specific expression of that which is back of everything, the Universal Self, the Oversoul, the Spiritual Presence that runs like the thread of a wonderful design through the fabric of the Cosmic Universe.
If, then, the material universe is this representation of a deeper and more fundamental Reality, it is not to be regarded as something in itself, apart from this Reality, and attempting to do so, you fall into error.
The things you see and hear and feel, all that you touch through the senses, have an actual existence in the physical plane, and therefore they must exist, not perhaps as you now know them, but still in reality they must exist on the other plane, as attributes, qualities or functions of the Spirit. This is the Law of their Correspondence.
Then when you shall cease to have a material body and be [word undecipherable] in your expression by the limitations of the physical and the boundaries of sense, the real Ego, or Soul, will be able to perceive more directly the Reality that lies behind all physical phenomena and to see with the eyes of the Spirit, hear with the ears of the Spirit, and to feel and know directly, apart from ordinary sense channels of communication.
It is difficult to convey to your minds any idea of the conditions on the other plane, simply because there are no conditions as you know them. You will see and hear and feel, only in the abstract, as we may now, while in the physical, see and hear and touch and smell mentally. For after all, the functions you call sensations are more psychic than physical, and serve to bring our soul in touch with and make it cognizant of this material environment.
So, Dear Friend, be assured that in ceasing to see material things you will only gain the reality to perceive more clearly the Reality that is before me.
Again, whether or not this is profound or trivial is a judgment that readers must reach on their own. One thing that struck me is the passing similarity to the Platonic idea of Forms (or Ideas) as spiritual equivalents of concrete, physical entities. Plato's theory was that every category of physical things has a perfect archetype existing in the realm of Forms. The idea here seems to be that each individual physical thing has some kind of corresponding spiritual analogue. One might also compare this teaching to the theory of a holographic universe, in which physical things are projections of an underlying nonphysical reality.
Regardless of the value that any particular reader assigns to the messages, there is no doubt that these communications were of great value to the Wrights themselves, assisting them in overcoming many tribulations and giving them courage in the face of considerable adversity. And this perhaps is the greatest lesson of The Open Door. It teaches us that getting in touch with higher powers -- whether they are untapped powers of our own subconscious or higher spiritual entities outside ourselves (and maybe this is a distinction without a difference, as Theon Wright seems to believe) -- can assist in our personal development and help us to find meaning and purpose in the otherwise baffling events of our lives.
The book concludes with the author's own experiments in automatic writing and with his firmly stated opinion that anyone, given patience and discipline and practice, can hone his intuition and obtain valuable insights. My own informal experiments in meditation have tended to bear this out. Rather than seeking the services of professional mediums and psychics, we might be better off developing our own latent abilities in these areas. That would certainly be one way to open the door.
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*I originally wrote that the entity called itself the Master. Thanks to William for pointing out this mistake.
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