Letter 50009: Though you know my mind well, you may not realize how much I long for your company.

Augustine to his dear friend Nebridius -- greetings. 1. Though you know my mind well, you may not realize how much I long for your company. God will grant me this great blessing someday. I have read your letter -- so genuine in every word -- in which you lament your solitude and the sense of being abandoned by the friends whose companionship was life's sweetest pleasure for you. What can I suggest, other than what I am sure you are already doing? Talk with your own soul, and lift it up, as far as you can, to God. For in Him you hold us by a bond far stronger than bodily images -- which, for the time being, are all we have for remembering each other -- through that faculty of thought by which we grasp the reality of our separation. 2. As I worked through your letters, answering questions that were anything but small in difficulty or importance, I was especially struck by the one in which you ask how certain thoughts and dreams are implanted in our minds by higher powers or superhuman agents. This is a profound question, and as your own good sense must tell you, answering it properly would require not a letter but a full conversation or an entire treatise. Still, knowing your abilities, I will try to scatter a few seeds of thought that may shed some light, so that you can either work out a complete treatment on your own or at least not despair of this important subject being investigated satisfactorily. 3. It is my view that every movement of the mind affects the body in some degree. We know this is evident even to our dull and sluggish senses when the mind's movements are strong enough -- when we are angry, sad, or joyful. From this we may infer that when thought is quietly at work, there may be a corresponding bodily effect imperceptible to us, yet perfectly perceptible to beings of an ethereal nature whose perceptive faculties are so extraordinarily acute that, compared to theirs, ours scarcely deserve the name. These footprints of mental movement, so to speak, which the mind stamps upon the body, may not only persist but persist with something like the force of habit. And it may be that when these are secretly stirred and played upon, they carry thoughts and dreams into our minds according to the will of whatever being is activating them. This could happen with astonishing ease. For if our own earthbound, sluggish bodies can achieve things in physical training that seem almost unbelievable -- playing musical instruments, walking the tightrope, and so on -- then it is perfectly reasonable to suppose that beings with the powers of an ethereal body, who can pass unimpeded through our bodies by the very constitution of their nature, would be capable of far greater speed in moving whatever they wish, while we, though unaware of what they are doing, are nevertheless affected by the results. We have a rough parallel in the fact that we do not perceive how excess bile drives us to more frequent outbursts of anger -- and yet it does, while this excess bile is itself produced by our giving in to such outbursts. 4. If you hesitate to accept this parallel when I state it so briefly, turn it over in your mind more fully. When the mind is continually obstructed by some difficulty in accomplishing what it wants, it becomes continually angry. Anger, as far as I can judge its nature, is a kind of turbulent eagerness to remove whatever restricts our freedom of action. That is why we vent anger not only on people but on things -- smashing the pen we are writing with, or the dice we are gambling with, or the brush we are painting with, or whatever tool seems to be thwarting us. Medical authorities tell us that frequent bouts of anger increase bile production. But increased bile, in turn, makes us easily angry, almost without provocation. Thus the effect the mind produces on the body through its activity is then capable of acting back on the mind in return. 5. These matters could be explored at much greater length, and our understanding deepened by drawing on many relevant observations. But take this letter together with the one I recently sent you about images and memory, and study that one a bit more carefully -- for it was clear from your reply that you had not fully grasped it. When you combine what I have said here with the portion of that earlier letter where I discussed the mind's natural faculty of adding to and subtracting from any object as it pleases, you will see how it is possible for us, both in dreams and in waking thought, to conceive images of physical forms we have never actually seen.

Letter 9 (A.D. 389) Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99... To Nebridius Augustine Sends Greeting. 1. Although you know my mind well, you are perhaps not aware how much I long to enjoy your society. This great blessing, however, God will some day bestow on me. I have read your letter, so genuine in its utterances, in which you complain of your being in solitude, and, as it were, forsaken by your friends, in whose society you found the sweetest charm of life. But what else can I suggest to you than that which I am persuaded is already your exercise? Commune with your own soul, and raise it up, as far as you are able, unto God. For in Him you hold us also by a firmer bond, not by means of bodily images, which we must meanwhile be content to use in remembering each other, but by means of that faculty of thought through which we realize the fact of our separation from each other. 2. In considering your letters, in answering all of which I have certainly had to answer questions of no small difficulty and importance, I was not a little stunned by the one in which you ask me by what means certain thoughts and dreams are put into our minds by higher powers or by superhuman agents. The question is a great one, and, as your own prudence must convince you, would require, in order to its being satisfactorily answered, not a mere letter, but a full oral discussion or a whole treatise. I shall try, however, knowing as I do your talents, to throw out a few germs of thought which may shed light on this question, in order that you may either complete the exhaustive treatment of the subject by your own efforts, or at least not despair of the possibility of this important matter being investigated with satisfactory results. 3. It is my opinion that every movement of the mind affects in some degree the body. We know that this is patent even to our senses, dull and sluggish though they are, when the movements of the mind are somewhat vehement, as when we are angry, or sad, or joyful. Whence we may conjecture that, in like manner, when thought is busy, although no bodily effect of the mental act is discernible by us, there may be some such effect discernible by beings of aërial or etherial essence whose perceptive faculty is in the highest degree acute — so much so, that, in comparison with it, our faculties are scarcely worthy to be called perceptive. Therefore these footprints of its motion, so to speak, which the mind impresses on the body, may perchance not only remain, but remain as it were with the force of a habit; and it may be that, when these are secretly stirred and played upon, they bear thoughts and dreams into our minds, according to the pleasure of the person moving or touching them: and this is done with marvellous facility. For if, as is manifest, the attainments of our earth-born and sluggish bodies in the department of exercise, e.g. in the playing of musical instruments, dancing on the tight-rope, etc., are almost incredible, it is by no means unreasonable to suppose that beings which act with the powers of an aërial or etherial body upon our bodies, and are by the constitution of their natures able to pass unhindered through these bodies, should be capable of much greater quickness in moving whatever they wish, while we, though not perceiving what they do, are nevertheless affected by the results of their activity. We have a somewhat parallel instance in the fact that we do not perceive how it is that superfluity of bile impels us to more frequent outbursts of passionate feeling; and yet it does produce this effect, while this superfluity of bile is itself an effect of our yielding to such passionate feelings. 4. If, however, you hesitate to accept this example as a parallel one, when it is thus cursorily stated by me, turn it over in your thoughts as fully as you can. The mind, if it be continually obstructed by some difficulty in the way of doing and accomplishing what it desires, is thereby made continually angry. For anger, so far as I can judge of its nature, seems to me to be a tumultuous eagerness to take out of the way those things which restrict our freedom of action. Hence it is that usually we vent our anger not only on men, but on such a thing, for example, as the pen with which we write, bruising or breaking it in our passion; and so does the gambler with his dice, the artist with his pencil, and every man with the instrument which he may be using, if he thinks that he is in some way thwarted by it. Now medical men themselves tell us that by these frequent fits of anger bile is increased. But, on the other hand, when the bile is increased, we are easily, and almost without any provocation whatever, made angry. Thus the effect which the mind has by its movement produced upon the body, is capable in its turn of moving the mind again. 5. These things might be treated at very great length, and our knowledge of the subject might be brought to greater certainty and fullness by a large induction from relevant facts. But take along with this letter the one which I sent you lately concerning images and memory, and study it somewhat more carefully; for it was manifest to me, from your reply, that it had not been fully understood. When, to the statements now before you, you add the portion of that letter in which I spoke of a certain natural faculty whereby the mind does in thought add to or take from any object as it pleases, you will see that it is possible for us both in dreams and in waking thoughts to conceive the images of bodily forms which we have never seen.