Theos-Talk Archives (May 2003 Message tt00034)

Subject: [bn-study] MEDITATION esoteric/exoteric,

Sunday, May 04, 2003

Dear Friends:


I have asked myself what lies below the words and expressions
used. and have also looked in H P B’s writings for further
definitions.

Here are some notes that seemed important to me:

Best wishes,

Dallas

==================

TOOLS OF MEDITATION


WILL ... "But the Adept has no need of any such extraneous
apparatus [ ceremonial magic, employed in antiquity ]--the simple
exertion of his will-power is all-sufficient...the exercise of
such will-power is the highest form of prayer and its
instantane­ous response. To desire is to realize in proportion
to the intensity of the aspiration; and that, in its turn, is
measured by inward purity." Is II 592


"WILL is the exclusive possession of man on this our plane of
consciousness. It divides him from the brute in whom
instinc­tive desire only is active. Desire in its widest
application, is the one creative force in the Universe. In this
sense it is indistinguishable from Will; but we men never know
desire under this form while we remain only men. Therefore Will
and Desire are here considered as opposed...Will is the offspring
of the Divine, the God in man. Desire, the motive power of the
animal life.

Most men live in and by desire, mistaking it for will. He who
would achieve, must separate will from desire; make Will the
ruler--for desire is unstable, ever changing. Will is steady and
constant."

Both will and desire are absolute creators, forming the man
himself and his surroundings. But, will creates
intelligently--desire, blindly and unconsciously. The man,
therefore, makes himself in the likeness of his desires, unless
he creates himself (anew) in the likeness of the Divine, through
his Will, the "child of Light."
[ see "The Elixir of Life" 5 Yrs of Thy. p.
1... ]


"Man's task is two-fold: to awaken Will, to strengthen it by
use, and conquest (of the desires); to make it absolute ruler
within his body; and, parallel with this, to purify
desire...Knowledge and Will are the tools for the accomplishment
of this purification."
"Will and Desire" HPB Lucif. I p.
96


PURIFYING DESIRE: "When desire is for the purely abstract--when
it has lost all trace or tinge of "self"--then it has become
pure. The first step towards this purity is to kill out the
desire for the things of matter, since these can only be enjoyed
by the separated personality. The second is to cease from
desir­ing for oneself even such abstractions as power, knowledge,
love, happiness, or fame; for they are but selfishness after
all.

Life itself teaches these lessons; for all such objects are
found Dead Sea fruit in the moment of attainment. This much we
learn from experience. Intuitive perception seizes on the
posi­tive truth that satisfaction is attainable only in the
infinite; the will makes that conviction an actual fact of
consciousness, till at last all desire is centered on the
Eternal."
HPB--Lucifer Vol. I, p. 133



"SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS ... belongs to man and proceeds from the
Self, the Higher Manas...whereas the psychic element (or
Kama-Manas) is common to both animal and the human being...no
physiol­ogist...will ever solve the mystery of the human mind, in
its highest spiritual manifestations, or in its dual aspect of
the psychic and the noetic (or the manasic)...unless he knows
someth­ing of and is prepared to admit this dual element...to
admit a lower (animal), and a higher (or divine) mind in
man...the "personal" and the "impersonal" Egos."
"Psychic and Noetic Action" HPB Art. II
pp 9-10


FREE CHOICE ... "...by "psychic" individuality we mean that
self-determining power which enables man to override
circumstanc­es...(or better) (13) call it the higher
self-conscious Will..."Mind" is manas, or rather its lower
reflection, which, whenever it disconnects itself, for the time
being, with kama (desire, passion), becomes the guide of the
highest mental facul­ties, and is the organ of the free-will in
man physical."
HPB Art II pp. 12-13


SELF KNOWLEDGE:-- "The first necessity for obtaining
self-knowledge is to become profoundly conscious of ignorance;
to feel with every fiber of the heart that one is ceaselessly
self-deceived.

The second requisite is the still deeper conviction that such
knowledge--such intuitive and certain knowledge--can be obtained
by effort.

The third, and most important is an indomitable determina­tion to
obtain and face that knowledge.

Self-knowledge of this kind is unobtainable by what men usually
call "self-analysis." It is not reached by reasoning or by any
brain process; for it is the awakening to consciousness of the
Divine nature of man.

To obtain this knowledge is a greater achievement than to command
the elements of to know the future." HPB --
Lucifer Vol. 1, p. 89




RESULTS OF MEDITATION


PROGRESS ... "All our progress is in the inner nature, and not in
the physical where lives the brain...as the great Adepts live in
the plane of our inner nature, it must follow that They might be
actively helping every one of us...the greatest help will [come]
from concentration upon the Higher Self (Atman) and aspiration
towards the Higher Self. Also, if you will take some subject or
sentence from the Bhagavad Gita and concentrate your mind upon
that and meditate upon it, you will find much good result from
it, and there is no danger in such concentration." [ WQJ also
indicated here the danger of Hatha Yoga practices.]
WQJ Letters, p. 115


"PERFECTION...of body, or superhuman powers, are produced by
birth, or by powerful herbs, or by incantations, penances, or
mediations. [...the sole cause of permanent perfection is
medita­tion performed in incarnations prior to that is which the
perfec­tion appears...as meditation reaches within, it affects
each incarnation...]"
Patanjali, p. 62


"We must discover what actions ought to be performed by us and do
them for that reason, and not because of some result we expect to
follow...By pursuing this practice true meditation is begun and
will soon become permanent. For, one who watches his thoughts
and acts so as to perform those that ought to be done, will
acquire a concentration in time which will increase the power of
real meditation. It is not meditation to stare at a spot on the
wall for a fixed period, or to remain for another space of time
in a perfectly vacuous mental state which soon runs into sleep.
All those things are merely forms which in the end will do no
lasting good. But many students have run after these follies,
ignoring the true way. The truth is, that the right method is
not easy; it requires thought and mental effort, with
persistency and faith...all [will] depend on self-mastery."
Gita Notes 128-9


"All true impressions come from within--from the highest
Principle in us, Atma, or the Divinity which is one and the same
in all. If there is nothing in the brain but impressions from
the lower principles of our being, nothing to connect the Thinker
with higher planes, he can but waver between these lower states.
If thought is to rise further, it must me thought without a
brain. Nature works by orderly processes to which we give the
name of law. In the individual it is called the Will. By an act
of the will all ordinary mental processes may be stopped; then
the habitual center of mental action may be transcended and the
ascent to the next plane made, without losing the power to
perceive on this. In all such attempts we must keep the
Fundamentals in view--in mind. The Spirit in man, the Perceiver,
is "untouched by troubles, works, fruits of works, or desires."
It seems to me that the clearest comprehension, if not
under­standing, of all this comes from dwelling on the idea of
the Perceiver as looking into one or another of his "sheaths" and
finding there the record of the actions in any or all of them.

Everything depends on what one has in mind--his fundamental
conceptions of Deity, Nature, and Man, when considering or
at­tempting to practice "concentration." The general idea on
this as on other subjects and objects is purely personal. There
is no self-examination of motives, no altruism, no effort to
carry out in daily life the assumed object of fitting one's self
to be the better able to help and teach others, no observation of
the evil effects of rushing in for "psychic development." H.P.B.
says, "One has to have an unshakable faith in the Deity within,
an unlimited belief in his own power to learn; otherwise he is
bound to fall into delusion and irresponsible mediumship." Here
is the signpost of warning against all attempts to develop
psy­chically before one has learned to master and guide the
lower, personal self...Dwelling on the Fundamentals and the
endeavor to help others is the true concentration. Mr. Judge
wrote: "Thus the Will is freed from the domination of desire and
at last subdues the mind itself."
Friendly Philosopher, p. 400-1


"...a surer sense of truth than any manner of reasoning. This is
the action of Buddhi--direct cognition--the goal to which all
right philosophy and life leads. In our sincere efforts we at
times may have flashes from that seat of consciousness. The
great result is to have the continuous co-operation of Manas and
Buddhi--higher mind and spiritual knowledge; to work as the
god-man, perfect in all his parts, instead of the present
sectional operation which obtains...The Doctrine of the Eye is
that of the brain consciousness, composed largely of external
impressions. The Doctrine of the Heart is the spiritual
consciousness of the Ego--not perceived by the brain
consciousness until right thought, and right action which sooner
or later follows it, attune certain centers in the brain in
accord with spiritual vibration...You have much of the
intellectual side; there should be as much of the devotional;
for what is desirable is the awakening of the spiritual
consciousness, the intuition--Buddhi-- and this cannot be done
unless the thoughts are turned that way with power and purpose.

You may, if you will, set apart a certain half-hour, just before
retiring and after arising--as soon as possible after--and before
eating. Concentrate the mind upon the Masters as ideals and
facts--living, active, beneficent Beings, working in and on the
plane of causes. Meditate upon this exclusively, and try to
reach up to Them in thought. If you find the mind has strayed,
bring it back again to the subject of meditation. The mind will
stray more or less, at first, and perhaps for a long time to
come, but do not be discouraged at the apparent results if
unsat­isfactory to your mind. The real results may not at once
be apparent, but the work is not lost...

Never mind the past, for you are at the entrance of a new world
to you as persons...Do not try to open conscious communica­tion
with beings on other planes. It is not the time and danger lies
that way, because the power of creating one's own images, and
because of the power and disposition of the dark forces to
simulate beings of Light, and render futile your efforts to reach
the goal. When the materials are ready the Architect will
ap­pear, but seek him not; seek only to be ready. Do the best
you can from day to day, fearing nothing, doubting nothing,
putting your whole trust in the Great Law, and all will be well.
With the right attitude knowledge will come." R C --
F P 13-4





The "Heart Doctrine"


"The Doctrine of the Heart is the spiritual
consciousness of the Ego--not perceived by the brain
consciousness until right thought, and right action...attune
certain centers in the brain in accord with the spiritual
vibration...read the Voice of the Silence...what is desirable is
the awakening of the spiritual consciousness, the
intuition--Buddhi--and this cannot be done unless the thoughts
are turned that way with power and purpose...” R. C. -
Friendly Philosopher, pp 13-14


Dispassion is the having overcome one's desires, (a state of
being in which the consciousness is unaffected by passions,
desires, and ambitions, which aid in causing modifications of the
mind.)

Dispassion carried to the utmost, is indifference regarding all
else than soul (Higher Manas), and this indifference arises from
a knowledge of soul (Higher Manas) as distinguished from all
else." Pat, pp. 5, 6, 7.


"The anchorite who shutteth his placid soul away from all sense
of touch, with gaze fixed between his eye brows; who maketh the
breath to pass through both his nostrils with evenness alike in
inspiration and expiration, whose senses and organs together with
his heart and understanding are under control, and who hath set
his heart upon liberation and is ever free from desires and anger
is emancipated from birth and death even in this life. Knowing
that I, the great Lord of all worlds, am the enjoyer of all
sacrifices and penances and the friend of all creatures, he shall
obtain me and be blessed." Gita. p. 42-3

"Whosoever shall meditate upon the All-Wise which is without
beginning, the Supreme Ruler, the smallest of the small, the
Supporter of all, whose form is incomprehensible, bright as the
sun beyond the darkness; with mind undeviating, united to
devo­tion, and by the power of meditation concentrated at the
hour of death...attains to that Supreme Divine Spirit."
Gita p. 59


"Some men, by meditation, using contemplation upon the Self,
behold the spirit within..." Gita, p. 97


"I will now tell thee what is the object of wisdom, from knowing
which a man enjoys immortality; it is that which has no
beginning, even the supreme Brahma, and of which it cannot be
said that it is either Being or Non-Being...it is immanent in the
world...unattached, yet supporting all; without qualities, yet
the witness of them all...the light of all lights...wisdom
it­self, the object of wisdom, and what which is to be obtained
by wisdom; in the hearts of all it ever presideth."
Gita, p. 95


"...the direction to perform actions and yet renounce their
performance...the real actor is the mind, that acts...are the
thoughts themselves...Duty, and the final imperative--the "what
ought I to do"--comes in here and becomes a part of the process.
(discrimination to be applied)...true meditation is (thus) begun
and will soon become permanent...[will acquire] a concentration
in time which will increase the real power of meditation. It is
not meditation to stare at a spot on the wall for a fixed period,
or to remain for another space of time in a perfectly vacuous
mental state which soon runs into sleep...many students have run
after these follies, ignoring the true way. The truth is, that
the right method is not easy; it requires thought and mental
effort, with persistence and faith...It will all depend on
self-mastery. The self below will continually drag down the man
who is not self-conquered...on the other side, the self is near
to divinity, and when conquered it becomes the friend and helper
of the conqueror...Every effort we make in (intentness upon the
Supreme Spirit)...will be preserved in the inner nature and
cannot be lost at death. It is a spiritual gain..." Gita
Notes, pp 127-130


"...[the acquisition of] spiritual discernment by means of which
the Supreme Spirit can be discerned in all things...this sort of
knowledge leaves nothing else to be known, but...to attain it the
heart--that is every part of nature--must be fixed on the Spirit,
meditation has to be constant, and the Spirit made the refuge or
abiding-place." Gita Notes, p. 132


"To meditate on the Higher Self is difficult. Seek then the
bridge--the Masters...the Great Workers who are behind us. They
are behind us, to my personal knowledge...[and] behind all
sincere workers. I know that their desire is that each should
listen to the voice of his inner self and not depend too much on
outside people...By a dependence of that kind you become at last
thoroughly independent, and then the unseen helpers are able to
help all the more." WQJ LET. 112


"Outside a certain highly spiritual and elevated state of mind,
during which Man is at one with the Universal Mind--he can get
nought on earth but relative truth, or truths, from whatsoev­er
philosophy or religion." HPB Art I p. 10


DESIGNATIONS GIVEN TO SOME ADEPTS


YOGI "... A state, when reached, makes the practitioner thereof
absolute master of his six "principles," he now being merged in
the Seventh. It gives him full control, owing to his knowledge
of Self and Self, over his bodily, intellectual and mental
states, which, unable any longer to interfere with, or act upon,
his Higher Ego, leave it free to exist in its original, pure, and
divine state." Glos. 381


"Yogis are those who strive for union with the Higher Self. All
do not succeed in any one life, so some are subject to
re­birth...Man binds himself or frees himself by reason of his
spiritual power--and his connection with every department and
division of great Nature. [Gita, p. 62]...The "highest place" is
sometimes called "All-knowingness," the perfection of knowledge,
the possession of which confers power of action upon any or all
departments of manifested Nature. To reach this "highest-place"
the highest motive must prevail in all thought and action,
per­haps through many lives..." G. N. p. 151-2


YOGA ... "Attributed to Yajnavalkiya and to Patanjali ... "The
practice of meditation as a means of leading to spiritual
illumination. Psycho-spiritual powers are obtained thereby, and
induced ecstatic states lead to the clear and correct perception
of the eternal truths in both the visible and invisible
universe." Glos 381


Sannyasi ..."An ascetic who has reached the highest mystic
knowledge; whose mind is fixed upon the supreme truth, and who
has renounced everything terrestrial and worldly."
Glos p. 290


INITIATION ... "The whole individuality [Personality] is centered
in the three middle [ or third (Manas), forth (Kama ), and fifth
( Astral Body) ] principles. During earthly life it is all in
the fourth (Kama-Manas), the center of energy,
volition--will...the individuality survives...to run its
seven-fold and upward course [it] has to assimilate to itself the
eternal-life power residing in the seventh ( Atma ), and then
blend the three (4th, 5th, and 7th) into one--the 6th ( Buddhi ).
Those who succeed in doing so become Buddhas, Dhyan Chohans,
etc...The chief object of our struggle and initiations is to
achieve this union while yet on this earth."
M. Letters, p. 77-8


"The Occult Science is not one in which secrets can be
communicated of a sudden...[there is a waiting period] till the
neophyte attains to the condition necessary for that degree of
illumination to which, and for which, he is entitled and fitted,
most if not all of the Secrets are incommunicable. The
receptiv­ity must be equal to the desire to instruct. The
illumination must come from within...Fasting, mediation, chastity
of thought word and deed; silence for certain periods to enable
nature herself to speak to him who comes to her for information;
gov­ernment of the animal passions and impulses; utter
unselfishness of intention, the use of certain incense and
fumigations for physiological purposes, have been published as
the means since the days of Plato and Iamblichus in the
West...How these must be complied with to suit each individual
temperament is of course a matter for his own experiments and the
watchful care of his tutor or Guru...part of his course of
discipline, and his Guru or initiator can but assist him with his
experience and will power but can do no more until the last and
supreme initiation."
M. Letters, p. 282-3



"PRINCIPLES" IN MAN INVOLVED IN MEDITATION


"ATMA...THE HIGHER SELF ... "The inseparable ray of the Universal
and One Self. It is the God above, more than within, us. Happy
the man who succeeds is saturating his inner Ego with it !"
Key, 175


"HIGHER SELF ... IS ATMA...it can never be objective under any
circumstances, even to the highest spiritual perceptions. For
Atman or the "Higher Self" is really Brahma, the Absolute, and
indistinguishable from it. In hours of Samadhi, the higher
spiritual consciousness of the Initiate is entirely absorbed in
the One essence, which is Atman, and therefore, being one with
the whole, there can be nothing objective for it. Self...this
term ought to be applied solely to the One Universal Self...
Manas, the "causal body," we may call it when connecting it with
the Buddhic radiance--the "Higher Ego"...a child does not acquire
its sixth principle--or become morally responsible capable of
generating Karma--until seven years old..." Key p.
171-2


"... SPIRITUAL SOUL OR BUDDHI, in close union with Manas, the
mind-principle, without which it is no Ego at all, but only the
Atmic Vehicle. (passive agent)..."Buddhi becomes conscious by the
accretions it gets from Manas after every new incarnation an
death of man." (SD I 244) [see HPB Art. III, 265 ]
Key p. 176


"BUDDHI...The faculty of cognizing the channel through which
divine knowledge reaches the Ego, the discernment of good and
evil, "divine consciousness," "Spiritual Soul," the vehicle of
Atma." SD I xix
[see also SD I 17 119, 244, 570, 453; Key 175-6]


"AVALOKITESVARA..."When Buddhi absorbs our Egotism (destroys it)
with all its Vikharas [qualities, or attractions-TM 11-p. 23],
Avalokitesvara [SD I-108, II-178, Glos. 44, ML 90] becomes
manifested to us, and Nirvana, or Mukti is reached...freedom from
the trammels of Maya or illusion." SD I xix
[see SD I xxi, 7, 132 II 615 Glos 211, 218, 232; ]


"MANAS...THE INNER OR HIGHER "EGO" ... The "Fifth Principle,
so-called, independently of Buddhi. The Mind-Principle is only
the Spiritual Ego when merged into and one with Buddhi,--no
materialist being supposed to have in him such an Ego, however
great his intellectual capacities. It is the permanent
Individu­ality or the "Reincarnating Ego." ("The human Ego is
neither Atman nor Buddhi, but the higher Manas...Karana Sarira
(the "causal body") on the plane of the Sutratma (thread soul),
which is the golden thread on which, like beads, the various
personali­ties of the Ego are strung." (SD II 79)


"Esoteric philosophy teaches the existence of two Egos in man,
the mortal or personal, and the Higher, the Divine and the
Impersonal." (Glos. p. 111; S D II 167] ...


("HIGHER EGO"...it is the higher Manas illuminated by Bud­dhi,
[Taijasi] the principle of self-consciousness, the "I-am-I"...the
Karana Sarira, the immortal man which passes from one incarnation
to another." ( see Trans. p. 63) Key p.
176


"LOWER MANAS OR KAMA MANAS ... the Lower or Personal "Ego":--
"the physical man in conjunction with his lower Self
(Kama-Manas), i.e., animal instincts, passions, desires, etc. It
is called the "false personality," and consists of the Lower
Manas combined with the Kama Rupa, and operating through the
Physical body and its phantom, or "double." [Astral body].
Key, p. 176


"The ASTRAL PRINCIPLE, OR MIND...[LOWER MANAS] is the sen­tient
soul, inseparable from our physical brain, which it holds in
subjection, and is in its turn equally trammeled by it. This is
the ego, the intellectual life-principle of man, his conscious
entity. While it is yet within the material body, the clearness
and correctness of its spiritual vision depend on its more or
less intimate relation with its higher Principle. When this
relation is such as to allow the most ethereal portions of the
soul-essence to act independently of its grosser particles and of
the brain, it can unerringly, comprehend what it sees; then
only, it is the pure, rational, supersentient soul. This state
is known as...Samadhi...it is the highest condition of
spiritual­ity possible to man on earth."
[ see further for a description of the Dharana state, Is II 591 ]
Is II 590-1


"...[our] axioms of logic can be applied to the lower Manas only,
and it is from the perceptions of Kama Manas alone that [one]
argues. Occultism teaches only that which it derives from the
cognition of the Higher Ego [Higher Manas] or [Buddhi
Manas]...the first and only form of the prima materia our
brain-consciousness can cognize, is a circle.

Train your thought first of all to a thorough acquaintance with a
limited circle, and expand it gradually. You will soon come to a
point when without its ceasing to be a circle in thought it yet
becomes infinite and limitless even to the inner perceptions. It
is this circle which is called Brahma, the germ, atom, or anu; a
latent atom embracing infinitude and boundless Eternity during
Pralaya, an active one during the life-cycles; but one which has
neither circumference nor plane, only limitless expansion...a
Circle is the first geometrical figure in the subjective world,
and it becomes a Triangle in the objective..."
Transactions p. 126-7



PERCEPTION -- CONSCIOUSNESS -- INTELLIGENCE


PERCEIVER ... "There is only one Perceiver; the sights are
modified by the channels through which the Perceiver looks...The
power of seeing is the Soul; the power of the Soul goes into the
seeing, hence what It "sees" are to it real, because seen; as
sights, each is a reality; but the nature of the Soul is
differ­ent from any and all "sights." The nature of the Soul is
unmodi­fiable, and this must be grasped...The Mind as at present
consti­tuted is attracted or repelled by externalities, and the
power of the Soul flows in the direction of concentration, be
that long or short. Trough the Mind, the Soul determines bad,
good, better, best, on this or any plane. Mind has to be
adjusted by knowledge of essential nature, of causes, and by
analogies and correspon­dences...There is just "Consciousness"
and its "states," which are conditioned consciousness. We
speculate on conditions; we cannot [speculate] on Consciousness
itself, for we are that."
F.P. p. 50


ONE CONSCIOUSNESS ... "We have thus to carry on the culture of
the soul by regular stages, never neglecting one part at the
expense of another...The meaning here is that he is to rely upon
the One Consciousness which as differentiated in a man, is his
Higher Self. By means of this higher self [Atman] he is to
strengthen the lower [Kama-Manas], or that which he is accustomed
to call "myself [ the embodied brain-mind ]." ."Our
consciousness is one and not many, nor differentfrom other
consciousnesses.

It is not waking consciousness or sleeping consciousness, or any
other but consciousness itself...the one consciousness of each
person is the Witness or Spectator of the actions and experiences
of every state we are in or pass through. It therefore follows
that the waking condition of the mind is not separate
consciousness.

"The one consciousness pierces up and down through all the states
or planes of Being, and serves to uphold the memory--whether
complete or incomplete--of each state's experi­ences...

.To take the first step raises the possibility of success...The
first step is giving up bad associations and get­ting a longing
for knowledge of God; the second is joining good company,
listening to their teachings and practicing them; the third is
strengthening the first two attainments, having faith and
continuing in it. Whoever dies thus, lays the sure founda­tion
for ascent to adeptship or salvation."
Gita Notes, pp. 98-100


SYMPATHY ... "...[is] universal, which exists between all things
in nature (Paracelsus)...Every created being possesses his own
celestial power and is closely allied with "heaven."...[this]
secret magnetic property enables one person to affect
another...the greater potency of the will in the state of
ecsta­sy...the imperial will of man."
Isis I, p. 170


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