Theos-Talk Archives (May 2003 Message tt00246)

May 27 2003


Dear Friends:

This is in response to a query:

Perhaps this might be of help in developing some dialog and
consideration.




The "Heart Chakra" -- some Meditation on it.


"The light from the ONE MASTER, the one unfading golden light of
Spirit, shoots its effulgent beams on the disciple from the very
first. Its rays thread through the thick dark clouds of matter.

Now here, now there, these rays illumine it, like sun-sparks
light the earth through the thick foliage of the jungle growth.

But O Disciple, unless the flesh is passive, head cool, the Soul
as firm as flashing diamond, the radiance will not reach the
chamber; its sunlight will not warm the heart, nor will the
mystic sounds of the Akasic heights reach the ear, however eager,
at the initial stage."
VOICE OF THE SILENCE p. 19



Theosophy gives us to understand that this is a psychological
center. All the chakras (plexi) are symbolical of psychological
aspects of man's constitution. It would recommend that we read
(study ?) the Theosophical concept of the 7-fold "man" living in
a 7-fold universe, and that every "man" (as an eternal MONAD is a
mirror of the Universe, and hence, is subtly connected to every
one of Its "parts" (principles).

Theosophy recommends that one has to think one's way through the
composite being that we are, recognize the aspects and faculties
we use are tools and not independent of the ONE CONSCIOUSNESS
which is the source of our Individuality (or Egoity -- not
selfishness and isolation) but our "togetherness" with the whole
of a living Nature.

This does not mean that questions such as: Why am I separate?
What in me is aware of "separateness ?" are inopportune. For,
if one pursues a "selfish isolation" of thought and feeling (we
all do when awake), to what ultimate goal does this lead ? If we
all depend on the Universe (or Nature) around us for
life-support, through its cooperation, do we owe a debt of
cooperation to It ? What are the elements of exchange ?

One might say: this leads away from a consideration of the
chakras. But if we look at the emblem adopted they are lotus
flowers -- symbols of universality and eternity with the ancient
Hindus. Also no symbol or emblem ought to be considered other
than a test of our readiness to understand -- a test from the
past ought not to be considered on its literal, superficial words
alone. There are
always inner keys to the ideas used. [If we have access to a
copy of THE SECRET DOCTRINE, in Vol. 1, pp. 305 and on, one will
find that HPB several important keys to the understanding of
symbols. There are others scattered through her book and these
ought to be discovered and consulted.

Now what does this? Theosophy says it is the mind, the power of
thinking, driven by the desire to know. If it is wisdom we seek,
then that heart quality universalizes the search, makes it a
mater of
general usefulness as it constantly draws attention away from
isolation to the personality (that lives but for this short
lifetime) to the age-old integrative capacity of the MONAD -- of
the individuality -- with the rest of its environment.

If we were studying a course in school, we might elect to read
deeper into the subject while following at the same time the
discipline of the class under the Professor's teaching. One
might learn more than the pupils who confine themselves to the
course, but no one can entirely escape from the mean adopted for
common study. It can be exceeded. This depends on the
concentration and demand for wisdom which the Individual
generates within. Or, one discovers a capacity, perhaps
developed in efforts made in a past life, and finds that the
present class is pedestrian. In which case one has a choice: to
continue with it, for whatever reason (and those reasons ought to
be carefully considered), or, choose (if possible) to enter the
course of study at some more advanced level. In any case it
would be wise to consult with others, the Professor or his Aides.

This is an illustration of many situations that one meets in
living. Does this relate to the employment of the energies from
our individual chakras? The answer is yes. But like the
illustration above, the predominance of one faculty or interest
over others in ourselves, only indicates the source of the
present facility we can re-employ.

T formalized and generally identified approximate physiological
locations of the "chakras," are only the final reflection of the
activity that goes on in the inner, secret force-level aspects of
our personalities: the astral affects these because it is first
moved by the life-currents (Prana). Prana is affected by the
will that the Kamic (desire-nature) throws upon it. Finally it is
the embodied Mind that does the selecting, conducting and
directing. Guiding the subsequent activity of the Mind is the
choice, the motive. That is the first thing to be examined. Is
it selfish or unselfish. Does it isolate us from the world or
help to unite us with the general efforts of the Universe?

But one ought also to consider that all the chakras depend on
each other, and therefore all have to be kept adjusted
harmoniously and well ordered. We have to know the whole system,
not just parts of it. We might easily slip into an error of a
distorted nature, if we emphasize one. It is when we exaggerate
or distort one's being by a strong desire to improve one, in
preference to others, that trouble arises. So it is our ability
to BALANCE that is the most important. And balance implies that
we are aware of the importance of each, as well as the potential
development of any one that we may select.

The implications of such a view are to first develop the power to
see ourselves as detached units and simultaneously as essential
parts of a vast WHOLE. We are, in our Individualities, observers
(impersonal Witnesses) of the life, struggle and development of
our personal selves, as we are involved by our will and directed
to our everyday work and being. The personal everyday self
focuses on what it considers important, (generally its desires)
and may select for study aspects of living or centers of
knowledge (as the "heart" chakra) of which it has heard and to
which it "feels" attracted. There is for each person a specific
tendency -- developed over many lives -- that overshadows all
activity. We have to discover this and see if it is of long-term
benefit for the whole Individual. But above all, is it balanced
and equipoised.

PATANJALI's YOGA SUTRAS ( as explained and illustrated by Judge )
is of great help in organizing our concept of what and who we
are, and where we ought to be going. It is a guide, a kind of
psychological road-map, made up from the experiences and work of
one who has spent lives in testing and developing it. One
notices that it deals chiefly with the control of the Lower
Mind - Kama-Manas. It is the wise and impersonal HIGHER MANAS
(Buddhi-Manas) that does this and it is the primary and most
ancient source, in this life, of our individual eternal
CONSCIOUSNESS -- ATMA. That is the root of our immortality, as
well as that of every other being in the Universe. From this
root comes the intuitive concept of Universal Brotherhood.

It starts, therefore, with the proposition that we are, at root
base, immortals. And have under our charge the assistance in
the self-development of a similar immortal, which is the
child-mind we call the personality (represented by Kama-Manas).

Not long ago, Theosophy teaches, it (our embodied Mind) was "lit
up" in this period of manifestation. It is at the great school
of the Earth, and is testing in each life the various avenues of
learning, and studying its own powers to understand, to choose
and to act. It is the one that has to act and live in the world.
The Higher Mind, when appealed to can respond and suggest answers
to it through the "Intuition," and also, it may warn it of
danger, using the "Voice of Conscience." But, it (the Higher
Mind) cannot do its work for it (the lower Mind). It cannot be
overpowered. It has to make the effort to learn and improve on
its own. There are no short-cuts.

We know what the chakras represent and are given only hints as to
how they work -- it is a part of universal knowledge, though not
one that is emphasized as an aspect of the higher divine
psychology outside of Theosophy. And even there, we are
cautioned not to "materialize" them. They have to be seen as
spiritual powers. They have to be used spiritually, or else the
deteriorate into the psychic powers and those are often most
harmful to us.

Take the "Bhagavad Gita" or the "Dhammapada" for instance. Those
give ample examples, in terms of virtue and right livelihood of
the "heart 'chakra' in action -- the Heart Doctrine."

The personality senses them, may have heard of them or read of
them, and may feel attracted to them. But has it, as a
preliminary, broadened its understanding to a comprehension of
all its already existence potentials ? That is what the inner
Self suggests be done to, and within, each of us. And this may
in fact take years of patient work. Do we have that patience ?
And if we are "impatient," why so ?

These are some ideas based on Theosophical doctrines to consider,
and while they may not be fully satisfactory maybe they may help
some.

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

This may prove useful:


ASTRAL INTOXICATION


There is such a thing as being intoxicated in the course of an
unwise pursuit of what we erroneously imagine is spirituality. In
the Christian Bible it is very wisely directed to "prove all" and
to hold only to that which is good; this advice is just as
important to the student of occultism who thinks that he has
separated himself from those "inferior" people engaged either in
following a dogma or in tipping tables for messages from deceased
relatives - or enemies - as it is to spiritists who believe in
the "summerland" and "returning spirits."

The placid surface of the sea of spirit is the only mirror in
which can be caught undisturbed the reflections of spiritual
things. When a student starts upon the path and begins to see
spots of light
flash out now and then, or balls of golden fire roll past him, it
does not mean that he is beginning to see the real Self - pure
spirit.

A moment of deepest peace or wonderful revealings given to the
student, is not the awful moment when one is about to see his
spiritual guide, much less his own soul. Nor are psychical
splashes of blue flame, nor visions of things that afterwards
come to pass, nor sights of small sections of the astral light
with its wonderful photographs of past or future, nor the sudden
ringing of distant fairy-like bells, any proof that you are
cultivating spirituality.

These things, and still more curious things, will occur when you
have passed a little distance on the
way, but they are only the mere outposts of a new land which is
itself wholly material, and only one remove from the plane of
gross physical consciousness.

The liability to be carried off and intoxicated by these
phenomena is to be guarded against. We should watch, note and
discriminate in all these cases; place them down for future
reference, to be related to some law, or for comparison with
other circumstances of a like sort.

The power that Nature has of deluding us is endless, and if we
stop at these matters she will let us go no further. It is not
that any person or power in nature has declared that if we do so
and so we must stop, but when one is carried off by what Boehme
calls "God's wonders," the result is an intoxication that
produces
confusion of the intellect.

Were one, for instance, to regard every picture seen in the
astral light as a spiritual experience, he might truly after a
while brook no contradiction upon the subject, but that would be
merely because he was drunk with this kind of wine.

While he proceeded with his indulgence and neglected his true
progress, which is always dependent upon his purity of motive and
conquest of his known or ascertainable defects, nature went on
accumulating the store of illusory appearances with which he
satiated himself.

It is certain that any student who devotes himself to these
astral happenings will see them increase. But were our whole life
devoted to and rewarded by an enormous succession of phenomena,
it is also
equally certain that the casting off of the body would be the end
of all that sort of experience, without our having added really
anything to our stock of true knowledge.

The astral plane, which is the same as that of our psychic
senses, is as full of strange sights and sounds as an untrodden
South American forest, and has to be well understood before the
student can stay there
long without danger. While we can overcome the dangers of a
forest by the use of human inventions, whose entire object is the
physical destruction of the noxious things encountered there, we
have no such aids when treading the astral labyrinth. We may be
physically brave and say that no fear can enter into us, but no
untrained or merely curious seeker is able to say just what
effect will result to his outer senses from the attack or
influence encountered by the psychical senses.

And the person who revolves selfishly around himself as a center
is in greater danger of delusion than any one else, for he has
not the assistance that comes from being united in thought with
all other sincere seekers. One may stand in a dark house where
none of the objects can be distinguished and quite plainly see
all that is illuminated outside; in the same way we can see from
out of the blackness of our own house our hearts - the objects
now and then illuminated outside by the astral light; but we gain
nothing.

We must first dispel the inner darkness before trying to see into
the darkness without; we must know ourselves before knowing
things extraneous to ourselves.

This is not the road that seems easiest to students. Most of them
find it far pleasanter and, as they think, faster work, to look
on all these outside allurements, and to cultivate all psychic
senses, to the exclusion of real spiritual work.

The true road is plain and easy to find, it is so easy that very
many would - be students miss it because they cannot believe it
to be so simple.


"The way lies through the heart";
Ask there and wander not;
Knock loud, nor hesitate
Because at first the sounds
Reverberating, seem to mock thee.
Nor, when the door swings wide,
Revealing shadows black as night,
Must thou recoil.
Within, the Master's messengers
Have waited patiently:
That Master is Thyself!



Path, October, 1887

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DTB