Theos-Talk Archives (August 2005 Message tt00073)

8/11/2005 11:24 AM

For Kathy to consider:


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Re: Changing "initial assumptions."

Dear Friends:

It seems to me we ought to find out exactly what "initial assumptions"
are for ourselves -- it is useless to try and guess what motivates
others.

In any case Karma is entailed, so we might as well try to start where
we can identify and control it in and for ourselves, first to render
our participation harmless, supportive, generous, and useful to
others -- in short, to make impersonal and impartial service our
goal -- when we are the one who can and ought to provide that. But
that requires discrimination. The whole of the BHAGAVAD GITA (by
Krishna) deals with this theme. Patanjali, an ancient Hindu sage has
written a short series of verses on this particular practice and it is
like a "road-map" and worth consulting ahead of time.

Both texts are available at http://www.blavatsky.net in either hard
copy or in electronic mode.

I think we can acquire a concept of what discrimination implies
through meditation and seeking thereby to discover its meaning and the
impact that it will have on us and others. Let me think about
"mediation" out loud with you and see if anything comes out that may
prove to be useful. I base myself on what I have studied and learned
from Theosophy, but, of course, that study is probably biased on my
own inclinations and personal preferences -- so for some it may not
sound true or useful.


Meditation is a process. Any one can use it.

It is concentrated thought.

It is not making the mind a "blank."

It is done with full consciousness.

It is the CONSCIOUSNESS of the impartial HIGHER MIND, focused on the
Lower (embodied) Mind, and the pieces of knowledge and data that it
has accumulated as memories.

The process is therefore in the beginning the elimination of delusion,
illusion, false memories, and personal desires and hopes.

It is a full impersonalizing of our Mind and without any
preconceptions being allowed, it is a search for the exact and true
results of the search to understand a chosen subject in all its
aspects: past, present, and potential futures. This implies that any
vice, any animosity, any personal advantages, any kind of limitations
relative to our "embodied, ordinary physical and personal lives" have
to deliberately abandoned.

How then does one proceed. It is probably advisable for us to consult
PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS -- the verses and the strictures advanced, and
the explanations offered there are very ancient and reflect the
methods used and the observations made by those who have practiced
meditation for ages before us now -- perhaps even we participated in
those disciplines in our previous incarnations.

Meditation:

1.	It is used to find out for one's self the truth on any chosen
subject., so

2.	It begins with choosing a subject.

3.	The practitioner then isolates himself for a period of time ( he
selects the duration) for study, thought and the removal of impossible
solutions.

4.	Apart from the chosen subject, the environment and its impact on
the subject have to be considered, and that series of influences
identified, weighed, and given their appropriate (not any exaggerated)
place.

5.	No illusion or delusion can be permitted, for the reason that if
one starts the practice with an error, the result is bound to be
erroneous. The fault lies with the practitioner and not with the
method.

>From that point on the devotion and the sincerity and honesty of the
meditator is alone the guide. He has to learn to guide and to correct
himself (his lower self) by his IMMORTAL HIGHER SELF -- and invoke the
LIGHT ON THE PATH of the ONE SPIRIT that shines in and on every being
in the Universe.

The final unity that gives enlightenment, is that ability to so
transform the personal and the embodied self (mind) that it becomes
pellucid -- transparent -- to the divine universal truth and life.
Ordinary words fail to express that which is in inexpressible.

I trust this may prove to be of some help.

This is what I have learned from Theosophy. And it is my way of
expressing an understanding of the methods of mediation that can lead
to certainty and secure veracity in regard to any fact in Nature. The
Universe is NATURE taken as a whole. It is the "omnipresence" of
DEITY.

Dallas



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BROTHERHOOD THE KEY TO “PERFECTION”

By H. P. Blavatsky


          
Now it is a fundamental doctrine of Theosophy that the "separateness" which
we feel between ourselves and the world of living beings around us is an
illusion, not a reality. 

In very deed and truth, all men are one, not in a feeling of sentimental
gush and hysterical enthusiasm, but in sober earnest. 

As all Eastern philosophy teaches, there is but ONE SELF in all the infinite
Universe, and what we men call "self" is but the illusionary reflection of
the ONE SELF in the heaving waters of earth. 

True Occultism is the destruction of the false idea of Self, and therefore
true spiritual perfection and knowledge are nothing else but the complete
identification of our finite "selves" with the Great All. 

It follows, therefore, that no spiritual progress at all is possible except
by and through the bulk of Humanity. It is only when the whole of Humanity
has attained happiness that the individual can hope to become permanently
happy -- for the individual is an inseparable part of the Whole.
       
Hence there is no contradiction whatever between the altruistic maxims of
Theosophy and its injunction to kill out all desire for material things, to
strive after spiritual perfection. 

For spiritual perfection and spiritual knowledge can only be reached on the
spiritual plane; in other words, only in that state in which all sense of
separateness, all selfishness, all feeling of personal interest and desire,
has been merged in the wider consciousness of the unity of Mankind.
       
This shows also that no blind submission to the commands of another can be
demanded, or would be of any use. Each individual must learn for himself,
through trial and suffering, to discriminate what is beneficial to Humanity;
and in proportion as he develops spiritually, i.e., conquers all
selfishness, his mind will open to receive the guidance of the Divine Monad
within him, his Higher Self, for which there is neither Past nor Future, but
only an eternal NOW.
       
Again, were there no "poor," far from the "benefits of civilization being
lost," a state of the highest culture and civilization would be attained, of
which we cannot now form the faintest conception. Similarly, from a
conviction of the impermanence of material happiness would result a striving
after that joy which is eternal, and in which all men can share. 

Throughout the whole letter of our esteemed correspondent there runs the
tacit assumption that happiness in material, physical life is all-important;
which is untrue. 

So far from being the most important, happiness in this life of matter is of
as little importance in relation to the bliss of true spiritual life as are
the few years of each human cycle on earth in proportion to the millions and
millions of years which each human being spends in the subjective spheres,
during the course of every great cycle of the activity of our globe.
       
With regard to faculties and talents, the answer is simple. They should be
developed and cultivated for the service of Humanity, of which we are all
parts, and to which we owe our full and ungrudging service.

Blavatsky Collected Writings, Vol. 11: Pp. 104-6

THEOSOPHICAL QUERIES: ANSWER TO A LETTER


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3


CONSCIOUSNESS


CONSCIOUSNESS is the seat of the real life of the human individual. The mere
carrying on of his bodily functions is not his life. Those functions are the
channels and avenues through which his real being has communion with the
phenomenal world, and with other units of consciousness similar to his own.
Through them his life is greatly affected; by their means his thoughts are
fed, his feelings modified, his actions suggested. But let us consider the
modes in which consciousness may work, and the specific forms in which it
may manifest itself. Observation of human modes and objects of life
indicates three classes of consciousness. In other words, there are three
modes of existence which the consciousness of an individual may fall into,
or work itself into, and the adoption of the particular mode, knowingly and
deliberately, or the contrary, determines the character and intrinsic value
of the consciousness.

The elementary or simplest mode of consciousness we designate as lineal. In
this, the feelings, thoughts, and energies of the individual lie not only on
one plane but merely in one direction on that plane.

The consciousness which belongs to this class is limited to the faculty of
moving backwards or forwards in a straight line. It is bound like a railway
train to its special track. This form of consciousness is very common. It is
the lot of those who have only one aim in life, and that a personal one.
Whatever the chief aim of the life may be, whether that of the shopkeeper,
merely to earn money, or of the professional man in his special sphere, or
of society men and women, in their incessant fittings to and fro in the
whirl of pleasure and excitement, it matters nothing; the consciousness,
which is the essence of the individual, exercises itself and possesses power
only in the limited sphere described. It is simply necessary to look around
to observe many examples of this class. A very large number of men and women
of the present day belong to it.
In the second class the consciousness enjoys a wider freedom.

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The dimensions of the realm over which it rules lie in two directions; for,
in addition to backward and forward movement, the consciousness may traverse
regions that lie to the right and to the left.

This form of consciousness we shall term the superficial; it has length and
breadth, but no depth. It is the possession of those who, while devoted to
one special employment which absorbs their chief energies, also occupy
themselves, as adjuncts of life, in other spheres having for them a
particular interest. This consciousness predominates largely amongst men and
women who, following a daily avocation to supply the main needs of life,
have sufficient mental or emotional activity to lead them into secondary
engagements that exercise thought or fulfill an aim. The persons possessing
this form of consciousness are active and seem to follow a purpose, though
the purpose may not be noble or of intrinsic value. Naturally, this
consciousness enjoys much more of life than the form belonging to the class
designated as lineal. Men of business, not wholly immersed in the getting of
money, clergymen and ministers of wise sympathies, teachers not limited to
one peculiar tendency of thought, and persons whose lives generally are
useful and active, are those who belong to the second class of superficial
consciousness.
The consciousness, the nature of which remains to be described, is of vastly
greater extent than either of the two classes already discussed.

Its dimensions lie in three directions. Not only does it exist in all
directions superficially, but it further penetrates below the surface in
possessing the quality of depth. It is true that the superficial area may
vary in extent. This may appear, to the observer, but limited, or it may
seem to spread far and wide, but the circumstance of depth in its nature and
extent will be recognized only by the few, and not even by them to its full
extent. The territory below the surface can neither be seen nor gauged,
except by the faculties of a conscious-ness of similar nature. In the depth
of an object there is capacity for substance, and consciousness is of a
nature so real that wherever it exists in depth it is as true substance. The
objects with which the lineal and superficial forms of consciousness deal
are but temporal character and will pass away, but those that are the
possession of the solid form are secure beyond possibility of removal.

152

Within that deep region, and corresponding to its intricacy and in the
extent to which it penetrates, there are tracks of infinite variety and
number.

In exploring these, the consciousness may find unending employment. This
class of consciousness gives to the world those men from whom it learns,
whose depth of nature is the abyss from which spring fountains and rills
that irrigate life, and turn its wheels, and cause it to be fruitful.

Such men are the richest of earthly beings; their wealth is inexhaustible
and imperishable. That depth, in which their consciousness revels, belongs
to another world than that of ordinary human existence; it is the universe
of eternal and infinite life, of which they are already subjects.
The first-named form of consciousness we should term sensuous, or that which
operates merely through the senses and the nervous system; the second form
we should call the intellectual or inner-sensuous; the third form is the
spiritual or super-sensuous.
Sensuous consciousness delights merely in the external forms of objects and
receives impressions only from those forms as they are found.

Intellectual consciousness finds its exciting cause not so much in the forms
of external objects as in their movements and the effects of those movements
upon the objects themselves.
The spiritual consciousness moves amidst the hidden causes of the sensuous
and intellectual.

Lucifer, October, 1888

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153


THE FUNCTION OF ATTENTION IN
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT


TRUE study of any branch of knowledge consists in giving the matter of that
branch such repetitions of attentive consideration that it at length becomes
an integral part of the domain of the consciousness, and can at any time,
under any correlated stimulus, be made use of by automatic mental action.

True Study of an Art consists, primarily in the attentive repetitions of the
action of the physiological organs, involved in the productions of that Art,
until that action becomes automatic, and is as well and so naturally
performed as any original reflex physiological function.

In these definitions the word qualifying the necessary processes is the
adjective attentive, denoting the presence of attention in the operation.
Without this word the definitions would not merely be imperfect, they would
be essentially incorrect and misleading.
Only in the quality of being attentive can the reiterated consideration and
the reiterated action, respectively, result in the possession, on the one
hand, of a new realm of knowledge, or, on the other hand, of a new area of
power.

What is the nature and manner of expression of this supreme quality
Attention?

An appreciative intellectual grasp of the answer to this question and a
realisation of the function of its subject in the processes of human
personal evolution, should be recognised as fundamental elements in the
knowledge and understanding of the true educationist, be he teacher or not.

The word Attention is used largely, but loosely, in educational employments,
yet we have no other word with which, habitually, to express that attitude
of the consciousness which, in any study or acquisition of power, is
absolutely and continuously demanded, in

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order to ensure intrinsic results. The term concentration is more literally
correct in this relation, but concentration has, with most persons, too
limited and too special an application to render it available for ordinary
use instead of Attention.

Yet the Attention we are discussing, the attention of all
knowledge-acquiring processes, may perhaps be better understood and realized
if it is regarded as Concentrated Attention.

Attention is that condition or attitude of consciousness in which its rays
are steadily and unintermittently centred upon the thing being done or the
subject of study. This may be presented to the consciousness by one or more
of the special senses, or it may already be a content of the mind; the
special element in the attitude being the intentness with which the
consciousness operates. This intentness of gaze must proceed to such a
degree that all other sensible or mental objects, except the one, become
excluded from its range.

In the effort to do this to maintain concentrated attention, the Will of the
individual is brought into play, and its function in the process may be
compared to that played by a burning-glass held between the sun and the
surface of an object. If it is intended that the sun’s rays shall produce,
through the burning-glass, a definite and observable effect, the glass must
be held in such a relation to the object that the rays of light converge
upon one spot. This spot, or focus, then receives the whole force of the
rays that pass through the glass; it alone, of all that surrounding surface,
is brought out into relief and operated upon. In like manner the Will, in
sustaining attention, focuses the rays of the consciousness, with all their
inherent dynamic forces, upon one circumscribed area, physiological, mental,
or moral, as the case may be, wherein lies the work to be done.

Thus we see that Attention is intentness of Mental Vision, concentrated and
maintained by action of the Will. It is not a separate function or property
of the mind, like perception, imagination, reason, &c., as some
psychologists might lead us to suppose, but a mode of action,—the true mode
of the Will’s action. In other words it is the definite, efficient
expression of the Volition or Will force of the individual.

The functions perception, conception, imagination, &c., are instruments of
the Ego for operating upon the phenomenal world

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and upon mental appropriations of that world; when one or more of these thus
operates with all its force, undiverted from its employment by any
surrounding object, then Attention is exhibited.
Will is the manifestation or action of the real human Ego; Attention
designates the mode in which that manifestation is functionally exhibited,
and by which alone permanent results are produced.
In relation to the psychological realm in which Attention is a feature, we
may formulate the following scheme. This scheme may serve to make the
general bearings of the subject clearer and to more definitely indicate the
part played by Attention in all psycho logical phenomena.

The source of mental movement
arises in Emotion = the desire to know.

The direction of the movement
lies with Reason = how and what to know.

The machinery of the movement
is provided by   The mental = the means by which
activities the knowledge is
(Perception, etc.) gained.

The maintaining force of the
movement resides in the Will = the mode by
(the Energy which continuity of
of the Ego.) operation is ensured.


The efficient relation of the two last groups of factors to each other, and
their joint relation to the object under study, are expressed by our term
Attention. The Will holds the mental activities employed rigidly and
persistently to their work.

The Ego, through Volition, can only establish relations with objects
external to itself through the mental activities, Perception, Conception,
Judgment, Imagination, &c., and to effect this, the latter must be
maintained in operation in a direct line between the Ego, represented by
Volition, and the object to be studied; just as the gun of the sportsman
must be held with exact precision longitudinally between his eye and the
object he desires to hit. If the gun be allowed to deviate in the least
degree from the exact line of vision, the sportsman misses his object, so,
also, if Perception, or Conception, or Judgment, or Imagination, whichever
of these activities or faculties is in use, is permitted to lose its direct
bearing upon

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the work in hand absolute failure of purpose ensues. In this illustration
the steady maintenance of the gun in precise position is a parallel to the
psychological action of Attention.

When we grasp the full bearing of the truths here pointed out, we cannot
fail to perceive the significant relation which the mental attitude of
Attention holds to all educational processes and employments, nor can we
assign it too prominent a position in laying down true and efficient methods
of culture. Let Volition, the Mental Activities, the Light of Reason, the
Physiological System of nerves and muscles, and vast mines of possible
knowledge, all be provided; what intrinsic and permanent result can be
accomplished amongst them if the manner in which they are used does not
include Attention?

Modern Education fails, as evident to all thoughtful observers of human
life, very largely because of its neglect to maintain this essential factor
of personal evolution in its due place. The desultoriness, aimlessness and
mental commonplaceness of the general adult life around us, spring from this
omission.

Modern Education, in its multitude of subjects, in its haste in passing from
one subject to another, and in its lack of precise aim, exhibits
desultoriness in employment of time and faculty.

Desultoriness is the antithesis of Systematic Attention.

Modern Education rules over an area from which nothing new arises as the
fruit of its fostering care, it brings no new thing into being from out its
world of chaos.

This results from its desultoriness of method and action.

The Human Will is, however, a natural creator when it operates through
Concentrated Attention, but education fails in its true mission as a
stimulus and guide to individual creative force, because of this
unreasonable neglect of a fundamental principle.

Every area of acquired skill is a new creation; it has a real, patent
existence and is an object of possession and use in the world of human life,
which did not exist previous to its evolution by the personal Will operating
through the mental activities upon a physiological chaos.

To prevent possible confusion of thought in tracing out the subject, it may
be remarked here that there is a mental attitude to which the term,
Attention is commonly applied. This may be termed Passive Attention.

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Passive Attention rules the consciousness when one listens to an eloquent
speech or interesting lecture.

In such instances the Will is in abeyance, the consciousness being probably
held entranced by forces which the Occultist might term Mantramic.

Passive attention also rules when the mind follows an absorbing train of
thought. But this form is not that demanded for personal growth;
educationally it is of slight value and without necessary relation to our
subject.

Attention plays its necessary part in each one of the realms or planes of
life to which the human individual belongs:—

I. On the physical plane;—in the physiological realm of the special senses
and the nervous and muscular systems. Conscious action under its rule in
this realm results in skill, the basis not only of all art and artistic
performance, but of every nicely adapted movement of the human limbs and
frame for practical purpose or for the display of agility and gracefulness.

2. On the mental plane;—in the psychological realm of concepts, comparisons,
judgments, deductions, speculations and ideals. On this plane intellectual
energy under the control of Attention, creates logical systematic and
consecutive forms of thought, true panoramic fields of vision out of
detached intellectual details, and new emotional forms of power and beauty.

3. On the moral plane;—in the spiritual realm of supreme truths, vital
principles, gropings after the Infinite, the laws of human relationships,
and the application of all these to the entire conduct of the personal life.
In this supreme area the moral sentiments and spiritual aspirations after
perfection of life, concentrate their attention upon definite details of
personal thought and behaviour, the production of grace of spirit,
reliability of disposition, agreement of conduct with principle, altruism in
all its effective forms, and the development of a personal influence ever
tending towards the evolution of a vitalizing social harmony.

In the evolution of personal life, when the object of its action is an area
or detail of any one of these realms, Attention may be termed specific, and
when the control of the adopted purpose of existence as a whole is
maintained through its means, establishing an efficient and well-ordered
unity amongst the many divisions and

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details of that purpose, then we may designate Attention as supreme.

“Genius” has been defined as “an infinite capacity for taking pains.” The
expression “taking pains” is merely a synonym for “close attention tominute
details.” “Close attention to details” takes each brick of which the
“mansion for all lovely forms,”—the structure of personal knowledge,
capacity and ability, is to be built, and carefully places it in its due
position, cementing it there at once. The structure so put together is
substantial, capacious, beautiful, and efficient.

This structure, the result of infinite pains long continued, is that which
the world wonders at and worships and calls Genius. Nearly all men, if first
guided and supported along the toilsome track and afterwards urged along it
by pressure of their own Wills, might develop some form of power and skill
which would elevate them considerably towards that height from which Genius
looks down, and thus render the ordinary world much less commonplace,
monotonous and unskillful than it is at present. To sum up:—

Concentrated Attention is the expression of the Will, and Will is the
central, animating force proceeding from the Ego. Will, operating under the
condition of Attention upon the chaos of its attendant world, and
co-ordinating the energies, forces and movements of that world, converts it
into a realm of form, power, and purpose, centering around the Ego.

This constitutes Personal Evolution resulting at length in a perfected
Individuality, the creation of its own Will.

—I.

Lucifer, November, 1888


>From THEOS. ARTICLES & NOTES

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Dallas