(The
following contains extracts adapted from
Alice A. Bailey's books From Intellect to
Intuition and The Light of the Soul.)
The present widespread interest in the
subject of Meditation is an evidence of a
world need which requires clear
understanding. Where we find a popular trend
in any direction, which is one-pointed and
steady, it may be safe to assume that out of
it will emerge that which the human race
needs in its onward march.
That meditation is regarded by those who
define it loosely as a "mode of
prayer" is, unfortunately, true. But it
can be demonstrated that in the right
understanding of the meditation process and
in its right adaptation to the need of our
modern civilisation will be found the
solution of the present educational impasse
and the method whereby the fact of the soul
may be ascertained – that living something
which we call the "Soul" for lack
of a better term.
Down the ages there has been a steady
progression of the evolving human
consciousness, and a steady growth of
awareness of nature, of the world in which
we live, and an increasing grasp of the
Whole, until now the entire world is knit
together through the radio, the telephone
and television. Humanity is omnipresent, and
the mind is the main factor in the bringing
about of this apparent miracle.
“We have arrived at an understanding of
the laws which govern the natural world, and
some of those which govern the psychical.
The laws of the spiritual realm, so-called,
remain to be scientifically discovered and
utilized. A few have known these laws and
spoken to humanity about them… Among these
few who stand out as the eminent Knowers,
are the Buddha, the Christ, Plato,
Aristotle, Pythagoras, Meister Eckhart,
Jacob Boehme, Spinoza – the list is long.
“We are now beginning to ask the pertinent
question: Is it not possible that many
thousands now are at the point where they
can co-ordinate the brain, the mind and the
soul, and so pass through the portal of
mental awareness into the realm of light, of
intuitive perception, and the world of
causes? The Knowers say that we can, and
they tell us of the way.”
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp. 180-81)
B. Some Pertinent Questions
What are the objectives of meditation?
The purpose of meditation is soul contact
and, ultimately, union with the soul; its
whole object is to enable one to become in
outer manifestation what one is in inner
reality. Through the practice of meditation
one is enabled to identify with the soul
aspect and not simply the lower
characteristics of the personality.
Through meditation, ... the powers of the
soul are unfolded. Each sheath or vehicle
through which the soul expresses itself (on
physical, emotional and mental levels)
carries latent within itself certain
inherent potencies, but the soul, which is
the source of them all, has them in their
purest and most sublimated form...
The soul powers unfold normally and
naturally. This they do, not because they
are desired and consciously developed, but
because as the inner God assumes control and
dominates His bodies, His powers become
apparent upon the physical plane and soul
potentialities will then demonstrate forth
as known realities...
... The testimony of the mystics and
initiates of all the ages can be brought in
corroboration of them. The fact that others
have achieved may encourage and interest us
but it does no more unless we ourselves take
some definite action; for this process for
the unfolding of the reasoning consciousness
must be self-applied and self-initiated.
This involves the development of the mind as
a synthesised, or common sense, and governs
its use in relation to the world of the
earthly life, of the emotions and of
thought. It involves also its orientation at
will to the world of the soul, and its
capacity to act as an intermediary between
the soul and the physical brain.
The first relation is developed and fostered
through sound methods of exoteric education
and of training; the second is made possible
through meditation, a higher form of the
educational process.
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp. 83-87)
Can anyone, who has the desire, profit by
and master the technique of meditation?
... It should be remembered, at the outset,
that the very urge itself to meditate can be
taken as indicating the call of the soul to
the Path of Knowledge. No one should be
deterred because of a seeming lack of the
needed qualifications. Most of us are bigger
and wiser, and better equipped than we
realise. We can all begin to concentrate at
once if we so choose.
We possess a great deal of knowledge, mental
power, and capacities, which have never been
drawn forth from the realm of the
subconscious into objective usefulness;
anyone who has watched the effect of
Meditation upon the beginner will
substantiate this statement…
The results of the first step in the
Meditation discipline, i.e., of
Concentration, are often amazing. People “find”
themselves; they discover hidden capacities
and an understanding never used before; they
develop an awareness, even of the phenomenal
world, which is, to them, miraculous; they
suddenly register the fact of the mind, and
that they can use it, and the distinction
between the knower and the instrument of
knowledge becomes steadily and revealingly
apparent.
At the same time there is also registered a
sense of loss. The old dreamy states of
bliss and peace, with which the mystic
prayer and meditation had dowered them,
disappear; and, temporarily, they experience
a sense of aridity, of lack and of an
emptiness which is frequently most
distressing. This is due to the fact that
the focus of attention is away from the
things of the senses, no matter how
beautiful.
The things that the mind knows and can
record are not yet registered, nor is the
feeling apparatus making its familiar
impacts upon the consciousness. It is a
period of transition, and must be supported
until such time as the new world begins to
make its impress upon the aspirant. This is
one reason why persistence and perseverance
must play their part, particularly in the
early stages of the meditation process.
One of the first effects of the meditation
work is usually an increased efficiency in
the daily life, whether lived in the home,
the office, or in any field of human
endeavour. Mental application to the
business of living is in itself a
concentration exercise and brings notable
results. Whether we achieve final
illumination or not through the practice of
concentration and meditation, we will
nevertheless have gained much, and greatly
enriched our life; our usefulness and power
will be enormously increased and our sphere
of influence widened.
... Anyone who is not purely emotional, who
has a fair education, and who is willing to
work with perseverance, can approach the
study of meditation with good courage. One
can begin to organize one's life so that the
first steps can be taken on the path towards
illumination, and this organization is one
of the most difficult of steps. It is well
to remember that all initial steps are hard,
for the habits and rhythms of many years
have to be offset. But once these have been
taken and mastered, the work becomes easier.
To sum up, therefore, ... the answer to our
question is as follows:
First: We accept the hypothesis that there
is a soul, and that that soul can be
cognised by the person who can train and
control the mind.
Second: Upon the basis of this hypothesis,
we begin to co-ordinate the three aspects of
the lower nature, and to unify mind, emotion
and physical body into an organised and
comprehended Whole. This we do through the
practice of concentration.
Third: As concentration merges into
meditation (which is the act of prolonged
concentration) the imposition of the will of
the soul, upon the mind, begins to be felt.
Little by little the soul, the mind and the
brain are swept into a close rapport. First,
the mind controls the brain and the
emotional nature. Then the soul controls the
mind. The first is brought about through
concentration. The second through
meditation.
Out of this sequence of activities, the
interested investigator will awaken to the
realization that there is real work to be
done and that the primary qualification
needed is perseverance… The organization
of the thought life at all times everywhere,
and, secondly, the practice of
concentration, regularly, every day, at some
set time, if possible, make for the
one-pointed attitude, and these two together
spell success.
(Ibid., pp. 199-206)
Is it necessary to withdraw into the
solitudes to evoke the soul?
Most of us live in the midst of conditions
in which complete peace and quiet are
utterly impossible; and the solution in
today's world lies in a right understanding
of our problem and of the privilege which is
ours in demonstrating a newer aspect of an
old truth.
We belong, in the West, to a younger race.
In the old, old East, the few adventurous
pioneers sought seclusion and ascertained
for us the opportunities, and safeguarded
for us the rules. They held in safety for us
the technique until such time as the masses
of people were ready for a move forward in
their numbers, and not in their ones and
twos.
That time has now come. In the stress... of
modern living... men and women everywhere
can and do find the centre of peace within
themselves, and they can and do enter into
that state of silent positive concentration
which enables them to reach the same goal,
and attain the same knowledge, and enter
into the same Light to which the great
Individuals of the race have borne witness.
The secluded point to which one withdraws,
is found to lie within oneself; the silent
place in which the life of the soul is
contacted is that point within the head
where soul and body meet… Those who can
train themselves to be sufficiently
one-pointed can withdraw their thoughts at
any time and in any place to a centre within
themselves, and in this centre within the
head the great work of at-one-ment is
carried forward.
(Ibid., pp. 208-10)
True concentration grows out of a
concentrated, thought-governed life, and the
first step for aspirants is to begin to
organise their daily life, regulate their
activities, and become focused and
one-pointed in their manner of living. This
is possible to all who care enough to make
the needed effort and who can carry it
forward with perseverance…
When we can organise and re-arrange our
lives, leaving out the non-essential
activities, we prove our mettle and the
strength of our desire. … Therefore, no
neglect of duty is possible to the
one-pointed person. Duties to family and
friends and to one's business or profession
will be more perfectly and efficiently
performed…
(Ibid., pp. 207)
C. The Mechanics of the Meditation Process
The hypothesis upon which the theories here
outlined are based might be expressed in the
following propositions:
One: The centre of energy through which the
soul works is the upper brain. During
meditation, if effective, energy from the
soul pours into the brain, and has a
definite effect upon the nervous system. If,
however, the mind is not controlled and the
emotional nature dominates (as in the case
of the pure mystic) the effect makes itself
felt primarily in the feeling apparatus, the
emotional states of being.
When the mind is the dominant factor, then
the thought apparatus, in the higher brain,
is swung into an organised activity. The one
who meditates acquires a new capacity to
think clearly, synthetically and potently…
Two: In the region of the pituitary body, we
have the seat of the lower faculties, when
co-ordinated in the higher type of human
being. Here they are co-ordinated and
synthesised, and as we have been told by
certain reputable schools of psychologists
and endocrinologists here are to be found
the emotions and the more concrete aspects
of the mind (growing out of racial habits
and inherited instincts, and, hence, calling
for no exercise of the creative or higher
mind)…
Three: When the personality the sum-total of
physical, emotional and mental states is of
a high order, then the pituitary body
functions with increased efficiency, and the
vibration of the centre of energy in its
neighbourhood becomes very powerful. It
should be noted that according to this
theory, when the personality is of a low
order, when the reactions are mainly
instinctual and the mind is practically non-
functioning, then the centre of energy is in
the neighbourhood of the solar plexus, and
the man is more animal in nature.
Four: The centre in the region of the pineal
gland, and the higher brain, are brought
into activity through learning to focus the
attentive consciousness in the head…
The various avenues of sense perception are
brought into a quiescent condition. The
consciousness of the real man no longer
surges outwards along its five avenues of
contact. The five senses are dominated by
the sixth sense, the mind, and all the
consciousness and the perceptive faculty of
the aspirant is synthesised in the head, and
turns inward and upward. The psychic nature
is thereby subjugated and the mental plane
becomes the field of man's activity. This
withdrawal or abstracting process proceeds
in stages:
- The withdrawal of the physical
consciousness, or perception through
hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell.
These modes of perception become temporarily
dormant, and the perception becomes simply
mental and the brain consciousness is all
that is active on the physical plane.
- The withdrawal of the consciousness
into the region of the pineal gland, so that
the point of realisation is centralised in
the region between the middle of the
forehead and the pineal gland.
Five: When this has been done, and the
aspirant is acquiring the ability so to
focus in the head, the result of this
process of abstraction is as follows:
The five senses are being steadily
synthesised by the sixth sense, the mind.
This is the co-ordinating factor. Later it
is realised that the soul has an analogous
function. The three-fold personality is thus
brought into a direct line of communication
with the soul, and… in time the one who
meditates becomes unconscious of the
limitations of the body nature, and the
brain can be directly impressed by the soul,
via the mind. The brain consciousness is
held in a positive waiting condition with
all its reactions to the phenomenal world
utterly, though temporarily, inhibited.
Sixth: The high grade intellectual
personality, with its focus of attention in
the region of the pituitary body, begins to
vibrate in unison with the higher centre in
the region of the pineal gland. Then a
magnetic field is set up between the
positive soul aspect and the waiting
personality which is rendered receptive by
the process of focused attention. Then the
light, we are told, breaks forth, and we
have the illumined human being, and the
appearance of the phenomenal light in the
head.
All this is the result of a disciplined
life, and the focusing of the consciousness
in the head. This is, in its turn, brought
about through the attempt to be concentrated
in the daily life, and also through definite
concentration exercises. These are followed
by the effort to meditate, and later –
much later – the power to contemplate
makes itself felt.
This is a brief summation of the mechanics
of the process, and is necessarily terse and
incomplete. The ideas have to be accepted
tentatively, however, before there can be an
intelligent approach to the meditation work…
Having formulated our hypothesis and
accepted it temporarily we proceed with the
work, until it proves false, or until our
attention is no longer engaged. An
hypothesis is not necessarily false because
it fails to prove itself in the time we deem
proper. People frequently give up their
pursuit in this field of knowledge because
they lack the needed perseverance, or their
interest becomes engaged elsewhere.
However, we are determined to go forward
with our investigation and give the ancient
techniques and formulas time to prove
themselves. We proceed, therefore, to comply
with the first requirements and endeavour to
bring to bear upon life a more concentrated
attitude of mind, and to practice daily
meditation and concentration.
If we are beginners, or are possessed of an
unorganised mind, fluidic, versatile and
unstable, we start in to practice
concentration. If we are trained
intellectuals, or have the focused
attentiveness that business training
confers, we need only to reorient the mind
to a new field of awareness and begin truly
to meditate. It is easy to teach meditation
to the interested business executive.
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp.
211-16)
D. Some Preliminary Suggestions
Finding Time
It is advisable to set apart a certain time
each day for this particular work. At the
beginning fifteen minutes is ample time. Let
us be truthful with ourselves, and recognise
things for what they are. The plea, “I
have no time,” is an utterly futile one,
and indicates simply lack of interest. May
it not be truly said, if anyone claims not
to be able to find fifteen minutes out of
the one thousand four hundred and forty
minutes which constitute a day, that they
are not particularly interested?
First of all, we shall endeavour to find
time early in the morning for our meditation
work. The reason for this is, that after we
have participated in the happenings of the
day and in the general give and take of
life, the mind is in a state of violent
vibration; this is not the case if the
meditation is performed first thing in the
morning. Then it is relatively quiet, and
the mind can be more rapidly attuned to the
higher states of consciousness.
Again, if we start the day with the focusing
of our attention on spiritual things and on
the affairs of the soul, we shall live the
day in a different manner. If this becomes a
habit, we shall soon find our reactions to
the affairs of life changing and that we are
beginning to think the thoughts that the
soul thinks. It then becomes the process of
the working of a law, for “as a man thinks
so is he.”
Finding a Place for Meditation
Next, we shall endeavour to find a place
that is really quiet and free from
intrusion. This does not mean quiet in the
sense of freedom from noise, for the world
is full of sounds; but free from personal
approach and the calls of other people.
Aspirants to meditation sometimes talk much
about the opposition they meet from their
family and friends. In the majority of cases
it is their own fault. People talk too much.
It is nobody's business what we do with
fifteen minutes of our time every morning,
and there is no need to talk about it to our
households, or to enjoin upon them that they
must be quiet because we want to meditate.
If it is impossible to get a moment for
morning meditation because of family
commitments, let us find some time for it
later on in the day. There is always a way
to be found out of a difficulty, if we want
a thing badly enough and a way that involves
no omission of duty or of obligation. As a
last resort, it is always possible to rise
fifteen minutes earlier every morning.
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp.
216-18)
E. The Practice of Meditation
Posture
Having found the time and the place, we
shall sit down in a comfortable chair and
begin to meditate. The question then arises:
How shall we sit? Is the cross-legged
attitude the best, or shall we kneel, or
sit, or stand? The easiest and most normal
position is the best always.
The cross-legged attitude has been, and
still is, much used in the Orient, and many
books have been written on the subject. Some
of the postures have relation to the nervous
body and that inner structure of fine
nerves, called by the Hindus, the nadis,
which underlie the nervous system as
recognised in the West.
The trouble with such postures is that they
can lead to two rather undesirable
reactions; they lead a person to concentrate
the mind upon the mechanics of the process
and not upon the goal; and, secondly, they
frequently lead to a delightful sense of
superiority, that has its basis in our
attempt to do something that the majority is
not doing, and which sets us apart as
potential knowers. We become engrossed with
the form side of meditation; we are occupied
with the Not-self instead of with the Self.
So let us choose that posture that enables
us, the most easily, to forget that we have
a physical body. This is probably for the
Westerner the sitting attitude; the main
requirements are that we should sit erect,
with the spine in a straight line; that we
should sit relaxed (without slumping) so
that there is no tenseness anywhere in the
body, and that we should drop the chin
somewhat, so as to release any tension in
the back of the neck. Meditation is an
interior act, and can only be performed
successfully when the body is relaxed,
rightly poised and then forgotten.
Breathing
Having attained to physical comfort,
relaxation, and having withdrawn ourselves
from the body consciousness, we next note
our breathing and ascertain whether it is
quiet, even and rhythmic.
A note of warning should be sounded here as
to the practice of breathing exercises,
except by those who have first given years
to right meditation and to purification of
the body nature. In the ancient teachings of
the East, the control of the breath was only
permitted after the first three “means to
union,” as they are called, had been
somewhat wrought out in the life, and then
only under proper instruction.
The practice of breathing exercises has
nothing whatever to do with spiritual
development. It has much to do with
psychical development, and its practice
leads to much difficulty and danger. It is
only here and there that, in the ancient
days, the teachers picked a person for this
form of tuition, and it was added to a
training which had produced a certain
measure of soul contact, so that the soul
could guide the energies evoked by the
breath for the furtherance of its objectives
and for world service.
Therefore, we will do no more than see that
our breathing is quiet and regular, and will
then withdraw our thoughts from the body
altogether and begin the work of
concentration.
Visualisation and the Creative Use of the
Imagination
The next step in the practice of meditation
is the use of the imagination; we picture to
ourselves the threefold lower man, aligned
or in direct communication with the soul.
There are many ways in which this can be
done. We call it work in visualisation. It
would seem that visualisation, imagination
and will are three very potent factors in
all creative processes. They are the
subjective causes for many of our objective
effects.
At the beginning, visualisation is mostly a
matter of experimental faith. We know that
through the reasoning process, we have
arrived at an understanding that, within and
beyond all manifested objects, there lies an
Ideal Object or Ideal Pattern, which is
seeking to become manifest upon the physical
plane. The practice of visualisation,
imagination and the use of the will are
activities that are calculated to hasten the
manifestation of this Ideal.
When we visualise, we use our highest
conception of what that Ideal might be,
clothed in some sort of material, usually
mental, because we are not yet in a position
to be able to conceive of higher forms or
types of substance with which to envelop our
Images.
When we make a mental picture, the mental
substance of our mind sets up a certain rate
of vibration, which attracts to itself a
corresponding grade of mental substance, in
which the mind is immersed. It is the will
which holds this image steady and which
gives it life. This process goes on, whether
we are, as yet, able to see it with the
mental eye or not. It does not matter that
we are not able to see it, as the creative
work is going on just the same. Perhaps at
some time we shall be able to follow and
consciously perform that whole process.
In connection with this work, at the stage
of the beginner, some people picture the
three bodies (the three aspects of the form
nature) as being linked with a radiant body
of light, or they visualise three centres of
vibrating energy receiving stimulation from
a higher and more powerful centre; others
imagine the soul as a triangle of force to
which is linked the triangle of the lower
nature linked by the “silver cord”
mentioned in the Christian Bible, the
sutratma or thread soul of the Eastern
Scriptures, the “life-line” of other
schools of thought. Still others prefer to
preserve the thought of a unified
personality, linked to and hiding within
itself the indwelling Divinity, Christ in
us, the hope of glory.
It is relatively immaterial what imagery we
choose, provided that we start with the
basic idea of the Self seeking to contact
and use the Not-self, its instrument in the
worlds of human expression, and vice versa,
with the thought of that Not-self being
impelled to turn itself towards its source
of being. When this has been done we can
continue with our meditation work. The
physical body and the desire nature, in
their turn, sink below the level of
consciousness, we become centred in the mind
and seek to bend it to our will.
Concentration
It is just here that we find our problem
confronting us. The mind refuses to mould
itself into the thoughts we choose to think,
and rushes all over the world in its usual
quest for material. We think of what we are
going to do that day, instead of thinking
upon our “seed-thought”, we remember
some one we must manage to see, or some line
of action which calls for attention; we
begin to think of some one we love, and
immediately we drop back into the world of
the emotions and have all our work to do
over again.
So we re-collect our thoughts and start
afresh with much success for half a minute,
and then we remember some appointment we
have made, or some piece of business which
someone is doing for us, and again we are
back in the world of mental reactions, and
our chosen line of thought is forgotten.
Again we re-collect our scattered ideas and
recommence our labour of reducing the
wayward mind to submission. But with
practice we eventually become able to hold a
mental one-pointedness with some degree of
effectiveness.
How is this condition achieved? By following
a form or outline in our meditation work
which automatically sets a ring-pass-not
around the mind, and which says to the mind,
“thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.”
We deliberately and with intelligent intent
set the limits of our mental activity in
such a form that we are forced to recognise
when we stray beyond those limits. We know
then that we must retire again within the
sheltering wall we have defined for
ourselves.
The sincere enquirer will find set out below
a meditation form to help develop
concentration:
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp.
118-27)
F. Meditation Technique
Stages
- The attainment of physical comfort and
control.
- The breathing is noted as rhythmic and
regular.
- Visualisation of the threefold lower self
(physical, emotional and mental) as
- In contact with the soul.
- As a channel for soul energy, through the
medium of the mind, direct to the brain.
From thence the physical mechanism can be
controlled.
- Then a definite act of concentration,
calling in the will. This involves an
endeavour to keep the mind unmoving upon a
certain form of words, so that their meaning
is clear in our consciousness, and not the
words themselves, or the fact that we are
attempting to meditate.
- Then say, with focused attention –
“More radiant than the sun, purer than the
snow, subtler than the ether is the Self,
The spirit within me. I am that Self. That
Self am I.”
- Concentrate now upon the words: “Thou
God seest me. “The mind is not permitted
to falter in its concentration on their
significance, meaning, and implications.
- Then, with deliberation bring the
concentration work to a close, and say again
with the mind re-focused on the underlying
ideas the following concluding statement:
“There is a peace that passeth
understanding: it abides in the hearts of
those who live in the Eternal. There is a
power that maketh all things new; it lives
and moves in those who know the Self as one.”
This is definitely a beginner's meditation.
It has several focal points in it where a
re-collection process and a re-focusing
method are employed.
(Ibid., pp. 228-29)
This following of a form in meditation is
necessary usually for several years, unless
one has had previous practice, and usually
even those who have arrived at the stage of
contemplation test themselves out quite
often by the use of a form in order to make
sure that they are not dropping back into a
negative emotional quiescent state.
(Ibid., pp. 227)
There are many other meditation outlines
which can bring about the same results, and
many more that are for advanced workers.
There are meditation outlines which are
drawn up to produce certain specific results
in particular people, but it is obvious that
they cannot be included in such a booklet as
this. A safe and general meditation form is
all that is possible.
In all of them, however, the primary thing
to bear in mind is that the mind must be
kept actively occupied with ideas and not
with the effort to be concentrated. Behind
every word spoken, and every stage followed
there must be the will to understand and a
mental activity of a one-pointed nature.
In the sixth stage where the effort is made
to meditate definitely upon a form of words,
veiling a truth, there should be nothing
automatic in the process. It is quite easy
to induce in oneself an hypnotic condition
by the rhythmic repetition of certain words.
We are told that Tennyson induced in himself
a heightened state of consciousness by the
repetition of his own name. This is not our
object. The trance or automatic condition is
dangerous.
The safe way is that of an intense mental
activity, confined within the field of ideas
opened up by any particular “seed-thought”
or object in meditation. This activity
excludes all extraneous thoughts, except
those which the words under consideration
arouse.
For the puzzled beginner, who is discouraged
by the inability to think in this way, Alice
A. Bailey has the following suggestion:
“Imagine you have to give a lecture upon
these words to an audience. Picture yourself
as formulating the notes upon which you will
later speak. Carry your mind on from stage
to stage and you will find that five minutes
will have gone by without your attention
wavering, so great will have been your
interest.”
The sequential method suggested above is a
safe way for the beginner. There are others
that will occur to the mind of the
intelligent student. Whole worlds of thought
are open over which the mind can range at
will (note those words) provided they have a
bearing upon the seed-thought and have a
definite relation to the chosen idea upon
which we seek to concentrate. It is obvious
that each person will follow the bent of his
own mind artistic, scientific or
philosophical and for them that will be the
line of least resistance.
(Ibid., pp. 229-32)
G. The Raja Yoga Method of Meditation
(Preliminary suggestions for those who wish
to explore beyond the beginners' stage.)
Patanjali was a compiler of teaching which,
up to the time of his advent, had been given
orally for many centuries. He was the first
to reduce the teaching to writing for the
use of students and hence he is regarded as
the founder of the Raja Yoga School.
The date of the birth of Patanjali is
unknown and there is a good deal of
controversy upon this matter. Most of the
occidental authorities ascribe a date
between the years 820 B.C. to 300 B.C.,
though one or two place him after Christ.
The Hindu authorities themselves, however,
who may be supposed to know something on the
matter, ascribe a very much earlier date,
even as far back as 10,000 B.C.
… The Yoga Sutras are the basic teaching
of the Trans-Himalayan School to which many
of the Masters of the Wisdom belong, and
many students hold that the Essenes and
other schools of mystical training and
thought, closely connected with the founder
of Christianity and the early Christians,
are based upon the same system and that
their teachers were trained in the great
Trans-Himalayan School.
(The Light of the Soul, p.
xiii)
The first step towards this unfoldment is
concentration, or the ability to hold the
mind steadily and unwaveringly upon that
which the aspirant chooses. This first step
is one of the most difficult stages in the
meditation process and involves constant
unremitting ability to keep bringing the
mind back to that “object” upon which
the aspirant has chosen to concentrate. The
stages in concentration are themselves well
marked and can be stated as follows:
- The choice of some “object” upon which
to concentrate.
- The withdrawing of the mind-consciousness
from the periphery of the body, so that the
avenues of outer perception and contact (the
five senses) are stilled, and the
consciousness is no longer outgoing.
- The centring of the consciousness and its
steadying within the head at a point midway
between the eyebrows.
- The application of the mind, or the paying
of close attention to the object chosen for
concentration.
- The visualisation of that object,
imaginative perception of it and logical
reasoning about it.
- The extension of the mental concepts which
have been formed from the specific and
particular to the general and the universal
or cosmic.
- An attempt to arrive at that which lies
back of the form considered, or to reach the
idea which is responsible for the form.
This process gradually steps up the
consciousness and enables the aspirant to
arrive at the life side of manifestation
instead of the form side. It begins however
with the form or “object.” Objects upon
which to concentrate are of four kinds:
- External objects, such as images of the
deity, pictures or forms in nature.
- Internal objects, such as the centres in
the etheric body.
- Qualities, such as the various virtues,
with the intent to awaken desire for these
virtues and thus to build them into the
content of the personal life.
- Mental concepts or those ideas which
embody the ideals lying back of all animated
forms. These may take the form of symbols or
of words.
(Ibid., pp. 243-45)
It is the realisation of the necessity for
“objects” in concentration that
originated the demand for images, sacred
sculptures and pictures. All these objects
entail the use of the lower concrete mind
and this is the necessary preliminary stage.
Their use brings the mind into a controlled
condition so that the aspirant can make it
do whatever he or she chooses.
The four types of objects mentioned above
carry the aspirant gradually inwards,
enabling the transfer of consciousness to be
made from the physical plane into the
etheric realm, from thence into the world of
desire or of the emotions, and so into the
world of mental ideas and concepts.
This process, which is carried on within the
brain, brings the entire lower nature into a
state of one-pointed coherent attention,
leading to a concentration of all the mental
faculties. The mind then is no longer
scattering, unsteady and outgoing, but is
fully “fixed in attention.” … This
clear, one-pointed, still perception of an
object, without any other object or thought
entering into one's consciousness is most
difficult of achievement, and when it can be
done for the space of twelve seconds, true
concentration is being achieved…
Meditation is but the extension of
concentration and grows out of the facility
one achieves in “fixing the mind” at
will on any particular object. It falls
under the same rules and conditions as
concentration and the only distinction
between the two is in the time element.
(Ibid., pp. 246-47)
H. The Need for Care in Meditation
Energy Follows Thought
The fundamental law governing all meditation
work is the ancient one formulated by the
seers in India centuries ago, that “energy
follows thought.” From the realm of ideas
(or of soul knowledge) energy pours through;
… it seeps little by little into the dense
minds of men and women, and to it can be
traced all the forward movements of the
present time, all organization of general
welfare and of group betterment; all
religious concepts and all outer knowledge
of the Causes which produce objectivity…
Every form, whether it be the form of a
sewing machine, of a social order or of a
solar system, can be posited as the
materialisation of the thought of some
thinker, or of some group of thinkers. It is
a form of creative work… and all the work
has been concentrated with energy of some
type or another. The student of meditation
must, therefore, remember that he is always
working with energies, and that these
varying energies will have a definite effect
upon the form nature.
It will be apparent, therefore, that those
who are learning to meditate must endeavour
to do two things:
First: They must learn to “bring through”
into the mind and then interpret correctly
what… has been seen and contacted, and
later transmit it correctly and accurately
to the attentive and impressionable brain.
Second: They must learn the nature of the
energies… contacted and train themselves
to utilise them correctly. A practical
illustration of this can be given here. We
are swept by anger or irritation.
Instinctively we begin to shout. Why?
Emotional energy has us in its grip. By
learning to control the energy of the spoken
word we begin to master that particular type
of emotional energy.
In these two ideas of right interpretation
and right transmission, and of right use of
energy, the whole story of the meditation
work is summed up. It becomes apparent also
what is the problem confronting the student,
and why all wise teachers of the technique
of meditation urge upon their pupils the
need of care and slow procedure.
(From Intellect to Intuition, pp.
240-42)
The Need for Discrimination
… Students have to learn to discriminate
between the fields of awareness which may
open up before them as they become more
sensitive to impression. Let us look for a
moment at some of the phenomena of the lower
mind which students are so constantly
misinterpreting.
They record, for instance, a rapturous
encounter with the Christ or with some Great
Soul, who appeared to them when meditating,
smiled at them, and told them to ‘ “be
of good cheer. You are making good progress.
You are a chosen worker and to you truth
shall be revealed,’ ” or something
similar… What has really happened? Has the
student really seen the Christ?
Here we remember the truism that “thoughts
are things” and that all thoughts take
form… The power of the creative
imagination is only just beginning to be
sensed, and it is quite possible to see just
what we desire to see, even if it is not
there at all. The desire and strenuous
effort of the aspirant to make progress
opens up the psychic plane, the plane of
vain imaginings, of desire and its illusory
fulfilments…
The world of illusion is full of these
thought-forms, constructed by the loving
thoughts of people down the ages. The one
who meditates, working through the psychic
nature (the line of least resistance for the
majority) comes in touch with such a
thought-form, mistakes it for the real, and
imagines it saying all the things he or she
wants said… All of us are in danger of
being deluded in just this way, when we
start to meditate, if the discriminating
mind is not on the watch, or if we have a
secret longing for spiritual prominence, or
suffer from an inferiority complex which
must be offset…
The point that every student of meditation
should always bear in mind is that all
knowledge and instructions are conveyed to
the mind and brain by one's own soul; it is
the soul that illumines the way. The
Teachers and Masters of the race work
through souls… Therefore, the prime duty
of every aspirant should be the perfect
performance of meditation and service and
discipline, and not the making of contact
with some great Soul. It is less
interesting, but preserves one from
illusion. If one does this, the higher
results will take care of themselves.
Should an apparition appear, therefore, and
should such an entity make platitudinous
comments, the student will use the same
judgment as would be used in business or
ordinary life with someone who came and said…
“A great work lies in your hands, you are
doing well. We see and know, etc., etc.”
The student would probably laugh and
continue with the activity or duty of the
moment.
(Ibid., pp. 243-48)
… The first world the aspirant contacts
seems usually to be the psychic world, and
that is the world of illusion. This world of
illusion has its uses, and entering it is a
most valuable experience, provided that the
rule of love and of non-self-reference is
carried there, and that all contacts made
are subjected to the discriminating mind and
ordinary commonsense… It is useful to
record what is seen and heard and then to
forget about it until such time as we have
begun to function in the kingdom of the
soul; then we will be no longer interested
in its recollection.
(Ibid., pp. 253-54)
Inspirational Writings
Another effect of meditation, and a very
prevalent one at this time, is the flood of
so-called inspirational writings which are
coming out, with high claims made for them,
everywhere… They emanate from many
different interior sources. They are
curiously alike; they indicate a lovely
aspirational spirit; they say no new thing,
but repeat what has often been said before;
they are full of statements and phrases
which link them up with the writings of the
mystics or with the Christian teaching; they
may contain prophecies as to future events
(usually dire and dreadful, and seldom, if
ever, of a happy nature)…
How, it might be pertinently asked, can one
distinguish between the truly inspired
writings of the true knower, and this mass
of literature which is flooding the minds of
the public at this time?
… The true inspirational writing will be
entirely without self-reference; it will
sound a note of love and will be free from
hatreds and racial barriers; it will convey
definite knowledge and carry a note of
authority by its appeal to the intuition; it
will respond to the law of correspondences,
and fit into the world picture; above all,
it will carry the impress of Divine Wisdom
and lead the race on a little further…
True servers of the race and those who have
contacted the world of the soul, through
meditation, have no time for platitudes; …
they are not interested in the good opinion
of any person, incarnate or discarnate, and
care only for the approval of their own
soul, and are vitally interested in the
pioneering work of the world. They will do
nothing to feed hatred and separativeness or
to foster fear… They will fan the flame of
love wherever they go; they will teach
brotherhood in its true inclusiveness, and
not a system which will teach brotherhood to
a few and leave the rest outside.
They will recognise all people as sons of
God…; they will not regard one race as
better than another, though they may
recognise the evolutionary plan and the work
that each race has to do. They will, in
short, occupy themselves by building up the
characters of people, and not waste their
time in tearing down personalities, and
dealing with effects and with results. They
work in the world of causes, and enunciate
principles.
(Ibid., pp. 248-53)
Problems of Over-stimulation
Students frequently complain of
over-stimulation and of such an increased
energy that they find themselves unable to
cope with it. They tell us that, when
attempting to meditate, they have an
inclination to weep, or to be unduly
restless; they have periods of intense
activity wherein they find themselves
running hither and thither serving, talking,
writing and working… Others complain of
pains in the head, of headaches immediately
after meditating, or of an uncomfortable
vibration in the forehead, or the throat.
They also find themselves unable to sleep as
well as heretofore.
They are, in fact, over-stimulated… These
troubles are the troubles of the beginner in
the science of meditation and must be dealt
with carefully. Rightly handled, they will
soon disappear, but if they are ignored they
may lead to serious trouble. The earnest and
interested aspirant, at this stage, … is
so anxious to master the technique of
meditation, that he ignores the rules given…
in spite of all the teacher may say or the
warnings received.
Instead of adhering to the fifteen minutes
formula… the aspirant endeavours to force
the pace and does thirty minutes; instead of
following the outline, which is so arranged
that it takes about fifteen minutes to
complete, the effort is made to hold or
prolong the concentration as long as
possible… forgetting that at this stage of
the training the objective is to learn to
concentrate, and not to meditate. This
results in a nervous breakdown, or a spell
of insomnia, and the teacher gets the blame
and the science is regarded as dangerous.
Yet all the time, the meditator is the one
in fault. When some of these primary
troubles occur, the meditation work should
be temporarily stopped, or slowed down…
In mental types, or in the case of those who
have already some facility in “centring
the consciousness” in the head, it is the
brain cells which become over-stimulated,
leading to headaches, to sleeplessness, to a
sense of fullness, or to a disturbing
vibration between the eyes or at the very
top of the head. Sometimes there is a sense
of blinding light, like a sudden flash of
lightning or of electricity, registered when
the eyes are closed, and in the dark equally
as in the light.
When this is the case, the meditation period
should be reduced from fifteen minutes to
five, or meditation should be practised on
alternate days, until such time as the brain
cells have adjusted themselves to the new
rhythm and the increased stimulation. There
is no need for anxiety, if wise judgment is
used…
In emotional types, the trouble is first
sensed in the region of the solar plexus.
The student is prone to irritation and to
anxiety and worry; also, particularly in the
case of women, there may be found a
disposition to cry easily. Sometimes there
is a tendency to nausea, for there is a
close relation between the emotional nature
and the stomach, as is evidenced by
frequency of vomiting in moments of shock,
or fright, or intense emotion. The same
rules apply as in the first set of cases:
common-sense and a careful and slower use of
the meditation process.
Over-sensitivity
Another result of over-stimulation might be
mentioned. People find themselves becoming
over-sensitive. The senses work overtime and
all their reactions are more acute. They “take
on” the conditions, physical or psychic,
of those with whom they live; they find
themselves “wide open” to the thoughts
and moods of other people.
The cure for this is not to lessen the
meditation periods these should be continued
as per schedule, but to become more mentally
interested in life, in the thought world, in
some subject which will tend to develop the
mental capacity… Focused attention to life
and its problems, and some potent mental
occupation will effect a cure… A rounded
out development is needed always, and a
trained mind should accompany growth in the
spiritual life.
(Ibid., pp. 254-57)
Sexual Stimulation
… So many people, and particularly men,
find that the animal nature requires
attention when they begin to meditate. They
discover within themselves uncontrolled
desires, plus physiological effects which
cause them acute trouble and discouragement.
A person may have a high aspiration and a
strong urge towards spiritual living and yet
have aspects of the nature still
uncontrolled.
The energy that pours in during meditation
pours down through the mechanism and
stimulates the entire sex apparatus. The
weak point is always discovered and
stimulated. The cure for this situation can
be summed up in the words: control of the
thought life and transmutation…
The eastern teaching tells us that energy,
usually directed to the functioning of the
sex life, has to be raised and carried to
the head and throat, particularly the
latter, as it is, we are told, the centre of
creative work. To put it in western terms,
this means that we learn to transmute the
energy utilised in the procreative process
or in sex thoughts and use it in the work of
creative writing, in artistic endeavour, or
in some expression of group activity…
Transmutation is not surely the death of an
activity or a cessation of functioning on
any level of consciousness for the sake of a
higher. It is the right utilisation of the
various aspects of energy wherever the Self
feels they should be used for the furthering
of the ends of evolution, and the helping of
the Plan…
The aspirant to the life of the spirit
conforms not only to the laws of the
spiritual kingdom but to the legalised
customs of the age and time. The physical
everyday life is, therefore, regularised so
that others recognise the morality, the
uprightness and the correctness of the
aspirant's presentation to the world. A home
that is based upon a true and happy relation
between a man and a woman, upon mutual
trust, co- operation and understanding, and
in which the principles of spiritual living
are emphasised, is one of the finest aids
that can be given to the world at this time.
(Ibid., pp. 259-61)
Meditation upon the Centres
It might be well also… to refer to the
dangers to which many are liable if they
respond to the appeal of teachers for pupils
to “sit for development.” They are then
taught to meditate upon some centre of
energy, usually the solar plexus, sometimes
the heart, curiously enough never the head.
Meditating upon a centre is based upon the
law that energy follows thought, and leads
to the direct stimulation of that centre and
the resultant demonstration of the
particular characteristics for which these
focal points scattered throughout the human
body are responsible. As the majority of
people function primarily through the
collected energies that lie below the
diaphragm (the sex energies and the
emotional energies) their stimulation is
most dangerous.
In view of this, why take risks? … Why not
learn to function as the spiritual man from
that point, so quaintly described by the
Oriental writers, as “the throne between
the eyebrows,” and from that high place
control all aspects of the lower nature, and
guide the daily life in the ways of God.
(Ibid., pp. 261-62)
The Need for Common Sense
The dangers of meditation are largely the
dangers of our virtues, and therein lies
much of the difficulty. They are largely the
dangers of a fine mental concept that runs
ahead of the capacity of the lower vehicles,
especially of the dense physical… the
absolute necessity is for the occult student
to have a virile common sense for one of his
basic qualities, coupled with a happy sense
of proportion that leads to due caution and
an approximation of the necessary method to
the immediate need. To one therefore who
undertakes wholeheartedly the process of
occult meditation:
(a) Know thyself.
(b) Proceed slowly and with caution.
(c) Study effects.
(d) Cultivate the realisation that eternity
is long and that that which is slowly built
up endures forever.
(e) Aim at regularity.
(f) Realise always that the true spiritual
effects are to be seen in the exoteric life
of service.
(g) Remember likewise that psychic phenomena
are no indication of a successful following
of meditation.
The world will see the effects and be a
better judge than the student himself. Above
all, the Master will know, for the results
on causal levels will be apparent to Him
long before the man himself is conscious of
any progress.
(Letters on Occult Meditation, pp.
93-94)
Lucis Publishing Companies
Copyright Information
The Lucis Publishing Companies are the
sole publishers in English of the books of
Alice Bailey –
both in print and electronic media.
Copyright is held by the Lucis Trust and no
rights have been issued to any other
publisher to produce electronic or print
editions of any of the Lucis Publishing
Companies' publications in English.
In more than 75 years of existence, the
Lucis Publishing Companies have endeavoured
to “keep the books in steady circulation,”
in line with the Tibetan Master's request,
while at the same time protecting the
Teaching given in the books of Alice Bailey
from misuse.
The Lucis Publishing Companies are operated
on a non-profit basis. All monies derived
from the sale of the books are directed
towards the reprinting of the books and the
administration of the Lucis Publishing
Companies.
|