~ Meditation ~

MEDITATION IN ILLUMINATION

Meditation is a way of life. It is a means of communicating with the inner depth of one's Self -- a means of communicating with the inner depths of the universe.

The first step is to relax. Take a few minutes to completely relax the body and the mind. Sit in a comfortable chair or you may use any meditation or yoga position which you may be familiar with. You should be in a completely relaxed position with eyes closed. Now, allow the muddy waters of both the body and mind to settle. Empty the body of all conscious control, effort and tension. The easiest method is to mentally observe each part of your body. Start with your feet and slowly work upward. Acknowledge to yourself: I completely relax my feet, I completely relax my legs. Continue this process slowly and deliberately throughout the whole body. Assure yourself that each part of your body is free from tension and completely relaxed. After this has been accomplished, acknowledge to yourself that your body will remain relaxed regardless of any outside distractions.

Then, as best you can, eliminate all conscious thinking. Allow your mind to relax and go blank. Take as much care in relaxing the mind as when you relaxed the body. Concentrate on nothingness. Acknowledge to yourself in your mind that your mind is relaxed and blank -- erased of all conscious thought. Do not force this state of mental relaxation. Allow it to happen. If it will help, look through your eyes (eyes still closed) and gaze into the nothingness.

When the body and mind are both relaxed and peaceful, become passive. From within the mind's eye look upon yourself and vision yourself as opening your arms as a gesture to the universe that you see awareness. Then let your mind wonder back to the nothingness and observe and become aware of the "sound" as a flow of pure feeling. Allow the "sound" to touch you so that you may feel and become aware. Let it penetrate your being. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE "SOUND" -- FEEL IT. Feel what you hear and the universe will reveal itself unto you.

It is possible to change one's life for supreme fulfillment of one's total being. Most people would probably be satisfied to change just a few things about their lives. To relieve a frustrating situation or a disturbing element would most likely suffice. But this would only be a change of the small outward things of life. There is a way to change the very core of one's existence for the better. Meditation will give you the ways and means of obtaining an awareness of one's spiritual self. General meditation offers an easy to perform technique which will give the student the tools to know himself. Once the student knows himself, meditation can help him direct his inward potential to accommodate those forces and thereby use his potential to its utmost.

One of the major laws of the universe is order. The universe functions under predictable principles. The same principles which govern the universe, govern the human spiritual being. When the student understands these principles and how they apply to him he will then be able to direct his being to the natural flow of the universe. The natural flow of the universe is harmonious and peaceful. The student can tap this natural, harmonious, peaceful flow through meditation.

Let us observe two principles then. The principle of gathering information and knowledge and the principle of illumination. Bare in mind first that these two principles are separate yet work together. The principle of gathering information and knowledge is part of a law of the universe known as the Law of Search. Jesus is quoted as saying "ask and ye shall be answered -- seek and ye shall find -- knock and the door shall be opened unto you".

The new-born knows of this law. Their whole life until they become set tin the ways of man is a constant search. We as adults should take heed of such things as can be learned from the new comers to this physical existence. For they have entered into this existence from the existence of the universe. They would know the laws the best. Granted, to delve into things we know little or nothing of is not the most secure situation to be in. It is much more secure to function with the tools we have than to learn about new tools and possibly have to throw out some old tools. But to search to a point and stop is very limiting. Searching and learning is evolving mentally and progressing. To stop searching learning is to stop progressing and stifle one's self and die.

Search plus meditation equals illumination.

All information and knowledge is stored in the subconscious mind. This information and knowledge, gained through search, can and will be used by the conscious mind but is recorded forever in the subconscious mind. By the use of a meditation technique the student actually calms the usual nervous state of the conscious mind and is able to delve into himself through the power of the subconscious mind. Meditation is a technique whereby the student can unify the energy of the body and the power of the subconscious mind and all of the knowledge stored there. This calming of the conscious mind and the unity of body and subconscious mind is the path to illumination. Illumination is the key to understanding and peace within one's self and thereby with one's neighbor and with one's world.

First, let us delve into what I am going to term 'life cycles and the planes of existence'. Only the experience of our higher facilities in mind can convince us that we are more that just a physical body. However, the following assumptions about our origin and nature and the general course of life will help to explain what takes place. The exact proof for the validity of these assumptions will come to you gradually as you wrestle with the problems of your own life and as you are able to test and consider reality and your existing place in the cosmos.

Here are the cycles and planes:

First, we are born with a spiritual component which we may term the soul -- which comes to us as a portion of what one might call Divine Power. This divinity within can be tapped and utilized as a power source of infinite creativity.

Second, as life progresses, in approximately seven year cycles, we have the opportunity to learn how to experience the operation of this divine power.

Third, when we leave the encumbrance of the body at death, our soul moves into another plane of existence or another state of consciousness.

Fourth, the plane of existence where we adjust to our new condition of spirituality can be called the Astral Plane of consciousness.

Fifth, we continue to grow and to develop in the Astral Plane until we reach a more ascended plane of existence where we are further purified and refined. In the ascended plane of consciousness we are able to transmit the light of this divine power to those on the descending planes of consciousness.

Sixth, and finally, we either turn to the earth plane in future incarnations in order to work out our destiny of we continue on to a cosmic plane of consciousness where the soul returns to the divine source from whence it came originally.

One must keep in mind that when we are discussing the development of higher mental powers, we are also striking very close to our divine power. Therefore, to a certain extent, what we are undertaking is a quest for our spiritual self. When we locate our soul self and understand how it operates in the cosmos we are able to demonstrate such attributes as harmony and healing, clairvoyant understanding, prosperity and success, love and intuition, originality and creativity.

Another thing that we should consider is awareness. Awareness is the key to out higher mental self. The miracle key to these higher mental realms is increased awareness of them. It stands to reason that the more we know about these realms the better able we are to manipulate their flow. We actually have several levels of awareness operating simultaneously. The purpose of psychic awareness and cosmic attunement is to create clear channels to the deepest levels of our awareness.

Roughly speaking, our conscious levels are ruled by senses, words and reason. The subconscious, however, stores our memory and past experiences. The super conscious level is the seat of our extra sensory knowledge. The divine consciousness is our own inner contact with divinity.

Since you contain a portion of divinity within you, you are capable of being an instrument of the cosmos because you are related to everything else that has been created by the cosmos. The same cause that created you also created everything else. The magic door to psychic awareness is opened when we still the conscious demands of our minds and bodies and look within to the deeper levels of awareness.

The most ancient method and still the most effective is meditation. For many students of the occult, meditation is the only method for reaching the spiritual self-hood within. Our interior self may be quite different from our exterior self. Nonetheless, it is a portion of your mind which is active in your life.

And why should one meditate, you may ask. The rewards of meditation are many. Most importantly it puts you in tune with your surroundings so that a sense of impending danger can be detected. Many profess the ability to tell when a dangerous situation will arise and can this avoid placing themselves in its way. Decisions in general seem to be easier and more certain for those who meditate regularly. But let us get on to a basic meditation technique.

Almost all meditational methods are founded on simple underlying principles. Meditation is a mental discipline which opens awareness and improves accurate perception. It can be practiced by anyone regardless of intelligence or stature. Stated in its simplest form, here is a basic meditation outline for beginning the practice of effective meditation:

1. Seat yourself in a quiet room free from distractions and interruptions.

2. Provide yourself with subdued light (a dim light). A candle would be very appropriate. Make sure the room is well ventilated and at a comfortable temperature.

3. Sit erect, back straight, but let your muscles relax. The body must relax during meditation. However, you do want your back at a fairly erect position.

4. Focus your attention inward -- casually searching and waiting. search into yourself and just wait.

5. Do not force your attention -- just let it wonder easily.

6. Repel any negative thoughts which you may have. If they pop into your mind just shake them off. Forget about them as best you can and go back to the fourth step, focusing your attention inward casually.

7. Let your thought dwell on positive thoughts. Someone you love, a scene which is restful or soothing, or a future occasion which you are looking forward to. The keynote here is positive thoughts, pleasant things, restful things, beautiful things.

8. Put your mind in neutral gear, so to speak. Let your attention become very passive -- neither negative or positive -- let it drift on its own. Observe what is going on and be receptive. That is very important -- BE RECEPTIVE.

9. Conclude with a prayer.

A good prayer to end the meditation with is this following poem. The rhythm-like nature of a poem will help the meditation along. I entitle it:

Let Light and Love and Will descend on Earth

from out that place where God finds Thought - where all is Known and nothing Taught from out that place where Sight is Known - where all is Seen and all is Shown "let Light descend on Earth";

from out that place the 'Heart of God' - where Feeling lives and Spite is odd from out that place where Venus Dwells - where Tenderness and Kindness Swells "let Love descend on Earth";

from out that place where God gives Power - where Aim and Purpose gain their fill from out that place where Service Reigns - where Guidance shows the reasons for Pains "let Will descend on Earth";

to in that place where Man calls Home - where Lives are Lived and Spirits Roam to in that place where Deeds are Done - where Man does Work and has His Fun "let Light and Love and Will descend on Earth".

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A few added tips for the students of meditation are well to mention here. It would be best to meditate in the same place every time that you meditate. If you could set aside a special place to meditate, it would even be better -- maybe a small corner in the living room or bedroom. If a special place can not be set aside, then meditating in the same place each time would be sufficient.

You should burn a candle during meditation. This is symbolic of purifying the atmosphere. It can also help you concentrate and get rid of all negative thought. Set the candle in front of you and concentrate on the flame. Think of the flame as purifying the atmosphere of all negativeness. Close your eyes and begin the technique.

Burning incense during meditation is also helpful. Incense also cleanses the atmosphere of negation. Choose an incense which is not too sweet yet not strong. It should be a very pleasant, peaceful fragrance to you.

Like the place where you meditate, the candle and the incense, as well as the incense burner and candle holder, should be of a special type to you and only used during meditation. If this is not practical for you, do not worry about it. Any candle or incense will do. But light the candle and the incense as part of a cleansing ritual just before starting the meditation. All of this will be very helpful to the success of your meditation.

This simple meditation can be performed in as little as twenty minutes. It is designed to increase your inner awareness and it will help you to focus and control your mental, emotional and psychical energy. You will be introduced to more advanced meditational techniques a little bit later.

But this outline is the ground work upon which you will build. You will probably notice a harmonious inner peace begin to take hold between the tenth and fifteenth time you meditate like this. When you do feel inner peace and calm, it is a sign that you will be ready for the next step. When you are ready to move on, you will.

As you are anxious about getting results -- you will be held back. Just relax and let yourself move according to your own inner tide and rhythm. Do not try to force results and definitely do not get nervous about it. Your anxiety or your anxiousness will only hold back the effects of any meditation.

For the first week of meditation, use the above stated technique. This first week's technique must be mastered before moving on to the next stage. Take it stage by stage -- master one stage before moving on to the next stage. By so doing, each successive stage becomes easier to master.

The next steps will be getting us further and further into an inner awareness, a psychic awareness of mainly our inner self and how we as individuals fit into the super scheme, if I may call it that, of the macrocosm -- the universe. Meditation brings the microcosm (the single small unit in the macrocosm) the overall picture of the cosmos -- the universe.

Let us delve into the extra sensory mind and see where these impressions of an extra sensory nature come from. Two things can happen in meditation. One can find out about what is inside one's self and one can better find out what is outside one's self.

Extra sensory perception or impressions are really impressions from outside one's self. They are important to at least mention, so that the student can at least be aware that they do exist and where they do come from. I would first like to divide the mind into a couple categories to try to explain the mind more, so that maybe you can understand what extra sensory perception is, as it is called -- what it really is or where it comes from.

First of all I would like to set up the category of the conscious mind. This is the receiving station of the five physical senses. It is your assimilating mind, your reasoning or logical mind, the mind of language and ordinary perception. Of course there is another thing -- the subconscious mind. This is your storage house. The originator of fantasy and dreams and creativity and imagination. Your subconscious is where you remember everything that has ever happened to you as though it were on tape recorder to be played back on command.

Next, is the super conscious mind. This is the residence of your extra sensory facility. This is where your subconscious mind blends into other minds and is connected with events that have not even taken place yet. This is where you go backward or foreword in time. This is the part of your mind that can travel about unlimited by your present position in space. It is through this activity of your mind that you get your truest extra sensory impressions.

Next, the divine mind. The divine mind is that spark of divinity called your soul, by some, which is in you and every living thing. It is part of the greater divinity which we call mind power of the universe or infinite intelligence. It is the causative force behind all people, all things and all events.

When you listen for inner clues -- voices of intuition -- extra sensory revelations of what you should do, you should automatically open your entire being. You judge each experience individually within its own framework and meaning. Defensiveness and rigidity of interpretations cease. You are more conscious of reality as it exists rather than viewing it in a preconceived category. This view actually makes you more realistic in dealing with situations and enables you to evaluate with greater clarity.

Through the complex methods of weighing and balancing your truest feeling, you are able to reach within and locate that which is satisfying and true. It is a growing process, not a stagnant insulation from the world. It is involvement in Life. It is your own extra sensory potential being put to use for you.

You might ask -- what is an impression -- an extra sensory impression. Extra sensory perception begins with the perception of an impression which appears to arise outside ordinary sense data. That means it has nothing or little to do with what your five physical senses tell you. It is simply something else.

Impressions are like hunches, flashes, day-dreams, they are vague or distinct, they can be literally true or they can be symbolic. Most people report that impressions are like feelings. Others will actually say that they see and hear in an extra sensory way.

If extra sensory impressions do not come from our unconscious mind or our conscious facility, then where do they come from? They must come from a deeper level of consciousness and impressions seem to come from several sources. Some of these sources are definitely external to our minds. Extra sensory perceptions can come from several sources at once. They can come from your own subconscious mind -- they can come from the minds of others through your subconscious mind or they can appear as revelations directly from the divine power rising in your divine mind through meditation.

Impressions can be helpful because they can explain the past too. Something may have been troubling you. You can find out what a past experience really means. Of course extra sensory impressions can give you insights into your present position and circumstances.

Let us go over some basic laws that must be observed psychologically so that a better knowledge of the meditation process can be instilled in the student's mind. Cosmic law orders the universe. It is the principle behind that which is seen as 'result' in life. Cosmic law is a systematic codification of the truths which are universal. You can use them in your life to yield great benefits.

How many laws are there? It is only after trial and error, testing and observation, that hey will all become clear to you. Each person has a lightly different understanding of them depending on his outlook and inner development. But they ass will be evident through meditation.

You can observe and test the laws presented here. You will be able to reformulate them, restate them, and perhaps even add a few which seem valid to you. The beauty of these laws is that they work without effort. They are unfailing, working in a hidden way which most people are not aware of. The ancient mystics studied their total environment in order to capture the essence of these laws. They watched the stars, observed the regular changes of the seasons and came the same type of conclusions.

There is a story that goes along with of these such laws. It is a story that has been handed down to us about Sarah, the wife of Abraham. It seems that she discovered this particular law on an emerald tablet in a cave-tomb of Hermes Trismegistus. The law says that which is above is like that which is below and that which is below is like that which is above -- to achieve the wonders of one thing.

Now this means that man is the earthly component of God. It also means that God is the Heavenly component of man. Both man and God use the same life force. This is actually quite a revelation. God is very much like man. If God is like man then we can observe ourselves to see what God is. And if there is one force used by God and man, then man also is capable of using it. Man is limited, but only to the extent to which he can use it. This law tells us that man can be like God or like a God and it also tells us that his life can be ordered and that this law can order his life just as God orders the universe. We do this by applying the same force to our surroundings, to ourselves, to our desires to achieve what we want and need.

You must put cosmic law to work. What you will need is quiet time to study and observe to read and reflect. The meditation that is outlined here will open your channels to all levels of awareness. Through increased awareness you will be able to sense the true operations of these laws and once you start along the path you will reach the goal you set for yourself.

Every experience is potentially rewarding. What may seem to be random and pointless is not. Even the apparent mistakes of life have a deeper meaning which is positive and creative. There is a constructive force in everything we encounter.

Another law -- the law of ideal identification and mastering. The ideal human being is the one who has experienced and mastered all things. That might seem to be quite the task. Many people attempt to hide from life. You may know friends of yours who tell themselves that evil does not exist. They may pretend that a disturbing experience was not real. They have insulated themselves from life. But the ideal state is one of mastering.

You can dissolve frustration but not by delaying it or ignoring it. When we experience all that life has to offer we can become matter of all in life. Good and evil, pleasure and pain are part of the total picture of total experience. Total experience is the key to total understanding. You are learning how to include all that happens and then triumph over it by reducing it to its rightful place in the cosmic scheme of all things. When you read a novel, see a film, to an art museum or listen to music, you are adding another dimension to your experience. You are not withdrawing -- you are participating in all that life has to offer. This is exactly what the law of ideal identity advocates.

Another law -- the law of the whole and its parts. The whole is the sum of its parts and all parts are unified with the whole through spiritual expansion. This somewhat goes along with the law of ideal identification and mastery. Once you have alerted yourself to the process of experience and have started to notice and be in as many different kinds of situations as possible, something will take place within you. By identifying with all, by gathering experience, by feeling along with people you will expand and grow.

Expansion comes about through identifying with experience. When we identify with experience we learn to control them -- to master them. Identification is the first step -- mastery is the next. Expansion and growth is the third step. We expand our total being outward and away from us into all of life, into other experiences. into other places. Expanding yourself mentally -- by seeing yourself become a larger part of the whole -- you can gradually become one with the rhythms of the universe. You are one with all things. You are one with other people and with yourself. This is the final result of meditation.

Before one can go through this expansion process one must first learn how to psychically expand. First of all, relax in a quiet place sitting down. Feel your inner self merging with whatever you see around you. Maybe you have a decorative arrangement of flowers or a book or a picture. Look at the object. Examine it thoroughly and slowly. Think of its meaning, its texture, where did it come from? How did it get here? Where will it go when it leaves? View yourself as that object. Be as one with the object. Feel yourself as the object before it got to this location. What did it feel then? How will it feel when it leaves?

The next thing you must do will be to merge with the surroundings of the object. Once you are one with the object then merge that object and you with the surroundings of the object. You will be able to sense what the nearby objects feel toward the original one. You are expanding through your spiritual facilities. You are merging and becoming one with the things which are external to you. You can also apply this technique in many other ways.

The next time a friend comes to visit feel yourself slowly becoming that person. Feel that person's emotional state of mind. See his thought patterns develop. Watch his breathing and movements. Picture yourself as that person, yet, still be yourself naturally. Observe and participate -- a key slogan here. Observe yourself and the friend. Participate in the conversation and in the inner thought and the feelings of your friend. You are over-coming the limitations of being only yourself, of seeing life only from your point of view. You are expanding and this spiritual expansion will make it possible for you to expand in all areas in your own life.

The student must remember that since cosmic law originates in the cosmos, which is a state of being far removed from the earth, there is a certain amount of delusion of the law as it approaches earth. Mystical manuscripts down through the ages have made much of what is called the force of light. Cosmic energy if this force of light. A force that compels life to continue. It is goodness, creativity in action.

How can we determine the forces operating in the universe? There are only a couple and they are the forces of light and the force of life, the force of darkness, destruction and death. These are two aspects of the same force actually. A diversion of the light force for destructive ends becomes a force for darkness. Sometimes the force of light is used in a destructive way to accomplish good. We destroy disease to create health -- we tear down buildings to make way for new housing. We destroy negative thinking in order to have a place for positive thinking. In spite of this however, man-kind has always noticed an apparent force of darkness with an evil end -- the complete malice of some events, situations, and people. But let us get on to another law.

The law of balance and equilibrium. The cosmic low of balance and equilibrium involves the cosmic intent to bring the force of light and the force of darkness into a synthesis, a balance and equilibrium. The force of darkness will be canceled out by the force of light. It is a divine economy that operates at all times to bring good action out of evil, to bring love to bare against hate and to bring compassion out of sorrow. Remember that all balances and all equalizes in the final analysis.

When the pendulum swings too far in one direction it then begins to swing in the other direction. The Greeks called this perfect balance -- justice. The cosmic law recognizes that justice is at work all the time. The object in cosmic illumination or inner awareness through meditation is to bring your entire being into balance with itself. This means mind development, emotional development, even physical development, and eventually of course, psychic development.

We all start with the same fixed points -- the same cosmic equipment. It is how we build that counts. Harmony can be set in motion in advance of its actualization. It is not determined by outward circumstances or given to you by chance. You have the power within you to create whatever you desire, need, and even want.

The next law we will cover here is the law of progression and change. This is what the book I Ching professes. Life's progression is fixed against a background which changes. The players change but the performance is the same. We change locations, jobs, places to live, but our reactions to things are likely to be quite static, will most likely be quite the same. True psychic or mystical awareness increases our originality. It gives us a variety of ways of reacting and thinking about the experiences we have.

We may have seen a small baby grow and develop through the early stages of life -- walking, talking, noticing the world. This progress is fairly fixed and predictable. Most children learn to walk at the same time and most learn to talk about the same way. But there are some things about a child's development which are not entirely predictable. His uniqueness and individuality, his character and personality are not quite so predictable.

The same holds true for life itself. The beginning is quite fixed -- birth. The ending point is quite fixed -- death. There are a few other fixed points along the way. The trivial things seem to change. The truths remain the same, however.

I want you to bare in mind that progression is the accumulated direction of your existence and that background represents changing events in your life. You can make an accurate estimate of your life's progression. Once you have done this you can build the kind of future results you want and need to be satisfied and happy.

Let us see how that operates. Let us take the student's personal inventory. Let us apply the law of progression to see what is fixed for you in life and what is changing.

We must first ask ourselves two fundamental questions. One dealing with progression, looking back over the last ten years of your life, what conditions seem to be always with you? In the realm of background, look over the last ten years of your life, and what conditions seem to have changed? Remember to include only permanent states or conditions to answer question number one. In answering the second question you will be listing smaller changes -- people, places, and things.

When you have done that, take the list you have made and answer the two questions by the use of an index. You can use this index for the background par of it. What conditions seem to occur in the fall of the year? Next, what conditions seem to occur in the winter? Next, what conditions seem to occur in the spring?

Next, what conditions seem to occur in the summer? Your life actually runs through a life cycle or a profile. You have actually started to create a profile of this life cycle through these questions. You will notice that certain things happen to you over and over -- almost on a predictable basis. When you abstract the effect of these accumulated experiences you will he describing the conditions you listed in answer to your progression questions just a little while ago.

Now let us index the progression question. Is this progression and direction what I want for my life? What aspects of life would I like to chance? What aspects of my life would I like to remain the same? With the information supplied to you in answer to these questions, you are now ready to apply those cosmic laws which will bring change to you. Having full understanding of the principles of the cosmic laws presented up to this point and by fully comprehending what you are about to learn, you can pave the way to whatever adjustments you choose.

By taking this inventory you know what you need in your life. Bare in mind that your inner world influences the outer world you experience. You improve your life by conditioning yourself for success. By allowing the positive and creative to take shape within your inner thought pattern you are attracting a like situation in the outer material world. First, you are going to have to condition your inner world -- your spiritual self. By setting the spiritual inner world into motion, you activate cosmic law. The result of these activated laws are externalized. The right situations and opportunities for happiness, success, and sound living come to you automatically.

Before you proceed, make sure you understand the laws so far. Go back and ponder them again if you need. You are about to demonstrate a deeper concentration of your mind power as we are about to present a deeper cosmic teaching.

Eternal life energy is the spiritual energy behind all things, in all things, and controlling all things. It is a fundamental power of the universe. It is the formlessness out of which life itself was created. It is the electromagnetic field which surrounds all objects and people. Faith is the activation of this power and mobilization of it for our use on the earth plane as it is on all planes of existence. Through cosmic attunement we are able to be conductors of this power, so that it flows through us and remains with us. This energy is spirit. It is at the very center of our being right now, waiting to be tapped. It is your soul when it becomes released or freed. It is the power behind your divine presence when it is operating on a clear channel of an unfoldment. When you tune in on this pure flowing energy, you do not wish, will, supplicate, coerce, or influence other people hypnotically.

But you can fill every cell and fiber of your body with this renewing, regenerating, health giving force if you follow some very basic steps. First, repel erroneous thought patterns, send a negation away from you and penetrate and transcend all subconscious denials. Second, create a positive vibration by dwelling on the creative aspects of your inner being. Finally, put your thought and feeling into neutral. You will feel the energy being released slowly within you at first, but stronger and stronger as you repeat the simple exercise in quiet meditation every single day.

Illumination will develop within you, and through out your life. All who come into contact with you will gradually notice the change -- the transformation that this eternal life energy brings. Eternal life energy removes the limitations of mortal or physical energy by replacing it with divine energy. Therefore, it frees the spirit of man. Daily meditation of the source of all personal power -- the infinite spirit within which has its existence at the center of our being -- ignites the light of eternal life energy. We can transform thoughts into things. This is the way we create emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This is the way you can send and direct the eternal life energy. By seeing it in thought, by feeling it in body, and by releasing it in spirit, you resolve it into a thing which can be utilized for yourself and others. Illumination and insight comes as this power is utilized and focussed. This causes experiences in the outer world which are directed and dictated by this illumination. These experiences bring the soul into controlling position because it is released to work freely for you. You are guided by your highest self-hood. Transformation takes place and harmony, peace, and true fulfillment work their way through every thought, action, and perception of the world and naturally into your beautiful place in it.

Before we go any further, we should study a couple further laws. One of these laws is the law of continuation and conclusion. That is to say, that which has begin will continue and must continue until a result has been manifested. This law is a statement that, what has been set into motion must continue until it has reached its full conclusion. In a sense, this law is related to the law of initiation. Where major emotional, mental, or spiritual change has been unleashed it must reach its intended target. When it reaches its target a new set of circumstances is brought into being. This law can be seen in action in a positive way each day. By picturing in your mind's eye a desire, you set the desire into motion. However, just setting the cosmic forces to work is not enough. They must be kept on target.

How does one get psychic activation? Activation is the way you can reinforce that which you have initiated psychically. It is the one certain way to reach the goal or result desired. Once something has been set in motion there are disturbing elements that can misdirect its course. It is like a missile sent into the sky. Data is constantly sent back to the ground guidance system to make corrections to keep the missile on course, so it reaches its target without fail. In physical science this is called a servo-mechanism. It is the corresponding device. In spiritual matters the law of activation is the same 'servo-mechanism' or 'self-correcting' principle. It is a mental, spiritual, and psychical energizing of the thought-charge which has been initiated. Activation is done in the following way.

First, repel negation. All negative thought should be firmly, resolutely sent from your mind, dissolved from your life condition, discharged from your physical and spiritual being. Next, dwell on the positive. Bring positive, affirmative, and loving situations, people, events, and thoughts into mind. Feel them. See them taking shape and multiplying. Refer to the beautiful, the, and the eternal. Next, become neutral. Let your thought float on the top of the positive vibration that you have set up. Let your divinity grow and develop within you. See the pure white light of protection surround you. See the purple healing ray enfold you. See the penetrating blue light of calmness around you. Now you are ready to activate and direct what you have initiated by the use of your imagination and concentration.

The target is bombarded with the force of the mental, spiritual, and psychical power which your emotional energy has been directing and activating. Next, set up regular intervals for work on this particular project. Finally, after each session, release it; relax fully; it is done, totally. Still another law is the law of acceptance and rejection. That which is accepted mentally, emotionally, and spiritually gathers itself together with other forces of like character to create in the material life of the individual a complete reflection of that which has been accepted; that which is rejected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually gathers itself together with other forces of like character to create in the material life of the individual a complete reflection of that which has been rejected. It is a human tendency to reject much in life, to remove ourselves from it, to avoid the unpleasant. Many people actually feel threatened by anything new or different. Their tolerance for the unknown is low. But, the harmonious person has a high tolerance for the new, different, and the nonspecific. A person who is in tune with the cosmos has a high tolerance for ambiguity, is not threatened by life. This is because the advanced person is strong, firm, solid within himself.

Tolerance for change, for the unexpected, and for the abstract is very high. What are the characteristics of the harmonious person? They are: a sense of the unity of all things, ideas, and experiences -- an ability to transcend the material world and the physical body -- a deeply felt positive and creative mood in every thought and reaction -- the realization that all of life is sacred, has meaning, and the opportunity for fulfillment -- the eternal sense of the divinity within and a high tolerance for ambiguity -- the confidence that spiritual experiences are not capable of being described in words, yet they do exist for everyone -- and that attunement brings a transforming insight and revelation which causes changes in the outlook, behavior, and experience pattern.

The key to perfect harmony is to be able to accept more in life that you reject. Rather than being defensive, waiting for the worst to happen, you can cheerfully move forward and upward to a greater understanding of your place in the cosmos. In this way you will attract all good to you, and you will harmonize those spiritual forces that are naturally attracted to your vibration.

Let's see how this works. Mental acceptance is the reception of an idea, impression, feeling, thing, or experience. It is also the building on that idea or experience so that a new creation or that idea or experience comes into consciousness. In other words, you do not blindly accept, but rather accept so that you can create more. Experiences, ideas, feelings, are the raw material from which your mind and spirit can extract the best and create something more beautiful, more unique, more personal that the original idea, experience or feeling. Thus, anything that happens to you or around you can be utilized in your advancement and development. You have made your life a continuous work of art.

Acceptance of all of life's wonderful experience is brought about by inner listening. As we listen we make note of the meaning of the "now moment" -- the present. We are not encumbered by the shadows of the past, past injuries, losses, or false teachings. We are living from moment to moment as we are guided by what is true now, at this moment in time. We are not frozen, waiting for fate of the future to bring us something good or bad. We are here, now, loving, experiencing, expressing.

Truth is obtained within. It is not measured or evaluated by external circumstances or by a set of standards to live by. It is known by your highest and best self. When you listen for the inner clues, voices of intuition, revelations of what to do, you are "feeling". When you do this you open your entire being to receptiveness toward all experience, not just the immediate experience in the present. Through the present, or "now" experience you are able to touch all of life since all is unified with the whole.

This is the psychic awareness that opens new doors for you. You can judge each experience individually, within its own framework of meaning. Rigidity of interpretation is no longer a part of your thought pattern. You will become more conscious of the totality of reality as it actually exists rather than viewing it in preconceived categories. This method of accepting and evaluating will actually make you more realistic and successful in dealing with new situations. It enables you to evaluate with greater clarity because you are no longer a victim of past experience or past evaluations. You are able to see the uniqueness of each thing, and at the same time, you will understand how each thing is part of the totality, the wholeness of life.

Through the methods of weighing and balancing your truest inner feeling you can reach within yourself, to your divinity, and locate that which is satisfying and meaningful in the "now". This implies choice, freedom, receptiveness, inclusive of stimuli, not rejecting them. Fear of your reactions, your natural reactions, is replaced by a steady confidence in them. You will look less and less to others for evaluation, for the standards to live by. Instead you will find your own forms of expressing life, your greatest creative potential. This is a continuing process, not a final state of happiness or tension reduction. It is not a stagnant insulation from the world. It is involvement in life, moment to moment experience.

By experiencing more that you reject you can gradually know when it is necessary to reject. It is much healthier to begin by accepting, and gradually learn when and how to reject. The secret of rejection, as you will see later, is to reject lightly, and at the same time, to accept strongly that which you want to come into being. In this way you have not energized the thing to be rejected. You have not given a positive impetus to a negation, causing it to double and triple in intensity and frequency. Begin by accepting. Rejection will take care of itself.

By now you have begun to see your exciting place in the cosmic universe. You realize that you are entirely unique. You know there is a destiny at work in your life. There is something that you and only you are destined to do and be. You are using the tools of meditation to bring out your natural power and ability. You are slowly becoming a vital human being with wider scope and deeper appreciation.

You are recognizing the underlying cause and effect of cosmic law. As a result you have experienced clairvoyance, healing, and harmony in your life. You are making use of the natural resource of your own mind. Your extrasensory capacity is growing more and more as you listen to the voice of intuition within. You are being guided and directed in all that you do and say through psychic awareness.

Now you are ready to experience complete cosmic or psychic illumination.

You are about to transform your life, your circumstance, and your condition. You are about to develop a "way of life" that is tailor- made to your needs, wants, and wishes.

The characteristics of complete cosmic illumination are as follows.

First, the unity of all -- all things are related, all experience, and all objects are interrelated. This is a sense of your relationship to everything you encounter. It is as if everything that happens to you, every person you meet, and every place you go, is part of a wonderful, infinite plan. The unity of all things is the inner acceptance of the totality of the universe. All is one, you are one, so you are all.

Next, material transcendence -- material aspects of life, objects alone, are not the only goals. The mere accumulation of goods or services does not guarantee success or happiness. The goodness or badness of a situation is determined by the individual in that situation rather than by some external authority or material condition.

Next, a deep positive awareness -- to one who has experienced cosmic illumination this is the feeling carried over from the illumination itself. All things seem to be working for the outcome of good. The mood is positive because the results of life are positive, creative, healthy. Everything is seen as working toward a purpose which is fundamentally redemptive. The illuminated person is seldom bored. He is eager to get on with the projects ha has in mind and he is able to mobilize and maintain his energy level over long periods of time. His interests are integrated. He refrains from dabbling numerous areas. He has direction and specific purpose.

Next, the sacredness of it all -- the illuminated person sees all of life as having a sacred purpose. As a result, the illuminated person does not seek close friendships with a great number of people. Instead he tends to develop close relationships with only a few. But, in these relationships common interests are not necessary. The real basis of the relationship is the communication of deep feeling, or deep spiritual experience, with others who share similar feelings.

Next, understanding spiritual reality -- the illuminated individual sees the world as a place where the spiritual self has validity. This results in an alternation between periods of intense involvement and seclusion. The periods of involvement are used for discovery of new truth. The periods of retreat are used for reflection and renewing of the total self. During seclusion, energy is stored up for the involvements to follow.

Next, truth as an experience -- truth is not words or intellectual understanding. Truth is an experience in and around those who are illuminated. Intellectual descriptions of the experience attempt to define and explain it. But the experience of cosmic illumination is only fully understood by experiencing it. Those who have experienced the illumination do not and can not describe it.

Finally, a transformation -- illumination causes changes in the behavior of the individual. Life takes on new meaning. It is different, alive, and beautiful. The person seems changed because his life's circumstances are changing. It is like falling in love or being awarded a great recognition for a difficult feat. It is marked by enthusiasm, exhilaration, and an excess amount of energy. Complete cosmic illumination comes in a series of deeply moving experiences. These experiences are intellectual, emotional, and spiritual all at once. It is these experiences which bring the illumination into being.

There is a royal road to cosmic illumination. Many have traveled it before you in many places and in many ages.

It is meditation. That is, it is a system of meditational exercises designed specifically to help you complete at-one-ment.

Meditation can be used for many purposes. It is the basis for the practice of cosmic attunement of many kinds. However, the deep transcending meditation that brings about union of mind, body, and soul with all creation requires personal preparation and persistent practice. It is an experience of harmony which takes place with you rather that an intellectual understanding or a belief in something. You do not even have to believe in this meditation system to have it work for you.

During meditation, mental burdens dissolve one by one as wandering thought and the frustrating hesitation of consciousness in relegated to a secondary position. Thought forms from the subconscious, super-conscious, and divine-conscious take over. First they are abstract and symbolic. Then they are specific. In the meantime, the characteristic of complete cosmic illumination step into your life. You will be calm and contented, less talkative and worried. Little things will not bother you, and the big things in your life will be adventures. You will see the oneness of all. You will experience your true Self.

Second Week:

1. Your meditation room should be clean, quiet, and free from distractions and interruptions.

2. Fast sparingly before meditation, taking care to prepare your food with light seasoning and as close to the natural state as possible for easy digestion. The temperature of the meditation room should be cool but comfortable and will ventilated.

3. Sit upright but relaxed with eyes closed. Watch your breathing to see that it is even. Feet should be flat on the floor and hands together in your lap. Clothing should be loose and shoes removed.

4. If you have practiced regular meditation, you need to repel negation or dwell on the positive. Do not think of good or bad, happy or sad. Do not concentrate or work at meditating. Just let your thought "be". Relax. Put your tongue at the roof of your mouth. Close your lips and teeth.

5. Create a pinpoint of light in your mind's eyes about six inches from your forehead. Do not force it. Let it appear gradually.

6. Let the light gradually grow until it is a sphere which surrounds your entire body. Picture yourself as seated inthe middle of the sphere, in suspension, touching neither floor nor ceiling.

7. Feel the power, protection, and energy of the sphere.

8. Feel yourself as the sphere. You are the sphere.

9. Let the sphere, as you, grow until it becomes the world -- then the universe. You are the world and the universe.

10. Then, let the sphere reduce in size gradually until it is the pinpoint of light. Then let the light dissolve. Relax.

The entire exercise as outlined here should take about an hour. It should be performed daily at about the same time for at least a week.

Third Week:

During the third week you can conduct your breathing meditation. Follow steps number 1 through 5 above.

6. Take a deep breath. Hold it for five seconds. Exhale slowly and deeply. Repeat this exercises for the first several minutes of your meditation.

7. During the next twenty minutes, examine the pinpoint of light without concentrating on it or forcing your attention at it. Observe it and its meaning in relation to you.

8. During the final twenty minutes, let the pinpoint of light dissolve slowly until it disappears into infinity. Do this slowly.

9. Just before you conclude your meditation, let your attention rest on your heartbeat, observe its regularity, be one with it.

Fourth Week:

During the fourth week you are ready for your conceptualization exercise. This is perhaps the most difficult of all. But, it can also be the most interesting.

Follow steps number 1 through 5 above.

6. Observe the meaning of live. Do not think about it or concentrate on it. Observe it. Observe its meaning without thinking of a specific person or thing, or happening, or previous experience. If necessary, think of the distilled meaning of your experience with it. Keep your mind away from the specific. Allow yourself to feel abstractly its full meaning. Try not to think in words or mental pictures. Just relax and let yourself feel the meaning, just pure feeling. Let it grow within.

7. Observe the meaning of freedom.

8. Observe the meaning of oneness.

9. Observe the meaning of light.

This exercise should take about an hour.

You can rotate the three exercises from week to week, but it is a good idea to do one exercise for an entire week at a time before using one of the others.

Meditational Suggestions:

1. Avoid association with competitive people, criminals, and places which pose physical danger of any kind.

2. Dress comfortably but not elegantly.

3. Regulate your sleep and your rest. Leave time for both. You may read while you rest as long as it is not difficult reading or emotionally charged material. It should not require mental effort.

4. Do not waste your time trying to explain what is happening to you. If you must discuss your experience, do so with a fellow student or teacher.

5. Do not meditate when you are nervous or tired.

6. If it helps you to relax, bathe before meditation.

7. Maintain your health and a balanced diet. Drink alcoholic beverages only in moderation.

8. Do not think of good or bad, past or future, positive or negative.

9. Do not expect results immediately or look for tell-tale signs of progress.

10. If you feel dizzy, stand, move your chair, and change your position in the room.

11. If you feel sick, stop for a few minutes.

12. Do not be surprised if you hear sounds or see visions. Simply remain detached and be an observer of the idea of meditation. But, you should remain aloof and cool as the experience of meditation is taking place. Enthusiasm is fine outside the meditation room but while you are being mystically recharged your view should be one of acceptance and calm.

13. If you miss a meditation session do not try to make the time up. There is no way to speed the process. Just résumé where you left off.

There are five intellectual realizations in cosmic illumination that I would like you to consider. After you have practiced meditation for cosmic illumination, several realizations will take place in your conscious, reasoning mind. These will take place outside your meditation, but will be the result of it. They are related to the characteristics of complete cosmic illumination. The characteristics are functionally true -- that is, they are characteristics which are active in your life operating within your personality. But, the intellectual realizations are the verbal descriptions of cosmic illumination. You will come to accept these as true by your logical consideration of your many experiences.

The five most common realizations are:

1. Rejection of the material world as the only basis for reality.

2. Acceptance of the spiritual self, or the non-material aspect of yourself.

3. Realization that all humanity is part of divinity.

4. Overcoming the limitations of the time-space axis, and living outside it.

5. Expression of your divine consciousness as a "feeling for life".

The way to regulate your destiny with complete cosmic illumination is made easy with meditation. You are carrying the blueprint of your future in your mind. Whatever is created in consciousness externalizes itself sooner or later in some form. In fact, you can only create in your outer world whatever has been built mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by your inner world. However, you can not force the externalization or allow yourself to be distraught or nervously excited about it.

Some people have actually attracted what they do not want by fear and anxiety about how their externalized wishes and desires will take place. They have attracted further negation, fear, and disillusionment into their lives without realizing why or how they are doing it. Had they been less aggressive and demanding, they might instead have been led into new pathways for development and realization. It is difficult, too, if you are under emotional or economic stress, to see objectively the mistakes or imperfections that may be producing the very situations that you would like to free of.

Because cosmic illumination brings about calmness and serenity, it automatically externalizes those stable conditions in your outer world that you need to be effective in your decision making. Actions that are based on cosmic illumination stem from the great divinity within and are perfect for every situation.

It is almost impossible to make the wrong move when you are operating as an instrument of cosmic illumination. The minute you picture yourself undertaking a new project or effort, your mind begins to scan all the people and situations that you need in order to accomplish your appointed task. It may take a little time, but sooner or later all the people and opportunities that you need will come to you to insure your success.

By setting the perfect success of the effort in your mind, you make it possible for it to be realized in your outer world. By dwelling on the ideal, you place into motion an attracting force that can not be denied.

The secret to the success of regulating your destiny in this way is to see to it that your mind as manifested through your thought is working smoothly and evenly all the time.

Cosmic illumination makes it possible for success to be a certainty even though it may appear to be only chance. The object of complete cosmic illumination is the healthy functioning of your total mind power so you are conditioning your mental, emotional, and spiritual instrument. You are keeping it in good working order and in perfect attunement with everything.

As mentioned in an earlier stage of this discussion, I would like to bring you a better familiarization of extrasensory perception.

First of all, let us understand how to interpret impressions. Sometimes extrasensory impressions are more symbolic than literal. An impression may come in very clear, but its meaning can be obscured by the symbology.

Following are three ways to help you interpret your impressions.

First, the key to the interpretation of a complicated or highly abstract impression is simply the meaning that the particular symbol has for you. For example, a scene by a beautiful lake may mean tranquillity to you. Or, it could mean loneliness and apartness from people. Or, it could mean something basic, natural growth, the seasons, air and water. Ask yourself the question: what does this symbol mean to 'usually'?

The second key to interpreting symbols is to make your mind neutral, a "blank" or receptive. Then re-create the symbol in your mind's eye. It will evoke other symbols from your subconscious mind. Those symbols will cause others to form, and so on, until you have reached a final meaning which is vastly important in its relation to the original symbol. Yet, this final meaning would not have been made known to you unless you allowed yourself to go through the process of finding the final meaning in this step-by-step way.

Third, if you submit the symbol, or series of symbols, to your own subconscious mind just before you go to sleep, you will be working it out while you sleep. Often, you will find that you have the meaning just as you awaken the next morning. Sometimes it will come during your meditation period the following day. You are actually allowing your mind the time to follow the symbol along to its final meaning while you sleep. You may even dream about the impression for several nights before it becomes clear to you. But it will be worth waiting for. It may contain a warning, or it may be suggesting a course of action. It may reveal a deep feeling, or it may even be pointing the way to a new phase in your life.

There are a couple of basic techniques in developing extrasensory perception. They can be used during meditation to help you overcome the time-space axis. With these exercises you can move out of your present location in time or space. You will encourage impressions to come to you. You will awaken your psychic centers. Extrasensory impressions will be built even when you are not dong the exercises. These exercises should be performed each day for about six weeks. You will begin to notice improvement right away, but by the time the six-week period is up you will be getting extrasensory guidance even when you least expect it.

Space-Line exercises:

Exercise 1

a. Relax, make your mind blank.

b. Decide where you would like to visit, a destination.

c. Create a pinpoint of light about six inches from your forehead.

d. Feel as though you were that pinpoint of light.

e. Gradually move the light upward, out, into the sky.

f. Then, move the light in the sky to the point where it should descend (its destination). While it is moving, see the terrain below as you would see it in flight. Picture the cities, rivers, mountains, and plains.

g. Let the light descend at its destination, allow it to look around, picking up thoughts, feelings, visions, and voices.

h. Return using the same process. Make notes on what you sensed.

Exercise 2

a. Relax, make your mind a blank.

b. Let your awareness float where it will.

c. Make notes on what you sense.

Time-Line Exercise:

The time-line exercises are designed to help move your conscious awareness back and forth along the time line without specific reference to the present. Thus, the past, present, and future are as one continuous line, unbroken.

Exercise 1

a. Make your mind a blank while you are in a restful, quiet, relaxed, and passive state.

b. Select a person or place.

c. Re-create that person or place in your mind's eye.

d. Allow a setting to create itself around that person or thing.

e. Describe that setting, or write it in your diary.

f. Re-create the original person, place, or thing, then, move it backward in time.

g. Describe the backward setting and make a note of it in your diary.

Exercise 2

a. Make your mind a blank while you are in a restful, quiet, relaxed, passive state. page 20

b. Allow a picture of someone to form in your mind's eye. Do not select a person, simply allow someone to come into thought.

c. Allow a setting form, let it dissolve, and permit another setting to form, let it dissolve, and so on.

d. Make notes of the various settings, the actions performed, and of the feelings you had.

How does extrasensory perception work? The earliest and still most common example of extrasensory perception is the forecasting of events in dreams. The Old Testament is full of such dream sequences, in the Torah, or ancient Pentateuch. Dreams are the very first things many psychiatrists investigate for a good look at our unexplored "other selves".

Consciousness is the world we see with our five senses. It is the world we know about, the one we live in, the one where day-to-day action is born. It is the place where things happen. But "beneath" the conscious is the area we are not aware of. Here we store the details of our lives. Here is where we remember everything that ever happened to us, even though sometimes that memory escapes our conscious mind. Often hypnotists are able to reactivate the forgotten details enabling us to recall, often with great significance, the earliest days of our childhood.

It is herein that most extrasensory perception probably takes place. It is where our dreams originate. It is where our inner- most desires are born, and live, and rule our lives, from behind a wall, as it were.

Before psychiatry was developed, hypnosis or induced sleep was used to tap the hidden mind of the subconscious. But it had been suggested by wise men long before the time of Freud, the father of psychiatry, that our subconscious mind might be related to other minds. Professor Jung used the words "collective unconscious" to explain our ability to share our lives with all of humanity through a mechanism that we all share in common, deep within our minds.

To a certain extent we all have the ability to use extrasensory perception, because we all share the collective superconscious explained by Jung.

As a final note -- keep a meditation diary. Each day, record the date and time. Record whether your meditation was regular, the quality of the meditation period, any particular difficulty, improvements noticed, visualizations, noticed result of meditation relative to every day living and awareness of the world around you, questions that you may have, or what ever. This record of the meditation periods should be recorded daily and reviewed weekly. It is good to be able to follow your own progress.

~ OM ~ OM ~ OM ~

from a Meditation student