Meditation opens that alignment with the soul and allows the soul energy to flow freely into the outer world.
Robert: Welcome to Inner Sight. Inner sight is simply seeing that which is always present but not yet fully recognized. You have within you the ability to see yourself and the world around you in a new way, with new eyes, so stay with us, and together we’ll look at the world and ourselves with inner sight. The theme of our show today is meditation—part 2. All the dialogue that you hear on this show emanates from the works of Alice Bailey. She wrote twenty-four volumes of literature and everything that we speak about, all the spiritual philosophy, all the discussions we have comes from her literature, as does this thought: “The basic objective of meditation is to enable an individual to become in outer manifestation what he or she is in inner reality.” We’ll probe this and explore that comment; it’s an interesting thought and I think we’ll start our show with that explanation. How does meditation enable a person to become what he or she is in inner reality?
Sarah: Perhaps a good way to begin would be to explain what we mean by the inner reality. If you think of the real meaning of the word personality—I think it’s from the Latin or Greek persona , which is a mask. The early Greek drama was actors wearing masks that they literally held in front of their faces to disguise themselves. It was a character, a personality that they took on and played through. In a way, that’s similar to each of us. We are the soul who has come into incarnation and who is playing its part through a mask called the personality. The point of meditation and of the whole spiritual path is to break away that mask, that form that disguises the real indwelling being who is—in its origin and its ultimate destiny—divine. But the mask may not be quite so divine. The mask of the personality is all too human, and that’s where the expression “feet of clay” comes in. In fact, I think the masks that the Greek drama used were made of clay. So, to become who we are in inner reality is to become our true soul self. Meditation helps to do that by building a bridge in consciousness that creates a path of energy flow between the outer person—the person we think of as Robert or Sarah or Dale—and the inner soul which is the initiating impulse to incarnate. The Ageless Wisdom says that the soul is “one in all” human beings. There is. in fact, no real substance to the idea of my soul and your soul. There is simply the soul, and connecting with that inner reality is the point of meditation. There’s a symbol that probably many people in our audience are familiar with that I like to work with in meditation. It’s the six-pointed Star of David, which is in fact two triangles, one pointing downward, one pointing upwards, superimposed upon each other. I like to ponder on that double triangle to think about the merging of the inner reality with the outer person. The one triangle can be thought of as the three-fold expression of the soul, the higher self, which is the qualities of love, knowledge, and sacrifice, superimposed upon the threefold personal nature, which is the mind, the emotions and the physical body. When we think of this triangle perfectly superimposed so that it looks like a six-pointed star, that’s a good image to think about: becoming on the outer level who we are in inner reality.
Dale: Yes. Related to that, part of the emphasis in meditation is the stage called alignment. That’s a word that’s very meaningful because without this proper alignment, the soul energy is not going to get through. That’s probably why it doesn’t anyway, because as you say, the persona, the personality has its own kind of life and it interrupts the flow of energy from the soul so that alignment isn’t present. Meditation opens that alignment with the soul and allows the soul energy to flow freely into the outer world, and all of that inner reality of the soul—the qualities of love, the qualities of light and the qualities of the will-to-good—all of that flows into the world by way of the alignment with the personality.
Sarah: Meditation is the means by which this alignment is affected, and when it’s established very well—by the quieting of the mind and the opening up of the path to the higher self, the soul—it lets in light. It lets in the light of consciousness and most of us have a lot more light than we would ever realize. I think the tendency is to think that we exist in darkness and we acquire light by going to a book or a teacher or something outside ourselves, when in fact this path leads within. It’s an inner indwelling reality that we’re trying to access. We don’t have to give up our autonomy, our spiritual autonomy to anything outside ourselves. This was the whole essence of the Buddha’s message, “Look not to anyone outside yourselves for help.” Not because he wanted us to suffer and go the hard route, but because he knew that each of us has within us the resources we need to take whatever our next step forward might be. Meditation is the means by which we become more and more on the outer level, who we really are on the inner true level of being. It certainly transforms how you view others. If you are in the habit of thinking of liking and disliking people, favoring some, not favoring others, being amenable to some types of people and against others, all of that is shot to bits by the idea that each person on the inner level is the soul. There is that need to keep that in mind even when there is discord on the outer level, because we can’t minimize the fact that there’s inharmony among human beings, but ultimately behind all the outer differences, which are real and considerable and terribly important in some cases, but behind all that there is that inner reality that is the little dim point of light that every human being is trying to crawl his way towards—consciously or not.
Robert: Now wait a second. Are you saying that if my physical self: my emotions, my feelings, the more that that turns around and becomes more soul like and more in alignment with qualities of the soul: compassion, love, understanding, then the more enlightened, the further along on the spiritual path that I will go?
Sarah: Yes, love brings light. Light reveals love. There’s a wonderful saying, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” That is the means by which we bring about this state of realization that you’re talking about. We begin with the age-old technique of, as Shakespeare said, “If you lack a virtue, assume it.” You begin as if you are courageous, as if you are wise, as if you are confident, as if you are loving. You begin by assuming it, by putting it on as a mantle, and gradually it becomes part of your reality.
Dale: That’s one of the techniques we use in the Arcane School: the As If Technique, and it’s very useful. Because as it says in this question, meditation enables a person to become. So, it’s a process of becoming that which you already are on the inner side, and it’s a process of becoming and being what you really are: your spiritual self.
Sarah: Another image I like that reinforces that idea is the ear of corn, which is covered by husks, and you have to peel away those husks, layer upon layer to get at the real essence of the corn. That’s in a way what the soul does through its progress on Earth. Through its dynamic energy it peels away the veil or the layer upon layer that creates this person that we think of as the self, which is in fact just a little fragment of the true inner being, yet we mistake it for the real and total thing.
Robert: From my understanding, from what both of you are saying, would it be correct for me to say that since we haven’t achieved the soul qualities yet — some people more than others — that we really haven’t been truly born until we become the soul? Is that true?
Sarah: That’s right. I think that’s what the Christians — particularly fundamentalist Christians — mean when they say they were “born again.” They have come into contact with their soul nature, I would guess, and it turns their life around, as it would any person who comes into contact with that inner energy. It may not make them feel or conclude that they’re a born-again Christian, but they are transformed by it. I think we should leave that opening as a possibility for any religious path, or not even a particularly religious path but a spiritually awakening path. When you come in contact with that inner mobilizing energy, it transforms you.
Robert: I know that in meditation there are people who recommend that you do certain breathing exercises. Of what use are these breathing exercises?
Sarah: Yes, there are some teachers in schools of meditation that give people breathing exercises, but we in the Arcane School do not advise the use of breathing exercises, and in fact we see on a fairly regular level what the premature or misuse of breathing exercises can do. It can leave people with permanent problems because they can be very powerful, and it takes a lot of training, a lot of knowledge to use breathing exercises properly. People always, I think, overestimate their spiritual readiness. If I could say one thing to take away with you, I would say: assume you know less than you think you do when it comes to spiritual practices of all sorts. Be humble. Be very humble about your readiness and your ability, and that applies to breathing exercises. They bring in what’s called in Sanskrit prana, which is a term for the etheric energy that substands the outer worlds. It’s fire of a sort and it can literally burn up the vehicles of the mind, the emotions, the etheric body. If you believe that a human being is made up on a subjective level of an energy pattern that lies beneath the outer physical form, the fire of breathing exercises can disturb that pattern. Ideally, when one is skilled and ready, they can energize and accelerate the spiritual awareness, but one needs to know a great deal. Alice Bailey said that they should only be practiced when one has mastered the first three means to union, which is yoga. Yoga is the means to union. These include the Five Commandments of harmlessness, truth to all beings, abstention from theft, from Incontinence and from avarice. The Five Rules, which are inner and outer purity, contentment, fiery aspiration and spiritual reading and devotion, and the third factor is spiritual poise. When you’ve mastered all of those, then you can do breathing exercises. I’m not ready yet. (laughter)
Dale: I think there’s one thing to point out here about breathing exercises. The danger doesn’t lie in the air that you’re breathing into your lungs because obviously we have to do that: we breathe so we live. Where the danger lies is in the energy that underlies the breathing mechanism. If you practice these very strenuous breathing exercises like rapid breathing, what you’re doing is kind of pumping up that energy within your etheric mechanism, your etheric nature. You’re pumping in more prana, that you mentioned, and that’s where the danger lies. It’s overstimulating your system and you’re playing with fire. It can literally cause damage to your brain tissue or open up the chakras or the centres—the spiritual centres in the etheric body—open those up prematurely and thus allow a great inflow of energy, which the physical body isn’t ready to handle.
Sarah: Maybe you could say that breathing exercises don’t bring light in terms of consciousness and awareness, which should be the goal of spiritual development. They bring power and premature power is where all the problems arise. That’s why you have to have purity and mental control to be able to handle that power.
Robert: Well, I’ve derived nothing but joy from meditation, so I’d like to know more about this. Are there any other dangers to look for when practicing meditation?
Sarah: Yes, meditation brings in spiritual energy, so you have to learn to recognize the signs of overstimulation. Just as you can overcharge a battery or over-accelerate the gas line in your car, you can over-accelerate your own mechanism. Signs of overstimulation would be nervousness, emotional irritability, physical agitation, inability to sleep. What else?
Dale: Well, as I said before, overstimulation can cause damage to your physical brain, your brain cells, and that can lead to all kinds of problems.
Sarah: That happens when people really make an effort to charge themselves up. The kinds of overstimulation I’m describing are just the annoying effects that go away with rest and relaxation.
Dale: Particularly the Raja Yoga techniques that we practice. It’s mental energy, it’s dealing with the mind and the energies of the mind, and they do tend to be very stimulating. We have to be careful and one can’t practice these meditations for any length of time. If someone is recommending you sit down for an hour or two hours in meditation using these techniques, then forget it, pack up and go home because that’s going to be too dangerous and it would lead to a lot of negativity. So, the meditation practice may be dynamic and brief; it can be just as effective, in fact more so than these long dragged-out meditations which just become more and more stimulating to the physical body.
Sarah: Yes, and here we’re talking again about Raja Yoga: the use of mental energy directed, mobilized for a specific purpose. Relaxation meditation: that’s a whole different type of meditation, and I wouldn’t comment on that.
Robert: Could you briefly describe a meditation technique taught by the Arcane School, which is, of course, the school of Lucis Trust? I’d like our listeners to have some idea of what’s involved.
Sarah: You begin by sitting, not lying down. Always sit up to meditate. Sit with your spine erect, but not rigidly so. You don’t have to assume the Lotus position — if you’re like me, you can’t — so sit in a chair with a straight back. Be comfortable, relaxed yet erect. Try to relax the jaw. Try to loosen up the tongue. Often there’s a lot of tension within the jaw and the tongue, so try to keep that relaxed. Let your hands sit lightly in your lap, one on top of the other and your feet crossed at the ankles. Then take a few slow deep breaths, while you just gradually empty out of your consciousness whatever thoughts have been occupying your attention. These are just comfortable breaths—nothing spectacular—just breathe out a few times, emptying yourself out of the preoccupations of the daily life, any anxieties or worries that might be with you. Then you use the creative imagination to imagine lifting the consciousness to a point inside and yet slightly above the top of the head—we’re thinking of the energy body now, not the physical head, but slightly above that—still and quiescent, seeing it is a quiet pool of light, and see a line of lighted energy radiating from that region to the soul, which brings in the access to the spiritual self. You visualize a further extension of a line of light towards the higher or abstract mind and to the divine self and you hold that alignment in your imagination for a few minutes, not terribly long, just a moment. Then you pause as if you’re in an interlude, aware of the light and the energy of the soul as it’s pouring into the consciousness, and holding the mind steady in this light, you meditate for a few minutes on a seed thought—remember I talked about meditation with seed—for example, the thought: “Let the soul control the outer form and life and all events. Let love prevail. Let all men love.” Take that idea into your conscious analytical mind and develop it using your imagination. What would life be like if all people were responsive to love? What would the world be like if love prevailed? Develop it according to your experience and your understanding. Then you visualize the flow of energy radiating throughout the world, permeating all levels of life, from the kingdom of souls to the human kingdom, the animal, vegetable, and mineral realms, reaching every aspect of the physical manifestation encompassing every living thing within it. Then for a few moments, reflect on the ways that the energies of light and love are working out through human cooperation in all parts of the world. Finally, to release the energies received, as a service to humanity, say the Great Invocation—which is how we always close this program—to radiate light and love and the will to good into human consciousness.
Robert: Well said. That’s about all the time we have for our discussion today. You have been listening to Inner Sight. Now we would like to close with the world prayer called the Great Invocation. It’s a call for light and love and goodwill to flow into the world and into our hearts. Let’s listen for a moment to these powerful words.
(This is an edited transcript of a recorded radio program called “Inner Sight.” This conversation was recorded between the host, Robert Anderson, and the then President and Vice-President of Lucis Trust, Sarah and Dale McKechnie.)
(Transcribed and edited by Carla McLeod)
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