THEOSOPHY
H.P.BLAVATSKY - Biographical Documentary - Audio English
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Helena Blavatsky & The Secret Doctrine
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CW Leadbeater's Astral Plane: Its Scenery, Inhabitants and Phenomena
http://youtu.be/mukn7dJJHwA
Theosophy UK "The Mahatma letters".
A brief description of the early days of The Theosophical Society, its founders and the connection with Mahatma`s.
More at http://www.theancientwisdom.co.uk
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1. Meditation consists in the ‘reasoning from the known to the unknown.' The ‘known' is the phenomenal world, cognizable by our five senses. And all that we see in this manifested world are the effects, the causes of which are to be sought after in the nominal, the unmanifested, the ‘unknown world:' this is accomplished by meditation, i.e., continued attention to the subject. Occultism does not depend upon one method, but employs both the deductive and the inductive. …then comes the next stage of meditation, which is ‘the inexpressible yearning of the inner man to go out towards the infinite."
2. "Meditation is the inexpressible yearning of the inner Man to ‘go out towards the infinite,' which in the olden time was the real meaning of adoration, but which now has no synonym in the European languages, because the thing no longer exists in the west, and its name has been vulgarized to the make-believe shams known as prayer, glorification, and repentance. Through all stages of training the equilibrium of the consciousness - the assurance that all must be right in the Kosmos, and therefore with you a portion of it - must be retained."
3. Meditation is the bridge, method, or vehicle by means of which the student consciously and at will passes into a chosen state or condition, there sees and acts consciously and at will, and at will consciously returns. Meditation is never from below upwards, nor from without inwards. It begins and ends with the operation of the Spiritual Will, of which Meditation is an instrument.
4. Training involves not just one single method but many methods; it's like building a huge airplane. It takes so many pieces that all have to fit together to make it work. In the same way the transformation of our minds - or setting the right kind of attitude - takes time.
5. It is true that too often when we begin to meditate on some elevating thought, dark thoughts come in, and this is not easy to overcome; but if we remember that the very essence of our being, the inmost sanctuary of the Soul, is divine, we can enter into it and shut out the evil. The tendency of the mind is to wander from subject to subject, and so we should try to follow the advice of the Bhagavad Gita: "To whatsoever object the inconstant mind goeth out, he should subdue it, bringing it back and place it upon the Spirit. There is no purifier in this world to be compared to spiritual knowledge, and he who is perfected in devotion findeth Spiritual knowledge springing up spontaneously in himself in the progress of time.
6. Patience and fortitude! For an easy birth is not always a good one. The kingdom of heaven is only taken by violence, and not by weakness of attack. Your constant aspiration persevered in secret has led you to that point where just these troubles come to all. Console yourself with the thought that others have been in the same place and have lived through it by patience and fortitude . ... Fix your thoughts again on Those Elder Brothers, work for Them, serve Them, and They will help through the right appropriate means and no other. To meditate on the Higher Self is difficult. Seek then, the bridge, the Masters. "Seek the truth by strong search, by doing service, and by inquiry, and those who know the Truth will teach it." Give up doubt, and arise in your place with patience and fortitude. Let the warrior fight, the gentle yet fierce Krishna, who, when he finds thee as his disciple and his friend, will tell thee the truth and lighten up the darkness with the lamp of spiritual knowledge.
7. Don’t concentrate on the vital centers, which may prove dangerous unless under the guidance of a teacher. You have learnt, to a certain degree, the power of concentration, and the greatest help will now come to you from concentration upon the Higher Self, and aspiration toward the Higher Self. Also if you will take some subject or sentence from the Bhagavad Gita, and concentrate your mind upon that and meditate upon it, you will find much good result from it, and there is no danger in such concentration.
8. DON'T GET PASSIVE; danger lies that way. Be active in all things. The giddiness will pass away in time; the change with all its disturbances, mental, and otherwise, has doubtless acted upon the nerve- currents and circulatory system. The way to overcome disturbance, of course, is by mental and physical calmness; this should be maintained.
9. Meditation is what is called in Sanskrit Dhyana, i.e., want of motion, and one-pointedness. The main point is to free the mind from the power of the senses, and to raise a current of thought to the exclusion of all others. "Realization comes from dwelling on the thing to be realized". "To meditate on the Higher Self is difficult; seek then, the Bridge, the Masters. The patient dwelling of the mind on a single thought results in the gaining of wisdom, and it is thus that the true Occultist is developed. Aspiration toward the Higher Self should form part of the daily meditation; the rising toward the higher planes of our being, which cannot be found unless they are sought. Earnest and reverent desire for Master's guidance and enlightenment will begin the attunement of the nature to the harmony to which it must one day respond. Concentration on a single point in the Teaching is a road to the philosophy; self-examination, a road to knowledge of oneself. To put oneself in the place of another, to realize his difficulties, and thus be able to help him, is that faculty-which when extended makes it possible for the Adept to understand the nature of the stone or other form of consciousness." Meditation is a good beneficent practice leading to a great end. It is also a great destroyer of the personal idea.
10. Preparation For Meditation- The Sermon on the Mount, occult considered, is a mere preparation for Meditation. So is Bhagavad-Gita; so the Dhammapada; so the "Voice of the Silence" and "Light on the Path"; so the "Three Objects" of the Parent theosophical society; so all the other works and writings of H.P.B. and Mr. Judge. Who has studied them assimilatively? Who has even begun to embody them in his own life and conduct even in small degree, automatically, habitually, instinctively, intuitively? If not, then he is not ready for Meditation in any other than a spurious or dangerous sense. What he needs is "exercise and dispassion" in the sense Patanjali gives to these terms.
11.The principal foe of a secondary nature is what was once called phantasm; that is, the reappearance of thoughts and images due to recollection or memory. Memory is an important power, but mind in itself is not memory. Mind is restless and wandering in its nature, and must be controlled. Its wandering disposition is necessary or stagnation would result. But it can be controlled and fixed upon an object or idea. Now as we are constantly looking at and hearing of new things, the natural restlessness of the mind becomes prominent when we set about pinning it down. Then memory of many objects, things, subjects, duties, persons, circumstances, and affairs brings up before it the various pictures and thoughts belonging to them. After these the mind at once tries to go, and we find ourselves wandering from the point. It must hence follow that the storing of a multiplicity of useless and surely-recurring thoughts is an obstacle to the acquirement of truth. And this obstacle is the very one peculiar to our present style of life.
12.Meditation States- The Self is one and all-powerful, but it must happen to the seeker from time to time that he or she shall feel the strangeness of new conditions; this is not a cause for fear. If the mind is kept intent on the Self and not diverted from it, and comes to see the Self in all things, no matter what, then fear should pass away in time. I would therefore advise you to study and meditate over the Bhagavad Gita, which is a book that has done me more good than all others in the whole range of books, and is the one that can be studied all the time.
13. Meditation States- I am not separate from anything. "I am that which is." That is, I am Brahma, and Brahma is everything. But being in an illusionary world, I am surrounded by certain appearances that seem to make me separate. So I will proceed to mentally state and accept that I am all these illusions. I am my friends, -- and then I went to them in general and in particular. I am my enemies; then I felt them all. I am the poor and the wicked; I am the ignorant. Those moments of intellectual gloom are the moments when I am influenced by those ignorant ones who are myself. All this in my nation. But there are many nations, and to those I go in mind; I feel and I am them all, with what they hold of superstition or of wisdom or evil. All, all is myself. Unwisely, I was then about to stop, but the whole is Brahma, so I went to the Devas and Asuras (2): the elemental world that too is myself. After pursuing this course awhile I found it easier to return to a contemplation of all men as myself. It is a good method and ought to be pursued, for it is a step toward getting into contemplation of the All. I tried last night to reach up to Brahma, but darkness is about his pavilion.
14. Meditation States- Spiritual culture is attained through concentration. It must be continued daily and every moment to be of use. The "Elixir of Life" gives us some of the reasons for this truth. Meditation has been defined as "the cessation of active, external thought." Concentration is the entire life- tendency to a given end. For example, a devoted mother is one who consults the interests of her children and all branches of their interests in and before all things; not one who sits down to think fixedly about one branch of their interests all the day. Life is the great teacher; it is the great manifestation of Soul, and Soul manifests the Supreme. Hence all methods are good, and all are but parts of the great aim, which is Devotion. "Devotion is success in actions," says the Bhagavad-Gita. We must use higher and lower faculties alike, and beyond those of mind are those of the Spirit, unknown but discoverable. The psychic powers, as they come, must also be used, for they reveal laws. But their value must not be exaggerated, nor must their danger be ignored. They are more subtle intoxicants than the gross physical energies. He who relics upon them is like a man who gives way to pride and triumph because he has reached the first wayside station on the peaks he has set out to climb. Like despondency, like doubt, like fear, like vanity, pride, and self-satisfaction, these powers too are used by Nature as traps to detain us. Every occurrence, every object, every energy may be used for or against the great end: in each Nature strives to contain Spirit, and Spirit strives to be free. Shall the substance paralyze the motion, or shall the motion control the substance? The interrelations of these two are manifestation. The ratio of activity governs spiritual development; when the great Force has gained its full momentum, It carries us to the borders of the Unknown. It is a force intelligent, self- conscious, and spiritual: Its lower forms, or vehicles, or correlates may be evoked by us, but Itself comes only of its own volition. We can only prepare a vehicle for It, in which, "the Holy Ghost may ride in Its own chariot.
15. Meditation States- practices of concentration are only stages in a life-long contemplation; they are means to an end, means of a certain order among means of other orders, all necessary, the highest path being that of constant devotion and entire resignation to the Law. The above means have a physiological value because the spots suggested for contemplation are, like others, vital centers. Excitation of these centers, and of the magnetic residue of breath always found in them strengthens and arouses the faculties of the inner man, the magnetic vehicle of the soul and the link between matter and spirit. This is a form of words necessary for clearness, because in reality matter and spirit are one. We may better imagine an infinite series of force correlation which extend from pure Spirit to its grossest vehicle, and we may say that the magnetic inner vehicle, or astral man, stands at the half-way point of the scale. The secret of the circulation of the nervous fluid is hidden in these vital centers, and he who discovers it can use the body at will. Moreover, this practice trains the mind to remain in its own principle, without energizing, and without exercising its tangential force, which is so hard to overcome. Thought has a self-reproductive power, and when the mind is held steadily to one idea it becomes colored by it, and, as we may say, all the correlates of that thought arise within the mind. Hence the mystic obtains knowledge about any object of which he thinks constantly in fixed contemplation. Here is the rationale of Krishna's words: "Think constantly of me; depend on me alone; and thou shalt surely come unto me."
16. Meditation States - Arouse; arouse in you the meaning of "Thou art That." Thou art the Self. This is the thing to think of in meditation, and if you believe it then tell others the same. You have read it before, but now try to realize it more and more each day and you will have the light you want…If you will look for wisdom you will get it sure, and that is all you want or need. Am glad all looks well. It would always look well if each and all minded their own things and kept the mind free from all else.
17. Meditation States- But best of all is to become part of the spiritual pabulum by which Humanity lives, and the very first step on the path that leads to this stupendous result is meditation; in other words, the detachment from all the ephemeral interests of life, - which detachment displays itself by perfect equanimity in good and evil fortune, the centering of all thought on the Supreme, until thought itself drops off and the soul is face to face with Deity…When the self as we understand it is annihilated, when the soul has been able to endure the transcendent vision of Itself as Deity, when difference no longer exists and the one is merged in the All, the store-house of spiritual energy is thereby replenished, and all Humanity receives an impulse that raises them a step nearer the Divine Union also, - nay further, the Divine impulse after passing through man descends to vivify the lower creation. The whole Universe is thrilled by it!
18. A MEDITATION- So much hate there is in the world these days; I thought how I could rise above it all, even but for a moment, to see if hate or love is real. For it came to me that all thing and beings are sustained on and by the Great Breath. I breathe with the movement of the earth and stars; I breathe with the pulsation of the ocean in calm or storm; I breathe with the soughing of the pines or crash of tempest in the forest; I breathe with the song of birds, joyous in the springtime, or raucous as they strike for prey. I breathe with tigers stalking in the jungle, as with the ants and bees. I breathe with the imperceptible fine breath of babes, and with the wheeze of tottering men. I breathe with the breath of saints, and with criminals and outcasts. Though I can not speak their tongue, I breathe with the brown men of southern seas, and stolid men of the Far North. I breathe with the breath of republics and of tyrannies, of the great, the grasping, the long visionary, the shortsighted. I breathe with those who love peace, and with those who give themselves to war. How, then can I hate?
19. When the Great Breath is once more in-drawn, the hates will be no more; tyrannies, harsh judgments; injustices will be no more. But the rhythm of the Great Breath will hold all in the boundless union, which is Love. This is the Real. And there are, here and now, Beings in the world who breathe that universal Breath of Love to all men. To see what They see, to know what They know, is to cease to hate any thing or creature upon this earth.
20. So do I come to find peace in my own heart - for a moment? Surely, there'll be other moments; then, hours; then, days; and then - a life!
Let the student begin by thinking of the physical body; then consider how it is possible to control and direct it, and thus separate himself in thought from it - regarding it as a vehicle, and picture himself for a few moments as living in the astral body. Let him reflect, in turn, that he can control his emotions and desires; and, with a strong effort, repudiate the astral body and realise that he is not this body of surging and struggling passions, desires and emotions. Then let him picture himself as living in the mental body; and reflect again that he can control his thoughts, that he as the power of setting his mind to think on any subject he pleases, and again with an effort repudiate the mental body. The student should now let himself soar into the free atmosphere of the spirit where is eternal peace, and, resting there for a period, strive with great intensity to realize That is the real Self.
Let him now descend again, carrying with him the peace of the spirit through the different bodies. Let him picture the aura of the mental body raying out around him, and let the influence of peace suffuse it, as he affirms that he is the Self which used the mental body as an instrument in his service. Then descending into the astral body, again let the peace ray out through the aura, as he affirms that he is that which uses the emotions as his servants; and lastly, let him return to the physical body, recognizing it as an instrument, and as a centre of the divine peace, wherever it may pass in the world.
The exercise may at first seem strange and fruitless, for the physical body is still the great reality, and thought and feeling are still the great reality, and thought and feeling are still apt to be regarded as products of the physical brain. The beginner must remember that he is seeking to undo the thought-habit of years, and therefore must not be impatient for immediate results. Possibly much time may elapse before his intuition assures him with unerring certainty that there is a higher power within him, guiding his actions and shaping his course through life. Quite naturally, he may dread the possibility of self-hypnosis, the thought that he may by slow degrees be deluding himself into beliefs which are fanciful and have no foundation of reality. To the well-balanced mind the earlier stages are by far the most difficult, for there is a natural caution about venturing into the unknown, and a tendency to beat a mental retreat at each suspicion of danger. None the less, it is only reasonable to give due trial to a system expounded by the greatest minds of antiquity, prescribed in all the great religions and witnessed to by eminently sane and sincere people of the present day. And a little steady and persistent practice is bound to lead to certain results. How definite those results will be and with what degree of rapidity they will be apparent will naturally depend upon the temperament, the industry and the possibilities of the individual.
A More Elaborate Form of the Above
As the beginner grows more familiar with the meditation outlined above, he may begin to elaborate it, according to the bent of his temperament. He may find it helpful, for instance, to consider the simile pianoforte and a pianist. As the pianoforte produces sound and ordered music, so the brain and physical body give expression to thought, feeling and ordered activity. But it is the pianist who expresses himself through the medium of the instrument. In the same way the physical body (in its voluntary activities) does but vibrate in response to the Higher Man.
Detaching himself in thought from the physical body and examining it in the cool discrimination of the mind, he should endeavour to realise that it is only a vehicle, an instrument, a vesture of flesh. In order that the consciousness, which is the manifestation of the spirit, can contact the physical world it must inhabit a tabernacle of physical matter, kith and kin with that physical world, for only a physical vehicle of consciousness can make vibratory relationship with physical matter. By the multiplicity of experiences to be gained from the physical world and the gradual shaping of the physical instrument to respond to them, the spirit unfolds its innate powers from latency into potency.
He may then consider how it is possible to control and direct it, how it responds to the behests of the governing intelligence - the I. Thus separating himself in thought from it, he should next picture himself for a few moments as living in the astral body.
Let him reflect, in turn, that the astral body is not his real self. He can control his emotions and desires, he can regulate the play of feeling. His emotions are but one aspect of his consciousness working in and limited by the astral body, which, in its turn, is a tenement built up from the material of the astral plane, that the indwelling consciousness may cone into relation with it. He himself is not this body of struggling surging emotions, passions and desires. In his calmer moments he knows that he is above the surge of emotions. His fits of passion, of jealousy, of fear, of selfishness and hatred - all these are not himself but the play of emotions which have slipped beyond control, as a greyhound may slip his leash. In his heart of hearts he knows that as much of this is already under his control, so by dint of patient perseverance and earnest endeavour all may in course of time be brought within due bounds, and mastery of the emotions be gained.
Thus standing as it were outside of his emotions, looking down upon the whole sphere of their activity, let him next picture himself as living in the mental body.
It is not difficult for the beginner to separate himself from his physical and emotional bodies - he has been taught in the practice of ordinary morality to check and control action and violent emotion; but he has probably never been taught much of the power of thought, and accordingly he finds it difficult to realise at first the possibility of controlling his thought.
Yet he has the power to set his mind upon any subject he pleases, and by dint of perseverance he may learn to keep it fixed thereupon. And eventually he may gain such control of the mind as to be able to dismiss from it at will any unwelcome thought.
And so, passing through the various stages, he may raise himself into the contemplation of That which is beyond words, ineffably real and sacred, reaching the very shrine of his own being, the altar upon which the Divine Shekinah itself is made manifest, and bearing with him that radiance into the outer world of sense.
When the student by his meditation and by his oft-repeated thought during the day has grown to regard himself as the Inner Man, working outwards into the world through the instrumentality of a physical body, he may then pass on to more elaborate and scientific forms of meditation. He should begin to work with fuller understanding of its various details and stages, regarding it as at once a means of spiritual refreshment and growth and a science of wrestling with the wayward mind and feelings.
Concentration
Meditation is often divided into three stages: Concentration, Meditation, Contemplation. It may be still further subdivided, but it is unnecessary to do so here; on the other hand the beginner should bear in mind that meditation is a science of a life-time, so that he must not expect to attain to the stage of pure contemplation in his earlier efforts.
Concentration consists of focussing the mind on one idea and holding it there. Patanjali, the author of the classic Hindu Yoga Aphorisms, defines Yoga as 'the hindering of the modifications of the thinking principle.' This definition is applicable to concentration, though Patanjali probably goes further in his thought and includes the cessation of the image-making faculty of the mind and of all concrete expressions of thought, thus virtually passing beyond the stage of mere concentration into that of contemplation.
To be able to concentrate, then, it is necessary to gain control of the mind and learn by gradual practice to narrow down the range of its activity, until it becomes one-pointed. Some idea or object is selected upon which to concentrate, and the initial step is to shut out all else from the mind, to exclude therefrom the stream of thoughts alien to the subject, as they dance before the mind like the flickering pictures of the cinematograph. It is true that much of the student's practice must be in the initial stages take this form of repeated exclusion of thought; and to set oneself to do this is excellent training. But there is another and far sounder way of attaining concentration; it consists in becoming so interested and absorbed in the ( subject selected that all other thoughts are ipso facto excluded from the mind. We are constantly doing this in our daily lives, unconsciously and by force of habit. The writing of a letter, the adding of accounts, the taking of weighty decisions, the thinking out of difficult problems - all these things so engross the mind as to induce a state of more or less wrapt concentration. The student must learn to accomplish this at will, and will best succeed by cultivating the power and habit of observing and paying attention to outer objects.
Let him take any object - a penholder, a piece of blotting paper, a leaf, a flower - and note the details of its appearance and structure which usually pass by unnoticed ; let him catalogue one by one its properties, and presently he will find the exercise of absorbing interest. If he is able to study the process of its manufacture or growth, the interest will again be heightened. No object in nature is in reality entirely dull and uninteresting; and when anything seems so to us, the failure to appreciate the wonder and beauty of its manifestation lies in our own inattentiveness.
As an aid to concentration, it is well to repeat aloud the ideas that pass through the mind. So; this penholder is black; it reflects the light from the window from some portions of its surface; it is about seven inches in length, cylindrical; its surface is engraved with a pattern; the pattern is branch-shaped and is formed of a series of closely-marked lines - and so forth ad libitum.
In this way the student learns to shut out the larger world and to enclose himself in the smaller world of his choice. When this has been done successfully he has achieved a certain degree of concentration - for it is evident that there are still many and various thoughts running through the mind, though all on the subject of the penholder. The speaking aloud helps to slow down this stream of thought and to hinder the mind from wandering. Gradually by practice he learns to narrow down still further the circle of thought until literally he can reach one-pointedness of mind.
The above practice is somewhat in the nature of drill instruction; it requires a degree of strenuous application, and, moreover, may appear somewhat cold to the student, since it arouses little emotion. Another exercise in concentration may therefore be taken concurrently, but before describing this we may say that the former exercise must needs be mastered at some stage of the student's career. Some degree of mastery therein is a preliminary to successful visualisation - that is, the power of mentally reproducing an object in accurate detail without it being visible to the eyes - and accurate visualisation is a necessary feature of much of the work which is done by students trained in occult methods such as the deliberate construction of thought-forms and the creation of symbols by the mind in ceremonial. Accordingly the student who is really in earnest will not neglect this branch of work on account of it being difficult and requiring application. He will also set to work at visualisation, observing and carefully scrutinizing an object, and then with the eyes closed endeavouring to build up a mental picture of it.
The second method, above referred to, is that of concentrating not upon a physical object but upon an idea. If some virtue be taken it has the advantage of arousing the enthusiasm and devotion of the student, and this is a very important consideration in the initial stages of his practice, when perseverance and steadfastness are often sorely tried. Moreover, the effort builds that virtue into the character. In this case the concentration is chiefly that of the feelings and less conspicuously a mental process. The student strives to reproduce in himself the virtue, let us say sympathy, at which he is aiming, and by dint of holding himself to a single emotion, by the power of the will eventually succeeds in feeling sympathy. It is easier to be one-pointed in feeling than in thought, for the latter is more subtle and active; but if intense concentration of feeling can be induced, the mind will to a certain extent follow suit.
Meditation To Expand the Consciousness
The student should raise his consciousness and contemplate the immensities of the universe; the picture of the starlit heavens, the soft radiance of the sunset, or the thought of the cosmos enshrined within the infinitesimally minute atom, will aid him in this, and he may, if he so desire, use the method of rising through the bodies described earlier in this book. Let him then direct his thoughts in loftiest aspiration to the Logos of our system and picture the whole system as contained within the bounds of His consciousness: 'In Him we live and move and have our being'. He may then follow out the line of thought developed in the pamphlet by Mrs. Besant entitled On Moods - namely, that though we might naturally think of the loftier members of the Hierarchy as being most distant from us and almost beyond the reach of our halting aspiration owing to their remoteness from petty human interests, the reverse is actually true, and we are literally in closest touch with the all-embracing consciousness of the Logos. The student may find it helpful to think of the increasing size of the aura as spiritual development is achieved; of that of the ordinary man, of that of pupils and initiates, of the aura of the Master and the close relation of consciousness between the Master and the close relation of consciousness between the Master and his pupils and others whom he is helping, of the aura of the Lord Buddha which according to tradition extended three miles about His person, and so rising in thought he may conceive of a being whose aura of field of consciousness encompasses the whole of our planet and of One who thus embraces the whole of our planet and of One who thus embraces the whole of the system to which we belong. Literally is it true that every action, every feeling and every thought to which we give expression are part of Him; nay, our very memory is part of His memory, for is not all remembrance but the power to touch the akashic records of nature, which is but the expression of Himself?
The student may then pass on to think of some of those qualities which we may associate with the manifestation of God in His world - let us take justice and beauty and love; that the justice of the Supreme is shown forth in the invariable laws of nature, the law of the conservation of energy, the dictum of Newton that action and re-action are equal and opposite, the law of karmic retribution which gives unto each man the just reward of his deeds. Let him think of what belief in karma really implies - the hand that strikes a grievous blow is one's own dead past come back to life again; and from such reflections let him win content with that which is or which may befall him. Let him think also of the innumerable relations under this law made between man and man, the weaving of God's plan in the universe, and see in those complex relationships the immutable law of perfect justice.
Passing next to the aspect of beauty he may study the exquisite plan of the Great Architect and Grand Geometrician of the Universe, and looking with closer attention at all created nature may perceive the universality of that aspect of the Supreme which expresses itself in beauty or harmony. Turning from beauty of nature to that created by man he may soar aloft on the wings of the imagination and contemplate the masterpieces of that human art which borders on the realm of divinity, because in very truth the materials in the hand of the artist are the divine powers of nature. Thus, in music, the mighty structures of sound reflect in many hues those archetypal forces of nature which stream forth through the blazing hosts of the Gandharvas, revealing to man the power of the hidden Word and raising him aloft once more to the kingdom of his divine heritage.
And in the compassionate love of the Supreme all human relationships of tenderness and love have their source. To the eye of the spirit the beauty of woman gives no cause for carnal desire, but is rather a reason that she should be respected as a child of God and a manifestation of His supreme beauty. There is but one love throughout the universe, given by the Divine Father into the custody of His creatures; it is the one primal force which in its elementary creative aspect produces multiplicity of form and in its higher aspect draws souls together towards unity in the One Life.
Meditation in the Heart according to H. P. Blavatsky
The Consciousness which is merely the animal Consciousness is made up of the Consciousness of all the cells in the Body, except those of the Heart. For the Heart is the organ of the Spiritual Consciousness; it corresponds indeed to Prâna, but only because Prâna and the Auric Envelope are essentially the same, and because again as Jîva it is the same as the Universal Deity. The Heart represents the Higher Triad, while the Liver and Spleen represent the Quaternary, taken as a whole. The heart is the abode of the Spiritual Man, whereas the Psycho-Intellectual Man dwells in the Head with its seven gateways. It has its seven brains, the upâdhis and symbols of the seven Hierarchies, and this is the exoterically four, but esoterically seven, leaved Lotus, the “Saptaparna,” the “Cave of Buddha” with its seven compartments.
The Heart is the king of the Body, its most important organ. Even if the Head be severed from the trunk, the Heart will continue to beat for half an hour. If wrapped in cotton wool, and put in a warm place, the pulsation will continue for some hours.
In the Heart is a spot which is the last to die, a spot marked by a tiny violet light; that is the seat of Life, the centre of all, Brahmâ; the first spot that lives in the foetus, and the last that dies. When a Yogi is buried in a trance, it is this spot that lives, though the rest of the Body be dead, and as long as this remains alive the Yogi can be resurrected. This spot contains potentially mind, life, energy and will. During life it radiates prismatic colors, fiery and opalescent.
The Heart is the centre of the Spiritual Consciousness, as the Brain is the centre of Intellectual Consciousness. But this Spiritual Consciousness cannot be guided by a person, nor can its energy be directed by him, until he is completely united with Buddhi-Manas. Until then, it guides him––if it can. That is, makes efforts to reach him, to impress the lower Consciousness, and those efforts are helped by his growth in purity. Hence the pangs of remorse for wrong done, the prickings of Conscience, reproaching for evil, inciting to good. These come from the Heart, not from the Head. In the Heart is the only manifested God; the other two are invisible. And it is this manifested God that represents the Triad, Âtma-Buddhi-Manas.
Anyone who can reach up to, and so receive at will, the promptings of this Spiritual Consciousness must be at one with Manas––that is must have attained Adeptship. But the Higher Manas cannot directly guide the ordinary man; it must act through the Lower Manas, and thus reach the lower Consciousness. The effort however should be continually made to centre the Consciousness in the Heart, and to listen for the promptings of the Spiritual Consciousness, for though success be far off, a beginning must be made, and the path opened up.
There are three principal centres in the Body of Man: the Heart, the Head, and the Navel; the Heart, as said, is the centre of the Spiritual Consciousness; the Head is the centre of the Psychic Consciousness; and the Navel is the centre of the Kâmic Consciousness. Any two of these may be positive and negative to each other, according to the relative predominance of the Principles and therefore of their organ for manifestation on this plane. The meaning of the words positive and negative in this relation is the same as is attached to them in electrical science. The current flows from the positive to the negative, or the impression is made by the positive on the negative.
For instance: the aura of the Pineal Gland vibrates during the activity of the Consciousness in the Brain, and shows the play of the seven colors. This septenary disturbance and play of light around the Pineal Gland are reflected in the Heart, or rather in the aura of the Heart, which is negative to the brain in the ordinary man. This aura then vibrates and illumines the seven brains of the Heart, as that of the Pineal Gland illumines the seven centres in the Brain. If the Heart could, in its turn, become positive and impress the Brain, the spiritual Consciousness would reach the lower Consciousness. The Spiritual Consciousness is active during deep sleep, and if the “dreams” that occur in so-called dreamless sleep could be impressed by the Heart on the Brain, your Consciousness would no longer be restricted within the bounds of your personal life. If you could remember your dreams in deep sleep, you would be able to remember all your past incarnations. This is the “memory of the Heart”; and the capacity to impress it on the Brain, so that it becomes part of its Consciousness, is the “opening of the Third Eye.” In deep sleep the Third Eye opens, but it does not remain open. Still, some impressions from the Spiritual Consciousness do reach the Brain more or less, thus making the Lower Ego responsible. And there are some of these which are received through the Brain, which do not belong to our previous personal experience. In the case of the Adept, the Brain is trained to retain these impressions.
The Eastern Secret School knows each minute portion of the Heart, and has a name for each portion. It calls them by the names of the Gods, as Brahma’s Hall, Vishnu’s Hall, and so on. Each of these corresponds with a part of the Brain. The student will now begin to understand why so much stress is laid on the Heart in connection with meditation, and why so many allusions are made in old Hindu literature to the Purusha in the Heart. And so with regard to concentration the Blessed MASTER Koot Hoomi ... writes:
"Your best method is to concentrate on the Master as a Living Man within you. Make His image in your heart, and a focus of concentration, so as to lose all sense of bodily existence in the one thought."
"The great difficulty to be overcome is the registration of the knowledge of the Higher Self on the physical plane. To accomplish this, the physical Brain must be made an entire blank to all but the Higher Consciousness."
When the Brain is thus rendered a blank, an impression from the Heart may reach it and be retained; and this is what is spoken of on p. 618, with regard to the Chela, who is able to hold only parts of the knowledge gained. The above-quoted letter says:
"In acquiring the power of concentration the first step is one of blankness. Then follows by degrees consciousness, and finally the passage between the two states becomes so rapid and easy as to be almost unnoticed."
He who can do this at will has become an Adept, and can “store the knowledge he thus gains in his physical memory.”
Such is the kingly function of the Heart in the human Body, and its relation to the Brain, which, as a whole, “is the vehicle of the Lower Manas, enthroned in Kâma-Rûpa.”
