Gnostic Seminar about Meditation
It is necessary to say something about meditation, product to have been practicing it for long time and our advancement is very poor. Logically one of the causes is that we want to realize one meditation before even having learned in full everything regarding RELAXATION, neither we know what is to relax the mind, and at last we confound MEDITATION and SHAMADHI.
The student finds in a book the following: “In order to meditate one must do as follows:
1- A comfortable posture
2- Relax the body
3- Concentrate the Mind
4- Meditation
5- Shamadhi
It happens that when the student believes and understands that the book is telling him to do everything at once. He lays down, relaxes his body, supposedly concentrates the mind and begins to meditate. That person meditates sleeping and normally what he does is to think a lot. He suffers and worries because after a while in bed, the body begins to feel bad and the thoughts do not let him concentrate even in a plate of food even being so hungry. Finally after some time later he disheartens, and stops meditating, not to have experienced anything.
It is necessary to remember that any process of learning goes gradually, by parts. The baby begins to crawl, then he grabs a chair, then he releases it and stands alone doing some equilibrium, then one step, then continues with two steps and so on, after so much crying, falls, standings, hitting himself, he learns to walk. If it is about talking, it happens the same, he mumbles, then he pronounces single words, then sentences, until he learns to talk well. Thus, my dear brethren, we have to follow the same process if we really want to learn to meditate.
Meditation doesn’t escape to be a technique and as such it takes steps of training in forms of systematic programs.
You don’t want to do like many of us have done, to sing without having prepared our throat, to skate without have been prepared for that. Behold, for Meditation and Shamadhi one must prepare. What do you win trying to concentrate if you have not relaxed your body? How do you want to concentrate if you have not even have taken all thoughts out of your mind (relaxation of the mind). How would you meditate if you don’t know what is it.
In ancient India and even now, no Teacher were to teach a disciple to seek for a Shamadhi (supreme ecstasy, spiritual bliss) the first day he found the Teacher in search of knowledge.
In the book “Autobiography of a Yogi” a Yogi comments, he lasted 10 years meditating 18 hours a day, and 25 years meditating 24 continuous hours; he said that he did not know anything yet. Obviously, it is not a matter of reaching or not Shamadhi, but the training he submitted himself was rigorous.
After 10 years a disciple began to meditate, he went to his teacher and told him: — Master, have I finished?, the Teacher answered him: —no yet. And to demonstrate it (the Teacher) told him some words adducing the day he (the disciple) found the meaning, he had already finished. Many years elapsed since the occasion and one day in a Monastery was the same disciple and his mates meditating. Time to eat signal was given and every body stood up except one, the personage we are talking about, in that very moment his Essence detached from the Ego and submerged into the space, where the Masters say one experience "life free in its movement", the great bliss, that which cannot be told with words. When the experience was finished he opened his eyes, he noticed he was sweating, hungry, the mosquitoes biting him and even though, he achieved the experience, there he understood what the Teacher had told him; he went to his Teacher and he told him: “You have got it!”
Before in time I attained Meditation in places where there were no mosquitoes, when I was not hungry, and no noises; but if one of those elements appeared, I could not meditate.
The mind didn’t let you, but now, even with the elements (mosquitoes, hunger, noises, etc.) you have achieved to forget about everything and gone into profound meditation. Now you have achieved to take command over meditation. This was an example, logically we don’t want to say that every body will delay 10 years to learn to meditate, no. This depends on each one. We know that V.M. Samael Aun Weor, at 19 years of age meditated (he achieve his first Shamadhi). What really invites us to think, is the fact that we must learn to meditate in any kind of circumstances, and not to do as many do; that if there is not air conditioning, musics of the Great Masters, absolute silence, a comfortable arm chair or a nice mat, they cannot meditate. However here is the theory to meditate.
Now we are going to give in detail the steps for a good Meditation. We will talk about the way in which we must conduct and educate for Meditation:
1 - YOU TAKE THE MOST CONVENIENT POSTURE FOR YOU: This may be the position of the corpse (laying down, hands beside the body, heels together, face up on one’s back.
2 - DO NOT ENTER INTO DETAILS: Wait for five(5) minutes (or what ever be necessary) until your body adapt to the position.
3 - ANALYZE YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE: Observe if you feel perfect to begin. If you are sad, emotionally bad, discouraged, analyze the reason, look for the causes and when you find them, criticize them, make yourself conscious that it was a subconscious state, no real, what was bothering you. Until your learn to be conscious of your emotional state, you do not pass to the fourth step; you would not do anything, if your emotional state impedes you, you would not be ready.
4 - MAKE YOURSELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT THE SURROUNDINGS: The different noises, the heat, the mosquitoes, ants, etc., try as much as possible that all of these make part of yourself, of your body. Make yourself conscious that even so you want, you could not avoid them, they are part of your life, leave them alone, and meanwhile take care of yourself, introspect within yourself, leaving others to live with their noises.
5 - RELAX YOUR BODY: One way to relax your body would be imagining that an intense blue begins to enter by your feet, and you begin to feel floating. You may do any other body relaxation exercise you might consider best. Do not pass to the 6th phase until you do not achieve to relax your physical body, or by the contrary you will have problems with your mind. It is convenient to relax the body avoiding carefully that no muscle is left in tension.
6 - RELAX THE MIND: Our mind is an ocean stream of waves going and coming. When one thought leaves another arrives and when we try to concentrate in something, a thought make us to lose concentration. Therefore, before trying to concentrate the mind in one thing, it is necessary first to relax it (the mind). How this may be attained?
1 - In order to relax the mind, first observe your thoughts, study them, analyze them, check where they are coming from, what they are looking for, comprehend them until you realize that they only exist in your mind, that they are not real, auto criticize them, destroy them.
2 - Take out all the thoughts until the mind is left empty.
3 - After you have empty it, achieve now to tranquilize it, to appease it.
Thus, analyze all your thoughts, little by little the mind will be getting tired, will stop projecting thoughts, it will keep on tranquilizing until the moment arrives in which you will take control over her. You will notice it by the great tranquility and profundity in which you are found. Do not pass to the 7th phase without having achieve to relax or to lean to relax the mind. Those persons who want to relax the mind fast an be able to concentrate, must make possible that their Self-Observation during the day be good; it happens that in the daily life, our Consciousness doesn’t work in us, but the mind; if somebody insults us, instead of acting the Consciousness channeling the insult positively, who acts or reacts is the mind in an aggressive way, if a girl passes next to us, instead of channeling positively this impression, comprehending instantly at first sight that she is a woman; the mind reacts reasoning about her body shape, beauty : lust takes over.
That way the mind has the control, not the Consciousness and our actions are not consciously ruled by the Consciousness. Looked things this way, our mind keeps the whole day reacting; when time arrives for meditation, our mind which could not be controlled the whole day, would be more difficult to control her in one or several hours of meditation. That is why a good Self-Observation helps us to control the mind during the day and when the time of meditation arrives, the efforts to be done to dominate her is very little. Further more when the mind reacts too much, one detaches very much from the Divine, one forgets about the Being and keeps on getting away from the true objective.
In his book “Techniques for the Dissolution of the “I”, V.M. Samael Aun Weor says:
“We need to liberate from the tyranny of the opposites; this is only possible by learning to live from instant to instant without abstractions of any kind, without dreams without fantasies”. “Have you ever observed how the stones on the road are pale and pure after a great downpour? One only is able to murmur an Oh! of admiration. We must comprehend that Oh! from all things without deforming that Divine exclamation with the battle of the opposites”.
Master Bokujo was asked: Do we have to get dressed and eat every day? How can we escape from this? The Teacher responded” — “We eat, we get dressed”. — “I do not understand” — the disciple said. — “Then get dressed and eat” the Teacher said.
This is precisely the action of the opposites: We eat, we get dressed: Why do we make a problem about that? Why are we thinking in any other things while we are eating and when we are getting dressed? I you are Eating, eat; if you are getting dressed, get dressed and if you are walking by the streets, walk, walk, walk, but don’t think in any other things, do only in what you are doing, do not flee from the facts, do not fill them with so many meanings, symbols, sermons, warnings. Live them without allegories, live them with a receptive mind from instant to instant.
When one closes the doors to fantasy, the organ of intuition awakens. The action free of opposites’ battle is intuitive action, is a plentiful action; where plenitude exists, the “I” is absent.
Intuitive action leads us by the hand towards the awakening of Consciousness.
Let’s work and rest happy abandoning ourselves to the stream of life. Let's finish with the habitual thought's turbid and rotten water and in the void Gnosis will flow and with her , the joy of living will also flow.
If we are eating and thinking about business it is obvious we are dreaming. If we are driving an automobile and we are thinking about our girl friend, we logically are not awaken, we are dreaming; if we are working and we are thinking about our compadre or our comadre, or about a friend, or about our brother, etc., it is obvious we are dreaming.
People who dream in the physical world, live also dreaming into the internal worlds during those hours in which the physical body is found sleeping. It is necessary to stop dreaming into the internal worlds. When we stop dreaming in the physical world, we awaken here and now, and that awakening shows into the internal worlds.
It is awful to stop dreaming due to the vigilance needed from second to second, from instant to instant in order not to fall into fantasies. A minute of carelessness is enough for the mind to fall into dreaming, remembering something, thinking in something different to the work or to the event we are living at the very moment. When we learn into the physical world to be awaken from instant to instant, also during the time of repose and after death we will live awaken and self conscious from instant to instant.
It is painful to know the human being Consciousness sleeps and dreams profoundly, not only during the hours of the physical body repose, but also during the ironically called state of vigil. The action free of mental dualism, produces the awakening of Consciousness.
The technic of Meditation permit us to arrive to the heights of illumination. We must distinguish between a mind which is quiet, and a mind which is kept quiet by force. We must distinguish between a mind which is in silence and a mind which is violently silenced.
When the mind is kept quiet by force, in reality it is not quiet, it is gagged by violence and into the most profound levels of the understanding there is a whole commotion.
When the mind is violently silenced, in reality it is not kept in silence and in the depths it howls, screams and despairs. It is necessary to put an end to the modifications of the thinking principle during meditation. When the thinking principle is kept under our control, illumination comes to us spontaneously.
Mental control permits us to destroy the shackles created by thought. In order to achieve the stillness and the silence of the mind it is necessary to know how to live from instant to instant, to take advantage of every moment, not to lose the moment.
Seize all from each moment, because each moment is a child of Gnosis, each moment is absolute, live and meaningful. Momentariness is a special characteristic of the Gnostics. We love the Philosophy of Momentariness. When we practice Meditation, our mind is assaulted by many memories, desires, passions, preoccupations, etc.
We must avoid the conflict between attention and distraction. There exist conflict between distraction and attention when we fight against those assailants of the mind. The “I” is the projector of such assailants. Where there is conflict, it does not exist stillness or silence either.
We must nullify the projector by means of Self-Observation and Comprehension. Examine each image, every memory, every thought arriving to the mind. Remember that every thought has two poles: Positive and Negative.
Enter and exit are two aspects of the same thing, dining room and bathroom, tall and short, pleasant and unpleasant, etc., are always the two poles of the same thing.
Examine both poles of each mental form arriving to the Mind. Remember, that only by means of the study of the polarities one arrives to synthesis.
Every mental form might be (anesthetized) eliminated by means of synthesis. A memory of a girl seizes us, is she beautiful? Let’s think that beauty is the opposite of ugliness and that if she in her youthful years is beautiful, in her old age she will be ugly.
Synthesis: it is worthless to think about her, she is an illusion; a flower that inevitably withers away.
In India, the study of our own mind and also to this kind of Self Observation is called, "PRATYARA".
All our thoughts must pass through the space of our own mind, in a successive parade but without leaving any kind of traces.
The infinite procession of thoughts of the "I", are finally exhausted and then the mind is kept quiet and silenced.
A great authorized Master said: “Only when the projector, say, the “I”, is completely absent then the silence comes about which is not the product of the mind. This silence is inexhaustible, it doesn’t belong to time, is the immeasurable, only then “that” what really is, comes about.
This technique summarizes into two principles:
a) A Profound Reflection, and
b) A Tremendous Serenity.
This Technique of Meditation with its non-thinking, gives work to the most central part of the Mind, the one which produces ecstasy.
7 - CONCENTRATION: After you relax your mind then go to concentration.
Concentration consists on focusing the mind in one thing only.
While in Self Observation, one must relax the mind or concentrate it on its objective, this way one keeps on educating and keeping control of her. Try to concentrate it on a mango, a pear, an avocado, etc., or on what ever you wish, if you notice you cannot concentrate it on one thing only, something is bothering you, observe what is it, if it is the body or thoughts still perturbing, try to analyze until annoyance goes away, try now to concentrate it.
Remember, the mind concentrates on what ever you are going to meditate on. Do not pass to Eighth Phase if you still have not finished learning to concentrate the mind. In India in a School of children of ages between 10 to 13 must remain for an hour with the mind concentrated between the eyebrows until they attain it, without thinking in anything else.
8 - MEDITATION: When you concentrate your mind on whatever you wish, try to begin to reflecting over it, to meditate. Try to introduce yourself into what you meditate, trying that the mind gets lost in the interior of whatever she is concentrated on, trying to discover the truth, pleading to your Inner Father for help, provoke sleepiness at will if necessary, the same time you submerge into meditation.
If you want to know anything about a tree, concentrate yourself on it, provoke somnolence and then immediately, be this mentally or in astral body, you will get in contact with the elemental (the plant’s soul), who will teach you what you want to know about the tree; that is a direct experience, direct knowledge. It is wonderful to know how to combine intelligently, meditation and sleepiness, for the matter no to be a hindrance.
9 - SAMADHI: when the essence escapes from the effect, it submerges into the world of the spirit. All the organic function stop to work, meanwhile the organism feeds itself from certain type of cosmic energy. A yogy remarks that, that shamadhi can be attained with a well prepared body.
In his book “Techniques for the dissoloution of the psychological “I”, V.M. Samael Aun Weor says:
The most lofty form of thinking is not to think. When the quietude and silence of the mind has been achieved, the “I” with all his passions, desires, cravings, fears, affects, etc., absents away himself.
Only in absence of the “I”, may the Essence (BUDDHATA) liberate herself from the mind, waking up in order to join the INTIMUS and take us to ecstasy. The quietude and the silence of the mind has only one objective: to liberate the Essence from the mind so the latter fused with the MONAD or INTIMUS, may endure that what we call the TRUTH.
During ecstasy and in absence of the “I”, the ESSENCE can live freely into the world of mist of fire, experiencing the TRUTH.
When the mind is found into a passive and receptive state, absolutely quiet and in silence, the BUDDHATA or ESSENCE liberates from the mind and ecstasy arrives.
The ESSENCE is found always encompassed within the battle of the opposites, but when the battle ends and the quietude of silence are absolute, the ESSENCE is left free and the bottle is broken into pieces.
The BUDDHATA or CONSCIOUSNESS, is the best we have within, and awakens with the profound and inner meditation.
As the “intellectual animal” cannot incarnate the BEING, because he does not have the Superior Existential Bodies yet, the only thing he can do is practice meditation in order to self awaken the BUDDHATA so he may know the TRUTH.
Only by experiencing ecstasy, one knows what TRUTH and LIFE is. Only in absence of the “I” we enjoy the bliss of life in its own movement.
Only in state of ecstasy we may discover the deep significance of Christmas (nativity) which this evening, with great jubilation in our heart we celebrate. When we study the life of Christ in state of ecstasy, we discover that great part of the Cosmic Drama represented by the Lord, has not been written.
We must practice Gnostic Meditation every day; it may be practiced alone or accompanied. It is false to assure that the Great Reality can operate within an individual who doesn’t possess the Existential Bodies of the Being.
We repeat:
The Great Reality cannot penetrate within those who don’t posses the Existential Bodies of The Being. Only with Maithuna (Sexual Magic) we can create the Superior Bodies of the Being.
It is necessary also to make clear that after the ecstasy, in spite to have received a tremendous potential of energies, the “I” doesn’t dissolve because of that, as many students of occultism wrongly believe.
The dissolution of the “I” is only possible on the basis of profound comprehension and an incessant daily work with ourselves from instant to instant.
We explain all of this in order not to confound the Gnostic Meditation with the tenebrous practices of Subub and many other Black Magic Schools.
When a mystical person reaches ecstasy, and comes back to the physical body, feels the urgent need to create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being and the undescribable longing to dissolve the “I”.
The ecstasy is not a nebulous state but a state of transcendental amazement associated to a perfect mental clarity.
Brethren of mine: I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!!!
I wish that the resplendent Star of Bethlehem shines along your path.
THE END
