The Need To Change Our Way Of Thinking
Samael Aun Weor
First of all, it is necessary to know the laws of the Gnostic esoteric work, that is, if we indeed want a radical and conscious change. In the name of the truth we will state that if there is any place where we shall begin to work on ourselves, it has to be in relation to the mind and emotions.
It would be absurd to begin working with the motor center, for example, which (as you already know) is related to the habits, customs and actions of such an organ or center; obviously this would be like beginning with an absurd fakirism.
Incidentally, speaking of fakirs, there are fakirs in India who raise an arm vertically, for example, and maintain it that way for an indefinite period of time: until it becomes rigid. There are others who remain in the same place for twenty or thirty years until they become statues. And after all this, just what is gained by these fakirs? Obviously, they develop some willpower, but we must not think that they create the body of Conscious Will, definitely not.
It is impossible to create a body outside of the ninth sphere. If it were possible to create any body in the absence of the ninth sphere, we would then have been born of the air, or in some lake, or from a rock; we would not be children of a man and a woman. Therefore, creation occurs in the ninth sphere, and that is obvious.
Therefore, no fakir can create the body of Conscious Will outside of the ninth sphere. Nothing is gained, therefore, by those who dedicate themselves to fakirism except the development of some willpower.
Thus, to begin with the motor center would be absurd. To start working with the sexual center without having the correct information about the body of the Gnostic doctrine is even worse, because he who begins in such conditions does not know what he is doing. He does not have clear understanding of the work in the forge of the Cyclops. Obviously, he can commit serious mistakes.
Let us remember that the first center is the Intellectual center; second, the Emotional; third, the Motor; fourth, the Instinctive and fifth, the Sexual center. There also exists the sixth center which is the Superior Emotional and the seventh, the Superior Mental center. But if we do not truly begin with the inferior centers of the human machine, we will make mistakes.
Before anything else, we should begin these studies with the intellectual and emotional centers. We need to truly change our way of thinking; otherwise, we will follow erroneous paths. Of what use would it be, for example, that you attend these classes but do not change your way of thinking? Here we give you esoteric exercises, you are guided within the doctrine, but if you do not change your way of thinking, of what purpose is all of this that you are taught?
You are told that we have to dissolve the Ego, and that we have to sacrifice ourselves for humanity. You are told that we need to create the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being, but if you continue thinking like before (with the same mental habits of the past), of what purpose is all this that you are taught, and that you are listening to right now? You are told that you have to disintegrate the Ego, but you continue with your old mental habits, with your senile forms of thought and systems of thought. Therefore, of what use is all this information that you are being given?
The sacred scriptures clearly speak about "old wine and new wine" that no one would pour, Christ said, new wine into an old hardened leather wineskin because the old container would burst. Therefore, one needs a new pliable wineskin for storing new wine. The great Kabir Jesus said that no one would think of mending old clothes with pieces of new cloth. It is unthinkable, for example, to tear a new suit to mend an old one, that is absurd. Is it not? [see Matthew 9:17 and 9:16 respectively]
In the same manner, a new teaching is like new wine and needs a new wineskin or storage container. What is this storage container? The mind. If we do not abandon our senile forms of thought, if we continue thinking with the same habits we once had, then we are simply wasting our time.
We need to change our way of thinking, for new wine we need new containers. Thus, we need to completely change our way of thinking to receive the teaching, and this is the heart of the matter. Because if we receive this teaching and just add it onto our old way of thinking (which we had before) or to our old mental habits, then we are not doing anything. What we are doing is fooling ourselves if we want to hook the "vehicle" of the Gnostic teachings to our old "vehicle" that is beaten up from time, full of filth and worldliness.
First of all, a container must be prepared to receive the wine of the Gnostic teachings.
The container is the mind. It is only in this manner, with a new 'transformed' container, that one can receive the wine of the Gnostic teachings. And that is what I want all the brothers to understand. We need to eliminate our negative emotions because these negative emotions prevent a true radical change within. It is impossible to transform ourselves if deep within us we still possess negative emotions. We need to eradicate from our heart the negative type of emotions which are truly damaging in every sense. A person who lets himself be carried away by his negative emotions becomes a liar, through and through. In this way, negative emotions turn one into a liar. Pay attention to yourselves, the way you lie, make false judgments and then how you regret doing so. But it is already too late.
Therefore, we should eliminate negative emotions from our nature. Lies are certainly false connections because we weaken the Father's energy, the life of the Ancient of Days, that is to say, our Profound Inner Being which flows through the inner cosmic organization, until it reaches the mind. If we make a false connection, the energy can no longer flow. It is as if the electrical wire is cut, then the electrical energy does not reach the bulb which would give us light.
Lies and deception, in this manner (as I have said and I repeat) are false connections. When one is young, one is full of negative emotions and one becomes a liar. That is the crude reality of facts. If we truly understand and start to change our way of thinking and feeling, then very soon this will be reflected in ourselves.
Once one has changed his way of thinking, feeling and acting, then one is perfectly ready to start working in the mysteries of sex. We would be committing a serious error if we allowed people to start working at once in the ninth sphere without even knowing the body of the doctrine. That is absurd because people who have not changed their way of thinking, who continue with their same habits, and people who have their same way of feeling, or who are victims of negative emotions, cannot understand the mysteries of sex without destroying themselves in the process. Then, why is it not emphasized that first one must learn the science so as to then enter the ninth sphere to work? Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus Von Hohenheim (Paracelsus) was right in regards to this.
Let us begin, then, by changing our way of thinking and feeling. Many receive esoteric teachings, but if they continue thinking as before, as they did twenty years ago, what do they expect? They are wasting their time. If the teachings have been given to people so that they can self-realize themselves and if they continue thinking as before, obviously they are on the wrong path.
I know of a case where some persons have been in the Gnostic teachings for twenty or thirty years and they still think as they did twenty or thirty years ago. They are very learned, yes, and they handle the theory well, but if one examines their habits carefully, one will see that they have the same habits they had before. I know of others who are even of sound judgment, who perform their duties, who talk about love in an excellent manner, who handle the body of doctrine in an extraordinary form, but I have been observing them and it becomes clear that they act as they did when they were not Gnostics. They act as they did some years back. They have old habits that they had when they knew nothing of these studies.
They continue with these same old habits. What then are these people doing?
Obviously, they are fooling themselves miserably.
In this manner, we must begin by changing our way of thinking and later our way of feeling: pouring new wine, the Gnostic wine, into a new container, not in an old container, an old hardened wineskin. A senile mind, full of old habits, habits that go back twenty or thirty years, is not prepared to receive the wine of Gnosis. A mind like that needs to forcibly go through a total change. If not, it will be wasting its time miserably.
Those people that are "asleep" are not unknown in the Orient. But in the West, people think that they are awake and nevertheless do things they do not want to do. They set out to war; they do not want to, but they still go. Why? Because they are hypnotized! You know that if a hypnotized subject, for example, is ordered to go and kill someone, he will do so. That has already been taken into account in the penal code of all the countries on the earth. This also occurs in people of all latitudes. They are hypnotized, but they think that they are awake.
If they are told that the time has come to go to war, they go to war. They do not want to but they do. Why? Because they are hypnotized. That is very serious, and terribly primitive. We need to awaken from this hypnotic state. This is true, but how do we awaken from this dream-state? If we are content with our mental habits, with our acquired habits or customs, with our systems of reasoning, with our sentimental habits due to family or heritage, then even if we listen to these teachings, we are simply wasting our time.
Ask yourselves, why have you come here? With what purpose do you receive these teachings? If you are here simply out of curiosity then it would have been better for you not to have come. If you have truly felt the desire to change, but you continue being satisfied with your old ways of thinking, then you are simply fooling yourselves.
If you want to hook up the "vehicle" of Gnosis to your old codes, eaten by worms over time and rotten to the core, well, you are playing a very silly game which leads you nowhere. Therefore, let us not fool ourselves. You want to change, I know that, then let us begin by changing our way of thinking.
Each one of us has his way of thinking; each one of us thinks his way is the right way. In reality, the diverse ways of thought that each one of us have have nothing right in them because you are all hypnotized. How can a hypnotized person think correctly? But you think you are thinking correctly. Herein lies your error.
Mental habits are useless. If you really want to change, you have here the new teaching. You have here the wine of Gnosis. But please: bring a new container for this wine, not old hardened wineskins, because new wine makes old hardened containers burst.
It is my interest to deliver these teaching clearly to all brothers and to deliver it seriously and this is why I invite you to change your way of thinking.
Have you perhaps reflected on what Consciousness is? Can we possibly compare Consciousness? Moreover, there is some light that directs itself from one place to the next, that is obvious.
One must learn to take advantage of Consciousness: where it is located. Wherever our Consciousness is, that is where we are. You are listening to me at this moment, but are you sure that the Consciousness of each one of you is here? If it is here, it gives me pleasure. But are you sure that it is here? It is possible that it is at home, in the bar; it can be at the supermarket and so we are just seeing the personality of such and such a brother here.
In this manner, wherever our Consciousness is, that is where we are. What we have to do is learn to take advantage of where it should be placed. If we place our Consciousness in a bar, it will develop itself there; if we place it in a brothel, it will develop itself there; if we place it in a market, we will have a good or bad market. Wherever our Consciousness is placed, that is where we are.
Consciousness is unfortunately imprisoned. And a lecherous1 "I" could take our Consciousness to a brothel; a drunkard "I" could take it to a bar; an envious "I" could take it somewhere, to some market; a party "I" could take it to a friend's house, etc. Perhaps to you it seems right to not be able to guide your Consciousness?
I understand that it is absurd to take it to places where it should not be and that is obvious. Unfortunately, I repeat, our Consciousness is actually imprisoned and trapped inside our different inhumane elements that we carry within ourselves.
We need to break all the undesirable elements within us that imprison our Consciousness. But tell me, are we able to do this if we do not change our way of thinking? If we are too satisfied with our senile and extemporaneous old habits that we have in our mind?
Would we be perhaps concerned with awakening our Consciousness? It is clear that we would not.
If it is a change we want, let us change from now on: let us change our mental habits, our way of thinking. When one truly changes one's way of thinking, one can then totally change his interior. How can one say that he will provoke a change in his inner Consciousness if he lets it be carried away wherever his "I's" wish to go? We really do not know how to use it and that is truly unfortunate. If we want a change, and a radical one at that, we must also be learning about it, that which we call Consciousness.
In the Orient, it has been said that before the Boddhisattwa is born, there must exist in us the Boddhisita. But, first of all, what is that which we call the Boddhisattwa? Some of you will know and others will not.
H.P. Blavatsky says that once one possesses the Causal, Mental, Astral and Physical bodies, one is a Boddhisattwa. The Human Soul, the Causal Body, dressed with such bodies is a Boddhisattwa. It is the Human Soul covered with the Superior Existential Bodies of the Being.
In Mahayana or Mahayani Buddhism, Boddhisattwas are recognised as only those Beings who have sacrificed themselves for humanity through successive Mahamanvantaras.
There are two types of Boddhisattwas, according to Mahayanic Buddhism. First, the Pratyeka Buddhas, or better said: the ones aspiring to become Pratyeka Buddhas, never sacrifice themselves for humanity. They never give their life for their brothers and it is clear, they never incarnate the Intimate Christ. The others are true Boddhisattwas, those who have given up the bliss of Nirvana for the love of humanity, those who have given their blood for humanity in different Mahamanvantaras. Although preferring to live happily in Nirvana, they have renounced any type of happiness for their brothers on Earth. They are the only ones who can truly incarnate the Christ.
But let us return to the Boddhisita. What is a Boddhisita? It is the Consciousness which is already awakened, developed, and transformed into the Golden Embryo. This is, the true silver armour, that can protect us from the powers of darkness and which gives us wisdom and experience.
Before the Boddhisattwa is born in one's interior, the Boddhisita comes forth, that is, the awakened and developed Consciousness. You can then see for yourselves the value of that gift called Consciousness. It is a pity that mankind has its Consciousness imprisoned within the Ego. And it is clear that as long as people continue to think the way they think now, to feel as they feel now and continue with their same old rancid customs, they will not be able to awaken their Consciousness. It will remain hypnotized. And, as a consequence or corollary, we can say that the Boddhisita will never come forth.
When the Boddhisita, which is the awakened and developed Consciousness, surges forth in someone, in the aspirants, then the Boddhisattwa soon appears. Obviously, the Boddhisattwa forms itself within the psychological climax of the Boddhisita. The Boddhisita is wonderful.
My dear brothers, it is truly great when one really changes his way of thinking because it is then, and only then, that he will work to awaken Consciousness. Then and only then will he make a serious effort which will lead him to the birth of the Boddhisita. Before then, it is not possible.
Unfortunately, we live in an painful world. All of you are full of grief and suffering. Happiness does not exist in this world, it is not possible. As long as the Ego exists, there will be pain. As long as we continue with our rancid forms of thought, we cannot be happy. As long as we are the victims of negative emotions, any type of happiness is impossible. We truly need to achieve happiness.
We would not be able to obtain such a reward if we did not awaken Consciousness. And we will not awaken Consciousness if we continue with the way of thinking we have at this present moment. Therefore, it is necessary to observe what we are thinking. Let us change our old-fashioned way of thinking and prepare new containers for the new wine that is Gnosis. In this manner we shall truly achieve something. This world sustains itself with the Laws of Cause and Effect, that is, the Laws of Karma. They are also called Action and Consequence, for example, a certain consequence follows a certain action. This is a very complicated world. It is a world of associations, multiple combinations and incessant abysses, battles between opposites, etc. Under these circumstances, it is not possible for happiness to exist in this world for any length of time.
Each one of us has to pay his own Karma, we are full of debts. This Karma brings us more pain and much bitterness and, obviously, we will not be happy.
Many people believe that we can attain happiness through the mechanics of evolution. This is a false concept because mechanics are mechanics. The Law of Evolution and also of Involution constitute the mechanical axis of the machinery called nature.
There is evolution in the seed that germinates, in the plant that grows and finally produces fruit. There is involution in the plant that is degenerating and finally becomes a pile of firewood. There is evolution in the child that begins to form in the maternal womb, in the creature that is born, grows, develops and lives in sun light. There also exists involution in the human being that ages, degenerates, becomes senile and finally dies. That is completely mechanical.
The Law of Karma is also mechanical when looking at it from the viewpoint of the Twelve Nidanas 2. What we need is to liberate ourselves precisely from the Law of Karma; we need to liberate ourselves from the mechanical movements of nature. We need to free ourselves and this is not possible through mechanical evolution.
Mechanical evolution progresses according to the Laws of Cause and Effect. The Laws of Associations and of Multiple Combinations, etc. Whatever is mechanical, stays mechanical. We need to free ourselves from the Law of Evolution and also of Involution; we need to make a giant leap so as to fall into the Illuminating Void or Cosmic Consciousness.
Obviously then, there exists an antithesis between the theory of relativity preached by Albert Einstein and Cosmic Consciousness which is known as the Illuminating Void. Whatever is relative, is relative. The machinery of relativity functions with the Law of Opposites. In the battle of the antitheses there is pain and that is not happiness. If we want authentic happiness we have to escape from the mechanical law of Relativity.
I was barely eighteen years old when I attempted the giant leap to go beyond time and space experience; to do that which is not time, that which we call the experience of Prajna Paramita in its most crude reality. I cannot over-emphasized to you the fact that I had to repeat such an experience three times.
In the Illuminating Void, there exists no conceptual dualism at all. The machinery of relativity would not function in the Illuminating Void nor can the laws of Mutual Combination of Mechanical Associations, etc. They are not possible in the illuminating Void. All of Einstein's theories would be destroyed in the Illuminating Void.
Undoubtedly, the experience of the Illuminating Void is only possible in the state of Samadhi or, as it is known in India, Prajna Paramita.
In the Illuminating Void, there do not exist forms of any type. One could say that one goes beyond the universe and the gods. In the Illuminating Void one could find a correct answer to that question: "If the entire universe reduces itself to the unit, to what does the unit reduce itself?"
Such an answer is not possible for the logical mind or at least for the mind that functions according to formal logic. In the Illuminating Void, such an answer is unnecessary but it admits a powerful reality in itself. "All things reduce themselves to the unit, the unit also reduces itself to all things." Then, we would say, one penetrates the state of Maha- Samadhi, one lives in all things, stripped of everything and this by itself is already wonderful, sublime, and ineffable.
The Illuminating Void is only possible via the great leap and under the condition of having undergone total Buddhist annihilation. Otherwise, it is impossible.
In those days I had not undergone the Buddhist annihilation and obviously as I approached the Great Reality, Consciousness expanded itself immeasurably. It is obvious that in that situation, not having undergone Buddhist annihilation, I felt unspeakable terror, and this is the reason that I returned to the universe of Einstein's relativity; I repeat, three times did I therefore experience the Illuminating Void.
There exists an intuition of a transcendental nature because in the field of intuition or in the world of intuition, there are different degrees of intuition. Unquestionably, the most elevated intuitive degree is that of the philosophical-religious or philosophical-mystical minds. It is the type of intuition that corresponds to the Prajna Paramita.
Such a faculty, therefore, allowed me to go beyond the world of Cosmic Consciousness (Illuminating Void) to the Great Reality.
I want to emphasize firmly to you that this path of Gnosis leads one to the Great Reality.
It is beyond the universe of relativity, that is to say, it is beyond the mechanical laws of relativity, beyond, far beyond, the Illuminating Void. In the meantime, it is necessary for us to undergo a supreme annihilation so that Consciousness, converted into the totally awakened Boddhisita, can achieve this great leap to the Illuminating Void.
I tell you, we have to begin by changing our way of thinking in order to work on ourselves correctly. We can not conceive of awakening our Consciousness (developing the Boddhisita) if we do not first change our way of thinking.
It is necessary to know how to meditate, to understand what the technique of meditation is, and what the object of meditation is. What do we want to achieve by meditation or through meditation? No one could have his mind in holy peace with the senile and extemporaneous way of thinking that he has. No one could have peace in his heart if he has not previously eliminated (from within himself) all negative and harmful emotions.
When a Gnostic Arhat submerges into himself, in those moments he begins to work on some inhuman elements that he has discovered through self-observation.
Let us suppose that he discovered anger. He will begin to understand the psychic aggregate of anger with the help of his Divine Mother Kundalini. He would be able to invoke her so as to ask for her help once he has discovered the psychic aggregate of anger. Then she will set about disintegrating such an aggregate so that in its place, love is born. As one disintegrates all those inhumane psychic aggregates that we carry within, our Consciousness will begin to awaken. Much has been said in Gnosis about sex, but we must first of all change our way of thinking so as to become more conscious of the teachings. This is the only way that we will successfully work in the lit forge of Vulcan.
INVERENCIAL PEACE
Samael Aun Weor
THE END
