The way of illumination is one of the seven major ways to self-realization, the Buddha and the Christ were illuminates on this path.
By Roberto Assagioli, date unknown, from the Assagioli Archive in Florence. Translated by Gordon Symons. Original title: La Via Illuminativa
This type of spiritual experience presents differentiations and is of varying degrees. The initial experience consists mostly of a dazzling light sensation. Dr. Bucke – an American doctor who was a friend of the great poet Walt Whitman – reporting his own experience in the third person said: “suddenly without warning, he found himself surrounded, so to speak, by a flame-colored cloud. For a moment he thought of a fire, a sudden conflagration of the city; but after a moment he realized that the light was in him. “(Cosmic Consciousness, p. 8)
An unknown person – quoted by James – narrates his own experience in these terms: “The sky seemed to open wide and spread rays of light and splendor. Not just for a moment, but throughout the day and all night it seemed to me that waves of light and glory passed through my soul so that my whole being was different, and everything had become new. “
President Finney – Walt Whitman
Pascal (see Awakening of the Soul)
In other cases a light was perceived inside the head. This light in the head takes various forms and develops in successive phases. First a diffuse light is sometimes escorted outside the head, and then inside the brain, in moments of deep thought or meditation; then it becomes more focused and – according to the expression of some – it is similar to a radiant and shining sun … This light in the head is probably the origin of the halo drawn around the heads of the “enlightened” all over the world.
Another type of illumination has a clearer cognitive character. It is an “enlightened learning of things.” This experience, in turn, has various degrees that range from a quick flash of light on a single point or problem, to the dazzling revelation of universal life. The internal organ, or the psychological function, which produces these flashes of perception of a deeper or higher reality, is called intuition.
Dr. C.G. Jung, who more than any other psychologist has recognized the existence and importance of intuition, speaks of it in these terms: “Intuition (from inside: looking inside or above) is – according to my point of view – a fundamental psychological function … It is neither sensation nor feeling, nor intellectual deduction … “.
Although it can show itself in each of these forms, through intuition, every single content presents itself as a complete whole in itself, without us being able to explain or discover how this happened. Intuitive knowledge therefore possesses an intrinsic certainty and conviction that led Spinoza to claim that “intuitive knowledge is the supreme form of knowledge” (likewise Bergson). Father Marichal defines intuitive perception in the following terms: “Intuition, defined in a general sense, is the direct assimilation of a cognitive faculty with its own object. All knowledge is somehow an assimilation; intuition is immediate “information” without any objectively interposed intermediary. It is the only act by which the cognitive faculty models itself not on an abstract similarity of the object, but on the object itself; it is, if you will, the close coincidence, the common line of contact between the knowing subject and the object.
The definition of Prof. H. Wildon Carr, a well-known English philosopher, is similar: “Intuition is the direct learning by the mind of reality as it is, and not in the form of a perception or conception (not like an idea, or object of reason), as opposed to intellectual learning “.
Among scientists we find this aspect of spiritual consciousness similarly treated in the works of Dr. W. Winslow Hall. In the first he deals with Jewish illumination; in the second, Observed Illuminates, his attitude is clearly outlined in the preface:
“Enlightenment, large and vital as it may be, is a psychological fact that is becoming increasingly common … therefore anyone who studies the forces that command and control the human machine cannot neglect to examine it seriously.”
“Moreover, my study has led me to prove that enlightenment is not a pathological fact, but a psychological one; which is latent in every man; which is the highest manifestation of the human faculty known to us; and that therefore anyone who professes to work for the betterment of humanity cannot fail to take it seriously. If this is the case, if this supreme known faculty is hidden in every man, studying it, evoking it and perfecting it are the most important duties that can be imposed on humanity. “
However, as far as we are concerned, the possibility of enlightenment for all can only be achieved by demonstrating that enlightenment occurs here and now, in the midst of peaceful, efficient and lovable people with whom we meet daily. I will try to prove it by giving some examples of people I have met who have casually told me of their illuminating experiences. I hope this will stimulate others to seek and appreciate similar revelations which they can experience. And I believe that many of those who will open the eyes of their soul will be surprised by the abundance of illumination in the world.
There is another curious type of enlightenment experience, which has sometimes been produced by the use of anesthetics. Various examples, including a personal experience, are quoted by W. James in his Varieties of Religious Experience. It should be clarified that the particularity consists in the medium used and not in the quality of the experiences that derive from it, which do not seem to differ from those obtained in other ways. There is no reason to be surprised, and even less disturbed, by the material medium that induces the experience, i.e. the anesthetic. It is obvious that this drug is not the direct cause of spiritual experience; it can only make it possible in a negative sense, that is, by eliminating the inhibitions and barriers that normally separate ordinary human consciousness from spiritual consciousness. Moreover, the fact that only a small percentage of those who use anesthetics have those experiences, shows that what makes them possible is actually a predisposition, or preparation in the superconscious of the individual.
Another scholar who has taken a somewhat particular attitude is the Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky. He not only studied in depth the problem of higher consciousness and made a widespread critical analysis of Dr. Bucke’s book, but he personally committed himself to a series of particular and risky experiments, in order to produce in himself, through a special technique, superhuman states of consciousness. His ideas and conclusions – and especially his statements about the existence of esoteric knowledge and methods – have been much discussed. While we can disagree with some of his conclusions (as we will explain later), we believe that on some points Ouspensky has offered some valuable psychological material and fruitful suggestions, and that therefore his books, with due discrimination and restriction, should be seriously examined.
The general position assumed by Ouspensky is summarized in certain sections of the preface to the 2nd edition of his book “A New Model of the Universe” (Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. London, 1948).
“Our ordinary mind (including the mind of a genius) does not constitute the highest order of the human mind. The human mind can rise to a level which is almost inconceivable to us, and we can discern the results of the activity of the higher mind (those more accessible to us) in the Gospels, in the Eastern scriptures, in the Upanishads, in the Mahabharata, in works of art such as the Great Sphinx of Gizeh and other monuments, although they are few in literature and art “.
The originality of Ouspensky’s position consists in establishing a certain relationship between higher states of consciousness and the 4th dimension, considered not only from a mathematical point of view, but also in a broader metaphysical sense. This thesis is largely elaborated in his volume “Tertium Organum”, a title which, according to him, means “the third canon of thought”, or the logic of intuition. So, this Way of enlightenment is strictly mental-cognitive. We will discuss it in a broader way in another chapter.
Another mode of this Way is inspiration. There are various forms of inspiration. The most famous and widespread is the artistic one. But there is a kind of inspiration that has a cognitive and enlightening character – an “internal voice” that solves problems and indicates tasks, both internal for the improvement and elevation of the soul, and external for beneficial action. Examples of this kind of inspiration are found in the founders of religions and in many of their followers, but there have been and there are spiritual movements in which this higher guide has been particularly listened to and followed. For example the Quakers or Company of Friends, and the Moral Re-armament of Frank Buchman.
This inspiration can be considered as a form of “vertical telepathy” (I discussed it extensively last year elsewhere).
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Inspiration
Difficulty of discriminating:
1. Who is the inspirer.
2. Its genuineness.
Two sources of error:
1. Pseudo inspiration.
2. Error of interpretation by the of a genuine inspiration. Example of St. Francis. The right means.
After all, we go so wrong at the level of personality!
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