Meditation og træning i selverkendelse, af Roberto Assagioli

In this article, Roberto Assagioli gives a very deep and wise presentation of meditation and the art of meditating correctly.

By Roberto Assagioli and others. Excerpt from the book Creative Meditation.

“Personal” meditation and “service meditation”

The widespread interest in meditation throughout the world shows that a significant expansion of human consciousness is taking place. For many centuries, humanity has explored all areas of physical existence, but the increasing interest in the realm of consciousness shows that humanity has reached new levels in its search for knowledge and understanding, and it also shows that it is entering a new age.

Meditation – a scientific process

Meditation is a method for exploring the more subtle areas of consciousness and for penetrating the superconscious, and should therefore be considered a special scientific process and not just abstract thinking on the more concrete levels of existence. It is necessary to emphasize this because many tend to perceive meditation as a method that has no specific goal or creative purpose, and in today’s stressful life, many perceive meditation as an “escape mechanism”.

Meditation – a mental method

Far from an escape to intangible realms or to abnormal experiences, true meditation is a mental method for reaching ever broader and deeper realms of consciousness. It enhances personal development and creativity.

Meditation can be used in two ways:

1. For the development of self-awareness.
2. In service to humanity and to the planet.

It is necessary to understand the difference between these two points, because they are two different methods and they do not have the same purpose. Therefore, one should become clear about which one one wants to use and how one wants to combine them in specific meditations.

Two meditative abilities

In New Age meditation groups, the main focus will be on meditation as a service to the New Age. But to achieve this goal, one must necessarily develop one’s own meditative abilities and one’s own self-knowledge. These two abilities complement each other, and when used together, they can create a true and complete expansion of the inner life. When spiritual knowledge is increased through meditation on the soul, the ability to serve is sharpened. When service is done with spiritual creativity and radiance, the soul is invoked and one becomes more aware of it. Creativity and radiance complement and depend on each other.

Furthermore, it must be realized that psychological and spiritual activities cannot be realized when carried out separately, for there is an active interaction between them. Thinking can awaken feeling and vice versa, and both feeling and thinking have a place in true meditation. It includes the emotional side as well as the mental, and aspiration and invective are important factors. The will is also an important element, as it adds invocative and dynamic energy. It is a mixture in different proportions of all these facets that results in a strong, synthesizing inner action.

Definition of different meditations

Since the word meditation is used in many contexts and generally quite superficially, it will be beneficial to begin the third year with a brief description of the two basic types introduced in the second year:

1. Reflective meditation.

It is often used as concentrated thinking on a particular topic, and is also referred to as meditation on a “keyword.” This involves defining and developing the keyword and gaining insight into its connections and applications.

In reflective meditation, it is surprising how many aspects and meanings one can discover, even in connection with a subject that one thinks one has a very good knowledge of. (An example is described in the second year’s second instruction on love).

2. Receptive meditation

When one cannot find out more about the subject by means of the faculty of thought, one must endeavor to raise the center of consciousness as high as possible to the soul. In this way, thinking stops, and the subject is held in the center of consciousness with a calm, quiet, and expectant hold. To help keep the consciousness focused in this way, one can slowly repeat to oneself the word or words that remind one of the subject. It often seems as if nothing is happening, but at other times something new and unexpected “falls” into the realm of consciousness. Sometimes it may be a vivid realization with a deeper meaning than one was previously able to attain. This may be called intuitive perception. It may be helpful to think of this stage as: One listens with an inner ear and/or looks upwards with a mental eye.

In both of these types of meditation one must be very careful not to fall into a passive, dreamlike, and almost mediumistic state, and one must be extremely alert to the illusions or glamors one may come into contact with. (The fourth year of these instructions will explain many of such glamours.)

Don’t forget the basic meditation techniques

These various aspects of meditation were described last year, when it was about the basic techniques and how they can be used to support the laws and principles needed in the new age. What was studied then should not be forgotten, as it forms the basis of all meditation. The instructions of the second year can very well be used alongside the current material. For example, it can be difficult to reach a “higher” meditation without training in the preparatory steps of coordination and concentration. If all future meditations are to be successful, then it depends on understanding and mastering the basic techniques.

In the second year of instruction, receptive meditation followed reflective meditation, but it can also occur the other way around, which can be experienced in the third year of instruction. When it comes before reflective meditation, it will lead to the inspiration and key words that one will focus on in the reflective stage.

Character traits and tendencies

In this third year, several aspects of meditation will be studied, and in order to deepen the understanding of the laws and principles, the characteristics and trends of the new age will be reviewed, and suggestions for meditations related to them will be given. In this way, it will be possible to develop the understanding and practice of both “personal” meditation and “service meditation.”

Meditation is an inner act.

As previously mentioned, meditation is a special form of inner action – a special form of working with the inner. There is still only limited recognition of the enormous powers that these inner energies have to create changes and even real transformation – not only for the individual, but also for groups, and also of conditions in the world. Meditation groups in the new age have a great obligation to use these energies correctly with unlimited opportunity to work constructively for good.

Creative meditation

It will now be reviewed how reflective meditation and receptive meditation can be used together and in expanded form as a positive creative force. Effective creative meditation has the following phases or stages:

1. Preparation, which mainly consists of:

a. To eliminate, to the greatest extent possible, all the prejudices that consciousness may contain – this applies to thoughts, feelings, desires and the like.

b. To lift the center of consciousness and coordinate and anchor it at the mental level.

c. To raise consciousness further up to the level of the soul.

2. Receptive meditation, which usually leads to the mind being illuminated by the light of the soul, enabling it to receive ideas and to gain intuitive understanding of trends relating to the new age and the particular area of ​​it to which one directs one’s attention.

3. Reflective meditation, where through concentrated and controlled thinking on these ideas one strives to understand them ever more clearly and deeply, and to discover all the possibilities for development and application that they have and should have.

4. Creative Meditation. This meditation involves using the enlightened thought, as it is in contact with the soul, to create and build thought forms that contain a positive element of the insights and intuitive impressions that have been received and reflected upon. This brings greater clarity to what has been contacted during the meditation. It will also enable and allow the energy affected to become available to the meditator and to others. After having built a clear thought form that relates to the theme of the meditation, emotional energy must be added so that the power of one’s own emotions is gradually instilled into the thought form, giving better direction to the meditation. (This process of bringing the power of the mind and the power of the heart together was described in the fifth instruction of the second year in the section on invocation and evocation.) The next thing will be for humanity to visualize the fruitful effects that will arise from the reception of a thought form.

5. Radiance. To complete the process it is necessary to release the contacted energy, as one can become overstimulated by holding energy that is of importance to humanity and that it can use. The process of radiating and the value of radiating is described in the sixth instruction of the second year. One may also benefit from a refresher on the various basic rules of “service meditation” found in the second year instructions.

One should know that creative meditation does not mean that one creates the sketches for the new age out of nothing, for they already exist, having been prepared by consciousnesses that are far more developed than man’s. But one can contribute by creating new thought forms that these sketches can be clothed in, ie a necessary sheath or “body” so that they can be expressed in the exterior.

Creative work

What is being attempted in the New Age meditation group is to create the new thought forms that can serve as a basis for building a positive future, and to spread them so that they can be of benefit to humanity. Creative work in the New Age will aim at creating forms that have within them new and higher thoughts and new forms with a fuller and more appropriate expression of the spiritual laws and principles being meditated upon. The basis of creative work should be prompted by a dynamic will-to-good, a well-considered will-to-serve, or at least an active good will.

Revitalization of existing thought forms

In addition to the creative activity you yourself or the group you belong to produce, you can support and collaborate in development work and in “bringing to life” thought forms created by others. This can be done in several ways:

1. By clear thinking and correct formulation. That it is significant to formulate thoughts and ideas correctly has been repeated by all philosophers since early Chinese times.
2. By using imagination, which in itself has a creative power due to the impulses and promptings of imagery.
3. By vitalizing the thought forms with the warmth of one’s own feelings, with the strength of one’s own desires and with the power of one’s own will.
4. When communicating:
   1. Subjective propagation of thought by means of direct inner radiation. The possibility of using telepathy in this way is being recognized more and more, and this form of telepathy is the reason why ideas and emotional thoughts spread so surprisingly quickly through humanity.
   2. Objective dissemination of the formulated ideal by means of speech and writing and symbols and by using all available external means of communication to inform individuals and the masses.

A word of caution

A word of caution should be given here. One should not become so eager as to identify oneself with the idea that is developing. Such identification can lead to one becoming “drained” and exhausted, and also to one becoming obsessed or overshadowed by the ideas or forms into which they have developed, as this can lead to narrow-mindedness and fanaticism. No idea or form, no matter how beautiful, should enslave a person.

There is another danger to be aware of. When the original idea descends into external expression, it may be reduced, distorted, or even perverted and used for selfish purposes by the individual or by the group.

The goals and means of meditation

One form of distortion that one must be particularly wary of is the general tendency to attach too much importance to the methods used to achieve the goal, thereby losing sight of the goal or subordinating it to the methods. It often happens that an organization becomes an end in itself.

But all these obstacles and dangers can be avoided by applying the law of right relations, which in this case should be applied to establish right relations between the idea and the form, that is, between the burning zeal or necessary enthusiasm and with a broad outlook and skill in action. This implies a recognition of the necessity of a gradual transition from the old to the new, and to a certain extent of right and temporary compromises during the transition period. All this can be summed up by the application of wisdom.

Realization of the soul

In our time, the problem of self-identity has received great attention. Previously, it was generally ignored, and psychology did not even consider the soul. But the current existential curiosity and search for meaning have brought the problem of self-identity to the forefront – that is, the problem of: “Who am I?”

 Psychologists and psychiatrists have begun to ask this question, and the answers are interesting and sometimes surprising. It turns out that most reveal an inner insecurity, because when you generally take “yourself” for granted, you easily become confused and disoriented when faced with this question.

Identification and role play

The difficulty is that you constantly identify with what you contain in your consciousness. You are constantly saying “I am tired”, “I am angry”, “I think this” and “I mean this”, which means that you identify with the physical body, your feelings and your thoughts. You go from one identification to the next. The same is true of the roles you play in life. You say “I am a son”, father, wife, doctor, or whatever it may be. You say anything but that you are your “soul”. This is highlighted and illustrated in the following diagram from Roberto Assagioli’s book, Psychosynthesis ( Kentaur Forlag).

Assagioli’s oval diagram

1. The lower
2. The middle one
3. The higher unconscious or superconscious.
4. The realm of consciousness.
5. The conscious “I”.
6. The higher, spiritual self or soul.
7. The collective

Consider the point in the center of the oval and the area around it. The point represents the “I” and the circle around it is the area of ​​normal consciousness. However, there is a constant identification and confusion between the “I” and the content of consciousness.

 Subconsciousness and superconsciousness

Around this area is a large region of the three unconscious levels – the lower unconscious, the middle unconscious and the superconscious. From these levels and from the external world new elements are constantly breaking into the area of ​​consciousness, and thus the poor “I” becomes, as it were, covered and veiled by many types of “content” which become what it normally identifies with.

The first step in self-identification is therefore disidentification with all these types of “content.” The following exercise will be of great help in this regard and in developing a real understanding of the “I” at the center, ie the “I” referred to in second-year instructions as the “watcher” or “observer.”

Exercise in disidentification

(prepared by Roberto Assagioli)

“When the exercise is done by a group, the person leading the exercise speaks naturally in the first person, but each person can adapt to what is being said. The exercise can be done as follows:

You sit in a comfortable and relaxed position with your eyes closed. Then you affirm: I have a physical body, but I am not my physical body. My physical body may have various states of health or illness and may be either rested or exhausted, but this has nothing to do with my real “I”. My physical body is my precious tool with which I can act and gain experience, but it is only a tool. I treat it well. I seek to keep it in a good state of health, but it is not myself. I have a physical body, but I am not my physical body.

I have feelings, but I am not my feelings. My feelings are countless, contradictory, and changeable, and yet I know that I always remain myself, whether in times of hope or despair, in joy or sorrow, in an irritable or calm state. Since I can observe, understand, and judge my feelings, and thereby increasingly master, control, and use them, it is quite clear that they are not myself. I have feelings, but I am not my feelings.

I have desires, but I am not my desires, which are created by physical and emotional pressures and by external influences. Desires are also changeable and contradictory and can change attraction into repulsion. I have desires, but they are not myself.

I have an intellect, but I am not my intellect. It is more or less developed and active, and it is undisciplined, but can receive instruction. It is an organ of knowledge in relation to the outer world as well as to the inner, but it is not myself. I have an intellect, but I am not my intellect.

After this disidentification of the conscious “I” (the aspect of the soul incarnated in the personality) from that which consciousness contains (sensations, feelings, and thoughts), I recognize and affirm that I am a center of pure self-awareness. I am a center of will capable of mastering, directing, and utilizing all my psychological processes and my physical body.”

Man is a slave to his identifications.

This exercise seems easy, but it is by no means easy. One has constantly become accustomed to the above-mentioned identification, so it is difficult to free oneself from what it specifically contains. In fact, one constantly uses the word “I” as empty talk, because when one identifies with the various contents, one becomes enslaved to them.

The first step in self-knowledge and liberation is to recognize that “I am a pure center of self-awareness – I am I”. The difference between what consciousness contains and the “I” becomes clear when one meditates on it. The content is diverse, different and often contradictory, whereas the “I” is self-identical, permanent and stable and is therefore of a completely different nature from the various contents.

Inner transformation

The above exercise leads to the most significant discovery that a human being can experience—a revelation of what one really is—of the essential nature. One may have acquired a theoretical knowledge or a mental conviction of the reality that the “I” is something quite different from a form of attitude or quality, but this is not a vital realization that creates an inner transformation and gives an increasing mastery of the inner world. If one wishes to make progress by moving from intellectual knowledge to living experience, then meditation exercises directed towards this goal are necessary.

To avoid any misunderstandings and doubts, it must be stated quite clearly that this exercise does not lead to any form of self-absorption, to any form of egoism or self-assertion, as the “self” referred to here is not pure self-awareness, but it is the conscious “I” that thus identifies with selfish desires, fears, hopes, plans, etc., of which one becomes a prisoner.

Self-knowledge is a scientific process

Developing self-awareness can rightly be called a scientific process because it can be based on observation, experience, and experimentation without any preconceived ideas or beliefs.

The process begins with a direct and primary experience, namely the recognition that one as a human being is a conscious existence. (In this sense it can be called “existential”). With this basic experience one has a natural urge to explore the nature and constitution of man, which applies, so to speak, to both the psychological and physiological anatomy. Then one proceeds to the vital connections with other people and to the superpersonal reality, self-awareness being only the first stage. However, this stage is not sufficient to recognize the personal separate  self-identity, since it is not satisfactory and may even provoke a painful feeling.

The path to self-knowledge

The steps up the ladder or the stages that one must go through to reach the point of being able to perceive and experience spiritual realities can be suggested in the following way:

1. Find yourself – your conscious “I”.
2. Find the soul.
3. Find other souls.
4. Find the One soul – the universal being, the supreme being

Primitive peoples and children have no or very little self-consciousness or awareness of their separate “I”. Their consciousness is fused with the external world and with the internal world of ideas and feelings. They identify themselves with others, with the community or the tribe. This should not be surprising if one knows that the average person normally identifies himself successively with the changing content of his conscious field and not with his “I”.

But when one has freed the “I” from its identification and bindings, one can and should strive to lead it up the symbolic thread of consciousness to its origin, the spiritual self or soul, which in the diagram is illustrated by a sun.

Find the soul

The second step is more difficult to understand and even more difficult to achieve, but the understanding can again be aided by studying the diagram. This leads to the realization that the personal self-consciousness is only a faint reflection of the true perfect Soul-consciousness, the consciousness of spiritual identity. Generally one is not aware of our true soul, but the personal self-consciousness can gradually approach and catch greater and greater glimpses of it until the time when the two merge.

The stages of this second realization – identification with the soul – can be described as follows:

1. First, one believes or is convinced that one has a soul.
2. Then the “I” recognizes its identity with the soul, and also that the soul is not the same as the contents of the subconscious. Inspiration from and all higher activities in the subconscious are not the soul.
3. The soul first recognizes its communication with other souls and then its union with other souls and with the universal soul, and this is how psychology and philosophy refer to God.

Cohesion or brotherhood

The spiritual self is a term identical to what is called the soul in religion, since it is not limited in personality. In the world of spiritual reality it is linked with other souls, with other spiritual “sparks” so to speak. It is not only linked with them, it also recognizes its essential identity with them. This is true spiritual togetherness or brotherhood based on the nature of sameness and essence (see arrow 2 in the following diagram):

Two souls in communion

From the point indicated by the downward arrow 3, one can communicate with and have a loving understanding of the whole personality of one’s fellow human beings. This is brotherhood as experienced on the personal level in the current life on Earth.

Arrow no. 4 shows the fourth stage, where one recognizes that the souls of all people are identical with the One soul, with the One reality, with the universal being, which in religious terminology is called the “transcendent God.”

Superhuman beings

There is possibly another stage (arrow no. 5) between the two latter, and it marks a connection with beings of a higher order, ie with superhuman beings. This may sound strange to the modern mind, but at all times and in all places people have believed that there exist beings more highly developed than man. This has been expressed in religious services, and in many cases it has been confirmed that people have had conscious contact and relationship with them. Without dwelling too long on this, it must be fair to say that however spiritual humanity is in its essential nature, it is not the highest possible being next to God, and that between humanity and God there exist greater and more highly developed beings with cosmic functions. To reject this postulate altogether would be to reveal a lack of insight.

The stages of realization go from the conscious “I” to the soul, from the soul to union with other souls in an ever-expanding soul consciousness, and finally to the universal soul or God, where the human soul and God become one.

Transmutation of personality

A word of caution is necessary here. In several religious and philosophical writings, especially the Oriental ones, there is talk of the “destruction” of the “I,” or the destruction of the personality, and of “losing” oneself in the universal consciousness—in the universal. These expressions are misleading if taken literally, because they mislead in the distinction between the whole composition of the personality and the point of self-consciousness.

What must be “destroyed” or rather transmuted is the personality as it is at the given time, that is, with all its limitations, all its identifications, but not the point of self-awareness.

This is described very clearly by Lama Anagarika Govinda in his book “The Way of the White Clouds”,  p. 124,

“Individuality is not only a necessary and complementary opposite to universality, it is also the only focal point through which universality can be experienced. Suppression of individuality and a philosophical or religious rejection of its value or significance can only lead to complete indifference and dissolution, which may lead to liberation from suffering, but it will be a negative liberation, since it prevents us from achieving the highest experience towards which the process of individualization is intended to strive: to experience a perfect inner enlightened Buddhahood, in which the universality of true being is recognized.

 To say only that one ‘melts into the whole’ as ‘a drop in the ocean’ without having perceived this wholeness is only a poetic way of accepting  annihilation and of avoiding the problem that our individuality poses. Why should the universe develop individualized life forms and consciousnesses if it is not in accordance with or inextricably linked to the very spirit and nature of the universe? 

The escape from individuality

This is a very topical problem. Nowadays, especially among the young, there are many who try to avoid individuality. They are dissatisfied with the ordinary level of personality life, and that attitude is quite right, but they try to avoid it by eliminating all sense of identity and responsibility, and they even try, with the help of drugs and special exercises, to free themselves, to forget themselves, to achieve a kind of hypnotic or ecstatic state, or a blissful state that can only be temporary. One cannot avoid the fact that one is an individual with his obligations.

In a way, one could say that the circumference can be expanded infinitely, but the center remains. A Hindu philosopher, Radhakrishnan, has expressed it this way:

“The special privilege of the human soul is that it can both follow the whole and work for it and give concrete expression to the purpose of the whole in its own life. The two factors of individuality, ie uniqueness (self-centeredness) and universality (all-encompassing) develop together until it finally reaches the stage where the most unique becomes the most universal.”

And another teacher has expressed it more precisely this way:

“There is no identity separate from universality, and no understanding of the universe apart from individual realization.”

 Therefore, it is right to strive towards the universal, for it is in the nature of the “I,” as it will always strive towards its origin, and it is in the nature of the soul to merge with the universal soul. These three stages together form a synthesis – the individual, the spiritual, and  the universal.

 Constant spiritual pursuit via group consciousness

Now, proceeding from this general picture to its practical realization, one will discover by one’s own experience that one cannot permanently and completely reach from the personality or the individual to the universal. One may have fleeting symbolic visions, ecstatic moments, but one is bound to return to “Earth.” The identification referred to can only be achieved gradually and by constant spiritual striving.

What is the bridge between the individual and the universal? It is the group – one can become group conscious. One can first unite with another human being through the highest spectrums of love. Then one can unite with a smaller group, then with a larger group, then with an even larger group, and gradually with larger and larger groups, until one attains a certain degree of universal consciousness.

The difference in degree to be able to participate in the universal is illustrated by the location of the sun in each of the three examples in the following diagram from Roberto Assagioli’s book, The Psychology of Will , (Kentaur Forlag):

In the first drawing, the soul – illustrated by a sun at the top – sends almost all its “rays” towards the individual, which means that it creates an intense sense of individuality with a faint sense of being part of it. In the second drawing, the soul – illustrated by a sun – has a place at the contact point between the individual and the universal realm, and this shows that consciousness is more or less equally balanced between these two realms. The third drawing illustrates a high degree of universal awareness, and that there is always some individual self-awareness.

Different stages of cognition

In one’s own meditation and contemplation one can gain a clear realization of the oscillation between the individual and the universal realization, for not only does a gradual spiritual development take place, one can also reach different stages of realization at different times. All this is not only a result of meditation, it also occurs under other conditions, for example. in nature or in the external universe and especially in the exchange of thoughts with other people.

Just as it is an explanation of what one experiences, it also explains much of what is currently happening among many young people, and also their attempts to stand out from the average, from the so-called normal, from the purely personal, but without having true insight, true guidance and right methods. Meditation in all phases offers a safer path from the individual via group identification to the universal.

Will

The concept of will was mentioned in the previous instruction in connection with the subject of positive thinking, action and dynamics. The idea is now to delve deeper into some of the many aspects of this subject, as it has become increasingly important to understand what will is and how it should be used in the most correct and effective way. The problems associated with will are currently assuming new proportions. Will will become a fundamental principle in the new age, and therefore it is an important role in a collaboration to help it develop in the most correct way to the requirements of the new age.

Will is often perceived as impulse, intense drive and external activity and as certain stubborn or “willed” traits of character. But true will is something entirely different, and to know what will really is, one must discover it within oneself , for it is an inner reality that cannot be explained in words, but must be experienced and recognized.

Many types of will

Basically, will manifests itself differently in each individual because it is motivated from within and carries with it the individual’s special characteristics. For example, for some people it is dynamic with a strong driving force, while for others it is less clear, but with a calm strength and persistence. There are many types of will and many directions and areas where it can be expressed in particular, but it is only by discovering one’s own will that one can gain insight into the true nature and characteristics of this inner force, and how one should develop and use it.

You can clearly feel the will sprouting when danger threatens, or when you are going through an acute test. This can be a completely realistic and significant experience, where you come out of the situation with a feeling that there is a source of strength from which you can draw strength. Another example is that during a long period of nervousness and uncertainty you can feel an inner support, and that something is holding you up, or you can experience that will is a factor that enables you to make and carry out a difficult decision. Meditation is a very basic technique for reaching an understanding of what will actually be, and for gaining the insight required to be able to elevate the method so that it can be expressed in the most correct way. It is this process that will be mainly focused on in this study.

Meditation and will are connected in two ways:

1. Will is necessary in meditation.
2. Meditation is necessary to recognize the will and to develop and use it properly.

 Constructive and destructive will

It should always be remembered that the energy of will, like all other energies, can be used both rightly and wrongly. It can be used constructively and destructively, and as a motivating force for good or for selfish purposes. It is an interesting but sad fact that humanity tends to misuse the energies first—the lower manifestations or emergences are first expressed. That is, it is generally the lower qualities of the will that are used—its aggressive, destructive, and selfish aspects.

But self-will can and should be transmuted into the-good-will and into the will-for-the-time-good. In this way, the individual will gradually identify with the higher will or intention, the universal will, of which one is a part – “the cosmic order” Einstein called it. Roberto Assagioli bbbee – writes in his book The Psychology of Will, (Kentaur Forlag) various methods, techniques and exercises for a practical training of will and for being able to use it optimally on all levels of existence – right from the personal to the transpersonal and up to the area where the individual will merges with the universal will. Here again the connection of the will to meditation is seen, and since it is necessary to use the will to meditate on will, its role in this area will be described first.

Will in meditation

The initial step in all meditation is the will to meditate. It is a self-chosen initiative when the individual decides to practice meditation after recognizing that meditation is valuable and necessary. But in order to carry out this decision, it is necessary that one can maintain the participation of the will in a continuous manner.

The first thing the will must be used for is to eliminate that which can disturb the meditation process: it must be used, for example, to “make room” for meditation in terms of time and consciousness. “Making room in time” means that a fixed period of time must be set aside for regular meditation. “Making room in consciousness” means that it must be protected from all that disturbs and which always encourages other activities, especially in modern life. This means, therefore, that the will must be used to drive out of the area of ​​consciousness all that which is normally present or which constantly tries to enter, such as sensations, feelings, impulses, imaginations, thoughts, memories, expectations, and so on.

The governing will

Next, it is necessary to use the will to carry out the different phases of meditation most effectively. It takes a great deal of will to concentrate on a subject, for example in reflective meditation. The guiding will have to keep the thought steady on the task to prevent it from wandering or jumping to other areas. Also in visualization, when one creates a mental image or visualizes with the imagination, it is the will that keeps the image calm and stable and maintains attention on it.

In receptive meditation, the function of the will is to maintain consciousness in a positive state of equanimity and calm alertness, and to keep thoughts and emotions calm while at the same time avoiding a negative dreamy state.

The same applies to contemplation . Here the highest function of the will become active. In a sutra of Patanjali (13. 1st book) it is said:

“The right use of the will is a constant striving to stand in spiritual being.”

 In the book on Buddha ” Essays in Zen Buddhism”, p.115, (Luzak & Co, London, 1927) Dr. Suzuki gives insight into the role that the will plays in the higher spheres:

“… Buddha made the most strenuous attempt to solve the problem of ignorance, and he exerted the most intense willpower to achieve a successful result of his perseverance… Therefore, inner enlightenment must be connected with the will as well as with the intellect. It is an intuitive influence born of the will… He (Buddha) possessed an indomitable will. With the utmost effort he wanted to reach the very truth of the subject. He knocked and knocked until the doors of ignorance opened. He burst open the doors to new panoramas that had never before appeared to his intellectual vision.”

 Will and invocation

The will is also essential in invocation. For an invocation to be effective, it must be directed upwards by a strong, intense will.

Radiance and blessing also require willpower – in these cases combined with love. And finally, an outward expression of the results of the meditations – whether one wishes to convey them in writing or in some other creative way – will require real and sustained use of the will, so that a logical and adequate form can be created and maintained on the physical plane.

This was a brief summary of the role of the will in meditation, but it is of course a long and gradual process, as the will is used more and more effectively in the many different stages. Whether the process is successful depends on the quality of the meditations from the beginning, as concentration is one of the first prerequisites, and everyone needs to invoke the will to reach a clarification.

A quote from Alice A. Bailey’s book From Intellect to Intuition (Esoterisk Center Forlag), describes the initial work of meditation:

“… it should be noted that the key to success lies in constant and untiring effort… Sporadic attempts will not lead the aspirant anywhere… A few minutes of concentration or meditation done regularly will carry the aspirant much further than a few hours of effort three or four times a month. It has been so rightly said that “for meditation to be effective in terms of results, it must not be merely an occasional effort when we feel prompted to it, but the unceasing and untiring pressure of the will.”

Meditation on will

The nature of the will is difficult to understand, and it is only through meditation that one can gradually come to have a fair idea of ​​its nature and properties. The will has varying phases, different goals and purposes, and many ways of manifesting itself. The real essence of the will is enigmatic, being situated at higher levels beyond the reach of normal human consciousness. This may explain why modern psychology – situated at very “normal” or ordinary levels – practically ignores the will.

Through reflective meditation on the will one can come to have a fair knowledge of its varying aspects. Through invocation and receptive meditation one can attract and shed light on the true nature and substance of the will. Through prayer and meditation one can align the personal will with the will of the soul and later coordinate both of them with the will of God.

When one has developed a part of the will and wishes to use it properly, careful thought and judgment are required to manifest it wisely, constructively, and without harm, and for this process reflective meditation is necessary. It also involves considering questions such as “right choices and decisions,” which are aspects of the will. Normally, a proper application of thought will suffice, but when faced with deeper principles or in the event of a serious situation or an unexpected event, it may be necessary to invoke the will of the soul. The following exercise is valuable as a preparation for knowing one’s own will and for developing it:

Exercise for developing willpower

 Sit in a comfortable position.

Release all tension – physical, emotional and mental.

Recall the various instances and/or situations you are facing, or are likely to face, where you will need to use your will. Then:

1. form as vivid a picture as possible of the harm to yourself and others that your weakness will be able to do, or may have already done. State these recollections clearly. It may also be helpful to make a list of them. Then use your feelings of inadequacy to support a sincere and vital desire to strengthen your will.
2. Form as vivid a picture as possible of all the advantages that a training of the will will bring. Study them and formulate them clearly, and show your enthusiasm and joy at the prospect of achieving them.
3. Finally, form a picture of yourself as having a strong will. Visualize yourself acting with self-control and determination in all situations, and “as if” you can master both an inner and an outer This “as if” technique was discussed in the fourth instruction of the second year.

This exercise should be supported by specific acts of will and exercise programs that can call upon and activate the will. Just as one must train physical muscles to strengthen them, so the will will grow by “being used,” and psychologists such as William James have advocated performing seemingly “useless exercises” for this specific purpose, and learning to engage the will without the help of other motivating impulses, such as desires or intentions. Examples can be found in the previously mentioned book The Psychology of Will by Roberto Assagioli – Kentaur Forlag.

Aspects of will

However, one should strive higher than strengthening the individual or personal will, and therefore the intention is now to study the correct relationships between:

1. The personal will and the will of the soul.
2. The individual will and the will of others.
3. The individual will and the universal will.

These are aspects rather than stages in the development of will, for a parallel development is taking place. The personal will must come to obey the will of the soul, and then a gradual fusion of these two wills takes place, but since one is united with others at the soul level, this process acts at the same time as an aid to the attainment of a right relationship between the individual will and the will of others and the will of the group to which the individual is attached. This is a gradual process leading to the fulfillment of the desire to cooperate and identify with the universal will.

Earlier – in the study of group effort and consensus – insight has been given into how one can relate one’s will to the will of others. Good will is a clear prerequisite in this process. But it is the will-to-good that connects man to the universal will. Will-to-good means that one coordinates the individual will with the good of the whole, and this presupposes a positive and dynamic attitude and conviction that good will prevail.

It must be understood that this is something quite different from man’s blind and unthought-out acceptance of passively “obeying the will of God.” It is necessary to have an individual will in order to be able to identify it with a higher will – it must be a developed, useful aspect within before it is able to “willingly” participate in conscious cooperation with something greater than itself.

This is in keeping with the present-day refusal to accept and obey all “authority” and to question all traditional “commandments” intellectually. The growing consciousness of humanity recognizes that more than this is required of a thinking human being, yet such a view tends to create a negative passivity or a positive rebellion. In either case, it implies a period without belief in a higher power than humanity and the physical forces that can be observed in concrete terms. It is therefore necessary that more scientific views of progressive evolution and of the laws of psychological and spiritual development replace the “blind faith” in God. Humanity is slowly breaking through to this more intelligent view of a “cosmic order” and a universal law, but it is something that needs to be meditated upon in order to gain a clear understanding of what they actually contain and where one’s proper place lies within them. To help clarify this, the following short meditation may be used.

Meditation

1.  Relax – gain both emotional and mental “calm”.
2. Let a sense of the infinite grandeur of the universe ggeennnneemm– flow throughout your being.
3. Think of yourself as a very small particle in this very large and magnificent universe.
4. Then perceive the expansion of personality that occurs in this process. It is in reality an inner “Copernican revolution,” for one is no longer the center of the universe. A truer sense of relationship to the whole of which one is a part begins to develop. You begin to see the proper proportions of your own small will in relation first to the will of others, then to the will of larger and larger groups, and finally to the universal or divine will.
5. Affirm what you have experienced with a clear mental formulation. Formulate your own point of view and use it as the basis for your actions throughout the day.

Although this meditation can be done in a fairly short time, it creates a new and more expanded perception of your true being, and it provides a valuable reorientation that can be applied when facing the activities and problems of the day.

Free will and the use of the will

Free will is a further aspect of this subject that should be mentioned, although it is too extensive a theme to be fully described here.

Free will is a good thing for humanity, but it also carries risks and dangers. If humans did not have free will, they would be automatons, but it is a great responsibility to use it properly. Freedom is like an “intoxicating” wine. It tends to stimulate transgression of divine rights, to cloud otherwise good judgment, and to lead people into arrogance of various kinds. In fact, one could say that the proper use of free will is a central problem for humanity, and it is a problem that has come to the surface in our days.

To solve this problem, it is necessary to understand the previously mentioned relationship between the individual’s “free” will and the “free” will of others, and to become aware of where one’s place is in the universal whole. The previous meditation will be a help in achieving a result.

The destructive power of the will

Will is necessary today as a propelling, clarifying and purifying tool, but to use some of its destructive aspects is not the same as to use it incorrectly. The destruction of obsolete forms must necessarily precede the building of the new age. The ground must be cleared of the rubbish of the past before a new world can be built. It must also be remembered that many of the previously built forms may still be excellent in themselves, but they are no longer adequate for the new mentality and the new conditions of life of our time and of the future.

The destructive aspect of the will is thus a necessity in order to eliminate obsolete forms, but this aspect of the will must be used with wisdom. As mentioned in the last instruction, one of the greatest challenges is to fuse will and love – the energy that can harmonize these two concepts is wisdom. Wise love and wise use of the will are the key. In both the individual and in a group there can be too much love in relation to will, or too much will in relation to love, but there can never be too much wisdom. All the wisdom that is possible is needed.

It is therefore important to strive to identify the individual and “free” will with the will that exists in the soul, for it possesses wisdom and identifies with the universal will and the greatest good.

Reflection

The will has more functions than those above, but it has not been possible to go into them here, because it would be too extensive a study. But in the following meditation outline there are suggestions for themes where one can trace these functions and develop a right use of the will. For example, careful reflection on the stages will bring revelation of the potentials of this inner force in many directions. Most people have not yet registered or tapped the source of energy that the will constitutes. All forms of energy must be used correctly, including the energy of the will, and therefore responsibility is extremely important in this regard. One should take care to be as informed as possible about the potentials of the will, and above all one should develop the ability to direct it wisely.

Caution when performing meditation

In all forms of training it is wise to be aware of the pitfalls one can fall into and of the possible mistakes one can make if one carries out the training too vigorously or in the wrong way. This applies especially to the meditation process, for here a special working method is used that affects the entire personality – this applies to the physical, the emotional and the mental aspects of the entire human being.

In meditation one “warms up” the consciousness, so to speak, so that one can be enabled to be coordinated with, to become receptive to, and to flow through higher and more subjective qualities and energies. By bringing the physical body to rest—a process that includes the brain—by ​​preparing it for the task at hand, by opening the emotional nature to a higher goal, and by directing the thoughts upward, one brings oneself into harmony with higher and more subtle vibrations. These vibrations then stimulate the entire personality—the mental, the astral, and the physical bodies.

This clearly shows why caution is necessary, and why each phase of the meditation process must be developed steadily and calmly, without haste. The higher energies of the soul are strengthening and enriching, but they must be assimilated gradually by the “lower” outer body, otherwise there will be overstimulation, causing unpleasant and sometimes dangerous reactions.

It’s like changing gears in a car to go faster – you can’t go from the lowest gear directly to the highest gear without activating the intermediate gears, and to achieve a smooth ride, the engine’s speed must always be synchronous with the speed of the wheels.

Synchronization of personality and soul

The soul has a much higher vibration than the personality, and therefore the process of synchronizing the soul and personality takes a long time. The transformation process, in which the two are to approach each other, must therefore be gradual to avoid adverse reactions. The processes of assimilation mostly follow the same pattern, whether they occur on the physical, psychological or spiritual level, and the absorption of the higher vibrations attuned in meditation must be done slowly, steadily and wisely.

Overstimulation

The personality has much to adjust in its various parts. The thoughts, concepts and spiritual intuitive perceptions that the consciousness can reach in meditation require a good deal of time to be assimilated into consciousness. Thoughts can very often flow into consciousness during meditation, and they can be relatively easily overstimulated, which can cause one to act rashly in many respects when one cannot control them, think them through and make the necessary adjustments.

There may also be a need to make even greater emotional adjustments, for the influence of higher qualities or energies radiating from the soul may have a disturbing effect on those parts of nature which have not yet been transmuted. This will be described later. First it is important to look at what happens physically when one meditates, because meditation also brings about changes in the physical body.

Physical effects of meditation

As mentioned above, when meditating, one directs all attention to higher levels of consciousness than usual, and by focusing one’s thoughts one connects directly with energies whose properties are higher than normal. One of the first reactions becomes noticeable in the nervous system, because it is the “network” through which the brain – which registers the activity of thought – controls the physical body. In the nervous system of the physical body there are many special centers connected with the glands, and it is these that can very easily become overstimulated. One should never direct one’s attention to or meditate on a special center or area of ​​the physical body with the intention of wanting to “develop” it. Catastrophic results can result from such a “forced” and one-sided process. The spiritual growth of man should take place as a steadily increasing development of the ability to recognize the higher areas of consciousness, therefore one should not force a single one of the special sensitive centers into too rapid an activity.

The sensitive solar plexus center

An example of this is the solar plexus center, as it is often very sensitive, especially in emotional people – who hasn’t had “butterflies in the stomach”? If in meditation one mentally supports the process that stimulates this center, it can cause great difficulties, both emotional and physical, and it could lead to the development of lower psychism, which in no way belongs to true creative meditation. Therefore, one should not direct one’s thoughts towards this center or towards any other part of the physical body, except to observe whether there are reactions that need to be neutralized.

Headache and other reactions

For example, any stimulated feeling in the heart center or throat center should be taken as a warning to “go slowly” or possibly stop meditating altogether for a while, and for example, any sensation or sound in the head center should be carefully observed, and if this is a recurring tendency, or if you get a headache after meditating, you should immediately stop meditating altogether, or at least not so often and not for so long. If the symptoms persist, you should stop altogether for a period, because in the long run this will be the quickest method of achieving the necessary adjustments. All the reactions you notice should subside and disappear naturally as much as possible by not thinking about them with excessive attention, so that they are “reinforced.”

Emotional sensitivity

Emotional people may find that meditation initially increases emotional tendencies. For example, tendencies to nervousness, fear, irritation, depression, or other types of emotion may be stimulated by the energy generated in meditation. The only proper method for counteracting such reactions is to purify the emotional nature and to transmute the lower emotions into higher qualities. For example, aspiration, love, affection, and joy can be stimulated and strengthened, as can the tendency to anger and resentment. The latter emotions should be patiently transmuted one at a time into higher qualities. Trying to change completely and completely all at once can result in failure and discouragement. If the emotions become very agitated, it is a signal that you are going too fast, and then you should limit your meditation or stop altogether for a period of time.

If a greater sensitivity to the conditions of the surroundings and influences develops, this may be another result of overstimulation. The senses become over-intense, leading to great discomfort, both physical and emotional. The best way to overcome this is to develop mental positivity and to raise the focus of consciousness from the emotional levels to the mental levels. This is why study is always recommended alongside meditation, for it helps to develop thinking ability and activity, and it not only leads to balanced progress, but it also takes the person to higher levels.

Mental sensitivity

There is, however, another background for developing and training the mind, since one of the most extensive difficulties in the first stages of meditation is possibly that psychic sensitivity arises in some form or another, and in that case a balancing of the mind and its various powers will be of great importance and value. It is by training the highest powers of receptivity (for inspiration and intuitive insight) and of creative thought-form construction that one seeks to make it possible for the physical brain to perceive that the spiritual world really exists. Alice A. Bailey writes in the book From Intellect to Intuition , page 167 (Esoterisk Center Forlag):

“However, it is likely that it will take a long time for the meditator to penetrate the spiritual world. He must therefore learn to distinguish between the different areas of consciousness that may open up to him as he becomes more sensitive, and to learn to know nature from what he sees and hears.”

Lower psychic phenomena

At this stage, lower psychic phenomena can throw the beginner off balance if one is open to them. Unless one is prepared and knows what they are, one will immediately believe that one has reached something quite unique and highly spiritual. Messages seem to come from a high source – perhaps even from Christ. A stream of inspired writings and automatic writing comes flowing, and one is inclined to believe that one is a “chosen channel”. Here is another quote from Alice A. Bailey’s book From Intellect to Intuition , page 168 (Esoterisk Center Forlag):

“What has really happened? … Here it must be remembered that the banal truth that “thoughts are created things” and that all thoughts take form. Two conditions have brought about the event if it has really happened and is not the result of a lively and overstimulated imagination. The power of the creative imagination has only just begun to be felt, and it is very possible to see just what one wishes to see, even though it does not exist at all. The aspirant’s desire to make progress — and his persistent efforts — have forced him to be awake or conscious on the psychic plane, the plane of vain imaginings, the plane of desire and its illusory fulfillment. In this world he comes into contact with a thought-form… The world of illusion is full of these thought-forms, built up by the devoted thoughts of men down through the ages, and the man working through his psychic nature (which is the path of least resistance for the majority), comes into contact with such a thought-form, mistakes it for reality, and imagines that it says to him all the things he wants to be said. He wants to be encouraged, he seeks, like so many others, justification of his striving by external phenomena, he quiets his brain and slips gently into a psychic and negative state. When he is in this state, his imagination begins to function, and he sees what he wants to see, and hears the magnificent words of recognition he longs for.”

 When one begins to meditate, there is a danger of being misled in this way if one’s discernment is not alert, and if one is open to such flattering thought forms because of a longing for “spiritual prominence,” or because of an inferiority complex that needs to be neutralized.

Positive meditation

One of the best safeguards is to recognize that being sensitive to psychic phenomena does not indicate a high spiritual status. It is a state of consciousness, and it must be remembered that it is a state shared by the human kingdom with the animal kingdom. This is largely due to the susceptibility to negativity. To protect oneself against this, one must maintain a positive meditation. The creative meditations described in the second and third year instructions for the New Age meditation groups are good examples of “positive meditations.” They show how to use the faculty of thought to build thought forms and to call upon spiritual help. One seeks to participate actively and constructively on the inner levels, rather than passively opening oneself up to the inner forces one may come into contact with. This form of meditation will therefore not lead the meditator into psychic difficulties.

It is a good rule that if there is any sign of overstimulation, discomfort or an unwelcome influence in the meditation process, whether physical, emotional or mental, it should be neutralized by ending the meditation. Doing something physically active afterwards, such as going for a walk or doing your daily chores, helps to circulate and distribute the excess energy, thereby “grounding” you again on the physical and practical level.

Meditation and service work

One should always remember that the purpose of meditation is to bring the personality into contact with the soul, and that the higher and positive energy of the soul will increase the person’s creativity and give new “life” which can be expressed as needed. That is why meditation should always be linked with service.

Service is the best method of distributing as well as using the energies received through meditation. It is also an absolute necessity that they be expressed to avoid “accumulation”. Service can be given either on the inner or on the outer levels, but preferably on both. On the inner levels, one can serve through creative meditation and with various forms of invocation, emanation and blessing. On the outer levels, one can express the energy of the soul through writing and speech as well as in other ways. This form of service creates an outlet for the energy received. Use, sacrifice, give is a law for the spiritual as well as the material economies.

Meditation, study and service

A golden rule is to balance meditation, study, and service – first, “meditation” to approach the higher sources, second, “study” to learn about what one is doing and how to interpret it, and how to develop the ability to think and use the ability to see, and third, “service” to use what one has learned for the good of others, and how to become a helper in God’s overarching “plan” and purpose.

Contemplation

This is the last instruction of the third year, where the intention is to study the stages in the meditation process that can be called “stages of opposite sign.” This applies to the stage of contemplation , which occurs when meditation has reached its peak, and to emanation , which as a result is expressed in the exterior.

Several different forms of meditation have been elucidated in the second year instructions, but contemplation had to wait until now, as it is a stage of meditation that is difficult to achieve, and it is also a difficult subject to describe for several reasons. The difficulty lies in putting into words an inner level of consciousness that by its nature lies far above the “normal” and commonly known state of consciousness. Everyone who has experienced a contemplative state has emphasized that it is “indescribable.”

Contemplation is not meditation

Evelyn Underhill has covered the subject at length in her book Mysticism (EP Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1961). Written many years ago, it is still a very valuable book for the student of this subject, both because it contains a wealth of quotations from the writings of mystics and because the author provides a profound analysis and explanation of the substance of the subject. Here are some of her more significant comments:

“Contemplation is not – as in meditation – a single stage governed by a series of psychic states. Contemplation is one name for a large series of stages, partly governed – like all other forms of mystical activity – by the temperament of the person and partly accompanied by emotional stages. These stages can vary from a particularly pronounced peacefulness or “peace in a failed life” to a wildly enthusiastic and active love, where “thought becomes song”. Some forms of contemplation are inextricably intertwined with the phenomena of “intellectual vision” and “inner voices”. In other forms one can find what seems to be a development of “silence”: it is a state which the person describes as a blurred absorption, a darkness or a “contemplation in a misty veil”. beneficent darkness” …

 With this wealth of personal experience, it is necessary to use a method of classification and some rules that can help the meditator to distinguish between true contemplation and other inner states. Such a method is not easy to find. However, I believe that there are two signs that can show whether the state is right: (A) The impression of wholeness … (B) The integration of the soul … These two basic concepts can be used without risk in an attempt to determine the level of contemplation.

(A) Whatever terms the mystic may use to describe it, and however weak and confused his intuitive understanding may be, what he experiences in contemplation is an experience of the all… It is truly the absolute that is revealed to him – it is not, as in meditation and vision, some individual symbols or aspects of it.

(B) He perceives this revealed reality because of his way of participating, and not because of his way of observing. The passive receptivity of silence is here developed into an active outward self-surrender… A “give and take” – a divine osmosis – is arranged between the finite and the infinite.”

 The mystical contemplation

The French psychologist Henri Delacroix, in “Etudes sur le Mysticism,” also gave a good description of contemplation. When contemplation occurs, he says:

“(a) Contemplation generally creates a state of indifference, in which one feels freedom and peace, rises high above the world, and has a sense of bliss… The person ceases to perceive himself as part of the multiplicity of his own ordinary consciousness. He has risen above his own personality. A deeper and purer soul has taken the place of the normal personality.

(b) In this state, where the experience of being a personality and the perception of the world disappear, the mystic is conscious of his close relationship to God himself, and of his participation in divinity. Contemplation implements a method of being and knowledge. These two concepts, moreover, basically tend to become one. The mystic gets an ever-increasing impression of being that which he knows, and of knowing that which he is.”

But these descriptions – however valuable they may be – do not cover the whole subject. They are about mystical contemplation, but there are other forms of contemplation which do not have the specific religious character attributed to “mysticism” in its more limited and accepted form.

Contemplation can have an aesthetic character – contemplation of beauty, contemplation of reality as it is manifested and found in the visible world – or it can have a “poetic” character – contemplation of the cosmic order and of the dynamic and constant change in universal life.

Inspiration and inner enlightenment

The idea is now to relate contemplation to the other stages of “inner action” described in previous instructions. Contemplation may (but not always) follow from reflective meditation. Sometimes it may occur spontaneously, indeed, one might say almost inevitably, but for the most part it is the result of the deliberate action of the “meditator” – that is, an action in which the will is used. All mental activity and all thinking are stopped. The attention and the mental searchlight are directed upwards towards a region of pure and clear cognition. In the next stage, the whole consciousness is lifted upwards, and one becomes able to dwell for a shorter or longer period within the higher level of reality and of being. It is a state of deep but positive “silence”, a state of calm “inner tension”. In this stage one can receive light and energy. One can practice the highest form of receptive meditation. It has been called “the source of inspiration and inner illumination”. It is a “recharge, a time of inner growth, tapping into the wellsprings of spiritual energy.

The highest result of inner development

From the above descriptions, two basic facts emerge:

1. True contemplation is not a passive, dreamlike state, as it has often been considered, but rather a state of heightened intuitive perception, of clear realization, which can be evoked and maintained by an act of will.
2. It leads to a conscious and direct realization of universality.

Evelyn Underhill writes:

“From the contact made with this universal life… the mystic draws an astonishing strength, an unshakeable peace, and a power to deal with circumstances, which is one of the most striking characteristics of the unifying life.”

 This is indeed the highest result of inner development. It is the realization of the final principle to which the other laws and principles of the kingdom of God lead— the principle of essential divinity.

The necessity of transformation

But this transcendence of duality, even of the highest type and of this progression from vision to identification, requires transformation and regeneration of personality.

In order to accomplish this transformation of all “lower” elements, one must first discover and “accept” the dark sides of one’s own nature. To the extent that they are present, they constitute the material to be worked on and transformed, ultimately resulting in all the richness and synthesis that a regenerated “new person” possesses. During the course of the critical phases of this process of realization and transformation, the individual passes through painful periods of drought and inner darkness.

The necessity of dealing with the “dark side,” with the “shadow,” has been emphasized by the more intuitive psychologists such as CG Jung and Rollo May. But before them it had been fully recognized by mystics throughout the ages, though with different terminology, and they have emphasized the purification in transformation and—in the case of Christian mystics—the necessity of God’s intervention.

This helps to understand the nature and meaning of another and quite opposite form of contemplation. Evelyn Underhill sums up its nature in the words: “the conscious I, is in darkness because it is blinded by a light stronger than it can bear,” and the quote continues with a revealing explanation given by St. John of the Cross:

“The brighter the light, the more the eyes of the naive will be blinded, and the more we try to look towards the Sun, the weaker our vision becomes and the more our weak eyes are darkened. In the same way, the divine light of contemplation, when it shines on the soul that is not yet completely purified, will fill the soul with spiritual darkness, not only because of the brilliance of the light, but because it paralyzes the natural intuitive perception of the soul. The pain that the soul feels is the same as that felt by weak and diseased eyes when they are suddenly struck by a bright light. Such pain is intense when the soul, not yet purified, finds itself surrounded by this purifying light  .

Less drastic forms of this darkness – such as a form of “dryness”, an inner emptiness and loss of joy in life – can also occur in the early stages of meditation.

They come especially (but not only) to emotional people and to people who have a greater or lesser tendency towards the mystical, and who commit themselves to the conscious use and development of the faculty of thought. These phases of darkness and emptiness form part of the inevitable fluctuations of the inner life. One should be familiar with them in advance, and their purifying and therefore beneficial function should be appreciated and valued. In this way much unnecessary suffering can be avoided.

Those who pass through these stages of darkness must stand firm in the faith, based on the experience of countless fellow pilgrims, that such stages are indeed transient and temporary, and that through them they will reach higher levels of realization and even greater light and joy.

Radiation

Repeatedly in this study the importance of expressing the energy that has been contacted as a result of the meditation and of using the ideas and inspirations that have been received has been emphasized. In the sixth instruction of the second year, the subject of Radiance and Expression was specifically described, and students are advised to read that instruction again. However, because of the great importance of this “end result” of the meditation, here are some more suggestions in the form of a brief summary to conclude the current year.

Overview of radiation

1. What is radiation?
   1.  It radiates from the essence or radioactivity of any special form.
   2. It signifies energy, and its lower counterpart to the spiritual emanation from the souls of all divine beings can be seen in the atom, the mineral, the flower, the stone, and the animal.
   3. It is the effect created when one reaches a stage of vibratory activity.
   4. It increases in strength when soul contact and soul integration are stimulated.
2. Types of radiance associated with meditation
   1.  Telepathy
      • Receptive.
      • Projected.
   2. Intuitive impressions .
      • Received.
      • Broadcast.
   3. Projection .
      • Upward – coordination and contact with the soul or higher beings.
      • Outward – radiation to the surroundings, whereby everything around is influenced, conditioned and changed.
   4. Penetration .
      • Upward – to higher and inner spheres of consciousness.
      • Downward – two areas with special purposes.
3. Effects
   1.  Creativity . This can take many forms depending on the individual’s character traits and abilities, and should not be seen solely as artistic. You can be creative in many practical ways in everyday life, not least with a general positive attitude that creatively transmutes the environment.
   2. Joy . The radiating value of joy was reviewed in this year’s fifth instruction.
   3. Degradation of Glare . This topic will be discussed later. It is a complicated and extensive topic, but very important.
   4. Blessing is a specific form of energy transfer. This is explained in Blessings For a Total World , available from Meditation Mount, POBox 566, Ojai, CA 93023, and is highly recommended.
   5. Healing . This is also too big a topic to go into in detail, but one should be aware that one possesses a “healing energy” to the same extent that one radiates love, harmlessness, positivity, right relationships and qualities of a similar nature.

The strength of the radiation

New Age trends such as positivity, dynamism, extroversion and joy all have a radiant quality. It is therefore to be expected that radiance will become a stronger and better understood factor in human life in the future. Many physical forms of radiance are already being studied scientifically in various fields, and this paves the way for greater attention to the more subtle forms of radiance – emotional, mental and spiritual – which one must learn to control and use.

It is said that the “sphere of radiance” is a powerful instrument in the work of service, and that radiance is in fact one of the greatest obligations of man. All men are constantly radiating something to others—and therefore it is important to remember that one can radiate goodwill as effectively as anger—and often much more easily. One can be helpful or hindering. One can have an uplifting, transmuting, and healing influence wherever one is, and radiance is one of the best ways to apply soul quality.

How to move forward

Here you can receive seven free meditations where you develop different aspects of yourself.

Also read the article Psychosynthesis an Integral Psychology and the biography of Roberto Assagioli

Read the introductory article about energy psychology

Read the introductory article about integral meditation