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… loss of the senses of time and space and causality. Duality in any form is abolished. The idea of time involves that of two consecutive things, that of space two non-coincident things, that of causality two connected things; These Dhyanic conditions contradict those of normal thought; but G
…tered it. Of St. Paul’s experiences, we have nothing but a casual illusion to his having been “caught up into Heaven, and seen and heard things of which it was not lawful to speak.” Mohammed speaks crudely of his having been “visited by the Angel Gabriel,” who communicated things from “God.” Moses says that he “beheld God.” ᾽
… or disease. In analysing the nature of this work of controlling the mind, the student will appreciate without trouble the fact that two things are involved—the person seeing and the thing seen—the person knowing and the thing known; and he will come to regard this as the necessary condition of all consciousness. We are too accustomed to assume to be facts things about which we have no real right even to guess. We assume, for example, that the unconscious is the torpid; and yet nothing is more certain than that bodily organs which are functioni…
…the visions of Joan of Arc were entirely Christian; but she, like all the others we have mentioned, found somewherethe force to do great things. Of course, it may be said that there is a fallacy in the argument; it may be true that all these great people “ saw God,” but it does not follow that every one who “ sees God ” will do great things. This is true enough. In fact, the majority of people who claim to have “seen God,” and who no doubt did “see God” just as much as those whom we have quoted, did nothing else. But perhaps their silence is no…
82 in Samadhi they are very much more marked than in Dhyana. And while in the latter it seems like a simple union of two things, in the former it appears as if all things rushed together and united. One might say that in Dhyana there was still this quality latent, that the One existing was opposed to the Many non-existing; in Samadhi the Many and the One are united in a union of Existence with non-Existence. This definition is not made from reflection, but from memory. Further, it is easy to master the “trick ” or “knack” of Dhyana. After a while…
…cstasy, prolong Thy meditation steep and strong, Slaying even God, should He distract Thy attention from the chosen act! Last, all these things in one o’erpowered, Time that the midnight blossom flowered! The oneness is. Yet even in this, My son, thou shalt not do amiss If thou restrain the expression, shoot Thy glance to rapture’s darkling root, Discarding name, form, sight, and stress Even of this high consciousness; Pierce to the heart! I leave thee here: Thou art the Master. I revere Thy radiance that rolls afar, O Brother of the Silver Star…
…t Samadhi than enough; we must endeavour to avoid adding to the heap. Even Patanjali, who is extraordinarily clear and practical in most things, begins to rave when he talks of it. Even if what he said were true he should not have mentioned it ; because it does not sound true, and we should make no statement that is ἁpriori improbable without being prepared to back it up with the fullest proofs. But it is more than likely that his com- mentators have misunderstood him. The most reasonable statement, of any acknowledged authority, is that of Yaj…
…t avoid anything like a dogmatic statement. In Their second book of practical instruction, Liber 0, occur these words: “By doing certain things certain results will follow. Students are most earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philo- sophical validity to any of them.” Those golden words! In discussing Dhyana, then, let it be clearly understood that some- thing unexpected is about to be described. We shall consider its nature and estimate its value in a perfectly unbiassed way, without allowing ourselves the usual rhapsodie…
…nce, and a very striking one. In the course of our concentration we noticed that the contents of the mind at any moment consisted of two things, and no more: the Object, variable, and the Subject, invariable, or apparently so. By success in Dharana the object has been made as invariable as the subject. Now the result of this is that the two become one. This phenomenon usually comes as a tremendous shock. It is indescribable even by the masters of language; and it is therefore not surprising that semi-educated stutterers wallow in oceans of gush…
…al. It is by freeing the mind from external influences,whether casual or emotional, that it obtains power to see somewhat of the truth of things. Let us, however, continue our practice. Let us determine to be masters of our minds. We shall then soon find what conditions are favourable. There will be no need to persuade ourselves at great length that all
…non sometimeshappens when one is half awake in the morning, and one cannot think what town one is living in. The similarity of these two things is rather significant. It suggests that what is really happening is that you are waking up from the sleep which men call waking, the sleep Whose dreams are life. There is another way to test one’s progress in this practice, and that is by the character of the breaks. Breaks are classed as follows: E'rsz‘ly, physical sensations. These should have been overcome by Asana. Secondly, breaks that seem to be di…
…is rather important for a Hindu, who would be thoroughly upset for weeks if any one gave him a coconut: but the average Euro— pean takes things as they come by the time that he has been put into long trousers.
…eams. This sounds superstitious; but the idea is that you have already a tendency, independent of your conscious will, to think of those things, which will consequently be easier to think of than others. That this is the explanation is evident from the nature of the preceding and subsequent classes. You can also meditate on elm/Ming illa! especially appeals loyou. But in all this one feels inclined to suggest that it will be better
…The former four may turn out on examination to be merely conditions favourable to the last.) On investigating what is meant by these two things, we find that they are only one. For what is the state of either prayer or meditation? It is the restraining of the mind to a single act, state, or thought. If we sit down quietly and investigate the contents of our minds, we shall find that even at the best 05 times the principal characteristics are wandering and distraction. Any one who has had anything to do with children and untrained minds generally …
…n a very rational explanation of the greatness of great men. They had an experience so overwhelming, so out of proportion to the rest of things, that they were freed from all the petty hindrances which prevent the normal man from carrying out his projects. Worrying about clothes, food, money, what people may think, how and why, and above all the fear of consequences, clog nearly every one. Nothing is easier, theoretically, than for an anarchist to kill a king. He has only to buy a rifle, make himself a first-class shot, and shoot the king from a …
… present, on account of their implications. Let us rather speak of this sun as “some unknown thing whose presence has been masked by all things known, and by the knower.” It is probable, too, that our memory of Dhyana is not of the pheno- menon itself, but of the image left thereby on the mind. But this is duration of Dhyana. One can only say that, since it certainly occurred between such and such hours, it must have lasted less than that time. Thus we see, from Frater P. ’5 record, that it can certainly occur in less than an hour and five minut…
…It is, then, difficult to overrate the value that such an experience has for the individual, especially as it is his entire conception of things, including his most deep—seated conception, the standard to which he has always referred everything, his own self, that is overthrown; and when we try to explain it away as hallucination, temporary suspension of the faculties or something similar, we find ourselves unable to do so. You cannot argue with a flash of lightning that has knocked you down. Any mere theory is easy to upset. One can find flaws in t…
…efore we have been doing this for very long we are almost certain to get impatient, and we shall find that we have to practice many other things in order to assist us in our work. New problems will constantly arise which must be faced, and solved. For instance, we shall most assuredly find that we fidget. We shall
…t relegate many less exalted states to the class of Dhyana. Patanjali enumerates a number of these states: to perform these on different things gives different 1 The vulgarism and provincialism of the Buddhist canon is infinitely repulsive to all nice minds; and the attempt to use the terms of an ego-centric philosophy to explain the details of a psychology Whose principal doctrine is the denial of the ego, was the work of a mischievous idiot. Let us unhesitatingly reject these abominations, these nastinesses of the beggars dressed in rags that …