INTRODUCTION:
Meditation is our secret weapon against the
forces of evil. We would like to make it
un-secret. Lets focus this month on the practical importance of
thinking and meditating. Most of us are aware that Energy Follows Thought. Everything that is, was meditated
(or thought) into existence. Thinking was/is behind every human advance and every human
enslavement. Meditation is not just some mystical method for achieving
enlightenment or for feeling good or relieving stress. There
is an even more practical usefulness for meditation. Meditation can be used for the purpose of directing energy into desired
systems of living, for the creation of a better world. We would like to invite you to
Meditate. Deliberately, consciously try to visualize or
will into existence through the use of contemplative meditation, a world with no poverty, no disease, no slavery of any
sort, with education, food, medical care, housing and useful work for all. A
world without war.
Still
Waters
"The
mountains, I become part of them
The herbs, the fir tree,
I become part of them
The morning mists, the clouds,
the gathering waters
I become part of them
The wilderness, the dew drops, the pollen
I become part of them"
~Navajo Chant
"Meditation...is creative thinking through the light of the Intuition and in
conformity with the Divine Plan. ...(M)editation will involve not
only the mystical efforts of humanity, but it will involve, as well, the
political, educational, philosophic, artistic, scientific, religious, and
economic fields. It will create harmony within and between all these fields
under the rhythm of the Divine Plan, of the Divine Will. Thus, meditation will
be not only to gain insight,...to have inspiration and
joy but also to bring them down to practical life, to transform our life on all
levels, healing the wounds of humanity, building bridges and revealing the
unity, the synthesis behind all creation." The
Science of Meditation, p. 19 Torkom
Saraydarian
Meditation is what the early Christians called pure prayer.
It is a gift of such staggering proportions that we must respond to it
gradually, gently. When we begin we cannot fully understand the sheer
magnificence and wonder of it. Each time we return to meditate we enter into
that reality a little more deeply, a little more faithfully. Because meditation
leads us into the experience of love at the centre of our being, it makes us
more loving people in our ordinary lives and relationships. Not only is
meditation the necessary basis for contemplative action, but it is the essential
condition for a fully human response to life.
A close relative who does not use the
Invocation recently put the following questions to me: Why do you use the Great
Invocation so much? Why do you believe so strongly that it
will do any good or that it will help the current situation? The letter
below was my reply to him.
The main reason why I use the Invocation is
because I know something, a little something, of the power of thought.
Please notice what I didn't say here. I didn't say I "believe" I
know and I didn't limit my statement just to "prayer". And what
is it that I know, you ask: that thought, any thought, has an effect on
the thinker himself and on his surroundings or environment. About this
there should be no doubt. Not that this is what makes it true, but even
modern science has been able to verify this conclusively. Consider the
following information on what is now being called "toxic
emotions."
"Since
the 1970s, research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology has documented
direct links between emotions and biochemical events in the body,
thereby establishing on a scientific basis what folk healers have always
known: emotions can manifest themselves as physical symptoms. Noted
women's health expert, Christiane Northrup, M.D., of Yarmouth, Maine,
coined the term toxic emotions to indicate the powerful, strongly held,
and often unconsciously active beliefs and emotions that help generate
symptoms that keep illnesses in place. "A thought held long enough
and repeated enough becomes a belief," says Dr. Northrup. "The
belief then becomes biology." In the view of Dr. Northrup as well
as other alternative practitioners working with cancer patients, beliefs
and emotions can be legitimate toxins, contributing to an overall
weakening of the immune system."
The connection
between emotional stress and cancer survival can be explained by recent
findings in psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Its research suggests that the
persistence of cancer cells depends in part on internal body controls that
retrain or stimulate tissue growth; psychological factors appear to
regulate these controls through neurological, hormonal, and immunologic
pathways.
I know that you are a born skeptic so I don't
offer you this information as a way of saying that this is the only proof
you need, but rather to point out that if you look for scientific evidence
on a "mind/body" or "emotion/body" connection, you
will find plenty of it. And as you know, the purpose of the letter was not
to try to prove the mind-body link but rather to talk about why I use the
Invocation. So let me return to that. Note that the scientific studies
mentioned above focus mainly on the deleterious health consequences of
negative thought. There is also evidence to support the converse, i.e.
that positive thought has beneficial consequences associated with it...
...................
...the Great
Invocation is the embodiment of the best, greatest, thought
that I can comprehend. Why do I say that? Here are a few reasons.
First of all, the Great Invocation asks
nothing for the separated self. Its focus is on what would best serve the
needs of all Humanity, not just the part of it to which one is most
attached or identified. It does not ask that one group of true believers
be granted more or better things than some other group. It asks for Light
and Love for all and to me that is a most beautiful thought.
Secondly, it asks that Humanity work for and
labor on behalf of the noble goal that the Plan of Love and Light be
restored on earth. That means that we as humans are not asking God to do
this for us.
Instead we are asked to take a positive and
constructive role in helping to bring this about. This means that God, our
Father, treats us as and expects us to behave as responsible adults,
rather than as cowering and fearful children... That, to my mind is also a
very good and noble thought...
"No one can use this Invocation or
prayer for illumination and for love without causing powerful changes in
his own attitudes. His life intention, character and goals will be
changed and his life will be altered and made spiritually useful. As a
man thinks in his heart so is he is a basic law in nature. The constant
turning of the mind to the need for light and the prospect of
illumination cannot and will not be ineffectual…a down-pouring of
light and goodwill (which is the immediate aspect of love required today
among men) can be looked for." Discipleship in the New Age
II, p. 168 - Alice A. Bailey
Click
here to read the complete excerpt from a book-in-progress by
Starling David Hunter
"One more misconception: often, because of ignorance or self-justification,
people think that their thought is insignificant and can reach nowhere,
whereas the potentiality of thought is great, and for thought there exists
neither space nor time. But those who think chaotically are, like those who
wave their hands in the dark, unaware of the object they hit. Moreover,
thought accumulates in space. One can conceive of a mighty choir of harmonious
thoughts, but one can also imagine a flock of chattering black jackdaws. Such
congregations also fill space and disturb the higher worlds. Dear thinkers... you are also responsible for the quality of your thoughts. Thus,
even you create your future."
Hierarchy,
Paragraph 172 (also from the Starling Hunter excerpt)
It is this growing sovereignty over the mental body which meditation gives
that really makes a difference in the personal life. First of all this ability
to control, that is to use the mind consciously and deliberately, is paralleled
by a growing sense of occult detachment. Gradually one begins to realize that
one is not one's bodies. Amazing. It is absolutely amazing to realize that one
is simply not one's physical body.
The highest creative
work open to the mind of man is meditation which imprints upon the meditator's
mind a clear workable impression of the general character and general outline of
the future; this would be the unformed future of whichever department of
planetary life the meditator knows most about and is most interested in:
Training in this high degree of creativity includes learning to translate the
impressions thus recorded by mind into ideals, plans and actions most suitable
to the pace of growth of surrounding lives, in forms acceptable to the existing
environment...
Meditation training for maximum creativity is necessarily group training.
This creative assignment is the building of a new civilization. This will be
meditation that leads to enlightened political action, effective social action,
inspired public education-as well as loving family relations! Much too much
creating for any lone meditator. Groups are needed, many groups, groups aware of
the need for many groups, yet also aware each of its own group-worth in the
overall effort.
"Meditation is a
process of harmonization and attunement with the purpose of the incoming
energies from the higher realms... Meditation prepares us to become sensitive to
these incoming energies. It enables us to be charged with them and to translate
them in the form of light, love, and will-to-good. This is how a new age man is
born, a man who is in tune with the purpose of the incoming energies and with
the highest aspirations of humanity." The
Science of Meditation, p. 20 Torkom
Saraydarian
By Gail
Bernice Holland
Associate editor of IONS Review
it’s
an old question:
how
can we create a
better
society? here is a new
and
surprising response:
through
contemplation.
Admittedly, to
many people the art of contemplation, whether it’s in the form of a
disciplined meditation or any kind of self-reflection, seems far removed
from the “activist” image associated with social change. Yet action
without the benefit of insight can sometimes do more harm than good and
for this reason—particularly in today’s complex age—the time might
be ripe for deeper introspection.
Thus, in the
early ’90s, the Fetzer Institute and the Nathan Cummings Foundation
initiated “The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.”
Individuals involved in contemplative traditions readily agree that such
practices can advance personal well-being. But the intention of this
project goes one step further. Could society-at-large be the beneficiary
if contemplation became mainstream? In other words, the goal of this
project is to encourage contemplative practice in secular life so that
more and more people can develop the qualities of insight and wisdom
that hold the potential to transform society.
Developing the
inner life to transform the outer world might sound like a grandiose
challenge but in the last few years the Center has introduced
contemplative practices into key sectors of American life, including the
legal profession, educational institutions, the workplace, and they have
even offered meditation retreats to members of the media.
“This is a bold
venture,” says Mirabai Bush, director of The Center for Contemplative
Mind. But Bush also emphasizes that contemplation isn’t being viewed
as an instantaneous “magic wand” to improve society. “It isn’t
an intervention that goes in and ‘fixes’ something and then has
immediate results,” she cautions. “What we are trying to do is
create the conditions that will encourage the increase of compassion and
wisdom, and increase the likelihood of solutions to problems. Our work
is based on the belief that the potential for positive change comes from
within us. If we give people tools to heighten awareness of their inner
states, then they are more apt to come up with new ways of creating a
better world.”
The fact that
this project exists at all is a sign many people are more willing to
discuss and explore such topics and techniques. Charles Terry, director
of philanthropy at the Rockefeller Family Office, who has been active
with The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society from the beginning,
observes, “Seven years ago it was quite unusual in many settings to
talk openly about contemplation or spirituality. An expression of how
this has changed is that at last year’s annual family foundations
gathering, attended by 1000 people, Rob Lehman, President of the Fetzer
Institute, gave the keynote address on the topic of philanthropy,
spirituality, and the inner life. And it was very well received.
“We have come
to a point in our society,” Terry continues, “where there’s a
quest for a deeper meaning in life. We have all this wonderful material
stuff (and I’m not being negative about the material) but the question
is how do you balance ‘stuff’ with a deeper sense of what life is
all about? I think the huge accumulation of wealth, which has been
fairly lopsided in terms of its distribution, raises these questions.
And I think the speeding up of life—how busy everyone is—calls out
for something more contemplative, something quieter, some way we can
reflect on what really is going on. It’s a natural and welcome
evolution.”
In answer to
whether the mainstream of society is ready to consider contemplative
practice as a path to social change in the broadest sense, Terry
replies, “When the Center first started it wasn’t at all clear
whether our vision would be practical, but it has emerged to be very
concrete and have a lot of very relevant ramifications and implications
for society-at-large.”
For information contact The Center for
Contemplative Mind in Society, 38 Village Hill Road, Williamsburg,
Massachusetts 01096; 413-268-3003; email cmind@crocker.com
Gail Bernice
Holland is an associate editor of IONS Review, and former editor of
Connections magazine. She is the author of A Call for Connection:
Solutions for Creating a Whole New Culture (New World Library,
1998).
One way to
enter the sacred hub is through inquiry. Inquiry is simply the starting
place from which to go deeper into the unplumbed depths of inner
awareness. Questions that pertain to life should not be answered
immediately, they should not be assaulted with what is already known.
Rather, these questions should provoke careful and deep reflection about
the question and about the questioner. This spiraling inquiry leads us
beneath the conditioned mind to awareness itself. The Indian poet Kabir
once wrote, "I reached the place inside me where the world is
breathing." It is into this billowing awareness that inquiry takes
us.
The mind wants to understand, to grasp
some specific meaning. Inquiry, however, does not provide this. Inquiry
sabotages the mind and its need for security and certainty. Inquiry
confounds the mind's patterns to allow the awareness behind the mind to
reveal itself.
Through inquiry we seek to awaken a
capacity of self-knowledge which is deeper than thought and prior to the
impressions of acquired knowledge. What we already know is of the past,
a mote against new and fresh insight. Insight in the present is not
conditioned by the past. Insight in the present is being, and it is this
being, free and unconditioned by acquired knowledge, that inquiry
awakens and arouses. The intelligence of our being is an innate
capacity. It is wisdom. In arousing our innate wisdom, we can clarify
ourselves and our actions. We can illuminate the very causes of
conflict, doubt, and fear within us. This path of inquiry is a direct
way to realize our essential nature. When we discover our essential
nature, when we recognize who we are—through deep and persistent
inquiry—we become free.
I have found, as perhaps you have, that
there is a tremendous "knowing" that leaps into the mind when
it is silent, when it has given up trying to understand, when all of its
false imaginings and projections have been exposed. Inquiry take us into
this depth of silence, and then the silence reveals itself like
primordial breathing. This kind of knowing is transmitted to us as pure
revelation, unformed by words and images. It is like a potent dye
released in an ocean that instantly permeates every drop. When we open
ourselves to this deep unconditioned knowing, we too are completely
permeated.
Entering this inner silence unifies and
makes whole what had seemed piecemeal and fragmented. In this wholeness,
we experience a oneness of being in which the tension of feeling
separate from life disappears, in which internal and external conflicts
are resolved in an encompassing clarity. I call this silent
intelligence, this wholeness, the Self. The Self is not a thing, like a
brick, nor is it an abstraction, like patriotism. The Self is pure
primordial awareness: the supremely intelligent current of life that
enlivens and animates everything in existence. It is a fountain of
insight and clarity, a presence that is the fragrance of reality. The
guidance of the Self is what we all turn to in times of need. The Self
is the sacred hub of the universe out of which everything else appears,
and around which everything revolves.
"The
purpose of meditation is to annihilate hindrances on the path of this expansion
and to make you more aware of your Cosmic relationships and your Cosmic destiny.
Meditation leads you into freedom, and instead of being the slave of your
egocentric viewpoints and cravings, you become a part or even one with the
Cosmic viewpoint. Thus you help to end the misery of all former civilizations
which grew out of human tears, sufferings, pain, and blood." The
Science of Meditation, p. 20 - Torkom
Saraydarian
These three words probably supply the most accurate definition of creative
meditation - registration, interpretation, application. They imply mental
activity, involving cause and effect, contact with a source of inspiration, and
the consequent ability to use and apply the fruits of meditation.
There is a way, which
can be learned and practiced, by which the consciousness can be focussed,
aligned and turned towards the first source of spiritual inspiration–the soul.
This starts with mental activity; not only that of the lower mind, the
analyzing, directing faculty, but also the ability to bring the lower mind,
through conscious direction, into alignment with the higher mind and soul. A
thought or "seed idea" contemplated in the light of the soul produces
new thought, mental illumination, which the lower mind interprets and applies.
Creative Meditation: A Planetary Service
The technique of meditation governs all expansions of consciousness,
including the entire process of evolutionary development within the planet. It
is the technique of spiritual contact and apprehension, the means of furthering
the evolution of human intelligence, the capacity to love, and the ability to
bring the personal will into alignment with the divine will.
Meditation is the single most effective means for transcending the binding,
restrictive sense of separateness and isolation which imprison the human
consciousness and render it futile. Meditation is the outstanding creative agent
upon the planet. The effect of human meditation at this time is to change
conditions, to invoke the higher spiritual potencies, to work with concentration–both
vertically and horizontally–within the world of men and within the kingdom of
God. This vertical and horizontal activity holds the secret of creative
meditation.
The intention to be of service to mankind is the essential motivation for all
true creative meditation. Expansion of the human mind is based on the ability to
love and to serve one’s fellowman. The ultimate result in the consciousness of
the individual is illumination, wisdom and the will-to-good, and an expanding
ability to cooperate in the creative and redemptive purposes of our planetary
life, Meditation as a planetary service is both practical and effective.
…Meditation should lead to a well-rounded life expression…This might be
done by attempting to translate one’s highest visions or ideas into some
project or activity which will benefit others…Meditation brings in energy and
inspiration. Service is the right use of soul energy, vision and inspiration.
Group Meditation
Although meditation may begin as a solitary activity, like any other field of
interest sooner or later the individual becomes part of a greater whole from
which he derives his sense of meaning and purpose. Through meditation, one
emerges into a state of consciousness shared by others, a state as real as
physical existence, although characterized by different types of perceptions.
The meditator finds a community, or brotherhood, in consciousness. He engages in
group meditation. This does not mean that individuals must work together in the
same place or even at the same time. The true meeting place of the group is the
plane of mind, or the mental plane…The individuals who comprise a group are
united by a shared idea and interest, and not so much by a personal rapport.
Groups may work together and meditate on many different subjects, but the
underlying theme in group work is service to humanity. In this way the group
plays its part within the planetary life.
The New Group of
World Servers:
A Meditating and Mediating Group
There is a gigantic group meditation going on in differing phases upon our
planet. All the meditating units and reflective groups are related to each other
through their unified spiritual purpose. That purpose is service of the Plan for
the furthering of human evolution. In this meditation, two major planetary
centers, or groups, are working in concert with the human kingdom: one is the
spiritual Hierarchy of the planet and the other is the new group of world
servers. The spiritual Hierarchy is known by many names; to the Christians it is
known as "the Kingdom of Heaven and of God;" in the East as the
"Society of Illumined Minds." It is comprised of those sons of God who
have traveled further along the path of evolution than the rest of humanity, who
have transcended the limitations of the strictly human stare of consciousness,
yet who continue to serve humanity and the Plan.
…Members of the new group of world servers may or may not be aware of the
group as a whole or their place within it. They are linked together by their
love of humanity and by their constant endeavor to enhance the human condition,
"thinking through" the ideas and principles to be given worldwide
application. Through the creative use of the mind, or meditation, these men and
women are able to penetrate into the realm of the soul and bring forth that
divine energy for human use. They perceive and adapt the Plan for humanity and
aid, by their meditative thought, in producing practical ideas that will serve
the whole human race.
At the heart of this serving group stand those individuals who use the
technique of occult meditation to align themselves consciously with the
Hierarchy and thereby reveal the Plan to a needy world. All men and women of
goodwill can take part in this great spiritual transition. No matter where an
individual may be, he or she can assist in some way to create a better future
and by so doing, can become a part of the new group of world servers.
The Science of Meditation put out by the Arcane School
