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From Intellect to Intuition - Chapter Six - Stages in Meditation
We have outlined a method, old and tried, whereby it is claimed the mind can be grasped and used at [125] will, and we have pointed out a way in which the factors which have hitherto engrossed its attention can be negated and a new field of awareness become possible. Before carrying the instructions forward, it might be of value if we defined the hypothesis upon which we will now proceed. It might be expressed as follows: There is a kingdom of the soul, called often the kingdom of God, which is in reality another kingdom in nature, a fifth kingdom. Entry into that kingdom is as much a natural process as has been the transit of the evolving life from any kingdom in nature to another in the process of evolution. When the senses, and all that they convey, are focused into that "common sense," which was the name that mystics such as Meister Eckhart gave to the mind, they enrich that mind and open up to it many states of awareness. When these activities can be negated and the rich and sensitive mind can be refocused in its turn, it becomes a sensitive apparatus (a sixth sense, if you like) which registers "the things of the kingdom of God" and opens up, to the man in deep meditation, states of consciousness and ranges of knowledge which have hitherto been sealed to him but which are just as much a part of the Whole and of the world content as any other field of investigation. This is our hypothesis and upon it we will proceed. Instinctual awareness has given place in man to intellectual knowledge. Is it not possible that this intellectual perception may, in its turn, be transcended and superseded by intuitional awareness? [126] Certain propositions seem necessary at this point in our argument and may be of value in elucidating the theme of this book: They are three in number. First: In the long evolutionary process which has led man from the animal stage to that of the human being, we find that we have now arrived at the phase in which he is self conscious, or self-referring. He stands at the center of his own world, and the universe revolves around him. All that occurs has reference to him and to his affairs, and to the effect of life and circumstance upon him as the important factor. Second: As man grows in knowledge and in intellectual awareness, the brain and the mind become coordinated. The former becomes simply the tool or instrument of the trained instincts and of the controlled mind. This mind draws on what has been called "the content of the subconscious," on the active memory, and on the environment, for what is needed to carry forward the process of living in an exigent world. Man becomes an efficient and useful human being, and takes his place as a conscious cell in the body of humanity. He is beginning to get some realization of group relations. But more remains. Third: From the earliest stage of human existence up to that of the high grade coordinated functioning man, there has always been present a consciousness of something Other, of a f actor lying beyond known human experience, of a goal or quest, of a Deity. This subtle and indefinable awareness [127] emerges inevitably and keeps man pushing forward, and seeking for that which neither the mind (as he knows it) nor his circumstances and environment seem able to give. This can be called the search for certainty, an endeavor after the mystic experience, or the religious impulse. But no matter by what name we call it, it is unfailingly present. These three propositions roughly outline the way that man, in his consciousness, has traveled. They portray the condition in which we find a vast number of human beings at this time - efficient, intellectual, well-informed, responsible, but at the same time, dissatisfied. They look with questioning into the future or face the inevitability of death; they are anxious to go forward into a wider consciousness and into a certainty as to spiritual things and as to the ultimate Reality. This urge to a wider understanding and knowledge is being demonstrated on a large scale at this time, and the sequence of the evolutionary growth, already established, is apparently persisting and must do so if another kingdom or state of consciousness is to be added to those already achieved.
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