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From Intellect to Intuition - Chapter Four - The Objectives in Meditation
We are told, for instance, that we have five main instincts, which we share in common with all animals. These, when used with selfish and personal objectives, enhance the body life, strengthen the form or material nature and so serve increasingly to hide the Self, the spiritual man. These must be transmuted into their higher counterparts, for every animal has its spiritual prototype. The instinct of self-preservation must eventually be superseded by realization of immortality, and [80] "dwelling ever in the Eternal," man will walk the earth and fulfil his destiny. The instinct which causes the lower self to thrust itself forward, and force its way upward, will eventually be transformed into the domination of the higher or spiritual Self. The assertion of the little or lower self will give way to that of the higher Self. Sex, which is an animal instinct powerfully governing all animal forms, will give place to a higher attraction, and will, in its noblest aspects, bring about conscious attraction and union between the soul and its vehicle; whilst the herd instinct will be transmuted into group consciousness. A fifth instinct, namely the urge to inquire and to investigate, which characterizes all minds at a high or a low level, will give place to intuitive perception and understanding, and so the great work will be accomplished and the spiritual man will dominate his creation, the human being, and lift all his attributes and aspects into heaven. Through meditation, spiritual knowledge grows up within the mind, and from the basis of ordinary knowledge, we steadily expand our understanding of the term, until knowledge merges into wisdom. This is direct knowledge of God by means of the mental faculty, so that we become what we are, and are enabled to manifest our divine nature. Tagore, in one place, defines meditation as "the entering into some great truth until we are possessed by it," and truth and God are synonymous terms. The mind knows two objects, we are told - the outer world through the medium of the five senses and the brain, and the soul [81] and its world through what we might call an introverted use of the mind and its intense focusing upon a new and unusual field of contact. Then "the mind-stuff reflecting both the knower (the Self) and the knowable, becomes omniscient... it becomes the instrument of the Self and acts as a unifying agent." - Bailey, Alice, The Light of the Soul, IV, 22-24. All things will stand revealed to the man who truly meditates. He will comprehend the hidden things of nature, and the secrets of the life of the spirit. He will also know how he knows. Thus, meditation brings about union, or at-one-ment. The Occidental mystic may speak of the At-one-ment, whilst his brother in the Orient may speak of Raja Yoga, or of Union and of liberation, but they mean the same thing. They mean that the mind and the soul (the Christ within us or the Higher Self) function as a unit, as a coordinated whole, thus expressing perfectly the will of the indwelling God. René Guénon, in his book Man and His Becoming, makes the following interesting comments on the word "union," which have a place here. "The realization of this identity is effected by Yoga, that is, the intimate and essential union of being with the Divine Principle, or, if preferred, with the Universal. The proper meaning of this word Yoga is in fact 'union' and nothing else... It should be noted that this realization ought not strictly to be regarded as an 'achievement,' or as 'the production of a non-pre-existent result,' according to Shankaracharya's expression, for the union in question, although not actually realized in the sense in which we here [82] intend it, exists none the less potentially, or rather virtually; what is involved is merely the effectual attainment by the individual being... of the consciousness of that which truly is from all eternity." - Guénon, René, Man and His Becoming, page 37. Through the ordered stages of the meditation process, a relationship is gradually and steadily established between the soul and its instruments until the time comes when they are literally one. Then the sheaths serve simply to reveal the light of the indwelling Son of God; the physical body is under direct control of the soul, for the illuminated mind transmits (as we shall see later) soul knowledge to the physical brain; the emotional nature is purified and simply reflects the love nature of the soul, as the mind reflects the purposes of God. Thus, the hitherto disorganized and separative aspects of the human being are synthesized and unified and brought into harmonious relation with each other and with the soul, their creator, their source of energy, and their motivating power. This science of union involves the disciplining of the life, and an experimental system of coordination. Its method is that of focused attention, of mind control, or of meditation, and is a mode of development whereby we effect union with the soul, and become aware of inner states of consciousness. This is summed up for us in the familiar words of Browning: "Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise From outward things, whate'er you may believe. [83] There is an inmost center in us all, Where truth abides in fullness; and around Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in, ...and to know Rather consists in opening out a way Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, Than in effecting entry for a light Supposed to be without." - Browning, Robert, Paracelsus. The whole object of the science of meditation is, therefore, to enable man to become in outer manifestation what he is in inner reality, and to make him identify himself with his soul aspect and not simply his lower characteristics. It is a quick process for the unfolding of the reasoning consciousness, but in this instance must be self-applied and self-initiated. Through meditation, the mind is used as an instrument for observing the eternal states, and becomes in time an instrument for illumination, and through it the soul or Self transmits knowledge to the physical brain.
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