Category: Merging With Siva

The Sources Of Thought

Sometimes the thoughts you think are not your own. Your individual awareness may have inadvertently been pulled into an area of the mind that someone else is aware in. So, unintentionally you may be reading someone else’s thoughts as your own, and if they are of a nature that you do not approve, it is possible that you may be disappointed in yourself. Keen discernment must always be employed by the aspirant on the path in order to decipher which is which. This is difficult, but you should always question thoughts that just pop into your head to find out whether they are, in fact, your own or those of another.

A general outline that you can follow in deciphering your personal thoughts from those of another is this. As soon as you begin to question your thinking with this in mind, if the thoughts are yours, you will continue thinking in the same way after the questioning has subsided. However, if they are those of another, through the simple act of questioning whether they are or not, you have removed awareness from the area of mind they are vibrating in. Then when the questioning has subsided, you will forget that trend of thought and go on with one of your own. Their thoughts will fade from your memory in a similar way dreams do when you awaken in the morning.

This is by no means an inference that you should every minute of the day question your thinking as I have just described. For, more than often, with people whom we love as well as with other friends and acquaintances, you would want to be always drifting into the areas of mind they are in, and they with you. It is only on rare occasions that thoughts of an uncomely nature, of an instinctive nature, especially sexual, may militate against your sādhana. My advice is, rather than blame yourself, first question to see if such fantasies are actually your own. Mass hysteria and fear of a national or global disaster can also be picked up by the sensitive individual, sometimes unknowingly. Along the same lines, we should be alert to this.

There is a Śaivite hermit, the venerable Markanduswami, living in a humble mud hut in Sri Lanka. He is very old, and was for many years a disciple of Jnanaguru Yogaswami. In fact, his every utterance is a quote from his guru. One afternoon at his hut he described Yogaswami’s approach to dealing with thought during meditation. He said, “Yogaswami said, ‘Realize Self by self. You want to read this book, that book and all these books. The Book of Infinite Knowledge is here (pointing to his chest). You’d better open your own book.’ The prescription he gave me to open that book is this: ‘When you are in meditation, you watch the mind. Here and there the mind is hopping. One, two, three,…a hundred. In a few seconds the mind goes to a hundred places. Let him be. You also watch very carefully. Here and there this mind is running. Don’t forget Self for a second. Let him go anywhere, but if he goes to a hundred places, you must follow him to a hundred places. You must not miss even a single one. Follow him and note, He is going here. Now he is going there.’ You must not miss even a single one. That is the prescription Satguru Yogaswami gave me to open this inner book. He said, ‘Watch very attentively and learn to pick up things coming from within. Those messages are very valuable. You can’t value them. Realize Self by self and open this inner book. Why don’t you open your own book? Why don’t you make use of it? Why don’t you open your own book? What an easy path I am prescribing for you!’ ”

Awareness Externalized

In concentrating on a flower, one of the sādhanas that you have been given, when awareness is held steady and only the flower exists within the mind, as well as outside your body, close observation and scrutiny of the flower can then begin. An intuitive flash will bring knowledge of the complete cycle of that particular form in all phases of its manifestation. This intuitive flash comes to those just beginning the processes of meditation. Later on, the process can be slowed down and sustained. We cannot be imaginative here or fantasize, for only through actually keying into the particular area in time and space does one begin to contemplate future and past in relationship to it.

Living in the external area of the mind, it appears that thoughts are always changing. New concepts come and old ones go, as do customs and systems of living. From an inner perspective, it is similar to riding on a train, seeing the countryside, animals, people and buildings quickly pass by. Everything seems to be changing, but it is only you who is traveling through space. So it is within the mind. You travel through inner space rapidly or slowly, depending upon the nature of your sādhana or your natural emotional velocity. It is through holding fast to this perspective that a swift inroad to further enlightenment can be attained. If you hold to the perspective that thoughts and forms are always changing, your awareness automatically traps itself into the pygmy consciousness as a victim in a vast, ever-changing conglomerate of prāṇic mind substances. You have experienced this, no doubt, as it is the experience of those who have not awakened to the inner path.

What we must seek to see is the all-pervading energy which permeates all form. It is not necessary to centralize on one thought or sequence of pictures as opposed to another to gain this new perspective, for we cannot, in a sense, climb up to it. We have to drop down into it by going deep within the essence of the mind and intuiting the all-pervading force. We come out of that state as a pure, unhindered awareness, able to flow and focus detachedly in the accustomed areas of mind that make up what we term “our life,” and as new cavities of mind awaken before our vision, we flow in and out of them not hampered or hindered by what is seen.

Thought and Manifestation

Thought and matter are synonymous. They have only to be seen in this way to be understood as such. From the external area of the mind, matter seems to be separate from thought. However, from the central, internal perspective of the mystic, thought, energy and matter are one. Things and forms are and have been manifestations of thought conglomerates through the ages. And, of course, as you look upon animate and inanimate matter with your own faculties, they are immediately reduced to thought. This is the way it is seen by the mystic who has attained Self Realization. He also knows thought to be of an apparent, more permanent nature than animate and inanimate objects, which appear to change rather rapidly.

Therefore, we now have the hypothesis that thought, energy and manifested form are one and the same, only seen as different by the unenlightened. Therefore, we must concur that instantaneously upon thinking about any segment of manifested form, we are simply moving individual awareness into the subtle ether of the mind where the form exists in unmanifest state. By “unmanifest,” I mean not having physical size, shape and density. Therefore, if matter were not thought, how could it be reduced to thought? This then leads us to another view of form, thought and energy, and that is of the all-pervading energy, the base of all form and thought, the primal substance of the mind—internal and external manifestations of form. Were this to be removed, there would be no form, no thought—either interior or exterior. Man’s individual awareness is of the nature of this all-pervading actinic energy of the universe. I say “of the nature of” because it has several other qualities as well, being a bridge between the viewing of form and formlessness.

There are various strata of thought, and of these the most obvious, of course, is what normally is termed thinking. The motivation thought stratum of the astral plane, because of its being more refined in nature, therefore more permanent, precedes all externalized thinking. We are not aware of this until we begin to meditate often, having perfected concentration and meditation. However, there is yet another area of thought, which can be viewed from the fifth dimension of the mind, and here we see form in all phases of manifestation from one point in inner space and time. We can look to the future and to the past, viewing one singular object, and see a change in manifestation as new, individual frames on a motion picture film, each one being slightly different from the other. This really has to be experienced to be believed—that all phases of manifestation and all of the various and varied forms of the universe exist in the great circle of life. Therefore, we can conclude that it is the point in time and space where our awareness resides that keys us in to seeing only one frame at a time on this circle of creation, preservation and dissolution of form, which leads into the creation of the same form again.

The mystic, once recognizing his particular point in time and space, can travel around this circle of life at will, his control being prior sādhana performed well during early years of unfoldment.

Thought and Awareness

The mystic, while in the beginning stages, tries diligently through his sādhana to extract his awareness from the thinking area of the mind while simultaneously trying to perceive without thinking about what he has perceived. It is the overview of what has been perceived that the mystic endeavors to superconsciously grasp in a series of flashes. He well knows that thinking is the more externalized strata. The mystic constantly, through every waking moment and even during sleep, endeavors to strengthen his acute observation through perceiving the overview of thought strata rather than thinking through them. My guru often said, “There is a chair at the top. Sit in it and look at the world from that perspective.” The mystic constantly sits in this chair, looking at mind from the threshold of the Absolute.

It is the baser emotions, when stimulated, that bring awareness from inner depths into the thought strata of the mind, thus strengthening human emotions and feelings with powers of reason and memory. Therefore, for those not too deeply engaged in the external emotional traps, certain sādhanas can be performed to regulate and control these instinctive drives. When they are less impulsive and forceful, one has a sense of being able to control one’s thoughts. Later on, if the sādhana persists, the sense that awareness travels in and among these thoughts is felt, and still later the perceptions occur of hovering above thought, looking out upon the thought stratum of the mind or a portion of it.

To give an example of the thought state, and a deeper state of not thinking but perceiving thoughts, imagine sitting before a television set. The set has not been turned on, and you are thinking about various things that involve you personally and wish to distract awareness from them by watching a television program. When you turn to the program, sitting across the room from the set, you have the sense of perceiving the thoughts, moods and emotions of the program, without necessarily thinking yourself. You perceive. Similarly, the mystic can be called the watcher of the play of life, for he is totally identified with his inner depths, rather than the thought strata and structures he perceives.

The mystic lives in a state similar to that of a child, for a child does not think, but perceives. He, of course, reacts emotionally to some of his perceptions, but it is only when he reaches twelve or fourteen, sometimes younger, that he begins to enter the thought strata of mind. The mystic has deliberately arrived at this state of the child through sādhana and, of course, has awakened the facilities in himself to go into the next succeeding, even more refined, areas of consciousness.

The entire concept of creating a thought, or thoughts of the mind already being in existence, or thoughts and concepts disintegrating or being destroyed because they are no longer used, is totally dependent upon the nature of the sādhana of the mystic. There are four different perspectives in looking at the mind from within oneself. In Shūm, these four perspectives are called shūmīf, mūlīf, simnīf and dīfī. And of course, many more combinations of these perspectives can be utilized and have been, thus creating the various philosophical and metaphysical outlooks that we know today. How thought is seen within one’s mind totally depends on the positioning of one’s individual state of awareness. This, in turn, depends upon prior sādhana he has performed.

Proceed with Confidence!

There are those who simply follow the pattern of odic force fields of others and never realize their actinic destiny because they have never had the ability to break through the odic force barriers with their actinic power. Actinic destiny is found by those who stand out from the masses and actually do something, who live a creative life for the benefit of others. Actinic power creates through the subconscious, but it is a flowing-through or flowing-out power. Odic power is a holding on to, a sort of sticky type of power.

Move through odic force fields unnoticed. Those who have awakened their subsuperconscious powers often become exuberant and, more than often, a wee bit egotistical. And yet, a deeper subsuperconscious attribute is that of humility. Humility within itself is a power, a power of the fullness of the subsuperconscious mind, giving you the ability to move through the odic force fields unnoticed.

Because of the nature of odic forces—which constitute people in their conscious and subconscious mind, cities, nations and events—the flow of actinic force can or could be disturbing to certain force fields. The consequences have, through history, been disastrous from time to time. Therefore, keep your subsuperconscious knowledge and powers where they are, as an inner mechanism of you, available to your conscious use. Do not advertise your subsuperconscious power, because odic force fields of jealousy or fear could be stimulated against you. Therefore, learn to move inconspicuously in the odic-force world, while contributing to the beauty of the world through your conscious use of your subsuperconscious mind.

All that is beautiful has come from the subsuperconscious powers awakened within man. So, let your life shine by your actions rather than by your advertising subsuperconscious powers. There is no pride so great or hard to be rid of than spiritual pride. Having the availability of actinic force working through the subconscious mind can very easily become distorted into building up even a greater odic subconscious mind.

And now, on the lighter side of thinking, here is another way to use your subsuperconscious powers consciously. When you know the next thing to do, or the right thing to say, this is your subsuperconscious mind. Practice feeling confident, secure in the consciousness of the eternal now. Absorb the feedback from groups of people, or people you are talking with, and when your subconscious mind has collected the feedback, feel dynamically the eternity of the moment, and you will know just the right thing to say, or the next thing to do. This is using your subsuperconscious powers consciously.

The greatest thing that a devotee must learn is that all knowing is within oneself. Therefore, go to your innerversity, your great subsuperconscious school, and bring forth knowledge. In order to do this, be confident within yourself. In order to be confident within yourself, have no fear. In order to have no fear, say to yourself, “I am all right, right now.” This will quickly bring you into the consciousness of the eternity of the moment. You will feel actinic force permeating, or more life permeating, your body, which is subconscious, and your subsuperconscious state of mind will be active. That is, go ahead in full confidence that you are the knower of all that is known.

Bursts of Light And Intuition

Intense desire for spiritual unfoldment eventually manifests itself in a breakthrough of actinic will, which permeates the subconscious mind of the devotee until he completely identifies himself as an actinic being. This happens from within the deeper realms of man’s mind and eventually manifests itself into consciousness, then into thought patterns and then finally into speech and action. Actinic will also appears from the transference of desire from material objects and activity into finding some real solution within oneself for the eventual quest of all men: peace of mind. This actinic force becomes so strong, finally there is a breakthrough or burst of light. This happens quite naturally within many people who have not even availed themselves of classical yoga teachings. This first breakthrough throws into orbit, so to speak, the subsubconscious state of mind, for an infinitesimal flow of actinic force thereafter begins to permeate the subconscious mind, easing darkness or confusion or pressures of the conglomerated, accumulated force fields. After this first breakthrough, the devotee becomes more creative, kinder, a little happier and more metaphysically inclined, for the subsuperconscious mind becomes another building force field.

Occasionally devotees have flashes of intuition, bursts of prophetic knowing. Some devotees also occasionally enter trance states, when messages may come through their voice from the superconscious mind without their conscious-mind knowledge. When the trance subsides, there is usually no memory of what they said or did. Such subsuperconscious states are often brought forth by intense religious emotion, which occasionally becomes so overwhelming that it pierces the worldly subconscious and conscious mind.

Your belief in your subsuperconscious power will also unfold your destiny in this life. “I will be what I will to be. I will do what I will to do.” You can repeat these two affirmations over and over, time and time again, and rearrange, restructure, the forces of your subconscious mind and create a great inner peace within yourself. Turn on to actinic force and bring the forces of superconsciousness through your subconscious. This creates feeling, a feeling that you are what you say you are—positive, direct, full of life and energy and creative power. Your subsuperconscious mind proves this through your conscious mind, not only through feeling, but you will find yourself acting out the part in all kindness and security, exercising the positive will of “I will be what I will to be” and “I will do what I will to do.”