What is True Occult Meditation

The topic of my talk for this morning is what is true occult meditation.

Now, the word meditation has become quite popular and unfortunately, though the word itself has become very popular, we feel that it has not come to be understood properly.

Because it seems to us, as we listen to many people, sincere spiritual aspirants, as well as those that are the just quick enthusiasts, it seems to us that most metaphysical and occult-minded people have the idea that meditation is some kind of special, secret, extraordinary, mysterious something, which we use in order to escape from the pains, the agonies, the pressures, the problems of life. That's how it would seem and when we listen at times to those who are supposed to be disciples of supposedly great teachers we keep hearing the idea that doing this or that type of meditation I will not use terminology because we'd never tear down any specific group in any way we just try to to give you a new way of thinking, doing, feeling, and working for your spiritual attainment. So I will not give any names, but the idea that seems to be promulgated a great deal from the disciples who supposedly have special training is that since they've had this or that or the other special kind of personal whatever it is, that they now can walk in peace, that they they never get upset, that they are never troubled, and that life has become just one glorious 24-hour level of peace. However, these very people who seem to feel they've accomplished something so great like peace, one notices if we wait long enough that they they get into even more trouble than they had before.

And if you observe it, you will see. They start handling their life in a much more foolish manner than before, if that were possible. And of course, all of us have handled our lives foolishly, or we wouldn't have become occult aspirants.

I think we should all recognize this, because finally our very immaturities drive us to search for answers that will help us to get away from the misery, the conflict, the sorrows, the guilt. Of course, here is where we run into the problem then. In an effort to get away from these conflicts, these sorrows, these unhappinesses, these resentments, etc., there is a tendency in too many schools of thought as well as amongst the disciples to merely give some type of exercise which is similar to taking mood-lifting pills, you know, or drugs.

In other words, no matter what's going on around you, if you can march around with a nice, peaceful, or apparently peaceful smile, you can say to yourself, gosh, look how spiritual I'm getting. I'm not even getting upset. Set. I mean, this we can say to ourselves, but are we giving ourselves a correct statement there? Because much insensitivity goes under the guise of peace. Much lack of ability to truly be attuned to one's fellow man goes under the guise of serenity and so we have to come to understand a little more what meditation is at least in terms of the Western occult school of teaching and what the aim of meditation is. Because I think that we run up against the most important part of our problem when we don't recognize what the aim or what the aims are. Because although there is certainly usually a final goal or aim, we have to have intermediate goals or aims.

In other words, you have to take a step at a time as you're traveling anywhere. And so the paths of return on the Qabalistic tree of life are indicating these various steps. The lowest portion of that Qabalistic tree of life, representing the physical plane, the physical vehicle, and therefore all the physical conditions, both joyous and non-joyous, both that which appears as good, that which appears as bad. The actual manifestation is represented by that bottom emanation of the sphere of activity of the most high now all the other paths though are similar to what you might call the nervous system this is a symbolic representation this method they're utilizing this tree for meditation which we will talk about in a moment in other ways, this Qabalistic tree of life has been utilized for meditation due to the fact that it helps to get the mind working in such a way as to help it establish relationships with itself and the outside.

Side and it is in the establishing of proper relationships both with ourselves and others that we get to the point where we are able to participate in those realms of consciousness which most of us especially when we first start traveling the path of return in this incarnation nation, think should be some marvelous, glorious vision or some marvelous, beautiful never-neverland, which would, of course, then keep us from having a need to concentrate on the here and now or doing anything about the here and now. That is, if we were immediately able to get into certain realms which we aspired for. Now, in the Western occult school of training, the very first thing that is done, the very first thing, is to acquaint the aspirant with the powers of consciousness. Now, those who have power drives will usually misunderstand the reason for this first step. And those who have power drives, that is, those who have great defects in their character at this point, which means they are immature indeed, will start using these methods or attempt to start using these methods in order to try to force their thinking or feeling or way of being and doing on another.

Other. And so we see those who first start on the path, or at least first become truly interested in occultism, who become so excited at the idea that consciousness creates and that consciousness influences that they like to tell about walking along the street, for example, and deliberately concentrating on the back of somebody's head in order to force somebody's head to turn you know it's similar to the power drive one gets when you get behind the wheel of a car you know uh some people certainly do experience this power drive and they become a menace to themselves and others well we have the same type of thing that occurs to very many people at the beginning of the path usually those that are true aspirants learn very rapidly that understanding the powers of consciousness and starting to work with the powers of consciousness certainly does not and should not include attempting to use one's own mind to force thought, action, or feeling on another.

Because this is exactly the opposite of what you would call acceptance It's an attempt, you might say, to enforce one's own idea of personal will upon another. And everything that has been taught in occultism certainly continues to point to one basic idea that the most vital goal is to become completely open to the divine will and to to become a channel for that will.

Jesus spoke of this over and over again as he traveled the highways and byways of Judea and Israel. And those who have had the deeper experiences always continue to reiterate this one point, that the goal of meditation should be to develop the ability and capacity to become attuned to the divine will and therefore to become a conscious channel for that will. And of course, when we get to that point, then we are able to truly utilize the meditative methods of the Western occult school of thought more effectively. But let me explain a little bit more about the first step. You know, in the lessons you receive through the mail, the first six weeks are taken up with helping you to understand how consciousness creates, and trying to help you to understand also the fact that not only does consciousness create in this manner, but that those of us who want to gain control of our own consciousness have to start working with this principle consciously.

And of course, lots of aspirants are not recognizing what is involved in these first six lessons.

They think that they are studying elementary metaphysics, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Because everything that becomes developed to the very extremes of spiritual work has to involve that first area of understanding that is consciousness creates and though there are are some aspirants who think that they have evolved beyond the need for these first six, seven lessons. We have found those who think they have evolved beyond the need for them have not yet evolved up to the beginning of our work. They need, they still need, the elementary metaphysics. They still need the escapist methods until they suffer enough enough repercussions to recognize deeper things, then they will be ready. From that, and following that first group of rules that are shown, rules not made by us, but rules as they exist, like universal laws. From that one is then guided again through the lessons to an understanding of the tarot keys which are the symbolic representations of the powers of consciousness and start giving each aspirant a way of meditating I repeat this gives each aspirant a way of of meditating, which will help that aspirant to transfer the sense of identity from the changing personality levels to the higher self level.

And the whole secret of true meditation has to do with the ability to change our identification from the little changing personality self to that higher, eternal, immortal self of us. And then the rest of the work in all its various phases is based on bringing this growth, bringing this development into a full bloom step by step by step. But then how can this take place? One of the things that every aspirant has to come to recognize is that being given a certain technique for experimenting with the creative aspects of consciousness doesn't mean that we've suddenly been given something new, some way to have power over others. Because what we come to recognize is that every single one of us have been using these principles all of our lives and all of our past lives.

In other words, consciousness cannot help creating.

It is the nature of consciousness to hold images. It is the nature of consciousness to charge these images with emotions. It is the nature of consciousness then to follow almost automatically, not almost, but actually automatically. It is the nature of consciousness to automatically follow the habitual kind of images and emotional attitudes of itself towards life, towards others. So that everything that we experience, whether it appears like that on the surface or not, is the end result of the way consciousness has been imaging and feeling without thought to what this implies. Well then, when we come to recognize that it isn't that we are given something so fantastically new, it is certainly given in a way that is fantastically easy to understand, to study, and to put into practice. But when we come to understand that this is a universal principle that has been known down through the millennia by those who have been traveling the path of return we then come to realize why it is so vital to learn how to meditate properly in order to bring about changes in the way we image and in the way we react emotionally to all things this is why because unless we are aware of what we've been doing with images and with feeling levels unless we become aware of this we are not going to be in a position to do anything about changing it furthermore starting to change these things actually has to do with dedicating oneself self consciously to the path of return because you see it takes courage at first later one wonders why it took courage at all and as long as we have to hide ourselves from ourselves we cannot true at all truly meditate even though we like to think we do because then all meditation becomes really a sort of reverie now you know reverie is escape unless you deliberately consciously having reverie for a few minutes to relax and then it shouldn't be more than a few minutes because the habit of empty daydreaming which is reverie is a weakening of the soul it is not a strengthening of it and it is the strengthening of the soul that really brings brings us the ability and the capacity to recognize the wonder of the meditative life, the truly meditative life, as against the false idea of the meditative life.

Now, meditation, basically, is the kind of attitude that can be held which opens us to the realizations, which opens us to the illuminations, which opens us to the insights, to the meaningfulness of things, which before we could not have or see in a way you might say meditation is to the soul what intellectual analysis is to the mind our minds may have become trained to immediately start the very beginnings of the waking period with meditation and of course this is the essence of true Western occult training till then we don't expect anybody to learn how to do that immediately either let's say this is one of the various goals to learn how to bring the very first attitude because because meditation really is an attitude, a spiritual attitude that can be held. But to learn how to bring that very first waking attitude into ourselves, and of course the easiest way to do it is with a tarot key.

Because then you can grab it into your consciousness and you can identify with it. You can sort of become it very quickly, whereas if you have to argue yourself into it with words, it's already just about too late most of the time and you said so you see your shorthand your your images your tarot images they these are the shorthand of consciousness so the point is we do have these methods but these are techniques and too many people fall in love with the techniques and as master are pointed out in a very vital communication once he said we we mistake the the scaffolding for the goal. And we have a way of mistaking the methods for the goal so that some people, and this is especially true in the forms of meditation that are escapist in nature, incidentally, which BOTA doesn't permit its aspirants to get into, at least it sure works very hard not to permit it.

At any rate, The falling in love with a method actually is a way of escaping from facing the issues. And what happens then? Our world remains small.

Our capacity to love remains hampered.

Our ability to expand into joy and love is held down.

Because of the fact that we are trying to use an escapist kind of meditation. But when we use the kind of meditation that says, give me more consciousness, give me more awareness, give me more livingness, then, I tell you, we're really on the road because that means we are willing to face the unpleasantness. Look, everybody has unpleasantnesses in any case, and these are blessings. Because except you have something to overcome, there's nothing to drive you. And in fact, life becomes boring without problems to overcome. We make them, as you well know. We make problems, if we haven't got any, because life becomes much too boring without them. So meditating on changing identification the tarot and the methods here there are given to us and as we change this uh identification as we pointed out to the higher self we become pretty much like a continuous tarot key 14 you know the holy guardian angel is continuously tempering its personality and animal consciousness levels.

Or we become a continuous Tarot Key Six, that also, where that holy guardian angel, Raphael, who we'll be chanting after a while, is continuously inflowing to the lovers, to the two opposite polarities. And this also has to do with the ability then to develop beautiful relationships. Because to the degree that we start getting an honest and happy and transmuting relationship to and with ourselves to that degree do we start developing relationships with others that are rich deep and beautiful to the degree that we do not have to be hypocrites to ourselves that is deceive ourselves to that degree do we stop having other people act as hypocrites towards us and we towards them even though we may not be be conscious of it can you see the point and this is actually the result of true meditation because in the true western occult meditation the meditation is on growing the personality instrument along with watching and directing its flow in and along with that understanding who and what is the true self, the true grower, the true doer. And out of that then comes the capacity, finally, when we work this way, to be an open vessel for the divine love, for the divine knowledge, for the divine plan and pattern, the divine will. And when we become an open vessel for this, what happens then is that we don't have to try anymore to hold certain kinds of attitudes in other words it's pretty much like has been said we get to a point where we discover we are not the ones who have ever meditated after all we have been meditated by God in fact we are because God meditates us this is is actually the thing we discover by direct experience.

And you see, the one thing we all come to realize when we have managed to become more and more of a channel, and we all do stage by stage when we work with these methods, the one thing we come to recognize is that to help the one life by consciously working working with the meditative methods of self-growth is the most exquisitely rapturous way of life that can be. Because then, in the midst of anything, we still can feel the goodness, and yet we are not cheated out of the pain, the tender pain of compassion. Passion. We can feel the ecstasies of the infinite unity of life, but we are not cheated out of the awareness that there are others who have not yet got these ecstasies, and it is up to us to nurture them. We can realize that we have eternal life, and that all things in essence of livingness have eternal life, but we will not be cheated out of that exquisite tenderness, protectiveness towards all living creatures.

And you see, livingness involves the ability, if you have lost the ability to experience the pain of tenderness, you also cannot have the ecstasy of true love. Can you see it? I hope you can see it. Because love and compassion, which is a tender pain, go together. And we should not want to lose that we should want to be at one with all beings as Jesus was thy pain is my pain it says in the book of tokens thy tears course down my cheeks now this is a true meditative state because it has arrived at a place where it knows there is no separation where it knows that all all evil is immaturity, it must be fought.

But we do not destroy our own souls fighting it. We fight it for reasons of love, not for reasons of hate, and therefore we fight in a different way. And we more and more then learn how to walk in the rapture, in the ecstasy, in the controls of the divine meditation on us. And at the same time, we give back to the divine all the exquisite details of livingness on the physical plane in all its areas. And don't you think that that sounds much more reasonable and logical as a goal of the divine rather than the discovery that the physical plane is just an illusion and let's get the, you know, what out of it?

You know, let's just escape. No, we in Western occult work do not want to escape anything. We want more and more of reality, beauty and good. And that's what we're going to get together.