Exploring Various States of Mind 1

Dear Team:

I've been very busy. An important message will be sent soon, but in the meantime. Here is along letter about meditation and various states of mind. many translators have asked me questions about this topic. So I shall try to address these questions in a sweeping manner. Thank you all for your patience. It is greatly appreciated. These next two letters are rather LONG. They can be read in chunks or in one huge gulp.

Meditation is about mastery of the mind and about directing the mind on any given task for a designated period of time. It's about learning first to control unnecessary thoughts. Usually there is a war going on between two different parts of the mind: The conscious part and the unconscious part. Both have a tendency to spill into each other and the latter is hard to control, yet controlling the subconscious is the key. Free association gives us a partial understanding of the subconscious mind, but meditation goes beyond this free association process as it starts to let the conscious mind gain more access to the subconscious until one gains control of the ENTIRE thought process.

Often the mind is split into two parts and there is conflict between them and very little communication. Often there are multiple voices giving different kinds of psychic signals. Control of these voices is a chief aim of meditation. The experienced meditator learns how to think what he wants to think when he wants to think it. These subconscious voices are then controlled and there is cooperation between them if the conscious mind feels there is a need for this. And also between them and the conscious mind.

Meditation then becomes thought directed by will. The meditator learns to think in new ways and begins to have richer mind experiences. Concentration becomes more and more complete as the entire mind becomes utilized. Often in normal perception most images the mind sees cancel each other out. But in meditation individual images can be singled out and explored. The noise in the mind is reduced and the volume of the particular mind frequency becomes amplified. An image like a rose without the static of competing thoughts seems to radiate a powerful beauty. This can be true of anything else in the world when seen through meditative eyes.

Meditation enhances awareness and perception as more of the mind becomes focused on any given experience. This AMPLIFICATION of of any mind experience can be very valuable and liberating. This increased awareness can be used to gain greater awareness of the world around us. Indeed one can ultimately see the entire world in a grain of sand as the English poet Blake once said. The meditator becomes aware of subtler phenomena that are otherwise not detectable. Thus the world of meditation becomes much richer.

In eastern medicine subtle phenomena like a person's pulse can be used by a skillful practioner to diagnose suspected illnesses in a patient with uncanny accuracy. Each subtle variation of the pulse can give a great deal of information about the patient's mind and body history. ESP, mind-reading and clairvoyance are other by-products of advanced meditation. Deeper existential questions can also be explored during meditation sessions. Often very subtle answers hovering along the borderline between the conscious and unconscious mind can be discerned since mental static is reduced.

One of the most elusive truths is knowledge of the self. Through meditation we learn to see ourselves more objectively. Gaining an awareness of faint spiritual sensations can be difficult as they are often over-shadowed by the world of physical senses. Also abstract thought can interfer with our reception of these subtle spiritual sensations. Tuning into the spiritual is often called the mystical experience. Not only can saints, mystics, and prophets gain knowedge of the future. They can also gain deeper insight into higher forces. Often the ego and limited anthropomorphic thoughts of these higher forces creates a limited mirror image of them as something resembling ourselves. This is a common pitfall for beginning meditators.

Meditation is useful for concentration about thoughts concerning one's life:

1) What do I ultimately want out of life?

2) What gives my life meaning?

3) What is the meaning of life?

4) If I had my life to live over. What would I do?

5) What will bring me more happiness than anything in the world?

You maybe SHOCKED by the answers. After 1/2 an hour pondering these questions. You might decide these questions need more than 1/2 an hour of meditation. You will then be on the way to developing a more frequent meditation practise. After several weeks of meditation you might decide to re-evaluate the direction of your life and make major changes in your life-style. You might find yourself more secure in your dealings with others and more confident about how you are spending your time. You may also find that you are constantly gaining NEW insight into your own personality and motivations. At this point meditation will seem like a promising activity and you will discover why many schools of meditation suggest or require a daily practise.

Ultimately the meditator reaches a critical threshold and a conversation with higher forces becomes possible. This conversation is an inner-directed process. It is often un-structured and can take many an UNEXPECTED turn. Sometimes structure can be included if a particular problem needs special attention. An agenda is created and the meditation becomes structured. Often when the meditator contemplates an object. He or she looks at it, paying acute attention to EVERY detail. These details become significant and release enormous amounts of information as the INNER ESSENCE of the object reveals itself and unlocks its secrets.

Meditation objects can be visual or verbal. They can be contemplated in structured and unstructured ways and the contemplation of these objects can be internal or external. Inner-directed and unstructured meditation can be most useful in examining one's life. External and structured meditation is useful for focusing the mind in general or in gaining a transcedental experience. Words, images, and even sounds can all be used as meditation objects. Different senses can be harnessed in the meditation process. Smell and touch and even physical movement can all be used in amplifying the meditation that is being employed. The KEY is concentrating on the object or act with as much of the mind as possible. This idea needs constant repetition. In advanced forms of devotional meditation mundane things like washing the dishes can become elevated into a deep expression of divine worship.

Another focus of meditation can be one's emotions. One can ponder love for someone or a higher force and then ENHANCE this emotion. Control of the emotions is a very important element of self-control in general. A person who has emotional control can call forth any emotion desired and is free to ENHANCE it also. Rather than being over-whelmed by emotions one can direct them in a more creative way. This emotional control can lead a practioner to a higher blend of feelings. Artists use this experience in their work often. Translators too. Mystics use this experience to gain a deeper intuition of higher spiritual forces.

The most advanced forms of meditation make use of no device of any kind. This stopping of the thought flow for longer and longer periods of time then becomes attainable and thought is then swtiched off and on at will. This meditation has no focus and is often undirected. It can also be focused on no thoughts at all. This advanced form of meditation is extremely dangerous and should not be attempted without a qualified teacher. In part two we explore various states of higher meditation. So stay with me now.

Michael

Exploring Various States of Mind 2

Dear Team:

Meditation often induces higher states of consciousness. These states can be extremely difficult to imagine. These mind states are hard to describe because they are personal and internal. They are difficult to not only describe, but to define. But two familiar states of consciousness are the waking and sleeping states. There are also various mind states between these two known mind states. Sometimes we feel drowsy and at other times unusually alert. Certain drugs can effect a person's state of consciousness. Alcohol diminishes alertness, but by removing inhibitions can also lead to increased awareness in some areas. LSD and mescaline can increase one's ability to focus on specific sensations, but can also generate a psychic exit from the body and overall collapse in general psychic orientation.

Often when working on a problem the mind seems to suddenly " lock-on" to the task. At this point solving the problem becomes the most important thing in the world. Every fiber of one's being is concentrated on finding a solution. When one is locked onto a problem there is a tremendous, almost sensual joy in solving it. One often calls forth intellectual resources of which one is usually totally unaware. this is an unusual state of consciousness because a bigger portion of the mind is being utilized.

The difference between intelligence and genius could be a matter of a person's innate ability to " Lock-in " to the work at hand and get into a higher state of consciousness. A locked-on state of consciousness appears to be associated with increased physical energy. Both body and mind are completely involved in the creative effort. There also appears to be another type of problem solving consciousness. This is the relaxation mode type of consciousness. This is when the mind is completely relaxed and the mind drifts to the problem on its own. This is called the bathtub syndrome and a favorite activity of the author. One can be relaxing in the bathtub and the mind wanders freely and hits upon the right answers with surprising clarity.

In both cases hot and cool the mind is greatly EXPANDED. The bodymind is either heated up or cooled down so that POWERFUL focus is attained--and sustained until the creative task is accomplished. There are important links between these two creative modes of mind and higher states of consciousness.

Mantras or chanting sounds can create the relaxed state of mind and as the body relaxes, the mind's activity increases. As the sounds penetrate deeper into the mind powerful and spectacular images--often beautiful and breath-taking can enter the mind and direct the meditator to new and unusual psychic worlds. The deeper the meditator plunges into the mind the more certain images will take on a permanent and substantial form. This kind of controlled visualization is an important indicator that can be described objectively. The meditator's ability to form images in the mind and concentrate on them at will is a critical level of mental discipline recognized by all advanced meditation schools. When a person learns how to hold an image in the mind he or she can also control the mind's static. As usual NOISE REDUCTION is the name of the game. This is especially significant in the appreciation of beauty in all its manifestations.

Advanced visualizations amplify the solidity and power of mental images when conjured up. The more advanced one becomes in controlling one's mind, the more control one has over what one can see in the mind's eye. THIS IS CRITICAL. The mind's eye is a million more times powerful than one's physical eye and all advanced meditation schools have descriptions of experiences in higher states of consciousness propelled by the harnessing of the mind's eye.

In advanced Jewish meditation there are refernces to " The lamp of darkness. " This appears to denote a darkness that radiates. In the Jewish meditation texts there are multiple references to " black fire. " Ancient jewish teachings concerning the primival Torah describe how the Hebrew letters were originally written with black fire on white fire. This is something that we cannot see with ordinary vision and indeed it is impossible to imagine this in a " normal " state of consciousness. Darkness as a radiant thing seems to be a contradiction in terms. But in the mind's eye anything is possible.

In advanced meditation the perception of beauty can be amplified. Indeed, like a dial on a radio the beauty dial can be cranked up to make the mind particularly sensitive and appreciative of beauty. This mind play is extremely important in the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition which maps out ten different kinds of mind dials that can be used to amplify the experiences associated with them. Beauty is such a dial. Another dial is will. Also learning ability. These dials are called " sefiroth " in Hebrew and are arranged in a complex and ascending configuration in the forbidden texts of the Kabbalah.

Other important phenomena that can be experienced in higher forms of meditation is panoscopic vision.In this higher state of consciousness any object seen by the mind's eye can be seen from all sides at once. One could look at a globe and see Europe and Asia symultaneously. It's hard to describe this sensation to those who have not experienced it. Picasso is a superb example of an artist who tried to describe his panoscopic visions on canvas. Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce is a panoscopic tour de force in words. Harvest of Gems and 2-ss are much milder forms of panoscopic art.

Meditation allows one to break old mind habits learned in childhood and to visualize things in totally different perspectives. Panoscopic vision is even seen in the Bible. The prophet Ezekiel could describe angels having four different faces on four different sides. These angels had human, lion, ox, and eagle faces. Yet these faces did not rotate as they moved. The angels could be seen from one side with all four faces at once. Tibetan and Hindu dieties are also panoscopic phenomena with thousands of eyes and faces.

Even more spectacular is the fact that in an advanced state of consciousness it is possible to visualized more than the usual three dimensions. Four, even five dimensions can be visualized.

Another important phenomena observed in higher states of consciousness is synesthesia. Human senses often tend to be compartmentalized so that different parts of the mind deal with different senses. But in higher states of consciousness the barriers between different senses are lowered. In such states one's sense of sight can be used to percieve sounds. Similarly, one is able to hear colors, see fragrances, and feel sights. This is the experince of synethesia or the mixing of the senses. The sensual spill-over can become quite vivid. Music can become a complex VISUAL pattern. Paintings can become sonic attractors. Bach and Van Gogh are good examples of this.

Another phenomena which can be visualized in a higher meditative state is NOTHINGNESS. This is neither a void, nor simple blackness, nor a vacuum. Blackness or empty space cannot be nothingness since they are THINGS themselves. Nothingness is the absence of everything. Filling the mind with nothingness is a highly effective way of clearing it of all mental perception. Some experiences are so subtle they can only be experienced when the mind is filled with the experience of nothingness. One of the supreme influences that the mind can detect while visualizing nothingness is the spiritual. In such a state the mind can be filled with that which comes from without. Indeed some areas of the minds are particularly receptive to the spiritual experience. Sometimes without warning a person can become awe-struck or exhilerated. Sometimes such an intense experience can have a profound effect on a person's entire life.

Just as beauty can be amplified. So can the sense of the spiritual. This higher mind state is the realm of the saints, prophets, and mystics. The senses are blocked out and all sensation both internal and external is ELIMINATED. The feeling of the divine is strengthened and the most profound and beautiful experiences any human being can have become ultimately attainable.Usually after much personal struggle.

Caution is necessary at this point. These powerful experiences can be so profound that the meditator may not want to return to a " normal " state of consciousness. one can become SWALLOWED up and something is needed to bring the airplane down safely once again. This is the chief role of the master or teacher in ALL universal meditation traditions. Many mystics take an oath to come back before enbarking on such spiritual flights. The Buddhist bodisattvah or the Jewish Zaddik are prime examples. But there are many from all schools and it is the firm belief of the author that these beings know each other and recognize each other. A strong internal discipline is absolutely necessary. If a meditator is in control of his or her actions and emotions in general he or she will also remain in control of his or her sense of " reality." Rather than negate his or her life. His or her meditative experiences will ENHANCE it. Thus adequate preparation is needed. It is not unlike climbing a mountain. Even for the experienced climber there is always an element of danger. A climber with limited experience would not think of climbing Mt. Everest without a giude. To do so would be to court disaster.

AMEN

Michael