108 Inspirational Lectures by Charles F. Lutes - Lectures 7 to 12

Charles F. Lutes; 108 Inspirational Lectures - Lectures 7 to 12

Editor note: This special web edition of “108 Inspirational Lectures by Charles F. Lutes” is presented in 18 sections of 6 lectures each, and has been specifically formatted and edited for the Institute of Spiritual Sciences (ISS). It is re-published here by permission of the author: Vincent J. Daczynski. Please see the Introductory Page for more details. -RJR

108 Inspirational Lectures
by Charles F. Lutes
Lectures 7 to 12

7. Solving the Mystery of Life
8. Pleasure and Pain in Life
9. The Development and Use of Our Spiritual Will Power
10. The Power of Thought
11. Intent and Honesty in Life
12. Self-Discovery

Lecture 7
Solving the Mystery of Life

Knowledge often may be
erroneous, but wisdom never is.

The great mystery of life lies in the silence of life. It is in silence that the soul can be heard to speak. It is in the silence that the inner guidance comes. As in the expression that “silence is golden,” in silence the individual falls back on his inner resources and seeks council within his own Being. Speech and activity express the outer surface aspect of the human, and the inner silence fathoms the depths of one's own soul.

The more experiences one has in life the wiser one becomes, and the wiser one becomes, the more contained and quieter one becomes. One comes into communication with their spirit and by that process becomes more spiritual, calmer, more contained and less given to unnecessary speech. When such an individual speaks, it is worth listening to him; silence and wisdom go hand in hand.

Knowledge may be erroneous, but wisdom never is. When one speaks in wisdom each quiet word has deep meaning. The best and proven way of the ages to gain wisdom, greater intelligence and true human and godly qualities is through Transcendental Meditation. Transcendental Meditation is the way of silence whereby one is able to merge human consciousness with universal or supreme consciousness, and thereby greatly increase one's mind, body, and soul to ultimately attain a cosmic status. In the process of meditating one adds strength and stability to one's character. Also, in being connected to one's source one moves through life with greater harmony and rhythm and rapidly accomplishes the true plan or purpose of life. One slowly begins to see the truth of life and to understand the inner workings of nature, and knowing this one then strives to keep oneself in tune with nature. One no longer has to rely purely on faith, because one is now experiencing one's Self, the innermost core of one's own Being.

It is said of the Easterner that he takes everything inwardly and holds it there in inactivity and this causes him to become stagnant. The Westerner is full of energy and activity, but takes very little inward. As a result he functions on the surface level of activity, and this usually causes chaos. So, the East must learn from the West and the West must learn from the East, and this will give balance and integration in the world as well as inspired activity.

Another important thing one learns as one experiences the inner life is that the motivating and sustaining force of the universe is love and that humans are a projection of love and that is their true inner nature. Through growth the inner Self begins to express itself in the outer as love, and life for a meditator takes on a new tempo and a new meaning; one of glorious silence and inspired activity. Life is activity and silence is the power of the creative force of the universe. A little silence sustains a great amount of activity. When practicing Transcendental Meditation, one transcends into the field of the absolute. The mind is saturated with the Being, and then coming back into activity the body retains as much as it is able to retain and dissipates the balance.

It is the soul that is the pivot point between the world of spirit and the world of matter, and it is the soul that is the mirror that reflects the spirit side into the physical side of life. However, the soul is mostly clouded over with material vibrations and cannot vibrate fast enough to reflect the spiritual. It is meditation that removes the cloud or veil of ignorance from around the soul. The soul is also the storehouse of the results of experiences gained through the ages and when we become more highly attuned it comes through to us as intuition and as consciousness.

The great turning point in one's life is when one becomes an initiate; steps onto the path of liberation and begins to awaken from the great sleep of materiality to his true immortal and eternal nature.

It is not easy to progress along the path, because the mortal lower self-will trick one through sensation, dishonesty, rationalizations, and laziness into falling away from realizing the destiny of the Self. The lower self, in order to maintain the old glamour-of-matter ways, will put great pressure on one to stop meditating. One has to experience a certain amount of discipline and restriction in order to gain momentum to reach the goal. But even if one falls back to some of his old habits, if he manages to experience enough discipline to meditate regularly, the Being will slowly overshadow the undesirable habits and one by one they will slowly disappear.

Ignorance gives one fear, hate, greed, killing and selfishness. Wisdom gives one peace, strength, humility, love and forgiveness, and a dedication to the fulfillment of the purpose of life. That which for ages was hidden from us is now truth revealed; the mystery of life is now being revealed and unfolded to us and the truth will free us. Then, what we will discover is that it was all the hidden mysteries within our silence that had to be fathomed and revealed; that we alone were the mystery of life that had to be solved by the yoga of self with the Self. For in the subtle self lies the solution to the mystery of the Self. The gross was for appearances and the subtle is for immortality.

Lecture 8
Pleasure and Pain in Life

Generally speaking, one caught up in ignorance
is ignorant of the fact of what he is caught up in.

In yoga the mind experiences deep silence, yet retains its dynamic quality; intensely dynamic, yet completely still.

The first discipline of yoga is austerity, which means a life of simplicity, the putting away of all non-essentials. There is such a thing as dignity in simple living. A life of simplicity is devoid of all encumbrances. It is a life where needs and wants are separated.

Only one living a simple life will be able to bear the strains of true spiritual living. One must also engage in self-study which is a process of quiet reflection. For many people their thinking never starts, as they live on what other people have thought about. One cannot walk on the spiritual path by following the value that belongs to others. In life we are generally told what to think, but never how to think. One must learn to think for himself, and this is self-study. One must put the attention on God by turning to God and experiencing God, and this is the highest pure thinking that there is; a life of true aspiration.

We all have afflictions on the path of spiritual enlightenment, but the important thing is to lighten their impact. The causes of suffering lie in ignorance, false identification, attraction, repulsion, and a desire for continuity. Each reinforces the other and this sets up a vicious cycle of continuous suffering. So, sometime, someplace the cycle must be broken.

Generally speaking, one caught up in ignorance is ignorant of the fact of what he is caught up in. This is why many who are living in misery believe themselves to be happy. Ignorance generally is referred to as a condition of mistaken identity. This is true, but it is also true that at certain levels of consciousness that is all one is capable of. A person at a lower level of consciousness believes the impure to be pure and the unreal to be real. However, in the course of time, by trial and error and continued growth, one slowly awakens to the real meaning and the real truth of life.

During the course of time, before one awakens, one builds up or accumulates an acquired nature, the ego, and this is the end result of the mind's reactions and resistances. The acquired nature completely overshadows the original or true nature. One then lives by the acquired or habitual nature. So, in this state one acquires some very unique and peculiar habit patterns that we follow for many ages. Then, when we finally try to break from these habits it is virtually impossible, because in most cases we are using an acquired nature to break habitual patterns of life.

We really become the product of psychological accumulations and also of time itself. So, we regard something that has been put together by time as something that is eternal, and we are caught up in the great illusion on the platform of ignorance. This is also the reason that the intellect will not free anyone because the intellect expands on false identification. One believes the perceiver and the instrument of perception to be identical, which is not true, since the instrument of perception is the mind. Yet, when one believes these two to be the same then the “I-ness” is born and the “I” becomes identical with the mind. With this situation the wish of the mind is then regarded by one as his will. So, the person becomes willful as the saying goes. So, we come into a conflict of two wills, the will of the individual and the will of God, or nature. However, the will of the individual is nothing more than the wish and the desire of the mind. So, there is a conflict, the mind's desire to move in its own direction in contrast to the direction in which God or nature intends one to move.

“I-ness” is nothing but the human's identification with his mind. Out of this false identification arises attractions and repulsions; attractions being the seeking of pleasures in life, and repulsion being the avoidance of pain. So, the pleasure-principle is at the root of the human's entire process of psychological becoming. To avoid pain is also a part of seeking pleasure. One seeks pleasure whether positively or negatively. Attraction is the positive search for pleasure and repulsion is the negative search for pleasure by avoiding pain.

That which gives a sense of continuity is regarded by the mind as pleasure, while that which interferes with continuity is considered by the mind to be painful. So, we form attachments and denials, and they are the natural offshoots of the condition of I-ness which itself is the outcome of the state of ignorance, not enlightenment. Our whole life at this point is based on the pleasure-principle in which is included the ceaseless effort to avoid pain. So, while one is in the midst of pleasure, one is still vitally concerned about avoiding pain. So, pleasure and pain go together, and in the I-ness of life one sees pleasure and pain, attachment, and denial, and this is the platform which most of humanity goes by.

Whereas, that which Is, that which is the original, stands by itself never knowing the fear of being vulnerable or capable of being destroyed. It is only the pseudo that is compounded and vulnerable, and which can be dissolved. So, the attachments and repulsions in life are simply defense-mechanisms that seek to protect that which is the result of the accumulations of the ages.

That which keeps the defense-mechanism going is simply a strong desire to live, which is really a desire for continuity, which is in all humans, even the most learned. This desire for continuity is only a desire for security. So, one feels secure only in the atmosphere of continuity. Yet, one of the peculiar facts of life is that the human, in the constant search for security and continuity searches in a field that is forever in a state of flux. Therefore, because life is dynamic and ever discontinuous, the desire for continuity is an attempt to put that which is dynamic and ever discontinuous into a framework of that which is static, which is, again, the attempt to impart a quality of continuity to that which is discontinuous. The real problem lies in the fact that there is no continuity for something that is put together by time, because in the nature of a time process or cycle it must get dissolved. However, the desire for continuity is so great even the wise are caught up in it. All of this means that ignorance is at the root of all afflictions and that the most all-pervading expression of this ignorance is the desire for continuity. Yet, what is relative cannot be absolute.

By life being in a state of flux one does not really begin to live until the effort at established continuity ceases. Life is to be experienced and not to be held onto. Continuity is only the attempt to hold life in a framework which the mind and sense of I-ness has created. Continuity is simply the attempt to build structure after structure on the bridge of life, which is an exercise in futility. Life is a bridge. Pass over it and do not build upon it.

To escape this ignorance of life one must seek the Self. One must learn how to go within, to turn the mind 180 degrees to reach the field of the transcendental, to infuse the Being through Transcendental Meditation, thereby infusing the real into the unreal, the absolute into the relative, and to realize that the road to truth is through the maze of maya, through ignorance to enlightenment.

Above all else, always remember that what we are really seeking is also seeking us.

Lecture 9
The Development and Use of Our Spiritual Will Power

We have the unlimited power of the divine will
at our disposal if we will only make use of it.

The thrust of a spiritual life is to gradually raise the center of consciousness from the area of the personality to that of the individuality. As long as we are caught up in the mundane interests and illusions of life it is impossible to manifest the spiritual will which is located in the Atman plane. A channel has to be made between the lower self and the higher Self before we have a continuous flow of the divine, which in turn gives us true love, wisdom, and power.

What we need is to make the spiritual will a more dominant factor in our lives. This is made possible only when we step onto the path of liberation and have progressed some distance along the path. The first thing we must become aware of is our true purpose for being in this world. When this occurs, we begin to rise above the illusions and weaknesses of the personality. Our attitude towards life changes and life then takes on a realistic meaning and purpose. And a higher state of consciousness unfolds as we continue our meditation practice.

Down through the ages, due to the stimulus of the environment and the samskaras (impressions brought back from our past lives), our physical, astral, and mental vehicles have acquired a distinct personality or individuality of their own, and they offer resistance to any direction from within which is contrary to their habit of activity. They have acquired age old habit patterns that now need to be eliminated so that the will responds immediately and fully to any direction coming from within. It is not possible to get rid of all of these tendencies completely until we reach a very advanced stage of evolution, but we are showing good progress when they no longer cause any definite obstruction to our spiritual progress and our daily efforts.

This change is not affected overnight, but it is accomplished by devotion to our meditation practice, maybe for a long time. Our lower vehicles have been used to functioning in an uncontrolled and chaotic manner, life after life; each vehicle reacting according to its previous samskaras. The job of bringing our vehicles into alignment is not an easy task. This requires ever greater and greater control and vigilance, as the lower self has no plans to surrender to the higher Self. The pull of the lower self is so strong that we will fall back time after time. That is why we must use our will power to pick ourselves up and keep on going.

We are not used to having our consciousness centered in the higher part of our nature and keeping our lower bodies in check. So it is difficult for us. However, if we make a persistent effort to rise above our old personality, the center of our consciousness will slowly shift inwards. This then gives us a greater perspective and ability to deal with our obligations and to solve our problems, and we do so from a position of strength and not from fright.

Up to this point we have had our chariot of life hitched to a team of wild, unbridled horses. Now we are bringing down into the personality the power of the Atman, so that we will be able to harness all of our faculties and powers into the service of the higher purpose of life. We are now acting in an increased measure from the center of the individuality. We are now able to bring all of our worldly aims and desires under the dynamic and magnetic influence of our higher destiny in life.

Bringing our vehicles under control is one of the principle and essential functions of the will on the lower physical plane. Each vehicle must become a willing and effective instrument of the higher Self; each vehicle must act from, or respond to, the impulses coming from within.

Will has both the function of controlling the activities of the lower vehicles as well as providing the energy for their activities. This control has two aspects, both equally important. The first is the inhibition and the second is the regulation of the activity. In relation to inhibition of harmful practices or activities of the vehicles (body, emotions, and mind), such can only be gained after a prolonged practice. In the body, we should use our will power to get rid of bad habits which undermine the health of the body. Few of us do this, and eating is the hardest thing for us to control. Alcohol and drugs affect all three vehicles at the same time and this is why they are a real disaster to the human. In relation to the mind, suppression of evil thoughts is a very good practice. In emotions, we should use our will power to eliminate hatred in its many forms.

When we have mastered the above, then we can place our attention on the useless activities which seem to be harmless, but just the same sap our energy and vitality which we very much need for our higher development. When you have all this accomplished, then the three lower vehicles will be obedient and under full control of the will.

Some meditators have this control while meditating; yet do not have this control when they are out of meditation. Unless the will has conquered the three lower vehicles, the consciousness cannot be freed to work on the higher planes of consciousness to gain knowledge of, and control of, these planes. The Atman, in driving the three-horse team, must have full control and cooperation of the horses at all times; otherwise the effort will become thwarted and erratic. Even in meditation many meditators do not have harmonious working of the three lower bodies; they have physical problems, disturbed emotions, and mental pressures. When we are doing something we enjoy, no will power is required. However, when we engage in activities which are not associated with any kind of pleasure, then the battle commences because we have to exert our will power and oftentimes we find we don't have any. Then, by the time we are able to gather up a little will power the situation has probably passed us by.

Will power is a very important part of human life, and whether or not we have it and use it makes all the difference in the world. One can never have the capabilities one has not as yet developed. Yet, we can initiate or enlarge on any capacity we wish to as long as we exert a steady pressure of the will. We should also realize that all capacities are already present within us in a potential form and that we have the unlimited power of the divine will at our disposal if we will only make use of it.

The only way we can expand and deepen our capacities is by the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation, and without affixing any anticipated result to the practice. Then when we have developed our capacity to a high degree of efficiency, we will be able to rein in the highest level of spiritual life. We make this possible by the intensification of our effort in one direction, and by this intensification we bring about the application of an ever-increasing pressure of will, and this in turn releases will power as nothing else could. We then are able to draw upon the unlimited source of divine power until we become a center through which the divine will carries out unhindered the divine purpose of our life and this is what life is about.

Lecture 10
The Power of Thought

Thoughts are really things just as much as
light, heat, electricity, and so forth, are things.

How one thinks and what one thinks about is very important because thoughts going out have power; they are emanations which are minute particles going out into the atmosphere. These thoughts, after the initial force of projection is expanded, float along like clouds mixing with other thought waves of the same character, and these in many cases extend to far distant parts of the earth. Some thought emanations remain close to where they were sent forth, and unless they are disturbed by other strong thoughts of a contrary nature, they will remain slightly charged for many years. Thoughts sent forth with a definite purpose, or under a strong desire, emotion or passion will go forth rapidly toward the objective or individual to whom they are directed.

Very few persons put any force or power into their thoughts, and their thinking becomes a mechanical process. And, their thoughts do not travel anywhere to speak of, unless they are drawn by someone of a similar nature with similar thoughts who attracts them to himself. Some people spend their entire lives avoiding thinking; they only think in cases of emergency and they spend most of their lives trying to avoid an emergency.

Thoughts are really things just as much as light, heat, electricity, and so forth, are things. Also, thoughts can be seen by psychic sight, and they can also be felt. Thoughts going out also carry the color belonging to it, such as anger which is dark red, murderous thoughts as dark muddy red, and so forth. Thoughts have power and they affect people. Thoughts going forth with strength, in most cases carry with it a certain amount of prana, and this gives them additional strength and power, and often produces startling results.

Prana has the ability to vitalize thoughts and, in some cases, makes it almost a living force. Again, to produce certain results depends upon the strength with which the thought has been projected. There is another element of strength which also allows thoughts to manifest power and that is that thoughts have the tendency to attract to themselves other thoughts of a similar nature, and thus combine force. Similar thoughts have a tendency to flock together, or to coalesce, or blend with each other. Mob psychology is an example.

The average thought-atmosphere of a community is the composite thoughts of the people living in that community. So places, like people, have their peculiarities, their characteristics, their strong and weak points, or their prevailing atmosphere. People coming to such a community, either find themselves in harmony with their own mental character, or they don't, in which case they feel uncomfortable and soon leave the place if it is possible. It is also true that a person new in a place may not be in harmony with the prevailing thought-atmosphere. Yet, if he stays there a charge begins to be manifested in him and he rises or, as the case may be, sinks to the level of the prevailing thought of the area or community.

The thoughts of one strong thinker will overcome the weak meaningless thoughts of a great number of people who send forth only negative thoughts. Hence the saying, to accentuate the positive and not the negative, for the positive is a sure antidote for the negative.

The spirit of a nation is a composite of the spirit of its people and the leader of a nation is the voice of the thinking of the people. Strong thoughts or positive thinking produces a strong nation, and visa versa. The collected thinking of people form thought strata in the astral, the same as clouds form in groups of clouds in the sky here on earth. On the astral each stratum of thought does not occupy a certain portion of space to the exclusion of all other thought clouds; rather, these thought particles forming the clouds are of different degrees of vibrations. So, the same space may be filled with thought matter of numerous kinds, passing freely about, and interpenetrating each other without interference with each other.

Another great truth is that you are as you think. If one thinks in a positive manner, one then attracts unto oneself thoughts from a positive cloud mass, and vice versa. Hate groups are formed of persons who have harbored thoughts of hate or malice for some time and eventually they are attracted to each other, and as a group are given an opportunity to manifest these thoughts into action. This same procedure produces wars, which start with great energy, are exhausted, and many lives are lost.

Now is the time when we have the opportunity to move into much higher thinking of peace, sharing, harmony and love in this world. As we think this way we will draw on higher and higher thoughts and in turn we will become cosmic.

If one continues to think in a certain vein, he will eventually attract to himself circumstances and conditions which will make it possible for him to manifest his thoughts into action, and to make use of the thoughts he has been harboring, good bad or indifferent.

A person possessing power or a strong will, will send forth a powerful thought and with it a supply of prana in proportion to the power or force of the thought. Also, a powerful thinker, whose thought is charged strongly with prana, often creates thought forms, that is, thoughts having such vitality that they become like living forces and they possess nearly the same power that the person creating them has. The higher the order of thought, the stronger it is.

There are many thought forms sent out of all descriptions, low and evil, or high and loving. However, as long as one maintains thoughts of love and God, he will repel the strongest thought-wave which may be directed against him, or which might be encountered in the astral, and he will only respond to thoughts coming from a very high source, which will greatly benefit him. Low thoughts, aims and ambitions come only from those of low consciousness and through selfishness; such cause most of the trouble that exists in this world. Again, those of high spiritual development are constantly sending forth thought waves of love, strength, and help. They are forever dedicated to helping humanity, and those who need help receive it if they are sincere. Those who send forth thoughts of evil and destruction, or desire to injure someone, are usually injured themselves. For evil thoughts sent to someone who is spiritual rebound back to the sender. This is why it is said that if someone would harm you, do not respond, as that has already been taken care of through the immutable law of cause and effect.

Lecture 11
Intent and Honesty in Life

The important thing in life is
to be and not seem to be.

Unless one can be honest with himself, he can hardly be honest with others. We should also determine what our real intent in life is toward ourselves and toward others. These are two very important considerations that call for a close scrutiny as we go along in life.

Because there are so many temptations presented to us to do what is dishonest, it becomes increasingly hard to remain honest. One main reason for dishonesty is that we do not wish to expend the time and effort to honestly construct our life according to the karma we have to work out. Also, in following our chosen destiny we look for shortcuts in life. We look for advantage and we often care little who we take advantage of in our pursuit of the easy way through life. In this pursuit we do not realize that instead of making things easier for ourselves we are really making things much harder in time to come. What we seem to gain is only very temporary and then we find we have a great and unnecessary karmic debt to pay. We have not worked out the karma we were meant to work out, rather we have immeasurably added to our karma.

One of the most important things in life is, to thine own self be true. If you are true to yourself it follows that you will be true to others. One is just as important as the other.

“For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul,” says the scripture. Of course, the answer is obvious. What we are talking about is honesty of purpose in life; the real motivation behind our actions; do we live in the world to see how many people we can deceive, or do we live in honesty of intent.

Often what seems to be a gain in life turns out to be a loss, mainly because our intention was not right. You cannot gain real success by climbing head and shoulders over others who have helped you. The real honesty of life is living a life devoted to service to humanity and also improving yourself in all ways possible.

To go through life scheming and plotting against others is the road to personal devolution. The person coming back into a life of hardship and suffering is the last one to realize the fact that he solely created it. Someone assaulting you, or insulting you, without seeming provocation is simply the messenger bringing you your message.

Our life is always planned for growth and planned in such a way that we may learn hard lessons. When we learn these lessons, this is real growth. If our real intent in life is to grow and become spiritual then we will do just that. The way will be made easier for us. We will be given added strength to overcome our lower self. We will be given guidance when we really need it. This is so because we have left the low road and we have moved onto the high road of life that leads to liberation. The higher Self knows that this is a real struggle and wants to assist you in all ways possible.

The nature of matter is that it is extremely glamorous. It makes a deep impression in the mind and overpowers and leads the mind deeper and deeper into delusion. Hence, we become oblivious to our real purpose here on earth and we slide deeper and deeper into the web of delusion.

However, at some point, as the way becomes harder and more confusing we come face to face with reality. We suddenly realize that we have lived in error and then at a point of recognition, we suddenly get a glimpse of what is real and honest, and in that flash, we are changed. We have arrested our downward plunge and we now have a desire to change and throw off the chains that we are bound in. So, in that flash of recognition we have become seekers. We now know that we have received the pain and suffering we created. It is now that our inner nature tells us that the way back is up, and we also realize that the climb back out of the morass of the misery of life is not easy. We have now been reborn to honesty of purpose and at this point help is always given. That is why sincere prayer is answered.

All creation rejoices when one soul turns toward the light and starts home, weary and worn from the long, long journey into darkness. One is now willing to learn the lessons he has neglected. Still there are pitfalls one must watch out for and guard against lest he falls back from whence he came.

As long as we seek to be honest and our intentions are good we will usually do the right thing. We should strive to be honest at all times and not turn to honesty when all else fails. The important thing in life is to be and not seem to be; not to use honesty of purpose only to gain our immediate ends, but to grow day by day toward honesty.

In this life we are not harshly judged for our mistakes as long as our intentions were good. However, it is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So, the real solution lies in the infusion of the Being, and when this is done the lower mind no longer has any power to trick us. The higher mind is now functioning and the higher mind is truth and honesty, and our intent in life is to grow into the light and become the light. And, that is our journey's end.

Lecture 12
Self-Discovery

Any meaningful understanding concerning the
relationship existing between consciousness and
mind has to be based on a technique of complete
yoga, such as Transcendental Meditation.

By the technique of Transcendental Meditation one can undertake the voyage of Self-discovery in the realm of one's own mind and consciousness and thereby verify for himself, by direct experience, not only the facts and truths concerning the mind, but also the universe in which one lives as well as what lies beyond the universe in the absolute.

It is all a matter of consciousness or the degree of infusion of the Being into the mind. This in turn is dependent upon how much and how fast the body is able to purify. All of creation is really vibration. The vibration is always there; only the body is not capable of responding to increased vibrations because it is too gross and hindered by stress in the nervous system. This stress must be released before the body can, with any ease, accommodate higher vibrations.

One of the facts of life is that those who have gained a modicum of power have gone out into the limelight to attract public attention, while those who have real powers seek the solitude of the forests and remain unknown.

Those who had the eyes to see and the ears to hear have been given a technique, Transcendental Meditation, which is based on direct experience. Also, we know that any meaningful understanding concerning the relationship existing between consciousness and mind has to be based on a technique of complete yoga, such as Transcendental Meditation.

That which was based on faith now becomes a reality based on direct experience. The only way one can gain complete and real knowledge of relativity is to transcend it and then know it in its entirety, being able to see it objectively, separate from ourselves. Unless one can gain such a state of completeness or a total state of mind one cannot hope to arrive at a cosmic state.

Consciousness and mind are so closely bound together in their expression that we cannot distinguish between them. However, there can be no mind without consciousness because mind arises out of consciousness. And it is only when the mind is taken to its source and released of all of its modifications that pure consciousness emerges which can then become infused and experienced. To best understand this we must realize that it is from consciousness that the mind in all of its aspects is derived.

Life as we know it is where the non-self appears separate from the Self. This situation, where the non-self loses all awareness of its real nature, the Self, enables the mortal non-self the opportunity to experience all aspects of life in a series of opposites, presented in a long series of lives in an ever-increasing level of consciousness. But, at some point we must return back to the Self.

It is a long road from the Self to non-self and finally back to the Self. It is a long trip from no consciousness to cosmic consciousness; through the maze of karma until the time when the lower self-surrenders to the higher Self and the soul takes command and supersedes the stars in order to take the self-back home to the Self.

All text Copyright © 2012 by Vincent J. Daczynski
All Rights Reserved

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