mind

O Spirit, in the fragrance of the flowers, in the perfume of minds, show us that Thou art on the altar of nature and in our souls. Teach us to worship Thee as the true object of all our desires, all our pursuits, for Thou art the only reality. Without Thee nothing exists. O Light of Lights, 

O Nectar of Nectars, O Joy of Joys, permeate us within and without; dispel the gloom and in harmony in our bodies, minds, and souls. 

Heavenly Father, lift our consciousness from the senses and matter to the supernal Bliss within. Make our superconsciousness predominant, that we may always live in Eternal Blessedness. 

PRAYER 

· Beloved Infinite, the kingdom of my mind is begrimed with ignorance. By steady rains of diligence in self-discipline may I remove from my cities of spiritual carelessness the ancient debris of delusion. Let the deluge wash away the disfiguring slums of narrow-mindedness and race-and-creed prejudice. O Lord, may the soiled, untidy thought-children of my realm bathe in Thy waters of purity and orderliness. 

ANALYSIS OF THE MIND--Part 1 

Dogmatism limits man's mind if a little knowledge prevents him from seeing beyond the wall of his own ideas. Such a person may try to see other viewpoints, but anything that is beyond his intellectual conception he is inclined to doubt, or even to consider untrue. A man once came to me preaching the superiority of the mind, but when I analyzed him I found that his mind was concentrated on his body. The vulture soars high but its mind is on the creatures in the canyon below. Similarly an intelligent person's mind may be roaming in the realm of ideas and yet be centered on the body and the attachments to which the body is subject. He whose concentration is on his person--on the exertions of the body, the muscular activity produced by the nervous system, is a material being. Rising above body consciousness does not mean neglect of the body nor of one's work. One should care for the body and perform one's work with his mind on the divine purpose to be fulfilled by attending to these duties. He who can keep his concentration centered on his inner Self even while he is busy with his work is a spiritual being. 

Realize that when you can reverse the searchlight of your concentration from the senses to the inner Self, you change from sense attachment to self control, from restlessness to calmness, from consciousness of the body to consciousness of soul peace; the searchlight of your attention is reversed --turned toward Spirit. Ordinarily that searchlight in man is pouring its beam outward through the senses, illuminating the world of matter. When man's attention is thus constantly engaged in the observation and enjoyment of the outer material world, he naturally becomes materially attached. When he seeks to withdraw his consciousness and life force from its preoccupation with the material world, he should begin by concentrating on peace, the quality of the soul that is felt when there is an absence of any disturbance of thought waves in the ocean of mind stuff. 

AVOID MENTAL AND Peace should not be mistaken, however, for mental PHYSICAL LAZINESS and physical laziness, which are extremely detrimental to spiritual realization. Occasional physical idleness may be necessary for relaxation from overwork but no one should allow 

himself to become mentally stagnant. The lazy person's whole being becomes hossified" when he delays his spiritual progress. Laziness in body or mind must be driven away before the spiritual aspirant can emerge from the dark clouds of ignorance into the bright kingdom of God. As soldiers who are getting ready for battle are not allowed to indulge in idleness, so a spiritual warrior should not countenance mental lethargy in himself, nor should he disregard his rightful material duties. Most people are unsuccessful in life owing largely to mental 

and physical indolence. Physical idleness may be excused sometimes, but mental idleness should not be tolerated, because mental laziness is due to the innervation of thought that results when there is insufficient contact with the super conscious mind. Never let yourself think that work is too much for you. Remember that God is creating universes and He is never tired. You are made in His image, and if you want to be like Him you should emulate His tremendous capacity for activity. Our capacity grows as we become more aware, through ever increasing contact with superconsciousness, of the unlimited nature of our being. 

Whatever duties you are performing, act always with the thought that you are doing God's work. Each day say to yourself, "What can I do for God today?" 

A spiritual leader has to have a vision of the future, but he should never be worried about it. God will take care of everything. Do your best today and forget tomorrow. Do not harass the soul with petty worries. Every day create something in your mind. In that way you will reproduce your spiritual experi. ences in your conscious life. You should have a constant flow of spiritual experiences, no matter what you are doing. Always be superconsciously active, engaged inwardly in divine communion. "In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping, serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving, my soul: constantly hums, unheard by any: 'God! God! God!'". 

The spiritual man does not even let himself go to sleep at night until he has meditated. He says: "I have something better than sleep. My body is too much used to the habit of sleep." Let your body sleep a while each night, but be awake in God while you are asleep. When you can do that you will be in the supercon scious. That is the deeper meaning of overcoming mental inactivity. 

HOW YOU CAN FULLY WITHDRAW ENERGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

  By complete relaxation man can withdraw his consciousness and life force at will FROM THE PHYSICAL BODY AND from the physical body. It is necessary CONCENTRATE IT IN THE SPINE to detach oneself from all motion . because motion brings about the death of spiritual consciousness. Spirit is that vast stillness which is behind all created things. In creation, everything is in motion, in flux. You can sit still, but are you relaxed? By the slightest movement that you make you send energy into the muscles, and you are then not relaxed; you are using life force and energy in those limbs and muscles. 

When trying various ways of relaxing by withdrawing energy from the muscles and directing the conscious mind away from the material world, it is necessary to realize that mental effort alone is not enough to withdraw thought. You cannot withdraw your thought successfully from any object unless you also withdraw your energy. That is, wherever our muscles and bones are working, wherever we perform activities, there our minds are engrossed." That is why we must not only withdraw our thoughts but also our energy from the body in order to concentrate fully on God. Motion sprang from God, but God is not motion. "Beyond the trackless track, beyond all motion's motion, there--in the land of perennial peace--I am." Motion, plus Spirit, is projected in the ether, but pure Spirit is entirely without motion. Only one part of space manifests motion; another part has none. We cannot say ''space and time" in describing motionless Spirit, for that phrase is meaningful only to the material consciousness. 

So, the first step toward withdrawing the consciousness and energy from the body into the spine is to withdraw the consciousness from all the muscles. And the best way to accomplish that is to relax the muscles: tense the whole body and let go quickly. If you do not practice this method of relaxation, there are often many little places in the body where waves of energy continue to dance. Even in the act of relaxation you move some parts of your body; and in moving even a finger you are being active-conscious energy is active in that part of your body. Wherever you keep your mind and energy engaged, there your consciousness will be tied. Little knots of energy and consciousness in the muscles keep the mind tied to those parts of the body. When the body is in motion, the conscious life energy is tied to the entire body. Relax: untie the knots. I .' believe it was Socrates who said that a human being is a knot of consciousness and matter. A tangle of knots, actually! The first knot to untie, in order to release the Spirit within, is the knot of muscular consciousness. It is necessary to remove all tension and send relaxation to the knots--big and small-- in the muscles. When you move involuntarily without willing to move, you are a slave to the muscles, you are bound with the knot of muscular consciousness. 

It is vitally necessary to release one's consciousness from muscular motion, because the soul as ego has become so used to the muscular activity of the physical vehicle that it thinks it is involved and identified with it. You will see that when you are absolutely still, and relaxing your consciousness from the body, you can still feel the weight of your body within yourself. You can feel that weight when you jump. What makes you feel weight? Consciousness - ness and energy. The yogi can feel the weight of his body even in a perfectly motionless posture. Remember that muscular relaxation, though it is not easy, is extremely important for spiritual development. Muscular relaxation means withdrawing energy and consciousness from the wave of muscular motions; it is not a simple thing. 

Always meditate in a sitting posture; if you lie down, your body has a tendency to fall asleep. Habit centers your mind on the subconsciousness, and you drowse and dream. But when you meditate in a sitting posture, it is easier to keep awake and ready; and when the divine energy comes--released by relaxation from the muscles and retiring into the spine--your body will be so balanced that it will remain perfectly still. 

Always remember this: seclusion is the price of greatness. In this tremendously busy life, unless you are often by yourself, you can never succeed. Walk in silence; go about your rightful duties quietly; develop spirituality. We should not allow noise and sensory activities to tear down the ladder of our inner attention, because we are listening for the footsteps of God to come into our body temple. . 

RELAXING CONSCIOUSNESS FROM BODY IDENTIFICATION 

· Following are different forms of identification of life force and consciousness with the muscles: 

3. 

Identification of the optical energy and the vision with eyeballs and eyelids. Identification of energy and consciousness with facial muscles. Identification of energy and consciousness with the fingers, hands, and arms. Sometimes even when the rest of the body is quiet, the energy is moving through the fingers down to the nerve ends. 

Identification of energy and consciousness with lungs, diaphragm, and breath. 

Identification of energy and consciousness with abdominal muscles. Identification of energy and consciousness with muscles in thighs and feet. 

The identification of consciousness and energy with the eyes can be remedied by holding the eyes and mind motionless. Identification with the hands, feet, and other body parts can be removed by practicing tension and relaxation. But consciousness and energy can be relaxed from the viscera and lungs only by practicing the SRF technique of breathlessness. 

EXERCISES Tense and relax the top of the head. Close eyes and relax. 

Tense face and relax. Tense arms and relax. Tense thighs and feet and relax. Now you see that your diaphragm and chest are last. Tense them and relax. Throw the breath out--now you should be relaxed. Do you see how much there is to it? The more you repeat, year after year, the more responsive your muscles will be. Practice faithfully what has been taught you about muscular relaxation, and the path of Self-realization will open before you. 

THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY 

Thoughts are like words in that they send out vibrations, both good and bad, according to the caliber of the thought. When you can dismiss unwanted thoughts as long as you wish, when your mind is always undisturbed, when you can remain without breath and be calm as long as you wish, and when you are happy in the consciousness of God, then you will have perfect self-control. 

You think you are just a mortal, your life destined to be shattered by the hammer of death. Pluck that weed-thought of death from your mind and realize your immortality. The easiest and the best way of experiencing resurrection is by doing good and meditating regularly every day. 

Most people are spiritually idle. Filled with the consciousness that spiritual imponderables are too big to be solved, they therefore leave them entirely alone. However, if you are in earnest with God, He will surely answer you. Just be persistent, sincere, unbaffled in your demands to learn. 

If you live for God alone--if money, or health, or wealth is not your goal, but God alone is your goal--then all else will come to you. Contact God first 

in the temple of silence; then health, prosperity, and wisdom will be added unto you. 

*** 

THE BANDIT AND THE BULL -- Part 1 

Once upon a time, in a cave hidden in the dark breast of the hills of northern India, there lived a vicious bandit named Rakusha and his band. This rapacious robber lived by pillage, murder, and plunder. It is said that the tiger--even though it may be gorged to the throat with meat-- will go on killing animals just for the thrill of killing. Similarly the tiger-bandit Rakusha excelled in the art of cruelty. Flouting and ridiculing every spiritual law, he was truly an incarnation of wickedness. The following incident is but a sample of his supreme perversity. 

Rukusha had started with his band to plunder a poor little village at the out skirts of a forest. As he passed through the woods he carried on an orgy of killing songbirds just for the thrill of it. When he arrived at the end of the . forest he perceived a mile-long dirt road leading into the village. This road was lined by tall trees. One of the bandit gang remarked that the trees must afford travelers welcome shade from the sultry heat of the Oriental sun "Well," said the bandit leader, "all of you get busy and circle those trees, cutting their bark so that they will die. No longer shall they be liberal with their shade to the villagers." His orders were obeyed. 

As the band of robbers were about to enter the village, they found that they had to walk over some loose bricks laid down as stepping stones in a muddy puddle of water. After they had crossed the puddle, the bandit king thought: "Let me remove the bricks, lest anyone else have the comfort of walking over them and thus miss an unpleasant contact with the mud." However, on second thought he remembered that he himself would have to cross the puddle again, on his way back to his den beyond the forest. He therefore refrained from removing the bricks. 

As the bandit and his followers were entering the village, several holy men happened to be leaving it, and they were delighted to walk on the bricks in the mud puddle, thus avoiding soiling their sandals. 

The bandits plundered the village, slaughtering men, women, and children, and started on the return journey to their cave. Again the bandit king had to walk on the bricks over the mud puddle; but, after he and his ruffians were through using the bricks, the leader pushed them with his long spear into the deepest holes of the mud puddle, lest anyone else use them. 

Shortly after this, Rakusha was treacherously killed by one of his subordinates, who wanted to rule the robber group. It is said in the Hindu scriptures that every man has two angels, each with a recording book; one resides invisibly at his left shoulder and the other at his right. The angel on the left writes 

in his book all a man's misdeeds, and the angel on the right records all his virtuous actions. When Raku sha's soul was being escorted to a particularly dark and hideous part of Hades, the leader in charge of Heaven and Hades, to make sure that no injustice be done, asked the robber's two angels to look in their records and say what they found. The angel on the left said, "Honored Sir, the book of sin is so full of this man's wicked deeds that I had to write all around the margins of all the pages." 

The angel on the right said: "All the pages of my book are blank. I cannot find a single record of a good action performed by this cruel bandit." 

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(To be continued) 

*** 

AFFIRMATION 

I feel God as a bursting voice, leading, guiding, teaching secretly in the soul temples of all men and of all created beings. 

Self-Realization Fellowship Lesson 

"Thy Self-realization will blossom forth from thy soulful study" 

I disconnected the rays of my mind 

From the little territory of the senses .*. And switched them on ... . . .. .. 

In the land of the Infinite. The aurora of my attention Spread in all directions, Embracing Infinity. 

When thus I delved into the Infinite, 

Thought was no longer hidden Behind flesh and appearances; I stood in a land unveiled, And found streams Of rushing, glistening thoughts, Felt rippling thoughts of millenniums-- Of born and unborn civilizations, All futurity danced in me The Infinite Rhythm! 

PRAYER 

I am lost, Father, in the wastelands of wrong beliefs; I can not find my home. Rise on my darkness, and be the pole star my groping mind. Lead me to Thyself, who art my home! 

*** 

THE ANALYSIS OF THE MIND-- Part 2 

As soon as you withdraw your consciousness and energy from the conscious plane, you reach the subconscious; then subconsciously induced dreams and hallucinations, somnambulism, psychic states, semisuperconscious dreams, consciously induced dreams, and superconsciously induced dreams may be experienced. All these stand in your way just as you are passing from the motion picture house of material or waking consciousness into the motion picture house of the subconscious. You should not keep the searchlight of your attention and your life force centered on the subconscious motion picture house, because hallucinations and dreams hold your attention and they will keep you concentrated there. 

Visions are different. The soul may use its intuition together with life force released from bodily activities during the relaxation of sleep to project true visions on the screen of the subconscious. Visions may show events to come, as the soul can use its intuitive power to ''photograph" future happenings. But a vision does not appear until sufficient energy has been relaxed from the heart and from the ordinary waking consciousness (as in sleep) to project it. 

Sleep brings a state of muscular-sensory relaxation. The subconscious mind, working with the ego and a few subconscious films of past experiences, 

can then produce a dream. The thought film of certain events that has been lodged in your brain is vivified by the energy relaxed from the rest of the body during sleep and is used to produce a subconsciously induced dream. 

Clairaudience comes when your mind is able to concentrate so powerfully on listening that the tympanum catches vibrations not only from sounds around your body, of which you are normally aware according to the capacity of your tympanum, but also sounds you would not ordinarily be able to hear with the physical ears. Those extraordinary sounds come from far off; hence clair audience is sometimes called intuitive hearing. 

The powers of all our senses can be stimulated by the governing power of the mind. It is not the physical eye that sees. It is the mind that uses energy to photograph objects through the eye. That energy in the eye is powerful, like an X ray. Well, you may say, the X ray can photograph bones in the body; why then, if the eyes are powerful as X rays, cannot we see the bones inside the body with the unaided eye? We do have the power to see thus; but we do not enjoy that kind of vision because we haven't developed the high rate of vibration or energy needed to pierce visually certain forms of matter. The power in the eye is more powerful than the X-ray, but the sense of sight in the average person has become limited, owing to hereditary limitations of the mental processes that govern it. 

LIFE FORCE IS SOURCE OF ALL RAYS

The life force is the source of all the rays of sensory perceptions. The difference between the life force in the body and the X ray is simply a difference in rate of vibration. Life 

force is semiconscious. The electricity in a bulb does not produce the bulb, but the life force in a little sperm, when united with an ovum, develops the human body. Since the life force is responsible for making the entire body, and is the source of all rays, there is a strong relationship between the life force in the body and all the rays around the body. 

We could not eat a stone and derive nourishment therefrom. Why? Not because the stone is not food --for it may contain elements found in some foods -- but because its vibration is not akin to that in the body. Vegetables, water, and air are on a vibratory scale that is more or less harmonious to the vibration of the body; hence their rays are more quickly absorbed by the body. Rays are the first emanations of life force. Gases, chemicals, salts, and minerals are but different kinds of rays, each with its own vibration. The Lord has giv en us four forms of vibration; solids are the densest; liquids are finer; air is still finer; and energy itself is the finest of all. 

God is the Supreme Intelligence. The Word is intelligent vibration, or the intelligent Cosmic Energy that has produced protons, electrons, atoms, and so on. All these are actually rays, and include X ray, electricity, ultraviolet, and infrared rays. Rays, according to their rate of vibration, become gases, liquids, or solids. A solid might be defined as ''frozen" liquid; liquid as ''fro zen" gas; and gas as "frozen" rays; rays are "frozen" electricity; and electric ity is "frozen" energy. What is solid is actually material vibration or energy; liquid is simply liquid energy, and gas is gaseous energy. All are forms of energy. All matter is energy in different forms, or different rates of vibration. 

CLAIRVOYANCE

Clairvoyance is made possible when the life force in the power of sight has been attuned to certain vibrations of matter which are finer than those ordinarily perceived with the physical eyes. 

Persons who understand how to make the vibratory power of vision more powerful will find that just as an X ray "sees" through a wall, so the power of sight may be developed to see through solid matter. Those who have developed that vision are called clairvoyant. You can be clairvoyant when you increase the intuitive faculty of the eyes, or when you increase the vibration of the life force in the eyes. That vibratory power can penetrate into anything, and you can see into the astral counterpart of the physical universe. The universe we see is a dream within a dream. Matter is not only "frozen" energy but also the "frozen" consciousness of God. The difference between Cosmic Energy and 

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The energy of consciousness is nothing more than varying rates of vibration. 

OUR EYES ARE LIKE X RAYS

  Our eyes were meant to be as powerful as X rays. We

were meant to be able to see with our eyes as one could 

see with a fluoroscope. Why then are we so "blind"? Why must we use instruments to see through matter? If power were not in the eye, we could not see through the instruments. We have made ourselves believe that we need instruments; but in reality all the sensory powers lie in the soul. "They seeing see not; and hearing they hear not" (Matthew 13:13). We think that we cannot see behind the scenes without the aid of scientific appliances. Yet if we were only to develop our own visual powers we would be able to see that the world is absolutely different from what it now appears to be to our limited material vision. What fine rays are dancing! What color there is in the sunshine! The spectrum that we see has only seven colors; it is nothing compared to the colors of the astral sphere. Do you know why leaves turn to a more or less orange color when they are dying? They are retiring to the Infinite, Color is a certain rate of vibration. Anything that goes toward Spir it changes to certain colors in the process. By clairvoyance we may see the astral counterparts of matter, if we are developed enough; but in true visions we have the spiritual X-ray power that can penetrate through the astral world and see even the saints. Saints are sometimes hidden behind the astral world and it requires great concentration to receive their vibratory projections. 

It is possible in two ways to see people who have passed on: If you love someone very deeply, you may project from within yourself the concept of that person. Or if you think of a person very strongly you may force his astral body to project so that you may see him. By the law of attraction his astral body may be projected, either with or without his knowledge. 

Those who are able to see spiritually or clairvoyantly can photograph on their mental screen the images of real saints that move in the ether. Clairvoyance in itself is not detrimental to spiritual progress; actually in that state your consciousness is reversed from the plane of matter to the plane of Spirit. But certain subconscious pictures or astral images of a lower rate of vibration may intrude upon your mental screen and these may be detrimental to soul progress. 

Relax your consciousness and energy from preoccupation with the motion picture of the material world; and then relax consciousness and energy from the subconscious, which perceives the astral world. That is the way to the Infinite. The first process is to withdraw the energy and life force from the plane of the senses; then from the subconscious movie house. As you are withdrawing your consciousness from the motion picture of matter, you can forget completely the subconscious, and become aware of a higher plane. Do not let yourself dally in the chamber of subconscious dreams. You do not have to dream in order to relax in the subconscious. Avoid dreams, that you be not detained in the movie house of the subconscious but pass beyond into the calm sphere of the superconscious state. 

*** 

SELF-ANALYSIS AS AN AID TO SUCCESS 

Under all circumstances you should be calm and self-possessed. No one should be able to excite you. No matter what happens, even if storms of trials come, you must be able to steer the ship of concentration calmly to the shores of blessedness. 

The ordinary person is influenced by his worldly environment. The man of concentration shapes his own life. The man of concentration plans his day and finds at the end of the day that his plans are carried out; he finds himself nearer to God and his goal. A weak man plans many wonderful things, but finds at the end of the day that he has been a victim of circumstances and bad habits. Such a person usually blames everyone but himself. 

Remember, you should blame no one but yourself for your troubles. If 

You make up your mind that you are going to control your circumstances according to law, your circumstances will adjust themselves accordingly. Eventually you must learn to lead a controlled existence. 

Every morning make up your mind that you are going to be better, you are going to be kind to your friends and enemies alike, you are going to meditate more deeply than you did the day before, you are going to know something about good books, and so forth. In other words, you are going to go on improving. Analyze yourself and find out whether you are the same person that you were a few years ago or not, and whether you have overcome any of your past bad habits. This will tell you whether you have been progressing or not. You must not lead a stagnant existence. Everyday spur yourself on to greater achievements. 

** 

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THE BANDIT AND THE BULL-- Part 2 

The angel on the right was asked to re-examine his book thoroughly. Finally he exclaimed: "Ah! I find on the last page a single, indirect virtuous action. Rakusha once left a few bricks in a puddle of mud so that he might re-cross over them, although he hated to think that anyone else might benefit from the use of them too. However, he has a reward coming to him because a few holy men did happen to use those bricks to cross the puddle." 

Then the angel in charge of Heaven and Hades said to the bandit soul: "You have two hours of complete freedom in Heaven or Hades. Pray let me know your last wish." The bandit thought it over and replied: "Get me a flying bull 

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from Hades with long, sharp-pointed horns." A ferocious flying bull arrived. The bandit got on the animal's back and, upon being assured that it would do just as he commanded, he said: "Mr. Bull, charge all the keepers of Hades." Hades had never before been in such an uproar. 

Hearing the confusion, the angel in charge of both Heaven and Hades together with his flying assistants, hastened to the scene to try to save their colleagues in Hades. The bandit soul, in great glee, at once ordered the bull to drive his long horns into the body of the angel leader. Seeing his doom approaching, the angel with his assistants began to race through space to find 

shelter behind Heaven's safe gates, fiercely pursued by the bandit. The keepers in Hades sent telepathic broadcasts to Heaven about this terrible outrage. Archangels flocked to the rescue, but according to the decree, none could withstand the attack of the flying bull under the command of the wicked bandit. 

The bull entered the pearly gates hot on the heels of the fleeing angels. Then Heaven was in an uproar! At last, just as Rakusha on the flying bull reached the golden throne of His Majesty, the Lord, the bandit's two hours of freedom were up; the bull suddenly stopped his unbridled goring. The angels folded their wings and rested. But the keeper of Heaven and Hades approached the now powerless bandit and shouted: "So! even in this other world you had to follow your wicked way. We will give you and your flying bull overtime work in the worst part of Hades. Heaven is too good for you.". 

But the Heavenly Father exclaimed, "No! You will not throw the wicked bandit and his bull back into Hades. They are already free, for they have reached Heaven. It doesn't matter how one gets here, even if it is by a very little goodness. Once a soul reaches Heaven, it shall never go to Hades again." 

And so, dear friend, by its audacity this story is intended to help you to . realize that no matter what wrong you may have done in the past, if you sin no more and cultivate even a little goodness, that good may be the portal to the heaven of eternal joy and freedom. The idea is, do not keep brooding over the distance between you and Truth, but keep walking toward it by doing some good every day, and you will finally reach your Goal. 

*** 

AFFIRMATION 

O Father of Light, my shipwrecked soul rejoicingly beholds Thy shores of Bliss. 

Self-Realization Fellowship Lesson 

"Thy Self-realization will blossom forth from thy soulful study” 

THE CANDLE OF PEACE 

By Paramahansa Yogananda 

Take the bowl of my mind and fill it with Thine understanding wisdom. Take the bottle of my emotion and fill it with Thy mercy. Take the empty basket of my soul and fill it with Thy fragrant wisdom. Use my life's vessel to dip cupfuls of Thy love and pour them into the desire-parched throats of others. Break the walls of my love and flood me with Thine omnipresence. 

It is the streak of love's dawn, peeping through the little opening fissures of my heart, which be speaks the sunlight of Thy love spreading over the dark dungeon of my indifference. The darkness of my love is lit by the gentle luminosity of Th.y. love. The empty hall of my soul is illumined by the light of Thy spirit. 

Thou art the life behind my body, the intelligence behind my mind, the love behind my feeling, the wisdom behind my ignorance. 

With the little taper of my love I may read Thy golden book which lay agelong hidden in me. Thy love has been the invisible candle of peace dispelling my darkness and showing me Thy secret messages written on the pages of all hearts. 

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PRAYER 

O Father, if Thou wakest me, how can I ever sleep again? But if sleep should steal over me, wilt Thou wake me again? The terrors of the dreamland of life are forgotten now. My sorrow Thou hast changed into tears of joy. My joys are blazing into bliss. 

THE ANALYSIS OF THE MIND-- Part 3 

DREAM STATE Waking consciousness is the state experienced during one's waking hours; the subconscious mind works then as memory. When we are using the conscious mind, the ego orders the senses and the muscular processes and the thought processes in the body to produce certain activity. At the same time, just behind the thought processes of the conscious mind, the subconscious is working through memory. The conscious mind sleeps at night, but the subconscious is always awake--in the daytime as memory, at night as dreams or as the feeling of peace accompanying deep sleep. 

When you do not dream, but sleep peacefully, you are in a state called ''semi superconsciousness." When you can consciously retain this dreamless state of subconsciousness, it is called "superconsciousness." The soul manifests superconsciousness through its intuitive process. Dwelling behind the conscious mind are the subconscious and superconscious minds. 

The average person uses the conscious mind most of the time. In dreams he passively experiences the activity of the subconscious mind; and in deep sleep he has a glimpse of the semi superconscious and the superconscious states. One can willfully operate the subconscious mind to produce conscious hallucinations; and by meditation one can consciously operate the supercon scious mind to perceive true spiritual visions. 

The ego is the false consciousness of material limitation that the soul assumes upon entering the body and becoming engrossed in sense perceptions. Ego has many names: "my body," "my name, " ''my nationality," and so on. Its perceptions extend upward into the realm of the subconscious--at the utmost to the semi superconscious. Ego perception cannot go beyond into the realm of superconsciousness, because ego is the delusive consciousness of identification with the physical body; whereas superconsciousness is the direct intuitive perception of the soul when it beholds itself as a reflection of Spirit. 

VISIONS

 Superconsciousness and intuition are the same. Intuition is thedirect perception of the soul, and is different from reason, which is dependent upon sense perception. When the soul uses intuition, and intuition only, plus the energy that accumulates in the brain during sensory and muscular relaxation, it can focus upon and materialize certain actual experiences. These are called visions. 

Semivision occurs when the soul uses a mixture of waking consciousness, subconsciousness, and superconsciousness to produce certain half-true visions. They are called ''semi visions" because during the vision you may also dream. You may be seeing a vision, but you are not able to concentrate on it exclusively because your attention is partially deflected into the subconscious or conscious state. Part is true and part is untrue. The conglomerate experiences of conscious, subconscious, and superconscious minds, plus relaxed energy of the body processes, produce semi visions. Generally speaking, all hallucinations may be classified as subconscious experiences; they are detrimental to higher spiritual attainment and the experience of true visions. 

SUBCONSCIOUSLY INDUCED DREAMS

 When the ego retires from the chamber of waking consciousness into the chamber of subconsciousness, it utilizes relaxed energy produced by sensory relaxation, and also certain stored-up comedy or tragedy films of experiences lodged in the subconscious mind, to produce dreams. 

CONSCIOUSLY INDUCED DREAMS

At times, perhaps just as you have fallen asleep after viewing a harrowing war film, or perhaps a ghost story film that greatly impressed your mind, you have seen these things again, with certain little changes, in a dream. The conscious stimuli became mixed with certain subconscious experiences, then you projected them into a dream. 

All experiences that are filmed by the conscious mind through the lenses of the senses are stored in the subconscious mind where they may later be projected into that kind of picture or dream. The only difference between consciously and subconsciously induced dreams is that the consciously induced dream immediately follows the conscious experience, whereas, in the subconsciously induced dream, the record of the experience may have been stored for some time, even years, before it is projected in the form of a dream. Not all consciously induced dreams are the outcome of certain experiences before the state of sleep, however. Dreams may also be consciously produced in the following way: before you retire at night, make the light dim and begin to behold or visualize the area of the room that is lighted, with all the things in it. Concentrate with open eyes with the whole attention, but with complete relaxation. Keep on visualizing the room and if you fall asleep doing so, you will find that you have converted this visualization into a conscious dream. 

Pressure on certain parts of the brain produces certain mental pictures. Once I was sleeping on my side and certain dream-pictures came. I turned on the other side and immediately the pictures vanished. Then I sat up in the meditation posture, saw superconscious visions, and again slept. It was wonderful to experience so many states of consciousness in such a short time. 

SUPERCONSCIOUSLY INDUCED DREAMS 

Superconscious dreams are those in which the soul's consciousness with its camera of intuition photo 

graphs certain future events and drops them into the subconscious mind and projects them on the screen of dreams. Or such visions may be from the past. A great many dreams are true: for instance, one that depicts a certain experience of past lives. Superconscious experiences are projected as semiconscious dreams or visions. You can see a vision with either open or closed eyes, in daylight or at night; it makes no difference. When you meditate for a long time you behold creation as an insubstantial dream projection of the Infinite Intelligence. 

IMPORTANT MENTAL STATES DESCRIBED AND CLASSIFIED 

 Semisuperconscious dreams or supercon. sciously induced dreams of future happenings generally come true. They are almost like visions, only not consciously induced. The superconsciousness of the soul uses the subconscious to produce a semidream or semisuperconscious dream; the difference between these super consciously induced dreams and real visions is as follows: 

A real vision is induced consciously--consciously you reach the state of superconsciousness, and then produce a vision; but a semi superconscious dream is produced while you are sleeping. The soul arouses itself, and using intuition undergoes an experience so that the ego, when it wakes up and remembers the dream experience, may be warned or entertained. 

Hallucinations are produced by the subconscious mind, using certain energy released by the relaxed body to produce a mental picture which you can see with open or closed eyes, but which has no corresponding reality, Somnambulism includes motion of the limbs and other strong muscular activity, accompanied by hallucinations. During unconscious trance you remain outwardly inert, physically unconscious, but inwardly you stay on the borderland of semi subconsciousness or semi superconsciousness. The internal experience is peace, plus certain semi superconsciousness, and sometimes superconscious dreams. During unconsciousness you are unconscious outside, and you may or may not be conscious inside. The last stage is to be unconscious inside and outside at the same time. (To be continued) 

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THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T BE KING 

Long ago there lived a few saints in a retreat on a mountain slope adjoining a jungle valley. Here blew the zephyr of ceaseless peace. The saints ate fruits from the trees, and drank, from the cup of their hands, the living water 

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of the sparkling mountain springs. Their diamond-bright eyes glittered with celestial smiles; joy throbbed in their bosoms, giving perpetual solace. And yet one day one of the saints thought he had had too much of spiritual happiness, and wanted a taste of earthly happiness. He wanted to be a king for a day. With this desire burning in his heart, he set out in quest of royal pleasure. 

On the way he thought: "Heavenly Father, I am Thy child, surely Thou wilt guide me to the place where I can enjoy kingly happiness for a day." Soon his eye feel upon a stately, palatial mansion. "Ah, I see the Heavenly Father has made my dream come true," he exclaimed, and began hurrying toward the mansion. 

No guard stopped him, so he passed through the gates. He walked all over the flower-bedecked garden, but met no one. He went into the dining room of the palace and found steaming hot, delicious food invitingly awaiting him on the table, but no trace of waiters or servants. He thought: "The Lord is good to me; He has materialized this palace, and wonderful food, fit for a king, just for me. It is just as I wanted it. My dreams of kingly happiness have come true. " 

Being sentimentally convinced, he proceeded to enjoy the preliminaries of being a God-made king for a day. He took a bath, dressed in fresh clothes, and then sat down for dinner. Just at this moment the servants of the palace, who had been out gambling, rushed in and in great excitement shouted: "Who are you, eating the food of our king who is out hunting and is expected to arrive any minute ?" The saint, thinking that it was a test of the Lord, replied in a calm, loving tone: "I am a friend of the Great King; I have come here at His command to enjoy royal happiness for a day." 

The servants, noting his cosmopolitan air of assurance, took the saint to be truly an august guest of their king, and let him finish t 

Then they ushered him to sleep in the royal chamber, not dreaming that the "Great King" the saint referred to was not their earthly ruler, but the Lord. 

Two hours passed. The herald of the king arrived with a message from His Highness, stating that he was detained and would arrive at the end of three hours and would like to have a hot dinner ready. The servants anxiously asked: "Didn't His Highness send a guest to enjoy his dinner and the king's herald learned that an unknown guest, without invitation, had devoured the king's food and was now snoring on the royal bed. Enraged at this audacity, he urged the servants to run and bring sticks with which to drive out the interloper. 

The saint was rudely awakened from his dream of royal happiness by sticks mercilessly falling upon him; but the more the servants beat and reviled him, the more he laughed. Infuriated, they continued to beat him until he lost consciousness, then threw him out beyond the palace gates. 

A passing brother saint took him back to the hermitage. The brother forced milk into the mouth of the unconscious saint, and after a while, by way of testing his recovery of consciousness, asked: "Do you know who is feeding you milk?" The beaten saint laughingly replied: "'The same God who beat me for trying to be a king for a day--that same God is feeding me milk." The other hermits were glad to see their brother's faith in God unchanged. This saint wasn't like those who worship God during prosperity and disbelieve in God during adversity. 

Meanwhile, the king of the palace returned and demanded the hot food he had ordered. Although he was momentarily wrathful to learn of the intruder who had eaten his food and who had laughed when he was being beaten, the king had a whimsical turn of mind and ordered his servants to find the audacious impostor. They searched high and low until, turning homeward in despair, they galloped past the saint's retreat and were amazed to hear his loud laughter. They dismounted, seized the saint, and took him before the king. 

When the king and the saint met, the saint began to laugh louder than ever, as if unable to hold his merriment within the cup of his heart. The king repeatedly asked him, under threat of dire punishment, to tell the reason for his laughter. When threats failed, the king used entreaty, and finally offered his throne if only the saint would explain how he could laugh so sincerely while being beaten. 

The saint replied: "Listen well! I was thrashed by God for craving the delusive enjoyment of kingly material comfort for a day; my laughter increased because I 'got off easy.' I thought: 'If I merit so much beating for just one day of being a king, think how much punishment is coming to a king who indulges in material happiness for years. ' I was beaten for forgetting God for just one day; so, no, thank you, I would not be king! I have ever-fresh happiness in God, which does not end with lashing worries." 

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AFFIRMATION 

My body temple is filled with light. The rays of Thy light will keep the eyes of my wisdom from dropping. I thank Thee, my Father, for keeping me always awake and ready. 

IN MY HEART'S PATCH OF FLOWERS 

By Paramahansa Yogananda 

The bee of my mind makes its way to my heart's secluded garden, fanned by 

the breeze of my devotion and pearled with .........the Jew of Thy sweetness. 

I have grown for Thee stately lilies of discrimination, buttercup receptacles of my repentant tears, shy violets, dreaming of humility, and immense chrysanthemums of soul perceptions. To Thee my thought trees proffer on humble branch hands their fragrant fruit of prayer. 

•. In my heart's patch of flowers my playful mind bee daily hovers, reveling among the nectared offerings to Thee. 

--From "Whispers from Eternity" 

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PRAYER 

O Infinite Alchemist! Spiritualize our weakness into strength, our wrong thoughts into right thoughts. Grow Thou a flower of Thine understanding out of every seed of activity. With Thy magic wand of fore sight, teach us to transmute our ugly demons of selfish ambitions into fairies of all-serving, noble aspirations. 

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THE ANALYSIS OF THE MIND--Part 4 

INTUITION AND SOUL ;-Upon the sensitive plate of mind or human consciousness  the ego cameraman photographs the objective world through the lens of the senses by means of the rays of life flowing in them and in the brain. The ego has limited power, and so it cannot photograph distant events. But when the soul banishes its ego consciousness, by dissolving its identification with the body, it becomes the pure, true reflec. tion of Spirit, the exalted soul cameraman who can photograph the operations of the law of causation in the objective world in the light of energy relaxed from the senses and concentrated in the brain. 

Intuition or superconsciousness can project these films of future events as visions--glimpses of the fourth dimensional world--that can be seen in the dark spacial movie house behind closed eyes, or even with open eyes in daylight or at night. The power of intuition, using the secret inner liferay withdrawn from the senses, can photograph any subjective dream scene or any objective worldly scene, even though it is not present before the physical eyes, and can project it on the screen of human consciousness as an objective vision any time, anywhere, as a true vision (in the human wakeful state), or as a true dream (in the subconscious dream state). 

The illusory motion picture of worldly objects is produced by God's power of cosmic delusion in conjunction with human consciousness and human life. The motion picture of true dreams (dreams which come true) is caused by God's power of cosmic intuition operating in conjunction with the soul's power of pure intuition or superconsciousness, and pure life, withdrawn from the senses and concentrated in the brain, reflected from Spirit in ego-less soul. 

Super Consciously induced dreams are those in which the soul takes a real intuitive experience and from that intuition projects a dream. Such dreams are projected by the soul operator on the screen of subconsciousness in the passive state of sleep. In this case the soul does not take film from the subconscious (as in ordinary dreams) but photographs events from the ether by intuition, and projects them as superconscious dreams in the dark chamber of subconsciousness. 

Between subconscious false dreams and true dreams there is a great deal of similarity, as shown above. When the human consciousness and energy are concentrated in the brain during the relaxation of sleep, the blind ego produces untrue motion pictures of dreams, whereas the pure soul, by concentrating pure consciousness and energy during the relaxation of sleep can produce true dreams. When one liberates the soul by practicing meditation during the wakeful state one can learn to project true dreams in the subconscious state. An advanced yogi finds his soul able to withdraw life and energy from the senses consciously, and to photograph future events or distant scenes and film them as superconscious visions, which may then be viewed with closed or open eyes in the wakeful state also. 

COMPOSITION OF DREAMS . Your usual habit of sleep indicates your usual state of mind. There is a way to distinguish all these different states. These are the fine things that you should know, because they are all roads to Self-realization. 

Never forget that there is the element of energy in dreams--energy combined with imagination. Without energy you cannot see. Energy materializes the thought. God's thought, combined with Cosmic Energy, was materialized to produce this universe. He shows us that if we have control over energy and consciousness even as He does, we can create just as He does. In a passive state, with energy relaxed from the senses and concentrated in the brain, we can create miniature dream pictures. 

Behind nature is Cosmic Intelligence, plus energy. Energy is the missing link between matter and consciousness. Energy and consciousness are everything. Likewise, God shows us in dreamland that we can create a replica of this world, provided we have the necessary concentration of consciousness and energy. It is also true that if energy could somehow be kept away from the brain, you would have no hallucinations. If you are peaceful and calm every day, you will not have dreams. But by consciously inducing energy in the brain and controlling it properly, you may see visions. 

When by self-control during meditation the devotee astrally disconnects the life force from the sensory nerves, it begins to flow inward and becomes focused into an opalescent light at the point between the eyebrows. This in ward astral flow, and the inner light, are the oblations of human wisdom to its ancestors of soul, ego, and intuition. The human wisdom must offer these vitalities to the soul faculties with the oblations of inwardly flowing spiritual perceptions and the light of the spiritual eye, or the soul faculties will remain dormant, degradingly undeveloped. 

Dreams are made of consciousness, relaxed energy, and an idea. The idea is the film, the relaxed energy is the current and the ego is the projector. For example: In the projection of a dream, the subconsciousness is the screen; the relaxed energy from the nerves gathers in the brain, and the film is the experience impinged on the brain cells. And what is the projector ? The ego. The medulla oblongata serves as the projection booth. So when a person is dreaming his energy has relaxed into the brain; the ego is taking the current of relaxed energy and passing it and its ego consciousness through the experiences in the brain cells, and these are being projected as subconscious dreams; i. e., the ego, plus relaxed energy, plus experiences located in the brain, produce images.. 

Nightmare dreams come under the heading of subconsciously induced dreams. During a nightmare, more energy will be used by the heart and the circulation, and the breath will be more excited than in super consciously induced dreams, which have a rather peaceful effect on the body. During a superconscious dream your breath, heart, and all physical and vital process es will be decidedly less active than when you have a nightmare 

VISIONS--DREAMS

 Sleep is unconscious sensory and muscular relaxation. You do not know how the energy retires, for it has been passively, or unconsciously, relaxed by you. When your mind becomes passive and your energy relaxes from the brain, the relaxed energy passes through grooves of the subconscious, where the experiences that you see in the ordinary dream are stored. 

Visions are produced when you are able consciously to withdraw the energy from the muscles and heart region and direct it to the spiritual eye as taught in preceding Lessons on concentration and meditation. As soon as supercon scious vision comes, your breath and heart will be still. Semi Visions are those that are not consciously induced but have a touch of the superconscious. A superconscious dream is materialized like a vision, but in it the superconsciousness is not directly active, operating only through subconsciousness. 

HYPNOSIS..SOMNAMBULISM 

Some students confuse hypnotism with somnambulism. The two are quite different. In somnambulism ego not only uses certain subconscious films to produce a picture, but also employs the muscles and limbs to act out the movie. It is subconscious control of the conscious processes. When you are consciously walking, you know that you are consciously willing yourself to do so. In somnambulism such movement is controlled by the subconscious; it is very dangerous. Certain subconscious experiences take hold of the conscious process and the body works out that subconscious impulse. 

In hypnosis, however, by certain suggestions someone else a rouses your subconscious mind and makes it control the conscious mind. This state usually lasts only a little while. If you are fully under the spell of hypnotism, the hypnotizer is able to make you think and say what he is suggesting. The yogis of India claim that hypnosis takes away mental freedom. Hypnosis makes use of the subconscious; the danger lies in the repeated overpowering of the conscious mind by the subconscious, which in time may endanger the brain. 

Spirit hypnosis occurs when a disembodied soul takes hold of the conscious and subconscious minds and uses them as it wishes. "Tramp' souls are always moving in the ether, seeking passive mentalities through which they can express. Hence the danger in "letting the mind go blank.". This is quite a different process from that employed in meditation, in which a conscious, controlled effort of will and attention are employed to stop the flow of restless (i. e., uncontrolled) thoughts and to concentrate instead on some idea of God which the devotee desires to meditate upon and intuitively realize. A true guru is able to point out step-by-step methods (such as the Self-Realization Fellowship Hong-Sau and Om meditation techniques) by which the God-seeking devotee may safely attain his goal. 

Saints and seers of all times have described the result of correct meditation as a state of exalted awareness, of blissful consciousness--not mental blankness. Indeed the blissful state of superconsciousness cannot be reached by passively blanking the mind; the devotee must needs marshal all his inner forces of mind and life energy and concentrate them on the sole thought of God. 

THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY 

Sleep is sensory relaxation of energy. Where does the energy go? into the brain; and it passes through the grooves of the brain and is projected as a dream. A dream is a mental movie. You are not resting when you dream; you are looking at your own movies. Visualize a thing as you fall asleep, and you will often dream about it. God has given you the power to create, so create with your mind the things you want most. 

While you are dreaming everything is real to you. The only difference between this world and the dreamland is that the world is a more sustaining dream. God is suggesting a universe to us and we cannot get rid of that thought because it is so powerful. God is dreaming through us. When your thought becomes elevated enough to be in tune with God's thought, then you will be able to realize that this life is but a dream. You must first lift your consciousness to the plane of God. Then you will wake up in the Infinite. You will know that only God is real. 

After bathing yourself in the ocean of peace in the dreamland, as you awake with happiness say: "In the sleepland I found myself free from mortal worries. I was a king of peace. Now, as I work in the daytime and carry on my diurnal battle of duties, I will no longer be defeated by insurgent worries of the kingdom of wakefulness."