Letters on Occult Meditation

by Alice A Bailey

  Let us be specific and illustrate:—An Ego has formed his three-fold body of manifestation and set his ring-pass-not with the purpose in view of building into his [109] causal body the faculty of “mental apprehension of the basic facts of life.” The object of that one incarnation is to develop the mental capacity of the student; to teach him concrete facts and science and thus to enlarge the content of his mental body, with a view to future work. He may be over-developed on the heart side, too much of the devotee; he may have spent many lives in dreaming dreams and in seeing visions and in mystic meditation. To be practical, full of common sense, to know the curriculum of the Hall of Learning and to apply practically the knowledge learnt on the physical plane is his great need. Yet, even though his ring-pass-not seems to proscribe and limit his inherent tendencies, and even though the stage is set so that it would seem he must learn the lessons of practical living in the world, he learns not, but follows what is to him the line of least resistance. He dreams his dreams, and stays aloof from world affairs; he does not fulfil the desire of the Ego, but misses opportunity; he suffers much, and in the next life is necessitated a similar staging and a stronger urge, and a closer ring-pass-not until he complies with the will of his Ego.

  For such an one, meditation helps not, but mainly hinders. As before I have said, meditation (to be wisely undertaken) is for those who have reached a point in evolution where the rounding out of the causal body is somewhat matured and where the student is in one of the final grades in the Hall of Learning. You need to remember that I refer not here to the mystic meditation but to the scientifically occult meditation. The dangers are, therefore, practically those of wasted time, of an intensification of a vibration out of ill proportion to the key of the other vibrations, and of an unequal rounding out and a lop-sided building that will necessitate reconstructing in other lives. [110]

  July 30, 1920.

  Dangers based on national heredity and type of body.

  ...As you may well imagine it is not my purpose to enlarge upon the dangers incidental to a defective body, save in general terms to lay down the ruling that where there is definite disease, congenital trouble or mental weakness of any kind, meditation is not the part of discretion, but may serve but to intensify the trouble. I wish specifically to point out for the guidance of future students and as a prophetic statement, that in days to come when the science of meditation is more comprehended, two factors will be wisely weighed and considered before assigning a meditation. These factors are:

  a—The man's subrace characteristics.

  b—His type of body, whether it is oriental or occidental.

  In this way, certain disasters will be avoided and certain troubles obviated that are now found in a more or less degree in every occult group.

  It is generally recognised that each race has for its predominant feature some one outstanding quality of the emotional body. This is the general rule. In contrasting the Italian and the Teutonic racial differences, those differences are summed up in our minds in terms of the emotional body. We think of the Italian as fiery, romantic, unstable and brilliant; we think of the Teuton as phlegmatic, matter-of-fact, sentimental and stolidly, logically clever. It will, therefore, be apparent to you that these different temperaments carry with them their own dangers, and that in the unwise pursuit of unsuitable meditations, virtues could be emphasised till they approximated vices, temperamental weaknesses could be intensified till they became menaces, and consequently [111] lack of balance would result instead of that attainment of equilibrium and that fine rounding out of the causal body which is one of the aims in view. When, therefore, the wise Teacher moves among men and Himself apportions meditation, these racial differences will be weighed and their inherent defects will be offset and not intensified. Over-development and disproportionate attainment will be obviated by the equalising effects of occult meditation.

  Meditation as followed now and as followed in Atlantean days differs fundamentally. In the fourth root race an effort was made to facilitate attainment via the atomic subplane, from the emotional plane to the intuitional, to the practical exclusion of the mental. It followed the line of the emotions and had a definite effect on the emotional body. It worked upwards from the emotional instead of, as now, working on mental levels and from those levels making the effort to control the two lower. In the Aryan root-race, the attempt is being made to bridge the gap between the higher and the lower and, by centering the consciousness in the lower mind and later in the causal, to tap the higher until the downflow from that higher will be continuous. With most of the advanced students at present all that is felt is occasional rushes of illumination, but later will be felt a steady irradiation. Both methods carry their own dangers. In Atlantean days, meditation tended to overstimulation of the emotions and although men touched great heights, yet they also touched great depths. Sex magic was unbelievably rampant. The solar plexus was apt to be over vivified, the triangles were not correctly followed, and the lower centres were caught in the reaction of the fire with dire results.

  The dangers now are different. The development of [112] mind carries with it the dangers of selfishness, of pride, of blind forgetfulness of the higher that it is the aim of the present method to offset. If the adepts of the dark path attained great powers in Atlantean days they are still more dangerous now. Their control is much more widespread. Hence the emphasis laid on service, and on the steadying of the mind as an essential in the man who seeks to progress and to become a member of the Brotherhood of Light.

  The matter I now seek to give some instruction upon is one of very real importance to all earnest students at this time. The orient is to the evolving race of men what the heart is to the human body; it is the source of light, of life, of heat, and of vitality. The occident is to the race what the brain or mental activity is to the body,—the directing organising factor, the instrument of the lower mind, the accumulator of facts. The difference in the entire, “make-up” (as you term it) of the oriental and of the European or American is so great and so well recognised that it is mayhap needless for me to dwell upon it.

  The oriental is philosophical, naturally dreamy, trained through centuries to think in abstract terms, fond of obstruse dialectics, temperamentally lethargic, and climatically slow. Ages of metaphysical thinking, of vegetarian living, of climatic inertia and of a rigid adherence to forms and to the strictest rules of living have produced a product the exact opposite of his occidental brother.

  The occidental is practical, businesslike, dynamic, quick in action, a slave to organization (which is after all but another form of ceremonial), actuated by a very concrete mind, acquisitive, critical, and at his best when affairs move quickly and rapid mental decision is required. He detests abstract thought yet appreciates it when apprehended, and when he can make those thoughts [113] facts on the physical plane. He uses his head more than his heart centre, and his throat centre is apt to be vitalised. The oriental uses his heart centre more than the head and necessarily the corresponding head centres. The centre at the top of the spine at the base of the skull functions more actively than the throat.

  The oriental progresses by the withdrawing of the centre of consciousness to the head through strenuous meditation. That is the centre that he needs to master, he learns by the wise use of mantrams, by retiring into seclusion, by isolation and by the careful following of specific forms for many hours each day for many days.

  The occidental has in view the withdrawal of his consciousness to the heart at first, for already he works so much with the head centres. He works more by the use of collective forms and not individual mantrams; he does not work so much in isolation as his oriental brother, but has to find his centre of consciousness even in the noise and whirl of business life and in the throngs of great cities. He employs collective forms for the attainment of his ends, and the awakening of the heart centre shows itself in service. Hence the emphasis laid in the Occident on the heart meditation and the subsequent life of service.<
br />
  You will see, therefore, that when the real occult work is begun, the method may differ—and will necessarily differ—in the east and in the west, but the goal will be the same. It must be borne in mind, for instance, that a meditation that would aid the development of an oriental, might bring danger and disaster to his western brother. The reverse would also be the case. But always the goal will be the same. Forms may be individual or collective, mantrams may be chanted by units or by groups, different centres may be the object of specialised attention, yet [114] the results will be identical. Danger arises when the occidental bases his endeavour on rules that suffice for the oriental, as has at times been so wisely pointed out. In the wisdom of the Great Ones this danger is being offset. Different methods for different races, diverse forms for those of various nationalities, but the same wise guides on the inner planes, the same great Hall of Wisdom, the same Gate of Initiation, admitting all into the inner sanctuary....

  In concluding this subject, I seek to give a hint:—The seventh Ray of Ceremonial Law or Order (the ray now coming into power) provides for the occidental what has long been the privilege of the oriental. Great is the day of opportunity, and in the sweeping onward of this seventh force comes the needed impetus that may—if rightly grasped—drive to the Feet of the Lord of the World the dweller in the occident.

  August 2, 1920.

  Dangers attendant on group affiliations.

  Very briefly would I seek this morning to take up the question of the dangers involved in meditation that are incidental to a man's group affiliations, whether exoteric or esoteric. There is not much that can be said on this particular matter, save broad indications. Each of these various subjects that I have touched upon might warrant the writing of a weighty treatise, and I shall not, therefore, attempt to cover what might be said but only point out certain aspects of the matter that will (if pondered on with care) open up to the earnest seeker after truth many avenues of knowledge. All occult training has this in view,—to give to the pupil some seed thought which (when brooded over in the silence of his own heart) [115] will produce much fruit of real value, and which the pupil can then conscientiously consider his own. What we produce through wrestling and strenuous endeavour remains forever our own, and vanishes not into forgetfulness as do the thoughts that enter through the eye from the printed page, or through the ear from the lips of any teacher no matter how revered.

  One thing that is oft overlooked by the pupil when he enters upon the path of probation and starts meditation is that the goal ahead for him is not primarily the completing of his own development, but his equipping for service to humanity. His own growth and development are necessarily incidental but are not the goal. His immediate environment and his close associates on the physical plane are his objectives in service, and if in the endeavour to attain certain qualifications and capacities he overlooks the groups to which he is affiliated and neglects to serve wisely and to spend himself loyally on their behalf he runs the danger of crystallisation, falls under the spell of sinful pride, and mayhap even takes the first step toward the left-hand path. Unless inner growth finds expression in group service the man treads a dangerous road.

  Three types of affiliated groups.

  Perhaps I could here give some indications of the groups on the various planes to which a man is assigned. These groups are many and diverse and at different periods of a man's life may change and differ, as he works out from under the obligating karma that governs the affiliations. Let us remember too that as a man enlarges his capacity to serve he at the same time increases the size and number of the groups he contacts till he reaches a point in some later incarnation when the world [116] itself is his sphere of service and the multitude those whom he assists. He has to serve in a threefold manner before he is permitted to change his line of action and pass on to other work,—planetary. systemic or cosmic.

  a—He serves first through activity, through the use of his intelligence, using the high faculties of mind and the product of his genius to aid the sons of men. He builds slowly great powers of intellect and in the building overcomes the snare of pride. He takes, then, that active intelligence of his and lays it at the feet of collective humanity, giving of his best for the helping of the race.

  b—He serves through love, becoming, as time elapses, one of the saviours of men, spending his life and giving of his all through perfect love of his brothers. A life then comes when the utmost sacrifice is made and in love he dies that others may live.

  c—He serves then through power. Proved in the furnace to have no thought save the good of all around, he is trusted with the power that follows from active love intelligently applied. He works with the law, and bends all his will to make the power of the law felt in the three-fold realms of death.

  In all these three branches of service you will notice that the faculty of working with groups is one of paramount importance. These groups are diverse, as before I have said, and vary on different planes. Let us briefly enumerate them:—

  1—On the physical plane. The following groups will be found:—

  a—His family group to which he is usually affiliated for two reasons, one to work out karma and repay his debts; the second, to receive a certain type of physical vehicle that the Ego needs for adequate expression. [117]

  b—His associates and friends; the people his environment throws him with, his business associates, his church affiliations, his acquaintances and casual friends, and the people he touches for a brief period and then sees no more. His work with them is twofold again; first to repay an obligation should such a debt have been incurred; and secondly to test out his powers to influence for good those around him, to recognise responsibility and to direct or help. In doing thus, the Guides of the race find out the actions and reactions of a man, his capacity for service, and his response to any surrounding need.

  c—His associated band of servers, the group under some Great One that is definitely united for work of an occult and spiritual nature. It may be either a band of church workers among the orthodox (beginners are tried out here); it may be in social work such as in the labor movements or in the political arena; or it may be in the more definitely pioneer movements of the world, such as the Theosophical Society, the Christian Science movement, the New Thought workers and the Spiritualists. I would add to this, one branch of endeavour that may surprise you,—I mean the movement of the Soviet in Russia and all the aggressive radical bodies that sincerely serve under their leaders (even when misguided and unbalanced) for the betterment of the condition of the masses.

  Thus on the physical plane you have three groups to which a man belongs. He owes a duty to them and he must play his part. Now wherein could danger enter through meditation? Simply in this: that as long as a man's karma holds him to some particular group the thing that he must aim at is to play his part perfectly, so that he may work out from under karmic obligation [118] and advance toward ultimate liberation; besides this he must carry on his group with him to greater heights and usefulness. Therefore, if through meditation of an unsuitable nature he neglects his proper obligation he delays the purpose of his life, and in another incarnation he will have to play it out. If he builds into that group's causal body (the composite product of the several lines) aught that has not its place properly there, he aids not but hinders, and again that involves danger. Let me illustrate, for clarity is desired:—A student is affiliated with a group that has an over-preponderance of devotees, and he has come in for the express purpose of balancing that quality with another factor, that of wise discrimination and mental balance. If he permits himself to be overcome by the group thoughtform and becomes himself a devotee, following a devotional meditation and unwisely omitting to balance that group's causal body, he runs into a danger that hurts not only himself but the group to which he belongs.

  2—On the emotional plane: Here he belongs to several groups such as:—

  a—His emotional plane family group, which is more thoroughly his own g
roup than the family into which he happens to be born on the physical plane. You will see this demonstrated many times in life when members of an emotional plane family contact each other on the physical plane. Instant recognition ensues.

  b—The class within the Hall of Learning to which he is assigned and in which he receives much instruction.

  c—The band of Invisible Helpers with whom he may be working and the band of Servers.

  All these groups involve obligation and work and all must be allowed for in studying the wise use of meditation. [119] Meditation should increase a man's capacity to discharge his karmic debts, giving clear vision, wise judgment and a comprehension of the work of the immediate moment. Anything that militates against this is dangerous.

  3—On the mental plane: The groups to be found there may be enumerated as follows:

  a—The groups of pupils of some one Master to Whom he may be attached, and with Whom he may be working. This is usually only the case when the man is rapidly working out his karma and is nearing the entrance to the Path. His meditation, therefore, should be directly under the guidance of his Master, and any formula followed that is not adjusted to a man's need carries with it elements of danger, for the vibrations set up on the mental plane and the forces engendered there are so much more potent than on the lower levels.

  b—The egoic group to which he belongs. This is most important for it involves the consideration of the man's ray in the apportioning of meditation. This matter has already been somewhat touched upon.

  As you will see, I have not specified certain dangers attacking any particular body. It is not possible to cover the subject thus. In later days, when occult meditation is more comprehended and the matter scientifically studied, students will prepare the necessary data and treatises covering the entire subject as far as then may be. I sound, however, a note of warning, I indicate the way,—the teachers on the inner side seldom do more. We aim at developing thinkers and men of clear vision, capable of logical reasoning. To do this we teach men to develop themselves, to do their own thinking, reason out their own problems, and build their own characters. Such is the Path.... [120]