EC: Yes, we have the work, the information that has been and that maybe given from time to time; especially that in reference to meditation and prayer.
First, in considering such, it would be well to analyze that difference (that is not always understood) between meditation and prayer.
As it has been defined or given in an illustrated manner by the Great Teacher, prayer is the making of one’s conscious self more in attune with the spiritual forces that may manifest in a material world, and is ordinarily given as a cooperative experience of many individuals when all are asked to come in one accord and one mind; or, as was illustrated by:
Be not as the Pharisees, who love to be seen of men, who make long dissertation or prayer to be heard of men. They immediately have their reward in the physical-mental mind.
Be rather as he that entered the temple and not so much as lifting his eyes, smote his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”
Which man was justified, this man or he that stood to be seen of men and thanked God he was not as other men, that he paid his tithes, that he did the services required in the temple, that he stood in awe of no one, he was not even as this heathen who in an uncouth manner, not with washed hands, not with shaven face attempted to reach the throne of grace?
Here we have drawn for us a comparison in prayer: That which may be the pouring out of the personality of the individual, or a group who enter in for the purpose of either outward show to be seen of men; or that enter in even as in the closet of one’s inner self and pours out self that the inner man may be filled with the Spirit of the Father in His merciful kindness to men.
Now draw the comparisons for meditation: Meditation, then, is prayer, but is prayer from within the inner self, and partakes not only of the physical inner man but the soul that is aroused by the spirit of man from within.
Well, that we consider this from individual interpretation, as well as from group interpretation; or individual meditation and group meditation.
As has been given, there are definite conditions that arise from within the inner man when an individual enters into true or deep meditation. A physical condition happens, a physical activity takes place! Acting through what? Through that man has chosen to call the imaginative or the impulsive, and the sources of impulse are aroused by the shutting out of thought pertaining to activities or attributes of the carnal forces of man. That is true whether we are considering it from the group standpoint or the individual. Then, changes naturally take place when there is the arousing of that stimuli within the individual that has within it the seat of the soul’s dwelling, within the individual body of the entity or man, and then this partakes of the individuality rather than the personality.
If there has been set the mark (mark meaning here the image that is raised by the individual in its imaginative and impulse force) such that it takes the form of the ideal the individual is holding as its standard to be raised to, within the individual as well as to all forces and powers that are magnified or to be magnified in the world from without, then the individual (or the image) bears the mark of the Lamb, or the Christ, or the Holy One, or the Son, or any of the names we may have given to that which enables the individual to enter through it into the very presence of that which is the creative force from within itself—see?
Some have so overshadowed themselves by abuses of the mental attributes of the body as to make scars, rather than the mark, so that only an imperfect image may be raised within themselves that may rise no higher than the arousing of the carnal desires within the individual body. We are speaking individually, of course; we haven’t raised it to where it may be disseminated, for remember it rises from the glands known in the body as the lyden, or to the lyden [Leydig] and through the reproductive forces themselves, which are the very essence of Life itself within an individual—see? for these functionings never reach that position or place that they do not continue to secrete that which makes for virility to an individual physical body. Now we are speaking of conditions from without and from within!
The spirit and the soul is within its encasement, or its temple within the body of the individual—see? With the arousing then of this image, it rises along that which is known as the Appian Way, or the pineal center, to the base of the brain, that it may be disseminated to those centers that give activity to the whole of the mental and physical being. It rises then to the hidden eye in the center of the brain system, or is felt in the forefront of the head, or in the place just above the real face—or bridge of nose, see?
Do not be confused by the terms that we are necessarily using to give the exact location of the activities of these conditions within the individuals, that we may make this clarified for individuals.
When an individual then enters into deep meditation:
It has been found throughout the ages (individuals have found) that self-preparation (to them) is necessary. To some it is necessary that the body be cleansed with pure water, that certain types of breathing are taken, that there may be an even balance in the whole of the respiratory system, that the circulation becomes normal in its flow through the body, that certain or definite odors produce those conditions (or are conducive to producing of conditions) that allay or stimulate the activity of portions of the system, that the more carnal or more material sources are laid aside, or the whole of the body is purified so that the purity of thought as it rises has less to work against in its dissemination of that it brings to the whole of the system, in its rising through the whole of these centers, stations or places along the body. To be sure, these are conducive; as are also certain incantations, as a drone of certain sounds, as the tolling of certain tones, bells, cymbals, drums, or various kinds of skins. Though we may as higher thought individuals find some fault with those called savages, they produce or arouse or bring within themselves—just as we have known, do know, that there may be raised through the battle-cry, there may be raised through the using of certain words or things, the passion or the thirst for destructive forces. Just the same may there be raised, not sedative to these but a cleansing of the body.
“Consecrate yourselves this day that ye may on the morrow present yourselves before the Lord that He may speak through you!” is not amiss. So, to all there may be given:
Find that which is to yourself the more certain way to your consciousness of purifying body and mind, before ye attempt to enter into the meditation as to raise the image of that through which ye are seeking to know the will or the activity of the Creative Forces; for ye are raising in meditation actual creation taking place within the inner self!
When one has found that which to self cleanses the body, whether from the keeping away from certain foods or from certain associations (either man or woman), or from those thoughts and activities that would hinder that which is to be raised from finding its full measure of expression in the inner man (inner man, or inner individual, man or woman, meaning in this sense those radial senses from which, or centers from which all the physical organs, the mental organs, receive their stimuli for activity), we readily see how, then, in meditation (when one has so purified self) that healing of every kind and nature may be disseminated on the wings of thought, that are so much a thing—and so little considered by the tongue that speaks without taking into consideration what may be the end thereof!
Now, when one has cleansed self, in whatever manner it may be, there may be no fear that it will become so overpowering that it will cause any physical or mental disorder. It is without the cleansing that entering any such finds any type or form of disaster, or of pain, or of any dis-ease of any nature. It is when the thoughts, then, or when the cleansings of group meditations are conflicting that such meditations call on the higher forces raised within self for manifestations and bring those conditions that either draw one closer to another or make for that which shadows [shatters?] much in the experiences of others; hence short group meditations with a central thought around some individual idea, or either in words, incantations, or
by following the speech of one sincere in abilities, efforts or desires to raise a cooperative activity in the minds, would be the better.
Then, as one formula—not the only one, to be sure—for an individual that would enter into meditation for self, for others:
Cleanse the body with pure water. Sit or lie in an easy position, without binding garments about the body. Breathe in through the right nostril three times, and exhale through the mouth. Breathe in three times through the left nostril and exhale through the right. Then, either with the aid of a low music, or the incantation of that which carries self deeper—deeper—to the seeing, feeling, experiencing of that image in the creative forces of love, enter into the Holy of Holies. As self feels or experiences the raising of this, see it disseminated through the inner eye (not the carnal eye) to that which will bring the greater understanding in meeting every condition in the experience of the body. Then listen to the music that is made as each center of thine own body responds to that new creative force that little by little this entering in will enable self to renew all that is necessary—in Him.
First, cleanse the room; cleanse the body; cleanse the surroundings, in thought, in act! Approach not the inner man, or the inner self, with a grudge or an unkind thought held against any man! or do so to thine own undoing sooner or later!
Prayer and meditation:
Prayer is the concerted effort of the physical consciousness to become attuned to the consciousness of the Creator, either collectively or individually! Meditation is emptying self of all that hinders the creative forces from rising along the natural channels of the physical man to be disseminated through those centers and sources that create the activities of the physical, the mental, the spiritual man; properly done must make one stronger mentally, physically, for has it not been given? He went in the strength of that meat received for many days? Was it not given by Him who has shown us the Way, “I have had meat that ye know not of”? As we give out, so does the whole of man—physically and mentally become depleted, yet in entering into the silence, entering into the silence in meditation, with a clean hand, a clean body, a clean mind, we may receive that strength and power that fits each individual, each soul, for a greater activity in this material world.
“Be not afraid, it is I.” Be sure it is Him we worship that we raise in our inner selves for the dissemination; for, as He gave, “Ye must eat of my body; ye must drink of my blood.” Raising then in the inner self that image of the Christ, love of the God Consciousness, is making the body so cleansed as to be barred against all powers that would in any manner hinder.
Be thou clean, in Him.
We are through for the present.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS
Edgar Cayce lived and worked in an era when dream psychology was just coming into its own. After centuries of disrepute and suppression, dreams were beginning to be seen as valuable windows into the human mind and soul.
Cayce interpreted over a thousand dreams for various individuals who requested it, and over the years it became one of the cornerstones of his methodology. He treated dreams as something very real—in a sense, more real than the experience of waking life because dreams provide an unadulterated, honest view of what is going on in one’s interior life.
Dreams are an avenue to self-knowledge, but not every dream provides guidance about what we should do. Decisions are best made at the conscious level, but the information needed to make better decisions can be found in dreams. They reveal factors that influence us and that we can act upon. Cayce calls this application the authentic interpretation of the dream. It’s never enough just to figure out or decipher what a dream means; the real interpretation is the new action the insight leads us to.
As confusing as most dreams seem to be, Cayce claims they are a type of reasoning. Not deductive reasoning, which is the familiar way the conscious mind works, starting with an overall assumption and figuring out specific ways that assumption plays out. Instead, dreams are inductive reasoning, whereby the mind collects lots of scattered details and tries to reason back to an overall assumption linking them together. In a sense, at night your unconscious mind is picking through the scattered details of your life experiences and trying to reason backward to find the truth behind them.
Edgar Cayce, though, never settled for just one method for ferreting out the meaning of dreams. He instead employed a variety of strategies, among which he was able to determine intuitively which one was the most appropriate for a given dream. Recall that in Cayce’s lifetime the Freudian model was paramount, with its emphasis on how conscious life tends to repress innate drives and desires, and how dreams are usually wish fulfillment. While Cayce’s interpretations occasionally asserted that personal desire, whether conscious or unconscious, sometimes generated the dream, he also had at least five other approaches. With the excerpts that follow, each strategy is defined, described briefly, then applied by Cayce.
Interpretation Strategy 1. Fitting the theme of the dream back in the dreamer’s life.
A powerful first step is to identify the essence of the plot, or storyline, of the dream. It means finding the theme of the action, the verbs of the narrative, as you write the dream down. When using this approach, one initially pays no attention to the specific symbols of the dream, focusing instead on the action of the dream. Then one takes the plot and sees how it mirrors waking life.
Strategy 1 may not offer guidance about needed changes in the dreamer’s life, but it calls attention to a way of being that needs more conscious awareness on the part of the dreamer.
Two examples follow. In the first, Cayce makes no effort to interpret the particular symbols in the dream, as tempting as it may be for us to assume that the “candy” mentioned surely has to do with the dreamer’s diet or something else in her life that is superficial and not very nourishing.
Q “Went into store and asked for 10 cents worth of jelly beans and they handed me just 4 beans. ‘Is that all I get for 10 cents?’ I asked. They told me just 4. ‘Well, then, how much are chocolates?’ I asked, thinking to buy them instead of the beans. ‘Three for $1.00,’ came the reply. ‘Just 3?’ I asked. ‘Three,’ came the reply. ‘Then you can keep your chocolates too,’ I flatly stated and walked out.”
A This shows to the entity the inconsistency at times in self, as regards the various conditions that arise in the daily life, if the entity would but take the time to consider same from every viewpoint. For, as inconsistent as the prices are asked of entity, as inconsistent do many actions of self appear to others. 136-20
The theme of the dream was essentially that things that are being demanded are inconsistent and unfair. (Remember, in 1925, when this dream occurred, ten cents was a lot of money and should have bought an entire bag of jelly beans!) And that theme, Cayce suggests, exactly applies to the way the dreamer has been unfairly treating other people.
Q A few nights ago. Saw my father, and it seemed he was operated on for appendicitis. I wanted to see the healed up wound, but he was taking a bath. “Always take a warm bath after an operation,” he told me. When he got out of the tub I was able to see and examine the scar left from the operation.
A . . . These conditions represent, then, that in the emblematical way and manner of how the entity . . . should act toward each and every precept as is set down by the entity as regarding a given law or fact. That is, as it becomes necessary from time to time, in the physical make-up of the body, that portions that are not understood, and the activity of same not understood, be removed . . . It becomes necessary at times to remove certain conditions, or certain ideas, or certain builded forces in the mind. 900-296
The theme of this second dream is that someone is having something removed. Cayce suggests that that theme fits the dreamer because he must learn to “remove certain ideas” in his waking life, to let go of old concepts.
Interpretation Strategy 2. Compensatory dreams.
Balance is a key concept in Edgar Cayce’s spiritual psychology. Becoming mental
ly healthy is largely a matter of finding a point of integration between polar extremes—the paradoxes and contradiction within us. Of course, this principle is at the heart of Carl Jung’s analytical psychology, but, again, it’s not clear that Cayce knew much about Jung or Jungian psychology, and the idea seems to have sprung up in Cayce’s teachings independently.
One way that Cayce refers to extremes is in terms of the universal Christ Consciousness, a topic explored in chapter 7. As described earlier, Christ Consciousness is a state of awareness in which we perceive and relate to life in its essential unity and interconnectedness. Only in this special state of consciousness “do the extremes meet,” as Cayce put it.
But what does all this talk about extremes have to do with dreams? Simply, they sometimes serve to re-create equilibrium when we go off on some extreme in daily life. The rebalancing function of the mind is something that Jung pointed to frequently, especially in the interpretation of dreams. Cayce, too, mentioned the principle of dream interpretations. The human mind operates by a law of compensation. Whenever we go to some extreme in waking life, the unconscious mind (the source of dreams) produces the opposite extreme to re-create equilibrium.
The Essential Edgar Cayce Page 10