Easter Reflections

en.wikipedia.org

The whole of Holy Week provides rich grounds for study on any aspect that the researcher would like to focus on, such as the symbolism of the three days that Jesus was dead, the significance of the crucifixion event, etc. Each aspect is already a book unto itself and we can see this in the number of works available on these subjects both in print and online. For this article, I would just like to focus on one aspect of the Holy Week drama: Jesus Christ suffering and dying for our sins.

Of course, we cannot look at the death of Jesus without briefly touching upon Easter. If one were to look at the actual history of Easter, one would discover that Easter has pagan roots. It was a time of celebration to welcome the vernal (spring) equinox. Because it heralded the start of spring, this festival was a celebration of renewal (spring cleaning) and fertility as the land shrugged off the mantle of winter to allow the planting of crops that would feed the people for the rest of the year.

To pagans and Wiccans, the name of this spring festival was Ostara (Eostre), which is a derivation of the German fertility goddess Ostare. As was standard Catholic Church practice at the time, this pagan festival was incorporated into the (then new) religion in order to attract converts. It's easy to see how Eostre could evolve to be pronounced Easter.

Where the pagan version of this festival was a time of celebration, the Catholic Church version precedes it with a somber week of rituals commemorating the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The resurrection itself, on Easter Sunday, is one of the few (although important) symbolisms left over from the pagan tradition. The resurrection event gives meaning to the suffering and death that Jesus went through, because it symbolizes the triumph over death and sin.

While the crucifixion event of Jesus and even the resurrection has been doubted by some academics and scholars, from an esoteric perspective is it even possible for someone else to die for our sins? Doesn't this fly in the face of personal responsibility and the concept of karma?

From the different accounts about the lives of certain gurus, it seems that it is standard practice for some (if not most) gurus to take on at least part of the karma of the guru's disciples. The reason would be to allow the disciple much faster spiritual progress or evolution that would otherwise be hindered by unresolved karma.

While karma is simply the effect of past actions (good or bad), what is more important is that the situations produced by maturing karma, at least the negative ones, are a way for one to learn a particular lesson or correct the flaw that led to the karmic debt in the first place. Presumably, a disciple who has been exposed to higher spiritual teachings and the blessings of the guru has learned enough life lessons to make certain karma unnecessary. The karma relating to these already learned lessons may be the ones partially taken over by the guru.

Still, the act of taking on a disciple's karma (even partially) places a heavy burden on the guru which is why this act is usually reserved for the guru's closest disciples and expected successors. The understanding of course is that the disciple is expected to continue the work and mission of the guru, and this spiritual work is better accomplished if the disciple were not to be constantly sidetracked by numerous instances of maturing negative karma.

Logical as it may seem, the above explanations are just speculation on my part. Still, it would be reasonable to assume that the disciple is not really earning a free pass, since any wrongdoing that the disciple may subsequently perform will surely be paid back in full sometime in the future either in this life or in the disciple's next incarnation.

The book Autobiography of a Yogi mentions several instances of a guru taking on the karma of a disciple. In one instance, Paramahansa Yogananda's own guru Sri Yukteswar Giri became seriously ill while in another city. Yogananda pleaded with his guru not to let his body become wasted away from that karmic burden, to which Sri Yukteswar Giri acquiesced and thus recovered from the illness. Sri Yukteswar's own guru Lahiri Mahasaya developed a boil in the weeks before his death. He already knew when he was going, so he took that chance to partially take on the karma of some of his disciples as part of his final blessings to them.

Such accounts are not limited to Eastern adepts because in the book The Magus of Strovolos, author Kyriacos Markides related several accounts where the Cypriot mystic Daskalso took on the karma of some people. I only borrowed the copy I read, so I will have to relate from memory, but there is one account where Daskalso developed gangrene on his leg in order to partially take on the karmic burden of a relative. In order to demonstrate to Markides that he (Daskalso) took the burden willingly, he willed the gangrene away and started hopping around on the previously sick leg, to the consternation of doctors. After that demonstration, Daskalso returned the gangrene to allow it to run the course of its allotted time period.

These are fantastic accounts, I know. But they do show that taking on the karma of others is not unheard of.

Let's now go back to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. What is the esoteric significance of that event? Going by the earlier examples I cited, shouldn't the benefits of such sacrifice have taken effect only on Jesus' disciples?

Some esoteric accounts claim that Jesus' death and resurrection opened up initiation for all. One only had to be sincere and to look, and initiation would eventually come. One didn't need to be accepted into a hidden esoteric order in order to be initiated. In this sense, the "resurrection from the grave" that was promised is not the physical climbing out of the grave that most would imagine, but the salvation of one's consciousness from the recurring "death" of continuous reincarnations. At the gate of each reincarnation, one is literally struck dumb and one re-enters the world as a babe, powerless and with no memory of one's past knowledge or the legacy of one's being. Upon initiation, the path towards immortality of consciousness begins.

How could an effect of such magnitude be produced by one person and one event? Again, some esoteric texts contend that in terms of spiritual evolution, Jesus was so high above the chain that his act of coming on Earth was like a human voluntarily incarnating as an ant in order to help the whole ant species evolve.

Again, a little fantastic to hear and read about, but they do give us food for thought about the significance of Holy Week. Wherever one's beliefs resides, there is no denying the fact that the Holy Week, culminating in Easter, represents a very important esoteric event. The gates of heaven have been opened to us, so to speak, in the form of easier access to initiation for all who are willing to venture on that path. Whether one would benefit from this opportunity is dependent on just how much one is willing to act on the blessings and opportunities that one is given. This not only applies to spiritual work but everyday life as well.

And so without further ado, a happy Easter to all! May your future be filled with the renewal that has become ours through the continuing sacrifice and work of the Holy Ones!

The Black Belt Mentality

jalnawala.com

Recently, HBO has been showing re-runs of The Karate Kid Part I to III. Aside from getting a real treat from recalling how things were back in the 1980s, it also got me thinking about why people pursue the martial arts. One of the most notable features of studying martial arts is the black belt. If someone says he/she has a black belt in a particular martial art, we cannot avoid thinking "wow, bad ass!"

There are legends about the origin of the black belt. One story I heard was that Okinawan karatekas used to tie a white sash around their kimonos during training, and over the years the sash would darken because of accumulated dirt until it became black. So having a blackened sash would be a sign that one had been practicing for many years and was thus competent in the art. Historically, it seems the belt color system was introduced by Kano Jigoro (founder of Judo) when he started publicly teaching judo in the 1880s.

Either way, the black belt is widely recognized as a sign of accomplishment and competence in a martial art. Given that it usually takes at least two years of constant practice to achieve a black belt, the mystique of having a black belt is understandable. The black belt is so iconic that there's even a magazine named after it, Black Belt Magazine, one of the oldest martial arts publications in the United States.

Of course, in martial arts communities there has been concern that the martial arts are being cheapened by the so-called McDojos, usually referring to franchised martial arts clubs. These training centers are not bad in and of themselves, but some serious martial artists complain that some of these centers misrepresent the martial arts by either churning out large numbers of black belts in a short amount of time (leading to half-baked martial artists) or by misleading students into thinking they're the next Chuck Norris and can therefore handle any life and death situation, when the training curriculum is anything but realistic.

A real danger is if some guy gets his black belt after only a few months and he decides to open his own gym and call it a "self defense" club. That's when people can get in serious trouble if they think they can apply what they learn there in the street.

This just goes to show that official rank or title doesn't necessarily tell the whole tale. There can be brown belts who can move and fight better than a black belt, for example. It depends on how they train. Which brings me to another point.

I remember my aikido sensei once saying that the black belt is not the ultimate goal. Rather, it just means that one has mastered enough of the basics in order to truly start learning and exploring the deeper meaning and nuances of the art. And this type of thinking brings us to life in general.

We can never really learn enough. As noted American historian Will Durant once said, "Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." Once we accept this, that we know enough to realize that we know nothing, then we can have the humility to actually be open to new ideas and new paradigms.

In the end, the black belt is supposed to be a sign saying "I'm ready to learn more" rather than as something to be used to intimidate or impress others. I suppose this is why some of the highest masters of a martial art sometimes wear a white belt, the sign of the novice.

In a deeper sense, everything always comes full circle and it is something that anyone on the spiritual path should realize if one is to progress.

The Search For Truth - Part 2 of 2 (Wisdom and Intuition)

theheartof.com.au

A seeker on the spiritual path is always searching for the truth, or what we may alternatively term as "the way things really are." It reflects the innermost desire of every human being to learn the meaning of life and one's place in the whole scheme of things.

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed the role of knowledge when trying to pursue the truth and how the scientific method plays an important part in the study of the so-called inner sciences. A systematic, impartial and organized approach, ergo a scientific approach, is even more critical in a field of study that does not lend itself to the scrutiny of computers and laboratory equipment. Even the Buddha said as much when he told his students: Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. Validate, validate, validate is the mantra.

But at the end of Part 1, I also mentioned that the scientific method has its limitations. How? Let me illustrate with a simple example:

Let's say Bob approaches John and tells him that Tubbataha Reef is absolutely beautiful and a great place to scuba dive. Bob has been there and he had an absolutely magical experience. Skeptic that John is, he does his research and finds out that a place called Tubbataha Reef indeed exists. It's located in the Sulu Sea near Palawan in the Philippines and that it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The conservation efforts and policies are world recognized and the reef is also popular among scuba divers. John also knows Bob to be an experienced diver, so John reasonably concludes that Bob is not pulling his leg when he says Tubbataha Reef is a magical dive site.

Never having dived before but now all fired up by his friend, John takes some scuba lessons, passes the course and then goes to Tubbataha Reef. But let's say that once John gets there he develops an allergy of unknown origin, water keeps getting in his goggles or his mouth and John generally has a horrible time of the whole experience. Does John's bad experience now make a lie out of Bob's statements? Of course not. What is magical to Bob is simply a nightmare for John, yet they're both referring to the same place and activity. What, then, is the truth?

From the above example, we can identify a few general characteristics of truth:

1. Truth is relative, dependent upon the observer undergoing the experience. This brings us to the next point;

2. "Truth" only becomes the truth when it is realized. Direct experience transforms belief into certainty. Without direct experience, what one accepts as truth is actually just information and theory, the credibility of which we take on belief and faith. In our example, John believed (based on his research) that he would have the same magical experience as Bob, but the reality was that he had a bad experience.

The above points sound weird from a Newtonian standpoint, but is consistent with what quantum physics says. According to quantum physics, consciousness influences the behavior of quantum particles and by extension the reality that is made up of those same particles. Thus we find ourselves in a situation where the truth is both universal and conditional at the same time.

What, then, is truth? That's the tricky part, because life has many bewildering expressions that are all reflections of the central truth of the Creator. This gives the truth a mercurial quality, like trying to see what's on the other side of a dirty window mosaic. One can therefore imagine how much more complicated things become when one tries to understand the realms that are beyond the reach of the physical senses.

Since there are apparently many levels of truth, and the state of one's consciousness affects how much of the truth one can comprehend, only an expansion of consciousness allows one to successively part the veils that sheathe our reality.

Master Choa Kok Sui liked to use three Tagalog words / concepts in order to illustrate the different levels of truth. The first of these is tama (correct), which is the 1st level of truth. Next is wasto (literally proper, or something that is within context); the 2nd level of truth also includes the 1st level. And then there's the 3rd level of truth tumpak (used to describe something that captures the essence of a thing or subject, e.g. "hitting the nail right on the head") which encompasses both the 1st and 2nd levels.

Consider the following statements:

Tama (1st level of truth): Scuba diving is an underwater activity.
Wasto (2nd level of truth): Scuba diving is an underwater activity that is fun.
Tumpak (3rd level of truth): Scuba diving is an underwater activity that is fun for most people.

It's a very rough example but I hope it conveys the point. Incidentally, these terms for the levels of truth are also used by an esoteric Christian group called Ganapan. Their focus is mainly on the esoteric study of the Bible as well as meditation.

With the mercurial nature of truth and the limitations of the scientific method, what can bridge the gap between the empirical and the intangible? This is where wisdom comes in.

According to Franz Bardon, knowledge and wisdom are closely intertwined. But where knowledge is dependent on intellect, memory, maturity, talent, etc. (whether in theory or through practical experience), wisdom is not dependent on the qualities mentioned above. Wisdom instead comes from God.

In more concrete terms, wisdom is attained through the use of intuition. Master Choa Kok Sui describes intuition as "direct inner perception and knowing without the need to study." If one were to encounter a stuffed elephant in a pitch black room, one would need to first feel the feet, the trunk, the head, etc. in order to guess at the form and proportions and through deductive reasoning conclude that the animal in the room is an elephant. To someone with highly developed intuition, it would be like simply switching on the light and immediately seeing the elephant for what it is.

This reminds me of the rooftop scene in the first Matrix movie when Morpheus was being rescued. When Trinity (played by Carrie-Ann Moss) needed to fly the helicopter, she asked the Operator for a helicopter pilot download so that she could fly it. It's a cheesy example but a clear illustration of "direct inner knowing without having to study."

In Kabbalah, the sefira called Chokmah is named Wisdom. In pranic healing, Chokmah corresponds to the forehead chakra, which is also the seat of the third eye and higher clairvoyancy (lower clairvoyancy uses the lower chakras). Through higher clairvoyancy, one can see into a person, an object or a concept, and simply know. In The Spiritual Essence of Man, Master Choa Kok Sui gives the example of King Solomon, who asked God for the gift of wisdom and through it he was able to discern the guilt or innocence of a person.

However, in esoteric Buddhism the forehead chakra is the seat of lower intuition or lower Budhichitta. Higher intuition or Budhichitta is centered in the crown chakra, called Keter in Kabbalah or Sahasrara (Thousand-Petalled Lotus) in Sanskrit. The difference between the two is that lower intuition is direct knowing with form, meaning one would have inner visions or hear instructions. Higher intuition is direct knowing without form, or pure knowing without accompanying inner visions or sounds.

It is no coincidence that through the crown chakra one experiences (realizes) oneness with the Higher Soul, and oneness with God. Remember that earlier I mentioned that truth is only truth when it is realized? Realizing the truth of God is the underlying focus and intention of yoga and all other spiritual practices.

Given the above descriptions, the words of Lord Jesus in Matthew 6:33 now make more sense: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Achieving oneness with God through spiritual practice leads to a highly developed intuition, and this intuition in turn gives access to knowledge that allows one to skillfully navigate life while enriching the lives of others at the same time.

Such a soul-realized saint does not need to spend so much time plowing through tons of books or studying in school in order to learn the skills that they need to better accomplish their mission. Intuition is not omniscience, but these saints simply receive what they need when they need it. They base their actions not on faith and belief, but on true knowing and certainty.

One who has validated one's beliefs through direct experience or direct knowing (i.e. realized the truth) is not dependent on the beliefs of others about the same subject. Consider the yogi who achieves illumination through consistent spiritual practice. The atheist, who rejects the idea of God, will likewise reject the experience of the yogi. The atheist will instead try to convince the yogi that the experience is due to some weird psychosis or perhaps the collective unconscious of Jung. On the other hand, a pious person would believe the yogi's experience even without having gone through the same state, because his beliefs conform with the experience of the yogi. Alternatively, a fundamentalist may just as easily attribute the yogi's experiences to the devil and great deceiver. But to the yogi, none of those opinions matter, because no argument to the contrary will change the truth of what he went through. The yogi's concern would not be to convince others to believe him but rather to assist others in achieving the same experience if they are willing.

Note that it's possible to have an experience without understanding the experience itself. If one meditates regularly or is clairvoyant, it's possible you may have seen or heard things that you do not understand. This is where intuition also comes in, so that one may know and understand. The advantages of a highly developed intuition are therefore obvious.

Up to this point, you have been reading a lot of extraordinary claims about intuition. But again, without direct experience, there is no way one can validate what it is actually like to be in that intuitive state. What then is needed in order to develop the intuition?

Since Budhichitta is centered on the crown chakra, development of intuition is also tied to the development and activation of the crown chakra. However, the crown chakra cannot be activated without first activating the heart chakra. This is because the heart chakra is the lower correspondence of the crown chakra.

If we have a physical heart, the crown chakra is our divine heart. Where the heart chakra is the center for higher emotions and the love for others, the crown chakra is the center for divine love and a love for all Creation. If one cannot love close friends or family, or at least oneself, how can one feel love for strangers or the rest of Creation?

Various religions and spiritual systems have promoted the practice of character building with varying degrees of emphasis. Since such character building leads to the ennoblement of one's Self in thought, word and deed, it opens the way for the development of the heart chakra and allows the activation and development of the crown chakra. Thus through noble character can one attain wisdom, and this is why wise men say that a righteous person is "close to God." From an esoteric perspective it now makes sense.

Let's now turn to more practical matters. Meditation greatly helps in the development of intuition. There is a particularly powerful, yet safe and highly recommended, meditation that will allow one to develop and synchronize the heart and crown chakras. It's called the Meditation on Twin Hearts. It's safe enough that even beginners can practice it. For more details, just click the link to read the article that I wrote about the meditation. You can also read this other article on MTH that I also wrote which includes simplified instructions on how to do this meditation. Be advised that this meditation is not some type of switch where you do it once and you immediately become like Trinity in The Matrix. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and this meditation is a step in the right direction.

The benefits of intuition are not limited to metaphysics. Did you know that some of the greatest scientific discoveries were achieved through the use of intuition? These scientific discoveries are actually the best examples of merging the empirical and the intuitive. More often than not, laboratory experiments would hit a roadblock, but the scientist would make an intuitive leap and this new idea would prove to be the one that allows them to hurdle the problem.

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of the fusion of science and intuition is Albert Einstein, whose birthday happened to be yesterday (March 14). Einstein's Annus Mirabilis papers particularly come to mind. These papers refer to four articles that Einstein wrote and published in the scientific journal Annalen der Physik in 1905. The four articles dealt with the photoelectric effect (giving rise to quantum theory), Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity and matter-energy equivalance (E=mc2). So revolutionary were these papers that they changed the foundation of modern physics.

In a documentary about Einstein, one resource person mentioned that most scientists would have been extremely happy to have published one or at most two of these revolutionary discoveries in their whole lifetime. Einstein published four of them in one year. That in itself is already extraordinary and is the reason why 1905 was called the miracle year.

From the same documentary, I found out that Einstein frequently used what he called Thought Experiments. In his most famous thought experiment, Einstein (then aged 16) imagined what it would be like to chase a beam of light. The results of this experiment led Einstein to form the basis for his theory of relativity. Another way to say this is that Einstein meditated on the subject, and through this intense meditation was able to make an intuitive leap about the properties of light. In fact, we could say that Einstein intuitively formed the basic concepts of relativity before he formulated the mathematics to empirically express his theory. This is a great example of how Understanding Meditation and Concretizing Meditation work together.

According to Master Choa, what one learns in a few moments through intuition can sometimes take days, weeks or even months to mentally distill into a form that can be explained and taught to others. This is particularly the case when one is transmitting higher spiritual teachings. This is why a highly developed logical faculty is also needed, in order to give the teaching a form that is recognizable to others.

As we have seen, much good can be done with the proper balance of knowledge and wisdom, although unfortunately most people are imbalanced in this respect. Albert Einstein himself said: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

As with everything in life, the search for truth is a dance between two poles: the yin of intuition along with the yang of intellectual inquiry. By harmonizing these two forces, we further expand our consciousness and gain a deeper comprehension of truth.

Will we ever understand all of life? Who can say? The Creator is said to be infinite, so our consciousness also needs to expand to the point of infinity in order to fully encompass the whole Truth. But with the faithful application of knowledge and wisdom, our experience of life becomes that much richer and we go further along in our path towards the Infinite...one truth at a time.

Go to Part 1

The Search For Truth - Part 1 of 2 (Knowledge and The Scientific Method)

historywithherrera.blogspot.com

One's ability to grasp a certain truth is dependent upon one's consciousness, and the state of one's consciousness is largely dependent on the state of one's mental development. Mental development is not limited to educational attainment or even I.Q. alone. Just contrast the example of the successful "street smart" college dropout businessman with that of an impractical yet brilliant bookworm living in his ivory tower. Both are mentally developed in their own particular way.

In Franz Bardon's system of hermetics, the intellect is a fundamental attribute of the spirit and is at the same time an aspect of the air element on the mental plane. Knowledge is considered an active attribute of the air element, hence knowledge is also an attribute of intellect. In this first part, I'll discuss the role of knowledge on the path towards truth. The second part will deal with the role of wisdom.

Knowledge is the sum of two main factors: study and experience. Deciding which particular information to accept is determined by one's discernment.

The quality of discernment is always important when searching for the truth. This applies not only to spiritual subjects but to ordinary events as well. For example, discernment could mean the difference between getting a good deal or getting gypped out of your hard-earned money, or the difference between the fulfillment of being part of a spiritual support group or the terror of being trapped in a self-destructive cult.

In fact, Master Choa Kok Sui frequently reminded students to practice discernment and not believe in a spiritual teaching until they had a chance to verify it for themselves. If there is no way to verify something, one should then look at the track record of the teacher who is espousing a certain teaching. If the track record is good, then the teaching may be accepted as conditional truth until the student has the chance or the means to verify or refute the teaching.

In this day and age when people are getting tired of being called to blind obedience to religious dogma, the scientific method has been touted as the only rational way to get to the truth. Briefly, the scientific method consists of the following steps:

1. Ask a Question
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
6. Communicate Your Results

The scientific method is not a modern invention, since the earliest evidence of empiricism can be found in Ancient Egypt. There is perhaps a little irony in this since many occult and mystical teachings (pooh-poohed by hardcore scientists and rationalists) also trace their origins in Ancient Egypt.

Let's now discuss each step of the scientific method in more detail and also try to correlate its applications in the esoteric field.

1. Ask a Question

By asking questions, one makes the first step towards transforming faith into conviction. By asking the question in the proper manner, one is telling the universe that one is ready for the answer. "Ask and you shall receive" and by the Law of Attraction, you set these forces in motion.

2. Do Background Research

There is a saying that wise men learn by the experience of others. By the conscientious use of study, one need not reinvent the wheel every time a new idea comes up.

This is the step whereby one determines if there is any basis to a particular theory. Do other sources mention it? Are there points of divergence? Is it reasonable or logical when compared to other teachings?

One must be careful to keep an open mind, so that one does not inadvertently exclude certain data because of a bias about what constitutes "valid data."

3. Construct a Hypothesis

Aristotle once said that the mark of an educated mind is the ability to entertain a thought without accepting it. And this is important when making a hypothesis. It's not yet your conclusion, it's simply a concept that you are waiting to test out.

If one lacks the capability to validate a hypothesis, but has supporting data from background research, then one may consider a hypothesis a conditional truth until such time that one is able to validate or refute a theory for oneself. This is particularly important in the case of certain spiritual theories because most of the time one can only validate them through one's own inner experiences.

4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment

This is where a lot of materialists scoff at spiritual studies, because no scientific instrument to date can measure or replicate the subtle energies or experiences that are the bedrock of all spiritual studies. To those who are clairvoyant or who can at least do astral travel, the existence of subtle energy and the subtle realms are beyond question.

Unfortunately, the inability to measure or detect these subtle energies using modern equipment has led some non-clairvoyant people to conclude that no such subtle energies or realms exist. This is really unfortunate, because our inability to detect something is not necessarily evidence that it doesn't exist. For instance, the existence of the atom was only proven in the 19th century, yet atoms existed long before humanity discovered them.

On the other hand, other non-clairvoyants take the spiritual teachings on faith, although there is some danger if that faith is a blind one.

5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

This one is pretty straightforward. It involves bringing all the information together, both from one's studies and one's experiments, and deciding if one's hypothesis is correct or not.

If the hypothesis is correct, then hurray! But if not, then humility is needed in order to accept the negative results.

In this step, one also reviews the procedures and sees if there was any flaw or something missing in the experiment. This is often the point that leads scientists to conduct new experiments with modified hypotheses.

6. Communicate Your Results

The idea behind this step is to allow others to replicate one's results. In the scientific community, this would be called a peer review. In terms of spiritual teachings, different sages, prophets and wise men have communicated the teachings since time immemorial. Unfortunately, just like what I mentioned in step 4, the lack of (spiritual) equipment in a lot of people makes replication of results difficult.

People again mostly fall back on faith, but this is also how false prophets and tricksters have managed to dupe people into giving up their gold and in some cases their lives for the sake of a false teaching.

As we have seen, the scientific method is a very good tool and its use need not be limited to the scientific community. But sadly, even among scientists and engineers the scientific method is frequently thrown under the bus of corporate interests. In a recent article, Dr. Joseph Mercola stated that in one British poll, "more than one in 10 scientists and doctors claimed to have witnessed colleagues deliberately fabricating data in order to get their research published."

In another example, a group of farmers in India were able to smash crop yield records without the use of GMO seeds. The Indian farmers used a technique called System of Rice [or root] Intensification (SRI) that was developed in the 1980s by a French Jesuit in Madagascar.

This achievement contradicts the Monsanto claim that going GMO is the only way to boost crop yields, yet scientists are downplaying the achievement of the Indian farmers, saying more testing and peer-review needs to be done. However, as the author of the article states: Given the paucity — or total absence — of independent testing done on GMOs and pesticides developed by companies like Monsanto and Syngenta, it’s galling to read of scientists complaining “there is not enough peer-reviewed evidence around SRI” and that “it is impossible to get such returns.”

In the face of the above examples, and many more that one can research, one may ask what happened to the original intent of the scientific method? So it's important not to believe something just because of the position or profession of the person or organization saying it. As one saying goes, there's a reason we have a brain.

But the above examples show that perhaps we take more things on faith than we would like to admit. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We take it on faith that the engineers did their job in designing and constructing the passenger plane we're flying on and that we won't go down in a flaming ball of debris. We take it on faith that the steak we ordered in a restaurant is actually a steak and not horse meat posing as a steak. Of course, this system of faith leaves openings for trickery and deception, sometimes with disastrous results. But we still live on faith regardless, because we can't do everything ourselves.

The accumulation of knowledge and the scientific method are important parts of one's development, but in the spiritual path there comes a point when intellectual inquiry fails to answer certain questions. Since many things in life are taken on faith, one more quality is needed to guide us when empirical information is lacking. The quality I'm referring to is wisdom, the topic of the next part of this article.

Go to Part 2

The Mystery and Magic of Sleep

foxnews.com

Assuming that we get at least 8 hours of sleep each night, that means around one-third of our lives is spent in la-la land. Most people take sleep for granted but there are many instances when we wish we had more of it (just ask any parent with a new-born baby). Although sleep takes up a huge chunk of our time, sleep is still barely understood by science.

We commonly assume that we need to sleep in order to "rest" the body. But just lying down on the bed for an extended amount of time is hardly restful unless it leads to sleep; just ask any insomniac. From a purely physiological perspective, sleep doesn't seem necessary because all bodily processes that occur during the day still continue even in the night when the body is asleep (once an organ stops working, whether in the day or in the night, what we have is a medical emergency). All we know for sure is that sleep is important and that a lack of sleep negatively impacts the body. No one can definitively say why the body needs sleep in order to produce certain chemicals, hormones or undergo other processes that are important for physical health.

For the mystic, sleep takes on even more significance. According to the ancient rishis and sages, we are all swimming in the delusion of maya, a mental projection that is anything but permanent. It is through the Light of the Creator that we get our true sustenance (life force) and for most people, a reconnection with this pervasive life force only occurs unconsciously during sleep. As Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a Yogi:

The rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man's temporary unawareness of body and breathing. The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and the six sub-dynamos of his spinal centers. The sleeper thus dips unknowingly into the reservoir of cosmic energy which sustains all life.

The above words do call to mind the scriptural verses: "God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring.'" (Acts 17:27-28, New International Version)

Yogis and saints consciously connect with this Divine Light through meditation. Since meditation is supposed to consciously connect us with this regenerative cosmic life force, it comes as no surprise that the practice of meditation also has many physical health benefits such as calmness, reduced inflammation and more energy. There are even indications that meditation helps prevent heart disease.

With the many health benefits of meditation, it is no wonder that we often hear of legendary feats and tales of robust physical health at advanced ages that are attributed to yogis, monks and different ascetics. There are even tales of great yogis who do not need to sleep anymore, because they are in constant communion with the Divine Light that sustains all; they can stay in the state of samadhi at will.

The branch of the Rosicrucian Order founded by Max Heindel has a slightly different take on the need for sleep. As detailed in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, the physical body needs sleep because it cannot continuously (without rest) house the higher vibrations of divine energy radiating out from the divine spark that animates and controls the physical body. This is why the soul temporarily withdraws itself during sleep in order to allow the body to regenerate itself so that it may properly house the soul upon its return to the body. In this case, sleep is sort of like taking the car to the shop for tune up and change oil after every few thousand miles except that it happens every night.

According to the Rosicrucians, this is the reason why The Christ had to retire frequently to the mountains, so that the body being used by the Christ could be regenerated with the help of initiates of the Essene Order. Furthermore, the body that the Christ was using had to be a specially prepared one (that of a high initiate) so that it could withstand, albeit temporarily, the ultra high spiritual vibrations that the Christ was emanating. Any less spiritually developed and prepared body would otherwise have been obliterated.

Aside from meditation, there are also other sacred rites that are used to connect to the Cosmic Light. One of this is a process by which one may maintain consciousness while in the dream state. This whole art is expounded in the book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. According to the author, mastering the art of dreaming is important because "If we cannot carry our practice into sleep, if we lose ourselves every night, what chance do we have to be aware when death comes? Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake."

The above statement may explain why we hear stories of earthbound souls who are not even aware that they are dead and need the help of another party, usually a psychic, to "find the Light." I even read of one account where the psychic released a Roman soldier who was still standing guard at Hadrian's Wall!

Going back to Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, he recommends that men sleep on their right side while women sleep on their left side in order to progress towards achieving dream consciousness. This is not explained in the book, but sleeping on one's right side activates the moon breath, coming out of the left nostril. Sleeping on one's left side activates the sun breath, coming out of the right nostril. To understand the roles of the sun and moon breaths, we need to go on a slight tangent.

The sun breath (HA) is positive, active and electric while the moon breath (TA) is negative, passive and magnetic. As you may have guessed from the terminologies used, HA-TA (Hatha) Yoga refers to the achievement of divine union through controlling the sun and moon breaths. The sun breath (right nostril) uses the pingala channel; the moon breath (left nostril) uses the ida channel.

The ida and pingala twirl around the spine from the base until they almost meet again at the top. When these two channels (breaths) are balanced, a third channel called the sushumna is activated. The relationship of

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these three channels can be found in the symbolism of the caduceus (see image at right). An activated sushumna channel allows the kundalini to rise up from the base of the spine to hit the center of the head and allow cosmic consciousness. The sphere with two wings at the top of the caduceus symbolizes the consciousness taking flight. This is why some meditations are preceded by the so-called balancing breathing exercise in order to activate and balance both the ida and pingala.

If you would like to find out more about the relationship of the sun and moon breaths as well as more on the symbolism of the caduceus, you can read Kosher Yoga by Albert Schutz & Hilda de Schaps, A System of Caucasian Yoga by Count Stefan Colonna Walewski and Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul by Master Choa Kok Sui.

Now, what do all of the above have to do with the Tibetan yoga of dream and sleep? In Franz Bardon's system of hermetics, it's interesting that Bardon attributes the head area of males to be magnetic (passive) while the head area of females to be electric (active). This seems to run counter to the popular view that males are more aggressive and louder, hence active (electric) while females are more passive and quiet (magnetic). However, in the genital region, the polarities are reversed. Where in males the head is magnetic, the genitals are electric. In females, while the head is electric, the genitals are magnetic.

I'm just theorizing at this point, but perhaps in the case of the male, by lying down on the right side and activating the moon (magnetic) breath, it increases the magnetic vibrations of the head and through reciprocity, the sex region (electric in males) also increase in activation. With the increased current in both head and sex regions, the kundalini is subtly activated enough to propel the consciousness to awareness in the dream state. The same process, except with the polarities reversed, would also apply to females. Whatever the case, the process is supposed to allow one to maintain consciousness in the dream world.

As we have seen, sleep is much, much more than what we think it is. But although we may not fully understand it, the importance of sleep is not in doubt. So always try to get the right amount of it. On the other hand, in the eyes of the mystics we are all actually asleep right now, and what we call the little death of sleep is the joyous repast of the soul as it temporarily rests in the true light of the Creator, and death is the actual joyous waking up into the realness of eternity. Whatever our level of development may be, the message is the same. Sleep well, and sleep wisely!