Читать книгу Toward a Deeper Meditation - John Van Auken - Страница 8

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Sanctuary

One of the most pleasant activities of personal spirituality is sitting quietly in the sanctuary of one’s temple while aware of the life force flowing through you. Nothing compares to it. As Edgar Cayce noted during one of his deep attunements to the mind of the Maker, “If you will but open your tabernacle of consciousness to allow the holy to come in and sup with you, all the beauties of peace and harmony are yours—for they are the birthright of each soul.” (Reading 987-4; as you may know, for privacy the reading numbers replace people’s names.)

On a recent night, I awoke about two in the morning, feeling surprisingly refreshed from only four hours’ sleep. I went to my meditation spot and began to meditate in the dark. The meditation easily moved from normal, self-conscious aloneness into a sense of the presence of the infinite consciousness, and then into a oneness with all life. I was surprised, because my daily life had been unusually rocky lately, with much turmoil and tension. But in the wee hours of this night, all was quiet and the world outside of me was still.

I began the meditation by surrounding my body, mind, and soul with an imaginary shield that blocked out external influences. On this particular night, it wasn’t difficult. The neighborhood and house were quiet. My personal, outer mind seemed unusually quiet too.

To help shield me, I used a variation of one of Edgar Cayce’s prayers of protection. Something like this: “Now as I approach the throne of power, might, grace, and mercy, I wrap about myself the protection found in a love for God-consciousness, in the thought of Christ Consciousness.” Then I strived to see and feel this happening. After only a few repetitions of prayer, my shield was up. I felt surrounded by my love for God and the Infinite’s consciousness of me. I was now in my “bubble,” secure from external distractions.

Since I was using Edgar Cayce’s method for making passage through dimensions of consciousness (more on this method later), the next step was to intentionally remove the “earthly portion and personality” from my body, suspending it outside of me. This is how we protect ourselves from internal distractions. It also makes for a purer meditation, because the earthly self has little to no influence over the experience. Removing the earthly portions of oneself and the personality is done using the imagination and the will. I simply imagine my personal, earthly self and all its concerns sitting outside of my body, quietly. And I use my will to prevent it from regaining control during the meditation. As with so many meditation techniques, this one takes repetition before one feels results. Once the earthly portion and personality are removed, suspended in front of me, I am left with a strange but pleasant sensation of emptiness and lightness within my body.

When I first began using this technique, I used to be surprised that there was anything left of me once the earthly portion and personality were removed! But, as Cayce so often taught, the real you and me is a quiet giant of a companion to the personal, outer self—in the same manner and proportion as the whole of an iceberg is to its exposed tip. What you and I see and know of ourselves is a very tiny portion of the whole self. Our soul-self lies behind the surface of consciousness and behind the external senses. Fortunately, our little outer-self can be suspended for a time, and our deeper soul-self can awaken and rise to consciousness and predominance.

At 2 a.m. it is much easier to remove the earthly portion and personality, because they really don’t want to be up! I had an easy time on this night. Cayce taught that it was an excellent time to meditate, explaining (his parenthetical comment): “The body-mind (if it has slept) is in that vibration where it is between the physical, the mental, and spiritual activities. If it is kept awake, it isn’t a good time to meditate, but sleep, and then arise, and purposefully, use this time when the triune self is balanced.” (1861-19; also see 3051-7)

Now, with my earthly portion and personality suspended in front of me, my body felt open, empty, and quiet.

The next step in the method is to “subjugate control to my subconscious and soul,” as Cayce directed both himself and those seeking to duplicate his journey. Now this takes a lot of imagination and some understanding of how we are arranged. The personality and earthly portion are in charge of our central nervous system, the five senses, and the conscious mind. But since we are meditating, the central nervous system, five senses, and conscious mind are almost completely shut down. We are not moving, not attempting to perceive with any of our senses, and are still and quiet, as far as outer life is concerned. And yet the body remains alive—breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormonal messages, and so on. And a degree of consciousness is still present. The life force is now controlled more by the deeper autonomic nervous system than the central, which Cayce often referred to as the “sympathetics.” And the consciousness we now feel is the fringe of the vast subconscious mind, a portion of which is our dreaming mind.

Cayce explained that the subconscious mind is the bridge from the physical outer world to the metaphysical inner worlds and our spirit. Therefore, this important stage in the meditation is where we yield control to our subconscious and that part of our self that is our soul. Again, in the early years of this practice, one has to use the imagination in order to perceive the soul-self. But as one grows in the practice, the soul-self becomes a familiar aspect of one’s whole being—a portion of what Cayce called the “entity.”

As I did this on that night, I felt myself slip deeper and deeper into stillness. At first, my breathing was deep and rhythmical. As the quietness settled in and the stillness became profound, my breathing became shallow. I was hardly breathing at all.

The next step in this Cayce method is to give your subconscious mind a suggestion that will lead you into the Spirit and the infinite, universal consciousness. If not done at this time, the meditation will drift into a watery wandering from which we will eventually awaken, feeling drowsy and dull. I’ve experienced this many times. It is an indication that one did not achieve the level of meditation that Cayce encouraged. But if we give our subconscious a direct suggestion, it will lead to an inspiring and energizing meditation from which we will awaken feeling a personal connection with the Life Force. The little “I am” makes contact with the great “I AM.” This contact makes the whole of our being feel good and happy—at least until earth life drains the power of the experience from us and we need to seek the connection all over again.

To guide my subconscious into the realms of the superconscious and on into the infinite, universal consciousness, I use variations of this suggestion: “Arise my soul and enter into the infinite, universal mind and spirit.” As I repeat this suggestion, I strive to feel and imagine it happening. I imagine myself rising and expanding from out of my little point of consciousness into the infinite, universal mind and spirit, into what Cayce often called God-consciousness. I repeat the process over and over until I fully feel myself levitated and expanded into the vast, infinite presence of the creative forces and consciousness of the universe. On this night, the presence of God-consciousness was particularly strong and clear. Mildly exhilarating vibrations enlivened my body and mind during the time of at-onement with the Infinite. I felt peace and contentment and that all things flow toward goodness, ultimately—despite my outer life’s challenges at this time.

It’s important to realize that I am not out of my body, as you might think. In fact, Cayce specifically taught practitioners not to go out of their bodies during this practice. Rather, he wanted us to go through “dimensions of consciousness” in our minds. Therefore, when I am in at-onement with the Infinite, it feels like a gigantic V of energy and contact, with the bottom of the V being where my body is, and the top of the V being where my consciousness is—in the endless vastness of infinite, universal consciousness. Abiding in God’s consciousness is, as Jesus described it, like “supping” with our Father and Mother after a long absence. It’s gentle. It’s loving. It’s nourishing. Sometimes there is real information conveyed. But most of the time, it is simply a gentle togetherness, with the information and guidance coming later, as a natural outcome of spending time together. I’ve found that deep, quiet meditations often end quietly with no great information or instruction. But later, usually through my dreams but occasionally through intuitive knowing, guidance and information come. Sometimes, however, the “supping” will produce immediate knowing and a subtle sense of direction.

On this night, I quietly enjoyed the company of my Maker and His/Her love for me and my family, friends, and coworkers.

The body is wonderfully arranged for both physical activity and metaphysical activity—yet few people ever experience it. The body is, as so many teachers have claimed throughout the ages, a temple of the living God. And, as with all temples (Hindu, Buddhist, Egyptian, Mayan, Hebrew, etc.), the body-mind temple is a sanctuary. This is where the real communion takes place. And the mind, the deeper mind, is the crucial link: “Your body is the temple of the living God, your mind the connecting and communicating link with the Divine, through which you may ever receive the answer, if you will but harken.” (2174-2) Let’s take a moment to understand Cayce’s perspective on the mind’s role in communing with God. All of the following insights come from his discourses in reading 281-13, but I’ve edited it for clarity and focus to our point at hand:

“There are definite conditions that arise within the inner person when an individual enters into true or deep meditation. The sources of impulse and imagination are aroused by the shutting out of thought pertaining to the carnal forces of the person. Then, [the person] partakes of the individuality [the soul] rather than the personality [the outer self]. If the image that is raised by the individual in its imaginative and impulse force [motivation] takes the form of the ideal held to be raised to, then the individual bears the mark of the Lamb, or the Christ, of 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 the Creative Forces. The soul is within 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 pineal center, to the base of the brain, then to the hidden eye in the center of the brain system.” (Much more on this in later chapters.)

Clearly, imagination, imagery, and motivation are important ingredients in Cayce’s method. I have found that my imagery has changed over the many years I’ve been practicing this specific meditative method. Think of these images as furnishings for your sanctuary. These will be unique to each soul’s experiences, beliefs, and ideals. What is God and heavenly is going to differ according to the mind that is seeking. At least, in the beginning this is correct. In the beginning, imagery may provide you with initial furnishings that reflect your personal perspective on spirituality and God-consciousness, and they will provide you with just the surroundings you need for your communion with God.

In my case, the first imagery was of a long, vertical shaft, reaching from the top of my head into the many dimensions of heavenly realms. At the top of the shaft, the opening to the heavens, the “water of life” was flowing down into that shaft. When I would finally arrive at this place, I would lie in a flowing pool of this heavenly water on a plateau surrounding the opening. The water rejuvenated me. I enjoyed lying in it and feeling its revivifying energy. Much of my meditation time was spent lying in this flowing water. Occasionally, off in the distance, I could see a sun that seemed very far away, and there was a chasm between my plateau and another plateau nearer to that sun. But I was content to be where I was. Somehow I knew that I needed more time in these waters before attempting to travel toward that sun. But these initial images and concepts were special to me, to my soul. While giving one of his famous readings, the individual mind of the man Edgar Cayce experienced images of himself traveling in a bubble through deep, vast water to reach the higher realms. Cayce gave one of his famous readings on this imagery (254-68), and though the answer was complex, covering over four pages, it was profound. Let me try to summarize and paraphrase it for our purposes here:

“In order to bring some understanding of what a soul may pass through when traveling from one realm to another, it becomes necessary to convey the experiences in images and concepts that are comprehensible to those souls in the lower realm—in this case, in the earth realm. Since Cayce must travel through many realms of thought, symbolized by the water, and return with names, dates, and ages intact, what better way to convey this than traveling in a bubble through massive amounts of water. The body acts as the bubble for the soul while incarnate in the earth dimensions. When traveling beyond the earth, the bubble symbolizes a vessel that protects the soul on its journey to and from the place where the records are kept. Cayce sees here the Book of Life for each soul as well as the keeper of the records—but these are also symbols. A mind that thinks books, needs books! One that thinks of heaven as ‘Elysian Fields’ needs birds and flowers. One must find the materialized form of that portion of the Maker that that entity, that soul, can enjoy and comprehend. Houses built in the woods would appeal to some. Woods, in its essence, are what? Books, in their essence, are what? What is the more real, the book with its printed pages, its gilt edges, or the essence of that told in the book? Which is the more real, the love manifested in the Savior for His brethren, or the essence of love that may be seen even in the vilest of passion? They are one. But they bring this into being in a materialized form by the combining of elements of the one source to produce a materialization. Beautiful, isn’t it? Only those who become conscious of the essence and have attuned themselves to that which is in accord with His will may know. For each soul, every soul, should seek to attune its mind, its soul to the Mother-Father God in Jesus the Christ. Tune into that light, and it becomes beautiful in that you think, that you are, that you live!”

Cayce is acknowledging that the imagery of souls varies greatly. Whatever you experience as “furnishings” for your sanctuary is right for you.

As the years passed, my imagery changed dramatically, from visual scenes to simply feelings. I had sensations of rising and expanding, and a deep sense of at-onement with the Universal Consciousness, with God’s presence and mind. Gradually, visual images faded to pure feelings, or the essences, of everything. At first, I became concerned about this. But then I came across Cayce readings that acknowledge the value of subtle feelings or knowing something without dramatic images or phenomena, as from out of nowhere.

On this particular night, my imagery was minimal. I mostly felt the upward and expanding movement from finite self into infinite God-consciousness. I did have a sensation of my heavenly “Parents” embracing me and holding me for the duration of the communion. And while in this sacred space, I felt renewed, my faith strengthened, my trust in ultimate good renewed, my sense of well-founded trust in the unseen forces of life restored. Having lived a lot of life, I knew that physical life would consume these wonderful energies eventually and that I would have to come back here again and again in order to maintain these feelings while living an incarnate life. It’s just the nature of the earth realm and personal consciousness.

As I said, my outer, earthly life was particularly challenging during the time leading up to this evening’s meditation. Was the good meditation a salve for my weariness and wounds? Was it a gift from a merciful Creator? Or was my outer self so fatigued that it surrendered more completely to my inner self, allowing the better attunement to the infinite, universal consciousness? It reminded me of the reading saying that even in hard times God will come: “There may be raised within self that consciousness of the at-onement with the spiritual forces that may revivify, regenerate, arouse that of health and happiness even under adverse conditions in materiality.” (618-3, my italics)

If it were not for these moments with the Life Force and Universal Consciousness, I would not have endured many of the lessons that my particular personality needed to learn or face the tests of this incarnation. I wouldn’t have had the staying power or the depth of trust in God, and certainly not the patience to keep on keeping on in hard times. As Cayce once noted: “Know that your body-mind is indeed the temple of the living God. Thus may you find often that upon the horns of the altar within you many of the burdens may be laid aside, and that the sweet incense of faith and hope and prudence and patience will arise to bring the consciousness and the awakening of the glories that may be yours.” (1472-1)

I have practiced this technique many times, but this night the sanctuary felt like a spatial orb of protection and privacy, a sacred bubble within which my soul and its Maker communed silently. When we have budgeted the time allotted to us to include some personal, spiritual communing with the Life Force and the Universal Consciousness, then our temple is a warm, ever-ready sanctuary waiting to be enjoyed—doors open, lights on, and our heavenly Mother and Father waiting. As the Spirit of God promised in the book of the Revelation, 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”