Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BOOK 01

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Book one of the Yogosutras of Padunjali. The Yugosutras of
Patunjali by Patanjali, translated by Charles Johnston eighteen sixty seven
to nineteen thirty one, Book one, Introduction to Book one.
The Yugosutras of Padungjali are in themselves exceedingly brief, less

(00:21):
than ten pages of large type in the original. Yet
they contain the essence of practical wisdom set forth in
admirable order and detail. The theme if the present and
terbretory right is the great regeneration, the birth of the
spiritual from the psychical man, the same theme which Paul
so wisely and eloquently set forth in writing to his

(00:44):
disciples in Corinth, the theme of all mystics in all lands.
We think of ourselves as living a purely physical life
in these material bodies of ours. In reality, we have
gone far, indeed from purely physical life. For a our
life has been psychical. We have been scentered and immersed
in the psychic nature. Some of the schools of India

(01:07):
say that the psychic nature is, as it were, a
looking glass, wherein our merit the things seen by the
physical eyes and heard by the physical ears. But this
is a magic mirror. The images remain and take a
certain life of their own. Thus, within the psychic realm
of our life there grows up an imaged world, wherein
we dwell a world of the images of things seen

(01:30):
and heard, and therefore a world of memories, a world
also of hopes and desires, of fears and regrets. Mental
life grows up among these images, built on a measuring
and comparing, on the massing of images together into general ideas,
on the abstraction of new notions and images from these,
till a new world is built up within, full of

(01:52):
desires and hates, ambition, envy, longing, speculation, curiosity, self will,
self interest. The teaching of the East is that all
these are true powers, overlaid by false desires, That though
in manifestation psychical, they are in essence spiritual, that the

(02:12):
psychical man is the veil and prophecy of the spiritual man.
The purpose of life, therefore is the realizing of that prophecy,
the unveiling of the immortal man, the birth of the
spiritual from the psychical, whereby we enter our divine inheritance
and come to inhabit eternity. This is indeed salvation, the

(02:33):
purpose of all true religion in all times. But Dungjeley
has in mind the spiritual man to be borne from
the psychical. His purpose is to set in order the
practical means for the unveiling and regeneration, and to indicate
the fruit, the glory, and the power of that new
birth through the Sutras of the first book. But dungjellly

(02:54):
is concerned with the first great problem, the emergence of
the spiritual man from the veils and measures of the
psychic nature, the moods and vestures of the mental and
emotional man. Later will come the consideration of the nature
and powers of the spiritual man, once he stands clear
of the psychic veils and trammels, and a view of
the realms in which these new spiritual powers are to

(03:16):
be revealed. At this point may come a word of explanation.
I have been asked why I use the word sutras
for these rules of but Dungjelly's system, when the word
aphorism has been connected with them in our minds for
a generation. The reason is this, the name aphorism suggests
to me at least a pithy sentence of very general application,

(03:37):
a piece of proverbial wisdom that may be quoted in
a good many sets of circumstance, and which will almost
always bear on its face the evidence of its truth.
But with the sutra the case is different. It comes
from the same root as the words so and means,
indeed a thread suggesting therefore a close knit, consecutive chain

(03:58):
of argument. Not only has each sutra a definite place
in the system, but further taken out of this place,
it will be almost meaningless, and will by no means
be self evident. So I have thought best to adhere
to the original word. The sutras of Patanjali are as
closely lived together, as dependent on each other as the

(04:18):
propositions of Euclid, and can no more be taken out
of their proper setting. In the second part of the
first book, the problem of the emergence of the spiritual
man is further dealt with. We are led to the
consideration of the barriers to his emergence, of the overcoming
of the barriers, and of certain steps in stages in
the ascent from the ordinary consciousness of practical life to

(04:40):
the finer, deeper radiant consciousness of the spiritual man. Book
one one orm here follows instruction in union interpretation. Union here,
as always in the scriptures of India, means union of
the individual soul with d the over soul, of the

(05:01):
personal consciousness with the divine consciousness, whereby the mortal becomes
immortal and enters the eternal. Therefore, salvation is first freedom
from sin and the sorrow which comes from sin, and
then a divine and eternal well being, wherein the soul
partakes of the being, the wisdom and glory of God.

(05:25):
Two Union spiritual consciousness is gained through control of the
versatile psychic nature. Interpretation, The goal is the full consciousness
of the spiritual man, illumined by the divine light. Nothing
except the obdurate resistance of the psychic nature keeps us
back from the goal. The psychical powers are spiritual powers

(05:48):
run wild, perverted, drawn from their proper channel. Therefore, our
first task is to regain control of the perverted nature,
to chasten, purify, and restore the misplaced powers. Three. Then
the seer comes to consciousness in his proper nature. Interpretation,

(06:08):
Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being. Ambition is
the inversion of spiritual power. Passion is the distortion of love.
The mortal is the limitation of the immortal. When these
false images give place to true then the spiritual man
stands forth, luminous as the sun when the clouds disperse.

(06:31):
Four Heretofore the sea has been enmeshed in the activities
of the psychic nature. Interpretation. The power and life, which
are the heritage of the spiritual man, have been caught
and enmeshed in the psychical activities. Instead of pure being
in the divine, there has been fretful combative egotism its

(06:54):
hand against every man. Instead of the light of pure vision,
there have been restless sense and imaginings. Instead of spiritual joy,
the undivided joy of pure being, there has been self
indulgence of body and mind. These are all real forces,
but distorted from their true nature and goal. They must
be extricated, like gems from a matrix, like the pith

(07:17):
from the read steadily without destructive violence. Spiritual powers are
to be drawn forth from the psychic measures. Five. The
psychic activities are five. They are either subject or not
subject to the five hindrances see Book two three interpretation.

(07:38):
The psychic nature is built up through the image making power,
the power which lies behind and dwells in mind pictures.
These pictures do not remain quiescent in the mind. They
are kinetic, restless, stimulating to new acts. Thus, the mind
image of an indulgence suggests and invites to a new indulgence.

(07:58):
The picture of passer joy is framed in regrets or hopes,
and there is the ceaseless play of the desire to know,
to penetrate to the essence of things. To classify. This, too,
busies itself ceaselessly with the mind images, so that we
may classify the activities of the psychic nature. Thus six,

(08:21):
these activities are sound intellection, unsound intellection, predication, sleep, memory, interpretation.
We have here a list of mental and emotional powers,
of powers that picture and observe, and of powers that
picture and feel. But the power to know and feel

(08:42):
is spiritual and immortal. What is needed is not to
destroy it, but to raise it from the psychical to
the spiritual realm. Seven. The elements of sound intellection are
direct observation, inductive reason, and trustworthy testy interpretation. Each of

(09:03):
these is a spiritual power. Thinly veiled direct observation is
the outermost form of the soul's pure vision. Inductive reason
rests on the great principles of continuity and correspondence, and
these on the supreme truth that all life is of
the one. Trustworthy testimony the sharing of one soul in

(09:25):
the wisdom of another, rests on the ultimate oneness of
all souls. Section eight. Unsound intellection is false understanding not
resting on a perception of the true nature of things.
Interpretation when the object is not truly perceived, when the
observation is inaccurate, and faulty thought or reasoning based on

(09:48):
that mistaken perception, is of necessity, false and unsound. Predication
is the attribution of a quality or action to a
subject by adding to it a predicate. In the sentence,
the man is wise, the man is, the subject is wise,
is the predicate. This may be simply an interplay of

(10:10):
thoughts without the presence of the object thought of, or
the things thought of may be imaginary or unreal, while observation, induction,
and testimony always go back to an object. Ten. Sleep
is the psychic condition which rests on mind states or
material things being absent interpretation. In waking life, we have

(10:34):
two currents of perception, an outer current of physical things
seen and heard and perceived, an inner current of mind
images and thoughts. The outer current ceases in sleep, the
inner current continues, and watching the mind images float before
the field of consciousness, we dream. Even when there are
no dreams, there is still a certain consciousness in sleep,

(10:57):
so that on waking one says I have slept well
or I have slept badly. Eleven. Memory is holding to
mind images of things perceived without modifying them. Interpretation here,
as before, the mental power is explained in terms of

(11:17):
mind images, which are the material of which the psychic
world is built. Therefore, the sages teach that the world
of our perception, which is indeed a world of mind images,
is but the wraith or shadow of the real and
everlasting world. In this sense, memory is but the psychical
inversion of the spiritual, ever present vision. That which is

(11:39):
ever before the spiritual eye of the seer needs not
to be remembered. Twelve. The control of these psychic activities
comes through the right use of the will and through
ceasing from self indulgence. Interpretation. If these psychical powers and energies,
even such evil things as passion and hate and fear

(12:01):
are but spiritual powers fallen and perverted. How are we
to bring about their release and restoration? Two means are
presented to us, the awakening of the spiritual will and
the purification of mind and thought. Thirteen. The right use
of the will is the steady effort to stand in
spiritual being interpretation. We have thought of ourselves, perhaps as

(12:27):
creatures moving upon this earth. Rather than helpless at the
mercy of storm and hunger and our enemies, we are
to think of ourselves as immortals, dwelling in the light,
encompassed and sustained by spiritual powers. The steady effort to
hold this thought will awaken dormant and unrealized powers, which
will unveil to us the nearness of the eternal Fourteen.

(12:52):
This becomes a firm resting place when followed long persistently
with eagerness. Interpretation. We must seek spiritual life in conformity
with the laws of spiritual life, with earnestness, humility, gentle charity,
which is an acknowledgment of the one's soul within us,
all only through obedience to that shared life, through perpetual

(13:15):
remembrance of our oneness with all divine being our nothingness.
Apart from divine being, we can enter our inheritance. Fifteen.
Ceasing from self indulgence is conscious mastery over the thirst
for sensuous pleasure here or hereafter interpretation rightly understood, the

(13:37):
desire for sensation is the desire of being, the distortion
of the soul's eternal life. The lust of sensual stimulus
and excitation rests on the longing to feel one's life keenly,
to gain the sense of being rarely alive. This sense
of true life comes only with the coming of the soul,

(13:57):
and the soul comes only in silence, after self indulgence
has been courageously and loyally stilled through reverence before the
coming soul. Sixteen. The consummation of this is freedom from
thirst for any mode of psychical activity, through the establishment
of the spiritual man interpretation. In order to gain a

(14:19):
true understanding of this teaching, study must be supplemented by
devoted practice, faith by works. The reading of the words
will not avail. There must be a real effort to
stand as the soul, a real ceasing from self indulgence.
With this awakening of the spiritual will and purification will

(14:40):
come at once the growth of the spiritual man and
our awakening consciousness as the spiritual man. And this attained
in even a small degree, will help us, notably in
our contest to Him that hath shall be given seventeen.
Meditation with an object follows these days. First exterior examining,

(15:03):
then interior judicial action, then joy, then realization of individual
being interpretation. In the practice of meditation, a beginning may
be made by fixing attention upon some external object, such
as a sacred image or picture, or a part of
a book of devotion. In the second stage, one passes

(15:24):
from the outer object to an inner pondering upon its lessons.
The third stage is the inspiration the heightening of the
spiritual will which results from this pondering. The fourth stage
is the realization of one's spiritual being as enkindled by
this meditation. Eighteen. After the exercise of the will has

(15:46):
stilled the psychic activities, meditation rests only on the fruit
of former meditations interpretation. In virtue of continued practice and effort,
the need of an external object on which to rest
the meditation is outgrown, an interior state of spiritual consciousness
is reached, which is called the cloud of things Noble

(16:08):
see Book four twenty nine nineteen. Subjective consciousness, arising from
a natural cause is possessed by those who have laid
aside their bodies and been absorbed into subjective nature interpretation.
Those who have died entered the paradise between births are

(16:28):
in a condition resembling meditation without an external object. But
in the fullness of time, the seeds of desire in
them will spring up, and they will be born again
into this world twenty For the others, there is spiritual
consciousness led up to by faith valor right mindfulness, one

(16:48):
pointedness perception interpretation. It is well to keep in mind
these steps on the path to illumination faith valor right mindfulness,
one pointedness perception. Not one can be dispensed with. All
must be one first faith, and then from faith valor

(17:09):
from valor right mindfulness, from right mindfulness, a one pointed
aspiration towards the soul from this perception, and finally full
vision as the soul twenty one. Spiritual consciousness is nearest
to those of keen intense will interpretation. The image used

(17:31):
is the swift impetus of the torrent. The kingdom must
be taken by force. Firm will only comes through effort.
Effort is inspired by faith. The great secret is this.
It is not enough to have intuitions. We must act
on them, and we must live them. Twenty two. The

(17:51):
will may be weak, or of middle strength, or intense.
Therefore there is a spiritual consciousness higher than this INTERPRETI.
For those of weak will, there is this counsel to
be faithful in obedience, to live the life, and thus
to strengthen the will to more perfect obedience. The will

(18:12):
is not ours, but God's, and we come into it
only through obedience. As we enter into the spirit of God,
we are permitted to share the power of God. Higher
than the three stages of the way is the goal,
the end of the way. Twenty three. Our spiritual consciousness
may be gained by ardent service of the Master. Interpretation.

(18:36):
If we think of our lives as tasks laid on
us by the Master of life, if we look on
all duties as parts of that Master's work entrusted to
us and forming our life work, then if we obey promptly, loyally, sincerely,
we shall enter by degrees into the Master's life and

(18:57):
share the Master's power. Thus we shall be in initiated
into the spiritual will. Twenty four. The Master is the
spiritual man who is free from hindrances, bondage to works,
and the fruition and seed of works. Interpretation. The soul
of the Master the Lord, is of the same nature

(19:19):
as the soul in us. But we still bear the
burden of many evils. We are in bondage through our
former works. We are under the dominance of sorrow. The
soul of the Master is free from a sin and
servitude and sorrow. Twenty five. In the Master is the

(19:40):
perfect seed of omniscience interpretation. The soul of the Master
is an essence one with the over Soul, and therefore
partaker of the over Souls. All wisdom and all power.
All spiritual attainment rests on this and is possible because
the soul and the over Soul are one. Twenty six.

(20:03):
He is the teacher of all who have gone before,
since he is not limited by time interpretation. From the beginning,
the over Soul has been the teacher of all souls, which,
by their entrance into the Over Soul, by realizing their
oneness with the Over Soul, have inherited the kingdom of
the Light. For the over soul is before time, and

(20:25):
time father of all else is one of his children.
Twenty seven. His word is OM interpretation, OM, the symbol
of the three and one, the three worlds in the soul,
the three times, past, present, future, in eternity, the three

(20:46):
divine powers, creation, preservation, transformation in the one being, the
three essences, immortality, omniscience, joy, in the one Spirit. This
is the word, the symbol of the Master and Lord,
the perfected spiritual man. Twenty eight. Let there be soundless

(21:08):
repetition of OM and meditation thereon. Interpretation. This has many
meanings in ascending degrees. There is first the potency of
the word itself as of all words. Then there is
the manifold significance of the symbol, as suggested above. Lastly,

(21:28):
there is the spiritual realization of the high essences thus symbolized.
Thus we rise step by step to the eternal. Twenty nine.
Thence come the awakening of interior consciousness and the removal
of barriers interpretation. Here again, faith must be supplemented by works.

(21:50):
The life must be held as well as studied, before
the full meaning can be understood. The awakening of spiritual
consciousness can only be understood in measure as it is entered.
It can only be entered where the conditions are present,
purity of heart and strong aspiration, and the resolute conquest
of each sin. This, however, may easily be understood that

(22:14):
the recognition of the three worlds as resting in the
soul leads us to realize ourselves and all life as
of the Soul. That as we dwell not in the past, present,
or future, but in the eternal, we become more at
one with the Eternal. That as we view all organization, preservation,
mutation as the work of the Divine One, we shall

(22:37):
come more into harmony with the One, and thus remove
the barriers in our path toward the Light. In the
second part of the first book, the problem of the
emergence of the spiritual man is further dealt with. We
are led to the consideration of the barriers to his emergence,
of the overcoming of the barriers, and of certain steps
and stages in the ascent from the ordinary consciousness of

(23:01):
practical life to the finer, deeper, radiant consciousness of the
spiritual man. Thirty the barriers to interior consciousness which drive
the psychic nature this way, and that are these sickness, inertia, doubt,
light mindedness, laziness, intemperance, false notions, inability to reach a

(23:24):
stage of meditation or to hold it when reached interpretation.
We must remember that we are considering the spiritual man
as enwrapped and enmeshed in the psychic nature, the emotional
and mental powers, and is unable to come to clear consciousness,
unable to stand and see clearly because of the psychic

(23:44):
veils of the personality. Nine of these are enumerated, and
they go pretty thoroughly into the brute toughness of the
psychic nature. Sickness is included rather for its effect on
the emotions and mind, since bodily infirmity such as blindness
or deafness, is no insurpable barrier to spiritual life, and
may sometimes be a help as cutting off distractions. It

(24:07):
will be well for us to ponder over each of
these nine activities, thinking of each as a psychic state,
a barrier to the interior consciousness of the spiritual man.
Thirty one. Grieving, despondency, bodily restlessness, the drawing in and
sending forth of the life breath also contribute to drive

(24:28):
the psychic nature to and fro interpretation. The first two
moods are easily understood. We can well see how a
sodden psychic condition flagrantly opposed to the pure and positive
joy of spiritual life would be a barrier. The next,
bodily restlessness, is, in a special way the fault of

(24:48):
our day and generation. When it is conquered, mental restlessness
will be half conquered too. The next two terms concerning
the life breath offers some difficulty. The surface meaning is
harsh and irregular breathing. The deeper meaning is a life
of harsh and irregular impulses. Thirty two. Steady application to

(25:11):
a principle is the way to put a stop to
these interpretation. The will, which in his pristine state was
full of vigor, has been steadily corrupted by self indulgence,
the seeking of moods and sensations for sensation's sake. Hence
come all the morbid and sickly moods of the mind.

(25:32):
The remedy is a return to the pristine state of
the will by vigorous positive effort, or, as we are
here told, by steady application to a principle, the principle
to which we must thus steadily apply. Ourselves should be
one arising from the reality of spiritual life, valorous work
for the soul in others as in ourselves thirty three.

(25:57):
By sympathy with the happy, common in passion for the sorrowful,
delight in the holy, disregard of the unholy, the psychic
nature moves to gracious peace. Interpretation. When we are wrapped
in ourselves, shrouded with the cloak of our egotism, absorbed
in our pains and bitter thoughts, we are not willing

(26:18):
to disturb or strain our own sickly mood by giving
kindly sympathy to the happy, thus doubling their joy, or
by showing compassion for the sad, thus halving their sorrow.
We refuse to find delight in holy things and let
the mind brood in sad pessimism on unholy things. All
these evil psychic moods must be conquered by strong effort

(26:40):
of will. This rending of the veils will reveal to
us something of the grace and peace which are of
the interior consciousness of the spiritual man. Thirty four. Or
peace may be reached by the even sending forth and
control of the life breath interpretation. Here again we may

(27:01):
look for a double meaning, first that even and quiet breathing,
which is a part of the victory over bodily restlessness.
Then the even and quieter tenor of life without harsh
or dissonant impulses, which bring stillness to the heart. Thirty five.
Faithful persistent application to any object, if completely attained, will

(27:24):
bind the mind to steadiness. Interpretation. We are still considering
how to overcome the wavering and perturbation of the psychic nature,
which makes it quite unfit to transmit the inward consciousness
and stillness. We are once more told to use the
will and to train it by steady and persistent work,
by sitting close to our work, in the phrase of

(27:47):
the original thirty six, as also will a joyful, radiant spirit. Interpretation.
There is no such allusion as gloomy pessimism, and it
has been truly said that a man's cheerfulness is the
measure of his faith. Gloom, despondency, the pale cast of

(28:07):
thought are very amiable to the will. Sturdy and courageous
effort will bring a clear and valorous mind, But it
must always be remembered that this is not for solace
to the personal man, but is rather an offering to
the ideal of spiritual life, a contribution to the universal
and university shared treasure in heaven thirty seven or the

(28:31):
purging of self indulgence from the psychic nature interpretation. We
must recognize that the fall of man is a reality
exemplified in our own persons. We have quite other sins
than the animals, and far more deleterious, and they have
all come through self indulgence, with which our psychic natures
are soaked through and through. As we climb downhill for

(28:55):
our pleasure, so must we climb up again for our
purification and restorate to our former high estate. The process
is painful, perhaps yet indispensable thirty eight or a pondering
on the perceptions gained in dreams and dreamless sleep interpretation

(29:15):
for the Eastern Sages. Dreams are, it is true, made
up of images of waking life, reflections of what the
eyes have seen and the ears heard. But dreams are
something more, for the images are in a sense real,
objective in their own plane, and the knowledge that there
is another world, even a dream world, lightens the tyranny

(29:37):
of material life. Much of poetry and art is such
a solace from dreamland. But there is more in dream,
for it may image what is above as well as
what is below. Not only the children of men, but
also the children by the shore of the immortal sea
that brought us hither may throw their images on this
magic mirror. So too of the secrets of dream, aimless

(30:00):
sleep with its pure vision in even greater degree thirty nine,
or meditative brooding on what is dearest to the heart. Interpretation.
Here is a thought which our own day is beginning
to grasp, that love is a form of knowledge, that
we truly know anything or any person by becoming one

(30:23):
therewith in love. Thus love has a wisdom that the
mind cannot claim. And by this hearty love, this becoming
one with what is beyond our personal borders, we may
take a long step toward freedom. Two directions for this
may be suggested, the pure love of the artist for
his work, and the earnest, compassionate search into the hearts

(30:44):
of others. Forty Thus he masters all from the atom
to the infinite interpretation. Newton was asked how he made
his discoveries by intending my mind on them, he replied,
this steady pressure, this becoming one with what we seek

(31:04):
to understand, whether it be atom or soul, is the
one means to know. When we become a thing, we
rarely know it not otherwise therefore live the life to
know the doctrine do the will of the Father if
you would know the Father forty one. When the perturbations
of the psychic nature have all been stilled, then the consciousness,

(31:27):
like a pure crystal, takes the color of what it
rests on, whether that be the perceiver, perceiving or the
thing perceived. Interpretation, this is a fuller expression of the
last Sutra, and it is so lucid that comment can
hardly add to it. Everything is either perceiver, perceiving, or

(31:47):
the thing perceived, or as we might say, consciousness, force,
or matter. The sage tells us that the one key
will unlock the secrets of all three, the secrets of consciousness, force,
and matter alike. The thought is that the cordial sympathy
of a gentle heart intuitively understanding the hearts of others

(32:09):
is rarely a manifestation of the same power as that
penetrating perception. Whereby one divines the secrets of planetary motions
or atomic structure section for two, when the consciousness poised
in perceiving blends together the name, the object dwelt on,
and the idea. This is perception with exterior consideration interpretation.

(32:35):
In the first stage of the consideration of an external object,
the perceiving mind comes to it preoccupied by the name
and idea conventionally associated with that object. For example, in
coming to the study of a book, we think of
the author, his period, the school to which he belongs.
The second stage, set forth in the next sutra, goes

(32:57):
directly to the spiritual meaning of the book, setting its
traditional trappings aside and finding its application to our own
experience and problems. The commentator takes a very simple illustration
a cow, where one considers in the first stage the
name of the cow, the animal itself, and the idea
of a cow in the mind. In the second stage,

(33:20):
one pushes these trappings aside, and, entering into the inmost
being of the cow, shares its consciousness. As to some
of the artists who paint cows, they get at the
very life of what they study and paint. Forty three.
When the object dwells in the mind, clear of memory,

(33:41):
pictures uncolored by the mind, as a pure luminous idea.
This is perception without exterior or consideration interpretation. We are
still considering external visible objects. Such perception, as is here described,
is of the nature of that penetrating vision whereby Newton,

(34:03):
intending his mind on things, made his discoveries, or that
whereby a rarely great portrait painter pierces to the soul
of him whom he paints, and he makes that soul
live on canvas. These stages of perception are described in
this way to lead the mind to an understanding of
the perceiving soul vision of the spiritual man, the immortal

(34:27):
forty four. The same two steps, when referring to things
of finer substance, are said to be with or without
judicial action of the mind interpretation. We now come to
mental or psychical objects, to images in the mind. It
is precisely by comparing, arranging, and superposing these mind images

(34:50):
that we get our general notions or concepts. This process
of analysis and synthesis, whereby we select certain qualities in
a group of mind images and then range together those
of like quality, is the judicial action of the mind
spoken of. But when we exercise swift divination upon the
mind images, as does a poet or a man of genius.

(35:12):
Then we use a power higher than the judicial, and
one nearer to the keen vision of the spiritual man.
Forty five Subtle substance rises in ascending degrees to that
pure nature which has no distinguishing mark interpretation. As we
ascend from outer material things, which are permeated by separateness,

(35:35):
and whose chief characteristic is to be separate, just as
so many pebbles are separate from each other. As we
ascend first to mind images, which overlap and coalesce in
both space and time, and then to ideas and principles,
we finally come to purer essences, drawing ever nearer and
nearer to unity. Or we may illustrate this principle. Thus,

(35:59):
our bodily external selves are quite distinct and separate in form, name, place, substance.
Our mental selves of finer substance meet and part meet
and part again in perpetual concussion and interchange. Our spiritual
selves attain true consciousness through unity, where the partition wall

(36:21):
between us and the Highest, between us and others is
broken down, and we are all made perfect in the One.
The highest riches are possessed by all pure souls. Only
when united. Thus we arrive from separation to true individuality
in unity. Forty six. The above are the degrees of

(36:44):
limited and conditioned spiritual consciousness, still containing the seed of
separateness interpretation. In the four stages of perception above described,
the spiritual vision is still working through the mental and psychical.
The energenious is express through the outer personal man. The
spiritual man has yet to come completely to consciousness as

(37:07):
himself in his own realm, the psychical veils laid aside.
Forty seven. When pure perception without judicial action of the
mind is reached, there follows the gracious peace of the
inner self. Interpretation. We have instant certain types of this
pure perception, the poet's divination, whereby he sees the spirit

(37:29):
within the symbol, likeness in things unlike, and beauty in
all things. The pure insight of the true philosopher, whose
vision rests not in the appearances of life but on
its realities, or the saint's firm perception of spiritual life
and being. All these are far advanced on the way
they have drawn near to the secret dwelling of peace.

(37:52):
Forty eight. In that piece, perception is unfailingly true interpretation.
The poet, the wise philosopher, and the saint not only
reach a wide and luminous consciousness, but they gain certain
knowledge of substantial reality. When we know, we know that
we know, for we have come to the stage where

(38:14):
we know things by being them, and nothing can be
more true than being. We rest on the rock and
know it to be the rock rooted in the very
heart of the world. Se Forty nine. The object of
this perception is other than what is learned from the
sacred books or by sound inference. Since this perception is

(38:36):
particular interpretation, the distinction is a luminous and inspiring one.
The scriptures teach general truths concerning universal spiritual life and
broad laws, and inference from their teaching is not less general.
But the spiritual perception of the awakened seer brings particular

(38:56):
truth concerning his own particular life and needs, whether these
be for himself or others. He receives defined, precise knowledge
exactly applying to what he has at heart. Fifty. The
impress on the consciousness springing from this perception supersedes all

(39:16):
previous impressions interpretation, each state or field of the mind,
each field of knowledge, so to speak, which is reached
by mental and emotional energies is a psychical state, just
as the mind picture of a stage with the actors
on It is a psychical state or field. When the
pure vision, as of the poet, the philosopher, the saint,

(39:40):
fills the whole field, all lesser views and visions are
crowded out. This high consciousness displaces all lesser consciousnesses. Yet
in a certain sense, that which is viewed as part,
even by the vision of a sage, has still an
element of illusion, a thin psychical veil. However pure and
loominus that veil may be, it is the last and

(40:03):
highest psychic state. Fifty one. When this impression ceases, then,
since all impressions have ceased, there arises pure spiritual consciousness,
with no seed of separateness left interpretation. The last psychic
veil is drawn aside, and the spiritual man stands with

(40:26):
unveiled vision, pure serene. End of Book one