Reflections on Discipline

© 2011 by George A. Boyd

In keeping with the theme of setting New Years resolutions, we are offering for our last blog post of 2016, an article we wrote on the topic of discipline. This article was written in 2011, and first published in our Initate’s Library level two book, The Winds of Adi Sat Guru Desh in 2013. It is important to realize that simply resolving to do something, but then, not following through, is doomed to failure. Discipline requires that you sustain your activity until your goal is achieved. Discipline is more than saying you will do something; it requires committed and perseverent action. Here’s the article:

Discipline occurs when the volition focuses activity and attention towards a specific objective over a sustained period of time. Those that gain personal mastery of any genre do so because they are able to discipline the faculties of their personality to achieve peak performance and functioning.

Across the Seven Rays, we can identify different types of personal discipline. These are shown in the table below.

Ray

Type of Discipline

Keynote

Dominant Personality Function

1st

Sports and Military

Courage

Will

2nd

Relationship and Therapeutic Communications

Empathy

Intuition

3rd

Management and Scholarship

Acquisition and Application of Knowledge

Intellect

4th

Musical and Artistic

Creativity

Imagination and Senses

5th

Scientific

Search for Objective Truth

Reason

6th

Religious

Development of Virtue and Holiness

Feeling Center

7th

Yoga/ Spiritual

Self-Mastery

Body and Vehicle of Consciousness Awareness

The following signs mark the emergence of personal discipline:

  • Regular behavior practice and drilling to perfect skills
  • Acquiring specialized knowledge about this specialty
  • Developing strong desire and commitment to succeed in the achieving this goal
  • Continued reflection and introspection about this specialty with an aim to improve your performance and knowledge
  • Focusing the attention upon this area to develop powerful concentration
  • Willingness to sacrifice desires in other aspects of your life to focus on this area
  • Associating with those who have achieved mastery in this field to learn their methods; obtaining coaching, teaching or mentoring
    from an expert or adept in this area

Discipline and the Path

Meditation is a Seventh Ray application of discipline. It includes learning to control your body and your vehicles of consciousness, to monitor the contents of awareness in different vehicles, and to actively unfold your spiritual evolutionary potentials.

Meditation begins as a process of inner observing and monitoring. After mastery of these rudimentary practices, meditation activates key inner centers: the attentional principle, the spirit, and the ensouling entity.

These types of spiritual discipline include:

Form of Discipline

Examples

Moral Discipline

Voluntary self-restraint, observance of rules for living such as Yama or Niyama.

Discipline of the body

Sitting still in a stable posture, practice of Yoga asanas or martial art poses.

Discipline of the senses

Withdraw of sensory current (Pratyahara), and detachment from the objects of sense (Vairagya)

Discipline of the attention

Steady gaze (Tratakam), Concentration (Dharana), Contemplation (Dhyana), and Absorption in the object of meditation (Samadhi)

Discipline of the attentional principle

Using suggestion programming and creation to control the vehicles of consciousness; using intention to the attention to perform attunements and to travel in full consciousness on to inner Planes

Discipline of the spirit

Engaging in remembrance of the Divine, voluntarily surrendering to God and the spiritual Master, dedicating all possessions and wealth and energy to the service of God, and following the Divine Will as it is revealed to you

Spiritual discipline aims to ultimately prepare the meditator to become a spiritual Master. This process of inner discipline, which yields progressively deeper egress into the depths of the mind, may be said to pass through 12 stages:

Level of the Mind

Stage

Abilities

Conscious

(1) Rudimentary Stage

Meditators are first introduced to very basic meditations that do not go deeper than the Conscious mind. They are capable of Practical meditation, relaxation, self-soothing, and introspection.

Subconscious

(2) Liminal Access Stage

The meditator can access the chakras of the Subconscious mind, and focus on the seats of the attentional principle and the spirit. With some practice, they consciously can enter the astral body, and utilize hypnotic suggestion. They can also scan through their personal unconscious to access early experiences.

Metaconscious

(3) Personal Empowerment Stage

These meditators can access self and utilize the faculties of the Metaconscious mind consciously. They can activate the will to take charge of personal destiny; they can set goals and accomplish them. They are capable of Centering meditation.

Superconscious

(4) Subtle Realm Access Stage

These meditators can enter the first band of the Superconscious mind, the Subtle Realm. They can access the higher octaves of the will operating in this band of the Great Continuum of Consciousness and may practice invocation, and magical or shamanic rituals. Those that reach this stage or above can practice Transcendence Meditation.

(5) Planetary Realm Access

(Psychic Attunement Stage)

These meditators activate their vehicles in the Psychic Realm, which grants powers of psychic sensitivity, healing, channeling, and reception of intuitive guidance. They may consciously commune with spiritual guides and can consciously unite with their Soul.

(6) Planetary Realm Access

(Holy Spirit Attunement and
Solar Angelic Attunement Stage)

These meditators can invite the Divine through prayer and invocation to anchor the Holy Spirit. Advanced meditators in this band can utilize the power of the spoken word (decree) to manifest their intentions.

(7) Planetary Realm Access

(Mental Attunement Stage)

These meditators can attune with the Manasic and the Buddhic Realms, and can receive, integrate, and transmit thought directed from the Soul, the Monad, and Initiates of the Planetary Hierarchy.

(8) Planetary Realm Access

(Empowered Union Stage)

These meditators unite the Soul with the Monad and become Adepts. They are capable of ministering the Light of Spirit to others; they become instruments of the Divine Will.

(9) Higher Octave Access Stage

These meditators can access the ensouling entities, spirits, or nuclei of identity of the Transplanetary Cosmic, Supracosmic, or Transcendental band of Great Continuum of Consciousness. They can direct their attention to these levels and perform inner spiritual work at these levels.

(10) Higher Octave Empowerment

As a result of these higher octave practices these meditators gain mastery over one band of the Continuum and become Initiates within that zone. This confers Higher Octave spiritual Mastery.

(11) Multiple Higher Octave Empowerment

Certain advanced Initiates gain mastery in more than one band of Great Continuum of Consciousness, and may have forms of Mastery in the Planetary, Transplanetary, Cosmic, Supracosmic, and Transcendental Spheres.

(12) Multiplane Mastery

This confers the ability to work in any realm of Great Continuum of Consciousness, and extends the mantle of mastery to all 12 spiritual domains and to all 13 ensouling entities.

The ability to discipline yourself will lead to progress and mastery of your chosen genre in personal life. When applied to spiritual development, it will lead you progressively across the Great Continuum of Consciousness, and ultimately, help you achieve spiritual Mastery. Without discipline, you will accomplish little in your personal and spiritual development. With discipline, all things become possible.

Pokémon Stop! (Working with Thought Forms)

By George A. Boyd ©2016

In the wake of the technological innovation that allows millions of people to collectively hallucinate using their smart phone [Pokémon Go]; it is important we investigate the nature of these mysterious creatures—for if we can make them go, we need to be able to also make them stop.

Pokémon are examples of thought forms, which are the animated presentation of your imagination that embody your desires and wishes, your hopes and fears. For most people, these mysterious characters of the mind seem to have a life of their own. But to shut these down—so they can have mental silence and peace—this process eludes them.

We will discuss the possibility of how you can work with thought forms, so you can at least temporarily turn them off, both the thought forms that distract you and those torment you and bring you misery. The persistent thought forms we call subpersonalities.

Types of Thought Forms

There are three types of thought forms, which you express through the faculty of imagination.

  1. Active imagination – this is the aspect of imagination that is involved in visualization, which enables you to create a thought form temporarily to work out a problem, and then, you make it vanish.
  2. Characterological imagination – these make up integrated subpersonalities that are used in humor and personification.
  3. Unconscious imagination – these are non-integrated subpersonalities that dwell in the unconscious mind, which operate outside the personality.

When do you use these types of imagination?

You use active imagination when you design,create cartoons, or modify existing products. It operates in the etheric body of the Metaconscious mind, and the intellect modulates it. The intellect guides what you create, and like a white board, you can readily dissolve this thought form when you are done with it.

You use characterological imagination when you personify different people, when you role-play, and when you do comedy or dramatic acting. It operates through the persona, guided by your will. These thought forms persist, but you can turn them off and on as you will.

Unconscious imagination, which has been called fantasy, or primary mental processing, dwells in your unconscious mind, outside of your ability to control them voluntarily. They persist until you fulfill the desire that creates them. These thought forms can persist for a lifetime

Unconscious imagination embodies your wishes, fears, desires, and yearnings that you cannot integrate into your personality, and express in your life. You do not control them with reason, conscience, intellect, or will. They are personifications of the dark substrate of the unconscious mind that we call karma.

Characterological thought forms are ego-syntonic: you incorporate them into your personality and accept them as a part of your Self. Unconscious thought forms are ego-dystonic: they do not fit into your personality, they feel alien, and you have no way to express them in your current circumstances in your life.

An example of this ego-dystonic thought form is when you yearn for a relationship with someone, but you have no current opportunities for a partner or your external circumstances do not permit the expression of your romantic urges [e.g., you are living in an ashram or convent that does not allow you to engage in romantic or sexual behavior].

Where Do Unconscious Thought Forms Dwell?

Those who are clairvoyant see human beings have a series of energy shells that interpenetrate the physical body:

  1. Etheric – the field of life force
  2. Astral – the emotional field [this is primarily where the thought forms dwell]
  3. Lower mental – the field of your entire personality, comprising your Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind—this is called the mental aura
  4. Higher mental – the field of the Superconscious mind, sometimes called the spiritual aura

Most people encounter their unconscious thought forms in the emotional field. They appear as a swarm of animated entities that cling to the edge of the astral aura. They persist despite the admonitions of the conscience, the logical arguments of reason, the pragmatic and problem-solving solutions of the intellect, and the command of the will.

Psychics refer to these unconscious thought forms as entities or elementals. They have a variety of methods to ostensibly remove them—but we note that many of these interventions are temporary—for if the desire that underlies these entities is not fulfilled, they come back.

How to Work with Unconscious Thought Forms

Methods that psychics, other spiritual healers, and therapists use to remove these thought forms that entify in the unconscious mind include:

  1. Attunement – this approach burns entities off the aura. Light Immersion and “spiritual healing” typify this approach.
  2. Dialog – this approach speaks to the subpersonality and interviews it. The Rainbow Method [which we teach], Voice Dialog, and Psychosynthesis use this.
  3. Rational argument – this approach attempts to argue with theirrational beliefs that underpin these subpersonalities. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and the Socratic Method implement this approach
  4. Present time immersion – these “enlightenment” approaches emphasize dissolving thought forms through holding the attention on the wave of the present time. Eckhart Tolle groups, some coaches, and New Age healers embrace this approach.
  5. Historical uncovering – these approaches attempt to find out where the core issue that the entity embodies originated. Process meditation, psychoanalysis, and hypnotic regression adopt this approach.
  6. Invocation – this approach calls upon an empowered agency in the Superconscious mind; the one who calls upon this Being believes it is compassionate, powerful, and able to help. It utilizes prayer to God, the Holy Spirit, a saint, a mighty angel, or a spiritual Master to remove the entities.
  7. Transformation – this approach draws down the Divine Light to dissolve, transmute, and integrate the entities in the unconscious mind. Transformational (bija) mantra and Kriya Yoga apply this approach.

There are three potential outcomes of these interventions.

  1. Dissolve the entity permanently – this occurs most often through methods one and seven, attunement and transformation.
  2. The entity temporarily dissolves, but returns changed – this is most commonly generated through method two, dialog, but methods three (rational argument), four (present time immersion), five (historical uncovering), and six (invocation) can also produce this result.
  3. The entity temporarily dissolves, but comes back unchanged – this is the most common effect of any intervention.

Outcome one, permanent dissolution, appear to occur when (a) issues that are part of destiny karma are completing, or (b) entities that appear in the Superconscious mind that were created in past lives that have no relevance to the current life. These are the entities that commonly dissolve using attunement and transformation.

Outcomes two and three, temporary dissolution, typically mark entitles that are part of your destiny karma—unconscious issues that you have to deal with in your current life, which may stem from events in the current or recent past lives.

When Entities Change

When these thought forms change, they can change along several parameters. For example, these can be changes to:

  1. Temporal and visual appearance – the subpersonality can change appearance, ranging from that of an infant to that of a old man or woman; it can also transform from one visual presentation to another
  2. Emotional tone – the emotion that the subpersonality embodies can shift, sometimes radically—for example, different subpersonalities can variously express feelings such as apathy, depression, grief, anxiety, fear, rage, irritation, boredom, interest, or enthusiasm.
  3. Emotional maturity — the reaction of the entity can range from infantile tantrums to mature dispassion and wisdom
  4. Solidity of the entity’s form – the entity’s density can shift from as dense as granite to a diffuse as a vapor
  5. Loquacity – the entity can communicate regularly and actively or it can be non-communicative, remaining in stark silence.
  6. Magnitude – this is the size the entity appears, which can range from the size of a pinpoint to that of a giant.
  7. Coherence – the subpersonality’s communication can range from a jumble of disoriented speech to a cogent, clear message
  8. Identity expression – the subpersonality shifts from being shy, meek, and timid to bold, arrogant, belligerent, and grandiose

We refer to this transformation of thought forms as evocatory transformation. This type of transformation occurs when the characteristics of a thought form change, but there is no concomitant change to character, consciousness, or being.

Some people mistake the transformation of these entities for genuine spiritual transformation. So while the characteristics of these subpersonalities can change, the Soul and its vehicles do not move, the spirit makes no progress towards its source, and the unconscious does not transmute. Only the thought form has changed to embody a new emotion, a new attitude, or a new perspective.

In the short video below, we playfully demonstrate a thought form that appears as “Supreme Commander, Master Pokémon.” Since many of the Pokémon that artists create are childlike and not particularly powerful or masterful, our transformation of a childlike thought form to embody confident emotional tone [3], adult emotional maturity [4], active communication [5], orderly thematic communication [7], and bold and grandiose identity expression [8], typifies changes that could occur to a thought form when it radically transforms after temporary dissolution.


Radical transformation of thought forms does occur, but it is likely not a frequent occurrence. While transformation into its complete opposite is not the rule for thought forms—for example, a rage-carrying thought form changes into a holy, loving, and forgiving one—there is generally some movement along a gradient towards positive improvement.

In this type of more gradual transformation, a thought form embodying rage might moderate into one that carries irritation and frustration, which demonstrates a migration of its emotional tone towards the more positive pole, and a waning of the intensity of the anger it was carrying. Changes to other parameters go along with this alteration in emotional tone: its appearance and size might transform into a small vexed imp from a large, raging red demon; it might communicate different ways of describing its emotional state, “this frustrates me,” instead of “I will destroy them;” and the identity expression becomes less belligerent.

Working with Thought Forms that Distract You

When thought forms operate in the mode of distraction, you are aware of your fears, desires, and worries. They interrupt your thinking. They break your concentration. They upset your peace and serenity. You want to banish them and make them leave you alone: they ignore you.

As a result of this invasion of your mental space, you can’t focus. You are inundated with fits of silliness. You find yourself brooding upon your anger and resentments instead of doing your work. A swarm of worries attack you. You start having romantic fantasies. This interferes with your productivity. This disturbs your peace of mind.

Methods to turn off these impish troublemakers include:

  1. Command them to be still and silent – In this approach, you call upon a deeper aspect of your mind—your Self, your spirit, or your Soul— to take charge of them.
  2. Acknowledge their issues and make an appointment to deal with it – Here, you engage with the subpersonality that is distracting you, and acknowledge what it is feeling. You might say, “You seem to be really worried about this. How about if you and I have a session to examine this and resolve it at 7pm tonight?” If this thought form agrees, you then will ask it to not disturb you until then.
  3. Do a mantra or prayer to set your mind back to stillness – Some people repeat a mantra like “Om,” “Ram,” or “Om Mane Padme Hum,” or a prayer like “Our Father” to release the emotional energy in the astral band of the aura where these entities congregate.
  4. Vipassana on the elements arising in your consciousness – In this method, you focus your attention on each thought form that arises in the present time, notice what it is, and let it pass away. This method presumes you do not have other tasks to which you must give your concentration and get done. This technique could be done during a work break, a bathroom break, or lunch, if these thought forms invade your mental space at work.
  5. Analyze and take action – In this tactic, you analyze what is the source of the distraction, and you either take immediate action to resolve it, or you give powerful suggestions or affirmations to quell the concern of the subpersonality. So for example, to a frightened subpersonality, you could give the suggestion, “Don’t worry, I’m here for you. I’ll protect you and keep you safe. It’s OK.”
  6. Invocation – In this way of working with a mischievous subpersonality, you might pray to a Divine Being or the Holy Spirit to bring your mind back to stillness and to enable you to focus again.
  7. Use a Centering Technique – These techniques move your attention into union with the Self, shifting your focus from the emotional band of your aura where these entities dwell to the lower mental zone of your mind, where you have greater control over these entities. [We teach eight Centering Techniques in our intermediate meditation courses, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

While none of these interventions will necessarily make them go away permanently [if they are part of the issues that make up the destiny karma of your life], these methods can clear your mental space so you can focus on your immediate tasks and complete your objectives. You may find that you might need to vary the method you use to address different subpersonalities. For example, an angry entity might respond to command, whereas a frightened one might need comforting suggestion.

Dealing with Misery-Creating Thought Forms

If you have experienced abuse, molestation, or trauma in your life; have been robbed or assaulted; have been terrorized or known terrible fear; or many of your dreams have been frustrated—you may have misery-creating thought forms. Misery-creating thought forms produce phobias and panic attacks, crippling anxiety, severe depression, post traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and sleep disorders, and paralyzing indecision and uncertainty.

To overcome misery-creating thought forms, you normally will require loving and supportive people in your life, and the professional help of a counselor or therapist, who has been trained to help people with these issues. There are self-help methods, but if they do not allow you to get a handle on these more severe issues, you do need to seek the assistance of a professional—andif your issues are so severe that you cannot function, or you are homicidal or suicidal—you may even need hospitalization and medication.

Self-help methods that have been used to treat these deeper, more painful issues include:

  1. Emotional healing – these methods include prayer and dialog with the Divine, and reception of the Holy Spirit into the core of your pain and misery.
  2. Mental healing – these interventions bring down the Light of the Illumined Mind to uncover and uproot the beliefs underlying these painful emotional complexes.
  3. Intensive process meditation – this approach identifies each aspect of the misery-creating thought form and does a specific process meditation to deconstruct every part of it.
  4. Spiritual awakening – these practices bring your attention into union with a spiritual essence, which brings about a radical change in the way you perceive these painful issues. The powerful and life-changing insights that occur in this state can uproot these misery-creating thought forms and sometimes even dissolve them. Passive ways of producing this state include ingestion of psychedelic drugs or receiving an attunement (Light Immersion) from a spiritual Master; active ways include meditations that produce the state of Satori or Samadhi. Kundalini awakening can produce this state.
  5. Transformational meditation – these meditations draw down the Divine Light and actively dissolve, transmute, and integrate the elements of the unconscious mind, and move the Soul and its vehicles progressively towards the Source. These types of meditations actively burn away the karmic seeds that underlay these misery-producing thought forms, and those issues that are not embedded in the matrix of destiny karma can be eradicated through these methods. [We teach how to use a transformational mantra in our intermediate meditation courses, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]
  6. Radical forgiveness and confession of the truth – these processes, which are used in programs like A Course in Miracles and evangelical faith healing groups, facilitate forgiveness of self and those who have perpetrated injury and abuse upon you, promote understanding of the pain and misery of those who harmed you, and confess your own moral failings on the altar of the Holy Spirit within the heart. Unlike emotional healing, in which you simply receive the Love of God, this method involves inquiry and honest self-exploration.
  7. Multi-faceted intervention – in this scenario, you use multiple techniques to understand, process, and work out the issues that your misery-creating thought form embodies. You might use autohypnosis, affirmation,targeted process meditation, methods of reflective and receptive meditation, prayer, and dialog methods like the Rainbow Technique to resolve these issues.[We teach each of the methods listed here to work on personal issues in our intermediate meditation courses, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program.]

While chasing Pokémon hallucinations in the environment is engaging fun, the inner Pokémon thought forms might not be so entertaining or benign. We have discussed the different types of thought forms; ways healers and therapists seek to remove them from the emotional band of the aura; and how to deal with the ones that distract you, and the ones that torment you. We encourage you to identify the thought forms that are active within you, and learn ways to work with them to control them, and ultimately resolve the issues they carry.

Viewpoints on the Inner Vistas of the Mind

By George A. Boyd ©2016

When people look within, they do not always experience the same perspective on their inner world. These alternate perspectives on interiorization, we speak of as the Seven Ray tracks, which color (a) what you see, and (b) the context through which you view it. Here are some examples:

Ray

What Your Inner World Looks Like in this Perspective

Associated
Meditation
System or Technique

1

You behold the space of consciousness and the darkness of the unconscious. Intention guides attention across the unconscious to break through into the true essence of being. You can also use a mantra to carry you across this gulf.

Tratakam, use of mantras to transcend into the true essence of being

2

You see a series of forms, or vehicles of consciousness, with an internal seed atom. The seed atom in each vehicle is connected with a thread of light.

Agni Yoga

3

You see a stack of levels of mind, which contain different activity and content. A central figure appears to animate each level; a type of intelligence appears to work at each level.

Jnana Yoga

4

You experience each layer of mind as an aggregate, possessing certain qualities or characteristics. The wave of the present time dwells at each level: focusing the attention on this wave reveals that everything is in process, continually changing.

Vipassana

5

You experience a stream of light that moves along the track of the thread of consciousness. When you follow this thread of consciousness, you obtain visual information about each vehicle of consciousness and the sub-centers (chakras) visible within it.

Raja Yoga

6

You are a spiritual entity that is separated from the Universal Life by darkness. You are aware of your desires, needs, and shortcomings. You recognize that some things you can improve by your own efforts, but for other things, you need help. You may develop faith in this Higher Power as you conceive it, and establish a relationship with it through prayer.

Prayer, dialog, chanting, or worship

7

You feel energy and warmth rise with you as your awareness opens into new bands of the mind. This energy activates the level of mind where you are experiencing, and stirs it into life.

Kundalini Yoga

We encourage you to study these different perspectives, and observe when you adopt them. Notice if you shift into them spontaneously and naturally. Note whether this is your dominant perspective: the one you prefer and find most easy to enter.

Identify what triggers you to shift into other perspectives. For example:

  • Do you shift perspective when you are reading something in a book or the Internet, listening to a program on the radio or television, in response that you are reading, hearing, or viewing?
  • Have you been taught a meditation that reliably shifts you into an alternate perspective? Do you maintain this perspective after doing the meditation? Or do you return to your preferred perspective after you are done?
  • Do you find yourself shifting to another perspective when you are speaking with certain people? Do certain environments facilitate your shifting into another perspective?
  • Do you find yourself defending your perspective as the correct one? Do you find it difficult to enter other perspectives, and feel entrenched in the one familiar to you?

To understand yourself and others, you will benefit from studying the different perspectives of the Seven Rays. For those taking our intermediate courses—the Accelerated Meditation Program or the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation—we have a series of more advanced webinars about the Seven Rays that you may find valuable. For the general public, you may wish to study the material in A Mudrashram® Reader: Understanding Integral Meditation on this topic, which provides a good, basic introduction to the Seven Rays.

The Seven Spiritual Activities of the Guru

By George A. Boyd ©2016

A spiritual Master or Guru is not just a conveyer of wisdom stories and sage advice, but is capable of seven spiritual actions that transmit the energy of the Living Divine Spirit to others. These seven actions are listed below:

  1. Darshan – In this state of consciousness, the Guru reveals the Presence of the Divine to others, and that he or she is established in the Divine Vortex to which disciples aspire.
  2. Teaching – In the teacher mode, the Guru gives wisdom teachings for the Soul, and activates the Illumined Mind of disciples.
  3. Facilitating Discernment – This posture of the Guru reveals the nature of the Soul beyond the dimensions of the mind, and confers Enlightenment and Gnosis.
  4. Acting as a Preceptor – Here the Guru reveals the nature of the Soul’s truth (Dharma), the Divine Law, and the Way. Jesus enunciated that he adopted this role, revealing that he embodied the Truth, the Life, and the Way. The Preceptor will also guide disciples to work with issues in the unconscious mind that hold them back from making spiritual progress.
  5. Guiding – In this role, the Guru shows the spirit and/or the attentional principle of disciples the content of their inner vehicles of consciousness, the inner Planes of Light, and the nature of their Soul.
  6. Awakening devotion – In this activity, the Guru creates yearning to meditate and make spiritual progress, to do service, and to love God. This can be conveyed through telling stories of the lives of saints, and speaking directly to the spiritual heart of the disciples, which awakens their love and yearning to make spiritual progress and attain the presence of the Divine.
  7. Bestowing Attunements and Transformation – This work of the Guru sends the Light to unfold the disciples’ potentials of the Soul, to awaken their vehicles of consciousness and spiritual essences, or awaken the energy of their awareness (Kundalini). In this activity, the Guru channels the Grace and Power of the Divine.

The Divine empowers a genuine Guru, which places him or her on a platform above the priest, who does sacred ceremonies or ritual invocation; or the cleric, who interprets the meaning of scriptures. The Guru is a Grace-Bestowing instrument that brings the Love, Wisdom, and Grace of the Divine to those who open themselves to receive this blessing.

Aspirants will benefit from identifying which of these activities their prospective spiritual teacher expresses. They need to be certain their spiritual teacher is truly established in the Divine Presence and empowered, and not merely surmising he or she is enlightened. The Presence of the Light and these seven activities is a key indicator that he or she is a real Guru, and not just a pretender.

Where Do Meditations Take You?

By George A. Boyd © 2016

There are four bands of the mind.

Level of the Mind

What is contained there?

Conscious

Present time experience of movement, sensation, body, feelings, thoughts, and memory • seat of the ego

Subconscious

Storehouse of memory, creative intelligence of the chakras, dreaming and imagination, and sound sleep

Metaconscious

Executive functions of the personality: commitment, social skills and humor,conscience, planning and goal setting, intellect, personal intuition, and will • seat of the Self

Superconscious

Spiritual worlds, archetypes, realms where you encounter spiritual beings, and the different forms of the Divine • realm where the Soul dwells

Different meditations take you to specific levels of the mind.

Yoga lady clip art

Meditations on the Conscious Mind

Meditations that access the Conscious mind, we call Practical Meditation. The levels of the Conscious mind are:

Level of the Conscious Mind

What you experience at this level

Waking state of awareness

You are aware of your brain, the world around your body, and what you are doing in the present time • seat of your attention

Movement awareness center

You gain heightened awareness of your movement and your body’s position in the present time

Sensory center (sensorium)

You gain heightened awareness of your senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch in the present time

Body awareness

You gain heightened awareness of the sensations arising from inside your body—muscles, tendons, bones, organs, glands, nervous system, and your physiological rhythms—in the present time

Feeling awareness

You gain heightened awareness of your emotions that are arising in the present time

Thinking awareness

You gain heightened awareness of your thoughts and the commands you give to your body in the present time

Ego awareness

You gain heightened awareness of the different roles that you play in your life—and your thoughts and feelings you are having in each one—in the present time • the ego is the integration center of the Conscious mind

Preconscious

You gain heightened awareness of the impressions and memories that are entering your Conscious mind in the present time

Subconscious gateway center

You become aware of the doorway that leads to your Subconscious mind

Meditations that enable you to access the centers of the Conscious mind include Mindfulness, Vipassana, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and concentrating your attention on different centers of the Conscious mind.

Meditations on the Subconscious Mind

Meditations that access the Subconscious mind, we call Liminal Meditation. The levels of the Subconscious mind are:

Level of the Subconscious
Mind

What you experience at this level

Present time in memory

You become aware that you are recording your experience in the present time, fixing it into memory

Life narrative

You become aware of your experiences back to your first conscious memory, when you first felt that you were the actor in your life

Personal unconscious (postnatal)

You become aware of the memories and impressions that occurred before your first conscious memory back to your birth

Personal unconscious (prenatal)

You become aware of your development from a one-celled fertilized egg to a fetus ready to be born—this gives you a glimpse of your embryonic growth

Atom of eternity

You become aware of your entire life from the Soul’s detached vantage point

Subconscious chakras

You become aware of the lotuses of the chakras, the seat of your creative intelligence. Within the system of chakras, you become aware of the seat of the Kundalini, the energy of awareness; your attentional principle, your witnessing consciousness; the doorway to the presence of your loving spirit; and the mirror of your Soul’s spiritual development.

Astral body

You become aware of the astral body’s subtle sensation, its ability to move, and travel to the locations you suggest.

Causal body

You become aware of the transmutation of your life experiences into wisdom and virtue, and the fixing of your experience into long term memory

Toruses of purpose

You become aware of the mirror of your spirit’s development

Meditations that enable you to access the centers of the Subconscious mind include the time travel meditation, meditation on the chakras, learning to astral project and use the astral senses, and concentrating your attention on different centers of the Subconscious mind.

Meditations on the Metaconscious Mind

Meditations that access the Metaconscious mind, we call Centering Meditation. The levels of the Subconscious mind are:

Level of the Metaconscious
Mind

What you experience at this level

Etheric body

You become aware of the master switchboard that connects your Metaconscious mind and your Subconscious mind, which governs habit, ideomotor movement, perceptual frames, and energizing or relaxing your body to respond to circumstances

Desire Body (Body of Commitment)

You become aware of the goals and the people to which you have made a long-term commitment

Persona

You become aware of your ability to use social skills, to personify others, and to express wit and humor

Conscience

You become aware of the values and standards by which you govern your life

Concrete mind

You become aware of your ability to plan, schedule, and set goals

Intellect

You become aware of your ability to use problem solving strategies, and to process information presented in writing, speech, mathematics, and symbols

Personal intuition

You become aware of the activity of the levels of your personality, can enter the experience of others through empathy, appreciate and express through the language of music, and your sense of participation in the larger cosmos

Volition

You become aware of your ability to make choices, and to operate the faculties of your personality

The Self

You become aware of that you are the controller of all personality functions • The Self is the integration center of the entire personality

Being

You become aware of the Voidness of Being, in which you experience peace and being in the flow

Meditations that enable you to access the centers of the Metaconscious mind include introspection, planning and goal setting, learning to unite your attention with the Self, and concentrating your attention on different centers of the Metaconscious mind.

Meditations on the Superconscious Mind

Meditations that access the Superconscious mind, we call Transcendence Meditation. The levels of the Superconscious mind are:

Level of the Superconscious mind

What You Experience at this Level

Subtle The archetypes you encounter as the Soul Spark, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level
Planetary The archetypes you encounter as the Soul, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level
Transplanetary The archetypes you encounter as the Monad, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level
Cosmic The archetypes you encounter as the Astral Soul, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level
Supracosmic The archetypes you encounter as the Supracosmic Soul, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level
Transcendental The archetypes you encounter as one of eight Transcendental ensouling entities and the spirit on that Path, and the abilities, love, and wisdom you gain at this level

An archetype is a spiritual form that can reveal intuitive knowledge, bestow virtues and love, and grant specific abilities. There are a variety of meditations that access the Superconscious mind, which include:

  • Kundalini Yoga – the awakening of the energy of awareness to activate the forms through which the Soul expresses
  • Nada Yoga – the awakening of the spirit, training it to travel back to its Source on inner channels of light and sound
  • Mantra Yoga – activating seed vibrations that can focus your attention on your spirit, your Soul, or any form within you; specialized mantras called transformational mantras can draw down the Supreme Light to unfold the Soul and its forms
  • Raja Yoga – training the attentional principle to travel through the Superconscious mind to commune with the Soul, spiritual guides, and the Divine
  • Reception of spiritual Light and Grace (Light Immersion or Guru Kripa Yoga) – allowing God and the Masters to minister to you and to speed up your spiritual evolution
  • Jnana Yoga – learning how to access the intuitive knowledge and discernment of your Soul to guide the personality and develop spiritual insight and wisdom
  • Agni Yoga or Attunement Meditation – learning how to invoke or call down the Light to engage in Light ministry to promote healing and purification
  • Kriya Yoga – a method of transformation that uses the breath in a special way bring about spiritual unfoldment
  • Dharma Yoga – a meditation that tunes you into the Soul and allows it to give you guidance as to the correct thing to do; this tunes you into your Soul’s purpose
  • Chanting – Using mantras to lift your attention into communion with spiritual beings
  • Prayer – Communicating your needs and concerns to a spiritual being, and inviting its ministry to you; asking this being for guidance and direction

Mudrashram® teaches you meditations to access the Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind in the Introduction to Meditation program, which you can take on-line or with a certified in-person instructor.

Mudrashram® teaches you to awaken your Kundalini, your attentional principle, your spirit and your Soul; trains you in meditations to focus on the Self, and shows you all of the transcendence meditations—except for Kriya Yoga, which is introduced in the Advanced Course—in our intermediate courses, the on-line and by-mail Accelerated Meditation Program, and the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation. In these intermediate courses, you explore the Subtle and Planetary Realms.

Mudrashram® teaches you many advanced meditation practices, including Kriya Yoga and communing with a spiritual guide, in the Mudrashram® Advanced Course in Meditation.

In the Advanced Course, you explore the Transplanetary, Cosmic, Supracosmic, and Transcendental bands of the Superconscious mind. This course is available on-line as an independent study course, and in a variety of in-person formats (webinar, intensive, and weekly). You are eligible to take this course after you have completed one of the intermediate courses.