By George A. Boyd © 2001
Level One - Ground State. Here you are oriented to the sensory
environment around your body and have a sense of full embodiment. Meditation
begins when you become aware that you are in the ground state, and you
begin to collect your attention.
Level Two - Conscious Mind Awareness. Here you are aware of the
sensations, feelings and thoughts that are arising in the present time.
This is awareness of the centers of the Conscious mind. This level is
voluntarily experienced by the practice of vipassana. Certain forms of
psychotherapy may also invite their clients to pay attention to their
feelings, thoughts, or egoic reactions as they arise in the present time.
Level Three - Liminal Awareness. Here you are aware of impressions
coming into your consciousness, or you may remember or relive your life
experiences. This deeper state of inversion is typically experienced in
hypnosis or deep absorption in the process of psychotherapy.
Level Four - Chakra Awareness. Here you begin to be aware of the
content of your Subconscious mind, as remembered facts, sensory and emotional
impressions, awareness of interrelationships and systems. In deeper stages
of absorption at this level, you may become aware of the structure of
the chakras. Practitioners of hatha yoga passively experience this level
during states of deep relaxation. It may be voluntarily experienced through
the practice of tratakam on the seven chakras or Raja Yoga.
Level Five - Mindfulness. Here you gain conscious union with your
attentional principle. You wake up within, dwelling in union with your
witnessing consciousness. This is consciously experienced in Raja Yoga.
Level Six - Ascension. Here you journey beyond the seat of the
attentional principle into higher vehicles of your Subconscious, Metaconscious,
and Superconscious mind. You may move through these higher vehicles in
one of two ways: (1) Focusing your attention in these vehicles using a
variety of techniques for centering and transcendence. (2) Traveling in
full union with the attentional principle. This is called direct projection.
We teach this technique in the sitting for the basic Raja Yoga meditation
in the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation.
Level Seven - Union. Here your attention becomes united with key
inner centers. This state of profound absorption with identity is called
samadhi. Major foci for samadhi include (1) The Self (Swa Samadhi). (2)
Your spirit (Bhava Samadhi). (3) Your spiritual guide (Guru Deva Samadhi).
(4) Your Soul (Atma Samadhi). (5) Higher octaves of Being in the Transplanetary,
Cosmic, Supracosmic and Transcendental bands of the Great Continuum of
Consciousness (Paramatma Samadhi), (6) The Universal Field of the Divine
(Sabikalpa Samadhi).
Spiritual inner work occurs at levels five through seven. Psychotherapy
and hypnosis commonly utilize levels two through four to work with the
personality.
If you wish to consciously take charge of your spiritual evolution, you
will need to be able to access levels three through five at will. If you
wish to make progress in your psychotherapy or experience successful implementation
of your hypnotic suggestions, you will need to be able to invert to levels
two through four.
Discipleship is founded upon the ability to be consciously present as
your attentional principle, your spirit and your ensouling entity. These
centers become alive, creative, responsive, and dynamic within you. They
make you capable of becoming an instrument for the Divine Light of Spirit,
and expressing the love, wisdom and power that are within your Soul.
Your goal is to move from the union and recognition that characterizes
the aspirant stage of spirituality, to the empowerment and mastery that
marks conscious discipleship. Fundamental to this inner change is the
ability to gain mastery over inversion.
Amplifying Concentration
To be able to do spiritual work, you will need to enhance your ability
to concentrate for sustained periods of time. There are a variety of subtle
methods that can powerfully amplify your concentration, making it a laser
beam for inner discovery, insight, and realization. Twelve recommended
methods for improving your meditation experience are described below.
- Strata of the Psyche. Here you focus your attention in the
depth dimension. You deepen into the successive layers of the psyche,
uncovering the content that arises at each layer. You may use the metaphor
of concentric circles for this type of meditation: you travel from the
periphery to the core, observing what arises at each ring. This method
is often used to explore unconscious bands of the Mind.
- Landmarking. Here you use specific markers to help you identify
where you are on the Great Continuum of Consciousness. Landmarks are
found on the vertical dimension. You typically use certain landmarks
to differentiate a boundary between one band of the Great Continuum
of Consciousness from another. For example, you may use the Self as
a landmark in the Metaconscious mind, or the Jet of Spirit that is the
origin of the Soul Spark as a landmark in the Subtle Realm. As you progress
in meditation, you will come to recognize the landmarks that indicate
not only major divisions of the Great Continuum of Consciousness, but
also for Planes and Subplanes on each level.
- Nodal Points. These are stable vortices on the path in which
the ensouling entity dwells. As your ensouling entity evolves, it opens
and occupies successive nodal points. You can concentrate on the nodal
point in which your Soul now dwells, the nodal points comprising the
Path that it has traversed, and the unawakened nodal points that represent
its future spiritual evolution.
- Tones. These are the counterparts of nodal points on the path
of your spirit. These are octaves of the Nada which correspond to nodal
points. In Integral meditation, we teach the aspirant to open the channels
of the Nada to a synchronous tone corresponding to the nodal point of
the Soul. You concentrate on the current of the Nada, listening for
these tones. With some practice, you will find that there are a series
of subtle tones in the Nadamic channel.
- Seed Atoms. Seed atoms are the nuclei of each vehicle of consciousness.
During the process of initiation, these seed atoms are perfectly attuned
to a level corresponding to the nodal point of your ensouling entity.
You can concentrate on a seed atom for any vehicle about which you wish
to gain deeper insight.
- Mandala or Yantra. These appear as visual presentations of
the content of certain vehicles or levels of the Great Continuum of
Consciousness. Artistic elements may be seen to surround a central figure
in a mandala; symmetrical geometric arrays surround a central point
in a yantra. The content of each vehicle is a mandalic or yantric array
that can be contemplated by focusing on the central point of its mandala
or the central point of its yantra.
- Words or Symbols. These represent discrete landmarks or elements
of consciousness by words or symbols. For example, the word "Self" stands
for the nucleus of your Metaconscious mind; you experience the Self
by concentrating upon it. The symbol of the AUM represents a blissful
three-part rhythm that can be experienced within. You focus on the essence
that a word or symbol indicates in this meditation.
- Vibration. This is the non-verbal, felt sense of spirituality.
You feel the bliss, joy and ecstasy of each progressive layer of the
psyche until you are fully established in the bliss of your ensouling
entity.
- Dimensions. Dimensions are horizontal slices across the Great
Continuum of Consciousness. Dimensions reveal the panoramas of etheric,
astral, causal and pure spiritual realms. Meditation upon dimensions
allows you to see the scenery of other realms of existence, to visualize
the environments of other worlds and their inhabitants. You access dimensions
by holding your attention in the Astral Light, the path in which your
attentional principle travels to the higher worlds, and shifting your
attention from one dimension to another.
- Forms. Here you contemplate each of your vehicles as an energy
shell or form. With some practice, you will be able to visualize each
vehicle as a unique form, which will allow you to identify each one.
This perception is gained by concentrating on the origin of each vehicle.
- Color bands. Here you may behold successive Planes of the Great
Continuum of Consciousness as different colored lights. For example,
the God Self of the Fifth Cosmic Initiation is surrounded by bands of
rainbow colors. You may also use colors to identify centers within vehicles.
For example, each chakra of the Psychic vehicle in the Psychic Realm
is a different color.
- Organizing Centers. Each vehicle has organizing centers that
appear as chakras. These chakras may take various forms in different
vehicles: as lotus flowers, whirling wheels, globes of pulsating light,
or archetypal forms such as angels or deities. In this meditation, you
contemplate each chakra in turn to identify its function, the abilities
it confers on your ensouling entity, and the intuitive knowledge or
wisdom it reveals.
As you master each of these alternate methods for concentrating, you
will be better equipped to take conscious charge of your spiritual evolution.
You will improve your ability to meditate dynamically and effectively.
Your perception will become crystal clear: you will see as clearly in
your inner vehicles as you now see in the noon day sun.
Practice meditation for mastery of all methods and techniques. Practice
with a purpose. Go deeper in each meditation. Expand your horizons to
the Infinite. Free yourself within through meditation so you may become
an instrument for the Divine Light, and make your full ascension to Mastery.
This is your birthright, your spiritual destiny. Claim it by regular
practice, and committed sadhana. Make it your first priority. Devote regular
time. You will see the results.