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Meditation on Inner Vehicles

© 2007 by George A. Boyd
The Sanskrit word Swarupa means a form of the Self, or an inner vehicle. The concept of vehicles suggests that within the mind, there are a series of functional states through which we operate. Each functional state has its own reality, its own mode of interacting, and its own nexus of perception.
These vehicles are organized, governed and integrated by what we call integrative centers. In the personal band of the mind, these are the ego and the Self. In the transpersonal band of the mind, these are the ensouling entities of the Superconscious mind.
In the table below, we distinguish seven factors which can be the focus of your contemplation to help you better understand the operation of your inner vehicles. To perform this contemplative exercise, select one vehicle of interest and explore each of the seven factors within the vehicle by asking the questions suggested.
Factor |
Observe in the Vehicle |
Questions to Explore the Vehicle |
Energy |
the energetic state of the vehicle |
What is my experience of energy here? What vibrations or resonance am I feeling? What does this space within me feel like? What force or energy is here? |
Quality |
apperceptive state |
What do I perceive within this vehicle? What colors, sounds, shapes, patterns, tastes, smells, and tactile sensations arise as I hold my attention here? What is the feeling tone or quality here? |
Activity |
volitional state |
What abilities are operating through this vehicle? In what ways does will express in this vehicle? |
Understanding |
cognitive state |
What beliefs are nested in this vehicle? What do I know or understand about myself or about the world through this vehicle? What aspects of intelligence or discernment operate through this vehicle? |
Content |
attentional witnessing |
At what level of the mind does this vehicle exist? What are distinctive markers or signs that would allow me to locate this vehicle in subsequent meditations? What is the distinctive content of this vehicle that allows me to recognize it? |
Purification/ Development |
spiritual evolutionary state |
To what level has light and consciousness been awakened within this vehicle? What is the potential development of this vehicle, e.g., what areas of this vehicle remain unconscious or unawakened? |
Seed atom |
essence of the vehicle |
What is the essential nucleus of this vehicle? What is the seed atom of this vehicle? |
Continue to study each vehicle until you have a clear grasp of how it functions and where it operates in the bands of the mind. This will accelerate the development of your intuition and self-knowledge, leading ultimately to the experience of Enlightenment.

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