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 |
|
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.
