Zones of Concentration

Posted on October 8, 2021 by George Boyd

Q: Can you explain the role of concentration in spiritual life?

A: Concentration means that you shrink the focus of your attention and hold it on an object. There are several levels at which you can apply concentration:

Schema – this is a category in which you access stored knowledge about a particular topic. You use this in study and academic education. You might, for example, focus on the schema where you have learned rules for grammar. You would learn the new material about this subject and remember it in the frame of the schema, associating it to your current knowledge.
Matrix of experience – You access this level when you ask your deeper mind questions and listen for the answers. You might ask for a particular incident (process meditation), a specific fact (mnemonic recall), how you feel about something (emotional inquiry), what something means (cognitive inquiry), what your options and choices are (personal inquiry), or ask for information about spiritual topics (metaphysical inquiry). You concentrate in this band when you are doing personal process, inner dialog, or psychotherapy.
Reflection – You access this level when you think deeply about something and you want to solve a problem. This accesses your intellect, whereby you apply your intelligence to explore ideas and to solve problems. Those who are writers, scientists, and philosophers tap into this level of concentration.
Archetypes and arrays – You access this level when you interface with elements in your Superconscious mind. You might encounter an archetype and reflect on the meaning of the form you see. You might explore the meaning of a myth or wisdom story. You might contemplate the meaning of a scripture. You might associate symbols in an array to do an intuitive reading. Theologians, metaphysical counselors, psychic readers, and transpersonal psychologists interface with this level.
Nucleus of identity – You access this level when you focus your attention on one of the integration centers of your Superconscious mind. These centers include, for example, the Star Seed on the Psychic Realm, the Moon Soul in the First Planetary Initiation, Cosmic Consciousness in the First Cosmic Initiation, or the Supracosmic Seed Atom on a Supracosmic Path. Those following a religious or spiritual group focus at this level.
Attentional principle – Focusing your attention at this level awakens your intentional consciousness. Once you can function at this level readily, you can perform inner work on your personality and in your Superconscious mind.
Individual spirit – Focusing your attention at this level awakens the love and devotion of your spirit. Once you can readily focus your attention at this level, you can participate in opening the channels of the Nada through which your spirit returns to its origin.
Ensouling entity – Focusing your attention at this level awakens the Soul. This brings about the experience of Samadhi and Gnosis. This conveys the Realization of the Inner Divinity within the Soul, and aligns you with the Soul’s Path of spiritual evolution.

Direct spiritual experience is contingent upon your ability to concentrate upon the spiritual essences at levels five through eight. We teach you how to tap levels 6, 7, and 8 in our intermediate meditation courses—the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. We teach contemplation of nuclei of identity, level 5, in the Mudrashram® Advanced Course in Meditation.

Developing facility with levels one and two is important for successful learning and adult functioning. Those who are thinkers and who are able to access the creative and intuitive channels of their mind learn to tap into levels three and four.

We encourage you to become familiar with each of these levels of concentration, and learn how to use these attentional foci skillfully and efficiently to bring success in your life and to awaken to your full spiritual potentials.

Levels beyond Ideas

Posted on July 16, 2021 by George Boyd

Q: What lies beyond ideas?

A: There are seven layers of the psyche that lie beyond ideas. These are:

Patterns
Archetypes
Seed atoms and vehicles of consciousness
Nucleus of identity and personal identification centers (ego and Self)
Attentional principle
Individual spirit
Soul

These higher layers beyond ideas can be defined as follows:

Patterns are repeating sequences we observe in Nature, like the seasons and the cycles of the moon.
Archetypes and symbols are containers of meaning that are present in the unconscious and Superconscious mind.
Seed atoms are the activation nexus that allows you to utilize the knowledge, wisdom, virtues, and abilities that dwell within the forms through which the Soul incarnates and expresses.
Nuclei of identity and personal identification centers allow the mind to identity with a center that integrates the activity of the Conscious (ego), Metaconscious (Self), and bands of the Superconscious mind (nuclei of identity)
The attentional principle is the essence of consciousness and intention that enables you to do inner work.
The spirit is the essence of love and devotion that yearns to return to God.
The Soul, or ensouling entity, is the center that holds and operates through these other centers. This is your core identity.

Aspirants and disciples need to cognize and work with these higher levels of the mind beyond the realm of ideas. These higher essences are the object of spiritual work that enables you to grow in insight and wisdom, and to transform your spiritual essences to evolve spiritually.

Types of Ideas

Ideas are a spectrum, which dwell in your Manomayakosa. There are 12 major layers of ideas:

Chaotic, nihilistic (motivated by a lack or meaning or purpose for living)
Depression, self-harmful (motivated by loss of hope, lack of belief that dreams can be attained)
Delusional, paranoid (motivated by a desire to preserve identity, liberty, and power)
Fearful, anxious (motivated by survival and attachment)
Destructive, demonic (motivated by anger and hatred)
Sexual, sensual (motivated by lust)
Money, accumulation of wealth (motivated by survival and greed)
Power and fame (motivated by narcissism and egotism)
Altruism (motivated by love and the wish to be of service)
Creative, scientific (motivated by the quest for knowledge and discovery)
Metaphysical, philosophical (motivated by the quest for wisdom and the discovery of truth)
Seed thoughts (motivated by the direct inspiration of the Soul)

Fear, ignorance, and passion dominate the first eight layers of ideas. The four higher orders of ideas are avenues for your Soul’s expression.

Part of the inner transmutation process is to burn the clinging of desire off of ideas that embody the negative passions, and to only let ideas remain that actualize your Soul’s Purpose. This inner alchemy melts away imprisoning desires, and replaces them with the detached, compassionate wisdom of the Soul.

We note that today’s prevalent conspiracy theories tap level three of the spectrum of ideas.

What Are Dreams Made of, Virginia?

Your dreams are ideas clothed in your desires. You have an idea of a perfect spouse or partner. You have an idea of a perfect home. You have an idea of an ideal career. You have an idea of an idyllic retirement.

You take these ideas, which are neutral, and you make them meaningful. They become the motivating factors of your life, for your company, for your vision about how the country should be. You choose to embody this idea, and you powerfully desire it. You obsess about this idea until you have made it real.

We suggest you contemplate what are the ideas that you have clothed with desires. Notice which of these embody the negative passions, which you can live without, and those which are the foundations of your life that you choose to retain. Also note if any of these ideas embody your Soul’s altruism, creativity, and intuitive knowledge.

Through culling the desire-laden ideas from the mind, you empower your Soul to shine through the mists and to embody its purpose in your human life. You may find that many of the ideas that you have clothed with desires, others have transmitted to you—these ideas that do not belong to you and do not fit, you may simply jettison, so you may let your true essence come forth.

Identification on the Four Poles of Being

Posted on August 31, 2019 by

Different spiritual groups focus attention on one of the four poles of being. These poles of being are:

Ensouling entity
Your spirit
Your vehicles of consciousness in the Superconscious mind and their integrating centers (nuclei of identity)
Your attentional principle (consciousness aspect of the fourth pole) and Self and ego (life aspect of the fourth pole)

Through focusing your attention on one of these poles of being, you come to identify with that essence.

Spiritual work on the first pole has you contemplate your Soul [or higher octave ensouling entity] and identify with it.
Spiritual techniques that operate on the second pole have you focus on your spirit in one of the twelve domains and identify with it. This style of spiritual development is typical for spiritual Paths of the Transcendental Sphere.
Spiritual practices that access the third pole typically focus your attention on a nucleus of identity and have you identify with it. Christians and Jews typically have you identify with the Moon Soul nucleus of identity. I AM Movement groups have you identify with the Mighty I AM Presence. Yogi Preceptor led groups have you identify with Cosmic Consciousness. Groups of the Supracosmic Sphere have you identify with the Supracosmic seed atom of their Path.
Spiritual methods that access the consciousness aspect of the fourth pole have you identify with your attentional principle. Psychological modalities that access the ego and the Self have you identify with one of these personal integration centers, and operate from that platform.

Attention is the channel selector of the mind, so depending on where you focus your attention, you will activate one of these aspects of the mind—and with sustained contemplation—you will identify with it.

Since most groups only contemplate the essences on one of these poles, they form a cosmology based on where that essence is on the Continuum. So groups that identify with the Moon Soul nucleus of identity will look to the content of the First Planetary Initiation. Groups that identify with Cosmic Consciousness interface with the content of the First Cosmic Initiation. Groups that identify with a Supracosmic Seed Atom engage with the content on that Supracosmic Path.

Abilities of the Essences on the Four Poles

Focusing attention on these four poles gives you certain abilities. For a lot of our spiritual work in Mudrashram®, we focus on the attentional principle—on the consciousness aspect of the fourth pole.

Abilities you gain focusing on an ensouling entity include:

Gnosis – the experience of your Oneness with God
Unity consciousness – Oceanic Consciousness of Being
A symbol of oneness and mystic union – an archetype imbued with the Jet of Spirit in which you encounter the presence of the Soul
The Way – The intuitive knowledge of the Path your Soul has opened to its current nodal point
Kundalini track – the channel of the Kundalini Shakti through the inner vehicles, opening to the point where it unites with the Soul
The Aureole – the sphere of the Soul’s consciousness and illumination
The Atmic vortex – The resonance in which the Soul’s vehicles of consciousness are anchored
The Light and the Word – the sacred inner altar where the spirit gains union with the heart center of the Soul’s essential vehicle

Abilities you gain focusing on the spirit include:

Brain center – The consciousness of the spirit
Point between the eyebrows – The spiritual senses of the spirit
Medulla – the spirit’s octave of conation, the wish
Throat – the spirit’s voice, the ability to give inspired discourse (satsang)
Heart – The spirit’s love and devotion
Solar plexus – The spirit’s virtue
Navel – The remembrance of the spirit’s own nature, the spiritual Master, and the Divine
Feet – The experience of moving in the channels of the Nada

Abilities you gain focusing on a nucleus of identity include:

Brain – Identification with the state of consciousness of a nucleus of identity
Point between the eyebrows – Expression of the unconditional love, intuitive wisdom, and the aspect of volition—and the abilities this confers—anchored in the nucleus of identity
Medulla – The mental capsule, the container of knowledge of the nucleus of identity
Throat – This is the speech principle of the nucleus of identity
Heart – the karmic capsule, which is the nexus of karma that is processed through this center
Solar plexus – The astral/emotional capsule, which embodies the virtues imprinted in the personality (character); the non-integrated material of the unconscious mind interfaces with this center as fantasy
Navel – Etheric capsule, the mental nadis and somatic meridians associated with this nucleus of identity
Base of the spine – The symbol representing the Law, or Dharma of this nucleus of identity
Feet – The expression of this nucleus of identity through the personality as spiritual ministry or the arising from Soul’s Expressed Purpose

Abilities you gain focusing on the attentional principle include:

Brain – The wave of consciousness (chetan)
Point between the eyebrows – intention
Throat – Reception of telepathic impressions, communications through thought
Heart – Contemplation, the ability to extract meaning from seed thoughts, symbols, or archetypes
Solar plexus – Suggestion, the ability to interface with inner vehicles of consciousness
Navel – The ability to empathize with the conscious experience of others
Base of spine – Creation, the ability to combine intention, suggestion, and affirmation to activate the Superconscious mind to manifest a desired outcome
Feet – The stream of light upon which the attentional principle travels that is the focal point for attention

Abilities you gain focusing on the Self include:

Brain – Identification with Self, Self-Knowledge
Point between the eyebrows – Personal volition, free choice
Medulla – Personal intuition, your ability to check in with each aspect of your Conscious, Subconscious, and Metaconscious mind
Right hand – The intellect, you ability to use intelligence to solve problems
Left hand – The concrete mind, you ability to set goals, to plan, and schedule
Throat – The conscience, the ability to tap into your values and standards
Heart – The persona, the ability to express your social skills and humor, and to disclose your genuine Self
Solar Plexus – Your desire body or body of commitment, your ability to give your word and keep it
Navel – Your etheric body, your connection with the Subconscious mind

Working with the attentional principle allows you to unfold the Soul with a transformational method, transforming pole one. It also allows you to shepherd the spirit, to guide it along its Path to liberation, activating pole two. It allows you to access the love, wisdom, and power aspects of your Superconscious mind that expresses through your nuclei of identity, awakening pole three. It natively [on the consciousness aspect of the fourth pole] is able to travel in full consciousness through each of the bands of the Continuum of Consciousness. It is able to lead attention to unite with the Self [on the life aspect of the fourth pole] at the nucleus of the human personality through centering methods.

Using the attentional principle focus is like the Swiss Army knife of meditation: it allows you to access each of the four poles and develop them in synchrony.

We teach you how to awaken and develop each of these poles of being in our intermediate classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. We invite you to learn these key techniques for personal and spiritual development through taking one of these classes.

What is a Nucleus of Identity?

Posted on October 12, 2018 by George Boyd

Q: You use the term, “nucleus of identity,” frequently in your writing. I’m still not clear what this is.

A: We often refer people to our article, “Understanding Nodal Points and Nuclei of Identity,” to define what a nucleus of identity is. The easiest way to understand this is that the Soul has four quadrants of activity. You can visualize this as a pie cut into quarters.

We call these four quadrants, the Poles of Being.

Pole One

On the first pole, at zero degrees, is the Soul. When you meditate upon this pole, you are contemplating the essence we generically call the ensouling entity, on its own Plane. Depending on where on the Continuum of Consciousness you place your attention, you will encounter one of 13 ensouling entities.

For example, if you put your attention in the Planetary Realm, you will encounter the ensouling entity that is called the Planetary Soul. We simply refer to this essence as the Soul, since this is the cutting edge for so many people. Some refer to the Planetary Soul as the Higher Self, the God Immanent, the Transpersonal Self, or the Atma.

If you put your attention in the Cosmic Sphere, you’ll encounter your Astral Soul on this pole. Please see our article on the Great Continuum of Consciousness to learn about the 13 ensouling entities.

In Mudrashram®, we teach our students to meditate on their ensouling entity that is infused with the animating force of the Divine Spirit—this is what we call the cutting edge of spirituality.

In the stream of light where the ensouling entity exists are the nodal points of the Path that the ensouling entity has awakened, and it dwells in a nodal point. By identifying where the ensouling entity is on its Path, we can determine how far it has to go to reach Liberation.

People who meditate on the ensouling entity typically meditate on the brain chakra—or on the Transcerebral chakra, which is the center above the top of the head—to encounter this essence. The path of unfolding the ensouling entity has been called the brain path.

Pole Two

If you rotate your attention 90 degrees to the right (clockwise), you come upon the second pole. Here you identify as the spirit. People also call this spiritual essence the spiritual heart, inner spiritual awareness, the loving heart, or Surat.

If you were to drop your attention into the inner streams of light and sound we call the Nada, you would ride up this current into the spirit that is associated with your cutting edge of spirituality. [This technique is called Surat Dhyan. We teach it in our intermediate meditation courses.]

But like the ensouling entity, you can focus on this spiritual essence at different levels of the Continuum. We call these discrete segments where the Nada begins and ends, domains—we have mapped twelve domains on the Continuum. [Please see our article on the Great Continuum of Consciousness about the 12 domains of the spirit.]

People usually associate the spirit with meditation upon the area of the heart, but some domains begin where you feel your spirit at the point between the eyebrows or even the navel. The practice of opening the channels of the Nada through moving your spirit along them, ultimately to the source of the spirit, has been called the heart path.

Pole Three

If you rotate your attention another 90 degrees to the right to 180º, you encounter the pile of being of the vehicles of consciousness of your Superconscious mind. It is on this pole that you encounter the integration centers we call nuclei of identity.

We have located nuclei of identity in the first through fourth Planetary Initiations, the first through fifth Cosmic Initiations, and on each Supracosmic Path. People who meditate on the spinal axis, sometimes called the cerebrospinal axis, the spinal tube, Sushumna, or the chakras typically come to identify with a nucleus of identity, instead of the Soul or the spirit.

Probably the three most common nuclei of identity with which people identify are:

The nucleus of identity of the First Planetary Initiation, which has been called the Christ Child, Christ Consciousness, or nephesh. [In our writings, we commonly refer to this nucleus of identity as the Moon Soul.] Christians and Jews focus their attention on this center and commune with the forms of God that can be known in the First Exoteric Initiation and the First Mesoteric Initiation.
The nucleus of identity of the First Cosmic Initiation, which has been called cosmic consciousness or the Atman. Disciples of Yogi Preceptors identify with this center.
The Supracosmic seed atom of each active Supracosmic Path: Buddhists, Shaivite and Vaisnavite Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Jains—among others—typically identify with the seed atom of their Supracosmic Path. [For a full listing of these Supracosmic Paths, see our article “Faiths of the Supracosmic Sphere” in the Library section of our website. If you haven’t done so already, sign up for a free Library membership. For a full listing of nuclei of identity, read the article on our website, “Nodal points and nuclei of identity,” which you can access on our Open Stacks page.]

Pole Four

Finally, if you rotate another 90 degrees to 270º, you come to the fourth pole. This is divided into an upper and lower zone.

The upper zone contains your attention, the thread of consciousness, and the principle of intention and consciousness, which we call the attentional principle. This essence has been called the inner witnessing consciousness, the third eye, or Nirat.

The lower zone contains your personality and your life. This is where you encounter the two personal integration centers, the ego [the personal identification center that is embedded in your experience of your life, in what we call the Conscious mind] and the Self [the personal identification that governs your entire personality; it dwells in the Metaconscious mind]. This zone also includes the bands of the unconscious mind that express in your life—this is the level of the mind that psychologists call the shadow.

The attentional principle dwells in the system of chakras of the Subconscious mind slightly above the point between the eyebrows. It is from this perspective that you behold the thread of consciousness that travels through each band of the mind. It is from this perspective of the fourth pole that you view the map of the Great Continuum of Consciousness.

We encourage aspirants to familiarize themselves with the perspectives on each of these four poles of being. In the Mudrashram® system of Integral meditation, we uniquely train you to work on all four poles of being and give you meditation tools that actualize you personally and spiritually. You learn these methods in our intermediate courses, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation or the by-mail or online Accelerated Meditation Program.