By George A. Boyd ©2021
Q: What is the difference between faith, philosophy, and meditation? Do they arrive at the same point ultimately?
A: To understand the difference between these transcendental functions of the mind, you need to become clear about the three threads.
The thread of faith and remembrance – This thread connects with the ego and tracks into the presence of the form of God in the First Mesoteric Initiation—this is the faith aspect of this thread. Then, it connects with each form of the Divine above the First Mesoteric Initiation from the Second Planetary Initiation to the Infinite Stage on the Seventh Transcendental Path—this is the remembrance aspect of this thread. So we believe in God up to the First Initiation; beyond that, we remember God. This is the conduit through which we pray to God.
The intuitive thread (Antakarana) – This is the thread that runs from your brain, through your conscience, your intellect, and the Superconscious mind to the Soul’s consciousness, what we call the Illumined mind. This is the thread that allows you to ask a question and receive an answer. Philosophers, theologians, psychics, and psychologists tap this thread to receive understanding and guidance—this allows you to dialog with your Soul. We teach you to tap into this thread in our training in Jnana Yoga, which we present in our intermediate classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and the online Accelerated Meditation Program.
The thread of consciousness – This thread connects the attention in its ground state through each focal point in every level of the mind—Conscious, Subconscious, Metaconscious, and Superconscious. You access this thread through isolating the attention (mindfulness) and guiding it to travel along this thread to specific locations along this thread. We teach how to accomplish this in the Raja Yoga portion of our intermediate classes.
The cord of faith is primarily emotional; the intuitive thread, mental; and the thread of consciousness, noetic. You use the thread of faith and remembrance when you want God to help you and guide you. You tap the intuitive thread when you want to gain insight and understanding. You travel on the thread of consciousness when you want to have direct experience of the object of your meditation.
We suggest that you need to be able to utilize all three threads effectively, when it is appropriate to use them. You are taught about how to have faith in God or to remember the Divine in your religious training, and how to pray to this Being. We point out that it is also important for you to be able to activate and utilize the other two threads.
Study and explore these three threads. Learn to apply them.
