1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,599 Speaker 1: The first lesson the eye. In India, the candidates for 2 00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:10,480 initiation into the science of Raja Yoga, when they apply 3 00:00:10,679 --> 00:00:15,000 to the Yogi masters for instruction, are given a series 4 00:00:15,039 --> 00:00:19,160 of lessons designed to enlighten them regarding the nature of 5 00:00:19,199 --> 00:00:23,160 the real self and to instruct them in the secret knowledge, 6 00:00:23,359 --> 00:00:27,960 whereby they may develop the consciousness and realization of the 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,439 real eye within them. They are shown how they may 8 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:38,159 cast aside the erness or imperfect knowledge regarding their real identity. 9 00:00:39,079 --> 00:00:44,280 Until the candidate masters this instruction, or at least until 10 00:00:44,359 --> 00:00:48,799 the truth becomes fixed in his consciousness, further instruction is 11 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,399 denied him, for it is held that until he has 12 00:00:53,439 --> 00:00:58,039 awakened to a conscious realization of his actual identity, he 13 00:00:58,119 --> 00:01:01,039 is not able to understand the source of his power, 14 00:01:01,479 --> 00:01:05,400 and moreover, is not able to feel within him the 15 00:01:05,439 --> 00:01:09,439 power of the will, which power underlies the entire teachings 16 00:01:09,439 --> 00:01:14,439 of Raja Yoga. The Yogi masters are not satisfied if 17 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,560 the candidate forms merely a clear intellectual conception of this 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,400 actual identity, but they insist that he must feel the 19 00:01:24,439 --> 00:01:27,959 truth of the same, must become aware of the real self, 20 00:01:28,439 --> 00:01:32,959 must enter into a consciousness in which the realization becomes 21 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,680 a part of his everyday self, in which the realizing 22 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,959 consciousness becomes the prevailing idea in his mind around which 23 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,319 his entire thoughts and actions revolve. To some candidates, this 24 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,959 realization comes like a lightning flash the moment the attention 25 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,079 is directed toward it, while in other cases the candidates 26 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,680 find it necessary to follow a rigorous course of training 27 00:01:58,079 --> 00:02:02,359 before they acquire the real life vization in consciousness. The 28 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,599 Yogi masters teach that there are two degrees of this 29 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:11,919 awakening consciousness of the real self. The first, which they 30 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,479 call the consciousness of the eye, is the full consciousness 31 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,039 of real existence that comes to the candidate and which 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,759 causes him to know what he is, a real entity, 33 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,199 having a life, not depending upon the body, life that 34 00:02:29,319 --> 00:02:32,360 will go on in spite of the destruction of the body, 35 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,840 real life. In fact, the second degree, which they call 36 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,360 the consciousness of the i am, is the consciousness of 37 00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:46,120 one's identity with the universal life and his relationship to 38 00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:51,919 and in touchness with our life, expressed and unexpressed. These 39 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,520 two degrees of consciousness come in time to all who 40 00:02:55,639 --> 00:03:00,719 seek the path to sum It comes suddenly to others, 41 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,080 it dance gradually to many it comes assisted by the 42 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,199 exercises and practical work of Raja yoga. The first lesson 43 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,800 of the Yogi masters to the candidates leading up to 44 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:18,759 the first degree above mentioned is as follows, that the 45 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,360 supreme intelligence of the universe, the absolute as manifested, the 46 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:28,439 being that we call man, the highest manifestation on this planet, 47 00:03:29,319 --> 00:03:33,080 the absolute as manifested, and infinitude of forms of life 48 00:03:33,479 --> 00:03:38,719 in the universe, including distant worlds, suns, planets, et cetera, 49 00:03:39,199 --> 00:03:42,120 many of these forms being unknown to us on this 50 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:46,240 planet and being impossible of conception by the mind of 51 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,719 the ordinary man. But these lessons have nothing to do 52 00:03:49,919 --> 00:03:53,439 with that power of the philosophy which deals with these 53 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,560 myriad forms of life. For our time will be taken 54 00:03:57,639 --> 00:04:00,599 up with the unfoldment in the mind of man of 55 00:04:00,719 --> 00:04:05,080 his true nature and power. Before man attempts to solve 56 00:04:05,199 --> 00:04:08,879 the secrets of the universe without he should master the 57 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,319 universe within the kingdom of the self. When he has 58 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,759 accomplished this, then he may and should go forth to 59 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,920 gain the outer knowledge as a master demanding its secrets, 60 00:04:22,399 --> 00:04:25,759 rather than as a slave begging for the crumbs from 61 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,360 the table of knowledge. The first knowledge for the candidate 62 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:34,399 is the knowledge of the self. Man, the highest manifestation 63 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,319 of the absolute, as far as this planet is concerned, 64 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:43,720 is a wonderfully organized being. Although the average man understands 65 00:04:43,759 --> 00:04:48,639 but little of his real nature. He comprises within his physical, mental, 66 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,680 and spiritual make up both the highest and the lowest. 67 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,759 As we have shown in our previous lessons, the fourteen 68 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,759 Lessons and the advanced course in his book Bones, he 69 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,720 manifests almost in the form of mineral life. In fact, 70 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:09,360 in his bones, body, and blood, mineral substances actually exist. 71 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,000 The physical life of the body resembles the life of 72 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,360 the plant. Many of the physical desires and emotions are 73 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,279 akin to those of the lower animals, and in the 74 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:27,160 undeveloped man, these desires and emotions predominate and overpower the 75 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:32,600 higher nature, which latter is scarcely in evidence. Then man 76 00:05:32,759 --> 00:05:36,120 has a set of mental characteristics that are his own, 77 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,480 and which are not possessed by the lower animals see 78 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,439 fourteen Lessons. And in addition to the mental faculties common 79 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,439 to all men, or rather that are in evidence in 80 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,399 a greater or lesser degree among all men, there are 81 00:05:52,439 --> 00:05:57,720 still higher faculties latent within man, which when manifested and expressed, 82 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:03,199 render man more than ordinary man. The unfoldment of these 83 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,199 latent faculties is possible to all who have reached the 84 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,319 proper stage of development, and the desire and hunger of 85 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,040 the student for this instruction is caused by the pressure 86 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:20,519 of these unfolding latent faculties trying to be borne into consciousness. 87 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,040 Then there is the our wonderful thing, the will, which 88 00:06:25,079 --> 00:06:29,839 is but faintly understood by those ignorant of the Yoga philosophy. 89 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,759 The power of the ego, its birthright from the absolute. 90 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,399 But while these mental and physical things belong to man, 91 00:06:40,879 --> 00:06:44,079 they are not the man himself. Before the man is 92 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,920 able to master, control, and direct the things belonging to him, 93 00:06:48,439 --> 00:06:52,360 his tools and instruments, he must awaken to a realization 94 00:06:52,519 --> 00:06:56,800 of himself. He must be able to distinguish between the 95 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,959 eye and the not i and the is the first 96 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,959 task before the candidate. That which is the real self 97 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,040 of man is the divine spark sent forth from the 98 00:07:09,079 --> 00:07:12,680 sacred flame. It is the child of the Divine Parent. 99 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:21,079 It is immoral, eternal, indestructible, invincible. It possesses within itself power, wisdom, 100 00:07:21,279 --> 00:07:26,120 and reality. But like the infant that contains within itself 101 00:07:26,399 --> 00:07:29,720 the some time man. The mind of man is unaware 102 00:07:29,959 --> 00:07:34,560 of its latent and potential qualities, and does not know itself. 103 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,480 As it awakens and unfolds into the knowledge of its 104 00:07:38,519 --> 00:07:42,959 real nature, it manifests its qualities and realizes what the 105 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,120 absolute has given it. When the real self begins to awaken, 106 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,199 it sets aside from itself those things which are but 107 00:07:51,279 --> 00:07:55,720 appendagous to it, but which it, in its half working state, 108 00:07:56,319 --> 00:08:00,959 had regarded as itself. Setting aside first there and then 109 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,079 that are, it finally discards all of the not I, 110 00:08:04,639 --> 00:08:08,120 leaving the real self free and delivered from its bondage 111 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:12,839 to appendages. Then it returns to the discarded appendages and 112 00:08:12,959 --> 00:08:17,199 makes use of them. In considering the question what is 113 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,959 the real self? Let us first stop to examine what 114 00:08:21,079 --> 00:08:25,800 man what man usually means when he says I. The 115 00:08:25,879 --> 00:08:29,920 lower animals do not possess this eye, since they are 116 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:34,440 conscious of the outer world, of their own desires and 117 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:39,600 animal cravings and feelings, but their consciousness has not reached 118 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:43,279 the self conscious stage. They are not able to think 119 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,480 of themselves as separate entities and to reflect upon their thoughts. 120 00:08:49,279 --> 00:08:53,000 They are not possessed of a consciousness of the divine spark, 121 00:08:53,519 --> 00:08:57,679 the ego, the real self. The divine spark is hidden 122 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,840 in the lower forms of life, even in the lower 123 00:09:00,879 --> 00:09:04,360 forms of human life, by many sheets that shut out 124 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:10,320 its light. But nevertheless it is there always. It sleeps 125 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,960 within the mind of the savage. Then as he unfolds, 126 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,360 it begins to throw out its light in new the candidate. 127 00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:22,480 It is fighting hard to have its beams piers through 128 00:09:22,519 --> 00:09:25,960 the material coverings. When the real self begins to arouse 129 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,480 itself from its sleep, its dreams vanish from it, and 130 00:09:30,879 --> 00:09:34,039 it begins to see the world as it is, and 131 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,519 to recognize itself in reality and not as the distorted 132 00:09:38,519 --> 00:09:43,039 things of its dreams. The savage and barbarian are scarcely 133 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,080 conscious of the eye. They are but a little above 134 00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:51,360 the animal in point of consciousness, and their eye is 135 00:09:51,399 --> 00:09:54,759 almost entirely a matter of the consciousness of the wants 136 00:09:54,759 --> 00:09:59,440 of the body, the satisfaction of the appetites, the gratification 137 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:04,120 of the passions, the securing of personal comfort, the expression 138 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,799 of lust, savage power, et cetera. In the savage, the 139 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,279 lower part of the instinctive mind is the seed of 140 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,840 the eye. See fourteen lessons for explanation of the several 141 00:10:16,919 --> 00:10:21,559 mental plains of man. If the savage could analyze his thoughts, 142 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:25,600 he would say that the eye was the physical body, 143 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:31,080 the said body having suttained feelings, wants, and desires. The 144 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,200 eye of such a man is a physical eye, the 145 00:10:34,279 --> 00:10:38,840 body representating its form and substance. Not only is this 146 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,480 true of the savage, but even among so called civilized 147 00:10:42,519 --> 00:10:45,600 men of to day we find many in the stage. 148 00:10:46,039 --> 00:10:49,720 They have developed powers of thinking and reasoning, but they 149 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,279 do not live in their minds, as do some of 150 00:10:53,399 --> 00:10:57,440 their brothers. They used their thinking powers for the gratification 151 00:10:57,759 --> 00:11:01,840 of their bodily desires and cravings, and really live on 152 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:05,240 the plane of the instinctive mind. Such a person may 153 00:11:05,279 --> 00:11:09,440 speak of my mind or my soul, not from a 154 00:11:09,519 --> 00:11:12,919 high position, where he looks upon these things from the 155 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,919 standpoint of a master who realizes his real self, but 156 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,600 from below, from the point of view of the man 157 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,879 who lives on the plane of the instinctive mind, and 158 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,519 who sees above himself. Of the higher attributes to such people. 159 00:11:28,759 --> 00:11:32,960 The body is the eye. Their eye is bound up 160 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,279 with the senses, and that which comes to them through 161 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:41,200 the senses of course. As man advances in culture and civilization, 162 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,000 his senses become educated and are satisfied only with more 163 00:11:46,039 --> 00:11:51,360 refined things, while the less cultivated man is perfectly satisfied 164 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:56,960 with the more material and gross sense gratification. Much that recall, 165 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,000 cultivation and culture is not but a cultivation of a 166 00:12:02,039 --> 00:12:06,320 more refined form of sense gratification instead of a real 167 00:12:06,399 --> 00:12:11,600 advance in consciousness and unfolment. It is true that the 168 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,840 advanced student and master is possessed of highly developed senses, 169 00:12:16,279 --> 00:12:20,399 often far surpassing those of the ordinary man. But in 170 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,240 such cases the senses have been cultivated under the mastery 171 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,639 of the will, and are made servants of the eager. 172 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,480 Instead of things hindering the progress of the soul, they 173 00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:36,960 are made servants instead of masters. As man advances in 174 00:12:37,039 --> 00:12:40,639 the scale, he begins to have a somewhat higher conception 175 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,639 of the eye. He begins to use his mind and reason, 176 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,399 and he passes on to the mental plane. His mind 177 00:12:48,639 --> 00:12:52,440 begins to manifest upon the plane of intellect. He finds 178 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,919 that there is something within him that is higher than 179 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,519 the body. He finds that his mind seems more real 180 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,080 to him than thus the physical part of him, And 181 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,320 in times of deep thought and study, he is able 182 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,639 almost to forget the existence of the body. In this 183 00:13:09,759 --> 00:13:14,879 second stage, man soon becomes perplexed. He finds problems that 184 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,159 demand an answer, But as soon as he thinks he 185 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,799 has answered them, the problems present themselves in a new phase, 186 00:13:22,519 --> 00:13:26,759 and he is called upon to explain his explanation. The mind, 187 00:13:26,919 --> 00:13:31,080 even although not controlled and directed by the will, has 188 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:36,919 a wonderful range. But nevertheless man finds himself traveling around 189 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,080 and around in a circle and realizes that he is 190 00:13:41,159 --> 00:13:46,080 confronted continually by the unknown. This disturbs him, and the 191 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,480 higher the stage of book learning he attains, the more 192 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,919 disturbed does he becomes. The man of Barlettle knowledge does 193 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,960 not see the existence of many problems that force themselves 194 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,000 before the attention of the man of knowledge and demand 195 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,399 an explanation for him. The tortures of the man who 196 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:08,720 has attained the mental growth that enables him to see 197 00:14:08,759 --> 00:14:12,720 the new problems and the impossibility of their answer, cannot 198 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,159 be imagined by one who has not advanced to that stage. 199 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,679 The man in this stage of consciousness thinks of his 200 00:14:20,919 --> 00:14:25,559 eye as a mental thing, having a lower companion the body. 201 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,960 He feels that he has advanced, but yet this eye 202 00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:32,919 does not give him the answer to the riddles and 203 00:14:33,039 --> 00:14:38,200 questions that perplex him, and he becomes most unhappy. Such 204 00:14:38,279 --> 00:14:42,799 men often develop into pessimists and consider the whole life 205 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,519 as utterly evil and disappointing occurs rather than a blessing. 206 00:14:47,879 --> 00:14:51,759 Pessimism belongs to this plain for neither the physical plain 207 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:56,279 man or the spiritual plain man have this curse of pessimism. 208 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,240 The former man has no such disquieting thoughts, for he 209 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,159 is almost entirely absorbed in gratifying his animal nature, while 210 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,039 the latter man recognizes his mind as an instrument of 211 00:15:10,159 --> 00:15:13,919 himself rather than as himself, and knows it to be 212 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,200 imperfect in its present stage of growth. He knows that 213 00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:22,559 he has in himself the key to all knowledge locked 214 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:26,840 up in the ego, and which the trained mind, cultivated, 215 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:31,159 developed and guided by the awakened will, may grasp as 216 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:36,000 it unfolds. Knowing this, the advanced man no longer despairs, 217 00:15:36,279 --> 00:15:40,320 and recognizing his real nature and his possibilities as he 218 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,720 awakens into the consciousness of his powers and capabilities, he 219 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:49,679 laughs at the old, despondent, pessimistic ideas and discards them 220 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,120 like a worn out garment. Man on the mental plane 221 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,039 of consciousness is like a huge elephant who knows not 222 00:15:57,559 --> 00:16:00,559 his own strength. He could break down back barriers and 223 00:16:00,639 --> 00:16:05,600 assert himself over nearly any condition or environment, but in 224 00:16:05,679 --> 00:16:09,159 his ignorance of his real condition and power, he may 225 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,879 be mastered by a putney driver or frightened by a 226 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,679 rustling of a piece of paper. When the candidate becomes 227 00:16:16,679 --> 00:16:20,799 an initiade, when he passes from the purely mental plane 228 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:26,120 onto the spiritual plane, he realizes that the eye, the 229 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,440 real self, is something higher than either body or mind, 230 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,639 and that both of the latter may be used as 231 00:16:33,679 --> 00:16:39,639 tools and instruments by the ego or eye. This knowledge 232 00:16:39,799 --> 00:16:45,000 is not reached by purely intellectual reasoning, although such efforts 233 00:16:45,039 --> 00:16:48,440 of the mind are often necessary to help in the unfoldment, 234 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,399 and the masters so use it. The real knowledge, however, 235 00:16:52,919 --> 00:16:57,679 comes as a special form of consciousness. The candidate becomes 236 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:02,120 aware of the real eye, and this consciousness being attained, 237 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,359 he passes to the rank of the initiates. When the 238 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,200 initiate passes the second degree of consciousness and begins to 239 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,759 grow into a realization of his relationship to the whole. 240 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:17,640 When he begins to manifest the expansion of self. Then 241 00:17:17,759 --> 00:17:21,039 he is on the road to mastership. In the present lesson, 242 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,079 we shall endeavor to point out to the candidate the 243 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:31,079 methods of developing or increasing the realization of this eye consciousness, 244 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,039 this first degree work. We give the following exercises or 245 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:39,640 development drills for the candidate to practice. He will find 246 00:17:39,839 --> 00:17:45,160 that a careful and conscientious following of these directions will 247 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,960 tend to unfold in him a sufficient degree of the 248 00:17:49,039 --> 00:17:52,680 eye consciousness to enable him to enter into higher stages 249 00:17:52,759 --> 00:17:56,440 of development and power. All that is necessary is for 250 00:17:56,519 --> 00:18:00,119 the candidate to feel within himself the dawn of the 251 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:04,759 awakening consciousness, or the awareness of the real self. The 252 00:18:04,839 --> 00:18:10,079 highest stages of the eye consciousness come gradually, for once 253 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,000 on the path, there is no retrogression or going backward. 254 00:18:14,519 --> 00:18:17,519 There may be pauses on the journey, but there is 255 00:18:17,559 --> 00:18:21,680 no such thing as actually losing that which has once gained. 256 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:26,079 On the path. This eye consciousness, even in its highest stages, 257 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,920 is but a preliminary step toward what is called illumination, 258 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,039 and which signifies the awakening of the initiate to a 259 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,359 realization of his actual connection with the relation to the whole. 260 00:18:39,839 --> 00:18:42,880 The full sight of the glory of the eye is 261 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:48,440 but a faint, reflected glow of illumination. The candidate, once 262 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,240 that he enters fully into the eye consciousness, becomes an initiate, 263 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,319 and the initiate who enters into the dawn of illumination 264 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,359 takes its first step upon the road to mastery. The 265 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,799 initiation is the awakening of the soul to a knowledge 266 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,799 of its real existence. The illumination is the revelation of 267 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,160 the real nature of the soul and of its relationship 268 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,039 with the whole. After the first dawn of the eye 269 00:19:16,079 --> 00:19:19,839 consciousness has been attained, the candidate is more able to 270 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,000 grasp the means of developing the consciousness to a still 271 00:19:24,079 --> 00:19:27,880 higher degree, is more able to use the powers latent 272 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,680 within him to control his own mental states, to manifest 273 00:19:31,759 --> 00:19:35,799 a center of consciousness and influence that will radiate into 274 00:19:35,839 --> 00:19:39,480 the outer world, which is always striving and hunting for 275 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:44,279 such centers around which it may revolve. Man must master 276 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:49,640 himself before he can hope to exert an influence beyond himself. 277 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,720 There is no royal road to unfoldment and power. Each 278 00:19:54,759 --> 00:19:58,839 step must be taken in turn, and each candidate must 279 00:19:58,839 --> 00:20:03,240 take the step himself and by his own effort, but 280 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,319 he may and will be aided by the helping hand 281 00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:10,880 of the teachers who have traveled the path before him, 282 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,519 and who know just when the helping hand is needed 283 00:20:14,839 --> 00:20:18,640 to lift the candidate over the rough places. We bid 284 00:20:18,839 --> 00:20:22,720 the candidate to pay strict attention to the falling instruction, 285 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:27,319 as it is all important. Do not slight any part 286 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,000 of it, for we are giving you only what is 287 00:20:30,079 --> 00:20:34,519 necessary and are stating it as briefly as possible. Pay 288 00:20:34,559 --> 00:20:39,039 attention and follow the instruction closely. This lesson must be 289 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:43,559 mastered before you progress, and it must be practiced not 290 00:20:43,599 --> 00:20:47,160 only now, but at many stages of the journey until 291 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:52,920 full initiation and elimination is yours. Part two Rules and 292 00:20:53,079 --> 00:20:58,240 exercises designed to aid the candidate in his initiation. The 293 00:20:58,279 --> 00:21:02,640 first instruction along the line of initiation is designed to 294 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,839 awaken the mind to a full realization and consciousness of 295 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,359 the individuality of the eye. The candidate is staught to 296 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,119 relax his body and to calm his mind, and to 297 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,200 meditate upon the eye until it is presented clearly and 298 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:25,240 sharply before the consciousness. We herewith give directions for producing 299 00:21:25,319 --> 00:21:29,680 the desired physical and mental condition in which meditation and 300 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,359 concentration are more readily practiced. This state of meditation will 301 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,480 be referred to in subsequent exercises, so the candidate is 302 00:21:38,519 --> 00:21:43,160 advised to acquaint himself thoroughly with it state of meditation. 303 00:21:44,039 --> 00:21:48,160 If possible, retire to a quiet place or room where 304 00:21:48,319 --> 00:21:51,319 you do not fear interruption, so that your mind may 305 00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:55,480 feel secure and at rest. Of course, the ideal condition 306 00:21:55,759 --> 00:21:59,000 cannot always be obtained, in which case you must do 307 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,480 the best you can. The idea is that you should 308 00:22:02,559 --> 00:22:06,599 be able to abstract Yoself so far as is possible 309 00:22:06,839 --> 00:22:10,839 from distracting impressions, and you should be alone with Joseph 310 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,799 in communion with your real self. It is well to 311 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,359 place yourself in an easy chair or on a couch, 312 00:22:18,839 --> 00:22:21,640 so that you may relax the muscles and feed the 313 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,799 tension of your nerves. You should be able to let 314 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:29,240 go all over, allowing every muscle to become limp until 315 00:22:29,319 --> 00:22:33,519 a feeling of perfect peace and RESTful calm permits every 316 00:22:33,559 --> 00:22:37,759 particle of your being. Rest the body and calm the mind. 317 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,119 This condition is best in the earlier stages of the practice, 318 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,240 although after the candidate has acquired a degree of mastery, 319 00:22:46,759 --> 00:22:49,720 he will be able to obtain the physical relaxation and 320 00:22:49,839 --> 00:22:54,920 mental calm whenever and wherever he desires, but he must 321 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,240 guard against acquiring a dreamy way of going around wrapped 322 00:22:59,319 --> 00:23:02,960 in meditation when he should be attending to the affairs 323 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,079 of life. Remember this, the state of meditation should be 324 00:23:07,279 --> 00:23:10,400 entirely under the control of the will, and should be 325 00:23:10,599 --> 00:23:15,000 entered into only deliberately and at the proper times. The 326 00:23:15,079 --> 00:23:18,079 will must be master of this, as well as of 327 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,640 every other mental state. The initiates are not day dreamers, 328 00:23:23,039 --> 00:23:26,599 but men and women having full control of themselves and 329 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:32,279 their moods. The eye consciousness, while developed by meditation and consciousness, 330 00:23:32,319 --> 00:23:35,759 soon becomes a fixed item of consciousness and does not 331 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:40,519 have to be produced by meditation. In time of trial, doubt, 332 00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:44,480 or trouble, the consciousness may be brightened by any effort 333 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,759 of the will, as we shall explain in subsequent lessons, 334 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,519 without going into the state of meditation. The realization of 335 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,839 the eye. The candidate must first acquaint himself with the 336 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,759 reality of the eye before he will be able to 337 00:23:59,799 --> 00:24:03,720 live its real nature. This is the first step. Let 338 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,440 the candidate place himself in a state of meditation as 339 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:12,559 heretofore describe. Then, let him concentrate his entire attention upon 340 00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:16,799 his individual self, shutting out all thought of the outside 341 00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:20,680 world and other persons. Let him form in his mind 342 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,000 the idea of himself as a real thing, an actual being, 343 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,599 an individual entity, a son around which revolves the world. 344 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,279 He must see himself as a center around which the 345 00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:37,880 whole world revolves. Let not a false modesty or sense 346 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,960 of depreciation interfere with this idea, For you are not 347 00:24:42,079 --> 00:24:46,359 denying the right of others to also consider themselves centers. 348 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,480 You are, in fact a center of consciousness, made so 349 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,480 by the absolute, and you are awakening to the fact. 350 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,319 Until the eager recognizes itself as a center of thought 351 00:24:59,559 --> 00:25:02,519 in flu and power, it did not be able to 352 00:25:02,559 --> 00:25:07,400 manifest these qualities. And in proportion, as it recognizes its 353 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,640 position as a center, so will it be able to 354 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,920 manifest its qualities. It is not necessary that you should 355 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:19,440 compare yourself with others, or imagine yourself greater or higher 356 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,759 than them. In fact, such comparisons are to be regretted 357 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,880 and are unworthy of the advanced ego, being a mark 358 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,920 and indication of a lack of development, rather than the reverse. 359 00:25:32,799 --> 00:25:36,519 In the meditation simply ignore all the consideration of the 360 00:25:36,559 --> 00:25:40,759 respective qualities of others, and endeavor to realize the fact 361 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,319 that you are a great center of consciousness, a center 362 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,480 of power, a center of influence, a center of thought, 363 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,960 and that, like the planets circling around the sun, so 364 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,799 does your world revolve around you, who are its center. 365 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,519 It will not be necessary for you to argue out 366 00:26:01,519 --> 00:26:05,759 this matter or to convince yourself of its truth by 367 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,799 intellectual reasoning. The knowledge does not come in that way. 368 00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:13,359 It comes in the shape of a realization of the truth, 369 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:19,480 gradually dawning upon your consciousness through meditation and concentration. Carry 370 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,519 this thought of yourself as a center of consciousness, influence 371 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,799 power with you, For it is an awkle truth, and 372 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,759 in the proportion that you are able to realize it, 373 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,359 so will be your ability to manifest the qualities named. 374 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,440 No matter how humble may be your position, no matter 375 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,599 how hard may be your lot, no matter how deficient 376 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,799 in educational advantages you may be, still you would not 377 00:26:47,079 --> 00:26:51,799 change your eye with the most fortunate, wisest, and highest 378 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,640 man our woman in the world. You may doubt this, 379 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,039 but think for a moment, and you will see that 380 00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:02,839 we are right. When you say that you would like 381 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,680 to be this person, or that you really mean that 382 00:27:06,839 --> 00:27:11,640 you would like to have their degree of intelligence, power, wealth, position, 383 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,559 or what not. What you want is something that is 384 00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:19,160 theirs or something akin to it. But you would not, 385 00:27:19,519 --> 00:27:22,839 for a moment wish to merge your identity with theirs, 386 00:27:23,319 --> 00:27:27,079 or to exchange selves. Think of this for a moment. 387 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,200 To be the other person, you would have to let 388 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,440 yourself die, and instead of yourself, you would be the 389 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,640 other person. The real you would be wiped out of existence, 390 00:27:38,079 --> 00:27:40,880 and you would not be you at all, but would 391 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,759 be he. If you can but grasp this idea, you 392 00:27:44,839 --> 00:27:47,839 will see that not for a moment would you be 393 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,319 willing for such an exchange. Of course, such an exchange 394 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:55,240 is impossible. The eye of you cannot be wiped out. 395 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,079 It is eternal. It will go on and on and 396 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,279 on to higher and higher states. But it always will 397 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:06,640 be the same eye. Just as you, although a far 398 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,400 different sort of person from your childhood self, still you 399 00:28:10,519 --> 00:28:14,640 recognize the same eye is there and always has been there. 400 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,440 And although you will attain knowledge, experience, power, and wisdom 401 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,440 in the coming years, the same eye will be there. 402 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,640 The eye is the divine spark and cannot be extinguished. 403 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,640 The majority of people in the present stage of the 404 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:33,480 race development have but a faint conception of the reality 405 00:28:33,519 --> 00:28:37,279 of the eye. They accept the statement of its existence 406 00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:42,400 and are conscious of themselves as an eating, sleeping, living creature, 407 00:28:42,799 --> 00:28:46,079 something like a higher form of animal. But they have 408 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,279 not awakened to an awareness or realization of the eye, 409 00:28:50,759 --> 00:28:54,160 which must come to all who become real centers of 410 00:28:54,279 --> 00:28:58,880 influence and power. Some men have stumbled into this consciousness 411 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,720 or a degree of fid without understanding the matter. They 412 00:29:02,759 --> 00:29:05,599 have felt the truth of it, and they have stepped 413 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,039 out from the ranks of the commonplace people of the 414 00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:12,119 world and have become powers for good or bad. This 415 00:29:12,279 --> 00:29:16,160 is unfortunate to some extent, as this awareness without the 416 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,440 knowledge that should accompany it, may bring pain to the 417 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:24,079 individual and others. The candidate must meditate upon the eye 418 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,039 and recognize it, feel it to be a center. This 419 00:29:28,359 --> 00:29:31,880 is his first task. Impress upon your mind the world 420 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,680 I in this sense and understanding, and let it sing 421 00:29:35,839 --> 00:29:39,440 deep down into your consciousness, so that it will become 422 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,680 a part of you. And when you say I, you 423 00:29:42,799 --> 00:29:45,640 must accompany the world with the picture of your ego 424 00:29:46,079 --> 00:29:50,440 as a center of consciousness and thought, and power and influence. 425 00:29:51,079 --> 00:29:56,079 See yourselves thus surrounded by your world. Wherever you go, 426 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,599 there goes the center of the world. You are the 427 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,960 sent and all outside a few revolts around that center. 428 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,079 This is the first great lesson on the road to initiation. 429 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,599 Learn it. The Yogi masters teach the candidates that their 430 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,400 realization of the eye as a center may be hastened 431 00:30:17,519 --> 00:30:21,279 by going into the silence or state of meditation and 432 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,240 repeating their first name over, slowly, deliberately, and solemnly a 433 00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:30,440 number of times. This exercise tends to cause the mind 434 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,720 to center upon the eye, and many cases of darning 435 00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:38,400 initiation have resulted from this practice. Many original thinkers have 436 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,599 stumbled upon this method without having been taughted. A noted 437 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,960 example is that of Lord Tennyson, who has written that 438 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,079 he attained a degree of initiation in this way. He 439 00:30:49,119 --> 00:30:52,480 would repeat his own name over and over at the 440 00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:56,880 same time, meditating upon his identity, and he reports that 441 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,279 he would become conscious and aware of his reality and immortality. 442 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,880 In short, would recognize himself as a real center of consciousness. 443 00:31:06,559 --> 00:31:08,839 We think we have given you the key to the 444 00:31:08,839 --> 00:31:13,440 first stage of meditation and concentration. Before passing on, let 445 00:31:13,519 --> 00:31:17,759 us quote from one of the old Hindu masters. He says, 446 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:22,359 regarding this matter, when the soul sees itself as a 447 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,640 center surrounded by its circumference, when the sun knows that 448 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,400 it is the sun, and this surrounded by its whirling planets, 449 00:31:30,799 --> 00:31:33,680 then is it ready for the wisdom and power of 450 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:38,519 the masters the knowledge of the independence of the eye 451 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,839 from the body. Many of the candidates find themselves prevented 452 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,319 from a full realization of the eye, even after they 453 00:31:46,319 --> 00:31:49,119 have begun to grasp it, by the confusing of the 454 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,319 reality of the eye with the sense of the physical body. 455 00:31:52,839 --> 00:31:56,079 This is a stumbling block that is easily overcome by 456 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,880 meditation and concentration, the independence of the eye often becoming 457 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,279 manifest to the candidate in a flash upon the proper 458 00:32:04,359 --> 00:32:08,759 thought being used as subject of meditation. The exercise is 459 00:32:08,799 --> 00:32:12,559 given as follows. Place yourself in the state of meditation 460 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,240 and think of yourself the real eye as being independent 461 00:32:17,279 --> 00:32:20,559 of the body, but using the body as a cowering 462 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,160 and an instrument. Think of the body as you might 463 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,720 of a suit of clothes. Realize that you are able 464 00:32:27,759 --> 00:32:30,599 to leave the body and still be the same eye. 465 00:32:31,039 --> 00:32:34,680 Picture yourself as doing this and looking down upon your body. 466 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,640 Think of the body as a shell from which you 467 00:32:37,759 --> 00:32:41,839 may emerge without affecting your identity. Think of yourself as 468 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,720 mastering and controlling the body that you occupy, and using 469 00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:49,839 it to the best advantage, making it healthy, strong, and vigorous, 470 00:32:50,279 --> 00:32:53,000 but still being merely a shell or curing for the 471 00:32:53,039 --> 00:32:56,759 real you. Think of the body as composed of atoms 472 00:32:56,759 --> 00:33:00,759 and cells which are constantly changing, but which are held 473 00:33:00,799 --> 00:33:04,240 together by the force of your ego, and which can 474 00:33:04,319 --> 00:33:08,319 improve at will realize that you are merely inhabiting the 475 00:33:08,359 --> 00:33:11,920 body and using it for your convenience, just as you 476 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,839 might choose a house. In meditating. Further, ignore the body 477 00:33:16,039 --> 00:33:19,519 entirely and place your thought upon the real eye that 478 00:33:19,559 --> 00:33:22,359 you are beginning to feel to be you, and you 479 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,440 will find that your identity, your eye, is something entirely 480 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,920 apart from your body. You may now say my body 481 00:33:30,039 --> 00:33:33,200 with a new meaning. But do not let this conception 482 00:33:33,359 --> 00:33:37,440 and realization cause you to ignore the body. You must 483 00:33:37,559 --> 00:33:40,680 regard the body as the temple of the spirit, and 484 00:33:40,799 --> 00:33:43,559 care for it and make it a fit habitation for 485 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,279 the eye. Do not be frightened if during this meditation 486 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:51,000 you happen to experience the sensation of being out of 487 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,480 the body for a few minutes and of returning to 488 00:33:53,559 --> 00:33:56,480 it when you are through with the exercise. The ego 489 00:33:56,599 --> 00:33:59,599 is able in the case of the advanced initihade of 490 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,559 sore about the convince of the body, but it never 491 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:06,200 severs its connection at such times. It's merely as if 492 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:08,400 one were to look out of the window of room, 493 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,679 seeing what is going on outside, and drawing in his 494 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,840 head when he wishes. He does not leave the room, 495 00:34:15,039 --> 00:34:17,599 although he may please his head outside in order to 496 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,760 observe what is doing in the street. We do not 497 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:25,000 advise the candidate to try to cultivate this sensation, but 498 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:30,199 if it comes naturally during meditation, do not fear realizing 499 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,920 the immortality and invincibility of the ego. While the majority 500 00:34:35,079 --> 00:34:38,639 accept on faith the belief in the immortality of the soul, 501 00:34:39,199 --> 00:34:42,719 yet but few are aware that it may be demonstrated 502 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:46,559 by the soul itself. The yogi masters teach the candidates 503 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:51,760 this lesson as follows. The candidate pleases himself in the 504 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,000 state of meditation, or at least in a thoughtful frame 505 00:34:55,039 --> 00:34:58,840 of mind, and then endeavors to imagine himself as dead, 506 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,239 That is, he try to form a mental conception of 507 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:06,119 himself as dead. This at first thought appears a very 508 00:35:06,159 --> 00:35:08,960 easy thing to imagine, but as a matter of fact, 509 00:35:09,039 --> 00:35:12,599 it is impossible to do so, for the eager refuses 510 00:35:12,639 --> 00:35:16,599 to entertain the proposition and finds it impossible to imagine it. 511 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,960 Try it for yourself. You will find that you may 512 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,199 be able to imagine your body as lying still and lifeless. 513 00:35:23,599 --> 00:35:26,920 But the same thought finds that in so doing, your 514 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,239 standing and looking at the body, so you see that 515 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,880 you are not dead at all, even in imagination, although 516 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,679 the body may be. Or if you refuse to disentangle 517 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,239 yourself from your body in imagination, you may think of 518 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,719 your body as dead, But you, who refuse to leave it, 519 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,239 are still alive, and recognize the dead body as a 520 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,480 thing apart from your real self. No matter how you 521 00:35:51,559 --> 00:35:55,000 may twist it, you cannot imagine yourself as dead. The 522 00:35:55,079 --> 00:35:58,880 ego insists upon being alive in any of these thoughts, 523 00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:02,960 and thus far that it has within itself the sense 524 00:36:03,039 --> 00:36:07,039 and assurance of immortality. In case of sleep or stupor 525 00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:11,199 resulting from a blow, or from narcotics or anesthetics, the 526 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,800 mind is apparently blank, but the eye is conscious of 527 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,079 a continuity of existence, and so one may imagine himself 528 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,239 as being in an unconscious state or asleep quite easily 529 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,360 and seized the possibility of such a state. But when 530 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,280 it comes to imagining the eye as dead, the mind 531 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,280 utterly refuses to do the work. This wonderful fact that 532 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:37,440 the soul carries within itself the evidence of its own immortality, 533 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,679 is a glorious thing, but one must have reached a 534 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:44,000 degree of unfoldment before he is able to grasp its 535 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:49,199 full significance. The candidate is advised to investigate the above statement 536 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:53,440 for himself by meditation and concentration. For in order that 537 00:36:53,519 --> 00:36:56,760 the eye may know its true nature and possibilities, it 538 00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:00,360 must realize that it cannot be destroyed or killed. It 539 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,880 must know what it is before it is able to 540 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,800 manifest its nature. So do not leave this power of 541 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,599 the teaching until you have mastered it, and it is 542 00:37:08,639 --> 00:37:11,679 well occasionally to return to it in order that you 543 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:15,360 may impress upon the mind the fact of your immortal 544 00:37:15,599 --> 00:37:19,079 and eternal nature. The mere glimmering of this conception of 545 00:37:19,159 --> 00:37:22,519 truth will give you an increased sense of strength and power, 546 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000 and you will find that yourself has expanded and grown, 547 00:37:26,199 --> 00:37:28,800 and that you are more of a power and center 548 00:37:29,199 --> 00:37:33,440 than you have heretofore realized. The falling exercises are useful 549 00:37:33,519 --> 00:37:36,920 in bringing about a realization of the invincibility of the 550 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:40,960 ego its superiority to the elements. Place yourself in the 551 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,440 state of meditation, and imagine the eye as with drawn 552 00:37:44,519 --> 00:37:48,719 from the body. See it passing through the tests of air, fire, 553 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,079 and water unharmed, the body being out of the way. 554 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:54,960 The soul is seen to be able of passing through 555 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,480 the air at will, of floating like a bird, of soaring, 556 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,320 of traveling in the either. It may be seen as 557 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,079 able to pass through fire without harm and without sensation, 558 00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:08,480 for the elements effect only the physical body, not the 559 00:38:08,559 --> 00:38:11,960 real eye. Likewise, it may be seen as passing through 560 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,639 water without discomfort or danger or hurt. This meditation will 561 00:38:16,679 --> 00:38:19,880 give you a sense of superiority and strength, and will 562 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,559 show you something of the nature of the real eye. 563 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,119 It is true that you are confiant in the body, 564 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,320 and the body may be affected by the elements. But 565 00:38:28,599 --> 00:38:31,639 the knowledge that the real eye is superior to the body, 566 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,519 superior to the elements that affect the body, and cannot 567 00:38:35,519 --> 00:38:39,000 be endured any more than it can be killed. Is 568 00:38:39,039 --> 00:38:42,320 wonderful intense to develop the full eye consciousness within you. 569 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:46,800 For you, the real eye, are not body. Your spirit, 570 00:38:47,079 --> 00:38:50,800 the ego is immortal and invincible and cannot be killed 571 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:55,079 and harmed. When you enter into this realization and consciousness, 572 00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:58,719 you will feel an influx of strength and power impossible 573 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,639 to describe, will fall from you like a honored clock, 574 00:39:03,159 --> 00:39:05,960 and you will feel that you are born again. An 575 00:39:06,039 --> 00:39:09,239 understanding of this thought will show you that the things 576 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,840 that you have been fearing cannot affect the real eye, 577 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:16,079 but must rest content with hurting the physical body, and 578 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,079 they may be warded off from the physical body by 579 00:39:19,079 --> 00:39:22,159 a proper understanding and application of the will. In our 580 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,199 next lesson will be taught how to separate the eye 581 00:39:25,199 --> 00:39:28,760 from the mechanism of the mind, How you may realize 582 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,880 your mastery of the mind, just as you know realize 583 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,400 your independence of the body. This knowledge must be imparted 584 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,840 to you by degrees, and you must place your feet 585 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,039 firmly upon one round of the ladder before you take 586 00:39:42,079 --> 00:39:45,920 the next step. The watchword of this first lesson is I, 587 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,400 and the candidate must enter fully into its meaning before 588 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,440 he is able to progress He must realize his real 589 00:39:53,519 --> 00:39:57,480 existence independent of the body. He must see himself as 590 00:39:57,559 --> 00:40:02,159 invincible and impervious to harm, hurt, or death. He must 591 00:40:02,159 --> 00:40:05,719 see himself as the great center of consciousness, a sun 592 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:09,960 around which his world revolves. Then will come to him 593 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,880 in new strength. He will feel a calm, dignity, and 594 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,119 power which will be apparent to those with whom he 595 00:40:16,199 --> 00:40:18,679 comes in contact. He will be able to look the 596 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:22,320 world in the face without flinching and without fear, for 597 00:40:22,639 --> 00:40:25,159 he will realize the nature and power of the eye. 598 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,519 He will realize that he is a center of power 599 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,800 of influence. He will realize that nothing can harm the eye, 600 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,440 and that no matter how the storms of life may 601 00:40:35,519 --> 00:40:40,320 dash upon the personality, the real eye, the individuality is unharmed. 602 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:44,239 Like a rock that stands steadfast throughout the storm, so 603 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,440 does the eye stand through the tempests of the life 604 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:51,280 of personality. And he will know that as he grows 605 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,519 in realization, he will be able to control these storms 606 00:40:54,639 --> 00:40:57,119 and bid them be still. In the words of one 607 00:40:57,159 --> 00:41:00,679 of the Yogi masters, the eye is eternal. It passes 608 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:04,440 unharmed through the fire, the air, the water, sword and 609 00:41:04,519 --> 00:41:07,639 spear cannot kill or wound it. It cannot die. The 610 00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,840 trials of the physical life are but as dreams to it. 611 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,519 Resting secure in the knowledge of the eye, man may 612 00:41:14,559 --> 00:41:17,119 smile the worst of the world has to offer, and 613 00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:19,920 raising his hand, he may bid them disappear into the 614 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,239 mist from which they emerged. Blessed to see you, who 615 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:28,119 can say understandingly, ay, so, dear candidate, will leave you 616 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:31,960 to master the first lesson. Be not discouraged if your 617 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,159 progress be slow, be not cast down. If you slip 618 00:41:35,199 --> 00:41:38,679 back a step after having gained it, you will gain too. 619 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,039 At the next step, success and realization will be yours. 620 00:41:42,599 --> 00:41:46,639 Mastery is before you will attain. You will accomplish. Peace 621 00:41:46,679 --> 00:41:51,920 be with you. Mantram's affirmations for the first lesson. I 622 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:56,519 am the center around me revolves my world. I am 623 00:41:56,519 --> 00:42:00,760 the center of influence and power, AYE the center of 624 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:05,800 thought and consciousness. I am independent of the body. I 625 00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:10,639 am immortal and cannot be destroyed. I am invincible and 626 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:11,719 cannot be injured.