M PHILOSOPHY/THEOSOPHY Even the better products of contemporary culture scarcely have even an indirect awareness of secondary and third-order reflections of ED the seminal ideation of the vanguard of the Fifth Sub-Race. To break MEDITATION AND I this destructive cycle of degradation, it is necessary to go beyond TAT the outward ephemera of contemporary culture by developing the power of meditation with a degree of continuity and skill that is SELF-STUDY I paralleled by the development of a responsible detachment, rooted ON in the fact that one had discharged all one’s duties. Only when one fulfils all one’s familiar obligations in many spheres can one become truly detached – free to contemplate and free to go beyond the AND claims of the world – and also free to give full support to an arduous programme of systematic and continuous spiritual meditation. S The true aim of this esoteric practice of self-transformation is to engender ELF the priceless seed of bodhichitta, which in the bloom of enlightenment becomes the Self-Governed Sage. By meditating upon, by adoring, by even thinking of oneself in relation to the Self-Governed Sage – -S intensely, persistently and with unconditional will, heart and mind – one may gestate the embryonic Bodhisattva in oneself. So it is that in TUDY the Deity Yoga of Tibetan Buddhism, detailed rules for meditation and purification are given in relation to the meticulous consecration of the field, themandala , the magnetic sphere and the central image upon which the rapturous meditation is based. All are integral parts of a systematic discipline which can only be helpful if used with the assured guidance of an accredited guru, with an authentic spiritual lineage (Guruparampara). R AGHAVAN Shri Raghavan Iyer earned first-class honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, a doctorate in Philosophy, and then was selected to be an Oxford Don in philosophy and politics. He lectured throughout Europe and also in Africa, and his extensive writings have I been published by Oxford University Press and Concord Grove Press. YE R BY RAGHAVAN IYER Theosophy Trust T COMPILED BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF T T T Books THEOSOPHY TRUST www.theosophytrust.org Other Theosophy Trust Books The Origins of Self-Consciousness in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust Wisdom in Action Essays on the Spiritual Life by Raghavan Iyer The Dawning of Wisdom Essays on Walking the Path by Raghavan Iyer Teachers of the Eternal Doctrine From Tsong-Ka-Pa to Nostradamus by Elton Hall Symbols of the Eternal Doctrine From Shamballa to Paradise by Helen Valborg The Key to Theosophy An Exposition of the Ethics, Science, and Philosophy by H. P. Blavatsky Evolution and Intelligent Design in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust MEDITATION AND SELF-STUDY by Raghavan Iyer Compiled by The Editorial Board of Theosophy Trust Theosophy Trust Books Washington, D.C. Meditation and Self-Study Copyright © August 11, 2010 by Theosophy Trust All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means -graphic, electronic, or mechanical - including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Theosophy Trust books may be ordered through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other booksellers, or by visiting: http://www.theosophytrust.org/online_books.php ISBN 978-0-9793205-9-0 ISBN 0-9793205-9-3 Library of Congress Control Number 2010935649 Printed in the United States of America Dedicated To All Those Who Have Tried to Learn Meditation and the Practice of Self-Study, and Even More, Those Who Have Tried and Failed May This Work Help Them Succeed KRISHNA "He who has attained to meditation should constantly strive to stay at rest in the Supreme, remaining in solitude and seclusion, having his body and his thoughts under control, without possessions and free from hope. He should in an undefiled spot place his seat, firm, neither too high nor too low, and made of kusa grass which is covered with a skin and a cloth. There, for the self's purification he should practice meditation with his mind fixed on one point, the modifications of the thinking principle controlled and the action of the senses and organs restrained. Keeping his body, head, and neck firm and erect, with mind determined, and gaze directed to the tip of his nose without looking in any direction, with heart at peace and free from fear, the Yogee should remain, settled in the vow of a Brahmacharya, his thoughts controlled, and heart fixed on me. The devotee of controlled mind who thus always bringeth his heart to rest in the Supreme reacheth that tranquility, the supreme assimilation with me." The Bhagavad-Gita, Ch. VI CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. xi THE YOGA SUTRA. 1 JNANA YAJNA . 9 MEDITATION AND SELF-STUDY. 22 THE DAIMON. .39 KNOWLEDGE AND NEGLIGENCE . 47 MIRRORING THE MACROCOSM. 59 THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODS . 66 ASCENT AND DESCENT . 74 THE GAYATRI INVOCATION. .81 THE DESCENT OF MANAS . 89 ATMA VIDYA . .104 THE INMOST SANCTUARY. 119 ENLIGHTENMENT . .131 CONTINUITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 142 THE FORWARD IMPULSE. .155 DHYANA MARGA. 167 DEGREES OF ENLIGHTENMENT . 179 YOGA SUTRAS – Book I: SAMADHI PADA. 191 YOGA SUTRAS – BOOK II: SADHANA PADA. 198 YOGA SUTRAS – BOOK III: Vibhuti PADA. .206 YOGA SUTRAS - BOOK IV: KAIVALYA PADA. 215 ix x Meditation and Self-Study THE SIX DHARSHANAS . 221 THE SANKHYA DARSHANA . 235 PATANJALI AND THE YOGA SUTRAS. 243 SAMADHI PADA. .251 SADHANA PADA. .262 Vibhuti PADA . 273 KAIVALYA PADA. .286 THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY . 296 INDEX . 357 INTRODUCTION When Professor Iyer spoke to theosophical students of either meditation or self-study, he invariably employed the phrases "deep, daily meditation" and "thorough self-examination" to emphasize the importance of these practices to the successful endeavours of spiritual aspirants. In his private discourses, meetings and conversations, and in his public lectures and writings, Prof. Iyer pointed to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras as the model upon which a real discipline of spiritual meditation should be based, and took great pains to separate that ancient system of meditation from all of the forms of self-hypnosis that currently pass as "meditation". In Patanjali's system, which is that of the Raja Yoga school, meditation is a distinct quotidian practice that has well-charted points of entry, a cycle or rhythm of activity, and points of exit; it is also the dominant undertone to one's life, that upon which the heart is set, the "line of life's meditation". Whether meditation is considered as a constant undercurrent carried on while engaged in the necessary duties of life, or as a distinct and daily practice undertaken at specific time, both aspects of real meditation must be nourished, strengthened, and sustained. Likewise Prof. Iyer consistently pointed to the practice of self-study enjoined upon the brotherhood of Pythagoras and expressed in his Golden Verses: "Do not let sleep close your tired eyes until you have three times gone over the events of the day. 'What did I do wrong? What did I accomplish? What did I fail to do that I should have done?' Starting from the beginning, go through to the end. Then, reproach yourself for the things you did wrong, and take pleasure in the good things you did." In his article, Pythagoras and His School, Prof. Iyer notes "what is said in the Golden Verses about proper self-examination, which is an activity very different from offering a confessional before a priest, or going to a psychiatrist and having oneself analysed, or engaging in one or another form of tedious, furtive and repressive discussion of the shadow. In the Pythagorean teaching, the shadow cannot understand itself. The shadow xi xii Meditation and Self-Study is void of the very possibility of self-knowledge. Real understanding can come solely through the light of self-awareness which is inherent in every human being." The heart of the matter is this: we must learn to conduct a patient and thorough examination of the lower, personal self by the light of the Higher Self, accompanied by an affirmation of one's fundamental identity with one's true Self, the Self of All, and a simultaneous negation of any false identification with the personal and transitory self. Such an activity could become a daily discipline that makes the quest for self-definition and authentic self-actualization possible. The purpose of this book is to bring together in a convenient and coherent form the many HERMES articles written by Prof. Iyer that dealt with this subject. In truth, meditation and self-study represent two sides of one human activity, something analogous to the operation of the systolic and diastolic movements of the human heart. The one is the centrifugal movement of consciousness expanding to Universals beyond the limits of Self; the other is the centripetal movement focusing with laser-like precision upon the particulars within the limits of Self. They represent roughly the sub-principles of Buddhi and Manas acting within the incarnated Manasic principle; for the spiritual aspirant they should – in time - become as natural as breathing in and breathing out. These two aspects of the inbreathing and outbreathing within the neophyte's consciousness are dealt with in the three treatises of The Voice of the Silence, as well as in Prof. Iyer's seminal article, Meditation and Self-Study: We might begin to wonder whether perhaps there is a golden chord that connects the golden sphere of a man of meditation and the complex intermediary realms in which he must, by pain and anguish and awakening, by knitting together minute golden moments rescued from a great deal of froth and self-deception, come to know himself.