Theosophy - Culture of Concentration by William Q.Judge
Adyar
Pamphlet- No. 52 - printed April 1915
CULTURE
OF CONCENTRATION ΔΔ
by William
Q.Judge
The
Path, Vol III, July, 1888
THE term most generally in use to
express what is included under the above title is SELF CULTURE.
Now it seems to well enough express, for a time at least, the practice referred
to by those who desire to know the truth, but, in fact, it is inaccurate from
a Theosophic Standpoint; for the self is held to be that designated in the Indian
books as Ishwara, which is a portion of the eternal spirit enshrined in each
human body. That this is the Indian view there is no doubt. The Bhagavad-Gita
in Chapter 15 says that an eternal portion of this spirit, "having
assumed life in this world of life, attracts the heart and the five senses which
belong to nature. Whatever body Ishwara enters or quits, it is connected with
it by snatching those senses from nature, even as the breeze snatches perfumes
from their very bed. This spirit approaches the objects of sense by presiding
over the ear, the eye, the touch, the taste, and the smell, and also over the
heart"; and in an earlier chapter, "the Supreme spirit within this
body is called the "Spectator and Admonisher, Sustainer, Enjoyer, great
Lord, and also Highest soul"; and again, "the Supreme eternal soul,
even when existing within -or connected with- the body, is not polluted by the
actions of the body."
Elsewhere in these books this same
spirit is called the self, as in a celebrated sentence which in Sanscrit is
"Atmanam atmana, pashya," meaning, "Raise the self by the Self,"
and all through the Upanishads, where the self is constantly spoken of as the
same as the Ishwara of Bhagavad-Gita. Max Muller thinks the word "self"
expresses best in English the ideas of the Upanishads on this head.
It therefore follows that such a
thing as culture of this Self, which in its very nature is eternal, unchangeable,
and unpollutable by any action, cannot be. It is only from inadequacy of terms
that students and writers using the English tongue are compelled to say "self
culture," while, when they say it, they admit that they know the Self cannot
be cultured.
What they wish to express is, "such
culture or practice to be pursued by us as shall enable us, while on earth,
to mirror forth the wisdom and fulfil the behests of the self within, which
is all wise and all good."
As the use of this term "self
culture" demands a constant explanation either outwardly declared or inwardly
assented to, it is wise to discard it altogether and substitute that which will
express the practice aimed at without raising a contradiction. For another reason
also the term should be discarded. That is, that it assumes a certain degree
of selfishness; for, if we use it as referring to something that we do only
for ourself, we separate at once between us and the rest of the human brotherhood.
Only in one way can we use it without contradiction or without explanation,
and that is by admitting we selfishly desire to cultivate ourselves, thus at
once running against a prime rule in theosophic life and one so often and so
strenuously insisted on- that the idea of personal self must be uprooted. Of
course, as we will not negative this rule, we thus again have brought before
us the necessity for a term that does not arouse contradictions. That new term
should, as nearly as possible, shadow forth the three essential things in the
action, that is, the instrument, the act, and the agent, as well as the incitement
to action; or, knowledge itself, the thing to be known or done, and the person
who knows.
This term is CONCENTRATION. In the
Indian books it is called Yoga. This is translated also as Union, meaning a
union with the Supreme Being, or, as it is otherwise put, "the object of
spiritual knowledge is the Supreme Being."
There are two great divisions of
Yoga found in the ancient books, and they are called Hatha-Yoga and Raja-Yoga.
Hatha-Yoga is a practical mortification
of the body by means of which certain powers are developed. It consists in the
assumption of certain postures that aid the work, and certain kinds of breathing
that bring on changes in the system, together with other devices. It is referred
to in the 4th chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita thus: "Some devotees
sacrifice the sense of hearing and the other senses in the fires of restraint;
some offer objects of sense, such as sound, in the fires of the senses. Some
also sacrifice inspiration of breath in expiration, and expiration in inspiration,
by blocking up the channels of inspiration and expiration, desirous of retaining
their breath. Others, by abstaining from food, sacrifice life in their life."
In various treatises these methods
are set forth in detail, and there is no doubt at all that by pursuing them
one can gain possession of sundry abnormal powers. There is risk, however, especially
in the case of people in the West where experienced gurus or teachers of these
things are not found. These risks consist in this, that while an undirected
person is doing according to the rules of Hatha-Yoga, he arouses about him influences
that do him harm; and he also carries his natural functions to certain states
now and then when he ought to stop for a while, but, having no knowledge of
the matter, may go on beyond that and produce injurious effects. Then, again,
Hatha-Yoga is a difficult thing to pursue, and one that must be pushed to the
point of mastery and success. Few of our Western people are by nature fitted
for such continuous and difficult labor on the mental and astral planes. Thus,
being attracted to Hatha-Yoga by the novelty of it, and by the apparent pay
that it offers in visible physical results, they begin without knowledge of
the difficulty, and stopping after a period of trial they bring down upon themselves
consequences that are wholly undesirable.
The greatest objection to it, however,
is that it pertains to the material and semi-material man, - roughly speaking,
to the body, and what is gained through it is lost at death.
The Bhagavad-Gita refers
to this and describes what happens in these words: "All of these, indeed,
being versed in sacrifice, have their sins destroyed by these sacrifices. But
he alone reaches union with the Supreme being who eats of the ambrosia left
from a sacrifice." This means that the Hatha-Yoga practice represents the
mere sacrifice itself, whereas the other kind is the ambrosia arising from the
sacrifice, or "the perfection of spiritual cultivation," and that
leads to Nirvana. The means for attaining the "perfection of spiritual
cultivation" are found in Raja-Yoga, or, as we shall term it for the present,
Culture of Concentration.
When concentration is perfected,
we are in a position to use the knowledge that is ever within reach but which
ordinarily eludes us continually. That which is usually called knowledge is
only an intellectual comprehension of the outside, visible forms assumed by
certain realities. Take what is called scientific knowledge of minerals and
metals. This is merely a classification of material phenomena and empirical
acquisition. It knows what certain minerals and metals are useful for, and what
some of their properties are. Gold is known to be pure, soft, yellow, and extremely
ductile, and by a series of accidents it has been discovered to be useful in
medicine and the arts. But even to this day there is a controversy, not wholly
settled, as to whether gold is held mechanically or chemically in crude ore.
Similarly with minerals. The crystalline forms are known and classified.
And yet a new theory has arisen,
coming very near to the truth, that we do not know matter in reality in this
way, but only apprehend certain phenomena presented to us by matter, and variously
called, as the phenomena alter, gold, wood, iron, stone, and so on. But whether
the minerals, metals, and vegetables have further properties that are only to
be apprehended by still other and undeveloped senses, science will not admit.
Passing from inanimate objects to the men and women about us, this ordinary
intellectual knowledge aids us no more than before. We see bodies with different
names and of different races, but below the outer phenomena our everyday intellect
will not carry us. This man we suppose to have a certain character assigned
to him after experience of his conduct, but it is still only provisional, for
none of us is ready to say that we know him either in his good or his bad qualities.
We know there is more to him than we can see or reason about, but what, we cannot
tell. It eludes us continually. And when we turn to contemplate ourselves, we
are just as ignorant as we are about our fellow man. Out of this has arisen
on old saying: "Every man knows what he is, but no one knows what he will
be."
There must be in us a power of discernment,
the cultivation of which will enable us to know whatever is desired to be known.
That there is such a power is affirmed by teachers of occultism, and the way
to acquire it is by cultivating concentration.
It is generally overlooked, or not
believed, that the inner man who is the one to have these powers has to grow
up to maturity, just as the body has to mature before its organs fulfil their
functions fully. By inner man I do not mean the Higher Self - the Ishwara
before spoken of, but that part of us which is called soul, or astral man, or
vehicle, and so on. All these terms are subject to correction, and should not
be held rigidly to the meanings given by various writers. Let us premise, first,
the body now visible; second, the inner man - not the spirit; and third, the
spirit itself.
Now while it is quite true that
the second - or inner man - has latent all the powers and peculiarities ascribed
to the astral body, it is equally true that those powers are, in the generality
of persons, still latent or only very partially developed.
This inner being is, so to say,
inextricably entangled in the body, cell for cell and fibre for fibre. He exists
in the body somewhat in the way the fibre of the mango fruit exists in the mango.
In that fruit we have the inside nut with thousands of fine fibres spreading
out from it through the yellow pulp around. And as you eat it, there is great
difficulty in distinguishing the pulp from the fibre. So that the inner being
of which we are speaking cannot do much when away from his body, and is always
influenced by it. It is not therefore easy to leave the body at will and roam
about in the double. The stories we hear of this as being so easily done may
be put down to strong imagination, vanity, or other causes. One great cause
for error in respect to these doubles is that a clairvoyant is quite likely
to mistake a mere picture of the person's thought for the person himself. In
fact, among occultists who know the truth, the stepping out of the body at will
and moving about the world is regarded as a most difficult feat, and for the
reasons above hinted at. Inasmuch as the person is so interwoven with his body,
it is absolutely necessary, before he can take his astral form about the country,
for him to first carefully extract it, fibre by fibre, from the surrounding
pulp of blood, bones, mucous, bile, skin, and flesh. Is this easy? It is neither
easy nor quick of accomplishment, nor all done at one operation. It has to be
the result of years of careful training and numerous experiments. And it cannot
be consciously done until the inner man has developed and cohered into something
more than irresponsible and quivering jelly. This development and coherence
are gained by perfecting the power of concentration.
Nor is it true, as the matter has
been presented to me by experiment and teaching, that even in our sleep we go
rushing about the country seeing our friends and enemies or tasting earthly
joys at distant points. In all cases where the man has acquired some amount
of Concentration, it is quite possible that the sleeping body is deserted altogether,
but such cases are as yet not in the majority.
Most of us remain quite close to
our slumbering forms. It is not necessary for us to go away in order to experience
the different states of consciousness which is the privilege of every man, but
we do not go away over miles of country until we are able, and we cannot be
able until the necessary ethereal body has been acquired and has learned how
to use its powers.
Now, this ethereal body has its
own organs which are the essence or real basis of the senses described by men.
The outer eye is only the instrument by which the real power of sight experiences
that which relates to sight; the ear has its inner master - the power of hearing,
and so on with every organ. These real powers within flow from the spirit to
which we referred at the beginning of this paper. That spirit approaches the
objects of sense by presiding over the different organs of sense. And whenever
it withdraws itself the organs cannot be used, as when a sleep-walker moves
about with open eyes which do not see anything, although objects are there and
the different parts of the eye are perfectly normal and uninjured.
Ordinarily there is no demarcation
to be observed between these inner organs and the outer. The inner ear is found
to be too closely inter knit with the outer to be distinguished apart; but when
concentration has begun, the different inner organs begin to awake, as it were,
and to separate themselves from the chains of their bodily counterparts. Thus
the man begins to duplicate his powers. His bodily organs are not injured, but
remain for use upon the plane to which they belong, and he is acquiring another
set which he can use apart from the others in the plane of nature peculiarly
theirs.
We find here and there cases where
certain parts of this inner body have been by some means developed beyond the
rest. Sometimes the inner head alone is developed, and we have one who can see
or hear clairvoyantly or clairaudiently; again, only a hand is developed apart
from the rest, all the other being nebulous and wavering. It may be a right
hand, and it will enable to owner to have certain experiences that belong to
the plane of nature to which the right hand belongs, say the positive side of
touch and feeling.
But in these abnormal cases there
are always wanting the results of concentration. They have merely protruded
one portion, just as a lobster extrudes his eye on the end of the structure
which carries it. Or take one who has thus curiously developed one of the inner
eyes, say the left. This has a relation to a plane of nature quite different
from that appertaining to the hand, and the results in experience are just as
diverse. He will be a clairvoyant of a certain order, only able to recognise
that which relates to his one-sided development, and completely ignorant of
many other qualities inherent in the thing seen or felt, because the proper
organs needed to perceive them have had no development. He will be like a two-dimensional
being who cannot possibly know that which three-dimensional beings know, or
like ourselves as compared with four-dimensional entities.
In the course of the growth of this
ethereal body several things are to be observed.
It begins by having a cloudy, wavering
appearance, with certain centres of energy caused by the incipiency of organs
that correspond to the brain, heart, lungs, spleen. liver, and so on. It follows
the same course of development as a solar system, and is, in fact, governed
and influenced by the very solar system to which the world belongs on which
the being may be incarnate. With us it is governed by our own solar orb.
If the practice of concentration
be kept up, this cloudy mass begins to gain coherence and to shape itself into
a body with different organs. As they grow they must be used. Essays are to
be made with them, trials, experiments. In fact, just as a child must creep
before it can walk, and must learn walking before it can run, so this ethereal
man must do the same. But as the child can see and hear much farther than it
can creep or walk, so this being usually begins to see and to hear before it
can leave the vicinity of the body on any lengthy journey.
Certain hindrances then begin to
manifest themselves which, when properly understood by us, will give us good
substantial reasons for the practising of the several virtues enjoined in our
books and naturally included under the term of Universal Brotherhood. One
is that sometimes it is seen that this nebulous forming body is violently shaken,
or pulled apart, or burst into fragments that at once have a tendency to fly
back into the body and take on the same entanglement that we spoke of at first.
This is caused by anger, and this is why the sages all dwell upon the
need of calmness. When the student allows anger to arise, the influence of it
is at once felt by the ethereal body, and manifests itself in an uncontrollable
trembling which begins at the centre and violently pulls apart the hitherto
coherent particles. If allowed to go on it will disintegrate the whole mass,
which will then re-assume its natural place in the body. The effect following
this is that a long time has to elapse before the ethereal body can be again
created. And each time this happens the result is the same. Nor does it make
any difference what the cause for the anger may be. There is no such thing as
having what is called "righteous anger" in this study and escaping
these inevitable consequences. Whether your "rights" have been unjustly
and flagrantly invaded or not does not matter. The anger is a force that will
work itself out in its appointed way. Therefore anger must be strictly avoided,
and it cannot be avoided unless charity and love - absolute toleration - are
cultivated.
But anger may be absent and yet
still another thing happen. The ethereal form may have assumed quite a coherence
and definiteness. But it is observed that, instead of being pure and clear and
fresh, it begins to take on a cloudy and disagreeable color, the precursor of
putrefaction, which invades every part and by its effects precludes any further
progress, and at last reacts upon the student so that anger again manifests
itself. This is the effect of envy. Envy is not a mere trifle that produces
no physical result. It has a powerful action, as strong in its own field as
that of anger. It not only hinders the further development, but attracts to
the student's vicinity thousands of malevolent beings of all classes that precipitate
themselves upon him and wake up or bring on every evil passion. Envy, therefore,
must be extirpated, and it cannot be got rid of as long as the personal idea
is allowed to remain in us.
Another effect is produced on this
ethereal body by vanity. Vanity represents the great illusion of nature. It
brings up before the soul all sorts of erroneous or evil pictures, or both,
and drags the judgment so away that once more anger or envy will enter, or such
course be pursued that violent destruction by outside causes falls upon the
being. As in one case related to me. The man had made considerable progress,
but at last allowed vanity to rule. This was followed by the presentation to
his inner sight of most extraordinary images and ideas, which in their turn
so affected him that he attracted to his spheres hordes of elementals seldom
known to students and quite indescribable in English. These at last, as is their
nature, laid siege to him, and one day produced all about the plane of his astral
body an effect similar in some respects to that which follows an explosion of
the most powerful explosive known to science. The consequence was, his ethereal
form was so suddenly fractured that by repercussion the whole nature of the
man was altered, and he soon died in a madhouse after having committed the most
awful excesses. And vanity
cannot be avoided except by studiously cultivating that selflessness and poverty
of heart advised as well by Jesus of Nazareth as by Buddha.
Another hindrance is fear. This
is not, however, the worst of all, and is one that will disappear by means of
knowledge, for fear is always the son of ignorance. Its effect on the ethereal
form is to shrivel it up, or coagulate and contract it. But as knowledge increases,
that contraction abates, permitting the person to expand. Fear is the same thing
as frigidity on the earth, and always proceeds by the process of freezing.
Success in the culture of concentration
is not for him who sporadically attempts it. It is a thing that flows from "a
firm position assumed with regard to the end in view, and unremittingly kept
up." Nineteenth Century students are too apt to think that success in occultism
can be reached as one attains success in school or college, by reading and learning
printed words. A complete knowledge of all that was ever written upon
concentration will confer no power in the practice of that about which I treat.
Mere book knowledge is derided in this school as much as it is by the clodhopper;
not that I think book knowledge is to be avoided, but that sort of acquisition
without the concentration is as useless as faith without works. It is called
in some places, I believe, "mere eye-knowledge." Such indeed it is;
and such is the sort of culture most respected in these degenerate times.
In starting these papers the true
practice was called Raja-Yoga. It discards those physical motions, postures,
and recipes relating solely to the present personality, and directs the student
to virtue and altruism as the bases from which to start. This is more often
rejected than accepted. So much has been said during the last 1800 years about
Rosicrucians, Egyptian Adepts, Secret Masters, Kaballah, and wonderful magical
books, that students without a guide, attracted to these subjects, ask for information
and seek in vain for the entrance to the temple of the learning they crave,
because they say that virtue's rules are meant for babes and Sunday-schools,
but not for them. And, in consequence, we find hundreds of books in all the
languages of Europe dealing with rites, ceremonies, invocations, and other obscurities
that will lead to nothing but loss of time and money. But few of these authors
had anything save "mere eye-knowledge". It is true they have sometimes
a reputation, but it is only that accorded to an ignoramus by those who are
more ignorant. The so-called great man, knowing how fatal to reputation it would
be to tell how really small is his practical knowledge, prates about "projections
and elementals", "philosopher's stone and elixir", but discreetly
keeps from his readers the paucity of his acquirements and the insecurity of
his own mental state. Let the seeker know, once for all, that the virtues cannot
be discarded nor ignored; they must be made a part of our life, and their philosophical
basis must be understood.
But it may be asked: will we succeed
by the practice of virtue alone?. The answer is No, not in this life, but perhaps
one day in a later life. The life of virtue accumulates much merit; that merit
will at some time cause one to be born in a wise family where the real practice
of concentration may perchance begin; or it may cause one to be born in a family
of devotees or those far advanced on the Path, as is said in the Bhagavad-Gita.
But such a birth as this, says Krshna, is difficult to obtain; hence the virtues
alone will not always lead in short space to our object.
We must make up our minds to a life
of constant work upon this line. The lazy ones or they who ask for pleasure
may as well give it up at the threshold and be content with the pleasant paths
marked out for those who "fear God and honor the King." Immense fields
of investigation and experiment have to be traversed; dangers unthought of and
forces unknown are to be met; and all must be overcome, for in this battle there
is no quarter asked or given. Great stores of knowledge must be found and
seized. The kingdom of heaven is not to be had for the asking; it must
be taken by violence. And the only way in which we can gain the will and
the power to thus seize and hold is by acquiring the virtues on the one hand,
and minutely understanding ourselves on the other. Some day we will begin to
see why not one passing thought may be ignored, not one flitting impression
missed. This we can perceive is no simple task. It is a gigantic work. Did you
ever reflect that the mere passing sight of a picture, or a single word instantly
lost in the rush of the world, may be basis for a dream that will poison the
night and react upon the brain next day. Each one must be examined. If you have
not noticed it, then when you awake next day you have to go back in memory over
every word and circumstance of the preceding day, seeking, like the astronomer
through space, for the lost one. And, similarly, without such a special reason,
you must learn to be able to go thus backward into your days so as to go over
carefully and in detail all that happened, all that you permitted to pass through
the brain. Is this an easy matter?
But let us for a moment return to
the sham adepts, the reputed Masters, whether they were well-intentioned or
the reverse. Take Eliphas Lévi who wrote so many good things, and whose
books contain such masses of mysterious hints. Out of his own mouth he convicts
himself. With great show he tells of the raising of the shade of Apollonius.
Weeks beforehand all sorts of preparations had to be made, and on the momentous
night absurd necromantic performances were gone through. What was the result?
Why only that the so-called shade appeared for a few moments, and Lévi
says they never attempted it again. Any good medium of these days could call
up the shade of Apollonius without preparation, and if Lévi were an Adept
he could have seen the dead quite as easily as he turned to his picture in a
book. By these sporadic attempts and outside preparations, nothing is really
gained but harm to those who thus indulge. And the foolish dabbling by American
theosophists with practices of the Yogis of India that are not one-eighth understood
and which in themselves are inadequate, will lead to much worse results than
the apocryphal attempt recorded by Eliphas Lévi.
As we have to deal with the Western
mind now ours, all unused as it is to these things and over-burdened with false
training and falser logic, we must examine our present possessions and grow
to know our own present powers and mental machinery. This done, we may proceed
to see ourselves in the way that shall bring about the best result.
OF OCCULT POWERS AND
THEIR ACQUIREMENT
There are thousands of people in the United States, in the ranks of the Society
as well as outside, who believe that there are certain extraordinary occult
powers to be encompassed by man. Such powers as thought reading, seeing events
yet to come, unveiling the motives of others, apportation of objects, and the
like, are those most sought after, and nearly all desired with a selfish end
in view. The future is inquired into so as to enable one to speculate in stocks
and another to circumvent competitors. These longings are pandered to here and
there by men and societies who hold out delusive hopes to their dupes that,
by the payment of money, the powers of nature may be invoked.
Even some of
our own members have not been guiltless of seeking after such wonderful fruit
of knowledge with those who would barter the Almighty, if they could, for gold.
Another class
of earnest Theosophists, however, have taken a different ground. They have thought
that certain Adepts who really possess power over nature, who can both see and
hear through all space, who can transport solid objects through space and cause
written messages to appear at a distance with beautiful sounds of astral bells,
ought to intervene, and by the exercise of the same power make these earnest
disciples hear sounds ordinarily called occult, and thus easily transmit information
and help without the aid of telegraph or mail boat. That these Beings will not
do this has been stated over and over again; for the kingdom of heaven is not
given away, it must "taken by violence". It lies there before us to
be entered upon and occupied, but that can be only after a battle which, when
won, entitles the victor to remain in undisturbed possession.
As many have seemed
to forget these rules, I thought it well to offer them the following words from
of those very Adepts they seek to meet:
"The educing
of the faculty of hearing occult sounds would be not at all the easy matter
you imagine. It was never done to any one of us, for the iron rule is
that what powers one gets he must himself acquire, and when acquired
and ready for use, the power lie dumb and dormant in their potentiality like
the wheels in a musical box, and only then is it easy to wind the key and start
them... Yet every earnestly disposed man may acquire such powers practically;
that is the finality of it. There are no more distinctions of persons in this
than there are as to whom the sun shall shine upon or the air give vitality
to. There are the powers of all nature before you; take what you can."
This is perfectly
clear and strictly according the Secret Canon. "When the materials are
all prepared and ready, the architect shall appear"; and when we have acquired
the powers we seek, by educing them ourselves from our inner being, the Master
will then be ready and able to start into exercise that which we have obtained.
But even here is an important point and it is this; if he Master can, so to
say, wind the key and thus start the machinery, He can also refuse to give the
necessary impulse. For reasons that have to do with the motives and life of
students, it may be advisable for a while not to permit the exercise of these
powers which "lie dumb and dormant in their potentiality". To sanction
their use might in the case of one lead to the ruin of other lives, or in another
to personal disaster and retardation of true progress. Therefore, the master
says that quite often he may not only refuse to give the start but, further,
may even prevent the wheels from moving.
THERE ARE THE
POWERS OF ALL NATURE BEFORE YOU; TAKE WHAT YOU CAN.
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