There are two fundamental directions for meditative spiritual practice

One is inward and the other is outward.

Likewise, there are two fundamental modes of spiritual experience, inward and outward. Spiritual Presence and the qualities of Spiritual Being are found inward within our own being, and also outward in the world around us. Therefore, meditative or contemplative awareness can either be inward or outward, to discover spiritual quality. If we study the history of spiritual systems and practices, we will often find one of the approaches much more emphasized than the other. But what is needed is a general balance with these two approaches, a balance in practice. Still, we need to focus and practice on one at a time. Maybe later a blending can be achieved, but for now let us briefly consider one at a time.

Inward Practice

The inward spiritual practice will be an investigation, an inspection, and discovery of your spiritual being and spiritual qualities. It is an investigation of who you are. This requires utmost sincerity and self-honesty, to discovery the true qualities of one’s being. This can also be called the self-discovery of one’s soul, for we are talking about the true qualities of our soul-being, and these soul-qualities are independent and transcendental (a priori) to any personality traits or habits that have been conditioned by social-cultural factors or by the personality-ego development. We have to look into ourselves, deep into the heart and truth of our being, in order to discover our real soul - the being who we most essentially are – and the various spiritual qualities of this inner soul-being. This fundamentally requires an inward inspective awareness and, as well, deep sincerity and self-honesty. In more deeper meditative experiences, the mind needs to be receptive to the inner truth of oneself and allowing the qualities of our deeper self (or soul) to be revealed. This can be called the revelation of the soul. But truly in essence, this is just as much a revelation of Divine Being Itself, or God. For this is how God Itself reveals through oneself. In essence then, we are discovering the very Presence of God within ourself, and not just statically there but ‘dynamically presenting’ – dynamically emerging and revealing. Yet in order for this to happen, mind has to be awake – awake in the heart.

Another way of describing the inward approach is to ‘go into the I of oneself’. Go into the I of being, investigating ‘who I am’. This is direct and straight approach into God, through the eye (I) of the needle, right through the presence of one’s own being. This leads to a discovery of true Spiritual Being and the true soul qualities. In a way, this leads to God – to God Conscious Being. Though one should always qualify any experience as being but a portion or degree of the Absolute God, which also helps to avoid an ego tendency to be big-headed about oneself. Nonetheless, it is equally disingenuous to fall into a false humility by thinking that God (or Spirit) is always beyond oneself. The right thinking is that God is revealing through our own mind and heart, but only portionally, and that we are each within God – as well as God within us.

Outward Practice

The outward meditative practice is a complete opening of awareness to the world around. This is an opening to and investigation of the spiritual qualities as found in the world. It is also an opening to the Spiritual Presence of the world around. In the beginning stage of this practice, awareness is finely observant and listening. Awareness of self, or inner awareness, gradually disappears. This is vanishing of oneself is important to the practice. We might call it self-forgetfulness or self-abandonment, for there is no more focus on oneself, but instead the focus of awareness is on the world outside of oneself. When the self-knowing has expanded to be more inclusive, then the apparent boundary between self and outside of self begins to dissolve, but that is in the later stage of the practice. The first stage of the practice can be summarized as observation, listening and appreciation. There is an awareness and appreciation of the spiritual qualities and spiritual Presence.

Next, there is a gradual sense of relationship and even communion with that appreciated part of the world (social or nature). This communion comes to be when the limited self, or held-onto self, lets go of itself - to be in complete intimacy or communion. Here, the self dissolves into being one with this wider field of life. So now the self has expanded to include more of life, and thus the self is wider, has greater span, or it is more ex-span-sive. The potential for this expansion is great, as it might eventually include the whole ecosystem of life. The sense or experience of interrelationship with others and with natural life can become more and more inclusive, and so the self-identification is less and less limited.

Inward self to Outward

There is a third kind of spiritual practice, related in a way to both the inward and outward kinds of practice. It is an inner meditative practice that does not involve outer senses, and yet it is outward from the self perspective. If we reconsider the inward practice described above, the awareness goes inward into the heart or essence of the self. The direction of awareness is inward. But in the third kind of practice the awareness is outwardly expansive – to include more and more of the world and finally the whole universe of Being. Yet this is done in an inner meditation of mind-heart, without the outer senses. The self-consciousness is like a container. The self has a boundary in its knowingness, in its light, and we might call this its present level of self-identification. This is ‘who I am’ as a being-consciousness or light of self-knowing. Yet there is a sense of limitation about oneself, or a sense of boundary, between this present sphere of self-being (or self-light) and the whole of Universal Being. In recognition of this, there arises a wish for self-transcendence and to be Knowing of the All of Universal Being, and this produces a willingness to surrender the present self into the Universal Being, to be in complete Unity of Being. This will require self-surrender and self-sacrifice, the dissolving the veil (or boundary) between oneself and the One Universal Being. This could be a gradual process, of more and more outward expansion, from self to group, and from group to world, and from world to Universe. Yet ultimately, the final surrender is to the One Itself, and the final Realization is the Infinite, Uncontained, Mystery of Being Itself.

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Here is a five stage practice (only five parts to remember). First is relaxation, letting go, and emptying of emotional and mental jumble. Second, is being consciously present right here and right now; being awake to what is. Included here is the conscious experience of I am or I am here, and the conscious-present power of I will. This can also be called having and maintaining self-presence. Remember that this power of the conscious I am and conscious will protects us from the scattering forces of the world. Third, is being in conscious relationship with people and things and nature around us. This involves our conscious will to be in relationship, and the higher form of this is the will-to-serve truth, love and goodness. Remember that there are levels of will within us, so an aspect of our spiritual journey is to discover the deepest will of oneself, rather than remain identified with any number of superficial wills. The fourth stage of practice is opening up to the Divine Presence, in and around oneself. This is the action needed to make connection with the Divine and become conscious of the Divine Presence. And the fifth stage is allowing God to work through oneself. Here one is immediately conscious of God, or Divine Presence, while also conscious of oneself as a vehicle or channel for the Divine. The attitude and intention here is two-fold. On the one hand, there needs to be a self-intention to be of service or to be a divine channel, or at least take on the attitude that one is. Then on the other hand, there needs to be an attitude of allowing the Divine to work through oneself.

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We are looking for spiritual balance, which is like a balance between the in-breath and the out-breath. The two aspects of breath are opposites, yet both are necessary for a greater purpose.

So, one important spiritual practice is a conscious self-experience of I am, which is also related to the experience of I will. This will be balanced by the practice of self-abandonment into the present moment. But let us first review the former. It is true that there is often some kind of self-experience going on, but it is often scattered or fragmented. So this intentional practice is to intensify the self-experience of I am in this present moment and present breath. It is true that there is often some kind of will at work, but this is often working subconsciously and mechanically. So this intentional practice is a concentrated experience of I will, consciously realizing the power of will in this present moment and present breath. Now in considering the practice of self-abandonment, it is true that one is often losing oneself in the phenomena of life, and one might go for long periods without any immediate experience of oneself. But this is different from conscious self-abandonment.

Let us consider a related practice of grateful acceptance. It is true that one is often simply accepting what is given in life, but this is often an involuntary, passive resignation to the forces of life. The intentional practice of grateful acceptance, though, requires a conscious and voluntary willingness to relax into what is given in this moment from the outer world or from the inner world of Spirit. In this conscious relaxation, with a conscious attitude of grateful acceptance, one is simply allowing the world to be as it is as one just accepts what is – rather than thinking about how to change things or how things could be different. Sometimes it may be useful to think about possible changes in the world or in oneself, but if one is always in a “what is wrong here and how can I fix it” attitude, then one is never fully relaxing and simply being grateful for life as it is. Imagine being in a most beautiful and peaceful place, and then let yourself completely relax here while feeling absolutely grateful for this place and for being here. Or find a real place in which you can completely relax and simply be in grateful acceptance. Once we can practice this in special settings, then we can move on to practice this in most any setting. Yet if one took this practice to be the ultimate ideal of all practices, one might fall into a false spiritual view that there is nothing to ever change in the world because everything is always wonderfully perfect. We do need to become masters of relaxation and grateful acceptance; but this needs to be balanced by a mastery of intentional will and the power to rightly respond to needs of the world. Thus, one needs to develop this balance in oneself, and this balance in our relationship with the world. So on the one hand, we develop the ability to come into and remain in the experience of relaxed grateful acceptance. While on the other hand, we develop the power of conscious will, in order to respond and serve effectively in life.

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Imagine in the beginning when you were a child without any knowledge or understanding whatsoever, and when you did not even have any sensory experience. Who were you then? What was this like? This is the experience of self/being prior to any knowledge and sensory experience. This is the experience of self essence, or being essence. From this essence come the essential qualities of self. So it is helpful to return in meditation to this primary essence of oneself, which is empty of preconceptions, opinions, judgments, emotional patterns, and cultural conditionings. For then, out from this unconditioned essence, the essential qualities of being can emerge.

Three keys can be mentioned, which are necessary to this emergence of the pure essential qualities of being, the divine qualities. The three necessary keys are emptiness, faith, and allowing. First of all, we need to come into this emptiness of our primary essence. This involves a letting go our usual self identifications and thought processes, in order to dissolve into the emptiness of primary essence, which is like the primary water of life. Now we call this emptiness because the necessary step involves emptying and because the initial experience is empty; but in fact, the primary essence is not empty of potential – it is full of potential. It is simply empty in the experience, yet out from this emptiness emerges the divine essential qualities of being.

Yet this emergence can only happen in an attitude (or self-atmosphere) of faith and allowing. There must be these two qualities already present: faith and allowing. On the one hand, faith and allowing are necessary in the initial process of letting go and dissolving into the emptiness of essence. That is, complete emptying of self can only happen in an atmosphere of faith and allowing. There has to be an allowing of oneself to dissolve into the essence, yet this will not happen without faith. Complete letting go and emptying of self can never happen when fear and doubt are dominant. So a quality of faith is necessary. Then, on the other hand, faith and allowing are also necessary in the emergence of divine being. For one needs to have faith that there is a hidden divinity within the emptiness of essence, and one needs to allow this inner divinity to come forth from the pure essence of being.

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The Sufis have spiritual practice involving the sound and breathing out of Hu. One of the practices involving Hu is allowing oneself to dissolve into the Divine Essence, while sounding and breathing out Hu. This is an expiration of oneself, a willing surrender into the Divine Essence, a return back into the Essence of God. And in order to make this practice complete, one has to really let everything go, including one’s own individual self, letting go of everything in mind and heart, which is a complete emptying of oneself. It is an allowing of oneself to completely dissolve into the Divine Essence, the Pure Water of Spirit. And this requires a quality of faith, because it is quite similar to a conscious death. It takes faith to completely let go and allow this dissolving of the individual sense of self, and it takes faith to enter into absolute emptiness of Divine Essence. All that is there is the absolute beginning, the eternal beginning. And out from this absolute emptiness there can now emerge the primary qualities of God/Being. One has become so empty that God, and the Qualities of God, can now emerge freely and unhindered. One looses oneself so completely in the Essence, allowing oneself to so completely dissolve in the Essence, that the Divine Qualities [of God/Being] can now reflect more clearly and perfectly through this individual self called I. A new spiritual beginning now emerges, and this new spiritual beginning can happen in any moment or in every moment.

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three phases or modes of meditation

The first is clearing/emptying of the mind and heart. This also includes relaxing and letting go of physical stress. After relaxing and releasing stresses of the physical body, the emotions need to be cleared of worry and irritation. Then the mind must be cleared of any ongoing thought processes, meaning that one needs to let go of thoughts and other mental concerns. Related and complimentary to this clearing phase is the need to be simply present and receptively open. Awareness of the breath will help, as well as maintaining awareness in one’s mind and heart.

The second phase, after clearing, is opening of the heart/mind to Divine Presence. This can also mean opening to Divine Love, or it could mean opening to Divine Light. Love and Light are the two fundamental sides of Divine Presence, so one could bring attention to either one for a time, and then bring attention to the other for a time. The Divine Presence could also be experienced as peace, or as a feeling of harmony with all life. The keys to this phase are opening, receptivity, and a coming into oneness with the Divine Presence, or one of Its Essential Qualities. This phase could also be called attunement with the Divine. We might also add to this phase the attitude of surrender, or a sense of allowing the Divine Presence to enfold oneself. The Divine Presence is sensed and realized as being present and permeating the space around one, both inside and outside.

The third phase begins with the definite realization that the Divine Presence is now present in one’s own heart – that oneself is truly the Divine Presence. And from this inner Divine Presence of oneself, there emerges an expression of Divine Love, which begins to radiate outward to all life and the world. This is the phase of Divine expression, or Divine radiance, which emerges from our own centre of being. It is the activity of service and giving through meditation. It is the giving and sharing of our love, which is now Divine Love. This can also be the giving and sharing of our light of realization, which is now Divine Light. It can also be understood as the transmission of divine healing energy. For now we are radiant centres of Divine Love, Light, Realization, and Healing; which goes out to enfold and embrace all of life and the world. This brings spiritual transformative effects in the world, and it also brings about transformation within ourselves, in that we become centres for divine expression, love and healing in the life around us. As a final point, remember that love is both giving and embracing.

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the 2 phases

return to God

into God Spirit Light

the ascent

Being in the light and experience of Love Presence

Then…

Giving attitude

Channeling

Hands out to serve and love

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These have been termed as three phases of meditation; which can be called the clearing, attunement, and giving phases. One will find that most forms of meditation involve one or more of these modes. This categorizing is useful as a model and can be used for practical meditation practice.

Yet there are other modes of meditation as well, which are not included in this model. One additional useful and significant mode of meditation is the self-reflective mode. This is a meditation upon the qualities of one’s true self. It involves self-discovery, self-reflection and self-understanding. We can distinguish three levels of this type of meditation practice.

The lower level is self-recognition of our ego patterns, which would include recognition of our beliefs and emotions. This kind of self-recognition, involving an acknowledgement of our usual mental and emotional patterns, is part of ordinary psychological work. It is useful, but it only deals with ordinary ego understanding, and by itself this recognition is not sufficient to transform these ego patterns.

The middle level of self-reflection meditation is a going beyond the ordinary ego and identification with ego-content, into a deeper discovery of our true being, the truth or essence underneath ordinary ego thinking and emotions. This essence of self is found deep in the heart of our being, in the stillness of the knowing heart. Here we find the spiritual qualities of our true being, which at the very essence is love. Now at this level of meditation, there are two complimentary ways to self-reflect. One way is to self-discover with no preconceptions at all; just discover what is true in the heart of being and let this emerge. The other way is to use spiritual tools given by various spiritual traditions, such as archetypal images or ideas, in order to evoke and bring forth to awareness spiritual qualities in oneself. A whole book could be devoted to such valuable tools. But if we use evocative images and ideas, it is important to balance this approach, at some time, with the pure self-discovery approach that is without preconception.

The highest level of self-reflection is upon the Qualities of Divine Presence, as experienced in the mode of spiritual attunement. This is a contemplative reflection upon the Qualities of God, as experienced from the Divine Presence. It is like getting to know God, by directly experiencing God permeating the space all around us. This is a furthering of our discovery of Divine Presence while in the mediation mode of attunement.

The Divine Presence is also realized in oneself, when in the deepest meditation. This is, of course, an extension on the middle level as already discussed. So the distinction between these levels is merely a matter of deepening experience. In the highest level, the qualities of our true self (as realized in the middle level) are more deeply realized as Qualities of God or Divine Presence. For in the highest level, all sense of oneself as being an individual has been surrendered and obliterated, and only God remains as the True Being. This realization will then filter down into all levels of being and expression. The key will be to bring the Qualities of Divine Being down and outward into living expression.

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In the deepest meditation there is an essence of experience, which is sometimes a quality of light, sometimes a quality of love, sometimes a quality of peace, sometimes an open spaciousness, sometimes a blissfulness, and sometimes it might be understood as living presence. The very essence is all these, but at any one moment this essence is understood or felt to be a certain quality or another. First there is a direct experience of this essence-reality [of self/being], and then there is some kind of understanding, interpretation or recognition about it. There is nothing wrong with understanding or describing it. But we should remember that, in these moments of understanding/describing, the full essence cannot be contained in the described quality. In other words, we are picking out only one quality of the essence, or it might be said that only one quality is presently being revealed.

Now this essence of deep meditation is both the essence of oneself and the Essence of Divine Presence. These are two ways of understanding this same reality of experience. It is oneself and it is God. It really is the same. As the great Yogis say, at this deepest reality of experience the atman (self-soul) and Braham (Universal Being) are truly one and the same.

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There are many rooms within the whole Reality of Being, within the whole of God. This means that there are many different ways of experiencing God or the Reality of Being. Each way is a kind of room in which one experiences. These rooms are distinct, though somewhat related. Each has its own quality and inner phenomena. But not all rooms are equal in clarity and importance. So we should not become attached to any one room, or get stuck. We need to be free enough to leave the room we are in, at some point, and discover another room. It is like traveling. If one is to become a more whole person, one must travel around and experience different places. Don’t get stuck in just one place. Moreover, there are levels of rooms within the hierarchy of Being. Higher levels have larger rooms. And there are rooms within rooms; in other words, every room is surrounded by or contained within a larger room.

So if one enters into a higher room, this new room is experientially larger. The inner space of experience is larger, that is, one’s experience of being is larger or more expansive. The mind and heart is more expansive and spacious. Thus, the inner being is larger. The masters in the spiritual hierarchy are larger beings. Now, we each can move from one level to another, from a smaller room to a relatively larger room. This experience is sudden. That is, in a moment one is suddenly in a much larger room of inner space. The key to this sudden change is conscious surrender. Surrender the present room, while opening up to the next greater room. This is called the ladder of ascent. But it only can happen one room at a time, and gradually, with sustained consciousness and surrender.

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I am space

Our lives are usually so full of thoughts, desires and reactions, that we seldom take some precious time to consider who we really are in all of this drama. Who am I? Now this may seem like a silly question to many people, because there isn’t any uncertainty about who they are. Most people have a fairly strong identity; such as I am this body, this face, this kind of personality, with certain beliefs, and doing this kind of job. We can call this a self-identification with the body, beliefs and emotions. Now this does make some sense, to identify with our body and personality, but from a spiritual perspective we are more than this. That is, there is a deeper level of ourselves, which has an indefinable depth or a certain sense of mystery. Thus, the question makes sense, ‘who am I’, underneath all of the phenomenal drama of thoughts and emotions. Yet when we are wrapped up in such phenomenal identification, the question of ‘who am I really’ does not arise. We can only ask the question when we take a break from this usual self drama and enter into a mode of self-contemplation or self inquiry. Eastern spiritual traditions have best emphasized this need for self inquiry, and in those traditions we find this question of ‘who am I really?’

We can answer this question in a simple way, saying that I am a soul that is beyond the phenomenal personality. But it is not sufficient to answer this question by a simple abstract notion of the soul. We need to answer the question from direct experience and not simply be satisfied with an abstract idea. If we inquire deep into ourself, into our heart, we may find that we are essentially love. Love is a spaciousness of the heart, an inclusive space. We may also find that we are essentially consciousness, and this consciousness is spacious. We might also acknowledge that we are essentially a mystery.

In the deepest truth of who we are, we are space. For underneath all qualities or phenomena of self there is but space. This is a very radical experience of oneself. It is jumping off the cliff from all identification, whereby there is nothing at all to cling to, no self-identification at all. I am simply space. This is the ultimate freedom from phenomenal identification. Who am I? I am space. I am the space underneath and encompassing all of the thoughts and emotions and qualities that may arise in this space. This is the space of un-identified consciousness. And if we can live from this conscious spaciousness, we are free and nothing can ultimately affect us, because we are nothing but space. We can walk about and interact in the world, but essentially we are just space. Then everything that happens, externally and internally, are merely like objects in this greater space. Try this as a practice. Let go of all identification, and just be conscious space.

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The self-being is always limited, in relation to the Infinite Being of which it is; like a sphere-of-knowing within Infinite Being. Thus, there is always Greater Being that is transcendental to the limited sphere of any self-being. So in the spiritual evolutionary process of the soul, or self-being, there needs to be an opening up to the Greater Transcendental Being, to God, and a letting in of this greater Grace of Being. One is opening and letting in the greater Light, or greater Love, or just greater Being Itself. And then there is a period of resting at this new level of expansionary self-being. The period of resting is ‘here I am, here I be’. And complimenting this resting period, within the overall Process, is the period of dynamic opening– which is oneself opening to the Greater Transcendental Being and allowing a movement of ascent. And then once again there is the period of resting. This is the rhythm of the spiritual evolutionary Process, the dynamic opening and the resting containment. One experience is ‘here I go’, as the opening is also a letting go and allowing of self-transcendence, while the other experience is ‘here I am’, settling in the present containment of oneself.

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This Process has been called ‘climbing the ladder to God’. It has also been called ‘the dropping of the veils’. In the ascent to God, the veils become evermore thin and subtle, they become more transparent. The many layers of veils can be alternatively explained as just one ultimate veil between self and God, which is ever thinning as self opens to God.

Asking God, transcendental to I, to heal and help me.

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The inner world, like the outer world, is really just one world. Yet there are many lands, places, interior views and perspectives that make up the inner world. The inner world is usually regarded as an individual state, whereby each person has their own separate inner world. To some extent this is true, because each person has a somewhat unique inner mental world, a unique individual psyche, with a unique personal background of individual experiences, memories, beliefs and images. But this is only somewhat unique; for in many ways our so-called “separate and unique” inner worlds are actually much the same, in a more general sense. There is actually much that is common and shared, and thus our inner worlds are not so separate as we tend to think.

One model that we can use to understand this is to picture each individual mind (or psyche) as a lake. Nearer the surface of each lake are fish, representing our more personal thoughts and beliefs, and from the top surface of each lake one would see a unique landscape surrounding the lake. But each lake also has an incredible depth - which eventually connects with the depths of all other lakes. In other words, at the deeper level all lakes are connected in one great, unified ocean of water, which is the shared inner world, the one inner world at the depth of all apparent separate worlds. So the deeper we go into “our own” inner world, or into a more sincere experience of who we are, the deeper we are going into the one shared Inner World of the One Divine Being, and the deeper we are exploring Divine Mind Itself.

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There are vertical depth levels within the inner world, which range from the more personal surface level to the Universal Mind, God’s Mind. Below or deeper than the personal level of mind is a group collective level involving individuals with similar culture and learning background. Then the next level is an even greater collective level, involving an even wider encompassment of culture, social patterns of belief and conditioning. Finally, there is the level of general human mind, where mind shares essences of what it is to be a human being, from inner subjective experience.

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So in the inner world there are interconnections and relationships, just as there are in the outer world. In the outer world, we know that we are involved in a complex web of relationships. No one is absolutely alone or separate from relationships. Each makes effects on others, and each is also effected, in some ways or another. We know this about the outer world. So next, we need to acknowledge similar kinds of relationships in the inner world. For a strictly physical science, or behavioral science, this proposition is not accepted; our inner world, or subjective experience, is simply regarded as individually separate and phenomenally irrelevant. But we should not be limited in thought by the boundaries of physical science. Accept what physical science has found to be true, but we need not discount truths just because they are not verified with certainty by our present science. So we can only say that this truth of inner world relationships is part of spiritual science. The fact is, we are not each in our own separate subjective room, not simply alone in our mind or inner being. Rather, we are connected mentally and emotionally with others. We are really in a complex web of inner relationships with others, though this is rarely noticed. We are relating with others in the inner world. We are affecting and being affected. We are not strictly alone, and not strictly separate. Of course, there are degrees of private-ness, aloneness and uniqueness; but we also need to acknowledge the degrees of connectedness, relationship and community right within our inner world. There is much more shared thought and shared emotion, occurring subjectively in the collective inner world, than we tend to think there is. We still need to physically talk and share together in the outer world, but we can also remember that our thought and feelings, in the inner world, are phenomenally efficacious as well.

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Creative imagination can be very useful in spiritual practice and even in religious worship. Of course we would have to qualify this as requiring a spiritual creative imagination, rather than a mere fanciful imagination with no grounding in real truths. Creative imagination is, in fact, virtually necessary for more detailed spiritual understanding, as well as logic, words, and feeling being necessary.

Creative imagination is used in both ascending and descending spiritual practices. It is highly useful in attunement practices and in ways for one to be closer to the Divine in heart and mind. For example, one might imagine being in the Heart of God, or the Mind of God, or guided by the Will of God; all of which is efficacious in spiritual attunement. Conscious intention and sincere feeling would also be needed, and also probably conscious breath. But along with these, the use of creative imagination has great value. Imagine being in the Greater Mind, or the Greater Heart, while also consciously feeling this experience and giving agreement and commitment to it.

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any spiritual practice has to begin with relaxation and letting go of tensions that are disruptive to meditation. One needs to relax and let go of tensions of the emotions and mind, as well as the physical body. Only then can one be clear enough to feel and know the deep Presence within; for the deeper spiritual experiences are only possible when tensions do not distract or preoccupy consciousness.

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Spiritual Knowledge, of both metaphysical and ethical kind, comes from the reality of Light. Light is the essence of Divine Mind, or God’s Mind, and from this reality of Light comes Knowledge and Understanding. It is as though Knowledge forms from the Light, like crystals forming from a liquid essence. So we receive true Knowledge and Understanding by way of Light and by way of being IN the Light.

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Allow the Light in, letting it fill both inner and outer experience, until there are no shadows and all of oneself and the world is brightly full of Light. This is one half of the work. The other half of the work is recognizing and releasing the resistances to this Light. These resistances come from conservative and fearful parts of oneself; primarily from compulsive and complaining patterns of the ego.

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the Return: .. from the particular to the Universal.

going deep within, and deeper still, there is discovery of oneself, as the truth of oneself is uncovered, as the veils of mind (concealing one's truth) are burned away in the Light.

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In meditation it is possible to come into Divine Breath. This may seem odd to many people that the Divine (or God) has breath. It sounds like an anthropomorphic projection. But it is true. God breaths, though not be exactly like our kind of breathing. It is movement/pulsation between higher and lower worlds, or actually between inner and outer worlds. This pulsating movement is what connects these 'worlds'. Of course, in the larger view of things there is only One Reality, which includes the many kinds of 'realities' or what has been called 'worlds'. As well, in the larger view there is no distinct line of separation between these worlds, but rather a continuum from higher to lower, from inner to outer. Yet from the perspective of experience there is a differentation between higher and lower, inner and outer. Reality is a continuum of higher and lower vibrations. The higher the energy vibration, the greater the consciousness. The higher the vibration, the closer is one to Divine Being Itself. Though again, in the larger view all reality is Divine Being. The meaning of Divine Breath is the connecting movement/pulsation between all levels of energy vibration. This can be pictured as Higher Divine Energy (or Divine Consciousness) breathing through all the levels of reality, vibrating and pulsating through the full continuum of higher to lower worlds. The breathing-out aspect is the Compassionate-Givingness of Divine Being or the transmitting-sending aspect from higher to lower realities. The breathing-in aspect is the drawing back of lower-being to Higher Consciousness, or the attraction back to Divine Consciousness Itself. In other words, the breathing-out is the Divine movement of incarnation, while the breathing-in is the urging movement of Return. This pulsation of out and in, between the higher and lower levels of Reality, is how the many levels are related in One Unity.

We can also understand Reality as Inner and Outer. The Inner aspect is mind/consciousness, and the Outer is form/matter. It is from the Inner Realm that Divine Being/God first works through and eventually works into the Outer. God, in the most Absolute meaning, is the most Inner Reality. God-Absolute is the most inner reality of our being, and God-Absolute is the most Inner of all Reality. It is most inner in the sense of being the Inner Consciousness. And It is most inner in the sense of being the Inner Potential of all material beings. In other words, God-Consciousness (and all the Divine Qualities) is the Inner aspect of all Reality. It is the Inner Potential seeking outer actualization. It is the Higher working into the lower. And this working into the lower is God breathing through creation. Divine Breath moves from the Inner to the Outer. Yet as the Higher/Inner breathes into lower/outer levels, the lower/outer is brought back (or breathed in) to the Higher/Inner. Thus, both aspects are complimentary and simultaneously pulsating. This is the pulsating ryhthm of Divine Breath.

We can consciously participate in this Divine Breath. As we journey inward we can sense the Divine Breath, then harmonize and participate in this. We can become one with this Divine Breath, our breath becoming one with the Divine Breath. Then, by entering into Divine Breath, we become the Divine breathing into the world. Then, our outward breath is Giving (of Light, Love and Goodness) from the most Inner Source, and our inward breath is a Receiving of all the world into our Innermost Heart. In this way we become meaningful participants in Divine Breath.

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One of the finest inner practices we can do is to breathe in harmony with Life. This is done consciously and with intention. The purpose of this is to harmonize our being with Greater Life, and conscious breath is the mediator of this transformation. Harmonizing our being with Greater Life is the same as coming into harmony with God, or with the Tao. We bring our breath of being into harmony with Greater Being. This Greater Being is Life, the essential Energy and Being of Life. We thus tap into the essence of Life Itself. This Greater Life is vibrating and breathing through existence, but we need to consciously connect with this Life and come into harmony with It, in order to be fully nourished and in harmony. This Greater Life is the Living Spirit of God, which is the same as the Great Spirit of Nature. So we can also see this as coming into harmony with Nature. This practice is also a coming into harmony with Love, the Spirit of Love.

In this practice we open our inner senses to the Greater Life and then surrender our being to this Life. We do this with conscious breath, by bringing our breath into harmony with the Greater Life. Breath is the transformer of energies, so by harmonizing our breath with Life we harmonize our being with Life. We surrender all chaotic and lower energies, when we surrender and harmonize our breath to Life. We actually become free when we surrender and harmonize our breath to Life. For then we become free in the Spirit of Life Itself. We enter the Living Spirit and Breath of Life, the Spirit and Breath of God. We come into harmony with Life, God, Love, and Beauty.

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meditation practice:

Breathe in what I need

Breathe out what I don't need

Breathe in love and healing

Breathe out attachment and self desire

Breathe in the highest beauty

Breathe out love everywhere

Breathe in the infinite Divine

Breathe out and release all self.

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First step in meditation is to transcend the usual personality routine – those automatic patterns of thoughts and behavior. Meditation functions as a kind of stop and recalibrate time, stop and retune our self. Such transcendence of the personality routine requires some fundamental steps, all included in a useful meditation practice. One step is relaxation of the body and mind, and quietness is part of this. One reason for this relaxation is to relax the personality pattern itself – which has a rigidity in its automatic and routine mode – so we are actually relaxing the rigidity of this pattern which then softens and loosens it, making it more pliable for change. But as well, unified consciousness is required, an unscattered consciousness, which is the remedy for those semi-conscious, automatic personality patterns. The mind is now truly waking up and the usually scattered parts of mind are coming together into a unity. Next, bring attention (or consciousness) into the heart of being. Then here, experience I am. Sometimes it helps to have the question in mind of who am I, or one can simply delve deeper into this inquiry and discovery. But it is the heart that reveals the essential emotions, feelings, sincerity, and intentionality of who we truly are. Our fundamental attitude and intention here is to deeply discover and realize our sincere, authentic, truth of being. This truth of our being is the same as our soul, and also same as the spirituality or divinity within us. This is not the same as the outer shell of personality. Crack the shell to find the kernel.

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