Step Up - "How to develop authentic practical

Workshop – Melbourne Yoga and Meditation Centre
- Sunday 19 January 2014, 2pm-4pm
Step Up - "How to develop authentic practical
Meditation and Reflection out of your Yoga practice; precision thinking
and no-mind for the individual."
Step up - a move to a higher level in a hierarchy
How - in what manner, way, condition
Develop – from de+ Lat. volvere ’to roll ‘ - to cause to grow, unfold, expand.
Authentic – au ‘self’ Gk. authentes ‘one who does a thing himself’
Practical – practice/practise(vb) - action repeatedly or habitually performed; the carrying out or
performance of what has been laid down in theory or been acquired by mere learning or knowledge.
Pira-act - acting in a rotatory manner
Meditation – mediate between diverse and opposing forces with the aim of equilibration between those
forces - many techniques and methods depending on tradition, but primarily ‘dialectic reasoning ’.
Reflection – Lat. reflectere ‘to bend, turn back’, re- flectere ‘to bend’, flex fr. Lat. falc-em, ‘sickle’ falx –
sickle shaped curved beak
Yoga - the method and practice leading to the conscious union of the individual human being with the
ultimate source and origin of his being. It aims at the awakening of the egoic-self to the real Self
through the process of Reflexive Self- consciousness, a state of transcendent Self-awareness which
confers upon the beings who attain it certain powers of adequate response and capacities of stimulus
assimilation.
Precision – Lat. praecis, praecidere, ‘to cut off in front, to cut off short’ pre-, prae & caedere ‘to cut’.
Exactly, clearly, defined, clear-cut.
Thinking – to conceive, imagine, have in mind. A process of ‘formulation’ in consciousness. (thin –
stretch + k – application of a force) mind – mati , O.E. mynd memory [‘affirmation of the
differentiation of a zone of substance’ mem-o-r-y , E.H.] Lat. ment-(em), ‘mind’
No-mind – Scrt. mati ‘thought, sense, meaning’
Individual –
“The individual self is simply a motion complex in infinity. As every vortex necessarily has an
“empty” centre, properly represented by Jupiter, it follows that every finite being (Saturn) has in it
a centre of highest sensitivity (Jupiter) able to respond to the motions of the Jupiter transcendent.
This Jupiter centre is the source of true conscience in the individual.”
“For every little whirlpool in the sea we may say there is a distinguishable identity. Each whirlpool has
its own specific character which distinguishes it from all others. Each whirlpool may be considered
as a possible object upon which consciousness may concentrate, and with which it may become
identified. Each whirlpool may therefore be considered as an individual entity. Yet all of them are
but behaviour-patterns of the sea, or of primary substance.”
“So we see that the consciousness of each individual self is simply the pure consciousness of the
Purusha functioning through a specific vehicle. Absolutely there is only the one pure consciousness,
and it undergoes apparent pluralisation by the creation of innumerable forms or motion-patterns of
primary substance. We differ not in our pure consciousness but in the characteristic form and
function of our specific vehicles or organisms.”
“Because of the individual evolution of the Manas mind each individual has a legitimate point of
view from which he may evaluate the world. But although an individual viewpoint is legitimate for
that individual, yet it is not legitimate to impose, or seek to impose, this individual viewpoint on
another individual. Nor is it legitimate for an individual to allow himself to be imposed upon by
the view-point of another.”
“Every potential form in primary substance, every object of pure consciousness, becomes
progressively focussed down to the level of the external material world. This progressive focussing
down is what we mean in the west by 'evolution'. But there is no evolution without involution. The
forms of life that have emerged progressively on earth through time have first involved into the
earth by cosmic involutionary processes. Samkhya starts from this cosmic involution of forms; sees
that this involution progressively individuates, isolates and estranges the individual from its
source It also indicates by the simple reversal of this process the way out of this isolation, this
estrangement. Yoga takes this theoretical way back and turns it into practice.”
“If we now take the group of ideas which we refer to as our individuality, the particular group of
ideas which is ordinarily habitually presented in consciousness and referred to as "I", and place
upon this pattern and the "I" group a special feeling stress which we call the sense of
ownership or property, we have created an emotionally charged state we call the state of
identification.”
“Always our body-object is held central to consciousness and to it we link all other objects by
association law. Consciousness holds our body-object in continuous tension more than other
objects, so that it may function as reference centre for all else. It is upon this fact that we base our
belief that we exist as individual human beings. Our individuality is no more than the
persistence in consciousness of the form of our body-object with whatever other objective content
has become associated with it. Consciousness holds our body-object central to itself, integrates
other objective forms of experience round it, suffuses the whole with correspondent feelings, and
activates it from its objective and subjective content.”
“It is important to realise that the existence of a finite subject depends on the circumscribing line of
some motion internal to this line. The quality of the motion must differ from that outside, for if it
did not, then there would arise no difference in the field of awareness, and consequently, no finite
subject. The Infinite Field knows the whole formal content of itself. Where the formal content of a
zone is sufficiently complex, "judgment" takes place (i.e. balancing of motion forms).In each
different zone the Infinite sees the formal content. It is the difference in each zone which we call
the individuality of that zone. In each individuality, creation of form takes place according to
the "law of increasing freedom" i.e. the form within each zone must be brought up to the level of
complexity and internal relation such that it constitutes a sufficient instrument in its environment
for the purposes of the infinite awareness. It is apparent that we must here proceed with great
care, for we are on the edge of the greatest problem of philosophy. How does the Infinite relate to
the finite subject? How does the world soul relate to the finite partial soul of the individual?”
“INDIVIDUALITY is maintained by the unique nature of each spirit, which is eternal. The man who
does not know the eternal uniqueness which is the ground of his individuality, is not very likely to
find in himself the strength to oppose the highest temporal powers which seek to suppress his
uniqueness.”
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Excerpts from the teachings of Eugene Halliday
The Eight limb Meditational Yoga system described in the Yoga classic The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali has
Meditation as stage seven of eight. The eight limbs of Patanjali are set out below.
Patanjali’s Eight Stages of Yoga
(Ashta-anga)
Yama - abstinences, restraint, forbearance
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The avoidance of injury of all living creatures, not to prematurely
destroy the vehicle of your experience - ahimsa
Truthfulness; logical consistency- satya
Restraint from taking what belongs to another - asteya
Greedlessness – aparigraha
Sexual continence - brahmacharya
The bearing patiently of pleasure and pain - kshama
Fortitude in happiness and unhappiness - sthirata
Sympathy, Compassion, Mercy, Kindness, Simplicity – daya,
karuna
Moderation in, and regulation of diet – mita-ahara
Cleansing and Purification of body and mind – shodhana
Niyama - observances, watching, fasting, praying,
penance, identifying with Supreme Reality
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Austerities for the purpose of purification - tapas
Fasting – upavasa without emaciation - shoshana
Contentment with that which one has unasked – samtosha
Satisfaction; ‘doing full being’ - tushti
Charity, Sacrifice; gifts to the deserving – dana, homa
Listening, Study, Recitation - of scripture – shravana, svadhyaya,
japa
Religious observances – religere – bind back to Source
o Cleanliness of body and mind; avoid contamination/
adultery/idolatry - shauca (external – bahya, internal –
abhyantara)
o Hospitality, Mutual helpfulness, Modesty, Service –
atithya, para-artha-iha, hri, sevana
o Faith, Conviction, Vowing – shraddha, mati, vrata
o Devotion to the Lord - Ishvara-pranidhana
o Affirmation of what is(this moment’s state) – astikya(it-isness)
o Worship; of that ‘worthwhile-shape’ - archana
o
Silence in gesture and speech, Solitude, Noncontact,
Indifference, Dispassion – mauna, ekanta-vasa,
nihsangata, audasinya, vairagya (ability to see beforehand
where a desire, once released, will reach its term; Yoga
Sutra1:15)
compare with …
Hatha Yoga
Aims of Hatha-yoga’s
seven stages
(sapta-sadhana)p.200SP
1. Cleansing (Shodhana)
by the six processes
(Sat-karma)
2. Attainment of
Strength or Firmness
(Drdhata) by bodily
postures
(Asana)
3. Of Fortitude (Sthirata)
by bodily positions
(Mudra)
4. Steadiness of mind
(Dhairya) by restraint
of the senses
(Pratyahara)
5. Lightness (Laghava)
by Pranayama kevalya-kumbhaka
6. Perceptive clarity
(Pratyaksa) by
meditation (Dhyana)
7. Transcendence
(Nirliptatva) in
Samadhi.
The practice of Yama and Niyama leads to renunciation of, and
the breaking identification with, the things of this world and of the
next. Abandon the desire for pleasure. Those who seek the joys of any heaven
can never attain the end of Yoga.
Asana - posture
Good posture. As the preliminary for controlling the physical body – spine straight
effortlessly
Pranayama - breath regulation and suspension
Control of the breath, as preliminary for gaining control of emotional and thought
processes.
Pratyahara - withdrawal from five senses
Withdrawing consciousness from the external objective world of five sense objects, five
sense organs, 5 internal brain centres, and 5 sense data zones of the mind. Freeing
consciousness from all distractions.
Dharana – concentration – consciousness ‘with one centre’
Firm concentration of consciousness on an ‘object of thought’ within the
mind.
Dhyana – meditation - Dianoia[Gk], Jhana[Pali], Ch’an[Chin], Zen[Jap]
Meditation on the subject of dharana. (One of 7 methods described,
although ‘meditation’ precisely by definition is ‘dialectics’ )
Samadhi - contemplation
Contemplation through Reflexive Self-consciousness*. ‘consciousness going up and
down in the same time/place together’. Consciousness conscious of itself.
Meditation Procedure
An excerpt - from the writings of Eugene Halliday
AIM:
To prepare ourselves for that transcendent awareness where, by the increase of sensitivity, insight and comprehension,
we take up our rightful position as mediators between the Intelligent Source Power of our being and the material world
around us.
METHOD:
CONCENTRATION. MEDITATION. CONTEMPLATION. In every meditational procedure there are distinct steps to be
taken.
1. We decide to meditate.
2. We withdraw our attention from the things of the external world.
3. We concentrate our mind upon some interesting subject.
4. We analyse this subject into all its parts and study these parts and their relations with each other and with the
whole of which they are parts.
5. We hold the pattern of the whole analytical process together in an act of comprehension of its meaning. This is
called contemplation.
Concentration means 'with one centre’. It requires that we set up in the mind some single idea of such a kind that to it
we can refer every other idea that we have. Such an idea gives us the power of unifying our mind, and so of bringing it
into peace and harmony.
Meditation is a mental process in which we disclose progressively the meaning of our central thought; we must proceed
by defining our use of the words we use to express this idea. Our mind compares ideas, notes their similarities and
differences, grouping them together in patterns. It is precisely the discovery of a meaningful pattern that is the object
of meditation.
Contemplation, unlike meditation, does not follow a sequence of ideas through time. IT CONTEMPLATES PATTERN.
Contemplation is essentially silent: to attain it we must still every mental process. Then the pattern discovered by the
meditation process will be able to have its own effect on our mind.
WHOLENESS of awareness appears only in contemplation. NOT in meditation. Our mind and soul is bathed in
wholeness, a wholeness which transmutes itself into PEACE and HARMONY of being.
THIS HARMONY OF BEING IS THE GREATEST HEALING POWER IN THE UNIVERSE.
Throughout the writing which follows, ideas and aids to meditation are presented. If the reading and study is to be taken
as a meditation, you should be looking for a pattern. At any stage when you feel you have found that pattern, then hold it
in CONTEMPLATION. This is most important.
The time reserved for contemplation, at the end of each period of reading and study, should be at least half of the time
set aside for the meditational and study period. To reiterate, Contemplation is essentially silent: to attain it we must still
every mental process.
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Melbourne Yoga.com Meditation help-steps
Dear participant,
You will find below a number of ideas which will assist you in your meditation practice. These notes are
not designed to assist you in every detail but will act as a reminder to some of the work we have
undertaken recently together.
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Remember, first of all, lie down(not in bed) and try to relax the physical body for about five
minutes, not falling asleep. Be wide awake. Then sit up and do whatever Hatha Yoga postures
you feel will help you to relax your physical body more if required.
When you start your breathing and meditation practice, your physical body needs to be vitalised,
relaxed and comfortable in whatever posture you choose to adopt for the meditation. Skipping
the relaxation and postures is really not an option to effective meditation in early stages.
Second, take up a physical body posture which aims to allow 'upright physical body stillness';
good square sitting base, spine upright, shoulders broad, head balanced, without any kind of
rigidity or tightness. Arms resting on legs or in the lap. If there is tightness at this point go back
and practice relaxation and Hatha yoga postures which release physical body tension.
Third, aim to bring the breathing into equilibrium, to calm the feelings and settle the mind. This
starts with a gentle lengthening of the breath, using a ratio technique if required. 4:2:4:2
Remember; NEVER close the throat while holding the breath in the lungs. Use the
diaphragm, and the intercostal muscles between the ribs, to maintain expansion of the
chest. If at any time you feel uncomfortable, you will have gone too far. Do not push
the breath. Proper breathing is quiet, calm and deeply relaxing. It may take years to
find your proper equilibrium. Be patient and watchful.
Fourth, having completed the breathing technique of choice, the breath is close to stillness, or
relatively in-detectible. Never impose upon the breath. Allow the breath to become more and
more still with longer practice sessions. Watching the breath passing backwards and forwards
inside the nostrils will assist this process - feeling coolness as the breath comes in, warmness as
the breath passes out.
Fifth, when the breath becomes very very still, bring the attention to the tip of the nose. If the
attention will not stay on the tip of the nose, return to the breathing ratio technique, or watching
the breath inside the nostrils. Be very very patient. Agitation will only bring frustration. Be still in
body and breath, and just watch. Imagine the sensation of a speck of dust on the tip of the nose
- feel it. Don't 'think' about it, 'feel' it.
The above steps are the preparation, up to and including Pratyahara, which now leads you into
concentration and meditation proper, followed by contemplation.
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Remember, Meditation is an art form and requires regular practice to be enjoyed; just in the
same way ability with a musical instrument or other talent has to be cultivated.
Concentration is the key. Concentration means 'with one centre', singleness of focus - in this case
'tip of the nose'.
When there is quiet, effortless concentration, more difficult meditation techniques follow, which
bring with them very great transformation, high levels of creative consciousness, and freedom
from everyday annoyance, negativity and stress.
Keep up a regular daily practice 6 days a week and have 1 day off. Early morning, before food, is
the best time to meditate. Set the alarm clock and get up 10 to 20 minutes earlier. Sleep will not
be missed if meditation is practised 6 days a week for 4 weeks. A new habit will have been
established. The meditation will in time energise and focus the whole day.
Throughout the working living day, take meditation bites - close the eyes and focus on gentle
breath extension. Turn inwards and let go of the incessant chatter of the world for a few minutes.
True joy comes up from within, when space is made for it. Create and cultivate an inner quiet
place. The quiet place will be there for you at any time you turn to it, just like in older times
going to the temple would be a respite from outer turmoil, and a place to find inner peace and
the Source of your own life.
More advanced Meditation Courses follow when these techniques have been
established.
Malcolm can be contacted if there are problems. [email protected]
Meditations of Eugene Halliday
The FOUR "PLANES" OF BEING (or four ‘levels’):
The point plane (where each point is orientated to itself). Ahrimanic
granularity.
The line level (where orientation is towards some goal as posited outside oneself.
The plane level (where one moves about in any direction in 2-D space,
seeking experience.
The volume level (where one gains 3-D existence and so great stability from the six
directions.
The SIX DIRECTIONS:
The six directions are up, down, back, forward, right, left.
UP points to Heaven and higher powers or higher levels
in the hierarchy.
DOWN points to the Earth and lower powers or lower
planes of being in the hierarchy.
BACK points to the past, the accumulation of ancestral
inertias still with us and influencing our behaviour from
behind.
FORWARD points to the future, the totality of our
intentions and purposes to become realised by application of
present energies.
RIGHT refers to virtues, talents, innate powers,
potentialities of action.
LEFT points to vices, deficiencies, innate weaknesses,
potentialities of breakdown.
Falling and Rising – Intelligence, Intuition, Meditation, Contemplation
- excerpts from the teachings of Eugene Halliday
Our own intelligence is a little light borrowed
from the Great Alpha-light [infinite intelligence].
Our own body is a little zone within the OmegaSubstance [Universal body substance].
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When we think truly, our thought is an
inner shining in our mind of the Alphalight.
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When we move our body to act rightly,
our action is the action of our own little
area of the divine Cosmic Body.
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When we feel sincerely, our feeling is
the Self-experience within us of the pure
Alpha-Light-Omega-Body, at work in
the place where we are.
Yet we are not passive instruments. From the
power of infinite intelligence within us we can
choose our life-direction. We can choose to act
as an instrument of infinite intelligence, in
infinite intelligence’s name, or we can choose to
act as if we owed nothing to infinite intelligence.
We can choose to believe ourselves selfgenerated, and act only for our self-advantage.
To believe is to choose. We do not simply
believe, as if we had no alternative but to
believe. Belief is an act of our will. We think
we see an advantage in believing this or that,
and so believe.
As we choose to believe, so we choose to
evolve, or devolve. We can move nearer to the
ultimate goal of absolute freedom, or we can
move away from it towards deepening
degrees of bondage.
Does anyone really choose bondage rather
than freedom? Yes. Why? Because freedom
implies self-responsibility. The free being is
responsible for himself, and responsible for his
degree of freedom in infinite intelligence’s
presence.
Where we are not yet perfectly free in our will, it
is because we have not yet willed perfect
freedom, because we have not yet willed our
total self-responsibility. Total selfresponsibility seems to the ego-bound mind a
tremendous burden. One with such responsibility
has no excuse for his actions. His actions are
the expression of his free-will. The effects of
his actions must by cosmic law return to
him.
intelligence. But is it really so? Does not real
superior intelligence assent to the idea that it is
only right and just that we some day come face
to face with the consequences of our
actions?
What kind of a world would it be if every action
produced no reaction? How could we possibly
know where we were up to with ourselves,
how far we had gone in our evolution
towards the goal? We would shoot our
energies into the world, and they would not
produce any effect, either on the things of the
world or on ourselves. It would be as if we shot
our arrows into a pure void, and never ever
received back a message that our arrows had
been loosed. Such a world would be no world at
all in any meaningful way.
There is, however, something about us human
beings. We love to think our lives are
meaningful. If we think our lives meaningless,
we become disorientated, dejected, miserable.
Despair begins to wrap us round as an
impenetrable mist or fog. We have lost direction.
We are goalless and so cannot evolve.
All evolution depends on a goal, whether this
goal is adequately defined or not.
The mineral world's goal seems to be simply to
exist. The rocks press into their centre simply to
perpetuate themselves.
The plant world's goal is not mere existence,
but with this also growth and selfpropagation.
The animal world's goal is to exist, to grow, to
propagate and move about in the space
available.
The human world's goal is to add to all these
processes a new principle: that of free creative
activity, an activity that will change the world
and everything in it. "Behold I make all things
new". And this changing of the world by
mankind is to restore to it something precious
that was lost long ago; the joy of supreme
creativity such as infinite intelligence takes
delight in.
Which one of us is ready happily to receive
from the universe the reactions of all the
beings affected by our actions? The burden is
very great, "As we sow, so shall we reap".
This is a hard saying. How many of us are
prepared to accept with equanimity the
fruits of our actions?
The kind of men Jesus called "dead", are those
who have lost contact with the inner creativity
of the infinite intelligence within their own being,
the divine Spirit of Eternity. To lose this contact
is to fall into Time and Matter, to become a
slave to closed systems of repetitive,
uncreative behaviour. The "dead" are on a
treadmill whereon every foot set down leads
nowhere. The wheel turns, but the treader of the
wheel stays where he is.
Dodging consequences is a favourite game of
human beings. To be able to "get away with it"
is popularly considered to be a sign of superior
The man on the treadmill is the unhappiest of all
creatures. Unlike the ox which has been put to
work by man and has no thought that things
should be other than they are, the human being
knows that his life should have more meaning
than that of endless circular plodding continued
until death gives release.
Man is not content to live a meaningless
life. For him activity without meaning is not real
living. Something in the human soul says that
life has a higher purpose than the tread- mill
provides, and this something is Spirit, infinite
intelligence.
The pet mouse of a child is usually kept in a little
cage. Inside the cage is a small wheel into which
the mouse can climb. When the mouse runs, the
wheel turns. The mouse stays where it is in the
wheel and its running feet drive the wheel
round. The mouse does not get anywhere; it
simply drives the wheel round and round. No
doubt this is good exercise for the mouse's
muscles, and helps to keep it fit; but the mouse
learns nothing new after the first few
revolutions.
In the ancient world, and still today in some
countries, oxen are used to turn wheels that
perhaps draw water or grind corn, or do some
other useful work. Here the oxen are doing
something better than merely exercise their
muscles; they are freeing mankind from a
ceaseless, routine process and so liberating
human energies for other, more creative
activities.
In the Bible, Jesus distinguished between two
kinds of human beings: the "quick" and the
"dead".
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By the "dead" he meant those of
mankind whose processes were under
the dominion of habitual routines of
thought and feelings which produce
no new emergents, no new creative
attitudes towards the world.
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By the "quick", Jesus meant those
human beings whose minds ever
perceive new possibilities, new ways
of living, different from old routines.
The "dead" are those who have fallen into
routine behaviour patterns, which, if persisted
in, will produce nothing new in the world;
those who walk like oxen, in the same circular
path, treading over the same ground to no new
effect: learning nothing new, gaining no new
insights that might be profitable to their souls
in a world changed by their own thought and
feeling and will.
The "quick" are those whose minds are awake,
whose senses are active, whose feelings are
supersensitive to new possibilities, and whose
will is strongly determined to reach a goal
worthy of attainment. The "quick" are those who
have faith in things worthwhile, beyond the
present state of mankind.
We know that the "quick", in every situation,
seize the initiative. They perceive that new
things are possible, different ways of life better
than those so far known, and they work
intensely and interestedly towards the
precipitation of those new, improved ways.
We have all heard of a fall from a once-free
state of man's soul. The ancient sages told of a
time called the "Golden Age", when man had not
yet lost his freedom, his grace; a time when
man's mind and senses and will had not yet
fallen under the dominion of habitual routines.
In the Golden Age, man was a being of
initiative and intelligence, capable of free,
creative activity, a being of destiny, whose
purpose in the world was to change it, and raise
it to ever higher levels of significance. Man
was then the creative representative on
earth of the Universal Being who had created
the world for the very purpose of demonstrating
the meaning of creativity itself.
Before the Fall, in the great Golden Age, man
had been placed in charge of the further development of the world, and given the means to
create, by his own will and intelligence and
sensitivity, whatever was needful for that
development. Man was to be infinite
intelligence’s agent in the world, working there
for the full realisation of Infinite Intelligence’s
purpose.
But at the Fall, a curious thing happened. Man
forgot his real purpose, forgot his essential
free, creative will and intelligence, and
became more interested in externals. He left
his inmost creative centre and turned
outwards into the external things of the
world.
Thus he lost awareness of his initiative, his
free spirit, and was trapped in the outer forms
of things. He became like a man who was so
interested in the pleasure he derived from
having a body and using it to enjoy the things
of the world that he forgot his creative
purpose in the world, and so sought only to
give pleasure to himself by means of his
body. Thus forgetting, he descended into a
materialistic view of the world.
The Materialist is a man who thinks that the
things of the world are the source of his
ideas and feelings. He thinks that there is
nothing in his mind except the results of the
stimulation of his sense organs by external
things, and so he abandons his innermost
centre of creativity and places himself
under the dominion of things of Matter. He
becomes a slave to information given to him
from things of the external world. He believes
that he cannot change anything except by first
studying the way that external material things
work. He thinks that his thoughts, his ideas,
feelings and actions, are all products of the
action of material things upon his body. He
reduces himself thereby to the level of a merely
reactive material thing, complex no doubt, as is
the physical body of man, but nevertheless
material, and subject to the laws that govern
all material bodies. Like Esau, he has sold his
birthright, his free spirit, for a mess of potage.
Before the Fall, Man could have fulfilled his
destiny by using his free, creative intelligence to
change the world in ever more significant and
valuable directions. He could have evolved to
ever higher levels of being without having to
depend on external material things for the
sources of his information. Within Man is a
special power, Infinite Source-given, a
power of intuition, of inner self-teaching,
whereby he can gain supreme knowledge of
everything in the universe, without all the
drudgery of examining all the material things of
the outer world.
This intuition, or inner self-teaching power, is
set in motion by the practice of meditation and
contemplation. Every great thinker of history
has known and used these practices in order to
conjure from the depths of his innermost
soul the hidden wisdom that awaits there
for the one who seeks and asks and knocks on
the inner secret door.
Before the Fall, Man, by his intuition, awakened
by his own initiative in acts of meditation and
contemplation, could have designed and created
an infinity of new worlds, more wonderful by far
than this world in which we now live. This was
the period of Creative Evolution, which at the
Fall ceased. From the moment of the Fall
Man lost his innermost awareness of his
essential creativity, and became from then on
dependent on things outside him to awaken
his mind and stir his intelligence.
If some special act of grace had not occurred,
fallen man would have been doomed forever to
slavery to external things and their action upon
him. He would have become a merely reactive
mechanism, totally determined in his behaviour
by the chance stimuli of external things. But the
needed special act was done.
The intelligence of all beings has a source.
The source is not inferior to the things that
come from it. "Nothing goes up but that which
came down". The source of intelligence is
more intelligent than its derivatives. The
source of all beings is the infinite field of
absolute sentient power, or God if we use a
shorthand theological term. This infinite field is
more intelligent than any of the creatures
created within it. This infinite field is also within
us essentially. It is the voice of cosmic
conscience. If we will listen to it, it is the power
which will save us from our own foolish
mistakes. But to be saved by it, we must listen
to it. It is a still small voice, ever speaking
within our soul.
Today almost everyone believes in evolution of
lower forms of life to higher forms. Materialist
scientists tend to teach that this evolution is
largely a product of accidents, by which some
forms come to have more survival probability
than others. But there is more to the
evolutionary process than this. Whatever
"accidents" may have happened in the past, or
are happening now, or may happen in the
future, there is more than accident at work
putting men into outer space, more than
accident probing beyond the orbits of the outer
planets of our solar system, more than accident
penetrating into the deepest secrets of the
atom, where so-called "matter" melts away into
fields of force, where the apparent division of
body and mind, material and spiritual reality,
become indistinguishable.
Today we are approaching nearer and nearer to
disclosing the true relationship of mind and
body, of spirit and matter. The old naive notion
that matter was made of irreducible, hard
particles or "atoms", has gone. Nuclear research
has shown us that matter is but a form of
energy. The old division of mind and matter as
two utterly dissimilar things has had to be given
up. Mind and Matter are two aspects of
energy, two modes of behaviour of a hidden
something that operates behind both. This
hidden something is what we mean by "Spirit".
The difficulty in understanding "Spirit" is that it
is invisible and intangible. We cannot see it,
and we cannot touch it with our material hands.
But its invisibility and intangibility do not prove
it non-existent. We cannot see or touch a
magnetic field, but it gives evidence of its
presence by the way it moves needles on dials,
or moves iron-filings about, or pulls the opposite
poles of two magnets together, or forces the like
poles apart.
So it is with the invisible, intangible spirit. It can
move our souls to feel and think and act, and
this without the mediation of any gross
external material things to aid it.
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