Lesson 4 - You are a Radiant, Conscious Soul
Still other goals must be met: quieting the energies, the pranas,
through pranayama, purifying or refining mind and emotion, quelling the
ever-constant movement of the restless, external mind and its immediate
subconscious, where memories are stored, preserved memories which give
rise to fear, anger, hatred and jealousy. It is our past that colors and
conditions, actually creates, the future. We purge the past in the
present, and we fashion the future in the present.
All of these emotions are the powerful force that bursts the seals of
the psychic chakras, four, five, six and seven. Once harnessed, turned
inward and transmuted, this life force drives the spiritual process
forward. Ours is the path of not only endeavoring to awaken the higher
nature, but at the same time and toward the same end dealing positively
and consciously with the remnants of the lower nature, replacing charity
for greed and dealing with, rather than merely suppressing, jealousy,
hatred and anger.
Most people do not understand that they have a mind, that they have a
body and emotions, that what they are is something far more lasting and
profound. They think they are a mind, they presume they are a body and
they feel they are a given set of emotions, positive and negative. To
progress on the spiritual path, they must learn they are not these
things but are, in fact, a radiant, conscious soul that never dies, that
can control the mind and directs the emotion toward fulfillment of
dharma and resolution of karma. While living in a normal agitated state
of fears, worries and doubts, seeing the deeper truths is impossible. To
such a person there is no doubt about it: "I am fearful. I am worried. I
am confused. I am sick." He says such things daily, thinking of himself
in a very limited way. This wrong identification of who we are must be
unlearned. Before we actually begin serious sadhana, we must understand
ourselves better, understand the three phases of the mind: instinctive,
intellectual and superconscious. This takes time, meditation and
study--study that must culminate in actual experience of the instinctive
mind, the intellectual mind and the transcendent subsuperconscious state
of the mind.
Seeing the mind in its totality convinces the seeker that he is
something else, he is the witness who observes the mind and cannot,
therefore, be the mind itself. Then we realize that the mind in its
superconsciousness is pure. We do not have to purify it, except to carry
out its native purity into life, into the intellect by obtaining right
knowledge and transmuting the instinctive or animal qualities. This is
accomplished from within out. It is not as difficult as it may seem.