SCIENCE, THE DIVINE AND THE NIRVANA PROJECT (Seekers’ Lesson 4)

SCIENCE, THE DIVINE AND THE NIRVANA PROJECT (Seekers’ Lesson 4)

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Magandang hapon sa inyong lahat! Good afternoon to you all!

Before everything else, let it be clarified that this note intends to advance and articulate the thesis that science is a way to the Divine. Knowing is an inherent trait of the soul (or 5^th body), and given that all souls were emanated sparks from the divine Godhead, then science is an endowment from the Almighty I Am Presence and is among the seven (7) essential ways or paths back to the Godhead.

Let it be clarified further that science—as the enterprise that seeks to build knowledge—is not only limited to material science. The other core category is spiritual science: knowledge of the higher ontological domains called ‘spiritual dimensions’, the purpose for their existence, the intelligences inhering in them, and most of all the knowledge of the Almighty Cause of all Causes or ‘God’ (from Teutonic Godin, related to Nordic god Wodin or god of the woods, related to the Nordic deity Odin).

A Seeker is one who, after filling up shis (his/her) ‘glass of faith’, must move on to progress in the path by filling up shis ‘glass of knowledge’. For a Seeker, it doesn’t suffice to just believe in God. It must be proved, by way of scientific methods—established for both the material and spiritual sciences—that the higher ontological domains and the intelligences inhering in them do exist. By employing the very accessible scientific method of yoga meditation—in its advanced form—such domains and intelligences can be observed and known.

So the lesson for Seekers is: learn the sciences for both domains, the spiritual (with 3 dimensions) and material (with 4 dimensions), study them arduously, learn the methods and theories about them, the rules about the establishment of knowledge, and internalize the scientific attitude in daily life. Not only that, as explained in the fundamental article on the 2^nd ray, a Seeker must adopt the critical thinking that pervades the sciences whenever s/he does a task of interpreting texts (exegesis).

Discourses on science are tough ones, so bear with me, Noble Seekers, as I am a scientist myself: a sociologist, economist, and ‘social technologist’ (technocrat). As Seekers you have chosen particularly the 5^th Ray (science) and 2^nd Ray (wisdom) as twin sub-paths congealing into a singular Path, so please digest knowledge-based discourses no matter how tough they are. I’ll try to simplify them, worry not about the digestibility, masticate the discourse well and quaff them with ‘glasses of wisdom’ for more efficacious comprehension.

To move on, science is a systematic, institutional response in fulfillment of a basic human attitude: knowing. Situational adaptations demand knowledge, adaptations to complex situations demand complex knowledge. Knowledge manifests in two essential forms: science, or ‘know-why’ (pure knowledge), and technology, or ‘know-how’ (applied knowledge).

Knowledge must be further converted to information, or those quanta of knowledge that are used to make decisions or choices. Such a conversion process requires a fundamental strategy of how to make do with information that seems to be almost always imperfect. The degree or level of intelligence would determine to a greater extent the appropriate identification and efficacy of any strategy applied thereto.

Incidentally, human society is moving towards the Information Age. In this Age, which had in fact already begun but which is just in its infantile stage, human engagements will be largely knowledge-based. Daniel Bell, Alaine Torraine, and Alvin Toffler elaborated on this coming Age very deeply and successfully. This rising context brings enormous luck to Seekers, precisely because the emerging context will demand the Seeker-type souls who will, in the main, come to dominate this society as it matures in the future.

Needless to say, human society will go high-tech, and only those who are most adaptable to the new context will survive in it. Fact is, only the aboveground of the physical plane now remains in this infantile state of Information Age. The underground cities, of which there are more than a hundred (please do your respective research on this), and the worlds or cities of the higher planes or dimensions, are exceedingly high-tech aside from being high-Spirit (take this as a given). So it pays to understand science very substantively and adapt adroitly to the technological developments evolving. We aboveground people need to catch up with our underground and other-dimensional siblings, and likewise those advanced siblings in the other star systems and constellations who are able to travel across vast spaces.

 

If your evolutionary level is lower than that of a Seeker or advanced Devotee/Believer at least, and you cannot catch up enough for reasons that are largely internal to you (such as the laggards do), then necessarily you must be transferred elsewhere. You aren’t fit on Earth, which is itself evolving and will climb from 3^rd density to 4^th density very soon, so you better be shipped out to less evolved planets that would fit you most. The moment that the planet moves to 4^th Density, misfits (not necessarily ‘bad guys’ or ‘evil ones’ but simply slow learners) won’t be able to adapt to the vibration of the planet and to its demand for knowledge-based smart living. Forcing the slow learners to stay here later will leave them highly fragmented and perpetual schizophrenics, unable to digest and comprehend what they see and feel. Pitiful siblings, but out of compassion let us give them what they deserve: the chance to continue evolving in contexts that fit them.

Practically all of you have already begun your science studies in fact. And, chances are that many of you Seekers who browse this website are scientists, technologists, and professionals who deal a lot with information: ‘Information Workers’. But many of you may not know where to begin your inquiries on the mystical or spiritual sciences. So I can give you some tips here, your fellow Seekers can input some other tips, and your Inner Guide will lead you to the bulk of the reads.

I presume that you are familiar, if not adept with the structure of the scientific enterprise. This you learned in high school yet. The notion of structure was well articulated in the 1^st half of the 20^th by the Vienna Circle thinkers and the Copenhagen school, with their followers extending the discourses until the 1960s. You can examine for instance Hempel, Planck, Bohr, Einstein, Schroedinger, Heisenberg, Wittgenstein, Russell and Popper and see how they treated the matter of structure. Positivism was the dominant paradigm then. Planck, Shcroedinger, Heisenberg and Einstein, on the other hand, represented a variant of relativism that challenged the objectivism of the positivists.

On the mystical/spiritual side, the outstanding giant is no other than Helena P. Blavatsky, the mind and heart of Theosophy. She and her team mates—Hodson, Leadbeater, Bessant, Olcott—began to establish the contours of spiritual science at the tail end of the Victorian Era (late 19^th century), tasks that spilled over to the first three (3) decades of the 20^th century. It took just a single figure, Blavatsky, to deconstruct devastatingly the arrogant contentions of the classical Evolutionists who regarded change as a very static, linear movement from one stage of life to another. In place of lineal evolution was superimposed a cyclical theory of evolution, which already shows the seeds of the evolving paradigm of ‘dynamics’.

The contributions of the theosophists were very monumental, by my own admission. Although I do reserve certain critiques of their discourses, notably regarding the ‘Lucifer question’, I appreciate the monumental and indispensable contribution of the theosophy team. Remember that the said thinkers, all of whom were Teachers or gurus in quality, were battling wars on two fronts: on the objectivist front were the atheistic scientists who shamelessly reduced science to a mere building of knowledge about the material world; and, on the subjectivist front, the vulgar spiritists comprising of the churches and their legions of Pied Pipers who slandered the theosophists no end. I’m sure you’d agree with me that it was a very, very tough war, with uphill battles fought on many sub-fronts at the same time.

After the Blavatsky team, many mystics tried to fill up their shoes and hats. But, sad to note, the post-theosophy’s outputs paled in comparison to the thinker-gurus. What you, Noble Seeker, must do is to gather the different bits and pieces of information about the works of other mystics so you can erect the tapestry of spiritual science yourself. For instance, the contributions of Paramahansa Yogananda and his guru Sri Yutekswar Giri are of paramount importance, per my assessment. Among contemporary mystics you’ll discover the contributions of Sal Rachele who, like E.Argonza, was trained in the sciences and can handle the toughest scientific questions from sub-atomics to cosmology (see www.salrachele.com).

Sadly, many mystics and psychics are channelers who by my estimation do not measure up to the accepted standard of an epistemologist and scientist. They came straight from experiences of spiritism and healing, and without the proper grounding in scientific precepts and meta-language, they tend to misrepresent spiritual science into a hodgepodge of seemingly unrelated quackery with nil scientific credibility at all. There are too many of them over the internet, even as many before the internet days have published materials that sound low-tech and approach spiritual science from a defensive, superstitious position. Without mentioning names, I would honestly say that they are a disgrace to us Lightworkers. They should better stick to their spiritism and healing works and leave science to the scientists, technologists, and epistemologists among seekers and mystics who abound in great numbers today.

 

One more thing to note: over the past three (3) decades, there was a marked shift from questions of structure to questions of process. Today, being among the students of the latter thinkers, I tend to view science and the knowledge pursuit from the vantage point of process, even as I am nauseated by the antiquated fixation to structures and elements, and the flaws of its paradigm ramparts (systems theory, neo-evolutionism, structuralism, uniformitarianism, psychoanalysis, structural functionalism) which, thanks heavens, have all become obsolete before the turn of the century.

For your own sake, for an understanding of the contemporary issues involved that are process-centered and transdisicplinary (borderless science), I would recommend that you review the key works of the following thinkers:

 

·         Theodore Adorno & Max Horkheimer: Founders of the ‘Frankfurt school’, they were among the earliest defenders of ‘inter-disciplinary’ and transdisciplinal (borderless science) methodology.These were elaborated in scattered articles. Adorno’s Authoritarian Personality is an example of cross-disciplinary method, by integrating sociology, psychology, and medical science (psychiatry) to explain the rise of fascism and nazism.

 

·         Thomas Kuhn: He dovetailed on the notion of ‘paradigm’ as focal category for understanding scientific revolutions. Kuhn is an excellent thinker on the history of science. The key work is Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

 

·         Jurgen Habermas: A dissection of the interests inhering in knowledge led Habermas to infer about the logic inherent in theories. He clarified the emergence of three paradigms—positivism, hermeneutics, critical theory—on the basis of inherent human interests. Go straight to his core work Knowledge and Human Interests.

 

·         Michel Foucault: He disclosed the connection between knowledge and power, and the process of how Discourse emerges from that link. He is a brilliant thinker on the history of ideas. The book Order of Things is the fitting start of his works regarding scientific methodology.

 

·         Jacques Derrida: Advanced the thesis that ‘writing’ (referent for text in general) preceded speech. He also innovated on the method of ‘deconstruction’. His works have enormous implications for scientific modeling purposes. The work Of Grammatology is a fitting start. Follow it up with Writing and Differance. [Note the distinction between the terms ‘differance’ and ‘difference’.]

 

·         Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari: This team of thinkers elucidated the preference, in terms of modeling, for the ‘machinic discourse’ in contrast to the pervasive ‘organismic discourse’ of previous thinkers. Reality moves like unto a machine that keeps on rolling, without bordered elements. The team also advanced the ‘transversal’ (transdisciplinal) method of establishing knowledge. The machine model has much kinship to fluid dynamics, which is the preferred model of Chaos Paradigm. Go straight to their work Anti-Oedipus.

As to scientific discipline, the attitude in science is one of humility. No scientific theory can be regarded as fixed, absolutely pervasive and applicable throughout time. More so, there is no such thing as a Theory of Everything or TOE. Every scientist, no matter how brilliant s/he may be, can only contribute to a fragment of the cosmic tapestry of knowledge. Such a situation explains the humility of scientists and university professors.

Go ahead in your scientific pursuits, Noble Seeker. For the scientists and technologists among you, it is highly recommended that you take up advanced degrees up through the PhD level. Remember, you are not only preparing for ‘this life’. We are all preparing for the ‘afterlife’, and your learned knowledge and information will have a strong bearing in the other planes as well when you go back there. Go ahead and please conduct research, present papers in conferences before scientific peers, and publish your outputs in reputable journals. Bro. Erle is well with you in these S&T efforts.

To conclude, let me echo the note of one of my most revered thinkers, Jurgen Habermas: let us transform knowledge into a liberative pursuit, and allow the knowledge-bearer to apperceive the transcendent in the process of knowledge pursuit. Knowledge is liberation. Amen. Om. Aum.

 

[October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

STUDY THE WISDOM LESSONS (Seekers’ Lesson 3)

STUDY THE WISDOM LESSONS (Seekers’ Lesson 3)

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Greetings in the Almighty God’s I Am Presence, Noble Seekers!

For this moment’s reflection, I’d stress on the need to read and study the wisdom lessons or ‘the Teaching’. The essential attitudes to observe regarding the Teaching goes by the social marketing line: Read Everything, Question Everything, Doubt Nothing. Let’s go over these attitudes one after the other.

Read Everything!

Read and study everything that would come into mind as contributing to building a reflective, contemplative, wise self. This is a very important aspect of your own ‘capacity building’ efforts.

It’s up to you to define where to begin. Fact is, you may have already begun. In my case, I began with the Holy Bible: page after page of it, hungry with knowledge and wisdom, I quaffed every wisdom note that I could procure from both the Old and New Testaments. It’s the King James version, coming from the Vatican, brought to my ancestral home by my gifted, genius grandfather. I was 15 years old when I first went through it…. So, you can begin with scriptural materials.

There are many of you there who may find scriptural materials as quite nauseating. “Geek! What Stone Age kind of things! What Greek stuff!” (pardon me, dear Greeks!) Alright, if you’re this type, then maybe you can begin with controversial materials. I was 17 when I read the first controversial, mystical material, The Spear of Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft, a British white magician. The book came from my own biological mom’s collection (we all have a Divine Mom, remember!). I almost went ecstatically orgasmic while reading the stuff! More such materials came later. You can do the same.

Maybe you can begin with the conspiracy materials. Those among you who are fond of detective novels can perhaps be titillated with conspiracy stuff. There’s The Hiram Key by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas, Their Kingdom Come/Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei by Robert Hutchison, and more reads. There are so many reads on this stuff on internet by the way, and most likely so many of you Seekers have already done research on them.

 

Perhaps the esoteric philosophy materials could be your entry point. These texts go by their wisdom traditions: Theosophy, Kabbalah, Essene, Gnosis, Druid, Eleusinian, Sufi, Esoteric Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, Freemasonry, Anthroposophy, Mayan, Native American, Babaylan (Malayo-Philippine), Veda, Vedanta, Tantra, Tao, and related items. You may focus on just one tradition, but I’d highly recommend that you also do research on the others across time. I began with theosophy, circa 1980, I guess because these lessons were largely those synthesized by my guru El Morya and his team, which he then passed on (channeled) to HP Blavatsky and her team.

Transdisciplinal materials could suit you as entry point. They combine philosophy and sciences’ discourses into an exquisitely woven singular material. Tao of Physics by Deepak Chopra is an excellent example of the transdisciplinal type. Zecharia Sitchin also writes using transdisciplinal methodology, which you will observe in such books of his as The Wars of Gods and Men and Divine Encounters.

You may be drawn the strongest to psychism and magic. Edgar Cayce’s psychic readings would be fitting start ups. Ravenscroft is also into this genre. U.S. Andersen’s Secret Powers of Pyramids is another example. Wicca could also be worth reviewing for you. Materials on evocative magic may also attract you. There’s also sex magic, such as the Toaist Secrets of Love by Mantak Chia. Materials on prophecy and futuristics made by mystics and psychics are related ones. Go ahead, please read them.

So, Noble Seekers, there is no fixed formula as to which reading to start. Feel it from your heart, take away those barriers of mind that could deter you along the path. But never forget: read all of those generic materials as much as possible. They are all important. Stay away from thoughts that “these are more important than those ones,” “scriptures are Stone Age and irrelevant,” “My God! Scary New Age stuff! That’s Lucifer’s footnotes!” If you think this way, thou art no seeker at all.

Question Everything!

“Oh My God! That’s wonderful!”…”My God, those texts are exceedingly wise! I’d follow them all!” “Look at Deepak Chopra! He’s great and superman! I’ll read only him from now on!”

 

Hello! Aren’t you Seekers? Only the cult devotees romanticize certain teachings and texts and tend to look down on others as filthy and small-time. Read everything, but also add the element of a critical mind while you reflect and contemplate on the texts. Never worship the texts or its writers.

I am a Filipino, and I was reared to a great extent in Anglo-Saxon philosophy that was brought to the islands by the Americans and the post-colonial scholars. I was also schooled at the University of the Philippines (main campus), where the critical tradition is dominant and sacrosanct till these days. The Germanic-continental tradition is an addition in my alma mater, the sociology department. The critical tradition has been with me since, and I find the critical mind very helpful for reflection purposes.

I was also trained as a scientist—sociologist and political economist—and I always bear with me the thinking that every text that I read contains errors or gaps. No text whatsoever is so perfect that it would withstand the test of time and be all-relevant for all times. There also is no such thing as ‘Theory Of Everything’ or TOE, and I’m allergic to any contention about certain texts categorically declared as meta-narratives fit for all situations and explanatory of all phenomena. That’s pure dung!

Always allow some space for critical mental process, for some questionings. As in any scientific work, there always is a possibility of 10% error. As a scientist, I’m already very happy when critiques would say I’m hitting 90%. Upon releasing my book 13^th Gate Unveiled, a prophetic-futuristic book about the Philippines, ASEAN, and the Aquarian Age, I was gladdened by a note from a fellow mystic Rachel Somera when she claimed that I was hitting 90% accuracy. What a high mark for an amateur prophet!

In my own experience of readings on theosophy, I was almost completely mesmerized by the brilliant synthesis of HP Blavatsky. Her team mates—Hodson, Leadbeater, A. Bessant, Q. Judge—were all able mystics and thinkers, and met my expectations of what Teachers should be: as Thinkers first and foremost. But their treatment of the ‘Lucifer Question’ got me raising questions. This gap somehow led to the adoption of Theosophy as a foundational reading by secret societies of Fallen Ones such as Hitler’s Germanenorden. One gets the feeling that “Lucifer is Cool!” after going through the Lucifer aspect of their reflections. I don’t buy that part. And I was led into further research to get clarified about the ‘Lucifer Question’. I’m still researching on the Lucifer item till these days.

Not only that. The time-frames used by Blavatsky in her estimations of the evolution of human generic types—called ‘root races’—seem unbelievably and overwhelmingly long! Is this the only way of looking at time periods or timelines? It is more apparent to me that Blavatsky & team was largely seeing reality, including time period and the evolutionary pattern (cycical), from the focal lenses of a paradigm (to use Thomas Kuhn’s term). I was right in my questions as I stumbled upon texts, such as those written by the fellow mystic & teacher Sal Rachele, indicating the paradigm-fixation of many texts. Needless to say, our view of the time periods can also change, the timelines of ancient history can change, depending on the paradigm we employ in our analysis or exegesis of the templates of life.

I should like to share more questions here, but space doesn’t allow. To end this portion, Noble Seekers, go ahead and raise questions. Keep tab of them, jot them down if possible. These questions will lead you to do research all the more, and this is what ‘seeking’ as an attitude is all about: texts should be able to provoke you into raising questions, and into doing inquiries along the way.

Doubt Nothing!

When you are able to raise questions properly—meaning to say, the texts passed through your inquisitive eyes and critical mind—than you can move on to ascertain truths about realities. The truth criterion, in my mind, is still a very relevant criterion, and I do not go along with the contentions of the post-modernist about the matter who regard the truth criterion as hubris.

Anything that is absolutist is a questionable thing to me. Fixed Idea is dangerous and obnoxious. But it is equally dangerous and obnoxious to throw away the truth criterion. “Aha that’s passé! There’s nothing today but the all-luring power of Desire! The Primal! What truths are you talking about?” That’s the line of the followers of Foucault, Derrida, Lacan, Baudrillard and the post-structuralists, and they are entitled to their opinions. But think many times before you regard the truth criterion as trash.

Nothing can stop you from perceiving facets of reality as paradigmatic: you can observe them from different angles, and your inferences or conclusions will depend largely on the vantage point from which you perceive them. For instance, in Theosophy, the ontological dimensions are thought of as comprising 7 dimensions of existence, with 7 corresponding bodies of man. There are some other texts that have a different view, as they employ the ‘density’ category rather than ‘dimension’ category. Accordingly, there are ’12 densities’, we are 3^rd density humans in the physical plane, that the planet will evolve shortly into a 4^th density planet, and so on.

There may be variances in inferences due to paradigm differences, as observed above. But one thing is certain at least: the physical plane, where we live, isn’t the only ontological dimension, and that, logically and empirically, there are dimensions higher than the 3^rd dimension or 3^rd density. And because of this certainty, I will never doubt the existence of beings in other dimensions, as they can be empirically observed and known. And I will never doubt the existence of the all-pervasive, all-guiding Almighty God, as both inductively and through yoga meditation I am certain of the existence of the Highest Cosmic Being and of ontological planes higher than the physical plane.

I’m not saying that doubting is a bad thing. What I’m saying is that in the end, you must establish certainties based on the truth criterion. That would be the start of increased wisdom.

So here we end, Noble Seekers. Prepare your own research agenda, trust your Inner Guide in the process, and you’re into this version of ‘magical mystery tour’. Good luck in your enquiries!

[Writ 04 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

YOGA MEDITATION: SCIENCE & CRAFT (Seekers’ Lesson 2)

YOGA MEDITATION: SCIENCE & CRAFT (Seekers’ Lesson 2)

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Magandang umaga sa inyo! Good morning to you all!

I’d summarize to you at this moment what yoga is: as science and practice. Yoga means yoke, a signifier for union. One who practices yoga would want to re-establish a union with the God Self even while the practitioner still resides—in bio-physical form—in the physical plane. There are too many materials on yoga, and a lot of teachers too, so please go ahead and learn from those materials and teachers. I will summarize in this article meditation as a specific yoga practice. As a clarification, this is only a beginner’s meditation kit and not one for the advanced types (mystics, masters).

Meditation as Science. Yoga meditation is a science first of all. It is a method that is the least costly, available for free or for a minimal cost (if acquires it via a workshop), and safe. It is effective in expanding awareness, increasing one’s vibratory frequency, increasing intelligence, acquiring information/knowledge using higher intuition, harnessing beneficial energies (chi, cosmic energy), and integrating life experiences and the self into a coherent tapestry. One can deal with it in the manner of an experiment: go through it, examine the effects along the way, and compare your pre-yoga and yoga meditation practice periods.

Meditation and the Psyche. Meditation is a psychological undertaking, a fact that adds to its scientific import (science of psychology). It comprises a part of the reflective-introspective chain, to note: focusàcontemplationàmeditation. Meditation is not identical to contemplation. But contemplation can be the start of a meditation session. Focus is needed, of course, as one cannot contemplate and meditate without a foundation of focus. Meditation, as method, increases a person’s power of focus and contemplation, in that it provides order and integration to the two processes.

In addition, as an integrative tool, yoga meditation can help stabilize those fractured aspects of the lower self. For instance, if one is emotionally unstable, meditation can aid the practitioner in healing the emotional body (astral body) and harmonize it with one’s cognition (mental body or mind), bio-physical body, and ‘social self’. If the social self is fractured, which causes personality disorder conditions (manifesting in suicidal ideation and sociopathic hostilities), meditation can also be employed to heal and stabilize this aspect of the lower self.

Purposes. The purposes or goals of yoga meditation must be made clear to the person before practicing it. In planning practice, we divide goals into the general objective (main goal) and the specific objectives.

For all seekers, it should be clear that the general objective (long-term or strategic goal) is self-realization or God-realization. They mean the same. Self here means the higher self, while realization refers to the awakening and functioning of the higher self (or God-self), and its direct interventional guidance over one’s lower self or ‘psyche’ even while one is physically awake. For most people, their God-selves are asleep most often, which makes the folks somnambulists or sleep-walkers.

With the inner eye focused on such a goal, one can then move on to the specific objectives whenever one meditates. These specific objectives should accrue to the attainment of the long-term goal. Use meditation, for instance, in looking for a house fit for your purposes (yogi’s house type), spouse to marry, jobs to take, studies to undertake, heal ailing aspects of yourself and/or physique, travels to make, speeches to write, and so on. These specific purposes are often tied up to your needs, both felt needs (of the moment) and those that are arising or yet to emerge.

There are those people who mentor inquirers into using meditation for opening up the 3^rd eye. This is psychism, and I declare categorically that I am not among the mentors of psychic crafts. Think many times, Dear Seeker, before you embark on this purpose. Without spiritual awakening and sterling virtues developed in the Path, you will just use those paranormal powers to control and manipulate people, to aggrandize wealth and expand your ego. I am a Teacher of the Path, not a master of psychism.

The Craft or Practice of Meditation. Meditation as a 7^th Ray practice often goes hand in hand with prayer. Prayer’s function is to send messages to the higher spheres, while meditation’s function is to receive messages from the same spheres (including from your higher self). In my practice, I often pray before I meditate. Prayer helps one to establish focus & contemplation quickly. It will also help one to invite higher beings such as an Archangel or Angels who can protect you while you’re meditating. Let’s go over the process one after the other:

1.      Abdominal state. Meditate at least 1 & ½ hours after taking a meal, or 1 hour after taking an afternoon snack. It is bad to meditate when there’s too much food in the stomach, as the mass will block the flow of chi (vital energy) and can make you feel bad in your abdomen.

 

2.      Schedules. I presume you are the urban/suburban Seeker, busy with work schedules. So do your meditation in staggered manner. When ‘capable’ of meditating in full (1 hour per day), meditate for 20 minutes upon waking up (before bath & breakfast), 20 minutes inserted in the morning, and 20 minutes before sleeping. Or, if time permits, 30 minutes upon waking up and 30 minutes before sleeping. If you can’t meditate while in the workplace, then meditate after work and before you take supper.

 

3.      Duration. When you’re just starting, begin with a regimen of just 10 minutes per day for at least 1 month. On your 2^nd month, raise it to 15 minutes per day. On the 3^rd month, raise it to 20 minutes total. On the 6^th month, go ahead with a total of 30 minutes per day (e.g. 10 upon waking up, 10 at daytime, and 10 before sleeping). Every 2 months thereafter, add an increment of 5 minutes per day for each month, till you get to 45 minutes per day on your 12^th month or 1^st year. Stay at that schedule for another year. On year 2, begin a regimen of 1 hour daily, and stay at that schedule for at least seven (7) years. Please don’t jump ahead by forcing a 2-5 hour regimen per day during that 7-year period, as this will abruptly open up your chakras, both major and minor. Such regimens are more fit for monks and not for you Seekers.

 

4.      Where to Face. East or North would be the best cardinal points to face for both prayer and meditation processes. If you meditate using the prostate or supine lying position, then your head must face east or north. My bed faces east, and I meditate using the supine post most often, and it’s been having great effects for me at this cardinal point, rest assured.

 

5.      Positions. A simple squat with your legs crossed in place of a lotus position for the non-Indians, as our physique were conditioned differently from Indians. Or, sit on a chair, but don’t cross your legs. Chin up, as this will connect your ‘lower terminals’ with your ‘higher terminals’ more easily (don’t ever bow your heads, except when you do your brief prayer before meditation). Or, you can lie down in bed or on the floor (on a mat or carpet), or on a grassy area (make sure there are no bugs or ants). If you squat or sit on a chair, you can use the closed-finger mudra or simply open up your palms and rest them face-up on your lap or near the knee. In supine post, let your palms face the floor (face down). As you advance, you can go ahead and study the mudras that are recommended by yoga schools.

 

6.      Breathing. Meditation breathing is what makes it stunningly unique. When one masters yoga breathing, it is no longer air but chi (for mystics add cosmic energy) that enters the lungs and your body. Begin by breathing deeply, and visualize white light coming down from above your crown and moving down your aura, then pause a second or two. Then, exhale slowly, with your out-breath even slower than in-breath, and visualize dark energies flowing from your body and out of your nostrils as you exhale, then pause a second or two. Then inhale again in the same slow process, pause, then exhale and pause, and so on. Do this for around 15-22 counts.

 

7.      Eyes & Brow Focus. You can opt to open or close your eyes. If you choose the open eye option, fix your eyes in a point on the wall or on a space ahead of you. Meantime, put your focus on your brow area. Use that focus during the entire process of meditation. It pays most specially to use a potent focus when inhaling, and when meditating on certain themes.

 

8.      Music. You may opt to meditate with music. Nature music, new age music, soft classical music, and soft world music would be best. They are musical pieces that elevate and transport you to the higher realms. You can also meditate without music, as this can make you attune to a higher music: the ‘music of the spheres’. Soft musical pieces that are melancholic, such as ballads and love songs, are a no-no in meditation, as they transfix you in sadness and cut you off from a higher awakening that happens when meditating.

 

9.      Mental Inactivity. While meditating, make sure not to think actively of whatever images, save for the theme you will meditate about. You can opt to meditate without a theme. ‘Empty-mind’ yoga is what zen prescribes, and this technique is difficult for most people to do. I rather recommend the ‘passive thinking’ rather than ‘zero thinking’ technique: observe thoughts that come to your mind, don’t block them, simply observe them as they come, but don’t actively produce thoughts. Guaranteed it is easy to meditate this way. In my case, I was trained to meditate using counting, and so I count a number from inhale to exhale phase, two for the next phase, and so on. 100 counts often equate to 15 minutes, so I don’t have to use a watch or clock to measure time while meditating. 200 counts is 30 minutes more or less.

 

10.  Theme Meditation. After doing the initial focus and conditioning (first 15-22 counts), you can move on to your meditation theme if you opt for this. If counting distracts you, then move on to the theme without counting. Follow the mental inactivity state. When your theme is optimized, move on to the theme-less state, observe the flow of energy, observe the singing of birds in the surrounds, observe the wonderful power of silence, and so on. Then end your meditation.

 

11.  Ending. When ending meditation, go back to your regular breathing. If you meditated for half an hour, breath regularly for at least 10 minutes or 100 counts before standing up. The regular breathing will help bring back your nervous system to regular mode. And don’t just stand up abruptly after the process. For at least two (2) minutes, savor the quietude, the fine environment, the wonderful moment. Meditation should make you exude good mood and harmony.

[Writ 02 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

FAITH, DEVOTION, BHAKTI (Seekers’ Lesson 1)

FAITH, DEVOTION, BHAKTI (Seekers’ Lesson 1)

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Magandang araw sa inyo! Good day to you all!

For this moment’s reflection, I’d focus on the faith element in the Path. A Seeker is someone else who should have filled up shis (his/her) ‘glass of faith’ and need not over-focus on faith-centered works. Just like when one needs medication, the moment that the ailment had healed, one must take off from the medication right away or else face deleterious consequences of overdose and over-exposure to the medication.

So is it with faith. Faith is the central affective (emotions, feelings) element in the soul, it makes one a ‘believer’ at the minimum, and is definitely needed to ascend the heights. But faith alone isn’t enough. There are the cognitive, intuitive, nirvanic and higher elements in the Self that must also be given attention. Let us presume that the Seeker has the faith element well built up, and will need not demonstrate overtly that s/he believes in God and the transcendent reality.

There are two things to note here by the Seeker. It concerns devotion: the ‘externalization’ of faith. One, constantly check out on your devotion to your ‘significant Others’. And, two, practice some form of Bhakti. Devotion to the ‘significant Other’ (loved one, boss, fellow, etc) and devotion to God Almighty are very much intertwined. To say that one can show utmost devotion to God while showing bitterness, apathy and sociopathy to fellows is non-sense. They must co-condition each other. Failing to observe this synergy, one will flounder in the path.

Devotion to the ‘Significant Others’

Based on the observation of sociologists, the complex web of social relations we call ‘society’ cannot be possible without devotion manifested at the micro-level: the level of ‘in-groups’. In these groups we perform roles of great diversity, roles that shift as we move on from one situation to another. We encounter our ‘significant others’ in these groups, and they comprise the base of our ‘lifeworld’ (lebenswelt).

During the early heydays of the founding of sociology, the intellectual giants Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Mannheim, Cooley, G.H. Mead, Sorokin and Schutz went down to brass tacks right away, designed the methods that will uncover the veils of reality at the micro-level, see what forces make society possible at that level, and assess the human condition within the templates of that reality. Their finding was a homogenous one: devotion is the most singular, powerful force that cements social bonds, and the social bonds in return produce norms that, in return, make institutions and society possible.

So, Noble Seeker, it all boils down to devotion. With high devotion, social order; with low to negative devotion, social chaos. Systems of representations form a rubric from out of devotion, notably: norms, prescriptions and proscriptions, values, laws, sanction systems, etc. When forces are operative that will tend to bring devotion down, crisis results (see Weber, Durkheim, Sorokin). Weber observed ‘dehumanization’ within the context of a rationalized, bureaucratized order; Durkheim, that of ‘anomie’ as community solidarity self-destructs, giving way to an ‘organic solidarity’ in urbanized settings; and Sorokin, the ‘crisis of our times’ due to excessive sensate values. Earlier than them, Marx elaborated on the problem of ‘alienation’ as the most central human predicament.

Since those studies of the sociological founders were released, the human predicament had deteriorated to greater extremes, madness seems to have become dominant, giving rise to the thesis about the failure of Reason or the Enlightenment as the root cause. There had since been the greater clamor to build more community, to create more social harmony, and so on. With the presence of an increasing number of Lightworkers, we are glad to note that the values aimed at affecting community are penetrating deep down the private sphere where the social bond is embedded.

So, Noble Seeker, the world context is quite better now for alternative paradigms. Please check out constantly on your devotion to your ‘significant others’. Check out whether you are a harmonizer or a destroyer of bonds most often. If there is a ‘critical mass’ of antipathy or sociopathy in you, chances are that you are suffering from personality disorder condition. Your emotional self is badly ailing and damaged, and cannot function to the fullest. So damaged is it that you cannot function socially as well, since your emotional self is the foundation of your ‘social self’.

And if your emotional-social selves are damaged, there is no way that energy from Above can flow to you fully. You aren’t capable of interconnecting with your fellows, of demonstrating an interface of your ‘heart chakras’, you experience alienation and anomie, and you could become a factor in damaging the ecology of any organization or group. If people with badly damaged emotional-social selves would come together, they could only seal social bonds through compulsion, fear and intimidation, and the result is mafia groups or totalitarian groups.

My thesis is that you can only best approach the Almighty God via devotion if you likewise can demonstrate devotion to your ‘significant others’. And that devotion must be a balanced, harmonic devotion, not the forced devotion of mafias and totalitarian groups. If you as Seeker has got some balancing to do on your emotional-social aspects, than please do so soon enough. Secure the help of a clinical psychologist at least, or a good psycho-social counselor who can help you do the self-assessment and modify your behavior towards greater balance accordingly.

Sustain high levels of goodwill with your ‘significant others’ at all times. You may have some fiery quarrels with people on personal and professional grounds, and the conflict can bruise your bonds. Take some time to heal the bond, but as soon as the negative energy of the conflict is extinguished, re-establish goodwill. At the minimum, pray for the persons involved, express in thought and heart that you have forgiven them. Even if you won’t see the same persons again, or decide to cut off links with them, decide just the same to maintain goodwill. That clearly done, you will contribute to firming up the loose soils of the fractured societal bonds, and become a true Lightworker in the process.

Devotion to God, the Bhakti Way

No matter how far you’ve advanced as a Seeker or even as a mystic or master, just the same you will feel the urge to do devotional works. The most individuated Seekers are allergic to mass production devotions (church, congregations). If you are this type of Seeker, then schedule a bhakti session alone, in your home, by chanting the name of God. The lines you learned from your churches would be alright for this purpose.

For instance, you can chant repeatedly for around fifteen (15) minutes at least the mantrams “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare (7X), Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare (7X),” over and over. You can also diversify the mantrams. Advanced seekers are universalistic, and if you’re of this kind, than you can add, even if you were born a Hindu, the chanting of the “Hail Mary” of the Catholics, and vice versa (Catholics can chant the Hindu’s bhakti mantrams). A powerful chant is “Om Namo Narayanaya” which is expressing devotion to the Spirit-side of God.

That is why the “Hail Mary” or the novena was designed—by mystics within the Roman church—precisely to diffuse powerful mantrams as sustainers of devotion to Mary and God. So powerful is the novena, devotees just can’t comprehend its power but during the focal devotions the novena keeps the believers glued to where they are. If only the church can re-codify the Hail Mary into chant form, and let it be sung repeatedly, it could transport the devotee to the heights of the higher dimensions.

If you Dear Seeker are keen on attending church service, than that would be your regular Bhakti session. During a mass, the devotees chant, invoke many mantrams (prayers), and end the ritual with an invocation to let the Violet Flame descend unto the participants (Violet Flame = Holy Spirit of Christians). Go ahead, Seeker, maintain your church life, but to make your bhakti more meaningful you must also join your ministries or equivalent. Join the liturgy ministry, or youth ministry, or ecology ministry, where you can work with ‘significant others’ and strengthen your devotion at that level.

It is possible that if you, Seeker, can stabilize your emotional-social selves via bhakti if you are unstable in this regard. Bhakti can be a powerful tool that will make your heart warm up to your hostile “enemies” (per your perception) and reconcile with them even if the reconciliation will be non-physical (visualization with prayers, reconciliation of the heart). But if your emotional-social ailments have reached the dysfunctional level, then please see a psychiatrist who can help you take off the dark energies that cause the ailments from your unconscious mind.

Look at all those devotees who practice bhakti, but who after coming from church service are back to their hostile, antisocial attitudes towards their ‘significant others’. They suffer from deep psychiatric malaise, and they are using bhakti (church service) as a dope or opiate to temporarily relieve them of the ailment. The opiate then makes them delude into believing that they are already saved. Sociologists found out after extensive research, some with disbelief, that indeed the ‘opiate effect’ thesis of Marx, or ‘religion as dope’ of Simmel, or ‘religion as illusion’ by Freud, was empirically correct, accurate and precise. (See the works of Kenneth Thompson regarding the theme of ‘belief and ideology’ as summary of these inquiries.)

Don’t ever imitate those whose behavior you think isn’t worth emulating. Such as the mass of devotees, most of whom are laggards, who have reduced devotion to dope. Make bhakti a truly liberating one, let it penetrate through you and empower your conscience. With an empowered conscience, virtues can work within you, and you can develop healthy relationships with ‘significant others’ based on true, spirit-filled devotion.

Summary

In sum, put devotion in your program for self-realization, and practice them at both the social and trans-social (transcendent) levels. With your heart you can then intuit on the cosmic significance of the category of ‘Other’, and discover that the ‘significant Others’ are One and indivisibly parts of the ‘Divine Others’, all thus merged in the heart, mind and will of the highest ‘Other’: God. Then indeed are you prepared to journey to the Heights of the Divine.

[Writ 05 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

SELF-LEARNING: MODALITY FOR PRESENT & FUTURE AGES

SELF-LEARNING: MODALITY FOR PRESENT & FUTURE AGES

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Noble Seekers, Fellows in the Path who by now number by the tens to hundreds of millions, this article focuses on the modality of methods for transcendence for the current and future contexts. To begin with, it will be largely the self-learning modality that is now dominant.

While it is a fact that individuation continues to rise and expand in a very dynamic fashion, and that the old institutional methods of attainment are crumbling by the day, it is also a fact that there has been an explosion in the population from the past century onto the present, which constrains the Ascended Host or divine beings in embodying teachers who can attend to Seekers’ needs.

In the language of economics, we have a huge demand for the Teachings, but we are short of the supply of Teachers. We have right now a ‘buyers’ market’ as far as the teachings are concerned, and so this situation raises challenges on the Ascended Host to innovate on means of attainment so that the ‘buyers’ (Seekers) will meet their specific needs.

All souls here must reckon with the fact that the physical plane, nay the planet Earth as a whole, is a school for life. As such, it is an open market for various teachers, both of the Dark Side and the Light Side. It used to be that the Dark Ones were dominant in the physical plane, where they held sway in an almost monopolistic manner. However, beyond the year 1934, the equation had changed, and we have more or less an equal opportunity for both the Dark and Light sides to present their platforms and lessons before a huge ‘market’ of souls.

The new development was made possible by the increased ‘supply’ of more evolved souls in the physical plane. Such souls have graduated to the level of ‘old souls’, to use a Chinese term. There are now a ‘critical mass’ of evolved souls and other advancing seekers, leading a further larger number of enthused devotees, seekers, mystics and masters whom we all refer to as ‘Lightworkers’.

Thus, with a ‘level the playing field’ now optimized, we have a greater opportunity to proceed in the Path than ever. We have an ‘equal opportunity’ situation here, to use the term of civil libertarians. Of course, the Dark Ones would want to shift the balance back to their favor, by sabotaging the operations of the Lightworkers—by attacking us all both internally (within each one of us) and externally, or in situations where we are weak. But their efforts are looking ridiculously slapstick, for they realize that they cannot have the competitive edge in this manner.

One thing that the Dark Ones will never be able to control is the increasing power of the Christ Consciousness on this planet. And this situation, which the Fallen Ones would wish to subtly neutralize via the relentless permeation of the Anti-Christ Consciousness in the private sphere, is shifting the balance in favor of the Lightworkers more or less. You would see in all mass media, for instance, the constant bombardment of the mind with negative images, libidinal messages, and many more imaging devices that leave the folks mesmerized and wallowed in cesspools of crass materialism. But these efforts are largely a panic complex by the Fallen Ones, and they will lose the day as the Christ Consciousness further permeates the private sphere and individual consciousnesses.

However, we Lightworkers would also admit that the explosion in our populations have constrained the hands of Teachers in the Path. For while there may be many mystics and masters, not many from our ranks can perform teaching roles. In the Philippines for instance, which is a remnant of the ancient Mu continent, healing has been the chosen mission of about 2/3 of mystics & masters. There is now a revival in this country of ancient techniques, popularized in antiquity by Lemuro-Atlantean priests, of a method that would accelerate the pace of inner awakenings without having to use yoga meditation that will take decades of painstaking practice to achieve desired results. And so we have an explosion of healing ministries in the archipelago today, but too few teachers.

So, whether in RP or in the other countries, we face a low supply of teachers inspite of a huge stock of Lightworkers. The best remedy for the situation is to devise innovative methods that will shift the learning from teacher-centered to seeker-centered learning. The learning situation had in fact already shifted to the self-learning modality as of the last quarter yet of the 20^th century.

So what is the role of the Teacher in this situation? As I elucidated in my book Libertosophy & Freethought, the teacher performs the role of a catalyst of change in the new context. The guru or teacher is much like the university professor whose instruction is only 30% of the equation, while the student does 70% of the efforts. There would be an instance when the teacher can recede in the background, and the Seeker programs his/her own readings and lessons, with help of course from shis (his/her) Inner Guide. Just like when one graduates from college, the professors won’t be around any longer, but the alumnus can move on to program his/her readings and thematic learning using various methods such as enrolling in special seminars.

The same thing is true for the Seeker. The physical Teacher will help you begin the courses, explain to you the ‘program’, then supervises and monitors your undertakings for a specified or expected period. Each seeker will absorb lessons differently for sure, so the Teacher will recommend to you whether to continue with the existing program or move on to a succeeding set of lessons. Be prepared to hear the Teacher recommend that you get instructions from some other Teachers who may be adept at certain courses and methods.

And so, just like in the university where a student encounters many professors before graduating, a seeker will encounter many teachers along the way. It’s possible that you, Noble Seeker, will be a disciple of a single Teacher, and it cannot be avoided that you will develop a strong, devotional attitude bordering a filial bond with the Teacher. There’s no problem with that. Still, your main Teacher may encourage you to seek lessons from other teachers, and then you go back later to your main Teacher who can help you assess where you are situated so far in your spiritual compass.

Such a Teacher is truly noble, and has the proper mark of a ‘true teacher’: one who will respect your autonomy from the very onset, and encourages you to get instructions from others. S/he will never show a sense of jealousy towards other teachers at all, but will be deeply happy over the disciple’s expanded learning from other physical teachers. True teachers never call themselves ‘master’ at all, it is the disciples who out of deep filial respect will call the teacher a master, or papa/baba (father), or mama (mother).

Any Teacher who labels himself/herself master is suspect. Likewise would the trait of trying to control seekers by using the “I am your only teacher” or “you cannot have any teacher other than me” line. You may even end up being forewarned of the dire consequences of leaving the teacher for another teacher if ever. A very egotistical teacher this one is! Beware of their kinds, they are manipulative and deceptive and they abound in our planet.

In my case, I would go for a formula of 10% learning from me, and 90% of learning self-programmed by the Seeker. For the advanced seekers, who are bound to become mystics, I’d have it a residual 3%-8% learnings from me, and the rest from the seeker. Most of you seekers are out to be handled by your own ‘true guru’ who is no other than your own respective Inner Guide, and my role is simply to help connect you to that Guide. But I will always open my gate to you, as my own commitment of co-partnering with your Guide in instructing you, and will have to clarify questions and lessons every now and then or when you feel a need to. The time will come when it will be largely you and your Inner Guide co-partnering, as I am done from my duties for you.

My main guru, the Master El Morya, does the same thing to me: he instructs me approximately once every 1 & ½ years only, with 1%-2% lessons coming from him. He also helps me to assess lessons learned from other teachers (who are non-physical). Sometimes he calls for me urgently, to which I oblige very willingly, and then lets me go quickly. His occult powers are beyond my comprehension, as he can summon me and transport my etheric body right in front of him in the higher dimensions, while my physical body is taking a ride for work in the big city (Manila), instructs me in 20 minutes or so, and then brings back my subtle body to my physical body before I alight for work.

But there are those phlegmatic types who it seems are former laggards who have quite evolved compared to their own kinds. They absorb lessons so slow, that sometimes I keep on repeating the same lessons or subjects to them. Their long-term memories don’t work as much as the smart seekers whose IQs border the genius. So for the phlegmatics I am compelled to raise the formula to 50% learning from me, and 50% self-learning. And I have to pray to the Almighty God for additional patience to handle them because no matter how slow they are, they keep on going in the Path and no teacher has a business to throw them away just because they’re slow.

Now, for the smart ones, who admirably absorb lessons so fast, I can take on a merely residual of 3%-8%. And there are seekers whose IQs are genius level. Genius is the highest level of awakening that a seeker can develop. Geniuses in IQ who are also geniuses in emotional & social quotients are those highly evolved types and are Big Siblings unto others. Provided that they are focused in their lessons, meditate regularly, and they do the 7-ray program consistently, they can become mystics by middle age. By that time, their main guru will shift from a physical teacher to an Ascended Master who may be non-physical but of a higher-dimensional nature. In my experience, I never was initiated by a physical guru, but rather guarded & guided by an archangel and then instructed by an Ascended Master from young adulthood onwards. I became a mystic at Age 36. It was 98% self-learning for me from the inception.

Now, are you somebody else who’s dependent on a teacher 90% of the time? Whose lessons are doctrinal, never learning from texts outside of scriptures? Who regards the words of the teacher as the only true and correct expression of the divine? Then please stick to your church. Your teacher is your priest and/or patriarch and not a guru. You are rest assured of my goodwill, as we are all ‘children of God’ (emanations from the Cause of all Causes).

But if you wish to combine seekers’ and devotees’ lessons, like many phlegmatics and laggards do, well and good. No problema! Please consult matters with me, as I’m very willing to help you out.

So, Noble Seekers, good luck to your learning! I’ll be with you as much as I can as your Big Brother.

[Writ 01 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

LESSONS FOR SEEKERS: A BRIEFER

LESSONS FOR SEEKERS: A BRIEFER

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Most felicitous greetings, Noble Seeker!

It should be of interest to you to know what would be the configuration of lessons that you ought to undertake in your journey to God-realization. By using the imperative ‘ought to’, I don’t mean to scare you with the implication that if you won’t do the lessons, you’d go to hell. Far from it, you are a free will being. The best attitude for you is to reflect on the notes below with reason, wisdom and love rather than obey them out of fear. If they don’t make sense to you, fine, I’d still treat you as a Fellow human.

To begin with, please familiarize yourself with the system of 7 that I’ve adopted. As a mystic, I’m well aware of the Law of 7: 7 days in a week, 7-year itch (for newly wed couples), every 7 years all of the cells in our body replace themselves entirely, it takes 7 years to start and complete a phase in the Path before going to the next, the 7 planes or dimensions of being, etc. Again, this is a cosmic law or axiom that pervades all universes (bio-physical, astral-etheric, causal, spiritual universes).

I also borrowed heavily from H.P Blavatsky and her team of theosophical thinkers, by adopting the 7 Ray system. Accordingly, 7 Rays emanate from the Godhead, representing thus 7 different ways of galvanizing life in the domains of the manifest worlds, to wit: 1^st Ray, Power; 2^nd Ray, Wisdom; 3^rd Ray, Art; 4^th Ray, Love; 5^th Ray, Science; 6^th Ray, Service; and, 7^th Ray, Alchemy or Ceremonial Magic.

Such Rays represent essential soul attributes and personality traits, to note: Power (1^st Ray), Will-oriented; Wisdom (2^nd Ray), Contemplative or intellectual prowess; Art (3^rd Ray), Craftsmanship; Love (4^th Ray), Devotion; Science (5^th Ray), Knowledge-building; Service (6^th Ray), Serving others or Altruism; and, Alchemy (7^th Ray), Synthesis or power of integration.

Now, this lesson note may sound like the 8-Fold Path of the Lord Gautama, and honestly it is crafted in like vein. This is for simplification purposes: it makes it easier on the mind to note what lessons to do, where had one advanced and where had one lagged behind, and so on. So, this mystic-teacher would opt here for a 7 Ray Lesson Set as a matter of simplification. In succeeding articles, each of these lessons will be discussed.

1^st Ray Lesson: Develop Organization, Leadership, Determination (O-L-D). Developing one’s will is beyond compromise. Weak-willed persons will drift in life. Will must be used to develop the other traits as well. It would be great to join clubs, learn management skills via formal lessons, seminars, workshops, and via practice. Look for lessons shared by human resources gurus such as Maxwell that can help you develop the O-L-D traits. For those who are Power-oriented, they should program themselves to take on leadership and management roles wherever they go. Those who are weak-willed must learn the traits from those who are powerful in this respect.

2^nd Ray Lesson: Build Virtues. From philosophy we learn ethics/axiology, epistemology, metaphysics. For this Ray, I’d emphasize axiology: let values work in your life. Recognize what your weak attitudes or ‘vices’ are, and systematically deprogram them by using a combination of yoga and self-development lessons. Build virtues gradually but determinately. In addition, study every philosophical material along the way. Read everything, question everything, doubt nothing.

3^rd Ray: Show Devotion to All You Love. Demonstrate devotion to the Divine Beings, to your close kins, close pals, superiors and apprentices, to Mother Earth and her blessings of nature and resources, to your Other Half, and so on. Sociologists recognize the central import of devotion in maintaining institutions in the private sphere such as family and peerages, without which society will fragment. No devotion, no social order, high chaos. Conversely, high devotion, high harmony, high order. So, please contribute to this, as your devotion will be paid by Others with love and devotion. Take time to do bhakti yoga such as singing and chanting The Lord’s name in your church or privately at home.

4^th Ray Lesson: Practice a Craft. Right Livelihood, said the Gautama Buddha. A soul without a craft is a soul-less robot and laggard who needs to be instructed via social programming from superiors. The craft or profession should be determined by you most of all, not by others. Crafts must come from your heart and depth of your soul. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs,” so declared the Acts of the Apostles (New Testament). The said fiat means: practice a craft or profession, and you shall get paid accordingly for your efforts. Be not a parasite, for parasitism is a vice or ‘sin’. Aim high in your profession, dream with great ambition, and build capabilities along the way.

5^th Ray: Know Thyself, Thy World, Thy Cosmos. Learn as many tools for self insight as you can learn, such as those developed by psychologists and human resource gurus. Also, keep on studying the sciences, from the biological to the social sciences, and develop analytical-empirical skills in the process. Use such inquisitiveness and tools for understanding the other dimensions, study metaphysics thereof, and learn about the cosmos in general. Develop a scientific attitude in your practical life. Learn to understand the spiritual spheres via spiritual science to be able to break away from superstition and dogma.

6^th Ray: Serve God & Fellow Men. Do service to God and the Transcendent, and serve your ‘significant others’. ‘Serve the People!” declared Mao Zedong, who himself was secretly a Seeker. Follow the Golden Rule with all thy heart. If you are a boss, love and serve your subordinates, and Heaven will open itself up to you. Keep on giving whatever you can give without expecting rewards. As Robert Kiyosaki said in his books on personal success, the more you give, the more you receive. Mother Teresa herself taught us: please keep on serving Others, whether those Others will show sympathy or hostility to your service offerings. If they show you hostility, love and serve them just the same.

7^th Ray: Practice Centering thru Meditation & Prayer. Learn and practice yoga meditation. And learn to pray well too. Yoga meditation is the most focal lesson taught by great Teachers. When practiced properly and consistently, meditation can hasten your higher levels of awakenings. At the highest levels, you can use meditation to burn your own past karmas and effortlessly merge with your God Self or monad (7^th Ray body). So, instead of coming back to the dense spheres for around 1 million more years of repeated reincarnations, you need not come back any further. Yoga is safe and effective. Couple it up with prayers (used for devotional practice, etc), pray short invocations at least 5 times a day. When fully centered, you will attain synthesis and self-integration at quantum speeds and gigantic strides. Your mystical powers will also increase, thus allowing you to help others via your potent prayers & meditations.

Note that such lessons are not chronologically nor axiomatically arranged. You can do the lessons simultaneously every day of the week. It doesn’t mean that 1^st Ray is more important than the 2^nd Ray, or 2^nd Ray more important than 3^rd Ray, and so on. All the Rays are equally important. Strengthen your traits in all rays, for improving one at the expense of others will create imbalance, disharmony and dysfunction in your psyche, leading to psychiatric disorder conditions if not schizophrenia.

As much as possible, please reflect on which trait is most dominant in you. For example, if your strongest is 3^rd Ray, then that will define your vocation in life. As an artist, you must build every capability along the way, aim high in your goals (e.g. a painter must do exhibits and become a ‘signature’ artist, known locally and internationally as much as possible), trust God Almighty that you will succeed as a Star in your vocation. Be somebody in your vocation, God never made nobodies. All were crafted as Stars by God, so assert you Starhood in your vocation.

Can you develop sub-vocations or sub-specializations? By all means, please do so. If you feel so strongly that you must be a physician-surgeon and a concert pianist at the same time, why bother with thoughts that these vocations will conflict? Grab both tigers by the tail, and become both a high-performing doctor and inspiring concert artist at the same time. Failure to do so, deep frustrations could lead into schizophrenia later.

Please note that your spiritual missions (tasks) may be different from your vocation. Do some periodic reflections too about your missions, or core Mission, and see how this can harmonize with your vocations. In today’s context, most missions are concentrated on the 6^th Ray. In my case, I realized that my core Mission is Teaching (2^nd Ray), or guru task. I refused to accept this for a long time, denying that I’m capable of a guru’s task. But the Heights keep on knocking at my doors each day, and I just can’t refuse the task anymore. I have to face it squarely, be bold to accept both successes and failures in my practice, and trust God Almighty that help constantly comes from the Above for me to be able to succeed in my Mission.

Noble Seeker, make no further procrastination, configure your specific lessons now. Help will come from your Guide, trust Almighty Providence. Good luck in your lessons!

[Writ September 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]