Nature of the Soul: Lesson 7

Nature of the Soul: Lesson 7

Lucille Cedercrans

In order to quickly establish continuity of the lesson material projected, I shall refer back to the first two paragraphs of Lesson 6.

We have enumerated and defined the three inherent characteristics of the Soul found manifesting in and through the perfected form as Divine Will, Divine Love Wisdom and Intelligent Activity. We have considered at some length these attributes as the main factors of influence in the aspirant's treading of the path. We realize now that the aspirant is impulsed by the Divine Will of the Soul, infused and illumined by the Divine Love Wisdom of the Soul and swept into activity by the Divine Intelligence of the Soul.

We shall now consider these three attributes as being three types of vibratory energy which reach and influence the aspirant according to his aspiration, meditation and application. We shall consider at some length this threefold method of contacting, accepting and embodying the Divine energies of the Soul. This will give the student a further understanding of the Law and make it possible for his eventual contact in awareness with his Soul.

MEDITATION: Meditation, when rightly carried out, brings the aspirant into contact with the illumining aspect of the Soul. It makes possible the recognition and the eventual embodiment of the quality of the Soul.

We have first the state of aspiration which puts the student in tune, so to speak, with the Soul, after which meditation is added to the student's daily routine.

Many students have come to their teachers with various questions as to what meditation is and how it can be carried out. Few, if any of them, have other than a distorted concept of the activity and a great many of them have further confused the subject by attempting to carry out what they think, or what someone has told them meditation is.

Meditation is communion with the Soul, or higher states of consciousness. It is a freeing rather than a straining of the personality consciousness. This is a point to be remembered. Any meditation which is either hurried or strained will not result in Soul contact. It will merely serve to render the body and the mind uncomfortable.

The first step in any well ordered meditation is alignment. We have already defined alignment in a former lesson as the establishment of a path for the flow of energies between any two given points. In this case the alignment must be between the lowest aspect of the personality and the Soul, through the other aspects of the personality. This establishes a path for the flow of Soul energies in whatever form is in Divine Law and Order.

The personality is composed of three major aspects; the physical or dense body, the astral or emotional nature and the mind or mental nature. The objective of the first stage of alignment is to render the physical body and the emotional nature quiescent and under complete mental control. This is brought about in a two-fold manner as follows:

1. Relaxation. The physical body and the emotional nature must be completely relaxed. Wherever there is tension, there the mind is held a prisoner. If the emotional nature is tense, there is a corresponding physical tension. These tensions hold the attention of the mind fastened to the body and the problem, without freedom to seek, recognize or create a solution. Any attempt to strain or lift the mind from its prison will only serve to strengthen its hold; therefore the process must be one of relaxing, which results in a freeing of the mind. This is accomplished in the following manner:

a. Become physically relaxed and comfortable. It is best to do this in a sitting position. Make the body as comfortable as is possible. Beginning with the feet, relax each muscle, tendon and finally cell of the entire body. Speak to the separate parts, telling them to relax and know that the nervous system carries this message to them, and that they will obey.

b. Become emotionally calm and serene. Speak to the emotions, telling them to relax and to become at peace. Let each worry, etc., slip away until there is a noticeable calming of the emotions.

2. Focus. When the physical body and the emotions are quiescent, the personality consciousness is naturally focused in the mind nature. The mind, which is no longer held a prisoner to the lower aspects, naturally focuses its attention in the world of mind. It does not leave the body, but it does become attentive to the Soul. It is poised and alert. This can best be facilitated in the following manner:

a. Establish a deep, easy rhythmic breath; that which seems natural and comfortable.

b. Taking seven deep breaths, the student lets his mind (attention) rise from the body and emotions and focuses it in the center of the forehead (between the brows). Do not create a point of tension here, simply settle easily in the forehead. You are now focused in the mind. You have aligned the physical and the emotional nature with the mind.

The next step is to align the mind with the Soul. In the past, beginners have made the mistake of trying too hard. Let us eliminate that mistake now. Do not try to place the locality of the Soul. It is everywhere equally present and to place it before recognition and understanding, only limits your thinking. Instead, align yourself with the Soul by turning your attention to the concept of a Soul. Simple? Yes, Truth is ever simple.

You are now aligned with the Soul. You are ready to enter into communication with the Soul. This is done in the following manner:

Your mind is fixed upon the concept of a Soul. This concept is bridged by a seed thought. The mind is given a thought which quickens its vibratory frequency in such a manner as to span the distance in awareness between it and the Soul. Thus the mind is in contact with the Soul.

A very good seed thought for all beginners is:

"I am my Soul, My Soul I am."

This identifies and serves to merge the two states of consciousness - the Soul and the personality - in time and space.

The seed thought is then dropped. The words are no longer spoken. This is the most difficult stage of the entire meditation for beginners and disciples alike. The tendency of the mind to repetition swings the student into the habit of affirmation and this is the exact opposite of the condition required for Soul contact. Just so long as the mind is speaking it is closed to communion with the Soul. It must become quiet, attentive, alert.

The seed thought is dropped as words. The energy of the thought remains as a line of communication and needs no repetition. The mind is stilled. When the moment of absolute silence is reached, the Soul makes itself known.

I should here like to insert a few words of warning. Cast out from your mind all the preconceived ideas you have formulated as to what Soul contact is. You have probably heard stories of various phenomena experienced during meditation. Some of the common ones are; a burst of bright light, communication in the form of words, visual pictures, etc. This is all well and good and may be true of the individuals concerned, but it is not a criterion.

Each individual experiences his contact in an individual manner. Some never see light, never see pictures, never hear or sense words. All of these ways or forms are dictated by the personality, not the Soul. The purest form of Soul communication is that of instantaneous knowing. Anything else is a means, not the goal.

Accept that which comes as the method best suited to your development and do not covet another's way. This is most important.

If you will remember, we spoke of the Law of Cycles in an earlier lesson, touching very briefly upon it as one of the controlling factors in all manifestation. We shall consider it once again in more detail, as regards meditation, for meditation to be fruitful must be carried out in a cyclic pattern. There are cycles within cycles, and in order to bring clarity to the concept we shall go from the general to the specific.

All form appears in time and space in cycles, those cycles being peculiar to the entity manifesting the form. A solar system appears in dense form over a long period of time and at the end of its cycle of activity it disappears from the light of day, to rest for an equal length of time. Thus we have a solar day and night. During the solar day the activities of the entire system manifest in cyclic periods peculiar to the form the activity takes. Thus the day progresses and is completed.

With the solar entity are lesser lives which manifest in form according to this same Law. A planetary life comes into form, manifests certain activities in relation to those of other lives and withdraws from form until its next cyclic period of activity.

This is true of all consciousness, the cycle of the higher always affecting the lower, but allowing the lower a certain amount of freedom to manifest its individual cycles contained within the larger. During the solar day, planetary entities come in and go out in a cyclic manner peculiar to the entity concerned, but being affected always by the cycles of the solar entity itself and the solar entity being affected by the cyclic manifestation of the Cosmos, etc.

Within the planetary life are contained many lesser lives, among which are the five kingdoms in nature. These kingdoms are each one an entity containing many lesser lives. We see the vegetable kingdom, as an example, manifesting in form over a long period of time. Within this larger cycle of manifestation are the lesser cycles which govern the appearance of various members of the one Life. There are the seasons, during which certain forms of vegetable life come in and go out in cycles peculiar to the member.

The human kingdom manifests in the same manner. The human entity appears over a long period of time during which certain states of consciousness come in and go out according to the Law of Cycles. While a state of consciousness is in the process of manifestation, degrees or levels of that consciousness come in and go out; thus we see the rise and fall of civilizations, of races, nations, governments, organizations, family lines, etc.

Contained within the level of a state of consciousness are the lesser lives, the individual human entities who appear in form in a cyclic pattern peculiar to the human kingdom; the state of consciousness, the degree or level of consciousness, and finally to the individual himself.

Within the cycle of the individual incarnation are the lesser cycles governing his activities. These cycles are harder to determine and understand for they are affected by all larger cycles which have produced the opportunity for incarnation and by those individual cycles governing the activities of his associates. He must come to understand the larger cycles which provide him with opportunity for growth in certain directions, as well as to establish his rhythm in harmony with the rhythm of others, thus manifesting right relationship.

The aspirant is often overwhelmed with the enormity of the task, but it is not so difficult as it appears. It does call for a higher concept to be held in the students' mind, as well as a broader point of view, and therefore a change in his thinking processes. The beginner would do well to apply the Law of Correspondence to all that he sees about him. Through observation and application of this Law, much will be grasped and understood which cannot be explained to him in words.

We shall now proceed to the Law of Cycles and its effect upon meditation. Remember as we proceed that the individual cycles are contained within the larger and that the individual must find and establish his own rhythm in right relation to others.

At present we shall consider meditation as a threefold process, considering only those cycles which effect this threefold manifestation. The concept and the resulting activity will have to be enlarged as the student progresses along the path to initiation. It would be well for the student to remember this in regard to all of the teaching, so as not to become crystallized in his thinking to the point of non-receptivity.

The threefold process of meditation can best be described in three words:

1. Reception

2. Absorption

3. Precipitation

The beginner must carry out his meditation in a cyclic pattern which provides a period for each of the three aspects. Later, much later, his meditation will include the threefold process as a simultaneous activity in one period.

The period of reception is that period of time during which realizations are received in the consciousness of the aspirant. This may cover any period of time from hours to days, weeks or in rare instances, even months. During this period the personality is the recipient of the illumining quality of the Soul. His entire nature responds to this period. He is alert, expectant and joyful.

For the average humanity, probationers and beginners on the path of discipleship, this period usually begins two weeks before the full moon and progresses so that the time of greatest realization is in the vicinity of the full moon. The smaller cycle of reception contained within the larger, for the same group, covers the period from sunrise until high noon. This is not a criterion however, for today we find many levels of consciousness manifesting together in time and space, each one having its own peculiar rhythm.

The period of absorption is that time during which the aspirant does not receive new realizations, but absorbs into himself the energies of the realizations received during the period of reception. This period of time is a variable and even an example may be confusing if the student does not remember that his cycle of absorption will be peculiar to himself, and perhaps differ from that of anyone he knows. It may cover a very long period of time or a very short one, depending upon the condition of his bodies, his peculiar Ray makeup, his karmic obligations, etc.

During the age from which we are now passing, this period covered the two weeks following the full moon, and contained within it the activity of precipitation. The lesser cycle covered the period from high noon until sunset. This is still true of some, but all New Age Souls who fall into this classification of teaching, manifest a shorter period of absorption and a separate period of precipitation.

The attitude during this period should be one of contemplation and reflection. The aspirant turns over in his mind the realizations he has received, thus absorbing the accompanying energies. He embodies Light.

The period of precipitation, which is a New Age manifestation in itself, is the period of time during which the aspirant proves the truth of his realization. He precipitates that which has been received and absorbed into his environment. He builds a living structure of truth through his efforts of application in physical plane experience. There the structure stands for all to see.

This cycle is such a variable that I shall not even give an example. Each one must find his own rhythm.

A seed thought should cover the full time containing the three periods. An individual who changes his seed thought before its results have been absorbed and precipitated, throws his meditation out of balance and may not receive further realizations for a long time to come.

Keep a diary or record of your meditation results. In this manner you will be able to observe your own natural cycles and utilize them with wisdom.

A later, more advanced lesson on meditation will be forthcoming when you are ready to receive it.

"Let there be Light"

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