Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00524)

Hi all
I came across this idea in de Purucker's Studies in Occult Philosophy and I
would appreciate some comments on it.

"Hypnotic practice is almost always bad because it weakens the will of the
subject instead of evoking the will from within outwards into action thus
building up a structure of inner life and power. Every repetition of
hypnosis renders the subject still more flabby still more negative still
weaker etc."
"Auto-hypnosis or self-hypnosis where the subject hypnotizes himself or
herself by various means known for ages past such as staring at a spot or a
bright light or a piece of crystal or glass or even looking at the tip of
the nose concentratedly or at the navel: all those things which are so well
known are emphatically not good because they mean using the will by the
subject himself to send his higher will upwards and out of the picture and
induce in the lower part of the constitution a false tranquillity or quiet
by what is almost mechanical means. In other words the nerves instead of
being roused into clean wholesome healthy activity upon which the inner will
can work are put to sleep hypnotized which means sending to sleep and
the brain and nervous system sink below the threshold of ordinary
consciousness into the vibrational rates of the glass or other object stared
at. Quiet is induced but it is the quiet of death of the mineral kingdom."

I have done this myself when first I began to meditate and I know of many
people who use something external to concentrate on in meditation. From the
above it would suggest that it is not the thing to do. Interesting thought.

Bee Brown
Member Theosophy International