Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00546)

Hi Liesel --

In response to your post of 12/29: since you asked for comments I have a few:

When Purucker goes from generalized statements regarding hynotism to "auto-
or self-hypnosis" he begins using the word to define something quite
different from the findings of Franz Mesmer to put hypnosis in an occult
context. He equates hynpotism to a state wherein "the nerves... are put to
sleep hypnotized which means sending to sleep..." [your quote]. That in
itself is an interesting point if outside the clinical definition of
hypnosis as regards the meaning of *sleep*. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras --
the original "how to" manual for meditation -- "sleep" is defined as the
"non-perception of the senses" I.10. This is one of the five "states of
mind" but it is *not* meditation. What Purucker describes as "sleep" -- the
forcing of the mind into an altered state by one-pointed concentration upon
a physical point -- is sometimes referenced in the literature as "sitting
for development" and it is a serious and potentially dangerous mistake for
the practitioner of meditation. The goal of meditation in the earlier
stages is to integrate our physical consciousness with the higher Self not
to isolate the brain in a mechanistic sensory deprivation. As modern
psychology has demonstrated the brain has defense mechanisms against such
abuse and deprivation is most definitely *not* a means of transcending the
lesser ego.

So how then to control the senses and eliminate the "filter" that they
impose to true meditation? That is the subject of the second book in
Patanjali's Sutras. It is still a focus of concentration and
self-discipline but in a different direction if that makes sense.

On your last point that you speaking of sensory deprivation "have done
this yourself when [you] first began to meditate and know of many people
who use something external to concentrate upon in meditation. From the
above [Purucker's comments] it would suggest that it is not the thing to
do.": concentration is the necessary first step to meditation and many
people find it useful to begin with a ritual as I do for example.
However it is important to keep perspective; concentration is a means not
a goal. Everyone who begins meditation starts off more of less "clueless"
and it is normal to begin by trying to suppress thoughts rather than
transcending them. Experience counts for a lot but a good
teacher/friend/book at the beginning can save a lot of time.

And that is the main point I wanted to make and the one that prompted me to
respond to your post. At some point a sincere beginning student of
Theosophy will ask "All of this sounds *so right* but what's next? Having
read the books what should I do now?"

I wish the TS would make it easier to find the answer to that question. The
introductory letter set is very nice but it doesn't address the practice of
meditation very well. And IMO holding out the ES as a carrot if you pay
your dues for two years doesn't seem adequate to keep a neophite's interest
-- especially now when entire isles in shopping mall bookstores are given
over to "New Age" books cults and ideas some of them fantastic and bizarre
even to Theosophists! And let's be honest -- most of society thinks we're a
pretty strange bunch ourselves.

My suggestion to the TS would be to put a greater emphasis from the
beginning on practical mind control and the *instant* benefits that gives to
the student of Theosophy and his immediate environment.

Jim