Theos-Talk Archives (July 1996 Message tl00574)

Max (prev)>
It has to be the techniques PLUS a specific sense of direction. 
Max>I do not quite understand what do you mean by directing the mind to the
noetic plane. If you mean directing the lower mind to Manas as a
constituent of the Higher Self (Atma-Buddhi-Manas), it's fine with me, and
I think both of us mean the same. 

	Yes, that's what I mean. That is the sense of direction
you're talking about. GdeP writes about that in a clear way
in his esoteric teaching II booklet pp 65-67. (Just a reference for
the general reader of this list)


Max>As to how to make the contact, I would refer you back to the sources that 
you of course know very well, like Bhagavadgita and Patanjali's Yoga 
Sutras. It's perennial stuff. Of course I did not intend to teach you 
about or remind you of BG, YS, and the like.

	That's great stuff. I've been reading it when I was young and
have reread it recently. I particularly like Quan Judge's interpretations
of this. These classics clarify many issues of the mind and the Self.



> > Max
>This perspective on TS yoga elevates the whole issue to the level where 
> it properly belongs. 
> 
> Max: it belongs on the noetic plane, for sure. 

Max>The Higher Self is distributed over several planes--do you call all of 
them in their totality 'the noetic plane'? If so it's unquestionable.

Yes, the Higher Self is involuted in the subplanes of matter.
It's all there. We just have to start using these energies by directing
our minds to these subplanes. By doing so, we develop or evolve this
energy. I guess you can call this totality the noetic plane or aggregate
of noetic subplanes. I had a more specific use of noetic in mind:
the plane or sphere where the 'Christ'-energy touches one's mind, but
on second thinking it is a multi-level plane anyway.

One example in connection with the sex-drive: the procreative organ
has a creative phase or potentiality which can be actualized in creative
work. One centers his attention in the higher chakra's and uses the
creative energy in expressions like writing, art, daily work (when the
motive is unselfish), etc. This example is important because the life-force
increases in intensity when one treads the Path and this energy expresses
itself through the lower chakra's too (maybe especially so) and it has
to be channeled into some creative work. GdeP has written about this
too in ~Man in evolution~ and I noticed something alike in Vitvan's writings.
It is my own experience too. Otherwise, I think Pythagoras was right when
saying (something like this): give to the animal (inside) what it needs.
It is the golden approach of the middle way.


> But people are not pure channels through which the flow of Life streams 
> undefiled. People can purify themselves through their way of life 
> (motive is all important) and meditation techniques can be helpful 
> to some. People have all kinds of blockages and meditation exercises 
> can help them to become aware of them and do something on that, release 
> some blockages. Working in groups will have all kinds of effects too.. 

Max>Did I say that meditation techniques are useless? I do not think so 
(first of all since I myself practice meditation on a regular basis, not 
so as a technique but rather as a more or less permanent communion with 
my Higher Self), but if I did it was a mistake and I take it back. 

	It was not completely clear to me what you meant. As you suggest
meditation can be (that's the idea IMO) a communion with the Higher Self.
It's a way of life, actually. We can channel some energy from these spheres,
and step it down so to speak for use in daily life. I'm not implying
that this means a self-conscious union with the Self of course. 
It is a gradual unfolding and expression of spiritual, wholistic,
synthetic energies.


Max>To make it clearer, let me quote a technique from R.S.Mishra's 
"Fundamentals of Yoga" (1987 edition, p.56). It's called a 'technique to 
magnetize the body'--a hot thing among healers, but look how it is shaped 
in the context of raja yoga:

<snip>
Max>Now, it is likely that someone eager for personal development will grab 
the technique and start practicing it, eliminating all 'unnecessary' 
elements--likely victims include steps ## 6, 9, and 10. Don't you think 
it's going to chanhe the or pervert the entire thing? I observed it so 
often that I do not want to waste time proving it. 

	Sure, there's a tendency among many people to just use those 
aspects that seem profitable to their personalities. They look for quick
ways to become rich, healthy, enlightened, etc. They may be in for a
surprise, though.
Short-term thinking will cause a backlash after some time. 
	

Martin