Meditation

Meditation is the central practice of spiritual development. Through meditation, the consciousness awakens and develops.
Meditation is a practical tool that anyone can use in order to investigate the true nature of any phenomena in nature or within oneself.

"To commence with the study of the technique of meditation is to enter into the antechamber of the divine peace that surpasses all knowledge."
-The Revolution of the Dialectic, Samael Aun Weor



This is an introduction to basic meditation concepts and practices that exist within the Gnostic doctrine. There are hundreds of meditation techniques within the Gnostic tradition; those presented here are but a handful of the easiest ones, and are organized to give a mere taste of the practical use of the teachings. This is by no means an "authoritative" or "ultimate" approach; the needs of students are too diverse and multi-faceted for any course such as this to comprehensively address.  For more information, please refer to the following books, which were source materials used in the creation of this page, and as such may more directly fulfill your needs.

-Revolutionary Psychology
-The Great Rebellion
-The Revolution of the Dialectic

Meditation is a very common term nowadays, much like Self-realization. But there is widespread misunderstanding about what meditation really is, and there are varying ways that people are applying the term. Some say meditation is a relaxation technique, some say it is “satanic.” Many are afraid of meditation and believe that someone who meditates opens themselves up to dangerous influences. Some say that meditation is the only way to Liberation. Some say that it is a way to get high or to have sensational experiences. The confusion has arisen because we in the West have not had a longstanding, robust tradition that has carried on the real practice of meditation. It has been present in different schools and religions, and meditation was well known to all the early Christian groups (and remains so to a handful of the modern ones); the Jews have known about meditation for a long time, and of course the Native Americans knew about it. But in general we have no real idea what meditation is, or if we have an idea it is merely a concept, not something we know from experience.

We also have the tremendous disadvantage, not to be underestimated, that most of the people who purport to tell us about meditation are only interested in making money or acquiring power, thus the meditation they teach is a product designed to attract people, not to help them in a deep and fundamental way.

Meditation is an exact science based on real and tangible energies that are natural to the human being. Meditation is a psychological technology. It is a scientific method to harness and access the most powerful areas of the human psyche. Meditation is a set of tools that provide entry to states of consciousness that anyone, anywhere, can enter, if they know the steps. The steps cannot be altered or skipped. They cannot be improved upon. They cannot be avoided.

The arrogance of modern humanity reveals itself in the presumption that we in this “advanced age” can improve upon the meditation techniques of our ancestors. We believe that we can invent machines or pills that will render obsolete the knowledge that created the tremendous civilizations of the past. This is a fallacy, and only leads the foolish into deeper suffering.

We must recognize that nature never makes leaps: everything must grow and develop according to certain laws. You cannot force a tree to grow faster. We try, and it shows our arrogance and our foolishness. We try to improve nature, and the result is a disaster. The same applies to meditation. There are rules and there are laws; if we understand the rules, we can move directly to our goal. If we ignore the rules, we will get nowhere and we will instead become disillusioned or confused.

Many nowadays are using chemical or mechanical tools to attempt to force states of consciousness. They may enter altered states of consciousness; but this is not meditation. Meditation is the science of activating, through conscious willpower, the dormant consciousness that resides in the psyche of every human being. To activate this consciousness is to open one’s inner perception, to see what cannot be seen with the physical sight. Those who seek to activate this consciousness through drugs or machines do so through an artifice, meaning through the will of an external influence. This leads to grave problems.

Thus amidst the minefield the brave one must venture. The dangers are great both within and without. But with a solid understanding of the principles and laws that create and organize the human psyche, any individual from any culture, of any race, of either sex, can realize in themselves the truths that all the great teachers of humanity have indicated. Our goal is nothing less than the full experience of those truths. This is our birthright, and we must fight to recover it.

Preparation
Lacking a deep understanding of the consciousness and the sciences that explore it, we in the West are therefore lacking the words to describe the many states and functions of the consciousness. So, we must rely on terminology that comes from other traditions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, traditions that have a deep and comprehensive understanding of the consciousness and of what meditation is and how it works.

The information presented in this course is primarily due to the incredible wealth of knowledge given in the teachings of Samael Aun Weor. However, the level of his instruction is quite elevated, and oftentimes he does not specify elements that are basic to the experienced esotericist. In particular, in his writings can be seen a common remark, “Empty your mind of all thoughts.” To the experienced practitioner, this is fundamental. But for the new student, this is an overwhelming statement, and many read such statements and simply pass them by. This is a mistake. In order to comprehend the practices given by Samael in his books, one must accomplish each step of the practice, in the order given. Therefore, we have prepared this course in order to indicate how one may accomplish the basic, fundamental practices of meditation. Thereafter, anyone may investigate the many advanced techniques given throughout the books of Samael and other masters. The remaining material used in the presentation of this course is derived from the teachings of the Buddha Maitreya, as delivered to the Tibetan initiates of the previous several thousand years.

The Goal: Comprehension
When the esotericist submerges himself into meditation, what he seeks is information. - Samael Aun Weor
If we do not know how to retrieve information with the consciousness, then we need to learn how to meditate properly. To retrieve information is to comprehend. Comprehension (conscious understanding) is found in Samadhi (Ecstasy).

Samadhi in Tibetan is ting nge dzin, meaning “To hold unwaveringly, so there is no movement.”

The Two Components of Samadhi:

Shamatha: Tranquility Meditation. Tibetan shi-ne means “peace.” Also called Pratyahara: the Silence of the Mind. Shamatha is one-pointed mind.
Vipashyana: Insight. Tibetan hlagtong: “To see the special.” Vipashyana (Vipashyana) is the direct perception of the true nature of the object of meditation.
Synthesis: One has a calm mind (shamatha) and can then see the nature of phenomena (vipashyana), thus there arises understanding (comprehension).

The Practice
The entire contents of this book was originally a series of lectures given to prepare a small group of students for the study of the following chapter, excerpted from The Revolution of the Dialectic by Samael Aun Weor.  The following text is profoundly significant, and cannot be understood unless practiced with great seriousness and consistency.  This is knowledge for the consciousness; if the consciousness does not use it, the meaning and importance of it will remain elusive.

This chapter is only one of several ways that Samael Aun Weor approached the topic of meditation.  But in general, the outline presented here illustrates the key stages of meditation as practiced in the Gnostic tradition.
-Gnostic Teachings