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
Blue Time or Rest Therapeutics
Upon the mysterious threshold of the Temple of Delphi, a Greek maxim existed, which was engraved in the stone and stated: Homo Nosce te Ipsum, “Man know thyself and thou shalt know the Universe and the Gods.”
In the final instance, it is obvious, evident and clear that the study of oneself and serene reflection conclude in the quietude and in the silence of the mind. When the mind is quiet and in silence (not only in the intellectual level, but in each and every one of the forty-nine subconscious departments) then the Newness emerges. The Essence, the consciousness, comes out of the bottle, and the awakening of the soul, the Ecstasy, the Samadhi, occurs. The daily practice of meditation transforms us radically. People who do not work on the annihilation of the “I” are like butterflies that flutter from one school to another. They have yet to find their center of permanent gravity. Therefore, they die as failures, without ever having achieved the inner Self-realization of their Being. The awakening of the consciousness is only possible by means of liberating ourselves from mental dualism and by emancipating ourselves from the struggle of the antitheses or from intellectual surges. Any subconscious, infra-conscious and unconscious submerged struggle is converted into an impediment for the liberation of the Essence (soul). Every antithetical battle (as insignificant and unconscious as it might appear) indicates, accuses, and aims to obscure points which are ignored and unknown within the atomic infernos of the human being. To reflect, observe and know these infrahuman aspects, these obscure points of oneself, is indispensable in order to achieve the absolute quietude and silence of the mind. Only in the absence of the “I” is it possible to experience and live the Integral Revolution and the Revolution of the Dialectic.
Blue Time or Rest Therapeutics has basic rules without which it would be impossible to emancipate ourselves from the mortifying shackles of the mind. These rules are:
1. Relaxation: It is indispensable to relax the body for meditation; no muscle should remain with tension. It is urgent to provoke and to regulate drowsiness by will. It is evident that with the wise combination of drowsiness and meditation, that which is called Illumination will be the outcome.
2. Retrospection: What are we looking for in retrospection? Due to the mechanical life that he lives in, the intellectual animal forgets the Self. Thus, he falls into fascination. He goes around with his consciousness asleep, without remembering what he did at the moment of rising from his bed, without knowing the first thoughts of the day, his actions and the places he has been to.
The objective of retrospection is the acquisition of awareness of one’s behavior or actions of the past. When carrying out the retrospection, we should not put any objections to the mind; we will recall memories of past actions, from the moment of beginning the retrospection to the desired moment in our lives. We should study each memory without becoming identified with it.
3. Serene Reflection: First, before any thoughts surge, we need to become fully aware of the mood that we are in. Serenely observe our mind; pay full attention to any mental form which appears on the screen of the intellect.
It is necessary to become sentries of our own mind during any given agitated activity, and to then stop for an instant and observe it.
4. Psychoanalysis: Examine, estimate and inquire about the origin, and root of every thought, memory, affection, emotion, feeling, resentment, etc., while they emerge from within the mind.
During psychoanalysis, one must examine, evaluate, inquire, and find out the origin of, the cause of, the reason for, or the fundamental motive for each thought, memory, image and association as they emerge from the bottom of the subconsciousness.
5. Mantralization or Koan: The objectives of this phase are:
a) To mix the magical forces of mantras or koans in our inner universe.
b) To awaken the consciousness.
c) To internally accumulate christic atoms of high voltage.
In this psychological work, the intellect must assume a psychological, receptive, integral, unitotal, complete, tranquil and profound state. One achieves this unitotal receptive state with the koans or phrases that control the mind.
6. Superlative Analysis: Consists of an introspective knowledge of oneself. During deep meditation, introversion is indispensable.
In that state, one will work in the process of the comprehension of the “I” or defect that one wants to disintegrate. The Gnostic student will concentrate on the psychological aggregate and will maintain it on the screen of the mind. Above all, it is indispensable to be sincere with oneself.
Superlative analysis consists of two phases which are:
a) Self-exploration: To investigate, within the depths of our consciousness and in the 49 levels of our subconsciousness, when that the defect first manifested itself in our lives, when it last manifested itself and in which moment it has had more strength to manifest itself.
b) Self-discovery: To investigate what are the nourishing foods of the “I.” To fraction and divide the defect in various parts and to study each part in order to get to know the kind of “I’s” it originates from and the kind of “I’s” that originate from it.
7. Self-judgment: To seat the defect being studied in the defendant’s chair. To bring to judgment the damages it causes to the consciousness and the benefits that the annihilation of the defect being judged would bring into our life.
8. Prayer: One will supplicate (ask) the Divine Mother Kundalini, our inner and individual Mother, with much fervor. One will talk to her with frankness and introvert all the defects and faults that one has, so that She, who is the only one capable of disintegrating the “I’s,” will disintegrate them at their very roots.
It is pleasant and interesting to attend the meditation halls (Gnostic Sanctuaries) any time one is able to do so.
It is essential to always practice meditation with closed eyes so as to avoid external sensory perceptions.
-The Revolution of the Dialectic
The Ten Rules for Meditation
Scientific meditation has ten basic, fundamental rules. Without them, emancipation and liberation from the mortifying shackles of the mind is impossible.
1st Rule: Before the arising of any thought, be completely conscious of your psychological mood.
2nd Rule: Psychoanalysis: investigate the root and origin of each thought, remembrance, affection, emotion, feeling, resentment, etc. as they emerge from the mind.
3rd Rule: Serenely observe your mind; place perfect attention on all mental forms that appear on the screen of the intellect.
4th Rule: From moment to moment during the common and current course of daily life, remember and recall the “sensation of contemplation.”
5th Rule: The intellect must assume a psychological, receptive, integral, uni‑total, complete, tranquil, and profound state.
6th Rule: There must be continuity of purpose, tenacity, firmness, constancy, and insistence in the technique of meditation.
7th Rule: It is commendable to attend the meditation rooms of the Gnostic Lumisials anytime we can.
8th Rule: During any agitated or revolving activity, it is peremptory, urgent, and necessary to convert ourselves into watchers of our own mind, to stop at least for an instant to observe it.
9th Rule: It is indispensable and necessary to always practice with closed eyes, with the goal of avoiding the.
10th Rule: Absolute relaxation of the entire body, and the wise combination of meditation with drowsiness.
Beloved reader, the moment has arrived in order to judiciously weigh and analyze these ten scientific rules of meditation.
A: The principle, base, and living foundation of Samadhi (ecstasy), consists of previous introspective knowledge of oneself. It is indispensable to introvert ourselves during deepest meditation. We must start to profoundly know the psychological mood that precedes the appearance of any mental form in the intellect. It is urgent to comprehend that all thoughts that emerge from within our mind are always preceded by pain or pleasure, happiness or sadness, like or dislike.
B: Serene reflection. Examine, estimate, and inquire about the origin, cause, reason, or fundamental motive of every thought, remembrance, image, affection, desire, etc., as they emerge from the mind. Self‑discovery and self‑revelation are in this second rule.
C: Serene observation. Pay perfect attention to every mental form that makes its appearance on the screen of the intellect.
D: We must convert ourselves into spies of our own mind by contemplating it in action from instant to instant.
E: The chitta (mind) is transformed into vrittis (vibratory waves). The mind is like a pleasant and tranquil lake. When a rock falls into this lake, bubbles emerge from the bottom. All the different thoughts are perturbed ripples on the surface of the waters. During meditation, let the lake of the mind remain still, without waves, serene, and profound.
F: Fickle people who are voluble, versatile, changeable, without firmness, without willpower, will never achieve ecstasy, satori, samadhi.
G: It is obvious that scientific meditation can be practiced individually in an isolated way, as well as in a group of like-minded people.
H: The soul must be liberated from the body, affections, and the mind. It is evident, clear, and obvious that when the soul is emancipated from the intellect, it is radically liberated from the rest.
I: It is urgent, indispensable, and necessary to eliminate perceptions of the external senses during interior profound meditation.
J: It is indispensable to relax the body for meditation; let no muscle remain tense. It is urgent to provoke and regulate drowsiness at will.
It is evident, clear, and unarguable that illumination is the outcome of the wise combination of drowsiness and meditation.
Results
Upon the mysterious threshold of the Temple of Delphi, a Grecian maxim was engraved in the stone that said, Homo Nosce Te Ipsum... “Man, know thyself, and thou will know the universe and its gods.”
In the final instance, it is obvious, evident, and clear that the study of oneself and serene reflection conclude in the quietude and silence of the mind.
When the mind is quiet and in silence — not only in the intellectual level, but in all and each one of the forty-nine subconscious departments — then the Newness emerges. The Essence, the consciousness, is unbottled, and the awakening of the soul, that is to say, the ecstasy, the samadhi, the satori of the saints occurs.
The mystical experience of Reality transforms us radically. People who have never directly experienced the Truth live like butterflies going from school to school. They have yet to find their center of cosmic gravitation. Therefore, they die as failures, and without having achieved the so longed for realization of the Innermost Self.
The awakening of the consciousness, of the Essence, of the soul or Buddhata, is only possible by liberating, emancipating ourselves from the mental dualism, from the struggle of the antitheses, of the intellectual waves.
Any subconscious, infra-conscious, or unconscious, submerged struggle turns into an impediment for the liberation of the Essence (soul).
Every antithetical battle, as insignificant and unconscious as it might appear, indicates, accuses, aims to obscure points that are ignored, unknown within the atomic infernos of the human being.
To reflect, observe, and know these infra-human aspects, these obscure points of oneself, is indispensable in order to achieve the absolute quietude and silence of the mind.
To experience that which is not of time is only possible while in absence of the “I.”
-The Magic of the Runes
Meditation and Self-Observation
We have been talking about some of the preliminary steps that are required for any meditator. These steps start out first and foremost and foundational with the development of powerful attention. We have to learn to control our attention, how we pay attention. In Gnosis we call this Self-observation and Self-remembering.
Any individual who is trying to learn how to meditate but is not learning how to Self-observe at all times of the day and night will spend years being frustrated. Meditation is only deeper Self-observation. That is really all it is. It is deeper, it is more profound, it is more focused.
Without Self-observation there can be no Meditation. There can only be fantasy, and fantasy is the opposite of Meditation.
We meditate to understand the mind. Meditation is not a technique to have mystical experiences. You may have them, and if you persist then you definitely will. But it is not the point. Meditation is not about spacing out, it is about the opposite of that. It is about becoming extraordinarily perceptive. It is not about fantasizing; it is the opposite. It is not about getting high, or having ecstatic experiences. That may happen; but it is not the point. And Meditation can become another part of the cage of our mind if we stimulate our desire for experiences. Many become stuck there.
The real purpose of Meditation is to gather information about ourselves, to comprehend why we suffer and how we can change that. This is why we meditate. It has nothing to do with what most people call "religion," it has nothing to do with culture, with being with one sect or another group, or another club, or having a name or having a certain outfit that you wear. It has to do very simply with becoming a good human being. That is it. We meditate to become a good person. That is the real reason, the real motivation. Any other motivation is desire, is a false concept and will become a trap.
Once these things are somewhat understood and we begin to work with the Consciousness, to learn how to change, to stop acting mechanically, to change our anger, to change our habits, to begin to sacrifice things that are really irrelevant in our lives, from that place we can really learn what Meditation is. We can begin to see the truth about the Consciousness. But, as we have said, this requires a lot of sincerity, tremendous courage, and honesty. It does not mean you have to go and expose all your problems to everyone. It means you have to be brave enough to face your self-created illusions, the way you delude yourself, the way you keep yourself in ignorance, to be ignorant; ignoring the truth about yourself, your mind, how you are, how you behave, what you do, what you wish for. You can no longer avoid things if you want to understand what Meditation is.
Meditation is about change. It is about changing ourselves to become better people. And if you do not have that intention then you are wasting your time here. There are millions of other schools that can help you get a lot of money if that is what you really want, or get a lot of power, or be popular, or be good looking or attractive. If you want those things, obviously there are places that can help you, but at a price. Everything costs something. Nothing escapes that law. Everything costs, nothing is free. You can have power, you can have money, you can have sexual attraction; but at what price? In the Gospels it says:
For what does a man profiteth if he gained the whole world but loses his soul?
There are many levels to the mind; it is quite deep. The goal of Meditation, the goal of the path, is to make the unconscious conscious, to make the subconscious conscious and to make the infraconscious into Consciousness. We must become fully conscious of all these aspects of ourselves and thus make that 3% into 100%.
Meditation itself is exactly the same as growing a plant. To grow a plant you need certain causes and conditions. Meditation is the same. As long as we have the right causes and conditions then the result that we want will arise naturally, very easily, exactly like planting a seed. You clear the weeds, you make sure you have sun, air and light, sunlight. You plant the seeds and you make sure it stays clear of invaders like bugs or birds. You give it a little water and you wait. Meditation is exactly the same.
So first we must define the causes and conditions, what is it that we need and what is it that we do not need. It is really unfortunate that so many meditators and even Meditation teachers will meditate for years and years and be missing one ingredient, usually something simple. And it will keep them from really understanding Meditation and going further. You can encounter this sad truth in many places you go to study. The different instructors and schools may have a lot, but if they are missing one thing, some little thing, it is enough to keep the plant from growing. One thing. You can plant a seed but if it will not get any sun it will not grow. Or you can plant a seed but if there are a lot of weeds there the seed is going to be choked. It is not going to survive. It is the same with Meditation.
So Self-observation, ethics, these are causes and conditions that are required to know how to meditate. They are inescapable and unavoidable. They must be applied.
Learning to be mindful 24 hours a day is not easy and one cannot do it halfway. Everything you have must to be focused on that. It has to become your obsession, the main thing that you worry about, that you focus on: "How do I pay attention? How do I not pay attention? Where do I lose my attention? When do I start thinking again, start dreaming again, start fantasizing, worrying? What makes me do that? How do I change it?"
This may sound kind of boring; but without this condition there can be no awakening.
What is it to awaken? It is to see what one did not see before. Can such a thing happen automatically? Absolutely not! Nothing happens without causes and conditions, thus we can understand why so few people are positively awakened: because they have not produced the causes in themselves. However, there are many, many people who are awakening negatively, because they have become completely absorbed by their own ego. The universe exists because the causes and conditions came together in order to create it. Likewise, our physical body exists because of causes and conditions. Thus, we must awaken in the same way; it is not a matter of belief or faith: it a result of working to establish the proper combination of factors. The awakened Consciousness is an experiential state of perception that does not arise randomly or merely by wishing for it.
Self-observation is how we observe ourselves. Without it there can be no awakening. There can only be ideas and there can only be suffering. It is essential that we understand how to observe ourselves.
-Gnostic Teachings
Retrospection
Retrospection: What are we looking for in retrospection? Due to the mechanical life that he lives in, the intellectual animal forgets the Self. Thus, he falls into fascination. He goes around with his consciousness asleep, without remembering what he did at the moment of rising from his bed, without knowing the first thoughts of the day, his actions and the places he has been to.
The objective of retrospection is the acquisition of awareness of one’s behavior or actions of the past. When carrying out the retrospection, we should not put any objections to the mind; we will recall memories of past actions, from the moment of beginning the retrospection to the desired moment in our lives. We should study each memory without becoming identified with it.
-The Revolution of the Dialectic
When we learn to imagine, once we have a little stability, we learn to do a practice called retrospection in order to see all these elements in ourselves. To retrospect means to look back. This is not the same thing as dreaming about the past, or imagining our history, the events of our life. This means in the position of meditative stability, with a sense of separation from the image, we review our past. So if today we are going to meditate, and we have developed the capacity to concentrate, the first thing we do is we sit, we meditate, we begin to review our day like a movie. So with our closed eyes we project our day, just like we are watching television, we watch it like a film. We examine the events, just like a movie. And the proper way to do this is to do that with an awareness that whatever we are observing has us as an actor. We see ourselves, but we are separate from what we see. This is in order to help us not to become identified, to keep that sense of separation. We observe our day as an outside observer. You can also do it looking from within your own eyes, looking into your day, but it is tricky. You might even find you go back and forth.
The point is you need to be able to see within yourself the three brains the intellect, the emotion and action, to recognize how your own psyche is processing. And the only way to do that is if you have been observing yourself during the day. You will find that if you sit to meditate and you begin to do this retrospection, looking back over the course of the day there will be big gaps where you do not remember anything. You just learned something the gaps mark the time you were asleep. You were not paying attention. You were dreaming. Period. That is the work Recognize the periods of time when we are not paying attention and learn to pay attention during those times. Obviously, we must then look to find what was it that caused us to become distracted What caused us to lose our attention Do not rely on memory for the answer rely on the retrospection in meditative, observant, receptive visualization.
The other part of this picture that you are observing is that what you are seeing in yourself is your state and what you are seeing outside is an event. That distinction also must be clear. It is just a matter of perception. You do not have to think - I need to know my state. You do not have to think about what is the event. You just need to perceive it as having a sense of separation. There you are as a person with your psyche and the reactions that are manifesting in your psyche. Then there are the external circumstances. And those are separate things. There is a relationship, that is for sure. But you cannot see them as one package. You need to see them as separate. (For more on States and Events, study Revolutionary Psychology).
With this process of observation we observe our whole day, from the moment we got up to the moment we sat to meditate. And in that observation we find particular times where we know we became distracted, where we know an ego was manifesting itself through us, where we felt pain, anger, pride, envy, fear, resentment, despair, depression, arrogance. Any of those things. That moment then becomes your Meditation. So you first retrospect, you examine those events the whole day, you pick out certain photographs during the whole day. These are psychological photographs. And then you begin to observe that particular event.
Obviously, to succeed in this practice you must have meditative stability. If you are still struggling to develop the capacity to maintain the awareness that you are in Meditation, then wait to use this practice. This practice should be used once you have developed continuity of awareness in Meditation. Otherwise you are just going to be fighting the mind.
Here is the practice You sit to meditate, you begin to review the events of the day, you have the sense of separation. But then, as you are examining this picture, something begins to come into your awareness, a thought or a feeling. Let us just say for example you saw a person earlier that day that you use to be married to or you used to date and it brought something up for you a strong sense of pain, attachment, desire, resentment. And so that thought is hammering to get your attention. (In the beginning, of course, it will take over and we will forget that we are meditating; we will instead begin to dream). This memory becomes a distraction. All you have to do at this point is recognize it, separate yourself from it, and use that distraction as your new object of Meditation.
To repeat you began on the event, retrospecting your day. A distraction arises in your mind. It could be anything, it could literally be just a pain in your leg, it could be a worry about a bill, it could be a thought like, you heard on the radio some actor saying something. It could be just ridiculous. As soon as you see that you consciously shift your attention directly to that distraction. This is called Psychological Judo.
You are blocking the attempt of your own mind to distract you. All that surging chaos is the way your mind keeps you hypnotized. And if you can receive all those internal impressions consciously, you can wrestle your own mind to the ground. Samael said this practice is the real root of Jujitsu and Judo. Those physical movements are reflections of the internal movements of initiates who are conquering their own mind. Many initiates have astral experiences, or meditative experiences, and they see themselves fighting against their own mind.
-Gnostic Teachings
Meditation Practices
