Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul - Esoteric Psychology II - Chapter II - Problems
arising from Meditation and its Result: Illumination







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Esoteric Psychology II - Chapter II - The Ray of Personality - Some
Problems of Psychology





Problems arising from Meditation, and its Result:
IlluminationI would like first of all to point out that when I use the word
meditation in this place I am using it in only one of its connotations. The intense mental
focusing, producing undue mental emphasis, wrong attitudes and anti-social living, is
also a form of meditation, but it is meditation carried forward entirely within the
periphery of the small area of a particular man's mind. This is a statement of fact and of
importance. This restricts him and leaves out all contact with other areas of mental
perception and induces an intense one-pointed mental stimulation of a particularly
powerful kind, and which has no outlet except towards the brain, via the desire nature.
The meditation to which we shall refer in this part of our study relates to a mental
focusing and attitude which attempts to [464] relate itself to that which lies beyond the
individual's mental world. It is part of an effort to put him in touch with a world of
being and phenomena which lie beyond. I am phrasing this in this manner so
as to convey the ideas of expansion, of inclusion, and of enlightenment. Such expansions
and attitude should not render a man anti-social or incarcerate him in a prison of his own
making. They should make him a citizen of the world; they should induce in him a desire to
blend and fuse with his fellowmen; they should awaken him to the higher issues and
realities; they should pour light into the dark places of his life and into that of
humanity as a whole. The problems which arise as a result of illumination are practically
the reverse of those just considered. Nevertheless, they in their turn constitute real
problems and, because the intelligent people of the world are learning to meditate today
on a large scale they must be faced. Many things are inducing this turning towards
meditation. Sometimes it is the force of economic circumstances which forces a man to
concentrate, and concentration is one of the first steps in the meditation process;
sometimes it is brought about through the urge to creative work which leads a man in
pursuit of some theme or subject for creative presentation. Whether men are interested
only academically in the power of thought, or whether, through a touch of vision, they
become students of true meditation (either mystical or occult) the fact remains that
serious problems arise, dangerous conditions appear, and the lower nature evidences in
every case the need for adaptation to the higher impulses or demands, or suffers
consequences of a difficult nature if it fails to do so. The necessary adjustments must be
made or psychological, psychopathic, and nervous difficulties will inevitably supervene.
Again, let
me remind you that the reason for this is that the man sees and knows and realizes more
than he is able to [465] do simply as a personality, functioning in the three worlds, and
so oblivious in any true sense to the world of soul activity. He has "let in"
energies which are stronger than the forces of which he is usually aware. They are
intrinsically strong, though not yet apparently the stronger, owing to the well
established habits and the ancient rhythms of the personality forces with which the soul
energy is brought into conflict. This necessarily leads to strain and difficulty, and
unless there is a proper understanding of this battle, dire results may be produced, and
with these the trained psychologist must be prepared to deal.
With the
type and nature of the concentration, with the theme of the meditation, I will not deal,
for I am considering here only results and not the methods for producing them. Suffice it
to say, that the man's efforts in meditation have opened a door through which he can pass
at will (and eventually with facility) into a new world of phenomena, of directed
activity, and of different ideals. He has unlatched a window through which light can pour
in, revealing that which is, and always has been, existent within the consciousness of
man, and throwing illumination into the dark places of his life; into other lives; and
into the environment in which he moves. He has released within himself a world of sound
and of impressions which are at first so new and so different that he does not know what
to make of them. His situation becomes one requiring much care and balanced adjustment.
It will be obvious to you that if there is a good mental equipment and a sound
educational training, that there will be a balancing sense of proportion, an
interpretative capacity, patience to wait till right understanding can be developed, and a
happy sense of humor. Where, however, these are not present, there will be (according to
the type and the [466] sense of vision) bewilderment, a failure to comprehend what is
happening, undue emphasis upon personality reactions and phenomena, pride in achievement,
a tremendous sense of inferiority, too much speech, a running hither and thither for
explanation, comfort, assurance, and a sense of comradeship, or perhaps a complete
breakdown of the mental forces, or the disruption of the brain cells through the strain to
which they have been subjected.





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