The Mysteries Of Mind: [25.01] Preksa Meditation And The Training Of The Mind (1)

• For the ordinary man the universe contains colour, sound and heat.
• For the scientist the universe contains space, time and energy.
• For the spiritual man the universe contains waves of conscious­ness and of the unconscious.
• Rolling on the waves of electricity man is active.
• Let us control electric currents - but let their frequencies be increased - this is the purpose of sadhana - one who under­stands this understands the secret of the soul.
• Lesya meditation - the medium of arriving at a stage where there are no electric currents.
• Two areas of the manifestation of the soul free from electric currents:
• The brain.
• The centres of consciousness.
• Five means of arriving at a state beyond electric currents.

The practice of preksa meditation has opened a new chapter in philosophical thinking. I have been a student of philosophy and as such I know what is living and what is dead in philosophy. I have a great admiration for philosophy but at the same time I am conscious of its shortcomings. Originally philosophical thinking was based on a direct perception of reality. Today it is mere rea­soning based on logical consistency. Darsana means direct per­ception of reality. Today philosophy is no longer concerned, with the direct perception of truth. It has become dependent on the rules of logical thinking. It has become estranged from experience and comprises wholly of argumentation. It borrows ideas and applies logic to test whether they are coherent. It has nothing to do with self-experience and relies on objective experience only. It is not direct but indirect experience, which it values. That is why medi­eval philosophy took inference to be the only means of knowledge because it was not supported by experience. Can we comprehend truth indirectly and by means of consistency in thinking only? Can arguments lead to the knowledge of subtle truth? No, never. An­cient philosophers attempted to comprehend subtle truth with the help of subtle consciousness. They were correct. Refined or subtle consciousness is capable of comprehending both gross and subtle truths. Gross or empirical consciousness is, however, unable to comprehend subtle truth. Modern scientists have, to a very large extent, engaged themselves in discovering subtle truths with the help of delicate instruments. Crude instruments cannot reveal subtle truth. They have split the atom and perceived the tiny particles of which it is composed. This could be done only with the help of delicate instruments. A sword, howsoever sharp it may be, cannot split the atom. Even most powerful lenses cannot enable us to perceive the atom. These are crude instruments and they cannot comprehend reality, which is absolutely subtle. The key to the suc­cess of scientific pursuits is the invention and production of deli­cate apparatuses. We may call these extremely delicate instruments supersensual instruments.

What the sense organs cannot perceive may be comprehended by means of these instruments and apparatuses. Supersensual instruments can comprehend the subtle truths, which cannot be grasped by consciousness dependent on the sense organs.

The term supersensual does not mean the achievement of supreme truth. Supersensual consciousness does not mean merely the consciousness of the achievement of supreme truth. The only function of supersensual consciousness is to achieve supreme truth. But it is also the basic consciousness, the base of all kinds of con­sciousness. The mountain Himalaya is not only the peaks but also the base on which the peaks stand. Supersensual consciousness is not only the peak of consciousness; it is also the base of conscious­ness. Its function is to know that which cannot be known by the sense organs.

It is matter of pity and regret that the modern philosopher has neglected the sensual as well as the supersensual means of know­ing truth. He is neither a full-fledged philosopher nor an accom­plished scientist. He has neither the insight of the ancient philoso­pher, nor the delicate instruments of the modern scientist, which are capable of revealing subtle truth. He is deprived of both. The only instrument with which he can work is logic. He can neither justify statements nor denounce them. It seems that the modern philosopher has become a legal advocate. He applies laws to par­ticular cases to disprove the contentions of his opponents. He does not need supersensual knowledge.

Philosophy is in a strange position today. It occupies a piti­able place among the different branches of science. In the univer­sities there are a very few students in the discipline of philosophy as compared with thousands of students who lock to the faculty of sciences.

Preksa meditation is a method of perception. Ancient phi­losophers were known as Risis or perceivers. They disappeared in the course of time. Seeing their disappearance the gods wondered who would now support them. They were told that from now on­wards they would have to seek support in logic. Thus logic became important.

Philosophy based on perception enables us to realize the self, to bring about a synthesis in life and to develop the spirit of toler­ance and friendliness. Philosophy based on logic breeds struggles, controversies and conquest of others. Medieval works of philoso­phy are only logical and metaphysical presentations of philosophi­cal doctrines. They are polemics, which carry on an argument to disprove the contentions of opponents. They are elaborate reason­ings to prove the correctness of the authors' thesis and the incor­rectness of those of their adversaries. They are models of the art of debating to defeat the opponents. Every system of philosophy be­came argumentative with the result that the original purpose of philosophy, which was based on direct perception of reality, came to be defeated. This gave rise to formidable intellectual controver­sies.

The area of experience is indivisible. Experience knows no limit. What were experienced thousands of years ago can be expe­rienced by any one today also. Consciousness is consciousness and we cannot divide it. Religion and spiritualism are not two separate disciplines. It is philosophy based on logic, which affects divisions and breeds controversies. Therefore, there is a need to base philosophy once again on the foundations of experience and direct perception. With the tremendous progress made by the dif­ferent branches of science it has become all the more necessary to open a new chapter in philosophical thinking based on pure knowl­edge. It is not possible to arouse super-mental consciousness until this new chapter in philosophy has been opened, otherwise queries and questions regarding philosophy and religion cannot be satis­factorily answered.