Meditation: Steps of Mastering

Once, many years ago, I was invited to come to one of the classes of a spiritual group.

In the beginning, they talked about some organizational problems; then the leader announced that “now the most important part — meditation — begins”!

I waited with interest to its beginning. I waited… Ten or fifteen minutes passed in silence… Suddenly… he said that the meditation was over and everyone could go home…

It turned out that these people understood meditation… as sitting on chairs in silence…

… There was other similar case. The parents of a 6 year old boy (they attended classes on hatha yoga) entered once their son’s room and saw him sitting motionless on his bed with the closed eyes and crossed legs.

They asked:

“What are you doing?”

“I am meditating!” he replied.

His understanding of meditation was the same.

… Other people understand meditation just as careful thinking about a particular subject, for example about “Love”, “God”, etc…

In the same way this word is interpreted in some dictionaries, i.e. as an act of thinking deeply about something.

The task of today’s conversation is to discuss this subject more seriously.

* * *

The term meditation can be defined as one’s personal efforts on developing oneself (as a soul, consciousness) in the directions of correct functioning of the emotional sphere, refinement and quantitative growth of the consciousness, direct cognition of God in the Aspects of the Primordial Consciousness, of the Holy Spirit, of the Absolute, and attainment of Mergence with God.

* * *

The evolutionary development of each person consists of three main components, which are closely related with each other: intellectual, ethical, and psychoenergetical ones.

Meditation is the main means of realization of the third one of these components, first of all. But it can also accelerate significantly one’s growth in the two other directions.

Now I want to draw your attention to a very important rule of spiritual work: meditative training must not go ahead of the ethical component of one’s development and must not exceed one’s intellectual capacity in the current incarnation!

In other words, aspiration of the student is not enough for initiation into higher meditations. One must also take into account, among other things, the student’s ontogenetic age (i.e. the age in the current incarnation) and the psychogenic age as well (i.e. the entire personal evolution of this soul).

Therefore, teachers and practitioners should be careful what concerns practice of meditation.

On the other hand, there are meditations which are absolutely safe to practice: they can bring nothing but benefits to everyone, including children. They are, for example, attunement to the harmony and beauty of nature, which is shown in our films and photo galleries; attunement to appropriate works of different kinds of art, including music, singing, dancing, etc…

It is important to understand that refining BEAUTY, development of the emotions of love, renunciation of all forms of coarseness — these are the first steps away from hell — to our Creator!

On the contrary, the destiny of those who develop coarse qualities is physical and mental illnesses and other kinds of suffering during life in the body. After the death of the body, they appear in the coarse spatial dimensions (eons, lokas) among other beings like them; this is what hell is.

It is most important for everyone to apply this information to themselves. And it is also important to convey it to people of all countries and confessions!

One’s coming to hell or paradise is determined not by one’s membership in a particular religious organization and not by one’s actions, but by the qualities of the soul!

The destiny of those who have become accustomed to coarseness is hell.

The destiny of those who are loving, forgiving, tolerant, and refined is paradise.

And those who reach the level of refinement of the Creator can cognize Him and merge with Him!

Imagine how much better the life on the Earth would be if all people of our planet became acquainted with this knowledge!

* * *

So the first step on the path of mastering the art of meditation is attunement to the subtle and the beautiful, to BEAUTY!

The second step implies mastering of the functions of the spiritual heart. We discuss this subject in detail in our other articles and books, for example in Ecopsychology. Therefore, here I will dwell on it only briefly.

The spiritual heart can start to develop in the anahata chakra located in the thorax. Then, if one makes necessary spiritual efforts, it can grow larger than the anahata chakra, than the entire body — and can continue to grow, can become as large as the size of our planet or even larger!

In the process of such development of the spiritual heart, the practitioner moves with the consciousness into it and becomes it.

And only in the multidimensional depths of such a developed spiritual heart, which encompasses the space above and below the surface of our planet, as well as around the planet, the practitioner can gain direct cognition of the Creator!

* * *

Perhaps you know already that in previous years we created, tested, published, and even demonstrated in video films a very effective system of psychical self-regulation. Its course began with learning the theoretical fundamentals, including the ethical principles suggested to us by God. Then students had to master the techniques of relaxation and psycho-physical exercises, which made for good beginning of transformation of the emotional sphere and purification of the energy structures of the organism. This produced a healing effect even at early stages of mastering of this system and allowed getting rid of many diseases. Then the chakras and main meridians were purified and developed with the help of special methods, which resulted, among other things, in further improvement of the health of the body and soul. During the course, much attention was paid to tempering of the body (this included winter swimming), to communing with nature, to attunement to the beautiful. The main emphasis was always put on the development of the spiritual hearts.

After all, it is only developed spiritual hearts that allow making the states of pure and altruistic love steadfast and volitionally reproducible in any circumstances, even in difficult ones. And this ensured paradise (at the least) for all those who managed to achieve these states during classes and retained them after the course.

But some students… abandoned these prospects. For example, some of them tried to “become again like everyone else” — and drank a glass of champagne on a celebration… But such meditative work is incompatible with drinking alcohol and taking any other narcotics, and everyone knew this. Some students returned to non-vegetarian nutrition.

Killing-free nutrition (the one based on vegetal and milk products and on eggs) is the only correct diet for all people. The main reasons for this are two:

The first one is ethical. Love — as a state of the soul and way of life — is incompatible with killing of animals for the sake of satisfaction of one’s egoistic gluttony!

The second one is bioenergetical contamination. Many souls of killed animals enter the bodies of people who killed or ate them. These souls can feel very offended and sometimes want revenge. Such souls-possessors are called demons. They can cause various somatic diseases and mental disorders.

(About other kinds of negative consequences of non-vegetarian nutrition and about how to choose an optimal diet, one can read in our books, for example in Ecopsychology).

… Why am I talking about this now? In order to illustrate the idea that it can be very harmful to teach the practical component of the spiritual science to those who are not mature yet from the ethical standpoint…

* * *

Now let us come back to the subject of development of the spiritual heart.

To do this work most effectively, one needs first to cleanse the anahata chakra. This is achieved with the help of special energy influences on the chakra.

For example, the practitioner introduces into the chakra (from the back) the image of a white tetrahedron rotating rapidly counterclockwise. This technique can be likened to removing decay from a tooth with the help of a dental drill.

Other method is to introduce into the chakra (already purified by the tetrahedron) the sound of the mantra “ya-a-a-a-m”, which is sung softly and gently.

Then one can also introduce into the anahata chakra images of beautiful fragrant flowers, such as roses or lilies-of-the-valley. Also one can listen to spring singing of birds sounding in the chakra — such birds as robins, tits, or other gentle singers.

When the chakra becomes pure and large, we have to learn to perceive ourselves (as a soul) entirely inside it — and to push the walls of the chakra from inside with the help of the hands of the soul. First, we practice to push one wall after another, then — all walls in all directions simultaneously. Thus we begin to expand the chakra.

We must also learn to look from within the anahata chakra. Let me emphasize that in the beginning one learns to look, not to see. The ability to see comes later.

We have to learn to look from the anahata not only forward but also backward; it is very important.

There is an exercise performed in pairs that can help one learn to look back from the anahata. The first partner strokes gently the anahata area on the back of the second partner, draws with his or her finger numbers or letters, and the second partner tries to recognize them. Then the partners change their roles.

This useful and pleasant game can appeal even to young children. The memory about such games will help them develop their anahatas when they grow up.

… If someone is not able even to enter with the consciousness into the anahata and to remain in it, then he or she should pay attention to purification of the other chakras, in particular the chakras of the head. Contamination of the head chakras attaches the consciousness to them and does not allow it to move into the anahata.

It can be also helpful to practice the psycho-physical exercises described in our books and demonstrated in our films.

* * *

Why do we need to learn to look back from the anahata chakra?

The point is that by looking always forward we become used to see only material objects.

And by looking backward, we get rid of this stereotype. Moreover, when we look backward from the anahata, our indriyas of the vision of the soul go through the refining meridian called chitrini. And this makes it easier for us to learn to see inside subtle eons, which are close to the Abode of the Creator.

If one cannot do it, then one has to cleanse the meridians, especially the sushumna and chitrini meridians.

* * *

And then one can continue training, doing it in nature by filling with oneself-anahata the energy cocoons of trees. For this task, one should choose healthy and strong trees, located not in thicket. Let me note that oak trees are not suitable for this purpose: their energy is unfavorable for refinement of the consciousness. It is best to seek plants favorable for this work among spring birches (biological species is betula pubescens), also among spruces, pines, larches, poplars, etc…

Then we expand as spiritual hearts above the expanse of the sea or above big lakes, above the steppe, above the mountains…

We can also invite to our anahatas Jesus Christ and other Divine Teachers — Holy Spirits.

We learn to see Their giant Forms of Consciousness — Mahadoubles, consisting of the Divine Light invisible to the human eye.

Thus little by little, month after month, year after year we get closer to the state when we become able to perceive (i.e. to see and to hear) the Holy Spirits, to speak with Them, to merge with Them in Their Mahadoubles. Then They become personal Teachers for those who have reached this level of development.

But this is not the limit of the opportunities of spiritual growth. The next task is to reach the Abode of the Creator, from where Holy Spirits come to help us, incarnated people.

* * *

One of the possible ways to continue advancement is the situation when a particular non-incarnated Divine Teacher brings His or Her disciples to Mergence with the Primordial Consciousness — through His or Her Mahadouble. In other words, the disciple merges with the Beloved Teacher and gradually grows with the consciousness inside Him or Her, becomes similar to the Teacher in quality and in size of the soul. Having filled so the Mahadouble of the Teacher, the disciple continues to grow — now in the Abode of the Creator, from where the Teacher’s Mahadouble comes.

Probably in this way Disciples of such Teachers as Krishna and Jesus achieved the fullness of Perfection and became Divine.

But we were led by God in a different way — in order that we had the opportunity to cognize more broadly human possibilities of growth at these stages of development and, so to speak, the anatomy of God.

In particular, we have become acquainted with many Divine Teachers. They all have the same — Divine — level of refinement of the Consciousness; They all come out from the same Abode. But almost every One of Them walked the Path to Perfection — with individual variations. Their biographies are described in our book Classic of Spiritual Philosophy and the Present — and now everyone walking the Path to the Creator can use Their rich experience.

* * *

Let me tell you also about how we were led to the state of Nirodhi.

We were taught the mechanism of “dissolution” of oneself (as a consciousness) — long before we began to learn to merge with the Holy Spirits and with the Primordial Consciousness. It happened thanks to mastering the state of total reciprocity at special places of power. Moreover, our Divine Teachers showed to us these places in such an order that we, knowing nothing of the mechanism of achieving the state of Nirodhi, could gradually and slowly comprehend the material in “small doses”.

To make it more clear, I should add that we had no incarnated Teacher Who could explain everything to us in an easy-to-understand language. From the very beginning to the present day, we have been guided by non-incarnated Representatives of the Creator.

… So, let me repeat that the phenomenon of total reciprocity, which eventually leads to realization of the state of Nirodhi, was taught to us by demonstrating its mechanism first in small volumes of space and then gradually in much larger scales, up to the universal scale.

Why do I tell so much about this? Because it is very difficult — to teach the total reciprocity! It cannot be done only with the use of words! It is so unusual: from the normal state of feeling the “I” — to enter the state of “non-I”! How is it possible: to exist as “non-I”? How can one learn to change easily, at any moment, from “I” — to “non-I”, and vice versa?

But now it is easy for us to do. Look: (demonstration of the meditation). When I do this, you see that nothing happens to my body: for example, I can sit, stand, walk, talk… Even my facial expression does not change…

Why is this needed? In order that having cognized God in His Universal Greatness, one can easily enter the state of Mergence with Him, in other words the state of Nirvana.

And why does it make sense to teach “the disappearance of oneself” so early, as it was done in our case? Because this pedagogical method confidently suppresses the possibility of development of pride and self-admiration in students on the grounds of personal achievements!

* * *

I want to tell you also about how we studied the structure of the Absolute.

Yes, our Teachers showed to us all the eons of the Absolute. But it was not an easy task — to arrange all of them in a logical sequence, in the form of a scheme. They “refused” to be arranged as a simple sequence on the “steps” of the scale of subtlety-coarseness!

Their relative positions, in fact, turned out to be more complex! (I am talking about the scheme for studying the structure of the Absolute presented in the book Ecopsychology).

… Now let us talk about how one should work with this scheme.

Of course, first of all one must master everything that precedes this stage of work on oneself.

Then (preferably at special places of power), we exit from the bottom part of the anahata chakra in the backward and slightly downward direction — and then we find ourselves in a space of soft and gentle calm, resembling the harmony of warm southern night with many stars seen everywhere around. This is the eon of protoprakriti: a universal “storage” of elementary particles intended for construction of material objects, including stars and planets. This is one of the behind-the-Mirror eons.

By the way, what is the origin of the term behind-the-Mirror?

A usual material mirror has two sides: the front side, which is light, and the back side, which is dark.

In the cosmic multidimensional reality — the Mirror is a membrane invisible to the ordinary sight, which divides a group of eons. One can find this Mirror behind one’s own anahata chakra.

In front of our material bodies we see light (daylight or artificial light), but having passed through the Mirror, we come to a space where there is no bright light. This is why the terms Mirror and behind-the-Mirror were chosen to describe these phenomena.

… If we go down behind the Mirror to the multidimensional depths, we come to two other eons — with increasing brightness. They, too, have to be explored. But we must not settle in them forever.

We should also explore all other eons shown on the above-mentioned scheme, of course, except of hell.

… In order not to raise doubts about the credibility of this scheme, let me explain the following:

This concerns the relationship between the objective and the subjective.

Eons, which we are talking about now, exist objectively, i.e. they exist independent of existence or non-existence of the subject or subjects, and independent of the subject’s opinions.

But at the same time, a person exploring these eons becomes convinced that if he or she fills these eons with himself or herself (as a consciousness), then they all will move and rotate together with the material body of this person…

So, what does it mean? Self-deception? An illusion of perception?

No. The point is that the scheme shows entrances into eons, not the eons proper.

Moreover, each of us, people, from birth has this “construction” “attached” to the body. This is our potential that we can use or not use during the time of earthly incarnations. Namely, everyone has a choice:

— to remain in the world of matter (prakriti) if one devotes the entire life to it and becomes attached to it,

— or to go to hell if one cultivates emotional coarseness (or indulges the already existing one),

— or to dedicate life to studying the eons of the Absolute with emphasis put on the most subtle of them, including the eon from where the Representatives of the Creator come.

In relation to what was said above, it is appropriate to recall the biblical statement that man is like to God. But this likeness has nothing to do with bodily appearance. It concerns the multidimensional structure of the Absolute — and the multidimensional potential of each of us, which we discuss now.

… When we master the three eons behind the Mirror, it may seem to us that the deepest one of them is the Abode of the Creator. But it is not true. This eon is just an aggregate of the Atmic potentials of people. In other words, one can say that here everyone can find his or her Main Component (potential or already realized) — the Atman.

But Paramatman (the Divine Atman, the main Essence of the Absolute, the Primordial Consciousness, the Creator, God-the-Father, Ishvara, Tao, Turiya) is found between two such Atmic structures.

It is for this purpose that one has to master them both — on the right and on the left…

* * *

In our today’s conversation I had the task to describe briefly the most important steps of the Path of spiritual self-realization of man. In the beginning, we discussed how one makes the first attempts to “open up” the spiritual heart, and in the end — how one can cognize the Creator in His Abode and merge with Him.

You probably noticed that there are stages of development that I have not talked about. For example, it is information about kundalini, about the vertical segments, about the United We, about the “Sun of God”, about how to divinize the matter of the body. Why? Because it would require more time. But all such important information can be found in our other articles and books.

At the end of my talk, I want to ask you not to think that all the described stages can be mastered quickly! On the contrary, one has to dedicate the entire life to this!

I wish you success!

Vladimir Antonov, Ph.D. (in biology)
(chapter from the book Anatomy of God)

Translated from Russian
by Mikhail Nikolenko

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