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Our Divine Soul
Soul-infused Psychology
The Spiritual Hierarchy
Questions or inquiries can be sent to
netspace@EducationForWorldSolutions.org
Reasons to meditate
Purpose & Importance
Radiance Meditation - Intro
Entering into the Light
Outward Radiance
Radiance from one's being
Recognition & Inclusiveness
Seven Stages of the Meditation
Qualities, Ideas & Visions
Spiritual Qualities
Examples of Invocation
Group Synergy
Meditations for the world
There are many kinds of meditation and many reasons to meditate. What are the Goals & Purposes of most meditation?
1. Personal reasons
Reasons and benefits for meditation – physical, emotional and mental
Physical benefits –
Emotional benefits –
Mental benefits –
2. Trans-personal or Spiritual reasons
3. Meditating for the world
This can also include personal and spiritual aims for meditation
There are two basic
types of meditation:
being
meditations and doing meditations
In a doing meditation the mind is actively doing something, such as thinking about an idea, visualising a positive outcome, or working on transformation. One is meditating for a certain purpose, which requires intentional thinking, visualisation, or some other mental activity.
In a being meditation one is just being and the mind is not intending to do anything. There is no intention nor goal, except just being who one truly is. Just being is aim of this meditation, rather than doing something. The activity of mind is to just be, and the content of mind is just being. There is nothing to do but just be. Conscious being is good enough.
There is a special value in a being meditation. It brings one to the very essence of oneself, to the essential beingness of oneself. Then, from this will come self-discovery, as one's true self will naturally emerge from simply being; without any distraction of doing. So, being meditation is a way to self-discovery, or inner soul discovery, or the discovery of Divine Being.
Being meditation develops our ability to just be, in mind and emotion; rather than habitually having to do something, which is the habit of our thinking and goal-achieving oriented mind. There is great value in just being, without mentally doing. We learn to just relax and simply be, with an unhurried time for self-discovery, or for our inner being to reveal itself. We realize previously hidden qualities of our self, the deeper essences of our self. We also learn it is alright to just be – to just be in the experience of just being, or to just be in the truth of who we are.
In being meditation, we can reach a transparent clearness in mind and heart, in which there are no obstructions caused by obsessive thinking or rambling thoughts. The aim is to be free of the habits of our thinking mind and to be free of thoughts, so that our pure true being is conscious and experienced. Our mind becomes clear and our emotions settle into peacefulness. Thus, in this pure clarity of meditation, in this clear space of mind, our divine essence naturally shines through.
Yet, clearness of mind is not always so easy to achieve, and neither is peace in just being; because our usual habit of mind is to be actively doing something or thinking about something – thinking about or worrying about what happened today or yesterday, or making plans for tomorrow. In general, thinking can be helpful and even necessary in life. But if thinking is a habit that just goes on all of the time and without any focused control, then it becomes an obstacle in the way of experiencing just being.
However, there is also value in an intentional, purposeful doing meditation, in which we intentionally use our powers of thinking and creative imagination, for purposes of personal and even world transformation. In this type of mediation, the aim is to use thought, intuition, and creative visualisation to improve our self, our life, and our world. Also, we can apply the methods of intentional radiance and spiritual channeling for the world.
Thus, there is value in both types of meditation; and neither is superior over the other. Some types of people are drawn to a being meditation, rather than doing meditation, or vice versa, because of personal or cultural tendencies. But both types of meditation are valuable, and both help develop our abilities.
Radiance meditation is mainly a form of doing meditation. Yet, being meditation can also be integrated into this, because spiritual qualities will naturally emanate into the world through our own conscious beingness. As well, we can use a being type of meditation to reach mental clarity and emotional calm, and also to enter into the Light of Being or Spiritual Essence, from which we can then radiate spiritual qualities into the world. In other words, the Source of light, love and spiritual qualities can be found in the peaceful clear essence of just being. Then, from our own spiritual beingness, we can radiate these qualities.
Both being and doing meditations require mental quietude and a clear mind, and thus require a clearing of mind. In order to experience a clarity of pure conscious being, our mind and emotions need to be clear, so that our true beingness can shine through. Therefore, to reach pure conscious being depends on mental clearing and quietude. Likewise, a clear and quiet mind is also essential in a doing meditation, because our mind has to be clear and undistracted, in order to intentionally use thought, visualisation, invocation, or other powers of mind for purposes of self and world transformation.
Our minds and emotions have very real effects on life. This is a key realization. It is obvious that our actions affect others, as well as what we say. But also our mind and emotions affect others all over the world. This is an important idea to realize.
We are all interconnected in mind and in heart. Our interconnectiveness can first be understood ecologically. But also we are all sharing in the same mind, just as we are all sharing the same air that moves all around the planet. We are also connected in heart and are sharing similar feelings, just as we all share the waters of our Earth, as the waters move across the planet. So our very existence is a shared existence with others and with the planet. Every life exists in a shared interconnected web of ecological relationships. Yet this is also true with our mind and emotions, because we also share our thoughts and feelings in a larger web of energy.
All of our individual minds are interconnected in one mind- space of humanity, the mental energy-field of our planet. Thus, whatever goes on with any of us, mentally and emotionally, has an interconnected effect upon the whole accumulated mental and emotional field of humanity, which then also has its affective influence on all individual minds. This shared mind-space of humanity, which we will call the world mind, is the reservoir of thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and it is the shared mental space in which we all think. It is the totality of individual minds and emotions blending all together and affecting one another.
The aim of world-service meditation is not about personal improvement or enlightenment, though these personal aims are also important and could well be outcomes of radiance meditation. The fundamental aim of this kind of meditation is world transformation and evolution. The primary focus of this is not on oneself, but rather on mediating between Higher Qualities (from God or from Spiritual Hierarchy) and humanity. Our goal is to participate in the spiritual evolution of humanity, which we do through the activity of meditation.
In meditation, one becomes a conscious bridge between the Divine (or Spirit) and the shared mind of humanity. To do this, one needs to go beyond personal consciousness and enter into a Transpersonal consciousness, while also being in rapport with the greater Divine Consciousness. One needs to break free of limited personal consciousness, in order to expand into Divine and Transpersonal consciousness.
It's important to understand the need to be in tune with the greater Divine while also being consciously interconnected in the shared mind of humanity, because this is how to help bring spiritual light, love, goodwill, and other positive qualities into the consciousness of all humanity. One is then participating in the spiritual-mental transformation of the world. So, we need to consciously enter into the shared and interconnected mind of humanity, in order to participate in the spiritual work of world evolution, or the evolution of consciousness.
All individual minds are in one interconnected and shared world mind. This is true for everyone, even though people are not usually conscious of this, and unconscious of being affected and involved with the shared thoughts, ideas, and feelings of all humanity. So not only are we all interconnected in and sharing the same air and water of the planet, but we are also sharing our thoughts and feelings, our minds and our hearts; though for most people this is all happening unconsciously. Thus, our meditation work is to enter into the world mind consciously, to help bring positive transformation in the world.
The 'world mind' is the mind of humanity, which includes the hearts and wills of humanity, as well as everyone's thoughts and emotions. Though of course, not everyone believes or feels the same way. The meaning of world mind is the space in which these many ideas and emotions exist. It's the shared mental and emotional space of humanity.
In our physical shared world, we each have to be responsible for what we give to it or take from it, and whether this is helpful or harmful; and this is also true for our shared mental-emotional world, because our mental and emotional energies are interacting in the shared mental and emotional space. Once we realize all this, we see more of our own responsibility, as well as our opportunity to help evolve the world mind of humanity. This is a time in humanity's evolution when individuals need to realize that we all live in a shared world, yet this also applies to consciousness and mind, whereby our individual mind is interrelated with others in a world mind.
Our individual consciousness also needs to be open receptively to the greater Spiritual Mind. Spiritual Mind is meant to permeate into the world mind, producing the spiritual evolution of humanity. Our purpose in world service meditation is to be a conscious responsible participant in this. To do this we will need to be conscious in the world mind, but at the same time conscious in the Spiritual Mind (which includes spiritual love, intelligence, and will). Then from Spiritual Mind, we can share forth inspirational Ideas, Values, Visions, and helpful solutions to world problems.
We then become a conscious bridge between the Spiritual levels of Mind and the world mind, and we will help bring Spiritual Energies, Qualities and Ideas into humanity. Therefore, in meditation we become consciously connected in the Spiritual Mind, in the Spiritual Energies, and understanding of Spiritual Qualities, Principles and Ideas. Only then are we able to bring the Higher-Spiritual into the minds and hearts of humanity.
By connecting and entering into the Spiritual Mind, we are connecting with the Source of spiritual energies, qualities, and inspirational ideas. This could also be understood as God, Who Provides spiritual nourishment and inspiration, which we then distribute out to everyone. By analogy, we first go to the Source of spiritual food, or to our Provider; and then we help give out and share this needed food for everyone in our shared world.
Also, in this understanding of being in a shared world mind, our responsibility is to shift from personal consciousness to world consciousness, with an attitude of world service. In order to be helpful in the world consciousness, we need to have the right attitude and intention, which is goodwill (will-to-good) and world-service. We need to be in an attitude of goodwill towards all humanity, and with an attitude of caring, compassion, and wanting to participate in a higher purpose of world evolution. These attitudes are the right foundation for entering into world consciousness, into shared mind, and into the work of radiance meditation.
Goodwill is our will-to-good. It is a will that is focused and intent on doing good and serving the Good. This is the attitude of will that we need to bring into our service-meditation work, and it's also the attitude needed in the world. So if we bring into world consciousness our attitude of goodwill, the will-towards-Good, this will create positive resonances in the world.
Certain spiritual beliefs are at the basis of all methods of Radiance Meditation. One fundamental belief, or premise, is that there is a Divine Reality. This is called by many names, such as God, Allah, Brahman, or Spirit. The Divine is not separate from us, nor is it distant from us. Rather, the Divine is always present. This is the Divine Presence. The Divine is ever-Present and at all times available. The Divine is radiant and pervading the whole world.
This Divine Reality is involved with our world and with our life. It is the essence of our world and of our lives. But it is not always realized or manifested. The Divine lives in the core essence of every life and everything. But unless actually realized or experienced, one is cut off from the Divine – by one's lack of realization. Thus for many people: spiritual love, spiritual intelligence, and the realization of spiritual purposes is but a potential –yet to be realized. So one of the spiritual purposes of life is to realize and manifest the Divine, the Spirit, God, or whatever name we use.
The Divine has a number of aspects, facets, or attributes. The three most fundamental aspects are Intelligence, Love, and Power. Thus we believe in a greater Intelligence, a greater Love, and a greater Power. And we also believe that one of our human purposes is to access and participate in this Intelligence, Love, and Power. Thus, we have a responsibility in the realization and manifestation of the Divine.
Divine Intelligence gives us a more holistic understanding of life and also higher vision, so that we are able to make right decisions and actions for the benefit of all life. Divine Love unites us all, while bringing greater compassion and caring into the world. Divine Power gives us the will and strength to work on what needs to be done for the benefit of divine purposes. Divine Power also provides the inspiration for world transformation. It also transforms 'ordinary will' into spiritual will, to make positive transformations in the world. There are many other Divine Qualities, as well, to realize and manifest.
Yet, in order for any of these Divine Qualities to be manifested in us and in the world, we need to first become conscious and receptive to the Divine. For if not, then we are disconnected from the Divine and from the Divine Qualities; and it is this disconnect that creates the many problems of humanity. The reason there are problems in people and in the world is not because 'God wills' it to be. Injustice, hatred, violence, conflict, selfishness, and hurtful actions are not part of a 'divine plan'. Rather, these problems are caused by people's disconnect from Divine understanding and love, and by a lack of spiritual consciousness and heartfulness.
Simply put, there is a lack of real love in the world, along with too much selfish thinking. Divine Love is a reality, but it's a reality that is still not completely realized and manifested. Love can spiritually transform the world, but first Love has to be realized. Likewise, Divine Intelligence and Divine Will is also lacking in the world, because of not yet being realized and expressed. So our first responsibility is to realize the Divine in our own self, or receive the Divine in us. Secondly, our responsibility is to express and share the Divine, or help transmit the Divine into the world. This is the work in Radiance Meditation.
One of the beliefs in radiance meditations, or world-service meditations, is that Spiritual Consciousness, Knowingness and Intuition are available to us. Spiritual Intuition is the intuitive knowing of Universal-Divine principles, qualities and purposes. But in order to connect with Spiritual Intuition, our heart and mind need to be at one, working together.
Spiritual Intuition is the same as Spiritual Consciousness. We each have an inherent capacity to enter into Spiritual Consciousness, which is greater and more expansive than ordinary consciousness. In Spiritual Consciousness (or Spiritual Mind), we have access into Spiritual Intuition and Intelligence, where we can realize Divine Truths and Purposes of life.
It is also our belief that, through meditation, we can become mediators between the Divine and the world; to share or communicate the Divine Quality or Vision that we presently realize or have received. We are able to do this because in consciousness we are all connected without any real distance between us. We are all thinking in the same mental space. For in essence, consciousness is shared, and in consciousness everyone is here.
The whole world is connected in consciousness, as well as the whole Spiritual Hierarchy of Greater Intelligences and Beings. So in meditation we are all interconnected and can inter-communicate. This communication requires both listening and sharing. So we need to develop in meditation the ability of deep listening, or intuitive listening, and also develop our ability to share our higher thoughts, realizations, and feelings.
One of the general beliefs in this kind of meditation is that we each can, in fact, connect with the Divine – the Universal Spiritual Love, Intelligence, and Power. There are many ways to make this spiritual connection through meditation. Some ways seem to work better for some people; while other ways work better for other people. Here are some ways to connect with the Divine, the Spiritual, Higher Consciousness, or Greater Love.
One way is by visualization. For example, we can visualize a great Source of Light, either above or within, which we then approach, receive, or enter into. Or we could visualize some other image of the Divine, to help us make connection and bring us into a deeper spiritual consciousness. Or we could visualize the Divine Quality of Love, streaming into our heart, as we receive this Love.
Another way to make spiritual connection is just by thought or belief. For example, just think being spiritually connected, or believe in being spiritually connected. Thought and belief are ways to lead the mind from ordinary consciousness to greater consciousness, or into Spiritual Presence.
Another way to come into a greater spiritual consciousness is through feeling; as for example, by feeling connected with the Divine, the Source, God, or with Love. Or we can feel the Divine Presence surrounding us and pervading all space, or the Divine Presence can also be felt in our heart. Divine-Universal Love can be discovered deep in the essence of our heart.
We can also connect with the Divine Will through our own spiritual will – our will towards goodness, truth and love. This is the will within us that seeks to understand and work for the Greater Good and for Spiritual Purpose. It's not just a personal-desire kind of will. It's a will to know what is True and to do what is Right (or best), in alignment with spiritual Purposes. Spiritual will is inspired from a higher Will, or greater Purpose.
Another way into spiritual connection is through a conscious relationship with the Divine, or with God. Being in a conscious relationship is different from being unconscious of any Divine Reality. The kind of relationship we have with the Divine depends on how we believe the Divine is related to us, or on how we think of the Divine or God. The two ways to understand the Divine are transcendence and immanence. Our understanding will then determine the kind of relationship we have and as well as our experience of the Divine. Neither of the ways are better than the other; as both are valid, and both give us a connection. So we can acknowledge both perspectives as true and helpful, and we could try out each one to see the results and how it feels.
The perspective of God the Divine as transcendence is an acknowledgment that the Divine is Greater than our little self and exists independently in its own Absoluteness. In this view, we might experience the Divine as the Absolute Greatness and as the Source, from which we can receive Divine Energies and inspirations, and in this kind of relationship we need to become humbly receptive, in relation to the Greater or the Source.
The perspective of the Divine as immanence is an understanding that the Divine is present here in life and within us. Divine immanence is also experienced as the Divine Presence in life and within us. But we have to be conscious of this, or have experience of this, in order to have an immanent relationship with the Divine.
So we can experience a relationship with the Divine, either as transcendence or immanence; as as both. For example, we can experience Divine Light coming to us from its universal Source, or from a higher dimension, but we can also discover and experience the Divine Light already within us.
There are many ways to spiritually connect and create a relationship with the Divine. Our aim is to have a real experience of spiritual connection, relationship, or oneness, with conscious experience. We can even become immersed in and transformed by the Divine. This is in the first phase of Radiance Meditation. Then in the second phase we send out or radiate out the Light and Love into the world. Our purpose is to be a conscious mediator or channel for the Divine – to be realized and manifested in the world, which is the spiritualization or spiritual evolution of our world.
Most of humanity is still only partially awake to higher purposes, to spiritual love, and to spiritual presence. The Divine Potential of humanity has yet to be fully awakened. Spiritual Light and Spiritual Love have not yet been fully realized, and Spiritual Will is not yet fully working through and expressing through all of humanity. So the Divine work is not yet finished. This is why we are needed, and this is why there is a need for meditation with the purpose of helping to bring Divine Qualities into the world. Therefore, an essential premise in this kind of meditation is that we can participate in the Divine Work. We can become mediators between the Divine Radiance and world realization. Thus, we can serve both the Divine and humanity.
We can use the powers of our mind in meditation for world service, world transformation, and world healing. We still need to help the world in physical practical ways, but in mediation we can also make positive changes in the world through our mind and heart. The power of consciousness is great, and the power of our love and spiritual vision is great.
The state of our world is a great concern for many people, with all the injustice, violence and suffering in the world. It's easy to feel frustrated and distressed, especially if we would like to help solve these problems, but don't know what to do about it all. But our frustration, distress or personal suffering, in reaction to world problems and the suffering of other people, does not help solve any of this. Identifying with problems and suffering in oneself doesn’t make anything better in the world. So we need to practice detachment, though we cannot just desensitize our self to the problems and sufferings in the world. We need to find ways to help solve these world problems and sufferings.
One of the ways we can help the world is to use the power of our mind and heart, in meditation. The power of mind to help transform the world is great, because mind is a medium we all share in, which carries thoughts and ideas all over the world. In the shared medium of mind, people receive thoughts and ideas, as well as share thoughts and ideas. The power of heart is also great, because we all share in the medium of heart. Through our hearts, we share our feelings and give our love, and we can send healing and blessings. The feelings and energies from our heart can be shared all over the world; distance does not matter.
Prayer can also be part of our meditation work, though it's not absolutely necessary. Prayer is connecting with the Higher Spiritual Power, or also called God. Spiritual Power is actually the power of Love and Wisdom. Divine-Spiritual power doesn't force itself upon people; but it is responsive to our requests if from sincere need and good intention. The Higher Power has the Will to help and heal the world; but there must first be an asking (or invocation), motivated by a real need. This opens up a channel for the Divine to enter into the world in need.
One way to help transform problems in the world is by using visualization and positive thought in our meditation. Visualize a solution to whatever problem. See the solution and see it happening, or think it happening. Then believe in this visualization of what needs to be done or how to heal the situation. Visualizing the solution is a way to transmit the idea or the vision into the world. Also believe in the power of this idea, vision, or solution. Have faith in the vision of what can be done, and have faith that it will be done. This completes it.
For example, visualize world violence being transformed by love or by the understanding that we are all brothers and sisters in one family of God, or one family of Earth. Or visualize pain and violence transformed by sensitivity and empathy. Also, any world problem can be transformed by our intelligent understanding of it; because our understanding brings light upon the problem, its causes and its solutions, and our understanding is shared into the mental sphere of humanity. Even to just think about how to solve a problem, or how the world could be better, is a way to make positive changes, because our loving concern and our intelligent thoughts go out into the mind of humanity.
Or to help transform suffering in the world, visualize those suffering being blessed with love and care, which is also sent out to them from our loving heart. Visualize love, care and healing for everyone, and feel these energies going out to them. Also visualize those people being helped by caring, unselfish people of goodwill. Visualize world problems being resolved by more and more people awakened by a vision of world love, harmony and cooperation. Then have faith in the positive effects of these visualizations and thoughts. These are some of the ways we can help the world in our meditation.
So, instead of just thinking about problems, or worrying and distressing about them, try meditating on a solution, or how to help. Think about the solution, using intelligence and intuition. This is one of the ways of meditation, to consciously think of solutions or qualities needed in the world, using intelligence combined with spiritual intuition. Then visualize the solution happening, to empower it with our affirmation and agreement.
For example, when you hear about disharmony in the world, meditate and focus on harmony. Use your mind to see harmony coming about in the situation or in the world. This is a way to change things, using the power of mind and meditation. See people realizing the value of harmony, wanting harmony, and working towards harmony. Visualize all situations in the world turning into harmony, becoming harmonious.
Focusing on the positive and on the solution does not mean that you ignore the problem, or make-believe that there is no disharmony, conflict and violence in the world. You know what's going on and the problems, and you know it isn't all positive and alright at this time, and you're not merely justifying it as being 'the way things have to be', or as 'part of God's plan'. Yet, instead of dwelling on the problem, you meditate on what is needed to transform it.
For example, when you hear about a conflict in the world, meditate on peace and cooperation. Visualize peace and cooperation coming about in the situation and in the whole world. And see people realizing the value of peace and cooperation, wanting it, and working towards it.
If you hear about people hungry and malnourished in the world, then visualize the rest of the world helping them to grow good food, and see those people being nourished and prospering. In this way, you are bringing a higher idea, value and vision into the mind of humanity. And every step forwards begins with an idea and a belief that it's possible, doable, and necessary.
If you hear about human rights abuses, prejudices, or injustices, then mediate on the divinity of all people and that we all deserve respect, love and care. Then visualize all people respected with equal rights and fair opportunities for freedom, happiness, and prosperity. See what is right and what is loving, and see this happening. See the solution replacing the problem. Use intelligence and intuition to see what is needed, or think of a needed solution or a positive value that will solve or transform a certain kind of problem. This is how we can transmit positive ideas, values, solutions, and visions.
So, we can use the power of our mind and intelligence to realize and visualize a better way, a more intelligent and loving way; which then goes out into the world, through the mind. Our ideas and values then combine with similar ideas and values from others in the world, so that our own contribution adds together with other contributions, increasing the thought power of these ideas, the thoughtforms of solution. The world needs positive ideas and solutions, and a strengthening of these. Also, we are replacing selfish and unintelligent thoughts which are causing most of the world problems. To transform or improve the world in a more positive way requires changes in thought.
The power of our feelings is also efficacious in meditating for the world. But instead of meditating on an idea or visualizing a positive solution, the focus is on a particular feeling, quality, or higher level of emotion, such as the feeling of love, compassion, caring, or healing. The quality of our feeling, which is sustained consciously and intentionally in meditation, radiates and resonates out into the world, helping to transform world emotions and raise the level of emotions throughout the world. So in mediation we focus on a positive emotional quality, to strengthen this in the emotional energy-field of humanity, and transform negative emotions into positive ones.
For example, if there is a problem in the world that creates feelings of upsetness, distress, depression, or anger; then focus on a positive feeling to help heal this. There are reasons for the feelings people have, and it may be important for people to feel these emotions, but we can send out higher, positive emotions, to help people heal their distress when they are ready.
Problems can get us all down emotionally at times. So first, we need to calm and transform our own emotional energy, and not be subconsciously affected by all of the emotions swirling in the world. First, make a shift from being receptively-affected by the world to being an active transformer in the world. This is an important shift in mental attitude. Shift from being an effect to being a cause. This also brings us back to our own power. Shift from being emotionally affected by world problems, to being an emotional solution. Become centered in the heart, and send out positive loving feelings to heal and transform world emotions.
Give to the world from your heart. Bring to the world your feelings of love and care. Give your love, care, compassion, and healing energy. This is how we can help people from our heart. Love is the great healer and transformer, and love changes the world. Love dissolves feelings of separation and creates inclusiveness, open-heartedness, caring, cooperation and harmony. Love dissolves separatism, harmfulness, and group arrogance. Love creates harmony and peace. So, love in itself can help positively transform the world.
Other qualities of love are: givingness, helpfulness, goodwill, generosity, kindness, sharing, nurturance, consideration, appreciation, forgiveness and healing. All of these qualities create transformative positive effects in the world. From our heart we can radiate out any of these positive, loving qualities into the whole world, or to particular places or people in need; in order to help transform and heal.
In this book are general principles and methods of radiance meditation, as well as different aspects and possible ways to do the meditations. General understanding is more important than specifics and details, because an overall understanding gives a foundation for exploring and practicing on one's own.
Therefore, most of the meditation suggestions in this book are general, rather than specific or exact; because most important to understand are the basic principles and reasons for doing these meditations, rather than exact specific steps.
There are many types of people, with different backgrounds in spiritual teachings and different kinds of meditation experiences. Therefore, some of the explanations and phrases will be familiar for some people, but new to others. Spiritual and meditation teachings can be widely diverse in the ideas and words used; and also, the meaning of words is sometimes understood differently for different people. So in explaining the ideas and methods of world-service meditation, a diversity of words and phrases are used, as well as a diversity of perspectives and a variety of suggestions, to help a diverse variety of people understand the general ideas and principles. This kind of meditation is not intended to be for just one kind of spiritual group, and it is not part of any specific religious or spiritual teaching; which is another reason for using a variety of different words, terms, and perspectives in its description. Also, general principles and aspects of meditation are emphasized, more than specifically exact instructions. It's most important to understand the essential principles and intentions of radiance meditations; so that each unique person can creatively formulate their own ways of meditation, out of the general ideas and suggestions given.
Depending on the type of person one is, there are three perspectives one might have in understanding and practicing this kind of meditation: scientific, devotional, or artistic. From the scientific perspective, one seeks to discover the foundational principles, and then experiment to find out how to bring about positive transformation in the world through meditation. The scientist uses a combination of reason, intuition, and practical thinking. Second is the devotional approach, in which one feels a spiritual need to practice meditation for love and service to God and to all humanity. The devotional person listens to their inner feelings, to know is right to do and also makes a commitment to this. Third is the artistic approach, in which one views meditation as an artistic creative process, and the artist type of person will freely experiment with different ways and methods, to find inspiration and unfold qualities of beauty and goodness. None of these perspectives is spiritually better than the others.
This book is not meant to be read quickly; it is better to proceed slowly, giving enough time to explore different ways and perspectives, and to practice particular aspects. With time and practice, the various aspect of the meditation will gradually integrate together.
Understanding and practice are both essential, as well as interrelated. Understanding will increase one's meditation ability and also deepen one's experience; while actual practice and experience will increase one's understanding.
The aim of Radiance Meditation is to help bring forth Light, Love and Spiritual Will into humanity. This involves spiritual alignment, mental focus, visualisation and intentional radiance. Heart and goodwill are also included. Sound, mantra, or chanting can also be included. The aim is to invoke Divine Light, Love and Will, in order to enlighten the minds and awaken the hearts of all humanity. In this, we are consciously participating in a great Divine Work – the unfoldment of Love and Light and Goodwill in everyone and throughout the whole world.
The first phase of Radiance Meditation can be described in many ways. We can refer to this phase as lifting into the Light, or into Love, or into the Divine Power. It could also be called towards the Light, or into the Light, and many other names are possible. In this first phase, our aim is to enter into a divine connection, or into spiritual alignment, or into spiritual consciousness. Then the second phase is radiating into the world this Light, Love or Spiritual Power, which could be called sharing the Light, or radiating the Light, or being the Radiance.
In the first phase, we move closer into Divine Light, or into Divine Consciousness. Another way to describe this is that our consciousness moves towards the Light, and can even become immersed in the Light, or merge in union with the Divine Light. The meditator then remains in this greater/higher consciousness for a while, to be absorbed and refreshed in it. This can be called the Higher Interlude, or a period of Spiritual Immersion.
Light is just one of the Essences; so instead, one could enter into and become immersed in Divine Love, or in Divine Will. Light, Love and Will are known as the Divine-Spiritual Triad. Our focus could be with any of these spiritual qualities, or other spiritual qualities such as goodwill, peace, harmony, or beauty. So for example, the first phase could be called towards Love or into Love, while the second phase could be understood as the sharing or radiance of Love.
In the second phase, we bring the Divine Light into the consciousness of all humanity, to spiritual enlighten humanity with integrative intelligence and understanding of divine purposes. Our meditation becomes an Illuminative Radiance, as we resonate and radiate Light into the world. Not all people are 'in the dark', but the radiance of Light is important for the overall spiritual illumination of humanity. Our meditation can also bring Divine Love into the hearts of humanity and Divine Will into the wills of all humanity. We don't try to force Divine Light, Love and Will upon anyone; we are just offering and sharing this.
Lastly, there is a period of visualising or feeling the positive spiritual effects in humanity. Though of course, we cannot expect that all of humanity is instantly transformed by our work, because not everyone in the world is ready to be illuminated by the Divine Light, or awakened by Love, or inspired by spiritual Will. But from every meditation, at least some spiritual insight, love and goodwill has come into the minds and hearts of some people. Those who receive spiritual Light may experience it as spiritual insight, or as an awakening, or as inspiration to create goodness, beauty and harmony in life and for everyone around. Or the Light may awaken someone to a higher purpose, or to a deeper love within.
Finally, we could end the meditation with a short mantra, a sound, or a bell, while visualising and feeling the energies settle into humanity and become seeds to sprout forth in the future. Lastly, feel grateful for all that is given.
Enter into God, the Divine Self, and be in God Knowing. Enter into the experience of Divine Being. Enter into the Mind of God. Enter into the Spiritual Light. Then, from the Mind of God, illuminate humanity with this Light of Divine Mind.
Enter into the Heart of God, which is in the essence of your own heart. Here, know the Love which is the Divine Love, the Love emanating from the Being of God, the Love Essence. Then let this Love radiate and emanate out to all humanity and all the world, filling the hearts of all humanity with Love, the divine love of compassion and unity.
Enter into the Power of God, the Power of Divine Will. This Power brings in spiritual will to the world and transforms the little wills of humanity. Our own will-to-Good, which is our spiritual will, is the degree of God's Will that we carry, that we can use and radiate out to others.
Breathe deeply in, while raising consciousness into the Divine Light (or deepening into the Light). Remain here for a moment, realizing 'I am here in the Divine Light'. Then on the out-breath send forth Light, Love and Spiritual Will into humanity. Sound the OM as well, to strengthen the power of this. After the out-breath, pause here for a moment to be in thankfulness and in faith that the Divine Power of Light and Love has entered more into the world. This cycle can keep being repeated.
* In another section of this book, Radiance Meditation is explained in seven parts.
Before we can truly lift towards the Light or radiate Light, we first we need to do some kind of clearing practice – clearing or surrendering any distracting thoughts or emotions. We will not be able to achieve the purposes of meditation, if we have distracting thoughts, or if our mind is unable to stay focused, or if our mind easily drifts into random thoughts, worries or daydreams. Without a clear mind, we cannot be a clear enough channel for spiritual energies or to radiate spiritual qualities.
Achieving a clear mind is itself a worthy aim in meditation, and for some teachings this is the purpose of meditation. Yet there are other reasons as well for clearing the mind, or having a mental clearness. The aim of a clearing meditation might be inner peace and mental quietude. The aim might be to achieve a clearer consciousness or a clarity of understanding. The aim might be to uncover, discover, and reveal the essence of oneself or divine soul, or the spiritual light and love within us. But we cannot possibly achieve any of these aims when our mind is cluttered, disturbed, distracted or clouded by rambling thoughts.
A clearness in mind is also essential for our inner spiritual qualities to be revealed. Inner spiritual qualities are inherent within us all, yet are often obstructed by a cluttered mind of repeating thoughts, self-interests, self fears or worries. Our usual thinking and its thoughts are like clouds obscuring the deeper reality of our being. Consequentially, many of our inner self qualities remain undiscovered and unrealized. Yet if our mind and thoughts are cleared, our deeper being and inner qualities will spontaneously appear.
A clearness in mind is also essential for spiritual alignment, receiving light, for visualisation and helping the divine radiance stream into all humanity. We cannot successfully do any of this, if our mind is cluttered by chattering thoughts, self-interests, or turbulent emotions. Also, our mind and emotions have to be transparently clear, in order for the highest or greatest Spiritual Energies to channel through us –into humanity. For one of the aims of our meditation is to become a pure channel, vehicle, or transmitter for Spiritual Energies, Qualities, and Vision.
To be clear in mind means to be clear of incessant thinking and unimportant thoughts, because a chattering mind will distract our meditation, or even make meditation impossible. The same goes with unresolved lingering emotions, or any emotion that disturbs our meditative aims of peace and love. Thus, one's mind needs to be clear of unimportant or extraneous thoughts, which are presently distracting and hindering to the purposes of deeper meditation, because deeper meditation can only occur when the mind is clear, at peace and undisturbed.
The ordinary mind can be turbulent or restless. It can also carry a lot of unnecessary baggage which keeps on showing up and repeating. Yet, most people are unaware of how restless and cluttered their mind usually is. For until a person has actual experience of a quiet, peaceful and clear meditation, that person probably has no clue what is possible. They think that the way their mind is now is the way it has to be. Meditation can reveal our habits of mind and feelings; as mind faces itself in a mirror. So some of our meditation time can be an opportunity to observe our mind at work doing what it normally does, and how thoughts converse through our mind, even when we normally aren't conscious of it.
We need to be able to clear away the mental and emotional stuff that seems to accumulate in the dramas or struggles of daily life, because all of this is a hindrance to deeper meditation and deeper consciousness. In daily interactions we sometimes accumulate reactionary thoughts and emotions, related to upsetting or unresolved interactions. These reactionary thoughts and emotions then cover over our true self-knowing, our inherent spiritual intuition, and also our deeper feelings of love. This is why, if we wish to know our true self and deeper feelings, it is necessary to let go of and clear our thoughts and emotions.
Clearing is a process of consciously letting go of the stuff we are carrying, mentally and emotionally. It also includes a letting go of our me-thoughts and self-centeredness. All of this stuff are like clouds (or sometimes storms) covering over our deeper consciousness and being. So our loosely-running thoughts and lingering emotions are the clouding hindrances to the discovery of our true self, our true being, our inner essence. Therefore, until we can let this stuff go and clear our mind, our deeper true beingness will be hidden from our conscious experience. We won't be able to see or know our true being, who we really are. Also, all of this stuff has weight, which needs to be released so that our consciousness is free to 'lift up' into higher levels. So in order to lift up into the Light (or be lifted up), there has to be a releasing and clearing of the 'weight' of our thoughts, personal concerns, and lingering emotions.
Clearing of mind is nearly synonymous with 'purification of mind'. The difference is that purification of mind is a larger purpose, involving the purification of one's patterns of mind, so that one's mind and thought and feelings become more pure and transparent. Purification of mind includes any patterns of negative or overly-critical thought, worry, resentment, and self-narcissism. Clearing of mind is how one achieves this process of mental and emotional purification, so clearing the mind can also be understood as part of a greater purpose of self purification. Clearing is what we can do right now, in this time of meditation; so when we take time to practice clearing, we are also progressing in spiritual purification.
What we want to clear are the incessant, recurring, and automatic thoughts of mind. Emotions can be equally automatic and recurring, without our conscious choice. These habit patterns of mind and emotion happen automatically, rather than intentionally or by our decision. They happen without our intention, and without us having any real power over them or any free decision about them. So when one attempts to clear these thoughts, to enter into a pure and tranquil peace, one often has the troubling experience of not being able to do so.
Is there a possibility of free choice, in relation to our mind and emotions? Or are we merely the sum total of automatic habitual thoughts and emotions? Who's steering the boat? Is it our own power of intelligent decision and self will, or a plurality of automatic running thoughts and emotions?
Any successful meditation will require some degree of self-will, intentional-focus, and unity in self; otherwise, automatic thoughts and moods can will tend to dominate the meditation. We need to develop the power of will and mental focus – to choose what to focus on, or to be receptive to higher thoughts and intuition. Are we going to remain passive to mere habits of thought and reactionary emotions, or are we going to develop our mental powers and also discover our true deeper feelings?
This requires a sufficient degree of mental-control. But just to clarify a possible misunderstanding; mental-control doesn't mean that one is trying to suppress and control all aspects of the mind. Rather, positive will and mental-control gives one the ability to focus on what's really important, or what's intended. It is having the mental-power to not simply let automatic habits of thoughts and emotions take control of the meditation. But one is not trying to control everything in the meditation. We allow our deeper true qualities to emerge, from the depths of our being, into the light of conscious knowing. In meditation there needs to be an attitude of allowing and letting the meditation unfold as it will; yet not just passively allow habitual thought patterns or lingering emotional reactions to take charge.
Also, mental-control doesn't mean that we are not open to listening what is inside, or to what is emerging spontaneously from the mind. All meditation has to involve an attitude of listening; but we don't want to let unimportant thoughts cloud our inner listening. For without any mental control, the loudest and pushiest thoughts will simply take over our meditation, while the deeper and subtler parts of our being will be ignored and unheard. Thus, there needs to be an intentional quieting of mind and emotion, in order for our deeper spiritual being, our deeper intuition and feelings to emerge and be heard.
Detachment is also related to clearing the mind, because we need to be mentally and emotionally detached from thoughts and moods, to be able to release them. Often, certain thoughts or emotions are persistent because of an attachment to these, or some degree of holding-on to these patterns. So if we can develop detachment, then the stickiness of these thoughts can be broken so that we can let go of them. Thus, one of the aspects of clearing is to dis-attach from automatic chattering thoughts and lingering emotions.
Attachments can often be recognised by self-observation. They can then be dissolved and released by a decision to let it go, which is the decision of detachment. This detachment can be achieved in a single moment of decision and willingness to let it go; perhaps because we realize its unimportance or how it is an obstacle to our inner freedom, or perhaps because we are bored of it or feel done with it. This could be a dis-attachment from a current thought, mood, or emotional reaction.
Detachment,
though, doesn't mean that one is disinterested in making positive
changes in oneself or in the world. And it is not simply the same as
disinterest and apathy, nor is it the same as being just passive
about everything. We have to decide what positive goals we shall aim
for, and we have to make the needed efforts to reach those goals.
There are a number of ways to clear the mind in meditation. A simple way is to lay down and just let stuff go. Lay down and deeply relax. Then let go of all tensions and all stresses. Let go of all chattering thoughts and unsettled emotions. Let all of this be cleared. Our goal is for the body, emotions and mind to be completely relaxed and clear. So just relax and let it all go. But while doing this, remain conscious rather than just drift off into sleep. Sometimes of course we need to just let go into a relaxing sleep, but remaining conscious is essential in actual meditation. So, clearing can be done while laying down, but it's usually best to do this while sitting up or while walking.
There are many techniques to use in a clearing practice. First is having willingness and decision to be clear in our mind and emotion. First, be willing to let go of all thoughts and lingering emotions, then make a decision to do so, then just let it all go.
Conscious breath is also essential in letting go and clearing. Take a conscious, slow and deep breath. Hold for a few seconds, then release the breath slowly, along with all of your tensions, emotional turbulences and residing thoughts. Do this until you feel more calm and peaceful emotionally and clearer mentally.
One can also use visualisation. Visualise purifying waters or light showering through and clearing your mind and emotions. Let the light or the water stream through and clear. One can also visualise thoughts or emotions dissolving in pure light.
One can also use sound, or mantra, to clear energies. One very simple mantra is to sound forth three OMs, very slowly, verbally or silently; or some other sound-mantra can be used.
When the mind is
cleared, our deeper Self and Intuition will gradually emerge and be
revealed. Remember, the purpose of clearing is to first clear away
the obstacles of mind, in order for a spiritual experience of Light
and Knowingness to be possible.
General reminders –
relaxing, calming, quietude, letting go, releasing, surrendering,
willingness, decision, focusing, deepening
Also remember that Light clears the mind and purifies the
emotions; so one can also visualise Light or open to Light.
In addition to clearing, there is a need for 'self-collection', which is to collect all of one's energies and awareness into one united self-awareness and will. Our physical, emotional and mental 'bodies' need to be all united in harmony, in order to experience self-unity. We need to collect together all of our mind and thought energy and emotional energy, as well as all of our will, in order to be united in one-self. To become self-collected, or united in one purpose, we need will. Will is our self-ability to gather all of our self-energies and thoughts. Will is our power to become self-united and to steer the mind with intentional purpose. So at some point in the beginning part of one's meditation, one should be able to honestly say, 'I am self-unified', or 'I am united in myself', with all of my mind and emotions united with purpose and intention.
We need a united self and a united awareness to do this meditation. Our whole mind, including our self-awareness and will, need to become united and able to focus on the meditation at hand. This is needed because people's usual state of awareness is often fragmented or scattered. Our mind needs to become united in purpose, rather than scattered in many directions or in many kinds of thought. Having a conscious intentional purpose, at this time in meditation, will be like a magnet that brings all of one's mental and emotional energies together. So we need to keep in mind an intentional purpose, in order to bring about mental unity and coherence, rather than simply let our mind be scattered and thoughts roam anywhere.
We can use visualisation and breath, to bring together all of our mental energies, from scatteredness to unity. Visualise all the energies of self coming together into one united power of light, like bringing together all of the scattered particles and energies into one single sun, one single power of light. This is the power of one's united consciousness and will, all now ready to work towards the meditation purpose at hand.
To use conscious breath, begin to breathe slowly, deeply, and with intention. Take slow deep breaths, then breathe out slowly and relaxingly. If the breath naturally wants to breathe out more quickly a few times, then this is fine, because at first there might be a need to release tensions and other energies through the out-breath. So to begin, breathe in slowly and with intention, then breathe out any tensions or stresses, and let those energies be released through the breath in whatever way feels needed, either quickly or slowly.
Once these stress-tension energies have been released, and one feels more self-relaxed, then the in and out-breath will gradually become more balanced and in harmony, and one will feel in a greater self harmony, as the in and out breath become slow, deep, and relaxed, but also remaining conscious. If one can enter into a fully conscious and harmonious breath, and remain in this, then this will bring about self-unity, as well as a whole new level of self-awareness will open up. Moreover, it is recommended that one work at maintaining conscious breath throughout the whole meditation time, as much as possible
Then, when one is sufficiently clear of extraneous thoughts, and united in oneself, one can then proceed to the first stage of radiance meditation, which is lifting towards the Light. This will require a letting go and release of 'individual selfness', as well as one's self-involved personal thoughts and feelings. It will also involve a self-transcendence, from being a separate person to participating in a group work, or also possible is a transcendence into the Universal Divine Consciousness which is beyond personal individuality.
|
I open my mind to
the Greater Light.
|
I open my heart
to the Greater Love.
|
|
I open my will to
the Greater Will. |
I see the greater Light I clear away the veils, to realize Divine Being, the reality of who I am. Reveal Thyself, Divine Light, Jewel in the Lotus, Essence of Self, Peace in Being. |
The first phase of meditating for the world is to establish a connection, alignment or relationship with the Divine. Also one can enter into a greater Light of consciousness and being. The second phase then proceeds from this connection, alignment, or relationship, or from being in the Divine Light. For in the second phase, our intention is to radiate or transmit the Divine energies and qualities contacted in the first phase.
Request, prayer, or invocation can be used in the first phase, in order to connect with and be brought into the Divine Light. For example, one might ask for Divine Help, or ask to be lifted into the Divine Light or into Divine Presence. One might ask or pray to be more knowing of God, or to be immersed in Divine Love. This request would come from one's heart or aspiration, or one might use a particular prayer or invocation. Thus, since the goal of the first phase is to enter into a spiritual alignment, or into the Light, one can request Divine Help to achieve this.
Connection, alignment or relationship can also be achieved by our own conscious intention or decision. Our consciousness can enter into spiritual alignment, or into greater levels of Light and Love, through the power of our own intention, decision or will. Visualisation can also be used, as well as sound or mantra.
Then, once one enters into Divine connection or alignment, or enters into the Light, the meditation proceeds to the phase of outward radiance. Thus, the first phase of meditation is needed in order for the outward radiance phase to be Divinely inspired and empowered. Or in other words, the first phase is establishing a spiritual connection and alignment, or entering into the Light of Divine Radiance and Love, so that in the second phase these spiritual energies and qualities can be radiated, channeled or transmitted into the world.
The degree and quality of Light that we can give to humanity, in our meditations for world service, depends on how much of the Divine Light we receive and immerse in. We can only give (or share) Light to the degree that we already have it or are in it. Thus, the first phase of meditation has to be our approaching into the Divine Light, receiving the Light, immersing in the Light, then assimilating the Light into our conscious being. Lastly, it is possible to actually become the Light. Of course, this also applies to Love and other Qualities.
To actually approach and receive greater Light requires consciousness and some will to do it; being in the Light doesn't automatically happen just because we are meditating. One has to consciously receive the Light and even immerse in it – until one is so full of the Light that there is nothing but Light. Divine Light, the Universal Spiritual Light, naturally radiates and is giving; but we each have to consciously receive this Light, until our whole consciousness is immersed in it, so that there is nothing in our experience but Light.
The Light we receive and are conscious of is then the degree of Light we can radiate out to humanity. Our consciousness, full of Light, then becomes a radiance of Light for all others in the world, through the medium of mind. We become 'conscious mediums' of Light – mediating (through meditating) between the Divine Source and humanity. This is also the work of the Spiritual Hierarchy in relation to humanity; so we are participating in the same work.
Thus, in our meditation, we radiate and share the Light we have consciously received, the Light we now have and have consciously become. This is a profound way we can give to humanity and participate in the greater Divine Work, furthering the process of planetary and human evolution. But we have to do this consciously and with purposeful intent, which we do in meditation.
The same general truths and principles are applicable for receiving and radiating Divine Love. The degree and quality of Love that we can give to humanity, in our meditations for world service, depends on how much of Divine Love that we receive and immerse in. We can only give (or share) Love to the degree that we already have it or are in it.
So with Love, similar to Light, the first phase of meditation is our approaching into Divine Love, receiving this Love, immersing in this Love, and then assimilating this Love into our conscious being, and finally actually becoming this Love. Let yourself receive so much Love that you become completely immersed in Love, so that there is nothing but Love. Then, you will actually have more of the Divine Love, or even perhaps be more of the Love, to then radiate out and share with all humanity; as you become a radiance of Love.
Then, anyone in the world who is receptive in heart, will receive this radiance of Love, and this Love will further transform hearts in the world. In this way, we are participating in the Divine Work of bringing greater Love into the world.
The same general principles are applicable for receiving and radiating Spiritual Will. The degree of Spiritual Will that we can transmit to humanity depends on our aligning with, receiving, and surrender into greater Will. We can only transmit Spiritual Will to the degree that we already know it and are in it. So, the first phase of meditation is our approaching into Spiritual Will, receiving it, immersing in it, then assimilating it into our conscious being so that we become Spiritual Will.
We can also receive higher intelligence, intuition, realizations, and wisdom. As well, we can receive spiritual ideas and visions for the future. Whatever we are able to receive is then what we are able to give out and share with the world, to be received by those who are ready. This is how new intuitions, realizations, ideas and visions are spread through the world; it also happens naturally, but it is enhanced and accelerated by intentional meditation.
We can also receive other spiritual Qualities from the Divine, such as Peace, Harmony, Purity, and Creativity; in order to then radiate these into the world. We can give or express peace, according to how much peace we have. We can give or express harmony, according to how much harmony we now have in our being. There are many other Qualities to receive and have in our being, which can then be shared out into the world – either through meditation or physical expression.
So in meditation, think of a spiritual Quality of energy to receive, or intuitively feel what Quality is needed to be received at this time. There are a few ways to meditate on this Quality. One way is to consciously discover a Divine Quality in our own being. This Quality is already in our being essence, but it just needs to be discovered. Similar to this, the Quality could already be present, but just needs to be consciously recognized. Or, if we feel to be either lacking or needing more of this quality, we can meditate on receiving this Quality, or this energy, from Divine Being or the Cosmos. Finally, be in an attitude of receiving all that you are capable of receiving from the Divine. One of the Divine Qualities is generosity; God is always giving and wishes us to receive. So we don't have to be timid in this; but always receive with gratitude.
The first phase of Radiance Meditation can be understood in a number of ways and with different choices of vocabulary, depending on how one experiences this. It can be understood as contacting the Light, or lifting towards the Light, or letting in the Light, or receiving the Light, or coming into the Light. It can also culminate in a full immersion in the Light, or spiritual union. At least one can make spiritual contact and attunement.
In order to succeed in lifting into the Light, one first needs to become receptive and open to the Divine Love and Light. As part of the first phase, receptivity and openness are necessary – being receptive to the Light, to the descent or the unfoldment of Light, and also receptive to being immersed and transformed in the Light.
This first phase of the meditation is, in esoteric analogy, the breathing-in, because in this phase we receive from the Divine and take all of the Divine into us, filling our experience with the Divine Reality. We lift up towards the Light and into the Light, and then go further and further into the Light, and in this our breath and our being is filled with more and more Light. Then there is a period of pause, as one is now immersed in the Light.
With receptivity, the meditator relaxes into a conscious receptive mode in consciousness and in heart, being relaxed with qualities of peace, surrender, and acceptance. If one has never experienced openness and receptivity, then at first this may require some faith or trust, because in order to become open and receptive, one needs some degree of faith that there is a Divine Power and Love to open to and receive from.
However, even when in this receptive open state, our will is still important, though it should not destroy our receptive state. One needs to apply enough will in order to stay conscious in the receptive state, rather than mentally drift, which is not useful, because in this meditation the aim is to consciously receive or enter more consciously into the Divine. The use of will, then, is for the need of staying on task and fulfilling the meditational purpose. Without any use of will or any effort, the meditation's purpose will get forgotten, the mind will tend to drift, and one will often fall into mere daydreams or into unresolved thoughts. Also, conscious and intentional receptivity clears the mind and heart, so that the Divine can shine through.
Receptivity has two main kinds. One way of receptivity is listening and attunement to Higher, Divine Purposes. Life has Greater Purposes, Divine Purposes, which we wish to know and follow. But we must listen receptively to know what these are. This could also be understood as being receptive to the Will of God and wanting to manifest this. So we become receptive, in order to gain knowledge and attunement, in relation to the Divine Will or Divine Purpose.
The second kind of receptivity is a receiving of Higher, Divine Energy. It’s like receiving an energy flow from the Cosmic Universe, or from the Greater Wholeness. One simply opens up and receives the Higher Energies that are given. This may also be experienced as receiving Light, for light is the essence of all energies. We might experience a certain quality of Light. Or we might experience the Divine Vibration, which we can come into attunement with.
Receptivity in relation to the Divine is also a way of invocation, because with conscious and intentional receptivity we are drawing down the Divine into our own being, or for the purpose of channeling this into the world. As we are being open and receiving, the Divine can then enter into us and fulfill us with Qualities of Light, Love, and Good Will, as well as Peace, Beauty, and Harmony.
Yet we also should understand that there really is no distance between the Divine and ourself; so these analogies of the Divine being drawn down and entering into us are but spiritual metaphors – though nonetheless effective and transformative. A different view would be that by being receptive and open to the Divine, it is then possible for the Divine to be revealed in our experience, or to suddenly be realized as already present.
Once we enter into a receptive state with trust, opening up our mind and also our heart; our mind and heart will gradually melt into the Divine Radiance of Love and Light. Let this happen. Let your self melt and dissolve into the Divine Radiance. Know and trust that God is here and that God is Love. Sometimes the Divine simply reveals Itself in meditation, once we are ready. But at other times, we might have to surrender to the Unknown – like allowing our known self to die without really knowing yet what is on the other side.
Divine Love and Light are already present as the Essence of Life and who we are. It’s all here, subtly pervading existence; so we merely need to open to it, or awaken in it. Ultimately remember that Love and Light are the natural Radiant Qualities of Divine Being, and Divine Being (God) is the Root of our own individual being. We might think that we are merely a branch on the Great Tree or maybe only a twig, but all branches and twigs nonetheless emerge from the One Root of Divine Being – which is experienced as Love and Light. So open up to the Root of your root, the Self of yourself. This is the Divine Being. This is God.
Our Aim is to enter into God – to enter into God knowing, or into the Light, or into Love, or into the Divine Presence. Find whatever words are most meaningful to you, such as God, or Divine Presence, or Light, or some other description for your highest Aim to experience in meditation. Use whatever word or quality that most makes sense to you as the highest Aim, or what is most worthy to aim towards. But for now, let's consider the Aim to be God, or God experience, or union with God, or at least making a true connection with God.
What does this mean, to have an experience of God? It is to have a touch, or a feeling, or a knowingness of God. We are entering into a knowingness or a knowing experience of God. It's not like we are suddenly entering into God – from not being in God to now suddenly being in God. In reality, God is everywhere, because God is the Reality. God is the Being in which we live. We are all in the Being of God, and there is no other place to be. There is no real separation or distance from God, except maybe in our mind or in our thinking. So the Aim of connecting with God or entering into God is to do with our consciousness. It's about realizing or experiencing God consciously, rather than being unrealizing or unconscious of God.
So to 'enter into God' is really about our experience or our consciousness of God. We're entering into God's Light from the darkness of our unknowing. God's Light has always been here in reality; but until we are conscious of the Light, we're in the dark. In Reality there is no darkness; 'the darkness' is simply our not being conscious of the all-pervading Light, which is always here present. God is always here present. But to know and experience this, we have to be conscious of God, or to the Light of God. This is entering into God, the Light, or the Source.
There are a number of ways for consciousness to move towards the Light and to come into union with the Divine. A helpful first step is to realize there is a Divine Source. Or think about how there is a Divine Source for oneself and for all of life. This Source is the deepest dimension within all Reality. It is the Centre of all centers, the Depth of all depths. Some say that no one could possibly reach the Absolute Source or the absolute Consciousness of God. Others will say it is possible. The truth is that God is infinitely Deep, and thus we can journey ever deeper. Yet nonetheless, in this journey towards God, one is journeying within the God Itself. One can journey ever deeper into God and have ever deeper experiences of God, while still being in the Consciousness of God.
Therefore, Radiance Meditation has its greatest power when one reaches the Source of Light, Love, and Will, and deepens in that experience. Then, from the Source, the Divine Energies are radiated out, emanated and resonated out – to transform and evolve humanity.
Important is making contact with the Source and entering into the Source, but also important is our actual experience of being in it. This is being immersed in the invocation. Then for the stage of evocation we radiate out from the Source, becoming a radiant light from the Divine Source. Then, our radiance, our emanation, our resonating, channeling, or evocation of Divine Qualities into the world of humanity will be powerfully coming from the Source – from the Light, Love, and Spiritual Will of the Divine Being. Our radiance will then be from the Source Itself. The power of this depends on the degree of our conscious-ness in the Source, or the degree in which we are one with the Source Itself.
The first stage of radiance meditation is to reach and enter into the deepest possible level of Being – which could be Light, Love, or some other spiritual quality. This could be experienced as the Light or Love of God. Or this might be experienced as the 'Greater Light', or as an 'Ashram of Light', or as the 'Light of Soul'. So, there are different possible understandings one can have about the 'source' that one reaches and enters into. There are also different qualities and kinds of experience that one can possibly reach and enter into.
God is the name we give to the highest or greatest Source, or the Absolute Source. Yet, there are many stages before God is known consciously. There are numerous intermediators within the being-hierarchy of God, numerous levels of Light and Love, as well as numerous teachers and guides. But the closest intermediator to us is our own soul, the spiritual-divine Light and Love within us, which is our own personal source and connection with God. Our Soul is who we truly are, most deeply and inwardly. Our Soul is our innermost true self, which is quietly underneath our thinking mind and emotions.
So in the first stage of meditation, our aim is to enter into a deeper level of consciousness, intuition, and love. Or this could be understood as connecting into a greater Source of light and love. This could be experienced as a deepening within, or experienced as an expansion into a greater Light or Beingness. The greater Light or Love, entered into, could be experienced as God, or as one's Teacher, or as one's own soul.
Then next, after connecting into or entering into a spiritual source, the second stage of radiance meditation is to meditate from this Source – radiating spiritual light, love, and qualities into the world from God or from our soul.
The goal of the ascending phase is to consciously make contact with the Divine, with the Source, with the Light, with the Love, or with God. These are all the Same – just different terms for the same Reality.
This goal can be achieved by deep meditation, whereby one comes into the actual realization of the Divine, or of being the Divine, or into conscious union and divine experience. Actually, we are already in the Divine, for there is no other to be in. Yet the power of Divine Being and its Qualities is most efficacious if we are conscious in it –having an actual experience of Divine Being. Enlightenment is a realized and profoundly experienced union with Divine Being, or Divine Consciousness. To be in union with the Divine is the goal of a spiritual mystic – to enter into union with the Divine Presence, Divine Being, Divine Love, Divine Light, or Divine Will. These are all just different aspects of the One Being, and different ways to experience the One Self.
This goal can also be fostered by visualisation – visualising the Light or the Source. Visualisation can help to make this connection between our mind and the Source, and it also can set into place this connection. One method is to visualise or inwardly see the Source of Light, Love and Will as a great Spiritual Sun deep within. This Spiritual Sun is deep within you – it is your deepest Essence, the Light of your Self. This is the Divine Source of Light, which can also be understood as God.
In some teachings the Spiritual Sun, or the Light of God, is visualized as above one's head, rather than from within. Try each way, then decide what makes most sense to you. Also to realize is that Divine Light is synonymous with Divine Consciousness. Inner Light is Spiritual Light, and this is the same as Spiritual Consciousness. Light is simply how Spiritual Consciousness is very often experienced. So the more advanced meditator can see the Spiritual Sun as a visualisation of Divine Consciousness Itself, or God Consciousness, which radiates and emanates throughout all planes and existences.
So now, once one sees the Spiritual Sun, or the Divine Light, (either within or above), the next step is to receive this Light {or this Love}. If this feels difficult, then work at coming into a spiritually receptive attitude, or an attitude of wanting to be immersed in Divine Light and opening up to this happening. Receiving can also involve feeling, especially in relation to Divine Love. With Divine Light, receiving involves opening to the Light, allowing the Light, and being more and more immersed in the Light. The Light more and more fills one's consciousness, as one comes ever closer into the Spiritual Sun.
Eventually may come an experience of there is only Light, which is known as a stage of union and self-annihilation. This would be the higher interlude stage of immersion in Radiance meditation. These states or stages are impermanent, but nonetheless have great benefit, usefulness and power.
As we lift towards the Light with receptivity, we become more in divine attunement and gradually we immerse in Divine Light and Love, or in the Being of God –which is the Love and Light. So the goal of the first stage is to first make receptive spiritual contact, then attunement, and finally it is also possible to be immersed in the Light. Or this can also be experienced as Love, or as Peace, or as Harmony, or as the Divine Will. We are consciously entering into the Being of God, in the Mind of God, or in the Heart of God. There are different ways to experience this, depending on one's understanding and on how the experience is interpreted, and it also depends on what Divine Quality is most powerfully present at this moment.
Some people will feel that they are lifting up to the Higher Light, while others might feel that they are being lifted, or one might experience this in both ways. But for this to even happen, one needs to make some kind of effort and willingness. Self-surrender is also important, because when our little personal self is surrendered, as well as our self-centered thoughts, our consciousness will have less weight and thus will naturally rise up on its own. In addition, we are lifted up by the Divine Source drawing us back home, the Divine Magnet.
Remain for a period of time at the Highest level of Light, in the Universal Consciousness. Trust and let go of any fears about being dissolved into the Light. And if your consciousness suddenly drops down into subconscious thinking or emotions, or dreams; then simply let this go and rise again back into the Light. When thoughts are cleared from our consciousness, and fears cleared from our feelings, the Divine Light will naturally radiate; as when clouds are cleared, sunlight naturally shines.
In terms of spiritual experience and practice, Love should naturally flow in two resonating phases. These phases can be called receiving and giving, the receiving of Love and the giving of Love. In the receiving of Love, one is raising or lifting into Love. Also in a sense, one is breathing in Love, or being filled with Love. And this will culminate in an experience of being fully immersed in Love, so much that there is nothing but Love in our experience or consciousness. There is no self anymore; just Love. This could also be called 'being completely in Love'. This is what is possible, if one is ready. Each meditation can be a new opportunity and our capacity for spiritual immersion will increase. Always be patient, receptive, and in no hurry. A secret is conscious surrender, but remaining consciously awake.
Then, once we are fully in the Love or immersed in the Love, the next phase can begin, which is the giving of Love. This can also be understood as the breathing out of Love, the descending outward flow of Love, or the radiant emanation of Love.
In the receiving phase, one opens up to the Divine Love (or God’s Love), and maybe also invokes (calls in) the Divine Love. Then one allows this Love to enfold oneself, and finally one is immersed in Love. This is being immersed in the unity of Love. In this absolute oneness of Love, one has become absorbed in the very Beingness of Love’s Radiance. Once one is immersed in or absorbed in the Divine Love Radiance, then one's experience is just of being the Love-Light, which is radiating out everywhere and to everyone. The experience of 'receiving' has now transformed into the experience of 'radiance'.
Realize that this is the Divine Radiance – radiating through the mirror of yourself. But now there is no you. There is only the Love Radiance.
Different pathways (or ways of experiencing) can lead one into Spiritual Immersion, also known as Divine Experience, or Union. In one way, the mediator can receptively enter into the Spiritual Sun, the Spiritual Consciousness. A second way is to allow the Divine Light/Consciousness into one's experience, allowing a union, fusion or oneness to occur. In the first way, one moves toward the Light in a receptive mode, then receptively enters into the Light. In the second way, one receptively allows the Light to immerse through oneself, as one surrenders into the Light. These experiences are difficult to describe.
A third possible way is to realize that one's true self is This Light; realizing that the Greater Light seen, or the Spiritual Sun seen, is in fact one's own essence of self – that This is who I am. This Light, or this Sun, or however the Divine is visualized and experienced, is truly Who I am. So this third way is a realization or understanding that 'I am' the Divine Being, or realizing 'I am the Light'.
Realizing this does not mean you're more divine than others. It doesn't mean that I am the Divine Being, while everyone else is not. No. We are each the Divine Being, but most have not yet realized this. A realization of being the Divine could be like a remembrance; in that perhaps we forgot who we are, with all the many distractions of life and the physical world.
For each self there is always a relationship with the Greater Divine Self, and the destiny of this relationship is to expand in realization and in coming closer into union. Each stage of realization brings one closer into the Divine Source or closer into ultimate God Realization. Each stage is a degree of Self-Realization with a more expanded vision of the One Self.
The Spiritual Sun is the universal Source of Light, the Light of God, or the Light of Consciousness. But once one merges into union with this Light, dissolving into the Light, then this Light of the Sun could also be understood as the radiance of one's own Divine soul. It is still the Divine Light, or the Spiritual Sun, but it's coming through the consciousness of your soul, the light of your own consciousness.
Reflect for some time in this realization of being the light that is now radiant. Then, be receptive to the Greater Light, in relation to the light now in. In other words, behind every light is a Greater Sun, which is its Source of Light. This relation goes on and on. So it is possible to keep journeying into greater and greater Light. And no matter our degree of realization or experience of the Light, know that there is always a Greater Light or Greater Consciousness behind this, a Greaterness enfolding us.
Our soul is a magnitude or degree of the Universal Absolute Light, yet there is only One Light. Each soul is a light in itself, but this light isn't any different than the Divine Light. Each soul is a consciousness in itself, but this consciousness isn't any different than the Divine Consciousness. There is no difference in substance. All that's different is the degree, or the magnitude. So, I am the same Light as the Light of God, because all lights are Light. Also, each consciousness is a container (or medium) of the One Light of Consciousness, carrying and radiating a degree of the One Light. The One Light is God, which pervades all and is unlimited in Itself.
The three primary Divine Qualities are Light, Love, and Will; and so each of these can be the Goal of our receptive phase of meditation, and it is possible to be immersed in or in union with each. For many people, Divine Love is the first most profound experience of divine immersion and union. So let us begin with Love.
Enter into God's Love. Be immersed in God's Love. Be so immersed that there is nothing else but this realization and feeling of Love. And let this Love cleanse, purify and heal all parts of oneself. Know that Love heals and solves all things – physical, emotional, mental, and even practical. Love also unifies. Love unifies all parts of our sometimes scattered or divided self. Love also unifies our relationships. Love unifies the whole world. So Love is one of the key gifts of God, and perhaps the greatest gift. So also be grateful for this Love.
Then, once we are fully in the Divine Love, immersed in the experience of God's Love, we then are able to emanate and transmit this Love for everyone else in humanity. We become part of the divine radiance and transmission. We become an agent for divine compassion and blessings. We become a significant agent of transformation – helping to bring greater love and unity into humanity, from separatism to love and harmony. Love heals and unifies. This is all part of the Great Work – the divine work of personal and collective transformation. This is all related to the Divine Purpose, that Love is fully realized on Earth, and that Love becomes manifested and expressed on Earth.
Enter into God's Light. Though this could instead precede the entering into Love; it doesn't really matter which one comes first, or perhaps Love and Light are experienced at the same time. But at some time, experience being fully immersed in the Light of God. Be so immersed in Light that there is nothing but Light, which is the Divine Light, the Light of God. The Divine Light clears and cleanses all other energies, purifying all parts of oneself, and clearing the mind of all useless thoughts. This Light is the Consciousness of God, which awakens and enlightens and brings intelligence to our mind. Also through this Light we realize divine purposes and values. We enter into Divine Knowing, God Knowing.
We then become a conscious radiance of Divine Light – Divine Knowing and Divine Intelligence – which then helps to transform the minds of humanity. We become a significant radiant light – evolutionarily transforming humanity – as we help bring the Light of God into humanity. Each consciously radiant light is a part of this Divine Work of bringing spiritual enlightenment to all of humanity. An invocationary phrase for this is 'May humanity come out from the dark and into the Light.' Or May the Light of Intelligence dispel the darkness of ignorance.
Enter into God's Will. God's Will is Good Will. So start by entering into your own Good-will. Enter into the sincere experience of your own Good will, and know that this is the truth of who you are. If you really are a spiritual person, you will have a Good will, a will that wants to be a good person and do good. Yet, this being good and doing good does not have to conform to any particular set of beliefs of what this is. In other words, this will to being good and to doing good is according to your own sincere understanding of what that is, rather than being confined to any particular standards set by our parents, religions, or culture. You will have to realize what it is to be and do Good. So our own honest will-to-good is realized independently of everyone else, which is the truth of our own soul.
An even bigger realization next is that our own will-to-good is a true flame and reflection of the Divine Will. This is how the Divine Will is known through us. We can also understand the Divine Will by understanding what is loving and what is intelligent – because the Divine Will is Both loving and intelligent. It is always both. It always has a purpose and goal of increasing love and increasing a more comprehensive intelligence in humanity.
Also, to the extent that this Divine Power of Will is flowing through us, or in humanity, is the extent to which our being and actions are transformed. We will know that the Power of Divine Will is at work when our own will is transformed from being self-centered to being divine-centered.
As one meditates into the Spiritual Light, one enters into higher energies, which are higher frequencies of energy-light. Here we come in contact with universal-divine energies, as well as higher levels of intuition and spiritual realization.
Metaphysically, all existence is energy – from the bottom pole of Matter (at the lowest frequency) to the highest pole of Spirit (the highest frequency). At any moment, our consciousness is somewhere between these two poles, along this relative range of energy frequency. Towards the pole of Matter our consciousness is more involved with the practical concerns of life and personality concerns. Towards the pole of Spirit our consciousness becomes more free, expansive, and in peace.
Spirit and higher frequency is experienced as a greater freedom in consciousness, not bogged down by the matters of personality and practical life. It's an experience of light-ness and being gravity-free, with a feeling of joy, peace and freedom. In our emotional experience, higher frequency is a deeper depth of being, a deeper peace, an expanded love, a lightness of joy, and without emotional concerns dragging one down. Mentally, higher frequency is an expanded consciousness, a clarity in mind, a freedom in mind, and without mental concerns dragging down pure consciousness. All of this has resonating effects, both in one's own being and also in the world.
So, these are some of the possible experiences when meditating in the higher energy-frequency of Spirit. This in itself is spiritually refreshing and renewing, like relaxing in healing waters. Therefore, to reach the experience of Spirit is, in itself, an important reason for meditating. Yet in radiance meditation this is not the final aim of meditation.
One is encouraged to remain in the highest energy of Spirit as long as needed; but then from this higher, free, expanded Spirit level of consciousness, the meditator can now focus and radiate the quality and frequency of this energy to all of humanity. Thus are the two phases of a complete meditation practice – towards and into Spirit, then radiating or channeling this towards humanity. If we do this with consciousness and intent, the transformational effect is significant.
So then, how can one reach Spirit, higher consciousness, or higher frequencies? Primarily, we have to become liberated from lower frequencies, because the general obstacle to higher frequencies is being stuck in the lower frequencies. So we first have to become free from the frequencies and inertia of lower levels of mind, lower emotions, and lower self attachments. We need to free our mind from what is holding us down – which is in how we are thinking and in the drama that is going on in our mind. Therefore, the most important step is freedom –freedom in mind. And the key to this freedom is surrender.
Meditating into freedom requires a release from everything in which we are preoccupied or obsessed, for these are the matters holding us down. So we need to surrender our current mental preoccupations, our worries, and even our to-do lists. We have to surrender all of our thoughts, in order to reach the higher frequencies of liberated consciousness. We also need to choose to do so; we have to choose to be free. This is essential.
Then, once we reach freedom, through surrender and choice, next we become receptive to higher frequencies, energies and intuitions, by being in a state of receiving and listening. We will then receive higher impressions, as the Universal Energies of Love, Wisdom and Higher Will gradually enter into our heart, mind and will. We will receive higher goals and new direction, and also a more expanded understanding.
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In meditation we can receive spiritual impressions. These are different from world-impressions such as cultural thoughtforms. There are three main kinds of spiritual impressions, which come from the Hierarchy of Being.
One kind of spiritual impression is inspiration, which comes from the Will aspect, or the Ray of Will. These are inspirations to creatively achieve a spiritual goal or to serve Divine Purpose, to create or protect beauty, to do something for others or for the world, or to strive further along our spiritual path. We might be inspired to make important spiritual decisions and make steps towards achieving higher goals. Our own will can be inspired by Higher Will, giving us inspiration and motivation to serve life, or to be creative in a divine way.
A second kind of impression is being-impression, which is the impression from higher Being, from a higher Soul, or from an inner Teacher. It's the impression from their beingness. The Hierarchy of higher Souls, Teachers and Guides, are continually radiating and transmitting their own beingness, along with the qualities of their beingness. If we are receptive to this kind of impression, our own being will expand and be more inclusive.
This being-impression comes from the Love aspect, the Ray of Love. One's own 'being of love' is expanded by the love-being and love-consciousness of a more expansive Soul, from a higher level of Divine Being, a more inclusive level of Self-realization. This might also be experienced, most simply, as an expansion of love or of being more inclusive in one's love. In other words, one is impressed with Love - from higher Being or from greater Presence. And thus our own being expands from this kind of spiritual impression.
A third kind of impression is an intuition; which comes from the Wisdom aspect, or the Ray of Intelligence. Intuitions come in the form of spiritual ideas, principles, truths, understanding, vision, important values and goals. One might receive a vision about what to do or how to achieve the goals. Thus, we can be receptive to spiritual intuitions, ideas, and visions, which come from the Intuitional Mind, also referred to as the Hierarchy.
In the stage of outward radiance, we can send forth [into the world] spiritual impressions, inspirations, and intuitions.
One of the ways into the Source of Love and Light is through the heart centre. In the heart is the Light of Divine Love, and in the heart we can experience Divine Love. And in the heart we enter into the Divine Radiance of Love, to be radiated outward into all of humanity and all of the world. Thus, contemplatively meditating in the heart is a direct way to connect with the Love and Light of God. God lives in our heart and is known in our heart, but the only way to realize this is by meditating in the heart centre.
In the heart we discover the Love qualities of God, such as inclusiveness and compassion, and through meditation we can realize these qualities and radiate them into the world. Also in the heart centre we can discover our own true being and our own true will. This is the beingness and the will of our soul. For our soul is revealed through the heart.
When meditating in the heart, we also realize the intelligence of heart, the knowingness of heart, and the truth that is revealed through the heart. Spiritual knowingness and intuition is revealed through the heart, as is spiritual will and spiritual purpose. In the heart center is boundless infinite space, love and light. Also in the heart is clear knowingness, clear intuition.
The meditation is simple; just meditate in the heart. Bring your mind into your heart, and just be conscious in the heart. Bring breath and consciousness into your heart. Breathe into your heart, and breathe out from your heart. Just relax in the heart centre, with full awareness. Be mindful in the heart. Be aware in the heart.
The meditation is simple but not always so easy to achieve. This is because our consciousness is so often in our head and wrapped up in patterns of thought and thinking, or it is wrapped up in plans, agendas, or even worries. So we have to initially put our intention and will into bringing our consciousness, or awareness, into the heart centre. But this is not so much an effort as it is a decision. Just decide to be in the heart, or be in your love. Let the mind fall into the heart, and let thoughts disappear in the light of the heart. Next, there needs to be a continuity of consciously remaining here in the heart, in this quiet silence of being, in order for the love, wisdom, and qualities of the heart to be revealed. Receptively listen in the knowingness of the heart, the intuition of the heart.
So first, place your awareness in the heart center. This is not an exact point in your body; rather, it is a region or a sphere of inner spaciousness. Another way to understand this is to place your awareness in your love, and just be in your love, and be comfortable and in peace in your love.
Then just remain here for awhile, remaining steady, still and at peace in your centre of love. Just relax here in the heart, in the love, in the peace. Consciously breathe here. Relax in just being here, without thoughts or agendas. Feel the love here, the feeling of being loved and the feeling of loving.
Meditating in the heart centre is an experience of being truly real and truly at home. You feel sincerely at home, in the space of your natural being and in a knowingness of who you are. So relax here in your inner home, in this inner space of love. And as you are conscious and relaxed here in the heart, you begin to discover the qualities of heart, the qualities of your inner being, the qualities of your soul.
In the heart centre is a wonderful feeling of peace, joy and expansiveness. The essence of the heart is love, and from this essence a rainbow of love qualities are revealed. Compassion and caring come from the heart. Beauty and joy come from the heart. And in each heart is the Heart of God.
As the heart opens its knowing consciousness, there is a greater expansiveness of inner experience. Boundaries dissolve, and a greater inner space opens up. As awareness deepens in the heart, the universal spaciousness continuously opens and expands. Allow this spaciousness of the heart to open up more and more, through a greater and greater inclusion of everyone, all beings, and all of the universe. The heart is a boundless space of inclusion, embrace, and relationship, which expands evermore as our meditation deepens.
Heart-consciousness is an inclusiveness of all others and of all life, all within one Love, in a shared space of Oneness. Our heart includes and embraces everyone and all beings, and we realize our interrelated oneness with everyone and everything. In our awakened inclusive heart, an inner-communication can develop with other knowing-hearts and world-servers, and with the Spiritual Hierarchy of Teachers and Guides. One enters the shared Heart-space of all Love-conscious beings, in the Heart of God.
In the light of Heart I am, and from here I radiate the love
and truth of my heart, along with all qualities of my heart.
This love radiating from my being is the Divine Love,
because all love comes from the One Love.
Most of the given suggestions for 'entering into the Light' have been either to lift up into the Light or to see and approach the Greater Light within. In other words, the Divine Light is found either above or within. These ways are all profound and efficacious. Yet a third way into the Divine Consciousness, or into the deep true Essence of our self, is by lifting the veils.
Divine Consciousness is the true reality of our mind, but our mind is too often obscured and clouded to experience this. The Essence of our self is Divine Consciousness, but our consciousness is usually too obscured by, or distracted by, or absorbed in sensations, desires, reactions, thoughts, and identifications.
So if our aim is to enter closer into Divine Consciousness, Spiritual Mind, or the deeper Truth of our self, then we need to clear away these obstructing clouds – these thoughts, emotions, and identifications. Or we need to break through them, or perhaps see through them. These clouds are like veils, covering up the Divine Reality, the Essence of our self. So if we can lift these veils, then Consciousness will be transparent, such that our self Essence will shine through with transparency.
In this way of realizing the Spiritual in meditation, there is no going either upward or inward, because what we seek to find is already presently here – but our mind cannot presently see this, because it is clouded and obscured by the thoughts and emotions that are presently here. Our mind is veiled by its own content, by our automatic thinking and patterns of thought that are now going on, or also by our desires and reactive emotions. These are the clouds covering over our greater Consciousness and deeper Essence of self. Therefore, surrender the contents of mind, in order to uncover the pure clear Consciousness that is presently hidden by the clouds. Lift the veils, to reveal Thyself.
Meditating towards the Light, or of lifting into the Light, or opening to the Light within, can also be nurtured by traditional mystical practices. For example, in Sufism one of the important s is zikr, usually translated as 'remembrance'. This is a way to come closer towards God and to reach some degree of union with the Divine. There are many possible ways to do zikr, using different rhythms and sounds, key words and ideas.
One kind of zikr, or purpose of zikr, is to gradually let go of and surrender one's own personal self, surrendering oneself to the Greater Self, God. Sufis chant La ilaha illallah, translated as 'there is no God but God', as the personal self surrenders to God, so that there will only be God in one's heart and in one's experience. This leads to divine union; which could be experienced as Light, Love, Peace, Beauty, or as some other Divine Quality. One is surrendering to God, releasing the separate self, so all that finally remains is God and there is nothing but God.
Then, when there is no other self but God, nothing but God in consciousness, the zikr eliminates all other words but Allah. Now only 'Allah' is repeated and contemplated in one's heart. It is in this stage that one can enter into Divine immersion, or union with God. Some believe that union with God is possible, while others believe that complete union is impossible yet one can certainly come closer into God's Presence, or into a Greater Love, through meditation, prayer or spiritual chanting.
There are mystical-union practices found in all religions, yet not practiced by the average follower. Christian and Buddhist monks use their own respective chants and prayers. Hindus of all its traditions use various chants and meditations. So it is possible to supplement radiance meditation with practices from any of the mystical traditions, to reach deeper meditative states.
|
From the Divine
Light, |
From the Divine
Love, |
From the Divine
Will, |
The outgoing phase of Radiance Meditation can be known by many names, such as the Descent of Light, or the Radiance of Light. The Divine Source (or God) is always in radiance, in relation with the manifested world. Yet steps of mediation and spiritual work are necessary for the Divine Vision and Qualities to fully manifest, which we can be participate in and be part of.
But before participating in the outward radiance of Light, we need to first be in the Light, or in the Love, or in some degree of Divine experience. In other words, before the outward phase of radiance, we first need to reach some degree of contact, attunement, immersion, or union into the Universal Spiritual Light. Then, in the outward phase, we send forth the Light and Love into humanity, or we channel the Light, or share Light, by way of visualisation and other means.
Thus, in the first phase of radiance meditation, we ascend into the Light, we come into the Light, we receive the Light and become immersed in it. Or using the metaphor of breath, this would be the phase of 'breathing in the Divine'. Then in the second phase, we 'breathe out the Divine'. We give out what we've received. So we're now in a giving, sharing, serving phase of meditation. This is the phase that we simply call radiance. This is the phase of sending out the Light, sharing the Light, giving out the Light, radiating Light and Love out to all life.
So after being fully immersed in Divine Light and Love, we turn from our immersion in the Light, to face a world in need of this Divine Light and Love. We descend from the Mountain and back towards our relationship with all humanity. This phase of the meditation could also be called, bringing Light into the dark, since the world is at least partially in the dark and in need of Spiritual Light.
In this phase of meditation, we are bringing more Light into the minds of humanity. We are bringing more Love into the hearts of humanity. We are bringing more Good-will into the wills of humanity. This is our aim, and we each have a capacity to do this – to participate in this divine work, along with others.
Humanity will positively evolve and transform, as more and more people are illuminated and awakened by the Divine Light and Love that we can help bring into this world. But we are not forcing Light into people's minds. Instead, this is a sharing of the Light, or an offering of the Light. Light is energy of divine consciousness and illumination, which awakens the intuition and intelligence of people. But if a mind is closed to this, then there is no experience of this and no transformation.
We can assist and facilitate Divine Radiance by becoming a pure channel and mediator for it. So in meditation we can become a conscious and allowing channel for the Divine Light and Love to enter into the minds and hearts of all humanity. This is possible, if our mind and heart are united as one and our consciousness is clear. If our mind and heart can become selfless and pure from self-ego, as well as empty of self-thinking and self-feelings; then the Divine Radiance can flow through our heart and consciousness.
In addition, our intention is to serve the Divine Purpose and for the highest degree of Love and Light to flow through us into the world. Our intention is to serve life and spiritual evolution, by being a channel for Love and Light and Good-will. An important key in this is consciously allowing the Divine to flow through. Another key is agreement, to give our agreement to this spiritual work. The three keys are right intention, allowing, and agreement.
So, we become a clear channel for the highest Energies and Qualities to come into the world. These energies come through our consciousness, our heart, and our will, and we allow these Energies to channel through us. Visualization helps the Energies flow into the world. So to help, we can visualize or also feel these Energies stream into the world – from the Divine Source through us.
This way of being a clear channel for the Divine is different from the way of self-radiance evocation. But to be a pure and clear medium is important in all methods, for in some way the Divine needs to work through us and into the world. Yet this way of channeling is different in regards to our will, because in this way of meditation our will is in an allowing mode, rather than an active mode. In channeling, I am not emanating nor sending out, and these spiritual energies are not coming from me. Rather, these Energies are channeling through me.
Essentially, we are allowing the Divine to come through us. But in order to do this, we have to be completely transparent – with nothing in the way: no self, no ego, and even no thoughts. We become a transparent medium for the Divine Light, Love, and Will, or other spiritual Qualities such as peace, harmony, or well-being. We become a transparent medium for the Divine, so that the Light can shine through our clear window.
Thus, we allow the Divine to move through us and into the world, and our role in this is to be empty and clear, but also with awake consciousness and an intention to serve the Divine. In this meditation, we become ever emptier and clearer, in our mind and heart, as we allow more and more of the Divine to come through us. We become so clear and transparent that the Divine shines right through.
Try working with one of the three primary Divine Energies. Allow the Divine Light to come through. Or allow the Divine Consciousness to come through, which is the inner reality of Light. Allow the Divine Love to come through, until all there is in our heart-mind is love and allow this love to radiate into the whole world. Allow the Divine Will to come through your own good intention or through you own will; to be a transparent transmitter for Divine Will. Light, Love and Will can channel through us if can become transparent, self-surrendering, empty and clear. We can also channel other Divine Energies, such as peace, harmony, justice, beauty, goodness, etc. In this teaching we are using the term, 'Energies', but these might also be understood as spiritual 'feelings' or 'attitudes'.
Feeling can also be a part of our meditation. For example, feel the Love we spiritually share, and feel this Love awaken in people all over the world.
Visualization is a mental action, useful in both phases of our meditation. It can be used in the first phase of meditation to help connect with the Divine, or to move consciousness upward or deeper into the Light. For example, visualize a bridge of light, or a pathway of reunion with the Divine. Or visualize the Divine as a bright inner Sun, from which to receive, or to move towards and into. Visualization can also be used in prayer or in requests, as in seeing what is being requested, asked for, or prayed for.
Mostly, though, visualization is applied in the second phase of our meditation – for facilitating the channeling of Energies, or radiating spiritual Qualities into the world. For example, with purpose, visualize the radiance of Divine Energies and Qualities into the world. This helps direct and channel the flow of Energies into the world, and it also helps these Energies be received.
Visualization is
useful in both invocation and evocation. We can use visualization to
channel energies from the Divine, but also we can use visualization
to radiate out the love from our heart centre. Visualize being a
beacon of love, or a star of love, or just a radiance
of love, awakening the hearts of people everywhere. We can be as
a centre of light transmitting and sharing with the whole
world the Love and Light that is already realized in us.
Here is an example of an invocation:
Let Light spiritually illuminate the minds of humanity
(The beginning word Let is not necessary in all invocations,
but it does signify the invocational aspect of allowing)
(A different word, May, would emphasize the aspect of requesting)
Invocation is most easily understood as a form of requesting from the Divine. In this sense, it is similar to prayer, but it is not merely an emotional pleading for help, nor is it merely a wish, nor is it based on desperation or worry. Invocation comes from our mind, though it can involve an asking from our heart. It is with purpose and intention in it, and a sense of need.
Invocation is intentionally using the science of metaphysics and spiritual principles to bring forth powers and qualities of the Divine. In this sense, one is using will, but a will that is aspiring to serve life's needs, not just self desires. Our will and intention is to help bring spiritual evolution in the world. But this is not a manipulating will or trying to control others. One is using will in invocation, so that Higher energies may enter the world, but no one is being forced, and the manifesting effect of the invocation is still dependent on the Divine.
The one who invokes is opening a channel for the Higher energies or potentials to manifest. Divine request mobilizes Higher Energies into activity. It helps to open a channel between the Divine and our world, and also catalyze the flow of Higher energies and qualities into the world. Also, by making a request for the good of the world and humanity, we act as a representative of humanity, requesting Spiritual Light and Love in the world. We also become a mediator for these Divine Energies to enter into the world.
Invocation is like reaching into the sky to bring down the sun, or reaching deep into a sacred well to bring up the sacred water of life. Invocation is connecting with the Divine Power, Light, Love, or a Divine Quality, in order to catalyze this from potentiality to actuality.
The first step of invocation is to make connection with the Divine Source or with the spiritual Energy that we seek to invoke into the world or into manifestation. Next, we make our request, as well as become receptive for receiving or channeling the energies we are requesting. For example, we might request that Light, Love, and higher Will come into the world, for it be realized and manifested in the world. Or for example, we could request the Divine Potential of Light and Love to come into actualization. Or we can invoke any Divine Quality into the world, or into a situation in need.
Accepting and allowing and are also aspects of invocation. The flow from Higher Worlds into our world requires a receptive acceptance of it. This is analogous to an electrical current needing a receptive pole, in order for the current to flow. So as world meditators we are representatives of humanity for accepting the Higher-Greater energies and qualities available to humanity and the world. Another necessary aspect of invocation is allowing, which opens up a channel for Higher Energies to flow into the world-in-need. We consciously allow the Energies to move through the medium of mind and into the world.
Affirmation is also important in invocation. It is a mental attitude of belief, confidence, and agreement in the rightness what is being requested and in its actual manifestation. One is affirming the truth and spiritual importance of this invocational request, as well as affirming one's faith in its manifestation. A concurrent aspect of invocation is visualisation, which is seeing or thinking it manifesting.
Invocation involves a requesting for Higher Energies, along with channeling these into the world or to wherever they are needed. Sometimes visualisation is also used, as part of the channeling or in order to complete the request towards where it is needed. The purpose of requesting is to catalyze or invoke the Divine into activity, while visualisation gives direction and vision for this divine activity and manifestation. For example, our invocation could be a requesting for Divine Energies to come into the world; then our visualisation would be seeing the actualization of the request, and more details could be added into the visualisation.
Evocation is not requesting nor channeling transcendental Energies that are outside from one's own being. Instead, evocation uses one's own powers of mind and will to intentionally and purposefully direct, send, or express energies. Visualisation is a one of the tools of evocation, while sound and mantra can also be used.
Invocation helps to bring Higher Energies and Qualities into the world, by the efficacy of divine request and by becoming a channel for these Energies to enter into the world. Evocation, through radiance and visualisation, intentionally emanates and expresses forth Higher Energies and Qualities. Evocation intentional directs and sends forth Higher Energies into the world, through visualisation, thought, sound, breath, and heart. And with evocation, the Higher Energies can actually come through oneself. Also, our own conscious qualities can be emanated or projected out into the world.
Invocation is requesting and receiving, from the Divine, for oneself or for the world, or both. Invocation is bringing in, from potential, into oneself or into the world. Evocation is a sending out from the powers and qualities of our own being, radiated or expressed out from our meditational consciousness. Invocation can be related to listening and receiving, while evocation is related to teaching and giving.
Evocation is 'looking outward' from our own conscious being, towards the world or a particular need, then intentionally 'sending forth' these spiritual energies and qualities, using one's power of mind, thought, and visualisation. With evocation we use the powers of our mind and our will to project or radiate Divine qualities or energies into the world.
With invocation we are not using our will to send forth or project Qualities into the world, nor are we radiating qualities from our own being. Instead, we become like a channel for the Energies to enter into the world.
Invocation is connecting with and 'bringing down' Spiritual Energies, then channeling or visualising these into the world; though these Energies can also be received for oneself. Invocation is bringing forth, into available use, from Divine Potential; while evocation is making use of what's been brought forth. Invocation is like collecting solar energy, while evocation is like directing the energy towards something. Invocation is like drawing water from a well, while evocation is using this to water plants. So, invocation is the unfolding of a potential for its availability; while evocation is making use of what's available and intentionally directing it.
Invocation and evocation can also be combined and work in complement. For example, during evocation we can be connected into the Greater Divine Source, simultaneously, so that our healing love energy, or whatever we are emanating and sharing, is empowered by and channeled from the Divine Source. Or, we could be invoking the Divine, while also evoking or sending out what is being received and realized through oneself.
There are two fundamental perspectives in esoteric service meditation. One perspective is that our responsibility is to serve as a facilitator or a vehicle for channeling the Divine Light and Love into the world. The other perspective is that this is my Light and Love, to be shared or outwardly radiated. It is also possible to hold both perspectives. Either perspective is legitimate and effective, and both are right. In both, Divine energy is being transmitted into the world; either, from the Divine Source and through oneself, or from our own centre emanating the Divine Love and Light.
In the first perspective, one is consciously channeling the Light or Love to radiate through one's consciousness and flow into humanity. The meditator is allowing the Divine to channel and flow through oneself. This will usually involve a request for the Light to come through, and a willingness to be a conscious channel for the Light. There is a Sufi saying, I am the flute, but the music comes from God.
Whereas in the other perspective, one is consciously sending out or radiating a Divine Quality from oneself, that is already realized in one's own being. In this perspective, our minds and hearts are transmitters and resonators of the Divine and for the Divine. Our thoughts, ideas, realizations, feelings and qualities of being carry outward and resonate into the world. And thus, we each can be transmitters and radiances of Divine Qualities, through our own minds and hearts.
However, by analogy, we are radiating the light from our own
candle, but nonetheless this is the Light from God, in some degree of
brightness, intensity and efficaciousness. The degree to which Divine
Qualities can be radiated from oneself depends on the degree to which
one has come into or connected with these Divine Qualities. In other
words, one can only radiate a Quality of the Divine, if one has
already connected with and received this Quality. What can be
self-radiated outward depends on what has already been realized in
oneself. So, the degree of Light and Love radiated to humanity
through oneself cannot be more than the degree of Light and Love
realized in oneself.
The two perspectives, or two ways, of working with Light for world service, can be understood as two different methods of healing. One perspective of healing is that it comes from God, and the other perspective is that the energies of healing come from oneself. Setting aside any argument one might have about this distinction, let's at least consider this for the sake of understanding invocation and evocation.
Imagine one kind of healer who invokes God's Light and Healing Power in order to help someone. He holds his arms upwards and asks for the Light and Healing Energies to descend down into this person, and he might also visualise this happening and see healing happening for this person. He is invoking the Divine to come into this person, and he is being a facilitator for this, creating a healing connection between the Divine Light and the person in need. It's not his Light and Healing that is being brought forth and at work; rather, it is God's, it comes from the transcendental Source. So this is an example of invocation and channeling Higher Energies into the world.
Next then imagine another kind of healer, who emanates and gives Light and Love and Healing from his own being, his own soul-being, or from the Divine Source in his own heart. He is evoking outward the Light, Love and Healing, which is coming from his own heart of being. He brings his hands to his heart, to connect with the Divine Power and Love that is within, then opens his hands outward towards the person in need, to give the Love and Healing Energies that come from within him. And he could also visualise this happening and see the healing at work. This would be an example of evocation, of Love, Light and Healing emerging from one's own being and sent outward with conscious intention and purpose.
We all have the capacity to give and share love from our heart, or from our being. And of course, love is healing. We can give or share any quality of the Divine that is already conscious within us. If we are conscious of a quality in our own being, then we can emanate it and share it. This is evocation, when we consciously bring forth energies and qualities into the world, or when we emanate these energies and qualities for some kind of purpose or need.
But with both invocation and evocation, we are not forcing energies and qualities into humanity. Rather, we are helping to provide these Energies and Qualities for the world, by way of channeling, radiating, emanating or sharing. It's like a gift being offered, or a teaching being shared. One is saying 'listen to this', or 'here is the truth', or 'here is a vision of what's possible'. We are offering a truth, or a vision, or a needed quality, to the minds and hearts of humanity. We are offering this, sharing this, sending this, channeling or emanating this; in order for people to receive this idea or vision, or to realize this.
We are opening a channel or pathway for Higher Energies to enter into humanity, like water from heaven streaming into the arid soil of the world. We are opening a channel for Divine Energies and Qualities to stream into the minds and hearts of all humanity, into minds and hearts in need. We are sending forth and providing needed water and nutrients for a healthy world.
Our work of invocation and evocation have an influence in humanity. But we are not forcing the acceptance of this. Minds and hearts have to be open and receptive, rather than closed or opposed, in order for Divine Light, Love, and Will to be realized and actualize through people.
One difference between invocation and evocation is in how we use of our will. In general, evocation requires an active will, whereas invocation requires a receptive will. Receptive will is not so much a doing kind of will, as is active will, but receptive will still requires our will to remain conscious, connected, and receptive. In other words, our will is needed to hold and sustain our mental receptiveness and dedication to the work; because without any power of will, our mind tends to wander or fall into a dream sleep. The power and success of invocation depends on the strength of our consciousness as a bridge between Higher Sources and our world, and maintaining this strength requires intention and will. Also, invocation requires intention in its request, as well as a receptive will in order to create a channel or pathway to open up between the Source and the recipient. With invocation we need will to make the Higher connection and we also need will to be in a receptive mode for the Energies to channel through.
Evocation requires will to intentionally send forth or radiate Higher Energies and Qualities into the world or into a place of need. And we also use will in visualisation, as a way to actualize the energies. Evocation requires our active directing will, in order to visualise, send forth, and manifest Higher Energies.
Evocation can also be an intentional radiance from our own being; as for example, emanating or radiating Divine Qualities from our heart, or our soul. Qualities can be emanated from our soul-consciousness, or else from the will of our soul – which is our soul expression, the Divine Qualities radiating from within. Also, our soul qualities might need to be intentionally invoked, in order to bring forth this potential from within us.
An important aspect in the work of evocation is decision and will. We have to decide to bring light, love, and goodwill into humanity, and then bring this into the world through our will. So in the work of evocation we use our will.
In contrast, invocation, is either an asking, a prayer, or an open-receptive stance in relation to the higher power and will, the love and light. Invocation is more like an asking and being receptive. But in evocation, our will becomes more active in directing the work, along with intentional thought For example, one might think, I will this to be done, or I will that light and love enter into the world, or that light and love be realized. Our will becomes a directing power.
However, we are not using our power of will to force people to believe or do something. Spiritual will is not a forcing-upon-others. Spiritual will should not be confused with selfish or self-centered will. Spiritual will is a service-oriented will – which is directing energies for greater spiritual purposes. It is a spiritual goodwill, a will towards Good – which is one of the important qualities needed in our world. As well, spiritual goodwill and the will-to-good need to be resonated into the world.
Spiritual will is not just an idea; it's a real power needing to be exercised and applied. It's about using the greater power that is available for us to use and do something. Of course though, it's possible to use power wrongly, using our power unlovingly or unintelligently. So we need to balance the power of our will with love and intelligence; because an unintelligent or unloving will would not be a good will. Yet with the balance of love and intelligence, we can develop a powerful Good-will.
We need to first come into a sufficient degree of spiritual intuition and understanding. This is our goal in the first phase of meditation. Then we begin the second phase, the outbreath, which is when we direct our mind towards world service, to bring the Light, Love and Power of Spirit into this world.
We hold our consciousness in God, while also working in the world, to bring Divine Qualities into the world. We are here to be Divine Mediators. We are serving Divine Nourishment to our hungry world. We are serving Light to those in the Dark. We are giving our love-embrace to those who feel unloved or abandoned, and we are sharing the power of good-will for those who lack purpose and power.
Some people believe that one's will should never be used in spiritual work or to transmit spiritual energies. The belief here is that spiritual people should not use will, but instead let God do as God Wills and that God will take care of all things, so we should not try to interfere with this. But in radiance meditation the will is not believed to be negative, nor is it abandoned.
It is certainly possible for the personal will to get in the way of God's Will and deter it. The personal will can be self-centered and not truly aligned with Divine Will. But in this world-service meditation we first come into an alignment and realization of God's Will, such that our own will becomes an instrument of God's Will. Our will then becomes a power of the Divine Will-to-Good. This is part of the spiritual destiny of man – to realize the spiritual power that God gives to us, then use it consciously and intentionally. Just as God does not fix our car for us, we have to work on our own lives and transform our own world, and to do this we need to apply our will. First we realize and align with the Divine Will. Then we use our own will, with the Power and Will of God behind us.
It's important to qualify the right use of will as spiritual will, in order to distinguish it from man's ego-will or selfish-will. Spiritual will is distinguished by how it's inspired and guided by a Higher Purpose, rather than being just a tool of personal desires or ambitions. Spiritual will unfolds when our personal will comes into alignment with and sacrifices to Higher Purposes, or to the Will of God.
If one has uncertainty as to what is God's Will, then at least realize that God's Will is both Loving and Intelligent. So if we realize what is both loving and intelligent, then we are realizing more about God's Will. And how can we realize this? Books, scriptures, and preachers are unnecessary. Rather, realize what is loving by way of your own love-knowing heart and by the goodness in you, Realize what is intelligent by your own intuition, reasoning and experience. Be open to your own spiritual intuition, found in the deep intelligence of your heart. Also, listen to your own sincere goodwill, which is how God's Will works through us.
The use of will in spiritual meditation can still be confusing for some people, or it may not feel right for some. Then, instead of 'will', use intention. For example, think my intention in this meditation is for Light, Love and Good-will to spiritually evolve humanity. In other words, affirm your intention, your reason and purpose for doing this meditation. Of course also one needs to sustain this intention (or this goal or purpose) throughout the meditation, as well as sustain a focused conscious mind.
Our own spiritual will is a reflection of the Divine Will and Power. Potentially, our spiritual will is a representative of the Divine Will. We are meant to be the workers of God; so we need to use our mind and will to accomplish God's Work, just like we need to use our will and hands to make a garden or grow food. The work is up to us. Therefore, make use of your will, but align with and be guided by the Divine Will.
So the first stage is to become aligned with the Divine Will, by sincerely lifting our heart consciousness up into the Divine Will. Or we can lift our consciousness into the Greater Light, which purifies our will and mind. Our will then gradually comes into alignment and unity with the Higher Will.
Yet in using the energy of will in service mediation, people still have the freedom to ignore or deny what is being given. So we are not imposing anything on anyone, but rather offering or transmitting what we have aligned with and realized. The success of our sharing will depend on the receptivity of humanity in general and people in particular.
Our meditation work can help others realize spiritual truths and help open their hearts to love, and it can open up a pathway for the Divine Will, Love and Wisdom to be realized in humanity – for Love to be awakened in people's hearts and for Light to awaken the unity-intelligence of all people.
The Divine Source, God, is always emanating Love. But not everyone realizes or knows this Love. And neither has everyone realized and unfolded the love within themselves. So, for much of the world, spiritual love has not yet been fully realized. But it’s not merely up to God to bring about this realization and new awakening in humanity. It’s up to those who are already awakened to help awaken the others, which we can do with this meditation.
God's Love is meant to be realized and manifested in the world, but we cannot simply expect God to automatically bring about Love in the world; because the accomplishment of Love in the world will depend on how we make use of and work with spiritual metaphysical laws. World service meditation uses the spiritual laws of mind, the mental tools and the power of will that God gave us.
To love and to be love. This is God's Work, and it is the work of God in transforming the world. Love has two complimentary attributes: Love is inclusive and Love is radiatory. Love is inclusive, accepting, embracing, and brings together. But also, Love shares, gives, and radiates outward. The radiatory aspect of Love is an outpouring, a sharing and a giving of Love.
Our world is being blessed with an outpouring of Love from the Divine Source. Love is emanating into our world. But unless one is sensitive enough to be conscious of this emanating Love, it merely passes through this world without any real effect. It is like a potential energy, inherent in the universe, but ineffective unless tapped. It is like music being played through the world – potentially powerful to move us to joy and dance, but ineffective and unmoving unless it is actually heard. Thus, unless the Divine Love is heard, felt or received; it makes no actually effect in our world. It just passes through or passes by. Yet if one can feel it and receive it, then it is transformative.
But besides being transformative for oneself, our consciousness of Love can then be transmitted, emanated, or channeled outward from our self and through the world. Energies and Qualities from the Divine Source are first only realized by the most sensitive and receptive people. These people then make those Energies more realizable and accessible for the next level of receptive people. This is the principle of inter-mediation between the Divine Source and the general world of humanity. So those who can consciously receive this Love are needed, in order to channel this Love on to the rest of humanity. We become centres of Love and light-beams of Love. And thus we participate in the Divine Emanation and distribution of Love. Participating in Love's emanation
To love and to be love. This is one of the great practices of service. This is God's Work, and it is the work of God in transforming the world. Love has two complimentary attributes: Love is inclusive and Love is radiatory. Love is inclusive, accepting, embracing, and brings together. But also, Love shares, gives, and radiates outward. The radiatory aspect of Love is an outpouring, a sharing and a giving of Love.
Our world is being blessed with an outpouring of Love from the Divine Source. Love is emanating into our world. But unless one is sensitive enough to be conscious of this emanating Love, it merely passes through this world without any real effect. It is like a potential energy, inherent in the universe, but ineffective unless tapped. It is like music being played through the world – potentially powerful to move us to joy and dance, but ineffective and unmoving unless it is actually heard. Thus, unless the Divine Love is heard, felt or received; it makes no actually effect in our world. It just passes through or passes by. Yet if one can feel it and receive it, then it is transformative.
But besides being transformative for oneself, our consciousness of Love can then be transmitted, emanated, or channeled outward from our self and through the world. Energies and Qualities from the Divine Source are first only realized by the most sensitive and receptive people. These people then make those Energies more realizable and accessible for the next level of receptive people. This is the principle of inter-mediation between the Divine Source and the general world of humanity. So those who can consciously receive this Love are needed, in order to channel this Love on to the rest of humanity. We become centres of Love and light-beams of Love. And thus we participate in the Divine Emanation and distribution of Love.
The outward phase of Radiance Meditation can also be understood as Blessings for the world. The term, blessings, is very befitting of the intended purpose of the outer phase, suggesting a radiance of positive good or channeling divine energies, and also the power of healing. So the information and suggestions here can be applied in any form of radiance meditation.
We can radiate or channel blessings by holding in mind positive good thoughts, wishes, prayers, and visions for everyone in the world. We can also send forth energies of caring, compassion, healing, and other qualities of the heart. We can also send forth intelligence and other qualities of mind. Also as a form of blessing, we can recognize the spiritual good in the essence of everyone, and see this unfolding into expression.
So, as blessings for the world, we can radiate any positive spiritual quality, virtue, value, idea, or thought. As well, we can radiate feelings of love, caring, compassion, oneness, gratitude, joy, or any positive emotions. Our positive thoughts and loving feelings can also be combined together in our blessings.
Each of us inevitably radiate energies and qualities of our own being, the natural emanation of who one is. We impress the world and help create it with the emanating qualities of our being, our heart and our mind. Thus, by our positive qualities and by our own self improvements and transformations, we help in the evolution of humanity.
Realizing this brings about a responsibility and also a sense of purpose, in relation to others and the world. For we can intentionally strive to emanate the finest and most evolved human qualities. And the power of our positive qualities, good thoughts and loving feelings is most effective when consciously radiated out through meditation and blessings.
There are various ways to give or send Blessings for the world.
Channeling love, light, other spiritual
qualities, or ideas.
(from the Divine Source, or from the
Spiritual Hierarchy, or from Spiritual Potential to humanity)
Radiating blessings of love, light,
goodwill, or other qualities from one's being, mind, or heart.
(We
naturally radiate out qualities from our being and ideas from
our mind; but we can more powerfully do this through conscious
meditation or intentional blessings)
Recognizing the divinity and spiritual unfoldment in everyone of humanity. (This is the power of recognition – of a spiritual quality or needed idea unfolding in people, or in the world)
One can give blessings, channel, or radiate qualities and ideas into the world, either generally or specifically.
General Blessings – Consciously radiate out in all directions and throughout the whole world, to everyone and all of life. Radiate love, or light, or spiritual will to bring more good in the world. This radiation of blessings can originate from one's own inner being of love, light, and goodwill; or from one's inner spiritual power. One can also channel the blessings from the Divine or from higher spiritual sources.
Specific Blessings – One can also radiate spiritual healing, love, caring, or other spiritual qualities directly to people or situations. This requires focus, spiritual intent and goodwill.
Connect, attune, align with the Source (or
Source within)
– the Source of Light, Love, Goodwill,
Values and Virtues, all Help, Healing, and Guidance.
Choose (or receive intuition of) a Quality or important Idea
Develop clarity about the Quality or Idea
– meditate on it, think about it, understand it better,
feel how it is, and visualise if possible.
For a Quality or Virtue
– Understand and Feel what it is
– Experience and Be the quality or virtue.
(If our intention is to radiate this, then first be it)
For an Idea, Value, or Vision
–
Understand it, as much as possible, considering its meaning,
importance, and positive consequences.
– Affirm
its truth, intelligence, and importance.
Visualise the destination
– the
whole world, or a specific group, person or situation.
Visualise the blessing going forth
– transmitted or unfolding, from Source to world.
Affirm (or have faith) in the power of this
blessing
– a sense of purpose & importance also
increase the power.
Of course though, the effectiveness of any blessing also depends on the receptive attitude of its recipients, vs. their possible closed-mindedness.
Blessings of food
This food is your gift, Oh God,
from the lives and sacrifices
of many creatures.
We are grateful for this food and we bless it.
May it give us strength, health, and joy,
and may it increase
our love.
Blessings of nature
This Nature is your gift, Oh God,
the creativity of our Earth
Mother.
We are grateful for this wonder and beauty.
And we
bless all of this life with our caring, our stewardship,
and our
recognition of this beauty and intelligence of Nature.
In our meditation, we can meditate in the mental-emotional space of all humanity, in order to bring spiritual consciousness, intelligence, and also love into our shared world. With spiritual Light and Consciousness, we can transform false thoughtforms and negative thinking in the mental energy field of humanity. We can also share higher energies, qualities, values, ideas with all of humanity. We're not forcing this on anyone; we're just bringing light on these ideas and sharing them into the world.
In meditation we can also work in the emotional energy field of humanity, in which we all live. We are all connected in this emotional field, which is the shared emotional atmosphere of the world. Emotions range from raging storms to serene peacefulness, and from hate to love; and all of these emotions have subtle effects on everyone, even if not always noticed. So we need to help clean up and improve our shared emotional atmosphere, just as much as the physical atmosphere.
Of course we each can be free from negative emotions of the world, if we can consciously maintain positive emotions. So no one has to be stuck in any negative emotion, if one can develop the power of self-integrity and self-consciousness, which can be nurtured in meditation. So even though negative emotions are in our shared world, we each have the potential self-power to be free of any negative emotions and to self-determine what kinds of emotions we will nurture and express in our self.
One way to transform emotional energies of humanity is by visualising the clearing power of Spiritual Light streaming into the world. We can also visualise Love, caring, and goodwill streaming into the world. We can also help by the positive transformations we make in our own self and also by emanating spiritual emotions into the world during our meditation.
Light is also related with consciousness. Light is the energy of consciousness. Thus, by emanating our purity and clarity of consciousness, as reached in meditation, we are simultaneously sending forth light with all of its attributes and powers.
Light has the power to transform and heal the world, as well as ourselves. Light carries consciousness, intuition and intelligence. It brings forth higher consciousness, higher intelligence, and spiritual ideas. Light also brings purification. Light is the great purifier, annihilating and eliminating negativity, false thinking, delusions, and separative thought. Light destroys darkness and all that is other than Divine Love, Intelligence, Health, and Goodness. Light also brings clearing and healing to our mental, emotional, and physical bodies. Light also transmutes troubled emotions and lower energies. Thus, the power of Light brings forth higher spiritual consciousness and insight, while also transmuting false and negative thoughtforms.
In working with Light to help the world, first invoke and channel the transmuting power of Light – to clear away negative and false thoughtforms in the mental sphere of humanity. Remember that most problems and conflicts in the world are the result of negative thoughtforms, rigid false beliefs, or misunderstandings. Problems, conflicts and disharmonies are also caused by separative ego emotions, such as prejudice, racism, superiority, hatred, or greed. These emotions become fixated and conditioned in world emotion. So the emotional sphere of humanity is also in need of purification and transmutation.
Light will transmute these fixed emotions. Thus, by applying the purifying and transmuting power of Light, we help eliminate disharmonies and conflicts in the world.
Second, apply the insight power of Light – invoking and channeling higher truths, ideas and thoughts, which come from the Light, or Spiritual Consciousness. From the Light, receive higher spiritual ideas, thoughts, values, qualities or feelings. Next, clarify and focus on one in particular, whatever stands out as most important at this time, or needed in the world. Then, mentally project or sent forth into the world this positive thought or quality. In this way, we help in the evolution of humanity, fostering spiritual insight and values. We are being creative participants in world spiritual evolution. We do this by meditating-on and projecting-out higher positive thoughts, values, qualities, and virtues.
The world of humanity is very much the result of thought-forms and emotional energies. So as we transmute the false and negative, and as we bring higher thoughts and emotions into the mental and emotional planes of humanity, we help transform humanity and the whole world. We are thus participating in the refinement and evolution of all humanity.
|
From my
consciousness, |
From my heart, |
From my will, |
Our purpose in this meditation is to be a mediator between the Divine Potential and humanity. In the first stage we enter into a greater Divine Consciousness, or into an immersion with the Divine Reality. Then, in the second stage, we meditate outward to bring the higher Light and Love into humanity, and we can send forth or channel the higher Energies into humanity through a variety of means.
One way we can mediate between the Divine and humanity is by evoking and radiating Light and Love from within our own self. The perspective in this way is that Light, Love and other spiritual Qualities are within us and can thus be radiated out from our own being, our own mind and heart. The perspective is that all of the spiritual Qualities come from within us and can be expressed out from us.
The Divine Source of Light and Love is within. The Source of Spiritual Radiance is within. The Divine is within the depth of our own heart and mind. So rather than 'lifting up' into the Light, we go within to connect with and deepen in the Light. We go deep and deeper within, to discover the Divine within. God is within, and so is the whole spiritual Hierarchy. So in this way, we come ever closer to God and into the Divine Source that is within us. Then from this Source, we radiate Light and Love out to all humanity and the world. Thus, Divine Radiance goes outward from within us, and we are the radiance. Be the Divine Radiance. This is the Divine Potential within us, which we can actualize and become.
Therefore, we can be like a radiant sun for the Divine Qualities to come more into the world, into the minds and hearts of all humanity. So in this way of meditation, the Divine Light, Love and Will radiates out from our own light, love, and will; which are reflections of the Divine, because in the first phase of meditation our personal consciousness has dissolved into the Greater Divine Being. So now, you are a reflection of the Divine Radiance, because you now stand in the Light and Love, and now you can radiate and resonate out this Light and Love from your own consciousness and love.
Once one understands this power of self-radiance, a sense of responsibility develops –to consciously be a radiant Light of the Divine, a mediator and focal point for Divine Radiance in the world. We become a bridge for Love and Light to enter into the world, into the hearts and minds of those who are ready. We become lighthouses and light-beams of the Great Radiance. It is also our responsibility to be in a more perfected resonance with the Divine, in order to serve the Divine.
We need to first be in the Divine Radiance, in order to emanate and resonate this Radiance. The Light first needs to be realized in us. This Light is the consciousness and intelligence of God. Once this Light is realized and our consciousness has expanded, then the Light of God can emanate outwardly from our own consciousness for the awakening of humanity. And the more that I am Light, humanity becomes more illuminated.
Love also first needs to be realized in us, before we participate in its radiance. This Love is the inclusive and compassionate Love of God. Once this Love is realized, then Love can emanate outwardly from our own heart. Then, I become the Love that transforms humanity. And, as I become the Love, humanity becomes more loving.
First be in the Divine Radiance, then be the Divine Radiance – to radiate and bless the world with the radiance of your own being, filled with Light and Love that you have already received or realized. Enter into and become the Light; then radiate and share the light that you are. Share the light of your consciousness and knowing.
The same kind of meditation can be applied with Love. First enter into the Greater Love, or realize yourself as a reflection of Love; then radiate your love out to all humanity and the world. Be a conscious lighthouse of Love's radiance. Be Divine Love nourishing the world with Love and Healing.
Visualize the following, or do this physically. Put out your arms and let the palms of your hands face outward. Then visualize light and healing coming out of your hands and radiating into the world. We each can be healers in this way. Anyone can be a channel for light and healing. In meditation we can do the same thing, but instead of using our hands we just use our mind and heart. And when mind enters into the heart, the two become one. Then our mind/heart can radiate light and love into the world. Become a radiant self, radiating light and love into the world.
Our heart naturally emanates energies. Our heart emanates a particular energy quality in each moment, which radiates and resonates outward, first into the local space, but then also into the whole world; because the resonances of our heart are not limited by distance. Vibrational energies and qualities resonate into the space of the world just like perfume spreads into a space. Our heart can emanate the perfume quality of Love and other Divine Qualities as well, and these energies can also be consciously breathed out from our heart into the world.
In service to the Divine and for all humanity, we become a conscious radiance of Light and Love. We give and radiate from our pure being, our clear mind and pure heart. We become so very empty of personal self, that the Divine Energies channel through us. We enter into an experience of ‘I am radiating Light and Love’. But this is not the personal-self or the ego. Instead, this I is a reflection of the Divine Self radiating Love and Light into the world. Instead of being in a personal identification, we are in a greater Spiritual identification. The experience could be that I am a spiritual sun, radiating Light everywhere, the Light of Consciousness and Knowing. Or, I am radiating Love everywhere and to everyone.
Sometimes the experience will be that I am the Divine radiating Light and Love, while at other times, the experience will be that I am an instrument for the Divine. Experience may also vacillate between self-radiance and just being Divine Radiance (without any self in it). Sometimes there will be an experience of self-radiance, and at other times there will be no experience of self in this. But even though our self may dissolve into just the Radiance, the experience of self will eventually return.
Every man and woman has the potential to be a radiant sun – a radiance of light, love, healing, and transformation for the rest of humanity. Some people might think this to be arrogant, to think that the individual self could have such an important role or be so powerful. But we each are meant to be radiance suns for each other. This is one of the soul's purposes; for each soul is a spiritual sun of the universe.
When one realizes and affirms that I am a radiance of Love, Light, and Spiritual Will; then one becomes a conscious radiant spiritual sun, bringing ever increasing Light and Love into the world. The affirmation of ‘I am Light’, or 'I am Love', with sincerity and intention, becomes a powerful transforming energy in ourselves and also in the world. Light and Love then comes through our Self-knowing self, in service. Our Self-knowing self has a conscious will-to-serve and to intentionally radiate Light and Love into the world. Our spiritual will and conscious intention is important in this work.
Of course though, the radiance of our meditation essentially depends on our own degree of light, love, and will. There is much that can be transmitted by the methods of visualization and channeling, but the effectiveness of this always depends on the light, love and will of the meditator. At any single time, each person has their own limit or degree of light, love and will. Yet equally, at any time, each person can further deepen in their realizations, in their inclusive love, and in their purposeful will.
So, share the degree of Light, Love and Spiritual Will that is now presently in you. Radiate outward from your own heart-mind, from your own conscious being, or the light of your soul. Be in a state of radiant givingness.
Realize that we are all living in the same mental and emotional energy field of the planet. By similarity, we all share the same air that circulates around the planet. So whatever is in one's mind and heart is radiated out into the world. This is the reality that we must first understand. Every thought and emotion, every state of mind and heart, is vibrated out into the whole world; thus affecting the whole world. Each moment of how one is has an effect in humanity overall.
So a necessary part of the esoteric work done by spiritual initiates is to take on a self-responsibility for the spiritual transformation of humanity, which involves the whole mental and emotional field of humanity. Thus, for the Greater Good of all humanity, we need to work on the mental and emotional planes, as well as the physical plane. We need to work on transforming the minds and emotions of people all around the world. This is one of the purposes in radiance meditation, which can be achieved by the practices discussed here.
One of the ways we can participate in this work of world transformation is by consciously radiating Divine qualities and energies. This can also be a radiance of our own Light – of Self-Knowing, Inclusive Love, and Good-Will. This radiance comes through one's own consciousness, love, and will; yet it is nonetheless from the Divine Source, the Divine Radiance. In service we can radiate these qualities and energies, with intention and will, to all of humanity and Earth. May we take on this responsibility, with intention and will, but also with humility (in relation to the Greater Divine Source).
Your own realization and degree of light, love and goodwill is your own measure of those Divine Qualities; it is what has been measured to you, or what has been realized in you. Part of what you have realized is given by the Divine Radiance, and the other part has been self-developed by your own practice and work. You then radiate and resonate out your degree of realization – to transform and evolve the whole world.
So in the meditation practice of conscious radiance, we meditate (into the world) the deep quality (or spiritual qualities) of our being. Our light of awakening, our love, and our good-will (or will to serve the Good) vibrates and radiates out into the world, which helps to transform humanity with these spiritual qualities. This vibrational radiance comes from our individual self-centre, from our I am, or this radiance might be experienced as coming through oneself from Divine Being.
Divine Consciousness and Love comes through my will, heart and mind, when I am this. My resonating consciousness, thought, love and good-will is the Divine acting in the world – through me.
Individually or in groups, we can help illuminate humanity with the Light of Divine Consciousness and the Love of Divine Presence. First be conscious in This. Then, let it vibrate and radiate out through all space. Let this Light-of-Knowing and this Love-in-Feeling pour forth into the waiting world. Be like a vibrating Tibetan bowl sounding the OM of Peace everywhere.
Those who work together in this way will make a great transformative effect in the world. Conscious radiance has a great positive effect in the world, and this positive radiance will have an even stronger world effect when we radiate light and love synergistically together. Finally, remember that our meditational effect depends on the degree of our consciousness and the quality of our being.
Each of us, as a consciousness of love and goodwill, is a radiant light, which radiates out into the space of humanity, into the consciousness of all those receptive to receive this. Our very consciousness is the radiant light. So, the deeper understanding is that we are not merely sending light into humanity; our expansive and inclusive consciousness is the light radiating and emanating into humanity. So we can practice the radiance of light by the radiance of our inclusive consciousness.
Also, distance makes no difference in the space of mind and heart. Our light radiates into the larger space of humanity and does not diminish with distance. Each person of humanity has the power to accept or reject the spiritual light. However, the more light that we bring into the space of humanity, the easier it is for people to be awakened by the light and the more revealing will be the light in comparison to darkness.
It is our conscious-being that is radiating light; which includes our conscious intelligence and our conscious love. Our radiance is of our full conscious being. So our radiance of light consciousness also includes our love, because our radiance includes our whole being of mind and heart, our intelligence and compassion.
Our conscious-being also includes our conscious will-with-Purpose, when our will is spiritualized with Higher Purpose. So this is not just an ordinary will, directed by personal desires, but rather a spiritualized will, inspired by spiritual Purposes.
One of the most important esoteric truths is that God cannot just manifest Light and Love in humanity, without mediation or mediumship. That is, in order for the Divine Qualities to come forth, be realized, and manifest, there has to be inter-mediators between God and the world. Many people wrongly assume that God simply manifests whatever is envisioned and willed to be, or that God will suddenly bring Light and Love into the world. But all of the Divine Qualities require conscious mediation, in order to manifest in the world. Once we know this, we realize our own responsibility.
One of the simplest forms of meditation-for-service is to just be a conscious radiance of Light, Love and Spiritual Will. Pick one of these to work with, or work with all three. This is simple, though not necessarily easy because of our habits of mind and our lack of mental mastery. The attitude in this is to just be giving, sharing, and radiant. It's all about what you can give, rather than what you can get out of this. You are just a medium for the Light, Love, or Will. But you have to be a conscious medium. The Light comes through you, or maybe its Love that comes through, or some other great Quality, which is then transmitted into the world.
Share and radiate into the world from your being – from what you have realized and from your experience. This is your shared radiance. Share the Divine Qualities already known and actualized in you. Outwardly resonate the light, love and spiritual will, which is now present in you. This will increase humanity's spiritual evolution. Share the light of your own awakened consciousness. Share the love of your own awakened heart. Share your spiritual will, which is your own will towards the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Our light, which is our awakened consciousness, can emanate and radiate out to everyone else in the world. This naturally occurs, just as the light of a candle naturally illuminates a room; however, there is much more power in this radiance when it is intentional and purposeful. This can be experienced as a sharing of one’s Light. And yet, this Light is none other than the One Light, the Universal Light. Therefore, what is going out to humanity from our meditation beacon is the One Universal Light. One is sharing the Light that one has, as it were, or the Light that has been realized in oneself. One is sharing this Light, but this is not like giving away our energy and being depleted of it, because nothing is lost when one shares Light or shares Love. Nothing is lost at all. Just as when one sings a song, one doesn’t lose any of the song, nor does one lose any of one's voice or power. So we can share our Light, and we can also share our realizations and ideas. This all happens in the mental plane and is a part of the esoteric work.
Light and consciousness are intimately connected, or actually the same. Light is the energy of consciousness. So we share our degree of Light by sharing or radiating-out our consciousness. If we can share our highest level of consciousness, then helps to awaken humanity and raise the consciousness level of everyone. Also, we share what we know about Divine Purpose, God’s Will, or Truth, by the telepathic medium of mind, remembering that we are all involved in the same mind of humanity. We have individual minds, which means our unique limitations and patterns of thought, but we are all thinking in the same mind, our common mind, which all of humanity is in. So one of the aspects of radiance is about sharing our knowingness and understanding of Divine Purpose, Will, and Truth.
In one sense, this Love is coming from myself, from this self, this heart of mine. But in another sense, this Love is coming from the One Love, the One Being, God, Who is Love; for one now realizes there is no other source of Love than Love Itself. Love is the Cause and the effect. So, the esoteric disciple, the meditator, often resonates between these two realizations – that this Love is coming from myself and that this Love is coming from God. Both are true, because one truth is inside of the other; just as a particular spray of ocean nonetheless comes from the whole Ocean, and a single beam of light is nonetheless part of the Universal Light. Thus all real love, emerging from any one individual, is from the One Love and is the One Love in-Radiance.
We share the Love we have realized, or of what we are now experiencing. From our deepest heart space, realize the oneness with everyone, our oneness in Divine Love; then simply share this Love. This shared radiance of Love raises the vibrational level of humanity and brings about a mental and emotional transformation in humanity. This is the meditation work of an esoteric disciple. An esoteric disciple is not a follower of any particular path, religion, or teacher, though one could be a follower or practitioner of any spiritual path. The particular doesn’t matter. Rather, what is important is the inner heart connection with Divine Spirit, with God, with Essence, or with Love Itself. This is what makes an inner disciple, and it's esoteric because one’s innermost path and spiritual practice is not outwardly visible. We work in the inner planes and in the realms of energies, for the spiritual evolution of Humanity.
Good-will is God's Will, Divine Will. In our own experience, Good-will is our spiritual will. We can share our spiritual will, which is our good-will or will-to-good. This energy of spiritual will is also full of Light and Love. Also realize that we are part of the Will and Purpose in Life, and our own spiritual will is serving this greater Purpose.
Spiritual will produces very profound results. It's like sharing and radiating a strong inspiration or motivation towards goodness, beauty, love, and truth in the world. Many people have a strong spiritual will to create goodness and beauty and to bring more love and truth into the world.
One has find this spiritual will within oneself. It comes from the Divine Will, but it is already within us. Though unfortunately, too many people have yet to realize it because they have not yet discovered their inner core, or inner spiritual soul. Find your spiritual will, then act on it. Or find the greater Purpose of Life, then serve it, be it and do it. In this meditation work, the expression of our spiritual will might be experienced as our will to serve life, or our will to serve the Divine Purpose.
Service to the Divine has to include service to humanity and to the whole planet. If we are not serving life, humanity, and the planet; then we are not serving God or the Divine Purpose, because the Divine Purpose is to spiritualize this whole world and everyone here. Divine Purpose has two main aspects. One great purpose of life is for our return to Universal Consciousness (God) through gradual levels of Self-realization (or God-realization). The second great purpose is the creative manifestation and expression of love, wisdom and beauty.
So in these meditations, our purpose is both. We are serving the gradual Self-realization and Spiritual enlightenment of humanity, and we are also bringing forth a greater manifestation of love, wisdom and beauty. But the vibrational quality of our aspiration or intention to serve the Divine Purpose is also significant in itself, because we are creating a vibrational radiance of service intention, or the will-to-serve the Divine and life.
Imagine a world in which everyone has an intention to serve Divine Purpose, Divine Will, or humanity and the planet. So in our meditation we can share our own spiritual will (or spiritual intention), as well as our own conscious light and love. This is a way to help bring Spiritual Will into humanity and the planet. For the Spiritual Will essentially has to come through our own spiritual will. And Spiritual Power comes through the power of our own spiritual will.
God works through people, and we are meant to do the work of God. One way to do the work of God is to radiate Light and Love to those who have not yet realized it. Those who already realize love and light have a responsibility to share it, through mind and heart. So our responsibility is to become a radiant sun of the Divine, consciously, intentionally and with will.
We have a power that we don’t usually realize. It's the power of our love and good wish. Most people would not think of this as a power, but our love and good-wish can affect people all over the world. Most of the time we are passive in relation to the world. We think and act as though we can do nothing to help others or help the world. Yet we have this special power to channel or radiate Love and Goodwill into our world, which is a power to transform.
Here is an easy practice. With conscious breath, bring all of your attention and emotional feeling into this present moment. Be fully present with all of your being. Feel the energy of love that is deeply within you. Then, with the sincerity of your being, wish goodness upon everyone in the world. We are wishing goodness from our love, from our heart. This wishing of goodness is a way to send out love and goodness to others. It's a way to give love and goodness, like sending a gift. We can do this for our friends and people we love, but we can also do this for everyone, as a love-giving for everyone. Our good-wish is actually Love energy from the Divine, that is expressing through us.
So with love, wish goodness upon others and even the whole world. Or wish specific qualities, such as love, peace, health, joy, happiness, realization, and freedom. Wish good for everyone, no matter whether you like or dislike the person. Even if you don't like them, send them love and wish them well. Give them love and healing thoughts, because this will help them transform and become a better person.
Social and spiritual evolution will be brought forth by the people of goodwill, by goodwill consciousness and thinking. Those meditating with goodwill, united together, will create a vibrational resonance that will help bring forth world goodwill, cooperation, and sharing. People of goodwill will also help bring about world peace by their outward work.
Goodwill is, first of all, a heart centered quality of being. Goodwill comes from the heart. It is good-wish for others and also the will to-do-good for others and for the world. Thus, it can also be called a will-to-good. Good-will is a will that comes from love and caring about the world; rather than from a selfish, self-centered ego. Those with a heart and consciousness of good-will care about everyone, rather than just caring about one particular group or one group interest.
Goodwill is a state of consciousness. It is a state of mind, heart, and will. It is a mind dedicated to bringing into manifestation the Divine Good, or the best that is possible. A mind with goodwill looks for solutions to make the world as good as possible. A heart with goodwill is a heart with feelings of love for everyone and wanting the best for them, wanting to help anyone achieve greater health, happiness, love, and understanding. A will with goodwill is a will focused on The Good and making the world good, or at least better.
So, goodwill involves mind, heart, and will. The goodwill mind seeks to understand what is good or better, which then becomes the goal or vision for the world. The goodwill heart feels compassion for everyone and wants to help bring more love and joy into the world. The good-will is a motivation to bring forth a better world, with more goodness, love, harmony, happiness and joy.
Once our meditation has reached a deep place of inner being and truth, we can then become sensitive and conscious of our inner self qualities, which are actually reflections of universal Divine Qualities. The qualities we discover (or uncover) in our own inner self are both our own and of the Divine. The Source of all true self qualities is the Divine Self, the One Absolute Self; but these are our own as well. We are just reflecting a portion or a degree of the One Divine Self; which we can then consciously reflect and resonate into the world through meditation.
So, once our meditation has reached a sincere and peaceful deepness, or once we have entered into the silent light of Divine Being, we can then focus consciousness on a particular Quality as discovered in our inner self or in our meditation in Being.
We can ask a question to help in this, such as: What Divine Quality do I now realize in my being? Or, what spiritual quality do I now realize in myself? Or, what can I share with humanity from my deepest spiritual beingness?
Our inner spiritual qualities, the Divine Qualities within us, can be found in the sincerity and truth of our heart. Peace and harmony are two of the essence qualities that can find in our heart. These are natural qualities of the heart, though sometimes a heart needs emotional healing before this natural state can be found and relaxed into. A way into our natural spiritual being is to just relax into the natural quality of our heart. Then here we will discover the natural peace and harmony in our self, as well as be in peace and harmony with our self.
We can also find love, caring, and compassion in our heart, which are qualities that expand our selfness and our inclusiveness with others and all of life. Because to love and care about others, as well as nature, is to include all of them in our heart, consciousness, and concern.
All of these spiritual qualities (peace, harmony, love, caring, and compassion) radiate outward into other people and into the space around us, and even into the emotional energy field of the whole world. So by our own emanation of heart qualities, the heart consciousness of all others in the world is affected. Thus, the peace, harmony, love and caring in our own heart will help bring forth those same qualities in the world, through vibration and resonance. This is how we can help bring about peace, harmony, love and caring in the world.
Resonance and emanation of our heart qualities can thus be a meditation practice for transforming the whole world and fuel the spiritual evolution of humanity. Spiritual transformation in the world happens through us, through each us, by the quality of our being and our resonating emanation.
The qualities of our heart and mind naturally emanate and resonate into the world. But there is much more concentrated power in this when we do this consciously and with intention in meditation. For example, consciously emanate peace or love, caring, compassion, or harmony. And also feel these qualities spreading into the whole world.
As an experiment or practice, first start with spreading the feeling of peace into a room, or into the space around you, or even in a group of people. Or, spread forth the feeling of love, or any of the beautiful qualities. Feel the energies of this space and the people within this space settle into the quality of peace, or harmony, into the feeling of love. We can also consciously emanate and bring forth a helpful quality to someone in particular.
In doing this, we're not forcing peace, harmony or love upon anyone. Rather, we are merely offering the quality; we are giving the quality, or sharing it, into the space. It is then up to each person to feel this quality or to accept it into their being. We are offering the feeling and realization to them. We are offering peace, or love, like we might offer delicious heavenly food or a lovely nectar to drink, or something beautiful. We are offering qualities that are good for people and good for the world. So for example, we can offer the beauty of peace, harmony, and love. Then, others might realize or feel this quality, and relax into it.
So, our meditational intention is to emanate, resonate, and radiate one of the essence qualities in our heart, or also we can emanate a spiritual attitude of the mind. First feel the quality in your own heart, or realize a spiritual attitude of mind. Then let this feeling or this quality vibrate and radiate outward, spreading into the air and space around you, or into the whole world. Conscious breath can also be used in this. For example, take in a deep conscious breath while gathering the quality or feeling to be radiated. Then with conscious intention, breathe this quality outward.
We can emanate and spread the feeling of any spiritual quality – such as peace, harmony, love, compassion, caring, joy, or hope. These qualities are emanated as feelings, but the mind is also part of this. Our mind realizes the quality and understands it, and our mind makes the intention to send this quality out into the environment and spread it forth. We can also use our mind to visualize a quality, such as peace or love, spreading into the world.
There are two complementing aspects in the spiritual path. One is Discovery and the other is Sharing. First we need to discover (or uncover) the indwelling Spirit within us and within all of life. Let us also discover the one great Spiritual Presence that is always present. These are the discoveries we can have in meditation. This is also related to spiritual perception, which is to perceive the indwelling spiritual light within all people and all things, and also within oneself. Or this could be called spiritual recognition. So these different words, such as discovery, perception, or recognition are all referring to the same kind of experience; which is to discover, perceive, or recognize the Indwelling Spirit or Spiritual Presence.
Understand that the Indwelling Spirit, within us and within others, awakens and blossoms as it is recognized. So, discovery, perception, and recognition are important keys for the unfoldment and blossoming of the indwelling Spirit. This is also one the great purposes of Life, that the Spirit latent within will rise forth and blossom in each of us, and also unfold in the world.
The other aspect and step along the spiritual path is sharing, which is related to giving or sending out spiritual love and light. Once we discover or realize the Spirit within, the spiritual love and light within; we then have the capacity to share what we've discovered and realized. We can share the Love, the Light, and the other Qualities of Spirit that we've discovered within us. For example, we can share out to everyone all of the Love we've discovered and uncovered in our own self. This sharing is also our spiritual radiance.
The love and light that we can share is whatever degree of love and light we have discovered and realized within our self. This is the love and light of our soul, which is a degree of God's Love and Light. Our own discovered love and light is essentially the Love and Light of God, which is the degree of God’s Love and Light that has been discovered or recognized within us.
Then, whatever we can discover or realize in our own self is what we can share out to others. Our realized Light can now be our radiance of Light to awaken the intelligence of humanity. Our own realized Love can now be our radiance of Love shared forth to awaken the compassionate love of humanity. And when we share and give out, a greater capacity for spiritual discovery opens in us.
Also in meditation, we can discover spiritual powers latent within our self. Our cultural conditioning might give us a false idea that we do not have spiritual powers, or that we are not worthy of spiritual powers. So we need to trust our own intuition about this, and transform negative ideas about having or using power. Because if we can discover spiritual power in our self, then we can use this power to share out and give out to the world. Spiritual powers are always used for the greater Good and higher Purposes. So, we can discover spiritual powers in our self, which can then be used to serve spiritual purposes.
Also in meditation, we can discover spiritual inspirations. Usually we receive spiritual inspirations, rather than 'discover'. To receive spiritual or creative inspirations, we need to be in a receptive mental attitude, in order to be aware of and receive what is given. This receptive attitude and our capacity to receive are important in meditation, and this is also the attitude needed for discovery. Yet we can also be in an attitude of active discovery, which is to intentionally search for spiritual and creative inspiration within our self. Then whatever spiritual inspirations we discover, or receive, can be shared and radiated out into the world.
Through meditation, one way to give to Life and to humanity is by the radiance of our love, the love that comes from our being. We can give love to the world through our heart, our being, or our soul. Heart, being, and soul are similar enough in meaning, so either term can be used in understanding the radiance of love. What matters is the sincerity and realness of this love.
Love has to be real, to be helpful and transformative. It has to be a real feeling, or a real quality in oneself, and it has to come from a real truth in our being. To just visualize or think about love flowing out from oneself is not enough. Visualization and thinking about love in the world can be part of our meditation, and this does help, but love has to be real in order to be transformative. It has to be real from our self, from our being, or from our heart. It has to resonate out from the sincerity of our heart, or being. Real love, real sincere love, is very powerful – it has a lot of power.
Love is a real spiritual energy. The love we feel and give out to others and the world is a real energy, which can be given out, sent out, poured out, shared out, radiated out, or resonated out. When we breathe out love, any blockages of energy are released and healed. Moreover, love is a transforming energy and will transform the world, people and situations. The energy of love changes the world.
Love is a transforming power. Love is more powerful than mind or thinking, if given half a chance. One can intelligently argue all day with someone, but never get anywhere because the other person is not really open-minded enough to get it. But in one moment a real feeling of love, or expression of love, can transform a conflict energy into a love energy. Thus, Love has a great power to transform the world.
Intelligence is also transforming, but sometimes the thinking mind can lead us astray from the actual truth, unless our intelligence is holistic, broad, and open-minded. Fixated ideas or fanatical ideas can become obstacles and also create unnecessary conflict in the world. Having intelligence without love is knowledge without purpose. Love has to guide intelligence; otherwise, intelligence can justify whatever, whether it be helpful to the world or harmful. Real intelligence is Integral Intelligence, holistic and ecological, able to see the bigger picture and the interrelatedness of things. Stupidity is a narrow view of life and its purpose, a narrow view of truth with fixated ideas, lacking in open-mindedness. Love gives intelligence a practical kind of purpose – using the mind of the greater Aim of love, to serve love and to manifest love.
Will is essential to make things happen, but will without love is power without purpose and without any caring. So, love has to guide our will; otherwise, our will might be harmful rather than be helpful, or it might be cruel rather than be caring. And will without intelligence might be so narrowly fixated that it foolishly leads us off a cliff.
A very significant aspect of the 'work of world service' is done within oneself. We can make significant spiritual transformations in humanity and in the world by what we do in our meditation work. Yet all of what we have to give, share and resonate to humanity depends on transformations in our own being. In other words, our power to make transformations in the world depends on the degree of our self transformations and the quality of our own being.
Spiritual self transformations depend on two main factors. First is the work we make consciously to improve or evolve the quality of our being. Second is allowing Divine Light and Love into our being, in order to increase our spiritual wisdom and love, and also to dissipate self glamours and illusions.
The effects of these self transformations are then transforming for all humanity, because each self is intimately related with the rest of humanity so that every self transformation resonates to everyone. For example, a self-sacrifice or self-change might produce a resonating transformation in hundreds of others.
Thus, whatever we transform in our own self, and whatever we actualize in our self, are ways we can make transformations in humanity, because of the power of energy resonance. And if we are illuminated with Divine Light, and negative energies are cleared away with this Light, then this in itself will produce positive evolutionary transformations in humanity, though we will also need to make outward positive actions in the world as well.
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I recognize Divine Light in everyone. We are all in the same Light. |
I recognize Divine Love in everyone. We are all in the same Love. |
I recognize Divine Purpose in everyone. We are all in the same Purpose. |
In most meditations for world service we outwardly radiate love and light, or we channel light and love from the Source, or we visualize love and light descending from Above and streaming into humanity. All of these ways involve a perspective of Love and Light being sent out and given to the world, whether it be by 'channeling the Divine' or by 'radiating from our being'. Yet there is another possible perspective and way of meditation, which is the way of recognition. In this way of meditation we recognise the light and love already existing in others. We recognise the divine being at the inner core of all people, which is gradually emerging and unfolding from within them.
This is a different perspective from the usual way of understanding meditative world service and how to give to others. The usual perspective of the giving and service-oriented person is that one is in a giver-receiver kind of relationship; whereby the meditator is giving or channeling Light and Love, while humanity is intended to be the receiver of this. But remember that others in the world also have love, light, and other spiritual qualities within them.
So to balance the perspective of being a giver or a radiance of love and light, we could try this other perspective, which is to recognize the love and light that is already inherent or present in others. Or we can recognise the spiritual love already present in the world, then strengthen this or nurture its unfoldment. In meditation and in thought, recognize the Divine inherent in humanity and believe in this, and have faith that the Divinity will gradually unfold, blossom, and manifest with intelligence, love and beauty. Thus, this way of recognition involves a different perspective on how to help in the upliftment of humanity.
In the perspective of 'sending light and love', we are seeing humanity in need of light and love, which we then send or radiate out to them. We help humanity by the light and love given through us. Yet in the other perspective, we recognise the light and love already present in the world and in people, and we strengthen this light and love through our recognition of it. We are recognising what is already there in humanity, even though it may be hidden from people's consciousness. We recognize their inherent light and love and natural goodness, even if they might not.
Love and goodness is within everyone, though many people just don't yet realize it. They have not yet connected with it or self-discovered it. So what we are doing is recognizing and giving affirmation to the Divine Love, Goodness, and Intelligence that is naturally already within each person. Consequentially, the effect of our recognition is their recognition and realization. In this way, the light and love and goodwill, which is still hidden in many people, will be nurtured to emerge forth into realization. Of course it is true that many people are in need of light, love, and healing. But even so, we need to help bring out the love and good that is already in them.
So, being of spiritual service is not always about sending or giving love and light: as in, 'I'm sending' and 'they're receiving'. For there is also a needed work of recognition, to recognise the love that others already have and the good they have to give. For through the power of recognition we can help bring forth their love and what they have to give, and nurture the spiritual qualities that are inside them to be realized and actualized.
Instead of sending spiritual qualities to all people, we recognize the spiritual qualities emerging from within them. As well, we believe that these spiritual qualities are unfolding from within them. We see this with positive faith. This recognition and belief have a transforming power, which brings forth what is recognized and believed in. So we are helping to bring forth the spiritual qualities of people throughout the world, which are within them but have yet to emerge, perhaps because of not being recognized. Therefore, in our meditation and also in our everyday life, we can help others spiritually unfold by recognizing the spiritual qualities in them, in order to bring forth these qualities from their soul potential.
Our meditation with recognition could be two part. First, we could recognise or acknowledge the love, intelligence and goodwill that is already at work in humanity. This will strengthen the love, intelligence and goodwill to be even more powerful and effective in the world. Second, we could recognize the love and goodness that is in everyone but not yet realized and expressed. This recognition will then help bring forth the love and goodness from inherent to actual.
Spiritual transformation in the world will only occur when more and more people recognize and realize their own spiritual essence and the spiritual qualities inherent within. We can help in this by providing our own recognition of what is inherent in them, which we can do in meditation through the mental plane. For as we recognize and believe in their spiritual essence, in their spiritual love and intelligence; then they will be helped in recognizing this as well. We awaken the spiritual in others by our recognition of the spiritual latent in them. Recognition brings recognition.
Recognition helps to bring forth what is still latent inside, because recognition awakens and encourages those potential qualities to come forth into consciousness and into expression. So through recognition we are awakening the spiritual light, love and good-will in everyone to become consciously realized and emergent. In other words, we are bringing the light of recognition to all humanity, which will awaken and illuminate the latent spiritual qualities in all people. Our light of recognition gives them the needed light to recognize and unfold their own spiritual qualities. Our light of recognition becomes a light of recognition for them, which then brings their hidden spiritual qualities into the light of consciousness. So, our recognition is bringing forth their recognition. And our faith in their spiritual qualities and goodness is opening up a pathway for their inner spirit to emerge.
Also, visualize the Divine Love awakening and blossoming in each person. See people realizing the Divine Love within them. Visualize and believe this happening right now in this moment, that hearts are now awakening with love, or that Divine Love is emerging in people throughout the world. As well, add in feeling, and feel the love awakening in people. These are ways we can help bring forth evolution in humanity and the emergence of Divine Qualities.
Also, our recognition of the Earth's sacredness helps awaken others to this. Recognize the sacredness of Nature, of diverse ecosystems, of all life, and the whole planet.
We can work with two complementing perspectives of Love. In the first perspective, we become a radiant sun of Love, or we are Love’s radiance, or at least we facilitate Love's radiance by visualizing Love streaming into the world from the Source. In this perspective Love is entering into the world, from the Divine and through our meditation practice. This way of meditation could be generally called, 'Love radiance into the world'. And this same approach can also be applied with Divine light, peace, goodwill, or any other divine quality.
But there is also a different perspective about love and about how to give love, which could be called 'Love’s embrace', which is to mentally and heartfully embrace all beings within Love. In this way, we serve God's Love by being an inclusive Heart of Love, or by being inclusive in our love, which embraces everyone in it. First we enter into Divine Love, embraced by Divine Love. Then we consciously embrace and include all beings in this Love. Everyone is included and embraced in this Love.
So in the first perspective of love, love is given out or radiated out, like an energy or food. Love is going out to humanity. Yet in this second perspective, Love is an inclusiveness which embraces others in it, and everyone is included in One Heart. Thus there is no need to radiate love outward, since there is no one outside of our inclusive Heart, or outside of Love. There is no separation or distance between oneself and others, since we are all included in the One Love, in the Unity of Love. We are all here in One Love, in God's Embrace, in God's Unity.
All of humanity is included and embraced in our love, or in God's Love. Everyone permeated with love and in the resonance of Love.
It is possible to include others in our meditation experience and realization, and by including others in our meditation, we will be helping them to realize what we are realizing. Our meditation realizations can then become part of a group sharing, or even a sharing with all humanity.
For example, meditate on Divine Love, and experience this Love, while including everyone in the world in our experience. Or meditate on Divine Peace, or another spiritual quality; while including everyone in our conscious realization of this. We thus realize the Divine together, as we include everyone in this. And so, we all benefit by the meditation.
Meditate on Divine Love, and really experience this Love. Spend a few minutes in this. Next, include everyone in this, so that in all of us, the Divine Love is awakening and blossoming. Realize and feel that we all are now awakening in this love. Our Love is now awakening and blossoming. We all, right now, are opening our hearts and awakening in love. And we all are feeling love, caring, and compassion for everyone.
One of the keys in this meditation is to visualize and feel everyone in the world right here in our meditation. A second key is to include everyone in our feelings of Love. We are all here, and we are all awakening and realizing Love together. The more we experience and feel this, the more transforming it is in the world. So in this kind of meditation, we are awakening Love in humanity, using the power of inclusion and resonance, or any spiritual quality can be worked with in this way.
Visualize everyone in the whole world, all humanity, in the heart of our love, embraced in our love and transformed in our love. As well as visualize, feel this to be so. Feel your love being inclusive of everyone, embracing and transforming everyone in love. Visualize and feel your love resonating in the hearts of everyone and awakening their love, and know that this is a transforming activity for the evolution of all humanity.
Bring everyone into your love. Embrace everyone in love, and include everyone in your heart. Then go further, realizing there is just one shared Heart and Love; then see everyone in this One Love. This kind of inclusive visualization and feeling, seeing and realizing that we are all in the same Heart-Love of God, is one of the ways we can serve the world, by helping to bring others into this love and realization.
Connect in heart with everyone, so that we are all connected in heart. It's quite simple; just connect in heart with the hearts of everyone, the deep spiritual heart of everyone. Then realize that we are all in the same One Heart. We are all in the Heart of Divine Love.
We can go so deep in our meditation that we even lose any sense of this being 'my heart' or 'my being'; the experience is of only One Being, One Heart, and One Love. Realize and feel that everyone is here in the same Heart and in the same Love. No different hearts; just One Heart. One Love. So in this kind of meditation, everyone is in the same Heart; and thus, everyone is in the same Love. This experience, this realization and feeling, then resonates out through the whole world.
The transforming power of our love will depend on our love realization and feeling. It will depend on the quality and degree of our love. This is why our level and degree of love is so important in this. The love that we include everyone in, and embrace everyone with, could be a very high level of Love. It could even be the Divine Love of God.
Our degree of love depends on how deep we are able to go into the Divine Love and be in the experience of Divine Love, and be immersed in the Divine Love and Light. So the love that we can give (or embrace with) in this phase of the meditation will depend on the quality and depth of the first phase of entering ever deeper into the Divine Love.
As deep as we can attain in the first phase of meditation will determine the quality and transforming power of the second phase, the phase of bringing Love and Light to all humanity, or of resonating Love and Light. So in potential, the second phase our meditation work could be 'coming from' a very deep level of Divine Love. We could be facilitating a very fine quality of Divine Love to resonate into the hearts of humanity. We could even be embracing humanity from the Divine Love Itself, and thus resonating Divine Love in the hearts of all humanity.
The most basic understanding of Radiance Meditation is in its two phases – the ascent up to the Light and the descent down into the world. Or in other words, the way of entering into the Light and then the way of radiance of this Light. Or in other words, reaching the highest state of Being, then radiating the spiritual qualities of Being into the world. The meditator goes inward to reach spiritual realization, or the Self Essence. Then from this Light of Being, one turns outward in compassionate service to radiate spiritual qualities into the world. There is a going in and a going out. By analogy, the breath goes in, then pauses in the middle point, then the breath goes out.
In this section, the two phases of Radiance Meditation are explained in seven stages –
The first stage of any meditation would have to be some sort of clearing of mind; though in some meditations the whole aim might be clearing. This is because one can cannot achieve any higher purpose in meditation, nor have any deeper experiences, without a clear and uncluttered mind. So any babbling verbiage of the mind or unrelenting thoughts have to be cleared, as well as any unresolved emotional feelings or reactions still lingering in our emotional energy body. In other words, our mental and emotional 'energy bodies' need to be cleared, before any greater meditative work can be achieved or before any deeper experiences are possible.
Mental and emotional clearing is analogous to clearing one's workplace before starting a new project, or clearing the canvas before beginning a new painting. One needs to clear the mental screen of contents from the past and residues still lingering on. Often when we enter into a meditation practice there are these lingering thought-concerns and emotional residues, which take center stage in our consciousness, and our mind gets fixated on these. So we have to learn how to let go of these thought-forms, thought-patterns, and emotional residues.
Clearing is a process, which will take time and intention; yet the time needed will vary depending on the amount and power of the energies to be cleared. Each time one practices clearing, there is more developed skill in this, and sometimes one has to just accept that the best effort has been made; but know that it is possible to experience a completely clear mind and emotional energy. It is possible for one's mind and emotions to be so clear that clear light or clear consciousness shines through.
So, first relax the physical body by breathing consciously and letting go of various body tensions. Next become aware of the emotional body – one's energies of emotions and feelings – and begin to relax and let go of these. Feel the emotional body as a fluid substance, like a lake or a pond, that is now calming, settling, and become evermore peaceful. Next become aware of thoughts and thinking, which are carrying on. This is difficult to do for long, because our awareness will tend to be carried into these thoughts, much like becoming absorbed in a dream. With more practice, though, we will become more able to free our awareness from these habits of emotion and thought, and thus be more able to achieve this very important meditation step of conscious clearing. In fact, clearing of the mind is so important that the rest of the meditation will depend on this.
Essentially, we are letting go of all disturbances of mind and emotion, but this is not always easy to do, because these concerns, frustrations, or other residues of our daily life have become like habits of mind and emotion; moreover, they can contain a lot of energy and can be very powerful. Yet we have to keep persevering on this clearing, on this letting go.
Much of what lingers-on is because of attachment, desire, or worry. Let it go. Surrender it all. Let it go and be in surrender, then everything clears. Surrendering is everything. Clearing is more about surrendering, and less about our will. You need a will to be clear, and also a willingness to surrender; yet clearing happens through a relaxation and surrender, rather than by trying to make it happen by lots of effort and will.
After the clearing (or even while in the clearing), there needs to be an alignment between oneself (one's mind, emotion, and will) and that which is Higher or Greater or Deeper. {The choice of Higher, Greater or Deeper depends on one's perspective or model of understanding}. So this is an alignment with Higher Being {such as God, for example}, or with a Higher Purpose, or Greater Purpose. Or the alignment could be with Divine Will, or with Love, or with Wisdom, or with the whole Spiritual Triad. Or this could be understood as an alignment of our thinking mind with our soul.
Alignment first involves knowing the goal – the direction to head towards. Otherwise, our mind and the meditation will wander aimlessly. Secondly, alignment involves our intention and determination to reach that goal; otherwise, our energy and focus will be weak. Thirdly, alignment has to involve self-unity and self-agreement; for otherwise, our inner conflicts and lack of self harmony will tend to either disrupt or scatter the meditation.
Setting our intention is also an important part of spiritual alignment. Having intention and direction are necessary throughout the whole meditation. The meditator will not be thinking about this every moment of the meditation; but once the intention and direction is set forth, along with our full self-agreement, then this will produce a sustaining energy and direction throughout the meditation. Also, at each of the meditation stages, it will be helpful to quickly affirm the intended aim of that stage.
Note that the overall goal of radiance meditation would be the radiance of spiritual light and love and spiritual virtues into the world. This overall goal is good to remember and affirm in this early stage of meditation. Yet there is an important goal that comes before the stages of radiance, which is to reach the highest or deepest state of Being, and then radiate out from this light of being. So even though the goal of the overall meditation is radiance, the first great goal is to reach and enter into the Light of Being, to whatever degree we can. This then is our our first goal and direction.
So, we need to understand the aims of the meditation and also the effort needed. And we need to set forth our intention towards the aim, direction or goal. For example, one's intention could be to experience or reach a Greater Light, or Greater Love, or to reach a Greater experience of the Divine Being or God. Or, one's intention could be to reach a Higher level of Light, or Higher Beingness of Light. Or, one's intention could be to reach and experience a Deeper level of Being, such as a deeper light or deeper love or deeper truth of oneself, or to discover the hidden Light and Love within oneself. Or, the intention and direction could be towards our spiritual soul. There are different ways of understanding what the goal is, and thus different facets of intention and alignment.
So in this stage we set forth our intention, which also involves the goal and direction; for without this, the mind tends to drift into daydreams or wandering patterns of thought. In effect, one is affirming in oneself what the goal is, as well as affirming one's will and determination to reach this goal or to successfully do this meditation. There has to be enough of our personal energy committed to this meditation practice; otherwise, various kinds of emotions or other concerns will soon take over the energy. All practices of meditation have to break certain habit patterns of mind and desire that we normally have, and this requires our self commitment, our will, our intention and determination. Thus, there has to be an intention, commitment and agreement, in order to create a meditation alignment towards our soul, or the Higher Light, or whatever we define as our higher spiritual aim and possibility. This alignment also requires a harmonious alignment and agreement between all aspects of our personal-self – our emotional body, our mental body, and our ego now in charge. If there is full self agreement and full intention for doing this meditation, then it will have the energy needed, but a part of our self will produce doubts and disruptions if there is not self agreement and unified will.
The direction is towards the Higher, the Greater, or the Deeper. The direction is towards a greater Purpose, a greater Light or greater Love, or towards God. And this step is enacted by intention. So the first step is a clearing by letting go, while this second step is making an alignment by intention or will. This alignment can be made with one's heart, as the intention of one's heart. Or the alignment can be made with one's mind, as the intention of mind, or of will. Visualization can also be used to help with this alignment, For example, visualize the alignment as a bridge of light upwards towards the Highest, or as deeper towards the Deepest.
Alignment can also be achieved by our sincere commitment, dedication, and aspiration towards the Greater Purpose, the Greater Light, the Greater Love, or simply towards God in Whom we live. Or it could be our commitment towards the Divine Work, or to be an instrument of God. But again, there are many more ways and words to describe and explain this.
Alignment can also be achieved through prayer. This might not be necessary, but it can be helpful. Prayer is a form of spiritual aspiration and asking to be guided and helped towards a Higher or Greater Goal. For example, the prayer could be, May I be guided towards You, or May I reach You – my Highest Self, my Deepest Self, my Greater Self, or my Greater Soul. Or the asking can just be to God.
So, prayer is also a way to create spiritual alignment, because true prayer creates spiritual orientation, direction, aspiration, and commitment. Also, prayer sets forth a corresponding response from what is Greater – meaning that the Divine will respond to and fulfill our prayer. So if we ask to be lifted towards the Higher, or expanded into the Greater, or brought closer into the Deeper; then this will be helpful.
In a larger sense of the overall meditation goal and intention, this is the time to remember other people involved in this same kind of meditation work, and connect together as a group. If we are meditating with others in the same room, then this is a good time to connect with them, in heart and in mind, and to unite together as a group working towards the same overall goal – of participating in the work of spiritual radiance into the world. If one is meditating alone, then this is a time to realize that many others in the world also meditate in this way of service, and therefore unite with all these others and come together as a united group. For when we consciously connect with others and unite together as a group, in heart and mind, then two positive results come from this. First, our own meditation experience is magnified and increased by the lights and love and good intentions from all the many others in this connected group. And second, all of our group combined channeled radiance work will have a magnified synergistic effect in the world.
The third stage is a movement towards and an entering into the Higher or Greater Light, or into the Deeper Light and Love within. One is now moving, in consciousness, towards and into the Greater Light, the Deeper Love, or the Divine Beloved. One is moving towards a greater experience of Being, and of Light and Love, then entering into this. One enters into this greater being-experience of Light and Love, – which is one's Higher Self, Greater Self, Deeper Self, or Real Self. Or this can be experienced as God {and of course it is God, in some degree of experience}. Alternatively, this can be an entering into one's own soul – such as the being of soul, the soul light or the soul love.
So in general, we can think of this stage as a 'movement towards' or an 'entering into', which can involve some degree of will, in the sense of needing to lift up into, or enter into. There has to be some will and affirmation to do this. But also it involves surrender. In fact, we cannot enter into the Higher Light, or into God, without surrender. We have to surrender our self (our mind, consciousness and heart), in order to enter into and reach God, or the Highest possible. We must surrender our mind to reach the Highest Consciousness. We must surrender our heart to reach the Deepest Love. And we must surrender our will to reach the Greater Will. This might also be understood as sacrifice, in the sense of sacrificing what we know about ourself and sacrificing what we are holding onto. In general, this stage involves a balance of both will and surrender.
Different ways are being described, and with different choices of terms, because people have different ways of understanding and even different ways of experiencing, or what can be called one's perspective of experience. People have different ways to describe their meditation and spiritual experience, and there are different spiritual terms and different model of understanding. Therefore, there are possible differences as to how these steps and experiences are described.
For example, there are different ways to describe what is entered into, or what one is surrendering into. One could be entering into Light, Love, Will, or some other quality of Being, or the experience could be an entering into just Being Itself. There are different possible Qualities of Being that one can move towards and enter into. But also there are different words one can use to describe such qualities or experiences.
So, what is being entered into could be understood in different ways. It could be understood as one's soul, such as the light of one's soul or the love in one's soul, and this is found within one's heart. This could also be understood as one's deeper self, or as one's real or authentic self, or as one's inner spiritual being. One's soul, one's deeper self or inner being is found within. Or one's experience could be that of entering into the Divine within, the Spirit within, or God within.
Once again, people have different kinds of experiences, use different describing words, and have different understandings, depending on their spiritual language, their models of understanding, and what they have learned. Some words mean about the same, but there can also be real differences. There is a difference, for example, between the soul and God. Yet each soul is a reflection of God, and it could also be understood that God is deeper within of each soul. There is a real difference between various Qualities of Being (or Qualities of God); yet there are also intrinsic similarities with all these Qualities, and all Qualities share in the same Divine Essence.
Another alternative understanding and way of experience could be that one is lifting into or entering into a Higher Light, which usually means the same as entering into a Higher Consciousness or Higher Mind. This could be understood as the next level above, in the Spiritual Hierarchy of levels, in the understanding that there are many levels of mind and consciousness, in God, and along the vertical path towards God; that is, many levels or degrees of Light, Love, and Being. This can be understood in a number of ways. For example, one could understand this stage as lifting up into one's Higher Self, or Higher Light, or Higher Being; or somewhat different, one might experience this as a lifting into the Being-Light of a Great Teacher or Great Master higher up in the Hierarchy.
Or, one could understand this as entering into the Greater Being – in which one is. One can understand this Greater Being as a next level or degree in the Hierarchy – the Being-Consciousness that is greater than what one is now. Or, this could be experienced as the very Being of God, the Light of God, or the Presence of God. And of course this is God, because God is the reality of all beings, and all beings are God in some degree.
Another alternative understanding and way of experiencing this meditation stage is as an uncovering – an uncovering of the veils and a revealing of the Essence. In this understanding, it is realized that our True Being (or Truth Itself) is underneath what is presently apparent in the meditation experience. Or in other words, one's present experience in meditation is veiling or covering over the Essence underneath it. So the goal here would be to uncover what is underneath this present veiling, or to discover what is hidden underneath this present experience. This is the beingness, the truth, or the essence underneath.
This is an important spiritual principle to remember – that whatever one is experiencing at any moment, about oneself or about life, is not the clear essence of Truth. It is a partial glimpse (or partial perspective) of the True Essence of oneself – which is underneath the veil of one's present experience. Or in other words, that which one experiences in this moment as 'oneself' is a veil that is covering over the deeper truth-essence of our Self {or the Reality hidden within or underneath}.
So the attitude to have in this understanding is that there is a Deeper truth or essence of Being, which is not yet being realized and experienced, though it is just underneath this present experience. And therefore, the meditation work is to uncover the present veil – in order to discover the Essence underneath. The meditation process in this stage is to clear away the veils and to look beneath the veils, to see the Essence or Beingness that is hidden underneath.
Usually, these veils are thoughtforms, beliefs, or even the process of thinking itself. In fact, what is common to all veils is that one believes in the veil. So it is predominately a belief or an identity, which is filling one's experience and veiling the deeper reality of being that is hidden underneath. Once there is a clearing of a veil, then a deeper reality of being is revealed. A secret to clearing away the present veil is surrender. Each veil is a belief-attachment, so it disappears when we surrender our attached belief in it. Thus, surrender of the veil is needed in order for the Essence underneath to be revealed.
In this stage of meditation, we are heading towards a great goal, which is union with the Divine, or immersion in the Light, or some other description of entering into the Highest, Greatest or Deepest possible Beingness. Our usual kind of thinking is that we have to work hard at reaching our goals, so our tendency is to think that we have make a strong effort towards this. Some degree of effort is needed, which involves a desire to reach this goal and also maintaining a continuous consciousness without drifting into dream experience. But equally significant is surrender, which involves a letting go willful effort and planned scenarios. For in surrender, one lets go of all plans and willful efforts, all expectations, and even the instructions on what to do. For in true surrender, one surrenders into trust. You cannot really surrender without trust. So what is one trusting? That's a good question to meditate on.
Surrender and trust are related to one other way to experience this stage of moving towards and entering into, and this can be included in all of the other ways. This is to sense, feel, or realize that God is drawing one closer – into the Divine Light or into the Divine Love. The Higher is drawing up the lower. The Deeper is drawing in the outer. God is drawing us towards Union. This is sometimes figuratively called the Divine Magnet, which is God, the One Being, drawing us back into realized Being. So understand that God, the Greater, the Higher or the Deeper, is drawing us towards this next stage of Union, or of being in the Light. We are surrendering into this Divine Love. So when we surrender, we are surrendering to this with trust. We are surrendering to the Divine that is drawing us into greater Beingness.
Also important in this stage is receptivity. In this stage we are moving towards and entering into; but we cannot reach a higher or expanded state of Being without receptivity. We have to be receptive and allow this expansion to happen. We have to receptive towards the greater Light and allow our consciousness to be taken into it. And again, this is related to trust; for the Divine brings us into it, if our aspiration and receptiveness is strong enough.
The attitude of listening is also essential in this. Listening is the key to Intuition. So be in a receptive mode of listening. In meditation, it is better to be listening than thinking (or inner talking). So whenever the meditation takes a detour into dreaminess or inner discourse, re-focus the intention, the aspiration, and also the mode of listening. Too many kinds of meditation soon become just a doing-task, like something that needs to get done as soon as possible. But in a truly significant meditation, there has to be patience and listening, and not just trying to get something done. Imagine you are approaching the Divine, or a great Teacher, or Christ, or even God. And you want to come closer, and be in a closer connection. First you will want to be humble. Then also you will not want to be in a rush. This isn't like a business meeting that you want to get done as quickly as possible. Rather, you will want to be relaxed, receptive and open in this meeting, and make a real heart connection. And also of course, you will want to be listening.
Lastly to mention in this section is that some people will think that reaching towards God, let alone entering into God, is a much too high aim or is unachievable. Yet certainly, any of us can achieve a higher level of consciousness from where we are now, or reach a deeper experience of love, or realize our greater beingness. So, the aim that one is moving towards, or the meditation experience that one may now enter into, can at least be described as higher, greater, or deeper than where one is at present. Therefore, some people might move towards God and experience entering into God; whole other people might think of God as much greater than can be ever experienced. These can be accepted as different perspectives or as different models of understanding; there is no absolute right or wrong in this, and it is only suggested that people trust in their own experiences and describe such experiences in whatever way is truest for them.
At this stage, one is now in the Greater Light (the Higher or Deeper Light), or in a more expanded consciousness. Or one could describe this as being in the Love, or in the Greater Will, or in the Greater Beingness of God, or in the Mind of God, or the Consciousness of God, or the Heart of God. Or this could be understood as the greaterness or deeperness of oneself, or the greater beingness of oneself, or as one's soul-being. So, one has now entered into a greater place of being, or more expanded state of consciousness, which can be understood in many ways. It could be one's deeper spiritual soul, or one's Higher Self, or the Greater Being of oneself. Or this could be understood as the Being of God, or as a Greater Light, or a Greater Love, or a Greater Will. This could also be experienced as just being it – for example as being the soul, or as just being light itself, or being love, or being peace. However one experiences or describes this, there will be a profound experience of unity and oneness of being.
This stage can be understood as Just-Being, or as an Immersion in Being – which can be experienced in different ways, such as the Higher Being, the Greater Being, the Deeper Being, or the Being Underneath. Though once there is just Being, or once there is complete immersion in Being, then all of these different perspectives and terms suddenly merge into just One; because now, there is Just Being.
This fourth stage in the 7-stage process is known as the higher interlude. It is also the middle point in the meditation. One has reached the highest, deepest, or most expanded consciousness possible, or the greatest possible state of being; and then from here is the phase of radiance. Mostly, this whole meditation process is explained as two phases, which is the easiest way to understand the most fundamental concepts involved. The first phase of the whole radiance meditation can be called 'lifting into the Light', which this fourth stage is the culmination. Then the second phase of 'emanating the Light' proceeds from this middle point of 'being in the Light' or 'standing in the Light'. The first phase is also called 'ascending into higher Being', or also known as 'surrendering into deeper Being'; while the second phase can be thought of as 'descending from Being', or as 'radiance of Being'.
This middle stage is not a place of doing; rather, it is a place of rest, of non-doing, and of just being. It is just being in the Light, or in the Love, or in just Being. One relaxes and rests in this – resting in mind and in feeling. For here, there is nothing to do. There is no need to do anything here; just Be in Being. Or just be in the Light, or in the Love, or in the Spiritual Will. So the meditation instruction for this stage is not doing-oriented – it's not about what one needs to do. For in this stage there is nothing to do but just Be. Just relax in being in Being. Though there can be various Being-qualities to experience in this; such as Serenity, Peace, Oneness, Joy, Love, Light, just to name a few possible qualities of being, or qualities of experience.
In this stage of meditation, surrender is still an important quality to have. Surrender helped to bring us here to this stage of higher, greater, deeper being; as we surrendered who we were, in order to enter into this deeper or more expanded level of being. So now, in this stage of the meditation, we sustain our experience in this level of being by way of our sustained surrender – which is a surrender of all thoughts and all judgments, and a continuous surrender of our usual self-concepts or ideas of self-identity. Because in this stage, there is just-being and complete acceptance of how this experience is. So in this stage, there is surrender and acceptance in what is.
Lastly to mention is that there is no value in being overly analytical or critical about what one is experiencing. In our meditation, we are seeking the highest, greatest, deepest state of being. But we can only get to where we can, in any meditation session. In some meditations we will reach extremely high states of being, or we might experience a taste of God's consciousness, light or love. We might enter into a very deep place, a very deep profound experience of Being. But then at other times we might not reach so far, or so high, or so deep, as we did before. In each meditation we get as far or as deep as we can. What's important is that, at least, one enters into a higher, greater, or deeper experience of being. Then this is good enough. No need to make judgments about what is experienced, or how it is, or how great or deep it is. It is what it is. And if this is experienced as God, then it is God. If it is experienced as the Higher Light, then this is what it is. If it is experienced as the Deepest Love, then this is what it is. Just accept what is experienced and how it is experienced; without over thinking about it, analyzing, or judging it.
So at some point in the meditation, there is a highest place that one reaches, which is this stage called the higher interlude. And one just has to accept what it is and how it is, and simply abide in it for a time and sustain this higher experience for enough time that it settles in as the presentness of one's being. Then from here, the outgoing phase of radiance will proceed, and the consequential spiritual power of this radiance will always depend on the degree of Being that is reached in this stage of immersion in Being. For the radiance proceeds from this degree of Being – from this degree of Light and Love, or from this quality of Being.
Next, from being centered in the greatest Light, this Light now emanates and radiates outward into the world and into humanity. In our experience, the Light will either radiate outward or downward. This depends on our perspective of experience. If we are experiencing the greater Light as from within, then the Light will emanate outward {into the world} from within. Alternatively, if we are experiencing the greater Light as above or in a higher dimension, then the Light will appear to descend downward into the world. These are not two different realities, and neither perspective is superior than the other. Both perspectives of experience, or ways of understanding, are true and have value; for either way can produce the same positive results.
This emanation or radiance can also come from other qualities of Being. Love will emanate from the Being-quality of Love, and peace will emanate from the Being-quality of Peace. Love emanates from being in Divine Love, or in the Heart of Love. Peace emanates from being in Peace. Good-will emanates from being in Spiritual Will. So in this meditation stage, the emanation/radiance can be of Light, Love, Peace, Healing, or any spiritual quality of Being. Most often this depends on the quality experienced in the previous stage of just Being. So it could be that the emanating quality of Being is different in different meditations, or also for different people. But to simply our descriptions, we generally refer to this as the emanating or radiating Light {and there are different unique colors or kinds of Light}.
So now, this Light {or this Love, or this Healing, or some other spiritual quality} will either be experienced as coming from and radiating from the greater Divine Being {from God or from the highest Being of contact}, or as coming from and radiating from oneself, or through oneself. This will depend on our perspective of experience, on our paradigm of understanding, and will also depend on how the meditation unfolds. So for example, if our experience is in God, or in the Light of God, then the radiance of Light {or Love} is coming from God. Therefore, we can either see and meditate on the Light emanating from God into the world; or alternatively, we can be in a facilitator’s role as channeling this Light or this Love into the world. Once again to explain this, the work of emanating radiance can be experienced in a few different ways. The Light can be seen as emanating from the Divine Source and into the world. Or in our experience, the Light will be channeled through us into the world. The Light could even be radiating from our own being, from our own consciousness or from our own heart, though this Light will be coming through us from the greater Source.
Also in the meditation, our experience can suddenly change perspective. For example, at first the experience could be that one is channeling the Light – by being a conduit of the Light from Higher to lower, or from Inner to outer. But then this might change into an experience that the Light is radiating from oneself. Both perspectives are true. Also, Light naturally radiates from just being in it. In other words, when our consciousness is in the Light, or one is in the Light, then this Light naturally emanates from being in it.
In meditation it may be that all Spiritual or Divine Energies come from inside our own being, because the Divine is within. In fact, the whole Spiritual World is within and emerges from within. God, the whole Spiritual Hierarchy, and all Spiritual Qualities are within the within.
So there are different ways of experience, and thus different ways of doing the radiance meditation. These different ways and kinds of experience are mentioned – to acknowledge that differences are ok, and that there are different possible experiences and ways of Radiance Meditation. There isn't just one perfect way to do the meditation, nor just one right kind of meditation experience. So that's why there are multiple ways to explain these meditation stages, as well as multiple choices of words used to describe spiritual experience.
But even though there can be differences in the meditation, with different perspectives and different models of understanding, there is also {very often} important relationships between these different perspectives. For example, by meditating on {or seeing, or consciously realizing} God's Light emanating into the world, we are nonetheless channeling this Light into the world by way of meditating on it and realizing it! Or alternatively, if our experience is of Light radiating from our own being and we are the centre from which this Light radiates into the world, then realize that our own being is a reflection of the Greater Divine Light, Love, and Will. Once we realize that our own being is itself a {micro}reflection of the greater Divine Being, then we can also realize that the light and love emanating from our own being is the Divine Light and Love reflecting through us. Thus, our own being is a centre of radiating Light and Love; though of course, all Light and Love comes from God, the Divine, the Source of all spiritual energies and qualities.
Also, this radiance can be of Light, or Love, or Divine Will –{known as the Spiritual Triad}. One can work with all three, but it's simplest to focus on one at a time. Or the radiance can simply be from just-Being – without any particular experience of quality – it's just a radiance of Being. Though to help the world, the Being of God emanates as Light, Love, and Divine Will, as well as other significant Qualities, and it is our role in meditation {and also our service to humanity} to realize these important qualities and facilitate their radiance into the world. There are many possible Qualities that can be worked with in this stage of emanating radiance – for example, the emanation of Harmony, Peace, Caring, Goodwill, or Beauty. Or we can also radiate the energies of Divine Virtues, such as cooperation, responsibility, understanding, respect, or any great spiritual virtue that the world needs.
In this stage of meditation, there are some key ways to make it work. First, we can use visualization, which can facilitate and channel Light into the world, or Love, or other Divine Qualities.
For example –
Along with visualizations, one can also use helpful word phrases or seed ideas, in order to help facilitate and make more effective this spiritual radiance.
For example, a helpful word phrase can be mentally repeated, such as –
For example, a seed idea might be –
So, visualization can help to channel the Light and the Love into the world. But also, this Light and Love can channel through us, through our mind and heart. When this is done consciously, we then become a channel for the Light, a bridge, a pathway, or a medium for the Light. In effect, the Light moves through us, then into humanity. Yet the effectiveness of this depends on the degree of Light and Love already attained in one's own being. It also depends on the degree of our spiritual consciousness and the expansiveness of our love.
Thus, we can become like a channel for the Light. But also, the radiance of Light can be experienced as coming from one's own being. In this way, or from this perspective, Light and Love is radiated from one's own being, or from the soul. For example, radiate Light out into the world from your own light, or radiate Love from your own love. Give the light and love from your own being. Become a centre of radiant light for the world. Become a radiant sun of Light and Love and Goodwill. Or be like a chalice of Light and Love, pouring forth to all humanity and the world. This way of self-radiance can also go along with and complement the visualization and channeling of Divine Light into the world. This way can also be connected with the Divine Source, such that the Greater Being empowers and provides the meditator with the Highest Light and the Deepest Love. Thus, there are many ways to participate in divine radiance. Each way effectively works, and each way is worth trying out.
The sixth stage is to meditatively reflect upon and understand one of the qualities of Being. One uses the reflective mind to understand the Quality of Being that is emanating into the world and into manifestation. In other words, from the previous stage of emanating Being, one now reflects upon the Quality of Being that is most evident, in order to understand what this Quality means and how it can be expressed in life.
Ideally, a Quality will be realized as already naturally emanating from Being {as emanating from the previous stage}; but if there is no particular Quality that is evident or presently experienced, then one can choose a Quality to reflect upon and understand better. This could be Divine Quality of God {as realized through higher Intuition} or a quality of one's own soul {as discovered through receptive openness}. One could also reflect upon a higher spiritual virtue in life, or upon a spiritual principle or idea or value or vision.
One then reflects upon what this Quality is and how it can be expressed in life and manifested in the world. This reflective stage of meditation is an intentional thinking about the Quality, in order to understand its energy and how it can be expressed. For the more one understands a Spiritual Quality, the more it becomes expressible and grounded in life. Also, one can then see this Quality manifesting in the world, through oneself and through others; which is to use the power of positive belief to help bring it into manifestation.
For example, one might reflectively think about what Love is and how this is expressed and manifested. There will be plenty to consider and understand about Love. Or one might reflectively think about the meaning of Caring and how to express this quality. Or one might reflectively think about the meaning of Light and how it awakens intelligence, which then leads to smarter and more holistic actions in the world. There are endless examples of what one can reflect upon and understand, using the powers of Intuition and Reason.
So this is the stage in meditation when thinking is used – when thinking is useful for understanding. Yet this is an intentional thinking, not just a 'lost in thinking' or a reactionary thinking; and this meditative kind of thinking is augmented by our higher Intuition and Reason. Therefore, in this stage of meditation, thinking is valued as spiritually useful; but only if the thinking is intentionally reflective to understand what is True and Good, and only if this thinking includes spiritual intuition and coherent reasoning. Whereas in the first stages of meditation, thinking can be a hindrance, because it is usually just a repetitive babbling of the lower mind, or else it's tied to our emotional habits of self worry and incessant planning. So in the first half of radiance meditation, thinking is generally let go of and surrendered. However, now in this latter phase of meditation, one can intentionally use thinking for the definite purpose of understanding, as long as our thinking is reflective of higher intuition, wisdom and love.
In this stage of meditation, a connection is made between the higher Intuition and the understanding mind, bringing Intuition into mental thoughtforms of understanding. Then, as the meditator understands a Divine Quality more clearly, this understanding carries into the world, and the whole mind of humanity benefits from this understanding. Most important to understand about a Divine Quality is its meaning, its way of expression, and its value– its importance and need in the world.
This stage of mental reflection creates a furthering of understanding – which then is a pathway for these Qualities of Being to reflect into the minds of humanity and then manifest in the world. Each understanding, each realization, is a pathway of Light into the world Each understanding and realization is a spark of Light-Wisdom illuminating into the world. Even the very process of thinking about spiritual qualities and ideas creates a pathway of Light into the world. One can even work on 'creating understanding' for the world. For in an analogous way that an artist can create beauty for the world, the meditator can create thought-forms of understanding for the world – thought-forms of Truth and Spiritual Value.
What we understand about a spiritual Quality or Idea {and our seeing how this can be manifested in the world} will radiate and seed itself into the world. The mental understanding itself, and the seeing what is possible, all radiates into the mind of humanity and produces seeds for others to understand, become and manifest. The world changes (and so do we) when new ideas, new values, and new possibilities are realized and understood. Thus for example, when we mentally reflect upon and understand a great Value or Idea, or a great Quality or Virtue; then this understanding reflects and emanates out into the world, which then helps to evolve the mind, the heart, and the character of humanity – and which then helps to improve the behavior of people and bring about more peace, harmony, truth and love in the world.
In the final stage, we ground these contacted Energies and Qualities of Being, including our understandings. One of the fundamental purposes of Radiance Meditation is to radiate and channel spiritual energies and qualities into the world. So the final stage is to ground and anchor all of this. This could also be understood as planting spiritual seeds into the world – seeds of spiritual qualities, higher energies, ideas, understandings, and visions. So we are grounding, anchoring, and planting seeds, which we do with intention and purpose.
To some extent there is already a grounding and planting of these energies, through the previous stages of radiance; because radiance itself is a planting of seeds. But here in this final stage, we intentionally ground and anchor these energies and qualities into the world – through visualization, sound, and belief.
Visualization is a way to channel and bring spiritual energies into the world. Use of sound is a way to ground and anchor these energies. Also, we can invoke the Divine Power {the Higher Power} to bring these spiritual qualities into realization and manifestation. Also, belief and faith {in what has been accomplished in the meditation} helps to nurture these spiritual seeds. And lastly, we each need to make a commitment to personally bring these qualities and higher states of being into our regular life, our work and relationships.
Here are some possible ways of grounding and completing the meditation –
|
Choose a quality of self to meditate on, understand & develop in oneself. |
Discover a spiritual ideato meditate on, understand & share with the world. |
Receive a spiritual vision, of what can be, then share this with the world. |
Choose a virtue to meditate on and develop
Imagine yourself having the virtue and expressing it
Understand the virtue – how is it expressed?
Value the virtue – what is good about the virtue?
Affirm the virtue as a quality or attitude of who you
Visualise how to manifest the virtue
Express the virtue – actualize it in life
Also important is an honest desire to develop this virtue.
Best, listen to your intuition. Or here are some questions to ask:
What is a positive quality of my true authentic being?
What quality do I want to develop more in myself?
What is a virtue that is needed in the world?
Below are important self-qualities, or virtues, to develop and have in oneself. Choose one of these to meditate on, or choose a virtue not mentioned. There are many possible virtues.
Reflect upon what this virtue-quality is, what it means, how it is expressed, what makes it important in life, and also how to develop this quality and bring it into greater expression.
Meditation on the virtue will help develop it in oneself, and it will also help bring this virtue (and its understanding) into the world consciousness.
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Will |
Love |
Vision |
|
Creativity |
Caring |
Curiosity |
|
Excellence |
Sharing |
Reasoning |
|
Cooperation |
Acceptance |
Mindfulness |
|
Perseverance |
Forgiveness |
Truthfulness |
|
Responsibility |
Helpfulness |
Appreciation |
|
Purposefulness |
Peacefulness |
Discernment |
Virtues can be
categorized by virtues of will, heart, and mind.
Here are some examples.
|
Virtues of will Effort Striving Aspiration Determination Perseverance Diligence Courage Strength Resilience Decisiveness Purposefulness Direction Responsibility Commitment Excellence Assertiveness Initiative Leadership Self-expression Creativity Skillfulness Self-control Self-discipline Self-regulation Adjustment Moderation Balance |
Virtues of heart Love Caring Compassion Empathy Sensitivity Understanding Inclusiveness Peacefulness Harmlessness Patience Accepting Forgiving Respecting Consideration Kindness Friendliness Helpfulness Givingness Generosity Sharing Goodwill Nurturing Appreciation Gratitude Enthusiasm Enjoyment Joyfulness |
Virtues of mind Consciousness Mindfulness Intelligence Knowledge Discernment Rationality Practicality Creativity Intuition Insight Vision Foresight Planning Imagination Inventiveness Ingenuity Truthfulness Conscience Fairness Positiveness Organization Efficiency Curiosity Interest Learning Open-Minded Adaptation |
An intentional-thinking meditation can be a way of world-service, and it is also a way to bring forth potential self-qualities into actualization. Meditating with intentional thinking is a way to build self-understanding, and it also adds to more self-understanding in the world. All spiritual qualities and virtues are potentials in us, which we can develop through meditation. But also through this kind of meditation we help strengthen this quality in the consciousness of humanity, because the quality emanates into the world consciousness through our meditation. The world will become positively better as more people realize and unfold their inner spiritual qualities, and this form of meditation will help in this.
In this kind of meditation we use reflective thinking, reasoning and intuition, in meditating on a quality (or virtue). Having questions in mind is helpful for this purpose. A question helps focus the mind on a topic of inquiry and understanding. Therefore, consider a question, or even an idea, then use reasoning to gain understanding, while also being open-minded to intuitive understanding (or spiritual intuition).
Also helpful is to first imagine being the quality or expressing it. Then, the meaning and value of the quality can be derived from this foundation of self-experience. In other words, by first experiencing the quality, or at least using imagination to experience it, as best as possible; this self-experience will then be a foundation to better understand the quality and its value.
Here are three kinds of questions, regarding a self-quality (or virtue), to think about in meditation, which will help to understand and develop the quality. Spend a few minutes on each of these kinds of questions, or however long you need. These questions are just suggestions. One could use other ways to phrase a question, as long as one considers the three kinds: meaning, value, and responsibility.
Meaning – to understand the expression or experience. For example, what is the expression of kindness?
How is kindness experienced?
How can this quality be described?
How is this quality expressed?
What other qualities are similar to this quality?
Also imagine examples – to help understand the quality.
Value – to understand the important value of this quality.
For example, what is the positive value of kindness?
Why is kindness important in life or in the world?
What is the positive value of this quality?
Why does this quality have importance?
What are its positive effects in life and world?
Responsibility – to understand one's own responsibility in expressing or manifesting this quality.
For example, how can I manifest kindness?
How can I express kindness in the world?
How can I express this quality?
What can I do to manifest this quality?
Affirm the intention to be this quality.
Thinking about the Meaning helps to mentally clarify the virtue, considering the Value helps motivate our aspiration for the virtue, and recognizing Responsibility helps to initiate efforts to develop the virtue. So to increase this virtue-quality in oneself, one needs to understand what it is, be motivated by its value, and be responsible for developing it.
Yet, meditating on a spiritual or virtue quality is not just for understanding. The meditation should also include being and experiencing the quality. So the next part of this meditation is Being the virtue-quality, to experience and actualize it. So now, Be the quality. Experience being this quality. Feel being this quality. Meditate for a while in this particular quality of being. In meditation, be this quality. Essentially, you are being in the energy of this quality, giving the quality some time in meditation to be assimilated into all of your personal self.
If you get stuck and cannot experience being the quality, then use visualisation and affirmation. Visualise being the quality or expressing the quality. Then mentally affirm that you have this quality and are now increasing it. This will help bring you into the being experience.
Here is an example of meditating on the quality of kindness
Imagining – It can be helpful to first begin with imagining being kind or expressing kindness.
Meaning – What is kindness? How is kindness expressed? What are some similar qualities to kindness?
Value – What is the positive value of kindness?
Why is kindness important? What are its positive effects?
Responsibility – How can I express kindness?
What can I do to be kind? I affirm my intention to be kind.
Being – Meditate on Being kindness. Experience kindness. Feel the quality of kindness. Be kindness.
Here is an example of meditating on the quality of peacefulness
Imagining – It can be helpful to first begin with imagining being peaceful or expressing peacefulness.
Meaning – What is peacefulness? How is peacefulness
expressed? What are similar qualities to peacefulness?
Value – What is the positive value of peacefulness?
Why is peacefulness important? What are its positive effects?
Responsibility – How can I express peacefulness?
What can I do to be peaceful? I affirm to be peaceful.
Being – Meditate on Being peaceful. Experience peacefulness. Feel the quality of peacefulness. Be peaceful.
So, these are useful steps in meditation – to understand and develop a virtue, or self-quality. Also, one can circulate through these parts of the meditation. In other words, after meditating on the being aspect, return again to the three kinds of questions, in order to acquire more understanding.
We can also add in a final step in this kind of meditation, which is to consciously radiate out this quality into the world. Or be a conscious radiance of this quality. Visualisation can also be used in this step. Visualise this quality streaming into humanity. Or visualise this quality manifesting in the world.
Besides thinking about questions and gaining understanding, it's also important to actually experience being the quality; so we also include this in the meditation. In order to unfold and express this quality, we need a good understanding of it, but of course we also need to experience being the quality, which we can do in meditation. So we can set aside some time in our meditation to actually experience being one of the spiritual qualities or virtues, which we have chosen to meditate upon for self development and world radiance.
In this phase of meditating on a quality, we are not thinking about the quality. A phase of 'thinking about' can be useful for clarifying and understanding a quality, so it is good to have some time for this in meditation, but it's also good to have some time for not-thinking and just-being. In this period of time, the meditation purpose is to experience the quality, evermore deeply and clearly. We are now meditating in the quality, rather than meditating about the quality. We are now being the quality, experiencing it, or in the feeling of it.
Then, by consciously being this quality, feeling it, experiencing it, or being in the expression of it, the quality comes more into self-actualization. Also, from consciously being and experiencing this quality in meditation, the quality is further understood, because real understanding comes mostly from self-experience.
Yet it is sometimes difficult to make this shift into consciously being the quality, or difficult to remain in this state; because thinking itself is a habit of mind and is also part of a cultural personality habit of 'always having to do something', rather than make time to just be something. Therefore, to reach a meditational state of being the quality, we may need to apply the power of decision, will, and purpose, in order to make this shift from thinking to being. We have to decide to do this, and this may also require the power of our will. Also helpful is to have a purpose of experience, because actual experience is different from just thinking about something.
Feeling the quality, or feeling being it, is also helpful, because feeling is a direct experience while thinking is not. Visualisation (or imagination) can also be helpful. This is not the same as actual experience, but it can be a pathway to actual experience. Visualise being the quality, or expressing the quality. Then step in to actually being it. Affirmation is also helpful. Affirm this quality as being a true and real quality of yourself – of who you really are.
Once you are in the beingness of this quality, or in the experience of being it, remain in this for some minutes, in order to strengthen and self-assimilate its particular energy. This helps to further develop the quality in oneself. Then, as a final step in the meditation, emanate and resonate this quality into the world. This can be a beautiful experience of radiance and sharing; which is also serving a greater evolutionary purpose.
Thought and
thinking are important mental tools, helping us to understand an idea
better, how it works and how to apply it. When we apply thinking in
meditation, for the purpose of self-reflection or to understand
spiritual qualities and truths, then this a thinking kind of
meditation. But meditating in a quality of being, can be without
thought and thinking. This is a being kind of meditation. It
is being conscious in some quality of being, or in the direct
experience of being that quality. It is good to practice both
these kinds of meditation:
thinking meditation and being
meditation
Thinking meditation is when one thoughtfully considers an idea, a theme, a truth, or a self-quality, in order to understand it. One might think about what a particular idea or quality means, how does it manifest, how is it expressed, what is its effect on others and in the world, and what is our own responsibility in generating it or bringing it into actuality.
Thinking meditation requires a sustained mental focus and intentional thinking; it's not just random brainstorming or mental association, though it also requires some degree of receptive openness to the intuition. There is both an active and receptive component in thinking meditation. The mind needs to be actively focused, thoughtful and rational. Yet the mind should also be receptive to intuitional insights – being receptive to inner spiritual intuition and intelligence. This receptive aspect is what makes this different from just analytical thinking. For in meditation there needs to be some degree of mental receptivity to our spiritual intuition; while also maintaining an active reasoning and intelligence.
Being meditation is different, in that it doesn't use thinking or thought, but it still requires a sustained consciousness. The purpose of thinking meditation is to acquire intellectual knowledge and understanding. Yet the purpose of being meditation is to enter into a real direct experience of a spiritual quality or state of being, and also to develop this quality or beingness. Simply put, the purpose of thinking meditation is understanding and knowledge, while the purpose of being meditation is experience and consciousness of being. Both purposes are important and useful.
Our intellectual knowledge and understanding of a virtue, or quality of being, is practical for manifesting it. Yet, without an actual experience of this quality, we are then just thinking about it, or just understanding it intellectually. Whereas, actual experience gives us a direct knowing of this quality and also develops it in our being.
Some types of people are drawn to one of these ways, while others are inclined towards the other way. Yet it's good to work with both ways and find a balance, since both are important. The two kinds of meditation can work together and be integrated, but each needs to be practiced; that is, we need to take some time to meditate in both these ways. Then gradually, both ways begin to integrate and work together.
Let's review this again, with a few examples. In the thinking phase of meditating on a quality, our aim is to understand more about the meaning, the expression and the value of the quality. There are many aspects in understanding a self-quality; such as its possible ways of expression, its motivations, and its effects.
Let us consider, for example, the quality of love. There is much to reflect upon, think about, and understand about love; such as the various aspects of love, the value of love, the positive effects of love, and our inner motivation for loving.
Many questions could be asked: What is love? What are some ways of expressing love? What does love do? What is the value of love?
In general then, in meditating on any quality, think clearly and comprehensively about the quality. Think about what it means, what it is, how it is, its various forms of expression, and what makes this quality special. Think about its importance and its positive effects – in oneself, in others, and in the world. Next, consider how to increase this quality in oneself, and consider your own responsibility in this. What steps can one take to increase this quality or manifest more of this quality? Therefore, this thinking kind of meditation, if focused with intelligence, will give us a greater intelligent understanding of the quality and how to express it in life. As for example with love, we will gain a better understanding of love and how to express love.
Yet, if we only did this, and only gained a greater understanding of love, would we really know love? And would we really have the quality of love in our being? There is a difference between just understanding about love and being love. Real knowing of love requires a real experience of love. And real expression of love requires an actual beingness of love. So even though there is great importance in developing a better understanding of love, it is also important to truly be and experience this quality. So to develop more of this self-quality, such as love for example, our meditation should include both aspects, thinking and being, understanding and experience.
Thus, at some point, or some time, make a shift from thinking about the quality to consciously being the quality. If we were to make this into a question, it would be: What is the experience of this quality? or How does this quality feel? For example, what is the experience of love? or how does love feel? The goal is to enter into a direct experience of being this quality, rather than just think about it. Then, if we spend some time in the beingness of this quality, in the actual experience of it, our deeper understanding of this quality will increase, and the quality will increase in our beingness. Our deeper understanding of love will increase, and love will increase in our being. This is the value of meditating in the beingness of the quality. In meditation just be this quality. Be in the experience of this quality. Meditate in it.
The aim is actual experience, actual being, and actual feeling. So our meditation now deepens into a real experience and beingness of love; not just thinking about love. In the other parts of our meditation, we gained a better understanding of love (through thinking and reflecting about it). So now, we let go of thinking, in order to enter into an actual beingness of the quality, or experience of it. As for example: being love, or being peace, or being whatever quality we chose to be.
So now, we don't need to think about love. For now, we can just be love, just be in the experience of love. Or we can just be peace, just be in the experience of peace. This is the meditation. No thinking is involved; no thinking is needed. Just being, and experiencing how this is. Give some time for this part of meditation, because this will help assimilate and develop the quality in your being. In addition, give some time for just emanating the quality.
So at some point, the thinking meditation can move into this being kind of meditation, wherein one is absorbed in a particular quality of being, with consciousness and with radiance. Consciously be the love, be the quality of peace, or be whatever quality is chosen. Also, a deeper understanding will unfold about the quality, because our understanding is now coming from actual experience. Then, from being the quality, now emanate this quality into the world.
Another example is meditating on one's soul. All spiritual qualities are in our soul, as potentials. We want to realize and understand these qualities. We also want to experience and actualize them. The thinking mind can reflect upon the meaning of soul and what it is, which can increase our intellectual understanding about the soul. But deep understanding of the soul can only be derived from real experience of it. The same is true of love, or any potential self-quality.
Deep understanding can only be derived from real experience of it. So this is how meditation is not merely thinking and reasoning. A part of meditation may involve some thinking and reasoning, but this is based on meditating in being. In other words, in meditation, thinking and understanding is derived from self-experience, or from being, which is also the same as intuition. It's not just analytical thinking, using analysis and reasoning; in meditation, deep understanding will be derived from being, from self-experience and immediate intuition.
Just thinking about the soul is not a direct experience of our soul. With just thinking we can create a mental understanding of the soul, like creating a map of it, but we are not truly experiencing our soul. Just thinking about the soul is looking at the soul from an outside intellectual perspective, as an object of thinking. One is thinking about the soul, looking from outside it. So from just this thinking perspective, our soul will seem to be separate from I. In other words, from just a thinking perspective, the soul will seem to be outside of oneself, or maybe inside of oneself, or one might think it is above oneself, or in a dimension beyond oneself. It won't be experienced as being oneself, or as who I am. For to truly experience the soul and deeply understand it, there needs to be immediate and direct experience of actually being it. Then from here, in the conscious beingness of it, we can use meditational thinking to increase our intelligent understanding about it. The foundation of real understanding, then, is from conscious being – which we come into through meditation.
So we should not neglect the value of thinking, as an aspect of meditation, or as part of it; but in order to come into beingness in meditation, we have to relinquish the thinking mind and just consciously be. This is the only way we can truly experience our soul, or any particular quality of our soul. Thinking about the soul can increase our intellectual understanding of it; but in order to really experience our soul, we have to consciously be it. We have to be in the experience of it. We have to meditate in it. Then, from being in the soul, the qualities of our soul will naturally emerge into realization and into further understanding.
For example, love and peace, along with other qualities of our soul, gradually emerge into consciousness when we meditate in pure being (which is our soul). Our true qualities of our being are then discovered. Therefore, a meditation on spiritual qualities can actually be a self-discovery of the true qualities of our being, the qualities of our soul. In this self-discovery approach in meditation, we do not need to choose a particular quality or virtue to meditate upon; instead, we receptively allow a self-quality to naturally emerge from our being, or we spontaneously realize one of the qualities already present.
In this approach of self-discovery, the meditation is to go deep inside, into the depth of being, entering into a deeper sincerity and truth of being. Then, receptively allow the qualities of your soul-being to spontaneously emerge into realization. Thus, in this self-discovery approach, one enters into being, because from here the qualities emerge into consciousness. Then, from having a direct experience of being a particular self-quality, the meditation can next proceed into a thinking phase – to understand the quality intellectually, and to think about how to express or manifest it in practical life.
One of the methods of meditation is self-inquiry and self-discovery. In this kind of meditation, one discovers essential qualities in oneself, and this meditation can also lead to spiritual realizations. Then it's possible to radiate into the world one's discovered self-qualities and spiritual realizations.
The overall steps in this meditation are similar to the other approaches. The first phase is to reach a deeper state of consciousness, which in this meditation is being conscious in the deeper being-essence of oneself, then being open to discovering a spiritual self-quality to experience and understand.
The second phase is to consciously emanate and radiate this self-quality, or one's discovered spiritual realization, into the world. Others in the world then receive consciousness of this self-quality {that which one is meditating on or realizing}; and thus, this self-quality is catalyzed and nurtured in them.
For example, if one discovers the self-quality of peace (ie. peace in oneself), and mediates on this, then the radiance of this self-knowing quality goes out to others in the world, to nurture and evoke their own self-quality of peace. Though each person has the freedom, and responsibility, of either being receptive to this self-knowing quality, or else be closed off to it.
In summary, our work in this meditation is to delve deeply and sincerely into our being – to consciously discover our spiritual essences or qualities; then to consciously radiate these qualities or these self-realizations into the world, which then helps others realize the same qualities in their own self.
By meditating in our heart we can discover and bring forth natural qualities of our heart and live more from the heart.
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Loving & Caring
From our heart we are loving & caring of our self, others, and all of life. We love & care. |
Giving & Generous
From our heart we seek to give, we want to be giving. Our heart is generous & unselfish. |
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Inclusive & Unifying
Our heart includes all people & all lives. Our heart brings together & unifies. |
Healing & Purifying
Our heart can emanate healing energies. Our heart can purify & transmute energies. |
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Truthful & Honest
Our heart is honest about who we are, and our heart will express the truth. |
Knowing & Guiding
Our heart is knowing of spiritual truths & values. Our heart is guiding us. |
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Motivating & Striving
In our heart is motivation & striving to be creative, to improve oneself and life. |
Communicative &
Sharing
Our heart can communicate and share with other hearts. Hearts together love to share. |
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Peaceful & Harmonious
In our heart we find peace & harmony. From our heart we can create peace & harmony. |
Trusting & Receptive
In our heart we are trusting of our inner Spirit & receptive to the goodness of Life. |
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Joyful & Grateful
In our heart we find joy and gratitude in just being. Joy comes from gratefulness. |
Beautiful & Radiant
Our heart in expression is beautiful & radiant, and also recognizes beauty in others. |
If I am conscious deep in myself, without preconditioned beliefs about myself, then I become conscious of my self essence, which is the essence of the conscious I, the soul of myself. Thus, whatever qualities are discovered in this soul essence of myself are God Qualities, since this soul essence has come from God and is therefore a reflection of the Divine Self. Thus, one can discover God Qualities through self-discovery in meditation. In other words, one can discovery Divine Qualities inside oneself.
On the other hand, one's own spiritual qualities can be discovered by meditating on God Qualities. The way to do this is to meditate on the question of what is one of God's Divine Qualities, then next meditate on realizing this Quality as an Essence or as a Truth of one's own self.
So in this kind of meditation, we realize our own spiritual qualities by meditating on God's Qualities. This is possible because God is the Source of our own soul qualities, and we are a reflection of God's Qualities. Therefore, meditating on a Divine Quality, or one of God's Qualities, is a way to realize the spiritual qualities in oneself and to radiate these world.
First, meditate on what is one of the Qualities of God, then choose this Quality to further meditate on. For example, in meditation you might realize that one of the Qualities of God is Love. So then, meditate on God's Love and how this feels. Feel God's Love enfolding and permeating you, and be embraced by this Love. Next, realize this same Love inside yourself, and that you are this Love. As a reflection of God's Love, you are Love's radiance. You are a reflection of God's Being and Radiance. You become a conscious radiance of God's Love for the world.
Any of God's Qualities can be meditated upon in this way. First, understand the Quality as coming from God, which can be received, known and felt; as for example with Love. Realize this Quality of God in relation to your own being. However, in this experience of Divine Love being received, the Divine Quality is experienced as outside of oneself, in relation to oneself. This is one way to experience the Quality, so we begin with this. But we can also understand each Divine Quality as a quality of our own soul essence, our own spiritual self, or our inherent self-potential. To experience the Divine Quality in this way, as one of our own self-qualities, we need to shift our understanding of this Quality, from being God's Quality to being our own quality. We need to realize and experience this as a present self quality. It is still a Quality of God, but now we realize it is also a quality of our own self and we can become a conscious radiance of this. We can also assimilate and strengthen this Quality in our being and expression.
For example, we would first meditate on God's Love, to understand this Quality and to experience our relationship with it. And we can meditate a good amount of time in this stage. But then next, we shift into a meditation to realize and experience this Divine Quality within our own being. This realization can come directly, or it might be derived with some reasoning; as for example, since God is Love, this Love must be in my own being as well, because I am in and from God.
There is a transformation that goes on in this. By meditating on a Quality of God, one is connecting with this Quality, understanding it with greater clarity, and experiencing it. This might begin as an experience of the Quality coming from God, as one of the Divine Qualities. But then the experience shifts into being one's own quality, as now one realizes and experiences this Quality as one's own. The Quality is now recognized and reflected in one's own being.
There are a number of ways to experience a Divine Quality as one's own quality. One way is to realize that a particular God Quality is also a quality of one's own self essence, as an inherited from God, or realize that this Quality is an aspect of oneself to some degree. Or one might directly recognize the Quality in one's own self.
Another approach is to think of the Quality as a potential in oneself to be awakened and actualized. See Love as a potential in yourself, to be awakened and actualized. So in this approach, the meditation is to awaken this Quality in oneself, and to catalyze it into actualization.
Another approach is to treat the Divine Quality as a Higher Energy to be received in oneself, which can then be given out or expressed outwardly into life. In this way, one is receptive to the Divine Quality, in order to receive it {either from Above or from a Deeper Dimension inside oneself}. Or perhaps one is receiving more of what one already has, or a higher refinement of the quality one already has. For example, be receptive to God's Love and receive this Love. Become a receiving chalice for this Quality of God, and absorb this Quality in the meditation. You can absorb this Quality from consciously meditating in it. Then, once received, absorbed, and realized in oneself, reflect this Quality into the world, or expresses this into manifestation.
Here are some Qualities of God – to meditate upon and realize in oneself, then radiate into the world.
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Love |
Consciousness |
Creativeness |
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Caring |
Intelligence |
Goodness |
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Forgiveness |
Knowingness |
Healing |
Virtues and Values are similar in meaning yet can also be distinguished. A virtue is a quality of our self, or a way of being, which we regard as good, important, or of high value. There are different kinds of virtues: a kind of action, a self-expression, a way of being, or an attitude. Two examples of self-virtues would be honesty and love; each worth developing in oneself.
A value is what we believe has worth and importance, and is beneficial, both in our own life and in the world. Knowing our values helps us make better decisions. Life-values are how we envision the best that our life can be, or the best that our world can be. A life-value is a quality in life that we value, or what we'd like to have in our life, or what we envision as important in life. It's what we believe is good and worth seeking in life, such as happiness and love. So if we value happiness, harmony and love in our life, then these are a few of our life-values.
World-values are qualities we value for the world; qualities or principles that should be manifested in the world and are worth working towards. Two good examples of world-values are peace and fairness. It's what we'd like to see in the world. So, life-values and world-values are nearly the same, because the qualities we value for our own life are probably the same values we have for the world in general; such as harmony and love.
In summary, a value is a quality, idea, or vision that is valued in life, in the world, or in oneself. A virtue is a value, but it's a self-value – something we value in our own self and in others.
In addition, we are self-responsible for developing and expressing virtues; though we can also nurture virtues in children and in others. Finally, how we are has a resonating effect in the world around us; so there is an important relation between our personal-virtues and the world-to-be.
What is most valued in life
Life-Values are similar in meaning to Life-Goals or Purposes in life. Life Values are intrinsic values, meaning that they have ‘value on their own’ and are ‘ends-in-themselves’, rather than just valued as a means towards some other value or goal. Also, Life-Values are subjective-based, meaning that Life-Values are ‘based on our own experience’, rather than needing to be verified by a scientific or objective criteria.
Life Values and World Values are similar but can be distinguished. Life Values are what is valued in life, for our life and for others. World Values are what is valued for the world, or how we envision the best world.
Choose any one of these to meditate on, in order to increase this Value in life. Also realize that others in the world hope for these values in life as well.
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Health |
Love |
Learning |
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Harmony |
Enjoyment |
Inspiration |
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Happiness |
Friendships |
Creativity |
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Beauty |
Freedom |
Achievement |
World-values are what we value for the world, or what we believe are essentially important for the world. These can also be understood as Principles – for guiding any decision having an impact on others, communities, or nations. These can also be understood as Ideals for the world to manifest, for the best world possible.
Choose one of these Values for meditation – to think about, to understand more clearly and see its value-importance. Also think of some ways to manifest this value and also reflect upon your personal responsibility in helping this value become more important in the world consciousness.
Key Values for the World
envisioning the best world
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Healthy Food |
Free Choice |
Earth |
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Peacefulness |
Creativity
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Protecting Life |
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Fairness |
Education |
Sustainable |
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Cooperation |
Opportunities |
Responsible |
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Beauty |
Respect for |
Intelligent |
Positive change in our world must begin with a recognition of key Ideas, Values, and Goals – that are both intelligent and crucial for the future of humanity and the world. Great Ideas and Values transform and shape the world to be – to the extent that these become realized, affirmed and actualized. It's not necessary to understand these Ideas or Values as 'spiritual', as long as they're recognized as intelligent and essential. For example, consider the essential importance of cooperation and world harmony; rather than fighting, violence, and greed.
Through conscious service-oriented meditation, using a combination of thinking, visualisation, and affirmation, we can clarify and strengthen great Ideas and Values in the thought-field of humanity. As we reflect and meditate upon these Ideas and Values, our understanding and our meditation resonates into the minds and hearts of humanity, which then helps transform the world into the best it can be. We help bring about new awakenings and help construct positive visions for humanity and the future. Thus, we can help in the spiritual evolution of humanity by meditating on Ideas, Values and Visions.
This kind of meditation involves an intelligent and purposeful thinking about an Idea, Value, Principle, or Vision; with the purpose of bringing this Idea more clearly into the minds of Humanity. We use our mind and thought purposefully – to bring these Higher Ideas and Values into humanity, through the medium of mind, by way of transmission and resonance. We bring light upon the Idea. We give it the light of consciousness. This then increases the magnitude and radiance of the Idea in the mental sphere of humanity.
This kind of meditation is a form of world-service, through the medium of mind – through which we communicate, share and spread forth key spiritual Ideas, Values, and Visions; thus helping in the spiritual evolution of the world. This follows from the laws of mind, that whatever is realized in our mind, and held purposefully in our mind while in meditation, is mentally transmitted and resonated into the mental sphere of humanity, for people to realize on their own. we are all participating in the shared collective mind of humanity. This does not mean, though, that we all think the same or share the same thoughts. It just means that we are sharing the same mental environment, or mental field, and thus we can share important ideas with everyone, for people to pick up on.
Cooperation and harmony are two examples of Key Ideas (or Values) to be realized, encouraged, and nurtured in humanity. These and other great Values will positively transform our world. And by consciously meditating on these Values, we help accelerate humanity's realization and manifestation of them.
The first phase of all meditations for world-service is connecting with Divine Light, Love and Goodwill, or entering into the highest, most expanded consciousness possible. Then from here, in the second phase we send, share, or radiate great Qualities, Ideas, and Values into the world.
To share forth one of these greater Values, our first step is to more clearly understand this Value. For example, understand more clearly what cooperation is: what it means, or what constitutes cooperation. Think about the Value as clearly and completely as possible, for this will bring more clarity of this Value in the mind of humanity, in the mental sphere of the planet. Next, think about its value. Thoughtfully reflect upon the positive effect and importance of this value, such as cooperation. This will help others realize its important essential value.
Next, think about what needs to be done to make this happen. Think of an idea or thought that will help people realize the Value, or help to manifest it. Next, use visualisation to see this Value or Idea manifesting in the world. Visualise all people in the world realizing, affirming, and manifesting this Value.
Visualisation and affirmation help to strengthen and empower the Value. Affirm the importance of this Value, the value of the Value, and give it your own affirmational power of yes, backed up by the Divine Power. Also affirm this Value in your own life, or as one of your own Values. If we seek to bring higher Values into world manifestation, we have to begin with our own recognition and affirmation of the Value. Also helpful in meditation is to think about what practical actions are needed in the physical and social world, in order to help actualize these Values and bring about positive changes in the world. For example, what practical actions can be taken to help bring about a more loving, just, cooperative, and harmonious world?
Clarify what this Value is, how to understand it, and how to manifest it.
Recognise what is good in this Value and its importance in the world.
Affirm this as one of your own important Values and be responsible for increasing it.
Visualise this Value manifesting throughout the world.
Consider ways you can increase this Value in the world.
In this kind of meditation, one reflects upon, thinks about, and understands more about an important Value in life and for the world. Examples could be cooperation, harmony, human rights, justice, or even beauty.
Three kinds of questions to consider are to do with Meaning, Value, and Responsibility. Here are some suggested questions to think about in the meditation. But before meditatively thinking about the particular Value, it is first helpful to imagine the Value in the world or in life, in order to have it in mind.
Meaning
How can this Value be described or explained?
How is this Value manifested?
How is this Value experienced?
Value
Why is this value important?
What is the value of this Value?
What are some positive effects of this Value?
Responsibility
How can this Value be manifested in life or in the world?
How can I help manifest or increase this Value?
Empowerment
Next, work on empowering the Value with affirmation and visualisation. Affirm the importance of this Value in your life and in the world, and also affirm your own responsibility to help manifest this. Also to empower and strengthen this Value, visualise it manifesting in the world. Visualise more and more people recognising and manifesting this Value. Begin with your recognition, then see others recognising the value as well.
Cooperation is one the essential values for the future of our world, and it is also an essential virtue for all spiritual aspirants and world servers. Everyone needs to realize the value of cooperation and also build cooperation in relationships and in the world. Cooperation is also the way to harmony.
No man is an island and we are interrelated, so we all need to cooperate. And humanity will need to build cooperation, in order to achieve greater goals. Cooperation means co-operating, meaning that we need to operate-work harmoniously together, for our common goals and purposes. To achieve any purpose, all of the parts need to be co-cooperatively working in a unified harmonious way.
However, there is still the open question of what goals one is cooperating towards. So we cannot just simplify all this by saying that every instance of cooperation is good. We still need to consider what we are cooperating towards. In other words, we need to consider who and what to cooperative with; and not cooperate with anyone or any aim that is not for the overall good.
The first level of cooperation is with Spiritual Purposes. This might translate as cooperation with the Divine Will, or with the Spiritual Hierarchy. This could also be called alignment.
The next level of cooperation is with those in this world who are serving Higher Purposes by working to transform negatives into positives, such as: from sickness into health, suffering into joy, hatred into love, and greed into sharing. In order to achieve success in this, we all need to be united in cooperation. We all need to work together in very practical ways; such as in politics, economics, conflict resolution, and human rights, and to solve the problems of hunger, disease, pollution, violence, greed and unfairness. As well, we need to understand the importance of cooperation with nature, with the Earth and natural ecologies.
One of the goals of cooperation is harmony and unity. In other words, one of the reasons for cooperation is to create harmony and unity, and cooperation is one of the essential needs for building harmony and unity. Another way to create harmony and unity is with love. For when people truly love one another, they share unity in their hearts; then cooperation and harmony proceed from this. Imagine our world united together in cooperation and also united in love. That's a very beautiful vision of the world; and also worth seeking.
Some people worry about the idea of world unity, and they might even worry about world harmony. This is because they fear that this implies world conformity. But world unity should not be a world conformity; in the sense of everyone pressed to think and be like everyone else, which contradicts the values of freedom, creativity, and choice. Historically, religions have often tried to impose their conformist idea of unity, that everyone should follow one particular set of beliefs and ways of living.
But conformity is not necessary for harmony and unity, and we do not need to accept conformity. Instead, a better approach towards unity is intelligent cooperation combined with respect for diversity and differences of opinion. In other words, the best path to unity is inclusion, respect, and cooperation.
We should not expect everyone to agree on everything, but what we can visualise is that people respect differing ideas and also respect arguments. So in a truly great unity, people can accept differences, yet also the value of debates, and be open to change and evolution. This kind of unity is not fixed; nor is it conformist. It's a unity-in-diversity, and a unity-in-process.
But in order to actually achieve world harmony and unity, we all need to realize our commonly shared Needs and Values; then see how we need to cooperate to reach these together.
Seed Ideas are ideas for the world, which may take some time to be realized, accepted, and brought into manifestation. All great ideas, great truths, and great visions are first realized by just a few, then later become realized by many more people. Thus, ideas are like seeds, which grow and eventually blossom in the minds of humanity. Positive change and manifestation in the world has to begin with ideas, truths and visions; which will be gradually realized by humanity and manifested in the world.
When we broadcast truthful or visionary ideas into the world, through the medium of mind and meditation, we are planting seeds in the minds of humanity. Or another way to see this is that, by meditating on seed ideas, we are watering and strengthening the seeds of truth.
Seed Ideas can also be thought of as seed teachings; in other words, seed ideas are like teachings and we are being teachers. A teacher cannot force students to be open to learning and to learn, but the teacher nonetheless gives out truths and ideas, like throwing out seeds, with the belief that these ideas will be realized or understood later on, because truths will eventually be realized.
Examples of Teachings-for-the-world (to meditate on)
Protect the Health and Beauty of Our Shared Earth
Care for the health and well-being of all people
Work towards reconciliation, cooperation, & harmony
Freedom of choice, belief, and lifestyle for everyone
Freedom of discussion, debate and argument
Equal opportunities for education, training, and success
An end to violence, cruelty, war, and hatred
We can also meditate on Spiritual Truths, then send forth our realizations into the mental sphere of humanity. Thus, we share with all humanity the realizations we have in meditation.
This kind of meditation mediates between Spiritual Intuition and the mental sphere of humanity. For in this meditation, we enter into the Light of Spiritual Intuition (or spiritual Insight); wherein we gain spiritual insights and realizations. These truths are then sent forth into the collective mind of humanity, which furthers the evolution of the spiritual intelligence in humanity.
In our spiritual Intuition we realize spiritual Truths – about the self, the world, God and Purpose. These could also be called spiritual Insights, Ideas or Principles. Whatever we realize as important in our self, or in life, can be regarded as a life truth or life principle, which can then be useful for others if we share these insights and realizations in our meditation.
In this kind of meditation, the first step is to enter into a consciousness of Spiritual Reality, the Light of Intuition. There are many possible descriptive phrases for this state of knowing, so each person can find find their own words to describe this state of knowing.
Next in meditation is to work on translating one's intuition or realization into intelligent understanding, which will involve thinking, thoughts and ideas. This might also be described as reflectively thinking about the spiritual impression. The final step is to mentally send out, or share out what has been realized and understood.
In summary, here are three basic steps in this, which can be described as: 1) entering into the Light of Intuition (or Spiritual Knowing); 2) using intelligent thought to understand a Truth or Idea; 3) then sharing this Truth into the world.
Here is an example of how to meditate on a spiritual Idea, with thinking and being. Consider this –
The Presence of Love is pervading the space all around us
There are many possible thoughts and understandings one could have about this spiritual truth, or this idea. There are many ways to explain what this truth is or what it means.
First of all, even though the Presence of Love is at all times pervading all around us, it is not always realized or experienced. In other words, the Presence of Love is always present, but not necessarily realized as present. It's here, but most people aren't conscious of it. Just because one doesn't smell roses, doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any roses nearby. One just might not be smelling them. Any kind of realization of a truth in life requires our consciousness of it; but if we're not conscious of something, then we simply don't know it's there.
Next, think about what love is and how the presence of love can be known. Love can be a feeling of being cared for, and love is known by a feeling of love. As well, think about other aspects of love and other ways of knowing love. Think of various kinds of love. Also think about examples of love and the feeling of love. Reflect upon personal examples of being loved or of feeling loved. Think about how love feels and how love is known. How do I know love is here? How do I know if I'm loving?
So these are some examples of thinking about and understanding a spiritual idea or truth, and each of these questions and considerations are spiritually practical in our lives. Therefore, there is much to possibly think about and understand, in regards to love. There is much to consider and possibly understand about this idea, this theme, this truth. For one of the goals in our meditation is greater understanding.
But also important is experience. So the next phase of our meditation is to experience and be this. So now, enter into an experience of this Idea, this Truth, rather than just think about it, or understand about it.
Now, experience the Presence of Love pervading the space around you. Or at least open up to this experience, in mind and heart; for this experience is not even possible, unless one is at least open to the experience. So in this part of the meditation, experiencing the Presence is the meditation.
This experience of Love's Presence will come, if one is consciously open to it. But if nothing easily happens, then use your spiritual imagination to help nurture the experience. Spiritual imagination can be a doorway into real spiritual experience. Feel the Presence of Love pervading the space around you.
Consider another example. Consider the Idea that–
Each person can bring love and peace into the world
For any great Idea, or Truth, consider the meaning of it, the purpose or value of it, and the motivation for making it happen, and also how it can be brought into manifestation. Think about how a person could do this, and imagine a few ways in which one could do this. Then imagine yourself bringing love and peace into the world, and how you might do this. Think of some possible examples of this.
For example, I could bring love and peace into my world through my words, my actions, my thoughts, and also through my emanating emotions. Our thoughts, emotions and feelings have real emanating vibrations and effects.
Next, consider the Value of bringing love and peace into the world, and think about why this is important. Think about the positive effects of this Idea, of bringing love and peace into the world. Then next, consider how to manifest this, or how to help bring this important Idea into the world.
Next, enter into the being (experience) aspect of meditation:
Each person can bring love and peace into the world
So how does one meditate on this with being? First, always change general statements about 'we' or 'each person' into statements about I. General statements help with overall thinking and understanding, but they keep the mind in abstract thought; while I statements help bring us into a real experience of being what this is. So, the first step is to change it into –
I can bring love and peace into the world around me
Next, make the Idea statement more direct and active –
I bring love and peace into the world
So in the meditation, you are now doing this – you are now bringing love and peace into the world. The meditation now becomes an activity, an action, something you are now doing. No longer are you just thinking about this Idea and what it means. This Idea is now a living experience of doing it. For example, you are now bringing love and peace into the world. You are now manifesting the Idea, rather than just thinking about it. Thinking about it has now shifted into doing it. Thus, in this part of the meditation, you experience and do it.
The creative imagination can be used to experience the Idea. From experiencing and being this Truth, we understand more deeply what this Truth is. We understand it more by being it and experiencing it. And in doing so, we truly serve this Truth.
Therefore, start with the question and thinking meditation, in order to better understand the idea or the truth, then shift into the being/experience meditation. Then, after being and experiencing the Idea, begin to again reflect intelligently upon it. In this way, our understanding of the Idea will be significantly deepened, because our reflective thinking will be deriving from our actual experience of the Idea. Thus, the thinking and being aspects of this meditation complement one another.
Our spiritual realizations and understandings can also be sent out and radiated out into humanity. One example of this is a spiritual realization of oneness with all beings. This realization can range from a belief in oneness to an actual experience and feeling of oneness. Or it might even be a mystical experience of oneness with everyone and all of life.
This realization, or experience, can be resonated out to all of humanity, in order to nurture this realization in others. As well, this accelerates the evolution of human consciousness, because the feeling and realization of oneness changes our ways of being with others and interacting with others. It transforms separative and combative relationships – into cooperative and sharing relationships. It changes separative feelings into unity feelings, uncooperative relations into cooperative relations, uncaring attitudes into caring attitudes, and disharmonies into harmony. From the realization, experience and feeling of oneness, comes compassion, cooperation, and harmony.
One of the ways to experience oneness is to realize that we are all brothers and sisters, in the same family of Earth or in the family of God. In meditation, feel your interconnection with all others and that we are all sharing in the same world.
Also, all of life, humanity and nature, are interrelated; and in this interrelationship is oneness. The whole world of Earth, all of life and all of humanity, is interconnected in one energy web (or energy-field), which is undividedly interconnected. The emotional energies and mental thoughts of humanity are also interconnected in this one planetary web of energy. In esoteric science this is called the etheric web of the physical, emotional and mental worlds, which are all interconnected. So in realizing this, one begins to experience and feel oneness with everyone.
Another way to reach an experience of oneness is to realize that, in essence, there is just One Self, One Being, which manifests in plurality and diversity. This is how we can understand God. There is just One Self manifesting through all beings and all things. Or in other words, all beings are part of the diverse expressions and manifestations of the One Self, God. Thus, we are all expressions the same Self, and we all share the same Essence of being, which is God.
In meditation, our experience and realization of oneness can become more deepened. For example, one can lose the sense of being a 'separate self' from other selves, when the boundaries of our self dissolve. Also in meditation, one can realize the shared Essence of all beings and can even surrender into the oneness, surrendering into the Essence of Being. Or one could be in the realization and experience of being the One Self in all beings and in all life; realizing and experiencing... I am the One Self.
So, however one reaches this experience of oneness, this is then radiated out to all of humanity, to be experienced by those receptive and ready for it. This is how insights and realizations in the consciousness of humanity occur; they are catalyzed and nurtured by the consciousness emanation of those already in this realization.
Meditating on a vision of the world-to-be, or the world at its best, is another kind of world service, or another way to serve Divine Purpose. During a period in meditation, see the world-to-be, or the world as it should be, or the world as it would be best. The effect of this is very powerful.
World service meditations make use of the mind for the purpose of bringing divine qualities, ideas and visions into the world. First, the mind needs to become quiet and clear. Next, we raise our consciousness into the highest possible level, or we enter into the deepest possible level of conscious meditation. Then, from here, we meditate on a divine quality needed by the world, or a quality we intuit is being radiated into the world from the Higher Source. Or we might meditate on an important idea needed in the world. Or we might have a vision of the world-to-be, or how the world could be, as more people become integrally intelligent and spiritually awakened. So then we send out this quality, this idea or this vision into the world. We share it out, radiate it out, transmit or resonate it out – through the medium and power of the mind.
To bring clarity and power to what we are sharing into the world, we use the powers of will, intentional thought, and visualisation. But also, to complement and balance these powers of active mind, we need to be receptive to higher intuition and the divine energies coming from higher Light, Love, and Will. So, we use visualisation, to see what can be, and to empower and project this vision into the world; but we also need to be intuitively receptive to the higher spiritual visions – to how the world can and should be, or how it would best be. These visions can come to us from our spiritual intuition, from higher teachers, or and even from the Divine Will.
This kind of meditation work involves two processes at work simultaneously. On one hand, there is the meditative work that we need to do, which includes our mental wakefulness and our receptivity to spiritual vision. Then on the other hand, there is the power of a higher spiritual vision being envisioned from the Spiritual Hierarchy, or ultimately from the Divine Mind. Our role is to open our mind to receive these spiritual visions of the world-to-be, and then share these visions out into the world.
To help in this, we can hold a question in mind, such as what is best or how would the world be more spiritual. Having a question in mind helps to bring us into a receptive attitude and also connects us to the answer or to the vision - as provided by our higher spiritual intuition. Make a question – such as how a spiritual world would look, or what qualities would be in the best world possible, or what are some visions of an ideal world? Then be receptive to a vision of what this is. Or simply open the mind to visions of the world-to-be, or of how the world would best be; for in this, the intention and question is already implied.
One might have many visions, but work with just one at a time. At first, the vision does not have to be exact, nor exactly clear. Sometimes visions are a bit fuzzy or somewhat vague, but that's ok because it's a step forward. If it is vague, then work harder to understand it better and make it more clear in the mind. This helps others in the world become more clear about it, because the more clarity we have about the world-to-be, the more clarity about this is transmitted into the world. Yet, gaining clarity and understanding is a process – which often begins as an abstract and somewhat vague idea or vision. Ideas and visions are nearly the same; a vision is visually understood, while an idea tends to be understood more with language.
So next, meditate further with the vision received. Begin to add more of your own thoughts, ideas, and understanding to the vision. Make the vision more clear and add in more specific aspects and details. This is part of our meditative service work – to give the initial Spiritual Vision more clarity and specificity, to help give it more comprehensive understanding and practical specifics. By doing this in our own mind, we are helping the rest of humanity see and understand the Vision. We are helping to bring the Vision down to Earth, and into the minds and hearts of humanity.
We start with a vision received from our spiritual intuition. Then our job is to make this better understood, more clear, and more certain. See how the world is in this vision, and how people are. Think about overall quality being manifested in this vision, and also the qualities people have in this vision. Each kind of vision could also be given a name, depending on the spiritual quality being manifested. For example: a loving world, a peaceful world, a kind world, a truthful world, a cooperative world, a just world, a beautiful world.
So, once we receive a higher vision of the world at its best, we mentally work to give more clarity and understanding to the vision, making it clearer in the mind, and give it power with our affirmation of yes. We are mentally working with the given vision, including giving it more content and thought. We are now working with visualisation, because as we see and understand the Vision better, we are visualising it into manifestation.
Also, more simply, the meditator can begin with an intended aim for the world, such as a 'loving world', or a 'world in peace', – then proceed to visualise this world, which we should further clarify and understand, as well as affirm. What we visualise and affirm is resonated into the mental field of humanity; whereby more and more people will see the vision and then help to bring about its manifestation.
Having a spiritual vision and making a visualisation are just about the same. The difference is that a spiritual vision comes to us in meditation from our spiritual intuition, or from higher levels of mind; while visualisation is intentional and we have to make it happen. Spiritual visions are received, but we have to create visualisations, using our creative imagination. Visualisation is when we intentionally use our creative imagination for the purpose of bringing ideas and visions into manifestation.
Visualisation helps to manifest what is possible. We each have a power to create positive transformations in the world, not only by what we physically do, but also through the mind by meditating on great ideas and visions. We become mediators and transmitters of these higher visions. We become spiritual mediators between Divine Vision and humanity, with higher Will empowering this vision.
Thus, vision and visualisation are two modes of meditation. Vision will be received, when we enter into a receptive intuitive mode. This is a vision of what can be and should be, or of what is divinely intended to be. Yet this vision might not ever happen without the mediating work of visualising it into manifestation.
Use visualisation as a mental tool for doing good work in the world. Visualise what can be, and what is good. Realize what is needed in the world and see this as possible. If we know what is truly good and needed, then we know that the Divine Power is backing this, because the Divine always empowers the good – that which is loving, intelligent, beautiful, and healing.
Ideally, vision comes before visualisation. So first, be open to receive a Vision of the world at its best. Then visualise this into manifestation. Our mode of mind alternates from receiving {vision} to doing {visualisation}; receiving Vision of the world-to-be, then using visualisation to help manifest this Vision.
Or, just start visualising what needs to be, or what should be – the highest values and virtues to be manifested in the world. Visualise what you already know is good and loving. Visualise Divine Will, Love, and Intelligence pervading in the world.
Here are some examples of visualisations, which can be used in meditation for world service, to be used in the second phase of radiance meditation. There are many possible visualisations, so these examples are primarily meant to highlight some of the basic principles and to spark ideas for additional visualisations.
Try these first, then create your own visualisations. Feel free to change any of the words, in order to make it true to what you know and believe.
Visualise the Divine Light enlightening all people on Earth.
Visualise the Divine Light purifying the world of its greed, hatreds, meanness, and violence.
Visualise the Divine Light healing the world.
Visualise Divine Love awakening the hearts of all people.
Visualise Divine Love flowering forth from all people.
Visualise Divine Love transforming the world.
Visualise all people caring about each other and the earth.
Visualise cooperation, harmony, and peace in the world.
Visualise love & cooperation between humanity and nature.
Visualise all people expressing good-will.
Visualise all people serving a higher divine purpose.
In the world mind, the mind of humanity, are levels of expansive Intelligence and Love. There is greater intelligence and love in the higher levels of world mind, and lesser in the lower levels. More expansive consciousness is in the higher levels, while more limited, narrow, and closed mindedness exists in the lower levels. Also, higher levels of world mind are connected and in tune with the Spiritual Mind, from which Ideas and Inspirations enter, then precipitate down through the levels of mind.
In meditation we might be experiencing or thinking from any of these levels, from the highest levels to the lower ones. So of course our aim is to be in the higher levels of mind and connected in Spiritual Mind. Then, we can actually participate in the precipitation of higher spiritual ideas and inspirations into all levels of world mind. We can help bring these spiritual ideas and inspirations into world thought. This brings transformation throughout the whole world, and it is how humanity spiritually and mentally evolves.
If we can tune into Spiritual Mind in meditation, then we can receive spiritual Visions (for the world). We then meditate on these Visions, for understanding and also to empower them by seeing these Visions, or Ideas, strengthen in the consciousness of humanity and become manifested.
Anyone can contribute ideas, visions, and inspirations to the world mind of humanity. These ideas can range from general Ideas to concrete practical ideas for solving problems in the world. Our contribution can be understood as planting seed ideas and visions in the mental sphere of humanity. All people will not immediately realize these ideas and visions, but these seeds will gradually unfold in world thinking.
In meditation we can communicate in the mental-sphere of humanity, the world mind, whereby we can share ideas and realizations, as well as receive ideas and realizations, because we all think and share thoughts in the world mind. So we can participate in the intellectual and moral evolution of humanity by meditating on world ideas, values, and solutions. Though we might not be aware of this sharing of thoughts and ideas, nor aware of minds engaged in collaborative creative thinking.
Creative synthesis is a way to participate in world thinking by bringing together and integrating many ideas, truths, values, beliefs, and philosophies – to create a more comprehensive understanding and larger perspective. In this process of synthesis, a variety of ideas are combined and fitted together into a relational integrated wholeness, or understanding. The opposite of synthesis is analyzing, which separates out the parts or aspects of a whole, in order to understand relationships and causes.
Creative synthesis is realizing and building a larger, more encompassing, more comprehensive, and more inclusive Truth. It is combining a multitude of truths into a larger, integrated Truth. Various ideas are combined, interrelated and unified, to create a larger Idea, which is greater than just a sum of ideas.
Creative synthesis gathers together a diversity of ideas and perspectives, then integrates and unifies these into a relational wholeness, a larger inclusive Idea or understanding. The aim of synthesis is an inclusive unity of diversity, whereby differences and opposites are reconciled into a larger understanding. Also in creative synthesis, common essences and relationships in the various ideas are recognized, yet differences are acknowledged.
Common essences are what various ideas or solutions share in common. These essences and relationships hold the plurality of ideas together in an interrelated unified whole.
Creative synthesis stands upon the minds of great thinkers and teachers of the past. Most of our present ideas and beliefs have been passed on to us from past thinkers, philosophies, religions, and cultures, from the thought-building of humanity. Thus, creative synthesis is how we build newer and more comprehensive ideas from ideas already existing.
Creative synthesis can also be receptive to Spiritual Intuition or Insight, from which we realize Universal Ideas, Principles, and Values. These must then be translated into clear, coherent ideas for practical understanding. To do this, existing ideas are combined and integrated together, to build larger ideas of understanding. This is the process of creative synthesis. On the one hand, we can realize Truths and Principles from Spiritual Intuition. While on the other hand, complementing this, we can use creative synthesis to build larger ideas from existing ideas, for the purpose of rational and coherent understanding, which is then shared into the world.
Higher intuition, inspiration and wisdom can come to us from the Spiritual Hierarchy – which is comprised of ever-greater levels of Spiritual Beings, having varying levels of expanded consciousness and wisdom. These levels of spiritual being and consciousness can be understood as a hierarchy of advanced, realized spiritual souls; such as great teachers, great thinkers, visionaries, prophets, and saints. These levels can also be understood as levels of Being and Wisdom, from the One.
The Hierarchy provide higher spiritual Inspiration and Vision to humanity – for the spiritual evolution of humanity and the earth, and to help individuals creatively bring forth greater spiritual Qualities into manifestation. The Hierarchy provides Inspiration, Vision, and Guidance. As well, they share their realization and knowing of Spiritual Purposes. All of this comes through our higher intuition, if we are intentionally receptive and also if we have love and goodwill in our heart.
To receive Inspiration, Vision and Guidance from the Hierarchy we need to be intentionally receptive and humbly open to learning. Yet we should not simply be open to anything or everything. There are higher levels of mind, but also lower levels of mind which are the basis of negativity and troubles in the world. So one should not just be receptive to anything. We need to rise above and be free of lower levels of mind: lower thoughts, negative thoughts, separative thoughts, and self-centered thoughts. We need to be intelligently selective in what we open to.
So in order to be receptive to higher intuition, rather than lower energies and thoughts, have a wish and an intention to only receive from the highest intuition. This is intentional receptivity, which also makes use of discernment, because we are only receptive to spiritual intuition, inspiration, and vision.
Ask to be inspired and guided by the Highest and most comprehensive wisdom. The Highest will touch our heart with love and illuminate our mind with realizations. The Highest will give us Inspiration and Vision, inspiring our heart and illuminating our mind with vision. The Highest will awaken our love and our will to serve greater Purposes. Vision received from the Highest will show us what is possible, what we can be and what can be done. Vision will show us the future-possible – our own potentials and potentials of our world. Then, with Inspiration we are inspired to work towards this Vision. Inspiration and Vision creates aspiration and striving in us. We aspire towards the received higher vision, and strive towards it.
In order to meditate on and work with greater ideas, truths, symbols, visions, or visualisations, our mind needs to be quiet and clear, while also very alert. If there are random or scattered thoughts going on, then we cannot focus on an Idea, we cannot think clearly enough, and we certainly cannot reach any real level of spiritual intuition. Without spiritual intuition, our meditation on an Idea will be limited to what we already know. And without spiritual intuition, we cannot have new spiritual Vision.
So first of all, we need to clear our mind and attain a quiet, clear, serene mind, with sustained alertness. This is the first step in any successful meditation. But it is not always so easy to attain a clear mind, when in our daily lives we often acquire a mixture of turbulent energies and unresolved conflicts. Thus, we have to first take some time to clear our mind, or empty our mind, as well as develop a mental self-mastery over our thought processes. Then, only after this, we have a chance to enter into a meditative silence, whereby the spiritual intuition can appear, bringing higher Ideas, Wisdom, and Visions.
In fact, once our mind is cleared, quiet and serene, the light of spiritual intuition will often just spontaneously appear. For our spiritual intuition lives in the very essence of our being and will suddenly appear (out from being hidden) when our mind is finally cleared of its usual thought and thinking content, or once we let go of our incessant thinking.
This usual thought stuff, or thinking, is not the same as conscious intentional thinking about an idea or truth. Instead, it just happens automatically and without any self intention, so it gets in the way of conscious intentional thinking, and it clouds and obscures our spiritual intuition being revealed. But when these uncontrolled thoughts are let go of and mentally cleared, and these clouds have disappeared, then our spiritual intuition will simply appear. This is because our intuition is, and always has been, in the very essence of our mind. So it is revealed through the cleared atmosphere of our mind, when the clouds of our thoughts, desires and reactions have emptied.
Thus, spiritual intuition is revealed when our mind is finally clear and transparent. And in order to be clear and transparent, the mind has to be emptied of thought. Yet this is not so easy to accomplish, since having constant thoughts is one of the main habits of mind.
One key to becoming clear in mind is intentional surrender – surrendering our thoughts and held-on emotions. Let it all go and pass away. But this does not usually happen instantly, so this surrendering will also require perseverance and patience. Also, surrender requires trust – trusting in the inherent essence of mind and being. Then, with a clear and transparent mind, and in an attitude of trust and receptivity, spiritual intuition and wisdom will spontaneously emerge.
Also, once one achieves a clear and transparent mind, then one can begin a stage of meditation whereby our thinking mind is used consciously and purposefully. Now, our thinking mind is intentionally applied – to understand the intuitions received or experienced in the clear transparency of mind. This kind of intentional thinking is guided by a higher purpose, the purpose of understanding spiritual truths and principles, as received by our spiritual intuition. Purposeful thinking can also be used for world meditation work in the mental sphere of humanity, whereby our conscious thinking about a higher idea, truth or value can enter into world thinking.
There are three kinds of work involving light and thought-form. These correspond with the three aspects of Light, which are creation, nurturance and purification. All three kinds of meditative Light-work have equal importance.
Let's begin with the nurturing power of Light. Light gives energy, vitality, and nurturance to life. Thus, the sending or channeling or radiance of Light can give positive energy and nurturance to the intelligent ideas and good thoughts already present in the world. This is the meditative work of nurturing and giving support to the good that is already present in the world mind. The best ideas and thoughts, already in the mental sphere of humanity, are energized and nurtured by the Light, the Love, and the agreement we give through meditation. We are empowering and strengthening the good, the intelligent, the best ideas and visions for the world. We can also do this in conversations, writings and teachings, as well as in meditation.
Also, we can nurture spiritual ideas, truths, principles, and values; as received in meditation, through the Light of Intuition and Intelligence. We can then these send out – by consciously thinking about them and also by our agreement. By analogy, we are sending out seeds – intelligent and good seeds, seeds for the evolution of humanity, positive and truthful ideas, values and virtues we know are right. Simply stated, we are sending out positive spiritual thoughts, as good seeds for the world.
Thus, there is much to possibly nurture in the realm of ideas and thoughts; either already existing in the world mind or from the higher levels of Spirit. We can nurture the best ideas, the highest truths, and the greatest values already present in world mind, and we can also nurture the truths, understandings, ideas and values, which we receive from the Highest Light.
Another kind of meditative work is the creation of positive and truthful thought-forms, which we then share out into the world. This kind of meditation corresponds with the creative aspect of Light. We create thought-forms by intelligently understanding what is received through Intuition or through Insight, and also by translating our Inner Knowing or Insight Experience into intelligent understanding, explanation and thoughts. These are the creative thought-forms we then send out into the world mind, adding to the intelligence and good already there.
We sometimes receive intuitions or have insights about what is true or good. This comes from the spiritual Light. But often, these intuitions are abstract, or like a feeling. Thus, Intuition needs a thought-form-making mind, in order for spiritual Truths and Visions to acquire intelligible, understandable, and practical form. So our mental work is to create understandable thoughts or ideas from these intuitions, which gives us a better practical understanding of spiritual truths and visions, and which is then shared out into the world mind.
Creating positive intelligent thoughts is similar to nurturing positive thoughts; except that one is now being a creative participant, by adding to the good thoughts and ideas already present in the world. We can become creators of new thoughts and new visions, for the world.
Have an intentional conscious attitude of being creative, in mind and thought, for the benefit of the whole world. Be creative in building and distributing thoughts that are intelligent and helpful, good and loving. Be creative, by using one's known truths and knowing, as come from Intuition and Insight, in order to create useful good ideas for the world. Then send these out into the world through the mind.
A third kind of meditative work is to apply the purifying power of light, or the clearing power, by visualising or sending forth Light to clear away outworn and false thought-forms in the world. This is applying the purifying light of truth.
In the world are outworn thought-forms, dogmatic beliefs, false and delusionary ideas. Some of this is false propaganda, created by those seeking to manipulate others for their own aims, and some thought-forms are mere glamor. Any beliefs or ideas that promote violence, hurtfulness, or disregard for life and nature, are always false and delusionary. All of these kinds of false thought-forms can be annihilated by the purifying Light of Truth and Intelligence; just as light eliminates darkness.
Symbols help us tune-into spiritual intuition and archetypes. They represent different kinds of meanings, energies, qualities, archetypes, or experiences. And each symbol usually has more than just one meaning.
Symbols are useful mental tools, but one has to know how to use them and make them work. Each symbol transmits a kind of energy, quality, or archetype. So by meditating on a symbol, we can invoke this energy-quality in our self or transmit this quality for world good. Symbols can be used in meditation for self-development and for self-realization, and they can also be applied for world-service meditation.
The main way to use a symbol in meditation is by visualising it and holding it in mind for a time. Be intuitively receptive to what the symbol means or the power it has. Thinking about its meaning and its wisdom will help invoke its quality and bring its special power into being. Symbols are often geometrical, so consider the shape and what it means. Symbols can also be from nature, representing spiritual qualities or virtues.
Visualisations can be used for positive transformations in oneself or in the world. Visualising and meditating on a symbol can help synchronize our mind with soul potentials and higher spiritual qualities. So, through visualisation and meditation on a symbol, its special power and quality can be assimilated into one's being. A symbol can also be visualised into the world or into a situation, in order to send forth that quality or energy to where it is needed.
This is all in the principles of esoteric magic and the science of mind. Each symbol has potential spiritual energy, quality, and archetypal wisdom, which can be brought forth and directed by visualisation. Thus, we can use our creative imagination and visualisation to bring about positive benefits and higher transformations, both in our self and in the world. We can also create our own personal symbols, in order to invoke soul qualities or universal qualities. Learn to trust yourself in this, and let your mind be guided by spiritual intuition.
One of the most primary symbols is the circle, or also the sphere. A circle invokes the qualities of unity, togetherness, and love. Visualising someone or something in a circle can provide them protection, love, nurturing, and also create sacredness. The circle has the qualities of inclusiveness and unity, so whatever we include into the visualised circle acquires interrelatedness and unity. A circle also represents wholeness or com-pleteness. So by visualising a circle or sphere, and meditating on it, we are bringing these energies and qualities into actuality.
A circle with a point in the center invokes centeredness. A circle with a flame inside represents and invokes the spiritual fire in our heart, of inspiration and love. This is also true for the symbol of a flame inside a lotus.
Visualising an equilateral triangle invokes a balance of three major qualities, or three aspects; such as will, love, and intelligence. Or a different set of three aspects can be understood or intended. First reflect upon each of the three qualities intended and begin to understand their relationship. Then, by visualising and meditating on this triangle, or this triad of related aspects, these qualities will assimilate into us and acquire balance in our being. Also in meditation it is possible to project these three significant qualities into the world.
A triangle pointed upward can invoke aspiration and striving for higher consciousness, and also align oneself to the Highest. A triangle pointed downward represents a focus towards manifestation and birth to creativity. A six-point star is a balance of the upward and downward triangles, which invokes a balance between spiritual alignment and manifesting power. It also represents a fusion of soul potential and personality expression.
A pyramid represents the spiritual principle of hierarchy, of higher and higher levels of knowingness and beingness, as deriving from the One Source, the point on top. Yet, a pyramid can also represent an ascent from organic creativity to higher and higher levels of synthesis, towards unity.
Related to this is a vertical pole of light; which can be seen as either ascending upward or descending downward. The vertical pole represents the connection between the lowest levels and the Highest, or the connection between manifestation and Spirit. Visualising light ascending upward can connect one with higher Intuition or higher levels of Being. Visualising Light descending into oneself or into the world can help bring forth Spirit into manifestation.
A chalice represents humility and receptiveness to Spirit, and it can also symbolize our inner heart or soul. An upward spiral is a symbol of spiritual progression, or evolution, in the process of time. A five-sided pentagram can be a symbol of spiritual will and bringing higher wisdom into manifestation.
We can also work with symbols derived from nature. A sun symbolizes spiritual Light, Spirit or even God, or it can represent one's soul. A rainbow can represent the beauty of diversity, or it can symbolize the seven ray qualities of Spirit. A tree can symbolize life or livingness, and a seed represents potential. A flower can symbolize the blossoming of beauty and love. A lotus, a lily, or any blossoming flower can symbolize either the heart or one's soul. A flower bud represents our near- readiness before unfoldment. Fruit is the fruition of potential, effort, or completion. A mountain can represent a way of attainment or work to be done, with the possible achievement at the mountain top. A diamond or any perfect crystal can symbolize the enduring divine light and beauty within us.
Essentially, Light is consciousness. The Light of God is the Consciousness of God. Divine Light is Divine Consciousness, the Divine Knowing, which enlightens us. The Divine Light, the Consciousness of God, also clears away illusion and false ideas, disharmonies and illness. Light eliminates veils, boundaries, and separative thoughts. Light, Divine Consciousness, purifies the mind.
The Divine Light, Light of God, gives us Intelligence, Vision, and Awakening. The Light expands intelligence beyond normal limitations. The Light opens up our intuition and also raises our mind to higher levels. The Light of Consciousness expands our mind towards the Totality of Wholeness and Infinity. And as our consciousness expands, more of the Great Wholeness is revealed, including a greater understanding of the fundamental Principles and the interconnective Truths of life. Light also reveals the Purposes of life.
Thus, the Light of Divine Consciousness purifies our mind, while also bringing greater intuition, intelligence and integral understanding. Light awakens our latent holistic intelligence and reveals spiritual understanding. It gives us a more integral and holistic intelligence, with greater Values and Vision.
Love is the inter-connectiveness of all beings within the One Being of God. Love is the magnetism of Divine Unity, which brings people together in a unity of heart and caring. Very essentially, Love is God's Love for all creation, for all life, for all of us. For we are all children of Divine Love. And in this Love are the important qualities of compassion and caring. So the Divine Love gives us these qualities of compassion and caring, which we then hold and express to some degree of God's Love.
Love also gives freedom, as God gives us creative freedom to explore our possibilities and choices, but also the freedom to listen for and discover a higher divine intelligence, in order to make better choices.
Love is a kind of realization, but also a direct experience and feeling. This feeling is the energy of Love. The feeling and realization of Love is inclusiveness and unity, compassion and caring, which we acquire from God's Love (from Divine Love). God's Love feels to be a love-for, for all of us. Yet our human feeling of Love includes a love-with, with everyone, united in one Love. That is, our human love includes a love-for others but also a love-with others or a love that is shared together. Though this feeling of sharing love-with also comes from the God. Love also embraces others and all life, which then leads to ever-greater expanded appreciation and joy in the presence of what is, as well as greater tolerance and patience with the differences we have with others. Esoterically and by cosmic law, we then radiate and share our love, according to the degree of Love we have realized and are now experiencing.
Divine Will is the greater power that moves the world in a general direction towards creative good. Yet it does not dictate specifically how this will happen, nor does it manipulately determine everything; instead, the Divine Will allows for creative freedom throughout the world. Yet it still influences the world in a gradual manner towards higher qualities and values. The Divine Will allows freedom, which is essential for real creativity, yet it still nudges us forward towards the highest divine values by inspiring us from within.
The Divine Will works through life. And it works through us to transform and evolve the world. It works inwardly through us from within, from the innerness of who we are – inspiring our love, our intelligence, and our will. The Divine Will gives us creative inspiration and vision, love and empathy, and an awakening holistic intelligence. But for this to happen, we need to be open it and to sincerely listen and be truthful with our innermost feelings and intuitions.
Divine Will can be understood as Divine Purpose; because Will always has a Purpose that it is intending and moving towards. Will and Purpose go together. Purpose is the intended aim of the Will; while Will is the intention and power towards the Purpose. Divine Will is the influencing power that motivates and inspires the fulfillment of life's Purposes and the needed efforts to fulfill those Purposes. The greater purposes in life are all facets of the Divine Purpose.
When we realize Spiritual Purposes, this inspires our spiritual will to make commitments and efforts at being aligned with these Purposes and to work towards their actualization.
Will involves intention, decision, and action. It's our power to reach goals, to express our self, and to manifest. It's about making effort and having the power and determination to reach the goal. Spiritual will is all of the above, but it's about working towards spiritual goals, spiritual expressions and manifestations. And what makes an effort or a goal 'spiritual' is the Love, Wisdom, and Goodness in it. In other words, spiritual will always has Love, Wisdom, and Goodness in it,or at least an intention to manifest these Qualities.
Spiritual will is distinguishable from ordinary will, in that it has the attributes of inclusive love and holistic intelligence, and it is an inspiration coming from within (not a command from outside external authority). It is when our human will is spiritualized and aligned with the Divine Will. So, when our own will is inspired by the Divine Will, or aligned with it, this then can be understood as our own spiritual will. Spiritual will has a great power, a greater power than ordinary will, because our spiritual will has the inspiration and power of Divine Will. Our spiritual will is the Divine Will expressing within us. Spiritual will is the power, the inspiration and the direction we are given from the Divine Will.
The Divine Will is not forcefully imposing nor deterministic; we have to intentionally and freely come to the Divine Will, align with it, and become part of it. Divine Will is not absolutely determining everything, but it does have Purpose and Direction. Therefore, if our decisions and actions are aligned with divine purposes and directions, then we are aligned with Divine Will. Spiritual will is aligned with Divine Will, or at least its intention is dedicated to this.
When the Divine Power of Will is flowing through us, our being and actions are transformed and become aligned with the Divine Will. Our love and compassion is increased. Our forgiveness and tolerance is increased. Our thinking becomes more holistic and considerate of others and the whole of life. And our will is transformed from being self-centered.
We can also understand the Divine Will by understanding what is loving and what is intelligent – because the Divine Will is both loving and intelligent. It is always both. Divine Will always has a purpose and goal of increasing love and increasing the comprehensive intelligence in humanity.
Three fundamental principles of Divine Will are Light, Love, and Beauty. We manifest Light by expressing spiritual awakening, intuition and intelligence. We manifest Love by expressing compassion, caring, and inclusiveness. We manifest Beauty by expressing spiritual qualities, based on harmony, goodness, and excellence.
Spiritual will emerges from our inner spiritual core, our soul, which is a reflection of God, the Divine. Spiritual will is our inner-motivated urge to give and to serve life, and to fulfill higher universal purposes. Our human will is at first self-centered and self-oriented, and usually socially conditioned. But spiritual will springs from a spiritual consciousness and love, which is an inclusive consciousness and caring love. Spiritual will also involves self-sacrifice, or at least some degree of sacrificing lesser wishes, all for greater purposes, greater needs and greater good.
Spiritual will is our actualized power to work on being and doing Good, the greater good. Our spiritual will works towards the Good, the Right, and the True. Being good and doing good, though, does not have to conform to any particular set of beliefs of what this is. The will to be good and to do good is according to our own sincere understanding of what this is, rather than being confined to any particular standards set by our parents, religions, or culture. Thus, each person will have to realize, on their own, what it is to be Good, Right, and True.
Likewise, each person will have to realize, on their own, what is God's Will, the Divine Will; rather than merely just follow a teaching, without any self-inquiry and self-reflection. One key to understanding God's Will is that it is Good-Will; that is, God's Will is towards the Good. Therefore, we can know God's Will through our own good-will. This is how we can know and enter into God's Will. Enter into the sincere experience of your own Good-will. This is God's Will. Our own will-to-good is a true flame and reflection of the God's Will. This is how God's Will is known through us.
Humanity is in need of more spiritual will, more goodwill, rather than egotistic selfish will or fanatical group-will. So, one of the important goals of the world-service meditator is to invoke the highest Spiritual Will and mediate this into the world. This can be done in several ways. The meditator can visualize Spiritual Will entering into humanity while affirming this to be. Or one can become a channel for Spiritual Will to enter into humanity. Or one can bring Spiritual Will into humanity through one's own spiritual will.
When we radiate and resonate our own spiritual will, our own will-towards-good, for the benefit of all humanity, then this increases the spiritual will of humanity. There are already many people with true spiritual will – many people who hold a vision of unity, love, and harmony, and who have the will to help in this. These people have a group-power, whether they know it or not. But nonetheless, this group of spiritual good-will people needs to increase in numbers and in power, in order for world transformation to take place.
One of the ways we can serve the spiritual evolution of our world is to radiate goodwill to all humanity and all of natural life. Goodwill is a spiritual energy which comes from our heart. Goodwill is an energy of our love. It is the will of our love; it is our loving will. In the attitude and radiance of goodwill, we not only wish good for everyone, but we also intend good towards everyone. For goodwill is our good intention towards others, or for all of life. So, the giving of goodwill is very similar to the giving of love. Though more specifically, goodwill is our good intention, our wish, hope and will that goodness be upon others.
Essentially, our goodwill is also our spiritual will; because spiritual will is, by definition, a good will. Spiritual will is a will that is always towards the good, always towards the right or the best. It's intention and effort is always towards what is most good, most right, or most best.
But what is most good, most right, or most best? Or, how can one know what is most good, most right, or most best?
First of all, we can use reasoning, because there are essential reasons for believing that a particular idea, vision, or aim is spiritually good. Foremost, the action or activity has to have love and intelligence in it. Something cannot be spiritually good, if it doesn't have at least love and intelligence. Also, that which is spiritually good tends to nourish and increase understanding, cooperation, peace, harmony and beauty, in our self and in the world. So if something does not increase at least one of these good effects, then its goodness is dubious.
Also to help us, our spiritual intuition knows what is good, right, and best. With spiritual intuition we are able to see clearly what is good, right or best. Anyone can do this, but to open one's spiritual intuition requires meditation and practice. One of the keys in this is to listen with the heart, because our sincere heart reveals a deeper understanding of what is true and good. Another key is having sincere goodwill – a sincere will to be good and true, to the best of our abilities; because by being in the attitude and intention of goodwill, we become more aligned the higher Divine Will and are able to more intuitively see what is good, right, and best. So, by using our spiritual intuition, along with good reasons, and along with our wisdom of experience; we can understand better what is good, right, and best.
Spiritual will is a will with a greater purpose – which works towards or moves towards greater purposes and greater values. Spiritual will is the motivation and power in us to make efforts towards Greater Purposes, or in the direction of Greater Values.
In order to serve and participate in Divine Purpose, we need to manifest our power of will, which is our power of decision and doing. We have to be doers – for Good and Truth, and for Divine Purposes. We need to work towards the greatest Good and highest Vision that we can see. That which is revealed to us, of the highest Good and greatest Love, is what we need to work on and to what we need to put forth our power of will.
Spiritual will serves Greater Purposes, which always involve greater love, greater intelligence, and greater beauty. If any of these are missing, then something is missing in one's idea of a greater purpose. For every greater purpose will always be more inclusively loving, more integrally intelligent, and more harmoniously beautiful. It's all to do with the greater vision of what is ideally possible, and what feels to be Right and Good – though from a larger and inclusive View, and not merely from just one particular cultural or religious view.
Spiritual will is accompanied by spiritual vision – seeing what is ultimately Good, Right, True, and Beautiful. Spiritual vision can see what is best, what needs to be, and what should be. It also sees higher goals worthy to work towards or make efforts towards. It is our spiritual will to manifest the greatest vision as revealed to us. Spiritual will is our will towards the Good, the Truth, and what's Right, and towards our vision of Harmony and Beauty.
We receive vision (from the Divine Vision) of what is meant to be, what is intended (from the Divine Will) to be, of what is for the highest and greatest Good, of what is most Loving and most Intelligent. Then correlating with this spiritual vision is the needed will to work on it (which is our spiritual will). The vision becomes an aim to will-towards. Thus, spiritual will is aligned with a greater Purpose and Vision – as best we see it, or as much as been revealed to us.
–Ask for spiritual will, inspiration, and vision.
– Ask to serve Divine Purposes.
But besides asking, we also have to put in the necessary effort and energy, which is the power of our will.
There are many Great Purposes, all part of the overall Divine Purpose. Here are some of the greater Divine Purposes in life. All are worthy values for us to work towards, to progress towards – both in our self and in the world. Spiritual will puts energy and effort into these greater values.
These can either be understood as values or purposes, because values and purposes mean basically the same. When we learn the greater values in life, we learn the greater purposes in life. So to know the greater values of life is to know the greater purposes of life. And to know one's values is to know one's purposes. Values and purposes are what guide our life and decisions.
Also, these purposes and all great purposes are for both the world and oneself. What we value and seek for our self – is also what we value and seek for the world, and vice versa. We could also add to these the value and purpose of greater self-realization; because self-realization is also a major spiritual purpose in life, which is to realize the deep essence of oneself, the deepest realization of who I am.
The overall Purpose in life is to progress towards Greater Values. To progress is to discover, learn, work towards, actualize and achieve. Improvement is another meaning for progress. So, improvement is another way we can understand what the greater Purpose is. Ask what would be some good improvements for oneself, or for the world. If we can see the need for improvements, in oneself or in the world, then we are seeing possibilities of progress. Perhaps the world needs more love, or more intelligence, or both? These are qualities to improve on, or to progress forward in. To see the need for this, and the need for making such improvements, is to realize these as important values to work towards – and important purposes in life.
A purposeful life realizes what has greater value. A purposeful will makes efforts to move away from lesser values and towards greater values. This is the direction of our spiritual will – towards greater values. And this gives us an understanding of God's Will – it is towards what's better. God's Will is for us to discover the better, to manifest the better, and to be the better. So we are aligned with Divine Will and Divine Purpose when we are moving towards the better ...improving our own self and the world. Of course though, each can only do their best in knowing what is better, yet we can be helped by listening to the Divine through our heart.
A purposeful life values improvements and progression. The progression is away from an impoverished life and towards a more fulfilling life. A purposeful life moves towards what's better. It moves from the lesser to the better. This is the Divine Purpose (and the Divine Will) – for the world and each self in it to progress and improve towards the better.
A life with Purpose is leading towards something or intending towards something greater. In other words, in a purposeful life (a life with purpose) there are valued goals to work towards and achieve. A purposeful life has vision about what is good to do, or about what is better. This is what distinguishes a 'life with purpose' from a 'life without any purpose'.
Here below are some of the directions that our spiritual will seeks to progress towards and improve in, for our self and in the world. These are some of the greater Purposes in life – to work towards. As well, these are some of the purposes and the directions of Divine Will – which inspires us towards these purposes and helps us gradually achieve these purposes and goals.
Spiritual will puts decision and effort into these purposes –
The esoteric work at this time is a work involving meditation and consciousness, for the evolution of all humanity. Each participant in this esoteric work will use their own realized and actualized powers of soul. These are the powers of light, love, and spiritual will (or the will-to-good). These essential three Rays of Divine Being are given to us, according to our ableness to receive and assimilate them into our conscious being. The esoteric worker consciously and intentionally uses these three divine energies for the purpose of world evolution. Yet it should be realized in this meditation work that each of these Rays come from the Universal Being (God). For we are, essentially, channeling the Divine Energies (of Light, Love, and Will) into the minds, hearts, and wills of humanity, through our own being and consciousness.
This spiritual work is made more powerful by Group synergy, the Group effect; as the many individual workers subjectively connect in mind, then work synergistically together as a Group. Each soul-conscious worker, as well as the Group at a higher level, radiates (sends out) each one of these Ray-energies from their own being (or from the combined Being of the Group) – as these are received from the Universal Divine Being, the One in Whom we are. So we send out (share) the Light, Love, and Good-Will from our own being; but we can only radiate out what we have received, what we are, and what we are conscious of. The Light of God comes through our own consciousness, then into the whole world. The world needs the Divine Light, the Light of spiritual intelligence and mental clarity. But this Spiritual Light can only reach humanity through human consciousness and conscious people.
This Light awakens our own mind and spiritual intelligence, and brings a spiritual realization of the interconnections of life. Then as we are awakened in the Light, this radiates out to others in the world. We become like a magnifier of the Light. In fact, the very nature of Light is to radiate and spread out. So, to the degree that we ourselves have a lightened mind (an enlightened consciousness and intelligence), this degree of Light is then shared throughout the world, awakening other minds and dispelling illusions. For this Light that awakens our own mind will also awaken the minds of all humanity. This is an important part of the esoteric work, which is not merely for one's own self.
Love too can be received from the Divine Source, then shared and radiated out to many others. But there is no radiance of love, unless we already know and have love in our being. We can only radiate the light and love that we actually have and are presently conscious of. Thus, these energies have to come through our own being, but this Love and Light are only offered to others, not imposed.
Love is in everyone already, but this Love is in each person's potential (which is one's soul). Love is already in the very core of our being, in the core of our heart centre, because Love is a primary essence of Divine Being which is inherent in each human being. Yet this innermost Love may not yet be realized, just as a child may not yet realize his or her full potentials. From the perspective of the Infinite Divine Knower, we are all children in the process of realization and actualization.
So each person already has Love, but this Love needs awakening and realization. And what can awaken this inner Spiritual Love in people is our shared love, because love awakens love. Similarly, a shared light awakens the inner potential Light of others; as one individual consciousness can awaken many consciousness', and as one mind can awaken many minds. Anyone having at least some degree of Love-realized might understand that their own love was once dim but is now brighter, was once hidden but is now much more expressive. So love can be, from its core potential within us, progressively discovered, realized, and expressed.
Yet everyone knows that their own realization of love owes tribute to those who gave them love, so that one could feel and know they were loved. Most usually this love comes from others, to evoke in us the knowing that we are loved. But this experience of being loved can also come from a spiritual source, or essentially from God. The point here is that our own love has been inspired from either other people or from the God; so that we can be grateful for the love we received, which evoked in us a greater experience of love. Thus in the esoteric meditation, our sincerely felt love for others, and even for all people, is transmitted and radiated outward and can be felt by those people, which will then provide for them an inner experience of being loved and will also help awaken the underlying love inherent within them.
So the first realization of love is the experience of being loved. This first might be given by another person, most especially from one's mother, but then by relatives, friends, boyfriends or girlfriends. Yet this experience of being loved takes another leap forward when it is realized as coming from God, the Universal Being in Whom we live. Universal God is beyond gender, but it could still be experienced distinctly as either God or as the Goddess or Great Mother. This is the spiritual realization of Love, which might even be experienced as being in Love Itself.
The second realization of Love, or the second phase, is the awakening of loving. This is the will-to-love that is inherent within us, which is now being realized and brought into activity. This is the love impulse within us, which is to love others, to be connected with others and give to others. It has a lot to do with our growing realization of being spiritually related with everyone and all lives, and of being in essential unity with everyone and all life.
Hence, our esoteric radiance of love to all others on earth involves these two modes of love. First, our own knowing of being loved within the Divine Love can then help other people realize that they too are loved, or perhaps though resonance they might feel the same Divine Love as we feel. Second, our will-to-love, our loving-good-will, our energy of love towards others, not only helps others realize they are loved, but it also inspires their own inherent will-to-love, which is their spiritual will.
This now brings us to the power of spiritual will, or the will-to-good, which we can also radiate out to others, and which can also awaken and inspire the spiritual will in others. Our good-will is our will to help all others have what they need for a more beautiful existence. This goodwill we send out with our will. We will this to be. We ask God and the higher powers to help, which is invocation, but also we will it to be from our own power of will, since will is a power we have as given from the Divine Power. And we use this power for good; which is to use our power for God.
In addition, our will is that the Divine Light of Intelligence awaken all of humanity, and that the realization of Divine Love (in Unity) be shared by all. In essence, the Divine Will is a combination of Love and Intelligence, so if we are expressing both Love and Intelligence, then we are expressing God's Will. It's as simple as that. No need to look up what is God's Will in some holy book; just do what is loving and intelligent, and this can be discovered in one's own heart and mind.
What makes the will aspect important in all this is the power of choice and doing. For we need to express the whole Triad of God – the Intelligence, the Love, and the Power. Our Good-will adds in power to our intelligence and love. One might have great love and great intelligence, yet still lack in the power to express or manifest this. So we also need the power to do, to express and to manifest. This power comes through our will. The power of spiritual will is a doing; or else it is an energy that motivates doing. Yet with spiritual will, doing is always for the greater good, not merely for one's own personal gain. This is what distinguishes spiritual will from ego will.
Spiritual will is also related to good intention, the intention to do good. To have spiritual will is also to have spiritual intention. As well, spiritual will is related to Divine Purpose; because any spiritual intention, will, or activity would have a corresponding Purpose. The Divine Will is always married to a Divine Purpose. This is why we need to align our will with the highest Purpose that we can know, which then connects us to the higher Divine Will.
Spiritual will is also related to self-sacrifice. In some esoteric teachings, spiritual will is even called the will-to-sacrifice. But this does not have to be a morbid or unhealthy sacrifice of oneself, and it is not a sacrifice of our life, in the sense of resigning to earthly death. Neither does this mean to sacrifice oneself for the mere desires of others, or to allow others to manipulate us or make us their servants. Instead, self-sacrifice means to give of oneself, to God and to God's Work. This also includes sacrificing whatever is holding us back from being a worker of the Divine, including the sacrificing of our selfishness and self-centered desires. Spiritual self-sacrifice is to sacrifice one's own little ego and its self-centered desires, in order to serve the higher Divine Purpose and Will of God.
Divine Light, Love and Will are everpresent each moment and also available for humanity to realize each moment. But the realization depends on each individual and group. These primary Qualities of the Divine are not imposed on humanity or the world, but are always present to be realized and expressed.
Spiritual evolution is the gradual realization and expression of these Qualities, for each individual and for humanity as a whole. This means that everyone and each happening or expression in the world has some degree of these Qualities, but not necessarily in totality or in perfection. Therefore, it is a distortion of truth to think that everything that happens in the world is full of Light and Love, or that everything that happens is by Divine Will. For it quite possible that any action or event might actually lack in Divine Light, Love and Will, or be a distortion of these Qualities. Thus, we each need look carefully at the world and at ourselves, to discern what is truly Divine from that which is created from selfishness, vanity or delusion. Wisdom Teaching is always knocking at our door. So is the Love of God. But generally, people just don't hear the knocking, let alone the Teaching, because of being preoccupied with their personal stuff and the problems of life.
Love is the basis of many great qualities and experiences. Love is an energy that includes others. Love is inclusive, caring about all of us together. Love is a force that brings people together and holds us together in a unitive, family feeling. The energy of Love embraces others, and love nurtures the person or group with caring and respect. In addition, love brings about forgiveness, compassion, caring, peace, cooperation and unity. Love in expression is beauty. Love deeply experienced is joy.
Caring and respect are two sides of love. Caring is the most obvious aspect of love. Mothers have a deep caring about their children, caring for their children's best health, happiness, and success. But anyone can have caring for another person or for many others, or for a whole group or for the whole world. Generally, we can call this a caring about the well-being of others. This caring is an essential aspect of Love. If there is no caring, there is no real love. Caring is a feeling, and it has to start from this feeling, but the next extension of caring is in actual doing... in doing for others in a way that enhances their well-being, which might be an enhancement of their intelligence, their courage, their self-confidence, their abilities, or some other positive quality of being. So, caring can also be about actual doing good onto others, and this could involve some kind of gift as in the act of giving.
The other aspect is respect. This too is essential in love. If there is no real respect, then there is no real love. Respect is a seeing in another (or others) their rights as a person, to be as they are, to be have a freedom to be as they are or how they wish to be. Respect is a recognition of others as being as essentially divine as oneself, as essentially important as oneself, and as worthy of being free as oneself. So in the attitude of respect, we recognize their divine dignity and allow them the dignity of freedom, as long as this freedom does not harm others or the earth. Even if we think we are right and they are wrong in their free choices, we still allow them the freedom to discover the truth or best way on their own, and it is alright in the attitude of respect to express our own beliefs or opinions, or even try to teach or persuade people of what we believe is right.... as long as we respect their freedom to disagree and not follow our suggestions.
Another essential aspect of love is harmlessness. Harmlessness is just what states, to not harm. It does necessarily have to imply being weak or unassertive. One could be tough in will and in action, and also stand up for what one believes is right, and still be harmless. We should stand up for our beliefs and we should work toward true justice in the world, which could involve stopping the bad actions of others. So at times we have to be tough, to protect other lives from harm, or protect our group or our own self. But with the love aspect of harmlessness, we are committed to doing no harm and not hurting others. If we have to hurt someone's little ego, or if we have to hurt someone's selfish plans, then so be it. We're not talking about hurting other's little egos or desires; in the name of justice and righteousness, we may have to do that. But love does no harm to the whole lives of others, as in hurting people physically or destroying their means of livelihood.
Harmlessness is related to care. When we truly care about others or the world, we do not harm others or the world. This would seem pretty obvious. If we were to give care to someone, or care for them, we certainly would not be intending to harm them. In fact, we would be caring to protect them from harm. Thus, to cause suffering, harm or death can never be a spiritual act. There is no God's Will in any harmful actions. Harmlessness would seem to be a no-brainer in regards to love, or to any spiritual belief, but for some reason there are people who do harm in the very name of their religion. God is never intending to harm, so neither should we. God does not have to teach people through punishment or suffering, and people should never be part of any scheme like this. Instead, God can teach people through love. And thus, we can teach people through love, not harm or punishment. God can bring about righteous justice, (and 'His Will') in the world through the power of love and intelligent discourse, not through harming or punishing others. And thus, so can we.
If extremely religious people wish to transform the world into what God wants, then their means to accomplishing this have to be considered. The Aim cannot simply justify the means. Hatred, harm and violence cannot be justified as the means to achieve a spiritual aim of love, unity, beauty and goodness in the world. In other words, if God's Will is a world filled with love, unity, beauty and goodness; then it is not correct to use harm and violence to achieve God's Will, because harm and violence are destructive to love, unity, beauty and goodness. Even in non-religious terms, if a person wishes to manifest love and beauty in their life, then any acts of harm, to others or to the surrounding natural world, will be defeating to the aim of love and beauty. All harm is both unloving and also ugly; and thus, creates an unloving and ugly existence.
Forgiveness is another essential aspect of love. Forgiveness is often difficult to enter into, yet it is so essential in the larger picture of love. Forgiveness is important because other people will sometimes run into us in the wrong way. They'll step on our toes, they'll step on our cherished beliefs or our best hopes, and they'll make mistakes. People make mistakes, each of us included. But also, other people or other groups will often have different views from what we believe is right, and the desires of others will often run into our own desires. So with all these possibilities of other people offending us in some way, there are bound to be ill feelings and negative reactions at times, between us and them. And in some cases, a person or a group may have done something quite awful to us or to our friends. So whether our grievance is over something largely bad or just somewhat irritating, there is a need for forgiveness, because this is the only way to let it go and move on. If we do not let it go, then the energy of love is blocked and the relationship remains in conflict and with bad feelings.
Resentment, distrust or hatred are like ice. They freeze up all possibility for love and healing. But, forgiveness melts the ice. Forgiveness is like a reboot of the relationship, whereby the forgiving person or group simply puts all that resented past stuff into a large compost bad and sends it off drifting away in the ocean. The forgiver takes all that resentment, bad feeling and past grievance, which has been held so tightly in the hand, and then simply opens the hand to let it all go. All that stuff, which has been held in one's heart, is now let go of and released. One lets it all go with a sigh of relief, 'oh well, it's forgiven'; which means it is released, let go of, and surrendered into love. And that's part of the power of love; it can heal all situations and bring harmony back into play. Forgiveness is the 'letting go' part of love. And what are we really letting go of anyways? Its our own held-onto stuff, our held-onto reactions, resentments, anger and revenge. Without forgiveness, we will always be holding onto grudges and seeking revenge. And in the end, this will be destructive to the revenger as well as the revenged.
Beauty is the manifestation of love and light. Beauty is the manifestation of goodness and excellence. We have a potential to see Beauty in others or in nature, but we also have a potential to manifest Beauty or to be beautiful. This does not just mean an outer beauty of appearance, though one facet of Beauty is outward appearance. For Beauty also includes what we do and how we do things. It also includes how we speak, our words and our tone. Yet in all of these facets of Beauty, the effect is an upliftment and joy in those who are sufficiently receptive and capable of recognizing the Beauty. In its purity Beauty radiates outwardly and uplifts those who can perceive it. But the perception and effect of Beauty depends on the readiness and receptivity of the perceiver, just as the active expression of Beauty depends on the capability of the doer.
Joy is both a feeling and a radiance.
Invocation is similar to prayer, in that it involves asking for Higher Help, but it also involves visualization and affirmation. Invocation is important because it opens up a channel for the Divine Powers to enter into the world. Love and Light remain as Potentials until realized, so the purpose of invocation is to open up a receptive channel for the Divine, to bring forth or to unfold Spiritual Potentials into our world.
The Great Invocation is given in the Alice Bailey books. It can be said aloud, meditated upon, and also visualized. Often people sound one or three OMs at the end, to help ground the energies. This particular invocation can be used in meditations, yet it's not absolutely necessary. Other phrasings of invocation can also be used.
From the point of
Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the
minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of
Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the
hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where
the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of
men —
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which
we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
Here are some
ideas about the meanings and intentions in the Great Invocation.
From the point of Light
within the Mind of God,
Let Light stream forth into the minds of
men.
Let Light descend on earth.
Light originally comes from God, for the Mind of God is the Source of conscious Light. The point of Light is the Source of Light. Light is consciousness and awakening. Most of humanity needs awakening, because most people are really asleep. Many people are physically awake, and awake to the material world, but fewer are spiritually awake and conscious of spiritual reality and purposes. Thus, we invoke the Spiritual Light to bring forth an expansive consciousness and intelligence. Light will also awaken humanity to a holistic ecological consciousness. The permeation of Light through all creation is an ongoing process.
From the point of Love
within the heart of God,
Let Love stream forth into hearts of
men.
May Christ return to earth.
Love originally comes from God, for the Heart of God is the Source of all-inclusive Love. The point of Love is the Source of Love, which streams forth into (or unfolds in) our hearts. Since we each are a micro-reflection of God, potentially, it is possible for the great Divine Love to be realized in our own heart. Love is already a potential in us, which just needs to be realized. So we invoke God's Love to be realized in the hearts of everyone.
Love has two aspects. First is the experience of being loved, by others but also by God. Second, love is a way of expression, which is to be loving. Both are important in our lives, and both are transforming. Love transforms our experience and also how we are in the world, because with love we now appreciate and care about others and also the natural world. With love we want to take care of our world and those in it; we want to help and heal, not harm or plunder. So love changes the way we experience life, as well as our relations with others and the world.
The Invocation also speaks about Christ returning to earth. This could be interpreted as the return of Jesus, or else as the coming of a World Teacher beyond any one religion. Many hope for a great Teacher or Leader to appear. But the meaning of 'Christ return' might refer to Christ consciousness awakening in the hearts of humanity, rather than Christ being one person. In this sense, Christ, as Spiritual Love, is to be realized in more and more people, which will transform the world. Just one person expressing Christ isn't enough.
We do sometimes have real love in our hearts, but often this doesn't last. Patterns of habit, conditioning, reaction, irritation and worry often take over. Therefore, the spiritual love within us often needs reawakening and renewal, which is Christ-Love returning in us.
Also, in any invocation for the world, we should be asking this for our self, as well as everyone else. Our invocation prayer is for helping humanity, but also it needs to be about renewing the spiritual love and truth in oneself. So when asking for Love to descend into the hearts of all people, we can also be asking for Divine Love to come into our own heart, or that Love be awakened in our heart, or for Christ to return in us.
From the centre where
the Will of God is known,
Let purpose guide the little wills of
men,
The Purpose which the Masters know and serve.
Spiritual Will and Purpose come from God. The Will of God comes from the centre of Divine Being, and it is known when we are centered in our own spiritual being. Masters are those who are continually conscious in Divine Being and serve the Divine Purpose. They know the Will of God, because they are conscious in God. Their mind and heart is surrendered in the Divine. We each can approach mastery by being conscious in the Divine and in service to greater Purposes, and when our little-personal will is guided by the Greater Will and Purpose. We are aligned with Purpose when we radiate Light and Love, and express Divine Qualities.
Our invocation for humanity is for Help and Guidance. Our invocation is for the Divine Will to be realized and expressed through humanity; though this depends on each person being receptive to realizing what is good, right and beautiful, and also expressing this. Divine Will is towards the good and beautiful. The Divine Will is general, rather than exactly specific, but it can guide us to make better decisions and actions, with more love and intelligence.
Realize that 'Let purpose guide the little wills of men' also applies to our own will, not just everyone else. So we are also asking that our own will be guided by Divine Will and Purpose. What is needed in our self and in humanity is spiritual will, which is different from ego self-centered will. Spiritual will is good-will; it is loving, caring, and intelligent will. And spiritual will is the power needed to manifest love and wisdom.
From the centre which we
call the race of men,
Let the Plan of love and light work out,
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
The Divine Plan is for an unfoldment of Love and Light in humanity, which actualizes outward from its inward potential. The Plan is for spiritual awakening and expansion of consciousness, including the realization and expression of love in all of humanity. The Divine Plan is a work in process. It is a general Process of unfoldment with guiding purposes, but not a specific plan about how everything should turn out to be. How the Plan specifically unfolds depends on our intelligence and creativity.
This is the spiritual evolution of humanity – through the consciousness and unfoldment of Spirit in life. The Plan is for Light, Love, and Spiritual Will to gradually awaken, unfold and manifest through people and in the world. But this does not automatically happen. It requires receptive intuition and a willingness to let go of previous self-centeredness and separatism; so that evil (ignorance, selfishness, greed, hatred, and violence) finally disappears from the world. All bad actions stem from a lack of love and understanding. So, 'evil' will disappear as Love, Light and Goodwill gradually unfold in humanity.
Let Light and Love and
Power restore the Plan on Earth.
This is a final summary of the invocation. Humanity and the world needs Light, Love, and Power, the three essential components of the Divine Plan. Light is the energy of consciousness and intelligence, which increases intelligence in humanity and also expands consciousness with greater understanding. Love brings compassion, caring and helpful intentions to the world, and love brings greater unity among everyone. Power refers to Spiritual power; not ego power, nor the power to manipulate and dominate. It is a power to love, not hate; to heal, not hurt; to unify, not divide; to reveal truth, not deceive; and to beautify life, not destroy it. Our spiritual will represents the Divine Will. To help restore the Dignity and Beauty of the world will require a lot of spiritual will in people.
To 'restore the Plan' also refers to a restoration and renewal of the Earth; for there needs to be a restoration of ecological harmony, a renewed respect for the sacredness of nature, and to live adaptively with the natural world.
Some believe that the exact words of the Great Invocation have to used. Others believe that the words are changeable and that re-phrasings are fine, as long as the meanings and intentions remain. It makes sense that one can use different phrases, in order to make an invocation, prayer or mantra more meaningful for the meditator. After all, translators have to choose the best suited words in a language to convey intended meaning. Here is an example of re-phrasing this invocation; while maintaining its original essence of meaning and purpose.
From the Universal Light of
God,
Let Light stream forth into all humanity.
May the Light
of Wisdom awaken our minds.
From the Universal Heart of God,
Let Love stream forth into all humanity.
May the Flame of
Love inspire our hearts.
From the Universal Will of God,
Let
Good-Will stream forth into all humanity.
May Higher Purposes
guide our little wills.
May the Light of Wisdom dissolve all
ignorance,
May the Flame of Love extinguish all harmfulness.
May
the Power of Spiritual Will transform the world.
Let Light and Love and Power bring Harmony on Earth.
Here is another example:
May the Greater Universal Consciousness
expand the minds of humanity.
May we all realize our relatedness in Spirit.
May the Greater Universal Love
blossom in the hearts of humanity.
May we all manifest love on earth.
May the Greater Universal Will
guide the many wills of humanity.
May we all be united in shared Purposes.
May the Universal Light, Love, and Will
be realized in all humanity,
transforming the whole world
So these are two examples of using alternative words, in order for the meditator to focus better on what is essential in the meaning and purpose of the invocation, and to avoid confusing or ambiguous words.
Words are like tools (or clothes) for conveying meaning; yet clothes and tools can change over time and culture. Even within the same language, word-meanings often change over time, or differ among cultural groups. So with any invocation or prayer, a change of words may help to better convey the meaning, and this will give more power to it. This gives creative freedom to each person, to choose their own words to convey meaning in the invocation; or one might not want to make any changes.
Meditation can be used for the purpose of world service – to help transform and evolve the overall consciousness of humanity. This includes the mental and emotional 'spheres' of humanity. Thus, the next great step for those who care about the future of our world is to participate in some kind of meditation work for world service. The minds and hearts of all humanity are inter-related in some degree. Therefore, we can positively effect all of humanity by our intentional focus on spiritual thoughts, love and goodwill. As well, we can invoke transformative Spiritual Energies for the world. This is all possible with meditation, and so this a 'world-service' meditation.
World-service meditation groups use Group consciousness, Group energies, and Group resonance to bring the energies of Love, Light, and Spiritual Power into our world; which will then accelerate a positive transformation and evolution of humanity. Though, physical and political action are also necessary for positive changes.
The power of world-service meditation is even greater when meditators unite as a group, because of the power of group synergy and resonance. When meditators combine their energies of thought, feeling and intention, towards the common purpose of helping to evolve humanity, a powerful synergy and resonance is created, multiplying the transformative effect of meditation.
To be most effective, meditators-for-the-world need to work as a larger unified Group. But this doesn't mean that meditators have to belong to any particular group. What's important is the inner intention to work together with others of like mind and to connect subjectively with them. Some people will know each other and meditate together in a physical place; but most of those who are part of this Group meditative work will be physically unknown to one another.
There is no need to join any known group. Rather, one joins in by simply connecting in one's heart and mind with the Larger Group, in heart/mind, and then enters into this. It's like a teleconference, where we listen to one another. But no one is being coerced to conform to any uniform style or idea. Instead, this is an ongoing, connected, shared conversation. We come together to create Group love, with wise and practical ideas for building a larger understanding and harmony in the whole world. This is the kind of sharing attitude and perspective to have in a unified Group Consciousness.
So the real Group Synergy taking place in humanity will be invisible to the average eye. It is like a gathering, but in the interconnected space of mind/heart. Anyone can join in from anywhere in the world and at any moment. But we are not joining a group conformity. This is not about conformity. This is not a movement to create one uniform style or way of being in the world. Rather, we are here to understand and appreciate the wonderful diversity of styles, cultures, and paths, all connected by Inclusive Love and Holistic Intelligence. Holistic intelligence is the capacity to understand our inter-connections and relationships within the whole integral Unity.
The whole collective Group of world-service meditators is all over the world. We are united in Group synergy through our connectiveness in mind and heart and in our purposeful will. So, whether we meditate in small groups or individually, nonetheless we are all united together by our common purpose and shared work. Moreover, meditations will be done in many different languages and in a diverse variety of ways, not limited by one single fixed method; for the unity and synergy of our meditations is by the common intention and principles we all share, and by our connectiveness in mind and heart.
In all meditations intended for world service, or for helping the world in some way, we have a connection with everyone of goodwill and with those working for a more loving and intelligent world. So in our meditation we are 'subjectively' in mind with all others working for positive change – both with those who mostly work outwardly in the world and also with those who work meditatively. Realize that our meditative work has greater power when it is united in Group Synergy. For as more and more people unite together in this meditative work, its power increases synergistically.
Certain principles are important to this kind of meditation, but there is no exact form or method. Meditations for world-service can be simple in essence and can be achieved in many possible ways. There is no one exact method, structure, form or procedure of world-service meditation; no strict or necessary way that we all need to follow. There are important essences to any world-service meditation, but no necessary exact form. The Group Unity, built by all of us who do this kind of meditation, is in our common intention, love and will-to-serve. The greatest power in this kind of meditation is our world-helping intention, our consciousness, our ideas, our love and our caring.
Not all people who meditate for the purpose of world transformation and evolution will use the exact same methods of meditation, but the fundamental principles of all meditative service work are generally similar. In radiance meditation we first connect with the Source (the Essence) of Love, Light, and Spiritual Will. Then, we radiate (transmit) these Spiritual essences into humanity and the world.
Meditating together in small groups can be very beneficial, but it's not absolutely necessary for the larger Group Synergy of World-Service meditation work. The larger Group, in which we participate, is all over the world, and we can be sitting anywhere in the world yet still be together in unity. So, it is not necessary to physically meditate together, in the same place nor at the same time, in order to be a unified Group, because meditation works in the spheres of mind and heart, which is not limited by distance nor exact time. Thus, people can meditate on their own, in their own space and time, or meditate in small groups; the Larger Group unity still builds from this and is powerful in the world, because we are all still synergistically united in the shared work we are doing.
We can connect and meditate together subjectively in mind and heart, in which there is no real distance or separation. So if there is no actual physical group to meditate with, then simply visualise and feel united with all people in the world who have a similar intention to use meditation for world service.
A first step in meditation is to unite together in group attunement. Unite and attune with the Group, with visualisation and feeling. Unite in Group consciousness. This is builds Group unity of mind and purpose. Then, as a Group in unity, do the meditation work with common purpose and a collective mind. Thus, we connect with each other, unite together, and work together as a larger Group, even if not all physically together, by visualising and feeling the Group and the Unity we share, and then working together as a Group towards our common Purpose. Also realize that we are participating in a larger Divine work, with greater spiritual Helpers involved.
We each can use the power of our mind to influence the world in positive loving ways, yet this power of mind is even greater when it radiates from a unified group consciousness. Meditating in a united group consciousness for world transformation has a unified synergistic power of positive influence upon the rest of humanity, because we all are in a united and inter-connected consciousness and we have the same Aim. This uniting together, in mind, heart and intention, strengthens our common Group consciousness, heart, and will. So in group consciousness we all come together in a united mind and heart, which has the power to bring about evolutionary changes in the world – bringing visionary ideas, inclusive love, and empathetic goodwill into all of humanity.
World-service meditations have a greater effective power in the world as more people become united in a Group Consciousness of Love and Goodwill, and are working towards the shared Aim to help in the spiritual evolution of humanity, and to help transform the whole world with an increase of Light (Spiritual Intelligence), Love (including compassion & caring), and Goodwill (a will towards love and cooperation). When all of us who believe in this Aim come together in united Group Consciousness, then there is a greater power in our meditations.
So in meditation we unite together in our hearts and minds, to become a larger, unified, inclusive heart and mind. The first step in building our united group power is mental and emotional inter-connection, in our mind and heart. Our connective unity of mind and heart will then create a powerful synergistic resonance, sort of like a unified musical chord, which brings everyone else into harmony through harmonious resonance.
Thus, our connected and unified hearts and mind, in meditation, will have a great power in the world that is much greater than just separate hearts and minds, because our unified consciousness will create the harmonic resonance of Unity, which then helps to create unity and harmony in all humanity.
Also, the very activity of connection with other hearts and minds is itself a transformative, evolutionary step. So, just the activity of conscious connection with others, in itself, is a profound achievement in meditation, as well as a service for world evolution; because this is building a greater group-connected mind. So instead of merely meditating as a separate person, in mind and in thought, we are now connectively meditating with many others – to build a greater group consciousness, with shared ideas and purposes, and with an intention to serve Life. This helps to build a unified and harmonic heart/mind in humanity.
Realize also that others are already doing this – connecting in heart and mind to build a shared Unity consciousness. Thus, there is already Unity Consciousness, which is expanding in its inclusiveness. Therefore, the right attitude in meditation is to just join in and participate in the already existing consciousness of Unity. And as we consciously join in with our spiritual brothers and sisters, we then strengthen the power and resonance of this Unity, thereby participating in the evolution of humanity and the building a new world based on love and unity. All who connect consciously in the Unity of heart and mind are transforming separative consciousness into Unity consciousness.
Meditation-for-the-world is more powerful when we meditate together in the larger Group Consciousness of Light and Love, rather than just in 'my' light and love. Then, one's own consciousness, love and goodwill becomes connected with others. We begin to realize similar key Ideas and have similar spiritual feelings and intentions. This brings us all together on a subjective level, which then develops more of our Group consciousness, love and will. The fundamental intention of this larger Group is to serve the spiritual process of evolution of humanity, which is to be a world server.
In world-service meditation, there is greater power when we are united together in a larger Group. This larger Group, in which we can consciously be a part, is the totality of all those who have a sincere wish to help all humanity realize our common spiritual love, and also a wish to help transform the whole world with spiritual love, light, and goodwill. This is what we are calling the Group of world-servers. We don't need to know the specific people in this larger Group. All that is essentially important is the feeling and recognition of being part of this greater Group of world-servers – all those who sincerely seek to help all humanity evolve into what is spiritually possible.
Feel or mentally connect with all those who share in the same spiritual purpose and goals. This is our Group; this is the Group Consciousness of which we are a part. Tune in with and meditate in this larger Group Consciousness and all of the individuals in it, with shared purposes and goals. When we consciously do this in meditation, with recognition and actual experience of the Group Consciousness, our meditation work will be much more powerful and effective throughout all of humanity and the whole world.
Connect together subjectively in the Group heart and mind, and come together as a Group power. Meditate in (and as a part of) the collective Group Light, Group Love, and Group Good-Will.
We each can join in and participate in this larger Group consciousness, which are all those in the world with similar mind and heart. Feel and sense the larger Group in which you share common basic ideas and intentions. Not that everyone in the group has to share the exact same ideas or beliefs, but there needs to be some foundational similarities of common intention and purpose, in order to build Group consciousness or Group mind.
We are all in this together, participating together in the overall evolution of love, wisdom and creative harmony. Yet each of us can uniquely contribute to this overall World realization and see how to best serve the larger purposes. So, everyone in the Group is responsible in actually building this world-service consciousness and group work. Each participant will have a unique creative part to offer, and each can bring unique perspectives and ideas to the Group. Thus, everyone is involved in the creativity of the Group – its creative visions and creative work.
This is a new kind of group consciousness. It's not like the old way of merely being a follower, or merely following orders, or following a religious leader or a fixed code of rules. Instead, each participant is a unique creative addition to making what the group is. So, this is the basis of a new kind of group consciousness; which is inclusive, non-imposing, and sharing. We are really a World consciousness. This is the unfolding spiritual evolution of humanity, with all of us included.
Each spiritual group in the world has its own synergistic group power, which then has influence in the world, just as all kinds of united cultural and religious groups have a synergistic power in the world, because of their united minds and hearts. So there is nothing new about the 'power of group mind' in the world. But now all people of love and goodwill need to unite, in mind and in heart, in order to create a unified and powerful consciousness, which will transform the world with its united love and wisdom. So if we can all come together in meditation, with conscious connection and unity, the world will transform. We all might not agree and unite on everything, but we can all unite in our shared consciousness and in our inclusive love. So we can create a united group consciousness, which shares the fundamental spiritual principles of love and goodwill, and is inclusive of all humanity.
This 'group consciousness' is actually a world consciousness, but it's not an actual organization. United in spiritual purpose, this world consciousness will be a transforming power in the world, transforming the consciousness of humanity. This isn't a power that physically transforms politics, economics, and world affairs; rather, it's a power that transforms consciousness, mind and heart. Yet this will then transform the physical world. And this power of unity consciousness will eventually transform the consciousness of all humanity. This is how the Universal-Divine Love and Intelligence will transform the world and bring forth spiritual enlightenment in humanity. This transformation will happen through our consciousness, which is why we need to meditate our united consciousness into all humanity. Spiritual transformation will have to be a consciousness transformation, requiring resonance from consciousness to consciousness.
We need an increase of spiritual power in the world, which requires an increase in the will-to-good and the will-to-love. Good-will needs to become stronger and more powerful in the world, rather than self-centered or uncaring will. This increase of good-will power will create a spiritual transformation in the world. The more people with good-will, who use the power of their will for the good of everyone, will bring forth a new era for humanity, a world with love, caring, and cooperation. So let us strengthen the powers of good-will and love in the world. Let us give our own power of good-will to add to all those others with good-will. This will strengthen the power of spiritual will.
Many spiritually-minded people do not yet understand the importance of spiritual power. Many think that spiritual people do not use power. Maybe they think that only God has spiritual power and that we should simply let God do what is best. But God's Power works through the will and efforts of people. God is the Source of spiritual power, but we are the hands of power.
It is true that people can abuse power or use power without spiritual love and wise intelligence; but this is why the world needs an increase in spiritual power – an increase in spiritual will, along with the powers of love and holistic wisdom. Selfish and egotistic powers need to be countered and transformed by spiritual powers.
There needs to be more good power manifesting in the world, more loving and more wise power. Thus, spiritual power has to be realized and manifested through more and more of humanity, so we each need to be responsible for increasing the spiritual power in our world, which we can do by resonating spiritual power, love and goodwill into the world.
Through the power of meditation, we can increase spiritual love and goodwill in the world. We can increase spiritual power. First, become aligned with the spiritual power of God, or with greater spiritual Beings. Also connect with your inner spiritual will. Next, visualise the increasing of Light, Love and Goodwill throughout all humanity. Visualise and affirm spiritual power illuminating and transforming the world.
Also remember that group consciousness and group meditation synergistically increases the power of mediation work for world transformation.
Here are some suggestions for meditations to help bring forth more Light, Love and Spiritual Power into the world.
First, align yourself with the spiritual power of God, or with the spiritual Hierarchy. Also connect with your own spiritual will.
Then, visualise an increase of Light, Love and Goodwill throughout all humanity.
Group consciousness and group meditation synergistically increases the power of meditation work for spiritual evolution.
Here is an example of a group-consciousness meditation to resonate spiritual light, love, and goodwill into the world.
First, attune with all people in the world who realize spiritual light, feel spiritual love, and express spiritual goodwill.
Then, say or think the
following meditation –
(but spend enough time with each stanza)
All
people of Spiritual light,
we
gather together all of our light
and
resonate this for all humanity to experience.
All
people of Spiritual love,
we
gather together all of our love
and
resonate this for all humanity to experience.
All
people of Spiritual goodwill,
we
gather together all of our goodwill
and
resonate this for all humanity to experience.
I am one with my group workers, and all that I have is theirs.
May the love in my soul pour forth to them.
May the strength of my soul lift and aid them.
May the thoughts from my soul reach and encourage them.
In the center of all Love I stand.
From that centre, I, the soul, will outward move.
From that center, I, the one who serves, will work.
May the Love, radiating from the Divine Self, be known,
in my heart, through my group, and throughout the world.
I am a point of light within a Greater Light.
I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love Divine.
I am a point of sacrificial fire within the fiery Will of God.
And thus I stand.
I am in a way by which others may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way.
And thus I stand.
In the centre of the Will of God I stand.
Naught shall deflect my will from this.
I implement that will by love.
I turn towards the field of service.
I, the Triangle Divine, work out that will
within the square and serve my fellowmen.
Here is a basic guideline for world-service meditation. Each stage requires adequate meditative time and reflection.
It all could be done in about ten minutes, or one could spend an hour with it. But it's not meant to be rushed through. Also, this meditation can be done either as a group or individually alone. If one is meditating alone, or just with a few people, then use visualisation to connect with a larger group of meditators. This is done to increase the synergy power of the meditation.
Clear and harmonize the energies of your body, emotions, and mind.
Visualise being part of a larger spiritual group, with everyone united in consciousness and in purpose.
As a group, align now with the Spiritual Hierarchy, and also with the Source (of Light, Love, and Power). Realize we are mediators between Hierarchy and humanity,for Light and Love to illuminate all minds and hearts.
We now receptively open our mind and heart
to the Light and Love seeking to manifest on Earth, and to a Spiritual Quality coming from Universal Mind.
Meditatively reflect upon this Quality, Truth, Idea,
or Vision; to understand and experience it.
Visualise Light, Love, Goodwill, and the received Qualityprecipitating into world consciousness.
End with a world invocation or prayer, for Light, Love, Goodwill, and Spiritual Qualities to be realized and expressed in all of humanity.
Steps
(give each step a few minutes)
Establish a mind-heart connection with Spirit, while also feeling connected with Earth and all humanity
Reflect upon the purpose and responsibility of mediating between the Hierarchy and humanity
Realize unity in mind, heart, and will with all those seeking to unfold Light, Love, and Purpose on Earth
Our love, goodwill, and encouraging thoughts are shared, and we unite as spiritual mediators
Together we enter into the Spiritual Hierarchy, approaching the greatest Light, most inclusive Love, and purest Will
Meditate for some minutes in the Spiritual Hierarchy,
connected with the Source of Light, Love, and Will
Be receptive to impressions, intuitions, ideas, visions, or qualities from the Hierarchy
Mentally seek to understand and clarify what is being shared from the Higher Levels of Spirit
Reflect upon key ideals and principles important in life and in solving global problems
Mentally share these ideas with all humanity
Visualize and affirm the awakening Light, the inclusive Love, and the Will-towards-good being realized in everyone
May Light, Love, and Spiritual Will unfold throughout all humanity
May the Intelligence & Wisdom of God unfold in humanity,
May the Love & Caringness of God unfold in humanity,
May the Spiritual Power & Will of God unfold in humanity,
May the Light, Love, and Power of God transform the world,
transforming ignorance, hatred, greed and selfishness.
Inquires or questions:
webdirector@educationforworldsolutions.org