We mentioned that meditation is a state of consciousness. It is not a technique. Although in this tradition, we study many practices, many dynamics, many exercises that lead to this state within our daily life.
Meditative states, experiences, cognizance can always be understood through the balance of two things: study and practice. This is known as method and wisdom within Buddhism and as Samael Aun Weor, the founder of our tradition stated: “Knowledge and being must be balanced within harmoniously in order to produce comprehension.” So, we must have knowledge of the method, what different religions teach in their very heart, how to achieve the experience, the perception of the divine. This is why we, in this tradition, study many aspects of religion, because they all teach something very valuable about how to meditate. In the spirit of this course, we are exploring the science of meditation as taught within Sufism, although we do reference and study Buddhism, Judaism, all religions. We must always study Gnosis wherever it may be found, because the principles of Gnosis are universal, and we know from our studies that Gnosis is direct knowledge. It is cognizant experience. It is the state of meditation, of understanding. And because mediation is universal, we can always drink the wine of Gnosis from a Sufi, Buddhist or Christian cup. The religious forms are different, but the complete knowledge is the same.
The Universality of Gnosis within Religious Traditions
It’s important that we learn to drink this wine, this divine teaching, within every tradition—without exception. But we also must never pollute the purity of that knowledge with extemporaneous things, with novelties, innovations. We must not adulterate the wine of Gnosis through a bad cup, through a filthy chalice.
This is the symbol of how meditation in different traditions throughout time originally taught this teaching, this profound science. But with time and the degeneration of humanity, those religious forms have been corrupted. So, in the times of Jesus, the gospels speak about the pharisees, which can really symbolize any person from any tradition who thinks they know Gnosis, the wisdom of direct experience, but they have merely corrupted the original teaching through belief. And we have mentioned many times in our lectures and courses that belief is not real knowledge, real faith. When we believe in something, we think it is true or we feel it is true, but we do not know. Faith is Gnosis. It is what we have experienced. It is what we have verified, and this very pure fountain of wisdom which we always must drink from, which we always must validate through our own practice, through our own experiences. And when we have that experience, we are able to look at any religion, any teaching, and find the principles of that doctrine, to recognize it, to know it, because we have seen it for ourselves. We know it for ourselves. But the pharisee, a type of psychology that thinks it knows, but does not, is prevalent in any tradition. As Jesus of Nazareth stated, the pharisees wash the outside of the cup, but not the inside, which is a symbol of the soul. It also can refer to a religion’s tradition, meditative traditions, where the principles of this doctrine have been lost, because people, thinking that they know and understand the scriptures from experience, they mix that wisdom with impurity. Also, this is why Jesus stated, we must pour new wine in new wine-skins. It means to have a psychological attitude that is investigative, to open one’s mind to the new. And to simply experiment. We have to look at these practices and really test them from our own experience, to really have genuine faith, to really know. This is a conundrum or a catch 22 for students who approach any tradition. They are inspired to want to know themselves, to study themselves, to experience divinity. But because we are so corrupt with ego, we often do not know where to look for that wisdom, and so in the beginning we are blind. This is why there is a great danger in the beginning for students: to simply attach themselves to any teaching without verifying or testing it, to accept and believe in it with their minds and hearts, but without awakening the consciousness. We study all religions. We drink gnosis, direct experience, not only from the writings of Samael Aun Weor but from the Sufis, from the Buddhist masters, from the great Kabbalists of Israel. This indicates that we have to know how to read, to understand. We have to learn how to verify. We have to experiment. This is why we study all religions, unanimously. We look at their essential principles, to know what they all teach in their essence, so that we do not become confused or intoxicated by the wine of theories, of belief systems, of merely accepting or rejecting the doctrine in our mind and heart without really comprehending the value of it. So, Gnosis again, is real faith. It is witnessing real divinity, which the Muslims call Shahada, the declaration of faith. There is no God but God and Muhammad is His Prophet. We explain the meaning of that term, Shahada, which relates to mushahada in Arabic, signifying mediation. So, we are going to further explore the principles of meditation according to Sufism, in order to fill a very severe need in our studies. Many people are not familiar with how mediation is taught in the Sufi teaching, how Gnosis is within Sufism. As we were talking about the allegory of the cup, we also have to be very careful when we study. Gnosis is often the mixed, the principles of meditation are often mixed with corruption. Every tradition in time degenerates. It is a law of nature. It has happened with Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and even today in the Gnostic tradition. It is because the root knowledge is often overlooked, untaught or forgotten. To have real wisdom is based on experiencing the truth for ourselves, and in this way, we do not get lost. We do not get confused when we see or hear things that are not in coherence, do not correlate with what we have verified, and this is the importance of studying the divine law and the way, in harmony. The divine law is that we serve divinity through our practices. The way is that we experience the truth. And in this way, in our process of developing both knowledge and being, studying the tradition and meditation, no matter where it is found―we also test and experiment, we verify. We always look at the principles of a teaching, to see what is pure, what is true, and then we disregard that which is superfluous, corrupted, unnecessary. The Definition of Principles
I would like to define for you what the word principle means as we are opening this discussion. In the online dictionary, a principle “is a fundamental truth, a proposition that serves as the foundation of a system of belief or behavior or for a change of reasoning.”
A principle is a fundamental law or truth. It is what we can verify, what we can experience. This becomes a foundation for a system, which in this definition refers to “belief.” Or in this definition refers to belief, which is inaccurate. While principles always make up any religion, in our studies we do not believe in these things. Some people may and they can teach what they like, they can get many followers because they really believe that they know. But we have to go beyond the surface and really get at the heart of what a teaching, a school, a method entails. Principles can also refer to a code of behavior, which we spoke about very abundantly in the previous lecture on the nature of the divine law, and ethics. It also can support a chain of reasoning, of understanding, of comprehension. So, in the beginning of our studies we read, we reflect, we comprehend the knowledge with the mind. We learn the terminology, the explanations, but more importantly we have to apply what we read. This is the balance of knowledge and being. This is the balance that leads us and conducts us towards integrity, to comprehension. A principle also is “a general scientific theorem or law that has numerous special applications across a wide field.” It can be a law, principles like gravity. These are tangible experiences. These are truths that are not merely just a concept. It is a factual element of life. While the principles of meditation pertain to our mystical states, they refer to how we live our life daily. What we know, what we see, what we verify. We know that if we act with anger, we will suffer. This is a principle or law of human behavior, of ethics. Which is why ethics is always the foundation of any tradition in order to really enter meditation. As we stated, we find Gnosis in all religions, without exception. Just because Gnosis was the heart of those traditions, not everything that was taught in those faiths has been sustained, has lived, has not been corrupted. It’s sad to say, there are many people who take the principles of meditation, the principles of Gnosis, the teachings of Samael Aun Weor, or Sufism or Judaism or Buddhism, and they adulterate them with drugs, with politics, sectarianism, fanaticism. Many even attribute these qualities to the original heart of the founders of the religions themselves. This is very sad. It creates a lot of confusion, a lot of conflict. People project their concepts onto the knowledge, and that is how one adulterates the knowledge. Because of a lack of genuine ethics, of following the divine law, many so called spiritual people have driven people away from the actualization or study of themselves. We find this in every faith, especially Islam, which is a tradition that has been greatly abused. Hopefully, after this course, you will find that the principles of Gnosis are very alive within the original writings, which we always have to examine in light of our own experience and through teachings by Samael Aun Weor, who gives a very cohesive and comprehensive perspective, a practical wisdom that can aid us in understanding these things for ourselves. As Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Revolution of Beelzebub: “It is absurd to adulterate Gnosis with different teachings because the Christian Gospels prohibit adultery. It is absurd to conceive of Gnosis without the Maithuna, sexual magic.” ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of Beelzebub We will make some references to that teaching, tantrism, sacred alchemy, with our discussion of essential principles today. “We can drink the wine of Gnosis (divine wisdom) within a Greek, Buddhist, Sufi, Aztec, Egyptian, etc., cup, yet we must not adulterate this delicious wine with strange doctrines.” ―Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Revolution of Beelzebub: This means that, we look at what the Sufis wrote, what the Gnostics wrote, and we verify. We look at those traditions with the eye of discrimination and selectivity. We have to look at the essential principles of these traditions and to understand them from experience. There is no other way. The way must be validated through the divine law and the divine law must be validated through the way. So, in this way, Bayazid Bastami, a Sufi initiate, stated “The thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it.” So, we can never seek for genuine knowledge, just through mere intellectual pursuit. We have to understand these things through practice. So genuine seeking is through daily meditation, daily experience. The Fundamentals of Meditation: Study and Practice
So how should we approach meditation? To emphasize my previous point, we have to look at the original scriptures. We have to look at the original writings, before commentators or commentary derived from those root sources. Whether we study Buddhism or Sufism or any teaching, we have to look at the founding documents, the original verb, the fundamentals of religion. To really look at it with a clear mindset, an attitude of investigation.
The following is from a Sufi book called Al-Risalah, known as Principles of Sufism, written by a master by the name of Al-Qushayri. His writings were often used by the Sufi master Rumi, amongst the Mevlevi Sufis, his disciples. It is a very rich book that you can study if you wish to understand the principles of Sufism, the principles of Gnosis. We quote from this book extensively because it is a very pure document. If I give testimony of this, it is because it is a text that I have investigated many times and have had experiences internally about, in the astral plane, in the mental plane, beyond. We have to learn to investigate the written word and to reflect deeply on what we read to balance study and practice, method and wisdom. This is what it means when Al-Jurayri was quoted in this book: “A clear vision of the fundamentals of religion comes about through the application of their derivative principles, and the derivatives are corrected by comparing them against the original sources. There is no way to the station of contemplation (meditation, mushahada) of states except by esteeming as great the means and principles that God has esteemed to be great.” ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri So, the fundamentals of religion refer to the Latin religare, reunion, unification with divinity. We must study and apply, more importantly, derivative principles. What are these principles? Serenity, concentration, faith, ethical behavior, codes of conduct, divine love. These are qualities of mind, of consciousness, qualities of the soul that we can develop intentionally, so as to achieve re-unification with our inner God. We have to study and apply these principles in our daily life through our ethical behavior. The derivatives refer to qualities of consciousness that originate from those laws. So, a principle is a law, a law of nature, whether in the physical plane or in the internal planes. What principles do we enact in our life in order to obtain religion? What do we do on a daily basis to guarantee we will experience and know the state of our inner Being, our inner God? What about our life derives from these principles? By fulfilling ethical conduct, what is the derivative, what is the result in our factual daily life? We have to investigate this. But to know these principles, we can study. This is the beauty of Sufism. It teaches us the level of Being, what we are psychologically, what are the virtues of the soul. So, when we comprehend and eliminate certain defects, we enact ethical behavior and really comprehend our faults. We develop the virtues of the Being in us. We derive genuine contentment, happiness, liberation by following these laws of the soul. Sufism is very beautiful for that understanding. It teaches us about the virtues of the Being. We can experience these things if we are working seriously. So, “these derivatives are corrected by comparing them against the original sources.” Another meaning is, we can study the writings of many teachers whether from Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism, Gnosticism. But whenever we really study a tradition, we have to really look at the founder of those faiths. We have to look at the original sources to analyse them, to really understand them, intellectually at first, and then through our experience. So, what I mean by the original sources is the writings of the Buddha, the sutras, the tantras. The writings of Padmasambhava. In Islam, the Qur’an. In the Gnostic tradition, the writings of Samael Aun Weor. We have to look at the original writings of the prophets, beings who really demonstrated a high level of integrity and understanding, the writings of Jesus or the scriptures about Christ. We have to look at these original sources, compare them to everything else that came after, because the writings or teachings of the prophets have precedence. They have the most light or knowledge. We have to study where the light is most pure and learn to compare what came afterwards with the sense of integrity and discrimination, because impurity comes later. The light initiates, but the shadow emerges afterwards. It is good to really be studious. It doesn’t mean we just become bookworms. It means we develop our understanding with a lot of patience and practice, because “there is no way to the stage of contemplation, the witnessing of divine states except by esteeming as great the means and principles that God has esteemed to be great” in the teaching of the prophets. They gave methods and means, principles of divinity, laws of the cosmos that are really divine. We have to really understand what these laws are for ourselves because there is a system. There is a way. There is a path. It is specific. It is based on laws. It is not a belief or a concept to adopt, a behavior to imitate superficially. It is a code of conduct, a way of acting consciously. It is the fulfillment of law, the law of causality. Because the soul cannot be created, the consciousness cannot be developed, if we do not apply the principles or laws that ensure its fulfillment in us. Just as there is a law of gravity, there is a law for developing the soul. If we wish to return to God, we have to learn to adopt and practice and understand how those laws of divinity operate based on facts. And in this way, when we see how this teaching works, how ethics works, how compassion is really the essence of religion, of harmonizing communities, of bringing real peace and love in our own life and the lives of others―we realize with awe that it is a beautiful knowledge. It is a great thing, that is so wonderful that it is incomprehensible to the mind. When we experience those states of beatitude, of compassion, of serenity, it truly transforms us. This is how we empower our practice, when we have those experiences. But first we have to study and apply the knowledge. We have to know the principles of God, the principles of meditation, and to work very diligently to experience them. But not out of craving, the desire that wants to have some kind of Samadhi or mystical experience, but simply changing our daily life, working on behaviors that make us suffer, so that we can obtain a state of knowledge, the certainty that certain ways of behaving are wrong, create problems and certain ways of behaving also produce harmony, happiness. This is how we inspire ourselves and this is how we develop certainty, real faith that this knowledge works. Certainty in Meditation
This is why we are going to examine some writings from the Qur’an that talk a lot about this nature of certainly, of real faith. So, everybody in this knowledge, this teaching of Samael Aun Weor, wants to develop certainty. Every practitioner who is really applying meditation wants to have that verification of the truth, wants to have a foundation, an experience―to really know that we know and that we have experienced God, that we know divinity, in whatever level, because there are degrees of knowledge, but also there are degrees of certainty.
There are some very beautiful teachings within this Muslim scripture. I will preface this discussion by saying the Qur’an is a very closed book. It is a book for initiates, people who are really walking the path of meditation, of the science of alchemy (from the Arabic Allah and the Greek khēmeia), to fuse oneself with divinity in the perfect matrimony, and also the study of Kabbalah. We know that Kabbalah is the Jewish mysticism, and we will talk about the Tree of Life near the end of this lecture, how the Hebrew kabbel means “to receive” knowledge that we are certain of from experience, relating to our physical life and internal life. Just as there is Kabbalah within the Jewish tradition, we also have Kabbalah in the Arabic tradition, because Arabic and Hebrew, the Semitic languages, share the same roots. They are very ancient. We always must study the science of meditation, the science of alchemy, if we are married. If we are a single person, we can practice many exercises that work with energy so as to awaken consciousness. This is the science of transmutation, of mutating the creative force of our body into understanding, into light. The Three Forms of Certainty
There are three forms of certainty within the Qur’an which can help us to understand the whole map of meditation and our own experiences. I have included the Qur’anic verses where you find these terms mentioned and I will read for you excerpts from the Qur’an that talk about these principles. There is the knowledge of certainty ilm al-yaqin. There is the seeing of certainty, ayn al-yaqin, and there is the truth of certainty ḥaqq al-yaqin.
So, what is the knowledge of certainty? It refers to what we know with the intellect. It can study a religion, a system, a principle, a faith. We can have a certain level of certainty in our mind, intellectually that we know. We learn the theory, the concepts, the languages, the terms. We see how the system works, at least in the mind. We have concepts that are organised, a type of rationalization which is necessary in the beginning. This is why when we talked about the definition of principles, it is also “a fundamental truth for supporting a chain of reasoning.” This knowledge is very logical. It is very dynamic, concrete. Knowledge of certainty refers to things making sense in our readings and our studies, because we have to have that knowledge in the intellect first. However, we can’t just leave that there. We have to really see with certainty what those principles entail. This is the second level of certainty, ayn al-yaqin. Al-yaqin means "certainty." Ilm means "knowledge" and ayn, if you studied Kabbalah, refers to sight, the eyes of perception. To see with certainty means we have experienced what that knowledge entails. We can be reading about astral projection, dream yoga, meditation, samadhi and have that knowledge of certainty in our intellect, of what that teaching entails. This is good, but the next step is to really practice and to experience and see that truth for ourselves. So not just hearing about an astral projection or reading about it, but actually experiencing it for yourself. That is ayn al-yaqin, the seeing of certainty. It is what we have verified. But there is an even deeper level to that knowledge. Ḥaqq al-yaqin, the truth of certainty. This is a very profound level of knowledge and we mentioned in our previous lecture that Haqiqah is the truth, the highest teaching of yoga, of religion, of meditation. It is the profound knowledge Maʿrifa of the truth Al-Ḥaqq, which is one of the names of Allah in the Qur’an. To have the truth of certainty means not only just having an astral projection, which is very beautiful, very powerful, very profound. It means to have a tremendous samadhi in which the soul is lost within the Being, in which we become the Being. The Being manifests in us, a state of happiness and liberation that is truly undefinable, profound, beyond words. It means to be completely free of the ego. There is no ego there. No “I.” No “me” nor “myself.” There is only Al-Ḥaqq, the Truth, which is why the Sufi master, Mansur al-Hallaj stated before the orthodox Muslims, “Ana 'l-Ḥaqq.” He said, “I Am the Truth!” which of course scandalized those people who were very fanatic and religious, institutionalized, dogmatic, because Ḥaqq is one of the names of God, and basically, he said “I am God.” However, people did not understand that it wasn’t Mansur Al-Hallaj who said that. It was the truth within him saying that. Just as Jesus said, “before Abraham was, I Am.” Only divinity can say that, and that’s a very high level of attainment, the level of a master who is reaching perfection. It is very profound, and don’t think that you cannot have that experience to a degree in the beginning, because your Being can give you that knowledge, that certainty, if He wants. You just have to be diligent about your work, but don’t get confused after those experiences thinking that we are God, because we are not. We know from experience what divinity is. We have the truth of certainty. We know it. But we return back to our body, from our experiences from dream yoga or whatever, and then we learn to walk our daily life, to continue working, because the experience of the truth does not mean the complete realization of that truth. Mythomania and the Death of the Ego
In order to self-realize we need to annihilate the ego. This is the problem with certain people in our tradition who have an experience of the truth, the truth of certainty. They unite with God and then they come back saying “I am the Master So-and-so… Follow me!” This has led to many problems in the movement, because experience of the truth is temporary. Self-realization is something else. This is not to denigrate those experiences, because we need those experiences. We need to have truth of certainty in meditation.
We need to know these things for ourselves, but it doesn’t mean that we become mythomaniacs. It’s a term we use in this knowledge, to make a myth of manas, myth of mind. The mind thinking it is God. It is not [Editor’s Note: the term mania is well known as a delirious state of grandeur within psychotherapy and studies on mental illness. See the Spiritual and Mental Health Course for more information on this topic]. So, the consciousness can experience the truth, can see the truth. The mind can have knowledge of certainty knowledge of the truth and the intellect, but the actual experience is something else. The consciousness is not the mind. The consciousness can see with more or less clarity, but to know the truth of certainty we have to be free of ego, even if just for a temporary moment in our meditations. States of the Truth
The Sufi Master Ibn 'Arabi stated that, “knowledge of certainty is like hearing about a fire.” He said that the “seeing of certainty is like seeing a fire, and the truth of certainty is being burnt by fire.” Degrees of knowledge, degrees of experience. But don’t think these types of states are inaccessible to you. Many people hear about these truths and they become overwhelmed, feeling like it is impossible for them to know this truth, to know these experiences for themselves.
This is why in the Qur’an, chapter 50, verses 15 through 16, states: “Did We fail in the first creation? But they are in confusion over a new creation. And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” ―Al-Qaf 15-16 There is a lot of interesting teachings in this verse. “Did We fail in the first creation?” says divinity. This first creation is the birth of our body, our physical conception. When speaking about people who don’t really practice mediation, they are in confusion over a new creation. This new creation is the soul, the soul that we develop. The body is one thing. The soul is another. We have to create the consciousness, build consciousness, develop consciousness. In this way we form the true man, the true Hum-man. Hum means spirit in Sanskrit. Man or manas means mind [Hu is also a mantra amongst Sufi schools, representing the breath of God]. A mind that is fully united with divinity, the spirit, that is a true Hum-man. Divinity in the Qur’an states, “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him.” This is a very high level to attain, to be a real man or a true human being, a woman. “And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” People think divinity is far away, but God is with us in every moment. This is why is Ihsan (beautiful action) is to act as if we see God even if we do not, because surely He sees us. Divinity, the Being, has been given many names in the Qur’an. He is:
We work with meditation, we work with exercises of energy known as transmutation, and we work to serve humanity, to help humanity. We learn these states of being, through applying the principles of meditation. This is what leads us to the three forms of certainty. We have to learn how to first study what these qualities are, but then we have to see them from experience, and if we are really serious, our Being will enter us and help us, will manifest in our deeds, will manifest and express in our daily life as these qualities: Al-Murid, "The Willing"; Al-Raḥman, "The Compassionate"; Al-Raḥim, "The Merciful"; Al-Alim, "The All-Knowing"; Al-Wadud, "The Loving"; Al-Khaliq, "The Creator"―principles, laws of the soul, laws of divinity, which are very high. 
Qur’anic Verses on the Three Certainties
We can taste these in meditation and in our daily life if we are working seriously, working daily. So, it is a means to have knowledge and seeing of certainty. I will read for you some excerpts from the Qur’an where we find these verses, these terms. The knowledge and seeing of certainty are found in Surah 102, known as Al-Takathur: “Rivalry in Worldly Increase.”
This scripture refers to how people, when they approach meditation, or they approach religion, are often afflicted by desire for pursuing worldly things. To have real knowledge of certainty and seeing of certainty is to contemplate the inevitability of death, because if we don’t live our life seriously with this type of knowledge, we don’t know where we are going to go when we die. But if we awaken our perception, we develop the seeing of certainty, we can know everything, then we can generally access the truth. “Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you Until you visit the graveyards. No! You are going to know. Then no! You are going to know. No! If you only knew with knowledge of certainty... You will surely see the Hellfire (states of suffering, the future that awaits those that do not eliminate the ego). Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty. Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure” (meaning vain worldly pleasures). ―Al-Takathur So, if we are serious about meditation, and many times and in many traditions, students are asked to meditate about the certainty of their own death, the death of the body. This is in order to develop commitment to the path. If we are serious about our spirituality, we realise that we cannot waste our time on superfluous things, because eventually we will go to the grave and enter into the internal worlds. If we are asleep in this physical world, we won’t have certainty of that state of consciousness when we die. This is a very scary thing to think about, because when we physically go to sleep, we black out for eight hours, typically, and we do not remember anything. This indicates that we are asleep consciously in the physical world. However, if we want to have real experiences, real certainty of the afterlife, we have to awaken here and now. The truth of certainty is given in Surah 56 Al-Waqi’ah (The Inevitable) of which we will read a few excerpts. “Indeed, it is a noble Qur’an in a register well protected. None touch it except for the purified.” ―Al-Waqi’ah 77-79 So, the Qur’an in Arabic means recitation. It is recorded as a scripture in the internal planes according to the Sufis, guarded by the Elohim or Buddhas, the angels, the masters. It is only accessible to those who are purifying themselves, for those who have the truth of certainty. What does it mean to be purified? It means to work on our own mind, our own egotism, our defects. If we do not comprehend our own errors and work to eliminate them, we cannot develop our spiritual sight. We cannot awaken within the internal dimensions. The reason why we may not have experiences in the beginning is because of our own psychological obscurations, our defects. If you wish to see the internal worlds, wish to see within meditation what we are, we must remove the veil of our understanding, of the mind. So, like any scripture, we can only interpret when we are pure, when we have awakened our consciousness. We move beyond the knowledge of certainty. We see it for ourselves and by the grace of divinity we can have that truth unveiled in its totality. “It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. Then is it to this statement that you are indifferent and make the thanks for your provision that you deny the Provider?” ―Al-Waqi’ah 80-82 Many people are indifferent, even in Gnosis. What does it mean to be indifferent to any religious or spiritual teaching? It means to be asleep. To not feel the urgency to want to change. If we do not feel that longing in our heart to want to know and to give thanks to our inner divinity, it means that we are very hypnotized by our own mind. We are indifferent. We are cold, lukewarm according to the Bible. But anyone of us who is studying this type of knowledge feels a spiritual inquietude, the impetus of the Being that is pushing us to work, to develop the genuine truth of certainty in ourselves. The way we can develop this further is to meditate on our own death. Which is why the Qur’an states: “Then why, when the soul at death reaches the throat and you are at that time looking on, and our angels are nearer to him than you, but you do not see. Then why do you not, if you are not be recompensed, bring it back if you should be truthful? And if the deceased was of those brought near to Allah, then for him is rest and bounty and a garden of pleasure.” ―Al-Waqi’ah 83-89 So many people lead their life mechanically and then they die, not knowing where they will go or where thy came from, and this is very sad. Anyone of us who is studying meditation is pushed by our own inner God. We have the longings to want to really see the mysteries of life and death, to be inspired. It is this inspiration that pushes us to experiment, to know, because we fear and we have that anxiety that we do not know where we are going and that if we do not work on our own conduct, we may end up in states of suffering worse than our present life, because the divine law is cause and effect. We will reap what we sow. And if we think that we will not be recompensed for our wrong action, then simply look at our life. If we are honest, “bring your proof if you are truthful!” We cannot deny the law of causality. It is in every aspect of nature and the universe. There is this law of Shariah, the divine law. But if we are brought near to our inner Being, Allah, through meditation, through practice, “then for him or her is rest and bounty in a garden of pleasure.” “And if he was of the companions of the right (those people who are following this path), then the angels will say, ‘Peace for you, you are from companions of the right.’ But if he was one of the deniers who went astray (the people who feed their ego, who do not work on their mind), then for him is the accommodation of scaling water and burning in hell fire.” ―Al-Waqi’ah 90-94 What is this left-hand path and right-hand path? We will not go into too much detail here, but the right-hand path refers to people who are working to incarnate the Being, who are eliminating the ego. The left-hand path is often referred to as the path of the sorcerers, of black magicians, people who fortify desire and who enter states of suffering which are very intense. So “Indeed, this is the true certainty. So exalt the name of your Lord, the Most Great.” That is the end of that Surah. This is true certainty, and many people often get very afraid when they read the Qur’an. They see the language as very strong, mentioning damnation and hell fire and states of suffering, and become very afraid and very averse to this tradition. But if we waken our consciousness in the internal planes, we find that we are recompensed for what we do. It is the law of nature. If we are good people, we develop our conduct and develop certainty, we know that we will go to better states when physically the body dies. But if we are passionate, filled with hatred, with violence, with adultery, with sarcasm, with Phariseeism, fanaticism, egotism, we will naturally follow the trajectory of our own actions. This is the truth of certainty. The law, the truth, Al-Ḥaqq. It is the way to see how to get out of that, and meditation aids us in that process. Psychological Work and the Signs of God
Everybody in Gnosis wants to have experiences, as I have been stating. Many people start to practice meditation and do not have experiences. They become very frustrated and discouraged. This happens often and it is a normal process, because it is not easy to first work on our mind, and that’s the priority in this tradition. We do not seek to have experiences, though they are very beautiful and necessary, but the priority is working on our own defects.
This is why it says in the Qur’an Surah 2 as Al-Baqara, verse 118: “Those who have no knowledge (ilm or marifah in Arabic) say why does not Allah speak to us or come to us a sign?” ―Al-Baqarah 118 Meaning through some kind of meditative experience. “So said those who were before them, words similar to what they say. Alike are their hearts.” ―Al-Baqarah 118 What does it mean that their hearts are alike? If they want to have experiences, they’re attached to the concept of having Samadhi or mystical vision. For their hearts are lukewarm, their hearts have not been purified. Remember that we stated in the Qur’an that the Qur’an is only read by those who are purified, and can only be understood in that way. Prophet Muhammad taught in the Hadith, the oral tradition of Islam, “There is an organ in the body which, when it is pure, affects the whole health of the organism. When it is impure it pollutes everything. This organ is the heart, and the polish of the heart is Dhikr, remembrance of God.” It is like a mirror. If you polish your heart through ethical conduct, your heart can reflect the heavens. Then experience comes naturally, easily. This is why the Qur’an states: “We have certainly made the signs clear for the people who have certainty.” ―Al-Baqarah 118 We have verified it. But of course, certainty of the truth only comes about by working on the ego, which is why Al-Qushayri in his book Principles of Sufism stated: “Uncertainty, knowledge does not come about except by the prior fulfillment of its conditions. That is, one must examine things in a pertinent and relevant way.” ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri So, this is the beginning, as we were stating. Study the doctrine, memorize it, develop certainty of knowledge. Be pertinent and relevant. Look at those things in your daily life that you want to change the most and look at the aspects of the doctrine that are most relevant to that. Some people study Kabbalah first, some people psychology, meditation, alchemy. We have to study all these things together in their relationship, but how our study unfolds is natural to us, our own idiosyncrasy. We have to examine things in a very relevant way. Study meditation, how to practice it and apply it to your life. This is what is most important, pertinent. When we are studying these things and applying these things: “The when the hints of the divine become continuous and clear demonstrative evidence has been obtained, the perceiver (the meditator), through the succession of lights and his deep reflection upon them, becomes seemingly independent of the consideration of proof.“ ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri As we are practicing, we may experience many things. We develop evidence from our own experience. It is demonstrative. It is factual. Some people when they are meditating may see lights, images, scenes pulling out or playing out within their consciousness. Some people have visions, astral experiences, jinn experiences. When deeply reflecting on these qualities, through time, experience and practice, we become seemingly independent of the consideration of proof. Meaning we are no longer filled with the desire to want to prove these things egotistically. The desire or the mind says, “I want to know,” but this frustration is the obstacle. We can deeply reflect on these truths, but we do not necessarily crave the understanding or experience. It will appear in our consciousness when we stop thinking about it. When we silence our mind, relax our mind and withdraw our senses from the physical world, from our body, when the mind is serene and calm, our heart is purified. The deep reflection, the lights of divinity can reflect in us. “This is the state of certainty.” That is when we know we have experiences. But first polish the mirror. As Rumi stated, “Your goal is not to seek after love, but to merely remove the causes and conditions that have prevented you from knowing it.” Meaning, remove the ego, and in that way we grow spiritually. 
The Tree of Life: A Map of Consciousness
When we study the principles of meditation, we are going to study the Tree of Life in its synthesis. The Tree of Life on the left is the map of Kabbalah, is the levels of consciousness, levels of being, which the Sufis speak abundantly about without using the Hebrew language.
We won’t explain all the dynamics of this Tree of Life, but merely introduce it in the context of our discussion, because this map helps us to understand where we are, where we are in our meditation. We have to learn this Tree of Life very deeply, its levels of consciousness, levels of being, so that when we study any scriptures, such as the Qur’an, we can interpret with clarity, with understanding. In this way we apply these principles to our life, so that we can really deepen our meditative practice. For example, we have the lower seven sephiroth, which means spheres [emanations] in Hebrew. It is a map of the multi-dimensionality of our universe, of the different dimensions of the cosmos, but also of our own psyche. We have Malkuth, the physical body. We have Yesod, the energetic, ethereal or vital forces which permeates our physicality and gives it life. We have Hod, our emotional vehicle or body of dreams. We operate in this vehicle when we enter the dream world, which we navigate in those planes of experience when the physical body is asleep. Likewise we have Netzach, which is our mind, our thoughts. We have Tiphereth, our willpower or human soul. It is the beauty of the soul, which the Muslims have referred to with the name Hassan. Hassan reminds us of Ihsan, meaning: beautiful action. It is through our own will that we can act beautifully through divinity, which is our consciousness. Geburah, meaning justice in Hebrew, is the consciousness, our sense of right and wrong. Our intuition which tells us what to do, how to act. Sometimes our will in daily life may act egotistically, may follow our own mind or emotions, may misuse our vital energies and the physical body. Or other times we learn to use our will, to follow our hunches, our spiritual inquietudes, our conscience, which is Geburah, the divine soul. In this way we learn to practice ethics, so that we can experience the spirit, Al-Ḥaqq, the Truth, Chesed. On the right we see an image of a Tree of Life within Islam, because the Muslims didn’t explicitly teach about this Tree of Life, although in their writings you can understand those principles, if we are informed, which is part of the purpose of this course, so we can look at these principles and apply them to our studies. Meditation is experience for when we learn to work with the Tree of Life in us. Calm the body, rest our vital energies, such as through mantras, sacred sounds, alchemy, runes, pranayama, sacred rights of rejuvenation. We calm our heart through prayer, through humility, through polishing our emotional center, our emotional qualities. We silence and calm our mind. Withdraw our senses from the physical body, our energies, our emotions, our thoughts. We concentrate our willpower in order to reflect within, to follow our intuition, our consciousness. In that way we can have experiences of the spirit. That’s a very synthetic way of talking about this dynamic. We will come back to this again and again, but I merely wanted to introduce this Tree of Life in the context of our course, because we will go very deep into these principles. Silence and Insight
So, what are these essential principles of meditation that we have been discussing? In the Gnostic tradition, we have concentration and imagination, produces the state of meditation.
Concentration is the ability to focus on one thing, without thinking of anything else. Imagination is our capacity to perceive images of a nonphysical type. So, if I was to ask you to imagine an apple, you can see it in your mind. It is not physical, but we perceive images that are not physical. That’s a very simple example of this quality. It is the capacity to perceive internal imagery, such as through dreams. If we wish to have that type of perception very developed, we have to work with many exercises to develop our imagination, which we will be explaining in this course. Concentration is when we are able to focus on one thing with our willpower, our attention, without being distracted. We develop our concentration through ethics. If our mind is wild, we can’t concentrate or focus on one thing when we sit to practice, if we are engaging in unethical behavior all day. We feed our anger, our mind becomes agitated. We feel lust, we pollute our mind stream with conditions of mind, desire, which are contrary to the state of imagination. We can’t see clearly if the mind is chaos. This is the meaning of polishing the heart. The heart is developed through our ethics. When the heart is polished, we can reflect the images of God, and this is the state of meditation. So, this is the Gnostic conception of this dynamic. Concentration, imagination equals meditation, the state of comprehension. The Buddhists refer to this as Shamatha and Vipassana, which relates and completes Samadhi, mystical experience. The Sufis refer to this dynamic as silence and insight, which refers to witnessing the truth. They all teach the same thing. While you may be familiar with the Buddhist conception or the gnostic teaching of this dynamic, we are going to explore these principles according to Sufism. So, by obtaining silence of mind, serenity of mind, we develop understanding or insight. We can see things clearly in us. And of course, there are many practices to develop serenity, concentration, and there are also practices to develop imagination. 
The Key to Successful Worship
To conclude, in order to develop certainty in us, to develop real worship of divinity, we have to combine silence and insight, according to the Sufis. Serenity and visualization, concentration, imagination. Dhul-Nun al-Misri was a Sufi initiate who wrote the following:
“The key to success and worship lies in meditative reflection, fikrat. Whoever persists in such reflection in the heart will behold the invisible realm in the spirit.” ―Dhul-Nun al-Misri So, this means: polish your mind, polish your heart, act ethically, develop compassion for others, especially when you are tempted to behave in negative ways. Work on anger. Look in yourself at anger. See it for what it is. Comprehend it. reflect upon it. See it. Develop serenity in you so that when you are working on your mind in mediation, you can go deep. Reflect on yourself, be deep, be profound. In this way we awaken our consciousness to behold the invisible realm, the Tree of Life, in the spirit. “Whosoever contemplates God through keeping watch over their thoughts which pass through his heart will be exalted by God and in all his outward deeds.” ―Dhul-Nun al-Misri This is the meaning of “Truly We are closer to you then your jugular vein.” Whomsoever acts by working on their own mind, their own thoughts, by what they can perceive, here and now, will learn to purify themselves. It is only by purifying our mind, by acting ethically that we develop genuine serenity, silence, and eventually insight and understanding. So, we will be examining these principles very deeply, in the coming months. I would like to invite you to ask questions. Questions and Answers
Question: I have a question in regard to an indifferent approach. My question is that in a lot of Samael’s teachings, he talks about how we should also have an attitude of indifference towards the studies, not necessarily what you meant as how I understood it, which was to approach it with a state of equanimity (as of that indifference). Not like the attitude of what you said, like laziness, not having the fuel to go after those experiences. Could you please expand a little on that?
Instructor: Absolutely. Very good comment. What Samael Aun Weor mentions about practicing with indifference, has to do with, as you said, being neutral. Having a state of equanimity, not being driven by passion or craving to have experiences, but neither wanting to reject what we see, but to verify and to test. So, there are two forms of indifference, as you mentioned, and that we were talking about. One is to be in a state of equanimity and to be scientific―test and verify. Look at what the teachings provide. Practice them, but do not expect an immediate reward. Neither fear what the outcome may be, but simply work with them and try them with an open mind. This is the meaning of pouring new wine in new wine skins, or a new cup, a fresh cup. We learn to drink that experience and those practices by trying them, and seeing what works from experience. But the other term of indifference is (in terms of the Qur’anic language) not really caring about or having an inspiration to want to practice at all. So, it’s a very different thing as you know. One thing is to practice with the neutral, equanimitous state of mind, but one thing is to be so lazy and intellectual to not want to try anything at all. The latter state is very common in the Gnostic movement, or any tradition really. People may like to study intellectually and are very fascinated by theory and they have the knowledge of certainty of things, but they are really lukewarm when it comes to dedication. Dedication is fulfilled when we practice this science Question: Would it be accurate to say that serving humanity, showing compassion to others, helping in a soup kitchen for e.g. is wonderful and great thing to do, but to really serve humanity is to act ethically, to not act of negative emotions, not act out of the “I’s,” try not to dominate moments or always be right or point out how others are wrong? Is it accurate to say serving humanity is ethics? Instructor: Absolutely, because any type of service becomes corrupt if we do it with our desires. If we are working on our anger, our pride, our fear and our negative internal states, that’s going to be the greatest form of worship. It is what Dhul-Nun al-Misri teaches too, and many other Sufis. While we do not negate the need to want to help other people, we perfect that art when we are being patient with ourselves and other people. In terms of serving humanity, we have our jobs, we have our careers. We have certain services that we are doing to genuinely help others, but that quality of that service is contingent upon our own mental states. So, they go both hand in hand, but more importantly if we are going to serve well, we have to work on our ego. That is really the greatest form of sacrifice and service, because we can work at job that we really hate, that is very difficult and yet it is where our Being needs us to be. Personally, I have a job that is very difficult. I work with very difficult clients who test me all the time, who are very negative, and many times I have wanted to quit my job. I have wanted to leave because its been a very painful process. But I found that my Being has put me there, and I have verified this through experiences many times, in order to work on my patience, work on my ethics and work on my mind. When I have been able to change my own negative internal states, my own frustration and anger, I have really been able to serve humanity better at that job. Our greatest form of prayer for divinity is when we comprehend and annihilate anger, which is why Prophet Muhammad taught “The strongest amongst you is he who controls his anger.” We can’t really help other people if we are afflicted by our own desires. So they relate to each other: service and death of the ego. They are two aspects of the same thing, including the other factor, which is birth. Birth, death and sacrifice―the three factors of Gnosis. Of course, it’s a form of prayer in which we no longer react to life, we contemplate God in our thoughts, our deeds and our hearts. When we do not act on our ego, but act virtuously, God exalts us and helps us with certain meditative states and experiences. Hope that answers your question. Question: Yes, definitely thank you. So, the sacrifice and the serving of humanity, that can come through voluntary suffering, whereas the suffering is when you are in an ordeal and you want to argue back and prove that you right, show that you are the victim in the situation but instead you do not act on your anger, your pride and that’s voluntary. Its hard because you want to point out that you are being wronged but instead you take the higher road, and that’s voluntary suffering, correct? Instructor: Absolutely, and that is really the foundation of developing certainty. People want to experience God, but they do not want to work on the veil that covers them. When we are angry, we do not see God. We see anger. We want to hurt, but if you are changing your mental states, you are tearing the veil of Isis according to the Freemasons. In that way we can really serve the other person, especially when they are crucifying us, metaphorically speaking.
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So the purpose of this course is to study and understand, as well as apply the principles of meditation. Meditation in its heart has been taught in the core of every religion, but in accordance with the skills or dispositions, the needs, the qualities of the students, and the particular culture in which this teaching has been given. So in Gnosticism we study a variety of faiths, a variety of teachings, which all point towards the development of the soul.
In the spirit of universality and study, we are going to be examining in this course how the Sufis taught the science of meditation. Sufism is a very beautiful teaching, but which unfortunately is not very well studied in the West; neither is it understood or practiced well, primarily because in Western society, Sufism has taken an academic role, where it has been exclusively limited to discussions and polemics of academies. But in its practical essence, Sufism teaches us how to understand our way of being, who we are fundamentally—to see and comprehend the path that leads out of suffering and towards the personal experience of the divine. Some of you may be familiar with the poet Rumi. He’s actually the most popular poet in the west. He stated: “Remember that the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.” So this statement is very profound and applies to the science of meditative knowledge: how we explore ourselves to perceive and understand what in us makes us suffer and what we can do to change. Samael Aun Weor, the founder of the modern gnostic tradition, wrote in The Spiritual Power of Sound: “It is completely impossible to experience the Being, the Innermost, the Reality (the divine) without becoming true technical and scientific masters of that mysterious science called meditation.” —Samael Aun Weor, The Spiritual Power of Sound: “The ‘I’ and the Being” Meditation as denominated by the Sufis is mushahida. It means contemplation, to witness, to perceive. If you've heard or studied the public teachings of Islam, they have a very famous statement or declaration of faith called the Shahadah, which is the famous postulation: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His prophet.” In a profound way, to witness divinity, to witness the truth in ourselves, to experience what religion calls God, that all depends on meditation—because to bear witness of something, we have to see it. We have to perceive it. And that is what meditation is for. To see divinity. To know divinity. To not believe or leave that knowledge exclusively in the intellect or a sentiment in the heart. To really bear witness of the truth is to be a practical meditator. To practice contemplation, mushahida. That is how we enter the sanctuary inside of us, because all of us have divinity, the reality, the Being inside. Samael Aun Weor, who founded our tradition, explained that Sufism teaches about the level of being, qualities of consciousness and also the way to perceive in ourselves, to understand the obstacles: that which conditions us and makes us suffer, by perceiving in us that which gives us pain. There is a way to change and to experience what divinity is, what religions have called divinity, no matter what the name from whatever culture. So the purpose of meditation is to comprehend, to remove suffering and to elevate our consciousness to a better state than what we are presently in. Meditation is not a technique. It's a way of being, a state of consciousness. Meditation is a profoundly lucid, pristine, cognizant state, that is free of conditioning. So let us examine ourselves, if we aspire to learn meditation, to fully practice it. What in us is conditioned? What in us makes us suffer? What psychological states do we experience that are problematic for us, that make others suffer, that create conflicts at work and home, in the bedroom? What in us produces our pain? To change all that, to no longer be afflicted, we practice the science of meditation. It is a state of consciousness: one in which we clearly perceive in us that which needs to change, which can be transformed. Because only from the state of equanimity, of dispassion, of calm, can we truly change our situation. Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not daydreaming. It is not fantasizing or spacing out. Neither is it a dull state, a torpidity of mind, a cloudiness. Neither is it simply relaxing. Relaxation is essential, but it is not the state of meditation. It is what leads to it, what sets the foundation. Meditation is the science of perception, of witnessing the truth for ourselves, to practice mushahida. By comprehending ourselves, we learn to perceive clearly, because fundamentally all of us struggle with anger, with pride, with fear, with resentment, with envy, with lust. These are qualities of being which are very negative: fear that debilitates, that conditions, that traps the essence of who we really are. Fortunately in religion and any meditative teaching there is a path that leads out of those conditioned states. But what it requires is a type of renunciation, a type of work, a type of practice. And this practice helps us to perceive the reality of our situation. Not what we believe or we fantasize, what we want to change simply with the intellect, by thinking or feeling, or daydreaming about a utopia, a better situation. Meditation is the means by which we practically apply profound principles of understanding. As we say in this tradition: “Meditation is the daily bread of the Gnostic.” That bread is understanding, because when we understand something in us, when we comprehend defects like anger or pride or resentment, we can learn to remove them. Comprehension is the sustenance of the soul. Comprehension is essential. Understanding the conflicts of our mind and where they originate produces peace, equanimity, serenity. And so the reason why we suffer is because we don't have equanimity. We don't perceive clearly in us what makes us suffer. Sadly humanity does not really understand or apply the methods for change. People suffer because they do not perceive reality as it is. We have desires that want the external world to change and yet we don't change fundamentally. Because of conditioned elements like fear and pride and anger and lust, we see life through the lens of these desires. Reality is one way, our desires want something else. And because our desires are never satisfied, never fulfilled, we go on through our existence, repeating mistakes, suffering, wanting the situation to change, yet not changing our own perspective. It would be more radical and interesting if we were to transform our own mental states, because by changing who we are inside, we learn to change our situation. So in a symbolic way, all of us are addicted to psychological states that produce suffering. But unfortunately we don't like to see this in ourselves. It's not a pleasant truth to understand: that we produce our own suffering and that we also make other people suffer too. An alcoholic, someone who is addicted to intoxicating substances, may know intellectually that the desire or craving for alcohol is harmful, yet that person may continue to indulge in that desire, that state. They continue to suffer. So we may know on some level, whether we have experienced drug addiction or alcoholism, that engaging in that element is harmful. We may continue to do so anyways. While this is a very extreme case, this is an example of our daily state. An addict knows that that addiction is wrong, but continues to feed that desire. And because desire never equates with reality, that person continues to suffer. The reality of engaging in that desire is to feel more and more pain, more suffering. And so all of us have addictions, perhaps not to substances, but to states of anger, of fear, of pride, because we want our situation to be a certain way, according to our egotism and desires. And yet because reality is what it is, we fight against it and suffer. That is the state of the ego, egotism, the self, which we explore in our studies of meditation and seek to comprehend. Because by comprehending desire and the origins of our traumas, our sufferings, we reach the state of equanimity and change. So on a basic level, we do not comprehend how our own desires make us suffer, because if we understood our desires and how they are never satisfied, we would not act on them or feed them. Because desire, which is always in conflict with reality, can never be filled, never be quenched. And when we don't get what we want, we suffer. That is a state of mind, of egotism. 
The Reality of Suffering and Internal Transformation
This is why our world is what it is today, with all of its wars, its chaos, its afflictions. Humanity is in a state of crisis and people like to change the world with politics and theories and beliefs. People attempt to resolve the external situation without even considering how we psychologically are the cause of all the pain in this world. If the individual were to examine him or herself, his or her own mental states, which cause violence, extortion, prostitution, destruction—such a person would comprehend and would enact a superior way of being, a better way of acting, of relating to the world.
Samael Aun Weor wrote in his book Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology that: “All things, all circumstances that occur outside of ourselves on the stage of this world are exclusively the reflection of what we carry within.” It is a very difficult realization to make, but anybody who approaches spirituality sees in themselves, observes in themselves, how their states of egotism are the exact reflection of the chaos we see humanity in today. Society is the individual. It is a reflection of the individual mind. Trying to change the society in which we live can never produce results, if the individual does not change him or herself. It is a fundamental law of nature, a dynamic. The society is the individual. How we relate to others is a reflection of our own internal psychological states in which Sufism teaches us very beautifully how to comprehend, to analyze, to know. “With good reason then we can solemnly declare that the ‘exterior is a reflection of the interior.’ When someone changes internally and if that change is radical, then circumstances, life and the external also change.” —Samael Aun Weor, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology So the science of meditation is what will lead us towards that change. As Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Great Rebellion: “In life, the only thing of importance is a radical, total and definitive change. The rest frankly, is of no importance at all.” So when we study Sufism or any tradition, meditation, we have to be very tired of suffering. We have to be very firm in our resolve, to work on our own mistakes and not to blame others. To change who we are. Because if we cannot change ourselves, it is impossible to change another person, to influence them, to help them. So therefore if we are really working effectively in ourselves, then our situation will change. It is a law of nature, like gravity, like attraction. What we are psychologically attracts the circumstances of our life. If we are drunkards, we will be at the bar with other drunkards. If we are lawyers, we will be with other lawyers. If we are studying spirituality, we will meet others in a positive sense who are studying the same type of teaching, who also want to change. And so these type of influences help, or don't, depending on our state of mind. Spiritual Facts
We have to examine the facts. This is the radical zero-base by which we approach the science of meditation, because meditation is a state of consciousness. It is a state of understanding. It's about acquiring information, acquiring data. We have to see and look into ourselves, to witness that which causes our affliction—to see it, not to daydream, to theorize, to believe, to think we are a certain way, because of our cultural heritage or experience, but simply to look, to examine, to perceive.
Because as I provided the example of an alcoholic, they may know intellectually that their desire for alcohol is destructive, that it causes harm. They may intellectually know this and yet continue to engage in that desire itself. So what is missing in this example is observation of the facts: looking at what the situation is, what is the reality. “Gnosis is lived upon facts, withers away in abstractions and it is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts.” —Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic So this term gnosis is Greek. It means knowledge, but not of the intellectual type. It is conscious experiential perception of reality. There are many levels of this perception, just as within the Muslim or Sufi doctrine there are levels of witnessing the truth. So you've all heard the famous public declaration of faith: "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasul Allah” (There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet). There are many people who recite this declaration and believe that they are now followers of God and that they are saved, simply because they think a certain way or feel a certain way. But unfortunately, gnosis is lived upon facts, it withers away in abstractions. It is an abstraction to believe in a concept, that one is a follower of a tradition, or thinks that one is a saint, to believe that we are holy people because of our religion, of a institution, of a group. These are just concepts. They don't relate to the reality of our situation, about what we are psychologically. Believing in God does not change our anger in a moment of crisis. When we are criticized, we respond or react negatively and create problems, suffering for ourselves and others. This declaration of faith on a public level does not really do anything, although people are welcome to practice and believe what they want. But in this teaching we like to be practical. What does it mean to witness divinity? To bear witness of something? It means that we've experienced it. To witness something, or a person who is a witness in a court of law, sees an event with objectivity (hopefully). But in that situation, when we say we have seen something, it's because we've experienced it. It is what we know. It is not what we believe. To really bear witness that there is a divinity inside of us—and that there are many masters of humanity, of any tradition, that we have experienced—is another thing. It's another thing to really have that knowledge for ourselves from experience. So what is this declaration of faith mean in a more profound level? To bear witness means that one is practicing mushahida, which is the Arabic term for meditation. Because in a state of meditation, when we have abandoned our conditions of mind, our negative internal states, we can in turn enter in to states of consciousness that are more elevated and that are beyond physicality. The body goes to sleep and the consciousness can experience truths that are beyond physical matter and energy. Some people call these dreams, lucid dreams, out of body experiences, astral projections, jinn experiences. These are states of consciousness that are very real and the one who has experienced them knows those states primarily because of facts, because fulfilling the necessary principles of meditation, by working practically with them, and therefore such a person does not need to believe in anything—doesn't believe in a tradition, doesn't think something is true or think God is there, but knows it, because one has the experience. It is no longer an abstraction, and that unity of God, that the public teaching of Islam fundamentally ignores, is something inside. People like to believe in God as some anthropomorphic figure in the clouds, who dispenses lightning bolts to this poor anthill of a humanity. That figure does not exist. Instead it's better to think of, or conceptualize in the beginning, of divinity as a state of consciousness, which is inside of us, our true nature. The Unity of God and the Soul
And so that unity that there is only one God is something psychological, internal, profound. That unity is a state of being which is very pure, has no suffering, has no pain, no anger, no lust, no desire. It is a definitive state of liberation. But if we look at ourselves and look at the facts of our experience, we find that we have many different desires. We have anger and pride and fear and laziness and gluttony. In one moment we may desire to have coffee cake—in the next watch television, go on YouTube, get into an argument. We are constantly conflicted, moving in multiple directions all at once. We have many desires which are not unitary, they are actually disparate, conflicting, contradictory.
We are a walking paradox, because physically we have this body which is unitary or works as a unit, but psychologically we are not a unit. We are very conflicted and this is why people suffer so much, why we are in the situation we are in. Because we don't look at the reality of our mind. So meditation is about gathering data about that multiplicity of desires and discursive factors in us, which we seek to comprehend and to eliminate, to change. Meditation is how we see clearly in us what needs to change. Therefore “Gnosis is lived upon facts, it withers away in abstractions,” ideas, beliefs, “and it is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts.” So religion as it is taught today has very noble aspirations, but we have to look at the practical aspects of these doctrines, of these methods, to see what works and what doesn't. Because if humanity continues to suffer and we continue to suffer, it means that we are not changing fundamentally. This is the radical foundation by which we address ourselves when we study this type of teaching. There is a Sufi initiate, a Sufi teacher by the name of Al-Junayd. He was quoted in a book called Al-Risalah, which simply means Principles of Sufism. He elaborates and even confirms what Samael Aun Weor states in this quote from The Revolution of the Dialectic: “Al-Junayd states: To affirm the unity means to distinguish the eternal from ephemeral.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So what does it mean to affirm God? To know divinity, to have that divinity manifest in our very thoughts, our very words, our very deeds, our very ways of acting, our life. To have happiness that is eternal, that is unconditioned, that is pure. It means to distinguish that which is eternal from that which is ephemeral. Meaning, get through the illusions. Look at the illusions that we continue to engage in about ourselves. It means to look at that which is not concrete, which is not real. Because all these desires, according to any meditative tradition, are not our true identity. Our true identity is happiness, a state of contentment, a state of peace. And so everything else is arbitrary. It is not eternal, and therefore we have to learn how to go inside of ourselves, to calm the mind and to learn to remove the conditions that have trapped us, that we put into place. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, the greatest poet of the Sufi tradition stated: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” Therefore we have to rely on facts, observe ourselves, gather data about what we are doing at any given moment. To practice awareness of ourselves. Because as Al-Jurayri, again from this book Principles of Sufism, teaches: “If someone does not seek to acquire the knowledge of the Unity (of divinity, from experience) through some kind of evidence, the foot of his delusion will slip into an abyss of destruction.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Of course this is a very serious case, but any person who approaches meditation does so because they no longer want to suffer in life, and want to change themselves. We have to rely on evidence; look at what we are. Do not assume we are a certain way, or think intellectually we are or possess certain qualities, but simply to look, to observe, to not daydream. But also not to seek for love, but to look at ourselves, to see what has trapped it. Because by removing these imperfections in ourselves, we can truly experience what love is. The Three Levels of Meditative Instruction
Meditation was taught in the schools of Sufism very similar to many other traditions. There is an introductory teaching, there is an intermediate teaching, and there is an advanced teaching.
The following words are Arabic: There is Shari’ah (introductory level), there is Tarīqah, (the intermediate level) and there is Haqiqah / Ma’rifah (the advanced level). These are respectively an exoteric or public teaching, a mesoteric or intermediate teaching, and a hidden, secret mystical teaching, an esoteric teaching. If you study Buddhism you're very familiar with the three schools: Śrāvakayāna, Mahayana, Tantrayana. We are going to explain a little bit about these terms because they hold a lot of value for studying what meditation is and how to practically and effectively apply it. People hear the term Shari’ah and in the West this term has a lot of baggage. People associate Shari’ah with Shari’ah law, as the punitive laws of Muslim countries, in which people have been stoned or executed, have been harmed. And sadly people have used that aspect of, or misinterpreted the original intent of this term. Shari’ah simply means law, but it is not a cultural law. It is not morals. It is not dogma. The Sufis have a very interesting interpretation of what Shari’ah means. It simply means conduct, how one acts. Shari’ah as a public teaching, in the true sense, refers to how we produce actions which bring about the harmony and happiness of others, but also ourselves. This is known as ethics, codes of conduct, ways of being. It has nothing to do with the violence that is truly afflicting the Middle East. Whether people would like to interpret certain scriptures for their own benefit, to promote degeneration and destruction is one thing, but the Sufis have always explored the Qur’an and other mystical writings from a symbolic point of view. Shari’ah refers to in its true sense, ways of being, superior ways of acting, such as compassion, kindness, understanding, love. It also means to refrain from those negative states of mind which produced suffering: anger, fear, pride, etc. This is the most introductory level of any meditative tradition. Ethics. Producing causes of happiness in oneself. Actions that produce harmony, peace and refraining from behaviors, even mentally and emotionally, which cause conflict. The intermediate state which is built off of this foundation has to do with the heart. Tarīqah means “path,” and the Sufis explain that this is the path one follows in the desert of life. All of us are in particular situations in life, our experiences. We all have our own sufferings and hardships. We are symbolically wandering in the desert. Tarīqah has to do with those special practices that are for the benefit of others. The introductory level of religion, ethics, has more to do with training our own negative mental states and producing positive states. But the path of spirituality, Tarīqah, is working more for the benefit of others. So this is a very profound shift in one's focus, in which our meditation is not just about us. We learn to change who we are so that we don't affect others negatively. I believe there is a statement by a famous Sufi master. His name is Ibn Arabi. He said that he would always go on retreats, khalwa in Arabic, in order to not abandon the world, to avoid negative people, but he would go off into the desert or wherever in order to reflect on himself and work on himself, so that he did not affect others. He said most people enter retreat because they want to avoid bad people, the cities, whatever. But what Tarīqah, the mesoteric level of meditation, the heart of any religion, is more about working for the benefit of others. We meditate not just for our own benefit, to know divinity for ourselves, but in order to express positive states of being with others. To produce the happiness of others. This is the path that leads us towards the highest stages of realization. When we work for others, when we develop compassion, when we eliminate states like anger, we are in turn preparing ourselves for even higher degrees of understanding, which is Haqiqah, Ma’rifah. Haqiqah is truth from the Arabic Al-Haqq, which is one of the names of divinity given in Islam. Ma’rifah means knowledge. Again this is the Arabic equivalent of the word in Greek, gnosis. This is the esoteric teaching. It is the hidden teaching. It has to do with certain practices which are very expedient, in which people who have fully established themselves in meditation and are working for the benefit of others can receive methods and practices in order to truly advance. To have more power and energy and work by which to impact others positively. This is the equivalent of Tantrayana, the teachings of tantrism or the perfect matrimony explained by Samael Aun Weor. It is the teachings of alchemy according to medieval science, the science of a marriage, how a couple can work together in their matrimony, in their union, in order to transform everything they are for humanity. Ibn Arabi, who is called the greatest of Sufi teachers, stated that in the introductory level of Shari’ah, “What is yours is yours and what is mine is mine.” There is separatism. Individuals work primarily on their own minds, so that they no longer suffer. In the intermediate path, Tarīqah, “What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours,” he says. People share and commune and work together. People work on their minds, their hearts, in order to help humanity as a whole. And then in the advanced state, Haqiqah, Ibn Arabi states: “Nothing belongs to you or me.” Because at that state of meditation, one is working very seriously and is impacting humanity out of the state of selflessness. For Ma’rifah, he says: “There is no you or me.” There is only God. This is the highest teaching of religion, because the word religion from the Latin religare means “to reunite.” This is when the soul or consciousness in meditation and through this type of work has united as a consciousness with the Truth, Al-Haqq. No matter what name is given to that Truth, no matter what religion, that divinity. This is a very profound state and at that level in which one can truly say “There is no god but God and Jesus is His prophet, and Buddha is His prophet, and Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, whomever, are His prophets.” That is the highest experience of the truth which we can taste in the beginning if we're working seriously. But these levels are developed gradually, progressively, as we are practicing the requisites. The Divine Law, the Way, and the Inner Reality
There are some very beautiful teachings about meditation and these dynamics explained by a Sufi writer by the name of Al-Qushayri. He wrote in the book called Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism explanations which are very profound about understanding what this past level instruction entails. He states:
“The divine Law [Shari’ah] commands one to the duty of servanthood.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So again, what is this divine law? Some of you may be familiar with Buddhism, with karma, cause and effect, action and consequence. The divine law is acting for the benefit of others. Curtailing negative emotions so that one no longer suffers oneself. “The divine Law commands one to the duty of servanthood [to serve divinity].” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism This is not a belief. It's a factual practice in which when we are confronted, such as at work, we may be criticized; we feel anger rising in ourselves, hurt self esteem, pride. We learn to serve divinity by not acting on those elements. By first restraining ourselves consciously, looking at ourselves and not acting from a state of negativity. That is how we serve God in us. We don't enact our desires. We learn to act with the soul, with consciousness. “The Way [Tarīqah], the inner Reality [Haqiqah] is the contemplation of divine lordship.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So what is this inner reality as we were saying? It is gnosis. It is experience. When in meditation, we experience what divinity is. It also means that we comprehend ourselves, all of that which clouds the mind, which prevents us from reflecting that divine truth in ourselves. “Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism What is outward religious practice? It has to do with any type of exercise in our tradition or any tradition which is not confirmed, not understood, which is not experienced. It has to be validated by inner reality. Meaning, if we're practicing meditation or any type of exercise, such as pranayama, runes, sacred rites of rejuvenation, mantras, any type of practice, which we are using to develop our spirituality, has to be verified by inner reality. We have to genuinely perceive how these practices work. How they are effective. Because simply going through the motions of praying mechanically does not produce any results. Therefore this type of practice is not acceptable. We have to really vividly, consciously understand the purpose of any exercise, so that we can become prepared for meditation. “Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is also not acceptable.” Meaning, having any type of experience, weather in dreams, or in meditation, which have nothing to do with our practice is also not acceptable. There are many people who by engaging in this type of exercises start to see things in themselves. They have dreams or visions. But unfortunately because the mind is so conditioned, we are so afflicted with ego, that all we are seeing in many cases is a reflection of our own subjectivity, our own conditions. So if someone is filled with anger, they see through anger. They have dreams and visions and experiences filtered through that element. Unfortunately we have a lot of egotism and we project a lot of our mind into our dreams when the physical body is asleep. So having those type of inner experiences, not grounded in any type of ethics, is unacceptable. If we have visions or perceptions, which are not grounded in our spiritual practices, is also not acceptable. We have to learn to differentiate that which is objective from that which is false, and this is the fundamental quality of meditation. It's discernment. To discern what is ephemeral from what is eternal. “Divine Law brings obligation upon the creation, while the Way is founded upon the free action [or experience] of the real.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So this path of ethics, divine law, is an obligation upon us. Divinity does not want us to suffer. Divinity wants us to enact positive actions which produce happiness. It is an obligation. It is a trust and a tryst. It is an agreement that anyone takes, when they are seriously working and looking in themselves to change. And so this way is founded, meditation is founded upon the free action or experience of the truth. We have to perceive and experience these things for ourselves, what religion, scriptures and practices actually entail, and their results. “The divine Law is that you serve Him, the Way is that you see Him.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism How do we serve divinity? When we are with our loved ones, our parents or family members are really provoking our anger, our self-esteem, our pride—we want to be sarcastic, negative, harmful, hurtful with our speech—we serve divinity when we refrain from those behaviors. That is how we serve divinity. Because religion is about bringing communities together, creating harmony. “The Way is that we see Him.” In the beginning we don't see divinity. We all want experiences, to have some type of ecstasy of the soul in which we talk face-to-face with our own inner Being, our inner God. Unfortunately, because we are conditioned, we don't see that in the beginning typically, unless we are really working seriously. We serve divinity by fulfilling ethics and we learn to see divinity when we fulfill those basic requirements. Because when we act on egotism, we feed desire and continue to cloud and condition our mind. As Prophet Muhammad taught in the oral tradition of Islam, there is an organ in the body which, when it is pure, can reflect the truth. It is like a mirror. If it is cloudy, it cannot reflect anything—it is dirty. But when it is polished, it can reflect the truth. That organ is the heart, and the polish for the heart is remembrance—to remember divinity in those moments in which we are really tested. We are provoked to the edge, and yet we refrain from acting on those negative qualities of mind and that we, in turn, enact positive, superior action. That is how we polish our heart, refine our conduct, so that we can see divinity, to know divinity and therefore it is no longer a theory. It is what we experience. “The divine Law is doing what you have been ordered to do. Haqiqah is bearing witness to what it is determined and ordained, hidden and revealed.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So again Haqiqah, Truth, to know reality, the Being. “I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say that God's saying [in the Opening Surah, Al-Fatihah of the Qur'an] iyyaka nabudu—"You we worship"—preserves the outward practice, the divine Law. Iyyaka nastain—"to You we turn for help"—establishes the inner reality, the Way.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism 
So those of you who are not familiar with the Qur’an, one of the most commonly recited prayers in the Muslim tradition states from the very opening of this book:
In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds. The Compassionate, the Merciful. Ruler on the Day of Judgment. You alone we worship, and to You we turn for help. Guide us on the straight path, the path of those who have received your grace; not the path of those who have brought down wrath, nor of those who wander astray. ―Al-Fatihah: The Opening “You alone we worship.” That is Shari’ah, the divine law. But why? What does it mean to worship divinity in accordance with meditative science? It doesn't mean to believe or feel in the heart that one is a saint or a good person. To worship divinity is to have that respect and even that anxiety in moments of great trial in which we are truly tested. We worship divinity by our actions, not through any type of mechanical, canonical prayer, by reciting words, which can have meaning or not. We demonstrate our worship in divinity by our level of acting, our level of being, how we behave in moments of great trial. We worship divinity when we don't feed anger, pride, lust, because we know that those qualities of mind will produce suffering for ourselves and others. We worship divinity because we want to make divinity manifest in us. So this is the outward practice: “You we worship.” And then the inner reality is established by: “To you we turn for help.” So how is it also that we can worship divinity? It is very simple. We practice concentration, we relax the body, we focus in ourselves and silence our mind. Remove the obscurations of the psyche. Don't think so much. Ask a question of your inner divinity for help, for insight. When we concentrate our mind, we are performing a type of worship, because the distracted mind, a discursive mind, a fractured mind, cannot reflect anything true. It is simply conditioned by its own negativity. “You we worship” is a type of concentration in which we abandon the mind, we abandon thinking, we abandon emotion, we relax the body, relax everything that we think we are and achieve a type of stillness. When we attain quietude in the mind, when we are no longer thinking so much, when thoughts are no longer there, when the heart is at peace, we can then receive the inner reality, the way. That is when we turn for help. Because remember that the mind and the heart are like a mirror, or even like a lake. If the lake is turbid, filled with waves and conflict, if it is churning with emotion, it cannot reflect any images on it's surface. But when it's still, it can reflect the heavens, the stars, nature. And this is an allegory of our own meditative practice. “You we worship.” We concentrate. We relax the mind. We silence the mind. And then, when we're no longer thinking, insight, spontaneous, intuitive, emerges. We receive understanding. We can even receive experiences where we witness different states of consciousness, which are not physical. Imagery, which is not physical. Experiences that are beyond our physical reality. This is the inner way. This is how we turn for help. This is when we receive understanding, comprehension and with comprehension there is serenity, there is understanding and peace. When we understand the cause of a certain fault in us or a certain problem, we are no longer afflicted, and then we obtain religion. “Know that religious obligation is a spiritual reality in that it was made necessary by His command. And spiritual reality, as well, is a religious obligation, in that the realizations of Him were also made necessary by His command.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Another very famous Sufi from the Persian tradition, wrote corroborating the thoughts of Al-Qushayri. His name is Abdullah Ansari of Herat, from the book Stations of the Sufi Path: “Now, the divine law (Shari’ah) is entirely the divine truth (Haqiqah), and the divine truth is entirely expressed in the divine law, and the foundation of actual realization of the divine truth is the divine law and the claim to follow the law.” ―Abdullah Ansari of Herat, Stations of the Sufi Path So don't think of a law or this law as something physical, political, social. This law has to do with consciousness. Certain behaviors produce sorrow and pain. Certain states of consciousness produce happiness. By learning to work on ourselves, we can learn to experience this truth. “The divine law and following that law without realizing the divine truth is useless, just as claiming to realize the divine truth without practicing and understanding the divine law is useless. So all those who act without integrating and realizing both of these together are acting in vain.” ―Abdullah Ansari of Herat, Stations of the Sufi Path Simply believing in a tradition is useless. To say, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet,” or to believe in Jesus, in the Buddha and whomever and following a type of moral system, does not change anyone. Morality is, again, different from ethics. Morality are beliefs about how one should act. But that does not mean that one acts consciously. Ethics is what we do practically ourselves, so that we can experience the truth. The Three Blessings of the Sufis
We will conclude with a beautiful teaching again from the book Principles of Sufism. They talk a lot about three blessings, which synthesize and summarize the foundations of meditation according to the Sufi teachings. It's a very beautiful book that elaborates many anecdotes and stories of which we will relate a few.
There are three blessings: faith, submission and beautiful action, Iman, Islam, and Ihsan. So faith has nothing to do with belief. When you witness something for yourself, you have faith. You have experienced it. You know it. Even as basic as putting one's hand on a hot stove and getting burned. One has faith and knowledge and understanding, that to place one's hand on that kitchen stove is to get burned. That is a very basic level of understanding. But in a more profound sense, we have faith when we verify through meditation what divinity is. What consciousness is. And that certain actions are either the bane or the boon of the soul. Islam simply means “submission” in Arabic, “to submit.” People like to think that in the public sense, Islam has to do with following a certain tradition or series of prayers, which is beautiful. But in a more profound sense we submit to divinity when we work on our mind. We no longer act on egotism and that is how we act beautifully, Ihsan. If you’ve heard the Arabic name Hassan, it originates from this Arabic root Ihsan. It means beautiful action. To act with such clarity and intuition in great trials and crises. To do what is right in a moment of great difficulty. That is Ihsan. Actions like that of Jesus, when he was crucified. The love and selflessness he showed to his enemies is perhaps the greatest act of selfless love, a beautiful action, our humanity has ever witnessed. All of us have that potential to act beautifully and these three blessings are emphasized in the following anecdote: 
“[The Angel] Gabriel appeared to the Prophet in the form of a man, ‘O Muhammad,’ he said. ‘What is faith (iman)?’ The Prophet replied, ‘To believe in a God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and destiny—it’s good and bad, its sweet and bitter, come from God.’ ‘You have spoken the truth,’ said the visitor.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So he uses the term belief and in the original Arabic there are meanings which are much more profound. People commonly associate belief with thinking something is true or feeling something is true, but not knowing. Belief comes from be-lieve: to be through the power of love, which is not just an intellectual thing, but is an act of consciousness in which our very ways of acting, thinking, feeling, moving, behaving is done from love and remembrance of divinity. To be present, to be conscious. “‘You have spoken the truth,’ said the visitor. We were surprised that someone would corroborate the Prophet, both questioning him and confirming what he said. ‘And inform me: What is Islam (submission to God’s will)?’ he continued. ‘Islam is to establish prayer, give the poor their dues, fast during the month of Ramadan and make the pilgrimage to the House of God.’” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism This is the public level of Islam, certain prayers that people adopt and fulfill in a type of kindergarten for the science of meditation. Prophet Muhammad was even known to have said: “An hour of contemplation is better than a year of prayer.” But in the beginning it is good to pray. To pray to whatever divinity or form of divinity we have an affinity for. Islam is to submit to divinity through our heart, through our actions, where our very ways of being is a form of prayer. We can pray five times a day towards Mecca or any type of tradition that studies meditation. We can adopt many prayers, which are very beautiful and useful. They are all very powerful. But what's essential is that when we pray, we don't think. We don't rationalize. We open up our heart. We reflect in ourselves how we need help. And to meditate, because an hour of contemplation, is the greatest prayer. To observe ourselves and to learn about what makes us suffer is the greatest form of prayer. It is also in this way that we give the poor their dues, we help others. All of us are poor or poor in spirit, and humanity also is very poor, and needs help. “To fast during the month of ramadan and to make the pilgrimage to the House of God.” So fasting has many levels. Many Muslims will physically fast during this period of time. On a more profound level, which we will elaborate in the future lectures, fasting has to also do with how we no longer feed our ego. It is a type of fast. We don't give our desires what they want. It is a type of discipline. “And make pilgrimage to the House of God.” This is the famous Hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca, which is a very beautiful symbolic teaching about the inner work which we will elaborate in future lectures. “‘You have spoken the truth,’ he said again. ‘So tell me about doing what is beautiful (ihsan)?’ ‘Doing what is beautiful is to worship God as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, certainly He sees you.’ ‘You have spoken the truth,’ he said.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism In the beginning we don't see divinity. We don't know what the Being is. But even though we are clouded of mind, the heart is not polished firmly, clearly yet. Divinity sees all of our actions, our inner being. So acting beautifully is knowing that on some level there are consequences to what we do. This is ethics. And in this way, by developing ethical behavior, we calm the mind. We develop peace of heart. We establish ourselves for deeper states of serenity. This is how we learn to bear witness, to give testimony of the truth, to experience, to know the unity of the divine. The unitary state of consciousness, which in Arabic is called tawhid. “I heard Abu Hatim al-Sijistani say... that al-Jalajili al-Basri said, ‘For the testimony of unity (tawhid) to be in force, faith is prerequisite…” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Meaning, if we have no experience, no faith, we can not really affirm the validity of any teaching. So we have to really test and validate and experiment with these principles to see what is true. “‘…for whoever has no faith cannot testify to the unity. For faith to be in force the divine law is prerequisite, for whoever does not hold to the divine law has no faith and cannot testify to the unity.’” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism We develop faith by experience, by enacting the causes that produce the state of meditation, of contemplation. “‘For the divine law to be in force refined conduct is prerequisite, for whoever has not refined his conduct cannot hold to the divine law, has no faith, and cannot testify to the unity...’” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism So in synthesis, we prepare the practical foundations of meditation by developing our conduct. If we give in to desire, we can no longer perceive reality, but if we work on our own negative mental states, our own negative qualities of mind, we can in turn open up our psyche and our heart to know the truth. Questions and Answers
Audience: Hi, I have a question regarding the word meditation. Would you be able to expound or break down the actual word or maybe the root word, and where the word comes from and what are the parts of the word? Because one of the things that I've been exploring are things like meditation involving a certain posture or the idea of meditation involving certain thoughts or certain practices, when often a state of meditation might be achieved looking at a tree or going for a walk. But then the question is, am meditating or am I moving nearer to meditation? My idea of meditation may not be at all that.
Instructor: Excellent question. In Arabic the word for meditation is mushahida, which relates to the term Shahadah, meaning declaration of faith, to bear witness of something. So meditation in it's proper sense is when we witness with clarity, with no condition of mind present, what the reality of a given situation is, or our own internal states. What is actually going on. Because meditation is, according to Samael Aun Weor in his writings, the state of acquiring information. And there are many levels and qualities of that type of introspection, of that witnessing. Witnessing can be simply seeing in ourselves defect of anger—in a moment when which we are criticized, we are observing ourselves, being aware of ourselves, our surroundings and we see our quality of mind for what it is. Witnessing can also have to do with being aware of our surroundings as well. Being very vivid, very clear. So meditation is about being awake, acquiring data of our experiences. It's a quality that is very dynamic and there are many levels. Some people have studied astral projection or dream yoga in which one is awake in the dream state. One is no longer in the physical body, but one is experiencing life in the internal worlds. That is a form of witnessing as well. A state of meditation. But the problem is that once we experience that state, even if it just for a moment, our own conditions of mind, our own egotism, pulls us out. The way we learn to sustain those states is by again practicing meditation, going into ourselves, silencing our mind, relaxing, suspending our senses, looking inside of ourselves. Consciousness is very beautifully explained in many of the Sufi writings, which we are going to explore in this course, which can give you an idea of what those qualities and states are like. But the best teacher is always going to be your own practice. Examining your own mind and what qualities are objective and clear and what are not. Unfortunately, no one can really teach you that. That's something you have to really work within yourself. We can give you indicators and examples, but actually experiencing what that state is like is something very practical and personal. Audience: Thank you for the presentation tonight. It was very helpful. You mentioned the fine example of a polished heart. It really made and impact on us here. The other thing is, in doing the practices, you also mentioned not to be mechanical. Wouldn’t the use of imagination, after preparing yourself, in the practices be essential and being able to perform them in a way that you can connect to divinity? This would also be carried on over to concentration and focusing and in our meditations. Instructor: Absolutely. The term imagination is commonly called clairvoyance. For those who are not familiar with the teachings of conscious perception, imagination, it is the ability to perceive imagery that is not physical. And so whenever we do any practice, whether we are doing mantras or prayers and concentrating our minds, we open up our imagination to visualize and to perceive in our mind's eye the result of the goal we seek. So imagination or perception, which is given the name clairvoyance, meaning “clear vision,” has to do with qualities of perceiving. When we do runes or any exercise of practice, any mantras, we learn to visualize in our mind energy flowing. Or we can visualize any figure within any tradition that truly inspires us, such as an image of the Virgin Mary or any of the Greek Gods. Imagination is essential to our practices. Meaning, to concentrate the mind is important in the beginning. We learn to concentrate ourselves by working in ethics, and once the waters of the mind and the heart are polished and refined and calm, that's when we can start to see things more clearly in us. That is what the Sufis call witnessing. We learn to witness the truth when we are serene. We're not thinking. And in that exercise of runes or any type of practice that we do in this teaching, we first calm our mind and we visualize, we pray, we try to see in our consciousness any type of energy we are working with, or working with the Divine Mother in the sacred rites of rejuvenation. For those who are familiar, these are yoga postures that we perform along with prayer and visualization exercises. So we perform certain visualizations in which we ask for help from divinity in order to bring down healing energies in our body and our mind. We have to see with our eyes closed what we are doing. If we're invoking or calling upon these forces, we have to learn to see them, to imagine them, to perceive them. And there are many levels through perception. So it's important that when we are meditating or silencing our mind or doing any type of prayer, we also imagine divinity in our consciousness and ask for help. So of course imagination is very important. We will be talking more about that faculty as we advance in this course. We will hold a lecture about that topic specifically, but of course we want to see the prayer, relaxation, concentration, imagination. These are the factors that open up the doorway to experience. With the analogy we're providing, when the mind is calm or concentrated and relaxed in the state of prayer, we can start to perceive superior images, which don't come physically, but are internal and are something very dynamic. Audience: I have a question regarding to the lecture. Throughout the lecture I kept thinking of a part of the Bible. I forgot the part of the Bible where it says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” I don't know why that thought kept presenting itself throughout the lecture. Is there something related to that? Because my understanding to that is, having the fear of the Lord is being able to understand good and evil. So is there a way that you can expand a little bit about that? Instructor: So going back to the teaching of Shari’ah and ethics, we learn to be afraid of acting wrongly in order to obtain wisdom. Somebody who's not afraid of behaving poorly in any type of circumstance—not in the egotistical sense, but from the state of reverence of divinity—that person will not have any real development. So that statement, "The beginning of the knowledge is fear of the Lord.” That fear in original Hebrew is pechad. It can also mean reverence or awe. The Sufis talk a lot about the awe of divinity and that we have to have awe and reverence for our inner being, especially when we are tested. Situations arise in which we are conflicted and we really have to feel that reference and awe of divinity, knowing that even though we don't see divinity, divinity sees us. And if we act on our mind, we will cause problems. So that is one level of that meaning. The beginning of real Ma’rifah, witnessing of divinity, is that precise respect we have for our Being when we feel anger is about to emerge and it's about to take over, but we refrain from acting on that element. That's the beginning, but we go deeper in meditation and look to comprehend in even deeper roots what that emotion was about, and we look at the facts of that. But again, relating back to Shari’ah, ethical conduct is the beginning of knowledge. Without ethics, we can't really have experience or knowledge of divinity.
We are continuing our course on the path of meditation, as taught by Samael Aun Weor and the great masters of the White Lodge. Today, specifically, in the theme of our present course, as well as having covered and spoken about Sufism in depth, we’re going to elaborate on a teaching given by the Master Samael in his book Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology, as well as Tarot and Kabbalah, in conjunction with the teachings or the Sufis, the Muslim initiates. I hope to convey and emphasize that this teaching is more than just from one man, but was given by different masters in different periods of time. So, the very same teachings that Samael Aun Weor gave, were given by the Sufis, except that, Samael Aun Weor’s commentary is explicit, whereas, many of the teachings of the Muslim masters were very cryptic, and did not provide an exegesis on the symbol of the teaching, the allegory.
So, the reason why we study these three stages – imagination, inspiration, intuition – is to really enter into the path of initiation itself. Initiation is established by working with these three stages, these three forms of knowledge, and if we wish to really understand scripture, teachings of a religious nature, we need to really understand these three stages. The path of imagination, inspiration, intuition helps us to unlock many mysteries, contained within the writings of the different masters. Particularly the Qur’an, which as a sacred text of initiation is based on kabbalah and alchemy. We’re going to explain how meditation unfolds as a result of developing the capacity to perceive, as well as to interpret our experiences. And, to come face to face with our Being, without any mediation. We need to really examine our mind, and to understand what type of knowledge that it is we need to develop, if what we want is to, firstly, have experiences, and then moreover, be able to interpret those experiences, and to understand their connections to our physical life, as we’re going to explain. Samael Aun Weor explains in his writings that a real occultist is an individual who has awakened within the internal planes. We study meditation and practice meditation, and these three stages of knowledge, in order to investigate. If we wish to really investigate the mysteries of life and death, we need to fully understand these stages. As I am going to elaborate, there isn’t a plateau of development that one progresses through, stage by stage, but is a very dynamic principle, relating to the expansion and experience of our consciousness. Likewise, by studying this form of knowledge, we can read any book, and understand the meaning of any scripture, such as in the Qur’an. 
On this first graphic, we have an image of Arabic calligraphy, which says Al-Nūr. which means, “the light.” When developing imagination, inspiration, intuition, we seek to develop light, inside; the light of our cognizance, our Being. As Muhammed, the Prophet of Islam, taught in the Surah Al-Nūr, which is the Surah of the light, the symbolic manner of imagination, inspiration and intuition:
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a lamp… ―Qur'an: Surah Al-Nūr (النور (24:35
The lamp is, we could say, our Innermost, our Inner Spirit, our Being, Atman, Chesed in Kabbalah, which is within a glass, known as Buddhi, the Divine Soul, the Spiritual Soul.
…is in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star―lit from a blessed olive tree (The sexual, creative force of our Divinity, the Third Logos), neither eastern nor western, whose oil almost lights up, though fire (meaning: no passionate, negative, fornicating fire, crystallized within our body) should not touch it. Light upon light! ―Surah Al-Nūr (النور (24:35
Or, as the book of Genesis teaches, יהי אור ויהי־אור, “‘Let there by light’ and there was light.” What is this light? It is the light of imagination; the capacity to develop perception. Our Being is the omniscience, the capacity to experience the multidimensionality of the Heavens and the Earth – the superior worlds and the physical plane. Imagination is, as we explained previously, the capacity to perceive images, clairvoyance, which means “clear vision,” which is a technical term given in French. So, the Qur’an teaches us that we need to develop this imagination, so that we can really know Allah, for, as it continues in this text:
Allah guides to His Light whomever He wishes (meaning, when we meditate, and when we know how to travel out of our body, to interpret the great symbols of nature that He teaches). Allah draws parables (allegories, symbols, in other words, knowledge of an inspirational type, pertaining to the interpretation of symbols) for mankind, and Allah has knowledge (gnosis) of all things. ―Surah Al-Nūr (النور (24:35
What is this gnosis? It is intuition. Intuition, we say, is the capacity to know without having to think, to rationalize. We simply experience the nature of divinity, we experience through God, from our Being, as we need no thought nor rationalization.
This excerpt synthesizes the entire teaching that Master Samael gave, in a very beautiful way, and we are going to elaborate from the writings of Samael Aun Weor in Tarot and Kabbalah, and Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology, in order to explain the symbolism. But, first off, we need to have light, to imagine, to perceive light, images. Then, comes the experience of symbolism, parables, allegories, such as Surah Al-Nūr teaches. Likewise, to be drawn to Allah, to experience divinity, is to comprehend the messages that come from our Being, in the world of intuition, which is the superior dimensions, the seven heavens mentioned in the Qur’an. He speaks in synthesis of this teaching. When we know the path of imagination, inspiration, intuition, we can read any scripture; we sit to meditate, concentrate, and experience the great symbolism of that teaching. To really emphasize that this teaching is universal, we are going to explain how it ties in to the Qur’an, which is a very much an ostracized and closed book, but a beautiful teaching of kabbalah, as we were explaining. Literal and Symbolic Meaning in the Qur’an
Every scripture has a literal and symbolic meaning, and we seek to study the scriptures, in order to understand the symbolism contained within it, so that, when we are traveling out of our body, in the internal planes, we know how to interpret what we experience. We imagine, we perceive the imagery in the superior worlds, we feel inspired by the presence of those images, those symbols, and we learn to interpret without the interference of our ego. Then, intuition is the cognizance, the knowing; we immediately know what that symbol means. It is a cognition born from divinity. The Qur’an teaches this very beautifully, as we will explain. But, just to emphasize how this teaching is a symbolic book, we have a teaching by Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi, a great Sufi poet, who is very beloved by practitioners of all religions. He teaches the following about the Qur’an, and how it ties into imagination, inspiration, intuition:
Ibn Muqri reads the Koran correctly. That is, he reads the form of the Koran correctly, but he hasn't a clue as to the meaning. The proof of this lies in the fact that when he does come across a meaning he rejects it. He reads without insight, blindly (We need to have insight, imagination, to really have the experience of what the symbols in the book teach). He is like a man who holds a sable (the fir from a martin, an animal in the Middle East) in his hand. If offered a better sable he rejects it. We realize therefore that he does not know the sable (Meaning, he does not know the teaching in depth). Someone has told him that what he has is sable, and so he holds onto it in blind imitation. It is like children playing with walnuts; if offered walnut oil or walnut kernels, they will reject them because for them a walnut is something that rolls and makes noise, and those other things do not roll or make noises. God's treasure houses are many, and God's knowledge is vast (meaning, His intuitive knowledge, the knowledge of the superior laws of the cosmos, kabbalah and mathematics). If a man reads one Koran knowledgeably, why should he reject any other Koran? ―Rumi
There are many Qur’ans, many recitations or Words of God: the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, the Zohar, the Tantras and Sutras of Buddhism, the Yoga teachings of Hinduism, and, we have the writings of Samael Aun Weor, which is a Qur’an. But, we need to know the real symbolic meaning behind it. And, the path to understanding symbolism is precisely through study, and through experience; it is to have insight, clairvoyance, awakened in our meditation and out of the body, so that we know what the scriptures teach us, fully. Rumi beautifully teaches that; there are many Qur’ans. Unfortunately, many Muslims read their scripture literally, and they reject everything else. They are killed by the dead letter. But, as Samael Aun Weor explains, we need to vivify the Spirit of the letter that kills. We need to read the spirit in the scripture, not the dead letter that kills so many souls, who interpret literally in a dogmatic manner.
The Qur’an teaches how we need to interpret our experiences, symbolically. It teaches how we need to be scientific in our analysis, and holistic; meaning, that when we study, we study, integrally, all teachings, all scriptures, and to understand it in a synthetic manner. When we look at any book, any teaching, we are reading the intuitive and inspired knowledge of any master that is expressing within that Bodhisattva. The important thing is that, in order to understand what the symbolism really means, we need to be mediators, every day. We need to learn to be traveling out of our body. For, as it says in Al-Imran, about the symbolic nature of any scripture, that the symbolism of which we need to interpret through and experience: It is He who has sent down to you the Book (the Qur’an). Parts of it are definitive verses (meaning, literal teachings), which are the mother of the Book, while others are metaphorical (allegorical, symbolic, kabbalistic, that need to be interpreted through experience). As for those in whose hearts is deviance, they pursue what is metaphorical (allegorical, symbolic or kabbalistic) in it, courting temptation and courting its interpretation (as we know, inspired knowledge is the path of interpreting its symbols, as we will elaborate). But no one knows its interpretation except Allah and those firmly grounded in knowledge; they say, "We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord." And none takes admonition [no one will know its meanings] except those who possess understanding. ―Al-Imran [3:7]
What is this understanding? I really emphasize, the need for all of us to practice more diligently, and to really apply what we study, in order that this teaching does not remain in the intellect solely. But, in order for that symbolism to be of use, we need to develop the capacity to imagine, to develop insight, to develop understanding. Understanding, in kabbalah, relates to Binah, the Holy Spirit, to be working with the creative power of God in our body, in our mind.
We need to become, as Samael Aun Weor explains in his books, highly scientific masters of the path of meditation. Meaning, to study and to practice. Symbolism is enigmatic and useless for us if we do not experience the meaning of it when we practice. Otherwise, if we do not develop the capacity to imagine, to perceive, to experience, we cannot subsequently enter into the meaning of any symbol, which is inspired knowledge, and therefore develop intuition as to its meaning. What is this that we need to develop? The Qur’an teaches us exceptionally well: Those who have no knowledge (Marifah, in Arabic, gnosis, direct experience) say, "Why does not Allah (or, we could say, Christ, the Buddha inside) speak to us, or come to us a sign?" So said those who were before them, [words] similar to what they say. Alike are their hearts. We have certainly made the signs clear for a people who have certainty (yūqinūn, yaqin in Arabic). ―Al-Baqarah [2:118]
We are going to explain what it means to have certainty when we meditate. This is precisely what we develop through these three stages: certainty of what we experience. It is one thing to imagine, to have that perception when we meditate, or when we are in the astral plane, and then to develop certainty from having received the symbol that pertains to how to live our physical life in a more profound manner. Likewise, there is more certainty when we unite with God, in which the soul is unified with the Being. That is another form of certainty that is very profound that pertains to intuitive knowledge.
God Most High has said, "In that are signs for those who read the signs" (15:75). "By those who read the signs" means "for those who can see the inward state of things" or "those who have insight.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
As we were explaining previously, insight is imagination, clairvoyance―there is no difference; it is to perceive spiritually. If we want to know what the books of Samael Aun Weor are teaching us, or what the Qur’an teaches us, or what the Bhagavad Gita teaches, we need to have insight; we need to develop the capacity to perceive, we need imagination, otherwise, we cannot interpret.
The Three Forms of Certainty
When discussing these three paths, we talk about three forms of certainty, and we mentioned this previously, on the lecture on spiritual insight. This is a very simple dynamic to understand practically. In this image, we have a Muslim master riding on the Angel Gabriel, and a host of Elohim who are manifested in the superior worlds. So, the fact that this initiate is on the back of Gabriel emphasizes that he is riding on the Gibor-Ra-El, the Rune Gibor, which is the swastika, the sexual power in motion. The swastika is a Nordic symbol that was unfortunately misappropriated in 1939, and later, by the Germans. But, the symbol of riding on Gabriel is riding on that energy directly to the superior worlds. That is how we grow the wings of inspiration and insight, to fly into those superior dimensions, as Nietzsche teaches, in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “How is it I escaped from nausea?” he said, “Did not my nausea grow from me wings of the spirit and water diving powers?”’ Those waters of sex are what is going to illuminate our mind and clarify our imagination, so that we can develop certainty about what we study, about what we practice. This is how we really develop very rigorous faith that is unbreakable. Even if the whole world were to condemn us, persecute us, we would not change our attitude, or our conviction; it doesn’t matter what anyone says. We know the truth.
There are three forms of certainty that the Sufis teach: • 'ilm al-yaqin, "the knowledge of certainty” • 'ayn al-yaqin, "the eye of certainty” • ḥaqq al-yaqin, "the truth of certainty” Ilm al-yaqin is sometimes translated as the “science of certainty.” It pertains to receiving intellectual knowledge: knowledge from books, scriptures, lectures, teachings of any type. Through this we develop a type of certainty that helps us to practice more effectively. This is why lectures and books are helpful, because, by understanding the structures of spirituality and the path of initiation itself, we can really verify how it connects to religion. And, from an intellectual basis, we have a form of certainty, but it is not as profound, as when we have the experience of what religion teaches. There is a form of knowledge that, when we read, and verify things from our experience, that sits well with us, and helps us to inspire us to practice more effectively. Ayn al-yaqin is the eye of certainty. Ayn in Hebrew and Arabic, is “eye, eyes.” This is when we actually see for ourselves and experience what religion teaches. Meaning, we awaken imagination, clairvoyance. We’re in meditation, we have an out-of-body experience, we have a Jinn experience, placing our body in the fourth dimension, and we have faith from what we’ve seen, from our spiritual eyes. Lastly, we have ḥaqq al-yaqin, which is the truth of certainty. This is a type of experience in which one is consumed by the Being, and the soul is fully united with the Innermost, or even beyond, and experiences life in its true reality. There is a Sufi Master by the name of Ibn Arabi, or it might have been Hujwiri, that I believe explained that these three forms of certainty are compared to three things: the knowledge of certainty is like hearing about fire, learning about properties of lighting a stove or fire. Ayn al-yaqin is seeing the fire. Haqq al-yaqin is being burned by the fire. What is that fire? It is our inner God, our Being; our Innermost is the flame, like the flame from which that light upon light, that Surah al-Nur teaches in the Qur’an, as we cited in the beginning. Really, the highest form of certainty that we can have in our experience, is of an intuitive type. Meaning, we’ve passed beyond this physical plane, and our soul has been absorbed by our Innermost, and even beyond the Spirit, to Christ, or even in the Ain Soph of Kabbalah, the star that is in the void of our Being, in the Absolute. That is really the ultimate certainty that we can have, which the Yogis refer to as Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest Samadhi, in which you are not you anymore―you are the Being. In that state, there is only God, knowing Himself, through you, the soul―no ego present. That is what it means to be burned by fire. When we read the Sufi teachings of Rumi, or even the writings of Sivananda, he beautifully explains how one needs to be absorbed by Atman, the truth, Sat. This highest form of certainty, as taught by Al-Hassan Al-Nuri, teaches that certainty is contemplation. We explained previously what this term means in Arabic, which is Mushahadah; this is where we get the word Shahidah, “to witness,” or Shahid, “a witness.” A true witness of divinity is one who has been absorbed by the Being, and experiences God at that level. That is ḥaqq al-yaqin, the truth of certainty. Mushahadah can also refer to meditation itself, to witness. A real Muslim or real Gnostic is one who has witnessed divinity, and is working to experience that and to really integrate that fully. This type of certainty is light, cognizance―awakening our perception, our imagination. There is a teaching by Hujwiri, from his Revelation of the Mystery, Kashf al-Mahjub, where he teaches the following anecdote, about different teachings of Sufi Masters about the nature of the light of certainty, and what this entails for us: It is related that [Abu'l Hasan Muhammad Ibn Ismail Khayr Al-Nassaj] said in his place of meeting: "God hath expanded the breasts of the pious with the light of certainty, and hath opened the eyes of the possessors of certainty with the light of the verities of faith." ―Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
And, he explains what we need to develop that light, insight; it means piety. Our clairvoyance is pure as we maintain our purity of mind and the heart, when we really work on our ego, everyday, diligently, to eliminate defects, because that is what clouds our perception, obscures our sight.
Certainty is indispensable to the pious, whose hearts are expanded with the light of certainty, and those who have certainty cannot do without the verities of faith, inasmuch as their intellectual vision consists in the light of faith. ―Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
So, this translation is speaking about how we have faith based on our capacity for perception. Faith is knowing for ourselves, from experience, what is true. This can contradict everything that people tell us, and what science tells us in a dogmatic manner. Certainty is what expands our heart, it is what inspires us, gives us inspirational knowledge. There is many times in the Qur’an where Allah, the Being is speaking through Muhammad, said, “Have we not expanded thy breast, expanded in your heart?” Meaning, given you a heart that has been enriched with faith from having known divinity, even when there is great tribulation and suffering.
Accordingly, where faith is, certainty is there. And where certainty is, piety is there, for they go hand in hand with each other. ―Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
So, we cannot have faith and certainty if we are not pious. That does not mean we become ascetics, or adopt a pious attitude. Piety is death of the ego, in a full manner; eliminating pride, fear, jealousy, hatred, gluttony, lust, etc. Real faith or certainty is to witness the unity of divinity, and the Muslims speak diligently about the need to witness the divine, the unity of the Being, which in Muslim doctrine is known as Tawhid. This is the same teachings as Vedanta in Hinduism. The Advaita Vedanta was given by Shankaracharya; it is the same teaching as the Muslims.
Again, my emphasis in this quote is to express that if we want to develop insight, imagination, we need to become sanctified in our heart, so that light can expand fully, inside. This is from Al-Risalah, by Al-Qushayri: Al-Jalajili al-Basri said, "For the testimony of unity (tawhid) to be in force, faith is prerequisite, for whoever has no faith cannot testify to the unity. For faith to be in force the divine law is prerequisite, for whoever does not hold to the divine law (meaning, the scriptures, the teachings of Tantra, the writings of Samael Aun Weor, the Qur’an) has no faith and cannot testify to the unity. For the divine law to be in force refined conduct is prerequisite, for whoever has not refined his conduct (in self-observation, meditation, in real discipline of mind, moment-by-moment) cannot hold to the divine law, has no faith, and cannot testify to the unity." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This means, do not fornicate, whether in body, speech or mind. Don’t speak evil, hatred, don’t calumniate our neighbor, don’t speak sarcasm, don’t act upon psychological elements of violence, even if it’s in our speech and not physically, with one’s hands. Nor should we be pessimistic or morbid, but to develop real faith is to be pious, to work in the factor of death, eliminating defects. That is the best way to develop certainty and experience of the divine.
Awareness, Unveiling, and Contemplation
Besides this point, I emphasize this quote that we have previously mentioned many times, by Qushayri―this is probably one of the most important quotes from this scripture, on how to really understand imagination, inspiration, intuition and how to enter onto the path of initiation itself.
So, the these three terms that I just mentioned different names in Arabic. The translations are slightly different, but, you’ll see by examining what the Sufi scripture teaches, it emphasizes the same teaching. I am going to explain this in the Muslim way. [Al-Jurayri] said, "Whoever does not establish awe of duty and vigilance (muraqaba, or awareness: muhadarah, sometimes translated as meditation) in his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen (mukashafah) or contemplation (mushahadah) of the divine.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What is disclosure of the unseen? It means an unveiling. In the beginning is imagination, to perceive images, vigilance, to be in vigil. To be vigil means to not sleep. Likewise, mukashafah, unveiling, is when we are unveiling the mysteries for ourselves; when we experience the symbolism that is taught within the different scriptures, in meditation or out of the body. That is inspired knowledge; to be inspired by symbols, because we are unveiling the veil of Isis, which traps our understanding.
Likewise, mushahadah is the world of witnessing. It is to have intuitive experience. The world of intuition is beyond thought, feeling and will, where we are the Being itself. That is contemplation, witnessing the divine. How do we get to that point? We need to establish awe of duty. It is essential to understand what awe of duty is. We have to feel reverence for the tradition we study, and the practices we fulfill more importantly. It is that respect of the teaching and the practices that we feel the impetus and the drive to fulfill what this teaching is giving for us. And, to have that reverence for the fact that these practices are going to transform our mind and give us insight into divinity, that is veiled from humanity. Awe of duty is to feel even that fear – not egotistical fear, but pehad, in Hebrew, which in the Gnostic pentagram, you see on one of the legs of the pentagram is the word pehad, which means fear, reverence. The Bible teaches us that the beginning of knowledge is fear of the Lord, pehad. Awe is the same thing; it is to guard – as you see that it is written on the thigh of the pentagram – the sexual power. That is how we understand awe of duty. It is to transmute every day, to work with the sexual power, otherwise there is no vigilance, there is no insight. If one fornicates, there is no duty. It is our duty to the Being, our duty as practitioners to establish that reverence in our discipline, and to fulfill it. If we do not fulfill it, then God will demand it of us. Vigilance is next. We have to make it our duty to establish esoteric discipline, and to be in vigil; to not sleep, psychologically, but to be what in Arabic is called muhasabah, which is “inner accounting.” Samael Aun Weor explains that we need to make an inner account of who we are. We need to make an account of our defects; what we have in excess, and what is deficient in us. That is part of awe of duty 
In this image, we have a Sufi in meditation, who is experiencing the divine, represented by the Sun. We see the Arabic calligraphy for the word Allah. The Sun is the Solar Logos, the Christ; Allah, in Arabic, is the same divinity.
I am going to parallel these next slides: what Samael Aun Weor explains in his books, as well as a parallel with the Sufi teaching, to show you that this teaching is profound, and was known by many Masters. But, by the grace of divinity, Samael Aun Weor explained, in a very didactic manner, in a very clear manner, this teaching. The fact this Sufi is communicating with his Being, that is intuition, intuitive knowledge. It is to be beyond the presence of the mind, and to really converse with our God, inside. The Three Stages of Initiation
Samael Aun Weor explains:
Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition are obligatory steps of the Initiation. ―Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
What is initiation? To initiate, to begin, to become. We need to become what we are not, in order that he who already is, can become what he is. Our Being needs to become inside of us, to be, for the Being to shine within us, as this Sufi is emphasizing in this graphic.
Whosoever has raised these three steps of direct knowledge has reached supraconsciousness. ―Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
We explained that supraconsciousness is to perceive without the ego, to perceive as God. A particular experience that you may have is, if you meditate on the Chakra Sahasrara, the crown, and learn to project yourself from that chakra, you can experience your star, your Lord, the Ain Soph. It is in that height in which one is beyond the consciousness; it is supraconsciousness, beyond ego.
The world of Imaginative Knowledge is a world of symbolic images. Inspiration grants us the power of interpreting symbols. In the world of Intuition, we see the great cosmic theater and we are the spectators. We attend the great drama of life. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
What is interesting about this quote is that one is part of the great movement of life in the superior worlds. One is a witness, a shahid, pertaining to the Shahadah in Islam, the declaration of faith: “I believe in God, God is God and Muhammad is His prophet.” One is not only a spectator, but if one is united with the Being, one is the witness and the witnessed and the act of witnessing. One is the Being, one is observing the Being as knowing himself through the soul, and one is that very precise cognition itself.
The Sufis teach the same thing: Awareness (muhadarah) is the beginning; then follows disclosure (unveiling, mukashafah), then contemplation (mushahadah). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Awareness / imagination; disclosure / unveiling as inspiration; and then contemplation is witnessing / intuition. We’re going to elaborate on each stage, in synthesis.
It is important to remember that the reason why awareness in Sufi doctrine pertains to imagination is because, when we are aware, we are experiencing many signs and proofs in meditation; such as lights, experiences, sounds, color, sensations of a psychic type, and therefore we are becoming aware of our true nature. We are developing imagination. Likewise, unveiling is what it means to be inspired, as we were explaining. When you really experience a symbol that you know came from your Being, that is tearing a part of the veil, and it is inspiration to know that, directly. Intuition is when we fully know the meaning of that symbol. 
Imaginative Knowledge
We have in this image, Arabic calligraphy of a chakra. This image demonstrates the nature of the energetic channels that we need to do develop, in order to activate our imagination. Particularly the Chakra Ajna, in the third eye, or the Church of Philadelphia in the Book of Revelation. This chakra between our eyes is what helps us to become clairvoyant within the internal planes.
Audience: This is the pituitary gland, related with the pineal gland, from my understanding? Instructor: Correct. The pituitary gland pertains to this Chakra Ajna, the pineal gland relates with the crown. But, to develop imagination, we develop the faculty of the Chakra Ajna. As I was explaining, if we want to learn to develop insight in our mind, in meditation, out of the body, we can work with this chakra specifically, as we do with the mantra INRI. As Samael Aun Weor explains and elaborates, that only those who have awakened in the superior worlds have conscious imagination. Those who are learning to astral travel. A true occultist is one who is, through meditation, learning to investigate in the astral plane, and beyond. This pertains to the development of the heart chakra, but also Ajna. For the wise, to imagine is to see. Imagination is the translucence of the soul.
This is really important to emphasize, because, usually we go to sleep at night, eight hours pass, and we don’t remember anything. We wake up, and we have vague memories about having spoken with someone, or certain events that occurred that we thought were real, but really were subjective. We are constantly experiencing life in the internal planes, but we have no awareness of it. This is what we have to change.
It is enough to have a moment of cognition in the astral plane, walking in the city of Chicago, or finding oneself in another country in the astral plane, to shock us and to show us how asleep we are. We are perceiving life all the time in the astral plane, doing our normal chores and activities, but, without understanding where we are. Therefore, we need to develop awareness in that state, which is in Arabic muhadarah. As the Sufis teach. It comes from the Arabic, hudur, which means “presence.” That presence is our Being. That is how we learn to become cognizant, to perceive images, in the internal worlds. Now he moves himself among them with an awakened consciousness even when his physical body is profoundly asleep.
Likewise, any book we read. We understand that the insight given by the prophets is something that we sense, we feel its power, but we don’t understand it fully. That is what we need to meditate on, whatever we read, take a line or section of a text or chapter, and really meditate on the concept, so that is can help us to understand what the scripture is teaching us. But, likewise, all of nature is a scripture, full of images, symbols, which have great meaning for us. Like in the Qur’an, if you have the experience of seeing a date palm in the astral plane, or rain, it pertains to the science of transmutation, because it is how the Qur’an teaches the nature of alchemy, in that scripture. So, these scriptures and symbols have meaning that we need to analyze.
The student needs to elevate himself into Inspired Knowledge in order to interpret the sacred symbols of Great Nature. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
As I was explaining, awareness, as the Sufis teach, is the same doctrine that Samael Aun Weor gave. When we are aware of our Being, we can start to open the internal senses. We need to become aware of our hudur, our presence, moment by moment.
Awareness [from the same Arabic root as hudur, presence], is presence of heart, which may be produced by the coming together of innumerable small proofs of what is real. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What does it mean by “innumerable small proofs?” Meaning, we’re sitting to meditate, and then suddenly, a distant landscape emerges in our psyche, a situation with a family member or friend, a conversation, a sound, a symbol, an experience, a smell even, a sensation of a psychic nature―these are small proofs of what is real. Meaning, imaginative knowledge is beginning to open; we’re beginning to gain insight to the internal planes. Samael Aun Weor explains that this is a very good step. If we’re in meditation, and we’re starting to see imagines, hear sounds, have these experiences, psychically, it means that we’re developing our imaginative knowledge. However:
It is still behind the veil, even if the heart is present with the overwhelming power of the practice of remembering God. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We have images and experiences, but they are fleeting, they appear, they disappear. Usually what happens, in the beginning, is that we sense an image or a sound or an experience, and before we even realize what happened, we’re back in our chair, meditating. Usually what happens is that we’ve left our body at that point: we were drowsy enough so that we were able to enter into the internal worlds. That is why drowsiness is essential, in order to develop imaginative knowledge. When we meditate, we need that faculty in the superior worlds, active.
However, we need to tear the veil. To do that, we need to learn how to develop the faculty of imagination, competently. 
In this image we again have Arabic calligraphy. This is the heart, the Being or the heart, and the word Allah written on it; it is the Chakra Anahata. If we want to develop insight, we have to develop, in conjunction with our practice, a profound study of the scriptures. We have to be scientific in what we study. That is how we make sense of what we experience.
It is important that we also learn to balance our psychological states, to develop piety, sanctification, benediction we could say, by purifying our mind and heart, for: Logical thought and exact concept is needed for the purpose of developing the internal senses absolutely perfectly.
What does it mean by “every incoherence?” Really, any time we speak in a harmful way, when we are not connected with our Being, or joking around and speaking gibberish… we need to understand that the Verb, speech, creates, energetically, in our psyche. So, that type of incoherence in the mind, where, we’re not really connected with our heart, our Being, as represented in this image of the calligraphy, we destroy the chakras. Anger especially is highly destructive. The Buddha said that, when someone wishes to harm someone else out of their anger, it is like picking up a hot coal and trying to throw it at that person, in order to harm them. Meanwhile, it is the person that grabbed it that gets burned. Anger develops a poison called imperil, that Samael explained in the Igneous Rose. It is a poison in the chakras that blocks the senses from developing. Any lack of logic, of the superior type, or moral equilibrium, causes damage.
He is not talking about logic in the sense of sitting down and studying Immanuel Kant’s theories of aesthetics, or Kantian philosophy; he is really talking about the superior logic of the Being, the knowledge of dianoia, revision of beliefs, awakened consciousness, intellectual synthesis, logic of the superior understanding of the Being, without needing to intellectualize. We have to understand the structure of meditation itself; to have logic and structure in our meditation practices. It is necessary to understand the dynamic involved, and the steps we need to practice, in order to really develop that, otherwise, we are sailing blindly. That is why we study meditation in a didactic way. A practice that we give for developing imaginative knowledge, to develop that type of logical coherence and moral equilibrium, is to sit to meditate on a plant, such as an aloe. You sit, concentrate on the plant, even go online and study some of the structures of what makes the internal physiology of a plant, so that having that logical, scientific explanation of the parts of the plant so that you can visualize what is inside of it. Then, you sit down, imagine it, concentrate on the plant and imagine its birth, its life and its death. Imagine the prana flowing in its cells, the cellulose and the glucose, the different cells, the membranes, the structures and the life that these particles emit, and make those images vivid, inside. It is by being logical in this way, scientific in how we approach our imagination, that we can learn to go out of our body, and talk to the soul of the plant, the elemental of the plant. That helps us to develop strength in our imagination. If we tend to lack experience when we go to bed at night, or when we meditate, it is good to sit and do an imagination practice. You can perform the mantra INRI to invoke those energies, and then, likewise, to imagine a plant, so that you can communicate with that elemental, so that it can help you. But, also, to give strength and flexibility to our perception. 
Inspired Knowledge
We chose this image in relation to inspired knowledge, a door of a mosque, because this is the doorway that leads to intuition.
Inspired knowledge, as we were explaining, is when we experience the symbol of an internal type in our clairvoyance, in our imagination, and we seek to understand its meaning. What is important to understand is that inspiration, as Samael explains, pertains to the interdependence of all phenomena. Any experience we have in the internal worlds is given to us in relation to how live our daily life. People usually think that an astral experience is something very fantastic or is something that has nothing to do with our physical existence. Usually we think that these types of experiences that are divine transcend our daily life, but really, any master in the internal planes and our Being, will always give us experiences to tell us how to live physically. This physical plane is part of the internal planes, and we need to become aware of all dimensions of life. Nothing is separate. Internal experiences pertain to how we have to work here and now. Inspiration is understanding the interdependence of all phenomena. Nothing is isolated, in terms of our perception of life. We become inspired, as we develop our imagination, and we begin to understand the thoughts of people, and to really understand how other people function, and how to develop that art of communicating with love to friends and family, how to speak and when to say it, and to understand and be inspired in a way to know how to help our fellow men and women, to benefit. Inspired Knowledge grants us the power of interpreting the symbols of Great Nature. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
The rest of this quote explains the necessity of interpreting without ego. This is a great problem with many spiritual movements, including the Gnostic movement, where many people have had experiences and then have interpreted it through the ego, through the ‘I’ and have made mistakes. Also, people who have clairvoyant experiences, but do not study the doctrine very thoroughly make many intellectual assumptions about who they are, saying, “I am the reincarnation of John the Baptist,” or Samael Aun Weor even… there is a Latin American man who says that the is the reincarnation of Samael Aun Weor. And, if you look at this life, you see that he is doing a lot of drugs, etc., etc. So, knowing the scriptures and knowing the teaching helps us to differentiate our experiences.
When the “I” interferes by translating and interpreting symbols, then it alters the meaning of this secret scripture, and the clairvoyant falls into a crime that can conduct him to jail. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
I knew one Gnostic, who had the experience that his family were black magicians, not understanding that he was perceiving the egos of that person. He started to accuse them, in an open manner, and sadly, this individual caused a lot of chaos and harm, because he did not understand that what he was experiencing was the internal psyche of those individuals; it is not that in this life those people were practicing witchcraft. When the "I," ego interprets experiences of that nature… we have to be careful of this tendency. We have to be judicious and scientific.
If we have an experience about a person, a place or an event, we have to understand it in a very comprehensive manner, and a cold manner, like we are a doctor dissecting a corpse. Meaning, we have a procedure; we are methodical; we do not jump to conclusions, but take the time to really test the experience, to see whether or not it is true. If it has nothing to do with physical facts, we have to discard what we experience. For example, we get many students on our forum who write, wanting to have an instructor to tell them their experience, as if any one on a forum could really tell, clairvoyantly, what this individual is experiencing. Some students say, almost as a joke, “I had an experience where a monkey flew over, riding a bicycle...” things that are very strange, that obviously have no objectivity. Usually, we have dreams of a incoherent type that we need to also analyze, because they reflect our psychological states. But, we have to have the judiciousness of not accepting things at face value. This is the path of inspired knowledge. There is a Sufi teaching that says, even if you are walking in a garden, and all the birds of that trees greet you in chorus, “Hail to you, friend of God!” If that individual, if we are not questioning that experience, even if it is a beneficent type, even if it feels good to us and close to us, it feels well, then something is wrong. We need to, even with experiences that we feel really come from our Being, we have to judge and analyze them, and have the patience to let the experience unfold over many years. Personally, I have had experiences that I had years ago that I haven’t been able to interpret until one day, when I am in my garden or not necessarily thinking of anything, and suddenly the insight comes in a flash regarding what the experience was talking about; perhaps I was reading a book by the Master Samael that verifies what I experienced. We have to have the patience to understand that understanding of this type, intuition of our experience, may come many years later. Imagination, inspiration, intuition are not three grades that we successfully cross over; we finish imaginative knowledge and we move onto inspiration, then to intuition. It is dynamic. We can have perception of an experience, be inspired by its symbolism and immediately know its meaning in the instant. Sometimes, when we perceive a symbol, we are inspired with that symbol, but we don’t really know its meaning until years later. But, most of the time, we don’t perceive anything at all. That means that we need to develop imagination. But, when we have those experiences, we need to really be judicious, as I was explaining. Interpretation must be tremendously analytical, highly scientific, and essentially mystical. There is a need to learn how to see and how to interpret in the absence of the “I,” of the myself. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
In the example I gave of receiving inquiries of students dreams, we typically don’t answer those types of questions. We want students to become self-reliant, and to interpret experiences of their own. In terms of understanding whether or not an experience is valid, we have to really connect it to our daily life, our physical, concrete facts. If the experience of a monkey on a tricycle does not pertain to anything in our physical life, then we probably have to discard it. But, if the experience is symbolic, and the symbolism pertains to scripture, to a certain meaning that we are very knowledgeable about, and it is related to a situation in our life that is very concrete, then we can be very sure that it is definitive, and that it is real.
Personally, I had an experience at my last job, where certain people were trying to take advantage of me. I had the experience, in the astral plane, where I was in my garage, and I was having a garage sale. People were coming in and taking my things without asking me, and paying me less then what I charged for. This perfectly expressed my relationship to certain people at this last job that I had. I was reflecting on this, and was wondering what this meant. I was thinking about this event in my life that was occurring at the time, and I realized that it was very definitive and concrete, because the symbolism was exactly the psychological flavor and the meaning that I was going through in that time. So, the experience has to coincide with physical facts. Or, as the Sufis emphasize, in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri: The divine Law commands one to the duty of servanthood (the books, the scriptures, the teachings). The Way, the inner reality is the contemplation of divine lordship. Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. Divine Law brings obligation upon the creation, while the Way is founded upon the free action of the Real. The divine Law is that you serve Him. The Way is that you see Him.
The experience has to coincide with the facts, from our practices. Practice and experience, knowledge and being have to be united, in order to illuminate our understanding about how to live, in accordance with our divinity. The Master Samael Aun Weor explains in different books that there are four types of laws that we need to study, in terms of interpretation. We have the law of philosophical analogies; the law of analogous contraries; the law of correspondences; the law of numerology. This is how we interpret internal experience.
Sometimes, like in the example I gave you, it is philosophical, because it is analogous to the experience that I was going through in my current life; people trying to manipulate me, paying me less than what they owed me, and it was represented by being paid with pennies, insufficient money. Analogous contraries is the opposite. Sometimes we have an experience about a person, place or thing that is opposite to what is going on, but it conveys the contrary of what is going on internally. For instance, I had the experience when I invoked Samael Aun Weor, about being humiliated. And, he says in his books, in order to be exalted, one must be humiliated first. And, in this experience, I was pushed to my knees and it was very graphic, where I was being defecated upon by a critic, someone who was angry against me, and people were laughing at me, and I was reflecting on the experience and what happened later in that period of time, and things were going very well for me. So, that was an analogous contrary, that was inspired by the fact that if you have an experience like that, it means that the opposite is going to happen; it means that you’re going to have good things coming your way. When people criticize and condemn you, that is good work for us, and in that way it was helping me die in certain egos that I need to work on. So, being humiliated is how we receive honor; there is no ascent without first descending. Or, for instance, I had an experience with a friend who I stopped associating with, and in the dream we were talking and laughing, and at that moment, within a short moment of time, my friendship with that person broke. So, it was contrary to what I was experiencing in the astral plane, but the fact that we were laughing was superficial; it meant that we were no longer going to associate. That is an example of contraries. Then, correspondences and numerology pertain to symbols like the cross, the moon and different kabbalastic symbols, and the study of The Eternal Tarot of Alchemy and Kabbalah. That all pertains to inspired knowledge, which has to do with the nature of disclosure, as the Sufis teach. Disclosure is when we perceive the experience or a symbol of a teaching in a meditation or internally. So, basically, we are becoming disclosed to what we need to work on. Inspired knowledge is like seeing the door; we know what we have to meditate on when we have the experience, and what to focus on: After this comes disclosure (unveiling, mukashafah) which is presence which has the quality of proof itself. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
We have the evidence of what we’ve been seeking; we get a teaching and then we know that this is the proof that we have to study. And so, in the bible it says, a dream not interpreted is like a letter unread. So, receiving that symbol is like a letter; we have to analyze it, to study it. This is the quality of proof itself.
In the condition the heart has no need of pondering indications or searching for the road, nor seeking protection from occasions of uncertainty, and it is not screened from the nature of the Unseen. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
We don’t have to look anywhere else. We have an image in our experience. Then we need to focus our attention on that, to let that be the focus of our meditation and investigations.
What does it mean to be inspired? It also means to in-spire, to inhale the prana. And, if we want to develop inspiration in the heart, we have to be chaste; we have to develop the assimilation of prana in our daily practices, through awe of duty. 
In this image, we have the creation of Adam, the spiritual man made into the psychological and spiritual image of divinity. This teaching is given by Al-Nuri, which is interesting. We have explained this quote previously, but here we are elaborating. It is from Hassan Al-Nuri, which means “beauty of the light”; Hassan being “beauty,” and Al-Nuri meaning “the light.” So, this Sufi Master is embodying this teaching:
If someone’s share of this light is more perfect, his vision is wiser and his judgment based on his insight is more truer. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
If we want to develop insight, work with inspiration, to inspire: go out in nature, go out to a lake, travel places where you can be inspired by the forces of the cosmos in nature, by space, and the prana. That is how we aspire; we in-spire the prana, and we as-spire, raise those atoms, the sexual power, to the brain. That is what it is to as-spire, so we develop our heart. That is how we develop insight.
“Do you not see how the breathing of the Spirit into Adam made it necessary for the angels to prostrate before him? For the Most High said, ‘I formed him and I breathed into him of My Spirit, so fall down before him in prostration’ (15:29).” ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
The real man is made from daily transmutation, alchemical work. Daily practice in mantra, pranayama. The breathing of the spirit is the work with transmutation.
We see that it is important to maintain this practice. So, I want to emphasize what Al-Nuri explains: …In this mention of the breathing of the Spirit [Abu-l Hasan al-Nuri] was aiming to correct those who say that souls are uncreated. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, this man that we need to create inside, the human being, is not there yet. The real human being is born in us when we develop insight, imaginative and inspirational knowledge.
The situation is not as it might occur to the hearts of the weak (Meaning, those who do not meditate, who do not have strong enough will. All of us are like that. We need to develop strength by dying in the ego. That is how we develop the beauty of the light). That to which this breathing (and union and separation) are properly attributed is liable to influence and alteration, which are signs of the transitoriness of created things. Yet God Glorious and Exalted has chosen the believers (those who transmute, those who be-lieve, who be through the power of love, of Alchemy) for perceptions and lights through which they come to possess insight. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, through internal experiences; that is how we believe, how we have certainty.
In essence, these are forms of the knowledge of God (imagination, inspiration, intuition). This is the import of the Prophet’s saying, “The believer sees by the light of God”―that is, by a knowledge and inner vision for which God Most High has specially chosen him and by means of which He has distinguished him from others like him. To call these kinds of knowledge and perceptions “lights” is not an innovation, and to describe that process as “breathing” (pranayama, transmutation) is not reaching far afield. What is intended is one’s created nature. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Jesus taught that with patience possess ye your soul. We do not yet possess soul yet. How we develop that is through initiation and through developing insight, inspiration.
To emphasize this point, how to develop inspired knowledge, I’d like to quote for you from the book Revelation of the Mystery, in which we have a beautiful teaching, a prayer, given by a Sufi Master by the name of Sari, about the nature of inspired knowledge, and how transmutation is integral to this teaching: Oh God, whatever punishment thou mayest inflict upon me, do not punish me with the humiliation of being veiled from Thee, because if I am not veiled from Thee, my torment and affliction will be lightened by the remembrance and contemplation of Thee. ―Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
So again, veiling is to lack inspiration. All of us are like this. We need to be more inspired, to really work more diligently. To be veiled is to not have inspiration; to possess unveiling is to receive those experiences.
But, if I am veiled from Thee, even Thy bounty will be deadly to me. There is no punishment in hell more painful and hard to bear than that of being veiled.
When we have that experience, the message from our Lord, then we feel comforted. We’re not necessarily afflicted by uncertainty, because we know precisely what action we need to take to change.
If we want to develop inspiration, we can sit and listen to a piece of classical music, such as by Mozart, The Magic Flute, which reminds of an Egyptian initiation; such as in the overture, the three crescendos, which refer to the three pyramids of Giza. Or, we can sit, concentrate and visualize and really reflect on the inspiration that we feel by listening to Beethoven, the nine symphonies; or Wagner. That is how we develop inspirational knowledge 
Intuitive Knowledge
Lastly, the world of intuition pertains to the world of mathematics and Kabbalah. In this image, we have a group of Sufis, 12 in number, prostrating before Allah. Those of us who know Kabbalah know that there are 12 emanations, 12 aeons, followed by the 13th, relating to the constellations as well. Here we see that Allah is, in Kabbalah, Ain, Lord, the highest divinity, the Absolute. The Sufis are in meditation, prostrating. This refers to a very illuminated master; all the aeons or spheres of consciousness, the Tree of Life and the Absolute, fully realized. That is the world of intuition:
The world of intuition is the world of mathematics. The student that wants to elevate himself to the world of intuition must be a mathematician or at least must have notions of arithmetic. ―Samael Aun Weor, Sexology: The Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology
This is because mathematics, Kabbalah, the science of Tree of Life, the Hebrew letters, the Tarot, teaches the nature of numerology in the Astral plane and the internal worlds, which have symbolic meanings. So, if you have an experience of certain numbers, such as through the Tarot, I suggest you study Tarot and Kabbalah, because there the Master Samael explains the meaning of the different cards and the numbers, as they relate to the teaching and our daily life.
In the world of Intuition, we find only omniscience. The world of intuition is the world of the Being; it is the world of the Intimate.
With the study of numerology we are understanding the dynamics of our consciousness. For example, we have an experience of the number 7, relating to 7, it means that we need to go to war―it is the chariot. 7 relates to the Innermost, who drives the lower bodies of the soul. The Hebrew letter Zayin is the sword of justice to fight the ego. Or, if we have the experience of 12, it relates with the Apostolate, the hanged man who sacrifices himself for humanity, the work with alchemy, or the Psalm 12, the repentance of Sophia. These numbers teach us the nature of our Being, because the Being is 1, the Divine Mother is 2, creation is 3, and these numbers pertains to laws that exist inside and outside. That is why we study kabbalah, to understand the world of mathematics in the internal planes.
The Sufis elaborate what Samael Aun Weor explains in relation to this image: Then comes contemplation which is the presence of the Real without any remaining doubt (meaning, there is no ego; one cannot doubt in that plane of being, one knows). Suddenly the sky of one’s hidden inner being (sirr) becomes clear of the clouds of the veil, and the sun of vision rises in the sign of honor (as we see in this image). The truth of contemplation is as Junayd said, “Finding the Real comes with losing yourself." ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Meaning, losing your ego. There is no obstruction there. Contemplation is mushahadah, witnessing, which is intuition.
We quoted the Sufis to show us that what Samael Aun Weor taught is present in this religion, this teaching. We compare the two to emphasize the universal nature of this teaching. So, what is real contemplation? As we were explaining, it is intuition. We have the following explanation from Hujwiri, from Revelation of the Mystery: And it is related that [Abu Said Fadlallah Ibn Muhammad Al-Mayhani] said, "Sufism is the subsistence of the heart with God without any mediation." This alludes to contemplation, which is violence of love (for only the violent take heaven by force), and absorption of human attributes in realizing the vision of God, and their annihilation by the everlastingness of God. ―Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
Meaning, the soul is annihilated, there is only the Being; there is no self, there is only the Being. To experience that breaks any clouds of dissolution about who we are. It gives us real faith as to who is the eternal inside of us, in order to help us to navigate our daily life.
To develop intuitive knowledge, we can meditate on a mathematical formula, such as Kepler: the square of the period of revolution of a planet, varies directly as the distance of the sun hue. This is astronomy. Or, Newton’s universal theory of gravity: the force between two objects varies directly with each of the masses and inversely with the square of the distance between them. We can sit down, concentrate on a formulae and meditate on it to understand its law. When we have emptied our mind of thoughts, the Being can give us insight into the nature of that law, and how it applies to us. Likewise, we can meditate on the Pythagorean theorem, such as the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Or we can meditate on 2 + 2 = 4; we know what this means, but to kabbalistically understand what it means, how the Father-Mother within two individuals unites to create the Tetragrammaton, the holy four-lettered name of God. Meaning, man and woman united, the number 1 with the number 2 are the 2 polarities, the Father-Mother inside a man and woman united, create the Holy Tetragrammaton. To meditate on this, to understand what this means is going to give us a profound insight into reality. My emphasis in this lecture is to show the need to meditate and to understand what these stages of initiation entail, so that we can strengthen our practice and understand our experiences. Questions and Answers
Audience: You mentioned the Ajna chakra, the pituitary gland. Well, in some of the standard, so to speak, Tarot decks, the second card is called the High Priestess, and they do mention the pituitary and hypothalamus. There is an energy of course, and some of the schools say Carl Jung guarded such knowledge, or the inspiration for the cards, since even in the physical there's a connection. Some of those images are definitely inspirational. But there's a veil. There's a veil behind the High Priestess. You're probably familiar with it. It's the Arthur Waite deck, and Paul Foster Case says they're somewhat similar, and there She sits in front, with a curtain behind Her. But out from Her comes the purest water to cleanse the subconscious mind. You mentioned that over and over, which means purification. The whole symbol can be inspirational, depending on what stage you're at when meditating on the symbol. One should try, as you say, inspiration should come or may come behind that. It's moving, that energy itself, symbolized by the Goddess, what could be the Divine Mother Kundalini.
Instructor: The Tarot, as taught in the internal planes especially, those images are, as Manly P. Hall taught, a sufficient teaching unto itself. He said that those who learn how to meditate on the genuine Tarot, as given in the astral plane, will be eloquent in every science, art and mysticism in the universe. Those 22 cards, the 22 laws of the Tarot, of the Torah (the law), the major arcana, as well as the minor arcana, teach us about the different laws. These pertain to the world of intuition. It also helps to develop our imagination; we sit to visualize a card, and we have a deck that is going to be published soon (Editor’s Note: The Eternal Tarot is now available through Glorian Publishing), which I personally have used in the internal planes. The images that we are presenting are given from Tarot and Kabbalah and the book Alchemy and Kabbalah in the Tarot, by Samael Aun Weor, in which he unveiled the Tarot. I know there are other decks, which bear resemblance to what we teach; I invite you to expand your study of the Tarot, through this deck especially. Yes, we say that the High Priestess has many similarities to other decks, but in terms of the practical techniques to develop intuition, imagination and inspiration; they are either given incipiently or not given at all. In the Tarot today, we commonly find that it has not been part of that unveiling. When we know kabbalah, especially when we know how to go out of our body and to investigate the Tarot used in the internal planes, we can see and know what is real and what is not. We emphasize that this lecture was based off the book Tarot and Kabbalah, and to study that text diligently; it can help us to unveil the meanings of the Tarot cards. These images can help us to develop imagination and inspiration and intuition. Audience: The book Tarot and Kabbalah that you’re talking about now by the Master, the pictures that are in there, those are the ones that are going to be exactly the same, or similar to, the deck that is coming out? Instructor: Yes. We have a new edition that we just published of Tarot and Kabbalah, containing the new images. Audience: What about the Egipcios Kier Tarot deck? Instructor: Yes; those images are good, they’re similar. We just made a couple of corrections to certain things, there are some discrepancies between the teachings given by Paracelsus, some of the images that were used in his writing, that were applied to the Tarot deck, the previous decks, in a mistaken way. So, we fixed those, and other elements of the cards, through a lot of research. We will have those cards available. When you have those cards and learn to meditate on them, the different laws and study the book, in terms of what the laws teach, those numbers, and when you go out of your body and become skilled at astral travel, when you invoke Samael Aun Weor or any master, they will teach you through those numbers. And, the laws that I have been learning in the astral plane have always come from that deck that we have been using. When I was in Egypt in the Astral plane, an Egyptian woman, a master, gave me a card reading and exactly the images I see in the books that we use. But, there are some differences. There are things that they showed in the internal planes that are more intimate and personal to myself, and that is how those laws work; they apply to your practical life. The Tarot pertains to how to live, spiritually. That is why we study the deck, in depth. Audience: In the Buddhist tradition, how does imagination, inspiration, intuition work? Instructor: In Buddhism, the Buddha-nature is called Buddhadatu, which comes from the Sanskrit root Bud, which means cognizance. So, intrinsic awareness or cognizance is imagination, to perceive. If you ever read The Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is a very extensive introduction to that teaching given by Padmasambhava, which explains the introduction to awareness. As for inspiration, intuition, the experience of the Buddha-body of reality, which is Kether, relates to intuition you could say. There are many applications in Buddhism. But, the world of becoming pertains to the Being, Kether, in the highest aspect. As for inspiration, I have to study more, to see that tradition more in depth, but Buddhism, talks a lot about profound prayer, and the study of scripture; that is integral to their teaching and their scriptures. Tibetan Buddhists, many of them get up at three in the morning and do recitation or reading of a scripture, to be inspired, and they practice; they do visualization exercises and they learn to study the scriptures in order to interpret experiences. So, it is in all religions. Today, I was focusing on Islam, because it is something that most people don’t know about, but in Buddhism, it is present. But, as for explicit teachings that I gave as in Sufism, I would have to look more into Buddhism. Audience: I want to ask something that relates to attempting to Astral travel: Samael Aun Weor, in Igneous Rose, mentions the cricket [see also The Still Small Voice]. He mentions that there is something in the human mind that relates to the cricket, and that the frequencies of the human mind, when you hear crickets often enough, it forms a connection with attempting to astral project. In a way, you could call the cricket a sacred creature, that it had these powers and this relation between the human mind and the relaxed state, and that something happens at that frequency between the sound of the cricket and the mind, something happens there; could you elaborate more on that? Instructor: There is a sound emitted from the cells of our brain that is the same exact frequency as the cricket. So, when you sit to meditate, while focusing on the sound of the cricket, you’re basically forcing the vibration of the sound of that insect in the brain to stimulate that frequency, that energy, so that you awaken in the astral plane. That is why the cricket was once sold in golden cages in Rome. Even that Aztecs in Mexico have a temple, Chapultepec which is related with the cricket. Audience: I saw that in the book, where a cricket was on top of what was like an Aztec pyramid. It was at the top. It wasn't pointed. You really described it there in kind of detail. I also recall, you probably mentioned it once before, how in Europe and also, in Southern Italy, they say “Don’t ever kill a cricket!” because it was tradition of good luck. "Don't ever kill a cricket!" They say it is bad luck. Instructor: And, in the story of Pinocchio, he was trying to kill Jiminy Cricket, at one point; which is his conscience. So, that same insect relates to our conscience, who is Jiminy Cricket who is that conscience that sits on our shoulder telling our mind, “don’t do this, do that.” And, in the original story, Pinocchio, he takes a hammer and tries to kill the insect; because that is what we do on a daily basis. We kill our conscience when we act with anger, or on negative emotions. Likewise, when you sit to meditate on the sound of a cricket, the same frequency that is emitted by the brain is the same of that insect. I have had the experience many times where I have been transitioning into the astral plane, and there is like a vibration like electricity in the brain, “ZZZZZZZZZ” and you leave your body that way, by focusing on that vibration. That is the energies of the astral body preparing the separation of the ego from the physical body into the internal planes. So, that sound can help you to access, while relaxed, that state. It is good to have a cricket. Audience: What if we live in a townhouse and there's people around, and we want to listen to the sound in the wee hours of the morning? Could it raise vibrations to the point... Instructor: Just don’t put it on a speaker. The sound is quiet; so long as you’re in a small space, you're not going to disturb anybody… Any other questions? Audience: Just a comment. Some of those sacred rites of rejuvenation. They can take you to task on some of those things, like the lizard pose, and the other one where you put your hands behind you, I think it's the fourth movement, where you try to make the table. I'm not used to that since I'm not twenty years old anymore either, but still, I work out. Really, you can feel it when you do those, especially that other one, the lizard, going up and down with your mid-section and coming up again. You're not a plank with your forearms, and they're not sit-ups. They're not something I don't think you can master or appreciate overnight, yet they're certainly worthwhile according to Samael Aun Weor. They're specific there, with six exercises. But also the Viparita Karani Mudra... a minute at a time until you increase it each day. Instructor: In terms of developing imagination, inspiration and intuition, the sacred rites are good for developing inspiration. And, if we are very cognizant of what we do, when we perform those rites, we can really invoke the Third Logos, inside, to give us that force that we need to awaken the chakras, our clairvoyance, our imagination, but also inspiration. Audience: Inspiration is in the heart? Instructor: Yes. Also, intuition is in the heart, as well. Intuition is knowing an experience; inspiration is sensing in our heart that the experience is coming from our divinity; then, imagination is the capacity to perceive that. We can have that even being physically awake. I have had a different times, such as being at retreats when we were very intensely doing exercises, leading the sacred rites, really feeling the Being present and helping with that. That helps to develop those three stages of knowledge too. All the exercises do that, but the best is meditation. Now, the sacred rites is a moving form of meditation, like the Runes. But, the best way we can develop insight is when we detach from external distractions. However, if we become very skilled at paying attention, maintaining vigilance, then we can meditate even while moving, or walking down the street, doing the sacred rites, etc., etc. I can give testimony of that; if we are very awake and the Being grants us that state, we can practice the sacred rites in a very powerful manner. If we do it mechanically, we do not get benefit; but, if we’re praying, we’re inspired. When we’re focused and we’re aware of the energies, we perceive them, then when we are really awake, we intuitively know the presence of our Being. Then, it is no longer us acting, but it is our Innermost, if we get our mind out of the way. Audience: He mentions over and over again in those exercises, while we’re doing these exercises, we can just do them mechanically. He mentions constantly invoking the Divine Mother, to open your heart chakra, etc. Instructor: And, like Master Moria taught, when we pray, we should really pray out loud if we can; because that strength we get from vocalizing―which is why when we meditate we do a lot of vocal prayer, to invoke our Being and to give us force―that helps to raise our vibration, even physically. Speech, the Verb, creates. We get inspired by speaking conscious words. That is what opens the doors to the internal planes; the chakras, the organs. Thank you for coming. 
We're continuing our discussion on meditation, particularly after having established serenity of mind and concentration in our psyche. Today, we're going to talk about the need to develop imagination, insight, otherwise known as clairvoyance.
It is important that we genuinely establish the preliminaries―as we were discussing―in terms of what we need to really meditate. Previously, we discussed the nine stages of concentration leading to calm abiding, a serene mind. However, serenity, by itself, is not enough. Instead, what we need is to develop spiritual perception into our inner psyche, understanding, through perfect visualization within our mind, within the subconscious, unconscious and infraconscious depths of our psyche. As we were discussing in lieu of Buddhism, the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings, today we are talking about insight, the capacity to perceive inside, in relation to Sufism and Islam, the Middle Eastern occultism, esotericism. Today, we're going to elaborate on the need for imagination. All of us here deeply need the capacity to genuinely understand the sources of our conflicts, our problems of a psychological nature. As Buddha taught, mind precedes phenomena: we become what we think. However, having a stability of awareness is not enough; we also need the capacity to perceive in the internal worlds, which is known as firasah in Arabic and Sufism; or, as we denominate, spiritual insight. So, we are going to explain what is spiritual insight, imagination, clairvoyance, and how we develop that. And, particularly, we're going to explain what is known as the three stages of initiation: imagination, inspiration and intuition―not only as taught by our Sheikh and Guru, Samael Aun Weor, but also by the Sufis―to really pinpoint and explain that this teaching has not been taught by one man alone. However, as Samael Aun Weor explained, in a very explicit manner, we're now going to unveil the teachings given within Sufi scripture, that support and validate his explanations. As we've mentioned, by developing serenity, in combination with insight, we develop comprehension. It is this comprehension that we really need to develop on a moment to moment basis. Comprehension is not when we sit to meditate or to relax the body. Comprehension is a moment to moment awareness within our psyche, here and now. Particularly, through self-observation, remembering our Being, the presence of our Inner Lord―which in Arabic is الله Allah, "the God." We find that the word for awareness, in Arabic, is muhadarah, from the Arabic, "Hudur" which means presence. As the Master Samael explains, many times, we need to not only develop self-observation of our psyche, observing our intellectual, emotional and motor-instinctual-sexual centers; we also really need to be aware of that presence of our Lord, inside. That is how we effectively develop serenity, calm abiding, but also insight. For, when the lake of the mind is completely serene and stable, having achieved calm abiding itself, the ninth degree of concentration, in Tibetan Buddhism, likewise can we perfectly reflect the imagery of the superior worlds, inside. Dhū’l-Nūn Miṣrī, one of my favorite Sufi masters, explains the following: The key to success in worship lies in meditative reflection (fikrat)…whoever persists in such reflection in the heart will behold the invisible realm in the spirit. ―Dhū’l-Nūn Miṣrī in ‘Aṭṭār: Tadhkirat, 154
If we want to experience the internal planes―the astral world, mental world, causal plane―it begins here. We often get letters from students who complain about not being able to astral travel, who do not see the internal planes when they physically sleep, or have not conversed face to face with the Being. The solution to this is very simple: develop meditative reflection, or as Master Samael Aun Weor explains, serene reflection. The Chinese for this is Mo Chao, "serene reflection." Serenity pertains to a mind that has developed a degree of concentration and stabilization, as we discussed. Reflection is the capacity to perceive, to visualize, to actually receive the images from the higher dimensions, in meditation.
As we explained previously, if we attain the ninth degree of concentration, known as calm abiding, shamatha, serenity of mind, we can perfectly reflect internal images and experience our Being, face to face. Those who want to be successful in worship must develop this reflection, in the moment. If we sit to meditate, and we find that our mind is unclear, we don't perceive where our thoughts come from, what is our psyche in a given instant, if there is a lot of murkiness, we need to develop sharper insight, imagination, clairvoyance. This is a reflection of the consciousness inside. Whoever contemplates God through keeping watch over the thoughts which pass through his heart will be exalted by God in all of his outward deeds. ―Dhū’l-Nūn Miṣrī in ‘Aṭṭār: Tadhkirat, 155
If we want our actions and our meditative practice to really bear fruit, we have to remember that hudur, that presence, to have that intimacy and awe of divinity, moment by moment. The Sufis often talk about haybah, the awe of the presence of divinity. We have to really be aware of that force, every moment. As the Sufis say, and I believe it is taught in the Qur'an: if you do not see your Lord, your Lord sees you. He knows all of our thoughts, our emotions and our instinctual impulses, our will. Every action that we take, has to be in remembrance of that force, that presence, so that when we feel tempted to do actions that we know are wrong, we retract and we develop our discipline in our mind. That is how we develop meditative reflection, or as Samael Aun Weor states, serene reflection, Mo Chao, in his book Magic of the Runes. I am going to explain a quote that he gives, that coincides with the Sufi doctrine, that we're going to elaborate upon:
The Chinese word “Mo” signifies silence or serenity, and the word “Chao” signifies to reflect or to observe.
He is really talking about the ninth degree of concentration, in which we have perfect equipoise.
So, to review, we have the first degree, which is called "mental placement." In this level, we sit to practice, and we realize that we forget the object of our concentration; we do not have any memory. We sit for twenty minutes, then we realize that we have not focused on the object. That is the first degree. The second degree is "continual placement." By continuously placing our focus on the object of our concentration, we have some moments of focus and remembrance of the purpose of our practice. But, there is many periods of forgetfulness. The third degree, "patch-like placement," we remember the object of concentration more than we forget it. It is patch-like, because, like placing patches on a cloth, it is sporadic; it is not perfectly continuous. The fourth degree, "close placement," or "good fixation," is that we never forget that we are concentrating. This is necessary to really effectively meditate on the ego, to never forget what we're doing. The fifth degree is "subduing the mind." Here, we are dealing with more subtle forms of excitement or agitation in the psyche, or forms of the lethargy in the mind. The sixth degree, in which we go deeper, we are pacifying the mind itself. There are more subtle forms of distraction which we need to observe as they arise. The seventh degree is fully pacifying the mind, which is very important to establish. At this point, we see distractions before they even arise in the psyche, thoughts before they even emerge. This is a very profound state, which is deepened by vigilance, introspection, muraqabah in Arabic. The eighth degree, "one-pointed concentration" is when there are no distractions; the mind is serene. However, at this level, it takes effort to maintain that state, so it is not perfect. The ninth degree is calm abiding itself: there is no effort needed to maintain a perfectly serene mind. The lake of the mind has reached complete stillness. We find that there is no disturbance, and it takes no effort to maintain that state. In fact, to exert any effort in that type of consciousness is to lose the experience. Instead, we want to simply to be, to become familiar with that state. When Samael Aun Weor says this is state beyond mundane noise, he is really talking about the eighth and ninth degrees of concentration, where there is no thought, and in which we have perfect silence. He continues, in discussing insight: The sense of reflection in itself is beyond what is always understood as contemplation of a problem or idea. Here this word does not imply mental activity or contemplative thought, but rather a type of objective consciousness, clear and reflective, always illuminated within its own experience.
This is highly emphasized by the Sufi masters; specifically, Al-Qushayri in his Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism, wherein he describes the necessity to establish the capacity to not think:
It is said, “Silence for the common people is with their tongues (meaning, vulgar people who do not practice esoteric discipline). Silence for the gnostics is with their hearts, and silence for lovers is with restraining the stray thoughts that come to their innermost beings." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
As we're going to explain, this faculty or capacity to strive against one’s thoughts, to overcome them in the moment, to see where they originate from and to transcend that state is known as "striving," in Arabic, mujahadah, which is where we get the word Jihad. People translate this mistakenly as "Holy War." In Arabic, there is many words for holy war, and Jihad does not mean that, originally; it means striving. We need to strive against our thoughts, precisely in order to develop that silence, that serenity. Once we have perfect serenity, then illumination comes; when the Being can express in us and teach us within the internal worlds, and in meditation. Question: When you get to that silence, you said that the reflections come. But, you're not concentrating on anything like a candle flame at that point, right? Instructor: In that state, you want to be. We want to be familiar with the presence of your Being, but, also, to be open. A simple practice is, when you reach serenity, you open your mind, and wait for the illumination. And, when we least expect it, that insight comes in a flash. We are going to explain more about that. 
We have included an image of a Sufi in prayer, who has got japa beads. Japa is mantra recitation. To help us develop serenity, the practitioners of Islam, the Sufis, as well the Buddhist and Hindus would use prayer beads. For every bead, they would pronounce a mantra in the mind, to develop that serenity. Counting bead to bead, reciting a mantra, repeatedly. All throughout the day, so that the mind stabilizes.
It is with prayer, in this moment, that we are connecting with our inner God. If we are not aware of Him, and that psychological flavor, in our states, we are asleep. States, Stations, and the Two Types of Initiates in Sufi Kabbalah
We're going to elaborate on insight, perception, imagination or clairvoyance. In order to explain insight, as taught within Sufism, it is necessary to explain some Sufi terms, which are technical, and relate to the path of meditation itself.
We have, what are known as "states," aḥwāl in Arabic, and "stations," maqāmāt. A state is something, as the Sufis explain, given to us by God; it is an insight, an inspiration or state of Being, given to us by divinity, in the moment. Stations are different: stations are qualities or virtues in our consciousness that we develop by our work, through striving, Jihad, mujahadah. It is important to remember this distinction. Maqāmāt, stations, are sometimes translated as "initiations." So, initiation is gained by striving, through work, but insight, experiences of the Being, samadhi, out of body experiences, comprehension, aḥwāl, are states given to us by the Being, by Allah, may He be praised and exalted―our Innermost. To explain this topic even further, how insight pertains to states, aḥwāl, given to us by divinity, we find two types of men or women, human beings, mentioned in a Sufi scripture, called Kashf al-Mahjub, Revelation of the Mystery, a Persian text. It is important to understand that, as Samael Aun Weor explained, the best of Sufism came from Persia. So, this is a seminal Persian text, which explains that there is these two men, the man of striving, Al-Ihsan Al-Mujahadah, the man of Jihad―then there is the man of contemplation, Al-Ihsan Al-Mushahadah. The word mushahadah, contemplation, means "witnessing, to perceive, to experience." This is where we get the Muslim declaration of faith, the Shahada, which many in the public, exoteric Muslims pronounce: لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ
What does it really mean to bear witness? Literally millions of Muslims believe that by pronouncing this prayer, one has entered into the faith. But, that is not the meaning. The real meaning is that, to bear witness of divinity, is to experience divinity, in meditation, through contemplation, to have insight, to have clairvoyance, very awakened―to the point where, as a soul, the spark of the consciousness is absorbed within Allah, the Being, who is glorified by our cooperation, through Him. The man of striving is something that we are trying to develop in this moment. To strive, we need effort, in order to develop concentration, as we were explaining before. To develop concentration is the path of striving. But, when you get to the highest peaks of concentration, the ninth degree, establishing calm abiding, you do not need effort. That is when effort ends. We state that, that natural state of mind, in which the lake of consciousness is serene, is the state of Tiphereth in Kabbalah, the human soul. Purest effort is no effort. At that point, we do not need striving; we no longer need Jihad at that point, to control the mind. The mind is already serene. Now, you need to enter into contemplation, imagination, mushahadah. These two types of men also relate to Kabbalah. We find that the man of striving is precisely the Bodhisattva, the human soul, who is really working in the path of spiritual warfare, against animal desire, Al-Nafs in Arabic, the negative selves. Tiphereth, dressed with the lower bodies―Netzach, the mind; Hod, the emotional body; Yesod, the vital body; Malkuth, the physical body; and the solar garment of the initiates, the masters, the Causal body―have been built in Alchemy. Alchemy itself is a path of striving, but also contemplation, mushahadah, witnessing, to experience the divine. It is important to remember that, what is interesting in Sufism, particularly in the text that I mentioned, the Sufis would often wear wool garments. The word Sufi is even believed to come from the word suf, meaning "wool, pure garments." We know that wool comes from the lamb, and the lamb is the symbol of Christ, divinity. So, what are these wool garments that we need to wear, through Jihad, striving in meditation? The solar bodies, which we have to create in a matrimony. The man of striving is dressed with these garments, by working in the perfect matrimony. But, the man of contemplation is the Being, we could say, in a manner of speaking―the man of witnessing, because the one who really witnesses is divinity, as we will explain more about. Divinity in Kabbalah is composed of Kether-Chokmah-Binah, which are translated as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Christian terms. This is not three separate persons, as the Christians mistakenly believe, but three forces in one. This is perfectly in line with the Muslim doctrine of Tawhid, the unity of Allah. Allah is that light of the Christ, which is three forces in one, but also the Spirit, the Innermost, the Being, Chesed in Kabbalah, is part of divinity, dressed with his Divine Soul, Geburah. That is the Being, those five Sephiroth above; that is the man of witnessing, the one who really experiences. The Being needs to know Himself, as we teach, through His soul. There is a famous mantra in Sufism, "Allah Hu Allah" which they recite many times. Allah, we say, is the triunity, the three primary forces―Kether-Chokmah-Binah―and Hu is the Spirit. In Sanskrit, we find the word Hum, meaning the Innermost. In the mantra Allah Hu, we refer to the Trinity and the Spirit, which are not separate forces, but one integral entity, aligning with Tawhid. Not entering into blasphemy, as many Muslims would argue, calling it shirk: to say that the unity of God can be broken. But, we are not speaking about a multiplicity, but one light. 
In this image, we see Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, as a great master, who is illuminated by fire. Surrounded by his disciples, and the Angel Gibril, or Gabriel. This Angel is holding in his hands, the celestial Jerusalem, or Darusalam in Arabic, the city of peace. The Prophet Muhammad perfectly demonstrated the path of striving, in himself. He is a great master who here is demonstrating with his actions his perfect clairvoyance, his perfect perception, his perfect witnessing of divinity. Notice, his disciples, who are not surrounded by halos of flame, only look at Prophet Muhammad, but only Muhammad can see Gibril above. Muhammad, in the terms of Samael Aun Weor, and in Sanskrit, is a Turiya, a being that has perfect clairvoyance, perfect vision, insight. He sees both the superior worlds and the inferior worlds, the physical plane, at the same time with no confusion.
Question: Is in Daath, where you can see both worlds? That is the link between the superior and inferior worlds? Instructor: Yes, because in Daath is precisely how the man of striving, in Alchemy, becomes a man of contemplation, a perfected being. That is how we cross the abyss. Muhammad, as Turiya, perfectly enlightened one, is the only one who sees Gabriel there, with the Holy City. This explains how, in Buddhist doctrine, the fact that a perfectly awakened Buddha, a master, sees both the alternate truths of existence: the absolute nature of all things, the void or space, Allah, and the physical world, the conventional truth, phenomenal existence. Such a person sees both the noumena and phenomena, at the same time. Audience: Is there a relationship to that with Janus, the Roman God who saw both ways? Instructor: That relates, because Janus has two heads, and sees the superior and the inferior at the same time. In Buddhist terms, we could say that Prophet Muhammad, as the man of striving, is a manifestation Buddha, as Samael Aun Weor explains in his books; the Bodhisattva, the terrestrial person. Then, the Being, represented by the Holy City, and even Gibril, the Holy Ghost, as is mentioned in the Qur'an, is the superior, the man of contemplation. What is important to know, is that he is giving his insight to his disciples; he sees the Being in all things, the heavenly city, Darusalam, the heavenly Jerusalem mentioned in Revelation, is the superior worlds. At our level, it can refer to the psychological country, that we have to navigate. But, in the superior worlds, we have the perfectly developed master, represented by this city. So, the nature of insight is the substance of this truth. Abu Said al-Kharraz said, “One who sees with the light of spiritual insight, sees with the light of the Truth. The very substance of his knowledge comes from God, unmixed with either negligence or forgetfulness. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is a very elevated state of clairvoyance, which we are going to explain as supra-consciousness.
If we look in our mind, if we perceive internally, we often find that we may have periods of forgetfulness or negligence in our concentration. So, it is not perfected yet. The fact that, the type of clairvoyance, "clear vision" in French, insight, perception is unmixed with either negligence or forgetfulness, is the clairvoyance of masters, perfectly developed. Audience: How does that relate to intuition then? Instructor: We are going to explain that. Intuition, we say, is the capacity to know something immediately. That relates to imagination. We are going to talk about that in detail. Indeed, it is a judgment of Truth flowing from the tongue of a servant. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is a type of perception into the nature of mind; not only in himself, but, Muhammad sees the minds of his disciples, and is able to speak the truth. So, our clairvoyance is developed precisely by how we control our tongue: what we speak, what we say, what we produce in life. If we speak truthfully, and we are honest, our Satyam in Sanskrit, is the ethical discipline that trains the mind, so that, when the mind is serene, when we don't pronounce lies, or evil things, we have more serenity in our consciousness, so that imagery, that insight, comes more directly.
Abu Said’s expression “looking with the light of the Truth” means seeing by a light with which the Truth has favored him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is aḥwāl, states. We strive to concentrate, and then, when we reach the peak, no effort is needed. Then, insight comes to us, as a grace. Samael Aun Weor explained that: that insight, intuition, understanding, comes immediately when we are not seeking it, but when we are just open, when we are no longer striving. At that point, we have reached the threshold of entering into the states of being of a man of contemplation, of witnessing, mushahadah.
Al-Wasiti said, “Spiritual insight means the rays of light that gleam in hearts and the solid establishment of a spiritual knowledge that conveys secrets of the invisible realm from one hidden place to another. Thus the possessor of insight witnesses things in the way that the Truth brings him to witness them (meaning, that state is given to us, directly, without our effort. The insight comes from the Being. All we need to do is receive that) and he speaks what is in people’s minds. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Now, one thing I want to mention is that, states are given to us by divinity. But, not only by our own divinity, but also other divinities. This is known in Sufism as Barakah, blessings. We call this in Gnosticism, borrowed light. So, by invoking a master, who is really developed, self-realized, that individual Monad or Being can give us experiences that are beyond our normal capacity of consciousness; things that we cannot experience on our own. Sometimes, the masters, especially in the beginning of our studies, give us light, experiences in the internal planes, that we could not have developed on our own. They are given to us as a grace, so that, as a witness, Shahid, we see the truth of divinity.
It comes into my mind, an experience that I had in the astral plane, where I invoked Master Samael. He explains in his book Igneous Rose the following: Every Master expresses himself through his disciples. ―Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose
Personally, my affinity with Master Samael... I really love my Guru. I invoke him whenever I need him. I remember in the astral plane, I was becoming conscious, and I realized that I was being attacked. Someone was trying to knock me asleep, hitting me, punching me, pushing my consciousness... it was a type of psychological pressure that was pushing me into oblivion. So, I invoked Samael Aun Weor, in the name of Christ, by the power of Christ, by the majesty of Christ. And, instead of appearing, to stop the fight―there was a black magician who was attacking me―I suddenly had a perception that was expansive, where my awareness was illuminated, and I was seeing myself from the third person perspective. I was confronted by an Asian man in a black tunic, who was a sorcerer of the left hand path, and he was attacking me. Astrally, we were fighting, punching and kicking. Meanwhile, the presence of Samael was in my mind, in my heart, and I saw myself as if I was watching a video game. What is interesting, is that he did not stop the fight; he showed me what I needed to do to defend myself.
A good teacher does not give everything, but forces you to really develop yourself. Samael is very demanding in that way. So, I was fighting, third person, and I was having a lot of awareness in that state. Sadly, I got so identified with the experiences, while kicking, I kicked so hard that I physically acted that way, and I woke myself up―my leg flew up in the air, and I woke up; I lost the experience. But, the thing is, that was a form of barakah―that was a state I could not have achieved on my own. But, Samael, being the God of war, wanted to train me: this is what we need to do. So, he gave me that light, to see what was happening, and to learn to defend myself. We also talk about borrowed states or borrowed light, aḥwāl, in relation to Vajrayana Buddhism. In Vajrayana teachings, the teachings of the diamond vehicle or indestructible vehicle of Tantra, we find that certain practitioners of sexual Alchemy envision themselves as a deity, or meditate through devotion on a Buddha. The most powerful form of prayer that we know is a matrimony, when sexually united. This is because, man is El in Hebrew, God; woman is Goddess Eloah. Man and woman united in Alchemy is Elohim, a unity, Tawhid in Arabic, the unity of Allah. When a man and woman are practicing Alchemy, the best thing is to invoke a master, but especially Samael, who governs the sexual force, in order to raise that energy inward and upward, and to visualize oneself as him, as that Martian force that is in sex, to raise it to the mind. We know that Samael, as the Angel of War, governs two astrological signs: Aries in the brain, the mind, and Scorpio in sex. So, he is the power of the serpent, that we can train in a matrimony, to perform real Deity Yoga. So, he can really help us in that way. The important thing is that aḥwāl is given to us, as a grace. Stations, then, we have to develop, on our own. That is why certain masters make us struggle, to strive and fail many times, in order to learn from our mistakes, so that, really, our comprehension is solid. Audience: What you're saying is, you really have to strive to become religious? Instructor: Exactly. As the Sufis teach, you cannot have contemplation, witnessing, without having striven in meditation to concentrate. Then, when you have achieved perfect concentration, then, witnessing comes naturally. Master Samael emphasizes this point in Igneous Rose: Those who want to enter into the wisdom of the fire must overcome the process of reasoning and cultivate the ardent faculties of the mind.
We do this moment by moment. We have to comprehend the mind instant by instant; that is how we develop our capacities, fully.
The golden fruit of reasoning is comprehension.
What is this comprehension? It is the result of having stable mind, serene mind. Then, imagination comes to us as a result of developing our perceptive faculties, our fikrat, meditative reflection.
Imagination and comprehension are the foundation of the superior faculties of the understanding.
We talked about this concentration and imagination, and how they produce in us genuine knowledge of the superior worlds. We gain comprehension as a result of stabilizing our mind, but, that comprehension is only really fulfilled more directly when we have insight, in combination with that. Stability and insight is what is necessary. We achieve that by working with the fire.
Here, we see the Sanskrit letters for Aum, for God, on this Buddha. It is important to remember that a Buddha, or an Angel, has attained complete cognizance by working with INRI, the sexual fire, or Allah, which is the same fire, the light of the Lord.
We're going to talk about the different qualities of insight, imagination. What is interesting for me, is that we have we have an image of the Buddha, with a hand up and hand down. This signifies a perfectly awakened Master; one who has a fully developed budh, cognizance inside, who sees both the superior and the inferior. The hand that sees the higher dimensions and the lower dimensions, at the same time. 
What is also interesting, is that we have a swastika on the chest of this Buddha, which is a symbol of Tantra. The Nordic Rune Gibur is the sexual cross of man and woman, the vertical phallus, the horizontal uterus, and the energies in motion. It also signifies the chakras that are fully illuminated, especially the chakra Ajna, the third eye of clairvoyance, that is fully strengthened, awakened, when we work with sexual magic.
Now, the thing is, this is the very same image as the image of the Prophet Muhammad, because this Buddha represents جِبْرِيل Jibril, Gibor-Ra-El: the Rune Gibor of אל El, the Buddha. אל El is the Spirit. Audience: You said Jibril is Gabriel? Instructor: Yes. جِبْرِيل Jibril in Arabic, גַבְרִיאֵל Gabriel in Hebrew, and Gibor-Ra-El: the cross of Ra, the Solar God, the Christ, that inoculates the Spirit, El. Like we say in the prayer to the Solar Logos: Come unto us and penetrate us, enlighten us, go through us, and awake within our Being (El, the Buddha) all of those marvelous substances, that are as much a part of thee, as a part of me. ―Gnostic Prayer
So, this is Gabriel, as represented in Buddhism, the Angel or Buddha of the cross. Through that power, we see both heaven and hell, simultaneously, if we work with that perception in us.
Positive and Negative Clairvoyance
There are two forms of clairvoyance. It is important to note that clairvoyance is a term given by French initiates, in order to confuse people. The term clairvoyance was misappropriated to make people think that only a select few people had this faculty. Meanwhile, clairvoyance as a technical term, meaning "clear vision," simply is imagination, the capacity to visualize in the mind. That is clairvoyance, but people think that this is some type of supra-normal thing, that only a handful of people have. Really, everyone has that capacity inside.
We talk about this in terms of imagination; the capacity to perceive imagery. The thing is, there are two kinds of imagination: objective and subjective. Objective imagination is liberated, free of obscuration, of ego, of defect, of blemish, of filter. It is to see the reality in itself, reflected by conscious and, more importantly, supra-conscious clairvoyance. Subjective clairvoyance or imagination is perceptions that are filtered through the ego. This is very common in most of humanity. We were discussing earlier about the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, who was very clairvoyant; he saw demons in people and was writing about it, because he was morbidly fascinated. He was an alcoholic, and alcohol stimulates the negative perceptions of the psyche, as well as other, certain drugs, psychedelics, LSD, marijuana especially too. Now, those types of perception are in the mind, in the ego, defects. So, subjective clairvoyance is like being an animal, seeing in the dark; it is perception, but within the mind. This is something that we all can verify through our own experience, and we will give some examples. Subconsciousness, unconsciousness and infraconsciousness pertain to filtered perception; meaning, subjective states, which have no reality. This is different from aḥwāl in Sufism. Aḥwāl, as superior states, really come to us as a result of consciousness, and more importantly, supra-consciousness. We will explain each in depth. 
Conscious Clairvoyance
Conscious clairvoyance is, as Samael Aun Weor explains, only developed in those who awaken in the internal planes; he is clear about this in The Major Mysteries. Now, conscious clairvoyance is the capacity to see the mind as it is. In our beginning state, when we are becoming athletes in meditation and self-observation, we see egos and our perception becomes more clarified, as a result of strengthening that skill. We see egos take on shapes, qualities; we sense the mind as it is, and begin to see the mind, in the beginning state, as it is. Even deeper, if we go into the astral plane, you see your egos as very crazy creatures that are impossible to describe. Unless you look at a painting by Hieronymus Bosch... He was a great gnostic master, with supra-consciousness, who was illustrating the mind. You see a landscape with all these animal figures, in the Temptation of St. Anthony specifically, where St. Anthony is praying towards Christ in the temple, and there are all these defects surrounding him. I suggest you look at this image.
That happens to anyone that begins this path, to develop conscious clairvoyance. We begin to see the mind for what it is. This is the state of Dianoia, in Greek. Dianoia means "revision of beliefs, cultural, intellectual synthesis, awakened consciousness, spiritual culture, insight." When we begin to separate from the mind itself, we are developing conscious clairvoyance; we see the mind for what it is, in degrees. There are levels of light that we need to develop. In order to develop conscious clairvoyance, as Samael Aun Weor explains, we need logical thoughts and exact concept. Specifically, this means that, when we are studying our mind in meditation, but also, more importantly, out of the body, we need to be very analytical about what we see. We need to be scientific, because the images that we perceive in the internal planes are symbolic. It is important to have a very good knowledge of scripture, and a lot of intuition to interpret what we see. Otherwise, we make mistakes, judgements about ourselves or other people, which we are going to talk about. Logical thought is when we have an experience in the internal places; it has to coincide with physical facts, as the Master Samael explains in Sexology, the Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology: the superior has to agree with the inferior. So, if we have a dream or vision out of the body, that tells us about something in relation to our physical experience in life, that is when we know that it is authentic. Experiences in the internal planes given to us by our Being, or by the masters, signifies that there is a relationship there; there is no difference. This morning, I had an experience that was very strange. I found myself in my garage, having a garage sale. And, there were people who were just taking things, taking my money, or paying me with nickels and dimes and not giving me everything I needed. They were laughing at me, and mocking me. And I was thinking, this is very strange; I didn’t know where this experience was coming from. I woke, and I thought, this is probably just my mind tricking me. But, I reflected and I realize, there were certain at my last job, recently, who were very manipulative, who were trying to take advantage of me. And, I realized, "Ah, my Being is showing me how people are trying to manipulate me, and were abusing me even." The physical experience has to coincide the internal facts, and the internal experience has to verify with the physical facts. There can't be a separation: if we experience something internally, but the physical circumstances don't really explain the vision, then, we have to discard it as subjective. But, if it tells us something about what is going on in our life, it is very applicable, then that gives us faith. So, this is conscious; this means that we're analyzing logically, but we see in the internal worlds, and also in meditation, and also in our daily experiences. It is integral―there is nothing separate. Subconscious Clairvoyance
On the other hand, subconscious clairvoyance relates to memory. This is "sub," beneath our awareness. We have a lot of experiences in our mind, in our memories, that are particularly subjective; such as traumas, difficult experiences in life. For instance, a woman who is betrayed by her father, or her father committed adultery, and later that daughter, having had this experience, gets involved with a man, in a relationship, then projects her visions of her father onto that man, and has a lot of fear and jealousy, or difficulties in relating to her future husband, as an example. This creates all sorts of problems, because that man may be very virtuous and honest, but, this woman believes her partner to be possibly an adulterer or cheating on her. So, this is subconscious. People like this are not even aware, but they are projecting their memories onto the screen of life, their traumas and past experiences.
We say that subconscious clairvoyance relates to three factors: genotype, phenotype and paratype. These are technical terms that Samael explains in Sexology, the Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology. I really recommend that you read that book and memorize it: it is very important. Genotype relates to our genes, our karma, our inheritance; such as, our language, our culture, the things that we absorb from our environment. These are things that are in our blood: habits, tendencies, illnesses that we may have, things that are genetic. These things reflect a type of psychology that institutes such results in our current existence. So, the body that we have is born from our previous actions. But, also, subconsciousness relates to many genotypic factors, such as, people’s attachment to culture, believing that their religion is better than others, their language is better than others, only liking certain foods and rejecting other cultural dishes, things like that. Things that seem simple like that, that is subconscious, because it is beneath one’s awareness, and these are things that relate a lot to our inheritance in life. Likewise, we have phenotype, which is our education, what we learn in school. Oftentimes, this shapes the ways that we see the world; our high school, middle-school, preschool, these experiences shape our personality and how we are going to go through life, the kind of attitudes that we have. These are subconscious, because they are absorbed from others. Lastly, we have paratype; meaning, circumstances. So, even though we have our genes and our education, certain circumstances in our life can really shape who we are and strengthen subconscious perceptions in us, very much; such as traumas, as I mentioned. This is very well known in psychology, where individuals who were abused sexually may not even remember what happened. But, later, when they talk with a psychologist, and they go through memory recall, then they remember those experiences, because they had blocked them out of their awareness. That is subconscious clairvoyance. And, the fact that it is re-surging means that they're becoming more aware of that state. Unconscious Clairvoyance
Now, unconsciousness is different; it is more profound, more submerged within what we could call animality, egotistical desires in the mind. Samael Aun Weor explains that 100% of homicides are a result of unconscious clairvoyance. To be in a state in which one lacks sympathy for another human being is very unconscious. To lack that connection with others, compassion with others, is to be in a very profound state even beneath subconsciousness. Also, many times we watch television or even being at a grocery store, there are magazine trays or counters with all sorts of paraphernalia, such as showing very lustful images of men and women, celebrities, and those images, if we're not careful about what we see, and how we transform the images as they enter into our mind, many times continue to exist as entities, egos that we create, as a result of our unconsciousness.
Samael explains that unconscious clairvoyance is a result of lustful dreams. So, if one is in the astral plane, and one is fornicating with an entity―a man or a woman―then, that is really unconscious clairvoyance. That is the cause of nocturnal pollutions, seminal emissions. As we're going to explain, that is remedied through being aware of what we eat, psychologically speaking, what impressions we take in. It comes to my mind, the experience that one missionary had, who was walking in a grocery store, alluding to where he saw an image of a woman in a magazine that was very provocative. He immediately turned away. That night, he was fighting with this lustful succubi, this demon he created in his mind, that he saw in just one instant. Not even a fraction of a second. So, we are constantly receiving impressions from the world, but transforming them unconsciously, and then they become desires in the mind, the mental plane, which the devotees fornicate with. So, murder and fornication really are two aspects of that. Infraconscious Clairvoyance
Infraconsciousness is the most submerged level of the psyche. It pertains to experiences such as nightmares, experiences of horror; like visions that Edgar Allen Poe had, describing murder, demons and all sorts of vile things, these pertain to his infraconscious which was very awakened. This is not to say that the nightmares, entities, demons and experiences that one has in dreams are not real. In fact, they have reality in our mind. In that state, one is aware of what is going on the very lower depths of the psyche.
Infraconsciousness has two polarities: prostitution and thievery. The two most infraconscious type individuals are those who are prostitutes, and also those who steal. Stealing creates a lot of disorder in communities; they think that no harm will come from stealing from someone who is rich, but that has consequences, not only in the community, but also in the mind. But, there are two polarities there, thievery and prostitution, in which the mind, the infraconsciousness relates to very sadistic sexual states, not just homosexuality and lesbianism, but extreme forms of sexual perversion, pertaining to those types of perceptions, or nightmares. We want to become conscious of these elements in us, and, as we learn to become conscious of these subjective states and eliminate them, we really march on the path towards supra-consciousness. Audience: These are what in psychopathology they talk about. And the techniques to get rid of them, or at least do something about them relate to spirituality. And that, once you realize these things exist, to do something about it; meditation techniques, etc. I just thought I'd mentioned that. Instructor: To really know this in depth, study Sexology, the Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology by Samael Aun Weor. He talks about how the criminal justice system is a result of failing to really develop conscious clairvoyant psychiatrists, and also teaching delinquents how to remove these subjective forms of perception inside, by teaching them the best of yoga, Rosicrucianism, meditation, Gnosticism―teaching them the best of religion. Now, Samael explains that the penal justice system goes hand in hand with clairvoyance, because, as the Sufis said, it is a word of justice that flows from the tongue of the servant. So, by developing clairvoyance, we become just people, and in that way, we can help individuals who killed, murdered, stole, because they felt they had to, as a result of their subjective impetus, that they're not even aware of. Audience: These are all forms of clairvoyance though? Instructor: Yes. We're talking about these lower three―filtered, conditioned by ego. These are forms of perception in the mind, the ego. Conscious clairvoyance, and super conscious clairvoyance pertain to states without ego, which are more purified. Supraconscious Clairvoyance
Now, in relation to supra-consciousness, we find that this pertains to the level of prophets who have no ego, Turiya; Buddhas or prophets like Muhammad, who could see both the superior and inferior worlds at the same time.
The best way to explain supra-consciousness, for me, is to talk about a teaching in Advaita or Vedanta in Hinduism, the doctrine of oneness. There was a teaching given by Sivananda called Satcitananda, or "truth, knowledge and bliss absolute." Sat is truth. So, when we do the rune Man, invoking the Lord Christ, by saying “Ommmm Tat Sat,” we are invoking the truth, the Absolute, which in Arabic is Allah, may He be exalted. We perform this by doing runes, circulating those forces to return back to Him. Tat relates to the Hebrew word ת Tav, which is the middle letter that you find in the word כֶּתֶר Kether, which is the truth. So, we say that the Father, the Lord who is in secret, is the truth, Allah is the truth, حقّ Haqq in Arabic which is one of the beautiful names in Arabic of Allah. Sat also means truth in Sanskrit, in Hinduism. Audience: You mentioned Tav, isn't that the material plane, that has to do with the oracle of the world, Tau? Instructor: ת Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet; it is the seal, the covenant, the truth, the perfection which we seek, after we have passed beyond the man of striving, when we become a man of contemplation, which is perfection in those degrees. This is pertaining to the Three Mountains, as we will explain at another time. But, ת Tav relates with Satcitananda, which again is truth, knowledge and bliss; or, you could say, "the one who knows," and the act of knowledge. Or, to put it into Samael Aun Weor's terms, we have Chesed-Geburah-Tiphereth, Sat-cit-ananda. Sat is the Innermost, the truth, the Being, Hu, the Spirit of Rūḥ in Arabic. Cit is the one who cognizes or knows; this is the Divine Soul, Geburah. Then, bliss, when the human soul, Tiphereth is united with that the Monad―the Spirit and the Divine Soul―then you have happiness. That is one form of Satcitananda, at a certain level. You also find Satcitananda in the higher Trinity: Kether-Chokmah-Binah. Kether is also Sat, the truth; Cit, the one who develops knowledge, the one who sees or perceives, is Chokmah, Christ, because wisdom means "the power to perceive," it is the one who gains knowledge' then, we find bliss absolute is the Holy Ghost, Binah, because, when man and woman are sexually united, they're working with the Holy Ghost, and that is bliss. The way that we attain to supra-consciousness, as Samael explained, is through Alchemy and meditation. Audience: Binah is feminine right? Instructor: It is actually masculine and feminine. Audience: What about the Kundalini? Instructor: We say that the Kundalini is a feminine force. But, it also relates to Chokmah, the Son of Man, within the initiate. But also with the Holy Ghost, as Shiva-Shakti, in Hinduism. Shiva is the masculine aspect of the Holy Ghost; Shakti is the feminine aspect. So, it is dual, as represented in Hebrew as Jehovah-Elohim, Iod-Havah, man-woman, God and Goddess. Audience: So, in our society, I feel like we use the word imagination in a different way, and it is always really confused me. Basically, the way our psyche uses imagination, is not imagination at all, right? Instructor: Right. Audience: Because, when I think of imagination, I think of, picture yourself walking across a bridge; and I've always really been confused with imagination and intuition being used together, but really that would be visualization, not imagination, right? Instructor: People think that imagination is fantasy. But, in Gnostic terms, fantasy is subconsciousness, unconsciousness, infraconsciousness. The objective form of perception, to really know something, is conscious clairvoyance; even more, supra-consciousness. Supra-consciousness is a state of consciousness in which the soul is absorbed by the Being, in which the one who knows is the Being, through you, when there is no you. Audience: What about laying in bed at night, and picturing the Egyptian pyramids, while vocalizing? Is that imagination? Instructor: Conscious clairvoyance is when you willingly imagine something such as the pyramids or an object of concentration; you are visualizing something concretely. Conscious clairvoyance is something you distinguish through practice, and you may find that you have certain degrees of clarity and insight, but really, any dream in the internal planes is conscious clairvoyance: when you awake, and you realize that you're in the astral plane―that is being conscious. That is the genuine type of conscious clairvoyance that we need. That develops in us, the more that we eliminate ego, through meditation. Audience: And that is on another plane, you said? Instructor: And that is really the only place that we can verify that we're developing consciousness, because that demonstrates that physically we are working and internally we are seeing on another level: we're unveiling the mind. Audience: So, is that subjective, even when you're aware? Instructor: It can be, because conscious clairvoyance is not perfected yet. Conscious clairvoyance has many degrees. Sometimes, we find that we may have an experience where the mind takes over, and that subconscious clairvoyance absorbs our attention, and we get lost in dreams. Conscious clairvoyance is between the heights of heaven and really on the threshold above hell. And, depending on what we do with our perception, being mindful of our Being, we can either ascend higher or many times we identify with the mind, and we start projecting dreams. Dreams pertain to the subconsciousness, unconsciousness and the infraconsciousness. We find that, you may be awake in the astral plane, but suddenly, you start thinking about other things, seeing other things, and begin to project. Audience: So, subjective clairvoyance has to do with projections of the ego? Instructor: Yes. Whereas, conscious clairvoyance is when you receive impressions objectively; there is no interference. Audience: So, your Being gives you the conscious and supra-conscious... Instructor: Supra-consciousness? Yes. Conscious clairvoyance, we have to learn to develop on our own. This is the path of striving to perfect our conscious clairvoyance. But also, to develop that perfect witnessing, we could say, we need to really rely on the Being. Now, aḥwāl, superior states that I have been mentioning to you, really pertains to supra-consciousness, in which there is no ego present: the soul is united with the Being, and there is only God. So, the one who knows is God; the one who is knowing himself is the Lord; and the one who acts as cognizance at the same time is the Being. We are also part of that, we are witnessing the Lord, through the Lord. The Sufis say, "I know my Lord through my Lord." It is really only the Being that can know himself; this is a very distinct, theological teaching given by Al-Sheikh Al-Akbar, the greatest Sufi Master, Ibn Arabi. He taught in his book, Treatise on the One Alone, Kitab Al-Ahadiyyah, that the only one that can know himself is the Lord. This is an important distinction, because the ego cannot enter there. However, the soul united, is one with the Lord, and the Being is reflected like a mirror of the soul, perfectly reflecting His image, so He contemplates His beauty. It comes to my mind, the highest form of Satcitananda. We talk about Chesed-Geburah-Tiphereth, one trinity of the Being, truth, knowledge and bliss. Also, Kether-Chokmah-Binah, Father-Son-Holy Ghost, but, there is also Satcitananda in the Ain Soph, within the origin of who we are. The Ain Soph is that supra-atomic star mentioned by Samael Aun Weor, that is a primordial atom from the Absolute, which is pure light, and always has been, and is inside of us. Sat is that Ain Soph, that truth. Cit is when Ain Soph has acquired cognizance of Himself. Bliss is Him contemplating Himself, through the soul. He needs the soul to be united with Him, because the soul is one with the Being. But, the problem is that we have ego. But, we can temporarily experience supra-consciousness in the Ain Soph if the Lord really wants that for the soul, if we deserve it. You can have a samadhi, where if you meditate on the chakra Sahasrara, the crown chakra, you can project yourself in your church of Laodicea, the crown of omniscience, which is the halo of the saints, that unites with That, if that is what He wills. Then, He knows Himself, because only the Lord can know Himself. So, when you are united with the Being, who is left? That is a philosophic question that many people have discussed for a long time, but the one who understands Himself is God, through His soul. This is known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest Samadhi. That is a form of Satcitananda; in Sufism, we call that Madhkur, Dhakir, and Dhikr: the Invoked, the Invoker and the Invocation. Dhikr, remembrance of God can mean an invocation, to really remember that presence, through a mantra, through meditation specifically. 
Insight, Certainty, and Comprehension in Meditation
We included an image of a minaret, because this is what is used in mosques throughout the world to announce call to prayer, known as Adhan. They pray five times a day. We need to pray every moment. But, the meaning of the Muslim praying five times, is to maintain continual remembrance of the Being; this is the esoteric explanation of the custom. But, a minaret is a tower, meaning our brain, our pineal gland and pituitary gland, which relate to clairvoyance and omniscience. The chakra Ajna relates to the pituitary gland, the third eye, which is represented by the minaret. The Muslims cry, sing in Arabic, "Allāhu ʾakbar"; they mantralize, as a representation of remembering divinity, through mantra, sacred sounds.
We're going to explain a couple of quotes from Al-Qur'an, which teaches something about the nature of insight: God Most High has said, “In that are signs for those who read the signs” (15:75). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is an exegesis from Al-Qushayri, his Principles of Sufism:
"By those who read the signs” means “for those who can see the inward state of things” or “those who have insight. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
I am going to elaborate a couple of quotes from the Qur'an, which are very misunderstood in these times. But, are understood precisely through this doctrine of insight. And, the explanation of the meaning of Muslim scriptures.
This is from Al-Imran, Surah 3:7: It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise―they are the foundation of the Book―and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge (Ilm, Marifah, Gnosis―real witnessing of divinity) say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding. ―Qur'an 3:7
The thing is, those who seek what is metaphorical in the Qur'an, and do not know Kabbalah and Alchemy, these are the people of subconsciousness, unconsciousness and infraconsciousness. These are people who don't know how to see the signs in meditation. Signs are experiences one has, out of the body, or in contemplation (mushahadah), meditation.
It further states in Al-Baqarah, Surah 2:118: And those who have no knowledge say: "Why does not Allah speak to us (face to face) or why does not a sign come to us?" So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are alike. We have indeed made plain the signs for people who believe with certainty (Yuqinun, or Yaqin). ―Qur'an 2:118
The Qur'an often talks about the "abundant signs of Allah (may He be exalted),” in which are references to the date palm, the trees, the rivers, the waters, the mountains―and Muslims literally interpret this, thinking that there is God because of we have these physical things, which is true to a degree. But, these signs have symbolic meanings. For example, the date palm, the fruit of the date tree, is the Muslim equivalent of the Fig tree, the sexual power. The rivers of milk and honey, paradise, refer to the transmutation of the waters, Al-Tasnim in Arabic.
The just shall be guests of the Mansions of Delights. The Three Forms of Certainty
Those who have no knowledge, who really don't meditate, say, "Why does not Allah come to us with signs?" But, signs come to those who have certainty. Sufis talk about three forms of certainty, in relation to insight. You have ilm al-yaqin, meaning the knowledge of certainty; yaqin means certainty. The science of certainty is sometimes referred to as Ilm.
Then, we have "the seeing of certainty," ayn al-yaqin. Ayn in Arabic, as well as in Hebrew, means perception, eyes, sight. Then, we have haqq al-yaqin, “the truth of certainty." The distinction between these three is that, in the knowledge of certainty, one has certainty of the teachings after hearing it. So, there is a Sufi master who gave an explanation about this term. His name was Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, and he gave this explanation in the book, The Book of Certainty. He describes ilm al-yaqin, as if hearing about a description of fire; receiving knowledge, hearing about it. Then, judging by the lecture or book, what is true, what is effective, and having certainty about the teaching based on having heard it. But, ayn al-yaqin is really conscious clairvoyance; meaning, to see the truth, to really experience what this lecture or what the books and Master Samael are talking about. Then, haqq al-yaqin is like being burned by fire; meaning, the truth of certainty is the soul is united in the Being and the soul is obliterated, and there is only consciousness in God. That is to be burning with certainty. That flame, as we saw in the image of the Buddha before, is Gibor-Ra-El, Gabriel, the Holy Ghost, or we could say, the Ain Soph, that star from which we originated. For me, when I am lecturing, I am giving you ilm al-yaqin. You have to meditate to really perceive, and hopefully go at the heat of what we're trying to convey. But, I am also explaining haqq al-yaqin, because I had the experience in which my soul was united with the Lord, with no ego, because He wanted it; not because I deserved it, but because He wanted to show me. So, giving witness as a Muslim... I really am Muslim, because I submit to Allah, and I have born witness of my Lord, having united with that truth, and that Lord was in me. But, there was no me, there was only Him. That is haqq al-yaqin, "the truth of certainty." So, I am talking about the fire that I have experienced, and the need to really meditate, to really bear certainty of your clairvoyance. Abu-l-Hasan al-Nuri, who we're going to quote more of, the Sufi master, said: Certainty is contemplation (mushahadah.) ―Abu-l-Hasan al-Nuri
So, real certainty is when you, the soul, are absent from the ego, and unite back with your Being. That is genuine certainty of truth, Satcitananda.
Abu abd al-Rahman al-Sulami reported… from Abu Said al-Khudri that the Messenger of God (Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Fear the spiritual insight of the believer, for he sees by the light of God." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism 
That is supra-consciousness. That is a Turiya, one who really has no ego, is a real believer we could say. Real faith is born by what we see, directly, not what we believe. Belief has been misconstrued. Belief in the Qur'an, to be-lieve, to be through the power of love, through Alchemy. The symbol of Islam is the Moon, as you might see in this image; the crescent moon with the star of Venus. This is the Moon of Yesod of Alchemy, guided by the star of love, the Divine Mother; that is Angel Gibril, represented there, the Angel of the Moon.
Firasah, the precise insight of people, comes suddenly upon the heart and negates whatever might contradict it. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is because real insight, conscious clairvoyance and even supra-conscious clairvoyance, is very direct. It cannot be contradicted: you know it directly. There is no doubt. You have an experience, you know it comes from divinity, and the mind is not divided by the battle of the opposites, trying to debate, whether it is from your Lord or not... you know it, directly.
So, the mind may try to contradict, but, especially when the experience coincides with physical facts, it is irrefutable; you cannot deny it. It (spiritual insight) has a kind of jurisdiction over the heart. The term is derived from “prey (farisa) of a lion." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Who is this lion? Our Inner Christ, the light of Allah, the light of unity, the light of Judah of יהוה Jehovah. Christ (Chokmah, Wisdom, the Savior: יהשוה Yeshua) is the capacity to perceive, wisdom, vis-dom, the kingdom of perception.
The ego cannot oppose the spiritual insight of that which is usually regarded as correct and possible. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
As Samael Aun Weor states, we must know ourselves without the depressing processes of options. Insight comes in a flash, and you know something directly: it coincides with facts, physically, and it is irrefutable, you cannot deny it, even if the mind may try.
It comes to my mind, a certain experience that I had. And I'll give an example, but there were things that I experienced internally, before I physically learned about it, and then finding the physical facts. I am going to give some examples about that, later on. It exists to the same degree as one’s strength of faith: whoever has stronger faith has sharper insight. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We have to examine, what is our level of Being, what is our level of faith, what have we verified, and what do we need to verify, so that we can work diligently, and strengthen our soul, so that we're not tempted by the devil in our mind. We have to resist ego.
Clairvoyance, Slander, and Ethical Discipline
In this next section that I am going to explain, coincides with what Samael Aun Weor wrote about in Sexology, the Basis of Endocrinology and Criminology; specifically, about the need to develop spiritual-intellectual culture, when developing clairvoyance. Because, the worst form of people are those who have developed clairvoyance without becoming good citizens. So, as we mentioned, the justice and truth of the servant must flow from his tongue, in a manner of speaking.
Really, the development of genuine insight has to coincide with ethical discipline. Really, being good citizens: not gossiping―not talking about other people―because, what has been destroying and affecting the Gnostic movement, are people who have been developing clairvoyance, and these people who have visions, and then judge other people. They have visions of other people, and then make criticisms of them, saying, "So and so is a black magician, a witch, is fallen, etc., etc." You can read about this in The Perfect Matrimony, extensively. The problem with these types of people is that they lack decency. They may have an experience about the ego of another person, but that is no reason to judge somebody. To have experiences about another person, we should be silent about that. Perhaps we were seeing the ego of that person, as a source in a past life... It doesn't mean they are practicing witchcraft now. But, you have many people who call themselves Gnostics who are condemning other people, because they don't really follow what we call the Sunnah. The Sunnah in Islam is the life example of Prophet Muhammad: being a good person, being kind and merciful, and not judging others. The problem is that people have experiences they don’t know how to interpret; they may have insight, but they make judgements; they may not see the whole picture, they don't understand what they see. So, they may have conscious clairvoyance, but, without a strong intellectual culture, understanding the teaching and the fact that, really our perceptions may be limited. We won't fall into mistakes if we do... Audience: What about, when you hear from others about someone who purports to be a spiritual teacher, and you know that they’re the left hand path, because it has been proven from what you've heard about them, their practices, and you warn someone about them? Is that a criticism, when you're sure that they're wrong? Instructor: I just point to the teachings, and say, this is what the teachings say about being chaste, being holy. For instance, there was a Sufi Master that was confronted by someone, who said, "So and so can fly in the air, has power." And, the Sufi Master said, "So what? Birds can fly. But, does he follow the Qur'an?" And the answer was no. “Shun him,” said the Master. And, if you want to correct people, correct by teaching the truth, not by pointing out people. If someone is causing harm, explain the teaching, "This is what is right." And let that person be the judge whether or not that instructor or missionary is really doing a good job. To confront people and say, "This person is a black magician," even if he is, is wrong. We shouldn't necessarily confront people. But, speak the truth, talk about what you need to do to practice. And, if you suspect somebody is doing evil, tell the students, and explain to them what the path is, and let them judge. If they choose it, good; if they do not, that is their choice. You have to let people decide. And, the problem with people is they have insight, but, other people make judgements. It comes to my mind Ibn Arabi, the greatest of Sufi masters, said, "Even if you have a genuine spiritual insight about another person, you should not talk about it to other people. That is satanic." To gossip is really a problem. Personally, I have been a victim of much gossip. "So and so is a black magician," well... The thing is, that is in the past. Not anymore. We all have that past, most of us. So, we cannot judge anybody. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone... This explains that, in order to develop insight, real clairvoyance, we have to follow the penal code, to be a good person. In the Muslim way, we talk about the Sunnah, which is the oral tradition of Islam, talking about the life of Prophet Muhammad, and the life that he lived, the example that he showed, which is very pure: I heard Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami say that his grandfather, Abu Amr bin Nujayd, said that Shah al-Kirmani had keen spiritual insight. He did not err. He would say, “Whoever casts down his eyes before forbidden things, restrains his ego from lusts (attraction to pleasure), fills his inner being with continuous attentiveness and his outer being with adherence to the Sunnah (scriptures about the life of the Prophet Muhammad), and accustoms himself to eating what is lawful, will make no mistakes with his insight. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Again, we already explained about being good citizens, not commenting or gossiping about the life of others, if we have had experiences about others. I have had internal experiences about individuals, but I never went out of my way to confront them on the issue; let them do their thing. But, if you have insight, keep it to yourself.
Adhere to the Sunnah: be a moral person. Also, one must accustom themselves to eating what is lawful: this means to eat good impressions. So, watching a lot of television, playing video games, distractions, seeing lustful images on television or magazines, even at a glance, that is eating what is unlawful. We eat impressions; the mind eats what it sees. So, we have to transform what we receive in our mind. You can read more about that, about the mental stomach, in The Revolution of the Dialectic. Samael Aun Weor explains in Igneous Rose, that serenity is the most powerful key to the development of clairvoyance. We are not serene if we gossip, or if we talk about our experiences about other people and that causes conflict or division. It is a serious crime, and it has happened in many spiritual groups, where individuals have experiences and then talk about it, to the point of creating conflict. So, serenity develops clairvoyance. We also have to be aware of transforming our mind; anger destroys clairvoyance. A moment of rage poisons our perception. In that sense, we are eating what is unlawful, eating anger. We eat anger. There is a line from one of Shakespeare's plays, Coriolanus, where his mother says after his exile from the city of Rome, "Anger is my meat, and I will starve with feeding,” talking about the mentality of someone who is filled with wrath. Audience: Steiner said the same thing. He said that it destroys the student who is on the path, the chakras specifically. He said the organs won't develop unless you control your emotions. Instructor: Samael explained it. Anger creates a poison called "imperil," which destroys the lotus flower of the chakra Ajna. You see through anger, but that is subconscious, infraconscious, unconscious. Anger only sees what it wants to hurt, and gets pleasure from that. That is a form of seeing, but in hell, and that destroys the objective perception. Muhammad taught, the strongest among you is the one who controls his anger. 
How to Develop Spiritual Insight
We have an image of the Sistine Chapel, the Creation of Adam. Jehovah, Allah, the Being is on the right. We're going to explain what you need to do to develop insight. We have a Sufi quote from Abu-l-Hasan al-Nuri. He was asked:
What is the origin of spiritual insight in the one who has it?” He answered, “It comes from the saying of the Most High, ‘And I breathed into him (Adam) of My Spirit'" (15:29). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is very telling, because even the Sufi names and scriptures have symbolic meaning. Hasan means “beauty.” Nuri means “light.” So, Al-Hasan al-Nuri is “the beauty of the light.” It is interesting that this Master had that name. Hasan is precisely Tiphereth, beauty, the human soul. The light is Allah, as we see in this image; Jehovah on the right, Adam on the left: beauty and light.
This image depicts how one develops insight. Notice how Adam, the man of striving, the Bodhisattva, receives from the Being. He does not extend his hand out, reach out; he receives. That is ninth state of calm abiding emphasized here. It is to be in a state of active reception; no effort needed. Instead, the Being gives, as we see actively in this image of Jehovah reaching towards the human soul. So, the man of striving, mujahadah, on the left, Adam; the man of contemplation, mushahadah, the Being, on the right. What is interesting about the name نور Nur, the Arabic word from light (אוֺר Aur in Hebrew); We find that Muhammad received the Qur'an on جَبَل ٱلنُّوْر Jabal an-Nur, “the mountain of light.” So, by raising the fire of sexual magic to the mind, the mountain of initiation, he developed light and received Al-Qur'an from Gabriel, Jibril, the Angel of the cross. That Qur'an is our inner teaching, the law inside of us, the Being we could say. This is symbol as represented by Jesus receiving the Holy Ghost and being baptized in the river Jordan; it is the same meaning, but in the Muslim way. There is also a Surah in the Qur'an called, النور An-Nur, “The Light,” which contains one of the most important verses in Muslim doctrine. It describes how the light shines from an alabaster or clear vase. This is representing the Innermost, Sat, and the glass, the Divine Soul, Chit. So, there is Kabbalistic meaning here. But, notice how, to develop insight, one must receive from the Being. Aḥwāl, the divine states, are given to us by divinity. It is when we are really working in ourselves that we find that it is the Being who seeks us. Bayazid al-Bastami, a Sufi master, stated: For thirty years I had sought Allah, until I realized that Allah was the seeker, and I was the sought. ―Bayazid al-Bastami
We need to strive to a degree to concentrate. But, the insight comes from the Lord. He is the one who seeks us.
I remember once being in the astral plane, and I invoked my Divine Mother. She came in the form of a bear. A bear is a symbol of the ego, of occult enemies, waiting to fight. She showed me a radar, one of those screens where you see a radius turning, with a green light, followed by blips if there is something on the radar. And, she said, "Where are you? I don't see you here. You're telling me you keep forgetting me; I am looking for you." Pointing at the radar. And, I realized that I hadn't been remembering as I needed to. The Divine Mother seeks us; the Being is seeking us. We have to be receptive to that, to receive the light. What is interesting is that, there are other, deeper meanings to the development of insight here. We find the Arabic word, Adam, from the Hebrew Adam. In Arabic, آدم Adam means "not being, non-being." We talk about the Being, and then we talk about not- being, the Absolute. The Absolute, for our common perception, if we have had the experience of the illuminating void, the perception is emptiness, not-being, but the genuine Being. So, it says here: I breath into Adam (the not-being) with (of) my Spirit. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It is important to explain what this not-being is.
In the Kashf Al-Mahjub, Revelation of the Mystery, it states: And the expression of not-being and annihilation (فناء fana) as they're used by Sufis, denote the disappearance of a blame-worthy instrument and disappearing attribute in the course of seeking a praise-worthy attribute. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
So, as I was explaining, real Samadhi in the Being, the Absolute, the not-being, the primordial space in our star, means that you have to be annihilated, no ego, in order for that subsistence, بقاء baqa in Arabic, to be developed in us, to be in the Being. That is بقاء baqa.
The fact that the Lord breathes, in a cosmological scale, within the space, as the book of Genesis teaches: the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters of the deep, and breathed His Spirit into that emptiness. So, on a cosmological scale, we have the creation of any cosmos, the Tree of Life of any world. But, also, inside of us―how we develop insight is precisely when we cease to be egotistical; we are empty; we annihilate ourselves in the Being. We are empty. Samael explains in The Aquarian Message that God searches the nothingness in order to fill it. So, by working with the breath, the prana, transmutation, we develop light inside. That is how God breathes within the emptiness of the Divine Mother space to create any world, but also inside of us, our own darkness, to create light. That is when we develop beauty, Hasan Al-Nuri; the man of striving uniting with the man of contemplation. Audience: The intermediary would be Tiphereth, the solar forces there, right? Prana comes from there? It ties in that way too, right? Instructor: Prana comes from the Absolute. But, it is fully expressed within in the Bodhisattva, the human soul, the man of striving, when he works. We find that primordial light is within our semen, those waters of Genesis, which can create light within us. So, we have to work on transmuting, always, every day. There are more quotations here, in relation to Al-Risalah, discussing the nature of developing the soul and insight. If someone’s share of this light is more perfect, his vision is wiser and his judgment based on his insight is more truer. Do you not see how the breathing of the Spirit into Adam made it necessary for the angels to prostrate before him? For the Most High said, "I formed him and I breathed into him of My Spirit, so fall down before him in prostration" (15:29). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
When we're developing ourselves, insight, we are greeted in the internal planes by many Masters, who help us. They respect us. In a manner of speaking, they prostrate before us, because we are becoming a new God, a new Buddha, a new master. So, by developing that light and forming that Spirit inside, through transmutation, the Angels help us, in the internal planes.
This statement by Abu-l-Hasan al-Nuri is somewhat difficult, so be careful with it. In this mentioning of the breath of the Spirit, he was aiming to direct those who say that souls are uncreated. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, Jesus said, "with patience possess ye your souls." Really, we develop the soul through insight. When we are comprehending ourselves every day, every moment, we are developing life inside of us, we're creating the soul. But, if we're asleep, we're not creating; we're unconscious, walking negligence.
The quote continues: The situation is not as it might occur to hearts of the weak (Meaning, those who do not meditate). That to which this breathing and union and separation are properly attributed is liable to influence an alteration, which are signs of the transience or transitoriness of creative things. Yet, God, Glorious and Exalted, has chosen the believers, (the meditators, who transmute), for perceptions and lights through which they come to possess insight. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, experiences and the flashes of insight in the mind when we're meditating: that is how we really believe the truth of these things.
In essence, these are the forms of the knowledge of God. This is the import of the prophets saying, "the believer sees by the light of God." It is by knowledge and an inner vision for which God Most High has especially chosen him, and by means of which he has distinguished him from others like him. To call these kinds of knowledge and perceptions, lights, is not an innovation. And, to describe this process as breathing is not reaching far afield. What is intended is one created nature. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, we create the soul through developing comprehension. This relates to the Tree of Life, as we explained.
Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears―there’s hell. Wherever “you” aren’t―that’s heaven. ―Abū Sa’īd in Ibn Munawwar: Asrār attawḥīd, ed. Shafī‘ī-Kadkanī, 299
So, we need to remove ourselves, and let our Being express and guide us, to give us insight.
The Tree of Life is a symbol that we can meditate on, to really comprehend and develop our concentration. But, also to visualize, so that we can experience in the internal planes and what the Tree of Life signifies.
Now, all the references to the subconsciousness, unconsciousness, infraconsciousness, pertain to us. The Being is supra-consciousness, and the road as represented in the allegory of the cave, is the path of conscious clairvoyance. Audience: The Sephirah Daath has the hexagram on it, there must be a reason why it is projected in a different way? Instructor: Because Daath is precisely the work of transmutation, that is going to develop insight. Audience: It makes it stands out, on the Tree, because of the color. Instructor: And we use that color to represent how Daath is that secret sphere, that was not taught for millennia. It is that knowledge of developing the beauty of lights, Hasan Al-Nuri, insight. Audience: Does Daath relate with mantras? Instructor: Yes. With how we gestate, perform Dhikr, invocation, mantra, remembrance. So, as I mentioned to you, we know we're developing insight, when we're doing it moment by moment. If we are not clear about what we are seeing in our psyche, it means that we are not working with our clairvoyance, but being negligent. Every moment, we need to have that vigilance, to strive, so that, through our striving, when we have serenity of mind, we see things in our psyche that are new. Audience: Moment to moment, you said, right? Instructor: Yes. Audience: So, driving a car, working, what ever it is you're doing, it is taking your attention, your concentration. How do you reconcile that with being aware spiritually, moment to moment? Instructor: Remember, your hudur, your Presence, your Being is always in you, with you. So, whatever you're doing, even though we don't see Allah, know that Allah sees you. We have to remember that fact, repeatedly, so that our daily activities are a reflection of our spiritual life, inside. To emphasize the fact that, we're only alive when we're awake, when we're observing, when we remember. Concerning the saying of God Most High, “Or one who was dead―we have brought him to life” (6:122), a Sufi said, “Someone who was dead of mind, but God Most High brought him to life with the light of insight, and set for him the light of divine manifestation and direct vision―he will not be like someone who walks, unconscious, with the people of unconsciousness. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We go through our day, we don't sense our Being: we are dead. It is terrible to say but, as Samael Aun Weor explains in The Revolution of the Dialectic, the one who is not transforming impressions―being awake moment by moment―is devolving, degenerating.
So, when we're unconscious we are not alive. But, if we are paying attention, that is when we have life. When we see something in a way that is new, regarding our daily job or experience, working with another person, our mind, when we have that flash of understanding, you see something in a completely brilliant, clear, cognitive way. We are alive in those instants. Some people experience this rarely in their life, maybe as a result of an accident. A car accident that produces such a moment of shock, that that person awoke in their consciousness, and was seeing every detail of the accident, before it ended. We need to develop that type of awareness, no matter what happens. That is mind training, Lojong in Buddhism, striving in Jihad. It is said that when insight becomes sound, its possessor progresses to the level of contemplation (mushahadah, supra-consciousness). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition
Now, we're going to talk about imagination, inspiration and intuition, according to Sufism.
This is probably one of the most important quotes from this text, Al-Risalah: [Al-Jurayri] said, "Whoever does not establish awe of duty and vigilance (muraqaba, or awareness: muhadarah) in his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen (mukashafah) or contemplation (mushahadah) of the divine." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Everything that we're talking about here, awe of duty―we have to really feel that reverence and awe to practice, every day, to feel that reverence for the Being in every moment.
Awe of duty is to know that it is our duty to work for our Lord, no matter how difficult it is. That will lead us to disclosure of the unseen, mukashafah, and contemplation, mushahadah, of the divine. We're going to explain each of these stages. In Sufism, the three stages that we talked about previously are known as awareness, unveiling or disclosure and contemplation. In Gnosticism, we call it, imagination, inspiration, intuition. I am going to parallel these scriptures for you, so that you see the unity of thought. Awareness (muhadarah) is the beginning; then follows disclosure (mukashafah), then contemplation (mushahadah). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Previously, we discussed concentration. What we are emphasizing here, is how to meditate, to receive new information. To meditate is to receive information. Everything that we have done previously about concentration is to prepare for that. Then, Samadhi is that state of witnessing, ecstasy. The word ecstasy, in Latin, is ex-statuo, "to stand outside of oneself." So, as the Sufi's say, "where you aren't, that is heaven." When you are outside of your subjective, subconscious, unconscious, infraconsciousness, you are entering witnessing, a Samadhi, contemplation of the divine.
Whosoever has reached these ineffable heights of intuition has converted himself into a Master of Samadhi. ―Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose
We're going to talk about the Sufi terms, but also what Samael Aun Weor explains.
Imagination is the ability to perceive images, to see, have insight of a conscious and supra-conscious nature. Inspiration is when we see an image and we feel a reaction, a response in our heart, in our soul, about a given symbol or experience in the internal planes. Intuition is when we directly know the meaning of that symbol, to have real cognizance or contemplation of what it means. In the beginning [of meditation], the disciple perceives fleeting images. Later, the disciple totally perceives all the images of the supra-sensible worlds.
The Sufis refer to it as awareness. So, I invite you to really reflect on the parallels here.
This first stage of knowledge belongs to "imaginative" knowledge. ―Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose
Meaning, visions, lights, perceptions, imagination.
It is still behind the veil, even if the heart is present with the overwhelming power of the practice of remembering God (dhkir). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, we see images, and we start to have flashes of insight. When we're meditating, we see people, places, things, hear sounds, even smells, visions; we're not entirely responsive in our heart, but we have these images and flashes that suddenly come to us, and we realize, we either wake up or return to our body, in meditation, after having seen those flashes. These are proofs, signs that we're developing our clairvoyance. This is a necessary and very good step; the fact that we see images means that we're stabilizing our mind, and that we're developing imaginative knowledge.
However, it is still behind the veil, because we have not really developed that real interpersonal connection to that symbol or to the visions that we're seeing. The next stage, as cited in Igneous Rose: The disciple contemplates many images that are mysteries for him because he does not understand them. ―Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose
This is when we see symbols, and we have an emotional response. We realize, this is a teaching, perhaps from our Being, that is really insightful and meaningful to us. We feel inspired, we may feel happiness or pain, pleasure, but we don't really know the meaning of what it entails. It is enigmatic to us. The solution is to meditate further.
Yet as long as he perseveres with his practices of internal meditation, he will then feel that the supra-sensible images produce certain feelings of happiness or pain.
And, the Sufis teach the same thing:
After this comes disclosure (unveiling, mukashafah) which is presence which has the quality of proof itself. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, we know that this is evidence from God, from our Lord.
In the condition the heart has no need of pondering indications or searching for the road, nor seeking protection from occasions of uncertainty (the opposite of yaqin, the knowledge of certainty, or ayn al-yaqin, the seeing of certainty, or haqq al-yaqin, that truth of certainty), and it is not screened from the nature of the Unseen. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
At this point, we are no longer searching for other things. We receive a symbol, and we really reflect on what this symbol means; what is it teaching us. We no longer have other options, "I received this symbol, now I have to go deeper and understand what my Being is teaching me." That is when we're inspired, and have reached ayn al-yaqin, the perception of truth
Later, when he sees an internal image, instantaneously he knows its significance and the reason for many things. This is the third stage of knowledge, known as intuitive knowledge. ―Samael Aun Weor, Igneous Rose
Samael describes the Being as the Sun of Truth, the light of truth in Aztec Christic Magic. That is why we chose this image of Allah, the Sun of Truth, the Being, which the Sufis elaborate: that intuition is when you know something without any diversion, you know the meaning of the experience immediately.
Then comes contemplation which is the presence of the Real without any remaining doubt. Suddenly the sky of one’s hidden inner being (sirr) becomes clear of the clouds of the veil, and the sun of vision (the Being, the Sun of Truth) rises in the sign of honor. The truth of contemplation is as Junayd said, “Finding the Real comes with losing yourself. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, no ego.
Audience: This is even above, the next stage after intuition? Instructor: No, this is intuition. There are degrees of intuition, we could say, intuitional knowledge. Intuition is the level of the Being, the world of Geburah we say. But, you can have intuition, experiences in the whole Tree of Life, that pertain to imagination, inspiration, intuition. It is important to remember that these are not plateaus; you conquer one then go to the next... you can have an experience within a millisecond, where you have the vision, you know it is a symbol, and you know what it means immediately. Other times, we just see images, we don't really feel inspired; other times, we don't see anything at all. So, if we're not seeing anything, we need to develop imaginative knowledge. But, if you have some capacity for clairvoyance, you can work with the heart, listening to classical compositions to develop inspirational knowledge. And, to develop intuition, meditate on the Being itself. Audience: What about the practice with the aloe vera plant? Instructor: So, the practice of imaging a plant to develop clairvoyance pertains to imaginative knowledge. Whereas, if you want to develop inspiration, meditate on music; such as Beethoven's Ninth symphony. And, if you really are meditating profoundly, you can experience what he was teaching in that piece, and that is intuition. Intuition is the world of mathematics: to know the Being, directly. And, there are levels to this, as represented by the Tree of Life. Sometimes, when we're imagining, we're inspired by a symbol, and we don't really know the meaning. Other times, we need to meditate further, to get that meaning, that intuition. So, as I mentioned, these are not plateaus but, it can happen in one moment; it can happen over a course of many years. Spiritual Facts
I want to emphasize for you the importance of relating internal experience with physical facts, as emphasized by the following teachings of the Sufis:
It is said that the spiritual insight of students is a thought that demands verification, but the insight of the gnostics is a verification that demands a reality. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, in the beginning, we have a hunch, a thought about the meaning of a scripture or teaching. Then, later, as we meditate, we go out of our body and investigate; then we verify what we had the hunch about, the intuition about, in relation to physical evidence.
But, then we have Gnostics, people who are really developing; people who have the experience, and then look for physical facts to verify what they experienced. Samael Aun Weor was like that for many years. He was having Samadhis and astral travels, and was trying to convey his experiences in physical terms to people. So, he had to investigate many scriptures, literature and books, to explain and verify the things that he experienced, in order to show people the real depth of the esotericism in religion. I had an experience about the Tree of Life, before I knew Kabbalah. So, I had an experience where I saw the Tree of Life, the ten Sephiroth, before I knew anything about that diagram. Then, I asked an instructor, "I saw this image; what does it mean?" "Oh, that is the Tree of Life," I was instructed. Then I studied the books, then had that verification. So, I had that experience before I verified it physically. Another time, I was in a fight with a black magician who did some form of martial arts on me, twisted my arm when I was trying to fight him and defend myself. This black magician told me, "I did Aikido on you." Which was the martial arts I was training with at the time. That day, when I woke up, I went to my Aikido instructor and said, "Someone I saw did a move on me, did this," and I showed him the move that this black magician did on me in the astral plane. "Oh, that is nikyo." He told me the technique. So, I had the experience before I physically learned the technique. You can have the internal experience, and then verify it physically. That gives us more faith, because you see what you experience before you even read or learn about it physically. In terms of Master Samael, he had many experiences that, when you read his books, he is using many terms in different languages to explain his teaching, because he had an experience that demanded verification. The rest of this quote talks about how these Masters are very observant of us. And, the need for us to really be aware of them, because if we don't see God, God sees us. Ahmad bin Asim al-Antaki said, “When you sit with the people of truthfulness (Turiyas, prophets in the internal worlds), sit with them in truthfulness, for they are the spies of the hearts. They will enter and leave your heart without your feeling it. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
I remember being with Master Samael, and he was teaching me something specifically, but I was starting to lose my concentration and remembrance of him, and my ego was trying to hide something from him. And he said, "No, you can't do that." He was showing me that he knew exactly what was going on in my mind. So, when you're with the Masters of truthfulness, be truthful, because they see through everything. You can't hide from a God of the heavens.
I heard Muhammad ibn al-Husayn say… that Abu Jafar al-Haddad said, “Spiritual insight appears as a spontaneous intuition that nothing can challenge." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Real insight, when you have it, your mind can't argue about it: you simply know it. Especially when it verifies with facts, physically. Then, there is no argument. The mind may try to doubt, but it is irrefutable.
Audience: Just what you said now about, you don't have any doubts when you experience something. Then you have the people like bible thumpers, who say, all you have to do is have faith; that is their philosophy, without experience. But, what you're talking about here is having experience, and then you really have faith based on that experience; it seems like those other people come up short, or can only go so far... Instructor: That is because those people don't even enter into the path of striving, mujahadah. As the Apostle James said, "Faith without works is dead." So, faith, as Samael explains, is direct perception of the truth, to know something without conceptualization. But, faith without works is dead. Meaning, if you don't strive, you don't work, you cannot have faith. So, you need both. Apostle James was really Muslim, if you break it down. What doth it profit, my brethren, if someone sayeth he hath faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother and sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace and be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead. ―James 2:14-17
So, the mind is churning and chaotic, and working through the process of mechanical associations is subjective. But, insight is lightning, it strikes the mind. You can have a vision, an experience, an insight, an understanding that comes very sporadically, out of nowhere, when we least expect it. And, there is no contradictions. But, if the mind is churning and you have that quality of cloudy, disorganized churning, impassive or indifferent mind, it means that we need more insight. That insight is a shock that gives us life. And, as Samael Aun Weor explains in Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology, we receive a form of shock to our physical selves even, our body, when we self-observe and remember our Being, the body receives nourishment; it is an energy from the Lord.
One thing I want to emphasize, is in relation to the need to coincide physical facts with spiritual experience. I will quote for you a teaching from Al-Risalah, where they talk about the need to combine study of the scriptures with practical experience. They call this in Muslim terms, Shariah and Haqiqah. Shariah is the law, which people in the Middle East interpret to be the law from Muslims in Arabia, the physical customs of their civilization. But, really, Shariah is the spiritual ethical discipline that we work with and develop, in order to develop our psyche. This is the path of striving: to be good persons, not to lie, not to steal, not to fornicate. This is Shariah, the law, the foundation. Haqiqah is the truth, Haq is truth that we experience in meditation. So, in the Sufi martyr, Al-Hallaj, said, "An Al-Haqq!” or “I am the truth!”―he wasn’t lying: he was expressing his Inner Being within him. There was no Hallaj there; there was only the Lord. He really reached Haqiqah, the truth. But, of course, the orthodox Muslims had him executed, because they considered it blasphemy, because Haqq is one of the names of God. So, he was saying, "I am God." But, it wasn't the man of striving saying that: it was the Being, the man of contemplation. We need to follow Shariah, the divine law, to develop inner experience. We need both. So, it says here in the scripture: The divine law (Shariah) commands one to the duty of servanthood. The way the inner reality, Haqiqah, is the contemplation of the divine Lordship, mushahadah, to witness. Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. Divine Law brings obligation upon the creation, while the Way is founded upon the free action of the Real. The divine Law is that you serve Him. The Way is that you see Him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So, for us, in the beginning, we serve God, but we don't see Him yet. But, by experiencing, then we see Him, and we need to do both. We need to practice, to strive to the point of witnessing, then we know and have that insight.
The divine Law is doing what you have been ordered to do. Haqiqah is bearing witness to what He has determined and ordained, hidden and revealed.
So, how do we worship? By striving, by working, by meditating.
Audience: Jihad? Instructor: Through performing Jihad in ourselves, the internal war against the psychological "I." And then, "To you we turn for help," meaning, once we've reached concentration of the ninth degree, we receive the help, "Then we turn to you," we receive that help from the Being, that is aḥwāl, states, insight, lights, perceptions, the inner reality, Haqiqah, the truth. Know that religious obligation is a spiritual reality in that it was made necessary by His command. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It makes me sad that I know people who have been in this teaching for thirty years, twenty years, who have done practices for so long and, speaking with them one on one, they tell me of their desperation that they haven't experienced what that they've read about. This is terrible, because the truth is, if we are really practicing well, then we will have that experience. We need both. Our discipline has to coincide with what we learn internally. Likewise, what we learn internally strengthens our physical daily life, our ethical discipline, our conduct. Both are fundamental.
In this quote we have Mansur Al-Hallaj, who I mentioned briefly that said, "An Al-Haq (I am the truth)" states: The man of spiritual insight hits his target with the first shot. He does not turn to interpretation or opinion or calculation. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This means that insight or intuition, when we know something directly, there is no doubt in the mind; it is very crisp. We distinguish it be the clarity of the experience, and the state beyond our normal perception.
Lastly, we will conclude with the necessity to develop continuous consciousness, or the permanent center of gravity, as Samael Aun Weor explains in his books. In the beginning, we have sparks. Then, we develop flashes. And, as a result of our discipline, we develop more light, day by day in our practice daily, until finally, when reaching the goal, there is only the Sun of Being, continuous insight, understanding of reality, here and now. Al-Qushayri states: No one has improved upon the explanation of the achievement of contemplation (mushahadah) given by Amr bin Uthman al-Makki. The gist of what he said is that the light of God’s manifestation falling upon the heart one after another without a break, with no veil or disruption (meaning, there is unveiling here, mukashafah, and real contemplation, mushahadah) intervening among them, resemble flashes of lightning seemingly linked together continuously. For just as the darkest night, through the repetition and persistence of lightning-flashes in it, would take on the brilliance of day, when continual divine manifestation (continuous consciousness, here and now and in the internal planes) takes place in the heart, the heart is full of daylight, and not night. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Read The Perfect Matrimony, where the Master Samael explains that in the beginning we realize that we're dreaming. Then, we realize we're awake in the astral plane. And the later, we're flying, and other times we're in the Jinn state. So, finally, through our progressive work, we are finally awakened: no ignorance.
Audience: There is a Tarot card called the Tower, which I believe is Mars, with the human beings falling down from the tower, which is an awakening or revelation, I believe. How does that fit in with all of this? Instructor: The 16th card of the Tarot we call Fragility. It relates to the Hebrew letter ע Ayin. The reason why it is Ayin, the Arabic and Hebrew word means eyes, vision. The middle letter of the Hebrew word דעת Daath is ע Ayin, and Daath is dual: it can take one to heaven or it can take one to hell. The problem with the card of Fragility is that the couple fornicates. Audience: The other interpretation they have is that they use the letter פ Peh, and they say it is like a revelation, where you see the truth, like the lightning bolt hitting the tower. Instructor: That thing is, with the Tarot especially, those cards were never meant for the public. What happened was that, what few teachings were given about the Tarot were stolen, and were given to the public in a very adulterated form. So, the cards that we use in this tradition... Audience: They have to be esoteric then? And the others are the exoteric? Instructor: A lot of the cards that are in game tables, and fortune teller type places, are adulterated. The cards that I personally have worked with in the internal planes have that intuitional knowledge and come from the cards that I verified in the literature that we have, and the diagrams that we use. But, we say that Ayin relates to the sixteenth card, because ע Ayin is the sixteenth Hebrew letter; ע Ayin is eyes, and it is the middle letter of דַעַת Daath, the work of perception is how one either rises or falls. But, in Fragility, the couple fornicates, and the tower of Babel is destroyed, they are punished by divinity. So, those people who fornicate abuse their Ayin, their eyes, their perception, because we eat through our eyes. But also, those who fornicate lose all certainty, ayn al-yaqin, the knowledge of the truth, because they take away their energy or capacity to have that experience. That is my understanding. But, the Tarot cards were heavily adulterated. And, when I have receive tarot card readings internally, it is always from the literature that we have been using, and so I have faith in that deck. Audience: And this deck is in the works? Instructor: Yes, it is being published [Editor's Note: The Eternal Tarot is presently available through Glorian Publishing]. So, develop certainty, first strive, then strive to contemplate. Audience: If I was to give my opinion, one of the most important things is really moment to moment awareness, that is really the goal; moment to moment during the day. Instructor: And we will conclude with, "He who remembers God, in his inward states will be exalted by God in all his outward deeds." 
This is the second lecture in the course that we have initiated on meditation—discussing the requisites, as well as the necessary steps we need in order to really understand how to meditate, how to acquire information about any given phenomena.
We previously discussed the nature of the Eightfold Path of Yoga as taught by Patanjali, namely: Yama-Niyama, which is ethical discipline, restraint, "to do or not to do," literally speaking. We also spoke about asana, which is posture. We talked about pranayama, the work with sexual energy, transmutation, moral purity. We also talked about pratyahara, which is the suspension of the senses: to withdraw the mind from the external sensorial perceptions, to have silence of mind. We also spoke about dharana (concentration): to focus the mind on only one thing. And, we spoke about dhyana, which is actual meditation: to receive information about an object, to perceive the new, and to comprehend any given object of our meditation. And then, samadhi, which is ecstasy, comprehension: it is to perceive without the filters of the ego. In this lecture, we are speaking about Yama and Niyama. We are speaking about the necessity to curtail negative habits of body, speech, and mind. We're going to talk about the foundations of meditation, precisely in how we cultivate genuine ethics and discipline, so that we can make our practices effective. On this subject of ethics, we always speak about karma, because karma comes from the Sanskrit, karman, which means cause and effect. It pertains to the fact that whatever actions we produce will necessarily produce certain results. Likewise, interdependence, which is a Buddhist concept, but that we find in all traditions. It is how all phenomena are inextricably linked. Internal states, external events, constitute two dynamics of one thing: our relationship to each other, to humanity, to ourselves. The importance of ethics cannot be underestimated. It is ethical discipline, following what is called the ten commandments of Moshe [Moses], the ten meritorious actions of Buddhism, is how we purify our mind, in which we have the stability of consciousness in order to genuinely enter the higher stages. For instance, we have yama and niyama, which precede asana. It is impossible to sit down with one’s posture to meditate if, throughout the day, we committed fornication or adultery, or we stole... people who have bad habits, who lack moral discipline, if such people try to approach the science of meditation, it is impossible for them to sit still. We cannot sit still if we have had an argument or have been angry in some way. If we want to be able to have a stable, firm and relaxed asana (posture), we first need to, throughout the day, be very disciplined in how we act. As the Buddha Gautama Shakyamuni taught us, in the Dhammapada: Mind precedes phenomena; we become what we think. ―Buddha, Dhammapada
If what we think is evil, then our actions will be evil. But, if what we think is pure, then good results will follow, as the Buddha taught.
In this lecture, in talking about ethics, we are going to discuss a lot of the Muslim and Sufi teachings, specifically from Al-Risalah, by Al Qushayri. We are going to talk a lot about Hinduism and Buddhism regarding the law of karma and interdependence as well. Here, we have a quote from Rumi which really emphasizes the necessity for the curtailing of wrong habits, wrong views. Let’s ask God to help us to self-control:
When we awaken in the internal planes, the peacock can symbolize pride, vanity, one’s appearance, how we make ourselves visible to others. The tail, with its colors, is, really, our enemy: this illusion of self that we typically carry within, which we need to curtail through ethics.
The world is the mountain, and each action, the shout that echoes back. ―Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
This is karma. If we speak wrong words, if we are vulgar, if we are rude to another person, that will produce its corresponding consequence.
This is such a basic concept, but it really is essential, especially as we relate to other people. What we are internally affects what experience externally. If we carry any type of negativity in our internal states, that affects others, even though it may not be visible to us on the surface. This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. ―Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
This is an alchemical statement. "This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace," in which our psychological elements can be burned. Particularly, if we are married and working in alchemy, this is our furnace. The silver is a metallic element representing the sexual energy: the lunar forces. The dross is our psychological, egotistical impurities, the shells that are discarded as we extract consciousness from each ego. In order to do that, we first need ethics, discipline, and we need "rough treatment," meaning, we need to be treated badly. This is the difficult thing that we don't want to encounter; we don't want people to insult us, or to say harmful things, or be negative. But, when people do that for us, they are doing us a favor, if we are wise...
When people are condemnatory, prejudiced, this is how our egos emerge. If we act on that defect or ego, then as a result, we make the other human being suffer, and it becomes the law of the talion: "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." The law of retribution. But, there is a superior law we need to develop within, which is the law of mercy. So, this is our furnace, the psychological gymnasium that Master Samael Aun Weor speaks about so frequently, which relates to three social spheres: how strangers may be rude to us so that we might perceive our egos, that are not necessarily the subtlest and deeply rooted in our psyche. We also have friends and family, which is typically more stressful. And, lastly, the most difficult ordeal is our own partner: our wife or husband, for those who are married. It is precisely from this psychological pressure which exerts itself on our psyche, to stimulate and boil the waters at 100 degrees Celsius, so that those elements that need to be destroyed will emerge and can be worked on. We need difficulty. It is important that we must face these challenges. As Friedrich Nietzsche, author of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, taught: "Is not the greatest thing, the most difficult thing that the spirit of the renunciate seeks to develop, is to take on challenges in order to exalt in its own strength?" Oftentimes, we look at ordeals and problems and we don't want them. But, we really need them. We need to be challenged, so that we can really flex our spiritual muscles and grow. Those elements are boiling in those waters, in either temptation or conflict, so that we can see them for what they are, to observe them. This is key. This is how one becomes an angel: through difficulty. 
This image is of an Elohim, or angel, crowning a woman. That woman is our soul. If we want to be crowned, to receive the crown of life, we must be faithful unto death, as the book of Revelation teaches us: be thou faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. The crown is precisely Kether, Chokmah and Binah, Father-Son-Holy Spirit, the three energies of the Lord in one, the Tri-unity. This is represented by the angel, it is our Inner God, who crowns us if we are faithful unto death, meaning: every day we work on our pride, our anger, our lust, meditating on those defects that were boiling when someone said something insulting to us. We must remember that, in order to really work on that ego, on those defects, we cannot act on those defects. If in the moment we react to the external impressions of our insulter, then, we in turn strengthen our ego, our defects. But, if we restrain our mind, we respond with kindness, we're developing virtue.
Swami Sivananda teaches that every time an ego of anger emerges, when someone insults us, if we curtail and restrain our mind from reacting and behaving in a negative way, we strengthen our virtue. In turn, we give more force to our soul. But, every time we identify, even mentally with our chatter—psychologically in the intellectual center, our negative feelings in our emotional center—then we strengthen our habits, terribly. In order to really work effectively on the ego, we must catch that defect, as soon as it arises. Observation is restraint. As we observe ourselves, we are learning how to not act on our desires. It is that restraint that is really the essence of discipline. If we do not restrain our mind, it is like feeding the lion. 
In this image, we have Sufis dancing at Sama, which is a spiritual concert. We find this quote from Al-Qushayri, a Sufi Master and scholar, who wrote a book called Principles of Sufism. He explains the following:
It is related that Ibn al-Mubarak said, "We have greater need of a little bit of refinement than a lot of knowledge." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It is good to read books, to study this doctrine intellectually, but we have a greater need of even a little bit of psychological purity, than having mere intellectual knowledge. This is not to downgrade the necessity for studying books and lectures, receiving help and clarification that way... what is more important is applying the teachings. That is the only time that is becomes real, when we apply them practically. For, as we say, this teaching is really a dead letter, that only the spirit can vivify. Meaning, the letter kills, if we just leave it at the level of the intellect, the soul is dead. But, when we fully enact it, then, any scripture or book becomes living: it becomes part of our soul.
So, we need more refinement in our habits than we do for reading books. That is the important thing; study is important, but practice is essential. I heard Muhammad bin al-Husayn say… that bin al-Mubarak said, "We sought for right conduct once the teachers of right conduct had left us." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is explaining a common habit in spiritual groups, where individuals often may be taught by a master... and when I say master, I am talking about a master of the Major Mysteries, who has reached the Fifth Initiation of Fire, raising the Kundalini up the physical, vital, emotional, mental and causal bodies. Someone who has reached Tiphereth in the center of the Tree of Life, and has incarnated Christ, as a Bodhisattva. Many times, Bodhisattvas come to teach humanity, but, people do not really get the message, because people tend to intellectualize, read too much, and not practice.
So, once these teachers leave, such as in the case of Samael Aun Weor, he taught right conduct and he disincarnated and is working with initiates in the internal planes. Then, people start looking for their teacher... well, we have his books, but now we seek the right path after we have received the teachings. This emphasizes a dynamic or quality within disciples. We need to really take advantage of the practice, of this discipline. It is said that if one has three traits, one is never a stranger. They are avoiding doubters, behaving well, and restraining oneself from causing harm. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What does it meant to be a stranger? We find in the Old Testament, oftentimes in Judaism, the stranger is associated with the gentiles—those who are not Jews. This does not literally mean those who are not of the Jewish race or culture; it refers to initiates, those who are not initiated and who have not received the crown of life, because Yew, or Yehudah, Iod-Chavah, Judah and Jehovah, and Yehu, all have the same letters associated with each other.
To be a stranger is to be unconscious and asleep; it is to not be an initiate. It is to not have development with the creative energies of God, and through discipline. We need to avoid doubters, meaning, it is not good to necessarily associate with people who are very skeptical, and who are negative. Negative emotions are more infectious than any disease. If someone is angry, and they give a speech to a group of people, they infect other people with that anger. This is not ethics at all. Many religious teachers, preachers, of different denominations and traditions—whether in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, even in Buddhism—who are filled with skepticism and cynicism, infect students. This is a crime, because that creates doubt. Once people are filled with fear and dependency on a group, or doubt about a teaching, about how to change, that is a terrible karma. There are terrible consequences for misleading people in that way. Doubters are really people who try to pull us away from our practice. We need to be very disciplined. If we must associate with certain people, then we have to multiply our diligence and our ethical state of mind. Behaving well is necessary. When we talk about behaving well, we are talking about, as in Buddhism, the trainings of body, speech and mind. In other words, our three brains, in the Gnostic doctrine. Body is the motor-instinctual-sexual brain; speech is usually related to our emotions, because as Jesus taught: Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
It doesn't really matter what you consume, but really what comes out of your mouth, is what he said. Speech relates to the heart, because what is in our emotional center expresses through our speech. If we are negative and evil, if we cultivate that in our mental states, our emotional states, we will speak degeneration, and that affects others. Usually, when people are very negative, we should avoid them and not open our doors to receiving impressions which we know will infect our heart. Part of our ethics is to be wise in our relationships, and to curtail our mind, for again, as Nietzsche said in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, "For some people you may not give your hand, only your paw, and I desire that your paw should also have claws." So, we must learn to establish boundaries with people. Being compassionate does not mean being a doormat, for people to walk all over and abuse us. Compassion is knowing how to establish boundaries for the benefit of oneself and others.
This relates to speech, because how we speak determines to how we relate to other human beings. When we work with our emotional brain, we are really dominating our tongue; these two things are intimately related. Finally, we have mind, which is our intellectual center. In Buddhism, we talk about avoiding the sins of body, which is fornication, using intoxicants or drugs, alcohol, etc. Likewise, for the abuse of the heart, we talk about restraining anger, pride, resentment, calumny, envy. And, with the intellect, we seek to avoid wrong views, specifically talking in regard to the Buddhist doctrine. This is really the center of our problem, with how we negotiate our internal realities with the external world. We typically have mistaken views about who we are as a psyche. And, the only way to rectify that is to observe. Every ego, every defect has its own viewpoint—its own thoughts, its own ideologies, its own sentiments, its own way of acting. But, in order to behave well, we need to understand what in us is mistaken in our perceptions. The only way to do that is to separate your psyche from the ego, and to observe it, and then restraining oneself from causing harm—even if you feel consumed with passion or lust or anger, to restrain yourself and to not engage in that habit, because the more we give into it, the less energy we have for our work. The more we restrain our mind, the greater strength we have. 
The Role of Ethics in Concentration and Meditation
This is an image of Swami Sivananda, who is a great resurrected Master, meditating on a leopard, I believe. I am not sure when in his life this was taken, but he was an adept, who had no ego; he fully eliminated his defects, which is symbolized by him meditating with this beautiful smile on his face, over this dead skin of an animal. The animal is our ego. With ethical discipline one controls, one annihilates those defects, and then like Shiva, can meditate and show that he or she has conquered their animality.
Swami Sivananda gave very practical and essential points in his books, which we study. He says in the book, Concentration and Meditation, regarding the need for ethics: Some foolish impatient students take to concentration practice―this is preliminary concentration, not real meditation yet―without in any manner undergoing any preliminary training in ethics. ―Swami Sivananda, Concentration and Meditation
So, let us step back and emphasize this. Concentration is to focus on one object, such as a mantra, or a visualization, an object, without thinking about other things. Meditation is when we are extracting information about what we are concentrating on. So, they are different things. But, in order to have real concentration, we need to really be ethical: meaning, don't fornicate, don't drink, don't steal, don't commit adultery, don't indulge in anger, lust, pride, etc.
This is a serious blunder. ―Swami Sivananda, Concentration and Meditation
Meaning, those who do not develop ethics, before entering concentration, will achieve nothing.
Ethical perfection is a matter of paramount importance. Concentration without purity of mind is of no avail. There are some occultists who have concentration, but they do not have good character. That is the reason why they do not make any progress in the spiritual line. ―Swami Sivananda, Concentration and Meditation
We are going to talk a little bit about Islam, and how, basically, there is a Sufi master that was approached by a student, who told him, "So-and-so can fly. So-and-so can walk on water, in the air." And, then the Sufi master said, "Well, does he follow the Qur'an?" And the answer, of course, was obviously no. So, he said, "Shun that man. Don't have anything to do with him."
This is because, those who have powers and abilities, and concentration, can do things through the ego. The difference is, in terms of our ethical discipline, we seek to curtail the habits of our defects, of our mind, but, a black magician takes those egos, such as anger, and concentrates that force through that anger. And so, they have a lot of concentration as well, but, within that anger; it is conditioned concentration. The type of ethics we seek to cultivate is by extricating our free consciousness, so that there is no filter, no conditioning; it is liberated. That is really the meaning of ethics, but many people develop powers in their ego, because they keep strengthening the shell, the conditioning, which has them act and perceiving in that subjective way. 
Here we find an image of a Sufi meditating. In order to explain the necessity for ethics, in terms of how we practice, as well as the importance of having experience in developing cognizance, we are going to discuss a teaching associated with the Muslim doctrine.
In Islam, we talk about Shariah, Shariah Law, which in the Middle East is associated, typically, as the culture and customs of Muslims. But, that is not the Shariah that we are talking about. In this case, we are talking about ethical discipline: don't fornicate, don't lie, don't indulge in anger... etc. We call this the Divine Law, or as we say in Hebrew, the Torah, or in Sanskrit, Dharma. It is the instruction that teaches us how to really die in our errors, and to be reborn in our Being. Shariah Law became, literally, a cultural thing, rather than a conscious teaching. Shariah is really the foundation of how we practice, using the Arabic terms. But, if we were to use the Hebrew terms, we would call it Torah, the Law. So, in Sufism, we have four stages. We have Shariah, which is the basic law or instruction, how to be disciplined in meditation. Tariqah, which is the path—literally translating as a "path in the desert"—is how we walk the path, how we practice. Then we have Haqiqah. A Sufi Master by the name of Ibn Husayn Mansur Al-Hallaj said, "Ana al-Haqq (I am the truth)." Haqq means truth: this is God. Anyone who has no ego can manifest the truth within themselves, like Sivananda or Al-Hallaj. Haqiqah is the truth, the way of knowledge. Marifah (knowledge), really, is the same thing; these are two aspects of the same higher teaching. Marifah is Gnosis, in Greek terms: direct perception of divinity. The divine Law commands one to the duty of servanthood. The Way, the inner reality is the contemplation of divine lordship. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This excerpt emphasizes how, if we want to have internal experiences, we need to follow the law. I do not mean terrestrial laws, but the laws pertaining to the development of the consciousness, the laws of initiation. The path, the way to the inner reality is contemplation of divine lordship. Contemplation, a term that we will revisit, is in Arabic called, "Mushahida." This is the word from which we get the Muslim declaration of faith, the Shahadah, which we will elaborate on.
Contemplation is meditation. So, the way to the inner reality is when we are meditating and speaking with our God, face to face. Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
There are many Muslims that follow the outward religious practice of their tradition, or Jews, or Christians, yet, they do not have any experience. This is useless. Neither should we rely on inner experiences, if we are not cultivating, in our daily physical life, ethics. So, like the example of the individual who is flying through the air and walking on water, but not following the Qur'an, really emphasizes this point. If someone has powers but is not practicing chastity, moral purity, restraint, then, they are obviously a demon, a black magician. So, our inner reality should always be anchored by our ethics, our religious discipline.
Divine Law brings obligation upon the creation, while the Way is founded upon the free action of the Real. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
When we talk about how the divine law brings obligation upon the creation, really, when the Qur'an talks about "the creation," it is referring to the Tree of Life, the ten Sephiroth of Kabbalah. The Divine Law brings obligation upon us; we are the bottom of the Tree of Life. But, the Law requires of us that, if we want to enter into the superior dimensions, we need to follow the laws that pertain to those higher worlds. It is our obligation to do so. Or, as Gurdjieff taught, "Being-Partkdolg-Duty" meaning the necessity for God to know himself, to acquire cognizance, by developing the Tree of Life, descending as energy down through different modalities of matter, consciousness, energy, until reaching our physicality. It is our spiritual duty to follow those laws, and return inward, and upward, to the source, with knowledge, so that God can know himself, through us. The soul is like a mirror which can reflect the image of God, inside.
Often in these studies, we talk about the Absolute, which is ٱللَّٰهُ Allah, in Arabic, the Christ, the source of divinity within us. The goal of these studies is to return to the Absolute, the emptiness, the Ain Soph. We often talk about the Absolute as the great reality of life, free in its movement. There is always movement involved in returning to that pristine, abstract joy of consciousness, which is pure liberation, without vehicles of any kind. So, the way is that we really comprehend the Absolute, is that we follow the Torah, the Shariah, the Qur'an, the Law. The divine Law is that you serve Him. The Way is that you see Him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
In the beginning, we do not see God, typically. But, we seek to serve him, through transforming our daily life into something pure. But, "the Way is that you see Him." In the beginning we feel longing, intuition and a hunch about the need to practice, and to change certain habits that are in our daily life, so we are serving God in that way. Whenever we restrain our mind from doing harmful things, trying to create peace and harmony with others, this is how we serve God, Karma Yoga.
But, to take that a step further, we need to perceive God, directly. "The way" is that we are actually communicating with our Inner Being, so that He will direct us further. In the beginning we serve, and we are blind, we do not see anything, but we sense a presence in our heart that we follow and that we want to develop. But, to really enter the path, we need to perceive God directly. In the beginning we serve Him, but, through the way, by entering this path of the Bodhisattva, we have to see God. The divine Law is doing what you have been ordered to do. Haqiqah is bearing witness to what He has determined and ordained, hidden and revealed. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
The Muslims have a saying:
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ
If you look at the word for "bearing witness," which is Shahadah in Arabic, you can also call it Mushahada, which means contemplation, to see. So, to "bear witness" as a Muslim, is to have spoken with God, face to face, like Prophet Muhammad did. Then, when we have that experience, then we can say, "Yes, Allah is Allah, God is God, El is El (in Hebrew), and Muhammad is His Prophet, Buddha is His Prophet, Krishna, Zarathustra, Samael Aun Weor, etc., is His Prophet." To know God is to know the prophets, from experience. To witness is to see, out of the body or in the internal planes, even physically too.
We have two terms in Islam,الظاهر Al-Zahir and الباطن Al-Batin. Al-Batin is the inner, esoteric teachings, and Al-Zahir is the outer, exoteric teaching. These are both names of Allah, the inner and outer, because God is inside, but also outside. We know in Islam that ٱللَّٰهُ Allah has 99 names, which relates to Kabbalah. But "the hidden and the revealed" pertains to internal states and external events. So, we must understand the relationship between the two, the written law and the divine way. I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say that God's saying [in the Opening Chapter, Al-Fatihah] iyyaka nabudu—"You we worship"—preserves the outward practice, the divine Law. Iyyaka nastain—"to You we turn for help"—establishes the inner reality, the Way. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
In one of the seven lines in the opening of the Qur'an, it says, "You do we worship, to you we turn for help." The first part, "You do we worship," refers to our ethical discipline, working with the Divine Law; efforts that we make to worship God. So, to worship our divinity means that we do not act on any egotistical impulse within us. That is the requisite, we must do that first, if we want to receive grace, which is, "To You we turn for help." In accordance with our ethics, we worship the Lord, but then, "To You we turn for help," meaning, we want You [the Being] to help give us an experience, in the astral plane, in the mental plane, in the causal world, in Nirvana, in the world of Chokmah, the Christ, the Absolute even... There are two things there. First, we must practice. Then, we must be patient, in order to receive those experiences. Divine Law, Shariah, is practice, the ethics; Haqiqah is the experience we get by following our discipline.
Know that religious obligation is a spiritual reality in that it was made necessary by His command. And spiritual reality, as well, is a religious obligation, in that the realizations of Him were also made necessary by His command. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
I know many people in this tradition, in different groups that I have been associated with, who do a lot of practices, but, for some reason, because they don't really work with their consciousness, they don't have experiences. But, at the same time, I know many others who developed their practice, with comprehension and cognizance, and they have many experiences.
So, it is an obligation to develop practice, and also to have experiences: they are inter-connected. But, in order to have spiritual reality, we must have religious obligation, meaning, we have to really cultivate purity. The only way to do that, is to observe oneself, here and now. In order to really have experience, every time we sit to practice, we must do it with our consciousness, not with a cloudy mind. In the beginning, the mind is obscured, but, with transmutation and with disciplining ourselves, little by little, we learn to practice better each time. In this way, we will attain to realization. 
This is an image of the Prophet Muhammad, ascending up the seven heavens, on the creature Al-Buraq, which has the face of a woman, the body of mule, and the tail of a peacock. Here, you see Muhammad is veiled, and in Muslim tradition you find that the veil, depicted on the prophet, shows for us that God is veiled, that, to know divinity, we need to tear the veil of Isis, which is the illusions of this world. But, in order to look directly on divinity, which is expressing through Prophet Muhammad, is that fire around him. So, we need to tear the veil of our false perception, so that we can bear witness of Allah, Shahadah. A real Muslim, a real Gnostic, a real practitioner, is somebody who has experienced God, and is cultivating that every day, and knows divinity very well, directly.
This scripture, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism, really teaches us the importance of developing ethics. God Almighty and Glorious has said, "The sight (of the Prophet of the time of his Ascension, from Mecca to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem up the Tree of Life, the seven heavens), did not deviate nor overstep the bounds" (53:17). This is said to mean, “He maintained the conduct proper to the Divine Presence.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
When we talk about ethics, it is important to realize that, if we self-realize, if we come to know God, our ethical discipline does not end there. Ethics is restraining the mind from producing, causing harm. Even if we have a solar mind—which we often talk about, in these studies, how we need to create a solar mental body, a Christic-mind—even though we might have that vehicle of God, it is a material vehicle which can make mistakes, if we identify with it, and not choose to reflect the inner image of our Being. So, even resurrected masters need ethics: they have no ego, but they are like Prophet Muhammad, knowing God, but even their mind can take them away from the path, which is why we say that even angels can fall. The reason why there are fallen masters is because they lacked ethics. Don't think that by eliminating your ego that you are done with ethics; faithfulness to God is something eternal, to not back away from that. But, that is for resurrected masters.
The Most High also said, “Save yourselves and your families from the fire” (66:6). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It is interesting that we find in the sixty-sixth verse of Surah 6 how one has to save oneself from the fire—we find the number 666. The Arcanum 6 of the Tarot relates to the three brains, indecision, being tempted between good and evil, the virgin and the whore, which represents the ego.
According to the commentary of Ibn Abbas, this means, "Teach them the stipulations of the divine law and refined behavior."
Right behavior is understanding our relationship to our Innermost, our Being. We can read about ethics, but, really, this is about our connection, what we learn from God. We cannot learn ethics from any book, but the book of our life, fundamentally. Study is important, so that we are inspired and so that we learn things that we should, but, the actual doing is knowing what rights God Almighty has over us, Allah, our Being, the Christ.
It is reported that the Prophet said, "God Almighty and Glorious had educated me in refined behavior and made good my education.”
In these studies, we often talk about receiving ordeals in the physical, but also the internal planes. If, for instance, you conquer an ordeal of the four elements—the ordeals of fire, earth, water and air—which are given to us by the angels, if we conquer those ordeals, then we receive feasts, banquets, celebrations in the astral plane, with the Cherubim, the angels who appear like children.
The ordeals of fire relate to criticism, if we are slandered and provoked; the ordeals of water are working with difficult circumstances, swimming against the current, of challenges; earth, which is financial troubles or difficulties, like a mountain is closing in on oneself; then, air relates to the mind. So, fire with the heart, water with sex, air with the mind and the earth related to the body. Ordeals relate to these elements, manifest as these elements. But, when you conquer ordeals, then you have a banquet, internally, a maduba, with a group of refined people, which are angels, like Rumi taught, "right conduct created the angels." I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say, "Through his obedience the servant attains to paradise. Through refined conduct in obedience he attains to God.’ I also heard him say, ‘I saw someone who, during the prescribed prayer before God, wanted to stretch his hand to his nose to remove something that was in it. His hand was seized!” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
When we practice, we should not move our body, our asana, our posture, is what this is teaching. We should not obstruct our practice with bad habits, such as that mentioned. But, really, it pertains to how we concentrate. When we sit to meditate and practice, we should not move our body, we should not do other things, we should not think of other things.
Ethics in the Doctrine of Unity
Now, again, emphasizing the nature of the divine law, the ethical discipline, we talk about the doctrine of unity, which in Islam is tawḥīd. Again, this is the saying that, "Allah is Allah, God is one." Or, as the Jews say in their Shema, when they pray in the synagogues, they close their eyes, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad," which means, "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One." But, they place the word Adonai in the stead of יהוה Iod-Chavah, which they believe is too sacred to pronounce.
They close their eyes, meaning, like the veil of Muhammad, they do not look directly at God, showing subservience and obedience: "Hear, O Israel: Iod-Chavah is our God, Iod-Chavah is One." In Kabbalah, we talk about how God is a tri-unity: Father-Son-Holy Spirit, which is one light, which is Allah, emanating from the Ain Soph, through different levels of manifestation of that one light. This is a very important scripture, this teaching from Al-Risalah: I heard Abu Hatim al-Sijistani say… that al-Jalajili al-Basri said, "For the testimony of unity (tawhid) to be in force, faith is prerequisite, for whoever has no faith cannot testify to the unity." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What do we mean by faith? Faith is not believing in something, intellectually, emotionally, or having instinctual habit in the body. Faith is our direct cognizance of God, in our three brains, and out of the body in experiences.
If we do not have that experience of God, then, we cannot testify to the unity of our God, to know that divine presence as, really, a profound state of being. For faith to be in force the divine law is prerequisite, for whoever does not hold to the divine law has no faith and cannot testify to the unity. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Someone who has no ethical discipline cannot know God. This is sad to see, in spiritual groups, where people are infected with pride and anger and resentment; they gossip, they lie, they speak badly about others. As the Apostle James said, it is really the tongue which produces all the suffering in the world. It is like a little rudder in a ship, which steers such great, giant vessels, such a little thing as the tongue... but, really, it directly influences all things, our relationships. But, those who do not follow the path of ethics cannot have faith. Meaning, those who fornicate cannot have faith; those who steal, who lie, who commit adultery, even if not physically, but in the mind, it means that we do not have faith. But, the more we work on those defects, then we will come to know God.
For the divine law to be in force refined conduct is prerequisite, for whoever has not refined his conduct cannot hold to the divine law, has no faith, and cannot testify to the unity…
Samael Aun Weor says in The Revolution of the Dialectic:
It is as much a crime to speak when one must be silent as it is to be silent when one must speak. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
This is the same teaching.
Refined behavior is knowing, when we are with others, when to be silent, but also knowing when to speak, when it is necessary; we know this through intuition, following our heart, and being mindful of the commandments that were given to us, for refining our behavior. This is probably one of the most important quotes that we find in this scripture, Al-Risalah: [Al-Jurayri] said that whoever does not establish awe of duty and vigilance in his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen or contemplation (mushahada) of the divine. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
What does it mean to have "awe of duty"? It is to feel that reverence when we sit to meditate, that we have a sense of fear, not egotistical fear, but a sense of longing and yearning for God, that inspires us to practice, every day.
To have awe of duty is to really establish a regiment of practice, and to have reverence for that and to maintain it. Vigilance is self-observation, to not sleep as a psyche, but to observe our relationship to ourselves, to others and to our Being. For, whoever does not do this, will not arrive at "disclosure of the unseen," meaning, to tear the veil that Prophet Muhammad wears, that Isis wears. "Nor will we have contemplation (mushahada) of the divine," meaning, to bear witness of the Shahadah. This is one of the pillars of Islam—there are five pillars in Islam, one of which is the declaration of faith, called the Shahadah. Muslims, traditionally, say, "Allah is Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet," and supposedly they enter into Islam, and become part of the tradition. But, this is not the real esoteric meaning here; the meaning is to know God in meditation, in a samadhi, without any filters to our perception—free consciousness, no ego present. That is mushahada, contemplation, to bear witness. Another important quote regarding what refinement really means: I heard Abu Hatim al-Sijistani say that Abu-l-Nasr al-Tusi al-Sarraj said, "People have three levels of refinement. For the people of this world, refinement largely consists of eloquent speech and rhetoric, among with the memorization of sciences, of the names of kings, and of the poetry of the Arabs. For the people of the next world, refinement largely consists of training the ego and disciplining the body, preserving the limits of the law and abandoning desires." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Having culture, intellectually... anybody can do that. But, such people do not work on their ego. But, a person of the next world, someone who is having astral experiences, do so because they are training their mind in ethics; disciplining the body to sit in one posture, in order to meditate, and observing the commandments of the ethical discipline we follow, and abandoning desires. This is essential. Renunciation of our desires is the key. Ethics is when, every moment, we do not act on a bad habit; we are abandoning those desires, we stop feeding them. That is really when we are cultivating this sense of self-observation and refinement.
For the elite, refinement largely consists of cleansing the heart of vices (annihilating the ego, with the help of the Divine Mother), guarding inner secrets… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, if we have experiences in the astral plane, etc., we do not necessarily share with the whole world, but rather, typically, keep it to ourselves. Sometimes it is good to talk and discuss things, if we have questions. But, really, the most sacred experiences, we should not talk about.
…being faithful to one’s promises… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We find that, to be "faithful to our promises," refers to having a continuity of purpose. If you have read Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology, you find that the Master Samael talks about the need for continuity of purpose. We have thousands of egos which all have different wills, ideas, which take us in different directions. But, in order to become a unity, tawhid, to express the unity of our God, we need to take that multiplicity and destroy those vices. That means to be faithful to our promises. We promise to our God to serve Him and Her, but, those who are not faithful to their promises, are identified with their defects. We call this, in Arabic, that which is split between God above and our demons below, a Hasnamuss; this is an esoteric term for a being with a split personality, which is all of us. We have God above, in ourselves, but, here we are in the physical plane as a demon... we are split. We need to have faith in our Being so that we can eliminate our imperfections and unite with God. Then, one is not split anymore, between heaven and hell. That is what it means to be faithful to our promise, to our Being, to the mission that our God has, to change.
…protecting the present… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
To be vigilant, here and now, and to never abandon self-observation.
…not turning aside in thought along with refined behavior in the stations of the search… ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, we don't let our thoughts distract us from being aware of God, because our God is with us, here and now, and we need to be aware of that. The "stations" refer to levels of development, initiation. As we are searching for God, we continue to develop more and more.
…in the moments of presence with God, and in the stages of closeness to God. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Even if one is united with the Lord—like I said, even angels can fall. If they are at that level, they still must be ethical, and to not identify with their own mind, but to become one with the abstract Seity, the universal mind or consciousness, which we can only verify and really understand through experience.
The Principles of Karma
In terms of Karma, we talk about four principles. All this talk about ethics pertains to karma. If we produce certain causes, we will get certain effects. Tsong Khapa, who Samael Aun Weor said was the reincarnation of Buddha, came to teach in one of his three books called the Lamrim Chenmo, which is The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. He talks, in the first book, about four principles of karma, which are important to know.
To again emphasize, the word karma comes from the Sanskrit karman, "to act." 1. Actions produce related consequences. This is something that seems simple, but if we analyze ourselves, we find that we typically do not really understand how our actions produce certain results. 2. The consequences are greater than the actions. I know in Newtonian physics, it says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. But, the truth is, if you throw a stone in a pool, that one ripple extends outward, and affects the entire lake. So, one positive action can benefit the world; one destructive action can affect everybody. We see this in the news, we hear about school shootings: one person can cause so much chaos. People emotionally distraught and disturbed can affect entire communities. So, the consequence is always greater than the action. The Dalai Lama emphasized this point, when someone asked him, "How can we change the world if there is so much negativity going around?" And this Master Tenzin Gyatso said, "If you think you cannot change the world, think about when you're trying to sleep and there is a mosquito is bothering you. Such a little thing can make a big difference." 3. You cannot receive the consequence without committing its corresponding action. Meaning, you cannot receive a certain karmic result if you did not produce the individual action. This is important to understand in alchemy, because I know many gnostics think that when someone is sexually united with their partner, they share karma. Well, the truth is, if one is married, one shares tendencies, psychologically, emotionally, physically, but, you cannot receive a result, if you did not produce the action. If, for instance, a person commits murder, it does not mean that the wife goes to jail, that is the way to think about it. But, if you produce a certain action, you get the consequences, no one else. 4. Once an action is performed, the consequence cannot be erased. However, there is a superior law, which is grace. In accordance with Gnosticism, as the Master Samael says in Tarot and Kabbalah, a superior law always washes away an inferior law. So, even if we make a mistake, we can rectify it, if we follow our Being, to have upright conduct. From the Bhagavad Gita, we find this teaching of Krishna, the Christ, with Arjuna. He talks about Karma Yoga, and the yoga of renunciation of action, which summarizes many of the points that we've made. Arjuna said:
So, first he talked about banning desires, then, next, yoga, union with God.
The Blessed Lord (the Cosmic Christ, through Krisnha) said:
So, first, we need to learn to how to renounce our bad habits. But, then we need to learn how to act consciously. One thing is to restrain our defects from acting, but, once we have fully comprehended an ego, our Divine Mother annihilates it, and, in turn, we learn how to act in a superior way. A superior law washes away the inferior law. The law of mercy overcomes the law of the talion.
3. He should be known as a perpetual Sannyasin who neither hates nor desires (A Sannyasin is someone with no ego, a real meditator); for, free from the pairs of opposites, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he is easily set free from bondage! ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
Meaning, discipline is when we overcome the battle of the opposites in our mind, the battle of the antitheses; thought/anti-thought, concept/anti-concept, thesis/antithesis, when the mind is constantly struggling in duality, and instead we find unity, tawhid.
4. Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and the Yoga of action or the performance of action as though they are distinct and different; he who is truly established in one obtains the fruits of both. ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
So, children—people who are ignorant, who have no direct knowledge—talk about yoga and these traditions, without really understanding that they are two aspects of one thing, a conscious principle.
5. That place which is reached by the Sankhyas or the Jnanis (those who have Jnana, knowledge) is reached by the (Karma) Yogis. He sees who sees knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) as one. ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
Again, knowledge is what we gain directly from restraining our mind, and performing good action: upright thought, upright feeling, upright action in our three brains.
6. But renunciation, O mighty-armed Arjuna, is hard to attain without Yoga; the Yoga-harmonised sage proceeds quickly to Brahman! ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
Brahman is the Absolute, the Christ, another name of Allah.
7. He who is devoted to the path of action, whose mind is quite pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses (through pratyahara, attaining silence of mind) and who has realised his Self as the Self in all beings (the Innermost Atman, our Inner God as the God within all there is), though acting, he is not tainted. ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
When we learn how to act, in a conscious way—first restraining the mind, then acting to the virtues we develop—we in turn learn to see God within all beings, and we do not commit sin, we do not acquire negative consequences.
So, like the lotus flower that emerges from the swamp, it is pure, not affected by the muddiness of the waters, it is the same thing with our life. Our soul should blossom like a flower above the filthiness of our mind. Every time we act consciously, we stop acquiring negative consequences. 
There is mention of the Blue Race in different traditions, specifically within a book called Gazing at the Mystery by Samael Aun Weor. In this next image, we find three colors: blue, yellow and red. Blue relates to the Father; yellow relates to the Son, the Christ; and, red is the Holy Spirit. So, Krishna is really the three primary forces above, Father-Son-Holy Spirit. But there is a race of blue men mentioned by Samael Aun Weor, it is true. But the deeper meaning is that blue relates to the Father, Kether. So, this is Kether-Chokmah-Binah, with Arjuna on the battlefield of the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, with Arjuna which is Tiphereth, the human soul, our willpower.
8. “I do nothing at all”—thus will the harmonised knower of Truth think—seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing… ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
We must feel that we are not doing anything from our ego; to not act with desire. But, to let our God act through us. In this case, one’s actions come from the Being. So, in a sense, one does nothing, but the will of the Lord.
9. Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes—convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects.
Here, intellect should really be "Buddhi." They translated it as intellect, which we think of as the intellectual brain, the mind, but, really intellect, in Sanskrit, is a common translation for Buddhi. Buddhi is the Divine Soul, the consciousness, Geburah. Every time we act with purification of the soul, we are controlling our body, mind and soul.
12. The united one (the well poised or the harmonised), having abandoned the fruit of action, attains to the eternal peace; the non-united only (the unsteady or the unbalanced), impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound. ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
So, the non-united, those who are unsteady and unbalanced are identified with ego, desire.
13. Mentally renouncing all actions and self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act. ―Bhagavad-Gita: Yoga of Renunciation of Action
Again, "nine-gated" relates to the nine superior Sephiroth, refers to the human being. We find this in the teachings of Ibn Arabi, as well, the Sufi Master, but also here in the Bhagavad Gita.
The fruit is the results of past mistakes, which is the abuse of the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge represents the sexual energy. To "eat the fruit" is to orgasm, to abuse the energy. The fruit of fornication is bitterness, suffering. Likewise, each action should be one born from purity of mind, of chastity. 
Willpower and Superior Action
We find the image of the Prophet Muhammad, with the veil covering his head, illuminated with fire; meaning, he has raised the Kundalini up to the brain, from the base of the spine, and is fully illuminated with that sexual power.
So, to emphasize how the yoga of renunciation and the yoga of action are united, I'd like to explain another quote from Al-Qushayri, which emphasizes this duality between Being and soul, and how we need to learn to not do our own will, but the will of our Being; to renounce our own habits and desires, and to let the will of the Being determine our actions. Iradah, the will to find God, is the beginning of the path of spiritual travelers, the first title given to those who are determined to reach God Most High (Allah, may he be praised and exalted, as we say in Islam). This attribute is only called iradah because will is the preface to every undertaking. What the servant does not will, he does not carry out. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We will not produce the necessary consequences, if we do not fulfill the action. Karma is dual; if we behave negatively, we receive negative results, if we act positively, with the consciousness, we receive conscious, positive results.
Since this is the start of the enterprise of one who travels the path of God Almighty and Glorious, it is called "will" by analogy to the resolution involved at the beginning of everything else.
What willpower are we talking about? This is something that we need to observe. Are we following our egotistical desires? Or, are we following the will of our Being? We need to both abandon desire and to act from the will of God, as Krishna taught Arjuna.
Interdependence
It is this understanding of cause and effect in our daily life, that we understand the law of interdependence in Buddhism, which is called dependent arising, or dependent origination:
No phenomena is separate, independent of others. Even our psychology: our psychological states are determined by their relationship to external events or impressions. So, we find that, in Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology, we need to develop internal states in relation to external events; to find the relationship between them. When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises.
It seems simple, but it is very profound. If we examine ourselves, in our daily life we do not see how our negative habits produce wrong consequences, typically. But, if we are observant of that, and we really understand this principle, fully, we will become an angel. An angel knows good and evil, in balance, in harmony.
To really understand how certain causes produce certain effects, completely, is to be self-realized. Do not think that one day we will simply "get it" and it will be over. Even the gods are balancing those forces, knowing how cause and effect relates; it is an eternal law. So, as I said, ethics pertains even to the gods, but at a very high degree; something that we cannot get at this level, but, if we have experiences, we can get glimpses. [The body and mind] cannot come to be by their own strength,
Every internal state is a response to external impressions. You cannot separate one from the other. Usually, when we identify with our mind, we feel like everyone is outside of ourselves, and that we are separate. We have to become clairvoyant and understand that our thoughts relate to other people, and that other people’s thoughts affect ourselves.
As Samael Aun Weor said in Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology, the one who learns to appropriately match internal states with external events marches on the path of success. For, as the Buddha said, in the Majjhima Nikāya: Now this has been said by the Blessed One: "One who sees dependent arising sees the Dhamma (the Dharma, the law, the instruction, the Shariah, the Torah, the commandments); one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent arising." ―Majjhima Nikāya
To really know ethics is to understand our psychological relationship to other things, in every instant, and not to identify with our mind. If you want to live happily, we need to learn how to cultivate our internal states and to make them more appropriate for the external events that we perceive. This is dependent arising: an impression emerges and enters my psyche, and I react egotistically… or I respond consciously, it depends. If an impression of a hurtful word enters one's psyche, anger emerges. That is the reaction; that is the egotistical response. If we curtail that, and separate our psyche from that, and observe that defect in action, and respond with love towards the aggressor, that is developing a superior law, the Dharma.
To know the relationship of cause and effect—internal state, external event—is the work of a master. To be a master is to fully understand that law, to a degree, we could say. There are levels amongst the masters. But, to really understand that law, to be self-realized is to understand how our psychological states effect our external events, and how they relate; especially how we relate to people. This relates to clairvoyance and telepathy: understanding other people’s minds and thoughts, or seeing them directly, with our spiritual perception. 
In this image, we have Nagarjuna, who talked about the fundamentals of the middle way. In the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, he discusses that it is understanding of cause and effect within oneself that we find the relation of how phenomena are empty, that they are not independently existing of themselves. When we understand how our internal states are related to external events, and we develop conscious states through ethics, we find that we are in turn understanding how egotistical desires are really empty; they are not substantially real. We have them, but, at the same time, we must understand that these phenomena really do not have any absolute existence. Anger emerges whenever a person insults us; so, that ego is dependent on that impression in order to emerge. Eventually, that anger goes away or disappears, so we can see that it is really not eternal: there is no eternal self there. Only God, Atman is eternal. But, even god is dependent upon the Absolute, we could say.
So, we say that all phenomena really do not have intrinsic existence; they are empty. When we understand this emptiness, the pristine, luminous nature of our consciousness, we see our defects and desires really do not have any substantiality. That which arises dependently
Cause and effect. Ethics is how we understand emptiness, which is God. God is empty of form; it does not depend on anything; the Christ does not depend on anything, but is luminous light, intelligence, perception, without filter. But, to understand how certain actions produce certain results is the work of dependent origination.
Because there is no phenomenon
Impressions are impermanent; they come and go, they are not stable. And, it is by understanding how the instability of our internal states relate to external events is how we develop comprehension, which is emptiness, cognizance; not a nihilism, an abstract negation of one’s existence, but a type of comprehension and perception which is free of conditioning of the mind, free of obstruction.
Lastly, Swami Sivananda, explains the following advice, that I want to relate to you. Do not imagine that you are a great initiate and that you only have to sit in meditation and enter into Samadhi. You will have a terrible downfall. Even after years of practice, you will find you have not progressed an inch forward because there are deep within you lurking desires and cravings which are far beyond your reach. Be humble. Make a searching analysis of your heart and mind.
In order to understand Christ, which is empty of form, we need to have ethical discipline, as we have been mentioning.
It is the preparation that takes very long, but do not wait for perfection in ethics in order to take the higher practices of the path. Try to get established in ethics and at the same time practice the other steps (such as concentration, pranayama, maintaining a relaxed posture, etc.). The two must go hand in hand, then, success will be rapid. ―Swami Sivananda
This is something to think about, in terms of our understanding of our own discipline.
Questions and Answers
Student: This is kind of how I feel. I am not a saint, but I am just working to build up my practice.
Instructor: And, as Michelangelo said, perfection isn’t a trifle. Rumi said, if we can get up early for 40 mornings, to practice, that will contribute to our growing wholeness as a psyche, in development, like an embryo of a child that is giving form. Little by little, we develop the soul: with patience possess ye your souls, as Jesus taught. The way that we develop ourselves is with patient discipline, ethics, restraining our mind, and then meditating; combining those two things. Don't wait for perfection in ethics in order to practice, they go hand in hand, together. Student: So, if I get this right, from this lecture, the most important thing for us to work on is our ethics? Instructor: In conjunction with our practice. Ethics is really the foundation for meditation. If we want to meditate, to have a clear mind, we can't be killing, stealing, or doing other negative things. On the one hand is the physical level of application, but, more importantly there is the psychological aspect: how we react internally, in our mind, in curtailing those habits. First, physically we cannot do those things. Then, psychologically, we need to curtail those habits. Student: I did have a question about the work, regarding the four principles of karma. The third one, which is that the consequence cannot be received by anyone that is not making the action. Does that mean the return consequence of the karma? Because an action can have consequences that expand beyond the person that committed that action. Instructor: Yes. For instance, if you are married, if your wife commits murder, you don't go to jail, she does. Student: Right, but your wife might suffer the pain of you leaving her. Is that a karma that she acquires along the way, or is that just collateral damage? Instructor: It is part of the consequences of her actions. That shows that everything is related; nothing is separate. But, in terms of receiving an illness, disease or punishment as a result of acting wrong, no one else can receive that, but a person who deserves it, who committed those wrong actions. The law is the law, as we say in these teachings; the law is always fulfilled. In order to receive something, you must perform the action. Student: So, the consequence and the action are interdependent as well? Instructor: Yes. Understanding the relationship of right action and wrong action is understanding karma, and, understanding how phenomena are empty, in and of themselves. We must understand the connection between things, especially our internal states and external events. That is how we act well: we stop behaving in mistaken ways. This is the work of self-observation. Student: And that is the superior law? Of getting out of the turning of cause and effect? Extracting yourself from that? Instructor: And, the thing with this is that, it is like when you learn to act in a conscious way, one does not acquire karma; if you do not sin, you will won't be blemished, you won't receive bad actions. But, we will be like the lotus that hovers above the waters, as Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita. Student: Because that's past karma... Instructor: And that is the thing; we must bear that, patiently. We bear it, we're patient, we're disciplined, and we work on those elements that need to be disintegrated, then, we pay our debts and in turn, purify our mind. That is really the purpose of karma; if we receive certain challenges in our life, if we are chaste, it means that we are going to receive that karma in an objective way, in a different way, than someone who is fornicating. Student: But, even the masters suffer greatly, right? Instructor: At a higher level. Student: So, are they suffering because of karma still? Or are they suffering for a different reason? Instructor: The suffering of a god is different from us. One could reach the Ain Soph, in Kabbalistic terms, return to the Being and to the Absolute, to a certain degree, with knowledge, and it is bliss; but at the same time, even angels have to balance their karmic transactions, at a very high level, in order to gain the right to enter into the Ain, the Absolute. There are levels of development. Masters can suffer as a result of wanting and waiting to be admitted into the Absolute. Student: So, their bliss is interdependent on their suffering? Instructor: Their bliss is a result of being united with God to a level. But, suffering, at that degree, is very, very different. It is a difficult thing for me to convey or to explain. It is something that, if you have an experience at that level in a Samadhi, then you may get it. We know that even the gods suffer; but, not like we do. Our suffering is very intense. Student: I was thinking of someone like Aberamentho, who went through that trial. He gave that up himself, right? That wasn't karma for him? That was him willingly walking into suffering, to be resurrected, right? Instructor: And to give an example for what we need to do. He fully conquered suffering. He is a being that went beyond the Law and is an inhabitant of the highest divinity. He is absolutely perfect. He is teaching other masters how to reach that degree, known as a Paramarthasattya. Paramartha means absolute cognizance, and Satya is the essence. So, someone who has full knowledge of many infinites. An infinite is a collection of billions of galaxies, so, Aberamentho is really a rare being. There are degrees among masters and there are degrees among initiates. Some masters suffer because they want more knowledge, even if they are perfect, to a degree. It is a subtle thing, but their suffering is very different from ours, and very difficult to comprehend, unless we really have a Samadhi at that level, and to see what it is like to be at that degree of consciousness. Student: Is there also a type of suffering that the high masters will go through, for humanity, on our behalf? Instructor: It is suffering for a master... for instance, we are going to do a course on The Voice of the Silence; at the end of that scripture, it talks about how, when one self-realizes, one becomes another brick in the guardian wall. Each brick is master which composes an army of angels that really work to help humanity. It is a path of suffering, really, but, also bliss, because after many eternities of helping humanity and suffering for their benefit, to help them to self-realize, they will eventually gain the right to enter into the Absolute. Blavatsky transcribed that scripture from Senzar, an ancient language, and it conveys a lot of suffering on the part of these masters who try to help humanity. Eventually, they'll gain the right, after serving from many cosmic days—if they self-realize, and they keep working and manifesting physically, or internally, to help others attain the state of the angels... but, that is the path of an angel, in order to enter the Absolute. An angel is a self-realized Master, but, they may not have the right to enter into the Ain, which is where a being like Aberamentho (Jesus) entered. He is a Paramarthasattya, he is above an angel. So, there are hierarchies. Those beings like angels suffer because they are serving and serving, but humanity is ignorant. So, they serve many humanities, for different cosmic eras. But, eventually, if they don't let themselves fall, they'll eventually have the right to enter the Absolute. The problem is, many of them fall, because they are tempted. So, that is why ethics does not finish when you have annihilated your ego; even if you have no ego, you can get tempted to do wrong things. The mind is still there. It is not a lunar mind, but a solar mind; it is a different thing. To learn the difference, we must have that body inside and to really know what it is like, and to meditate and to have experiences.
Let us remember that the tarot were originally inscribed in stone. This is a symbolic as well as a literal statement given by Samael Aun Weor.
In the metaphorical level, we know that the stone refers specifically to Yesod, which is the creative sexual energy, the foundation of the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah. To provide a little more background on the nature of the tarot, I’d like to explain to you some little known reference within the Qur’an to the sacred arcana, the immortal laws of the eternal tarot, especially as it applies to the Divine Mother, the High Priestess, the second arcanum, the subject of our discussion today. We mentioned previously that the tarot are within all religions, including Islam. The Qur’an speaks about the tarot in a veiled fashion. The tarot are expressed in the Qur’an in an implicit manner, but after our explanations, this knowledge will be explicit. The Qur’an states in Surah 85, verses 13 to 22: Truly it is He Who originates and brings back. And He is the Forgiving, the Loving, Possessor of the Throne, the Glorious, Doer of whatsoever He will. Hast thou heard tell of the hosts―Pharaoh and Thamud? Yet those who disbelieve are in denial. And God is behind them, All-Encompassing. Nay, it is a Glorious Qur'an, upon a Preserved Tablet. ―Al-Buraj: The Constellations
The preserved tablet is precisely the tarot, since this knowledge was written upon stone and is preserved by the solar initiates in the superior worlds.
The Sufi commentators explain how the preserved tablet is the origin of all scripture, the origin of all teaching, whether Judeo-Christian, Muslim, etc. This preserved tablet is precisely the stone of Yesod upon which the tarot are inscribed. 
We mentioned previously that the twenty-two arcana of the sacred tarot are precisely the twenty-two Hebrew letters of the Torah in Kabbalah. As the third book of Enoch states:
Receive [Kabbel, the root word for Kabbalah] the twenty-two [Hebrew] letters of the oath [of Sexual Magic]. ―Third Book of Enoch
The word kabbel means to receive knowledge from divinity directly, through awakening consciousness. Likewise, Muhammad received al-Qur’an upon Mount Hira, or Jabal Nur, the “mountain of Light.” So he received, kabbel, the scripture, the law, the Qur’an, the Recitation, which signifies “to speak,” “to pronounce,” “to convey.”
Precisely the Qur’an, the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the world scriptures, whether from east or west, originate from this preserved tablet, which certain Sufis stated is called the Mother of the Book, or the High Priestess, the Divine Mother of the tarot. Al-Qushayri explains that this Surah 85, verses 13 to 22, the reference to the Preserved Tablet, is explained with Surah 29 verse 49: Nay, it is but clear signs in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge (Marifah in Arabic, gnosis in Greek, Da'ath in Hebrew) and none reject Our signs, save the wrongdoers. ―Qur'an 29:49
So what is this preserved tablet upon which the teachings of all traditions are founded? The tarot are principles, archetypes, forces, laws of nature, which need to be inscribed in our own stone, our body, wherein we find the cubic stone of Yesod, the sexual energy. It is precisely Yesod that provides genesis, which generates every scripture, which gives birth to every prophet. This is why Gabriel, the angel and power of the moon, Yesod, announces the birth of every great initiate, since it is through the lunar creative sexual force that one accomplishes the genesis of the soul. We mentioned that the tarot can be presented in a deck, like the one we have available through Glorian Publishing. The tarot, however, are not limited to a deck, through a set of cards, because these laws are archetypes, experiences, blueprints for the creation of the soul, qualities of being, which are symbolized by the images of the cards. We do not find the real tarot within a physical deck, but in the higher dimensions, within the internal planes. In the internal worlds, divinity uses this symbolic language, Kabbalah, to convey profound truths about our spiritual development, the dangers, the warnings, the inspirations. Therefore, we study Kabbalah to be well versed in communication with the inner Being, face to face, just as Moses received the twenty-two arcana or commandments of God upon Mount Sinai. Some people say he received ten, but the truth is that he received twenty-two, in relation to the major arcana. Similarly, Jesus received the Verb within the Jordan when baptized by John. Likewise, Muhammad the Qur’an, the Recitation, the pronunciation, the Word, from Gabriel, Jibril. The word Gabriel is alchemical and kabbalistic: Geburah-El. Gibur means “strength,” “severity,” or “justice,” relating to the sphere of Geburah on the Tree of Life. Ra is the solar divinity of Egypt, and El in Hebrew means God, spirit. 
So what is this Gibur? The swastika, the cross in motion, the alchemical union of man and woman. From this cross of alchemy, the junction of the vertical phallus and the horizontal uterus, those energies, when conserved and never expelled, generate life; those forces enter into action, into movement, through breath, through spirit, through the Hebrew letter א Aleph or Arabic ا Alif. That spinning cross is precisely the Hebrew letter א Aleph that we spoke about previously.
When the wind, the prana, the breath, the creative energies of God, are in movement, they initiate and begin a new life. A prophet who proclaims the scriptures, who speaks, is using א Aleph, because he is initiating others into the teaching. So when Muhammad received the Qur’an through distinct revelations, he precisely embodied its principles, its arcana, through the descent of those forces and their subsequent return up the spine through the path of initiation, symbolized by the Arabic ا Alif. ا Alif is a straight line, symbolizing the spine through which the prana, the creative energy, ascends. Every master, like Muhammad, works with the creative energy in the spine. The same with all prophets, since they are all children of the stone of Yesod, the preserved tablet, the Mother of the Book. These arcana are inscribed upon a preserved tablet, which the esoteric Muslims or Sufis explain is a scripture that the angels, the masters, recite and study before the highest divinity, الله Allah. Every scripture in the world is based on a detailed understanding of the twenty-two arcana, which is a knowledge preserved and understood within the internal worlds. The knowledge is internal; the tarot are internal. They are symbols of forces. For today’s lecture we are exploring the Mother of the Book, the second arcanum of the tarot: the High Priestess, the mother of the tarot, who is inside of us. Her law and laws must be inscribed within the temple of our body, heart, mind, and soul. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy תֹורָתְ law [is] within my heart. ―Psalms 40:8 The Two Forms of Kabbalah
Remember that Kabbalah is dual in nature and that there are two forms of kabbalists. There are the intellectual kabbalists, and there are the intuitive kabbalists.
The intellectual kabbalists are sorcerers, black magicians, fornicators, those who do not conserve the sacred waters of God within the sexual act, who perform Black Sexual Magic or tantrism. The intellectual kabbalists store a lot of scripture, knowledge, and teachings given by Moses, other Rabbis, etc., and yet they are exclusively limited to the intellect. That is all they know. They have a lot of book knowledge, lectures, teachings, etc., in the mind, but what distinguishes them is their lack of direct experience of what they have read. They have not verified the truths of divinity in those teachings. Those intellectual kabbalists who fill the mind with that information know nothing of God, since they have not received, kabbel, kabbalah, the wisdom of divinity directly within the higher dimensions. Those who receive conscious knowledge, Da’ath, Marifah, gnosis, are intuitive kabbalists. They know what they have read about through meditation and astral travel. So the Qur’an teaches us this principle very beautifully in relation to arcanum two: He it is Who has sent down the Book upon thee; therein are signs [verses] determined; they are the Mother of the Book [the Tarot, the High Priestess], and others symbolic. As for those whose hearts are given to swerving, they follow that of it which is symbolic, seeking temptation and seeking its interpretation. And none know its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge (marifah in Arabic, gnosis in Greek, Da'ath in Hebrew, the hidden sephirah on the Tree of Life, hidden within the throat whereby the verb is gestated, the power of the Tree of Knowledge). They say, "We believe in it: all is from our Lord." And none remember save those possessors of intellect. ―Al-Imran 7
The last phrase, “possessors of intellect,” is an inadequate translation. The original Arabic is ulu'l-al-bab, “possessors of kernels” or “seeds.” An intuitive kabbalist can see into the core of things, into their seed, their root nature. This is the nature of intuition, to perceive and interpret the experiences of divinity directly without the interference of the mind. We do so precisely working with the sexual seed, the seed of life. Intuitive kabbalists also see into and interpret the heart or core of any doctrine, any knowledge, any dimension, precisely since they develop the power of prophecy, founded upon Yesod.
But those kabbalists who only study the exterior aspect of things, the shells or appearances of phenomena, are exclusively intellectual. These people are superficial; they don’t see the insides of their teachings, whether of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Gnosis, etc. We must learn to be profound, to learn to dive into the depths of any knowledge to extract its seed, its essence, through transmutation, meditation and direct experience. Those who possess the shells, and not the seeds, are the black magicians, the intellectual kabbalists who dwell in the Klipoth, the world of shells. Klipoth in Hebrew means “shells.” A shell without a seed is empty of nourishment, of spiritual sustenance, of any genuine reality. The hell realms are empty of spiritual being. In the infernal worlds, one can have knowledge, but only of the inferior aspect of things, through the shells of the ego. Every ego is a shell that traps consciousness in perdition, in the infradimensions, that we must learn to comprehend and transcend through the psychological work. The Divine Mother, the High Priestess of the tarot, helps us to eliminate the shells of the ego so we can extract the seeds, the consciousness, the intuitive principles or arcana of the soul, to know the Tree of Life directly from experience. This is how we are liberated from suffering. Through this work of joyful perseverance, of comprehension and elimination of our defects, we create the music of the soul. Now you can comprehend the basis of Tchaikovsky’s famous “Nutcracker” Suite. You must crack the shells of the ego to develop the beauty and symphony of the consciousness. In this manner you awaken consciousness in order to receive the knowledge of the superior worlds, synthesized through the twenty-two major arcana of the tarot. For as the Third Book of Enoch states: Receive [kabbel, kabbalah] the [22] letters of the oath. ―Third Book of Enoch
With the first Arcanum, we learn to descend in order to re-ascend. We must enter Klipoth and comprehend all the shells that condition our understanding. With arcanum two we learn to work with the Divine Mother, the occult science that liberates:
Have you considered the [sexual] Fire that you kindle? Is it you who brought into being the Tree [of life] thereof, or is it We Who bring it into being? We made it a reminder and an enjoyment for the desert dwellers [anyone who traverses the wilderness of initiation, be’midbar, through working with debar, the word]. So glorify the Name of thy Lord, the Magnificent! I swear by the places where the stars descend [the Magician orders the soul to descend then to return / ascend with glory]. And truly it is a magnificent path, if you but knew. Truly it is a Noble Qur’an, in a Book concealed [the tarot, which have not been unveiled until recently]. None touch it, save those made pure [through chastity], a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. ―Al-Waqi’ah, the Event [56:71-80].
The Book Concealed is another name for the Preserved Tablet, the twenty-two major arcana that serve as the basis for every major religion, without exception. This knowledge of the tarot, the Book Concealed, hidden within the scriptures and the higher dimensions, was not made public until recent decades, through the writings of Samael Aun Weor. Remember that it was forbidden to teach alchemy in public during the era of Pisces. But now we are in the era of Aquarius, the water carrier, whereby the tarot is now being explained for the first time.
The Mother of the Book is the occult science, the Divine Mother Kundalini represented by the Second Arcanum, known as the sacred Cow or Heifer within the second Surah of the Qur’an, of which we will be discussing in detail today. 
The Tree of Life and the Absolute
The number two is precisely the feminine, receptive or negative force that unfolds from the masculine, projective or positive force within the higher dimensions. This difference in forces from the higher planes manifests also within our physicality through the division of sexes.
The Father could not create life if it were not for the Mother. Man and wife cannot be priest and priestess of creation without each other. As above, so below. We see here in this image the Tree of Life and a representation of man and woman with the image of the infinite, the holy eight, transposed over their bodies. Before speaking about the microcosmos, the human being, let us first discuss the macrocosmos, the universe at large. The universe emerges because of the Divine Father and Divine Mother, who are unified and described in the kabbalah through the unmanifested, the אין סוף Ain Soph, which in Hebrew translates as the “Limitless.” In Kabbalah, our Ain Soph is our supra-atomic star, a primordial and eternal point of supra-divine, uncreated light that shines within the Absolute Abstract Space. Ain Soph is the essential root of our Being, the root of our existence, which is profound, unconditioned and limitless supra-divine happiness. Ain Soph is referenced as the Star of בית לחם Bethlehem that guided the three magi towards the birthplace of Christ. ב Beth, as we are going to elaborate upon today, is the second Hebrew letter of Kabbalah, signifying a house, as well as wisdom. Bethlehem literally means “house of bread,” indicating that the light of Christ, the sphere of Chokmah, wisdom, is the solar energy manifested within the eucharist, the bread of wisdom that gives life to the soul. The house of wisdom is precisely the esoteric knowledge of the Second Arcanum, since through the power of the Divine Mother is how Christ is born in us. Our body is a manger or house in which the solar light of Christ can be born if we know how to practice this wisdom. Let us discuss how לחם Lechem, this bread of wisdom first emerges into the universe. Christ, the light of divinity, first emerges from the Ain Soph as the Ain Soph Aur, the Limitless Light. This undifferentiated, uncreated light, to create the universe, first manifests as Kether, a י iod or point of light, the tenth Hebrew letter and tenth sephirah from the bottom to the top of the Tree of Life. Remember that in the Magician card, Kether shows one side or aspect of his face. Kether is known in kabbalah as Arik Anpin, the Vast Countenance. This indicates that one part of him is knowable in this universe, through the Tree of Life. The other side of his face is obscured, hidden within the Absolute as the Unmanifested, the Ain Soph. Kether is the first manifestation of the uncreated light into the universe. 
This light, manifested as Kether, unfolds into Chokmah, His Son. From Chokmah emerges Binah. Behold Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to use Christian terms for the primordial forces of creation. The main trinity represented in this graphic is composed of Kether, Chokmah, Binah, or Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, within the world of archetypes or splendors, Atziluth. This world in Kabbalah is a potential world, whereby the principles of divinity have not yet entered manifestation or creation. These forces constitute a unity in the world of archetypes, Atziluth, before these forces manifest as three in order to create life. Remember that within Kether is Chokmah and Binah. Within Chokmah is Kether and Binah. And within Binah is Kether and Chokmah. This unity is indivisible, but manifests in three ways. For the unity to create, it expresses itself as three, the number associated with genesis and creation. 
Binah, the Holy Spirit, has a masculine and feminine aspect, known as Abba and Aima Elohim, Father and Mother, synthesized in the sacred name of this sephirah: Jehovah Elohim, which means gods and goddesses.
From the masculine aspect of Binah emerges the feminine aspect of divinity, the Divine Mother, and through their union in Da’ath, Briah, the world of creation, produce their Son, Chesed, the spirit. For that light to create the Tree of Life in its totality, such a light must manifest through the power of Father-Mother in the world of Briah or Da’ath, the mysterious, alchemical tree of knowledge of good and evil, to create all things. 
Before the logos can create, Father must unfold into Mother within Binah. Behold a second form of the holy trinity: father, mother, and son, which has its center of gravity in Binah and which is empowered through the mystical sphere of Da’ath. Da’ath is the kabbalistic world of Briah, the world of creation, wherein the sephiroth, the worlds of formation or Yetzirah, emerge.
When Binah unfolds himself into the divine feminine, they create through the science of Da’ath, to engender the spirit, Chesed. The world of Da’ath is the world of creation, Briah, in Kabbalah, whereby Osiris, the Father, and Isis, the Mother, join to create the Son, Horus. In synthesis, all of this is contained and implied within the arcana. The Magician, unfolding into the High Priestess, forms the second arcanum of the tarot. Be careful not to mix up the trinities: one tri-unity in the world of Atziluth, splendorous archetypes, and another in the world of Briah, creation. This is a deep teaching that requires intuition to comprehend fully and deeply. Father, Mother, and Son create the Tree of Life, the lower sephiroth or world of Yetzirah, formation, and this light enters more dense forms of materiality, energy, and experience, down the Sephiroth or emanations of this diagram, until reaching the physical plane, Malkuth. Malkuth represents the world of matter and action, the fourth and final world of kabbalah: Assiah. The light emerges from the Absolute, and forms the Tree of Life, so that our supra-atomic star, our Ain Soph, can acquire knowledge and understanding of its own divine happiness by returning that light (from below) back to Itself. The Ain Soph of most people does not yet have comprehension, cognizance of its own happiness. Self-realization exists within the Ain Soph when the soul has performed the Great Work. An Ain Soph with cognizance of Itself is known as Ain Soph Paranishpanna. The word Paranishpanna signifies absolute cognizance of absolute happiness. But for this to occur, the disciple must return that light that is in Malkuth, their physical house, inward and up the Tree of Life, the different Sephiroth, through the work of the Divine Mother that we are explaining. To return up the Tree of Life, back to our Ain Soph, we must become מלכים Malachim or מלכות Melachot, “kings” or “queens,” priests or priestesses, practical magicians who harness the forces of the physical body, Malkuth, our house, or Beth. This is to acquire wisdom and enlightenment of each Sephirah, each level of creation, until returning to our source, which is our origin. Our Ain Soph is also a house, but empty, uninhabited, without realization. The Being is absolute happiness, yet lacks cognizance of this absolute happiness. It is an empty house. Our Ain Soph needs us to return, to reflect its own happiness through us so as to know Itself. It is uninhabited by the soul, the consciousness that can serve as a mirror for one’s supra-atomic star to perceive itself completely. The Sufis refer to the Ain Soph with the separated Arabic letter ا Alif in the sacred name of God, الله Allah. This ا Alif is the nothingness, the sacred breath, the cosmic space, as well as the Ain Soph, which is why in Islam, no statues or images can be made of الله Allah, because no one can anthropomorphize space and the uncreated light. This Limitless space or uncreated light is precisely the kabbalistic Ain Soph. The rest of the sacred name of God is Islam refers to the manifested expression of the light, the Tree of Life, signified by ل Lam, ل Lam, and ه Ha. The Arabic ل Lam or Hebrew ל Lamed refers to the tongue, to speech, to the manifested, creative Verb. The Arabic ه Ha or Hebrew ה Hei can also refer to the breath, but this specifically is in relation to the materialization of the cosmic breath into matter. Therefore, recitation within Islam is so prominent, because it refers to the manifested expression of divine light from the unknowable cosmic space, the power of the creative verb. This cosmic space is called Mulaprakriti in Hinduism. It is the universal space of the Divine Mother, within whom is the bosom of the Universal Cosmic Common Eternal Father. 
The Qur’an speaks of Prophet Muhammad’s night journey up the seven heavens or seven dimensions of the Tree of Life, towards the sacred house, the Ain Soph. We too must learn to perform Hajj, or pilgrimage to the sacred house, the Ain Soph, represented by the sacred Kaba, the stone of Mecca, which is obligatory for every Muslim or solar initiate to visit. This duty, hajj, represents the achievement of Self-realization or Ain Soph Paranishpanna.
The Prophet’s night journey, al-Miraj, is described in Surah 53: al-Najm, the Star: By the star when it descends,
There is a limit how far the prophets and angels can go towards the heights, represented by the Lote Tree of the furthermost boundary, the Pass Not Ring cited by Blavatsky in her writings. Many initiates reach the Ain Soph, but further sacrifice is needed to enter the Ain, the Unmanifested Absolute.
To enter the bosom of the Cosmic Common Eternal Father, the Sacred Space, the Unmanifested Absolute or Ain, is very hard to achieve. However, before we can worry about that, we must unite with our own particular Ain Soph. Regarding the path of self-realization, Ibn Arabi, a great Sufi Master, explained that only الله Allah, Ain Soph, our supra-atomic star, can comprehend Himself through the perfected soul. From the Treatise on The One Alone, Kitab al-Ahadiyyah: When one looks into a mirror one sees oneself. Whatever appears on you appears on the image in the mirror. When you look upon your image in the mirror, your image is looking upon you. Naturally the eye that looks at you from the mirror is your eye. Then, when the image in the mirror looks at you, is it not true that you are looking at yourself with your own eyes? If the name of the one who is looking in the mirror is Ahmad, and if the image in the mirror could speak and say, “I am Ahmad,” it would be telling the truth. Yet, as the image is reflecting, so would be the words. It would not be the image that calls itself Ahmad, but the one who is looking into the mirror.
If you want to understand what it means to reflect the light of the Ain Soph, you must develop your heart, Tiphereth, the beauty of the perfected soul.
The Qur’an also speaks about the Ain Soph as the house inhabited, meaning: an Ain Soph with realization, Ain Soph Paranishpanna: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
By climbing the mountain of initiation, we ascend the Tree of Life, towards higher and higher levels of Being, until finally uniting with the longed-for goal, the Ain Soph. Once we return to our Ain Soph, we have inhabited our house once again, our true home.
As Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz exclaimed, "There’s no place like home!" She of course represents our soul that has traveled the straight and narrow path, the yellow brick road of wisdom, gnosis, until reaching her true origin. She accomplishes this through the silver slippers, which are red in the film. The one who guides her in secret is Glinda, a reference to the science of the Divine Mother, who is the Good Witch of the North. The sacred mantra relating to the North is IAO, the sacred name of God in Latin, or Jehovah in Hebrew. Within the Divine Mother, signified by the mantra RAM-IO is the Divine Father, who is in secret. Slippers represent the mysteries of Yesod in kabbalah, since this is how we genuinely walk the path of initiation. Silver relates to the science of Mercury, Hermes, his winged boots that allow him to ascend and descend throughout the entire Tree of Life at will. Once we work with the science of mercury and the Divine Mother, we acquire the capacity to leave our egotistical dreams behind and return to our spiritual house, Beth, the Ain Soph. 
Duality, Genesis, and the Second Arcanum
Let us discuss the nature of the number two in relation to duality and the High Priestess of the Tarot. The sign of the infinite is the magical symbol of tantrism, sexual alchemy. The sign of the infinite unites all three of our psychological and physiological centers, what in gnostic psychology we call the three brains: the intellect, the emotions, and the sexual organs. These centers relate to Netzach, the mental body or mind, Hod, the emotional body or heart, and Yesod, the vital body intimately related with the energies of the sexual organs.
These three vehicles relate to what we call our three brains within our physicality. Let us remember that the Tree of Life is this map of divinity and ourselves. To talk about the Divine Mother, the feminine aspect of God, we must remember that this Tree of Life manifests, emerges, because of the first card of the tarot. The Magician initiates, creates, begins, but to do so, he unfolds into his divine spouse, Devi Kundalini. Man and woman, with their three brains united through the sexual act, can work to return inward and upward back to their own atomic star. If you take the two signs of the holy eight from both man and woman and cross them, one horizontal and the other vertical, you form a famous symbol of Buddhism, the dorje, a tantric representation of sexual union, the vertical phallus with the horizontal uterus. The bell in Tibetan Buddhism represents the feminine sexual organs, the yoni. Both bell and dorje form the foundation of all spiritual realization, or Ain Soph Paranishpanna. The science of the Second Arcanum is the path of sexuality, the Divine Mother Kundalini, who sleeps in the chakra Muladhara coiled three and a half times within this center, awaiting the moment of its awakening through sexual alchemy, white tantrism between husband and wife. Just as man and woman can create a physical child through sex, likewise we create the perfected soul through sexual union with the conservation and sublimation of the seminal matter into divine, Christic energy. If we want to return to our own particular unity, the Ain Soph, we must work with the duality, man and woman. Ain Soph is a perfect unity, whose light unfolds into a duality and also a trinity to produce the creation of the universe. If we want to return to our origin, we must work in the perfect matrimony, because to create spiritually, we need our sexual compliment, through a member of the opposite sex. Both masculine and feminine polarities are required for creation, both of a physical child as well as the soul. 
Description and Explanation of the Second Card of the Tarot
The most notable feature of this glyph, besides the feminine figure seated in contemplation, are the two columns of the temple, which in Masonry remind us of Jakin and Boaz, the white and black pillars. Jakin is masculine, Boaz is feminine. The pillars are reversed in this image in order to demonstrate that the Popess of the Tarot, the High Priestess, is looking out from within the temple, and that we, as disciples, are viewing her from the inside of the temple looking out. This is because Jakin, the white pillar of mercy, is the right hand pillar of the Tree of Life, consisting of Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach, whereas Boaz, the black pillar of severity, is the left hand pillar of the Tree of Life, consisting of Binah, Geburah, and Hod. Notice also that the pillars Jakin and Boaz are in the waters, the bottom third of the card.
The Divine Mother is the force that reconciliates, who sits within the middle of the temple, emphasizing to us the spinal medulla in our body, wherein She rises through the alchemical science. She manifests in the middle pillar through our works, the middle pillar consisting of Kether, Da’ath, Tiphereth, Yesod, and Malkuth. What do these two columns symbolize for us? Jakin represents the man, mercy. Boaz represents the woman, severity. These two columns support the temple of every mystery. Notice that with the image of this temple’s pillars there are four sections each, representing for us the four lower bodies of the human being, the lower four vehicles of the consciousness. Those four lower bodies are described in the Tree of Life as Malkuth, the physical body, Yesod, the vital body, Hod, the astral or emotional body, and Netzach, the mind or mental body. These two pillars must have space between them, as Samael Aun Weor emphasizes in his books, as well as the poet Kahlil Gibran, who explains the nature of these two pillars very beautifully in a work known as The Prophet. I’d like to relate to you a poem from this text, to emphasize how man and woman balance each other in their relationship. They must not be too close with sentimentalism and attachment, nor too far apart with distance, self-importance, coldness, etc. They must find balance within each other and themselves. The masculine, projective force finds his equilibrium and harmony through the receptive force, and vice versa. Here is the poem with some minor exegeses, commentary or explanation between the lines, since Kahlil Gibran teaches kabbalah and alchemy in a veiled form. You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
Husband and wife must find their equilibrium in their matrimony on a physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and volitional level [volition relating to will] or there will be imbalance and unhappiness. In the Magician card, the Priest was standing. But with the High Priestess, she is sitting. Her posture signifies the feminine aspect of divinity, which is receptive, passive, nurturing. She holds an open book, the Preserved Tablet, which is the kabbalah, the mystical science at the heart of all religions. Here we literally see the Mother of the Book, the Divine Mother or feminine aspect of divinity, who is eluded to in the Qur’an. She has an Tao cross, of Venus, upon Her breast, indicating that She carries the milk of wisdom, spiritual sustenance, the nourishment for the soul. She is the kabbalistic Shekinah, the exiled power of Israel that can liberate and reconcile the true Jews, the intuitive kabbalists, with heaven, the divine. From Her breast is the milk of real knowledge, which is experiential. It’s what we verify. It’s what we know from facts. That sustenance that She gives to Her son or daughter emerges within us as a result of meditation, when we are face to face with our Divine Mother, speaking to Her, receiving the insights and symbols of dreams from Her directly. That’s how we nourish our soul. Milk, as wisdom, is a substance that resembles semen within man or woman, the seminal matter. The milk also represents the divine virtues we create through learning to transmute our sexual energies, transforming the base material or semen into the light of enlightened consciousness. This is accomplished through Venus, the goddess of love. Venus-Aphrodite is the beauty of our Divine Mother manifest in our hearts, Tiphereth. She provides beauty to the soul itself when we learn to work with Her intimately, cognizantly. Tiphereth, our human soul, or human consciousness or willpower, astrologically relates to both Venus and the Sun. The secret mantra of Tiphereth in kabbalah is Eloah va Da’ath Iod Hei Vau Hei, "Goddess of knowledge, Jehovah." Who is this goddess of knowledge that resides in our heart temple? Our Divine Mother, the Popess or High Priestess of the Tarot. She enters and manifests in our heart through sexual magic, white tantrism, the science of alchemy with its sacred mantras. Upon Her head is a serpent, indicating how She has raised that power of the serpent within us, to the mind, and that this feminine figure is a master. She has a veil over Her face, referring to the veil of Isis. This means that the genuine mysteries of God can only be known through meditation, that we must tear the veil through alchemy, meditation, and the death of our desires, our defects, our ego. 
Beethoven had an image of the Divine Mother, the divine feminine, above his desk where he would compose. Upon this painting was inscribed, in his own hand, the hermetic axiom of the Goddess Neith, the Egyptian Divine Mother, from the temple of this female divinity from ancient times: “I am all that was, is, and shall be, and no mortal hath lifted My veil.” So Beethoven was a Freemason, who knew this knowledge very well and depicted the tarot in his music, in accordance with his nine completed symphonies and the nine heavens or Sephiroth above Malkuth, whereby he slowly unveiled the mysteries of Isis in his compositions, for those who hath an ear to ear what the spirit saith unto the churches, the chakras of Revelation.
The veil of Isis can only be lifted through purification of our psyche. Sanctification and purity are the two essential requirements for knowing and experiencing the mysteries of the High Priestess of the Tarot. Sanctification signifies the death of the ego, through daily meditation. To purify means to be chaste, to not waste the sexual energy, to not expel it. To expel that energy is to be expelled from the temple of the Divine Mother, because the power of the Divine Mother is chastity, sexual purity. Upon Her head are the horns of the bull Apis, which relates to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Jehovah Elohim in kabbalah, is masculine and feminine, signified by the masculine-feminine suffix of the word Elohim. El is masculine. Eloah is feminine. Iod Mem, im, is the masculine plural ending of the word Elohim, which means “gods and goddesses.” The Divine Mother Kundalini Shakti is the feminine aspect of the Holy Spirit, the spouse of Shiva. The masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Shiva, is also known as Abba Elohim, and the feminine is Aima Elohim. Abba means “father,” as in Christ’s prayer before his Passion, “Abba, father, if it be possible, pass this cup of bitterness from me, but not my will, but Thine be done” (Matthew 26:39). The cup is a symbol of the yoni, the feminine sexual organs, the path of the Divine Mother, which is painful to the mind and ego, because through the alchemical work our desires must die. Aima means “mother,” and is signified by the holy grail, the cup of the mysteries, wherein is contained the milk or manna of wisdom. The unification of Abba and Aima Elohim, implied through the unity of the first and second arcana of the tarot, produces the third arcanum: the Empress or Christified soul, the perfected consciousness, the topic of our next lecture. 
The Divine Mother has always been represented by the feminine cow in many faiths. Milk, as referenced in the second arcanum, is an element abundant in cows, which we find represented in Hinduism by Krishna, the cowherd, a symbol of Christ nourishing himself through the seminal energies. We likewise find reference to the Divine Mother in the longest surah of the Qur’an, al-Baqarah, the Heifer or Cow.
This surah mentions how the powers of the sacred cow, the Divine Mother, can resuscitate the dead. This is a symbol of how the alchemical wisdom can bring those who are spiritually dead, filled with ego, back into spiritual life. In this passage, Moses is speaking before the unbelieving people of Israel and the need to slaughter a cow to achieve redemption. This does not make much sense literally, but if you understand that the cow represents the science of the Divine Mother, the real meaning is clear. The solar initiates must, of course, slaughter the animal ego, to be reborn spiritually. This is represented by the slaughtering of the cow in al-Baqarah, which is the second surah of the Qur’an, directly referencing the mysteries of Arcanum 2: And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."
"The cow" in Spanish is La Baca. Spell La Baca backwards and you spell kabbalah, the teachings of the cow, the mystical science of Judaism and of Shekinah, the Mother of the Book.
La Baca can also refer to the Kaba, the sacred stone of the Muslims, which represents for us the mysteries of the stone of Yesod, the creative sexual energy. Baqa literally means "subsistence" in Arabic. To have spiritual substance, to subsist within the Being, to self-realize the Being, we must first work with what the Sufis denominate as fana, which means "annihilation." To be in the Being, you must first die as an ego. Regarding the horns of the bull, horns have dualistic significance in esotericism. They can refer to our egotism, our own satanic qualities, our animality. Horns in the positive sense can be represented by the horns of light, representing levels of self-realization within the Being. These horns of light were seen radiating from the head of Moses as he descended Mount Sinai, after he received the ten commandments from above. Michelangelo chiseled a statue of Moses to represent the horns of light, of wisdom, obtained by any solar initiate who completes the Mountain of Resurrection. We too must chisel the stone of Yesod, our sexual energies, with willpower and intelligence, to provide perfect cubic shape, to serve as the foundation of our inner temple, as represented by the Second Arcanum. We must ensure that the power of the two pillars, within the waters of the card, must be perfected. All four levels of each pillar must be perfected, signifying the purification of the physical, vital, astral, and mental bodies, the lower quaternary of kabbalah or the four bodies of sin. We accomplish this work through the hammer of willpower and the chisel of imagination, of intelligence and wisdom, to give shape to the soul. With the first arcanum of the tarot, we work with the hammer of willpower, concentration, the Magician. We initiate and begin this work. We direct our willpower in the spiritual endeavor. The second arcanum of the tarot is intelligence, imagination, the chisel of understanding by which we focus our willpower so as to give shape to our stone. The Divine Mother is the force of imagination itself, the capacity to perceive non-physical, psychic, or spiritual imagery within meditation and the higher planes. Imagination simply is the ability to perceive images in the mind’s eye, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. Imagination can also be dualistic, either conscious, unconditioned, free and clear of subjectivity, or it can be mechanical, negative, conditioned or egotistical. Fantasy, daydreams, mental projections, are precisely negative imagination, conditioned perception. We typically experience negative imagination, fantasy, on a day to day, moment by moment basis. This is egotistical. We are hypnotized by our minds, imagining what we would have liked to say to that person who cut us off on the street during our drive to work, visualizing what we would have said if we could have pulled up to the side of the person, what revenge we can get, gratifying our anger, etc. We get lost in associative thinking, daydreaming about our family or co-workers and not paying attention to where we are at or what we are doing. This is all mechanical, subjective, negative, and constitutes, for most people, the daily state of affairs. Conscious imagination is the ability to visualize during meditation any object we have decided to concentrate upon, such as a statue, a candle, a mandala, a stone. We concentrate on the object with our entire attention, never losing our attention focused on the object of our practice, and thereafter imagine it in our mind, our consciousness. We learn to see with our imagination the qualities of the image with perfect clarity, color, and accuracy. This of course develops through daily discipline. Willpower, the Magician, helps us to concentrate on a specific task. Imagination, the High Priestess, grants us the capacity to perceive what we are doing. Together you achieve comprehension, the third arcanum, the perfected soul. The serpent biting its tail in the card can represent the moon, the lunar, feminine forces, but also the ouroboros, a middle eastern symbol of eternity and how the Divine Mother Kundalini serpent must swallow the soul. We must be swallowed by the serpent to become purified, so that our conscious imagination can be perfected. This is paralleled by Jonah being swallowed by the whale, since Jonah literally means "dove" in Hebrew, a symbol of chastity and the Holy Spirit. As described in The Perfect Matrimony, we must raise the serpent of Kundalini up the seven lower bodies of the Tree of Life: Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiphereth, Geburah, and Chesed, which are the physical, vital, astral, mental, causal, buddhic, and Atmic bodies. After raising the serpent up each body, we obtain an initiation of Major Mysteries, which are seven in total. The serpent in this card is also a moon, which has profound significance, because the moon relates to the ego, to defects and desires. This is where we get the word lunatic, someone who is influenced by the moon, by violence, hatred, mechanical forces in nature. The moon is the ego, sorrow, sentimentalism, pain and suffering. Our habits are one hundred percent lunar, mechanical, habitual, petrified in our psyche and body. We must go against mechanical, lunar behaviors to acquire solar intelligence, the powers of the Being. The moon is mechanical imagination, truly identified as fantasy, whereas the resplendence of the sun is the perfection of conscious imagination. There is also a positive aspect of the moon, which is the Divine Mother Kundalini, but She has nothing to do with our inverted, negative desires, the inferior aspect of the moon known as Lilith and Nahemah. Devi Kundalini is the power that can liberate us from the inferior influences of the moon, the mind, from the demons or egos of Lilith and Nahemah, which are two lunar aspects of degenerated psychologies. The serpent that ascends within the spine, to victoriously swallow the soul, is the Divine Mother Kundalini. The negative, devolving, degenerative and fallen serpent, the serpent of temptation that leads one into the infradimensions, into the hell realms, is the Kundabuffer, the tail of demons, which descends from the coccyx through lust and fornication. The fiery seraphim or serpents bit the Israelites in the desert as a result of their transgression and disobedience to Jehovah. These fiery serpents that punish the soul are inverted sexual fires of the Kundabuffer, the forces of the ego, the fiery elements of lust and sexual desire. But to be healed of their degeneration, their perversity, to redeem their soul from the ego, the Israelites looked upon the serpent of brass of Moshe, Moses. Brass is an alchemical symbol, the union of the metals tin and copper, representing man and woman. Through the fires of sexuality, of love, those metals fuse and produce the serpent of brass, the Kundalini, that rises within the spines of the initiates, husband and wife. This is how the moon is gradually transmuted, transformed into a sun. As described in the Qur’an, Muhammad performed the miracle of cleaving the moon in half, which people, of course, interpret literally. However, when you know kabbalah and alchemy, you see that any couple working in the perfect matrimony can cleave the lunar ego in half, to comprehend and annihilate it completely. This is a symbol of overcoming lunar mechanicity in order to be a solar adept through the power of the Divine Mother. The sign of Cancer reigns in this card, which astrologically relates to the powers of the moon, Yesod, vitality, conception, and reproduction, which are regulated by the cycles of the physical moon. Menstruation and feminine sexual cycles are deeply related to the lunar phases, alongside the fluctuation and tides of the seas. The second arcanum of the tarot therefore relates to Cancer because it is a water sign, a moon sign. The sexual energies relate to the moon. The white moon is the Divine Mother. The black moon is Lilith, demonism, degeneration. Those who abuse the waters of sexuality end up developing incurable diseases such as Cancer, which is intimately related with such a sickness. The sign of Cancer is the sign of the scarab in Egyptian terminology. This insect is said to be immortal because it constantly regenerates itself and creates new bodies, which break away from old shells. This is a symbol of the regenerative faculties of sexual alchemy, for the soul learns to break free from the shells, Klipoth in Hebrew, the ego. The symbol of Islam is a crescent moon with the star of Venus, indicating that we must work with the powers of Yesod, the lunar influence, through Venus, the star of love, the Divine Mother. As we mentioned previously, the supreme mantra of sexual magic is the Latin I.A.O., Ignis, Aqua, Origo, or fire, water, and spirit. These principles are represented by the three mother letters of kabbalah: א Aleph [air], ש Shin [fire], and מ Mem [water]. The sound of the air or breath can be represented by an "h," the letter ה Hei. ה Hei, ש Shin and מ Mem spell השם Hashem, signifying "the Name." Spell Hashem backwards and you spell משה Moshe, Moses. Moses is our willpower, our inner magician, who can raise the serpentine power up our spine through the merits and qualifications of the heart. By learning to control the air [mind], fire [emotions], and sexual organs [water], we give birth through the womb of ה Hei, the Divine Mother, to the solar bodies of esoterism. You can also use the Hebrew י Iod, ה Hei, ו Vau for I.A.O. The sacred name of God in Judaism is יהוה Jehovah, Iod-Hei-Vau-Hei. י Iod is the man, ה Hei is the woman. ו Vav is the phallus, ה Hei is the uterus. So you can see that the alchemical science of Hei, the Divine Mother, is absolutely sexual. 
The Significance of the Hebrew Letter Beth
Now we are going to talk about the Hebrew letter Beth and the profound meanings thereof.
We’ve included in this slide an image of the Hebrew letter Beth with Krishna, who is the cowherd, alongside the sacred Ka’ba in the Middle East. Beth simply represents a house, and its calligraphy represents the two columns of the temple that we discussed. Beth is also hidden in the Arabic tongue as Bayt Allah, "House of God," a reference to the Ka’ba or cubic stone of Yesod within Surah 22, verse 26 of the Qur’an: And mention, O Muhammad, when We designated for Abraham the site of the House, saying, "Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who perform Tawaf [circumambulations or circling around the Kaaba] and those who stand in prayer and those who bow and prostrate." ―Qur'an 22:26
What is the house of God? We can say it consists of the solar vehicles that we create through alchemy. We talked previously about creating the soul, vehicles within the higher dimensions wherein we can manifest the light of God, principally through the solar astral / emotional body, solar mental body, and solar causal body or body of willpower. Beth or the solar vehicles are the Merkabah that took Ezekiel up to the heavens.
Notice that the letter ב Beth is composed of three ו Vavs. The letter ו Vav is a straight line, signifying a spinal medulla. Three lines means three spines, signifying the three solar vehicles we must create in alchemy: solar astral, solar mental, and solar causal bodies. Muslim circumambulate, circle around the sacred Kaaba in Mecca, seven times. This implies the work of raising the sacred fire of Kundalini up the spinal medullas of the seven lower Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, precisely through working with the House of God, the mysteries of alchemy, Allah-khemia, or Yesod. Al-Baqarah, the second arcanum or surah of the Qur’an, is the longest in that scripture. As we mentioned earlier, the second arcanum relates to the sacred cow, the Divine Mother who grants resurrection and life to the soul that has died to the ego. Krishna is the Hindu form of Christ, the logos, the divine, represented as a cowherd. There is a profound relationship between Krishna and the cow, Christ and the Divine Mother Cow, Baqarah. These aspects of divinity work together within us, especially in the advanced stages of the path. There are many other interesting kabbalistic words that begin with the Hebrew letter Beth, all which point towards the significance of generating and developing the soul: Beth-El, “House of God,” Bethesda: "house of mercy,” Bathsheba: "daughter of the seven," or seven bodies of the Tree of Life, Beth Din: tribunal of justice, religion, or karma, which exists in the higher dimensions, and Elisabeth, pronounced El-Isis-A-Beth, El signifying God, Isis the Divine Mother, and Beth the consciousness. Elizabeth was the mother of John, the sacred Verb, or IEOUAMS, the seven vowels hidden in the name Johannes; and Bethlehem, “House of Bread,” we discussed already. 
Beth and the Zohar
The heavenly Jerusalem in the Book of Revelations, as we see in this final graphic, represents the perfected soul, a house or city built in a cubic shape, representative of Yesod in Kabbalah. The jewels beneath the heavenly house or city, Beth, are the virtues of the soul that are generated through meditation and alchemy.
Beth in Hebrew and Arabic refers to the house of divinity, the heavenly Jerusalem, the solar bodies. However, Beth can also reference the sexual glands wherein are housed the creative sexual energies of genesis, the creation of the soul or solar vehicles. This creation of the solar bodies is the mystery of Genesis, generation. The creation of the soul is known as בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit in kabbalah. Notice that בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit begins with Beth, the letter of wisdom. Our body is a house with the energies of spiritual realization in a potential state. The mysteries of the second arcanum are hidden in the Hebrew acrostic Bereshit, or: (Bereshit Bara Elohim At Ha-Shamayim Vey-At Ha'aretz): בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth." The Zohar explains that "In the beginning" should be read as "In wisdom, Elohim created." Beth represents the house of wisdom from which all spiritual creation emerges. What wisdom does the Zohar reference in relation to the creation of the universe? The wisdom of the Divine Mother, the science of alchemy: to retain the sexual energies of tantrism and to never spill them. All of this is hidden in the Zohar’s teaching about the word בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, which discusses how through raising the creative energy from the sexual glands to our brain within sexual alchemy, we can create the soul. All of this is accomplished through chiseling and perfecting the heavenly house or city of peace, Jerusalem, the cubic stone of the masons: זהר Zohar, Radiance! Mystery! בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, In the beginning, first of all. אהיה Ehyeh, I will be (Exodus 3:14), a sacred name engraved in its sides [more specifically, on the sides of the cubic stone]; אלהים (Elohim), God, engraved in the crown. ―Zohar
We spoke about the Magician, Kether, whose sacred name of in Kabbalah is אהיה אשר אהיה, Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh, "I will be what I become, " or commonly translated as "I Am Who I Am. "
Eheyeh, I will be, is written on the sides of the cubic stone of Yesod, indicating the two energetic channels Ida and Pingala, since we enact the force of becoming, of transformation, through working with the caduceus of Mercury, as we explained previously in our first lecture in this course. Elohim is written on the crown of the cubic stone of Yesod, since when the sacred fires rise from sex to the brain, when the Kundalini reaches the pineal gland, the Divine Mother below unites with the Divine Father, the Holy Spirit or Jehovah Elohim, above. אשר (Asher), Who—a hidden, treasured palace, beginning mystery of רֵאשִׁית (reshit). ―Zohar
Asher is the Holy Spirit who puts into activity the creative principles of the Divine Mother in sex. This is the mystery of beginning, רֵאשִׁית reshit.
אשר (Asher)— רֹאש (rosh), head, emerging from רֵאשִׁית (reshit). ―Zohar
Rosh and Asher have the same Hebrew letters, but in different order. This signifies that the power of the Holy Spirit, Asher, Who, must rise from the sexual glands to the brain, to unite in the head, to form רֵאשִׁית "reshit," the beginning of genesis.
When afterward point and palace were arrayed as one, then בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit comprised supernal רֵאשִׁית (reshit) in wisdom. ―Zohar
What is the point and the palace? The point is a י Iod, the tenth letter of Kabbalah, referring to Kether and the creative sexual energy within the point, the sperm or ovum.
The palace is the feminine sexual organs of Beth, the house of God. Obviously, by combining the sperm with the ovum one creates a physical child, but in alchemy, the י iod is conserved and the solar house is built within oneself. This is how one creates in the beginning with wisdom, signified by the Hebrew letter Beth. Or as the Zohar more accurately translates the opening of Genesis, "In wisdom, Elohim created." Afterward the color of the palace transformed and it was called בַּיִת (bayit), house, while the supernal point (the energy of the semen or ovum transmuted) was called רֹאש (rosh) [since one transmutes the energies of one’s house, one’s Beth or sexual organs, to the brain, the head], merging in one another through the mystery of בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit, when all was as one in one entirety, before the house [beth] was inhabited [by the Logos, the Being]. ―Zohar
You see that the sexual organs is our house, our Beth, wherein resides the creative energies? The word for house is בַּיִת (bayit). Combine that with רֹאש (rosh), the head, you spell בְּרֵאשִׁית Bereshit.
Through the alchemical science of transmutation, the Divine Mother raises the energies from our sexual glands of our Beth, sexual glands, to our Rosh, our head, to spell "In the beginning." Once it was sown, arraying habitation [when the solar bodies are created in alchemy], it was called אלהים (Elohim)—hidden, concealed. ―Zohar
אל El is God, masculine. אלה Eloah is Goddess, feminine, ים Iod Mem is masculine plural. Therefore, when man and wife unite sexually, they form a terribly divine god and goddess, אלהים (Elohim). In this way the house of the soul is created, "arraying habitation," to be filled by the incarnation of the Being. But all of this is "hidden, concealed," because one practices alchemy in secret and because the solar bodies remain hidden within oneself except to the sight of the spirit. So behold the mysteries of creating the solar bodies within Genesis and the Zohar!
To receive the bread of wisdom, the Word, the Qur’an, the recitation, the Verb, we must build our solar vehicles; we must create a house in which the Being can manifest and inhabit. Through alchemy, the sexual act, in which the semen is conserved, transmuted, we give birth to the solar vehicles. We raise the Kundalini up the spinal medullae of these lower vehicles of the Tree of Life: the physical, vital, astral, mental, volitional or causal, buddhic /conscious, and atmic / spiritual bodies. These are vehicles of materiality that exist in higher dimensions. We must raise the Kundalini up each of these vehicles, which in us are lunar, so as to create superior bodies that can transmit the light of divinity within us. Nature gave us vehicles in order to exist in this physical plane and in the world of dreams, what is commonly called manasa rupa, mind-body, and kama rupa, body of desires, the lunar mental and lunar astral bodies. The lunar bodies are the vehicle of the ego and are controlled by the mechanical forces of nature. As we’ve discussed many times throughout our lectures, we must free ourselves from the lunar influence in order to become solar initiates, beings who are not controlled by the demonic forces of the inferior worlds, the lunar worlds, the Klipoth. Those beings who follow the lunar path of black magic also are swallowed by the serpent, because the Divine Mother in hell, as the Kundabuffer, swallows her own children, with a lot of pain, to help disintegrate the ego in those regions. This is the path of spiritual failures. But when we raise the kundalini in the perfect matrimony, we are also swallowed by the serpent, but in a positive way, in a revolutionary and Christic way. In the solar path, we acquire knowledge of ourselves. In the lunar path of the devolving serpent, we do not. If we do not free ourselves from the lunar vehicles by creating the solar vehicles, and thereafter disintegrating the totality of the ego, we will be swallowed by the moon, the lunar serpent, within the infernal worlds. So to escape that fate, we must create a house for God. We need to build the solar house in which the Being can live, because if the Being were to try to enter within us without solar vehicles, we would be annihilated. That is how powerful the vibration of the Being is. We cannot incarnate God now precisely because our psychological house is in disorder. We all possess many defects. Each defect is autonomous and in conflict with the others. There is no order within the mind as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky taught in the Fourth Way school. Our house is filled with many people, many minds with their own thoughts, agendas, and preoccupations. As the gospels state: My house (the physical body) shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. ―Matthew 21: 13
I remember when I was meditating on retreat, I fell asleep with my back to the floor, since I was performing the Viparita Karani Mudra from the sacred rites of rejuvenation. In the experience, in the astral plane, I found myself flying towards a house, holding the hand of my physical mother. I felt excited and urgent, to show my mother the contents of my home. As I peered through the window, I saw crowds of kids and people, listening to very loud music, getting drunk, cursing and screaming a lot of obscenities, pushing into each other so hard that the walls were shaking like they were going to break. It was such riot and disorder that I knew I had to go back. I thought to myself with horror, “I’m not going to bring my mother in here. This is nuts!” Thereafter I woke up, returned to my body.
I realized afterward that the house in the experience was my mind, my Beth, and all those people in the house were my own egos, defects, and desires. I wanted to bring my own Divine Mother into that house, but realized I cannot when it is filled with such disorder. I must clean my house first, psychologically speaking. This also reminds me of another experience where I invoked the Master Samael Aun Weor near the side of a road in the astral plane. He came down as a lightning bolt, which terrified me tremendously. You know the power of a lightning bolt, when it strikes near you? Well this was more powerful, because the Being, the solar divinities, are overwhelming, terrifying, infinite. He spoke to me one sentence, with a lot of severity, “Your house is a mess!” He was indicating that I need to clean my house up of ego, to comprehend and annihilate the ego. That was it. I returned to my body, very humbled. So you see, in order for Christ to enter you, you must clean your house first of disorder, since that lightning bolt cannot enter within you without solar vehicles, and to create the solar vehicles, you must practice the perfect matrimony and work hard in the disintegration of your defects. Otherwise when Christ emerges as Samael Aun Weor did in the experience, you will be annihilated. Christ spoke in parables about the Hebrew letter Beth and the need to construct a solar house, the solar vehicles, through the path of initiation and resurrection: We heard him (the Solar Christ) say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.” ―Mark 14:58.
If the ego does not die completely, we cannot obtain absolute perfection and resurrection, when our physical body shall die and we shall resurrect within the Being, to be fully united with divinity.
We must learn to build our house upon the rock of Yesod, to create our solar vehicles through the perfect matrimony, the science of Yesod. Otherwise we will end up as failures. Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [Yesod, the foundation]: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock (the Philosophical Stone of Kabbalah). And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand (of beliefs and theories): And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. ―Matthew 7: 24-27 Practices
We are going to end this lecture with two practices you can use to comprehend and experience the mysteries of the second arcanum.
When you awake in the morning from sleep and still have time before engaging in your daily responsibilities, and especially when you’ve just come back from a dream, continue to lay in bed, and with your willpower, concentrate to remember your experiences. Perhaps you were in another country in the astral plane, in Egypt, or another planet, and you want to remember and even return to those places immediately. Imagine what you experience, the specific place or scene that you just left. Imagine it in detail. Imagine that you are actually there. As Samael Aun Weor wrote, don’t imagine that you are imagining, but actually do it. Be concrete and vivid. Actually see yourself hearing, seeing, touching, and walking in the place you were just at in the astral plane. Then when you fall asleep, with your willpower and imagination in vibrating harmony, you can experience samadhi; you can return to the place you just experienced, particularly if you stay still, relaxed, and unmoving when you first wake, alongside your strong concentration and vivid imagination. I’ve done this many times when I wanted to return to a specific place I just visited in the astral world, or to return to an ordeal the Masters were giving me that got cut prematurely by me returning to my body, and which I wanted to go back to and continue. Therefore, when waking, I lay in bed and concentrated on the experience, imagined it, and fell asleep, in order to relive and return to the experience I just left. Concentration is willpower, the Magician card. Imagination is clairvoyance, the High Priestess. Together you produce Arcanum 3, the Empress, or comprehension, insight. This is why, in this tradition, we work with many concentration and imagination exercises, so that we can also be skilled in meditation and dream yoga. Concentration and imagination can be developed by taking an object and focusing our attention on it, to thereafter visualize all of its details. This strengthens our capacities for perception and helps us to awaken consciousness, to make it strong, robust, trained for dream yoga discipline. When those faculties are strong, you will easily return to your prior experiences through this practice. Another practice you can do is a meditation and prayer for the Divine Mother. These are a series of prayers and mantras we will do together today. The prayer is as follows: Be thou, oh Hadit, my secret, the Gnostic mystery of my Being, the central point of my connection, my heart itself, and bloom on my fertile lips, made Verb!
"Hadit" is the masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Abba Elohim, or Shiva. Nut is the Divine Mother, Aima Elohim in Kabbalah, Shakti in Hinduism, who receives the secret kiss and fervor of Hadit, Her Divine Husband. You can perform this prayer and mantras in meditation or in sexual magic.
"Know the truth and the truth shall set you free," stated Jesus of Nazareth, the Patriarch of the Gnostic Church, the great Master Aberamentho, according to his sacred name.
This is the final lecture in a course we initiated a few weeks past, discussing the nature of Sufism and Gnostic doctrine, how to know ourselves, how to know that which is within us that is divine. We seek to comprehend through practical works the very essence of our divinity within us, within our consciousness, and which we denominate the Being. Many names have been given to that truth, that source, that origin from which the soul emanates. No matter what name we denominate that truth, whether it is Allah, Buddha, Christ, Tao, INRI, etc., that divinity is within us, and which specifically in the Gnostic teachings we call the Being. To be, to know as a conscious quality. So we've been explaining the gradual steps that lead to that realization of the Being, of the truth. It is by practical works, learning to understand ourselves, our mind, and the obstacles within us that prevent our illumination, that we seek to comprehend how to change. We seek to comprehend the causes of our suffering and the obscurations to that light of that divinity within us. In the spirit of universality, we've been explaining the teachings according to Islam, which in Arabic is submission to God's will, and the Sufi doctrine, especially the mystics of Islam. Sufis are as much the mystics of Islam as the Kabbalists are the mystics of Judaism. In this lecture, we'll explain many aspects of this path in association with the Tree of Life of Kabbalah, the map of the consciousness. Likewise, we will examine many elements pertaining to the mystical teachings of Islam, the esoteric doctrine. We state that we seek to know the divinity and the Muslims speak of witnessing the divine as the Shahada, the famous declaration of faith, which states, "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasul-ul-llah." Meaning, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His prophet." The word witnessing is Shahada, to bear testimony, to verify what one has known or experienced. Now, the Muslim teachings of Shahada, which is followed by many millions of people today, is merely the public doctrine; to say that where there is no God but God, and Muhammad is His prophet, is easy to vocalize, to affirm. The word Shahada in Arabic relates to the word Mushahada, which means contemplation, meditation, insight, comprehension of the truth. It is precisely by learning to meditate, go deep within our mind, our psyche, in which we know the truth for ourselves. We witness the divine through very concrete living experiences, known as gnosis. This word gnosis is Greek, meaning knowledge, signifying conscious experience. It is not associated with theory or belief, or scriptural knowledge, although those are useful in their place. Instead, gnosis, or the Arabic equivalent, marifah, is the direct knowledge of the divine, the truth. It is not by believing in anything that we will know that divinity. Instead, know truth and the truth shall set you free. The founder of the modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, stated that, "The truth is the unknowable from moment to moment." When Jesus was asked, "What is the truth?" before Pilate, he remained silent. When asking the Buddha, "What is the truth?" he simply walked away. Many people have spoken about the truth, whether through scripture, books, lectures, etc. In these studies, however, we seek to be practical. We seek to know that truth for ourselves, to know the divine within us moment by moment, the unknowable presence which is within our consciousness, within our psyche. For our purposes, we'll talk about scriptures pertaining to Islam, especially in relation to knowledge of God, knowledge of that truth, that source, which cannot be labeled, but can be verified. There is a famous commentator, Abd al-Karim al-Jili, who commented on a scripture or a writing by a Sufi master by the name of Ibn Arabi: his book Journey to the Lord of Power. He stated that “The journey to God is short; the journey in God is infinite.” There are levels of being, levels of knowing, levels of cognizance, which we want to access here and now. Previously, we discussed the nature or the doctrine of momentariness, to be aware of our psyche moment by moment, and to be aware of the divine as a presence, as a force, and an intelligence, which we accomplish through observing our psyche, observing our mind, observing our heart, observing our body. That active observation is attention, an act of directed consciousness or directed will, directed attention within us. By learning to develop that alert novelty, alert perception, that awareness of ourselves, instant to instant, moment by moment, we in turn gain access to the truth, that direct knowledge. 
Of course there are infinite levels of consciousness. The 14th Dalai Lama stated that really the consciousness has the capacity to expand to an infinite degree. This is very well is illustrated in many religious paintings where you see the heavens or the angels circling the throne of divinity and taking their pilgrimage towards that light, that source. That's the famous meaning of Hajj in Islam, the pilgrimage which we're going to discuss in brief in this lecture.
God is the unknowable, the truth. As it says on the Quran surah 6, verse 91, “God the Most High said, ‘They honor not God with the honor due Him,’” according to the scripture of Al-Risalah, the Sufi teaching by the famous master Qushayri who lived in Persia or Iran. He stated the following: “According to the commentary, this means they do not know God as He deserves to be known.” Likewise, Surah Ta Ha, verse 110, "He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they encompass Him not in knowledge," which is similar to Surah 2. This is Al-Baqarah, the Surah, The Cow, verse 285: "He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills." The truth can only come to us when the divine expresses of His will, of Her will within us, and we must learn to access that state by cooperating as a psyche, as a soul, as a consciousness. In order to attain that state, we must learn to be humble psychologically. Previously, we discussed in our lecture on the code of ethics, spiritual discipline, the need to train the mind, to not behave in negative ways, to not indulge in negative habits, and to destroy and comprehend those psychological causes within us that create conflict. Because, as the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition, Samael Aun Weor, stated, "Be humble in order to attain enlightenment. Thus after attaining it, be more humble still." Humility is not an attitude. It is a psychological way of being in which we comprehend how our own sense of self, we can say egotism, egos, qualities, defects, vices, errors, whatever name we want to give them—these in themselves are obscuring the full manifestation of our divine potential, and we want to remove those shadows within our psyche, those causes of suffering such as anger, pride, fear, et cetera. By removing those conditions, those cages of the mind, we liberate soul. We liberate consciousness and then we can truly ascend to the heights of the divine. As the Book of Isaiah states, "Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and the hill made low. The crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain." Meaning, it is a psychological work. Our own sense of egotism, our own negative sense of self must be conquered in order for the divine self, the Being, the truth to manifest. Now, there is some interesting commentary just to elaborate on this point about asceticism or spiritual poverty given by, again this writer, Ibn Arabi, from his Futuhat Makkiyyah, which is The Meccan Revelations, a very extensive scripture. He commented that the first caliph, Abu Bakr, was reported to have said, "The inability to comprehend God is comprehension itself." Then, this point is that if we feel that we have a certain level of knowledge, we must understand there's always something higher, something beyond that which we must access. As the Sufis state, the greatest position to follow is poverty, not physical poverty or austerities, but, psychologically speaking, we fast to our habits. We cease to feed our negative elements, our desires. Instead, we develop conscious qualities. We seek to overcome the conditions of our mind. There was one Sufi, I believe, who stated that a third of the stomach should be filled with food, while the other two thirds be filled with fasting and the Qur’an. While some people may take the symbolic language of the Sufis literally, symbolically-speaking, we must be in remembrance of divinity through meditation, scriptural study, profound comprehension… There's a very famous teaching given in the Surah Ta Ha, verse 114, where Prophet Muhammad was taught by his inner Being, his divinity. He said, "Be not in haste with the Qur’an before its revelation is completed for thee, but say, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge!’" We must increase that knowledge, seek to understand what in us prevents us for accessing that, and to thereby deny our own selves, conditions, desires, through the art or path of consciousness, self-awareness, mindfulness. The Three Levels of Religion
In next graphic, we have the three levels of religion. We find the three levels of religion in any doctrine, any teaching, since religious instruction or esoteric instruction is always given in three tiers. We have what is known as the introductory level, the intermediate level, and the esoteric level. All religions have a gradation of instruction, of teaching, and of discipline, in which we train ourselves to be more open and receptive to the influence of the divine.
In Islam, they call the first introductory level Shariah, which of course has a lot of negative connotation today. In esoteric studies, Shariah does not refer to the punitive or harsh laws of Muslim countries. Shariah is really in its heart is the practical conduct we engaged with to train ourselves—to not be angry people, to not have fear, to not have pride, to not have desire or lust, to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not take intoxicants, to not cause harm, to not lie. These are basic laws given in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and whatever religion we study, since each has this code according to the idiosyncrasy of the culture it was delivered. Beyond that, after we've established ourselves with mind training, we can enter into the mesoteric level, the intermediate steps, which is Tariqah. The last lecture we gave was on divine love, which is the path of Tariqah. It is the path of selfless service in which our spirituality is not based on ourselves, but for others. Meaning: we work on our own sense of egotism so that we can develop compassion for those who suffer and those who are ignorant. In this selfless path, we overcome the conditioning of the mind. We train ourselves so that we do not cause harm to others with our speech, our thoughts, our words, etc. Instead, we want to overcome the conditioning of our psyche so that our divinity can really help us to create religion, which is in Latin, religare, in one sense to reunite such as in a congregation or group, to unite people through divine law. In Islam, the word “religion” is often called din in Arabic. Din more specifically refers to “judgment,” which is etymologically related with “custom, way, or affair.” Din refers to our conduct, our behavior, in how we curtail negative psychological states and eliminate them through inner judgment and comprehension in meditation. Din also has a strong relationship to the word dayn, which means “debt.” Truly, all of us are in debt before the divine law and must learn to pay our debts through conscious works, good deeds. Lastly, we have Marifah and Haqiqah which is knowledge and truth. This is the highest teachings of any religion and is the topic of today's lecture. Now, with Marifah (knowledge) and Haqiqah (truth), these have been associated with the highest teachings of any tradition—the secret doctrine, whether in theosophy or the Fourth Way schools, and in Gnosticism. The secret of the divine path, Marifah and Haqiqah, knowledge and truth, pertains to the practices of what is known in Arabic as Allah-kimiya', alchemy. Alchemy was associated traditionally with the transformation or transmutations of metals, a base substance into a pure substance, which many people in Europe were foolishly seeking to literally perform, to transform physical lead into gold, but that is not the meaning. The meaning is transforming the lead or the personality into the gold of the spirit, into the spirit of the divine, the truth. Alchemy is known as Tantra in the East, but the word alchemy also, Al-Kimiya, signifies chemistry (we have the similar origins or the root word). Kimiya also means to fuse or cast to metal. With the practices of a perfect matrimony or the perfect matrimony, the exercises of tantrism, man and woman in a marriage can unite to create spiritually and therefor fuse with the divine through the chemistry of God. I will talk about the specifics of this, but something important to remember with these three stages is that, according to Ibn Arabi, the law of Shariah can be summarized with the following maxim: "What is yours is yours and what is mine is mine." There's a sense of separation. Meaning, we work individually as practitioners for ourselves, for our benefit, to serve God within us. In a path of Tariqah, "What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours," referring to selfless love, a state of compassion. In the level of Marifah, “Nothing belongs to you or me,” according to Ibn Arabi. Then with the knowledge of Haqiqah, the truth, "There is no you or me. There is only Him, the divine." These are stages of discipline we train ourselves in and, of course, in the beginning we work with Shariah. In Buddhism, this is known as Shravakayana, the Shravaka path. Shravaka in Sanskrit means “to listen, to hear,” and Yana means “the way or path.” Anyone who learns for the first time how to change is a Shravaka, is a listener, to hear the truth and to practice it, and we will give more examples of this in relation to the intricate science of certainty according to the Quran. With the middle path, the mesoteric path, we find in Tariqah, its equivalent is Mahayana, the greater vehicle: Maha, meaning great, in which our work is for others. We are not concerned with our own personal well-being, but we work to help others develop spiritually, and we overcome our own egos, our own senses of self, which create conflict. In the highest path, Marifah and Haqiqah, is known as Tantrayana in Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. In this Tibetan Buddhist teaching, Tantra is the vehicle of a matrimony where a man and woman, in the pure sentiment and inspiration of the divine, can cultivate their marriage as a means of experiencing the truth and working with the most potent forces we carry within our physiology, and also our psychology, as we will elaborate upon. Now, an important thing to remember is that with these steps, these are not something separate. Neither are they something that will go from one step up, a plateau, so to speak. Really Shariah, Tariqah, Marifah, Haqiqah unite; they are integral, meaning: one cannot know the truth without fulfilling the basic conduct of spirituality, meaning: to be good person, to be decent, to be humble and to help others. Likewise, we cannot know divine love if we are selfish, egotistically, psychologically speaking. All of us who begin any type of spiritual studies have to work on or become aware of what particular issues we have and change them so that we can really develop compassion for humanity and for its suffering. Now, there has been a teaching, and there have been some people who have wanted to associate with higher stages of teaching, such as people who proclaim to have spiritual knowledge or to know the truth, but they fail to fulfill the basic conduct of being a decent human being. There is a very famous teaching and I believe it's given by Ibn Arabi as well. In his scripture Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom, he explains that there were people who saw a man flying in the air, and they were overcome by this phenomenon. They were very fascinated, obviously. Ibn Arabi asked, "Does that man follow the Qur’an?" Meaning, does he follow the scripture? Does he know how to be a decent person, to be kind, to not be lustful, to not be angry, to not have fear, because if he does not fulfill those laws, then ignore him. Because there are people who can have powers and abilities, but through desire, egotism, which is a different path than we teach. Here, we seek to give all of our aspirations to God who has power, who has capability and we as the human vehicle can be of service to that, not for our own will. Dhikr, Remembrance of the Divine Self
So, what is the path we need to follow? Really, it is mindfulness, it is awareness and it cannot be emphasized enough. You need to be perceptive psychologically. In the doctrine of Islam, they refer to remembrance of God as dhikr. We talk about in these studies in relation to self-knowledge, the studies or the practice of Self-remembering, self-observation. What is the self we seek to remember? It is the divine Self. In Hinduism, they refer to it as Atman, the inner divinity, but we also want to become aware of our own egotistical self through the act of observing our mind, our heart and our body, our impulses, our desires, our instincts. Truly, to know the truth, we have to begin at this level and to be aware of our body, aware of our mind, aware of our sentiments.
For as Dhul-Nun al-Misri, the Egyptian, very famous Sufi master stated the following: The key to success and worship lies in meditative reflection (fikrat). Whoever persists in such reflection in the heart will behold the invisible realm and the spirit. Whoever contemplates God for keeping watch over the thoughts which pass through his heart will be exalted by God in all of his outward deeds. ―Dhū’l-Nūn Miṣrī in ‘Attār: Tadhkirat, 154-155
Again, we can refer to the three stages of religion even in this very brief quote which compacts a lot, meaning that whosoever contemplates God, who practices mushahida, witnesses God, understanding and knowing that God keeps watch over the thoughts that pass through his heart. This is the exercises of Shariah, to discipline our mind, to be aware of ourselves, to not act in inappropriate way according to the moment. Likewise, by doing so, one will be exalted by God, which is Haqq, the truth, Haqiqah. One of the sacred names of Allah in Islam is Al-Haqq, the Truth, which is where we get Haqiqah. It is in controlling our mind in which we will be exalted by the truth in all of our outward deeds, according to the path of Tariqah, one's actions.
“The Reminder” is another name for the Qur’an, the Recitation, the teaching.
So, there is no God but God. The Muslims make a very strict observance of worshipping only the divine, and they call worship of idols shirk, or to worship God as something multiple. This has a very interesting psychological application to us, because in a given moment, if we are mindful, we will perceive elements that seek to grab our energy, our attention. In a moment of anger, we want to speak harm, and if we give in to that element, if we give in to those words and we express that negative emotion, we are worshiping an idol. We are worshiping a psychological quality that is other than God. That condition of anger is a shell that has trapped the light of God within us and we need to learn to extirpate that from our psyche, to liberate the free consciousness, the free essence, the soul. Anytime we give into fear, other egos, other qualities, conditions of mind, and we identify ourselves with those elements, we are practicing shirk. That is a form of worship, because our love of being is how we worship God or how we turn away from him. The unity of God is very famous in Islam, the doctrine is called Tawhid, the unity of the Truth, because that light is universal, it is cosmic, whatever name we give to that. Within us, we have sadly, unfortunately, due to mistaken habits and will, wrong action, we have taken the light of the divine within us and caged it in what we call our pride, our fear, our anger, vanity, etc. These are conditions that we created that trap that light, and by breaking those shells, we free the genie from Aladdin's lamp as we were discussing previously. Truly, we need to remember the presence of the divine. That presence in Arabic is hudur which is where we get the word muhadara which means awareness of God. So self-observation, self-awareness, remembrance of God is the act of controlling our mind and remembering the qualities of the divine which is virtue, compassion, peace, etc. This psychological quality is beyond the intellect. Knowledge of the truth is beyond conceptualization, rationalization, etc. While we can gain knowledge or we can study this teaching and study any religion in an intellectual sense, it does not equate with the actual experience of that divinity. For as the Sufi Lāhījī stated: One cannot behold God by the eye of ratiocination derived from reason for only through the eye of the heart which is known as the faculty of inner vision can one behold God. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
Likewise, he emphasizes the path of Shariah, the discipline, the conduct we need to know the truth.
As long as you do not focus this eye (meaning this perception, this self-awareness, self-observation) so as to sharpen its vision with the collyrium of asceticism, spiritual conduct, purgation of the soul, purification of the heart, illumination of the spirit, you will be unable to witness the Friend's beauty and contemplation. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
People associate that term ‘asceticism’ with monks in sackcloth whipping themselves in a form of self-flagellation and very morbid behavior, and that is not something we encourage. Instead, we teach to discipline our mind. Asceticism can be practiced in an esoteric sense, not physical austerities, but mental psychological training in our daily life and our daily occupation. It does not mean we have to go to a monastery or Sufi lodge to learn to meditate. Instead, we learn to meditate in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in and that is our discipline, our conduct.
“The Friend” is the divine. The Sufis used this term for God, for the Being and contemplation again is mushahida, to witness God, whether through meditative experience or in the dream state, when one awakens in dreams to know that which is the truth, directly, with cognizance. 
The Perfect Human BeingAll the masters of the Path are in accordance that this reality can be realized only through the guidance of a perfect man who knows and contemplates God. ―Lāhījī: Mafātīh, 66
There have been many perfect men and women, many great masters and prophets and really, when we study ourselves and study esotericism, we should always rely on the prophets, beings like Jesus, like Buddha, like Muhammad, Krishna, those beings who fully exemplify the light of the divine and whose conduct has been tested and verified as true. We should not rely on theories or uncertain sources but our own experience and the scripture or the scriptures.
So what is an example of a perfect man? We find Muhammad, who of course, sadly, today is terribly denigrated and misunderstood. It is the effort of these lectures to help elucidate the spiritual roots and esoteric meaning behind his teaching, his doctrine. So we are going to talk about what he symbolizes for us, what he represents, because the perfect men and women, the prophets who came previously, in their very daily acts of kindness and expression and their discipline, came to symbolize a path we need to follow. There are many interesting things we can learn from the life of Prophet Muhammad which are symbolic for us and which he purposely played out, taking on a role to teach us something profound about ourselves. The Sufis emphasize that really, he is a great master, a very radical teacher and of course, all radical masters are very controversial, but if we look at the Hadith and examine the scriptures of the Quran from our own experience, we can verify the beauty of that teaching. The outer law (Shariah) is my word,
Whether in Islam or Buddhism, any master exemplifies and manifest those three paths simultaneously, in every action. The Buddha manifested Shravakayana, Mahayana, Tantrayana. Moses fulfilled the body, soul and spirit of his doctrine. Moses wrote the Torah but other scriptures associated with the higher teaching such as the Talmud related to the middle path, and then the Zohar is the esoteric doctrine of Israel. The Freemasons followed the paths of the Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. So again, these levels of religion are levels of being but also levels of instruction as we mentioned. Certain scriptures pertain to each degree.
As we discuss previously, these three paths have a correlation to our three centers of activity. We have mind, we have emotion, we have movement. We can say we have three focal points, we call them “brains,” and a brain in esoteric psychology does not refer to the physical matter in the cerebrum. Instead, it pertains to a center of activity, physiological and psychological, which manages energies. Thought is a form of energy. Emotion is a form of energy, and will, desire, instinct, impulse, movement is another form. We must learn to comprehend these levels in ourselves, our own psychology, as a whole. Really, our heart relates to our words. How we feel, we express through our language. Likewise, our actions refer to the center of movement, and our inner reality is experienced when our mind is enlightened, when our consciousness is illuminated by harnessing those energies of Tantra which we will discuss.
The Sufis really emphasize the integral nature of this master and something we should follow in our own practice. The following was given by the book Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri: If someone requires of himself the conduct prescribed by the divine command (Shariah), God will illuminate his heart with the light of realization (Haqiqah). There is no station nobler than the station of following the beloved (or in Arabic it is al-Mustafa, the beloved of God who is Prophet Muhammad) in the orders he gave (Shariah), the actions he took (Tariqah), and the character he possessed (Haqiqah). ―Ibn Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Let us examine what he represents for us because his life is something symbolic and any figure in the Bible or the Quran who physically lived came to demonstrate something psychological for us, which is evident by looking at some of the etymology of Arabic and Hebrew.
Kabbalah and Sufi Mysticism
This is an image of the Kabbalah, the famous mystical Tree of Life, symbol of the highest levels of consciousness, which descend through different levels of dimensionality down to the physical plane and into more dense regions of matter, energy and perception. In discussing psychology, we use this glyph. It is a map of consciousness. It is also map of the universe and the different dimensions we can experience in a meditation or in the dream state. In Islam, heaven is known Jannat or Jannah, and Buddhism talks about Nirvana. Likewise, we have different terms for heaven in different cultures and that is really referring to this Tree of Life. These are higher levels of being that we can access if we learn to meditate.
A very important sphere in this glyph is at the very center; we have included the title, Tiphereth, with the Hebrew letters included. Tiphereth means beauty. It is the very center of this Tree of Life, and to explain Tiphereth, we will elaborate on this glyph in its entirety. Notice that there are three trinities included here. The top trinity is referring to the highest forces in nature which the Gnostics called Christ, Chrestos, the anointed one. These three spheres refer to Father, Son, Holy Spirit in Christianity. Kether, Chokmah, Binah in Kabbalah, or Crown, Wisdom, Understanding. These are forces; these are not people. This is why in Islam, they strictly reject the trinity, because the Christians at that time were literally worshipping the trinity as three people, and that is wrong. The truth is that these are energies. It is one force, one light, one intelligence which can manifest in diverse ways. We call it Christ or the First, Second and Third Logos in Gnostic terms, in Greek terms. Below that, we have on the right, the Spirit, known as Chesed in Hebrew meaning Mercy. In the Qur’an, when it says, Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” it is referring to that spiritual quality known as Chesed, which is Mercy. The word Rahman relates to Hebrew Ruach, which means wind, breath, spirit, which is within us. To the left of that we have Geburah which is the Divine Soul, divine consciousness, which is not stained with impurity, and does not enter conditionality. Now, below that is Tiphereth, human will, Human Soul, that is really where we originate from. Our soul, our essence, our consciousness emanates from this middle sphere and really, when the soul is fully developed, it is beauty. It is pure and Tiphereth can also mean splendor, radiance, light. When we work with self-observation, we are working with this willpower to be controlling the lower aspects of our psychology. This unconditioned will, Tiphereth must conquer and control the lower spheres. You see here Netzach, which is the mind, intellect, thought. To the left of that, we have Hod, emotions, the heart. Below that, we have the Yesod, which is energy, vitality, sexual power which is used in tantric practice in a marriage in order to illuminate the other spheres ascending upward. Below that, we have Malkuth which is the physical body. It means “Kingdom.” Our willpower has to control mind, feeling, body, movement. That is the nature of Tiphereth and in us, it is undeveloped, but when we learn to observe ourselves and break the conditioning of the mind, we liberate more willpower. We free it. What is interesting about Tiphereth is that if you take this image and put it on a human being, the Kether at the top trinity relates to the head, the middle trinity relates to the heart and the lower trinity or quaternary including Malkuth related to the sexual organs and feet. Now, Tiphereth of course is associated with the heart especially in Islamic mysticism. As we find in the Hadith, the Muslim oral tradition, a very famous saying by Prophet Muhammad which emphasizes this point, the importance of developing Tiphereth. We will highlight for you the examples of how he is associated with that sphere of being, that he represents, Tiphereth: There is an organ in the body that if it is righteous ensures that the whole system will be righteous and if it is corrupt, the whole body will become corrupt. This organ is the heart. There is a polish for everything that takes away rust, and the polish for the heart is the Dhikr, the remembrance of Allah. ―Prophet Muhammad, Hadith 
Arabic Kabbalah, the Abjad System, and the Sacred Kaaba
The word for heart in Arabic is Qalb, and what is interesting about Arabic and Hebrew is that each letter represents a number. Kabbalah is the science of numbers, mathematics, which are divine. The universe is governed by math, and God is a mathematician. He works with the laws of nature and manifests them and operates them. Each Arabic letter, each Hebrew letter, has a symbol associated with a certain psychological and spiritual archetype, a blueprint for a soul that we need to develop. In the abjad system which is the Arabic Kabbalah, how you add numbers together produces very interesting associations. The same with Hebrew.
The word قلب Qalb is made up of ق Qaf, ل Lam, ب Ba, respectively, with numerical values of 100, 30 and 2, respectively. In Hebrew, this is ק Quf, ל Lamed, ב Beth. When you add those numbers together, you get 132. If you take number the 1, add it to 32, 32 + 1, you get 33, a very interesting number in relation to the science of masonry in Europe. Also, likewise, you look at the name Muhammad, you break it down, م Mim, ح Ha, م Mim, م Mim, د Dal, respectively is 40 + 8 + 40 + 40 + 4 which is 132. Again, add 1 + 32 is 33. Masonry speaks often of the symbol of the 33 degrees of a master, which symbolizes the 33 degrees or vertebrae of our spine, our spinal column. Our spinal column is where the light of the divine can manifest. We talked previously about how, through the exercises of Tantra, a couple can raise the creative energies of sex up the spine to the brain in order to illuminate it, so the images of the prophets having halos is a symbol of having raised the creative energies of God from sex to the brain, up the spine. Someone who has successfully raised that Kundalini serpent force to the mind and is filled with fire in their intellect is a master of the 33rd degree, having fulfilled each step of that terrain, that path up the spinal medulla. Now, Muhammad represents this as we will examine in the story of his ascension and we will talk about that next. But what is interesting is that the word תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth hides and implies a lot, and a very interesting symbolism. Each letter as we said is a representation of a quality. The letter ת Tav, the final letter of the Hebraic alphabet, this 22nd letter, can mean “seal, truth, cross, path, covenant.” Notice that the word תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth begins and ends with ת Tav. Muhammad is often cited as the Seal of the Prophets, the Seal of the Truth, as given in the Quran, Surah 33, verse 40, Al-Ahzab. Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets and Allah has full knowledge of all things. ―Qur'an 33:40
Seal of the Prophets is khatim an-nabiyyin, and most Muslims associate this as meaning that he is the last of the major prophets to come teach humanity. But really, in a strict esoteric sense, seal of the truth, seal of the prophets is Tiphereth, because it begins with ת Tav and ends with ת Tav, “truth, seal.” If you are familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, we have Dzogchen, which is the great perfection or Mahamudra, the “Great Seal.” It is the same meaning. Buddhism is implicit within that name תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth.
Notice also in the middle of this word if going from right to left because Hebrew's right to left: ת Tav, פ Peh, א Aleph, ר Resh and ת Tav. ת Tav begins and ends this word, and at the center of this phrase is the word אר Or: א Aleph, ר Resh. Or if you add the letter ו Vav in the center, it is אוֹר Aur, א Aleph, ו Vav, ר Resh, signifying light as the book of Genesis states, “Let there be light and there was light,” Yehi va aur vayehi aur. אוֹר Aur means light, and it is at the center of this word. If you add the letter ו Vav, the sixth letter of Hebrew alphabet, it spells “light” in the center. ו Vav is direct representation of the spine. You take the letter ו Vav as a straight line; it represents the spinal column. That is how the light emerges from our creative forces to the brain and illuminates us and gives us genuine beauty, spiritually speaking. תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth is beautiful, meaning splendor, light, radiance. If you add ו Vav in the center, you can see that it has light within it, and then the heart is enlivened, is saturated with those cosmic forces when a couple practices alchemy. Now, again, תִפאֶרֶת Tiphereth is truth seal, seal of truth, the heart, قلب Qalb, or the heart in Arabic. Many interesting parallels that really point with great emphasis that Muhammad is Tiphereth and represents for us, our willpower, the beauty of the soul we need to cultivate. In Islam, in relation to this topic, Muslims pray to the east, towards Mecca, the sacred stone Kaaba. To discuss Marifah, the highest knowledge of esotericism, the Muslims symbolize the secret teachings of alchemy, of a marriage, within the stone. The Kaaba in Mecca relates to the Kabbalah, if you relate to the Hebrew. Kaaba in Spanish is La Kaaba, take La and put it at the end, and you spell Kabbalah. Likewise, you spell “the cow” in Spanish, la vaca, which is the same root word for the word Baqarah, the longest Surah of the Quran, “The Cow,” emphasizing that there is really a great profound mystery there. So Muslims pray to the east towards the Kaaba, the sacred stone that was established originally by Adam and Eve in Islamic myth, and became impure or blackened as a result of the impurity of the psyche. All of this deserves analysis, since the wisdom of the middle east bears profound symbolism. The stone, this energy, this foundation of our temple, our Kaaba, spiritually speaking, has become impure and refers to our energies. It is the forces upon which we exist physically, but also spiritually. These energies have been corrupted by desire, by lust. The Kaaba is prayed towards five times a day. Muslims pray toward the Kaaba daily and the direction in which one prays is called قِـبْـلَـة Qibla. Again, you hear the word قلب Qalb, heart, implied there, and also, قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, Kabbalah. Kabbalah in Hebrew simply means “to receive.” It is knowledge that we receive consciously from God. It is not limited to what we read, but something we verify for ourselves. The Kaaba, the stone, is a symbol of the energies we carry in our body, which if we use for spirituality, can elevate us to the divine, to enliven our heart and awaken our consciousness. In Arabic Kabbalah, ق Qaf can signify the powers of the head, ل Lam the powers of speech, and ب Ba the House of God, Bayṫ Allāh, the Kaaba or stone of Yesod, whereby divine forces coagulate. Through controlling our mind, our ق Qaf, through mantras, sacred sounds through the power of ل Lam, the tongue, we invoke divinity into our house of God, our heart, ب Ba. Even the Arabic letter ب Ba appears, in its calligraphy, like a cup, chalice, or receptacle that receives the solar, divine forces. All of this signifies how divinity descends through prayer and recitation into the temple of the spirit, our heart. This is why the Sufi master Bayazid Bastami stated the following: When you are separate from the Kaaba, it is all right to turn toward it, but those who are in it can turn toward any direction they wish. ―Bayazid Bastami
This is a very radical statement from a Muslim, considering that this is very important to perform the canonical prayer Salat. The meaning of that is that if you know the symbolic meaning of the Kaaba and if you work with your stone, the creative sexual energy, the creative power, it does not matter what direction you pray. Instead, you learn to direct those forces from the base of the spine to the brain and into the heart. That is how you receive knowledge, Kabbalah within your emotional center, within قلب Qalb, the heart in Arabic. Likewise, as I mentioned, it does not matter what direction you pray but when you know the قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, you know how to redirect those forces within you, you are praying to the east symbolically, since in the Tree of Life, the east is Tiphereth, astrologically related to the sun when it rises. Your قِـبْـلَـة Qibla, your direction to which you pray is within you. Through alchemy, you raise the powers of Yesod to the east, up to the mind and then to the heart. This is very well-explained in Kabbalah.
We mentioned in the previous lecture on divine love how the symbol of Islam, the crescent moon and the star, is a symbol of how we transform the moon of our psyche into the sun of the Spirit. The star Venus, the star of love, Venus-Aphrodite, is “beauty” in Greek, and she is the divine feminine within us, the serpentine power called Kundalini, which is asleep in us in the base of our spine, according to Hinduism, Hindu anatomy, Hindu occult anatomy.
The sexual stone hides within it the energy of Kundalini in the base of the spine, and the stone is called the Yesod in Kabbalah, the foundation of our temple, because how we use our energy determines our spiritual life. If we waste our energy, we cannot function, but if we conserve our forces and become hermetically sealed, psychologically speaking, we do not identify with life so much and do not waste our mental, physical or emotional energy, we will become much happier and elevated. How we use this energy of the creative power in us, the sexual power is that serpentine force that can raise us spiritually. Another interesting thing about this stone of Kaaba, is reported in pre-Islamic myth that there was a serpent sleeping at the base of this temple, of the stone, within the Kaaba itself in the earth. It is representing for us that creative power of the Divine Mother is in that stone. Many people are familiar with tantric yoga, raising the Kundalini force through sexual union up the spine to the brain. The stone is a very symbolic thing which we are going to elaborate with the myth or the teachings of Muhammad's ascension. 
The Ascension of the Prophet
The very famous teaching of Muhammad is that he was meditating at Mecca, meaning, he was asleep and reflecting on his inner divinity while near the Kaaba itself. He became drowsy (emphasizing for us that in meditation, we become sleepy physically but consciously, we are alert, we are aware, we are vigilant). At that point, he encountered a mystical creature called Al-Buraq. It is an animal with the body of a mule, the tail of a peacock and the face of a woman, which he rode upon towards Jerusalem in a few moments and afterward, he ascended the seven heavens mentioned in Islam. The Tree of Life of Kabbalah represents nine heavens but you can also say seven dimensions, so the Muslims and the mystics of Israel are in agreement.
But how did he ascend towards those higher levels of being up those different steps of the Tree of Life? Precisely through working with the stone in Mecca. If you look at the Arabic root of the name البراق Al-Buraq, it means “the lightning,” lightning bolt, and if you translate that into Sanskrit, it is Vajra. Vajra is a lightning bolt that the gods or the Buddhas wield, or Zeus wields to destroy the impure. That lightning is the creative Kundalini force of the spine that can help you to ascend up the heavens, the seven heavens or seven chakras of the spinal medulla up to the crown in order to connect you with the divine. The name البراق Al-Buraq contains the word Ur, the Arabic نور Nur, or “light” of chastity. Remove Ur from Buraq, and you are left with Baq, the root of the term Baqarah, the sacred Heifer or Cow within the Qur’an, a symbol of the Divine Mother. You find the name Buraq of course of our current president, but it also is a Muslim name and it relates to the Hebrew Barak in the book of Judges chapter 5, verse 12, which explains the exploits of the prophetess Debora or Deborah who was a judge of Israel fighting against the Philistines. Again, she represents something psychological, how our own consciousness needs to wage war against the infidels, which are not outside of us, but in us, our own fear, pride, worries, anxieties, hate, lust. These are infidels. These are something we need to be strict and to fight against consciously. It does not mean to go to war against someone else for their religion. Now, it says in the book of Judges: Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake. Utter a song. Arise Barak and lead thy captivity captive, the son of Abinoam. ―Judges 5:12
They were persecuted by Sisera and his armies, the Philistine armies, in which Deborah led a great war in the Bible against her enemies and the enemies of Israel.
Again, Israel is not, in the Bible, representing the people of the Middle East, neither the Philistines. These are just symbolic representations. The names hide a lot of meaning. Israel is from Isis, the Egyptian goddess, the Divine Mother, Ra, Osiris-Ra and El in Hebrew which means God. The people of Israel are all the parts of our soul that are trapped in all the discursive psychological elements we carry within, which produces our suffering, and that which we call ego, negativity, self, infidels, defects which we have to fight against, those qualities that trap the divine light. Deborah is the judge of Israel, meaning she judges herself in meditation, that quality in us that helps to judge ourselves in which we combat those enemies to God, those unbelievers, so to speak. It says, “Arise Barak.” Barak, Buraq, “the lightning, arise from the base of my spine to my brain and then to my heart up that mountain range to illuminate my psyche,” in which Barak is that sword, that fire that emerges when we work with sacred sound, with mantras. The word Deborah in Hebrew comes from Dabar, which means “word, to speak, to pronounce.” The letter ה Hei which is the H sound at the end. You put it to the front of her name, it is Ha-dabar, the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was of God and the Word was God.” When a couple unite sexually, they can pronounce sacred mantras and awaken that fire that we will send up the spinal column to the brain and is that sword that will help us fight against the evil ones within us. Again, the word sword is the letter S, the vowel S (we say it is a vowel in an esoteric studies).
The letter S, if you pronounce it as a mantra, ssssssssssssssss, is the power to awaken that creative power. It is a fire, it is the sound of a serpent, serpentine fire of Kundalini that rises within the spine. That is the sword, S + Word, which we can awaken within us.
It says, “Awake, awake Deborah, awake. Utter a song,” meaning: pronounce mantras when you are with your wife or your husband in order to awaken that fire and to fight against the enemies of God which are within us. So, Prophet Muhammad represents that, the qualities of the heart that help to raise those forces and to wage difficult wars against the lower selves, the nafs, egos. One thing I will mention about again is the people of the Philistines. Literal people, of course, associate the scriptures as a history book, which is not the case. It is a symbolic text. You look at the word Philistine and it has many interesting relationships to the Greek language. You can say that the term Philistine sounds like Phila, Philadelphia, which is a Greek work meaning from Philos, “to love,” or Phileo, “to love,” and Adelphos, which means “brother.” Likewise, Philistine, if you break it down into Greek can mean Phile-Hestia, which means “tribe of the hearth” or “lover of the hearth,” someone who loves the fireplace. This is an interesting symbol. It really refers to those egos, demonic qualities within the psyche which love evil, love to do harmful things, who love the fires of lust, to use our creative energies in the negative way. Yesod is the stone where the fire of life emerges physically and spiritually. Those who love the hearth, the Philistines, signifies any person who loves that energy but in the wrong way. They like to abuse that power through lust, through fornication specifically, or adultery. They like to get burned by that energy, to not conserve it and use it for God. So, these are the Philistines, those who love those egos, those devil qualities within the psyche, the conditioning of the mind. Likewise, the people of Israel must really liberate all the parts of God, all the qualities and particles of the soul that are trapped in suffering. What we will mention is that to raise those energies, we must specifically work with meditation, which is allegorized in the Ascension of the Prophet. Muhammad's ascension represents at once how work with that power but also how to meditate, because he was contemplating God at the stone of Mecca. Then, in a sleepy state, he accessed that Samadhi, ecstasy, Satori, whatever word you want to give to it: a profound mystical state devoid of any subjectivity or limitation. Sufis explained what we need to do to acquire that in Al-Qushayri’s Principles of Sufism. He states the following: In general, it is to the measure of one’s alienation from one’s own ego that one attains direct knowledge of one’s Lord… I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say, "One of the tokens of the gnosis of God is the achievement of deep awe and reverence for God. If someone’s realization increases, his awe increases." And I heard him say, "Gnosis requires stillness of heart, just as learning requires outward quiet. If someone’s gnosis increases, his tranquility increases.” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We emphasize meditation as the science in which we learn to understand the root causes of our suffering by using those energies for our spirituality.
Selflessness and the Unity of God
In this graphic, we also include the Tree of Life. I want to emphasize the need to change. This Tree of Life is God, we could say, in His totality, the Being in all the levels of consciousness, from the highest to the lowest. We, of course, are in Malkuth, the bottom, this physical sphere, but we are still part of God, that needs to obey and to submit in Islam or to bow to the will of divinity. We do so by comprehending and striving against our own defects.
To understand mystical experience, the truth, we must overcome our conditioned mind, because, it is that sense of self which blocks us from accessing that mystical experience. As Abu Sa'id stated the following, “Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears—there’s hell. Wherever ‘you’ aren't—that's heaven.” Sense of self, selfhood, is ego. That's really our hell, our suffering. That is the opposite of the bliss, selflessness, virtue, and ecstasy of God. Bayazid Bistami also stated the following, in relation to this quote: “I came out of Bayazid-ness as a snake from its skin. Then I looked. I saw that lover, Beloved, and love are one, because in that state of unification all can be one.” This Tree of Life, we represent as different modalities of consciousness, of being, but they are one tree. Just as we look at a physical tree, it has many branches. It is really one integral living being. Likewise, this Tree of Life and its many parts is really one whole. There's no demarcation between this teaching and the doctrine of Tawhid in Islam, because within God, all is one, but He manifests in different ways so that we can access him and gain knowledge. Of course, when Bayazid says, “I came out of my skin like a snake,” he is talking about the shell of our terrestrial personality to express that creative divine potential, the kundalini serpent, shedding the impurities of the mind in order to elevate those forces within us. What do we need to do? We need to seek. As the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verses 7-8 states: Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, recieveth, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. ―Matthew 7:7-8
Sufis have a very similar parallel about this quest for self-knowledge, of knowing the divine. This quote goes towards the explanation of the three levels of religion that we discussed.
Search for what you are asked about in the sanctuary of knowledge (Shariah)... ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
...meaning, the books and audio lectures or whatever scripture you have an affinity toward to study, let that be your sanctuary where you study divine wisdom. It is also the conduct we need to develop in order to experience the divine.
If you do not find it there, then in the battlefield of wisdom. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
This is the path of Tariqah which, again, in Arabic, is the path of Mujahida, which is striving, or the path of jihad, path of war against the enemies of Israel, the ego, our negative sense of self.
If you still do not find it, weigh it with the unity. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
Haqiqah, the truth, which you find when the body is in silence, in which the soul escapes from its material conditioning, its material shell, and ascends that Tree of Life that we are viewing. If it is not to be found in any of these places; if you're searching for the knowledge of the truth in yourself and if you don't find it in the books; if you don't find it in your daily life and your actions; if you don't find it in the highest levels of spirituality, in the unity, it says:
If you haven't found it in any of these places, strike Satan in the face with it. ―Ahmad bin Ata in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
This has to do with verification of teaching. We may read about a doctrine, study it, be very devout Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., but it doesn't mean that we've experienced God, the truth. We need to learn how to experiment, to test our knowledge of ourselves with scripture, and if we don't find it there, within our daily actions, then we must reject our methods. Then, seek the knowledge in the truth and the experience of the divine. If we are very attached to, maybe, a certain quality of ours or a belief, if we don't find that verified in anything we have read, experienced, whether in our daily life or in meditation, then strike Satan in the face with it. Meaning, you got to be very strict with your analysis. Meaning, do not believe or disbelieve anything, but experiment, verify. Buddha said, "Do not take my word or face value or because you have respect for me. Instead, test my words like gold."
O bhikshus and wise men, just as a goldsmith would test his gold by burning, cutting, and rubbing it, so you must examine my words and accept them, but not merely out of reverence for me. ―Buddha, Ghanavyuha Sutra (Sutra of Dense Array)
Scratch it. Burn it. Do what you will with it in order to verify that it is what it is. Likewise, anything we seek to verify, we should test it in accordance with these three levels of religion: Shariah or conduct, religious scripture; Tariqah, our actions, our daily life; and Haqiqah, the Samadhi experience, where we are united with the truth. We don't need to really conceptualize so much. We simply know, have the experience. If it is not found in any of those places, well, discard it. It is not true. That which is true is what you have verified, not what you believe, since it never leaves your heart. It is eternal. Now, to experience that, again, we emphasize mindfulness.
Self-Remembrance, Spiritual Practice, and the Present Moment
In this image, we have a man performing adhan, the call to prayer in Islam, in which they pray five times a day, which is a beautiful discipline, if done consciously, with awareness, representing the need to be vigilant psychologically, moment by moment. In Gnosis, we seek to pray more than five times a day. We seek to pray every moment. For this, Sufis also teach the same thing. "The greatest form of prayer is watchfulness of the moments," is what one of the Sufis we quoted, stated. We need to awaken consciousness to be aware of ourselves, to remember the presence of the divine, hudur.
There are steps and grades to how we contemplate the divine. Probably, one of the most important quotes from this Scripture we've been citing, Al-Risalah, is the following, "Al-Jurayri said that, whoever does not establish awe of duty and vigilance in his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen or contemplation, mushahida, of the divine." Awe of duty means, to have reverence for one's practices, one's discipline. To meditate 10 minutes a day, 20 minutes, an hour, to mantralize, to pronounce sacred sounds or mantras, etc. daily. Whatever discipline we engage with, we must feel that awe in reverence of the divine in that act and make it consistent. Because if we don't practice one day, we practice every other day, we are not establishing awe of duty, which is a responsibility of the soul to work for God, for the Being. In that way, if one does not establish that, one cannot arrive at disclosure, meaning, the tearing of the veil, the experience, to perceive God directly, to witness the divine. That is in essence of contemplation, mushahida. Again, when we have experienced that, when we have tasted that, we in turn can orient ourselves in our daily life and guide ourselves to know how to live appropriately. Whatever problems we face, whatever difficulties or challenges we experience, the Being can solve that, will arrange the means for us to comprehend what in us produces our suffering and how can we eliminate that, and also, how we can resolve difficulties in life. It is by accessing this witnessing of God or practicing the shahida or mushahida, contemplation and meditation, in which we truly realize that there is no “I,” there is no me, there is no self, there is only Him. Ibn Karbala'i stated the following: When the seeker realizes the station of contemplation (mushāhida), which is witnessing God’s Essence comprehending and encompassing all phenomena (meaning, this whole Tree of Life. He is really in all aspects of this graphic, whether from the highest or the lowest. We are part of him but we are in the densest sphere. We have to learn how to ascend, to go up)―“Does not your Lord suffice, since He is witness over all things?” (41:53) ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
When someone fulfills this precept, meaning, remembering God in our mind, our heart, our body, we then witness Him and He through us.
He continually witnesses lights from the mundus invisibilis. ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
This is a reference to how in meditation, people who are remembering God may experience lights, clairvoyant images, experiences, whether in the dream state or when the physical body is at rest, when we are concentrating on God.
From such a mystic’s perspective, this world and the hereafter are one and the same. This can only be realized by a vision that is all heart and spirit, not a view bound by mere mud and mire. ―Ibn Karbalā’ī, Rawdāt al-janān, II 164
What is this mud and mire? These are our own afflictions which we need to conquer.
The vision of the heart and spirit is the work of Tiphereth, the Human Soul, that unconditioned will that can free the rest of the consciousness. It is the symbol of the knight saving the maiden from the dragon, which is in us. That maiden is our divine consciousness, Geburah. The Human Soul is the warrior, the spiritual fighter, the human soul that must work to be married with his Guinevere, so Lancelot with Guinevere, the marriage of the two souls. Arthur of course, is the king, the Spirit whom we have to work with. The Science of Certainty in Meditation
Now, we discuss in the Qur’an, the nature of developing certainty of the truth and knowing the truth. Many asked Prophet Muhammad and complained to him that they cannot experience the divine, that they do not know the divine. They do not know the unknowable. This is emphasized in Al-Baqarah, surah 2, verse 118:
Those who have no knowledge (Marifah, or you could say ilm in Arabic as well, "Why does not Allah speak to us or come to us a sign?’ So said those who are before them, [words] similar to what they say. Alike are their hearts. We have certainly made the signs clear for people who have certainty. ―Qur'an 2:118
What does it mean to be certain? To verify. To know. That is the essence of Gnosis, of Marifah, spiritual knowledge.
You could say that there are three degrees of knowledge as well, or three degrees of certainty in Arabic. You have ilm al-yaqin. Yaqin means “certainty.” Ilm al-yaqin means, the “certainty of knowledge.” You have ayn al-yaqin, the “perception of knowledge.” You have haqq al-yaqin, the “truth of knowledge.” Now, with the knowledge of certainty or certainty of knowledge, you could say, one receives that by studying scripture, by receiving a lecture, from hearing a talk or reading a book. We gain a certain level of certainty, intellectually speaking, where we feel, “This sounds right. I can verify this. I feel confident with this.” The next step is ayn al-yaqin. Ayn in Arabic or in Hebrew means eyes to perceive. It is what we consciously verify, what we consciously experience. Meaning, our soul is free of conditioning; we perceive beyond the mind, the intellect, and whether through an astral projection, out of body experience, or meditative experience, we come to verify something spiritual. Then, haqq al-yaqin is the truth of knowledge, or truth of certainty. That is when the soul fully unites with God and is one with the truth in which there is no “I,” there is only Him. The famous Sufi, Mansur Al-Hallaj, was executed by the Orthodox Muslims for saying, “Ana al-Haqq, I am the Truth,” which of course is blasphemous to them, considering that he was saying, "I am God." A way to remember it, it was not Mansur who was saying that. It was God in him. Of course, the orthodoxy had him executed, tortured. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Meaning, Christ, through him, was speaking. God, through him, was speaking. When we have that level of certainty, it is because the soul is fully one with God. One perceives as God, temporarily liberated from the conditions of the mind. Of course, one thing is to temporarily experience that, another thing is to make that permanent. In order to permanently be in that state, we have to remove all conditions, and that is a long process, a path we have to follow. These three levels of certainty are emphasized in the Quran, Surah 102, “The Rivalry.” Rivalry in vainglory distracted you until you visited the even graves. No indeed! Soon you will know! Again, no indeed! Soon you will know. No indeed! Were you to have knowledge of certainty, you would surely see hell. ―At-Takathur 1-6
Again, hell is, we mentioned, not just a place. It is a psychological quality. It is not a place of brimstone and fire. Those are symbols of how, in a moment of anger, we are consumed by hate, by fear, by pride. These qualities make us vibrate at a very low level of being, and make us suffer, make others suffer. That is what it means to be consumed by hellfire, the ego, you could say, our negative psyche.
Again, you will surely see it with the eye of certainty. Then that day you will surely be questioned concerning the blessing. ―At-Takathur 7-8
Then, the truth of certainty is represented in Waqi'ah, “The Inevitable.” Again, Waqi'ah, that which is “inevitable,” is Haqiqah, the Truth. This etymology signifies that we will inevitably have to come to speak to our inner Being and make account of our actions.
Indeed, it is a reminder for the God-weary. Indeed, we know that there are some among you who deny it, and indeed, it will be a matter of regret for the faithless (It does not mean people who just believe in a doctrine, but people who do not want to change, psychologically speaking, who do not know the divine). It is indeed certain truth, so celebrate the name of your Lord, All Supreme. ―Al-Waqi'ah
The Sufis emphasized this doctrine of certainty with the following quote:
Knowledge does not come about except by the prior fulfillment of its conditions. That is, one must examine things in a pertinent and relevant way. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Meaning, to meditate, to experiment and verify, to test it, to not either believe it or disbelieve it, but to be neutral and to work with these exercises and to see the results and to know for ourselves what is true, what is not.
Then, when hints of the divine become continuous and clear, demonstrative evidence has been obtained, the perceiver, through the succession of lights and his deep reflection upon them, becomes seemingly independent of the consideration of proof. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Again, these lights are experiences we can have in meditation, or when the body is at rest, the soul enters the dream world. In that state, we can awaken our consciousness and speak face-to-face with the heavenly beings. In that way, there is no intercessor, we simply know, from that state on that Tree of Life, those heavens; we verify the nature of heaven, those qualities, those levels of being.
“It becomes seemingly independent of the consideration of proof," meaning, the more we verify, the less we need to read. Then, we simply know that the truth of the matter and from our conscious experience, or conscious work. Of course, we are Shravakas. We have to study and learn the teachings and the techniques so that we can ascend up those levels of path. What is a real Gnostic, an arif in Arabic? It is somebody who fully manifests God. People in these studies, we could say, are aspirants. We aspire to know the truth and to fulfill it. The Sufis emphasized these qualities in relation to the constitution of someone who really knows God, someone who has fulfilled Ma'rifah and has manifested Haqiqah, the truth. 
The Gnostic is purified of base characteristics and the disasters of his nature. He stands patiently at the door of God and remains secluded in his heart. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
To stand at the door, as we see in this image, is the definition of a dervish, so the Sufi, the whirling dervishes, darvish, are those who stand at the door. In Arabic, it starts with the letter د Dal, or you could say ד Daleth in Hebrew: those who stand at the doorway of knowledge. The mystics of Judaism refer to Ma'rifah as Da'ath, the mystical creative knowledge of Tantra.
He enjoys the good graces of God and corroborates him in all of his states. He has cut off the whims of his own self. He does not permit a thought in his heart that would summon to other than God. He becomes a stranger to the creation and is liberated from the catastrophes of his ego. He is cleansed of attachments and distractions and, in his secret being, is always conversing with God Most High. His every glance returns to God Most High. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This reminds me of a Sufi poem by Mansur Al-Hallaj. He says, “O, my eyes, O, my blinks, my stares,” referring to God, that God sees through him and guides him in his actions. Which is why, I believe it is in the Hadith, the Muslim oral tradition, where prophet Muhammad stated that, “The one who loves Him,” or his God speaking through him, “For the one who loves me, I become his eyes, his ears, his sight, his taste,” and the soul is immersed within that being, beingness.
Therefore, the truth inspires him with the intuition of his secrets, the secrets of the course of His omnipotence. This is why such a person is called Arif, a Gnostic, and his state is called Ma'rifah, direct knowledge. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Conclusion and Practice
We always conclude these lectures with a practice you can engage with to help you to experiment and to verify what we are teaching, and to test it, to know it. In this exercise, continue to practice mindfulness, self-observation. Be aware of your mind, your heart, your body, your three brains: thought, feeling and movement, impulse, instinct, desire. At the end of each day, simply take a comfortable posture. You can sit in the full lotus or half-lotus or in a chair, Western-style, whatever is comfortable to relax the body and to silence the mind. Therefore, go into your consciousness and observe yourself. Do not identify with thought, feeling, impulse, desire, etc.
There is a mantra you can utilize from both the Sufi and even the Chinese tradition, Chinese Buddhist, or Chan tradition (the Japanese equivalent is Zen), a mantra that is called simply W-U, Wu. Amongst the Chan Buddhists or even the Zen Buddhists, they refer to this mantra as a negation of self. It literally means “no.” When you are examining your mind, you could do this mantra, the mantra Wu. It pronounced like a long exhalation of a breath: wwuuuuuuu. The Sufis pronounce this mantra as هُوَ Hu, within the name اللّٰهُ Allahu. هُوَ Hu is spirit, the wind, pronounced as an exhalation or breath. It simply means "He," a reference to our innermost divinity. It's also interesting that etymologically, اللّٰهُ Allah means, "The No," or negation of all existent and created things, being the supreme being, since اللّٰهُ Allahu has the same meaning as the mantra Wu, or "No." The Master Samael Aun Weor explains, it is a hurricane, a breath. Again, it reminds us of the Ruach, the spirit, the wind. You pronounce that mantra. Relax your body. You can do this for 30 minutes, an hour. Let your body relax. Then, eventually, let your body fall asleep. You can pronounce the mantra silently and then mentally. When you examine your mind, look at the different qualities that emerge, memories, preoccupations, fears, etc., and simply negate them. Meaning, “Well, this is not my God. This is not my Being. This is not my true Self. Therefore, I am going to tranquilly ignore it.” Let it pass with the mind of intellect. Observe it. Let it go. Continue in the mantra: wwuuuuu.
In the writings of Samuel Aun Weor, he talks about this mantra in more detail, but a very simple way that you can silence the mind. When the mind is completely in silence and serenity, the soul escapes from the bottle and you temporarily experience the Truth, Haqq, your Being. Then, He can give you the guidance that you need for whatever issues or struggles you have.
Questions and Answers
Question: You were saying that we always need to be pretty much aware of what we are aware of.
Instructor: Yes. Question: Meditation is a big step in that focus? Instructor: We say that meditation is the daily bread of the Gnostic. “Give us this day, our daily bread.” That bread of knowledge is what we receive in meditation. That knowledge that we receive from the divinity within us is Kabel, Kabbalah. We will receive it within our qalb, our heart. This practice of this mantra, Wu, is a preliminary step. We do mantras and sacred sounds to work with positive energy, to accumulate those forces in our interior in order to develop serenity. When the mind is perfectly in serenity, we forget our body, forget our mind, forget our sentiment. Then, the soul can reflect the divine qualities from above, in much the same way that a lake, when it is undisturbed, can reflect the stars of heaven, far away from any city. Meditation is how we cultivate that knowledge. It begins first, observing ourselves. In daily life, we observe our mind, our heart, et cetera. Then, in that way, as the Sufis mentioned and we have mentioned in this lecture, "It is by developing awareness that God can exalt us in our daily life, in our daily deeds." Of course, meditation deepens that awareness. Question: I always think of praying is we are talking to God, and meditation is we are listening. Instructor: Meditation is listening. Also, when we pray, too, we do not need any formula. We can use many formulas such as the Ave Maria or Pater Noster, the Fatihah, the Opening of the Qur’an, which are very excellent for lifting our mood. I recommend that when you begin any meditation session, pray. You do not need to follow any specific formula. Just as a child approaches his mother, “Mother of mine, father of mine, help me.” God will respond if your mind is silent. Pray in the beginning and then silence your mind and then receive that knowledge. To pray is to strive, to conquer ourselves. Question: It is just talking to God. It is just talking, right? Instructor: When the mind is perfectly silent, then we can talk to God even in a deeper level. When the physical body is asleep, the soul escapes its shell and we can enter into the higher dimensions. Then, we can talk face-to-face. Then, we can conversate just as we are conversating here. Very vivid and real experience, God will make a form or image to teach us something. Question: What is the context you used ‘hermetically sealed’? Instructor: From the hermetic tradition. Question: I only know the everyday meaning of that. Instructor: Well, the science of hermeticism is the science of Hermes, which relates to the God Mercury. Hermes is associated with how we use our energy. We say Mercury to refer to, not just the physical element, but to our creative energy. The power of Yesod, the moon, that sexual force is Mercury. How we use it is how we illuminate our mind. Mercury relates to the mind as well. When we work with that power, we can illuminate our mind. Hermetically sealed means we do not lose any energy. We discussed previously, in Tantrism, the couple should not reach the orgasm, specifically, that it is forbidden for those students to have any emission. The Dalai Lama states that the creative energy must never be let out. Likewise, with our heart. Likewise, with our mind. It is the renunciation of that habit, in which we conserve energy and transmute it, transform it. Where, we continually are filled with that water of life, which is the seminal matter, specifically. Hermetically sealed means, do not waste your sexual energy, but also, do not waste your emotional energy and your mental energy. Your quality of the mind is determined by how we use that creative power. You look at people in the world today in relation to pornography or sexual addiction; that is all they think about, because, they are driven by that energy. We need to learn how to sublimate it, to direct it to more creative and spiritual purposes, which again, elevates our level of being, as we are discussing. Question: Is there any Quranic interpretation that you would trust? I tried three of them years ago. You do not know which one to trust, because you cannot read Arabic, and you are reading somebody else's thought form. Do you know of any that are good? Instructor: I know some English translations which are commended. Saudi Arabia commends the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation. There is also a newer one, from more Western academia, which I believe is called “The Study Quran.” It is an English translation of course, but the good thing is that they explain some of the original Arabic, transliterated. That is very useful for people who only speak English and do not read Arabic to interpret certain words, such as some of the words we were using, refer to some of those resources. Very useful. Question: Getting back to as you think, feel, and act, what is, as far as being in unison with all of it, does that have anything to do with it? I mean, how do you help others with that, with people? It seems there seems to be, what I have researched, is the cremation of care which is, no one really cares, hence skull and bones. Another Speaker / Comment: Think of it like when you put two pianos together. You play a note on one piano that's side-by-side, the other one will pick up that note, will respond. Question: It is like the 99 monkey syndrome, or the hundred monkey syndrome? Instructor: I'm not sure. Question: That just by being yourself, you just rub that off on others. Instructor: If you have a higher level of being, it can help another person to rise to a higher level of being. Because, if you are vibrating with negative qualities, such as anger, you speak angry words, you are going to provoke anger in that person. Someone who has no training, they are just going to react. Question: Isn't anger part of our dynamic though, the sadness, happiness, anger? Instructor: Wrath or anger is an ego, a defect. Question: No. No. Are we supposed to get, with all the atrocities and slavery, war, etc.? Another Speaker / Comment: Yeah. Well, there is indignation. Yeah. That is the soul that says, "This is terrible." That is a justified sentiment. Remember in the book of Judges, judgment, in which God judges humanity, not out of hate but out of realization that people are corrupt. Question: Jesus was angry at the bankers. Instructor: He was very radical. People think of him as this very emasculated, sexless figure with no will. He is the whip of willpower to drive out those moneychangers, which is the symbol of all the egos we have who have taken the temple of God in us and prostituted it. He comes in with the whip. Christ, our inner Christ, rejects them. Just as Muhammad said, “Kill the unbelievers.” Kill your ego, but it does not mean kill anyone outside your religion. The thing is, when Muhammad came to Mecca, after taking over the city, he went inside the Kaaba and took all the idols that were there and knocked them over and destroyed them, as a symbol. He is representing how in our own physiology, our energies, our mind, our psyche, we have to take all of those egotistical elements and remove them. Question: From the Gnostic teachings, are you familiar with John Lash? Instructor: No. Question: Okay. He says that Jesus was a demigod. Instructor: Well, in Gnostic and Buddhist terms, a demigod is a Bodhisattva, a master who is the essence of Bodhi. Sattva means essence or incarnation. Bodhi means wisdom or light. Wisdom in Hebraic Kabbalah is Christ. He was the incarnation of the Lord. Just as Muhammad was an incarnation of the truth, the Lord. Moses, Buddha, they all incarnated that light which the Christians called Christ. The human person, Jesus of Nazareth was a Bodhisattva, a great master. He is very diligent and he is helping humanity today, although, anonymously, because, you see what they did to him. But he is very active. Any Bodhisattva is someone who works selflessly. He is a being with divinity fully illuminated within him, like Mansur Al-Hallaj. He said, “Ana al-haqq. I am the Truth.” Those beings are very hard to comprehend at our level. If you awaken in the internal planes, in the dream world, the heavens, you can talk to him face-to-face. Personally, I know Jesus. I talk with him. I invoked him in the astral plane, and he has given me certain teachings that have helped me. He is a being that is very hard to comprehend. We say he is the head of the Gnostic Church. He governs countless trillions of souls. He has omnipotence, omniscience. He can help many people in many places at once without any confusion. That is the symbol in Buddhist doctrine of Avalokitesvara, the god with the thousand hands: that is Christ. All that light is everywhere and nowhere, or you could say, is not limited to any place. A Bodhisattva is a being that incarnated that. He is a demigod, part God, because he has incarnated the God but still, he is human soul. He is Tiphereth, the physical person. Question: Personally, how are you gauging what is going on right now in this third dimensional reality that we're living in? In terms of what is going on in the world. Instructor: Well, humanity has precipitated itself on the path of destruction. It is very bleak. We are giving these lectures and teachings to help save the hat from the drowning man. Because, as the Qur’an teaches, humanity is going to be judged, has already been judged in 1950, I believe. Samael Aun Weor says that the Elohim, the gods, judged humanity and said humanity is worthless. It is really devoid of value. Therefore, since people no longer want to change individually, then the rest of humanity has to get cleansed. There is a big cleansing that is going to happen. When religion talks about hell, it is really just taking those souls that do not want to change, and nature does that for them, purifies them in the center of the earth, in the internal dimensions. When they physically die, the soul goes to those regions to be purified of those ailments, those shells. That is like a recycling plant. They will be cleaned at the end, but it is a very painful process. I do not recommend it. Question: What about the Elohim, the lowercase gods? Instructor: Well, we say Elohim, are masters, or any being that has fully perfected him or herself, is an angel. That is an Elohim. Question: Really? Even Lucifer? Instructor: Lucifer is a symbol of a quality or an aspect of our divinity, a very controversial one too. Luci Ferros, the bearer of light. Again, that light is Bodhi, Christ, but it is the shadow. It is that element of Christ that enters into imperfection in order to tempt us. He is the tempter. He gives us ordeals in life for us to conquer them, not to fail, but to conquer them. Therefore, he gives us hardships so that we can psychologically train ourselves. Of course, since the writing of Paradise Lost by John Milton, people took this term, Lucifer, and totally misconstrued it. Question: Well, there is Lucifer and there is darkness, just like light in Catholicism. Instructor: Well, yeah. We say that, that energy, when it is impure is the blackened Kaaba: impure soul, impure energy. When it is purified, that Lucifer shines as light. He is a ladder to ascend or descend. He is that creative energy itself, the sexual power. He is the power of the Holy Ghost, you could say, the sexual energy we have been discussing, Kundalini. That energy can either liberate you or, if it is channeled through the ego, destroy you. People who use that energy in a negative way, obviously, create harm. You see humanity today, people are perpetuating their suffering because they are addicted to negative habits. Question: Getting back to the negative habits, whether it is the sexual thing or drinking or whatever your past karma is, what is the best way to get rid of that karma? Instructor: We have three steps in terms of psychological work: discovery, judgment, execution. The book Revolutionary Psychology explains that very well. You can also read The Great Rebellion. It builds off of that. First, we have to discover our defects. Then, we have the judge them in the meditation after. Question: All 2,000 of them? Instructor: Well, there are a lot of egos obviously. You look at the Bible, how Saul destroyed his thousand, and then David killed his 10,000. Levels of a master that, first, in the beginning, kill a thousand egos, this is a symbol of a lot of egos, not a literal number. Obviously, if you have annihilated that many, you would be pretty pure. To be at a higher level, of course, eliminate 10,000. Ten refers to those 10 spheres of the Tree of Life. Meaning, you are purified in all those levels. Of course, we have to start where we are at. Of course, the thing is not to get discouraged, because the reason why we have this teaching or any esoteric scripture is that there is a lot of hope. For those who want to change will change. For those who do not, they will not. You look at how the Qur’an talks about how people, when they are presented with the truth and the knowledge, they just rejected it, like Jesus, Buddha, etc. Christ was assassinated. Buddha was supposedly poisoned. Socrates was given hemlock. He did not want to be exiled from Athens. Many masters were persecuted. It does not surprise me that people do not like this knowledge. Obviously, we do not have many crowds. Those who want to change will change and will be benefited by the divine. God really helps those who help themselves. First, work on your ego. Eliminate fear, anger, pride, all those conditions of mind. You will see, little by little; you will have experiences in the internal planes, where they are guiding you and they talk to you face-to-face about your work. They can help you. I have had that for a long time. 
(The awakening of Psyche, the soul, by Cupid / Eros: the creative sexual power of divine love)
It is good, for the purpose of our studies, to discuss the nature of divine love and its practicality, its need, its importance. Simply look at the world today, at the news, and you find acts of destruction that are unprecedented, crimes that are beyond comprehension. The world is in a state of calamity that precedes a much greater state of global crisis, of which the prophets of all religions have warned against.
It is through the recognition of suffering that the student of genuine religion seeks to understand how to change oneself. If we do not change our negative interior psychological states, we cannot hope to produce the changes that we seek among other sentient beings. It is precisely through overcoming the afflictions of our own mind, its conditioning, that we can learn to transmit the light of the divine, which is within us. The thing to remember and comprehend is the nature of the self. The real self, the Being, does not pertain to any individual, any person. The Being, the self, is not our fears, our anxieties that cause so much distress and confusion; neither is the Being our self-esteem, our pride and vanities that fluctuate and change like the wind. Our education, titles, diplomas, which we wield as intellectual arsenal to substantiate and defend our pride, does not constitute our true self either; our book knowledge really accounts for nothing when confronting the fundamental problem of psychological and spiritual transformation. The Being is universal, cosmic. There is no individuality there, in the sense of “me,” “myself,” “I.” Within the Being is the supraconscious understanding of all things in the eternal present, beyond the projections of our worries, fears, preoccupations, ambitions, and terrestrial baggage. By learning to access the divine potential and presence of divinity, known in Arabic as hudur, we awaken to our genuine self-awareness, muhadarah. By learning to pay attention, here and now, we discover the very obstacles to our own development. Through recognizing the conditions and faults of our mind, we learn to become truly transformative in a very practical sense. In this awareness, we do not simply wish for a better state of humanity, but actualize it, here and now, for the betterment of others. This is something we can practically manage, and see its results. Therefore, this work is not something ambiguous, not vague; it is not suppositional. It is concrete, factual. For as Samael Aun Weor wrote: Gnosis is lived upon facts, withers away in abstractions, and is difficult to find even in the noblest of thoughts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
Through this work, we can see the clear effect of our actions upon others within our daily life, either to our benefit or detriment. There is no need to believe in spirituality, some vain utopia that someday things will get better. Instead, we learn to produce positive results for the happiness of others, serving divinity in every thought, word, and deed.
As we are going to explain in this lecture on divine love, faith is conscious knowledge. It is experience born from energy and action. It is what we know. To believe in something is really useless. To not believe in something is also useless. To invest our mental or emotional energy into a concept does not change the daily reality of our suffering; it does not help us to acquire cognizance of the purpose of life. We may really believe in Jesus, Buddha, or Muhammad with our hearts, yet we continue to feed anger, resentment, and all the degenerate qualities of the psyche that cause harm. We use the very energy that can give birth to the soul for our defects. To believe or not believe in a tradition, guru, or sheikh, is mistaken, because it does not address how to consciously control the energies that can awaken our perception, so that we do not need to believe, but can seriously know. We must learn not to wash our hands in justification, as Pilate allowed Jesus to be crucified, whereby he stated, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.” All of us have Pilate inside, washing our hands clean of culpability, while in truth we allow our most destructive habits to crucify divinity within our hearts. It is also not in believing in some prophet or deity that we will be saved. As the Apostle James taught, “Faith without works is dead.” Believing in Prophet Muhammad, with our intellect or heart, as a concept or emotional quality, will not redeem the soul, the consciousness. To have genuine faith in a tradition is to know from experience the principles it contains. So, if we have consciousness of what Muhammad taught, what the prophets taught, and if we practice their teachings, we will develop the consciousness thoroughly. But belief is another thing; to think something is true or not is irrelevant. Attending a church, mosque, or synagogue does not make one spiritual. Having direct experience of divinity does. Being part of a physical group is insufficient for objective self-knowledge. We need practical and transformative knowledge applied to daily living. But not only that, we need to apply what we learn. Therefore, the tradition we study here is filled with innumerable practices geared to awaken the consciousness. But if we just read the knowledge and don’t apply it, we won’t have real faith. We will be stuck in belief. 
The Definition of Divine Love
Many people toss the term “divine love” around in so-called spiritual circles, and have many concepts about it. All of this is very sentimental, like hallmark cards. Many people have a lot of ideas about what love is, and can write very beautifully and convincingly about it. Yet if we go very deep within meditation and awaken our consciousness within the superior worlds of nature, which we access when we dream, we will find that people write about love in accordance with their psychological conditioning, self-esteem, fears, and insecurities.
Genuine love is selfless. There is no ego, no “I” present. Love only gives of itself for others, without any concern for how one appears, one’s self-image. This is essential in our study of self-knowledge, as especially presented within Sufism, because it is the universal sense of Being, wujud, that connects us with all beings. This is most important within the perfect matrimony, the sexual union of two beings, one who loves more and the other who loves better; sexuality is the full manifestation, inspiration, and expression of Allah, divinity. Sexual union is the science of Alchemy: Allah-Khemia, the chemistry of God. In love, there is no concept or reasoning. Love simply is. A true marriage, before divinity, therefore, is between husband and wife, when man and woman sexually unite. Paperwork means nothing. In most cases marriage papers constitute legalized prostitution and have nothing to do with love. Marriage exists when a man unites with a woman in sex; this is a literal, psychic, and spiritual communion of souls. The Sufis poets have always utilized sexual and erotic language to describe the soul’s unification with the divine. Yet few people realize that this language is also literal; that when husband and wife connect sexually, they become a terrifically divine being, capable of creating life. If the couple knows how to conserve that sexual energy and not expel it, they remain in Eden, a Hebrew word for bliss. Their love remains intact, pure, and chaste. If the couple is sensual, carnal, and animalistic, they will be kicked out of paradise. As Christ spoke through the mouth of Jesus, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Only divinity can say this word, “I Am.” But when a married couple unites out of selflessness, compassion, and true remembrance of divinity, then the Being, Allah, is fully manifested there. Mansur Al-Hallaj, the great Sufi master, once stated, “An al-Haqq!” or “I am the truth!” in Arabic. This got him in trouble with the orthodox authorities, who were scandalized that a terrestrial person would refer to himself with one of the sacred names of Allah. It is the equivalent of saying, “I am God!” Jesus said the same thing and was thereafter crucified. What occurred in both cases was that divinity, whether named Jehovah, Christ or Allah, manifested within those initiates. Both Jesus and Al-Hallaj became vehicles of divine love and being, and had reached the heights of mastery through working in the perfect matrimony, in the science of Alchemy. Through sexual union, Jesus and Mansur could develop their complete divine potential. Sadly, Mansur was tortured and executed. However, like Jesus, he was completely free of ego and conditioning before his physical death, which is why his poetry and light were intense during his final hours. Only the Being can say, “I Am.” The Being is divine love, the intelligence of all creation, of all the cosmos. But we can become vehicles of Allah when working in Alchemy, the chemistry of God, which is the perfect matrimony. This is how we can fortify compassion and eliminate many defects from our nature, so that our consciousness irradiates with selflessness and abundance. The Sufi-Christian mystic poet known as Kahlil Gibran spoke beautifully about the sexual nature of divine love in his book The Prophet. Even the name of this poet deserves reflection, since Hillel in Hebrew means “Praised or Glorified One,” a reference to the star of dawn, Lucifer, the sexual potency. Gibran reminds us of the Rune Gibur, the swastika or cross in motion, emblem of sexual alchemy, whereby the energies of sex inflame and illuminate the chakras of the body, causing them to spin as the swastika in movement. The cross is also a sexual symbol representing the vertical phallus and the horizontal uterus. This forms Gibur, the strength and chastity of God, known as Aun in Hebrew: Gibur-Aun, Gibran. The following quotation is from the chapter “On Love.” I will provide some comments in between the lines to provide understanding, since this poet is a great Kabbalist and psychologist of the Sufi tradition. Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of (Conscious) Love."
To obtain the supreme heights of initiation, we must work in a matrimony, which is the path of sacrifice, the cross. This is how our inner spirit, Gedulah, the Innermost, receives powers, and riches, and glories, through the work of His human soul or bodhisattva.
A true matrimony is one born of selflessness. There is no desire that says, “I want,” “I crave,” “I need.” Love does not demand ultimatums of the other. Conscious love only knows how to provide for the beloved, and is willing to provide even the last drop of his or her blood for one’s partner. This is the type of consciousness between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Rama and Krishna, Muhammad and A’isha, and other sacred matrimonies. So if we’re married, we aspire to those heights of spirituality, because most of us are selfish. Yet through training this can change. It is easily obtainable when there is some degree of love and comprehension between the couple, since love grows the more it is nourished and fed, and the more our animal ego, desires, and conditions are annihilated. The Trainings of Sufism
So, we previously discussed the demarcations of instruction as given within religious traditions, specifically within Sufism. Religion can be divided into three classes or categories of instruction and practice, whether introductory, intermediate, or advanced, otherwise classified as exoteric, mesoteric, and esoteric.
The Sufis denominate the first level of teaching as Shariah, which in spiritual studies does not pertain to the punitive or repressive laws of Muslim countries, but pertains to our conscious psychological discipline that we engage with to curtail negative thinking, negative feeling, and negative action. Likewise we talked about Tariqah, the intermediate or mesoteric aspect of religion. Tariqah simply means “path.” It is the way that follow and practice, a path that winds from oasis to oasis within the desert of our life, the wasteland of initiation. It is our practical work that we fulfill day by day, moment by moment, for the benefit of others. Marifah means knowledge, and is the Arabic word for gnosis. We also have Haqiqah, which is the truth. Marifah and Haqiqah can be described as two aspects of the same dynamic, since for the truth to be realized, we must have knowledge, expedient methods for transforming the psyche, and to have knowledge, we must comprehend and realize. Buddhism divides these three categories as the Shravakayana, Mahayana, and Tantrayana, the introductory, greater, and supreme vehicles. Shravakas are those who listen to the spiritual teachings for the first time. Such persons practice spirituality for their own well-being. But with the Mahayana, or greater vehicle, one works less for oneself and more for others. In Tantrayana, one works solely for all sentient beings. The same in the Sufi model. In Shariah, the practitioners work to stop their own suffering and to cease causing harm because such actions produce harm within them. In the path of Tariqah, that of divine love, we work on ourselves for the benefit of others. We can then say that the last two degrees or trainings of Sufism, Marifah (knowledge) and Haqiqah (Truth) are combined as one and constitute the highest aspect of any teaching, the most expedient methods of transformation, and also the highest levels of understanding and knowledge. So these trainings entail their own forms of discipline, in varying degrees. Shariah is ethical discipline, mind training, whereby we comprehend and eliminate defects so that we don’t harm ourselves. We are taught to not lie, to not steal, to not commit fornication and adultery, to not ingest intoxicants or drugs, alcohol, etc. We avoid taking in elements that are contrary to our spiritual work. We clean the temple of our body, heart, and mind so that the Being can officiate. We learn not to kill, not only physically, but with speech. When we speak sarcastically and humiliate our neighbor, we make blood rush to his face. This is a form of bloodshed and killing, whereby we are killing a person’s self-image. This is wrong. All religions teach us against negative behaviors of this type. As Prophet Muhammad taught: The strongest among you is he who controls his anger. ―Hadith
Each religion has its own set of commandments that it gives. Again, these laws are not punitive: “Do this or be punished!” That is something very superficial and does not produce real development in the soul. Following external laws is one thing, but being a law unto oneself is another.
This does not indicate that we can do whatever we want, but that we follow the internal law of divinity, which is harmony, peace, and health. We simply depend on no one to do this work, only the Being. This training is known as ethics. Ethics is different from morality. What is moral in one country is immoral in another. Simply look at the differences between North America and the Middle East. Ethics is knowing how to act appropriately for the benefit of others in any circumstance. Compassion is within all religions, all ethical disciplines, especially Islam. The punishments for adulterers and fornicators in Surah Al-Nur, “Surah of the Light” within the Qur’an, for example, is a symbol of how to work against the ego. Flagellation and the removal of thieves’ hands is a representation of what we must do to our ego, for as Jesus taught, “If your left eye offend you, pluck it out, lest your whole body be dragged into hell.” By denying our ego, by waging a holy war against our desires, defects, vices, etc., we generate light. Scripture is written in symbolic language for the consciousness. If people take these punishments literally and physically harm others, this is something else and different. The Qur’an has many allegorical verses which we need Kabbalah, alchemy, and intuition to understand, as indicated in the following Surah al-Imran, verse 7: It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] literal―they are the foundation of the Book―and others allegorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is literal, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah. But those firm in knowledge (Marifah, alchemy and Kabbalah) say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding (Binah, Intelligence in Kabbalah). ―Qur'an 3:7
The other two degrees of these trainings are based on Shariah, the law, and mutually support each other. If one has no ethical discipline, one cannot follow the path, Tariqah, and achieve understanding and knowledge (Marifah) of the truth (Haqiqah). All three trainings integrate and constitute three aspects of one whole. However, the path is presented in these degrees due to the capabilities, dispositions, and needs of their practitioners.
Marifah is sexual knowledge, alchemy, known as Tantra in the east, the principle of Tantrayana. A matrimony is not only the basis of physical life, but spiritual life as well. When we work in a marriage we can harness the most potent energies of the universe for the development and awakening of the consciousness. The Sufis use erotic language to describe union with God, whereby the soul is lost in the ocean of love. When a couple is sexually united, husband and wife lose their identities and become lost within the ocean of the creative sexual energy. There is no “me,” “myself,” within two practitioners of sexual magic who deny their egos, who learn to annihilate egotistical desire (through fana in Arabic) to be, to subsist (through baqa in Arabic) within the creator (Al-Khaaliq). Who is it that creates in us? The sexual energy, the power of divinity. But how we create depends upon whether we follow divine love and will or our own egotism and desires. While the Sufis used clear, erotic language to describe the path of alchemy, many people do not realize that this love is also physical, literal. Divine love is manifested through husband and wife in sexual cooperation, in sexual magic or Alchemy. This is the power of Baqarah, the sacred cow, a symbol of the Divine Mother in Hinduism. She is the serpentine power of Kundalini that the tantric practitioners work with. Therefore, with great respect and veneration, Muhammad became the vehicle for transmitting the second surah of the Qur’an, “The Cow,” or “Heifer,” the longest Surah of the Qur’an. The Qur’an means “The Recitation,” the mantralization of the sacred verb. The power of speech esoterically refers to the power of the bull or cow. When couples pronounce mantras in sexual union, they are learning to unite with divinity completely, to remove the conditioning of the psyche and the mind to liberate soul from conditioning, through the power of love. To understand the trainings of Sufism, we can refer to the Sufi master Ibn ‘Arabi. He explained that in the path of Shariah, “Yours is yours and mine is mine.” That which belongs to you is yours. That which belongs to me is mine. There is a sense of separation whereby we are working individually for our own spiritual benefit and goals. In the path of Tariqah, “Mine is yours and yours is mine.” There is a shift of perspective, whereby we focus on the spiritual community and the benefit of others. There is a degree of selflessness and compassion present whereby we can help one another in a genuine sense, without major interferences from our egos, nafs, or defects. Regarding Marifah, knowledge, Ibn ‘Arabi states that “Nothing belongs to you or me.” In truth, we don’t own anything. All abundance belongs to divinity. Regarding Haqiqah, the truth, Ibn ‘Arabi stated, “There is no you or me.” Meaning: there is only God, divinity, the Being, Allah. Remember when we said earlier that “Wherever your sense of self is, that is hell. Wherever you aren’t, that is heaven.” There is no egotism, self, or sense of “I” within the Being, as we presently know in ourselves. The Being is as different and incompatible to the mind as oil is to water. Divinity, the real Being, is the Absolute Abstract Space, the emptiness of enlightened cognizance, the pure light of Adi-Buddha, Ain Soph Aur in Kabbalah, which to our present sight is darkness, but for the self-realized masters is the uncreated light of the unknowable divine. This divinity is selfless, but constitutes the true universal individuality, or better said, supra-individuality of any master who learns to incarnate and develop that force in themselves, so that there is no self, only the truth, al-Haqq, as proclaimed through Mansur Al-Hallaj. Divinity is one and absolute, as proclaimed through the Muslim Shahidah or testimony of faith: “There is no god but God.” Anyone who wants to comprehend divinity must fulfill the three trainings. Again, these are not something rigid and dogmatic. These are practical steps. We must begin where we are at, with Shariah, ethical discipline, since we have a lot of selfishness and desires that keep us from knowing divinity. As we develop light, we can then provide that light of compassion for others in the path of Tariqah. By serving others completely, we follow Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, on the path of Marifah and Haqiqah, knowledge and truth. In Shariah, we serve divinity in ourselves. In Tariqah, we serve divinity in others. In Marifah and Haqiqah, there is only divinity everywhere and within ourselves. There is no “I,” but only the awakened state of consciousness free of conditions. 
The Three Brains
In the path of self-knowledge, we deeply study what in gnosticism is called the three brains. These are three centers of psychological, energetic, spiritual, and physiological activity. The term brain in gnostic studies does not simply pertain to the physical matter within our skull. But a brain, esoterically speaking, is a machine that process certain psychological states, or qualities. It’s a type of mechanism.
We have an intellectual brain, which is where we process thought, mind, concepts, reasoning, ideas, theses and antitheses, and hopefully synthesis. With the emotional brain we process sentiment, like, dislike, feeling, hope, longing, fear, etc. It pertains not only to just those psychological states, but to our heart and its nervous systems. The heart is a very sensitive organ and has intuitive capacities that are unlocked through the science of alchemy. We have a third brain all throughout our spinal column, the brain of action, and which is divided into three principles, dynamics, or qualities. We have the center of movement at the top of the spine, whereby we process all our movements in our body. We have the instinctual center relating to the base of the spine, relating to our impulses, will, actions, desires. The most potent center pertaining to the spinal column is sexual, the sexual center or sexual organs. The sexual energy is the most potent force we carry within our body. The third brain can be therefore synthesized as the motor-instinctive-sexual brain. Why discuss the three brains in relation to Sufism and divine love? Because to love the divine, we must become fully conscious of all these aspects of ourselves, and to give everything to God through renouncing negative habits and psychological states, whether through thought, feeling, or impulse. We can only learn to transform our psyche when we become conscious of our three brains. We become conscious of divinity likewise through the management of these parts of our body and psyche. The three brains are a machine, a car that we must learn to handle and drive, if we want to safely arrive at our spiritual destination. Dreams of driving a car can symbolize how we use the mind, heart, and body appropriately or inappropriately. See how you drive in your dreams to know how you are doing! Jesus taught us about the three brains in the gospels when a Jewish Pharisee tried to discredit the master before the public: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
The heart is the emotional brain. The soul is willpower, the human consciousness beyond thought, feeling, and bodily sensation. This will must dominate our thinking, feeling, and action. Our human consciousness or willpower is mostly conditioned by nafs, egos. But there remains a free portion of this consciousness, which we call the Essence, that must liberate the conditioned consciousness, as we explained previously.
We also must love God with all our strength, meaning: all our vitality or sexual energy. When we wake in the morning, we are rejuvenated by our vital energies, renewed through the process of physical sleep. This depends upon how we use the sexual force, because if we squander this energy, we will become weak, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Sexual energy gives us life. This is easy to see physically. The physical birth of a child is contingent upon the union of man and woman. By using the virile force, the sexual energy, husband and wife can create a human being. Likewise, the spiritual human being can be created in us through that same energy. We would not be here if it weren’t for the creative force, the power of the Holy Spirit as denominated by the Christians. It’s interesting that the root word for virility is virya, warrior, someone who is spiritually and physically strong. Likewise, virtue is born from virility. How we use our sexual, emotional, mental, volitional, and conscious energy can grant us union with divinity, if we know how. Therefore the gospel states, “Love thy God with all thy strength.” By conquering the sexual force, we become virya, warriors, mujahidin, strivers in spiritual warfare as taught within the Muslim tradition. This is a war against the ego and desire, against our nafs, defects. Through transforming the sexual energy within us and giving it to divinity, we acquire divine virtues and develop self-knowledge.
Faith and the Solar Force
By working with the sexual energy, we develop genuine faith, since this energy awakens consciousness and gives us direct knowledge of the mysteries of life and death. This is the science of transmutation, from the prefix trans, “to carry over, transport,” and mutation, mutate, “to change dense material forms into energy,” into spiritual force. Transmutation is the alchemical science of transforming our conditioned psyche into liberated consciousness, by transmuting the seminal matter or waters into cognizance and light.
We’ve included in this image the famous symbol of Islam, which is the crescent moon and the star of Venus, the star of love. We have juxtaposed with this image the Assumption of Mary, who is standing on a moon with her head crowned with twelve stars. The power of the warrior, the virya, born from one’s virility, is in itself symbolized by the crescent moon. In Kabbalah, the moon relates to the sphere of Yesod, the second sphere from the bottom of the Tree of Life. Yesod means “Foundation” and is constituted by our sexual energy. It is the foundation of spiritual life. The Tree of Life is literally our spine, and Yesod is the sexual organs, since without our spine we would be invalids, incapable of functioning in life in a complete sense and not without special assistance. We can likewise transpose the image of the Tree of Life on a human being, where the first trinity relates to the head, the second trinity to the heart, and the lower trinity to the sexual organs and thighs of the human being. This diagram relates to the three brains in many interesting ways. With the moon, we think of lunar cycles, mechanicity, and forces in nature, as well as repetition. The moon is also a symbol of the mechanicity of the mind, the ego, the nafs. Our psyche is a moon, meaning: our habits are very ingrained. Whether we like to smoke or drink, to engage with specific types of conversations or discussions, we are habituated and fixed on certain behaviors due to the sleep of our consciousness. These habits and ways of being, some harmful, some not, constitute the conditioning of our psyche. They are mechanical and lunar, not belonging to the physical moon, but to our egotistical psychology. The mind is a moon; it only knows how to engage with its own conditions and desires. But of course, in this image we have something very beautiful. The star of Venus above the crescent moon relates to love. Venus is the goddess Freia amongst the Nordics, which is where we get the word “Friday,” the holiest day of the week for Muslims. Likewise. sundown for Jews who celebrate the Sabbath, or Saturn-Day, Saturday. This Freia, this Venus-Aphrodite, this goddess of love is the Hindu goddess Kundalini. She is the Divine Mother, the feminine aspect of our inner divinity. As we mentioned the Hebrew word Elohim, El is masculine, God; Eloah is feminine, Goddess; and Elohim, with Iod and Mem added to the end of Eloah, is Gods and Goddesses: Jehovah, or Jah-Chavah. Jah is the Divine Father. Chavah is the Divine Mother. The Divine Mother is essential for our spiritual work, whom we must comprehend and experience very deeply to achieve self-knowledge. She is the power that can help free us from our defects. She destroys our defects after we have comprehended them completely in meditation. She liberates the soul from conditioning through wielding the powers of the moon, the sexual energy. She is the sacred heifer, the Cow, Al-Baqarah, immortalized through the longest Surah of the Qur’an. Surah Al-Baqarah relates how the leg of the heifer has the power of resuscitating the dead to bring them to life. This is highly symbolic, of course. She also transforms the moon of our mind into the sun of understanding. She is Mary, Miriam in Hebrew, which literally means “to raise.” She raises us from spiritual death into the heights of spirituality. She is the energies that rise from the moon of our body, the sexual organs of Yesod, up the spine to the brain to produce the halo of the saints. In sacred art, we often see the prophets and saints with halos like the sun, because they’ve transformed the lunar energies of sex into the solar energies of the Christ force, to saturate their minds completely with that power. This is the Kundalini of Hindustan. The illumination of the mind relates to the mysteries of Halloween, Hallowed Evening. For this holiday, we take the pumpkin gourd mentioned in the Book of Jonah, clean out the muck, the guts and filthiness of the gourd itself. This represents how we must purify the filthiness of the mind. This is to place a candle, the light of understanding, inside that mind to illuminate it. This is how our evening, our darkness, is hallowed and enlightened. But first you must go through all the visitors at the doorstep, dressed as ghouls and goblins, our own defects or nafs, who ask us, “Trick or treat?” In reality, you don’t want to be tricked by your own mind, but to treat yourself to the divine mysteries. Miriam is the one who cleans our mind, our gourd. She is the one who gives us faith, and faith is a solar force. This solar force is born from our seminal waters, the waters of sex, the sexual matter, from which the energies rise within the spine to our mind. The Hebrew word for water is מַיִם Mayim, relating to מרים Miriam, since if you add the letter R, ר Rosh in Hebrew, to Mayim, you spell Miriam. The word believer in Islam is al-mumin. The plural form is al-muminin. The resemblance of this term to מַיִם mayim, water, is striking, since a true believer works with the power of Yesod, the seminal waters. This is how we generate faith. Faith is a force that guides us when we work with Miriam, our Divine Mother, to transform the moon into a sun. To be a true Muslim or believer is to be through the power of love, to be through lieve, love, the libido. You see this hidden in the symbol on top of every mosque. Very cryptic, but clear when you know alchemy and kabbalah. We must be through the power of love, to be conscious to transform all our mechanicity into love, into consciousness. All conditionality must be transmuted into liberated consciousness; everything must be performed and given to divinity. This is how we awaken and know divinity for ourselves, developing conscious knowledge, real faith. The term belief, as it is used now, has no meaning or purpose in esoterism. To think or feel something is true does not signify consciousness of that given thing. Therefore, we like to use the term faith in this tradition to be clear about our meaning, which is energy and will applied to action. Here we think a note upon faith should be of interest. Initiates say that its meaning has been misunderstood. Faith, as the world uses it, possesses no spiritual nature; though in the secondary system [the work with sexual energy] it means power and energy applied to action. All success in Yoga [religion] comes from this application; for the true quality of faith is a Solar force that illumines the mind and attracts to it atoms of power and energy. More human wrecks have resulted from the misconception of this quality than man realizes. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
People just sit on their couch and think that by believing in divinity, everything will be fine. One must learn to be conscious through the libido, the creative power of Yesod, and to apply it consciously. This is how we submit to God (perform Islam, submission).
Jesus provided the parable of the mustard seed, which is small, but has the potential to become a great tree. All that is possible for the fruition or development of a giant tree, a tree of life, is within the seed. Also, we are in a potential state within our sexual seed, the sperm or ovum, to become complete spiritual beings who are not influenced by the moon, by mechanicity. That seed can only develop when masculine and feminine matter are united, when the virile force of man and woman are combined; this will help to generate consciousness and solar faith. The moon can therefore become a sun, a solar entity. 
When Jesus used this word in the sentence, 'If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed,' He meant that one could work miracles if one possessed the atomic energy contained within a mustard seed. But in this world of illusion this is reversed, and the weak man sits still and believes that all will be applied to him if he has faith. It is not a force that should only be applied to religious belief. It is the power of the Innermost [the divine, Allah] working through the densities of our bodies, and the more we respond to it the greater will be our powers. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
All our psychological, emotional, psychic, spiritual, and physical action is generated by the seed, the seminal matter. If we learn to take that force and transform the seed into Christic energy, we can give birth to the purified soul. Sex is the power of religion and divine life. Therefore Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Perfect Matrimony:
It so happens that people think that by belonging to this or that faith, to such and such religion, or to one or another sect, that they are already saved. Naturally, this is false. A seed never germinates because of what a person believes or stops believing. An insect is never born because of what a human being thinks or stops thinking. A man is never born from the parchment of theory. This subject matter is sexual and in this, the Angel is no exception. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony
This is the meaning of the second birth, to be born again as Jesus taught to Nicodemus. We must be born again of water and spirit. People think that one simply gets baptized by physical water and then believes in Jesus and then one is done. He said that “That which is born of flesh,” through the common sexual act, “is flesh.” A physical child is born from the animal orgasm, the sexual act culminating with seminal emission. “But that which is born of spirit,” through the sexual act with seminal retention of the waters, “is spirit.” If the couple knows how to conserve that water, that energy and redirect it, they can give birth to awakened consciousness and eliminate defects. This is how the moon is transformed into a sun.
This is the path of the cross, the vertical phallus joined to the horizontal uterus. It is upon this cross or within this crucible that we can die to our defects, that we can be cleansed by the fire of Christ, the fire of sex, ignited through divine love. When the couple unites, the fire ignites, inflames the mind, the heart, the psyche, and provides the capacity to unite with divinity, to create spiritual life. The Muslims of course use different symbols for their religion, the crescent moon and star of Venus, but the same alchemical meaning is there. Ritual cleansing with water (wudu) is a common preparatory act before performing salaat, (daily prayer). This signifies that the initiate is transmuting their sexual energies to awaken the capacities of the heart. The Symbolism of Water
Water is a prominent symbol in many world cosmogonies, particularly the Book of Genesis, the Bible, and the Qur’an. The creation of the earth and its emergence from the seas of creation, as told in Genesis, is allegorical. It represents the birth of the soul, new vehicles that the soul can inhabit as it rises upon the Tree of Life. Each Sephirah represents a new land that we must conquer, that we must create within ourselves, through alchemy.
The waters symbolize the power to generate, to create. Within us, our capacity to create physical and spiritual life resides in our waters. It is the source of pleasure, redemption, and the elevation of the soul to paradise. As the Qur’an teaches us in Surah al-Waqi'ah, the Inevitable, about the fate of those who transmute their waters: In the Gardens of Pleasure,
Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi was a famous Sufi poet and mystic, a profound kabbalist and alchemist, who taught in his writings the path of yoking the waters through tantra, or Marifah. An example of his initiatic work is the following cryptic postulation:
From the heart of the lovers, blood flows like a vast river. Our body is the windmill, and love, the water. Without water the mill cannot turn. ―Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, Hidden Music 
Marifah or tantrism teaches that when a couple is engaged in sexual union, the different energies or seminal waters of the divine are active in the body. The sexual force then circulates throughout the physicality and psyche as well. There is a profound movement of forces through the chakras or energetic centers of the spinal medulla. The chakras rotate positively like the swastika when the couple is chaste and pure, avoiding animality in the sexual act.
The body has seven main mills, seven main chakras, which are well documented in Hinduism and within Sufism as al-Laṭaʾif as-Sitta, the seven vortexes or centers of spiritual and psychic power. These are the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. These centers of power spin as the couple controls their breathing, their ruh, so that the sexual energy rises within the spine. When breathing is erratic and impassioned during the sexual act, the sexual energy flows outward and results in the orgasm. Remember that if there is no water, the mill cannot turn. If you ejaculate the waters, those chakras or mills cannot spin, but will remain still. Those chakras grant powers and spiritual abilities, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, omniscience, etc., so if they are inactive, then the consciousness lacks force and energy to be awakened. But when the breath is harnessed through sacred mantras and vocal remembrance of Allah in sexual magic, that energy rises inward and upward to the brain and then to the heart. Again, we emphasize that the chakras can only spin when there is water, transmuted sexual energy, within them, to circulate and provide energetic movement. Hence the importance of sexual purity within every religion, especially Sufism. Al-Qushayri also provides an interesting explanation of the esoteric symbolism of water in the path of love in his Risalah: Principles of Sufism: Some say that hub, love, is a name for purity of affection, because the bedouins when speaking of the pure whiteness and regularity of someone’s teeth use the expression habab al-asnan. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Why the purity of teeth? In Kabbalah the mouth signifies Da’ath, Marifah, sexual knowledge. To be pure in speech is to handle the sexual energy wisely, since sex and the throat connect through the spine. Everyone knows that adolescent boys acquire deep voices due to puberty, and likewise adolescent girls develop their voice further due to the maturation of the sexual organs and the development of hormones.
Al-Qushayri continues to explain the nature of divine eroticism and water: Others say that since hubab is a word for the excess water that results from a heavy rain, mahabbah came to mean the heart’s boiling and stirring with the thirst and excitement of meeting the Beloved. Still others say the word is derived from habab al-ma, the greater part of a body of water, because love is the object of most of the heart’s concerns. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism 
Who is the Beloved? It is the Being. Yet a husband finds the Being present in his wife, and vice versa. In Christian terms, every man views his wife as the Divine Mother, Miriam, while every woman views her husband as the Divine Father, Joseph.
Here the waters overflow and saturate the heart when the couple knows how to conserve those forces, raising them from sex to the brain and then to the heart. You can see that the Sufis use a sexual and erotic language for describing union with God, precisely because union with God occurs in the sexual act. Sadly, many people ignore this fact and come up with many superficial interpretations of the Sufi writings that ignore the necessity of sexual magic. And sadly, people only see sexuality as something filthy and disgusting, to be indulged in or repressed, even though sexual magic serves a much more profound function than animal pleasure. As Rumi explained to his disciples regarding alchemy: If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see Allah in it. Those who are not in love with Allah will see only their own faces in it. ―Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
The cup is the holy grail, the feminine sexual organs, within which is filled the waters or manna of the desert, the creative energies that will arouse and satisfy our spiritual thirst.
In relation to this topic, Iranian mythology speaks of the cup of Jamshid, a holy grail filled with a divine elixir that grants the soul the capacity to perceive the seven heavens (the superior dimensions of the Tree of Life, as well as the seven chakras of the spinal medulla). The word Jamshid is an interesting acrostic: Jam signifies a gathering together, which is sexual. For husband and wife to be close to each other signifies intimacy, closeness, a gathering together. The cup or yoni is also the sacred emblem of Christianity in which the solar initiates gather around.
In the past, solar initiates would gather within the temples or mosques to celebrate the path of the Lord through prayer and ritual, which is the general etymological significance of the word "gathering." The word "church" in Greek, Εκκλησία Ekklisía, refers to a gathering place that belongs to divinity, kyriakos, the Lord. A church in esoterism is where the creative energies congregate within the spine, as with the seven churches or fully-developed chakras of the Book of Revelations. There are alchemical meanings hidden within the Arabic language. Shid, pronounced “Sheed” reminds us of Shahid, “witness.” Therefore, Jamshid is the cup of gathering and witnessing, since none can witness or experience divinity without the sacred yoni, without working with the creative waters of life to awaken the powers of the spine and the mind. As Al-Qushayri explains: The expression ‘jam and tafriqah [or farq] is often used by the Sufis. Abu Ali al-Daqqaq used to say, "Separation (farq) is what you are given a share in. Gathering (jam) is what is removed from your power." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
All of us are separated from our Being because of the original sin: lust. All of us fornicated and expelled ourselves from Eden, bliss. This occurred precisely because in the past, we did not respect sexuality or transmutation. Due to our own will, we separated ourselves from divinity.
Gathering is a term used to signify how one approaches divinity through the will of divinity. The disparate parts of the soul, once fractured and conditioned by ego, nafs, become unified and integrated by divine decree. Through comprehending, judging, and annihilating the shells or defects that condition consciousness, the Being achieves tawhid, unity within our psyche. And what higher way exists to reach divinity, according to the Sufis, than the sacrament of sexuality, a marriage, whereby the Being descends and helps us to tame the fires of love? Through the fires of love the egos are annihilated completely. Al-Qushayri explains the alchemical meanings given by his teacher, Al-Daqqaq: His meaning was that whatever pertains to servanthood [submission to divinity in sexual magic] and is attributed to the servant [the alchemist], whatever is linked to the conditions of being human [as a fornicator], is a form of farq, the separation between worshiper and Worshipped [because through the orgasm, we separate ourselves from the Worshipped, the divine]. Whatever proceeds from the Truth [al-Haqq, Haqiqah, the realizations born from Marifah, transmutation]—the generation of spiritual meaning and experience [since every true spiritual experience is born of the Genesiatic waters], the gifts of grace—is a form of gathering [jam], the coming together of worshiper and Worshipped. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Therefore, people who are filled with a lot of sexual passion and animal desire will obviously look at the sexual act, the waters, as something carnal, bestial, as Rumi indicated. They see their own faces in it; they separate themselves more and more from divinity through fornication. Yet if the couple works to eliminate desire, egotism, nafs, from the psyche, to deny, comprehend, and annihilate lust, then the sexual act becomes something pure and holy, through which the Being, the divine, is present. Through scientific chastity, Marifah, the Being gathers us in worship of his presence, hudur, within the flames of love. This is the meaning of the Sufi technical terms awe and intimacy. We will speak about awe now but come back to intimacy in a short while.
The true nature of awe is absence [ghaybah], absence, being carried beyond oneself. [In sexual magic, one is no longer an separate individual, but united in the Being, for man and woman form one terrifically divine Elohim]. Everyone in awe is lost to himself [his animal ego, lusts, and desires]. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Remember the teachings of Proverbs, chapter 1 verse 7:
The fear [awe, Pechad] of Iod-Chavah is the beginning of knowledge [Da’ath, Marifah], but fools [fornicators] despise wisdom and instruction. ―Proverbs 1:7
Awe and fear have the same meaning, to respect the creative sexual energy and never waste it, because to fornicate is to be a fool, to waste the sacred oil of the temple.
There is treasure to be desired and oil [שֶׁמֶן shemen, semen] in the dwelling [body or temple] of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. ―Proverbs 20 :21 
All of this is represented by the lance of Longinus and the holy grail in Christianity. The lance is a symbol of the phallus, the masculine force that pierces our egos and annihilates them in the sexual act after we have achieved profound comprehension of such defects in meditation. Here we see the path of redemption for the soul: the union of husband and wife in the perfect matrimony.
Jesus taught alchemy very clearly in other verses, especially in his teaching the Samaritan woman at the well (a symbol of Yesod: the waters in our earth, Malkuth): 
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this (physical) water shall thirst again:
The waters become a wellspring of eternal life when we conserve them. The water regenerates and provides life continually and therefore helps us to remain young, virile, and strong.
Many people think Jesus was dismissing the woman to go get her husband, as if he was ignoring her, but the answer to her question is clear: call thy husband if you want to learn how to use the waters that will give you eternal spiritual life. Beautiful, no? But cryptic. The Sufis, along with the gospels, explain the bliss of a marriage, although in a Middle Eastern way, through a heightened alchemical, kabbalistic sexual language. Ali ibn Ubayd said, 'Yahya ibn Muadh wrote to Abu Yazid, "I am intoxicated with how much I have drunk from the cup of love." Abu Yazid wrote back to him, "Someone else has drunk the oceans of the heavens and the earth and his thirst is not yet quenched. His tongue is hanging out and he is asking, 'Is there any more?'” ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
It is one thing to have an insatiable sexual desire or lust, animal passion, carnal attachments, it is a completely different thing to develop the genuine bliss and ecstasy of the soul during the same sexual act. Remember that in Hebrew, Eden means “pleasure” or “bliss.” It was the bliss humanity, symbolized by Adam and Eve, once enjoyed. Sex was once practiced in observance and remembrance of Allah, the Being, but when humanity indulged in the orgasm, in sexual desire, they expelled themselves from Eden, that blissful state.
Those who practice alchemy transform the seminal matter, the sexual waters, into conscious love, chastity, purity, light. When practicing alchemy once per day, no more, the couple rejuvenates the body, heart, and mind. In this sense, the soul’s thirst for divinity is not quenched no matter how much one transmutes from the cup of alchemy, the feminine yoni in sexual magic, because these waters constantly generate within our sexual organs. Because we receive the sexual energy anew every day, it is necessary to sublimate it daily. 
Christ’s first miracle was the transmutation of water into wine. This again is symbolic, of how the couple transforms the seminal energies into the wine of the spirit. Such a wine inebriates the soul, as described within Sufism and Christianity.
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there (again referring back to Miriam, the Divine Mother, who is going to be present at this miracle): And both Jesus (the Inner, Intimate Christ) was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come (the Lord has not fully manifested within the spinal medullae of the married couple yet, since they are learning to transmute for the first time). His mother [Miriam] saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. ―John 2:1-11
Even though it is forbidden in Islam to drink alcohol, the Sufis use the language of intoxication and drinking to talk about experiences with God in alchemy. It signifies being drunk on God, being intoxicated with love. These initiates always treated sex with respect, as something sacred, unlike our humanity today. The Sufis treated sex with balance, neither something to repress or indulge in as something filthy, but through a comprehensive, middle way, by utilizing sex in its true purpose and function: to generate the soul.
Many of these Sufi masters were, of course, married, since every man needs a wife, and every wife needs a husband. These masters did not make alchemy public, but practiced Marifah in secrecy, since this teaching was not explained openly until recently, in the 1950’s with the publication of The Perfect Matrimony by Samael Aun Weor. Intoxication and Sobriety
In gnosis, we seek to become drunk on the love of the divine. We previously spoke about gnostic and Sufi psychology, how the consciousness must become inebriated by divine energy, so as to awaken from its slumber. Now we are delving into the physiological and alchemical aspects of this knowledge, the secret path of Marifah, some practical components for sexual magic.
In Revelation of the Mystery by Al-Hujwiri, a Persian Sufi master, he explains that there are two kinds of intoxication. His teaching is in relation to Persian and Arabic kabbalah, the symbolic mystical language of the consciousness within Middle Eastern discourse. There are two kinds of intoxication: (1) with the wine of affection (mawaddat) and (2) with the cup of love (muhabbat). The former is “caused” (ma’lul), since it arises from regarding the benefit (ni’mat); but the latter has no cause, since it arises from regarding the benefactor (mun’im). ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
The “wine of affection” is caused, brought about by the couple’s individual desires, lust, animality, nafs or egos. They provoke the sexual act because they are filled with lust or passion. They do not unite out of dhikr, remembrance of divinity, to remember the presence, hudur, of divinity, as they sexually connect. These types of people do not comprehend what the cup of love signifies, because they are fornicators.
To drink from the cup of love is to practice chastity. Chastity does not signify abstention from sex, but purity in sex―to not reach the animal spasm or orgasm; to not fornicate, to not be burned by the fornix, furnace of the body through the emission of the sexual energy. It also signifies restraining lustful thoughts, feelings, and impulses in the three brains. This is difficult for beginners, but something gnostic matrimonies learn through practice and discipline. The cup of love, sexual magic, is not caused by one’s own will, but by the will of the Innermost Beings within husband and wife. This signifies consciousness of divinity within the sexual act, the Benefactor, mun'im, which etymologically relates to the Arabic word for believer, al-mumin, a term for an alchemist. He who regards the benefit sees through himself and therefore sees himself (meaning his desires, egotism, lust), but he who regards the benefactor sees through Him (the Being) and therefore does not see himself (as ego), so that, although he is intoxicated (drunk on that pleasure of sexual union), his intoxication is sobriety (there is control and transmutation of the sexual energy; one is sober-headed and rational because the couple are not slaves of desire). ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery 
To be sober in Sufi terms is to be in control of one’s energies in the sexual act. One dominates sex with the consciousness, redirecting the animal impulse of desire and transmuting it up the spine. Those people who let themselves be carried away by the pleasures of sex culminate in the orgasm. Thereafter their sexuality governs their mind and they fall downward into the abyss, forming the inverted pentagram.
We are five-pointed stars, with two hands, two legs, and one head. When we control sex, we stand upright, made into the psychological image of the divine. If sex governs our head, we precipitate downwards towards the atomic infernos, the hell realms of Islam, so as to eat the bitter leaves of the Tree of Zaqqum as mentioned in the Qur’an, a symbol of spiritual death and suffering of the consciousness. This is the left-hand path of sorcery and black magic, the path of demons. The right-hand path is the path of the initiates, the solar way. Therefore, we must transform the moon into a sun! 
In the image of this slide, the Goddess Luna is extending her hands towards the moon or lunar power of Yesod, the sexual energy. The sexual energy is a lunar, creative force that we must transform into a sun through alchemy. It is by working with this energy that we learn to comprehend the enigmatic language of the Sufis, since this energy opens the door to comprehension for us.
Remember that psyche was asleep and later awakened through Eros, Cupid, the god of love, the erotic energy. When that power is utilized by a couple, then they begin to understand the mystical meaning of sobriety and intoxication. Sobriety also is classified in two ways, according to Al-Hujwiri. Sobriety is also of two kinds: sobriety in heedlessness (ghaflat) and sobriety in love (mahabbat). The former is the greatest of veils, but the latter is the clearest of revelations. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
What does it mean to be sober in heedlessness? To be heedless is to act as an animal, to not follow the sixth commandment of divinity: “Thou shalt not fornicate.” It signifies a lack of practice or spiritual discipline, to not work against the ego, but to fortify it through mistaken habits and the sleep of our consciousness. It means to feed pride, anger, lust, greed, vanity, etc. To not work with the spirit, ruh, is to be reckless, careless in genuine spiritual terms. If we have no consciousness of divinity, if we do not meditate, then we are heedless. Therefore, all of us fall in this category until we learn this science and apply it.
Those who are sober in divine love practice alchemy and know how to conserve the seminal energy and never lose one drop of it. This energy therefore produces the clearest of revelations, since as Samael Aun Weor explains, many initiates know how to enter into the ecstasy of the spirit, to manifest God within, through mastering the sexual act. The sobriety that is connected with heedlessness is really intoxication, while that which is linked with love, although it be intoxication, is really sobriety. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
Obviously, the language is tricky. The Sufis were always playing with donkey-headed intellectuals who have no intuition. But their wisdom is clear to other initiates. They wrote in this manner to evade persecution and scandals.
Anyone who gives into fear, pride, envy, hate, lust, desire, is heedless. To give into those negative psychological qualities is to be drunk in a very bad sense. Many people are drunk off their ideas, theories, beliefs, and more importantly their sense of self, their ego, the “me,” “myself,” and “I.” This is the state of identification, fascination, and sleep of the consciousness. The heedless hear about esoterism and rationalize, ignoring instruction. They are heedless and drunk off the opium of theories, which Samael Aun Weor stated is worse than death. But that alchemical experience that is linked with love, although it be intoxication through the sexual energy, is really sobriety, sensible. To use that power for spiritual life is really the most sensible thing. This is what it means to be sober-headed, to not be carried away by passion. But lunatics, idiots, fornicators, enjoy expelling the energy of Eden from themselves: The fear of the LORD (respect for the sexual energy) is the beginning of knowledge (Marifah), but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ―Proverbs 1:7
So what is this principle (asl)? Sexual alchemy, scientific chastity, to connect sexually with one’s partner, as husband and wife, and to never lose one drop of semen, that precious energy, but to transmute it, elevate it. Through transmutation, one is continually intoxicated by that light generated through the sexual cooperation of the couple.
As the couple practices sexual magic, husband and wife never lose their attraction for one another, because the energy of attraction and magnetism is never expelled, but sublimated. The couple then charges one another with divine power. Through this principle of sexual alchemy, husband and wife remain intoxicated by love for one another, and also remain sober-headed. They comprehend that the ego is the source of disorder and divorce. So, couples who practice sexual alchemy are better off for preserving their union, because fornication leads to suffering and expulsion from sexual bliss. This is how marriages can succeed, rather than end in divorce, which is very common nowadays. A matrimony can be one’s heaven or one’s hell. Here we are teaching how couples can continually magnetize and charge each other, so that they remain in happiness. When the principle of alchemy is not present within a couple, sobriety and intoxication are baseless, meaning: they have no foundation in the science of Yesod: the Foundation of Kabbalah. Marriages founded on fornication, the orgasm, are pointless, baseless in a spiritual sense. When people know nothing of transmutation, the terms sobriety and intoxication take on different meanings. The sobriety of fornicators consists of all the degenerated theories in this day and age that adamantly defend the orgasm. Humanity does everything it can to explain why fornication is healthy and necessary. People also speak a lot about feeding one's desires at all costs, being intoxicated not only by alcohol and drugs, but by anger, lust, pride, and greed. This is what it means to have no foundation, to "build one's house upon the sand of theories," which, after the first provocation of a storm or consequences of karma, will tumble and fall into the abyss. We must become true believers and followers of divinity through learning how to be through the libido. Chastity is essential and constitutes our foundation. As the Qur’an teaches us in Surah Al-Nur, the “Surah of the Light," verses 30 and 31: Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do.
In synthesis, the Light Surah indicates that you cannot have spiritual light if you are not chaste.
Many students who begin our gnostic studies complain about lust. Whenever they walk across the street in the cities, their eyes are bewildered by the sight of attractive men and women. The work of transforming lustful impressions is always most difficult for new initiates, which is why women in Islam, initially, wore their hijab or headcovers to prevent the lustful eye. Whether this tradition is really being practiced well after the time of the Prophet is another thing… But let us continue elaborating on the language of the Sufis: In short, where true mystics tread, sobriety and intoxication are the effect of difference (ikhtilaf)… ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
The word mystic comes from the Greek root word myein, to close the eyes. This signifies a person who meditates. In this case, the meditators, husband and wife, have been initiated into the sexual mysteries. For true mystics, sobriety signifies sexual purity, chastity, not in the form of abstention or celibacy, but by being pure in the sexual act.
For beginners on the mystic path, intoxication refers to fornication, since people get drunk on the orgasm. When people think of sex, that is all they think about, ignoring that sex can be founded on purity and spiritual love. Sobriety for the mystic therefore is the opposite, to be rational, controlling the sexual energy. …and when the Sultan of Truth (the Being, Allah, the divine) displays his beauty, both sobriety and intoxication appear to be intruders (tufayli), because the boundaries of both are joined, and the end of the one is the beginning of the other, and the beginning and end are terms that imply separation, which has only a relative existence. In union all separations are negated, as the poet says―"When the morning star of wine rises, The drunken and the sober are as one.” ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
When the Being expresses Himself within the couple, the beauty and love that husband and wife feel during the sexual act is the truest consubstantiation and fulfillment of divine love. As Fyodor Dostoevsky once stated, “Human love is a reflection of divine love.” For the couple that unifies in compassion and selflessness, out of virtue and purity, of genuine conscious love and understanding, the terms “intoxication” and “sobriety” become concepts and intellectual terms that miss the meaning: since the couple is so lost in the ecstasy and compassion of the Being. The intellect becomes an obstacle. The consciousness, usually hypnotized by the duality and relativity of the mind, becomes absorbed within divinity, the perfect unity, thereby transcending creation.
In sexual union, all separation is negated, because husband and wife become one angelic being with the capacity to create divine life. There is no difference between them, since the egos, the intruders or infidels, are not present, the nafs are absent during the ecstasy. …as the poet say―"When the morning star of wine rises, The drunken and the sober are as one.” ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
This is a beautiful teaching by Hujwiri. Who is the drunken one? The soul that is drunk on God, being united with divinity through one’s wife, as a husband, and one’s husband, as a wife.
Who is the sober one? The Being, the Real, the Truth, al-Haqq. The morning star is Venus, the Divine Mother, wherein the waters of sex are sublimated into spiritual wine, the Kundalini up the spinal medulla. When the sexual fires rise from the base of the spine and illuminate the brain, then the two aspects of Jehovah, Jah-Chavah, are united, Kundalini Shakti—Chavah, the intoxicated from below―marrying Her divine husband, the masculine aspect of the Holy Spirit, Jah, the sober one, the real, in the brain. Together they signify Jehovah. This is the esoteric Sufi meaning of intimacy. For as Al-Qushayri explains: The true nature of intimacy [sexual magic and union with God] is rightly sobriety [sahw]. In truth, the condition of balance after mystical experience [samadhi with one’s wife or husband in tantrism, Marifah]. Everyone who becomes intimate with God becomes sober and clear. Such people vary according to the strength of their experience [in chastity, being able to restrain animal desire to a specific degree]. About this the Sufis say, "The lowest stage of intimacy with God is that if one were thrown into a blazing fire [when the fires of sexuality are active between husband and wife, which they must dominate and control], one’s intimacy [concentration and chastity, sexual purity] would not be disturbed." ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Therefore, if you are lustful, you will only see lust in sex. But the great alchemists know how to see divinity and the seven heavens within the cup of gathering and witnessing, Jamshid.
Sufi Dance and Intimacy with God
Many Sufi dances signify the path of intimacy with God. In the film Meetings with Remarkable Men (a biographical drama about Master Gurdjieff), there is one dance in particular that depicts these alchemical concepts. At the end of the film, Gurdjieff finds a Sufi school of initiation wherein he witnesses a group of turbaned initiates dance and perform the runic alphabet, which are a series of yogic postures used with mantras in order to accumulate energy. Eight men dance in the same spot as they position their body in the form of runic letters, so as to attract the powers of divinity and perform sexual transmutation. Two other men meditate on the sides with their arms crossed in the Egyptian style, with the right arm over the left. The most notable of the dancers is in the center, the ninth man moving in a clockwise circle, demonstrating the positive rotation of the chakras. His arms are crossed since he is not performing the runes, and his centrality and firmness in the dance illustrates his universal role as the Being.
The ninth figure among the dancers, the center initiate, also refers to the strength, solidarity, and power of Yesod, the ninth sephirah of the Tree of Life, which is the creative power of divinity. This is the power that can dominate the ego. The tenth figure dances in a drunken stupor around the man in the center. The drunken, intoxicated man is the soul, nafs, or ego that must be dominated by willpower. The intoxicated man is silently guided by the somewhat stationary, central figure, the Being or sober one. The man in the center has his arms crossed in the Muslim style, with the right arm over the left, demonstrating how the right-hand solar path dominates the left-hand lunar path. He does not show any acquiescence to the drunken man, but is firm, in control, leading the drunken initiate towards submission (Islam) to Him. The Being, the real or sober one, accomplishes this feat through the path of meditation and transmutation. The ten men dancing in the center are the ten sephiroth of the Tree of Life. The drunken man is Malkuth, the physical person filled with vices, while the man in the center is Chesed, the spirit. The two men at the sides represent the two pillars of Kabbalah, Jakin and Boaz, which support the entirety of our psychological and spiritual temple. There are other dances depicted in this film, but we don't have time to comment on all of them.
All of this dance is accomplished through the power of sex, symbolized by the movement of creative energy through the runes. No matter how drunk or egotistical the soul is, God is immovable, commanding, as we see in the example of the central dancer. Through exercises like runes (used to develop willpower and control), the consciousness becomes trained for sexual magic. With years of discipline, the fires of intimacy (in sexual alchemy) do not disturb the initiates' concentration, but remain in check, as the wild egotistical mind bows humbly in submission before divinity in this dance.
The Sacred Name of God in Islam
The Arabic name of divinity also hides this mystery. الله Allah signifies “the God.” Illaha signifies goddess. ا Alif, the breath, is the Hebrew א Aleph, prana, wind, spirit, ruh, since both Arabic and Hebrew are Semitic languages bearing the same roots in Kabbalah, the language of the consciousness and of God.
الله Allah begins with ا Alif, which is a separate, elongated straight line, a masculine and phallic letter. This is the sacred fire of Kundalini that rises within the spine. الله Allah ends in ه Ha, a feminine letter in esotericism that references the feminine yoni, the vagina. The yoni is a circle and the phallus is a line, which are easy to see in ا Alif and ه Ha. The two ل lams of the sacred Arabic name of God each represent a person, man and woman, in esoterism. The Hebrew equivalent is ל Lamed, which references the tongue or speech. When man and wife unite in the sexual act to transmute, pronounce mantras, to recite the sacred verb, they are working with الله Allah, Elohim, the divine. This is equivalent to the Hebrew אל “El,” the spirit, Chesed in Kabbalah, ruh in Arabic “Elah,” or “Eloah” also means Goddess. El is masculine. Eloah or Elah is feminine. As we've been stating, divinity expresses through the sexual energy. One of the sacred names of divinity in Arabic is Al Wadud (الودود), "the Loving, the Kind One." Likewise we find Al Khaaliq (الخالق), "the Creator." Where else within a human being do we find the possibilities for creation through love? It is in sexual union. Alchemical knowledge is included in the sacred name Al Wadud, which contains two ו vavs or و waws. ו Vav or و waw can be pronounced as a vowel, such as an a, o, or u sound. و Waw or ו Vav is a spinal column and brain, represented by the straight line and top point of ו vav, and the circle and curved line of و waw. Ibn 'Arabi states that و waw connects the human being with the angels, the divine. Al Wadud has two و waws, one for man and one for woman, wherein the Kundalini rises and unites the couple with الله Allah. Divine unification is also represented by the two د dals or ד Daleths of Al Wadud, indicating two dervishes or initiates, one man and one woman, entering the doorway of alchemical knowledge: the science of the perfect matrimony, Da'ath or marifah in Arabic. The sexual power of divinity is well reflected within the Qur'an by the following verses: Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators. ―Surah al-Mu'minun, "The Believers," verse 14
After these explanations, it's logical to see, from this verse, that the power of divinity is in sex.
While the creative energy can create a physical child, this verse from the Qu'ran teaches about the creation of the solar bodies, the vehicles of the soul, a type of psychic matter or flesh that does not belong to fornication, but to chastity. These vehicles include: the body of liberation (Yesod, the superior aspect of Malkuth), the solar astral (Hod), solar mental (Netzach), and solar causal (Tiphereth); in total, these are the lower five sephiroth of the Tree of Life, the Kabbalah. Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio
To sum up these Sufi and Gnostic teachings, we have the following excerpt from Mozart’s Opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Abduction from the Seraglio. Mozart was a Freemason and a master of Major Mysteries who knew Sufism in depth, along with Beethoven and other initiates. These masters knew the mysteries of the occult stone, the Kaaba of Yesod.
In this opera, Belmonte, a Spanish nobleman, tries to rescue his betrothed, Konstanze, with his servant Pedrillo. She was captured by pirates at sea and sent to a harem, an Arabic den of prostitution, to be the slave of Bassa Selim, the Pasha or ruler of Seraglio. Konstanze is under watch and supervision from Osmin, a Muslim guard, whom Pedrillo tricks into drinking wine to intoxicate him and lead him to sleep. Once Osmin is asleep, Pedrillo and Belmonte make their escape attempt with Konstanze. All of this is symbolic and invites us to reflect… Konstanze is constancy, chastity, our divine soul trapped within whoredom, within the prostitution of animal ego, lust, desire, nafs. Belmonte is her future husband, whose Spanish name signifies “beautiful mountain,” “Bel-Monte.” He is Tiphereth in Kabbalah, the human soul or warrior who must fight to liberate the trapped consciousness. When he conquers the ego, then he can marry his divine soul. Tiphereth is our will or capacity to climb the beautiful mountain of initiation, which he accomplishes through Pedrillo, his servant. Pedrillo is “little Peter,” or little Pedro, signifying a “stone.” Peter is also slang for a phallus. He is the little power of Yesod, the little stone that David, Tiphereth, used to conquer Goliath, the ego, who is represented in this opera as Osmin, a giant bass whose voice inspires fear. Pedrillo gives Osmin wine to drink, which the guard, being Muslim, first denies. And yet Osmin is tempted by the wine and drinks, ending up drunk and incapacitated, so that Pedrillo, Belmonte, and Konstanze can make their escape. The symbolism of wine we’ve already explained: it is the energy of sex that inebriates the soul and slackens the ego, putting it to sleep, to make it inactive. Osmin, the ego, gets drunk off the wine and falls asleep. That energy, harnessed in meditation, has the power to put our defects to sleep so that the consciousness can escape from its shells and conditioning to experience samadhi, represented by Pedrillo’s tenor singing, the elevation of the soul. Both Pedrillo and Osmin sing about women when praising Bacchus, god of wine, the sexual potency. One can either praise women with chastity or praise women with lust and desire. Both polarities are expressed here in Mozart’s aria, “Vivat Bacchus,” “long live Bacchus!” Osmin praises fornication, but Pedrillo, little Peter, knows how to be chaste. Here we clearly see how sex is the power of liberation or damnation of the soul! Osmin also reminds us of the Rune Os, Othilla, Thelema, the rune of willpower, whereby single practitioners can learn to transmute their creative energies. Min or Minah in Kabbalistic language is sex. Interesting, no? Why would Mozart name Osmin, the ego, after the Rune Os, and the sexual mysteries of sex, Mina, the Menorah? Light is generated through conquering fire, through not giving into temptation in the sexual act, to not eat the forbidden fruit and to not culminate in the orgasm. We must instead conserve that light inside. Temptation is fire. Triumph over temptation is light, virtues, comprehension, cognizance. We must steal the fire from the devil!
The sexual energy, the power of Bacchus-Dionysus, is precisely a drink for the Gods, Elohim. This aria is not just about a man getting a Muslim guard drunk, but symbolizes two paths for using the wine of light. When husband and wife are sexually united, they are a truly divine being. When the couple truly practices chastity, the ego, Osmin, is put to sleep, so husband and wife can enjoy sex with purity, to breathe the aromas of the tree of knowledge without eating its fruit…
Remember that the word Seraglio, the harem or den of prostitution, carries the three vowels I.A.O., Ser-Ah-gl-IO. This is because the power of IAO, Jehovah, is polarized negatively through lust within our mind, which is represented by the harem. Mozart was a great master of Kabbalah, as you can see, which he taught in a synthetic, symbolic and comprehensive way. 
Alchemy and the Garden of Gethsemane
Here we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with the chalice of redemption, whereby an angel presents him his cross, symbol of the perfect matrimony, before Christ performs his Passion. Here Jesus was praying before his crucifixion, a symbol of the death of desire, the ego, upon the cross of alchemy. Remember also that the chalice is a symbol of the feminine sexual organs, through which the husband extracts the elixir or manna of spiritual life.
The Garden of Gethsemane precisely represents the garden of Eden, bliss, a matrimony. Gethsemane is the garden of Yesod whereby the Lord is betrayed, since Judas, sexual desire, submits him to the Jewish authorities, the different egos, to be tested, contested, and condemned. Jesus represents the human soul, Tiphereth, united with Chokmah, Christ, an alchemical amalgamation known as the Son of Man. Here the master prays before the work of completely annihilating his ego. He states, “Father, if it be possible, pass this cup (representing sexual magic) of bitterness from me. But not my will, but Thine be done.” This path of sexual magic is one of sacrifice of desire. To renounce lust and the orgasm is painful for the ego, but constitutes the intoxication of the soul. It’s obvious then why many people begin but few reach the end. But those who persevere in daily transmutation, death of the ego, and selfless service for others, become constantly inebriated by the divine. They never forget their work because they never forget their Being. Many people cringe when discovering the necessity of compassion, selflessness, and love for humanity. We recommend that students reflect upon the life of Jesus, who when being nailed to the cross, when he was humiliated beyond comprehension, the only thing he said was “Father, forgive them: they know not what they do.” This is a type of compassion we strive and struggle to develop, especially within a marriage, when cultivating the powers of our “garden,” our physicality. This is difficult precisely due to our conditioning, which obscures and prevents us from really accessing this state. But if we learn to see the other person’s point of view, we develop the will and perception of Christ, one who does not react to life, but responds. It is one thing to react egotistically to situations, but another thing to respond with cognizance, compassion, and love, with selflessness, thinking and acting only for the benefit of the other person. In this way, we can still establish boundaries and be firm with others who need it, but not with anger—instead, one uses kindness. This is a more potent force than any ego, any defect. The way that you really develop divine love, the hardest and best way is in a marriage. Despite a couple’s love and affinity, the worst conflicts the disciple faces is upon the cross, during sexual union. Husband and wife must learn to sacrifice their defects to truly love one another. Crucifixion symbolizes the pain one goes through in the alchemical work, in the disintegration of the ego. One can only transcend such pain through comprehension and annihilation of one’s defects in meditation, or, after having comprehended an ego, asking for its annihilation upon the cross, within the sexual act, as explained in The Mystery of the Golden Flower and The Perfect Matrimony by Samael Aun Weor. They recited: I’m amazed at someone who says, “I’ve remembered my darling.” Have I ever forgotten (my Being), that I should have to remember? I die (to my ego) remembering You (my Being), then come back to (spiritual) life. Were it not for my good thought of You, I would not have revived. Desire’s object lives (my Being continues) when I die to (egotistical) desire. How many times have I lived for you, how many times died (through the comprehension and disintegration of each of my defects)? I drink love (transmuted water, muhabbah), glass after glass (day after day in alchemy; only once per day in observance of the creative magnetic pause mentioned in The Mystery of the Golden Flower by Samael Aun Weor). The (alchemical) glass (my sexual organs) is not empty (because the seminal matter is always being generated, but transmuted by the alchemists). My (spiritual) thirst is not sated (I will not cease my transmutations, but strive forward). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism Practice
1. Continue to develop your self-observation from moment to moment. At the end of each day, reflect on conscious you were of your three brains (mind, heart, and body).
2. Every day, sit in a comfortable meditation posture (sitting upright either on a meditation bench / cushion, or Western-style: in a chair). Relax your mind, heart, and body. 3. Vocalize the mantras OM MASI PADME HUM to develop divine compassion and to transform the energies of your body into spiritual fire and spiritual light. Pronounce this mantra for thirty minutes or more.
This mantra translates as “Oh my internal God!”
The seven chakras are awakened by this mantra:
Remember that by conserving the waters of love and by pronouncing the sacred word, the mills or chakras awaken. This is even more powerful within a perfect matrimony.
We are continuing our course on self-knowledge, which we initiated a few weeks ago. We've been discussing in synthesis the nature of spiritual awakening, comprehension, and cognizance of the divine, which is within us, as well as some means and methods for how we can acquire that cognizance, that awakening for ourselves. We were talking about the nature of consciousness, what does it mean to be awakened, what does it mean to be perceptive, and we've explained in synthesis how perception is the root of thought, it is the root of emotion, and it is the root of impulse, instinct, will, desire, etc., and is the very source from which perception springs.
In the spirit of the Gnostic doctrine, which encompasses all religions, we've been explaining this teaching of self-awareness, self-knowledge, how to experience the divine in accordance with the mysticism of the Middle East―to demonstrate that this teaching is more than from the Christian standpoint. We think of gnosis, in terms of scholasticism today as being the study of the Christian gospels that were not canonized. But the Greek word gnosis is knowledge, knowledge that we acquire from experience, and has nothing to do with intellectualism, scholasticism, theorizing, debating. Instead, it's a concrete and factual knowledge of divinity. We were explaining this teaching in relation to the mysticism of Islam, and Islam in Arabic means submission to God's will. Whether we are Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, etc., we learn to submit to the will of divinity within us by developing that awareness, developing that understanding. Gnosis has been known in different terms in different religions, but amongst the Sufis, the mystics of Islam, they denominate this knowledge Marifah, knowledge, or Haqiqah, which means the truth. In this lecture, we're going to explain what we need to do in order to develop that awareness further, that knowledge further. It is a spiritual discipline. It is a method. It is based on cause and effect. Spiritual life is based upon the implementation of specific factors, which is why different religions have given different codified rules of conduct, in order to know divinity, whether it's the ten commandments of Judaism, whether it's the ten meritorious or non-meritorious actions of Buddhism, or whether it is the written commandments given in the Qur’an amongst the Muslims and the Sufis, and each tradition has its own specific instructions and conduct of how to discipline the mind. So in Buddhism, we speak about the need to discipline the mind in order to experience the serenity of no thought, to cease thinking, conceptualizing, preoccupation with the intellect which produces our problems and our sufferings. So the self-knowledge we seek is to train ourselves, to train our minds, train our bodies, our hearts, to know divinity and to understand what within our psyche obscures that divine intelligence, which religions have given different names, whether it is the inner Buddha, (which as we explained, Buddha means awakened one, to be cognizant, to be pristine, to be clear in thought, sentiment in being) or as amongst the Muslims, Allah, which has the Hebrew equivalent El. This is where you get many names of angels, Samael, Michael, Gabriel, etc. It is that Self we seek to understand. But of course to get there, we need to learn how to implement the appropriate causes to reap the specific effects we seek. As the founder of the modern Gnostic tradition stated (his name is Samael Aun Weor): Consciousness can only be awakened through conscious works and upright efforts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
We are going explain today specifically the parameters and the difficulties one faces when developing an introspection into the psyche. What are the obstacles we face, and what are some teachings that we can use to train an undisciplined mind to make it a disciplined and peaceful mind? Precisely because our mind, as it currently is, identifies with our daily problems, perhaps having arguments with loved ones, coworkers, conflicts. Any state of suffering indicates and points to causes within our psyche which need to be comprehended. It is by comprehending the source of the conflicts we experience within ourselves, within our interior, that we can obtain the peace of mind and the serenity of a divine and clear mind, one that fully reflects to its fullest potential the heavenly states of being, as we were discussing.
Awakening
We will reiterate a point we made in our last lecture. We were discussing the nature of consciousness and what it means to be awake, and what it means to be unconscious. Currently as we are, in our preoccupations with our daily struggle, the engagement with work, the many obligations and responsibilities we are subjected to, we state clearly that these in themselves form distractions. How we approach life, how we engage with life is determined by our quality of mind, our state of being. It is impossible to escape from the necessaries of life, but we can change our psychological attitude, how we approach it.
As we were saying, our physical senses may be awake: sight, taste, touch, hearing, feeling, etc. These in themselves indicate a state of physical wakefulness. But in terms of the spiritual potential we have, we state that this potential is asleep. It is not active. It is not fully developed to its potential, which is demonstrated by the Sufi proverb, "He who knows himself knows his Lord." If we were to know ourselves completely, we would know divinity completely, according to the ancient traditions. So, we often speak of the need for awareness, of remembrance of divinity, becoming cognizant of that presence within us. 
Specifically, we have the following quote from the scripture we've been quoting extensively in this course, the Risalah, or Principles of Sufism, (or you could say Gnosticism as well, they share the same roots) and this following quote is from a Sufi master by the name of Al-Wasiti. He was asked about the practice of remembrance and said:
It is leaving the enclosed court of unconsciousness for the vast space of contemplation through the power of fearing him and the intensity of loving him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So again, divinity is not some old man in the clouds, some anthropomorphic figure who distributes lightning bolts upon this anthill of humanity to make us suffer. That god does not exist, which is why Friedrich Nietzsche said, "God is dead," or that Judeo-Christian god is dead, doesn't exist. Instead, the God we're speaking of is a presence, is a force, an intelligence which is within us. As we explained in the story of the allegory of the cave, there is a process by which one escapes from that shackling and conditioning of the mind, of the psyche, of the consciousness in order to experience higher states of unconditionality, of liberation, of freedom from negative psychological states, such as pride, fear, anger, vanity, lust, etc. The seven deadly sins, we could say, according to some traditions.
We are explaining that what we seek to develop is consciousness free from conditions. In a moment of anger, we are conditioned by anger. We see through the object of that desire. We want to fulfill what that desire craves from us. And this, you could say, magnetic pull of forces in ourselves to act in a certain way, in a negative way, demonstrates to us that we don't have full control, that we don't have full knowledge of ourselves, that we are trapped in a given moment by exterior causes and conditions to constantly react to the exterior world in a way that is harmful, that is detrimental for ourselves and for others. When someone criticizes us, perhaps a sentiment of pride emerges, that we feel that we are better than the other person, followed by anger, with the thought, "That person should not have insulted me," followed by another train of thought, "Well, I'll just forget about it. Perhaps that won't affect my job so much." We constantly go through a chain of associative thinking, of thoughts, feelings, and emotions which pull at us in response to the external world, which in itself demonstrates that we are mechanical, meaning that we are like a machine in which anyone can press any button they wish, say anything they wish, and we will respond according to that wish, according to that impetus. This is why Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet when he was confronted and trying to fool the people of his household who were spying on him, he said: 'Sblood, do you think I'm easier to be played upon than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will. Though you fret me, you cannot play upon me. ―Shakespeare's Hamlet
Meaning, the world is constantly playing its notes upon our psyche. Certain individuals may provoke a response that they seek against our will. We say, "Oh, that person is someone I dislike strongly." The fact that we tend to lack full autonomy in certain situations illustrates that we are mechanical.
If in a moment of anger we can step back from that sentiment, that feeling, and not give into that impulse, that indicates to us that we are controlling and stepping away from that conditioned mind, that negative self, and we are learning to see from a state of objectivity, which in itself creates a serene mind. We want to be serene, peaceful. We want to know God. Anyone who approaches religion wants to know a quality of consciousness that is free from suffering, and the object of these studies is to understand the causes that produce our suffering, and also the suffering of others, and how to change them. We want to free ourselves from this conditioned mind, this tendency to react constantly to life. Instead, we want to learn how to respond in an objective, conscious, peaceable manner, with virtue, with ethical discipline. This brings us to the point of the necessity of training the mind, disciplining that which is conditioned within us. 
Discipline of Mind
We have in this image a woman being crowned by an angel and the following poem by the mystic Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, where he states the importance of this discipline of mind:
Let's ask God to help us to self-control, for one who lacks it, lacks his grace. The undisciplined person doesn't wrong himself alone, but sets fire to the whole world. Discipline enabled heaven to be filled with light. Discipline enabled the angels to be immaculate and holy. The peacock's plumage is his enemy. The world is the mountain, and each action the shout that echoes back. The discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. ―Rumi
What is this peacock's plumage? If we examine our mind, we see that we may entail or contain many elements of pride, a sense of self that feels important, that does not want to be criticized or rejected or ostracized. We are, in spiritual language, that peacock. All of us possess a sense of self-esteem that does not want to be hurt. But it's precisely this subjective egotistical sense of self which is the impetus of our suffering. That plumage, that self-image that we carry in our mind, in our psyche, is our enemy. Instead, we have a different image in the soul that can exist if we know how to develop it, which is the divine, a divine image. But usually we have our own psychological tendencies, such as pride, self-esteem, self-importance, arrogance, etc., that we adorn ourselves with, like the peacock.
And the world is the mountain, and each action the shout that echoes back, meaning cause and effect. There are psychological causes for happiness, and there are also physical causes for happiness and sorrow. Certain actions will produce harmful results. We know this obviously from religion. But psychologically speaking, we have elements that we ignore, sadly, because with the law of cause and effect, our psychological actions, meaning our thoughts, our feelings, our will, have an effect on others, have an effect within ourselves. Usually we tend to think that we exist in this bubble and that we can say what we want, feel what we want, think what we want, and that it won't have any consequence. But all spiritual studies, or better said, all genuine religions teach that we become what we think. Mind precedes phenomena, according to the Buddha in his Dhammapada. “This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross.” What is that pure silver that we seek to develop? It is the immaculate nature of the soul that has been removed of all its conditions. The dross is the imperfections that we created, but by implementing a discipline, in putting forth the causes of liberation, we could say, we purify ourselves like a furnace. But for this to happen, we must enter the fires of emotional crises, painful circumstances, so that we confront our own secret ugliness with the express purpose of eliminating our desires, our defects and faults. But of course, I like how Rumi says that it's rough treatment. It's not pleasant to face one's mistakes and to confront them and to want to change them. It takes a strong sense of heroism to want to overcome our causes that produce our suffering. Levels of Spiritual Instruction and Discipline
So this spiritual discipline has been known in different religions in a certain structure. There are three levels of instruction given throughout Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc. We could say that there are levels of spiritual discipline, levels of work which have been taught in different languages, in different ways, and in this image we have the three levels of instruction, introductory, intermediate, and advanced, in accordance with the Muslim doctrine, but I'm going to give you some other references to show the universality of this.
The introductory teachings have been known as Shariah, the exoteric doctrine of Islam. In Judaism, we call it the body of the doctrine, known as the Torah. Certain scriptures have certain levels of application to our life. And so in Judaism, we say that the Torah is the body of the doctrine, the introduction to the Jewish mysticism. We also have intermediate teaching, which is known as Tariqah in Arabic, meaning the path. This is the mesoteric, or middle way into the heart of religion. And in Judaism, we find this mystical path is known by the Talmud, which is a philosophical discourse on the Torah. Then likewise, we have an advanced teaching, an advanced discipline, which in Arabic is known as Marifah or Haqiqah, meaning knowledge or truth. This is the esoteric teaching, the hidden teaching―a very high level of discipline we can access if we know how. So, in Judaism, we say that these advance teaching is known as the Zohar, or known by the body of literature in the Kabbalistic tradition by the scripture, Book of Splendors, Zohar. Buddhism has its own application to this. The introductory level is known as Shravakayana. Shravaka means “listener, he who hears.” Yana means vehicle, or level of instruction or practice. All of us who begin any spiritual studies, we have to hear first. We learn to listen, and then we learn to apply it in our practice and our path, which develops into the intermediate teaching, which is when we're applying this knowledge and making it practical, and where we're getting results, known as Tariqah. In Buddhism, this intermediate path is known as Mahayana, very famous in relation to Tibetan Buddhism. Maha means great. Yana means vehicle. This level of discipline is much more advanced. In the first level of teaching, introductory discipline, we are seeking to develop our own spirituality for ourselves, meaning: we wish to stop suffering and so we seek to put in place the causes that are going to help to prevent us from suffering further. In this intermediate path, our spirituality and spiritual discipline is based more on helping others. Whereas we benefited our own selves, we developed some equanimity of mind, and then with our spirituality, we seek to help the spirituality of others, or to help others in a positive sense, in any way we are capable. Then with the advanced teaching, it pertains to more expedient methods, known as Tantrayana in Tibetan Buddhism. Tantra is, we could say the diamond vehicle, the superior vehicle, which has practices and methods which are very transcendental, which require a lot of purity of mind to enact. So there are levels of instruction, levels of discipline we engage with. You could say that in the opening level of Shariah, relates to how we discipline ourselves. How do we curtail negative habits? This word Shariah, of course if we're familiar with the news, has a lot of baggage. In the Middle East, it pertains to punitive laws in relation to Muslim countries. But according to the Sufis, this term, is more internal, specific. It pertains to what are the modes of conduct we engage with to be spiritual. It doesn't mean to follow the certain laws of certain countries. Instead, it means to discipline the mind. That's how the Sufis denominate this teaching. Then with the intermediate paths, we seek to cultivate our knowledge deeper, in a more profound manner. The thing to remember with these gradations of discipline is we seek to move from a self-centered focus to a focus on others. This doesn't mean the spiritual luminaries of humanity want us to be a teacher or a preacher or to be giving some form of transmission of knowledge in this sense, but instead it could pertain to whatever obligation we are placed with in life, in which divinity places us so that we can better ourselves. The Divine Law and Reality
Now the Sufis explained these three paths, the introductory, intermediate, and the advanced levels of discipline in the following manner. This is from Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri, where he elaborates on points we made previously.
The divine law, Shariah, commands one to the duty of servant-hood. The way, Tariqah, or the inner reality, Haqiqah is the contemplation of divine lordship. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
And so also in terms of this discipline, with Shariah we are learning to curtail negative habits, followed by the ten commandments or other codes of conduct. Don't lie, don't steal, don't cheat, don't fornicate, don't commit adultery, don't harm others. This is in order to help us to serve divinity in our physical life. But as we explained previously, the inner reality, or that advanced stage of practice is the actual experience of the divine, Haqiqah. Haqq means “truth” in Arabic. And this truth is, we're given the Arabic terms, but this truth is known in different names. It just depends on the tradition you're referring to. And so the Way, reality, Haqiqah, is to contemplate divine lordship, meaning to know and experience the divine. Contemplation, meditation, these are states of consciousness in which one is fully connected with our source in a divine sense.
One thing we will emphasize: the Shariah is the discipline we engage with in our life in order to serve the divine. We could say that this is a form of fear, but not in the egotistical sense. People often talk about fearing God, and of course that phrase has a lot of baggage associated with it, too. We're not talking about fear from some person or to not commit an act because someone told us not to but because we know that the consequences will produce suffering and that we feel that remorse, that sense of conscience that knows that we should not behave in that way. Shariah is to fear God, meaning: to fear the consequences of one's actions, because we are accountable before the divine, and that our actions, depending on how we live, produce happiness or sorrow for others, and we are weighed and evaluated based on that by our own divinity, by our own being, we could say. Going back to the quote from the beginning by Al-Wasiti, the intensity of loving him, the intensity of loving the divine, that is Haqiqah, the path to the truth. That form of discipline in which someone as a master, spiritually speaking, is accessing God all the time and has no forgetfulness. That's a very high level of discipline. In the beginning, we're trying to be mindful, be aware of ourselves, moment by moment, day by day, through self-observation, self-awareness. When we learn to access those deeper states of concentration, meditation as well as experiencing the divine, we access those higher levels, known as Haqiqah, in which in the beginning we are fearing God, meaning to fear the consequences of our actions, to have a sense of caution, to know that what we do cannot be taken away. Every action has a consequence. But if you wish to overcome the consequences of wrong action, what we do is seek to replace it with a superior action, because a superior law, the divine law above transcends our daily life, and so it can overcome those mistaken actions we engage with. In the beginning, we fear God, and in the end, we love God because we know Him directly. We also explained the following quote previously: Outward religious practice not confirmed by inner reality is not acceptable. Inner reality not anchored by outward religious practice is not acceptable. Divine law brings obligation upon the creation, which is us, the soul, while the way is founded upon the free action or experience of the real. The divine law, Shariah, is that you serve him. The way is that you see him. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We mentioned that in order to experience God, we need to implement the methods that are going to give us the results we seek, and that it is not enough just to want to have the experience. We have to practice. Hence of course, in this tradition, the Gnostic tradition, we have many exercises, which we give at the end of each lecture, that you can engage with so that you can come to know divinity directly.
The divine law is doing what you have been ordered to do. Haqiqah, the truth, is bearing witness to what he has determined and ordained hidden and revealed. I heard Abu Ali al-Daqqaq (who is the Sufi teacher of this writer, Al-Qushayri) say that in God's saying in the opening book of the Qur’an, iyyāka naʿbudu: “You we worship.” This preserves the outward practice, the divine law. Iyyāka nastaʿīnu: “To you we turn for help,” establishes the inner reality, the way. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So with “you do we worship,” we're putting forth causes to practice, spiritually speaking. And it's by implementing those practices that we can receive that grace. You cannot have one without the other. It is a simple law of cause and effect. In order to know God, we have to learn how to meditate, which is something we'll be building up towards progressively in these lectures.
So know that religious obligation is a spiritual reality and that it was made necessary by his command. Spiritual reality is a religious obligation and that the realizations of him were also made necessary by his command. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
Practice and experience, these have to go hand in hand, and we need to cultivate both. How do we do so? Discipline in a spiritual sense does not necessarily refer to some kind of military exercises or a chore, something that is boring or in a negative sense. Instead, this spiritual discipline is based upon the joy of experiencing the results, or by when we engage with a practice, whether it's a mantra, a sacred sound, or in meditation, we naturally see the benefits of our actions, and that we are more inclined to engage with that discipline. But of course this type of work implies a direction of will, or better said, a re-direction of will. So we need to learn how to develop a spiritual will, a conscious will that does not obey the conditioning of the mind. It is will that is free of conditions. It knows how to act, to respond with equanimity, with serenity, with peace of mind to any situation. This is the foundation, or the beginning of entering the path of spirituality.
Spiritual and Egotistical WillIradah, the will to find God, is the beginning of the path of spiritual travelers, the first title given to those who are determined to reach God Most High. This attribute is only called iradah because will is the preface to every undertaking. When the servant does not will, he does not carry out. Since this is the start of the enterprise of one who travels the path of God Almighty and Glorious, it is called ‘will’ by analogy to the resolution involved at the beginning of everything else. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
The word Iradah relates, in Arabic relates to riyadat, which means discipline as well, which we're going be talking about in the next few slides.
As I mentioned to you, we seek to develop willpower free from conditions, a will that does not depend on anger, on fear, on resentment. We say that those negative psychological qualities are desires. They're conflicting wills that always push us to act in contradictory ways. The willpower we seek to develop is one that is free of conditioning and belongs to the divine. But the will we have to access, in order to access this, we have to abandon many habits, many forms of conditions. 
In this graphic we have the famous Bacchanalias of Rome, the famous orgies and feasts where people abandon themselves to alcohol and sex, indulging in sensual pleasures at the expense of the soul. This is a symbol for us at least in relation to this lecture of how the mind is constantly addicted to sensations and experiences, wanting to engage with certain habits, certain impulses which, when satiated, only come back more hungry with more force. It is the mistake of pop psychology in this day and age that states that by feeding desire you will reach a type of catharsis, meaning that it is nullified, it is annihilated. People commonly believe that by feeding desire, giving into what you want in an egotistical sense, you will satiate that desire and it will go away. The truth is that by feeding desire, you strengthen it. By feeding that negative will, by giving into anger, we feed that anger. We strengthen that cage, as we were speaking of previously. Instead, we have to learn how to restrain that impulse, which is done precisely through the effort of the pure consciousness, which in Gnostic psychology is known as essence, the essence of the divine.
The Sufis emphasize the following in relation to the type of psychology we need to develop and to abandon: Many people talked about the meaning of will, each expressing the extent it has manifested to his heart. Most shaykhs, or teachers, say that will means the abandonment of what has become habitual. What is habitual for people in the vast majority of cases is dwelling in the realms of unconsciousness, basing one's life on the pursuit of the passions, and inclining toward whatever one’s desires call for. The spiritual aspirant is someone who has cast off all this. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So as I mentioned to you, the beginning of accessing real spirituality is overcoming desire. Question: I feel like this is pressing, when you take it all away, are you truly taking it all away? Because there's something that must be left, especially if the desire comes from somewhere. Instructor: Good question. The desire is a cage, is a shell, what we call an ego, a sense of “I” or of self. Within that conditioning, within that shell is the consciousness, part of our soul that's trapped. If we want to develop our spirituality, we have to break those cages, and then you liberate the soul like the genie from Aladdin's lamp, which can grant you the wishes of any spiritual wish you long for. Question: What you're saying is that we've taken the desire to find what's really there? Instructor: Through comprehension of that defect, that desire, we learn to eliminate them and free the energy that's trapped inside, and that builds more consciousness, which develops our willpower further to accomplish greater spiritual works. But, of course, to do that, we have to overcome the Bacchanalia of the mind, meaning the mind's tendency to want to indulge in sensations and negative habits, whether it be through drinking alcohol to excess, or that desire, that craving for sexuality, of indulging with the impulses of the body, but without any sense of spirituality. We talk extensively about how one can learn to use one's physicality, one's body, one's mind, one's heart, and one's sexuality, one's creative energies in the body in order to develop one's spirituality. This is very well known in Tantric Buddhism, known in writings such as The Perfect Matrimony. But in this topic, we're talking about how to abandon the conditions in the mind of desire, of trying to feed cravings that can never be satiated. Instead, to develop equanimity and pure serene will, one has to break the cage. But when I talk about willpower, I don't refer to something rigid, something dogmatic, something impulsive. It refers to an effortless state of consciousness that knows how to act appropriately in any given circumstance. That type of willpower, we can taste it if we learn to meditate and awaken our perception. 
This type of will was illustrated by Jesus of Nazareth in his Passion. We see here in this image, he's praying in the garden of Gethsemane and he physically demonstrated for us the path of spirituality and spiritual will that we need to fulfill in ourselves. Now this path doesn't mean that we have to live like Jesus, meaning physically how he did. Instead, it pertains to how we apply our psyche, our consciousness to adhere to the values he taught. Here he's praying before his passion, knowing that he's going to be crucified, where he stated, “Thy will be done,” meaning “Father, if it is possible, take this cup of bitterness from me, but not my will but Thine be done.” This is a very powerful teaching about how the disciple who enters this teaching or this path finds that there are many forms of bitterness one has to face in relation to confronting one's own impurities, meaning one's defects. Facing certain situations is very challenging, but this is precisely the purging and the furnace in which the silver is extracted from the dross. He says, "Thy will be done, not mine." It is this trust in the divine will, in which our will obeys the will of divinity, in which we can access true peace and overcome our greatest problems. But every one of us will have his own type of Passion; we could say, ordeals, struggles, challenges which we have to face and conquer.
The Sufis teach the following in relation to the relationship between our will and the divine: According to etymology, the disciple is ‘he who possesses will,’ just as the knower is ‘he who possesses knowledge,’ because the word belongs to the class of derived nouns. But in Sufi usage, the disciple is he who possesses no will at all! (Meaning no egotistical will, no self-will, me, myself, mine. It is a will that knows how to obey the divine commandments). Here, one who does not abandon will, (or better said egotistical will) cannot be called a disciple just as linguistically one who does not possess will (meaning conscious will, spiritual will) cannot be called a disciple. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
There's this duality there. It's written in a very enigmatic way to confuse people who were not initiated to the teaching. Instead, it's speaking in a very objective sense, meaning if you want to develop real spirituality, you have to abandon all desire, all self-will, the sense of me, my, and access the true self, which is beyond conditions. That was demonstrated by the path of the will of Christ. In this process, we learn to strive against our own impurities, our own mind.
It is through the path of confronting our own defects in which we learn to acquire true peace. This is known as the doctrine of mujahadah in Arabic, which is where you get the word jihad. The word jihad has many negative connotations today, especially on the news. Sadly, this teaching has degenerated. It's been misappropriated, because the real meaning of the word jihad is not holy war, it is striving to mortify the self, to confront the impurities of the psyche and to change them. Now, Prophet Muhammad was asked by his Companions after they were defending themselves from a group of―I believe it was the Meccans who were trying to kill him, and so rightfully so, he needed to defend himself. The Prophet Muhammad stated: "We are now leaving the lesser holy war to the greater holy war," and the Companions asked, "What, oh Muhammad, is the greater holy war and the lesser holy war?" "The lesser war," he said, "is to defend yourself (or to fight in battle), but the greater holy war is to fight against your own desires (your own defects, your own wishes, and really to do the divine will)."
So, in Arabic there are other words for war, but jihad unfortunately through time has been translated to have that meaning. But jihad means striving to fight against one's own afflictions. This is the basis of spirituality. Confronting and overcoming our own lower self, our conditioned self, and learning to liberate the soul that's trapped in it by comprehending those cages and eliminating them.
So we have the following quote from the Risalah of Qushayri: Principles of Sufism, that elaborates on these points: Know that the foundation and rationale of struggle or striving (mujahadah) is to wean the ego from what is familiar to it and to induce it to oppose its desires (passions) at all times. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
We explained before the ego is this negative self that says, "Me, my, I must have, I must do, I must act." Of course this term ‘ego’ has become popularized in modern culture, especially from the work of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, but in Gnostic psychology, ego is not just one sense of self. It is a multiplicity. Every sentiment, every thought, every feeling, every memory can be associated to different defects, different selves, different fragments of consciousness, conditions that have trapped our soul. As a result of our wrong actions in the past, we created these different fragmentations of self, and it is by learning to comprehend these individual defects in which we learn to destroy them, to liberate the soul. And so the ego as we say refers to this pluralized sense of self, this multiple sense of selves. We can say ego is one, as in an ego, but also ego is the whole conglomeration of defects that we have, which is represented in the bible by the story of Jesus exorcising a man who was possessed by demons, in which the man said, "Leave us alone, Jesus," and Jesus said, "Who are you?" And the man said, "I am Legion, for we are many." It's a symbol of the nature of our soul and it's not just a little history of someone in the past, but something psychological.
We say the ego, animal soul, is animal-like because it only seeks to fulfill its own desire, its own impetus. The ego (animal soul) has two traits that prevent it from good, total preoccupation with cravings, (attraction of pleasure), and refusal of obedience (avoidance of pain and harm). ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
There's this duality of the mind, meaning craving, aversion; to want to feed desire and then want to run away from pain. These are egotistical tendencies.
From Al-Qushayri’s Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism: When the ego is defined in the pursuit of desire, it must be curbed with the reigns of awe of God (meaning the remembrance of the divine presence in us. This is self-awareness). When it stubbornly refuses to conform to God's will it must be steered toward opposing its desires, when it rages in anger [at being opposed], its state should be controlled. No process has a better outcome than the breaking of the power of anger by developing good character traits and by extinguishing its fires by gentleness... ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
...which is why Prophet Muhammad said.
The strongest among you is he who controls his anger. ―Hadith
And Samael Aun Weor, the founder of this tradition, the modern Gnostic tradition stated that:
Kindness is a much more crushing force than anger. ―Samael Aun Weor
We can heal with compassion. We can disarm an enemy with kindness when it is genuine.
And if the soul finds sweetness in the wine of arrogance, (meaning an intoxicated psychological state, which is a symbol of not just physical drinking but indulging in desire, indulging in psychological tendencies that are harmful, which make one drunk and unaware of one's self) it will become incapable of anything but showing off its great deeds and preening itself before anyone who will look at it and notice it. It is necessary to break it of this habit, dissolving it with the punishment of humiliation by the means of whatever will make the soul remember its paltry worth, its lowly origin, and its despicable acts. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So humiliation does not mean we flagellate ourselves like certain sects, whether in the Middle East or Europe, as monks in the Middle Ages did. The type of humiliation we speak of is humility, to be humble. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Or better said, blessed are the non-resentful, meaning to not harbor negative sentiment toward any other person, but instead to receive criticism from a state of humility.
It is really in different circumstances in which we are confronted with conflicts that we can attain the most spiritual growth. In a moment where someone criticizes us and we restrain our pride in order to not retaliate with our verb, we in turn can develop humility. We recognize that sense of self that is attached to what this person says or doesn't do, is really ludicrous. “It shouldn't have any hold on me,” we should say. “Instead, this defect is something I need to work against, and in fact the person who criticizes me is doing me a favor and is opening the doors for my spirituality. Therefore I should pay more attention and work on my own sense of self, which wants to constantly react.” And that is how we humiliate the negative self. We don't give it what it wants, don't feed it. And of course when you don't feed a desire, it comes back and it fights and it becomes very hungry, which is why this is a spiritual battle, spiritual conflict, and a spiritual training. Kabbalah and Self-Discipline
In this graphic we have an image we study extensively in this tradition. This is the Hebraic Tree of Life known in the book of Genesis alongside the Tree of Knowledge. It is a symbol of states of consciousness, levels and qualities of being, from the highest regions of perception above to the lowest level of matter, energy, and perception below. Below we have this sphere of Malkuth which in Hebrew means kingdom. This is our physical body. We're going to explain the nature of this spiritual discipline in relation to this graphic because this graphic can help us understand who we are, where we are, what we need to change, what we need to work against, what we need to work with in relation to the following quote, whereby we study the nature of controlling these animalistic tendencies, animalistic desires which we contain within our subconsciousness and our lower psychological depths.
The following is given by a Sufi master by the name of Hujwiri, in his book Revelation of the Mystery, where he explains how this spiritual discipline is a matter of training the animality of the mind, the instinctiveness, the impulsivity of the mind to always want to satisfy its desires: Does not training, riyadat (this is the Persian word for riyadat, the Arabic word for training) alter the animal qualities of a wild horse and substitute human qualities in their stead so that he will pick up a whip from the ground and give it to his master or will roll a ball with his foot. In the same way, a boy without sense in a foreign race is taught by training to speak Arabic and take a new language in exchange for his mother tongue. And a savage beast is trained to go away when leave is given to it and to come back when it is called, preferring captivity to freedom. Therefore Sahl (a Sufi master he's referring to) and his followers argue. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
Mortification, meaning striving or mujahadah, mortification referring to humiliation of the ego, to confront the ego, to work against it, to fight against it, and to mortify it. The word mort is the prefix for the word death, and this word refers to the death of those animalistic desires in order to preserve the life of the spirit within us. Through death we gain to spiritual life, as Francis of Assisi taught in his famous prayer: "It is in dying that we live and inherit everlasting life," he said.
So therefore his followers argue: Mortification, striving, mujahadah is just as necessary for the attainment of union with God as diction and composition are necessary for the elucidation of ideas. As one is led to knowledge of the creator by assurance that the universe was created by him, so one is led to union with God by knowledge and mortification of the lower soul. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery 
What is it that we need to mortify? We were talking a lot about willpower. In this tree of life we see at the very center of this graphic, the sphere known as Tiphereth in Hebrew, which means beauty. It can also mean resplendence, splendor. This is the beauty of the soul. This is willpower. And it's the center of the tree of life because this is how we access either the heavenly regions above or how we give into desires below.
Below the sphere of Tiphereth we have what's known as Netzach in Hebrew, meaning “Victory” relating to the mind, to thought, to reasoning. To the left we have this sphere of Hod, in Hebrew means “Glory.” This is our sentimentality, our emotionality, our feelings. Below that we have Yesod, meaning “Foundation.” This is our vitality, our energies: that which gives us strength in the morning when we wake up from sleep, that which allows us to physically exist. It can also refer to the energy responsible for our body for producing our biochemistry, our health, our catabolism, our metabolism, our sexual impulses, the energies that give us life physically, etc. Below that, we have Malkuth, which is our physical body. Above that sphere of Tiphereth, this willpower, we have the divine spheres. Below that we have what we can call the inferior soul: mind, emotion, vitality, and physicality. These are things that we typically use in a negative manner, meaning whether we have negative thoughts, negative feelings, or we produce negative actions with our physicality, our body. Our willpower is part of our soul above, and we see that Tiphereth is human soul. It is the capacity for genuine spiritual beauty, because beautiful action is as contingent upon this fear of action. So remember that these are spheres of being, of consciousness, but also expressions of matter, energy, and perception. This also refers to different dimensions of nature, because our psyche exists in different dimensions and even physically we see that we may be aware of thought, feeling, and sensation. Sensation of course relates to our body, but thoughts and feelings themselves aren't necessarily physical, but we sense them. These are senses that belong to a different level of consciousness or dimensionality that all mix and penetrate and co-penetrate without confusion here within us, here and now. This tree is not something outside. It's something inside, something psychological. It refers to dimensions we can access when the physical body is asleep, and we access the world of dreams where we can see these different regions of this tree of a life in a more subtle manner. But this pertains more to our psychology. Above willpower we have the consciousness, which is divine, the Divine Soul. And then we have Spirit, pertaining to our own inner God, our inner Buddha, our true being. Above that we have this famous trinity known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Hebrew it is Kether, Chokmah, and Binah: “Crown,” “Wisdom,” and “Understanding” or “Intelligence.” These are forces. These are not physical people as the church teaches. Instead, it pertains to qualities of energy and perception that are very high. So we have to use our will to control these lower spheres, to control our thoughts, control our feelings, and control our body in order to follow the will of divinity above. Thy will be done―the Spirit and the divine spheres above. Thy will be done on earth, this body, as it is in heaven. It refers to this graphic. We will talk more in depth throughout our courses about the intricacies of this image and different levels and depths of this teaching. But here we're just giving it in a very synthetic way to give you some context. We see that to strive against one's defects is to enter into contemplation. To contemplate the divine, to meditate on the divine is a matter of comprehension. Comprehension is a profound psychological state in which we access divinity here and now. The Sufis emphasize that if you want to know God you have to fight against your own desires. This doesn't mean to flagellate oneself, to become a morbid person, to become negative, to become melancholic or sad or dejected, because if we look in the mind we see there are elements that are very chaotic and that we don't want, but this is no justification for repression or for a self-flagellating type of attitude, like “I am a bad person and therefore I deserve to suffer.” That is totally not what we're speaking about. That is a negative attitude born from ignorance. On the one hand, there is the craving and aversion. There are two extremes: wanting something and wanting to reject something. These are qualities of mind that we typically swing back and forth between in our daily life which is the pendulum that keeps us hypnotized, keeps us unaware. On the other hand, consciousness and this striving against oneself is born from a state of peace, of equanimity, of self-awareness that is not impelled or conditioned or manipulated by those different forces. Instead, it's a state of peaceful mind in which we can see clearly, “Oh, this sense of anger is arising in me. I see it and I'm separate from it and therefore I can develop this opposite which is compassion.” Likewise with fear: “Oh, I understand this element of fear is rising in me therefore I'm going to remember my God who is the life of the galaxy, of the cosmos, of the universe. Therefore why should I feel insecure when my own divinity is responsible for the universe? Therefore there's no need for fear.” Then fear is nullified. We comprehend it. We understand the virtues associated or trapped within that vice, you could say. For every vice we have, every defect, there is a virtue we can develop when we extract the soul from that cage. “Those who strive to the upmost for our sake,” says the Qur’an, “we will guide them into our ways.” (Surah 29, verse 69) [meaning, whoever mortifies himself or strives against his defects will attain to contemplation]. Furthermore, he contends that in as much as the books revealed to the prophets and the sacred law (Shariah, the introductory level instruction), and all the religious ordinances imposed on mankind involve mortification (striving against oneself). They must all be false and vain if mortification was not the cause of contemplation. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
This means if your mind is chaotic, if you sit to relax and observe your mind, to meditate, you find that there are many distractions that emerge, whether they are memories, daydreams, preoccupations, thoughts of what to do later in the day, what happened in the past, any resentments, fears, worries; these are all surging elements that are chaotic. Of course, in the beginning when we observe that fact, many times we become horrified that this state of being is harming us. The truth is we're just becoming aware now for the first time of our daily mindset. One has to be brave and courageous to continue further, meaning to not be dismayed but to have courage and strength in order to face the chaotic mind and in order to confront it, to change it, to achieve equanimity.
It is with a mind that is free of desire, of thinking, of subjective sentimentalism, feeling, etc., in which the lake of the mind can be clear, pure and pristine in order to reflect the starry images and heavens above. Any time we act upon a desire in our mind, or physically, that is like a rock that lands into the lake and causes a ripple. It is like a ripple that disturbs the lake of the mind and becomes agitated. And likewise we need to learn to transform the impressions we receive in life with equanimity and peace of mind, so that that lake does not become agitated. When it's pure and peaceful, calm, serene, then we can reflect heaven above within our psychological interior. Again, both in this world and the next, everything is connected with principles and causes. If it is maintained that principles have no causes then there is an end to all law and order. Neither can religious obligations be justified, nor will food be the cause of repletion and clothes the cause of warmth. ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
There are two levels of individuals, human beings: those of spiritual discipline and those who have attained those heights of contemplation, which is why the following Sufi master, Abu 'l-Sari Mansur Ibn. 'Ammar said the following:
All mankind may be reduced to two types. The man who knows himself and whose business is self-mortification, striving, and discipline, and the man who knows his Lord, whose business is to serve and worship and please him. Accordingly, the worship of the former is discipline, riyadat, (which of course depends on Iradah, willpower, spiritual will) while the worship of the latter is sovereignty, riyasat. The former practice is devotion in order that he may attain a higher degree (the former devotion constituting the introductory level. We practice so that we can eventually experience that truth for ourselves, Haqiqah above). But the latter practices devotion having already attained all. What a vast difference between the two!" ―Al-Hujwiri, Revelation of the Mystery
One is the discipline of the mind, and the other is the discipline of sovereignty. A sovereign is a king or a queen of nature: a being that has fully mastered him or herself. And so we have to ask ourselves, are we kings and queens of nature, meaning are we fully masters of our thoughts, feelings, actions, impulses, or are we impelled by them? That's a question we have to ask ourselves in order to develop our spirituality.
Faith, Belief, and Will
We emphasize throughout these teachings that there's a difference between faith and belief. We see that belief in itself is a concept of the mind, is a sentiment of the heart―feeling and thinking that something is true simply based on that feeling and that thinking without having the experience of that truth. Now we have to emphasize in this teaching that the willpower we seek to enact is what develops genuine faith. Faith is not belief. To believe that something is true is a concept of the mind or of the heart, a sentiment of the heart, whereas we say that genuine faith is knowing from experience. You put certain causes and effect and you will reap the result.
Now based on this definition, we have the following quote from The Dayspring of Youth by the Master Morya. He said the following: Here we think a note upon faith should be of interest. Initiates (or spiritual masters) say that its meaning has been misunderstood. Faith as the world uses it possesses no spiritual nature. Though in the secondary system it means power and energy applied to action. All success in yoga (yoga meaning from the Sanskrit yug, to unite with the divine, or the Latin, religare, religion, to reunite, it is the same meaning) comes from this application. For the true quality of faith is a solar force that illumines the mind and attracts to it atoms of power and energy. More human wrecks have resulted from their misconception of this quality than man realizes. ―M. The Dayspring of Youth
This means it is not enough just to think that something is true or to feel something is true. Those are subjective qualities of the ego. Instead, faith is conscious experience. We know something is true from fact, what we have verified, what gnosis we have gained. And likewise, it is by applying our will to spiritual practice in which we can strengthen that willpower and attain the genuine heights of spirituality, which is why the apostle James stated the following in chapter 2 of his book, verses 14 to 17:
What doth it profit, my brethren, if someone sayeth he hath faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother and sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace and be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead. ―James 2:14-17
Now to conclude this lecture, we'll end with a certain practice you can use to develop spiritual will and develop genuine faith. This is known as the Runic yoga in the Gnostic tradition. The Nordic alphabet is an ancient letter system that implies a very deep yogic practice. Positioning the body in certain postures in order to sing prayer and mantras in order to invoke spiritual energies or in this case in this exercise we have for today, this is known as the Rune Dorn, in order to develop spiritual willpower, or we could say Christ's will. Christ is not just Jesus, but the energy he incarnated, the higher three spheres on the Tree of Life we talked about, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, that tri-unity, that tri-force, which can enter into us when we are prepared.
With this exercise we learn to inoculate our psyche, our body with those high forces, those energies. What you do is you stand with your feet together facing the east when the sun rises. So as soon as you get up from bed, face the east, put your left hand on your left side, your right hand on your right hip, and you pronounce the following mantras: Ta, Te, Ti, To, Tu. Each vowel is prolonged. The sacred sounds when you prolong them and make them vibrate in your body, they activate the glands. They invoke spiritual energies which will invigorate your will and help you to fight against that conditionality and negativity of the psyche.
Simply, this image refers to and looks like a hammer. It is the hammer of Dorn, the God Dorn in Nordic mythology, the God Thor, unfortunately mimicked in Marvel Comics now, but this is a symbol of superior willpower. When you pronounce those mantras prolonged, taaaaaaaaaaa, teeeeeeeeeeee, tiiiiiiiiiii, tooooooo, tuuuuuuuuuu, prolonging each vowel with your full breath inhale, pronounce one of those vowels completely until your lungs are exhausted and then likewise with the next vowel, with ta, te, ti, to, tu.
That activates certain energetic centers in the body, in the psyche known as chakras in Hinduism to activate spiritual faculties. That is how we can strengthen our willpower and give you energy to apply to your spiritual life. If you find that you're sluggish mentally, emotionally, physically, even if you get enough sleep, this is a very powerful practice that invokes those forces, especially if you get up very early in the morning, like five or six, whenever the sun rises, and praying to the divine, you can place your hands on your heart. We do this in the Sufi style or the Egyptian style, right hand over your left over your heart, and whatever words you have naturally, pray to the divine. Say, "My Lord, please grant me spiritual strength in my work in order to fill my heart and soul with peace and with energy." Then do the mantras, like this, the vowels. This is the Runic language or the Runic yoga, which we'll be giving courses about in the future.
Questions and Answers
Question: So we say each of those with one breath?
Instructor: It is “Ta,” one breath, and then the next, “Te,” another breath, and so on with the rest of the vowels. And focus when you mantralize. When you pronounce those sounds, feel the vibration of the vowel in your own mantralization, and focus on the energies that it provokes, and you'll find that it really will, especially if you practice in the morning, when it is good to get up very early and the energies are very conducive to meditate and to pray. This is why the Qur’an teaches the recitation at dawn, how beautiful is that to get up in the morning to pray and to seek remembrance of the divine. It's very powerful. And simply you can do this for ten minutes, you could do it for 30. For however long you feel. Question: It should be done in the morning? Instructor: It can be done in the morning. It's good, better in the morning, but you can do it in the evening too as well, at night. But it is best in morning hours, which are always more conducive for spiritual practice. This develops Christ's will, the will of Christ, the will of the divine in us as it is in heaven. Question: You were discussing how we need to break our mechanical reactivity to life, for example, "If in a moment of anger we can step back from that sentiment, that feeling, and not give into that impulse, that indicates to us that we are controlling and stepping away from that conditioned mind, that negative self, and we are learning to see from a state of objectivity, which in itself creates a serene mind." Similarly, Gurdjieff often writes about the necessity for a man to engage in an internal struggle against his mechanicity; without struggle, there is no possibility to develop autonomy. In my own practice, I get a bit tripped up over this point. Firstly, still being very much asleep, it is difficult to discern if the internal struggle is positive or egotistical. I have a personal tendency toward repression/depression, so while I appear to have considerable restraint at times, I find in meditation that this is often motivated by fear of doing something wrong more than spiritual discipline. I can avoid performing a harmful behavior yet blind myself to the desire provoking it. It seems like at the beginning of our spiritual work, before we have cultivated sufficient psychological equilibrium, we just have to make effort to restrain any will because it is likely selfish desire. However, if this leads to repression, we won't see the unconscious desires that are causing our suffering. Do we need such a strong force of renunciation just to push ourselves to start on the path? How can we aim for the right balance at the beginning? Instructor: Samael Aun Weor explained the following that can help elucidate this topic for you: To experience the Truth is fundamental. It is not by means of exertion that we can experience the Truth. The Truth is not the result; the Truth is not the product of exertion. The Truth comes to us by means of profound comprehension. We need to exert ourselves in order to work in the Great Work and to transmute our creative energies. We need to exert ourselves to live, to struggle and to tread the path of Integral Revolution, but we do not need to exert ourselves in order to comprehend the Truth. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Revolution of the Dialectic
Comprehension takes no effort. It happens when we are observing our psychological states and do not expect anything. We simply see the psychological processes of the mind for what they are, without exertion (justification or morbidity / repression).
When the Sufis speak of striving, they refer to the meditative path of serenity as taught within Buddhism, the nine stages of shamatha. It takes great effort in the beginning to restrain the mind from harmful impulses and to concentrate oneself, yet this effort becomes effortless as we become acclimated to and familiar with such states the further one develops serenity. You can measure how well you are striving against the mind in relation to how much you comprehend in yourself. Are you understanding the causes of suffering more? Are your psychological states more profound and serene? Do you learn to respond to the unpleasant manifestations of your fellow men and women with equanimity and compassion? Or are you stuck in the battle of the antitheses, reacting to life without comprehension or intuition? The ego of shame can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, whereby we see our faults and make the error of reacting egotistically to what we perceive. The solution is to comprehend what shame is, which is inverted pride, the self that takes pride in, “I am a bad person!” It sounds funny, but when you observe this ego, this is how it functions. It thinks it knows what is bad, but it’s just reactionary. It’s a “Gnostic” ego that thinks it is doing the work and which everyone mistakenly creates when on this path. The solution is to develop remorse, which is a conscious quality that recognizes the insignificance of our individual person before the majesty of divinity. Remorse is also the voice of conscience, the beauty and dignity of the human soul: Tiphereth. This occurs by seeing, by observing the process of thought and emotion involved in such a negative state such as shame, without labeling, hiding, or pushing it away. When we comprehend shame, we feel great surprise, a shock of inspiration, since this is the dynamic expression, conscious shock, or intimate realization of our soul that perceives what we are and why we were suffering. We also perceive the beauty of our own soul by recognizing our errors, a recognition which should produce happiness, since “A discovered defect is a dead defect.” While it’s painful to see the reality of our mind, when self-observation and comprehension is profound, we develop joyful perseverance and beautiful action, because with comprehension of any ego in meditation, we also perceive and can understand the virtues trapped in it. Renunciation is developed the more we comprehend the causes of suffering and no longer go back on behaviors that we know are negative. This always strengthens the consciousness the more we face and overcome trials and temptations. We find balance through consistency of practice, by meditating daily on what we perceive in ourselves. We learn from joyfully receiving the unpleasant impressions of our fellow man and learning to act from compassion and awareness in the precise moments when we are on fire, tested and burned by circumstances. We learn through failing many times and struggling, reflecting on our behaviors, and making better choices when ordeals repeat, so that with time and experience, we perceive that we no longer suffer or make others suffer, but respond to difficult conditions with serenity and insight. 
We're continuing our course on self-knowledge and the discussion of the nature of consciousness, perception, awakening, and understanding―that which we call our genuine identity, that which we call the Being, the Innermost, which the Muslims denominated Allah, and the Christians as Chrestos, Christ; likewise, the inner Buddha amongst the Asian esotericists, or Jehovah amongst the Hebrews. This inner intelligence, this inner divinity, we could say Atman in Hinduism, the inner Self, is beyond our terrestrial conceptions of self. We seek to go beyond our current everyday understanding of who we are, to go deeper, to get insight into who we are as a spirit, as an inner Buddha, as a God.
As Jesus of Nazareth taught, “ye are gods, is it not said so in the scriptures?”―and we must learn to become that, which in our very root, we are. But our terrestrial life, our mistaken sense of self, has hypnotized us from actualizing the truth and understanding that for ourselves, from our experience. Our name, our language, our race, our culture, these things in themselves began in time and end in time. But that which is divine is beyond these terrestrial concepts. So if we seek to understand that which is eternal, we must, in turn, confront and transform that which is illusory. We must be willing to make changes in our understanding of self and our perception. So in this lecture we're going to talk more in-depth about consciousness. Last week, we discussed the nature of awakening: what it means to awaken, and we explained that awakening is to become aware of that divine potential―to awaken that consciousness, that soul, that part of us which belongs to divinity. We seek to develop that based on conscious works and practical exercises. So we mentioned a technique we can use to develop that insight. We have many available throughout the literature we provide. In relation to this teaching of self-knowledge, we are practical. We do not rely on theory. We do not rely on belief. We do not rely on a creed, a concept, a flag. Instead, we base ourselves on practical knowledge, that which we verify, that which we know for a fact. We are scientific, we are methodical, and we seek to verify the teachings given in religion―to know that which Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Krishna, Moses taught. We seek to verify that for ourselves and to make it living and concrete. 
So in the spirit of universality, we've been discussing the nature of self-knowledge as given in the Middle East, to emphasize that this knowledge is not only contingent upon the teachings of the Christians or the Buddhists or the Kabbalists of Israel, but also the Muslim initiates, the Muslim teachers, who in the Middle East gave this doctrine known as Islam, which in Arabic means 'to submit'. So we teach the esoteric or hidden meaning of that tradition, and in the spirit of inclusivity and taking an eclectic approach, we've been discussing this science of relation to the mystical doctrine of Sufism.
So we're going to elaborate on this teaching more in depth, but we seek to submit to our divine will, to our divinity through practice, through a systematic discipline. The primary practice we engage with is meditation, as we'll be explaining and leading up to this introductory course. We have this image of a Muslim master who is kneeling in prayer, and likewise we must learn to develop that connection with the divine that we seek. The Definition of Consciousness
What is consciousness? There are many definitions of this term. In the basic sense we think of consciousness as a physical state of awareness, to know that one is thinking, that one is feeling, and that one is acting. But consciousness in its most profound sense is spiritual. It is the root of perception. It is the root of who we are fundamentally. Consciousness does not pertain to thought; it is beyond thought. Consciousness does not pertain to emotion. It is beyond emotion. Consciousness is beyond the body, but it uses the body. It is beyond impulse, instinct, sensation.
When we sit to practice and to observe ourselves, observe our body as we practice that exercise of Anapana, which is breath work, we become aware that thoughts emerge, sustain, and pass. Likewise, emotions emerge, sustain, and pass. So also with the sensations of our physicality, like clouds or a mirage that disappears as we approach it. If we learn to observe ourselves in this manner, and to realize that we are not thought, that we are not emotion, we are not the body, the question remains as to what we are in our fundamental depth. Consciousness is not thought, as I mentioned, but it can use thought. Consciousness is not emotion, but it has its own profound sentiment, which is pure and divine, its own longings, aspirations, fears, but not from an egotistical sense, of a crippling sense as that implies. Likewise, consciousness is not the impulses that emerge within our psyche, such as a desire to go running or walking, or to eat something, to read, to perform some type of physical activity. Consciousness emerges and is before these experiences emerge, and so when we develop that, we learn to perceive ourselves not as these elements but something beyond that. Our consciousness is something dynamic. It is not limited to thinking, concept, thesis, antithesis, belief, disbelief. Likewise, consciousness is not limited to a feeling of like or dislike, of pleasure or pain, attraction or lack of attraction, and the same with the body, to do or not to do. Consciousness is beyond these elements and possesses its own dynamism, its own dynamic qualities, which we need to experience and verify. We begin to see as we observe ourselves that there are two types of consciousness. There's consciousness that is conditioned by thought, feeling, and will―thought, feeling, and impulse. There's consciousness that is conditioned by those elements. There is a type of awareness involved with thinking, feeling, and acting. But in this dynamic and very expansive science, we begin to see that consciousness cannot be limited just to those aspects that we commonly and currently experience. It's something beyond that. In Sufism, we say that the soul is known as nafs or nafas, which in Arabic means breath. The soul is like breath, it is like breathing, which is why when we practice Anapana, awareness of our breathing in our body, we begin to become aware of not only our physicality, but our thinking, our feeling, and our body. The Sufis explain that nafas can be conditioned or unconditioned based on our will, what we do with it, how we act, how we behave. The unconditioned consciousness in this study, in Gnostic psychology, we denominate with essence, the soul, that purity of consciousness that belongs to God, that belongs to the stars, to Urania, the heavens. Then there's the subjective self, which is all our negative qualities such as fear, anger, resentment, pride, hate, anxiety, suspicion, and doubt, greed. That vast plethora of qualities that we denominate as the ego in these studies: this sense of self, this I, me, who I am, what I believe in, who I consider myself to be. Ego in Latin means I, self. And if we begin to observe ourselves, we see that we, in turn, are not one self. Every thought, every feeling, every impulse is a sense of self that emerges within the screen of our awareness and seeks to act to define itself to do, to fulfill its wants; it is desire. These desires, these different selves, are different senses of self, identity, different qualities, which are related to each other, as in a train of thought. If we are aware of ourselves we see that one memory brings about another, one thought brings about another, and through a chain of association, leads us into a state of slumber, a lack of awareness. It is the sleep of our unconditioned consciousness, our soul, which produces our suffering. If we learn to awaken that pure potentially, that pure consciousness is what grants us access to the divine mysteries. It is that sense of consciousness that does not pertain to self, me, myself. It is perception, but it is not self as we think of it. Yes? Question: So the unconditioned you said is the extension of God in itself? Instructor: Yes. Question: And the conditioned consciousness is essentially anything that's an antithesis of that, and anything that is masking that, anything that is trying to define it? 
Instructor: Yes. That conditioned consciousness is the adversary of God, which in Hebrew is Shatan, which is where we get the word Satan. In this image, we see the Angel Michael defeating the monster or the devil. This is a symbol of how the light of pure consciousness, which is not conditioned, defeats the tenebrous and negative self, which is that sense of self or desire trapped or expressing as fear, hate, pride, vanity, and the seven deadly sins as we know of. So that conditioned self is we call ego or egos. It is desires that are in conflict with each other, and which fight and combat one another for predominance in order to express itself and gain the object of its desires. So it is that precise sense of self or selves, which we mistake for the divine, which produces our suffering.
Question: Does anything come out of this fight? Is this fight... Well, you know, obviously not pointless, because if the fight wasn't going to happen, the fight wouldn't be happening. But I guess what comes out of it then, if Michael here is defeating the monster? What is now attained, or at least maybe not lost, by the monster being defeated? Instructor: Excellent question. So we have to understand ... The thing we must understand is that part of our divine consciousness is trapped within that conditioning. This is the myth of the genie of Aladdin's lamp, the genie, the genii, the jinn, the soul is encased, encapsulated and shelled within that negativity. And so we have to learn how to break those shells, break that conditioning so that the soul, which is trapped, can be liberated. Precisely, this is the path of consciousness, the path of self-knowledge. We gain knowledge by defeating the dragon because that dragon has stolen the maiden. That maiden is our pure essence or pure soul, which needs to be freed, which needs to be conquered. That is to attain the marriage of the knight with his maiden, the warrior with his lady. The Three Types of Soul in the Qur’an
So we state that in this path of developing that pure consciousness, we could say that there are three types of soul, three stages, three demarcations, which are taught within the Qur’an, the holy book of the Muslims, but also within the Sufi doctrine. We say that there is a carnal soul, there is a blaming soul, and then there's also a peaceful soul. In the beginning, the soul is carnal. It is enmeshed within passion, within desire, within the negative product of mistaken action, encased in fear, and these subjective elements.
So that carnal soul is mentioned in the book of, or in the surah of Yusuf or Joseph, the 12th surah of the Quran, verse 53, where Joseph who is imprisoned by his own brothers stated: Yet I do not absolve my own carnal soul (in Arabic, nafs al-Ammara). For the carnal soul, indeed, prompts men to evil except in as much as my Lord has mercy. Indeed, my Lord is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. ―Qur'an 12:53
There's also a next gradation in which we recognize that we have a polluted soul, because that soul is enmeshed within hate and fear and the elements of suffering or elements that cause suffering; we are carnal of the flesh below, terrestrial. But there's a soul that knows how to reproach itself that is beginning to develop and change, which is beginning to conquer that lower animal nature, we could say: those animal-like qualities of conditioned consciousness.
In the Qur’an, this soul is mentioned in the verse, or the surah known as the Resurrection, verse 2: And I swear by the self-blaming soul, the self-reproaching soul. ―Qur'an 75:2
Likewise, there is a third type of gradation, which is the soul at peace, referring to those beings who have fully perfected the consciousness. That conditioned consciousness has been purified and now the consciousness, that is fully elaborated and expressed within the divine, has fully reunited with that source.
Oh, soul at peace, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing. ―Qur'an 89:27-28
Likewise, the blaming self is known as nafs-e-lawwama, and the soul at peace is nafs-e-mutmainna in Arabic. So these are three stages of how the soul achieves perfection, and that is really the goal of self-knowledge. We gain knowledge by comprehending our mistakes, changing them, and not going back to them, but instead learning to transform the nature of our mind and those lower qualities, which obscure the very light of understanding in ourselves.
In relation to talking about consciousness, these qualities, which really are the impetus and produce the consequences of suffering, these are the factors that we need to transform. In Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri, a famous Sufi master, he says the following about the lower self, the nafs or egos: The first part of the constitution of the nafs consists of things forbidden by the command of God or by respect for this majesty. The second of its two parts consists of trivialities and vileness of character in general. In particular, it is made up of pride, anger, hatred, envy, bad behavior, intolerance, and the other blame-worthy characteristics. The worst and most difficult of the elements of the ego is it's supposing that there's something good about itself, or that it has a right to some standing. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
This is why many people today deify and enthrone hate, pride, self, egotism. “This quality is counted as secretly attributing equals to God.” In the Muslim doctrine, the Qur’an speaks often about shirk, to not join partners with God. In the public sense, in the exoteric sense of the religion, it refers to not worshiping other deities besides Allah, which is a very basic and superficial understanding. Instead, in a conscious sense, to not practice shirk, to practice the unity of God, is to take all the parts of the soul that are trapped in those defects, to free them and unite them all with that light, with the divine.
Anytime we act on fear, on gluttony, on resentment, that is performing shirk because the soul that belongs to God is trapped in that. If we enact that mistaken sense of self, it is perpetuating our suffering, and that's a form of, we can say, in a very strict sense, blasphemy. Because the Lord wants to take all that soul that belongs to him and bring it back to the source. This is why the Bible says that God is a jealous God. There is another form of soul mentioned by the Muslim esoterism, known as nafs al-iblissiyya, the "souls" of Iblis, the devil. The devil is not just a historical figure from some ancient past, but represents a psychological truth about us, here and now. These souls of the devil are the pluralized ego, the multiple selves, like pride, vanity, fear, laziness, lust, gluttony, all the qualities of the lower, carnal soul. Each defect, as we said, is a conditioned and conditioning element, a self that has its own thoughts, feeling, and impulses that never obeys the will of divinity. This spiritual work is focused on destroying the ego, so that the unconditioned consciousness can flourish. In this way, we guard our breaths against God Most High, as the Sufis states repeatedly in Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism. We must learn to guard our consciousness moment by moment, to not speak vain things, to not act upon the ego, but learn to work against our faults so that we can transform our lives. 
The Three Brains
But let us talk more about how we can develop that unconditioned soul. In Gnostic psychology we refer to three brains. The word brain in the esoteric sense refers to a machine, not just the physical cerebral matter in our skull. A brain is a center of physiological and psychological activity. We are commonly affiliated with the intellectual brain, which is where we process thoughts. By brain, we're not only referring to just the physical aspect of the soul or of the body. We're referring also to mechanisms in the soul, how the soul functions through the brain because mind is independent of the physical matter. The physical brain is merely a machine or tool that processes the thoughts of the mind, which exist beyond physical matter.
Likewise, the emotional brain processes emotion, sentiment, like, dislike. And the emotional brain is the physical manifestation in the heart and its nervous centers that process feeling. Likewise, we have a brain related to movement, instinct, and sexuality, which is impulse or will. We state that the soul can express through these centers or these brains. These machines process forces that belong to the cosmos and belong to our psyche. We need to learn how to use those energies inherent in those centers in order to use them for our spiritual work. The Sufis also teach this, that the soul is not just independent from the body, but is expressed through the body, and that we should learn how to use our intellectual center, our emotional center, and our motor-instinctive-sexual center, these three brains, thought, feeling, and movement, in accordance with the divine will. So the lower consciousness or lower soul, the egos, can manifest in our thoughts, or feelings, or actions. But the soul also can use this machine of the body to process superior thought, superior emotion, and superior action. So the Sufis teach in Al-Risalah, Principles of Sufism, the following: The whole cure of character is the abandonment and breaking of the ego through suffering hunger, thirst, and wakefulness, and through other sustained efforts including the breakdown of strength (we could say egotistical strength, our attachments). For that is also part of the general abandonment of the ego. ―Al-Qushayri, Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism
So how do we break the ego? How do we abandon the ego? We must learn to suffer hunger, thirst, and wakefulness. To be hungry as a psyche is to not feed our mind and our body, our impulses with substances or impressions that will damage our psyche, that will deepen our state of suffering―such as watching movies that are very violent, very aggressive, with foul language―these elements enter the mind, the mind transforms them, processes them, and they become further conditions of the psyche.
We feed our mind and our heart and our body not just with physical food, but with what type of experiences we surround ourselves with. Divinity has established its own commandments in accordance with religion: don't drink, don't smoke, don't commit adultery, don't commit fornication, whether it’s through the Ten Commandments of Moses or the ten meritorious and non-meritorious actions of Buddhism. Each religion has its own structure or laws, commandments that can guide us to live a superior life. The Sufis and the Muslims say that one should not eat that which is unlawful, which people think refers to Halal, which is the Muslim equivalence of observing a kosher diet. But psychologically we need to become Halal, holy, meaning to eat substances or to take impressions that are going to be beneficial, such as good literature, good books, good music, things that will elevate our way of being. So we have to suffer hunger, meaning that when we begin to restrain our mind, the ego becomes hungry, it fights, it wants to be fed, it wants to sustain itself. Likewise, thirst, thirsty for impressions that would feed that pride or fear or anger, which we used to indulge in. Wakefulness, of course, is how we attain that fasting of the soul to not identify with those elements, to not let them carry one away, and to learn to change them. This implies that the ego is a subtle entity, seated in the physical body, which is the locus of blameworthy characteristics. The ruh (or you can say in Hebrew ruach), the soul, is likewise a subtle entity seated in the body, which is the locus of praise-worthy characteristics. The whole is subjugated one part to the other and that totality is one human being. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
So this machine of the body and of the psyche can process good fuel or bad fuel depending on what we take in and also how we act.
The Path of Life and the Path of Being
Which brings us to this next slide, an image that we repeat and go over in many lectures due to its importance. In this graphic, we have the intersection of a horizontal and vertical beam. That horizontal line refers to life. On the left we have our birth, followed by our childhood. Moving towards the right we have marriage, old age, sickness, and death. This horizontal line of life is mechanical.
Birth and death process themselves cyclically. The soul goes beyond and transmigrates as we teach in other lectures in accordance with the Hindu doctrine. These elements that we consider to be ourselves, as I mentioned, “my language, my name, my culture, my race, my political beliefs, my ideology,” these things come with time and they pass in time. They're transient; they're not eternal. That is all demarcated by this horizontal line, which is the path that everybody follows. It is 100% mechanical, as I mentioned. People go through life without any type of spiritual longing or inquietude, a desire for something more. Those that do, sadly, fall into habits and beliefs in order to encapsulate further within an ideology, a political system, or a religion in a conceptual way. These all belong to the horizontal beam. One can be very devout in one's religion, practice austerities, fulfill the commandments of Islam or Judaism or Buddhism, and yet have no cognizant experience of what those religions teach. One thing is the form, to adopt it as a behavior, but this does not denote knowledge, cognizance, or understanding. That which we want to develop in ourselves is this vertical path. This vertical beam refers to states of consciousness. Above, we have superior states of consciousness known as heavens, Jannat or nirvana, heavenly states or qualities of being. Then we have inferior states referring to that conditioned lower consciousness known as nafs, egos, selves, which is the submerged aspect of this vertical beam. As we talked about in the lecture on awakening, there are those who learn to awaken that free consciousness and ascend upward to heaven, to the divine. But there are those also who knowingly feed their hatred and their fear, and their pride, and deepen their suffering, and they descend that vertical path. When we are walking the spiritual path, we seek to become aware of the present instant. Everything is contingent upon our awareness of our moment. Who are we in this instant? What is passing through our mind? What is our emotional state? What impulses are emerging within us? The primary foundation of meditative science is self-awareness, which in many teachings is very popular today. Awareness is necessary and fundamental to accessing the very deep knowledge we seek. So consciousness, self-observation, awareness of self is found precisely in this moment, where these two beams intersect. Our mechanical way of life intersecting with a spiritual way of life. It has nothing to do with outward behavior, although it can be reflected by that. It refers to inner states or qualities of being, ways of being. So what is the best way to worship that, which is divine, is to be aware of our present, and to be aware of the presence of God. The word awareness in Arabic is muhadarah, which comes from the root word hudur meaning presence. So to be aware of that superior quality of divinity relates to the presence of God, to be aware of that. We call that self-remembering, to remember the divine in our consciousness. That's something we have to taste. No one can teach us this. It has to be verified and lived in ourselves and we will make many mistakes, and we will stumble, and we will commit errors, but as the Qur’an teaches, God calls unto whomever He wills as He wills, and will repeatedly bring us back to the present if we keep forgetting to observe ourselves. That's the challenge, the battle we go through. In the beginning, we see that we are not aware. We're observing, then we get carried away by a memory or a preconception or preoccupation of work or family or whatever. That continually pulls us and distracts us from the present moment. The best act of worship is watchfulness of the moment (says al-Wasiti from the book Principles of Sufism). That is that the servant not look beyond his limit, nor contemplate anything other than his Lord, and not associate with anything other than his present moment. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
The aspect of not associating with anything other than the moment is obvious: not to daydream, not to think about the future, or the past. Neither should one contemplate anything other than his Lord, meaning: to not identify with those negative, subjective qualities. When we see them emerge in our psyche, we don't act on them. We develop restraint. This is the self-blaming soul that is reproaching those lower qualities and is separating from them. This does not refer to a zombie-like, nonchalant, or laconic state where one has no feeling. Instead, it is a very pure and expansive quality.
Remembrance needs to be made continuous, which is known as Dhikr Allah, remembrance of God or invocation of God. Dhikr means remembrance in Arabic. The following teaching is given about remembrance by al-Wasiti. He was asked about the practice of remembrance and said: It is leaving the enclosed court of unconsciousness for the vast space of contemplation, through the power of fearing Him and the intensity of loving Him. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
So contemplation is a very technical term referring to cognizance, understanding, experience, witnessing. If you are familiar with Islam they pronounce the famous Shahada which is, "I give testimony that there's no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet." Contemplation is mushahadah, to witness, to know. We could say a real Muslim is someone who has that experience, who knows God from meditation and from insight. Also, we gain that understanding through fearing him and in loving him. To fear does not refer to the lower qualities of the ego. It is a type of reverence. The word fear could be synonymous with reverence, respect for the teachings given by the divine so that we follow them and really fear the consequences of behaving in a bad way.
Also, we have the following verse from the Quran about the nature of remembrance. This is from "The Thunder," Surah 13, verse 27: Truly God leads astray whomsoever He wills, and guides to Himself whomsoever turns in repentance, those who believe and whose hearts are at peace in the remembrance of God, are not hearts at peace in the remembrance of God (meaning to have that presence within oneself and to not stray from that). ―Qur'an 13:27 
The Allegory of the Cave
That's something we develop progressively, through a process, which is illustrated by this famous art work about Plato's allegory of the cave. Plato in The Republic, who is, by the way, a Gnostic initiate, Gnostic master, taught the nature of four ways of consciousness, four states of consciousness in this famous philosophical Allegory of the Cave. In this image we see a group of enchained people with their necks, hands, and legs caged or chained against the wall, and they're left in darkness. They see across from them the shadows projected from a fire that's beyond the wall from which they are situated with their backs turned. There are people crossing back and forth before the fire carrying different objects, plates, pottery, different dishes, et cetera, which would project through the fire in the cave to those objects, and project shadows against the wall.
In this myth, we find that someone or a few people very rarely are freed from their chains and are taken to face the fire behind the wall. Of course, this is a gradual explanation about that which some philosophers denominate the nature of finding the truth. But here we're going to explain how that relates to states of consciousness specifically in relation to the Greek mysteries. Someone is freed, and, of course, when they face the fire they're blinded. They cannot withstand the intensity of the light because they've been in shadow for so long. Afterward, they adjust; they begin to see precisely where the source of those shadows came from. Whereas, the people against the wall have no conception. They have only seen shadows, they have many concepts, and theories, and beliefs about what those shadows represent, not knowing what's behind them, what's the source. Afterward, by the work of a guru, of a teacher, of a master, or a prophet, this prisoner is taken outside of the cave is dragged, forced out. This is a very terrible experience, but one that is necessary in which one must let go of one's comforts in this cave, and finally is let out into the expanse of the wilderness outside of the mountain. From there, one witnesses the stars for the first time. Of course, the light is very difficult to adjust to according to Socrates, Plato's teacher. Afterward, he sees the sun for the first time, the light and the expanse of the countryside. This is a symbol of psychological states emerging from sleep, of conditioned mind, to unconditioned mind. We see that the people in the shadows are those who have the lowest state of consciousness. They have no self-awareness. They see shadows or nothing. If they see shadows on the wall, we could say those are different beliefs, concepts, ideologies that people project in their mind, on the screen of their understanding. We denominate that psychological darkness, that complete lack of understanding, those shadows, Eikasia in Greek. Eikasia refers to barbarianism, war, complete unconsciousness, a state of darkness, a way of being, which we could see is exemplified by the violence that is occurring today. We simply have to look at the news to see Eikasia in action. But also there is a state known as Pistis, which is when one sees those different shadows on the wall, which are the different beliefs, ideas of humanity. Eikasia means imagination. It's a type of sight, but in the darkness. It is like a nocturnal sight or unconsciousness. One is perceiving, but one isn't aware―this is the terrible irony. People who fulfill acts of violence are not aware of the consequences, or if they are, they don't see it objectively. Therefore, they are perceiving imagination, Eikasia: they see in the dark. Pistis is belief, from the word pisteuo. It is to have a concept, an idea, something to think about that a person adheres to very diligently. Those people in the cave, when they see the shadows, firmly believe that the shadows are one way, philosophy, political party, religion, belief system, or concept, which are represented according to the projections of their mind and they conflict and they argue with each other. Question: Is maybe Pistis a reaction to what you perceive? Instructor: Yes, and all the concepts and beliefs that people have about the mysteries of life and death are just reactions to life, beliefs which don't have any real substance. Beyond that is Dianoia: when someone sees the fire, one has insight. Dianoia refers to revision of belief, to change one's way of thinking. That is awakened consciousness. Notice that these first two states, Eikasia and Pistis, refer to the darkness and the shadows, ignorance. The higher two states of consciousness, the unconditioned states of consciousness, refer to Dianoia and Nous, as we'll explain. Dianoia again, means imagination, but this is a conscious way of seeing without filter, without obscuration. Question: Is this maybe perceiving like a purpose? Instructor: It is perceiving one's self, one's mind, one's heart, one's body, and perceiving the external world without any type of subjectivity, to see it clearly. In this state, we begin to revise our way of thinking, meaning we used to think we are one way but then we see that we are not from the perspective of that active observation. Question: To see it as it is? Instructor: Yes, Dia means “to stand side to side, thoroughly, to step aside” from that which is subjective, to step aside from the conditions in the mind. This is a new way of seeing ourselves. This is awareness, self-observation. When someone escapes from the cave after that long trek and sees the sun for the first time, that is the state of Nous. That is the light of the divine, fully unobstructed, fully manifest: that pure light, which the Gnostics call Christ, that intelligence or consciousness beyond limitation, which is cosmic. That sun is precisely the complete, unconditioned mind, freedom, peace, pure insight or understanding. One thing to mention in this graphic we see some Latin: Lux venit in mundum et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras quam lucem erant enim eorum mala opera―in synthesis saying, "Because the light came into the world and men love darkness rather than the light for their works were evil." So those who are in the cave are attached to their beliefs, the cage of the mind, the cave of the ego. And those who obtain freedom become known as prophets, masters, avatars, because they eventually have to come back down in order to teach others, to guide them, and to show them the way, the truth, and the life. But of course, they are persecuted, stoned, poisoned, killed, murdered, et cetera. 
Kabbalah and Levels of Consciousness
So we talked about levels of being, levels of consciousness, which is mapped out in this image. This is known as the Tree of Life, the Hebraic Kabbalah. The important thing to remember is that the word kabel in Hebrew means “to receive,” to receive knowledge. While we study this image, this graphic of states of consciousness, levels of being, these in turn, serve us to understand our experiences in meditation or out of the body in dream yoga. This tree of life is represented in the Book of Genesis, which is a book of the Gnostics. This graphic shows us the heights of consciousness, of Nous, noetic thought, which is that sun, that trinity above, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which in Hebrew known as Kether, Chokmah, Binah.
Likewise, that energy, that consciousness descends into lower levels of matter, energy, and expression. In the middle triangle we have spirit, consciousness, and will, Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphereth in Hebrew. Likewise, we have the lower quaternary, these lower four spheres, mind, emotion, vitality, and physicality, referring to Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malkuth. This is an image that we study very deeply, which we talk about very extensively, which we'll cover in synthesis here. But this is a map to help us understand consciousness, where we are, who we are. We talk a lot about mind, heart, and impulse, referring to these four lower spheres, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, our vitality, and Malkuth, our physical body. We are here in the physical body, but we notice that in the present moment, mind, emotion, feeling, instinct―these things are manifest in this body. So this entire Tree of Life is not something foreign, outside of us. It's inside; it's here with us, here and now. We can experience those higher states even in our physical body. But of course, with training we learn to put the body in a physical state of rest, and then we go out in order to ascend those heavenly realms and to receive the knowledge we seek. This image of the three circles above refers to Ain, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur, in Hebrew meaning the nothingness, the limitless, and the limitless light. Again, that limitless light, this outer circle, is the sun that Plato referred to, the Absolute, the good, the pure, which is what we aspire towards. We learn through beginning in this body how to ascend this tree and to know that light for ourselves. The following is given by Ibn al-Karbala'i in his book Rawdat al-jinan: When the seeker realizes the station of contemplation (Mushahida or to witness), which is witnessing God's essence, (the purity of that light), comprehending and encompassing all phenomena, "Does not your Lord suffice, since He has witnessed over all things?" (Qur'an 41:53), he continually witnesses lights from the mundus invisibilis, the invisible world. ―Ibn al-Karbala'i, Rawdat al-jinan
So in meditation, when we begin to witness that truth, we begin to see images, dream experiences that are not subjective, but objective, without obscuration in the mind. When we develop ourselves and when we realize that quality in ourselves, we begin to witness this Tree of Life in meditation, whether it's the top trinity or whatever aspect or sphere which God seeks to teach us about, which is us, ourselves, our true nature. In meditation, we can perceive lights, clairvoyant images, qualities of perception that are beyond our physical senses.
From such a mystic’s perspective, this world and the hereafter are one and the same. This can only be realized by a vision that is all heart and spirit, not a view bound by mere mud and mire. ―Ibn al-Karbala'i, Rawdat al-jinan
So what is that view of heart and spirit? It is Dianoia and Nous. Dianoia, meaning revision of beliefs, spiritual, and intellectual culture, synthetic understanding, revision of concepts, self-analysis, self-awareness, self-observation, self-understanding. Nous is purely illuminated intellect, superior mind, God-consciousness, in which we are one with the Lord in us, and one perceives through that light. But of course, that view of mud and mire pertains to Eikasia and Pistis, belief and ignorance. Again, this image is referring to the heavens, what we aspire to.
The following quote, I think I mentioned previously, but I re-emphasize because it's very poignant in terms of this understanding of self-knowledge: Wherever the delusion of "yourself" appears, there's hell. Wherever "you" aren't, that's heaven. ―Abū Sa'īd in Ibn Munawwar: Asrār at-tawḥīd
So who is this “you” we're referring to? It means ego. When there's no conditioned mind, when there's no subjective sense of self, when there is no fear, no pride, no gluttony, no lust, when there is only pure unconditioned soul, one can experience that heaven. It is a state of mind. This map also refers to places that we can visit in the dream state. These are dimensions, levels of being, but more importantly, it refers to who we are moment by moment―qualities of consciousness. So we have to get out of the way, meaning we, as an ego, need to be eliminated so that pure light can be extracted and brought back to the source. Which brings us to the next point about how we do so.
Awareness, Disclosure, and Contemplation
In this image, we have adhan, which is a call to prayer. The Muslims they pray five times a day, which is a very beautiful teaching about the need to develop discipline in one's practices. Likewise, as they pray five times a day, in Gnosis we pray moment by moment. We do not limit ourselves to just particular moments of the day, although we do many exercises and practices and disciplines that we engage with. But prayer and awareness is a moment by moment without respect to time, to be aware of the present.
So how do we become aware? What do we need to do? The following is given by al-Jurayri, he's a Sufi master. Again, he synthesized in this very brief statement how we learn to develop and gain self-knowledge of the divine. Again, this is from Al-Qushayri’s Principles of Sufism. He said that: Whoever does not establish awe of duty in vigilance and his relationship to God will not arrive at disclosure of the unseen or contemplation, (mushahadah) of the divine. ―Al-Risalah: Principles of Sufism by Al-Qushayri
What is this awe of duty? Reverence, respect, to feel the duty to engage with meditation and practices that are going to benefit our soul. Self-observation, self-remembering, and mantras, many exercises we teach in this tradition, that we engage with in order to develop disclosure of the unseen, which sometimes is referred to as unveiling. Because as we learn to work with positive forces, with mantras, sacred sounds, we invoke divine forces into our psyche, in order to help us control the lower self. These energies, in turn, help us to awaken perception. And so meditation, different exercises of yoga we engage with, these, in turn, help us to expand our consciousness and feed it with the forces that are going to benefit us. That is awe of duty, to have that reverence and respect for the practices and to engage in them repeatedly, daily so that we can tear the veil that covers the mystery. That is the unveiling we seek and the witnessing of the divine, in which we see beyond the veil of our subjective self in order to experience the truth.
We need energy to do so. Consciousness is empowered by forces, which we need to identify and understand. So we are teaching in relation to the Kabbalah those ten spheres or ten modalities of consciousness; those are also forms of energy and matter, from the most subtle, from the top to the most basic and material below. These forces help us when we learn to control them, to aid our spiritual life. 
We included in this image Perseus having slain the Medusa. This is another myth from Greece, very beautiful, that teaches how the hero, the soul has to fight against the devil. How the master, the spiritual initiate or disciple learns to overcome the ego, decapitates it, conquers it, destroys it. Precisely, Medusa's power is in its hypnotism and its conveying men into stone whenever the gaze or their eyes would lock and their gaze would meet. This is a symbol of how Medusa, the ego, the negative self, turns men into habitual creatures, into fragments of stone, symbolizing habits, which become ingrained with experience and time.
There are many people who have habits following that horizontal path of life we were discussing, and they never change them, and we all have certain qualities and habits that we engage with that make us into figures of stone, something that's immovable and frozen, trapped within the confines of the cave, the darkness of the mind, in Plato’s Republic. Whereas the qualities of consciousness we seek to develop are free, liberated, unconditioned. So, how does Perseus kill Medusa? In this myth, it is very beautifully taught. He uses the reflection on the shield to perceive Medusa next to him, and with his sword, cuts off its head. That reflection refers to conscious perception, to perceive with conscious imagination. To see the ego without identifying with it. To see the quality of mind that needs to be changed and observing it, and working on it, and finally decapitating it, but not looking directly at the ego, not looking directly at the defect itself and identifying with it, because to feel oneself in that quality is to become that quality. We become what we think, as Buddha taught, “mind precedes phenomena.” We must learn to not identify with those qualities. To observe them, to see them objectively and with the sword of insight, of wisdom―represented by Manjushri's image of a Buddha wielding a sword and cutting through illusion with fire―likewise we learn to conquer Medusa, which is the nafs, the lower soul. We included also an important quote from Samael Aun Weor in the modern Gnostic tradition, "Wherever we direct attention, we expend creative energy." So when we identify with an ego, we give energy to it, but if we don't identify with it, we feed and empower our consciousness. We must learn how to redirect attention, how to direct our mind, how to observe ourselves, how to act, how to think, how to feel. because every action produces a consequence. Every internal state produces an effect, and we must learn to understand the cause and effect relationship. This path of Self-realization, the realization of the Divine Truth within us, is precisely found by eliminating the undesirable elements of the mind. So, we need to learn, how do we spend our energy? How do we use our intellectual energy? How do we use our emotional energy? How do we use our physical, vital, and sexual energy? We will explain in relation to Tibetan Buddhist teachings on Tantra. 
Energy in the Kabbalah
Again, this image of the Kabbalah we're now discussing is in relation to forms of energy. So, to elaborate on these spheres, we have physical energy below in the first sphere cutting up to the top of the middle or the middle triangle. Likewise, we have the second sphere, which is vital energy, followed by emotional or psychic force, followed by mental energy on the right, the fourth sphere, mind and intellect. Likewise, we have volitional or energy-related to willpower, which is this fifth sphere. Likewise, we have conscious energy, which is what we deeply seek to access through meditation and through self-observation relating to the sixth sphere. Then we have the seventh sphere, which is spiritual energy, which is the Divine. The spirit is God. “The soul is acquired, but the spirit is,” we say.
Above that are higher forms of energy known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, known as the First, Second, and Third Logos, Christ in synthesis. Not just Jesus of Nazareth but the energy he embodied. So, we must learn how to use these energies and to recognize their usefulness in place, to remember that these forces cannot be manipulated or used without consciousness, without the soul being in dominance of them, which is why Samael Aun Weor wrote the following in The Great Rebellion: No matter how much we might increase our strictly mechanical energy, we will never awaken consciousness. No matter how much we might increase the vital forces within our own organism, we will never awaken consciousness. Many psychological (or you could say emotional) processes take place within us without any intervention from the consciousness. However great the disciplines of the mind might be, mental energy can never achieve the awakening of the diverse functions of the consciousness. Even if our willpower is multiplied infinitely, it can never bring about the awakening of the consciousness. All these types of energy are graded into different levels and dimensions, which have nothing to do with the consciousness. Consciousness can only be awakened through conscious work and upright efforts. ―Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
So, as I said, we need to conserve our intellectual, emotional, and physical energy. We need these forces to exist. Someone who has no vital energy is either asleep or is dying, is sick. When the vitality leaves the body, that vital force or vital body, we could say, the vehicle of energy, when it leaves the body, the physical body dies. It decays. We need these forces in harmony, but the consciousness must use them. So, even if we multiply these forces, we perhaps get a lot of exercise physically, we do a lot of energetic exercises such as yoga and mantras, meditation. We may engage with prayer of the heart. We may study a lot. These things in themselves are good, but they must be done consciously. The soul must be in command of them.
Question: So, for example, how you stated you could be living out or carrying out a doctrine as in like the rules of the church or rituals and such but not believing or knowing anything about that religion, so, it'd be like basically doing that, just working and doing consciousness, but not doing it consciously, or like doing religious practices to build upon your spirituality? Instructor: When one practices, one needs to practice as if one's brushing one's teeth. We do it for our benefit. Not necessarily because we want to spend the time or enjoy it, but we do it because it's necessary to our hygiene. Likewise, our spiritual hygiene is dependent upon practice. So, we learn gradually through experience how these exercises work, what energy it focuses on, and how we can use that energy consciously. So, that's a skill we acquire through practice, and speaking of which, we always end these series of lectures with an exercise we can engage with. In this practice, we continue to observe and develop our self-analysis, self-awareness from moment to moment, and at the end of each day recollect on how conscious we were of our three brains, mind, emotion, and physicality. Another exercise you can engage with is another sacred mantra, sacred sound, which works with those forces, vibrations of energy. So every day, you can sit in a comfortable posture, whether upright in a chair or if you are flexible and you enjoy the oriental style, you could sit in full lotus, half lotus, but this is not absolutely necessary. What's necessary is that we're fully relaxed. You can sit in a chair, whatever's more suitable and conducive to relaxing the body and not having any tension. Relax your mind, heart, and body and afterward you can visualize within your brain a beautiful white light, followed by pronouncing a sacred mantra called INRI, which is in Latin inscribed above the Martyr of Calvary, Jesus of Nazareth. It said, 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum,' but it's a secret mantra. INRI can also refer to 'Ignis Natura Renovatur Integra,' which in Latin means “fire renews nature incessantly.” So that light and fire of the sun mentioned in the myth of Plato, in the Allegory of the Cave, is a symbol of Christ, an energy and a force that we can incarnate, that we seek to incarnate, that will aid us in purifying our psyche. This mantra works with that force and it attracts energies to the brain to illuminate the mind.
So, we can pronounce this mantra. You sound it in two syllables. Like this 'iiiiinnnn' followed by another breath and then a rolled R as in Spanish, ‘rrrrrriiiiiií.’ If you notice, if you pronounce that and notice the vibration, it will vibrate in the center of the brain. It will stimulate the pineal and pituitary glands, especially the physical brain, the cerebrum and fill it with a Christic force, energy that can develop that insight we seek.
I know for some people that letter could be hard. The R especially if you're not familiar with Spanish or don't speak Spanish, but it's rolled on the tip of the tongue, and I'm sure if you go online and Google it, search it on YouTube, you can find some examples of how to practice that, but when you do these mantras, concentrate on the vibration in the body, in the mind, and visualize with eyes closed a light that fills the cerebrum and the cerebellum, the different centers of our brain, of our mind, with light. You can do that for 30 minutes or 60 minutes, whatever is convenient for you, and that energy will help you to develop the awareness of that unconditioned consciousness. Questions and Answers
Question: I have a question, and this has been actually bothering me for at least the past week or so since, I don't know if you're aware of, the Alton Sterling shootings, like the police brutality cases and such, and something that I’ve become aware of recently is you know, of course, everyone has their own subjective realities and within our subjective realities are the battle of our soul. We, at least, are given hope that we have the ability to overcome that but obviously we are told through scripture that not everybody will. Is it inherent that these people, the people who don't win that internal battle of the soul, are they inherently, I guess, defective? Is it that they are supposed to not win or is that they truly, deep within themselves, that the unconditioned soul does not have the pure willingness to be reunited? Is it that soul's desire to be separated possibly?
Because I've gotten into lots of conversations with people because I believe that every single thing that we experience, especially in the media, is not moreso to just help us know what's going on in the world, but to help us gain greater understanding within our own worlds by knowing about things that other people experience. So, when I approach people about these subjects, I don't do just so like, "Oh did you know what happened?" It's like, "What do you know about what happened and how do you feel about it? How does this change your reality?" Instructor: The Qur’an teaches it beautifully. God calls to Himself whom He will and those who have harmed themselves or have gone astray, He punishes them in relation to their own behavior. So, those in whom the longing to change is not existent, God cannot help, but those who feel that longing to change, who feel that spark of conscience that exists within the unconditioned soul, have the potential to change, and there are many who have lost their potential. The Qur’an speaks about this very extensively, about the Lord calling unto whom He will and those who go astray, who choose to deviate, He lets them go astray, and to not have that guidance is to really be in affliction. Question: Do they have satisfaction in dissatisfaction? Are they okay with where they end up even if you know it seems like God is telling them to go a certain way or at least giving them an option to go, but they choose to go a certain way? Are they, in the end, satisfied with that decision, as satisfied as someone who chooses to go? Instructor: We always say that the soul always has its freedom to choose what it wants, that chooses to deepen the conditioning of the psyche―that's the nature of that soul and that's what it wants―but those who feel that they need something more to change themselves and to transform who they are and to follow that conscience that inspires them and approaches spirituality, that is the calling of God to want to change. In relation to that, that book the Qur’an is very insightful about finding the will of the divinity. To many people, they are only interested in deepening the cage, strengthening the cage that produces their suffering, which is why John Milton, author of Paradise Lost said, "The mind is its own place and can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." Question: About the suffering of others on the path because, like you said, God calls upon whom He calls. In this process, like you said, once they get out of the cave, they want others just to get out of the cave, too, so they have to go back into the cave in order to do so, but once they do they're killed by the people whom they're trying to save. Instructor: Well, literally in the case of Buddha and Jesus, that was the case, but in many cases when someone teaches this type of knowledge, they may meet resistance or criticism from others who don't hold those beliefs or don't really seek to develop that, but when I was referring to that, our spirituality is really expanded and founded upon compassion. So, we don't necessarily have to become a teacher, instead we can find ways to help humanity according to our disposition, our ways. So we learn to use our awakened consciousness to aid us in whatever particular aspect of life we've been placed in order to do that consciously. Question: So, if we have these different outlets. Say, some people like to help others actively, like go out in the community and help homeless people and stuff, but others like to do so with law and politics, if we use all of the energy that we can put into different places, but in a finite amount, but focus all of that energy towards those, are we as fulfilled as trying to do all of these different things, trying to help people in the community at the same time while trying to work in your career outside of the family? Instructor: As to one what has to do, that's ordained by the Being, and you may find from experience in meditation or in the dream state that you have a particular... in fact, maybe many particular things you need to do; it depends on what you need to focus on. For me, I received the experience to teach this knowledge many times by the founder of this tradition, Samael Aun Weor. I asked him about it many times in the astral plane, the internal worlds. But also there are other responsibilities to do that we are forced to engage with. Part of that awe of duty I mentioned from al-Jurayri’s statement in the Sufi book is that we take whatever occupation we're engaged with, whatever job we have, whatever family life we have, and we transform it consciously. We take that daily experience and use it for our spiritual benefit. So instead of reacting to life mechanically on that horizontal line, we are still engaged with life in accordance with cause and effect. Wherever we're born, who we're with, whatever responsibilities we have, we fulfill them, but even better: in a very radical way, in a very transformative way. That becomes noticeable when we do so with consciousness that is not conditioned. Even if people may not really attribute us to being spiritual, they may say, "Oh, he's really the kind person or really benefiting me or really did something of help." We find our vocation or really our divine calling by learning to awaken and we learn to see how we can engage with life with rectitude and love as Samael Aun Weor wrote in The Perfect Matrimony. That answered your question? Question: Yeah, and lastly when you said that people can make a hell out of heaven... It's not essentially what you do or what makes up that reality, but essentially what you get out of it and where you put it, I would say. So, if you're going to be in any type of reality, if you're going to have a family, and a career, and all these other things like you can, but as long as you do them in this type of way and you work towards this thing, it doesn't matter what makes up that reality. Instructor: Well spiritual life, spiritual awakening is not only contingent upon our obligations, but our spiritual life is not separate from our daily life. Our daily life is our initiation into a new way of being. We learn to take whatever circumstances we find ourselves in and we learn to do it consciously. That's how we learn and that's how we benefit others. When I refer to reality, I mean I refer to those higher grades of consciousness. So, we learn to take our physical daily life and make it spiritual and not something habitual or painful. Instead, we learn to transform whatever occurrence we find ourselves in in life and make it a benefit to humanity. That's really our goal. |
