VM Samael Aun Weor – Lecture on Meditation and Samadhi
SAMAEL AUN WEOR LECTURE: THE ILLUMINATING VOID
Inverential Peace! Speaking to you now is Samael Aun Weor. Headquarters of Mexico. Our topic: Meditation.
It is urgent to comprehend profoundly the techniques of meditation. Today we will talk about the Illuminating Void.
Beginning this subject, I feel the obligation to narrate in a direct way, what I, on my own, have been able to verify about the Illuminating Void.
I believe that those who are listening to this cassette are already informed about the marvelous Law of Reincarnation, because the following story is based on that law…
When the second sub-race of our current great Aryan race flourished in ancient China, I was reincarnated there, then my name was Chou Li, obviously I was a member of the Chou dynasty.
In that existence I became an active member of the Order of the Yellow Dragon, and it is clear that in that order I was able to clearly learn the Science of Meditation.
That marvelous instrument called Aya-Atapan, which had 49 notes, still comes to my memory. We know very well what the sacred Law of the eternal Heptaparaparshinokh is, that is to say, the Law of Seven. Undoubtedly, the notes of the musical scale are seven. If we multiply seven by seven, we will get 49 notes in seven octaves.
The brothers gathered in the meditation room. We used to sit in the oriental style, with crossed legs, placing the palms of our hands like this, with the right over the left. We sat in a circle in the center of the room; we closed our eyes, and immediately we placed profound attention on the music that a certain brother offered to the cosmos and to us.
When the artist made the first note vibrate, it was in Do, all of us concentrated. When he made the next note vibrate in Re, our concentration became more profound, we were fighting with the different subjective elements that we had within ourselves, we wanted to recriminate them, to make them understand the necessity to be in absolute silence. It is good to remind you dear brothers, that those undesirable elements that make up the “I,” the Ego, the myself, are like diverse entities, personifying our errors.
When the note Mi vibrated, we penetrated into the third zone of the subconscious and confronted the multiplicity of those diverse psychic aggregates that boil in disorder within us and that impede the quietude and silence of the mind. We recriminated them and tried to comprehend them. When we achieved that, then we penetrated even more profoundly in the note Fa. It is obvious that new battles awaited us with that note, because it is not that easy to gag all those demons of desire one carries within oneself, to force them to keep silent and in quietude is not a simple thing, but with patience we achieved it; and in this way we used to continue with each one of the notes of the musical scale.
We made the same effort in a higher octave, and thus little by little we used to confront the different inhuman elements that we carry within ourselves. Finally we were successful in gagging all of them in the 49 levels of the subconscious. Then the mind remained quiet, in the most profound silence. That was the instant in which the Essence, the Soul, the purest thing we have within, escaped to experience what’s Real. In that way we penetrated into the Illuminating Void, thus the Illuminating Void erupted within us, and moving within the Illuminating Void we were able to know the Laws of Nature in themselves, just as they are and not as they appear.
In this three-dimensional world of Euclid, only the mechanical causes and effects are known, but not the natural laws in themselves. But in the Illuminating Void they are before us as they really are. We could perceive in that state, with the Essence, with the Superlative Senses of the Being, things in themselves, just as they really are.
In the world of physical phenomena, in reality, we only perceive the appearance of things: angles, surfaces; but never the entire body in an integral form, and the little that we perceive is fleeting since nobody could perceive how many atoms are in a table or a chair, etc. But, in the Illuminating Void, we perceive things in themselves, just as they are, integrally.
While we were like that, submerged within the great Illuminating Void, we were able to listen to the voice of the Father who is in secret. Indubitably in that state, we found ourselves in what could be called rapture or ecstasy. The personality stayed in a passive state, seated in the meditation room; the emotional and motor centers were integrated with the intellectual center creating a singular, receptive whole. In that way the waves of the experiences that we were living in the Illuminating Void, which were circulating through the Silver Cord, were received by the three centers: the emotional, intellectual and motor.
I repeat, when the Samadhi ended, we returned to the interior of the body, preserving the memory of everything that we had seen and heard. Nevertheless, I have to tell you that the first thing that we have to leave in order for one to be able to submerge for a long time in the Illuminating Void is fear. The “I” of fear has to be comprehended. We already know that its disintegration becomes possible when we supplicate in a vehement way to the Divine Mother Kundalini; she will eliminate that “I.”
One day, it does not matter which, I was in the Illuminating Void, beyond the personality, the “I,” individuality, submerged in what we could call the Tao, or “That.” I felt that I was everything that is, has been and will be. I experienced the unity of life free in its movement. Then I was the flower, I was the crystalline river that flows on its bed of rocks singing in its happy language; I was the bird that hurls itself to the unending depths; I was the fish that delightfully travels among the waters; I was the moon, I was the worlds; I was all that is, has been and will be. The feeling of the “me-myself,” of the “I,” had fear; yes, I felt that I was being annihilated, that I was ceasing to exist as an individual, that I was everything but an individual, that the myself tended to go towards its death forever.
Obviously I was filled with an indescribable terror and I came back to the form. New efforts, therefore, allowed me the eruption of the Illuminating Void once again, and I felt I was mixed in with everything. I, as an individual, had ceased to exist. This state of consciousness was becoming more and more profound, in such a way that any possibility to exist separately or to have an individual existence was ending. I could not withstand it any more and came back to the form. I made a third attempt, but could not withstand it, and I returned to the form. Since then I know that in order to experience the Illuminating Void, to feel the Tao in oneself, it is necessary to eliminate the “I” of fear. That is indubitable.
Among the brothers of the Sacred Order of the Yellow Dragon, the most distinguished one was my friend Chang. Today he lives on one of those Planets of Christ, in which nature does not die and never changes, because there are two natures: the perishable, changing, mutable; and the imperishable that never changes and is immutable. On the Planets of Christ there exists the eternal, imperishable and immutable nature; and he lives on one of those Worlds of the Lord, the Christ shines in him. He achieved the liberation several ages ago. My friend Chang lives on that far away planet, with a group of brothers who along with him, also achieved liberation.
I knew then, the Seven Secrets of the “Order of the Yellow Dragon.” I would like to teach them, but with great pain, I realize that the brothers everywhere are not yet prepared to receive them, and this is lamentable.
I also know that today it is not possible to use the 49 sounds of the Aya-Atapan, because that musical instrument no longer exists. There exists many involutions of this instrument, but they are different, they do not have the seven octaves. Involutions of this instrument are all the stringed instruments: violin, guitar, also the piano, etc.
However, it is possible to arrive at the experience of the Illuminating Void with a simple and practical system that all the brothers can practice. I will dictate the technique to you right now, pay attention.
Take a seat in the oriental style with your legs crossed, like this. Because you are westerners, this position is very tiresome for you. Therefore, sit comfortably, in a comfortable chair, western style. Place the palm of your left hand open, and put your right palm over your left, that is to say, the back of the right palm of your right hand over the palm of your left hand. Relax the body as much as possible and then inhale profoundly, very slowly. While inhaling, imagine that the creative energy is rising through the spermatic channels to the brain. Exhale: short and quick. While inhaling, pronounce the mantra HAAAAAMMMMM, when exhaling, pronounce the mantra “SAAJJ.”
Undoubtedly one has to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. When inhaling mantralize the sacred syllable HAM mentally, since you are inhaling through your nose; when you exhale you can vocalize the syllable SAH sonorously.
HAM is written with the letters H A M, SAH is written with the letters S A H, the H always sounds like a J.
The inhalation is done slowly, the exhalation short and fast. The reason why? Obviously the creative energy in everyone flows from the inside to the outside, that is to say, in a centrifugal way; but we have to reverse that order with the aim of achieving a spiritual surmounting. Our energy must flow in a centripetal form, that is to say, from the outside to the inside.
Undoubtedly if we inhale slowly, the creative energy will flow in a centripetal form from the outside to the inside. And if we exhale shortly and quickly then this energy will become more and more centripetal each time.
During the practice you should not think about absolutely anything. The eyes must be closed, profoundly in our mind only the HAM-SAH will vibrate and nothing else.
As you practice the inhalation, the inhalation will become more and more profound and the exhalation very short and quick.
The greatest Masters of Meditation manage to make the respiration become just an inhalation and then it is suspended. Impossible for the scientists, but real to the mystics! And in that state the Master takes part in the Nirvi-Kalpa Samadhi or Maha-Samadhi, the irruption of the Illuminating Void arrives. One falls into that Great Void where nobody lives and where one only hears the word of the Father who is in secret.
With this practice the eruption of the Illuminating Void is attained, the requirement being to not think about absolutely anything; to not allow any thought, any desire, any memory into the mind; the mind must be totally quiet inside, outside and in the center. Any thought, as insignificant as it may be, is an obstacle for the Samadhi, for the Ecstasy.
At the same time, this science of meditation combined with the breath produces extraordinary effects. Normally people suffer from what is called “nocturnal pollutions,” men and women suffer from that problem, they have erotic dreams, and if the “I’s” copulate with each other, the vibration pass through the Silver Cord to the physical body and what comes about is the orgasm with the loss of creative energy. But this happens when the sexual energy flows from the inside to the outside in a centrifugal way. When the sexual energy flows from the outside to the inside, in a centripetal way, the sexual pollutions will end; that then, is a benefit for the health.
Now then, the Samadhi is produced during this practice of meditation because the creative energies, flowing from outside to within, impregnate the Consciousness and end up by making it abandon the Ego and the body. The Consciousness, unbottled from within the Ego, in the absence of the Ego and outside of the physical body, undoubtedly penetrates into the Illuminating Void, receives the Tao.
If one eliminates the Ego of fear, of being scared, he will be able to remain in the Illuminating Void without any preoccupation, he will feel that his individual aspect keeps dissolving, he will feel himself living in the stone and the flower, in the far away star and in the singing bird of any world or planet, but will not be afraid, and if he does not feel fear, finally he will gravitate to his origin with the Consciousness, the Essence transformed into a terribly divine creature beyond good and evil. He will be able to land in the Sacred Absolute Sun, and there, in that Sun, as a microcosmic star he will know the Mysteries of the Universe. Because it is good to know that the universe itself, our entire solar system, exists in the Intelligence of the Sacred Absolute Sun, as an eternal instant.
All of the phenomena of nature are processed within an eternal instant in the Intelligence of the Sacred Absolute Sun; but if one is afraid, one will lose the ecstasy and will return to the dense form.
Dear brothers who are listening to this cassette: you must abandon fear! Undoubtedly, it is not enough to say, “I will stop being afraid!” It is necessary to eliminate the “I” of fear. Yes, this is dissolved, strictly, with the power of the Divine Mother Kundalini Shakti. First, it is necessary to analyze it, to comprehend it and then to invoke Devi Kundalini, our Divine Particular Cosmic Mother, so that she may disintegrate the “I” of fear. Only in this way can one submerge in the Illuminating Void in an absolute way. Whoever does this will gravitate towards the Sacred Absolute Sun and will know the marvels of the Universe.
Our brothers must, then, practice the technique of meditation as we have given it. Do not forget that the body has to be relaxed, that is indispensable.
HAAAAAMMMM-SAAAHHHH is the Great Breath; HAAAAMMMM-SAAAAHHHH is the Prana. HAAAAMMMM-SAAAAHHHH is also a mantra that transmutes the creative energies.
Meditation combined with tantrism is formidable; HAM- SAH is the key.
We know very well that the creative energy is useful for the awakening of the Consciousness when it is combined with meditation. Unquestionably, it takes the Consciousness out from the element Ego and absorbs it in the Illuminating Void.
Obviously the Illuminating Void is beyond the body, the affections and the mind.
In a Zen meditation room, in the East, a monk asked a Master: “What is the Illuminating Void?” The Zen texts say that the Master kicked the disciple in the stomach, and that he fell unconscious. Then the disciple stood up and embraced the Master: “Thank you Master, I have experienced the Illuminating Void!”
Many would say “that’s absurd,” but it is not. What happens is that very special phenomena present themselves for the Illuminating Void. When a little chicken is ready to come out of the eggshell, its mother helps him by pecking the eggshell, and with this help the little chicken follows by pecking, and it comes out. Thus, when someone has maturated, he receives the help of the Divine Mother Kundalini; and comes out from the shell of the personality and the Ego in order to experience the Illuminating Void. But it is necessary to persevere…
In the meditation, one must intelligently combine concentration with sleep. Sleep and concentration mixed produce illumination.
Many esotericists think that in no way should meditation be combined with the sleep of the body, but those who think in that way are mistaken because meditation without sleep damages the brain. Sleep must always be used in combination with the technique of meditation, but a controlled sleep, a voluntary sleep; not a sleep without control, not an absurd sleep; meditation and sleep combined in an intelligent way.
We must “ride on the sleep” and not allow the sleep to “be the one riding us.” If we learn to ride on the sleep we have been triumphant; if the sleep rides us, we have failed. But, it is necessary to use sleep! Meditation, I repeat, combined with the technique, will take our students to Samadhi, to the experience of the Illuminating Void.
We have to practice daily. At what time?; in the moment in which we feel inspired to do it. Most especially when we feel sleepy, take advantage of it for meditation.
If the disciples follow these indications one day they will be able to receive the Tao, they will be able to experience the Truth.
Obviously there are two types of dialectics: the Dialectic of Reasoning, of the intellect and the Dialectic of the Consciousness. During Satori, the Dialectic of the Consciousness works, then we understand everything through intuitions or through words or from symbolic figures; it is the language of the parables of the Christic Gospel, the living language of the Superlative Consciousness of the Being.
In Zen, for example, the Dialectic of the Consciousness is always put before the Dialectic of Rationalization. A Zen monk was asked, “Why did Boddhidarma come from the west?” His answer was, “The cypress is in the garden.” Anyone could say, “that answer is not related with the question at all,” but it is. It is an answer that comes before the Dialectic of Reasoning; it comes from the Essence. The Cypress, the “Tree of the Life” is everywhere; it does not matter if it is in the East or the West. That is the meaning of that answer.
In the Illuminating Void everything is known “just because,” through the direct experience of the Truth.
The student will have to become familiar with the Dialectic of the Consciousness. Unfortunately, the power to formulate logical concepts, as brilliant as it may be, and even useful in all the aspects of practical life, is an obstacle to the Dialectic of the Consciousness.
I do not want with this to discard the power of formulating logical concepts, because we all need them in the field of the practical facts of existence, but each faculty obviously has its particular orbit and is useful within its particular field, outside of its orbit it is useless and harmful.
Let’s leave the power of formulating concepts in its orbit. And within Samadhi or Para-Samadhi, or in the Meditation we must always apprehend, capture, experience the Dialectic of the Consciousness. That is a matter of experience that the disciple will keep developing as he practices the technique of meditation.
The path of profound meditation implies a great deal of patience, those who are impatient will never manage to triumph. It is not possible to live the experience of the Illuminating Void while impatience exists in us. The “I” of impatience has to be eliminated after having been comprehended. This has to be understood clearly! If one does so, he will receive the Tao; that is obvious.
Never could the experience of the Real come to us while the Consciousness remains trapped within the Ego. The Ego in itself is time, all those multitudes of phantasmal elements that make up the “myself,” are a compendium of time. The experience of the Illuminating Void is the antithesis, it is atemporal, it is beyond time and the mind.
Time is the entire multiplicity of the “I,” the “I” is time. So then, time is subjective, incoherent, slow, heavy, does not have objective reality.
When one sits to meditate in a meditation room or simply at home, when one wants to practice this technique, one must forget the concept of time and live in an eternal instant. Those who dedicate themselves to meditate and are paying attention to the clock obviously do not achieve the experience of the Illuminating Void.
If you were to ask me how many minutes we must spend daily to meditate, either a half an hour or one hour or two hours… I would not give an answer because if someone is in meditation and is paying attention to the time, he cannot experience the Illuminating Void, because the Illuminating Void does not belong to time. It would be something similar to a bird that is trying to fly, but has its leg tied down by a stone or a stick, it would not be able to fly, there would be a hindrance. In order to experience the Illuminating Void we have to liberate ourselves from any obstacle.
The important thing certainly is to experience the Truth; the Truth is in the Illuminating Void.
When Jesus, the Great Kabir, was asked, “What is the Truth?,” the Master kept a profound silence; and when Gautama Sakyamuni was asked the same question, he turned his back and walked away.
The truth cannot be described, it cannot be explained; each one has to experience it by himself through the technique of meditation. In the Illuminating Void we experience the truth; that is an element that transforms us radically.
It is necessary to persevere, to be tenacious. It can happen that in the beginning we may not achieve anything, but with the passing of time, we will feel that we are becoming more and more profound each time, and that in the end, any day, the experience of the Illuminating Void will erupt in our minds.
Undoubtedly, the Illuminating Void is the Holy Okidanock, the active Okidanock, omnipresent, omnipenetrating, omniscient, which emanates in itself, from the Sacred Absolute Sun.
Happy is the one who is able to plunge into the Illuminating Void, where not one creature lives, because it is precisely there where he will experience what’s Real, the Truth!
Perseverance becomes indispensable. It is necessary to work profoundly every day until achieving total triumph.
The experience of the Truth through Meditation proves to be prodigious. If one has experienced the Truth, one feels the strength to persevere in the work on oneself.
Brilliant authors have spoken about the work on oneself, about the “I,” about the “myself”; and it is obvious that they have done well in having spoken in this way, but they have forgotten something?the experience of the Truth. As long as one has not experienced what is real, one does not feel comforted; one does not feel enough forces to be able to work on the “oneself,” on the “I myself.” When one has truly passed though such a mystical experience, he is different and nothing can hold him back in his yearning for liberation. One will work tirelessly on oneself to be able to truly achieve a radical, total, and definitive change.
Now you will comprehend, my dear friends, why the Meditation Chambers are so indispensable. Frankly, I feel quite sad when I see that even though I have written so much about meditation in different Christmas Messages of previous years, and yet in South American and Central American countries meditation chambers do not exist, when they should already exist.
What has happened? There is indolence. Why does indolence exist? It exists because of a lack of comprehension. It is indispensable to understand.
The poor intellectual animal mistakenly called man needs encouragement, needs something to encourage him in the battle, needs stimulus for the work on oneself.
I know that the poor intellectual animal is weak by nature and finds himself in a completely disadvantageous situation. The Ego is so strong and the personality is terribly weak. Left alone like that, he is hardly able to walk. He needs something that could encourage him to work; he needs an intimate help. This is only possible through meditation.
I do not want to say that everyone will experience the Illuminating Void in one single go. Obviously it is necessary to arrive at that experience through different degrees. The devotee will keep feeling, each time more, the intimate impulse of the Being. He will have different, more or less lucid experiences and finally, one day will arrive at having the best of the experiences, the Direct Experience of the Great Reality; then he will receive the Tao.
May those who listen to this cassette weigh my words well; reflect on them. It is not enough to simply listen, it is necessary to know how to listen, and this is different.
But “the one who listens to the word and does not do it” says the Apostle James in the Universal Epistle “is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror and then turns his back and leaves.”
It is necessary to make the word within ourselves. It is not enough to listen to this cassette; it must become flesh, blood and life, if what one wants is a radical transformation. It is necessary to persevere.
That is all for now.
Inverential Peace! Samael Aun Weor
infiniti science 