AE in the Irish TheosophistRussell, George William
Religion
AE in the Irish Theosophist
Russell, George William
Theosophy
connected with it will be revealed, and so gradually the whole
shadowy region will become familiar and attractive, and we will
gain a knowledge of our own nature which will be invaluable and
which cannot otherwise be acquired.
--January 15, 1893
Concentration
Beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep is Turya. Here there is a
complete change of condition; the knowledge formerly sought in
the external world is now present within the consciousness; the
ideations of universal mind are manifest in spiritual intuitions.
The entrance to this state is through Jagrata, Svapna, and Sushupti,
and here that spiritual unity is realized, the longing for which
draws the soul upwards through the shadowy worlds of dreaming and
deep sleep. I have thought it necessary to supplement the brief
statement made in the previous number by some further remarks upon
concentration, for the term applied without reference to the Turya
state is liable to be misunderstood and a false impression might
arise that the spiritual is something to be sought for outside
ourselves. The waking, dreaming and deep sleep states correspond
to objective worlds, while Turya is subjective, including in itself
all ideals. If this is so, we can never seek for the true beyond
ourselves; the things we suppose we shall come sometime realize
in spiritual consciousness must be present in it now, for to spirit
all things are eternally present. Advance to this state is measured
by the realization of moods: we are on the path when there surges
up in the innermost recesses of our being the cry of the long
imprisoned souls of men; we are then on our way to unity.
The Bhagavad-Gita which is a treatise on Raj Yoga, gives prominence
to three aspects of concentration. Liberation is attained by means
of action, by devotion, by spiritual discernment; these aspects
correspond respectively to three qualities in man and nature, known
as Tamas, Rajas and Satva. The Tamas is the gross, material or
dark quality; Rajas is active and passional; the attributes of
Satva are light, peace, happiness, wisdom. No one while in the
body can escape from the action of the three qualities, for they
are brought about by nature which is compounded of them. We have
to recognize this, and to continue action, aspiration and thought,
impersonally or with some universal motive, in the manner nature
accomplishes these things. Not one of these methods can be laid
aside or ignored, for the Spirit moveth within all, these are its
works, and we have to learn to identify ourselves with the moving
forces of nature.
Having always this idea of brotherhood or unity in mind, by action--
which we may interpret as service in some humanitarian movement--
we purify the Tamas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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