Mental Exercise

1. Let us remember that all matter is one and the ether is the real substance that forms the basis of matter. The essence of all the changes that are obvious to our senses is a modification of this beginning or its grosser form. With the help of well-known chemical processes, all existing types of matter, or rather, all compounds that result in forms can be decomposed into initial elements, and these elements are nothing more than ether in different states of vibration. The idea of the unity of the visible universe, penetrating deeply into our consciousness, will be imprinted on it forever. The false understanding of the diversity of the material world, finally, must give way to the consciousness of its unity, despite its diversity and multiplicity of forms. We must see further the world of forms of matter, what is behind it and in it is its great principle (ether). You have to achieve that feeling, and not just intellectually understand.

2. Reflect on the truths mentioned, analyze matter, how it transforms into force and energy with such gradualness that the line separating them is destroyed, and matter imperceptibly disappears into energy or force, testifying that both are, in essence, one and the same, with which matter itself is a coarser form of energy or force. Your mind must be imbued with this idea so that the acquired knowledge of oneness can be perfect in all parts.

3. The unity of energy and force, manifesting in various manifestations - can be transformed into another, into a third, and so on in a circle until the first type is reached again. One beginning produces a whole chain of appearances.

Become aware that your internal energy, thanks to which you move and act is only one of the types of that great beginning of energy that the universe is filled with, and you will understand that you can take the amount of energy you need from the great world reserve. But most of all try to internalize the idea of unity, which pervades the whole world of energy, strength, and movement.

Try to see this unity as a whole, and not in manifestations that seem to be separate. This path may seem somewhat boring and useless, but believe that all its stages prepare the mind to perceive the idea of the unity of everything. Each step of this path is important and facilitates the subsequent teaching.

With these mental exercises, it is helpful to paint a picture of the universe in a state of constant motion. Everything moves, all matter moves, changing its forms and manifesting its internal energy. The sun and worlds rush through space, while their particles are constantly changing and moving. The chemical combination and decomposition never stops, the work of creation and destruction is going on everywhere. New compounds of atoms and worlds are formed and decomposed incessantly. Thinking about this unity of the beginning of energy, reflect on the fact that with all these changes of forms, “I” is your real essence, you remain unchanged, eternal, invincible, indestructible, invulnerable, real and constant amid this changing world of forms and forces. You are above all this, and the world revolves around you - around Spirit.

4. Power and energy imperceptibly pass into the environment of the substance of the mind, akin to it. Understand that the mind is the basis of all the manifestations of great power and energy that you have observed. Then you are ready to explore the oneness of mind.

5. There is a huge substance of mind, i.e. the world mind, which is at the disposal of the self-conscious “I”. Every thought is the result of the fact that the “I” uses this substance of the mind as its instrument and means. Realize that this ocean of mind is one and that “I” can draw from it as much as it needs. Realize that this ocean of mind is at your disposal - if you are mature enough to use it. At the heart of everything that exists in the world of forms, names and actions is the mind, and in this sense, in fact: “Everything is mind”, although you are standing at an even higher level than the mind, the real essence of “I” is a manifestation of the Absolute...

6. Realize your identity and your closeness to all living things. Take a look at the life around you in all its forms: from the lowest to the highest. All this is a manifestation of the great beginning of life, acting at different stages of the same path. Feel like a part of the great world life. Descend mentally to the bottom of the ocean of life and realize your kinship with the life of the forms that live here. Do not confuse the forms that are ugly from your point of view with the beginning that manifests in them. Take a look at the life of plants and animals and try to see the real life under the cover of the form, which is hidden under the form and lies at its basis. Learn to feel how your life flows and beats along with the life principle in other organisms, and especially in creatures that are identical to you. Look at the starry sky, at the innumerable suns and worlds that are there, which are filled with life, and feel your kinship with them. If you can grasp and realize this thought, you will feel that you are one with these rushing worlds, and instead of feeling small and insignificant in comparison with them, you will notice that your “I” will expand until you feel that in these revolving worlds there is a part of your “I”, that you also exist there - standing on the ground and akin to all parts of the universe. Moreover, all parts of the universe are the same places of your stay as the place where you are at the moment.

You will be seized by the consciousness that your home is the universe, and not just a part of it, as you thought before, and you will experience a feeling of such greatness and enormity that you have never dreamed of. Realize at least part of your divine inheritance and know that you are a child of infinity and that the very essence of your divine Parent is in every fiber of your being. In moments of such spiritual uplift, a person begins to realize that his soul is on an ascending path and how small the greatest blessings that the earth can give, in comparison with the blessings prepared for the soul and visible with spiritual eyes at moments of enlightenment.

Do not argue with these visions of the greatness of the soul, treat them cordially, because they belong to you and appear to you from the areas of your spiritual mind-opening to your consciousness.

7. The highest level of consciousness of this unity of everything, at which understanding is achieved, is only one reality and at the same time you are aware that the “I” is in this reality. It is extremely difficult to put this idea into words, because it is something that you have to feel, and not comprehend with the intellect. When the soul realizes that the spirit contained in it is, after all, it is only real part, and that the Absolute and its manifestations in the image of the spirit are the only reality in the Universe, this is a big step forward. But it is necessary to reach another higher level before the full sense of oneness and reality comes. This is the stage at which we realize the identity of our “I” with the Great “I” of the universe. The mystery of the manifestation of the Absolute in the form of spirit is hidden from us, and the mind is aware of its inability to penetrate the veil that hides the Absolute, although the mind informs us that it is aware of the presence of the Absolute, just in the dividing line. The highest region of the spiritual mind, when examining the soul that is on the correct path of development, testifies that the spiritual mind sees further than the seemingly separate spirit from the spirit, and realizes that there is only one reality of the spirit and that all “I”, in reality, only different types of this one reality, the centers of consciousness on the surface of one great “I”, the center of which is the Absolute itself. This consciousness actually permeates the entire area of the spiritual mind, and this tells us about the unity of the spirit, just as the intellect speaks about the unity of matter, energy and mind. The idea of unity permeates all planes of life.

The sense of reality “I”, which is obvious to you at the moments of your clearest mental insight, is really only a reflection of the sense of reality underlying the whole, and is the consciousness of the whole, manifesting in the center of your consciousness. Having reached a certain degree, the initiate discovers that his consciousness expands gradually, and finally, identifies himself with the whole.

To be continued...