Thoughts are not limited to the nervous system, or to mental processes. Usually, our thoughts are based on the object of our senses, but this is not the only way to think. There is a possibility to have a pure thought, not based on anything. Doing the fixity practice for long enough, you’ll eventually have this pure thought, simply knowing that you are observing yourself, without any other type of mental presence, but the mental presence itself.
Some say everything is energy. Others say everything is thought. Others will say everything is something, like matter or mass. The fact is that everything is made of this one thing that cannot be defined in itself, but is applicable to all perception of it. It you see it as energy, it will seem to be energy. It is the same with thoughts. We like to refer to the pure essence of all things either as Light, or pure thought.
This primordial matter/energy/thought, which is the same thing, will exist and manifest itself in phenomena of various levels, frequency, or density, whatever the way to wish to look at it. The manifestations of this primal essence of all things range from the absolute heights of un-manifested spiritual Self, to the gross and dense material properties of tangible mass.
The thought density scale
On this scale, we placed the separators anywhere on the scale, simply to demonstrate that there are pointers along the scale. But like we did with the color range, there are no separations along this scale. The various frequencies and densities of thought, light or sound, are not separated. Many traditions will separate this scale in 7 bodies of light, 14 bodies of light, or in the typical western approach: physical, vital, emotional, mental, causal… etc. We do not wish to promote or reject any system. We don’t wish to address a specific system at the moment, but rather show a unified way of looking at creation and existence.
On the scale shown here (left page), there is a bracket } showing the lower end of the scale, closer to the material phenomena. In this case, the variable “c” will show the range of awareness of the events occurring along the scale of density. This is the normal range of awareness that we have, in our daily life, more aware of the material events, some emotional and a few mental. In our normal state of consciousness, we tend to limit the perception of higher level events.
When we meditate, or practice fixity, we tend to elevate our range of consciousness so that we start to perceive less information from the material level, and more from the spiritual levels (right). The more we gain experience with meditation or other spiritual practices, the more
we become aware of higher levels of thought, light, mass, energy… and the more our range of awareness will expand, covering a broader range of awareness.
The goal of any meditative practice is to get you to become aware of reality as a whole, retaining awareness at every level of the scale, from the material to the spiritual world. This range of awareness is present to fully enlightened (nirvana) spiritual masters. Keep in mind that we can all achieve this goal. A part of the Buddha’s teaching is about the fact that we can all achieve enlightenment.
There are various ways to expand our range of consciousness. The most efficient is fixity, but takes the most courage and discipline. There are much more fun ways to do it. The lasting presence of our human ego during the practice of spiritual techniques can be compared to a wall setup around the Self. By playing with the ego, we can learn how to climb over this wall, and have lots of fun during the entire process.
The key to climbing along the human wall, up to the Self, is to overwhelm the mind with things to play with. Instead of thinking of our ego like an enemy, we rather think of it like a friend to play with. These tools will be called: mantra, mudra, mandala, chakra and dharma. They can all be used separately, or combined together.
Using these playful tools makes it much easier to climb the human wall, until you know how to remove the human wall, or purely perceive that it doesn’t exist at all. However, trying to convince yourself that the human wall does not exist is useless, since it is your human wall that thinks this way. Until you gain the experience of the Self, with clear thought based on no object of the mind or senses, you have to deal with the wall, hopefully in a playful way.
MantraA mantra is a word, phrase or paragraph that is repeated over and over again until the wisdom that it represents appears in your mind. Before you can consciously exist into pure thought, you need human-level means to produce the apparition of pure thought in your mind.
A sample mantra that we have already covered is “Amitabha Buddha”. However, there are lots of mantras that can be used, each for their own specific goal. Repeating a mantra is like doing fixity, but instead of focusing on nothing (which is the hardest part) you keep your focus on a mantra. This will make your mind a bit more at ease.
Repeat the mantra of peace over and over again, for long periods. The goal of using the peace mantra is to bring your mind to eventually accept to think about nothing. You can practice for 5 minutes in a row, on a daily basis, and it will produce its results in a while. If you recite the mantra daily for 1 continuous hour, the results will show within a few days. It is up to you to decide on the speed at which you wish to receive the benefits of the practice, depending on how much determination you have.
MudraA mudra is a simple gesture made with the hands. The body is filled with nerves that carry electricity, but it also has a more subtle circuitry, known as meridians. These meridians are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine in the application of acupuncture. They are also the base of many massage techniques, since they have many beneficial influences on the body and the mind. Their use normally induces a state of relaxation, making the body prone to recovery.
In this case, we will use a simple mudra that is known to produce harmony, by balancing every type of energy in the body. Hold all your fingers together, touching at the tip, like you see on the photos below.
You can use the mudra of harmony by itself. It consists in practicing fixity, and while you breathe, paying attention to the energy flowing in your fingers, then in your entire body. Yet, this mudra is so much more fun when you also recite the mantra of peace in your mind, giving two stimulations to your mind.
MandalaA mandala is either a drawing, or an image that you keep in your mind. We will use the mental image in the form of visualization. Mental visualization is there to help us keep our attention on the technique, hoping to prevent the mind to wander too far astray. Yet, if you start to think about random subjects, do not put pressure on yourself to come back to the visualization, but try to come back in a peaceful and relaxed attitude, calmly resetting the imagery in your mind.
The image kept in mind will assist in placing our attention on the focus point, but it will also use colours in ways known as chromotherapy (colour therapy), combining the psychological effect of the colour to enhance the efficiency of our practice period. Of course, the visualization itself will have a subtle reference to the philosophical concept held in mind. These visualisations are suggestions, and will vary from one tradition to another.
In this case, you can visualize a blue layer around your body, radiating with white light. Along with the mudra of harmony and the mantra of peace, it is yet a more powerful technique.
Chakra and DharmaAs for chakra and dharma, there are a lot of books on the subject. Let us say briefly that a chakra is an energy center in your body, where energy tends to circulate. For this technique, you can pay attention to the hands making the mudra, or put all your attention at the top part of your head. As for dharma, it is wisdom, doctrine and philosophy. Contemplate the principles of peace and harmony while you practice this technique.