The Conquest of the Illuminating Void
Inverential peace!
The one who will speak to you is Samael Aun Weor from the patriarchal headquarters in Mexico. Our theme: meditation.
It is urgent to fully understand the techniques of meditation...
Today, we will address the Illuminating Void.
When initiating this theme, I am obliged to narrate by myself and in a direct way what of the matter I have directly verified.
I think that those who listen to this recording are informed about the wonderful law of reincarnation. The following story is based on it...
When the second sub-race of our present great Aryan root 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 was an active member of the Order of the Yellow Dragon, and it is clear that in such order clearly I could learn the science of meditation.
Into my memory still comes that wonderful instrument called Aya-Atapan, which had 49 notes. We know what the holy law of the eternal Heptaparaparshinokh is — meaning, the law of seven. Indubitably, there are seven notes in the musical scale [do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si]. But, if we multiply 7 by 7, we will get 49 notes placed in seven octaves.
We, the members, got together in the meditation room. We sat in the eastern style (legs crossed). We put the palms in such a way that the right was over the left. We sat in a circle in the center of the room. We closed our eyes. And then, we put full attention to the music a certain brother offered to the cosmos and to us.
Buddha Shakyamuni demonstrating the meditation posture. Note the swans (hamsa).
When the artist plucked the first note, which was in DO, we all were concentrating. When he made the following note vibrate, in RE, concentration was then deepened: we struggled with the various subjective elements that we carried within ourselves; we recriminated them, wanted them to see the need to keep absolute silence.
It is not irrelevant to remind you, dear brothers and sisters, that those undesirable elements constitute the ego, the “I”, the myself, the self-willed; these present themselves as various entities, personifying errors.
When the note MI vibrated, we entered the third zone of the subconsciousness, and we then faced the multiplicity of those various psychic aggregates that seethe in disarray in our interior, and which prevent the stillness and silence of the mind. We then recriminated them; we tried to comprehend them.
When we achieved it, we then penetrated even deeper, with the note FA. It is obvious that new struggles awaited us within that note, since gagging all of those demons of desire that we carry inside is not so easy. To oblige them to keep silence and quietude is not an easy task, but with patience we managed to do so. Likewise we continued with each of the notes of the musical scale.
In a higher octave, we continued with the same effort, and so on and so forth, gradually, by facing the diverse inhuman elements that we carry within our interior. Finally, we managed to muzzle them all in the 49 levels of the subconsciousness. Then, the mind became still and in the deepest silence. That was the instant in which the Essence, the soul (the purest element that we have inside), escaped in order to experience reality.
So, this is how we entered the Illuminating Void [Emptiness, Shunyata, the Absolute], and this is how the Illuminating Void burst into us.
And, moving in the Illuminating Void, we managed to know the Laws of Nature in themselves, such as they are, and not as they apparently are in this three-dimensional world of Euclid, where these laws are only known as mechanical causes and effects, but not the natural laws as they truly are. In the Illuminating Void, these laws are before us as they really are.
In that state, with the Essence, with superlative senses of the Being, we could perceive things in themselves, such as they are.
Indeed, in the world of physical phenomena, we only perceive the appearance of things, namely, angles, surfaces, but never a whole body in its integral form, and the little we do perceive is fleeting. For example, here no one could perceive the quantity of atoms in a table or chair, etc.; however, in the Illuminating Void we perceive things as they integrally are...
While we were thus immersed in the great Illuminating Void, we could hear the voice of the Father who is in secret.
Indubitably, in that state we were in what could be called rapture or ecstasy [Samadhi].
The personality remained in a passive state, seated there in the meditation room. The emotional and motor centers were integrated with the intellectual center, forming a receptive, unique whole. Therefore, the waves of everything we were experiencing in the Void flowed through the silver cord [antakharana] and were received by the three centers: intellectual, emotional, motor. Thus, when the Samadhi concluded, we returned into the body and preserved the memory of everything that we had seen and heard.
However, I must tell you that the first obstacle that we must overcome in order for oneself to immerse for a long time within the Illuminating Void is fear. The ego of fear must be comprehended. We already know that its disintegration is possible by beseeching our Divine Mother Kundalini in a devoted way. She will eliminate that “I”.
Any given day, it does not matter which, while being submerged within the Illuminating Void, beyond the personality, the ego, individuality, immersed within what we could denominate the Logos, That, I felt I was all that is, all that has been, and will be. I experienced the unity of life, free in its movement. So, I was the flower; I was the river that flows through the crystalline bedrock, singing with its delicious language. I was the bird that dives into the bottomless abysses, the fish that deliciously sails in the waters. I was the Moon, I was the worlds, I was all that is, has been, and will be...
The feeling of being “myself,” the “I”, did fear, yes. I felt that “I” was annihilated, that “I” was ceasing to exist as an individual. I was everything, but not an individual, that “myself” tended to die forever. Obviously, I was filled with an unspeakable terror, and thus I returned to form.
New efforts enabled me, then, to experience the eruption of the Illuminating Void again, yet again I felt confused by everything, by being everything, since as a person, as “I”, as an individual, I had ceased to exist. This state of consciousness was becoming deeper and deeper, in such a way that any possibility for separate existence, for an individual existence, stopped; it definitely tended to disappear. I could not resist anymore: I returned to form.
A third attempt, yet I could not resist: I returned to form.
Since then, I know that in order to experience the Illuminating Void, in order to feel the TAO in itself, one needs to remove the “I” of terror. That is indubitable…
Among the brothers and sisters of the Holy Order of the Yellow Dragon, the one who stood out the most was my friend Chang. Today he lives on one of those planets of Christ where nature is imperishable and never changes. There are two types of nature: the perishable, changing, mutable one, and the imperishable, the one that never changes, and is immutable.
In the planets of Christ there is an eternal, imperishable and unchangeable nature. My friend Chang lives on one of those worlds of the Lord. Christ shines within him. He became liberated several ages ago... So, my friend Chang lives there in that distant planet, with a group of brothers and sisters who like him also became liberated...
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 and sisters of all latitudes are not yet prepared to receive them, and this is unfortunate.
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 are many devolutions of this instrument, but they are different, they do not have the seven octaves. All the string instruments are devolutions of this instrument, namely, violin, guitar, even the piano, etc.
But, it is possible to reach the experience of the Illuminating Void with a practical and simple system that all the brothers and sisters can practice... I will dictate the technique right now. Pay attention...
Sit in a eastern style (crossed legs), so... However, for westerners, this position can be very tiresome. Therefore, sit comfortably in a comfortable armchair, western style.
Place the open palm of the right hand into the left, meaning the back of the right hand on the palm of the left hand.
Relax the body as much as possible, and then inhale deeply and slowly.
As you inhale, imagine the creative energy rising through the spermatic channels up to the brain. As you inhale, pronounce mentally the mantra “Haaaaaaammmmmmm."
Exhale, short and quick, and utter the mantra “Saahh."
Indubitably, one inhales through the nose, and exhales through the mouth.
Again, as one inhales, one must mantralize the sacred syllable HAM mentally, given that one is inhaling through the nose. But as one exhales, one can articulate the syllable SAH in an audible manner.
This mantra is Sanskrit. Ham is written with the letters ऽहम्. Sah is written with the letters सो. Ham-Sah can mean "I am That," meaning the ultimate Reality.
Brahma (the Reality, the Illuminating Void) on Hamsa, the Swan
The inhalation is performed slowly, while the exhalation is short and quick. The reason? Obviously, in every person the creative energy flows from the inside towards the outside, that is to say centrifugally. But for the purpose of spiritual growth we must reverse that order. Our energy must flow in a centripetal manner, that is to say, from the outside towards the inside.
Indubitably, if we inhale slowly and steady, the creative energy will flow in a centripetal manner, from the outside towards the inside. And if we exhale short and quick, then that energy will become increasingly centripetal.
During this practice, one must not think of absolutely anything. The eyes must be fully closed. Only the Ham-Sah will vibrate in our mind, and nothing else.
As one practices it, the inhalation becomes deeper, and the exhalation very short and quick.
The great masters of meditation transform their breathing into an inhaling process only, and even then that is suspended. For scientists this is impossible, but factual for the mystics! Thus, in such a state, the master engages in Nirivi-Kalpa-Samadhi or Maha-Samadhi, the eruption of the Illuminating Void comes, and one is precipitated into the Great Void where nobody lives and where is heard only the word of the Father who is in secret.
With this practice, one achieves the eruption of the Illuminating Void with the condition that one must not think of absolutely anything: no thought, no desire, no memory must be admitted into the mind. The mind must be completely still, inside, outside, and in the center; any thought, as insignificant as it might be, is an obstacle for Samadhi, for ecstasy.
Likewise, when combined with breathing, this science of meditation produces extraordinary effects. Normally, people suffer from what are called nocturnal emissions. Men and women suffer from this malady. They have erotic dreams. If the I's copulate with each other, the vibration passes through the silver cord to the physical body and becomes an orgasm with loss of the creative energy. This happens because the sexual energy flows centrifugally, from the inside towards the outside. Yet, when the sexual energy flows from the outside towards the inside, in a centripetal way, sexual pollutions end. This is therefore a benefit for our health...
Now then, during this practice of meditation Samadhi is produced because the creative energies flowing from the outside towards the inside impregnate the consciousness and eventually will make it abandon the ego and the body. When the consciousness is not bottled in the ego, then — free from the ego and outside of the physical body — it undoubtedly enters the Illuminating Void; it receives the Tao.
If one eliminates the ego of fear, of terror, one can remain within the Illuminating Void without any concern. One will feel that one’s individual aspect is dissolving. One will feel living in the stone and in the flower, in a distant star, and in the songbird of any world or planet, but will not fear. And, if one does not fear, one will finally gravitate towards one’s origin, with the consciousness, the Essence, converted into a terrifically divine creature, beyond good and evil.
One can be perched in the sacred Absolute Sun, and while there within that sun, as a microcosmic star will know all the mysteries of the universe. Because it is good to know that the universe itself, our entire solar system, is within the intelligence of the sacred Absolute Sun as an eternal instant.
All phenomena of nature are processed within an eternal instant, within the intelligence of the Sacred Absolute Sun. But if one fears, one will lose the ecstasy and will return into the dense form.
Therefore, all the brothers and sisters who read this lecture must abandon fear.
But, let us continue with the explanation about fear.
Indubitably, it is not enough to say, "I will not fear." To eliminate the “I” of fear is necessary, and this is strictly dissolved by the power of the Divine Mother Kundalini Shakti.
First one has to analyze, to comprehend the “I” of fear, and afterward to invoke Devi Kundalini (our particular Divine Cosmic Mother), so she may disintegrate the “I” of fear. Only in that way can one, in an absolute way, submerge into the Illuminating Void. Whosoever does it will gravitate toward the sacred Absolute Sun; there, they will know the wonders of the universe.
Our brothers and sisters must therefore practice the technique of meditation in the way we have taught it.
Do not forget that the body must be relaxed! That is indispensable.
Ham-Sah is the Great Breath. Ham-Sah is the Astral light. Ham-Sah is also a mantra that transmutes the creative energies.
Meditation combined with Tantra is formidable. Ham-Sah is the key.
We know very well that the creative energy combined with meditation serves for the awakening of the consciousness. Unquestionably, the creative energy takes the consciousness out of the egoic element, and is absorbed within the Illuminating Void.
Obviously, the Illuminating Void is beyond the body, emotions, and the mind.
In a Zen meditation room, in the East, a monk asked a Zen master, “Master, what is the Illuminating Void?” Zen texts state that the master kicked the disciple in the stomach, and that the disciple then fell “inert." Thereafter, the disciple stood up and hugged the Master. “Thank you, Master, I have experienced the Illuminating Void…!"
“Nonsense,” many would say. But it is not. What happens is that very special phenomena present themselves for the experience of the Illuminating Void. A chick, when ready to hatch, is helped by its mother. And she helps or assists the chick by pecking at the shell, and with this help the chick keeps struggling to exit. Likewise, when someone has matured, he receives the help of the Divine Mother Kundalini and leaves the “shell” of the personality and the ego in order to experience the Illuminating Void. But, we must persevere…
Meditation must be combined intelligently with concentration and drowsiness. Concentration mixed with drowsiness produces enlightenment.
Many esotericists think that meditation in no way should be combined with the drowsiness of the body, but those who think that way are wrong, because meditation without drowsiness ruins the brain.
Always use sleep in combination with the technique of meditation, but a controlled sleep, a voluntary sleep — not a sleep without control, not an absurd sleep, but meditation and sleep combined intelligently.
We must "ride" on sleep, and not let the sleep ride on us. If we learn how to "ride" on sleep, we will triumph; yet, if sleep "rides" upon us, we will fail. But, let us use drowsiness!
Again, meditation combined with sleep and a technique take our students to Samadhi, to the experience of the Illuminating Void.
One must practice daily. At what time? At the moment when we feel the intention of doing so, especially when we feel sleepy; take advantage of it and meditate.
If the disciples follow these instructions, they may one day receive the Tao; they may experience the truth.
Obviously, there are two types of dialectic: rational dialectic, from the intellect, and the dialectic of consciousness. The dialectic of consciousness works during Satori [Samadhi, ecstasy]; then we understand everything through intuition, or through words or symbolic figures: it is the language of parables as in the Christic gospel, the living language of the superlative consciousness of the Being.
In Zen, for example, the dialectic of consciousness is always ahead of the dialectic of rational thought. A Zen monk was asked, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?” Answer, “The cypress is in the center of the garden…"
Anyone would say, "This has no meaning at all.” But indeed it has. It is a response that is ahead of the dialectic of reasoning, it comes from the Essence. Cypress, the Tree of Life, is everywhere, no matter East or West. That is the meaning of the answer...
In the Illuminating Void, everything is known "just because,” by direct experience of the Truth.
The student will have to be familiar with the dialectic of consciousness. Unfortunately, the formulative power of logical concepts, however brilliant it might be and even useful in all aspects of practical life, is an obstacle to the dialectic of the consciousness.
I do not want to discard the formulative power of logical concepts, because we all need it in the field of practical facts of existence, but each faculty unquestionably has its particular orbit and is useful within its own orbit, yet out of its orbit is useless and harmful. So, let us leave the formulative power of concepts within its orbit.
Once within the Samadhi or for the Samadhi, or while in meditation, we must always apprehend, capture, experience the dialectic of consciousness. This is a subject related to experience, which the disciples will exercise as they practice the technique of meditation.
The path of profound meditation involves a lot of patience; impatient people will never achieve success. One can never vividly experience the Illuminating Void as long as there is impatience within oneself. The “I” of impatience has to be eliminated, after having been comprehended. Let this be understood with clarity! If one acts so, one will receive the Tao; that is obvious.
The experience of reality can never come to us as long as the consciousness remains embedded within the ego. The ego, in itself, is “time." All of that multiplicity of ghostly elements that constitute the “myself” are a compendium of time. The experience of the Illuminating Void is the antithesis: it is timeless; it is beyond time and mind.
Time is all the multiplicity of “I’s”; the “I” is time. Therefore, time is subjective, incoherent, clumsy, heavy; it does not have objective reality.
When one sits in a meditation room or simply at home to meditate, when one practices with this technique, one must forget the concept "time" and live within the eternal instant. Those who engage in meditation and are waiting on the clock obviously fail to experience the Illuminating Void.
If I were asked how many minutes a day we use for meditation, if it is half an hour, or an hour, or two... I would not answer! For if someone comes to meditation and is aware of time, that one cannot experience the Illuminating Void, because it is not of time.
This would be something similar to a bird trying to fly while one leg is tied to a stone or a stick: the bird could not fly, there would be an obstacle. To experience the Illuminating Void, we have to free ourselves from every obstacle.
What is important is certainly to experience the truth. Truth is within the Illuminating Void.
When Jesus, the great Kabir, was asked, "What is the truth?” the master kept silence, and when Gautama Sakyamuni was asked the same question, he turned and walked away.
The truth cannot be described, it cannot be explained. Everyone has to experience it for themselves through the technique of meditation.
In the Illuminating Void we experience the truth. This is an element that transforms us radically.
One must persevere; one must be tenacious. It may be that in the beginning we do not achieve anything, but as time passes we feel that we are becoming more and more profound, and finally, one day, the experience of the Illuminating Void will burst forth within our mind.
Unquestionably, the Illuminating Void in itself is the Holy Okidanokh, the Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipenetrating, active Okidanokh, that in itself emanates from the sacred Absolute Sun.
The Illuminating Void on the Tree of Life (Kabbalah). Get the poster.
Blessed is the one who manages to be precipitated into the Illuminating Void, where no creature lives, because there is precisely where one will experience the reality, the truth!
Perseverance is indispensable. Every day we must work thoroughly until achieving total triumph.
The experience of the truth through meditation becomes prodigious. If one has experienced the truth, one is filled with strength to persevere in the work on oneself.
Brilliant authors have spoken about the work on oneself, about the “I,” about the self. And it is obvious that they have done well when speaking like that, but they have forgotten something, which is the experience of truth. As long as one has not experienced reality, one does not feel comforted, one does not feel strong enough to work on oneself, on the “I” itself. When one has really passed through such a mystical experience one is different, then nothing can stop one’s longing for liberation. One will work tirelessly on oneself in order to get indeed a radical, total, and definitive change.
Now you will understand, my dear friends, why the meditation room is so indispensable. Frankly, I feel quite sad when seeing that despite having written so much about meditation in different Christmas Messages from previous years, still in the South American and the Central American countries there are no meditation rooms, when they should already be there.
What has happened? There is indolence! Why is there indolence? Because of the lack of comprehension!
It is essential to understand that the wretched intellectual animals mistakenly called "human" need encouragement, need something to encourage them in their fight, stimuli for the work on themselves.
It so happens that the wretched intellectual animal is weak by nature and is placed in a completely disadvantaged situation: their ego is too strong and their personality terribly weak. If in those conditions he is left alone, he can hardly walk. He needs something to encourage him to work, he needs an intimate support, which is only possible to receive by means of meditation.
I do not mean that everyone, in one fell swoop, will experience the Illuminating Void. Obviously, one has to get to that experience by degrees. The devotee will increasingly feel the intimate impulse of the Being; he will have several more or less lucid experiences, and finally the day will arrive in which he will come to have the best of experiences: the direct experience of the Great Reality; then he will receive the Tao.
Let those who read this lecture, weigh my words, let them reflect on them. It is not enough to simply hear: we have to know how to listen, and this is different.
“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.” —James 1:23, 24
We must be doers of the word within ourselves! It is not enough to hear the words of this lecture; we need to make it flesh, blood, and life, if a radical transformation is what one wants. We must persevere!
These are my last words.
Inverential peace!