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- Samadhi Symbolism -
By
Alan Schneider
This is a brief synopsis of Jungian Archetypal symbols that are referred
to in the first chapter of Doors In Disguise - Samadhi. It is by no means a complete listing of
the full spectrum of the material, but should be of help to the
reader in understanding the many Jungian concepts that figure therein.
(1)
(1) YHVH
Otherwise known as the Tetragrammaton in Biblical and occult
writing, this expression is frequently referred to as the
"unpronounceable" Name of God because the ancient Hebrew scholars
developed the habit of dropping the vowel designations from their
spiritual texts as a means of keeping them secret, rendering YHVH
as a cluster of consonants that are apparently unintelligible, at least
to the uninitiated. (2)
The Hebrew term "Yahweh" (referring to a variant in which "V" is
replaced by "W") is often used as a "pronounceable" form of God's Name,
again in Biblical and occult tests, and other spiritual writing as well.
As has been suggested in Samadhi, this is a very powerful path to
Ascension when properly understood and employed. (3)
In Samadhi a suggested interpretation of YHVH was offered, that
of hand-window-nail-window, and this was supported by the meditation-induced
vision recounted therein - thus, a brief discussion regarding meditation
may be in order here. Meditation is a very personal
experience on the part of the practitioner - the results do not
generalize across all practice by any means. Inasmuch as the writer was
in an extended meditation trance for several days during the
Samadhi experience, this observation necessarily applies to the
entire interval - the whole meditation revelation must be considered
to be my personal interpretation only! Any other person meditating even
on the apparently same theme(s) might perceive entirely different
results, depending on their mindset and many other personal
circumstances, including environmental ones. In addition, any visions
experienced in meditation must be considered as revealed personal archetypal
symbolism. Freud once described dreams as "the royal road to the
unconscious". Meditation is another such road - to the collective
unconscious and the realm of archetypal symbols found there. (4)
Jung believed that the individual's culture played a significant role in
the expression of archetypal symbols. As such, it is reasonable to
suppose that a person who had never encountered YHVH
might not initially recognize it. This might even apply to a Hebrew who
had not encountered the term - such "blank slate" failure of recognition
may well require conceptual introduction to the term - in fact, many
people may not recognize or respond to any archetypal symbolism
at all if they are not genetically predisposed to a certain level
of subconscious pattern recognition. A given culture may be dedicated to
the mass production of rote consumers - nothing more, with all other
thought and curiosity blocked out... (5)
It can be said here with some confidence that certain expressions
are capable, particularly when already in meditation, of heightening the
trance involved, and directing its character along specific lines. The
effect of chanted expressions in many traditions is well documented, and
in the author's experience during Samadhi YHVH was observed by him to be
"heard" as a more or less continuous background chant during the peak
portion of the experience. This must be understood to both include
and surpass the simple sequence of the letters, and the author's
interpretation of their meaning as well. Thus YHVH as an
archetypal symbol exists in a special category where it simultaneously
points to "God" in an encrypted sense, "God" in an explicit sense (as
Yahweh), "God" in an interpretive sense (as my personal vision of the
Shepard), and "God" in an encoded sense that is activated by chanting, or
experiencing it as being chanted. And who knows how much more - we
are dealing here with one of the oldest and most universal expressions
of spirit in history in a very pure and original format.
This author had an immediate recognition/response to the symbol at his
first introduction to it - a sense of familiarity coupled with a sensed
invitation to investigate it further - perhaps he has the genetic
predisposition already noted! (6)
2) The Tree of Life
Another "big" Jungian
archetypal symbol (like YHVH) one that stands for, or points to, the
presence of major psychological trends in the unconscious region of the
mind. There is a fairly well-labeled depiction of this archetypal
symbol in the "Gallery" link. It is an impressive representation, used
by the Jewish priesthood in antiquity as both a teaching and spiritual
device, although it has largely become the venue of esoteric students
and seekers in the modern day. (7)
The Tree is a map of all the stages of conscious development known to
its creators, beginning with the Sephira ("shining sphere") Malkuth as the representation of the
Physical Plane shown to us in the
senses, and terminating at the highest level of Kether - the Crown -
representing the Mind of God. Presumably, a dedicated enough individual
could reach that level in one lifetime with a sincere effort. This
Ascension is known in Cabala (Jewish mysticism) as the Path of the
Flaming Sword (a reference to the Angel armed with a sword of fire that
turned in all directions in the Bible, blocking reentrance to Paradise
at the East Gate of Eden). This Path oscillates up the Tree from Malkuth,
passing through the other Sephiroth (plural of Sephira) on the way, with
each successive one representing a more enhanced stage of spiritual
knowledge and development. Esoteric though it is, several volumes of literature have
still
been written on the Tree and the Path of the Flaming Sword as a means of
spiritual Ascension... (8)
In the author's case, the Tree initially appeared as a brilliantly
illuminated and fantastic image, however in three dimensions, much like
an actual tree, located beside a large stream, A path wound alongside
the Tree between it and the stream. These are all archetypal symbols of
significance - the Tree represents more than "life" as is so
often noted - as previously mentioned, it is an Astral image of the total
inner conscious expansion that can be experienced - beginning with
sensation in Malkuth and ending in Divine Perception in Kether - the
latter being site of the Logos and God. (9)
The Astral Plane is the term used in Western mysticism to denote the
many altered states of awareness accessible beyond the physical senses
(as occurring on the Physical Plane - i.e. normal waking experience)
through such additional processes as dreaming, meditation, chanting,
imagination, and (occasionally) hallucinating, to name a few. The Astral
state of awareness is populated with both Freudian sexual and Jungian
archetypal symbols, nor are they always distinct from each other, making
the task of interpreting their meaning quite daunting, even for the
medical professional! There are numerous Astral images that almost
exist in a one-to-one correspondence to Physical events and processes -
the Astral body, travel, chord (a clear reference to the umbilical
chord), spine (complete with the Hindu Chakras aliened along it - the
Chakras are also Astral perceptions), vision, hearing, etc. The Astral
Plane can be thought of as "the world next door" to the Physical Plane.
(10)
The Stream and the Path alongside the Tree also have extended Astral
meaning. The Stream is an
archetypal symbol of flow - specifically, the ongoing transition
of perceptions that accompanies physical life on the Physical Plane, and
this is very important because all of the Astral images are
ultimately symbolic unconscious messages that refer to unexpressed or
unresolved issues on the Physical Plane existing in external reality. The
same can be said of the Path, symbolically representing the course
perceived by the Ego - the conscious mind - as the one through life that
is most readily traversable because others - a reference to
acculturation - have already passed along that way. All of these are
internal mental images that nonetheless refer to external conditions in
external reality. This does not mean that Astral forms are less "real"
than Physical forms - they simply exist in a different location, and
follow different modes of expression. Moreover, the same can be said for
all internal phenomena including thoughts, ideas, and feelings - no
matter how abstract or esoteric, they still exist within some kind of
framework of expression - even the Logos - and these will invariably
refer back to some phenomenon located in external reality! This is the
true meaning of altered states of awareness - they all are synopses of
symbolic messages intended to facilitate more effective, meaningful
baseline awareness in physical reality. The author refers to this
interactive condition as "The Holistic Mind" - referenced by a diagram
of that title in the "Gallery" link. The ultimate driver of events in
this Jungian model of consciousness is the small sphere at the center of
this structure - referred to as the Self. The Self is the
origin of all internal mental events - it is from this source that the
archetypal symbols originate as useful directives for living in physical
reality on the Physical Plane. More will be said regarding the
Self further on in this essay... (11)
3) The Sacred Doe
The female deer is a well known symbol of
innocence and compassion, coupled with maternal nurturance. Please
follow along as her appearance is described in the author's vision. (12)
As he beheld the idyllic vision of the Tree, Path, and Stream, a doe
approached along the Path, stopped, and looked directly at him. Now, it
is well to note here that Astral visions are not in any sense bound by
what we experience as physical laws of nature - they are only governed
by the Self as it transmits the material to the observer. As the author
observed the Doe, the vision of her head expanded to fill his whole
consciousness, all the while still looking directly at him, and peering
with a peculiar intensity. Then, at once, the vision of the Doe vanished
and the Tree/Path/Stream briefly reappeared, only to vanish as well.
(13)
In occult parlance, the Doe was the first instance of something known as
a Ring-Pass-Not - a barrier that requires a specific response or
condition to allow further progress, customarily in an Initiation -
a ritual procedure undertaken to confer a sacred entitlement.
In the author's case, the entire Ascension was made possible because he
literally expected nothing to come of it! Had any form of
subconscious or other unexpressed wish for a result been present, the
whole process would have ended, or perhaps never even begun. An empty
mind can be a very powerful thing indeed! The Doe was the Sacred Self,
the pure condition of awareness, examining the author for any
sign of Ego involvement - any kind of desire for an outcome - and, since
there was none present, the Vision continued into the Heart Chakra,
analogous to the Sephira Tipareth. (14)
4) The Sacred Heart
The archetypal symbol of the Heart,
and particularly the Sacred Heart, is intimately related to
that most abstract, and yet most significant, concept of the Soul - our
inner guiding light, and (hopefully) moral compass. The probably more
scientifically appropriate term for the Heart/Soul/Light center is the
Jungian Self, previously noted at the end of the last paragraph.
The Cabalist analog of this Astral center is the Sephira Tipareth,
while the Hindu equivalent is the Chakra Anahata. (15)
The Self is, above all else, concerned with morality, the conscience,
and compassionate, selfless (i.e. non-self-centered) love. It is
noteworthy that the three Chakras and the four Sephiroth preceding the
level of Anahata/Tipareth are all concerned with material functioning in
some sense - survival, sexuality, social power and prestige, and for
many people, this is where their awareness stops - with the literal, the
sensory, and the physical. For Freud, all subsequent stages of
perception were relegated to the Superego - the acculturated
focus of social rules and regulations, of mores, and of taboos. The
closest Freudian equivalent to the Jungian Self is located in the
amorphous Superego. The Self bridges the gap from the Freudian Ego
to the Soul. Jung knew this and postulated as much in The
Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, wherein he also gave serious
scientific consideration to the additional sequence of Chakras beyond
Anahata as subsequent Archetypal Symbols. (16)
The author suspects that the Self/Soul psychic structure was operating in the
background of his Ascension experience - the last clear moral
image that he had was of the Sacred Doe, and particularly her piercing
eyes. It is suspected here that his consciousness was open enough to
have negotiated not only that ring-pass-not, but the additional one at
the Sephira Daath - the so-called "invisible" Sephira - hidden in the
Cabalist Abyss of Ignorance below the Supernal Triangle. That Sephira
will not allow any sense of the body or physical existence/sensation to pass
through it into the Supernal realm beyond - the least residual fear of
death will halt the Ascension process there! In Yogic (i.e. Hindu
cultural) terms, the author
seems to have bypassed both Vishuddha (the Throat Chakra) and Ajna (the
Brow Chakra, or Third Eye) and passed directly into Sahasrara, the Crown
Chakra. This may be attributed to the fact that he was already in such a
deep trance that his perceptual focus was exclusively directed "within",
and did not need any further assistance from his "Third Eye"
(Ajna
actually looks within at the Mind and the mental structures therein). Sahasrara
is the primary mental form that both includes
and supersedes the Self/Soul as part of its role as the ultimate
destination of Ascension. (17)
As has been previously noted, Jungian analysis postulates that the Self
is the origin of all mental events, wherever else their appearance in
the psyche is manifested to perception - it is the foundation of the
Jungian Mind. The author strongly suspects that the Sacred
Doe, the Sacred Heart, Daath, and his perceptual experience of Sahasrara
were all radiating forth in his consciousness from the Self as
their point of transmission - perhaps even the initial vision of the
Tree. the Path, and the Stream as well. Symbols are, after all, the
language of the Mind, and the Self is the speaker. 18)
5) Sahasrara, the Devine Lotus
Following his vision of the
Sacred Doe the next clearly perceived vision the author had was
of Sahasrara (a distinctly Hindu, Yogic symbol, not Cabalist) - also
known as the Thousand-Petaled Lotus) which literally burst into his
"visual" field perhaps a second after the vision of the Doe receded. It
is presumed here that Sahasrara was the Self's preferred mode of
presentation, as opposed to the more intellectual, analytical Supernal
Triangle of Cabala. Initially, the entirety of the structure was
present, very much as depicted in the many pictorial representations of
it known to Yoga - a bright white core surrounded by first a bright
yellow field, then a bright red field, then surrounded by a vast array
of petal-like forms, the whole demonstrating an intense luminous
radiance. In perceptual terms, the author passed first through the field
of "petals", then the red region, then the yellow one, and then into the
white core. The experience as perceived by him (including his emotional
responses) is detailed in Samadhi and need not be repeated here, but his
experience of the core (or in Yogic terms "Heart" of the Divine Lotus)
deserves special attention, because he believes that this latter was, in
fact, the manifestation of the Self. (19)
Upon entering the Core/Heart of Sahasrara, another visual transformation
took place, and the author's perception shifted to the experience of an
omnipresent field of pure, intense White Light. At the same
time, he experienced an equally omnipresent perception of equally pure,
unconditional Love - absolute Agape! And, although he tried, no
human terms can describe the dual condition of Love and Light present,
and nothing else detectable anywhere. He was at once returned to
the Cosmic Womb of the archetypal Great Mother, and receiving the
Divine Guidance of the archetypal Great Father - this latter flowing
forth somehow encoded in the Divine Light - and comprehensible, but
apocryphal - knowable only through personal experience, not
instruction. (20)
Somehow, he knew that his personal essence was still present during the
experience, but it had become blended (Samadhi means "blending"
in Sanskrit - the ancient Hindu language) with the Divine Consciousness
present in the Heart of the Lotus. What a delightful, exquisite
condition! Perhaps regrettably, there was no temporal perception
present, preventing any assessment of the duration of this state, but it
ended abruptly, and the author returned immediately to his material
perception of the "world" in his living room - the same, and yet changed
forever... (21)
The author's subsequent research has led him to suppose that the
experience of the Heart of Sahasrara was very probably either identical
to the Soul, or as close to it as one can hope to come - he was
certainly completely unaware of his physical form for the duration (in
fact, of the entire process starting with the Tree of Life Vision) -
tending to confirm the Yoga belief that Sahasrara is actually located
outside the body, beyond even the Astral perception of the other
Chakras. This may be taken as evidence that the Soul, wherever it is
(the author believes that it is everywhere, though this requires
the type of altered perception he achieved to observe) definitely
exists, although beyond material expression. It currently appears that
the Self, the Soul, and the Logos are different manifestations of the
same condition - knowable, however, only through the profoundly altered
states of consciousness present in Spiritual Yoga.
(22)
Jung believed that the exact nature of the Archetypes was unknowable -
genetically encoded in the tissue structure of the brain - and not
subject to direct perception. They do, however, generate Archetypal
Symbols which the mind/ego (note the use of the lower case "m",
referring to the personal mind, not the Cosmic Mind analogous to
the Self) can perceive, although as symbolic content that must be
personally investigated to be completely understood... (23)
Addendum
In deference to medical science, the author wishes to note that, of the
twelve cranial nerves, no less than five effect optical
functioning - the eyes are that important to human functioning
and survival! (24)
This is of significance to my visions in Samadhi, because,
although the experiment that Christmas took place in both daylight and
darkness, the Ascension sequence of the Tree of Life just recounted took
place shortly after sunrise on Christmas Day, as the author looked out
of his window onto the brilliant, shimmering surface of the lake
outside. The author suspects that the slight "chop" (wind disturbing the
lake surface), along with the cant of the window blinds, and the
reflected nature of the light entering the room, attenuated the
sunlight in the room just enough to flood the optical cortex with
stimuli, without simultaneously causing optical discomfort, permitting
the sustained exposure necessary for the vision to take place, given
that he was already in deep trance at the time. (25)
The author is aware of a specific meditative practice known as Sun
Gazing, developed by the Russian mystic Omraam (Mikheal Aivanhov),
which entails observing direct sunlight at sunrise and sunset through
the closed fingers of the hand, used as an attenuator to diminish the
light intensity. He suspects that he may have inadvertently practiced
this technique through the circumstances described above - the chop of
the lake surface, the adjustment of the blinds, and indirectly viewing
the reflected surface of lake, as opposed to gazing directly at
the sunrise through the closed fingers of the hand. When coupled with
the sustained trance of the experiment, Samadhi was enabled! Perhaps
some experiments could be conducted using a combination of these factors
to reproduce this experimental outcome! Namaste, All...(26)
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